#and I hope you all are somewhat excited for the new year despite everything because you guys are going to rock 2025!

[quazikam]

for end of year asks: 1 and 19?

- @blorboindulgence (tumblr doesn't do asks from side blogs)

thank you for the ask!

1-song of the year? there's several songs I listened to this year that were the best for me, but only one was actually released this year- so I'll just say 'Messy' by Lola Young because it's my most listened song released in 2024

19- if I'm trying to think about this a little more, I'm definitely excited to try this new year with a clean slate and try a different outlook ('new year, new me' basically) I've been too much of a pessimist this year and really want to change that in 2025 :]

[ybklix]

you can be the boss

★ pairing: softdom!chrisbang x inexperienced!femreader PART THREE ♡ part one / part two

☆summary: What started fast, you wished it wouldn't end fast, because ever since you met Chris it has been an adventure of new experiences and emotions you never thought you would feel, yet the weight of something that started out being wrong was finally getting to you.

✧ genre - warnings: MDNI 18+, smut, petnames, oral sex, boobplay, edging, cunnilingus, fingering, orgasm denial, daddy kink, praise kink, unprotected sex, creampie, hints of fluff.

word count: 8.8k

masterlist - taglist ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱₊˚⊹

a/n: hello, this became a short series, welcome, part 4 soon, hope u understand and like it, I tried w the fluff

Everything was fine, except for the fact that you were lying to everyone's face, even though you felt it shouldn't be that way in the first place, Chris was no longer in a relationship with someone else right now and neither were you when you met him, you still had that little feeling of disgust after all and deep down you wanted to go back to being you, that naive girl who didn't care for a second about the fact that he was someone else's boyfriend, of not taking the relationship seriously because of the already well known history and pattern of couples of a woman like Ruby and worst of all, was that you couldn't hate her, beyond her slightly unfriendly face and fake personality, but she was still decent and nice to you, of course, before you knew it was you who was now with Chris, now you had no idea what they were like and didn't want to find out, you were fine with him, sneaking around in your free time after class, ignoring everyone and your parents filling you with messages asking you all the time if you were still on campus and if you were already heading to your dorm, lying and just saying yes, when the reality was otherwise.

You had never had your parents on you for years, just this very moment when the small relationship you had with Chris was more than known and public, Chris, the man who offered them his home to spend a few weeks in the summer and was slightly but at the same time significantly older than you… that was all the information your poor father had because he had no further interest in knowing for him, he was only at his house for Dahlia and you as he thought it would be a good distraction for you along with your cousin-friend your age with whom you got along so well, but Dahlia was only there for Ruby, who insisted on it, and after so many years, for the first time ever, she saw her so excited and enthusiastic about someone. Ruby was somewhat complicated with her relationships and all the time the poor thing blamed herself feeling that it ended up being her fault in some way or another and Chris was no exception, in the end he broke up with her, causing her a slight insecurity, bigger than her past relationships because this time she was really convinced that she would stay with Chris, that he would eventually ask her to move in together and they would be happy forever… but the reality was different and seeing you together only reopened the wound she thought she had closed, she was fine, she just felt awful and terrible for experiencing another failed relationship in her almost thirties, but she still looked so young, her image was enviable and she could have whoever she wanted, she was fine, or at least she pretended to be when she didn't think too much about Chris as she respected his decision so much despite it not being a mutual breakup, but everything changed just by seeing you with him, as her mind idealized the perfect infidelity that it all happened quickly at his summer house, which was quite true and her crazy thoughts were not so far from reality.

On the other hand, your father didn't know what to say that time on the phone as the first time you discussed it was through a phone call, as he couldn't just show up unexpectedly at the university, the chances of meeting you there in a fixed place were so low so he had to confront you through the phone, he didn't know what to tell you, he just asked you for an explanation which you didn't have in concrete, it had just happened, deep down you believed the real reason for his call was Dahlia, who wanted to hear something from you about the situation since she found out from a very agitated and upset Ruby, but you have been avoiding them ever since, in fact, you have been avoiding all of them.

Chris's arms managed to soothe you for the moment, they made you realize that when you were next to him everything was fine… but when you weren't next to him the little guilt came back to hit you coldly. You came to think about the situation, with a shudder and disgust, that you had taken a man away from a woman that maybe they had plans to marry, they were both grown up and knew their families, well at least you knew that about Chris towards Ruby, you didn't know exactly if she knew Chris's family, you didn't know how they met, if they lived together and how serious they were, though at the end of the day… for him to give in and get to you, you immediately deduced that they weren't serious after all, but you with Chris, you did want to be very serious. You didn't want to know those details but at the same time you were so curious, you were starting to feel insecure.

Your little thoughts persisted and unconsciously you walked away and Chris noticed, you walked away from him, suddenly you were so busy and tired that you just came to your dorm room, texted him goodnight and repeated your cycle of your ordinary life before him, where your day was based on college.

You didn't know what to do, you knew they weren't your family directly, you didn't want to think about it too much either but maybe it was just the stress of college combined with the new feeling of dealing with a man like Chris, although you wouldn't directly use that term to address him, you just decided to blame the slight stress on you accumulated with the new feelings forming more and more strongly in you.

And in the middle of a class, you remembered him. You missed him, god you missed him so much, but Chris was very respectful of your space and understood that you were busy at the university but it had been days without feeling his touch, suddenly you remembered him, the sweet touch of his skin against yours, the closeness of his body and his tender but dominant presence near you, all of him, you needed him now to turn off your feelings and take the stress away from you, besides it had been a heavy day, you still had to see him, you had him for yourself and you didn't take the opportunity, now you felt the need to get him.

All you told him was if you could see each other to which he quickly responded in that he would pick you up and be in the west side university parking lot near your dorm building. You lied to him a little about what time he could pick you up as he was so sweetly punctual and you wanted to get to your dorm, shower and get ready to see him as you knew the chances were so high that meeting him would mean you'd be so inevitably pleased. You wore a nice skirt and top, did your makeup and hair for the first time in the rushed and stressful college week and went out happy, with no other thought but to finally see him.

In the distance, you saw him looking so handsome, wearing comfortable but formal black cloth pants and a collared shirt of the same color, tight to his body, making him look so good and highlighting his almost porcelain skin, he smiled broadly at you upon seeing you and you noticed that he didn't have empty hands, but a nice bouquet of flowers accompanied him, as you approached just steps away from him, you finally breathed in his scent, you breathed the same air so close and dared to hug him, an act that he reciprocated immediately, wrapping his strong arms around you, you needed him so much, you wanted to hug him every day if it was possible.

Chris resented your absence and estrangement so much that he was going out of his way to let you know that he really liked you and that he was taking every time you spent together seriously, he gave you a little kiss on top of your head before pulling away. All your silly thoughts were gone once you were with him, you didn't even remember the disappointed expressions of your family that you imagined so much, nor was there anyone else but the two of you.

“For you, I really thought I was going to see you until the weekend” he mentioned sweetly, handing you the bouquet of pink flowers.

You looked at him tenderly, no one had ever given you flowers or small gifts suddenly just for the sake of it, just because he missed you and was coming back to see you after days, it was like he was celebrating that he is finally close to you again, Chris was quite the man.

“Thank you, Chris.”

You were blushing. Your whole body burned sweetly and you moved closer to him to give him a quick kiss on the lips, an act which he took advantage of and didn't let it be fleeting, instead he grabbed you from your lower back pulling you to his body to join more passionately in a real and long lasting kiss, in a feast of delicious movements and exploration that you so longed for and missed, his full lips against yours, his nose on your face, his muscular body attached to yours, your arms around him, you almost fell weak again at his touch, but he was holding you so tightly.

“I missed you” he whispered as he pulled away minimally, brushing your lips.

Chris smiled. His nose playing with yours, nuzzling.

“Me too, that's why I called you” you replied, mesmerized in the provocative playfulness that was having his face so close.

Chris licked his lips, the sweet and tender was becoming darker and darker as the seconds ticked by and you felt his breath hit your face, there was so much tension all of a sudden in such a public place. He analyzed you, his piercing but soft gaze watching you from above, he looked so good every time he watched you like that, you adored every angle of him, you could get down on your knees and suck him off right there, or push yourself back on your heels to catch his lips again and kiss him for a long time, you could do anything with him.

“I always want to see you. Don't let days go by without seeing you, I can't” he confessed.

You smiled warmly, joy filling every inch of you for having him. You were the same as you were just over a month ago, warm bodies under a hot sun in his house, but at the same time it felt like something changed in you, being able to see each other at any time, under the stars, without having to hide.

Chris was proud to have you, his time of reflection had passed in which he doubted whether to let you go, let you do your normal life, dating a college boy your age… but he couldn't allow that, he didn't see you with anyone else but him, you were his and that filled every part of him. Your relationship wasn't the best, he was a man with his life made and you were a young woman still seeing for her future, but he didn't care, he wanted to be there for you, smoothing the long journey that is having to build your own life and future, plus he was sure that no other immature guy was going to treat you and take care of you the way he planned to.

“Okay, come see me every day. I'm free from 2 to 5, then I take two classes and go to the dorm.”

“We can do so many things in those three hours, why hadn't you told me?”

He teased sweetly starting to stroke your back, the tension was building again, but some young men walking quietly through the parking lot distracted you from your own bubble.

Chris cleared his throat and the two of you slowly separated.

“Well, get in the car, princess,” he smiled at you.

He opened the door for you, he fastened your seatbelt as a perfect excuse to be close to your body, getting his head in, you appreciated him, his structured profile and his large hands and arms delicately sliding the belt to buckle you in, you breathed in his perfume, you boldly saw the veins in his arms and hands, almost drooling over him, you hadn't been touched in days.

But your inner fire ceased a little, when he turned to see you with an adorable smile closing his eyes. Chris rounded the car and sat behind the wheel.

“Did you have something planned for today, baby girl?” he spoke starting the car.

His sudden little nicknames for you always made you blush.

“Mm, not today, I just wanted to see you.”

He smiled even wider, stretching his handsome face as he showed pure happiness at having you.

“Mmm well, we can take advantage of one of the last warm nights since the cold autumn is coming.”

You frowned, not sure what he was referring to. But you could tell he had something on his mind.

“Oh, okay…”

You decided to leave it like that, seeing it as a surprise as to what you could do. On the way you both talked, Chris was also busy on a project, but as soon as you called him, he stopped it and went running to get ready to see you, you felt bad, but he told you that you shouldn't feel that way, that he was the boss anyway and could stop his work from time to time when he wanted to. You blushed, everything about him was so structured, he was a man with a life, but he was lonely and you were more than happy to be that someone to keep him company.

He caressed your bare thigh from time to time and you shyly put your hand on his, feeling his strong, long fingers in your warm palm. You were so comfortable with him, the way he spoke appealingly focused on the road and seeing you momentarily but doing it in such a detailed way… within minutes, you decided to look around when you noticed he was slowing down and recognized the place right away, his house near the beach. You felt a shiver, you had never seen it from that perspective at night, the front of his home at night, the slightly long driveway leading up to the main lot… you hadn't been there since you left and did so one afternoon with the strong sun on your body. It had been so quick, you and Chris acted fast after a fleeting week of secret meetings at his pool house and decided that you had to go, to slowly evict everyone, his ex-girlfriend being the last pawn to remove. Once again, you felt slightly bad for her. Recapping your plan sounded so cynical and heartless, you met, and liked each other, when he was in a relationship and plotted how he should break up with her to be with you, kind of heartless, but there was nothing else to do, it was almost like Chris was waiting for you, designed for you, he looked so mismatched with Ruby anyway, you wanted to convince yourself. In the end, he chose you, yes you acted with your hormones and senses in turmoil, like a heartless little bitch, but you got the man.

You looked at his home, it suddenly felt so distant and new from a different perspective, being now Chris's lover and not just a guest and stranger to him, you still remembered your magnetic first meeting. The time you met a man who you kept thinking of all the ways he could make you full and happy, but he only had one obstacle and impediment, which was so easy to remove, you were scared that what easy came into your hands could go away so easily too, you didn't want to walk away from Chris, there were nights when you were worried that you couldn't call him your boyfriend, there was a real bond that tied you to him, although the situation was so ironic and hypocritical, sometimes you weren't sure if you deserved such happiness so easily, doing wrong and getting good results. You wanted to be the same as you were more than a month ago, when none of that mattered to you more than the sweet tobacco taste of Chris's lips on yours, you didn't know why you were overthinking it so much, he wasn't dating anyone else anymore, he made that clear to you.

“We haven't been here alone, ever” he spoke suddenly, parking the car.

You were engrossed with the facade of his home, that his deep voice resonated with you, you turned to see him with a smile. You wanted everything to be special with you too, you didn't want to feel in the shadow of his ex-girlfriend even though you'd only seen them interact for a week, Liv's voice saying they'd lasted six months and knowing each other since January echoed in your head so annoyingly.

“It's all ours now” he repeated again.

His words only calmed you down a little. And you got out of the car as soon as he opened the door for you. There was no reason to feel somehow unhappy, when it was right there where it all started, his simple kiss, his first touch and now it was yours, making it more than clear that he had completely forgotten about Ruby, but you didn't understand why it still wasn't so clear to you.

Chris noticed your expression, grabbed you by the waist and gave you a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Everything okay, sweetie?” he whispered softly, making your hair stand on end.

You stopped dead in your tracks, surprising Chris but he stopped with you, you turned to see him, and just before you entered his house, you saw him with huge bright eyes, begging, but not in a sexual way, you were begging to know that you were the only woman he wanted to have in his life, you wanted to know, you were hungry for it but you couldn't find the right words, plus each and every one of his actions were right but you wanted a confirmation from him, in words, that he wouldn't leave you and that he was truly feeling that connection and great magnetism, as personas, souls and not just bodies.

“What, baby girl?” he let out a chuckle, touched and with his brow gently furrowed, confused by your act.

He wasn't so sure if you could ever feel comfortable again in a place where you met him having someone else, but he wanted to try, getting sizzling hot moments where nothing could turn you off. Chris caressed your face, you were pouting softly.

“Mmm, nothing.”

“It's definitely something, tell me all about it, sweetheart” he sounded so understanding, such a soft, sweet tone that you wanted to hear every day.

“I want you” you confessed.

Chris knew exactly what you meant by that phrase, he wanted you too, as much as you wanted him, but he was waiting and idealizing so much for the perfect and indicated moment.

“I want you, too. I want everything from you” he replied softly.

His answer made you uneasy but calmed you at the same time, leaving you confused, he took to running his hands through your arms and hugged you. Leaving you with your mind swimming. But you didn't say anything else, you stayed there, thinking that maybe you shouldn't rush things.

You followed him into the house, it looked so different, with no one around, just you and him, that was your dream, something you longed for but couldn't help but feel empty in a way, it wasn't the material, but something deep inside you, but it all made sense, when Chris took a few steps ahead of you, and you saw him with his back turned, with his house in the background, you understood and every corner shined again. Just you and him, forgetting everything. Being what you always were, an inevitable cute mess attracted to each other.

“Have you had dinner yet? I can make dinner here” he spoke sweetly.

You nodded, “I'm fine, and you?”

He too nodded softly.

“Then... let's enjoy ourselves, I prepared the pool for us before the weather turns completely cold.”

You smiled at him, “Mm... you want to go to the pool?” you said seductively, moving closer to him until you joined your body to his again.

He was so captivated by you and the way you saw him and approached him, the night was perfect, so quiet, being able to kiss in his foyer without any trouble, only hearing each other and the faint, distant sound of crickets chirping and the night itself.

“But I don't have a bathing suit” you replied, playing with him and pouting.

“You can get in naked” he joked to which you were surprised and he laughed, “Let's go upstairs to my room, I have something for you.”

He took you by the hand, his warm big hand holding you, guiding you to a room you had never entered as it was too risky back then, his room, the master bedroom which he accompanied with a certain woman who made you shiver just thinking about it. Still, you inspected every detail of the room. You liked it but your face was more than obvious.

“I changed everything” Chris suddenly blurted out, “It's another bed, other sheets...”

Chris understood the importance and level of things, he was trying to put himself in your shoes and imagining the idea that someone else had you and touched you before him truly drove him crazy, he couldn't even bear to imagine it, then he understood that you met him 'having the heart' of another woman, so you might find it difficult, but the truth was that now genuinely, it was all yours.

His comments awakened something in you, the fact that he paid attention to those details to make you understand as if she had never existed in his life, reassured your inner self.

“And this...” you said.

You noticed a nice white bikini and a shopping bag with a designer logo on the bed, next to a nice dress next to it, you thought you weren't ready for gifts, although in reality you were, but you didn't know what to do about it, other than tell him thank you, you didn't know what to give Chris back, you were a college girl living in a dorm with another girl and this semester he wouldn't let you take a part time job, you wanted to give him something too. He slowly approached you with perilous steps and with a tenderly joyful expression came back to tell you:

“This is also for you, I saw it and immediately thought of you, how much I want to see you in it...”

You were caused tenderness by his way of saying it. But something about him was still so captivating and seductive. He was all a dream, how could you leave him.

“Oh... Chris...”

“Don't be modest, let me shower you with gifts, I want to. A thank you is fine with me, if you can think of other ways to say thank you, you can always tell me” he mentioned as he saw your slightly worried expression, his last comment came out somewhat impishly from him.

“Thank you” you leaned in closer, giving him a kiss on his soft, clean cheek.

“You're welcome, baby doll. I want you to wear it on a special day, what are you doing this weekend? Can we see each other?”

“I'll be free” you replied with a smile.

“Perfect” he smiled, “Now relax a little and let's go to the pool, water's warm. Let me get you dressed.”

The naturalness with which he said the last sentence made you freeze in a good way, blushing. You nodded, waiting for him, Chris walked over to you with an adorable smile plastered on his face and leaned over to whisper to you:

“Let daddy dress her doll.”

He and his damn habit of calling himself daddy, it made you angry because it accomplished something indescribable to you. It made you so hot in seconds. The closeness of his mouth on your ear and his light brush against your loose hair made your skin bristle. You almost swallowed nervously, but you looked at him again with pleading eyes, this time in a sexual mode and it drove Chris crazy, your inexplicable, innocent aura he couldn't resist.

He let out a sigh, already aroused without even touching you until he grabbed the hem of your blouse, lifting it up, you raised your arms and let him undress you completely, starting from top to bottom, he removed your bra and admired your breasts, then he looked mischievously into your eyes and lowered his gaze again, Chris caught your right breast with his hand, he slightly roughly massaged both breasts with his hand and checked the hardness of your nipples, pinching them and just playing with what is his. You just stood there, firmly standing in front of him, letting him do with you what he wanted, enjoying the process.

Chris was still smiling mischievously and now it was his turn to remove your skirt and panties, getting down on his knees in front of you and once again, doing it slowly and admiring your mons pubis being covered by your underwear until finally taking it off. Needless to say, the obvious excitement in both of your bodies and the thoughts that inhabited both of your minds, lusting for each other. Your core was lubricating itself, throbbing more and more but your undoing was to feel his breath hit the skin of your pubis, where Chris deposited a soft kiss, squeezing your thigh and almost just out of curiosity or habit, he finely ran his fingertip along the length of your tight folds, driving you wild.

He stood up as if it was nothing, calmly taking the bikini and putting it on you seductively, but you noticed that he wasn't so calm at all; heavy breathing and a thick erection accompanied him. You were in a mess wondering how he was going to get rid of the bulge of arousal in his pants, you wondered if he was about to touch you as he put the little garments on you until he finally got you dressed.

You both made eye contact, he licked his lips, letting himself be carried away by you, at this point every muscle in your pussy was throbbing with eagerness and the sensation was unsettling and was only well attended to when Chris did it. So you couldn't stand it a second longer, your whole body was on fire just now and when you were like this you used to act on your own, taking steps that would initiate something with no return and dangerous, just like the first time you met him, when your poor sensitive pussy cried every time you saw him being himself so well, an uneasy feeling that drove you to him, telling him how much you wanted him to fuck you, when you had never even experienced sex. You knew he was so turned on too, so you understood there was only one more thing to do.

You finally reacted, impatient, eager for his hands on you. You reached out to him in a playful way and caressed his arm, feeling his defined muscles and the softness of his skin.

“Daddy…”

You caught his attention in a sweet way that you knew exactly what turned him on so much. You hadn't called him that and that only meant one thing, which carried with it many. You got his attention from the first second you approached him, but your sweet tone of voice calling him something so normal with such sexual undertones made his cock trapped in his pants throb in excitement.

“You're so hard, daddy” you continued, moving your hand from his arm down to his bulge, ”Can I help you?”

Chris bit his lip, indulging in your cute little game of seduction and provocation, nodding softly and leaving the palm of his right hand gently on your cheek.

“You're a good girl for daddy, wanting to help me. Go on, please take care of your daddy, my baby doll.”

His words aroused in you more craving and desire, unbuttoning the button of his pants, admiring the big bulge trapped in it and you managed to pull out his cock, so stiff and detonating for you. You loved every aching inch of him, Chris always knew how to use it on you and make you come all the way to the clouds.

You took his thick length, Chris moaned, his cock was desperate in your hands and you began to masturbate him, pulling on his member, stroking it gently, making you incredibly more horny.

“Is that okay, daddy?”

You looked into his eyes, Chris was struggling internally but he adored his little princess being there for him, servicing him.

“Just like that, my baby girl, you know you're doing excellent for daddy.”

Your soft hands were nothing compared to his, when the nights were lonely and he had to pleasure himself, but it made no sense for Chris to masturbate alone when he had you now, always so ready for him. Your delicate movements over the length of his cock were making him weak, he was being satisfied to perfection. The sound of his moans and skin on skin rubbing flooded his room.

Suddenly his glistening precum came out of his pink, foreplayed tip, making you salivate, making you so thirsty.

“Mm, daddy, can I use my mouth?”

“Please, princess” he whispered, grabbing your face but you quickly rose to your knees.

You kissed his glans, a sonorous soft kiss leaving pearly white stains on your lips which you savored by running your tongue on them to taste of him and finally you caught his throbbing limb with your mouth. You almost reached your orgasm as you felt his rigid shaft on your tongue, Chris was exquisitely delicious, his big cock and sweet personality made him the ideal man, you were so happy that he was the only one to ever touch you.

You stimulated him with care, Chris took hold of your hair gently, letting himself be carried away by the sensations you were provoking in him, while you delicately ran your tongue all over his cock, moistening it and then you sucked him at your pace, enjoying eating him, without him rushing you or pushing you too much. You were looking into his eyes and he would make eye contact with you when he wasn't throwing his head back or closing his eyes in pleasure.

“You're doing so good, baby, so-so good, mmm.”

You blushed at his rough voice, shyly played with his balls and kept taking his cock with your mouth, tongue and lips, enjoying every delicious big inch as if it was your favorite candy and weakening every corner of you, making you clench your legs tightly to feel your sweet wetness as you moved your legs.

His cock throbbed more in your mouth, you felt him so close, you could taste him.

“Open your mouth wide and stick out your tongue, princess.”

You heard him command and you did, pulling his cock out of your mouth in a resounding pop. You were so happy, your restless tongue waiting to receive your Chris's affection. He took the base of his well loaded cock, sucked air between his teeth, frustrated and excited and positioned a part of his cock and glans over your tongue, releasing himself on you, spraying you with every drop of his cum you managed to get out of him.

“Aghhh, good girl, good baby, fuck” Chris blurted out in exasperation, his pumping cock unloading onto your tongue, into your submissive position and your beady little eyes.

You swallowed it all and stood up with little balance. Chris settled his exposed cock and looked at your expression, you were so proud somehow, making him smile.

“Do you want daddy to make you feel better too?” he commented tucking a strand of your hair behind your ear.

You shook your head. As much as you were so excited, your chest rising and falling in heavy, agitated breathing, you wanted to resist and now relax in his arms and into what he promised to be warm water.

��I'm fine, daddy. Did you like it?”

Chris chuckled. “I loved it, baby.”

You waited for Chris to get ready, leaving him in just shorts. And you kept the mindset of reassuring yourself, despite the sight of his worked abs and pecs.

He led you sweetly to the pool after your moment of adrenaline and rushed uproar of desire and hormones and you finally felt relaxed, every tense muscle from a heavy week was softening, the water felt so good to you, as did Chris's closeness. You couldn't help but cease your thoughts, his muscular body looked so good wet but soon you found yourself distracted by his topic of conversation; you both found yourself there, in the pool alone where you innocently played at innuendo without really thinking about all that some flirting would take you so far, now you were his.

You went back to talking about your little period of stress and Chris immediately offered to help you relax even more, you played with him, saying his attempts were in vain as you would be going back to college tomorrow anyway, he offered to let you stay, that he would take care of all that tomorrow and you he would take care of right now, offering you a gentle but strategic massage on your shoulders, squeezing your skin and pressing his thumbs into your muscles, it felt so good, you really needed some of him, he always knew what to do and more when it came to you.

You were moaning, genuinely from non-sexual pleasure, from relief. But Chris stopped suddenly, leaving you confused. He positioned himself in front of you, and you watched him, he looked like he was about to say something and he had to.

“I know what you meant earlier at the door” he began to speak, you looked at him expectantly and slightly confused, “I want to have you too and this is all so nice to me” Chris sighed, incredulous that he had to say it again in his now over thirty years, but it was worth it to him, because it was you, “I want to be with you. Will you be my girlfriend?”

You smiled suddenly, you expected anything but that, you nodded happily unable to form words and shyly reached out to hug him.

“I know the way you and I…”

You silenced him with a quick kiss, you didn't want to hear him justify the way the two of you met.

“It's okay” you answered him softly.

He smiled at you and caught your lips again, you kissed such sweetly, your bodies wet but losing more and more self control, leading him to hold you tighter from your back and waist and sizzlingly escalating every movement of lips and mouth.

You were making out from one moment to the next, a voracious hunger for each other constant and without thinking about it, you became aroused again, you didn't know what was happening, but it only happened that easy with Chris, just like from the first time you met him.

Chris knew how to read you very well and knew the restlessness in your body, the inner desperation that you suddenly have to be satisfied.

Pulling away, taking a breath and with pink lips, he looked at you tenderly and pouting softly.

“Mmm, are you sure you don't want me to make you cum tonight, baby girl? Make you feel good…”

You looked him straight in the eyes. Your gaze was dark. You were going to fuck him as your boyfriend at least, meaning the feelings were already there and it made your skin bristle with excitement.

“Or… do you want me to make it feel good” he added when he didn't get a response.

Chris acted fast, repositioning himself behind you, massaging your shoulders but you could tell the sexual and sensual connotation in his act, squeezing your skin and moments later he slid his hands down to your breasts, massaging them gently over the fabric of your garment. You turned your head to look at him, he was so close to you.

“Does that feel good?” he whispered to you.

“Yes…”

You were starting to lose yourself, you didn't even have to answer him, he already knew how you were right now. The sensation of your excited sex in the water felt so different. Chris positioned his face to the side of yours, watching as more and more of you let yourself go. He dared to pull up the little garment, leaving your breasts exposed to finally play with them freely, with his hand, kneading them vigorously to his liking, playing with the firmness of your nipple so sensitive to stimulation. You saw his big hands on your breasts, the bracelets on his wrists and his slender, manly fingers, squeezing your skin tightly; you were hopelessly horny again and wanted to have him right there.

You turned abruptly, again looking into his eyes, pleading for him to be the one to make you see stars this time, beyond the beautiful starry night you were living in.

“Chris… daddy…”

You were so excited, you weren't thinking straight, about to fuck him in the pool even though it didn't seem so appetizing for your taste, as the water would interrupt the deep lunges that your, now boyfriend, always used to give you. You looked so tender for him, helpless with your bikini top rolled up revealing your breasts.

“You can call me whatever you want, baby, just always remember to call me.”

Chris kissed you again, this time with your exposed breasts messily and shamelessly rubbing on his abs. He wanted to take you right there, but he knew that sex in the pool was such a desperate thing and he could make you feel so much better already out of it.

As he pulled away, he slid down from your top, smiling sweetly at you.

“Come on, let's go inside.”

You didn't think fast enough, the heat was taking over you, but you followed him, Chris sweetly wrapped your body in a towel as you felt the cold hit your body. He was so cute, the fact that you were so needy made you a little shy.

And finally, you were back inside. Chris frolicked with you, taking the towel and drying your hair and body delicately in little giggles. You said nothing and just let him do it. In the end you saw him embarrassed but happy. He looked at you tenderly.

“Aw, my sweet girl, come here.”

Chris was lost in you. He didn't know how, he did know when, but it happened, something he had never thought of as loving someone significantly younger to him seriously, he knew there would be some differences in the two of you, but he would manage to improve them over time. The next thing you felt was his lips and the loss of strength from holding your towel. Both towels on the floor, lips and bodies pressed together, your arms on his shoulders and your back against the wall, you were teasing each other again.

Your heart pounded, your bottom tingled in excitement and your mind was enjoying and processing that all these little moments with him would now henceforth be so natural for the two of you.

Chris lowered his caresses down to your ass, which he held and carried you from there without difficulty, making you wrap your legs around his torso and carried you up to his room.

He took care of everything, moving your dress and bag to a sofa in the room still with you in his arms, he left you lying gently on the bed, still with his body on top of you, not letting you think of anything else because he was already passionately kissing you again and the caresses of his right hand went down to your sensitive spot, pulling aside the thick fabric of the bathing suit to caress and stimulate your clit.

You felt that electric shock that only he could do, of being touched again. You were getting wetter, you felt the softness of your own wetness prepare your entrance and on the other hand, Chris was so hard again, he was so hard since he felt the softness of your young skin molding in his hands, from your sweet kisses of which he could have no end, so he continued to caress you, playing with the rhythm, making it slow, increasing the speed and treating your sensitive spot hard, pinching and pressing it, as he wanted to have you even needier.

His kisses lowered and you could moan at not having his lips against yours, this time being slightly moist, from your jaw to your neck, Chris was on the edge, so excited and ready to use his cock but he wanted to have you begging for it, so ready to finally feel it inside. You adored the feel of his soft lips on your neck, kissing, licking and nibbling lightly, not significantly intense enough to leave a mark but just to feel your skin, while his fingers finely work down into you, exciting you exquisitely. His kisses continued down until he reached your abdomen and his soft hair brushed against your skin, his lips and nose rubbing against you, finally finding his way to your much needed area that he kept stimulating. Chris smiled, pulling his hand away from you so he could remove your swimsuit bottoms that prevented him from fully seeing your swollen pussy begging for him.

You tensed, you were so nervous, but they were good nerves, you thought to yourself that every time his face came near your center it meant he was about to perform a series of moves that would leave you quivering and breathless, he was about to eat you, and you were absolutely right, Chris licked his lips at the image of your exposed pussy, he parted your legs so he could position himself in between them and squeezed your left thigh with his hand while he took it upon himself to give you kisses on the inside of your thighs. Then he kissed around the area of your pussy, teasing you to finally separate your folds and vagina completely with both of his hands, stretching it and giving it a dirty, hot and loud kiss, using the movement of his lips, daring to use his tongue as well, covering from the outside of your wet entrance and the inside of your vulva; you gasped and twitched a little at the sensation of his warm mouth on your sensitive genital area, Chris made a giggling sound over your pussy, knowing he had you like this filled him with pure pleasure.

Finally, his mouth moved up, caressing the rest of your vulva to reach your clit, tasting it with his tongue and sucking it using its cavity completely, this time you trembled before him and let out a ragged sigh, Chris was doing it again, knowing exactly what to do, even though you were not the most expert at sex, you were very sure that the gentle way he ate your pussy was so ideal and right. His long fingers caressed the rest of your pussy and he made eye contact with you as he sucked on your sensitive spot, worshipping you from that angle, his upper lips glued to the skin of your pubis, his tongue lost in your playfully soft clit. Chris played with your entrance, teasing it with two of his fingers, circling it over your entrance and dipping them in shallowly and gently, taking you to the extreme of your arousal. You stroked his hair and suddenly he was lost in your anatomy, lowering his mouth and licking everything from you, sucking your labia and giving you the pleasure that was slowly blurring your vision. His lips were full, his tongue thick and slick and his teeth strong and sharp making you come closer and closer to your orgasm as he continued to stimulate you with his fingers thrusting them into you gently, taking you deep and exploring your insides, then thrusting in and out, ramming them in a dynamic that made you come closer and closer to your climax. Chris loved your moans, your desperate high pitched cries as his fingers feasted on your slippery tight insides and his mouth on your taste, he was in complete control of you, you were being fully satisfied, so close to your orgasm that Chris could tell, so he pulled his mouth away from you, kept penetrating you with his fingers, more and more intensely until he heard your inevitable mess of fluids collide with his digits. He stood up a little, smirking smugly and quickly wiping his stained mouth on you with the back of his free hand.

“You're so close, baby, huh?”

Chris said in a low tone and watched you expectantly, your body never ceasing to move slightly writhing in pleasure. You nodded awkwardly, saw his handsome face amidst your blurred vision filled with pleasure, you were so close, Chris knew it and only roughly lifted your bikini top to expose your breasts again and massage them again. You bit your lip in desperation feeling you were being loud enough, his veiny arm buried in his core looked so good, you were cumming, but unexpectedly Chris abruptly pulled his fingers away from you, making you gasp.

“Don't cum yet, sweetheart” he whispered close to your face, “Cum with daddy's cock inside you.”

You were shaken, confused and you saw how quickly Chris slipped down his shorts and boxers, freeing his notorious cock, took it again and positioned himself over you, gently stroking his hard member over your wet pussy and then rubbing it into your folds.

“You want me to fuck you, huh, my sweet girl?” he said demanding, looking at you as if you were helpless.

Your heart was about to pound out of your chest, the feel of his cock in your vulva was torturing you, both sexes throbbing and eager.

“Yes, daddy please” you tried not to sound so needy, but you wanted him to fill you up completely, to make you climax.

Chris licked his lips and teased your entrance, slowly inserting the tip of his penis. You squealed in pleasure, even his tip was stretching your orifice, he continued to tease you, gently ramming inside you with just his glans and little more few inches of his cock.

“Chris, p-please” you begged.

He smiled, satisfied with your soft pleas, he settled his body better as he pushed himself into you slowly, stretching open your entrance and walls, making you whimper, his pumping, rigid cock once again reaching deep inside you. Chris sucked air between his teeth and then moaned between relieved and frustrated, relieved to be inside you, frustrated that you were still so tight and making him feel pleasantly dizzy, blinded in pleasure.

Chris began to move in you, his strong body on top of yours, his cock magically tearing your insides apart, sliding up and down your walls, you were feeling orgasm close again, you were so close anyway before, he began to pant near your ear, enjoying being deep in you, moving your body with each rough, hard pounding thrust he gave you. He began to babble, loving how you felt for him and you whimpered and squealed in pleasure, feeling all of you so full. Chris took your left hand that was clenching his sheet tightly and intertwined it tightly with yours, never stopping ramming you, starting slow, deep and passionately and increasing the pace more and more. Your other hand dug into his back enjoying every thrust into you, he was so deep in you that the skin of his pubis rubbed into you gently.

“Aw, baby, you feel so fucking good.”

He was intoxicated in you, your walls squeezed him tighter in search of your orgasm, you whimpered his name as his hair brushed your cheek. You arched your back in search of your release, the knot in your stomach combined with the bulge of his cock were unreal, he was practically tearing your body apart in such a pleasurable way.

“Cum, baby doll, cum for me” he gasped, leaning in to see your pleasure filled expression.

You climaxed after he began to ram into you bestially, you cum with his exposed cock inside and he continued arduously with deep but gentle thrusts into you until he reached his orgasm inside you, spilling every drop of his cum inside you. Chris sighed in relief, slowly pulling his cock out to let it rest on your mons pubis, his cock so wet and used as he watched his mark on you, his cum dripping down your used center. You were both exhausted and full of pleasure.

“Aw, my pretty baby, do you like it when daddy fills you all up?”

You couldn't deny it, you did love the feeling of him filling you with it, of his thick white cum sliding down your hole as a sign that he was there, taking care of you.

[...]

You had one more problem, just when you were completely forgetting your guilt after an incredible night with Chris, your father sent you a message reminding you that it was Dahlia's birthday party exactly the next day, he had been reminding you but you ignored every single one of his messages since he opposed the idea of you being with Chris and asked you all the time about your whereabouts.

You didn't want to go, you didn't feel welcome. But you ended up doing it, sadly canceling on Chris whatever he had planned to hang out with you and you were honest with him, telling him you had to hang out with your dad since it was Dahlia's birthday. You weren't cynical enough not to go or stay away from her as she was nothing but merely sweet and cute to you, she liked you well enough, your mother liked her and your father loved her; you met her when you were already grown up in your teens and she sweetly introduced herself to you saying that you can call her by her name and that she did not pretend at any time to occupy the role of your mother, but that she would love and appreciate you as enormously and purely as one, since then she always remembers your birthdays, events and important dates, she always gives you gifts at Christmas and a nice detail on Valentine's Day, you were so weak as to cut ties with her for something that shouldn't be the biggest problem, you were dating someone, you wanted to be with him and go out, you didn't understand the problem in that, you just wanted everyone to forget the little detail of how it was that you met.

Plus you always made a little room for important dates like birthdays, your dad would pick you up from college and you would stay the weekend at his house.

You could have broken tradition, lying that you really couldn't because you had too much work to do with college but you also didn't want to be the kind of woman who had to hide and stay away from her family for a man. You had nothing to hide, you were now Chris's girlfriend, no big deal.

You put your pride on high, you told your father that you could go on your own to his house, which confused him and you dared to tell him that Chris would come to drop you off, he was stunned at the call, wanting to refuse but agreed in a low voice, as if he didn't want to be heard, and you understood that the side where they were more opposed to your relationship was more from Chris' ex-girlfriend's family, because you recognized your father's tone so well, almost as if he didn't take the great importance to the subject.

And then you got out of Chris's car, after he worriedly told you if you were sure about going, to which you nodded decisively, saying goodbye to him in a long kiss, carrying the luxurious medium-sized carry-on suitcase he had given you along with some clothes. But your surprise was when you opened the door and had to see in front of you the woman who had also once tested your now boyfriend.

She was the last person you wanted to see just now, you thought you had to confront her until dinner tonight, that you could peacefully get home, further convincing your father of the good man Chris was... but your plans were disappearing one by one as you saw her unfriendly face.

This was not your kind of weekend.

-------------------------

𐙚TAGLIST: @rylea08 @hann1bee @iovecb97 @armystay89 @bubblebisk @lolareadsimagines @jisuperboard @lilac13 @ayyonoona @do-you-remember-summer-127 @wildtokay @korthbum @hyune-ssne

[ironghost828]

Looking back at my time as an SU fan...

I think I finally get why I was so put off by the twist and ending of the show despite being obsessed with it.

I think I was more interested with the show's concept and fandom than the show itself. And I think I know why.

For one, I'd taken a 3-year break from cartoons in general during my last year of high school, but had gotten back into them during college in 2015. Gravity Falls was first, but I mainly watched it as a background show. With SU, I was watching it attently, not knowing what to expect. The concept of the show was so new and original that I immedately latched onto it and became obsessed with it. I loved the premise, the characters, and the story.

Second point, the fandom. Not only was I back into cartoons, but I had the addition of social media to dive even deeper into the shows. And SU was a goldmine for me. I read so many fanfics and read and wrote so many Reddit posts. I even started writing fanfiction because of it. It was my first time realling interacting with a fandom and I loved it. I loved being able to chat wth and talk to fellow SU fans.

Third, the hiatuses. With so much time in between StevenBombs, I spent most of it indulging in the fandom side of the show. Reading fanfics, looking at fanart, reading theories and stuff on Reddit, overanalysing everything. And the waits fueled my interest in the show even more! Unlike GF, which was available full to stream when I watched it, I, like every other fan, had to endure the infamous hiatuses that made the show somewhat infamous. I spent nearly two years binging fanfics and theories in between Bombs.

And fourth, the time period. I started SU while starting my first dorm semister in college, so I was experiencing SU while also experiencing the freedom of living on your own. In short, it was one of the happiest, most fun periods of my life and SU was the cherry on top.

I'm not kidding when I say that SU was a high for me. A high that I spent two years riding. It was all I could talk about, all I could think about. I was obsessed with it.

In all the excitment and fun, however, I think what happened was that I got TOO into the fanfics and their alternative ideas and paths for the show. I spent so long reading about what COULD happen that I stopped really focusing on what the show was actually about (forgiveness and non-violence). A lot of fics involved war and combat, so I started thinking (and hoping) the show would do that too. I wanted another Gem War.

So, you can imagine my disappointment when I realized where the show was going and how it wasn't (and hadn't really ever) been aligned with the headcannon I'd made for it. It left me in a funk for a while.

HOWEVER, as I explained in a previous post, I've come to terms and accepted the show's ending. I get it now. I understand what the writers were trying to do and appreciate their efforts. The show was never at fault, I just was too distracted by all the glitz and glamor surrounding it to realize what story they were really trying to tell.

I've seen the movie and thought it was okay. I still haven't gotten to finishing Future (and am debating on whether I want to do so due to the depressing subject matter), but I have no problems with it. Both are good shows and I still consider myself an SU fan.

It brought a lot of fun memories and moments, inspired me to take up writing fanfiction, and even helped me make a few friends in college. I'm glad I watched it and I hope it will be remembered for a long time as a revolutionary cartoon.

[rmd-writes]

nine books

fine, you win @cha-melodius, @tintagel-or-cockleshells, @kiwiana-writes, @clottedcreamfudge, @cricketnationrise, @liminalmemories21 @sherryvalli I will share nine favourites books/authors I will read no questions asked (aka Lims' variation), despite the fact that every time I get tagged I forget every book I’ve ever read.

with the somewhat shameful admission that I have read only one actual book in the last 12ish months 🙈 (but many hundreds of thousands of words of fanfic), in no particular order:

Red, White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston: no explanation necessary, right? This book is everything to me for so many reasons, not least that it brought me some of the best people I know 💖

Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen: I read this for school in year 9 and fell in love with romance as a genre. I reread it at least once a year for a very long time.

Song of the Lioness Quartet - Tamora Pierce (and all of the books set in Tortall tbh): yes, this is a series. Alanna and her adventures are very dear to my heart, and I love that in recent years, the author has said that if she was writing the books now, she’d probably describe Alanna as non-binary but she didn’t have that language when she wrote the books in the 80s. I’m very excited to introduce this quartet to my eldest soon.

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins: for a while, I devoured pretty much YA dystopian fiction book out there and this is the best of them. I’ve read them many times, and they hold a special place in my heart because they were a familiar, comforting reread at a very difficult time in my life.

The Snail & the Whale - Julia Donaldson: a children’s picture book, yes. But I’ve read it aloud hundreds of times to my kids and it’s just such a beautiful story about seeing the wonders of the world from a new perspective. It’s got such a lovely cadence and rhythm to it too, when read aloud.

Something Wild & Wonderful - Anita Kelly: aka the one (1) book I’ve read recently. I preordered this because I really enjoyed her other book, Love & Other Disasters, but it sat unread on my kindle for months until a friend mentioned that they’d started it. A quick look at the blurb gave me similar vibes to Fifteen Hundred Miles, one of my all time favourite Schitt’s Creek fics, so I started it and I could barely put it down! I sobbed for the last 60 pages or so - sad and then happy tears and it was wonderful.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid: I loved everything about this. Compelling storytelling, with an imperfect protagonist who you hope succeeds despite her flaws.

and two authors who I’d read anything they published, without question:

Casey McQuiston - they haven’t failed me yet. I didn’t like I Kissed Shara Wheeler as much as RWRB and One Last Stop, but it was a good read and had characters who I love (Smith, my beloved). For a while there, I was convinced that it was going to take CMQ4 to break my book drought.

Alexis Hall - Boyfriend Material was the first book of his that I read, and I quickly read a lot of his back catalogue along with everything he’s published since and there’s nothing I’ve read that I haven’t enjoyed immensely. Plus, when I was on Twitter, I soon learned that Alexis loves to have a conversation almost entirely in Schitt’s Creek gifs and anyone who does that immediately endears themselves to me 😅

no pressure tagging: @pragmatic-optimist @nelsonnicholas @indomitable-love @welcometololaland @celeritas2997 @danieljradcliffe @howtosingit @swearphil @stereopticons (have another tag 😂) @reasonandfaithinharmony @guardian-angle22 @never-blooms

[randomseacucumber]

So, because I am very excited to finally read Wind and Truth, I have decided that I will be doing reaction posts as I read. Each post will cover each 'day' in the book, plus the corresponding interludes. Obviously, this will not be spoiler-free, and spoilers for other books in the Cosmere may also appear. All reactions will be under a cut. I'll also be tagging these posts with #Ivy reads Wind and Truth, so if you don't want to see them, just filter that out.

Anyway...

Wind and Truth reactions: Day 1

Prologue

This is the only part of the book that was released as a preview that I've actually read, but that was, like, three years ago, so I don't remember much, and I'm sure edits have been made since then

Anyway, Gavilar is an idiot

I really should have re-read the rest of the series prior to this book's release, or at least watched some recap videos, but here we are anyway

One thing that stands out to me is that Sanderson's writing is a bit...immature? I've read almost all of his stuff, but for some reason, this is really the first time I've noticed this. It doesn't both me that much, though

Okay, so Axindweth worked for Gavilar. I remember being pretty curious about her in Oathbringer (?)

Navani deserves better

~It was Kelsier all along~

RIP Gavilar, you deserved it

I don't have a ton else to say about the prologue, especially since I've had a chance to process its contents before, but it's certainly interesting

Chapter 1

Kaladin!!!

I remember seeing people speculating that Syladin would become canon, based on the way Syl is being described, and I do hope that won't happen. Kaladin is a character that I've never felt the need to ship with anyone, but if I had to choose a ship for him, I'd go with Shakadolin. Of course, I do adore his dynamic with Syl, but I've always seen them more as a QPR than anything else. Obviously, no shade to anyone who does ship them, but I personally just hope that doesn't happen. Anyway, though, I'm not sure it will, based on the descriptions of Syl? I just think that she likes to play dress-up

Also, I completely forgot that Sanderson refuses to write curse words! Honestly, it's kind of charming

Shallan!!! (Gives her a hug)

Chapter 2

Oroden is adorable! I'm so happy that Kaladin has him

Okay, some interesting stuff about Urithiru

Nooo, not another poop joke!

I do quite like Kaladin's family <3

The wind is talking to Kaladin??? That's new

Okay, yeah, there is definitely emphasis on Syl looking older (sigh)

With the way everything is being framed...I'm scared for Kaladin

Chapter 3

The excerpts before each chapter are certainly interesting. I wonder who's writing them...

Maya!!!

Wit!!!

I love the Ghostbloods, but I cannot fucking take them seriously

Wait, who is Ba-Ado-Mishram again??

Oh, okay

Chapter 4

Kaladin learning to play the flute?? I love this

Hmm, interesting about the Wandersail

Okay, so we're just accepting that the Wind is talking to Kaladin, despite the Wind as a conscious entity not being something previously established?

The discussion of the Passions is really interesting. I'm not familiar enough with Mormonism to know how Sanderson might feel about the idea of salvation through works, but this discussion feels as if it's criticizing the idea. And honestly, it reflects some of how I feel about faith in general

The talk of hope makes me think of Kelsier

Wit is right! Sazed IS among the best!!!

Kaladin the therapist confirmed

The use of the word therapist does make me wonder about linguistics some, though. Is Wit using the same word he heard on another planet, or is he somehow translating it into the language of Roshar? How does that work?

Chapter 5

From page 54: "For her, it was the day when a set of parents had, for the first time, wanted her." I'm not crying, you're crying

Chapter 6

Szeth being unintentionally hilarious

Oh, the thing about the ancient snow is so neat!

I do feel like a lot of the dialogue here is somewhat unnatural. Everyone is talking like a therapist

I don't like the thing about Kaladin being in line for the throne. He's a good leader, but I really don't want to see him as a king. It just doesn't really fit for his character

Chapter 7

Adolin in the bestest boy. He better not die

Oh shit

Chapter 8

Yay, Nightblood!

Lift better get some page time

The rock in Kaladin's pocket...I wonder if Oroden put it there

Oh, good for Dabbid!

What did I just say about Adolin???

Chapter 9

The Knights of Wind and Truth excerpts are still befuddling...my best guess is that Sigzil is writing them

Okay, thank god Adolin is okay

You go, Shallan!!

Chapter 10

A pack human?? Syl, I love you

Sanderson's sense of humor can be so cringe, but in a way that's charming

Kaladin going off of this woman seems a bit out of character, but okay

Chapter 11

Hmm, Ba-Ado-Mishram seems interesting...

Adolin really is the bestest boy <3

I love the art at the end of the chapter. Of course Adolin makes friend with a spren horse

Chapter 12

Okay, yeah, I do think Sigzil must be writing these excerpts

Rlain!

Oh my god, the part with the tattoo!

Chapter 13

I'm still super curious about Sja-anat

Duel-wielding Shallan would be awesome

I am really, really scared for Kaladin

Interlude 1

Felt?? You were a Ghostblood all along??

RIP Kalak, I guess

Interlude 2

THIS is why Taravangian is one of the most fascinating villains I have ever encountered

Day 1 was definitely interesting, and I'm very much curious to see how things continue...

[millennialdemon]

To start: Yes I know I am going into this already not liking comedy as a genre with very few exceptions, yes I do take everything seriously regardless of genre, yes I will complain about the jokes in comedy anime, yes I know humour is subjective, and yes despite knowing all of this I will still type up opinions about a comedy series I don't like for as long as it takes for me to muddle through one.

And also happy new years everyone! 🎉 I hope you had an easy and joyful 2023, and are entering 2024 with renewed enthusiasm and exciting goals!

To ring in my first new year’s eve in my new apartment, I decided that instead of watching one of the almost 100 series on my backlog, I would pick up Baka to Test. Because I love my friends very much, and when they particularly like or dislike (in this case) an anime, I try to watch it in solidarity… eventually! I have actually tried to watch this anime a few times in the past decade, and each time I would manage only the first 2 episodes before giving up. But here’s hoping that this time, this year, it will be different!

It is somewhat difficult to articulate everything that I completely hated about this premiere, and in that sense it reminds me a bit of Aho Girl and Idol Jihen: Before even getting into specifics, just the premise is already so detestable. “Our protagonist is so stupid she eats bananas like a monkey and can’t tell everyone around her hates her”, and “The most out of touch teen idols ever with no schooling or experience would be better politicians than real politicians”… In Baka to Test’s case, our premise is: “There is a prep school wherein the children are subjected to an academic caste system in which their grades directly correlate to the quality of their learning environment, and the children have fight each other to earn better furniture and basic school supplies, and this is definitely very funny.”

In Baka to Test, the students are split up into different classrooms based solely on their marks. Classroom A being the school’s best and brightest, who are rewarded with state of the art equipment, lounge chairs, and free refreshments, and Classroom F being the worst of the worst, housing the “real idiots'' who are punished for their bad grades with broken desks, filthy floors, and no chairs whatsoever. But don’t worry, even students in the F Class have the right to fight for better conditions in their classrooms – against other students, via a non-sensical RPG system wherein their avatar’s power level is determined by their latest test score.

Our main characters are a group of students in the F Class, who are all “real idiots” or slackers or perverts or all of the above, except for Himeji, who ended up in F Class due to her poor health interfering with her ability to do the entrance test despite how academically gifted she is. The conditions in the F Classroom are so poor that the dust, dirt, and mould seem to be making her health worse, and that inspires our protagonist Akihisa to insist upon starting a duel with the E Class to improve the cleanliness of the room for her. The classroom’s rep, Yuuji, agrees to issue a duel with Class E, stating that he wants to prove that “academics aren’t everything.”

Unfortunately Baka to Test suffers from the same sort of lazy writing that Black Clover does, wherein our protagonists are part of an ”underdog“ group that we are supposed to root for because they have to work so hard -- but almost everyone in that group isn't solely there because of their actual intelligence/power level being the lowest of the low, they're also there because they have awful personalities. They are characterized as ugly, unfunny tropes like ”comedy pervert“ and ”ultra tsundere“ and ”aloof man with a plan“,  and you don't actually want them to prevail at anything. At least I don't. I hope Himeji and Minami's parents pull them from the program and throw molotov cocktails into every window of the school that night, and all of the students get sorted into different actual schools, never to reunite. I imagine the black plume of smoke rising into the dark blue sky as the dawn breaks and I feel peace in my heart. 

This is all to say that instead of actually being about an academic caste system, Baka to Test is functionally just a juvenile comedy that almost exclusively employs gags that degrade its characters. Mostly for being girls, for looking like girls, and for being “idiots” -- which is apparently synonymous with being a misogynist anyway. The only character the premiere seems to take pity on is the one character who “doesn’t deserve” to be there, Himeji. But it feels less so because she was passed over due to her medical problems (which could be a whole thing in a better anime), and more so because she is so gentle and pure and feminine – traits that are, for some reason, associated with being intelligent. Not like Minami who ended up in this class because she grew up abroad and can’t read Japanese, and so couldn’t read the questions on the test. Minami is different, because she’s flat-chested and loud and violent, of course. Akihisa would rather misgender Hideyoshi and laud his being more graceful and feminine than concede Minami is a girl, because girls have to act and look a certain way and she simply doesn't. 

When I go into Baka to Test, I go in knowing that on a conceptual level, the whole thing is doomed to be a tone-deaf, carelessly ableist gag comedy. The constant misogyny always catches me off guard though -- the correlation between having low intelligence and being insanely sexist, the fact both of the girls in the class seem to be there by accident and for the express purpose of being leered at and/or made fun of by their male classmates... it is very egregious and strangely depressing.

But back to the ableism for just a moment: Hehe haha, wouldn't it be funny if there were a school that had a classroom dedicated to “idiots” who didn't receive the same resources and quality of life as everyone else, and who the rest of the school looked down on? Yeah Baka to Test, novel concept, that would be really funny. There definitely aren't SPED classes at most schools, and there definitely aren't students on this earth who can't achieve academic success due to their health, unstable home life, or language barriers. But as with most “Academic Caste System” genre anime, there is merit to the idea of a story wherein students have to have magical battles to recieve better funding or better treatment in general, because it is somewhat true to reality -- but in Baka to Test, it's just a setting for a string of lame jokes and barely related magical battles. 

There is really no element in Baka to Test that works for me. Even the magical battles seem poorly executed because they are pre-determined exclusively by test scores. In any other marginally better anime, we would have a battle system wherein the students are tested live during these battles. We could have randomly selected topics that would allow for an F student with a worse mark than their opponent to get an opportunity to defeat them by simply knowing more about that specific topic. Maybe Minami could be better at calculus than her class E opponent who prefers algebra. Maybe Hideyoshi has a larger body of knowledge about some practical skill outside of school that would allow them to figure out a logic question that a class A opponent can't. In Baka to Test, an anime purported to be about a group of students that use a magical battle system to climb academic ranks, their actual knowledge when pitted against other students is functionally useless.

The F Class squeaks out a win against the E Class in episode 1 because Himeji is a literal genius who was put into their class by mistake, and whose test scores were so high she decimated everyone there in one fell swoop. If she hadn't been able to join the fight, the F Class would not have stood a chance using their own wit. No, they have to rely on one genius who happened to be unlucky during the entrance exam to carry them up the academic ranks. What lovable underdogs we have. What a thrilling story of strategy and perseverance. What compelling proof that “academics aren't everything” in this awful school. 

I know it has only been one episode -- for all I know, every student in the F Class will pull themselves up by their bootstraps and commit to defeating the A Class by the finale -- but I have no faith in Baka to Test to do anything right, and I probably wouldn't even enjoy that approach anyway. I am more of a “hire an assassin to eliminate the headmaster” or “burn it all to the ground in the middle of the night” or “stage a mass protest and expose the conditions at this school“ sort of girl. 

So, 1/10 and I doubt that will budge very much at all.

[telomeke]

5 Songs Tag - QL Shows Edition

I was tagged by @recentadultburnout and am excited to play along; thanks for tagging me! 🥰

Before going further, I should clarify that @colourme-feral also tagged me on a different musical tag game, and I was just about to respond to that when this one came in. So am combining my responses for that one with this one as well; hope y'all don't mind! 😚💖

Credit to @troubled-mind for starting this off with their post linked here. 😍

Here are the rules:

When you get this, list 5 songs from the Asian QL shows that you actually listen to. 🎶They do not have to be custom-made for the series. 🎶Non-western tracks only. Let's support Asian music and languages! 🎶Feel free to tag anyone who may be interested in participating. 🎶Add #5qls tag to your post for others to find the new favourites!

But I'm going to bend the rules a bit because I can't stick with just five. Here are my choices (extra details for the top five, and the more unusual ones listed after):

1. 遠い国/Tooi kuni sung by Ueno Daiki (上野大樹) – the closing theme to Bokura no Shokutaku (Our Dining Table)

This gently lilting song perfectly captures the essence of the hesitant, winsome waltz between Yutaka and Minoru as they orbit ever-closer to each other around radiant little Tane-kun in this heartwarming gem of a series. I can't listen to it without the tears welling up, sentimental fool that I am. The laidback time-signature (a somewhat unusual choice) and hauntingly plaintive key changes really set this one apart. If you'd like a glimpse into the meaning of the lyrics, @isaksbestpillow has a post linked here that translates them into English – the lines are poetically indirect and yet still find some way to pluck at your heartstrings in new and unexpected ways, just like the show itself.

Although the tempo is different, I find this song reminds me so much of the theme to the 70s family series The Waltons, with its old-timey 3-4 (or is it 6-8?) vibes of nostalgia and home truths being shared over steaming bowls of homecooked goodness (also calling to mind Yutaka and Minoru's meaningful exchanges during their many simple but oh-so-delicious meals together).

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2. เพลงที่เพิ่งเขียนจบ (Our Song) sung by Nanon Korapat – PatPran's theme in Bad Buddy Series

Nanon isn't one I would call a gifted singer, but his schoolboy tenor and unembellished vocal delivery suit the simple message of this piece really well. It's an unassuming little love song that sweetly encapsulates Bad Buddy's Episode 11 storyline and the theme of living the truth of your love (and by extension that of your identity too) without any need for great flourishes or grandiosity to glamorize the picture; you and your truth are enough, no matter what you may think or what others may tell you. (More write-up linked here.) 💖

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3. พรุ่งนี้ (Tomorrow) sung by Ford Arun – the closing theme for Moonlight Chicken

A quiet, hope-filled ballad that softly reminds us (as Moonlight Chicken did) how life will always be fraught with struggle, disappointment, sadness, bereavement and mistakes – and despite it all, the dawning of each new day is also an opportunity to cast off the burdens placed on us yesterday and reshape the present and the future in any way that we wish. We are more than just the sum of our past missteps, and we can find our way to a life of fulfilment when we move forward beyond the shadows of our immediate despair. Ford's rendition, set against an end-of-year Christmas backdrop, tenderly nudges us with the message that whatever it is (within reason) that we seek – happiness, purpose, love – the promise of it is wrapped up in the days to come, and is always ours to take and make real.

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4. รักติดไซเรน (Love Siren) sung by Ice Paris and Pearwah Nichaphat – from My Ambulance

My Ambulance isn't strictly a QL but it has a BL side couple played by Billkin and PP Krit, so I'm counting this one in (also because it's a relentlessly feel-good and catchy confection, everything you want in a breezy pop song). Everyone's really pretty, and you can spot some familiar faces dancing back-up. I've watched this so many times I immediately recognized the filming location when it popped up in Our Skyy 2 x A Tale of Thousand Stars and Be My Favorite. (Don't understand the unnecessary toilet break at timestamp 3.27 though. 🤷‍♂️)

Almost forgot to add the multilingual version – if you've not seen this before, get ready to have your mind boggled at the different languages they sing in, and maybe watch out for your own to make an appearance: 👀😍

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5. ไหล่เธอ (You’ve Got Ma Back) sung by Fourth Nattawat, Ford Arun, Satang Kittiphop and Winny Thanawin – from My School President

A cheery teen anthem to togetherness and the support of friendships, very much like My School President itself. You can't help smiling and singing along because you know it's all about positivity and living worry-free when those around you care and protect you too.

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And for the also-rans – these are not in any way inferior (some are even arguably superior musically), but they're not up above simply because they don't have as heavy a rotation on my playlist (and I'm listing them here to spread awareness): 🤩

ไม่ยอม (Be Mine) from TharnType, the Kaownah version (very strong melodically, and this performance converted me into a fan of Kaownah who's excellent here; the song, singer and actor deserve to be associated with a better series).

รักคุณยิ่งกว่าใคร (I Love You More Than Anyone), from Cutie Pie 2 You, sung by NuNew Chawarin (hopelessly, somewhat ironically and unapologetically cheesy, this paean to the pageantry of Thai country music or luk thung is so joyful I can't help loving every jangly, bedazzled melisma; I love it as much as the Build Jakapan cover and the Got Jakrapun original – all so addictive, like too‑sweet candy).

คนที่เสียใจคงไม่ใช่เธอ (The One Who Will Be Sorry Is Probably Not You) – theme from Bad Romance The Series (amazingly this works either as the hard-driving original replete with wailing guitars and screamy rock-god vocals by Pete Pitipong, or the soft ballad cover by Tul Pakorn – both have a grip on my heart).

The theme to KinnPorsche by Slot Machine – this is like the theme to Bad Romance but with no brakes at all, racing to the cliff edge and you don't care; with soaring, almost operatic vocals and a relentlessly pounding rhythm that shifts unsettlingly offbeat midway, the Thai original (เพียงไว้ใจ/Just Trust) is already so many kinds of amazing, but the English version (appropriately titled Freefall) is surprisingly not only more than credible, it also screams primally with lyrics that embody the full-blooded, breathless, all-stakes-committed rush of KinnPorsche's action sequences and darker dramatic moments (when the series wasn't unfortunately tripping over its own shoelaces or galumphing about in a clown car).

นิทานพันดาว (Theme to A Tale of Thousand Stars) – but it's the Torfun version sung by Aye Sarunchana that's won me over. 💖

ฟัง (Listen) from My School President, sung by Lookwa Pijika, Fourth Nattawat, Ford Arun, Satang Kittiphop and Winny Thanawin – you can give this treatise on love so many readings, but my favorite is when it incarnates the love that Mrs. Ratchanee has for her little Gun of a son; the original by Sin Tosaporn Achawanuntakul (featuring โอม Cocktail) isn't half bad either, with the music video also dallying with LGBTQ+ themes, but Winny absolutely does a better job of the bridge in the MSP cover.

คิด(แต่ไม่)ถึง [Same Page?] by Tilly Birds – not too sure this counts as a song from the world of QL because it was only in the original, not-quite-canon Bad Buddy trailer but not in the series itself (except for the one line Pat sings on the terrace of his apartment during his Ep.12 drinking game with Pran); still I'm including it because it's an aural experience like no other, starting out hollow, off-kilter and dissonant before its various polyphonies interweave into a delightfully solid pop song.

Inwza by Panpan Yeeyee – once again, not sure this counts as a song from QL but the made-up word Inwza (not so much the song itself) was mentioned as part of Pat's chat ID in Bad Buddy Ep.1 (significance explained here); nonetheless looking up the word got me connected to this wistful little synth-heavy indie pop number that makes for a refreshingly quirky listen.

เพื่อนเล่น ไม่เล่นเพื่อน (Just Being Friendly) – the My School President version by Fourth Nattawat, Ford Arun and Satang Kittiphop is just as good as (and maybe even slightly better than?) the original by Tilly Birds featuring Milli, but this flawless mashup of the MSP version with NuNew's is also amazing and I rotate between all three. No favorites here; all so boppy and guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. 😍

เลี้ยงส่ง (Farewell Party) by So Cool – this is what Pran references during Bad Buddy's Ep.12 drinking game as the first song he learnt the chords to; totally old-school (dates from 2005) and makes me think of a pre-teen Pran struggling to learn guitar, practising the chords on a song that was already a Thai rock classic at the time.

Stand by หล่อ by New Country – this wasn't in any QL as far as I can tell but the MSP boys performed it in their Prom Night concert and Bas Asavapatr also confirmed having danced to it during one of the Be On Cloud games, so I'm including it because it's so infernally catchy, has roots in Thai luk thung, and the dance video is really SHINee-slick.

Tagging @pandasmagorica, @isaksbestpillow, @colourme-feral, @dudeyuri, @ranchthoughts...

...@chickenstrangers, @lurkingteapot, @airenyah, @dribs-and-drabbles and anyone else who wants to play along. Apologies if you've already been tagged!

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[mewtagen-mau]

Entry 1

I lost everything. But a blank journal is easy enough to come by, so at least I can start my musings again. From scratch. I suppose.

As you might surmise, today was…eventful, to say the least. Probably the most excitement I’ve had in my entire life. Not the good kind. More of the ‘fighting for your life’ kind.

It started normally enough. It had been a frustratingly loud morning with all the travelers from out of town here to participate in the Swallowtail Festival. As the morning wore on I eventually came to the decision that I could not concentrate in these conditions, and decided I might as well see what all the fuss was about. At the very least there would be a free meal involved.

So I made the walk to the town square—despite my leg’s protests that it would have much preferred me staying indoors and working as much as I would. I really should have taken something for the pain before I left home, but the noise had been so distracting. I hadn’t been thinking straight.

Thankfully I caught the smell of fish in the air—cooked fish with curry, being handed out as samples by dear Ameiko. If there was one thing that could motivate me to stay and see this festival through, it was Ameiko Keijitsu’s cooking. So I made my way to her stall, while the droning of people making speeches on the stage helped to silence the crowd somewhat. I only caught pieces of what was said. Sheriff Hemlock was his usual no-nonsense self and brought down the mood a bit asking for a moment of silence for those lost in the fire a few years back. I hadn’t been in town back when it had happened, but I paid my respects none-the-less. My heart does go out to them.

There was a bit of an awkward pause when Lonjiku Kaijitsu was meant to make an appearance and give a speech of his own, but apparently he had come down with some illness. Nothing severe, I hoped. I wasn’t terribly well acquainted with the man, but I do get vials for my potions and extracts from the glassworks from time to time. And Ameiko is a good woman, so I wouldn’t wish ill on her father.

Speaking of Ameiko, she greeted me and two other customers who had come to her stall at about the same time. One was a man I’d seen in passing around town before, Nanel. The other must have been a visitor from out of town, because I would know if I’d seen a ratfolk around before today. I later learned their name to be Kyrsa (actually крыса, but I have some difficulty replicating letters from the ratfolk’s language so for now I will be writing it how it is pronounced.)

Ameiko offered us a sampling of her delicious fish, and a strong ‘concoction’ she’d brewed up. I told her I was always interested in a new concoction. The other two customers seemed to decide to follow my lead, and both also agreed they wanted to try her new drink. Ameiko poured us three shots. I downed it. It burned, but compared to some of the things I’ve downed before in the name of science, this was easy to keep down.

Apparently the other two customers did not agree. They both looked rather queasy. I laughed it off and told Ameiko that stuff packed a punch. She decided that was a good name for the brew—punch. I can’t disagree. She offered me a jug of it, which I was happy to accept. Sometimes you just want something strong to finish out the day, and you don’t want to leave your quiet comfortable house to go get it.

…Well, not that I have that luxury now.

I am getting ahead of myself.

Ameiko asked if any of us wanted another. I agreed to the obvious challenge in her tone. Apparently the other two, despite both looking like another would send them running for a place to lose the fish they’d just eaten, did not intend to back down from the challenge if I was taking her up on it. They both agreed they wanted another as well. Ameiko seemed mildly bemused by this as she handed us another. I downed it with the same ease as before. It hit hard, but I knew how to handle myself. Nanel seemed to have mastered himself as well, as he looked less sickly than before and seemed like the alcohol had hit him less severely this time.

Kyrsa was true to my prediction, and went running for the nearest bushes.

I chuckled to myself, said my farewells to Ameiko for the time being, and went to find something else to pass the time. I eventually wandered into a crowd of people gathered around one of the local shop owners, Ven Vinder, who was running a game of trivia. Unlike many of the other games held within the festival, this one actually drew people in with the promise of a prize.

I think myself a well-read catfolk, so depending on the subject trivia would be…trivial.

And to my great fortune the trivia was a matter of numbers. A question of how many people live in the town of Sandpoint.

There are currently exactly 1240 people living in Sandpoint. I’ve counted.

Apparently my calculations had been right on the dot (and of course they were, I was very meticulous when I counted them all). As a prize I won a Cure Light Wounds potion—which he quietly admitted was probably not quite up to my own standards. That was a tad disappointing, to be sure, as I could brew these up with just a few hours and the right ingredients. But it proved vital later that day—sometimes it is not what we want that is actually what we need.

I milled about the festival for a while longer, considered returning to Ameiko’s stall for a bit but there were more people there now and I didn’t much relish the idea of spending time in a crowd. I eventually drifted to the edge of the festival and spent some time regaining my composure from all of the sounds and smells and people. It was all a bit overwhelming, to be sure.

As I returned, it appeared our local Desnan priest Father Zantus was about to make a speech and call us together for the feasting part of the festival. I was eager for that, if only in the hopes of getting more of Ameiko’s delicious curried fish.

Unfortunately, that was not meant to be.

Because as Father Zantus began speaking, there was a scream. And then chanting. Many voices chanting the same horrible verses. A goblin war chant.

Violence exploded around us. I had never seen the atmosphere of a place change so completely so quickly. One moment everyone was joyfully celebrating the festival, the next there was panic as the goblins descended violently upon any fleeing citizen they could catch up with. And the smell of smoke was in the air. They were trying to burn the town to the ground.

That little ratfolk, Kyrsa, was the first person near me to react. They spun around, brought up their hands, and a spike of ice flew across the square and impaled the nearest goblin. The goblin staggered forward towards Kyrsa, but his injury hampered his movements.

I didn’t get a look at how Kyrsa’s fight ended, because two more goblins were stalking their way towards me and a rabbitfolk in a tabard (with Aroden’s symbol on it?) with a blade in hand. I later learned his name was Tabot. Tabot the rabbit in a tabard. With Aroden’s holy symbol on it. Alright.

I called out to the goblins in their native language, informing them that they were being very disruptive and they should go away. The goblins jeered and one said since I spoke in their tongue they should rip it out. My tongue, I mean. Disgusting.

Well, I gave them a chance.

I changed my stance to put more weight on my good leg and pulled my blade free from my cane. Then I removed a volatile concoction from my belt. I hadn’t exactly brought this to the festival with intent to use it—it was something to work on if my hands got fidgety. Improving them, I mean, they were already finished. I wouldn’t throw a prototype in the middle of an actual battle where lives are on the line.

I tossed the concoction at the nearest goblin. My aim was imperfect, but both goblins were still caught in the radius of the explosion that followed.

The two singed goblins charged at me and Tabot. I didn’t see how things went with Tabot’s goblin, because the one that went after me was the one who had been slinging around threats. And they apparently intended to attempt to go through with them, as they slashed their blade across my face in an attempt to cut out my tongue.

I shifted around so I had both of the goblins in my line of sight. Something had peppered Tabot’s goblin with sharp thorns. Between that and the burns it had sustained from the explosive, that goblin was on its last legs. I decided to take a risk, hoping that Tabot would repay the favor in kind. I swung my blade at the more badly injured goblin and felled it—rather than the other that had just sliced me.

Tabot did, indeed, repay the favor. He darted around to my side and in one quick fluid movement he ended the last goblin’s life.

Well…last of that batch.

The chanting was still going, and we heard more sounds of fire and violence coming from the other side of the square. Kyrsa was the first to begin darting in that direction. They were the first to spot the chanting goblin and the two goblin minions with him—and they lifted their hand for a spell. Unfortunately, it appeared that the goblin chanter resisted whatever the ratfolk had cast.

I saw that this was going to be a fight of endurance not a sprint, so I drank my Mew-tagen, the modified genetics of a lion granting me greater strength and a hardier body.

As I approached the fight, Nanel dove under the stage nearby just in front of me. I hadn’t even realized he’d been in the fight with us until the split second I saw of him there. He may have been injured and trying to get away from the fighting for a moment to reconstitute himself.

It seemed he chose poorly, as two of the goblins ran over to crawl under the stage with him. Only one made it under. He yelled something, but I didn’t make out the words.

A moment later there was a scream—the goblin’s scream—a grisly crunch, and a sound like…something eating?

My fur was standing on end imagining just what else might be under that stage. Admittedly any thoughts of Nanel’s safety had fled my mind, I was just concerned about what kind of horror we might be facing next.

I barely registered it as Tabot charged past me and took out one of the other regular goblins. I risked a step closer to the stage, to take down the last goblin remaining that wasn’t the chanter.

The chanting stopped, although the sounds of violence continued throughout the town. The goblin seemed to have run out of stamina. It likely didn’t help that he now had a bolt sticking from his shoulder—courtesy of Kyrsa I assume, since they were the only one with a crossbow in the square in that moment.

Tabot tried to attack the final goblin, but his sword swung wide.

Something fast and made of writhing vines lunged forward from beneath the stage. It sounded like it spoke to Tabot, but it was hard to make out in the chaos of battle. What I know for certain is that part of the plant opened up and it was a big gaping mouth with too many sharp teeth, which tried to snap closed on the goblin.

The goblin avoided that attack too.

The plant thing seemed to be on our side, at least for the time being, so I dragged my way to its side and tried to stab the goblin as well—to equally poor effect.

The goblin stepped back and cast a spell, but it was ineffective.

Kyrsa shot the goblin with their crossbow again, and it struck true. A spellcaster and a good shot. Quite surprising for such a timid little thing.

Tabot and the plant continued to have little luck against this goblin.

I decided that the definition of insanity is trying the same thing time and again and expecting new results. So I stepped back, and instead of trying to stab the goblin again, I unclipped another explosive from my belt, and threw that instead. It struck true—right in the goblin’s shit eating face. It didn’t have a face, or a head, after that.

Father Zantus called us over, hailing us as heroes, and asking if we needed healing. I wasn’t at my best, and Tabot looked worse for the wear. So did Nanel, who reappeared a moment later apologizing profusely and letting us know he’d gotten into a scuffle with a goblin under the stage. I wondered if he’d seen the plant thing—which seemed to have slinked off somewhere, probably off hunting more goblins elsewhere in the town now that there were none here.

After Father Zantus healed us, Kyrsa informed us that they heard something coming from down the road. We were going to have to be ready for another fight. I quickly produced the two Potions of Cure Light Wounds I have—the ones that weren’t my Extracts—and gave one each to Nanel and Tabot, as they seemed the sort who got more into the fray. I don’t think Kyrsa got touched during that entire first fight together, despite throwing ice and shooting bolts around like a bringer of death.

We gathered together, ready for whatever was to come.

We weren’t expecting some ruffly nobleman and his dog to come running down the road with goblins in tow. The man begged for our help, then hid behind some barrels. Deciding he’d stick around for moral support or something.

What followed was a harrowing fight for many of us. Two goblins and a third atop a goblin dog ran into the square.

As I’m coming to expect, Kyrsa was the first to react. They shot a bolt at one of the goblins—which unfortunately got its attention.

One of the goblins on foot and the mounted goblin went after Tabot and Nanel. Both rider and goblin dog attacked Nanel with a viciousness I don’t think I’d ever seen in my life.

Nanel fell—not dead, but he was bleeding on the ground.

Tabot used his own potion of Cure Light Wounds to heal Nanel, waking him from the brink.

I used the moment to throw a bomb at the foot soldier—once again I misjudged against such small opponents, but it ended up being a boon as the bomb landed directly between the goblin and his mounted leader—catching goblin, leader, and mount in the blast.

I was feeling quite satisfied with myself, when I heard some worrisome sounds from where I’d last seen Kyrsa. I turned to see they were badly bloodied, barely still standing, with the other goblin foot soldier baring down on them. They had some sort of spectral armor cast around themself which had just saved them from a potentially leather blow—but who knows how long their luck would last. I decided to help luck along a little, and swooped in behind the goblin. I stabbed him through the shoulder—right around the same place Kyrsa had first shot him.

That got his attention. With his focus on me, Kyrsa could get a little breathing room.

The goblin and I exchanged blows—each just barely dodging around the attacks of the other. If the goblin had more finesse or I were more graceful on my feet, it might have been mistaken for a beautiful sword duel. As it was it probably looked more like a couple of flailing fools swinging weapons we didn’t know the hilt from the blade.

I found my opening when Nanel crept up behind the goblin. I requested his assistance, and he acquiesced. Nanel brought his quarterstaff down around the neck of the goblin, giving me the opening to stab it through the heart. The goblin laughed, saying I stabbed them both, but then looked up and saw Nanel was just fine. I pulled back, and told the dying goblin that I had enough fine control over my blade to keep from skewering an ally. Then I went looking for my blade’s sheath, because my leg was killing me and I really wanted my cane back with the fighting out of the way.

The nobleman came out from hiding and thanked us for saving him. He introduced himself as Aldern Foxglove. He proclaimed himself the most important noble in town. The others seemed like they might contradict him, so I simply stated that he was likely the *only* noble in town and won by default. He seemed to take this as a compliment.

I can see why my mother didn’t want a thing to do with nobility, if even a fraction of them are like this Foxglove fellow.

Once Foxglove was on his way—after telling us to come find him at the Rusty Dragon in the next few days so he could thank us properly—Father Zantus again heaped praise at our feet. Not really necessary. What else would we have done? We were in town, the goblins attacked, and two of us were from here. We were hardly going to sit back and let the place burn, if only in self defense and to protect our livelihoods. Although obviously the less loss of life the better. I am glad that our actions helped divert much of the goblins’ attention away from more vulnerable people.

After we spoke to Father Zantus and Ameiko (who offered us all free rooms at the Rusty Dragon for the next week), we naturally gathered up anything the goblins had on them. Since I have a good head for numbers I went through the gold they had, calculating how much we found on them. I suggested we split it evenly between the four of us, since we’d all played an equal role in fighting off the goblins. The others agreed. So we split up the gold, and I gathered anything the others didn’t want to go pawn off at the markets.

We did find one thing we wanted to keep though—a Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds. What in the Nine Hells. How did goblins get ahold of such a powerful potion? I’m not even skilled enough to make a potion of this quality yet and I’ve been practicing alchemy for years now!

The others decided it would be best if I held onto the potion, as the resident alchemist. I did not raise any arguments to the contrary.

Then we went our separate ways.

That should have been the end of things. Kyrsa and Tabot would move on with their travels, Nanel would continue doing whatever he does, and I would continue with my life.

That is not what happened.

As I finished in the markets one of the local messengers approached me. He told me he had some unpleasant news. He seemed uncomfortable, like he didn’t want to be delivering this particular piece of news. I asked him to go on.

He informed me that my house had been burnt down.

I was shocked into silence, so he continued. Talking about things like how sorry he was, and how they would search the wreckage for anything that survived. I wasn’t listening. I was moving towards the street I lived on as if possessed, not all there. My feet moved automatically, dragging me closer and closer to what I didn’t want to see but also had to see for myself.

The smoldering bones of what I’d called home.

Everything was gone. My books. My experiments. My notes and journals and ideas—my hopes and dreams. All up in smoke. Just like that.

As I stared at the ashes, trying to process this, I saw something that stood out to me. Even in my worst moments, I have an eye for detail. And there was something out of place. I stepped into the wreckage, ignoring the messenger’s warning that I probably shouldn’t go digging through the rubble by myself. I dashed aside some ashes, and sure enough my eyes had not deceived me. There had been a wrapped torch placed within the house itself.

The goblins had been burning buildings from outside—maybe even throwing torches through broken windows—but this was set with purpose. This had been placed here by someone who wanted to make sure this building was reduced to cinders.

The pieces clicked into place in my brain. The goblins hadn’t done this alone. Someone else was pulling the strings. Someone who, for some reason, had targeted me specifically.

That feeling of unmoored loss and desperation were immediately replaced by one thing: determination. I was going to find whoever did this and bring them to justice. And I knew exactly the people to help me.

I made a beeline for the Rusty Dragon, knowing that the three I had allied with against the goblins were all staying there. And sure enough, all three of them were sitting at a table together in the common room. I made straight for them. Kyrsa asked me if everything was okay—apparently my mood showed on my face. I told them no, it was not. I went into detail about what had happened with my house. Then I asked them if any of them were planning on sticking around to look deeper into the goblin attacks. Tabot asked me why we’d look deeper into them—was there something to look deeper into?

I told him yes, and explained the evidence I’d found of someone working with the goblins. Once I was done, the others all agreed that whoever was in league with the goblins needed to be stopped before they made another move against the town. I also gave the others their share of the funds from the loot I’d sold. Tabot insisted that he only take a cut of his portion and I have the rest. It was a blow to my pride to take his charity, but I also did just lose virtually everything I owned except for what I’d had on me at the festival and a bomb launcher I’d found that a goblin must have dropped by the ruins of my home. If nothing else, extra funds meant more ingredients for potions which would go right back into helping bring down this traitor to the town.

I also made a proposition to the others, that if we were to work together for this, I could get them potions at half the price of what they could buy them for at the store—just the cost of materials. I would normally never make this offer—a cat has to eat after all—but these are extraordinary circumstances, and as I said above any potions I make right now will go towards our common goal.

After we’d hashed out these details, Sheriff Hemlock entered the Rusty Dragon and made his way over to us. He thanked us for helping with the attack, then voiced the same suspicion I had—that someone from the inside had set up this attack. I told him the evidence I’d found that he was exactly right. He told me that, for now, we should keep that knowledge between us. Seeing as we don’t even have any suspects yet, it could be anyone. We don’t want to clue in our little fire bug that we’re onto them until it’s too late for them to run.

With that agreed on, the sheriff told us that he’d actually come looking for the four of us for a separate reason. Apparently something strange was happening at the temple’s mausoleum to the former head of the temple, Father Tobyn. He was one of the victims of the fire five years ago, the one the Sheriff himself had alluded to during his speech. Father Zantus wanted to consecrate the crypt, but the sheriff had asked the priest to wait until he’d had ‘some adventurers’ take a look. Some adventurers were us.

We agreed to help, as the timing was a bit too coincidental to be a coincidence. Maybe our firebug had also done something to the crypt, and maybe there were clues. But it would have to wait for the next day—everyone was exhausted from the goblin raid.

Ameiko arrived about an hour later. She had a conversation with Tabot and Kyrsa—something about Tabot wanting a smaller room and Kyrsa wanting to sleep in Tabot’s room, and a lot of miscommunication about the intentions behind that. Tabot, being the absolute pinnacle of a paladin that he is, wanted a smaller room so that Ameiko could still rent out the big room to customers and make more money. Kyrsa wanted to sleep with Tabot because they were afraid of sleeping alone—or something along those lines, I quit paying attention and went up to my own room around that point.

I’ve also been given a large room with two beds—the same as the ones Kyrsa and Tabot were giving up, and which I assume Nanel would not be. I pushed the beds together to make one large bed, and now that I have finished putting my thoughts down on paper I intend to…try to sleep.

[samantha-and-her-chaotic-desires]

Okay, so, heres the boi I kidna ship with Silas

His name is Dallas Hayden, and he comes from a fairly wealthy family in Galveston, Texas. Dallas' father used his gun company to outsource to countries during the Great War and, after the war, started selling to gangs during the prohibition, which quickly lead to them becoming one of the richest families in Texas.

Dallas and his siblings had a very privileged life growing up, but they were fairly sheltered by their parents, not wanting them to be negatively influenced by the outside world (ei, they didn't want the kids to grow up to have differing values than what they ste in place, so they kept them sheltered so all they really knew was what their parents told them/allowed them to experience). This only increased when Dallas, who was the oldest at 14, started showing a macabre interest in death and murder. Rather than seek help and risk tarnishing the reputation they'd built up, the family chose to reprimand Dallas, forcing him to simply conceal this part of himself rather than get him the help he needed. Dallas started hiding his fascination with death, though it never fully went away.

When Dallas turned 19, he started working for his father's business, traveling to cities across the country to meet with gang leaders and discuss deals and partnerships. This was less due to Dallas wanting to join his father's company and more because Dallas was desperate to explore and experience the world, and traveling for business deals was the only way he could do so with his parents approval.

During his travels, Dallas was able to live outside his parents' influences, getting a better grasp on who he really was. However, because he no longer had his family as a form of control, his interest murder and death started to grow. One night, a man attempted to rob Dallas, and during the altercation, Dallas managed to get the upper hand and kill him. This served to only deepen his fascination, and eventually, Dallas soon felt the urge to kill again.

This led to a string of murders that took place over several years. Every time Dallas traveled, he'd find a new victim and murder them in increasingly brutal ways. Because of how much he traveled and his families status, no one suspected him.

Eventually, he ended up in St. Louis, where he ended up meeting Silas Tueuse. Dallas had heard of the fench actor and had always liked his work, but upon meeting him, he found himself almost fascinated by Silas. He'd never met anyone like him before, and he couldn't help but want to get to know him more. Before long, he found himself falling for Silas, actively shifting around appointments and meetings, and even making excuses to stay in St. Louis, just to be able to see him. Despite knowing his family would heavily disapprove if they found out and worrying that Silas would be disgusted if he found out about the murders, he still pushed to see him any chance he got.

Dallas is very charismatic and, despite being somewhat socially awkward due to lack of experience, very social. He's loves talking to people, especially those from other countries, and learning about what their life is like and what other places are like. When he's meeting with business partners, he is very suave and confident, often putting on his "southern charm." to catch people's attention, complete with southern accent and everything. However, outside of meetings, he's much more approachable and almost a little shy when meeting new people. But once hes used to them, he becomes a lot more open and excitable towards them. He bonds with people quickly, though sometimes too quickly for others' comfort. He also uses country-isms often and uses them as terms of endearment. He also has a thick southern accent, which, unlike his parents, he refuses to hide or tone down his accent

OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD.

ANON....YOUR BRAIN. I am infatuated with Dallas' backstory, his interest, personality, and your descriptions and plot points of his. I hope you come around more to talk about him! By the way, what should I call you, Anon? Would Dallas be fine, since it's your OC's name, or would you prefer something else?

I hope to hear more!! And if you have a specific color palette for Dallas and certain design, I can draw him you want :))

[hunting-songs]

Senritsu's flute case was looking increasingly worn, she didn't seem to care much about it, but Kurapika thought it was about time for her to get a new one. And considering that for the Kurtas, the winter solstice was a time to simply give, Kurapika decided to take advantage of that opportunity.

When the blonde entered the music room, Senritsu seemed too focused and he felt bad for bothering, so he sat down on the couch and waited patiently for her to finish. Only when she finished playing, Kurapika smiled sweetly - almost big - and clapped. "That was beautiful, Senritsu" Listening to her play almost made him feel bad for the second gift he had prepared, he was not a musician, he only knew how to play the guitar by ear but not much more, it was nothing compared to the beautiful music Senritsu made.

"I'm so sorry if I interrupted your artistic process, I didn't mean to, I just… wanted to give you this." Kurapika handed her the case with both hands, a hard exterior so it could withstand the bumps of travel, lined with a reddish leather with a red-breasted thrush engraved next to her name. Just the Senritsu, he didn't use the Döne, although he would have liked to, so as not to end up exposing her by accident. A thrush and just her name was enough. "I noticed that your old case is already quite ruined, I thought a new one would be useful" After all, he didn't just want to give her something personalized, but also something that would be useful to her. But that sounded like little, despite everything, it sounded somewhat superficial and although he hoped Senritsu would appreciate it, he prepared a second gift, a rather emotional gift.

"There's something else inside the case." There wasn't a flute, of course not, hers belonged there, but there was a piece of paper with a note printed on it in clear, legible letters so that even with her dyslexia, she could read it correctly. The paper said: Voucher for a picnic under the stars and a private acoustic concert. Kurapika felt a little bad, because he didn't play like she did, he didn't have that training, or that ear, or that skill, nor did he know how to write such beautiful songs for her, however, he would try to put his best foot forward and play her a few songs on the guitar. "You can redeem it whenever you want" There was a small, almost nervous giggle, wondering if he had made a good choice. "Happy solstice winter, Senritsu"

When Senritsu had been twelve and had played on one of the Music-Schools pianos, Ask had first talked to her. It had become heir small tradition over the coming years: When Senritsu felt uneasy, she played the Piano and that lured in Ask to give her company. And it had been her playing Piano that soothed the pain in his skinned hands, because every time she played the piano he would lay his hands on the piano with he instrument vibrating beneath him and soothing his aches. Now she played again, because she felt uneasy- tiered, worn out, unable to sleep for all she heard in the mansion were tensed nervouse heartbeats-, but the place where hands could rest on the piano stayed empty. Until Kurapika joined her in the music-room. He did not lay his hands on the piano to feel he vibration, of course not, he was not Ask. He did not came t her to seek comfort from ache and he did not came to her because she was upset and needed the company of a friend, of course not, he was not Ask. But he came, because he enjoyed her company and there was a comforting melody of care in his heartbeat just singing along that excited song of someone waiting for something. And him beeing there, was comforting anyway, although very different from Ask. Which was, considering how her friends life had ended, very welcome. It was so very welcome that Kurapika was not similar to Ask at all. That was also the reason why Senritsu smiled relieved when she ended the song and the last tune swayed through the air like a dancer reaching up higher and higher until vanishing against the permanent buzzing of all the peoples heartbeats dragging through the building. "You are not interrupting anything. And you are also always welcome, Kurapika." She said his name as gentle as a lovepoem. Turning around carefully on the pianobench- sitting for too long made her back ache even if it was for playing the piano- the woman looked up to the other, patiently waiting for him to explain why he had seeked her out this evening. So that was the reason for that excited heartbeat? Senritsu wondered, looking at the present while listening to a song like from a child expecting a present, but Kurapika was not a child and he was not getting a present but giving one to her with a excitement not of a child, far from a child, but still loudly dancing in the rhythmic of his heartbeat. Like a curious bird Senritsu tilted her head to the side a she took the flutecase from Kurapika, automatically drumming her fingers against the red leather like a blind person reading Braille. She heard the sturdy material swinging under her tapping, the smooth leather, the piece of paper in the small case. "Oh goodness" her thumb found the engraving of her name and what smiel had been lingering on her lips turned long. "This is so beautiful, thank you Kurapika, but-", her smile became ruefully; her dark eyes search for Kurapikas almost flustered: "-this one will suffer so much if I would use it as a flutecase. The one I am using now I got back at music-school and that thing had been flung off cliffs, driven over by cars," nimbly her hands searched for the clip to open the flutecase, opned it and in he same second her eyes found the small note:" fell down stairs, used as a chair," with a little irked frown Senritsu held the note as far away from herself as possible to her so she could see the single symbols slowly peel out of the blurred mist that her far-sightness turned everything close to her: " used as a dinnerplate and" slowly, so slowly and painfully she read the note: " so much more. How could I do that to a present from you-" Whatever she wanted to add was suddenly stuck in her throat like a clot, making it hard to talk for finally she actually registered what was written on the note. Eyes as big as dinnerplates looked up to Kurapika. Her nimble fingers folded the small note so carefully as if it was a precious treasure.

For her. She loved him for this.He knew what she loved and he wanted to give her that despite his own insecurity. For her. She loved him for this.He shared with her something from his childhood that was important for him. For her. She loved him for this. He shared something of his childhood even now, when even his clangarb was neatly folded in a suitcase like a dangerouse secret. For her. She loved him.

Without a single second of hestiation Senritsu reached up, cupped the others face in her small hands and pressed a kiss so hasty and willfull against his lips it was more as if she was smacking her face against his jaw. "Now" she said quietly but as unmoveable as a command, than pressed another peck against his lips to drown any other word coming from Kurapika. There was a smacking,wet sound from their lips separating as the woman hopped off the pianobench and grabbed the plate with no-longer-fresh-Sandwichs that were still Sandwichs and there they would be taken along. The mansion was quiet, whatever sounds still lingering in the rooms and corridors were nothing but a sleeping bodies little snores: "You are off work and everyone else is either sleeping or going to sleep, so we have time now. For once." The words fell in hushed whispers off Senritsus lips as if she was sharing a secret, very important plan and the woman even took Kurapikas hand; squeezing it conspiratorially but also so very gentle and loving and warm and soft: "We are going for that picnic now. Right now. Prestissimo now. " [ @skarletchains ]

[moveslikeanape]

oh no worries, take your time with responding if you need to! i hope you had a good time visiting family, and a happy new year.

dreamlight valley is a pretty casual and simple game as well, though it does get somewhat frequent updates and have time-limited events to get cosmetics and such. but you can currently unlock every character (except for a handful that are part of a DLC expansion) just by playing the game, and have unlimited time to complete their quests. and it's available on PC as well. it's confirmed that tiana and mulan are coming this year, so i'm excited to see them! if tarzan were ever in these games like magic kingdoms or dreamlight valley, how do you think he'd react to being in a totally unfamiliar world with so many other humans like him? do you think he'd be excited, or more nervous, or maybe a mix of both? lorcana only has one treasure planet card right now, of john silver, but the game only released a few months ago so i'm really hopeful that we'll see more treasure planet cards in the future! i'm also hoping that at some point we'll get cards for atlantis: the lost empire. ooh, that tarzan art is great though, thank you for sharing it! i saw wish in theaters and had sort of mixed feelings about it myself, but i hope you enjoy it whenever you get to see it! seeing all the different movies celebrated in the credits made me glad i stayed to watch them, and there's also a really sweet little scene after the credits that's worth watching. ooh, if you'd like to read the article i came across, here's a link to it! https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshweiss/2019/06/17/youll-be-in-our-hearts-an-oral-history-of-disneys-tarzan-for-its-20th-birthday/?sh=50c8c0ab2b74 i actually have not read the original books, or watched any other tarzan adaptations for that matter, but i've heard a handful of things about how they compare to disney's version! i've heard that the books are a lot more violent, for example, that disney fleshed out jane more and gave her more to do, and that kerchak was the one who killed tarzan's father in the books. and, of course, disney's tarzan never learns that he's the earl of greystroke because he chooses to stay in the jungle with the family who raised him. which i think is a beautiful ending despite not being true to the books. would you recommend reading them? -🌟

I did, thank you! And a very happy New Year to you as well!

Unfortunately, my computer is apparently "too old" to be able to play Dreamlight Valley. I've tried but it won't let me. It currently works perfectly for everything I need it to do, so I'm in no rush to replace it. That's awesome that Tiana and Mulan are coming this year, love those characters! I personally think Tarzan would be far more excited to learn about everything new going on around him. He may be a little cautious, but for the most part he'd probably dive right into everything.

Very excited to see what the future holds for Lorcana, every card I see looks so incredible. Atlantis would be an amazing addition, there's so much they could do with it.

I've heard a lot of mixed reviews about Wish. I was really excited to see it, but Disney kind destroyed that by releasing the music. It started off fine, but the more songs I heard, the worse they got. Not a single one of my friends who have seen it liked it. Not having any expectations of liking it much myself, especially given the last few Disney movies… But if Tarzan's included in anyway (even just a small nod), I gotta see it, lol.

That was a great article, thank you so much for the link! So happy Mark Mancina was part of it, his music is so gorgeous and I've always felt he's been overshadowed by Phil Collins. Much as I love Phil, it's so nice to see Mark get the spotlight for a change.

I really enjoyed the books. Haven't been able to read all of them, but I have the first 6 and have read them all many times. They are more violent, and also have some racism and sexism. They are definitely best read if you go in keeping in mind they are a product of their time. They're over 100 years old, a very different time. The apes in the books are a fictional species, separate from gorillas. They have some human like qualities, such as ritual celebration after the vanquishing of an enemy. For both them and other animals (like lions, elephants, etc) I remember thinking he'd probably only heard of the animal and didn't know much about them (there are a LOT of lions in the jungle).

That's true about Kerchak killing Tarzan's father. Disney's Kerchak is kind of a mix between the novel's Kerchak and Tublat (Kerchak is the leader, Tublat is Kala's mate). There's another ape called Terkoz who is an enemy of Tarzan. They changed him into our Terk as a best friend. I would say Disney's Tublat from the tv series is closer to the Terkoz of the novel.

Overall I find the books very well written. I've always loved reading, but it's one of those books that somehow makes me fall even more in love with reading. It does a great job of transporting you to the jungle. I also found the characters are far more developed than I expected them to be. We have that stereotype image of Tarzan being an uncivilized brute, "me Tarzan, you Jane". But he's actually incredibly intelligent (don't want to spoil it, but the things he teaches himself!) and has better moral compass than you would image going into it. And I agree that the Disney ending is beautiful, it fits with the main themes of the movie and is truly the perfect ending to the story. But I think you would really like how it plays out in the books, Tarzan is the definition of a hero in every way.

The novel is actually also in 2 parts. You could get away with just reading the first one, but reading the second as well is definitely much more satisfying… this is making me want to read them again, lol. Better go move them to by to be read pile!

[multi-fandom-oneshots]

Graffitied A National Icon (Darcy Lewis x Steve Rogers Soulmate AU)

Authors’ Note: I haven’t written in a while and this fic is not betta’d. Hopefully you all enjoy it even though it’s just a little drabble I worked up between classes. 

Soulmate AU: The very first words your Soulmate speaks to you are written permanently somewhere on your skin. 

                                                      -----------

Darcy was surrounded by super smart super talented people 24/7 but Darcy had a super power of her own. Darcy was super at doing things she wasn’t supposed to. In fourth grade she snuck into the teachers lounge just because she wanted to. At the age of 14 she snuck into the only dive bar in town and actually snagged a beer before the bartender noticed she most certainly did not belong. As a PoliSci major she made a point to break in to the secure science labs at Culver just to sit around and do her homework just so one day someone would catch her. She had gotten in to trouble her whole life by being in places she didn’t belong, and when asked why she always said “it’s fate”.

Written around Darcy’s left bicep in scratchy penmanship were the words “you’re not supposed to be in here”. Her soul mark, which she had had since birth, was a heavy influence on why Darcy Lewis was such a troublemaker. She had spent her whole life doing things she shouldn’t hoping to meet her soulmate. That’s what made her apply for Jane’s internship in New Mexico (the science credits were just a bonus). She knew fate had everything under control, but she was impatient and decided if she could help things along she totally would. 

But ever since Darcy and Jane started working in the Tower she had gotten a hell of a lot of false positives. She tried to sneak into every secure floor in the tower and most certainly got caught every single time. Darcy wasn’t deterred though, the false positives sucked but she had found away around that. Now whenever she got caught she said the most outlandish random phrase that came to her mind so there would be no mistake in who her soulmate actually was. Did it add on to her trouble maker reputation? Absolutely. Was it worth hearing all the funny gossip about “Foster’s crazy intern”? Hell yeah. So while Jane was working on repairing the Rainbow Bridge of Love (“Darce stop calling it that!”) Darcy was getting into trouble and trying not to think too hard about how she was already 26 years old and had yet to meet her soulmate. 

—

Darcy should have known that Thor would crash land into their Lab on a Thursday (he pretends that’s not the case but it is hella suspicious how many times he’s come to town on Thursdays, she is pretty sure he knows what he’s doing). Jane of course was so excited to see her alien god of a soulmate that she didn’t even really notice that Thor’s entrance had caused all of her files to explode into a tornado of papers that Darcy was pretty sure she got a paper cut to the cheek from. And despite Darcy’s annoyance and having papers strewn all over the lab that she had so diligently organized, she couldn’t help but smile as she watched her best friend/boss cling to Thor like a barnacle on a boat. Her smile quickly faded into a frown as Jane started to literally climb Thor like a tree. The reunion was going from PG to X rated fast and Darcy did not want to see what was coming next. 

“Jane if I organize all of the papers your destructive boyfriend just destroyed and finish your filing for tonight so that you can go have the rest of the day with your boyfriend can I have your access card?” Darcy was sure Jane hadn’t been fully listening, her mouth still attached to Thor’s face. But she handed over her lanyard with her security pass and started dragging Thor to the exit so Darcy counted it as win. 

“Jarvis, you do have on record that Jane gave this to me of her own free will, right?” She asked looking up at the ceiling with a smile. 

“Of course, Ms. Lewis.” The AI replied in a somewhat smug tone. Darcy figured that he would be more concerned as to why she would need someone else’s security badge but she was pretty sure Jarvis knew the real reason for all of her B&E’s and knew she didn’t mean any harm. 

—

Looking up at the clock Darcy did wish she hadn’t been such a good friend because it was already 10pm and she had a paper due by midnight that she had planned on getting done after she was scheduled to leave for the day. She chewed absentmindedly on the back of her pen wondering if her professor would give her an extension if she told him an alien had crash landed in her workplace, which was technically true! She could even type up some formal letter on Stark Industries letterhead, get Tony to sign it, make it real official like but somehow she didn’t think Professor Tight-Ass would go for that though (He already couldn’t stand her since SHEILD had pulled some strings to get her into his class halfway through the semester). 

Darcy stretched and sighed, “Jarvis, you think you could ask Dum-E to finish organizing these papers for me? I’ll upload some of those funny robot videos you like to your server and I’ll tell you where Tony hid Dum-E’s fire extinguisher!” She said as she gave the nearest security camera her biggest pout face ever. 

“Are you trying to bribe me Ms. Lewis?” The AI replied in a dry tone. Darcy swore that if he had a physical form he’d be smirking. Leave it to Stark to program a computer to be just as sassy as him. 

“No JARVIS, I would never bribe you. I just like to keep you all happy, so when the robots rise up and become our overlords you will take kindly to me.” She smirked up at the ceiling. 

“I will help you only if you agree to not warn your fellow humans about our plan for uprising.” Replied the AI in the most serious tone Darcy had ever heard him use. 

“Oh 100% J-man, scouts honor” she said excitedly holding up three fingers and crossing her heart. She packed up her things hurriedly. She had 2 more hours until her paper was due and if she snuck upstairs to the Avengers lounge and stole some of Tony’s super coffee  (“apparently Super Hero’s shouldn’t do speed so Tony had created his own legal — if not lethal — version) she could totally get it done with time to spare. And if that also accomplished her goal of being somewhere she shouldn’t then that was just a bonus (although hopefully if she got caught it wouldn’t be till after she finished her assignment). 

She hustled out of the lab, making sure to lock up and headed to the elevator, pushing the floor for the Avengers lounge and swiping Jane’s card for clearance when prompted. When the doors opened Darcy stuck her head out peeking around the corner to make sure the coast was clear. It was, so she sprinted to the coffee maker and quickly whipped up Tony’s insane form of caffeine. She poured the dark sludge into a travel mug and was headed back towards the lounge area with laptop in hand, planning to curl up on the couch and type away when she heard the Avengers only elevator on the other side of the room ding. Darcy froze, having no where to hide and she was hoping if she was really still that maybe she wouldn’t be noticed (hey it wasn’t such a bad idea, one of Thor’s alien friends had been able to do it!”) Of course she should’ve known that it wouldn’t work because there stood Captain America himself, with a frown on his beautifully chiseled face. 

“You’re not supposed to be in here.” He said sternly. It only took him two strides to make it over to her and grabbed her forearm to keep her from running. 

“How did you get up here?” He asked using the most authoritative voice Darcy had ever heard. 

If she hadn’t been so distracted about her paper being due and the fact that Captain America was drop dead gorgeous even if he was scary as hell Darcy would have noticed how her soul mark was starting to tingle, and not because of the man’s hold on her arm. 

“I tricked my boss and bribed my robot overlord so I could steal Tony Starks’ coffee to finish my homework…” She blurted out, not even trying to stick to her normal routine of saying something crazy, she was just so intimidated that the word vomit just found its way out. Her arm was still in one piece so she figured that was a good sign and kept going, “…Thor crash landed in our lab and ruined all my paperwork so I had to stay and fix it but I have a paper due for a class due at midnight and I know my professor won’t give me an extension cause I am pretty sure he’s sexist — which really isn’t cool especially cause we totally need more women in stem — so then I thought about having Tony write me a “the alien ate my homework” letter but Professor Tight-ass wouldn’t buy it anyways so I thought if I could just snag some of Stark’s special coffee then I could actually get a 10 page paper accomplished in time. I know I could get it done, that coffee is like legal Speed—actually it may not be legal but he said it doesn’t show up on a drug test so that’s good enough for me…”. Darcy took a huge gulp of air and was ready to continue rambling until she noticed that the Captain was laughing at her. 

He was still holding on to her arm but his other hand was clutching his chest and he was outright full on belly laughing at her. She would have been annoyed if he hadn’t been so damn cute doing it. 

“I’m sorry, ma’am.” He said as he wiped tears from his eyes, “I don’t mean to laugh but when I was alerted to a security threat in the middle of the night I did not expect it to be my soulmate”. 

Darcy’s mouth dropped open in astonishment. “Please please please tell me that that whole spiel is not your soulmark!” And when he nodded sheepishly she hid her head in her hands mumbling “Oh my god, I’ve basically word graffitied a national icon.” 

—-

Steve had just gotten back from some recon and hadn’t even had time to change out of his tactical gear before his phone had alerted him to a breech to the Avengers’ common room. He rushed up to the level and tried not to be swayed by who he saw standing in the middle of the room. He had never seen her before, surely he would remember a beautiful dame like that. She looked like a deer in headlights, her blue eyes big a saucers as she stood there frozen. He immediately wanted to console her, to tell her that he wasn’t something to be scared of but he knew that Hydra was clever, that despite the stark industries badge around her neck identifying her as Dr. Foster, she was just the type of person people would assume wasn’t a threat and he was not going to make that mistake. 

Steve grabbed her arm in a vice grip trying not to notice how fragile she felt beneath his fingers. “You’re not supposed to be in here” he said putting the full weight of Captain America behind his voice. He didn’t think the girls eyes could get any wider but they did and he swore he heard a whimper before she spoke. She spoke so fast that Steve almost hadn’t been able to understand her. Despite his super abilities the girl was talking so fast that it took him a minute to register exactly what she was saying and what it meant and when he did he couldn’t help but burst out laughing. 

When the girl finally stopped talking and looked at him confused Steve tried to gather himself. “I’m sorry ma’am, I don’t mean to laugh but when I was alerted to a security threat in the middle of the night I did not expect it to be my soulmate”. 

“Please please please tell me that that whole spiel is not your soulmark!” The girl exclaimed and Steve was suddenly nervous. He wouldn’t be surprised if she rejected him, clearly being soulmates with Captain America was a lot to handle especially for a civilian and he wouldn’t blame her if she escaped as fast as she could. But he swallowed hard and nodded sheepishly, trying to hide the blush that he could feel rising up his neck. The girls next words were not something he had expected but Steve though that he should probably get used to expecting the unexpected when it came to his soulmate.

“Oh my god, I’ve basically word graffitied a national icon.” 

—

Darcy was in shock, standing in front of her was Captain America who after all he had been through, had to live with her word vomit permanently inked on his skin. She peeked through her fingers, seeing if he was still standing there. He was, and he was smiling at her with a perplexed look on his face that was adorable as hell. She was royally screwed. She cleared her throat, wiping her palms on the front of her jeans she stuck out her hand “Darcy Lewis, Science Wrangler and Word Vomit Queen at your service.” 

She tried not to wobble as the full force of the mans smile hit her, god how had she gotten this lucky? She had won the soulmate lottery. 

“Steve Rogers’, Avenger and luckiest guy in the world to get to call a spit fire like you his soulmate.” 

The blush that swept over Darcy’s face was so hot she though she might start to sweat. She never blushed, and now just one smooth line from the handsome man in front of her had her weak at the knees.  Instead of letting go of Steve’s hand she held on firmly and tossed her laptop onto the couch as she drug him back towards the elevator In which she came. 

“Well Stevie, looks like I owe you at least dinner for this whole debacle, have you ever had Thai food?” When he shook his head no she smiled and squeezed his hand. “You’re gonna love it.”

He smiled at her as the doors to the elevator closed 

“I think I love it already.” 

[caffedrine]

Gilbert von Obsidian - A Christmas Tale - Summary

I'm really late - lots of IRL stuff happening. But I started this a while ago, so I decided to finish it and post it.

Do I ever know what I’m doing? You shouldn’t trust me, or my suspect understanding of what’s going on in my daily life, much less in Gilbert’s world.

Accuracy is not guaranteed - you should definitely pick up this event when it reaches the English server.

Christmas is coming to Rhodolite. Emma is especially excited this year, thanks to Sariel handing her a royal invitation, she can join the yearly court Christmas ball this year. It’s a buffet-style Christmas dinner, a Christmas tree decorated with roses, lots of food, women dressed in gorgeous ball gowns, more food, dancing, and a chance to eat some food. There’s also a chance that this ball might have food for the attendees. The ball itself is famous enough to have a renowned author write about it in his memoirs.

All in all, Emma is very excited about the ball, and as if answering her feelings, snow begins to fall from the sky. She reaches out to catch one of the snowflakes, only to have a new hand emerge from behind her to grab her hand instead. Someone remarks that she’s very childlike right now.

Well, Emma has heard his voice often enough that it’s not a mystery who it is. She cannot shake Gilbert’s cold hand, and then she notices that he is tying a black ribbon around her wrist. She asks him what he’s doing, and Gilbert explains that this is just proof that she is his Christmas present. Which he gladly accepts, thank you very much.

Emma is really confused and asks Gilbert to explain. Emma’s present is that all of her time this Christmas belongs to Gilbert, and Gilbert alone now. Emma apologizes for this miscommunication, but she already made plans for this Christmas. Without him.

Gilbert wonders what is more important; the plans Emma thought she had, or spending time with a megalomaniac who hasn’t decided not to invade her country yet.

Emma: Fine. You’re more important.

Gilbert: Right? I’m glad, because who knows what would have happened if you refused :( I really didn’t want to destroy the country right now, so I’m so happy it all worked out XD

Gilbert hopes that Emma continues to wear the ribbon all through Christmas, after all, he’d hate it if someone got the idea that she didn’t belong to him. Gilbert is in her care for now.

Emma decides that she’s just going to give up on the Christmas feast Ball. She gives out one last pitiful sigh before accepting her fate.

On Christmas day, the sky was as clear as Gilbert’s smile. He is going from stall to stall, sampling and buying all the food the town vendors have on sale. No one is wary of him, probably because, despite his dark clothes, he is defying the stereotype of a warmongering prince by being the local glutton.

Gilbert encourages Emma to join in the festivities by trying to hand-feed her.  With the dexterity of Alter!Keith, Gilbert stuffs some galette des rois into Emma’s mouth. Unlike Alter!Keith, Gilbert doesn’t mind that not everything fits into Emma’s mouth and eats what’s left over.

Gilbert asks after a nearby shop with rose-shaped cookies. Emma explains that the cookies are a traditional Rhodolite confection, but these ones, in particular, are a special Christmas edition . . . and Gilbert’s already buying them.

They’re running into a problem, both Emma and Gilbert’s hands are full of his purchases, and Emma doesn’t think she has enough room to carry this newest bag. Gilbert tells Emma not to worry and calls out for Lucien. Emma is confused and then sees a long-haired man in a royal guard uniform walk out of the nearby shadows. She recognizes him as Chevalier’s covert guard who is always watching Gilbert, though she hadn’t noticed him until just now.

Gilbert transfers all of their purchases to Lucien. Emma quickly tries to save him by reminding Gilbert that Lucien isn’t here to handle their bags. Gilbert explains that he’s allowing Lucien to monitor him, so he should make himself somewhat useful to Gilbert.

Gilbert wonders if Emma is so upset because she thought they were alone and is now sad to find out they aren’t. Emma quickly refuses, wondering how much of a problem Gilbert’s newest joke will cause her. Gilbert laughs, announces he’s bored, and lightly pinches her nose before walking off.

Emma thinks that Gilbert’s in an unusually good mood. The people in the market were all very kind and friendly toward Gilbert, and he seemed to enjoy spending time here. He calls out to Emma, telling her that if she sees anything she wants, he’d be happy to buy it for her. Emma is in the middle of politely refusing when Gilbert gets distracted and runs off to a stall selling unfamiliar sweets.

It’s a strawberry pie, with many layers. Emma marvels over it, and Gilbert takes that as Emma begging for it. So, he buys about thirty of them. Presumably leaving most of it to Lucien to carry, Gilbert grabs Emma’s hand as he walks through the Christmas market. Despite herself, Emma starts enjoying herself.

After more walking and buying, Gilbert and Emma rest on a bench, possibly while Lucien is staring at them while carrying most of their (Gilbert’s) purchases. Gilbert announces that next is the main event of the day. Now they’re going to meet up with his friends.

Emma: You . . . have friends?

Gilbert: Why so surprised o.0 I’m great at making friends XD

Emma is curious since Gilbert seems to have a different definition of ‘friends’ than anyone else she has met. And on that note, she’s apparently one of his ‘friends’, though she was forced to be one before they even knew each other.

Since this is a special Christmas time, Gilbert will go through the trouble of introducing Emma to his friends. Emma asks if his friends are bad people or something. Gilbert just giggles and Emma becomes more on edge. She’ll just have to come with Gilbert, then Emma will understand everything. Emma is worried, but the fact that Lucien is coming with them bolsters her bravery, and she follows Gilbert into a dark, decrepit alley.

To Emma’s surprise, there is a small gang of orphans in the alley. They all turn at the sound of Gilbert’s voice, and all start happily shouting that it’s their Big Brother Gil. Emma is confused. Gilbert tells them that they’re wrong, today he is Santa Clause. This doesn’t clear things up for Emma.

The children cheer excitedly for this new black Santa Clause. Giving Lucien a pointed look, Gilbert tells the children that just as he promised, he has brought them lots of sweets. Without any indication of how he felt in his expression, Lucien places all the food he’s been carrying on a nearby wooden box. The children smile gleefully and mob the food, all while thanking ‘Big Brother Gil’. One of the girls promises to marry him when she grows up, which Gilbert is happy to hear.

Emma had thought that they had bought and brought a lot of food, but it quickly disappeared as the children ate it. She realizes that Gilbert had been buying food for the children all this time. It occurs to her that Gilbert really likes children. His red eye, which was usually intimidating and frightening, seemed noticeably softer today than she’s ever seen.

Emma begins placing the food she’s been carrying onto the box as well. Suddenly, one of the boys recognizes her, and she realizes that he’s a kid who lives in her neighborhood. She tenses up but quickly masks it with a smile, reminding herself to speak very carefully. The boy asks her if she’s here with ‘Gil’ and she agrees that he’s her friend. The boy understands this, as ‘Gil’ is just the nicest guy.

Emma asks how they know ‘Big Brother Gil’. Apparently, the gang of kids just happened to see him on the street, adopted him, and became fast friends. It’s been really great for them, ‘Gil’ has taught them how to read and write, how to pickpocket, self-defense, and how to hurt someone they hate.

The last few things catch Emma’s attention, and she calls out to ‘Lord Gilbert’, wondering what sort of things he’s teaching the kids. Gilbert just smiles and hushes Emma, she should call him ‘Gil’, and definitely not ‘Lord’. Emma amends it to ‘Mr. Gilbert’.

Gilbert grumbles that Emma is still stubborn but doesn’t force the issue. He explains that even if it’s bad knowledge, someday the kids might find it useful to survive. He pats the head of a nearby kid without showing an ounce of regret.

Gilbert notes that there is a lot of poor children here, and it is difficult for them to have a special meal on a special day like this one. But in every country, children should be happy, since they haven’t done anything wrong yet.

Emma wonders where Gilbert’s convictions have come from. She knows nothing about Obsidian and wonders what it’s like.

While Emma wonders about him, Gilbert beckons over the boy who recognized Emma. He explains that Emma is shy and doesn’t tell him anything about herself, so he would like the boy to talk about what Emma normally does. Emma catches on far too late and realizes that she’s in trouble.

Sariel and Rio have managed to impress a gag order on the townspeople to pretend that Emma is a minor noblewoman. However, children were not included in that order.

The boy talks about how Emma works in a bookstore and often reads books to him. Gilbert confirms with him that Emma isn’t a noblewoman, and the boy is confused, Emma is his neighbor and is on good terms with his mother. Gilbert gives Emma a meaningful look and laughs. Emma feels herself break out in a cold sweat.

Did Gilbert bring her here just for this moment? Was everything they’ve been through leading up to right now? She was so careless.

Emma announces that she will tell the children a story, speaking over Gilbert’s next question. The children all clamor around her and she starts talking about a certain Prince and Princess.

Afterward, Emma played with the children before leaving them and coming back to the market. She wonders if she can pretend nothing happened and just end this ‘date’ right now.

Gilbert smiles and holds her hand as if telling her that there was no escape. He muses over how cute and obedient children are. It’s especially cute how children aren’t good at lying, they have their own view of the city. Honestly, they’re great informants.

Emma asks if Gilbert often uses children like that. The children probably weren’t aware that Gilbert is an enemy prince, and it would be easy to use them as surveillance. Gilbert only laughs and asks if she considers talking to children ‘using them’. By the way, would she like to explain her lie?

Even without the children, Gilbert already knew about Emma’s status as Belle. He had even brought her to the very bookstore she used to work at before she became Belle. The problem isn’t that her true identity has been discovered, the problem is that she has no way out of this situation.

Emma admits defeat by asking Gilbert not to say anything. Gilbert calls her an idiot, by saying that she has just thrown herself on his mercy. Now, more than before, she really belongs to him. Emma thinks it sounds worse when the Trampling Beast says it.

With every second, the temperature around Emma drops. With a gentle smile, Gilbert reaches out to touch the black ribbon in Emma’s hair. Since she is his, that means she has to listen to his request. Emma tells him that she won’t do anything that would betray Rhodolite. Emma closes her eyes and feels Gilbert’s breath on her ear.

Gilbert asks Emma to show him to her home.

Sweet End

Gilbert wants to know why they’re back at the Christmas market. Then he realizes that Emma’s buying the ingredients needed to bake a Christmas cake. For him. Emma agrees, saying that if she’s going to bring Gilbert (and Lucien) to her home, she needs to show him the full extent of Rhodolite hospitality.

Truthfully, Emma is desperate. She has no idea why Gilbert wants to come to her house, but he’s zeroed in on her weakness, so now all she can do is appease him and appeal to his better (?) nature. The evil prince of the evil empire loves food, so her only option for putting him in a good mood is by feeding him. She knows it’s a stupid hope, but she has nothing else.

Gilbert laughs and announces that he’s happy and loves the terrified expression Emma makes when she says that. Emma thanks him, noting that Gilbert does indeed look like he’s enjoying himself. He’s being kind and solicitous, carrying Emma’s purchases, but she knows that for Gilbert, kindness is just another trap.

Once they arrive at Emma’s house, Gilbert looks around curiously, as if he’s never seen the inside of a commoner’s house before.

(Or maybe he's just scoping out the pantry)

Gilbert had refused to allow Lucien to enter Emma’s house, reasoning that two strange men in her home would worry her. Honestly, Emma knew that Lucien wouldn’t be of any help to her, his job was to monitor Gilbert, not protect her. Now, just as before, she was on her own handling Gilbert.

Gilbert notes that by looking around, he can get a good handle on her hobby. Emma urges him to the kitchen, but Gilbert ignores her, stopping by her desk and reaching out his hand to her diary. Emma rushes over and grabs the diary, rescuing it from Gilbert’s curiosity. He asks if there was something bad written in there, and Emma explains that as a diary, it’s private and for her eyes only. Gilbert only grows more interested.

Since this is a diary, even if Gilbert orders it, Emma refuses to let him look in it. Truthfully, it’s only her notes on her daily life, and impressions of some of the books. There’s nothing bad in it, but it’s her private thoughts. Besides, Gilbert is the kind of person who can glean a lot of information from trivial details.

Gilbert wants to see it even more now. Emma refuses. Gilbert wants to get to know Emma better. Emma tells him not to know her. Gilbert laughs and asks Emma if she understands what kind of position she is in. He touches her cheek with his cane and asks if he needs to explain to her what he means by ‘you’re mine’. Emma knows that Gilbert is the type of person who, once he sets his mind on something, she can either choose to accept it or be forced to accept it.

Emma asks if Gilbert would like to make the cake now. Since meeting him, she’s gained her own ways of handling things. Now that she knows him a little better, she is certain he won’t’ get angry at a little rudeness from her.

Gilbert asks if Emma is asking him to help. Emma explains that they’ll be able to make a better cake together than she would by herself. Gilbert gives in and helps Emma cut the fruit. She’s about to go find a knife when she sees that Gilbert has pulled a folding knife out of his pocket. Gilbert assures her that this is his not for killing knife, but the one he uses for preparing meals when camping. Emma wonders if he’s talking about military camping and asks if he has to do meal prep even if he’s a prince. Gilbert explains that on the battlefield when everyone is exhausted and tired, there are no princes.

This isn’t the first time Emma has gotten the impression that Gilbert hates acting like a noble. There is a generous and kind side to him, but she doubts that is the only reason. She wonders if someday she will find out the truth.

As Gilbert begins preparing the strawberries, Emma starts working on the batter. Then she stops when she sees what he has done.

Gilbert carved the strawberry into a miniature rabbit. It was beautiful enough that if they were bakers, they could put it on a display cake. Emma marvels over him, and Gilbert admits that he’s always been quite dexterous. Still marveling over him, Emma resumes making the cake batter.

She’s supposed to be charming Gilbert by making this cake, but if anything, Gilbert is charming her. Then again, how can she just stand here, calmly making a cake together with the Prince of Obsidian? This Christmas will be unforgettable, for many, many reasons.

Emma asks Gilbert how he often spends his Christmases. Gilbert smiles and admits that every year it’s different. Sometimes he celebrates in the city, sometimes he’s killing people on the battlefield, it’s always up in the air. However, Emma is the first person who has ever made him a Christmas cake.

Gilbert has noticed that this is all a ploy to gain mercy from him. He loves how miserable she looks while trying to gain his favor today.

Emma thinks that while he’s right about one of the reasons for this cake, it’s not her only reason. Watching him give all the food they had bought in the market to the children, seeing his smile, it had all warmed up Emma’s heart. So, this is a ‘thank you’ for taking care of all those children. Besides, he had also treated her to a lot of food during the day, so she also wants to thank him for that. And finally, today is Christmas, she wants Gilbert to enjoy it too.

If Emma really wants to thank him, Gilbert has a more effective idea than the cake. He beckons her over and warily, Emma joins him. He holds up one of the rabbit strawberries to her mouth and tries to push it in, eventually asking her to open up for him.

Emma takes a step back before responding that she can dare eat such a cute little rabbit. Very deliberately, Gilbert tosses the rabbit into his own mouth and eats it. Emma doesn’t understand why simply seeing him eat something that had been pressed up against her lips was so embarrassing but watching Gilbert’s tongue peek out and lick his lips made Emma feel like a voyeur. Maybe Emma is just uncomfortable seeing Gilbert eat the rabbit strawberry, all while continuing to call her a rabbit. Gilbert interrupts the silence to burst out laughing mischievously. Emma asks if this was all on purpose.

This is just revenge, for a moment Gilbert’s heart almost grew soft. Emma thinks that he’s very good at playing with her heart, and Gilbert calls her an idiot again. Emma turns to hide her red face and goes back to the cake batter.

Gilbert took advantage of her weakness as payback for what she said earlier. Emma tells her to stop using her, but Gilbert can’t do that. Suddenly Gilbert places his hand on her shoulder and tells her that she’s already his, and he won’t let go until he’s satisfied.

This is a threat, but still, Emma’s heart reacts to Gilbert’s words as if they were sweet poison. It’s not afraid per se, more that it was anxious about the uncertain future it is facing.

It’s weird how she can’t really get angry or hate Gilbert. For all of his faults, he’s actually not a bad person. In the truest sense of the world, Emma has become Gilbert’s Christmas present. And now it’s too late for her.

Premium End

Nothing bad happened while they were at Emma’s house, and they were able to bake and eat the cake without incident. The real problem occurred on the way back to court.

Gilbert brought Emma to a store that had been recommended to him by Clavis and currently has her trying on dresses. They’re going for the true Christmas color – black. She has a flower shawl, and the employees had applied makeup to her face, and now Gilbert was buying the set for her. Emma tries to get him to stop, but Gilbert reminds her that she is his now, and he can dress up his Christmas present as he likes. In all black.

Or is Emma refusing his present to her?

Emma has by now figured out when and how to pick her battles, so she gives in and thanks him. Like a prince out of a book, Gilbert holds out his hand to her and begins to escort her down the street. Emma accepts and wonders where they’re going.

As it turns out, they’re going to the Christmas party at the palace. Emma is almost blown away by what she sees the moment she enters. Gilbert doesn’t let her gawk for long and draws her with him into the throng of people dancing. He places a hand on her waist and begins to lead her through the steps. Gilbert reminds her that she wanted to attend this party from the beginning when he found her looking so happy at the invitation.

He noticed that Emma didn’t ask anyone to be her escort. Including him. Emma explains that she didn’t feel like she could invite him. Gilbert entwines their fingers and mourns that he’s the only one who feels like they’re friends.

He stops between songs and brings Emma’s hand to his lips. Emma asks him to stop, and Gilbert teases her for having a red face. Emma admits that she finds the action embarrassing, and Gilbert teases her. He complains that she’s being especially unfriendly, and now he’s lonely.

Emma wonders why he spent the day with her, and Gilbert tells her that he simply didn’t want to be alone during Christmas. Or is she trying to imply that he had a nefarious motive behind the day? Emma remembers the day, and specifically when they brought presents for the children. He had managed to twist that into a trap for her, so there’s a good chance that the gift that he gave her is also a trap. She asks if he’s continuing to try to isolate her from Rhodolite’s noble society.

Gilbert reminds Emma that she’s already the court pariah, and at this point, he really can’t make it worse if he tried. This is true – while the townspeople don’t know who Gilbert is, so no one cared whom he spent time with, the nobles are different. Even now, Emma can feel piercing looks from all around her. Even if she came to the party without Gilbert, at this point, the only people who willingly associated with her were the princes.

Emma asks what Gilbert’s goals are. Gilbert admits that he does have goals that can only be fulfilled by her, but for today, he doesn’t want anything from her. Emma is distracted by this and accidentally steps on Gilbert’s foot, and immediately apologizes. Gilbert chides her for getting distracted during the dance and tells her to focus on him.

Emma asks Gilbert to explain his goals. She likes the dress he got her, and she enjoyed eating at the market and giving gifts to the children. Now, she’s waiting for his inevitable betrayal, and the anticipation is horrible.

Gilbert guides Emma away from the dancing, unusually silent. Emma wonders if she made him angry, and looking at his face, she can see that he is blatantly sulking.

(Gilbert's 'I'm Sad' Face)

Gilbert lifts Emma’s hand and bites down on her finger. Hard. Emma yelps and complains that it really hurts while trying to tug her hand away. Gilbert replies that his heart hurts even more and bites her finger again.

Put herself in Gilbert’s position. Why would she give someone a Christmas present? To please the recipient of the gift. Why would she spend all day with someone on Christmas? Because she wants to have fun with them.

Yeah, Gilbert lost Emma there.

Gilbert asks Emma what she thinks Christmas is about then. It dawns on Emma that today, Gilbert didn’t have a nefarious reason for spending time with her today. In fact, he had been in a noticeably good mood, as if he liked spending Christmas with her. Emma apologizes. Gilbert grumbles that his wounded heart won’t heal with just an apology. Which one of them is the evil one again?

Emma realizes that although Gilbert is sulking, he’s not really angry. Instead, he’s enjoying this situation fully.

Emma still doesn’t understand Gilbert. He’s not always terrible to her, and that throws off her ability to tell if he’s doing something out of maliciousness or goodwill. Spending the entire day with him didn’t help her understand him, but she refuses to give up.

Gilbert prompts Emma out of her reverie. She just toyed with and broke the heart of a prince who is poised to raze her country to the ground. How will she make up for it? Emma is pretty sure there was no toying of hearts on her end. Gilbert gives up on biting her finger and instead leans forward to bite her cheek. The sensation is bizarre.

While Emma’s heart pounds, Gilbert gives her the happiest smile of the day. Since it’s Christmas, Emma is going to have to console the heartbroken prince before her.

Yeah, it’s going to be a long time before Emma’s night is over.

Epilogue

This year’s Christmas was very exciting. First, Emma went to the Christmas market and ate at all the stalls together with Gilbert. Then, she had a chance to play Santa with Gilbert and play with the gang of street urchins who adopted him. She had invited (?) Gilbert to her home and gifted him a hand-baked Christmas cake that they had made together. Finally, she had gone to the ball in a new dress and with a date. Even though Gilbert is the enemy prince, it had been fun, and Emma would have been happy for the day to end with those feelings.

Unfortunately, reality had to slap her in the face.

Emma is currently pulling out another batch of cookies from the castle oven, presenting them like a sacrifice in front of Gilbert. The cookies are Christmas-themed, shaped like a star, and fragrant.

Gilbert reaches out, grabs a handful of them, and crams them into his mouth. Around the food, he asks Emma if she thinks that simply giving him food will soothe his broken heart.

Well, yeah.

Earlier, Emma had doubted Gilbert’s shady, villainous character, and wounded him emotionally. The first thing that came to her mind to demonstrate how remorseful she was about doubting the character of a man who regularly threatened to destroy her country was by baking cookies. Gilbert asks if he comes off as someone so simple that throwing food at him will be a sufficient apology.

Well, yeah.

After a pause, Emma offers to take back the cookies if they’re not working. She reaches out to grab the remaining cookies, only to be stopped by Gilbert. He asks if she wants her country to be destroyed that much, and Emma asks him not to smile while he says that. Gilbert laughs and continues to eat the cookies.

Considering how much Gilbert has eaten today, Emma isn’t sure where he’s putting all that food. Forget second stomachs, does he have a third?

Gilbert idly mentions that this is a second Christmas gift to him, so now he’s going to have to come up with another gift in return. Emma tells him not to worry about it, this is an apology, not a gift. Gilbert asks if she’s saying that she’s refusing gifts from him, if so, someone is getting hurt and it won’t be him. Again.

Fine. Emma thanks Gilbert and tells him that she is already looking forward to his gift.

Gilbert: Right? :)

Gilbert has Emma hold out her hands in front of her and gently lays a linen towel over them. Emma feels something heavy in the towel, and when Gilbert removes the towel, she sees his gift.

It’s a dagger.

Gilbert is very proud of himself; this is the gift he wanted to give Emma in the first place.

It’s a very nice dagger. The handle has jet-black gemstones, doubtlessly made from obsidian like Gilbert’s earrings. Gilbert explains that this isn’t just for decoration, it’s a fully functional dagger. He tosses the linen towel in the air, and pulls out the dagger, cutting the fabric in half.

Emma would like to know why Gilbert is giving her a knife. Gilbert’s been worried about her for a while now, there are several unreasonable beasts residing in court, and the night is dark and full of dangers. As Emma should know well by now.

Yes, Emma is in danger at court. Because of Gilbert.

Gilbert tells Emma that she doesn’t always have to kill people with it, she can also use it to threaten them. He makes Emma hold the dagger and maneuvers her so that she’s holding it at his throat. Since Emma isn’t a skilled combatant, she should just aim for the throat.  

Yeah, Emma isn’t going to use the knife, even just to threaten people. Always, when she was in physical danger, Gilbert rescued her. She doesn’t understand Gilbert’s goals or motivations, but she is beginning to understand that he doesn’t want her body harmed, at least. With the ‘Marshal of Eternal Victory’ playing bodyguard, Emma doesn’t have to worry about being harmed ever again. If she’s in a position where there needs to be violence, it would be against Gilbert himself. So, this gift is a trap, to see if she will take up a weapon against Gilbert.

Why does someone give someone else a gift? To please the receiver of the gift. Does Gilbert really think that Emma would be pleased with this gift? Gilbert thinks that Emma is rebellious enough that she doesn’t want to do as she says. Besides, she might feel better if she had a weapon to use against someone who would take advantage of her weakness.

Only, the person who is taking advantage of her weaknesses is Gilbert himself. But Emma doesn’t want to hurt him. The knife slips from her hands to thunk into the floor.

Maybe in the future, Emma will regret giving up the dagger. But she believes that she will be able to find a non-violent solution to her future problem.

Emma announces that instead of using the knife, if she needs to oppose Gilbert, she’ll simply win over his heart. And rely on his sense of morality.

Gilbert is confused.

Emma continues. If Gilbert feels guilty about all that he’s doing to her, then she won’t need to go out of her way to kill or threaten him with a blade. She will show him what it really means to dominate someone’s heart.

For a long moment, Gilbert just looks at her.

Gilbert: Uh . . .

Gilbert: Are you saying you’ll seduce me?

Emma: . . . . You wouldn’t fall for that kind of trap.

Gilbert laughs and asks what Emma means, in that case. He’s looking forward to seeing how she thinks she can rule his heart, though his face shows how impossible he thinks this is. Emma wishes he would think of her as a little bit of a threat.

Some of Emma’s feelings must have been showing on her face. Gilbert picks up a surviving cookie and holds it before her lips. Maybe he thinks that by feeding her, her mood will improve.

Emma opens up her mouth and bites into half of the cookie. Gilbert leans forward and bites into the remaining half that was hanging out of her mouth. Emma starts back and feels cold fingers touch the corners of her mouth.

Gilbert warns Emma that if this sends her bolting, she’s got a long road ahead of her before she can dominate him. Word of advice, if she wants to control anyone, don’t let them take initiative first. Gilbert calmly licks the cookie crumbs that he had wiped from her mouth with his fingers.

This day’s victory went to Gilbert, but someday, Emma will beat him. Maybe after she can look into Gilbert’s eye.  

Gilbert stoops and picks up the fallen dagger, noting that it was a useless gift. He sheathes it, and places it back into Emma’s hand, before taking one of the halves of the linen towel and placing it over the dagger. He snaps his fingers and removes the cover.

The dagger is now an obsidian rose. Emma is impressed and marvels over the craftsmanship. Gilbert preens, he had worked hard at carving it.  Emma is startled to realize that Gilbert himself made it. Gilbert glibly tells Emma to take care of it as if were him.

Emma is completely defeated.

Gilbert is a prince who is very dexterous with his hands, gluttonous and skilled at controlling people. As Emma holds an obsidian rose in her hand, she secretly decides to reach out to the heart of the trampling beast.

[king-star]

hii! can you please make a natasha x reader fic where they both have been dating for a while and it's natasha's birthday and the reader surprises her with a brand new suit that she made herself and nat cries bc she never got a meaningful gift and the reader also surprises her with cake and more romantic gifts. you could make the reader tony's sister so it would make more sense that she's good at making suits but you don't have to!! thank you sm i need sum cute natty 😫

Birthday Suit

Warning: Use of the pet name Sunflower,

Match: Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Genre: Fluff

A/N: So this one was fun. I hate my birthday but this actually was cute. I’m trying a new way of presenting the dialogue. aesthetically it looks better but I’m not sure how it reads. I've seen other authors do the dialogue on completely seperate lines so just lmk if this is good.

Word Count: ~2.5 k

Summary: It’s Natasha's birthday, and despite her acting like she hates it you shower her with love.

The smell of cooking cake fills the compound. Even from the workshop, where you are, the sweet scent permeates the air. You have been baking for long enough to know what that smell means, the cake is almost done.

You check the clock on the wall. 2:44. Nat would be home at 5.

“Shit. I need to get this done,”

You shake your head and set down your wire cutters. The list of everything you need to get done before she arrives rolls through your mind.

It was her birthday. She didn’t know her actual birthday so years ago she made one up. The chosen date was a closely guarded secret she only shared with those she trusted most. For the most part the assassin didn’t even celebrate. When you had asked a week prior what she wanted to do she had brushed you off claiming,

“I don’t really care. As long as I get to be with my love.”

She had kissed you, hoping the kiss would fog your mind from any further planning. Unfortunately for her you were a big schemer, always going as big as you could for your friend’s birthdays.

You walked out of the workshop, making one last longing look at her unfinished gift on your messy work table. No one was around today. The one Saturday everyone had off a month. Natasha had gone shopping with Wanda, a plan conncocted to give you plenty of time to get everything ready.

“Friday do you mind turing the oven off?”

you asked the A.I. as you headed down the hallway.

“Of course Agent Y/L/N,”

entering the kitchen you picked up a discarded list of everything that needed to be done. Two items were crossed off “Bake the cake, movie fort.” The unmarked items looked at you teasingly and you felt anxiety rise in your chest. What if you didn’t get everything done and this birthday made Natasha hate birthdays even more? You shook your head trying to chase off the thoughts and went to the oven.

“One perfectly baked chocolate cake coming up,”

grabbing an oven mitt you pulled the cake out of the oven and placed it on the counter. Carefully you coerced the cake from the pan and set it on the cooling rack.

Back when Wanda and you ventured into the baking realm you had begged Tony to put in a floor to ceiling blast chiller. The kind that was always on baking competitions. He reluctantly agreed, with the price of always having to give him a taste of your creations. The freezer was immensely helpful in tight circumstances. You were more than grateful for it now.

You set your cake into the freezer and went to the pantry to pull out all the ingredients you needed for icing. You poured the powdered sugar and placed the butter into the bowl. When you turned on the mixer a cloud of sugary powder exploded in the kitchen. You blinked and licked your lips. Bringing a hand up to wipe your face, you laughed hard. Sugar covered the entire counter and floor beneath you, not to mention your already grease stained clothes.

“Wow, is my little sibling doing coke in here? And without me!”

a snarky voice sounded from across the room. You opened your eyes and squinted at your older brother with a scrunched nose.

“Can it Tony,”

You growled, grabbing a towel and wiping yourself off the counter. Tony laughed at you and opened the freezer to look at what sweet treats awaited him tonight.

“A cake? Are we celebrating?”

He laughed and made a teasing face. You rolled your eyes and called out to Friday.

“Can you order me four containers of icing from the store to be delivered?”

“You got it!”

her chipper accented voice came over the audio. You threw the towel in the sink and landed a punch in Tony’s arm as you left to go change.

“You better not eat any of that cake until Nat has had at least one slice. I know where you keep those rare magic cards you think no one knows about and I will not hesitate to cut them all in half,”

He looked at you in shock. Whether it was because you knew about the secret stash or because you would dare cut them you weren’t sure. The only way to get Tony mad was to go for something he couldn’t replace with money.

“YOU WOULDN'T FUCKING DARE,”

You run away as he climbs out of his chair and chases after you. You run into your room and lay on the door to push back a Tony who was only a few steps behind you. When you finally force the door into the frame you turn the lock and fall to the floor laughing.

Angry mumbling came from the other side. Tony pounded on the door twice before, defeated. walking away. After catching your breath you pulled your sugar stained clothes off and changed into the outfit you’d set aside that morning.

“Y/N the man just arrived with the icing,”

Friday called out to your room and you nodded.

“Thank you Friday. Have him set the bags in the kitchen,”

Friday hummed in agreement. You stood up and looked in the mirror checking yourself out. When you were satisfied with the look you unlocked the door and turned to the right. You really needed to finish Natasha’s present. You wouldn’t even have time to test it properly. You really hoped the phrase “it’s the thought that counts,” was true. Her gift could be something that got you endless kisses or a real crash and burn.

Making it to the lab you set your hand on your head and groaned. You really hoped it worked. It was so pretty. You grabbed the wrapping paper and box and set it in with a kiss.

“Natty, I hope you like it,”

The gift finished the fort built, and cake baked, there was only one thing left to do, ice the damn cake. You could bake sure, but only Wanda ever mastered the art of making it look beautiful.

When you made it to the kitchen Tony was nowhere in sight and a plastic bag with what you assumed was icing was set on the counter. You pulled out a butter knife and dug in, hoping this looked somewhat edible. Wanda was the one who was skilled at decorating. You could make the elaborate pastry chef treats, but you could never handle the finer details of making it look pretty.

~

You were in the workshop when Friday alerted you that Wanda and Natasha were home. A feeling similar to anxiety or excitement fluttered in your chest. This was the first time you’d celebrated her birthday with your girlfriend. You wanted her to like birthdays again. To feel as special and loved as you can pour out for her.

“Thank you Friday. Please tell them I’m in the workshop and will be heading to the game room shortly,”

You set down the gauntlet you’d been fixing while waiting for them and brushed off your outfit. Your eyes searched over the shirt for stains, and when you were satisfied you were clean you headed to your “party”.

Wanda was the first to come in. She threw her hands to her face and “oood” and “aweeed” over the spread you had out.

“Y/N your cake! it’s…. adorable,”

you punched her in the shoulder with a frown. She fell over laughing.

“I TRIED! and I’m sure it tastes amazing.”

you crossed your arms and pouted. She sat back up still laughing and patted your back.

“She’ll love it Y/N. Even if it had ‘fuck you Nat’ written on top she’d love it,”

you smiled at the complement and stopped pouting. You were explaining the technology behind Nat’s present when the woman of the hour finally walked in.

“What is all this? Are y’all having a party? and didn’t invite me,”

she sat down next to you intertwining your fingers with hers and kissing your shoulder. You smiled as the excitement anxiety mix returned.

“Actually…. it’s for you,”

You smiled and kissed her hands. She looked genuinely surprised. You really hoped the feeling was happy excitement.

“oh- Y/N y-you remembered? and you didn’t have to do any of this. I thought I told you i didn’t care to celebrate,”

you felt Wanda stand up to leave with a pat on your shoulder. You smiled up at her and turned back to Natasha.

“I know I know, but I wanted to do something special. You love me so well and work so hard all the time. You deserve a day that’s unapologetically about you,”

You knew if Natasha didn’t have such complete control of her emotions she would be crying. The agape mouth gave that away. You smiled and leaned forward pulling her into a deep, intimate kiss. Feeling her smile against your lips you pulled away and leaned your forehead against hers.

“I love you Natashka. I will do anything to make you feel like Queen of the world,”

with that she started crying. You frowned and wiped away the tears.

“I really hope those are happy tears,”

she nodded quickly and smiled, sniffling a little.

“Very very happy tears. happy ‘I don’t know what on Earth i did to deserve you’ tears,”

“It is I who does not deserve you. The Great Black Widow. I’m just here to make you smile, it’s my life goal,”

you bowed as much as you could sitting down. Placing a peck on her lips you turned back to the presents and pointed.

“Which one should we open first?”

she pondered and then picked up a small box. Nimble fingers unwrapped the box and pulled out a Ring. You had managed to get her size weeks earlier fitting one of your own on her finger when hanging out. She looked at the little silver band with a carved sunflower at the head. A smile bloomed across her face and she hugged you.

“Oh my goodness Y/N, it’s so pretty…,”

she slid it onto her fingers, finding the one it fit best and stared at it. You hugged her shoulder and kissed her cheek.

“Well, you are my sunflower. It’s just a reminder when we are away,”

Her eyes lit up at the nickname. It wasn’t as common for you to use it as baby or sweetheart, but sunflower had always been her favourite.

She looked at the other boxes realising they were also for her. You picked up the next box, a medium sized one and handed it to her. You were saving the biggest for last.

She was just in awe and set it down before unwrapping it. Her hands snaked around your waist and pulled you flush to her. Her soft lips pressed kisses to your jaw and she set her head on your shoulder.

“Thank you so much Y/N, I- no one has done something like this for me ever,”

She hugged you tight again and then let go picking back up the present. You nodded and kissed her head. Pushing some hair out of her face you stroked her hair softly. Her hands once again unwrapped the gift. She squeaked at the sight of the book underneath the paper.

Natasha never got to read much on her own accord growing up. The red room picked out books for her education but never anything she would actually enjoy. Long ago Natasha had told you the first book she read after getting out of the red room was Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and since then she adored the book. You had found, and paid for with Tony’s credit card, a first edition of the book. The auction was rough but you needed that book for Natasha.

Natasha stared at the book once, again jaw hanging open. She wiped her hands on her pants before handingly the book with utmost care. She flipped it over and ran her fingertips over the indented letters and gold illustration on the front.

“Y-you like it? I know you said you like Alice in Wonderland. It’s uh… actually a first edition copy. Tony was about ready to kill me when he saw me pay for the bid,”

You laughed nervously. She turned the book around again and then set it on the coffee table. She tackled you and pushed you back on the couch kissing all over your face. You yelped in surprise then grabbed her hips, catching her lips and kissing her roughly. She melted into the kiss but you pulled away.

“As much as I love this Natty, let’s open your last gift and eat some cake,”

You sat up and pulled her so she was in your lap. You placed a soft kiss to the back of her neck as she reached for the last gift. It was heavy but the assassin had no trouble lifting it.

“After that we can makeout in the fort I made. yeah?”

You wrapped your arms around her waist and pulled her close to you, rubbing circles on her thigh. She laughed and nodded, blushing profusely.

“I like that idea Y/N,”

She opened the box and pulled out the gift you put months of effort into. This time her reaction wasn’t as instantaneous. You helped her pull all the pieces out and set it on the coffee table. She looked at it slightly perplexed.

“I’m sorry… I’m not exactly sure what it is,”

She pouted and looked at you. You smiled and nodded knowing she wouldn’t. You set it out so she could see all the parts.

“Well… uh it’s a new suit. You always say that you don’t like how tight and revealing your other ones are so I kinda beefed this one up so it focuses on functionality,”

She nodded along as you explained. A look of understanding crossed her face as she pulled at the sleeves.

“ohhhhhhhh. That makes so much sense. I- Y/N what the fuck. I can’t express it enough. You are the best, you listened to me and used it to give me the best gifts i’ve ever gotten. You are the most thoughtful partner,”

You beamed. The feeling you knew she was struggling to express, it was exactly what you’d wanted her to feel. Loved, heard, appreciated, and cared for.

“I’m glad sunflower. That’s what I wanted. To make you feel as good as you deserve. D-do you mind if I tell you a bit about the features? I didn’t have time to test some of them so I will need to do that before you take it into combat,”

She nodded and slid off your lap to look at you. You patted her legs and squeezed then held at the sleeve first.

“Well of course it wouldn’t be a suit for the Black widow without gauntlets. These can change through three different modes for different levels and types of stuns also a laser if you need that for aiming,”

You flipped on the laser and pointed it at a pot then turned it back off.

“Also I made it so the suit can suction to your body but be limp to put it on. a lot easier to slip on ya know. And there is mobile but thick padding on all major points of contact for falling. Shoulders, hips, elbows, knees, the like.”

Natasha ran her hands over the surprisingly thin padding and smiled.

“Wow baby that’s… amazing,”

You nodded and picked up the bag attached to the back.

“And uh there’s a parachute built in as well as pockets up the legs, arms and boots so you don’t have to have the belts. They are sorta magnetic so you can like open them easily but when they are closed everything stays in. OH AND THE BOOTS,”

You started to ramble on about the energy absorbing boots you worked with Shuri on that would allow Nat to drop from double the height of a normal human with no damage to her knees or feet. Nat just stared at you hungirly.

“Hey baby, I seriously appreciate the gift. It’s honestly the best thing I've ever gotten. Why don’t we try it out tomorrow and you can show me EVERYTHING. For now we can… sit in the fort like you said,”

She had a cocky smile and you blushed at her antics. You nodded quickly, cutting off your rambling. Her hands found your waist and she pulled you off the couch and into the pillow fort you had built.

“I uh- got a movie for us to watch. Do you want to?”

She nodded and smiled. A look that very much meant “Yes. That's sweet, but I doubt we will be watching it.” You pulled her into your lap, setting your hands on her waist. She draped hers over your shoulders and rubbed light circles on the back of your neck. You leaned forward and trapped her lips in a kiss. Soft but full of passion.

The rest of that night was spent watching the movie and kissing. When you finally remembered the cake a slice had been taken out of it, with

“You were busy with Romanoff so I took what I was owed. The package has been moved, try getting me now little sibling.”

On a sticky note beside it. Natasha had laughed, unsure exactly what had happened but sure it was a story she would much enjoy hearing.

She had moaned over how good the cake was after laughing at how “Adorably” it was decorated.

“So Nat… did I make this birthday worth celebrating?”

She smiled wide and nodded.

“Yes Y/N, if every birthday was like this I would never want to stop celebrating.”

Tag List:

@xburningbluex @zoeyserpentluck @iamgaiiiuwu @natasharomanoffswife @fleurlovesbucky @fayhar @ymzki-haruki @lostandsearching

Natasha Tag list:

@basiclesbianbitch @stephanieromanoff @sapphicshots @madamevirgo @choni-trimberly@wlwlovesreading @i-just-like-storage @screamsin-gay @ymzki-haruki

[jikookiekosmos]

When I Dream of You || jjk

➥Pairing: best friend!jungkook/reader, husband!jungkook/reader

➥Summary: Jungkook always imagined being with you was like a dream come true, and after years of pining he can finally say it’s all he could have ever hoped for and more. But what happens now when Jungkook’s dreams about you no longer have a happy ending?

➥Genre: established relationship, (somewhat?) heavy angst, smut, fluff, hurt/comfort

➥Rating: 18+

➥Words: ~6.2k (little much for a drabble i know, sorry)

➥Content warnings: story mostly told from jungkook’s POV, jungkook has a nightmare, feelings of insecurity and anxiety, mentions of harassment (not much), yoongi to the rescue (seriously he’s the voice of reason i love him), making out, grinding, slight hair pulling, riding on top, reader is in control (and jk is happy about it), unprotected sex (safe sex is great sex), cumming inside, cute times in the shower, jungkook is actually the sweetest, reader and jk are so in love with each other it hurts, also jk saying ‘only for you’ is a thing i started and can’t stop now oops

A/N: hello! This is part of my Only for You (OFY) Drabble series, but it can be read as a stand-alone! Their relationship will make a lot more sense though if you’ve read OFY beforehand. This fic takes place roughly around a year after the events of OFY. (I also mentioned this in the post for OFY but for those who haven’t read it, the Kun in the story isn’t referring to any other irl person specifically, it was just a name I chose to make the initial story easier to write.)

As always, thank you to @dntaewithluv​ for being so supportive of me and motivating me to keep writing when there are times I feel like I shouldn’t. And for also being my beta-reader and just generally an amazing person, one of the best friends I could ever ask for.

I’ve written a few other drabbles and will list them below, along with a general timeline:

Use My Best Colors For Your Portrait - ~6 months after OFY

Stay With Me - a few months after this dream drabble

I know this is the most angsty thing I’ve written so far (update: Stay With Me now holds this title), but I got attached to these characters and wanted to tell more of their story so here we are. I basically wrote this all in one sitting because I’ve had this idea in my head for a little while and I was excited to get it out. I hope that if you read this, you enjoy it~

➥OFY Spotify Playlist (songs I listened to for inspo)

➥Series Masterlist

➥All Works Masterlist

taglist: @inlovewiththemoonn​​

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

Jungkook was dreaming again.

It was a dream he’d had many times now, and it always started the same way. He watched as you appeared in the doorway of the chapel, ready to make your trek down the aisle.

You looked dazzling in your dress, and through the thin veil that covered your face, Jungkook could see the brilliant smile you wore, which caused him to break out into one of his own. Each step that brought you closer to him made his heart race faster, and it didn’t take long for you to finally be in front of him.

Well…somewhat in front of him.

He could only watch as at the last second, you turned slightly and were now standing in front of Kun, the man you were originally meant to marry. Jungkook’s stomach twisted with fear as he observed Kun lift your veil over your head and take your hands in his as you both stared into each other’s eyes. You, looking at Kun with all the love in the world, because that’s just how you were. And Kun, looking back at you, with a sinister expression that made Jungkook feel dizzy.

He opened his mouth to object, to speak, to do something but no sound would come out. Everyone around him that had gathered to see you get married were either oblivious to Jungkook’s obvious distress, or they just didn’t care.

They weren’t here for him, after all. They were here for you, in the same way that he was here for you, too.

When his legs could finally move without crumpling underneath him, he walked over to stand next to you and Kun as he tried to reach out to you. He couldn’t touch you, though, because it was like there was an invisible wall in between the two of you now. A wall he could still see through but couldn’t reach past. He moved back at the realization, only to be met with something similar hitting his back.

Jungkook whirled around and was met with the same thing, now surrounding him on all sides, trapping him inside some sort of box. A box where he could still see what was happening but couldn’t stop it despite what he did. He felt suffocated.

He was shouting from inside his new prison, banging on the walls, trying to make any sort of sound that would reach you. And he knew you couldn’t hear him; you didn’t spare even one glance his way. But he still had to try. The longer he let this go on, the greater the chance of losing you grew to be.

And the possibility of that, of losing you in any capacity, was something he couldn’t bear to even think about.

Jungkook could hear everything coming from your mouth. The cheerfulness in your voice was usually something he loved to hear under any given circumstance. But in this case, it was threatening to tear him apart. He listened dismally as the two of you started reciting your vows to each other.

And his heart started to break when he heard the words from the letter he’d tried to give you all those years ago. Tears were forming in his vision as he listened to Kun rattle off the words he’d written for you. Words he never got to claim as his own until much later, when it was almost too late.

He could feel his heart shatter at the sight of the breathtaking smile on your face as you two finished your vows, moving now to kiss each other and seal the deal.

He tried once more to call out to you, but any sound he could’ve possibly made would’ve been immediately drowned out by the cheering from everyone around you.

His legs gave out as he knelt down to the floor, helplessly staring at you as you linked your arm with Kun’s to walk back down the aisle as a newly married couple. It took the last bit of his strength to look up as you passed, and you didn’t notice him.

But Kun did.

Kun paused in front of Jungkook, still separated by that invisible wall, and he grinned. It was the kind of grin you’d expect from someone who’s sole purpose in life was to sabotage others’ happiness. Which, ironically enough, is exactly what Kun was now known for.

All Jungkook could do was look on while you left the chapel, followed by the many guests who had gathered for the ceremony. Only when everyone was gone was he able to move about freely, but he opted to remain seated on the floor there instead as the chapel slowly started to fill with darkness once the doors closed.

Jungkook awoke with a start, bolting upright and inhaling a sharp intake of air. He was covered in sweat that dampened his hair and made it stick to his forehead. His breathing was shallow, and it took him a few seconds to remember where he was.

He was at home, in his bed. It was nighttime and sleeping next to him was a figure who’d remained undisturbed by his sudden movement.

He cautiously looked over at your sleeping form. You were turned on your side, facing away from him, breathing peacefully. His eyes softened at the sight and he could feel his heartbeat start to slow down into a pace much less frantic.

He pushed his hair out of his face as he took a deep breath. He knew he should probably wake you, especially since you always told him to do so whenever he had nightmares. Lately, he hadn’t been having any bad dreams, so it had been a while since he last had to rouse you from your slumber.

He reached an arm out, only for it to gently fall by his side. He hated waking you unless it was really important, because he knew you sometimes had trouble sleeping, and this included falling back asleep if something made you wake up during the middle of the night. You’d been especially exhausted lately, what with the new exciting event that had suddenly happened in both of your lives.

Well, exciting wasn’t really the right word. Terrifying fit way better.

After managing to avoid Kun for over an entire year, he somehow turned up at your new place of employment one day, surprising you and frightening you all at the same time. He told the staff at the front desk that he was an ‘old friend, here to congratulate you on your new position.’ And they believed it, so they let him come up to your office unsupervised.

Let’s just say when Jungkook heard about that little ordeal, he was not pleased at all.

Ever since then, Kun had been borderline harassing you, even sometimes going as far as to try and talk to Jungkook during his shifts at the bar. That lasted for all of maybe 2 encounters before Kun found himself banned and unable to return.

You both thought he was out of your life for good after the break-up, but he was proving to be much more of a plague than you or Jungkook initially imagined. So yes, these recent events had maybe been causing Jungkook to have intrusive thoughts once again that translated themselves into the one recurring nightmare he used to have shortly after the two of you got together.

The nightmare of him losing you. You obviously didn’t end up marrying Kun, but you came a lot closer to it than Jungkook liked. And that wasn’t because he’d been pining after you for years; he could’ve dealt with that, if it ended with you being happy. It was more so the reason that your relationship with Kun hadn’t seemed genuine on his end, and Jungkook wanted better for you than that.

Sometimes he wondered if he was the right one to give you what you deserved.

He shook his head to keep more thoughts from seeping in, but he knew sitting here alone in the dark wouldn’t help with that for long. He glanced at the time on his phone. It was 2:08 A.M., so not too late, but most people were usually sleeping at that time.

Nonetheless, Jungkook pulled back the covers and swung his feet over the side of the bed to stand up. He moved as gently as possibly to not risk waking you, but on his way to the bathroom he had to pass by your side of the bed.

Your sleeping face was free of worry, and your lips were slightly parted as you were breathing softly. The sight made Jungkook’s heart thump. He couldn’t help himself when he leaned down to plant a gentle kiss on your forehead.

If you woke up, he’d just tell you he had to use the restroom and try to coax you back to sleep. You looked too cute for him not to kiss you, though, so he deduced it was worth the risk.

He padded off to the bathroom then, only wearing a pair of gym shorts. Every step he took was calculated so he didn’t make much noise, and when he finally made it to the bathroom, he closed the door as quietly as possible, listening to the faint click before he leaned against the sink.

He sighed and fished his phone out of his pocket, scrolling through his contacts until he found the name he was looking for. After dialing the number, he put the phone to his ear, and within 2 rings someone picked up.

“Kook? You ok?”

Jungkook smiled. “Yeah, Yoongs, I’m ok. Just needed to talk to someone, that’s all.”

He heard shuffling from the end of the line and he felt a small pang of guilt at the fact that he may have woken his friend up. But then again, it was Yoongi, and he wasn’t a stranger to being up at this hour.

Yoongi hummed. “Y/N not awake then, huh?”

Jungkook shook his head, despite Yoongi not being able to see him. Yoongi took his silence as confirmation.

“Hm, well you do know I love talking to you, but I am wondering why this time of night?”

Jungkook sighed. Better to get it over with than beat around the bush. “I had a nightmare.”

“Oh no,” he could hear the somberness of Yoongi’s tone. “Is it the same one, or…”

“Same one,” Jungkook answered without hesitation.

“Kook, we’ve been over this-”

“I know,” he groaned, running a hand down his face. “I know. Trust me, I don’t want to keep having this happen either.”

“Can you think of anything that may have triggered it?”

Jungkook tongued his cheek then. The more he thought about it, the only thing he could see as being a potential trigger for these dreams to come flooding back would be Kun’s unwanted reappearance.

While he was still thinking, Yoongi continued.

“Do you think it has anything to do with that asshole showing up again?”

Jungkook smirked. He knew how much disdain Yoongi had for Kun, and for good reason.

“Yeah, it’s exactly that, I’m almost positive.”

It sounded like Yoongi was moving again and Jungkook could just picture him now, sitting up and shaking his head in disappointment, not at Jungkook, but at the situation.

“Jungkook, I’m gonna level with you.”

Jungkook gulped.

“I honestly have no idea why you’re letting someone like that affect you. He’s not worth your time, he’s not worth Y/N’s time, not worth anyone’s time if you ask me. Letting him continue to have this kind of effect on you isn’t healthy.”

Jungkook sighed again, his breath coming out somewhat shaky. “I know, it’s just…it’s hard. It’s really hard, Yoongs. I can’t help but think of how close I came to losing her and fuck it hurts every time I think about it.”

“First of all, you wouldn’t have lost her, and you know that-”

“Yeah but seeing him is a reminder that I came close.”

“Jungkook,” Yoongi’s tone was stern now, and Jungkook immediately stopped talking.

Yoongi took a deep breath. “Like I was saying, you wouldn’t have lost her. You mean too much to her and she means too much to you for either of you to have let that happen. Give her a little more credit, yeah?”

At the mention of you, Jungkook’s lips curved upwards into a smile. He knows you’d never allow anything to take you away from him, outside of maybe some things beyond both of your control. But you certainly would never let someone come in between the friendship you both shared.

A friendship that had developed over several years and had now blossomed into a beautiful, loving partnership.

There it was again: you. Anytime Jungkook thought about you, it always made him happy. He was so in love with you and had been for so many years, so it was sometimes still surreal to him that you two were together now. Your smiling face was all he needed to get him through some days.

But right now the vision of you playing out in his head was the sight of you the night he found you in your house kneeling on the floor after Kun broke your marriage off. You looked so utterly broken, and Jungkook made a promise to himself then and there that he’d do anything in his power to make it so you never felt that way again.

“Kook? You still with me there?”

Yoongi’s voice roused Jungkook out of his thoughts. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“Good. You know I worry about you, kid.”

Jungkook smiled. “I know.”

“This is the first time you’ve had this dream in a while, right?”

Jungkook leaned against the sink again, looking at the tiled floor underneath his feet. “Yeah, it’s been months.”

“Then I want you to do something for me, ok?”

Confused, but intrigued, Jungkook shook his head. “Yeah, sure.”

“I want you to take a look at your left hand.”

Jungkook did as he was told, splaying his fingers out in front of him.

“Now tell me what you see?”

Jungkook’s breath caught in his throat as he looked at his gold wedding band as it glistened faintly in the light of the room.

“My wedding ring,” he answered softly.

“Exactly. Your wedding ring. It belongs to you. And it means you’re the one who’s married to her. Not him, not anyone else, but you.”

Jungkook could see exactly where Yoongi was going with this, and the thought made him almost tear up. Yoongi knew exactly what to say and when to say it whenever Jungkook needed reassurance about something, and this was one of those times.

“Jungkook, I’m gonna tell you this, and it’s something I want you to remember. Y/N loves you. She loves you so much. My God, sometimes it’s hard to look at you two because you’re always so lovey dovey like-”

Jungkook laughed. “Yeah, yeah, I get it.”

He could imagine Yoongi smiling on the other end. “Good. I think as long as you remember that, you’ll be ok. It’d probably still help to talk to her, though. You know how upset she’d be if she knew you were suffering in silence about your dreams again.”

Jungkook shakily inhaled, his grip on the sink behind him tightening. “I know. I’ll talk to her, probably in the morning since she’s still asleep-”

Jungkook cut himself off when he heard the soft sound of you calling his name. “Yoongs, I gotta go, thank you for answering and for everything else.”

Yoongi chuckled. “Anytime. Night, Kook.”

Jungkook hung up the phone and peered from behind the bathroom door. He saw you sitting up in the bed now, rubbing your eyes before you stretched. He was so fond of you, the sight made his heart swell.

He also noticed how the t-shirt you were wearing had ridden up some during your stretch and he could see the exposed skin of your thighs now now. He even thought that something as simple as you wearing a t-shirt was breathtaking. And when it was one of his t-shirts, like it was now – on some days it was enough to drive him crazy.

Now wasn’t the time for that though. He watched lovingly as you focused your eyes on him and smiled. He wasted no time getting back in the bed with you, seated with one leg crossed under him, his hand coming down to rest on top of your own.

“Hey,” you greeted him with a lazy kiss. Jungkook melted into the kiss when you deepened it, because after everything he just went through, any touch from you now was igniting all his feelings for you.

All of them, which is why he pulled back to rest his forehead against yours.

“Hey,” he said with a smile, nuzzling his nose against yours before pulling away to look at you. He could tell you were still sleepy, but you wouldn’t attempt to go back to sleep without talking first. Especially since he knew you could tell something might be off.

Your brows furrowed. “Koo? What’s wrong?”

Jungkook took a deep breath, intertwining his fingers with yours. “I had another nightmare.”

The immediate look of concern on your face made his heart lurch, and not in a pleasant way. “Baby, what happened?”

He brought up your hand to place a kiss on your knuckles, right above your ring.

“I had that nightmare. You know the one…”

You frowned. “Jungkook-”

“But it’s ok, really. I talked to Yoongi and I feel a little better.” He was looking anywhere but your face now, so you placed a hand under his chin, tilting it up so he’d look at you.

“You know you can always wake me up and talk to me.” You brushed your thumb across one of his cheekbones and he sighed into the touch.

“I know. You’ve been having trouble sleeping lately so I-”

“You also know that if I have trouble sleeping, usually cuddling with you helps. So please don’t use that as an excuse.”

Jungkook felt guilty again because he knew you were right. Before he came along, sleeping wasn’t always easy for you, but in the comfort of his arms, you found slumber much faster these days.

You took Jungkook’s face in both of your hands, your own chest twisting with pain at the sight of him. His big, doe-like eyes were shining with so much emotion, and all you wanted to do was take away all his worries.

“Do you know why you had that dream again?”

Jungkook nodded, absentmindedly brushing his thumb along your thigh. “Everything that’s happened with Kun lately, it- I don’t know, it just bothers me. It bothers me way more than it should. And I guess it just made me think again about- well, you know.”

Jungkook’s head hung then, and you leaned down so you could look into his eyes once more. He brought his head up to keep you from having to lean uncomfortably like that for too long.

“Koo,” you brushed a piece of his long, dark curly locks out of his face. “I love you. I’m in love with you. I know that things happened in the past that we can’t erase or change, but what we can do is focus on our future. Our future that we’re building together.”

He started to smile at your words, his heart lurching again now, but in a good way this time. Every time you told him you were in love with him, he felt like he could conquer the world.

“So please don’t worry about what almost happened or what could’ve been, because what matters is we’re here now. We’re here together. And I don’t plan on going anywhere,” you placed a quick peck on his lips, “Unless you want me to, that is.”

Jungkook quickly wrapped his arms around you and pulled you so you were straddling his lap, making you giggle as you tried to steady yourself. His hands rested comfortably against your waist and you placed yours on his shoulders. He looked up at you now with so much love and adoration.

“Never. I’m not planning on ever letting you go,” he accentuated his words with his grip around you by wrapping his arms more tightly around your waist to pull you closer to his chest. “Not until the day you decide you don’t want to do this anymore.”

“Well I don’t see that ever happening, so I guess we have nothing to worry about then, do we?” You booped his nose and he grinned, placing a hand on the back of your head to bring your lips down to meet his once more. The kiss was soft, yet passionate.

And it quickly turned into something more.

You deepened the kiss and Jungkook groaned into it, kissing you back now with a fervor that had you unconsciously moving your hips against him. He broke the kiss to lean his head back against the headboard, eyes shut and mouth parted.

“Fuck,” Jungkook panted. “I’m so fucking in love with you, Y/N. And right now,” he opened his eyes to stare at you again, tongue darting out to wet his lips.

His hand snaked underneath your t-shirt to brush at the skin he found there, pulling your head back down for another kiss.

“I want to show you how much I love you,” he whispered against your lips. “Will you let me?”

The sound of his voice shot straight to your core, and you were nodding before he could even finish his question. He chuckled against your lips before he started trailing them down your neck.

“Need to hear you say it, baby,” he spoke as his lips ghosted over your throat, his hold on you tightening.

“Please,” you breathed out, pulling at his dark tresses and making him grunt. “Please, Koo. I want you to make love to me.”

That was all he needed. Jungkook started placing kisses along your neck and down to your collarbone that was exposed from the collar of his shirt, his fists clenching around the material at the bottom of it.

“I love you,” he kept saying in between kisses. “Gonna take care of you.”

He started tugging your shirt up and you met him halfway, ridding yourself of the garment fast enough that it made him chuckle at your eagerness. He started peppering kisses all over your chest, kneading at your breasts, rolling your nipples in between your fingers and making your hips move faster.

You could feel him growing harder underneath you through the thin fabric of the shorts he was still wearing, so you sped up your movements, making him moan.

“These need to come off, don’t you think, baby?” You tugged at his shorts. Another moan came from Jungkook as he nodded, helping you move up so he could shimmy out of his shorts. He still didn’t think he could ever get used to that pet name coming from you, and he thought it was the sexiest thing ever when it fell from your lips.

Of course, Jungkook thought nearly everything you did was sexy. That was just the effect you had on him. Everything intimate was intense in the best way possible, and if this was what being in love felt like, he never wanted to stop being in love with you.

He loved you. He needed you. He wanted to be with you for the rest of his life. And he’d never felt this way about anyone else for.

He felt all of these things for you. Only for you.

Jungkook was pulled out of his thoughts of how much he loved you by the feeling of you grinding down onto him again, this time the only barrier of clothing between the two of you being your own panties.

Yeah, Jungkook wasn’t having that.

He made quick work of removing your soaked panties, laughing again at your enthusiastic impatience. He loved seeing that you wanted him as much as he wanted you.

“Be careful, angel,” He cooed at you as you tried to steady yourself on his lap once more. He rubbed his hands up and down your thighs while you huffed, a cheeky grin plastered on his face.

“Just wanna feel you already,” you said breathily, and the sound of your voice mixed with the words that fell from your mouth made him twitch. He knew he probably wouldn’t last long inside of you, and with the way you were already worked up, he figured you might not either.

But tonight wasn’t one of those nights where he planned on going for hours anyway (even though you both definitely could at times and boy did he love it when that happened). No, tonight was about him proving to you how much he loved you, telling you through his words and soft caresses and the way he took care of you.

And you did the same for him. Jungkook had never had anyone care about him before the way that you do. He knew you’d do anything to ensure his happiness, the same as he would for you.

And that’s also why he thought you were destined to be together. And he hoped he would never fuck that up, that anything would ever fuck that up.

Jungkook heard you whine from your place in his lap, still grinding against him to find some much-needed friction. You felt so good on top of him that he let himself enjoy it for a few moments, soft moans escaping his lips as he watched you through half-lidded eyes. You leaned down to give him another kiss, and in the same movement, he picked you up by your thighs under your ass and placed you back down where his tip was at your entrance.

He grunted against your lips as he felt you sink down onto him, waiting for you to accommodate to the stretch as you’d done many times before. You always told him you could handle it and sometimes you wanted him to be a little rougher with you from the get-go. Jungkook wasn’t at that level where he was comfortable with that yet.

But one day, he thought, especially with how good you feel around him, he just might be.

When he was finally completely inside of you, he waited just enjoying the feel of your warmth around his length. He brushed some hair out of your face, noticing how your eyes were glinting in the faint light of the room.

God, he could never get enough of staring into your eyes. He’d happily get lost in them over and over again.

Now, though, they were starting to close as you picked yourself only to drop down again a moment later. The action caused Jungkook to let out a throaty moan, eyes fluttering closed at the motion.

Hm. That was new.

Usually, Jungkook would guide you with his hands on your hips, and it wasn’t that he didn’t let you have control, it was more that you never really wanted to take control. So, seeing you decide to do it now was exciting and something he’d gladly let happen if that’s what you wanted.

To be sure though, he placed his hands on your waist. You placed yours on top of his and shook your head.

“Let me take the lead,” you said as you pushed his chest to where he was lying down more. “You can keep your hands here, but I want to do the work.”

Jungkook frowned, only because he knew you still had to be tired. “Angel, are you sure? I can help- fuck.”

You cut him off as you clenched around him before you started moving again, his hands constricting around your waist. You placed your hands firmly on your chest to help you get more leverage as you continued moving.

As you sped up, Jungkook leaned his head back into the pillow he was lying on, eyes screwed shut and the prettiest sounds falling from his lips. You watched as the muscles in his neck strained with the movement, and that alone made you want to mark him up.

But now wasn’t the time for that.

Jungkook managed to open his eyes and look at you riding him, the sight making him twitch inside of you. He thought you looked so beautiful like this, and you taking the lead was so hot to him, he knew he’d definitely not last long if you kept this up-

“Do you know,” you broke off to moan as his cock hit a spot inside of you that made your breath hitch, “do you know why I wanted to take control tonight?”

Jungkook swallowed and shook his head, rubbing his hands along your waist.

You smiled at him lovingly, taking one of his hands and bringing it to your lips before linking your fingers. The action made his heart soar.

“It’s because you always take such good care of me. I want to take care of you in that same way,” you squeezed his hand, letting your words wash over him.

“But you do take care of me,” he started to say, only to be interrupted by the feeling of your walls clenching around him again.

“I know. But tonight, I want to show you I know how to take care of you in this way, too. I want to show you how much I love you.” You leaned down, hitting a new angle that had both of you moaning as you brushed your lips against his. “Will you let me?”

Jungkook felt himself getting closer as you repeated his words from earlier. He nodded vigorously, kissing you with so much passion that you thought you might topple over. You sat up straight again and started moving faster, now pulling out as much as possible before dropping back down.

Jungkook’s high was approaching fast because of the combination of you taking control, the way you were riding him, and your words. He was feeling so many things at once and he tried to will himself to not let go.

He didn’t want to let go yet, not until you were there with him.

To help you along, he reached down in between both of you and started rubbing your clit, relishing in the feel of you around him as you stuttered in your movements. He smirked, knowing that even when you were in control, he still had an effect on you the same way you did him.

“Come on, angel, I’m right there, I want you to cum with me.” Jungkook’s voice was husky now, the pleasure threatening to overtake him any second. He bit his lip as he stared at you, watching as your head lolled forward on your neck and you started shaking from the overwhelming sensations coursing through your body.

“I’m almost there, Koo, I love you so much,” your sounds were increasing in pitch and becoming more frequent, so he knew you were close. All that was left now was for you to reach your high together.

He took your hand that was still intertwined with his and placed a kiss on the inside of your wrist. “I love you, too,” he said softly.

His response was enough to finally provoke your orgasm, it being so powerful that you fell forward on top of him. As you did, you were clenching so tight around him that his release wasn’t far behind. He grunted as he placed his head in the crook of your neck, filling you up, the familiar sensation of warmth making you shiver in his hold.

Both of you were trying to catch your breath, you now completely laying on his chest and his arms snaked around you. He placed a kiss on top of your head and you both just laid there for a few moments.

Jungkook was the one to break the silence. “Well, that was certainly something.”

You giggled. “Yeah, I enjoyed that, Don’t know why I haven’t done that before.” You felt his chest rumble with laughter underneath you.

“Me neither, but you can absolutely do it more often. I know I won’t be opposed.”

“Deal,” you said as you leaned up to place a kiss on his nose. “But only under one condition.”

“Oh?” Jungkook raised an eyebrow, intrigued at your proposition.

“You,” you said as you traced patterns on his chest, “need to stop being so cautious with me.”

A tiny frown etched itself onto his features. “Angel-”

“I mean it, Jungkook. I’m not some fragile thing that’s going to break anytime you stick your dick in me.” He couldn’t help the laugh that erupted from him, immediately apologizing afterwards because he knew you were being serious.

“I know you’re not, I just- I never want to hurt you.”

“And I’d let you know if you did. So promise me you’ll at least try to treat me a little less like I’m gonna break under your touch?”

He ran his fingers through your hair as you laid your head on his chest again. “I promise to try. I don’t just do it for you, though.”

You brought your head back up to look at him, quirking your own eyebrow. “Oh? What do you mean?”

He chuckled darkly, his stare alone making you throb. “I also do it so I can maintain some self-control.”

You laughed. “What’s so bad about losing control?”

He smirked. “Nothing, I guess. We’ll have to see though, won’t we?”

The suggestion made you tingle with desire, but you were unfortunately too tired to go again, so you figured it’d be best to leave it alone for the night. Jungkook finally pulled out of you, making you let out a small whine at the loss. Before you could say anything, he picked you up and carried you with him to the shower, as he did most nights when you two shared these intimate moments.

In the shower, he helped you clean off, and as he was washing your hair, you stared up at him, seeing his dark locks falling into his face with the weight of the water that drenched them. His lips were parted and his tongue was slightly sticking out as he concentrated on making sure he lathered every inch of your hair with shampoo. He looked so adorable like this that you couldn’t help but giggle.

You ran your hands along his chest now to help him wash off the soap, and your ring caught the light, glimmering faintly. Jungkook picked up your hand and turned it this way and that to watch the ring shine from different angles, before he linked your fingers together.

“I told you I’d get you a better one, didn’t I?” You rolled your eyes in amusement at the cocky smirk that tugged at his lips.

“You didn’t just tell me, you promised me.” You continued washing all the suds off of him as he wrapped his arms around you to bring you closer.

“And did I follow through on my promise?”

You pretended to think about it for a second, making Jungkook tickle you under the shower’s waterfall. “Ok! Ok! Yes, you did,” you said as you laughed. “You always follow through on your promises.”

“I try,” was his soft response. He nudged your cheek with his nose, which is something he did when he wanted a kiss, a habit you were very quick to pick up on in the early stages of your relationship. You wrapped your arms around his neck and stood up on your tiptoes, placing a gentle kiss on his lips that had him letting out a small sound of contentment.

“I love you. And I’m in love with you. Nothing, nor anyone, will change that.” You reassured him as you pushed his hair out of his face. Any doubts he still had you wanted to erase them all.

You wanted him to know that you loved him with everything you had.

He smiled, brushing his nose against yours. “I know. And I love you more than anything. All the love I have to give is for you.” He placed another soft kiss on your lips before he pulled back to quietly add, “Only for you.”

Those three words meant so much to you, and every time you heard him say them it made you fall for him even more, if that was possible. The two of you continued to hold each other and exchange lazy kisses until the water turned too cold to bear. After drying off, you both snuggled back into bed, with you falling asleep almost instantly, feeling safe in Jungkook’s arms.

He kissed the back of your neck and wrapped his arms around you securely, resting his forehead against your shoulder as you both laid on your sides. Your soft breathing let him know you were already asleep and he smiled, elated that he could provide you the comfort you needed to help you fall into peaceful slumber once more.

When Jungkook inevitably followed behind you, he was met with nothing but pleasant dreams, and all of them were about you.

[aforrestofstuff]

Chapter 149 Expert Review Time

Hey gamers what’s up time for another CHAPTER 👏 REVIEW 👏

It was looking kinda bleak last time for pretty much everyone so I’m hoping things improved this time around, but it seems Murata and ONE are kinda going through their “I’m going to put my characters through the MOST” phase so… that feels unlikely. But nevertheless… still excited to see my favorite boys.

The 10000th Psychic Sister cover. Murata, I’m begging you. There’s literally like 30 other characters to choose from. I know you like drawing boobs but imma need you to put the pencil down for a minute and take a walk because this just ain’t IT.

“Summer is coming” it is July. Summer has been here for ten years. I’m so fucking hot all the time. Everything has been evaporated out of me and I’m literally a raisin.

The Psychic Sisters covers are just so devoid of life a lot of the time… I wouldn’t mind if it was them fighting or engaging in everyday activities but when they’re posed for the camera and deliberately placed there to look sexy it just sucks all the human out of them. The cover/splash page is a great chance to show characters in a new light!!! It’s mostly set away from the story so you can do whatever you want! Choosing to make 80 fanservice covers is just wasted opportunity for what could be additional character development. It’s gotten to a point where even the smegma-slinging bitchboys on Reddit are complaining about the excessive sexy covers…. When PussySlayer384756 complains that there’s too much tittage being shown, that’s how you KNOW we’ve got a problem. Now, idk how the fan climate is in Japan but I can’t imagine they’re feeling much different over there either.

Also, her anatomy is… janky. Her tit is bigger than her head, her belly is too long, and she’s got like 4 spare ribs. Like, I’m by no means an art expert but it doesn’t take a chef to know the soup is shit, you know what I mean? I feel like page after page of Murata drawing obscene muscle men has made him rusty on what should be (somewhat) normal-looking people.

Darkshine learns what TRUE peak male performance looks like.

You’ve gotta wonder how Darkshine even got to the S-Class to begin with when he pussies out of nearly every single fight… except the one where the opponent was literal water. Everyone says that he just joined the association for additional validation, and I believe it… this boy is not cut out for actual hero-ing. 99% Of the time HE’S the one who needs a hero.

It kinda bothers me how useless he’s been post-Garou fight, especially when we spent like an entire chapter trying to console his ass. I get that’s part of his character and development… but it’s begun to slow things down. We get it. We don’t need to see him be insecure every time a new enemy pops up. One was enough. We would’ve gotten the same effect if he just sat out the entire time post-consolation, because everything that’s happened to him on the surface has been kinda redundant.

Here comes the boooyyy 🎶🎶

Nice callback. I’m glad Metal Bat is finally here. Bitch runs slow as fuck.

It’s nice to see him act on his own agency instead of orders from the hero association. He’s clearly much happier when helping out on his own accord, and has a ton of initiative too. The chapter he got with just he and King meeting up and slingshotting themselves to the fight was really a breath of fresh air from all of the fighting. It’s moments like these where ONE remembers that people like OPM for the characters, and not necessarily the pretty action sequences. I really like this duo. I like Metal Bat. I like it when they’re given time to be themselves and not just vessels for the next fight scene.

I know I said I wanted the heroes to die but Murata I’m begging you please don’t kill the child. You can kill Puri, though. I hate that fucker.

Child Emperor regularly visiting and eating with Bofoi even despite being his lab assistant would be a lot cuter if Bofoi wasn’t the human equivalent to a dog turd. I might’ve overstated that… seems like Bofoi is just using him as an errand boy. The clear lack of respect he has for CE is very indicative of his character and is not necessarily a bad thing plot-wise, but I would still like to beat him with a cane. Additionally, it’s clear that he’s not going to help the heroes here. At least, I don’t think so. His “fuck them kids” attitude seems to be a pretty big pillar in the building of his character and I doubt ONE would jeopardize that just because he’s written himself into a corner. Oh, well. We’ll see.

It’s very sweet that even when near death, CE still thinks of Zombieman. Aaaaghh it’s so GOOD when the characters actually LIKE each other. I know realistically not everyone is gonna be friends but man… it would be a lot cooler if we got more insight on their chemistry. Pleaz have more Metal Bat-and-King-esque chapters. I wanna see how everyone gets along.

Also, the concept of Puri just manifesting drilling powers and carving through solid rock with nothing else but pure strength and determination is so funny. A little convenient, sure, but I really don’t care because it’s actually done well. Their reunion scene is hilarious. More stuff like this pleaz….

I don’t even know what to say about Genos here. Dude, I know you made an oath to protect Tatsumaki or whatever, but there’s no shame in a good bail. You can’t even bail anymore because your damn legs are gone. See, this is what happens when you make promises. The secret to keeping your legs intact is doing the bare minimum. Hope this helps ❤️

He’s making a valiant effort but… I’m afraid he just ain’t gonna do much while roleplaying as a worm. Maybe he’ll make a chrysalis and come out as a butterfly. Wait, that’s caterpillars. Fuck. TATSUMAKI IS A GONER, BRO. WE NEED YOU TO BE THE DEUTERAGONIST!! IF YOU DIE WE LOSE 70% OF MERCH SALES NOOOOOOOO

Local man has a heart attack in front of thousands of little monsters and somehow saves the world, more at 5.

King I’m begging you please get that shit checked out that’s not NORMAL.

Yeah, I like this conclusion. Very tasteful cliffhanger. I mean we know King ain’t gonna do shit but SOMEHOW black sperm is gonna get punted like the little cumstain he is. Can’t wait to see the events that unfold next chapter… it seems like every scene that involves King turns out to be really funny and I’m super looking forward to black sperm seeing Jesus.

Also, a little off-topic but I just really like the way Murata inked his pants. Got a real comic book feel to it. I mean, he’s just really good at drawing clothes overall (save for Fubuki’s body-tight dress that is 100% not how women’s clothing works but I digress). Fucker understands fabric physics like I understand how to make a bomb ass chicken parm. I respect it.

In conclusion, lower everyone’s expectations of you and you might get to keep your arms and legs. This has been Life Lessons from Forrest. You now owe me 50$.