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hexonthepeach · 2 years ago

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dark & stormy 3: eye of the storm

summary: you’re a housekeeper in a seedy hotel working through the worst hurricane of the season when you’re invited to spend the evening with your two sexy but enigmatic co-workers. when you accidentally uncover their secret identities you're dragged into a darker world—one you may already know too well

pairing: jaehyun (nct) x johnny (nct) x fem!reader (code name: jenny)

genre: the late-70s/early-80s miami vice/nice guys/secret agent johnjae/reader au no one asked for or: a work of madness inspired by the infamous w korea shoot

word count: 13k of 63k

warnings: explicit sexual content (m/f, m/m, mmf threesome) [see chapters for detailed tags], dark themes, implied murder, drug-use (alcohol, quaaludes), drugging w/o consent, stalking, kidnapping (non-sexual), bondage, minor knifeplay/gunplay, slight age gap [y/n early 20s, jj late 20s/early 30s], y/n implied dark origins/criminal history (OC vibes but history left open for interpretation), sleep paralysis/nightmares, walk-on guest appearances from other nct members inc. sungtaro in later chapters

fic masterlist

read on AO3

chapter warnings: gratuitous use of pet names (babydoll, baby), size kink, panty-sniffing, wall sex, oral (m/f, m/m), exhibitionism, sharing is caring, polyamory, minor consensual somniphilia, bondage, drunk sex, double penetration, anal sex (m/m), devil's threesome (mmf), i had to turn my photocards around to write this, only god can judge me, a little bit of angst for the real ones

recommended listening: i can't breathe by gwsn

"What’s that babydoll? You want a Waikiki Beach?"

Once you're free of your shackles, you think, you're going to find some means to strangle Johnny. It might require a stepladder and a superhuman increase in your grip but you're going to try.

“Give me the key,” you repeat, looking beside you to make sure the older man two seats down from you isn’t listening. Luckily the PA system is loudly playing Anita Ward’s “Ring My Bell” and his beer is almost empty.

"The orange juice needs to be fresh-squeezed?" Johnny half-shouts, that easy half-smile permanently stamped on his face. "Yeah. Not that shit from a can."

"Give me the key." You repeat, louder. In retrospect hiding your cuffed hands by putting them behind you rather than in front of you, under one of Jaehyun's suit jackets, was the wrong strategy. At least you can rest against the bar in front of you without looking weird.

Johnny pauses opening a can of cream de coco, leaning across the bamboo bar-top in a way that makes you jerk back in surprise.

"Take a seat, let me make you that drink I promised," he says, eyes flashing with amusement but also a warning.

The hidden implication is that you're at his mercy until Jaehyun gets here and after what you'd endured earlier you think letting him imagine he has the upper hand is better than making a scene.

You awkwardly get onto one of the stools, surveying the packed bar with its hodge-podge of Don the Beachcomber styled paraphernalia: glass floats and wood carvings lit by low, multi-colored lights. The attached restaurant is packed full (cabin fever has obviously set in with the patrons) so the bar is still only half-capacity.

You don’t recognize any of the faces but it’s the corner booth that pulls your attention, crammed with a silent party of too-large men in suits, tacitly ignoring each other as they scope the entrance to the bar. You clock their leader immediately by his crimson jacket and stony expression, and the way his eyes land on you the instant you look at him. You have a sense for danger and avert your eyes immediately.

Johnny is occupied with finishing several orders at once for the lingering dinner crowd but he makes a point to talk to you as he fills oversized tiki mugs and exotic-looking glasses with different drinks. Your mouth waters a bit, not just at the rum-heavy concoctions but also at the fluidity and skill of his work, like he's performing just for you.

"You have fun in my room today?" Johnny asks, finally sliding your drink across to you. He stops just out of your reach, laughing at you when you glare at him before sticking a straw in and bringing it to your lips.

"No thanks to you," you grouse.

You hadn’t paid much attention to what went in it with the blur of bottles but it's a gradient of yellow to deep red-orange, garnished with an orange and cherry and even a little paper umbrella.

You’re glad he hadn't asked you what you wanted—you wouldn’t have known what to ask for. You take a sip, delighted immediately by the complexity of flavors: citrusy and spicy but with an unexpected touch of vanilla and apricot.

"Good, eh?" he asks, watching you intensely. You can't fake your enjoyment so you give a small nod, your cold anger melting a bit with his attention.

"What's it called?" you ask, but he ignores you. A hand splays wide over your upper back and you go rigid, watching Johnny’s face go from concern to a smile.

"Jae, my man, what can I get you?”

"The good stuff." That deep-like-velvet voice has you relaxed in a heartbeat as Johnny reaches to the top shelf with barely a stretch for a bottle of Blue Label.

You’d watched Jaehyun get dressed but you're still surprised to feel the hard jab of a holstered gun digging into your shoulder blade when you lean back.

"Everything alright?" You twist to look back up at him only to find he's masked in neutrality. He shakes his head, lips pressed tight together.

"Gonna be a long night," Johnny says cryptically. "And not just 'cause I'm working a double."

"Cleaning crew is en route," Jaehyun nods, swallowing his scotch in one throw. "I need you to take care of her until they can get here. I'll cover the bar and keep an eye on the regulars."

Johnny's bored expression turns a little more smug at that, his eyes flicking to you. "Finish that drink, babydoll."

You swivel in your seat to talk to Jaehyun but he’s gone, moving around the bar to join Johnny. Your heart pinches a little as you watch him roll up the sleeves of his work suit and survey the surroundings, that closed-off distance back more than ever. Whatever it is you know better than to ask, especially in public.

Johnny shows up beside you just as you finish your drink with a loud suck on your straw. Negotiating off the stool is difficult but he helps you, easing you onto your heels and maybe pulling you just a little closer to his tall frame. You shirk him off but secretly appreciate the hand on your lower back that helps you stay upright. You're surprised when he navigates you to the back of the house, through the kitchen with a nod at the two cooks and down the service corridor to the manager's office.

No one is inside but you still feel a mild panic going into the boss's space where you've had your share of (undeserved) dressing downs. Johnny closes the door but doesn't bother to lock it, coming over to where you stand perusing the mess of papers piled on the desk.

He slips the gray suit jacket off of you after a moment, drinking in the sight of the marmalade-colored strapless dress Jaehyun had found for you—supposedly from the hotel lost-and-found. You shudder to think of the alternative.

"You clean up nice," he says.

"Uncuff me, now," you say. If you feel a little toasty from his attention you blame it on the drink. You'd watched him make it so there was no way he could have spiked it but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t gone to your head.

"Don't want to play a little more with these on? Didn't seem to be a problem with Jae," he says.

"Now."

He holds up the silver key and laughs when you try to kick him. Before long he's got you turned around and propped against the desk, working a little more slowly than you'd like. He pecks your bare shoulder at the release of the lock.

As soon as your one hand is free you turn around and slap him as hard as you can, cuff still dangling from your wrist. Johnny doesn’t even flinch, smiling through it. He grabs your hand when you raise it again.

"Still mad about the—" he starts.

"You tied me up and threatened to kill me, asshole," you snarl. You're more pissed off at yourself for failing to rile him than at his response, but whatever witty retort he's about to make dies on his lips as he sees that your eyes are glassy with unshed tears. He helps you out of the other cuff and rubs your sore wrists, careful to avoid the places where the skin is raw.

"I'm sorry," he says. "Didn't know if Jae was being over-optimistic and you'd actually try to do something."

His apology gives you pause as you wipe the moisture from your eyes, careful not to wreck your mascara.

"I don't trust you," you explain. "But I don't have it out for you, either."

Johnny nods, a little less solemn. “It’s not your fault you got pulled into this. Whatever happens you’re safe with us. We just need you to work with us a little longer.”

“Jaehyun told me you needed a roper,” you say. You hadn’t let on that you understood the terminology, but it was also becoming increasingly clear that they already knew. “I’ll do it.”

Jaehyun had mentioned compensation, which would have been incentive enough if you hadn’t also been easing down from your fourth–or was it fifth?—orgasm of the day. That post-cum clarity you’d had getting yourself off in the past no longer applied, you felt like you’d been fucked into a single-digit IQ. Making up for lost time, indeed.

“I’ve got an easier job for you first,” he says. “Just need to keep me company here until Jaehyun gives us the signal,” Johnny says, touching the side of his head. He’s wearing the same inconspicuous earpiece you’d watched Jaehyun put in, wire hidden under long hair and collar. You wonder where Johnny has his mic since he’s wearing another short-sleeved tropical shirt, company orange and floral. It’s funny to think you match, even if there’s such a stark disparity between you.

“What are you planning to do?” you ask.

That wicked grin appears again, his eyebrows lowered.

Johnny’s hands suddenly land on your hips and you squeak as he lifts you onto the desk, scattering file folders and log books onto the floor as you’re pushed back on the dark wood.

“Getting myself fired,” he says, voice lilting. His face dips down into the space between your neck and shoulder, not making contact but close enough to burn you with his exhalation.

"You think fucking a cute little maid on the manager's desk will do it?"

"Oh no," you shake your head, overwhelmed by the warmth radiating off his skin and the clean eucalyptus smell of whatever he was using in his toilette.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to. It's just an act, babydoll." Johnny's breath tickles your skin as he moves up to your ear. “You wanna help or should I hide you in the closet and go find Ruby? I'll let you watch.”

"No." The word escapes your lips with a violence you’re not prepared for, that small sting of jealousy returning. He’s smiling into your jaw as he makes his way across your face, finally pressing more than a butterfly wing’s weight when he finds your lips.

"I'll do it,” you repeat, kissing him back. “As long as . . . " You drift off, biting your inner cheek. "Can I talk to Jaehyun first?"

"He can hear you," Johnny says, tapping his shirt front. "No secrets between partners."

"Ask him if he's okay with . . . " You wave your hands in the air, physically unable to say it aloud.

Johnny lifts your chin so you'll meet his honey-brown eyes, mouth curving. "You hear that Jae, she thinks you'll be jealous."

You scowl at him, watching him push the earpiece in further. He laughs at what’s said in the channel before coming back to you.

"He said something about watching. I don’t know, music is too loud. Did he tell you he has a thing for that?"

"What?" you ask, confused. Johnny trails his hands up the silky fabric covering your legs, reading your face for consent before pulling you to the edge of the desk. You shudder as he hikes your dress up more with his thumbs, rubbing circles into your thighs through the satin.

"I've shared girls with him before but he usually just watches," Johnny says, blithely. "You're the first one he's properly fucked since we were assigned together."

His words send heat pooling into your core, fire spreading to burn through your nerves. You imagine Jaehyun sitting in a chair in the shadows, just drinking the sight of you in as Johnny fucks you into the mattress, bent in two and drooling into the sheets. You try to calm down–you need to keep your head on your shoulders–but you can’t hide your bodily reaction.

"You like that?" Johnny senses your arousal again, nose nudging yours. "You want to be shared?"

You breathe through your mouth, clenching your thighs together. The Lord above knew you should be sated but then you're sure he isn't involved in any of this.

“I think I can handle it,” you respond. “Can you?”

Johnny’s rough fingers suddenly dig into the flesh of your hips. You were so distracted you didn’t even realize he’d reached under your dress, pulling you closer to the edge. He flashes you the biggest grin you’ve seen yet, Cheshire Cat wide.

"Need to borrow your underwear," Johnny says, yanking your second-best pair of panties down your legs and past your heels. You watch in horror as he lifts the ruined synthetic lace to his nose and inhales deeply.

"How many times did that bastard cum inside you, exactly?" Johnny asks. "In the shower, too?"

Your mouth is dry as the desert, unable to stop him as he tucks away his prize in his back pocket.

"You heard that?!" you finally squeak.

"Of course. Everything, baby doll. You think we get privacy in this line of work?"

"Jaehyun." You bury your face in your hands to hide your mortification. Johnny gently brings you out, prising your hands apart as he laughs at you, quietly.

"You'll get used to it. Personally I like making the wiretap boys squirm. But then I'm not usually on the receiving end."

You open your mouth to tell him you deserved that but instead your eyes go down to his hips in front of you, and to the obvious bulge straining his white shorts, his length curved down against the inside of his left leg. Ruby hadn't been lying about his size. Soup is good food, indeed, you think, swallowing dryly.

When your eyes return to Johnny’s face you find it’s darkened a bit, his pupils drug-wide. "It's been a long day."

You can picture him tucking his cock into his waistband as he worked, waiting for his next break to jerk off to your moans in a bathroom stall. You’d never give him the satisfaction of telling him you'd heard it yourself, when Jaehyun had slipped his earpiece into your ear mid-fuck. Or that you’d come even harder to the thought of both men getting off to you.

"Do you want a taste?" you ask, hand caressing his jaw. You have your own agenda but it's clear the lines are blurred too much between torturing him and torturing yourself. You knew who would enjoy it, regardless.

"What do you want, baby girl?" Johnny doesn’t let you answer aloud, the flick of your eyes down is enough. He drops to his knees, pulling your legs over his shoulders.

He's nowhere near as gentle as Jaehyun was, burrowing under your dress to press his plush mouth against your sensitive sex, licking deep and heavy until you’re begging him to stop. He doesn’t let up, angling you back so that you’re dropped across the desk, spilling a mug of pens onto the floor.

You quickly learn that roughness is no indication of skill as he spreads your lips and laps at the wetness seeping from you. The sounds are obscene and you know it's deliberate but you find yourself joining him, making sharp little cries each time his mouth moves higher.

"Please," you beg, tugging on his hair. "Please more."

"Such a dirty little kitten," he says, flattening his tongue against your clit with each swipe. "Not satisfied with one cock. You think you can take two?"

"Mmhmm," you moan, lost in the moment.

"We should get you ready," he says, pushing his long fingers deep inside of you. You should be sore but it's almost a relief—the ache is gone as he scissors the digits to open you. You bite back a cry, holding on to the edge of the desk with clenched fists as he adjusts his posture. The mess inside of you squelches with each thrust, desk rocking with the strength of his arm.

Just the knowledge that Johnny is fucking you with his hand is getting you off but you know you can do so much better, especially when you meet his self-satisfied look from between your thighs, his mouth on you again.

“Stop. Stop,” you say, grasping his collar and pulling on it. “You're not–”

“Quiet,” he says. He pulls his fingers out of you with a pop, inspecting the shine on them before reaching up to fill your mouth to let you taste yourself and the slight bitterness of cum.

You suck experimentally, prompting him to stand up and watch your face as you hollow your cheeks. Johnny holds your neck as he thrusts the digits gently to the back of your throat, hips mirroring the movement as he pushes against the desk with his upper thighs. You scoot forward, practically hanging off the desk to soak the front of his shorts, loving the friction of the khaki against your bareness.

He watches you demonstrate your eagerness to take him in both orifices, clearly proud of himself.

“You going to take me raw, too?” he asks, easing up when you gag on his fingers. You nod, eyes watering. He looks at you with adoration, kissing your forehead and face and then your lips once he's pulled his fingers from them.

“I wish we had more time, I’d make you come on every surface in this room,” Johnny says, unbuckling his pants and pulling himself out of the top of his boxer briefs. You only have a few seconds to fully grasp the danger you’re in, lost in the miles of tanned skin you haven’t seen yet and a close-shaved thatch of dark hair that does little to hide the monster hiding there.

“Ready?”

You don’t get a chance to answer as that absolutely incomprehensible size presses against you–the angle just right to–

"Are you, big boy?" you tease.

–he loses control and jams his into the desk, full-body wincing. You almost laugh at that, but he doesn't waste a second before pulling you forward and onto him, making you gasp with the burn of taking those first few inches.

"You aren't," he grunts, hand sliding between you to grope at your core. You bat his hand away, grabbing the back of his neck to try and pull yourself on him more.

"Whose fault is that?”

It’s not an easy fit no matter what preparation you've had, and he's not moving the way Jaehyun did to work you in as much as letting you stretch around him as he readjusts awkwardly. The desk proves too low for how high his hips are compared to it–both of you slipping as he tries to find a good surface to fight against the grip of your cunt keeping him half-sunk.

“You think this is funny?” he growls. Your pent-in laughter is immediately stopped as he lifts you up, his forearms wrapped up and under your thighs.

He’s strong enough you feel as weightless as feather down, but gravity still applies when he lets you slide down on his thick cock. You let out a cry, arms and legs wrapping around him instinctively to hold on as he moves you both away from the desk. And then you’re pressed against the wood-panel wall behind it, shoulders pinned as he rolls his hips up in controlled, tight thrusts.

“You okay?” Johnny’s mouth is against your forehead as he slowly fucks into you, not even halfway sheathed inside. Your legs shake, already tired, but you can't imagine stopping—not with that gnawing need settling in.

Within a minute you're losing your mind; the angle and that impossible girth is good but you can’t touch yourself and you’re not sure if you’ll be able to come with him practically warming himself inside you.

“I can take it,” you say. You don’t mind pain, and right now you crave it. You nudge his chin with your nose, kissing the smooth skin underneath, where he doesn’t need to shave.

“I know you can,” he says. “But tap me if you need to stop.”

“Stop telling me–”

Immediately you’re pulled down until your shoulders are angling to the floor, hearing the rip in your dress as he lets you drop. You pull yourself up desperately, heels digging into his thighs and fingernails into his arms until he lifts you again, bracing you both against the office wall.

“I said tap me if you need to stop,” he says, obviously amused as your eyes flutter shut when he’s close to bottoming out. His thrusts resume, gaze locked with yours in the flickering fluorescent light.

“Relax,” he says. “I’ve got you.”

“Do you?” you ask, threading your hands in his hair again.

“It’s so funny how you think you’re in control,” Johnny says, voice low. The threat makes you clench around him and you both respond non-verbally, his grunts increasing as he angles you to pump even deeper. You dig your nails into the back of his neck, but with his cock fully lubricated you’re quickly at his mercy, each slap of his hips against yours bouncing you up along the laminate.

You're immediately wetter than you've ever been, cum trickling down the inside of your thighs as he pushes you open further and further until you’re breaking against your own better judgment. You bury your face in the open V of his collar to keep from screaming, gold chain indenting your cheek.

His hands are under your thighs again, the wall just an afterthought. Now you’re being lifted and carried down in slow semi-circles, his jaw against your skull as he whispers consolations and praise. You know you’re supposed to wait, to listen, but there’s only his voice in your ear as you let go and feel every point of contact between you.

For a moment you actually believe he wants you. He could fuck you into the next life and it wouldn’t be enough, you think. You want to suck him off in a linen closet. You want him to whisper whatever his desire is in your ear and respond in kind. Few would be so lucky.

“You can make noise, baby.” There it is, you think, that’s an order. You let the sound you’ve been holding in out finally, face angled away from the clip-collar mic you’d felt against your cheek.

“Fuck me, Daddy,” you say hoarsely.

That’s when you understand what you’ve been missing, when his conscious mind finally falls away, he holds you tight and fucks. Your entire body is bent as he ruts into you with his hand curling around the back of your neck to bring you closer to him. The wall clock above you falls to the floor, plastic shattering, as you lose yourself in the feeling of being broken apart—

“What in the fuck are you doing?!” The third voice in the room startles you mid-moan and you realize you hadn’t even heard the door open. Johnny pauses, hold slackening enough for you to slide back down the wall. He looks over his shoulder, the glow of sweat near his hairline shining in the fluorescent light.

“I’m on break,” Johnny says, subtly angling your bodies to shield you from sight.

“In my office!?” The night manager doesn't sound scandalized enough for this to be a first occurrence, just humiliated.

“You weren’t using it.” Johnny says.

The slam of a man’s fist against the doorway is punctuated by a loud, defeated sigh.

“Well? You gonna watch or you gonna let me finish?” Johnny says.

You’re impressed at the level tone he has, not just because you were interrupted but because your cunt is squeezing around him with each suppressed giggle. Your hands rise under his shirt to smooth over his twitching abdomen, watching the side of his face as he masterfully avoids reacting. You tweak his nipples for good measure, earning yourself a warning thrust of his hips.

“You can finish out your shift without hourly and then you’re out of this hotel, Sullivan,” the older man says in as threatening a voice as he can muster. “I’d drag you both out myself but you know damn well we don’t have anyone to cover you.”

“Works for me,” Johnny says.

“Fuck you and the horse you rode in on!” The slam of the door drops another framed picture and you wait until the sound of muttering about not being able to keep his dick in his pants for five minutes, then you both break into sobs of laughter, Johnny heaving you around and back to drop your ass on the desk again. He slips painfully out of you as you curl in on each other, shaking violently, adrenaline high burning in your veins.

“Did I do a good job?” You ask once you’ve stopped laughing, wiping tears from your eyes. You’re already adjusting your skirt down your legs, and checking your heels are still strapped to your feet when Johnny’s large hand wraps around your chin.

“Do you think we’re done here?” Johnny’s voice is low.

“You think I want a quick fuck?” You stare up at him through your eyelashes, enjoying the way his full mouth quirks and his eyes narrow. He doesn’t seem convinced by your delivery so you sink the knife in a little deeper.

“Didn’t you hear? Jaehyun said not unless he's watching," you say.

You smile, unable to keep a wry expression. Johnny’s grip on your neck loosens, his touch much more tempting as he strokes the earpiece hidden beneath your right ear. You shiver a little at how gentle he is, avoiding looking at his still-wet, perfect length right in front of you.

“Finish yourself off again,” you say, mustering up an air of business. “We have work to do.”

You slide out from under his arm as he leans against the desk, not moving to stop you. The silence in the room is deafening as you retrieve Jaehyun’s jacket, accidentally kicking a mug across the stained carpet, its yellow smiley face motif staring up into nothing.

You're peeking through the closed blinds before opening the door when he finally speaks.

“You should be more careful.”

You’re always careful. You don’t turn around, hand on the doorknob. You’re also used to threats.

“Why is that?”

Johnny’s voice is quiet, personal. “You might have more than one man falling for you.”

He can’t see the smile that spreads on your lips as you duck out, straightening your dress and your back as you walk towards your next assignment.

“I’m counting on it,” you say as the door closes behind you.

The lobby is a hellish sight once you’ve successfully snuck out of the service corridor unseen. You retrieve your powder and lipstick from your coat pocket, cleaning up the smears around your mouth as you sit on one of the low divans nearest to the sliding doors while secretly scoping the front desk.

“The big guy is trying to get a door key from Sheila but she’s not buying it,” you say, coughing after you’ve leaned back from speaking into your jacket collar. "He's being directed to use the phone bank."

“We’re going to need you to go back to 310,” Jaehyun says, soft voice and piano music echoing loud in your ear when he uses the mic. “Answer the call.”

Your heart sinks into the tile under your feet, but you answer. “Copy.”

“Don’t worry. Snoopy will go with you.”

“Snoopy? Does that make you Schroeder?” You can’t help but tease, snapping your makeup compact shut to look up at his back, just twenty feet away where he’s sitting at the grand piano.

He answers by immediately shifting his improvised piano play into the first movement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. The music adds a somber air to the room as spouses fight each other over staying another night and the man at the counter steps aside for another in the long line of attempted vacancies. The goon makes his way back to the phone lines, foot tapping impatiently as an elderly woman yells into the receiver about whether her cats have been fed.

Outside sheets of water still fall from the carport but the neon lighting reveals a line of taxis no longer burdened by high flood waters—there’s traffic now, and you’re not partaking in it. No, you’re staying just a little longer in this dollhouse, puppeted by a shadowy organization you've been coerced into working with through the power of money and (admittedly) good dick.

"You're in on the plan now," Jaehyun says, painting your nails for you in the hotel room. "You do this for us and you'll be set for life."

"How long of a lifespan is that?" You ask, making him look up at you with thin-lipped concentration.

"You're safer with us than anyone else," he says.

You wanted to believe him.

"What's the catch?" you ask, knowing there always is one.

"You have to pretend like this never happened."

One of the bellhops passes you by in a rush, distracting you as the seat beside you sinks with a new weight.

“He’s more of a Linus,” a soft, musical voice says next to you. The strange man shakes water off a drenched black fedora, setting a black doctor's bag on the cushions between you.

Your entire body stills, careful not to react too much to the new company. Your eyes slide over and up a long torso to an unfamiliar face. He's got a soft, innocent air to him with his white-blond hair and angelic features but there’s also a slyness to him you wouldn't be comfortable testing.

You wonder if it’s a prerequisite for their agency that these men be as tall as a coffin is buried, or look better in a suit than any man ever put into one.

“Nice to meet you,” you say, still pretending to watch Jaehyun navigate the keys. “Where’s Woodstock?”

“Oh, he’ll be here soon.” The stranger smiles without showing his teeth, kicking his long legs out. A small child waving a Stretch Armstrong figure barrels into his feet, crying loudly. It seems to cause a domino effect of chaos in the lobby, suitcases spilling as another person trips on the wet floor and a woman starts yelling about a refund.

“Let’s go up first,” the stranger says. His perfect cap of white hair is hidden under his black hat again as he stands to offer you a gloved hand. You navigate the crowd, leading as he keeps pace beside you, his other arm weighed down with the bag.

“Why do they call you Snoopy?” You ask once you’re in the elevator.

“Maybe because I'm good at finding things out?” he offers, waiting for you to press the third floor button. His black overcoat still drips rain and you try not to steal glances at his profile. The more you look at him the more you think he looks like an undertaker taking you to your own funeral.

You step out of the elevator to a small crowd of people waiting to go down: tourists dressed in inappropriate shorts and linen shirts with their bags, others dressed in their best disco glam for a trip to the bar or another open club. Once the hubbub is gone and the hallway is empty Snoopy leads, a ghost for how quiet his long legs move across the hallway to the room you never wanted to go back to.

“Wait,” he says as a door opens on the far side of the hallway behind you. He pushes you into the nearby stairwell, dark eyes over your shoulder, expecting company.

“Why do you all smell so good?” The whisper that escapes you is answered in stereo, a soft chuckle over you and multiple laughs in your ears.

"Not all of us," an unknown voice says.

“You can turn the mic off if you want to, doll,” Johnny’s voice appears over the line, backgrounded by Donna Summers and bar conversation.

“If I get killed by someone named after a funny pages dog I want to be able to curse you with my last breath,” you say. More laughter follows, making you feel like you're at a live recording of a comedy radio show.

“How many people are on this line?” You wonder aloud but your companion shakes his head, leading you to the door for 310. He waits patiently for you to unlock it, your hands shaking as the key slips in. You're thankful at least you aren’t going into the suite directly.

Inside your quiet new friend listens through the adjoining door before opening it, his other hand reaching into his jacket to retrieve a silenced pistol. You follow him into the main living area, icy cold fear returning as he checks the other rooms, thankfully not making you follow.

The phone rings, startling you with how loud it is.

"You know what to do?" Snoopy asks, nodding at you when he's back in the room with you. Jaehyun had walked you through the details while he'd helped you get ready earlier and it had seemed easy enough.

You let the rings go on for a while as you shake off your nerves before picking up the pink plastic receiver and answering the phone with a tearful, shaky "hello".

"Mira?"

"Ye-yes." You let your stutter return.

"Why didn't you answer the door for me?"

"That wasn't the deal," you say. "We meet in the bar, or not at all."

"Where’s Louis, Mira? He was supposed to be down here an hour ago."

"He went for a swim," you say, not bothering to make it sound convincing.

"In a hurricane? You think I'm stupid?"

"I'll explain when I get down there," you say. "You know they're listening."

The stranger on the other end seems to take a lifetime piecing together what you said before agreeing with a growl. "Be down here in five minutes with the entire package or we're coming up there and breaking down the door to get it."

"I'll see you in ten," you say, hanging up.

"You're a natural," Snoopy says, wiping down the receiver once he's taken it from your shaking hand. "Pick out an outfit and let me know when you're ready."

He nods towards the other room and you understand immediately, picking up one of the evening dresses strewn on the couch, then reluctantly rifling through the open suitcase on the floor for underwear to replace the ones Johnny had taken from you. Wearing a dead woman's lingerie was the last thing you needed but you had few alternatives.

There’s a knock at the door that startles you as you're changing in the other room, surprised that you hadn’t had a warning from Jaehyun keeping an eye on the lobby. You come into the room to see your companion open the door, gun ready, letting in a much shorter man in a work suit pushing one of the hotel's janitorial carts.

So there isn't a height requirement after all, you think, nodding shyly from behind the door jamb as the man comes in and beams at you. He meets all your expectations in the looks department, that wholesome appearance they all seem to have masking something much different.

"Hey, Y/N," he says cheerily. "Hey, Jungwoo—"

"We talked about this, Taeil." the other man groans. "Code names?"

The other man shrugs sheepishly.

"We need to move fast. I'll help you once I'm done with her."

"Come here," Jungwoo says after reholstering his gun, guiding you into the empty adjacent room. He leaves the door ajar and gestures for you to enter the bathroom, patting the counter for you to jump on it as he opens his bag beside it. Even with the height increase he's stooped over you, lifting your face in delicate fingers to inspect it.

"We don’t have much time but the lighting should hide enough." He begins applying makeup liberally to your face in a spectrum of colors you've never used before: violets and reds and yellows.

"You want to make it look real? You can hit me," you say, eyes closed so he can give you a convincing shiner.

"Absolutely not," Jaehyun says in both of your ears.

Jungwoo smiles and shakes his head, biting his lip as he touches up his work with a gloved thumb. "You can wear sunglasses to hide your face, they won't notice."

"Do you do this a lot?" you ask, letting him apply lipstick to you in a deep shade of red.

"We usually have a team for this. But I'm a quick learner."

You glance in the mirror, nodding. "You're good at it."

The younger man beams at you, rose lips parting to reveal perfect teeth.

"Stop flirting with the kid," Johnny says. "They're all here but they're looking antsy."

"Almost done," you say, helping Jungwoo put the wig on you to complete your look. He disappears for a moment and comes back with the final touches: large white sunglasses and a fur coat, and a key with the 312 tag. You don’t want to know where he'd found it.

"What about the bag?" you ask.

"We'll let you know where we stash it."

"Won't they check for a wire?" You look up at Jungwoo, surprised to see confusion flicker across his face.

"These guys are dumb but they're professionals. You tell them you killed dear old Louis here and they won't suspect you're wearing one."

"It's still too risky," you say aloud.

"We're expecting failure," Jaehyun's voice crackles in with the echo of the lobby, piano playing stopped.

Jungwoo nods, shrugging a little. "Getting caught is just another contingency."

"I see." You have your doubts but you also know that this is largely going to be a matter of luck, much like the other jobs you'd pulled off in the past. As long ago as it's been since you'd done one you’re feeling the same you had every time, the lemon-sharp thrill of possibility with your head running through escapes and back-up options should things go south.

"Should I take a weapon?"

"No. We'll have your back." Jungwoo adjusts your hairline a final time, combing out one of the long, black tresses to rest on your shoulder. "You have my word."

You look at him skeptically, prompting him to blush prettily. "On my mother’s life."

Mommy's boys, the lot of them, you sigh internally. It’s odd but nothing about the last day has been normal, so you figure you'll take your chances.

The trip downstairs is a blur, and you calm yourself by humming the Peanuts theme, until the chuckles in your in-ear reminds you that you have an audience.

Once you're in the lounge you plan on blowing past the bar, but Johnny beckons you with a curve of his finger. The music is loud enough you have to lean over the bar to hear what he has to say. He hovers dangerously close, breath against your cheek.

"Want another Long Slow Comfortable Screw Against the Wall?"

"What?" You stare at him in disbelief once you've pulled away.

"The drink you had earlier," he says, holding up a glass. "I'll send one over. Deliver it to that spot you like so much in the lobby. The one with the view."

It takes you a moment to realize he’s telling you where the package is being delivered.

"Why are you like this?" you ask, not waiting for an answer or his pleased expression. You head directly for the suits at the back booth past the sadly empty dance floor and stage, mirror ball illuminating clouds of smoke wafting from the occupied tables.

For a moment you catch a familiar face looking at you from one of the booths and your heart stutters but Ruby's gaze skips over you and back to the bar. Thank god for your disguise, you think, she's the last person you want to talk to right now.

There's a clear aura of uncertainty coming from the group you're approaching, the chill of fear beginning to freeze you until you remember you’re not carrying a bag. You walk forward with a mixture of feigned confidence and very real wariness.

One of the three men accompanying the leader stands up and pretends to give you a hug, patting you down instead. You stand stock still as his hands wander up your body under the white rabbit fur coat, roughly squeezing the underwire of your bra before standing back to let you sit.

Once you've slid along the red leather you're closed in immediately by the bodyguard, a hard and cold object digging into your stomach under the table.

"Where is it," the leader asks, fingers steepling in front of him. This close you can see he's as good-looking as your own agents, and though they hadn’t told you anything much past his name and a warning to play it cool you can feel the power coming off him like radiation from a nuclear core.

"You could at least buy a girl a drink, Max," you say, placing your hands on the table, not to show off Jaehyun's work on your nails as much as let them see the very real damage to your wrists and the scrapes on your knuckles. "The case is in the lobby behind the palm tree closest to the piano."

The leader only has to nod before one of the meatheads across from you—the one you’d taken to calling Hulk for the shape of his jaw—gets up to retrieve it.

"Roughed you up good, did he?" Max asks, offering you an expensive cigarette from an ivory-plated case.

You let your hand shake when you accept it, leaning into the flame and fighting the urge to cough when the smoke hits your lungs. The second drag is easier, letting them hang on your next words.

"I told him if he hurt me again he'd pay." You exhale smoke, flashing him a glimpse of your face under the glasses, satisfied with the look of disgust that crosses his cold features. "He paid."

"We'll need to confirm that." Max toys with his untouched martini. "Do you have proof?"

"The room is the proof," you say. "Everything is still in there but me. And the bag."

You indicate you're going to pull something from your pocket and he nods, the gun digging in a little sharper as you pull out the 312 room key and slide it across the table. "Knock yourself out."

"What do you want out of this?"

"Protection," you spit out immediately. You adjust your glasses, looking out at the bar like you’re being watched. It's easy to act when you know you are.

"Don't think there's any protection in the world that could see you out of the mess you both made," Max smiles, his eyes cold.

"Fair," you incline your head, pretending to wipe a tear from under your glasses. "You can let me walk out of this hotel in one piece, though. Word is you're a stand-up guy."

"I keep my word. Let's see if you keep yours."

The other man returns with the case, nodding. The guards get up, Max pocketing the key and smoothing out his jacket.

"Take her out front and get her a ride," he says to the man still holding a gun to you. "You going to play nice for me?"

"Don't see that I have much choice," you snap back.

"Be a good girl and you'll have nothing to worry about," Max says, smiling devilishly. You've seen this look before, you've heard these words before, you know that they're never true. But you pretend like you believe him, you even let him kiss your hand as he leaves you alone with your ward.

The ghost of that kiss makes you clench your hand as you're shepherded past the bar, making eye contact from behind your glasses with Johnny as he pours rum. He winks at you, and while your face is hidden you’re sure he can see the look you shoot back at him.

Your legs start to feel like jelly the moment the lobby doors open and you're exposed to the rush of warm, humid air outside of the hotel. You turn towards the line of taxis and airport shuttle vans but your captor walls you off, steering you towards the parking lot.

"Where are you taking me?" you ask, quietly.

He doesn't answer, grabbing your shoulder to make you march into the rain-soaked night towards rows of cars and an ominous-looking black Lincoln Continental. You don’t fight it–making conversation instead.

"If you kill me people will come for you," you say, voice trembling.

"They'll thank me, bitch," he says, jamming the muzzle into your back.

You pretend to stumble in your heels, falling on to the wet pavement behind the hotel once you're out of the eyeline of anyone out front. The man looks down at you in disgust, gesturing with his gun for you to get up when light suddenly floods the sidewalk.

Headlights blind you both, an engine flaring into life just beyond–

"What the—" the man doesn't get a chance to speak as he's cold-cocked from behind, the gun in his hand skittering across the wet pavement when it's kicked from his limp hand. You look up to see a giant man in a ski mask standing over you both right before the engine roars behind you, distracting you. There’s a screech of tires just as the stranger picks you up and throws you into the open side door of an unmarked van.

You have a glimpse of an interior full of all sorts of electronic equipment and a driver's side profile before a black bag is pulled over your head. Your assailant must be part bear for how little your struggle effects them, and after the hold he has on you doesn't break you go limp.

You're discarded on the floor of the van to roll across it, bumping painfully into what feels like a bench.

"Sorry, sorry," comes a muffled voice behind you as the vehicle peels away, door slamming shut.

"What?" Your heart is racing in your chest, fabric keeping you from being able to draw in a full breath.

"We had to make it look authentic," he says, grabbing you before you can slide across the floor again. You don’t fight as you're lifted off the floor and set down on a cushioned seat, back against the cold metal wall of the van.

Once the movement of the vehicle is normalized you find hands tentatively removing the hood from your head, and a boyish looking face under brown, mussed hair peering down at you. You're both sitting on the bench running parallel to the massive amount of equipment filling the left side, including video monitors and radio dispatch equipment.

"Was the black bag necessary?" you ask.

"Security cameras," he shrugs.

You take advantage of a red light to adjust yourself and he does too, moving away. Despite his height he looks comfortable as he sits in a bolted-down chair at the electronics station, donning a headset and clicking through a series of buttons.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Hotel," the driver says cheerily from up front and you have a moment of panic thinking he means back to The Magic Carpet. You don’t think you can spend another night there.

"Palm Beach," the big man clarifies from where he works.

"That's a long drive," you sigh.

"I'm going to need your earpiece," he says, holding out his hand. He sees your expression and smiles shyly. "You're out of range anyway."

You comply, taking off your wig and wig cap as well, relieved to be able to itch your scalp.

"Oh and we'll need your clothes, too. Your stuff is over there."

You sigh. "Can I keep my underwear?"

He's surprisingly unfazed, cheeks maybe a little more red in the dim light of the non-broadcasting monitors. He turns and speaks into his mic, low enough you can barely hear but you can feel the universe laughing at you when he swivels around, face incandescent.

"No they say we'll need that too. Sorry."

You think you can hear Johnny laughing even miles away.

"Whatever," you say. "You want to watch?"

He turns around again immediately, but you catch the driver's cherub-like eyes in the rearview mirror smiling at you with a cheeky look. You respond with a rude gesture before going deeper into the back of the van, glad to see there's a curtained-off area with a narrow sleeping cot at the back.

Your heart drops a little seeing your familiar suitcase and bag laid there—remnants of a life that feels foreign to you now. You may as well have been dropped off on an alien planet for as far away as yesterday feels.

Once you've changed into your familiar denim shorts and yellow Keep On Truckin' t-shirt you lie down, listening to the soft hum of the radio playing soul and the occasional click of a keyboard or button. The smooth ride of the I-95 takes you into even more unfamiliar territory.

God you wished they'd have let you keep the fur coat. But no, you'd been unloaded at the end of an enormous palm-tree lined lane at the most impossible destination you could ever have imagined yourself, a pebble dumped in a treasure chest.

"Welcome to the Breakers Resort," the woman at the front desk had greeted you, patient as you took in the painted ceiling and chandeliers. "Do you have a reservation?"

"Room 127," you say, looking down at the scrap of paper the comms agent had given you.

"Ah, of course. Welcome Ms. Smith. Kitchen is open for another few hours if you'd like any in-room dining."

You don't even notice she's not asked for ID or money, swept past the grand Venetian ballroom and miles of soft carpet and antique furniture to your room.

Of course it's a suite, you think, once you're inside. The place is tastefully white and pastel, windows revealing the rolling surf of the dying storm just past the well-maintained exterior. Unlike the place you’d just left, the palm leaves and jetsam have already been swept clean, erasing the chaos of the past few days in a way that has you unsettled.

You find pink rose petals strewn at the end of the turned-down king size bed, chocolates on the pillow and an expensive looking bottle of champagne sweating in an ice bucket on the table.

Enjoy your stay, you've earned it. The handwritten note on hotel stationary makes you feel more alienated then ever and you soothe yourself by inspecting the room the way you're used to doing. It's so clean you feel like you could eat off the floor, reminding you it's been a long time since that sandwich.

The prices on the room service menu send your blood pressure skyrocketing but you disregard them and order a full spread, and another bottle of champagne—less expensive—for good measure.

It's hard to stay still and you think about going down to the bar but take one look at your face in the mirror with its remaining streaks of makeup and your ratty wig-tortured hair and opt instead to take a bath in the jacuzzi tub, dumping an entire bottle of soap in for maximum bubbles. You stay in the hot water until you can’t stand it anymore, wrap yourself in one of the thick white robes, and wait.

It's not your fault the bed is so comfortable and warm, the pillows so thick and cold. Four glasses of champagne and the roar of the ocean lulls you into a deep and dreamless sleep. You're out so intensely that you don't even wake up when the door clicks open, or when the shower starts, or when the mattress drops next to you.

No, you wake up much later, suddenly hot from the body encircling you, arm tight around your middle. You open your eyes to see another form in front of you, catching the sharp tang of alcohol as Johnny snores softly a few feet away.

"Jae—" the hand rises to press a finger to your lips and you turn around to see his familiar jaw, dark hair shrouding his face. You lean back to kiss him, surprised to feel how smooth his skin is and how good he tastes when your mouth opens to allow him in with a soft moan.

You kiss until you're both breathless, his hand tracing circles on your neck.

"You did so good," he whispers. "Without a hitch."

"I missed you," you say quietly, and you mean it. "Thought maybe this was a parting gift."

Even in the dark you can tell his expression clouds over, eyes darting over your face.

"What’s wrong?" you ask, fingers tracing his eyebrows.

Don't say it, don't say it, you think. You want the illusion to last just a little longer.

"We can talk about it in the morning," he says. "Get some more rest."

You sigh, reaching back to run your fingers through his hair, finding it still slightly damp.

"I don't want to sleep," you whisper, your tone clearly indicating that you'd rather be doing anything else. You sense him go rigid behind you. Fingers trace your lips before angling your jaw so he can kiss you again, just as softly.

"You sure?"

"Don't wake him," you say, conspiratorially.

"Johnny killed half a bottle of mezcal so they’d kick him out early, he's not getting up anytime soon."

"Pretend like I'm still dreaming."

"Mmm," he assents, bringing you closer to him. You relax into his soft touches, letting him soothe you into a comfortable state only punctuated by shocks of cold when he undoes the belt of your robe, reaching in to massage your skin. You close your eyes and let him explore you in slow, endless circumnavigations of your breasts and belly, never quite hitting the places he knows will make you move.

You only jerk a little when he pulls back your robe collar, replacing the warmth of the fabric with his mouth, the fingers of his right hand venturing between your thighs.

You can't help but whimper the moment he touches you, lightly dipping his fingers between your folds, spreading the wetness that inevitably springs up. You’re still aching from the lack of completion earlier, body melding into every contour of his behind you as an invitation to go further.

He brings his mouth to your shoulder blade, kissing you gently as he rests his forearm on your hip, alternating between teasing your entrance and up to your clit. You bury your face into the pillow to keep from crying out when he curls his fingers inside you, small gestures making you close your legs around his touch.

When you reach behind to grab at his head he brings your hand back to the pillow with slippery fingers, pulling off your robe from your right side, leaving you half exposed.

"Relax for me, baby," he whispers into your ear, bottom lip brushing the lobe. "Close your eyes."

You will yourself limp, slowly coming to the realization that this is something he wants—you pliable and ready for him. He adjusts behind you and you feel that thick, soft tip nudging between your thighs, his hand pulling your leg back and over his to help him get you aligned.

"Stay quiet," he warns before fucking into you. You grip the pillow beneath you as he forces his way in, fighting the tight constriction in your cunt at the suddenness.

Soft sounds escape you when he pulls your hip back, getting so deep you’re melding together, skin-to-skin in the cool air. His other arm snakes under you so he can clamp a hand over your mouth, his thrusts getting less controlled as you continue to pretend to sleep.

"Gonna give you such a good dream." Jaehyun's voice cracks as he rolls you slightly to fuck you into the bed. You want him to touch you so badly you whimper for it under his palm, eyes clenched shut.

He seems to understand because strong fingers reach between you and the mattress, circling your nub until you're clamping down on him. Just when you think you're going to tip over the edge his hand pulls away, making your body snap with unresolved tension.

"Wait for me. Wait until I tell you," he says. You shake your head in protest but he doesn't let up, stroking you in alternations between the contact you need and then up to your belly as soon as you begin to tremor.

You're only consoled by Jaehyun's shaky breaths into your hair, his drilling into your warm hole speeding up each time your body flutters around his cock. Even his hand around your mouth tightens in spasms.

"Now."

You don't understand why the bed is moving as much as it is until you're rolled back against Jaehyun, thigh pulled back again. Your eyes fly open with the first stroke of a warm tongue, surprise disappearing into a massive rolling wave of pleasure as you find Johnny's head between your legs, Jaehyun's cock disappearing into you in wild thrusts.

You're on fire, incapable of thinking trapped between the soft wetness of a mouth and the molten length inside of you. Johnny stops mid-lick and mid-tremor to blow on you, the cold air making you jerk.

"I said now," Jaehyun says, and you realize he's directing the other man, who's stopped mouthing you again, looking up across your bare chest to meet your eyes in the dark.

Then he's sucking on your clit and you can't keep the shriek from bubbling up in your throat, body curling in as the sensation of that wave breaking has your legs shaking and toes curling, shock after shock following as Jaehyun pulls out of you and finishes between your thighs, coating you and Johnny both.

Johnny doesn’t stop, and Jaehyun holds you still as you're licked clean, your eyes half-open drinking in the sight in the dark. By the time he joins you at the head of the bed you're whimpering from overstimulation, captured into a kiss that coats your tongue as soon as Jaehyun releases the hand over your mouth.

"Take care of her," Jaehyun says, leaving the bed.

"Tit-for-tat," Johnny says brushing his hand over your cheek. "You ready to finish what you started?"

Your heart races as he pulls you on top of him, gently tugging the robe off your left shoulder and tossing it away. His hands completely engulf your breasts, spreading them and thumbing at your hardened nipples.

"So soft. You're mine, too," he murmurs.

"You're drunk," you counter, but you don't leave your place straddling him. He’s still dressed but his shirt is open, body feverwarm under you.

You suppose it makes sense that they'd cage you in without a say, after slowly whittling away at your resolve, but it still feels like waking up in the lion's den. So this is what you’d missed out on not following things to their natural conclusion before. You’re almost grateful you’d never made it that first night; you’d have missed the worst but you would have never have found yourself here.

"Maybe," he says. "I can still fuck you though."

"It's so funny how you think you’re in control," you repeat his words back to him, slipping down his torso and leaving a trail of wet until you're straddling his thighs. You pull his shorts open to release his massive erection, trailing your mouth over the leaking slit but offering nothing by way of satisfaction.

By the time you feel Jaehyun behind you again Johnny is groaning loudly at each wet kiss against his length, each weak suck and unfinished squeeze of your fingertips driving him deeper into the bed.

"You like torturing him, baby?" Jaehyun asks, turning on the light. He's naked and glistening with sweat, the sight making your mouth water.

"It's only fair," you say, tongue flicking the precum from the underside of Johnny's cock. "You said he couldn't fuck me until you could watch."

"I made you come just now," Johnny slurs, hand twisting in your hair.

"Debatable," you say. Jaeyhun grabs Johnny's wrist away from you and pulls it over his head and you hear the satisfying click of cuffs snapping into place. Johnny's hips thrust upwards as you give his cock another long swipe, watching Jaehyun ease on to the bed and angle his groin over the other man's face. You can't see but you can hear the muffled groans as Johnny takes him, the arching of Jaehyun's broad white back as he grips the headboard and fucks slowly into his mouth.

You forget torturing Johnny, cheek resting against his hipbone as you reach down to touch yourself instead. When Jaehyun finally pulls away you can see the line of spit from his erect cock to Johnny's plump lips and it makes you gasp a little, peppering his belly with kisses.

"What would you like to do to him?" Jaehyun asks, stroking himself as you tease Johnny’s length with your breasts.

"He can’t come until we tell him to," you say, looking directly into Johnny's lust-hazed eyes. "I want him to beg for it."

"That’s my girl," Jaehyun moves across the bed to join you, leaning down to kiss you before licking the twitching cock between you. You follow his suit, mouths clashing before you both set to work—your hand pumping while Jaehyun's cheeks hollow around the tip. You end up with one hand on his head guiding your lover, watching Johnny writhe and curse as he tries to break free.

"I want you to fuck me with him," you say, kissing Jaehyun once you’ve pulled him away. He looks at you quizzically, your hand wrapping around his cock to pull him closer and work at him against Johnny's muscled thigh.

"I can take it," you say. "If he comes before I do then we can punish him."

"You sure?" he asks, pulling you tight.

"Yeah," you breathe. "I want both of you."

You kill all alternatives by settling yourself over Johnny's hips, parting his open shirt so you can have better access to the wide swath of his chest and belly.

"You want both of us?" he asks drowsily. You kiss him, marveling at how swollen his lips are until you remember biting them earlier. You nip at his neck, hearing the rattle of his belt as Jaehyun undresses his lower half behind you.

"We'll do all the work. Just try not to come," you say. You reach between you to angle his cock up into you, settling down as the stretch burns you awake. You feel unmoored until Jaehyun's hands are on your hips guiding you down to where you can rest against Johnny beneath you and then up again, making up for the lack of strength in your thighs.

"Oh," you say, leaning back into him. "It's so much."

"Slowly," Jaehyun says, cock pressed into your ass as he guides you. His arm snakes around you to help hold you as his hand fits between you, working through your slick until he can guide two fingers into you besides the other man. The first stretch of pain makes you squeak, tensing, and he slows.

"You sure you want it this way? We can—"

You shake your head violently. The feeling of being filled is too good, every inhale making you tighten. "Not tonight."

"That’s my girl," Johnny sighs. Jaehyun eases a third finger in, both of your movements slowing as he fucks into you with his hand against the warm length already inside you. You're on fire, feeling Johnny practically in your ribcage, but without the necessary rhythm to work you to completion it feels like you're sharing the torture.

"Please, fuck us," you whisper, leaning back to rest your head against Jaehyun's chest. You're so full already you can barely feel when his hand is out of you but when his cock replaces his fingers its a torch to tinder. You involuntarily jerk forward, half-off of Johnny as Jaehyun slides against him and presses his cock deep into your cunt.

If you thought you had any agency in this moment it's stolen by hands on your hips pulling you back, Jaehyun’s grip viselike. Johnny is struggling beneath you, trying to fuck you against the encroachment of Jaehyun's cock but the latter’s movements are merciless.

"Oh fuck," Johnny says as you bounce on top of him, unable to do anything besides snap his hips. "So tight."

You reach a hand down to pleasure yourself and marvel instead at the bulging in your abdomen, a total flush settling over your body as Jaehyun forces his way into you with sharp breaths.

"Don't come yet," he says, biting your shoulder, making your walls clench even around all that mass inside you. Johnny bucks, thighs rising under you, clearly feeling each twitch.

"Fuck, I can't hold it," Johnny says, the metal of his cuffs scraping on the headboard. "Slow down."

"Don't come," Jaehyun orders, more to Johnny than you. You aren't even touching yourself, too lost in the indescribable feeling of fullness inside you, the lurid sounds of skin against skin as Jaehyun's balls slap against your ass and the base of Johnny’s cock. You lean back to kiss him, unable to find anything but his jawline before he bends you down to slide in deeper.

Your hands splay across Johnny’s abdomen, feeling every spasm and roll of his muscles as he comes closer to his end. You let your body respond in kind, squeezing in time until the tics escalate beneath your palm and you can both feel and hear his breathing stutter beneath you.

"You're so good for me, Daddy," you whisper, laving the hot skin over Johnny's breastbone. "Come for me."

Johnny practically leaves the bed for how violent his orgasm is. Hot cum floods inside you, spurring Jaehyun to fuck deeper and rougher even as his partner grunts in protest at the overstimulation.

He reaches between you to place your hand where you'd forgotten your own touch.

"Punish him, baby."

You circle your clit, making sure you keep getting tighter around his softening cock with each thrust. The stretch burns but you take it.

"Such a good girl," Jaehyun says, kissing your neck above your spine. Want to feel you come for us."

You feel the snap in the bottom of your feet and into your weakening legs, core throbbing with each pump until you finally crumble. You squeeze the sensitive member inside you until you're breaking apart around them both, face pressed into Johnny’s chest.

Looking up you immediately move up off both of them, not caring if Jaehyun has finished, kissing the sweat away from Johnny’s face. His expression is a grimace but his breathing slows as you soothe him with soft touches.

"We got carried away," you breathe, pushing the hair stuck to his forehead away. "Are you okay? Can I get you some water?"

Johnny cracks a smile, eyes opening partially.

"You think that was too much?" he asks. "And you said you could handle it."

You slap him lightly on the face.

"You’re done?" he asks, eyes flicking down between you. "I didn't beg, did I?"

You look back at Jaehyun, finding him with one hand on his cock, pumping slowly.

"Get back down here," he says.

You don't resist, sliding down and turning to face him as you straddle Johnny's belly. Jaehyun kisses you, bringing your hand to spread over Johnny's softening cock covered in cum and slick. He reaches between you to cup your own mess, fingers slopping into you obscenely as he coats them in what's there.

"He's going to make you come again," he says. "I'll get him hard again for you."

"I'm pretty sure he’s going to pass out," you say, looking over your shoulder. His fucked-out expression in the dark is how you feel, propped against your lover.

"Even better." Jaehyun says. "Watch."

Your breath catches in your chest as you see him take his white-coated fingers and slide them down between Johnny’s parted legs, beneath his heat-sagging balls. You’re the one to gasp as you watch him palpate the puckered muscles and slowly work in, feeling the body beneath you twitch.

"You don't know how amazing this feels," he says, meeting your round eyes. "Soon."

Heat radiates through your core and your entire body as you watch Jaehyun finger-fuck the man under you, as you feel his cock twitch with each stroke against his prostate. You assist by dropping down to take Johnny’s soft member into your mouth, sucking gently on it and pulling it to hardness. Somewhere out of sight Johnny groans inarticulately.

The taste doesn't bother you, not as you feel the blood return to his cock, taking a long time to fill completely. You’re only stopped by Jaehyun angling his own tip into your face, forcing you to alternate between the two until both are sufficiently coated in your spit and your throat burns from the intrusion.

Jaehyun waits until you're choking on Johnny’s cock to make his first thrust, easing into the other man with a raspy sigh. You watch fascinated as Johnny lifts his hips, legs folding on either side of the younger man. Jaehyun's mouth is agape, eyes closed as his strokes become deeper and more forceful.

"You're so good," you croon, lying down beside Johnny and kissing the side of his face. He angles his head to catch your lips, making small noises of satisfaction when your tongue slides over his. You almost forget everything as you kiss him deeply, the moment feeling more intimate than anything you’d shared previously, until rough hands grasp you from behind and pull you down his body.

“One more for us?” Jaehyun says into your ear, dripping sweat down your throat and spine as he crashes you against him, still rocking steadily.

You swallow nervously, thighs radiating a deep ache. “I don’t know if my knees can handle it.”

“Just relax,” he says, twisting your body so you’re facing him and pushing you until your bent backwards.

“Lay back, babydoll,” Johnny says.

You can hardly breathe, your body tensing with anticipation as you lie down against Johnny’s chest. Jaehyun bends over you, you think to grab the headboard until you hear the release of the cuffs. Just as quickly you are wrapped in a tight embrace, legs spread.

“Relax,” Johnny says, nuzzling your throat. “I’ve got you.”

He lifts his hips, diving into your ready heat—his length less overwhelming than before at this angle. Jaehyun settles down over you as well, kissing from your forehead to your mouth as Johnny begins thrusting between you.

You can’t be sure of anything in this position—not who is guiding all three of you, or who is making the sounds in the chorus of cries of ecstasy. You’re sure you won‘t be able to come again but Johnny’s thick fingers slide over your nub, sending aftershocks through your abused cunt.

“Oh fuck, oh fuck,” you chant, head thrown backwards against Johnny’s flexing shoulder. Hovering over you, Jaehyun is just as gone—face buried in your chest.

“I’m close,” Jaehyun says into your skin, eyes clenched tight.

“Hold on, baby,” Johnny says, and you know immediately it’s meant for you by the way his python-like grip locks you into place.

Johnny stops working beneath you and you realize he’s ceded control, the violence of Jaehyun’s last thrusts fucking him deeper into you than before. Johnny keeps you on top of him, hand unrelenting on your apex even as he loses tempo beneath you.

“Come on me,” you whisper to Jaehyun, breaking the spell he is under. He fights for control through a shuddering last push, pulling out to finish over you with just a few pumps into his hand as you curl towards him, foreheads colliding. Milky white ropes coat your torso, and you try to kiss him through the look of pure bliss you know he’s in but are rolled onto the bed, facedown.

“I can’t,” you protest, wrenching around to stop Johnny but you might as well be made of rubber. Something is shoved under your belly and your hips are hoisted up as you sink headfirst into the duvet.

“You can, babydoll. I want to feel it when I ruin you for anyone else.”

Johnny’s weight settles over your hips as he teases your throbbing and puffy core with his cockhead, pulling you up on the pillow he’s placed beneath you. You jerk when he angles into you, dragging against the top of your walls with each plunge. As much as you expect pain or force there’s neither, it feels like you’re melting into the warmth of him as he kisses your shoulders gently.

“You’re so perfect,” Johnny mumbles, pulling sweat-sticky hair from your face as you gasp for air.

“I told you she was.” Jaehyun lies next to you at an angle, kissing you, and you taste the swallow of cold water he’d just taken like it’s the first rain of summer. Soon he’s pulled you half into his arms, touch ghosting all over as Johnny keeps a steady pace.

“How are you still so tight for me?” He groans, legs pressing against the back of your thighs when he hits you deepest. The sensation is overwhelming, like he’s going to crawl inside of you so far you’ll never be released.

“It’s too much,” you say, but even you don’t believe it as you lift your hips to meet him, allowing Jaehyun’s hand to slip between your legs. He rolls your clit in a circular motion, kissing you to match the other man’s thrusts. Your pussy throbs in syncopation with someone’s breathing—surely not yours.

“You’re such a good girl for us.”

You whimper when the waves of pleasure begin to shorten in refraction, the building orgasm like a bone deep ache that they’re working out of you. You go quiet in the last few seconds, high-pitched whine stuck in your lungs, willing overworked muscles to give up the ghost but the climax seems to stretch on forever with no peak to tumble off of.

And then Johnny shifts, practically on top of you, holding himself up but only so much as he drills you into the bed and the slick chest beneath you. Teeth are on your neck and another mouth against your cheek as you cry out, legs quaking involuntarily, nails digging into Jaehyun’s back as you hear Johnny cum with a muffled roar.

Hot cum fills your belly as you finally find release, spasming so intensely you feel liquid gush between your thighs. You don’t have a thought left in you to feel any shame, your body shakes mellowing as you’re held through the comedown.

“That’s my girl,” Jaehyun whispers, smiling against your temple.

“Our girl,” Johnny corrects, kissing where a bruise blooms at the top of your shoulder blade. He rolls off of you but only to cage you on the other side, leg draped possessively over yours.

Jaehyun meets your eyes in the half-light, watching you. You have to close your eyes, unable to face that kind of unnameable emotion you feel hollowing you out.

“Stay with me,” he says, lifting you up finally. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

You barely hear him as you sink into bliss, grateful that at the end of it all—whatever this is—you don’t have to be in control.

Hours later you startle awake with a gasp, the room grey with the dawn outside and the heavy breathing of the two men on either side of you only faltering for a moment before returning to the depths of sleep.

It takes you longer than usual to get your bearings, the soreness in your legs making blood rush to your face as you remember everything at once.

I’m so deeply fucked, you think, literally and figuratively. You sit up, finding yourself wrapped up in a deadweight arm—Jaehyun’s—while Johnny’s head rolls back from where it was resting against your shoulder. In the low light they look so much younger, weightless without all the responsibility and mystery you’d come to expect.

You’ve already washed up and changed into your robe but you quietly scrub down again, wiping away the thin sheen of sweat from your forehead and checking the marks on your skin where tongue and teeth had claimed you.

Inside you feel a glow of elation that you’ve finally understood what it is to be wanted, and somehow without conflict even with the uncertain nature of two people’s separate feelings in the matter. In a better world perhaps you’d have time to talk it over, sharing a room service breakfast and a morning finally free of the storm that had brought you together.

But you’ve lived a lot longer than anyone should have in your short existence. It’s made you more capable, and stronger, but also unwilling to accept any fantasy. Everything, you think, has a price, and some things are too good to be true.

You don’t have any illusions about what daylight will actually bring you.

With the ease of an automaton you remove all traces of your existence from the room, changing into the clothes you wore and readying for departure. You find the one possession that isn’t yours with ease, in Jaehyun’s bag, leaving everything else intact.

The watch feels heavy in your hand, the ticking like receding thunder, and you tuck it into your bra as if to quiet it with your own heartbeat. On your way out you find the Bible in the desk and leave the passage open, decaying rose marking Proverbs 27, underlining verse 5.

If either hears you go, they don’t follow.

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#nct smut #nct 127 smut #jaehyun smut #johnny suh smut #nct scenarios #nct 127 scenarios #johnny scenarios #jaehyun scenarios #johnjae x reader #nct reader insert #nct fanfic #nct 127 fanfic #nct 127 fic #ncta au

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sfb123 · 3 years ago

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Sapere Aude - Part 11

Book: The Royal Heir

Pairing: King Liam Rys x Queen Riley Brooks

All characters belong to Pixelberry.

Catch Up Here

Series Description: I developed a theory of what I think will happen in TRH Book 4, and I was encouraged by some very lovely people to turn my theory into a fic, so here it is. Basically, Riley is recruited to join the Via Imperii, this series will follow her as she joins them to try and bring them down from the inside, and all of the drama and bombshells she learns along the way. Sapere Aude is Latin for “dare to know” it seemed like an appropriate title.

Rating: PG-13 Adult language, discussions of death, conspiracy, blackmail, and other adult themes.

Warning: The Royal Heir Book 3 Spoilers all over the place.

Disclaimer: I have no current affiliation with any other Via Imperii themed stories. Any claims that I have pre-read anything are false.

Word Count: 2,909

A/N: First of all, I have a couple of new readers (hi, thank you, I love you) if this is your first Sapere Aude, stop here, go back, and start from the beginning. This series has a lot of bombs and surprises, so none of this is going to make sense, and it’s going to make it less exciting if you aren’t reading from the beginning.

Sorry, another long wait for a chapter. I got stuck, and distracted, and like a million other things. The Choices Insider email last week kind of lit a fire under me. When I started writing this (in December) the plan was to have it finished before the last book came out, so I have like a month to get through this. I’m going full out on getting this completed now, I will be working on nothing but this until it is done, and am hoping to finish it in time for the next book to come out so that PB has plenty of time to steal my ideas.

This chapter took a while for me to work through, but @jessiembruno was amazing and helped me every step of the way, and got like a million rambling text messages from me once the idea dam finally broke. And then pre-reading and leaving me some amazing love notes, and super helpful suggestions. She also kept encouraging me, and pushing me to work on it when my mind would wander into new ideas, or thoughts on some other random WIP that I started throwing together. I love you, and I am so grateful for this friendship that goes way beyond any of this. By the way, you are an AMAZING writer, and I will continue to shout it from the mountain tops as long as I live.

As always with this series, I need to thank @txemrn for pre-reading. I was having SUCH a miserable day and feeling so shitty about myself (for non-fandom reasons), and your reactions to this chapter made me laugh out loud for the first time in what felt like forever. I appreciate you so much my dear friend.

And of course, thank you @twinkleallnight for my beautiful series moodboard.

Tags: Listed below, you know the drill.

Liam exited the bedroom and walked toward the sitting area. He paused at the end of the hallway to observe his wife and his daughter sitting on the couch. Riley had her blouse in hand, sewing on the button Olivia sent her for her undercover mission. She was showing Eleanor how to sew, talking her through every stitch. The princess was watching and listening intently, taking in every word her mother said.

He leaned his right shoulder against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest as he admired his family. He didn’t understand how it was possible to fall even more in love every time he looked at them. All he wanted in this world was their happiness and safety, and now here he was, sending his wife straight to the enemy.

“Hi Daddy!” The angelic voice of his daughter pulled him from his thoughts.

“Hi Princess. Are you being a good helper for mommy?” He lifted Eleanor off the couch and sat in her seat, placing her on his lap.

“Best helper a girl could ask for.” Riley held her hand out, palm up, and Eleanor gave her a high five.

Liam enjoyed the company of his family for a few more moments, before placing a kiss on his daughter’s cheek. “Alright Eleanor, why don’t you go play in your room for a little while? Mommy and daddy have to talk about grown up things.”

“Yes, daddy. Will you come play after?”

“Of course, I believe I am owed a tea party.” He gave her a hug before setting her down and watching her run to her room. When she was gone, he turned his attention back to Riley. “How are you feeling, love?”

Riley cut the lingering thread from the button and placed her blouse on the table in front of them before responding. “I mean, obviously I’m nervous, but I’m optimistic that I’ll come back with something we can use. How are you feeling?”

He sighed and pulled her close to him, kissing the top of her head as it landed on his chest. “Riley, I love how much you worry about me, but let me worry about you right now. Let me be your support system. Tell me truly, how are you feeling?”

“I’m...I’m terrified.” She pulled back and looked him in the eyes, tears beginning to pool in her own. “I’m trying so hard to be strong, to put on a brave face, but this is fucking terrifying. We don’t know how deep it goes, we know some of the people that are involved, but how do we know that that’s everyone?”

“You’re right, there are a lot of unknowns, and that’s scary.” He cupped her face in his hands, wiping a falling tear with his thumb. “But I truly believe that we are going to end this. That you are going to end this. Don’t forget, you are the Champion of The Realm.”

“Yeah, but I’m sleeping with the guy who makes those decisions, he may have been a little biased.” She shrugged, half joking.

Liam removed his hands, his expression becoming more serious. “Riley, that’s not funny. You have earned every single thing you have received since you arrived in this country, our country. I don’t ever want you to believe that my feelings for you overrule my judgement when it comes to your abilities. You are the strongest person I have ever met. If anyone can do this, it’s you.”

“IF anyone can do this. What if nobody can?”

“Then we will face the fallout together. Like we always do, like we always will. We are the King and Queen of Cordonia, Liam and Riley Rys. We are a force to be reckoned with.” He raised an eyebrow as he parroted back her reassuring words from a few nights before.

She smirked at him. “Hey, no fair, you can’t use my own words to prove your point like that.”

“Yes I can, old negotiation tactic.” He winked at her and stood from the couch reaching for her hand. “Come on, we still have the whole day ahead of us. Let’s go have a tea party with our daughter, then I’m taking my girls out for dinner.”

****

Two days later, Riley was sitting in the back of an SUV heading toward the Fierro Estate. She was doing her best to quell her nerves, but she couldn’t help her hands from fidgeting in her lap.

“You seem on edge, ma’am. Is everything ok?” The sound of Mara’s voice cut through the silence, startling Riley.

“Oh...yeah, I’m fine Mara. I’m just not really sure what to expect from this meeting. Last time I went to one of these events, I found out my mother in law wasn’t actually dead. I don’t know if I could handle another surprise like that.”

Mara chuckled at her concern. “Don’t worry your majesty, this is a simple strategy meeting followed by a dinner. You have met all of the members, so there will be no surprise guests this time around.”

Riley nodded and turned her head, watching the scenery pass by as they continued to their destination. Her mind was racing thinking about what this meeting would have in store. She practiced taking pictures with the pen, and activating the recorder she had sewn into her shirt. As they got closer to the estate, she felt her heart rate speed up, and the knot in her stomach tighten.

When they arrived, Riley was ushered into the grand room, which had been set up with a large table. The other members were standing around in small groups chatting until it was time for the meeting to begin. Riley fidgeted with the pen, twirling it in her fingers before lifting it to her face and tapping it against her chin and clicking it several times. She hoped it came off as a nervous habit, providing cover for the fact that she was actually taking pictures around the room.

She gasped and nearly jumped out of her skin at the feeling of a hand gently being placed on her shoulder. She whipped around to see Eleanor smiling softly at her. “Riley dear, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Oh, Eleanor. Hello.” Riley held her hand to her chest, trying to get her heart rate back to normal. “It’s ok, I’m just a little nervous. Not really sure what to expect from this meeting.”

“Don’t worry, I promise it’s just regular business, nothing earth shattering. Come on, it’s time to get this started, and you’re sitting next to me.” Eleanor wrapped her arm around Riley and led her to the table. The other guests took this as their cue to follow, as the meeting was about to get underway. As Riley sat, she adjusted her skirt and blouse, using the opportunity to activate the microphone embedded in her button.

As the chapter president, Eleanor kicked off the meeting by greeting their newest member, Queen Riley, and explaining that she was there to help push their initiatives though with the King. Riley clenched her fist ever so slightly, a trick she used when she was trying to keep her expression neutral. They continued on, reviewing the minutes of the last meeting, it all seemed to be pretty mundane, things that wouldn't even necessarily cross hers or Liam’s desk.

Then they opened up the floor to new business, and Neville stood to address the room. “I would like to revisit the Auvernal alliance.”

Riley was able to maintain her stoic expression, but her body tensed at the mention of Auvernal. She and Liam had made it perfectly clear that there would be no alliance. “I don’t believe there is anything to revisit there.” She chimed in. “King Liam and I determined that the alliance would not be beneficial for Cordonia.”

“Actually, I believe you determined the alliance would not be beneficial to you and your husband.” Neville rebutted, crossing his arms over his chest. “You didn’t want to marry off your daughter, you didn’t bother thinking of what the alliance could bring to our country.”

“Are you questioning the decisions of your monarchs? I urge you to remember your station, Lord Neville.” Riley raised an eyebrow and stood a bit taller.

Neville scoffed at her threat. “And I urge you to remember that you may have slept your way to the top in Cordonia, but the Via Imperii is bigger than the monarchy, and in this society, I outrank you.”

“Well, if being the Queen doesn’t matter in this room, then there is nothing stopping me from coming over there and beating your a...”

“Ok ok ok, let’s all calm down here.” Eleanor grabbed Riley’s arm, stopping her from charging at Neville. “Let’s all sit down and have a rational conversation, weighing out the pros and cons of an alliance.” Riley and Neville both sat down and exchanged narrow glances. “Now Neville, since you have brought this proposal to the group, you will go first. Please explain to us your thought process on revisiting the alliance.”

Neville nodded and smirked at Riley. “It is clear that combining the financial security of Cordonia with the military strength of Auvernal would make us an unstoppable force. Besides, we need the extra protection given our country’s recent history.” He glared at Riley once again.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Riley huffed.

“Look at the instability we have faced in recent years. Our crown prince abdicated, his successor, our current king, broke off a perfectly suitable engagement to marry a foreign commoner who was marred in scandal.”

“He released a statement that cleared that whole thing up. The scandal is irrelevant.” She could feel her cheeks heating up.

“Do you really think people stopped talking about it? You can’t really believe that it won’t be a part of your legacy as our Queen.”

Riley slouched down in her seat. She knew she should remain composed, but bringing up the Tariq scandal hit a nerve that she didn’t know still existed. One of her biggest concerns in continuing her relationship with Liam, and accepting his proposal, was that his success as King would be overshadowed by the scandal she had faced. She had thought that after all these years, it would have been forgotten, but Neville bringing it up just brought everything back up and made her realize it would be something that was attached to her name forever.

“Besides the personal problems our royal family has faced, there have been multiple attempts to overthrow them just within our own country. Sons of Earth, Duke Godfrey, Barthelemy Beaumont, just to name a few. Other countries are seeing this, and it won’t be long before they try to come for us as well.” Neville continued.

“While I don’t agree with his delivery, Lord Neville does make some valid points.” Emmeline interjected, the rest of the room began murmuring in agreement. Riley couldn’t hide her shocked expression as she felt tears start to build up in her eyes. She blinked them away, she was not going to give them the satisfaction of seeing their queen cry.

Eleanor took back control of the room before turning to Riley. “Riley, would you like to counter? You and Liam worked directly with Auvernal during the marriage alliance talks, you clearly have some insight that we may not be privy to.”

Riley took a deep breath to get her emotions under control before standing to address the room. “Aside from the fact that Bradshaw and Isabella are deplorable people with hell spawn children, the main reason that we decided an alliance was not in the best interest of Cordonia, was because it was clear that their interest was not an alliance, but a hostile takeover of our country.”

“Perhaps we would prosper under their rule. I haven’t heard of any coup attempts in Auvernal, it seems to me like they’re doing something right.” Neville spoke up.

“So that’s it then? You all think Bradshaw and Isabella would do a better job as your king and queen, so I’m just supposed to convince Liam to relinquish the throne?” Riley threw her hands up in frustration and stepped away from the table.

“Your majesty, we’re not making the final decision right here, right now, we just want to remain open to the idea and explore some options.” Emmeline tried to talk Riley down. “Perhaps you and King Liam could take a meeting with them, a friendly lunch maybe, just to open the lines of communication.”

“This is ridiculous. I can’t believe you all expect me to agree with this!” Riley was now pacing the room, overcome with a nervous energy.

Eleanor stood and lifted a hand to quiet the room. “Alright, that’s enough. I think we’ve gotten as far as we’re going to get with this conversation tonight. Dinner is being set out in the dining hall. I suggest we adjourn for the day. Let’s all compose ourselves and think about all sides of this conversation. We will pick up the conversation at the next meeting.”

As the members started filing out of the room, Eleanor approached Riley and gently placed her hand on her arm to keep her still. “Are you alright Riley?”

Riley shrugged Eleanor’s hand off of her, anger clear on her face. “Of course I’m not alright. I basically just had a room full of my subjects telling me that my husband and I are doing a shitty job, and they think those monsters are better suited to look out for their best interests. Of course I’m not fucking alright!” Riley moves in closer, lowering her voice but not losing any of the anger in her tone. “I thought you were here doing this to protect Liam. Do you really think that this is protecting him? Handing his kingdom over to Auvernal?!”

“Riley, I always have Liam’s best interests at heart, I promise you that. Why don’t you head home, take a couple of days to relax and take everything in. I will set up a meeting for you and I later this week to talk about everything and work out a game plan.”

“Fine, I can’t stay here anymore anyway. And I definitely don’t have an appetite for dinner.” Riley walked out of the room, looking for Mara so that they could get back to the palace. She stepped into the dining area and saw Mara standing in the far corner talking to Neville. She clenched her jaw and took a deep breath before approaching the pair. “Mara, we will not be staying for dinner. We are returning to the palace immediately. I want to be home to put my daughter to bed.” She wasn’t going to give Neville the satisfaction of knowing she was leaving because of what he started.

“Of course, your majesty.” Mara nodded and exited with Riley.

The ride home was silent. In all the years that Mara had worked for Riley, she had never seen her this upset. She wasn’t entirely sure how to handle it, or what would be considered overstepping her duties, so she decided to stay quiet and let Riley speak, if she wanted to. She didn’t.

They arrived at the palace and walked together to the royal quarters. As Riley placed her hand on the doorknob to enter, Mara cleared her throat to get her attention. “Your majesty, I know this was a difficult evening for you, but I do feel I need to remind you that discretion is key in the Via Imperii. His majesty cannot know what happened tonight. You will need to lock those feelings away for the time being.”

Riley pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded. She knew she was going to fall into Liam's arms and cry the second she saw him, and then she would tell him everything, but she couldn’t let Mara know that. “Liam and I will be staying in for the rest of the night. You are dismissed for the evening.” Riley walked into her quarters and shut the door before Mara had a chance to respond.

As soon as she closed the door, she leaned back against it and dropped her head into her hands. Liam came walking into the room, the smile that appeared on his face when he heard the front door open quickly faded as he took in the sight of his wife sobbing at the front door. “Riley?” She looked up at him, tears streaming down her face as she tried to catch her breath. He rushed over to her and pulled her close, she buried her head in his chest as he stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head trying unsuccessfully to soothe her. “Shhhh, it’s alright love, I’m right here, I’ve got you. Tell me what happened.”

Riley could barely speak, but she slowly tried to explain everything that had happened that night. Liam walked her to the couch as she spoke, she needed to sit, anything to help her relax and calm down. He stared at her in disbelief as he listened to his wife tearfully recap her evening.

On the other side of the door, Mara pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket, selecting one of the contacts and bringing the phone to her ear. “My lord, you were right. We will need to put your plan in motion.”

Permatag:

@anjanettexcordonia @athena-penrose @bbrandy2002 @chemist-ana @choicesficwriterscreations @choiceskatie @cordonia-gothqueen @cordoniaqueensworld @emkay512 @gabesmommie1130 @gkittylove99 @hopelessromanticmonie @iaminlovewithtrr @jessiembruno @kat-tia801 @khoicesbyk @kingliam2019 @lucy-268 @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @mile9213 @mom2000aggie @pixie88 @queenrileyrose @secretaryunpaid @sweatyrysconnoisseur @tessa-liam @theroyalheirshadowhunter @twinkleallnight @txemrn

Sapere Aude:

@burnsoslow @busywoman @gardeningourmet @ofpixelsandscribbles

Liam x Riley:

@jared2612

Liam:

@amandablink @yourmajesty09

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professorsnape394 · 4 years ago

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The Potions Master’s Apprentice

Chapter Sixteen: Halloween

A/N: This is the sixteenth part to my fanfiction ‘The Potions Master’s Apprentice (Severus Snape x OC)’. Chapters 1-16 can be found already uploaded on Wattpad under the same name. Feel free to leave requests in my inbox for anything Snape related you want me to write. Leave a comment below if you wish to be added to my tag list.

Pairing: Severus Snape x OC (Dumbledore’s Granddaughter)

Summary: A talented young witch is employed as an apprentice professor at Hogwarts, but who will she be working under? Severus Snape is not best pleased with his new responsibility of taking on an apprentice, however she is relentless to create a friendship between them. Will she be successful? Or might the friendship just go a little two far? With the eyes of her grandfather constantly watching over them, an attempt at a relationship might not be in the cards for Aria Dumbledore and Severus Snape.

Word Count: 5342

Warnings: mentions of sexual harassment, alcohol consumption.

Credits to Gif Creator

"Harry Potter." Dumbledore whispered, his lip almost trembling as he read the scrap of parchment that had just been spat out from the goblet.

The hall felt silence.

"Harry Potter." He spoke louder, looking furiously around the hall.

All eyes now searched for Harry.

"Harry Potter!" Albus yelled for a final time.

Aria felt her heart pound in her chest, surely this was a mistake, he wasn't even of age. She looked to her right, hoping Severus would provide some reassurance, though he too seemed just as shocked as she.

The young Gryffindor rose gingerly to his feet, being forced up by his friends and classmates. He seemed petrified, and just as confused as everyone else.

Students heckled him as he walked through the hall, assuming he had found some way to cheat the system. Neither Snape nor Aria believed this could be the case.

Aria Dumbledore stumbled slightly on her heels as she looked around desperately for someone to correct the situation. Without thinking she gripped her hand around the potions masters arm, clinging on for dear life. "Severus." She pleaded, her eyes wide with desperation, brow furrowed in frustration. "He's only fourteen."

Snape looked down at his apprentice, the look in her eyes paining him possibly more than the thought of the young boy competing in a deadly tournament. He opened his mouth to speak, almost about to place his own hand onto hers. But froze as Harry approached the Headmaster, and the parchment was thrust into his hand.

Severus broke away from Aria, turning his gaze outward as the boy came face to face with him.

Still completely shell shocked Harry made his way out of the room, earning a reassuring motherly tap from Minerva McGonagall on the way before disappearing along with the other Tri-Wizard champions.

Instantly the remaining students were dismissed back to their dormitories while a commotion broke out among the professors.

Both Headmaster Karkaroff and Madame Maxime outraged at the mere prospect of Hogwarts having two competing champions. The resident professors however, were far more concerned with Potter's safety than having a leg up in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Dumbledore flew from the room, Severus following at his heels, and all the other teachers not far behind. Minerva faltered for a second, falling in line with Aria as they made their way from the room, clinging to each other desperately.

"Harry Potter, did you put your name in the goblet of fire?" Dumbledore asked calmly.

"No sir." The boy stuttered, his eyes darting between the crowd of professors.

"But of course, 'e is lying." Olympe accused, towering above even Hagrid.

"To hell he is." Mad- eye moody stepped forward. "The goblet of fire is an exceptionally powerful magical object, only an exceptionally powerful confundus charm could have hoodwinked it, magic way beyond the talents of a fourth year."

"You seem to have given this a fair bit of thought, Mad-eye." Karkaroff spat in return.

While the two men continued arguing, Aria broke arms with Minerva, once again working up the courage to approach Severus. Bringing his attention away from the chaos, she wrapped both hands around Snape's bicep, forcing herself closer to him. "Please." She begged.

Severus faltered. He saw the desperateness in her eyes, as well as in his friend Minerva's. He knew they both cared deeply about the boy. But what exactly was he meant to do?

"The rules are absolute." Barty Crouch sr. spoke. "The goblet of fire constitutes a binding magical contract. Mr. Potter has no choice, he is, as of tonight, a Tri-Wizard champion."

Severus locked eyes with Aria, wishing he could do more. Slowly Aria let her hands fall, she knew now he would not intervene.

Back in the potions classroom, Aria had almost become furious with Snape for not speaking up. Severus on the other hand, was getting sick of the woman going on at him about it, and was rather more concerned with why she chose to hold him in the way she did. A thought that hadn't let his mind since her fingers left his arm.

"I cannot believe you didn't stop them, Severus. Harry is not skilled enough to compete, not to mention the competition is renowned to be deadly. I can't believe it's actually still allowed to continue."

"And what exactly did you expect me to do Miss Dumbledore?" Snape questioned flicking his cloak behind him as he took a seat by his desk. "Barty said it himself. The rules are absolute, he is contractually bound. Nothing I could have said would have made any difference."

"But you could have tried." Aria whined, slamming her palms on the desk.

"And achieved what?" Snape shot up, his tone sharpening. "You overestimate my influence in this school, Miss Dumbledore. While your grandfather may rely on me for trivial duties, that is where my power stops." He snapped, getting annoyed at the woman for consistently guilting him.

"But you must know he didn't put his own name in, he couldn't have!" She persuaded, exasperated.

"Whether I believe he did or did not is irrelevant. He is competing and that's the end of it. That also goes for this conversation. I don't want to hear anymore of it." Snape warned, his eyes piercing into her. "Take the rest of the day off." He commanded.

Given that it was Saturday he had no right to keep her there anyway, though the witch had hoped she could spend the day with him, even if it meant giving themselves more work. Now that she had been banished from the classroom the prospects of her day were low and given that it was Halloween she suspected almost all of the students would be hauled up in their dorms throwing their own private parties. She had heard from Fred and George that it wasn't uncommon for the Gryffindor common room to be host to a number of events throughout the year, today certainly wouldn't be any exception.

Thinking of the students enjoying themselves sparked an idea for Aria. If they students were having party, why couldn't the professors?

Aria dedicated her day to doing her rounds of the school inviting every professor and member of staff she could think of to a party in the staff room that evening. It appeared the professors were just as in need of a night off as the students were, by the looks of it the party planning had gone quite successfully.

* Making her way briskly through the dimly lit dungeon corridor, Aria headed for the Hogwarts staff room, hoping not to cross paths with any suspicious looking rogue students on her way. As she passed by the old wooden door of Snape's office it occurred to Aria she had neglected to invite one crucial member of staff to this evenings event.

"Fuck." She groaned, running a hand through her sleekly styled hair.

Teetering on her heels Aria debated knocking on the door. Though it was highly unlikely Severus would even want to attend her party, she knew it would inevitably be better asking him at the eleventh hour than to not ask at all.

Braving the knock, she prepared herself for the ridiculing she was bound to receive.

A moment or two passed with no response, assuming Severus was located elsewhere, Aria chose to let herself in, just in case.

To her surprise Severus Snape was sat, hunched over his desk as he usually was. Only this time his desk was no longer cluttered with papers but displayed a singular framed photograph, which seemed to captivate Snape. He was evidently deaf to the world.

Coughing lightly to declare herself, Aria gently shut the door behind her.

"Professor Snape." She announced trying to get on his good side, though a hint of surprise and embarrassment remained.

Straightening his posture, Snape extended his arm slowly, slamming the picture face first into the desk, desperate to keep it hidden.

"Miss... Dumbledore." He droned, eyeing the woman up and down. A slight look of disgust forming on his face. "What are you doing here?"

"I... I erm... I've arranged a small get together in the staff room tonight; you know, some drinks and snacks and music, since it's Halloween and all. I was wondering if you wanted to come?"

"I think not, Miss Dumbledore." He said, instantly turning away, disinterested.

"Of course: I understand." She nodded her head nervously. "It's so last minute, I doubt many people will come anyway, to be honest with you." She shrugged, shuffling on her feet.

Snape looked up from his desk, watching the woman squirm, he almost pitied her.

"Professor Flitwick informed me of your little 'get together' earlier this afternoon Miss Dumbledore." His voice dropping with boredom. "It seems the whole faculty is excited by the prospect of a party. I wouldn't worry about attendance too much."

Aria's heart practically flew out of her mouth. It hadn't crossed her mind for one single moment that Severus would have interacted with anyone besides herself today, let alone been discussing social events.

"Fuck." Aria said again, under her breath. "I meant to tell you Severus, honestly. It slipped my mind, I didn't mean to leave you out. I feel so stupid. I'm so sorry." She rambled.

"Relax, Miss Dumbledore." He commanded. "Whether I knew about your party or not has no affect on my decision. I wouldn't have come either way, I assumed you would know better than to invite me, it's a waste of time and energy for the both of us."

"Oh, I, er... I thought maybe since it was me, you might have reconsidered." The words had come out of her mouth before she had even realised what she had said. What made her any different from any other Professor?

"Don't flatter yourself, just because I am forced to work with you everyday does not mean I am willing to change my entire personality for you." Snape scoffed.

"I just meant- oh what's the point, your right, this is a waste of time, I'll leave you alone."

The witch turned to leave, one hand reaching for the door, before she heard the voice of the potions master speak up again.

"Wait." He demanded. "I'm curious. What exactly are you supposed to be?" The potions masters eyes travelled up and down the girl, inspecting her outfit for any trace of a costume.

"Oh." She stopped in her tracks. "I'm a sexy devil." She grinned, showing herself off and brandishing a pair of cheap plastic horns and a pitchfork she had been anxiously twiddling behind her back.

"Of course you are." He scoffed, rolling his eyes in disgust.

"I got them from Zonko's, it was the best I could do at the last minute." She shrugged, shying away.

Reaching again for the door handle, Aria froze, spinning back on her heel.

"Who is she?" She asked abruptly.

"I'm sorry?" Snape retorted, baffled that she dare even ask.

"You got a question, now I do too. Who is she?" The Professor nodded to the toppled over picture frame.

"How do you-"

"I just do. Who is she?" Aria pressured once more.

"A friend." He answered simply.

"Do you love her?" Aria couldn't help but pry further, though she had no idea why she wanted to know.

Severus simply looked up from his desk, his eyes connecting with Aria's. They shared a knowing look, neither of them needing to verbalise it.

"Oh." She responded, pressing her glossy scarlet lips together. "I guess you're not as heartless as you pretend you are after all." She smirked, finally leaving the room.

"Severus couldn't make it then?" A feline-esq Mcgonagall asked, joining Aria next to the drinks table.

"No." Aria replied. "He was busy. I shouldn't have expected him to anyway, this isn't exactly his sort of thing is it?" She said looking around at the crowd of professors disguised as pirates, superheroes and zombies, casually chatting and swaying away to the music.

"I shouldn't think it is." Minerva agreed, taking off her pair of false cat ears, giving her head a moments release. Aria couldn't help but laugh at her choice of costume, which I'm sure was professors desired reaction.

Pouring yet another drink Aria felt herself swaying back and forth in her heels, the alcohol was finally beginning to take its toll.

"Pace yourself, my dear, the night is still young." Minerva chuckled, taking a sip of wine.

"Sorry." Aria chuckled, gulping down the rest of her cocktail, completely ignoring the advice from her friend. "It's just been a while since I've allowed myself to get drunk, ya know, the side effects don't agree with me much."

"Well your still young I suppose, people your age often are out partying every weekend. I think you should allow yourself the luxury just this once, eh. The side effects are tomorrow's problem." The older woman winked.

"God, I hope not." Aria whispered, but continued pouring drinks nonetheless.

"Join me?" Aria said, clumsily pouring two very large shots, for the pair to down. "Let's get a bit more life into this party, shall we?" She announced, turning up the music and began filling a tray of shot glasses up, passing them around the room.

"Everyone gather around and let's make this interesting." The young woman mischievously announced.

Lining up numerous shots glasses and filling them with various miscellaneous liquors, Aria waited for the staff to gather round the table.

"Truth or dare. Alcohol edition. If this doesn't get us all absolutely hammered by the end of the night, nothing will." She laughed, hoping that getting these witches and wizards drunk and spilling some secrets would be a bit more fun that just standing around talking.

"And on that note, I feel this may be my cue to retire for the night." Dumbledore informed, taking Aria by the hand, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "You lot have fun." He smiled, chuckling to himself as he walked away.

One hour, two bottles of tequila and several very very drunk professors later Aria Dumbledore was satisfied with her attempts at spicing things up. The game had begun to wind to an end, with a couple of teachers tapping out, a few more passed out, and, in the case of Hagrid and Olympe Maxine, making out.

"Your turn again Aria; truth, dare or drink." Aurora Sinistra enquired. The small crowd buzzed, hyping her up as she carefully considered her decision.

"Truth!" She shouted, chickening out of yet another dare, and she truly did not think she could handle one more shot.

"I have one for you." Igor Karkaroff confessed, seemingly appearing from out of nowhere and plopping himself down in the empty space next to Aria.

"Then go ahead." She allowed, gathering her legs in a basket and turning to face him.

"How do you really feel about Severus Snape?" He breathed, his face inching closer to hers the longer she paused to think. The few invested professors fell silent eagerly anticipating her response.

"How do I feel about Snape?" She slurred, letting out a small amused laugh, as her body continued to sway towards Igor unknowingly.

"He's... curious." She began, finding her words amidst a sea of drunken thoughts. "He has the capacity for love and friendship just like the rest of us, yet he chooses to be mean-spirited. And for what? No apparent reason but his own satisfaction. He can be rude and arrogant and cruel. And despite it all I try my best try to show him kindness, but where does that get me? He calls me out in front of practically the whole school? That was so fucking humiliating, and I'm just supposed to forgive him? I think it's safe to do say I'd live a happy life, if I were to never see that man again."

"It's seems you've had a bit of time to think about this? I assumed you and Severus were friends." Madam Pomfrey commented, as the room fell silent.

"Can anyone really be friends with that man." Aria scoffed, beginning to feel uncomfortable, as it became clear to her that others did not share the same opinion.

"Admittedly Severus can be a hard man to get along with. But really he's not so bad once you get to know him." Minerva informed. "While he may not show it, he does care. Give him another chance, Aria, it takes a while to warm up to him."

Aria gave a small nod, thinking now might be a good time to wrap things up. She felt guilty for saying such bad things about Severus but it had also been some what of a release to get it all out there before she was truly able to forgive him for all the horrible things he said.

Picking up her scattered heels she had abandoned some time ago, Aria decided to call it a night.

Severus Snape had barely moved from the moment Aria Dumbledore had left his office. He sat frozen in time, simply staring at the picture of her. It had become routine for him at this point, every year, on Halloween, he would mourn the life of the woman he had once called best friend. He thought back to that night when he found her, murdered by the man he had put his faith in, the man he believed would spare her life, the man he vowed from that point onwards, he would help put an end to. It was on this day every year, he reminisced on his life full of regrets.

It was then he heard a small amount of commotion and scuffling echoing through the dungeon corridor. Assuming it would be a couple of excitable teenagers Snape made his way out, ready to deduct a couple of house points for disrupting his evening.

Unable to distinguish any facial features in the dark, Snape listened carefully to the drunken mumbles from down the hall. As he closed in on the pair it became clear to him that what he once assumed to be a playful make out session, was in reality an act of unwanted attention. The female was clearly drunk and struggling to dissuade the man's advances.

Illuminating the tip of his wand, Severus ripped the man away from the woman, thrusting him into the light. "Karkaroff?" Snape winced, releasing his tight grip on the headmasters collar. Slowly coming to terms with the reality before him, Snape's eyes darted towards the woman, who, seconds ago, had been pinned to the cold stone wall. Pealing away the curtain of hair from her face, Aria timidly revealed herself.

"What the fuck are you doing Snape?" Karkaroff grumbled, stumbling backwards, struggling to keep his balance.

"I could ask you the very same question, Igor." Severus seethed, pressing the tip of his wand firmly into Igor's neck.

"No need to get so defensive." Karkaroff chuckled. "Do not believe this innocent act, she wants this just as much as me. She's gagging for it, Severus, you should know that more than anyone." He burped grotesquely, making a move in Aria's direction.

Instantly forcing himself between the ex-deatheater and his assistant. Severus dug his wand deeper into the man's skin. "Do not come any closer, Igor. I suggest you leave now and hope to God that Dumbledore doesn't hear of this."

Karkaroff paused for a second, running his tongue along his bottom lip in contemplation. Slowly closing the gap between himself and he potions master, Igor Karkaroff whispered into his colleagues ear. "I can wipe her memory straight after, no one needs to know. Go back into your chambers and forget you ever saw anything. I wouldn't blame you if you did the same."

"You disgust me." Snape spat, shoving the man away from him.

Karkaroff laughed sinisterly once again, seeing no real severity of his actions. That was the last straw for Severus. Swiping his wand across his face, a small but painful cut began to appear on Igor's cheek, a tiny pool of blood quickly forming and spilling down his face.

"Go. Now. Before I regret letting you off so lightly." The potions master commanded.

Having silently witnessed the whole exchange, Aria felt her pulse racing, feeling utterly helpless in her drunken state. Half expecting Severus to simply turn and leave, Aria begun to fiddle with the hem of her dress, not wanting to see him walk away. To her surprise a warm hand rested itself on her bicep, defrosting her body from the outside in.

"Are you okay?" Severus asked sincerely concerned.

Aria nodded her head repeatedly, but refused to meet her mentors gaze. "He didn't really do anything. He... he just wanted to come in for a nightcap." She tried to convince herself.

"I think we both know what his intentions were." Snape droned, agitated by her stupidity.

"Thank you." She said solemnly, her eyes finally meeting his.

Acknowledging her appreciation, Snape turned on his heel ready to finally retire for the night.

"Wait, Severus." She spoke up, finding her voice again. "I could use some company tonight. Do you mind if I join you?"

"It's been a long day, Miss Dumbledore. I was planning on getting at least some sleep tonight."

"I understand." She hung her head, embarrassed for even asking.

Looking down at the disappointed look on the young woman's face, he did not have the heart to leave her after what had just happened. Letting out a hefty sigh, Snape made his way to his office, throwing open the old oak door, waiting patiently.

"Come on then." He offered, motioning to the empty room.

"Do you mind if I...?" Aria gestured to a rogue bottle of FireWhiskey. "For the nerves."

"Go ahead." Snape permitted, settling back down behind his desk, while Aria made herself at home in his office.

Truthfully Aria had found herself becoming rapidly more sober by the second and she was desperate to put an end to that feeling as soon as possible. She was already embarrassed enough without the risk of Snape asking anymore questions.

"How was your little party." Severus pondered, having nothing else to occupy him.

"Not bad. Would have been better with you there though." Aria confessed, taking a seat on the edge of Severus' desk, gulping down her glass of FireWhiskey.

"I doubt that that is true." He droned, rolling his eyes, unconvinced.

"Of course its true, you're my friend Severus. Why do you find it so hard to believe that someone could enjoy your company." She raised an eyebrow at the potions master.

"There is not much to like about a man like me, Miss Dumbledore. I simply do not see the appeal." Leaning forward in his chair, Snape averted his gaze.

"Well I do." Aria assured firmly, refusing to take her eyes off the man in front of her. "And clearly you were open to friends in the past. You speak of this woman for instance, the two of you were friends." She tried to get him to open up.

"For a while." He replied simply.

"See."

"When we were children." He elaborated, once again meeting her eyes. "And that brief phenomenon ended when the prospect of a better opportunity arose for her." Snape added bitterly.

"That cannot possibly be true." Aria scoffed, unconvinced he was telling her the whole truth.

"That, coupled with my less than amiable personality, and a few harsh words drove her away for good. And with final nail in the coffin being just that, there is no hope for a reunion any time soon." He finalised, his tone harsher and more agitated than before.

"Is that a habit of yours then?"

"Is what a habit of mine?"

"Attempting to drive away your friends by insulting them." She said it only to be playful, hoping to coax a small smirk from him, but clearly that night was still a sore spot for him, even more so than it was for her. "Why don't you allow yourself the simplest bit of happiness, Severus. I know for a fact there are many Professors who think very highly of you, if you only let yourself be liked, you would have a great number of friends."

"What makes you think I want friends, Miss Dumbledore." Snape relaxed in his chair, finally turning his full focus to the young woman. "Has it ever occurred to you I am like this for a reason. That I like to be alone. That I drive people away simply because I do not want them in my life."

"I don't believe that for one second."

"Why?" He challenged. His temper beginning to boil at the woman's unyielding persistence.

"Because you loved her, Severus." Aria Dumbledore blurted. A moment of silence filled the room, the pair both slightly in shock that she dare speak the words, that Severus Snape was capable of love, aloud. Nevertheless she chose to continue, seeing no harm in speaking her mind now. "She was your friend and you loved her. I know it broke your heart when she died. And I know your trying to protect yourself from getting hurt again. But you must let yourself be vulnerable, or else what is the point in living? I am determined to be your friend, Severus Snape. And while I know that probably terrifies you, you really do not have any say in the matter. If you truly liked being alone, you would have left me out in that corridor tonight." She finished with a sigh.

Hoping off the desk to pour another drink, Aria's mind hummed away. Something felt different between her and Severus tonight. Despite at first being thrown off, and admittedly, slightly jealous of the woman in the picture, it had given her hope. Not fully understanding what she was feeling, she decided to blame it on the booze. Whatever it was, was tomorrow's problem.

Intending to join Aria for a drink, Severus ventured out from behind his desk, meeting Aria in the center of the room. Having practically read his mind, she presented her friend with a very large glass of Firewhiskey, and began to make a start on her own. As the cold glass balanced on the edge of her lip, Aria suddenly became hyperaware of how close her and Severus' bodies were. His fingertips grazed her own as he made to take the glass from her, clearly lingering for much longer than necessary. Aria darted her eyes in his direction, wondering if he too noticed their closeness, she found him staring right back at her. With no sign of uncomfort or anxiety visible in his face, Aria felt her heart begin to beat faster than ever, and her palms became instantly sweaty. Gulping down the remainder of her drink, she slammed her glass down on the desk, turning to the door.

"I think I should go." Aria swallowed nervously, refusing to meet Severus' gaze. "Let you get some rest, finally. It's already so late."

She was panicking and rambling. It was obvious to both her and Severus. But the way he looked at her. She had never seen him look at anyone that way, he didn't look as harsh or mean or unimpressed as he usually did, and that terrified her. Though it wasn't how he looked at her that scared her, it was how it made her feel. Butterflies inhabited her stomach, her heart pounded in her chest, and her throat scratched when she spoke it had become so dry. She knew she had to get out of there before she done something she might regret.

"Aria, wait." Severus called out, placing his glass next to it's twin, though his remained untouched.

It was the first time he had called her by her first name. It felt so... intimate. She loved the way it sounded coming from him. His velvet monotone made her name sound so smooth and delicate. She could listen to him speak forever, she thought to herself. Shaking herself back into reality, Aria forced herself to turn and face Severus.

Without missing a beat Snape closed the gap between them, pulling her body close to his; one hand resting on her waist, the other cupping the back of her head. Before either of them knew what had happened the pair found themselves lost in a chaste, but passionate kiss.

Seemingly coming to his senses Severus Snape forced himself off of Aria, his face instantly flushing with colour. Averting his gaze, it was clear he was starting to regret what he had just done.

"I apologise, that was... I shouldn't have-"

To his surprise Aria cut him off, resting a cold hand on his newly warmed face. Their eyes met for a single moment, both knowing that this was what the other wanted. Standing slightly on her toes for height, Aria thrust her lips onto his, pulling him closer and tighter than before. Deepening the kiss Severus quickly regained control, letting himself lose himself in the moment. The couple found themselves drifting towards the door, using it as a support, allowing them Severus to be as forceful as he wanted. While Aria's hands roamed the whole of Severus' body, squeezing and grabbing anywhere she possibly could, Severus on the other hand, remained the perfect gentleman, keeping his hands strictly to her waist and face, and eventually settling on either side of her head, leaning against the firm wooden door.

Breaking away for a moment of air, Aria let out a satisfied groan, biting on her bottom lip seductively. Severus could not take his eyes of her, watching her every move hungrily, struggling to catch his breath.

"Wow." She finally exhaled, but instantly Aria pulled him in once more.

As the kiss continued and another second passed, the pair became hungrier for one another, and so the more passionate the kiss became. Getting almost too caught up in the moment, Aria made a move for Severus' belt buckle, hurriedly unclasping it, ready to undo his zipper.

"Stop." Severus panted, grabbing her wrist, before she went any further.

Coming to her senses Aria retracted from the situation, a wave of humiliation washing over her as she watched Severus re-buckle his belt.. Hiding her face in her hands, she moved out from between Snape and the door.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No, It's not your fault." Snape tried to reassure. "I just... I wouldn't want to take advantage."

"You wouldn't be taking advantage, I was the one who wanted to-"

"I just think we need to end things here." Snape said firmly, once again cutting the woman off.

Accepting defeat Aria nodded to herself, knowing he was right. She had never felt so embarrassed in her whole life, she knew she would regret allowing herself to drink tonight, it never ended well.

"I should go." She whispered to Snape, refusing to look any higher than the man's shoes.

"Aria." He breathed, his voice full of sadness, knowing she was beginning to regret kissing him in the first place. He wanted to asked her to stay, but he knew it didn't matter what he said now to make up for stopping her, the moment was gone and so too was she about to be.

"Goodnight... Professor Snape." The witch sighed, reverting back to professionalisms and clicking the door shut behind her.

Taglist:

@ayamenimthiriel @lizlil

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spnfanficpond · 4 years ago

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March 2021 Angel Fish Awards

(Angel Fish design by @slytherkins!!)

WELCOME TO THIS MONTH’S ANGEL FISH AWARDS!

Every month all of you fantastic writers work your asses off to post some truly incredible stories. Our Angel Fish Awards are the way for all of us, as a community of writers and readers, to lift each other up and give praise to those who have captured our attention and deserve a few kind words.

The monthly Angel Fish Awards are peer-nominated, meaning ANYONE IN THE POND CAN NOMINATE ANY POND MEMBER’S FIC. Everyone in this community deserves to be showered with love and feedback, and we hope that this fun, thoughtful award will do just that.

Be sure to read through this whole post as people who were nominated more than once only had one tag activated for tumblr tagging purposes!

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, HERE ARE THIS MONTH’S ANGEL FISH AWARDS!

Nominated by @mrswhozeewhatsis

A Gentlemen’s Agreement (series) by @stusbunker

This is one of those fics that immediately got love from me because it’s a rare pair, Dean x Benny. Then, it got more love from me with every chapter, as Dean worked through coming to terms with wanting Benny and Benny was just so damn patient and sweet and loving throughout. The whole story just makes me want to cuddle them both!

Here’s to Witches by @imagineteamfreewill

This is one of the few cases where I think even Dean would have been okay with witches. (He’s not in the story, it’s a Sam x reader fic, but if he were, I doubt he’d be bitching about bodily fluids.) By the end of this, I was feeling all kinds of warm and fuzzy!

~*~*~

Nominated by @supernatural-jackles

Late Night Talks by @luci-in-trenchcoats

This fic is everything I didn't know I needed. It deals with such a sensitive topic in a positive light. Michelle is very good at dealing with topics that people aren't always comfortable talking about and this only proves that. It's a must read, especially for all of those who are down on themselves because of the way they look.

~*~*~

Nominated by @fictionalabyss

Safe and Sound by @iflostreturntosteverogers

you bitch, how DARE you do me like this with your romeo/juliet level shit. I refuse. I refuuuuuuuuse.

Moose on Ice by @iflostreturntosteverogers

Fluffy goodness and the imagery of a giant trying and failing to skate are exactly what I needed.

Bound to You (Prequel - chapter 4) by @beskaradberoya

Sketchy and filthy goodness so far, and I can’t wait to get to more of this and catch up.

Burnout by @idreamofhazeleyes

When I had a really bad week, I was on the hunt for something fluffy and sweet, and went to the pond. This was sent my way, and damn if it wasn’t EXACTLY what I needed. The tender comfort was perfection and spot on for Dean. 10/10 would recommend.

~*~*~

Nominated by @negans-lucille-tblr

Sleep by @nasabeck

I’ve not been into fluff long, but this was all up in those tingly fluffy feels for me. I absolutely adored it!

Dreams by @little-diable

Please read the warnings, it’s Sister!Reader! But this has become one of my favourite fics I’ve ever read. Chiara nailed it and made me fall in love with her for it! The smut - Jesus, just read it if it’s your type of thing!

Don’t Speak by @hoboal87

Again, please read the warnings. This is a dark fic! I couldn’t believe this was the writer’s first time writing dark. It was absolutely delicious. Never hit a follow button so damn fast!

Dirty Little Secrets (series) by @manawhaat

Wouldn’t have felt right not including this drabble series that I found during founders’ week. As you might have seen if you follow me, my sanity took a sharp decline whilst devouring this fic, and I was not okay. Mana, you freaking hit it out the park dude!! Everyone needs to read this, PLEASE!

~*~*~

Nominated by @tvdspngirl314

Baby Mine by @hoboal87

I was seriously hurt by the finale but this fic actually helped me cope with it.

My review : This fic starts with reader having contractions as she got ready to give birth to her and Sam’s son. How Sam handled the situation was really cute and the way the writer showed the pain of losing Dean was actually really good. I was half expecting myself to cry but I didn’t. Also there’s some hints of dom Sam in it. Love me some dom Sam.

Safe (series) by @negans-lucille-tblr

My views on the fic : It starts with Sam’s girl friend Jess dying and Sam slowly starts to discover a dark side in him. He slowly becomes a serial killer and I liked the way how the dark theme has been handled.

~*~*~

Nominated by @princessmisery666

Always With You by @idreamofplaid

Robin, finally, made a master list and in doing so I’ve been able to find some absolute gems that I may have missed previously. Like this one. I looooove this concept of an Angel looking over Sam. It’s was angsty and heart warming and I would read 50k more words of this relationship 💖💜

~*~*~

Nominated by @deanwinchesterswitch

Whiskey and Scars (series) by @thinkinghardhardlythinking

This is a three part series full of fluff and sexiness, with just a tad bit of angst. Some of Dean’s fun and gentler facets are beautifully detailed. He’s flirty, shy, tender, loving and sexy as hell. I dare you not to sigh while reading it.

~*~*~

Nominated by @agenthellcat

All Hail by @whywhydoyouwantmetosaymyname

This fic pushed all my buttons: dubcon, domination, submission, kneeling, deep throating, begging to cum. The writing is so descriptive. We really feel Y/N’s ambivalence. She is terrified to see Sam turn dark side, but she also wants him. He knows all of her naughty desires, and he uses them to bind her to him forever. He’s completely uninhibited now that he’s dark, and this ultimately conquers her resistance. This fic played into my own dark desires and that’s why I’m nominating it for an Angel Fish Award.

~*~*~

Nominated by @myinconnelly1

When Daddy’s Not Around (series) by @negans-lucille-tblr

I don’t usually read rpf but I needed some hot Jared action and this fic didn’t just deliver that. The angst and overwhelming love in this fic was just amazing.

Murder of the Virgins by @mummybear

This was just so hot!!!!!!! I can’t talk cause I’m panting and trying to catch my breath!

Loving You by @emilyshurley

Emily man... you were trying to hurt me with this fic I just know it. I know cause I can feel the knife in my back, so many tears.

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE AWESOME WORK AND GREAT FEEDBACK!

These are not actual awards! This system is set up so everyone in the Pond has a chance to share the love and promote a fic/author that has grabbed your attention. The more people that participate, and the more everyone remembers to submit their own fics after posting, the better this will be :D

THANK YOU ALL AGAIN, KEEP UP THE AMAZING WORK, AND AS ALWAYS, HAPPY WRITING!

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emma-nation · 3 years ago

Text

The Devil In I - Bela x OC (Resident Evil Village AU) - Chapter 5

“Step inside, see the Devil in I”

Summary: Aleena Novak is a 19 years old orphan who desired more than living in a village in the middle of nowhere. A talented artist with a big future ahead, she gets the scholarship of her dreams in United States. But everything changes when her twin brother, Auryk, steals an important artifact from Castle Dimitrescu.

In this adventure, Aleena will find way more than she expected.

“You’ll realize I’m not your Devil anymore”

Pairing: Bela Dimitrescu x f!OC

Genre: Between T and M (Trigger warning for violence, blood, abuse and eventual smut)

Tag List: @nydeiri

Notes: I hadn't seen the video with all the sisters' lines, even those cut from the game. From the Maid's Diary we found, I assumed they could never leave the castle, even in Summer, as it was set in July like this fanfiction. I'll fix the mistake in this chapter. My apologies!

Thank you for all the reviews, follows and likes! It means a lot to me.

Trigger Warning: Language, abuse, blood and violence.

Castle Dimitrescu, Lady Dimitrescu's Bedroom - 3 Days Earlier

When Bela woke up in the morning after the attack, she had been taken to her mother's bed. After her transformation, she felt fragile like a child again. Not knowing who or what she was anymore, she was scared and lost. Her mother's bed felt like the safest place in the entire world. And it was. She loved being there. Alcina would never let anything or anybody hurt her. Nobody knew this side of her, when she acted like a loving and protective mother.

"Mother," she muttered, noticing Lady Dimitrescu was watching her and stroking her hair. "I'm sorry. I failed."

"Shhhh," Alcina kissed her daughter's forehead, "you need to rest now, daughter."

She started singing a jazz song Bela liked. Singing was one of her hidden talents. Her mother's voice was like a lullaby to her ears. She was almost falling asleep again, when flashbacks from the night before returned to her mind. She remembered being in Aleena's bed before falling asleep. She was holding Bela's hand, assuring her she'd be alright.

"Aleena," she sat down in an impulse. Bela feared what her mother and sisters could have done to the girl while she was sleeping. She started feeling agitated. "Where is she? I failed to protect her."

"She's fine. There's no need to protect her anymore, I asked Cassandra to keep an eye on her while I'm here with you."

Cassandra? But her mother knew Cassandra's intentions. She'd use Aleena to satiate each one of her desires and then, she'd kill her. If only she hadn't failed. If only she hadn't been so weak.

"But, mother... she's going to kill her. Please, she saved my life! She doesn't deserve to..."

"Nobody is going kill her, Bela. Once I have my goblet back, I'll let her go." Lady Dimitrescu pushed her back to the bed, tucking her under the blankets again. Then, she grabbed a book from the bedside table. "Why don't I read something for you? One of the stories you like?"

Bela forced a smile, listening as her mother began to read. She loved being there. It felt like the safest place in the world... in the past. Not anymore. Now she just felt betrayed.

When she noticed she was still wearing Aleena's jacket and inhaled her perfume, she thought there was somewhere else she'd rather be at the moment. Somewhere where she was truly feeling safe and happy. She wished to be in Aleena's bed again.

----------

Castle Dimitrescu, Lady Dimitrescu's Bedroom - Present Days

Three days passed and Lady Dimitrescu still wouldn't let Bela leave her room, even if she already felt completely recovered. She wouldn't leave her side for more than a few minutes and not even her sisters were allowed to see her.

She had everything she always wanted. Her mother's exclusive attention, to be sure she cared about her as much as she cared about her sisters. Yet, it wasn't enough. Not anymore. There was something new inside her. A part of her that wasn't connected to the life she had lived so far, a life that only included Alcina, Cassandra and Daniela.

"Good morning, sunshine," Bela covered her eyes as the sunlight invaded the room, immediately pulling her out of her sleep.

She was having those dreams again. Dreams she assumed to be memories from her past life. The one before the transformation. She decided to record them all in a diary. She hadn't much to do while she was stuck in that bedroom, it felt like a good manner to spend her time.

"Oh my god, now besides spending the day in bed reading Lord Byron, you're also writing a diary?"

"Cassandra," she angered, immediately getting up and grabbing the diary from her sister's hand before she could read anything she wrote. She also kicked the small pile of books on the floor to under the bed. "What are you doing here?"

"Quick and sharp. It's about time you leave the nest, don't you think?"

"This is what I want the most, but mom isn't convinced I'm recovered yet."

"Liar," Cassandra shook her head and smiled sarcastically. "You're loving it and I know."

"Are you jealous she remembered she has another daughter?" Her eyes and ears analyzed the space around her. Alcina was nowhere to be seen or heard. If their mother wasn't around, it could be a good opportunity to sneak out of the bedroom. "Where's mom, by the way?"

"Doing some boring shit in her office. She asked me to keep an eye on you."

"Okay, I'm doing great. Now leave, I'm gonna take a bath."

"Oh, no," her younger sister sat down at the bed with a book. "It's my turn to read something to read for you."

Cassandra began to read some words Bela recognized very well. She added a dramatic tone to her voice.

"When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it's not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end. The hunter smiled in a friendly way as he sauntered forward to kill me."

That was an excerpt from the book Daniela once found among a servant's belongings. The one about a vampire who fell in love with a human.

"Why are you reading this to me?" Bela rolled her eyes. That story was beyond absurd, suggesting vampires glowed in the sunlight. Yet, she wished she had the opportunity of attending school like those vampires were able to. Being weak to the cold was definitely worse than glowing in the sunlight.

"You know why," Cassandra did that judgmental look again. "It didn't work well for mom, it won't work well for you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," enough was enough. Bela went to the bathroom to prepare her bath. She would leave that room and no one would stop her. "And we don't talk about it, remember? You know how upset mom gets everytime she's reminded of her."

"We're not talking about her, we're talking about Aleena."

She froze at the mention of that name. It was surprising how in only a few days, a simple name acquired so much meaning.

"What Aleena has to do with this?"

"She saved your life," her sister followed her into the bathroom. "She could've ran away, saved her own ass, but instead, she came back to rescue you. She fed you her own blood, even knowing you could lose control and kill her. There is something going on and you can't deny it."

"So what?" Bela closed her eyes inside the bathtub, attempting to relax. All those things were true, but in the end, she had failed to protect Aleena. So much the task had been given to her sister. "It wouldn't be the first time a woman becomes infatuated by me. Which is not her case anyways. She's only trying to show how brave and efficient she is."

"You can fool mom and even Daniela, but not me. I know you, sister. Something about you has changed from the moment Aleena entered this castle."

Cassandra was definitely doing that to annoy her. That was one of her favorite hobbies. Bela decided to ignore all that provocation.

"You're wrong. And besides, she'll be gone soon. It doesn't matter."

But it did matter. And that was exactly why Bela was so desperate to leave that bedroom. What if Aleena was already gone when she left the room? What if she couldn't see her at least one last time? What if she ended up being another one of Cassandra's maidens?

----------

Castle Dimitrescu, Office - Present Days

A few days had passed since the Lycans' attack to the castle. The heating system had been restored, as well as the windows. The members of the staff proved to be innocent, they were so scared and ambushed as any of us.

Cassandra and Daniela were finally warming up to me. But I hadn't seen Bela yet. Alcina was keeping her locked at her own chambers, not allowing me anywhere near it. Even her own sisters were only allowed to see her that morning.

I was caught by surprise when, after breakfast, Mrs. Volkov came to my room bringing the information Lady Dimitrescu wanted to see me. I hadn't seen her since her return. Her entire time and attention were dedicated to Bela and god-knows-what she did inside that office. Maybe that was the day she decided to end my life. Even if I knew she was immortal, I decided to go prepared. If she couldn't die, maybe my daggers could at least give me some time to run. I was glad to have my amulet with me.

"Sit," she ordered as soon as I entered her office. "We must have a talk."

I obeyed. She closed the door and served us both a cup of tea. I decided to accept it, even if I just had breakfast.

"How's Bela?" I asked.

"Oh Bela... my sweet daughter..." the woman sighed and shook her head as she took a sip of her tea. "She's the most tempestuous of my three daughters, even a small thing can affect her mood."

I had a feeling she was talking more to herself, than to me.

"She's recovering. Her wounds have healed but I still think she looks a bit weak. As you could see, the cold can cause a severe impact on their bodies. Had it been in Winter and my daughter could have..."

She interrupted her sentence. She couldn't pronounce that last word and neither could I. Even if I only knew Bela for a few days, I couldn't stand the idea of losing her. Seeing her looking so sick in my bed still haunted my memories.

"Anyways, this isn't why I called you here," Lady Dimitrescu changed the subject.

"Yes, m'am?" I asked, drinking my own tea. "Have I done anything that goes against our deal?"

She raised her eyebrows at my unexpected question. I could imagine she was used to people being less confident in her presence.

"You did everything against our deal. You've been bumbling around this castle like if you were at some kind of fairytale, you've been messing around with my daughters and you... you saved them."

"I did."

"You could've ran away or even killed them. That was your perfect chance but you chose to save them," I had never seen such a look in the eyes of Lady Dimitrescu before. Only in that moment she seemed like a loving mother, grateful that I made the stupid decision of giving up my freedom for her daughters' lives. "Why?"

"I don't know," I sighed. I really didn't have an answer for that. "Maybe I was just following what my mother taught me, to help anyone in need despite of who they are or what they did. Bela saved me in my first night here, I felt I owed her that."

"She saved you because I ordered her to protect you. I know how Cassandra and Daniela can be. You owed her nothing."

"I also owed you," I added. I had to work on earning her trust, if I wanted my freedom and my life back. "You could have killed me and my brother, but instead you're giving us a chance."

Alcina did everything to hide it, but I could tell my words had caused impact. She appreciated honor and loyalty, and that's what I was showing her.

"What do you want?" She finally asked. "I must give you something in trade for your courage."

I thought for a while. I could ask for my freedom. I could ask for money. I could ask for her to forgive Auryk. But instead, I asked something simple.

"I want to call my brother. I want to know he's well and inform him I'm doing fine. I also want to know about his search of your goblet."

"Okay," she indicated me the phone on her desk. "I'll give you some privacy."

I couldn't believe what just happened, but I dialed Auryk's number as fast as I could. Nothing brought me more relief than hearing his voice on the other side of the line.

"Auryk! That's me," I spoke.

"Leena? Oh my god, I was starting to think you were dead."

"No, actually I've been doing pretty well here. You wouldn't believe it."

"What? How is that even possible?"

"Nevermind," I smiled. "I'll tell you later, in person. So, how's the search for the goblet, speaking of which?"

"I've been following some leads but it seems impossible to trace the buyer. I've also received some information that seems confusing and misleading."

"Why?"

"Aleena, do you believe Miranda would be able to betray her own cult?"

We didn't spoke much after that, but the question remained inside my head. The leads Auryk obtained all lead him to people related to Miranda, her most loyal followers from the village. I also thought about the Super Lycans and how somebody planned to kill the Dimitrescu girls. Only someone with so much power would be able to plan such a thing.

"I need your help," Alcina spoke once she returned to her office. I lied to her, saying my brother was close to find her goblet. "Somebody has betrayed me and I need to know who."

"Okay..." I don't know how I could even help her with that.

"I bet that was him!" She smashed the teacup in her hand furiously, before starting to walk around the office like a maniac. "The pig, the bastard, the motherfucker..."

"Heisenberg?"

"Yes!" She looked at me proudly. As if it was any secret those two hated each other. "But I need proof to show Mother Miranda the rat he is. Otherwise, she would never believe me."

"You need to approach him cautiously," I suggested, "so he won't have any suspicions. Bring him into your territory, where you are in charge and not Miranda. It'll be enough to intimidate him a little. Enough for you to catch any hints of a strange behavior."

Lady Dimitrescu didn't say anything for almost a minute. At first, I thought she had found me extremely stupid for suggesting she should invite her nemesis to the castle, but then, she opened a sly grin.

"Smart girl! You just gave me an amazing idea... I'm throwing a dinner tonight, for Mother Miranda and the other Lords."

"Yes, give him some alcohol too. You know, men and alcohol... it's not a good match."

She laughed. Not sarcastically this time, but sincerely. Then she got up and caressed my chin. Her cold hands made me shiver from head to toes.

"If I knew you were such a good girl, I'd have kidnapped you earlier. Now go, I want you to be there too. I'll ask someone to get you an appropriate dress."

----------

Castle Dimitrescu, Ballroom - Present Days

After lunch, Cassandra asked me to show her some of my knife moves. She had been strangely glued to me in the last few days, like a dog guarding its bone. I knew I had promised her we could do a training session any day, but I never imagined she'd take it seriously. I started to wonder if that was a good idea at all.

She picked the ballroom for our training session. Where we'd have plenty of space to move and chase each other. Scary.

"I'm giving you an advantage," she said. "I lowered the room's temperature a bit. I can't transform into flies."

"Good," I grabbed my twin daggers, "not all of us can buzz around."

She rolled her eyes at the pun.

"Oh and I also fed before coming. So in case you get hurt, I won't have problems with my instincts."

"I'm glad to know."

I started by teaching her some basic moves, which bored her a little. Then, we proceeded to a close body combat. I had to admit she was good, even if she didn't have a specific style or technique. But when she fought purely by instinct and impulse, that was a disadvantage. I was able to deflect some of her moves easily.

"Damn," Cassandra panted, a little tired. "You're not so bad. Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"By myself, mostly," I swallowed an entire bottle of water. Training with a vampire had consumed all of my energies. "My father didn't believe women should hold weapons."

"Moron."

"And a bastard. That's what he was."

"How did he die?"

"I never found out for real. He was out for one of his travels and apparently he got in a bar fight or something. I can't say he didn't get what he deserved."

I sat down on the floor to get some rest before taking a shower, Cassandra joined me.

"Your mother is throwing a dinner tonight," I spoke. "She wants me to be there. I have to admit I'm kinda nervous."

"Don't worry, it's only an excuse so she and Heisenberg can yell insults at each other. It'll be like any other meeting."

We were in silence for a moment. Cassandra fell pensive but I noticed a smirk on the corner of her mouth.

"I saw her this morning," she commented. "Bela."

"And how is she doing?"

"Quiet, broody, boring... same as usual. I'd say she's completely recovered. Mother is exaggerating, being so overprotective. But it isn't like Bela doesn't like receiving attention and being spoiled."

"She seemed very weak that day."

"Not anymore," she was about to leave the ballroom when she remembered something else. "She asked about you, in case you wanna know."

"Oh," I tried to pretend I wasn't so worried and interested. But I could feel my cheeks burning. "She did?!"

"You're blushing, sweetheart," Cassandra was too smart to leave this unnoticed. "You like her, don't you?"

"It's not like that! I... I care about her, we... have this thing... we kinda saved each other, you know?"

"No, I'd call that 'having a crush'. And I must give one advice, it won't end well for you. You and Bela belong to two different worlds."

"I know that," I assured her. "Trust me, I don't have a crush on your sister. And I won't have. I have another priorities at the moment."

"Good for you."

She laughed sarcastically and leaving me alone in the ballroom with my own thoughts. I didn't have a crush on Bela. I couldn't. She was right, we belonged to different worlds. I was only fascinated by the sensation of danger, the adrenaline she brought to my life. A sensation I never felt before. She was a predator and I was her prey. A real feeling would never exist between us.

----------

Castle Dimitrescu, Dining Room - Present Days

Right after I took a bath, Mrs. Volkov knocked on my door bringing a stunning red dress, jewelry and shoes. That was what I was supposed to wear for the night. Never in my entire life, I could be able to afford something so fancy. If it wasn't for the fact Lady Dimitrescu was pondering if I should live or not, I could easily enjoy that life.

"You look amazing," was what Daniela spoke when I met her in the hall. "Come here, let's take a picture."

Taking advantage of the fact her mother had been busy with Bela, she was enjoying her free time to discover the joys of the modern world with me. She revealed me she also had a cell phone. One she stole from one of the maids and assumed to be broken. I explained there was no phone signal where she lived but that she could explore other functions of the device. Since then, she has been recording multiple videos of her daily life and taking pictures with me, Cassandra and even the staff.

Lady Dimitrescu was going to kill me. I raised a monster.

I also found out we shared the same passion for art. She was a very good artist.

"Red is Bela's favorite color, by the way," she told as she tapped her phone screen. Good thing the camera wasn't able to capture me blushing.

I finally saw Bela for the first time in days. She was coming down the stairs just as we took the picture. Dressed in white, she seemed like an angel.

"Aleena," she greeted me with a simple nod.

"Hey," I couldn't help opening a huge smile, "I was starting to get really worried about you."

"I'm fine."

She followed her way to the dining room. I could tell something had changed. I didn't know what though. Was she mad at me or at herself because of the Lycan incident? Was it something her mother said again? The thoughts were consuming me as we placed ourselves around the table.

It was a foolish idea to assume a civilized meeting could happen in that dinner. Lady Dimitrescu and Karl Heisenberg had already started to exchange insults. Daniela said inappropriate things about five times. Cassandra had just threatened a servant with her knife. In my turn, I observed Donna Beneviento and I could quite imagine why she wouldn't speak to those people.

"Mother Miranda," Alcina had finally reached the point where she revealed the true objective of that meeting. "About four days ago, I was called to an emergency at Donna's house. A prized possession of hers has also been stolen. When I returned home, my castle had been vandalized. Someone attempted to murder my daughters by exposing them to the cold air, besides sending Lycans to kill them. And they weren't normal Lycans, they..."

"Were Super Lycans," Daniela interrupted. "Their claws were exactly like my mother's."

There was an awkward silence before Lady Dimitrescu proceeded.

"As I was saying. The Lycans were modified to be stronger."

"Oh please," Heisenberg argued. "Who would bother wasting so much time with you?"

"Those Lycans could only have been created in that gruesome factory of yours."

"Gruesome? Let's talk about gruesome. How many virgins did you sacrifice for this bottle of wine?!"

Oh god. I suddenly didn't feel like drinking anything else for the night. But then, the conversation shifted to another point.

"You're inventing this attack to cover up the fact you let that little thief go and he has stolen from another Lord," Heisenberg accused. "It was more important to you to bring his sister to serve as entertainment for your daughters. Which she must be doing very well, considering she's still alive and sitting among us tonight."

"Hey," I opened my mouth for the first time that night. Suddenly everyone was looking at me. "My brother didn't do it. I called him this morning, he's not even around. He has been searching for Lady Dimitrescu's goblet. And dare you to disrespect me again and I will..."

Nevermind. What could I even do against him? He was immune to my bullets and my daggers.

Cassandra started laughing, while her mother looked at me in a mix of shock and disappointment. Heisenberg continued with his accusations.

"Prove it then. Prove your brother has no involvement in this whole situation. He could have planned the attack as well, to rescue you."

"My brother is human, he has no power to create modified Lycans!"

Mother Miranda cleared her throat, indicating all of us should shut the fuck up. I stared at her figure, remembering my brother's words. She could be the one behind all of that and everyone was blinded by her power.

"I've come to a decision," she spoke. "Heisenberg is right. So far, the only person who could be declared guilty is the Novak boy. Alcina, if I remember correctly, you made the decision of letting him go."

"What about the attack, Mother Miranda?" Lady Dimitrescu was furious, but not surprised at her decision. Miranda seemed to always favor the other Lords over her. "The girl has a point. Such a stupid manthing couldn't have created Lycans and given them more power."

"Do you have proof the attack even happened? I'm sorry, Alcina, but the castle is intact."

"I repaired the damage! It was a risk to my daughters! I have their word as proof, as well as the word of my servants."

Heisenberg started to laugh non-stop, before insulting her again:

"So now you remember you have servants? You always kill each one of them to satiate your thirst for blood."

Lady Dimitrescu couldn't find words to refute that argument. Whether because it was true or because she was being smashed by Miranda and Heisenberg.

"Your son of a bitch!" She punched the table, making everything shake.

"We're all doomed!" Beneviento's creepy doll, started to run across the room, repeating those same words. "Each one of us!"

In that moment, I could finally hear Bela's voice in all of the mess.

"At least one reasonable person in this room," she stood up and started to leave. "Angie is right. We're all doomed."

"Bela," Alcina called, "come back here. We're not finished yet."

But she had enough. And so did I. I didn't think before following her to the main hall.

"Bela," I called her. "Where are you going?"

She stopped, taking a deep breath.

"Somewhere," she said. "Are you coming?"

----------

Castle Dimitrescu, Bela's room - Present Days

I swallowed hard when I noticed we were standing in front of Bela's room. She opened the door and invited me inside. I felt my heart thundering inside my chest. It was the first time a woman invited me to her bedroom.

Bela's bedroom was a reflection of herself. Completely organized, perfectly decorated. Daniela was right about her favorite color, some things had shades of red. Such as the curtains and the sheets covering her bed. The walls were decorated with some paintings and a portrait of herself. She also had a small collection of vinyl discs and a telescope near the window.

It had a small study attached, where I could see she had her personal collection of books. That was where she entered and came back seconds later, bringing a bottle of wine and two glasses. Then, she sat down on a sofa, inviting me to join her.

"There's no blood in this one," she spoke. I stared at her, wondering how she even knew. "I can't hear you thoughts. I saw how you put your glass aside when Heisenberg made that comment."

Good. That was probably something good to know. Bela couldn't see the mess inside my head. She was merely an observant woman who could read people very easily. I smiled in response. I was too nervous to show any other reaction.

"I just can't stand all that arguing, all that yelling," Bela drank her entire glass in one sip. Then, she stood up and went to the window. I followed her.

"It's a beautiful night," I commented, pointing to her telescope. "Do you like to watch the stars?"

"Yes and it's the only way I can do it."

"So you can never leave the castle, at all?"

"Sometimes, during Spring and Summer," she sighed melancholic. "Days when the temperature is higher than usual. This year hasn't been kind to us so far. Or the last one."

Never being able to go outside should be a torture. Now I could understand why sometimes she seemed so moody and upset.

"Summer has just begun," I told. "Maybe you can get some luck in the next few weeks."

"I hope so."

She went back to the other side of the room, serving herself another glass of wine. I hadn't finished mine yet.

"What do you think?" She returned to my side and asked. "About the attack. Do you think your brother is fooling you?"

"No, no way. Auryk never lied to me before, I know he's telling the truth."

I knew Heisenberg accusations would cause me trouble. Especially with Miranda siding with him.

"Lying is different from having secrets," Bela said. "Don't you have anything you hide, even from your brother? Something no one knows, but yourself?"

I did. I never told Auryk about the night I spent with Gustav, where I wasn't able to lose my virginity to him. I also didn't feel like telling him about my days in the castle this morning. I knew he'd judge me, in both cases.

"I do, but..."

She let out a small laugh.

"Oh Aleena," she traced the border of her glass with her perfectly manicured finger, "you act so strong and tough but deep down you're so naive."

"What do you mean?" I wanted to know.

"You should've ran away during the attack."

"I wouldn't let you die."

"Why?" Bela was staring deeply inside my eyes. In a manner I was feeling completely exposed, uncomfortable. "Do you know how many people I've killed? Or how many women I seduced only to drink their blood? It's not like I deserved to be saved."

"It doesn't matter," I didn't have a right answer for her question. "It felt right. You saved me in my first night here."

"Only because my mother ordered me and I try so hard to be a good daughter for her. But I failed, right? Now Cassandra has been taking care of you."

"Is she? I mean, I noticed she has been kinda glued to me lately but... sorry, I don't believe she'd save me if she had to."

"No, she wouldn't. She'd take advantage of the opportunity to get you killed and feed from your blood. My sister is more reckless than I am."

"You're different."

"I'm not. I'm just more careful with my actions," she placed a hand on my chest, feeling my heart beating fast. She shook her head in denial. "How do you know I'm not playing with you? How do you know you won't have the same fate as those five teenagers from your village, three years ago?"

"I... I..." deep down, I always knew Bela had an involvement in that situation. But now hearing a confession was totally different. Yet, I didn't feel afraid.

"How can you trust me? We've only met for a few days and here you are, standing in my bedroom where I could kill you and no one would even hear you scream."

"You wouldn't do that," it was my turn to face her, to look deeply into her eyes. I placed my hand over hers. "I know."

"I'm a monster, Aleena. All the stories you've ever heard about me? They're all true."

I don't care. I don't care. I'd still save you if I had to. I wanted to scream those words, but they wouldn't come out.

"You need to stay away from me," she removed her hand from my touch.

"Why?" I asked. "Tell me. Be honest. Who are you trying to convince with all of this? Me or yourself?"

"Just go, Aleena," she turned her back on me. "Just go."

----------

Castle Dimitrescu, Library - Present Days

I couldn't get any sleep. I'd just keep rolling in bed, without being able to find a position. What did Bela mean with that conversation? Was she assuming I was in love with her or something? I wasn't stupid like the other women she was used to seduce. I knew better than that. She had absolutely no right to throw all her frustration and anger at me. I wasn't her mother. I wasn't Heisenberg or Miranda.

I grabbed my sketch book and walked to the library. That castle was even creepier when it was dark and silent. It was almost like you could hear the laments of the people who had been tortured and killed within those walls. I remembered the five teenagers from the village. My mind tried to picture how they were lured into the castle and who killed each one of them. I could see myself in the place of one of those girls and the only thing I could imagine was if they were in Bela's bed when they were killed. I imagined the things she did to them. I tried to feel scared but instead my heart would start racing all over again. I tried to ignore those thoughts, but I locked the door anyways.

I had to relax somehow. I sat down at the desk and attempted to find any inspiration. I started working on a piece that represented Mother Miranda, the Four Lords and all the mystery surrounding those people.

I heard the door opening, I quickly pulled a dagger from my ankle. I could sense a presence approaching me. I was ready to attack, when the low light of the lamp revealed who it was.

"Oh, I didn't know you were here," Bela spoke.

"I was about to leave," I grabbed my sketch book from the desk. When I turned around, she was standing very close to me. We were face to face now, even closer than we were earlier in her bedroom. Her eyes were different though. Before, she looked angry and upset. Now she just seemed sad. "Good night."

"You can stay, if you want. I shouldn't be here anyways."

"No, it's your castle and your library. I'm leaving. Also, I'm retuning your key."

I extended her my palm, handing her the key I was holding.

"Don't be ridiculous," she closed my hand again. "You're my mother's guest."

"Prisoner," I cleared my throat and corrected. Bela let out a small, ironic laugh in response.

"Well, you had the chance of running away. You wasted it, darling."

And we were back to 'darling'. The same 'darling' from the beginning, when she was still deciding if I should be her prey or not. From when she didn't even know my name.

"It wasn't a waste. Not when I was saving your life."

"You shouldn't have saved! I made a mistake, I should be the one to fix it or face the consequences."

"Oh my god, is it all because you were in danger? Because you lost control of the situation? You don't need to be perfect all the time, Bela. It's okay to fail."

"Not everyone is like you, Aleena. For you, it's just natural. You are perfect at everything you do. You can always fix everything that is wrong. You can always use the situation in your favor. You're always pleasing everyone, even my mom!"

My hands started to shake in anger. She knew nothing. I was far from perfect and my abusive father knew very well how to expose my flaws, my failure. For Adrian, being perfect was the only acceptable option. Otherwise, he'd beat us. He'd punish us. Yet, I didn't torture myself for that. Especially after his death. I was about to shout it at her face, when I dropped my sketch book.

I kneeled down, collecting all the spread papers on the floor and shoving them back into my sketch book. When I stood up, Bela was holding one of them.

"Why were you drawing me?" She asked, analyzing my work carefully. I froze.

"I... I..." I had no excuses this time, except for the truth. "I wanted something to remember when I'm gone."

"You shouldn't, Aleena. You should forget it as soon as you leave through the front door. Nothing in this place is worth being remembered."

"You are!" I finally said it. "What if I don't want it, huh?! What if I don't want to forget you?!"

She was in silence for a moment. Then, she closed her eyes as if she was trying to process what she heard and what she would do next.

"Then, I better give you something better than a portrait."

She grabbed my face, pulling me closer to her. There wasn't any more distance between us, I was pressed between her body and the desk. I couldn't move, not even if I wanted to.

Bela's kiss was like every other of her actions. Calculated, planned. She wanted to make sure she'd be in control of it. She wanted nothing but perfection.

She started it very slowly and shy, as if she was trying to figure out the territory first. Her lips softly brushed mine at first, like if she was asking for my permission to go forward. I retributed, pressing my lips harder against hers. I wrapped my arm around her neck, bringing her even closer. I wanted to show how much I desired her, I desired that kiss.

She gently parted my lips with her tongue, finding her way into my mouth. Her tongue gently stroke mine, raising shivers all over my body. I stroked hers back and I could feel her pulse accelerating too.

I don't know for how long we kissed. Minutes, probably. I didn't want to stop. Never.

"Now," I smiled against her mouth when we parted, "that was perfect."

"Shhhh," she whispered, opening a huge grin, "shut up, love. We're only getting started."

Our second kiss was different from the first. It was more desperate. More intense. More passionate. We were both confessing how much we had been longing for that. Then we kissed for a third time. And a fourth. Then I lost count.

All I know is that I spent the night in the library, making out with Bela Dimitrescu.

#resident evil village #residesnt evil 8 #bela dimitrescu #lady dimitrescu #alcina dimitrescu #bela x f!oc #bela x oc #resident evil fanfiction #the devil in i

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hiscyarika · 5 years ago

Text

Kir’manir: Chapter Three

Ruusaanyc

adj. reliable, trustworthy

Word Count: 10.5k

Pairing: Din Djarin (The Mandalorian) x Reader

Summary: The Mandalorian receives a transmission from Greef Karga requesting that he return to Nevarro to dispose of the client.

Warning(s): Violence, Injury

A/N: Happy Star Wars Day! Here’s part three (settle in, it’s a long one)! I decided to go ahead and write Cara out, instead having Reader take her place (please don’t hate me). Also please don’t get used to these horribly long chapters. Chapter Four will be about the same length, but then after I run out of canon content to follow, the chapters will be much shorter. Thank you all for reading and for your kind words! I appreciate you all more than you know!

Masterlist

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Chapter One: Beroya, Chapter Two: Narudar

As the Mandalorian jumps into hyperspace, an exasperated sigh escapes his lips. He looks down at the controls, unscrewing the silver top of the gearshift, then turns to the child, who seems completely unaffected by what had just happened with Mayfeld and the other mercenaries. “I told you that was a bad idea,” he says, giving the baby the little metal ball, earning him a soft coo in response.

He leans back in his seat then, closing his eyes for a few minutes as the Crest rides through hyperspace. Once again he’s reminded that you would have been rather useful to have around. It had taken him one look at the team he’d been assigned to, and instantly he’d known that things weren’t going to work out as cleanly and smoothly as he had been told. And he’d been right. He’d gotten out alright, and so had the kid, but if you’d been around, well, that would have been at least one person he knew he could trust unconditionally.

It’s laughable, really, and he finds himself almost chuckling to himself. He’s sure that you haven’t had a second thought about him since he left you on Tatooine. By now, you’ve probably got your own ship, free to roam the galaxy again. He’ll never see you again. He’s certain about that.

By the time the ship exits hyperspace, the kid is asleep. Mando sits up again, going through the catalog to find another planet to land on for a while. As he moves, he bumps into something, because suddenly the holovid comes to life. It’s a transmission from Greef Karga.

“My friend, if you are receiving this transmission that means you are alive. You might be surprised to hear this, but I am alive too. I guess we can call it even. A lot has happened since we last saw each other. The man who hired you is still here, and his ranks of ex-Imperial guards have grown. They have imposed despotic rule over my city, which has impeded the livelihood of the Guild. We consider him an enemy, but we cannot get close enough to take him out. If you would consider one last commission, I will very much make it worth your while. You have been successful so far in staving off their hunters, but they will not stop until they have their prize. So here is my proposition. Return to Nevarro. Bring the child as bait. I will arrange an exchange, and provide loyal Guild members as protection. Once we get near the client, you kill him, and we both get what we want. If you succeed, you keep the child and I will have your name cleared with the Guild, for a man of honor should not be forced to live in exile. I await your arrival with optimism.”

He flips the switch to turn off the transmission. It’s a risk. Returning to Nevarro with such a high density of Imperials, along with the angry Guild hunters he had betrayed: there are far too many ways that something could go wrong. None of it would be worth anything if he or the kid ended up dead. He turns, looking at where the child sleeps peacefully in his makeshift bed.

If everything goes right, he’d never have to worry about someone coming to hurt the baby again. He could go back to working for the Guild while trying to figure out where the kid belonged. It would be so much easier than the constant running that they’re doing now.

He’s made up his mind, and quickly calculates the next hyperspace jump. They’re going back to Nevarro.

But first, a visit to Tatooine.

---

You groan as the heat of the binary suns blasts down on your back as you work, fixing an old freighter after an engine had been damaged. Rather than booking passage with someone passing through the system, you had opted to start working for Peli instead, helping her with smaller repairs and upkeep. It didn’t pay much but it was enough for you to support yourself while slowly building up the funds that you had. After Mando had left, it seemed much safer to leave on your own, where you were sure that you couldn’t be turned into the Guild for the hunters that you had killed on Sorgan. It’s less than ideal. You haven’t grown any fonder of Tatooine since the day you arrived, but you know things could be worse.

After hammering the last part into place, you close the port, wiping the grime from your hands with the cloth you keep at your side. You then return to Peli’s storage area, putting all of the tools back in their places. As far as you know, there aren’t any other ships in the starport that currently need attention, meaning that you’ll probably spend the rest of the day tuning up the pit droids.

“We’ve got one coming into bay three-five,” Peli says through the comlink you keep in your ear during the day. You sigh and shake your head. At least working with the droids keeps you out of the heat.

“What’s the damage?,” you ask her, wondering just how complicated the repairs are going to be. You’re not a professional like Peli by any means, but in the last couple of weeks you’ve at least managed to gain more knowledge than you started with. Hopefully it saves you time and credits in the long run.

Peli’s answer is drowned out by the deafening sound of the ship landing. You stand just outside of the hangar, not able to see what kind of ship it is or what condition it's in. When you walk through the doorway though, you gasp slightly at what you see. It’s the Razor Crest.

The Mandalorian is back.

At first glance, there seems to be nothing wrong with the ship. You feel your heart begin to beat a little faster in your chest, not sure why he would have come back. Your first thought is that something happened to the little one. It’s a thought that you can barely stomach, and you shake your head to yourself, standing and waiting for the loading ramp to come down. When it does, you can hear the heavy footsteps of the Mandalorian, and you let out the breath you didn’t know you were holding when you see the little creature in his arms.

You take a few steps forward, meeting them in the middle of the space that separates you, and you smile when you see the child’s eyes light up and his little arms reach for you as he laughs. He clambers out of the Mandalorian’s arms and into yours as soon as you’re close enough.

“Well hi there, little guy,” you say, holding him in one arm. The other you extend at an angle to the Mandalorian. He does the same, each of you clasping the other’s hand as a form of greeting.

“What are you two doing back here? Did you miss me that badly, Mando?,” you tease with a grin, releasing his hand and wrapping your arm around the child, who coos and chitters up at you.

“I have a job for you.”

Your eyebrows furrow in confusion and your head tilts slightly to the side. “A job? What kind of job?,” you ask, your expression losing the playfulness it held just seconds ago. This makes no sense to you. Why would he come back for you? Just because you’d done one job together didn’t make you lifelong partners now. That’s the one thing that you understand most about the Mandalorian. You share the preference of working in solitude. Whatever this is has to be dire.

“I received a transmission from Greef Karga,” he begins to explain, though it by no means clarifies his reasoning for coming to you. By now, you’re likely just as wanted by the Guild as he is. The trandoshan that escaped Sorgan would have made sure of that.

He must see the apprehension in your eyes. “I know that sounds stupid, but hear me out,” he says. “The client, the one that paid me to bring the child in, he’s still on Nevarro. He’s got the place crawling with Imps, and it’s making it hard for the Guild to operate. Karga wants me to take him out and bring the child as bait.”

“Absolutely not,” you interject quickly, shaking your head and unconsciously holding the little one closer to you. You know what they want with him. You won’t let anyone harm the baby if you can help it. You’re not stupid enough to trust Greef Karga.

The Mandalorian shakes his head. “That’s why I’m here. I know you won’t let anything happen to him. And he’ll be safe once the client is dead,” he says. “I’ll bring you to Nevarro and make sure you have your own ship when this is over. And both our names will be cleared with the Guild. You can go on like none of this ever happened,” he tells you.

You take a deep breath, your brain running through all of the things that could go wrong, but you know that the Mandalorian is right. This could be the kid’s ticket to freedom and safety. You look down at the little one, watching as his ears perk up. All it takes is one look in his big brown eyes. You know what you have to do. And it doesn’t have anything to do with your own freedom. You look back at the Mandalorian, your jaw set in determination.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

---

Once you’ve left the atmosphere of Tatooine, you lean back in your seat, sighing softly in relief. Finally you can breathe without inhaling dust and sand and you’re not soaked in your own sweat.

“You really hated that place, didn’t you?,” Mando asks, a hint of amusement in his tone.

“Is it that obvious?.” You laugh, “What made you think I’d still be there?”

He shakes his head. “I didn’t expect you to be. I figured you’d be long gone the first chance you got. It was just a chance I was willing to take,” he replies.

A thought strikes you then. “Greef Karga has no idea that I’m coming, does he?”

“No.”

“Well that could be an issue, don’t you think?,” you question. Before, he’d made it sound like your joining had already been discussed. Now it’s clear that this might not go as smoothly as you’d originally thought.

“It won’t be. And if it is, that’s his problem,” Mando tells you, standing from his seat and heading down into the hull. You follow after him, glancing at the child for a moment to check on him before you go down the ladder. The Mandalorian seems confident, but you’re not so sure.

You lean against the wall, watching as he opens the weapons vault. “You realize that this could be one grand scheme to take both of you down, right? And if it is I’m sure he won’t hesitate to put me in cuffs too.” The prospect of freeing the child is still worth the risk, but you want to be sure to minimize the chance of being taken by surprise. Greef Karga isn’t known for his integrity.

He sighs in exasperation. “Relax. I don’t trust him any more than you do. We’ll be gone the minute something goes wrong.”

You know he can’t guarantee that, as much as you wish he could. “I’m just saying that we need to operate like this is a trap,” you tell him.

“Believe me, I know. I haven’t gone through this much trouble to keep the kid safe just to ruin it all now,” he replies, turning to face you. You nod in understanding, letting out a soft breath.

Before you can say anything else, you heard a loud knocking coming from the ship. It begins to veer sharply from side to side, and the force sends you colliding with the Mandalorian, your hands pressed to his cuirass. But you don’t have time to think about the severe lack of space between you or the way that his arm comes around your waist to steady you. You grab onto the ladder, freeing him so that he can make it up to the cockpit, and then follow after him, hanging on to the back of your seat to stay upright.

You curse under your breath when you see the child playing around with the controls, clearly amused with his own work. He laughs even as the Mandalorian shoves him into your arms. You take your seat, keeping the child secure in your arms until Mando finally rights the ship again.

“Troublemaker,” you mutter, narrowing your eyes slightly as you look down at the kid, your breath coming in soft pants. He just giggles and brings his little clawed hands up to touch your face. You shake your head, unable to help the grin that comes to your lips then. “We gotta find someone to watch you,” you say.

“You’ve got that right,” Mando agrees, and as you look you can see that he’s changing the set coordinates.

“Where are we going?,” you ask.

“Arvala-7,” he answers.

Now your interest is piqued. “What? But that’s…that’s where the kid was when you found him. Who is there that you trust?,” you question.

The Mandalorian turns to face you. “There was an ugnaught that guided me to the child, and he helped me repair the ship after it was stripped by Jawas. He won’t let any harm come to the kid,” he explains. You nod, relieved that there is at least one other person in the galaxy that can be trusted. It gives you more hope that the two of you might be able to pull this off, and then everything that’s happened in the last few weeks can become a distant memory.

“To Arvala-7 then,” you say, gently placing the child back in his chair.

---

When he lands the Crest next to Kuiil’s moisture farm, the Mandalorian lets out a soft sigh, standing from the pilot’s seat and picking up the child in his crate. He nods his head for you to go first, and once you’re down the ladder, he reaches down to hand you the container. With the press of a button on his vambrace, the container begins to float at his side, and he walks with you down the ramp and towards the ugnaught. He watches you out of the corner of his eye, having to contain a laugh at the less-than-pleased look on your face as you survey the surroundings. You’ve traded one arid planet for another, though at least you won’t be on Arvala-7 for long.

The ugnaught meets the three of you at the door, and the Mandalorian ducks and follows him into the small hut, the container behind him and you after. He stands up straight again once he’s inside letting the container sit on top of a box against the wall. You settle near the child, and he smiles under the helmet as he watches you reach out to stroke the baby’s ear, earning a soft hum from the creature.

The ugnaught grabs the child’s attention as he walks closer, and the little one reaches an arm out. “It hasn’t grown much,” the ugnaught says.

“I think it might be a Strand-Cast,” the Mandalorian answers, coming to stand next to you.

“I don’t think it was engineered. I’ve worked in the gene farms. This one looks evolved. Too ugly,” explains the ugnaught, standing from where he was crouched in front of the child. He then turns to you. “This one, on the other hand, she looks like she was farmed in the Cytocaves of Nora.”

You smile at the comment, and he listens as you introduce yourself to the ugnaught. When you say your name, the Mandalorian makes the discovery that he’s never actually heard it before. He doesn’t have to wonder why. He remembers well the day you’d asked his name and his refusal to give it to you. It was only fair, he knows, that he never demanded yours. But to hear it now, he can’t help but think that it suits you. It’s elegant enough, but also has an edge to it that could strike fear into the heart of any man.

“I’m a bounty hunter,” you explain further. “I was supposed to bring in the child after the tracking fob reactivated, but I couldn’t make myself go through with it. The man who hired us never told us it was a child.” A look of disgust crosses your face.

“I see,” the ugnaught says, nodding. “It’s good to know that morality still exists in the galaxy. The Mandalorian would be wise not to take someone like you for granted.”

He doesn’t fail to catch the pointed look that the ugnaught gives him.

But the warm moment doesn’t last much longer. He feels the hair on his arms and the back of his neck stand straight up when he hears a familiar mechanical movement. His blaster is loaded and pointed at the IG unit as it steps into the hut, bearing a few cups of tea. You’re up just as fast as he is, your weapon drawn as well as you step in front of the child.

“Would anyone care for some tea?,” the droid asks.

The ugnaught steps in front of both of you, his hands held up to stop you from shooting at the droids. “Please, lower your blasters. He will not harm you.” But the Mandalorian doesn’t relent and neither do you. He doesn’t even take his eyes off of the droid.

“That thing is programmed to kill the baby,” The Mandalorian grits out. He’s never trusted droids before. He won’t start now.

“Not anymore,” the ugnaught counters. He then listens as the ugnaught tells you both how he recovered the droid and reprogrammed its neural workings. While it might have been comforting to anyone else to hear that the droid had been retaught everything that it knew, the Mandalorian was still not convinced. He couldn’t believe that when he knew that the nature of the droid was to be a bounty hunter.

“Is it still a hunter?,” he asks apprehensively.

“No. But it will protect,” the ugnaught assures him.

He lowers his blaster, and only then do you do so as well. He stares at the droid for a few moments, studying it, and he shrinks back as it offers him a cup of tea. You take it instead, seeming to be much more soothed by the ugnaught’s story than he is.

“I must go tend to the blurrgs,” the ugnaught says. The Mandalorian nods, turning to you as you’re all left in the hut alone with the droid.

“Stay here with the kid. Don’t let the droid touch him,” he says.

“I won’t,” you answer, and though he can hear the questioning in your tone, he doesn’t indulge you with an answer. Instead, he ducks out of the hut, finding the ugnaught standing outside of the pen he keeps the creatures in.

“I’ve run into some problems,” the Mandalorian starts softly. The ugnaught has done so much for him already. He deserves to rest in peace, not be dragged back into this chaos, but he knows that he has no other choice than to ask.

The ugnaught does not look up from where he strokes the snout of one of the blurrgs. “I figured as much. Why else would you return?,” he says.

“I wanna hire your services.”

His answer is simple, but somehow not quite final. “I’m retired from service.”

“I can pay you handsomely, Ugnaught,” the Mandalorian tries, though he knows already that money is not something that will change the ugnaught’s mind. It didn’t before.

“I have a name. It is Kuiil,” he says.

The Mandalorian nods. That’s two names he’s learned tonight. “I need someone to protect the little one, Kuiil,” he replies.

“I’m not suited for such work. I can reprogram IG-11 for nursing and protocol,” Kuiil offers.

“No. I don’t want that droid anywhere near him,” he refuses, unable to help from raising his voice as he speaks. He still can’t bring himself to trust the droid, even if everyone else around him has given in to the idea that the droid will not revert back to his factory settings.

Kuiil finally looks up at him then, a curious look in his eyes as he studies the Mandalorian. “Why are you so distrustful of droids?,” he inquires. But it’s not a question that he really wants to answer in depth. It goes back much further than what happened with the IG unit.

“It tried to kill him,” he says, giving the simple answer

Kuiil shakes his head. “It was programmed to do so. Droids are not good or bad. They are neutral reflections of those who imprint them,” he says. His words are wise and true. The Mandalorian knows this, but as true as he knows the words to be, he cannot internalize them.

“I’ve seen otherwise,” he counters.

“Do you trust me?,” Kuiil asks, and the Mandalorian can already see where the ugnaught is going with this question, but he humors him anyway.

He gives a slight nod. “From what I can tell, yes,” he replies.

“Then you will trust my work. IG-11 will join me, and we do it not for payment, but to protect the child from Imperial slavery. None will be free until the old ways are gone. Forever,” Kuiil says. These words are final. The Mandalorian knows that he cannot argue with them. As much as he doesn’t like the idea of the droid being around the baby, he knows that he needs Kuiil. Having the ugnaught around is more important than his need to keep the droid away.

“Okay,” he relents softly.

“The blurrgs will join me as well.”

“The blurrgs?,” he asks, puzzled.

“I have spoken.”

The Mandalorian has to hold back a laugh at the words. These arguments always seem to end this way, but he’s thankful for Kuiil for more reasons than he can count now. If his only requests are that the droid and the blurrgs join, then he’ll honor those requests without further argument.

---

You sit on top of a crate in the hull of the Crest, your elbow on the table in front of you and your hand locked with the Mandalorian’s as you both try to best each other with your strength. Your eyes stare deep into the visor of the helmet, your gaze like stone as you try to find any hint that he might be giving up.

“I’ve got you beat, Mandalorian. Give it up,” you say, gaining just a bit.

He grunts with the effort of trying to keep his arm upright. “Care to double the bet?,” he taunts, moving your arm back so that you’re upright again, completely in a stalemate with each other.

“So confi–” You’re cut off when you feel a strange sensation all over your body. You let go of the Mandalorian, trying to figure out what it is that might be making you feel this way, but as soon as you lose physical contact with each other, you’re both flying backwards against the walls of the ship.

The crate you sit on topples over at the impact, leaving you in a heap on the floor. Your hand goes to the back of your head, which throbs from hitting the wall. You look over to see that the Mandalorian is in no better shape. But then your eyes catch sight of the child, whose eyes are narrowed as he looks back and forth between the two of you, his arms reaching out like he’s the one that separated you with such force.

The Mandalorian follows your gaze, and he pulls himself up from the floor when he realizes what’s happening. “No, stop! We’re not hurting each other! It’s just a game!,” he says, picking the child up out of his crate. At this, the strange feeling leaves you immediately, but you can’t bring yourself to move. You have no idea what just happened.

“Wait…he….how?,” you ask, watching as the child is handed over to Kuiil for a moment. You feel your heart pounding in your chest as you try to understand how the child was able to do something like that. But you’ve never seen anything like it in your life.

“Look,” the Mandalorian says, walking over to you and helping you up from the ground. He keeps a gentle arm on your shoulder as he looks to the baby. “See? I’m not trying to hurt her. It’s alright,” he reassures the baby. At this, the child’s eyes soften again and his ears perk up a bit. He seems satisfied by what Mando tells him.

He releases you then, the visor looking down into your eyes. “Are you okay?,” he asks softly.

“Yeah. I think so. But what just happened?,” you question.

“The story you told me of the mudhorn now makes more sense,” Kuiil tells Mando. You stand there in silence, not sure what it is that they’re talking about.

“What is it?,” Mando asks.

Kuiil shakes his head. “What it is, I don’t know. But what it does, this...this I’ve heard rumors of. In my days with the Empire,” he says. Your eyebrows furrow in confusion, and your body tenses slightly at this revelation.

“You worked for the Empire?,” you ask, finding that you trust the ugnaught a little less now. Why the Mandalorian would trust an ex-Imperial to help take down an Imperial officer is beyond you.

“I was sold to the Empire, my dear. An indentured servant, but I am proud to say that I bought my clan’s freedom with the skill of my hands,” he tells you, and you suddenly feel foolish for jumping to such a conclusion about the ugnaught.

You nod slightly. “I understand.”

“Speaking of which, I could really use your craft work right now. Can you pad this container so that the child can sleep better?,” the Mandalorian asks, laying the child back down in his makeshift bed.

The ugnaught walks over, placing a gentle hand on the baby. “I shall fabricate a better one,” he declares.

As Mando shows Kuiil where all the tools are, you make your way back up to the cockpit, taking a seat and trying to process everything that just happened. You can’t really wrap your head around the fact that the child had thrown you and Mando both across the ship just with the power of his mind. This changes your understanding of the situation. Before, you hadn’t understood what was so important about the baby that made the client want him so badly. Now it all makes sense.

You sit up a little straighter as Mando finally joins you. He’s quiet until he takes his seat. “Are you sure you’re alright? You hit your head,” he says, the pilot’s chair swiveling around so that he can face you.

You nod slightly. “Yeah. I’ve had far worse, you know?,” you joke half-heartedly. “I guess the kid just didn’t want to see us fight,” you say with a shrug.

The Mandalorian sighs. “I guess…,” he breathes.

“What does the client want with him?,” you ask, “It has to have something to do with his power.”

He shakes his head. “I don’t know. He had another man with him when I brought the kid in. They were doing some kind of testing on him, but I don’t know what for. I have no idea how he can do that. I’ve never seen anything like it,” he tells you.

“There has to be more going on,” you reply. “This has to be more than just one officer, Mando. We need to be ready.” Something deep in your gut tells you that you’re in over your head. Whatever you’re about to walk into on Nevarro isn’t going to be as simple as killing a few stormtroopers and taking out the officer. What exactly is going to happen, you don’t know, and that scares you more than you’ll ever admit to the Mandalorian.

“Maybe. We’ll find out more when we land,” he tells you, turning back to the controls.

You turn around when you hear the door open and the mechanical movements of the IG unit, watching as he comes to stand in the doorway of the cockpit. “I have prepared second meal. Would you care to be served here or below?,” the droid asks, it’s hand mechanisms clasped together as it looks between you and Mando.

Mando turns around looking at the droid for just a short moment before he turns away again. “I’m not hungry,” he says.

“I’ll eat later, IG. Thank you,” you reply softly, looking out the viewport of the ship as the droid heads back down into the hull with Kuiil and the child.

“Under no circumstances does that thing leave the ship,” Mando says harshly, his entire body tense and unmoving.

You shake your head. “Why are you so hostile? Kuiil practically rebuilt the thing,” you retort, not sure why he’s so against the droid’s presence when clearly it means no harm to anyone. You know from past experience that pressing him probably isn’t the greatest idea, but you don’t have it in you to care so much at the moment.

“That droid was designed to kill things. I don’t care how much wiring he replaced. It goes against its nature,” he tells you, the chair turning quickly as he looks at you. You don’t have to see his face to know that he’s angry now. It’s all in the way his shoulders are set and the way his head tilts as he speaks to you. It’s in your best interest to let the subject go, so you stand from your chair, shaking your head.

The door of the cockpit as you approach it, but before you go down the ladder, you turn to look at the Mandalorian once more, meeting his gaze in the reflection of the viewport. “You know, not trusting anyone will get you killed faster than letting go of your fear,” you tell him. You join Kuiil, the child, and IG-11 in the hull, leaving the Mandalorian to brood alone.

---

Greef Karga is waiting when the Razor Crest lands on Nevarro, with three hunters of his own standing around him. It gives you the slightest bit of satisfaction that the man clearly fears the Mandalorian. Just as he should.

You ride one of the three blurrgs out of the ship, following behind Mando and Kuiil. The three of you ride at each other’s side as you approach Karga and the other hunters, with the child in his closed pod between you and Mando. It brings you just a bit of peace to have the baby close to you, where you can get to him faster if this all ends as badly as you think it will.

With just a few feet between you and Greef Karga, you pull on the reins to stop the blurrg, your facial expression impassive as you stare down the Guild agent and his minions. One of them is a trandoshan, but to your relief it isn’t Daask. “Sorry for the remote rendezvous, Mando,” Karga says, placing his hands on his hips as he looks back and forth between you and Kuiil. You watch as the look in his eyes changes as he meets yours. He knows who you are. “But things have gotten complicated since you were last here. It appears that introductions are in order. It seems we’ve both provided a security detail. Or have you brought this traitor as a peace offering?”

He points to you as he speaks, and you clench your jaw as you look down at him, not giving him the satisfaction of thinking that you feel threatened by him. You know you could end him before either of the other three hunters had a chance to draw their weapons. He’s no threat to you.

“She’s coming with me, and you’ll have her name cleared with the Guild when this is over,” the Mandalorian says evenly. His tone leaves no room for argument, but somehow Karga has the gall to open his mouth regardless.

“She killed two of my best men. I’ve started distributing pucks at the request of the trandoshan that escaped her. Why not take the bounty that’s been put on her head?,” he presses.

You feel your blood begin to boil at the mention of Daask. You’re surprised that he’s not among the hunters that Greef has with him. “You can be next on my list if you’d like. I’d be happy to arrange it,” you reply, venom dripping with every word. It would bring you great joy to see such a piece of scum dead at your own hands. You inch the blurrg forward, and the hunters draw their weapons.

“Enough. She’s coming. And she’ll be unharmed and pardoned. Do I make myself clear?,” the Mandalorian says. Greef locks his gaze with the helmet, his lips pressed in a thin line, but then he waves off his hunters.

“Fine,” he relents, shaking his head and holding his hands out in mock surrender. “Fine.” You can’t help the smug grin that comes to your lips at his blatant displeasure.

“So, where is the little one?,” he asks. In unison, you and Kuiil both turn to Mando, your expression grim again as you wait for his next move. The idea of even opening the floating pram makes the hair on your arms stand up. You won’t have anything happening to the baby.

Your whole body tenses as Mando moves the pram towards Greef, opening it once it’s in front of him. A hand instinctively goes to your blaster, ready to draw it and fire if the man so much as looks at the little one the wrong way. You practically stop breathing as he picks the child up out of his pod, but out of the corner of your eye you see that Mando is just as ready to attack as you are.

“So, this little bogwig is what the fuss is all about. What a precious little creature,” Greef says. One of the other hunters brandishes his spear when he notices how on edge you and the Mandalorian are, and the motion has you ready to spring into action. “I can see why you didn’t want to harm a hair on its wrinkled little head. Well, I’m glad this matter will be put to rest once and for all,” Greef continues, and he finally puts the baby back in his pod. The Mandalorian relaxes, but you don’t. You won’t be able to until the pod is closed and the child is back at your side.

“Bring him back,” you mutter. Mando presses a few buttons on his vambrace. The pod hisses as it shuts, and then it floats back to its original place between you and Mando. You let out a breath, finally releasing your hold on your blaster.

“The sun drops fast on Nevarro. We can walk for a spell, camp out at the riverbank, then make our way into town at first light,” Karga suggests.

The Mandalorian nods, urging his blurrg forward. You do the same, and with the others you form a triangle around the child’s pod. Karga and his hunters lead the way through the rocky terrain and then the lava flats. The landscape is desolate. Care must be taken with every step. But you watch Greef Karga just as closely as you watch the ground beneath you. No display of his will convince you that his intentions are pure, not until the client is dead. And even then, knowing for certain that there’s a bounty on your head now, you may not trust him even then.

When the sun sets, you stop to make camp. You unload supplies from the bag strapped to your blurrg, making a place for yourself near the fire. Mando settles nearby, keeping the child between you. You decide to stay where you are, watching as Greef and his hunters set up a spit over the flames and roast some unfortunate creature that will soon be your dinner.

You allow yourself to take a deep breath and relax just slightly. You know the child is safe sitting between you and Mando. You lie back against the pack that you’d brought with you. It’s far from comfortable but it’ll do for the night. When dinner is served you sit quietly, keeping an eye on the three other hunters as Kuiil feeds the baby.

“I guess the little bugger’s a carnivore. Never seen anything like it,” Greef muses, not far from your other side. You turn to look at him, hearing the child’s happy babbling. “They were ready to pay a king’s ransom for that thing. Must be for some kind of highfalutin menagerie.” He chuckles then, turning away from the child and looking back at the fire.

“Let’s go over the plan again,” you say, tired of hearing the man’s nonstop commentary. You swear you’ve never heard anyone talk as much as Greef Karga does, though maybe it’s just a product of being around the Mandalorian, who never says half as many words. Perhaps you’ve gotten used to the comfortable silence, begun to prefer it.

Greef nods. “Mando and I enter the common house. We show the client the bait,” he pauses to point at the child, which makes you turn to the Mandalorian in question. Surely he can’t be any more comfortable than you are with having the child that close to the man that would rather be running tests on the poor thing in a lab.

“We join him at the table, then Mando kills him,” Greef finishes.

“Tell me about his reinforcements,” Mando says, offering no answer for your silent inquiry.

Greef exhales softly. “They’re all ex-Empire. As soon as they lose their paycheck, they’ll all scatter.”

“And what if they don’t?,” you ask flatly, turning your gaze to the flames as they glow and crackle in the dark.

“They will,” he insists.

“That’s not good enough,” Mando presses sternly.

He turns to the Mandalorian again. “If, for argument’s sake, a few of them don’t realize that I’m their best path to alternative employment and they elect to...react impulsively, then these three fine Guild hunters and your accomplice will cut down anyone who bucks,” he says.

“How many will there be?,” Mando asks.

Greef sighs, “No more than four.” He pushes himself off of the ground then, and you watch him closely as he moves towards the fire for another helping of meat. “He travels with, at most, a fire team. Trust me. Nothing can go wrong,” he says. You can barely contain a scoff at the words.

A high pitched screech comes from the dark, and a winged creature swoops down to take the meat from Greef’s hands. You’re on your feet immediately, picking up the heavy repeating blaster that you’d brought along in case you were overwhelmed with the stormtroopers. After stepping in front of the child’s pod, you aim in the direction that the creature had come from, firing at it.

In the shallowest part of your awareness, you hear the child whimper, but it’s followed by the sound of the pram shutting. You allow yourself to take just a step away, firing at the winged beast. It doesn’t take long to realize that even with multiple weapons being fired, the group’s efforts aren’t driving it away.

It swoops down and picks up one of the blurrgs. You turn and shoot at it as Kuiil demands that the creature let go. The Mandalorian joins your effort, but the beast flies away with the blurrg secured in its talons. You let out a breath and lower the heavy blaster for a moment. It’s unfortunate that a blurrg was lost, but hopefully the creature will stay away.

Another screech sounds, and this time the trandoshan hunter is carried away. It’s gone before you can lift the blaster again. But you’re able to fire at the next one that tries to take another blurrg. To your relief, it falls dead, though on top of the blurrg. Your head is spinning with so many attacks on multiple fronts, and try as you might you can’t see far in the pitch darkness. The fire is the only source of light, and even then it doesn’t help much.

You hear the Mandalorian struggling, and you curse under your breath when you see him pinned to the ground by another beast. You shoot at it, careful not to hit Mando. He’s able to get to his feet, and he points his flamethrower at his attacker, fending it off quickly. You don’t stop your own attack, until finally the last of them fly away from the camp. Your chest is heaving with your labored breaths, but you don’t let your guard down yet.

The Mandalorian stands again, rushing over to where the pod still sits shut where it was left. You and Kuiil join him. You keep your back to the pram, your blaster raised and aimed at the sky should more of the creatures attack. But it’s quiet. They seem to have retreated fully.

You finally lower the blaster, placing it near your pack. You turn as Mando opens the pod, and while the child looks a little shaken, he appears unharmed.

It’s then that Greef’s strained cries of pain meet your ears, and you realize that the initial attack left him wounded. As Kuiil rushes over to assess the damage, you rifle through your pack, finding the medkit that you’d brought along with you. You take it over to the injured man, immediately crouching down and beginning your ministrations despite his insistence that he’s fine.

You first inject him with a numbing agent, hoping to at least assuage the pain a little. As you look down at the wound, however, you can see the angry black lines coming away from it. The creature’s bite, you find, is venomous.

“How bad?,” you hear Mando ask from behind you. It startles you slightly. In your rush to treat Greef you hadn’t heard him walk over.

You take out a gauze pad, your only ability being to stop the bleeding. You have no antidote for the venom. At the very least, he’ll lose an arm. “Bad,” you answer, “The venom is spreading fast and I don’t have a way to treat it.” You look down, finding the gauze pad soaked in blood, and as you dig through the medkit you find that there are no more inside.

Greef takes in a shaky breath. “So this… This is how it happens…,” he manages.

“Don’t be so dramatic,” you scoff, shaking your head. “I need another medkit! Does anyone have another medkit?!,” you call, looking back at the two remaining hunters. When they shake their heads, you roll your eyes. “It’s a wonder none of you are dead yet.”

“I’m guessing that’s a no,” Greef muses, his words ending in a sharp cough. You take out your scanner, running it along his arm to see how far the venom has spread.

“It’s still spreading,” you announce, tossing the scanner aside, “This isn’t working.” You catch movement in your peripheral vision, and you turn just slightly to see the child standing beside you, his eyes wide and curious as he looks at the wound. “Mando, get the kid out of here,” you command.

“Wait,” Kuiil murmurs, looking down at the baby.

You find that the child has reached out for Greef, laying his tiny hand over the wound. “He’s trying to eat me!,” Greef cries. You pay him no mind. You’re too amazed by what you see.

The little one’s eyes narrow in concentration, and before your very eyes you see the wound begin to close. Within just a few seconds, any trace of the injury is gone. The child pulls his hand back, falling on his behind. His eyes close and you gently pick him up off of the ground, standing and turning to the Mandalorian. Your eyes are wide with disbelief, and you’re vaguely aware of the way that your heart is beating rather quickly in your chest. Looking back down at the little one, who has fallen asleep in your arms, you can’t help but fall speechless in the wake of what you’ve seen.

“Take him back to his pod. He needs to rest,” Mando says, breaking the silence that has fallen over the entire crew. You manage to nod slightly, stepping carefully over to the pram. Gently laying the little one down, you cover him with his blanket and then close the pod with the button on the side. When you stand again, you look out into the darkness that lies beyond the camp. Your mind can’t make sense of what the child can do. All you know is one thing: this has become so much more than you thought it would.

You’re not sure you’re comfortable with that.

---

After a night of less-than-restful sleep, you continue the journey into town at the first sight of sunrise. Karga and his hunters walk just a few paces ahead of you and Mando, with the child between you once again. Kuiil lags much farther behind, riding the last of the blurrgs. You’re acutely aware of the hushed conversations happening between Karga and his hunters. You turn to Mando, suspicious of what might be happening. “Do you think they’re having second thoughts?,” you ask him, quiet enough that he’s the only one that can hear you.

“Could be,” he murmurs, and the fact that his own suspicion is winning over is enough to put you on edge. “I need your eyes,” he tells you.

“You know I haven’t stopped watching,” you reply, gaze hard and set on the three in front of you.

Just a short while later, you reach the town. You stand at the edge of a rock shelf, looking at it from above. You let out a soft breath, ready to get this operation over with. You don’t like one bit of this. Every fiber of your being is telling you that there’s something wrong. You’re just waiting for it all to finally come crashing down.

Greef takes a step forward, surveying the town. “I guess this is it,” he says. A few seconds pass, and then he turns suddenly, firing both of his blasters in yours and Mando’s directions. Your heart flies up into your throat, and your own weapon is drawn as the shots hit their targets. But nothing hits you. Or the Mandalorian.

Shocked, you look behind you to see that Karga has disposed of his own men. You stand up straight again, aiming your blaster squarely at him, even with his hands raised in surrender and his thumbs away from the triggers, you have no intention of trusting any move that he makes.

“There’s something you should know,” he says, walking between you and the Mandalorian to reach the bodies of the dead Guild hunters. You keep your blaster trained on him even as he kicks the weapons away from the bodies. “The plan was to kill you and take the kid. But after what happened last night, I couldn’t go through with it,” he explains.

Neither you or the Mandalorian move or speak. Karga steps back, opening his stance to both of you. It’s an easy shot. You could take it if you wanted to. Then it would be over. You could go back to the Razor Crest and leave this place.

“Go on,” he says, meeting your gaze, “You can gun me down here and now and it wouldn’t violate the Code. But if you do, this child will never be safe.” He gestures to the child, but you won’t have it.

“We’ll take our chances. We’ve kept him safe this long. We don’t need your help,” you say, anger clear in your tone as you look at the Guild agent. You want so badly to pull the trigger, but you won’t. Not until you hear what the Mandalorian has to say about it. In the end, no matter your hatred for Greef Karga, it’s his call. It’s his child.

“The Imperial client is obsessed with obtaining this asset. You tried to run, but where did it get you?,” Greef continues, trying with everything he has to get you and Mando to see the point he’s trying to make.

You cast a glance in Mando’s direction, but you don’t let it linger for long. You won’t let Karga out of your sight for any longer than a second or two. “We could leave right now. Find a better way to do this later. We can’t trust him,” you argue. Your blood is rushing hot through your veins. Your heart is pounding. This needs to end now.

“Perhaps you should let him speak,” Kuiil says, holding up his hand as a way to get you to stand down.

Karga takes a step towards the Mandalorian. You slowly lower your blaster, but you don’t holster it. “Listen, we both need the client to be eliminated. Let me take the child to him, and then you two–”

“No,” Mando finally says, his weapon still pointed at Greef.

Satisfied, you aim your blaster again. “Let’s get this over with and get out of here,” you say.

But the Mandalorian lowers his blaster. “No. He’s right.”

“What are you doing?,” you question in disbelief.

“As long as the Imp lives, he’ll send hunters after the child,” he tells you.

“You can’t honestly be considering this. He’ll have us killed the first chance that he gets and then the child will be lost. We both know how he operates,” you retort.

“Bring me,” he tells Greef.

“Bring you?,” the agent asks incredulously, his hands on his hips.

“Tell him you captured me. Get me close to him and I’ll kill him,” Mando says.

“That’s a good idea. Give me your blaster,” he says. You watch as the Mandalorian does so without hesitation.

You shake your head, finally lowering your weapon. “Mando, don’t do this,” you plead, “It’s a trap.”

He turns to face you. You stare into the horizontal part of the visor, trying to understand how he could believe that this plan would work. “It’s the only way,” he says.

“Well then I’m coming with you,” you state with finality, holstering your blaster.

“No. No. No. That would make them suspicious. You’re a known traitor to the Guild,” Greef says.

You lock eyes with him. “Does it look like I care? I’m not letting you take them in there alone. You can tell them I caught him, as recompense,” you tell him.

“Fine. Then she can bring the child,” Greef says to the Mandalorian.

“No. The kid goes back in the ship,” he replies, gesturing to Kuiil. You nearly sigh in relief. That’s the smartest thing that he’s said throughout the entire conversation.

“But without the child, none of this works!,” Greef argues.

“I have a plan. Kuiil, ride back to the Razor Crest with the child and seal yourself in. When you’re inside, engage ground security protocols. Nothing on this planet will breach those doors,” Mando says. Kuiil nods, walking over to Mando and handing him a small device.

“Here’s a comlink. I will keep the child safe,” he vows. You finally find yourself soothed. Despite your brief acquaintance with the ugnaught, you trust him with the child’s life. He’s the only one you trust outside of the Mandalorian himself. It’s risky going in without the child, but you’d rather take the chance of being discovered by the Imp than put the child in danger.

You watch as the ugnaught takes the child from his pram, wrapping him in a blanket before starting back towards the blurrg. He stops, looking up at you for just a moment. “Be mindful of your anger, lest it blind you,” he warns you.

You nod. “With the child in your hands, that won’t be a problem,” you promise. Satisfied, Kuiil goes back to the blurrg. You look back to the Mandalorian, watching as he’s cuffed with his own binders. You take in a deep breath, tightening the strap that keeps the heavy blaster secured on your back, then reach down and close the child’s empty pod.

“Let’s go,” the Mandalorian says.

---

You only have to reach the front of the town to see that it’s been overrun by stormtroopers. At the sight of the scout troopers guarding the entrance, you and Mando steal a quick second of eye contact. It’s Greef that handles them, though you can’t help but tense just slightly as they ask for a chain code.

“This is a gift for the boss,” Greef says.

“Chain code,” the trooper demands.

He hands over a card, which the trooper scans. For a moment, you think that you’ve already been caught, but then the trooper looks back and forth between Mando and Greef. “I’ll give you twenty credits for the helmet,” he offers.

Karga gives a half-hearted chuckle. “Not a chance. That’s going on my wall,” he says.

“On your wall?,” Mando mutters, turning slightly.

“Go with it,” Greef says quietly.

“Go ahead,” the trooper says, handing back the card. Greef urges the Mandalorian forward, and you walk with the two of them through the street. You feel every stormtrooper eye trained on the three of you and the empty pram that floats just behind. Taking in a deep breath through your nose, you try to keep yourself steady. But the amount of Imperials is unnerving.

When you make it to the door of the client’s building, you clench your fists at your sides, walking in right behind Mando. As you enter, you see that Karga’s words from the previous night are true. There are four troopers in the room to guard the client.

You look around the empty cantina, finding the man that you presume to be the client sitting at a table alone. He’s an older man with narrowed eyes and a strange aura about him. Looking at him, you wouldn’t have guessed that he was an officer even in his prime. He stands, approaching Greef and Mando as they draw near, his eyes curious as he takes in the sight of the Mandalorian. You keep a bit of distance, surveying the stormtroopers without them catching your eyes.

“Look what I brought you. As promised,” Karga says, presenting the Mandalorian to the client. The old man puts a hand to Mando’s cuirass and then his helmet, looking the suit of armor over with interest.

“What exquisite craftsmanship,” he says, his voice slow and raspy and crooning. It holds a certain mystery to it that doesn’t sit right with you. “It is amazing how beautiful beskar can be when forged by its ancestral artisans,” he continues, but then looks to Karga again. “Can I offer you a libation to celebrate the closing of our shared narrative?,” he asks.

“I would be obliged,” he replies with a nod.

The client gestures to the bartender droid, and once the droid gets to work, he takes a seat at the table again. “Please sit,” he tells Greef, who then slides into the booth with Mando on the inside. You take just a step closer, watching the stormtroopers as they change position, all focused on the Mandalorian. There are more of them now.

“It is a shame that your people suffered so. Just as in this situation, it was all avoidable. Why did Mandalore resist our expansion? The Empire improves every system it touches. Judge by any metric. Safety, prosperity, trade, opportunity, peace. Compare Imperial rule to what is happening now. Look outside. Is the world more peaceful since the revolution? I see nothing but death and chaos.” You listen closely to the client’s words, having to bite your tongue at the admiration for such a terrorizing regime. You’ve seen firsthand the way that people have suffered at the hands of the Empire. Nothing could ever make you believe that it was good. Nothing.

“I would like to see the baby,” the client says, his focus shifting quickly. You watch the pod, knowing that now is when the Mandalorian must strike. Once the pram is opened and the client discovers that the child isn’t there, the charade is over. You ready yourself to fight, but don’t move to draw your weapon yet. You can’t do it with the stormtroopers watching you.

“Uh..,” Greef hesitates, putting his hand out to stop the client from opening the pod, “It is asleep.” It’s a lame excuse. You know. But if it buys you any amount of time, then it works.

The client looks around at the troopers in warning. Still not retracting his hand. “We all will be quiet,” he promises. Your heart starts beating a little faster. Sweat beads at the back of your neck. The next few moments will either end triumphantly or in your death. You’re ready for either.

“Open the pram,” he demands as Greef sits in silence.

One of the stormtroopers approaches the client, and you can hear chatter coming from the radio, but you can’t decipher what’s being said. The client stands, and with him so does Greef. “Don’t think me to be rude,” the client says, “but I must take this call.” With this, he walks over to the bar. As soon as the attention is no longer on the three of you, you turn to Mando and Greef, watching as Mando frees himself from the binders.

“Give me the blaster,” he whispers.

The exchange is quick and discreet. “You get one shot,” Greef warns.

“You said there would only be four,” you murmur, leaning in closer to the two men.

“Well, there are more. What can I tell you?,” he replies.

You stand up straight again, glancing in the client’s direction. He’s bent over the bar, speaking quietly to whomever has contacted him. It’s all quiet, that is, until shots come through the window, hitting the client. His body falls to the floor, and the barrage continues. You drop to the ground, moving with the Mandalorian to take cover. Several stormtroopers are caught in the blaze, and they fall dead to the floor as well.

Concealed behind a column, you wait what seems like forever for the attack to end. When it goes quiet, you’re up, moving quickly and carefully to one side of the window while Mando goes to the other. You peer around the wall and out the window. Your heart drops to your stomach and your blood runs cold at what you see.

Death troopers.

But that’s not the end of it. A transport comes in, carrying another battalion of stormtroopers. They surround the building and stand behind the line of death troopers, poised and ready to shoot on command. You look to the Mandalorian. You’re outnumbered and surrounded. You know that it’s very likely that you won’t leave the cantina alive.

“What do we do?,” you ask.

Mando brings the comlink closer to his helmet. “Kuiil? Are you back to the ship yet?,” he asks.

There’s no immediate answer.

“Are you there? Do you copy?”

“Yes!,” you hear, and you sigh in relief knowing that the child is still safe.

“Are you back to the ship yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Get back to the ship and bail. Get the kid out of here. We’re pinned down!,” Mando exclaims, and you close your eyes for just a moment, praying to whatever deity or maker that will listen to you that the child and the ugnaught will make it back to the ship and far away from Nevarro. Your death will be worth it if the little one lives.

You open your eyes when you hear rustling outside, and you hear a ship coming in. You look out the window, watching as a TIE fighter approaches, landing right behind the scores of troopers. This is it. You were right. This was always about far more than just the client.

The door on the top of the ship hisses as it opens, and from it rises another man. He comes down from the ship and walks between the troopers, stopping just in front of the line of death troopers in the front. “You have something I want,” he proclaims.

You look back at Mando, confusion written across your facial features. “Who is that?,” you ask, though frankly you don’t expect him to know. He doesn’t answer you, instead keeping his eyes trained on this new adversary.

“You may think you have some idea of what you are in possession of, but you do not,” the man continues, his voice echoing off of the buildings as he speaks.

Mando tries the comlink again. “Kuiil, are you back to the ship yet? They’re onto us!,” he says. Again, there’s no immediate answer. “Kuiil, come in!”

“In a few moments,” the other man begins, and your focus on Kuiil’s answer is broken, “it will be mine.”

“Kuiil! Do you copy!” The Mandalorian sounds much more panicked now. “Kuiil!”

“It means more to me than you will ever know.”

Your gaze shifts back and forth between Mando and the man outside. Your stomach is in knots and you’ve broken out into a cold sweat. The ugnaught’s silence is eating at you.

“Kuiil! Are you there?!” The Mandalorian keeps trying to get an answer. “Come in Kuiil. Kuiil, come in.” Still there is nothing. “Kuiil, are you there?!” He’s yelling now, and panicked tears are burning at your eyes at the thought of what might have happened to the ugnaught and the baby. “Do you copy?! Kuiil? Kuiil!”

No answer.

You look out the window at the masses of troopers and the TIE fighter and the man that demands to have the child for himself. You look back at the Mandalorian and Greef Karga and the destroyed cantina littered with bodies. You wonder how it all could have gotten so out of hand so quickly, how no one had any idea of what was in store for the child. You’d felt something wrong before you ever landed on Nevarro, but even your intuition had never prompted you to consider something of this magnitude.

The Mandalorian meets your gaze. You don’t have to see his eyes to know his terror. You can feel it just as intensely as you feel your own.

---

Chapter Four: Cuyanir

---

Permanent Tags: @theforceofdarkandlight @hail-doodles @aerynwrites @murdermewithbooks @themandjalorian @longitud-de-onda @readsalot73 @lovingtheway @talesfromtheguild @mystical-934 @lavenderl3mons @tiffdawg @lokiaddicted @adikaofmandalore @blue-tidal-wave @forever-rogue @flower-petal-blooming @fleurdemiel145 @cable-kenobi @opheliaelysia @pynch-bug @pedropascalito @creamysacrilege @bandofmarvels @paryl @phoenixhalliwell @agentmoonshine1

Kir’manir Tags: @adlerorzel-blog @sinnamon-bunn @kristalhi @frantheseer @mystical-934 @icanbringyouincold @canoodlincanary @heytheredemonsitsyourgirl @rzrcrst @roxypeanut @mrsparknuts @afootnoteinyourhappiness @deputytrash @altarsw @irreplaceable-ecstasy

#din djarin x reader #din djarin #the mandalorian #the mandalorian x reader #the child #bounty hunter!reader #reader insert #star wars #baby yoda

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saltykong · 4 years ago

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Hello All! ❁ I hope you have been well and that you have been staying safe~ This is going to be one LONG message, but I hope it reaches you ♥

I started this Tumblr blog in the height of my struggles in life. Not knowing what I wanted to do, failing at what I thought I was meant to do, and even finding myself becoming more lonesome with no way out. That is when KPOP came in. I think it’s safe to say many of us came to KPOP whether we were in a similar internal struggle or even wanted to escape to something that sounded and felt new to what we knew growing up. That is exactly what it was for me. KPOP was used as a means of escape from the troubles I was having. Through those troubles, I met VIXX. These six boys, having a sound like no other. Their concepts, instrumentals, outfits, all of it was always heavily in-tune with their theme, creating some of the most amazing discography, music videos and stages I have ever seen. VIXX aren’t concept kings for nothing. In that, my bias became Hongbin. A sassy, and sometimes blunt but well-meaning individual that was, unfortunately, often ignored by his company on his musical talents. Instead he was placed in the box of, “visuals.” This isn’t a bad thing but to him, he wanted to be more than just a “face.” He was also the least popular and most ignored member when I joined the fandom. But he didn’t let this stop him and continually pushed to be seen. It was this determination and drive that I wanted to support. Hongbin was the underdog and in my own struggles, I wanted to be one too. I created what can jokingly be called a “shrine” to my comfort kpop boy. I wanted him to be seen more by the fandom in someway and so I picked up learning to make gifs, understanding Photoshop, and even learning basic HTML. In fact, because of this blog, I found a love and passion for web development and coding. It was something I liked to do, even if I wasn’t that good at it. It was hard but I was able to switch gears from a Biology degree to one that was Computer Science focused, despite many in my life saying that wasn’t possible. With that, I found a new path with new struggles but I persevered through it, just as Hongbin had been doing with each new single and album. 2019 was arguably Hongbin’s year. Coming off from the high that was the Eau de VIXX album and Scentist single, Hongbin started to stream on Twitch because he loves video games and wanted to share that. He also was in a drama and on a variety show. Not to mention that he saved Summer 2019 with “COOL LOVE,” a collaborative effort with MONSTA X’s Hyungwon. I wanted 2019 to be my year as well and worked hard at it. Simultaneously, I created projects, graduated university with a CS degree and got a job within the first three months. I had been fortunate in my endeavors. But with more responsibilities, this blog in recent years has been lacking content. I haven’t made anything on here in two years and I feel bad about that. Every time I want to come back, I don’t ever have a drive to do it. There may be a chance that I feel like I’ve outgrown Tumblr. I apologize for thinking like this. Now let’s talk about what has happened in recent months. Hongbin, yet again, found himself in a messy situation. There is a cycle when it comes to Hongbin where he will do something that is unfavorable, he will leave on hiatus, and then he will comeback. Hongbin stans will know, we go MONTHS without hearing from him or seeing him. It’s an unfortunate situation to be in but I truly believe Hongbin stans are some of the strongest people in this fandom because of it. This recent situation was not what we were expecting. Hongbin ended up in a bad situation again and had been gone since March. He finally popped up again two weeks ago, much to everyones surprise. This was a moment of happiness that was short lived due to the following news that arrived. Hongbin would be leaving VIXX. It feels unnatural to even be typing that sentence but here we are. I don’t know what happened to come to this decision but I felt fatigued from that news. I couldn’t concentrate on work, I talked to everyone about how I was feeling, and even took a brief hiatus from social media. It seems dramatic to feel like this about someone I don’t know but again, he is the reason I worked as hard as I did to be were I am. I’m sure many of you understand this emotion. I came to the resolution that, although it hurts, if Jellyfish wasn’t going to help him or promote him, it was probably best he leaves. He would definitely become popular on Twitch. But the moment I had resolved that, he came in with more news that would break the wall. He would be enlisting as early as today, August 17-18th 2020. This one did not hurt as much because I believed it would be best he go early to get it out of the way. Him leaving VIXX was unseen however. Hongbin stans have had it the hardest, I hope you all, even non-Bean stans, are taking care of yourselves and doing your best to stay positive. I guess with this extremely long note I wanted to say that I don’t think I will be active on this blog for a while. I’m not on Tumblr everyday anymore and with Hongbin leaving VIXX, content won’t be as easily available or gif-able. I’ve grown a little tired as well and I truly don’t think I have enough space in my computer anyways. I will leave my blog open so that if anyone wants to see some interesting gifsets with Hongbin or even if a new baby STARLIGHT comes across content or is seeking it, it’s there. The only thing I hope people can protect my gifs from being stolen. Many gif-makers have this issue and I’m not any special to be asking of this but I don’t think people understand how long and arduous the process to create them are. We sacrifice a lot of computer space and run our systems hard to start up our programs to make them. Not to mention we hunt for videos constantly and even sacrifice sleep to be able to get performances live sometimes. Then there is the compliance with Tumblrs gif limits to take into account. Some times there is a lack of creativity or individualism in content, so we constantly brainstorm to give the fandom something fresh for their own blogs. It’s extremely tedious to make them but the satisfaction of not only creating them, but having people interact with them and share them, makes the process worth it. You don’t know, but every single person that reblogs my gifs, I tend to go to that persons page to look at their interests and read their tags. Thank you to those that write in the tags of my posts, I find enjoyment from reading them. If I can say, I trust my gifs with STARLIGHT fandom, please don’t let them be stolen or used unnecessarily. This is my gift to you. ❤ As for gif-making, the one thing I regret is that I didn’t finish a particular series I was working on. That doesn’t mean I won’t come back to finish it however, just not right at this moment. As for mutuals, much of them migrated off the platform at the same time as me. But I just want to thank them and the STARLIGHTS who were especially close to me and lent an ear when all I wanted to do was talk about Hongbin. I’ve made some of the greatest friends through VIXX. Thank you for being there. The VIXX fandom gave me something to work for, to look forward to, and what could be improved. Coming on to Tumblr after so long, I am so happy that my efforts and the efforts of other blogs that were there when I was, made more people become Hongbin fans and even birthed new and talented gif-makers. Thank you for being the next bunch to push it forward. Lastly, thank you to all the people that follow me. I did my best to interact with all of you as much as I could, and even now, thank you for supporting my work. You are the reason I do what I do, and I hope it inspires you in some way too. I wish Hongbin a safe military stint and hope he comes back with a fresh and new perspective on what he wants to do. Thank you Hongbin for what you have inspired me and others to do. You can now follow me on Twitter if you still want to see what I’m up to, there are changes coming there as well but I hope you do follow. I will always support VIXX, even as a five-man group but, VIXX will always be SIX to me. Thank you for everything, I hope to come back to this blog one day to create again.

#personal #this is LONG omggg but its important #sorry if it feels a bit off here and there i suck at writing LOL

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wingsofkpop · 4 years ago

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Important Blog Update: MAJOR Changes Coming — Please Read

I’ve honestly been holding off on making this post for the last few months for various reasons; one, being the fear of changing the dynamic this blog has grown accustomed for the past year, and two, the backlash I may receive because of said changes. After deep consideration, however, I think it would be best to go through with this.

This year has brought so much to this blog, and I will forever be grateful for all the support I have received, but my writing style has evolved, and so has my interests and wants. Please keep in mind that you don’t have to agree with these changes, nor do you have to stay here if it upsets you that greatly. You are free to unfollow anytime, but you do not have the right to send hateful comments or insults. This is my blog, and I will continue to create what I want and what I enjoy. As I always say, please be kind to those around you.

Below you will find a number of changes that will occur over the next few weeks or so. Once I have updated my rules and guidelines, hopefully by next week, I will open my requests again. Feel free to send me a respectful message if you have any questions or concerns:

The only groups I will write for from now on are Got7 and Stray Kids — This is the main reason why I held off on making this post. I know I’ve said in the past that I wanted to add more groups, and at one point I did with Monsta X, Astro, and maybe Twice, but I eventually decided against it. It’s already hard enough to write for three groups as it is and figure out a way to dish out content in a way that one group is not getting more than another. Remember when I said that my interests have changed since I started this blog?... That’s why I won’t write for Day6 anymore. I don’t know what else to say except that I find more enjoyment in writing for Got7 and Stray Kids. I still love the boys of Day6 very much, nor do I hold any ill will toward them--it’s just how things changed, and I apologize to anyone who is disappointed by this, but I stand by my opinions and my decisions.

I will no longer be writing reactions — To be completely honest, I don’t know why I ever began writing reactions in the first place. I’ve never really liked to write them, especially since they can become very repetitive after awhile (literally every NSFW Got7 reaction I’ve written). I’ve always preferred to write actual storylines that come with drabbles and one-shots. And though it’s not a necessary reason, finding gifs to go with each of the members reaction is just so fucking annoying cause sometimes Tumblr screws with the tags and visibility of the post and it just proves to be more hassle than worth.

In regards to Timestamp Sunday, I will only post FIVE stamps per Sunday from now on — Listen y’all, writing 6+ stamps per day is just pure chaos. I know they’re short, but they still require a lot of work and effort. Plus, it probably annoys some of you when I’m spamming new posts left and right. So from now on, when I ask for timestamp requests, there will be a first come, first serve, wait list type of system kind of similar to Timestamp Weekend. More info on this will be provided at a later date.

New addition of Got7/Stray Kids specific member as... bulleted lists (no clue what to call them yet) — These will be kind of similar to reactions, but much easier, more fun, and less time-consuming to write. I could spit out a couple of these all in the span of a week, plus the idea itself just sounds appealing. Again, more info will be provided at a later time.

New theme, schedule, masterlists and other links (again) — This shouldn’t surprise anyone to be honest lol. My masterlists will be out of commission when I eventually update them, but I’ll let you guys know when that time comes. In the mean time, I’ll also have to decide whether I want Jaebeom or Chris as my profile pic :(

Group chat for other writing blogs/writers to find tips, ideas and whatever else you need! — I honestly just want a reason to test out Tumblr’s group chat thing, but if you ever need any help with fics, essays or just writing in general, feel free to join the group chat and connect with other writers! If anyone is interested and wants to get into/improve in writing, I can figure out a way to host some small lessons or something? I am certainly not a professional, but I’m always down to help!

There’s a couple other little things, but I believe I hit the brunt of everything. As I said before, you have every right to dislike or be upset by these changes, but please, please, please do not act out in a hateful or resentful manner. This blog acts as a safe, positive place for everyone and I will not tolerate those who seek to take that away.

Thank you for understanding,

-Kitty💕

#blog update #blog info

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sfb123 · 4 years ago

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Sapere Aude - Part 10

Book: The Royal Heir

Pairing: King Liam Rys x Queen Riley Brooks

All characters belong to Pixelberry.

Catch Up Here

Rating: PG-13 Adult language, allusions to smut (but nothing graphic), discussions of death, conspiracy, blackmail, and other adult themes.

Warning: The Royal Heir Book 3 Spoilers all over the place.

Disclaimer: I have no current affiliation with any other Via Imperii themed stories. Any claims that I have pre-read anything are false.

Word Count: 2,759

A/N: Sorry for the wait, I’m not going to keep broadcasting my self-loathing bullshit, but I’ve been having a hell of a time in my life. I’m working my way out of it thanks to a stellar support system (shout out @jessiembruno and @txemrn for being the Tumblr pieces to that puzzle). I’m also now up to 3 friends that are pregnant, which means I have 3 baby blankets to knit in the next 6 months, so that’s something that will be taking up a bit of my time. But I promise you more stories are coming, as well as some kind of ending to this story. I’ve hit the awkward place that I’ve feared since I started writing Sapere Aude; where I know where I want it to go, but I’m not quite sure how to get there. I’ll figure it out though, I promise, just bear with me.

As always, big ups to @twinkleallnight for my awesome moodboard!

Tags: My tag list angels are all listed below. Let me know if you’d like to be added or removed.

It was the day of the Royal Council meeting, Liam and Drake were planning to take this opportunity to work with Olivia in outfitting Riley with a camera or recorder for her next interaction with the Via Imperii. Mara had informed her of an upcoming meeting, which she was going to use as her opportunity.

Liam was trying to keep his focus on the task at hand, destroying this group, instead of all of the information he had learned about them, and what they had done to him. The thing that made that difficult was the constant reminder of his betrayal and loss, in the form of his brother, who was still charged with guarding Eleanor. He and Bastien had decided that it would be too much of a risk to reassign him, or remove him from the guard entirely. The timing would, no doubt, tip them off that Riley had said something, and he was not about to put that target on his wife’s back. He was hoping he would get used to being around Thomas, but a part of him knew he would not be fully at peace with the situation, at least not without being able to confront him.

He also knew that Olivia was going to need to be brought up to speed. This meant that he would need to go through everything all over again, and he was dreading it. As he stood in front of his mirror, adjusting his tie, he was planning out the best ways to have this conversation. A look of concern clearly etched in his face, Riley noticed it the second she stepped into the room.

“Hey, you’ve been getting dressed for an awfully long time. Are you doing alright?” She walked up behind him, taking him out of his thoughts. She knew he wasn’t, but he needed to tell her that, the last thing he needed was to feel cornered into talking about things.

He exhaled deeply before turning and wrapping his arms around Riley’s waist. “Yes, just going over the plan for today.”

“And figuring out how you’re going to get through reliving everything when you tell Olivia what’s going on?” She arched an eyebrow.

“Am I ever going to be able to get anything past you?” He smiled, placing a hand on her cheek.

“Nope, never. I can read you like a book, Your Majesty.” She tapped her index finger to his nose, taking a brief pause to enjoy the sound of the soft chuckle that escaped him. “Maybe I can help. Olivia and I are having lunch before the meeting, I can fill her in on everything, then you and Drake can just work with her on the techy stuff.”

“You don’t have to do that, Riley.”

“No, you’re right, I don’t have to, but it will help you, so I want to.”

Liam pressed a lingering kiss to her lips. “Thank you, love.”

A few hours later, Riley sat on the terrace waiting for Olivia to arrive. She had Bastien perform a full sweep of the area to ensure that their conversation remained between them. Part of her hoped it would be easier to explain everything this time. After all, she had already explained everything three times. Then she remembered the hardest part of this whole thing, it wasn’t telling people what was going on, it was seeing their reactions. She was, one by one, breaking the hearts of all of the people closest to her. While Olivia had already made peace with the shortcomings of her parents, she was about to learn the truth about what happened to her best friend’s mother. Not only was she with Liam when he lost her, seeing his heartbreak first hand, but Eleanor had taken Olivia in when she lost her parents, she took care of her as if she were her own mother. Better than her own mother, she showed Olivia love and kindness, things that her mother taught her to be weaknesses.

As Olivia approached the table, Riley stood to greet her with a smile. Olivia was instantly suspicious. It had been a few weeks since the pair had seen each other, usually when that was the case, Riley would charge her and wrap her in a hug. An action that Olivia would begrudgingly reciprocate.

“What’s wrong?” Olivia stood in front of her place at the table, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Good to see you too, Liv. Why would you think something is wrong?”

Olivia rolled her eyes before continuing, “Because you’re standing there smiling like the queen. You didn’t run up to me greeting me with that annoying sing-song voice.”

“I’m smiling like the queen because I am the queen, and this is how I smile.” Riley feigned offense. “Maybe I’m just maturing as a person.”

“You sent me a video the other day of cats pushing things off of counters.”

“Oh yea, that was hilarious! Cats can be real je--” She stopped when Olivia arched her brow in a silent ‘I told you so’. “Alright fine, I have to fill you in on some things.”

Once they sat, Riley filled Olivia in on everything that had happened since the Harvest Ball. The recruitment, the meeting, and all of the information she had learned along the way. As difficult as it was, Olivia remained silent while Riley spoke. She wanted to make sure to get every piece of information that was being thrown at her.

“So that’s why Liam scheduled a meeting with you when the council lets out. He and Drake are going to speak with you about cameras and recorders that I can sneak in with me to get some evidence.” There was a silence between the two while Olivia processed the information.

Olivia took a deep breath before speaking. “How is he handling all of this?”

“I mean, you know Liam. He’s keeping it inside and not really talking about it. And when he does, he’s blaming himself.” Riley shrugged. One of the things she loved about him was how much he cared about everyone else, but it was also one of his most frustrating traits. He was always too worried about those around him to properly take care of his needs, and would often blame himself for things he had no control over.

“That sounds about right.” Olivia’s expression softened. “He took it so hard when his mother died. He was so broken.”

“And now, it’s like he’s losing her all over again, but so much worse, because he’s questioning everything about himself.” Riley could feel the emotion building up inside of her.

Olivia smiled sadly as she reached across the table and placed her hand over Riley’s. “It will take time, he’ll get past it, and you’re going to be a big part of that.”

Riley nodded, taking a moment to compose herself. “So, you’ll help right?”

“You’ve been through a lot the last couple of days, so I’m going to let that ridiculous question slide.”

Riley sat a little lower in her seat and raised her glass to her lips before mumbling out a ‘thank you’.

The pair finished their lunch, and made their way to the council meeting. Liam was waiting by the door, greeting the members as they entered. Riley approached first, placing a chaste kiss on his lips before taking her place next to him. As Olivia approached, an uncharacteristically sympathetic look spread across her face before she leaned in, kissing Liam on the cheek and bringing him into a brief hug. As they pulled away, they looked at each other and nodded, and Olivia continued into the room.

Liam wrapped his arm around Riley’s waist and kissed her on the temple before returning his attention to the council members that were still arriving. Though it didn’t seem like much, Liam knew exactly what that greeting meant, and it was just what Liam needed from his childhood friend.

As the members of the council cleared out of the room, Riley and Liam found a corner where they could have a moment to themselves. “That went well, they really seemed to like your new proposal.” Riley smiled, smoothing her hands over the lapels of Liam’s jacket.

“I’m very excited to move forward with it.” He brushed a loose hair out of her face, placing a kiss on the newly exposed spot on her forehead. “Will you be joining us for our meeting?”

“No, I’m going to pick up Eleanor and take her outside to play. You guys need some privacy. Just make sure that if it’s wearable, you pick something cute.” She reached up and kissed him on the nose.

Liam gave an over exaggerated gasp, placing a hand over his chest. “Riley Rys, have you ever known me to give you something that wasn’t of the utmost caliber of cute?”

“Hmm let me think, cute outfits, cute jewelry, cute baby,” she pondered, placing her forefinger over her lip as she looked up at him and raised an eyebrow, “cute husband. Nope, you’re right, you’ve given me the cutest everything since day one.”

He laughed and pulled her close, pressing his lips to hers.

“Alright, break it up. You’re adults in charge of an entire country, you can’t keep being late for stuff because you were making out.” Drake interrupted the pair, who pulled away blushing slightly.

“We’re the king and queen, we’re never late, everyone else is just early.” Riley teased before looking up at Liam. “We really should get going though.

Riley kissed Liam softly and gave Drake a hug before walking out of the room. Liam watched her exit before turning to his friend. “Let’s get Olivia and head upstairs.”

When they entered the Royal Quarters, Liam signaled for Olivia and Drake to sit on the couch before he took a seat on the chair adjacent to them. “Olivia, I appreciate your time this afternoon. I understand Riley filled you in on the situation.”

“She did. How are you doing?” She paused, looking over to Drake. “Both of you.”

Drake knitted his brows in confusion. “Since when do you give a fuck about feelings...or me, for that matter?”

“Listen Drake, we’ve had our...differences over the years, but I know how it feels to be betrayed by your family. That isn’t something I would wish on even my worst enemy.” Olivia had a kindness in her voice that neither of the men expected.

“Oh, well thanks. I’m alright. Liam really got hit with the brunt of it though.” Drake turned to the chair, he was also hoping to hear Liam’s answer. He hadn’t spoken much about everything since that initial meeting.

Liam looked between his childhood friends, the two people in this world that knew him almost as well as Riley did, he knew that they wouldn’t let him get away with brushing the question off. He exhaled and wiped his hand over his face before responding. “It has been difficult, I have a lot that I still need to process. I cannot fully process everything without confronting Thomas, and possibly Eleanor. Which I clearly cannot do until this has been resolved. Riley would be exposed, I can’t put her in danger like that. My focus right now is making sure she is safe, and that we end this. That’s where you come in, Olivia.”

“Of course, talk to me about what kind of information you are looking to gather. We can go from there.”

They spent the next few hours talking about what kind of information they were hoping to collect, what Olivia had for equipment, and what she could get without causing suspicion from outside parties. They settled on an audio recorder embedded in a button that could be sewn into one of Riley’s existing blouses, along with a retractable pen that doubled as a camera, taking still shots every time the top was clicked. This would, not only, allow Riley to get the devices into the meeting, but it would enable Olivia to easily have everything delivered from Lythikos to the palace.

As their meeting wrapped up, Riley and Eleanor walked through the door. As soon as Eleanor saw Olivia on the couch, she broke into a sprint. “Auntie!”

Olivia raised her hand before Eleanor could make it all the way to the couch. “Eleanor, what did I teach you about running?”

She stopped dead in her tracks, pausing to remember. “Running is for the weak.”

Olivia nodded. “Very good, now approach like the princess you are, and greet your aunt properly.”

Eleanor carefully approached Olivia, stopping when she got directly in front of her. “Hello, Auntie Olivia.”

“That’s better.” Olivia reached out and pulled Eleanor into her lap, giving her a hug.

Drake leaned in behind Olivia’s back and whispered in Eleanor’s ear, “You. Me. Maze tag. After Auntie Olivia leaves.” Eleanor covered her mouth and giggled.

“I heard that Walker.” Olivia turned around, staring Drake down. “She is going to be the Queen of Cordonia one day, there are more important uses of her time.”

“She’s a kid, Liv, she needs to have fun.”

“Alright, alright.” Riley stepped in and took Eleanor from Olivia’s arms. “Why don’t you two put a pin in this conversation. When you finally get over this fake hate that is so obviously love, you can fight over how to raise your children.”

Drake and Olivia both snapped their heads toward Riley, who now had Liam standing beside her trying to stifle a laugh.

“Yes Drake, then Riley and I won’t be the only ones running late for stuff because we were making out.” Liam exchanged a high five with his wife.

Drake shook his head, “Gross. I’m leaving.”

“But Uncle Drake, you promised maze tag?” Eleanor looked up at him with sad eyes.

“You’re right, I did. Let’s go kid.” He reached his arm out, taking Eleanor’s hand. “You won’t make fun of me like your mom and dad do, will you?”

“Never ever.”

“And that’s why you’re my favorite.” With that, they made their way out the door.

Riley shared a brief laugh with Liam before they both turned their attention back to Olivia. They spoke for a while longer, Liam and Olivia filling Riley in on what they had come up with. Olivia was invited to stay for dinner, but she had to get back to Lythikos to prepare the recording equipment to be sent to the palace. Riley walked Olivia out while Liam remained on the couch. When she returned to the sitting area, she sat in Liam’s lap.

“It sounds like we have a decent plan in place. I hope I can get some good information in this meeting.” Riley wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck and kissed him on the tip of his nose.

Liam looked at her with a hint of sadness in his eyes as he brought one hand up to stroke her cheek. “Me too, I just wish we didn’t have to risk your safety to get it.”

“Hey, I’ll be ok, I promise.” She pressed a kiss to his lips. “We’ve got this.”

He nodded. As much as he wanted to believe her, he knew this battle was so much different than any they had fought before. They couldn’t trust anyone, and there was a possibility that they were being observed at any given time. He didn’t doubt Riley’s strength or tenacity for a second. But this time, there were so many questions and unknowns about their enemy, that he feared the worst.

Riley noticed Liam falling deeper and deeper into his thoughts, she knew she needed to do something to get him back to the present. She began playing with the hair at the base of his neck as she placed soft kisses along his jaw. “You know, I don’t have to start dinner for another hour...and Eleanor is outside with Drake...any thoughts on what we could do with this sudden time to ourselves?” She asked in between kisses.

The sadness in his eyes was quickly replaced with a look of desire. “Mmm...I do have a few things in mind.” His hands traveled the curves of her body as he methodically kissed down her neck.

“Care to tell me?”

“I’d rather show you.” Liam stood abruptly, lifting Riley with him and tossing her over his shoulder, slapping her on her behind. He delighted at the yelp that escaped her at the sudden contact. He quickly carried her to the bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him.

Permatag: @anjanettexcordonia @athena-penrose @chemist-ana@choicesficwriterscreations @cordonia-gothqueen @cordoniaqueensworld @gabesmommie1130 @gkittylove99 @hopelessromanticmonie @iaminlovewithtrr @jessiembruno @kat-tia801 @khoicesbyk @kingliam2019 @lucy-268 @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @mile9213 @mom2000aggie @pixie88 @queenrileyrose @secretaryunpaid @sweatyrysconnoisseur @theroyalheirshadowhunter @twinkleallnight @txemrn

Sapere Aude: @burnsoslow @busywoman @ofpixelsandscribbles

Liam x Riley: @jared2612

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scoutception · 4 years ago

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AI: The Somnium Files review

While it wasn’t the first visual novel series I played, the Zero Escape trilogy- Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, Virtue’s Last Reward, and Zero Time Dilemma- is what made me interested in exploring more visual novels in general. Featuring a creative mix of normal visual novel sections and puzzle room sections, with stories involving fascinating pseudo science theories, colorful and interesting characters, fast, tense pacing, and great music, the series is an insane adventure that’s absolutely worth a try. The series also got me interested in the other works of Kotaro Uchikoshi, the director and writer of the series, which led me to the subject of today’s review, and his most recent work: AI: The Somnium Files, which proves to be quite the change of pace, to say the least.

Story: Kaname Date is a member of the Advanced Brain Investigation Squad (ABIS), a special, secret division of the Metropolitan Police Department. Using a device known as the Psync Machine, Date can explore the subconscious of another person by entering their Somnium, a dream world which often holds secrets they would not reveal otherwise. 6 years ago, Date lost his left eye and all of his memories, left with no link to his past, not even his real name, except for Boss, his superior in ABIS and longtime friend. His left eye was replaced by an advanced AI called Aiba, capable of functions such as night vision and x-ray, as well as serving as Date’s avatar within Somnium.

One gloomy November night, Date is called in to investigate a murder victim found in an abandoned amusement park, having suffered multiple stab wounds, tied to a merry-go-horse and missing her left eyeball. The victim is Shoko Nadami, an acquaintance of Date’s, and the ex-wife of Renju Okiura, Date’s best friend and president of the entertainment company Lemniscate. Date’s initial investigation proves unfruitful, and comes to a halt completely when he discovers someone within the merry-go-round’s central column, traumatized to the point of being unable to speak and cradling a bloody ice pick: Mizuki Okiura, the 12 year old daughter of Shoko and Renju, whom Date took into his care 4 years ago.

Date continues the investigation the days afterwards, meeting Mizuki’s friends, the internet idol Iris Sagan, aka A-Set, and the otaku and aspiring light novel author Ota Matshushita, Iris’ mother Hitomi, and Moma Kumakura, leader of the Kumakura yakuza gang. Though Date finds a number of odd connections and occurrences, such as Renju falling out of contact, a call from a mysterious prisoner only known as #89, who claims to know the identity of the killer, and a large number of incidents among the Sagans, the Kumakuras, and others, all of which seem to date back to 6 years ago, he finds little in the way of actual evidence. Left with no other recourse, Date begins to Psync with both suspects and witnesses in the hopes of preventing the killer from striking again.

While it’s a fairly standard plot on the surface, it’s very well done nonetheless. The various mysteries and plotlines are all compelling, and are all given a good amount of focus. Adding to this is the use of a route system, similar to Zero Escape, complete with a flowchart allowing you to easily go to any point in the story. Completing certain Somniums in different ways alters the course of Date’s investigation, causing certain plotlines and characters to gain or lose relevance depending on the route. While every route needs to be completed, each one containing their own reveals and clues, there’s only 5 in total, making keeping track of the distinctive events in each fairly simple. The pacing is also well done, taking its time and allowing you to get used to the characters, while throwing just enough new hints throughout to keep it interesting.

Speaking of the characters, the cast is easily my favorite part of the game. The characters are very, odd and colorful, pretty much to be expected from Uchikoshi. Date himself is a pretty entertaining protagonist, with a tendency for perversion, making bad puns, and coming up with very odd and often ineffectual ideas for progressing in Somnium, going against his serious demeanor and appearance. The supporting cast doesn’t slack either. From the rational, yet sassy Aiba, who turns much sillier within Somnium as well, to the peppy and friendly Iris, to the playful Boss, whose office is an absolute mess decorated with just about any nonsense you could imagine, to my favorite of the cast, Mizuki, the mature, sarcastic, and inexplicably strong kid who spends a good deal of her time arguing with the rather distant Date. It’s hard to dislike most of the characters, with even the most minor of them being good for a laugh or two.

That’s not to say they’re just goofy, though. Almost everyone carries some sort of baggage or secret with that adds a good deal of depth to them, and the various routes give them a lot of development. The game can be pretty damn emotional at points, and the routes focusing more on the characters than the story are the biggest source of them, especially Mizuki’s route. The lighter tone the game takes most of the time actually helps this. Most of the time, interacting with random objects trigger dumb jokes and commentary from Date and the others, and the relaxed pacing and atmosphere, at least earlier on, make it easier to get gradually attached to the cast. Once things do become more serious, the game starts cutting down the jokes, and stops them outright for the most serious of scenarios, meaning it rarely actually becomes jarring. It’s not often a game can juggle a tone as well as this one.

Overall, the writing of the game is superb, and while it’s quite different in tone and setting, it still has enough of the feel of Zero Escape to feel familiar to those who played it.

Gameplay: While I call AI: The Somnium Files a visual novel just for the sake of simplicity, it definitely more has the feel of an adventure game. There’s two types of gameplay segments, investigations and Somniums. During investigations, Date travels to various locations, talking with various characters or investigating important object. Your only control here is controlling Date’s view, and selecting different dialogue options or objects to investigate. Date often has to investigate several locations during a segment, and while you often have to visit them all, you’re given the freedom of picking where to go in whatever order you choose most of the time, giving just enough nonlinearity to not feel like a chore.

The real meat of the gameplay takes place during the Somnium sections, which are comparable to the escape rooms in Zero Escape. Within Somnium, Date and Aiba must break the various mental locks the information they are seeking are hidden behind, which involves interacting with various objects according to the logic of each Somnium. Basically, they’re purely logic puzzles, and it’s actually quite fun figuring out how everything is supposed to work.

Of course, not everything can be that easy. Every Somnium has a hard time limit of 6 minutes. Going over it causes Date’s consciousness to be absorbed into the subject’s, causing a game over. All interactions also cost time, and many incorrect decisions can drain your time pretty significantly. Thankfully, the game has many mitigating factors that keep this from just being stressful. Firstly, time only drains when you’re making choices, or actually moving around. Standing still causes only milliseconds to pass, allowing you to get a clear look around without wasting time. Additionally, all objects you can interact with have a purple outline surrounding them, and are given name tags as well, meaning you don’t have to just wander around, running up to every object in the hopes this one is usable. Not every interactable object actually has a purpose, however, with some only existing to waste your time, so you’re not completely in the clear. The progress meter on the left also gives hints, if sometimes vague ones, as to what you have to do to progress, so you’re not just fumbling in the dark in that regard, either.

Another important feature at the TIMIEs, objects you gain when you interact with objects. These cut the time actions take to perform by varying amounts, or make it take a fixed amount of time. Good use of TIMIEs can save you a lot of time, and a lot of later Sominums enforce it, making it rather strategic. Sometimes, just rushing to the correct solution burns way too much time on its own. You may have to do something you know is wrong, but takes little time and grants a good TIMIE, to be able to save more time on a much costlier action. This aspect isn’t entirely simple either, however. Not all actions display what kind of TIMIE you’ll get, making it a gamble at times, and some, including mandatory actions, give negative TIMIEs, that actually increase the amount of time an action will take, and force you to use them the action after you get them, often forcing you to do something incorrect, but with low time cost, just so you won’t game over.

Each Somnium also has two conditions that unlock album entries, which provide pictures and concept art. The first is for clearing a Somnium with more than 1 second left, as you’re actually allowed to go over the time limit if the final correct action is what pushes you over. The second is for finding special eye shaped items within the Somniums, which are often hidden out of the way. Finally, even if you’re struggling with certain sections, you’re granted 3 retries per Somnium, which allow you to return to a previous part of the section, with all the time you had left at that time, allowing you to optimize and save even more time, though it costs more retries the further back you go. Finally, even if you can’t win, you can simply restart the Somnium section with no penalty, and are even allowed to do so at any time in the menu. Overall, the Somnium sections are actually a lot of fun. Between the interesting logic and strategicness of it, not to mention some of the funniest dialogue in the game between Date and Aiba, they’re some of the most enjoyable parts of the game.

Finally, the game features a few “action segments” during the investigation segments, where Date will be faced with an actual physical threat. Aiba formulates plans to deal with the situation, and you just need to handle each step by pressing a button prompt, like a QTE, or hovering the cursor over a certain area for a long enough time. It’s not exactly difficult, but they serve their purpose. There’s also a few interrogations segments, where you must present relevant evidence to someone in order to prove a point. You can just randomly pick until you get the right one with no in game penalty, but there are achievements for clearing these sections and the action sections with no mistakes.

Graphics: AI: The Sominum Files is a surprisingly pretty game. It has a similar art style to Zero Time Dilemma, which, to put it bluntly, was downright awful in the visuals department, with unemotive character models and terrible animations that killed almost all of its attempts at being unsettling. While a few of the animations in this game can still look janky, it is on a whole much. much improved. The characters are much more expressive, helped by the designs by Yusuke Kozaki, best known for games like No More Heroes and Fire Emblem Awakening, fitting the style much better, while still being distinctive in their own right. The locations have a lot of detail to them, and the lighting is very well done. The highlight of the visuals, though, are the Somniums, which manage to give existing locations very distinctive, well, dream like qualities to them, such as shifting colors or heavy lighting, and are always a joy to explore.

Sound: AI features a downright fantastic soundtrack by Keisuke Ito. It manages to capture a similar feel to Zero Escape’s music at points, despite being a different composer, but still manages to stand out. Every song manages to fit the situation perfectly, while also being very catchy on their own, especially the Somnium themes. The music, combined with the visuals, give the game a very strong atmosphere. Whatever mood the game is attempting to set, nostalgic, tense, peaceful, or unsettling, it nails it very, very well, and had me immersed very easily.

The game also features some fantastic English voice acting. Greg Chun as Date and Erika Harlacher as Aiba are the main stars of the show, with their performances capturing their characters perfectly, but the rest of the cast is just as good. Jackie Lastra as Iris, Zach Aguilar as Ota, Corina Boettger as Mizuki, Allegra Clark as Boss, Kaiji Tang as Moma, pretty much everyone does a great job.

Conclusion: Overall, AI: The Somnium Files is something I highly recommend to most people, even those who haven’t touched another Uchikoshi game. It’s a fascinating, emotional, and satisfying experience that successfully manages to devote attention to just about everything it brings up, and doesn’t overstay its welcome. Honestly, I enjoyed it even more than any Zero Escape game, and considered I still look on those very fondly, that’s an achievement. With that, this review finally comes to a close. I shall likely be checking out the games Uchikoshi worked on before even Zero Escape: Never 7, Ever 17, and Remember 11. Till next time. -Scout

#ai the somnium files #kotaro uchikoshi #visual novel #game review #long post

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spnfanficpond · 5 years ago

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April 2020 Angel Fish Awards

(New Angel Fish design by @slytherkins!!)

The monthly Angel Fish Awards are peer-nominated, meaning ANYONE IN THE POND CAN NOMINATE ANY POND MEMBER’S FIC. While the Pond was founded to support the Guppies, everyone in this community deserves to be showered with love and feedback, and we hope that by opening this up as a Pond wide system, we’ll be able to share the love as far as it can go.

NOTE: WE’VE BEEN HAVING OCCASIONAL PROBLEMS WITH ASKS GOING MISSING. Please use the Submit button when submitting your nominations and make sure you’re signed into Tumblr or your URL won’t show. (If the form asks for your name and email address, then you’re not signed in.) If you like, you can also send a message to Michelle @mrswhozeewhatsis or Mana @manawhaat to check and make sure we got your submission.

**Also, due to the number of afas and multiple nominations, each person on this list will only be tagged once. Please be sure to read the entire post so you don’t miss multiple nominations/comments!**

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, HERE ARE APRIL’S ANGEL FISH AWARDS!

Nominated by @thoughtslikeaminefield

Slow (oneshot) by @sunlightdances

Intimacy is sooooo sexy xox

Nominated by @manawhaat

Ritual (oneshot) by @winchester-fantasies

This fic is grounded, subtle, realistic, and has an incredible energy between Dean and the reader! There’s so many little things that play into the bigger picture to make this really flow and work seamlessly as a whole!

Temporary Scars (series) by @thoughtslikeaminefield

Fucking hell. Dean x Donna x Benny is such a rare pair that it’s NOT something I knew I needed, but everything about this dynamic is fucking perfect. It’s a bit of an AU, but I still love the way each character was represented. What they all brought to the table and how they balanced each other out in exactly the ways they needed. There’s a dynamic here that I haven’t seen before, especially not with THESE characters, and they complement each other fucking GORGEOUSLY!

Boyking fic (oneshot) by @whispersandwhiskerburn

This shit is fucking CRAFTY! There’s a lot of little things that carry through this and the way that ‘control’ is presented in each scene of this fic is very cool.

Calm (series) by @winchesterswoonathon

Oof! This John series just totally fucks me up. It’s perfect in the way you swoon over him and yearn to see a side of him he so rarely shows others. Maggie definitely knows how to nail the pining for John angle!

Dream Drabble (oneshot) by @theychosefamily

Sam’s comfort and sincerity in this kill me! It may have been inspired by a dream, but this tracks so well for each of them and could definitely be a scene plucked from the show!

The Unexpected (oneshot) by @impalaimagining

Goddamn this is sexy as all hell! It’s intense and passionate and scary and dazzlingly wonderful!

Nominated by @flamencodiva

Three’s A Crowd (series) by @1000roughdrafts

So I was browsing Kay’s Masterlist and came upon this very lovely Gem! I would love to see what happens next and I know Kay is extremely busy, but she is a talented writer and I wanted to put this lovely work out there. It is a wonderful concept and I can’t wait to see what happens!

Just Me & My Baby (oneshot) by @deanwinchesterswitch

A good way to rot your teeth with Dean fluff. This story pulls on your heartstrings and can be just what you need when you feel down.

The Pact (series) by @coffee-obsessed-writer

This is an amazing AU Sam Fic! It is well written and traps you into the fantasy world from the very beginning. I can’t wait to see the roller coaster that is this story as it is beginning to unfold!

Nominated by @deanwanddamons

The Sullivan Series (series) by @katehuntington

I binge read this series and adore it. Zoe is such a badass and an awesome OFC.

It is so good it could easily be written as a series of SPN and I am really hoping it is continued as I can’t wait for the next series. Kate is such an awesome person, hugely supportive and a big influence on me as a writer. This series deserves so much more recognition.

Ride With Me (seires) by @katehuntington

This series is divine. I am so invested in this right now. The way Kate writes is a true inspiration to me and this AU is stunning. Her story telling and descriptions are totally immersive and I am so excited to see where she takes us on this journey.

He’s Not You (series) by @mummybear

This series is awesome! It’s really building momentum and I’m loving where it’s going. Such a great idea for a story and can’t wait to see where Chelsea takes us!

The Man on the Side of the Road (series) by @supernatural-jackles

This series was beautiful. I was so invested in this and so sad when it came it an end. It was very cathartic for me to read as I related to the reader so much.

Shatter Me (series) by @winchest09

This series is incredible. Such a superb concept and I love the way it has been written. The feeling of isolation and Dean’s desperation to save her had me engrossed all the way through. A must read.

D.W. (oneshot) by @kittenofdoomage

I have recently ventured into dark fic and was recommended this.

Demon!Dean is just 🔥 and this fic is dark, sexy and very explicit. And holy shit I LOVED IT!

Nominated by @moosekateer13

House of the Rising Sun (series) by @kittenofdoomage

What I really loved about it shows the love can change your whole perspective of the world when love is thrown into the mix.

The Ones You Love (series) by @kittenofdoomage

It shows how far the Winchester's are willing go when it comes to their family.

Cosa Nostra (series) by @kittenofdoomage

Loved how in the end love and their bond was stronger than an obstacles that were thrown in their way.

Paid In Full (series) by @kittenofdoomage

Loved it! It taught you look past what you see at first.

Poor Little Rich Girl (series) by @winchesterprincessbride

Love how it showed the money is isn't everything love is more important.

Political Animals (series) by @winchesterprincessbride

Loved the sometimes it showed the its better to break away from people who are trying to control your life.

Bed of Roses (series) by @crispychrissy

Loved how it to taught you to look past first impressions and that there is always more than meets the eye.

Nominated by @thegirlwhorunswithwinchesters

Control and Release - 30 (series) by @thecleverdame

I think I might’ve nominated this series before, when I wasn’t caught up yet, but I am now and I just have to recommend this chapter. The entire story is gold but this chapter in particular had me sucked right into the scene at the end. The intensity of the fight and the way they deal with everything that is going on; the emotions, the worlds outside of their little bubble of safety. I don’t want to say too much and spoil it for whoever hasn’t read this series yet. But, if you are one of those people, I highly recommend you change that ASAP.

The Secrets We Keep (series) by @princessmisery666

Better late than never, right? At least that’s what I’m telling myself to ease the guilt I’m feeling for how long it took me to finally read this series like I said I would. I didn’t enjoy it any less, that’s for sure. And that was even before I got to the twist that made it even better. I loved the vulnerability between Sam and Erin, and the different kind of friendship she had with Dean.

Cabin Fever (long oneshot) by @slytherkins

I’ve already attempted (and failed) to express my thoughts on this story to the author privately, so I won’t try again here, in risk of my heart shattering all over again. But what I definitely will say (and I will break into my upstairs neighbor’s apartment to scream it from their balcony if I have to) is this: STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING and go read this fic if you haven’t already. It’s a heavy read, yes. But it is more than worth it, I promise you.

Equanimous (oneshot) by @imagineteamfreewill

I love the tension in this scene. The boys are so in character and I could picture the demons perfectly. And, of course, Cas storming in, being badass, and saving the day, that’s always a plus.

Non-existent (oneshot) by @waywardjoy

I’m definitely a sucker for a good crack-fic. To be honest, when I read the summary I was already sold. That signature bickering between the boys never gets old, does it?

Nominated by @impalaimagining

Handy Man (oneshot) by @deanwanddamons

Physically speaking, on the list of things I love about Dean Winchester, this checks almost every single box. I love the little things you’re noticing about Dean as the reader - his freckles, the contrast between his skin and the black shirt he’s wearing, exactly which Zeppelin song he’s singing while he works. The teasing is a nice touch too, especially the line about the night before. Proud Dean is so cute, and it’s exactly how I would expect him to react to being the hero around the house.

Nominated by @impala-dreamer

Almost Paradise (oneshot) by @amanda-teaches

Amanda always always writes the fluff so well, but this little bit of bittersweet longing is delicious. Also, she nails Dean EVERY TIME. One of those writers who just gets Dean’s voice down so perfectly. Very Very well done!

Enough Time (oneshot) by @dissect-me

I was just scrolling the pond list and found this wonderful Destiel fic. I mean… the emotions were intense and I was a mess by the end. Just lovely and so well done. I will be diving back through their masterlist for more Destiel!!

Nominated by @kittenofdoomage

Life For Rent (series) by @winchest09

@katehuntington told me to go read this so I did and I do not regret it. An amazingly sexy (and at times, heartbreaking) series, not for the faint of heart. Totally waiting on edge for the next chapter.

Call Of The Ocean (series) by @flamencodiva and @anatheweirdo

I’m fairly certain I’ve nominated this before but it’s so good, I’m gonna nominate it again. You will absolutely become invested in Thasman’s well-being.

Nominated by @fangirlxwritesx67

Communion (oneshot) by @thoughtslikeaminefield

But Dean’s natural state is this – nesting, nuzzling, curled up and warm. He speaks softly and quietly. His voice isn’t always rough and hard. He sings. MY FEELS. This is beautiful and heart-wrenching all at once.

Sex with Dean is always really good. A lot of times it’s a rushed, life-affirming kind of thing. So when we have time, every touch is at once charged and grounded. And when we have time and are also able to imbibe? It’s metamorphic. All of this, just one perfect line after another. WOW

Just to be his in our own little bubble. And this, this is exactly how this story feels- so close and heavy and perfect Amazing work,.Like, really astounding.

Synesthesia (oneshot) by @there-must-be-a-lock

Lou took this prompt and did something wildly creative! It’s so well done that the reader can see and feel and taste it.

Wild Thing (series) by @there-must-be-a-lock

I am in love with the Everything series so, so much. Lou has done a beautiful job of building a world with J2 x reader, so loving and creative and hot. This one is, for sure, a favorite! Incorporates one of my favorite quotes into a smoking hot fic. Good work!!

Dear Mr. Fantasy (oneshot) by @itmighthavebeenintentional

But there’s one particular Other Dean, a favorite one his mind drifts to during rare peaceful moments. Daydreaming when he should be researching, drifting off when a particular song plays on the radio while he’s working on Baby, even washing his hands sometimes will pull him back to those dreams.

6 paragraphs in, and I knew Val was going to break my heart. This is a gorgeous gorgeous story! Creative premise, great characterization, and written so that you can see and taste and feel every moment.

I found myself wanting to both read faster, and slow down and savor it. And yes, it broke my heart, but so beautifully that I would let it happen over and over again.

Weight (oneshot) by @67midnightwriter

This one is short and both painful and beautiful. So very heavy with experience and meaning. An excellent example of the ways that our favorite characters can help inspire us, lift us and encourage us to keep going

The Second Hand Unwinds (oneshot) by @mskathywriteswords

Kathy is new-ish to the SPN family but not to either writing or fandom, and it is immediately apparent in her first piece of SPN fanfic. Her creative storyline, her grasp of the characters, and her way with words make it immediately apparent that you are reading the work of a master!

Salvation (oneshot) by @dontshootmespence

This story feels like an episode of the show from earlier seasons, just the right balance of angst and monster fighting with tantalizing peeks of smut and feels. Excellent job!

There are no words that come close to explaining what she means to him. How she saves what soul he has left. These flashback scenes are both hot and tender. The voice the author gives to Sam is spot on, achingly familiar. The contrast between the flashbacks and the action is painfully good.

What’s more frightening, a man like Dean, practiced in his violence out of necessity? Or a man like him, on the verge of losing everything and nothing left to lose? This is a well drawn distinction between the Winchester brothers, and such a good characterization of Sam! It’s easy to forget sometimes what a fearsome hunter he is, but this author reminds us with razor sharp clarity.

“You’re safe with me, Sam. You never have to hide from me.“ Such a beautiful relationship between Sam and this woman! It’s no wonder he’s fighting so hard to save her.

This story has an imaginative plot, fast paced action and some sweet hotness! Plus the author does such a good job with Sam, I’m in love with him all over again. I haven’t read this author much before but you’d better believe I won’t miss a story now!

Casual Affair (oneshot) by @fookinghelljensensthighs

This Dean x Benny fic is short, smoking hot and painfully good. A must read!

Nominated by @mariekoukie6661

The Force of Habit (series) by @littlegreenplasticsoldier

I read that series at least 3 times now. I love this story, its witty and funny. This fic just makes me smile without trying! Even after reading 3 times, I still thoroughly enjoyed it like it was the first time.

Satisfied (series) by @crashdevlin

This is so good, the emotion that this series makes me feel is just out of this world!

Dangerous Signs (series) by @kittenofdoomage

Rhi always has brilliant idea!!! This is one of those and I just can’t get enough of her writing.

Control and Release (series) by @thecleverdame

What start as mostly just porn turned into such a great series with twist and turns!

Hunger (oneshot0 by @impala-dreamer

Oof… what to say about this? it’s Beka! It’s hot and sweaty and makes me want more! Like everything she writes!

Nominated by @myinconnelly1

Couldn’t Resist (oneshot) by @impala-dreamer

This is fun, funny, and sexy. Short sweet and to the point, while still getting you hot under the collar!!!

Dark Obsession (oneshot) by @impala-dreamer

Where do I even start in this drabble! It's so fucking cute and funny! I was laughing out loud and could totally see TFW trying to play their parts here

Promise Me We’ll Be Alright (oneshot) by @impala-dreamer

What a pain in the heart this fic was. It hurt so good!! I was ready to cry

Say My Name (oneshot) by @idabbleincrazy

Smoking hot! While in general Baby-girl is a turn off for me, this fic is so far from it! funny at the start with some cracky dean who is caught in the middle, then getting some possessive Sam which is like my fav!

I’ll See You on Your Birthday (oneshot) by @sorenmarie87

SOOO MUCH FLUFF!!! Like seriously i needed a dentist after. Some cute ABO pregnancy right here!

Just A Number (oneshot) by @crispychrissy

Again Sexy and Funny (I have a type ok) This was a great use of Age Gap and it wasn't creepy and didn't need a little blue pill at all!

Happily Ever After (oneshot) by @dontshootmespence

HAPPILY EVER AFTER! It's all i need to say!!!! Read It!

Missing Person (oneshot) by @emilyshurley

This fic is by my favoritest human in the world!!! It’s hilarious and silly but also almost canon. Plus I make a cameo as Garth’s friend!!! What’s not to love!!!

Nominated by @lovetusk

The Only Exception (series) by @ne-gans & @negans-lucille-tblr

While only the prequel so far, I’m too hyped for this beauty to NOT nominate it.

Survive (oneshot) by @kittenofdoomage

I’m always here for some Alpha!Sam, but this one punched me right in the feels. How dare anyone keep him from his Omega.

He Wasn’t In Love With You (oneshot) by @sorenmarie87

Dawn doesn't angst often, but sometimes she does and I love it.

Nominated by @there-must-be-a-lock

Noises (oneshot) by @67midnightwriter

Just. HOT. Hot hot hot like burning. Dom!Cas playing Dean like a goddamn fiddle... what more can you ask for!?

Come For Me (oneshot) by @fangirlxwritesx67

My favorite thing this author has published so far! There are a whole lot of emotions in this one, adrenaline and fear and relief and lust and tenderness, and you can feel the depth of everything going on between them and the chaos of the moment. Also, nailed the “oh shit where did this predatory hotass come from” feeling that I totally imagine would happen during a first time with Sammy.

Plus One (oneshot) by @thoughtslikeaminefield

This is smutty and raunchy and HOT but it also manages to nail the sweet, loving side of Dean. Smut can so easily be one-dimensional, but this fic managed to be both filthy and tender in a way that feels 150% true to character.

Dear Mr. Fantasy (oneshot) by @itmighthavebeenintentional

An absolutely stunning exploration of some parallel universe Deans. Gorgeously vivid language, such incredible character accuracy, borderline heartbreaking but in a way that isn’t hopeless; it makes you feel FULL. My favorite SPN fic I’ve read in a long time.

The Second Hand Unwinds (oneshot) by @mskathywriteswords

Incredibly evocative, gorgeous wistful tone, and a couple little plot twists that hit you with all the right feels.

Nominated by @winchest09

All I Want (series) by @katehuntington

I love this, so much. I love the take on this particular episode and how in fact it brings back the reader instead of *spoiler*. It’s still ongoing and it’s already tugging on heartstrings and has made me cry so if you read this, grab your tissues!

Ride With Me (series) by @katehuntington

This series has my heart. Like this could be a published book that i would read cover to cover, over and over. The spine would be broken, pages glued in because i would have read it that much. How everything is described, how the world is painted, the characters, the setting…just everything. It’s a must read..A MUST READ.

I Just Called to Say I Love You (series) by @talesmaniac89

This broke my heart. This was so beautifully written to the point i was sobbing behind my screen mumbling incoherent words to my husband before talking to a few other tumblr blogs about it. If you read this, have tissues handy. Dean was so in character and my heart will never be the same. Must read.

The Man In Apartment 43 (series) by @talesmaniac89

This series has me so intrigued! It’s written amazingly, has me gasping, has me seriously flinching at some of the creepy goings on and I cannot wait to see where this goes! It’s an ongoing series and I’m loving it!

Handy Man (oneshot) by @deanwanddamons

This lovely little drabble satisfies all my domestic dean needs. Covering his fine ass, arms and back. I mean…Come on! It’s just everything that you need in a bite size package. I absolutely loved it!

Nominated by @katehuntington

One For Tomorrow, One Just For Today (oneshot) by @thoughtslikeaminefield

Sex with Dean is always amazing, but there’s nothing hotter than him singing a classic while he’s doing it. After reading this, that famous song by The Doors will never sound the same. Sit back, relax and listen to the music.

Handy Man (oneshot) by @deanwanddamons

Dean fixing a blocked drain under the kitchen sink in a black shirt and Levi’s jeans; what a sight that must be. The writer of this fic is able to describe the scene in great detail. Besides the obvious appreciation of the gorgeous man, it’s great to see him doing something normal and domesticated. It’s the life we all wish for him. A great little drabble for a Sunday morning with a cup of tea on the side.

You’re Home (oneshot) by @impala-dreamer

A drabble that’s absolutely worth mentioning, is this short story. Beka does Dean’s PTSD more justice in 682 words than the writers have ever done on the entire show. A beautiful piece of art.

Imagine Dean debating asking you out (oneshot) by @luci-in-trenchcoats

Dean has a crush on a girl, Sam is calling him out. When his little brother threatens to expose his secret, Dean tries to silence him, and it’s honestly the funniest read I’ve had this month. Writing comedy isn’t easy, but this was flawless.

I Just Called To Say I Love You (oneshot) @talesmaniac89

This one hurts bad, but in the most wonderful way. It’s exactly how Dean would go down, the characterisation beyond perfect. The descriptions, the dialogue, the details, the choices. It’s a Rembrandt painted with letters.

Side By Side (series) by @talesmaniac89

Another brilliant creation, based on the song Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. A song which surfaces a lot of emotions, much like this poetic and amazing piece of fanfiction. Words that come to mind are heart wrenching, tear jerking, and in a way comforting as well. A must read.

The Voices (oneshot) by @fictionalabyss

Based on ‘I hear the voices when I’m dreaming. I can hear them sing’ from the Supernatural anthem Carry On My Wayward Son, comes this breathtakingly beautiful piece of fanfiction. Perfect lines, spot on dialogue and it couldn’t have been more true to the character. It’s painfully raw, sad, and tears will fall. It makes you feel for Dean in ways that are difficult to describe. The writer of this story is known for her talent with words, but she outdid herself here.

Nicotine (oneshot) by @talesmaniac89

This story is inspired by the song Nicotine by Chef’Special and was written for my 1K celebration. The lyrics to this song are surprisingly depressing, despite it being an upbeat song, and the writer has captured it better than I could have ever hoped for. If her writing was music, it would be a symphony played by an orchestra. Her way with words is melodic and moving. Goosebumps all over.

My Hero (oneshot) by @plaidstiel-wormstache

What I love most about this fanfic is the medical accuracy. I am no expert in any way, but after seeing countless medical dramas and having done plenty of research for characters and stories, I really appreciate it when knowledge about medicine practically drips from my screen. A lovely read.

Thank you all for the awesome work and great feedback!

These are not actual awards! This system is set up so everyone in the pond has a chance to share the love and promote a fic/author that has grabbed your attention. The more people that participate, and the more everyone remembers to submit their own fics after posting, the better this will be :D

THANK YOU ALL AGAIN, KEEP UP THE AMAZING WORK, AND AS ALWAYS, HAPPY WRITING!

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