#after all these months… it’s finally done

[rosiereveries]

Neighbor!Simon who just got home from a mission and he just wants a good night of sleep. But when he is in bed, on the verge of falling asleep he hears you.

His lovely neighbor who he shares a wall with. You moved in just a few month ago, and since then you had a crush on Simon. He hears you walking around your room, opening drawers, and then you getting comfy in bed. Simon hopes that you're also going to sleep but he is out of luck.

He hears the quiet vibrating noise that your toy makes and he is immediately hard. He hears your soft moans and he knows that he can't go back to sleep now. He tries to ignore you. He puts pillow on his head but all he can hear is you trying to reach your orgasm in the room next to his.

After the next 20 minutes of listening to your moans he feels like a pervert. He just wants to go to sleep but you're still not done. Simon thinks that if he was in the room with you he could help you cum in the next 5 minutes.

So when he hears you moaning his name he knows that he needs to help you. After all he is a good neighbor. He knocks on your door and when you open, looking confused just in tank top and your panties he is immediately on you.

He's kissing you telling you not to worry, that he will help you feel good. You don't even know how you end up on your bed. On your knees with Simon fucking you from behind. He makes sure that you reach your orgasm more than once.

When he finally cums in you you're so exhausted. You fall asleep in his arms almost instantly, and he can finally go to sleep. After all a good night of sleep was all he wanted. But he has to admit that you just made his night a lot better.

Masterlist

[xxplastic-cubexx]

doodley

[zvdvdlvr]

Indisputably Difficult to Choose ✰ JayVik x Reader

✰. You’re Viktor and Jayce’s new roommate- a flirt and a damn good cook. Thankfully, you get along well with the two men! Maybe too well. Eventually, you can’t tell where the line between ‘just friends’ and ‘more than friends’ is.

✰. WC: 1.7k. Female reader. I have no idea if Vik is russian or Czech but most reddit posts say hes russian😭??? Friends to lovers trope. Miscommunication trope? Oh well! Sorry for any errors in the spanish or russian pet names- I definitely didn’t use google translate. . .

It wasn’t every day that you got roomed with both life-altering scientists. And yet, here you were, offering them a sly smile. “Hello.”

Jayce smiled right back at you easily and opened the door further. “Welcome home, stranger,” he greeted.

After adjusting the backpack hanging from your shoulders, you stepped into the room. “Good to see a handsome face whenever I arrive home,” you murmur absentmindedly as you examine the walls and floors. “Where’s my room?”

Jayce nodded towards the hallway. “Down there.”

Later that night you met Viktor. Tall, lean, devilishly handsome Viktor.

You were making yourself at home in the kitchen making pasta for dinner when he cleared his throat. Turning, you smiled at the man in front of you. “I hope you like tortellini, Viktor,” you said.

He hummed. “I’ll eat anything that isn’t cooked by Jayce.” Viktor hears an incredulous gasp from the other room and chuckles. “It smells good,” he says politely, stepping closer to the stove.

“I like to make a good impression.”

And by God, you do.

Almost two weeks later you finally find your rhythm. Wake up, get ready for class, go to class, go to the lab to help out the boys (because helping out world-changing scientists looks damn good on your resume), decide what to have for dinner, drag the boys home, go to sleep, repeat. A long and tiresome but rewarding list.

Five and a half months later and midterms were finally over! You were on break and had so much free time on your hands but didn’t feel like going in to work every day. So: you made your boredom the boys’ problem (though you knew they wouldn’t actually complain).

Today was one of the rare days you could convince Jayce and Viktor to stay home with you because there weren’t any classes and ‘why let your favorite roommate be all by her lonesome?’ It was easy to convince Jayce. When Jayce finally relented, the both of you turned to Viktor with hopeful smiles.

“As long as you make that beef stew for dinner,” Viktor finally grumbled. As he hobbled away dramatically, Jayce laughed as you whooped excitedly.

When you were done basking in glory, Jayce wrapped an arm around your shoulder. You would have bet your life savings that Jayce melted further into you when you wrapped your arm around his waist since you could not reach his shoulders. “Viktor wouldn’t actually say no to you anyway, doll,” Jayce said casually, flopping onto the couch and pull you with him.

Dynamics between the three of you were. . . perplexing. Viktor was a quietly independent person who bonded with you over food, riddles, and literature. When he had seen your Harlan Ellison novels, you swore you saw the metaphorical wall of defense behind his piercing amber eyes crumble. The first time Viktor sat on the counter and had an emotionally intelligent conversation with you (while you made chicken fajitas as per Jayce’s request) was the first time you heard Viktor truly laugh- a sound from deep in his throat that temporarily distracted you from the sizzling meat in front of you. After that, Viktor had warmed up to you enough to slide into the hug Jayce pulled you in when they returned from the lab.

Jayce had almost immediately clicked with you. His charmingly pathetic smile and himbo aura were captivating. Jayce had gasped allowed when you were still decorating your new room. “Oh my Jan- is that. . ?” He then started helping you tack up posters and other goodies you had to decorate your space while gushing about some of the bands, movies, and television programs you were interested. Jayce, you learned, had a soft spot for predicable romance and science fiction movies- though he often narrated errors in information while watching anything sci-fi. He was also very physically affectionate: pulling your legs into his lap during movie nights, gently moving you by the waist whenever he was in the kitchen, wrapping an arm around you while walking to the coffee shop, and an obscene amount of hugs. You thought it was a little odd at first, but he does it to Viktor too- and you couldn’t really judge because you flirted with them and called them nicknames. A lot. 

When dinner time finally rolled around, you had a pot of steaming vegetable stew on the stove. Three bowls and three spoon were all waiting to be used off to the side. Viktor had made a beeline to the kitchen the second ‘food’ left your mouth and by the time Jayce got up and you’d entered the kitchen, Viktor’s bowl had tears of broth rolling down the side as it pleaded for help. “Smells good, Солнышко,” he praised. 

“Thank you, darling scientist of mine,” you hummed, handing Jayce a bowl.

“Wha-“ Jayce spluttered behind you. “What about me? Have I not earned the title of your favorite darling scientist?”

Viktor snorted as he started the short trip to the dinner table.

You threw your head back in laughter, eyes closed. If you were watching the two bickering men boys, you would have seen Jayce’s mock hurt melt completely off his face as he watched you laugh happily before letting his eyes flicker over to Viktor; who was completely immersed with you (not the stew). You didn’t see Viktor looking up to Jayce with a certain look in his eyes and tilt his head all in the blink of an eye.

“I mean, Viktor did fix my console and the T.V. without me having to ask,” you say as your laughter fades. “I guess pretty boy over there has you beat.”

Jayce clicks his tongue, catching your eyes. “Then I’ll have to make it up to you, tu hermosa mujer,” he says with a low tone, the spark in his eyes that burns in his eyes when you usually flirt was absent. “Hm?”

You blink. Mouth open as your eyes frantically flicker between Jayce’s eyes and the unchanging smile on his face. “I- I guess so.”

Viktor coughs so loud you instinctively take a step back. “If you guys are continue kindling your blooming romance, I’d like to remind you that I am still here.”

You don’t look at Jayce as you blink out of the confused haze you found yourself in thirty seconds ago and start to the table. “Don’t be jealous, pretty boy,” you halfheartedly joke at Viktor.

“I’m not jealous,” Viktor says, watching you intently. “Because I know I could be better than Jayce at anything you wanted.”

“Is that right?”

Viktor raises and eyebrow at Jayce as he sits beside you in his normal spot. “Indisputably.”

“I don’t know what you guys are playing at,” you cut in finally, letting your spoon rest against the side of the half-finished soup. “But clearly there’s something I’m not understanding. This-“ you gesture from Jayce to you to Viktor “-is starting to confuse me. And I- I need you guys to figure it the fuck out because I can’t keep lov-“ you cut yourself off. Heaved a sigh before standing up and leaving with a mere ‘I need to think’.

“Y/n.” Jayce watches you grab your wallet and the coat nearest to the door- which happened to be Viktor’s- and ignore him. “Y/n, baby, please-“

You slam the door on the way out.

Viktor is standing up before Jayce can say anything. “Let’s go,” Viktor tells Jayce, shoving his arms into another one of his coats. “I don’t want her out during the dark.”

Jayce understands Viktor’s fear, knowing Viktor’s anxiety was multiplied tenfold by what he’d experienced and heard during his life in the Undercity. “Okay.”

Adrenaline and anxiety propelled Viktor forward into the night, rain soaking his useless coat. Jayce had your location pulled up on his cell and was confident that he and Viktor were close. “We’re almost there,” he told Viktor over the pattering rain.

“There! Is that-?”

“Y/n!” Jayce shouted, seeing the hooded figure halt for a second before you started walking faster.

“Куколка please wait,” Viktor called. “I cannot run after you- please just talk to us!”

You stopped. Turning, the pair could see your bloodshot eyes and wobbling lip.

“Oh, my Родная,” Viktor cooed, dropping his cane to wrap his arms around you and Jayce.

Jayce held you and Viktor upright, feeling his heart shatter when he felt you shaking in his arms- crying over something he did. “Y/n, mi amor, I’m so sorry,” he finally said. “We are sorry.”

Viktor leaned on Jayce as he went on. “Y/n, I think it’s safe to say that Jayce and I. . . our feelings for you, you see-“

“We’re in love with you,” Jayce blurts. “The cuddling, the cooking, the affection, the flirting-“

Viktor nods. “But we didn’t know how to tell you without making you choose because, quite honestly, I am scared that you’ll leave or- or, I don’t know. The point is: I didn’t want to complicate our relationship by telling you the way we feel for you.”

“My boys,” you murmur, your hand going up to cup each of their cheek. (Thank Janna that there were no passersby due to the rain.) “Would it be wrong to say that I don’t want to choose? Because. . . I don’t think I could choose.”

Jayce feels himself exhale. Viktor sags against him: the soul-crushing possibility of you leaving was out of the question. “Please come home, mujer preciosa,” Jayce pleads weakly, leaning into your palm. “We can make this up to you-“

“However you want,” Viktor adds quickly, sticking his bottom lip out with a shrug.

You laugh weakly and nod. “Yeah- yes. I’d love to go home. Hold on, pretty boy,” you say before bending down to retrieve Viktor’s cane.

“Is it too early to say I love you?” Viktor asks, pressing a kiss to your temple.

You chuckle and let yourself be sandwiched between the two men who you’d been enamored with for the past six months. “I already know you do, but it wouldn’t hurt to say,” you say.

“Well, we can say it as long as you want us to,” Jayce says, watching you with fond eyes.

[lemqnie]

ARCANE CHARACTERS + NEW YEARS EVE WITH YOU

JAYCE TALIS

⤠ loverboy texts you that he won't be done in the forge until late. you try to hide your disappointment. you're already dressed to the nines--a shimmery gold dress jayce bought for your for your anniversary last month sticks to your body like second skin. you were looking forward to partying it up with the kirammans. you move to take it off when you hear a knock on your bedroom door. heavily, you drag your feet to open it only to gasp in surprise when it's jayce. he stands in front of you, a sheepish smile on his face and pink dusting his cheeks and neck. he's in nothing but a simple white dress shirt, sleeves rucked up to his elbows. there's a hint of mechanic grease on his chin and you reach out to swipe it away, when he steps forward and pulls you close, apologising with a kiss. "what's that for?" you ask. he reveals what his other hand's hiding behind him: a bottle of champagne and a modest bag of fruits. "i thought we'd skip the party," he says, "stay here. watch the fireworks from over there." he nods at your balcony, the soft december breeze filtering through your room. "you said you'd be late," you accuse. he laughs. "i am. i wanted to come sooner, but i had meetings and then some and, well..." you don't know why you're still standing. you pull the man of progress in your room and the two of you steal kisses as you await the great clock to strike midnight.

VIKTOR

⤠ you've had plans since october. god knows viktor could never make enough time for himself to simply enjoy unless notified at least two months in advance. "nothing big," you promised him. with a roll of his eyes, he reaches forward with a free hand and kisses your forehead. "okay, láska." and exactly at eight pm on the dot, you show up at his flat, a bottle of wine and fresh sweetmilk rolls and grapes in tow. he lets you in, hair freshly damp from the shower. you make sure he's settled in before you set it up. you explain to him how your family rings in the new year: wishing on grapes and drunk. he laughs, wincing a little when the motion catches his back brace in a bad position. you reach over, brushing your thumb over his furrowed brows and he leans into your touch, kissing the insides of your wrist. "so," he says, accent thick and eyes heavy, "you brought the wine?" in the end, you didn't get to do your grapes until much, much later in the morning on new year's day after you wake up on viktor's bed, tangled in the sheets with him.

JINX

⤠ she swears to you that you'll get no better view of the piltie fireworks than above the cracks. she's waiting for you by the alley outside your workplace, gearing to go. you ask her if you need to bring anything yesterday and she grins, something mocking but rounded to sweet when she taps your nose. "just sturdy shoes and study old you," she sing-songs. as you climb up the treacherous cracks with her, you make good use of the shoes she told you to bring. you two finally make it up over the lanes and as you settle next to her, your breath leaves you forcefully. the view is beautiful. you can see the long stretch of roofs that make the end of zaun, the elevators, and the city of piltover. she nudges your shoulder and points with her arm to the councillor's building. "it'll be over there," she whispers. "colours like you've never seen!" the child-like wonder in her voice is what gets you. even if its minutes before midnight, you throw caution to the wind. what the hell, you thought as you turn and place your palm over her cheek. her blue eyes are wide, but she doesn't pull away as you lean in. when you kiss, you hear it behind you: the burst of fireworks, the cheer of children, and--best of all--jinx's relieved sigh against your lips.

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[chrissv4mp]

♱ EYES FOR YOU

requested <3

WARNINGS. tiny outburst, small argument, jealous!reader, and billie acting like a huge cornball.

SYPNOSIS. when you find a wide-spread video of your childhood best friend kissing another popular social media star, you find yourself growing jealous. however, billie seems to think you're a little out of your mind.

WORDS. 2.5k

LETTERS. wanted this fic to take a more gentle, fluffy route since i haven't been providing that much 🤍

music from billie's new album boomed in the background of the low-quality video, lights flashing of every color imaginable onto the stage that seemed to be crowded with more people than it would hold.

the most noticeable people were front and center—billie and quen, a friend of hers that you'd grown to like and enjoy hanging around.

billie walks in quen's direction, the quality fuzzy, but it's clear that billie grabs her chin and pulls her into a kiss—a quick one—but a kiss nonetheless. with their height difference, billie has to raise herself on her toes.

sure, the kiss doesn't last long, but when billie pulls away, her fingers are still grasping at quen's chin. then, billie moves away and she retracts her hand like nothing happened.

you can't seem to take your eyes off of your phone, the video playing on repeat as you just sit there and watch. it was some stupid tiktok taken last night while billie was at coachella to play her album that showed up on your feed—and it was getting to you a little more than you'd like to admit.

billie was your childhood best friend, and the bond that you and her grew throughout all these years never changed. your feelings—platonic, of course—never changed, not even when you two had arguments or disagreements. but then, when billie got together with her second boyfriend, something in your mind shifted.

and after she broke up with him, you were happier than ever. it was selfish of you, sure, but you couldn't help it. then, when billie started seeing another guy a few years later, you finally acknowledged your crush on the girl—but you never had the guts to tell her.

then she broke up with the boy, and you were happy again, like you had a chance at winning her heart. every time she broke up with one of her boyfriends, you were always there, comforting her with gentle words despite how overjoyed you were. you didn't understand how she never saw that you were the one for her.

so, when billie came to you with the confession that she liked girls as well, your hopes—as if you were gonna tell her anytime soon—skyrocketed. then word spread via an article, and the whole queer-baiting rumors started up again. when her album came out, and lunch was put out into the world, the feedback seemed both positive and negative.

billie's collab with charli was another big thing that was put out into the world not even 5 months later, and with the knowledge that billie was so open and proud about her sexuality, you somehow found yourself falling deeper in love with billie—your childhood best friend.

when your hopes were just starting to overflow and you were beginning to gain the courage to ask her out, this video was put onto your for you page. but this was not meant for you to see at all.

you weren't sure what came over you. in an instant, your phone was flying through the air and banging against the door of your bedroom. with a small clatter and the quietest cracks of glass, your phone falls onto the hardwood floors of your dimly-lit room, the only source of light being the evening sun shining through your blinds.

a quiet gasp was all you could react with because, quite frankly, you had no idea what you had just done. you throw your covers off your body, the cool air hitting your skin immediately. your feet tap against the wood beneath you as you scurry to grab your phone, eyes wide and filled with the tiniest flickers of terror.

the screen protector that billie had suggested sounded really useful right now. but, of course, you were always so stubborn.

you carefully grab the device, eyes tracing the little pieces of glass and plastic that surrounded it. you knew it was destroyed, but something in your head told you it wasn't. so, you flip it over, and fear quickly passes through your system. it shouldn't have been a surprise, but your phone was broken and you couldn't have been more frustrated.

to think this was all over a stupid video of billie kissing her friend was embarrassing, really, and it almost made you want to laugh just thinking about it. but nothing was funny because now your phone was broken and now—maybe—your best friend, crush, whatever she was, kissed a girl that wasn't you. but she was prettier than you, so you had no chance in the world anymore.

your mind is fuzzy, filling with so much anger and frustration that it feels like you might explode any second now. not even the stupidest person would be dumb enough to something like this: destroying their phone over some girl that they stood no chance with. a popular, liked world-wide, pretty girl.

dropping your phone and sitting against the wall beside your door did nothing to help your situation because when you blinked, your eyes gravitated to the calendar that was pinned above your bedside table—and, by some coincidence, tomorrow was the day billie began her temporary stay so that she could get the plumbing in her house fixed.

you were so fucked.

you only realized how much you regretted giving billie the spare key to your house when she showed up at the bright and early time of 8 am with a backpack slung over her shoulder and a couple of suitcases at her sides. the quiet thud of the front door closing isn't what woke you, not even the loud clatter of billie tripping and falling over her suitcases disrupted your peaceful slumber.

neither of you knew how or why, but the faint smell of billie's perfume when she carefully and quietly opened your door was the one thing that would never fail to wake you. your eyes snap open, and your heart clenches immediately as you sit up to see the exact person you dreaded meeting today. in an effort to seem presentable, though, you offer billie a sleepy, half-assed smile.

"good mornin'," she greets, lips tugging up into that smile you always loved but forced yourself to hate in this moment. it was not a good morning.

however, you rub your eyes and pull the covers closer to your body. you lower your hands back to your sides, twisting and tugging at the comforter nervously as you completely ignore her.

billie shrugs it off, brown locks cascading over her shoulders, a loose strand hanging over one lense of her glasses. she kicks her shoes off, placing them beside yours like she always did whenever she came over before she crawls onto the bed with a gentle smile on her face. her eyes are still drowsy with sleep, and you can tell she's still not over the high she got from coachella just a few days ago.

the thought alone makes you sick.

but you keep down your comments, keeping yourself calm with a few deep breaths. your eyes move back over to the open door, billie's bag and suitcases resting in the hallway, knocked over. you're so intent on your need for a distraction you don't even realize when billie snuggles under the covers and turns on her side to stare at you.

she notices your distracted state, eyes following yours to the hallway where her things were. she only giggles at the memory, "i'll get those in a bit. they fuckin' tripped me. unbelievable." she grumbles, shaking her head.

despite your nervous, ticked-off mood, you can't help but crack even the smallest smile at her ability to get mad at an object.

still, you don't utter a word, the only sounds coming from your throat being soft breaths and the quiet, fast thumping of your heart in your chest. you were sure billie heard it. or you were just paranoid and kept on your toes from the video you saw yesterday. you couldn't ignore the jealousy and frustration you felt even at the slightest indication of it.

at your silence, billie sits up, cocking an eyebrow and tilting her head in confusion like a dog, "hey, what's wrong?"

when your silence continues, billie can't help but come up with the idea that you're ignoring her. because that's exactly what you're doing, "did i do somethin'?" she asks, voice small. she sounded genuinely concerned.

she frowns when you still don't give her the reassurance or satisfaction of a clear answer. even a simple nod of the head would do it for her, but you don't even provide her with that comfort. her hands clench into fists, tucking her lower lip between her teeth because she didn't know what else to do.

her eyes flicker with worry as you exhale deeply, and she comes to the conclusion that you're mad. mad at her? but why? she didn't understand, but she wanted to. she really did because she couldn't stand the silent treatment. and you knew that.

"y/n," her voice shakes, lower lip beginning to quiver. billie really was just a big baby when it came to you, "seriously, you know how much i hate this shit." she murmurs, running her fingers through her hair and tugging softly whenever she gets to the ends, "y/n."

even at her vulnerable, sad state, you still don't let out a peep. you just sit and stare at the hallway, breathing in and out deeply, each breath coming out harder and faster. your heart felt like it'd beat out of your chest if it kept up with the pace it was at.

your own hands tug at the sheets, finally tearing your eyes away from the hall as you focus your attention on the white comforter again. you tried to ignore her, you really did, but with the way she was asking—almost begging—made you want to punch yourself because she was just so sweet.

"just tell me if i did something. i—i'll fix it, y/n, i promise i will." she whimpers. she whimpers and your walls break down completely.

"you kissed her, billie. at coachella," you blurt, tone hostile and sharp as you turn your entire body to face her, "you kissed her when it was so obvious that i like you." you scoff, and exasperated smile on your face.

she's taken aback by your confession, and the bewildered look on her face is laughable, but nothing seems to be very light or funny. she furrows her eyebrows, recollecting the events of the night a few days prior where she was on the stage with her friends.

a lot of videos seemed to circulate and get passed around all of social media that night. videos of billie grabbing her friends playfully and just being touchy per usual. the video that was most prominent, though, was the clip of her and her close friend, quen, kissing. it was obviously playful, anyone could see if they had two eyes and good vision.

and, plus, most of the internet passed it by as 'billie eilish and her best friend quen blackwell playing around,' so it came as a surprise whenever you looked at her as if awaiting an answer.

"it was quen, y/n, she's one of my closest friends. i was being a total goof the entire night, it was all just playful fun. i—you, sorry—you like me?" she stammers, the entire situation too much for her to wrap her head around so quickly.

it was all news to her. your confession, your accusation, everything.

"still, billie—it doesn't make any fucking sense." you retort, eyes wild.

she still tugs at her hair nervously, albeit knowing the reason for your silence, and begins to speak again, voice shaky, "it was just a dare odessa gave me, y/n. honest. quen thought it was out of the ordinary, too." billie explains.

"we were laughing at the videos on the ride back to our places. it was all just a misunderstanding," she breathes, eyes searching yours for any glimmer of hope or realization. when your eyes meet hers, she almost frowns because of how embarrassed you look.

instead, her hands reach out for yours, taking them in her own large ones adorned with the rings she forgot to take off the night prior. she gives you a reassuring smile, soft and genuine as her eyes dart between your lips and irises.

still, she catches the tiny glint of doubt in your eyes. so, she acknowledges your confession again, knowing that was the one thing that was bugging you, "i don't think anyone's more stupid than me for not realizing your feelings sooner. and after all these years? god, i feel like an idiot." she laughs.

her eyes never leave yours, showing just how serious and committed she is to the words that leave her mouth, "i really hope you more than just 'like' me because i love you."

your lips part in surprise, eyes widening even more if that was possible. your heart seemed to beat faster, and this time you were sure it'd beat out of your chest if you didn't calm down soon. her own confession was a huge smack in the face because she seemed to be really good at hiding it. so, it led you to think she was lying. just maybe.

when she saw the flicker of doubt was still there, though, she did the first thing she could think of. her face spoke for her as she gave you a, 'you think i'm kidding?' look, then her hands cupped your face and she kissed you and you almost passed out from the shock.

her lips molded against your so perfectly, fingers digging into your skin so gently it was like you were getting pulled in by nothing but the wind. her nose brushed yours as she pulled you closer, lips curling into a smile from the pride she got from finally making a move.

the feeling of her lips against your own was euphoric, like something you'd never felt before. it was a new high that would never be beat ever again because billie was surely about to take over your entire life after this. she'd become everything and all you'd think about.

she never wanted to pull away, but when her lungs demanded fresh air, she pulled away with hesitancy, lips parting to breath deeply, heavily. her eyes fluttered open, eyes flitting all across your face and taking a second to admire your each and every feature.

her tongue darts out to wet her lips before she speaks again, mind completely lost in nothing but you, "believe it now?" she teases lightly, challenging you even in the softest, most vulnerable moments of your relationship—a relationship that was definitely gonna become more than just friends.

her thumbs caress your cheeks, touch soft and sweet against your skin, "now you know i only have eyes for you." she whispers, smiling proudly.

your smile grows at her words, biting your lip as your eyes flit down to her own plump ones, "glad to finally know that."

"great. now can i kiss you again?"

TAGS. @mseilishmwah @sophloveswomen @mxqdii @livvydunneness @vyntagess @afteraftercare @wiidfi0wer33 @loving1dsworld @tan1shere @fallingforfalll2 @cierraonline @dandelions4us @scarlittt @ifwdominicfike @slxtarchive @stonerfromlesbos @bilsdillldough @47lake @hopingforgoodblogs @karaeilishh @mybluebossanova @sturnsmia @moralesluvr @justtr @greenbttrflyy

[raguonmynieceandnephew]

The Hell of Wait

Imagine this: You are the Queen of Ithaca. You gave birth at most like 5 months ago and your husband is gone to fight a war. You are now to raise this kid by yourself. The war itself takes ten years. You get the news he won, and the other kings are back in their homes, but yours is still there. He probably died. Now you have to entertain suitors who believe he and all the 600 men he took to war died and they turn out to be the a gang of assholes that pester you and your son. You wait.

You and your mother in law still believe he will come but he takes so fucking long she dies of a broken heart. You keep waiting.

You are forced to keep serving the suitors, forced to spend stupid amounts of money everyday on food and wine, throw banquets, parties, allow your home to be desecrated and is forced to house the freeloaders, no matter how much unsufferable they are, because of divine law. And you can't even complain because said divine law is the only thing that protects you from them aswell, at least for now, but you know it's only for a while. They are dangerous power hungry monsters, led by a fucking sociopath who bullies your teenage son and jokingly threatens to SA you on a daily basis, and he is so bold he does it to your son's face. Still you wait, no matter how much it hurts, you wait.

Yes, you know Zeus will punish them if they do anything, but the punishment means the crime has already been committed, so you are fucked either way. The safest thing to do would give in, but you refuse. Instead you risk your life and plot a whole scheme to fool those men and buy time for his arrival, if he's still even alive. Night after night you unthread that shroud, knowing that if any of them see you do it you are done for (ayyy). But you do it because you have faith, and you prefer to suffer the consequences that forsake the man you love. You choose to wait some more

The day you feared the most finally arrives, you have to pick and there's no running from it anymore, but you still find a way to buy more time, even if it's a few more days: The Challenge. String a bow, shoot an arrow through some axes and voilá. Perfect plan, doable enough so they can't question it but hard enough so they won't be able to do it. It works, but now the suitors are pissed and are about to raid the castle. It's over. But still, you remain waiting. if that's the last day of your life, you will spend it steadfast, unbroken, unwaivering. Waiting.

I love this part, not only because it's beatiful, but because we see that she is fucking pissed. She is very fucking angry at all she's been through these goddamn 20 years. Miraculously your husband arrives just in time, and deals with the situation, the wait has paid off, You can finally see the man you love after 20 years, you can finally RELAX and the first thing he does is fix his lips to question your love? Shit, i'd be fucking pissed too!

And i love how Ody gets angry at the bed thing but instantly recognizes her feelings when she claps back and he just pipes down and shuts up. He recognizes that he might be just a man, but she is just a woman too. She was fighting monsters and storms of her own, and she knows that if he went through half of what she's been through (and she can see he's been through A LOT) and fought as hard as she did for their love, then it doesn't matter what horrible things he has done, cause if she was in his shoes, she'd do 10x worse.

I fucking love this damn musical.

[secretsandwriting]

Jason fought. He fought after his death, he fought through the madness, he fought through everything thrown at him. All to come back to you. 

Sure, you had been young when the promise between the two of you was made. Less then a month after his death, but it was still true for him. He fought, he worked, he lived to see you again.

He became heartless, ruthless, evil, a monster. Anything to see you again. Anything to hold you again. Anything for you. He regretted none of it. 

Standing at your door he hesitated. Would you still love him? You opened the door shortly after his knock

“Y/n.” You froze, Jason watched as emotions flashed through your eyes. You were finally in his reach. He blinked back tears.

“Is it you?” Is it really you standing there or am I dreaming again? You look different. Your eyes look tired, you grew bigger, your smile torn. Is it really you my love?”

“I am not the boy you fell in love with. I am not the boy you once adored. I am not your kind and gentle boyfriend and I am not the love you knew before. Would you still fall in love with me again if you knew all I’ve done. The things i can’t change. I know you’ve been waiting for love.”

“What kind of things did you do?” Jason looked down at his shoes to gather himself for a second before looking back into your eyes. 

“Left a trail of red everywhere I went as I traded friends like objects I could use. Hurt more lives then i can count on my hands but all of that was to bring me back to you. So tell me would you fall in love with me again if you knew all I’ve done? The things I can’t undo. I’m not the boy you knew. I know that you’ve been waiting.”

“If thats true. Could you do me a favor? Just a moment of labor that could bring me some peace. See that bookshelf. Can you carry it over. Lift it high on your shoulders and take if far from here.” Jason’s hear stopped in his chest. 

“How could you say this? I had built that bookshelf with my blood and sweat. Carved it out of the oak tree where we first met. A symbol of our love everlasting. Do you realize what you’ve asked me?!”

“Only my Jason knew that so I guess that makes him you.”

“Y/n/” Jason couldn’t stop the hot tears from falling as you pulled him into a hug. His arms immediately wrapped around your waist. 

“I will fall in love with you over and over again. I don’t care how, where, or when. No matter how long it’s been. You’re mine. Don’t tell me you’re not the same person, you’re always my Jason and I’ve been Waiting.” Tears soaked through his shirt.

“Waiting.” The bomb ticking down.

“Waiting.” The green of the pit.

“Wating.” Countless hours of training.

“Waiting.” The league of assassins.

“Waiting.” Red Hood’s revenge.

“Wating.” He held you tighten, his own tears falling onto your hair. 

“How long has it been?”

“Six Years.”

“I love you.” You both whispered at the same time. 

[faith-forgxtten-land]

Sloppy | Raphael

okay so this wasn’t a request but i’ve been MIA for a while and i haven’t really had the opportunity to write much over the past few months so this is really just writing practice (forgive me if it's subpar, i'm rusty)

also, if you've requested something, i promise that i'm working on it so please be patient!

made with bayverse in mind!!

warnings: NSFW, first thing i’ve properly written in months so be kind people, swearing, afab reader — mentions of pussy etc., oral sex (f!receiving), raph is a little feral and mean i feel… everyone is 18+!!, not proofread so lemme know if you notice any glaring errors

summary: raph eats your pussy; he’s greedy and sloppy (it’s perfect)

word count: 651 (short and not sweet)

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

raph eats pussy like a man possessed. he’s sloppy and loud about it, spit and slick all over his face as he spreads your legs as wide as possible and then even wider. your hips ache from the stretch, and you can already tell you’ll be sore tomorrow, but all you can do is whine and moan, hands covering your heated face in a futile effort to silence yourself.

you can’t even grind down against him like this because the bastard has one arm casually slung over your stomach, his huge palm pressing down just so, enough to make you whimper. you can feel him grinning meanly against your thigh with each failed arch of your spine, nipping your flesh in cruel, teasing bites that are sure to leave purple marks, before he continues to lap at your cunt like he hasn’t eaten in a week.

“raph,” you wheeze desperately, whimpers getting stuck in your throat as he practically growls against you. the sound is dark and agonised, and you can’t help but gasp as he pushes a thick digit inside you. “raph, raph, raph—”

he tongues your clit and crooks his finger, and you can no longer breathe, hands now clenched into bedsheets and thighs shaking with every sloppy touch. “that’s it,” he rumbles, the vibrations only making you tremble more. “that’s it, give it to me.”

your moans fill the room in perfect harmony with the filthy squelch of your pussy as raph fucks you with his calloused finger. it’s already too much, but you think you might pass out when he wraps his lips around your clit and sucks like he’s trying to reap your soul. “oh my god—”

you’re whining so loud, choked, and so, so needy, but you can’t find it within you to feel shame even as a distant part of your brain acknowledges that you won’t be able to look his brothers in the eye for a good week after this.

white eclipses your vision when you come, falling headfirst over that precipice that you’ve been teetering on for god knows how long. you fall silent when you do, mouth parted and back finally arching as raph lets your body take exactly what it needs; he lets you grind your hips down, mouth still fixed over your clit as your thighs clamp down around his skull.

he’s mumbling something dirty and full of sacrilege when you finish, his words a wicked churr that tips you into oversensitivity, and you whine weakly when he keeps moving his finger inside you, letting it drag against your slick walls with a slightly sadistic delight.

he chuckles when you slap his forearm weakly, but he acquiesces and slowly pulls back, groaning to himself when he sees just how soaked his hand is. “such a good girl,” he murmurs, looking right at you when he tastes you on his finger. he groans again at the flavour as if he hasn’t been buried in your pussy for the best part of the last hour.

“you’re terrible,” you tell him, voice wrecked, when he finally releases his finger from his mouth.

his smirk is shameless and greedy. “oh, i know.” his warm palms rest against your wet thighs, parting them again with ease. your hipbones twinge, and you gasp as he drags you closer to him, nestling between your legs like he belongs there (he does). “and we’re nowhere near done.”

his eyes are dark and leering, gluttonous and greedy, never full of you but always full of sin, and you swallow thickly as his lips twist into a ravenous snarl, nostrils flaring as you somehow grow even wetter, slick trickling down your already soaked thigh at the unadulterated lechery above you.

by the time you're done, several hours and several orgasms later, you know you won’t be able to look his brothers in the eye for at least a month.

[lyrakanefanaticwriting]

@ratadediamante tagged me in this, soo…..

Head canons of our favourite ship’s morning routine: married edition✨

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• lyra’s and grayson’s jobs start at different times, with graysons starting earlier and lyras starting later, but grayson always makes sure to kiss her every morning before he leaves, and even make her breakfast if he has the time. sometimes, he’ll even take photos of her if she looks especially cute while sleeping :))

• but some days, lyra insists at waking up at the same time as grayson. the first time, she figured that it will be a cute, bonding time between her and her husband. she was wrong.

• grayson woke lyra up at 5:00 in the morning, and she grumbled while getting dressed, grumbled while brushing her teeth, and grumbled while doing her makeup. grayson secretly recorded the parts where she was turned away from him, and it was hilarious how mad she looked. eventually, grayson decided that he would wake up at 6 instead of 5, and now the couple wakes up together most days.

• these more present days, lyra is first to wake up, as her husband is a more deep sleeper, and wakes him up with kisses all over his face. grayson never told anyone this and never will, but some days he wakes up before the alarm he sets, yet he pretends to be asleep so that he can be “woken up” by lyras kisses. 🤭🤭

��� despite lyras enthusiastic way of waking grayson up, she always insists on the two of them staying in bed for longer, to which grayson spends the next 5 minutes convincing her to get up. some days, if she gets too tired, he quite literally has to carry her out of bed. sometimes lyra feels too lazy to walk, so she argues with him on purpose, just so he can carry her into their walk in closet and she can get dressed. 😭☠️

• not every day, but some days, grayson will go for a quick morning swim, and lyra likes to tag along sometimes. she usually just ends up dipping her feet in the pool while sitting in silence, (bc she believes its therapeutic 😭😭) but other times she’ll read a book, or just tell her husband to swim closer so that she can chat with him.

• when they’re FINALLY in their walk in closet getting ready for the day, (bc i know they have one for their mass amounts of clothing) they always require opinions from each other on what to wear. lyra always has doubts on which top matches her skirt/pants the best, and grayson loves having her opinion on which suit style/colour would be the best for that day. sometimes lyra talks him out of wearing his suit jacket if it’s hot that day, and once she even convinced him to wear a nice t shirt and pants to the office for work. let’s just say, history was made that day.

• grayson never has too much time to get ready in the morning because his job starts earlier, but lyra always makes sure to play music while they brush their teeth/do their morning routines in the bathroom. she’s been doing it ever since they moved out, and every day they play different playlists. one playlist is adhered more to lyras taste, and the other is more of graysons kind of music.

• for MONTHS after they got married, lyra would spend most of her time getting ready in the bathroom just staring at her ring, and grayson has caught her doing it so many times. he finds it so cute and is so glad that she liked her ring (and her marriage 😏) so much. once her facial cream kept getting stuck in the cracks of her ring, so she took it off just to rub it on her skin. but the mournful look she was giving her ring on the counter made grayson believe for a moment that an eagle would swoop in from the bathroom window and snatch it away right before her eyes. he teased her about it, and she didn’t even care. her ring was pure treasure to her, and everyone knew it.

• once they’re out of the bathroom and lyra is all done with her makeup, the two are headed straight to the kitchen. normally grayson would head out with a coffee and not a second thought about getting a good meal, but after marriage, things change. and he had gotten so many talks from lyra and her mother about how breakfast was the most important meal of the day, that’s he’s finally given in and makes it a priority every morning. lyra herself didn’t even prioritize it, but after finally deciding that she was done with her extra grogginess in the morning, she made it a habit to always make grayson and her eat breakfast together. neither of them are skilled cooks, but lyra is amazing at making breakfast foods that her mom/stepdad used to make for her all the time, and grayson loves them + how happy she is while cooking them.

• other times though, they’ll be too lazy to cook breakfast, or just want something nicer, and just drive out to a diner instead. they have one near their house + both their workplaces that they really like, so they go there every time. they both find the place so peaceful and beautiful, and sometimes, if they’re both too tired or upset or however they may feel in the morning to talk, they sit on the same side of the booth and lyra lays her head on graysons shoulder. they know that they love each other so much, and sometimes, they just want to love each other in silence.

• after breakfast, grayson drives her to her place of work, and they make conversation along the way. gossip they heard from people they know, their dreams of the future, or even something that hasn’t been able to leave their mind. lyra usually is the one talking graysons ear off on the way to work, as after all her grumbling and groaning in the morning she suddenly feels productive on the car ride there, and grayson just listens with a smile. there’s nothing that he wouldn’t listen to as long as it came out of his wife’s mouth.

• when grayson drops her off, he gives her a lunch that he packed her in the morning, or that she packed for herself the night before. but, on days where lyra forgot to pack her lunch and grayson “forgot” to pack his too, he promises to pick her up for lunch to take her out. he then, for those days that he gets to see her for lunch, leaves with a smile, knowing that he has one more good thing to look forward to in his day.

EXTRA: married lyragrayson morning routine after a (very rare) bad fight :(( (this one is more of a rare situation as they don’t really ever get into bad fights, so that’s why the writing looks more like a fic than headcanons (bc i didn’t wanna say “usually” they do this or “typically” they do that as it’s uncommon for them to be fighting in the first place LOL))

• lyra wakes up on her bed, feeling cold and dull and wondering why, before turning around and realizing he wasn’t behind her. lyra is confused, but only for a moment, before her fatigue-riddled mind finally remembers that she sent him off to sleep on the couch last night. a numb feeling overtook her, and she got the sick sensation in her throat that she was going to start crying. except lyra wasn’t going to start crying, because she’d spent all last night sobbing into her pillow anyway.

• getting up, she kicked her feet off the side of her bed, her tired brain trying to process what to do next. where was grayson? what does a wife do after her first big fight with her husband? maybe people were right about the honeymoon phase, and all that was good before was gone. she looked at the ring in her hand, and after minutes of numb eyes staring, took it off. it was only for a moment, but the look of her empty ring finger and it sitting discarded on her bedside table made her feel guilty enough to put it back on.

• finally getting up, lyra decides that what’s done is done and she has to get started with her day. surprising to no one, she has a pounding head ache from all the crying she had been doing the night before. lyra walks into her closet and puts on a pair of clothes, the pair that had been rotting in the back of her closet because they’re as dull as lyra feels. perfect.

• walking over to her bathroom, lyra slides open the sliding door, and sees him. the suit he was wearing enunciated his muscles, and lyra hated that she couldn’t tear his eyes away from his broad shoulders and biceps. once she snaps out of it, she immediately backs away when she sees grayson getting ready, but he turns around, calling her name. still, she’s walking away when she feels two hands wrap around her waist and spin her around. grayson is again face to face with her.

• he immediately apologizes for his actions, having more patience and less pettiness than lyra, and explains them. but lyra still has a bad taste in her mouth from the fight. she refuses to meet his gaze, scoffing at his words. unfortunately, she forgot that grayson could also be rather stubborn. every time she cast her gaze else where, he would always gently take hold of the top of her neck with his fingers on her jaw and move her head to look at him again. of course, lyra did feel bad, but a part of her knew that the fight mainly wasn’t her fault. it was one of graysons problems that started it.

• once he’s done his apology speech, lyra just walks past him and into the bathroom, eager to just get ready and get this over with. unfortunately, grayson wasn’t going to stop trying that quickly. he followed her everywhere: the bathroom, the vanity, the kitchen, always at least a foot behind her as she walked. and lyra was done. she whipped her head around and demanded him to explain to her the point of the fight last night. grayson replied gently, but she could see that she was testing his patience. lyra mulled on his answer before stomping off to the kitchen, and opening her fridge door. pulling enough food for two out, she started cooking. after making 4 french toasts with sausages on the side, she puts it on two plates and puts them both on the island by the two chairs they had there. grayson, however, was making coffee, and when he placed lyras cup by her plate, she tasted it and immediately scowled. it was annoyingly just how she liked it.

• grayson and her ate in silence, but after graysons stares were becoming excruciating, she turned to him with a stone cold look on his face.

• “what?” she asked, bluntly.

• “did you not sleep well last night?” he asked her.

• she scoffed. “no, i was too busy crying to get any sleeping done.”

• she hates that she knew her husband so well in this moment, because when she said it, she knew exactly how he would react. which, for all of lyras fake bluntness, was what she wanted. with his eyes softening at lyras reply, grayson immediately stood up, picking lyra up from her chair and pulling her into an embrace. she couldn’t act harshly to her husband anymore. not after he set her feet back down on the ground and stroked her hair, murmuring apologies and “i love you”’s. he covered the crown of her head with soft kisses, and when lyra turned her head up to look at him with gentle eyes, he covered her face in kisses too, getting a laugh out of lyra as she whacked his arm in protest.

• the rest of the day goes smoothly, as when arguments do happen between the couple, they end before the two can leave the house. grayson puts hers and his coffee in a two go cup when they see the time, and leave the house holding hands. grayson drives, and although it takes them a minute, conversation is already starting up again. grayson leaves one of his hands out, and lyra, absentmindedly, starts tracing the lines of his hand while talking. grayson smiles at the fact that she didn’t even really notice she was doing it.

• once he drops lyra off in front of her workplace, he gets out of the car to open the door for lyra. after lyra gets out of the car, grayson immediately traps her in a passionate kiss, only stopping once lyra murmurs against his lips that she’s going to be late. he separates from her lips and strokes her dark hair as he did earlier, whispering to her how beautiful she is and how lucky he is to have a wife as special as her. lyra blushes, and begins to whisper a multitude of apologies about the fight back to him, but he just kisses her to stop her. he knows that she actually is going to be late if he keeps holding on to her, so he lets go of her waist and gives her a quick goodbye peck. lyra returns it and walks off, her head ache gone along with each and every single one of her worries.

————————————————————————

ummmm these ended up being so much longer than i thought they would, but OMG i just loved writing lyrason as a married couple so much!!! it just healed something in me calling them husband and wife, and i honestly need them to get married STAT bc i love them both too much 😭💗💗

[flowery-laser-blasts]

STRANGE MAGIC DRAKGO AU

First of all thank you @cocoa-night for letting me know the name of this movie. I saw a snippit of Dawn and Bog a few months back on instagram but I couldn't find the title. The second I watch this? BAM! I'm instantaneously sucked into the whole story. I don't care if people say it's a bad movie or cringe, it makes me happy.

This is a lot so if you're interested in the AU...

Designing these two in the style of the movie proved to be very difficult in the end. I'm still very unsure about these colours and details since it became pretty busy, however, I have left it as is for now and maybe in the future I might redesign it! I thought it was important to implement a bit of each other's colours in their outfits. A bit of blue in Shego's green Rajah butterfly wings and I wanted to capture the green reflection of the Scarab in Drakken's outfit, but the show's style rarely shows very shiny objects so I ended up with green accents in the collar and ends of gloves and boots. Note that these designs change a LOT in my sketches because I'm more 'free' with drawing and don't fully stick to things unless I fully render out things.

THE STORY: It basically follows the same storybeats as the movie but with some added lore I made of my own. Please don't expect a fully written fanfic. This is somewhat inbetween rough notes and script.

Kimberly, the Princess of the Faerie Kingdom, has been preparing to take her place on the throne ever since the day she was born. Under the strict eyes of Miss Go, her Governess, Kim has been leading up to the most important day of her life: choosing her husband and future King of Faeries at the Spring dance. However, Kim has other plans. During lunch periods Miss Go and Kim would often take a stroll in the Castlegarden, where she would listen to her Governess' past adventures as Shego; adventurer, world explorer, kick-ass Faerie extraordinaire. "Whatever would make you quit that exciting life and be stuck in this place?" "Well, for starters: having a roof above my head and three meals a day is nice. A warm bed--" "You've become soft haven't you?" "Do you want extra homework Kimberly?" "No ma'am." "That's what I thought. Let's get back inside. It's almost time for your dance practice." Kimberly never received a 'real' answer to her question but something must've happened in Miss Go's past... Right?

"Sooo... the spring dance huh." "What's with that?" "Oh just... You having to choose a partner for life, that's uh- That's a big deal, huh?" "Yeah, no. I don't think so." "What?" "I'm not going Ron. I am so done with this boring castle! I want adventure! I want to see the things Miss Go has seen!" "Danger, homelessness and poverty?" "The WORLD RON!" "I mean... I guess--" "All I have to do is distract Miss Go long enough during the dance and I can finally be free!" "That woman is like a bloodhound... Unlike Bonnie. Man, I tell you Kiki. I've seen ladybugs in love but that girl has it bad! I passed by her today and she didn't even comment on my 'fashion sense' like usually, all because Brick was weeding the farm!" "Wait, Ron. Rewind; What did you say?" "My fashion sense, you know, my pants and shirt never match--" "No before that!" "Ladybugs in love?" "That's it Ron! Love makes blind, maybe blind enough for us to run away!" "I mean, I don't think I've ever seen Miss Go show any emotion other than anger-- wait 'us'?" "Well, duh, of course! You and me together Ron. You're my best friend since forever! Besides Miss Go may act cold on the outside, deep down I know she has a warm heart." "Well if you say so... But what guy would be brave enough to even try greeting her?" "Easy, general Barkin. You tell him that Miss Go has a crush on him!" "But she doesn't???" "Easy Ron: Love potion... now here's the plan." And thus Kimberly's plan, after Ronald wrote it down on a piece of parchment, was put in action: - Step 1. Get General Barkin to go for Miss Go. (Maybe they even fall in love right? That way we don't need a love potion to begin with!! Right!??! I DON'T WANT TO GO TO THE DARK FOREST! MOM TOLD ME I SHOULD NEVER GO THERE!) - Step 2. If General Barkin's persistence doesn't work: Love potion. Kim said that we could get some from the Sugarplum Faerie, but I heard that she's just a legend but you know how Kim is; she's headstrong. I love her for that but this is a bit dangerous, isn't it? I'm not going to let her go by herself though! She says she's found old documents in the archives of the castle, but are those even real? What if it's just a tale?? - Step 3. Put some of the love potion in Miss Go's tea? Food? How does this even work! I've never seen it in real life! Can you overdose on it? Argh Kiki why are you doing this to me!!

"Wh-what? The Dark forest?! Miss Go, we all know that no one is--" "I'm joking Princess. Of course I'll come to the dance. Someone has to make sure that you find the right man to marry. The kingdom's fate is at stake." The night before the Spring Dance, Kimberly and Ronald met at the edge of the kingdom, ready to go into the unknown of the dark forest.

"You got all the ingredients Ron?" "Boy do I! It took me a few hours but I found everything we need for a love potion!" "Spankin! Alright, all we've got to do now is get to the middle of the Dark Forest and then in the Kobold King's cast--" "K-k-k-k-k KOBOLD KING? KIMBERLY, THIS WON'T END WELL. I THOUGHT- YOU KNOW, SUGAR PLUM JUST DIDN'T WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN SOCIETY ANYMORE AND STARTED LIVING IN THE DARK FOREST... IN A COZY COTTAGE... THAT WE CAN WALK INTO FOR A VISIT? MAYBE GET SOME COOKIES?" "Ron, please. I need you to be serious and focus. Tell me: Are you in or not? I won't be mad at you if you want to go back, but I need to know now." "...I--" Ronald took a deep breath. "Yes, of course I am." "Thank you Ron."

Once in the forest, Kimberly and Ronald snuck around. They evaded giant centipedes and weird looking frogs. Luckily for the duo, they found the way to the Kobold King's Castle with the help of a chipper cockroach that tried to get Ronald's roadtrip snacks. Meanwhile in the castle, King Drakken was having an argument with his mother who, once again, brought in a suitor for her son. "Mother for the SO MANIETH TIME. I. DO NOT. WANT. TO GET HOOKED UP WITH A TOTAL STRANGER!!!" "WELL YOU NEVER LEAVE THIS CASTLE EITHER. IF YOU'RE NOT OUT THERE LOOKING FOR A GIRL, HOW DO YOU EXPECT THEM TO FIND YOU, HMM? I'M GETTING OLDER DREW, I DON'T WANT YOU TO WITHER AWAY LIKE A SHRIVELED UP WALLFLOWER AFTER I'M GONE" "Mother, that won't happen--" "FOURTY YEARS, DREW, FOR FOURTY YEARS I TOOK CARE OF YOU, RAISED YOU WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS AND WHAT DO I GET AS THANKS? A GRUMPY GROUCH THAT DOESN'T WANT TO GIVE HIS MOTHER ANY GRANDCHILDREN." "Oh for the love of--, if you want to take care of something: get a pet!! Love is just an obstacle if you look at the bigger picture." Drakken waved his mother off as his two minions, Fissi and Killi, ran in; telling him about the spies that sneaked into the forest.

Kimberly and Ronald managed to break into the dungeon and found the Sugarplum Faerie. After they got the love potion, they helped Sugarplum to escape but because of her very, very loud singing, the Kobold King arrived. "What do we have here? Two nimwits tresspassing my domain!?" "HEY! DON'T CALL THE PRINCESS OF THE FAERIES A NIMWITT-- Oops.." "RON!" "GIVE ME THAT POTION!" Ronald struggled against the grasp of the King. "KIKI, CATCH!" Ronald thew the flask of love potion in the hopes that the princess would catch it. However as she dove towards it, it broke onto the dungeon floor. The impact caused half of the potion to splash onto Kimberly's face. Enraged, the King tossed Ronald aside and ordered Fissi and Killi to cleanup the mess before more damage could be done. Kimberly's eyes unfortunately fell upon the tyrant's face "AND AS FOR YOU PRINCESS-- why, are you looking at me like that?" IMPORTANT NOTE: FOR THIS AU TO WORK, PLEASE BE MINDFUL THAT I SEE THIS AS A TEENAGE GIRL CRUSHING ON/FALLING FOR A FAMOUS CELEBRITY AND IT'S COMPLETELY ONESIDED, LIKE IN THE MOVIE. I DO NOT SHIP KIM AND DRAKKEN. Anyway, Drakken gets the absolute creeps and locks both Kimberly and Ronald up in each a seperate cell. The King was determined to make an antidote but had to admit; this accidental fiasco proved to be bountiful. With the princess as a hostage, Drakken would have the upper hand in demanding that the Faeries would surrender their kingdom to him as an expansion of the dark forest. This was almost too good to be true! Drakken told a few of his soldiers to go to the King of the Faeries and let his demands be known: Hand over the Faerie Kingdom if you ever want to see your daughter back, alive. Luckily for Drakken, Kimberly was very helpfull in gossiping about the kingdom... maybe a bit too much. Soon enough he had too much information. He didn't want to hear endless tales about, for example: Hank, the royal baker, who's cupcakes were the buzz of the town.

From the moment she got up until lunch time, Miss Go managed to evade General Barkin's advances as she made her way to Kimberly's quarters. As expected, she didn't find her there. Going to all of Kim's regular spots, she noticed a crumpled up parchment… Ronald's notes. "Those brats… When I get my hands on them--!!! I might need to find a new job." Miss Go set out to get to the Castle of the Kobold King, hours before his army arrived at the border of the Faerie Kingdom... From this point on, I'll refer her back to Shego as we're outside of the kingdom.

Drakken was going over his plan of attack as Shego crashed into the King's throne room, causing him to shriek and hide behind his desk. "Alright, cough up. Where's Princess Kimberly." "I could take you to her... If you surrender yourself to me, wench." "Fat chance dungbeetle." "HNG! WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!?" "Get that mulch out of your ear, saves people time in repeating themselves!"

Drakken and Shego fought tooth and nail until both of them were out of breath. That's when they noticed a familair voice. "Not again... It's been HOURS!" "Is that?" "I told her to stop talking about the castle... So she started singing instead." "Did she." "Love potion? Yes." "Oh no." Drakken sighed, "Come along... watch your step."

"YOU ARE A SICK, SICK MAN!" "WHAT?! THIS IT ISN'T MY FAULT!! THAT BUFFOON PRACTICALLY AIMED THAT LOVE POTION STRAIGHT THAT GIRL'S HEAD" "YOU'RE STILL TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE SITUATION" "I'M WORKING ON AN ANTIDOTE IN THE MEANTIME!" "How long until it is done?"

Drakken and Shego spoke to the Sugarplum Faerie who gave Fissi and Killi a list of ingredients to gather. Meanwhile they went upstairs along wtih Drakken's mother to see the dininghall decorated in red hearts and all that hoopla.

"I have nothing to do with this." Shego looked him up and down, "Yeah, I can tell." "I don't know whether to take that as an insult or not." She shrugged. "Take it however you want it."

Hours passed and eventually both Drakken and Shego lost their patience. Both of them demanded to know the status of the antidote. Sugarplum told them that the antidote was inside the dungeon all along. "WHAT!? WELL WHAT IS IT?!" "YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS!" "Well what is it??" Sugarplum smirked and started to play out the tragic lovestory of the lovesick King who tried to forcefully win over the heart of a lake creature who was, unbeknownst to him, already in love with another.

"Ha...hahaha." "What's so funny Kobalt King?" "Even with that love potion, I am just too hideous to love, aren't I?" Shego felt a bit of empathy towards the King. He probably didn't notice it himself, but the few moments when the moon shone onto him through cracks of the darkened castle, he would faintly glow in a beautiful, almost mesmerizing azure blue shine. It almost made his wings and exoskeleton look like a finely polished gem. "ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO WHAT I AM SAYING?" Sugarplum's yelling snapped Shego out of her thoughts. Thinking about the story, Shego realised something: "Wait, do you mean that... urgh... 'true love' is the cure to all of this?" "Bingo! A love potion is fake, nothing about it is real. But true love, nothing can break that bond!" "...and 'in the dungeon'... Ronald! Argh!! Those two kids--" "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!" "You locked me up and blamed all your misfortune on me! I tried to warn you but you NEVER LISTEN!" "Fissi, Killi.. Just... Just take her away and let that brat-- I mean; Let Ronald into Kimberly's cell. He might be able to wake her up from her delusional state." Drakken's henchmen took the Sugarplum Faerie and left the room. Shego turned to follow Fissi and Killi but hesitated at the door. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the King standing near the window. She took a deep sigh and walked over.

"Wowwww... you.... uhhhh... You planning on blowing this whole thing off?" "Hm? Yeah. Guess you can call this a revelation, I suppose." "What do you mean?" "This whole 'wanting to take over everything'. I guess I did it because I wanted to become powerful. All these years I wanted to hold power over those who have wronged me in the past and to show sweet, beautiful Amy that I could be worthy of her love. I now realise that I just felt lost. I wanted to control everything but--" "But you can't control everything. Sometimes you just need to let go and focus on yourself. Trust me, I know everything about that. My older brother? Total control freak that hovered over all of my siblings and I. That's why I left home." "It suffocated you... That must've been a difficult decision to take for you..." "Yeah..." "Sooo... Now you are a babysitter for the Faerie Kingdom's Princess." "Governess. I saw the world for a while and after that I grew a bit bored. I wanted something more stable so... teaching. It used to be my passion. But soon Kimmie will be engaged, married and then I'll move onto the next thing." "Well, if you need a place to crash. I can keep a cell warm in my dungeon for you." The both of them laughed. "Come let's stretch our wings." "Great idea!"

The two of them flew out of the castle into the night sky and passed by all sorts of folliage and creatures until Drakken dove into a large bramble.

They enjoyed the flight and most of all; each other's company. That was until Drakken noticed the Faerie Kingdom's army. "Uh-oh... I... forgot about that." "Urgh. Just-- Just wait here. I'll go talk to them. They might shoot you on sight." "Nothing I can't handle... But I might-- er... Go check on Princess Kimberly and Ronald. If you hear singing--" "I'll stall time." Shego took off "Wait!" "Hm?" "...Be careful. That's all."

Drakken got to the dungeon via it's secret entrance and found Ronald and Kimberly, holding each other in an embrace and outside of her cell. "AH GOOD! Great to see you are back to normal... Right?" Kimberly looked over, startled at first and then cringed, remembering everything she did. "Yup!SureAm!Let'sGoRon.HaveYouSeenMissGo?" "She's at the entrance. Come with me before things escalate any further." The three of them ran up the stairs. "Let me get this straight: You're a good guy now?" "I wouldn't necessarily say that, but in this case: sure." "What changed?" "What do you mean?" "Well you went from "I AM GOING TO TAKE OVER THE FAERIE KINGDOM!" to "I'm letting both of you go." What changed? Why don't you want to take it over anymore?" "I suppose that controlling others isn't truly what I want." "What do you want?" "... I think--" "Ron this is so not the time to become a therapist." Kimberly interjected as she pointed out the massive Faerie army with at the front General Barkin.

"For the last time General. I am NOT your ANYTHING." "But-- But Miss Go. What we have--" "Nothing. NO-THING." "That damned monster has brainwashed you hasn't he?! I heard the tales about him kidnapping Sugarplum for his selfish reasons!!" Drakken felt a surge of anger coming over him as he dove headfirst towards Barkin. "I AM NOT BRAINWASHING HER. IF SHE SAYS NO, THE ANSWER IS NO. DON'T YOU DARE TO DECIDE WHAT'S BEST FOR HER!!" The two fought, which gave a misunderstood 'signal' to their allies to charge into battle. Shego grabbed Kimberly and Ronald, moving them out of harms way before looking for Drakken and Barkin.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a faint blue shimer in the light of the sunrise. The Kobold King was backed into a corner and with General Barkin's sword at his throat, he admited defeat. "My Hero!" Shego squealed out in joy. "Miss Go! You've broken free from this despicable creature's spell!" Barkin practically tossed away his sword, spreading his arms to receive, what he thought was, a warm embrace from his green Faerie in distress; instead, he received a sucker punch that send him straight into the chasm mere meters away from her and Drakken. "That was terrifying." "You almost dying?" "Your acting." Drakken and Kimberly called off both of the armies. Telling the full story, though excluding some embarassing details for everyone's sake. The Faerie army retreated, turning around to head back towards the Faerie Kingdom, leaving the Kobold King, the Governess, Princess Kimberly and Ronald to part their ways.

"I'm glad that everything got resolved in the end. See Kim? We don't need a love potion!" "That reminds me, why did you want that love potion? Weren't you two already, well, you know... On the right track?" "Oh it wasn't for Kim! It was for mhmpfff--" Kim quickly covered Ron's mouth with her hand, turning beetred. "Kimmie..." Shego crossed her arms looking at the Princess. Kim sighed.

"I want to see the world. Just like you did! I don't want to marry some random guy just so I could rule the kingdom." "You are still young," Shego smiled and brushed Kimberly's redhair behind her ear, which reminded her of her own mother. "you can see the world in due time. You will marry once you're ready and I'm pretty sure you've already found your king." Ron choked on his spit hearing that, laughing nervously. "AHEM MAYBE- MAYBE IT'S TIME TO GO BACK?" his voice cracked. Both Kimberly and Shego laughed at the boy. "Yeah, let's. Kobold King, my apologies for all the troubles we have caused you." "Ah- well... it wasn't all that bad. If it weren't for you two sneaking in, I wouldn't have met--..." "..." "Yes?" "Yes?" "Met-- individuals, such as yourselves, to show me that things aren't all that bad and that love is, mayhaps, a beautiful thing." "...Am I the only one here that thought he was going to say Miss G--OOF!" "Ron!" "It was nice to have met you as well Kobalt. You aren't as bad as they say." "Heh.." "...Farewell." The three Faeries walked off, crossing the bridge. Leaving both the castle and the Kobold King behind. Drakken bit his lip. "...Actually" "Yes?" Shego turned around. "Feel free to visit whenever you like." "Oh. Okay." "Miss Go?" Kimberly had a small smile on her face, "I have learned a lot from you. Ever since I was little, I've seen you as my secondary mother. I'll be good on my own now, besides; I think you might have found your king as well." Shego felt a lump form in her throat as she listened to the Princess' words. She touched her cheek and felt warm tears on her fingers. "Stay out of trouble Princess. I know where to find you." "I'll try my best." Kimberly beamed and hugged her Governess one last time.

"What are you doing Drew?" the King's mother held her son's hand. "What I should've done with Amy: Letting go." "No, you should've told Amy about how you felt. But that's in the past. Now you tell her how you feel." The King turned around to see the green Faerie standing in front of him. Taken aback, he tried to step away but his mother blocked his path. "Tell her. Right. Now!" "Ahem... I-- Erm... it's..." "...Yes?" "I think I-- might, have... I have fal-- fall-- What I mean to say is I lo--" Shego placed her finger on his lips hushing him. "Maybe I should take it from here." she smiled. He hummed in agreement against her touch. That night along the border where magical flowers grew, the Kobold king and the green Faerie danced along to the spring dance's melody that was carried over by the wind. Flying above the Primroses that bloomed between light and shadow.

The end.

Hope you enjoyed reading all of this! :)

[johnwickb1tsch]

Sympathy for the Devil ~ Part 19

A Donaka Mark x housekeeper!Reader fic, based on @discoscoob 's concept & bot! An unlikely flirtation turns into a dark obsession... Warnings: Donaka Mark is a bad man with a soft spot for you. dark romance, possessive behavior, nonconsensual voyeurism, red flag red flag girl!🔺, psychological games, power imbalance, eventual dubcon/nsfw/involuntary captivity. credit to @sweetwolfcupcake for finding the perfect donaka pic for this chapter! 😘😘 all chapters

Nineteen. 十九

You enjoy the duration of the ride, all the way up to Causeway Bay. He pulls up to a towering building, one of so many on Gloucester Road. 

“What’s this?” you ask, craning your neck as you look upward. 

“I believe they're called skyscrapers…” he answers cheekily. 

“Haha. I mean what are we doing?”

“Yum cha, of course.”

Your stomach starts to rumble almost on cue at the mention of this Hong Kong lunch-time tradition of tea and dumplings. 

You're not sure why it surprises you when he passes the keys to a young valet at the door. 

 “Does it ever worry you, handing the keys over to a two-million dollar car?” you ask as you take his arm. 

“Not really,” he answers. “It’s insured, and they know there would be consequences, if there was an incident.” 

“Hmm. Isn’t there a huge market for stolen luxury cars on the mainland? Like, don’t the Triads put them on speedboats and whisk them away in the dead of night?” 

Donaka chuckles darkly down at you. 

“What a morbid imagination you have.” 

“I read it somewhere.”

“One of your dubious internet searches, no doubt,” he comments with a knowing smirk. “You really shouldn’t Google ‘how to get away with murder’ so cavalierly.” 

This makes you pause as you are stepping over an uneven crack in the sidewalk. You almost teeter over in your high platforms, and you might have fallen if not for his steadying hand upon you. 

You remember that thread of research–from a long time ago. 

“It was for a book.” How far back did his sleuthing on you go? 

“Sure it was. Not for the ex boyfriend who was heckling you?” 

There had been a time when one of your exes had spammed you with messages on Facebook, asking you to hang out again with the poorly disguised intention of resuming your relationship, as though he hadn’t cheated on you with another backpacker in a hostel in Kathmandu. Murder was a bit drastic, but after the time he gave you before the cheating, the gaslighting, the degradation, and the way he would yell at you for utterly inconsequential things, you wouldn't have shed a tear if he'd been mauled by monkeys and fell off a mountain. 

You realize that from now on you might as well assume Donaka has read every little detail of your online life, whether it was password protected or not. This doesn’t surprise you as much as it might have a month ago. In fact…you’re damn near resigned. 

Rather than push you off balance, as usual, this time you merely roll your eyes. “Afraid I made my personal FBI agent clutch his pearls?”

“Undoubtedly.” 

He smirks down at you, and you can tell by the glitter in his shark-black eyes that he is enjoying himself. 

“Does my search history make you nervous, Mr. Mark?” you tease, knowing the likelihood is zilch to nil. He pushes your hair behind your ear, before tilting your head up with just a touch too much force to be considered polite.

“If you were going to try to kill me, y/n, you would have done it by now.” 

You gape up at him, flummoxed as usual. Does this mean he thinks he’s worn you down…or do you dare hope…you’re finally safe? You grasp for this latter possibility with greedy hands before your higher brain slaps the foolish notion down. 

Surely this man is only fucking with you, the way he has been all along. 

You are not safe with him, that inner voice chides. 

Why do you find it so hard to listen to it lately?  

In the end, you have to ask. “Does that mean…you're going to be nice to me now?”

He snorts, ushering you inside with his hand utterly spanning the small of your back. He doesn’t answer until the doors slide closed, and he crowds you into the wall with his big body, caging you with his arms on either side of you. Your treacherous heart leaps into your throat, torn as usual between fear and absolute immolation. He looks down at you with the sharp hunger of a wolf as he informs you, “You haven't even seen my mean side yet, sweetheart.”

Your mouth goes dry, and for some stupid reason you can’t tear your gaze away from his lips. 

You can only manage one pleading word past the tightness in your throat, your hand sliding over the hard plane of his chest, resting above his wicked heart. “Donaka…”

You don't really even know what you're asking him for? Mercy, or your final ruin?

The elevator dings at your floor. “Later.” He rights himself, taking your hand to lead you into the foyer of the restaurant. It’s a beautiful space, all dark high-polished wood and soft lighting. Backlit wooden screens bearing cutouts of undulating dragons and Chinese characters take up one wall. You wonder if it tells a story. The host addresses Donaka reverentially by name, and immediately ushers you to a table for two by the window. 

The view of the glittering blue bay below teeming with boats is breathtaking from this high up. 

If you knew nothing about Hong Kong, just looked at the teeny tiny green island on a map in relation to the mainland, and then to the whole world…it would seem hard to fathom what all the fuss is about. But there is a special magic to this place that you maybe sensed all along, yet had no hope of truly understanding, and you realize you still don’t. You wonder if that will ever change, or if this place will forever remain a dazzling mystery to you. 

“You like the view?”

 You simply nod, awed by the bustle below and your chic surroundings and the unlikely treat of being out in public with Donaka, you realize, for the very first time. Without thinking you find yourself reaching for his hand across the table, sliding your fingers into his. You feel him tense, as though you've actually done something to surprise him–or anger him.  You meet his eyes across the table, and for a split second you get the odd feeling that you aren't the only one who is uncertain.

It passes so quickly you are almost convinced you invented it. His long fingers wrap around yours possessively, the corner of his mouth pulled upwards. You can't tell if he's smirking at you, like you're the butt of a joke you don't understand– or if he's simply pleased. 

You’re not terribly proud of it, but it does not escape you that this man could show you a side of this city you never could have accessed before. Of course you always knew he was rich, but there is an upper echelon of of unfathomably wealthy people on this little island, and you’re beginning to suspect that Donaka might be one of them. 

Not for the first time you marvel that this handsome, well-connected man could have anyone in the world–and yet he’s chosen you. But then you tell yourself, also not for the first time, that he never could have gotten away with what he’s done to you, if he’d taken someone who mattered.

He watches you intently as you are thinking about all of this; you do not know what he reads in your expression. Before he can ask the waiter brings tea. Your hands separate on the tablecloth, and you feel the absence of his grasp keenly as though a chasm has opened between you. 

Annoyed with yourself, you dig your nails into your palm. 

The waiter sets down the tea tray, arranging the cups on the table, pouring for you both.  

Donaka chats with him genially in Cantonese, and you think about how morbidly fascinating it is to watch him interact with the public. He has such a commanding presence, and yet somehow he is always perfectly polite. You marvel at how people leap to please him. Do they have any inkling of the monster beneath the mask, or is it simply all charm? 

You catch a few words of their discussion, but most of it goes over your head. You presume he’s ordered for you both, after the waiter trots off for the kitchen. You find, in this instance…you don’t particularly mind. Would you have objected, once? Is he changing you? Or are you just surviving? You find you’re not particularly sure about any of these questions, and you dig your nails into your flesh even harder, as though trying to wake up from a dream. 

But this is no passing fancy of your sleeping brain. This is real, and you are living it–you have finally made it out of the house, and yet still, he has you. You realize it did not occur to you even once after the car stopped to make a run for it down the sidewalk, or solicit the help of a stranger on the street. 

Has he truly managed to train you? 

It’s not too late. 

You could make a scene, in this beautiful restaurant with its three Michelin stars. (You saw the proud plaque on the wall on the way in). But you look at the man sitting across from you, who is watching you extra intently now, as though he senses that you are a horse that has just remembered she does not require the bit–and you feel the truth settle over you.

You do not want to run.

You would rather sit here with him, and share a tasty meal like normal people, and hope that maybe things will turn around for you after all. 

You seek out his foot with yours, touching it lightly with your toe, and the question in his eyes seems to dissipate, at least for now. In fact, he looks downright pleased, and he tangles you up in his long legs under the table. He holds up his teacup in a silent toast, and gods help you, but you return the gesture and sip, the warm liquid sliding down your throat.

***

With an absolute feast of har gow and dim sum in bamboo steamer baskets filling the table, the two of you chow down. The table offers a taste of everything: succulent little dumplings filled with seasoned pork and shrimp, beef buns so delightful you could die. You even got to try bird’s nest soup for the first time, a delicacy that sounds strange to the Western palette, but something truly special. 

It’s the most full you’ve been in a long time, and you think Donaka might have to roll you out of the restaurant. Playfully you fight over the last dumpling with your chopsticks. He wins, of course, but he offers you the morsel expertly from across the table. You’re sure it’s not exactly good manners, but you cannot damper your utter delight for this sweet gesture from your usually so forbidding paramour.

“I think I’m going to pop,” you confess, winning his quiet mirth from across the table. 

“You liked?”

“Oh god.”

This only makes him chuckle more, and you know you are a ridiculous creature, but the sound is music to your ears. This pure delight makes him seem almost boyish, and you cannot stop yourself from gazing at him, wondering. 

“What were you like, when you were young?” you ask, seemingly out of the blue. 

He narrows his eyes at you, his brow furrowed, though you sense you have not actually displeased him. “Why do you ask?”

“I don't know,” you evade, setting down your chopsticks. “Maybe I wonder…if you were ever innocent.”

He lifts an eyebrow at this, and you shift in your chair, pressing your thighs together in an effort to relieve the sudden ache in your core. 

“Probably not,” he admits.

“Were you ever…happy?”

“Not like this,” he admits, and he could have pushed you out of your chair with a fingertip at that moment.

“What did you look like?”

This makes him laugh, and he too sits back in his chair, bracketing you with his long legs. “Younger, one assumes.”

“Do you have any pictures?”

“On me right now?”

You giggle, intoxicated in the moment. “No. Just in general.”

“I’m not a sentimental man, y/n. It’s not something I would keep around.”

You shrug, not sure if you believe him, deep down. You think that maybe he holds on to things in his way, more than he would like to admit. 

“Were you happy?” he counters.  “As a child?”

“Not often,” you answer immediately. “But then…I didn’t know anything different.”

“What about now?”

You close your eyes for a few long moments, and you realize the answer, crazy as it seems…is yes.

You nod, and the half smile he pays you is more than just triumph. The hunger in his eyes makes you squirm in your seat–yet there is also a certain warmth that you’re not entirely sure what to do with. 

In any other man, you would know exactly what it meant.

Donaka Mark, however…cannot be read so easily. You know it, deep down, even while a part of you dares to hope that maybe there is some genuine softer feeling in this man, just for you.     

“I have to use the restroom,” you say, gathering your ridiculous new purse on your forearm. It's a perfectly normal thing one does after a meal, but you incline your head at your keeper, waiting. He nods, and you go, walking towards the front of the restaurant. 

You can feel his eyes upon you as you walk away.

Yet after you do your business and step out you realize how close you are to the exit. You can see Donaka across the dining room, looking out the window over the water, seemingly not even paying attention to you. You think about how easy it could be, to just slip out of the restaurant unnoticed. Down the stairs, or even the elevator. Kick off these high-rise shoes and run. Make your way to the street, then your embassy. 

Maybe finally make your way home. 

You look again at the handsome man by the window waiting for you, and again you realize…you don't want to. 

If he will treat you well…you could be happy. You could be happy with that terrible rogue, and your new found family of Mei and Mrs. Wong and the other people of his household who have become your fast friends. Even Jason, who undoubtedly knows how you tried to trick him, still treats you kindly. You care for them all, and losing them would hurt in a way you find you’re not prepared to endure just now.  

He holds you hostage with kindness far more effectively than he ever did with fear. If he planned this day just to lull you into a false sense of security…he hit the mark dead on. 

Knowing very well that you could be a lamb returning meekly to the slaughter, you slowly walk back to the table with a strange ringing in your ears. As you take your seat you look upon Donaka with new eyes. 

You would have paid a king’s ransom in that moment, to know if any of this is real. 

Donaka inclines his head at you as you settle in, reaching out to possess your hand across the table with a greediness that surprises you. “So. What made you decide to come back, tou zai yee?”

Little rabbit indeed. 

You look out the window again, reluctant as ever to say it aloud.

He squeezes your hand in his, just this side of too hard. 

“I’ll have it here, or at home with you bent over my knee, bunny,” he assures you, his tone low and dangerous as the warning growl of a tiger. You see the eager gleam in his dark eyes, and you know he’ll be happy either way. 

Here he is, you think to yourself. The predator you knew lurked all along, beneath the genial facade.  

Still, you answer in your stubborn way, “Why make me say it? You already know.” 

You see it out the corner of your eye, when he smirks at you. “Do I? So I was right, you do have expensive taste.” 

This almost feels like a slap. You’re sure he knows it too, but you rise to the bait anyway, fighting to keep your voice low in this public arena. “Donaka, you could have taken me to a street stall on public transit, and I’d still be feeling this way.” 

“What way?” 

“Hoping against hope that this side of you is genuine. Because I like you a lot, when you’re sweet to me.” 

“Hmm. I think I’d bore you to tears, if I was always sweet to you.” 

“Try me.” 

This earns you genuine laughter; you covet it like a precious gem, knowing you’ll hoard it in your memory like a dragon guarding its treasure.  

“Is that all?” 

“No.” 

“I thought not.” 

You find yourself even more reluctant to admit the rest of the truth. It’s a fine blade you walk upon, confessing weakness to this man. It could lead to victory…or demise, with one tiny misstep. Yet like he knows, he waits, his dark eyes boring into you. 

“Go on, y/n. Finish your thought.” 

You make a small sound in the back of your throat that you know is no more threatening to this man than the posturing of a frustrated kitten. He squeezes you harder, and as ever, the strength in his hands never fails to make your insides flutter. 

“Mei…is like a sister I never had,” you admit. 

“You have two half-sisters.” 

“Yes. But they hate me, and I…don’t like them much either.”

He seems to consider this, which for this man, is about as close to surprise as you can get. 

“That girl means so much to you?” 

You nod, still looking out the window, hoping this explanation is enough. You’re afraid if you admit to him that his entire household has become precious to you, he will only use it against you. 

“Hmm. I suppose I can’t scold you for fraternizing with the help.”

You laugh shakily at that. Here you are, gone from housekeeper to kept woman–even if only as of today, somewhat according to your own will.

How the tables have turned. 

Donaka nods, as though mulling this over. It’s interesting to you, that this is the thing that seems to perplex him.

“Very well, y/n. Ready to go home?”

There is a lightness in his tone that emboldens you.

“No. I want more adventuring with you.”

He chuckles at you, his eyes shining like high-polished onyx. “Oh really? Someone thinks she's tai-tai already.”

“What does that mean?”

“Your Cantonese is abominable.” 

“I’m…working on it.” 

He snorts at that, only gently derisive. “Not hard enough. Ask your friend Mei, next time you're gossiping when she should be working.” He says this with a little smile, and you decide he doesn't mind that you have a friend at home, or that you’re making demands to spend more time out with him. 

“Fine. I will.”

He lifts an eyebrow at you amusedly, and damn him for the thrill it gives you. 

“Very well. More adventuring. I know what you'll like.”

You can’t help but think that's been the problem all along.

[neocitylights]

LOVERS ROCK — a rockstar galaxy short story

“Our story is more complicated than this, I was basically crushing on you before even knowing who you were.” GENRE: Romance, fluff, non-idol au, songwriter!Mark WORD COUNT: 2.5k

NOTES: A little follow-up on our favorite neighbors! Can be read as a standalone but it references a few things from the main story. Please let me know what you think, it’s gonna make my day!

Pushing the shop’s door open, you’re immediately greeted by the rich, strong aroma of freshly brewed coffee and the comforting warmth of the cozy place, momentarily shielding you from a chilly late afternoon.

An easy glance at the counter is more than enough for you to quickly spot Mark. Even through his back, the little details are unmistakable—the dark blue cap backwards, his beloved wired earphones around his neck and the out-of-place Sonny Angel keyring you’d put on his bag months ago making him stand out.

Grateful that the faculty meeting had ended earlier than expected, you decided to crash his plans. 

Every other Friday, you and Mark take turns buying dinner for each other, spending most of your nights as neighbors paying a visit next-door. Today, as it was his turn, you’d specifically mentioned craving the peanut butter cup cookies from your favorite coffee shop instead, Mark immediately taking the mission of buying them for you.

After taking a wild guess at his schedule—with a little help from Johnny—you hoped to catch him just in time to accompany him home as he’s done a million times for you.

Holding a giggle at your usual barista’s surprised eyes, you finally approach Mark, furtively slipping your arms around his waist before reaching over to rest your chin on his shoulder. 

As you feel him tense under your touch, visibly startled, the laugh escapes before you can stop it. “Baby, it’s me!”

He immediately whips his head around, the frown on his face melting to a softer expression upon seeing you. “Oh my God,” Mark starts, a groan escaping from his lips as his body immediately relaxes. “You scared the shit out of me just now.”

Still laughing, you squeeze him tighter, pressing a kiss his shoulder. “Are you surprised?”

“Jisung looked so shocked out of a sudden, I thought it was a creep or something,” he says, rolling his eyes in a mix of exasperation and confusion. “Damn, my heart’s beating so fast.”

At his words, you step around to face him and press a hand to Mark’s chest. “I just wanted to surprise you,” you say half-heartedly, amused at his rapid heartbeat. “It’s good to know I still have an effect on you, though.”

“You’ve always had it, baby.” Mark chuckles fondly, finally greeting you with his usual kiss to your cheek. “What’s up? Did you skip your work meeting today?”

“I’m a responsible faculty member now, I would never do that,” you argue, shooting him a playful eye-roll. “It just started a little earlier than usual, that’s all.”

As he pulls you against his side, Mark’s attention turns back to the shop’s menu again. “You’re just in time, I was just about to order,” he explains, scanning the list of drinks. “Jisung says the peanut butter cookies are coming out in a bit.”

No longer sidetracked by your boyfriend’s reaction, you glance over the counter just in time to spot Jisung now approaching with a fresh tray of your cookies, the barista looking nothing but amused at the way your face lights up at it. 

“Jisungie! Sorry for ignoring you!” you apologize, immediately extending a hand for a high-five. “Thank you for being my partner in crime just now, by the way.”

The boy laughs, reciprocating your motion with a satisfied nod. “That was really funny. I’ve never seen someone so scared over a hug before.”

“What about you?” you ask, raising an eyebrow as Jisung frowns in confusion, pointing at himself for a second. “Did you ask that girl out already or what?”

Mark gasps at your side, a smile instantly growing on his face as he looks between you and Jisung. “What the—? Jisung likes someone? How come you’ve never told me? Who is it?”

“A girl from his class,” you explain to Mark, side-eyeing the boy with a giddy chuckle. “She’s really pretty and I’m 100% sure that she likes him back.”

“How do you know?”

“—I don’t think she does.”

As Mark and Jisung speak at the same time, you can’t help a laugh, the pair exchanging shocked glances with each other. 

“He showed me some of her texts,” you clarify, giving the blushing boy a pointed look. “I know the signs of an interested girl because I’ve been one too, you know. She definitely likes him too.”

Your boyfriend frowns, offering you a hesitant look. “I... don’t think I realized you were interested in me through your texts, though.”

“Our story is more complicated than this, I was basically crushing on you before even knowing who you were,” you counter, rolling your eyes at the grin growing on Mark’s face. “Besides, you haven’t seen the way she looks at him, baby.”

Looking nothing but betrayed, Mark feigns a pained look. “ You’ve already met her and I’m only hearing about this now?”

“It was an accident,” Jisung interrupts rushedly, offering an apologetic look at your boyfriend. “It wasn’t really a meeting, she was just around studying for her test—”

“Studying for her test here, instead of the university’s library,” you point out, grinning as the barista groans, having heard your argument a million times by now. “It’s not a coincidence she chose to study here out of all places after you specifically told her you worked here, Ji.”

Mark suddenly whistles after a second, both you and Jisung turning to him. 

As he raises an eyebrow at the boy, your boyfriend nods solemnly, almost as if he’s had a sudden epiphany. “Damn. She likes you, dude.”

The sound of the door interrupts the conversation, startling Jisung into work mode again as a couple of clients enter the shop. 

Watching in amusement as the barista knowingly prepares your favorite cookies to-go before rushing around between the drinks and taking Mark’s card, soon enough you’re bidding him goodbye, under his shy promise of asking his girl out until your next visit.

Outside, Mark immediately holds his hand out as he falls into step beside you. “Hey, I forgot to ask you how’d you know I was here.”

“Johnny,” you answer, chuckling at the look of realization that settles on his face. “I called him earlier, said that I wanted to surprise you but didn’t know the time you’d leave work.”

“So that’s why he was being so weird today,” he says, shaking his head with a chuckle. “He kept asking me when I was leaving, I almost thought he was mad at me or something.”

“Sorry.” You grimace, giving him a half-hearted grin before squeezing his hand. “I’ll ask Hyuck next time, then.”

Mark rolls his eyes, still smiling. “That’s just worse for both of us, you’re better off with Johnny.”

At the mention of his friends, he shares a few tidbits of work while you walk home—the girl Johnny accidentally ended up scooping at a bar is doing wonders as their newest artist, Jaehyun’s concert at a big venue in California sold-out in a few hours, and Haechan’s just... doing Haechan things, apparently having roped his girlfriend into an impromptu trip to Las Vegas.

Everything feels like second nature when you finally step into the building. At the elevator, Mark presses the button for his floor without a second thought, too occupied with the way you’re cozied up against his side. 

Now that you’re more than familiar with his apartment, you feel welcomed almost as if it’s your own.

Sometimes, it’s funny to think that the place was a mystery to you once, holding the very secret that ultimately led Mark into your life. Very few things have changed since then—his vinyls and CDs are still filling every inch of the shelves, instruments propped at every corner, a few figurines here and there. 

A little guilty for leaving your own stuff around too, your boyfriend might now also have piles of books in addition to his albums, too much make-up products in his vanity and a pair or two of heels now forgotten somewhere between his sneakers.

As Mark unlocks the door, holding it open as you step into the hallway, a soft laugh escapes from his lips. “We were matching today.”

Glancing back at him over your shoulder, you pause mid-step inside. “What?”

He gestures down at your feet, toeing his own shoes off with a playful look on his face. “Our shoes were matching today.”

Following Mark’s eyes, your confusion immediately shifts to amusement at the sight of your identical Converses, earning a laugh from you. “Are we becoming one of those couples?”

“I mean, we could,” he teases, settling his shoes neatly at the rack before a grin tugs at his lips. “Are we going full outfits next time?”

You snort playfully, taking his hand for balance while slipping out of your own shoes. ”Please, that would be just you copying me, baby.”

Mark nods, sighing to hold back a smile when you coo at his pouty, sulky expression. “Alright, I see how it is.”

As you pull him into the living room, shoes and jackets properly settled, something else catches your attention before you can tease Mark again—on the coffee table, rests a copy of your latest read, the book’s familiar cover unmistakable to your eyes as you reach for it.

Your eyebrows knit together while you flick through the pages for a moment. “I could’ve sworn this book was at my place?” you say, looking up at your boyfriend in doubt. “Did I leave it here?”

A timid smile pulls at his lips, Mark quickly tossing the keys onto the counter alongside the café’s bag before approaching you. “You didn’t leave it here.”

“I don’t get it.” You frown confusedly, blinking at him. “Are you sure I didn’t leave it here? There’s so many of my books around here now—”

He shakes his head, interrupting gently. “I bought this one, actually.”

“You bought it?” you repeat, a little too dazed at the missing dots. “Why? I could’ve given you mine, if you wanted.”

“We were kinda reading at the same time?” Mark starts, chuckling sheepishly at the way your face changes at his explanation. “You were so excited about it the other day, so I thought I could... you know, read it so I can know what you’re talking about.”

You blink, fingers tightening around the book as warmth spreads through your chest. “Mark...” you mutter, voice softer. “Are you serious?”

Rubbing the back of his neck, he shrugs lightly. “It’s no big deal, I just thought it’d be fun to see what’s got you so hooked.”

Caught in between amusement and endearment at his attentiveness, you give Mark a look before fisting his t-shirt, pulling him closer to press a kiss to his lips. With his arms closed around your waist, you resist pulling away for a moment, a sound of protest escaping from your lips once Mark breaks away for a breath.

As he exhales, a flustered chuckle slips through. “Man, you’re definitely killing me one of these days.”

You burst into laughter at his unexpected reaction, escaping from his hold before heading off to the kitchen with a grin at his direction. “I’m hungry now! What are we choosing for dinner?”

Bending the Friday rules over your sudden request, the scent of take-out soon fills the living-room as Mark sets the bags on the coffee table. With the cookies saved for later, both of you settle on the couch, sharing bites of each other’s choices between bits of conversation.

With both of you sharing an unconscious routine, it doesn’t take long until the TV is playing the latest episode of a show you’re currently watching together, Mark indulging your cookies whenever you feed him one in between sips of your lukewarm coffees after dinner.

In the brief pause between the episodes, you suddenly turn around to look at him, almost pouting when pulling back from his arms holding you close. “Why are you so quiet out of a sudden?” 

Seemingly surprised, Mark’s eyes widen for a second before he chuckles awkwardly. “Am I?”

“You’re not even reacting to my little comments,” you start, voice somewhere between confusion and curiosity. “You haven’t laughed at all during the last episode. What’s wrong, baby?”

As he smiles at the nickname, fingers tenderly brushing your cheek, Mark exhales. “I was just thinking... we could talk for a bit?”

The words are all you need to turn off the TV, focusing on him as you sit up. “I’m all ears, Mark Lee.”

He can’t help laughing at the way you say it, reaching for your hand before pressing a kiss to it. “You’re such a dork, sometimes,” Mark teases, shaking his head. “It’s nothing crazy... I think.”

“Well, now I’m curious,” you answer, frowning despite your amusement. “I hope you’re not breaking up with me right now. Are you?”

Though there’s not a single doubt about Mark’s commitment to your relationship in your mind, the quip is mostly to break your boyfriend out of his own mind. Johnny always says he’s come a long way from being an absolute overthinker, but being the naturally sensible, critical person that he is, Mark still hangs onto his thoughts every now and then. 

His face falls for a second at your words, eyes widening in panic. “Fuck no, baby, no way,” he counters, squeezing your hand harder with a pleading look. “I’m not breaking up with you, sorry if I gave you that impression.”

You smile at his puppy eyes, resisting the urge to kiss him by intertwining your fingers instead. “If you’re not planning to break up with me, then...”

“You move in with me,” Mark says, a hint of concern briefly flashing in his eyes over your expression, a mix of shock and something else he doesn’t seem to catch on. “It’s fine if you don’t want to—”

“Mark, I want to,” you interrupt right away, not resisting pressing a quick kiss to his lips over the endearing relief on his face. “Obviously I want to... but are you sure about it?”

“I’m sure, baby.” He nods firmly, huffing a quiet laugh before taking a look around the living room. “It doesn’t need to be my apartment, though. I can bring my stuff down to yours, if you want.”

“We can decide that with a Halli Galli match,” you joke, laughing at his groan before glancing knowingly at him. “How long have you been thinking about this?”

With a chuckle, Mark runs a hand through his hair,  looking a little taken aback. “A few months, give or take,” he answers, a sigh following. “You’ve been leaving some of your stuff around whenever you sleep over and I... didn’t mind it. It actually felt like I was coming home to you even when you weren’t here, you know?”

There’s nothing that can stop you from jumping on him, your lips kissing every inch of his face as Mark laughs, wrapping his arms around you before falling on his back against the couch. Between a few kisses to his mouth and a few more to his face, you might’ve struggled a little bit to pull back from him.

As both of you sit up again, your arms wrap his shoulders in final a hug. “You belong in a love song, Mark.” 

“That’s a yes, right?” Mark suddenly asks, hands immediately cupping your face as soon you pull away from the embrace, his cheeks still flushed from your words. “Are we really doing this?”

The familiarity isn’t lost on you, a smile growing on your face. With your heart still full and completely assured, there’s no hesitation to your answer.

“We’re doing this.”

[damthosefandoms]

There's death at my door and I swear that it's following me

(ao3 link)

Summary:

“I’m going to finish it,” he says out loud to anyone who might be listening in his empty house. “I swear. I have to for school, anyway. I’m not handing in an unfinished paper.”

There is no response but the sound of Ponyboy’s own breathing.

“It’s not easy to write, Johnny!” he yells. “This is the part where I get you killed, you know!”

Nothing.

Figures he’d be quiet dead, too.

---

Neither of the greasers who died that cold, September night in 1967 had a funeral—Dally had nobody to set one up, except his friends who couldn’t afford it, and they never found out where the cops took him after they killed him anyway. But a month or so after everything ends, they find out Johnny’s mother had him cremated and that she and his father kept his ashes.

Ponyboy is particularly pissed off. Something about Johnny being trapped in that house his whole life, and even now, after death, being kept in a place he hated more than anything else…

“It ain’t right. I…we loved him more than they could ever dream of.”

As the remnants of the gang sit around the Curtises’ kitchen table, defeated, Two-Bit half-heartedly jokes they should steal his ashes. Darry rolls his eyes. Sodapop says that’s horrible. A heartbroken Ponyboy says, “Dally would’ve done it in a heartbeat.”

A week later Darry and Soda wake up to Pony making eggs for breakfast, with a new centerpiece on the table.

“Tell me that is not what I think it is,” Darry mutters, gesturing to the cheap urn.

Pony’s face goes red. “So, uh… this kid Mark at school taught me how to pick locks, and…”

“Ponyboy Michael Curtis!”

“C’mon, Darry, I had to! It was eating me alive. They don’t deserve him! I’ll bet they won’t even notice he’s gone!”

His brothers look at him like he’s finally lost it. Maybe he has, because Mark’s advice had gotten him nowhere, and Pony swears the Cades’ door unlocked on its own last night.

“All Johnny wanted was to get out of Tulsa. The happiest he ever was, was watchin’ the sunset back there on Jay Mountain. I needed to go get him so we could take him there.”

“Ponyboy…”

“I had to. I just had to. If not for Johnny, then for Dally, okay? ‘Cause god knows we couldn’t do anythin’ else for him.”

He’s got a lot of reasons to believe this is what Johnny wanted.

That weekend, the whole gang drives up to the remains of the church, so they all can say goodbye. Ponyboy pours Johnny’s ashes out over the cliffside where they watched the sunset, and if a little bit of dust gets on his hands, well. He stares for a minute before he goes to wash it off at the old water pump.

“You gotta go, Johnny,” he mumbles. “Don’t stick around me. Don’t do that to yourself. Move on.”

He’s always had a weird relationship with death. 

---

Ever since Ponyboy was little, he’d been told he had a strong imagination. His brothers call him a dreamer. His dad used to laugh and say he had his head in the clouds; his Mom said he was just the creative type. He learned pretty fast that no one else saw the things he could see, and he learned even faster not to talk about it. He thinks his brothers never believed him, but they also never forgot.

It’s one of those things where Ponyboy doesn’t see things unless he needs to. He got real good at tuning out the supernatural at a very young age, and it’s not something that comes up in his life very often anyway; death may follow him wherever he goes, it may show up at his door but he does not let it in. He doesn’t know why he’s like this. It’s like there is just something special about him, something he figures he won’t understand until he is much, much older. Or maybe he never will, and he’s just crazy.

The first time death comes to visit, Ponyboy is not feeling well. It’s been a month, it’s almost Halloween, and it is the first time since Johnny and Dally died that he’s sick again. Pony’s got just a low-grade fever, but Darry lets him stay home because that’s for the best. He promises to work on his English assignment.

Darry and Soda head out to work with promises to check up on him during their lunch breaks. He picks up his notebook and flips through it, but he is at the part where he runs into the church to save those kids and he can’t bring himself to pick up the pencil and admit that it was his cigarette. His fault.

His pencil rolls over the edge of the desk. It clatters to the floor and Ponyboy reaches down to get it. When he sits up, Johnny’s ghost is staring at him, pointing at the blank page. 

He blinks and he is alone again, but he can still feel the presence and knows deep down he isn’t. He sits back and groans. He can’t be normal for ten minutes?

“I’m going to finish it,” he says out loud to anyone who might be listening in his empty house. “I swear. I have to for school, anyway. I’m not handing in an unfinished paper.”

There is no response but the sound of Ponyboy’s own breathing. 

“It’s not easy to write, Johnny!” he yells. “This is the part where I get you killed, you know!”

Nothing. 

Figures he’d be quiet dead, too.

But writer’s block grabs him by the throat and doesn’t let go, so Ponyboy picks up his pencil again and begins to doodle on that blank page a picture of his current situation.

He falls asleep at his desk, and when his brothers come home, they find him there, snoring over a picture of himself at his desk, writing in his notebook while Johnny Cade stands watching over his shoulder like some kind of guardian angel.

---

Time passes and school starts up again, and around a year or so after the Windrixville nightmare, Ponyboy announces to his brothers that he’s going to some school dance with a couple of friends. He’s really non-committal about the whole thing, but Soda thinks it’s a good idea, and maybe Pony doesn’t really like the group of guys he’s going with but he knows he has to get out of his comfort zone and this is one way to do that. He promises to be back before curfew, so it’s not like he’ll have time to get into any trouble.

Apparently, his first mistake was one he’d made literal months ago, back in the spring—saying no to going out with Angela Shepard.

He knows it was shitty of him, the way he'd barely even acknowledged her presence after she waltzed up to him that day, but he also he knows it was never about him. It was her, expecting Pony to have her back whether or not he actually was interested in her, because that's just what Curtises and Shepards do.

But the day she approached him was—would've been—Johnny's seventeenth birthday. So, you know. There are a lot of reasons he'd turned her down. 

And now here they are, in October of 1968, at this stupid school dance. Mark’s brother Bryon brought a date and Bryon never liked Ponyboy anyway, so he and Mark walked off together to let those two hang out, and then Mark wanted to go out to Terry’s car because he brought alcohol or something—Pony was not interested in drinking the slightest, but he followed anyway—and then his second mistake must’ve been simply being at the dance or something, he doesn’t actually know. He doesn’t think he spoke to Angela the whole time.

(Later Ponyboy finds out she was trying to piss off Bryon, who he later finds out is her ex. She was mad he'd brought a date, or something like that. He still doesn't really get the whole thing, and probably never will. If you ask him, Angela should've known better than to have taken it all personally when she'd known exactly what she was doing.)

They’re sitting on the hood of Mark’s friend Terry’s car and some guy walks up that Ponyboy has never seen before. 

And the guy just swings at him! Of course he swung back!

Pony knows that he does not have a tough reputation, but he is one hell of a fighter—he may have gotten his ass kicked in the rumble but he also helped kick ass, and he’s been working out a bit with Darry so he can keep up with the track team, and he was briefly considered an accessory to murder, so clearly he can handle himself. Just ignore the fact he'd been drowning in the fountain for that whole thing. He figures Mark didn’t get the memo, because when the guy smashes a beer bottle to swing at Ponyboy’s head, his idiot friend decides to pick that moment to tell the other guy to relax.

Next thing Pony knows Mark’s on the ground bleeding and the school-sanctioned cop appointed to keep kids from killing each other at the dance grabs him to haul him away. Some job he’s doing.

He goes to get Mark’s brother, and he explains that the guy meant to hit him and not Mark, and Bryon says something about Angela Shepard but he doesn’t really explain. Pony decides he doesn't care. Mark groans and his eyes open, but it’s like he can’t see anything and Pony winces, because he knows all too well what is happening.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“Shock,” Ponyboy says, and he takes Dally’s old leather jacket off and throws it over the guy until the ambulance arrives and the EMTs take over. He’s careful not to let any blood get on it, though. It’s already been through enough.

Ponyboy thinks maybe he has, too.

The brothers get into the ambulance and Cathy Carlson, the girl that Bryon took to the dance, walks up to him and asks what happened, so he tells her. She mentions that Bryon borrowed a friend’s car to drive them there—Two-Bit drove Ponyboy to the dance and then ditched him for the first girl he saw at the party, and must be long gone by now—and she points it out to him in the parking lot. She heads off to see if she can get a ride to the hospital from someone. 

Ponyboy wants to thank Mark for stopping the fight, if he can. He’s not as bad as everyone thinks he is; Pony’s got no clue why Dally used to be so insistent he stay away from the kid. He also kind of figured Bryon would need a way home too, so…

He hotwires the car. He hopes he didn’t break anything in the process, and he makes sure to have Cathy drive, because she has a license and Darry won’t let anyone but himself teach Pony—and he won’t do it until Pony’s sixteen. Probably for the best considering Soda and Steve have a million speeding tickets each and Two-Bit is chronically under the influence.

When they leave, Ponyboy and Bryon have to help Mark walk out because he can’t on his own just yet. Pony’s in the middle of saying he gets it, “I had this killer concussion last year after some soc kicked me in the head during the big rumble, and I remember bein’ out of my mind loopy after, laughin’ at how I couldn’t run… straight…”

He trails off.

He realizes he recognizes this hallway. The door across from him is slightly open and it is the room Johnny died in.

Mark half-falls ‘cause Bryon kept walking and Pony didn’t, and it takes Cathy asking if he is okay to snap him out of it. He says yes but his chest is starting to feel tight and his eyes burn.

He blinks a few times and shakes his head and mumbles a “sorry,” which just gets him an odd look, but no one really asks after that. They get Mark in the car and the only thing he says for the entire ride home are the directions to his house.

Except they don’t get all the way to his house, because they are driving down the street Dallas Winston died on and the pain in Pony’s chest gets worse and he looks out the window toward the street lamp and yells “STOP!” because he sees someone standing there and is convinced they are about to hit them.

Everyone stares at Ponyboy like he is insane but he does not care because Dally is crumpling to the ground just like he did that night, calling out Pony’s name and dropping dead. Then he is standing up, and the bullets are hitting him, and it repeats and repeats like some horrible loop. Pony feels like all his hair is standing on end. He can’t breathe.

Don’t think about how you heard Dally and Johnny’s last words, how they called for you, but you’ll never know Mom and Dad’s. If they screamed for help. If they held each other as they died. If they watched the train coming and knew they couldn't run.

“Uh, I forgot to tell y’all a turn, I… I’ll get out here. Thanks for the ride.”

He doesn’t wait for a response before he gets out of the car and shuts the door. Cathy’s got the window down and she asks if he’s okay and Pony is normally a good liar but he isn’t tonight.

“I’ll be fine. See you later.”

They drive off and Ponyboy sits down on the curb and stares at his hands. He’s never hanging out with any of them ever again.

He thinks about his dreams, the horrible ones that wake him up screaming and shaking, the ones he can’t ever remember, and he wonders why he had to be the one cursed with this stupid ability. To know something horrible is going to happen before it does. To see what happened to his friends after death. Why he has to be the one to know Dallas Winston will never move on. He has this feeling in his gut and he knows he needs to walk down this road to get home but he cannot bring himself to go anywhere near that street lamp. He already has Johnny’s spirit attached to him. He can’t deal with the idea of Dally being there too. He is too angry, and even from this distance, it’s starting to affect Pony, too.

He takes the long way home, because maybe he has a jacket tonight but he figures that if he’s going to get jumped tonight for walking home alone, what’s the worst that could happen after last time? He’s already lost two friends. He lost his parents. Who even cares anymore?

When Ponyboy gets back to his house it is well after curfew and he can see the light on inside and it is like deja vu. He has a black eye and his lip is cut, he knows it’s swelling up because he never put ice on it, and his chest feels tight and he knows he’s shed a few tears and he just. He can’t even bring himself to care as he walks inside.

“You’re late again,” Darry says. Soda is nowhere to be seen. 

“Yeah, whatever, Darrel,” Pony mutters.

“Where were you? I told you to be home by midnight. What happened to your face?”

“Some guy swung at me. Don’t worry about it.”

“You really think I won’t, Pony? We’ve talked about this.”

That is a lie. They didn’t talk. They just promised Soda not to fight anymore.

But Pony is tired and Dally and his heart hurts and he feels like he is going to explode, so he does.

“I was at the hospital, Darry, is that what you want? My friend got hurt trying to help me out because some guy I ain’t never seen in my life decided to swing at me at the dance even though I didn’t even do anything and I went to the hospital to check on Mark. And you know what? I had it all under control and then I hadda walk past that stupid room Johnny died in and now I know my brain is broken ‘cause I can’t stop thinking about it and about Dally and— and I don’t want to talk about it!” Ponyboy can’t even finish. He just storms past his brother and down the hall to his room.

He opens the door, grabs Sodapop out of the bed and shoves him out, and then slams the door shut behind him. The doorknob clicks locked and they hear a noise that sounds an awful lot like a heartbroken sob.

Soda looks at Darry.

“I told you waiting up for him would just piss him off.”

“Shut up.”

[fuck-customers]

🚐🚐🚐🚐🚐🚐

24/10

I worked a seasonal position as a receptionist, and my boss offered me a temporary position helping out in another department for a month once my contract was up. I accepted on the basis that it was 30 hours a week max and all I'd be doing was admin tasks, no speaking with clients. Which after a season full of holidaymakers I was desperate for.

The week I'm supposed to start I receive no communication from who I was told was my new boss until the day before I'm supposed to go in for a little bit of training, and she's put out when I reiterate that that week there's two days I can't do due to previous commitments I made while I thought I'd be unemployed. And when I get to work on the training day, the person who actually will be my boss doesn't ever work that day, so my poor previous boss had to scramble to find something for me to do, since no one could train me nor could I get on the company system properly as my new boss hadn't sorted my contract.

I'm annoyed but hey, things happen. It's the first week, so there's bound to be hiccups, right?

I get to work the next week and my new boss starts to train me with the system I'll be using, only to be pulled away because we have an auditor in and of course that's more important. I don't mind that at all, but don't have me come in to work if you know you don't have time to train me. The same thing happens the following day and there's another new hire from a different department in the same position as me, so we end up doing hardly anything all day and feeling like spare parts. By this point I'm fairly pissed off that the three shifts I've done have been pointless, but I'll persist.

I do two more shifts this week, both of which are actually me being trained and working, and it's becoming very apparent that I will actually have to speak with clients for this role; it's not just helping the department catch up with paperwork. I'm very much feeling lied to, messed about, and like I'm not the right fit for the job, so I take the weekend to think about it, and message my new boss on Sunday morning to tell her that I'm grateful for the chance but I won't be coming back in. I was very polite in my message, I didn't mention my frustration with the disorganisation in the department, the fact that everyone looks down on you for actually taking your lunch break rather than just working at your desk while you eat, or that, morally, I cannot be involved in helping sell holiday homes to people on a site that's severely rat infested and crumbling, but the general manager refuses to spend any money to revamp the place.

I was very final with my message, which I think was obvious by the fact that I wished my new boss the best of luck and a good holiday season, so I figured that would be that. I'll admit my anxiety has me refusing to check whatsapp so I can't see what she's said, because a) I'm not ready for that and b) to me, it's done and dusted.

She's tried to call me five times in the last 20 minutes. I don't know what the hell she wants, but I'm not answering. My best guess would be she wants me to work my notice, but there's absolutely no point. I'm still not trained properly to do this new job, so at least some of my one weeks notice would be me being trained for a job I'm leaving. Normally I'd never quit without giving and working my notice, but in this instance it's pointless.

I'm not going to answer her calls or call her back. I don't care. Honestly, working on reception was bad enough; it's very clear that the company as a whole values profit over guests' happiness and safety. It's one thing to sell someone a holiday on our shit hole of a site, but it's another thing entirely to be a part of them becoming an owner of a run-down holiday home. At least with guests, I can give them vouchers or money off a future holiday or at a push a refund. With this new job, I can't do anything but apologise for the shitty situation I've helped put the new owners in. I wish I was brave enough to say that to my now ex-boss.

Posted by admin Rodney

[reccyls]

hi!! sorry to ask, but what are mai’s symptoms in mitsuhide’s sequel?? like how would the tragic end play out? thank you!

Hello! Please don't apologize for asking, I'm happy to answer questions! (If I do know the answer, of course). I'll put the details beneath the cut, I've actually finished the tragic end as well

Mai's symptoms here are that she sometimes fades out of existence. She becomes invisible to others, they can't hear her voice, and she passes through the people she touches. It starts off as just a few seconds, brief enough that other people think it's a trick of the light, or maybe they're too exhausted. But eventually it becomes nearly permanent.

There is a way to check for Mai's presence, however: the ringing of a bell. It was something that belonged to her in the modern day, and she gave it to Mitsuhide to repair. When he gives it back to her, it is now something that belongs to both the past and the future, so the universe can't erase it since it "belongs" to the past. Therefore, Mai always brings the bell with her and rings it to make her presence known.

The original speculation regarding the cause of Mai's symptoms were her actions to save Nobunaga from the Honno-ji incident. However, it's later theorized by Sasuke that it's not Mai saving Nobunaga's life that caused the timeline warps: it's actually her saving Mitsuhide. Not just once (he should have died after Honno-ji as well) but twice (during Yoshiaki's trap). Therefore, the guidebook pages going blank (and eventually Mitsuhide's name specifically also disappearing from the guidebook) are the unvierse trying to correct this by causing Mai to disappear, thus making history go back on the right track.

This was said in confidence to Mai. However, Mitsuhide happened to overhear this. Now, Kicho and Motonari haven't been sitting their idly either. So Mitsuhide figures he'll kill two birds with one stone: he leaves the Oda forces and begins raising a third army on his own, to draw strength away from Kicho and Motonari. He is planning to go into battle against the Oda forces and lose, cementing Nobunaga's continued rule, and also dying to erase himself from the timeline to stop Mai's symptoms.

(Note that earlier in the route, Mai had almost run away silently from the Oda to try and avert this: maybe if she wasn't around to influence Nobunaga or Mitsuhide anymore, the symptoms would stop getting worse and Mitsuhide wouldn't be driven to drastic measures to try and stop them. Masamune is the one who catches her and helps to convince her to stay. Masamune is also the one who confronted Mitsuhide after he declared his intention to leave; he calls the two of them "a matched pair" given that their immediate first thought is to do some sort of self-sacrificial stunt to save the other.)

In the tragic ending, Mai figures out Mitsuhide's second aim during a war council with the others. She absolutely does not want Mitsuhide to do this, and so, she silently leaves the war council and decides to go through with her original plan. She writes a farewell letter for everyone and then vanishes without a trace. The letter is discovered the next day by Ranmaru, who realizes what Mai has done and informs the others.

The tragic ending then skips ahead a few months, to a final confrontation between the Oda, and Mitsuhide's rebel army. Mitsuhide is soundly defeated, and he comes face to face with his old comrades for the first time in a long time. However, all Nobunaga does is to give him a letter: the one that Mai wrote before she disappeared.

Here is where I clearly remember the language used in the text, it was that evocative: after reading the letter, Mitsuhide fell to his knees "as if his soul had left his body"; everything he had done, all for nothing because Mai was gone.

As penance for his betrayal, Nobunaga gives Mitsuhide a mission: find Mai. No one believes that she has truly disappeared forever.

The last scene of the tragic end is another timeskip, this time a year or perhaps more later. Mitsuhide is wandering the country, constantly searching for any trace of Mai. Earlier in the route, there was a discussion about how Mitsuhide's life was a road that led to hell. He muses to himself how hoping against hope is a kind of hell in itself, but one that he willingly walks into, because he must believe that Mai still exists, and that he can find her.

And we end with the sound of a ringing bell, carried by the wind. One more chime, this time fainter. Mitsuhide smiles and asks if she is playing tag with him. But regardless, he gets up, and follows the sound, because he would follow her anywhere, even to the depths of hell.

[idorukiss]

A Slumbering Reunion

─── ⋆⋅୨୧⋅⋆ ─── Sylus x MC/Reader (can be any gender) 2,098 words | SFW | AO3

Tags: First kiss, Cuddling, Start of the relationship, Brief mentions of some side charas, POV Second Person

Summary: Work has kept you from being able to see Sylus for the last month, and you are overcome with longing. You miss him so much. ─── ⋆⋅୨୧⋅⋆ ───

You miss him. You miss Sylus so much more than you ever thought you would when you first met him that fateful night. The ‘you’ of back then would be shocked to see how head over heels you have fallen for this man right now, especially seeing how your relationship has developed over time. All you want to do at this moment is run into his arms and hear his sweet voice, but you can’t. And it pains you every time you are reminded of it.

How long has it been since you got to see his face, let alone hear him call your name? Work has kept both of you busy for the last month, barely able to keep up with daily texts to one another. Any time you had a day off he was in another country, and any time he was finally available you were out on yet another mission unable to be contacted. It was excruciating for the both of you to be apart for so long. Wanderers and shady deals never cease to stop just because you are longing for somebody after all.

It wasn’t unheard of to have so many missions back to back, keeping everyone safe took top priority over everything else. It’s a blessing that Captain Jenna granted a week's vacation after all is said and done as an apology for overworking you. As soon as the last reports were handed in, you were out those doors in record time- even brushing aside Tara’s invite for drinks just to get to your bike sooner.

Your schedules are as synced with one another as they can be with how wildly unpredictable things can be for the both of you. Sylus isn’t set to be home for 2 more days but you don’t care, you just need to see him as soon as possible. He doesn’t know about the newfound time off yet, it was a last minute decision and you wanted it to be a secret. You wanted to surprise him the moment he stepped through the doors with a massive hug and never let go.

Golden rays paint over the landscape as you zip through the traffic and chaos of the N109 zone at record speed. You'd never be this reckless back in Linkon City, but Sylus has taught you to live a little while you're there. And when all you want to do is see him again, not even petty theft on the side of the road will stop you on the way. A familiar crow can be spotted flying alongside you as the looming mansion finally comes into view.

Before you can finish dismounting from your bike the front door is already swinging open, revealing two bright familiar figures calling out to you. It’s easy to tell what good moods the twins are in, they must have been mindlessly bored this entire time. You make a mental note about finding something fun for the three of you to do together tomorrow, time always passes faster with company and you surely have time to spare before Sylus returns

After being escorted in and getting confirmation that the one you wish to see the most indeed won’t be back for a while, you beeline to his office. You know he won’t be there, but it just reminds you of him and sets your heart at ease picturing him there cleaning his gun as always. Slowly taking in the surroundings, everything looks exactly as you last remember it but also so foreign at the same time- Almost as if it were a dream in a way. Has it really been this long?

His desk is perfectly clean, looking like you'd expect it to for the top dog of Onychinus. Well except the small dinosaur figurine sitting on the corner, of course. You got it from a capsule machine months ago and even have your own matching one back home- it sits on your bedside table to greet you every morning. Your heart does a little flip up knowing he keeps it there all the time. Maybe you should get him more trinkets, he enjoys showering you with presents so its only fair you do the same, right?

Sitting yourself on the comfortable leather sofa, you grab a book that was sitting on the table. It’s one you grabbed the last time you were here, curious about the contents, but you didn’t have the time to open it. Seems like Sylus kept it out and ready just for you in case you stopped by- Did he hope you'd stop by while he was gone? You wonder if he found himself staring at it while thinking of you as you open it up and start reading.

Minutes turn into hours, and the words before you start to blur into one another. The clock on the wall now reads 12am to your surprise. Did that much time really pass? The sun was still just barely peeking over the horizon when you sat down. As if on cue, the exhaustion from the last month seems to be hitting you like a brick all at once. Standing up with a big stretch you decide that now’s the best time if any to turn in for the night.

Its always sweet that Sylus keeps a room for you here, sure there's plenty of spare rooms in this large building but nobody is allowed in this one but you. He told you that it will always be stocked and ready so you shouldn't hesitate to come by at any time- That you should always treat his place as if it were your own. A dangerous offer, since if it weren't for work and your important investigations you'd just spend every free moment here. Little did you know, he secretly wishes you would do just that.

A quick shower to get the day's grime off, and you find yourself reminiscing in the room. It was so cold and empty at first but now there's plushies, plants, and photos you took together hung on the wall. Its so warm and comforting now- it feels like home. There's even a new trinket on the bedside table- a small crystal bird that certainly wasn’t here last time. When did he find time to get you this?

Crawling under the warm covers, you drift asleep with an arm outstretched toward the far side of the bed. It felt so empty- you felt so empty. It’s strange to admit that, it’s not like you’ve slept in the same bed like that before. Your relationship with him has indeed developed over time, the longing that's been weighing deep in your chest is proof of that. But you can’t help but wonder what he would call it if you asked. Does he feel the same way?

In the dead of night, the front door slams open with a hurried urgency revealing the silhouette of a tall man illuminated from behind by the moonlight. The only thing stopping him from slamming it shut was the realization of what time it actually was, not wanting to disturb anyone in the house. Not wanting to wake you up. Sylus had rushed home the moment Mephisto signaled to him of your visit, and from the looks of it he couldn’t wait a moment longer.

He doesn’t let his expression show on his face, but the long fast paced strides down the hall just showed his impatience. He could see your shoes by the door but he had to know without a doubt you are there- That he could see your face and hear your laughs again. So that he can feel whole once more with you by his side.

Upon spotting your sleeping figure everything felt right with the world once again. He doesn’t hesitate to throw his jacket on the floor and join you in bed, pulling you ever so tightly against him. He’s surprised that alone didn’t wake you, it must have been a really tiring month to have you this exhausted. Pressing a loving kiss to the top of your head he too drifts off to sleep, feeling a calmness and joy he hasn’t felt in a long time.

That night you dreamed, what it was about you couldn't say. It was both so vivid in your mind yet a complete blur at the same time. Was it happy? Sad? The only detail you can manage to retain is of flowers- a field of flowers as far as the eye can see. Maybe one day the details will come back to you once more and you can share it with him.

Light peeks through the curtains as the sun rises, and stirs you from your slumber. Trying to roll over to get just a few more minutes of much needed rest, you start to register the weight around your waist that's preventing you from moving much- as well as the warmth radiating from next to you. Huh? Your eyes shoot open and are greeted by the sight of Sylus’s sleeping figure. When did he get back?

So many questions race in your mind before they’re drowned out by the unbridled joy in your heart. He’s not supposed to be home yet, but here he was with his arms wrapped around you like a child with their favorite stuffed animal. Are you sure this isn't yet another dream? Well, if it was then it’s not one you wanted to wake up from any time soon.

Your phone dings with nothing more than a spam text, but it’s enough to cause a brief panic. The entire time you’ve known Sylus he has been an extremely light sleeper. Considering how dangerous of a life he lives, it makes perfect sense for him to always be on alert. But you would do anything to not disturb this moment or his sleep in general- and thankfully he seems to be out like a rock for once.

You spend the next seemingly forever just staring at him and gently running your fingers in his hair. He was always handsome, but something about his completely relaxed face as he slept soundly was ethereal. Like he was sculpted out of the finest marble by an angel’s hands, just for you at this very moment. You might be the luckiest person in the world.

As you reach out to cup your hand on his cheek, he begins to stir a little. Lifting his own hand up to hold yours in place as his eyes begin to flutter open, flashing such a shimmering deep red that you adored. He doesn't say anything at first- just staring at you with sleepy affection. Determining too, if this moment was a dream or not.

His voice is quiet, but gruff, as he nuzzles into your hand “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” “Good morning to you too, sleeping beauty” your face not even hiding the joy you feel at this moment “Shouldn't I be asking you that? I thought you were on a business trip.” He props himself up with a chuckle “Well as soon as I heard a certain someone finally showed their face again I cancelled everything I had planned for the week”

Oh how you missed him. Everything about him just makes your heart do flips and having him by your side once again makes you feel complete. Somehow you find yourself falling even more in love with him than you thought was possible. You don’t respond, choosing to just wrap your arms around him and giving him the biggest squeeze you can manage instead.

“I missed you too, kitten” he quietly whispers, holding you tightly in his embrace

You two lay there in each other’s arms, hearts both pounding in unison. The agonizing time apart has finally come to an end and this is where you were both meant to be. As your eyes finally meet once again, everything feels right and ignites a spark- eyes close and lips crash for a gentle yet magical first kiss that exceeds all expectations and daydreams.

It didn’t last nearly long enough for either of you, but the fact it happened in the first place was everything and more. The walls have come crumbling down and there was no hiding your mutual feelings for one another. Your hands wrap around his neck as Sylus pulls you in for yet another kiss- this one more desperate than the first.

Fate has once again brought you together, and with intertwined souls you will continue to love each other for eternity.