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monstersandmaw · 1 year ago

Text

Male orc x gender neutral reader (light nsfw)

Disclaimer which I’m including in all my works after plagiarism and theft has taken place: I do not give my consent for my works to be used, copied, published, or posted anywhere. They are copyrighted and belong to me.

Commission number two folks!

Content: Gender and body neutral reader who’s autistic deals with sensory overload while at a funfair, stimming includes rocking and pressure on the hands. Male orc offers a way out so the reader can catch their breath. Very brief mention of the orc losing a close friend in the past year, and of deciding to live more in the moment because of it. Light-ish nsfw at the end with a bit of a fade to black.

Wordcount: 7562

Three hours ago, you’d been sure you could handle this. How could you not? It was a day out with your friends for Lily’s birthday, but of course, the orc had chosen the modern equivalent of a jousting tournament to show off her skills to her girlfriend. Still, you and Luke and Ellis had met up and made your way through town, collecting Lily and Maggie outside a gelateria, where naturally you all paused to buy the most amazing ice cream in town. With a start like that, how could things possibly go wrong?

After a leisurely walk to the fairground on the outskirts of town, you’d watched Luke win a fluffy white rabbit toy that was almost as big as he was on the coconut shy, despite the way the game was obviously rigged, but the werewolf had wagged his shaggy grey tail and howled his victory to the sky and clutched his new friend to his chest like it was his own goddamn child, and you’d clapped and cheered along with everyone else at the soppy wolf.

You hadn’t noticed the way you'd started to grip one hand with the other, squeezing tightly with finger and thumb just to give a little release to the steady buildup of pressure inside you as the atmosphere of the fanfare closed in around you. You also didn’t notice that you were gently rocking from side to side on the spot while you waited for Ellis to decide if he was going to go and say hi to the girl he’d been crushing on for a while, so when you found a teenager staring openly at you from the queue for the paintball stand, you assumed their attention was on Ellis.

Ellis usually attracted looks, not only because he was a goblin — a species that was relatively rare in your part of the world — but because his storm-grey skin was mottled all over with pale patches from vitiligo. He wasn’t bothered by the attention for the most part, but when you saw exactly where their gaze was directed instead — at your twisting hands — you felt an ugly stab of something bitter go through you. Carnivals may not offer the outdated and heartless ‘freak show’ elements anymore, but boy were you made to feel like one sometimes by other people.

“Hey, look!” Ellis exclaimed, his scratchy, reedy voice cutting through the maelstrom of noise and crush of people easily enough. “There she is! I’m gonna go see if she’s up for a ferris wheel ride. You think she’ll say yes?”

Your nod came out jerky and a bit stilted, but you mustered a smile of encouragement for your friend and he grinned back at you, all his sharp teeth glinting in the sunshine. Then something shifted in his expression and he frowned. “You ok?” he asked as his completely black eyes went a little wider with concern.

Again, you nodded and tried to look a little more convincing. After weeks of dancing around each other, he was finally going to shoot his shot, and there was no way you wanted him to miss because of you. “Fine,” you croaked. The word came out like a cat hocking up a hairball, but at least you got it out.

“Ok. Text me, alright?” he said. “Text me if you wanna go.”

You nodded. No way were you going to be the reason everyone left. If things got bad, you’d just… bail. Somehow. If you could find your way out of the crush of people without imploding first.

Glancing right, you saw Lily raise the hammer on the high striker and watched her muscles bunch and flex in her arms, shoulders and back. She was wearing a black tank top that said, ‘If lost, return Butch to Femme Fatale’ and beside her stood pint-sized Maggie in her denim hot pants and white t-shirt that read ‘Femme Fatale’. It was adorable, honestly, but as you stood there alone in the stream of people coursing and jostling down the avenue of grass between the smaller stands and side-shows, over-stimulation swamped you completely and you found yourself drowning silently.

Flashing lights, blaring funfair music, screaming, children running this way and that, rides rumbling and rattling on all sides, electronic bleeps and jingles mingling into a cacophonous mixtape in the air and reverberating in your head, cartoon pistol noises on the laser gun range sounding over and over and over, more screaming as the pendulum ride swung overhead once again…

The sensory overload raked its claws across your skin and left you with white noise in your head and cotton wool in your mouth.

The scent of candy floss grew chokingly thick in the air as you just stood there, paralysed.

Out of nowhere, a small and extremely solid lizardfolk kid barrelled into you, nearly knocking you flying. His horned head collided with your thigh and it hurt, but you didn’t cry out. His father scooped him up by the hand and apologised to you, but when he saw you rocking from side to side, he snatched his kid away and shot you another look, as if you were contagious or dangerous and not just struggling to kick start your brain again so you could get yourself the heck out of there and find somewhere safe to process everything.

Struggling to catch your breath, you gripped one hand with the other, squeezing as hard as you could but it wasn’t enough. There was just too much, inside and out, and you had nowhere to put it — nowhere to park it all until you could deal with it.

Someone ducked in front of you, their huge form blotting out the searing light of the afternoon sun.

Blinking, you looked up, still rocking, and tried to focus on their face.

He was an orc, you realised when you saw the huge, jutting tusks in his lower jaw and the expanse of sage green skin. A long, thick plait of black hair hung forward over his left shoulder, and through it ran a streak dyed a dark, vibrant red that was really attractive; it complemented the green tone of his freckled skin beautifully. Wearing a white, sleeveless tank top that had the logo of the fairground company on it, he wasn’t built like he spent every spare minute in the gym, but he looked like he could have lifted the ferris wheel right off its supports with no trouble at all.

Someone snickered nearby and you flinched, but you didn’t break the steady rocking motion of your body while mentally you tried to fend off all the unending stimuli around you. The orc’s expression darkened when he caught the sound of laughter, and he stepped pointedly a little to the left. The movement served to block you from their sight and to refocus your attention on something that was quiet and solid and steady in front of you.

Yeah, he was solid alright. You blinked and watched the corners of his mouth twitch upwards just a little behind his colossal tusks, both of which bore silver caps over the tips to indicate that he had reached full maturity in the eyes of his culture. It probably meant that his tusks were filed to sharp points beneath the caps too. It was rare for orcs who lived in the city to stick to the older ways, but as you continued to stare up at him and move side to side while you ran your hands over your forearms, you noticed the beads in his braid of different materials: wood, copper, steel, glass, stone, and even bone. He’d lost someone close to him then at some point. Gods, now was not the time to be fishing everything you knew about orcs out of the depths of your brain.

For another few seconds, he continued to shield you from the staring judgement of the people in the queue for the nearest booth, but when you didn't seem to be able to settle, he jutted his chin to the side of the grassy avenue between the stalls.

“My name is Rhokann. You wanna step this way for a second? Catch your breath where it’s a bit quieter?” he said.

When no words came to your lips, he tilted his head just a little and then beckoned you with a big hand. “There’s a quieter spot over by that oak tree and the river. You want to come with me for a minute?”

You did. You also wanted to say thank you, but the words got glued up on their way from your brain to your mouth, so you just nodded.

He stuck out his arm and halted the flow of people for a moment to usher you between the candy floss stall and something else that was painted a thousand lurid colours so you didn’t look too long at it. Only when you saw the bole of a huge, old oak and a wide patch of un-trampled grass around it did you let out a shaky breath and turn to see him standing a little way off. A couple of people peered after you down the gap between the stalls, and he looked back at them with a very articulate and animalistic growl. That done, he stepped a little to his right, obscuring the view of you down the small alley with his body.

“Forget about them and look out over the river for a minute,” he suggested.

His dark brown eyes slid from you to the railings behind you, and you turned to see the river gushing in a white foam over the weir that controlled its flow through the city beyond. The sounds of the funfair behind you faded slowly, dissolving into the steady stream of white noise from the river, and you took a deeper breath and gradually released the death-grip you’d had on your own hands.

You let your gaze unfocus a little, but your body kept on moving as it tried to help you dissipate all the tension that had been building in your muscles and your mind ever since you’d first arrived at the fair.

A shadow moved in the corner of your vision, and you found Rhokann approaching slowly. He cast a pointed look at the metal railing to your left and said, “You mind if I join you for a moment?”

You shook your head. The word ‘no’ didn’t want to come, but he didn’t seem to take it as rudeness.

“Cheers,” he said. “Carnival gets intense, huh?”

This time, you nodded and he smiled when he saw it. You liked the way it hitched his mouth up around his tusk on the right, and it brought a twinkle to his coffee-brown eyes.

“Take your time,” he said. “You here with your friends?”

You nodded.

“They know where you were?”

You shook your head, but reached into your pocket and drew out your phone. Shaking it a little, you hoped he’d get the idea that they could contact you if they wanted to find you, or the other way around, and he smiled again in understanding. Your heart skipped a beat. He may have been seven and a half feet tall, but he had a gentle demeanour that you hadn’t really realised was possible in someone that big. He had a paunch too, which he clearly wasn’t trying to hide with his close-fitting, sleeveless top, and you could see from the scoop of the neckline that he had an attractive swirl of dark hair across his pecs that made you wonder what the rest of him looked like without clothes on; a fact that was startling enough in that moment to make you flush hot and look away.

“You want me to keep you company for a bit, or do you want some space?” he asked after another couple of minutes floated past.

You shook your head and then struggled to find the words to make him stay just a bit longer. When he saw you floundering, he smiled and asked, “Stay?”

You nodded, exhaling in relief, even as you fought off a rush of disappointment in not being able to form the words.

“You’re good,” he said with a wave of a huge hand. “Don’t stress talking.”

He took a deep, luxuriant inhale and leaned his massive forearms on the metal railing, easing his weight forward and gazing out at the river. His braid went all the way to the small of his back and it made you want to wrap it around your hand and tug just to see what kind of sound he’d make, and again, you had to look away before he caught you lusting after him. Just because you’d been rescued by a heroic stranger, didn’t mean you had to go falling in love with him in the following five minutes. It didn’t hurt that he hadn’t batted an eyelid at your stimming, or that he didn’t seem bothered by the fact that you’d been rendered almost completely non-verbal by the whole experience.

Your phone buzzed in your pocket a while later and you drew it out again to see that Lily was looking for you.

‘Where are you, Titch?’ she’d texted and you smiled when you saw the nickname. The massive orc had given it to you back in college, and it had stuck ever since. Even Ellis called you ‘Titch’ sometimes, despite the fact that he was nearly a foot and a half shorter than you. ‘We turned around and you’d gone!’

Rhokann was watching you from the corners of his kind eyes, and you waggled the phone again before typing out a message to Lily. ‘Needed to step away for a second. Got rescued by a super hot orc guy. More at ten.’

Lily texted back immediately. ‘Super hot orc guy, huh? I’ll be the judge of that. Where are you?’

‘Big oak tree on the edge of the park near the river. Don’t embarrass me please.’

‘As if I’d ever…’

‘You spend every spare minute you’re not kissing Maggie trying to embarrass me and El and Luke.’

‘Fair play. We’re nearby. I can see the tree’

You locked your phone and swallowed thickly, feeling a bit more able to talk. “Friend’s coming…” you faltered. Wow. Nice and articulate, you sneered at yourself with your usual sarcasm.

“That’s good,” Rhokann smiled back. He made no move to push himself back upright from the railings though, and shifted his gaze back out to the city that sprawled over the other side of the river. He gave another sigh.

You stepped a little closer and looked up at him. “You… ok?” you asked.

“Mm,” he hummed. When he looked back down at you, his dark eyes were strangely sad. “Just… thinking,” he said with a gesture of his hand near his temple. “I’ve been working here all summer, and it’s been amazing, but I’m starting a full time job in a week. I’m just thinking about what’s coming next.”

“Doing what?” Words were starting to come back a little quicker now, but it wasn’t great.

He turned his head over his shoulder to look at you, but before he could answer your question, you heard Lily’s voice coming from behind you.

“Hey Titch!” she called, and then she eyed the other orc ostentatiously up and down.

She raised an eyebrow when she saw the beads in his braid and the cuffs around his thick tusks, and you watched Rhokann deflate a little. Lily was not a traditional orc. For one, she was dating a human, which wasn’t exactly frowned upon but humans weren’t normally seen as suitable partners for her kind, and for another, she had cut her black hair short in a style shaved close to her skull above her pointed ears and left a little longer on top. She wore no cuffs on her tusks, and she’d filed them to softly-rounded points. “As much for Maggie’s pleasure as my own damned convenience,” she’d once told you.

Lily disdained orcs who stuck to the old ways, thinking them brutish thugs stuck in the past, and she folded her arms as she stared Rhokann down. “You wanna head home?” she asked in a low growl.

You turned your attention to Rhokann and he offered you a tiny, sad smile and a shrug of his shoulder. You wanted to stay and get to know him, but you also desperately wanted to be away from the fairground now. Your body felt drained of life, like you were running on fumes, and all you wanted was the quiet of your apartment, a pair of noise-cancelling headphones, and a good book.

In the end, Rhokann decided for you. He offered you a broader smile, and said, “It was nice meeting you. Take care.”

You’d never regretted your tendency to go non-verbal more than watching him walk away and not being able to say thank you.

With Lily on one side, you were joined by Luke a few minutes later, still hauling around the giant fluffy bunny he’d won, its ears flopping comically with each of his bounding steps, but you kept scanning every face for Rhokann. You saw an ogre with green skin that was a similar shade to Rhokann’s, but disappointment bit deep when you realised it wasn’t him, and when a flash of red hair up ahead drew your attention, you barely contained a sob when you saw it was a troll with multiple streaks of red in their black hair.

The walk back home passed in a daze, and you spent the rest of the day buzzing in the worst way possible.

A week later, Luke texted and asked if you wanted to grab breakfast on your way to work, and since you only had stale cereal in your cupboard, you practically leapt at the chance. ‘You mind if we drop my car off at the garage on the way?’ he asked with a subsequent text. ‘There’s an amazing little cafe just around the corner and we can get the metro from there afterwards.’

When his sputtering old deathtrap wheezed onto the garage forecourt though, your heart practically sputtered out as well. There, in oil-stained overalls, was Rhokann.

He didn’t spot you to start with, but when you climbed out of the passenger side and closed the door, his eyes flickered to you and then away again. Then back in a huge, obvious double-take, and his face split into a hearty grin. “Hey,” he chuckled once he’d taken the keys from Luke. “I didn’t think I’d get the chance to see you again.”

“Neither did I,” you admitted, and Luke shot you a look. He was in his human form this time, but he was no less intimidating than he looked as a shifted werewolf. For all that he was happy to haul a fluffy, cartoon rabbit around a funfair all day without a lick of self-consciousness, he was a dedicated gym-rat and had the body to match, but while his commitment was certainly admirable, he wasn’t your type. Rhokann, on the other hand, with his strongman physique and solid layer of fat to soften the strength that lay beneath… unfff… It was hard to look at him for long without feeling your skin start to prickle with heat.

“Wait, you two know each other?” Luke asked you and you nodded.

“He came to my rescue at the fairground last weekend while you were showing that white rabbit the time of its life,” you grinned.

At that, Luke flushed. You weren’t the only one who liked Rhokann’s build, but the orc wasn’t looking at Luke’s incredibly toned arms, which were currently being deliberately shown off to amazing advantage by his tight, black t-shirt. No, Rhokann was looking at you like you were the most interesting thing he’d seen in a year, and it was enough to make a cloud of butterflies erupt in your chest.

“Damn,” Luke hissed down at you, smirking. “You weren’t kidding about the ‘super hot orc guy’ thing.”

At that, your eyes went wide with horror and you smacked him in the chest with a wild flail of your hand. “I can’t believe Lily told you I said that, but you didn’t have to fucking repeat it!” you hissed around a strangled yelp. “In front of him,” you added through gritted teeth.

Rhokann chuckled quietly from a few feet away, and you turned quickly back to look at him. He raised one thick, black eyebrow and you rolled your eyes.

Turning to Luke in desperation as a mild panic seeped across your brain, you blurted, “Didn’t you say they were super busy at breakfast? Come on, we’d better go…”

And with that, you bolted from the garage without waiting for Luke to follow.

You weren’t proud, and you were sorely disappointed in yourself for chickening out, but in your defence, your friend had just embarrassed the hell out of you in front of your hero of the day. What if Rhokann just thought you were some human with a crush now?

Luke caught up with you, looking back over his shoulder at Rhokann for a second, and then trotted down the road at your side. “Hey, wait, I’m… I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“It’s ok,” you groaned. “I know how it feels when there’s a gorgeous guy standing there looking like… that… In your case, stupid stuff falls out of your mouth. In my case, I clam up.”

“Fair, but still,” Luke groused, holding the door of the cafe open for you and letting you step in ahead of him. “I’m sorry.”

The scent of coffee and sweet icing sugar wafted around you and you forgot your embarrassment for a bit, but the way you’d scuppered your chances haunted you for the rest of the morning at work.

By the time you got home, you were fractious and stimming and in need of some space to slough off the day on your own terms. When your phone chimed a little while later, you assumed it would be one of your friends, but it was an unknown number, and your heart skipped a beat.

‘Hey, it’s Rhokann. I hope this isn’t presumptuous of me. Your friend Luke gave me your number and said it was an apology, but he didn’t say what for. Anyway, if you’re not interested, just ignore this and block my number, but I’d love to see you again. Let me know if you’re up for that, and maybe we can figure something out soon. If not, I’m glad I met you all the same and I won’t contact you again.’

No one had ever said anything like that to you, and you stared at the text for a full five minutes.

The first person you texted though was Luke to yell at him affectionately in all caps. He called you back, and you accepted the call with a little huff that made him laugh with quiet fondness. “I’m sorry, Titch,” he said. “But I fucked up, and I figured he’d been about to ask for your number before you bolted…”

“Yeah, but I would have had the chance to say no…” you said.

“True, and I’m sorry I interfered again,” he sighed, and then after barely a beat had passed, “So are you gonna meet up?”

You rolled your eyes and flopped down onto the sofa. “I haven’t texted back. But probably.”

“Yes! He’s stunning. You saw those caps on his tusks though, right? He’s old school… He’s probably gonna go all-out to impress you…”

“So long as he doesn’t literally hunt and catch dinner for me, I don’t mind. Lily told me about orc courtship, and I am not interested in a whole fucking elk on my doorstep or something…”

“Nah, but he might challenge the chef to a death match for the honour of feeding you…”

“Oh please don’t even joke about it,” you groaned, and Luke did laugh, long and loud. “I’m hanging up now, you bastard.”

“Love you too, Titch,” he said, and hung up for you.

It took a while to figure out how to reply to Rhokann, but eventually you came up with something that you hoped didn’t sound super desperate and strange. ‘Sorry I bailed earlier like that. Luke has no shame, I swear, but I’ve told him off for going behind my back and we’re friends again now. You free this Friday evening?’

Before you could chicken out, you sent the message and sat back on the sofa, wringing your hands quietly in your lap and breathing steadily.

His reply came five minutes later. ‘If it helps, he was really awkward about broaching the topic with me when he came to collect his car. And yes I am free this Friday. What were you thinking?’

‘All on me then?’

‘I have suggestions but I wondered what you wanted. Cocktails at ‘IceCube and Henbane’? Catching that new movie they’re advertising all over town? Dinner somewhere? A walk along the river and takeaway from one of the food trucks? Any combination of those?’

Realising he was probably letting you decide on something that wouldn’t be as overstimulating as the funfair had been, you decided to keep being playful first. ‘You know henbane is poisonous to humans?’

‘They serve human-safe cocktails too, and non-alcoholic ones too that are just as good. Steer well clear of the naga-specific menu though because that shit could clean out a drain. Or strip the rust off your buddy’s car.’

You barked a laugh that echoed off the walls of your apartment. ‘I’ll tell him you said that.’

‘Go ahead, I said as much to him already.’

His texts had a cocky kind of confidence that he’d not really exuded on the day you’d met him at the fair, but then you remembered how he’d drawn himself up to his full height to shield you from those artless onlookers and flexed his shoulders just a fraction to make them back off, and you figured the two sides of him could probably sit well on his bulky frame after all.

‘Oof, I bet his ego took a hit with that. Let’s do cocktails and then maybe walk them off along the river afterwards?’

‘Sounds perfect. Shall I meet you somewhere first or meet there?’

You looked the place up online, which you probably should have done first in case it was out of your price range, and hit the map on the website to see where it was. Having arranged to meet him there, you signed off for the night and tried to get your mind to stop spinning. Somehow, despite two missed chances, the universe had thrown you a gift and a third chance in the form of Luke’s meddling.

That Friday, dressed in what you hoped would be an appropriate outfit for a cocktail bar in a swankier part of the city, you headed out with your heart in your throat.

Rhokann was impossible to miss, standing under the soft, orange light of the lamp outside the cocktail bar, and wow did he look good in black dress pants and a white shirt. His twin silver tusk-caps caught the light, and you noted that this time he had his hair tied back off his face in twin braids that melted into a single rope that hung down his spine.

He spotted you and turned to watch you walk towards him, but he didn’t make any kind of move towards you until you came to a stop in front of him and looked up into his softly smiling face.

“Hi,” you said awkwardly.

“Hi. You look gorgeous,” he added, eyeing you up and down in a way that made his gaze feel like a physical presence against your skin, and it was all you could do to repress a shiver.

You swallowed thickly. “Likewise.”

“Shall we head in?”

“Lead the way,” you said, not really wanting to walk into the unfamiliar space first. Rhokann just nodded and pushed the door open, holding it for you to enter behind him before heading into the softly-lit, wood-panelled bar.

It had the cosy, secretive air of a speakeasy, and as you wove through the tables behind the server who had looked Rhokann up and down and licked her lips in a very unsubtle display of interest, you spotted someone playing an upright piano in a far corner. Rhokann thanked the server politely and let his eyes drift back to you a moment later, the woman apparently forgotten. Something warmed in your chest and you took your seat opposite him.

He was one of those people that had real presence, and it wasn’t just his size that conjured it around him like a tangible aura. There was something about him that made people look at him, but his eyes never left you. After two menus had been set down before you, he said, “Tonight’s on me, if that’s alright?”

“You’re sure?”

Rhokann inclined his head and you caught sight of an earring dangling from his right ear. It looked like a piece of jet shaped like a small fang, polished and set in silver and dangling by a single link to a ball stud in his earlobe. He had silver rings up the line of cartilage to the pointed tips of his ears, and in the lobe of his left he had a simple silver stud. At the artfully-open neck of his white shirt, you could see the hint of an orcish tattoo and a whisper of dark hair that made something thrum through you again.

In contrast to your habit of moving around, he seemed still and calm as a monolith, and you found yourself drawn to that; drawn to his steadiness in a way you’d never experienced with anyone. Over the course of the next two hours, the two of you also talked in a way you’d never found easy with anyone. He listened, and in a measured, easy, back and forth of conversational give and take, you got to know each other.

His family was wealthy and lived in the country for the most part, and yes, they were very traditional by modern orcish standards. “You might think I’m pretty formal when it comes to orcish ways,” he said, looking self-conscious for the first time all evening, “But you should see my parents and my two older brothers…” He took a deep draw of his smoky, whisky cocktail and blew out a breath. The tip of his tongue caressed his lower lip just a little as he savoured the lingering taste, and your eyes tracked the movement hungrily.

To distract yourself, you eyed his silver tusk-caps and said, “I was going to ask about…” and tapped the side of your mouth awkwardly, not sure if you should really be asking about his orcish jewellery and personal tastes so soon.

To your relief, Rhokann smiled and brought his finger and thumb up to the right hand tusk. He lifted the cap off and turned it over in his hand for a second before handing it to you to look at. The tusk beneath gleamed beautifully in the low light, and you had been correct in guessing that his tusks were tipped with wickedly sharp points beneath them.

In your fingers, the cap was practically the size of a tiny shot glass, and you could see the orcish patterns engraved into its surface all the way around. “It’s beautiful,” you said. “My friend Lily told me a bit about orcish culture, but she doesn’t really keep to traditions, so I don’t know all that much. Just the things she personally doesn’t like. Which, to be fair, seems like a lot when you get her started on a rant.”

He laughed and delicately took the silver cap back from you when you held it out to him. He slid it easily back into place and said, “You can ask me anything you like. I figured your friend didn’t like me much when she gave me the once-over at the fairground.”

“She’s protective of the people she cares for,” you said. “It’s the one orcish trait she hasn’t abandoned. That, and showing off her muscles for her girlfriend.” The heady atmosphere and the slight rush of adrenaline that was coursing through you from being so close to him at last was making you bold, and you spoke before you’d realised you might actually be insulting him, but Rhokann only laughed.

“Ahh, those traits are etched into our DNA,” he said. “You’re gonna have to go a long way to find an orc who isn’t protective, and who doesn’t like to show off just a little bit.”

You stared pointedly at his muscles beneath the white shirt and then looked him in the eye. “If you’ve got it, why not show it off a bit.”

“Only if it works…”

You cocked an eyebrow. “Can’t you tell?”

He leaned just a fraction closer and your heart skipped a beat or two as his big, brown eyes seemed to glow softly. “I’m getting some hints,” he purred. “You slipped through my fingers twice now,” he went on, bringing his hand up onto the table and laying it knuckle-down on the wooden surface between your empty glasses. “I’m not going to let a third time pass me by without a proper answer from you.”

“What’s the question?” you asked faintly.

He smiled. “Can I see you again after tonight?”

You nodded.

“You want to get out of here yet?”

Again, you nodded.

His smile returned, and you sat back in your seat while he hailed the server and paid for your drinks. He gave her a tip generous enough to make her blush, and then stood and looked down at you. “Ready?”

A third nod was all the answer you could muster, but he didn’t seem to think you rude.

He walked behind you this time as you led the way out, and when you stepped out into the balmy, end-of-summer evening, you heard him heave a huge sigh. Glancing back over your shoulder, you found him looking at you, and you flushed. “What?”

“I’m just glad I got the chance to see you again. I thought… I thought that was it when your friend bustled you away from me.”

“Why were you working there?” you asked bluntly. You wanted to know why he was working as a mechanic at a tiny garage on the edge of town too, if his family was so well-off, but you didn’t know him well enough to ask something so direct. “At the fair, I mean.”

He smiled. “I wanted to?” he shrugged. “I’ve always been the dutiful son — I went to a good university and got a respectable degree and got a sensible job, but I felt… choked.”

Rhokann sighed again and checked the street for traffic before gesturing with his hand for you to start crossing. You walked by his side as the pair of you headed towards the river, where a long, flat promenade stretched, and you listened to him talk. His beautiful, rumbling bass carried easily on the still evening, and it made you feel steady again amid the noise of the city behind you.

“I’m not on bad terms with my family or anything, but… after a close friend of mine passed last year, I decided that I was going to live my life on my terms, and not anyone else’s. My heritage is very important to me, but it’s not everything I am. My family doesn’t understand why I quit my career and got a summer job working at the fair of all places, or why I turned my love of cars and fixing things into a job as a mechanic.”

“If you’re happier now, that’s all that matters, right?” you said.

He grinned. “I’m happy tonight, that’s for sure.”

“You’re such a charmer.”

“If it works, right?” he chuckled. You got the impression there were depths to him that would slowly unravel to you over time, and you found yourself looking forward to it already.

“Yeah, it works,” you mumbled.

You walked along the embankment together for a while until his footsteps faltered and he asked, “Would you let me hold your hand?”

“Sure,” you smiled, hoping you didn't have sweaty palms.

His hands were rough and huge, but you made it work, and it was wonderful to have a physical connection with him after clicking over chat and drinks already.

In the lea of the oldest bridge that spanned the wide river, the two of you slowed and came to a natural halt to lean against the wall in easy silence, staring out at the water as it slid past in an inky, glittering ribbon.

Rhokann turned away from the view and the movement caught your attention, drawing your gaze up to his handsome face.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked in a hoarse murmur.

“Yes.”

Leaning down, Rhokann placed his palms on your jaw and angled your head gently upwards, but he didn’t kiss you right away. He bit his lower lip and although his eyes narrowed, you saw the way his pupils widened hungrily. “You’re stunning,” he exhaled. “I… I’ve wanted to kiss you all night.”

“Stop talking about it then, and do it,” you teased.

His eyes flashed and he closed the distance between you, hunching over and pressing his mouth against yours. His tusks framed your mouth beautifully, the silver caps nudging into your cheeks a little as he kissed you senseless. You’d never been kissed like that. His hands left your face and wandered down to your waist, where he tightened his grip and picked you up, setting you down on the wide, stone wall that bordered the river. At that height, it was much easier for him to reach you, and he stepped closer, parting your knees to stand even nearer to you. You hooked your lower legs around his hips and let him kiss you over and over until your body felt like it was on fire.

Your fingers found the intricate plait of the braids on the side of his head and he moaned when you ran your fingertips over the pattern. “I want you,” he said. “Not tonight if you don’t want it, but I need you to know I want you. However you’d like…”

“I want you too,” you breathed back in the scant space between you, foreheads touching. It felt more intimate than any words you’d ever spoken, but it also felt true.

Your hands moved to grip his huge, rounded shoulders and you squeezed before running your palms across his pecs. His chest heaved and he sounded out of breath when he said, “My place isn’t far from here. You want to come back to mine?”

You nodded.

He lifted you down and took a moment with his eyes closed to breathe carefully. In the light of a nearby street lamp, you could see the impressive tent in his trousers, and you bit back a smile.

“Told you I want you,” he said when he caught you looking. “Come on.”

Flattered and a little intimidated, you walked with him back to his apartment. It wasn’t anything showy like a penthouse overlooking the city, but it was in a nice part of town, and it felt secure and homely as you followed him into the lift. In a small rush of bravery, you placed your hand at the small of his back and you felt as much as heard the groan of pleasure he let out in the small confines of the elevator. His skin radiated heat through the fabric, and you splayed your fingers, feeling the solid muscle and the slight softness there too that made you ache inside and out for him.

By the time you got to his front door, he was taking deliberately steady breaths, but the moment you were inside, he lost a little of that composure. “I’d offer you a drink, or —” You silenced him by reaching up and pressing your thumb along his lip before drawing him down to kiss you again. Part of you wanted him to take you right there in the hallway, but you had hoped for something a little more comfortable.

Rhokann undressed you carefully but insistently, and between the front door and his stylish, modern bedroom you left a trail of your clothes and his, until you were both in only your underwear by the time you were standing beside his massive bed.

Dark sheets stretched neatly across its huge expanse, and he let you push him down to sit on the edge of the mattress, gazing up at you with his hands resting at your hips, thumbs drawing idle lines across the fabric of your underwear. The evidence of his arousal was obvious, and a darker wet patch had started to seep into the material at the tip of his cock.

His body was soft but strong in the kind of way that you’d always adored. His paunch was evident, but his arms were like anchor cables, and while he might not have had the lean look of a social media gym-junkie, he could outlast any of them in a show of strength.

“I never thanked you,” you said, reaching around to the back of his head for the plait that you’d wanted to feel in your hands since the first time you’d seen him.

“For what?” he asked breathlessly. His pupils were huge and the light reflected in his warm eyes like a cat’s in the dark. Desire swept through you in a heady rush.

Slowly, taking your time about it, you straddled his lap and sank yourself down to grind your hips decadently against his, and when his hard cock moved against your body, he let out a long, broken moan.

You tightened your hold on his braid and the sound he made would stay with you forever. The deep, guttural groan rumbled from his chest and his eyes rolled back behind fluttering eyelids. Beneath you, you felt his cock twitch.

“Please,” he gasped. His grip tightened on your hips and he shuddered like he was losing control of all his strength, fighting to keep from having his way with you. The jet earring dangling from his right ear glinted softly as it swayed like a tiny pendulum in the void between his earlobe and his shoulder.

“I never thanked you for taking such good care of me,” you said.

The orc responded exactly as you’d expected he would, and gave a throaty hum of pleasure.

“When I needed you, you protected me… got me out of there…”

You’d chosen your words very carefully, and Rhokann arched his spine, jutting his hips up and practically begging to fuck you without uttering a word.

You twisted his braid around your hand one more time and he tipped his head back, following the direction of the force you put on his head. The lick of red in his forelock looked perfect in the warm light of his bedroom, and you had been right about the orcish tattoos that covered his chest, right down to his hips. He also had the most delicious chest hair and the dark trail that ran down from his navel to the waistband of his tight boxer-briefs was gradually making you lose your mind.

“You were patient and understanding, and you didn’t mind that I didn’t have my words then,” you went on. “But I have them now, don’t I?”

“You do,” he choked. “You do. Please… Please…”

“Let me thank you properly then,” you said, and climbed carefully off his lap. You looked pointedly at his underwear and said, “Off.”

“Only if you do to,” he said, and you knew you’d met your counterpart in him.

He gave and took in equal measure, and as the two of you lost yourselves tangled in his sheets that night, you knew he was going to be the best thing that could have happened to you. The two of you moved in perfect synchrony, and you came apart within a heartbeat of each other. Rhokann made a mess of the sheets and you made more noise than you’d ever made coming in your life, and when the two of you lay back, sweaty and satiated at last, he wrapped his arm around you and pressed a kiss to your temple.

“You’re perfect,” he whispered.

“Thank the gods for third chances,” you smiled and he laughed quietly. “And meddling werewolves.”

“Indeed. Come here.” He tugged you against his body so that you were lying half-propped against him, with one arm draped over his soft middle, and you trailed your fingers up the centre of his chest. “You staying the night?”

You nodded, and hoped it would be the first of many.

I really hope you enjoyed this. If you did, and you made it all the way to the end, please consider showing your support by reblogging. It really is the best (and totally free!) way to help the artists and writers whose work you enjoy.

Masterlist | Ko-fi (tip jar)

#orc #male orc #gender neutral reader #body neutral reader #gn reader #male orc x gn reader #orc x reader #male orc x reader #orc boyfriend #monster boyfriend #exophilia #monster lover #monster romance

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girl-in-the-library · 5 years ago

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I was talking with @blue-maelstrom and @pocket-pickett about Pokemon and the potential SwSh leaks and which versions we were going to get plus our starters (I think all three of us are going to get sword, I’m picking Sobble and both of them are picking Scorbunny, if I remember correctly.)

But then we started talking about how we felt about each of the generations of games, and I found it interesting the differences in our game preferences! They can tell you specifically their favorites, and while we didn’t talk much about gens 1-3 (which I know we all agree are very good, either because of nostalgia or actual quality) our favorites between 4-7 varied quite a bit.

I know we’re different people, so this shouldn’t actually surprise me, but it made me think about what my favorites in order would be, if we counted all the games in the main series (so that doesn’t include games like the Pokemon Dungeon series, Pokemon Rangers, Pokemon Stadiums, Coliseum, or Gale of Darkness, that weird one that had the Samurai, Trozei and Puzzle League and Hey You Pikachu and Pokemon Channel and Pokemon Let’s Go and Pokemon Rumble, and more that I can’t think of off the top of my head...so...yeah...)

And this is what I came up with:

This list includes games from Gen 1 to Gen 7...including the gen 1-3 remakes because Gen7 sort of made them back to be part of the mainline canon instead of just remakes: (1) Gen 2; Silver (reason: nostalgia) (2) Gen 3 remake Alpha Sapphire (3) Gen 1 original Yellow (4) Gen 3 original Sapphire (5) Gen 2 Crystal (6) Gen 7 Sun (7) Gen 5 Black 2 (8) Gen 6 X (9) Gen 1 remake FireRed (10) Gen 2 remake SoulSilver (11) Gen 5 Black (12) Gen 4 Pearl (13) Gen 3 Emerald NEVER PLAYED: Red, Blue, Gold, Ruby, Diamond, Platinum, White, White 2, Y, Omega Ruby, Moon, Ultra Moon, Ultra Sun

EXPLANATIONS AND ANALYSIS UNDER THE CUT

If not for nostalgia, Silver would probably fall down to number 3, and Alpha Sapphire and original Yellow would be pushed up to 1 and 2.

Also, this is actually reordered a bit from the version I sent to @pocket-pickett and @blue-maelstrom because I’ve thought about it more. Basically, I moved the FireRed and SoulSilver down further and moved up Sun, Black 2, and X and reordered those.

I never got to play Red and Blue because I didn’t have any money as a child (They came out when I was 6 years old, I didn’t get my first Gameboy until I was 8 years old, and my parents bought me Yellow version). The very first Pokemon game I bought for myself was Sapphire. So I missed the cultural milestone that was Red and Blue.

Up through Gen 3 I would get one version and my sister would get the other so we could trade Pokemon and find out the differences in story...so, while she also got Yellow as her first game, she got Gold and Ruby while I got Silver and Sapphire. I also got Crystal and Emerald because I was more into Pokemon than she was. FireRed came out and even though my sister didn’t want to play anymore, I definitely wanted the chance to play through the original game with the choice of the original starters, so it didn’t matter to me that she wasn’t playing with me (though I think at that point none of my friends were playing either...I didn’t know anybody who had LeafGreen, at least).

By the time Gen 4 came out, I was definitely the only one I knew who was still playing Pokemon and I was definitely buying the games for myself. Interestingly, this was also the only time I went against my gut (which told me to buy Diamond) and I bought Pearl. This was my least favorite generation. I honestly don’t remember anything about the plot at all, nor any of the gym leaders, your rival, or any other characters. I didn’t like the new evolutions for previous Pokemon that didn't evolve (like Tangela to Tangrowth, Nosepass to Probopass, Misdreaveous to Mismagius, Sneasel to Weaville...etc) or making baby-regular to baby-regular-third (like Elekid-Electabuzz to Electrovere, Magby-Magmar to Magmortar, and Magnemite-Magneton to Magnezone...etc) which is kinda weird because I like the new Alolan and Galarian forms because I think region divergent evolutions is incredibly cool...though I kinda don't like new Galarian evolutions to older lines (like Farfetch’d to Sirfetch’d or Zigzagoon-Linoone to Obstagoon?) I guess that falls into what I thought about before. The only thing I remember liking is Lucario, and that’s mostly because I honestly enjoyed the Pokemon movie Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.

Point is, if I had no one to play with I didn’t see the point in purchasing Diamond (which would be basically the same as Pearl except with exclusive Pokemon) or Platinum (because I didn’t like the game too much.) ...I guess I was also in my genwunner phase really hard at that point...so I’m not sure I would have liked any new Pokemon game...though I guess my genwunner phase also included gens 2 and at least part of 3, though I remember being dismissive towards at least some of gen 3. Either way, I didn’t like Gen 4, and I don’t to this day. I’m actually looking forward to the remakes whenever those come out so I can revisit the plot and the Pokemon with fresh eyes, now that I’m no longer a genwunner and don’t care whether or not I have friends who play.

SoulSilver came out on Pi Day my senior year in high school and by then, Pokemon was cool again (I was considered a Pokemon Master by the other kids in my grade, even though I had friends who were far better players than I. I was just well known for my continued love of Pokemon. I had people asking me advice when they all brought their gameboy colors and Pokemon yellow games into French class.) My friends and I all went to the mall to get either SoulSilver or HeartGold (yay! I had people to trade with again!) and then we went to my friend Maggie’s house, ate a bunch of pie, watched Pokemon the abridged series for one or two episodes, and played the original Pokemon monopoly before going back to our own houses to begin playing our new games. It’s one of my best memories of high school. SoulSilver was a nice trip down memory lane, and I loved it a lot because it was a remake of my favorite game and for the first time since Yellow, your Pokemon could follow behind you! But honestly? If my memory serves it was nothing special.

For Gen 5 I was in college and had new friends who played Pokemon. We made our way to the Prudential Center, which still had a Gamestop when Pokemon Black and White came out. I was in casual Ash Ketchum cosplay (No binder or wig, just the hat and gloves and Ash’s shirts and jeans. My hair was in a ponytail pulled through the back of the cap. I think I might have carried my Pokedex in my pocket too. RIP to that Pokedex...I may buy another one someday because it was my favorite prop.) We all bought either Black, White, or both and went to California Pizza Kitchen for lunch. I remember something about one of my friend’s being another’s “dipping sauce bitch” and there is definitely a picture of it on Facebook.

With regards to the actual game, and to Black 2 when that came out, I LOVED Team Plasma, even though I can never remember they are called Team Plasma, and N...though I sort of wish that the plot was related to an actual team who felt that Pokemon fighting was wrong (like N did for most of the game) and not that sort of evil puppetry...but I did also like the plot as it was. I also remember really liking some of the stuff they did with the graphics at the time. I don’t remember anything at all about any of the gym leaders or other characters. I also don’t remember the point of Black Kyurem and White Kyurem. I always think I remember less of Black/White than I do. So that was actually a generation I liked...though unless I think about what happened in it, my instinct is that it’s forgettable.

Pokemon X and Y are similar - it is a generation I definitely liked but my instinct is that it was forgettable. Yet again, I remember nothing about the gym leaders or the characters except Team Flare Red Hair Guy and Professor Friendo who totally trusted Team Flare Red Hair Guy and was like, “Haha - you joker, you’re hilarious” when Team Flare Red Hair Guy said “I’m going to destroy the entire fucking world.” I also remember going WAY TOO FAST on roller skates, being excited that you could finally customize your trainer, the fact that it was PokeFrance, and that you could give your Furfrou a haircut. I also remember the “It’s been 3000 years” thing that turned into a meme. Again, I loved this generation.

I didn’t get White, White 2 or Y for similar reasons that I never got Gold, Ruby, or Diamond - they were the Other Game, and I didn’t feel, plot-wise, the need to get essentially the same game save minor differences twice for completion’s sake.

ORAS is my absolute favorite game in the main series so far. It’s a remake of what I think is the best generation without looking through nostalgia goggles, the graphics are the best up to this point, it’s fun to revisit the whole Team Aqua - Team Magma thing that was so different from the other one-team-taking-over-the-world thing the other games had, as well as revisiting some fun features like Dive that never really came up again (I liked Dive...I don’t know if anyone else did lol). It brought back contests, which I always thought were a lot of fun, and SECRET BASES! But then...but then! The Delta Episode. The Delta Episode was STUNNING and began to bring a coherency to the entire Pokemon franchise that really hadn’t been there before. And my heart absolutely SOARED. Brilliant.

(I didn’t get Omega Ruby for, again, the same reasons as the other “Other Games”)

Then came Sun and Moon. I LOVED Sun! It had beautiful graphics, they were trying out new things (even if I didn’t think the trials really worked out gameplay wise, I was glad they tried!) The characters were amazing! I loved Hau and Lillie. Gladion was my precious emo child oh my goodness. Lusamine is amazingly crazy. Team Skull was a brilliant Team-Rocket-Wannabe made of millenials who actually just wanted a place to fit in. The designs of all the characters were incredible. I loved the idea of Alolan forms and divergent Pokemon evolution. The only thing was that there are now so many Pokemon I can’t even recognize them all. Through X and Y, even if I can’t name all the Pokemon, I can recognize them all if you show my a picture. That is...not true of all the ones in Sun and Moon. I also never really understood why they differentiated Ultra Beasts by calling them “Ultra Beasts” instead of just like...Pokemon from other dimensions? Because wasn’t, technically, Giratina also from another dimension? But that leads me to the fact that I adored that the alternate dimensions bit from the Delta Episode was further expanded on. Just <3 <3 <3.

I never played Moon (or, I suppose, Ultra Moon), again, as the “Other Game” reason...but the only reason I never played Ultra Sun was...I didn’t have the money to buy it. I’m a Real Adult now...but I’m also a Real Adult with a severe problem handling money appropriately and a mental illness that keeps me from holding down a job that allows me to actually buy little things like video games...it’s easier to justify spending money I don’t have on things like clothes or going out to eat...or even little things like a keychain because, hey, I need clothes and food, and that keychain is only $6...and a new video game is AT LEAST $60...and $60 is a lot. Basically....I’m bad at money and don’t have any to spend anyway.

That’s why I’m saving up for SwSh...I think I’ll probably get Sword because that’s what my gut is telling me. I hope that, if my sister (who is finally back into Pokemon!!!) gets one, she’ll get Shield. Though if she really wants Sword, I am probably going to get Shield just so we have opposite games again. Unlike Pearl and Diamond, where my gut told me to get Diamond but I got Pearl...my gut feeling for Sword versus Shield isn’t as strong as that. It’s a preference, not a deep sort of...something.

In every other generation, I had my head and my gut, which were usually aligned, telling me which version to get. (Aligned: Silver, Sapphire, FireRed, SoulSilver, Black, Black 2, X, Omega Sapphire. Unaligned: Diamond (gut) vs Pearl (head); Sun (gut) vs Moon (head). Pearl purchased, head over gut, Game disliked. Sun purchased, gut over head, Game liked.) I dunno if it means anything, but it’s been a pattern. For SwSh, my head and guy are aligned again, but they’re saying “I’d prefer Sword, but Shield is good too.” So I don’t know how to take that.

At the end of the day, and the end of this long analysis of the machinations of my mind with regards to Pokemon, I only have two things to say: (1) Pokemon is good and I love it and (2) I really want a Pokemon Coliseum/XD: Gale of Darkness reboot.

#pokemon #rambling about pokemon #opinions #pokemon opinions #oh the inanity!

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doomandgloomfromthetomb · 7 years ago

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Bob Dylan - The El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles, California, December 18, 1997

Neverending Tourists! We’ve made it to the 10th show in our NET crawl. Only 20 more to go! Are you exhausted by all the Bob yet? Weirdly I’m not. Maybe that’s not weird at all, I don’t know.

In late ‘97, Bob’s live show got a shot in the arm thanks to Time Out Of Mind, which was released to wide acclaim that September. Suddenly, he had a bunch of great new songs to add to setlists -- he could finally drop “Silvio”! Actually, they still play “Silvio” at this particular show. But whatever. There are also four TOOM tracks, and Bob and band lean into them with vim and vigor. The tumultuous maelstrom of “Cold Irons Bound,” the funky choogle of “Can’t Wait,” the sleazed out groove “Til I Fell In Love With You,” and the doom-laden “Love Sick” chug ... they all sound awesomely atmospheric. Where the album versions are blurry and woozy, the live interpretations are explosive and razor sharp -- Bob is clearly enjoying spitting out the nastiest of the lyrics. Great stuff.

And not only did Bob have excellent new songs to play, he had an excellent new guitarist, Larry Campbell, who would be at his side for the next seven or eight years. Campbell deserves to be mentioned alongside Dylan’s best guitar foils, thanks to a sensitive, textured approach that had been missing from previous NET players. Larry is right at home during this show, weaving his intricate lines effortlessly in with Bucky Baxter’s pedal steel beauty.

The more well-traveled material played this evening is marvelous, too, whether it’s the slow-burn of “I Want You” or the passionate delivery of “Born In Time.” Even “Like A Rolling Stone” is worth your time -- stick around for the delightfully breezy instrumental coda Baxter leads everyone into. How does it feel? Pretty fucking good, apparently.

Choice Cut: As good as the live Time Out Of Mind songs are, I’m going to have to give it up for “Blind Willie McTell,” which was finally getting played live during this period, almost a decade and half after Bob decided it wasn’t good enough for Infidels. (“‘Neighborhood Bully’!” he thought. “That’s the real classic.”) The arrangement is perfectly ominous and Dylan’s vocal is perfectly craggy.

Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar), Bucky Baxter (pedal steel guitar, mandolin & electric slide guitar), Larry Campbell (guitar), Tony Garnier (bass), David Kemper (drums & percussion)

1. Maggie's Farm 2. I Want You 3. Cold Irons Bound 4. Born In Time 5. Can't Wait 6. Silvio (Bob Dylan & Robert Hunter) 7. Stone Walls And Steel Bars (Ray Daniel Pennington / Roy E. Marcum) 8. Mr. Tambourine Man 9. Tangled Up In Blue 10. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry 11. Blind Willie McTell 12. ´Til I Fell In Love With You 13. Like A Rolling Stone 14. It Ain't Me, Babe 15. Love Sick 16. Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35

#bob dylan #the neverending tour

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son-of-radiance-blog · 7 years ago

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#4: Character Story Rolf

In years past the Greil Mercenaries were the most influential fighting force on the continent, in spite of their lack of status. They saved it from a mad tyrant, an all-consuming race war, and a vengeful deity. But as all things do, the wars ended, and so did the great days of the mercenaries. Ike and Soren left the continent on a grand journey from which they never returned. Oscar joined the Royal Knights. Mia and Gatrie split from the group to pursue their own goals. As for Shinon, well, he never truly belonged with the Mercenaries since Greil's death. As one comrade after another left the ranks of the mercenaries, Rolf remained, ever loyal to the cause he had believed in since childhood. Like his brother Boyd, he maintained rigorous training, as though war might come again someday. Would that he had been prepared for what came instead, as his child-like heart, the one that remained in tact after three wars, would be blown to fragments. On an ordinary day of archery training in the woods near Greil's retreat, one of Rolf's arrows missed a young woman's head by only an inch or two. As the woman fell to the ground in shock, Rolf rushed to her side to ensure she wasn't hurt. "Are you alright?" he asked her. "No," she cried, "I'm hopelessly lost in this damned wood and I almost died." "I'm so very sorry about that," Rolf said, "but you're not so lost. Greil's Retreat is less than a league east of here. If you'd like, I can take you there." "Would you please?" she pleaded, "I feel like I haven't eaten in days." "Alright, come with me." Just before Rolf lead her on, he made sure to introduce himself. "By the way, I'm Rolf of the Greil Mercenaries." "Rolf? Youngest of the three brothers? It's an honor to meet you." "Thank you." "My name is Magdalene." Rolf repeated her name a few times to see how it sounded. "May I call you Maggie?" he asked. "That's fine, Rolf. You may call me whatever you like." Rolf did as he promised, taking Maggie back to their retreat to offer her food and rest. He expected her to be gone within the day, but as time passed, she seemed less and less keen on leaving. She did write a letter to her family telling them where she was and that she was in good condition, but still she remained. One day turned into a week, and still Maggie hadn't left. During that time, she did little else but watch Rolf train and share meals with him and the rest of mercenaries. Eventually, the Mercenaries' charity ran thin, and Commander Titania began looking for ways to make her useful. First Mist approached her and offered to teach her to heal. After she failed the most rudimentary of lessons, she lashed out at the vice commander. "What kind of teacher are you?" she scolded, "Any priestess worth her salt would have made this ten times more learnable than you have." "I'm doing my best," Mist explained, "now let's just try again and..." "Forget it," Maggie said, "I'm through with this nonsense." She stormed off to watch Rolf train again, and never again tried to heal. Hurt and infuriated in equal proportions, Mist began to all but despise her, and her ire was reflected ten fold in her husband, who found few people more detestable than those who hurt his wife. Titania was not so happy about this either, accosting Maggie soon after with a mop and pail. "If you want us to continue to feed and house you," she explained, "you'll need to make yourself useful. It's clear to me that you have no intention of learning how to fight, and you clearly won't learn how to heal, which leaves us with one final option. We'll have you earn your keep by cleaning the fort, as well as managing the gardens, preparing the meals, making the beds, and whatever other odd chore we can have you do." Unable to defy the commander's iron resolve, she set to work, but secretly she planned to spite them. For the next two days, their meals were awful, nearly poisonous in fact, their beds were filthy, the floors slippery, and the gardens filled with unused piles of manure. The Mercenaries had no intention of tolerating this, and so they made plans to rebuke her. "There's a fire ant hill near the wall," Boyd said, "we could tie her hands and feet and dangle her over it." In time with Maggie's horrified gasp, Titania added "no Boyd, that's sadistic. My idea will harm her much less... bodily. Do we still have those stockades?" Maggie rushed to Rolf's side and clung to his arm, desperate for his aid. "Don't let them do that to me, Rolf," she pleaded. Held captive by her sad eyes, Rolf did as she said. "Come on, guys," he offered, "can't we find an easier way to get her to shape up. I'm sure all we need to do is slap her on the wrist to get her to..." "Rolf," commanded Titania, "I order you to surrender the lady to me so she may be, quite justly, subjected to public humiliation." There was nothing Rolf could do at that point. Within the hour, Maggie was locked in the stocks and pelted with foodstuffs, mud, and manure. By the time night fell, she was filthy and reeked of many unpleasant smells. Under the cover of darkness, Rolf snuck over to her stockades and let her out. "You're a little late," she spat at him. "I'm sorry," he told her, "I tried to save you, but Titania can't be defied. I have a bath prepared for you, if you..." She didn't even give him time to respond before rushing off in the direction he specified. Fortunately, he caught her before she was able to wake the entire fort. Once she was clean and her filthy clothes disposed of, Rolf, making sure he couldn't see her, made a suggestion. "Maybe you should leave the retreat," he suggested, "Mist dislikes you, and Titania won't tolerate you making any more mistakes." "Trust me," she said, "I've considered it. Those two drive me absolutely mad. I think they enjoyed pelting me with rotten apples while my hands were bound! But they've not the reason I'm still here, Rolf." "Why are you here?" "It's you, Rolf," she said, "you're the reason." From that night on, Rolf's life was a whirlwind of satisfaction. As soon as Maggie got back on Titania's good side, she and Rolf were married. Unlike Boyd before him, his wedding was no emotional spectacle, nor was it elegant, nor did the guest list include friends from all across the continent. A year passed and the two of them had a daughter who they named Remi. As soon as Rolf discovered her natural talent for archery, he went far out of his way to train her, until one day when a rebellious bowstring nearly cut off two of her fingers. Rolf rushed his daughter crying and bleeding to Mist, who patched her up quickly and efficiently. Though Remi was more than fine after this, Maggie was livid at her husband's irresponsibility. "She could have lost her fingers!" she yelled at him, "And sure, you may try and tell me she's just fine, but if you had just strung that bow properly like any decent archer, this never would have happened." "The bow was strung perfectly," Rolf explained, "this kind of thing happens all the time." "Well you shouldn't have let it happen to my daughter." "Our daughter." Maggie paused for a moment to consider that. "You know what, no," she said, "she's not your daughter anymore." "What are you saying?" "I'm tired of you and all your little problems. Remi and I are better off on our own. I'll be gone tomorrow. Don't come after me." Titania overheard all of this and grit her teeth. Fickle and repugnant were the only words she could think to describe this horrid woman, and her suspicions were confirmed when she heard Rolf begin to sniffle. Though not terribly good at emotional support, she thought it may be best for her to go to his aid as his comrade in arms, but as luck would have it, she wasn't the only one who overheard this. "Daddy?" said Remi, "Are you crying? Please don't cry, Daddy." Rolf embraced his daughter thinking it may be the last time he ever saw her. He couldn't begin to explain to her what was going on, but luckily, his daughter's wit was quick, and she understood as well as a small child could before he needed to. The next day, much to her chagrin, Rolf and the rest of the mercenaries were there to watch Maggie leave. "Come along, Remi," she said, each word a blow to Rolf's already broken heart. To her surprise, Remi simply stomped one foot and said "no." "Remi, listen to your mother." "No. I won't leave with you. You're mean and you made Daddy cry! I want to stay with daddy and auntie Titania, and auntie Mist, and uncle Boyd." "Remi, you can't..." "Oh yes she can," Titania said, "as of this day, Remi is a Greil Mercenary, meaning she's under my command, and my command for her is to stay in the Retreat until I choose to dismiss her. Now get out of here!" Maggie slung her belongings over her shoulder and left the Retreat. As she left Titania spat in her direction, Boyd bit his thumb, and mist offered her good riddance. "By the way," Boyd said to Titania, "are you sure you want Remi to be a Greil Mercenary." "For now that distinction is just for show," Titania explained, "I just needed something to use against her mother." "Understandable," Mist concurred. "Can we go shooting now, Daddy?" asked Remi, as though nothing had ever happened. In a maelstrom of heartache, Remi was all Rolf needed to dull the pain. "Of course, sweetie, just let Daddy get his bow." As Remi eagerly awaited their next trip into the woods, Rolf went to his quarters and pulled a bow out from under his bed. In a was a bow he had not used, touched, or even seen since the end of the Goddesses' War, since Shinon left. The bow was called Silencer, a fitting name considering its creator. Now it's creator was gone, and Rolf was the only one left to use it.

#fire emblem #fire emblem radiant dawn #son of radiance #Ike #Rolf #Titania

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guardians-of-iselda · 7 years ago

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July Wrap Up and August TBR:

So, in July I read 4 and a half books (we’ll get to it). So let’s start!

1. The Secret History by Donna Tart

· The Secret History follows the story of Richard, a new student at a Hampden College, a small, private liberal arts school in Vermont. There, he gets introduced to a group of 5 students, all of whom are in the same class under Professor Julian * who teaches the classics. Entering this tightly knit group of friends has horrible consequences for Richard when he gets involved in a plot to cover up a murder.

· I really liked this book, I gave it a 4 out of 5 starts on Goodreads. It was an interesting murder mystery which has a lot of underlying themes of identity, class, belonging to a group and adulthood. Tartt has an incredible talent for writing complex, morally ambiguous characters that make the reader change their mind on them so many times, and yet their actions are always authentic to their personalities. The plot kept me guessing on what happens, and that ending…

· On a fun side note, when you realize Tartt dated Bret Easton Ellis while she was writing this, everything in this book become much clearer :P

2. The Big Sheep by Robert Krause

· The Big Sheep is a cyberpunk, detective story, set in futuristic LA, after something called the Collapse left huge swaths of the city in complete chaos. These areas are known as the DZ, controlled by gangs and criminals. The book follows private investigator Erasmus Keane and his partner Blake Fowler on two separate yet related cases: a missing sheep who is a genetic test animal, and a young superstar actress who hires Keane to protect her because she believes someone is trying to kill her, but then doesn’t remember hiring him at all.

· I loved this book. I gave it a 4 out of 5, and the only reason it didn’t get 5, is because it wasn’t quite perfect, only nearly so. I loved everything about the story, the characters and especially the setting, and am looking forward to learning more about the Collapse and Maelstrom in the sequel. The only thing I wasn’t super fond of was the requisite ‘romances’ that Blake has, and some of the cliché plot turns, but Krause’ humour and wit made the clichés interesting again, and even when they failed, it was still fun to read (to see an example of this done poorly, look at nb. 4)

3. A Wrinkle in Time Madeline L’Engle

· This is a middle grade/ early teen classic, so I don’t know if a summary is even really necessary. It follows a young girl named Meg Murry who goes on a space and time spanning adventure along with her brother Charles and her friend Calvin and 3 witches (Mrs. Which, Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Who) to find and save her father.

· I liked this book, but I didn’t love it. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars, mostly because it was a little simple and shallow in its moralities and messages, and the most interesting part, the Tessaract and the wrinkling weren’t very explored or explained. Meg Murry is a disappointing character and Charles is absolutely unbearable. What kept me going for most of the book was honestly the wish to see it finally improve and the image of Chris Pine as Mr. Murry.

4. Neuromancer by Donald Gibson

· Neuromancer is a cyberpunk, futuristic novel that follows Henry Dorsett Case, a former cowboy (hacker) who has lost his ability to enter the matrix (essentially cyberspace) after having his nervous system fried by a toxin. He gets hired by a mysterious man named Armitage, to break into a cooperation and steal something, along with Molly, an even more mysterious razor-girl. Things get complicated when two separate AI programs get involved and their conflict might spell the last adventure for Case.

· I feel like I’ve ranted enough about this book, but I really, really didn’t like it. I gave it a 2 out of 5, and wrote a long, detailed review on Goodreards if you are interested. The only reason I was even that gracious with the rating, was because the plot was just interesting enough for me to finish it, even in spite of the awful characters, terrible writing and blatant sexism. Needless to say, I won’t be reading the sequels.

5. The Union Club Mysteries by Isac Assimov

· I didn’t even finish this book. I gave it a 1 out of 5 because I can’t give it a 0. There is no point in a plot synopsis since, it’s a collection of short ‘mystery’ stories with a very lose framing device in the form of the Union Gentleman’s Club and Griswold as a narrator. They are not very good mysteries and general stories, and I got bored halfway through and just gave up. Read anything from Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, or even the fucking Hardy Boys over this nonsense.

Now, onto the TBR for August! I want to read 5 books, though it’s very possible that I’ll end up reading only 4, we’ll see.

1. Ubik by Phillip K Dick

· I’ve already started this book, and I’m about a third in. I knew nothing about it before picking it up, so this summary is what I have surmised until this point.

· In a futuristic Earth, people with telepathic and precognitive skills are common and employed by various corporations. After having several of his employees disappear, Glen Runciter, takes a case that supposedly will allow him to get all of them back, but that takes him head to head with Hollis, a person who controls all the precogs and telepaths. His employee, Joe Chip stumbles onto a girl named Pat who has incredible powers; she can predict the future by changing the past.

· I like this book so far. The plot is interesting, the characters are mostly likable, though for now the mystery of the situation is what is keeping me invested.

2. Call Me by your Name by Andre Aciman

· I know very little about this book, but it was recommended by the same person who recommended Song of Achilles to me, and that book is one of my all-time favourites. What I do know is that it takes place in Italy, when an American grad student stays with an Italian family for the summer, and becomes very close to their teenage son.

· It sounds super melancholic and beautiful and I can’t wait to read it.

3. Catalyst (Rogue One) by James Luceno

· Another book I’ve already started, and I’m also a third of the way in. It follows two characters: Galen Erso, Jyn Erso’s father and his development of the Death Star for the empire, as well as his subsequent flirtations with the rebels; and Orson Krennic, an engineer who is responsible for developing the station, and an incredibly ambitious man, with a soft spot for Galen.

· I like this book way more than I liked the movie. Krennic and Galen are interesting characters, though the real show stopper is Lyra, Galen’s wife. I especially love the bureaucratic side of the Empire that we get to see in this book.

4. The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefwater

· I read the Raven Boys a while ago, and I loved it. Maggie’s writing style is beautiful, and c’mon, it’s a book about a group of teens searching for the tomb of a possibly cursed Welsh King? How is that not right up my alley?

· The second book, is also a magical realism story, mostly focusing on the Lynch family, from the sample chapters that I read when I finished the Raven Boys. I liked Ronan a lot last book, so I’m curious to see where the story goes from here.

5. Star Wars Aftermath: Empire’s End by Chuck Wendig

· I have been 100 pages in this boom since when I bought it. It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just that I don’t have the motivation to keep reading. Chuck Wending’s style is the type that you should read in one go, because it takes a while to get into, but once you do, it’s like an action movie; it just keeps on trucking forward, usually with a climactic finale.

· In this sequel, the gang is mostly split up from the beginning of the story; Nora and Temin are dealing with the consequences from the previous book, Jaz and Sinjir are their usual sulky selves, and Rae Sloane is hot on the trail of the Empire’s new mastermind. I just really hate the place in which the characters are at the moment, which is making me want to not read about them. However I promise I will push through and finish this book by the end of August and then maybe, make a retrospective on all the books in this trilogy.

That’s all, and I’ll be back at the end of August!

My Goodreads

#moni talks #books #reading list #goodreads

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