#and 'here is an emerald mine. don't tell your brother :)'

[fortune-maiden]

Despite the bitterness, I really love how doting the duke really is towards Penelope T_T

[lou-struck]

They Said No... Part 2

Obey Me! x MC!

Featuring: Satan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, and Belphegor

Part 1 HERE

Part 3 HERE

~We all get asked to do things sometimes that we do not want to do. And it's okay to say no, but sometimes you need a little extra help to get the point across.

Warnings: Pushy Demons, talk of pact control, Threats, Betrayal

Satan:

The Avatar of Wrath has a bit of cat fur on his usually pristine uniform but has never been happier, RAD is hosting an animal adoption event, and he has spent most of his morning with the adoptable cats having the time of his life. The only thing he is missing is you.

You would love every minute of the event, and so Satan has made it his mission of the day to find you and bring you to the feline-filled classroom.

Stepping into the nearly empty corridor, he sees you sitting on one of the ancient stone benches, mindlessly scrolling through your DDD with one hand and toying with a button on your uniform with the other.

"Mc, there you are." a voice interjects before he can even open his mouth; you lift your head and look towards the owner of the shrill and unfamiliar voice. A Demon Satan doesn't care enough to recognize steps towards you. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

"Oh, hi." You don't meet their gaze, opting instead to stare at the ground in a way that tells Satan you would rather be anywhere else than talking to them. It irks him greatly, but he can't just interrupt yet.

"The brothers aren't here, so you can speak freely now. Did you see my messages?" they ask, taking another step towards you. "You know I've liked you for a while now, but I don't understand why you won't go out with me."

You look up at them apologetically but take a step further away from your not-so-secret admirer. "I'm so sorry, but my feelings are not the same; I've told you before that I am not interested, so can you please leave me alone.

"NO," the lesser Demons shouts, "you don't understand. I like you, which means you are Mine."

That is all Satan needs to hear, and his legs move forward on their own. His anger at this lesser Demon threatens to bubble to the surface as he approaches. Stepping between the two of you protectively.  

The Demon flinches but doesn't back down entirely. They open their pathetic little mouth to babble out some delusional retort, only to have their words die on their tongue.

"MC said they were not interested in the likes of you," he growls, his emerald eyes aglow as he stares down your harasser. "I suggest you leave before you manage to make me even angrier than you already have."

The Demon leaves satisfyingly quickly, leaving Satan with you. He notices that you look a bit shaken up but utterly relieved to be rid of that Demon. The wrath he felt earlier disappears as you throw yourself into the safety of his embrace. 

The cat can wait, but for now, he just needs to make sure you are okay.

Asmodeus:

Asmodeus is feeling particularly radiant today; the only thing that he thinks he can attribute this glow to other than the universe recognizing his beauty is that his elation to be going on this special little outing with you is showing for all the Devildom to see. 

How lucky are they?

He feels light on his feet as he walks down the cobbled streets of Majolish to the little bistro you promised to meet him at for your Devilgrammable date.

His Peach-colored gaze scans the plaza until it finds you sitting at one of the adorably small tables on the patio, your figure clad in the sweater he bought for you a few weeks ago. You just look so cute. He feels his heart flutter in a way that doesn't quite fit the Lust for which he has been known.

But you are not alone; standing over you is a demon he has seen you frequently talking to at RAD.

A friend of yours? 

Maybe?

But something feels off about the way you are looking up at them as if they are making you uncomfortable. As pretty and kind as you are, Asmo knows that you are trying very hard to keep your emotions undetectable. He has to know why.

Focusing on your conversation, he is able to hear what the other Demon is trying to talk to you about.

"Mc, y-you said we were f-friends," they whine in an exasperated voice. "Why won't y-you help me?" large tear drops run down their pearl-colored skin and onto the pavement below. 

"What you are asking me to do is wrong," you say calmly. "I would never do that to Asmo or anyone else for that matter."

"All you have to do is tell Lord Asmodeus to love me as I love him." they huff. "But you wouldn't even do that for me. I love him, and I deserve to have him for my own."

"I wouldn't be telling him you want me to order him to do it," you say. "I don't think I can be friends with you anymore."

The Demon waves your words off as if they were nothing of consequence, an action that makes Asmo narrow his eyes as he starts to approach. "I never wanted to be friends with some ugly human in the first place, I only wanted Asmodeus, and you were a means to an end. But it seems that you just want to keep all the Brothers for yourself."

"Even if Mc did want to keep us for themselves, they deserve to," Asmo interjects at last, hugging you from behind and placing his head on your shoulder. "I mean, just look at them; they are soooo cute."

The earlier cruelty that had been on the Pearl demon's face vanished in an instant as their cheeks flushed heavily. "L-lord Asmodeus," they breathe. "I didn't mean it like that; the two of us were just having a bit of a friendly disagreement, that's all."

All of the annoyance and irritation that Asmo had been feeling comes forward, and he exudes a threatening aura as he stares down the Demon, not caring enough to charm them into submission. "Yeah, no, I heard more than enough to know that you need to stay away from Mc." he sighs, lowering his voice enough to send a shiver down the other Demon's spine, and they rush away.

Now alone, Asmo turns his attention to you and smiles brightly as if nothing had happened. "Sorry I'm late, Hon; let's go and order our drinks; I think after that, we both need a little extra love."

Beelzebub:

Beel feels like he's going to die of hunger. Whenever RAD does schoolwide exams, he is not allowed to eat in the classroom. It seems like ages since he has last eaten. The test took him a lot longer than he thought it would take. But before he leaves to go to Hell's kitchen, he wants to find you and bring you along with him. He doesn't quite understand why, but food always tastes better when you are with him.

He hears your voice from down the hall, a happy smile resting on his face as he follows the sound. He says you sat at one of the long study tables in the common room, a mountain of books at your side, and one of your classmates standing over you.

"I'm sorry," you say softly. "But I told you before. But I have too much on my plate right now. You'll have to do that part of the assignment yourself. " 

Your classmate sighs, shaking their head in disapproval. "And I thought you were a nice MC, the kind of human who wouldn't hesitate to help out someone who needs it. You obviously don't have anything better to do, so just do my portion of the project. I'll pay you for your work."

What? 

Why is this Demon being so mean to you? 

Beelzebub truly doesn't understand why your classmate is treating you this way; you were very nice in turning them down. And he wouldn't want to do someone's project, either.

You clear your throat, "It's not about the Grimm; I just don't have time to do someone else's work. If you're struggling, I suggest you ask a professor to give you an extension." 

Your classmate is hovering over you now, trying to intimidate you with their size. "You don't seem to know your place, Human; when a demon asks you to do something, I expect you to bow your head and do it obediently."

The Scene before him is too much for poor Beel; angrily, he steps forward, placing a large hand on the other Demon's shoulder. "That's close enough, Mc said they did not want to do anything for you."

The Demon flinches as he turns towards Beel in shock. "B-Beelzebub, I'm sorry, but I needed to remind this human that we demons are superior.

Beel's hunger and anger have fused into one, and he looks down at the Demon with disdain. "Mc is and always will be more important than you; if anything, you should be doing their work."

"no, they don't; I just need them to do their own work." You interject

"R-right, thank you." They mutter, picking their bag off the floor and running away.

"Are you alright, Mc?" he asks, looking at you with a violet gaze of adoration. "That must've been pretty scary."

You nod and take his hand, "I'm okay now, Beel, thank you for stepping in. Can I buy you lunch as a thank you?"

"Could we go to Hell's Kitchen?"

"Absolutely," you smile, "anything for my hero."

Hero? He likes the sound of that for some reason; he smiles happily, picking up your books as the two of you walk side by side out the doors of RAD.

Belphegor:

It's the stiffness in his neck that wakes Belpheghor from his nap. Maybe taking a nap on top of all of these decorative pillows wasn't that good of an idea after all. He sits up slowly, rubbing out the knot in his neck, feeling quite annoyed at the situation.

"Oh Belphie, you're awake." you smile, poking your head into the doorway, "I just placed an order for food. It should be here soon if you're hungry."

Just like that, all of his annoyance has vanished. "Thank you, Mc." he grins boyishly; moments like these make him happy to be awake. 

"No problem, I think they are getting close; I'll wait by the door until it arrives," you say before disappearing down the hallway. 

It's then he realizes that you probably had to order a lot of food since Beel is getting home from the gym soon and will need help carrying it all to the dining room once it gets here.

Belphie gets up from his seat and heads over to the front door where you must be waiting.

"You sure ordered a lot of food. Do you need any help bringing it in?" a voice asks. The delivery driver must be here already. 

"Yeah, I guess I did go overboard," you say good-humoredly. "But It will all get eaten, I promise you that."

"You're pretty cute, aren't ya?" The delivery man cooed, pulling back the bag playfully. "How about you give me your number, and then you get your food?"

You laugh nervously at his words. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that."

"and why not?" They laugh cockily. "Are you feeling a little shy? Because that's cute too."

Belphie's jaw clenches as he wonders what is with this guy. How dare he try and take you away from him.

"I'm taken," you respond, the irritation slipping through your voice as you meet his gaze.

They scoff, tossing the bag of food on the ground roughly. "Aren't you just a fricken tease then? All I ask for is your number, so how about you be a good human and give it to me?"

Belphegor knows you could have handled this guy, but he was honestly so irritated he had to step in. "Ugh, you're so annoying. Mc already paid, so you can go on your way."

Your harasser is arrogant, not stupid. He knows that he has no chance against one of the seven avatars of sin. He shuts his annoying mouth and stomps down the steps of the House of Lamination.

You watch him leave with a relieved smile on your face, "are you okay, Mc?" he asks, grabbing your hand.

"I am now," you smile "Thank you for helping me, Belphie."

[xluvablz]

❀: "a bantering game"

pairing: bbf!ellie williams x reader.

summary: you and your brothers best friend are constantly arguing, so you finally shut her up (she shuts you up).

warnings: there is no smut but it is insinuated. ellie's lowkey an a-hole. swearing :p.

word count: 1.9k

Every weekend she would come over. You couldn't stand her sometimes, her comebacks were always better.

Her and your brother always played video games in the living room, the place where you spent a lot of time.

"Kill it! Kill-- what the.." Ellie spans as you turn off the Wi-Fi. "Ah, look who came out. what, jealous?" She says as she smirks. The big headphones still on.

You wondered where your brother had gotten off too.

"Of what? your loud screaming? it's piercing." You roll your eyes, annoyance evident on your face.

"Nah, of my skills. I can tell you're jealous." She teases and chuckles as she takes her headphones off.

"Or am I wrong?" She looks at you and smirks again, a cocky expression on her face.

"You don't have any skills Williams, only an aggravating tone and a dumb best friend."

She chuckles. "You're just jealous that I'm better than you in every way." She says cockily and smirks at you, as if daring you to argue.

With a deep sigh you cross your arms and nonchalantly lean back against the wall. "Whatever helps you sleep I suppose."

Ellie's smirk widens, enjoying the fact that she was annoying you. "Aww, look at you, trying to act indifferent. We both know you're seething inside. You're just too afraid to admit it."

And you are seething, she’s a cocky asshole, but you won't let her get to you. "You must be thinking about me a lot, huh?" you smirk. "Always picking arguments, snapping back."

Ellie chuckles at your reply, amused by your attempt to rile her up. "Oh, princess, if you only knew how often I think about you. It's like a hobby of mine, trying to get you all worked up..."

“Princess”. the pet name surprises you, she talks a lot of shit, but she has never called you by anything so forward. Your face heats up a little, to your utter dismay. "Well- point proven then." Your demeanour is slipping, and it's apparent, but your attitude stays.

Ellie's smirk widens as she sees a hint of redness on your face, noticing how the pet name had surprised you. "Ah, is that a blush I see? I think I struck a nerve."

She takes a step closer, her cocky tone unwavering. "And darling, I've barely even started. You haven't seen anything yet."

You straighten your position against the wall, trying miserably to look confident. "I'm sure I haven't, why don't you show me if you're so sure?" You smirk at your own words.

Ellie chuckles and moves even closer to you, closing the gap between you two. She leans in, her smirk turning into a smirk-smile. "Oh darling, you're playing a dangerous game here."

She reaches out and lightly places a finger on your chin, tilting your chin up to make you look at her. Her emerald eyes staring into yours.

"You might just get more than you bargained for.. if you're ready for it, of course."

"I can take anything you throw at me, Williams," you quip back.

Ellie chuckles, her smirk growing even wider. "Ah, such confidence." She says as she leans in even closer, her face mere inches away from yours.

"You know, there's a thin line between confidence and cockiness, and you're walking it." Her eyes bore into yours, and a hint of mischief is evident in her gaze. "But I admire your courage, princess, I do. It's almost endearing."

Your eyes widen at her words, your voice caught in your throat. Ellie smiles mischievously. her hand slips from under your chin as she leans back, turning to leave the room. Ellie saunters out of the room, leaving you slightly flustered and speechless. She can’t help but smile to herself as she walks away, pleased with the effect she has on you.

The image of your wide eyes and flushed cheeks stuck in her mind.

⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ✿ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹

It was the weekend again, meaning Ellie would come over and bother you. Jordan had already let her in, and judging by the sound of her voice from the kitchen, she was making herself at home. You grumpily strut through the doorway, wanting a glass of milk, knowing you'll leave with a bitching from ellie.

Ellie smirks as she sees you enter the kitchen, leaning against the kitchen island. "Well, look who decided to show themselves. Princess graces us with her presence." you roll your eyes at the jab, b-lining for the fridge.

Ellie chuckles as you ignore her, opening the fridge and grabbing the milk. She leans against the island and watches you pour yourself a glass.

"Aw, you're not even gonna say hi? I'm hurt, princess." She says sarcastically, feigning a hurt expression.

“Stop hitting on my sister bro.” Your brother sneers at her, causing a slight chuckle from you.

Ellie side eyes you before rolling her eyes at Jordan's comment. "Oh, come on, it's all in good fun. Besides, your sister loves the attention,"  she replies with a smirk, giving you a quick glance.

"Whatever, man." he replies, turning his back to you both, heading back upstairs to his room. Your heart drops as you hear his footsteps retreating, knowing you were once again alone with ellie. Ellie chuckles in amusement as your brother leaves the kitchen, seeing the look on your face and being unable to help but tease you.

"Looks like it's just us now, princess," she says, her eyes darkening as she steps closer to you.

"Not for long", you think. Glass in your hands, you turn on your heel. "I'm gonna head back to my room, so."

She laughs at your attempt to leave. "Running away already? I thought you could take anything I threw at you, princess."

Ellie moves quickly, placing herself between you and the doorway, effectively blocking your escape. "Leaving so soon? And here I was, expecting some entertainment."

Your grip on the glass tightens. "move, Williams," your teeth clench. "Now."

Ellie's loves seeing how much she gets under your skin. She stands her ground, and instead of moving, she takes another step closer to you, closing the gap between you.

"Oh, look at you, getting all feisty. But I'm not going anywhere just yet, princess. You'll have to make me move if you want to leave so badly."

She easily plucks the glass from your hand and places it on the counter, effectively trapping you against it.

She moves even closer, pressing her body against yours. Her emerald eyes staring into yours, her gaze intense and unwavering. "Not so feisty now, are you princess?" She teases, her voice low and sultry.

Your eyes narrow, lips parted. "You’re so fucking annoying, you now that?" you mumble, and you're sure she does, but you don't know if she can see through the facade. Ellie chuckles at your words. She knows that deep down, beneath the feigned annoyance, there is something else, something you refuse to acknowledge.

"Oh, princess, you can try to act tough all you like, but we both know how you really feel." She states, her smirk growing wider. "Don't think I can't see right through you." Your face flushes with heat, and you turn your head to the side, avoiding her gaze.

Ellie hums at your reaction, seeing the blush on your face. Your attempt to look away doesn’t go unnoticed by her. She reaches out and gently places a finger on your chin, turning your head back to face her.

"Look at you, getting all flustered. You can't even look me in the eye, can you? It's adorable."

Her warm hands hold your head in place. You sigh defeatedly. "Why can't you just leave me alone?" you whisper, your breath gently brushing her lips. Ellie senses your surrender.

"Oh princess, where would be the fun in that? I enjoy our little exchanges too much. Plus, you secretly enjoy our banter as much as I do." She replies, her gaze fixed on your lips. Your eyes pierce hers, unsure and hot. She knows she has you cornered, and your silence speaks volumes.

"You don't have to say anything, princess. I can see it in your eyes. Your body betrays your words." She speaks, her voice low. Her eyes never leave yours, staring into them intently.

Ellie's gaze is unwavering, and within her eyes, you can see a mix of confidence, desire, and something else. Something you couldn't quite understand, but it sent goosebumps down your spine.

"Just admit it, princess. You love this. The arguing, the little banter, the way I get under your skin. Admit it." Her body is still pressed against yours.

You lean closer, shifting your weight. Ellie notices your subtle movement. Her breath hitches slightly, her eyes never leaving yours.

"Ah, what's this? You're getting closer, princess. Getting brave now, are we?" She teases, her voice lowered yet filled with a huskiness that makes your heart skip a beat. Yet her remarks make your eyes roll. Ellie notices your eye roll, her smirk widening even more. She relishes in the fact that she can make you react so easily.

"Oh, rolling your eyes now, are we? Feisty as ever, princess. But you can try to deny it as much as you like. We both know the truth, you can't resist me."

Her voice is faint but certain. Truth is, you couldn't care less what she has to say. Your lips ghost hers before she pulls you in.

Her words fade into the background as your lips hover tantalisingly close to hers. Her eyes widen slightly, surprised by your sudden forwardness but quickly regains her composure. She closes the distance between you, pulling you closer.

Her lips met yours in a fierce kiss, filled with both passion and dominance. The kiss is intense, filled with a fire that consumes you both. Ellie's hands glide down to your waist, her fingers possessively gripping the flesh of your hips. She pulls you closer, eliminating any space between your bodies. A faint moan escapes your lips, giving Ellie the access she sought. Her tongue slips into your mouth, exploring every inch. Her hands continue to grip your waist, keeping you in place, as she deepens the kiss. You break apart, needily gasping for air. 

Her breathing is heavy and uneven. Her eyes, darkened with desire, remain fixed on yours, a hint of satisfaction in her gaze.

"You are so needy," she murmurs, "getting all riled up over a kiss. I wonder what else I can do to make you come undone, princess."

Your pupils dilate with desire, “wanna find out?” you question.

Ellie's smirks, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Oh princess, you're playing a dangerous game now," she flirts back, "but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued."

She leans in closer, "so, princess, are you ready to see what I can do to make you lose control?"

Your hands hold Ellies tight, leading her up the stairs and into your room. The door closes behind you, and she wastes no time, pinning you against the wall once more.

"Looks like we're all alone now, princess," she purrs, her voice dripping with desire. "And I intend to show you exactly what I can do."

Your brother might be waiting a while… ;)

I giggled writing this hehhhehehehe, also poor jordan all aloneee.

credits to @cafekitsune for boarders

[queers-gambit]

Sweetest Devotion

[ part two ] [ alternate ending one: Kin Slayer ] [ series masterlist ]

prompt: exhausted by the war efforts, your husband does what he can to protect you. but maybe in the end, it'll be you who saves him.

pairing: Aemond Targaryen x Velaryon!wife!reader

fandom: House of the Dragon

word count: 9.3k+

note: two parts because total word count was at 17k. also, this is the final, people!!

warnings: major book spoilers. cursing, some angst, some comfort, author projects a little, major alternate timeline ending. ❗️SPOILERS

The storm had followed Aemond home to wreck havoc over King's Landing, flooding the streets and homes in Flea Bottom and low bearing homes.

You weren't sure how long you sat in silence together, but your heart was weeping, and you had no earnest idea on how to move forward from this moment. Your baby brother, the sweet Prince Lucerys, had met his end from your husband's ruthless pursuit of revenge.

Though it was his dragon that did the slaying, he is still Vhagar's rider and wanted revenge; though he would've settled for an eye, the dragon did not understand.

Aemond was silent beside you, the storm heard from the Dragon Caves as water gently leaked through cracks in the foundation. You thought the weather matched your mood and did little to quell the raging tempest that built in your chest and head; if anything, it spurred your anger onward. Tears leaked from your eyes with no sign of stopping; legs remaining bent to keep your arms tight around them. You also could not meet his gaze, nor look upon his face without picturing your baby brother screaming in terror.

You sniffled several times as you couldn't do much else but cry, but then, you made a swift decision. Jumping to your feet, you muttered, "I must go."

"Wait," Aemond stood after you, following you to your saddled dragon. Kasta raised her head and narrowed her eyes in threat, growling when Aemond reached for you. "Sweet girl, please, just hang on a second - "

"No," you sneered, wheeling around on him - meeting his eye at last. "You did this. You killed my brother, and what I need right now, is fucking space."

"How do I know you're not leaving for good? Fleeing to tell your mother the news?" He asked hopelessly. "Please, my love, understand that I cannot let you leave me. I cannot bare it."

"You cannot keep me here," you whispered in return. "You said you'd smuggle me out of the city if I wanted. Well, this is what I want - to fly with Kasta, and to be rid of your presence for now."

Tears filled his violet eye, "Please tell me you will return?"

"What if I don't?" You sneered. "Will you get on Vhagar and follow me, too? Hunt me down in the skies, maybe? Let your dragon eat Kasta and I for her main course?"

The emerald green dragon positioned above you glowered, and bore her teeth as if to dare your husband to do anything.

"You know I'd never hurt you," he whispered, but reached for your arms. "I need you to step away with me, please. We need a word."

"A word? A word? You need a word with me? Where was that courtesy for my brother? A boy of only ten and four!? Hey!?"

But you silenced yourself when Vhagar lifted her head from her alcove and swung it to watch the three of you - making Kasta go on the defense. "Kasta," you demanded in High Valyrian, "enough. Do not engage."

Your dragon growled still, standing rigidly above you as Aemond's hands tightened over your upper arms. "Listen to me," he begged still, making your glare turn back to his lone eye, "and believe me, please, none of this was my intention."

"You've made that clear. Yet what I can understand, is that you antagonized a child and your dragon does not understand limits nor bounds. She does not understand you only wanted to torment and scare the boy, and when his dragon reacted in an effort to protect his rider, you lost control."

"Why is his dragon understood and mine crucified?"

You scoffed, "Truly? What business did a 10-year-old child have claiming some 180-year-old dragon!?"

"Now that is on trial!?"

"Aemond, what are you expecting here?" You snapped, ignoring the way your skin seared under his touch. "You and your fucking dragon killed my brother, end of story, end of sentence, no other room for judgement. This is your sin to bear, not mine, though I am now burdened with knowing my husband claimed the innocent life of my brother! How could you?" You whispered, stepping closer as your voice lowered but still rang clearer than the storm raging outside. Both hands tightened over his biceps, begging, "How could you do this? To me? To us? To my Mother? If it was an eye you wanted, you can have mine - both if it would satisfy you."

His head shook, "No. No, I would not - do not twist this on me."

"I am assuring you that there were any other way to solve this, and should you remember correctly, we married so that your pride might be soothed. As payment for my brother's actions, my hand was offered, and your father accepted that proposal. Pray tell me how that was not enough? After all this time?" Your arms laid over his to grab the muscle above his elbow; his grip tightening on your waist. "Why did you do it? Why did you push for this? It is by your selfishness that my brother isn't even allowed to be buried!"

"Say the word and we will go find him now," Aemond shook his head.

You scoffed, then nodded solemnly. "Truly?"

"I would do anything to right this terrible wrong. If it meant you stayed, if it meant I kept you, I would do anything."

You nodded again and tried to smile, but your tears made it difficult. Before Aemond could blink, your hands reached for his belt and yanked the leather free; grabbing his long-sword in hand and shoving the weapon into his chest - which forced him back two steps.

"Gut your dragon," you whispered into the eery silence.

"What?"

"Gut Vhagar and pull my brother's body free before the acids have time to dissolve him further," you sneered, pressing the sword harder.

"My love," he begged softly.

"No? Is that refusal?" You goaded.

"You know I cannot."

"Then there is nothing more I want from you than to be free to take my dragon into the skies. I cannot look at your face longer, knowing what I know now. I need time to think."

His hand softly folded over yours, pausing a moment to ask, "Is there any way you could forgive me?"

"I need to first find a way to fully stomach what you've done, then we might ponder if I can forgive you. I would not hold my breath if I were you, though."

His hand tightened over yours, nodding as he repeated to you your words from earlier that day in High Valyrian, "I will wait for you forever, if I must. But do not make me... Please."

You snorted through your nose, shaking your head, "Do not do that. Do not try to romance me now. You cannot possibly have love for me if your dragon ate my fucking brother."

You pulled away from him in full to make for Kasta again. Sword laid forgotten in the sand as he called after you, "Just be careful, my love, please. There's a storm tonight."

"Yes, I've ears to hear with, thank you!" You snapped over your shoulder. "I will be fine."

You wanted to tell him you'd return, but in truth, you were unsure if you were able to. You wanted to go back before today, before the love of your life had killed and eaten your little brother. Well, his dragon did the eating, and while that's not Aemond, and beasties are allowed to be wild from their masters, you were disgusted looking at him.

Kasta purred when you got to her side and easily climbed on top of the saddle, sparring Aemond only a single look before encouraging your dragon from the Caves under the Dragon Pit.

Aemond had to flatten himself against the Cave wall as Kasta surged past him - bursting into the frigid air, and spreading her wings to beat once, twice, three times, and rise into the air.

You soared higher and higher; darkness swallowing you as it had your brother, letting the storm encompass you whole. When Kasta was level, your hands let go of the saddle to sit back and choke on your sobs, arms going lax as your strength to hold yourself together gave way. And through the storm, what better way to release your rage?

You let your tears mix with the water splattering on your face. For the thunder to drown your anguished screams. For the lightning to flash away the images you unintentionally conjured when you thought of your husband and brother.

You let the vapid, sideways rain pound over you. For the wind to howl and create a legion of goose flesh to form over your shivering form; though you did not feel it. For the storm to become one with you.

Your pain was tangible. Your anguish known.

You flew for miles, unsure where you were heading because the storm demanded the forefront of your attention - but you weren't willing to give it. Kasta chose to fly aimlessly as she just wanted to stretch out, and for a moment, you considered just flying across the Narrow Sea. Head for Essos, where you would escape this petty stupidity. Where you would not have to choose between your beloved mother and adoring husband.

Between Green and Black.

Between rightful succession, and well... Tradition. You hated the thoughts when they registered in your head, but the truth of the matter is that after centuries of tradition as naming first-born males the heir, you were not stupid and understood your shit-stain-brother-by-law, Aegon, held a 'legitimate' claim now.

You were desperately confused, you had no honest idea what to do, and the further you flew in the storm, the more your exhaustion rose. As your dragon's pale green wings cut through the air and she took charge of your flight, you weighed the pro's and con's of each action.

If you stayed, you got Aemond - and that was enough of a pro on its own.

If you left, you'd be able to salvage whatever time you have with your brothers, Jace and Joffrey. Plus your step-sisters, Rhaena and Baela, along with half-siblings, Viserys II and Aegon III.

If you stayed, your dragon would be on the frontlines only due to her sheer size... And that sounded more like a con.

But! But! But! If you left, you knew the message you bore - that was sure to reach your mother's ears with or without you - would be reason enough for Rhaenyra to wage war. If you returned to your mother, you'd be thrown into her war, and with Kasta, who still grew in size and ferocity, who was to say you wouldn't be used on the frontlines there, too?

If you stayed, Aemond would always protect you. Not that you needed it but it was a comfort to know you'd not be alone.

You'd hopefully get to see your siblings all marry, too, if you went home.

Your child would know its father if you stayed.

You screamed into the night again.

Sobs ransacked your lungs, demanding oxygen be sucked in with a shuddering, stuttering inhale. You were restless and distraught, and even when time passed, the storm did not; nor did your heartbreak. But Kasta understood your pain, letting you sob into her hide as she flew you higher, higher, higher... Before breaking free of the storm to give you a view of the just rising sun.

You breathed in shock as you sat up off her shoulders. With your arms keeping you upright, you gazed with swollen red eyes to the beautiful sight before you; relishing in the swirls of colors that only brightened with each flap of Kasta's wings.

She hovered a moment to let you gaze at the clouds and rising sunlight, patting her shoulder as you praised in High Valyrian, "Good girl, my sweet Emerald. Good girl - thank you. Thank you," you whispered, hearing her purr as she beat her wings to keep her body suspended.

You took a sobering breath and sat up tall. With nobody around, you were left with only Kasta to speak to, and maybe, that'd be your saving grace in time. You spoke, "It is more than myself I need to consider. You are my priority," you smiled, stroking her neck, "but I also now have a baby growing in my womb, and I have to take them into consideration, too. Where we go, I have to think of you two the most - because I cannot let you suffer for human selfishness."

She gave a loud purr.

"Yet we have two options, my girl. We stay in King's Landing and we would fight with Aemond, only. We are loyal to him, not his usurping weasel of a brother."

She snorted, almost nodding her head. You saw her lips flutter and knew she bore her teeth in distrust of Aegon.

"If we return to Dragonstone, we are subservient to our Queen, my Mother, the rightful ruler and heir to the Iron Throne. Surely, with Daemon's influence, we would be expected to fight."

Saying it aloud again made you slump onto her shoulders, groaning, "Oh, Kasta, what the hell are we doing? We should just take our chances in Essos."

She huffed.

"No? Maybe Pentos?"

She growled.

"Then where should we go, pet? Where? Where you are safe and so is my baby?"

Kasta whined lightly, unsure of your decision either.

"I care little for my own safety, but you, my precious girl, are entirely dear to me and I will not risk you in open war. I could not ask that of you, you are not at fault for the deceit my people show. But we have to chose which side we are to take, love. Where I took vowels to be loyal to Aemond, we know Rhaenyra is right and true, but with Luke's death, she... She cannot be thinking levelly."

Kasta lowly whined in agreement, turning in a circle to keep her blood pumping before coming to another halt. You had a view to a sea of sun-soaked clouds, finding rolling hills of different colors; all painted on fluffy canvases.

"She'll need me now more than ever," you whispered. "She cannot do this alone, and... And the Greens have Vhagar. The Blacks have Meleys. Yet if I take a position, I will still have to fight the ones I love, the dragons you grew with."

But Kasta gave a small snarl.

"You know I mean Aemond," you chuckled lowly. "He's the best trained with a sword and rides the largest dragon... He'd be sent off to battle, and to meet him, I'd wager Daemon would not hesitate to send us with Melyes and Rhaenys. What would hurt more, Kasta? Fighting my step father and mother's cousin? Or fighting the man I was sworn to love and be loyal to before the Gods? Who sires my children? But... The man has killed my brother and I fear I'd be unable to forgive him. What do I do, Kasta?"

She whined again.

"I made vows to him," you whispered brokenly. "I do not think I can leave... Mother would surely use us to fight, but at least Aemond would protest Aegon's command, try to keep us safe..." Your tears streamed down your cheeks, making you nod, "All right, yeah, come now, my love, we need to go."

Kasta anticipated this and turned to dive back into the storm; your eyes closing from the whipping wind stinging your eyes as Kasta dove at an angle straight down. You held on tightly and trusted her, and when she leveled, you cracked your eyes open to see your dragon flapping her wings straight for the distant Red Keep.

"Mumma's sneaky girl, aren't you?" You chuckled at her, patting her neck with an affection hand. She gave a roar of announcement as she swiftly circled the Dragon Pit and descended; landing with a trembling thud before she was hurrying under cover from the still-raging storm. You held on until she came to a halt in the Caves; pausing to let you slide off your saddle. "Good girl," you praised, letting her forehead caress the scales of her cheek. "Good girl, thank you. Always my good girl, yes," she gave a small snort of contentment, almost leaning into you.

"Thank you for returning my wife safely, Kasta," Another voice purred in smooth High Valyrian, and you sighed when you recognized it instantly. It was a voice you longed to hear, but not yet - not so soon. You did not think he'd still be here at this hour.

"I've only just returned, Aemond, are you truly that dull or does the concept of time and space just not register in your head?" You leered to Aemond from over your shoulder.

"I needed to see you were safe with my own eye," he sighed, watching your dragon patter (read: took thundering steps) into her alcove for rest; leaving the two of you as alone as you could be.

"You see me now," you snipped. "Now leave me be."

"We should talk - "

"The only thing I've left to say is that I'm done," you nodded. "I'm not leaving you, don't bother even trying to lock up Kasta - she's been biting lately. But I can't stay with you anymore."

"What does that mean?"

"That I still need time and space to think about this, it's not a decision I can come to in a single evening," you sighed. "Look, I'll move out - "

"No, wait," Aemond stepped towards you but you held a hand.

"It's for the best," you backed off a step. "I can't live in our room anymore, not when you are everywhere. I'll suffocate."

"I'll move out."

"Do you not listen?" You groaned lightly. "You're all I see in that room, and I need time apart. I understand what happened with Vhagar, I do - and while I'm sorry you feel guilt over losing control, I still need you to have accountability for the actions taken tonight. You've started a war - both in life with my mother, and in my heart with my head."

Your words planted his feet as his stomach plunged; letting you slip past him only just - your ears catching his whisper, "Will you ever forgive me?"

You paused but did not look at him. "Time will tell," you alluded, unsure of what to tell him in truth. You left after that, the storm thick and making you stick to back allies of King's Landing to reach the Red Keep again. Seemingly out of respect, Aemond did not follow, and from your shared quarters, you made a beeline for the one thing you wanted. The rest of the room and all contents shared some kind of memory attached to your husband.

You only took an ornate jewelry box your mother had gifted you years ago and quickly fled the room in favor of locating Amira. From there, she helped you locate a new room, and together, you shoveled clothes into trucks, and with another maid, Clara, carried two full trunks between you three.

You lead, holding one handle, Amira in the middle, both hands holding an end of a trunk, and Clara at the rear; a single rucksack strung around yours and Clara's shoulders. You ignored the bewildered looks of others to quickly head for your new room, somewhere far from Aemond to avoid accidentally running into him.

Your two maidens helped you unload your trunks with two jugs of wine - the night long, and given your status, you could 'relieve' the two women of their daily chores. So, they spent the night with you, and you didn't dare open your mouth about what happened.

You told them you and Aemond had a terrible fight and you needed space to think. They understood and while you saw the way Clara wanted to push, Amira was sending her stern looks that silenced the younger girl. They did not linger after the sun broke the horizon, but Amira did return to bring you something for breakfast.

You didn't realize this would become your new normal.

Weeks upon weeks went by with Aemond keeping his distance and it drove you up the bloody wall. On one hand, you were frustrated because you were alone, but also angry, because he killed your brother. You craved his affection, his touch, but still felt repulsed by the sight of him. He liked to send you flowers; filling your room with sickly sweetness that made your anger almost solidify, but the reminder of the act of kindness went farther than you were willing to admit; and though you'd not admit it, each little card that came with the flowers were saved in a small, carved wooden box.

On the loneliest nights, you curled up in bed, caressed your still-growing bump, and reread his declarations of love and loyalty. His words that read how much he missed you, and prayed for you daily.

In order to maintain appearances to both his family and the public, you and Aemond attended official royal events together. However, the silence between you and Aemond echoed across any room; earning the attention of his family.

They were well aware by now of Luke's demise and could only assume you knew, as well; but nobody ever confronted you about it after Aemond threatened physical harm to any who dared. When Aegon threw Aemond a feast to celebrate his 'accomplishment', not even the arrogant boy-King questioned your notable absence. Especially after teasing he'd go collect you himself - and earned Aemond's venomous glare that rooted him in spot.

For weeks, you slept alone, mostly ate alone, couldn't bare to sit with Helaena and her children anymore. You were heartbroken and feeling sick from stress, isolating yourself in the hope of figuring out your emotions and next steps forward.

You tried to rationalize in your head that in times of war, casualties were inevitable; but you were frustrated because it was the first punch, and never knew where to place your emotions. Granted, you could've considered Aegon's coronation provocation towards war but your mother was trying to be calculated in her movements; almost now forced into the fray following the death of Lucerys.

Despite this understanding, nothing in your mind cleared.

Until enough was enough when the next storm struck the city. You flinched awake and felt your chest tighten with memories of your baby brother as the storm had tapped into your subconscious to make you dream of him. It felt more like a haunting now.

You were left alone to pace the cold, stone floors, the hearth stoked to life, flowers slowly drying from a vase on the spare table, but the thunder made you tremble and rub your palms together. Your mind did not stop, nor did the frantic, vapid beat of your heart; anxiety flaring with each flash of lightning.

You flinched when there was a pounding at your door. Not a knock, but four beats of a fist in rapid succession that nearly made the whole door shake off its hinges.

Gulping any nerves, you reached for the handle and opened it a crack; curious as to who would call upon you at this late hour. But what you saw surprised you, making you blink a few times. "You're soaked," You whispered, leaning on the door you held, taking note of the rain water dripping off Aemond's form.

"There were matters I had to attend to, so, I was outside for a time," he explained with a nervous nod. "I was just returning, and only wanted to come by and check on you..."

"Why?"

He shrugged some, "The storm, and because I love you. I didn't want you feeling so alone. I know you grow weary."

You nodded as another crack of thunder rumbled, making you ask softly, "Do you want to come in?"

"Yes, thank you," he whispered with a curt nod, watching you step away to push the door open and grant him passage into the smaller room. When he stepped over the threshold, you gulped nervously and shut the door securely. "You rearranged," he noted with a small chuckle. "Like you did in our room."

"I think I am nesting," you smiled, smoothing a hand around your swollen belly. "Times I am stressed, I can curl up in bed with a book."

He nodded, "Good."

The bookshelf was in a new place than the first, last, and only time he's seen your new room, and the bed was pushed into a corner where you had piled a mountain of pillows to create a literal nest. You watched him for a moment, offering, "Do you want to change? You might catch a cold in that."

He nodded, "Uh, yeah, yes, that would be much appreciated. Thank you, sweet girl, but I have clothes in, uh, our room..."

You smiled softly and went to the wardrobe to find him something new, warm, and suitable to change into. "I kept some of your clothes, they're comfortable to sleep in," you explained, slightly defending yourself as you didn't like feeling so vulnerable under his luminescent gaze. "What were your errands?" You wondered gently.

He sighed, "I had to visit the Storm Lands again, Aegon had a new message for Lord Borros."

"How fairs your intended?"

He laughed, "Oh, my beautiful girl, you still think that's happening?"

"Is it, Aemond?"

"Not in the slightest," he sighed, nodding with assurance when your eyes met his with skepticism. "I told Aegon now wasn't the time for strife between my wife and I, and I wasn't available to do his bidding nor make his alliances."

You considered his words, then asking, "Is there news?"

Aemond cleared his throat, nodding as you presented the clothing and sat it on the bed. Then, your hands took hold of his jerkin and started to undo the latches and laces - as if no time had passed. He sighed, "Your step-father claimed Harrenhal and the Lady Arryn and Lords Manderly, Sunderland, and Stark, maybe another, have declared for your mother's side."

You nodded, peeling the wet leather from his form. "And your news to Storm's End?"

"To break the engagement in person, but Borros did not seem too disheartened."

"You think he would abandon the cause?"

"No," he sighed. "He's smarter than that."

"Uneducated, though," you mused gently, peeling his tunic free from his damp chest. "Hang on," you paused, moving for the heath to pull off a towel from a drying rack. When you returned, you asked, "And how are you feeling now?"

"Exhausted," he whispered. "But I was worried about you, Princess, when I came home and saw the storm was here, too."

You nodded, "You do not need worry - "

"Of course I do," he snarled gently, "you are most precious to me, my love," he frowned as his tone tapered off, shaking his head. "'S been killing me trying to give you space."

"Thank you for it," you nodded, sweeping over his skin to dry it before handing him the thin, white tunic. "But um..." You paused with nervousness, nudging his booted foot with your bare one. "Take those off."

"What were you truly going to say?"

You rolled your eyes some, silently cursing him for knowing you so bloody well. "That I do not wish to be alone tonight... Maybe you'd like to stay?"

"You'd want me?"

"Of course," you nodded, gently unlacing his trousers and stepping away to let him change completely into drier pants. "I told you I didn't want to be alone."

"You've been so angry."

"With reason."

"I know," he nodded, eye tinging red from restrained emotion. "I'm so sorry - "

"For what this time?"

"All of it," he reached for you, changed finally. "But I swore you wouldn't be alone, and here, I just left you."

"I wanted to be alone," you reminded softly.

"Did not mean you should have been," he whispered, letting his forehead meet yours. He let out a sigh of relief, "Let me fix us."

"I think time apart has sickened my stomach... And your child misses the sound of your voice," you admitted. "I don't want to be without you anymore, but your brother oversteps himself."

"I know - "

"He threw you a feast for killing my brother," you reminded, stepping away. "He mocks my pain."

"I will have a word with him - and with everyone. You will not be caught between this war, you are my wife, and I will protect you against them all."

"I am only loyal to you," you sighed. "So, whatever you ask of me, I will do, but only that. I am not your brother's subject - "

"Hey," he quipped, slipping his hand over your mouth and giving a suspicious glance around the room. "I hear you, pet, I do, trust me, but the walls have ears now. Please..."

You sighed, rolling your eyes at him before opening your mouth and boldly licking his palm. He tasted like leather, and just like you wanted, he recoiled in shock from the feel of your tongue. "Wash your hands, husband," you chuckled, moving to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Because you don't know where you've been, wife?" He teased, pulling a soft mug at his soiled hand before stepping away from you to head for the wash basin.

"I haven't really left this room, Aemond," you sighed.

"I know," he admitted, washing his hands and forearms, "I was worried about you isolating yourself but Amira kept saying you needed space to think."

"She's a good friend," you smiled gently, watching him. "Can we be done with this?"

He offered a look of shock, "What? With what, love?"

You sighed, quelling his worry by responding, "This fight? The distance between us? I don't... I don't want space anymore. I just want you, Aemond, I want my husband back."

His shoulders gently slumped with relief as he dried his hands. "Yes, good, we're done, it's at an end, my love. You have me, you always have - and always will."

"I'm still working on forgiving you but I think, all things considered, we can start... Moving on..."

He nodded, "Many are lost in war, but I am so sorry he was the first. And that it was by my hand."

"Thank you for saying that," you nodded at him, finding his accountability refreshing. "Come to bed, please?"

"In your nest?" He chuckled, letting your hand reach for his and lead him to the mattress.

"Yes, it's cozy," you defended. "And you made me sleep alone, so, I made do with what I had."

"Fight's over, love, that's all done now," he promised with a sigh, settling into your nest and readjusting a few times. "Hmm," he considered, glancing around the mountain of silks and fluff. "I don't think I hate it completely."

"Shhh," you hushed as you moved to curl up at his side. The hearth had died a bit in flame, but the warmth was enough that you only needed a thin sheet for comfort. You smiled when his hand laid to your belly, rubbing gently as if in fascination.

"Missed you so much, sweet girl," he whispered, kissing your forehead. You sighed against him, promising you missed him, too; then deflating into his chest as sleep tugged at your form. You still flinched into his embrace on a few particular hard claps of thunder rattling the walls and windows, but Aemond was there to soothe you back into gentle submission.

Yet, by morning, there was nothing but chaos.

"MY PRINCE!" Someone banged at the door, making you and your husband flinch awake. "PRINCESS!"

"The hell?" Aemond muttered through a haze of sleep, hand tightening on your waist.

"MY PRINCE! PLEASE! PRINCESS! WAKE UP! WAKE UP, PLEASE! MY LADY! LORD! LORD, PLEASE!"

"That's Mira," you realized, sitting up in shock. "Come in, come in!"

"Love," Aemond reprimanded, yanking the bedsheet over his bare hips after feigning being too hot in the night to spend it in your cunt with you still in your singlet.

The door barged open and Amira entered with a pant, "You both need to come quick!"

"What's happened? Are we under attack?" You worried.

"No, no, well, I-I don't - I don't know anymore," she panted, using her hands to reiterate her words. "Something has happened - "

"Tell us plainly," Aemond demanded.

"The Queen - y-your mother, s-s-someone broke in a-and bound her," Amira told you both with a tremble; making you grab Aemond's hand as if it would quell his growing temper. "Th-They killed the hand maiden and your sister arrived with all three of her children, like they do every night - t-to say goodnight to their grandmother."

"No," you whispered.

"The door was barred," Amira's tears started, "an-and the Queen was made to choose which of her sons would die."

"For the love of the Gods," Aemond cursed, looking down as if to prepare himself.

Amira gulped.

"Tell us," you encouraged.

"S-She named Maelor... But they killed Jaehaerys instead." You felt the tears swell. "They took his head, and fled the Keep," she whispered.

"What?" You gasped.

"But, wait, wait," she saw both your temper and Aemond's flare when his head lifted to burn her with his glare. The missing eyepatch allowed his sapphire to leave her unnerved. "One of the assassins was caught. He's been brought to the dungeons."

"The dungeons?" Aemond nodded.

"Yes, my Prince. Your brother is being informed and anticipated he'll call for you," she explained. "Your mother is being seen to, she is well-enough, and the Lady Helaena was not harmed... But she is beside herself with grief."

"Rightfully," you nodded, watching Amira sniffle.

"I'll go, but perhaps, Lady, you should remain... You do not need to bear witness to the King's justice," she spoke softly.

"I will go with my husband, thank you, Amira," you nodded at her, letting her turn for the door in haste. "Aemond?" You turned to him, reaching for his cheek to direct his attention to you. "Hey, hey, stay in the present with me; take me through your thoughts..."

He shook his head, leaning in to sigh when his head rested in the crook of your neck. "I do not even know," he admitted. "What am I supposed to do right now? What am I to think? What - What if they came for us? Came for you?" His hand secured to your belly. "This is retribution for Lucerys, this is my fault - my doing. They could've come for you, my love - "

"They did not because they know I am under your protection, my sweet love," you muttered, caressing the back of his head. "Nobody would be so foolish."

"Then perhaps I need to keep you close," he frowned, lifting his gaze. "So that I can protect you at all times." You nodded, letting his hand caress your belly in soothing circles. "I-I am ashamed to admit I cannot stop thinking about it. If they came for you."

"Aemond," your hand reached for his jaw; fingers fitting between his ear to thread slightly into his hair. "Do not burden yourself with the unknown, please. The hypothetical, it-it will not serve us now. When we're alone, yes, my love, please, grieve and be upset and tell me what thoughts plague your mind. But we need to hit pause because there's business to attend right now."

He sniffled and nodded some. "You're right. Come with me, please."

You agreed, and together, got from the bed. After changing from your singlet, you both hustled through the castle to make for the dungeons - your husband armed with his long sword and two different daggers. Your hand was tight in his, trying to help keep him level headed as you met Aegon and witnessed the murderer, 'Blood', be tortured for answers.

He admitted to a partner, a rat-catcher named Cheese, and that he was on his way to collect payment for the Prince's death from your step-father, Daemon. Aemond's arm constricted around you when he heard, trying to prevent any residual anger be directed your way.

Yet, it never came.

Blood confessed to being told this ransom by some 'whore', nicknamed Misery - and you stilled at the familiar name. Only Aemond noted it, and he would question you later - where you'd admit to knowing the name of the White Worm because she was Daemon's paramour - before focusing on the interrogation.

The rest was a frenzy.

Over a two week period, Aegon hung every single rat-catcher in the city after being unsuccessful in locating this 'Cheese' character. In truth, they could not find your step-father's woman, either, but finding Cheese was much more important - since he fucking murdered the Prince. To be sure, all were executed and Aegon had their heads mounted on spikes around the Red Keep's fortress walls, and the Hand, Otto, had cats shipped into the Keep to take over the catcher's old job.

You and Aemond sought comfort in each other's arms the night you found out the truth of his sister's state. She had locked herself away and threw herself into a deep depression, unable to care for her children, and absolutely refusing to care for Maelor - after she named him to die. In response, Aegon had taken up residence in another room and gave his mother, Alicent, care of the baby after deeming his sister-wife unfit.

It made the both of you outrageously grateful for one another and all feelings of hardship truly evaporated. He held you close, letting his fingers run over your flesh; relishing in the warm feel of your curves. He liked kissing your forehead, holding your baby bump, letting calloused fingertips trace the contours of your face.

Yet the worst was yet to come.

The blows kept coming.

Aegon had seemingly lost the support of the mainland, the Riverlands, and left him in a drunken despair following the murder of his son. He grew tired of waiting and denounced his grandsire, Otto Hightower, as Hand before anointing Ser Criston Cole.

You and Aemond had shared looks of mistrust when the ceremony occurred to announce the change of position - both feeling as if Aemond was being cheated out of a natural position.

Yet, he did not voice anything and did as he was bid.

He did not let you on the frontlines despite his brother's nagging and pushing for such. Aemond worried for the babe in your womb and refused his brother every time - telling him to condemn both you and he as a traitor for it, then.

Aegon never followed through and actually left you be. Yet, as if in retaliation, he sent Aemond on constant errands and missions.

One day, when your husband returned victorious from his latest mission with his brother, who you could not see, because Ameond was rushing for you waiting at the gates of the Keep, and seized hold of your hips. "Come with me," he ushered, trying to lead you away.

"What's wrong?" You worried, hearing the crowds gather in the city streets. "Aemond? 'S goin' on, love?"

He sighed, and then you saw it over his shoulder. "Oh, Gods, no, no, no, no, no," you whispered, a large wagon carrying the head of the Red Queen, Meleys, who was your Grandmother's dragon. "What happened?" You rounded on Aemond. "Tell me what happened!"

"It was a fair fight," he assured softly, avoiding your gaze. "But..."

"Please, just tell me," you whispered, one hand to your lower belly as if to support the babe growing in your womb.

"Meleys perished and her head was brought back to encourage the commonfolk. Sunfyre was severely wounded and had to be left behind in Rook's Rest, and Aegon is gravely wounded, he'll be seen by the Maester's, and..."

"Please."

"Your Grandmother, Princess Rhaenys, did not survive. Or, so we think. There was a body too charred to identify found with the Red Queen."

"Gods," you sighed, wrapping your arms around his waist to rest on his chest. You whispered sadly, "It just follows us now, doesn't it? Everywhere we look..."

"What does?"

"Death."

He frowned and leaned down to kiss your head, giving a tight squeeze. "I'm so sorry," he whispered to you.

But the blows didn't stop.

Rumor reached the Keep of your brother, Prince Jacerys, collecting Targaryen bastards - offering a knighthood to those who could conquer any of the six, riderless dragons left on Dragonstone. Apparently, many tired, many failed, and only four were conquered - including King Jaehaerys' dragon, Vermithor.

The Greens were vastly outmatched.

You grew nervous and Aemond often spent his nights mindlessly tracing up and down your spine to assure you he was still there. He was still alive. He was still with you.

The blows kept coming.

Your two half-brothers, Viserys II and Aegon the Younger, were being transferred across the sea when the Green's navy found them. No ships were left untouched and rumor had it, only Aegon III survived - clinging to the neck of his injured dragon. However, there was no way of confirming if he ever washed ashore or not, so, the idea of him being lost to the sea sank your stomach to new depths.

Over the Gullet of Blackwater Bay, your brother, Jace, had apparently flown too close to the water's surface when he descended to avenge his half-brothers. He leapt from Vermax' back as the dragon crashed and died in the accident, leaving the Green's navy defenses to take aim and shoot the Prince to the death.

He was never pulled from the waters. Again, another brother with no body to mourn or burn.

However, the men Otto recruited from the Stepstones made landfall and sacked Spicetown before laying siege to High Tide. Apparently, they burnt the whole of it, and all of your Grandfather, Corlys', treasures were lost. In addition, a third of his fleet was set ablaze - and you felt guilt for the small relief you felt.

Maybe the end of the war was soon upon you.

By a stroke of nature, you went into labor following news of your brother's demise. It was the smallest semblance of happiness the Greens could find, and they paced at your door; curious for the new addition to the family. Husbands weren't usually allowed in the birthing chambers but Aemond left no choice; holding your hand through it all and using a cloth to dab sweat from your forehead and brow. He paced with you, sat behind you when you needed to squat, did not let anyone touch you when you did not wish to be touched.

He was encouraging, soft, loving, and mostly, worried. The labors of birth was not for the weak of heart, and Aemond had to remind himself several times to be strong for you.

A full fucking day and a half in labor, and you and Aemond were then laid in bed holding a pair of twins. A boy, who looked just as his father does, who his mother named Olyver, and a little girl, who liked to wriggle around in her father's arms, who he named Brinna.

"You did so good, my love, so good," Aemond whispered from beside you, supporting your weight on his shoulder and weight of his newborn daughter in his arms. "Look at them. They're beautiful, aren't they?"

"Mhm," you assured softly.

His mother and brother visited to offer good tidings, leaving both of you surprised by Aegon's presence. Helaena never showed. But Otto did, offering you both congratulations.

Aemond was awe-struck, holding his children carefully; thanking you repeatedly for giving him the gift of fatherhood. They were gorgeous babes with stark white hair and bright purple eyes that slowly darkened with the passing weeks.

Aemond was obsessed. He liked their cribs at the base of your bed - in case they needed anything - and was always first to hop up to offer them care or comfort. Except when they were hungry, then he had to wake you, but he liked sitting behind you as you nursed the twins one at a time, on different breasts.

He couldn't stop showering you in compliments, truly in awe over what you both had created. He didn't like maids or midwives around the babies, often shooing them away in favor of either of you. Following the Blood and Cheese incident, he was overly protective and did not like your twins far from either of you. However, he was the first to call for aid when the long nights took a toll on you; leaving you to rest undisturbed while the babies slept in a separate room.

Any night your husband wasn't home, you were laid in bed with your twins with a wall of pillows around the edges. Aemond was named Protector of the Realm in his brother's absence - Aegon recovering from his severe broken bones and burns obtained at Rook's Rest. This only meant your husband was extremely busy as of late, but every night, no matter the time, he still came back to you.

You preferred knowing he was in meetings and strategy sessions rather than out on the frontlines with Vhagar - never allowing you to know of his safety. It was a gamble if he came home, which resulted in a passionate reunion, yes, but the anxiety you felt wasn't truly worth it. Now that he ruled in his brother's stead, you knew he'd come to bed eventually and started to settle down easier.

But then, when your children were under two, Aemond came to you with a proposition; late from a war strategy meeting, and slipping into bed behind you. He gave a tight squeeze to your frame, making you hum as you woke up fully from your sleepy daze.

"My love," you muttered, reaching up to caress the back of his neck as his lips pressed into your neck several times. You sighed in contentment, small smile on your lips.

"I need to ask you something important, sweet girl. Are you awake?"

"Mhm. What's wrong?" Then, you shot up to twist around and look at him with a crazed expression, "Is it the children!?"

"No, no," he soothed quickly, slowly coaxing you to lay down again. "C'mere, please," he sighed, slowly guiding you back into position. You tried to relax but his words made you suspicious; letting a hand lace with his that was resting on your stomach.

"What is it, love? Worrying me a bit," you sighed, feeling his breath fan over your neck and shoulder.

"Could you ride Kasta with us?" He sighed into your hair, being the big spoon.

"Where, my Prince?"

"To Harrenhal," he revealed quietly. "We mean to move on Daemon from the East and the Lannisters from the West, and in truth, I would hope he'd at least yield if he saw you. Or, more like, if he saw Kasta."

You nodded softly and turned in his arms so you could see his worried expression, reaching out to trace a fingertip over his face. You asked in a whisper, "You would spare him?"

"I have been the cause of enough of your grief, my love," he whispered, "I would try to undo some damage. Yes, I would take him alive, spare his life."

You sighed, "All right."

"We march at dawn after Cole and his men," he informed.

You sighed in agreement, "All right. Then, you're not fucking me, we're going to sleep if I'm to leave bed for long."

His grin was felt against your lips, and just as he planned, your resolve crumbled easily to let him flip you back around and slip inside you, but he still left time for you both to rest. What a gentleman. When you rose, both you and Aemond dressed for the excursion before kissing your children goodbye.

With your husband at your side, you both mounted your dragons solemnly before letting them take to the skies - the armies long-gone with Cole at the lead. They were easy to catch up with, and unknown to any of you, your step-father knew of the Green movement and flew Caraxes to King's Landing to meet your mother on Syrax.

None of you would know of the damage until it was too late.

After a 19-day march through mud and rain, that was met with only few battles from lesser Lords, you were surprised to find Harrenhal empty. Abandoned. There was only the weakened bodies of House Strong left, and all were taken prisoner. You eyed the castle wearily after Aemond had called you from the skies, feet crunching over charred dirt as you went.

"What's happened?" Aemond wondered gently, looking around with you in skepticism.

"He fled," you noted with suspicion, eyes meeting your husband's gaze as you slowly reached for his hand. "He wouldn't unless for something bigger, Aemond."

He nodded mutely as a grinning Cole approached you both, informing, "The whole place is abandoned. Word must've reached him of our numbers and he didn't want the fight. I imagine he's already back at Dragonstone."

You hummed, "Maybe, but it's not like Daemon to flee. We're talking about the same madman who took the Blood Stone Island singlehandedly - "

"Until he was overrun and your Grandsire rode to his aid," Cole cut off, sighing at you. "Daemon's past triumphs are of no use nor concern here. The truth is, he's fled the fortress and it's been reclaimed in the name of King Aegon."

"No, something's not right," you insisted, still glancing around as if to expect a message that would tell you where Daemon had gone. "He wouldn't just give up, not without the Queen's explicit instruction."

"Could his Queen have given another order?" Aemond wondered, and Cole had to physically restrain himself from snapping that Rhaenyra was the False Queen - and that Alicent and Helaena were the rightful leading Ladies of the Realm.

You paused to consider his question, muttering, "'S possible. But what was said? And when?" Your head shook, "No, something's not right. Can't you feel it?"

"They say this castle is haunted, Lady," Cole sighed.

"No, it goes beyond that - and fuck off, Cole, ghosts are real," you snipped, waving him off. "I don't think we should stay, I-I think we should return to the capital. Love?"

Before Aemond could answer, Cole did, "No, we need to hold the fort."

"With respect," you spat at Cole, "but this is not the easy win you think it is. How much would you wager there's been a spy?"

"Impossible - "

"Improbable," you corrected, "but very much possible."

This lead you three to make for one of the strategy rooms to argue, nobody truly knowing what the next course of action should be.

That was, until the late hours, when a bloodied and soot-covered messenger arrived. "Love," You gasped when the man burst into the room, grabbing onto Aemond in shock.

"Who are you?" Aemond demanded, hand to his longsword.

"I-I come - I come from the Keep, my Prince," the man panted. "I carry grave news."

"What's happened?" Cole demanded.

The message was simple: after they had all left, Rhaenyra and Daemon flew their dragons over the city and your Grandsire, Corlys, sailed into Blackwater Bay - seizing it. Any messenger was caught and arrested, anyone trying to send ravens, too. Yet, your messenger only managed to escape through the back tunnels under the Keep; but could not avoid the panic of the city.

"What of the King?" Aemond demanded.

Larys Strong had managed to smuggle Aegon, his daughter, Jaehaera, and Prince Maelor out of the city. He sent the children to different places, and did not say where Aegon was sent. You'd only learn later he was planted in Dragonstone.

"Where is Larys now?" Aemond muttered, being told the man simply disappeared and there was no further news of him.

"And the Queen?" Cole needed to know.

Alicent had been spared, but her father, Otto, your husband's grandsire, had been beheaded - and any remaining Greens surrendered to Rhaenyra. The city was sacked in less than a day.

"What of our children?" Aemond demanded with a tremor to his voice, his arm around you tightened with each passing second as you waited for an answer.

Allegedly, Alicent had been found holding your babies tightly to her chest, trying to protect them - begging they be spared when finally caught. But Rhaenyra thought the little girl looked oddly like Laena Velaryon, and upon closer inspection, discovered the twins to definitely be your children. They were spared and being taken care of by your mother, now; apparently being under strict watch.

"Oh, Gods," you breathed, starting to pace as panic cemented your stomach. "I-I should not have left. Oh, no, no, no, Gods, please, no, what have we done?"

"We don't know if your life would've been spared, my love," Aemond argued, turning to grab onto you and halt your pacing, "better you were here with us then left to the unknown. We will get our babies back, I swear to you."

"No, no, this is my mother we're talking about, Aemond," you snapped. "She would not harm me - "

"She would if she thought you Green," he pointed out. "I know you're worried, I am, too, but we will find our children soon. We are not abandoning them, I promise you."

"I just want our family together," you whispered tearfully, feeling stressed beyond belief. His arms encircled around you, letting you rest against his chest and almost forgetting the present company.

"My Prince?" Cole asked.

"We march for the capital," his head turned to look at Cole and nod, arms never loosening from around you. It was as if he thought his arms protected you, but it wasn't like you wanted to leave.

"No, no, we should join with Ormund Hightower and your brother, Prince Daeron!"

"Our family needs us," Aemond argued. "Our children, Cole! Where is your head, how can you think there's any other choice of action!?"

"The country needs us - and Daeron is your kin, so are the Hightowers!"

"Our children are in a sacked city, Cole! They're left with the enemy!"

"Which is truly unfortunate, but there is nothing - "

"LIKE HELL THERE ISN'T!" Aemond roared, letting go of you to stride up Cole in anger. "Our children will not be sacrificed! If it takes every life of every man at disposal, then that is what we will do!"

"You're all ignoring the biggest point," you snapped, reddened eyes glaring at the two men as the messenger was given leave to rest. "I told you Daemon did not simply leave - he was tipped off. There's a mole amongst us and someone is sharing secrets."

Aemond's head snapped to look at you, "I told you I did not trust him..."

"Who?" Cole asked.

"Ser Larys Strong," you sneered. "I do believe we need to have a conversation with Ser Simon Strong."

"For now, Lady, we should feast," Cole nodded. "It's been a long journey and the men are tired. Please, for tonight, allow us reprieve from turmoil."

Aemond nodded in agreement, and while you rested from pure exhaustion in a hard, cold bed, your husband took part in the night's festivities. You heard rumor later of him boasting how Daemon grew weary from their numbers and strength, but never once gave mention to the suspicions you shared.

[ part two ]

[ alternate ending one: Kin Slayer ]

[ series masterlist ]

[mask131]

Can you someday do a post about a very important question that always deeply fascinated me: How technologically advanced is Oz?

Wicked as a stage show puzzles me because it implies Oz has electricity, a broadcast radio system, and trains.

How much tech is present in Oz in the books?

Oh boy that's one COMPLICATED question... Now, before I start saying anything, I will point out that I am not an Oz expert by any means. I have not read all of the Oz books. However I do know an Oz expert that tackled the subject! He is here on Tumblr somewhere, but I know his Oz analysis and lore-exploration by his blogs. He started doing them more than a dozen year ago on vovat.livejournal.com ; and then he continued his Oz posts to vovatia.wordpress.com ; I know they have very, VERY helpful when it comes to my own knowledge of Oz, and he tackled several times the topic of technology in Oz and Baum's work, with quite fascinating analyses! So go check out these blogs, you might find some interesting info!

That being said, what can I tell you?

Since I haven't read all the Oz books I will stick to Baum's novels only - but before doing that I want to point out something... It is something I said in my previous Oz post (So you want to know about Oz 5), but the Wicked stage musical is part of a pretty big wave of 2000s-onward Oz adaptations that decided Oz was a steampunk world. I know you entertained yourself a pretty similar project of a Gilded Age Oz, if I recall correctly? And when you look at Oz adaptations, you have this wave of SyFy's Tin Man, and the Amazon series "Lost in Oz", and the graphic novel/animated movie "The Steam Engines of Oz", and more recently the show "Emerald City". Even "Dorothy and the Witches of Oz" had a steampunk-vibe to their Oz. It is kind of the modern direction to go.

Now back to traditional Baum's Oz... Does it have electricity? I don't think so. The Oz created by Baum is... it is something between a fantasy version of the late 19th century American countryside, and your archetypal fantasy land. The Land of Oz is mostly a huge countryside to be honest. Its lots of forests with woodsmen and wild animals ; it is lot of fields and orchards because most of Oz's economy relies apparently on farming ; the only other big industry seems to be metal-working (Winkies, the guy who made the Tin Man) and stone/gem-working (due to the huge presence of precious stones, though no mine or miner is ever descrbed in the Oz books) ; it is a lot of small villages scattered around the one big city that is Emerald City (or around big castles like the Tin Man/Wicked Witch castle) ; this all gives it a very medieval/feudal feel in structure... Though Baum really tried to give Oz originally a "fairytale feel" and thus you have the same historical madness typical fairytales have. For example, just like your typical Renaissance fairytales (a la Charles Perrault), you have mirrors and candies and porcelaine in Oz ; and yet, just like your also typical 19th century fairytales (a la brothers Grimm) you also have guns in Oz! Mind you the guns are rare and rarely used, they seem mostly to belong to the military cast (they are always wielded by soldiers or royalty bodyguards), and they are usually useless against the monsters and magical threats... But they do exist! But Oz seems to lack things like electricity of petrol or even steam machinery. At least in the beginning!

(In fact I had a chat with @artmakerproductions recently about fireworks in Oz. He wondered if the Oz The Great and Powerful idea of using fireworks as something non-existent in Oz could work with Baum's canon, and indeed, while the presence of guns implies gunpowder is a thing in Oz, there are to my memory no mention of fireworks anywhere in Oz... Maybe they appear at one of Ozma's birthday parties, but I couldn't find which one. Fireworks are evoked in his non-Oz/Oz-crossovered work "The Magical Monarch of Mo" but only as a comparison to how lightning appears in this country...)

Is there radio in Oz? Actually there is! In the opening of book 7, to get out of how he had written his way out of Oz in book 6, Baum explained his return to the series by "Oh yeah, Ozians got hold of the radio and now they send me radio messages about what is going on in Oz". So Oz DOES have some sort of radio equivalent. How, since there's no electricity or batteries in Oz? That's beyond me, but here's why it is difficult to say for certain what Oz's technology level is: Baum, as I said, started not giving a fuck anymore about continuity. As I explained the first two-three books are kind of solid in terms of continuity because they were designed as their own closed novels, but book 4 onward Baum just gave up any concrete effort at "solid" worldbuilding and went the "Fuck it, I'll add whatever I want" road. As such, don't expect any serious effort at making a cohesive technological system - Baum isn't Tolkien. He's the anti-Tolkien. That being said, another very interesting point when it comes to Baum's work is that, as you go through his fourteen Oz books, you realize how modern technology slowly creeps onto Oz. Baum was writing Oz book between 1900 and 1920 - and the technological evolution of these two decades quite influenced Baum. The addition of the radio element was one case of Oz "evolving"; in later Oz books there are also magical equivalents of television popping up. But if you want to see a concrete comparison, you can compare the first Oz book, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", with the last Oz book Baum wrote, "Glinda of Oz". The first shows an Oz so technology-lacking people are easily fooled by stage tricks ; while the last book is heavy on technology, with for example evocations of submarines, but it is a technology presented as a form of magic. Which leads me to my last point...

Does Oz have trains? Not by the time Baum wrote them ; though modern day adaptations and authors did add a handful of them to the Oz world (and you can also find things such as ray guns or time-travelling machines in modern Oz books so you know, it evolves with its time). But Baum did wrote about a carriage that did the entire tour of Oz for touristic purpose: that's one of the subplots of "The Emerald City of Oz", and how Dorothy shows her aunt and uncle all about the fantasy land. It is not a train, but you have already here the idea/potential for a train-like system here (even though it is rather a carriage/wagon drawn by a wooden horse that can never tire and doesn't eat). And here's my point: the reason technology is so weird in Oz, and why it is also lacking in many way, is due to Oz being filled with magic.

Most Ozian equivalent to our world's technology is, in Baum, powered by magic. There is no camera or surveillance system, but there are the Magic Picture or Glinda's big magical "spy on everyone" book. There are no lie detectors, but there is Glinda's pearl. The magic eye of the Wicked Witch of the West was explicitely compared to a telescope. Etc etc. Magic replaces most advanced technology around the Land. Advanced technology and mechanism do exist, and Baum was very fond of the idea of the... "magical mechanic" if I can say so. What he does is basically take an actual real-world technology, but take it to fantasy extremes - which notably is why the Oz books are considered early sci-fi. There's how the Tin Man came to be: Baum took the workings of actual real-life prosthetics for missing limbs, but pushed it to the extremes by making a "vintage android". There is how the Woggle-Bug came to be: a great scholar used a machine to project an enlarged image of a small bug on the wall. Quite ordinary right? But turns out the machine literaly enlarged the bug to a greater size - which is a very common sci-fi tropes (all those rays that shrink or enlarge things or objects). And while it is not an Oz example per say, Baum gave us the most blatant example of "magical technology" with the realm of Ev, where lived Smith and Tinker, the inventors of many fantastical automatons, first of which being Tik-Tok, a sentient automat that is considered one of the first robots of modern literature!

So... On one side, Baum tried to show a land that would not advance technologically because magic was there and much more powerful. It is the line by the Good Witch of the North, about how Oz still has magic because it is not "civilized", and one of the traits of "civilization" is advanced technology. Take how guns are treated in Oz: they exist but they are not made a big deal out of, and in fact prove quite useless among the many magical items and beings. And yet, on the other side, Baum's Oz is the literal proof of the law "Any advanced technology is magic" ; or rather a whacky incarnation of this principle, because indeed, the most advanced form of technology in Ozian lands work by fantasy and extravagant sci-fi rules (Tin Man, Tik-Tok), while most of the great spells and magic items of Oz are fantasy equivalents to our real-world technology (the Magic Picture, or even the Gump which works as a fantasy equivalent of flying machines).

[luka-dreams]

Seduce Me the Otome - Sam Anderson x Reader

~~~Requested by @notmine213 ~~~

Reader is gender neutral

It's been maybe two months and a few weeks since the event with Malix and his gang of devils, but despite the brothers getting what they wanted by killing him they stayed. James said it was because they grew attached to me and their lives here, but I couldn't miss the way Sam avoided my gaze when I looked to him.

"Sam?" I knock on his door happily as I'm already dressed and ready to go.

The door slides open to show the brown-haired incubus wearing his signature grin, "Hang on Doofus I'm almost ready" he walks away from the door leaving it open as he grabs his ripped letterman jacket and dog tags; "Alright let's go"

We walk down the stairs and towards the door, Sam looks to his brothers, and they look back in knowing.

"Okay okay let's go! The arcade should be slow this time of day so barely anyone will be there!"

Sam rolls his eyes playfully and follows us out the door wordlessly.

At the arcade we play numerus games and even manage to win a few prizes such as a rubber duck, pieces of candy, and a cheap slap bracelet. After a good two hours of games, we decide to grab a snack at a small mall cafe. Sitting across from each other I take how he looks in closer detail; roughed up brown hair that seems so effortlessly soft, smooth skin with slight scaring in some areas, green is slightly on his fingers... wait... were his eyes always this intense?

"Doofus?"

I blink and shake my head a little, "huh- what?"

"You looked a little dazed there" Sam chuckles as he leans forward with his elbows on the table, "stare as much as you want"

A flush crosses on my cheeks as I try to come up with a pathic excuse for why I was staring, "ah- well- I wasn't-"

another chuckle "...don't laugh at me..."

Sam takes a look around the mostly empty surroundings and spots a blind spot near the bathrooms, perfect.

He, surprisingly, gently takes a hold of my hand and leads me to the spot. I press my back to the wall and avoid he gaze until he slides a hand under my chin and jawline to push my attention to his emerald gold eyes.

"Look at me, I want you to tell me why you've been so distracted" he says with a slight growl, not a angry or annoyed one, -he's teasing me-.

"well- um, I may have developed a small.. crush on you.." I mumble out as his eyes are boring into mine.

"heh, you're so cute all flustered" he presses his body into me a little bit more which also presses me more into the wall behind me. After a few seconds of staring into his golden emerald swirls he slowly brings his lips to mine in a soft tender kiss.

Seconds... minuets...

Slowly our lips disconnect allowing us to breath, he brushes his thumb over my cheek as he cups my face.

"You're mine now Doofus"

"I'm fine with that"

"Your legs won't be"

What

[marinaiguess]

💜💜💜 “i’m sorry you had to see me like that” sonic + character of your choice 👀

Thank you so much for this prompt, Chaox! I started this today and I'm posting it now, without a second editing round bcuz I need to sleep but I wouldn't be able to sleep if I didn't finish this today :) Hope you like this <3

Sonic Forces inspired. 2k words.

.

He's getting out of control. Fists clenched so tight he's sure, weren't it for the gloves, he would have drawn blood. His mind is hazy, vision gradually blurring as he tries to shift his attention from the echidna in front of him to anything else.

He should do that right now; he should look away.

Albeit, he can't.

"Can you repeat that, Knux?" he says, his voice laced with venom.  

Knuckles takes note of the dangerous undertone—of the warning behind it—but doesn't quite grasp the severity of the situation. He crosses his arms, turning his head away from the other's interrogating gaze. Maybe he can't bear the look on his face, maybe he can't bear the fact that he's wrong. For just this once, he can't deny it, he should have been more careful. Yet another responsibility he had failed to take care of successfully.

"You heard me alright," He spits, anger boiling inside him. "He's not here, Sonic."

Knuckles can feel Sonic's gaze penetrating through his skull. From his peripheral vision, he is able to see the way he's staring at him, the way his jaw tenses and he realizes, it might have been a better idea to break the news in another, more tactful way.

Sonic takes one step forward and suddenly the air is thicker, denser; the room turns tenser.

Amy senses it and opts to act first by putting a hand on his shoulder. "Wait, Sonic, please--"

He yanks her hand away without even bothering to look at her. "Stay out of this, Amy."

"You're kidding," Amy scoffs and she’s not sure if she’s reacting to him ignoring her or to him expecting her to just stand and watch.

This time, he doesn't hesitate to turn his head to glare at her and his emerald eyes have never looked more intimidating before, not to her.

Yet, she doesn't back down. "This is not Knuckles' fault, you know that."

He laughs. There’s nothing funny or humorous about his laugh, but it emits from the depth of his soul, echoing in the room as he turns his attention to Knuckles once more.

"Tell me, commander, whose responsibility was it to look after him while I was gone?"

"Don't give me that shit, Sonic. We couldn't really keep an eye on him--"

Sonic's forearm connects to his neck, pushing Knuckles to the wall behind him. "You couldn't?"

He ignores Amy's pleas, putting more force into his grasp. "Where is he?"

"How should I know?" Knuckles growls. "He's been gone for three months."

Everything goes quiet. Even Amy's voice fades out of existence as Sonic registers Knuckles' words. Without really intending to, he backs down a bit, although he’s still holding Knuckles against the wall.

"What?"

When Knuckles tries to push him away, Sonic doesn’t give him a chance to even touch him and he slams his head on the wall as a warning, his forceful grip returning shortly after, despite hearing Knuckles coughing. Sonic knows he's strong, possibly stronger than him, under normal circumstances, so he understands, even in this state of mind, that Knuckles decides to not fight back.

Good. He doesn’t wanna go all out on him.

"Where is Tails?" he repeats the question.

"I don't know, okay?!"

Knuckles’ scream is the last thing that’s heard in the room, inside the Resistance HQ. Silence fills the void, until Sonic breaks it.

"I trusted you, Knuckles. I trusted you with my little brother's life. And with mine too."

Those words hurt more than Knuckles could have imagined.

But Sonic doesn’t relent, throwing more daggers right at his heart. "Maybe you're just not fit for the job. Or for any job. You shouldn't be taking responsibilities you can't handle."

Knuckles finds himself unable speak, so Sonic does it for him. "I'm gone for six months and you're telling me the war is still going? Great job, commander. On top of that, Tails is gone?"

Knuckles coughs again. "Stop it."

Sonic’s fangs show as a grin carves its way to his face and Knuckles can't tell if it's a sinister act or if it's a coping mechanism to hide his pain. "How does it feel to have failed at everything?"

"Sonic!" Amy intervenes, not courageous enough to properly stand up to him, however.

She's standing still, her hands balled into fists against her chest. It's probably the first time in a long while she's felt this scared. She's never witnessed Sonic lose control like that.

Knuckles meets her gaze and reads her like an open book, agreeing with her thoughts. No matter how well Sonic knows him—well enough to use just the right words to hurt him—in any other case, he wouldn't have gone this far. Something about him is off, his no-die, no-lose attitude is nowhere to be seen, his hopeful, full of excitement for the next adventure eyes are gloomy and dark, his logic is clouded by concern. Even if this is about Tails, this isn't typical of him.

Those six months imprisoned in space did take a toll on him, however much he tried to hide it once they rescued him.

"He's fine," he reassures, getting ahold of Sonic's forearm with both hands, ignoring the way he tenses and hisses. "You trust him, right?"

"Of course, I trust him." he barks, immediately. "But we're in the middle of a war, commander. Eggman might have gotten ahold of--"

"You're--" he scoffs. "You're not thinking straight."

Sonic bares his teeth, his jaw tightening even more. "Are you saying that me being worried is irrational?"

"Yes, it is. The kid can handle himself, Sonic."

"You said it, Knux. Kid. He's just a kid and he's been gone for—for three months?"

"You've left him behind for longer than that before." Knuckles notices out loud.

"It was to protect him!" he spits on his face.

Yet, Knuckles seems unfazed. "What's so different this time around?"

Sonic's mind short-circuits. His eyes widen when he takes in the sight in front of him. He doesn't quite remember how they got here.

"What would he say if he saw you like this?"

The final blow. Sonic had him against the wall but Knuckles had him cornered. He may be right but Sonic would rather not admit that, for the sake of his ego not getting wounded.

He takes a deep breath, letting his arms fall. Knuckles is standing firmly on both his feet now, managing to keep his breathing in check.

Until Sonic approaches him, noses almost touching as he jabs a finger to Knuckles’ chest.

"If there's a possibility, even a slight one, that Tails went through half of the hell I did, I'm blaming you."

Knuckles knows he meant every word, which makes him furious; knowing that he was calm and collected enough to say something like that. Calm enough to walk away after that statement. He can’t just stand there and take it like a champ, resulting in Sonic looking like the bigger guy in this quarrel.

And so, he breaks, guilt washing over him like pouring rain. "You know what, Sonic? You're not the only one who's had it rough. While you were gone, we were fighting our asses to keep the world safe. It wasn't an easy task."

"Yeah? And how did that go?” He turns around to face him. “Ninety-eight percent of the world under Eggman's control and Tails lost,” He huffs a short-lived laugh, bitterness emitting from it. “Excellent work."

Knuckles wants to punch him, he wants to wipe that smug, sarcastic smirk off of his face to knock some sense into him (especially now that he seems he’s pulled himself together, at least a bit) but Amy steps between them, holding her arm out to stop Knuckles on his tracks. He could push her away but she knows he won’t.

"Knuckles is right," She states, locking gazes with Sonic.

For a single moment, she regrets it, upon witnessing the way something passes by Sonic’s eyes, pain written all across his face.

"Knuckles is what? He's right? By saying I didn't have it rough?"

"I didn't—"

Sonic cuts him off, waving his hand as he closes his eyes. "For once in my life I felt truly helpless but I thought you had my back."

Amy and Knuckles can only stare, jaws slack at Sonic’s confession.

"And you just… proved me wrong. I'm—"

His voice breaks, slightly, but of course, it doesn’t go unnoticed.

Knuckles’ face softens and Amy approaches him, just a little bit. "Sonic..."

Sonic ignores her as he sits on the ground, the reality of the situation finally sinking in. "Shit.”

He brings his knees to his chest, almost curling into a ball as he moves his hands closer to his face, inspecting them. Only now he realizes they’re trembling.

He starts rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms, even if he’s using too much pressure it hurts.

Amy takes a few moments before she kneels next to him, a comforting hand making its way to Sonic’s back. He winces when it makes contact with his fur, arching away from the touch but one look around him persuades him he’s safe. With one long inhale, he decides to relax and accept the friendly gesture, despite it not helping that much.

It is sincere. That’s all that matters.

“We can work this out, like we always do,” She speaks after what feels like an eternity. “We will find him.”

It is wishful thinking more than anything, Sonic notes in his mind. If Tails doesn’t want to be followed, he knows how to hide his tracks. Especially with all the commotion thanks to the war happening around them, it would be ten times harder to get ahold of him or even a rough idea of where he might be.

But Amy’s right. They always win at the end of the day. Together.

Knuckles crouches next to him, patting his shoulder since he seems less tense now. “I’m sorry I couldn’t live up to your expectations,” He confesses and Sonic turns his head around so fast he feels dizzy. “You’re right, I wasn’t fit for the job. But it was a real mess, Sonic. We were lost and outnumbered. Tails felt lost as well, helpless.”

At that Sonic tenses but allows Knuckles to continue. “With you around, we might be able to fix things.”

“Yeah, maybe I—”

“Under my command, though,” Knuckles smirks.

“Aye, aye, commander,” Sonic pouts, playfully.

“And,” Knuckles looks at the wall in front of him. “I didn’t mean to make you feel like whatever you had to deal with back there was not rough. With the way you’re acting, I know it was really bad.”

“Meh, whatever,” Sonic waves a hand at him, grinning. “I’ve had it worse.”

Amy snorts and Knuckles’ raises a brow but they both decide to let it slide.

Sonic hugs his knees, his grin falling. “I’m the one who should be apologizing,” He says, taking a deep breath. “I'm sorry you had to see me like that.”

“It’s okay,” Amy reassures without missing a beat. “We know.”

Sonic looks at both of them, their smiles urging his own to appear on his face as well. If he feels his throat tighten, he ignores it. He feels like he’s cried enough the past six months; more than he should have allowed himself to. Good thing no one was around to see the mess the Infinite illusions had made of him.

“Alright,” he gets up, newfound courage flowing through his veins. “Let’s get to it.”

They get up as they nod when a slam of the door catches them off guard.

“Sonic!”

That voice. Sonic’s smile reaches his ears before he finds the source of the voice.

He’s safe. They both are.

He’s real.

“Tails!”

“I was so worried.”

“You worry too much, look! I’m perfectly fine.”

“Who’s gonna tell him he was losing his shit just a few minutes ago?” Knuckles whispers, which earns him a jab on his chest by Amy’s elbow.

[moriartyluver]

ARE YOU MINE CHAPTER II

"THEY SEEMED LIVELY," An emerald eyed young man chuckled 

Herder shook his head with a sigh "Too lively," He said in a thick german accent "They always come here to mess around with the instruments. In fact I can probably count on one hand how many times those delinquents have bought anything." 

"Delinquents? I believe you've caught my attention now, Herder." Albert smiled as the German walked over to where William's piano was, ready to check through it by the young man's request. 

"Well, for what they lack in basic respect for finely crafted instruments they make up for in being interesting," He said as he opened the large piano. 

It had taken quite a while to get to Q's but William had insisted that it be taken there, rather than being operated on at home. William had told his older brother he didn't want his mother finding out something was wrong with the piano or else it may ruin the surprise he had planned for her birthday. 

"They didn't seem that interesting." William scoffed as Albert narrowed his eyes at him "I mean, they were rather rowdy over a mere guitar, I don't suppose they have any hopes for their futures, causing disruption like that." 

"I'm sure you wouldn't care for the disruption if it weren't in your presence." Albert said harshly 

"Mm.. they are quite ambitious, especially that girl, (Name)." Herder hummed as he peered inside the piano, inspecting the keys mechanisms carefully. "She believes she's going to be the next big thing, a rockstar if you will. Her skills aren't too bad either but she did mention that she was struggling without an experienced manager to guide them, she is just a child afterall..."

If his interest hadn't been piqued already, it certainly was now. An idea had sprung to mind, but Albert was unsure as to whether he could bring it up without meeting this supposed band first. Besides, he already had alot on his hands with all the businesses his father had left him. 

"You've heard them play?" Albert asked 

"Indeed. Just a few small bits though, but they do performances on occasions, although I refuse to go." Herder said, feeling around the inside of the piano "Personally I prefer Jazz." 

"So they're just some wannabe rock band? As expected of them," William sighed "Everyone thinks they can be a musician nowadays, I blame tiktok." 

"Aha!" Herder exclaimed in satisfaction "I see your problem now. This key was disconnected, that's why it was making such dreadful noises." He said as William peered into the piano from beside him, watching as Herder explained it to him.

"Alright, can you fix it?" Asked William 

Herder nodded with a smile. "Give me five minutes and it'll be as good as new."

"Thank the lord," Albert muttered in annoyance "You wouldn't mind telling us more about this band?"

"What more is there to say?" Herder asked rhetorically as he pulled out a tool and began fiddling around in the piano "There's 4 of those trouble makers, especially the bassist and the backing guitarists, always breaking instruments and refusing to pay for them..tch..the drummer is alright but he doesn't exactly fit the image for their little band. I think the others consider themselves as anarchists of some sort, but that drummer of theirs sticks out like a very well behaved sore thumb."

He continued as he tinkered with the piano "Actually I think yesterday was the first time (named even bought anything here..a little red electric guitar. A fine piece for an aspiring rockstar. She said she came back to get the amp that came with it," His little German accent echoing within the piano walls "But personally I think she was just looking for someone she saw yesterday..probably took a fancy to him." 

"I could care less about some garage band.." Albert's younger brother huffed, crossing his arms "Aren't you done yet?"

"Looking for who?" Albert asked curiously

"Oh none other than your little brother..the William with more yellow-y hair." Herder finally stood up straight with a smile as he shut the piano "It seems that is all." He said, turning to Albert "I'll have it delivered back immediately, boss." 

Albert nodded, placing his hand on William's shoulder while they left through the door. "Yes, thank you again Herder."

'..I wonder what her name was..' 

Pale, nimble fingers pressed down on black and white piano keys, prompting an elegant tune in it's wake.

'She did say she had a band..didn't she?...what did she say they were called again..?'  The blond attempted to recall, reminiscing on the encounter, only a day prior.

The melody of piano echoed through the halls, the same few keys being played repeatedly to replicate the same bridge over and over  - almost obsessively-  like a broken record. It was as if he was trying to summon a ghostly image of her his thoughts, shutting his crimson eyes to visualise the memory. By now, he had been playing so quickly, not missing a note,  that the once beautiful song had turned sour while his fingers moved robotically. 

Faster.

Faster.

Faster.

"William!"

DUNG

William winced, both at the sound of the dull note he had mistakenly hit, and because his younger brother was calling out to him from behind, a concerned frown on his face. 

"Louis?" He whispered softly, turning to face him on his seat. 

"Are you alright, brother?" Louis asked, fiddling with the frame of his glasses "I was trying to tell you to quiet down, but you weren't answering me-"

"Good afternoon," Albert smiled, entering the large estate with his other brother while the others by the piano turned to look at him, smiling politely. "Was Will playing Tchaikovsky again?"

The dirty blond pulled a face, a mixture of confusion and disgust while William and Louis greeted Albert upon seeing him enter. 

"He has." Louis stated "All day." 

"Ever since yesterday afternoon, you've just been coming back to that piano, haven't you?" Albert chuckled "And swan's lake of all things?" 

The older William scoffed, moving past the brunette "He's been doing that since yesterday? How weird can you get..." he said, furrowing his eyebrows 

Of course, his brothers were unaware of the encounter  that he had had the day before, so they hadn't understood the significance that swan's lake held. 

"It isn't that much of an issue, brother." Louis said reassuringly "But I'd prefer a calmer environment to study.."

"I, I apologise.." William spoke "I've had a lot on my mind, that's all." 

Albert furrowed his eyebrows, approaching his brothers and leaning against the wooden piano. "That's rather typical of you." 

"Yes, well I'm always thinking." The blond said, his lips thinning in a frown. 

"About university perhaps?" Albert said, raising a brow curiously. "I don't blame you for being nervous of course, it's quite a change and it's less than a couple of months until freshers week at Oxford." 

"Still don't get why you wanna study maths," The other William chimed in as he held his phone in his hand, scrolling aimlessly through some social media app. "I mean Oxfords cool and all but what do you even do after that? Become a teacher?" 

The older William, Albert's biological brother, had been studying finance and marketing at King's college London university for the past 2 years, and in October, he was to return for his third and final year. Afterwards,  he secretly hoped to work for the Moriarty family company, lead by Albert following their father's passing. 

"If Will likes maths then I don't see why he shouldn't do it," Albert glared at his little brother. "He's good at everything, but maths is his passion, and he's pursuing it for that reason, unlike some of us." 

Chestnut coloured eyes looked up from the phone screen to the side of Albert's head "yeah well I don't think you liked business management much either," 

Louis let out an 'ahem', cutting between a potential quarrel between the two brothers. 

"I'm not worried, Albert." The blond William reassured "In fact, I'm rather excited." 

"I should hope so..honestly you could have gone a couple of years ago if it wasn't for the admissions board." The brunette sighed "Anyways, we fixed the piano and mother will be here in a bit to take William home, because he can't drive." Albert said, putting his hand on the dirty blond's shoulder 

Offended, the older William turned to Albert, glaring with his mouth agape. "I'll have you know I have my provisional license!" 

"Not enough to drive." 

"I don't have my driver's license," Louis said in attempt to avoid conflict once more. 

Out of all his brothers, he was likely the most sane. Albert was possibly an insane alcoholic who almost smiled when he heard his father died, the older William had a strange imposter syndrome which he disguised with narcissistic tendencies and the younger William didn't even use his real name and probably had a bookshelf fall on his head when he was a kid leading everyone to think he was autistic or something. 

"That's because you're barely 17," The younger William said. 

"Oh well forgive me for being too busy to do the test because I was preoccupied after the divorce because I was practically the only one there for-!" 

The door swung open once more. 

"Mother?" 

"William?" A dirty blond middle aged woman greeted "You and Albert are here early." She turned to the younger William and Louis by the piano "Other William, you're here too. Hello, Louis." She smiled, giving Louis a wave.

"Hello," Louis stood up straight from leaning against the piano, as his brothers followed. 

"Mother, hi." The dirty blond William said, somewhat surprised "Thank goodness you're here. I think I was starting to lose it. This one," He pointed his thumb to the other William who was still sat beside the piano. One could compare him to a little sad puppy. "Has been playing Tchaikovsky all day apparently."

"Don't be rude William, I'm sure it sounds lovely," Mrs moriarty furrowed her eyebrows, then turned to her other son "Albert, how have you been? I've heard you've made a few more investments." 

Albert nodded as Louis left to make some tea "Just a few more shops, nothing too major...although I've considered an entertainment agency, but that's yet to take off." He said "How have you been mother?" 

Previously, Albert, as well as his adopted brothers, didn't have the best relationship with Mrs Moriarty. After years of being married to the psycho she called her husband, it had made her a much different woman. She became constantly paranoid about her husband leaving her for another woman (even though she didn't like him much at all) or afraid her children were constantly in danger. 

At one point, she was convinced her second son, William was being bullied when he was in primary school because he had a bruise on his leg and ended up screaming at his teacher so hard she cried. 

Following the divorce though, that same William had convinced his mother to get therapy and ever since, she had been getting better, slowly but surely. She didn't even seem that affected by the death of her now ex-husband last year. 

"A lot better than I was this time last year," she said with a melancholic smile. "Congratulations by the way," she turned to William "Attending Oxford in the autumn...it's quite the accomplishment. It's a family tradition amongst the Moriartys..of course there would be no shame in not following it, traditions are meant to be broken in a time like ours, but I say it's the best place for a boy like you." 

William, who had often been treated coldly by Mrs Moriarty, before she started going to therapy, seemed a little surprised at the passing compliment. Even after she had started getting better, it was rare that Mrs Moriarty would come visit Albert, let alone her two adopted sons and they had only recently called her 'mother' for the first time too. 

Louis began to walk towards the kitchen "I'll get you some tea, mother," 

"Thank you Louis, two-" she started, cut off by Louis who flashed her a smile 

"Sugars and green tea, I remember." He said, leaving the large lounge.

Once Louis had finished brewing Mrs Moriarty her tea as well as for his other brothers and himself, they had all sat in the lounge, somewhat awkwardly until the older William made some comment about his plans for his final year 

"I'm rather excited for the second term," he told his mother. "I wonder if Colombia is as big as Kings..I used to get lost all the time when I first started." 

"Are you sure you even have the capabilities to study abroad by yourself?" Albert asked as he placed his teacup down on his saucer "And you'll be studying with the fourth years too..doesn't that trouble you?" 

Albert had just graduated a couple of months ago and was already swarmed with work, he didn't need to worry for his little brother getting lost in a city he barely knew. 

William was to go on an exchange programme in January to New York, which was quite the challenge for a boy who could count the number of nights he had spent away from home on one hand. There wasn't any particular reason for it, but his two adopted brothers both suspected it was because Albert was to do the same until the abrupt death of his father in his second year. Since then, he'd only ever taken care of his fathers affairs (financial, not romantic...Albert wasn't a predator after all) 

"I'll be fine, I'm not a child." He frowned "I'll be there until Easter and then return back to London just in time for finals and graduation." 

"I think it's a good idea," Louis spoke, "In fact, I'd like to go a year abroad myself when the time comes..it does foster independence after all." 

"Indeed," The younger William agreed, picking his teacup up "Sometimes you don't necessarily need to be ready to step outside of your comfort zone." 

"Well said," Mrs Moriarty smiled "University is the best opportunity to do so..in fact, that was how I was introduced to your father," she said to her two older sons. 

Cue another awkward silence. 

"My, would you look at the time," Albert looked at his Watch-less wrist before being nudged by Louis. He promptly fixated his gaze on his other wrist. "I should be going to bed soon." 

"At 7pm?" William raised an eyebrow as he looked to his mother in disbelief "how old are you, Albert, eight?" 

"Well I-" 

"Brother has a long day ahead of him tomorrow." William said calmly, standing up "he has to wake up at 4 am tomorrow morning to prepare for a meeting at work..it's a rather important one too."

He wasn't lying. Albert had a packed schedule tomorrow from travelling all the way to York for a meeting then back to London by midday and then to his office for another few hours to finish up on some projects, then he had a colleague's , a big stakeholder, wedding to attend as well as going shopping for a new suit and all that with barely any breaks in between. 

"Ah, my apologies, Albert," Mrs Moriarty said sympathetically "Come along, William. We must be going now if you want to finish buying your back to school essentials tomorrow..we have a long day ahead of us after all, of course not as much as Albert's.." 

"Bye then." William sighed and got to his feet, reluctantly saying his goodbyes as he left with his mother. 

For a moment, the three brothers stood in silence, the memory of Mr Moriarty death washing over them, before Louis eventually spoke. 

"I'm going to go revise.." He said quietly, slowly leaving the room as Albert let out a teasing remark.

His green eyes twinkled mischievously "Why exactly were you playing Tchaikovsky, Will?" 

William looked down, his long hair covering his face slightly, "I just remembered, I have something to do as well." He murmured following his brother out of the room. 

"If you say so," Albert chuckled, watching his brother rush off, uncharacteristically flustered. 

A/N: Mr moriarty fucking died 🤣🤣 deserved L + bozo + skill issue. bro u guys have no idea how hard it is to write a scene with the Moriarty brothers. Like I’m losing it with the two similar names and shit. Also to those of you who thought I’d make Mrs Moriarty dead or an abusive bitch, you thought wrong!! She and the og will are alive and getting the therapy they deserve!! If anyone gets mad at me for this, just say you don’t like character redemption with actually evil characters 🙄 anyways less about these stupid rich mfers, next chapter is focused on (Name) and her band of brokies

[onecentwriter]

intro post wowee + my fic masterlist!!

hello there friend :) I use she/they pronouns and you can call me taurie!

(what else do I say)

(halp)

uh ~ my interests ig ~

marauders

mcyt (bedrock bros is my brotp)

marvel

bbc sherlock AND downey sherlock

gomens

star trek

hamilton

aimsey

star wars

probably a bunch other I’m forgetting lol

I’m also a huge science and literature nerd so if u tag me in anything like that I will love you forever

follow my marauders sideblog!!! @pads-and-prongs

(DNI: people who ship ccs who do not want to be shipped!!! if I followed you by accident and you do this please unfollow because I do not want that here :D)

my fics under the cut!!! vvv

~my fics!!~

multichap -> completed multichap -> ongoing oneshot/one chapter

fics in order of most recently posted!

~~~ mcyt ~~~

every minute, every hour (i miss you more) || 1,287 words || Modern AU || Hurt/Comfort || Bedrock Bros || Techno’s away at school, and Tommy just really misses his older brother.

heart to heart || 1,452 words || Cafe AU || Humor, Gore || Emerald Duo || Techno finds Phil literally murdering someone in their cafe shop and is surprisingly not disturbed

birds of a feather || 2,619 words || Modern AU || Fluff || Emerald Duo || Techno gets zapped with magic and grows wings. Phil is very confused but it eventually just devolves into soft avian fluff <3

light in the sky (always the first star that i find) || 1,587 words || Dragon AU || Fluff, Hurt/Comfort || Bedrock Bros || ommy has just bonded with the most powerful dragon in the country. He’s not entirely sure he’s worthy enough (Technoblade disagrees).

stray || 1,170 words || Modern AU || Humor || Bedrock Bros || Techno is instructed to kill Tommy but decides he doesn't really want to do that.

run your hands through my hair and tell me you love me || 1,436 words || Modern AU || Fluff, Hurt/Comfort || Emerald Duo || Phil brushes Techno’s hair. Gentle vibes, soft feels.

a gun, a guy, and a literal fucking baby || 2,154 words || Cyberpunk AU || Crack, Humor || Shroud + Tommy || Tommy is a weapons mechanic and Shroud is a literal baby hatched in his shop.

the wrath of a god || 1,151 words || Canon || Hurt/Comfort || Emerald Duo || In which Techno is a badass and the world regrets messing with Phil

take me where the sunlight knows our names || 3,148 words || Fae AU || Fluff, Hurt/Comfort || Bedrock Bros || Techno, despite being a fae, is probably the only person in the whole world who loves Tommy.

sometimes a feeling comes by || 4,322 words || Modern AU || Fluff, Hurt/Comfort || Bedrock Bros || Techno and Tommy are roommates, and Tommy's struggling to stay afloat

with the sea as our guide (we will find a way home) || 1,085 words || Mer AU || Fluff || Bedrock Bros || Techno finds an abandoned mer pup and immediately goes 'mine'

a boy on fire, a living flame || 1,226 words || Superpower AU || Hurt/Comfort || Bedrock Bros || Tommy is overworked and falling apart. The Blade didn’t intend to adopt a small hero, but he’s not complaining.

take the shot || 1,245 words || Olympic AU || Fluff || Bedrock Bros || Techno and Tommy are about to win a gold medal >:D

don't shoot the messenger || 1,212 words || High School AU || Fluff, Hurt/Comfort || Bedrock Bros + Angel Duo || It takes being literally kidnapped for Tommy to realize that Emperor Philza and General Technoblade see him as more than just a messenger.

equal distribution || 1,112 words || Homeless Tommy AU || Fluff || Bedrock Bros || Techno just wanted to take out the trash. Instead, he finds Tommy in his alley, hissing and spitting and trying to bite him.

de cinere, de sordibus, de ossibus || 1,224 words || Pit Fighter AU + Magical Tattoo AU || Humor || Bedrock Bros || In a world where pit fighters gain a tattoo of the soul animal of every person they kill, Tommy has just earned his second tattoo. He meets the Blade, who has thousands.

butterflies (on my mind) || 1,032 words || Zookeeper AU || Fluff || Bedrock Bros || Techno runs the butterfly exhibit and Tommy is a lil kid who loves butterflies

a strangeness you kinda miss || 1,147 words || Fae AU || Fluff, Hurt/Comfort || Bedrock Bros || Techno is a fae, and Tommy knows that he should never trust a fae, up until the point when he figures out that he most definitely does.

sell me vicious (sell me mad) || 1,362 words || Gang AU || ~Murder~, Hurt/Comfort || Bedrock Bros || Tommy is cornered by bored gang members and is definitely gonna die until Head Gang Leader Guy Techno comes in and is like 'guys come on.'

damage control || 1,094 words || High School AU || Fluff, Hurt/Comfort || Bedrock Bros || Tommy gets beat up, and Techno is there to pick up the pieces

the tommy show, innit? || 1,159 words || Talk Show AU || Fluff, Banter || Bedrock Bros || Tommy is a talk show host and Techno is the celebrity he’s interviewing

stitch me up, buttercup || 1,331 words || Spiderman AU || Fluff, Banter || Bedrock Bros || Tommy, aka Spiderman, has to go to his recluse neighbor, Technoblade, to get stitches. It goes about as well as you’d expect.

living in the day by day || 1,891 words || Post-Apocalyptic AU || Fluff, Banter || Bedrock Bros || In a post-apocalyptic world, Techno and Tommy prepare to raid the biggest territory in what was formerly L’manberg: the Syndicate

make this your ending || 1,069 words || War AU || Angst, Hurt/No Comfort || Bedrock Bros || Techno and Tommy are soldiers, and they are about to die.

technoblade's guide to becoming friends with firsties || 7,629 words, 5/? chapters || Hogwarts AU || Fluff, light angst || Bedrock Bros, Benchtrio || Techno is a prefect and Bench Trio are the first years he bonds with (against his will)

golden light (in my eyes) || 1,119 words || Mer AU || Fluff || Bedrock Bros + Phil || Tommy is a Mer and Phil + Techno rescue him from captivity, plus loads of gold-related instincts

every corner of the universe || 1,167 words || Alien AU || Domestic Fluff || Tommy is a human and Techno is a piglin, they live on a ship together

triple shot tuesday || 1,194 words || Cafe AU || Fluff || Bedrock Bros || Tommy is a barista and Techno is the english major #struggling in his cafewhen my love reaches to me || 3,043 words || College AU || Fluff, Light Angst || Bedrock Bros, Benchtrio || Techno works in IT and Tommy is the small child he ends up befriending

reasons wretched and divine || 2,108 words || Modern AU || Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff || Bedrock Bros || Tommy's family is neglectful, so he turns to Techno for comfort

in some other life (AU-gust event daily drabbles) || 25,414 words, 31 chapters || Fluff, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/No Comfort || bedrock bros, crimebois, SBI || one AU for every day of August

the stars don't shine, they burn || 4,249 words, 2 chapters || vampire SBI, human Tommy || Angst, Hurt/Comfort || Tommy is insecure about being human, takes it out on SBI, fluff and hurt/comfort ensues

c'est la meme || 1,537 words || Superpowers AU || Light Angst, Fluff || Bedrock Bros || Tommy finds the villain Blade bleeding out and patches him up

hummingbird don’t fly away / in you i’ve found a fragrance || 1,408 words || SBI Bird AU || Tooth-Rotting Fluff || Bedrock Bros, SBI || baby hummingbird tommy, sbi freaking out because he's tiny

in which shubble realizes just how tiny she is || 1,556 words || same universe as 'if i could ride a bike' || Shubble & Tommy || Fluff || Tommy goes to Empires to meet Shubble

if i could ride a bike || 28,546 words, 18 chapters || DSMP x Hermitcraft crossover || Fluff, Angst, Hurt/Comfort || Geminitay & Tommy, SBI || Tommy dies in DSMP and respawns in Hermitcraft

oh it seemed so strange to me (how we went from something's missing to a family) || 1,946 words, 3 chapters || hockey AU || Fluff || Emerald Duo, Neopolitan Trio, Olive & Technoblade || 3 drabbles set in Drhair76's hockey universe, centered around Technoblade

to be a sun among stars || 1,482 words || God AU || Fluff || Sand Duo, Dadza + Mumza || God Phil finds an orphaned Wilbur and takes him in as his son (Mumza's there too)

all I wanna be so bad || 1,991 words || IRL fic, 5 + 1 || Light Angst, Fluff || Five times Tommy was the admirer and one time he was the admired one

~~~ marvel ~~~

we ain't perfect but we try || 2,825 words || Tony-centric || Angst, Fluff || Tony Stark is many things. Genius, billionaire, playboy. Perfect is not one of them

they wrote you (all these stories) || 3,115 words, 31 chapters || Multiple POVs || Fluff, Angst, Romance || Almost three dozen 100-word-drabbles focusing around various marvel characters

softer realities || 1,199 words || Lokius, Pre-slash || Fluff || Loki is sleepy and Mobius coos over him

and you were my eyes (how could i see again) || 5,111 words || BruceNat || Fluff, Angst || Following Bruce + Natasha's relationship through pre-slash and... not so pre-slash

all the time || 900 words || Sam & Bucky || Fluff, Light Angst || Bucky hates it when people touch his hair. Until Sam.

while i try to forget (i used to be something great) || 1,475 words || Bucky-centric || Angst, Light Fluff || Bucky Barnes character study

do this ourselves || 929 words || Sam & Bucky || Fluff, Protectiveness || Sam and Bucky don't become friends immediately. This is how they do.

the reams of gray stencils that fill the tapestry || 11,705 words || Sam x Bucky || Fluff, angst || Bucky is free, and eventually he ends up with Sam. Things... happen.

in which clint barton has rizz (for once) || 558 words || Cafe AU || Coulson x Clint || Fluff, Humor, Crack || Clint gets Phil's number by complaining and pissing him off. He doesn't understand either.

before the world fell at our feet || 483 words || Sam x Bucky || Angst, Hurt/Comfort || Sam and Bucky talk about Steve and Riley. It's sad.

believe them when they say (it's left for yesterday) || 5,341 || Post-Infinity War, Steve & Natasha || Angst, Hurt/Comfort || Steve and Natasha struggle through life post-Snap.

it could've been a nightmare || 588 words || Steve x Bucky || Bucky has a nightmare about Steve (it isn't new).

drink the poison lightly (cause there are deeper and darker things than you) || 1,748 words || Vampire AU || Bucky x Clint || Fluff, Light Angst Bucky is a vampire and Clint is most definitely... not

is it just you and me (in the wreckage of the world?) || 550 words || Bucky-centric || Angst || Introspective piece on Bucky, post-CATWS

~~~ misc ~~~

heart to heart || 2,442 words || Canon Divergent AU || Angst, Hurt/Comfort || Pike & Kirk || In which Christopher Pike never died, and is there when Jim wakes up from death.

how do you choose not to feel? || Star Trek || 783 words || Spirk || Angst || Kirk is dying, and all he can think about is Spock.

death doesn’t discriminate between the sinners and the saints (it takes and it takes and it takes) || Hamilton || 1,012 words || Angst || A character study of the Bullet.

[estellardreams]

Warped Shatterverses [NON CANON]

Sonic rushed to the Prism, not hearing his friends cries to stop. He leapt up, curling into a spin dash as he honed in on the crystal. Eggman kept trying to pull it out, but in a sudden break of a collision...

Sonic snapped awake from the impact, seeing a reflection of someone else in an identical scenario. Time slowed to a standstill as the black and red figure let their chaos spears shatter the Prism on his side of the impact.

And then... Time sped back up and collapsed in on itself in an instant, sending both hedgehogs through shattered reality itself.

The two hedgehogs fell directly onto the streets of a smog filled city, only streetlights bringing a semblance of light while everything else remained in a shrouded hue of red darkness. Shadow groaned, being the first to get up from the impact. He looked around before stopping, seeing Sonic had fell face first onto the pavement before.

"Wait a second... Sonic?" Shadow gently shook him awake. Sonic mumbled a little, stirring awake. He blinked, staring at Shadow for a moment before he came to a realization.

"Shadow! Hey, bud! How are you?" he greeted rather happily.

Shadow sighed. "Could be better..."

"Okay, cool. Know where we are, exactly?"

"Not sure..."

"This doesn't look like Green Hill at all." Sonic pointed out.

Shadow looked around, only spotting small fragments of the original location. "Actually..."

"Hey, maybe someone can tell us where we are!" Sonic piped up. He noticed a civilian on a conveyer belt sidewalk, standing in place as the ground moved along.

"Hello! Excuse me? Do you know what this place is?" Sonic asked them, only to yield no response. Shadow face palmed, pulling Sonic out of the area and back into the alleyway they fell into.

"Sonic. No. This place could be dangerous for all we know." Shadow said.

"Pssht! But we're totally safe for now, right?"

"For now. Exactly as you said."

Sonic frowned. "Shadow... I'm getting the impression that you're another Shadow."

"I'm starting to suspect the same... Did you, for instance, shatter something called the 'Paradox Prism'?"

"What?" Sonic stared at him, confused. He thought about it for a moment before realizing what Shadow was talking about. "Oh! That, yeah! Trying to stop Eggman and all! Why?"

Shadow paused, his ear flicking a little at this news. "I think... We came from different universes. Except in mine, I shattered the Prism."

"What?! How? You don't give me the impression of being reckless."

"Well... I assumed that it'd be like the Master Emerald and could be rebuilt."

"... Eh, fair enough. Anyway, what now?"

"We stay out of sight."

"Boo! We should go exploring!"

"And risk getting killed or captured? Hell no."

"Both of you. Who are you?" a replica of Sonic wearing what appeared to be a uniform came up to them.

"Oh! Hey, twin brothers am I right?" Sonic nudged Shadow with his shoulder playfully.

The doubleganger gave them a flat look. "What are your IDs?"

"Uh... Heh, what's an ID?" Sonic asked, confused. Shadow face palmed.

"Digit codes. Mine is 1210 and Sonic's is 6239."

"What are you doing?" Sonic whispered.

"Hm... Then why haven't I seen you two around?" the double questioned. Robots flew to the scene, surrounding Sonic and Shadow.

"... This is the moment we run, right?" Sonic whispered to Shadow. Shadow quietly nodded, grabbing Sonic's arm before immediately chaos controlling out.

The two fell onto a rooftop from the short distance, Shadow's inhibitor rings sparking with prismatic energy while Sonic's soles were sparking with prismatic energy.

Shadow winced, tapping his rings on his wrists. "Why the heck do these burn...?"

Sonic shrugged, getting up as his shoes stopped sparking. "No clue... So what are we supposed to do now?"

"Stay low... Let's try to find someone we recognize around here, alright?"

"Heh, so not me?"

Shadow gave him a flat look.

"Oh yeahhh... Other me was trying to... Arrest us? I think? Why?"

"Because we're in Eggman territory." Shadow pointed to the floating sign up above that read New Yoke City.

"Ohh! Yep... Eggy's gonna get his butt kicked!"

"And then what?! This place doesn't-"

"By the order of the Chaos Council. Stand down and surrender, or else." the Sonic double suddenly caught up to them.

"Chaos Council?" Both Sonic and Shadow asked in unison.

"Never heard of them. Just give me some directions and I'll take it from here!" Sonic flicked his nose playfully. He got prepared to run, only for his soles to light up.

Robots floated down to surround them, a few having tazers on hand. Shadow backed up a little, looking around cautiously.

"AAH!" Sonic yelped, one of the tazers striking him as he fell to the ground.

"Sonic!- GRK!" Shadow was tazed as well, falling to his knees as he breathed heavily.

The machines closed in, pinning th two hedgehogs up to them and pointing their guns close to their heads.

The doubleganger got out two cuffs, only for the robots to get shot down and release Sonic and Shadow. Shadow grabbed onto the edge of the roof, holding onto Sonic as they dangled from it.

"Come on, you two!" a bat who appeared to be Rouge flew down to them, holding out for Sonic. He took her hand, letting Shadow grab fully onto the roof as a pink half robotic hedgehog pulled Shadow up from the roof.

A red Echidna who appeared like Knuckles kept the Sonic double busy, letting Sonic and Shadow escape with the bat and hedgehog.

"Who are you two?" Sonic asked.

"Shh. There's cameras around. We need to go." the bat whispered, ducking into a metal pipe. Sonic, Shadow, and the pink hedgehog followed them in.

"Knucks should hopefully be fine, then." The pink hedgehog said.

"Okay uh... Who are you two?"

"Rebel. This is Tempest Rose." the bat said, pointing to the pink hedgehog beside her.

"Alright. Thank you for rescuing us." Shadow calmly thanked.

"You're welcome. Didn't want you two getting hurt."

Sonic and Shadow looked at each other before back at the two. Knucks came back inside, brushing himself off.

"Lost the blue one..."

"Good. Now, you two. What are your names?" Rebel asked.

"I'm Sonic! And this is my buddy, Shadow!" Sonic introduced, pulling Shadow close to him.

"Hm... Well then, Sonic and Shadow. Welcome to the resistance." Knucks said.

"Thank you! Now, what's next?" Sonic rubbed his hands together excitedly.

"For right now, we need to deal with something else. Can we go?" Shadow asked.

"Of course. But please stay safe." Rebel said.

"Will do! Come on, Shads!" Sonic pulled Shadow away and outside.

The two hedgehogs slipped out of the metal pipe, continuing to wander around in the shadows of the alleyways and avoid getting spotted. They headed down underground to the Scareport, with Sonic immediately splitting off once he saw someone who looked like Tails.

"Sonic, no! Don't go after him! Everyone here is different!" Shadow ran after Sonic just as he turned a corner. He pulled the blue hedgehog back, making sure he couldn't wiggle out of his grasp.

"What do you mean? That's Tails! He's here!"

"Sonic. Did you even register that Rouge, Knuckles, and Amy are all different?" Shadow said.

Sonic stopped, his ears falling a little. "Oh yeah..."

The two stopped, seeing someone who appeared to be Silver walk past them and enter a room on the side of the subway.

"Was that... Silver?" Sonic asked.

"Probably not Silver. But... We need to wait, okay? Let's try to introduce ourselves when we get the opportunity-"

"Hey, you two!" the Sonic double showed up again.

Sonic groaned. "Oh, come on! You, again?!"

"Yes. By the authority of the Chaos Council, stand down and surrender so I can take you to the Chaos Council."

Shadow paused, thinking about it for a moment. They could figure out what was going on here, but it was really risky... And stupid, to get themselves caught like that.

"Who even are the Chaos Council?!" Sonic exclaimed. Shadow face palmed again.

"How do they not know about us?!" a voice came through the communicator on the Sonic Double's ear. Shadow recognized the voice... Kinda. Sounded like Eggman, but at the same time...

"Don't know. But you two need to come with me." the double said.

"Alright. Fine." Shadow said.

"What?! Shadow, you can't be serious!" Sonic said.

"Come peacefully and there won't be any force." The double stepped forward, pulling out the shackles again. Sonic backed away before bolting, leading the double to chase after him and tackle him to the ground.

Shadow quietly watched, seeing more of the machines surrounding him.

"Hey! Let me go! We didn't do anything wrong! Why does the council even want us?!" Sonic exclaimed.

"No record on the database. You two need to come in for questioning." the double locked cuffs around Sonic's wrists, pulling him to his feet.

Shadow watched as Sonic was brought back. The double pulled Shadow's hands forward, getting out the cuffs for him.

"Never got your name."

"Hm?"

"Do you have a name?" Shadow asked, the cuffs latching around his wrists.

"I'm just an Enforcer for the Chaos Council. Now, let's go you two."

"But we didn't do anything and you just arrested us? Who even are you people?! Nothing bad happened and I don't see how we're a threat-" Sonic tried to explain.

"Sir. Please be quiet."

"Sheesh. Least you can do is not be dull and sad, other me."

The double shot him a look. "My name is Bullet. And I order you to be quiet."

"Fine..."

Shadow remained silent, just watching the two Sonic's interact. He wasn't sure where this was going, but he just hoped things turned out alright in the end.

But with their luck... He doubted it.

[gimmie-a-sammich]

Between Two Thorns | Chapter 1 | Birthday Girl

Pairings: Mafia!Ateez x Fem!Original Character, Mafia!??? x Fem!Original Character, Mafia!Jeongin (I.N) x Fem!Original Character, feat Stray Kids

Genre: (18+ Minors DNI) Mafia au, smut, angst, fluff

Summary: After an unforeseeable event, Amelia Lee finds herself torn between love and loyalty. What will her choice be? Her twin brother and the only family she's ever know? Or the man she never expected to fall in love with? Every decision, though, comes with a price.

Chapter Warnings: mentions of drugs, drinking, cursing, praise, teasing (poor innie) vaginal sex, oral sex, fingering, unprotected sex (don't do this please)

Word Count: 9.8k

read here on AO3

Between Two Thorns masterlist

next chapter

**

Amelia Lee knew she would be running late to her own party, not that she minded much. Felix would only be slightly annoyed with his twin sister. His sour moods never lasted long towards her. Today she would get even more of a pass. 

It was their 23rd birthday, afterall. 

Jeongin waited patiently in her apartment’s living room while she finished getting ready. How he convinced Felix that he should be the one to pick her up instead of Chan or Minho was beside her, but she didn’t complain about having his company. Dinner was on the agenda for this evening before ending at Oddinary, the club Felix owned and the front for a majority of their business dealings. Amelia spent quite a bit of time there with her brother and his crew in the evenings after long days spent in her studio. 

“Innie, can you come in here, please,” Amelia yelled from her bathroom after slipping on her mini dress. The emerald green velvet hugged every line of her lean body and ruched in the most perfect places. Her toned legs were emphasized by the side slit trailing her left thigh and black strappy stilettos. 

“What can I do for you, Lia?” he leaned against the doorframe leading to her attached bedroom, hands in the pockets of his slate gray slacks. His dark siren eyes studied every inch of her, and he looked utterly handsome while doing it. 

Amelia finished hooking her earrings in her lobes, a combination of dangly black rhinestones in her first pair, a small black rhinestone hoop in the second, and a simple black rhinestone stud in the third. The black hoops and studs were echoed in her three cartilage piercings, two hoops in the left ear, a single stud in the right. Carefully she fluffed her long blonde hair around her shoulders, making sure the slicked sides were perfectly smooth. Once content with how the loose waves tumbled along her back she set her hazel eyes on Jeongin through the mirror.

“Will you tie me in?” She gestured towards the corseted back of her dress. As talented as Amelia was, there was no way she would be able to tighten it the way she needed, nor achieve the perfect bow. 

Stepping towards her, Jeongin reached for her hips. Hands roamed her body greedily. One disturbed the hair she had just worked so hard to perfect, brushing it to the side so his lips had access to her neck. “Looking like this could make us even later, Lee Amelia,” he whispered against her skin. “Your dress leaves little to the imagination.”

She looped a hand through his dark hair, tugging lightly at the tresses. “We will have plenty of time for this after the party, Yang Jeongin.” 

His long fingers shifted to the dangling strings, although he didn’t remove his lips. He pulled them at an agonizingly slow rate. “Tighter?” 

“Perfect,” she hummed, eyes closing at the press of his lips. Despite this, Jeongin pulled the strings slightly tighter before tying a bow. He drew back to toy with it, making sure the ends were even and the bow was centered. When he tapped her hips she turned around in his arms, wrapping her own around his neck. “Thank you.” A smile passed her lips before slotting them against Jeongin’s. 

“Please tell me tonight's when I can outwardly call you mine,” Jeongin mumbled to her, thumbs grazing over the freckles scattered across her cheeks and nose. 

Amelia sighed, “I’m yours enough, Innie.” She had kept him at arm’s reach for the last few months, not wanting to put any form of label on their relationship despite their exclusivity. It was all fun in her mind. Although their attraction was not a secret amongst the others, they had been keeping all affection behind closed doors. Limiting relations to the safety of Amelia’s apartment, only stealing heated kisses in secluded corners of the club or holding hands beneath a table. Jeongin had been pressing her for weeks about letting their relationship breath in the open while still not pushing her for a formal label. His persistence slowly wore her down. “But-”

“But?” his eyes sparkled at the pause. 

“But if you want to make this more out in the open moving forward, you’ll see no more arguments from me,” she tightened her arms. It also was not a secret that Jeongin was growing frustrated with their current reality. The advances from other men did not help, no matter how clear Amelia made her disinterest. “Although you may find some from my brother.” 

Jeongin laughed. “Your brother may run this show… but we also know his biggest soft spot is for his sweet, beautiful, talented, intelligent sister.” He pecked her lips quickly. “It’s not like Felix doesn’t know, he’s just chosen to stay unaware.”

Both statements were entirely correct. Despite being heavily feared throughout the city, Felix was a softie when it came to his dear twin sister. Amelia knew this and often used it to her advantage. She rarely faced consequences for her actions, and any she did were minor in comparison to others. He completely turned a blind eye towards Jeongin and Amelia, even after he caught them drunkenly canoodling in the shadows of the club one evening. The other members teased Jeongin relentlessly about his behavior towards her, while Felix rarely partook. 

“I guess we’ll see,” Amelia grabbed his chin, teasing him slightly while she scrunched her nose. She gently pushed him away to face the mirror again. She fluffed her hair once more, although Jeongin’s lingering hold on her waist made the task marginally more difficult. Attention quickly shifted to her vibrating phone on the countertop. A picture of Felix and Amelia lit up the screen with her brother’s call. It was immediately ignored, something that would irritate Felix. “Time to get going, I’m afraid.” 

Amelia slid her hand into Jeongin’s, leading him into her bedroom. She dropped it only to slide on the leather jacket laid upon her bed and grab the small black clutch to hold her phone and lipstick. The September air was already chilly, and although she wouldn’t need the warmth in the club she would be thankful for it before and after. Even though eongin’s body would be glued to hers all evening, to providing all the warmth she’d need. 

Now Jeongin’s phone rang. Unlike Amelia, he answered. “Yes, Felix?” He rolled his eyes, making Amelia laugh. “We’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” The phone call was brief, ending in a sigh from Jeongin. 

“I’m sure he’s thrilled about my timing,” Amelia laughed.

Jeongin laced his fingers through hers after she locked the door with her code, pulling them quickly to his lips to kiss them. “We’re all used to you being fashionably late at this point, Lia.” 

She playful smacked and berated him while they walked towards Jeongin’s sleek black sports car. As always, he opened the passenger door for her, guiding her into the seat. He shut the door after leaning down to plant a kiss on her forehead, fingers brushing along her cheek as he drew away with a smile large enough to display his deep dimples. 

The engine roared to life at the turn of the key. Once out of the garage Jeongin’s hand migrated to her thigh. It didn’t leave for the entirety of the drive to the restaurant, thumb constantly rubbing soft circles on her skin. Amelia’s arm hooked around his to loosely hold his pinky. Again, she found him utterly handsome. Thanks to his hard work with Changbin in the gym he had started to fill out more. No longer could the others berate him for being the youngest and the scrawniest. Definition in his arms was visible beneath the material of his black shirt. Amelia had seen him shirtless enough to know the effects that time also had on his abs. 

At the restaurant, Amelia received the same treatment from Jeongin. She happily let him take her hand as he gently pulled her from the open car door before handing the keys to the valet. Instead of dropping it, Jeongin kept a firm grip while also holding on to Amelia’s words regarding letting their relationship be out in the open. While he wanted nothing more than to refer to Amelia as his girlfriend, he respected her wishes. This was enough for him, at least for now. 

Jeongin didn’t pause long at the hostess podium, only long enough for Amelia to deposit her jacket. Already knowing where the rest of the group was sitting, Jeongin led her through the tables and people towards their frequently reserved private room. Neither focused on the stares they received from the other patrons. While the sight of them together was not uncommon in the neighborhood, the view of them walking hand in hand was. 

Slews of ‘you’re here!’ and ‘happy birthday’ were thrown at her the minute her heels clicked into the room. Her seven favorite people in the world grinned at her before all focused on her and Jeongin’s linked fingers. Felix furrowed his brows for a moment before shaking his head, the long blond locks swishing around him. 

“Look who finally made a move,” Chan exclaimed amongst the whistles and claps filling the room. 

Jeongin pulled back the open chair next to Felix at the head of the table for her, face entirely flushed red. Amelia, on the other hand, was not embarrassed in the slightest. “Are you just upset it isn’t you, Christopher?” She teased the man across from her, calling him by his given name in lieu of his preferred nickname. Jeongin sat down in the chair next to her, hand skating up her thigh possessively. 

“Aw, Lia. We all know I get to forever claim being your first kiss, even if Felix wishes we would all forget that fact,” he leaned over to elbow Felix. “Isn’t that right?”

Felix shoved him away softly, doing his best to look angry despite the smile across his face. “Because that little high school crush you had on her was oh so meaningful.” 

“Meaningful enough to get a kiss out of it,” Chan shrugged, still smirking. 

Amelia laced her fingers with Jeongin’s once more. She sensed he needed a little bit of reassurance, even though this form of teasing was common amongst everyone. Christopher Bahng had in fact been her first kiss at fifteen thanks largely in part to a drunken game of spin the bottle at one of Changbin’s house parties. At that point she had been completely unaware of his apparently not-so-secret crush on her, even though later on she learned that the sole purpose of said game was for Chan to make his move on her. Nothing ever progressed further than that singular peck, and Chan continued to be one of Amelia’s closest friends and primary protectors as they grew older. Now it was a running joke amongst them, one that annoyed Felix to no end. 

“So does this mean we can’t torture poor Innie anymore?” Han piped in from the other end of the table. 

“Hannie, the torture of our sweet baby will never end, we’ll just need to find something new to tease him about,” Minho laughed.

Laughter grew louder as Jeongin’s face grew redder. Amelia leaned over and kissed his cheek, only adding fuel to fire. More whistles ensued, followed by further cracks about the two of them. Even though all had been aware of their terrible attempts at sneaking around, they had been hesitant about making too many jokes in front of Felix. Now entirely out in the open, all bets were off and nothing off limits. Felix finally joined in, laughing with the rest of them after giving a subtle nod of affirmation towards his twin. 

The teasing only broke when a waitress came to take their orders. Alcohol was of course ordered, with Amelia opting for a glass of sweet red wine that would pair deliciously with her salmon. Harder liquor would come at the club. Most of the men around her ordered some form of steak, each having their own preference when it came to the cut. 

After the waitress disappeared out of the room, Felix shifted towards Amelia, dipping his head low. “Happy birthday, little sister,” he said softly, voice seeming even deeper than usual. “But late once again…”

“Just because you were born five minutes and thirteen seconds before me does not make you the older sibling, Lix,” she scoffed. A smile quickly returned to her face, though. “But happy birthday to you as well, twin. And you know I’m always late. It’s one of my most endearing qualities.” 

Felix rolled his eyes as he leaned back, continuing to smile at his sister. “Most of your qualities are endearing, Lia.” His attention diverted to Chan on his right, already deep in a conversation regarding something business related. Even on their birthday he was unable to completely take his mind away from it. 

Amelia turned her attention to the rest of the conversations, happily laughing and chiming in with everyone around her. They were her family just as much as Felix. She couldn’t find a single memory of hers that wasn’t filled with at least one of the other guys since the nine of them grew up together. Hyunjin, Han, Minho, Changbin, and Chan’s families were deeply rooted in the Lee Family mafia. Their own fathers and mothers were key members, much like the five of them were now. Seungmin and Jeongin started as close friends of Felix. Once they were of age they jumped at the opportunity to join, and following Felix’s inheritance of power have been just as much a focal point as the others. As Felix’s most trusted friends, they held the greatest positions of power despite their ages. 

The transition following their parents death four years ago was a difficult one. Older members took issue with following the orders of a then nineteen year old, but their father had been firm in his instructions of Felix taking over. Quickly, Felix proved himself, earning the respect and fear that no one expected from him. Outwardly, he appeared soft. His kind brown eyes and blonde hair only made others underestimate him further. Beneath that Felix was ruthless and calculated. He made decisions without remorse and without fear of repercussions.

Unless those repercussions involved his sister. 

It was no secret that Amelia was the princess of this little group. While not involved directly in any form of business, Amelia was always in the know somehow. Felix did his best to separate her from anything violent, but she was always providing input, constantly whispering in her brother's ears. What Amelia Lee wanted, Amelia Lee received. Besides her recently changed relationship with Jeongin, all viewed her as their own sister. Just as protective of her as Felix, they never allowed her to come into harm’s way. They were known to act rashly if she was involved, not taking kindly to unwarranted comments or lingering glances from anyone. Their fondness towards her only grew as they aged. It was something Amelia loved dearly, but also used to her advantage if the situation called for it. 

Drinks continuously poured as they ate dinner. It was funny how anxious Jeongin was at first with being more affectionate when he was the one who wanted it in the first place, but eventually he loosened up. The probability of an upset Felix affected him more than he wanted to let on initially, but Felix gave his version of a blessing through what some would take as a throwaway comment. His hand never left Amelia’s body and following the third round of drinks he had enough confidence to pull her in for a kiss, much to everyone’s amusement. 

Following cake and the obligatory singing of happy birthday plates, staff cleared from the table. Everyone was antsy and ready to head to the club for what was Amelia’s favorite part- dancing. The check was never brought out to pay due to Felix’s understanding with the restaurant owner. 

“Ready to dance the night away, baby girl?” Hyunjin asked, coming directly behind Amelia as she stood. He was always on the dancefloor with her, either dancing directly with her or near enough that he always had tabs on her. 

“You’re going to have to share her a little more tonight,” Jeongin smirked, sweeping his arm around Amelia’s waist to tug her closer. He placed a sweet kiss on her cheek, making her face scrunch from the impact and her large smile. 

She pushed him away playfully to follow Hyunjin out into the main area of the restaurant. “There’s more than enough of me to go around, boys,” she laughed. 

While Hyunjin and the others went out the front door, Jeongin and Amelia detoured into the coat closet. He beat her to her jacket, prompting her to turn around with just a hazy stare. Much like the treatment on the strings of her dress, he slid the jacket on slowly. Once on, his arms snaked around her body, pulling Amelia flush against his chest. 

His lips migrated to her neck, dragging them seductively along her skin. Fingers dug into her waist, pressing her even further into his own. “My angel,” he breathed, the scent of whiskey lingering through the warm air. One hand ran along the hem of her dress, a finger teasing over her underwear. Amelia’s own breath hitched at his touch. He became  even more assured in himself, not that he cared much about the potential of someone stumbling upon them.  

Turning her head toward him, she ran her fingers up the side of his face to coax his mouth to hers. The kiss instantly became heated, tongues tangling together much like the fingers in Jeongin’s hair. Amelia easily lost herself in his lips, desire for him pooling within her body. His fingers never slid underneath the thin fabric, only softly running over it in slow swipes. It ended suddenly, to her dismay. Lips turned into a pout when he removed himself. 

“You’re being a tease,” Amelia smoothed out the bottom of her dress. 

Jeongin looked pleased with himself for melting Amelia so easily. It was a game he enjoyed playing, especially tucked away in a public space. “Me? Never, Lia.” 

Still glaring, but with a smile on her face, Amelia clasped onto Jeongin’s outstretched hand. He led her out of the closet out the door to the waiting car. Felix must have told the valet to go ahead and get Jeongin’s vehicle. After giving a very hefty tip to the man and getting Amelia settled into the front seat they were on their way to Oddinary. 

It was one of the most prominent clubs in the city, and definitely the most prominent in the areas Felix and his crew oversaw. Always crowded and lively, it became the perfect front for a majority of their dealings in conjunction with the other business Felix had a hand in. Despite the other crews surrounding them in other parts of the city, there was an uneasy sense of peace recently. They had a great working relationship with the crew run by Seungcheol to their east. The same could not be said for the crew ran by one named Yeosang. Turf wars between them and the Lee’s occurred for generations prior, but within the last five years a truce had been established once Yeosang took the helm. Felix inherited that truce with their father’s passing and did his best to uphold it. 

The rules were simple. 

No business in the other’s territory.

And absolutely no killing or harm to the other’s crew.

Until recently even straying into the other’s territory was prohibited, but with the changes in area businesses and overall growth that became increasingly difficult. There were times when crossing over was inevitable, especially with neutral territory scattered about. As long as the other rules were followed, leniency was granted for straying into the other’s parts of the city. Lost in her own thoughts and the feeling of Jeongin’s hand in hers, Amelia didn’t notice he’d parked the car in the private parking area at the back entrance. 

They slid past James, the guard on duty at the back entrance. He offered them a nod as they walked into the building, swiftly shutting the door once Amelia stepped through the threshold. Music boomed through the halls, muffled due to their location and the rooms between them and the main area. 

The club itself was quite large. Felix and the others had office spaces within this section, most shared. A room was designated solely for questioning, others for different business ventures. The music was always loud enough to muffle screams when needed. There were also the typical rooms and business would have: supply closets, storage rooms, and the like. One room had been converted into a bedroom with an attached bathroom housing a shower. There had been numerous instances when someone needed to stay… whether that need be due to business or pleasure. The shower was necessary to remove any blood from the eight’s bodies from dealings gone astray. Minho was its most frequent user in both circumstances, closely followed by Hyunjin. 

Jeongin pulled her through the hallways with a smile plastered on his face, only stopping when they reached the space he shared with Seungmin and Changbin. Amelia deposited her leather jacket on the back of his desk chair before being instantly crowded against the wall. 

Caging his arms around her shoulders, Jeonging pressed his body into hers hungerly. His mouth attacked hers, tongue sliding into her mouth with just as much fervor. They’d been in this very position in this same room many times before. Amelia felt Jeongin growing hard within his pants. But she had not taken too kindly to his teasing in the coat closet. 

She pulled him even closer, pressing her pelvis against the bulge. Jeongin’s needy whimpers were music to her ears. He ground against her, inadvertently rucking up her dress while providing them both with a miniscule amount of friction. Amelia bit into his lower lip, dragging it down slightly while her hand palmed his length through his pants. 

“Fuck, I need you angel,” Jeongin moaned, rutting into her hand further. Now it was Amelia who had him melting in the palm of her hand. 

Amelia pushed him away just as suddenly he did to her in the coat room, peeling herself off the wall with a smirk and leaving him breathless. “You’ll have to wait longer for that, my dear Innie,” she mused, tapping her fingers on the door frame before leaving him alone to adjust his hardon. 

The music became nearly deafening when she strode past the next guard, Joheon, into the primary club area. Bodies were everywhere. Dancing. Making out. Doing drugs. Drinking. Nothing was off limits here unless you became a problem or angered one of the eight. Or Amelia.

Felix and most of the others lounged in their reserved VIP section, bottles of liquor already chilling in ice buckets. Shot glasses lined the table, some full and waiting to be drunk. Hyunjin and Minho were both noticeably absent from the leather couches. Amelia sauntered over to the group, taking a shot from Han’s outstretched hand when she drew close. 

Downing the smooth vodka with barely a grimace, she smiled at him. “Ever the gentleman, Jisung,” she said loudly enough for him to hear over the blaring speakers. Despite the others only calling him by his last name, Amelia was one of the few allowed to call him by his first name.

He quickly poured another shot, “Always for you, birthday girl.” His eyes flicked around, noticing Jeongin’s absence. “Jeongin?”

“He needed to take care of something,” Amelia said with a smirk before taking the second shot just as cleanly.  

Han tossed his head back in laughter. He’d grown his hair out lately, the dark tresses starting to wave slightly with their length. “Still torturing the poor kid, are we?”

Amelia’s smart response was halted by hands coming around her shoulders and a lithe body pressing into her back. Instantly she knew who it was when the chin settled on her shoulder and soft lips pressed to her cheek. 

“Princess,” Hyunjin nuzzled into her further, tightening his hold around her shoulders. He had already rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt, the top two buttons undone to show off his immaculate body. “Take another shot, then we’re off to the dance floor. Minho’s waiting for us.” 

Many wrongfully assumed the two of them were together based on their behaviors. The two were close beyond belief, but nothing ever surpassed friends. Hyunjin was her sounding board whenever she needed him, coming to her aid without a second thought. More often than not it was him she called instead of her brother. 

Her gaze shifted back to Han. “I’ll tell Jeongin where you are, Lia,” he said with a laugh. Another round of shots was poured, one for each of them. 

“And how dare we keep him waiting any longer.” 

Hyunjin’s arm never left Amelia even as the three clinked glasses and poured the vodka down their throats. At this point Amelia didn’t feel a hint of burning. It wouldn’t be long before the alcohol made its way to her head. There were few things she loved more than swaying and grinding to the music with a hazy brain. 

Amelia pulled Hyunjin’s arm off her, keeping her hand clenched around his wrist. She pulled him grinning and laughing out of their VIP lounge past her brother. Felix made a weak attempt at stopping his sister, but knew better than to keep her from her destination. What he needed to talk to her about could wait until later in the night. He returned to his conversation with Seungmin and Changbin, but his eyes followed the pair down the stairs until he lost them in the throngs of people. 

Together they weaved in and out of the sea of bodies. Music reverberated through Amelia’s chest, heart thumping in time with the bass. When they became closer to the dancefloor, Hyunjin’s arm slipped around her waist to keep her close while he scanned for Minho. Unsurprisingly, they found him wrapped around a pretty, petite blonde in the center of the dancefloor. That is until he saw Hyunjin and Amelia dancing towards him. 

His exit was smooth, but left the girl turning around and blinking in surprise at his missing body. Amelia was no stranger to the scowls she received from girls, and this time was no different. Daggers were shot in her direction when Minho scooped her up. Little did the blonde know that Amelia was often their greatest wingwoman, never interfering in any of their extracurricular activities. However, that same courtesy often wasn’t extended towards her. 

Ignoring the glare, Amelia fell into his embrace with a laugh that was swallowed by the music. Their bodies easily fell into the rhythm, Hyunjin quickly coming behind Amelia. She often found herself sandwiched between them before splitting off, but always coming back to one and another. The others would make their way down to them in shifts, but rarely did Felix leave his VIP section. 

Even in the dim lighting Amelia could feel all eyes on the three of them. Not that she cared in the slightest. Who could blame any of them? Hyunjin and Minho were gorgeous human beings. Their tailored pants clung to their toned thighs, sweat already causing their hair to stick to their foreheads. Hyunjin’s blonde locks were half pulled back in a top knot, his bangs sneaking out from it. Minho’s black hair was shorter than his blonde counterpart, but like many of the boys had been growing it out recently. 

With a fuzzy head, Amelia lost herself. Nothing mattered in the moment besides the way her body moved. Minho and Hyunjin separated themselves from her a song or two prior, always making sure to have Amelia in their eye line. While they left Amelia to her own devices often, they were only a step away if someone decided to get too handsy with their sweet princess. In that time both Changbin and Seungmin had joined them briefly, mainly to bring them another round of shots before disappearing again. 

“There’s my angel,” Jeongin’s body pressing into her back broke through her fog ever so slightly, at least enough to know to wrap her fingers through his hair at the feeling of his lips against the shell of her ear. 

“Took you long enough.”

A tug of his hair pulled his mouth to hers. Tongues swirled together, fingers further tightening along her waist and tangling within his hair. It was a mess of teeth, full of lust. Jeongin was taking full advantage of their now public ‘relationship.’ A twist of Amelia’s hips made them face to face, allowing him to deepen the kiss. The world around them blurred further. Amelia tasted the alcohol lingering through his mouth, only adding to her haze. Dizziness surged through her. The five plus shots hit her all at once and she became increasingly thankful for Jeongin’s firm hold on her. Time was an unknown construct at this point, neither knowing or caring about how long their lips and tongues had been connected. 

Minho finally broke them apart with a swift tug against Amelia. Jeongin received the same treatment from Hyunjin. 

“Fuck you two, come up for air,” Minho teased as he spun Amelia around before swinging her into his arms and wrapping them around her. She clung to his forearms while she laughed, letting her head rest on his shoulder. It was due to both his comment and the look on Jeongin’s face. He was wrapped up similarly in Hyunjin’s arms, but unlike Amelia he wasn’t pleased with the location change. 

Once Hyunjin determined Jeongin struggled enough he let him out of his clutches, but Minho wasn’t ready to let go of Amelia. Now the two of them swayed outrageously to the beats, giggling incessantly. From above them, Felix had a clear view of the four on the dance floor as he peered over the railing. It was part of the reason he selected this specific lounge as his own- he was able to have eyes everywhere. 

The sight of his sister having a good time always warmed his heart. Too often she tried to pull him down with her. Seldom did he partake, much preferring to drink and observe from his perch above. When he did join her on the dance floor it was only to search for whatever girl would be joining him in his bed. As of late it had been the same girl, a fiery redhead named Lyra. Eventually he found her shock of hair near Amelia and the others, having made her way over to them. It wouldn’t be too long until he pulled her into his lounge and lap. 

Amelia hardly left the dance floor, only vacating for necessary bathroom breaks and more shots. More often than not those were brought by one of the guys when they joined her on the dance floor for a few songs before disappearing elsewhere in the club. At Chan’s request later in the evening she did take a brief break on the leather couches, draping her legs over him while she leaned into Jeongin’s chest and sipped on the bottle of water Han handed her. 

Just as he anticipated, Felix had Lyra snug on his lap. Following a kiss she excused herself, giving Amelia the perfect opportunity to slide next to her brother for a moment. For some reason they had rarely spent time together this evening which was very unlike the Lee twins. 

She leaned her head on his shoulder, smiling over at him. “You know, I love you dearly, Lixie.”

He laid his head on top of hers, his deep voice rumbling through his chest.  “I love you, Lia.” He pursed his lips in thought, tilting them towards his sister’s ear. Tone shifted into something more serious. “Don’t break his heart, Amelia.” 

She recoiled at his words, anger and hurt cutting through the buzz and fog swirling in her brain. A sense of sobriety hit as she glared into her brother’s brown eyes. “As your sister, don’t you think you should be having this conversation with Jeongin instead of me?”  

He drew back, meeting her glare with just as much intensity. While the twins didn’t fight often, when they did it had the potential to blow up spectacularly. “I don’t think I have to worry about Jeongin breaking your heart.” 

“I think you need to choose what you’re going to say next very carefully,” Amelia seethed through gritted teeth while narrowing her eyes further. Her body tensed, ready to leave depending on how he chose to proceed. 

Felix sat up straighter to meet his sister head on before thinking better of it. He hated arguing with her, even though Amelia easily held her own if it escalated. Lowering his voice and softening his gaze, he continued. “What I’m meaning, Amelia, is that Jeongin is always going to invest more into you than you ever will towards him. It’s not anything bad, Lia, it’s-”

Amelia cut him off when she stood. “Fuck off, disrespectfully.” How dare he say this to her, and on their birthday no less. She stormed off, beelining straight to where Jeongin sat between Seungmin and Changbin. Felix made no moves to stop her, only ran his fingers through his hair exasperated, knowing he messed up by choosing to have this conversation while they were both drinking and in public. 

 He smiled warmly at her when she approached, but his expression quickly shifted towards confusion. “What’s up, angel?”

Reaching for his arm, she tugged him erratically. “We’re leaving. Now.” 

“Uh, you think that’s a good idea? Who’s driving? Neither of you seem to be-” Seungmin’s eyes widened. 

“Minnie. Shut the fuck up,” she shot at him without thinking, even though no portion of her anger was directed towards him. Her frustration was at Felix… and herself. Seungmin flinched at her words, but didn’t respond to her, only looking at Changbin beside him for assistance. Her voice shifted as she looped her hand through the still confused Jeongin’s arm. “We’re fine, Min. I’ll let you know when we’re back to my place, yeah?” 

“All of us,” Changbin said firmly. None of them were too thick to realize something was going on between her and Felix, especially with how his behavior suddenly shifted. “Text the group chat.”

“No, he can think I’m dead in a ditch for all I fucking care.” Now everyone knew just how angry Amelia was. Her words became increasingly spiteful when she angered, always leaving everyone to guess whether or not she meant them. Amelia tried tugging Jeongin away, but he kept his feet planted in place. Her glare shifted to him. “Baby, let’s go.” She made sure it was loud enough that Felix heard, emphasizing the pet name she’d only called him behind closed doors until now.

Finally he budged, only after giving a very pointed nod in Changbin’s direction. Amelia may not let them know anything when she stepped foot out the club, but Jeongin would. An awkward silence hung in the air as Amelia led him down the stairs. Amelia chose not to spare her brother a second glance, while Jeongin made direct eye contact with him. It was enough of a glance to subtly let Felix know that he had Amelia. Under no circumstance would he allow anything to happen to her. 

“Angel,” Jeongin tried to stop her once they were away from the crowds. Amelia trudged forward as best she could, nearly dragging him along. “Amelia. Stop.” She paused for a moment to turn towards him, eyebrows raised in waiting for whatever he felt the need to say. They’d paused directly in front of his office, allowing Jeongin to easily gesture inside it. Amelia’s stubbornness quickly came out to play, and it was in his best interest to divert her attention. “We’re grabbing your jacket, and if you’re expecting to leave we need my keys, too.” 

Sighing, Amelia followed him. “We really should have someone drive us to my apartment, Jeongin… neither of us are in a state to risk it.” A moment of clarity hit her. Both she and Jeongin were stumbling slightly on just this short walk and were in no condition to drive. In particular, Amelia’s head felt even more clouded following her short conversation with Felix. 

Jeongin grabbed the jacket still slung on the back of his desk chair, placed his keys in his pants pocket, and handed Amelie her clutch. “Someone was already on standby for that, Lia. 

They should already be waiting for us.” He offered her the coat with a furrowed brow. “What happened?”

“We’re not talking about it,” she snatched it from his hands, shrugging it on in a rush. How could she tell him the reason they were fighting was because of him? “Felix is being a dick. Not that anyone should be surprised by that.” 

As much as Jeongin wanted to question her further, he knew better than to meddle in a spat between the twins, especially this early on in the fight. Eventually Amelia would open herself up to him, maybe share what happened in a day or two. If not, Jeongin knew she would at least talk to Hyunjin about whatever lingered in her mind. It bothered him to no end knowing that Amelia still wouldn’t let him in entirely and he could only hope he’d break down her walls at some point.

“Okay, Lia,” he cast a quick look at his phone to check his messages. “Car’s outside.”

Taking her shoulders into his arm, he pressed a kiss to her temple. Amelia relaxed into him as best she could, but still remained on edge. Jeongin steered her out of the small room towards the backdoor, barely acknowledging James beyond a nod and a quick goodbye. They stumbled into the back seat of the car, paying no attention to whomever the driver was. With the partition pulled up already they wouldn’t have been able to tell who it was regardless. 

Amelia reached for the side of Jeongin’s shirt and yanked him hard enough to crash his mouth onto hers as soon as he shut the car door. Hands made their way to her cheeks to catch himself, only slightly surprised by Amelia’s suddenness. One skated down her body, running along the curves of her breast before landing on her hip. 

The kiss was messy. Almost as messy as the thoughts rolling through Amelia’s head. All she wanted was to focus on Jeongin’s tongue as it wound her way through her mouth and the feeling of his chest pressing into her. Instead all she only heard Felix’s voice. How desperately she wanted to silence it in the best way she knew how. 

Jeongin’s teeth bit into her lip when she ran her hand along his hardening bulge, a breathy pant following. “Fuck, Amelia,” he drew back slightly, still keeping their foreheads pressed together. She attempted to slide her hand beneath his waistband, but Jeongin stopped her the instant her fingers brushed through. “Let’s wait for the apartment,” he said just as breathlessly. 

“You act like we’ve never fucked around in the back of a vehicle,” Amelia pouted. She had no intentions of doing anything beyond getting her fingers around his cock.

Who was he to deny her? The pleading look in her eyes and the puffed out lower lip gave him no other choice. Jeongin was just as desperate for her. As soon as he released her wrist the pout shifted back to a hazy look of lust paired with a smirk. At the same time, Jeongin snuck a finger through Amelia’s drenched thong, smoothly entering her while his thumb brushed across her clit. 

“Already so wet for me, Angel.”

“Just wait until I get you home, Yang Jeongin.”

The backseat was a symphony of moans. Amelia’s hand wrapped around his dick, lazily stroking while Jeongin rubbed slow circles on her clit. His mouth migrated to her neck, placing messy kisses and whispered praises against the column of her throat. Teeth would graze her skin frequently as he moved, especially when Amelia circled her thumb on Jeongin’s sensitive tip. Her back arched towards him when he added a second finger to her center, but still he didn’t deviate from the lazy pace, nor did she. Both were keeping their desire for the other relatively contained, both relishing in the slow pleasure they were getting from the other’s hand. 

Thankfully Amelia’s apartment wasn’t terribly far from Oddinary. Jeongin removed his fingers when the car pulled to stop in front of her building. His eyes never left hers when he sucked every drop of arousal off his fingers with a smirk. 

The sight had Amelia dripping for him, breaths coming out in short bursts. “Inside, now.”

Hastily he adjusted himself to hide his hardon as best he could before pulling Amelia out of the car with him. The building lobby was empty save for the security guard at the front desk. They stumbled towards the elevator, hands never leaving the other’s body. It felt like an eternity waiting for the elevator to arrive. When the doors finally opened Jeongin slammed Amelia against the back wall, caging her in his arms. Now their desperation flooded out of them, evident in the way their bodies pressed together and how hungrily they went at each other.

“Innie- floor,” Amelia stuttered, pushing against his chest. Neither had hit the button to begin the elevator’s ascent. Jeongin blindly threw his hand back, pulling away just enough to press the ‘25’ before returning his lips to Amelia’s neck. 

Her hands tugged at his black hair while sucked and nipped along the column of her throat. Jeongin took care not to mark her neck. He’d save those for the parts of her body only he could see. In his fervor, he undid the bow of Amelia’s corset, loosening the ties as he pressed his body further into hers. 

They barely broke apart when the elevator door opened. Amelia did her best to step around Jeongin but he latched onto her, making it difficult for her to walk. With enough squirming she turned around in his arms, leading him down the hall towards her apartment. Hands pushed and pulled on their bodies, tugging at hair and clothing even as they walked. 

Amelia fumbled the code Jeongin’s relentless attack on her neck and his fingers digging into her hips. She couldn’t help but smile at the feeling of his ghosting lips and the filth leaving his mouth. All promises of how well he was going to treat the birthday girl. His birthday girl. 

The moment the door relocked Jeongin threw himself back upon Amelia. Hands cupped her face before sliding backwards through her hair. Thumbs secured against her cheeks while they stumbled towards Amelia’s bedroom, lips never separating. Amelia’s fingers worked on the buttons of Jeongin’s shirt until it hung loosely off his shoulders, exposing his toned torso and shoulders. Since Jeongin already loosened her dress it slid off with ease, leaving her in only her soaked thong. 

When she hit the edge of her bed Jeongin gently pushed her down, making her bounce softly on the mattress. “You, my angel, are absolutely perfect,” he mused. 

Amelia propped herself on her elbows, staring deeply into the eyes of the man licking his lips at the mere sight of her. Dropping to his knees, he dropped his shirt, throwing it away to join her dress somewhere in the room. His fingers danced across her legs, leaving goosebumps in their wake. He pressed featherlight kisses on her thighs, dragging them downwards while he undid the straps of her heels, taking them off her feet just as slowly. 

“Mmm, my sweet, sweet Innie,” Amelia mused when he ascended back up her leg, laying those same wet, dragging kisses. 

Jeongin used his large hands to widen her legs, massaging them softly while he settled himself comfortably between them. His breath felt warm against her skin when he laughed, mouth hovering over her soaked thong. Amelia couldn’t help the small gasp when his lips pressed against the fabric. Those siren eyes she adored so much locked onto hers as he laid another one, only this time sucking directly over her clit. This time Amelia’s moan was much louder, eliciting another suck and smile from Jeongin. 

“You make the sweetest sounds, Lia.” Jeongin hooked his fingers into the lace band of her underwear. Fingernails grazed her skin as he pulled them downwards. Amelia lifted her hips to help him remove them from her body and discard them somewhere in her room. He hummed at the sight of her dripping center. 

But not even the feeling of Jeongin’s tongue running through her slit could silence Felix’s voice in her head. It echoed menacingly as he devoured her, his moans and praises falling on deaf ears. Amelia tried her best to lose herself in passion, lacing her fingers through his thick hair and pressing Jeongin deeper into her center. The man beneath her responded by wrapping his lips around her clit, sending a bolt through her body strong enough to cut through the voice resonating in her head. 

“Right there, Innie,” Amelia moaned, tightening the hold in his hair. 

Jeongin continued licking and sucking her clit, alternating between quick flicks and pulsing suction. Amelia could feel the knot forming in her stomach. Her thighs threatened to close around Jeongin’s head, not that he cared. He loved the feeling of Amelia shuddering against him, the taste of her arousal on his tongue, knowing that he was responsible for the slew of moans pouring from her mouth. The  sole reason her back arched off the mattress and her eyes squeezed shut with pleasure.

Two fingers sliding into Amelia eetered her closer to the edge. Jeongin knew exactly where to rub the rough pads of his fingers, the exact angle, the exact speed to send her completely over.

And that’s exactly what he did. 

A wave surged over Amelia and she let it completely overtake her. Her thighs pressed harder against Jeongin’s head, fingers tugging harshly at his hair as she screamed his name. Jeongin didn’t relent on his assault, maintaining the speed of his fingers while he lapped up Amelia’s orgasm. He was sending her quickly into overstimulation, and doing so with a smile on his face.

“Gimme another one, birthday girl.” 

“Fuck, Jeongin,” Amelia moaned, relinquishing her hold slightly. She attempted to relax her body, wanting the post-orgasm haze to fully numb her brain, but Jeongin didn’t allow that. 

The sucks against her clit were firmer, the swipes of his tongue more precise. He used his free hand to keep Amelia sound against the mattress while she pressed him deeper into her dripping pussy. Fingers continued to piston in and out, brushing against the same spot that had her eyes rolling. 

Her second orgasm came without warning, surging through her body. Once again Jeongin worked her through it, only this time he slowed the pace of his fingers. Soft kisses were laid around her trembling thighs. He couldn’t resist biting the plush skin, especially after hearing the faint whimpers coming from Amelia. 

He licked the remnants of her off his fingers. He wasn’t one to waste a single drop, especially not of her. Amelia was the sweetest he ever tasted and he couldn’t get enough of it. Couldn’t get enough of her.

Amelia pulled his mouth to hers the moment he began crawling up her body, not letting him pause to tease her breasts like he intended. Her tongue entered his mouth hungrily, tasting herself on his lips. The voice was becoming louder again and Amelia was desperate to silence it. To prove to herself that she did care for Jeongin in a way that surpassed what she felt for him in the bedroom. 

The kiss was messy. Jeongin’s fingers raked through Amelia’s hair, pulling her closer to him. Amelia wasted no time in undoing his pants, pulling them down enough for his weeping cock to spring out against his chest. Jeongin detangled his hands from her hair long enough to remove them entirely, flinging them across the room before letting his hands resume roaming her body. 

“Fuck, Lia,” Jeongin gasped when she grasped his cock and stroked the firm length. He fought every urge in his body to fuck her hand, already so needy for his angel. His lips moved to her neck, littering marks across the skin before laying the same treatment to her collar bone. All the while Amelia continued running her hand along his length, teasing the leaking tip with her thumb.

Jeongin was caught off guard when Amelia suddenly pushed him off her and to the side. That surprise was soon taken over by lust when she straddled him, pushing him firmly down into the mattress with a hand on his chest. She needed to be the one in control now and Jeongin was more than willing to let her in this moment. 

“You’re mine,” Amelia said firmly, clutching Jeongin’s chin between her thumb and index finger. She leaned down, not loosening her hold, making sure his focus was only on her. “All mine, Yang Jeongin.” She repeated the phrase, trying to believe the words as much as the man beneath her did. There was some truth to them. He did belong to her. 

“All yours, angel,” Jeongin echoed, hands gliding up the sides of her body, willing her to sink down on his cock. He was desperate for her, needing to feel her wrapped around him, needing to make her moan his name. 

She slid onto his cock smoothly, dragging her hand down to his throat simultaneously. Her fingers flexed as she took him entirely, cutting off his ragged moans but making his eyes roll back into his head from the sudden lack of oxygen. Jeongin loved when Amelia took control, when she used him in whatever way she saw fit. Tonight was no exception. 

Amelia tugged at Jeongin’s lower lip with her teeth as she rose off his cock, pulling away with a pop and a smirk. Already he appeared blissed out and lost in her body, his long fingers digging into the skin around her waist. Each time he tried to thrust his hips into her she raised herself higher, letting only the head of his cock enter her dripping center . 

“So inpatient this evening,” Amelia teased him as she continued to keep herself elevated. She could continue this all evening if she wanted to without worry of her thighs giving out. 

Jeongin whined beneath her. Fingers dug harshly into her skin now, pressing deeply enough that Amelia would have bruises there in addition to the bites on her thighs. But Amelia didn’t cave, only lowering herself minimally before pulling back up. His breaths became needy pants, his actions becoming needier by the second.

“Fuck, Amelia, angel, baby, please,” Jeongin begged, his head flailing back into the pillow. Amelia loved the desperation in his voice. “I need you.”

Amelia finally gave into Jeongin’s request, coming down to meet the slamming of his hips. The sharp thrust caused moans to pour out of their lips, Jeongin’s laced with curses and praises for finally getting what he desired. He wanted to to fuck her at a relentless pace, needing to get some form of release from her teasing, but Amelia had other plans. 

She allowed him a few more snaps of his hips before resuming her original position.  “Now, now, Innie… let’s not get hasty,” she flexed her fingers again, tone deceptively sweet. It was a stark contrast to her cold eyes.

Beneath her, Jeongin froze except for the heaving of his breaths. His pupils were completely blown, filled to the brim with lust. He fought the urge to drag her back down, settling to pull Amelia’s soft lips to his instead. They met with a smile. Jeongin kissed her passionately, but still kept his hips against the mattress. Amelia rewarded his restraint, purposefully lowering herself down on his twitching cock until he was fully inside. He didn’t dare move and risk losing the feeling of her wrapped around him. 

“Fu- fuck, Amelia,” he moaned as she began moving her hips at a steady pace. The way Amelia rode him drove him towards insanity everytime she climbed on top of him. In eyes this was one of the moments she looked the most beautiful. Hair cascaded into her face, only partially obscuring her hazy hazel eyes. Eyes that were only for him. “You fe- you feel so fucking good angel.” 

Leaning up, Amelia coasted her fingertips down his stomach. It quivered beneath the ghosting touch, her nails leaving raised bumps. “And you fill me up so well,” she smirked. Now his hips came to meet hers, but he kept the pace she set. His long cock drug through her walls deliciously, making her head fall back in pleasure. 

Jeongin’s hands danced up to Amelia’s breasts, rolling her nipples between his fingers. She gasped at the added sensation and increased the rolling of her hips. Greedily, Jeongin thrust harder, taking one hand to her waist so he could snap his hips upwards. This time, Amelia allowed the motion. Watching Jeongin lose control beneath her only added to her own heady desires. Only helped quiet her thoughts. 

“Lia, baby,” Jeongin moaned, barely able to form a cohesive thought. “More, baby, let me give you more. Let me make you feel good. I want to feel you come on my cock, angel.”

Judging by his furrowed brow and sweat ridden hair, Jeongin was nearing his own high. As always, he would never allow himself to come before his perfect Amelia. Her walls fluttering around his cock always made his own release more intense. On any other night he would put his own off for as long as possible, preferring to make Amelia come over and over. But between her teasing and the alcohol lingering in his system he would settle for the two already brought on by his tongue.

Amelia too needed more, but she wasn’t going to just let Jeongin take control from her so easily. Her hands pressed against his chest as she leaned downwards once more, blonde hair coming over her shoulders. With this new angle his dick was hitting her g-spot perfectly. Her breath hitched, a smile spreading across her lips as their movements flowed together in perfect unison. 

“You sound so pretty when you’re begging, Jeongin,” she took his lips within hers, “but I think you can do better than that. Beg for me.”

Clutching her face in his hands, he intertwined his fingers through her hair. “Let me fuck you, Amelia. Please. Please, my angel,” he sputtered, eyes wide. “I need you. I need to feel you. Let me fill you up so well.”

She bit his lip sharply before pulling away. “Only because you said please.” 

Jeongin took her words as confirmation. Their positions reversed, never disconnecting from one another as Jeongin flipped her onto the mattress. Jeongin perched above her, elbows bracketing her head. His panting breaths hot against her neck as he laid wet, opened mouth kisses along her jaw and throat. The position change made the knot grow in Amelia’s stomach with his cock head hitting deeper inside her. But Jeongin still needed more. 

After he felt he sucked and bit the skin of her throat and breasts enough, Jeongin pushed himself upwards. Amelia was taken aback by him in this moment. Eyes were black with lust, his inky hair clinging to his forehead, toned body glistening with sweat. And he was hers. 

Running his hand up her leg, he pushed one of her knees against her body so he could pound into her relentlessly. Her name left his lips like a prayer, mixing with their melodic moans and the lewd slapping of skin meeting skin. His thrusts became more erratic the closer he came to his own high. On the edge of her own, Amelia slipped her hand to rub her clit to completely send her over. It drove Jeongin to the verge of madness. 

She didn’t get a chance to tell Jeongin just how good he made her feel, doing exactly what he begged her for. But he knew an orgasm crashed over her by the way her back arched off the mattress, how his name echoed through the dark room, and the feeling of her walls clenching around his cock. Just as quickly he was driven to his own release, filling her with his cum while his hips sputtered. 

Their heavy breathing filled the air. Jeongin collapsed onto Amelia’s chest after he dropped her leg. He pulled his softening length out of her while he laid the softest kiss upon her forehead. He gazed upon her fondly, stars in his eyes. Amelia was already everything to him. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her, no line he wouldn’t cross on her behalf. 

“Happy birthday, my beautiful angel. My Amelia,” he mumbled, eyes fluttering close when he slotted his mouth against hers. His fingers caressed her cheeks as he kissed her lazily, the need for sleep and the buzz from alcohol finally catching up to him.

Amelia returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around his body and softly dragging her fingers across his back and ribs. Soon he slid next to her in the bed, pulling her deep into his chest. Even as he fell asleep he continued to whisper praises into her hair, telling Amelia just how much he adored her. Amelia was hopeful this change in the way he looked at her and the influx of praises was alcohol induced or the results of his post-orgasmic bliss. Deep down, though, she knew better. 

Neither the alcohol nor fucking Jeongin silenced the singular thought swirling through her brain.

Jeongin would never be to her what she clearly was to him. 

And that meant Felix was right.

[windudemon]

rock ballads as personality types

is this love by whitesnake : IXTP (unsure of own feelings and reaches to the conclusion that he is in love by logic this would also apply to EXTJs reason because all these types share having ethics functions at the bottom)

is this love that i’m feeling is this the love that i’ve been searching for is this love or am i dreaming this must be love cause it’s really got a hold on me

november rain by guns n’ roses : ESTP (brutally logical and spitting facts. could also apply to entp)

nothin’ lasts forever and we both know hearts can change and it’s hard to hold a candle In the cold november rain (…) love is always coming, love is always going no one’s really sure who’s lettin’ go today walking away

when a man loves a woman by michael bolton: ESFJ (simppppppppppp)

when a man loves a woman spend his very last dime and trying to hold on to what he needs he’d give up all his comforts and sleep out in the rain if she said that’s the way, it ought to be

I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That) by meat loaf: ENFP (ne dom, fi creative (especially for the twist at the end)

Will you raise me up? Will you help me down? Will you get me right out of this godforsaken town? Can you make it all a little less cold?

I can do that I can do that

Will you hold me sacred? Will you hold me tight? Can you colourise my life, I'm so sick of black and white? Can you make it all a little less old?

I can do that Oh I can do that

Will you make me some magic with your own two hands? Can you build an emerald city with these grains of sand? Can you give me something I can take home?

I can do that I can do that

Will you cater to every fantasy I got? Will you hose me down with holy water, if I get too hot? Will you take me places I've never known?

I can do that Oh, I can do that

After a while you'll forget everything It was a brief interlude and a midsummer night's fling And you'll see that it's time to move on No, I won't do that I won't do that

where the wild roses grow by nick cave & the bad seeds ft. kylie minogue: IxTJ (who the fuck else can even imagine to write a song like this? dark and "fe blindspot" for sure.)

on the third day he took me to the river he showed me the roses and we kissed and the last thing I heard was a muttered word as he knelt above me with a rock in his fist

on the last day I took her where the wild roses grow and she lay on the bank, the wind light as a thief and i kissed her goodbye, said, “all beauty must die” and i lent down and planted a rose ‘tween her teeth

winds of change by scorpions: INFJ (obviously, this song is about times changing (ni) and people (fe))

Listening to the wind of change The world is closing in Did you ever think That we could be so close, like brothers

The future's in the air Can feel it everywhere Blowing with the wind of change

Take me to the magic of the moment On a glory night Where the children of tomorrow dream away In the wind of change

tallulah by sonata artica: ixfj (this one particularly fe creative. the fe usage here is very effective because fe creative is supported by fi demonstrative)

Remember when we used to look how sun set far away, And how you said "this is never over", I believed your every word and I quess you did too, But now you're saying "hey, let's think this over".

You take my hand and pull me next to you, so close to you, I have a feeling you don't have the words, I found one for you, kiss your cheak, say bye, and walk away Don't look back cause I am crying.

I remember little things, you hardly ever do, Tell me why, I don't know why it's over, I remember shooting stars, the walk we took that night, I hope your wish came true, mine betrayed me.

You let my hand go and you fake a smile for me, I have a feeling you don't know what to do, I look deep in your eyes, hesitate a while, Why are you crying.

i don’t want to miss a thing by aerosmith: esfp (being “se” in the moment and enjoying that special, specific feeling towards a person obsessively)

don’t want to close my eyes i don’t want to fall asleep 'dause i’d miss you baby and i don’t want to miss a thing 'cause even when i dream of you the sweetest dream will never do i’d still miss you baby and i don’t want to miss a thing

bed of roses by bon jovi: ENFJ (theatrical and dramatic and over the top romantic) i’ll just close my eyes and whisper “baby, blind love is true” i want to lay you down in a bed of roses for tonight i’ll sleep on a bed of nails oh I want to be just as close as the holy ghost is and lay you down on a bed of roses

painted on my heart by the cult : ISFP!!! (fi deep and se sensory)

I've still got your face Painted on my heard Carved upon my soul Etched upon my memory . . .baby

And I've got your kiss Still Burning on my lips The touch of her fingertips Is left so deep inside of me . . .baby

just like heaven by the cure: INFP but also ENFP (ne playful, fi emotionally involved and alive)

"Show me, show me, show me how you do that trick? The one that makes me scream." she said "The one that makes me laugh." she said And threw her arms around my neck "Show me how you do it, And I promise you, I promise that I'll run away with you, I'll run away with you."

[maguro13-2]

Shattered Hero Rekindled ~ Origins of the Ink Demon : Episode Maka Pt.22 ~

[Tornado Defense Act 2 by Fumie Kumatani]

"BABYLON GARDEN"

Nozomi : This must be it, we finally reached Babylon Garden. Now all we have to do is figure it out when did this island risen from the depths of this planet. Tails, how far is the landing point?

Tails : The landing point should be here right about now. You two ready to rock some skydiving on those boards?

Nozomi : At least I'm not afraid of heights, I just jump off to the extreme and it will be amazing.

Sonic : Nozomi, look over there! It's Eggman! He's heading to the treasure on his way!

*cues Sonic Speed Riders*

Nozomi : And he's on his Extreme Gear Bike. You know what to do. Mr. Sonic. Without wings we can still fly, right?

Sonic : Yeah.

Nozomi : Don't forget, Since I have the Original Blue Star, I wonder how your new will look like? I have it right.

*Gives the Blue Star II to Sonic*

Sonic : Thanks. This is a newer one? What is it?

Nozomi : Remember what Tails said back at the tournament, He invented a modified version of the board and it will give you the super speed. I hope those bird brains can learn their lesson for jeering you.

Sonic : Thanks for that. I won't forget. Ready, Kaminashi?

Nozomi : Ready! LET'S GO SKY HIGH DIVING!

*the two skydives to Babylon Garden*

Nozomi : Hop aboard!

*the get on their Extreme Gear boards*

Nozomi : We have cleared for landing!

*Jet appears on his Extreme Gear*

Nozomi : So we meet again?

Sonic : Jet.

*the three of them lands perfectly*

Jet : You two again!? I have to get to him, he's mine to catch up! Get out of my way?

Nozomi : Is that so, Angry Bird?

Sonic : Alright Nozomi. Here me this one out. We'll show him what true speed really is

Nozomi : Right! Let the final rivalry begin!

*Three of them heading towards the palace*

*Scene cuts*

Tails : We finally made it alive.

Knuckles : Hey, guys. Glad you can make it.

Sayaka Miyata : Mr. Knuckles, Tails. Looks like we're not in bit of a pickle after all.

Non Toyoguchi : It took us hours to get to this place, but man oh man...*stretches* that really hit the spot.

Kazane Aoba : I hope you didn't forget, we made it here so that we could get to backstabbing for cheating at the race. Where are those fools that like to cheat?

Hiru Vol : Looking for these guys.

Do Vol : We had to tie them up pretty quick.

No Vol : Hope they have a lot to learn to pick on someone their own size.

Wave : Untie us this instant!

Storm : No fair! Who says cheating in Sportsmanship was stupid?

Wave : [To Storm] Quiet, Storm! You're lucky that we didn't get arrested by the local authorities. It's so obvious that Eggman double crossed us like a bunch of morons. So glad that we were able to get here by there ship.

Hiru Vol : Yeah, yeah, we get it all along. So...Mr. Tails, Mr. Knuckles. It's pleasures doing business with you, the finest heroes and comrades of the legendary hedgehog. We are the great Vol Brothers.

"THE VOL BROTHERS...ROGUES OF THE TYLOR FAMILY"

Tails : The Great what?

Knuckles : Oh...I get it, you must be the new guys from Yuji Naka's ideals, you're from the new Phantasy Star Universe?

Hiru Vol : Well...Yes, of course we are. We are Phantasy Star Universe.

Do Vol : And let's not forget, we always support Sonic the Hedgehog on his birthday, Mr. Waber told you about being in the race, we watched it lively.

[Comedy by Hideaki Kobayashi]

Sayaka Miyata : Huh? Wait a minute, you guys knew the whole thing? How did you know about this?

No Vol : We monitored the whole situation going on and to find out that these bird brains had been stealing the emeralds from your island.

Tails & Knuckles : WHAT!?!

Keijo Girls : WHAT!?!

Sayaka Miyata : So does that mean....

All : ....?

*outburst+rumbling*

Knuckles : [To Storm & Wave] YOU NIMRODS!!! HOW DARE YOU STEAL THINGS FROM MY ISLAND! THE CHAOS EMERALDS ARE NOT YOURS!!!

Wave : *twitches eye* [To Storm] Storm! Why didn't you tell us that we stole these emeralds from that Red Guy who lives on a Floating Island?

Storm : [To Wave] What? Eggman told us that he wanted to steal emeralds from that red dude and that's exactly what he did.

Knuckles : After all of that Sonic Riders business, you two birds have been stealing jewels from my island for races just to make this island float again? What kind of idiots wanted to steal the jewels from the shrine of the Master Emerald.

Storm : Uhh, I think it was that Egghead's idea to get those emeralds from you.

Wave : [To Storm] We told you that was a stupid idea for robbery.

Knuckles : Why ought to...I'm gonna tear you apart limb from limb for stealing my emeralds, this is all the credit for your stupid ways.

Hiru Vol : Hey, no need to get all a little to hasty right now. First things first, we are waiting on the other guys, the boss and his, uhh, companion. Liina!

Do Vol : Right, right, right! Liina, the sister of that GUARDIAN? Yeah that's right, she was one of the orphans at the orphanage along with her brother but after the two got separated, she met our boss Tylor and became the companion of the Rogues.

Hiru Vol : Ahh, it was love at first sight.

No Vol : Since we got things working out for us, rogues. We've been thinking that the scientist from the Gurhal System have been captured by this mad man, so it wasn't us this time, it was the other guys, I wonder what their name was...The Endrum Collective's guy Renvolt Magashi. He's the mysterious bad guy who deals with Photon reactors and has a connection with the SEED.

Hiru Vol : Wonder what that one-eyed cyclops star thinging wanted something from this Galaxy? He has a purpose of possessing people as his own vessels becoming more poweful and less uglier. Can't get the details out of our head, but it's good that we found out that one has a one weird name to the Dark Matter family.

Sayaka Miyata : Dark Nebula? The Ruler of the Underworld. Yeah he was supposed to be impriosnment and said that his prison is to be at the museum by world famous treasure hunters.

No Vol : Rhetorical question, young lady. But you are quite a foxy person...

Do Vol : And kinda pretty. *chuckles*

Non Toyoguchi : Hey, who are you calling "Foxy" for? But thank you for calling me pretty

Sayaka Miyata : Is that all you can say? What a relief! We're just told what were told to do. It's our duty to save the world, this planet, and the galaxy itself.

Liina : Not just the Galaxy, but the universe itself.

Alfort Tylor : Your words are absolutely right. Saving the world, the planet, and the galaxy itself along with the universe that needed to be saved.

Tails : Oh, you must be Alfort Tylor...Leader of the Rogues?

Alfort Tylor : Correct.

"ALFORT TYLOR...LEADER OF THE TYLOR FAMILY"

Alfort Tylor : You must be Sonic's friends. Where's the pink one with the hammer?

Tails : We forgot...She's still with Eggman, who stage the EX-World Grand Prix for the Treasure of Babylon and we find out that he told the Babylon Rogues to steal the Emeralds from Angel Island, which Knuckles was suppose to keep an eye out. And now...we're in the middle of situation going on here.

Alfort Tylor : No need to worry about it. Everything's taken care of.

Leo : Same goes to us.

Tails : Leo. Lou!

"LEO & LOU...COMRADES OF ETHAN WABER"

Leo : Long time no see, guys. I heard that you were in the race. That was some pretty good entertainment with those skills of yours.

Lou : You quite amazed at your performance as sportsmanship. Perfect skills for a perfect setting. Don't believe a CAST who knows about Sportsmanship? I do. We all believe Sportsmanship, the EX-World Grand Prix was such a beautiful display, It hardly to announce that both Sonic, a human girl, and your leader Jet has won the tournament in a Tie. Making them winners of the EX-World Grand Prix.

Tails : Uhh, thanks. You too.

Leo : Hey, you three. Untie those rogues immediately.

Hiru Vol : Yes sir. We're untying them right away!

*Unties Storm and Wave*

Wave : Took ya long enough to do it. Thanks for releasing us by the way and keep your hands to yourself. You should learn some respect on how to treat a lady fairly.

Storm : Best be back on our feet. But we have a strong sense of humor going out of style. So...Back to square one?

Knuckles : Right again.

*Knuckles and Storm about to fight*

Leo : Hmm? What's going on here? Lou? Are you reading something?

Lou : Yes, there is. I believe we have unwanted visitors. There in front of us.

E-10000R : TARGETING. TARGETING. GET THOSE PUNKS.

*An army of E-10000 robots led by E-10000R appears

[Theme of Babylon Garden/Sky Road by Fumie Kumatani]

Leo : Damn! It's an enemy raid attack. Looks like the robots in the race are actually real threats, guess the those guys might've done it to him a little too much! Lou, prepare for battle!

Lou : Understood!

*Leo and Lou prepare for battle*

Alfort Tylor : Liina, you go with the others, We'll handle these guys with the help of the GUARDIANS.

Liina : Aye aye, captain! Alright, everyone! Let's make a run for it! Get to a hiding place fast to get these tin-cans off our tails! That means you, friends of Nozomi! We gotta leave the battle scene!

Sayaka, Non, and Kazane : OK!

Hiru Vol : We won't be mincemeat out of us, but we'll make mincemeat out of those machines!

Do Vol : We always have a back up plan, but It's gonna take more than that.

No Vol : I won't lose to a bunch of nuts and bolts to give them few screw loses.

Alfort Tylor : Alright, men. Engage in Attack Formation! Attack the robots with all your might!

Vol Brothers : YES SIR!

Leo : This is going to be one heck of a party.

*SA2 SFX : Intruder Alert/Alarm Blaring*

"EMERGENCY ALERT! EMERGENCY ALERT!"

"PREPARE TO REPEL INTRUDERS...REPEAT"

"EMERGENCY ALERT! EMERGENCY ALERT!"

"PREPARE TO REPEL INTRUDERS"

Nozomi : Huh? That voice...Where did it come from?

Sonic : Hey, isn't that...

Nozomi : Oh no! That sounded like the island's security defenses has been activated! Looks like we've been caught up into the fray!

Sonic : That means Babylon Garden...is no garden at all. Does this means it's really...Whatever that is, we gotta catch up with Eggman, Nozomi! focus on losing Jet to win! Can you try to keep up with me?

Nozomi : Of course, I can finally try to keep up with each other again! But we have to find a way to clear out it's defenses.

Sonic : We'll elude them! I'm gonna go put a stop to this! I'll find eggman and put him out of our way to get to the treasure! You get Babylon Garden's defenses attention.

Nozomi : Hai!

Jet : Stay out of my way, blue hedgehog!

Nozomi : good luck, Mr. Sonic. I'll get the defenses attention! Hey over! I'm wide open! Sonic! I got the defenses attention! I understand that this entire floating island, isn't an island at all. It's some sort of hi-tech spacecraft that buried in the sands for a long time? Why on earth would Babylon Garden hide all of it's defenses to protect itself? Doesn't matter, I have to grab onto those things and get to the castle safety! There! A Turbulence! If I could get onto turbulence, I can finally fly through the sky, but it's going to be a little tricky through that storm! I know...I can get it's attention when I can get off the Turbulence, then I'll catch up to Sonic in the lead! Here goes!

*Rides on the turbulence*

Nozomi : Hold on tight, time to make a break for it!

*flies off the Turbulence*

Nozomi : Eh? Uhhh...Uh-oh! This could be a problem!

*CARTOON SFX : ZOOM!*

Nozomi : WAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

*Sees a Babylonian fighter Jet*

Nozomi : I got it! *Grabs onto the fighter jet* Now the real fun begins! WOAH-HO-HO-HOOOOO!!!

Sonic : Time to increase my speed! I won't loose to you, Jet!

Jet : Same to you!

Nozomi : Hey, Sonic!

Sonic : Kaminashi-san!

Nozomi : Isn't this great!? This is really fun to ride! I'm in the lead! I can finally catch up with you! But just to be sure that I just wanted to say it loudly.

Sonic : Okay...?

Nozmi : *breathes in+yells out* IT TURNS OUT THAT BABYLON GARDEN WAS NO ISLAND AT ALL! IT'S A HI-TECH SPACECRAFT BELONGING TO THE PEOPLE OF BABYLON! AND JUST MAY HAPPEN THAT WE SAW SOMETHING ON THE MURAL FROM THE GIGAN ROCKS AREA! WE DEPICTED THAT BABYLON GARDEN IS THE DIVINE WINGS ON THAT MURAL!

Sonic : So in which it means...

Sonic & Nozomi : [together] BABYLON GARDEN'S REAL NAME IS ASTRAL BABYLON! THE HI-TECH SPACECRAFT THAT HAILED FROM THE COSMOS!

Jet : That's a cute thing to say that Babylon Garden's-WHAAAAAT!?!

Sonic : So this entire island is a spaceship! So it turns out that the powers of the Chaos Emeralds triggered something greater than the power of the emeralds. What activated the ship that was cast down into the depths of the planet?

Jet : Oh no! I forgot about something from Babylon. The ARK of the Cosmos! I forgot about those units! The Ark of the Cosmos, could they really be the key to...

Sonic : Ha! Made you distracted!

Jet : WHAT!?!

*WHOOSH*

Jet : YAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

*Sonic and Nozomi crosses the finish line*

Nozomi : And that's game! *peace sign*

Sonic : But even without wings...

Nozomi : We can still fly! But we do have wings to fly to the sky!

*cues Sonic Speed Riders*

Nozomi : Hurry, Sonic! We don't have much time left! I found Eggman's location! He's at the door!

Sonic : Got it!

*cuts to Eggman at the door*

Dr. Eggman (Eggman Nega) : Hee! Hee! Hee! I'm almost at the door to reach to that treasure!

Nozomi : Not so fast, Robotnik!

Sonic : We won't let you get away!

Dr.Eggman : Ahh, Sonic and friend. Congratulations on making it this far, but you're too late. I've already achieved my plans on reaching the treasure of Babylon. But you wouldn't mind to save your precious girlfiend, would you? *pulls Amy from the bush*

Nozomi : Hey, let her go!

Amy : Oh, Nozomi! Whatever you do! Do something!

Dr.Eggman : Now then...stay were you are.

Nozomi : Ngh! I won't just give up now, do I? I must figure a way out...Okay, doctor I can let you open the door...

Dr.Eggman : Why thank you, kind person. *about to open the door*

Nozomi : BUT I WON'T LET GET YOUR HANDS ON THAT TREASURE! NOW SONIC! SHOW HIM WHAT WE'RE MADE OF!

Sonic : Now!

*DBZ SFX : BOOST*

Dr.Eggamn : Rats! Where did you go?

Nozomi : Up here!

*DBZ SFX : Surprise*

Sonic : Ready?

Nozomi : Onward!

Sonic & Nozomi : [unison] LET'S TRY TO KEEP UP!

*DBZ SFX : Blast off*

Dr.Eggman : ...Mommy?

*DBZ : STRONG KICK+BOOST*

Dr.Eggman : GAAAAAAHHH!!!

*Eggman and Amy are blown away in a vortex*

Nozomi : Oh yeah! We won!

Sonic : That was sweet! *Sonic and Nozomi fists bumps*

Nozomi : I knew we could do it! Mission Accomplished!

[The Shout of Victory by Michiru Yamane]

Announcer : Sonic and Nozomi...WINS!

"Rank : A"

Nozomi : You're in for a hero's welcome!

~ Level 21 : Battle for Babylon Garden ~

[lilyevanstan1325]

🔥 Dangerous Game 🔥

Chapter 15

Bucky POV

"How do you feel brother?" Steve asks me, scrutinizing me with his immense baby blue eyes.

I sigh looking at the large tower in front of me, I bend my head back, sliding my gaze along the entire structure until my gaze meets the sky.

I close my eyes in despair.

If I had to answer my friend's question honestly, I'd tell him I'd rather die than see Amaya's eyes, green as emeralds, look at me with hatred.

But since I'm a damned coward I'll lie.

I'll lie like I always have.

I'll lie and pretend I'm okay as I was when I was with Sharon.

Nobody will notice.

I'm good at lying.

Or the others don't care about you, maybe they noticed your discomfort but they don't cared about you enough.

My conscience screams loudly.

"Yeah dude.I'll be ok.Let's go"

I precede him, turning my back on him and walking towards the large entrance doors.

As soon as I enter for a moment I feel lost.

They are all here in the great hall.

I didn't think I'd find them here, I was pretty sure we'd have to go to the meeting room.

I try to clear my head of any emotion.

Until I meet her eyes, everything will be fine.

I feel Steve's hand just squeeze my shoulder.

"I'll go to Natasha for a moment, okay?" he whispers to me softly.

I just nod.

I don't trust my voice at the moment.

If I talked I would risk collapsing and right now I can't afford it.

I just keep my eyes down even though I feel like all eyes in the room are on me, I feel them burning on me.

My breathing quickens, I feel suffocated as if I were locked in a box.

I open and close my fists trying to relax.

I hear footsteps approaching me and a hand immediately after brushing my shoulder.

I jump violently.

"Sorry Buck" Sam murmurs, positioning himself in front of me.

All I can see of him are his shoes.

I can't look up.

Now everyone has tangible proof of the monster I was.

Or maybe I still am a monster.

Amaya is loved by everyone.

She has a beautiful relationship with every single person in this room.

It is obvious that all of they are on her side.

She is the victim and I am the monster who took her family away.

To be honest I tried to kill every person in this room, I killed Tony's parents.

What the hell am I still doing here?

"Hey man!" Sam calls me, punching me lightly on the chest.

"Nobody is mad at you, do you know this right?"

I smile bitterly at my friend's words and finally look up.

His eyes usually bright and joyful are now shadowed with worry.

Sam is the last person I thought could become my friend.

And instead here we are.

"You know it's not true"

My voice comes out in a fucking pathetic whisper.

"Give her time.She is hurt.But she loves you" tries my friend to console me.

"Sam she hates me.There is not enough time that can be enough.She will never forgive me"

Sam seems to want to add something but I stopped him with a wave of my hand.

"But that's okay.That's okay.She's right to hate me"

We stare into each other's eyes then Sam sighs.

"Just don't bullshit, okay?" Sam asks me, scrutinizing me carefully.

I really appreciate his concern.

I give him a pat on the shoulder trying to smile even though I'm pretty sure that more than a smile mine is more like a grimace of pain.

"Thanks dude" I whisper to him.

The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury makes his entrance, behind him are Agent Hill and Sharon.

The latter's eyes immediately seek mine, her gaze seems worried.

I just give her a slight nod to her and then bring my attention back to the man in front of me.

"Great job Avengers.The mission was a success.His Majesty T'Challa was very satisfied with the operation and left everything in the hands of the American government.As for Rumlow and Pierce they are at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, once cured they will be transferred to the high security prison of S.H.I.E.L.D. precisely in the Raft, waiting for the trial.Had it been up to me I would have denied them the trial and I would have directly locked them up but alas I do not have this authority.So I would like you to deliver the mission reports to me within two days plus all the audio and video evidence you collected during your research"

A short silence ensues which is interrupted by Amaya's voice.

"Director, can I speak to you privately?"

Fury looks at her carefully, as if he senses that something is wrong with her.

"Sure Agent Snow.Just give me ten minutes.I need to make some phone calls"

I risk a glance in her direction and I see her nodding firmly.

Her beautiful profile is taut.

Fury goes away followed only by Maria Hill, Sharon restrains and with a decisive step alongside me.

"James?" she calls me but I'm not listening to her at all.

My feet move by themselves in the direction of Amaya.

"Man no!Wait..." Sam tries to hold me back but I carry on unable to pay attention to anyone other than her.

And this was the reason why I had avoided her gaze because I knew perfectly well that the moment I saw her I would be unable to restrain myself.

She notices me and turns her back on me as she approaches Lucas.

I quicken my pace and grab her wrist.

"Amaya wait!"

"Don't touch me!" she hisses hard yanking her arm out of my grip.

"Amaya please can we talk?"

She crosses her arms over her chest and looks at me in disgust.

As if I was just a slimy insect to squash.

"The two of us have nothing to say to each other" she spits out angrily.

Her eyes are haunted.

"Please robin..."

"Don't call me that.Never again!"

"Ok, sorry.I'm sorry.But please I just want you to listen to me, just give me a few minutes to explain" I whisper to her.

I know everyone is watching us.

Lucas and Natasha are both behind Amaya.

While Steve, Tony and Bruce are in front of the stairs just to my right.

Sharon and Sam remained behind me, I can't see them but I'm sure they are watching that sad little theater.

"Ok.Talk!"

Amaya's words are harsh and God only knows how bad they hurt.

"Can we go somewhere with some privacy?"

A mocking smile dirties her beautiful face, distorting her perfect features.

"Why James?They are our friends.You can talk here.I have nothing to hide"

She is punishing me.

She want to put my sins in the public square.

And I let her do it.

I would do anything for her, to have her love.

"I..." I stammer unable to continue.

I am totally shocked by the look Amaya is giving me.

And the more she sees me sink the more her smile widens.

"What happens?The great and arrogant Barnes was left speechless?" she taunts me.

I swallow empty but my voice don't want to cooperate.

"Good!Since you have nothing to say, I have a question for you.How long have you known?"

I sigh briefly.

"For a couple of weeks"

"A couple of weeks" repeats Amaya.

"And it never occurred to you that you could have told me?Or is it easier for you to be a liar?" she accuses me without caring about me, about my heart that piece by piece is crumbling.

"Would something have changed?"

My question sets her on fire.

"If anything would have changed?" she screams with all the breath she has in her lungs.

"Everything would have changed jerk!But you really don't get there?James I don't hate you for what you did.It wasn't you, it's not your fault.It was not the work of James Barnes but of the Winter Soldier.What I can never forgive you is your lie.You lied to me knowing how much I suffer from the death of my parents.You chose to lie to me" she adds.

Her voice has become a whisper.

The anger seems to have flared up leaving room only for sadness.

"I'm sorry Amaya.I swear to you that if I could go back I would do differently" I whisper, taking a step closer.

She takes two back.

"But there's no going back" she says, shaking her head.

"I know it.So I'm here to ask you for a chance.Forgive me.Give me a chance to make forgive me.Please Amaya"

We stand still eye to eye.

She shakes her head again.

I can't lose her like that.

I approach her trying to touch her again but she pushes me away and in a fit of madness pulls her gun out of her trousers pocket pointing it at my chest.

"Don't touch me" she hisses.

Everyone around us jumped with surprise.

"Hey kid!Don't bullshit.C'mon!" tries to make her think Tony.

Sharon joins me visibly frightened.

"Amaya darling don't do this" Sam talks to her softly trying to get her attention.

But nothing seems to work.

Amaya is focused on me, her hand tightening tightly around her gun.

Her finger on trigger.

Instead of retreating, I move closer until the cold barrel of the gun touches my chest.

"Pal don't bullshit" Steve hisses in my direction.

I look at him for just a moment and his eyes are terrified.

I turn my attention back to Amaya.

"Give me a good reason not to kill you here and now" she asks, her voice trembling with pure anger.

"I won't give you any.Just do it" I whisper, grabbing the barrel of the gun and lifting it up to rest it on my forehead.

"Just do it.Put an end to all of this.Please" I beg her.

"Amaya don't listen to him" Nat tells behind her.

"Do it Amaya.It makes no sense to me to live without you.Do it and let me pay for all my sins"

Tears press against my eyes.

I am tired.

I am tired of this life.

I have been exploited, my soul has been torn apart and now with a broken heart I do not know if it would make sense to live again.

"Do it" I repeat pressing the gun hard against my head using my hand.

Lucas walks up behind her and places his hand on hers, the one holding the gun.

"Amaya don't be silly.You would regret it and it wouldn't be worth it.Believe me"

Slowly Amaya turns her gaze away from mine to place it in Lucas's clear one.

Her grip on the gun loosens and Lucas takes the opportunity to take it out of her hands.

I would have preferred that she had shot me than witnessed this scene.

She listened to him.

He managed to calm her down, to make her think.

I smile bitterly.

He has always been the only one.

Amaya takes a step back, violently rips my tags from her neck and throws them at me then she turns and walks towards Natasha.

The two women hug each other and they all breathe a sigh of relief.

"You won man.In the end, you got what you wanted.Your perseverance has rewarded you" I smile turning to Lucas.

"I know what you want to do Barnes.Let it go" Lucas replies, looking at me with superiority.

"I'm not doing anything.Now you can fuck her like you've always wanted"

Lucas seems to get nervous.

Great.

I really want to vent my anger right now.

Lucas comes so close to me that our chest can touch.

Sam and Steve intervene immediately.

"Come on brother" Steve whispers to me as Sam grabs me by the arm.

Amaya approaches Lucas grabbing him by the arm.

"You're pathetic Bucky" she tells me with contempt.

I laugh.

"I'm sorry if I offended your boyfriend" I replied and then turned away.

I pick up my tags from the floor and put them in my trouser pocket.

I can't stay here anymore.

I have to leave before I say or do anything I might regret.

I leave the tower and without caring about Steve screaming behind me I start walking with my head down following the chaos of people around me.

Without realizing it, I head to one of my favorite place.

I found this place many years ago when I felt lost and alone.

A bit like how I feel now.

I enter the small library, the comforting tinkling of bells hanging above the door welcome me.

A lady of a certain age looks out the back door and as soon as she sees me her face lights up.

"James my dear!How long!Come here and let me hug you" Rose's voice welcomes me with joy.

She approaches limping and I reach her, letting myself be crushed by her embrace.

She is so small that her head barely reaches my chest.

She still wears her white hair braided behind the back of her neck.

She pulls away from me just to pinch my cheeks like she used to do.

"What happened to you?I've been very worried" she scolds me lovingly.

"I'm sorry Rose.The work took me a lot" I reply feeling guilty.

"Forget about it.The important thing is that you have found a moment for your old friend.I was making tea, would you like some?" she asks me smiling at me.

"Of course!How do you make tea, nobody does it"

Rose gives me another pat on my cheek and slowly she walks away.

I breathe deeply.

I've always loved the scent of books.

I sit in a chair looking around, this place has remained the same as always.

I smile thinking about when I met the sweet Rose.

It was a rainy afternoon and I had recently escaped from the clutches of Hydra.

I found myself wandering the streets of New York alone and lost.

The rain was raging violently and I, not knowing where to go, entered this small bookshop.

"Good morning sir, can I help you?" Rose had welcomed me.

When I looked into her eyes I don't know what she saw but she immediately ran towards me pushing me towards a chair.

She made me sit down and disappearing into the back she returned with a blanket and a cup of hot tea.

"I don't have a cent with me.I can't accept" I replied.

She waved her hand in front of my face and told me not to talk nonsense.

From that day Rose became my point of reference.

I didn't talk much, I just nodded and listened.

What she needed.

When I asked her one day where her husband was, her answer surprised me.

"Oh dear James, my husband and my son died four years ago. An unfortunate car accident.Do you see this library?It was from Mike, my son.I didn't have the courage to sell it and I try to manage it as I can.I hardly gain anything from it but it was Mike's dream and closing it would mean killing the last part of him"

I understood her pain a little bit.

She was alone in the world and clung to her memories, what I was trying to do.

From that moment on we became friends and to repay her for what she did for me I ran small errands for her.

Grocery, small maintenance jobs at her house and at the bookstore.

We became such friends that one day I felt compelled to tell her the truth about me.

She didn't blink.

She told me that the important thing was who I was today, the past is past.

"Do you want to hurt people?" she asked me, leaving me speechless.

"No!Of course not Rose"

"You see then we can be friends" she smiled at me and I began to believe that maybe I had a future.

After a few months I found Steve.

When I left for Wakanda I stopped by to say hello to Rose.

I explained to her why it was important for me to leave.

"Will you come back to see me?"

"Sure Rose"

But I never kept my promise.

I see her return with a wobbly tray in her hands, I automatically get up to help her.

We sit together sipping tea.

Rose's big hazel eyes are studying me closely.

"Are you ok James?" she just asks me.

I nod, smiling briefly.

"Yes, I'm fine"

"Yeah...and I work as a stripper on the weekend" she replies making me spit the tea.

I cough as I begin to laugh like an idiot.

Rose smiles with satisfaction at being able to get me laugh.

When the last echo of our laughter fades into the air, I take a deep breath.

"Things are not going well for me" I admit in a faint whisper.

Rose places her hand, white and furrowed with deep wrinkles, over mine, squeezing it lovingly.

"You know you can tell everything to me.Have I ever judged you?"

I shake my head vigorously.

"Never" I add whispering.

She gives me a smile to urge me to open up.

"I lost the woman of my life.She hates me now and I feel I have no reason to go on" I admit with a lump in my throat.

I feel small and helpless.

I hunch my shoulders and sinking my face in my hands I release all my pain.

Rose is the only one with whom I feel I can do it.

"I love her so much and she hates me" I sob between my fingers.

I feel like I'm drowning.

Rose's little hand massages my back.

"Why does she hate you?" she asks me politely.

I try to give myself an attitude and freeing my face from the grip of my hands I tell her everything.

I'll tell her how I met her.

How I fell in love with her.

How I believed I was going to spend my entire life beside her.

And then the worst part.

Telling her about how I had deeply betrayed my woman did nothing but widen the chasm in my chest.

Rose just listens to me in silence.

"I'm sorry my boy.You don't deserve all this pain"

"You say?This is destiny, karma, fate, call it whatever you want but whoever is up above there has decided it's time to pay for all my sins.For all the lives I've taken from this Earth"

Rose looks at me softly.

"Are you really convinced that you have to pay for what you did?As payment, is it not enough to have tortured you, to have torn you from your family and from your life?As far as I'm concerned you have already paid a price too high in this life.Now life itself owes you something"

She seems so convinced of her words that I can't help but smile.

"I missed you Rose"

"I believe it!A fantastic friend like me, where do you want to find" she replies almost crossly but then she winks at me to make me understand that she was joking.

"I would have liked to introduce Amaya to you.I am sure you would have bonded.She is not like me, she is sunny and she manages to be loved immediately by everyone"

I sigh thinking about my little robin.

I put my hand in my pocket and squeeze the tags between my fingers.

"You'll introduce her to me one day, don't worry" Rose replies with conviction.

I look at her with an eyebrow raised.

"But did you hear at least one word of what I said?" I tease her, giggling.

"Obvious!I will be old but I am not deaf.She's hurt, she just needs time"

I thank Rose for the kind words and leave her with the promise that I would come back regularly to see her.

I walk away from the library with the knowledge that my story with Amaya has come to an end and this hurts more than a bullet in the chest.

And I have no doubts about this.

Amaya POV

"Will you be there tonight?" Natasha asks me for the umpteenth time.

I sigh on the verge of endurance.

"Yes Natasha, I already told you I'll be there.I'm here letting you play with my hair so why the hell do you keep asking me?"

We are in her room, I am sitting in front of the large mirror while my friend is busy braiding my hair in a rather complicated way.

Nat laughs bitterly.

"Because this wouldn't it be the first time in the last five months that you ditch me?Plus, tonight I need you Amaya, you have to be by my side"

"Why?" I ask giggling.

She avoids my gaze.

What happens?

"What are you hiding from me Romanoff?"

Her cheeks turn red but she still doesn't answer.

She just walks away from me and approaches her night stand from where she takes something from the drawer.

She positions herself in front of me extending her hand in front of my face.

My eyes dilate in amazement.

A beautiful diamond shines on her left finger.

"Last week Steve asked me to marry him" the former Russian spy stammers excitedly.

My eyes fill with tears.

"It was supposed to be a surprise for everyone.We decided to wait for Stark's annual Christmas party to announce it" adds the redhead.

I get up squeezing her in a suffocating embrace.

We laugh and cry at the same time.

"It's great honey" I exclaimed grabbing her hand again and looking at that at least three-carat monster that dazzles me.

"Steve outdid himself.I have to recognize it!Good Captain" I wink at her.

She giggles as she pushes me back down into the chair and goes back to looking after my hair.

"Luckily we weren't wearing makeup already" she giggles as I rub my eyes to wipe away the last of tears.

"And you?" asks me sweetly my friend.

"Quiet week for me.I have not met anyone who gave me such a jewel" I reply with a chuckle.

Nat rolls her eyes and then points them back to mine.

"You know what I mean.Don't you think it's time to move on?"

I bite my bottom lip.

"But I moved on"

"Really Amaya?"

"Yes Nat.I won't be alone tonight"

My best friend's eyes go wide.

I smile embarrassed.

After all, I finally done with James five months ago and I have every right to move on with my life.

"Who is he?I know him?Have you known him for a long time?"

Natasha fills me with questions.

I laugh at her enthusiasm.

"Yes, you know him.And yes, I've known him for a long time already" I admit.

Natasha gets thoughtful, tapping her chin with the brush handle.

"It's not Sam, is it?"

I laugh heartily.

"No, it's not Sam"

And then she understands.

"Are you sure?" she asks me hesitantly.

I look at her with a questioning look.

"He's not a fallback, right?" she adds when I remained silent.

I feel pissed off by her insinuation.

"It's over between me and Bucky.Forever.I can't even look him in the eye.Lucas is no a fallback.Our relationship has matured over time...in the end it took its own direction"

I answer a little harder than I intended to do and Nat realizes it.

"Sorry I did not mean to offend you.I just want you to be happy.Really happy"

"I know.Excuse me too if I answered you like this" I tell her sincerely sorry.

Let's remain silent for a while.

"So...you and Lucas, huh?How long?"

"Two months" I confess, blushing.

"And will tonight be the first official outing as a couple?"

I nod smiling.

Finally we won't have to hide anymore.

At first I was scared.

I felt betrayed and I struggled to be able to trust someone else but Lucas was patient and slowly, staying close to me, he made old feelings resurface in me.

Obviously we are not talking about love yet, because for me it is still too early, but together we are happy and we have decided to take what life offers us.

"What are you thinking about?" Natasha asks me sitting on the bed behind me.

I turn the chair in her direction and look into her eyes I answer her sincerely.

"I hope he doesn't make a fuss.I feel good and I feel I can be happy again"

Natasha shrugs.

"I don't believe.Steve was telling me that maybe he met a girl and that tonight Bucky won't be alone"

I sigh of relief.

"I hope so for him.Each of us deserves to have a happy life"

Nat nods.

"Now let's finish preparing or we'll be late!" I exclaim getting up and going to the bathroom.

"You can do your makeup in the room, I'll use the mirror that's here" I yell at her from the bathroom.

"Okay" Nat yells back.

I smile thinking about the evening that awaits me.

If I think back to myself five months ago, I never thought I would smile again.

The harm that that man did to me was unbearable.

The first few days I thought I would die from too much pain but then slowly I realized that I could not make another choice.

He knew how important the truth was to me and yet he still chose to lie to me and I can't forgive him for that.

All my love would not have been enough to overwhelm the anger I felt.

The days went by and so did the weeks, the pain subsided and breathing became easier and easier.

The wound healed little by little and I allowed myself to feel good.

Lucas entered my heart slowly, almost on tiptoe.

He never pushed too hard indeed he always tried to convince me to talk to Bucky, who according to him things could be fixed.

But basically there was nothing to fix.

I just wanted to forget and move on.

I made the first move.

One evening while we were having dinner for the umpteenth time in my room, I approached him and kissed him.

He obviously pulled back.

"Amaya we can't.I can't let you play with me just because you're hurt" he told me and I felt like I was dying.

Did he really believe that after everything he had done for me I could use him like this?

"I just want to move on Lucas.I want to be happy and I think I can be happy with you" I had replied between tears.

Then he had approached me and taking my face in his hands he kissed me with a disarming sweetness.

We are taking things calmly, we are not in a hurry to forge ahead.

We haven't even had sex yet.

We are really trying to make our relationship work, this is our second chance and we will play it better than the first.

I finish my makeup and put on my dress.

I chose it carefully in the hope that Lucas will literally be amazed.

The dress is in black velvet, the sleeves are long and it has a deep V-neck that goes down to my navel.

The same neckline is also found on the back.

The underside of the dress falls tight to below the knee.

On my feet I wore my beloved black Louboutin with a red sole.

I take one last look in the mirror and then join Nat in the room.

Together we head to Tony Stark's big party.

When we arrive in the great hall the room is already full.

Natasha asks if she can leave me alone to join Steve who is chatting happily with Sam and Bucky.

Bucky immediately notices my arrival and begins to stare at me as if it were the first time he has seen me.

I try not to pay him so much attention so I carefully scan the room until my eyes rest on the person I was looking for.

Lucas is leaning against the bar counter looking at me with eyes wide open.

I smile victorious.

This was precisely the reaction I wanted to get from him.

His sky-blue eyes sparkle as his lips curl into a sweet smile.

I approach him very slowly taking all the time to observe him.

His blond hair is short and combed back, his slightly unkempt beard shines under the neon light as if it were sprinkled with gold.

He is wearing a very elegant tuxedo, the lapels of the jacket are in satin just like the blue tie that rests on the delicate and candid white shirt.

He is a real show.

I reach him and stop beside him.

"Hey stranger" I whisper grabbing him by the collar of his jacket pulling him to me.

We exchange a sweet kiss on the lips.

Lucas walks away from and bringing a hand to my face brushes me a lock of hair.

"You look absolutely gorgeous tonight" he whispers to me.

"Oh really?I thought I was always gorgeous" I add pretending to be offended.

Lucas laughs throwing his head back as his arm closes around my waist forcing me into his embrace.

I rest my hands on his chest and underneath my fingers I can feel his muscles hard and tight.

"You're right.My mistake.You are always gorgeous but tonight you are making me lose my mind.Is that okay?" he asks me as his arm tightens the grip.

I feel a wave of heat overwhelm me, my legs just tremble.

I blush and he chuckles.

"You pose as a femme fatale and then blush like a teenager" he teases me.

"Oh shut up" I tell him sulking.

He laughs again and then leans over me to kiss me.

But this time he is not limited to a simple brushing of our lips.

I feel his mouth pressing hard on mine and his tongue caressing my lips.

I open mine in response allowing him to deepen the kiss.

When he lets me go I feel my head spin.

He looks at me almost frightened.

"A little too much?" he asks me uncertainly.

I know what he refers to.

I feel his eyes burn on my back.

I smile at Lucas trying to reassure him.

"It was perfect" I reply looking for his lips again.

We stay a few more minutes at the counter while I order something to drink.

"Oh my God!" Lucas sighs.

"What happens?" I ask him perplexed.

"Barnes looks at me like he wants to kill me.Maybe it wasn't a good idea to come out as a couple tonight"

I feel the anger rising inside me.

I'm not going to let Bucky ruin this wonderful evening for me.

He has already ruined my life enough.

"Ignore him.He'll make up his mind, sooner or later he would have known" I reply in an aggressive tone.

"Hey don't blame me" Lucas replies, raising his hands in front of him in surrender.

"Instead I'm blame you.We promised that we would no longer allow that man to come between us and you are already regretting having kissed me in public?"

I can not believe it.

Did it really take him so little to back down?

"Woah woah!Take it easy Amaya.Don't put words in my mouth that I didn't say!" he replies by approaching me taking my face in his big and warm hands.

"I don't regret nothing, I could never do.I don't want you to feel uncomfortable around him.And the fact that he looks at me as if he wanted to tear me apart from one moment to the next...I thought this would make you uncomfortable" he whispers softly.

"With you next to me I feel safe.And strong"

We exchange another kiss.

"Ok perfect!So if it's not a problem for you it's not for me either" he tells me letting go of my face and grabbing my hand.

"What do you say if we go to greet the landlord?"

I nod.

So holding hands we get closer to Tony and Pepper.

They welcome us with a big smile, elegantly glossing over our effusions.

Sam approaches us.

"Red I feel personally offended" my friend begins looking seriously in my eyes.

For a moment I panic but then he smiles at me and I feel my muscles relax.

"You could have at least dated me a couple of times before you found a new boyfriend" he tells me, smiling slyly as he winks at Lucas.

I let go of the breath I was holding unknowingly.

Lucas giggles.

The opinion of my friends is important to me and the fact that Sam has willingly accepted my new relationship makes me feel relieved.

After all, Bucky is one of Sam's best friends, I would have understood if he was on his side.

We stay chatting while we sip our drinks.

"Oh my God!I love this song!" Sam exclaims excited.

"Do you mind if I steal your girlfriend for a few minutes Scott?I promise I'll give her back to you"

Lucas nods laughing.

"Go ahead.I have seen some colleagues in Washington, I will take the opportunity to have a chat.But then join me Amaya, I want to introduce them to you" adds Lucas giving me a kiss and turning his back on us.

Sam grabs my hand and pulls me onto the dance floor.

We start dancing while Sam hums the song in the meantime.

"Doesn't he really bother you?" I ask suddenly, indicating Lucas with a nod.

"Why?I like Lucas.He's a good guy"

"But Bucky is your best friend"

"So what?You are my best friend too.I just want you to be happy.You are?"

I nod.

"I thought I would never be again.Bucky left a void in my heart, he broke me.But now...now there's Lucas"

As I speak I look for him in the crowd.

I smile because he is looking at me too.

"Then I'm happy for you.Really" Sam replies.

His dark eyes look really sincere.

"How is he?" I ask timidly.

Sam sighs heavily avoiding my gaze.

"He hasn't move on yet.He needs more time"

"Do you think I've run too much?"

"No.Everyone deals with pain in their own way.Listen to me I see it this way.You left Bucky, you had a reason and you believed in it.He, on the other hand, is the one who was left.He had no choice.He just suffered the consequences of your will.You both suffered but you managed to move on because it was your choice.You can understand?"

"Yes.I believe...I think you are right"

Sam spins me around making me laugh heartily.

We continue to dance until the last notes of the song are dispersed in the air.

Bucky POV

"If you want to leave, I'll understand" Steve tells me as he approaches me handing me a beer.

I gladly accept it.

This is just one of those moments when I regret not being able to get drunk.

Damn!

"And miss your engagement announcement?Never!I'd be a bad best man" I reply laughing.

Then my gaze falls on Amaya.

I thought I would be ready when the time came to see her with someone else and instead I'm not.

When I saw her arrive my heart lost a beat.

She is really beautiful with that black dress that wraps her body in a sinful way.

I have always loved how black gave her, making her hair stand out as if they were living flames.

I watch her kiss him...she once loved me and now she is on the other side of the room with another man and it is as if we were two strangers.

Watching her as she hugs Lucas, laughing at his jokes, giving him those languid looks that were once only for me breaks my heart.

"You have to move on my friend"

"I know Steve.I'm trying but I can't" I admit.

"Where is that girl Sam told me about?" investigates Steve.

I avoid his gaze.

"I ditched her at the bar.When she tried to kiss me I ran away like a coward" I admit, ashamed of myself.

Steve sighs shaking his head.

I know, I'm a pathetic jerk but I can't help it.

I just try not to think about it and to survive.

I divide my time between work and spend my free time at the Rose bookshop.

I have rarely allowed myself to go out with Sam and Steve.

"Steve!" Natasha waves her hand in the air trying to get the attention of her fiance.

"Steve your woman is looking for you" I nudge him to get his attention.

He apologizes and walks away from me to reach her loved one.

A noise of heels behind me draws my attention.

I turn around and Sharon's sweet smile is the first thing I see.

"Are you here to gloat?Something like he who lives by the sword, die by the sword?"

Sharon giggles.

"Oh c'mon!Do you think I'm so mean?"

"No, you are not.But I deserve it" I reply as I watch Sam drag Amaya onto the dance floor.

"James?" Sharon calls me.

"Tell me" I answer turning to her.

She seems hesitant, then she asks me "Do you still love her...Amaya?"

I think about it smiling and returning my gaze to Amaya.

Now Sam is spinning her around, she throws her head back and laughs.

Her beautiful smile lights up the entire room.

"I can't imagine the day I won't" I sigh, permanently diverting my attention from that woman who will never be mine anymore.

Sharon seems genuinely impressed by my words, her eyes are full of pity.

I'm used to it by now.

Now everyone looks at me like that, I've become the guy to pity.

"Come on take me dancing!" she exclaims after a few minutes of silence.

She grabs me by the hand trying to drag me.

"C'mon!Please" she chuckles.

I roll my eyes.

"Ok ok!You won!Let's go"

They position us in the center of the dance floor and we begin to move following the rhythm of the music.

"I know you won't believe me but I'm really sorry.You didn't deserve any of this"

"Why do you all insist on seeing me as the victim?I'm not...and I've never been" I admit wearily.

"You are both victims but you continue to suffer...and you are my friend.Seeing you so broken breaks my heart James"

We keep dancing as Sharon moves the conversation to something else, I know she's trying to distract me.

Meanwhile Sam walks away from the dance floor alone, I just turn my gaze and Amaya is right in front of me dancing tightly in the arms of her new love.

He is telling her something about her and she giggles at him, then he leans down on her sweet figure and kisses her neck.

His lips just touch her pale skin and Amaya's cheeks are tinged with a delicious shade of red.

I immediately look away feeling my stomach tighten in a grip of anger and pain.

When the song ends Sharon thanks me and walks away from me.

I head to the bar and order something to drink.

As soon as Steve makes his announcement, I'll get out of this place faster than I can.

I am surrounded by people who laugh, joke.

They kiss and hug.

Everyone around me is happy.

They are having fun.

But I feel so out of place, so inadequate.

Steve takes Natasha by the hand and together they approach the small stage from where the orchestra that Tony has hired for tonight is playing.

I see him grab the microphone.

Here we are.

I smile feeling really excited for my friend.

"Sorry, sorry but I need a moment of your attention" Steve says excited.

Natasha next to him is a bundle of nerves.

A little further on Amaya is smiling at her encouraging her.

Of course she knows.

She's her best friend.

"Natasha and I wanted to announce that we are engaged"

A roar of applause rises in the air.

Tony is the first to reach the future spouses.

He hugs them both laughing heartily.

I slowly approach them to give room for everyone to compliment them.

"Congratulations Nat" I say as I hug her.

"Thanks Bucky" Natasha returns the hug by squeezing me tightly.

Then I hug Steve too.

He gives me a beaming smile to say the least.

"Do you already have a date?"

I hear Amaya ask behind my back.

I stand with my back trying to ignore her presence as much as possible.

I try to focus on what Stark and Sam are saying to Steve.

But of course I fail.

It's as if my ears are tuned exclusively to Amaya's voice.

"June"

Amaya laughs.

"Good luck.Organizing everything in just six months won't be easy"

"I can't find anything to laugh about.As a bridesmaid, you'll have to bang with me" chuckles Natasha.

I barely turn my head to look at women from the corner of my eye.

"Oh my God!Really?" Amaya asks, bringing her hands to cover her mouth wide open with surprise.

Her eyes are wet.

"Do you think I could have asked anyone else?" Natasha asks her, drawing her to her and squeezing her tightly.

Amaya breaks away from her friend's embrace to turn to Lucas.

"Did you hear babe?"I'll be her maid of honor"

Lucas smiles sweetly at her.

And this is my signal to leave the scene.

There was a time when she called me babe.

I can't take all this anymore.

I walk up to Steve and greet him.

As I reach the exit, I stop here and there to greet the others.

Lastly, I stop to say goodbye to Sharon.

"Goodnight Sharon"

She looks surprised.

"Aren't you staying for midnight?"

"I stayed as long as I could"

She smiles at me softly, just squeezing my arm.

"I understand.Goodnight James and Merry Christmas"

I walk with my head down and without realizing it I bump into something or rather someone.

"Oh Sorry!I..." an apology dies in my throat when I see who I bumped into.

In front of me is Amaya, her drink is half spilled on the floor.

"Shit!I'm sorry!Let me..."

"Don't worry.Nothing happened"

She cuts me short by stepping sideways and walking away leaving me still and motionless like an idiot.

I turn to look at her.

Lucas is helping her clean her hands with a napkin.

She smiled and shakes her head at a question from him.

I literally run out of that room.

Without realizing it, I reach the roof of the tower.

I take a seat on the fire escape.

The same spot where Amaya and I had first confessed our love to each other months ago,when Sharon caught us together.

The evening is cold.

I look at the sky, tonight the stars are hidden by big clouds.

I think back to the evening just passed.

Throughout the evening Amaya never made eye contact with me, never.

Not even when I bump on her.

She looked down and quickly disappeared.

I feel a tear slide down my cheek.

I dry it with anger.

Stupid feelings.

Will all this pain ever go away?

I feel tormented, the nightmares have returned and living here at the tower becomes more difficult every day.

I look up to the sky again and a small snowflake floats in the air until it rests delicately on my shoe.

I can't stay.

I take the phone out of my pocket and dial a number I've been calling for some time.

Who knows maybe it is not ideal to call on Christmas Eve, he will certainly be busy...and instead his voice answers me on the second ring.

"What brings you here my friend?What can I do for you on Christmas Eve?"

I'm going straight to the point.

"I have to ask you a favor.I would never do that if it weren't extremely urgent"

"Tell me everything" his voice sounds worried.

"I can't stay here anymore" I murmur in a broken voice as images of Amaya and Lucas continue to follow one another in my head.

"Don't worry.Tomorrow morning at dawn I will send a jet to pick you up" replies my friend.

"Now I owe you two favors" I reply laughing.

He laughs too.

"See you tomorrow White Wolf" saying T'Challa hangs up.

I look at New York skyline for the last time, I will miss this place but I cannot live in the same place where she is.

Steve and Sam will understand.

I have to leave.

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[sockmanners]

Sonic and the Eggman War, Chapter 5

"Familiar Faces."

It had been a month since Sonic had been accepted into the Echidna Tribe for training. Mainly trainers would help Sonic with attacking at high speed, and to also use his abilities to his advantage. One day, Tails walked into the training room and found Sonic sweaty and tired.

"You should take a break buddy," Tails said

"You must be sore from all of this working out here."

"I'm fine Miles, I'll be good for about two more hours.." Sonic replied

Tails pulls out a scanner and scans Sonic, It's readings show that he had tripled in power, however he needed rest.

"It seems you haven't been sleeping dude, you might want to snooze before more training" Tails told him

"And let Eggman attack the island? Hell no!" Sonic exclaimed before yawning.

"I just.. need.. a catnap.."

Sonic then passed out due to over working himself, Tails struggled to carry Sonic to his sleeping quarters, however he made it and gently put Sonic into his bed. Tails then walked back to the training room, he spotted Knuckles training. Tails then walked towards the red Echidna, but was caught off guard by Knuckles already noticing him already.

"What do you want?" Knuckles asked annoyed

"Can I train with you?" Tails asked weakly

Knuckles laughed very loud for a while.. but he realized that the young fox was serious.

"Oh, alright then, shall we spar, boy?"

"Oh god no! I want you to train me!" Tails yelled

"Me? Really?" Knuckles asked excitedly, he never got to do anything but train to protect the master emerald, so it was refreshing to be doing anything other than what his father kept telling him every day.

"Yep, I wanna get stronger, so then Sonic will treat me like a partner more than a sidekick, that probably sounds stupid though right?" Tails explained, he was embarrassed to tell Knuckles this.

"No, not at all, I've been trying to get as strong as my father for years, we all have our inspirations for things, including strength." Knuckles told Tails, " If you want to get stronger, that's great, I'll teach you."

Tails was ecstatic, he never had been accepted so fast, he was so happy that he was going to get stronger. Meanwhile, Sonic woke up and left the island, he landed in the water below, a sheer sense of fear hit him, and he instantly leaped to the docks close to him.

"S-s-so c-cold." shrieked the blue blur, he started to shake off the water off of him like a dog, he then started running to the south of hill top for some laps. However, once he got there, he noticed an E.G.G. base right at the end of the island, he decided to check it out.

Sonic then bashed through the door, causing a massive crater in the door to form.

"Knock knock" Said Sonic, "anyone home? I'd hate to barge in a wreck all your toys!"

"Oh, I don't think that will be necessary, hedgehog." A man appeared in front of Sonic, his figures masked from the shadows.

A red dot appeared on Sonic's chest, then on his head, then his legs, "Who are you?" He said.

"Why, don't you remember, boy?" The man exclaimed, "I thought you would remember the worst day of your life."

"What?" Sonic quickly murmured, "I don't even know you!" He then shouted, "How would you know?!"

The man chuckled, he then laughed maniacally as Sonic yelled for answers.

"I didn't hear it from the news, or by word.. do you know why that is? Because I was the one who caused it." The man started to laugh even more, "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM, BOY?!" the man screamed, "I AM THE WORLDS GREATEST TERRORIST, AND FUTURE RULER, DOCTOR IVO ROBOTNIK!"

Sonic was infuriated, he ran at Robotnik with all of his power, only to get hit back, hard.

Sonic rubbed his jaw and groaned, he then charged back, only to get hit again.

"How are you doing that?!" Sonic shouted.

"Me?" Robotnik laughed, "this isn't me, allow me to introduce you to a passion project of mine, M.I.G.H.T.Y."

A red armadillo with robotic parts on his right arm, face, and right leg walk out of the shadows, it was his brother Lucas, but something felt off.. he was still there.. right?

"Lucas?" Sonic said weakly, " i-is that really you?"

Tears appeared in Sonic's eyes, flooding them, he couldn't stop them from flowing down his face.

"Have fun, hedgehog." Robotnik clapped his hands twice and two of his robots flew him out of the building.

"Lucas, it's me, Jules, remember? Your brother!"

Sonic tried to reach out to his older brother, but it failed.

"TARGET ACQUIRED. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG.

OBJECTIVE. DESTROY." The armadillo said coldly.

"What?" Said Sonic.

Sonic then was uppercut out of the base by Mighty. The armadillo then kicked Sonic to the ground, a small crater was made from the impact. Mighty then boosted down to Sonic about to strike the final blow, but then suddenly, Sonic was gone.

"TARGET LOST. RELOCATING." The cyborg tried finding his prey, however, little did it know, they were about to become Sonic's punching bag.

"HEY!" Sonic yelled.

Mighty looked behind them.

"Miss me?" Sonic spindashed into Mighty's face cybernetics, the screen on his face cracked open to reveal an angry red eye, ready to kill. He then scratched Sonic's left arm hard, It left a gash half the size of the heartbroken hedgehog's arm.

Sonic screamed and then kicked Mighty's chest, it sent it back several feet Back into the base, Sonic then dashed to the cyborg. Sonic then looked at what once used to be his brother, Mighty then kicked him in the side, which punctured Sonic.

Sonic ripped Mighty's foot out of his side and revved up his spindash and cut off Mighty's cyborg hand, it had a red chaos emerald in it, Mighty then passed out.

"Oh god.. Lucas, I'm so sorry.." Sonic said as he ran back to angel Island.

END OF CHAPTER 5

[michelleleewise]

I have another request!

Loki x Female Plus size reader

Maybe some angst after a proposal where the reader distances herself from Loki because she’s feeling, or someone made her feel, less than enough and too much at the same time. She’s been convinced he might wake up some day and realize he could have had someone else that’s prettier and smaller. Fluff or something mildly spicy to fix it up though! Its just something that has always ran through my mind when I’m feeling low on the self esteem side of things…

Feel free to change whatever!

I love this! Thank you so much for sending it to me!! I really really hope you like it!! 💚💚💚💚

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Enough

Pairing: Loki x plus-size readed

Warnings: self esteem issues, self deprecating behavior, angst to fluff, bit of crying, sadness, happy ending of course

Summary: Loki quickly became one of the most popular avengers, having redeemed himself, saving countless lives. When he proposed, you were the happiest woman alive, but you had a hard time not letting those voices get to you.

You sat behind the counter looking at your ring. The emerald always seemed to shine brighter under the florescent lights. You smiled, remembering the night Loki proposed, seeing the God as nervous as a school girl warming your heart. "Hey y/n, your boy toy is here." You heard Susie as you looked up, seeing Loki making his way into the bookstore, a crowd of women flocking behind him as he smiled. He always told you how unusual the attention felt, and you always kissed him and told him he deserved it.

"So tell me, it doesn't bother you that all those women follow him around?" She asked leaning on the counter. "No, why would it?" You asked watching them. "Because y/n, look at them, they would do literally anything to snag him, and they're all gorgeous." She said sighing. "Well no, I know Loki is mine, and I'm his." You said looking at her. "Well, I don't see a city of men following you around" She said as you looked down. "Sorry. I didn't mean...."She started "No it's fine, your right. I honestly don't even know why he's with me." You whispered as she rubbed your arm. "Because your kind, and sweet, and loving, and you are very pretty." She smiled as you nodded.

"Darling, sorry I'm late." You heard as Loki came around the counter hugging you as you squeezed his middle. "Everything alright?" He asked looking down at you "yes, now that your here." You smiled as he leaned down kissing you. "My brother asked if we wanted to join him for lunch, I told him I would ask you." He smiled. "I would love to." You said grabbing your bag, not letting go of his hand as you both walked out of the store.

"Loki, y/n, over here." You heard Thor say as he waved. Holding Loki's arm you walked to the table sitting down. "Were you mobbed again brother? I can't even make it down the street anymore." Thor laughed as you sat playing with Loki's fingers. You loved touching him, it was your love language, if you were around him, you were touching him. "Yes, I've never had people throw themselves at me like this before. I may just teleport everywhere from now on." They both laughed. "And y/n, how are you?" Thor asked as you smiled "oh I'm good, just a long day at work." You sighed lacing your fingers with Loki's.

"You two could almost be the same person." Thor laughed looking at you "what do you mean?" You smiled "whenever you two are together, it's hard to tell where you end and he begins." He laughed again as you giggled nervously seeing Loki look down, shifting in his seat. Did he not like you touching him so much? You thought he did. Loki walked you back to work where you spent the rest of the day overthinking your conversation with Thor. Was Loki just humoring you? Were you irritating him. "Hey Susie, you've seen me and Loki together, do you think I....touch him alot?" You asked as your thoughts began to spiral. "Well, you do have your hands on him alot, but who wouldn't." She laughed "He just doesn't seem like a touchy kinda guy to me." She shrugged walking off.

Your thoughts were all over the place. Maybe he didn't like it? Why hadn't he said anything? Were you being too much? Your mind looping over and over. "Hey look, it's your man." Susie said bringing her phone over, seeing Loki being filmed by someone, surrounded by women on the street, wearing that perfect smile of his. You heard several of them ask him out, others asking for just a night with him as you slowly deflated. "I'm not good enough for him am i?" You whispered as Susie looked at you "why would you say that?" She asked. "That's why. Look at them." You said pointing at her phone as a woman ran her fingers up his chest. "Y/n, your amazing, their just...." She started "perfect." You whispered. "I'm gonna head home, I'll see you tomorrow ok." You said walking out.

You got home, pulling your phone out seeing Loki had tried calling, you chose not to call him back deciding to shower. You sat on the couch as your phone dinged. Looking at it, it was a news story, the title slapping you in the face "Her......Really Loki?" Scrolling down seeing pictures from the restaurant the night he proposed, him kneeling in front of you. The first line of the article reading "He could have anyone, and he chose that.." made you throw your phone as tears streamed down your face. You decided to go to bed, picking your phone up as Loki called again....deciding it was best not to answer. You always felt like you weren't good enough for him, not pretty enough, or skinny enough, but you pushed those thoughts away everytime he told you he loved you, everytime he hugged you, kissed you. But the more attention he garnered from every woman in the city, you knew he would find someone better, more attractive, and your deepest fear would come to life, the day he realized your weren't enough for him.

You spent the next few days ignoring your phone. Loki had called several times, asking you to call him back, or message him, but you hadn't. He tried to come into the shop a few times, but you went to the back before he saw you, his mob of women distracting him. You sat on your couch, turning the ring he gave you in your hand. You hadn't spoken to him in days and it was killing you, but maybe if you let him go he could find someone worthy of him.

You heard a knock on the door, setting the ring on the table you went and opened it, seeing Loki standing there, had he been crying? "Y/n, why won't you talk to me? What have I done?" He asked as he looked at you, his eyes red and hair a mess. "Loki, I just...it's not you its..." you sighed looking down. "W..where is your ring?" He asked stepping closer. "It's on the table, i.." You started as he sunk to his knees, hugging your middle. "Love, whatever I've done, please tell me. I can't lose you." He said against your stomach as you pushed his hair back, seeing his shoulders shake slightly.

"It's not you Loki, you haven't done anything." You sighed looking at him. "Then what is it? Tell me please, I'll do anything." He said looking up at you. "Come inside and sit down." You said as he got up, sitting on the couch eyeing your ring. "D...do you not wish to marry me?" He asked quietly. "No, no I do! Its just, I'm not good enough for you Loki." You said sitting down. "Who said that!?" He demanded as his head snapped up. "Everyone Loki! Do you not see the news stories, and what people say about me!?" You yelled as your eyes burned. "No, I don't pay attention to those." He said. You grabbed your phone, pulling up the article you read "this....this is disgusting." He said setting the phone down.

"And its the beautiful women who follow you around, and Thor saying I touch you all the time and you didn't say anything, and just.....what if you wake up one day regretting me when you could have had someone better..... prettier." You said as you fidgeted with your hands as he scooted closer. "Darling, I will never, for the rest of my days, ever regret meeting you, loving you, and making you my wife." He said picking up the ring. "I wish you could see what I see when I look at you." He said twirling the ring around.

"W..what do you see?" You asked looking at him. "I see the most beautiful woman in all the realms, your kindness knows no limits, you give love in bounds, you have supported me and stood by my side through becoming an avenger and being here on Midgard, you have given me a reason to smile, to laugh. You give me a reason to look forward to waking up. Seeing your beautiful face smiling at me has given me a reason to try to be the best man that I can be, for you." He smiled cupping your cheek as tears streamed down your face. "I don't want anyone else, I never will. You own me y/n, no matter how I have tried to fight it, I am yours, and I always will be." He said, grabbing your hand sliding the ring on your finger. "L...loki....i.....I love you so much." You sobbed as he grabbed your hand.

"And the reason I didn't say anything with Thor is because I knew he was teasing me, which he enjoys doing." He laughed. "I never want you to not touch me, these hands hold so much love and care." He said holding your hands to his chest. "Please, never stop." He smiled. "I...I won't, I promise." You sniffled. "Y/n, will you still be my wife, please?" He asked looking at you as you lunged forward, wrapping your arms around his neck, him holding you to him. "Of course I will, I love you Loki and I always will." You sobbed into his neck as he buried his face in your hair "and I will love you forever my sweet girl." He breathed holding you tight. "You've made me the happiest woman alive." You said holding him. "Not as happy as I my love." He said, never wanting to let you go.

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