#also no river is not taller than me they’re sitting on my lap alright don’t get any ideas

[whump-queen]

we were arguing literally two minutes earlier.

More art || crops & tags below || (original art)

ft. my beloved, @hurtthemgently

General whimp taglist: (lmk if you don’t want to be tagged in art!) @whumpshaped  @whumpsday @emmettnet @a-whump-sideblog @whump-it-like-its-hot  @wolfeyedwitch  @whumper-soot @unorganisedalienrubbish  @kira-the-whump-enthusiast  @hidden-dreamland @whumpedydump @lonesome--hunter @ashh-ed @whump-in-the-closet @oriantthegiant @banditosong @anonymustyou, bonus tagging @blood-is-compulsory just ask to be added/removed <3

[writinginthedarkwood]

Kitsune Todoroki: A Mischievous Encounter

Your village is starving, you make the journey to the abandoned shrine to plead with the god that may or may not be there...

~Some supernatural smut for ya (also kind of fluffy? idk)~

Kinks for Kinktober! -  Master/ Slave

Shoto Todoroki x Reader Halloween special!

My feet are exhausted, I’ve been walking for too long today. A day’s journey seemed like such an easy task before I actually started the path through this over grown wood. I sighed and tightened my boots, the sole has been wearing thin for months now, but they’re holding up okay. I took a sip from my leather pouch, the tangy flavor of the leather tainted the fresh water, but I couldn’t restrain myself and gulped it down anyway. The tree’s are blowing gently, the sun is shining threw the tree’s and hitting the banks of the river, reflecting off of the exposed stones of the low water. “The drought is effecting the forest all this way west too...” I mumbled into my pouch before taking one last sip.

Something loud moved through the bush behind me, I snapped around and stared at the foliage line. Was something hunting me this whole time? I don’t have a blade to protect me, the biggest predators on this side of the mountain are supposed to be the foxes. My heart pounded in my chest, but nothing appeared. The sound was gone before I fully turned around. I guess I should keep moving, no use sitting around waiting to lose sunlight. I brushed some dirt off of my pants, brother won’t miss these, and besides how would I make this journey in anything else? My family is one of the richest in town, to be caught in these clothes would be embarrassing for my grandparents.

The sun started to die down, it’s that time of day right before sunset. The sky is turning golden, soon it will turn pink and then all of the light will disappear. Panic set in my chest, I took a deep breath. I need to keep my head, I should have reached the shrine an hour ago. The plan was to find the shrine, make the offering, sleep until early morning and head home. “This was so stupid...” I started to curse myself. What made me think I could actually make a difference? I tried everything to help, even learning how to work the fields much to my families disapproval. People are hungry, tired. Live stock are dropping like flies. Even the inn keepers cat got sick and died this week, the gods have forgotten about us.

Tears gathered in my eyes. I swept one off of my cheek, I feel helpless. I walked for what felt like another hour, but judging by the sun its only been a few more minutes. Something peered through the tree’s just up ahead. Is that it? I pulled back a low hanging tree branch and stepped into a clearing. An old, older than anything in our village, building sat run down and falling apart. It was made of crumbling stone. The sloped roof was falling to the ground, the whole place barely standing. I carefully stepped through the doorway, there it was. The shrine! Compared to the building, this fountain looked untouched. It was smooth, made of a stone I didn’t recognize. It might have once flowed with water, the smooth stone was bone dry. A little bonzai tree sat on a pedestal, its roots grew out of its pot, the clay container close to bursting. It was overgrown, but healthy. Is someone taking care of this place? I looked around. Cobwebs and rotting wood indicated nobody had been here for a long time, the tree sat happily here, all alone. I pulled out the tiny statue from your napsack. My families most precious heirloom. A porcelain statue of a bowing dog, my families symbol.  My grandmother will be devastated that its gone, but it will be worth it. I laid the statue down in front of the fountain and closed my eyes. I bowed down and took a deep breath. Please, please help my village. I pleaded silently, the sound of trickling water made me pry my head up off of the floor. It’s much brighter in here now, the floor is less cold. The fountain was running, gently, a stream flowed out of the bonzai’s pedestal. I gasped is a god listening? I shut my eyes tight and clasped my hands in front of me. “I’ll do anything to save our home, I’m pleading to anyone that’s listening!” 

“Deal.” A low, calm voice answered me from behind. I screamed and twisted myself around and fell on my backside. The shrine was lovely now, the walls fixed, the roof hanging in place where it should be. Lanterns hung on the wall, burning with a low red flame. A young man was relaxing at a kotatsu, he wore a white robe, red flowers danced on one side, the other had blue split down the middle. He was lovely, his hair was also split down the middle, red on one side, white on the other. His face is flawless, an angular jaw, clear skin. You noticed a deep scar over his right eye, but it didn’t take away from his impossible beauty. He took a sip of tea, he wasn’t looking up at you. “Who... who are you?” I gathered myself and relaxed on my knee’s, trying to mask how scared I am. How did everything change?

“I should be asking you that question.” He set his cup down and poured himself another drink. “You are the one barging into my home uninvited.” He said plainly. He pointed to the spot beside him at his blanketed table. “Please, have a seat.” I obeyed, standing up and joining him at his tea table. My hands shook slightly as he handed me a cup. It was freezing cold, the tea was barely steeping. The glass had frost along the rim. “Oh, uhm, thank you.” I set the cup down. “My name is “Y/N, of the Y/L/N family. I live in the village at the base of this mountain.” He took a long sip of his tea and then set it down. “This tea is terrible.” He exclaimed, setting the cup down sort of hard. I’m not quite sure how to respond. “Oh no its deliciou-” I grabbed my own cup and took a sip. I swallowed hard and tried to mask my look of disgust. This tea is awful, I’ve never tasted anything so rancid. Besides the fact that its freezing cold. He sighed and shook his head. “Well, hopefully you can make a better cup than I.” You noticed as he bowed his head down slightly, he had two pointed ears atop his head. They were the same color as his hair. His eyes are heterochromic, he peered into yours curiously. “Can you make a decent cup of tea?” He asked.

“My mother and father never complain when I make them a cup. I’ve been known to do well in the kitchen.” I held my hands in my lap, his stare is piercing. A small smile turned the corners of his mouth upward, his teeth were pointed behind his beautiful mouth. “Oh wonderful, you’ll make a perfect servant.” Suddenly fear coursed through every bone in my body, I fell back on my wrist and placed another over my mouth, muffling a scream. He leaned forward, his smile fading. “Where are you going?” He reached for my ankle to pull me back to the table. I pulled myself away, trying to stand up and flee. He moved quicker than me, grabbing my leg and pulling me to him. He hovered over me, his hair falling in his face as he studied mine. “Are you alright, you look a little pale.” One of his ears twitched, and he blinked quickly a few times. “You’re not a human.” I spilled out, my voice shaking. “Ah, I guess that could be intimidating for some. Don’t worry Y/N. You’ll get used to it.” His face stayed serious, but his tone was light. He moved himself off of me and helped me sit up. “My name is Shoto. You may address me as Master.” He thought for a moment. “Or Shoto.” I couldn’t help but crack a smile. He seemed regal, like a prince, but very down to earth at the same time. “I apologize, I’ve never had a servant before.”

I thought for a moment. Putting pieces together that I haven’t quite grasped from our conversation so far. “Wait, I’m not your servant.” I said as light hearted as possible, not wanting to make him upset. He cocked his head at me puzzled. “Did you not just say that you would do anything to save your home, for anyone that was listening?”

I nodded my head yes, not liking where this is going. “Well I was listening. I took you on that deal.” He paused for a moment. “It should be raining now, nothing too harsh.” I stood up and opened the screen door, it was drizzling. The sound of the water hitting the roof with little ‘pings’ was music to my ears. “You did this?” I asked, sticking my hand out to gather some of the drops. It was real, it was really raining after months of harsh sun. “Yes, I can call on rains in times of joy.” He stood up and joined me in the doorway, he’s so much taller than I could tell before. His body is strong, his chest slightly exposed from his robe. “It’s been so long sense I’ve had a visitor. It’s not like I could just let you slip away.” He put a hand on my shoulder, his fingers freezing cold. “Such a lovely face, we’ll have to put you in more fitting attire.” He played with the strings on my tunic. “I can’t be your servant.” I said looking outside and not at him. “My family doesn’t know where I am, I left without telling them.”

“Ah, I understand.” He said sweetly. He snapped his fingers and the rain stopped, the moon shone through the dissipating storm clouds. “Wait! That wasn’t enough rain.”

“I’ve named my price. Your village will prosper, healthy children will be born. Rains will fall, crops will grow. Your village will be taken care of for generations if you just...” He cupped my face with both of his hands so that I was looking him in the eyes. “Stay with me, please.” His voice was so deep and raspy, my heart fluttered. “What kind of responsibilities will I have?” I felt hypnotized by his beautiful eyes, so old and wise. “You’re to take care of all of the shrines needs.” He spoke softer. “Along with all of my needs as well.” He closed any space between us. His chest pressed gently on mine, his right hand traveled to the back of my neck and held me there, the other still resting on my cheek. “I can train you to be my shrine maiden, my mystical woman of the wood.” His breath tickled your face, he spoke so closely to your mouth. “If you just stay here with me... forever.” I closed my eyes, my eyelids heavy and drunk with his seductive words. He spoke warm honey into my ears, I drank him in. “I’ll... I’ll do it.... Master...” I sighed into his kiss. He placed his lips onto mine gently, pressing down and sliding around my mouth. I kissed him back, hungry for more. He hesitated, he started reaching for my tunic, tempted to pull it off of me. He resisted and pulled away, out of breath he staggered further back into the shrine. “I deeply apologize.” He straightened himself out and I stepped away from the door frame and shut it behind me. “I don’t want to hurt you, I just haven’t ever seen anyone so-” He took a deep breath, calming his voice. “So beautiful.” My face burned. “Any other spirit will be feverishly jealous of me, I’ll do everything I can to protect you from any unwanted advances.” He bowed his head slightly, sealing his promise. “You don’t have to be sorry Master Shoto.” I feel lightly embarrassed, losing control of myself and my urges. “I didn’t mind...” I gulped, trying not to seem any less lady like than I already appeared. He put his hand behind his neck and let out a breathy chuckle. “Oh, that makes me feel less monstrous. I try not to be like some of the other more... animalistic creatures of these forests.”

I played with my thumb nail, tempted to picking it off. “What kind of things live out here Master Shoto?” I asked, my curiosity killing me. He’s unlike anything I have ever seen, could other people like him really be out here? “Lot’s of spirits, some a little less wicked than others. We get together for festivities quite a bit... hopefully you’re a good hostess.” My heart pounded at the thought of more spirits coming here. “They’ll be coming here...?” He sat back down with the tea and I joined him. “Of course, this is a regular hot spot for all manners of spirits. tengu, Oni.  Other kitsune.” He put a hand on my lap and rubbed my knuckles. “I wonder how they’ll react when they smell you...” He trailed off in thought for a moment. “What do you mean?” Do I smell bad? I take special attention to my hygiene, I suppose I have been hiking all day. “Well your scent is very intoxicating. I’ve never smelled a human so alluring.” My cheeks flushed again, he compliments so sincerely. “Will they try and hurt me?”

He took no time to think about that. “Oh most definitely, most of the lot takes no consideration for their primal urges.” He said bluntly. “Your scent combined with your raw beauty, I’ll have to beat them off with a broom.” I let out a light squeak, my heart sinking into my stomach. “What should I do to make myself less... desirable?” I never thought I was particularly prettier than any of the other women in the village, just from different status. I’m not callused from hard work, wrinkled from sunshine or bloated from bad food. My mother always calls me beautiful... and my parents had many suitors in line for my marriage. I look in the mirror often, and sometimes I feel insecure.

“There’s nothing you can do, especially sense you’ve never been taken by a man.” He spoke matter of factually. I blushed wildly, completely flustered. “What would you know about that!” I raised my voice and the fox spirit chuckled. “No need to get embarrassed, I can smell it on you.” He leaned toward me and  took a deep breath through his nose. He placed a hand on the floor beside me, I leaned back on my hands as he invaded my personal space. He placed his nose along just below my jaw line and took another deep breath. “I missed the only logical solution to all of our troubles.” He purred, his voice right in my ear. “I’ll just make you smell like me, so that no lusty tengu will try and touch you...” I froze, his entire demeanor changed. His breath grew heavier, he touched my side and used his legs to pry mine open and place himself between my hips. I tried to speak, but my voice came out shaky. “I- I thought that you didn’t want to succumb to your primal... uhm, urges.” He laid me down on my back and pressed his hips firmly onto mine. “Oh don’t worry darling, I’ve thought this over very thoroughly.” He placed soft kisses on my neck, one after the other. His lips just barely touching my skin. “This isn’t just for me... for my needs.” He crooned in my ear. I let out a small moan and clamped a hand over my mouth, horrified. I’ve never made a sound like that before. He pulled my hand off of my mouth and pinned it about my head. He traced his finger tips down my arm and gripped my other hand, forcing both of my wrists into one of his strong hands. “I need to keep my sweet servant girl safe.” He used his free hand to hold himself up off of the floor. He stared down at me, his face held some type of sincere innocence, like taking advantage of me isn’t his intention. “I’ll just mark you as mine.” He pulled my cloth pants down and my breath caught in my throat. His eyes rolled partly back into his head, he looked overwhelmed by me. He let go of my hands and fell on his elbow, smashing his lips onto mine. His hands ran over my body, he ripped my tunic over my head and threw it away from us. Looking down at me with a crazed look in his eye. “How are you this magnificent?” He pulled at the tie around his robe. He exposed himself, his body incredibly toned and hard. I reached out and ran a finger over his abs. I blushed, but I couldn’t look away. “You’ve never seen a man in this state.” He grinned. “What do you think?” He was kneeling, but he was still looming so tall over me. “What do you mean?” I stammered out, partially breathless. “Tell me how much you enjoy looking at my body.” He oozed with confidence now. “My slave.” His sharp teeth flashed, enjoying every moment of this. “I like looking at your body-” He gripped my chin and forced me to look in his eyes. “Say it again.” He spoke almost in a whisper. “I love looking at your body Master Shoto.” I tried to drip my words with as much sweetness as possible. Shoto reacted, pleased with me. He let go of my chin and touched me on the outside of my heat. He swirled his finger around, I whimpered pathetically. My slit grew wetter, I tried to cover my face in embarrassment again. “Stop that, I want to see every look on your face as I claim you.” He took his finger away and put it in his mouth, tasting me. “Tell me what you want Y/N.” I stuttered, not answering him fast enough. He placed two fingers on the most sensitive part of my body. He pressed down on my clit and rubbed up and down, his fingers grew colder. I gasped, his touch so drastic compared to my warmth. My stomach felt nauseous, I craved something. Anything other than this torture. “Master Shoto, I want-” I gasped again, he gathered some of my moisture on the tips of his finger to lubricate his touch. He rubbed even slower, letting the temperature gradient do most of the work. “Tell me what you want or I’ll stop.” It was an empty threat, his want was worse than mine, his member dripping in anticipation. “I want you to claim me Master!” I pleaded gripping onto my own hair and squirming underneath him. “As you wish, Y/N.”

I cried out, his staff’s tip punctured through my innocence. He pressed himself close to me, he held my face close to his, keeping his lips on my cheek for comfort. He moved his hips slowly, gently working his way in through my resistant walls. “You need to breathe Y/N. If you relax it will hurt less...” He whispered so sweetly in my ear. I took a shaky deep breath. “Just like that darling, I can feel you getting wetter...” He moved more of himself in, his whole length filling my entire body. I moaned, every second he’s in me gets better and better. “What a good girl, getting so wet for her master.” He gripped onto my hair at the base of my neck and thrusted in me harder, starting to get an even pace. He couldn’t help himself, groaning in my ear, repeating how much of a good girl I am. My body started to heat up even further, the pressure in my core building up to an unbearable point. “Master... I-” I screamed out, my mouth releasing a lewd sound. This made Shoto smile and chuckle. “You finished on me-” He groaned softly in my ear. “I’m flattered.” My body is shaking, my breath falling out of me in whiny gasps. “Want me to make you do it again?” He said mischievously, his tone almost feeling like he was mocking me. Teasing me for being so inexperienced, or for needing more like a greedy beggar. “Yes master.” I said through chattering teeth. “Beg me...” He kissed my jaw right under my ear. He slowed down, holding his cock in my body completely still. I squirmed, my hips rocking. He gripped my pelvis and pinned me down, forcing me to hold still. “If I sit here still long enough I’ll eventually climax...” He grinned wolfishly, I could feel him twitch. “I want more Master...” I whined like a child begging for more dessert. “Be specific.” He was toying with me, his eyes glazed with pleasure. “I want to feel like that again, please do it again Master Shoto.” I couldn’t care how unlady like it might sound to beg. He pulled himself mostly out, and slammed back into me hard. The sound of our bodies mashing together was almost as loud as my moans. He pounded into me, his hips flailing wildly. I scraped my nails down his back and hid my face on his shoulder. His neck bringing me comfort as I felt my bodies tension build back up again. He effortlessly kept his pace, barely seeming winded. I hadn’t noticed how long it was before he finally came close to his own release. My voice grew hoarse, crying out over and over again every time he brought me to the edge and let me go. My entrance is getting sore, I’m still slick but I’m using muscles I’m not used too. “Can you take anymore of me slave?” Sweat had started to pool on his forehead, just the slightest hint of his stamina dying down. “Y-yes” I said slightly unsure. I can hardly move, my head flat on the floor and my mouth dripping with drool. My clit throbbed, my thigh muscles ached. Tears had been running from my eyes for a bit now, my climax bringing the salty streams out to run down my face. “I think you’re lying my darling...” His voice was shaky, he kissed my forehead and I buried my face in his chest. “I’ve about given you everything I have.” He slammed his hips into me one more time and let out a heavy sigh. He pulsed in my body, he let his weight go onto me. Pressing us flat onto the floor. He held me like that for a moment before pulling out. I closed my shaking legs and my groin muscles thanked me. Being stuck in that position for so long caused my whole body to cramp. “You’re such a good girl, you took me for hours.” He helped sit me up. “Was it really that long?” I leaned onto his shoulder and he rubbed my back. “Time moves a little strange here, but yes its been awhile.” He played with my hair and traced along my spine. I started to doze off in his arms. “Don’t worry I’ll train you to last even longer.” He said sweetly. I couldn’t even respond. “Sleep now love, tomorrow you’ll have to learn all of the shrines duties.” He chuckled at my groan of protest. “Goodnight Y/N...” He talked into my hair. “My darling...”

HEY YOU READING! Hi you should follow me if you liked this story! I’m planning on building other characters in the same world and possibly even doing a part 2 for this one? I think Kaminari Denki is going to be a Tengu... it should be shocking~ (I’ll see myself out for that stupid pun)

[victorsandvanquishers]

The Fall of the House of Usher with the Black Bulls? Bonus points if you add some eerie aura to it, but that is totally up to you! Thank you in advance!

Hello! Thank you for requesting this fic. I took the liberty to apply some more themes from “The Fall of the House of Usher” than just the prompt’s family, eerie, and home themes. Twins, legacy, and of course, the quintessential haunted house, are also explored in this story!

As a sidenote - this fanfic features an ensemble cast, but primarily revolves around Secre and Zagred. Happy reading, and thank you again for requesting! (ᵔᴥᵔ)

~~~

Zagred haunts her. In a mansion overflowing with people and endless cheer, he haunts her.

“You had five hundred years to make peace. I had to die and then wake up as a ghost, with all the same pain and memories I had when I was still alive. I possessed a human being. You spent your life sitting on top of a statue before finding a boy to manipulate into doing your bidding.”

As she makes her way through the winding halls of the grand castle, Secre remembers speaking with Patolli of the Elf tribe few times in her five hundred and seventeen years. Still, there are words reverberating through her head in his voice, words he's never spoken to her since he barely knows her. Patolli barely remembered her when they met face to face again after the souls of the dead elves ascended, and she can't blame him. She'd been a crown prince's servant – her existence was meant for the shadows.

And yet, that's not how it is now. There aren't enough shadows in Henry Legolant's mansion for Secre Swallowtail to hide in.

“I can't change my actions, nor can I change my feelings, but you... You pretend like you've always cared. At least I did what I did out of rage, even if it was misguided, but you spent five hundred years chasing a rock. Who can you blame for your eternity of longing? You could have chosen death in those five hundred years, but you chose to wait instead because you had an inkling of hope that your beloved could be brought back.”

Secre swallows the lump in her throat and makes her way down the small flight of stairs. It seems her room is on the second floor of the grand castle today, instead of the fourth floor she'd walked up to the night before. The landing is buzzing with Luck Voltia's electric currents, and what she senses to be Charmy Pappitson's cotton magic. The smell of freshly baked bread gently wafts through the landing, infecting each and every one of her senses with the kindness and love she's been starving for, for five hundred years.

It's hunger, this feeling, not longing because the longing she had for Lumiere is moot now, because Lumiere is dust. He's the ash at the bottom of a fire pit in the early rays of dawn, but the hunger she feels now is something different, something more manic, something that slept quietly in her chest during her time as a bird, but suddenly awoke when she came across the fifteen-year-old boy who desperately reminded her of a dead dream, a dream where she and her Lumiere had a child, a child that doesn't exist.

It's this hunger that finally compelled her to stop using that fifteen-year-old boy for her own agenda. It's the hunger that drives her now, that drives her to protect that boy and his friends, to look at the shadows of Henry Legolant's castle with love instead of fear because now the shadows can help her to find the best spots to launch an attack if someone tries to hurt the boy and his friends, these human beings that are filling the hole in Secre's heart.

Atonement? I was fifteen when I died, fifteen when I woke up again. How can you look at me like I'm trash when you were the one who received the mercy of time when all I received was uncontrollable rage at knowing that no matter what I did in the end, I could never bring back what I lost? How can you look at me with such disdain knowing you're worse?”

Perhaps that's why her Lumiere is dead now. She has to pay for her negligence of a child who looked to her as a companion. It doesn't matter that Asta forgives her, that the others see her as a part of their family, none of it matters because Secre committed the same sin as Patolli, used a depressed, lonely boy to commit violence in the name of her beloved, used Asta to revive her Lumiere to defeat Zagred, just like Patolli used William Vangeance to revive his Licht, the Licht that never loved Patolli like Patolli loved him.

Just like the way Lumiere never loved her the way she loved him.

“You're worse than I will ever be, Secre of the noble house of Swallowtail. You're a filthy noblewoman who had everything and pretended she had nothing. You deserve this pain more than I do. You deserved to lose your Lumiere after five hundred years of waiting. You deserved to be strung along like the little rat that you are.”

It stings, but it's true, and maybe that's why Secre is still here and not dead at the bottom of a river. Zagred haunts her because he knows her. Zagred knows her as intimately as the verdant forests of the Forbidden Realm know the sun. Secre starves for kindness and warmth, just like Zagre starves for a corporeal body. Secre didn't kill herself in her five hundred years as a bird because for her, it was a blip on the radar, nothing more than an obstacle for her to get past to bring back her most precious light, her Lumiere. Nothing was sacred in that quest – not the fifteen-year-old boy who cried for magic so that he wouldn't be discriminated against, not the Magic Knights who were too daft to notice that she wasn't just an ordinary bird, and certainly not the nobles who were too ignorant to notice how they themselves sowed the seeds of dissent in their own kingdom. For Secre, none of it mattered because only Lumiere mattered.

And Zagred knows, and so he haunts her.

He takes on the voice of an elf she barely knows, and he finds her deepest, most repressed feelings before snatching them from the depths of her chest and bringing them into the light. Zagred forces her to admit that she's no different than the elf who almost sacrificed the entirety of the kingdom to bring back his brethren. Patolli of the Elf tribe barely knows her, and she barely knows Patolli of the Elf tribe, but Zagred knows her more than Lumiere ever did, and so he haunts her, haunts her under the guise of an elf who'd murdered countless human beings and managed to get away with it all. Patolli is her long-lost twin, and Zagred will never let her forget it.

“Demon.”

She walks into the dining hall, the tables already decked with food, beverage, and cutlery. The voice has shifted now, becoming more and more like the creature it belongs to, and not the elf who escaped.

Secre attempts a smile on her saturnine face, and finds that the effort hurts. She stops before Charmy and Luck can get a look at her. They're occupied with putting on the finishing touches to the overflowing table, Luck setting booby traps on Magna Swing's plate and fork, while Charmy instructs her sheep to pack food for the magical beasts living in the castle dungeons. They don't notice her yet, because she's a wraith in her own right, a ghost drifting from room to room.

“Oh, you're up,” she hears Yami Sukehiro drawl. She turns to the taller man, also an early-riser but just as clandestine as Secre. There's a cigarette hanging from his mouth, and his clothes smell like fresh leaves and dew, so she suspects he was out training in the forest before Charmy can ring her breakfast bells.

Secre nods in assent and turns back to the two young adults who've finally noticed her and are waving her over to take a seat. She attempts another smile, and this time, something resembling a smirk appears on her lips, but it still hurts, because Secre isn't used to smiling. She didn't smile when she and her Lumiere used to spend hours poring over books and tinkering around with magic in the castle yards. She knows little about how to socialize, but she tries. She tries because Zagred will kill her otherwise, under the guise of her spiritual twin, the elf named Patolli who has left Clover without being punished for his crimes.

“But I'm not really here, am I, Secre Swallowtail?”

“Nero, there you are!” Asta calls out, barging into the breakfast hall with his cleaning outfit already coated with dust and mud. “I was wondering where you went!”

“She came down to eat like a normal person,” Yami deadpans before bonking the boy on the head with a closed fist. Asta screeches in pain before passing out for ten seconds. When he wakes up, his eyes are sparkling with endearment, and Charmy has a pail of food ready for the beasts in the dungeon.

“I'll be right back,” Asta declares with more sparkles than necessary, and then he disappears, and Zagred's voice gets just a little lower.

“And he's not your son.”

Secre blinks, her red eyes going redder. No one notices, not even Yami who is dangerously observant at times. She looks down at the plate that Luck has filled up for her. Her ears perk up at the sound of Vanessa Enoteca's tell-tale yawns, and her eyes land on Rouge the cat, who cocks its head to the side and watches her, its fur as red as her eyes.

“And they aren't yours to protect.”

Patolli the elf's voice is gone now. It's Zagred, the demon, the being who knows her better than Lumiere, the creature who stole everything from her, her life, her light, her humanity.

Secre's eyes bleed red and she wants to destroy, wants to burn down everything in her path because she's hollow, her soul is corrupted, and she's one step away from becoming a monster like Licht, a monster that Asta and the Black Bulls will have to euthanize once she loses control.

“Nero-san? Is everything alright?” Secre hears, finding that the rage vanishes suddenly. She blinks a couple of times to completely wash away the reverie before turning to the familiar voices.

It's Grey and Gordon, their eyes filled with worry. Noelle is right behind them, pretending she isn't concerned, but her fists are balled in her lap and she's pensive, waiting for Secre to answer their question.

“I'm fine,” she says, the plastic smile budding on her lips, “just hungry.”

“Then you should eat!” Noelle squeaks, because she can't help herself when she's worried, and now Grey is shakily piling too many warm biscuits onto her plate while Gordon is pouring her coffee, and Charmy is singing, and Yami is smoking, and there is warmth, and love, and cheer, and Asta is back, and Asta is everything she's ever hoped her child would be, a beacon of hope in the darkness she's always lived in.

“Thank you,” Secre says.

'Fuck you.' She hisses inwardly at Zagred's voice, Zagred who is only dead in his corporeal form, but not in essence, because demons don't die.

“But we're cousins now.” Zagred coos back, because Zagred knows her intimately, the demon that set her tragedies in motion, who wants her to lose her mind when her grief becomes as all-encompassing as Licht's, and she becomes a demon herself.

Because that's what she is now – one step from becoming a demon.

She looks around the table at the family of misfits, all of them unrelated to her in every shape and form, and yet fundamentally her family – her lifeblood. Her Lumiere always told her to find her own happiness, but he had been her happiness, but now her Lumiere is dust, and she's still alive.

She attempts to smile again, and this time, Yami smiles indulgently at her efforts while Magna asks her if she wants more biscuits, even though there are seven biscuits on her plate.

Zagred haunts her, and Lumiere is dust. Patolli is her spiritual twin, and Asta and the Black Bulls are the children she never dared to ask for, for fear of retribution. Her light is gone, and the demon persists, but now she has this – this castle and this home, these shadows she has grown to love.

“I'll see you soon.” Zagred promises her.

And the red of her eyes bleed redder, because Secre isn't worried. When the time comes, she will trust her family to take care of her like her Lumiere took care of Licht. Because this castle, this home, is testament to the faith that they will put her to rest when the time comes.

“Thank you,” she says again, and takes a bite from her biscuit.

*

[catsafarithewriter]

“Don’t be mad but.....I stole a dragon’s egg.” Why do I picture Louise saying this to Persephone when she thought a baby dragon would be a great gift but all goes wrong afterwards? Lol just the thought of that makes it funny

I have three separate asks with this specific prompt, so I’m guessing ya’ll really like dragons, huh? XD (Each ask is with a different character too, so I’m doing all three too.) One lost ladies ship coming right up! 

(Inspiration hit suddenly, so for anyone else waiting for their prompts, I shall get to them, I promise!)

x

It had been at least three days since Louise’s last bout of tomfoolery and, really, that should have been Persephone’s first clue that chaos was on the horizon. 

She had grown complacent, she decided in hindsight, and honestly she should have known better. But they were celebrating their anniversary - well, one of their anniversaries; they had married several times in several different worlds - and Persephone had dared to believe they were simply due a romantic walk through an underground market. Browsing, exploring, maybe topping it off with the shadow-puppet show... 

She was just admiring the many masks on display when her wife careened around a corner and grabbed her paw.

“Hello, love!” Louise called over the fast-approaching sounds of chaos. “My darling, my dear...” She hauled Persephone down a tunnel. “My beautiful and wonderfully understanding wife--”

“What have you done?”

“Done? Why would you assume I have done anything?”

“THIEF! CRIMINAL! RUFFIAN!”

Persephone raised an eyebrow at Louise, not the easiest of tasks when one is sprinting down a rapidly narrowing burrow. “Call it a wife’s intuition.”

“Fine! I may... Now, don’t be mad, but I may,” Louise shouted, “have stolen an dragon’s egg.” She motioned to the bag she had tucked under one arm.

“Is that all you’ve done?” Persephone bellowed back. She gestured loosely with her free hand to the hoards of guards hot on their tails. “Oh, thank goodness, and here I was thinking you’d gone and done something reckless!”

"Now, don’t be mad--”

“You should have warned me before pulling a stunt like this!”

“I’m warning you now!”

“You,” Persephone panted, “and I have very different definitions of the word ‘warned’.” They came to a partial cave-in, and she relinquished her wife’s hand as she scaled it with a single running jump. She landed on the other side just in time to see Louise clear it with a spinning flip. 

Persephone gave her A Look. “Careful. Your von Gikkingen is showing.”

“Gotta keep in practice for when I show up my brother.” She wove her hand through Persephone’s paw and continued the helterskelter sprint. “Anyway,” she continued, annoyingly not out of breath yet, “you know we couldn’t just leave it there. They’re the ones selling a dragon’s egg! That should be illegal!”

“I know, but did you consider there were subtler ways to steal it than grabbing it straight off the shop floor?” Persephone demanded. 

“I didn’t just grab it!” Louise retorted, mock-insulted laced into her words.

“Oh Bast, you did the light show, didn’t you?”

“It’s a perfect distraction! Harmless, distracting, snazzy-- OH!” Louise’s wide-brimmed hat flew off as they skidded around a corner, and Persephone caught it with a well-practiced snatch.

“I keep telling you that you should get elastic for this thing,” Persephone admonished. 

“It would spoil the look though.”

“It’ll spoil the look even more if you lose it or it flies off into a river somewhere.”

They slowed as they came to an empty tunnel, dimly-lit with infrequently-used torches, and Persephone passed the hat back to Louise. It sounded like they had thrown off their pursuers by scaling the cave-in. “So, now we’re the caretakers of one dragon egg. Any ideas how we’re going to get it back to its kind?”

“We could always look after it,” Louise offered. She gently rolled the egg out of the bag and admired its shimmering sky-blue surface. “Just until we find its family again. I mean, how hard can looking after a dragonette be?”

Persephone, who had already gone through motherhood once, and that had been with a kitten and not a flying lizard with the ability to spit fire, snorted. “Louise, honey, we are not raising a dragon.”

“I mean, of course we aren’t; we need to get this little fella back to his folks, but having a dragon on our side would be pretty neat, wouldn’t it?”

“HALT! Come back and pay for that, thief!”

Out of nowhere, a short, chameleon-like creature appeared, no taller than the cats’ waists and sporting yellow streaking pattern across its face. 

“This?” Persephone asked to Louise. “This is who you stole from?”

“It’s not my proudest moment, but--”

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” she demanded. 

“He was selling a dragon’s egg!” Louise protested. “It’s not stealing if you take something that was already stolen!”

The shopkeeper bared its teeth. “If you don’t pay for it, then I’ll have to make you.”

Louise stepped forward, wielding her parasol between them. “Oh yeah? And who’s going to make me? Persephone, hold the egg.”

“I’ve got the egg. But, Louise--”

Louise threw back the kind of confidently charming smile that Persephone had fallen in love with - and also the kind of smile that usually preceded something reckless. “Don’t worry, love. I think I’ve got this covered.”

“Uh-huh,” Persephone said, all while really wishing that for once, just once, Louise would read up on the worlds before charging into them. She stood back and waited to intercede when she was needed. She watched as Louise swung her parasol in a loose arc designed to firmly knock the shopkeeper off-balance and then miss as the creature vanished. 

“It looks like a chameleon, but its skin is actually more akin to cuttlefish,” Persephone called. “It can change colour to blend in with its background.”

“And you’re -- ow -- you’re only telling me this -- ow -- now? Stop biting me!”

“It’s called practical learning!” Persephone said. 

“And what am I learning? Ow! Cut that out, you little--”    

“To include your wife in your criminal habits. And maybe plan things out for once in your life.”

“Sure, sure -- ow -- next time I’ll draw up a diagram for you.” 

A lucky swing of the parasol found its mark and something slammed into a cave wall. The nothingness shimmered, and yellow scales glitched into view. Beady black eyes stared at them. 

“See?” Louise panted. She straightened, rolling her shoulders back, and approached the shopkeeper. “That wasn’t so difficult.”

“Alright, dear. Just watch out for it’s--”

Persephone faltered as the shopkeeper snapped open its mouth and shot out a long, long pink tongue that slapped Louise’s cheek. 

“--tongue...”

“It licked me! Did you see that! It licked me! It... oooh, that can’t be good...”

Persephone gently set the egg to one side, and rose to her paws. “Let me guess: tingles, sparks, and now you’re beginning to lose all feeling in your cheek?”

“That about sums it up.”

“Then you’d better sit down before the paralysis spreads to the rest of you and makes you sit down.”

“Paralysis?”

“Relax. It’ll wear off.” Persephone ducked as the tongue made another attack and squatted down in front of the shopkeeper. “Hello, sir.”

“Pay up,” he growled.

“No, I don’t think I’m going to do that,” Persephone said. “And before you even consider another lick, just remember that I have a cutlass strapped to each side that can fell ship masts, so consider what it can do to a tongue.” She casually leant both arms on the pummel of each weapon. 

The shopkeeper swallowed nervously and pursed his lips shut. 

“And, given from the almighty smack you’ve just taken, I’m going to guess that your camouflage ability has taken a jolt. Don’t worry - once the stress wears off, you’ll be as as good as new, minus one of your wares. But you’re not going to be vanishing any time soon, am I right? Don’t speak, just nod.”

The shopkeeper nodded. 

“Now,” Persephone continued, “what my wonderful, but slightly over-enthusiastic wife said earlier is true. It’s not really stealing if the thing in question was already stolen. And what you have - had, sorry - is most definitely not something that would be parted for any money. In fact,” and she tilted her head to one side, recounting the facts, “I believe trading dragon eggs is illegal in all worlds in this sector, am I correct?”

Another nod. 

“And a fine, upstanding merchant like yourself would never dream of selling the eggs of a sentient species. So, what is going to happen is this; we are going to go our separate ways - my wife and I will return this egg to the family that you ‘found’ this from, and you are going to go home and reconsider your life choices, capiche?”

More frantic nodding. 

“Good, good. Louise, how are you faring?”

“My legs feel like ants are running up and down them.”

“Ah, that’ll be the pins and needles stage. You’re about a sixth of the way there.”

“Wonderful.” 

Persephone knelt down by her wife and lifted Louise into her arms, balancing precariously to sit the egg in Louise’s dipped lap.

“Have I told you how much I love you?” Louise mumbled.

“Not in the last hour, but you’d better make it quick before the paralysis hits your tongue.” Persephone glanced back to stare daggers at the shopkeeper, just daring him to attempt anything, before her attention was called back to her passenger just as the paralysis did indeed hit Louise’s tongue. “Love, please stop talking. You’re drooling on my coat.”

Louise slurred something that may have been, ‘I love you,’ in the very loosest sense of the phrase. 

Persephone kissed her forehead. “I love you too. Now close your mouth otherwise I’m going to tell your brother all about this little adventure.”

Louise made a disgruntled sound but didn’t attempt to add anything.  

And now off to return a dragon egg to its family. 

How difficult could that be?  

[wild3flow3r]

THREE

“You didn’t even try today.”

Harry’s face snaps up, a mischievous grin on his face. “You don’t think so?”

“I mean, the kitchens? It’s a fairly obvious place.”

“I’ll admit, it wasn’t my first choice. I lost track of time down here before I could go and properly hide.”

Persephone steps into the large room. It was just basically filled with counter space, different types of food covering every surface. Spirits raced around the two of them, as if they weren’t even there. She eyes them but says nothing.

“And where would you have hidden?”

“Well I can’t give up my spot for tomorrow, now can I?”

For the last two weeks, Persephone and Harry have been playing a hide and seek type game. Every morning, if Persephone wanted to spend the day with Harry, she would have to go and find him. Every day she won, and every day they spent together was better than the last, at least in Persephone’s opinion.

Persephone pouts, but says nothing. “What’re you doing in here then?”

Harry pauses before lifting a basket off of one of the counters. “Thought we could go out to the river today and have a picnic. Talk about a few things?”

Persephone didn’t entirely like the way his voice turned down a few octaves as he said the last bit, but Harry didn’t look worried so she dismissed the feeling. She nods.

“That sounds fine to me.”

Harry smiles, a closed mouth one at first but then he’s smiling so hard that his teeth have to come through. He offers her his arm, just as he always does. “This way then.”

They have only just exited the castle to the back gardens when somewhere in the distance Cerberus lets out a loud growl and then a bark. Persephone falters in her steps, dread pooling at the bottom of her stomach. Still, after the small amount of time she’s spent here, she’s never gotten used to the dog and the sounds he’d make. She hopes Harry hadn’t noticed, but of course he had.

“Are you alright?” He asks, daring a glance down towards her with an eyebrow raised.

Persephone only nods. She stares ahead.

“You haven’t had a chance to meet Cerberus yet, have you?”

“No offense to him, but he was not on the top of my list to check out and see if the rumors are true.”

“And what are those rumors?”

They’re walking slower now, past some tall trees with black leaves, but not like if it were dying. These leaves sparkled and glimmered like they were made of jewels.

“He’ll kill anything on sight, except you of course. He acts on instinct, and it doesn’t matter if this person is your friend or foe. If they get too close, their head gets bitten off.”

“Hmm, interesting.”

“What is?”

“I’m trying to figure out which God made up that story. Probably Hermes, honestly. He loves to exaggerate stories and spread gossip all over Olympus.”

“So it isn’t true then?”

“Not in the slightest. I mean, he can do those things, but he won’t attack just anyone. Either I have to command it, or this person holds a real threat against the castle. Otherwise, he’s just a big puppy.”

“Then why is he barking and growling all day long?”

“Those sounds are more like howling, and it’s because he’s looking for attention. He hates being alone for too long.”

Persephone had stopped paying attention to where they were going. For the last few minutes, she’d kept her eyes trained on Harry as he spoke. Occasionally he’d look back down at her, but leading the way he’d kept his eyes mostly forward. Now she wished she’d have been looking around. If she had, then she would have directed them elsewhere. And if she hadn’t been so focused on him, then she would have heard the heavy pounding on the floor.

A long lick against her forearm elicits a scream from Persephone’s mouth. She jumps far and high, but Hades more or less brings her back where she was. Three pairs of dark brown eyes look down at her with excitement. Cerberus was a good foot taller than her, just taller than Harry himself.  His tail is wagging and the middle head leans in again to lick her arm.

“You tricked me,” Persephone whispers, as if any sudden movement or sound could turn Cerberus’ feelings towards her south.

“I did no such thing.”

“We’re supposed to be going to the river.”

“We are. It just so happens we have to pass Cerberus to get there, and I thought we could pop by and say hello.”

The left head barks, and if Persephone hadn’t already been in the land of the dead, then that surely would have sent her there. The right head starts sniffing her hair.

“What am I supposed to do?” Her voice is still light. The longer the dog went without attacking her, the more Persephone found herself calming down around him. Plus, she knew Harry wouldn’t let the dog harm her.

“Reach your hand out, let all of them sniff you and get to know your scent.” He squeezes her arm reassuringly before letting her go and taking a step back. Cerberus takes a step forward. Persephone reluctantly sticks out her arm.

The middle head carefully sniffs the outstretched hand before the left head pushes it out of the way, this one clearly thinking that there might have been a treat in the hand. The right one is still in her hair. And then it licks the side of her face, causing her to cringe only slightly. She hears Harry cough, and she turns to him, glaring at him as he bites down on his bottom lip to stop any laughing. Persephone wipes away any slobber left on her face. Then Cerberus takes a few steps away, leaning down on its front legs and wagging its butt in the air, letting Persephone know he was ready to play.

“How-”

Before Persephone could finish her question, Harry suddenly burst ahead of her, jumping in the air. Cerberus met him halfway, knocking each other in the chest before rolling to the ground. At first, Persephone stood there in shock, but then it clicked that they were playing. Never had she thought she would see this sight. She’s sure none of the God’s or the Goddesses in Olympus could even imagine what she was seeing. Dog and master were rolling around in the dirt, carefully pushing against one another in a play fight as if they were instead puppy and child.

Persephone brushes her skirts underneath her thighs before sitting on the ground. She can’t help the laugh she lets out when Cerberus knocks Harry over with a giant paw and holds him down with it. Harry glares at her, but Cerberus turns all three of his heads to her at the sound, giving her a puppy grin. Harry tries to push the paw off, but it won’t budge. He commands Cerberus off, but still he doesn’t move.

“Fucking hell,” Hades mutters, reluctantly accepting defeat. Persephone once remembers reading that Cerberus was created to be stronger than all of the other Gods and Goddesses combined. She supposes that was true against Hades as well.

After a deep breath, Persephone gingerly sticks an arm out. Something told her that whatever she commanded, Cerberus would listen without a second thought. Almost as if she were his master rather than Harry. “Come here boy. Get off of him,” she whispers, but all six ears perk up at her voice. Without even sparing a glance at Hades, almost like he seemingly forgot he was holding the God down, Cerberus trots over to Persephone. He stretches out his body on the grass next to her before placing all three heads along her lap. He turns slightly so she could have access to scratch his belly, so she does.

Persephone looks up at Harry. He’s still on the ground where the dog left him, but he’s leaning up on his elbows now. A lopsided smile overtakes his face, his eyes shining. Finally, he gets up to walk the few feet to them, and slumps back down onto the ground.

“He’s a big baby, that one.” He pats Cerberus' head that’s closest to him. All three heads were now asleep on Persephone’s lap, lulled to it by Persephone’s belly rub.

“Kept you pinned down. Wouldn’t even move until I beckoned him off. I’d hardly say he’s a baby.”

“Well he’s taken quite a liking to you.” Harry places his hand on the grass next to Persephone’s thigh to lean his weight against it. He is quite close to her, and Cerberus warns him of that when one of the heads growls at him with half lidded eyes.

“Oh hush,” Persephone mutters while scratching behind his ear. “Don’t start.”

Cerberus squints his eyes at Harry once more before shutting them again. Harry looks almost appalled. She’s sure Cerberus has never growled at Harry before, not even when he was a puppy.

“You’ve turned him against me. You give him one scratch and he’s putty in your hands.”

“Can’t help it if I’m better than you.” The words pass Persephone’s mouth without much thought, and when she realizes what she’s said her cheeks flush.

Harry laughs, a quiet one underneath his breath. He scans around them, and then the short pathway they have to take to get to the river. After a few minutes, he slowly stands up and grabs the basket he discarded earlier.

“We should get going. You’re probably getting hungry.”

Persephone nods. Although she would have liked to sit with Cerberus napping in her lap for the rest of the day, she was getting hungry. And she also knew Harry wanted to talk to her about something.

“Time to get up,” Persephone whispers while scratching behind one of their ears. Reluctantly, Cerberus listens, and with one last lick to Persephone’s face he trotters off back to his post. Harry holds a hand down, and Persephone takes it and stands back up.

Harry spreads out a blanket by the river and motions for Persephone to sit down. He sits right next to her, but not close enough to touch. She’s slightly disappointed, but wipes the look off of her face before Harry can spot it. They eat quietly watching the river slowly stream further into the Underworld.

“Is something wrong?” Persephone asks quietly when her food is nearly done. He’s been silent this entire time, and a look on his face caused a feeling of dread to pool in her stomach.

Harry peeks at her a moment before looking ahead again. He lets out a slow breath. “Your mother has learned of your location here. She’s summoned me to return you immediately.”

Persephone’s eyes widen, her mouth slightly agape. “I have to go back?”

Harry nods slowly, still refusing to meet her gaze.

“But what if I refuse?”

His head snaps towards hers. “What?”

“What if I don’t want to go? What if I would rather stay here… with you?”

His eyes are scanning all along her face. He believed they’d been getting on quite nicely lately, but he hadn’t thought they were close enough where she would choose him over her own mother. “You want to stay?” He couldn’t even believe the words as he spoke them himself.

Persephone nods, biting her bottom lip to keep away an oncoming grin. “I do. It’s been nice being here and being able to do my own thing. My mother doesn’t allow me the same up above. You treat me as my own person, I can’t say the same about my mother.”

They’ve moved closer to each other, their faces only inches apart. “You’re sure?”

“I want to stay here. If you try to return me I’ll put up such a fight,” she whispers. “You can’t return an unwilling captive. I won’t allow it.”

His lips twitch upwards. And then he looks at her mouth. She thinks he’s going to kiss her again, but once more he backs away.

“Why do you do that?”

He straightened his back so he’s staring down at her. “Do what?”

“I like you.”

“I like you too.”

“No, I mean… Ugh.” Persephone covers her burning face with her hands and slumps down so she’s lying on her back.

He hovers over her, carefully removing her hands and putting them back at her sides. He’s beaming down at her. “What do you mean?”

Persephone pouts. “I thought… I guess… I know we haven’t known each other that long, but I thought we were becoming more serious than just friends. I like you like you. Oh Gods,” she speaks all in one breath. She moves to cover her face again, but Harry’s still holding her hands down.

“I like you like you too, Persephone.” He lets go of her hands, and Persephone’s body feels on fire. “But I don’t want to pressure you into anything you aren’t ready for.” He puts a few inches of space in between them again.

Persephone sits up. “But I am ready.”

Harry side eyes her. “You aren’t.”

“Harry, you’ve made me the happiest a Goddess could be. But I’ll be waiting around forever if you’re the one that gets to decide when I’m ready or not, even when I’m straight out telling you I am ready.”

His cheeks burn at her statement, the first part of it. She knows she’s made him happy too, maybe the happiest he’s ever been. “But you’re not-”

He’s cut off by the weight of Persephone straddling his lap. The breath is knocked out of him, not only by the force she used to place herself there but also at just the feeling of her body against his. Before he can push her away or speak another word, she takes his head in her palms and kisses him. At first she’s slow because she has no idea what she’s doing, but then Harry takes over, taking control of her mouth with his. Her hips have slowly started to move against him. She hasn’t noticed the small movements, but Harry definitely has.

They’re flipped over in an instant. Persephone gasps and then giggles, eliciting a reaction from Harry in his lower region. He’s backed up a bit, but only far enough so that he can place gentle kisses on her lips every few seconds. His hands are interlaced with hers.

“I’ve never… I’m not,” Persephone starts.

“We won’t do anything then.”

“That’s not what I’m saying-”

“We’ll go slow. We’ll take things slow. We’ll build up to things over time.”

“Harry-”

“And then-”

With her hands clutched in his, she bites his bottom lip to get his attention. The action causes his eyes to flare. She can now feel him poking against her thigh. “What was that for?

“You aren’t listening to me.”

“I am. I just-”

Again she bites his lip, but now she takes a moment to suck on it before slowly letting it fall away from her mouth. His eyes close, and she can tell it’s taking all of his restraint to not react. “I want to do something now. I need… My body is literally burning.” She wraps her legs around his waist and lifts her hips up. His breath catches and a small moan passes his lips.

“I’m not... We’re not going to have sex here. It’ll be your first time, I want it to be special for you.”

She breaks her hands free from his and rubs her palms down his neck and over his shoulders. “I bet you can think of something else we can do.” She’s heard the other Goddesses talk about it, or really she’s heard Aphrodite mention it before Demeter rushed her out of the room. Sex, but not actually sex. Harry’s eyes are blazing now, a fire Persephone is ready to be consumed by. She knows she’s convinced him now.

“Are you sure?” “I’ll be very upset if you don’t. But only if you want to.”

Harry leans down, pressing slow kisses against her neck down to her shoulders, and then finally in between her breasts. “Trust me Persephone, I want to.”

He takes his time kissing down her body, over her tunic. When he meets a patch of skin, he makes sure to nip at it before moving on. When he gets to her thighs he spreads her legs far enough apart so he can hook them over his shoulders, and then slides her clothing up to her hips. When she looks down, she can’t see his head underneath the cloth. Not being able to see him, to not predict what he could do next, causes a new feeling in between her legs.

His nose presses against one of her thighs, and then boldly he licks from that spot to her folds. He’s holding her hips down so she can’t move them, can’t beckon his face closer with them. Her hands clutch the blanket underneath them. She can feel his breath on her and she cries at just that sensation. She can’t imagine how she’ll sound at anything more than that. He chuckles at her quiet pleading. And then, almost like it never happened, he pushes his tongue past her folds before slipping it back out. She curses at him then, making his chest rumble in more laughter.

He goes again, but this time he doesn’t leave. Still his movements are slow, and Persephone wants to rip his hair out.

“Faster,” she begs. He hums in response, the vibration of it pushing her a little further, but he continues his pace.

She writhes underneath him when his mouth circles around her most sensitive nub. Her mouth opens in a silent scream. Blast her mother for keeping her hidden away for so long, for never letting her feel like this at the hands of a man. But then again, she’d always want that man to be Hades.

With his mouth still on her clit, he pushes one finger in. He curls it before picking up another slow pace and pumps it in and out of her. This time she actually does scream.

She’s sweating, her entire body his sweating. Her folds are slick, she can tell just by the way Harry can slide his finger in now without much resistance. His mouth his moving quicker now, flicking his tongue against her clit at a faster pace.

“I’m gonna… I feel…” She can hardly breathe. She quite literally feels as if she might explode.

“Let go,” he whispers, and although it should have been impossible, somehow she heard him. She lets her body relax just enough to stop holding back the feeling.

She’s panting out ragged breaths. Stray strands of hair are glued to her forehead. Her knuckles are now white from how hard she’d been grasping the blanket. Harry licks up her slit one last final time, sending shivers down her spine, before carefully extracting himself from her. His eyes are shining when he looks down at her, and with half lidded eyes she stares back at him with a dreamy smile on her face.

Harry grabs a cloth from the basket, first wiping his own face and then with careful strokes wiping down her thighs. He fixes her tunic back to its original position. Persephone still can’t move, at least not without fear that she’ll fall back down if she tries.

“Are you okay?” Harry whispers as he lies down next to her again. He leans his head on his palm to look down at her, and wraps an arm around her waist.

“Better than okay.”

“It wasn’t too much?”

“It was perfect.”

Harry presses a kiss against her nose.

“What about you?” She whispers.

“What about me?”

“Don’t you…?”

“Not today. Today’s about you.”

“It’s not fair to you.”

Harry stares down at her incredulously. “This was plenty fair for me. Being granted permission to be the person to make you come,” her face burns bright red, “that’s the best thing you could have done for me today.”

She nuzzles her head against his shoulder. “My legs feel like jelly.”

“I’ll carry you back to the castle soon.”

“If we wait a while longer I should be okay to walk myself.”

He kisses her mouth and then her cheek. “I’ll carry you back and then I’ll have Moira run you a bath.”

Persephone reaches up to push a few stray curls out of his face. “You’re very kind.” A sudden tiredness takes over Persephone. Harry notices immediately.

“Sleep. I’ll keep watch over you.”

Persephone nods and then yawns. She lets her eyes droop shut. The sounds of the river and Harry’s breathing lull her to sleep.

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[pernatius]

Lost in Space Part 3: Ch 1

Summary: Sending the Earth to its doom, an unnamed Space Explorer must now try to prevent the demise of millions of humans by risking her life. 

Five chapters, 10k works, and in one week. 

Part 1: ch 1, ch 2, ch 3, ch 4, ch 5

Part 2: ch 1, ch 2, ch 3, ch 4, ch 5

------------------------ 

I sat on the windowsill. My shoulder is pressed against the glass as I watch the planets fly past us, blurring past us as a river of thousands of colors, which splash against the ship. A tear goes down my cheek. It splashes onto my palm as I rub my thumb against its cold, but soft surface. Noticing my reflection, the sorrow on my face, causes me to bend and fold my fingers into a fist. Lifting my head, I meet with her reflection. She’s sitting down, watching everything fly past us as well. I’m not sure what’s on her mind, but I feel bad for taking away the only home she’s ever known and forcing her into a world she’s only known from my stories. Earlier it sounded like she wanted to get away from it, but I don’t like how I made her do this. If I could I would’ve given her a choice. I would’ve given her time. 

Because I surrounded myself in a bubble, I flinched at the ship’s alarm. “Captain Saamuki, the ship’s fuel is at three percent,” the AI explained. 

She sighs before asking, “Is it at least enough to get us to the nearest planet with fuel?”

“Yes, it’s more than enough. However, that planet is inhabited by the Nantos.”

With the reveal of the alien species’ name Mikrovos’ ears twitch. “Can’t you find another planet?”

“Unfortunately, this is the closest planet with intelligent life. Therefore-”

Turning to him, “Mikrovos?”

“I’m staying in the ship as you guys get the fuel.” 

“I’m not going to be much help,” Ashley reminded us of her injury. 

“And I’m not going to be doing anything hands-on anytime soon either,” Saamuki also reminded us of her injuries. 

“Look, I just can’t step foot on that planet, okay?” My stubborn friend crosses his arms. 

My wife stood up and walked towards him. The AI stood between the two of them. She looked directly into his eyes, past the computer-generated face, as she tapped her foot against the floor. “ Mikrovos, this isn’t the time to argue. We need your help so that we can get as far away from your people as soon as possible.”

He grunted. In the reflection in her eyes, I saw his mouth open. He showed his teeth and made sure she saw his fangs. He raises his fists and moves them all too close to her, causing me to get up, but when he instead turns away from her rather than get physical I let out a sigh of relief. “As long as Saamuki is with me, I’m sure I’ll be able to do Mikrovos’ job. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the strongest Space Explorer, but with what I must’ve done when I was one I shouldn’t be someone you should dismiss from this situation.”

All of them turn to me. Saamuki looks at me with concern in her eyes. “Unlike Earthling ships, ships we use run on crystals. The one for this type of ship is much smaller compared to the ones used for other ships, but they’re extremely heavy nonetheless.”

“Well, I’m sure I’ll manage. Besides, it’s not like we have any other choice.“

“If it’s too much for you...maybe I can get a Nantos, or whatever else could be on that planet to help.”

“You’re going to be okay, right?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well…” My eyes pointed to the brooding Mikrovos sitting in the windowsill. 

“I’ll just keep my distance from him until he gets back, but while I do can you promise me that you’re not going to hurt yourself by lifting that crystal?”

“I promise, but,” I flexed my muscles, “that crystal should instead be worrying about me.”

This gets a chuckle out of her and my heart fluttering out of me. If I’m not able to fix what I’ve caused to Earth then I’ll at least try to fix what I did to her. No, I must. I have to keep making her happy. I can’t hurt her. I have to protect her from it. I have to protect her from my impulses, from myself. 

Crystals had sprung out of the ground. They created a dense forest with their varying shapes, sizes, and colors. Speaking of their colors, from underneath them different shades of reds and blues bent within them, bouncing from one of its sides to another. It faded in and out, following the same rhythm as my heartbeat. Saamuki led me to an alien whose species I’ve met before. He’s the same species as that ringmaster who orchestrated that fantastical fight back on that desert planet. So, his physiology is blob-like, but his clothing told me he doesn’t live to entertain others. It’s the opposite. He’s wearing a robe with three shades of orange and a bright yellow sash. As I note that his hands are hidden, I also note a dark circle that’s been imprinted on his forehead. 

“We’re here to-”

He sets his hand in front of my snakelike companion before she can finish. I note the several holes and scratches on it as he spoke, “You are here because you wish to be given something from my people. For that to be, you must first offer us something of value.”

Before I can omit my frustration Saamuki places her hand in front of my face. “I am the last of my people, so I am the only one with the knowledge of the last three days of my planet.”

“Ah, yes, we have gotten word of the demise of your planet. Unfortunately, writing of its final year has come a few and far between, especially its last days. Your knowledge will be a great addition to our library.” Moving his hand closer, placing it on her forehead, I become worried. Her eyes become blank as the circle on his forehead glows. Before I can act it’s already over. She falls to her knees and throws up. I go to her and pat her back, hoping to relieve whatever pain she’s feeling. 

Once I helped her up, “What did you do to her?” The ground rumbles as his forehead glows. Behind him, the crystals separate from one another, creating a passageway that led to a cave. “Hey. Answer me.”

“It’s okay. I’m alright,” Saamuki responded but she’s clearly out of breath. 

“All are welcome into the Nantos’ temple. He bows and as I led her into the makeshift passageway I looked at him. He doesn’t look at me. I had a feeling he wouldn’t, but I just needed him to know if he did something permanent to her, something fatal to her, then I wouldn’t hesitate to bring him down as well. 

Just like on the surface crystals sprouted all over the ground and even on the walls and ceiling. It gave the cave light. It gave it life. 

Hundreds of Nantos walked about. Most of them had their foreheads glowing as their hands covered the vegetation wrapped around the crystal before them. Half of them caused the plants to levitate and be pushed into the basket sitting in their laps. A few of them used that same power to move large orbs of water onto the newly freed crystals. The rest meditated. All of them paid no mind to us. “It’s none of these, right?”

“Right. The crystal we’re looking for is much darker. The crystals we’ve seen so far would barely get us off this planet.” With that last word spoken she coughs. Some of her blood spit out as well. Most of it lands before us and the rest sit on her lips. 

“Saamuki!”

She tries waving my worry away. “It’s fine. My sister was here before. She had to do that same thing too. It’s draining, but it only lasts for a few hours. Just help me walk and I’ll tell you which one it is.” 

I helped her the rest of the way without another word, but worry still hit me throughout it. Once we find the crystal I gently set her down and turn towards it. Unlike the ones I saw earlier, this one is a dark purple and is much smaller. Because it’s half of my size, confusion circles my mind. I expected it to be as big as Mikrovos or at the very least an inch taller than me, but once I tried lifting it I understood why she needed him. My arms and legs shake as I try to pry it off the ground. In height, it’s shorter and in width, it’s skinnier, but it managed to be heavier than me. Sweat rose at the brim of my forehead and my back began to burn. I was carrying it right. I was using my legs rather than my back, but it’s just that heavy.

“Hey. Don’t push yourself. I’ll get-”

“No, I got this,” I grunted between shaky breaths. 

I felt it slide out of its hold, but because I celebrated too soon I let go. It slipped back into the ground. One of my eyes twitched. I placed my grip back onto it. I sunk my nails into it. I felt like I was going to blackout. Thankfully, a familiar set of brown fur-covered hands wrapped themselves around the crystal too. It’s able to be pried out easily. I turned around to thank Mikrovos for changing his mind at the right time, but instead, my heart dropped. While he’s a Tauvox he isn’t the face I thought I’d see. His body is just like The Commander’s, but his face is slimmer. It’s more angular like it’s triangular.  

As he sets the crystal on his shoulder, “It’s good to finally meet you, human.” I stand frozen as his eyes meet with mine, causing him to smirk. 

Still drained, all Saamuki can do is talk. “How-how did you find us?”

“Us Tauvoxes has excellent tracking skills. We are a barbaric race, yes, but we know how to use our means.” He points a finger behind his neck. 

My eyes widen. My hands attack the chip still inside my neck.

“It’s much too late for that, human. However, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. One wrong move and it’ll send a fatal electric shock.” I slowly move my hands away from my neck. “But I’m not here for conflict, at least not yet. You see, there’s a little tournament that’s going to happen by tomorrow and I want Mikrovos to enter. Unfortunately, he declined my invitation. So, I was hoping you’d change his mind.”

“Knowing him, there’s a reason why he doesn’t want to be part of it. I’m not going to be played by people like you, especially when it means putting my friend in danger.”

“Even if it means the chance of ending our little raid on your homeworld?”

“What do you mean?”

“Ever since the fall of The Commander the Tauvoxes have gone into chaos. There isn’t any clear leadership. Sure, I was his second, but my power only lasted during his command. The tournament I speak of will determine our next commander and if Mikrovos wins he’ll take full leadership even if he’s a low-class Tauvox, especially one that willingly left our ranks. From the face you’re making, I see I’ve interested you.”

“Don’t listen to him. He’s a high ranking Tauvox. He’s a Space Pirate too!”

“Now. Now. Let the girl make up her mind. She’s old enough to.”

“I can save it. I can fix this, but Mikrovos…”

“He’ll listen to you. He’s gotten close with you, soft for you.”

“But I can’t just make him do this. Isn’t there another way? Can’t I just take his place?”My offer gets him to laugh. It echoes and rings in my ears. “A human fight against hundreds of Tauvoxes? You won’t survive past five minutes. Maybe if you’re lucky you’ll make it to ten.”

“I don’t care. I’m never going to put any of my friends’ lives at risk. Besides, this is my fault. I have to fix this. I have to be the one to enter.”

“Humans always let their pride speak for them,” he shakes his head, “Well, I’ll see what I can do. It was hard enough as it was to get them to let all Tauvoxes enter, but before I do will you shake on it? If they agree to your offer will you commit to your words?” He moves his free hand in front of me. 

I gulp. In the corner of my eye, Saamuki wants me to rethink my decision. In front of me, the Tauvox is giving me a devilish grin. It’s obvious this is all a game to him. It’s obvious I’m a pawn that fell right into his arms, but I don’t fight free. I shake his hand. 

“My name is Syco and it’s a pleasure to do business with you.”