#and also him immediately looking over to his stall... okay

[ratatatastic]

do you also think about ekky, in his first full game back after rehab, the practise held the day afterwards, when asked how easy it was to play with forsy again going "its like having your own cheat code out there" and "im blessed to be able to play with such an awesome partner" thanks man very nice

[wonderjanga]

Little Billy the Assistant

Zatanna was looking for the Champion. She’d wanted to ask for his help procuring an ingredient for a potion. All she expected was a short trip and maybe adventure. What she didn’t expect was running into a magically gifted orphan homeless looking kid.

Zatanna: *takes a detour a cramped street with a bunch of stalls selling stuff*

Billy: *ahead of her, heads to a gate leading to an alley, looks around for a bit before literally melting the lock off*

Zatanna: *sees this and stares*

Billy: *casts one more glance back before nearly feeling his soul leave his body at the sight of her looking at him*

He looked just as surprised to see her as she was to see him. Zatanna thought he was scared because he got caught by someone using magic in public. Billy was actually scared because she saw his civilian form do magic. Because what if she connected it back to Cap or something?!

Anyways, they made an uncomfortable amount of eye contact from across the street before Billy bolted into the alley. She tried to follow, but the crowd of the cramped street kept getting in her way, and by the time she got to the alley he was gone. Having lost him, she decided to ask Cap about the little boy about a week later when they were both at the Watchtower after he’d helped her find the ingredient she’d wanted. As for why it took a week for her to find him and ask for help? Billy had been avoiding her. Anyways…

Zatanna: “Cap, have you seen this little kid running around?”

Marvel: *immediately knew she was probably talking about him* “You’re going to have to be more specific than that Zatanna.”

Zatanna: “Okay… this little blue eyed black haired short little thing, maybe nine or 10-”

Marvel: *a little offended because he’s 12*

Zatanna: “-I saw him do magic the other day so he’s magical too. You know anything about him?”

Marvel: “Maybe? Why do you care about him?”

Zatanna: “Because recently I’ve had this idea of maybe having a little stage assistant.”

Marvel: “I thought you said you never wanted to share the spotlight or something?”

Zatanna: “That is true, but he was adorable! And I’m pretty sure he was also homeless.”

Marvel: *doesn’t know how to feel about being called adorable* “So…?”

Zatanna: “So he’d become my assistant and learn how to do his magic better since I doubt he has a teacher if I’m right about him being homeless. There’s also the added bonus of earning money which will benefit whether or not he actually is homeless.”

Marvel: *was prepared to say yes as soon as he heard money* “I’ll talk to him about it.”

Zatanna: “Oh? So you do know him.”

Marvel: “Maybe.”

Zatanna: “Maybe?”

Marvel: “Maybe. By the way, I’m pretty sure that kid you’re talking about has a job as a radio show host so he might not accept your offer if it conflicts with his schedule.”

Zatanna: “Radio show host? That’s a little retro, no? Buuuuuut… if he’s a show host, that at least means he has some pizzazz, so he could probably be good on stage too! As for the schedule thing, I mostly do night shows so he should be good.”

Billy mulled over this decision for many(two) days before deciding he’d accept her offer. As Cap, he told her to meet Billy at a popular street.

Billy: *waiting near a fountain and contemplating every decision he made up until his*

Zatanna: “Ah, it’s you! I assume Cap told you about my offer?”

Billy: “Yes? Could we uh… talk more about what the job would be like?”

Zatanna: “Of course! But first, let’s get some food in you.”

Billy: “What? Why?”

Zatanna: “Bud, you’re practically skin and bones.”

Billy: “Oh.” *sounds upset*

Zatanna: “Hey, hey, hey! No need to get upset! Try to think of the positives! I’m getting you food!”

They went to a little diner and ate while discussing all the things. What his job as an assistant would be, his pay, and so on.

Zatanna: “You sure know how to talk business, little guy.”

Billy: “Thank you…?” *sounds confused*

Zatanna: “I meant that in a good way.”

Billy: “Oh. Thanks then.” *smiles*

Zatanna: *just barely resists the urge to pinch his cheeks*

Zatanna stand by the fact that this kid was, in fact, incredibly adorable. Such a cutie honestly. And he’s such a sweetheart, too. After this meeting, they met up a couple more times, so Billy could rehearse being her assistant before he actually went on stage. Then the day came that he finally had to do his job…

Billy and Zatanna: *standing behind a curtain on stage*

Billy: “Uhm… Ms. Zatanna?”

Zatanna: “Yes?”

Billy: “What happens if I’m not good at being an assistant?”

Zatanna: *pauses to think* “Well, you’d stop, but I’d still continue trying to help you with your magic.”

Billy: “You mean that?” *just happy she wouldn’t immediately kick him to the curb*

Zatanna: “Of course.” *again has to resist pinching his cheeks*

The curtains soon opened after that conversation. The show must go on!

I’ll leave it up to you guys on whether he did good or not.

[sukunas-wife]

“Lord Sukuna!” A man screamed before immediately bowing before him, Sukuna walking in his true form didn’t bother to look down. You walked behind him looking straight ahead holding Yuji’s hand. Yuji was smiling bright holding a sparkler that hadn’t been lit, you didn’t miss the smile and women who looked up at you with kind eyes and the kids who peaked at Yuji giggling as he waved his chubby hand sparkler shaking around and they waved back.

Treated like Royalty out of fear of The King of Curses, Uraume continued walking behind you with your Lady in waiting. Stopping when Sukuna had finally situated himself on the Platform reserved. It over looked the area, the festival to commemorate the ending of the year. You slowly sat beside Sukuna when he motioned you over with a look. Yuji sat to your left quickly changing to squish himself between you and his dad. Both you and Sukuna shifted over to make room for him as he started rambling about all the lanterns and games, asking if he could go. You looked at Sukuna, he seemed unsure before Uraume suggested it might not be a bad Idea, “Lord Sukuna, Surly no one would want to cause a massacre on the day of the coming new years.”

Sukuna looked at you and you looked at your son, Yuji was trained on his dads face with a pout and those big pleading eyes, Sukuna turned away with a wave of dismissal. “I’ll be here, come back when you’ve had your fun.” Yuji’s quick smile turned into a pout “daddy’s not coming?”

Sukuna felt the tug on his robes, he refused to look knowing he’d gave if he saw his soon looking up at him with teary eyes, but also couldn’t stand to look like a spineless fool for playing those pointless games.

“Cmon baby,” you picked up Yuji kissing his round cheek, “Daddy’s busy,” you stood carrying him with you, “He’ll come later when HE HAS TIME.” You emphasized the words looked past Yuji at Sukuna, nodding your head to Yuji who hugged your neck resting his head on your shoulder pouting. You mouthed to Sukuna “HE WANTS TO BE WITH YOU” Sukuna looked away, you rolled your eyes and nodded at Uraume, their faint smile hinted they understood as they gave a slight nod, your two ladies in waiting quickly followed you when you started your walk with Yuji. Making it to the stalls looking down at Yuji he had a pout as he looked straight ahead, squeezing his hand he looked up at you and you smiled, “you said you wanted to try some of the foods let’s get you some okay?” His eyes shining when he looked up at you with a smile, “Yeah!”

Asking your ladies in waiting to get a place ready you went around with Yuji ordering a few things from different stalls. Yuji sat down beside you swinging his feet, peeking on the table at all the snacks the Ladies in waiting were laying out. “It looks funny.” Was all Yuji said as he picked up fried squid on a stick, brushing his hair back you kissed his forehead, “It does look funny but you should try it.”

Yuji quickly bit into the squid and seeing his face you stuck your hand in front of him just as he spit out the squid, “..ɴᴏ…” you tried not to laugh at Yuji while you let him sip your tea. Your lady in waiting wiping your hand clean as you helping Yuji go through Daifuku, Taoyaki, Mochi, Taiyaki, Dorayaki, dango and Manjū.

“Aw my poor baby.” You cood hugging him while he sat in your lap, he laid back against you whining tummy round with the sweets he was eating. Softly laughing at how his head fell to the side looking at the dango he weakly lifted, the Sakura flavor half gone, the plain white one had a small nibble, the green one had teeth marks in it where he bit into it but didn’t like it. “‘m full mommy.” You squeezed him and he huffed wiggling around, “wanna play a game.” You let him slide down your lap as you started to get up. The ladies in waiting packing up the untouched food.

You followed Yuji adoring the way he waddled, he wouldn’t be your little boy forever, so you’d have to cherish it while you could.

Watching Yuji play goldfish scooping was the highlight of your night. He squatted there persisting he could win because he wanted to win a goldfish. After his 5th turn he looked up at you with teary eyes and a wobbly lip, you knelt hugging him and he sniffled, “wan a golfish for daddy..” you heart braking you nodded, “Let me try okay?” He looked up at you and nodded. You did your best and managed to meet this crooked booths rules and Yuji was able to pick a good fish to take home. He chose a black gold fish because “is the only one!”

Letting him walk around carrying the bag proudly you tried a few more games until it came to an archery target booth. Where he persisted he could make it, once again it took five tries. And he hadn’t made a single target. It was upsetting to see Yuji fail so many times, so you stood Yuji on the booth’s table top and stood him in front of you, you had never tried one of these but it was worth trying if your little boy wouldn’t be upset. You tried to guide his hands but the “kids” bow was entirely to tough for a child. Still you let him pull back the bow and tried to help him aim before you release you watched as the target was struck but an all to familiar flame. “Daddy!!” Yuji cheered turning around in your arms, looking for his dad. There stood Sukuna amongst the separated crowd, the booth vendor seemed frightened at the sight of your husband when he took the bow from Yuji, just like you low life useless humans, trying to justify yourselves and present yourself self righteous when your able to look a woman or child in the eye and lie to them for your own profit. If this hand been any other woman or child I wouldn’t have even looked in your direction,” he stretched the bow as it caught flames from his flame arrow, “But treating my wife and my son like low life scum is something else.” His snarl and low voice had the vendor shivering, “L-lord Sukuna! Forgive me if i had known-“ the man was shot dead and you didn’t let Yuji turn to look, “Now everyone knows.” Sukuna declared looked around, the entire crowd in agreement and fear in silence.

You let Yuji free when he jumped into his dad’s chest, Sukuna catching him with one arm moving him onto his broad shoulders, “Dad! I won you gold fish!” Sukuna got closer to the stand ripping down the tiger Plushie he knew Yuji wanted. He may not be openly affectionate always but he did understand and know how his son thought. Yuji hugging his dad’s neck when he took the plushie, and you showed Sukuna the black Gold Fish, Sukuna looked amused carrying the gold fish on the same side Yuji sat. He motioned you to his side with his free hand, you followed quietly listening to your son and husband idly chat about what Yuji had down the past 2 hours.

Finally getting back to the platform where Sukuna sat, you noticed a bit of blood shed not far, you blinked and looked at Sukuna who eyed you and shook his head no. Taking the sign you held silence and sat beside him, before laying Yuji across your lap, he whined and crawled over to Sukuna, sitting himself on his dads leg leaning his back against his dads propped leg looking to the sky, he was ready to see the lights he heard you talk about.

Talking quietly with Sukuna you watched as he rested his large hand on Yuji’s round tummy before resting a hand your side pulling you closer closing the space. You smiled resting your head on his shoulder looking up at him, he turned to look down at you. The fire works started and Yuji’s oo’ed and aah’ed talking about the colors and how loud they were. You smiled kissing his forehead. Before turning to Sukuna, “Another Year with my husband and our Son.”

He had a small smile, pulling you closer so he could kiss you, his hand moved down to your waist. Just as he kissed you he pulled away with a hearty laugh, “a new year with my wife and OUR children.” You looked confused before you understood “RYOMEN!” In disbelief you looked at your own stomach, “how?!”

He leaned back on one arm, “Oh I’m sure you don’t need to be reminded how or when,” the smug look on his face caused your face to heat up. You looked down at Yuji as if he were gonna save you from his dad, only for him to be sleeping and snoring softly laid out in his dad’s lap.

You smiled shaking your head while Sukuna laughed to himself holding you firm against him kissing the top of your head, “Happy New Years.” You mumbled before kissing his cheek.

———-

It’s a bit rushed but i wanted something for new years 🥹 Happy New Years everyone!

Tag List!

@sad-darksoul @cyder-puff @domainofmarie @satorisgirl

[rafeysdeer]

valentine (aka sunshine reader and in love jason)

civil!reader x jason todd

prompt: valentine's day wasn't exactly jason's favorite holiday, he didn't really care about it, that's until his very excited girlfriend decided to surprise him.

a/n: okay, that's my second imagine, and i think it looks better, i was giggling and kicking while writing because these two are just soo cute, and the detail about the candle being syntactic is from a hc that jason just doesn't deal well with fire because of the explosion. english is not my first language, hope you guys like it 💗

It had been at least two weeks since you started leaving little hints about the big day that was coming, Valentine's Day. A cute romcom about the holiday, some cute couple videos, anything to try to get your boyfriend in the mood for the day, but he simply didn't seem to care about it.

You figured it was because he never really had the chance to properly celebrate, or anyone to spend the day with, before you, his only focus was the whole vigilante thing, he never would have dreamed that on a saturday night he would be curled up on the couch, eating ice cream and watching 'How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days', but he was, and with a pretty girl resting her head comfortably on his shoulder.

"Jay? Do you have patrol next friday? I thought we could go out for dinner or something?" the girl asks, lifting her head from his shoulder to look at him with her bright eyes and a little pout on her face.

"I think Steph can cover for me, it's just routine patrol, why? some special occasion?" he asks with a naughty smile on his face as he pulls her close to him again, leaving a kiss on her forehead.

"Nothing really special, I just miss you," she says and his laugh immediately fills the room, leaving that comfortable energy in the air. "Baby, you're literally wrapped around me, like, right now." He hears her snort and shove him playfully. "Doesn't stop me from missing you." The silly smile on his face took over as he stroked her hair. "You're just one of a kind, aren't you?"

Turns out that missing him was only half true, not that you didn't miss him, but coincidentally, next friday was also, Valentine's Day, and the closer the day got, the more anxious she looked like.

When friday finally came, she already had everything planned out to the last detail, she convinced him to finally go out with Tim (who had been trying to go out with him for weeks by now), and put her plan in action, she had all the classic stuff, flowers, chocolates, a beautiful dress, a set table on the roof, and the best part, a limited edition of Pride and Prejudice packaged methodically with a red bow, matching her dress.

You managed to convince Tim to join you on the plan, stalling Jason until 7 pm, when he came back to the apartment, just to find everything in complete darkness except for a trail of synthetic candles leading to the window.

"Honey? Are you ready yet?" No answer, the only option was to follow the candles to the window, where he found a table set on the roof, with a bouquet of red roses, synthetic candles lighting everything up, and his favorite girl with a smile from head to toe in a long red dress.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Jay," she says as she tries to strike a sensual pose, leaning on the table, but she's so excited she can't hold it in for long, running towards him and stealing a kiss. "So? Did you like it? I know you're not the biggest fan of Valentine's Day, but I just wanted you to be able to experience it and it's okay if you think it's too much, we can just go back inside and order pizza or something-" her nervous speech is interrupted by an anxious and completely passionate kiss.

"I loved it, sweetheart, I really did, how did you manage to do all this without me noticing?" she smiles playfully, shrugging her shoulders and pulling away from him slightly. "I may have had some bats helping me, and wait, there's more," she says excited, her smile as bright as the candles as she runs to the table, grabbing a package, her heels making a clicking sound along the way.

"I remember you told me you really wanted it and I just couldn't help it, I hope you like it" she hands him the book, wrapped with a big red bow that matched her dress, and the happiness on his face made all the effort she put on it worth it. "You're so fucking perfect, how did I end up with you, huh?" he asks, showering her with kisses, while the smile never leaves her face.

"I guess it was fate."

[teamatsumu]

kinktober 2023 -> day 3

phone sex - oikawa tooru x reader

word count: 1,061

kinktober masterlist

The hallway was alive with chatter, and you were sure you would have missed your phone ringing in the noise if it wasn’t already in your hand. You frowned at the contact name, confused why your boyfriend was calling you. According to your calculations, it was almost midnight in Argentina right now, so why was he awake?

“Tooru?” You answered, using a finger to plug your other ear so you could hear him better over the noise of the students crowding your university hallways. You could barely make out shuffling on the other end of the line, before Oikawa’s familiar voice broke through.

“Heyyyy.” He whined, immediately following it with a giggle. You rolled your eyes and felt your lip twitch with amusement.

“Tooru, why are you still up?” You hiked your bag higher on your shoulder as you made your way through the halls. “You have practice tomorrow.”

You heard a thud on the line, followed by a curse. “I missed you, Y/N-chan~”

Oh. You sighed when the realization hit you. “Are you drunk?”

“No!” Came the instant reply. “Only a little tipsy.”

You bit back a laugh at how indignant he sounded. There was another thud and another curse, this time in Spanish, and your lips twitched in amusement.

“You okay there, champ?” You teased, almost imagining Oikawa stumbling around his home.

“‘M just tryna get out of these damn clothes.” He mumbled, before you heard another soft thump and a relieved sigh.

“Finally in bed?” You asked. “Get some rest now.”

“Nooo..” Oikawa trailed off. “Talk to me. I miss you.”

You sighed. “You need to get up super early tomorrow, baby. And I know you’re tired. You need to sleep.”

“I miss your face.” Oikawa continued talking, as if he hadn’t even heard you. You weren’t surprised. Sober Oikawa was hard enough to deal with, drunk Oikawa was insufferable.

“If you were here, I would cuddle you.” He rambled on. “You’d feel so good against me right now. Y’know I’m completely naked? Bet you’d be naked too if you were here. God, I’d just dip my fingers into your pussy to see how we-”

“Tooru!” You yelled, eyes nearly popping out of your head at how the conversation (one-sided as it was) took a turn. You cursed internally when a few people turned around to look at you at the noise, frantically looking around for a more private place. You ducked into the door which said ‘restroom’ on it, mere feet away from where you were standing. The noise from the hall faded away.

“What the hell?” You continued, walking closer to the sinks, relieved that the bathroom was empty.

“I’m horny!” Your boyfriend whined on the other end.

“Well, I can’t do anything about that right now!” You snapped, checking the stalls to see that they were also thankfully empty.

“Yes you can!” He shot back. “C’mon, tell me what you’re wearing.”

You sighed and pinched the bridge of your nose. This fucker. “I’m at uni, Tooru. Be serious.”

“Please, baby.” He whined again, though this time it was more breathy. Your eyes widened when you realized he was probably touching himself. “‘M so hard. And it’s been so long. God, I miss your body. I miss your voice.”

You felt yourself clench at the thought of Tooru running his hand over himself right now. You looked around at the completely empty bathroom, biting your lip in contemplation. Were you really going to do this?

One more image of Oikawa laid out naked and turned on, of his glorious body and roughed up chestnut hair, was enough for you to make your decision.

“Okay.” You breathed out. “Hold on.”

You rushed to lock the bathroom door, moving into a stall and locking that too for extra measure. “Fuck, okay.”

“Talk to me.” You heard him on the other end, almost begging. You sighed and pushed your hand into your pants, biting your lip when your fingers brushed your clit. This was going to be quick and messy, you could already tell.

“I’m,” you gulped. “I’m touching myself.”

A groan. “Yeah?” He sounded so wrecked already. God. You realized in that moment how badly you had missed him too.

You nodded, even though he couldn’t see you. “Touching my clit. Feels good.”

Oikawa cursed. “Keep going, baby. Push down harder. Then put a finger inside.”

You followed his instructions, allowing yourself to let out a little moan at the feeling of being filled, albeit only slightly.

“God, I can imagine you right now.” Oikawa rambled on, and you could almost hear the sound of his hand moving, slightly wet, probably from the precum. “Bet you’re already soaking for me, aren’t you? Bet you miss my cock.”

“I do!” You whined, now fully immersed and overcome with pleasure, sliding another finger inside your hole. “‘S not the same, Tooru. Miss your big cock. Miss being filled to the brim.”

“S-shit, baby.” His voice sounded so broken, and it pushed you even closer to the edge. “I miss your pussy all the time. Can’t wait to get back and fuck you until you can’t walk. God, I’m gonna ruin you. Just let me come back. Let me come back.”

His ramblings were getting nonsensical, but his voice was wrecked and you moaned at the sound, your orgasm building far quicker than you anticipated, your movement growing frantic.

“Tooru, I’m so close.”

“M-me too. Fuck. C’mon baby, come all over your fingers like a good girl. You do that and I’ll give you my cock when I get back. I’ll fuck you five different ways. Just come for me right now, Y/N. Come.”

You moaned as your orgasm finally hit, letting Oikawa talk you through it with his silver tongue. You listened as he announced his own release, getting off on the sound of his curses and broken groans and using them to prolong your own orgasm. By the time you were done, you were sweaty and out of breath.

All was silent for a few minutes as you readjusted your clothes, putting your phone to your ear once again and not hearing anything except Oikawa’s steady breathing. You nearly snorted.

Bastard fell asleep immediately after cumming. Figures.

You dropped him a goodnight text before ending the call, unlocking the door and going about your way as if nothing had happened in the bathroom stall.

Taglist:

@bxbyyyjocelyn @thisbicc @lazuliquartzz @dreamayy @kuroosluthoe @true-form-hoe @akumakitsune21 @cham0mil3-and-h0n3y @samisfunky @universal-s1ut @msbyomimi i @dohwaesu @leothesquishy @n0tmykays @tsukiran @reyofsunshinelol @bleach-your-panties @galaneiaeris @leyra-giovanni @erenspersonalwh0re @peachesncats @soapsoftheworld @iwannabecamiloshovel

A/N: For those whose tags arent working, im sorry! I tried and for some reason, your names wont show up in the mentions :( another way of being notified is to turn on my blog notifs for @teamatsumufics . I only reblog my fics there so it serves almost like being in a taglist!

[mr-yuugo]

Date With A Cat Lover

[Idia Shroud X Gen!Reader] -FLUFF-

Words: 1,231

Summary: Idia goes on a date with his online friend. The freshmen find him and decide to tease him. As the reader converses with Idia's schoolmates, the reader is quick to take fondly of Grim.

You can also find this posted on AO3 and Wattpad!

Saying Idia was nervous was an understatement. He felt like he would melt onto the ground as each second passed. It was embarrassing enough just sitting awkwardly on a bench at a public park.

"So many people..." He thought as his foot anxiously tapped repeatedly on the ground. He was waiting for you in fact, so he decided to bear the nervousness and wait for you to get there.

This would be the first time you two would be meeting in person. Having met in an online game and becoming friends. You were so cute in the photos you would send him, he only hoped you were the cute person in the photos and not some catfisher.

"Now that would just be horrible..." He let out a shaky sigh as he pulled out his phone. Checking his messages to see that you texted him. "I just got here!" The message read.

Idia shrieked as he got up from the bench. Dusting off his clothes and telling himself not to act too weird. "Idia!" He heard someone call out to him. He stared at your figure coming closer to him as he looked at you in awe.

"Score! They're a total babe! Ez 10/10." Idia flashed his sharp teeth as he smiled at you. A sudden wave of confidence overcame him as he waved at you. "Y/N, I'm glad you could come."

"Mhm! Sorry for keeping you waiting." You told him as you linked your arm to his. Okay, that sudden confidence was gone. "Woah Idia! I didn't know your hair could do that!" You laughed as you smiled at his now pink hair.

...

You and Idia arrived at your desired location. When Idia found out you lived around the area he couldn't contain his excitement. Better yet the yearly fair was visiting so he immediately decided to invite you to go with him.

As you went up to the ticket booth Idia had bought your tickets. You thanked him as you promised to treat him to whatever foods he wanted to try. "Woah! Look Idia!" You told him as you pointed at one of the rollercoasters. "We should try that one!"

Idia looked at the ride you wanted to go on and gulped. "That one has a lot of swirls..."

"I know! Hahaha! Come on let's go line up!" As you lined up you both soon arrived at the front. After giving the necessary tickets to the person supervising the ride you both went to sit down.

Buckling up and lowering the bar you secure yourself in place. You laughed once more at Idia's scared expression. "Oh come on Idia it won't be that bad." The ride soon started as your cart began going up on the rails before dropping abruptly.

Idia screamed as he held onto the bar for dear life. Idia's eyes landed on your form. His screams of terror stopped as he sweat-dropped. You yourself were holding onto the bar with a serious grip. Your eyes closed as you shrieked.

After the ride, you and Idia agreed to not go on any more roller coasters. For your next ride, you decided to keep it simple and go on the teacup ride. When it began Idia was delighted when he found out you could spin the cup.

He had begun spinning the plate to make the cup rotate as you screamed at him to slow down. "W-Wait Idia-!" You gasped as you clutched onto your seat so you would not fall off.

As it ended Idia stumbled around. "I shouldn't have done that..." He said as he put a hand over his mouth.

You on the other hand laughed it off and began dragging him to a food stall. "So many options...what about the churros? That sounds delicious." Idia perked up at this. "Ah yes! I've seen videos of people getting them here they look yummy."

You nodded your head. As you looked around the park you saw a lonely bench and made Idia sit down. "You wait here alright? I'll go buy them."

"Are you sure you want to go alone?"

"Yeah I'll be fine, you just try to stop your head from spinning." Chuckling you made your way to the line. As Idia sat patiently his heart dropped when he heard a familiar voice. "Ah, Idia! How are you."

Idia had a terrified expression as he saw the main four. "Eek! What are you guys doing here!?"

Ace rolled his eyes. "Having fun, and you? I saw Ortho hanging out with some of his buddies but I didn't see you."

"This is horrible! I feel like a criminal that's just been caught." Idia scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, I'm just hanging out ya know?"

Yuu laughed at him. "Well, I hope you are not here alone." Duece nodded his head. "Well be more than happy to have you join us if you would like."

"Who said I was here alone?!" Idia thought as he scowled.

"Myah! I actually saw him with someone. I wasn't sure it was him but now I'm sure!" Grim said as he grinned. "Woah there! Maybe Idia is on a date!" Ace gasped as he began to laugh.

Idia's hair turned pink at the tips as he began shaking his head in disagreement. "I-im not! Who said that!?"

"It's nothing to be ashamed of Idia." Duece smiled at him. "I'm not ashamed-!" Idia's voice trailed into a whisper as he saw you walk up to him.

"Hey, Idia I'm back." You smiled at him and then at the others. "Oh hello! Are you some of Idia's friends? I'm Y/N!" The others stared in shock as Ace quickly leaned down to whisper in Idia's ear. "Okay, what did you do to bag a complete hottie."

You began making conversation with Yuu and Duece as you noticed the furry animal below you. "O..m..g! How cute!" You smiled as you bent down to pat Grim on the head.

"Hey! I'm not a pet!" In your hand, you had the paper bag filled with the churros. "Aww, you are just the sweetest thing aren't you!" Taking a churro out of the bag you gave it to him. "I guess I am..." His ears fell as he took the treat out of your hand and ate it. "So cute!" You said as you began to stand up.

You blushed as you realized the others were all staring at you. "O-oh I'm sorry..." You mumbled as you giggled. Idia simply bawled his hand as he smiled in contentment. "They are a cat lover..."

"So Y/N you here on a date with Idia?" Grim asked as he motioned to the bag to have more. You gave him another one as you nodded your head. "Well...it was never officially a date but I guess so!" You laughed as you continued to feed Grim more treats.

Soon they bid fer well as you waved at them. A pout on Idia's face as you sat down next to him. "Hm? What's wrong?" You asked him. "That was embarrassing..." He muttered.

You intertwined your hand with his. "Well, I'm glad your friends were nice about it though. Well..." Standing up you pulled Idia along too. "We should probably get back in line."

"Huh? For what?"

"The Churros, I gave them all to the cute cat."

[moonselune]

hii! i love ur works n headcanons n fics!! u write these lovely characters so well

can i request the boys w/ an autistic reader who has a meltdown in public and feels like an embarrassment after?? (comfort fic 🩷)

Thank you so much ! as someone who is also on the spectrum I completely get what it's like for things out of your control to happen and it all gets too much x

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

Gale:

The marketplace was bustling with activity, the mix of sounds, bright colors, and mingling scents becoming overwhelming. You could feel the pressure building inside, your senses on high alert, and your chest tightening with each passing moment. Then, it happened – the meltdown. You sank to the ground, hands over your ears, trying to block out the world around you.

Gale, who had been browsing a nearby stall, noticed your distress immediately. He rushed to your side, kneeling down to your level, his face etched with concern.

"It's alright, my love," he said softly, his voice a soothing balm against the chaos. "I'm here. Focus on my voice."

He reached out, gently touching your shoulder, a grounding presence amidst the storm. Slowly, he guided you to a quieter corner of the marketplace, shielding you from prying eyes with his cloak.

Once the worst of it had passed, and your breathing began to steady, Gale held you close, his arms providing a secure, comforting embrace.

"You have nothing to be embarrassed about," he whispered. "You did nothing wrong. It's just the world being too much sometimes. And I will always be here to help you through it."

Despite his reassurances, you felt a flush of humiliation. "I'm sorry," you muttered, unable to meet his eyes. "I just… I couldn't handle it."

Gale cupped your face gently, making you look at him. "There's nothing to apologize for," he said firmly. "Everyone has their limits, and you are incredibly strong for facing yours. Never feel ashamed for being who you are."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

Astarion:

The tavern was noisy, the laughter and music growing louder and more boisterous as the night wore on. The flickering candlelight and the press of bodies were too much, and you felt the meltdown coming before you could stop it. Tears streamed down your face as you sank to the floor, feeling utterly exposed.

Astarion, who had been charming a group of patrons nearby, immediately noticed your distress. He pushed through the crowd with a determined look and crouched down beside you.

"Darling, look at me," he said urgently, his eyes locking onto yours. "Focus on me. You're safe."

He wrapped his arms around you, a protective barrier against the overwhelming environment. Ignoring the curious stares of onlookers, Astarion whispered soothing words, his cool voice a steadying force. When the worst subsided, he helped you to your feet and led you outside into the cool night air.

"Don't ever feel embarrassed around me," he said, his voice soft but firm. "This world can be cruel and unforgiving, but you are stronger than you know. And I will always stand by your side, no matter what."

You wiped at your tear-streaked face, feeling a deep sense of shame.

"I made a scene in front of everyone," you said quietly, your voice trembling. Astarion tilted your chin up to meet his gaze.

"Let them stare," he said with a hint of defiance. "You are the bravest person I know, and nothing will change that. You did what you needed to survive, and I will always admire you for that."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

Wyll:

The festival was in full swing, the sights and sounds becoming too much to bear. The bright lights, loud music, and jostling crowds all combined into a sensory overload, triggering a meltdown. You dropped to the ground, tears spilling down your cheeks as you tried to block out the chaos.

Wyll, who had been speaking with some townsfolk, saw your distress and immediately rushed over. He knelt down beside you, his face filled with concern and understanding.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," he murmured, his voice calm and soothing. "I'm here with you."

He gently took your hand, guiding you away from the crowd to a quieter spot. Wyll knelt beside you, wrapping you in his strong, comforting embrace, shielding you from the overwhelming environment.

"You're incredibly brave," he said softly once you had calmed down. "Never feel embarrassed for being who you are. You're perfect just the way you are, and I'm here to support you through anything."

Your cheeks burned with humiliation. "I ruined the festival," you said, your voice barely above a whisper. "Everyone must think I'm weak."

Wyll shook his head firmly. "You didn't ruin anything," he said. "You faced a challenge that most people can't even imagine. That makes you stronger than any of them. And to me, you are the most incredible person in the world."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

Halsin:

The forest clearing was supposed to be a peaceful retreat, but the gathering of people, the chatter, and the flickering campfires became overwhelming. You felt the meltdown building, and soon you were on the ground, hands clutching your head as you tried to shut out the world.

Halsin, ever attuned to your emotions, noticed immediately. He was at your side in an instant, his presence a grounding force.

"Easy, my heart," he murmured, his voice a deep, calming rumble. "I'm here. Focus on the sound of my voice, the feel of my touch."

He enveloped you in his arms, shielding you from the overwhelming stimuli. Halsin gently guided you away from the crowd, into the serene embrace of the forest where the sounds of nature provided a soothing backdrop. As you calmed, he held you close, his touch gentle and reassuring.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of," he said softly. "The world can be overwhelming, but you are strong. And together, we can face anything. I'm here for you, always."

Despite his comforting words, you couldn't help but feel embarrassed. "I made such a scene," you said, your voice shaking. "Everyone was watching."

Halsin kissed your forehead, his gaze filled with love. "Let them watch," he said. "You showed incredible courage today. Never feel ashamed for being yourself. I love you for who you are, and I will always be here to support you."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

[healmyhrt]

⌗ out of it, c. sturniolo

chris x fem!reader

summary: chris gets really drunk and begins to say things you and him both know he doesn’t mean.

disclaimers!: alcohol use, cursing, short

a/n: this is based in like the future like, chris has his own place n everything lols | also, we all know chris wouldn’t say these things guys, don’t take this to heart <3.

“chris?” i call through the front door. he had been ignoring my texts and calls for hours so i thought i should come and check up on him.

i unlock the door with my spare key. “chris, im coming in. okay?” i push the door open, and see a trail of beer cans to the kitchen.

following them, i meet a very drunk chris. he removes a bottle from his lips, and stares at me. “well, shit.”

i step closer to him, taking a look at the mess around me. alcohol everywhere, cigarettes burnt out on window sills.

chris looked terrible. his eyes were red and foggy, his hair was a mess, and his shirt had stains on it, probably from the alcohol.

“chris,” i start. he interrupts me, “come sit.” he guides me over to the couch, swiping beer cans off of it so i can sit. i sit on the clean couch arm instead. “are you okay?”

he tilts his head at me. “dont say that. im fine.” i purse my lips together, and finally sit next to him. he leans in to kiss me, and i pull away.

“what? so now im not good enough to kiss you?”

“its not that, chris.” i look around at the mess that’s surrounding us, then back at him. “what’s going on?”

chris takes another sip to stall away from the question. i stare at him, with worry in my eyes. “dont fucking look at me like that.” i can hear the anger in his voice. chris gets up, walking around.

i stand, not taking my eyes off of him. “chris, you aren’t okay right now.” i walk over to him. “let me get you the help you need, baby.”

i attempt to place my hand to his shoulder, and he dodges it. “dont fucking call me ‘baby’, matter of fact, you should go.” his words slurring.

“im not going anywhere.” i reply. chris stares at me, an angry expression across his face. “get the fuck out.”

my eyes start to water at his words. but i try to remember its just the alcohol talking. “no, chris—”

“LEAVE!” he shouts at me. chris stomps toward me, his breath reeking of alcohol. “i love you, chris.” i whisper out.

“yeah? well i fucking hate you.”

i stay silent, and gently bite my bottom lip as tears trickle down my cheeks. “you don’t mean that.” my voice cracking as the words leave my mouth.

“yes the fuck i do.” he enunciates each word as much as he can. chris gets in my face, our noses basically touching. he looks down at me, anger in his eyes.

“i hate you.”

i shake my head as tears begin streaming down my face. chris scoffs. “i mean it with everything in me. i hate you. i don’t need or want your help, and im better off without you. so, go. leave.”

i lick the tears up, and look at him again. “say you don’t mean it, and i’ll go if that’s what you really want.”

chris slams the bottle onto the ground, glass flying everywhere. i hold my head in my hands, and start. crying uncontrollably.

i guess this reality checked him, because his face immediately turned soft. “baby?” i look up, my eyes now red from crying.

i fall into his arms, and his squeezes me tight. he moves us slowly over to the couch, and lets me cry into his shirt, (that smelled like alcohol).

“i am so so unbelievably sorry, baby.” his eyes begin to water. i sigh, and hug him again. “say you didn’t mean it.” i whisper into his shirt.

“i would never mean anything i said. i do not hate you. and i am 100% not better off without you.” he frowns.

i kiss him, and cry into his lips. chris tucks my head back under his chin, and cradles my head. letting me sob into his shirt, he begins to do the same.

“i was so out of it.”

[aphroditelovesu]

Kinktober Day Twenty-Eight — Shower Sex

❝ 🌊 — lady l: day twenty-eight of kinktober! I know I'm late but I will finish this week!! Also, sorry for any mistakes! 🩵💙

❝warnings: NSFW, smut, vaginal sex, shower sex, teasing and wasting water.

❝ 🌊pairing: poseidon x female!reader.

❝word count: 1,120.

"I still don't think you should do that." Poseidon said as he sat down on your bed. You looked at him quickly, frowning when he got sand on your bed.

"Shouldn't what? Take a shower?" You scoffed and grabbed your change of clothes. A pair of sweatpants and an oversized black blouse will keep you comfortable for the rest of the day.

Poseidon looked at you intently, "I just don't like the idea of ​​you going into fresh water after leaving sea water."

You laughed softly. You had just returned from the beach, from leaving the domain of the sea god. He was sullen and grumpy from the moment you told him it would take time to get all the sand out of your hair when he got home.

You scoffed, it didn't make sense to you but to him it was even an insult. The fresh water that fell from your shower was not his domain but that of other minor gods that he was not really friends with.

"Look, I need to take a shower. I know you don't like the idea of ​​me getting in the shower, but I need to wash my hair and get all this sand out of my body."

Poseidon just nodded and watched you enter the bathroom and close the door. He didn't like being away from you, much less leaving you in such a vulnerable position. The god stood up and watched the closed door, deciding to put his pride aside and join you in the shower. Maybe he could get something out of this.

You felt your body relax as the hot water fell over your naked body, relaxing your muscles and filling the bathroom with steam. You loved taking a shower, you loved this moment when you just thought about your future and washed your body.

Your eyes were closed as you stood facing the shower, letting the water fall onto your face. So absorbed in your own world inside your mind, you didn't hear the door open or the shower stall open.

Only when a large hand touched your bare, wet shoulders did you open your eyes and turn around in fright, relaxing when you saw it was Poseidon and a nude one at that. Your boyfriend? You weren't sure yet. You hadn't decided on a label for your relationship, but you liked him and hoped he felt the same way about you.

"Did I scare you? I'm sorry, sweetie." He murmured, tracing his finger along your soft, wet skin. He enjoyed the way your body shivered at his touch.

You tried to pretend his touch didn’t send shivers of desire through your body. You bit your bottom lip and smiled at him, "It’s okay."

Poseidon smiled and traced his finger to your chin, lifting it and bringing your face closer to his, taking your lips in a shallow kiss. Your body trembled under the contact of his lips and you could feel your body reacting.

He smiled at you, running his tongue over your lips. You breathed heavily and wrapped your arms around the god's neck, trying to bring your bodies closer together. Poseidon smiled and moved his face away from his, diving into your wet neck and kissing the skin.

You tilted your head to the opposite side, giving him more access to your skin. He kissed your neck gently, licking the soft skin. You shivered when his tongue made contact, squeezing your thighs for friction. You loved that tongue, how good it made you feel when it were between your legs.

Poseidon gently pushed you against the cold bathroom wall, making you shiver at how cold it was in contrast to your warm skin, the water from the shower now falling against the god's skin. You closed your eyes and opened your mouth, asking for a kiss which was immediately answered.

Your mouths became one as Poseidon pressed his against yours, your tongues intertwining in an attempt to dominate the kiss. His hands went to your hips and squeezed the soft flesh like they were toys for him to squeeze. You moaned into the kiss when you felt his hardness against your thigh.

Poseidon pulled away from you and you groaned in frustration. He smiled mischievously and quickly picked you up, pressing your back tightly against the wall and your legs wrapped around the god's defined waist. You bit back a moan when you felt his hard cock near your core.

Your breasts were pressed against his muscular chest and Poseidon smiled and rubbed your body against his, sending waves of pleasure as his cock brushed against your cunt. You were already painfully wet — in more ways than one and you needed him inside you.

"Please…" You begged as he rubbed himself against your body, the wetness making it easier to touch. Poseidon smiled and without waiting any longer, lined up his cock against your pussy and pushed into your heat.

You moaned loudly as he entered you, your inner walls clenching around the sea god's length. You took a deep breath and saw that he was smiling widely and as the water fell on you, Poseidon pushed his hips hard, pressing you hard against the cold wall and drawing moans from you.

Poseidon kissed your face and held you tighter, fucking you at a fast pace, pushing you to your limit. Your back hurt a little and your arms felt a little limp as you were ravaged.

He groaned and held your hips tightly, keeping you still as he thrust into you hard. You moaned and closed your eyes, letting him take all the control. Poseidon took one of his hands to your left breast and felt it, squeezing your nipple tightly. You grunted and clenched tightly around him, eliciting moans from the god.

Your breaths became more labored and you felt your pussy tightening even more, a sign that you were close. Poseidon smiled and kissed your neck, his teeth dragging under your skin. You moaned loudly as he hit your g-spot and you came, your cunt clenching around him as you released. Your body went limp and Poseidon thrust a few more times inside you and moaned your name like a prayer when he came, releasing himself inside you.

You smiled and faced the sea god who looked at you affectionately and full of lust. He didn't let go of you, instead, he held you tighter and kissed your forehead gently, remaining inside you.

The hot water fell over the two of you, washing away the traces of your sex. You tried not to think about the water bill you would have to pay later.

[puttersmile]

I had a weird dream and crack ship was born

Frowny: Oh…yeah she seems. Nice. Dogday? Where are you going?

Dogday offscreen running away as fast as he can.

I don't even remember the dream but I remember the ship.

I need possible ship name. Ideas? Right now I'm thinking Chocolate Rain lol.

Gametoons is so bad. But I somehow someway had a liking for Frowny Fox (and maybe some of the other forgotten critters)

I also wasn't satisfied by how i drew Maggie in my last comic. That's what I get for trying to draw her from memory and not just...looking up a picture. So I tried again. I like this design a lot more.

A short oneshot fic under the cut. At the last minute I changed it to be Christmas themed which is why the picture isn't Christmas themed.

The Day Frowny Realized Maggie Wasn't Just Scary

The outdoor mall was chaos. With the holidays right around the corner, critters flooded the square, scrambling for last-minute gifts and bargains. Stalls were crammed with shiny trinkets, festive treats, and decorations that probably cost twice as much as they should. Frowny hated this. Crowds made his fur itch, and the pressure of picking the perfect gift didn’t help.

He was here for a Secret Santa gift exchange, and the name he’d drawn—an acquaintance who loved puzzles and had a mild obsession with coffee—had him stumped. He hovered by a table of mugs, frowning at one shaped like a sleeping squirrel. It was cute, but not too cute, right? He didn’t want to send the wrong message.

Just as he reached for it, something slammed into his side, sending him stumbling into the stall. A sharp hiss of pain escaped Frowny as he caught himself on the edge of the table.

“MOVE IT, BUDDY!”

Frowny turned, his tail bristling, to see a yellow gecko in ugly brown pants rushing through the crowd, shoving critters out of his way like a hurricane. Before Frowny could even get a word out, the gecko shoved another critter. This time, the wrong one.

Maggie Mako.

Oh no.

Maggie didn’t budge. Didn’t even sway. She turned her head slowly, towering over the gecko like a tidal wave about to break. Her grin was wide and full of teeth. “You wanna try that again, pal?”

The gecko froze, his cocky energy deflating immediately. “Uh… my bad,” he stammered, his eyes darting for an exit.

“You shoved someone else, then bump into me? Oh, you’ve got guts. Let’s see if you like keeping them inside.”

The gecko's yellow scales turned white. “S-s-sorry ma'am! D-didn't mean to—uh—yeah, I’ll just—”

“Scram,” Maggie growled, crossing her arms. That was all it took. The gecko bolted, nearly tripping over his own tail as he disappeared into the crowd.

Maggie rolled her shoulders and went back to considering some very ornate holiday cookies, looking more annoyed than anything. “Some critters. That's what I thought.” she muttered, dusting her hands off.

Frowny, who had been standing frozen with one paw still clutching the squirrel mug, finally remembered how to breathe. He adjusted his scarf and was about to slink away unnoticed when Maggie turned, catching him mid-stare.

Her grin softened with recognition. Less teeth, more playful.

“You okay, Foxy boy?”

It took a second for Frowny’s brain to catch up. Maggie had just defended him. Maggie, the big, scary shark woman who could probably bench press two wagons full of pumpkins, had stepped in for him. And now she was looking at him, smiling, as if she hadn’t just terrified someone out of their scales.

“I, uh…” His left ear flicked nervously. “I’m fine.”

“You sure?” Maggie stepped closer, her shadow falling over him like a blanket. “You look a little pale. Well, paler than usual.” She smirked, her tone teasing but not unkind.

Frowny wanted to say something clever, but his brain had short-circuited. Instead, he noticed something odd: Maggie didn’t seem scary in that moment. She seemed… safe. Yes. safe, strong and confident, but not in a way that made him want to hide. In fact, it was kind of… nice?

And then it hit him. It wasn’t just nice. It was attractive. Hot even? Did his brain really just go there.

Oh no.

Maggie arched a brow, waiting for a response. When none came, she leaned down, eyes twinkling. “What’s the matter, Foxy? Catnap got your tongue?”

Frowny’s ears burned. He yanked his scarf higher over his face. “No. I’m fine. Thanks. Bye.” The words came out in a rushed jumble as he turned and awkwardly strutted away, his tail puffed up like a bottle brush.

Maggie blinked after him, then laughed. “You’re welcome!” she called, shaking her head. “Weird little guy.”

Meanwhile, Frowny ducked behind a corner, clutching his chest like his heart was about to escape. What was that? What was that?! He’d spent weeks avoiding Maggie because she was terrifying, and now, after one incident, he was—no. No, no,no. This wasn’t happening! He did not have a thing for Maggie Mako.

…But her smile had been kind of nice. And her strength had been… really nice. Pretty smile, very white cheerful teeth that didn't frighten him like they'd used to.

“Oh no,” he muttered to himself, ears flat. “This is bad.”

It was the beginning of the end. Or maybe the start of something good? No of course not! Or maybe it could be? Frowny wasn’t sure yet. He just knew he was doomed.

[vampirehoon]

bathroom tiles ࿔*࿐⋆

w.c. ⟢ 1.4k

pairing ⟢ yeonjun x afab!reader

synopsis ⟢ a party in which you dragged your other half, yeonjun, and find yourself finding peace and quiet in a bathroom stall. yeonjun finds you after not seeing you since you went off. here you and yeonjun are, on the bathroom tiles - confessing how much you enjoy spending tonight with each other.

genre ⟢ best friends to lovers (fluff)

a/n ⟢ hi! this is a story i had prepared for if i got my tumblr account started and it has! (ty, i’m never gonna stop thanking) and i hope whoever read this, they will enjoy it. <3

⋆ ·˚ ༘ *

choi yeonjun hated parties.

but because of your popularity of getting invitations, he was always dragged to them. of course he never complained but after every single one, he would express his pure hatred for them walking home together.

you promised that this one would be different, and yeonjun hoped you were right.

he always liked walking to the parties; partially because the parties are always close by but also it gives him time to speak with you clearly before having to yell at each other through the blasting (horribly remixed) music.

“whose party did you say this was?”

“a girl in my biology class?”

he looks at you, unimpressed.

“y/n, do you even know her name?”

“no.”

yeonjun scoffs, and you can’t help but laugh at his disappointment.

“but this party promised good service” you attempt to defend your decision.

yeonjun doesn’t bother responding as you two get to the beginning of the stairs that lead to the party doors.

the music is already giving him a headache, he takes your hand.

“why don’t we have our own party?” he invites you two to get out of this party.

“yeonjun, I promised people I'd be here.”

“break a promise for once.” he begs.

“nice try.” you grip yeonjuns hand and haul him up the stairs to enter the party.

yeonjun and you enter the doors and are immediately taken back. the whole gym floor is covered by students in bright outfits. yeonjun’s black tux and your deep blue dress are giving bridesmaid and groom-man.

by the squeeze of yeonjun’s hand, you know he’s not into this.

“food will make you happier.” you say to yeonjun.

a mumble escapes his mouth as you bring him to the food table. sparkling cupcakes and a chocolate fountain catch your attention first.

yeonjun sees you testing out the chocolate fountain. you cover a marshmallow and bite it. it’s so good!

you can’t enjoy your marshmallow chocolate sensation when yeonjuns thumb rubs the side of your lip.

his furrowed eyebrows made you laugh.

“don’t have too much fun.” he cleans your chocolate on your lips and looks into your eyes.

“well, you’ll realize it’s worth it,” you grab a marshmallow, coat it, and bring it to yeonjun lips. “when you have it yourself.”

yeonjun knew you’d shove it in his mouth if he didn’t accept it, so he opens his mouth and took it.

you watch him closely.

his puffy cheeks were adorable as he enjoyed the marshmallow. you knew he was resisting to admit it was good when his lips shook away a small smile.

“it’s kind of worth it-“

“yeonjun!” you swat his arm, he breaks out in a laugh.

“okay, it’s worth it.”

“you’re being annoying tonight.”

he sighs. “it’s annoying you brought me.”

you two eat a few more marshmallows and then a song you two know well turns on.

“oh?” you look at the dance floor.

yeonjun wipes his hands and looks over also.

“do you want to?” you look at yeonjun.

he meets your eyes with a nod.

you two travel to the dance floor, the music getting louder.

he first dances small and when you begin doing a ridiculous sprinkler. his laughs become music to your ears.

both of you laugh and smile while dancing. he looks at you everytime the song increases in bass.

maybe even 2 minutes in the song you pause. yeonjun dances in front of you without noticing.

the headaches that feel like your brain is bruised, you have only ever heard about from yeonjun, is happening to you. i need to go somewhere quiet, you thought.

“yeonjun, i’ll be back.” you yell.

yeonjun raises his eyebrows.

“bathroom!” you yell.

he gives you a thumbs up.

through the crowd you exit, your headache grows more. you hit the door with your arm and then finally get out into the hall.

yeonjun found no reason to stay dancing so he returned to the snack table. drinking a sweet drink as he waits for you to return.

pounding, your head is pounding. the music was further away as you went down the bathroom stalls. you open the last door and rest on the wall to rub your forehead.

5 minutes, and yeonjun was just by himself. he wondered if you left. yeonjun first decides to check the bathroom.

as he approaches he’s weary to enter the girls bathroom but knew he needed to see if you were in there.

a creek in the door, he pops his head in first. surprisingly, this bathroom was dim. most likely from the bright energy consuming party, yeonjun thought.

he enters and looks down the bathroom stalls.

“y/n?” he first whispers.

he kneels down to see if he can see anything and when he sees the deep blue dress of yours, he heads to the stall.

yeonjun knocks.

“y/n?”

you stood up to open the stall door. yeonjun’s hand stayed in the air from knocking and dropped when you gesture for him to enter.

“why are you here?” “did you go to the bathroom?”

“no.” you sit back in your original spot and yeonjun finds a place in front of you.

resting on the back of the wall, yeonjun asks another question.

“why did you stay in here?”

“the music was killing me. i had to leave.”

“we could have ditched together,”

“but you were having fun..”

he scoffs which grabs your attention.

“fun? i was having fun with you.” “i stopped dancing after you left.”

you don’t say anything, just thinking.

“sorry.” you say.

“what for?”

“this whole party. i’ve never asked you if you want to go or if you like coming to them with me.”

yeonjun rests on the wall, his suit flowing over him. you look at his tie and he adjusts it.

“i don’t mind,” yeonjun confesses.

you furrow your eyebrows. yeonjun has only ever told you how much he hates them.

“we are talking about parties yeonjun?” you ask, in case he’s talking about something else.

“yeah i know.”

yeonjun’s eyes meet yours. he looks at you for a second before speaking again.

“of course i hate them, but spending time with you is so fun.”

“so i don’t mind them.”

you swear he looks like a dream. his suit fit him well and looked very attractive on him. you wonder if it’s because of the headache you are feeling this way.

yeonjun laughs under his breath which interrupts your thoughts. you look at yeonjun, and he sighs.

“you’re not falling for me right?”

you burn up instantly, pink cheeks you attempt to cover.

“what! no!”

“i’m teasing.”

his soft smile grows as his eyes move to the ground. could he read your thoughts? you want to say something but the music is heard through the walls again.

a faint popular love song.

you adore this certain song and it always makes you think of an ideal kiss with someone in your fantasies.

you sigh, fixing your dress “if only my headache went away, then we could return to the dance floor”

“why?”

“so we could, at least, remember tonight..”

“i mean we still can.”

you look up at him and meet his eyes.

the bathroom becomes suffocating, you feel your heart race as yeonjun looks into your eyes. reading your exact thoughts.

as cliché as a romance movie, time slows down in favor of the tension between you two. he’s leaning into you slowly with the chorus of the song leading up.

as he sits up and makes his way to you, his hands crawl on the tile and stop right next to your hands.

yeonjun’s right there. so close that you could count how many eyelashes he has.

“may i?” yeonjun asks, just in case you don’t want this.

but you want this.

“yes.”

the way his lips fit yours, and his hold on your lips made your body go weak. your hands go to his face, cupping him to deepen the kiss.

his hands are comfortably holding your waist. his fingers tickle you as he brings you closer to him.

and to make it better, the song just made the kiss last forever. the passion between you two grows with the flow in the song.

you would have never expected to kiss yeonjun, let alone make out with him.. in a bathroom. this party turned out better than yeonjun anticipated.

𓉸ྀི ©vampirehoon

[milkb0nny]

Burgundy Leaves

Ivar The Boneless x gn!reader

Comfortember Day 3: Leaves Changing

Summary: You and your little sister decided to take a stroll through the forest to collect the colorful leaves of autumn. While you both ate some freshly made buns and played catch, you accidentally bumped into Ivar.

Note: Okay... I'm fangirling. This one kinda hit me a little harder than it should. It's so wholesome.

Warnings: none

word count: 999

With the arrival of the cooler season autumn, the leaves slowly turned from a bright green to a sensation of colors. The dense, towering trees of the forest beckoned, their leaves glowing with the fiery hues of autumn. It was a world of vibrant reds, golds and oranges - a symphony of colors that enchanted your senses. This was the kind of season where you felt most alive, and the beauty of the forest had always been your refuge.

Whenever the temperatures dropped the people in Kattegat knew to prepare for winter, equipping themselves with wood, blankets and a food storage. Although the colder season might not be everyone’s favorite, you quite liked it. You had a younger sister, named Ingrid, who also waited for autumn every single year. Therefore, the day you noticed the significant change in the leaves, you took her by her hand and dragged her into the town of Kattegat. Before you made your way into the forest, you stopped by a small stall. You knew the owner of the shop quite well because you had been buying freshly baked buns every other day. After putting the still steaming baking goods in your picnic basket, you and your sibling started your journey.

While you entered the nearby forest, the sunlight filtered through the dense foliage, creating a mosaic of light and shadow on the forest floor. The rustle of leaves beneath your feet and the chorus provided a soothing function.

Your sister ran free, catching falling leaves, collecting the most beautiful artworks by nature and eating snacks out of the picnic basket here and there. A bright smile covered your lips while you watched Ingrid being a happy child.

“Can we play catch, y/n?” She asked you, her eyes flickering in hope.

You answered, “Sure, I’ll count to ten and then I’ll come get you!”

The loud giggles emerged from your younger sister, as her feet made their way through the familiar collection of trees. Shortly after you reached the number ten, you began to run after her.

Suddenly, you trip over a thick branch as you ran around the corner. Though, your lovable face did not hit the hard ground.

With a soft gasp, you stumbled backward as you made contact with Ivar's firm, armored chest. The surprise was mirrored in his cobalt blue eyes as you looked up, a sudden rush of embarrassment coloring your cheeks.

“Y/n!” Ingrid screamed, speeding back to you immediately. “Did you hurt yourself?”

You shook your head, smiling awkwardly.

“I'm so sorry," you stammered, glancing at the tall man, your voice tinged with guilt. "I didn't see you coming. Are you alright, Ivar?"

You felt his icy eyes inspecting every single inch of you, thus made you flush. In all secrecy you owned a soft spot for Ivar. Of course you weren’t in a very deep relationship, but from time to time you helped him, accompanied him or cooked him dinner, whenever he didn’t want to eat with his own family.

“It appears we were both lost in our own little worlds," he replied, smiling softly.

Your sister, confused about the romantic tension between the both of you, distracted herself with collecting more leaves. Ivar studied Ingrid for a moment, his curiosity evident in the quirk of his lips.

“You are collecting leaves? A simple yet beautiful pursuit." Ivar grinned at your sister, who picked out a beautiful red maple leaf. She turned around and gifted it to Ivar, expressing her appreciation. Your heart warmed up at that sight, since he was so gentle with your little sister.

Ingrid’s high voice chimed in with enthusiasm, "Would you like to join us, Ivar? I’ll make you your own crown out of red leaves!"

Ivar, usually not so fond of children, appreciated your little sister a lot. She was honest and kind, unlike many other kids who lived in Kattegat. On top of that, the Viking loved one particular person who was linked to Ingrid - you.

Ivar considered the offer for a moment before a playful glint entered his eyes.

"Very well, little Lady. I shall accompany you,” he accepted, watching her happily run off to guide Ivar and you.

As you continued to explore the forest together, you couldn't help but be captivated by Ivar's presence. Since he had learned how to walk with his crutches, his tall body always surprised you. You liked him, crawling or walking, it didn’t matter to you.

You and Ingrid led the way to the most unique spots in the forest, where the trees cast long and the colors of autumn were most resplendent. Ingrid collected leaves of rich burgundy, while you gathered those of gold and orange. Ivar watched the scene with a hint of awe in his eyes. Ivar's gaze met yours, and for a moment, the world seemed to stand still. The connection between you deepened - you felt like you were the only two souls in the whole forest. Ingrid, ever the perceptive one, excused herself to give the two of you some privacy.

Ivar leaned closer, his presence filling your senses as he whispered, "Y/n, there’s something immaculate about you. I hope we won’t grow apart."

Red hues rushed over your cheeks, your fingers fidgeted with the fur of your coat and you unconsciously bit the skin of your bottom lip while you let his words swallow you whole. You barely could form a sentence under the embarrassment.

“Ivar, no. I apologize, I mean, I’ll always accompany you. Wherever you go,” you stuttered slightly, staring into the blue, vibrant eyes which formed a perfect contrast with the orange hues of autumn. As the forest whispered its melody and the leaves rustled, Ivar closed the distance between you, his lips meeting yours in a passionate kiss. His lips molded perfectly against yours, igniting passion that had smoldered beneath the surface.

A kiss you never forgot - your first one under the rain of changing leaves.

[n0vazsq]

Lucky me | Marc Bernal x Reader

pairing . . . marc bernal x gf!reader

summary . . . Doing a tiktok trend with your boyfriend, Marc

request . . . yes!! based on this request!

word count . . . 1.9k+

warnings . . . none!

faceclaim . . . N/A

alexavia yaps . . . totally didn't change the trend halfway through!! WHY DID THiS TAKE ME LIKE 6 HRS TO WRITE THE SHIT??? idk i kinda hated it ALSO I DID NOT HAVE A CRUSH ON MY PE TEACHER!!!!! DID NOT!!!!!!

taglist . . . @barcapix ,, @f1lover55 ,, @ilovebarcaaa ,, @notm4d1 ,, @httpsdana (lmk if you want to join the taglist!)

. . . "Okay, so we’re doing the trend, yeah?"

Marc looked way too pleased with himself as he sat on your couch, his phone propped against his knee. You were sitting beside him, one leg tucked under the other as you rolled your eyes for what felt like the hundredth time today.

"Yes," you muttered. "But we're doing it the actual way."

Marc snorted, giving you a look that said absolutely not. "You do realize the entire point of the trend is that we don’t listen, and we judge, right? It’s comedy gold. I’ll even act shocked for dramatic effect. Get us an Oscar worthy performance."

"That’s not the point-"

"It is now."

You groaned, flopping against the back of the couch as he smirked, clearly enjoying how worked up you were getting. He leaned toward you with a grin, his face far too close for comfort. "You’re stalling."

"I’m not stalling," you shot back.

"Then say it," he teased, sing songing the words. "Confess your little secret, and let me judge away."

You shot him a glare, narrowing your eyes as you crossed your arms over your chest. "You’re way too excited about this."

"You’re way too nervous." Marc tilted his head, his tone softening just slightly. "What, are you afraid I’ll actually judge you?"

You knew he wouldn’t, not really, but Marc teasing you was always a battle. He was relentless when he had the upper hand, and you could already feel your face warming.

"Fine," you huffed. "Let’s get it over with."

Marc grinned and leaned back, holding up his phone as if he were a director cueing his star actress. "And….action!"

You stared at him flatly before finally sighing and giving in. "We listen-"

Marc interrupted immediately, his voice dropping into an exaggerated serious tone as he mimicked you. "We listen…."

"…but we don’t judge."

Marc’s expression lit up like Christmas morning, and you could already see the teasing words forming on his lips.

"Okay, okay," you said quickly, pointing a finger at him. "Promise you’ll be nice."

"I will not promise that."

"Marc."

"Fine, I’ll try. Go on."

You bit the inside of your cheek before muttering under your breath. "When I was younger, I….I had a crush on my PE teacher."

The room fell silent for a moment as Marc blinked, processing. You dared a glance at him, instantly regretting it when his lips curled into the most dramatic smirk you’d ever seen.

"Oh, this is gold," he breathed, sitting up straighter. "Your PE teacher? You? The most unathletic person I know?"

"Shut up!" you groaned, shoving his shoulder, but Marc was already cackling.

"This is better than I expected," he continued, ignoring your protests. "Did you think he’d, what- teach you how to climb a rope and then sweep you off your feet?”

"I hate you."

"Not true," Marc replied smoothly, his eyes glinting. "You like me a lot, actually. Love me, even."

You picked up a throw pillow, fully intending to smack him with it, but Marc grabbed it first, holding it hostage as he leaned toward you. "Wait, wait….was he at least good-looking?"

You stared at him, speechless. "Are you serious?"

"I’m serious. I need the details now."

You groaned, trying to grab the pillow, but Marc yanked it just out of your reach, laughing. "Stop dodging!" he teased. "Tall? Short? Beard? I’m picturing a really grumpy gym teacher here, by the way. Like the whistle around the neck type."

"You’re the worst person I know. And besides I won't need someone tall when I'm dating a skyscraper," you muttered, face burning.

Marc lowered his voice, leaning closer again as his teasing grin softened into something gentler. "That height thing was unneeded. No, but really, cute little PE teacher crush? That’s actually adorable."

You looked away, muttering, "Don’t make it sound worse than it is."

"I’m not," he said, his tone quieter now. "It’s just funny how you get so worked up over nothing."

"It’s not nothing," you shot back, glaring at him halfheartedly. "You’re a menace."

Marc shrugged, his grin returning as he tossed the pillow aside. "You make it too easy. I can’t not tease you."

"You don’t see me teasing you about your secrets."

"That’s because I’m perfect, and you’d never find anything to tease me about," he replied, brushing his hair away in a dramatic act.

"Oh, please."

Marc laughed, the sound low and warm as he shook his head. "Fine, fine. Go ahead. I’ll give you one shot. What’s my secret?"

You paused, narrowing your eyes. "You cry during rom coms."

His confident expression faltered for half a second before he scoffed. "That’s not even-"

"You do!"

Marc pointed at you accusingly. "Okay, no. You’re deflecting."

"I’m not-"

"Yes, you are. Because you’re still embarrassed about Mr. PE Teacher."

"Marc."

"Yes?" he said in a sweet tone, batting his eyelashes at you.

"Shut up."

"Make me."

You froze for half a second, his words hanging in the air between you. Marc didn’t move, didn’t smirk, didn’t add anything else, just looked at you, his expression unreadable now.

Your pulse quickened, heat creeping up your neck as you opened your mouth to reply. "I-"

Before you could finish, Marc reached out, cupping your face with his hand as he leaned in and kissed you. It was soft at first, gentle, like he was testing the waters, but it was enough to make you completely speechless.

Your eyes widened, your breath catching in your throat as his thumb brushed lightly against your cheek. For a moment, you didn’t move, frozen under the weight of the kiss and the warmth of his touch.

And then you melted.

Your hands, which had been clutching the couch cushion for dear life, relaxed as you reached up, your fingers brushing against the fabric of his shirt. Marc smiled against your lips, his other hand coming up to cradle the back of your head as he deepened the kiss just slightly.

When he finally pulled back, you were breathless, your heart racing as you stared at him, wide eyed.

Marc grinned softly, his thumb still tracing lazy circles against your cheek. "That shut you up, didn’t it?"

You blinked at him, your voice barely above a whisper. "You did not just…"

"Oh, I did," he replied, his grin widening as his eyes searched yours. "Worked pretty well, too."

"You’re unbelievable," you muttered, though your voice lacked any hint of annoyance.

Marc tilted his head, his smile softening as he leaned his forehead against yours. "You love it."

You stared at him for a moment before letting out a quiet laugh. "I hate how much I do."

He pulled back just enough to look at you properly, his expression turning more serious now, still playful, but softer around the edges. "For what it’s worth," he murmured, brushing a stray strand of hair behind your ear, "I think your PE teacher had good taste."

You groaned, shoving his chest lightly as Marc laughed, the sound ringing through the room. "You just ruined it!"

"No, I didn’t," he shot back, catching your hand before you could push him again. He laced his fingers with yours, holding your hand in his as he grinned down at you. "Admit it. You’re smiling."

You rolled your eyes, though the smile tugging at your lips betrayed you completely. "You’re insufferable."

"And yet…." Marc trailed off, giving you a knowing look.

"Yes, yes," you muttered, unable to hide the warmth in your voice. "I still love you."

Marc smiled, leaning in to kiss you again, slower this time, like he wasn’t in any rush. When he pulled back, he rested his forehead against yours once more, his voice low and teasing.

"Lucky me."

Marc didn’t let go, even as the moment stretched on, his fingers still lightly grazing your cheek. He seemed content to just look at you. Like he was trying to process what just happened, or maybe just trying to burn it into his memory.

"You’re quiet," he teased softly, his lips quirking up at one corner. "Did I finally manage to shut you up?"

You blinked, the haze of the kiss still lingering, before narrowing your eyes at him. "Don’t get cocky."

Marc chuckled, his thumb brushing lightly along your jawline again. "Oh, I’m not. I’m just, how do you say it, impressed."

You swatted at his chest lightly, though it only made him grin wider. "Stop it."

"What? It’s true!" Marc leaned back just enough to give you some space, though his hand still lingered on yours. "I had this whole plan to get you to stop talking, and it worked. Perfectly."

"You didn’t plan that," you shot back, trying to ignore the way your heart was still racing.

He tilted his head, feigning thoughtfulness. "Maybe not exactly like that, but… I’m not complaining about how it turned out."

You rolled your eyes, though you couldn’t help but smile. "You’re ridiculous."

"And yet you’re still here," he replied smoothly, his grin softening into something gentler. "Which I’m very grateful for, by the way."

Your teasing retort caught in your throat as his words settled, his sincerity catching you off guard. You felt his thumb trace lightly over the back of your hand again, grounding you.

"I meant it," he murmured, his tone softer now. "Everything I said earlier. You drive me crazy sometimes, but…in the best way. I’d sit through a thousand of those dumb trends with you if it means I get to see you laugh like that."

Your cheeks burned at his confession, and you looked down at your lap, suddenly shy. "Stop making me blush."

"Not a chance," Marc said with a low laugh, his hand gently tilting your chin back up so you’d meet his gaze. "I like it when you blush."

"Why?" you muttered, your voice barely above a whisper.

He smirked, though his eyes stayed impossibly soft. "Because it means I’m doing something right."

Before you could respond, Marc leaned in again, brushing another kiss against your lips. It was brief this time, just a soft, lingering touch that left you breathless all over again. When he pulled back, his smile was wider than ever, his thumb brushing along your cheek one last time.

"You know," he murmured, his voice teasing again, "if you want to keep practicing that trend, I’m happy to keep judging you."

You let out a small laugh, pushing him playfully as he leaned back with a dramatic groan, clutching his chest like you’d wounded him.

"You’re impossible," you said, shaking your head.

"And yet, you’re still here," Marc repeated, his eyes twinkling as he leaned just close enough to brush his forehead against yours. "So what does that say about you, hm?"

You smiled, your cheeks still flushed as you whispered back, "It says I’m just as impossible as you are."

Marc grinned, stealing another quick kiss before finally pulling away completely, though his hand stayed tangled in yours. "Good," he said, his voice low and soft. "I wouldn’t have it any other way."

And neither would you.

[yurinaa-world]

hello!! platonic dr ratio with a teen!student reader who excels at one particular subject but is bad or average on the others? also lacks social skills

(kinda inspired by me lol 💀)

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈: Dr. Ratio platonic! x Gender-neutral Reader

𝒮𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓅𝓈𝒾𝓈: with student reader who excels at one subject but is bad at the others + lacks social skills

𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈: Fluff and spelling mistakes, got lil personal

𝒱𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓉𝒶𝓈 𝑅𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜

He’s so strict about your grades, looking at you with disappointment as if a parent would when their child an F. What? does the information just go through and out one ear? (it does for me 😀)  Can your brain handle one sentence at a time since it doesn’t look like it to him with these embarrassing grades?

He immediately got you into summer school so you could at least try to get good at other subjects, one subject won’t get you a future. Even worse with fact you can’t even talk without staring endlessly at your paper contemplating just to ask him the most simple question.

The man knows no mercy, making you write out several essays over the whole summer but just like every teacher that wants to suck the souls from students he’ll make you plan every tad bit of detail, even refuse you from starting to write if one detail isn’t explained and well thought out enough for him.

Then oh don’t forget to make the rough draft of the essay (it’s more like writing the real essay itself with the way he’s being strict with every typo & grammar mistake, but oh don’t think you're going to get this using simple and basic words like “in conclusion.” or “well, I believe.” Throw those out the window along with every other basic sentence that people use to put up the word count or just get the whole thing over with. He isn't accepting it. No exceptions.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

Blank.

You’ve been staring at the next part of your sentence but unsure how to use the word “Magnanimity”. How were you even supposed to use this in a sentence?! (he made you pick several high-level words to use in an essay), you look up to silently curse your teacher, Mr. Ratio out in your head before immediately looking back down when your eyes connect.

You begin to contemplate, that maybe jumping out the window ain’t bad, it might be your only way to get out of here. you sigh, just giving up on your constant stalling, getting up from your chair (with your paper in hand) and walking over to your teacher, dreading every step you take.

Before stopping at his desk, “Mr. Ratio, could you tell me what the definition is for magnanimity again?” He just sighs, closing up the book he always reads. (You don’t know why he always reads the same thing, it’s so boring.)

“Magnanimity means the loftiness of spirit enabling one to bear trouble calmly, to disdain meanness and pettiness, and to display a noble generosity.”

you stare at him blankly, he wasn’t kidding, he seriously expected you to know what he was saying?! “I’m sorry but what does that even mean?” you whisper your voice cracking with frustration, you just feel a blood vessel getting bigger.

He sighs once again “Showing kindness towards an enemy or you had been defeated in battle. using it in a sentence would be like he showed magnanimity towards his enemy, understand?” 

“Oh, okay. Thank you Mr. Ratio” You nod taking in his words. “Let me see your essay.” He tells you out of the blue, holding his hand out to see your paper, which makes your mouth dry. “you have something written, correct? Let me see it.”

You give him your paper and watch in nervousness before he begins to read out loud “A great man once spoke mighty wor-“ “Mr ratio please read it in your head!”  you cut him off with panic, yet what a fool you are since when was he merciful? “a great man once spoke mighty words…”

Listening to him read your essay made you cringe and close your ears. He’s the worst!

if you liked this, consider tipping me on ko-fi! it'd mean a lot!

[itscatchyouintherye]

hopedrunk

A pipe breaks in your neighbor’s apartment, flooding your bedroom. House, selflessly, lets you crash on his couch.

“You’re late.” House says while writing on the whiteboard, his back to you.

“Since when do you have a concept of early and late?” You ask while you sit down, out of breath.

Leaning on his cane, he turns around and raises an eyebrow. He’s wearing a dress shirt today, blazer thrown aside, first two buttons undone, sleeves rolled up to his elbow. The arm he rests his weight on bulges and strains the fabric. His hair is also a little chaotic; apparently, he ran his fingers through it several times. His eyes are bright and pierce into you. God, he’s attractive…

“Interesting.”

“What?”

“You rarely deflect.”

“And you are shit at psychological profiles.”

“We all know that’s not true.” House replies, unimpressed.

“Saying that everybody lies does, in fact, not make you a member of the BAU.”

“Ayo!” Chase gives you a high-five.

A smile spreads on House face: “Now that’s a deep cut.”

You think that might be the end of it, but after Chase and Foreman left the room and you’re hunched over files, House says: “You didn’t answer my question.”

“You didn’t ask a question. You made a statement.”

“Don’t sass me.”

Your eyes flick up: “I know you like it.”

“So?”

You sigh: “A pipe broke in my neighbor’s apartment and flooded my bedroom.”

He begins to grin widely.

“Yeah, exactly.” You go on. “I know what that sounds like.”

“Did ‘his pipe’” He makes quotation marks in the air, “burst this morning or was it late last night?”

“Her-“ You immediately realize that that makes it not one bit less suggestive.

“Nice!” House winks and offers you his hand for a high-five like Chase did earlier. “So you made her-“

“House!”

“So, you’ll ‘sleep’,” He makes quotation marks again, “at her place tonight?”

You’re very close to flipping him off when you realize what he’s asking indirectly.

“I’ll probably get a hotel room.”

“You can have my couch.”

Stunned, you find his eyes. They suggest that he’s actually serious.

“I- oh, erm.” You try to win time to not immediately blurt out an enthusiastic YES, but don’t know how to stall. “Sure, okay.” You say instead.

House nods and then says something about a new symptom that manifested itself this morning. You’re too astonished to react.

Thank fuck, Chase reenters the room and declares: “Petechial rash in reaction to the antidote. Otherwise no-“

“What?” Your voice shoots up, alarm bells going off in the back of your head as at least part of your mind is capable of doing your job.

“Petechial rash.” Chace repeats. “Otherwise, no reaction.”

“Have you taken their temperature? Just now, I mean.”

“No, why would I do that?”

Your head snaps around and you look at House, wide-eyed.

“Ice bath.” He says. “Now!”

~

House pushes the door to his apartment open and lets you enter first. Yawning, you walk past him and look around. The only reason you’re not completely losing it at the fact that you’re in House’ apartment, is that it’s two in the morning and you’re exhausted beyond belief.

You throw your bag on the ground and take your shoes off while House locks the door.

“You sure you want to take the couch?” He suddenly asks.

“What?” You turn around, irritated. “You said I could crash here. Do you want me to-“

“Had I known you would end up here, I had thrown out my couch in the morning to leave you with no choice.” He appears nonchalant and joking but clears his throat twice while he hangs up his jacket. “Now I only can offer you the bed.”

“Yeah, right.” You scoff and trudge to the living room and sink into said couch with a groan.

“Beer?” House pipes up from the kitchen.

“How do you still have energy?” You barely lift your head off the backrest to look in his direction.

“Sleepovers are exciting.”

“I cannot tell if you’re making fun of me or…I don’t know.”

“Well, after what you did with your neighbor…I wouldn’t be surprised if my pipes would be broken by the morning as well.” He wiggles his eyebrows while he limps towards you.

“House!” You shout. “I didn’t fuck my neighbor! And what are you even- What is wrong with you!?”

He sits down at the other end of the couch and offers you a bottle, showing little reaction to your outburst. You roll your eyes at him but take the bottle and say: “If I weren’t about to pass out, I would leave.”

“I heard that one before.”

“Jesus fucking Christ.” You run your hand over your face and take a big gulp of the beer.

Make no mistake, you do enjoy the banter. But it’s getting inherently difficult for you to not bluntly flirt back and see if he goes through with it or if he’s only being an ass.

“You’re very attractive when you curse.”

Your head snaps around and you stare at him, not sure if he actually said that.

“I don’t think I heard it before.” He goes on, licking his lips before taking another sip.

“Stop messing with me.”

His eyes dart over your face.

“I’m vulnerable when I’m tired.” You add.

“I heard-“

“Yeah, yeah, you heard that one before.” You sigh and get up. “Where’s the bathroom?”

“End of the hall.”

You walk up to it.

“House!” You call. “That’s the bedroom.”

“Oops.”

You open the door to the right and find the bathroom. Quickly, you slip inside, more hiding from House than anything else. With a groan, you rest your forehead against the wood. You knew he would mess with you. It’s House. However, you don’t think he realizes how badly you want to take any of his comments serious and jump him. Or he does and is consciously using it against you.

When you exit the bathroom, somewhat freshened up and ready to just get this over with and go to sleep, House is coming out of the bedroom, wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. You enjoy his night-attire a little too much to immediately notice the blanket, well probably bed cover, he’s holding out towards you. His face is actually somewhat serious now, which confuses you even more.

“Thanks.” You say quietly when you finally take it.

He nods, one hand resting on the doorframe. Behind him, you see the very large, very comfortable looking bed and…don’t even think about it.

You look at each other for another long moment. His mouth opens like he wants to say something, but he doesn’t.

“Night, House.” You give him a half-smile and make your way back to the living room.

You haven’t really thought about if you should just sleep in your clothes, or partially undress, or- A shirt lies on the backrest of the couch.

You look back in House’ direction, but the door to the bedroom is closed.

Stunned, you take the neatly folded, black t-shirt. It’s clearly House’. And it’s clearly for you.

You smell it. Of course, it fucking smells like him and makes you smile like an idiot.

~

You’re half asleep, huddled up under the blanket, hugging yourself, when steps in the hallway drag you back into full consciousness.

You hold your breath, listening. You expect House to simply go to the bathroom, but his steps get too loud. You freeze, doing your best to pretend you’re fast asleep and not have your heart beating in your throat as he approaches. Maybe, you think, maybe he’s going to the kitchen instead. To get water or something.

“Hey.” House’ voice is gravelly.

You don’t dare to react.

He puts his hand on your shoulder. You flinch.

“Hey.” He chuckles and you look up at him.

In the darkness of the apartment, you can just barely make out his face.

“Hm?” You’re confused as much as you are enjoying his hand on your shoulder.

“Come on.” He says softly and nods towards the bedroom.

“I-“

“It’s fine.”

That’s pretty much all it takes to convince you.

Slowly, you sit up and get to your feet. House does not take his hand away but moves it to your back instead. You let him guide you. All the way over the threshold of the bedroom and to his bed.

He lifts the blanket for you, and you crawl into the sheets. The soft fabric on your naked legs makes you remember that you’re wearing no bottoms besides your panties. Well, that’s really not what is tilting this situation towards inappropriate…

You let out a relieved sigh when you sink into the mattress, head hitting the soft pillow. It’s so much warmer, so much more comfortable, and smells so much more like House and feels so much more intimate.

And that is before he even gets into bed on the other side.

You know he’s tall, but now you, for the first time, get to witness what that translates to when he lies down in a bed. How it feels to have his weight dent the mattress. What it sounds like when he scoots closer and pulls the blanket over himself.

A little stiff, you turn to your side and try to find a comfortable position without accidentally touching House. You try to will yourself back into your sleepy state.

“Comfortable?” He asks after a minute.

“Hmh.” You hum. “Definitely more comfortable than the couch.”

“Good.”

After another pause, he speaks up again. His voice is closer now, meaning he has his head turned towards you. “I wasn’t making fun of you.”

His words hang heavy in the air. Your thoughts race without going anywhere.

“I know.” You whisper.

“No, you don’t.”

You laugh quietly. “Night, House.”

He doesn’t reply.

~

You remember a few half-conscious gestures of caring less about touching House’ arm or rolling towards his side. You do not, however, remember that he more than welcomed it.

So, it comes as quite a shock to you that you wake up with his arm around you. Actually, he is pretty much draped over and around you, face buried in the crook of your neck, lightly snoring into your ear.

It’s light out, but in the position you are in, you can barely see anything of him. You do, though, feel most of him. His warm chest, his heavy limbs, his soft skin, his scratchy beard.

You enjoy his closeness for a bit, even though it threatens to overwhelm you, to make you overthink and overanalyze.

“House.” You eventually whisper into his ear.

He inhales deeply and shifts but does not seem to really wake up.

You move your head and manage to reach his cheek. You press a kiss to it and murmur: “House.”

“Don’t want to wake up yet.” He sighs.

“Why not?”

“Nice dream…” He mumbles and shifts again, holding onto you tighter before apparently drifting off. You smile and for another minute you allow yourself to feel happy and content about this absurd situation. And maybe a little aroused.

Then you turn in his arms to get into a more comfortable position and hug him back, fearing this might be over any moment now.

You can hear his breathing pattern change and suddenly he presses kisses to the side of your neck, making you gasp.

“Now that I think about it,” His voice is raspy, “this is nice too.”

You shiver, running your hand over his arm, lightly squeezing it.

House hums and lets his hands wander too; over your sides, down to your outer thighs, back up, lightly skimming over you half-exposed ass. It makes you smile, and you huddle up closer into his arms. He presses a kiss to the crown of your head before he begins to play with your hair. You highly enjoy it and kiss his throat before sinking into his embrace, eye-lids heavy again.

You lie there for a while, House continuously caressing you and clearly basking in your closeness.

Suddenly, it occurs to you how haven’t kissed yet what you most desire: his lips. Timid, you lift your head. House shifts and gives you the room, arm around your back instead your shoulders.

When you make eye-contact, you smile. House does too, but he seems nervous. Very nervous and unsure.

“You okay?” You whisper.

“I-“ He seems to try to come up with a sarcastic reply, but the words get stuck in his throat.

Gently, and a little impatient, you rest your hand on the side of his face and pull him in. For the fraction of a second, House hesitates, but then he smashes his lips onto yours. You sigh and press your body into his. He groans and pushes his tongue into your mouth, grabbing the back of your knee to make you drape your leg over his hip.

Soon, you’re grinding against him, hands in his hair, House devouring you.

Panting, you suck on the skin below his jaw before you come back up to kiss him as deep and hard as you can. He groans loudly, flipping you over to fully lie on top of you, your leg still around him.

House yanks the blanket aside that was bunching up between your crotches and grinds down on you, making you inhale sharply when the tip of his hard dick hits your clit.

“Jesus, House…” You breathe out.

“I’ll be honest…” He murmurs, “My pipe is already about to burst.”

You snort.

“Oh god, just like in my nightmares…she laughs at me.” He adds.

Which only makes you laugh harder.

Leaning his forehead against your shoulder, he lets out a chuckle as well.

Then he trails kisses over your jaw and asks quietly: “Can I go down on you?”

You clench around nothing and are about to agree, but then say: “I always liked your hands…”

“Did you now?” He leans up to find your eyes, a smirk on his lips.

“And want to see your pretty face for a bit longer.”

House lets out a little huff.

“I’m not making fun of you.” You whisper.

He slithers his hand down your side. “I know.”

“No, you don’t.” You laugh and move your legs so that he can reach your crotch easier.

“Maybe I don’t.” He agrees quietly and kisses you again while running his middle and ring finger through your audibly wet labia.

Before he can comment on it, you say: “If you make another burst pipe joke, I will fucking leave.”

“Oh, no.” He sucks on your bottom lip. “Making you wet and moan is no laughing matter.”

“Go-arrghh, shit.” Your head falls back when he pushes two fingers into you.

House tilts his wrist to massage sensitive spots deeper inside of you, making your moan and clasp his face to pull him in for messy kisses. He is quick to lean on his side to be able to fully kiss you whilst keeping his hand between your legs.

“Good?” He asks, peppering your cheek with kisses to let you breathe.

“Yeah, I- very.”

House smiles against your skin and sucks on the side of your neck. After another minute of making you writhe and roll your hips into his hand, he murmurs: “Harder or faster?”

“Faster.” You sigh, head thrown back, arms around him.

“What else? What do you need?”

“Just don’t stop.”

He finds your lips again, kissing you surprisingly softly; nudging your nose with his, spreading more kisses over your neck…and back to your mouth to greedily swallow your gasps.

“Fuck, House…” You warn, body stiffening.

“Please…please cum for me.”

You never heard his rough voice sound so needy.

With another groan, your hips lift off the mattress, and you cum around his fingers. He slows down, taking his hand away to caress your thighs while you shake, eyes pressed shut to enjoy the relief.

“You’re so pretty when you cum.” House whispers into your ear.

It sends a jolt down your spine, and you basically melt into him.

Panting, you bury your face in his chest. He rests his cheek on the top of your head and makes sure you’re fully covered by the blanket while you come down.

He’s being so sweet, it almost irritates you. Obviously, you imagined sex with House a lot. But, somehow, your phantasies never included how he would be afterwards.

“How’s your pipe?” You mumble.

It makes him chuckle: “I thought no more pipe jokes.”

“Not a joke. Serious question.”

“Painfully hard.”

You lift your head and finally look at his face again. His cheeks are flushed, and his eyes focused on you.

Holding the eye contact, you slither your hand down his body to find his dick. It is, in fact, rock-hard. House inhales sharply when you touch it.

“Aw, that bad?”

“You have no idea.”

You give it a few careful strokes, which is already enough to make House thrust his hips upwards and curse into your ear.

“Where would you like to cum?” You whisper.

His lips part. “My god.” He breathes out.

“What?”

“I’m trying really hard to neither cum nor say something stupid right now.”

“But it would feel so good, wouldn’t it?” You purr into his ear, adjusting your grip of his cock, running your thumb over the tip.

House makes a choked noise.

“It has to hurt by now, doesn’t it? You’re so fucking hard and dripping…all the penned-up tension…”

“I-“ He bites into your shoulder. “Yes, yes…”

“So, where would you like to cum?”

“It- I feel-“

You lean back to find his eyes. You can tell that he’s about to lose it and wants nothing more than to cum, but it takes him another two, three strokes until he says: “Your thighs. I always liked your thighs. God…” He groans. “Your fucking dress pants that accentuate them…How the fuck do you make dress pants slutty?”

You smile and scoot down, throwing the blanket aside, to lay fully on your back and expose your completely nude lower body to House.

He manages to move and crawl onto you, straddling one of your legs. You rake your eyes over all the naked skin you get to see. The building upper arms, his clenched fist around his cock, his scarred leg.

You put one hand on his thigh, covering the scar with your palm and use the other to pull on his balls. Rigorously, House keeps jerking himself off, his eyes darting between your face and your thighs.

Then he grunts as hot ropes of cum begin to cover your thighs, some of them reaching up to your hips.

“God, fuck…” He breathes out, eventually toppling over and sinking into the sheets next to you. You grin to yourself and turn towards him, wiping his cum off with the blanket.

House rests his arm on his forehead, eyes closed, taking deep breaths. You lean in, kissing his neck and behind his ear. It makes him hum and blindly reach for you to put his arm around you and pull you in.

“I don’t like this.” He suddenly says, voice hoarse.

“What?” Bewildered, you look at him.

“You’re too good at this.”

When you don’t reply, he turns his head to see your confused face.

“I haven’t even cum inside of you yet and I already don’t want you to ever leave this bed.”

“Is that such a bad thing?”

“Careerwise? Yeah. Otherwise: my refractory period is about ten to fifteen minutes.”

[shiny-jr]

♥ damnation [ the king of hearts ]

– Summary: When you commit a crime, you receive a punishment. This is especially true in your society. No matter the crime, your punishment is the same: banishment. But to where you will be sent in exile and how miserable will it be? No one knows, because no one has ever returned.

– Warning: Yes, this is a yandere thing. Gender-neutral reader. 

– Characters: Ace Trappola, Deuce Spade, Cater Diamond, Trey Clover, Riddle Rosehearts. 

– Note: Decided to try a new type of look with the formatting here, thought it would be a good opportunity since I used the original formatting I usually use with the original announcement post. Okay, so, here is one of currently three and what will eventually be seven results from my damnation project, which I’ll link below. Lots of content for y’all. I wanted to put all three results in one post, but that would be so annoying for readers because the post would end up ridiculously long. Which is why I opted to separate the results. Anyways, I’m also posting these here for those who do not want to take my quiz (please try it, I worked hard on it!) or just can’t get the result they want from it. So, here it is. 

– Pages: 42

– Not satisfied? Try looking here for the quiz to take it yourself and see where you end up banished! 

The King of Hearts   |   The Hyena Chieftain 

Robes. You were wearing robes of the finest quality that weighed heavily on your shoulders. This surface you laid on felt... nice. Soft, nothing like the hard bench of the prison cell. As you sat up and recalled your current dire situation, you felt a sense of dread loom overhead like a thick blanket of gray clouds. Immediately, fearfully, you scanned your surroundings. Everything was painted red, there was so much red velvet. The floors were polished checkered black and white and the furniture, if not completely red, was crafted of finely carved wood. It was fancy here. Safe, for now. Wherever this place was.

There was something hefty on your head, only noticing its weight settling on your skull as you moved to stand up from the crimson red sheets on the king-sized mattress. As you removed the item from your head, you were perplexed to see a small golden crown and a heart-shaped staff beside the spot you had laid on. Wait just a moment... red everywhere? A fancy setting? A crown and a heart-shaped staff? Rapidly you dashed over to the mirror just beside the bed, gasping at your appearance.

You were dressed just like royalty. And not just any royalty, like a king. A king of red with a heart-shaped staff... Just like the meek king that was married to the ruthless Queen of Hearts from the fairytales. So it was true, criminals were often sent to dangerous tales where they would perish. And you... you were a criminal and you were here, but... you were the king. How did the story go again?

The Red Queen, or Queen of Hearts, ruled over Wonderland with an iron fist. She would behead anyone who got in her way, and her reign terrorized the residents of the realm. That is, until Alice fell down a hole and arrived in Wonderland. She would eventually free this land from the oppressive rein of the queen. As for the king... what happened to him again? He didn't really appear in the story. You wracked your memory for an answer, when the horrid realization came to you. The Red Queen had been so terribly jealous and suspected that her husband was cheating, that she had him beheaded! His head left to rot as it floated in a river of blood, surrounded by the heads of other victims, and the king's lifeless head still with the crown. He had died before Alice even arrived in Wonderland!

You clutched your neck, grimacing at the thought of your own detached head, crown still attached, doomed to sail in a moat of blood. It made you sick to your stomach just thinking about it. There had to be a way to prevent your death, or at least stall for time, but how? The king couldn't just up and run away! People would take notice immediately, someone would inform the queen, and you'd be a goner for sure! But then what? You couldn't kill her either, could you...? It certainly was an idea. You would be doing a favor for the rest of Wonderland too...

THUMP!

Abruptly the doors flew open, nearly causing you to shriek. But you managed to hold your tongue as you quickly placed your crown back on and clutched your staff. When your eyes focused on the door, you were surprised and almost relieved to see the figure of a short young man that had slammed the doors open. He was... rather adorable, actually. It caused you to tilt your head, endeared by his appearance.

The young man had hair that shamed the red roses, and wide gray eyes. As soon as his eyes landed on you, however, his face grew flush and his expression twisted into one of rage. Immediately he slammed the doors shut behind him, stomping up to you, his heels violently clicking against the tiled floors. When the short young man was in your face, another horrible realization dawned on you. With that crown on his head and his wondrous red garbs, this could only be the queen. Or at least, someone meant to be the red queen.

“You knave! Where have you been lurking?!”

“I…” You were at a loss for words. What were you supposed to say? What was the king even doing before you got here? Most importantly, how would you avoid this queen’s wrath?

At your lack of a response, he only seemed to grow more frustrated as he threw wild accusations, “You–– You’ve been sneaking about, seducing the men of my court, haven’t you?! I shall have your head––!”

“Wha–– N-No, I haven’t!” You blurted out. The king was originally beheaded because the queen was jealous and thought she would lose him to others. So if you could assure him that your heart belonged to him, well… survival just might be possible. Although acting wasn’t necessarily your strong point, you could only try for the sake of living another day. Nervously you smiled, throwing aside your staff as you lifted your hands to gently hold his fist he had been angrily waving near your face. Thank god he didn’t have a knife or anything of the sort, or you feared he may have tried to stab you out of raging envy. “How could I ever dare to throw my loyalty to you away…? You are amazing…! I apologize sincerely if I haven’t been able to express my love for you properly. Sometimes it feels like you’re really too much for my heart to handle, you in all your… glory…!” Oh god, this was going terribly. All you could do to give the messy act a bow to top it off, was lean your head down and hesitantly kiss the back of his hand.

Miraculously, that seemed to work. Almost. The queen’s face was no longer as flushed, but he gazed down at you as you lingered at his hand. Suspicion was still evident in his eyes. “How do I know?”

“H-Huh…?”

“How do I know you aren’t lying? How do I know you won’t leave me as well? How do I know that you still love me? Prove it to me.” Those gray eyes of his watched you carefully, seemingly unhappy with your lack of a response. After about five seconds of no answer, his face scrunched up and he bellowed, “Guards!! Gua–– mmph!”

Not knowing what else to do, you kissed him. He wanted a sign of devotion, right? Oh god, this was it. Your death was here and now. You had no other way to shut him up. If you covered his mouth with your hands, you were a goner. If you attacked him, you were a goner. If you tried to continue reasoning, you were still a goner! You can’t believe that this was how you died, having to kiss a stranger as your last desperate attempt to stay alive. Well, he wanted a sign. You were ready for him to push you off and armored guards come running in to drag you to the guillotine, when the most unexpected thing happened. He froze, he didn’t fight back or scream bloody murder.

When you slowly pulled away, you were stunned. His face was flush again, but for an entirely different reason other than anger. There was a dazed look on his face, and it almost looked as if he wanted to do it again judging by how he gazed longingly at your lips. It was then you understood that your reckless decision making might’ve just saved your neck.

The red ruler frowned, but you were unsure if it was because he was unsatisfied with something or if it were for another reason entirely. This time, when he opened his mouth, he spoke softly, as if still dazed. “You scoundrel… How dare you play with my heart like this? I should still take your head for that.” You gulped, but he continued. “But… I truly didn’t want to get rid of you. So I’m glad we can avoid that now. I expect to see you well away from the noblemen.”

“Y-Yes… Your Majesty.”

At your obedient response, he smiled and patted your head. “Good.” Taking one step closer, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss against your cheek. He lingered there for a few moments, before taking one step back.

The action left you flustered, embarrassed, because not only had you kissed a stranger but they had kissed you in return. And not only that, this crimson ruler believed you were his partner, the king! Under normal circumstances, you would’ve considered yourself lucky to land in such a position since the king has so much power and wealth. But in this type of situation, you can only shudder to think of what may come next and what would’ve become of you. Because these were no ordinary circumstances, and this was no normal kind ruler.

“Come along now. I don’t want you alone, do you understand?”

“Yes… Your Majesty.”

He beckoned you towards the very doors he entered from, and when he opened them, you were met with another character. It was a tall man with glasses and short messy dark green hair. Immediately he bowed to the queen, but when his eyes landed on you, he looked as if he saw a ghost.

“Change of plans, Trey. We will not be beheading my king today. Nor tomorrow, I think. They’ve become quite affectionate, so my doubts have been dismissed.”

“O-Of course, Your Majesty…” The glass-wearing man, Trey, glanced over at you with disbelief, but he looked a bit relieved, it’s as if he wanted to say something. But he opted to hold his tongue and instead shifted his gaze forward as he walked beside the red-haired royal. “There is still that soldier imprisoned that displeased you.”

“Ah yes, the one that claimed to see those messy blonde locks but failed to capture our lost wanderer. Bring him to me in the throne room.” Just then he glanced at you as you walked a bit behind him, “My dear, you must be there with me. This should be quite the spectacle. I will see you in a moment.”

“A-As you say, Your Majesty…” You replied stiffly.

He frowned and stopped in his tracks before grabbing your collar and bringing your face closer to his. What you half expected was a sharp knife against your throat, something that would kill you, but there was no such thing. There was only his sharp gaze and disappointed tone. “You’re supposed to respond with: my dear. Not Your Majesty, not Rosehearts, but perhaps I’ll allow Riddle for now. Do you understand, dearest?”

So his name was Riddle. Judging by Riddle’s tone, he wasn’t angry, but rather irked that all the sweetness from earlier was now gone. Proceeding, you chose your words carefully as you attempted to smile as convincingly as possible, “Y-Yes, of course, anything you say, Riddle, my darling.”

At your words his cheeks became a pink hue before he let go of you and cleared his throat, quickly turning away and proceeding forward towards the end of the hall where he had whatever duties to fulfill. So you were left with Trey, his subordinate. The calm and collected tall man’s shoulders sagged once the royal left, all the tension seemingly evaporating from his body. When he gave you a somewhat soft smile, your worries ceased for the moment as well. “I’m glad you’re still intact. I was certain you were a goner.” He was… nice? “You need to be more careful. I don’t know what you did to change Riddle’s mind, but he was ready to behead you himself. You know how he keeps that huge battle ax under his bed. He mentioned something about using that, and I thought he was going to use it to chop your head clean off.”

Oh god. That little guy was going to do that? That stupid kiss really did save your skin. “Heh, I’m still a little shaken…” Wait, you were supposed to be acting like the king! What did the king even act like? How were you supposed to know? He never even lived long enough to make it into the story! “I, um, am very appreciative towards your concern… Trey.”  

Trey appeared a bit surprised but he then smiled once more at you. “We’ll talk more later. Right now, we have a situation on our hands.”

What kind of situation? You didn’t even have time to ask when Trey led you down the checkered hall to an opening behind velvet red curtains which were the entrance directly to the large elegant throne room. There, you saw another stranger talking animatedly to the less-than-pleased-looking Rosehearts. This stranger had orange hair that brushed against his lower neck, and he had much more enthusiasm than those you had encountered thus far.

“Dear, there you are.” Instantly Riddle visibly brightened up as he gestured to the soft smaller heart-shaped throne beside his much larger grand seat. “Come, sit, we’re currently discussing the important matters at hand. Such as the dilemma with our prisoner. Cater, continue.”

When this Cater, fellow’s, green eyes trailed over to you, they became filled with surprise as he fumbled over his words, “Huh–– O-Oh! Right!” Forcing his gaze back on the red-haired royal, he began explaining, “There’s nothing really new to talk about, Your Majesty! I mean, seriously, this rookie was just the unlucky one that happened to see that blondie Ellis. According to him when I went to question him, he just said that he saw the guy in blue and when he went to confront him, Ellis escaped with some purple beastman!”

“Purple beastman…?” For a mere moment he appeared perplexed, when quickly the dots began to connect in his mind as he gasped, “Chen’ya! Why, the nerve of that––!”

When you saw his face begin to heat up again and a look of anger crossed his face, you slowly placed your hand over his arm that rested on the armrest of the throne. Then, he froze, everyone else, Trey, Cater, the armored guards in the room, they all were wide-eyed at what you had done. You had touched the queen when they were about to enter a fit of rage! You messed up–– Shit––

Riddle released a slow breath before placing his other hand atop your own. You felt such a massive flood of relief knowing you made the right move when he appeared much calmer as he nodded his head toward you, “Thank you, my dear. We shall discuss a proper punishment for that wretched feline later. For now…” Instantly his voice did a one-eighty as he turned his head toward the two imposing doors and shouted, “Bring him!!”

Nervously you looked over at Trey who stood tall and upright by Riddle’s side, and he remained oddly focused on the door. And that orange-haired guy, Cater, where did he go…?

“Hey…!”

Your eyes flittered over to you right where Cater was bent over a bit to whisper in your ear, while everyone else was distracted by the prisoner being escorted inside.

“I’m so happy that you’ve alive…! Don’t go dying on me so quickly, ‘kay? You wouldn’t leave me all alone here, would you?”

“Uh… no, of course not.” Huh. This Cater guy seemed pretty close to the king, or now you actually.

When you averted your eyes to the front, you listened to the clacking of armor as you watched more soldiers bring forward one of their own. Yet unlike all the others masked by metal, this soldier in shackles didn’t have a helmet. His messy red hair stuck out every which way, which made you wonder how on earth he even managed to fit that mess of hair under a helmet at all. His eyes were glued to the floor, and he wore a stiff frown as his shackles rattled with every step he took until he was right before the steps leading up to the red royal. When he refused to kneel, he was pushed down to his knees as Riddle eyed him with disdain.

Riddle wasted no time, because as soon as this prisoner was on his knees, he began his tirade of questions. “Ace Trappola, was it? We know you saw Ellis. Do you know where he is?”

The soldier’s head lolled forward a bit, his warm-colored eyes stopping on you for a moment as you gazed back at him. In a way, this Ace reminded you of… well, you. In shackles, forced to kneel, in front of a higher authority that was obviously not particularly fond of you, and likely with a sentence that could only mean your doom ahead of you. In a way, you did feel for him after hearing the basis of why he was arrested.

All was silent, only his shackles could be heard again as he slowly shrugged and snapped back, “I’d like to know that too! I mean, I’m sure wherever he is, he’s free as a bird. Meanwhile, me? Locked up for trying to do my job––!”

“Failing to do your only job.” Riddle corrected with a scoff. “I will ask you one more time. Where. Is. Ellis?”

Ace, still annoyed, continued. He must’ve been either stupid or brave for continuing. Although it might’ve been both as he mocked him. “Didn’t you hear me the first time? I. Don’t. Know.”

Under your hand you felt Riddle’s fingers dig into the armrest, his knuckles growing white as he raised his voice an octave, “What if I take off your head? Will you know then?”

“If you took my head, you wouldn’t get any answers after that.” He retorted with a slight eye roll.

Underneath your hand you could feel Roseheart’s anger growing the tighter he dug his nails into the chair. When you saw his face, you and everyone else could tell that he was fit to burst, no doubt ready to seal this soldier’s doom. Instantly you shot up from your throne, wanting to help save this prisoner. However, you very quickly began to regret it when all eyes darted over to your form, and you now became the center of attention. You couldn’t just sit back down, so with no other choice, you awkwardly cleared your throat and proceeded nervously, “My dearest, earlier when in our chambers I had an… um… epiphany! A vision! Y-Yes, I had a vision…! Ellis will slay your–– our, pet dragon jabberwocky.”

Instantly Riddle’s eyes widened. “He killed our jabberwocky?!”

“No…! No, at least not yet!”

Technically you weren’t lying. The story goes that the Red Queen had a powerful dragon, the jabberwocky, which was the main reason why she could keep such a grip on the kingdom with no rebellion ever coming close to dethroning her. At least, that is until Alice comes along and slays the jabberwocky. If you could somehow get rid of Alice, or Ellis in this case, and stay in Riddle Roseheart’s good graces, you would have it made! It was practically certain that the court back home thought you would’ve been beheaded already and your head would float in that river of blood for eternity. Yet here you were, alive, and if things went smoothly, you could live out your life in splendor here. Yes, you’d have to deal with the red royal, but if you could just stay in his good graces at all times, you would have a wonderfully lavish life! At this point you were just speeding things up, Ellis’ intentions of slaying the jabberwocky probably weren’t supposed to be revealed until much later. But, it would make a perfect excuse now.

As all eyes remained on you, you recounted your fake tale, “It all makes sense now…! In… In my vision I saw… A red-haired knight, um, clashing swords with a blonde man in blue and white!” Well, that part was a lie. There never was a red-haired knight in the stories. But this was an opportunity to potentially save Ace as well, and give him a chance to redeem himself in Riddle’s eyes. When you turned to face Ace, he was gazing at you with furrowed eyebrows, but you proceeded anyway as you gave your attention to Riddle now. “Riddle, I think–– I mean, I b-believe that knight is this one here in front of us.”

“Him?” The royal exclaimed in disbelief, looking at the soldier with something akin to disgust. To which the said soldier stuck out his tongue before a stern glare from Trey and Cater made Ace close his mouth. Riddle blinked, quiet for a moment before gazing up at you, his expression softening as he flipped over his hand so it held yours. “Is that what you were doing in our chambers alone? You were studying texts and had a vision, to save me?”

“Y…Yes…?”

His big gray eyes became fixated on you, as his voice became soft when he replied, “I’ve misjudged you, my dear… I believed you were being unfaithful, but you were working hard for me. How wrong I was.” The way he looked at you could only be described as adoringly.

It made you nervous, but you could only awkwardly smile in return. In order to ensure your own life of comfort here, you had to be sure to ruin the plot of the story. This meant that Ellis, the protagonist, could not win no matter what. Although it pained you to do such a thing, knowing that the outcome would most likely mean death by beheading him and his allies, you were more afraid of death than you were of the hero. For this, you would have to make sure the antagonist, Riddle Rosehearts in the role of the Red Queen, obtained a happy ending instead of a bad ending where he himself would be banished after being defeated by Ellis.

Clearing your throat, you hesitantly listed off the sequence of events in the way you recalled them playing out, “In my vision I saw… a blonde boy in blue, a purple feline beastmen, and a hatter, among other allies. Ellis will… will attempt to infiltrate the palace, and gain your favor under a disguise, and steal the ancient sword that can slay our Jabberwocky.” As all eyes and ears remained on you, you hesitated once again, mentally apologizing for what you were about to do. Maybe in the end, you might be able to plead with your supposed spouse to spare them. But deep down, you knew it was unlikely for the ruthless tyrant to even consider the idea. “Your Majesty, my darling, i-if I may make a suggestion…?”

Riddle nodded as he listened attentively, “Go on.”

Thankfully you had moved your hands away from his, and had them folded in your lap as you took a seat again so he couldn’t feel the way your fingers trembled with anxiety. “I would like to suggest we allow this knight before us to carry the sword, sheathed and hidden at all times. Let this be his redemption–– um, please, if you allow it, your Majesty.” Said knight gazed up in surprise. “It would be best to keep sir Ace in our sights. So might I ask that he and another capable knight become my guards?” Guards. Smart move, especially if things get hairy later. “I-I’d also like to suggest an increase in your personal escorts too… my dear. So… so you’ll be safe. And, no one else besides those in this room, will know of what we spoke of today––”

“That way, Ellis will come here all on his own, and if he searches for the sword it will not be there.” Riddle finished, to which you nodded. He caught on quickly. “That’s brilliant!” You nearly breathed a sigh of relief as the red royal turned to glance at his two subordinates, Trey and Cater, only to gesture to the former prisoner and demand of them, “Unbind him, Trey. How can he wield a sword if his hands are bound?”

Trey slowly stepped forward as Ace was allowed to stand, and he unlocked the shackles around the knight. Ace continued to peer up at you, suddenly flashing a grateful smile. To which you only caught a glimpse of before being distracted by the redhead on the throne.

“Cater!” Cater stood upright immediately and awaited orders from the royal. “Find a suitable knight to escort my partner! I expect only the strongest and most obedient of knights! Am I understood?”

“You got it, Your Majesty! I already have a few in mind.”

“Wonderful. I will be interviewing them myself, as well as hand-picking my own escorts.” Riddle stood from his throne, tossing out more commands and orders to be followed by his remaining subordinate and the guards that had escorted the former prisoner. “You lot, I want an increase on the perimeter and another search crew to hunt down that wretched boy Ellis! Trey, go and fetch the sword. As for you, Ace Trappola,” Turning to face the knight, he warned, “You have one more chance. Should you fail a second time, there will be no do-overs. Your head will roll and your family shall pay the price for your mistakes.”

For a mere moment, disbelief and anger flashed on Ace’s face. Just as he opened his mouth, you spoke up, “T-Thank you, Your Majesty…! You really are so… merciful.” Better to be a pawn in this game than to be dead.

Riddle turned his attention to you before smiling, such a true and proud smile as he declared, “I have you to thank for this, for saving my kingdom and protecting me. Once we have Ellis and his companions captured, we will have a morning execution for him, with front row seats to the show." As his eyes drifted back to the onlookers, he commanded, "All of you shall speak nothing of what transpired in this room.”

A chorus of Yes, Your Majesty echoed in the chamber. The royal nodded, content for now, sending you one last smile before turning on his heels and walking off to elsewhere with Cater in tow. Leaving you alone with Trey and Ace as all other attendants and soldiers exited the throne room to go fulfill their duties.

Just for a moment, you wanted to talk to Ace alone. There was something about Trey, something about the way he watched you so calmly but there was something in those yellow eyes behind those glasses. Something that made it seem like he knew your secret, like he knew you were not really the king. You weren’t sure if it was your paranoia getting to you and your mind was just playing tricks on you, but you wanted to distance yourself as far away from him as possible. As the former prisoner made his way towards you, you cleared your throat and spoke quietly, but loud enough for Trey to hear. “Can–– M-May I have a word with you, sir Ace…? In private.”

“Sure, I’m free now.” He half joked, giving a bit of a grin which didn’t do much to ease your worries.

Trey stood beside the empty throne, watching as you glanced over at him and made a gesture for him to carry on with the assigned duty of retrieving the legendary sword, as dictated by His Majesty. To which he did, after he carefully observed the way you scurried behind velvet curtains with the knight not too far behind.

When you were finally out of sight with Ace, you noticed his raised eyebrow. Noticing this and the way he tapped his foot, you hesitated, unsure where you were even going with this or what you should do now. “You… You look like you have something to say.”

“Why’d you save me?” He demanded, all that cheerfulness from before gone now as things took a serious turn. Looking you up and down, he crossed his arms and continued, “You could’ve had your cute little hubby chop off my head like all the others before me. So, say it. That’s the reason you wanted to talk alone, isn’t it?”

He got you. Were you that obvious? You’d definitely have to work on being more discreet… Looking around twice to make sure no one was listening in, you huddled with him in a corner by the stained glass windows as you whispered hurriedly, in a panic, “O-Okay, whew, you’re gonna think I’m crazy, but… I’m not really the king, or queen, or whatever role I’m supposed to play here! Well, I guess I am now? Uhhh… h-here! It’s like this: I was put on trial in my homeworld, and as punishment I was banished. When I woke up, I was in Roseheart’s bed and he started talking to me like I was an unfaithful partner! I didn’t understand it, until I realized that it was all exactly like a story I read as a child. My punishment was to become the king that dies by being beheaded by his own wife! I… I got out of that somehow, and now, well…”

Ace was looking at you as if you were crazy, as if you had grown an extra head or something. His arms were crossed and he continued to stare at you. Should you have done that? Could you trust him? Well, he did owe you his life. If things really came down to it, you could have him arrested again and beheaded. Play the victim, call guards, and make up some lie that he attacked you, but you really really didn’t want it to go like that… Finally, after a few seconds, he shook his head and gave a weak chuckle, as if he couldn’t even believe it. “Hold on, let me get this straight: You’re not the royalty, but you’re a criminal from another world? Did you hit your head or something?”

You knew it. He wouldn’t believe you after all.

“I mean, they keep saying this Ellis loser came from another world too… So… Maybe your story doesn’t sound too crazy after all.” His scarlet eyes focused on the floor, as if considering something. “You really weren’t lying about knowing the future. And I thought you had gone mad or something! So I’m a hero in the story?”

You could only scratch your arm nervously, a bit regretful for having to crush his sudden burst of excitement. “Ahaha… not exactly? I made that part up…”

Disappointed at the revelation that he wasn’t some badass hero wielding a legendary sword, he scoffed, “Seriously? So why save me then?”

“Look…” You took a deep breath, hiding your fidgeting fingers in your palm as best as you could. “We were both supposed to die. At least my character was mentioned in the story, but you? Y-You weren’t even mentioned at all…! You were just a nameless faceless soldier, someone not even worth mentioning––”

Offended, he snapped back, “Faceless? Rude much!”

You quickly shushed him, internally freaking out at the prospect that you may have been overheard. But when nothing else and no one else stirred, you frowned and muttered, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, I’m just really nervous… I guess what I’m trying to get at here is… why don’t we both help each other survive?”

“What?” Shaking his head in disbelief. First this person called him someone not even worth mentioning then they ask for his help? Seriously, what was with them?

“T-Think about it…! I’m the second most powerful person in the entire kingdom…! I know what will happen! Kinda…”

“Well, I do want to live just as badly as you do…” It appeared he was still on the fence. Leaning his weight against the wall, he demanded, “But what do you mean you kinda know what will happen? I thought you, for sure, know.”

“Um…” Twiddling your fingers, you hesitantly explained the dilemma, “I did mention we were both supposed to die… And while that part isn’t a lie and the whole you being the destined one to stop Ellis was a lie, the other thing I didn’t lie about was Ellis gathering with his allies to infiltrate the palace and acquire the sword to kill the Jabberwocky. That will actually happen. S-So, since I told everyone that––”

“Let me guess, you told it early?”

Freezing, you gazed up at him and murmured, “H-How did you…?”

He shrugged, “I would’ve done the same thing if I were in your position. That means a higher chance of survival, right? Assuming that the blonde is the good guy and our King Rosehearts is the bad guy of the story. And considering all that, now you have no idea how the story will be affected, right?”

“R-Right…” Wait, now it just looked like you were useless! Immediately interjecting, you added, “But I can still make predictions based on what I know, like how things were originally supposed to play out…!”

“And you are still technically a royal…” Ace placed a finger to his chin, probably thinking about possible outcomes, upsides, and downsides if he agreed to work together. Finally, when his gaze flittered back to you and you stood upright, he questioned, “What if things don’t go how we–– you plan?”

You actually considered this briefly. If everything came crumbling down and all plans failed, there was but one last option to avoid any punishment. “Find Ellis and the White Queen… or is it the White King? I-It doesn’t matter…! The point is, the White Royal is very kind and merciful. If I go to them and explain that I am not really the Red King’s consort, then they’ll spare me…! If you come too and bring the sword to slay the Jabberwocky, that will assure them of our good intentions!”

“Isn’t that just running away? I don’t want to do that. And come on, the Whites? Are you for real? I thought us Reds were bad, but those pristine prissy little killjoys are no fun.”

For a second you wanted to strangle him. What kind of idiot would risk certain death by staying here if everything goes south, instead of fleeing to a good place that would grant you sanctuary? “It’s exactly running away, that’s the point…! The point is to stay alive!”

The redhead tilted his head to the side, his disappointed and serious behavior disappearing as he grinned. “What if I became king?”

Now it was your turn to look at him as if he were the insane one. Was this knight actually the mad hatter that had been driven insane by mercury poisoning?

“I do owe you one for saving my neck back there. And I won’t lie, I’ve dreamed about being king one day. And you, you’re actually way more ruthless than you seem at first. I thought you were a scared little wimp that always cowers behind their little hubby husband.” He mocked. Ouch. He thought you were a wimp…? “But turns out, I was so wrong about you. Sounds like you’re willing to do whatever it takes to live another day. Even turn on your own husband!”

He was whisper yelling, and it was starting to make you anxious that someone would overhear. So you whisper yelled back at a lower volume, “S-Stop that…! You know the truth, he’s not really my husband…”

That smirk made you think that he was going to respond in a louder voice, but thankfully he wasn’t that stupid. Just stupid enough to plan to overthrow the bloody Red King and talk about it in his own palace. But maybe you were stupid too, for talking about such delicate matters in the palace halls. Ace took your hands and performed a mock bow. “No running away, you got it? I’ll take that tiny red punk’s crown and become king, then I’ll keep you as a royal beside me, it’s the least I can do after what you did. We’ll both not only survive, but thrive. What do you say, Your Majesty~?”

✧   ✧   ✧   ✧   ✧

When only a few days passed, you couldn’t get the thought of what Ace proposed out of your head. Death to Rosehearts, and long live Trappola. That was what he wanted. It was an idea, an option to consider should Riddle eventually become hostile towards you again. The proposal left to marinate in your mind as you spent the next day idling in the garden, doing nothing in particular. Since Ace was now your guard, you didn’t want Riddle to become paranoid or anyone to start spreading false rumors. So you’d spend your time in the garden, in public, where you could be seen so no lies were ever fabricated. The Red King was quite busy and so concentrated on the efforts to find Ellis, while his attendants kept close by.

You were chatting with Ace as he stood beside you while you sat by roses and sipped tea, listening as he spoke about himself and the latest rumors. Sometimes you replied, divulging bits of your own life when none of the gardeners or landscapers were close by. He was actually pretty laid-back and cheeky for a knight that served the Red King. Right as you were in the middle of telling him about your experience of being a prisoner, you zipped your mouth shut when a soldier appeared some distance away from the tall hedges.

It was a soldier with armor much like Ace’s, but Trappola’s was red and this one approaching was blue. Not to mention Ace never wore a helmet, but this blue one did wear his. Once the helmeted head turned towards you, he swiftly marched forward and stood straight in front of you. He bowed his head before kneeling in front of you and removing his helmet, revealing a young man, about Ace’s height, but with short blue hair and cyan colored eyes. He then announced himself, “Your Majesty, I am Deuce Spade! I was recommended to this position as your personal guard by sir Cater Diamond. It’s an honor to serve you! Here is my recommendation letter. I hope you’ll see me as suitable for this role.” Outstretching his hand without lifting his head yet, you unsurely accepted the rolled up scroll.

“O-Oh, um, thank you. I’m sure you’ll be fine… Stand up if you’d like, I don’t think the ground is comfortable.” Out of the corner of your eye as you unraveled the scroll, you could see Deuce obediently nod and stand as he held his helmet in his arm. Before you began reading, you could even see Ace frowning at this newcomer.

The scroll was much less like a recommendation letter and more like a haphazardly written medieval text message. It read: Hey, Your Majesty! Hope you like this newbie I sent over. He’s a littleee dumb but his heart’s in the right place and he’s surprisingly tough for a fresh recruit! Trust me, I saw him myself when he took on two older knights and won. You will be perfectly fine with this guy! He is literally perfect for a bodyguard. I’m kinda jealous. Anyways, meet me tomorrow night at the bridge between the palace’s northern towers! Come alone. –– From, Cater Diamond, always at your service!

That was strange… Come alone…? Not wanting there to be any evidence that you were meeting another man alone, that would definitely piss off Riddle, you tore the scroll to shreds and turned your attention to the blue knight who became the target of Ace’s pestering. They seemed quite familiar with each other, as Ace continued to poke at this Deuce guy while the blue knight attempted to remain calm and composed but was quite obviously growing annoyed.

“You? You’re the new knight? The guy who stupidly thought one of the nobles was an intruder and nearly attacked them on the spot? Ha! C’mon, I mean, we’re supposed to be the same rank, but even I’ve never made a mistake that bad!” Ace scoffed, grinning a much crueler smile, appearing more content with every passing second he noticed his companion was beginning to lose their cool. “You’re lucky to even be alive! King Riddle could’ve had your head for that, and he should’ve.” Deuce opened his mouth, likely about to snap back in reply, but Ace only cut him off. “Ah, ah, ah, I wouldn’t be so rash in front of Their Majesty, if I were you.”

“Ah––” Recalling where he was at and your presence was just feet in front of him, he resumed his uptight stance while averting his eyes to the ground respectfully, but he was still irked with the fellow soldier beside him.

“Ace, quit bothering him, will you?” You requested, sending the redhead a pleading glance to which he, surprisingly, listened to. “Will you go find Trey? He has something very important, and I need you to deliver it to me.”

The red knight sighed and took a step back, not bothering to argue or continue his efforts to make the blue knight explode with anger. However, he did hesitate at your request, but after a second he finally relented, “Whatever you say, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you.” Nodding, you watched Ace leave the small area of the garden before then turning your attention back to the matter at hand. The new knight. Poor guy, he looked a little nervous. “You can relax, it’s alright. I promise, I am certainly more nervous than you currently are. Can you, um… maybe tell me a bit about yourself?”

“Uh…” Deuce appeared at a loss for words, not expecting the sudden interview. Finally thinking up a response, he did the opposite of relaxing. He only appeared more tense as he stood rigidly and loudly declared, “I am a soldier part of the first platoon!! I began training after being recruited a few months ago, and I was raised by my mother!” That last part was unexpected, and the volume of his announcement made you jump in your seat. Maybe he didn’t entirely know what to say when you asked him about himself. “I am honored to be chosen as one of your personal guards! I will do everything in my power to protect you!!”

Ah… still too loud. You winced at this shouting introduction before nodding in understanding. Your reply was like a quiet squeak of a dorm mouse compared to his tone. “T-Thank you, Deuce, but you really don’t have to be so stiff… I assure you, I’m not like my… my husband.” God, that felt so weird to say. “I’m not exactly the type to take off heads, as you can tell, haha…”

Your awkward smile managed to finally get him to relax. His shoulders sagged down as he sighed, and he smiled. It was an odd smile, not an ugly or strange one, but genuine and somewhat kind, it was unexpected and placed you on edge.

Why was he looking at you like that…? It wasn’t like how Riddle would often stare at you with fondness, but rather, this one could be described as something akin to… admiration. “Is something wrong…?”

He bowed his head, giving an awkward chuckle but his smile remained. “Sorry, I know it’s rude to stare, but you’ve changed. A lot.”

“Changed…?” Your nerves were spiking. Did Deuce somehow know the king before? You gripped the armrest of your lawn chair, wondering if you would need an escape.

The blue knight seemed to sense your distress, because he quickly waved his hands and explained in a small panic, “W-Wait! It sounds weird when I say it like that. Uh–– you probably don’t remember me. But we met a few years ago during a parade in town that was thrown to celebrate your engagement to His Majesty, and during that parade I was racing some friends and nearly crashed my horse into the royal carriage! The King was furious and my mother was there too, apologizing for my stupid mistake, when he cut her off and declared that me AND my mom were gonna be sent to the guillotine as punishment! They took us to the palace, and I remember you quietly watching the whole time. But before they could drag us by the chains to the dungeon, you appeared and secretly pardoned us! Do you remember now?” His cyan eyes were sparkling with excitement as he pointed to his head of hair and added, “My hair was bleached back then!”

“O-Ohhhh, of course…!” Not of course. You didn’t remember a thing! That wasn’t you, that was the true king! Those weren’t your memories! But you could only continue to awkwardly smile as he let out a sigh of relief and a bright beaming smile took over his expression.

By now, all his previous tension was gone. He was in a much different mood, delighted as he continued to explain with such boundless energy, “I was really a mess back then. But that day changed my whole life! I was so scared for my mom, I thought she was going to die because of me. When you pardoned us and we went home, I decided to change. That’s when I decided I wanted to pay you back for saving our lives, and I wanted to help make ends meet. And the best way to do that was join the King’s army. I know it’s tough work, but I knew I’d get funds to send back home and I might get a chance to properly thank you! I’ve waited for this day to see you again for so long!”

“Is… Is that right…?”

Noticing your apprehensiveness, Deuce frowned lightly and changed the subject. “No one has seen you outside the palace in ages. Everyone is worried! People are starting to say you’re being kept inside because of, well… every Red citizen knows you’re the favorite royal. So when you stopped appearing in public…”

Wait, just a moment. The king was beloved? Actually, that wasn’t too hard to believe when the only competition alive was the hot-tempered queen. It might not even be too far-fetched to believe that the king once spared people often behind the back of their spouse. At least based on Deuce’s story, because why else would the former king have any reason to spare the lives of what were, back then, simple rabble, if not due to the kindness in his heart?

The blue knight continued with another short story, “On your weekly outings, my mom and I used to try and wave at you from the crowd. But we never got noticed. And they never let us close either…”

They must’ve been truly grateful to the king, now you, and it only makes sense after what happened.

“Oh–– sorry, I just keep going about myself! That other guy is taking a little long…” Turning his gaze over to the exit between two hedges, exactly where the red knight had gone, he muttered, “Seriously, what’s taking him so long? Isn’t he supposed to be your guard? Don’t worry, Your Majesty, I’ll bring him back for you!”

“Ah, wait––” Too late. He was gone. Complaining about Ace leaving and then leaving himself? It was clear that Cater was right, Deuce wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed but he had spirit. At the very least, you felt safe with him around. Due to the obligation he felt toward the king, he would no doubt be a great help. In the quiet of the garden, you sipped your tea and listened to the buzz of bees traveling from rose to rose, flowers which gave off a pleasant aroma in the slow breeze. It was relaxing, peaceful for a moment, not like every other waking hour as you fear your true identity will be discovered or even last night you lay awake in bed fearing the moment your spouse would come to bed, yet he was so busy that he never did, so you lay awake with major anxiety practically all night.

“Your Majesty, forgive me for the intrusion.” The sudden voice startled you, shattering your tranquility, but you quickly regained your composure upon realizing it was just a servant from the kitchen. One arm was neatly folded behind their back, and the other held up a tray of delicious pastries. “I’ve brought you extra, should you desire any.”

“Ah… haha…” Your sigh turned to a nervous laugh as you managed to stammer out a polite, “T-Thank you.” When they bowed their head and began to make their leave to the pathway behind your seat, you turned your attention back to the fresh baked goods just waiting to be devoured. Plucking up one of the smaller delicacies to take a bite––

“Your Majesty!!!”

CLACK!

Dropping the pastry, you whipped your head around only to be met face-to-face with the sharp end of a dagger. The only thing stopping that knife from plunging into your flesh, was the equally sharp end of a spade-shaped spear that had crossed with it and deflected it. The servant was the culprit, having replaced the tray of desserts for a weapon meant for slaughtering. And they nearly had killed you, had it not been for the blue knight.

Horrified, you fell out of your chair, back, away from the two. Your terror only grew when with one swift motion, Deuce used his spear to slash the face of the attacker. They fell back, you didn’t know if the servant was alive or dead, if they weren’t dead they certainly would be soon. But you did see red. Red, red, red, why was red everywhere in this world? You had nearly died, again. Your heart felt like it was racing as you saw the red knight reappear and tackle your attacker, the struggle hidden behind the lawn chair and table cloth. There was shouting, you think, but the banging of your heart against your rib cage was too deafening.

All you could make out was the presence that had rushed to your side. They stuck close by but never quite touched you, their hands ghosting over your side. There was red. Red on his hands, red on his blue armor, a small dash of red against his cheek. You were growing lightheaded, your head hurt. You must’ve peered up a bit, because you could see Deuce looking frantic and as your vision became spotty, you saw his mouth moving, but you couldn’t hear a word he spoke.

✧   ✧   ✧   ✧   ✧

When you awoke, it was a bit of a rude awakening. You could hear shouting, behind a door. As you slowly sat up, feeling the familiar softness of the king-sized bed belonging to the Red King himself, you practically melted into the silk sheets. The shouting was muffled behind the heavy double doors, but you could easily distinguish the voice as belonging to Riddle. And just as you could tell who it was, you could clearly make out what he was saying. The thickness of the door was not enough to quiet his tone, even from here.

“I want the executioner here now!!! The crime of attempted regicide against my consort is unforgivable!! It is the highest form of treason!! Make it a public execution in precisely one hour! I want all those that dare to even think about harming my companion to understand what fate will await them should they dream to even attempt it! Question that blasted assassin, and I want to know who sent them so that I may punish them in a matter even worse than a beheading!!!”

Wow, he sounded pissed. It was kinda scary. Even though you couldn’t see him, you just picture his face twisted into pure rage, no doubt he was about ready to pop a blood vessel. As you began to recall what happened, you shuddered, both because of recalling the fear you felt at the moment and how you imagined what pains the assassin would face at Riddle’s hands.

Clink!

Flinching, you fearfully looked to the side, half expecting another assassin to appear out of nowhere and take revenge on you for their fallen compatriot. However, much to your relief, or not, it was only the King’s familiar subordinate, Trey. He readjusted his glasses over the bridge of his nose, giving you a gentle smile as he finished placing down a glass of water by your bedside. “It’s alright, there’s no need to look so frightened. You’re safe now. Everything is being dealt with, as you can, uh, probably tell.”

Right, you could still hear the commotion of Riddle’s bellowing commands along with the various rushed footsteps of servants and soldiers running about to fulfill their given tasks. It sounded like things were really getting hectic.

Lowering himself onto a wooden seat placed at your bedside, his yellow eyes flitted over to you, peering at you through the glass. “Normally I would let you rest and I would take on the responsibilities from here on out, but I have to tell you…”

You gripped the glass cup, feeling that oh-so-familiar anxiety creep up your neck. Trey had to tell you what…? Was something wrong? Did the assassin hurt Ace or Deuce? Were they okay? Did it have something to do with Ellis or the White Royal? Did Ellis successfully infiltrate the palace and steal the legendary sword? Has the Jabberwocky been slayed while you were unconscious? Or worse, had Riddle discovered you were really a big fat liar this entire time? Oh god–– what sort of unspeakable torture would he inflict upon you for this? Just yesterday at dinner, you saw him declare that a very young servant of the kitchen staff was to be beheaded because they stole a single tart! You didn’t want to die––

“It’s good news actually, so you don’t have to look so pale.” You resisted the urge to sigh–– wait, Trey was surprisingly observant. Or maybe you were still failing to better conceal your reactions and emotions, because he could tell you were obviously distraught. “Based on the intel you’ve given His Majesty, soldiers were able to capture a hatter, twins, a white rabbit beastman, and… a purple cat beastman. All working with Ellis, and loyal to the White Kingdom. There isn’t any sign of Ellis though.”

No Ellis yet… The fact that the protagonist was out there somewhere and still had a small chance to succeed, slimmed by the fact that his allies were now imprisoned, but still a chance, made you uneasy. This place was really starting to drive you mad… You’d have to readjust your escape plan and make a backup if it came to it…

“Your Majesty, now that I have the opportunity to talk with you in private, I’d like to ask you something.”

Tapping your fingers against the half-filled glass, you nodded for him to continue. “Okay… I’m listening.” The news was already said, so that placed you at ease. Slowly you raised the glass to your lips, taking a sip of the cold water that parched your dry throat. You didn’t realize you were absolutely parched until right now.

“Earlier, I said normally I wouldn’t tell you the news because I know you don’t do well under stress. But this time was different. This time, you initiated the action. So, I just wanted to know, who are you?”

You froze, nearly choking on the water you forced down. “W-What…?”

Folding his hands together, he stayed on his seat, but again, those eyes of his just watched you. That gentle smile he wore often, was no longer present. He looked serious, which made you even more tense! He spoke calmly, quietly, but that did nothing for your spiking nerves. “Their Majesty that I know, wouldn’t save Riddle even if they had the power to do it. They were waiting for a chance to run away to the White Kingdom, because they had fallen in love with someone else. And the more I look at you, the more I’m realizing that you aren’t them.”

Shit, shit, shit–– you seriously underestimated him. Of course he’s one of the king’s right hand men for a reason! Your hands were shaking uncontrollably. So much so that you dropped the glass, the cup rolling onto the sheets and drenching the blanket as you pleaded, “P-Please, don’t tell Riddle…! You’re right, I-I’m not His Majesty’s consort, but I can explain…! Just, please, please, I’m begging you, don’t tell him the truth! I… I’ll tell you everything you need to know! Please, I don’t want to go like this…!”

“H-Hey, hey, I wasn’t going to tell him!” Caught off guard, he picked a box of tissues from the nightstand and moved it in front of you. He spoke softly, gentler this time, “You’re not them, but you really do act like them sometimes… Here, use these tissues to wipe your tears. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Tears…? Reaching up to your face, you gasped when you felt your cheeks damp and droplets dripping down from your eyes. You were crying, and you hadn’t even noticed it. Fear had been the cause of these waterworks. As you rubbed your eyes to clear your vision, once you removed your hands, you saw Trey extending a tissue to you as his hand rested on the small of your back. “I… I’m sorry, I overreacted…”

“No, I should’ve approached you more carefully.”

Dabbing away your tears with the tissue, you sniffled, still finding it hard to meet his concerned gaze, so you averted your eyes down to the wet sheets and now empty glass in your lap. Where do you even begin?

Appearing to sense your hesitance and fear, his eyebrows furrowed with worry as he assured, “Take your time. I’d like to know everything, but go slowly if you need to.”

Despite knowing you didn’t belong, he still treated you so carefully. Maybe it was foolish to believe the right-hand man of the bloody Red King, but this was the kindest anyone had been to you since before your banishment. Ever since you were arrested, everyone had eyed you with suspicion, it felt like that continued into this world as most people were stepping on thin ice around you, and even you would be on your toes around certain people like King Rosehearts and his subordinates. But this time, it felt like you were truly being heard, even if it was a trap, something which you didn’t want to believe. So you told him everything about your story, but not this story. Afterall, you still needed leverage so that they wouldn’t kill you.

There was something about Trey that made him easier to talk to, easier than the red knight Ace you’ve trusted with your secrets, and easier than Deuce who had just saved your life. Trey listened attentively, never interrupting you, never looking away, keeping a hand over yours. Occasionally he nodded or hummed, providing reassurance that he was still listening to you recount your tale. Once you were done, and only then, did he speak.

The king’s right-hand man let out a sharp exhale as he rubbed his head, still attempting to process all the details. You were still trying to process everything that was going on.

“Everything makes sense now… but, I never thought you were bad. When you came out of that room with Riddle, when he was supposed to kill you, I thought something was off but I couldn’t put my finger on it. But when you stood up as His Majesty was questioning the soldier, that’s when I realized you weren’t the same royal from before. And then I understood that you weren’t a person with bad intentions. If you do really hold knowledge on our future, you could’ve usurped power for yourself and gotten rid of the King. But you didn’t.”

He smiled at you, not a malicious or cruel one, but a soft kind that placated a bit of your jumpy nerves.

“I owe Riddle a lot, so all I ask is that you tell him the truth soon and make him happy. Because you do make him happy. I’ve never seen him smile so much as he does when he thinks of you, even when you aren’t around. Of course, you don’t see it. You’ve made him much happier than his previous consort ever could.”

Frankly, you were at a loss for words. Yes, your original plan was to get Riddle Roseheart his victory and remain on his good side, but you didn’t think you’d actually get this far! Now at the prospect of having to permanently stay playing the role of his spouse, even if you survived telling him the truth, well… now you weren’t sure what to do. Not to mention, you did feel a little guilty because while Trey caught you, he didn’t entirely understand that you were only doing this to survive. It wasn’t for him, it wasn’t for the kingdom, it wasn’t for Riddle, it was for yourself. “And you… you really aren’t mad…?”

“Well… I do feel a little betrayed. But now, I think I’m starting to understand you and what you’ve been doing. So I’m not hurt. I’ll just continue with my job, serving His Majesty and serving you.” Removing his hand from yours, he stood up and picked up the glass you had dropped onto the sheets now damp with water. “Come on, let me get these sheets changed for you.”

For a while, it was just you and Trey, talking quietly about things like yourself, and he even revealed details about himself and his life to put you at ease. Trey was truly a comforting figure, and it became evident by more than just his words, it was obvious by his actions as well. Servants brought sweetened goods and various drinks, some of which he claimed to make with his own two hands. How a busy subordinate of the king even had time to bake, you have no idea. Not too long after, presumably after he sent out soldiers, servants, and put the executioner to work, Riddle Rosehearts entered the room, making a show to throw the doors open as he commanded sternly,

“Leave us, Trey.”

When the king’s gaze traveled over to you, you froze on the small chair you were currently seated in. At that moment, you just wanted to shrink in on yourself, all the little confidence you had built on the foundation of Trey’s presence, crumbled the instant he obediently nodded his head and hesitantly left the room. You felt frozen in fear as soon as the king appeared in your line of vision, but all you could see was heeled shoes against the tiled floors, since you kept your gaze down. That’s when the questions that spurred your anxiety came to fruition. Had he somehow heard the conversation between you and Trey? Did he know too about your true identity? Had he realized it? Was he growing bored of you or becoming jealous once again? How would you get out of this one––?

“My dear, I apologize for not being able to see you sooner. There were matters that needed to be dealt with.” His hand went to your chin, and he forced you to look up at him, carefully though, as he used his fingers to prop up your head. What consoled you, pacifying your fears, was the look in his eyes. Those eyes were filled with sorrow and possibly… dread? “Are you alright? Do you need anything? Anything at all?”

“N-No, I’m alright––” You were just more alarmed and concerned as to why he was acting this way.

Using his other hand, he took your palm, quietly inspecting you for injury. It seemed something was on his mind, because his eyebrows furrowed together and he scowled, seething quietly, “I can’t believe the moment we are getting along, just when I’m receiving your love, that foolish assassin tried to take you away from me.” His hold on your hand tightened. “How dare they? How dare they?! Do they not understand that all I want is to be loved, and when I finally have it with you, they try to–– Forget it. They will become an example of what happens to those who dare attempt to harm you.” Looking down at you, his gaze softened as he spoke in a much gentler loving tone, “My dear, the public execution of the criminal will be in a few moments. Would you like to go and spectate from above?”

“Umm… n-no, thank you.” There was no way you wanted to watch someone be beheaded. Especially knowing that they were there because of you, even if they had attempted to kill you. You didn’t need the very vivid image of their head dropping and rolling on the ground, with their lifeless eyes still open, to haunt your dreams at night.

“Very well.” Taking a seat beside you, he sat upright and proper as he continued to hold your hand. “And your knights? Shall we have them beheaded as well for failing to apprehend the suspect quickly and for being so idiotic as to leave you alone?”

“W-What? No!” Ace and Deuce, beheaded for failing to protect you? You turned to the king, pleading, “Please… my darling, don’t punish them. Afterall, they saved me in the end, so please… I… I commanded them to go! I did…! I had sent them to retrieve the sword and a duplicate I had Trey commission the royal blacksmith to make. That way, s-should Ellis and his allies manage to retrieve the sword, they might get the useless duplicate instead…! S-So you see, it’s really all my fault.”

For a while Riddle was silent and you feared that he would place you on the ballot of today’s executions. But then the unexpected happened. Slowly, he reached forward, awkwardly wrapping his arms around your figure and resting his head over your shoulder. His voice was quiet, hushed, “Taking all these steps to ensure my victory and continuous rein… you have truly changed.” Tightening his hold, he pressed himself against you, forgetting all the formalities and etiquette that a king should have. His warm breath fanned your ear as he whispered a promise, “For you, I will not stop until our rule is absolute. I will control the whole realm, and shape it into a wonderland that you desire.”

When he pressed a soft kiss against your cheek, you felt your face heat up. You sat rigidly, arms awkwardly wrapped around his waist as he moved himself to sit upon your lap as if it were his very own throne. As he leaned closer, you noticed his cheeks were pink, quickly turning red, as he leaned his forehead against yours so you could look each other in the eye.

In your childhood you read about Alice’s adventures in Wonderland with the odd Tweedle twins that spoke much like in riddles, the mischievous yet mysterious grinning Cheshire cat, the wondrous Mad Hatter who was insane, and an abundance of others in the colorful cast of characters. Yet no matter how often you read the tales, it always told of a cruel hot-tempered Queen with no heart. And yet, here was Riddle, in the role of the Red Queen, flustered yet affectionate as he continued to sit on your lap and wrap his arms around your neck.

Those big gray eyes continued to gaze at you, never looking away, which caused you to immediately avert your gaze. That is until he tapped your chin lightly, chiding,

“Don’t look away, darling. I demand your attention.”

“A-As you say, my dear…” Slowly you focused your gaze back on him, by now you were sweating bullets. How did you end up this close to the bloody Red King? It seemed like he was starved of love, he craved it so desperately and wanted it all for himself, that he nearly killed you the moment you first met him, out of pure envy. Just as he was leaning in to place a second kiss, this time on the lips, you inquired in the tiniest squeak, “Is it not better to be feared than loved…?”

Riddle stopped just an inch away, processing your words as he eyed your nervous expression. “I wasn’t certain anymore, but now I am.” He lingered in place, taking the time to explain his answer, “By the masses, it is far better to be feared than loved. They can be unruly, rebellious, disorderly. Yet it is fear that never fails, it tames and controls those that are even insusceptible by love.” A shiver ran down your spine as his fingers played with the small locks of hair behind your neck. He shifted closer, “But when it comes to you, I must change my approach. Love is the most favorable option, because I want your true love. Not a forced type of affection. Do you understand, my dear?”

You gulped, growing more abashed with every passing moment as Riddle remained so close. “Y-Yes, I understand…”

“Just as you proved to me that you desire my affection, I shall prove to you that I truly love you.”

That night you fell asleep in Riddle’s arms, laying on the plush king size mattress you two were supposed to share every night. Your face was red, both from embarrassment and partly due to the bit of lipstick he wore now marking the spots on your face where he had kissed you. At first it was nearly impossible to sleep, you stayed awake, staring at the ceiling, as the bloody Red King peacefully slept beside you with his arms around you. It was only until exhaustion finally knocked you out, forcing you to close your eyes and rest a few hours. Only then as you drifted off to sleep while gazing at Roseheart’s content sleeping face, did you realize how much of a mess this plot has become.

✧   ✧   ✧   ✧   ✧

In the morning, you groggily awoke to Riddle, already changed and prepared for the day, leaning over to adjust the blankets around you and wish you a good day before his leave. Not too long later, once you got up and prepared for the day, as soon as you opened your doors, you were greeted by two particularly distraught knights, Ace and Deuce. The sudden quiet you had was immediately shattered as the two began speaking, almost shouting, rapidly as if babbling, you couldn’t understand a word they were saying due to how fast they were talking and how they spoke over each other. How long had they been waiting outside your door? Just barely you could distinguish the occasional apology, mixed in with exclamations and bickering against one another over who the fault lay on.

This was going to be a long day… and a long day it was. As you were escorted to breakfast by your two protective knights, you passed by a window where outside you could see a courtyard. Your eyes wandered to the scene behind the glass, and down below you could see a balcony where your spouse was seated, overlooking the courtyard below where a crowd gathered. In the center, your heart dropped when you saw the executioner standing over a heavy basket where a colorful hat poked out of, beside a pair of white rabbit ears, and brown rabbit ears. There was red seeping out of the basket, and the sight immediately caused you to turn your head away. The mad hatter, white rabbit, and march hare, had all been executed. But there were no cat ears, so the cheshire cat must’ve been spared. You lost your appetite for breakfast.

In the middle of the day, after giving Ace and Deuce the swords, you left it up to them to see if they could tell the difference between the two blades. Which was the real artifact of legends and which was the duplicate? They couldn’t figure it out. You then accompanied Trey to the kitchen as he was commanded by the king to make something delicious for dessert. Turns out, Trey was only usually commanded to drop his usual responsibilities and bake when the king was in a good mood. You didn’t know what was worse, was Riddle in a good mood because of the smooch you hesitantly gave him last night or was it because he had put his enemies to death?

For dinner, you ate beside Riddle, unnerved as he watched you with contentment the entire time. Throughout the dinner, you managed to distract him from staring by carefully sharing bits of information that could provide useful. To defend himself from the might of the Jabberwocky, Ellis would need the legendary armor currently in the White Kingdom. The Bandersnatch, another powerful creature under Roseheart’s command, can be tamed by Ellis and convinced to change sides. Ellis may very well retreat to the White Kingdom for help. All of which he noted down carefully.

And finally, later that evening, before Riddle could arrive for bed, you snuck past your two dutiful knights that were changing shifts with other soldiers that would stand guard beside your room. You had a bit of time, as they rotated often, and when they rotated to patrol the halls and come back, was the opportune time to sneak right back in. Through everything that happened and how hectic it became, you had nearly forgotten that Cater extended an invitation to meet you in private.

It had only been a few days, but by how often Ace, Deuce, and Trey led you through the palace, you were beginning to get a rough understanding of the layout and vague memory of the routes. So it didn’t take you very long to reach the northern towers near where the monstrous Jubjub Bird, what you learned was Riddle’s giant pet bird of prey, resided at the highest point. It really was no wonder Rosehearts had such an iron grip on the kingdom, with beasts like the Jubjub Bird, Bandersnatch, and Jabberwocky at his command, no one would be so foolish as to question him.

Thankfully, Riddle had offhandedly mentioned that the Jubjub bird spent most nights in its cage, and was only freed during the day to bring back rebels to the gallows. So you weren’t too fearful of seeing the giant bird of prey at the windows. What did make your heart stop, was when a hand covered your mouth, and you were suddenly pulled into a room. You kicked wildly, your screams muffled against their mouth––

“Wait, wait, calm down, it’s just me! It’s me! Look! It’s your Cay!”

The rapid pace of your rising and falling chest slowed and you stopped screaming as your eyes readjusted to the dim lighting of the room. In front of you, just inches away from your face, you could make out familiar downturned green eyes and orange hair. When you finally went quiet, he removed his hand away from your mouth.

“You’ve always been super jumpy, Your Majesty, but not like that! Didn’t you recognize me?” He pouted, whining, “I’m a little hurt. I thought I was your favorite!”

“W-Why on earth would I––!” You stopped, realizing his hair was down.

It wasn’t tied up like before, and he wasn’t wearing all the intricacies of his outfit which you saw him in prior. In fact, he was very very casually dressed, and that was putting it lightly. All he wore were his dress pants and the last layer that was the dress shirt that had only the lowest buttons together, so as he leaned closer his shirt moved as well, exposing his torso. Keep it together! You weren’t like some Victorian maiden who fainted at the mere sight of an exposed ankle! By the dim candlelight you could piece together that you were in a spare bedroom, and the dots began to connect in your head.

Cater tilted his head, his longer orange locks shifting with his movement as he murmured quietly, “What’s wrong, Your Majesty? Are you not in the mood tonight? I know you’ve been reallyyy busy lately, with so much going on and all. But… I just really wanted to see you.” Too close, he was leaning too close! “I have to admit, I’m a little jealous of all the time you’re spending with His Majesty.”

Wait. The loose layers he had on, the dim candlelight, the bed, the suspicious hour of meeting, Cater’s sweet talking–– oh my god. The former consort in your position really had cheated on the Red Royal, and they did it with Cater! It made your cheeks burn, but wait–– that wasn’t you! You had nothing to be ashamed of! But things would look really bad if you were caught like this with one of the king’s closest subordinates!

“I-I’m afraid you’ve gotten it wrong––” Was it a good idea to tell him the truth? Afterall, his equal Trey knew, and you would be telling Riddle sooner rather than later, as you didn’t want the lie to fester into something ugly, thus lessening your already slim chances of survival by admitting the truth to the king. How did the former king even get with one of the queen’s subordinates? “You… You see, I’m not––”

“Really the royal consort?” He finished your sentence, giving a sort of cheeky smile at your dumbfounded expression. Straightening his posture, he hummed, “Yeah, I know, it’s pretty obvious you know! And that face you’re making right now, is so cute. It totally confirms it.”

It was obvious? Your stomach dropped at the potential prospect that Riddle already knew. But wait, if he really knew, then why hadn’t he said anything–– or were you getting too hopeful that he wouldn’t want to slaughter you as soon as the truth reaches him? It was probably safest to assume that he didn’t know at the moment. Now, as for Cater, you nervously eyed him, grimacing as he gave you a playful wink. “If you know I’m not them, why would you t-try to initiate…” You gestured to him and the bedroom. “––this?”

“Just testing you, that's all. Had to make sure I was right, after all. I didn’t really plan to do anything, unless you wanted to risk it.” As you immediately shook your head, he laughed and proceeded to button up his dress shirt and shrug on a coat. “I’m kidding! Joking. There’s no real reason to get all embarrassed. I just wanted to mess with you a teensy bit.”

Averting your gaze down as he readjusted his attire, you muttered quietly, “Did you and the person before me really…?”

“Hmm…” He paused, as if considering whether he should answer or not. Finally, he shrugged, “I mean, since you are kinda them in a way, I should probably tell you? As long as you promise not to tell His Majesty Riddle about all this, I promise not to tell about your dirty little secret, you know, being an imposter and all! Oh, that, and your little chit-chatwith Ace.”

Your blood ran cold. Cater had heard that? Even the part where Ace plotted to take the throne for himself? The part about you running away? Pursing your lips, feeling a bead of sweat run down the side of your head. If that got out, it would be game over. Your life would truly end, and all Cater had to do was whisper in His Majesty’s ear. But you now had dirt on him too. The fact that he knowingly slept with the bloody Red King’s consort, and kept it secret. It felt like with these secrets, you were both holding a knife to each other’s neck, figuratively speaking. “Something tells me you really did…”

“I did. But it was a one night-stand. They were a scaredy-cat, even more than you. They said they needed someone else’s comfort beside the exact person they feared the most in the world, which is why they came to me.” That easygoing smile appeared back on his face. “But you know, I wasn’t lying when I said you were cute. It’s just a real shame you’re already Riddle’s, or else I would’ve definitely snatched you up for myself!” Taking a seat at the desk, he propped his head up with both hands and continued, “Sooo, are you going to tell me who you really are? You will, won’t you? Let’s get to know each other a little bit longer before you go, ‘kay~?”

With not much of a choice left, you sighed and recounted your story once more. You told him why you ended up here in the first place, what was supposed to happen to you, how you managed to survive, and how you knew what was supposed to happen. He listened, only occasionally chiding in with a witty remark or comment.

Only once you finished your story, he whistled and spoke, “Everything makes sense! You’ve really been through the wringer, huh? Riddle must be so hard on you! But I’m not.” Then he brightened up, as if remembering something, “Oh! And Riddle won’t be getting any rest tonight, so you can stay with me as long as you want tonight!”

Perplexed by his words, you furrowed your eyebrows and gazed up at the cheery subordinate. You were kinda afraid to even ask what he meant by that. “What… What do you mean…?”

“I mean that His Majesty is gonna be way too anxious to go to sleep anytime soon! Ah–– right, you don’t know.”

Don’t know what? It felt like he was teasing you with this information you didn’t have. You would’ve said it made you nervous, but on the contrary, it puts you a bit at ease knowing that Riddle won’t stumble to bed only to find it empty and go mad. But still, you didn’t like the way Cater was messing with you. It didn’t feel like he meant any ill will, but not knowing what would happen and not having control placed you on edge. A single finger of his tapped your head as he answered,

“Ellis’ beheading–– Oh, but not yet! Using your intel, Riddle managed to pinpoint the location of a forest where that little blonde must be hiding in, also partially thanks to the Jubjub Bird’s latest catch who was a rebel that cracked like a nut when the king questioned him! And this evening after dinner, he sent out multiple soldiers to go hunt Ellis down! It’s really only a matter of time before they drag Ellis back in shackles. You see, Riddle’s just waiting impatiently for news back. So that’s why!”

In the distance, outside, you heard a trumpet. On impulse, you raced to the window, followed by the curious Cater, as you both stuck your faces against the cold glass to get a peek at the ground below where the noise had come from. At the towering palace gates, you could make out the small moving figures of soldiers crossing the river of blood and heads. They held up their sharpened spears and blades, torches of fire to light the way, and… in the midst of it all was a tall young man with blonde hair and a coat of baby blue, locked and restrained in shackles, dragged forward along the path.

“I… I have to go––”

Astonished at the speed you took off in making a direct beeline for the door, he blinked and exclaimed, “Wait! You’re not even gonna let me walk you back?”

No, there were far more important things on your mind. Without wanting to waste a single second, you rushed back, silently skittering and speed walking through the halls as quiet as a mouse. You avoided all the guards on patrol as you weaved from hallway to hallway, taking multiple twists and turns that were as confusing as the hedge maze in the king’s beloved garden. It seemed like an eternity before you finally snuck back into your room, where you were relieved to see the room empty. No angry king awaiting your return.

So you jumped into bed, nestling yourself into the make-believe safety the comfortable sheets provided you. As if these blankets could protect you from everything in the world, much like how your mind liked to believe the warmth protected you from the boogey-man lurking in the shadows. It was a childish thought, but a persistent one that refused to leave your mind. The seconds you counted not with the tick-tock of the clock, but the thump-thump of your beating heart that filled your ears as you lay silent and still. Thump, thump, thump, your heart beat, as your mind wandered to imagine whatever horrible fate would shortly greet Ellis, if it hadn’t already. A life in exchange for a life, the innocent blue boy in exchange for you who had done wrong before. Yes, it was wrong. So so wrong, and it ate at you inside, but you didn’t want to die. You didn’t want to.

And it scared you, knowing you’d have to tell Riddle the truth soon. Very soon. If he found out by his subordinates telling him the truth, you may very well be right behind the blonde boy waiting your turn at the guillotine. If you told him, he could very well decide to kill you anyways. Even if he had proclaimed his obsessive bloody love for you, would that matter? Riddle believes he loves the royal consort, a role you’ve been playing. It wasn’t truly you. Nothing would stop him from yelling, off with their head! Right then and there.

Well, there was one way to save your head if things got ugly… Ace was still in your corner, and if you could possibly convince Deuce to join you, you’d have both knights, one of which had the real sword of legends. If they could just slay the Jabberwocky, that would be enough for the White Kingdom to interfere. The only thing preventing Riddle Roseheart’s fall, was that damned Jabberwocky––

THUMP!

“My dear!!!”

The door slammed open, followed by a screech in that familiar voice you’ve been dreading. You froze, resisting the urge to scream and beg for forgiveness. Your heart dropped, and you just wanted to perish in your cocoon of cloth and fabrics. By now it felt like your heart had grown louder, pounding in your ears so loud that when you hesitantly lowered the sheet down over your face so you could see. What you saw made your heart stop, it felt like your soul left your body when you saw Riddle leaning over you with a huge battle ax in hand.

The ax could easily sever a whole appendage, even a head, in one fell swoop. It was recently sharpened, its metallic material and the red rubies encrusted into the weapon both glimmered in the light. It was a huge weapon, but despite its size, Riddle appeared to carry it with ease. Finally, when he dropped the weapon beside you and practically flung all his weight on you, did you snap out of your fear-induced trance.

“We did it…! We found Ellis, and it’s all thanks to you!” By now he was on top of you, normally he would’ve realized quickly and scrambled to get off while composing himself. But at the moment, he was far too eager for that. Instead, he grabbed your head with both hands on your cheeks, and on his face was the loveliest smile. The prettiest smile that was so large it reached his rosy cheeks, and joy was evident in those big eyes. “We have that wretched boy in the dungeons right now!”

“T-That’s great…!” Nervously you glanced down at the ax, “And that…?”

Waving it off, he replied without so much of a second thought, “Oh, it’s not for you. It’s for Ellis. I’ll be beheading him myself, no guillotine or executioner needed.”

Not for you… Carefully you inhaled shakily, feeling your hands begin to tremble. If there was a time to tell Rosehearts, it would be now when he’s at his happiest and most merciful. Yet, telling the truth did nothing to help you back home. So why would it help you here? You were so scared, so nervous–– if Riddle reacts explosively, he could just grab that ax and end you here or he could use his arms wrapped around your neck to suffocate you. There were so many countless ways this could end, and you could only think about the negative outcomes. Slowly you reached for his hands over your face, removing them so they were in between the two of you. His confusion did not go unnoticed. “M-My… No… Riddle, I have something to tell you…”

You took notice of the way his eyebrow raised, and his smile shifted to a sort of concerned frown. Oh, how you dreaded that it may soon become the ugliest scowl known to man.

“I-I’m… I’m……” Why was it hard to say? You couldn’t force out the words. Slowly shaking your head, you began to regret coming this far. Why couldn’t you have just run with your knights when you had the chance a few minutes ago? “… not–– not who you think I am…”

Squeezing your eyes shut, you anticipated something. A slap, a punch, the pain from the ax being brought down upon you for your sins–– something terrible! Not gentle hands patting down your head. “Is that all?” He giggled, to which you hesitantly opened your eyes, petrified at his expression of adoration. Placing a finger at your chin, he tilted your head up as he hummed, yet there was a bit of a dark look in his eyes as he spoke.

“Did you believe I wouldn’t notice that my own spouse was replaced? My former partner wouldn’t lift a finger to protect me, yet you did. So, upon my realization, I thought to myself: perhaps I should spare them and see how else they serve me. And serve you did. In ways that were incomprehensible, your short time here surpassed all efforts ever made to hunt down our dear Ellis. It took some prying out of my subordinates you’ve charmed to learn what secrets you’ve uncovered to them. But, I believe I have the whole picture painted.”

Using his thumbs, he rubbed your cheek and his fingers massaged your temple.

“A criminal from another word, sent here in exile to receive a gruesome death as their punishment. Yet they survive, because they recognize that this world is much like a story from their youth. So they trick, lie, and act, all to save their life, even risking the demise of others just for their own salvation. And in the process, not only win the hearts of some cards, but also the heart of the land’s monarch. Do I have that right?”

When his gaze became focused on you and he leaned closer, you nodded, feeling the pace of your rising and falling chest begin to increase rapidly. In response, Riddle placed a hand over your chest, where your heart would be, and continued in a quiet tone,

“Don’t panic. I’m not angry. In fact, I’m very glad this happened. In exchange for your servitude towards my cause, I’ll reward you with forgiveness, but beyond that, I’ve taken a liking to you. So, from now on, you will remain as my royal consort! And, as promised, I will shape this world into whatever your heart desires.”

Removing himself from you, he brushed himself off and stood upright at the bedside, offering you a hand to take as his other hand reached for the heavy ax which he carried over his shoulder. The bloody Red King smiled, oh-so-delighted.

“Shall we go now? I understand it’s late, but tonight is a special occasion. This night marks the death of Ellis which we will witness together, and the proper beginning of our relationship. Tomorrow, with no one left to protect the White Kingdom, I’ll send my pets to conquer. Then, the only ruler of this land will be me and you, and we’ll govern the land splendidly. Don’t you agree, my King of Hearts?”