#and coots going at him immediately

[wehaveagathering]

THAT'S OUR CAPTAIN.

[barrenclan]

I do feel bad for Coot at the end of all this. I don't think she is ever going to change, but man she must have so few straws left to grasp at.

She didn't really come up during the entire encounter, and you would think that someone as vocal as her would have something to say given all the monologues going on (I know it's probably just because of pacing) .

I am sorta imagining that during the attack, for all her fire and brimstone attitude, she basically just sat huddled against a corner and tried not to attract any attention. No shame on her for that tbh, that was definitely the right call, but it must have hurt her sense of cosmic importance a little.

Raised in a barren wasteland and taught that it was for some higher purposes, that it was worth it, and then having what small sort of peace and safety then immediately ripped away out of nowhere, I can sorta see how she just decides to double down on everything for some sense of stability and comfort.

If it didn't have to matter before, it HAS to matter now.

Her exclusion from the "Death of BarrenClan" event was just because of time and space constraints, as I've mentioned before, but I also don't think she's a very brave person and I doubt she would've had the wherewithal to stand up to Deepdark, or agree with him, or do anything but cower in terror at all. Not that that's the wrong reaction for being in mortal danger, but it's still not something that lends to dramatic screen presence.

As the story has gone on I've really started to feel sorry for Cootstorm. Not because she's a sympathetic figure who's never done wrong, but she's so miserable and pathetic at this point. It's like watching someone stubbornly digging their own grave.

[ladykailitha]

A Love Connection Part 2

Hey guys! Did you miss me? LOL!

Just a heads up this chapter is a little angsty because we have get Steve desperate enough to try going on a game show. But have no fear, it doesn't last long.

Also in this Susan Mayfield never marries Neil Hargrove, but she moves to Hawkins because her job moved her there. So Billy and Max aren't step-siblings.

Part 1

~

Steve nearly had a panic attack right there in the car when Chrissy screamed. There wasn’t a crisis. Or at least not one that needed immediate attention. What it was, was their little drunk text about #needsmoregays at A Love Connection went viral. There were actual fucking news articles. Yeah, the first was from Pink News, but the rest? Actual fucking trades. Variety, Dateline, even The Hollywood Reporter, for fuck’s sake.

Steve was going to pass out, but he managed to get them to the school safely. Thankfully there was nothing on Chrissy profile that was her real name or where she worked. She had a work Twitter for that. And that one was only on her computer at work. She was very careful not to cross the two. So there weren’t any news people out front of the school. But her DMs were filled with requests for comments or even actual interviews.

He decided she could do whatever the hell she wanted, he wasn’t going to get involved in this. She’s the one that drunk tweeted. Yeah, it was because of something he said when he was also drunk. But still!

He also decided ignore Chrissy and Robin at lunch, choosing instead to have it in his classroom to avoid them. Because, yes, he was avoiding them thank you. He just wanted to see gay people have love, too. Last Saturday was a disaster and he wanted proof that gays like he could find love.

Luckily, it was only a nine day wonder and Chrissy’s inbox went back to normal. Or as about as normal as one can get after have a tweet go viral.

They were cruising through the school year, same as always. There were always the super smart kids and the ones that didn’t care about history. So Steve always tried to make it as fun as possible.

Gladiator days where they wrestled stuff animals. Letting the kids stab him in March. Building their own mini pyramids. His hallpass was a gladius for extra fun.

They were gearing up the for Olympic games just before Christmas when Mrs. Byers, the principal pulled him out of his class.

“Hey, Steve,” she said warmly, “you’re not in trouble.”

Steve looked over his shoulder at his class before looking back at her. “Okay...”

She smiled up at him sweetly. “I was wondering if you’d be willing to watch the AV club today after school? Mr. Jenner went home because he’s puking his guts out. Normally I would just cancel, but a couple of the kids are in the club because their parents can’t pick them up until after seven.”

He let out a long sigh. He was going to go home and get ready to go try a new bar Chrissy had found. But now, by the time he got home, showered, and ate it would be too late to go out.

“Yeah, sure, Mrs. Byers,” he said.

“Thank you so much, Steve,” Mrs. Byers said. “Mr. Jenner will be so grateful too.”

Steve nodded and then waited until she walked away to roll his eyes. Nate Jenner’s alcohol problem was the worst kept secret in the school. Even students were aware that there were times he taught drunk. Most kids didn’t know why he would be slurring his words or conked out on his desk; only that they were his ‘bad days’. But the kids who did know? They tended to shield the other kids from the worst of it.

The problem was that Mr. Jenner was two years from retirement and they didn’t want to make him lose his pension. Which Steve thought that he absolutely should. That old coot had no business teaching students like that.

He went back to teaching his class, wondering who they got to cover Mr. Jenner’s classes. He finally got through to the last class and went to the science ‘wing’ of the school. He walked up to Mr. Jenner’s class room and there was Robin coming out of it.

“Now that’s just unfair,” he moaned. “If you were watching his classes, why couldn’t you watch the AV club?”

Robin patted him on the shoulder. “Because I played the dumb blonde routine until Mrs. Byers gave up.” She waved at him as she walked away.

With a sigh, Steve went into the room and began getting out the equipment that they would need. He didn’t know much about radios and shit, but he did know what they did and didn’t need.

He had just gotten set up when the first of the kids arrived.

He wasn’t surprised to see Will come in first. With his mom as principal, all of the teachers tended to tiptoe around him as to not have any ‘misdeeds’ taken back to her, so his last class never went over. Ever.

The next couple of kids to file in were Dustin Henderson and Lucas Sinclair. They both had Robin’s Spanish class last period, so it was no surprise to see them together.

“Sinclair!” Steve said, fist bumping the kid. “What are you doing with these nerds?” He was only joking and they all knew that. Lucas had been friends with Will, Dustin, and their other friend Mike since Dustin moved in in the second grade. Lucas loved history and was one of Steve’s brightest students so he liked to pick on him for his choice of friends.

“Sorry, Coach,” Lucas said with a grin, “if I wasn’t around they’d fall into an uncovered manhole or something.”

Steve gave Dustin their secret handshake, complete with death and everything to make up for the nerd comment. But Dustin and Will took it all in stride. They were used to the teasing.

A couple other kids came in. One spotted Steve and immediately walked back out.

“Some people just aren’t made for fun,” he lamented to the kid’s retreating back. “I’m just too cool for some people’s children. It’s not my fault.”

They all chuckled and then finally the last member of the AV club arrived. Mike Wheeler.

He sighed when he saw Steve, but didn’t turn around. He threw his backpack on the nearest desk and slumped into the chair with a heavy sigh. “Why can’t we get a teaching advisor who isn’t such a flake!”

Steve wiped his brow internally. Mike didn’t like him all the time, so the fact that he was complaining about Mr. Jenner not being there rather than Steve taking his place was a relief, honestly. It meant he wouldn’t be grumpy the whole time.

“All right everyone,” Steve said, clapping his hands together. “Dustin is in charge, Will will take notes for next time. Let’s go!”

The club went as well as could be expected considering Steve really didn’t have any idea of how all this stuff worked.

After class while Steve was waiting on the curb with the ‘Party’ as they called themselves, waiting for their parents to pick them up texting Robin and Chrissy.

“Coach...” Lucas asked, “did we ruin your plans?”

Steve felt a stab in his chest as his head shot up to look the kid in the eye. He looked down at his phone where there were dozens of messages bitching Robin out for leaving him with the AV club because she had a girlfriend and Steve didn’t even have that. Or boyfriend, which was his preference. He had dated women in the past but he liked men more. Or rather liked men full stop. That was certainly a revelation and a half.

He put his phone away with a sigh. “No, Lucas you didn’t. It was due to the irresponsible behavior of Mr. Jenner. He’s the one to blame. I was just a little annoyed at Miss Buckley because she knows this stuff better than I do, but got out of it under false pretenses.” His eyes cut to Will. “Don’t tell your mom I just said that. I don’t want Miss Buckley in trouble.”

Will held up his hands in surrender. Steve nodded.

“I love history and sports and swimming,” he began, he held up his hand to stall whatever words were going to come out that kid’s mouth. “For fun, Dustin. I like swimming for fun, which is why I didn’t include it in sports.”

Dustin huffed and crossed his arms over his chest with a pout.

“I like going out with friends and meeting new people,” Steve finished, “and of course I love teaching you kids. But I look around me and I just see someone who’s stagnated before he’s even thirty.” He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know why I’m telling a bunch of teenagers this. Sorry.”

Will put his hand in Steve’s. “You’ll find someone. If my mom can find someone at her age, you can find someone, too.”

Steve gave his hand a squeeze and didn’t point out that Mrs. Byers, Joyce had already had two kids and had been divorced by the time she was thirty so it really didn’t count.

Mike’s mom Karen arrived first. Mike just waved goodbye and slipped into the passenger side of her car.

Steve shook his head. Mike was trying to learn how to balance friends and liking girls and after school activities. He’d get there.

Dustin’s mom and Will’s older brother Jonathan arrived at the same time. Jonathan was Steve’s age, but Will have been born over a decade after him as a last ditch attempt to save his parents’ marriage.

Steve waved goodbye to them and then it was just Steve and Lucas.

“My mom always told me,” Lucas said softly, “that there might not be one person out there for everyone, but there is the right person out there for what you need right now. I think she was trying to explain why Mrs. Byers had two husbands, but I think it works for you, too. You’ll find you right person at the right time.”

Steve blinked down at this boy, barely thirteen. He rubbed the top of Lucas’s head. “Thanks, kid.”

Just then his dad pulled up. “Go on,” Steve murmured. “I’ll see you after the break.”

Lucas re-shouldered his backpack to just the one shoulder. He paused as if he wanted to say something else, he just shook his head.

“See you later, Coach!”

He got into his into dad’s car and immediately started talking to him about school excitedly.

Steve pulled his coat tighter around him. He wanted to be that dad, but as time wore on it was looking less and less likely. He went back inside to clean up and grab his stuff. He had a pile of assignments he had to grade. He never gave homework and never did tests. Both were pointless in his opinion, plus it meant that he less stuff to mark and grade. He based his grades off participation and being able to stay on task.

He walked through the darkened halls and felt the weight of it on his shoulders. His best friend and her girlfriend were out having the time of their lives, while he was alone in more ways than one.

He didn’t even Garfield to keep him company anymore. Yeah, he was just a stupid goldfish, but he was Steve’s.

The cold seeped into his bones and buried into his heart. He was even going to be alone for Christmas. Chrissy was taking Robin to her brother’s for the holiday. They felt bad because they both knew Steve’s parents had cut him off long ago and didn’t have anywhere else to go.

But he had encouraged Robin going. Meeting her girlfriend’s family was important. And with Chrissy and her brother, Peter both being estranged from their parents it was even more important than usual. They promised they would be back for New Year’s and Steve promised he would be fine.

He stepped onto the curb and stopped, tilting his head back, eyes closed as he fought back tears. When the first snowflake landed it made him flinch at the sudden extra coldness to his cheek. That one was followed by another and another. It was hell.

He opened his eyes and let the snow melt on his lashes, the cold mingling with his hot tears.

~

Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

Tag List: SEVEN SLOTS OPEN

1-@mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @cryptid-system

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @justforthedead89 @irregular-child @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji

5- @anne-bennett-cosplayer @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten @genderless-spoon

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @disrespectedgoatman

7- @counting-dollars-counting-stars @tinyplanet95 @ravenfrog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @lingeringmirth

8- @gutterflower77 @a-lovely-craziness @just-a-tiny-void @w1ll0wtr33 @beelze-the-bubkiss

9- 9- @dreamercec @wheneverfeasible @garden-of-gay

[oncewhenalongtimeago]

real need of sickeningly sweet stuff . since halloween’s in a few werks can i ask for a hiccup fic where reader dresses up as a dragon, convinced by tuff and tries to scare hiccup ?

Wool Plush and Hay Stuffing

Pairing: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III x Fem!Reader

Words: 831

Tags: httyd 2

Running his thumb over notches in leather and thick, even stitches, he adjusted one large shoulder pad, his helmet nestled under his other arm as he shuffled his way into the darkness of his cabin. 

He didn’t notice it at first, eyes trailing dark corners, scanning, wandering, wondering. When he did, he might have jumped. Just a little bit.

If he had to liken in to anything, it was almost like the first time he looked in your eyes, warm light glancing off the side of your face, half of it hidden by darkness and ash, watching the Outcasts flee on half-burned ships for the first time, except this was a different kind of wow.

More… astonished and less awed. A lot less awed. 

You raised a brow at him skeptically. “What, you don’t like it?”

“No, it- you startled me. I mean- Costuming?” Hiccup asked, running a hand down the outermost part of your thigh.

He didn’t think you were the sewing type.

“Yeah,” You laughed casually, waving thick, stuffed arms above your head mockingly. Hiccup recognized what you were doing almost immediately, shying away just before you could bat him in the head, air-boxing soft auburn tufts. “It’s about time. Dreadfall and all that- It was Tuffnut’s idea.”

Hiccup looked you up and down, eyeing the shoddy dragon shoes by your feet. “...You took inspiration from Mildew?”

Of course, Mildew’s had looked a lot better mostly on account of the fact that they had been made up of taxidermied dragon, and, loath to admit it, the old coot had really known his stuff.

“Oh, please.” You said after a moment, perhaps picking up on his own hesitance. “Are you going to run off again?”

“I might.” Hiccup said exasperatedly, eyeing your face, nearly dwarfed by the size of your large dragon’s head hat, feeling very mindful of the way plush paws set thickly and clumsily over one shoulder. They felt like pillows. It took him a moment to catch up. “I- What? Hey.”

Behind you was the door, still half-open. He set his eyes on it determinedly. He wasn’t sure whether or not he should be offended. He had his reasons- and good ones, at that. 

Actually, he could go out again, but his mapping was always better done during the warmer days, really, and it had been a long time since he felt the need to search for anything more, not when he had you right in front of him. He did feel a need to run from his father, mostly, and all of his insisting. 

Even with all the world telling him otherwise, he wasn’t sure he could ever be Chief.

…And maybe he ran from you a little bit, sometimes. He didn’t know it happened enough for you to make jokes about it. He almost felt embarrassed.

Floundering might be better than having to brave his way through whatever this was, lighting deep, warm fires in the place just below his heart, something soft threatening its way through his ribcage and filling his head with clouds.

“Forget about the Night Fury, You can come ride me instead.” You waggled your eyebrows at him.

Hiccup grimaced, the gentle mood broken. That joke had Snotlout written all over it. He didn’t think you were close with any of them. He wasn’t sure if he should be jealous or not, though jealousy would require him to take his cousin seriously, which, well, he wasn’t going to do that.

You rolled your eyes at his sour expression, patting him on the shoulder with one thick, tufted paw.

“Can you take that off?” Hiccup half used his hands to speak for him as he groused, turning them in a circle as he spoke, setting his helmet aside on a nearby table. He both looked you in the eye and rolled them at the same time.

“Why?” You asked, snorting.

“Because I want you to.” “Try again.”

Hiccup grimaced and thought for a very long moment. He had an idea, but it was an awful idea, and one that would get him punched by almost anyone… Who wasn’t you. He thought you might be a little used to it by now.

Heart rocketing Hiccup pressed a short kiss to your lips through the open mouth of your dragon suit, hands sliding over rough cloth as he tugged you closer.

After a moment, you pulled away, plush dragon paws cottony through the leather of his suit. You paused, looking him in the eyes, your nose slightly wrinkled. “...No.”

Hiccup sighed.

Your sham plush dragon mask fell slightly off-kilter as you continued staring at him. 

Looking at messy stitches and the peeking of hay sticking out of seams, he decided that it  was… It was alright.

It would seem much less novel later when both his hands were stuck inside of it. As it turned out, stitches were the worst way to close a costume head and, well, undoing them was a three-person job.

[inactivewattpadauthor]

Shang Tsung x Reader: A Chance To Prove Yourself

~~~~~~~~~~~~ The leaves all swooshed on the tree they were bound to in reaction to the wind. The same tree you sat under, sulking as you usually did. A decent distance away from the Wu Shi Academy you used to be devoted. Now it made you sick in a way. No matter how hard you try to convince yourself, you pointed blame at the Thunder God that shut you down.

You remember all too well the secondhand embarrassment and devastation when Raiden bluntly turned you down from joining Earthrealm's champions. Right in front of your best friends, Kung Lao and Liu Kang. The demigod claimed you weren't skillful enough and your ego would get you killed in battle. Yet somehow Lao still gets to go?! The equally arrogant bastard was also confused on that part.

"Maybe Lord Raiden just wants to protect you." You recalled Liu Kang reasoning for his father figure. Bullshit. You may have started late but you train just as hard.

Ever since that situation happened, you became distant with those two. You didn't hold any resent for them, hopefully, but being around them after that made you feel negative. They're good friends and you didn't want to bring the mood down.

Dreading on about everything you were unaware of someone creeping up behind the tree.

"...And she sits alone, wondering if she will ever be good enough. Or perhaps wallowing in self-pity, believing all of them are wrong and don't deserve her strength."

You turned to whoever it was narrating you with a supercilious tone. Opening your mouth with the intent to tell them to shut the hell up, only a gasp would come out when that specific voice belonged to Shang Tsung. You knew Liu defeated him before, but it was definitely not so simple You hopped up ready for a fight with the old, evil coot.

He raises a steady hand as if he isn't looking for a fight. "Oh, so 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 going to defeat me? Do you think you'll win?" Shang asks with continuing patronization.

"No." You lost your battle stance and stood there normally, feeling stupid to even think that. Your ego couldn't be more destroyed so it's easy to be put in your place.

"Good girl. Smart." Shang chuckles and slowly walks to you. You only kept your head down. Carefully with his clawed finger guard, he tilts your chin up. "Poor Y/n. You have so much potential. Truly a loss for Earthrealm that Raiden doesn't let you fight beside him- or your close allies."

"What would you know?" You sneered, eyes following him as he walked behind but you didn't dare move your head even slightly.

"Quite a lot, actually. From the very moment he put you down, up to your friends deserting you."

"Deserting me?" Confused, you faced him and immediately corrected him. "Liu and Lao never deserted me. I just... hang out with them less. Purposely."

The old villain narrowed his maroon eyes at your rebuttal. "And have they ever asked you why? Check on you like they're supposed to? Have they ever even stood up to the foolish demigod and defended your progress?"

Being completely gagged, you couldn't defend that. The answer to those questions were all the same. "...No."

"You call them friends?" Shang shakes his head. "How does that make you feel? Don't you want to prove yourself? Show off truly what you're capable of?"

"Of course, I do!" You snap- not out of anger- but with newfound motivation. "But I train a lot every day. What more can I do?"

He pretends to think on it, you hardly notice. "I could offer my own mentoring to you, if you wish. Help you be advanced than whatever cheap combat monks do." Plotting with his back turned from you, his eyes gleamed at an extra part of the offer. Something you'd likely be interested in. "Say, do you have your own arcana?"

"I don't actually. Why?" As expected, you became more interested. You couldn't shoot fireballs or teleport annoyingly around the perimeter. But what you could do is deny the snake's offer and be a boring rejected fighter. Nope. "Could you get me one?"

"Easily." He nods, then extends his hand. "Is it a deal?"

Almost taking his hand, you retracted a bit. "Wait, what would you be getting out of it? I don't want to be accused of treason or you make me hurt them. They're not perfect but-"

"Oh dear, I would never make you hurt them. I'm trying to help you do the opposite actually. How lovely it would be to make them proud by being just as- pardon me- more powerful than them combine! And you wouldn't get in trouble unless you go chatting which I trust you wouldn't."

It all seems easy and promising. "Deal!" You smile and shook his hand, suddenly getting the feel of something awful overwhelm you. But you pushed it off thinking it was just excitement.

"Now why don't we return to my palace and discuss giving you magic." Shang begins walking away and you were quick to follow your new mentor.

"How long will that take? Won't Liu Kang or Kung Lao notice I'm missing?"

"You think so?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~

[huginsmemory]

Fiddleford and Ford's creations, and parallels

Just a quick blurb on how Fiddleford and Ford parallel each other in regards to their own creations, considering the memory gun and the portal.

First of all, if you haven't read journal 3 then you're missing some context about Fiddleford and the memory gun; that is, that it was created after Fiddleford ended up staring into a gremloblin's eyes and saw his worst nightmare (due to Stanford insisting on stopping to sketch it). Afraid, Fiddleford then created the memory gun as a solution to deal with the fear.

Now what's fascinating is there interaction around the gun, because just as Fiddleford warned Ford against the dangers of the portal and begged him to not use it and destroy it, Ford also did that with the memory gun. He immediately points out the dangers of the gun, and tells Fiddleford to destroy it. And ultimately, both of them refuse to acknowledge the valid worry of the others; Ford refuses to shut down the portal and Fiddleford even going so far as to use the gun on Ford to keep the gun. They both cling to their creations; Ford out of desperation for acknowledgement which the portal will give him, while Fiddleford is motivated out of fear, and the comfort that the gun will give him through erasing his memory. They both are driven so strongly by these motivators that they will put their creation's wellbeing over the wellbeing of others; Fords preoccupation with the portal and his work to the point that he endangers Fiddleford, and Fiddleford literally using the device to erase Ford's memory unconsented.

And both of them in the end fall victim to their creations; Fiddleford loosing more and more of his memory until basically nothing remains, and Ford with the realization the portal leads to the nightmare realm, and heralds the apocalypse, and literally going through the portal himself. Both of them as a result of not heeding the others warnings end up serving penance for the next thirty years of their life, Fiddleford as the local crazy coot who lives in the dump, and Ford dimension hopping, narrowly avoiding capture by Bill, his life devoted to taking him down.

What's also interesting is both of them are driven to create these devices that ultimately ruin their lives out of their devotion and seeking acknowledgement from people they love. Fiddleford, who left his kid and wife to work from Ford, chooses to stay with Ford even though he's afraid, and creating the memory gun instead of leaving; and Ford, who makes the portal in tandem with Bill who he openly worships, who suggests the idea.

Even absent, both their creations continue to impact the town. Fiddleford with creating the Society of the Blind Eye, a cult who literally kidnaps and erases the town peoples memory unconsented, all centered around the memory gun; meanwhile, Ford leaves behind what becomes the mystery shack, and Stan who is left in his wake, works on the portal for the next thirty years to get it running again.

And in the same way, in the end, the danger of the portal and and the memory gun double back on themselves; it is the portal used in the hands of Stan that brings Ford back, even if the rift in space causes wierdmageddon, and it's Fiddleford's memory gun that allows them to defeat Bill. By the end of the show, both powerful tools are dismantled and destroyed, as they should have been originally. In much the same way, both Fiddleford and Ford find happy endings, reuniting with what they had lost.

[ashdreams2023]

Heyy! I'm back for asking something again (not my fault, i love sm your fanfics)

Can you write a fanfic where Severus is jealous because we are too close to Sirius or Remus (I leave the choice to you) and it ends in smut (if Sev could be submissive>>>) Thank you so much for writing your fics !

Again sorry for the wait but here you go!

Also, we love subby sev in this house

Warnings: NSFW

Yours

"You look clean today"

"Thank you, I had extra time on my hands this morning"

"Glad to hear"

Severus wanted to vomit at the sight, black has been getting on his nerves more than usual lately, and it didn’t make it any better that you’re being all lovey doves with the mutt.

"Careful or you might break your glass severus"

"Mind your business wolf" he hissed at Remus.

"Easy now" Remus lifted his hands in defense.

Severus looked you and almost threw his glass at Sirius when he saw him whispering something in your ear and you were chuckling at whatever nonsense he was saying.

He wanted to strangle him that very instant but years of playing an emotionless git paid off, he chugged what’s left of his cup then walked out the back door and stood near the chicken coot.

This was ridiculous but the way that idiot was so close to you made his blood boil.

But at the same time it made him remember how much Sirius was popular at school, how everyone drooled over him and you were just perfect, no wonder he would sweet talk you like that, severus hated how self conscious he could be but you looked so happy in there…so happy to not be around him.

He felt choked all of a sudden then decided that it would be better if he just left and you stayed, you looked fine without him anyways.

He got home and changed into his nightshirt, he didn’t eat or drink anything, just laid there in the dark alone.

He had hoped he would fall asleep before you came back home but his hope was cut short when after 30 minutes of just laying there he heard the front door open and a pair of feet coming upstairs.

The bedroom opened, he could make out your shadow looming in.

"Severus? I know you’re awake, why did you just up and leave?" Severus hated that you came following him, he wanted to be mad at you, to hate you.

You sat on the bed and tried to pull the covers off of him but he refused and turned over giving you his back, you stared is disbelief.

"Why are you so mad all of a sudden? Did I do something wrong?"

He huffed and closed his eyes. You sighed pull him by the shoulder and onto his back, he glared at you.

You climbed on top of him and sat on his chest, your eyes were hooded and you looked very appealing from his point of view, he clenched the sheets to not touch you.

"What could be so bothering that made you leave me there alone?"

"You had black to entertain you, he seemed to like the attention as well" he spat, with no real venom, none that would harm you at least.

You rolled your eyes and grabbed his wrists then pinned them over his chest, his breath hitched yet he tried to still look angry.

"You’re actually jealous? And from Sirius of all people?! This must be a joke" you laughed then grind your hips over his crotch. He whimpered immediately, he was weak when it comes to you and both of you knew it.

"It’s not a joke…you we’re laughing with him" he groaned when you moved your hips again then closed his eyes when you let go of his wrists and started lifting up his nightshirt.

"You silly man…I’ll never look at anyone but you, Sirius is just…Sirius you know how he is" severus gasped lightly when you warped your fingers around his cock.

"Do you truly think I’ll leave you for somebody else" you pumped him half harden cock and smirked when he whimpered your name.

"He’s-"

"He’s nothing. You’re mine and I am yours, all yours. Do. You. Understand. Me?"

"Yes!" He ached his back now breathing heavily, his hands gripping onto the pillow behind his head.

"Good" you sighed, his tip dripped pre cum and you spread with your thumb, teasing him until you saw his eyes wide and watery, you could taunt him all night if you wanted too but you enjoyed seeing his face while he spills into your hand.

"Tell me, do you love me?"

"Yes, I love you, I love you!" He breathed out shaking.

"Who do you belong too?" You watch his body tense up for a second but then you stopped moving your hand and climbed on top of him lifting your dress higher up.

His lust filled eyes stared at you in awe, so beautiful and perfect for him, so divine and majestic.

Your body was a masterpiece.

"Answer me or I’ll leave you for the night" you gripped his chin and made him look you in the eye, a pretty blush was dusting his pale cheeks.

"You-rs…Yours, I’m yours, all yours" those dark eyes begged for you, craved you, desired your touch.

"Good boy" you grabbed his cock and slid it inside of you, you moaned mouth open wide while he hissed at the wonderful sensation. He stretched you just right.

You moved your hips slowly, moaning and savoring the of being full with him, his hands held your waist, digging into your flesh, making sure to leave pretty marks on your soft skin.

Her groaned thrusting her hips up, he whimpered and hid his face when you started to ride him faster, his breathing quickened, he was so close but you looked so beautiful he didn’t want to finish just yet.

Your body burned with desire, every muscle itching for release, he was addictive and you would gladly take as much of him as you could.

Severus couldn’t hold it anymore, his head felt clouded with you "I’m so…close" he moaned pushing his hands up and cupping your breasts in his large hands.

You moaned and let him squeeze them harder "it’s ok baby, cum for me, come on do it" you rode him until his entire body was shaking again and he spilled inside of you with a loud groan.

His arms dropped and he watched you reach your peak using him, he was still sensitive but you made him feel so good and when you came on it he felt full.

You stayed on top of him for a minute catching your breath then leaned down to kiss his face, both of you were sweaty.

You vanished what rest of clothing you had on and cuddled him close, his arms warped protectively around you.

"Mine.." he mumbled.

You chuckled "Yours."

[doublekanble]

Orpheus and Eurydice

Alastor/reader (gnc)

romantic-platonic

word count: 3.3k

i want to go to bed. (deleted this without copying it by accident, its past midnight, if theres any grammar mistakes, no there is not) at some point wedding is mentioned, but this can be platonic, i am just a very touch-staverd thing.

“Al?”

“Yes, dear?”

“Do you know the stories about Eurydice and Orpheus?”

(some say that he journeyed on his own to find Apollo, the Olympian god, reigning over sunlight and all things beautiful and pleasant. others would say that after Orpheus have his fill of travelling with the Argonauts and finally ending their search for the golden fleece in joy, he’d returns home. it was both, as far as you concerned.

but in every version of the story, Orpheus, who was depicted as a gifted musician, personally tutored by beautiful and enchanted Apollo himself, deeply fell in love with Eurydice, an Auloniad nymph, and she would love him all the same.)

He looked down and away from his book, tilting his head to meet you with a glance, ears flickering while you’re stretching across his lap with that dammed electric box still in your hand. You continue.

“It’s a Greek mythology about a man losing his wife and him looking for her in the underworld. I couldn’t find the original, but most of them still have the same meaning for me.” You turn on your stomach and lift yourself up on your elbows, looking at him with a delighted grin. “It’s a really good story, I think! Do you want to hear one? I can read them out to you, just pick one.”

“’Pick’ one? Pray tell, how many is there for me to pick?”

“You tell me~”

You exudes nothing but warmth and content as you grin, Alastor held himself back from squeezing your face.

(one story described how, on their wedding day, to the happy couple on their happiest day, a present in the form of an omen was granted by fate.

all the candles and lamps of the temple gifted them with black and oily smoke, coiling in the lungs of guests and stick to their skin.)

“I see, now what a dilemma… Which one of these unknown stories should I pick?” Alastor hums coyly, his book left on the side table unmarked. Oh well, it’s close to your bed time anyway, when you’re off in your dream land, he can resume. “More importantly, how did you learn of all this, dear? Doesn’t seem quite like the sort of thing you’d naturally pick up on…”

“You’re calling me stupid, again.” Dropping your expression in an instant, your delightful demeanor only drives him to take you less seriously.

“Am I now?! Why, how utterly despicable of me! My most sincere apologies~.”

"You-"

You try to swat at him like a disgruntled old cat, only for Alastor to smile as he catches your wrist with no trouble. Immediately, you gave up and turn back to your thing as he pleasingly pecks your imprisoned hand, knowing you can’t do anything about it.

(some say that she was simply bitten by a sly snake. some said she was chased by a satyr into the forest first. in all of them, Orpheus find his wife, whom he haven't even the time to love fully, lying amongst the green. with the poison already spread through her veins and choke her heart, he held her cold body in his arms as he wept.)

“Anyway-” Alastor pats your head, ears perk up while refusing to let go of you, not that you bothered to take your hand back, already satisfied with lazily draping yourself across his sofa and in his lap. He silently felt your pulse as you snidely remarked, “I learn about it online, idiot. Something an old coot like you wouldn’t know how to navigah-owowow I’m sohry yor noh ouh!-“

This, he somewhat find annoying. You’ve been actively learning more words to try and keep up with his “flowery compliments” and “verbose vocabulary” (he would’ve taken sweet and articulated, but c'est lavie). It would’ve been sweet, if not for the fact you only and exclusively learn insults. Your pleas would’ve fallen onto deaf ears, but there’s still a story you need to tell, so he let go of your cheek and lean back.

“I will have to say, if this story is as popular as you boasted, there would surely be a book somewhere about it.” You open your mouth, then just as quickly, you close it and stare up at Alastor who plucked your device off your hand and all but threw it onto the side table. You looked like you’re considering the consequences of trying to fight him head-on while he gives you a cheeky grin filled with sharp yellow teeth. “You were saying~?”

(some described the nearby nymphs and deities grieved alongside Orpheus. moved by the love that he lost, they tell him to look for a way to the underworld, to meet the God of Death and all things misery and to beg for his wife’s life. some said he find his own way down with a lyre in hand and play a song by the river of forgetfulness, with water almost as oily and black as the smoke from his happiest day, he would find himself singing all the way to the palace of Hades.)

Glaring at empty air and refusing to meet his eyes, your expression wavered as you seethe through you teeth, determined not to be distracted and tormented by him. He chuckles as you clears your throat. It’s good that you’re getting better at picking battles when it comes to him, Alastor can’t risked you realizing the actual hold you have over him, yet.

He watches as you stumbled through your words at first, chasing thoughts too fast for you to catch as they come. Your stories overlapping with one another, but eventually, you’d find your pace, and the images you’ve been trying to paint with clumsy colors and bristle brushes come to life as he plays with your hair. Your free hand motioned along all while.

Orpheus comes back home from an expedition, Orpheus married Eurydice, in haste and in love. One day later, depending on the story, he would either give his beloved Eurydice a funeral first before he finds the river, or he would leave straight for the underworld.

One way or another, Orpheus would find himself in front of Hades and his wife Persephone with a near endless line of phantoms and one giant three-head dog following him. In front of Hades, he plays a melody with all of his misery and grief. His fingers nimble and skilled despite the long travel, his voice lamenting and steady, he all but begged senses into the Gods and for him to be able to live his life together with Eurydice, for just one life. The Gods, then, moved by Orpheus love, allowed him to take Eurydice back, but under one condition.

“Eurydice will not go in front, not even for a single second. And Orpheus will pass through the gates without looking back, not even one glance. Until they returns to the land of the living, together.”

You said it with such longing in your eyes, the pain vivid in his mind. Nevertheless, you continued.

“Some people said the Gods are nefarious and thought of Orpheus as a foolish mortal, coming to their door and demanding his wife back without the bravery to follow her into the dark, they gave him a shadow and tricked him into looking back and let him rotted in his despair.” You look into his eyes and he can see himself in yours, “I don’t like those one that much, but it doesn’t change the meaning of the story.” You looked away before he can decipher his own expression, he wondered what he looked like to you at times.

“Then what about the others?”

“Arguably, they’re much more heartbreaking.”

Orpheus would walk on, away from the hallway filled with the coldness of the dark and the warm of the fire. On and away into the path leading back to the earth, all on his own at first. Then somewhere along the way, his lone footstep was joined by another. Soft pitter-patter right behind him.

Sometimes, it would falter, stopping for a bit, as if it have something to say. Sometimes, it’s chased his heels, a breeze by the nape of his neck, as if wanting to touch. But she never talks, and he would never touch her.

“There’s also version where he hears her calling for him too, but Orpheus stayed strong.”

You pulled a piece of paper on the coffee table, but unable to do anything else, you tear it into small pieces with the end of your nails as he laughs and nuzzles your still-imprisoned hand.

Loving Orpheus walked through the dark tunnel and sat on the boat as Charon paddled them back to the opening, holding strong. Until they’re at the gate, Orpheus at the front, Eurydice walking behind. He would be right there before the end of his journey, and then,

“-one way or another, he looked back.”

You stop to contemplate, then with a heavy heart, you sigh. “Some said he doubted himself at the last minute, some said he never trusted it in the first place. I don’t mind any of them, but there’s also one where Eurydice stumbled and he couldn’t help himself from turning around and catch her in his arm. That and the one where he forgot she also needs to walk out the gate, not just him.”

He huffs. “What a fool he is. I sure hope you’re not telling me all this just to call me a twit, darling.”

At that, you sprang up, “Hey! You say that because you’re cynical! The point isn’t that Orpheus is an idiot!”  Alastor briefly mourned your warmth as you wildly gestured and sputtered. “Orpheus looked back and in every one of them, he saw her for a single split of a second before she disappeared!” you all but bemoaned, as if crying to Zeus himself for justice. “He'd try to go back to the underworld, but no mortal is allowed in even once, let alone trying to come back again!”

Deflating next to him, you flopped down and loses all your fight and bites, ending it with a solemn, “In all the stories, he got torn to pieces by women. That’s how his story end.”

You sink into the cushions and turned to Alastor as he clapped and cheer for you, “That was a fantastic recounting! You truly have a way of commanding attention from the audience! I should really get you on one of my broadcast some day!”

Alastor wasn’t fibbing at all, he really does love your story. Your passionate nature for things you hold dear, to the point where you can’t ever properly capture them in anyway -albeit juvenile at times- was, and always will be his most favorite trait of yours (especially since it’s often about him. Alastor is nothing but a prideful man, one who’s proud to admit he'd preened like a peacock at your attention); but he might as well call it all a bore to your face, with how your brows drawn together and your one visible eye squinted at him. He can tell your energy for the day is running low, alongside the fact you’re somewhat miffed by something he can’t wrapped his head around, so he pulls you close.

“Now, why so quiet, dear? Did Hades took your voice along with that fool's beloved muse? You know yours truly would never dare to make a mockery of you or your stories.”

You dissected his ever-lasting smile, as if looking for any hint of a lie. Which, admittedly, bruised his pride a bit. But his jest did go on for a bit too long in the beginning, so he relented. When you’re satisfied with your conclusion, you turned away. Thinking deeply to yourself for mere seconds before you ask, “What do you think about the story though?”

“Is this one of those quizzes where there’s a wrong answer?” he grinned as you lean a bit closer, silently asking for permission before setting yourself into his side.

“If there’s one then you would’ve failed Al.”

“Ah, what a pity it would be~.” He set his arm around you and close his eyes. “What do I think of it…Why-”

With a snap of his fingers, he cheerfully exclaimed, “It’s quite the tale. Quite the tale if I have to be frank! Such a wonderful and tragic story with such wondrous derivations too!" He waves his arms in the air, "I can see why you would be fascinated with this! The romantic you are. Orpheus love for his dear Eurydice is truly admirable, truly. Though, I’d recommend him to be more careful next time. There were black smokes running from the candles, for crying out loud!”

Seemingly satisfied, although with the slightest hint of disappointment, you nodded along. “I don’t think there’s going to be a next time, but it was really silly. If black smoke starts to come out of my candles at my wedding? The wedding would just turn into baptism for the day. But I also get them though.” You nudges your head under his chin. “I mean, if you die of a snake bite right after our wedding, I’d also go to the underworld for you.”

Never mind the irony in the fact you two are in Hell, or the fact that his rotting heart beats just a bit faster at the idea of your casual tone while admitting you would go so far for him. He slyly chides, “Why, you want me to die by poison in a forest alone? How bewitchingly heartless of you~.”

“Hey! you wouldn’t be there alone…the snake should still hang around for long enough!”

Throwing his head back and shaking it left to right, his cackles fills the room as you hit him square in his shoulder while clamming your mouth shut.

“Ah, yes, yes. I won’t be alone at all, would I?” he sigh, “After all, even in the underworld, you would be right there, looking for me! Charming thing as you are, putting everyone in a trance with your words as you walk through the path leading to that grandiose fire palace!”

You opted to settled back into his shoulder afterwards, sounding more and more drowsy as the time catches up to you. “And then when I walked out of the place, you’ll be right behind me, right?” He grips you just a bit tighter, even when your voice are this quiet, he still wants to keep it to himself.

 “I will be right behind you~. And I will do everything I can just for you to turn back and look at me.”

Alastor would be slightly concerned for your silence, if not for the fact that when he cranked his head to peak at you, you looked like the saddest little rodent in the world, head lulling back and forth as you try to keep yourself awake and formulate any slight resemblance of a respond.

“…You know, dear? I wouldn’t mind you resting here for the night. If you don’t mind sleeping on this couch that is.”

“Hm?…Oh. Oh! Thanks! You can drop me here once you’re done with whatever you’re doing then…” He choose to not mention the fact that he’s also going to be on the same couch for the rest of the night, you don’t need to know he’ll be sitting here until morning comes.

“Al…” As he’s reaching for his book, assured that you were dozing off, you suddenly call out to him, voice weak and droning.

“Yes, dear?”

“Which version of Orpheus mistake do you like the most?”

His claws weaves through your hair as he tries to recall the page number, knowing he’ll returned to it in just a bit. “What a delightful question! Personally, I find the idea of the fool forgetting about the rules and turning around because he just couldn’t hold himself back oh-so amusing!” he find it amusing, because not in a million years would he ever made that mistake. “What about you, dear? What do you think?”

“I think I like all of them. Because in all of them, Orpheus failed because he love Eurydice so badly.”

With ears pricked up and hand held in the air, hovering above your head just before he shake the feeling off and resume. “Hm, I didn’t quite catch that-” Laughing, just a tad bit taken aback, he look at you again, “Care to explain your thoughts?”

You yawn and nestled yourself against him, he can hear the sound of his own heart in his throat. He can feel his left ear flickering against the top of his head.

“Orpheus wasn’t ever going to get Eurydice back, either by interference or by normal circumstances. Because he go to the underworld and made a deal due to his love for Eurydice.”

It's a tragedy in the making, a mistake set to happen over and over again. Because Orpheus is a fool, and he loved Eurydice with all of his heart.

“He find his way to the underworld for Eurydice after losing her, only to then lost her again despite the trouble he went through. If he really is a coward, then he would’ve just live on without her from the start.” You shivered, a wandering breeze ran from the inner swamp to your spot. The fire place burns just a bit hotter. “But he made Hades and Persephone listened to his mourning, walked all the way to the gate, and then tries to go back and do it all again.” With eyes knitted shut, you mumbled to yourself, “He must’ve been so relieved and happy to finally have her back after everything …”

“To the point he would forget, and Orpheus looked back.”

"Yeah... you got it..."

Your head back in his lap, like how this silly story time began, except this time Alastor feels beyond unnerved by the churning in his stomach. It’s not exactly unwelcome, but he finds himself utterly exasperated by the fact he can’t properly recall what he was supposed to be doing.

“Alastor?” He thought you would’ve fallen asleep by now, but your eyes are still ever so slightly open, staring at him while your muttering something barely comprehensible, “Do you think you would’ve looked back?”

Just as easily as you said it in your hazy state, he's at a lost for words. Unable to properly be acquainted with the taste of honest word just yet, Alastor bend down just enough to placed a chaste kiss on the tip of your nose and try to find his voice as you hummed.

“Let’s us hope that we won’t ever have to find out, will we?” It’s unbecoming of himself, but he’s placing his all on you not remembering his wavering expression. “How about you then?” he whispered, Alastor don’t pray, but he hope you’ll forget the pain in his voice. “Will you promise me you’ll look back for me, even if it means we will never meet again until you rotted away?”

“I will.”

As your breathing finally evens and falls into a rhythm underneath a red duvet, Alastor find himself smiling a near unfamiliar smile, claws tapping in rhythm as he take a moment to himself.

“How very cruel of you, mon Chéri.”

He started from the beginning, already forgotten most of the plot in a night. He would look back, he thought to himself, eyes scanning a story about an old man beloved new coat. If looking back means he loved you more than the air he breathes, then Alastor will always look back. But unlike the foolish Orpheus, he will be the only mortal that entered the underworld more than once, as many time as it will takes him, as long as it means he can find you again.

(some say that at the end of his life and the beginning of his death. Orpheus would find himself amongst the phantoms, lost and wandering. and as Persephone see his wandering shadow, she plucked him from his misery. when he open his eyes for the first time again since his death, Eurydice is there, as beautiful as the day he lost her.)

[spell-cleaver]

One thing I've always wondered is how Vader didn't sense either Luke (or Leia's for that matter) force presence on the first death star. I guess he was super caught up in with the whole "I sense the old coot who cut off my limbs amd left me to burn" thing, but I like to think obi-wan was masking the pair by just being obnoxiously loud with the force (the force equivalent of him walking into a room with multiple air horns and a boom box blasting away)

Wow, I had THOUGHTS about this one.

Honestly? I'm not a fan of the assumption in a lot of fic and by fans that it's super easy to passively sense someone in the Force. I have used it myself, of course, but I say from experience it restricts writing a lot while... not actually having a ton of backing in the films? (I'm referring to the films here, not to any other media, just because when I want to analyse lore, I only take them as canon; when I'm just looking for cool worldbuilding for a fic, though, anything goes.)

It's not just Leia that Vader doesn't sense on the Death Star. He doesn't sense Luke either, even though Luke is right there screaming when Vader kills Obi-Wan. It's more of an issue with Leia ofc because he literally used the mind probe on her but only finds that "her resistance... is considerable". An easy answer is that I headcanon Leia is a naturally good shielder, which is why she was never found on the Death Star and also why all of the Jedi in ROTS were surprised there were two babies - Leia had been naturally shielding herself, so they just sensed Luke.

But if we go more in-depth into the films' representations of the Force, Vader only senses Luke when he's actively chasing him as a pilot; he comments that "The Force is strong with this one" only when Luke is using the Force to aim and fire his shot. For me, this implies that you can only sense other Force users powerfully or distinctly when they're actively using the Force. I know why fic prefers not to go that way - I for one have used the "Vader senses Luke immediately" plot to get Luke captured many a time - but it's a fun thing to consider. Also, the Force is a soft magic system. It does functionally whatever the story needs it to.* Which is why Vader can sense Luke approaching Endor in ROTJ when Palpatine couldn't, but he had to be told by an officer when Luke's ship was approaching Cloud City in ESB.** There are many examples where a Force user just didn't sense someone else. Luke not sensing Yoda in ESB, Obi-Wan not sensing Dooku's presence on Geonosis, the Jedi non sensing Maul in TPM, the Jedi not sensing Palpatine for the whole prequel trilogy.

You could argue that those examples are of trained Force wielders shielding themselves, but I would argue that Qui-Gon can't sense Anakin in TPM. He doesn't show interest in Anakin until after they've left Watto's shop and Anakin starts talking to him. Anakin is the literal son of the Force and the most powerful Force wielder ever, but Qui-Gon was talking to Watto for a while without batting an eyelash at the small supernova in his shop. He didn't start to suspect until he heard about his racing, his instincts, spoke to him to notice his insights. Then still he spoke to Shmi about him to confirm his suspicions that "he can see things before they happen", watched him while he flew, and took a midichlorian count. I think the Force might well have been nudging Qui-Gon to look at Anakin, to suspect something, but I don't think he sensed Anakin himself as Force sensitive - at least, not immediately. Which is how I think you can explain all the instances of people going "I felt his presence." They were either using the Force, or familiar as Force sensitives to the person sensing them, or the Force wielder in general had an instinct that there was something special about this person, I should pay attention...

This has been a long ramble, but the short answer is: I headcanon Leia as naturally good at shielding. I think it fills multiple Star Wars plot holes.***

But I think it's also worth interrogating the fact that fandom seems to approach and conceptualise of the Force as a hard magic system, with clearly defined rules, rather than the soft magic system it is.**** Anything goes in Star Wars! It can be annoying if the writing doesn't sell it well enough, but I really love that aspect of the worldbuilding. And considering that the Force is a big fat plot device as well as giving people magical instincts for things that are Plot Relevant and things that aren't, I think it's a lot more interesting to consider that the Force isn't a superpower that lets you sense everything. Vader didn't detect Leia simply because he didn't. Sometimes they fail to do that. And it allows you to show growth in character and situation when that fact changes. Vader doesn't sense Luke in ANH until he's Plot Relevant to Vader's personal story. He doesn't sense Luke until he's fighting him in ESB. But in ROTJ, once they're both invested in their relationship and fated to meet, they're drawn together like stars caught in a mutual orbit.

That's the explanation I prefer. Because although it's less consistent, it's not unbelievable. It leaves uncertainty, mysticism, the chance for exploration in the galaxy. And most importantly, it tells a damn good story. Which, while this may not be true of people who love collecting lore and figuring the galaxy out, is ultimately what I'm here for.

*This is why so many random new powers can get added and explored in later movies and such, and also why I don't really get het up about it when they do add them. It just depends how you incorporate that new power. Usually, if a villain suddenly has a new power no one knew about (like Palpatine's lightning in ROTJ) it just ups the stakes, while if a hero suddenly has a new power it can feel like it cheapens their victory, like they haven't earned it; a deus ex machina. So messing about with Force powers is fine, it just depends how you incorporate them in the story.

**Admittedly this can be explained by the bond being formed when Luke learned the truth, but you know what I mean.

***I was only talking about the movies here, but there's also that moment in the Kenobi series where she's captured by Inquisitors and still no one notices she's Force sensitive??? There's just a lot of moments like this littered all over Star Wars, so this headcanon covers a lot of them.

****I kept using the terms hard/soft magic system without really explaining it here, but here's some good videos to dig into it: Soft Magic Systems | Hard Magic Systems

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

“Leona!! There’s my cute baby brother. It’s so good to see you.” Farena smiles as bright as the sun, it’s blinding. He carries Cheka in his arms, and Cheka waves and squeals. “Ojitan, we came to see you!!” “That’s right, you haven’t visited home in so long so we decided to come to you instead. How’ve you been, Leona? How is school? Have you made new friends? Anything fun happen recently?”

While writing this interaction, I tried to keep the dynamic of Mufasa and Scar and Simba and Scar in mind. The brothers themselves were often in opposition, but Scar often said phrases which could be easily misconstrued as playful or caring in the eyes of a child like Simba. I wanted to get similar vibes down for Leona interacting with Falena and Cheka!

Not me making Falena basically drop an Uncle Iroh line--

Family means Nobody is Left Behind or Forgotten.

The second Falena and Cheka paraded into his room, Leona bolted up from the bed. Every hair on his tail stood on end, his eardrums ringing, as his senses rushed to process the nightmare playing out before him: his brother and nephew announcing their arrival. All sunshine, and too much of it.

Leona burrowed back under his blankets and buried his face in a pillow. It’s just a bad dream, he told himself. They’ll go away if you ignore them for long enough.

“Leona! Are you still taking a cat nap? Rise and shine, baby bro!!” He felt a hand on his back. Meant to be encouraging, he presumed.

“Who exactly’s your ‘baby bro’ here?” Leona grumbled, wrapping the covers even more tightly around himself. He despised it—the reminder of being second born, and how Falena said it with such ignorant glee.

There was a soft laugh, and the hand on his back retreated. “Old habits die hard. I’m sorry, I know you’re a man now—but to me, you’ve always been my precious younger brother. Please, won’t you see us?”

A mass came upon his mattress, excited bouncing causing the springs to creak. “Wake up, Ojitan!! It’s time to get up and play with me and Papa!! You promised to show me how to play magift, remember?”

Dread immediately set into Leona. If he didn’t move soon, Cheka would be jumping on his belly instead of on his bed.

Defeated, Leona irritably dragged himself up, wearing his blanket like it was a cloak. It fell low, hooding messy bangs and shading his eyes. Bright green and discerning against the shadows.

“Ojitan’s up!! I did it, Papa, I did it!!” Cheka cheered. He spun in a circle, pumping his tiny fists.

His father scooped him up with a hearty laugh. “Atta’ boy! You got your uncle good!”

“If you’ll pardon the interruption to your merriment,” Leona cut in with a drawl, “to what do I owe this pleasure? It’s not every day when the King of the Sunset Savanna deigns to walk among the masses.”

Falena’s cheer faltered. His sibling’s biting sarcasm cut deep, even after all these years of growing accustomed to it. “You don’t need to be so formal with me, Leona,” he advised patiently. “We’re family.”

“Fine.” Leona crossed his arms. He didn’t speak the counter that was on his mind: but family doesn’t have to like each other. “Where are your bodyguards? It’s dangerous for high profile people to roam the campus unattended, especially today, when the NRC gates are open to outsiders.”

“We have our ways of slipping away from them. Don’t we, champ?” Falena ruffled his son’s hair, and Cheka beamed a little too proudly.

… So that’s where the furball learned it from. He shouldn’t have been surprised.

“A king and a prince ditching their royal babysitters in favor of singing and dancing the day away… The people would be simply beside themselves if they knew,” Leona simpered. (A smirk tugged at the corner of hjs mouth at the thought of the old coot Kifaji’s panic at losing sight of his sovereign.)

“No one in the world would rather tend to royal duties than spend time with his family. I certainly wouldn’t.”

Leona scowled.

“Ojitan looks kinda scary.“

“He’s just making a funny face at you,” Falena reassured his son.

“Oooh, I get it!! I can make a funny face too!! Watch me!!” Hooking his index fingers, Cheka pried the sides of his mouth and wiggled his tongue. “Blegh!!”

“Real charming there, kid,” Leona said dryly.

“Thanks!!” The reply was earnest, not understanding one bit of the edge to Leona’s voice.

Falena smiled warmly at his son. "… Cheka, I have an idea. Why don’t you run along and prepare the magift equipment to play a round? You can get some help and form teams by asking the nice young men around Savanaclaw.”

“That sounds really fun!! But Papa… what about you and Ojitan?”

Falena gently set Cheka down. A hand found its way into the lion cub’s mane, ruffling it once more. “Your uncle and I will be out in a moment to join you. We need to talk about something important first.”

It was good enough of an answer for Cheka.

“Okay!! I’ll do a good job, promise!! We’ll have the most funnest magift game ever!”

“That’s my boy.”

Cheka took of racing out and down the hallway. His eager, high-pitched voice carries through the wide open spaces. Inquiries directed at passing students, asking if they wanted to play, or if they knew where the right gear was.

Falena waited for the noise to subside—for Cheka for be out of earshot—before he met Leona’s gaze again. His younger brother’s expression was sullen, gleaming eyes almost sunken into the darkness of his blanket hood.

“So kind of you to grant me a private audience, your majesty.”

Falena did not back away. He glanced at the unoccupied space on Leona’s bed.

“May I?”

“By all means. It’s not like you didn’t already barge in unannounced. What’s the use in denying you a seat?”

“… Thank you.”

Falena sat gingerly for a man of his size, careful to not disturb his brother. The bed frame creaked, now bearing the weight of two fully grown Kingscholars. A shared family legacy between them.

“… I know if was rude of us to surprise you like that. I apologize. I couldn’t help it. I wanted to see how you’d been doing at school.”

“A text or a call would have been more than enough.”

“Ah, but then you’d leave it on read or pretend the signal was bad and you were breaking up.”

Leona stared incredulously at his brother. Falena grinned like a cat that had gotten to the cream.

“I know most of your tricks by now.”

“Oh, good. I’ll have to brainstorm new ones to outwit you.”

“A text or a call wouldn’t have been enough anyway. I wanted to see the school that changed you for myself.” Falena gestured around them, at the blue sky waiting beyond the window. “And, of course, I wanted to see my changed brother for myself as well.”

“You’re mistaken. I haven’t changed at all. I’m still as miserable of a wretch as I ever was.”

“I beg to differ. You visited home for the first time in forever on winter break. You even brought some friends with you to Catch the Tail.”

“Whatever it takes to placate you and Kifaji,” Leona snorted.

“I think you’re deflecting. Big brothers know these kinds of things. It’s like my secret sense.” Placing his hands on the bed, Falena tilted his head back. His eyes were on the ceiling, but his words were directed at Leona. “You always avoided coming home before. Never quite liked it. Now you’re making a little more of an effort of it, even if it’s difficult for you.”

“Whatever would give you that impression, brother dearest?”

“Come on, Leona. I don’t have bugs for brains. I can tell when you’re uncomfortable or unhappy, or when you don’t want to do something. You’ve always been the stubborn type.”

Leona cursed internally. The palace servants would have called it the king’s sensitivity—but to the younger brother, it was nothing more than an annoyance.

Falena chuckled, elbowing Leona. “Something happened at school recently, didn’t it? Something that made you reconsider.”

Leona held his tongue. There was so much to tell, and none of it he wanted to be told.

I hurt other students to get a chance to prove myself. I plotted a stampede to take out the leader of a rival dorm. I Overblotted.

I conspired with fresh meat to infiltrate and steal. I dusted an octopunk’s contracts. I put together a stage.

I got hauled off to a secret underwater research facility and experimented on. I fought ancient Phantoms. And I… thought about the past, the future... and my role in it.

I survived all of that. I’m still here.

“A lot of things have happened,” Leona said vaguely. “There’s nothing for you to get your tail in a twist over. School's uneventful. It’s just me and my good chums livin’ it up.”

"Chums?" Falena's face brightened considerably. "Aw, so you have made friends after all! I'm so proud of you for finally opening up, Leona!"

He recoiled with disgust. "Hah?! Don't give me that 'power of friendship' bull crap, it sounds like something the Daikon Radish Sprout would quote from one of the shows he obsesses over."

"Don't be shy!! You've even got cute little nicknames for your buddies! I bet you stay up late into the night to talk about your hopes and dreams too."

"Hardly."

Falena laughed at the automatic, snappy response. Only he, the sunlight to Leona's shadows, could. "You're doing just fine. I'm glad."

"You're relieved that I won't disgrace the royal family."

Falena shook his head, letting red locks fall over his shoulders. "I was never angry or upset with you. I was sad because I was afraid you had lost your way in the dark. But you managed to find your way to the light again with the help of your friends. That's what I'm glad about."

Ever the brother's keeper, like a gnat to a wildebeest.

"Hmph. Despite what you say, you've yet to get out of my fur."

"As I've said, old habits die hard." Falena attempted at a chuckle, but it came out awkwardly. "... Say, Leona. Have you given some thought into what you'll do for your internship next year? Then there's your graduation...

"Things are changing so fast. It feels like just yesterday when father was still well, and we were still cubs wrestling in the savanna. Kifaji would tell us off, but we'd conspire to sneak off to explore the Elephant Graveyard anyway. You'd always beat me at chess, and Kifaji would beat you at your game. We'd dare each other to eat bugs from a pile, trying to find the one that tastes like chicken first.

"Still children, not yet king and prince, not yet shouldering the weight of our adult responsibilities. Now the older we get, the more and more we seem to drift apart, and the worse off father becomes."

"You're blabbering," Leona sighed, lowering the covers he had been cocooned in. His chocolate mane and lion ears made themselves known. "What's the point in reminiscing? We can never return to those days. Your eyes should be set on a future littered with prizes. You'll never seize them if you continue to fixate on the past."

"You're right." Falena smiled, looking properly at Leona still nestled in his sheets--but slowly inching out of them. "I've said this before, and I'll say it again. You're an intelligent young man, with a good head on your shoulders. You have skills and strengths that I could never dream of having."

"You're going to start on another one of your cooperation spiels, aren't you." Leona said it as a statement, not as a question.

"I hope you don't see it that way. No, I... I'd like to join hands with you again, brother." Falena offered an open hand, his entire being shining with hope. "Like we did in the past, this time for the future. Together, I firmly believe we can usher in a new era of peace and prosperity for the Sunset Savanna."

"What..."

Leona stared at the waiting hand like it was a bear trap with a tasty morsel. If he reached, those steel jaws would clamp around him, hurting him once more.

"What makes you think I'll accept the same speech you've thrown at me for years and years? It's the same song and dance."

"I know you, Leona. And I know that you must have had a change of heart, however small it may be. Here, at Night Raven College, you've become different."

Falena's fingers curled, and the hand retracted back to his lap. "You don't need to give me your answer now. Please, just consider it seriously. That would be enough for me."

"As always, you're endlessly optimistic."

"We balance each other out."

The sun had risen high in the sky, crowning another day. A fresh wave of heat pervaded the room.

Leona's blanket slipped to his waist, the material pooling at his legs. He emerged from the covers like a lion from its den.

"How fortunate," Leona purred, "killing two birds with one stone. A diplomatic meeting and a courtesy call rolled into one."

If only you were usually this efficient with handling your duties.

From down the hallway came the tmp, tmp tmp of footsteps. They grew progressively louder by the second, like a cheer swelling into an uproar. People coming closer, a crowd gathering.

A new game about to start.

“But unfortunately for you, my most exalted elder brother Falena…”

Leona stood at last, casting off his blanket in one glorious motion. It fluttered to the ground, no longer needed to shelter the beastman from the world--nor the world from him.

“I don’t play by your rules," Leona announced, his lips pulled back into a cocksure smirk.

BAM!!

At that moment, an out-of-breath Cheka came sprinting into the room, thrusting the door open. He was followed by a stampede of footsteps, hoots, and hollers--a whole pack of Savanaclaw students wielding brooms and a golden frisbee.

Through rosy cheeks, the cub declared, "Papa!! Ojitan!! We're ready!"

Chanting students echoed his sentiment.

"Perfect timing, furball." Leona languidly stepped off of his mattress, hands in his pockets. He was a king descending from his throne to be among his people.

He cast a glance at Falena, still seated on the bed, and felt his smirk widen. "I'm doing things my own way... and that includes wiping the floor with you in magical shift. Isn't that right, boys?"

The group broke out into rapturous barking. Stomping, clapping.

"Yeeeeah!! Let's body him, Leona-san!!"

"You could totally take him, dorm leader!!"

"Leona-senpai, fight, fight, fight!"

Oblivious Cheka, at the head of the group of absurdly burly young men, threw his arms up and squealed. "Everyone's so excited to play together!"

"Haha, you have such an enthusiastic group of supporters, Leona." Falena rose from the bed himself and turned to his brother. Sun and shadow, staring at each other in the face. "I would be honored to play a match with you. How about you and Savanaclaw on one team, and myself and the royal procession on the other team? We could ring up Kifaji to referee."

"What about me, Papa? What can I do?"

"Hmm... well, it'd be dangerous for a young one like you to play against older kids and adults. Maybe you could fetch water for the players?"

"Awww..." Cheka's ears flattened, his tail hanging in dismay. "But bringing water's not playing."

"Your dad's right, furball. Listen to him." Leona groaned, nudging the child. "You don't want to get caught up in the crossfires."

"Huh? Crossfires? There's no fire though."

"Oh, there is."

Leona's eyes, an immaculate shade of emerald circled by shadows, glinted with newfound promise and vigor.

This time, I'm settling the score... by my own rules.

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

Who do you think would be friends with whom between the Fatui and the people from Guili Assembly?

Say, the Tsaritsa and Labolas 'coz they're both Childe's mother figures.

What about Arlecchino, Guizhong and the others?

you're probably right about the tsaritsa and labolas, but i think the tsaritsa and guizhong would also get along rather well. also the tsaritsa and morax. that woman will adopt literally everyone that looks younger than her. arlecchino in this au is Actually A Good Parent to the orphanage kids, so she'd probably end up being all like "go spend time with your boyfriend, Tartaglia, i'll take care of the kids" and all the children of the assembly would immediately adopt her as their wine aunt from a different world. she'd also get along great with skirochka. i think you can add pulcinella to this as well. i think columbina and sandrone would get along nicely with madame ping, and sandrone would be like... fondly exasperated of guizhong's needling about how her wheelchair works. capitano would probably get along rather well with morax and depth claws. and like. zhihao. it'd be funny. i think moon carver and mountain shaper would inadvertedly adopt pierro and pulcinella into their old coots club. pulcinella would enjoy chatting with them while pierro just sits there wondering what his life has become. he'd never admit he actually finds the topics of conversation interesting. as for the rest, i honestly don't know. i think pantalone and guizhong and morax would have quite a bit to talk about, but i find it kinda funny to think that pantalone would get along like a house on fire with urth (sal vindagnyr's princes). i know she was hardly in the story but i had a bit of personality thought up for her and she'd get along great with pantalone. they would bully dottore to hell and back together. i'd also like to think he'd take a liking to nadezhda.

i think scara and trail clearer would get along well. also aspasia. like i think if you sit scara down to just chat with a pair of normal, kinda quiet, kinda lowkey ladies without any expectations he'd rather enjoy himself. free therapy. dottore would NOT let him live it down though.

i have no idea who dottore and signora would get along with. signora i could see ending up with moon carver and mountain shaper in the old coots group just to bully pierro with pulcinella and share gossip with them.

dottore i still got no clue. i guess like. genuinely? if he finds out about ajax' planning to see how he can bring about the blorbos' existence? i think he'd get overly invested in that. like run the calculations make the science do the maths kinda invested. he's a researcher at heart, and if he's not a piece of garbage in this au, then he's not doing reprehensible stuff on the sidelines. ajax comes in one day to visit and offhandedly mentions his idea to arlecchino, who comments it to dottore without really thinking much of it. when ajax next drops by the madman finds him and sits him down for a five-hour presentation on genetics and science and probability and the maths behind the entire operation. he saddles him with a backpack full of folders and papers that ajax can hardly read bc dottore's handwriting is absolute dogshit, and sends him off back to teyvat. ajax has no clue wtf happened. guizhong finds the entire ordeal hilarious.

[silent-sanctum]

Do you do AUs? If you do, may I request Jotaro x fem!reader where he is a mafia boss? 💖💖💖

Oh anon, I absolutely love writing AUs, they're actually my specialty ^^ So I had a nice time writing this one for you. Everyone say thank you to anon for the request~ Granted, mafia aus are the fics I'm not too well-versed with, but I did my best! Hope you and the others enjoy it!💖

Lowlife Princess - Jotaro x Reader

word count: 9.9k+

3 minuscule clangs echoed throughout the darkened ballroom, followed by the screams of pain.

How unfortunate was it to think that this space used to harbor so much events may it be a drinking fest to drown the glutinous, a town hall meeting to indulge the corrupt, hell maybe even an orgy to satisfy the lustful.

Though with a couple of crimson smeared on the walls, unhinged doors cast aside useless on the floor, ruined furniture rid of their contents, and shattered glass from tall windows, the once grandeur of the hall has now been reduced to a decrepit room for slaughter.

All because the greedy politician couldn’t pay his debt.

Within the four corners, men in tailored suits stood by with an assortment of weaponry in their hands- a barbed bat, bladed steel, warm-tipped guns, etc. They remained still and stood to block every path of escape, watching their leader circle around his victim with a simple revolver in hand.

Around him, countless bodies of his guards lay motionless. All done by his hands. Red filled the spaces unoccupied by their corpses. His family was left unharmed but kept under close surveillance in case they try to flee and report.

And of the old coot? He’s bound to the singular chair in the middle of the room, stripped down to his sweat-soaked undershirt and piss stained boxers. 2 bullet wounds punctured his thighs, one each, bleeding profusely down his legs, while the last blew his right ear right off.

With the man stopping before him, the politician whimpered. “I-I swear the money was on its way 2 days ago! You can check my messages for proo-”

“I don’t give a fuck about your messages,” the boss gritted out, gripping the chair’s arms to lean forward with a deathly glare. “You owe us a shitload of funds and this is the third time you haven’t paid what’s due.”

This was also him being extra generous mostly due to this guy’s history with his family, but at the first sign of noncompliance, he won’t be tracing his roots just to spare one influential man. There are many other fishes in the sea after all.

He eyed the darkening skies outside the window and clicked his tongue. “It’s getting late. Might as well loot all your possessions and hack into your accounts to find my severance pay.” At the snap of his fingers, 4 of his men bowed and got to work in an instant.

With a cock of his head, another brandished a knife to slice the ropes off of the quivering politician. The adult immediately planted his face on the cold floor in a full bow, still whimpering. “T-Take all that I have! Just p-please let me go! I’ll find more ways to pay you more!”

The leader pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his blood-tipped gun, not looking at him. “I already let you go.”

A sliver of hope grew on his pathetic face. “Does that mean you’ll spare me?”

“No.”

Another bang echoed within the spacious area and the politician dropped to the ground with the others, a bullet lodged through his forehead.

He spared no more time watching his corpse rot on the floor and turned on his heels with the swish of his long coat. His men stood aside as he crossed through the door frame. “Report to me the details of the ‘transactions’ at my office. Understood?”

“Yes sir!”

▬▬ι══════════════ι▬▬

Jotaro Kujo was what one would describe as “ruthless yet reasonable”.

Being the 3rd patriarch of his family bloodline at the age of 28, he was a smart figure with a penchant for methodical violence. He had a lot responsibilities managing the Sangyosei, one of Japan’s most dangerous yakuza clans, infamous for its reputation of gaining followers through material benefit and killing traitors with prolonged torture.

It wasn’t hard but the fact that the 1st patriarch, Jonathan, established the Joestar mafia lineage in Europe and the 2nd, Joseph, in North America, it made the whole structuring a whole hierarchy from the ground up a hassle to deal with.

But it took him a couple months of proving what he’s capable of to his lackeys and enemies, until the Japanese mafia has solidified its place with its current reputation.

And while power felt good to many, he would thrive in it if he didn’t have to deal with … other matters. Paperwork. Interviews. Secret meetings. Training. Dealing with backstabbers.

Jotaro needed a break once in a while. Good grief.

He stepped out of his car, unbothered by the amount of blood painted on his long black coat, and walked through the clan headquarters' main entrance, followed by his men behind him. “Good day, sir.” Two maids bowed upon entry.

“Kakyoin, any updates on the tasks I told about earlier?” Jotaro paid no attention to the ladies’ greetings, instead shrugging off his coat to dump into their arms for wash. “I’m expecting an increase of numbers.”

A man with red curled hair decked in a sharply-pressed olive green suit stepped aside from the line of soldiers, a tablet in hand displaying the needed information. “Yes sir. Accordingly, I’ve received reports from Polnareff that whatever Takahashi had in his possessions, they managed to sack everything valuable he had in his manor and wired all his saved money into your account.”

He handed over the device into the boss’ hand as the two reached the top of stairs where his office situated. Jotaro flicked through the images of accessories and priceless décor and read the success notification of money transferred. “And the clean-up?”

“Avdol already ordered them to get rid of the bodies,” Kakyoin said as he opened the door for the raven-haired to enter. Behind them, two stationary guards stood by to shut them close.

And behind shut doors, Jotaro could finally let that menacing mask off his face for once and slump onto his chair, hanging up his hat on the nearby rack beside him. “This is the 5th time someone hasn’t met deadlines. Why do I still bother offering at this point…”

“Well, you could either say it was due to Ms. Holly’s influence on you or your great grandfather’s values,” Kakyoin said.

The boss pinched the bridge of his nose with the hints of a headache coming any minute. “Damn their persevering good will. Makes me wonder why Jonathan started a business this shady in the first place.”

“Hey boss! We’re back!”

The doors burst open to welcome a silver-haired Frenchman with the indigo suit and upbeat personality, and a dark-skinned man beside him who received all the embarrassment for his companion with his persimmon robes. “Polnareff, what did I say about keeping the noise down?”

“Ah come on, it’s just us here. Let loose for a bit.”

Aside from his numerous men working for him, Jotaro kept a close circle of guards around him, those who had better skills and attributes than the rest. Kakyoin, the one who offered his services in exchange for protection from the Kyuketsuki clan, was the one responsible directing his orders to the others and the one who obtains details about almost everything.

Polnareff and Avdol were both transferred from the American branch under the instructions of Joseph Joestar. Those two shared the same role of leading selected groups of men to do Jotaro’s bidding.

Years of working together had granted these 3 adults privilege to be informal with their leader and the latter to be more lenient towards them. However, they all knew very well not too take his generosity for granted.

“Well… what’s next on the itinerary boss?” Pol asked, reaching into his suit to pull out a lighter for a smoke. With his cigarette lit, he tossed the silver item into Jotaro’s waiting hand.

“Imports from Italy are scheduled to arrive at the docks tomorrow dawn.” He brought the small flame to the tip of his cigarette and flicked the lid close with a tiny clang. Blowing out a puff of smoke, he continued. “But I’ve also heard that bastard’s planning a raid to get rid of the stationed guards and loot all the guns from their crates.”

“Should we inform them of the attack?” Avdol spoke out.

“No need. I already phoned the captain of the ship to change the time of arrival from dawn to late evening. Those who were standing by have already received the new schedule and to prepare themselves in the probable case Brando’s lackeys do proceed with the raid.” The leader said, eyeing the map and other paperwork on his desk.

“And the cops?”

“Sent representatives to deal with them. If they do what they’re told accordingly, then we’re in the clear.”

All three nodded. “How about you,” Kakyoin said. “Are you coming with us to inspect the imports?”

Jotaro huffed and pressed the cigarette butt against the image of a blond man smirking at him through the photo.

The cool surface of his revolver grew prominent as he said with a sneer. “Wouldn’t miss an opportunity to take him down along with his bloodthirsty crew.”

▬▬ι══════════════ι▬▬

It was 11:30 in the evening and Jotaro walked through the alleyways leading to the docks with his men trailing behind him.

Prior to his departure from headquarters, he asked for any details if any sudden appearances transpired between 5 to 6 in the morning. Reports told him that several men did arrive fully armed with weapons, bearing the fang and blood tattoos on their skin.

And they were dispatched of at first sight.

Throughout the rest of the day, the raven-haired’s guards continued to monitor the area with sharp eyes, just in case the bastard tried to sneak another raid in an attempt to claim territory. He had another group of guards keeping an eye on nearby windows just in case someone dared to take him out in the clear.

But he arrived at the place the same time the ship delivered his goods with the captain and his crew members lowering the last of them onto the pavement. Around him, his men dispersed to secure the area and stood guard while their leader approached further.

The nearby street light allowed him to glance down and notice the visible red smears still on the wood panels below him and on those surrounding the landing docks. There’s the confirmation.

Though as he was about to move past the two buildings, Avdol spoke behind him. “Boss, you should stay hidden for now. Just so you wouldn’t feel too exposed.”

Jotaro regarded him for a split second and gave one nod. “Open them then but I still plan to have a personal talk to the captain after they load the goods.”

“We’ll just inform about your request to see him. Where shall the meeting take place?” Kakyoin said.

“Bring him to the nearest room here. Clear the area and make sure no one is around. I’d rather meet back at HQ but I know the captain has a tight schedule to follow.”

No further questions were asked and together with his two other personal guards, the red-haired turned to his tablet and went off around the corner.

Jotaro watched Polnareff and Avdol order people to open the crates, and felt satisfaction fill him as soon as he saw the items lifted from the sea of white Styrofoam- Beretta PM12 and MAC-10 sub-machine guns, Beretta 92 and Staccato CS handguns, numerous batches of ammunition, combat knives, bulletproof vests, and a couple of expensive wines and pasta as courtesy from Giorno Giovanna, Passione’s mafia boss- a subset branch of the Joestar business that Jotaro made connections with beforehand.

He shoved a hand into his pant pocket and had the other reach for his phone, informing his assistant to make sure the transaction wired to the young blond end up in success.

Though as he finished with the call, a commotion occurred in the direction of where he came from. He turned to see what caused the ruckus and stepped one foot back at the pack of rats worming around him.

Tiny scattering footsteps grew into regular human footsteps, echoing louder as it drew close. Jotaro reached for his revolver in an instant-

Only for a woman to jump out of the shadows in a panic and grab him with no ounce of decency, hiding behind him. “Help! Help me please!” The fuck? Informing his men of the intruder should be done by now, but she continued to point into the alleyway. “Some thugs are chasing me down! Hide me please!”

On cue, a couple more footsteps could be heard from a distance alongside the audible squabbling of men stating that they heard someone run here. Jotaro kept a firm stance and fixed his attention to the growing noise until a mob of 15 men came barging in with flushed faces and rabid mouths.

He gave one quick scan down their body to find the semblance of some tattoos belonging to a clan only to find none. The leader cocked his head. Just a bunch of predators I see.

One of them walked in front with a bottle of sake in hand with a hiccup. “Oi… you there… I think you should give her to us.”

“Why should I?”

The drunk laughed, turning to his fellow drunkards. “Would you look at this punk?” He spat on the ground. “You gonna regret denying us-”

“Take one step forward and you’ll be the one regretting.” The guy gave one last chuckle and put one foot forward-

Bang.

The sound rang throughout the alley, followed by the dull thud of his body collapsing onto the ground with a bullet wound in his head. Behind him, the woman yelped as she covered her ears from the sudden shot. The remaining mob staggered back in shock.

As if he wasn’t stupid enough, two more of them ran to the yakuza leader’s direction in a blind fit of rage, only for them to meet the same fate as the first with two more blasts of his revolver.

The rest of them cowered at the sight of their fallen brethren and froze on the spot. Behind Jotaro, his own men came running in at the sound of gunfire, and the rushing footsteps were enough for the mob to make a run for it. “Gun them down. All of them and make sure no one escapes.”

No response was needed as Polnareff charged into the shadows with his line of men, while Avdol and Kakyoin remained by their leader’s side.

“You…”

He grabbed the lady’s wrist and kept her securely in his grasp. “You’re coming with us to HQ to sort this little ‘mess’ you brought in today.”

She said nothing but offered him furrowed brows and a scowl in exchange.

“Kakyoin, have the captain wait for one of my calls and tell Polnareff to return as soon as they’re dealt with. And Avdol, secure the imports and bring them to base as soon as possible.”

“I have… other matters to deal with right now.”

Just as they retreated back into the shadows, the resounding gunshots echoed through the night.

▬▬ι══════════════ι▬▬

“Why am I dragged into this?” she said as she stood in the middle of the room, constantly glancing at the men watching her. “I’m the one being chased down yet somehow I’m also guilty enough to be here?”

“You’re here because you trespassed into yakuza territory and grabbed me unceremoniously that would have ended you dead like your chasers,” Jotaro said in return, leaning against his chair. “Consider yourself lucky that I left you alive.”

“Okay fine! I get it was rude for me to just throw myself to you out of nowhere and I’m thankful that you didn’t shoot me immediately,” she rambled on but the leader merely cocked a disinterested brow. “I’ll stop talking then. What do you want? Why did you bring me here in the first place?”

“Bold words for someone trapped in a lion’s den,” Pol spoke up, chuckling.

To which the woman averted her gaze to him with intentional judgment. “First time? What are you gonna do? Shoot me?” The Frenchman spluttered and reached for his gun, only for Avdol to stop him with a visible ‘what are you doing’ look to his face.

“Let’s start things of with some basic details about yourself. Start with your name-”

“Now why the hell would why-”

Multiple guns pointed to her, causing her to shut up with arms up in the air. “Your name, age, and occupation.”

Jotaro heard the lady mumble to herself before heaving a sigh and answering his query. “Y/N. 27. Investigator. You can check my pockets for my ID or badge or whatever.”

Avdol did what she said and found her identification card and badge, both having her in the pictures clear as day. “An informant and detective..,” the Egyptian muttered. “Boss, if we consider her occupation and… distasteful behavior, this could spell trouble for us in the long run.”

“Distasteful?!”

“I hear you Avdol, though with the information learned, we might be able to benefit from it as well.” The raven-haired turned to the woman as he poured himself a glass of imported whiskey. “I presume you’re smart enough to know that by having one yakuza clan save you from those drunks, you’re indebted to us.”

A rebuttal wanted to leave her mouth but with a swallow, she nodded. “Should’ve expected it.”

“You have two choices,” the clan leader presented a wad of bills and a pistol on his desk. “You pay us about 1 000 000 yen for our job and for you to shut up about this whole ordeal-”

“What?! But I don’t have that much mon-”

“Or,” Jotaro held up a hand, not finished with his sentence. “Offer your services to the Sangyosei Clan.”

All three of his personal men turned to him with surprise. Even Y/N widened her eyes at the choice of words. “B-Boss what?”

“Couldn’t we at least just make her one of our eyes in the city?” Kakyoin butted in. “We’ll just make sure she doesn’t end up spilling intel about the underground.”

“It won’t be permanent,” he said in return. “Only for a year or for how long I deem it to be.”

“Does she even know how to fight? Our job isn’t exactly a walk in the park.” Polnareff added to the cherry-haired’s concerns.

“That’s for us to see.” Jotaro snapped his fingers, prompting the attention of everyone in the room. “With the exception of my personal guards, I order for every man in this room to attack her. No guns or blades.”

The lady was appalled at the sudden decision and took in all 6 suited men with their fists up, ready to charge. She made sure to turn to the boss and cocked her head, tonguing the inside of her cheek. “Asshole.”

Admittedly, he didn’t know what to expect but he was curious on how developed she was in terms of combat. At the first advance of a guard, Y/N stepped to the side and elbowed the guy in the ribs, before dodging another incoming punch aimed for her face.

In return, she returned the favor and swept a kick on his knees, toppling him down. On her feet again, she lunged forward to the next guard, grabbed his arm, and twisted around, eliciting a yell from the man. Planting her foot on his back, she launched the guard onto the other one, knocking them both down.

With nimble feet and quick reflexes, she evaded the swings the remaining men had for her. Though, at an opening, Y/N ducked through them and landed a direct chop to one guard’s nape, dodging the last one’s last attempt at a jab. With his momentum lost, she returned the punch with one of her own, delivering a blow straight to his face.

To her luck, she was near the boss’s desk and with no hesitation, went for the pistol and aimed the gun at Jotaro.

“Boss!”

But the raven-haired only smirked, watching as Y/N tried to pull the trigger only for nothing but a dull click to come out. “Impressive. You’ve indeed excelled in your combat training for you to handle 6 grown men with no weapon… aside from reaching the fake model to shoot me with.”

“How’d you-”

“Quick look into your online profile and messages addressed to martial art trainers both new and old will do wonders in providing me information. Combined with your fearless attitude and your chosen career path, one could put two and two together.”

In a flash, Y/N yelped as he swiped the fake gun off her hand in a second, and pointed his revolver to her in the next. “Makes me wonder why you couldn’t fend off the bastards in the alleyways.”

“They were more than double of the men you have in this room, most armed with something. Even I have my limits boss-nim,” she scowled.

Jotaro huffed and gestured for Polnareff and Avdol to move. “Take her to her quarters. I’ll have my men fetch your essentials from your residence and you can start training tomorrow.”

Y/N clicked her tongue with irritation, but allowed the two guards to bring her to the ordered location. At their exit, he exhaled one long sigh, removing his hat to run his fingers through his black curls.

“I hope you know what you’re doing…” Kakyoin muttered quietly.

▬▬ι══════════════ι▬▬

What was promised to be a year or two turned to five.

And the next thing Jotaro knew was that Y/N rose in ranks, earning her a spot in his close circle of guards alongside the three men.

She was his right hand man.

And in an unexpected turn of events, he had strange fondness for her.

He could still remember how she performed during her first few weeks at headquarters despite her initial wish of just wanting to get out of her unfortunate situation. The leader had watched her sessions and monitored her performances.

He had to give it to this lady- she knew her way with weaponry as she was with physical combat.

She had near to perfect aim whenever she shot with the gun of her choice, had prowess in handling knives around their test dummies, and had able to withstand daily endurance tests that checked how good her stamina was.

With further research, Jotaro found out that you were an honors graduate at a police university that just so happened to have a club centered around martial arts. He double checked the images depicting her in the institute’s uniforms, scanned several lists she was in.

In every single one, she was there and he didn’t have to search further when her name would often be among the top students.

No wonder Y/N had no issues talking with criminals at their home base.

As days passed and she was given her own set of suits post training period, she was allowed in fulfilling assignments and thus followed orders from either Polnareff and Avdol to made sure whatever was asked was done, may it be to keep watch on a specified target, gun down non-compliant debtors, or secure an important object from a neighboring prefecture.

In the process, Y/N managed to be close friends with the two group leaders and his assistant:

“Hey you know, you’re not that bad as I initially thought.” Polnareff laughed, patting Y/N’s back.

“Really? But I do recall you wanting to shoot me when I was extra bratty that day…”

“Well who wouldn’t? Besides, you’re cool now. You do your job as a goon pretty well!”

She scoffed with a smile and a glass of alcohol in hand. They did come from a new mission to kill a new target and now they’re here in a small pub with blood splattered clothes. “Now that I think of it, I’d be annoyed by myself too, but… you’re right. After all, I do my job the best to my capabilities. Whatever it is.”

“To that I give my cheers to.”

“Is everything secured?”

“Hm, with Group A having returned fully loaded from floors 3 and 4 and Group B having cleared ground and 2nd floor and have helped with the other men, then I’d consider this a successful raid.”

Avdol smiled to himself, contented with a cleared task. “Though I have to say, it’s quite surprising that the Viper gang had several meditation books kept in one of the shelves.”

“And you’re saying this why?”

“Well, outside the bloodshed stress that I found myself in, I’d take most of my free time meditating in my room.”

“A zen person I see,” Y/N chuckled. “I figured you’d be one to let out some pent-up hassle through relaxing means.”

She crossed her arms and sighed. “I doubt our job won’t get any easier so Avdol-san,” you brought up one of the gang’s meditation books for the dark-skinned man to see. “Mind teaching me some of these relaxing methods you’ve mastered?”

With the rest of Jotaro’s men now heading back, the red-haired had stalled for a moment in the area of the interview to record the details of the events, making him more vulnerable to potential-

“Kakyoin!”

He turned around in shock at the sudden ambush of enemies heading straight for him. Though the guy had his gun prepared, he wouldn’t last too long. He pocketed his tablet in an instant and shot a couple of men down.

Y/N made the risk of running back into the fray to pull Kakyoin out of the line of fire. However, in the process of doing so, two bullets grazed her thigh and bicep, causing her to grunt in pain. “Shit! What the hell were you doing just standing there, you idiot?!”

Still on the run and frantic, the assistant reached for his phone to call for the men to return immediately, emphasizing the injury of his companion.

They ducked into the many lines of trees and hid themselves in a small cave hidden underneath moss-covered rocks and shrubs. “If your call did make it through and we keep quiet here, then we’ll make it out here alive.”

“Why’d you save me? You were already out of danger’s reach.”

She stared at him, stunned as if he spoke a different language. “Are you kidding? Don’t you know how mafia rules work? And I’m saying this as someone who’s newer to the clan.” She rose an arm to swat him, but forgot about her wound that she hissed in pain. “No one leaves brethren behind.”

Kakyoin pulled out a handkerchief to temporarily bandage the wounded spot. Y/N offered her own to deal with the one on her thigh. Just then, he let out a silent chuckle and she stared at him with confusion. “You’re right. I get too invested in my job too much that I tend to forget the most common of senses.”

She rolled her eyes with a disbelieving smile. “You sir are indeed an idiot.”

Beyond their small hideout, multiple rounds of gunfire rang throughout the forest together with the panicked screams of the attackers. “You’re gonna tell this to the boss, aren’t you?”

His acquaintance leaned on her good arm and responded with a cheeky smile.

Naturally, months of working together would eventually lead the once-hostile investigator to befriend his tightly-knit circle through violent yet worthwhile experiences. But Jotaro had also expected that organic growth of kinship to extend farther, stretching from his three personal guards to him directly.

Her ability to quickly adapt in any environment and headstrong personality were two factors that could penetrate through the Sangyosei leader’s intimidating aura. That was one thing… her providing insightful strategies and actively hanging out with him knowing he’s one of the country’s dangerous underground leaders were another.

And Jotaro, for the first time in his clan leader life, didn’t know how to respond to the woman’s clever approaches except with appalled intrigue.

“And if we turn to this side of the Hokkaido prefecture, there’s a gap here that will allow us entry to the Lotus gang’s hideout, and if we’re lucky, we’ll get some intel about the Kyuketsuki and their true motives.”

“But I see a slight problem in the plan and it has to do with the crowds we’re dealing with,” she said as she showed Jotaro the printed images of several people bearing lotus and/or blood-fang tattoos, standing guard or in the motion of surveying the area.

“These just came in from your men scouting the area and knowing the gang’s leader’s history of mischief and traps, they pretend to be unprepared to lure in prey.” Y/N said. “And who knows if they have goons on standby inside potential loot locations.”

“What do you suggest then?”

“We play the counter bait.” She reached for a pen and traced a circle on the area highlighting the gang’s main entrance. “If there’s another fact I’ve learned from the guy, he’s an addict to a good gambling game, and once he’s in, he’s in it to win it. Get one or two of your associates to deal a bet against his team and a distraction is set.”

“You got the head occupied but you’re aware of the guards still surveying the area.”

“That’s what everyone thinks, but I’ve studied his patterns long enough to know that once he’s in the middle of a game, he calls in everyone to watch the game in the main arena, because his pride is what fuels him, more so when he doesn’t have a single loss in his track record.”

She introduced three pairs of photos on top, all depicting a raving event featuring the gang’s leader and his cronies and empty pathways at the same time. “I’d know because it has happened thrice.”

“Even if he did leave some men on guard, it’ll be less and we’ll have enough workforce to take them down with the handy silencer equipped.” Y/N tilted her head, a finger under her chin. “Then we can ambush the remaining men from the shadows and capture the Lotus gang leader for info about the Kyuketsuki clan.”

Jotaro didn’t supply anything in return, speechless. Y/N turned to him with one raised brow. “What?”

“You are… very knowledgeable about a gangster mob that’s known to be discreet from the public.”

“Well you forget that I worked as private investigator for multiple clients. Nearly half of their complaints described the details of the same man you are targeting for. Call it a stroke of luck that you got me here now or else you guys would be in one hell of a night.”

And she did not disappoint. Her strategy was what earned Jotaro and his men a successful finish to a mission as his guards took the enemy crowd by surprise and shot them all down before they could launch a counterattack. Their leader, who was drunk with material wins and alcohol, was caught in the middle of his escape.

The bastard did spill intel about the bloodsucking yakuza, but he shared a bit more information than what Jotaro had initially expected.

“All you fucks searching for those leeches when there’s a bigger threat than that clan of his,” the Lotus leader said with his arms bound behind him on a chair. “Kyuketsuki this, Kyuketsuki that. I teamed up with them in the first place because I need to stay safe against the impending conquest of the Seiikigumi.”

“The Seiikigumi?” Jotaro asked, curious.

“Those guys are the real deal. Multiple mob houses and a clans have either fallen or submitted themselves to the mercy of that organization,” he said. “Scary thing is that no one in this city knows about them but Brando and high-paying info brokers.”

He did remember rumors of the mysterious yakuza clan spreading during his first years as leader, but he never saw any evidence to prove their existence. For all he knew, gangs fall because they were too disorganized and had high chances of getting caught by enforcement. Clans, especially the smaller ones, were disbanded due to insufficiency in human and financial resources.

“The Seiikigumi… I’ve heard of the rumors before,” Y/N muttered, deep in thought. “But people only told me details of them as if it’s a novel. I’ve yet to see a member of that group or their actions for myself.”

“Oh they’re real alright,” the bound man said with a grin. “So you better watch yourselves and be careful to not pry too much, or else the Sangyosei clan will be next on their chopping board.”

“The Lowlife Princess will have you as her next meal.”

Jotaro shot him clean in the head as soon the man started to cackle.

His words retained in his mind all throughout the rest of the day which was foolish for him to do. He had better more practical things to do than to fret about a myth. Yet, he found himself deep in thought in the middle of a meeting.

Eventually, it came to his realization that he was too busy scrounging his memories for any links to the Seiikigumi so he could devise something to prevent them from infiltrating his clan.

“Hey boss.” Jotaro blinked out of his mental thoughts and immediately made eye contact with Y/N standing before him in his office. “I’ve noticed you’ve been preoccupied with something. Is it what the Lotus leader said the other night?”

He sagged back against his chair and rubbed his temple, a mild headache starting to grow. “It’s nonsense but I’m here wondering why some drunk bastard is making me overthink.”

“You know, you’ve been busy lately- well, 24/7 if we’re being honest,” she said with casual tone, leaning against his desk with her back to him. “Have you even took breaks once in a while?”

“I have no time to let loose when anything could happen at any time,” he said. “Right now, I’m waiting for Kakyoin to update me on the whereabouts of the Kyuketsuki’s eyes. They’ve been too quiet recently and it peeves me off.”

“At this rate, you’re going to die from stress.” She turned to look over her shoulder. “How about we book the small, private restaurant nearby and eat? I heard the meals they got there are to your liking.”

Jotaro didn’t reply and instead stared at her with deadpan. Y/N rolled her eyes and lifted a white plastic bag filled with different boxes and cups inside. “Figured you’re gonna decline my every offer, but I insist you eat. You wouldn’t want the Sangyosei to find their boss dead on the floor due to starvation, would you?”

He was about to reject and suggest she share the meals with the other 3, but his guts had to betray him in that exact moment via a small growl. Jotaro closed his eyes in self-disappointment and Y/N smiled, smug as ever. “Chow time leader-nim.”

Starting from that offer to take-out lunch, the clan leader had granted the woman access to his social circle the same he gave to his personal guards. Where it stemmed from simple offers of drinks and food, slowly spiraled into conversations that didn’t involve the underground world, and eventually to flirting- both the subtle ones together with the direct.

That was the thing with her- she knew what she was doing, knew when to balance work and all the other stuff that was out of Jotaro’s field of specialty. One moment she’d assist him with formulating strategies and carry out orders as if it was merely shopping, and the next she’d share the most absurd stories about a client’s dead pet and its relation to a murder case while wasted beside him.

Y/N’s hardworking work ethics and clever planning eventually earned her spot as Jotaro’s right hand with the whole clan agreeing with the choice unanimously.

With her current position, she was able to connect with him more than before as she was able to follow him everywhere with no permission required. It gave her the power to convey approved orders to his men, acted as his advocate to associates wanting security, and watched over training sessions while he was busy with more serious matters.

With her by his side, Jotaro could feel himself getting swayed by her assertive charms and given how it seemed a heavy weight was off his shoulders, he had no complaints.

She’d start making advances that weren’t too subtle towards him- a sultry whisper into his ear, a brush of her hand against his, shared hooded glances, the press of her body against his in tight spaces, the quiet bickering of the two that contained suggestive innuendos-

It was unbearable, though not necessarily in a bad way.

The one that made the tightly-strung tension snap was the night Y/N made the conscious decision to walk into his office, fresh from a nightly sponge dressed in a silk robe while he in a dress shirt and vest. The raven-haired man swept his gaze up and down at her form with an intense look to his gaze, covering his actions with a quick “what are you doing?”

According to her, she came in with urgent news about the immediate sighting and dispatch of Kyuketsuki members making a move of sorts in the Gifu prefecture. At closer inspection, he learned that at that location, Brando kept majority of his weapons in storage, likely also containing maps leading to several more of his undisclosed bases.

If it were any other day, he would take note of the report and dismiss the reporter, but he kept her in the room longer than what should be.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to send me to my quarters, boss?” Y/N said while she had the gall to cross her arms under the swell of her breasts.

Jotaro stood with furrowed brows, never cutting eye contact as he walked to her in an almost predatory way. “Do you think what you’re doing is funny?”

The closer he got to her, she walked back until she found herself against the wall. “What exactly am I doing boss-nim?” She tilted her head up to face the frustrated clan leader and narrowed her eyes as if to challenge him. “Am I annoying you greatly?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. You know exactly what you’ve been doing and you’re right-” He slammed his hand on the space beside her head. “You’re driving me crazy, you vixen.”

Y/N scoffed, lips curling into a coy smile as her fingers threaded over the buttons of his vest. “Is that so? Why don’t you fire me then?” She purred. “Send me back to the world above the underground where I can expose your plot to the public?”

He clicked his tongue and leaned forward until his voice came out as a growl into her ears. “I’d be damned if I do such a thing.”

“So what are you gonna do, hm?” She whispered.

“I’ll make you shut up the way you like it.”

In the darkness lit only by the light of the full moon, Jotaro had her pressed up against the wall, robe cast aside as he fucked her with vigor, releasing all his pent up stress that accumulated throughout the times she teased him. Y/N whined and cried with every harsh pound of his hips against hers, every inch of her shivering from the intensity of it all.

Once she came, Jotaro flipped her around to let her face him as he lifted her up and thrusted back into her warmth with no hesitation. Y/N tossed her head back and moaned a loud cry, hands grasping his dress shirt with desperation. With her chest bouncing in front of him, he took the opportunity to bite and suckle on the hardened bud, prompting a second orgasm out of you.

He railed her to oblivion to no ends, carrying her over to his office desk only to fuck her over it with the same stamina as the first round. She gasped, breathless as her body rocked back and forth against the smooth surface of his table.

By the time her third orgasm hit her, Y/N still found herself on her back on the same furniture, unable to focus her vision and control herself from drooling at the overstimulation of Jotaro’s rough thrusts.

He never gave her the time to breathe, irritation still bubbling in him. As soon as she came yet again, he maneuvered both of them to his chair, where he planted Y/N on his lap, fucking up into her hear and letting you ride and bounce on cock.

Her body started to grow weary but her moans and cries were still loud as ever, addressing his title with every stimulated cry. Even at that, Jotaro grew annoyed. He wanted her to shout his name.

And so, the second she tightened around him for the fifth time, he held her close to him and pressed the tip of his nose into her neck, trailing it up until his lips grazed the shell of her ear. Raspy from his nonstop grunts, he muttered. “Beg.”

Y/N croaked out her words with unfocused, glassy eyes and a foggy mind resulting from the brutal poundings. “P-Please… boss-”

“Jotaro,” he whispered into her ear, emphasized with a slow yet deep roll of his cock against her walls. “I want you to cry out that name every time I fuck you.” Just like that, he suddenly bucked his hips upward, eliciting a ravishing cry out her reddened lips, one that only bore his name.

As his own release drew closer, his pace turned erratic and his thrusts increased in both speed and intensity, but to hear this woman plea his name over and over again just as she’s told was gratifying for the yakuza leader.

Wringing out one last orgasm out of her, Y/N jerked and let out a silent scream, a stream of clear liquid gushing out of her hole the same time Jotaro groaned and stiffened, feeling his release shoot into her soaked and loosened pussy.

Damn. He was exhausted.

Jotaro panted, sweat beading down his body as Y/N’s sweat-slicked body lay limp against his torso, feeling fluids leaking down his cock and seeping into the fabric of his slacks.

He turned to look at her to check on her current condition. She passed out from their wild escapade, cheeks flushed, panting with ragged breaths with stray hair plastered on her forehead from sweat. Her arms hung over his shoulders, no longer clawing lines onto his shirt.

Strangely enough, he was compelled to brush the hair off her forehead and plant a soft kiss on the area, before lifting her ass up to free his softened cock and arranging her body into a bridal hold to carry her over to his bedroom.

Ever since that night, no words were needed to convey that Jotaro’s relationship with Y/N became more than just simply that of “boss-guard”. They grew addicted to each other, craving that intimacy every moment it was just them in the comforts of closed doors. They would spend time in private establishments to plot, chat, eat, drink, and fuck.

Eventually, she wanted more. She wanted to claim his heart and so brazenly expressed her desires to him. And who’s he to decline her temptations at this point? Y/N was perfect in every aspect- a strategist, communicator, soldier, leader. Why would he refuse someone possessing those talents?

Just as she yearned for him, he gave into her allure, letting this woman become his queen.

But was it for the best?

Months after they had made it official, Jotaro decided to make a move to infiltrate one of the Kyuketsuki’s buildings in Gifu. Everyone in his circle had gathered around to discuss matters of the task, devised multiple plans on how to raid Brando’s precious armory.

Once all was clear and a plausible map of operations were made, he and a selected group of men chosen by Y/N, traveled to the marked location. Avdol had volunteered to join the venture as to provide extra security for his boss, while Kakyoin and Polnareff stayed behind to watch over for him.

It took them a while to get there, considering the distance between Tokyo and Gifu was fairly long. If it weren’t for the pathways formed exclusively for illegal transport, he wouldn’t be able to make it in time to weaken Dio’s forces, causing double repercussions for the territory he left without his watch.

But Jotaro reached the Kyuketsuki’s armory by nightfall and set everything into motion. He stationed his guards in their planned positions, with Avdol leading half of them to stay put in the shadows to serve as Jotaro’s eyes and keep watch of reinforcement, while he and Y/N lead the other half into the building, fully armed and cautious.

They crept through the darkened hallways that were eerily too quiet for a building supposedly filled with lackeys who often indulged in casual games and alcohol. “Boss,” Jotaro glanced at Y/N. “The firearms are found in the hangar in the left wing, but the documents and maps are kept in the right where the offices are located. Do you wish for me to help in retrieving the guns or-”

“I’ll lead the looting. You focus on giving me the paperwork,” he said. “Remember to keep an eye out. Who knows where they’re hiding.” She nodded once and split from the group at the next intersection between the two wings.

Something’s off. Why is no one here? Even as he first arrived, all the building’s lights were off. Not a single fluorescent lamp shining through a window, a lamp from a nearby shed, nothing. No goons were roaming around either, the footsteps of a patrol was non-existent. A chill crept up his spine. This is wrong. What happened?

As someone who’s been bested twice by him, Dio should have placed numerous men around his goods just as he always did to ensure nothing else would be stolen to maintain whatever pride he still had in him. But where were they?

The silence persisted even as he and his men reached the door to the hangar, kept shut with a low-security padlock tied to a chain. Jotaro pulled out his revolver and with a silencer equipped, he aimed and gave two shots before it gave away and fell. He cocked his head to motion his guards to remove the chains and push the door open.

True to the report, what he looked for were waiting for him to grab with crates of firearm stacked on top of each other lay inside while other miscellaneous items such as makeshift bombs and melee weapons lie on shelves. If he looked closer, he could spot a huge safe tucked in a dark corner where cash meant for the lackeys lay inside.

He should be relieved that he didn’t have to spare himself the extra trouble of fighting against a couple of gangsters to retrieve several guns, but he wasn’t because he knew this situation was too unusual and easy for his liking.

Unless-

The door clicked shut behind him and Jotaro spun just as he realized the reality he found himself in. He walked into a trap, but he was a second too late. A hard blow to his head sent him to the ground, warmth leaking out from where the pain came from. He bled from the impact.

He gritted his teeth and attempted to get up only for men, his men, to force him still on the ground, pulling out a white fabric to stuff his face into. Are you fucking kidding me? Jotaro was pinned to the floor, getting chloroformed by his guards.

The last thoughts that circulated his mind before falling unconscious was Y/N. She was caught in this as well and now she’ll be taken captive if she ended up unlucky as he was.

He should have seen this coming.

But why couldn’t he?

▬▬ι══════════════ι▬▬

When Jotaro came to, he was bound in a rather… explicit way that he considered too vulgar for his taste.

He was on his knees, his whole body tied with red rope in a series of complicated knots. It was fortunate that his clothes were still on him or might as well shoot him where he knelt. Above him, a single low-hanging light was the only source of illumination this dark room had. Around him were people surrounding him with sub-machine guns in hand.

And out of the light, a lone figure stood in the shadows with two men standing guard beside them.

He squinted and tried to make out who it was. Dio Brando? Or some other lucky fucker who got a yakuza leader trapped? As a means of verification, he gritted out. “You’re being a coward now? Step out of the dark and face me, Dio.”

“Dio? Oh sweetheart, you couldn’t be more farther than the truth~”

Jotaro stilled, eyes widening and all air leaving his lungs at the familiar voice chirping at him. It was as if a cold bucket of ice had poured over him in an instant. It couldn’t be. How… How did… “Oh damn. I spoke to soon. Literally. But since I’m outed at this point, might as well not be a coward.”

The shadowed figure slowly stalked forward, revealing a woman dressed in a finely-pressed black suit ensemble fused with a black-laced sleeves and posterior half of a lace skirt trailing behind her, and with the culprit under the spotlight, he could see the wide almost excited smirk carved on her face.

“Y/N…”

“The one and only darling.”

He couldn’t fathom how he’s still able to keep it together at the revelation that the woman he saved that night, who served him to no ends for years, who became his lover, ultimately was the woman who would be his downfall. “Oh and you don’t need to worry about Avdol. I already sent them back to HQ, informing him that for investigative purposes, our half of the group had to stay behind a bit longer. And he listened with obedience.”

Jotaro felt a range of negative emotions boiling within him due to the most insulting betrayal he had throughout his life as a clan leader- anger, confusion, surprise, humiliation, hurt. “Explain yourself. There’s no point in talking about anything else now, is there?”

She hummed. “Might as well. Though there’s a lot of stuff I have to dump on you in one sitting unless you want-”

“Just get on with it, bitch.” He spat out, eliciting a delightful “oh?” from the other.

“Reaching curse words now are we? Alright, I’ll start from the beginning until where we are right now then.”

Everything started the night the imports from Italy arrived. With her associates, 80% of the civilians living in his turf, lurking in plain sight serving as her eyes, had updated her constantly on Jotaro’s every move. The same individuals who had sought his clan out for security.

The lackeys that Dio sent in an attempt to steal his weapons were all dealt by Y/N’s men who she called “wraiths”- silent and hidden only to strike at the right moment. The leech’s goons were all taken out by her snipers from the comforts of their undisclosed positions before they could reach the docks.

At the same time, Y/N had hired a group of drunk men she found in the streets, promised them she’d pay them for playing the part of assaulter, only for the promise to be in vain with them ending up dead.

The ID and badge that proved her "profession" as part of law enforcement were fabrications to sell her persona, but her combat skills and her way of handling weapons were very much true. Getting involved with the ruthless underground world would require one to possess at least one of those things.

Throughout her time working as one of his pawns, Y/N would do her job diligently, too diligent to the point where she was able to sneak through his and his men’s watch and kept contact with hers, updating them on new tasks to do that aided her and by proxy, the Sangyosei and she was able to do this without causing suspicion.

The strategies she had formulated were all due to her constant exposure to other clans and mob houses, studying their patterns, way of living, connections, and how their operations worked to find the one loop hole in order to flush her targets down the drain of defeat.

The photos she had presented him all this time, photos of which were high in definition and close to the target, where taken from her wraiths, not his men. How they knew where they were? Turned out she had eyes everywhere- a waiter serving meals, a mother and her child by the swings, a farmer in the fields, a ship captain or his crew members, a passing businessman, a politician’s bodyguard.

She had majority of the population in her grasp.

While they worked externally, Y/N did her part from the inside. She climbed up the ranks until she landed into a position where she shared power that equated to his. With new acquisition of power, she now had control over his men, sending a handful or two out to an empty mission only for them to get gunned down, replaced with wraiths disguised in their clothes.

The same wraiths who accompanied Jotaro to the hangar.

And of the Kyuketsuki’s lackeys who were supposed to watch over the armory? Y/N had them dealt with just as the time during the first day they met, their bodies disposed onto a nearby lake, leaving the building devoid of life.

“Now we’re here with you tied up under my mercy,” Y/N drawled out.

“You’ve got loads of conniving bullshit planned out admittedly well for a leader of a small yakuza clan,” he responded with a glare. “Must be tiring for your so-called wraiths to do so much just to do this.”

At that, Y/N tried to stifle it in but failed to keep the laughter from escaping. “Small? Do you really think my crew is just some fiery underdogs who knows what we’re doing?” This time, the wraiths in the dark laughed after her. “You’ve complimented me then insulted me, oh how do I process this?”

“Who the fuck are you then to spit this much confidence to my face?”

Y/N stopped her sadistic glee and faced him with sudden stoicism. She drew a few steps closer and grabbed his chin, making sure he’s facing her head-on as she sat on her heels and said.

“You’re here with the Seiikigumi darling,” she purred, tilting her head with a growing smile. “Lead by none other but yours truly, the Lowlife Princess.”

All this time… The myth spread around the underground about a mysterious clan taking down multiple others before him. The men skilled enough to not be caught by enemies. The leader responsible for running such business. Everything was bared open for Jotaro to experience first hand as their next target.

To that, he cursed to himself for being foolish to trust a random stranger pleading for help.

“As you’ve may or may not known, I’m notorious for shutting down clans as I please by first killing the boss and either letting loose a mass ambush to every known location where their men are or have them join my side… but-” She cupped his cheeks and held them dear. “You may be my first exception~”

“Just shoot me now and spare yourself the effort,” Jotaro hissed but she paid no attention and shushed him.

“Listen to what I have to say darling~” Y/N said with a pout. “Unlike the other fleabags I had to be with, you’re different. You’re competent, stoic, rich, intelligent, and above anything else, pretty handsome for a yakuza boss. Plus, your personal men were so lovely to be with. I’d hate for them to be killed from the get-go.”

“How about you swear loyalty to me and you get to keep the Sangyosei alive and running? You head back as if nothing happened and do what you do, but to imagine you leading your troops with me as your right hand knowing that you're actually mine to control?” She sighed. “Oh it would be such a waste if I were to do what you just said. I do like having my trophy be shiny with power.”

Jotaro growled. “In your fucking dreams.”

Y/N scoffed, standing back up to step back and pull something out from her pocket. “Of course, I’d expect you to be defiant. I know you too well.” She raised her hand to reveal a button. “Standard protocol for stubborn prisoners is usually torture with the usual go-to stabbing, breaking of fingers and/or toes, and other forms of prolonged physical pain.”

“But since I hold you to a higher regard than the previous victims I’ve kept hostage, I have a different form of torture for you~” She gestured for one of her wraiths to gag his mouth with fabric. “Consider yourself lucky~”

With a press of her thumb on the device, Jotaro widened his eyes as his hips jerked and back arched, letting out a strained groan as something stuck to his cock and nipples started to vibrate with much intensity, and he couldn’t do anything about it with his arms and legs stuck in a compromising position.

“I very much enjoyed the nights where you fucked me so hard I couldn’t think straight. Truly, an experience I’d love to be in again. So in your honor, you get to feel what I’ve felt during those times for the whole night.” She pressed the button and his muscles relaxed, sighing with relief.

Y/N slid the gag off his mouth for a moment and said, “So? Will I expect your compliance by dawn, Jotaro-ssi?”

His body still felt the lingering sensations from where the devices were taped on him and he’d expect worse to come, but he wouldn’t back down. He was better than to give his dignity away to a traitor who more or less, deserved to get killed by his rules.

Jotaro responded with a smug smirk, letting her know he’ll indeed be different than her past captives. “Go fuck yourself.”

And just like the first time she stepped into his office, she tongued the inside of her cheek and ordered for the gag to return to his mouth. She turned on her heels, pressing the button to the highest level, causing him to grunt and quiver from the overwhelming sensation of the vibrations.

The door opened for her to step through, but she paused to say one last thing, looking over her shoulder. “I’ll have you know that you’re being recorded as well. Knowing you’re a man with dignity, it be awful for everyone to know how the leader of the dangerous Sangyosei clan is tied like this, captured and shaking. Just something to consider.”

He locked into her gaze with a deathly glare.

“Though I’m proud of my title,” she smirked. “I’m glad you made me the Queen, and you only have yourself to blame.”

And the door closed shut.

[sgcairo]

Out of all my early life stories for Dottore, my favorite by far is not only that he had an oddly supportive mother, but the fact that she's the one who influenced his mad experiments and fascination with gruesome recreations of humans. No one knows she exists, Dottore made sure to bury the location of his home with all who discover it, but her little cottage in the woods is frequented every few months by her highly successful son (who she can't help but brag about to their extended family, her little Zandik is the best scholar on this side of Teyvat). They go on picnics, talk about Dottore's newest experiments, and, of course, bury a body together as mother-son bonding time.

When examining them side by side, Dottore definitely got his looks from his mother. His height was stolen from somewhere else, but he has her eyes, hair, teeth- even if his are a little bit pointier. He always was unapologetically a mama's boy as a child, and still is to this day. Anyone who dares insult or even look at his mother wrong runs the serious risk of becoming his next subject for an excruciating experiment, Il Dottore will not allow disrespect towards his dear old ma'.

His segments practically jump for joy when they get assigned to going to check on "the old coot", she always feeds them well and sends them back with plenty of specimens, snacks, and new clothes, whatever is an old witch to do with her time other than dote on her son and his precious creations? She even calls then her "other sons," which confuses the townspeople when she talks about all twenty-something of them. Everyone's too scared to ask how she acquired that many.

And yes, she's very long lived, Dottore offered her eternal life- which she immediately accepted. Contrary to the "let me die in peace" trope of the elderly, she went completely off the beaten path, might as well extend her life even more than she already has on her own. Terrorizing people is her passion, and why the hell would she chose to die when she can live forever! She can make bank if she lives long enough...

The only unfortunate side effect of Dottore or the segments visiting her regularly is Pantalone finding out. Not only does he pay mother dearest a visit, but he gets some fascinating blackmail material as she is not shy in the slightest, especially when it comes to Dottore's adorable baby pictures. Dottore comes home to find Pantalone sipping on his mother's famous no-sleep-for-weeks coffee, casually chatting about her newest formula for the "love potions" she sells.

Because Pantalone can't resist being smug, he calls Dottore "my dearest Dottie" once and she jumps to all the wrong conclusions. Dottore would correct her, but she's already planning their wedding, and whenever he visits, he's now implored to bring his "attractive fiance" with him. There's no escape, and Pantalone plays along, even worse!

Just wait until she meets the child...

[trans-peridot]

FFxivWrite Day 4: Reticent

Saw this prompt and immediately knew it would have to be Urianger. Didn't know what, just knew who. In the end I settled on Tayfun's perspective of a certain scene in post-ARR. Spoilers for that, naturally. Urianger's dialogue is verbatim from the game, everything else is my writing.

Tayfun had never seen Urianger cry before. Perhaps simply because he’d never had cause in her presence, perhaps because of the dark goggles always obscuring his eyes. But more importantly than either of those reasons, because he went above and beyond in playing his emotions close to his chest. She had never seen him happy before, or angry, or really show any emotion. Alright, there had been one time. When Moenbryda first arrived in the Rising Stones and tackled him with a hug, Tayfun had gotten the briefest of glimpses to a rare Urianger emotion: flustered. Oh, Moenbryda...

Tayfun had never seen Urianger cry before. And even as he was speaking his soliloquy on her death, his voice remained as level as ever. But she could sense the effort he was putting into keeping it that way. “...Knowingly did I deny my friend the comfort she craved. And now she hath gone to her rest with doubt still in her heart.” Tayfun finally realized why he spoke like that. If every word was so strategically selected, emotion couldn’t sneak into one’s delivery.

“Urianger, you may wish to know what she said in her final moments. She spoke to Louisoix, said she finally understood his choice. She said, ‘In death there is life.’ I think she made her choice because she had cleared away that doubt.”

“Speakest thou in earnest? Did Moenbryda truly come to understand Master Louisoix's will before the end?” Tayfun had never seen Urianger cry before. On his face must have been the legendary Goggles of Reticence. “The realization hath set her free. She may now find the peace which hath for so long eluded her.” He remained stonefaced. “Oh, Moenbryda... My dearest... How I shall miss thee...”

“But her very last words weren’t to Louisoix. The very last thing she said was... She said, ‘Farewell, Urianger... you daft old coot.’ Her last thoughts were of you.”

Tayfun had never seen Urianger cry before. But as she studied his face, she could have sworn she saw a single drop of moisture slip past his defenses. “My lady Minfilia. I would mourn Moenbryda in mine own way. I beg your permission to return to the Waking Sands.” Tayfun knew that quaver all too well. He couldn’t hold it in forever and he needed to get out now before they saw him feel something. He didn’t even wait to hear Minfilia’s reply in the affirmative before he turned to brisky escape the eyes of his comrades.

For a moment Tayfun considered going after him, offering a shoulder to cry on, telling him he didn’t need to hide his feelings from his friends. But Tayfun had never seen him cry before, and that was clearly on purpose. Though it pained her to admit it, the best thing she could do was allow him to grieve alone. There were enough scions still in the room with her who would want her help, anyway.

[quitealotofsodapop]

More details on "Shane the Witch Child" au;

Shane sorta takes over as the "main character" in place of the Farmer in this au cus the Junimos aren't gonna let him forget it.

Shane can't remember his birth parents. Side effect of the Shrine of Memory. He does remember that his birth name means "Gift from Yoba" - though it isn't "Shane".

Although he recovered physically from being "dove'd" as a toddler, the experience was super tramatizing to Shane. Even if he can't remember it fully.

Shane is neurodivergent. It's unconnected to his "doving" experience, he's just born that way. Being undiagnosed for so long + trauma during his early 20s stoked the fire of his alchoholism.

Jas isn't directly related to Shane, but was the daughter of his best friends. Him and said friends followed eachother from childhood to college, and Shane was declared Jas's godfather. Then within one tragic car accident; Shane found himself Jas's only living legal guardian. And because of his injuries sustained in the crash, Shane lost his college gridball scholarship. He moved back in with Marnie after the accident and fell into the bottle ever since.

Marnie isn't an active magic user but being the Witch's sister, is naturally attuned to the magical world. It's why she doesn't question the existance of Void Chickens. To her, they've always just "been there".

Their family have almost always been farmers, going back generations - the sole exception being the Witch, and her and Marnie's father.

The family has had a business-type association with "Grandpa" from the farm north of the ranch for... wait. How old was that coot when he passed?

The "Farmers" that inherit Grandpa's old Farm aren't human. Shane is one of the few people able to see this. The lazy second-born Ffion, the one in charge of morning feeds and birds, loves to tease Shane about this fact when they cross paths in the morning. Shane hates this guy especially since he spends all day lazing in the sun and shade like all other serpents.

Shane and Emily get along so well because 1: shared special interest in birds, 2: related struggles with impulse control, and 3: neurodivergent besties. As a fellow neurodivergent person - we tend to accidentally flock together (birds of a feather if you will).

Shane gets super-attached to the birds he's raised personally and can't bring himself to eat bird meat. He's pretty much sees his birds as his kids. He's even ended up raising and releasing many wild birds who's nests got disturbed during Joja Corp development projects. Lapwings, Oystercatchers, Barnacle Geese, Plovers, Gulls, etc.. After his revelation that he wants to raise birds for a living, he starts taking in rescues. (irl reference that inspired this part A Chick Called Albert). He wonders if any of those birds remember him - they do.

Charlie the Chicken isn't allowed in the house unless she's wearing bird diapers. Shane thinks she looks ridiculous. Marnie refutes saying that Shane can sleep in the coop if he so wants - something he honestly considers. Charlie puts up with it so long as she gets to sleep in the bed next to Shane.

Shane encounters Leo early on (long story). He immediately finds a kindred spirit in the little parrot-kid. Leo thinks Shane is a "big blue bird" cus of his Joja Mart uniform, and Shane doesn't correct him. Shane acquires bird-son. Marnie was very relieved/confused when Shane made it back home with a kid and a few wild birds in tow.

The conflict between Joja Mart and the Community Centre is far more drawn out. In conjunction with Shane discovering that he has magic(!!!) despite not believing in the supernatural, he struggles with the ideas of putting Luddism/farming before convenience and stability. He's not gonna drop a decent 9 to 5 to chase a pipe dream if it puts Jas's future at risk. The Junimos will not leave Shane alone though.

Shane accidentally befriends Krobus and the Dwarf. The former because he found out that the shadow spirit was protecting Jas, and the latter because Dwarf admires Shane "protecting the Smoluanu birds" (chickens). Shane is very confused.

Song that inspired this au: "Devil's Train" by The Lab Rats. I leave it up to the imagination exactly who's offering to make Shane a deal.

Let me know what y'all think ;3

[terrence-silver]

how do you think terry would react to beloved having a child who trains at miyagi-do or doesn't like cobra kai?

---

Why do I think Terry Silver would...just try and buy Miyagi-Do?

You know, buy it? Like someone buys a car? Or a watch? Or an expensive suit? His child likes Miyagi-Do? His stepchild? His ward? His whatever? Guess what? Terry Silver immediately starts making plans how to acquire this franchise and pretty much...you know, give it to his offspring like it's a mere thing. Why? The sole reason his kid likes something is enough reason for him to have an innate and almost burning desire to do this for them, and he would, if push came to shove, try to make this into a reality by any means necessary, no matter how long it took. Spreading around rumors to damage the rival dojo's reputation? Maybe someone mysteriously starts gossip how Miyagi-Do discriminates on the basis of...literally whatever to fuel some fake outrage? Sabotage the business so they lose students and by extension, money? Goodness gracious, does he have to go the route of paying someone to go as hilariously low as tipping off Sanitary Inspection on the place due to a termite infestation on dojo grounds (which he may or may not have personally planted to entire devalue the property to the degree the Larussos would be forced to sell?) Use a strategic middle man when conducting the purchase so nobody would immediately know he's the one actually buying the property? Tactics he'd utilize are as varied as human imagination and you'd be shocked what a man can achieve when he has money to blow and he's willing to step over literal corpses to get what he wants. Regardless, Terry's child gets Miyagi-Do. All of it. Every rock. Every stone. Every bit of hallowed legacy. Terry gives it to them and by extension, to himself, like a war trophy.

Now, they can train at that place to their heart's desire.

Quite literally go and knock themselves out.

The offense Terry takes at his kid not preferring Cobra Kai as a dojo option isn't as huge or as pronounced as one would think it is in this situation; not when you consider it's massively overshadowed by the triumphant, gleeful joy that he can go and turn whatever place he touches into Cobra Kai too --- especially Miyagi-Do, perhaps the very antithesis of everything Cobra Kai stands for. Oh, if that old coot that trained Daniel all those years ago could rise from the grave right about now and check out the new state of things, would he be in for a surprise or what! Heck, the very look on Daniel and Amanda Larusso's faces once they realize it's actually him who bought the place and not someone else is enough to fuel him for the rest of his life. And in Terry's own words vaguely paraphrased, he can utilize the literal legacy of these grounds for mulch, all while giving his kid the gift of a lifetime at the same time. His kid --- they don't like Cobra Kai? Well, guess what? Anything Terry Silver sets his eyes on is and can be Cobra Kai, whether they realize it or not. He could buy out a whole mall tomorrow and turn it into exactly the very same thing too. Can't ran from what you are. It keeps following you regardless of the color of your Gi.

Once Terry Silver's done buying out Miyagi Do, though...

The Larusso Car Dealership could be next.