#and cause she determined through observation of the things done both to her and her teamnates that the playersTM had to die

[freakinator]

ii think the funniest thing about s5 is that while minute took inspiration from zam and did what he did in the latter half because of him, jumper ended up much more similar to him by virtue of having the same mindset

[temyteabag]

The Smiling Critters are small, colorful, anthropomorphic animals, each appearing as a plush toy with a zipper on the front chest, large gaping smiles, and black eyes with white pupils. Each toy has a unique pendant representing the core aspect of each of their personalities.

In addition to this, each Smiling Critter comes with the ability to emit their own unique scent via a hole in their mouths by pulling on their tails, all of which are traditionally used to aid with sleep or relaxation, being based on a specific type of fruit, herb or flower.

Picky Piggy - SCENT: Citrus - What's more important than play and learning? PickyPiggy knows the answer. A playful body and keen mind are fueled by what's put into them, which is why she encourages her friends to eat a well-balanced diet. Secretly, PB&J's are her favorite food.

Bobby BearHug - SCENT: Rose - A kind, caring soul, Bobby BearHug shows compassion for everyone, and for everything. People and places and things, large or small, are all receivers of her love. Each is enriched by this attention and affection, and in turn, so is she.

DogDay - SCENT: Vanilla - This is DogDay, the sunny, strong, and determined leader of our critters! Each trusts him to find the bright side in any situation, and to have a friendly word of encouragement should they feel down. He'll always keep his friends going, no matter what.

Kickin Chicken - SCENT: Ylang-ylang - This is KickinChicken, the cool kid of the crew, and he maintains that sense of cool through anything, even in the most tense of situations. Knock him down, and he'll pick himself up, brush himself off, and ask: "What's next?"

Hoppy Hopscotch - SCENT: Peppermint - Unafraid to hop where others might sit, Hoppy is the friend everyone needs to maintain their energy and enthusiasm. While sometimes loud or impatient, she'll always hop besides her friends, even if it means slowing up once in a while to keep their pace.

Crafty Corn - SCENT: Jasmine - A conscious observer of both color and creativity in the world. CraftyCorn understands the importance of art, and sharing it with others. Crayons, pencils, paint, or words on the page, CraftyCorn can see beauty in anything imagined given shape.

Bubba Bubbaphant - SCENT: Lemongrass - Bubba Bubbaphant is the brains of the critters. Bright and attentive, he keeps his friends steady and always steers them to make smart choices, that way they all might grow up to be bright and brilliant, each in their own right.

CatNap - SCENT: Lavander - CatNap is a calming presence for the critters and ensures he and his friends always have the right amount of sleep to jumpstart the morning's play! End of the day, there's nothing CatNap enjoys more than watching his friends sleep soundly.

Well hello there!, been a while hasn't it? Anyway, happy fathers day!!

I'm on the last week of exams, just two more and I'm done, hurray! I bring you the smiling critters, I like the story of the critters and Poppy Playtime, it's funny, and it can be shady if one wish to see ir like that. Curios thing, my favorite of the bunch is CatNap yet I think the best of the drawing os CraftyCorn.

In another note, have you seen the new Inky Mistery chapter?! 'cause boy was it really something! I loved it!! Go & check it out if ya have the time.

See ya all, hopefully we'll see each other soon!

P.D. all the info here came from the Poppy Playtime wiki, link below:

[personality-corner]

The Hunger Games Franchise MBTI

Katniss Everdeen - ISTJ

Katniss uses information an things she has observed from previous games, things her father taught to not only win and survive the games, but to understand the Capital and how it works. She is not under any allusion that she has a chance to win the games, and using hard solid data, she understands that the odds are not in her favor. She is logical, reasonable and uses the understanding of her surroundings to make decisions (Si-Te).

Peeta Mellark - ENFJ

While Katniss has survival skills under her belt, Peeta knows how to play the game, and is actually really good at it. When he arrives at the Capital, he becomes really good at fitting the social norm of what the Capital wants from a tribute, and uses this to help Katniss as much as possible. He also tends to be able to determine the outcome of alot of these situations, using his Ni, and uses this to his advantage as well.

Gale Hawthorne - ENTJ

Gale is guided by his own vision for the future and using outside logic to make his decisions. Oftentimes he gets so obsessed with the idea of getting stuff done and reaching a goal, that he neglects to remember why they’re fighting in the first place. He makes many plans that are effective, but miss the bigger picture, or completely devalue the morals they are supposed to be fighting against.

Haymitch Abernathy - ISTP

Haymitch sees the world through his own, cynical lens, is intensely critical of both the Capital and the systems they uphold. Before Katniss and Peeta, he has essentially given up on mentoring a victor, and had essentially told them to prepare to die, and he instead, turned to drinking. He does turn out to be a pretty good mentor to Peeta and Katniss, getting them through the Hunger Games.

Effie Trinket - ESFJ

Effie grew up in the Capital, and had believed every bit of propoganda given to her, which is what she bases her moral code off of. She believes everything she has been spoon-fed by the Capital, and she uses her experiences to back it up. She only starts to question the Capital and their morals when she is given a new set of experiences, and becomes close to those directly affected by them.

Primrose “Prim” Everdeen - ISFJ

Prim finds comfort in the familiar, sleeping with her mother when she’s scared, and even becoming a nurse after watching her mother do it for so long. However, between the two sisters, Prim has a better understanding and a better level of acceptance for social norms and doing what is expected of her. She also shows a great level of care towards the world around her, breaking down when she kills even an animal.

Coriolanus Snow - INTJ

Snow is very analytical and driven by a singular vision, as we can see both in the original trilogy and its prequel. He knows exactly what he wants and he uses external logic and data (Te) to get his way. Oftentimes, this causes him to appear obsessive and it causes him to make rather cruel decisions, such as getting Sejanus killed or making the victors go back into the arena, but everything he does has a reason behind it, even if it’s a cruel and twisted reason.

Lucy Gray Baird - INFP

Lucy Gray is very emotion driven, and has a strict moral code that she doesn’t like when people break it. She is also an idealist, believing in the inherent goodness in everyone, despite everything she has been put through. When she discovers that Coriolanus is untrustworthy, and that her values were not being honored, she left immediately, to discover a life on her own.

To be typed: Finnick Odair, Johanna Mason & Sejanus Plinth

[astronomyforastrologers]

Ceres On the Campaign Trail ~ 04 May 2024

Ceres On the Campaign Trail ~ 04 May 2024, Philip Sedgwick        

When considered through mathematical manipulations, per capita Ceres weighs in as one of the, if not the, most formidable of all the planets. No longer is Ceres an asteroid. Following the astronomer’s attempts to relegate Pluto to the planetary scrap heap, Ceres received elevation to planetary status, albeit in the dwarf category. Ceres smiles and winks at her perceived stature, “if only they knew!”

Throughout the ages the reigning gods knew of Ceres’ potency. Jupiter took her at her word when she threatened to destroy agriculture and starve the world when her daughter entered the underworld, presumably as Pluto’s prisoner. Jupiter perceived this declaration as no bluff and did his dangest to negotiate a compromise that Pluto and Ceres could both tolerate.

Recently, observations of Ceres suggest the presence of ice - most unusual for the asteroid belt. Conjecture arose that back in the day, Ceres may have been escorted from the Kuiper Belt, out of the realm where Pluto lurks, into the asteroid belt courtesy of the gravitationally grand Jupiter. How mythologically appropriate is that?

Ceres Stuns, Photo Courtesy NASA

Ceres currently stumps on the campaign trail, advocating for a collection of causes she deems most appropriate.

A week and a half out from where we are, come 14 May, Ceres in Capricorn, through relative motion, slows, retrogrades, and squares Chiron in Aries. Two things appear here. First, given Chiron’s association with souls occupying human bodies, she energizes the heated debate over abortion. No doubt this aspect also fuels into the ongoing war protests. Second, and on the personal front, she activates the need for each and every person to assess with the greatest of clarity, what side of the bread is buttered. Ceres and Chiron creatively unify through their ongoing quadrature (there’s another one on 7 November) and insist that each person concisely define personal needs as the ultimate priority to ensure that all acts taken in life consistently support those needs. Not only does this Ceres-Chiron square demand that people not shoot themselves in the region of the body where Chiron received his wound, they further mandate that in life one not vote against one’s best interest.

Ceres retrogrades within Capricorn until 25 August. On 6 July, she opposes the Sun in Cancer, marking the halfway done point of her retrograde cycle. This date also represents a perfect launch date for any project that one may define as a campaign of advocacy. Certainly, this pattern also represents a huge measure of realizing one is “healthy” both in the context of the physical and emotional being, and within the mundane, economic dimensions of life.

On 20 September Mars in Cancer opposes Ceres in Capricorn. These neighboring planets both possess an abrasive edge and a known testiness toward anything person, place or thing that present conditions of obstacle status. A word to the wise: Use only as much grease as grinding gears need - no over lubricating. Similarly, avoid the urge to push beyond the breaking point... those elements of life that may break under extreme exertion are unlikely to be repaired successfully. Get clear on your inner charge and how that relates to forcefulness, especially that perceived by others. Grind, push and assert only to the point where your fine objectives manifest.

A few days following the United States presidential election, 7 November, Ceres still in Capricorn squares Chiron in Aries once again. Given past portends present, this looks like another messy few days to determine the final outcome of the voting. On the personal and more global level, this planet-centaur combo urges everyone to reassess where they are, where they want to be, and what might be required in terms of personal declaration to ensure the world and those in it understand where one intends to go. A perfected statement of ones end game certainly fits the aspect’s suggestions.

Next up, on 21 November, Ceres from Capricorn squares Eris in Aries. At approximately the same time, Ceres trines Uranus. This is key to manifesting the best of the recent Jupiter to Uranus conjunction in Taurus. This month, Ceres retrogrades short of exacting a trine to both the gaseous planets. It may feel that ones persistent pleas and chants are heard, but not sanctioned. It is at this time in November, with the trine of Ceres to Uranus that events unfold that indicate that previous perceptions of exclusion may not have been accurate. Going through the next few months, strive to perceive when acknowledgment of proclamations occur. At that point, stop pushing, relax, regroup to perfecting the minutia of all your pitch decks for life, and know that your clarity and commitment can, in fact, unlock the door to the inner sanctum of life in which you have been craving access. Think in terms of tempo, rhythm and grace within all elements and aspects of your approach to your adamancy within personal advocacy.

Finally, as 7 December arrives, having been in Capricorn since the end of the first week in February, Ceres enters Aquarius. Virtually immediately, Ceres conjoins Pluto. This is huge. Here it is important to recognize that forces at odds with one another want the same thing. In the mythic example between Ceres and Pluto, they shared the desire for the exclusive attention of Persephone/Core. Should any elements of life feel divergent and ultimately opposing, seek out the commonality of cause. It does exist, no matter how contrary it may initially appear. When recognized, convert the agendas of all parties to approach conditions ahead with the aspired agenda of “for the good of all.”

What a way it will be to wrap up 2024!

More soon.

So here’s the deal. My astrological work actively includes Ceres. If you’ve got a cause going on that you’re working to create, a consultation, Galactic Report or something as simple as a couple of personal questions may unsqueak life. If you’re wanting to explore the Kuiper Belt and things way beyond, there is no better time than Ceres retrograde to figure how this knowledge flushes out your cause. The links below will get your order up!

One Stop Shopping Order Form Astrological Texts

Meteoric the Movie on Vimeo ZAP! on Vimeo

[wandering-the-fae-wyldes]

Arriving at the Barrier

Jacwyn sighs in frustration as he walks through the forest, they'd been walking for hours now, and he was starting to get frustrated at the lack of change in the world around them. Every tree looked the same, the foiliage only shifting slightly to his untrained eyes. What had once been a looming forest of impossibly high trees, awing him with its wonder, had quickly become nearly mundane to him. Now it was little more than just another woodland trail to wander through, much like the walking trails back home, except now there were no tasteful benches for him to rest on, and worse he had two companions, one of who insisted on riding on his shoulder.

"Gods, how much further do we have to go? I feel like I've been walking all day!"

Tink rolls her eyes as she kicks her feet as she sits beside his head.

"Oh, stop complaining you lazy bum, we'll get there whenever we arrive. Stop complaining."

Jacwyn glares at the fairy, unable to keep himself from retorting.

"Lazy!? Look who's talking! You've done nothing since this whole thing began, all you've done is ride my shoulder and make a nuisance of yourself!"

Tink bristles at this, her wings blurring into motion as she flies off his shoulder and gets in his face, poking his nose aggressively.

"What did you say!? You're calling me lazy? Look here pal, I'm keeping you safe, keeping an eye and nose out for danger! You have no idea how many animals I've diverted from our path, all we're telling you to do is keep walking! So how about you stop whining and get to it you lazy elf!"

Jacwyn swats at the little fairy, missing by a wide margin as she flitters out of reach above him.

"Hey! Get back you ungrateful little fly! You think you can just insult me and ride me around like some beast of burden?"

Tink: "Yeah, as a matter of fact I do think that! And watch who you call a fly mortal, you'd better watch your tone and start showing some kind of respect!"

Throughout their little spat Dew continues to fly quietly from plant to plant, taking this leisurely stroll as an opportunity to observe and care for new plants, collecting samples for her own glade when this is all over. She stops at a particularly interesting rose bush as the two really start to argue, bringing the party to a temporary stop. She frowns as she observes the roses, cocking her head as she tries to place just what is off about them.

Dew: "Now what do we have here? Hmm, tell me flower, what is troubling you?"

She checks bud after bud, checking the stem and its thorns as she listens carefully to the flower and the magic that maintains it. The rose seems to be suffering from some kind of plague, but not one of the natural world. It has a faint smell of death, the thorns wicked and cruel bent as if attempting to hook onto the flesh of any unwary travelers that happen by. A particularly strange thing to see in Spring, usually this kind of mutation only occurs around plague lands, or undead lords or lichs. Unfortunately, before she can determine the ultimate cause she's brought out of her musings by the high-pitched scream of Jacwyn from behind her. She quickly spins around to witness as a couple squirrels climb, bite and scratch at the young elf, who in turn flails wildly as he tries to throw them off.

Jacwyn: "Ahhh! Get them off you psycho bug! Agh! Damn it, furry bastards!"

Tink stands proudly in the air as she looks down at him, watching as the squirrels torment him.

"Ha! Yes, take that you disrespectful mortal! Next time you'll think twice before you insult a proud member of the fae!"

Dew flushes with fury as she flits up to Tink and shoves a finger into her chest, hissing a harsh whisper at her friend.

Dew: "Are you insane!? Call off the squirrels you idiot!"

Tink: "What? Why? He was disrespectful! You heard him, and we both know we've done far worse for less! He deserves to get humbled a little."

She crosses her arms petulantly, refusing to call off her attack squirrels.

Dew: "Because if anything happens to him then there goes our ticket to freedom! Worse, if Mab figures out it was US that hurt him? Then you can not only forget about a reward or freedom, we'll be lucky if she doesn't turn us to snow or tear off our wings and feed us to a frog or something! Now call off your beasts!"

Tink deflates a little, sinking just a couple inches in the air as her wings slow down, biting her lip as she considers the truth of Dew's words.

"Ok, yeah you're right…"

Just as easy as that the squirrels dart off of Jacwyn, leaving him scratched and bruised, panting for breath as he watches the two rodents scurry off into the woods. He glares up at the two fairies, having completely missed their discussion due to the viscious squirrels.

"Great, now look, I-I'm not going to be able to continue like this you know. Fuck, what if one of those rodents had rabies, or parasites?"

Tink rolls her eyes as she flutters down to hover in front of him, Dew following suit after a moment.

Tink: "Oh don't be a baby, look neither of us are great with medicine or anything like that, but there's a town up ahead. We can stop there and rest, and you can go whining to whatever local healer they have there. Sound good whiny elf?"

Jacwyn looks like he's ready to protest, to pick another fight with the little fairy, but even as Dew elbows her roughly, Jacwyn decides he'd rather not get attacked by those squirrels again.

Jacwyn: "Yeah, yeah fine."

With that Tink and Dew fly ahead, each of them whispering to one another in hushed tones, Jacwyn following behind limping slightly as he presses a hand to one of the deeper cuts on his neck. The two squirrels had really done a number on him, his numerous cuts and open wounds dripped blood behind him, leaving a slight trail for others to follow. Tink and Dew both fly on their own as they walk, Dew still going from plant to plant but keeping Tink close by now. Jacwyn just sighs with frustration, the squirrels didn't do too much, but every step caused another cut to bleed freshly, the dozens of little cuts and bites each their own little source of pain.

Jacwyn: "How much further until we reach this town of yours?"

Tink rolls her eyes but luckily this time, before she could speak Dew shot her a meaningful glance before responding.

Dew: "Not much further, vegetation is starting to thin out a bit, that's usually a pretty good sign that a settlement is near."

Almost as though it had been spoken into being, the group soon found the edge of the forest, and like night turning to day the party was greeted by the sight of a massive settlement. The settlement that looked to normally be a quiet small town for travelers, consisting of few permanent buildings including a tavern, hot springs and a town hall, had boomed into a veritable city of tents, temporary structures, and strange constructions that looked to have been grown from the very ground itself. It wasn't until the Jacwyn stepped past the threshold of the forest that the sight was truly brought to life by sound, suddenly he could hear the guards talking to travelers on the road, the sound of musicians playing for money and attention, merchants hawking their wares to anyone near enough to hear, it brought back memories.

Jacwyn: "Oh wow~. This is amazing, look at all this!"

Jacwyn couldn't help but to chuckle at the sight.

"Ha, I had no idea that there would be actual normal towns here. I half expected all the buildings to be just like, grown out of the trees or something."

Dew gives him a confused look at that, as Tink just sighs with frustration.

Dew: "Really? You thought… but that doesn't make sense. How would tents even, I mean that doesn't really make sense does it?"

Jacwyn blushes and gestures back at the forest but seeing the both of their looks he just shakes his head.

"Right, I suppose not. I guess it's just, nevermind. Come on, let's get to it. Agh, these cuts sting, let's find that doctor you guys were talking about."

With that he begins walking again, Tink avoids Dew's eyes when she glares at her again. Tink then mutters quietly to her, lingering far enough behind their elven charge that he wouldn't hear.

Tink: "Dew, I know you're angry but what do we do here? This was supposed to be a small town, no one to recognize him! How are we supposed to make sure no one else tries to claim the reward?"

Dew bites her lip and shakes her head. Watching Jacwyn with concern, trying to think of what they could do, at least what they could do without alerting him.

Dew: "I don't know. Look, what we do is keep an eye on him, and just, do our best. Just don't let your guard down and be ready to run."

[hellsurvivr]

         THROUGH COLLEGE THE RUMOURS HAD BEEN THERE,     about who he was. about the family he had been linked too. but she'd ignored them. let it all drift into the background as white noise. as it didn't bother her back then. she was there to do her schooling, and getting to know cezar and his girlfriend, and then Andrei. it hadn't bothered her because she was unsure of her future. Yes she was andrei's girlfriend back then. but it had been with the knowledge she didn't know what happened when she graduated. a bit of harmless fun in reality. till they'd confessed how deep the feelings ran for each other.   till he told her the truth of the whispers she'd heard.    and it had caused her whole world to crumble beneath her feet. to look at things differently. and back then she knew she'd have handled it different, if not for the pregnancy news, and the run in with his father. after that, she blew up their worlds. rather proficiently.

        right now though, she was more lost than she'd ever been    ━   drowning in a sea of uncertainty.   and it was causing her to become timid, fragile in how she handled things. she knew her plan for the day and it had been thrown into upheaval, the moment her ex, her sons father, appeared at her door. forcing her to face her past, and the ghost she knew had been haunting her for years.     (    a ghost she'd stupidly pretended didn't exist!    )    and it was leaving her reeling. attempting to scramble at any semblance of normalcy she could grasp. and whilst she'd like to do the same, whilst looking at him. to see something along the lines she could cling too. SHE SAW NOTHING. nothing but coldness, ice wrapped around his heart and in his eyes. eyes she could once read like an open book. and for the first time sine she met him, she was scared of him. a fact she never thought would become reality, and yet it rattled around in her bones. for this was the man his father had threatened her with, and she couldn't even say for certain. if he wouldn't kill her now, should he know the truth of why she left. and it was just another thing, that left her reeling.

         his words regarding luca made her want to laugh. as he was about to learn that their son had the same, observing nature that she did. and by now his small brain was no doubt already starting to put some pieces together. forming them in his brain. and payne knew without a doubt that come that evening. her truth would be exposed for even her son to see. but still she says nothing, and nods with his words, after all it was more than she could ask for. given she'd stolen his heir. and instead settles into her new reality as best she could. grabbing the stuff she knew they'd both need. as well as small things she knew she'd have to share with andrei one day. to let him into the world, she had stolen from him. it was what he deserved. and her guilt was too powerful now, to keep the two apart much longer.     (    not when the truth of how alike the two truly were!    )    and the reality of such had crashed into andrei the moment Luca had asked for Apollo to come. his determination easy for anyone to see. a determination that was as strong and stubborn as his fathers. but with eyes, that could break a man. as hers had once done.

        the appearance of Cezar was bittersweet    ━   knowing he was putting the pieces together.   but also for payne, it was more her own memory able to conjure up the last conversation she had with him. of how he'd explained their world. helped her to understand. and she'd all but promised she'd stay. that she could handle the world. that she'd try and make it work.     (    that she'd be andrei's girl!    )    but that had come before she found out she was carrying luca, before the conversation with his father. and after that she'd offered cezar nothing but silence. NO COMMUNICATION. and she had thus come across as a liar. trepidation filled her, wondering if he'd shared that conversation. he had no loyalty to her after all, he was andrei's friend first. and she was just the woman who ruined everything. so she wouldn't blame him, if he had.

                the hug was very much needed    ━   giving her the strength to continue to wear her mask.   as she drags in the scent of her old friend. clinging to him with tattooed fingers momentarily. he was the first she'd gotten to know, and was one who knew how to read, when she was drowning.          ❛   it's one of the reasons old friend.   ❜    she whispers back. leaving the words for the two of them alone. and not feeling scared to reveal such a thing.    (    given the history of their last conversation!    )    as he pulls away, her eyes close hearing her old nickname once more drift into the air. 'Cass'. someone she'd killed off five years ago and even now couldn't resurrect. she was scared too. for it had been Cass who loved andrei with every fibre of her being. Payne couldn't afford to let those feelings out. Payne was the new mask she hid behind. She nods at his words before momentarily looking up at Andrei. her grip on Luca never wavering as she turns to follow the taller male. but stops momentarily to look back at Cezar, mischief bleeding into her eyes for the first time.             ❛   good to see you too 'Zar, tell your better half i miss her.   ❜    A SIGN THAT SHE'D SPOTTEN HIS RING.   unable to be hidden from her gaze, as she quickly moves, leaning up and pressing a kiss to his cheek before turning and following andrei. another sign that his friend was still within her, and if he wished, the door was still open for their friendship. for him and his wife, it always would be.

         luckily for her, thanks to her photographic memory, she didn't need to be given a long drawn out tour to remember where she was going. and instead looks around quickly, before concentrating on keeping her sons head covered. away from the prying eyes she could feel looking. once more adding to the anxiety that was rocketing through her at a ridiculous pace. a reminder this wasn't her world.     (   it was her sons in reality!   )    luckily apollo was more than happy to walk beside them, growling at all who got close to his owners. giving her a small semblenace of safety. hazel hues take note of the floor they were on. and is aware of the room she's led away from. knowing instantly who's it is, and it makes her stomach clench. the distance between rooms a physical representation of the one between them. one she'd have to come to terms with. she wasn't his girl anymore. had no rights to him at all. even if her heart clenched to touch him.     ❛   thank you.   ❜    she mutters shyly walking past him, the skin of her hand brusing against his and she has to bite back a groan. as she quickly walks over depositing their son on the bed so she can look around. already knowing she'd end up painting on these walls, simply for something to do. a way to ease the turmoil inside

          ❛   what h - .   ❜   teeth violently cut off her words. stopping the sentence from even forming. another thing that showed how different she was. never before had she been scared to voice her words to andrei. handing out nothing but blunt truth. but this wasn't how it was anymore.     (   he wasn't who he was anymore!   )    looking at the ceiling and then back to andrei, she bites down on the piercing that went through her bottom lip, as acrylic nails, idly pick at a tendril of loose string on her jacket. eyes momentarily flicking behind him to where a suited male stood silently. and then back to andrei.     ❛   i get the feeling we're to be watched at all times. to keep luca safe. any other changes i need to learn to adjust too, sir?.   ❜    despite her turmoil, her sarcasm comes out. her protective armour, as it wraps around the final word. it was enough to keep the memories away, of how shed used to utter that word in a different scenario. as it also showed her displeasure at having a bodyguard. but that she'd do it. for their son. not herself. after all she wasn't important here. but for the sake of her anxiety. she needed truth from him right now. about everything else. she would now have to get used too.

Things had changed since she last saw him. The warmth she had known from when he was younger, the heir to the family, had left him. It had started to leave him soon after she left, having nothing else but to lose himself in the family business. After all this was what he was meant to inherit and without much of a distraction or anything holding him back, he threw himself in it more than he had before. The final nail in the coffin had been when he took his father's life. The day he killed him almost five years ago. Something else that came not too far after she left. But from that moment on? He was the cold mafia boss with a dark reputation. The rumors were there in his world about what he had done, but he never confirmed or denied them. The fear was what kept others in line, kept people easy bowing down when he came around to take what he wanted from them. What she had known in college was effectively gone. He was the monster others warned you about. And she was seeing that now, even as he saw their son because he couldn't let himself falter. This was who he was and she had to accept that as he 'offered' protection.

Their history, however, didn't mean she was allowed to know what was fully going on. What she did know was enough. Though using their son at the end felt like a dig and his jaw tensed, his harsh gaze still baring down on her. "It's better you know what you know and that's it." He says plainly, his tone dark and cold. And he leaves it at that, not planning on addressing it further. Though it doesn't get by him how timid she is about the whole thing, so different than what he was used to from their past. But he figured it was because she was scared and in unknown territory. To comfort her, however, wasn't his right any more and he accepted that. Five years had passed since he last saw her, since she left, and with it his right to even be able to show any kind of emotion towards her. Besides, he was sure she wanted none of it. She would have stayed if she had felt strongly enough towards him, despite knowing what he did and she didn't. That had told him enough. What told him enough of that on top of it all was when she mumbles in Greek, something she knew he didn't understand. His gaze narrows slightly at that before shrugging it off with a small shake of his head.

As much as he wished to fix this by pulling her into his arms, that wasn't where they were anymore. Even if seeing her, seeing his son, tugged at his heart and made him realize all the feelings he'd had locked within, no one could see it on the outside. Too good had he become at hiding his emotions. However, she sees him crack just a little when she pulls out the Romanian. Calling herself a devil hadn't been what he expected, nor the opportunity to even be a father to the son he had only just met. His jaw tenses again as he collects himself and takes in a deep breath before replying. "Nu știe că sunt tatăl lui. Vom vedea cum se instalează mai întâi… Nu vreau să-l pun prin mai multe schimbări decât este acum." It hurt him to say but it was the truth, Luca was already being told to leave and go with him without so much as an explanation. He wasn't going to start acting like a father to boy who may not even want that. And so she would have to live with that answer, for now. But it was also him protecting himself, knowing this might not even last. In the end, it was more of a see how things go while his focus would be to stay protecting them.

The ringing of her phone snaps him out of that thought, the feelings, the daze it all made him feel. His green gaze snapping to the device in her hand as his expression grew stern. He didn't like the face she made at the number, so when she walks over to him with it in hand he reaches out and takes it. Turning off the device, he pockets it to be handled later when they got to his estate. Watching her walk away afterwards, the guilt made his shoulders fall as he knew he was ruining what life she had built up for the two of them. This was his fault and he had to live with that, put on the front that he wasn't bothered for protecting them. Leaving for the doorway at that point, nothing else for him to do but wait until they came back downstairs with their bags packed. Thankfully she listened, not making him wait long before leading her to the car for their belongings to be taken by his men. But what he hadn't expected was for his young son to bring up a dog, the eyes pleading to go with his request to take him. It was the first time he gave in, letting out a sigh before giving a nod to show that it was indeed okay. He was finding he couldn't say no to him just like he wasn't able to with his mother those long five years ago. So, with that settled, they got into the car and drove off to his home.

He sat on the opposite side, letting them have some space as he watched the two huddle close together. It had to have been disorienting, frightening even, but he was glad they were at least handling this well. He was ready for her to resist him when she hadn't, for breaking his word. Andrei had to make himself look away not long after the trip got started, attention out the window or to his phone to conduct business. Anything but looking beside him at the woman he loved and their son. A way to occupy his mind, avoid thinking about it, as he would have to grow used to the fact they would be in his home for the foreseeable future. Thankfully, his estate approached, the gate opening up and letting them in along with his other car behind them. Eventually they pulled up to the front door and he got out to go to the other side and open the door for them. It's in that process he sees Cezar come outside, giving a silent nod to his best friend before opening the door to let them out. Andrei doesn't see the shared glance, his gaze down to the floor because in this moment he knew his best friend was putting everything together.

Without even a second thought, Cezar pulls her into a hug to give her some sense of comfort he knew Andrei hadn't. The blond wasn't angry at Andrei for it, he knew it was hard for him to do this, so it was why he stepped up and gave her the hug he knew she needed. "I see why you left." He whispers into her ear before pulling away. "It's good to see you again, Cass." Cezar says louder before stepping to the side to let them in. "I shouldn't keep you outside long, I know he probably wants to set you guys up as soon as possible so you can relax." His blue gaze lifts to Andrei who towers over the three of them. The Romanian's green gaze meets his friends, narrowing slightly before letting out a huff as he mumbles to himself in Romanian. He moves to begin his walk inside, motioning for Cass to follow with Luca. "I will show you to your rooms and everything else you might need while you're here." He half mumbles, looking over his shoulder as he motions for his men to take the bags and follow. "I'll see you around, Cass." Cezar says with a small but friendly smile before turning away to go to his own home and family.

With that small reunion done, Andrei lets out a breath as he walks inside and into the foyer. "This is your new home." He half motions out to his side so she can take a small look around. But he doesn't exactly give them much time, not until he's leading them towards the stairs and up towards the third floor. where his master bedroom was as well as several guest rooms reserved for those he trusted most. However, he was leading them in the opposite direction of his bedroom as he promised. She would have her space and wouldn't need to see him if she didn't want to. It didn't take long but eventually he opened a door to a large room, one that connected to the room next to it. "Your room, Luca's is next to you and that door opens to it so you don't even have to go out into the hall." He steps aside and let's her have the space to walk in and see it for herself.

[helliontherapscallion]

pspspsp can I just request an immortal reader who's life is just dull/sad as hell since they've seen their loved ones leave or die in front of them so many times

but when they meet SBI or anyone, their life just suddenly brightens up? (Platonic and it can be any type of fic!)

(A/N): I got waaaayy too carried away with this. Star god reader my beloved (also, I’d imagine that your cloak looks like this guy’s but on the inside with the outsides being any color of your choice (credit goes to original artist))

If you want more god!reader content with the dream smp, @wooloo-inc has a really good series about a male!nature god!reader (aka, the god of dilf collection)

In the beginning when DreamXD created you (which if you think about it, that makes him your father, but I digress) from stardust and meteorite shards, you were a ball of fun loving sunshine (well, starshine?)

You loved watching over all of humankind, admiring their determination and bonds with other humans (both romantic and platonic)

Your older brother, the god of the moon, told you about how they viewed you and you were amazed

“Oberon?” You ran up to your older brother and tugged on his cloak making him hum in question, not looking up from his parchment scroll. “What- what do the humans think of me?”

He scoffed and glanced at you with his lily white irises, “why are you on about them again? They are lowly creatures compared to us, filled with greed and misfortune.”

“They worship us and that’s how you speak of them?”

“(Y/n) believe me, you have not seen the brutality they are capable of. War, famine, greed, plague, genocide, it’s all something you have not witnessed before. You have only seen the good in those things.” 

“But Oberon, I wanna-” he lightly smacked the side of your head, “use proper English. We are gods and you will behave as such.”

You huffed, “I want to know about how they view us! I do not care about the bad things they have done! Plleeeaaassseeeeeee Beri?” You willed the stars that constantly gleamed in your eyes to shine brighter as you fluttered your eyelashes at him. He may seem like he hated everyone and everything (especially his siblings), but he had a soft spot for his youngest sibling. He just stared at you for a bit before he sighed and shifted in the massive throne so that you could hop up onto his lap. With a wave of a slender pale hand, he conjured up various images of humans with stardust gazing at the stars and the moon with carefree swipes of his hand. 

“They view us as… poetic of sorts. They compare us to romance,” an image of two human males kissing then gazing into the stars laying down on a cliff came into view, “fortune tellers,” an image of the Aquarius and the Capricorn constellations popped up making you squeal in happiness. He chucked and changed the picture to a mother and son standing over a grave looking up in amazement at a shooting star, “and most importantly, as a sign of hope. 

“They see us as complementary, the moon and the stars cannot be as beautiful without the other. We hold the power of the night and everything it touches, (y/n). This is our kingdom, do not forget that,” the image changed to the moon surrounded by stars and swirling blues and purples of nebulas.

You looked at the images with awe, absorbing every word that fell from his mouth. “Beri?” He once again hummed, his deep baritone voice sending vibrations along your back. “Will we be together forever?”

His lanky arms wrapped around your much smaller frame, “for all of eternity. The moon is nothing without the night sky and all of the stars it holds.”

Centuries passed and your fascination with humans only grew from there

When you eventually asked if you could meet a human Oberon reacted angrily and forbade you from speaking of humans again in your shared palace, worried for your safety

When he caught you attempting to sneak out, he locked you in your room for months on end

Humans wondered why the stars hardly appeared in the night sky anymore, forming the theory that they had somehow angered you

They prayed to you more and more, begging and groveling for forgiveness

They left more offerings at shrines

You heard their every word, feeling your heartbreak with sorrow and guilt for your lovely humans

You snuck out of the palace that night determined to make it up to the humans

You quietly snuck past the main room where you and Oberon used to sit on your thrones together and control the night. The large doors were cracked open showing your older brother watching the night with boredom. As you passed, his voice startled you, “I just cannot stop you can I?”

He appeared in the doorframe looking at you emotionlessly, his eyes glinting with hidden pain. “Do you realize how cruel of a place that world is? How cruel humans are?”

“I do not care, brother! They are in anguish because they think I am angry with them! Because you locked me in here!”

“I have told you time and time again, they are ruthless creatures. Humans are constantly clashing with their own kind for the slightest bit of power, they’re greedy creatures! Have you forgotten what happened to Arachnia?”

A shiver went down your spine at the mention of your fellow deity. She wanted to be with humans but they stripped her of her grace and virtuosity, torturing her when the moon would rise. That is the reason spiders attack humans in the night when the moon and stars show themselves and are dormant in the daytime. However, that did not deter you. 

“I have not forgotten what happened to Arachnia, her tale fills me with grief. But not all humans are like that! They are compassionate, loving, and sweet creatures deep down, each and every single one of them!”

“They were not showing compassion or love when they tore Arachnia limb from limb! When they languish in riches while millions die around them! What part of that is compassionate?”

“Sure they do bad things sometimes, but have you forgotten the love they hold for each other? The determination and hope shining from within them when they pray to us? Have you forgotten that?”

“THEIR ACTIONS ARE NOT JUSTIFIED IN ANY WAY!”

“AND OURS ARE? YOU ARE BLIND, OBERON. HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THE CRUELTY THE GODS HAVE SUBJECTED HUMANS TO? WHEN OUR FATHER TOOK YEARS AWAY FROM THEIR LIFESPANS SOLELY BECAUSE THEY STOPPED WORSHIPPING HIM AS OFTEN AS THEY USED TO? WHAT PART OF THAT IS JUSTIFIED?” 

He just stared at you with angry irises and his chest heaving before he ran a hand through his long ivory hair and turned around, the flowing white cape flowing wildly behind him with unseen air. He walked back into the observation room and back to his throne. Without a second glance to you, he worked on the transition of power between the sun and moon. You could imagine your sister Aelia grinning brightly as she rose the sun for the day.

“You are to never return here if you step foot out that door. You will still have control of your duties of the night. However you will never return. Do not come back groveling for forgiveness when I have given you constant warnings of their cruelty. If I see your face show up here, I will make sure father smites you down. Now get out of my sight.”

You huffed and whipped around to the front entrance, the stars that constantly twinkled and the nebulas that constantly swirled in the inside of your cloak illuminating the white floors below you as you ran. You left the palace without a second thought, leaving your old life behind in favor of spending it with the humans.

When you came crashing to the Earth in a shooting star, you were amazed by the beauty of it up close and in person

It was everything you expected and then some

You heard the humans cheering and thanking you in their prayers when the stars returned brighter than usual

You being completely enamoured by all of the humans, even if they recognized you or not you loved them all unconditionally

You set up a little cottage in the tundra where you could see the night sky clearly with the occasional aurora borealis 

From the roof, you controlled the stars

The tales of you defecting from the heavens was a popular one, and you became somewhat of a symbol of the hope that humanity should hold for themselves and compassion

Occasionally sending shooting stars over humans you knew were stargazing

You have met many lovers, friends, and even your own adopted kids over the next millenia, all of them accepting your immortality and everlasting duties

But it’s all the same in the end: they come, they leave, and they die

With each death of your loved ones, you could feel your will to keep going dissipate

The stars grew dimmer gradually in the night sky

The humans gradually stopped worshipping you as you disappeared from the night skies

You became a distant memory for elders to tell children 

Disappearing from the face of the Earth for a few centuries when you could not take the constant deaths any longer

Nobody knew where your cabin laid so you were undisturbed for centuries on end, left to your grief

That was until a knock sounded at your door

The knock startled you out of the comfort of your bed. Reluctantly, you left the warmth of the multitude of blankets and donned your cloak to hide your unkempt appearance. When you passed the mirror hanging in the hallway, you could see that your face was shrouded by darkness with the exception of a single glint where your eyes were caused by the lone star that was a constant reminder of your position. Before you fell into a deep depression, the stars would illuminate your entire face if you put your hood up. 

You opened the front door without a care in the world. If the beings on the other side were humans that would take you away and torture you, you didn’t care. You’re long past the point of caring for your own well being.

On the other side was a man of average height and long shaggy blond hair pulled into a slick ponytail. He was dressed entirely in green with a green and white striped bucket hat placed on his head. Past you would’ve been cooing at the object, but now you dully looked at the man in front of you. You glanced behind him and your eyes widened at the huge black wings sprouting from his back. You know who he was the second your eye caught the black feathers; he was the Angel of Death.

“Hello, Angel of Death.”

He tried to peer into your shrouded features, only seeing two pinpricks of light where your eyes should be. He gave you a friendly smile, brushing off the snow that gathered on his shoulders. “(Y/n), the God of the Stars and the Night Sky. Giver of compassion to the human race, it’s an honor to meet you.”

“Why are you here? Last time I checked, my last lover died centuries ago.”

“Yes, my condolences. They were lovely when I guided their soul to the afterlife.”

“You still have not answered my question, Angel of Death. Why are you here?” You grit out the last sentence through a clenched jaw. He has no right to talk about them when he assisted in taking them away from you. Him and your cousin, the Goddess of Death Kristin. They took everybody you loved away from you. You knew that their deaths were unavoidable since they were human and you were immortal, but you still couldn’t help but resent them.

“The Goddess of Death sent me. The God of the Moon and the Goddess of the Sun sent her a request to send me to check on you.”

You stared at him for a few moments before you saw him shivering slightly and sighed. You always had a soft spot for humans, even if the being in front of you was not a human in the slightest. He reminded you of an old friend. You stepped aside and gestured lazily inside the house, “come in.”

He started to visit more and more over the next century

He eventually befriended you about half a century into the visits

It was extremely difficult to do because of how guarded you were, but he managed to break you out of your shell

You realizing how kind he was and how much he cared for you

You quickly came to the realization that he was immortal as well after reading up on the Angel of Death

After another fifty years, he became your best friend

You both opened up and comforted each other about everybody you both lost over the years

When he adopted Technoblade and then Wilbur not long after Techno, you were extremely hesitant to get close to them

Even going as far as telling Philza that you thought that it was an extremely bad idea

Mortals always end up leaving in the end anyways, it’s best to avoid the endless cycle of hurt that came with having mortals around

You told him about your own adopted children that have died over the years

You refuse to meet them, cutting off all communication with Philza for a year or two

Eventually meeting his three adopted kids when you reluctantly accept a dinner invitation one day

You attempted to appear cold and uncaring, but your love for humans (especially baby humans) shone through when an infant Tommy started to play with your cape

It seemed that the stars and the moving nebulas within the fabric entranced him

From then on whenever you visited Philza, you always held Tommy until he was too old for you to do so

Becoming very attached to the blond with your strong innate parental instincts

You introduce Techno to mythology, sharing stories of your personal interactions with certain gods and entities throughout the years

You teach Techno how to cope with the voices as you constantly hear multiple prayers to you from humans at the same time

You arrange a meeting for Wilbur with the Goddess of Music when he asks you about her

Arranging for her to start giving him lessons in exchange of a favor that will be cashed at a later date

You help raise all three of them, often taking them off Philza’s hands for a night or two 

Their favorite activity with you is watching you raise the stars and turn the sky dark

They always loved to watch you move the stars and summon shooting stars for them

The stars gradually returned to your eyes and a constant ecstatic smile slowly became synonymous with your face again

Humans started to worship you again when the stars in the sky became brighter

You became your old self again after centuries of feeling lost 

To repay them for everything they’ve done for you, you decided to rearrange the stars for one night 

One night of having a different star pattern couldn’t hurt 

Sure, it’d make a few theories pop up among the humans, but those are fun to overhear sometimes

The young boys and Philza behind you watched in awe as your eyes started to glow brightly and you slowly moved your hands gracefully raising the stars with the moon, your cloak starting to flow with nonexistent winds. They’ve seen you raise the stars thousands of times, but it never ceases to amaze them. It was just so… entrancing. 

You broke into a slight sweat and started to move the stars from their original positions in the sky. Shaking slightly, you pushed back against the strain and slight pain that it brought you. You’ve never done this before, so you really didn’t know what you were expecting. You felt someone put a hand on your shoulder.

“What’re you doin, mate?”

“Uh Dad?”

“Not now Techno. Mate, are you alright?”

“Dad, look up. They’re rearranging the stars,” Wilbur breathed out.

You could hear Philza gasp slightly as he watched star after star move until they locked into place. There in the twinkling night sky was each of their names gleaming brightly in small lettering. When you were done, you fell into a kneel onto the ground and rubbed at your aching head panting lightly. 

You could hear the boys around you panic slightly as you regained your breath. As you heard them approach you you looked up at them and smiled, the stars gleaming brightly in your irises. “Do you like it?”

“Y-yes but gods, (y/n) are you alright?”

“I am fine, but stars, I have never done that before. Are you four ready for stargazing?”

“That was so pog, (y/n)! How’d you do that?”

“I hold the power of the stars and the night sky in my hands. My brother once told me that the night is our kingdom.” You laid down onto the grass and took off your cloak to cover up a shivering Tommy and Wilbur next to you. You sighed as you thought about your siblings; you wondered how they were doing. 

“I will gladly move the stars themselves for you four. You are my family.” There was a stretched out moment of comfortable silence as you five watched shooting stars blaze by. Eventually, you saw an aurora borealis materialize above you. Furrowing your brow, you looked at it in question. They don’t appear this time of year, so why-

“Aelia,” you breathed out as you watched the greens flow above you. She must’ve sent a gust of solar wind your way. 

“Isn’t Aelia the Goddess of the Sun?” Wilbur asked you.

“Yes, she is my oldest sister. She must have redirected the solar winds over here.” 

“Damn, what’s with the gods changing everything tonight? You guys need to fuckin chill.”

“Tommy!” Philza scolded and was about to continue before he heard you start to laugh. They’ve only heard you genuinely laugh only a couple of times, so the sound that left your mouth immediately brightened the mood. 

“Yes Tommy, I suppose we do need to ‘fucking chill’.”

“You swore! Fuckin pog,” Tommy cheered to himself as the others looked at you in slight shock at your words. If you’re being completely honest in all of the years you spent alive (which is since basically the beginning of time), you’ve never sworn once. You were raised differently than that. When you realized that the others were staring at you, you smirked at them. The stars twinkling and giving your eyes even more of a mischievous glint, “what? Have you never heard a god swear before?”

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[queenshelby]

Gypsy Bride (One Shot)

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x Virgin!Reader

Warnings: Angst, Violence, Mention of Self Harm, Arranged Marriage, SMUT, Loss of Virginity

Total Words: 8,083 (both parts below)

Parts:

·      Part One – Husband and Wife

·      Part Two – Consummating Finally

Notes: I will be writing another One Shot which will be called ‘Goodbye Marie’. This One Shot will follow on from this story but can also be read on its own.

Part One

It was 9am on a cold Saturday morning. You had been awake for several hours already and barely managed to get any sleep at all the night before.

It was your wedding day and you were nervous to say the least. This was a wedding you didn’t want, a marriage doomed from the beginning.

Your father had recently taken over the business of importing heroine into the United Kingdom from his brother who, due to unfortunate circumstances arranged by your father, was shot during police interference.

In your culture, it was customary to only form alliances with people you trust, mainly family. But, since you and your mother were both only children as a result of a curse impaled on your family decades ago, your family was much smaller than other gypsy families.

In cases like this, alliances were formed by expanding family through marriage.

You had no say in the matter and your father was determined to expand his business through such alliance.

So, today, you were to marry Thomas Shelby, the leader of the Peaky Blinders.

You knew that Thomas Shelby was shipping heroine to the United States and had recently lost his supply from the Chinese. The deal your father was offering Thomas was lucrative and allowed the Shelby Family to reinstate most of their fortune which they had lost in the stock market crash earlier this year.

Your father, however, did not trust Thomas Shelby and insisted on a traditional bond between the families.

Thomas Shelby agreed and, since he was the only unmarried Shelby man of age, it was him, a man almost twice your age, who was going to be your husband.

You never met Thomas Shelby and you wondered what he was like.

You heard terrible things about him and you knew that he was both, a politician and a gangster. You knew that he was involved in drug trafficking, running brothels and killings. He was no better than your father who you despised.

You always wanted to turn a leaf on your life, get away from the illegal dealings and make an honest living. But, this dream of yours was now shattered. You were about to marry into the most notorious gangster family in the Small Heath and Birmingham area.

In the weeks leading up to your wedding, you considered ending it. This was the only way out. But then you met a man who was a priest. Every day you remembered his words. There was a purpose for you, you just may have not discovered it yet.

You never believed, but turned to God for advice after your encounter with the priest. You even began to volunteer at the local church community hall to help you keep your mind occupied.

After weeks of volunteering, you requested to be married to Thomas at the church. The priest was reluctant but agreed after you begged for long enough. Your request was granted.

And there you were, in the back rooms of the small church in Birmingham, preparing for your wedding.

As you stepped into your white wedding gown, tears were building up in your eyes. You were not ready for this, but you had to be strong.

You wiped your tears away with the white cotton tissue your mother had given you and pinned up your hair.

A maid was assigned to assist you, but you enjoyed to do your own hair and makeup.

Shortly after you sent your maid away and while you were applying your mascara, you heard a knock on the door.

You hoped that it was your mother, wishing to provide you with emotional support, but, to your surprise, it was a woman who you had never met.

She had dark brown hair and dark eyes. She was attractive and well dressed.

‘I am Polly Gray’ the woman said as she walked into your room.

‘I am Y/N’ you said nervously.

‘I figured’ she said with a laugh as she handed you her flask of whiskey.

‘Drink up Love, I think you need it, you are about to marry my nephew’ Polly said sheepishly as she stepped behind you and tied up your dress.

‘Thank you’ you said before taking a large sip from the flask.

‘You didn’t want your maid to help you with this?’ Polly asked surprised as she wiped away some of the smudged make up beneath your eyes which were still wet and teary.

‘No. I don’t like to appear weak in front of strangers’ you explained.

‘Showing weakness can sometimes be your strength Y/N’ Polly said before she asked you how old you were while she proceeded to help you with your make up.

‘I am 20’ you responded, your hands shaking.

’20?’ Polly said as she stopped what she was doing and sat down across from you.

‘Did you think I was older?’ you asked.

‘Your parents are older than me, so yes, Thomas and I did not expect you to be so young’ Polly said before she lid herself a cigarette.

‘Do you think that Thomas will be disappointed?’ you asked.

‘No Love. Let me tell you something about Thomas’ Polly said before taking a pause.

‘He has not shown any genuine interest in a woman since his late wife passed away. Whilst I disliked her, she was the only woman he ever loved. He didn’t choose you and he will probably not love you, but he will provide for you and ensure your safety. He expects loyalty in return, nothing else. So long as you are loyal, you do not need to worry about disappointing him nor do you need to be afraid of him’ Polly explained, causing you to feel some relief.

Despite the fact that you had never met this woman, she was able to provide you with the reassurance you needed.

‘Now, let’s hurry’ Polly said, standing up and finishing your make up.

‘Thank you, Ms Gray’ you said as she took your hand and smiled at you.

‘Please, call me Polly. After all, you will be family soon’ she said just before she disappeared to the hall.

Not long after Polly had left and you finished getting ready, your father arrived.

‘It’s time Y/N’ he said impatiently, not even bothering to compliment you.

You hooked into your father’s arm as he walked you towards the hall.

The Church was packed. You had many guests, mostly gypsies from different families.

Your heart sank into your stomach as you observed your future husband waiting for you at the altar.

He was wearing an elegant navy-blue suit which matched his deep blue eyes.

His hair looked immaculate and he had his hands crossed in front of him.

He was very attractive and you could barely believe that he was in his late thirties already.

Despite this, shivers ran down your back as you approached the altar. He showed no emotion at all. There was no smile on his face. In fact, there was no expression at all, just coldness.

As you took your place across from him, you observed him gazing over you for a moment, almost like he was assessing you. But his expressions didn’t change. There was no warmth.

You weren’t sure whether he liked what he saw or whether he was disappointed, possibly by the fact that you were much younger than he had expected or perhaps he preferred a different hair colour or larger breasts.

There was an awkward silence between you as you both starred at each other until, finally, the priest began to speak.

‘We are gathered here in the presence of God, family, and friends to unite Thomas Shelby and Y/N Y/LN in holy matrimony’ the priest went on to say before speaking a prayer, as per your request.

Then, it was time for the all-important question.

‘Do you Y/N Y/LN take Thomas Shelby to be your lawfully wedded husband?’ the priest asked.

‘I do’ you said nervously, starring at Tommy.

‘’And do you Thomas Shelby take Y/N Y/LN to be your lawfully wedded wife?’ the priest asked.

‘I do’ Tommy said, his hands still interlinked with each other.

‘Then, by the power vested in me by God, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride’ the priest said, but Tommy made no attempt to kiss you.

‘We might save that one for later, ey?’ Tommy said as he saw the nervousness in your face. You responded with nothing but a simple nod as you reached for his hand.

‘Are we done here?’ Tommy asked before he obliged and took your hand into his as you both stepped down from the altar and walked towards the exit of the Church.

Your families and guests were cheering as the Church bells began to ring.

You couldn’t help it but feel apprehensive and thought that, if the reception was going to be as awkward as the ceremony, this would be a long night.

Outside the church, you and your families posed for a picture before Tommy took you to his car.

There were no white horses and carriages as you had imagined on your wedding day. There was nothing romantic about this at all.

There was an awkward silence as you stepped inside his Silver Bentley. He started the car without saying a word.

You didn’t know what to say yourself and couldn’t even bare to look at him.

Just before you arrived at the reception venue, he looked over to you.

‘I am sorry you’ve been made to do this’ Tommy said, just as he stopped the car.

‘So am I’ you said as you pushed open the car door and walked inside. The weather was dreadful and you didn’t wait for Tommy.

The reception was barely a reception at all. There was nothing but business talk and your husband ignored you for the entire evening.

By that time, you were certain that he disliked you. He didn’t want this marriage any more than you did.

After several hours of easing your pain with champaign while you engaged into meaningless conversations with Arthur Shelby’s wife Linda, Tommy told you that it was time to go home.

You couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like, your new home.

You were hoping for it to be big enough so that you didn’t have to see your husband very often and endure this awkwardness and silence between you.

The drive home was as silent as the drive to the reception venue. Tommy didn’t speak a word to you, again.

At least this gave you time to think about the task ahead.

Your mother had spoken to you about marriage and what it entails.

She had also spoken with you about consummation of your marriage, which was something you were nervous, almost fearful, about.

Whilst, in your opinion, Tommy was very attractive, you have never been with a man before and you wanted your first time to be with someone you loved not someone you just met.

You told your mother exactly that, but she explained to you how important it is to fulfill your wifely duties and keep your husband happy from the beginning and always thereafter.

The truth was that you were afraid of the pain it will entail. You knew it was going to be painful and it wasn’t as if you didn’t already have to endure enough pain on your wedding day. Your mother explained to you that you would get used to it, the pain will fade and, eventually, it becomes nothing more than a chore.

As you finally stepped out of the car and inside Tommy’s house, you were emotionally prepared for what was to come and were probably drunk enough too.

The house was larger than any other house you had ever seen. You couldn’t believe that Tommy was living in the house by himself.

Tommy took the time to personally show you the house and introduce you to the maids. That was probably the most he had spoken to you all day.

It felt somewhat surreal. This is where you were going live now, with your husband, a total stranger.

Tommy told you that you could use every room in the house as you pleased but that you were not allowed in his office or his bedroom.

‘Your bedroom? Will we not be sharing a bedroom?’ you asked, causing Tommy to chuckle.

‘No Y/N, we will not be sharing a bedroom’ Tommy said before showing you your bedroom. You were relieved to say the least.

‘You can redecorate it if you like’ Tommy said as he opened the door.

Your bedroom was large, with a study desk and your own bathroom attached to it.

It was well decorated and felt warm and welcoming.

‘Thank you’ you said turning around, causing Tommy to nod.

‘I have some work to do now. If you need anything, please call for one of the maids’ Tommy said as he excused himself.

‘Goodnight Thomas’ you said, receiving no response.

After Tommy left, you changed into your nightgown and lied down on your bed. But, there was no way that you could fall asleep just yet. You still felt uncomfortable and out of place.

After about thirty minutes, you decided to get up and make yourself a cup of tea. You weren’t used to be served by maids and enjoyed doing things for yourself.

As you wandered through the house towards the kitchen, you heard noises coming from one of the hallways.

Intrigued, you followed the hallway and observed that there was light shining from the reading room which was also where the noises came from.

You carefully approached the room, glancing in from the distance.

This when you saw Tommy, still wearing his suit while being intimate with the young blonde maid Marie to whom you were introduced earlier that evening.

Keeping quiet, you couldn’t help but stare at them.

Marie was being bent over the big oak study desk while Tommy was behind her, thrusting into her harshly and almost emotionless.

He held onto her hips tightly while she was moaning, digging her nails into the solid oak.

After five minutes of observation, you had enough and quietly walked to the kitchen where you boiled the kettle and made yourself a tea.

‘Mrs Shelby, I could have done this for you’ Francis said, startling you as you poured the hot water into the teapot.

‘That’s quite alright Francis. In fact, I enjoy being in the kitchen. Perhaps, if Thomas allows it, I could cook dinner one night?’ you said, waiting for some kind of approval.

‘That would be lovely Mrs Shelby’ Francis said before you excused yourself.

As you returned to your room you couldn’t help but think about Tommy and Marie. By no means did you blame him. But you also couldn’t help it but wonder why he didn’t take any desire in you. Did he rather want to sleep with his maid than his wife?

Was it that he disliked you or was it that he was trying to be kind, not making any advances towards you because you were forced into this marriage.

The next morning you woke at 7am after spending most of the night pondering about your future as Thomas Shelby’s wife.

After you got dressed, you walked downstairs and joined your husband for breakfast.

‘Good Morning’ you said as you sat down.

‘Good Morning Y/N’ Tommy said, glancing up from his newspaper for a moment to make eye contact with you.

‘Have you slept alright?’ he then asked.

‘Yes, thank you. The bed is very comfortable’ you said shyly.

‘That’s good’ Tommy said before continuing to read the paper.

This was all you spoke as you quietly ate your breakfast.

The next few weeks were just as quiet.

Tommy ignored you for the most part and continued to engage in sexual encounters with Marie. The worst of it was that he didn’t even bother to hide it from you.

Sometimes they would do it in the reading room, sometimes in one of the guest rooms and occasionally even in the stables.

You couldn’t help it but ask Francis about her and Francis told you that she had only been employed by Tommy for the past eight weeks. She was French and her breakfast was terrible. Clearly, she had other talents which kept your husband happy.

Just as you were in the reading room yourself, looking for a particular book, Tommy approached you.

‘Do you play chess?’ he asked.

‘Do I play chess?’ you asked surprised, closing your book. He didn’t talk to you for weeks and this was the question he wanted asked you? You were in disbelieve.

‘Yes, do you play?’ Tommy asked again as he poured himself a glass of Whiskey.

‘Yes, I do, would you like a game?’ you asked.

‘Yes, I’ve been learning. It’s somewhat boring but also extremely satisfying’ Tommy said, making you laugh.

‘It’s strategic, that’s probably why you enjoy it’ you said while you brushed your hair out of your face.

‘Please’ Tommy said as he turned around the chessboard on the coffee table, indicating for you to make your first move and begin the game.

You made your move and noticed that Tommy’s eyes wandered over to you rather than the chessboard, causing you to blush.

You played for about twenty minutes and began to make conversation, which is when you realised that Tommy had been observing you and taken an interest in what you might like.

‘I am thinking about getting another race horse’ Tommy said. ‘Perhaps you could help me choose one’ he added.

‘Me? Choose a horse?’ you asked surprised.

‘Yes. I noticed that you have taken an interest in the horses and I would like you to accompany me to the upcoming auction’ Tommy said. ‘It would be in my best interest to attend this event with my wife’ he added to justify his request.

‘I would love to attend with you’ you said with a smile.

‘There will be other members of parliament attending the auction and there will be a function afterwards. You will need to buy yourself a dress. Elegant, but simple’ Tommy said as he handed you some money.

‘Alright’ you said before moving your queen. Tommy clearly hasn’t been paying attention to the game.

‘Checkmate’ you grinned.

‘Well well, you just beat me at chess’ Tommy said as Francis walked in to the room with some tea for you.

‘Your wife is a smart woman Mr Shelby’ Francis said, giving you a wink.

‘I’ve noticed. Now would you excuse me, I have some more work to do’ Tommy said, smiling at you for the very first time.

The next day you drove into town to buy yourself a dress. By that time you had already done your research on the horses available for auction and the one you had your eye on was called ‘Emerald’.

It won two races quite recently and was slightly more expensive than the budget Tommy had given you.

With that in mind, you considered it to be fitting to purchase an emerald green dress, elegant but yet simple, just as Tommy had requested.

Over the next week, leading up to the auction, Tommy and you played chess almost every day. He hated losing and was determined to eventually beat you.

Even before the auction, he demanded a game and you made sure that you were ready for him.

A gasp escaped Tommy as you entered the reading room wearing your emerald green dress.

‘Is that alright for the auction?’ you asked shyly, wanting to ensure that Tommy approves of the dress.

‘Just missing one small detail Mrs Shelby’ he said as he handed you a box covered with black satin.

You opened the box and, inside, there was a diamond necklace with matching earrings.

‘Thomas’ you said, being stunned by the pieces of jewellery.

‘You will need to fit in Y/N. After all, you are my wife’ Tommy said as you turned around and he placed the neckless onto your neck.

After you looked at yourself in the mirror, you and Tommy played a quick game of chess before making your way to the car and drive to the auction.

At the auction, Tommy introduced you to everyone as his wife but, as usual, he kept his gestures to a minimum. He held your hand once, maybe twice, for show.

You were well spoken and engaged with the other politicians’ wives. The topics that were spoken about were of no real interest to you, but you played along for Tommy’s sake.

Later, at the function, you mingled with the same women while Tommy engaged in pollical discussions with members of parliament and judges.

You couldn’t wait for the night to be over, you were bored beyond belief.

Finally, Tommy told you that it was time for you to leave. He had further business to attend to at the Garrison and you requested that he take you along.

He reluctantly agreed and, as you arrived, the Garrison was packed with drunk men.

You were glad to see Polly and Ada again as you arrived and engaged into conversations with them before their business meeting with Tommy.

But just as Tommy turned his back on you and gave some instructions to Arthur, you were approached by another patron.

‘Good Day Love’ he said, not receiving any reaction from you.

‘Woman, I am talking to you’ he said harshly after you tried hard to ignore him.

‘Sir, please leave me alone’ you said patiently as, all of a sudden, he grabbed your wrist harshly.

‘Love, I can pay well you know. So, whatever offer you have for tonight, I will double it. It is rare to find a whore as pretty and clean as you’ the man said.

‘Get your hand of me. I am not a whore’ you said as, all of a sudden, you heard Tommy approach.

‘Ay, this is my wife you are talking to’ Tommy said harshly, pointing his gun at the man.

‘Mr Shelby’ the man said with a scared voice.

‘Now apologise to her and then fuck off before I blow your head off’ Tommy said angrily.

‘My apologies Mrs Shelby, I didn’t know’ the man said with embarrassment, his pants wet before he made a run for the door.

‘Did he just piss himself?’ Arthur said with laughter as he gave Tommy a nudge.

‘Fucking hell…this is no place for woman like you Mrs Shelby’ Arthur laughed but you weren’t in the mood for jokes. The man had grabbed your wrist harshly and you were somewhat scared by his determination.

‘Are you alright?’ Tommy asked, his hands running over your upper arms.

‘I am fine Tommy. I am sure it was just a misunderstanding’ you smiled.

‘I don’t care. No one speaks to my wife like this’ he said.

‘Now let’s get you a drink, ey? What would you like?’ Tommy asked.

‘Whiskey please’ you responded.

‘Irish or Scotch?’ Tommy asked.

‘Irish’ you responded.

‘Well, we have something in common then’ Tommy said with a smile as he asked you to join him for the business meeting.

‘Perhaps we are yet to discover a lot about each other’ you said, causing Tommy to chuckle.

‘Most people do this before they get married’ Tommy said as you followed him.

You stayed at the Garrison for another hour before you made your back to the house.

The drive was much more pleasant than before and, even though you may never be lovers, you had now found things to speak about with each other.

‘Will you have another glass of whiskey with me?’ you asked Tommy as you arrived at the house and he handed Francis both of your coats.

‘I suppose why not’ Tommy said as he walked you to the living room.

Tommy poured each of you a glass of whiskey before sitting down on the lounge next to you.

‘I enjoyed today, thank you’ you said.

‘And I enjoyed your company. You did well with all of these arrogant bastards’ Tommy smirked, causing you both to laugh.

‘You don’t like politicians much do you?’ you asked.

‘No, I fucking hate them’ Tommy smirked, causing you to laugh again. After all, he was one of them.

You talked about politics and horses for quite some time until you changed the topic.

‘Tommy?’ you said all of the blue, before pausing.

‘Yes?’ he asked curiously.

‘It is none of my business but, do you love her?’ you asked.

‘Love who?’ Tommy responded.

‘Marie. I know you have been sleeping with her’ you said.

‘No, I do not love her. I do however enjoy her company, although not so much for making conversation’ Tommy said with a chuckle.

‘Do you enjoy my company?’ you asked shyly, looking down at your glass.

‘In a different way, I do’ Tommy said.

‘In a different way, but not in the way a husband enjoys the company of his wife’ you said.

‘Listen, Y/N, neither of us have asked for this marriage. It was your father who insisted and the business between me and your father is extremely lucrative as you know. If I would have known that you are…’ Tommy said, and before he could finish his sentence, you interrupted him.

‘That I am so young?’ you asked before pausing, causing Tommy to sigh. ‘If you would have known, you would have forgone the deal?’ you added.

‘I would have asked your father to consider a more suitable match, a trusted man of mine closer to your age’ Tommy said.

‘Well, it is what it is Tommy. There is no turning back now’ you said, taking another sip of your Whisky, before standing up.

‘I think Marie is waiting for you’ you smirked before excusing yourself.

As you walked to your room, tears were running down your face. You couldn’t help it but, for some reason, you wanted Tommy to be a husband to you.

Were you falling in love with him, the man you were being forced to marry? Are you asking for the impossible? Being loved by a man like Thomas Shelby?

You were devastated by thoughts that he would rather be with his maid than with his wife and wondered why he didn’t see you the way you now wanted to be seen.

First fearful about being with him, you now wanted to be with him and you certainly didn’t want him to be with your maid.

As you went to bed that night, you remembered what your mother had told you about keeping your husband happy in order to achieve a fruitful marriage.

You also remembered that, when your mother and father were in disagreement about matters or your mother was worried about your father’s indiscretions, she would add a little spark to their marriage with a nice meal and paying her wifely duties.

With that in mind, you decided to take things further the following week after Tommy returns from his business trip.

Part Two

‘Good Evening Mr Shelby, how as your trip?’ Francis asked as Tommy arrived back home.

‘Fine, thank you’ Tommy said, handing Francis his coat while Marie grabbed Tommy’s bag.

‘Mrs Shelby prepared dinner sir’ Francis said.

‘She did?’ Tommy asked surprised.

‘Yes, sir. She is waiting for you in the dining room’ Francis said.

‘Do we have guests?’ Tommy asked, causing Francis to shake her head.

‘No sir, just you and Mrs Shelby and she said that you do not wish to disturbed’ Francis said, causing Tommy ponder before he excused Francis, allowing her to finish some of her chores.

‘Will I see you later Thomas?’ Marie asked, causing Tommy to nod before walking to the dining room.

As he entered the dining room, he saw you sitting at the table wearing a beautiful but yet revealing black satin dress and the diamonds he had bought for you to wear at the auction.

Your hair was open, long curls falling over your shoulder.

You were wearing dark eye shadow and red lipstick and your skin smelled like musk and flowers.

‘Good Evening Thomas’ you said with a smile.

‘Is this a special occasion?’ Tommy asked, causing you to shake your head.

‘No, I just thought I would cook something nice for my husband’ you smirked before calling Marie for some wine and telling her that she may serve dinner.

‘You know she will probably burn whatever you prepared’ Tommy said jokingly. He knew that you were very well aware that serving food and food preparation wasn’t one of her chores.

‘I am sure she’s got other qualities’ you said cheekily.

As you talked and ate together, you discovered that Tommy had a pretty bad week.

Amongst other things, he told you about a man called Mosley whom he had met in London two days ago and problems with one of the judges. After that, you moved on to discuss more pleasant matters.

‘Would you like a game of chess and a whiskey to end the day?’ you asked as hours had paused.

‘Alright’ Tommy said and it wasn’t until you got up from your chair and walked with him towards the reading room that he saw the entirety of your dress, which complimented your curves.

‘You look beautiful in this dress Y/N’ Tommy said, not sure what else to say in that moment.

‘We have been married for 6 weeks now and this is the first time you have complimented me’ you said with a smile.

‘I didn’t consider it to be appropriate’ Tommy said as he sat down next to you, handing you a glass of whiskey.

‘I am your wife Tommy’ you smiled. ‘Do you not find me attractive?’ you asked.

‘I do. But, considering the circumstances surrounding our marriage and your age, making any advance towards you would have interfered with my conscience ‘Tommy said.

‘And I am grateful for that Tommy. But, whilst I can be in a loveless marriage, I cannot be in a marriage without any emotion at all’ you said suggestively.

‘So, what do you suggest?’ Tommy asked.

‘I suggest that we consummate our marriage and give it the chance it deserves’ you said, causing Tommy to chuckle.

‘Consummate our marriage, ey?’ Tommy said. He was surprised by your proposal.

‘Yes, unless you rather fuck your maid than your wife’ you said sheepishly and with a smirk. It was clear to Tommy that you were being sarcastic and he began to like this mischievous side of you.

‘Well then Mrs Shelby, shall we go to my room or yours?’ Tommy smirked.

‘Mine’ you said determined as you stood up and offered him your hand.

As you and Tommy arrived at your bedroom, Tommy closed the door behind you while you crossed to the bed to turn on the bedside lamp.

The light was just enough to show him all that he needed to see and no more than you wished to reveal.

Tommy walked over towards you as you stood next to the bed.

Leaning in from behind you, he swept your hair over one of your shoulders and pressed a kiss against the back of your neck while one of his hands dragged the zipper of your dress down tooth by tooth.

Slipping his hands beneath the fine satin, Tommy pushed the dress downward and letting it fall to the ground.

Taking a step back, he admired you, studying every tiny detail of your entire body.

Watching you turn, Tommy reached out and a smile flitted across his lips when you slid your hand into his before stepping up flush against him.

‘You haven’t even kissed your wife yet’ you said shyly before leaning in and pressing your lips on Tommy’s lips.

His lips were soft and tasted like Whiskey. He was a good kisser and it wasn’t long until his tongue found its way into your mouth.

The kiss soon became urgent and heated while Tommy’s hands moved behind your back, unclipping your bra. It landed on the floor right next to your dress.  

His hands were urgently exploring every part of you and you could feel his erection press against you.

As he ran his hands over your firm breasts and breathed deeply, it was clear to you now that he desired you.

‘Tommy?’ you said with a hasty voice as his hand wandered lower, wanting him to slow down. Your heart was pounding by that time and some apprehension had set in.

‘Yes’ Tommy said while he took off his shirt, letting it join your dress in holy matrimony.

‘I haven’t done this before’ you said with some embarrassment as you rested your hands on his bare chest while your eyes were exploring his tattoos.

‘You have never had sex before?’ Tommy asked with slight worry in his voice, causing you to bite your lip and shake your head.

‘Are you sure you want to do this tonight? Tommy asked, running his hand gently over your cheek.

‘Yes Tommy, I am sure. I want to be yours’ you said.

‘You are mine regardless Y/N’ Tommy said with a slight laugh as he caressed your face. In his mind, he had already claimed you. You were his wife.

‘Please Tommy, I want you’ you said with a smile.

‘Alright, I will take it slow then but you must tell me if I hurt you’ Tommy said concerned, causing you to nod. It’s been over 20 years since he had been anyone’s first and this was not something he expected having to encounter again.

Tommy’s touch became gentler almost immediately and you loved the softness of his fingertips on your skin.

His fingers were exploring every corner of your body, for now steering clear from your most intimate parts, while your tongues danced in sync with each other.  

After some more passionate kisses, you let your eyes rove over the expanse of his chest and down the ridges in his torso, which was an area of his body you didn’t dare to look at until then.

You bit the corner of your lip shyly as you pushed the zipper of his pants down with a single fingertip, the fingers of your other hand relieving the button.

You almost let out a soft laugh when Tommy let out a sigh of relief as the pressure lightened considerably around his bulge which was now hidden only behind the thin fabric of his briefs.

Even through the fabric, he seemed huge and for a moment you doubted your decision but then you looked up at him and every ounce of niggling doubt was erased from your mind as his blue eyes gazed into yours.

Tommy stepped out of his shoes and let his trousers nose-dive to the ground as he stepped forward, guiding you back to the bed that stood center stage in the gigantic room.

Brushing his fingertips across your cheek, Tommy rubbed the curve of your side and laid you gently back on the bed.

‘I think I got lucky, having such a beautiful wife’ Tommy said as he lowered himself onto the bed and before exchanging another passionate kiss with you.

Tommy’s lips soon made their way from your mouth to your neck and then over to your breasts.

Every little kiss or touch made your heart gallop within your chest, your blood pounding through your veins, soaring through your body at speeds greater than that of light or sound, or so it felt.

Brushing your fingers through Tommy’s hair as he explored your body, you caressed his cheek and stared down at him, your hips rising subconsciously as Tommy teased the soft skin of your abdomen with tiny kisses and nibbles.

There was a fleeting moment of second guessing when Tommy’s fingertips edged beneath the lacey edge of your panties but as soon as he kissed the skin he revealed it was gone.

Your hips were again rising as Tommy removed the scrap of dark fabric from the apex of your thighs to reveal a silky smooth mound of flesh and the now engorged rosebud of your clit.

Hearing him gasp at the sight, you blushed but followed it with a moan as Tommy leaned down and kissed it once, the length of his tongue sweeping out to take a taste of your secret delicacy.

This was something you didn’t expect. What on earth was he doing?

As you were completely naked before him and he was so close to your most intimate parts, you felt more vulnerable than you had ever been in your entire life but you didn't regret it.

Everything that Tommy did to you in that moment made you jump out of your skin in the most wonderful ways possible.

After he gently ran his tongue over your slit a few times, Tommy told you to relax as he pulled gently at your leg and you slowly let them fall open.

You tried hard not to tense up and, even though you didn't know what he was planning on doing, what he did so far felt good so you were willing to give all of yourself to him.

‘That’s it’ Tommy said after you took a deep breath and relaxed your body.

Tommy took this moment to dip his tongue inside of you gently, causing a loud moan to escape you.

His tongue was skilled, moving in and of you slightly while his hands pressed your legs apart gently.

Tommy then moved his tongue over your clit, flicking it slightly and causing you to make a high pitch noise of some sort.

‘Tommy’ you moaned at the sensation. It was almost too intense.

You closed your eyes as waves of pleasure coursed through your body while Tommy kept pleasuring you with his tongue.

When Tommy's fingers finally brushed against your entrance to join his tongue, you gasped and jumped.

‘Tommy’ you moaned but were also slightly worried about what he might do with his fingers.

Tommy’s erection was throbbing from within his briefs but he knew very well that he would have to take it very slow. As much as he wanted to be inside of you right then and there, he was aware that there was some preparation to be done.

With trembling fingers Tommy gently spread your virgin lips open and let his finger brush against your clit while his tongue continued to run through your folds.

He heard her sharp intake of breath from you when he guided his finger inside of you carefully while his tongue played with your clit.

By that time, you were soaked and he could feel the juices coating his finger.

As he pushed his finger deeper inside of you, he could hear your soft cry of surprise and you arched your back up suddenly.

‘Just relax’ Tommy said as he could feel no resistance inside of you.

He pressed you gently back to the bed and dropped more kisses against your virgin lips before circling against your clit again.

You closed your eyes tight and held your body completely still.

‘Tommy, oh god’ you moaned as he moved his finger in and out of you slowly, over and over again.

You were tight around his finger and had no idea how he would possibly fit his cock inside of you.

It wasn’t long until you moved your hips upward, showing Tommy that you were enjoying what he was doing to you.

Tommy sucked hard at your clit, loving it with his tongue as he slid a second finger inside of you carefully and started sawing it in and out.

‘Tommy’ you cringed at the pressure, causing him to slow down again and holding his fingers steady until the pressure eased.

When he could feel you relax, he began moving his fingers in and out of you again and it wasn’t long until you felt a very unfamiliar tightening in your belly.

‘Tommy, oh my god, please don’t stop’ you begged as your breathing started coming out heavier.

Unlike you, Tommy knew that you were close to having an orgasm and he increased the pressure of his tongue around your clit while continuing to move his fingers in and out of you.

Still unsure about what was happening inside of you, you grabbed onto the sheets as, suddenly, a feeling of ecstasy rushed through you.

‘Tommy, fuck’ you screamed, not being able to control yourself while your orgasm washed over you.

Tommy couldn’t help but smile against your flesh as you coated his fingers in your juices.

After you had come down from your high, Tommy slowly pulled his fingers out of you and moved up the bed to kiss you passionately.

You could taste yourself on Tommy’s lips. It was strange, but you enjoyed it.

‘I don’t know what just happened. I hope the maids didn’t hear me’ you said totally embarrassed as your lips drifted apart.

‘If they didn’t then they are clearly deaf’ Tommy laughed.

‘Oh my god, how embarrassing’ you said. ‘I didn’t expect…’ you said, and before you could finish your sentence, Tommy interrupted you.

‘You didn’t expect it to feel that good?’ Tommy asked, causing you to shake your head.

‘Well, Mrs Shelby, I will make you feel good every day from now on’ Tommy grinned before kissing you again.

‘Is that a promise Mr Shelby?’ you asked in between more passionate kisses while your hand moved in between his legs and beneath his briefs.

‘It’s a promise’ Tommy said as he let out a small groan as you began to stroke his hard cock.

He was thicker than you had expected and your nervousness returned in an instant as he took off his briefs.

‘We can wait if you want’ Tommy said as you continued to stroke his hard cock with your hand.

‘No Tommy, I want to feel all of you’ you said with a gentle voice before Tommy ran his hands lovingly over your legs, pushing them apart all the way, much further than he did earlier.

You took in a deep breath as you gazed into Tommy’s blue eyes while he rested himself in between your legs.

He smiled and kissed you softly. You knew that, what was about to follow would hurt. Nonetheless, you wanted him inside of you so badly.

‘We will take it slow, alright?’ Tommy said with a reassuring voice.

You brought your arms up around Tommy’s neck and pulled his lips to yours, kissing him softly once again.

‘I trust you’ you said, looking deep into his eyes after your lips drifted apart.

With his look fixated on you, Tommy reached down between your legs and grasped his cock in his hand before rubbing his tip against your soaking entrance.  

You moaned softly as you felt the head of his cock pressing against you. But, as soon as you could feel him push inside of you, you inhaled roughly.

‘Tommy’ you moaned as he slowly pressed forward with his hips.

 You couldn’t help it but gasp as you felt him start to enter you.

You dug your hands into his shoulder and held onto him tightly as you felt yourself being stretched.

‘Fuck’ Tommy groaned lightly, trying to force himself to go slow. It took more willpower than he had expected not to simply plunge into you as you were incredibly tight around him.

Pushing into you slowly, inch by inch, he finally felt your barrier. He stopped and looked down at you.

You gave your husband the look of approval as you tightened the hold on his shoulders and wrapped your legs around his waist.

Tommy leaned down, pressing his lips onto yours just before he nudged forward and slipped past that barrier.

As your fingernails dug into the flesh on his shoulders, Tommy swallowed your moan that was different from all the others you let loose earlier that night.

It was indeed painful and some small tears escaped your eyes as he filled you completely.

Tommy kissed away your tears before cradling you against him as he paused once more, giving you some time to adjust.

It was killing him to hold still but he wanted to wait until you were ready.

As you adjusted to him inside of you, the last sliver of pain disappeared and was overtaken by pleasure.

Tommy could feel you starting to relax and move beneath him as he continued to place small kisses on your neck.

He moaned as he felt your small movements and it tugged on his cock.

It wasn’t long until he began to move himself, small and gentle thrusts to start with.

Your thighs clenched and your toes flexed, your hips rising in vain to meet his again only to be pressed back into the bed when he sank back into you.

‘Oh god Tommy’ you moaned loudly. You could've screamed right then and there, from the highest point on the face of the earth, from the insane amount of pleasure you felt.

‘You are so god damn beautiful’ Tommy said as he continued to thrust into, picking up in speed and force.

Your nipples grazed his chest every time your hips collided as your movements became syntonised with his.

Every movement he made, no matter how small, brought a new sound out of you, your voice cresting and dropping to new highs and lows that you never even thought you would reach let alone soar passed regularly.

His thrusts soon became more urgent and you pressed into him firmly, wanting him to burry himself into you over and over again.

By that time, you had lost count of how many times the pressure had built within the cradle of your hips only to explode like a weapon of mass destruction, bringing copious amounts of toe-curling, eye-clenching amounts of pleasure so great that it seemed impossible that the next surge would ever top its predecessor.

By the sounds of your moans, Tommy knew that you were getting close to another orgasm and he was getting so close himself.

He held tight to your hips as he drove hard and fast in and out of you, making you whimper with need.

‘Oh my god Tommy, yes’ you moaned and begged slamming back against him the best you could.

Your body was wound so tight you felt like your body was going to come apart any second.

Your legs began to shiver and your walls were tightening around him as your orgasm came at you like a freight train.

‘Tommy’ you screamed at the top of your lungs, sending him over the edge also.

You came in sync with each other and, with the next thrust, he filled you with his warm cum and coated your insides, flooding you just as you did the exact same thing to him.

‘Fuck Y/N’ he moaned as his thrusts became sloppier while you both came down from your highs.

Moments later, Tommy collapsed next to you before pulling you closer for a kiss.

‘Are you alright?’ Tommy asked, running his hands over your cheek.

‘Yes’ you said quietly but with a big smile on your face.

‘The next time will be easier’ Tommy said, causing your eyes to light up.

‘You know I will hold you to the promise you made me earlier Tommy’ you said.

‘I was hoping that you would’ he grinned before wrapping his arm around you, pulling you onto his chest.

‘Will you stay with me tonight?’ you said as Tommy was brushing through your hair with his fingers.

‘Yes. Tonight and every night from now on if you want me to’ Tommy said gently.

Your body felt relaxed and at ease and, for the first time in six weeks, you felt comfortable in your own bed with your husband right beside you.

That night, he showed you a side of himself you hadn’t seen before, a side you were seeing yourself fall in love with it.

With Tommy holding you close, it wasn’t long until you drifted off to sleep.

But you weren’t the only who felt relaxed and at ease.

Tommy watched you sink into your dreams and a smile emerged on his face. He felt a familiar warmth washing over him, something he thought he wouldn’t be able to feel again.

As he turned off the bedside lamp, he felt a happiness that he hadn’t felt in a long time. Unlike other nights, he wasn’t afraid to drift off to sleep because he knew that, tonight, there would be no nightmares and no memories of Grace, there would only be you.

[iceprincessviviane]

Whispers in the darkness

Paring: Yandere!C!Technoblade x BookwormEnchanter!Female!Reader

Type: Romantic (Technoblade is yandere) Trilogy - part two. (Previous part, next part)

Warnings: swearing, possessivness, yandere, angst, injury, blood, threats, sugestive content, silly jokes created by me.

Summary: Technoblade is trying to convince and adjust Y/N to new situation and himself. Some time has passed, but troubles are showing.

Author's note: Continuation from part one. Insipration from ACOTAR. English isn't my first language, so sorry for any mistakes.

Words in red colour are Technoblade's voices.

Words in blue colours are Y/N thoughts.

Three days have passed and Y/N felt better. She was almost lying in bed all day, but she started to fast recovery. All her energy was restored and she could left their room. Technoblade went at adventure in Nether, for some supplies. She slowly went downstairs, hearing the cooking sounds and humming. Of course Phil was standing in the kitchen, preparing something. They both froze for a while. Realization hit her harder, than she expected. He knew... he had to know. Winged man sighed and his shoulders dropped. As he thought, he didn't know what to do.

"I... I noticed that Techno has thing for you, I adviced him conversation or something... when he left two days ago for training I have never expected, that he will come back with you in his arms. I was shocked, afraid and confused." Phil explained slowly.

Y/N bit her lip and hugged herself. He was one of her the most trusted person here, aside with Foolish and Bench Trio.

"Listen, I was with Techno through a lot of shit. He is my friend and I will always be on his side, no matter what. I don't fully support... this kidnapping, but I am still with him." He continued, then took cups of tea and plate with sandwiches. "Hungry?"

Y/N nodded and sat down. He put everything on table and sat too. Everything looked like during her last visit. Phil was living in house in opposite combined with Techno's by bridge.

"So... you won't help me convince him to let me go, right?" She asked with saddness.

"Unfortunetly no. I am not going to be involved in stuff between you and him. But is it that bad? You are not missing anything, Techno is caring about you, here is safe and all the stuff you need." He looked at her.

"I used to be a free person, you know..."

"I am sure, that he will let you go on backyard. On attic, we can set up enchanting place with books and stuff. Sometimes Ranboo is visiting us." Phil was determined to show good sides of current situation.

He didn't want to be manipulative, but for everyone's greater good, was that she had to accept her fate. Technoblade could be rough, when it came to be obedient. He really acted diffrent, since he found his thing for her and now, when Y/N was there, he was calmer and more relaxed. If she would escape, he will for sure track her down and then, everyone which would help, will be in great danger. Technoblade wasn't leaving something behind. Probably whole Smp will be burning. Maybe it was selfish, but Phil didn't want any argues or wars for now. Y/N was eating quietly, thinking about his words. It wasn't that bad for sure. She expected being injured and thrown into cellar or something and actually they didn't even tie her.

"You are being serious with that enchanting place and yard?" She asked quietly.

Phil nodded and smiled to her gently. After eating he took her to the attic, where was some space and shelfes. Immediately her humor improved, they even started to talk about setting up enchanting place. Later this day, Phil left to his house and Y/N was reading on the couch, cover by the blanket, because days here were colder than in main Smp part. Technoblade managed to bring most of her personal stuff here including clothes. She was wearing warm sweater and pants, but still got closer to the fireplace, which was very nice in her opinion. Sun started to go down, she was thinking if Techno will come, Phil said that he sometimes made trips, which lasted days.

Sudden sound of opening door caused her to turned at it's direction. Piglin hybrid stepped inside and smiled to her warm.

"Hi darliIIIAAAAAA!" He screamed and dropped something.

Y/N frowned and stood up. Small ball of fur squeaked and immediately recognized it's owner, it asap ran to her and hid behind her.

"Snowflake!" She screamed and picked up her fox gently, then petted it's head softly.

"It bit me!" Techno growled and sucked his injured finger. "This had to be surprise..."

She sent him warm smile and again sat on the couch. Snowflake snuggle her head into Y/N's chest, she hugged her back.

"Thank you for bringing her here..." She looked at him softly. "It mean a lot to me..."

The Blade smiled proudly and came closer. Fox started to growl, when he approached. Y/N gently petted her.

"It's all right my little one. He isn't that scary as he seems in first take." She smiled at Techno.

After a few minutes small ball of fur calmed and accommodate itself on Y/N's lap and went to sleep. Technoblade quietly sat on couch and looked at them curiously.

"Do you know that I am scary, intimidating and grim huh?" He whispered.

Y/N rolled eyes and looked at him. "Of course I know. I experienced that few days ago."

Silence fell upon them, Technoblade didn't excatly know what to say, this whole situation shloud looked way diffrent, he just didn't predict this whole chase, althought is was fun.

'Make her forget about it.' 'She will understand.' 'Chase was interesting.'

"Phil showed me the attic and mentioned, that there we could make enchanting place. Is that true?" She asked quietly, looking deep into his eyes.

"Yes of course! It's all yours, you can make there your working place." He said and took her hand, then gently rub it with his thumb.

"Really?"

He nodded with honest smile. Y/N hugged him gently, watching out at fox. "Thank you. Also I need a basket and blanket for Snowflake..."

"This isn't a trouble princess."

}*{

Some days passed Y/N was busy with making her workplace. Technoblade helped her, Phil occasionaly showed, but didn't want to interrupt them both. They worked hard with wood, she made enchanting table, because he brought most of her supplies to cottage, being careful and avoided everyone. For now none was looking for her and Techno wished, that this would last the longest, no troubles, no worries, just him and Y/N happy.

Piglin hybrid also brought her notes and books, so Y/N could study again, she was so happy about it, finally could do something useful. When the attic was finally done, she went into their shared bedroom. Deep inside she was still hesitant, when it came to Technoblade, but decided to don't make him angry. Being in tundra wasn't so bad, but also wasn't a paradise. Yes, she was thinking how to get herself from this awkward situation, but hasn't find solution yet.

Immediately Snowflake get up from her basket and sniffed around. Y/N smiled softly, recently her fox was more curious and brave, even tried to play with Techno's fox named Aura.

"Let's go to outside for a while, we both need fresh air."

They went outside, Y/N took a deep breath. Fox immediately jump off and started to run through the snow. She covered herself more by cloak and sit near, watching cute ball of fur playing around. Fresh air let her relaxed more and clean up thoughts. Around were silence, hound was sleeping in special building, sometimes Steve was moving in snow, to find a good position. Around the fence slept more wolfes, guarding the exits. Y/N swallowed slowly, she wasn't able to go through. Unfortunately, Snowflake had another idea, fox fast ran away from yard, jumping in snow and spinning around.

"Snowflake!" Y/N stood up immediately and ran to her. "Come back!"

But little fox puppy didn't want to listen, it ran away even more far. Worrying owner didn't think too much, just found place, where dogs were away and jumped over the fence. One of them woke up and started to bark and howl. Snowflake put her ears back, came back into her owner's arms, curling up. She hugged her tightly.

"Don't do it again, you scared me..." she whispered quietly into it's fur.

Cold wind started to blow and Y/N heard the whole hound howling, it was terrifying. She turned back just to meet Technoblade standing intimidating with sword in his hand.

"Are you trying to escape?" He asked slowly observing her.

"What? No! Snowflake ran away, she got over the fence..." Y/N explained quietly.

"You really think, that I am going to belive in this?" He made one step further, she responed with one step back.

"I am not lying!"

"You better not be lying, because you won't like my punishment, my dear." Technoblade looked deep into her eyes. "If fox is causing troubles, maybe it should disappear?"

Y/N shook her head. "I promise, it won't happen again, please don't hurt her!" She had almost tears in her eyes.

Piglin hybrid nodded slowly and gave her his hand. She took it gently and together came back inside. Silence remained between them, Phil was in his house, busy with books. Y/N took Snowflake upstairs and put in the basket. Fox immediately curled up and went to sleep, she backed into kitchen. Technoblade waited with narrowed eyes, she swallowed hard.

"You broke a rule."

'She wanted to run away from us!' 'She deserve punishment!' 'We won't let her leave the house!'

"I know, but I just wanted to catch Snowflake! You really think, that I would escape without nothing, only in cloak?"

"No, but rule is a rule."

He moved closer, towering at her. Their eyes met, red and y/c. She saw there anger and disbelief, but she didn't do something bad. Technoblade gripped her chin once more, Y/N hissed, when she was forced to look at him.

"Listen Y/N. I really feel diffrent around you, calmer and stable, but that doesn't mean that my true nature disappeared." He said slowly.

"I know, I told you... Snowflake ran away, I just wanted to save her..." a single tear strimmed down at her cheek.

Piglin hybrid moved his hand to wip it out, then cupped her face. Atmosphere changed immediately. Maybe it was warm, which radiated from his body or this gentle touch, but somehow room became hotter. Red crawled at Y/N's cheeks and Technoblade sighed quietly. His thumb has been found on her down lip. Time has frozen, she was looking straight into his eyes, their gaze locked. She grabbed his wirst gently, but he didn't stop.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm admiring. Be quiet."

But when he leaned in and Y/N colsed eyes, pending what will come next, silence distrubed light grunt from the door. They immediately turned heads at this direction. Of course Phil was standing there with awkward face.

"I am assuming, that I am bothering you..."

"Yes." Technoblade's eyes narrowed.

"Of course not. Come in." Y/N said and left Techno's grasp with smile.

}*{

Phil stayed till late hours, they discussed some cases, she left them quite soon, because conversation bored her. Y/N started to work in attic, but when night has fallen, she moved to their bedroom and started to read book. Snowflake laid on her lap, so she could pet it's head slowly. Phil and Techno talked quietly, so it was immpossible to hear anything.

When the door opened, Y/N lifted her sight, piglin hybrid entered into the bedroom. His eyes narrowed, when he spotted cute, little ball of fur, but didn't say anything.

"Talking is over?"

Technoblade nodded and closed the door, she put away book. Snowflake jumped off bed and went straight into her basket, avoiding him at all cost. Y/N sighed quietly and stood up, Techno locked his sight on her posture.

"I am going to take bath. You can go to sleep, if you want."

He blocked her way out, she looked at him with surprise. In one heart beat Technoblade pinned her to the closest wall. Quiet 'welp' left her lips.

"We had a thing, before Phil naughty interrupted us." The Blade whispered with deep voice.

"Did we have?" Y/N asked while looking at him, she tried to act tough.

"Oh yes, we had my dear."

He put left hand on wall near her head and right hand gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him. Their eyes met again, confidence faced uncertainty. His touch was more gentle, that she might expect.

"Let myself be clear. You will have to pay, for today's little bad behaviour."

"Wh-what do you mean?" She suttered.

"Let's say... if you don't want me to throw out this little, annoy ball of fur... you will have to kiss me." Technoblade said with deep voice.

Y/N looked at Snowflake peacefuly sleeping at basket and sighed helplessly.

"Do you promise? And never, ever again will threat her?"

"Yes. I always keep my word."

She nodded slowly, red crawled on her cheeks, cupped his face carefuly, hesitated for a moment. Y/N, closing eyes, gently pressed their lips together, in slow, shy kiss. She had to stand on her tiptoes, to reach Technoblade's lips. His hand moved at her waist and pulled her closer and he kissed her back in more confident way.

Y/N was so sweet and her lips so soft, like they were made for him. Piglin hybrid fast took control of the situation. Hand from her chin slipped on neck, to press their lips closer. Y/N made quiet moan, which caused his blood to boil. He smiled through a kiss.

'So good for us.' 'So sweet, so soft.' 'Don't stop, don't stop!'

Voices went feral, their demands and screamings filled his head, in one smooth move Technoblade grabbed her thighs and lifted Y/N up, without breaking the kiss. Now, she slipped hand into pink hair. He muttered with satisfaction, but then she broke away and opened eyes. The Blade snorted, greedy for touch, contact and pressed lips to her neck, kissing slowly.

"Techno!" Y/N winced and grabbed his shoulders.

"Relax princess." He whispered into her skin softly. "It's part of the punishment."

She blushed even at her ears, when he pressed few more kisses, then broke away too. They looked at each other in silence.

"Well, now I think, that it wasn't a punishment for you at all." Technoblade laughed slighty. She shook head with disbelief and helpless, then looked down.

"Oh, don't be so shy, I mean, I like it, but you don't need to be."

"Are you going to put me down?" Y/N asked with impatience.

"Maybe yes... maybe no." He hid head in her neck's crook.

In fact Technoblade just had to chill a little bit. His blood was still boiling, lips were touch starved and hands didn't want to let her go. After a few deep breaths, he gently put her on the floor.

"Thanks you." Y/N giggled softly.

"Go for this bath." The Blade smiled haughty and kissed her forehead.

She nodded, grabbed night clothes and left bedroom. Technoblade was smiling like idiot, when she went out. Feeling in his chest grew only bigger through days, when she was here. Also he wanted show everyone that Y/N is his and only his, he would bite her shoulder or neck, maybe give her golden jewelry, but for now it was pointless. As long, as she wasn't leaving the basement, all of this could come later. Of course Technoblade desired to mark her, but her shyness and innocence were too adorable and entertainment.

}*{

Next week has passed without any serious problems. Technoblade was always in cottage, Phil sticked around lot, so they could spend time together. Usually, they were talking, pair of friends described Y/N their adventures, Phil was telling of far away lands, and she was always listening witn true amazement. When Techno and Y/N were alone, he usually read her books or they just cuddled on couch. Sometimes she was trying to work on attic, but it was quite hard, since piglin hybrid has become clingy and very touch starved. He stole her few kisses during this week, but they weren't so intense as their first kiss. But since yesterday Technoblade has acted like he was always lost in his thoughts. That was something diffrent, so she noticed quite easily.

Y/N was sitting at the table and watching piglin hybrid carefuly. He was making her cup of tea, but silence reminded between them for too long.

"You are taciturn, since yesterday... something happend?" She asked finally.

He smiled and turned back to her with cup of tea. "You are so caring darling." He put the cup on the table.

"That isn't answer of my question..."

"You don't need to worry about it. Everyone has a quiet days, even me." Technoblade grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently, it caused Y/N to smile too. She took a sip.

"It taste better than Phil's?"

"Um... I can't tell the diffrence." Y/N shrugged, it tasted good, tea like tea.

"Great." His smile widened and she felt warning twist in her stomach. Something was odd...

"You... are sure, that everything is all right?"

This time, he didn't even bother to answer. Just looked at her and studied her face. Y/N blinked... but suddenly her eyelids became very heavy. Though she was sleeping today well. Fatigue mastered her body, Y/N groaned quietly and put cup down with loud sound.

"Feeling tired?" Technoblade asked slowly.

She lifted her sight at him with little struggle. His face was stern, but something in his eyes... made her shiver inside.

"What... what did you do?"

"Nothing... nothing at all."

Y/N stood up slowly, but she tripped at first step, needed to support herself by table. He squeezed her hand harder and embrece waist, to hold her. She couldn't push him back, all energy went out, her sight found half full cup of tea...

"You bastard..."

Dark laugh left his lips, he lifted her in bride style, like she was like a feather. Technoblade kissed her forehead reassuring.

"I think, you shloud go to sleep my love."

Then, Y/N started to see blurry and finally lost consciousness. She didn't know how long she has been unconscious, but when she woke up, she has seen their shared bedroom. Then felt cold metal around her wrist. Still little tired and probably under the influence of drugs, Y/N tried to move herself from bed. Chain from her wirst was attached to wall and it was pretty long.

'What the hell happend...?'

Y/N didn't want to believe, that Technoblade drugged her... maybe staying here wasn't the best idea... Door opened with quiet noise, causing her, to look at it's direction. Piglin hybrid went inside with tray full of food. She clenched jaw and looked at him with narrowed eyes. If she could, she would throw at him fireballs again.

"Don't even think to get closer." She hissed quietly. "What is this?" She rose her hand with a handcuff.

Technoblade put a tray on table and sighed. Actually he had all his netherite armor on, sword at his belt, then trident and axe on back. Y/N swallowed hard.

"I am going on adventure with Phil... actually it's for supplies..." The Blade said slowly.

"So you chained me?!"

"I don't want to risk anything darling."

"Take it off." Y/N said totally serious.

"I-"

"Take it off!" Tears started to come up into her eyes.

Technoblade didn't even move slighty. He just watched, when she tugged chain couple of times, then sat helpless on the bed and quiet sob left her lips. He immediately came closer and crouch on her level. Despite her protests, Techno grabbed her hands and rub them gently with thumbs.

"I will be back in three, four days. You have food on table and I brought you new books. Chain can reach bathroom."

"Please take the chain off!"

'Music for our ears.' 'Make her stop crying.' 'We already miss her...'

He kissed her forehead, but then stood up and left her room, closing it on a key. Y/N was too shooked to make any move, she pulled her legs closer to chest and hugged them. Loud sob left her lips this time and tears strimming down at her cheeks freely. Snowflake jumped on the bed and snuggled near, to cheer up it's owner, but without any success.

Y/N just couldn't believe, that Technoblade actually did this. She behaved good all the time, didn't even fight his... sudden whims or whishes. He wasn't exactly as people talk about him, he had feelings, goals and persons which he cared about. He was a person, not a weapon. But this... she called fire at her fingers and grabbed the metal. After a few minutes, it didn't make any effect, but she spotted slight purple light on metal.

Enchantments.

Closing eyes, she focused on chain. After a second she had an answer. Mending and Unbreaking. Y/N cursed aloud, without key or magic, there was no way to open it. She was too weak for casting spells. It was made by Phil for sure, Technoblade didn't know enchanting that good... she curled up on bed, trying to find a way out of this horrible situation.

}*{

Ranboo sighed stepping at outisde stairs in Technoblade's basement. He was here so long ago, at least three weeks ago. Moving into mansion took a lot of time and they had to finish filling the rooms. After this, Eret told Foolish, that Y/N is missing, they immediately went to her home, only to find out it was empty and some things were taken. He helped with searching, because Eret and Foolish stated, that she couldn't just leave without a word. A week of no progress caused them to stop. Ranboo saw the true sadness on demi-god's face and he wished he would help. Tommy and Tubbo missed her too and Michael wanted, that Y/N read his tales. Enderman hybrid sighed once more and stepped inside. Main door wasn't locked, none dared to come here and steal something, maybe except Tommy. He would do that without any hesitation.

He needed blaze rods and some honey, to start bee farm for Tubbo. He was in the middle of searching, when heard suspicious nosie from on top. Ranboo looked at celling unsure. Technoblade and Phil were on trip, he know that, because they met in the Nether once in fortress. He knew only one ghost and he wasn't here for sure... Then he heard quiet whimper and sob. Tall teenager swallowed hard and started to head upstairs. The noises were coming from Techno's bedroom, that was really odd. He tried to open door, but it was locked. Looking around, he spotted the key on the nearest shelf, so took it and open door slowly and quietly.

Ranboo almost dropped everything in his hands, when he saw Y/N on floor, chain around her wrist, eyes full of tears, skin more pale than usually. She immediately looked up, her gaze was full of shock and disbelief.

"Y/N?" He knelt near her, look if there were any injures or wounds.

"Ranboo?" She almost cried this words. "What... what are you doing here?"

"I am getting supplies from Techno... and you? For gods sake, Foolish and Eret were looking for you!"

Tears left her eyes, when she heard this words. None has known what exactly happend... telling whole story wasn't a great idea.

"Why there is a chain on your wirst?"

Y/N bit her down lip and looked at him embarrased. This whole story was an absurd, what if he won't believe her?

"Technoblade..." she whispered quietly.

"Why Techno would do that? And Phil, he wouldn't allow it..."

"But he did!" She screamed, clearly with fear in her voice.

Enderman hybrid was confused, this didn't has sense or logic. He sighed slowly and looked at Y/N, no she wasn't lying, so what was the case? What was going on here?

"Let me help you with this..." He took metal into his hands and tried to break it. After few minutes, he grabbed sword, but still, stubborn chain didn't want to let her go.

"It's enchanted... only key or magic can release me... " Y/N explained quietly. "And if I leave... gods help us... Technoblade will be after me."

"But... why? What did you do?" Ranboo asked without even thinking.

"I don't know! This is madness, I just want to get back to home, but they won't allow me." Y/N started to shake and tears strimmed down at her cheeks.

Ranboo hugged her gently, she was watching out to not water his skin or suit too much. He rubbed Y/N's back gently.

"We will need help... to get you out of this I guess."

"No... Technoblade will be after them... please don't tell anyone!"

"But, what about you?" He seemed worried.

"I don't know... I will try to break out, but I don't know when... just please promise me, that you won't tell anyone!"

Ranboo hesitated for a moment. How will she manage to break herself? And how could he be quiet about it? Eret and Foolish are still sad and hopeful or her returning, Michael every night is asking, where is aunt Y/N.

"Right, I won't... but someone will know, now or later."

Y/N sighed, he had right... someone will eventually step inside Technoblade's house and find her... but now there was no better plan.

"Yes, but at least maybe that won't be my close friend... you shloud go, before they see you."

He again hesitated, but after all, hugged her for goodbye, stood up and left. Also put everything as it was when he came. Still he was torn, because, wanted to help, but didn't want to let down Y/N or betrayed Technoblade's trust. Finally he left closing the door carefuly, lost in thoughts.

}*{

As Technoblade promised, he stepped into house exactly four days after leaving. Inside was silence, he had full backpacks and was tired, Phil went to his part, they both needed rest. After put everything in magazine, he went upstairs and entered his shared bedroom. Y/N was sitting under wall, where chain was attached, room didn't changed at all, some things were moved, but nothing odd.

'We didn't see her for such a long time...' 'We are going to hold her whole day.' 'Can't wait to see her again!'

"I'm finally back princess." He hummed and got closer.

She looked at him and stood up slowly, a little bit shaky, she unsure wrapped arms around his waist and closed her eyes.

"Please, never ever again leave me alone here... please." Quiet whisper left Y/N's lips.

Technoblade smiled satisfactorily, then hugged her back and pressed soft kiss on her forehead.

"Will you be obedient now?" He asked cupping her face in hands and wiped out tears.

Y/N nodded almost immediately, Piglin's hybrid smile widened, well that was better than he has expected. He couldn't complain, more things could be complicated, but for now, he wanted her to calm and be nice as she shloud be.

"Good. Let me help you with this." The Blade took gently her wirst and pulled out small, golden key from his pocket, then opened handcuff. Skin where it was, was violated, red abrasions and scabs, his eyes narrowed.

"I will take care of this don't worry."

Y/N sat on bed and looked as he put away his cape, weapons and grabbed bandages, then cover injuries with it.

"Thanks..." she said after everything was done.

"Now I am going to take off my armor, then maybe bath. If you want... you can go downstairs or help me."

Y/N looked at him with a hesitation. They together started to undo Technoblade's armor, after a while he ended looking at her, when she was patiently helping. It took a moment, netherite armor was heavy and parts were big, but after everything was done The Blade hugged her tightly.

"I missed you sweetheart..." he whispered into her ear. "I'm glad, that we are on good terms now."

Y/N bit her lip, most important thing was, that they couldn't know, that Ranboo was here. This made her anxious, poor boy, wouldn't have chances with Technoblade...

"I missed you too." She smiled gently and pressed shy kiss to his cheek.

Night has fallen quickly, piglin hybrid was napping a lot after bath and Y/N finally could go to the attic or kitchen, so she spent time mostly there. Working and making herself her favourite meal. When she entered the shared bedroom, Technoblade was sitting on bed shirtless and taking care of his sword, he lifted his eyes in her.

"Come in."

Y/N closed door and walked few steps forward, this view reminded her, that actually she had trident with her, when got kidnapped. Where it could be now?

"Technoblade..."

"Yes sweetheart?"

"When we met in forest, I had trident with myself... what happend with it?"

Piglin hybrid stopped and put sword away, then stood up. She swallowed hard, maybe it wasn't a good idea...

"Why do you want to know?"

"Trident is important thing for enchanters... and this was my only one. I also spent a lot of time searching for it and enchanting it..." Y/N said honestly.

"It's safe in the cellar." He got closer to her and smiled gently.

She nodded and let him hug her, then wrapped her arms around his waist. Technoblade placed hand on her neck, kiss was slow and gentle. Piglin hybrid smiled after breaking out. Inside, Y/N sighed with relief, he didn't noticed, that Ranboo was here.

She let her guard down in vain. The Blade's gentle touch fast, became inescapable grasp on her throat, Y/N pupils widened immediately. Tried to pull him out, but that was only a weak try.

"You think, that I am stupid or blind?" He asked, then lifted her up, still holding her throat, air started to go out and didn't come back.

Y/N tried to kick him of, but again that was only a weak try, even when he was tired. She grabbed his wrist and trying to push off his hand, only to take breath.

"After a whole week, you just casualy asking me about your trident huh?" His eyes narrowed looking at her reaction.

'Grip her harder!' 'Make her cry and scream!' 'Show, who is in charge here!'

Voices again went feral, but this time they demanded violence and wildness. His sight almost became red and ears was full of noise.

"Techno!" Y/N whispered quietly, fighting to stay focused.

"Apologize and everything will be all right."

"Please..." Tears started to strimming down at her cheeks, she became weak.

He shook his head. "That's not how you apologize. Just say that you are sorry for being dirty, little girl, forgive me."

"I... am sorry... for being... dirty little girl. Please forgive... me." Words slowly left Y/N' lips.

Technoblade smiled with satisfaction, then just let her go. Y/N' body hit hard the floor, she hissed at sudden pain and looked up at male. He grabbed her chin, forcing her to stay like this, on knees.

"I hate do it to you. I really do. Please promise me, that you will be good, obedient, little girl."

Graps on her chin hardened, Y/N nodded almost immediately. After this, she had enough, hear pounded so fast, eyes full of tears.

"It's late, let's go to sleep princess." He left her chin and went straight into the bed.

She stood up shaky and quietly, then grabbed her night clothes and went into bathroom. When came back, Technoblade is sleeping peacefuly on his side. Y/N without any distrubing noise, snuggled into bed and turned her back at him. She couldn't sleep at all, just laying there and thinking. After today for sure her mind changed and situation seemed to be horrible and without exit.

The mattress sagged under the weight of Technoblade, when he changed his position. She immediately froze, again he put an arm around her waits and his head right behind her's. Y/N swallowed her tears in silence.

}*{

Couple of days have passed and Y/N became much more shy and quiet. Technoblade usually held her around, but when not, she was in attic working or reading books. Piglin hybrid was satisfied with her behavior, showing his affection and caring way.

It was almost an evening, Phil was working on supper, Technoblade and Y/N were sitting on couch, he held her hand and read ancient poem with shinning eyes. Winged man couldn't resist to smile, while was hearing it.

Everything became much calmer. Well it ended, when Ranboo stormed into cottage, heavy breathing, burns on his face from tears and he was in full netherite armor.

"I am sorry! Please forgive me..."

[banqdanfnfic]

which, as they kiss, consume | jjk

you just wanted to get a tattoo from your boyfriend

pairing: tattoo artist!jk x reader

genre: established relationships au, tattoo artist au, smut

word count: 4k

warnings: unprotected sex, biting, making out, grinding, licking, nipple play, jk has a lip ring, oral (f receiving), fingering, shy jk and oc, sexual tension, slight choking, slight aftercare

♫ : Streets by Doja Cat, Candy by Doja Cat

♡ Aesthetics: Playlist | Moodboard

He visibly chokes on his glass of beer as he almost snaps his neck to meet your gaze. He could say that you were awfully drunk and hence the sudden confession out of the blue, but behind your heavy lidded eyes, Jungkook could sense that you were serious.

“You what?”, he gulps abruptly, moving closer to your face, doe eyes pleading to repeat yourself.

“Yes Kook. I want that tattoo on my breasts. I’ve decided”.

It’s not that Jungkook didn’t have experience in his career with inking on different parts of a human body. He just had never given a tattoo to someone who is romantically associated with him and the thought of seeing you half naked made him chuck down the rest of his drink in one go.

The most physical he had ever gotten with you was a kiss shared occasionally since it’s only been over two weeks you had started dating. Okay maybe you made out once in his car but that’s it. It never got to the point of shedding clothes or anything intense.

“Are you sure?”

You giggle at the sudden hoarseness in his voice and nod positive. Ironic how his aura never matched his personality. His inked skin, athletic body proportions covered in black monochrome bad boy outfits gave out default energy that he is a local heartthrob with multiple chicks wrapped around his finger each night and a heavy demeanor to carry in his smirk.

You were one of those believers until Jungkook asked you out in the most hopeless romantic way possible after constantly visiting the café you work in, a few shops besides his parlor. He was a gentleman with respectful boundaries, warm hands to hold yours and sweet sensual kisses though you are pretty sure he probably has a good game.

For any outsider it looked like those cliché bad boy and shy girl love stories, but for real both of you were a good percentage of introverts.

Jungkook runs his tongue around his lip ring while he is stressfully ruffling his dark locks into a mess. He is trying to explain his reasons to postpone your decision considering how shy he got at this point. But then that’s exactly why you were requesting him with soft eyes, it would be so uncomfortable to be shirtless in front of anybody else. Or maybe it’s your way of saying the relationship is open for higher levels of physical affection.

After debating around in vain, he finally hums and clears one of his slots for his beloved client.

Friday approaches way quicker than you assumed and now your heart is beating in your throat. Right after you are done cleaning the tables, you have to make it to Jungkook’s parlor for your appointment.

Running on three hours of sleep, black under eyes even after a decent amount of makeup, you groan as you check yourself out in the mirror. You opted for a simple shirt and skirt (also known as the outfit you bought for occasions with Jungkook), light beach waves resting on your shoulders. Hoping that a few cups of coffee will save you, you stride across the street to stop before the infamous parlor he worked in. Hopefully the full body shave and chocolate body butter has kept its excellence on your skin below the clothing.

The door chimes as it opens with a dragged creak on the musky wooden flooring. It felt like an otherworld where air smelled like men’s perfume and faint tint of cigarettes. In other words, intoxicating.

You ask the first person you meet at the reception, one of Jungkook’s companions at the shop and he assists you to his cabin located at a comfortably remote location.

His space is hidden with a simple black curtain. You are met with Jungkook’s back facing you, working determinately on a client’s arm and cares to spare a glance only when the guy with you is informing him about your presence.

“This will be over in a few”, he grins to your face and goes back to focusing his coil on the skin of a woman in her late twenties laying down his chair. The vibration from his inking machine fills in the silence and you excuse yourself to sit on a small black couch beside them.

This was the first time watching him at work and now you can understand why people rumored so much about his attitude because damn it is intimidating.

Brows knit together and inked muscles flex as he drags the needles around for finishing touches. Meanwhile you can pretty much smell the drool from the woman who is shamelessly checking out your boyfriend. Though you are pretty sure Jungkook gets such glances more than he can count every day, you can’t help but feel jealous. Partly because of the childish possessiveness and partly because you want to be the reason behind his dark eyes and intricate concentration, in profession or not.

To stop from mentally throwing daggers on the client’s way, you grab a random fashion magazine from the side table and flip through pages, though other four senses are inclined on your man. With a close attention to his low sigh you conclude that he is done.

The customer with now a fresh tattoo on her arm is discussing random useless topics to get him to talk, a very vain job realizing how Jungkook doesn’t bat a friendly lash at anybody, especially to those who hit on him. To be honest a large part of the ink business was linked with the obsession to attractive people who worked here, even if it meant trading an area of your skin. You grip the edges of the magazine a bit hard, not able to contain the sanity particularly at the high pitch voice she mumbles in before finally leaving his cabin.

A little excited and a lot nervous, you stand up as Jungkook bids goodbye to the third person.

He is quick to notice your discomfort, though not sure if it was the woman or the thought of finally getting the tattoo, he knew you were nervous and surviving in several cups of espresso by the dark circles slowly showing through the faded layers of your concealer. But nothing pulls down the opinion he has about you, beautiful and simple, no dramatics attached.

“Hey are you okay?”

You nod as soon as you sit down on the black tattoo chair, shifting a little to find a comfortable position. He is taking out a box full of equipment and fine needles, already making you break a sweat at the side of your forehead.

But more than that, it’s the way he is sharp and professional that catches your attention more.

You have never seen Jungkook this serious before. The choice of his vetiver perfume digging through your nostrils was driving you insane. If he doesn’t smile soon, you are going to melt into a puddle at his gaze.

“Are you nervous?”, he smirks this time, a newfound reason for your worsening gut health.

It’s mostly going in cycles at this point. Every bit of his skilled motion causes a vigorous hormonal reaction which initiates his next set of effortless teasing.

“I’m a little nervous”, you say, fiddling with your freshly painted nude nails.

“Me too”

It’s something you least expect to come out of his mouth observing how confident he looks right now. He basically has you cornered with his gaze. But whenever he had been truthful about his emotions it felt like a hug.

“I can take off my shirt too, so that we are even. Is that okay?”

He said it so softly like he is handling a child and the duality of the situation had your mind fogged and limbs frozen for a few minutes.

“Yeah it’s okay” It’s far beyond than okay. It’s great actually.

Jeon Jungkook is ripped, a Greek God sculptured masterpiece covered in self designed artwork you are more than happy to wake up to every morning. He hears you gulp at the feast before your eyes while he discards his black t-shirt to a nearby chair.

Now you don’t know if this whole thing is supposed to warm your heart or make you play several erotic fantasies like a movie before your eyes.

Both of you share a small smile while his long fingers are tugging at the hem of your shirt and pulling it up over your head.

He almost wishes you don’t opt to wear a bra but he is met with lacy black, a-bit-over your-usual-budget fabric hugging the roundness of your breasts.

It seemed like you were way too competitive about today. Anything less than complete awe from Jungkook for you was straight disappointment, you don't want anything less.

Well it seems like it did from how blown his pupils were at this point. He peels his gaze off your chest with a sharp gulp to look at your eyes suddenly devoid of any fear and staring back at him with all ease. He is filled with an exapnse of warmth and he isn't sure why does spending just a little amount of time with you had such a grip on him. He can’t wait to propose the idea of getting a couple tattoo together soon and as far as you know how Jungkook is, he is very serious with his body art so apparently he does trust you a lot already.

“Where exactly are you trying to get it?”, his voice is a lot deeper suddenly as he waits for your fingers to guide to his canvas.

You softly trace the spot at the upper circumference of your right boob, “Here”.

You suck a breath through your nose as his own fingers are mimicking your gesture, lightly pulling down the lace to inspect the fitting of the design at hand.

These violent delights have violent ends

And in their triumph die, like fire and powder

Jungkook traces each word on your burning skin, now leaning dangerously close which was questioning your control to put your palms flat on his pecs. He doesn’t notice that though, his mind is busy creating his own fantasies about the women under him.

After two minutes and twenty four second long of inspection and mutual thirst, Jungkook is selecting a bunch of needles to set into the rotary machine. Five fine sharp like a painter's brush moves in and out at a set regularity as Jungkook tests it out.

The next of his actions had you flushed into a pool of crimson. He gently lifts up your resting torso with one hand while the other is unclasping the hook of your bra, making you half naked for the sake of the tattoo.

"I'm going to start", he says shyly.

You still have time to save yourself from the growing phobia for the object, but another unlogical part of your brain says it's a piece of cake considering you have a whole distracting full course meal in front of you.

It stings at first. Well, okay it hurts like hell but your face is devoid of any indication, except your right hand is gripping on the rim of the chair for dear life.

Jungkook on the other hand had never felt this much diversion of mind during his work. He knows that you are probably hurting very badly, especially for a first timer. He is biting into his lip ring, trying to get this over with for the well-being of your pain and his hormones.

After he had scribed one word into your dermis, you are no longer able to contain the ache so you give out a small squeak out of your glossed lips and the vibration of the machine at his hands stops as he looks at you.

"You want me to stop? ", he is relaxing his face as he cups yours with one hand. You don't want to answer that question, but the drumroll of the current situation is making your heart flutter and everything about the little burn on your chest is forgotten.

"No. It does hurt but I'll be fine I guess", you whisper. His breath is mixing with yours slowly as he is leaning more towards your face. If it isn't for a kiss then you are likely to be disappointed.

"It'll be over before you know it. I'll make it quick", and then he kisses you, a small act to get off the pressure of sexual tension between your bare upper bodies.

Before you think of any tongue in the act, he is breaking off the contact and returns to his position on your chest. He misses the pout that forms on your mouth but right now both of your heads are in cloud nine.

The pain starts again, only this time you are busy reliving how his lips felt in yours; soft, firm and controlled.

You gasp when you feel one of his hands cupping your right breast to further his design but it's lowkey an act empowered by lust which is straining behind the so called professional eyes.

You just sit there flustered out of your mind and then Jungkook is suddenly squeezing, full palm hiding your breasts like it's a protected treasure, but he isn't showing the slightest facial expression other than determined eyes and his lower lip caught between his teeth.

Fuck you can't take it anymore. Jungkook can feel your nipples harden against his hand and his brain isn't helping much to concentrate on the design. But by the grace of some positive karma left on his side, he makes it through the long text and when he is letting go of your chest and standing tall, your skin is popping out with redness on the places the text lays embedded.

He fishes out a mirror for you to look.

"It looks beautiful thank you Jungkook", you smile.

"Can I give you one more tattoo on your left one?", he asks while you are contemplating whether going through the pain is worth it, not to mention you really want to get back at a private space with Jungkook as soon as possible.

"It won't hurt I promise", and then he is kissing you a lot filthier than before; all tongue and teeth, while his hands are grazing on the skin of your waist, pressing a little firmer than before.

The coldness of his lip ring rivaled around your mouth, and you try sucking on it to which Jungkook responds with a growl and pushes his body adamantly against yours.

Skin to skin, you are lost in euphoria of everything happening and finally, you roam your eager hands around his body, to his pecs and the definition of abs.

As your fingers scraped against his scalp, Jungkook is biting eagerly down your jawline to your collarbone and continues his ministrations at a particular spot which is bringing out melodic moan variation from you.

He is going down your skin, licking on your left boob before he starts planting violet tattoos as he had promised. As if it couldn't get better, he is massaging the right breast, in a way to soothe pain.

He loses it when you stutter his name, but he is just a fucking tease when it comes to making love and doing anything in a public space is the last thing he wants to do. There isn't much room for all that he wants right now.

"Why did you choose this particular tattoo Y/n?", he rasps while he is planting small pecks on his artwork, and you reply when he is finally eye level with you

"I just felt like it's a good one", your breaths are uneven and mostly caught in your neck. He pecks your lips before speaking, "Those are lines from Romeo and Juliet".

He takes your hands to trace over a line of text among the many designs on his chest.

which, as they kiss, consume

"We pretty much have a couple tattoo now Y/n", his breath is matched with your pace and you are not very sure how to respond to this new knowledge.

"That's… hot"

You break into giggles along with him, he just can't stop dragging his lips around your skin, but he isn't able to word his feelings right now either.

"I have some aftercare healing ointment for the tattoo at my place, wanna come over?" Now that may be a little lame of an excuse to get his little friend out of his pants but you are too unfazed to analyse any of that.

His hands find place on your ass under the skirt as soon as the door to his apartment closes, and before you know it, you are in his bedroom, sitting on the soft mattress and tongue lost devouring each other.

While eagerly getting rid of every article of clothing, Jungkook notices that you don't have your bra on beneath the shirt, so it's probably back at the parlour, but none of you have the slightest care for it, might as well make an excuse with it later to fuck you in his cabin.

He is pushing you farther towards the headboard, him on top, grinding sensenslesy while your lips mould with his. Though he has his whole body pressed against you, you can't seem to feel his weight at the slightest, every one of his actions were just balanced and perfect.

As Jungkook goes down on you, his smile is evident against your skin, finally able to find out how every one of those scenarios in his head will come to look like. He lets out a satisfied hum being finally able to suck on your tits, your fingers finding place on his hair, twisting it out of stimulation.

His pelvis is flushed harshly against yours, grinding and rubbing against your pussy for as long as he is rejoicing the feeling of moving his tongue around both the nipples.

He stops rubbing after some point and you whimper at the loss but his fingers are soon to meet your core as a quick apology. All your later moans are muffled on his mouth once again.

Feeling the controlled movements of his fingers on your clit, you dig your nails down on his toned shoulders. It's becoming impossible to reciprocate his lewd movements of tongue on your lips at this point as the excitement between your thighs is growing every passing second.

Your mouth remains slightly parted as he removes his face to watch you squirm underneath, lips swollen, deep red and glossy from all the saliva.

He pecks at the shell of your ear before going down past your navel.

You haven't had much heads in the twenty years of your life, most of the guys being completely against the idea which made you feel insecure to bring up the topic in bed, but Jungkook does it like his life depends on it.

He growls at the sight of you dripping into his sheets and he seems to enjoy the idea of being the influence behind it. But none is going through your head at the moment, not the metal on his lips grazing against your folds, or the fact that Jungkook is grinning each time you cry his name, it feels unreal to feel something like this.

His mouth is wrapping against your entrance and he is balancing your lower body on his palms to help him reach the right depths inside you. While all you can muster up is the strength to grope the bedsheets in your fist and close your eyes at the pleasure.

Jungkook brings his head higher to give some attention to the throbbing clit, catching it between his teeth and triggering the bundle of nerves just the perfect dose to have your hips jolting up to his face.

He can't take it himself when you are now whining and chasing for your release, so he is slightly humping against the bed to get some friction.

He licks a slow stripe up till your abdomen and slowly raises to your face, already fucked out and dishevelled to keep up with his dominant orbs.

He swears he had never felt so much warmth and care for sex with any of his previous partners, in relationship or not, all he could think is how good can he treat the pleading eyes underneath him.

"Is there something you like that you want me to do?", he says, fingers grazing once again to your crotch to not deny you from his contact. Only this time he is exploring the tightness of your pretty cunt with two skillful fingers.

Is there? You are not sure. Or in other words you are too caught up at the sense of him fingering you. It's not like you had enough experience or people who cared enough to ask that question. It astounds you that never in this entire foreplay he asked for any favor for himself.

"I'm not sure…", you whisper and then maybe you have something on your mind " um I guess I would like to be choked" Okay this felt embarrassing.

He smiles before sliding his free hand from your lips to your neck, and applies slight force, careful to not hurt you in the slightest bit.

"Is that fine?"

"Yeah", you muffle through the decreasing course of air.

He pulls up your face by the throat to attach lips once more. He just can't seem to get enough of kissing you senseless. Then, the tip of his long ignored cock is teasing the length of your pussy twice before it's stretching you out to the brim.

Bodies flushed and hot, his pace is deep and slow, making sure to kiss the cervix every time he is inside.

He watches as your eyes close shut and flutters around whenever he is grazing against your sweet spot. Both of your ears lost and eager for the moans looming out of each other, his more like what he sounds at the gym. Nice observation Y/n.

In this span of sexual energy you shared, you can make some obvious conclusions. Sex with him was surreal, both in terms of domination and the care he had. Rocking against him and keeping up with his hips was attainable— Compared to the intense eye contact he tries to hold, or the way he cups the side of your face and rubs the pad of his thumb on your cheeks while he kisses you during sinking back in, or the way his eyes glow at the beauty of your body open for him. It makes you feel special and it's difficult to respond to these gestures when you never felt this way before.

Jungkook could tell that from your face, but he hopes he lasts with you enough to help you know the worth you hold. You couldn't think too much about anything when you are busy squeezing around his length and coming twice in the first ten minutes.

By the third orgasm Jungkook is nearing his own and he pulls out to pump a few times before coming on your stomach.

"Was it okay?", his voice is all over the place, still balancing his body on his arms while you are amazed by his strength.

"It was amazing Jungkook", you smile. You have known a lot about Jungkook over the few dates you spent with him. That he likes literature, classics and philosophy, designs tattoos as a subconscious thing, that his game is A-1, and he likes working out almost three hours a day. Good for you. But it wasn't until now you know him to be gentle, like he is afraid to crush you under a feather touch. You don't know him as someone who is staring deep into your face after a good fuck, speaks nothing, smiles widely, and plants a peck on your forehead before getting off the bed.

He does the honors of cleaning both of your bodies with a towel, it's not like you have any strength left in you anyway. And then pulls out an ointment from the bedside table and plops next to your body.

"There. You need this to protect the tattoo", he takes off the nozzle and applies a required amount against the words on your chest and massages against them.

"Now go to sleep Juliet", he mocks, pulling up the sheets over you both "good night".

You snuggle against his hard chest, kissing his pecs before resting on it, "Good night Romeo".

thank you so much for reading!! please leave a feedback!!

★ taglist: @pjmochii (dm, ask or comment to enter the tl!)

★ credits: @/rainbeary on spotify : songs that'll make you feel everything's in slow motion playlist

★ banner & boards: by me :)

a/n: this is my first time writing smut and i basically died of second hand embarrassment during the process. pardon for my untalented ass, i tried this wip continuously for a week and i seriously don't think it could get anything better though it's probably not much.

© banqdanfnfic 2021, all rights reserved. do not modify, translate, or repost my works. modification, translations, and/or redistribution of my works on any platform is strictly prohibited.

[violettelueur]

— JUJUTSU KAISEN EPISODE FIFTEEN || KYOTO SISTER SCHOOL EXCHANGE EVENT - GROUP BATTLE 1

↳ featuring : basically everyone at this point from jujutsu kaisen

↳ warnings : EXTREME grammar issues

↳ form : story

↳ published : 22 march

↳ pronouns : she/her

↳ word count : 3.6k

↳ synopsis : within the jujutsu world, there were three famous clans to be aware of, the Kamo clan, Zenin clan and the Gojo clan. However, unknown to many sorcerers there was one last family that was known to be apart of the three, only for them to disappear after the golden era leading some to speculate that they had died in battle after the sealing of ryomen sukuna, but....

↳ previous episode : kyoto sister school exchange event - group battle 0

↳ next episode : kyoto sister school exchange event - group battle 2

↳ barista’s notes : let me admit...i can’t wait for my school term to finish...i am so done with education at this point ʕ ꈍᴥꈍʔ but other than that, i will continue my best to study for my last four exams (ugh) and get the best grades that i can  ╲ʕ·ᴥ·　╲ʔ i hope you enjoyed this episode and let’s be excited for your coffee orders (requests) to be given at the 31st of March or 1st April ʕ≧ᴥ≦ʔ

BEFORE READING, I NEED YOU TO BE AWARE OF THIS:

1. the whole story belongs to Gege Akutami and the credits go to them and them only.

2. the spell curses used belong to Tite Kubo due to them being the ‘Kidos’ being used on the manga and anime ‘Bleach’ - but none is mentioned in this chapter.

2.5. for the ‘cursed spells’/kidos (bleach) i will link this video here and tell you the time stamp to check out what i am intending to show - remember i add a few twist here and there by adding the katana to link with Y/N’s cursed technique

no cursed spells used this episode..

3. if you are confused on anything, please don’t hesitate to message me since i know this whole thing is so confusing.

“We’re starting in one minute”

“Now, let’s hear a few words of well-appreciated encouragement from Iori Utahime-sensei,” Gojo suddenly declared, leading the mentioned teacher to look at her colleague in complete shock before quickly beginning to sprout out whatever came into her head.

“U-Uh...Um, some degree of injury will be unavoidable, but, um..now and then, help each other out..or something…” Utahime stuttered out causing you and everyone else from the Tyoko team to look up at the speakers in both confusion as well as fed-up expressions since all of you knew that it was one of Gojo’s teasing antics again.

“Times up,” Gojo quickly stated in a playful tone leading you to look off to the side as you began to look around the area since you were wondering how the principals, teachers and possibly other jujutsu sorcerers were observing you since there were no cameras located to which caused you to suddenly come in eye contact with a pair of piercing pure onyx eyes that were staring down at the group you were with now making you come to the conclusion that someone was using a technique that allowed them to share sights with crows or have their sense being shared with them...either way, it was like having someone watching you 24/7.

‘Creepy...it’s like they’re sensing my death’

“Hey! Gojo, you little…” Utahime yelled out, irritated that she was interrupted out of her little encouragement speech - well, it wasn’t like she had a lot to say to you all anyways.

“Now, let the sister school exchange event...begin!” Gojo enthusiastically yelled out like it was a sports match, encouraging everyone in your team to start running forward in order to gain a head start on whatever the plan was.

“Respect your seniors!” the Kyoto teacher exclaimed loudly through the speakers after since it seemed like she wanted to remind your adoptive father that she was older than him, which can to a surprise for you since she looked much younger than you thought she was - well...you could say Gojo was a bit of the worst end when you found out his age, he seemed completely younger than he had mentioned to you when he took you out to a dessert place after a mission he set for you.

“Ichiro?!” Itadori questioned as he turned back to look at the speakers as if he was going to get the answer he wanted while Fushiguro looked at him with a non-chantant look on his face.

“So stupid,” Kugisaki commented as she gave off a disappointed look as she continued to run.

“Where do you think the cursed spirit boss is?” Itadori asked both Panda and Maki as he came toe to toe with them as he ran since he was truly determined to win this event as soon as possible.

“It was probably unleashed halfway between both schools, but it’s not just going to sit still, we just need Gojo to get there first to exorcise it since she isn’t allowed to fight anyone,” Panda answered, as you managed to catch up to your first-year classmate leading him to question how fast you could actually run since you didn’t show any athletic signs back when you and him were students at Sugisawa Municipal Highschool.

“At the time we agreed upon, we’ll split up into the Megumi squad and the Panda squad for scouting, we’ll be counting on you after that, Yuji,” Maki stated while turning her head slightly to look at the younger student leading Itadori to give her an encouraging salute and smile informing her that he knew what he had to do.

As you all continued to run, the black demon dog was running in front of all of you while barking to indicate where he was going leading you to quicken your speed to make sure you didn’t lose track of it since you now had the role to exorcise any curses that were around with the help of Maki, no matter what grade they were.

“Where are you going?” a spider curse questioned as it began to hang down by a string of its web, trying to seem intimidating when in reality it really wasn’t.

“That's a small fry,” Panda commented, leading you to unhook your katana that was behind your back from its position as you prepared to exorcise the thing by sliding it with the wooden stealth one since it was an extremely weak curse anyway. However, before you could even push yourself forward to cover the remaining distance that was between you and the disgusting spider curse, the demon dog that was in front of you turned it’s head to the side as if it had sensed something else from a distance.

“Gojo, stop!” Fushiguro shouted at you causing you to turn back to him before pressing your front foot to the ground to help slow down and halt your movement causing the demon dog to stand proactively in front of you as a sudden eruption of broken tree trunks as well as a huge cloud of debris covering the remaining path that everyone was running in leading them to pause around you.

Rapidly, as fast as the destruction came was as fast as the instructor appeared from the mist as Todo struck everyone was a confident grin since he was joyful that he had found everyone from the Tokyo team right in front of him - it was as if he had struck gold.

“Great! You’re all here! Come at me altogether! I want a re-match, Gojo!” Todo declared ambitiously as he pointed at you, leading everyone to go into a fighting stance since they didn’t want the possibility of losing you even when you knew that they knew that you could defend yourself, just not attack your opponent back at all.

As expected, Itadori took the first step as he ran towards the large student before suddenly jumping up to reach and grab onto Todo’s face as he proceeded to slam it against his knee, causing you to slightly cringe since you didn’t want to know how much pain his nose might be going thought at the very moment in time.

“Gojo! Don’t worry, I got Todo in check!” Itadori informed you, leading you to smile and nod at him as a way to thank him, causing Maki to shout out the command that everyone needed to do right now.

“Scatter!” Maki yelled out causing everyone to run off in two different directions with Kugisaki, Panda and Inumaki going to the left side of the forest, while you, Fushiguro and Maki took the right side, as you all needed to go in different directions to cover up a large amount of area you all had to cover in order to find the grade two cursed that was released for the players to exorcise to win the event for today.

“Todo was alone, it seemed like he really wanted to fight Gojo though,” Fushiguro commented as he turned back to look at you and Maki, while still running since there was a possibility that the grade-one sorcerer would come looking for you.

“We were right to swap Gojo with Yuji into that role,” Maki stated as she turned to you with a confident smile on her face leading you to give her one back before shifting your eyes to the dark blue metal pole that was dangling on the side of your hip, where you held it in place with a black belt that Kugisaki had gifted you one day during one of your random shopping trips.

‘I’ll thank her again later when all of this is done’

                                          ꕥ

BEFORE THE EXCHANGE EVENT STARTED:

“Todo will absolutely be out to crush us straight away, Mai might follow behind him to come after me, too,” Maki mentioned to everyone, as she held her chin in a thinking posture as you sat next to her with your arms placed behind you to help support your upper body.

“Todo’s a monster, the worst possible outcome would be that we all face him and get wiped out,” Maki explained before turning to look at you before letting out a sigh of disappointment since she needed to change the current plan due to the fact there was a few new little rules being placed upon you to make the game fair. “So our plan was to leave just one person, that’s why we wanted Gojo to take him on since she is the most capable of keeping him at bay or more like knock him out to give us some time but rules are rules. Itadori, we’ll leave that role to you,” your senior classmate declared as she took in yours and Fushiguro’s suggestion from before leading to the mentioned sorcerer to point at himself with a little uncertainty.

“We’d rather not lose anyone who can scout out our enemies, you don’t have to beat him, just hold out as long as possible and buy is time,” Maki said with a smile as she lifted a thumbs-up to somewhat cheer up your classmate since she wasn’t completely sure on how well this plan would work, but she had a gut feeling that it was going to go well due to yours and Fushiguro’s previous statements.

“But you can be daring against him! To be blunt, we weren’t counting on your abilities anyway, so it won’t affect us too much if you have to quit,” Panda teasingly commented while giving him another thumbs-up, leading Itadori to inform his upperclassmen on how ‘mean’ his comment was in a whining tone.

“Sorry, Y/N. You wanted to face Todo, didn’t you?” Panda asked as he leaned his body forward to get a quick look at you.

“I’m good either way, it’s such a complete drag to fight him again anyways,” you answered before leaning your head back to face the ceiling as it seemed like a wave of unnecessary tension has been lifted from your shoulders - even though you knew you were more than capable of beating Todo, you weren’t too keen on fighting the close-ranged sorcerer since he was just plain annoying in your mind.

“But Senpai, if I’m gonna do this, then I’m gonna win,” Itadori declared with determination laced in not only his tone but his posture as well, leading you to look back down at him before gifting him an assured smile that quickly displayed itself of your face as you then gave him the final thumbs-up of approval that he needed.

‘Yeah, he’s got this’

                                              ꕥ

While you, Fushiguro and Maki continued to run in whatever direction you three were going in, you were more focused on locating the second-grade curse you needed to exorcise to get this event done and over with since today you weren’t really in the mood to get into many first - you didn’t even have a single drop of orange juice today, and that already made you irritated.

However, as you continued sensing for the cursed spirited that you required to know the location of, your mind couldn’t help but get distracted by the amount of cursed energy that was looming around the area Itadori and Todo were located before at least four people from the ground and one person from above started to unexpectedly move away from leading you to become perplexed but slowly beginning to understand what was happening as you looked up to the sky to find a familiar blonde-haired sorcerer as she rode a broom across the sky.

“Fushiguro, use Nue right now,” you commanded, leading your classmate to look at you before looking up at the direction you were staring at to finally understand what you meant, which caused him to quickly summon the owl-like shikigami right in front of you.

“Take her down,” Fushiguro demanded his shikigami leading to the bird to unexpectedly appear behind the flying sorcerer with purple electricity enveloping his wings before flapping them down to transfer the high voltage lighting bolts to the third-year student leading to her falling from the sky into the maltitude of trees below to break her falling or possibly help her land somewhere that was not the ground to have a lighter impact than it should really.

“That’s strange,” Fushiguro suddenly commented, as you and Maki halted on your sprint since you all knew you couldn’t discuss the matter in hand while running to god knows where you three were planning to head to.

“All the Kyoto students are moving together, they’re all going to the same location,” you mentioned as you continued to survey where they were heading off to with your sense still enhanced.

“You mean that’s where the target is?” Maki asked you since she didn’t have the ability to see cursed energy at all, unlike you and Fushiguro, while the divine dog decided to nudge his snout against the back of your hand leading you to rub its head causing it to emit a rubble/purr as it begins to lavish on the affection it was receiving from you.

‘Not really the best time, but why not…’

“No, unless the second-grade is especially cunning, my demon dog would have noticed it,” Fushiguro said in a stern tone causing the dog to bark once in response before returning back to the attention you were giving it. “They’re trying to kill Itadori, aren’t they?” Fushiguro rhetorically questioned, leading a sigh to come out of your mouth before you turned your head towards the predicted location where you could sense the Kyoto’s students' cursed energies.

“It’s possible,” Maki replied as her gaze moved downwards, trying to understand why they would attempt an assassination during the Kyoto Sister School Exchange Event, especially since the act of killing was prohibited as one of the main rules.

“I don’t sense that much hostility from them, but due to Itadori’s surprise survival, it is possible that Principal Gakuganji ordered then to that but to be honest, that was quite stupid of him since they don’t have the strength to even fully commit the assassination,” you quickly mentioned to your teammates leading them to look up at you with confusion on their faces.

‘I have to thank Gojo for this information later as well’

“Zenin Mai: grade three, Miwa Kasumi: grade three, Nishimiya Momo: semi-grade two, Muta Kokichi: semi-grade one, Kamo Noritoshi: semi-grade one and Todo Aoi: grade one,” you listed as you adding in their grades to make sure Fushiguro and Maki got an idea on what you were about to explain to them. “Out of all of them right now, Todo is the only one that has the capability to fight Sukuna, so Principal Gakuganji was willing to sacrifice his other students really quickly for the execution of Itadori since the rest of them wouldn’t survive,” you informed your schoolmates causing them to shudder at the fact on how informed you already were about the other students without them even ever mentioning about them to you.

“We’re turning back, guys,” Maki stated, causing you to turn to look at her before giving a nod to indicate to her that you understood what she wanted.

“Sorry,” Fushiguro unexpectedly apologised, while Maki just turned away and started to walk back in the opposite direction where everyone was running from.

“What are you apologising for, dummy? There’s no point in winning or losing the exchange event if your friend dies,” Maki said in a disappointed tone, leading to both you and Fushiguro to look at each other before starting to slowly follow her from behind leading you three to go back into the wooded area in search for the other Kyoto students, who were technically on the run now since they seemed to have failed to execute Itadori from what you could sense in the back of your mind.

‘Team Panda is probably doing the same right now since I can faintly sense Panda and Kugisaki going into the forest again, where is Inumaki though?’

                                            ꕥ

“They’re up ahead,” you informed both Fushiguro and Maki since you could feel a stronger presence of cursed energy that was in front of you, leading you to realise that there were at least two Kyoto students since the rest of them seemed to split off somewhere.

Maki turned back to you and gave you a nod before fastening her pace as she suddenly noticed a shine of blue hair coming into her view leading the weapons specialist to prepare her red spare before quickly appearing out from your guys hiding spot to attack Miwa, who quickly managed to notice your upperclassmen as she pulled out her katana from her sheath to deflect Maki’s surprise as well as incoming attacks.

“Gojo, go ahead and find the curse, I’ll take care of Kamo-san,” Fushiguro informed you to which you replied to him with a nod.

During that second, Fushiguro came out from the side and headed towards Kamo leading you to take the small time that you were given to go on ahead and search for the grade-two curse that you needed to exorcise, only to suddenly feel a presence coming from behind leading you to rapidly turn around while raising your katana at the same time, only to discover Kamo standing right in front of you with his bow making direct contact with your weapon, leading you to become confused on why the semi-grade one sorcerer would even try to sneak attack you from behind.

‘Huh?’

“You didn’t even unsheathe your weapon, that’s strange,” Kamo commented, leading you to give him a deadpan look since you didn’t want him to notice or sense your confusion right now.

“Didn’t your little principal inform you to not fight with me or are you just getting a little too confident? That attitude of yours is going to be a drag,” you stated back in a nonchalant tone.

“Kamo-san, are you guys planning to kill Itadori?” Fushiguro asked from behind causing the mentioned sorcerer to turn his head back to view the erratic-haired sorcerer, leading you to smirk before you switch your hand that was holding the katana as you swiftly pulled it back to thrust the tip of your katana into Kamo’s stomach causing him to widen his eyes in shock as an immense pain started to engulf him as his body was pushed back with vast pressure causing Fushiguro to move out of the way to avoid his body colliding with Kamo’s.

‘Don’t get distracted next time, you drag’

Holding onto his stomach, Kamo slowly looked up at you and Fushiguro before coughing out in pain since your attack was more than what he had expected.

“And if I said we were?” Kamo answered, causing you to look at him with massive suspicion in your eyes.

“You failed, then. Itadori wouldn’t go down in such a short time,” Fushiguro declared with a small praise for his friend as he raised his tonfa in a defensive pose while you just straightened yourself up since you had no worries about being attacked again.

“We have no reason to kill him,” Kamo stated with a smirk on his face causing you to turn your head to the side and scoff at him since it was hilarious that he was acting so confident after just barely managing to withstand a simple physical attack from you before you turned back to face him again.

‘What a drag~’

“Yes, you do. The higher-ups and the three major clans have plenty,” you mentioned before resting your katana over your shoulder to relax for a second since you could sense that this fight was either going to be easy or too easy for your liking.

‘It’s surprising that he is attempting to fight me though, I wonder if Gojo-sensei forgot to inform them about this little extra rule but I still need to find out about that mole...’

                                              ꕥ

“Ah~ I thought I told you to tell your students to not attempt to fight Y/N? they’re only going to get hospitalised in the process,” Gojo playfully asked, as he turned to look behind his seat to be eye to eye with the Kyoto Principal, who was in charge of informing his students about this new rule that he and Principal Yaga implemented.

“Well, she attacked Kamo, so she’s breaking the rule isn’t she?” Utahime asked as she took a sip from her cup leading Gojo to turn to look at her with a slight frown on his face.

“Well, your student did attack her first, she can’t help but retaliate since that was her normal strength right there. If it was any other student, they would have been eliminated real quick,” Gojo informed his colleague causing her eyes to widen before turning back to the screen to only discover your eyes were directly looking at her since you were directly looking at the crow that was inspecting you right now.

“She’s quite an interesting girl,” a sorcerer from behind commented as she proceeded to open her eyes. “Not only did she notice my crows looking at her since the start of the event, but she’s also quite strong, no wonder you took her in,” she mentioned as she faced forward to notice Gojo looking at her.

“She’s a tough cookie, isn’t she Mei-san?” Gojo said with a proud smile on his face before he processed to face the screens again with the smile now straightening.

‘I don’t know what he’s trying to do, but I know Y/N won’t fall for it naively, she’s more the type to manipulate his plan...besides, it’s as if she’s giving him a death glare right now’

This thought of his caused him to giggle lightly, creeping out Utahime as she stared at him in pure confusion.

‘I know she can do it’

© violettelueur 2021 : written and published by violettelueur - do not steal or repost

[dairogo]

For the wip ask thingy:)

I might be onto something and I also might be completely wrong with this one, ahah, but what can you tell about the "Elizabeth" wip? 👀

Ahahahaha, yes, what could an FMA fanfiction called ‘Elizabeth’ possibly be about? XD Well, this one may be a little sideways of what you think, but I doubt you’re far off.

The fic is about Hawkeye, Hughes and Mustang all meeting up after Ishval to discuss how to get him to the top of the military. They meet at Madame Christmas’ bar, she gives them a solemn talking-to to determine how trustworthy they are, how serious about this they are, etc., etc..

The intention is that there’s a lot of discussion of how they can look unthreatening while still speed-running the fuhrership, and so they’re balancing all the codes they can use or may need, and they’re developing the whole concept of Roy being a lazy playboy, and they’re figuring out how they can use it all as a cover for actually Getting Things Done.

As far as the ‘Elizabeth’ codename ... I definitely intended it to come up and for there to be thought on Riza’s side about flirting with Roy, and on Madame Christmas’ side about how she’s gotta keep an eye on this girl.

Here’s an excerpt!

Hughes gestured vaguely towards the other occupants of the room. “So, is this really the best place to meet, to talk?”

“With you two looking as nervous as all that?” Mustang said, a strange light coming into his eyes as the smirk reappeared. But he waved a hand, and toned it all down. “There’s no-one significant there at the moment – and they’re all occupied with the ladies. We’ll get our drinks and head on through to a private room after Madame’s given you a once-over.”

Glancing back at Christmas, Hawkeye noticed that the woman was indeed watching them. It could have been because she was bringing them their drinks, but the look she had was more observant than that. Maybe she had resting suspicious face.

Hawkeye took the pale ale with thanks, and the larger woman retreated back to get Mustang’s drink. As Hughes took a deep drink from his she took a testing mouthful, and she came to the conclusion that if Hughes’ disappointment at the label available wasn’t enough to put him off ordering it, she wouldn’t be trusting his taste again.

“What does a once-over consist of?” Hawkeye asked.

A shrug of Mustang’s shoulders didn’t put her at ease. “There’s certain help she could provide to our cause, if she thinks it’s worth her time.”

This help, which Mustang had alluded to before, was no more known to Hughes than it was to Hawkeye, evidently, because the other man gave a hesitant murmur into his glass before setting it down. “There are better ways to get us to meet your family, Roy.”

“No, really,” Mustang argued. “This could make a big difference. Thanks, Madame.”

A darker beer was set in front of Mustang, and Hawkeye tried not to feel compelled to take another drink of her own in response to the strength of Christmas’ presence.

“So, you’re trying to get my boy into politics, then?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Hughes responded.

Christmas’ stare moved on to Hawkeye, and she realised they were both meant to respond. “It’s a better future than the alternative,” she said.

“He could do well in a military career. Who says he has to be in charge for that to be worth anything?”

Hughes leant in. “Well, Ma’am, if he wants to set the tone of the country –”

“What’s so wrong with the tone that it needs changing?” The woman shrugged, unsettling the fur of her long coat. From some it may come across as a carefree sentiment, but there was definitely a sense of challenge behind it.

[husbandohunter]

May I request a Childe X Reader fanfic where the reader has been pushing herself too hard lately and so Childe has to forcefully get her to rest? ty

By my side [Childe x Reader]//Genshin Impact

Synopsis: You were an artist and he was an adventurer. Two people from vast backgrounds and Childe just wants to spend some time of his busy life with you. However, things didn't really go his way...at first.

(Childe x F!reader. Its all fluff)

(A/n): Perfect request anon. I too, would like to have a Childe in my life. Been getting 5-6 hours of sleep on average 😃😁. Yeah kind tossed some extra ideas with artist s/o, its a perfect reason for anyone to be busy.

============================

Once recieving the permission to take a week off from his diplomatic duties, the first thing Childe thought of was none other than his lovely significant other.

The harbinger knew quite well what lays ahead of his ventures to Liyue. During his quest for the archon's gnosis, he encountered many interesting events, such as meeting the rumoured traveller hailing from afar and a broke yet courteous man who turned out to be the ultimate ruler of this very country he walks upon then there was the battle against a dead god until he revived it using the sigil of permission. All of them were great additions to his story as Ajax the hero, something he always wanted to pursue since childhood. In which, also gave him something nice to write about when preparing letters for his siblings living back home. But little did the harbinger know that he'll one day bump into the heroine. A little too soon. Through your little art shop, he met you, a sweet and audacious woman with plenty of humour. That was how it all began.

While he strides down the streets between Liyue's exquisite buildings, Childe suddenly stops in his tracks and looks up to the sky. There, was painted a scenery of an evening dusk, sun rays relfected across until red and orange hues cast a river stream that led to the ends of the world. He watched the birds follow that streak like it was a path made for them to fly towards. A new adventure. You would have loved to captured this in your pictures.

And then he wonders, what might you be painting right now?

"Hey babe, I'm home~"

In a sing-song voice he calls out to you by your nick-name. You knew that Childe was an active member of the Fatui and that his time was limited, hence he made sure to write to you as well. Of course long distant relationships only makes the waiting more anticipated. When he does pay a visit, you'd run straight into his open arms, leaping off your feet to engulf him in one enourmous embrace. Then his hands will hold against your waist as he spins your round and around in the air, stealing the laughter out of your lungs before planting you back on the floor. Sometimes Childe would consider that being far away wasn't be such a bad idea as long as he was able to experience this, the harder the battle, the sweeter the victory. However...

"That's great."

He was met by a response similar to the wintry grace of Snezhnaya.

Huh?

All the fantasies he had from earlier shatters in the background as he stands there frozen. You didn't even spare a glance to the entrance, eyes still glued to the large canvas displayed at your front, too busy to even care. Childe clicks his tongue between the awkward silence with an uncertain expression. When there was no signs of initiation on your part, he shuffled his way to where you were and observes from behind.

"Well you're particularly quiet today," he muses to himself, placing a hand over his hip, "I guess that painting of yours must be really important then."

It was obvious that he was trying to nudge you into his favour. Something that you've found endearing was how quickly your boyfriend can be when he's in a needy state. So you quickly twisted over to peck him on the cheek before going back to work.

"That's better," Childe satisfiedly grins, "So who is this project for?"

"It's a commission requested by a wealthy family serving the Qixing. They're really influential in terms of the market and can really give me a competitive edge. I have to get it done in five days."

His tone flactuates as he squints his eyes, "Five days you say," he disliked the news of your schedule taking over his own, Childe only managed to take a week off and after that, he'll be away for quite some time, "Why don't you take a break? From the looks of your progress, it seems to me that you've been working on it for hours. I've got plenty of interesting stories to tell and you know, nothing can compare to sharing a warm meal within your company," he leans down to your ear level, "How does that sound?"

Several seconds went by as he waits for some sort of reaction, "Oh. Right," you blurted out and the harbinger only smiles, "I made some food earlier this morning. You can go help yourself if you're hungry."

Today was not his day.

Childe pulls out the wooden chair and slumps into the seat, a defeated huff escaping his mouth as he stared at the crystal shrimp placed on the table. It was hastily wrapped by plastic, most likely cold for a while, just like the romantic evening he had planned in his head. Normally you'll be sitting on the otherside while listening to the many tales he went through along the way. Although painting was your passion, it was undeniable that you also enjoyed his kind of lifestyle if you ever had the choice. He was rather surprised on how someone ambitious like him would end up with such a simplistic person but quickly accepted it as life was meant to be unpredictable, just the way he likes it. As Childe entertains you with his stories, he'll listen to your giggles amidst eating the homecooked meals that you both prepared together.

"I wonder if she ate already," he mumbled to his lone self. You most likely did but Childe knows you well. Artists are obsessed and they can go as far as to neglecting their own health for the sake of their masterpieces. Hence, he made sure to remind you to eat properly through the letters he wrote to you.

The harbinger takes a quick glance around the kitchen. It was a mess. The cupboards were slightly opened, metal pots were still displayed on the stone stove and the stench coming from the sink....

Childe pushes himsel up to see what was the cause.

Not even the dishes were washed.

Running his fingers through his bangs, he sighs wearily, "Old habits die hard huh?" And above all else, when artists are obsessed they also forget how disorganized they can become. Childe begins to roll up his sleeves before taking off his gloves. At times like this he'll have to pitch in and take care of it for you, "Looks like I'll be here for a while."

Throughout three sunsets and three moonrises, Childe had no option but to observe you from afar, minus the few attempts he made to regain your attention again. How you would go to bed much later than him, waking up before he opens his eyes and the effort he put into making your food only left with too many leftovers. It wasn't that you were unappreciative, instead, your mind had become too focused that your body was considered a second priority. Like anyone else, Childe genuinely thought you possessed great talent and supports you wholeheartedly. He loved it when you painted pictures just for him as if they were scenes coming out of his hero story, reminded by his adventures, capturing every detail. However he also needed to learn how to deal with this stubborn side of yours.

"Hey babe, I just finished preparing our dinner. Don't you smell that? Such a rich aroma, you should go eat."

"I'm busy."

Your diet were just small bites, the rest being substituted by coffee. Childe could clearly tell that you weren't getting enough sleep either as there were dark circles forming underneath your eyes and slowly, he was starting to become a little irritated.

Three hours passed midnight but you were still awake in the same place doing the same thing. Childe leans against the doorframe with arms folded, already changed into his sleeping clothes. He clears his throat to break the silence, "Ahem."

Your wrist hangs in mid air by the sound of a strange visitor, it was your boyfriend. Gaze in a daze, you lazily turned your head, "What time is it?"

"Way passed the sleeping hours as you can see," he points with his thumb at the table clock in a half-hearted manner, "You should already be in bed by now and don't think you can coax yourself out of the situation this time," his eyes parted in slits as he added with a smile, "Otherwise I might just have to force you myself."

You shook your head, "Give me one more hour? There's some finishing touches I really want to add so," clasping your hands together, you beamed sweetly, "Pretty please? I'll finish up soon."

"Oh really?" Childe challenges, head tossed back like he was interrogating you instead, "I believe that was also what you told me yesterday. And the day before? Adding up all of those days that would be.....four in total?" He deliberately counts upon his fingers before facing you again, this time his expression was slightly more serious, "As much as I find your determination remarkable, there are moments when you need to consider a sufficient amount of rest and this just isn't going to cut it."

"Four days already?!" You exclaimed, "Jeez, I don't even know if I'm halfway done."

Pressing his lips together, Childe glares in an acutely deadpanned countenance, it was also his time too, "Can't you ask this commissioner to extend your due date to next week? In your case, mora shouldn't be the issue since, well...you're dating me anyways."

It's true. Childe was the main reason why you didn't have to live as a starving artist. He had all your expenses fully covered from the marketing aspect to your residence, you simply chose to work out of pure will.

"I don't want to always rely on you so much," you confessed, "This commissioner could turn my whole career around. If I'm able to gain his favour, maybe I'll get promoted to a court painter for the Qixing! Who knows when there will ever be a chance like this again," pumping your fists, you spoke purposefully, "I'll pull an all nighters if I have to!"

Childe brings his hand to his forehead, you looked as if you were nearly about to collapse and yet still considering the option of an all-nighters? The harbinger should've detained you days prior before.

"Hm? Childe, what's wrong?" He suddenly falls deadly quiet and you watched him walk closer towards you, "What are--"

Hooking an arm behind your knees and the other at your back, your boyfriend lifts you up in one full swoop as he tossed you over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Guess we'll have to do things the hard way," he remarks cheerfully.

"W-Wait," you flailed your arms and kicked your legs but to no avail. Childe was an experienced combatant indeed, "Put me down! I have work to do."

Your protests fall upon deaf ears as the harbinger carries you to your room. You were oddly lighter than the last time he carried you, the strength less vigor than before, it was obvious that your body was in need of relaxation. He suddenly thinks there was a possibility that you would maintain this habit while he was absent.

I should probably visit more often.

Using his free leg to nudge the door open, he places you upon the shared bed in a gentle manner. You winced at the impact of the soft sheets, surprised by how much it affect you.

"There we go. All done. Man, you really are a stubborn one, aren't you. Makes me a little worried since I can't spoil you all the time."

He quickly invited himself to the empty space on your bedside and wrapped his arms around your figure, pulling you close and feeling you whole. Childe made sure there was no escape once putting his chin above your hairline so that you could feel his warmth as much as possible.

"This is--" you stuttered. His tactic was enough to make your limbs soften and you could almost hear him smirk into the distance, "This is cheating..."

"You think so?" He comments as if pledging innocence, "I don't know babe. Where I come from those who take the initiative are the ones who end up claiming the prize," pulling back, Childe takes the opportunity to observe your pouty face, "I don't make the rules. It's just how it goes."

You wanted to argue back but he suddenly took the bedsheets and covered both of your bodies with, completely trapping you with his presence. He snuggles into you further as if you were a bear made of linen and you felt the drowsiness taking over your mind. The way he gently pats down the back of your head was enough to instantly lull you into a deep sleep.

"Cheater," you mumbled.

He laughs softly, the rumbles emitting through his chest, "I love you too babe."

Even after you've let go of your resistance, Childe continues his actions until he was sure that you were resting. He had been longing to touch you like this since living a chaotic life only made peaceful moments much sweeter, "You're such a hard-worker you know that? I'm proud of you but you have to know when to call it a day," he whispers, "If not, how can I go on trips while knowing that you're still refusing to eat properly?"

You closed your eyes and said nothing in return. All your senses were too cloudy to come up with a reassuring response. Childe listens to the way your breath evens as you intake his scent during the process. It smelled like the soap you used in the showers, lotus leaves mixed with his own unique musk. You could only focus on him. His comforting embrace. His slightly accelerating heartbeat because you were together with him.

Letting out one final yawn, you succumbed to his spell and allowed your energy to drift away.

The corners of his lips tug upwards, "Sleep well princess."

Childe reaches over to your desk drawer and shuts off the alarm clock before turning over to face you again. He couldn't fall asleep immediately, not when he had to consider taking care of the commissioner who gave you an impossible deadline. But that will be saved for another day, for now, he observes in silent serenity.

If he were to quit his job for a year, what would his life be like?

Peaceful. Something opposite of what he was living right now. Something similar to the life he had back home. As you arrange the many paintings in your little home, he'll offer to help you among the places you couldn't reach. Without a doubt, Childe was far taller in comparison. Taking strolls into the streets and trying the new dishes the merchants came up with. Then in the evenings, you'll both go to dinner dates while listening to the storyteller revealing the rumours of the legendary Tianquan Qixing. Although Childe loved the adventurous life he led, he had to admit that your domesticity and family-bringing atmosphere was a tempting idea.

Maybe one day.

He lightly takes a strand that had fallen over your nose and tucked it smoothly behind your ear. The soft snores coming out of your parted lips caused his gaze to melt. And so he steals them with his own, placing a chaste goodnight kiss.

One day I'll be sure to bring my family here with us.

Closing his eyes, he joins you in your slumber, hoping to see all that he envisioned in his dreams.

[milfuen]

adhering to the system

… ⇢ ˗ˏˋ ࿐ྂ Emmeline laughed breathily. “Are all Inazuman men so perceptive?”

Ayato tilted his head, amused. “Is that a stereotype in other regions?”

For the rest of the day, Heizou couldn’t get Emmeline out of his mind. Especially the look on her face when he kissed her on the cheek. Her lightly flushed cheeks and the way her lips parted almost imperceptibly before her brain shut down. He had to fight off the urge to kiss her again.

He decided to go to the Tenryou Commission after sifting through her notes, and he happened to come across some reports from other regions. The most notable one came from Fontaine, from a journalist. He’d given up on it after months of finding nothing and stuffed it into some box, but now that he knew about Emmeline, it made much more sense.

All of them talked about a sighting of a seemingly ethereal woman. After they had made a report and were then asked about it, they claimed to have never made such reports in the first place. It should have been attractive to Heizou, who looked for a challenge, but there were no clues. The higher-ranking officers of the Commission had discouraged everyone from looking into them.

Maybe they were drunk when they made the reports , they had reasoned.

It would make sense because they had forgotten quickly, but none of them had drunk alcohol the day they made the report. They were also observant people. He had interrogated the Fontaine journalist who made a report on the woman. They had relayed to Heizou all that they did on the day they made a report . . . ignoring the gap in their memory at the time they supposedly created the account.

Heizou initially concluded that the unexplained memory loss came from the said ethereal woman . But there was so little evidence of the woman’s existence, if not at all. The sightings happened all around Teyvat, and just how those reports found their way to his desk baffled him. There had been no sightings in Inazuma or Liyue, and the most time the woman had spent on one region had been an entire decade. In Snezhnaya.

A number of the reports came from entirely different periods, which made it easier to determine just how long they had spent in one place. Through this, to see the way people seem to turn to the law so quickly was intriguing. The oldest report he had received related to the case was almost fifty years old.

If that sighting of Emmeline had been fifty years ago, then shouldn’t Emmeline be an old lady? As far as Heizou knew, Emmeline looked youthful. The most probable answer would be that she was immortal unless she was a witch.

Gold . . . Albedo . . . Based on the way she had highlighted those names in the notes she had failed to throw away, they were important figures in what she had done in Mondstadt. In the discovery of an ancient creature. Heizou knew Emmeline wasn’t telling him anything about the creature’s origins since she had not written questions about it. Not even once.

The only related note she had to the creature was the one mentioning Gold. In most of the notes, she had written about her observations on the machine’s specifications and the setting in which they had to operate it to work effectively against what they were dealing with. She should have been more curious about the creature, but she already knew enough to leave it out of her notes.

That made it harder for Heizou to discern many things, but he supposed he could connect unrelated events.

Albedo was the one she went to Dragonspine with. He was the one she told the solutions she thought of. He was one of the causes of this unfortunate event ever happening. From how she recounted what had happened that day without any of her thoughts ever written down, Heizou could see that Albedo had every bit of an idea about where they were going and what they were going to do.

Albedo was a researcher in Mondstadt, and he had invited Emmeline for an expedition in the snowy mountains of Dragonspine. On that same day, both of them had discovered a slumbering creature beneath the permafrost of a ruin on the surface of the icy region. That was enough to warrant suspicion from Heizou, but he hadn’t taken up this request to arrest anyone. He had done it to help Emmeline, and that part was almost complete. All he needed to do now was to wait for Tsuneo and Emmeline.

Heizou didn’t use the information channels he had access to even if he wanted to dig deeper into Albedo’s identity. Why was that? Maybe it was because Emmeline wouldn’t be happy if he did so. She had already disclosed so much with her notes, and even though she wasn’t entirely careful, what she had given Heizou was enough to determine what they—Emmeline and Albedo—needed to do. Even though the sleep deprivation took her in the later parts of the research, she still was conscious enough only to give out what Heizou needed and what she would only answer if he asked.

Of course, Heizou wouldn’t get involved with anything occurring from there on out. Still, he hoped that what little assistance he could provide Emmeline would benefit her. After all, he did spend six hours arranging Emmeline’s notes and writing his thoughts down for her to see when she wakes up. Grouping the scattered sheets of paper according to relevance had been a pain, but somehow, it had been worth it in his eyes.

In a way, doing additional research was his way of finding out more about Emmeline and her connections in other regions—the latter was extremely scarce, but what she had was strong enough to influence Teyvat. Heizou just didn’t know to what extent she could do that.

Now, placing down the last sheets of paper on his coffee table and glancing at Emmeline’s sleeping figure, the Vision hanging from a tassel fastened to the haori tied around his waist glowing faintly with untapped elemental energy, Heizou didn’t quite want to leave.

“Let’s see each other again.” Heizou didn’t like how his intuition told him staying with her was a bad idea. He hated it as soon as he knew, just before she went to sleep. A last chance was all he needed, and even he couldn’t have that. “I’ll make sure of it,” he whispered, pressing a lingering kiss on Emmeline’s cheek.

***

Emmeline woke up alone, with a ghost of warmth lingering on her cheek, right where Heizou had kissed her when she fell asleep. Heizou’s apartment only had a few windows, and none of those windows were near his bed. Emmeline shuffled to the living room space, peeking through the curtains to see the sun high in the sky.

It was either noon or afternoon. Turning slightly, Emmeline took notice of the neat stack of papers on the coffee table she used as a work table.

The last time she was awake . . . what did she do? The sleep deprivation had given her mild amnesia. She could barely remember anything clearly. Only sensations and faint whispers greeted her when she tried to recall.

A cheeky smile.

“Go to sleep.”

A moment of weakness.

Something on her cheek.

Emmeline flushed yet again. Heizou kissed her cheek. That shouldn’t be surprising, considering it was relatively normal for intimate people to do that, but Heizou was otherwise a stranger. If she didn’t seek him out specifically, he’d be as good as a mere citizen of Inazuma. In Emmeline’s eyes, he’d only be a Doushin in the Tenryou Commission with a reputation that preceded him.

Her fingers hovered over her cheek. Her eyebrows then furrowed, and her fingers curled, settling into a fist over her skin. She shouldn’t be taking it seriously. It was only an impulsive happenstance. To let it fester was irresponsible. If Emmeline’s thoughts had already reached the point of fluster, then her control was already weakening.

Emmeline was an immortal, closest to the realm of the divine and incredibly distant from those on the surface of Teyvat. Heizou could not comprehend the spectrum of Fate Emmeline had to hold in her hands.

She sat on his couch, likely in the same space she occupied for most of her stay in his apartment. Emmeline took a few sheets of paper from the neat stack Heizou had made of her notes. In between the lines of her handwriting were Heizou’s observations. They were, of course, written in the eye of a detective, for they touched upon views Emmeline hadn’t given a second thought to had they ever crossed her mind.

Then, beneath everything, was a folded sheet of paper. The Curious Case of Albedo . Heizou’s note had only taken up the space of half a sheet of paper, for his words were concise enough to deliver the message he wanted to convey.

Albedo had a more significant part in all this.

Of course, Emmeline had considered the possibility of that. She lost half a day constantly returning to that possibility. The supposed-to-be-impossible possibility. Yet it made sense. It made more sense than merely assuming that creature had been slumbering for all those years and not one researcher—not even Albedo—had ever seen it.

All until Emmeline decided to get involved. Anyone else could have done it if such a simple mechanism was to be utilized to fracture the ice—especially Albedo, who yearned for knowledge and everything in between.

Leave it to Heizou to confirm what thoughts had plagued Emmeline from the very last day of her research. He didn’t lie. He did get her an answer.

Emmeline returned the note to its place beneath the pile of papers, scribbling a thank you on the back of the first sheet of paper before crossing it out with her quill, taking the entire stack of paper except Heizou’s note and leaving without a word of goodbye to the detective.

She remembered she had to burn those.

“Wielding a blade requires not merely strength.”

Emmeline’s eyes moved over the purplish blade of Musou Isshin , lingering on the emblem of Electro serving as the handguard. “I see.” The wielder twisted the sword slowly, aiming the sharp edge downward before swiping the blade in a vertical arc.

“Fighting isn’t her thing, Ei. You don’t need to teach her,” Kitsune Saiguu said, chuckling.

“Oh, leave her be, Saiguu,” said Raiden Makoto. “She should be able to hold my blade every once in a while. Ei looks like she’s enjoying it.” She liked the look on her sister’s face in times when they did not have any official duties to uphold. Of course, this reprieve was only temporary, for they had an entire nation to govern.

Kitsune Saiguu pointed a finger at her, snowy kitsune ears swaying along with the movement. “Emmeline doesn’t even look like she’s listening!”

“It’s quite rude to point,” Ei remarked, putting away Musou Isshin and situating herself beside her sister.

Makoto smiled softly, different from the smiles she showed foreign delegates and noble houses. “I rarely have breaks from stately affairs, and neither does Ei; let us have the pleasure of being in your company, even if for something inessential.”

Emmeline offered her a sad smile. Knowing what would befall her was a burden she didn’t want to but needed to bear. She couldn’t even tell the person closest to Makoto. The person who shared every thought and emotion with her. The person who would suffer the most when she died.

“What’s wrong?” Chiyo asked, leaning over from where she once had her head on the grass, basking underneath the midday sun.

“Nothing,” said Emmeline. “Everything is as it should be.”

“Profound,” Saiguu remarked.

“ Make sure to remember me, as the Ley Lines do, ” Chiyo mocked, laughter following her words as she draped her arms on Emmeline’s shoulders.

“What did I ever do to you?” Saiguu turned to Chiyo, baring her teeth. The sibling Archons watched the exchange with amusement in their eyes, though Ei’s hid behind her usual guarded gaze.

“Emmeline! Save me from this fiend!”

Emmeline sighed, putting her hands on Chiyo’s arms and removing them from her shoulders, carefully moving Chiyo, so she sat beside her. “You started it, Chiyo.”

Saiguu grinned.

Emmeline silently watched the embers that rose and dissipated into the sky as ash replaced the ivory sheets of paper that contained both her and Heizou’s research on the incident in Mondstadt. One she has now dubbed as The Fate’s Case . It would look good on Heizou’s shelves. He would stare at the case file with varying levels of confusion and curiosity as he would fail to remember what had transpired during the investigation, as short as it might have been.

That was a good thing, she supposed. Once all of this was done and over with, she could send the complete documentation of the case to the Tenryou Commission in the name of Shikanoin Heizou, and if somehow she gained the signature of the Raiden Shogun, even better. She was doing all of this as a farewell gift, for when her feet step off the soil of the Inazuma Archipelago, the memories of those who didn’t need them will fade away, and only the vestiges of her existence would remain.

“Miss Emmeline?”

The woman mentioned above sighed. “What did you do with the earring, Thoma?”

“Lady Ayaka is keeping it in her quarters as a keepsake of the day you spent with her.” It was as she thought.

No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t hide the faint smile on her face. “She’s a kind woman, isn’t she?” Emmeline believed Ayaka didn’t deserve any hearsay about her that would reach her ears, being more prone to receiving them as a public figure in Inazuma and as the young woman of the Kamisato Clan.

Thoma cleared his throat, uninterested in small talk. “Lord Ayato has requested your presence, Miss Emmeline.”

Emmeline hummed. “So early?” Midday wasn’t exactly early, but she had just woken up a mere hour prior. To her, at least, it was too early for official meetings with the Yashiro Commissioner.

“We couldn’t—”

She chuckled. “You can talk about what others don’t know.”

“The Shuumatsuban has tried to locate you for the past week. Lord Ayato has dispatched several of them following the initial failure, so I believe you can understand why I’ve come to you so early.”

“I do, surprisingly.” Emmeline didn’t face Thoma, but she was surprised, if not mildly curious. A week? If she remembered correctly, she spent around three to four days with Heizou and then fell asleep. Had she been asleep for three days? It was a little hard to believe.

How was she not even a sliver of hungry?

“If you have nothing else to do, we must head to the Kamisato Estate.” Thoma sent a glance to the ever-burning stack of notes behind her, most of which were nothing more than ash.

She moved to stand beside Thoma, staring at the flames of her own creation. “Curious?” Technically, what she was doing was legal. Emmeline wasn’t destroying any property, so arson was off the table if ever someone decided to make her life harder and report her to the Tenryou Commission due to a mere plume of smoke they spotted from far away. At most, she would get fined for violating an act passed long ago.

“If you could tell me.”

“You’re not going to report me?”

“I don’t see any reason to.” Thoma shook his head. “You’re not destroying any property, Miss Emmeline.”

“Stop it with the honorifics,” she said. “I understand you’re still wary of me, but believe me when I say that you shouldn’t talk to me like I’m someone who will run after you if you slip up with your words.” Emmeline only expected that attitude from actual nobles, not from a child of freedom like Thoma. She could only imagine the look on Venti’s face if he could observe this.

“Alright.”

“Furthermore, the way you act around me seems to be different from how you act around others.” Emmeline crossed her arms. “Care to tell me why?”

Thoma dipped his head, and Emmeline allowed him a few moments to think of an answer. “I find myself needing to match your energy.”

Emmeline nodded, realizing that his answer was similar to others’ perception of her aura—or energy, as Thoma called it. “Ethereal, I’m guessing?”

Thoma nodded. “Yes,” was his answer after a brief pause. He wondered if many others had the same experience as him when it came to being around Emmeline; that was why she could guess the words that failed to go out of his mouth. In his mind was only the overbearing nature of her aura.

Emmeline waved a hand. “No matter that, just speak casually.”

Thoma smiled stiffly. “That’s going to be hard.”

“You’re already doing quite well for just trying.”

Thoma looked perplexed like he didn’t quite believe what Emmeline was saying. He looked, dare she said, uncomfortable . Just like her when she’d been in the presence of the Kreideprinz. “Am I, really?”

“Yes.” Emmeline nodded encouragingly.

Thoma exhaled, his breath coming out hastily and shakily, a product of his anxiety. Emmeline honestly did believe he was doing well. But it would only be a victory if his genuine smile greeted her. What an honor it would be to see that. From the dog lover. He probably had a gentle personality, judging from that alone. Kind, too. The citizens looked at him with warm and thankful gazes whenever he was within sight.

Emmeline smiled sweetly. “How long are you allowed before it’s absolutely imperative that you take me to the Kamisato Head?”

“Long enough,” Thoma murmured, confused.

“Let’s talk over some food.” Emmeline turned around, feet taking her away from Thoma. “I’m pretty sure I should be hungry right now.”

  “Have you just woken up?” Thoma stared at the serving of Egg Roll in front of him after thanking Kiminami Anna for the service.

“You guess correctly,” Emmeline responded, picking up half of the Katsu Sandwich she ordered. She felt hungry now that food was before her. Since she spent a week in Heizou’s presence, doing nothing else except compiling notes about whatever she had done in Mondstadt, Emmeline now only had another week before she needed to leave Inazuma.

After all, she had to catch up to the Fatui Harbinger doing some business in the Land of Contracts. There was nothing she could do about the time she’d wasted, for it couldn’t be reversed. She may be able to look into distant futures and people’s pasts, but time was never in her domain. Time could not be chained down, much like freedom or the wind.

Finding herself about to chuckle due to the unexpected connection she’d made, she cleared her throat and turned to Thoma, who was halfway done with his Egg Roll. “Can you tell me what happened when the Vision Hunt Decree was ongoing?”

Thoma shuddered, and she took notice of that. “I thought everyone across the seven regions already knew?” He frowned, staring at the last slice of Egg Roll between his chopsticks sadly and pushing it into his mouth, effectively clearing out his plate.

“That’s true.” Besides, who didn’t know it? It was an event that affected many lives; it was guaranteed that news would spread everywhere. The Fontaine journalists surely didn’t pass on the chance to write about it in their tabloids. “However, I would like to hear it from someone who experienced the Vision Hunt Decree first-hand.”

“I wouldn’t say it was a pleasant experience.”

Emmeline hummed knowingly, reaching for the remaining half of her Katsu Sandwich. It wasn’t pleasant for anyone else either. Still, Thoma was one such person who got their Vision confiscated—for a brief time anyway. He parted with his Vision for no longer than a minute, unlike those who were driven mad after being stripped of their ambition. Thoma couldn’t sympathize with everyone affected, but he had what Emmeline needed.

The view of the Raiden Shogun as she tore open a portal to her inner realm.

“For a year, we had to endure hearing the sorrows of those unfortunate enough to have been at the receiving end of the Raiden Shogun’s decree,” Thoma said, sounding wistful. The memories of the Vision Hunt Decree flashed in his mind. “The Yashiro Commission did what they could, even collaborating with those who wanted to oppose the decree, but there was only so much we could achieve through that.

“Then, the Traveler arrived. The Traveler was a ray of sunlight in eternal midnight. One could say that the Vision Hunt Decree was repealed because of him. No one knew what exactly he did to change the mind of the Raiden Shogun, but everything became easier with him around.”

Emmeline took in Thoma’s words even though she already knew all this. She wanted to know what it had felt like to lose the Vision granted to him due to his ambition. If it had brought him immense sorrow for the moment it was gone, or if it had brought him emptiness.

“What did you feel?”

Thoma blinked, confused. “Huh?”

“What did you feel when you lost your Vision?” Emmeline clarified.

“How do you—”

“Your Vision was going to be the one-hundredth Vision seized by the Vision Hunt Decree,” Emmeline interjected. “There was a ceremony conducted before the Statue of the Omnipresent God”—she took a deep breath—“all to publicize the confiscation of your Vision.”

“But the Traveler intervened,” Thoma murmured.

Emmeline cast her gaze downward. “Had he not, Fate would have taken a turn for the worse.” Even though, no matter what, the Traveler would have chosen to save Thoma, Emmeline could still see the alternate paths of an unavoidable decision. That Teyvat would never share the same landscapes as this one.

That path was full of ruin. The land would be crippled by the citizens’ disdain, overshadowed by the Fatui’s plan coming into fruition, and Ei’s ideals shattered beyond repair. It was a future without any hope for the Nation of Eternity. Emmeline would have never stepped foot into Inazuma. For 500 years, she had waited for the right moment to go, but she wouldn’t have gotten the chance to. She wouldn’t have been able to see Inazuma during Ei’s reign.

The Traveler was essentially the stability Teyvat needed, as much as Celestia would want to try and purge them from their lands. If they were serious about it, the Traveler wouldn’t have even made it to Natlan. Celestia had plans for him, and it was hardly good whenever they did.

“It would have been,” Thoma agreed. Especially for Thoma. Without his Vision, madness would consume him. The Kamisato Clan would readily help him, but by then, there wouldn’t be much of a Kamisato Clan. The Tri-Commission would be no more, and the Fatui’s promise to Kujou Takayuki would remain unfulfilled.

Emmeline cleared her throat, standing up abruptly. “I apologize for the . . . dark shift in topics. Shall we head over to the Kamisato Estate?”

Thoma hastily stood up, trying to regain his bearings. “Ah, yes! You shouldn’t worry about asking about it. I figured I had to think about it sooner or later.” He offered a gentle smile to Emmeline. 

Emmeline raised an inquisitive eyebrow in response but then realized what she was doing and smiled with her eyes closed. “You didn’t need to. You have no reason to recollect all that.” She was sure she wouldn’t. If she had lived through the Cataclysm, she wouldn’t want to remember the horrors of that time. She didn’t, so she was curious. That was why she asked. She asked, and she would keep on asking. Until the truth was unveiled right before her eyes.

She didn’t know what the Kamisato Estate in the city looked like. Whenever the Kamisato Clan had matters to attend to in the city that needed their constant presence, they would stay at their estate in the city. It wasn’t as grandeur as their estate at the foot of Mt. Yougou and a little ways past Chinju Forest. However, it was still larger than the usual home of an ordinary citizen. Of course, they were an esteemed clan, so they couldn’t afford to cut costs regarding accommodations.

Despite everything she’d seen, she didn’t know the appearance of the current head of the Kamisato Clan. Well . . . she did, but it had been so long at that point that her mind had blurred the memory of his face from her memories. All she remembered was the color blue.

It was fitting that both of the Kamisato siblings had been gifted Visions by Celestia, but to the eyes of the yearning, it would seem unfair. To have two of the same blood possess Visions, but they, who possessed more ambition than them, to lack everything . . . such was the bias of the Gods. However, they were to be faulted for failing to understand the requirements needed to be bestowed a Vision.

“People find you friendly, don’t they?” Emmeline asked, matching her steps with Thoma subconsciously. She even noticed some ladies staring at him bashfully. It was surprising that he, a Mondstadter, could garner such a positive reputation. Then again, he must have struggled before he got to this point. Hard work always pays off, regardless of whether one’s intentions are pure.

“I do what I can around Inazuma.” Thoma smiled warmly. “As long as it benefits the Kamisato Clan.”

Emmeline nodded. “Your loyalty is admirable.” His gratitude toward the Kamisato Clan ran deep, as they were the ones who had offered him a helping hand. Such appreciation and loyalty were unstable, however. In the name of service to the Kamisato Clan, he’d dirty his hands without as much a question. It wasn’t dissimilar to the Adepti’s relationship with the former Geo Archon.

Speaking of which, now that he was gone, where would their loyalties lie? They knew that Morax was still among the living, residing within the vessel of Zhongli, but he was no longer an Archon. Celestia had already accepted it long ago. It was only a matter of time before a new Geo Archon would govern Liyue, which understandably struck fear within those that resided in the land.

It was, after all, their first time in that department. Perhaps Sumeru could give them some pointers to help them along the challenging journey of accepting a new Lord of Geo.

“Thank you.”

It didn’t take him long to cozy up to her. He was already speaking freely. Perhaps all he needed was a few words from Emmeline to get him out of his shell. Though shell wasn’t exactly a fitting word since he was simply intimidated by her energy.

Ethereal, he says. Somehow, Emmeline thought the word had more importance now than on all the occasions it had been attributed to her. She didn’t know why.

“Thoma.” Emmeline turned her head to the new voice, eyes narrowing instinctively. “You didn’t perhaps offend our guest, did you?” Kamisato Ayato stood on the wooden floor of the hallways that led into the different wings of the Kamisato Estate. Emmeline and Thoma stood still; below their feet were stone steps that marked a path to that same hallway Ayato was in.

Kamisato Ayato characterized the color blue. He wore a semi-traditional white suit with purple accents to display his status. A Hydro Vision hung from his waist, and his eyes held a warm glow, one that Emmeline had observed to be artificial. Its only purpose was to make Emmeline feel welcome and comforted so she’d be more likely to loosen her tongue.

“Quite the contrary, Yashiro Commissioner,” Emmeline responded, a challenge on the tip of her tongue and laced within her words. “Your retainer has treated me with kindness and warmth. I extend my gratitude to you for the hospitality you have extended toward someone of my caliber.”

Ayato chuckled, a strange light within his blue eyes as he turned. “Such treatment is only the bare minimum of what you deserve, Lady Emmeline.” The faint tapping of his shoes accompanied the silent rushing of the water in the pond. “Thoma, do retrieve the package in my office.”

Thoma bowed simply and left to what Emmeline assumed as the Yashiro Commissioner’s office. Ayato twisted to face her once more and started walking to the adjacent wing of the Yashiro Commissioner’s office. That puzzled Emmeline. If she was meeting with him, no matter if it was for official or personal business, the common thing to do would be to hold it somewhere that had already seen the presence of multiple people for the same reasons.

The most common thing to do would be to head to his office to speak.

Why did they seem to be heading over to the resting wing of the Kamisato Estate?

Emmeline cleared her throat, still walking a few steps behind the tall Head of the Kamisato Clan. “Pardon me for my impertinence, Yashiro Commissioner, but why aren’t we meeting somewhere more fitting?”

Ayato stopped walking, which forced Emmeline to pause as well. “Why are you strangely formal, Miss Emmeline? The Shuumatsuban has informed me of your polite nature, but they have not mentioned your conformity to social ladders.” Hushed steps took him to her, and his face dipped closer to hers, where Emmeline could clearly see the different shades of blue within his eyes and the mole near his lips. “Just why is that?” His question came out as a whisper, only intended for her ears.

“I could ask you the same question, Yashiro Commissioner,” Emmeline whispered back. She didn’t peg Kamisato Ayato to be a confrontational man. Perhaps he encountered some trouble from earlier in the day. It could be many things, but Emmeline didn’t find herself curious enough to find out.

She noticed his gaze move to the earring on her left earlobe. Ayato pressed his lips into a thin line and furrowed his eyebrows slightly, turning as if this had never happened. He continued walking, leaving Emmeline in the middle of the hallway, confused about the interaction before she eventually followed after him.

The hallways were empty, where Emmeline would assume it would be filled with servants going back and forth the wings of the estate and guards patrolling the area for safety.

“How do you like the courtyard?”

Emmeline’s eyes moved over the central point of the estate, where the sun shone directly into the hallways through its open ceiling. The courtyard was decorated with a beautiful rock garden with intricately raked gravel that emphasized the features of its minimal greenery. Their front yard also showcased such beauty, with a zen garden that calmed the soul.

A serene smile rested on her lips as she answered, “It’s beautiful.” 

Ayato, who was watching her intently, found himself returning her smile with his heart aflutter. He didn’t think he ever stared at his gardens with such melancholy. “I’ll be sure to relay that to the landscapers.”

The rest of the walk was silent afterward. Just like the estate they were currently in. Emmeline has yet to ask Ayato about the emptiness of the hallways, but he didn’t seem bothered by it, so she found no reason to. Not when the silence was calming despite the bustle of the city. They couldn’t have employed mages to isolate the space of this estate from the rest of the city. Still, it felt like a different place when she stepped foot into the compound.

What could Ayato possibly want with her?

She knew she didn’t want anything from her. Emmeline believed he would be helpful to The Fate’s Case , but that was before she met Heizou. Now she had everything she needed. Then she remembered she needed Venti’s help too. Somehow, she needed to persuade him if she wanted the least number of people to be there. Sure, she could ask for the help of the Knights, which was probably the best plan overall, but she felt like it was easier with Venti.

She chose that because of her selfishness, if anything, but it would ease her heart if she did it. Venti suffered the most, living with the knowledge of knowing something that was always a blur to him for a millennium. Emmeline wanted to see the person he was now, even as a stranger who constantly hurt him with their presence.

She had seen just how free he would become from the mirage she’d showed him after Vennessa’s rebellion. Unshackled from the bounds of responsibility from the loss of his Gnosis and spirit flying freely with the wind, just like he had been during the Archon War. She wanted to see it now, in the present, as the mirage had become the present—the best outcome out of many.

Ayato entered a room with a homely interior, which confirmed to Emmeline that they were indeed in the city's resting wing of their estate. A low table with an Inazuma-style tea set greeted them, and Emmeline could faintly see steam rising from the teapot's spout. At the corner of the room, beside the open shoji that showcased the zen garden wrapped around the estate, was a shelf partly filled with parchment and books, possibly of the Yashiro Commissioner’s head’s choosing.

Emmeline was fearful.

“By any chance . . . is this your room, Yashiro Commissioner?” she asked hesitantly, struggling to stop her eyebrows from furrowing because of a wave of unwarranted anger she felt toward Ayato.

“You’re observant, Miss Emmeline.” Ayato was amused by her reaction. Emmeline had one foot behind the other, prepared to leave when the situation called for it. The current situation most definitely called for it, but it wasn’t like he would let her go either. Ayato had all the means he needed to get her to stay and talk with him.

“So it is.” Emmeline’s voice shook. The host chose his room out of all the places in the estate they could discuss. First of all, it was preposterous to do this kind of thing. If clan elders heard of it, even the head wouldn’t be safe from their wrath. However, Ayato seemed like a person who would brush off the words of the traditional elderly members of his council, which only meant bad—even horrible things to her. “Then it’s safe to assume you won’t be performing a tea ceremony for me?”

Second of all, within the Inazuma social system, if a clan head or any notable member of a clan for that matter invited someone into their quarters for a meeting, it usually meant that some sort of intimate act was about to transpire within the room. Dimly, Emmeline realized that this was probably why the estate didn’t have any roaming servants and guards. Despite being one of the only people who knew Emmeline, he still cared for her reputation. Servants were no stranger to gossip. Whatever word came out of noble houses regarding personal affairs was sourced from servants, after all.

“My younger sister would consider it an honor to perform a tea ceremony for you.” Lastly, anything could happen within the walls of his quarters, and no one would know. That was terrifying enough of a thought. Emmeline couldn’t imagine it in practice. Perhaps Thoma would, but his loyalty would get in the way of many things.

Emmeline groaned inwardly at the dilemma, unaware of Ayato’s keen eyes on her slightest shift in expression. “I’m sure she would.” Before she could prepare to retreat, Ayato placed a gloved hand on the small of her back, urging her to enter with a close-eyed smile.

Emmeline pressed her lips together, turning her head to stare at Ayato’s blue eyes.

No choice.

Ayato poured them some tea after asking Emmeline, who had given him an affirmative response. She reckoned she needed something to calm her nerves before overthinking made her brain explode. It would be so easy if she looked into his thoughts, but she knew it was wrong. She picked up her cup with both hands and placed her left hand under her cup, taking a sip.

Of course, she savored the taste. It wasn’t always she got to taste noble-made Inazuma tea. It tasted rich and delicate at the same time. She could taste the process employed to make this tea—authentic and careful instead of being rushed and mass-produced. The man before her chuckled, eyes on her when she looked up at the noise. He cradled his cup delicately, and Emmeline was watching him when he took a sip from it, humming at the taste.

Emmeline was reluctant to take another sip of the tea to gauge the taste again, forgetting her manners.

“I won’t judge you,” Ayato helpfully supplied, noticing her hesitation. “It’s just the two of us, after all.”

Her eyes widened. Perhaps she was overthinking. Of course, Kamisato Ayato would want privacy for both of them. He already started by dismissing the servants; what more was giving her a room to stay in as they talked—preferably his own quarters —since it was a comfortable space for him? Surely it would be comfortable for her too? Emmeline dipped her head, picking up her cup and drinking from it, letting the taste brush against her tongue and her taste buds decipher it.

Emmeline laughed breathily. “Are all Inazuman men so perceptive?”

Ayato tilted his head, amused. “Is that a stereotype in other regions?”

Emmeline shifted, fixing her posture. “It’s just something I have observed.” She let her mind wander to the detective from a few days ago. She wondered if Thoma possessed the same quality despite not being from Inazuma. He’d lived here long enough and had stood by the side of nobility, so he was bound to pick up on some habits. “Yashiro Commissioner, why have you asked for me?”

Ayato hummed, finding her straightforward question pleasing as he put his cup down. He did it with more elegance than she. Emmeline felt faintly envious. Oh, to employ such effortless grace and charm without meaning to. “I would appreciate it if you called me by name.”

“Getting comfortable, are we?” Emmeline raised an eyebrow.

“You give off an aura that makes it hard for me not to feel at ease, my lady.”

Emmeline’s eyebrows furrowed almost imperceptibly. The reason? His words. She knew her aura was different from others’, but only a handful of people had really commented on it. Ayato was the second in a row. Did everyone feel the same way as he did? As Thoma did? “I see.” She settled for those words amidst her confusion.

“Is there something on your mind?”

“Nothing, my lord.” Emmeline pressed her lips together. “Do continue.” There was. She wanted him to describe her aura to him. To compare it to others’ descriptions as well. She couldn’t help but feel curious about it.

“Kamisato Ayato.” He had a sweet smile on his face, which made Emmeline feel increasing levels of annoyance.

“Lord Kamisato,” Emmeline said after a few moments of staring at his smile. Still, one she wanted to have off his face. As pretty as it was, it didn’t look anywhere close to genuine. Amused . He was amused.

“That’s progress,” he remarked happily. “Would you like some more tea?”

“I’ll have to decline, Lord Kamisato.”

“You act much like my retainers with the respect you employ in your words, Miss Emmeline.” It was apparent to her that he wanted to provoke her. To piss her off somehow. Thankfully, she had the patience of a saint, and she wouldn’t hesitate to use it to its fullest potential. Tonight, she would need a good night’s sleep.

Emmeline dipped her head. “Thank you for the compliment, my lord.”

Staring back at him, the amusement in his eyes disappeared as he regarded her with a neutral stare. “If you could tell me what’s on your mind, I would appreciate that. Before we can continue.” A different Ayato. Lacking any playfulness. The Yashiro Commissioner.

“I understand,” she murmured. And yet she made no move to speak. It wasn’t because she was collecting her thoughts. She knew just what she wanted to say. Emmeline just wanted Ayato to wait. To see in what way his expression would shift. If it ever shifted.

Fifteen minutes later, and Emmeline had deemed that they had wasted more than enough time to keep this up. Ayato perked up at the sight of her sighing. “Would you like a refill? I would guess your tea is now cold.” He still somehow sounded amused.

“No need,” was Emmeline’s dry response. Her eyes moved over to the teapot. “Tell me about my aura.”

“If you insist.” Ayato sighed, staring into Emmeline’s eyes that did not stare back at him. “Your aura is similar to the Raiden Shogun’s. It has an untouchable feel to it. But I have been in the presence of the Raiden Shogun on multiple occasions, so I have gotten used to it. Does that answer satisfy you?” Ayato gazed at her through his lashes, slightly moving his chin down.

Emmeline kept her lips pressed together, staring still at the teapot. “How is that comfortable to you?” If Thoma was anything to go by, Ayato would react similarly—even if only in the slightest. Because Ayato was used to being in the presence of authority. He knew how to paint a picture through his expressions, to stand alongside those who ranked higher than him. He knew what confidence was.

“You are an interesting person, Miss Emmeline.” Perhaps Emmeline should have seen his true self the moment they both met. Kamisato Ayato was a dangerous man: clever and cunning. He took over the Kamisato Clan at a young age, but only a boy eager to please his parents with his dedication to his family. At such a young age, he shouldered the duties of a clan head and was forced to learn and govern without ceasing. All to ensure a prosperous life for his sister and his clan.

Emmeline’s eyes narrowed at the words that followed after, the proof of his true intentions. “I also wish to observe you. Such is why I would like to extend an offer to you. Become one of my retainers.”

“I’m sure you can observe me right here. We have all day, my lord,” she responded blankly. Emmeline expected many things, including this. Her response was, as always, prepared. Any offer to make her stay in one place, she would decline without question. No matter how attractive the benefits were.

Ayato smiled, catlike and mischievous. He must have known she would decline. But why propose becoming his retainer in the first place? Did he think she would at least consider it because it was him ? The Yashiro Commissioner and Head of the Kamisato Clan? Surely not. He must have another goal to achieve with her.

Ah, she didn’t like being used like this. Treated like a puppet that only moved at the Kamisato’s whims. It left a bad taste in her mouth. If someone like Ayato already existed, there was no telling how many more were as cunning as him, if not even more. What a terrifying thought to come to. Wait. There was already someone worse than him. Yae Miko. That kitsune she didn’t know about.

“I could,” he responded. Ayato leaned over the low table, pushing his face close—a breath away from Emmeline’s. “Since you’ve kindly let me.” The blue in his eyes glowed unnaturally. Emmeline couldn’t move, even though she tilted herself away just barely when he placed his gloved hand on the table.

“The tea’s going to spill,” she whispered over his skin. She should feel lucky, for Ayato’s lips were closer to her ear than anywhere else on her face. 

Ayato chuckled softly, a sound that shook her bones as a chill spread over her spine. “An easy problem to fix,” he cooed, moving the tea set to the corner of the table. “Anything else?”

“I don’t—no, my lord.” As much as Emmeline wanted to comment on how inappropriate his actions were, she let it be. He was clearly having fun. Might as well leave him to his amusement, as odd as his form of entertainment was. Obviously, Emmeline wasn’t having that much fun.

“How do you feel?”

Emmeline focused on the hand Ayato had on the table to support himself, not on how his breath left goosebumps on her skin. “Uncomfortable,” she stammered. One slight movement caused her cheek to brush against his, and with a gasp, Emmeline’s eyes filled with light.

So it seemed Ayato liked to watch people squirm. Emmeline wouldn’t define her current situation and responses as that, but she was clearly uncomfortable. It would be enough for someone like him. It must be amusing. Watching an immortal feel uneasy because of him and his actions. What would he think if he knew just how much Emmeline found out about him with that infinitesimal moment of physical contact?

At least one person under him or allied with him should have past memories with Emmeline if they were able to tell him about her. Was it the Raiden Shogun? It didn’t make sense. The puppet wouldn’t do that. Not unless it had something to gain from doing so.

“Why aren’t you pushing me away?” Ayato leaned back to meet her face to face. Now she couldn’t not look into his eyes when it was the one clearly begging for attention before her. A gentle face for a man anything but.

“I don’t know,” came her response. Unsure. Confused. Flustered, mostly. It was probably because her nervous system was malfunctioning, as unfamiliar as she was with intimacy. But she seemed to have her fair share of it nowadays.

Ayato hummed, returning to his side of the table without further questions. It was then Emmeline felt oxygen rush into her lungs like a tidal wave, and though painful, was relieving. “Thoma, come in.”

His retainer didn’t immediately enter the room. The Mondstadter knew Emmeline wanted to say something to Ayato, having heard their conversation faintly from outside through the slight gap in the shoji.

“How do you know about me?” she asked after catching her breath. She had half a mind to stand up and walk out, leaving the Yashiro Commissioner with an empty cup of memories that followed her departure.

Ayato raised an eyebrow. “It surprises me that it took you so long to ask me that question.” He let his eyes linger on the less-than-hot teapot at the edge of the tabletop. He wondered when his retainer would come in to take the tea set and to deliver the thing he had asked for.

“Please answer my question.”

“During a visit to Tenshukaku, I happened to stumble upon a document lying open on the Raiden Shogun’s desk,” he said. “You’re quite interesting. None of my spies have any recollection of you just an hour after I’ve issued orders to them. You have made the search for you quite difficult.”

So, that was why it took them so long to find her. Fate worked oddly. It was neither with her nor against her. But that was the beauty of it. The less she knew, the more she could control. Although it was supposed to be the other way around, if Emmeline knew the future, she wouldn’t be allowed to take action to change it. “I see.”

“Even I forget about you often. That is why I always record my findings.”

“Ah, so you’re a scumbag too.”

Ayato shrugged. “I wouldn’t call it that. I’m simply cautious.”

“Cautious is putting it too lightly, my lord.”

  Thoma quickly gauged the atmosphere as he entered the clan head’s quarters. He supposed he didn’t need to take long to do it since immediately after setting his gazes on Ayato’s guest, he knew she was less than happy. The smile on his lord’s face was something he was used to seeing.

“My lord,” he greeted, dipping his head slightly. “Here is what you have asked for.” The air around the two was fiery, just like his Vision. Thoma felt as if Emmeline couldn’t wait to end the meeting. Ayato must have spoken too much to aggravate the calm woman. He moved to Ayato’s side of the room to place the package down.

Ayato stared at his retainer, and Thoma could also feel Emmeline’s eyes on him. “Thank you, Thoma. You may leave.”

Thoma glanced at Emmeline before bowing and turning to leave the room. It wasn’t like he could do anything to aid her. His responsibility lay with the Kamisato Clan. However, he could only hope his lord would be able to successfully end the day on a good note.

  “Thoma,” Emmeline said after the retainer left the room to attend to the other duties Ayato had assigned to him. He sure was hard-working. Perhaps he was even the busiest out of every other retainer the Kamisato Clan had.

“What about him?” Ayato asked.

“Nothing,” she admitted with a smile. Emmeline knew of the more eventful parts of Thoma’s life, which was during the Vision Hunt Decree, and that was enough. Although she was somewhat surprised when he moved his gaze to her during the brief meeting, she wouldn’t tell Ayato that.

“If you say so,” Ayato relented. He didn’t seem to want to push her to answer him anymore. Emmeline glanced at the package Thoma left in the room for a brief moment. Still, it nonetheless was captured by Ayato’s keen eyes. “I can see you’re curious about it.”

Emmeline narrowed her eyes, unamused. “Not really.” However, based on its general shape, she could deduce that it contained a kimono. It was probably for her.

“You’re smart,” Ayato quipped, “I’ll let you guess what’s inside.”

“I’d rather you present it to me, my lord,” Emmeline responded.

“What host am I if I were to ignore my guest’s request?” Ayato lifted the intricate cover of the package and within lay a sheet of scented paper. It smelled like Sakura Blooms. He then pulled it away to reveal a kimono, a light shade to compliment her dark eyes. 

“A kimono,” she affirmed.”

“For you, Miss Emmeline,” said Kamisato Ayato, a sweet smile on his face.

“Ah, but I could—”

“You could never?” Ayato cut her off. “You rejected my sister’s kind gift; you should at least accept this.”

“It’s not that easy, my lord.”

“But it is!” He pushed the present to her side of the table, at which Emmeline stared with a grimace on her face. If only it were truly easy. “At least wear it for the tea ceremony,” he suggested.

“This is more for your sister’s sake than mine, isn’t it?”

Ayato didn’t respond.

But it told Emmeline everything she needed. Did Kamisato Ayaka know that she had such a loving older brother? She absentmindedly reached up to touch her earring. She didn’t know where it came from. Only that it was a relic of times gone by. A product of a forbidden art that even she couldn’t witness. “Did I hurt her feelings? I could only guess that being the reason why you’re entertaining this meeting.”

“You’re mistaken, Miss Emmeline,” he said. “I wasn’t jesting when I said I wanted you as a retainer of mine. I’ve seen your abilities; you’d be outstanding at it. Someone who is both a retainer and a ninja.”

“My answer remains the same, but you haven’t answered my first question.”

“I care for my sister, and since she has requested to hold a tea ceremony for you, I will oblige.”

“You’re quite meticulous, my lord.” Even when there wasn’t any certainty as to when they would find Emmeline, he knew what exactly he wanted to do and what to say. 

“I appreciate the compliment, Miss Emmeline.” Ayato nodded. “But I do believe you’re more meticulous than I.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Emmeline couldn’t get a read on him. Even knowing his entire life up to this point, she couldn’t get into his thoughts. He wasn’t the first one to be like that. Despite being an immortal, Emmeline was horrible with people. She chose only to wander and look over the lives of those who walk the land.

“Do explain.”

“I’m afraid I don’t have the time to do so.” Emmeline placed covered the present once more and took it in her hands. “I will see you again for the tea ceremony, Lord Kamisato.”

“Time?” Ayato chuckled. “If you hadn’t been avoiding me for a week, then we would have had more time for this discussion, Miss Emmeline.”

“I’m afraid it wasn’t exactly possible for me to keep track of time.” She doubted she even looked at the time when she had been cooped up in Heizou’s apartment. “I’m also afraid I will have to make it hard for you to find me once more.”

“What—”

“Goodbye.”

  In Kamisato Ayato’s room, there was only him. It had always been that way since the day started. But he had so much to do! How could he sit alone in his room with two cups of tea until the afternoon?

“Thoma?” he called out.

No answer. Thoma was doing the tasks Ayato had assigned him, but Ayato didn’t know. In fact, he didn’t know anything.

“How peculiar.”

series: stories of a time long past

word count: 8.9k

author: ostellaria

[the-bau-quinjet]

hiii! i don’t know if you have done this but can you do a hotch x reader where they get kidnapped by tobias instead of reid? xx

4 Months

Warning: Criminal Minds level violence, drugs, torture, rabid dogs

Word Count: 3562

a/n: I decided to switch up some of the specifics, just to make it a bit more fun to read. I hope you like it :) Also, we're pretending Rossi was there bc he is really the father of the group and it fit better than having Gideon 🤷‍♀️

Masterlist

"JJ, we have to split up." You barely looked back at her, missing the nervous expression on her face as you ran toward the cornfield. "I'll take the field, you take the barn."

You slowed to a brisk walk as you neared the cornfield, raising your gun in front of you. You couldn't help but think about how pissed Hotch would be if he knew what you were doing.

You shook off the thought, knowing he would do the same if the roles were reversed.

Spotting movement, you moved farther into the corn, trying to spot any signs indicating which way Tobias went. A bent corn husk was the last thing you saw before the world went black.

-

"He's not a witness. He's the unsub." Hotch's eyes went wide as he realized you and JJ were there without backup. "Call JJ, now." He instructed Morgan, taking out his own phone to call you.

Hotch's eyes met Morgan's as both calls went unanswered. No words were exchanged as everyone ran out to the SUVS, putting on bulletproof vests as they went.

Hotch was nervously tapping the steering wheel the entire drive to Hankel's house. He couldn't stop replaying your last conversation.

"Y/N, you and JJ go talk to Hankel. Find out if he saw anything." Despite his stern expression, you could tell his eyes were smiling at you.

"Sure thing." You nodded, mouthing 'I love you' before turning to JJ.

That's it. He didn't even have the chance to mouth it back. JJ would've seen, and even though the team has theories about your relationship, you haven't confirmed anything yet.

He pulled into the driveway, running up to the house, gun out before anyone could stop him.

Prentiss followed Hotch, Morgan and Reid took the left, Rossi and a local cop took the right.

They tore through the house, clearing it with fierce determination, but came up empty.

"It's clear." Rossi called, joining Hotch and Prentiss in the living room. "Where are Morgan and Reid?"

Hotch spared a glance out the window, discovering the barn likely being cleared by the missing agents.

Everyone ran out of the house, arriving outside the barn just as Morgan and Reid lead a distressed JJ outside.

"What happened?" Hotch questioned, glancing over JJ's shoulder into the barn. Clearly you weren't there, but he needed to hope.

"We split up. Y/N went into the cornfield... I had- I had to shoot them." Her voice was detached, eyes glazed over.

"The dogs." Morgan clarified, leading JJ to a paramedic.

"Dammit. The house is clear. No sign of Y/N or Hankel." Hotch ran a hand through his hair, trying to clear his mind. The worry was nearly overpowering, but it wouldn't help find you.

The sheriff approached, removing his hat. "A deputy two towns over gave directions to a man matching Hankel's description. He's headed for a hunting lodge."

Morgan nodded to Prentiss. "We'll check it out."

-

Your head was pounding. A vile scent reached your nose, causing your eyes to flicker open. You flinched at the closeness of the man in front of you.

"Tobias..." The name slipped out in a whisper.

"They're not here. It's just me now." He stated, calmer than you would've expected.

"Who are you?" You asked, trying to portray a fake sense of calm.

"I'm Rafael." He pulled out a revolver, adding a single bullet to the six chambers.

"No. You don't have to do this." Your heart ached, fear gripping your body as he aimed the gun at you.

"It is my duty to enact God's will." He said, right before pulling the trigger.

-

Hotch pulled back into the driveway, leading Garcia into the house.

"His computer setup is in there. If there's even a hint of where they might've gone, I need you to find it." Hotch gestured to the back room.

Penelope nodded. Carrying her own computer bags, she followed Derek into the depths of the house.

"What've we got?" Hotch questioned those remaining around the table.

"He knew he could throw us off, pretend to be looking for a hunting lodge." Emily spoke quickly.

"We've got piles of information, journals, notebooks. We're still sifting through it all." JJ added, shirt still bloody from yesterday.

Just then, Reid rushed in from another room. "The walls in the bedroom, they are covered in the latin phrase 'honora patrem tuum', honor thy father."

"Garcia, look for anything you can find about his father." Hotch gave out orders, but his focus was elsewhere. What was happening to you?

"Over here!" Morgan called from outside.

The team ran around the house to see Morgan opening a cellar door. Nodding slightly, Hotch and Morgan made there way inside.

"Tobias Hankel, FBI." Morgan shouted, receiving no answer.

They quickly found the dead body of none other than Hankel's father. Even the new information did little to calm the worry brewing inside of Hotch.

-

"Confess your sins." He ordered.

"My sins? I don't have any sins." You did your best to hold back the tears, trying to figure out who you were talking to.

"Everyone has sins. Confess, and you will be forgiven." He stared you down, waiting for a response.

You simply shook your head, mouth slightly agape. The smell was getting to you. You couldn't think straight with the pain in your head.

"I- I don't know what-"

"YES YOU DO. CONFESS." He hit you, whipping your head to the left.

-

"Hotch, he took drugs to escape. Dilaudid cut with a psychedelic." Emily relayed the information her and JJ got from Tobias's sponsor.

"We've got something too. The dates in his journals don't add up. He was talking about his father as if he was alive months after he killed him."

"His father beat him, preached about sin." Emily replied, putting the pieces together alongside Hotch.

"Split personality. Profile the father. He could be the key to finding Y/N." Even just saying your name he felt his heart clench.

-

"Who are you?" You questioned him as soon as he walked through the door, trying to figure out who you were dealing with this time.

"Tobias." He moved about the cabin almost nervously.

"Who was here before?" You knew Rafael, but the other personality was a mystery.

"My father." Definitely the most violent. He was who you had to look out for. "I'm sorry if he hurt you."

Tobias looked over you newly forming bruises before pulling off his belt.

"No. No what are you doing?" You felt your heart rate increase as he wrapped the belt around your arm. You could barely register the words he was saying, something about escaping from the pain.

"Please. I don't want it. I'm fine." You begged, tears brimming your eyes. He ignored your pleas, injecting the drug into your bloodstream.

Despite how much you hated it, you felt the relief he was talking about. The pain was gone, even if just briefly. You thought about your time spent with Hotch. It didn't feel like long enough. You wanted more. You had so much you wanted to do with him.

"Aaron..." You mumbled his name between kisses. "They could see us." You did little to stop him, despite your words.

"We should tell them." He whispered against your mouth, holding you close. "They would be happy for us."

You sighed blissfully, forehead pressed against his. "Really? You know they've got a pool going to see when we'd finally get together. Who do you think had money on 4 months ago?" You laughed into his neck, pulling him closer.

"My bet's on Rossi. He knows us both too well." Aaron smiled, a full genuine smile.

"You're probably right, but just to make it interesting, I'm betting Reid. He's too observant not to have noticed." You squinted at the window, knowing Reid was staring at the closed blinds on the other side.

That earned a laugh, one you could feel in his chest pressed tightly to your own.

"I love you." He kissed your head, content to hold you for a little while longer.

"I love you too." You leaned ever farther into him. "We can tell them when we get back from this next case."

"Deal."

-

"Get in here!" Reid called from the computer room, pointing to a screen where you were being broadcast. You were handcuffed and tied to a chair, clearly beaten.

"Pick one to die." The voice of Tobias could be heard, despite him not being visible on the screen.

You shook your head, staring into the camera. You wanted to plead for Hotch to save you, but you knew it wouldn't be fair. He didn't need that on his conscience.

"Choose one, and I will free another."

You shook your head again, trying to think of a clue you could give the team. "I won't let you hunt them like a poacher."

"Now. Or I will kill them all." He threatened, lifting you from the ground.

"I'll pick who lives." You stuttered, breaths coming fast and short. "The right screen."

You were forced to watch as he turned off the camera, leaving the screens to show the heinous murders he was about to commit.

Suddenly, Rossi was talking to you through the screen. The sight of him nearly brought you to tears.

"Y/N. This isn't your fault. None of it. You can't blame yourself. We will find you, but I need you to be there when we do."

You knew exactly what he meant. You were already blaming yourself, despite Rossi's father like relationship with you, it was hard to believe him.

It did give you the strength to remember the team though. You needed to see them, all of them, again.

-

"He's back!" Morgan called everyone in to view the screens again.

"Confess your sins." They watched as he beat you.

You cried. You begged him to stop. You begged Tobias for help, but nothing worked.

Hotch felt his heart break even more with every word.

Suddenly, you were on the ground, still tied to the chair. You were seizing, Charles Hankel watching as it happened.

The screen went dark, causing Hotch to punch the desk.

"Dammit." He shouted. He didn't care if his worry was beginning to poke through the surface. He needed to find you and he needed to do it now.

"The timestamp." Emily's voice drew him out of his head. "There's only a few minutes between the time of death and when it was posted. He's got to be close to the crime scene."

Finally. Something that felt like progress.

-

They watched the screen as you appeared again.

"Choose one to die." It was Rafael this time.

"I can't. I can't do it." Your face betrayed every emotion you were feeling inside.

"Pick one." He stated again.

"Me. Kill me." You nearly begged.

"You said you weren't one of them. Your team has 7 other members. Choose one of them to die."

You shook your head, fear gripping you once again as he pulled out the revolver.

"Choose." He connected the gone to your forehead, resting it there.

"No." He pulled the trigger, watching as you flinched.

"Choose." You shook your head, tensing as he pulled the trigger again.

Hotch felt his heart in his stomach, internally begging you to just say a name. He couldn't watch you die, not like this.

"Choose." He pulled the trigger yet again at your silence.

"I won't do it." You held firm, knowing you had limited chances.

"Choose one to die."

You opened your mouth, panting as an idea came to you.

"I choose... Aaron Hotchner." Your heart ached even saying it, but you needed to give him a clue. "He's a classic narcissist. Thinks he's better than everyone. He'd go to his grave knowing he was wrong." You winced internally, trying not to give away your plan.

Hotch left the room, trying to understand your words. The two of you had just argued about the definition of classic narcissism.

"I think you're wrong." You laughed at his amused expression.

"Yeah? Or do you just like making me exasperated?" He questioned your motives, pulling you closer as you laid in bed together.

"Maybe a little bit of both." You shrugged, leaning up to kiss him. "Promise me something?" You asked, a nervous expression on your face.

"What?" He looked at you with so much concern, you felt your heart beat a little faster.

"If... If I die, you can't blame yourself." He opened his mouth to protest, but you kept going. "I know you Aaron. You'd take it to grave thinking it was your fault. I can't let you do that. Not when I know you blame yourself for Haley's death." You felt your heart break for him and the pain he had been through. "Promise me." You were nearly begging.

"I promise." He whispered, his throat tight at the idea of losing you.

He was brought back to the present by the sound of Rossi's voice.

"Hotch, you know Y/N didn't mean any of that." Rossi tried gently, unsure of how Hotch was coping with your situation.

"I'm not a narcissist. What's my worst quality?" He looked at the apprehensive looks everyone was giving him. "I'll start, I have no sense of humor."

He nodded along as his team listed his faults.

"None of you said I ever put myself above the team, because I don't. Y/N and I just argued about the definition of classic narcissism." He paced, trying to put it together. "I'd take it to my grave... Grave was a hint."

"What? How do you know?" Reid shook his head, trying to understand the logic.

"I made a promise. It's a long story." He shook his head, trying to clear the memory so he could focus. "Y/N knew I would remember it."

"A cemetary. It's got to be a cemetary." Morgan added.

"No cemeteries on the map." Garcia was typing away on the computer.

"Like a poacher." Reid whispered, staring at the screen.

"Reid?" Hotch looked at him, eyes pleading for an answer.

"That's what Y/N said in the first video. 'I won't let you hunt them like a poacher.'" He said it louder, more excited than before.

"Garcia, any reports of poaching in the area?" Hotch asked, the idea of finding you causing hope to erupt in his chest.

"Yes, at Marshall Parrish... and there's a cemetery on the grounds." She gave them the address, watching as they ran out to the SUVs.

-

"I'm sorry." Tobias said it so softly, you were almost certain you didn't hear it at all.

"Wh- why?" Your eyebrows pulled together in confusion, trying to make sense of it.

"He'll win. In the end, he always does." He rose from the crouched position, slowly injecting you with more drugs.

"Hotch!" You screamed, feeling arms restraining you from behind.

You watched as he went into the hostage situation, unarmed and without a vest.

"Derek. Let me go!" You struggled in his grasp, straining to get free.

"There's nothing you can do, he's already inside." He stated the truth, although it did little to calm your nerves.

You settled down, throat tight with worry. You bit your lip, eyes flitting between the door and windows. You just needed a sign, anything to say he was alright.

The sound of a gun firing stunned you. You were frozen in place, fear consuming you. You had just told him you loved him for the first time this morning. What if you never get to say it again? What if that's all the time you got.

You stared in horror as everyone ran toward the house, only to freeze when a voice shouted everything was fine.

"It's fine." He huffed, carrying the small child out of the house toward a waiting EMT. "Baxter is dead."

"Aaron..." You whispered the name, realizing how powerless you felt when he was in danger. The two of you made eye contact across the yard, a reassuring look in his eye.

"Aaron..." You whispered, blinking rapidly as you slowly came to.

"What about Aaron." Charles. Tobias's dad was back.

"I couldn't stop him. I couldn't keep him safe." You muttered to yourself, not fully understanding the situation.

"Is that a confession?" He asked, voice hard.

"Yes." It was more of a breath of air than a word, but it was all he needed to condemn you.

He unlocked your handcuffs, forcing a shovel into your newly freed arms before dragging you outside.

"Dig." he instructed plainly, watching over you as stray tears wet the ground beneath you.

-

"Clear." Morgan called from one side of the shed.

"Clear" Hotch replied from the other. With the whole team in the small space, it wasn't exactly necessary but it was habit.

Hotch could feel his nerves picking up again as he realized this meant you were still with Tobias. He paced back and forth, feeling powerless.

"Spread out. They have to be on foot." He left without waiting for a response, turning left with JJ to look for you.

-

You did your best to stall, but Charles wasn't the most patient.

"Dig faster."

"I'm trying. I'm trying." You whimpered, movements speeding up ever so slightly. The massive knife in his hands causing your own to shake.

"You're weak. Move." He huffed, throwing his jacket to the ground before ripping the shovel from your hands.

A flash of light in the trees caught your eye. Flashlights. Your team. Aaron.

Your eyes flickered between the man in front of you and the trees, causing him to turn.

You took the split second he wasn't looking to grab the gun from his jacket, swiftly aiming it as he turned back to you knife raised.

"Only one bullet in that gun." He lunged for you, falling backwards after you pulled the trigger.

You dropped the gun, quickly tossing the knife away.

"Tobias?" You cried, moving back toward him.

"You killed me." He seemed surprised, but grateful at the same time.

You felt the tears pouring down your face as you apologized.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry." You grabbed his hand, watching the light fade from his eyes as he asked one final question.

"You think I'll get to see my mom again?"

You barely registered the arms around you, pulling you to your feet. You couldn't take your eyes off of Tobias. He wasn't the one who hurt you. He helped you, or at least tried.

"I killed him." Your breathing picked up, vision blurring.

"Y/N, look at me." You turned to the voice, blinking rapidly to stop the tears.

"Aaron?" You took a stuttering breath, trying to make sure this was real.

"I'm here. It's okay. You're okay. You're safe now." His words were just as reassuring to himself as they were to you. You caught JJ's eye over Hotch's shoulder, quickly moving to hug her.

"Y/N, I'm so sorry. I never should've-" You cut her off.

"None of this was your fault. It was my idea to split up. I'm so sorry." You cried into her shoulder, knowing how guilty she must've felt.

She hugged you back, tears brimming her own eyes at seeing you alive again.

She lead you to the EMT, not commenting on the look you threw over your shoulder at Aaron. He quickly followed you to the ambulance. JJ left you to talk to Hotch, who stayed beside you the entire time the medics looked you over.

"I didn't mean it." You said when you were finally alone, sitting between the open doors of the ambulance.

"What?" Aaron questioned, his mind not following your own train of thought.

"When... When I had to choose. I didn't mean any of it." You could feel the tears coming, but this time you did nothing to hold them back.

"I know. I knew the whole time." You brushed your tears away, looking you in the eye. "I love you so much." He whispered, his own eyes feeling watery.

"I love you too." You leaned into him, relishing in the feeling of his arm around you. You couldn't help but look over at the team, all of whom quickly pretended not to be watching. You huffed a laugh.

"Yeah, I think they're going to have some questions." Hotch smiled, glad to see you happy even if just for a second.

"After this case, right?" You looked back at him, confirming you still wanted to share your relationship with the team.

"Deal." He smiled, arm tightening around your shoulders to pull you closer.

-

You couldn't help but bring it up on the jet ride home.

"So, who had money on four months ago?" You questioned, tucked into Aaron's side on the couch.

"What?" Emily raised a brow at your sudden statement.

"That's when we started dating." You grinned at her shocked expression.

"Dammit Reid." Morgan huffed, handing over the money.

"Don't forget Rossi!" Reid high fived the older man, the two grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

"Looks like we were both right." Hotch smiled into your hair, trying to hide his laugh.

"Yeah. We make a pretty good team." You smiled, leaning into his touch.

"I love you." He murmured, face still in your hair. You turned your face into his chest before responding.

"I love you too."

Permanent taglist:

@averyhotchner @jesuswasnotawhiteman @madewithsebstan

[crack-whore-who-fuckedup-already]

The Man Needs His Cat

Bucky x fem!reader

Word count: 1,960

Warnings: mentions of animal death, fluff, Tony/Bucky interaction

Summary: Bucky and Reader stumble across a kitten in the woods and Reader is tasked with asking Tony for a huge favor. 

A/N: y'all- I'm head over heels in love with catperson!Bucky

The situation had to be dealt with carefully, (Y/n) knew. She didn't want to come on too strong or he'd be quick to turn her down. Maybe a hypothetical would be the best course of action... She took a breath and pulled her shoulders back. Then, with only a second of hesitation, she entered Tony's lab. 

He greeted her from his hunched over position at one of the many cluttered tables, barely sparing her a glance. In the heat of engineering, he worked on some odd piece of tech he had yet to fully present to the team. She echoed a small 'hello' back and rocked awkwardly back and forth on her feet. 

Still not looking up, Tony indulged the girl with idle conversation. They spoke of their day, of current world news, of the weather. That's how he knew she wanted something. The girl would always engage him in casual conversation just before asking a favor. Tony didn't mind much, of course. If anything, he found it entertaining how intently she tried buttering him up. But today he had quite a bit of work to get done so he wanted to get this show on the road. 

Putting his tools down, he looked at her pointedly with a knowing grin. "Alright kid, what's up?" He asked.

(Y/s)'s eyebrows raised in question, playing dumb. "What do you-" 

"Drop the act, (Y/n)," he chuckled, and grabbed an already greasy rag off the desk next to him to wipe his hands. He stood and made his way to her, tossing the rag back on one of the several tables in the lab. "I know when you want something, so just go on. Ask." He said, his face light with a smirk.

(Y/n) flushed with warmth, embarrassed by his boldness. But she continued anyway, determined to fulfill her promise to Bucky. 

The night before, she and Bucky were on their way home from the movies. It was a beautiful night out and in their comfortable silence, they found themselves on a slight detour through the woods. At some point, Bucky had pulled over off the side of the road and onto a look out.

Bucky, ever the silent communicator, simply stared at (Y/s) confused face with the softest smile on his own, before stepping out of the car. While (Y/n) scrambled to open her door, Bucky walked the couple of feet towards a barrier fence overlooking the river beneath him. His eyes followed the shine of the water as it drowned the boulders lining the river bed. He thought for a second how exciting the challenge of rock hopping sounded, never really having gotten the chance to as a child.

The call of an owl pulled his attention to the tree line which he observed with such intensity that (Y/n) nudging his arm made him tense. She flashed him a smile to calm the surprise on his face and in an instant, his arm was around her, pulling her close. They both looked out at the shadowed woods and (Y/n) was even sure to point out the moon and stars themselves. 

In the silent moments that passed, they both had turned to embrace each other wholly. They stayed like that for a moment and then Bucky pressed a kiss to her forehead. Pulling back to look at his warm, loving face, she found acute concern instead. He was glancing just past her head, off into the bush leading down to the river bank. 

"What's the mat-" she asked quietly, shrinking away. 

Bucky pressed his fingers to his lips and hushed her quickly and gently and then slowly gestured to his ear. Listen, he was telling her. 

She didn't hear anything at first. Nothing but the rush of the river below them and the gentle night breeze above them.

But then, just as she was about to ask again, she heard it. The faintest of mewling. Barely audible but definitely there. 

Bucky grasped her shoulders and looked her in the eyes once more before he squeezed them tightly and moved past her. He approached the thicket and hesitated for only a second before pressing forward. The branches hurt his skin but he'd suffered worse.

(Y/n) tentatively called his name to which he responded "I've almost got it." His voice sounded distant and strained and it worried (Y/n) that she could no longer see him through the darkness, being so close to the river and all. But as long as she could hear his grunts of discomfort from the branches whacking him in the face, she remained calm enough. 

Eventually, he emerged. Even in the dark, (Y/n) could see the pure white fluff sticking out between Bucky's fingers. As he approached, the fuzz ball revealed its face from its careful hiding spot in the crook of Bucky's arm and glanced around. Two dark eyes and the palest little nose swung in her direction, its whiskers twitching with cautious curiosity.

A kitten.

The poor thing was trembling but so was Bucky. Placing a hand on his forearm, she beckoned his attention and spoke low.

"What was it?"

To bide his time, he shifted the kit closer to his chest and took a deep breath. He didn't meet her eyes but he mumbled just loud enough to hear.

"A whole box of them but…." He didn't dare finish the sentence and instead held the kitten in front of his face, ignoring the unwarranted feeling of loss he felt for its siblings. Swallowing hard, he finally met the girls soft, understanding eyes and smiled sadly. 

Before she could say anything, the small creature let out another indignant mewl that seemed to reassure Bucky just a bit. With that, (Y/n) moved to his side and slung her arm around his waist.

"Alpine," he mumbled.

"What's that?"

"I think I'll call him Alpine." Bucky said fondly. His eyes never left the baby and the girl knew he was in deep.

"Oooh, I know that look." She tittered. Bucky only stared, his eyebrow creased, questioning. "That's the way you look at someone you love. That's the way you look at me." She said with a blush, nudging him lightly.

His face melted into that soft loving one she cared for so dearly. The kitten settled into the warmth that embraced him as the couple kissed.

"Let's get a move on. It's getting colder and colder by the second and I'm sure this little guy agrees." The kitten mewled one last time.

With a light chuckle, they spared one last glance over the look out before returning to the car where Alpine slept peacefully in Bucky’s lap the whole way home.

The two couldn't help but discuss what they were going to do with little Alpine. Bucky was set on keeping it and had even decided to clear his schedule the next day to make a vet visit. The only issue was their living space. They weren't too sure how Tony would react to them bringing a cat in off the street. But the girl could see how much the kitten meant to Bucky already so she promised to talk to Tony in the morning. 

Well, morning came and now here she was.

Tony crossed his arms impatiently. "Well?" He pressed, tilting his head up.

(Y/n) anxiously grasped her hands in front of her and leaned forward a bit. "What would you say to the idea of us getting a pet?" She stared openly at his face as he stared back at hers. The question bounced around in Tony's head, leaving his eyebrow slightly creased and the room painfully quiet. (Y/s)' nervously raised eyebrow gave him a clue into the situation.

"Right….and who exactly is this 'us' you're referring to? Cause something tells me I'm actually being iced out of this decision." Before she could even get a full breath in, he continued on. "All right, what are we working with, huh? A rabbit? A goldfish? If it's a parakeet, it won't even get past the front door, so help me god." 

The girl shook her head as she let out a laugh. She could tell he wasn't overly fond of the idea. It was clear by the way his smile didn't quite reach his eyes. But judging by the way his voice didn't fall completely flat, he wasn't opposed to it either….not entirely, anyway.

"No, no. Not quite. It's a cat. A kitten, actually, so there's still time to train it and all," She reassured him. "And Bucky should be getting home any minute from the vet with him if you'd like to say hello."

Tony caught himself before he let his expression drop at the name of the elusive ex soldier. He'd gotten better at watching himself since the two of them moved in. Bucky and (Y/n) weren't together when they did, but being only a few steps down the hallway certainly allowed them a closer relationship.

Tony nodded his head reluctantly and dropped his arms to his sides. 

He followed the girl down the various halls as she recounted how they found the poor kit, and found themselves approaching the common room. Or the family room, as (Y/n) preferred to call it, while simultaneously prattling on about how much time and energy the team wastes pretending to hate each other. Huh.

They could hear the tinkling of a bell being wacked around from down the hallway. As they entered the room, they stopped in the archway and took in the sight before them. 

Bucky sat crisscrossed with his back to them. In his hand was a feather wand, standing out bright purple, blue, and white against the dark brown floor. In front of him, white fluff darted back and forth. There was the smallest sound of tearing as its tiny claws ripped against the carpet, no doubt leaving it frayed.

Tony tried his very best to suppress his dissatisfied grumble...

They watched for a bit as Bucky went back and forth with the kitten. Tony didn't have to look hard at all to see how much the ex soldier cared for the tiny thing. No only because of his undivided attention towards the cat but also because of the many beige bags labeled "PetsPlus+"  full of toys, treats and towers scattered around the sofas. 

He thought it might be good for Bucky to have another companion around. Maybe it would help him relax. Maybe even lighten up a bit.

Tony stepped forward.

"So, uh, I'm not a big fan of funky smells so that's got to be top priority as far as pest control goes with this thing, alright?"

Bucky jumped to his feet and Alpine followed suit, hackles raised. Bucky quickly scooped him up and held him close. "Of course." (Y/n) made her way over to them. "Our rooms are big enough to keep him there most of the time and we have already worked out all the responsibilities between us. We've got it covered."

Tony stepped back a bit looking them up and down, humming. "I expect weekly visits in the family room," he said pointedly, then waved his hand. "Keep it tidy, folks." And with that he left the couple to their new fascination.

Tony lingered at the doorway on the way out. While the couple was distracted, he found himself watching that wretched arm. The dark, intimidating metal turned soft and gentle as it reached out fearlessly to antagonize the tiniest, weakest thing in the room. No hesitation, no fear. Not in Bucky or the kitten. Tony knew then that it stayed, no question.

The man needed his cat. And damn it, he'll get it.