#and it turns out to be one of my favourite things I drew this year

[weatherera]

Re-Synthesized

[prael]

Red Wine - Karina & Natty

Aespa Karina x Kiss of Life Natty x M Reader smut

thanks to @capslocked & @passingnotions & @friskyriskywhisky

Masterlist word count: 9,957 Kofi

A new girl every week.

Not like you mind it. As long as Karina is having a good time, then that's enough for you. She meets them all at work, and they're all equally pretty.

Of course they are—it's part of the job.

It's just how Karina is—she has always been a fountain of charisma and that's part of what drew you to her—some call it rizz. So, you know all too well how these girls feel when Karina cranks up that natural charm and it leads to her inevitably inviting them over on a Friday evening, an offer they can’t refuse.

A girl's night in. That's what she always calls it—truth or not.

It's a funny thing to call it, given that you're always there. Not that any of them ever complain. You're there. That's okay. You'll join in the chat or stay out of the way—it's all very casual. Most of the time, it’s just that—casual.

Most of the time.

"And then I told him: 'Look, this dress is Dior, and it's worth a year of your rent. So if you think, even for a second, that it's going to end up on your bedroom floor after you buy me a couple of glasses of bottom-shelf whiskey then you can Johnnie-Walk-the-fuck-on-out-of-here because there are a thousand more ways I can spend my night than wasting time on you.'"

The two girls break out into some sort of intoxicated, riotous laughter. The girl with the story? They call her Natty, and she is the latest of Karina's new friends to visit. This one sporting almond skin, eyes with an inky rich hue, thick lips and a smug look on her face that could melt the paint right off the wall, or the clothes off any man.

She has one leg crossed over the other, sitting at an angle towards Karina. The slight canting of her head, the way her black hair cascades over a bare shoulder, all of it conspires together in order to fully reveal her neck line where the loose t-shirt drapes from shoulder to shoulder.

"Yeah, like any dude's got enough bank to buy himself to a night with you." Karina laughs again before taking a drink from her wine.

You are trying to watch the TV, vaguely—your favourite team is on and it's a bit of a ritual for you.

You will never even know we're here. That's what Karina told you. Yet you’ve spent the better part of the last hour listening to them. We’ll be quiet.

As if that's ever true.

They've been reeling off anecdotes all the while, and if you've learned one thing about Natty, it's that she has a lot to say, and a lot if it comes down to either the pleasures, profits, or travails of her career. The stories just keep coming. And each and every one is punctuated by that same laugh from Natty. You have never heard anything quite like it before, and it's that which keeps drawing your attention back to their end of the couch. Much like her voice, it's high pitched, a little nasally and utterly adorable.

Karina laughs along as well; more than a few times a drink threatens to spill onto the carpet because one of them has laughed a little too hard or bumped into one another. Now that would be a disaster: red wine and a white carpet.

"So I got this really nice pink one. It's really pretty, a little sexy, but it's so comfy too." Natty is talking but you don't have a clue what about and Karina, turned away from you, is nodding her head, the ponytail on the back of her head shaking a little as a result.

You don't need to see Karina to know how she looks—as beautiful as ever. That same sharp jaw, high cheekbones and lips glistening pink, hued darker by her drink of choice. Those eyes. It’s always her eyes that captivate.

Her beauty and grace are two things she truly does share with Natty. All the women that come over are all part of the same constellation. Stars in their own right, but Karina is a supernova—or something equally poetic.

Karina says something, but the voice is soft and muffled and lost to you among the animated exchange.

"There's also this blue one. But I don't wear it nearly as much as the others, but it cuts real low. Nearly shows my, you know..."

That lowered voice draws your gaze right over to them both as Natty leans in towards the woman next to her. A gesture and the shape of her voice, the lilt of her accent, makes it sound as if she is being discreet even though you can clearly hear every single word.

"...you know." Natty then tugs a little at her own shirt.

The two giggle again as if they're not grown-ass women; two women who have admittedly drunk quite a lot.

"He loves this one I have, it's part of a set, and I picked it up in Paris last month,” Karina says. “Black and lacy. Super expensive, but it's so worth it."

"That pair would look good in anything," Natty lets out that same laugh again, if a little softer this time, as if the mood shifted a little. You felt this coming all along. If you're honest, sometimes as soon as Karina walks through the door with a girl on her arm, there’s a certain vibe that hangs in the air that tells you it’s one of those nights.

You're stealing glances at the two of them, and it's Natty who's looking towards you, over Karina's shoulder. Your eyes are caught in this awkward collision. Natty holds the stare, her smile shifting subtly from innocent to devilish.

She's a stunner. Even from the angle where you're catching glimpses at her, a glance out of the corner of your eye, there is something seductive and hypnotising.

"He's a really lucky guy." She says to Karina, keeping her eyes fixed on you.

That is usually the cue, one you're very familiar with. A flirty little comment, maybe an innuendo, something meant to test the waters—see where the land lies, the rocks you can stand on before stepping any further out into the surf. It's how so many of your Friday evenings play out. You are just that—an object of curiosity and interest to Karina's friends, and you have to credit the sales pitch she must deliver about you.

"You're damn right," Karina replies with a chuckle as she tilts back the remainder of her drink.

"Do you think he would like mine?"

"Of course, he would. But if you want, I can be the judge." Karina takes Natty's almost empty glass and sets both down on the table. Her expression and attitude—lips and body language—communicate her invitation far more eloquently.

Karina is reaching over and Natty's meeting her hands with her own at the hem of her shirt. A teasing lift and you can already envision what she's about to show. See, Natty's a dancer—you know that much, and a good one at that. That kind of talent comes with the blessing of a body that turns heads. Your girlfriend knew that well too when she had invited her back home.

"Go on then."

The shirt lifts off Natty's skin, with the help of Karina’s hands running up the side of her body, exposing a pierced belly button. You try, very valiantly, to pretend not to be watching, but you can't help it. Natty raises her arms and lets Karina pull off the shirt fully revealing her in her lace bralette. It's pink, it's pretty and a little sexy—just how she described it.

"They really are nice, wow," Karina leans in close and for a moment you think she's going to start kissing Natty right then and there.

Natty doesn't say a thing. She lets the next moment happen, and with their bodies so close you can feel the anticipation, there’s an agonising pause, but, just a moment later, Karina is running a hand up along her belly, cupping a hand over one of her breasts.

"Really nice," Karina repeats the compliment.

And you're all in now. Fuck the TV. You can't peel your eyes away from whatever the hell your girlfriend is about to do.

"Thank you," the girl purrs as she arches her body to push herself against Karina's hand.

A flirtatious hand and those slender fingers of hers begin to move delicately over the fabric. It's a good touch. You've experienced first-hand all the wonderful things Karina can do with it. She touches how she dances—passionate and precise.

"What do you think?" Karina's finally acknowledging you over her shoulder—your official invite to the fun.

"Gorgeous," you mumble, and Natty's smiling like a minx as Karina continues in a way that you should probably be offended. Your girlfriend runs her hands down to the girl's waist, round to the small of her back, and then all the way back to where she starts again.

"Come, take a closer look. What do you think?" Natty follows her words with a wink and a flick of the hair.

"Fuck yes." You whisper under your breath.

"What was that?" Your girlfriend's smirking to herself as you rise from your seat.

"Yes." You take a step towards them both.

"Yes?" Natty repeats, one of her dark brows arching.

"He thinks you're fucking beautiful, sweetheart. Gets a little lost in the moment sometimes." Karina is leaning her head in close, one arm around the girl. She has a finger running up along Natty's slender back as she pulls at the clips holding her bra together. "Isn’t she perfect, babe?"

"Something like that," you confess. You're standing in front of the girls, looking down at the topless Natty, at Karina who's still snaking her hands around her. And Natty looks up at you, eyes wide, inviting, smouldering with passion. She really is something else.

She peers beneath those bangs of hers with a look that says: why don't you sit right here beside me?

"There we go," Karina says and there's suddenly some slack. The weight of her pair is taken by gravity and Natty catches them into folded arms. She sinks back into the couch. You take a step, and taking her lead, you sit by her side.

Karina reaches down, pats you on your leg, then turns back to face Natty. "You were saying you thought he was pretty cute too, weren't you, Natty?"

"Pretty cute, yes. Hot too. Moreso now that he’s up close." Natty says while Karina's got her hands on her shoulders, taking the straps of her bra between her delicate fingers. And then her bra is gone—the last semblance of her modesty lost along with it. Her small nipples jutting, stiffened with arousal, ready and waiting.

"God, he's practically drooling."

"That's hot," Karina comments as her lips descend onto Natty's shoulder and she starts laying kisses up and along her neck, trailing all the way to her ears.

"Sit behind her, babe, let her make it easier for you," Karina says. There is something entirely different and erotic in the way your girlfriend commands you. It’s so often like this, the dynamic, the guest and you are equals but Karina? Karina is a level above, the one in control and setting the pace.

You move yourself further onto the sofa and seat yourself back, then Natty slides over your lap. She takes her place, just as Karina wants, in front of you. The look in your lover's eye tells you exactly what to do, while her hands give Natty some hands-on guidance. Holding her shoulders, she’s placing Natty’s back against your chest. 

You lay your own touch on the starlet’s waist, coiling them around her body. Dragging them up towards her smooth tits causes her to respond with a shudder. You keep your touches slow, leisurely, tentative and exploratory, but with no lack of appreciation.

Natty refuses to shy and settles firmly into your body. Karina, meanwhile, sets herself in front of the two of you, resting her hands on Natty's knees. Your beautiful guest parts her legs a little as Karina slips her hands between them, urging her thighs to open wider. Wider until she has to lift her legs over yours.

"Is this okay with you?" Karina is looking up into Natty's face and the woman simply nods."How does she feel?" Karina's asking you now, placing her hands on the back of yours, guiding your touch over her breast into a rougher pace.

"Perfect." The word slips from your mouth, followed by a throaty groan. Among all of this, Natty's ass is against your crotch, the weight of her pushing your manhood to swell and strain against your clothing. You are thankful she's wearing a thin enough pair of yoga pants that enhances it all.

Karina has planted her knees between yours and Natty's legs. She's pulling her own shirt over her head and you already know what's beneath. For all the talk earlier about bras, Karina isn't wearing one; she never does. "Fuck, Karina," Natty coos at her bare chest. "He likes it too. I can feel him twitching."

Natty’s hands are all over Karina as she pulls her in. There’s grace, there’s tension and there’s a coy giggle from Karina as their lips are only inches apart. The hammering of your heart echoes within as you take a front-row seat to their show. It always triggers something inside you when she first lays lips on someone, it always heightens that delicious, tingling, primal feeling.

"Oh shit, girls..."

Your girlfriend's the best kisser and you love watching her like this—exploring another woman's mouth. Natty is matching her tempo beat by beat, kiss by kiss. Her body arches as you squeeze her breasts. You swear Natty's making little whimpers as the two make out.

Her body is all action against you: ass grinding back, rolling slowly and languidly as your hands pull at her breasts—squeezing them together and then apart. You dip into her neck with your mouth. The sweetness of her skin fills your mouth and the richness of her perfume fills your nose.

You lower your lips and gently nibble at her neck, dragging teeth over her flesh until she gasps from a gentle bite and you work your lips on her skin. Tongue roaming as you feast on her taste. Karina's pushing forward now, Natty sandwiched between you, their pairs of tits pressing together with your hands somewhere between.

They break, and Natty naturally moves to your girlfriend’s neck. Karina has her sights set on you, prying your mouth from Natty's shoulder and catching you in a deep kiss. Tongues battling, clashing. There's the familiar fading taste of red wine in her mouth, and the unmistakable flavour of something foreign to you, the lingering taste of Natty.

She pulls away from your lips, staring down the two of you. There's dissatisfaction on her face. "Why aren't the two of you naked yet?"

She pulls at Natty's hips, relieving your cock of the pressure of her sitting on it, and you hold Natty so as to not let her slip too far away. You and Karina work Natty's yoga pants, and her panties, from her hips. They slip effortlessly down to her ankles, leaving her decidedly bare.

No one speaks and you all know this isn't the time to explain anything or ask questions. When her clothing is out of the way Karina descends upon Natty again, kissing her hard and you catch the dying whimpers of Natty's moans into Karina's lips. Karina's hand is snaking down Natty's back, reaching for your crotch. She unbuckles and opens your belt all the time fighting against Natty's movement as she tries to grind her ass back into you.

"Stop moving." Karina giggles into their kiss as her hand delves beneath your trousers. She breaks her kiss again. "Need some help."

Natty's peeling herself away from you, turning to face you. Natty's naked, Karina's halfway there, you're the one slacking. Not for long. Soon the two are tugging away all the unnecessary clothes until all three of you are equally exposed. Your cock stands heavy and ready under their gaze.

"Woah, you weren't lying." Natty's figuratively licking her lips, hungry and wide-eyed, and you'd bet your last dollar she's got an idea in mind. "Can I...?" Natty turns to ask Karina.

"I'd hate to be selfish." Karina shrugs her shoulders and winks. You're transfixed. There's natural magic about the way they move as if it is rehearsed; the way Natty sinks to her knees and the way Karina pulls your hips to the edge of the seat, then rises above you.

Karina hovers and watches, Natty leans in, and then your balls disappear into her mouth. She’s handling them with her tongue expertly as she takes hold of your cock.

"God, what a pro. She wasn’t lying when she told me she knew her way around a cock," she exclaims, savouring every second as the air rapidly leaves your lungs.

It is beyond explanation, the way Natty's tongue is dancing along the underside of your balls as her lips caress each one. Her eyes occasionally flick up and flash mischievously—it's the kind of look that means she could get away with absolutely anything, and there is no way you are going to stop her.

"She's got the face for it, doesn't she? Like she just gives the most amazing head." Karina's on her knees by your side, sliding a hand between her thighs.

"Y-yeah." You manage to reply. "S-so... ahh! Good."

Karina leans forward, cupping one of your cheeks as she looks into your eyes.

"He's speechless!" She laughs, moving a hand to the back of your head and tugging gently at the strands. "Natty baby, give him a few words or something, will you? If you can?"

It's hard to look at her, but you crane your neck and you catch her looking at you again—one hand upon your inner thigh, the other wrapped around your shaft. "That's a good boy," Natty murmurs.

She teases a thumb over the surface of your glistening wet tip. "She loves that shit. Watch her..." Karina explains, smiling, the delight on her face all you can look at for a moment or more.

She guides your chin and you follow your girlfriend's direction, then you see, Natty's taken her mouth from you for a second and she's licking your pre-cum from her thumb; her gaze on the pair of you. She repeats her motion once more and the grin on her face grows bigger as you leak another pearl for her.

"How does he taste?" Karina asks for both of you.

"Delicious." Natty answers—now she's literally licking her lips.

You'll believe anything this woman tells you.

She's running a teasing tongue along the underside of your shaft, and as she reaches the peak, she catches the snow-white trickle you drip right there. You close your eyes in ecstasy, but before long, you’re feeling a finger poke against your lips.

You part them open, letting Karina's two fingers inside, and she's running her digits over your tongue as you suck her fingertips. The taste is so undoubtedly her, nectar straight from her source, your mouth salivating for more.

The feel of Natty's soft plump lips against the end of your cock is incredible as she moves them in an inch, teasing, testing, and then she withdraws just the same and you want to cry out. But you can't, Karina still lubricating her fingers, your tongue swirling around the digits.

She withdraws and your eyes open. And as much as you wanted to see Natty ready to settle her mouth around your cock, she's got something else in mind. She has her tits in her hand. "Are they still gorgeous?"

"Yeah, totally," you sputter.

"Natty girl, let him fuck them." Karina tells her and then she turns to you, mouth to your ear. "You want your cock between them, don't you? Tell her." Karina's not leaving this up to interpretation. "Tell her you want them."

"Oh yes..." you blurt out, without even really thinking. Karina giggles—it's her sign of approval, a tick. "Your tits, Natty. Fuck. Please."

It's not something you haven't done before. You love Karina's pair too, after all. It would be hard for anyone with a dick to resist a pair of round tits like hers. Luckily for you, tonight she's brought you a girl with a pair to match her own.

"He asked so nicely."

"He's a real gentleman," Natty teases and she raises her breasts a little, then pushes them together. As your head slides into her cleavage, she puts her hand around them, and as the skin squeezes the sides of your member, you are reduced to shuddering. Karina knows exactly how this gets you, knows just how this can bring you undone. It doesn't even matter if the actual thing feels nothing like sex—you'll always go crazy over a great pair of tits.

As the tip of your manhood peeks out through the crease between them, Natty lowers her tongue to it and you swear you nearly cum right then. Then the words echo inside your brain: he wants them, Karina's voice and as soon as she says it, your subconscious concedes to the reality.

"Look how easy and willing he is," she says to Karina and both girls giggle, then Natty forms a mock pout. "Such a good boy. I really want to make him feel good."

"He does deserve something." Your girlfriend runs her fingers into your hair as Natty plants a soft kiss onto your cock-head. Instinctively, you reach out but before you can touch anything, Karina's hand finds your wrist. "Tell her what you want."

She's leaning in closer again and Natty looks up from where she's teasing your tip, sucking, tonguing and lavishing affection and attention. "Ask Natty nice. Tell her you want a blowjob. Tell her you want to cum. Tell her what you want," Karina purrs her words.

And god, if anything makes it impossible to think straight, it is Natty's gaze up at you. She wants to make it easy for you, impossible to do anything but give in to your wishes, whether it’s her intention or your deep-seated desire making it seem so.

"Natty... can you suck my cock?" Your mouth's dry and the words grate in the throat.

"Anything," she says with a twinkle in her eye. And now it's all one motion. Her tits clamped against the sides of your length. Your cock drives between them and into Natty's waiting mouth. She's all tongue, bobbing her head a little and taking the tip of you in and out of her mouth.

Karina's all over you—kissing your neck, holding a hand behind your head, caressing, squeezing. "Aren't I just the best? Always doing this for you with all these girls." She's muttering away in your ear. The heat of her breath is constant and burning. She continues with sweet nothings in her deep, sultry voice.

You're sinking deeper into the couch, like you're laid on the shore and the tide is enveloping you. Wave after wave crashing against you, rolling, engulfing you and drawing you out further and further. Natty is pulling you under; every time she takes you into her mouth, wrapping her tongue around you, it's another wave over you. Karina is a life rope. You're grabbing onto the strands of her ponytail, trying to keep your head above the water. All her touches, her words, her encouragement, that's the air you need.

But the torrent grows ever more intense and powerful and the riptide is too great, Natty's drawing the last vestiges of resolve from you. You lose grip of everything—of reality.

You're lost.

Lost in her mouth, lost between her tits.

Karina knows it, she's seen it all before, so many times, for her and others. "Feel like you're gonna cum?" Karina's in your ear asking you the obvious.

Your answer's a growl.

"Cum!" It's a low-roar in your ear.

You don't say a word.

"All over those perfect fucking tits. Her mouth, her face, look at her," and then that's it. You're drowning in pleasure. Every sense abandons you—hearing, touch, and sight, all surrendered.

You can't think or do anything, because every fibre of your being is focused on a single action—pouring out cum. You're rigid and straining.

Your eyes regain focus and you see it all. All of it smearing her tits and just a little on her face, and then more streams erupt. Natty doesn't shy and she doesn't stop. She is milking you for every single drop.

And Karina's ever the encourager, ever full of pride. "Just like that, yes. Empty all of it right there on her chest."

This is her thing now. Has been for a while, ever since she convinced you to try it just one time. Her imagination was fueled by all those dirty little stories she read online about voyeurism and the like. It opened her eyes and redefined your relationship. It started with an experiment. With her best friend, Winter, all those months ago. It was the first time she took enjoyment in her friend getting you off.

Now it's a regular surprise. Sometimes they're girls you met many times before, almost like she was dangling them in front of you, teasing you. Other times it's just like Natty. You barely say a few words to them and before you know it, you're covering them in your cum.

Truth is, you always get the gut feeling when it's one of these nights, as soon as Karina and whichever girl it is start their first drinks of the night; you know it's one of those nights. Then it's just a case of waiting.

Natty didn't take long to get on her knees—she must have been excited.

And lucky for her, you're nowhere near being finished.

Karina is prowling and on the move, towards Natty, and she reaches her with both arms as she locks her into her grasp. A kiss, deep, hungry. All tongue. Seeing is believing; some of you ended up inside Natty’s mouth and now she’s sharing, distributing to Karina. Back and forth it goes between their mouths, with some spilling from their lips. As it’s shared, it’s swallowed bit by bit between them.

"Your turn Natty. I want to watch you cum for me." Karina announces she breaks away, then lapping up what remains on her lips and she has a hand on Natty's chest, playing with the mess you made of them.

You're lying there, spent and watching, as Karina guides Natty to her feet.

"There you go," Karina is pushing the girl towards the couch and she gets to the edge, then places a knee on it. Your eyes drift over her body as Karina bends her into place, her sticky chest planted against the cushions. Her juicy ass is in the air and the light in the room highlights every line and contour. Her flawless curves are accentuated to their perfect best.

"Legs wider, yes, yes. That's perfect," Karina's voice cuts through the air. She's behind her, hand on the small of her back, urging Natty into position. Lower and lower, Natty's head pressed into the cushion; she's turning to look at you, face full of excitement, of yearning.

A quiver passes through her entire body as Karina's lips descend upon her lower back.

Then lower, kissing her tailbone.

Her ass.

Lower and lower, peppering her skin along the way, Karina finally nestles between the two cheeks. Then she places her hands on Natty and starts parting them. "Perfect. Isn't that so perfect?"

Karina doesn't wait for any reply from you.

She doesn't need to. You are fixed there, utterly mesmerised, entranced and completely undisturbed, watching this gorgeous woman lay tongue on her newest conquest. Karina, meanwhile, can't contain her excitement. She's feasting on Natty, lapping at her sex, diving lower and lower with her tongue. "Oh yes. You taste so good."

Everybody's taste is unique. Just as her aroma earlier was something you couldn't put into words or compare, you can only imagine how sweet Natty must taste. And as if she reads your mind, Karina adds to the narrative, "So sweet."

And the sounds.

Fuck. The sounds. 

Natty moans, loud, sharp and high. You should have known it, her voice being what it is—the tone; so unique, so unmissable. You should have expected the melodic composition. The pleasure is pure, crystal-clear music. It's perfection in sound. It's the kind of musicality people work their entire lives to compose, to play, to express.

To do all without a care in the world.

With as much freedom, spontaneity and energy as possible.

The tone shifts, and the octaves change. And it's Karina, playing her, burying a pair of fingers into Natty.

There is no question here. The two are in sync. Karina, a performer by profession, plays your guest as if Natty is merely an extension of herself. Your girlfriend, in her element, her playground, her stage and her domain. You are her audience. And she has never sounded, looked, or acted so majestic in her role.

Natty sings a string of profanities, nonsensical and fragmented phrases.

"That good?" Karina exclaims, teeth digging into her butt cheek as Natty spills into the cushion. Her legs quiver. Karina smiles into her ass, nipping her a second time and then she turns to you, staring at you with the same dark hunger, the same thirst, you always see.

"You still with us, babe?" she asks—rhetorical, she know’s you’re fixated. There's no question in her mind. She can read you and she knows how captivating this performance is.

"God yes," you whisper in reply. She's smiling wide.

"Good." That one word response, so laden with meaning.

It's a dangerous smile. It means only trouble. Good trouble.

"Come here," she's beckoning you behind Natty. Your legs feel weak and like jelly, yet you crawl up and behind her, your hand slips up to her thigh, pressing, pawing and grabbing her flesh. She purrs at your touch, and Karina, too, responds with delight.

"Natty," you begin, feeling her ass under your touch. "Do you want me inside you?"

"Mhm. Yes."

Karina slips a hand around your erection, her wet, lubricated fingertips meet your skin and when she says, let me get you ready for her. That alone could have done the job. But, damn, her hand feels so good as it strokes. The motion's just the right pace and when her grip gets tighter, a tremor courses through you.

"You did such a wonderful job already." Her praise is just as nice as her tongue running along the side of your length and then her lips, pursed, locking onto the tip.

"Karina..." it's a long-drawn groan. She lets her tongue swivel over you, each stroke lasting longer and longer. The more she continues, the more feels you grow and get hard—she works you until the last ounce of sanity leaves your brain.

Then she draws away and finishes her sentence, "I told you, you're the best. Now look at her, look how needy she is." Karina's still got a hand on your cock and the other caressing Natty's cunt.

Natty’s now the girl in the center of it all. Her beautiful face turned, eyes closed. She's twitching, aching, longing. She whimpers, and then gasps in desire as you angle your cock at her slit. Her folds open gratefully and the wet warmth of her sex embraces you. Her groans rise again, heightening ever more in the satisfaction as she backs herself further onto your length.

You move, thrusting into her, and she breaks into a tempered moan.

"Oh yes! God, yes."

And you feel a hand grab at your backside, encouraging, guiding, demanding more of you. She partners her touch with an all-telling grin. Karina's about as happy watching you fuck someone else as she is being fucked.

"That's it... You like it like this Natty? Does this feel good to you?"

It's a silly thing to ask, but it still makes Natty stir. It makes her hot—burning hot. As soon as the words are out of her, and she follows with a moan, she becomes tighter around you.

"Ah! Yes, yes, yes..." she trails into several more repetitions as you angle deeper into her.

Your girlfriend is dancing her fingertips over her skin. "So amazing," your lover is still muttering her words. "So fucking hot," Karina says as she tracks her kisses up Natty's back. Gentle kiss after gentle kiss to her glistening back as Natty keeps driving her ass back against you. 

There is the unmistakable look of an idea forming in Karina's mind. She's climbing onto the sofa, crawling past Natty onto the back of it, where Natty's head is pressed against the fabric. Natty grows hesitant at the expectation of what's to come, and it allows you to take over. A hand on either side. You're gripping her hips and really fucking her, pushing your cock fully into her and stretching her.

You see Natty's fingers wrapping around the bottom of the sofa cushions in an iron grasp, trying to bear the surge of bliss. She shudders and clenches up as Karina runs a set of nails up her back.

"Yes, baby, you take her, don't be afraid," Karina hisses her words, raking at Natty's back with her claws. "Harder." Karina demands and you pull on Natty's hips, pulling the gorgeous young woman into your hips as you fuck.

Karina's sliding into where she wants to be, right in front of Natty's face, sitting where she rests it. She's handling her like the toy she currently is, pulling her head exactly where Karina wants it, and coercing Natty's mouth onto her. To bury her in and make her satisfy Karina's craving.

And Natty wastes no time, sliding her lips onto Karina, exploring her core the way she has explored her mouth. "Just like that," your girlfriend cries as she rests a hand on Natty's head and rocks back against her. "See, I knew you'd be perfect for us."

You have to admit, Karina nailed it with this one. Before any of the girls even step into the apartment, they know why they're there, but none of them are as ready for it as Natty. It must be a deep, dark fantasy of her own, maybe something she's played out in her mind over and over. It must have been burning inside her before even that first taste of red wine.

Red wine.

That's it. That's how you knew it was always going to end up like this. Fuck, you must be a fool for having missed it all those times before. It's so obvious now that it's when she drinks red wine with them—that's the signal of how the night's going to end. Your subconscious had made the connection, now you realise.

You smile to yourself in the moment of clarity and Karina has noticed, breaking through her moans to ask, "You look a little lost back there, babe. Something funny?"

She's got a coy grin on her lips and her hand gripping Natty's hair, grinding the woman's face further into her pussy. It's a stream of muffled moans from Natty between her hungry licks of Karina's cunt. She's all action between you and Karina's stare. "Nothing."

You raise a hand and spank Natty's ass; the echo fills the air and her cheek ripples. Karina flinches with surprise and she's drawing the young woman further into her body. "Jesus, fuck. Again."

Again and you lay your palm on Natty. Harder. She mewls in pain and Karina shivers in bliss. Her fingertips dig at the younger woman, grabbing her by her scalp and pushing her harder.

A final time you spank her ass, planting your hands and digging your fingers into her soft flesh. Using the strike on your mount to signal one thing; faster.

You're reckless now—manic. Grab her ass and pound; that’s all that is on your mind. You're rabid—not holding anything back. This is the sole reason that girl's here tonight and you're not letting her down, nor Karina.

You hammer against her body, deep into her depths. Her cries echo over Karina's. Each hit a satisfying smack to Natty's cheeks. Slaps and claps and cries. Sounds fill the room. The wet squelch, the grunt of every stroke to the backing track of Karina's rich mewls.

It's a symphony, eroticism on an epic scale.

Your eyes roll upward, over Natty's body and land on Karina. She's bouncing on Natty's tongue. Head back, face creased with pleasure. A grimace so beautiful that you swear it is the definition of raw sexuality.

Natty's struggling; her legs are giving way and she keeps reaching with her hands. To the couch, the cushions, Karina's legs, to anything. There is no steadying her, and it looks like she's barely clinging on for dear life. She has only her waning strength and determination holding her together.

You think she's cumming. But fuck, it is hard to be sure. Maybe you should slow down, but if she is cumming once, better to make it twice. Or thrice. So, you pick up the pace instead. You become wilder, stronger, faster, more forceful.

She's not even eating Karina's cunt anymore—she just can't. You grab Natty's arms and pull her upright so she doesn't slip. Chest to back now—she’s against you and your thrusts drive upward into her.

Natty wails and all the while, Karina is sliding down the couch onto her knees, face to face with Natty. She brings a hand to Natty's throat, grabbing and pushing to pin her against you. And her other hand is sinking between Natty's legs.

Karina's teasing Natty's cunt with the soft caresses of her fingers, and you're sliding between those fingers and into the girl. "Look at you," Karina's saying between clenched teeth, then a loud hiss passes her lips. "Oh, fuck."

A fire blazes across the brunette's eyes—you swear it is an inferno. Fingernails and knuckles are going white in her grip of Natty's neck, and the same could be said of yours holding her arms.

"Oh, Karina!" Your newfound fuck toy screams your girlfriend's name out at the top of her voice.

Karina responds by rubbing her fingers on Natty's clit, then pressing hard, strumming it at a maniacal pace. She's whispering into Natty's ear, words only the girl can hear, coaxing something out of her.

Natty screams again and again. Your name then Karina's.

She's cumming. 

Not just that, she's fucking squirting.

Her body's a boneless jelly in your arms as it spasms. And your girlfriend just won't stop her mischievous act, not a single pause until she's dragged more from the young beauty. She's dragging her second and then a third eruption.

It pours. It flows. Eruption is exactly the right word. 

Natty's spraying onto your cock— 

onto Karina's fingers— 

down your legs— 

on the couch— 

everywhere.

You've got an ardent geyser in your grip and her voice cracks, the climax too much for her, for any of you.

In a flurry of a moment, Natty falls, slipping from your grasp and collapsing and sinking against Karina's chest. Limp. Saturated and dripping, sweat and cum.

The girl has come undone.

You've slipped out of her, set her free, but you're ready to burst. Staggering behind her, a mess and almost drunk on sex, you catch your breath. "Karina... I..." you begin.

"Look at the mess she made." Look at the mess she is. 

Karina's laying the girl down to the side; Natty is almost lifeless aside from the aftershocks still tearing through her.

"Karina..." you try again. "Karina, please..."

"Come here sweetie," and that's enough. You sink to your knees on the edge of the seat. Karina's in front of you, grabbing at your erection and lying back. You're collapsing over her, propping yourself with an arm. She's pulling at your cock. It doesn't take much and you're about to fire.

"Please Karina, please" you growl and Karina whispers back the sweetest reply, 'I love watching you do this'.

She's tugging your cock, aiming it at her wet cunt, freshly eaten.

Then your legs grow heavy and stiff, it's impossible to move, muscles tense, locking your body in place. Karina's jerking your cock and it's impossible to hold it.

Release.

It comes.

You can't explain, words can't describe it, the sheer, earth-shattering and mind-numbing rush as it pours. Spurt after spurt, you feel it all come out, and through your hazed vision you're watching it pour over her cunt. Some on her abs, some on her thigh, but most of it coating her pussy. It is all you want to see before you fall, slipping onto her, your head in the nook of her neck. Her words are just a noise in your ear.

"Stay with us," it's her soft voice that you feel vibrate in your ears as her chest rises and falls beneath you. "Natty? Darling, you too."

There's this moment of near silence. Three sets of heavy breaths.

There are things you know to expect before long, but in this space between you don't really know where it'll go. It’s all wild in the night.

"That was... fuck. Intense," you begin, laying the seeds to push the three of you to the next course, "Wasn't it?"

Karina's responding with a push at your shoulders, making you look at her. Her features, still so sharp, she's still so elegantly composed, the dark and playful look hasn't left her eyes. Her smile endearing. "We're not done," she begins, a whisper into your mouth as you lean over her.

Hand grasping your cock, firm, and she’ squeezing a drop or two more out. "I want you inside me." She demands it of you, of your spent dick. This is always the danger. You're just a single cock in a game that demands more.

It hurts as she rubs your cock. No matter how gentle her touch, it feels rough and you wince in her hold, it's raw pain and all you want is to draw back, but you stay. You have to stay. You want to stay. Refusing to let the pain, the momentary sting and discomfort end it. "Give her what she wants," it's Natty's voice, from beside the two of you. Who knows where the young girl even got the strength?

“Please,” It’s rare that Karina pleads, but her mouth is on your ear, nibbling softly. Her hot tongue traces the shell of it and the whole motion gives you a shiver that makes the hair stand on end. "Come on." She coaxes in a sultry, yet playful, sing-song voice. It makes her intentions unmistakable.

You draw your body back and rest on your knees, looking at the two girls, side-by-side, one melting and the other keening. Your heart is still trying to get out of your chest, but somehow the sight of them has calmed you. They make it all feel a little easier.

"I'm sure your cock can still work for me," Karina's words are undisguised lust.

Natty reaches a lazy arm, working her fingers into the cum you left on Karina's body, playing with it. She begins painting Karina's belly, streaking it over her skin. "So much," she purrs, adding a moan as a compliment, her tone soaked in desire.

Karina takes her own finger to it too, dousing it in your fluid before taking it to Natty's lips. It's a question that goes unspoken, not one word, one command, just a mere motion. Natty's reply is perfect; she opens her mouth and accepts it eagerly, slipping her tongue onto Karina's digit and suckling it. 

Natty returns the favour, her finger into Karina's mouth. They're both sucking, tasting, swirling their tongues as you watch, drinking the liquid, gulping it down, savouring the taste. Their eyes locked in an impossibly sinful gaze. Neither can bring themselves to break it.

They only give in and finally end it when their bodies move instinctively, rolling in to a desperate kiss. Mouths together, sharing the fluid back and forth in a series of dirty, noisy kisses.

Natty's running her hand down Karina's body, running it through your cum and heading right for her cunt. One finger sinks inside, met by a silent whimper from Karina and a second finger joins the first as the girl's now twisting inside your girlfriend. She draws in and out, each time pulling more of your cum into Karina's hole.

And your cock, exhausted moments before, now wants to wake. It's stiffening, not too far from hard once again. You're a moth to a flame and Karina's burning brighter than ever. 

Natty's insatiable thirst is getting the better of her and her finger fucks your lover relentlessly.

Karina's mewl of satisfaction turns into a blissful howl. And when you climb between the girl's legs, finding them parted, you grab her behind the knees. Karina moans once more when you move to slip her ankles over your shoulders and Natty is forced to concede. Your stiff shaft, the one Karina has yearned for, drives into her.

Karina absorbs you, clinging, squeezing, and she holds you, embracing you. Her body is soft against yours, yet inside she's hotter than molten iron. She's even wetter, every slick and intimate part of her is grinding against you. "Yes, fuck yes," she's slurring, muttering nonsense.

She's a fucking mess between her legs—there's some of Natty's, there's some of hers, and there's a lot of yours down there, and you're fucking it all into her as lubricant. Natty's forced to watch as you're pressing Karina's knees up to her chest. She's riding the edge between pleasure and pain and enjoying every bit of it.

And there's no better feeling than when you press her even closer, and now her ankles lock at the back of your neck. Every thrust from you forces her ass to rise from the cushion and her cheeks meet your hips in a way that resembles Natty not long ago. Her tits are pressed almost flat under the weight. She is so open to you—so, so willing. 

Her thighs tremble. Her hands claw. She's losing everything inside herself, everything but the one thing she wants most, a violent orgasm.

It's Natty's turn now, a role reversal, as she tries her hand at the encouragement, the guiding partner, "Harder," her first order. "Deeper," her second. Both punctuated with her nails scoring along your flesh. And in an act that's so entirely Natty, she's now spanking your ass and laughing as she does it. She's playfully flirty and full of giddy enthusiasm.

"Faster." Natty's clapping her hands and she's watching your thrusts drive Karina wild. Every stroke, every strike, all of it Karina is crying out for. Every push forward makes her twinge, a sensation, a mix of pleasure and pain, each jolting through her. "God, isn't she great to fuck?"

"She's the best," you groan, struggling to reply with the only response you can formulate. She is, of course, better to fuck than anybody else. There's no question about that.

"And you," Natty turns to her, "are you going to cum for us now?" Karina's hair sways. Her mouth is full of cries and whimpers. Every roll of your hips, every pull back and every plunge into her pussy steals every breath.

"Yes," she says. "Fuck yes. Right there, baby. Don't stop."

Natty relaxes to enjoy the show. She can see your shaft thrusting. She can see it when you withdraw, almost the full length and then every inch into Karina. Each time, your girlfriend's body jiggles and twists and writhes.

Karina's face grows contorted. A contortion of pure delight.

It's what Natty's been waiting for. Watching. The expectation she couldn't express. The feeling inside her core growing.

"Oh. God!" Karina squeals. She's seeing white spots explode in her vision. A flash of colourful patterns swirl in her head. The white heat rises higher and hotter, so high and so bright it consumes her. She's gone in it. Next comes a sound following a deafening gasp that stops the air dead in her lungs, the release as an equally loud scream.

You hear it, and the heat burns inside your ears, as if sound could cauterize. Every cell of your skin sizzles. It's electric, this passion.

Her cunt turns to water and floods. Your cock is saturated. That's all the reason you need to lose yourself. To slip back and slide yourself deeper into her, pumping. Her eyes squeeze shut and a loud, sonorous gasp is swallowed by her lips. She's never seemed sexier. She is utterly engorged with desire.

"Ah! Ah!" 

You know Karina's at her limit. A dire need for respite, for air to fill her lungs—for relief.

You know what you're going to do. Natty is oblivious, so when you pull out of Karina, and slide over Natty—who's lying on her side facing Karina—it catches her by surprise. One that brings a look of elated shock to her face. You push up one leg and mount her from the side, driving your cock into her.

Karina's drowning in air as she opens her mouth to take all she can. Her vision clears. It focuses on Natty.

The young woman is caught, once again, and in the best way possible; she's lost and helpless beneath you, she has to clutch and clasp whatever's available—the cushions, her own arms—and take it. She's face down to the couch; her body twisted. Her tit's pressed underneath her but her waist rotating, one knee pointing at Karina and one leg straight between your own.

And Natty has taken this all in stride. She's dug her nails into her own scalp, grabbing at her hair. And there is no uncertainty or indecision within her body, nor in her mind. She revels in her vulnerability. She loves the feel of you inside her. Loves the thrill that floods through her entire being as you dominate and ravish her.

Karina makes her move. To join Natty, she slides in on her side, lifting Natty's leg over her own hip, turning Natty fully onto her side to face her. You relent for a moment and Karina does what she needs to. She pulls her own leg up under Natty's and hooks it around her ass. The girls pull each other close. Pull each other into a kiss. Their mouths together. Their breath shared.

Karina whispers, but loud enough you can hear her, and says, "Told you," and her words are all wrapped up in a smirk, the smile of satisfaction.

You slap the length of your cock against Karina's ass; teasing her but not sliding into her. And only when Karina has worked herself up even higher do you lower yourself and slide in, penetrating, filling and stretching.

You're fucking in and out of her. This might be a new favourite of yours. The girls tangled together, sharing kisses and bites and tongue. Both their holes are there for you—each available whenever you want it, and each is only a hair width apart.

It's hard for you to keep a focus on everything like this. But you fight through, burying your shaft inside Karina. Once, and twice, and a final time again. And it's ever so easy to just drag yourself out, driving it between their cunts for a few short pumps and then slip it up into Natty.

"Fuck. I wish we'd done this sooner," Karina is mumbling more, but her words are rolling together and coiling into nonsensical verbal splashes of pure want and need.

Natty strains a response, "I'd... love... to... join you. Often."

"Perfect." Karina is happy as she shifts, arching her body to make a point, to tell you who to fuck now.

And you slip, and then you're inside Karina. As easy as that. Buried as deep and hard as you can, she's mouthing a silent cry and her hair falls over her face.

Natty's got a handful of Karina's tit now, caressing her nipples. It's hard not to envy the beauty that's in her hands. Soft, round, pert, perfectly curved, her breasts are works of art, beautiful beyond anything you could ever put into words.

And all of a sudden, Natty has shifted from Karina's mouth, planting her lips on Karina's soft pillows. Natty is suckling at them and Karina's mouth is twisted open in a soundless gasp, then she speaks, "I could do this forever."

Her arms draw along Natty's body until she finds her ass, slipping down and around, and then her fingertip sinks between her cheeks. It makes Natty lurch as it caresses her taint, presses lower, and touches her tight rear entrance.

Then she does it, a manoeuvre only the confident would have considered, a twist and she's pushing a slender finger into Natty's ass and causing the girl to nip at Karina's breast. "Fuck," Natty hisses, giving a breathy shudder. And her reaction draws a grin onto Karina.

And they keep going like that, they are perfectly attuned to each other. And you swap again, seeing the opportunity to really punish Natty. You're angling towards her again, sliding into her soaked cunt.

You push up inside her. With no time or inclination to start gentle, you're instantly fucking her fast. In and out, hard and deep, over and over, you hammer her cunt. She's muffled with a mouth full of Karina.

"How's that Natty? Both your holes are ours." It's Karina, whispering her dirty words again, "tell us you're going to join us again. Tell us."

Natty nods her head against Karina's chest. It's not a verbal answer. But it's an affirmation that, fuck, yes, she'd like that—as would you all. You could have this again, and maybe soon, a replay with a fresh twist.

Maybe next time you can be the one inside Natty's ass. For now, it's Karina's finger working her, and it looks fucking amazing as it drives into her and withdraws in the exact same rhythm that you're giving her.

You both keep the pace, driving Natty into nirvana, and at some point, it's clear when the climax hits. But it's an awfully hard thing to gauge the passage of time while being wrapped and caught and tangled with these two vixens. All you know is that all too soon, your balls are beginning to churn.

And that's when you switch back again, driving into your girlfriend's cunt with no time for a rest.You're going for broke. Slamming yourself fully inside and Karina knows the instant you do what your fate has become. She laughs and squeezes Natty, pulling the girl tighter.

It's only natural that the rising tide, the bubble of the climactic force, grows and grows and grows. Your ears pound in the beat of the blood racing and your breaths come in fits and starts. The noises escaping your three mouths become louder than before, more frenetic, more unchecked. More lustful.

"Karina— I— Natty—" You're losing the fight against your own body. The rush, the pressure, all the sounds, sights, and smells have put the signal in the green. There is no stopping it. No controlling it. It's all building, coalescing, into one pinpoint of space and time, right there between their legs.

Karina's pulling Natty into position as you're pulling out of her cunt. They both turn to face you, their cheeks pressed together, tits too, and their legs in a knot. They're lying in such a manner that they feel to you like an oasis in a hot desert, inviting, like a promised paradise, and it's calling you, tempting, and you can't hold yourself any longer.

You're rubbing yourself over the edge, and they're calling out to you in a desperate tones, still riding some faint traces of orgasms, "On us."

"Go on."

"Please cum on me, on us."

"Cum for us."

You barely hear their calls, and there's no fucking way you know who is saying what. It's just words of need spilling from two filthy mouths.

It takes only a handful of seconds, and then it happens. 

With a harsh spasm from head to toe, you feel it shoot forward, ripping free from your body, and pulsing as you paint their flesh. Spurts and ropes and slivers shoot up and over the girls. A little on a thigh, on their bodies, over their tits and all the way to their pretty little faces.

They're smiling like idiots as you cum. They're proud of it. They relish it. Natty's tongue moves around inside her lips, just getting another taste—a droplet or two. Karina's teasing as always, "Is that all?"

You're still forcing every drop out you can, the final bits dropping to their thighs.

"There's no way that's all of it, huh," Karina continues to tease. And then it ends, and your body lets go and you fall beside them. You simply can't stand any longer.

"I think that's all of it, Karina," Natty's giggling to herself. She's twirling her fingers over Karina's nipple, playing with the rope of cum that landed there. And Karina is humming out an almost silent cry, twisting under the touch. "Here, taste," and the offer is clear, and again Natty is surprising you.

She offers her own tit to Karina, willing her to lick your cum from it. And the act brings a gleam to Karina's eyes as she cups it, bringing it to her mouth to taste. She's sucking and licking and Natty's gasping at the sensation, and at the way Karina nibbles just a little—just a little too much for it to be painless.

You're laying and watching in awe at the debauchery of the scene and wishing you could watch it forever, or at least capture it. The girls are just lapping at each other now, filling their mouths with your seed and swallowing. Laughing. Panting. Moaning. Sighing. Gasping.

Their limbs tangle. Their tongues too. And it's then you realise, no matter how drained you are—completely fucking bone-dry—these two aren't even close to finishing. There's still a show to be enjoyed yet.

You shift just a little to find the most comfortable view, and Karina's taking control now. Slowly she rolls Natty onto her back, their legs still tied, in such a way that Karina can mount her. Natty's got a playful smile across her lips, looking up, seeing the glistening of cum and sweat shining against Karina's neck and cheeks and mouth, her entire gorgeous face soaked in the stuff.

Karina's getting rougher, her nails cutting into Natty's skin. A hungry bite here, a nip there, another scratch here. She's threatening to draw blood as red as the wine she drank. Right on the edge of true pain, but Natty's relishing it. Her eyes roll back, and she lets out a small squeal. And you watch her buck and writhe. 

Karina grows ever more forceful—pinning her and keeping Natty in place. She's starting to drive her hips against her. The desire is clear; she wants Natty to a delirium.

You can do nothing but marvel at the sight. You may be raw, you may be sensitive, but you're here to enjoy the show that may yet last a whole night.

"Me and you now, Natty. Are you ready to cum for me?"

"Yes," the whimper slips out of Natty. "Yes, anything for you."

[signoferoda]

THE LOVE WE LEFT BEHIND

summary: a fic based on this post by @harrysblackcoat about ex husband!harry

The bustling aisles of the supermarket were crowded with shoppers, each lost in their own little world of grocery lists and meal plans. Among them, Harry navigated with practiced ease, a small smile playing on his lips as he tossed items into his basket. He glanced at his watch, noting the time. It wouldn't do him any favours being late for their weekly family dinner.

These weekly family dinners were something he cherished, a remnant of the time when things were simpler between him and y/n. Even though they were no longer together, they both agreed to keep the routine for the sake of the kids—and perhaps, for themselves as well.

As Harry scanned the shelves, his eyes landed on a familiar sight. There, nestled among the other sweets, was Y/N's favourite chocolate. Without a second thought, he reached out and grabbed a few bars, adding them to his basket, ignoring the pang of longing in his chest. It was a small gesture, but one that brought a smile to his face, nonetheless. Friendly, he told himself. Just a friendly gesture.

He continued down the aisle, picking up the last few items on the list y/n had sent him when he told her he was popping into Tescos before meeting her at her house. As he turned the corner to the checkout, he couldn't help but think about Y/N. It had been months since their divorce, but the feelings he had for her hadn't diminished. If anything, seeing her every week only made him realise how much he still loved her.

With the groceries bagged and paid for, Harry headed to his car. The drive to Y/N's house was a short one, but it gave him enough time to replay the memories of their time together. The laughter, the late-night talks, the way she used to cuddle up to him on the couch. He sighed, pushing those thoughts away as he pulled into her driveway.

Y/N opened the door before he could knock, a warm smile on her face. "Hey, come on in."

"Hey," he replied, stepping inside and handing her the bags. "Got everything on the list."

She glanced through the bags and paused when she saw the chocolates. "Harry, you didn't have to—"

"I know," he interrupted, his heart beating a little faster. "I saw them and thought of you."

Y/N's heart fluttered at his words, her resolve wavering for a moment.

But then she remembered why they were no longer together-the hurt, the betrayal, the shattered dreams-and she pushed the thought aside.

"Thanks," she said, forcing a smile as she took her seat at the table.

As they moved to the kitchen to put away the groceries, their 4 year old daughter, Blair, came running in. "Daddy!" she squealed, wrapping her small arms around Harry's legs.

Harry scooped her up, laughing. "Hey, my buzzing bee! Missed you."

Blair grinned, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "Missed you too, Daddy."

Y/N watched them, a fond expression on her face. Seeing Harry with their children always tugged at her heartstrings. Despite everything, he was an amazing father, and she couldn't deny the connection they all still shared.

"How's Rosa?" Harry asked, referring to their other daughter.

"She's upstairs napping," Y/N replied. "Should be up soon."

"Good," he said, setting Blair down. "I can't wait to see her."

As they all sat down for dinner after Blair woke up, Harry found himself stealing glances at Y/N. She looked beautiful as always, her laughter lighting up the room. He missed the days when that laughter was for him, when their life was uncomplicated and full of love. But those days were gone, and he had to accept that.

After dinner, as they cleared the table, Harry noticed Y/N sneaking a piece of the chocolate he'd bought. She caught his eye and smiled, a small, private moment that made his heart ache.

"Thanks again for the chocolates," she said quietly.

"Anytime," he replied, wishing he could say more, wishing he could tell her how much he still loved her.

But as the evening drew to a close, Harry knew he had to leave sooner or later. He helped tuck Rosa and Blair into bed. He read them a story, their little faces glowing with happiness. It was moments like these that made everything worth it, even if it was bittersweet. They needed stability, and he wasn't going to let his personal feelings between their mum get in the way.

When it was finally time for him to leave, he lingered at the door, hesitating. Y/N walked him out, the night air cool and crisp around them.

"Thanks for coming," she said, her voice soft.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," he replied, looking into her eyes. "You know that."

She nodded, and for a brief moment, it felt like old times. Like they were a team again, facing the world together. But the moment passed, and reality set back in.

"Goodnight, Harry," she said, stepping back.

"Goodnight, Y/N," he replied, turning to leave. As he walked to his car, he couldn't help but glance back one last time. She stood in the doorway, watching him, and he wondered if maybe, just maybe, there was still a chance for them.

Driving away, Harry resolved to keep trying. He wasn't ready to give up on her, on their family. He'd keep coming to these dinners, keep being there for the kids, and keep loving her from afar. Because sometimes, love was about persistence, about holding on even when everything seemed lost.

***

A few weeks had passed since that family dinner, and Harry had found himself thinking about Y/N more often than usual. He was determined to win her back, no matter how long it took. The family dinners had become a regular reminder of what they once had, and each time he left her house, he felt a renewed sense of purpose. He knew it wasn't going to be easy, but he was willing to fight for the woman he loved.

One evening, as he was about to head out for their weekly dinner, his phone buzzed with a message from Y/N.

Y/N: Hey, can you come over a bit earlier for dinner tonight? Blair has been asking about you all day.

Harry smiled at his phone, feeling a warmth spread through his chest. He quickly typed back a response.

Harry: Of course. I'll be there in an hour. Kiss the kids for me

He grabbed his keys and headed out, a sense of excitement bubbling up inside him. It wasn't just about seeing the kids; it was about seeing Y/N. Every moment with her was precious, even if it was just for a short while.

When he arrived at Y/N's house, she greeted him at the door with a warm smile. "Hey, come on in. Blair is in the living room, and Rosa is finishing up her nap."

Harry stepped inside, shaking off the rain from his coat. "Thanks for inviting me early."

"Of course," she said, leading him to the living room. "Blair has been looking forward to seeing you."

As soon as Blair saw Harry, her face lit up. "Daddy!" She shouted, running into his arms.

"Hey, bee!" Harry lifted her up, spinning her around before setting her down. "How's my big girl doing?"

Blair giggled, clinging to Harry's leg. "Good! We made cookies today!"

Y/N smiled, watching them. "Yes, we did. And they're cooling in the kitchen if you want to try one."

"I'd love to," Harry said, following Y/N to the kitchen with Blair still attached to his leg.

In the kitchen, the smell of freshly baked cookies filled the air. Harry couldn't help but feel a pang of nostalgia. This used to be their life, their home filled with the simple joys of family. Harry remembers standing in that very kitchen, late at night, answering Y/N's pregnancy cravings so many times he's lost count. They used to joke that Blair inherited a sweet tooth because all Y/N wanted during her pregnancy were the homemade cookies Harry used to bake.

"They smell amazing," Harry said, reaching for a cookie. He took a bite and closed his eyes, savouring the taste. "These are perfect."

Y/N laughed softly. "Glad you like them."

As they stood there, enjoying the cookies and each other's company, Harry felt a sudden impulse to speak up. He wanted to tell her how much he missed her, how much he wanted them to be a family again. But before he could find the words, Amelia's cries echoed from the nursery.

"I'll get her," Y/N said, giving Harry an apologetic look.

"No, let me," Harry offered, already heading towards the nursery.

Y/N hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Okay, thanks."

Harry walked into the nursery, his heart swelling at the sight of his baby girl. Rosa’s big, tear-filled eyes met his, and she instantly stopped crying, reaching out for him. He scooped her up, holding her close. "Hey there, princess. Daddy's here."

Rosa nestled into his shoulder, her tiny fingers clutching his shirt. Harry rocked her gently, humming a lullaby. Moments like these reminded him of the preciousness of family and how much he wanted to be there for every little moment.

When he returned to the living room with Rosa in his arms, he found Blair playing with a puzzle on the floor. “Where’s your mum love?” He asked, setting Rosa down onto the carpet.

“In the kitchen” Blair replied, reaching for another piece of her puzzle.

“Keep an eye on your sister, bee. I’ll be right back” Harry requested as he began making his way to the kitchen. Y/n was stood by the stove, checking on the stir fry she was making.

"Do you need any help?" he offered, standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

Y/N glanced at him, her expression softening. "Sure, you can dry the dishes. The cookies made a right mess" she chuckled softly making Harry smile as he walked over to the dishes.

They worked in companionable silence, the sizzling of the stir fry and clinking of the dishes being the only sounds filling the room. Harry stole a few glances at Y/N, her profile bathed in the soft glow of the setting sun. She looked serene, but he could see the faint lines of worry etched on her face, lines he knew were partly his doing.

As he dried the last dish, Harry finally spoke. "Y/N, there's something I need to tell you."

Y/N looked up, meeting his gaze. "What is it, Harry?"

He took a deep breath, his heart pounding in his chest. "I know I've made mistakes. Big ones. And I know I hurt you. But these past months, spending time with you and the kids, it's reminded me of how much I still love you."

Y/N's eyes widened, surprise and confusion flickering across her face. "Harry, I..."

"Please, just hear me out," he interrupted, his voice earnest. "I know I can't change the past, but I want to make things right. I want us to be a family again. Not just for the kids, but for us. Because I love you, Y/N. I never stopped loving you."

Tears welled up in Y/N's eyes as she listened to his words. She had built walls around her heart to protect herself from the pain, but now those walls were crumbling. She had missed him too—their shared moments, the way he made her feel safe and loved.

"I don't know, Harry," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I need time to think."

Harry nodded, understanding the gravity of her words. "Take all the time you need. I'll wait for you, Y/N. No matter how long it takes."

***

One evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a golden glow over the world, Y/N found herself standing outside Harry's house. Her heart raced as she rang the doorbell, her mind swirling with thoughts and emotions.

When Harry opened the door, his eyes widened in surprise and hope. "Y/N, what are you doing here?"

She took a deep breath, her heart pounding in her chest. "I've been doing a lot of thinking, Harry. And I've realised something important."

Harry's expression was a mixture of hope and fear. "What is it?"

"I realised that I never stopped loving you either," she confessed, her voice shaking. "We have a lot of things to work through, and it's not going to be easy. But I want to try. I want us to be a family again."

A slow, relieved smile spread across Harry's face as he stepped forward, pulling her into a tight embrace. "You have no idea how happy that makes me, Y/N. I promise I'll do everything I can to make things right."

Tears of joy streamed down Y/N's face as she held onto him, feeling the warmth and comfort of his embrace. For the first time in a long while, she felt a glimmer of hope for the future.

[starglitterz]

♡ NIGHT DANCER.

❝ nothing changed, please don't change… let's blend together, one more time. ❞ / after spending the night with you, how do the genshin men treat you in the morning after?

✧ feat ; albedo, cyno, kaedehara kazuha, scaramouche, shikanoin heizou, xiao x gn!reader ✧ warning(s) ; suggestive (esp scara and heizou) ✧ a/n ; HIII everybody make some noise for quill’s shocking once a year post!!! hope you guys like this and if it doesn’t show up in tags i will delete my account (/nsrs) anyways idk why i’ve been so obsessed w the idea of waking up next to someone (can you tell i’m critically lonely? 💀) and so this piece was born. pretend u don't notice how scara & xiao’s might seem kinda similar it’s bc i view them thru the same lens LOL ok hope you enjoy! (also ignore the scara favouritism im kinda obsessed w this idea for him KJASKJD)

please reblog + leave comments ! it helps a lot w motivation <3

✦ ALBEDO. [ kreideprinz ]

you’re awoken by the feeling of a cold breeze caressing your skin, and as you grasp for his familiar figure, you realise albedo’s not beside you anymore. but before you can freak out, his soft voice calls to you from behind you, “good morning, dove. don’t move, i’m almost finished.” “finished with what?” you query, deciding to obey him and stay still. he doesn’t answer at first, but you can hear a faint scratching sound which almost sounds like charcoal against parchment. “and… done.” you shift in the bed, turning around to face him. albedo looks almost ethereal in the early morning light, especially when he smiles at you like you hung the stars in the sky. “i do hope you don’t find this peculiar, but i wanted to draw you while you were asleep. you looked so peaceful, and i wanted to immortalise this moment.” he hands you the paper, strands of wheat-coloured hair spilling over his shoulders, let loose from his usual half ponytail. you’re the only one who gets to see him like this, messy and imperfect instead of the flawless scientist he portrays to the rest of mondstadt. you gaze at the drawing, absorbing every detail as you try not to faint from what a sweet gesture this is, “albedo, this is amazing! you made me look so pretty.” he tilts his head quizzically, raising an eyebrow, “what do you mean? i just drew you exactly how i see you – you’re always beautiful to me.”

✦ CYNO. [ judicator of secrets ]

cyno's skin looks almost golden in the sunlight filtering through the translucent curtains. you're lying on your side, gazing at him and just admiring his features when his red eyes flutter open and he murmurs, “i might have to charge you for looking so much.” his voice is rougher than normal, deepened by sleep and it makes heat rush to your cheeks. “morning, babe-ah!” you can barely get out your greeting before he's pulling you back into his embrace, strong arms wrapping around you as he nuzzles into your neck. “cyno!” you laugh, turning around to face him, “stop it, i'm hungry! i wanna go get breakfast-” “hi hungry, i'm cyno,” your boyfriend looks at you with the most deadpan expression, and you're momentarily stunned. then you groan and throw a pillow at his head, “you're so lame!” “i'm not so lame, i just told you i'm cyno- okay, okay, i'll stop!” you collapse into a fit of giggles right as you're about to pummel his chest, “lamest ever.” “mmm,” cyno mumbles, eyes already fluttering shut again as he feels your plush warmth against him, “i'll make you breakfast, i swear, but can we just stay like this for a little longer?”

✦ KAEDEHARA KAZUHA. [ scarlet leaves pursue wild waves ]

the first thing you see when you wake up are kazuha's crimson irises laser-focused on you. the way his eyes scan your features, it’s almost like he’s tracing every detail to commit to memory, as if every morning that he wakes up next to you could be his last. “kazu? what's-” you're interrupted by a yawn, and your boyfriend's gaze softens as he looks at you. as you brush his red-streaked hair out of his face, he leans into your touch, almost cat-like in the motion, “what is it, 'zuha?” “i was just thinking... you make me glad to be a poet,” a gentle smile graces his features. “what? why?” despite the fact that kazuha is always letting praise fall from his lips like jewels, you didn't even remotely expect his answer. “because it means i'm lucky enough to be able to properly convey how you make me feel, and how gorgeous you are,” kazuha presses a sweet kiss on your forehead, then his brow furrows slightly, “but i don't think there's enough words in the world for me to speak about what you mean to me.”

✦ SCARAMOUCHE. [ kunikuzushi ]

when scaramouche wakes up, his first thought is; why does my entire body hurt? eyes still half-lidded and drowsy, he looks down and he's met with the sight of your back pressed against his torso, his arm thrown carelessly over your waist. he scrambles backwards, eyes widening with shock, and his sudden frantic movement wakes you up too. “what are you doing in my bed?!” “what the hell, scara?” you mumble, rubbing away the sleep from your eyes, “it’s too early for you to be this loud.” scaramouche’s heart is beating a million times a minute, and it’s only exacerbated by how cute you look when you’re this sleepy, not that he’d admit it to you for the world. but as you yawn and sit up, he thinks that he’s going to go into cardiac arrest. “you didn’t answer my question!” you give him a weird look, “we slept together. again. duh.” the blanket wrapped around your figure slides off a little as you reply, revealing your bare shoulder and giving him the faintest glimpse of your chest, and scaramouche’s face turns so red you genuinely think he might explode. “c-cover yourself up!” he scolds, clambering closer to drape the fabric over you again as his mind works through the haze of sleep, letting the memories of last night flood back.

realising how flustered he is, you take this as the perfect opportunity to tease him, “it’s nothing you haven’t seen before.” “shut up.” he replies curtly, but he hesitates as his fingers skim over the bite mark on your collarbone. his eyes darken slightly as he recalls last night, the messy kisses that were more tongue than anything else, his teeth nipping at your neck and finally sinking into your skin, all to mark you as his. you’ve both never officially decided what the two of you are, but you both know that he’s yours and you’re his, and scaramouche doesn’t like sharing. a playful smirk curves your lips, “remember giving this to me?” “don’t test me,” he mumbles, eyes roving over your exposed skin. his gaze dips to the still slipping blanket, hands ceasing their rapid motion to try and rescue your modesty, “i might give you more.” your arms loop around his neck, pulling him back down to the bed as you smile teasingly, “so do it.” “you’re a bad influence,” scaramouche groans, hands already moving to grip your hips, and you laugh, “that’s why you love me~”

✦ SHIKANOIN HEIZOU. [ analytical harmony ]

“good morning~” heizou's lilting voice is the first thing you hear when you wake up, and his trademark smile is already on his idiotically kissable lips as the two of you lie next to each other in his bed. “you do this with all the criminals you catch?” you drawl, trying to ignore how your heart skips a beat as you see the way his green eyes twinkle in the light. “just the ones i think look best in a different type of handcuffs,” he replies smoothly without missing a beat, smirk deepening as he notices he's left you speechless. “plus,” his hand trails across your cheek, thumb stroking your skin for a split second before his smile turns devilish, “it'd be pretty hard for me to get them to the police station if i left them all unable to walk.” “ugh, heizou!” you swat his shoulder, and bury your face in the pillow as he bursts into laughter. “but seriously,” heizou taps your shoulder gently, almost hesitantly, and you peek up from the pillow to look at him. a soft pink blush dusts his cheeks, and his eyes flicker away from yours in a manner that seems almost shy, “you're the only person i'd do this with, criminal or not.”

✦ XIAO. [ vigilant yaksha ]

waking up next to you is like a little slice of heaven for xiao. he can barely believe that he, the corrupted conqueror of demons, is able to share a bed with a mortal who borders on angelic. you shift in xiao's embrace, tucking your head under his chin almost instinctively as your eyes open slowly, “good morning, xiao. did you sleep well?” he still gets embarrassed by your proximity, so his voice is a little curt as he responds with a pink blush darkening his cheeks, “adepti do not require sleep.” “ah…” you roll your eyes, but pounce on the opportunity to fluster him, “guess that's why you always want to go all night, hm?” “i-!” xiao's face turns an almost delightful shade of crimson and he looks away, “no respect for the adepti.” “not true!” you gasp with mock offense. cuddling up against him, you stick your tongue out, “i respect alllll the adepti. but my boyfriend? maybe not so much.” “you'll be the death of me,” xiao sighs, pulling you impossibly closer. “then i hope you'll die a happy man,” you giggle, threading your fingers through his jade hair. xiao's eyes slide shut from the feeling of you playing with his hair, and he murmurs a response that leaves you speechless, “after a life with you? certainly.”

i love them this is so soft when is it my turn // general masterlist

© starglitterz 2023. do not repost or modify in any way - reblog and leave comments if you enjoyed !

[kozachenko]

Here's a digital sketch dump of some pose/anatomy practices and some 2hu doodles, I think from now on if I don't have any big final piece to post, I'll just post sketches I liked that I did digitally (might also reblog some drawings of mine that I want more people to see, maybe idk).

Artist's Notes:

Ok so after the recent Hifuu fanart I did, I've been hoping to experiment more with how I draw faces, how I render, as well as how I stylize things. In some of the earlier sketches I did, I had an idea for a pose that I wanted to try drawing, so I took a ref pic of myself doing said pose (the leaning one btw) and then did a sketch over top of it just to get an idea for the shapes, negative space, and silhouette. After that, I wanted to do some simpler breakdowns of the shapes so I can get better at simplifying the body (these ended up being the bottom right sketches in the post). I also did some experimenting with how to push certain parts of said sketches to create a different body type (via liquify and then a more refined version based on that sketch), as well as figuring out what makes a pose feel natural and not stiff. This was also a bit of a foreshortening practice just so I can get more confident with it, and I ended up using the arms from the liquified version for the coloured Zanmu sketch I did since I liked them so much (dw I'll get to that).

The next thing I wanted to try and draw was Hisami, mainly because.... I am very bad at drawing her in my style. Last time I drew her I made her look really creepy and spindly, and it is my headcanon now that she can switch between a more human, and more creepy look whenever she wants. I'm liking where the face is going a lot, might have to refine a few things about it in the future, but it's cute (I also made the blush purple which I think is what I'm gonna do with her face from now on). I also like how her hair in the sketch turned out a lot, but the outfit..... not as much... Ever since I started changing my style to something less cartoony, I've had a hard time drawing her outfit in my style. Especially the flower veil thing she has on, which, I did try to find a way to draw, but I ended up deleting that sketch because I didn't like it. I'm also not a fan of using the colour purple, like, pure purple, magentas are fine, indigos are fine, but not strict purple. I also have a hard time with drawing all the little pattern details on her dress. I also need to find a way to draw the flower veil in a way that looks good because everytime I try it ends up just looking off (very similar to whenever I try to draw Zanmu's blue spears). I think the only solution to this problem is to do what I normally do and make my own version of the outfit, but with adjustments to suit my style while still trying to keep core elements from the original design intact (like I do with Zanmu and Keiki, and yes I am going to get to that Zanmu drawing just gimme a minute).

Ok next up is Keiki, my favourite Touhou character who I haven't drawn since the beginning of the year. Since my style has changed a lot, I wanted to just do a face sketch of her to get a hang of drawing her again, and I..... really really like how it turned out! When I drew her eyes, I realized that a good way of keeping faces too same facey can be via varying the sizes of their pupils, so that's an idea I'm gonna keep in mind from now on. I had a lot of fun with her hair, I initially was gonna do it like how it is in the official art, but I ended up not liking it, so now I'm gonna draw Keiki with wavy heir like this because it's fun and it looks nice. I also included my base sketch for Keiki's face since I was initially struggling with drawing her bandanna, and in the coloured sketch I added some more detail into her hair.

Now to finally talk about the sketches for Zanmu. Good lord was I having a tough time with her face. I also did this sketch before I figured out how I wanted to draw hair, so that's why the rendering on her hair is different (I did this soon after the Hisami sketch actually). Since I changed my art style a lot, I had to find a way to translate her face from my more cartoony style to my more detailed style, so while the face shape, nose shape and mouth was fine, I was really struggling with the eyes. I did get somewhere eventually though, and I am super happy with how it turned out. I wanted to lean more towards the androgynous side of the gender presentation spectrum, mainly because I think that makes sense for her character. Also made sure to include the silver hairs and some wrinkles just to bring some signs of her aging into her face because those are just staple features of how I draw Zanmu at this point lol. You will also notice that I gave her some scars on the right side of her face, and that's because I am a Zanmu-with-scars truther, I fucking love it whenever I see someone give Zanmu visible scars like that it just adds so much omg (I also tried to put a wolf bite mark on her arm in the full body drawing but idk if it reads well). While you can argue that her not having scars sells the idea of her being this "powerful, untouchable mastermind who is impossible to defeat," I'd say that instead of those scars representing times she got injured, they represent everyone who has failed to defeat her.

As I was drawing Zanmu's face, I referenced my sketch of to help with contrasting their features since I made Keiki's face more traditionally feminine. I also didn't mention this in my commentary on Keiki's face because I wanted to save it for here, but giving Zanmu scars also plays into the fact that she used to be human, wheras Keiki doesn't have any scars because she's a god who doesn't follow the rules of normal human biology. Plus I'm thinking about the two of them interacting again (return of Zan/Keik??? (I'm a multishipper btw) maybe???) so drawing their faces together will definitely help me in the future if I wanna draw them together (again, maybe as a ship? I've kinda been ironing out the kinks in their potential interactions (romantic and non-romantic) for a while now so idk maybe expect that in the future lol).

And now for the full body drawing, when I was doing the face sketch I did this little snippet of an outfit, had a vision, and the made it into a reality. I'll admit, part of me was worried that it would end up looking too much like Yuugi's outfits in the spinoffs and mangas, but I feel like I made enough changes to differentiate them. I tried to keep a few of the major details in Zanmu's design (i.e. the red tassles and yellow lining on her shirt) while putting a new spin on it. I also dialed up the scars to 11 since without them the whole thing kinda looked incomplete. Also, while I could say that the leaves on her kimono are "a nod to the fact that technically she should be a tengu because back then people belived that corrupt monks would turn into tengu but no Zanmu is an oni and they're maple leaves because...tengu...ahahahaha" what really ended up happening was that I looked up clothing patterns from Sengoku era Japan, liked the leaves the most because the red picked up on the red from the rest of her design and just ran with it. I also always had the idea to put Zanmu in men's clothing from Sengoku era Japan and while the accurate thing to do would be to put her in a Buddhist's clothes from that era.... from a character standpoint, I don't think Zanmu is pious enough to strictly wear the proper monk uniform, and also since she's basically the king of Hell, she would probably dress herself like royalty from that era. TBH, I probably could've been a bit more historically accurate, but again, this was mainly for conceptual purposes because I had a vision and I needed to see it through.

If I were to draw her in this sort of outfit again, I should probably try and use more references, although now that I look at it, if she were to wear it properly this would maybe, probably look a bit closer to a Kyūtai sugata (a very huge stretch, but it just kinda reminds me of that) just without the layers under and over the main piece of clothing (In the website that I searched up to try and compare the outfit in my sketch to, they name the outfit pieces but don't label them on the image, so I don't know 100% what everything is called) so I will definitely have to use that style of clothing as a reference going forward.

Also, I was kind of inspired by the ToTK design for Ganondorf since I have finished the game a while ago and I absolutely love what they did with his design (it's just so fucking cool omg) and I thought that sort of look would look good on Zanmu, so yeah got some inspo from that.

And those were all the notes for each of the sketches, I'm motivated to draw rn but kinda art blocked, so doing these little coloured sketches helps a lot.

[wileys-russo]

pls can i request a ficlet/blurb: your supporting less in australia for the world cup on her days off you meet her at her hotel and walk for hours around the cities you’re in, both adamant on bringing zel with you since her family is not there and being her “siblings she never had” anyway your brother his wife and your niece fly over to support lessi aswell, both of your families obviously being close but since you only speak to your brother, only he is around. watching less score the winner in the semi finals was a dream for all of you, listening to your niece ramble incoherent words about how ‘auntie lessless’ is her idol. when she comes up after the game to see you all and greeting your brother, her family gives her a minute to soak it all up in your arms, with you whispering sweet nothing in your ear then finally your niece comes rushing up to her and gives lessi a hug just cute moments with the fam 🥲

favorite aunty II a.russo

"are we there now?" your niece asked for the one hundreth time as you withheld a groan and alessia hid her smile behind her hand, chin resting on her fist.

"not yet lilah, i promise i will tell you when we are. look you're missing out on the view!" you turned her head to continue to look out the window.

"look lilah theres a pretty bird!" katie clapped for your nieces attention, pointing out the window as the five year old ooh'd and you caught zel's eye as she glanced over the seat mouthing a thank you.

"we're here!" you winced a few minutes as the girl screamed seeing the sign for the zoo and wriggled around eagerly in her seat. "inside voice lilah." you sighed with a smile, ruffling her hair as she leaned into your side.

"if you weren't already the favourite aunty i think this will secure it for you quite nicely." your girlfriend leaned forward and whispered in your ear, kissing your cheek.

"by blood i'm her only aunty, there isn't much competition." you rolled your eyes playfully and helped your niece out of her seat belt, hoisting her up onto your hip as you patiently awaited the rest of the girls and their families to file out.

"can i go with zelly?" delilah asked hopefully pointing to your girlfriends teammate who beamed making your face soften. "you can. but hold her hand the entire time and no running off yeah lilah?" you warned sternly, the blonde nodding eagerly as you passed her over the seat and she filed off the bus chattering away to the older woman.

"looks like that competition for favourite auntys heating up eh? i'd like to throw my hat in the ring!" ella grined as her and alessia followed you off the bus. "you wish tooney she can barely understand you!" you teased, ducking away as the brunette reached out to hit you.

"hands to yourself if you want to keep them tooney." alessia warned, the taller girl throwing her arm over your shoulder as you pulled a face at her best friend who drew her finger over her throat playfully.

given the semi finals were coming up quickly and the girls hadn't had much down time the last week the staff had organised for the team and some of their families and partners to spend the day at the zoo.

having been with your girlfriend just over two and a half years now you'd leapt at the opportunity to come support her in australia, having been right by her side as she received sarina's phone call confirming her selection for the world cup squad.

you knew what it meant to her and with all the stress placed on her shoulders from her transfer you were relieved that at least there was one less thing for her to worry over now.

never having been close with your own family bar your older brother you were welcomed into alessia's with open arms from the get go. her parents already thought of you as another daughter and her brothers teased you as if they'd known you their entire life, it was a comfort not known to you in your youth.

given how things were growing up for you to be welcomed in so lovingly and so sincerely from people who at the time hardly knew you meant the world.

then once things became even more serious with you and alessia she'd organised for your brother, his wife and his daughter delilah to join all of you for a meal, her family of course falling in love with the little blonde bundle of energy that was your niece.

so when it became public knowledge that alessia had been selected your brother booked some time off and flew over with delilah to support your girlfriend which made the strikers heart absolutely melt.

"aunty lessless!" the blonde turned away from her conversation with ella, bending down and opening her arms with a grin as your niece crash tackled into her. "names so nice she insists on saying it twice." you teased playfully at your nieces choice of nickname for your girlfriend.

"hey lilah who do you love more? aunty n/n or aunty lessless?" ella smirked as the four of you wandered around the zoo, the rest of the girls all scattered and looking at things at their own pace, mary and katie trailing not far behind the four of you deep in their own conversation.

you watched through narrowed eyes as your girlfriend whispered something in your nieces ear causing her to grin. "aunty lessless!" delilah announced happily as alessia smirked smugly and your jaw dropped.

"delilah!" you huffed, pouting and crossing your arms over your chest as your girlfriend tickled the five year olds sides and ran off with her towards the elephants. "looks like we know the winner of the favourite aunty competition is, tough luck kid." ella patted your back with a mocking pout as you shoved her away.

"she will have promised her something for that answer, you know you're her favourite." katie pulled you into a hug seeing the frown etched into your features as ella stepped on the back of marys trainer, the keeper charging off after her.

"i'm sorry your family couldn't come zel." you smiled sympathetically as the two of you wandered over to where alessia was stood with your niece. "its alright, i know they would if they could." the older girl brushed it off but you knew it saddened her as you squeezed her tightly.

"you know i love you like a sister, if that helps." you smiled sincerely, quite close with the majority of your girlfriends united team mates. "yeah and ya annoy me like one too." katie sighed before grinning as you rolled your eyes.

"aunty n/n!" you looked over to where your niece sat happily in alessia's arms, wildly gesturing you over with her arms. "that one looks like you." the five year old grinned pointing to one of the elephants as you gasped in mock offence.

"right, no more hugs for that. bye lilah!" you crossed your arms and pretended to storm off, your niece yelling out after you and wiggling as alessia placed her down on her feet.

"hug me!" delilah demanded running toward you as you dodged her, repeatedly moving away from her much to the little blondes growing annoyance.

"quick lilah get her!" you stumbled a little as your girlfriends strong arms wrapped around you, holding you in place as your niece slammed into your leg, hugging you tightly. "caught you!" delilah grinned happily, smacking your leg and sprinting off toward katie and mary.

"lilah be careful!" you called out with a frown as she stuck a thumbs up your way and was scooped up by katie. "smile would you grumpy." your girlfriend pressed a sloppy kiss to your cheek as you winced and elbowed her off.

"no get off! you turned her against me." you glared at the taller girl accusingly who laughed at your annoyance, once again wrapping herself tightly round you.

"better get used to it baby, as the favourite aunty now i'll make sure we keep teaming up against you." alessia teased with a smile as you tried to wrench yourself away from her.

you settled instantly the moment her lips pressed against yours, the taller girl stealing a kiss and tugging you a little more out of sight, pressing you against a large fake rock.

"already teaching her about bribery are we?" you raised an eyebrow knowingly as the striker pulled away, your arms now looped round her shoulders as you played fondly with the baby hairs on the nape of her neck.

"no idea what you mean love." alessia grinned innocently making you roll your eyes, the few of you exchanging a few sweet kisses, soaking up the brief moment of peace together.

"so what did you say you'd give her to secure the favourite aunty position then?" "that i'd score a goal for her next game." "oh thats so unfair baby, i can't compete with that!"

~

and boy oh boy did the striker follow through on her promise.

the stadium errupted as alessia netted the winner, your heart swelling so much with pride you thought it might burst as you screamed loudly.

pulled into a tight hug by her brother gio you watched the blonde lift her arms up and run toward the away end, her eyes finding yours as she pointed right up at you before she was tackled to the ground by her team mates.

"aunty lessless did it!" you scooped up your niece as she clambered over luca's lap to get to you, sending the boy an apologetic smile as he winked and turned back to his conversation with your brother.

"she did! she promised you she would right? she scored that for you lilah." you smiled softly, gio leaning over to tickle the five year old who squealed and smacked at his large hands. "lilah!" you laughed as the girl climbed practically on top of you, reaching out for alessia's mum carol whose face lit up from where she sat in the row behind yours.

"go on then, little wriggle monster." you chuckled, lifting her over into carols arms as she tightly hugged the older woman, babbling away about her aunty lessless and recounting her she had promised delilah a goal yesterday at the zoo.

when the final whistle blew your face ached from how wide a grin was plastered on your face, screaming and cheering till your throat was red raw, jumping around and hugging everyone.

alessia's body was exhausted after playing what was a gruelling match, and she groaned quietly as she started the climb up toward where everyones families were waiting, the rest of the stadium having cleared out as the team had celebrated and changed together.

though any shred of fatigue was washed away the moment her eyes landed on you, lips curling into a smile as you threw your head back and laughed at something your brother said, alessias heart melting at how her dad wrapped you in a tight hug just as he would hug her growing up.

"here she is then, the winning goal scorer!" gio spotted her first, yelling out loudly with a whistle causing everyones families to explode into a round of applause, alessia's cheeks blushing as her team mates jostled her around.

everything finally dying down and everyones attention focused in on their own families once again alessia reached hers, your brother pulling her into a tight hug and kissing her head.

you were next, stood the row of chairs above where she stood you were for once the taller of the two of you, alessia normally having a good foot or two on you.

you couldn't keep the grin off your face as your girlfriends head settled on your chest, long arms winding around your torso as your own looped around her neck. "your hairs all wet." you giggled into her shoulder as she teasingly rubbed her damp head against you.

"i am so incredibly proud of you lessi baby, i don't even have the words to express it." you whispered to her softly, rubbing her back as she squeezed you tightly, hiding her flushed cheeks in your shoulder.

her mum watched on with a fond smile, wrestling to keep the five year old tucked away in her arms at bay, wanting to give the two of you a moment to yourselves before she let delilah loose.

you murmered sweet nothings into alessia's hair as your hand continued to rub soothingly at her back, the striker peppering a few soft kisses against your neck and jaw before her lips found your own for a fleeting second. "my stargirl." you'd whispered adoringly as her hand reached up to rest on your cheek, both of your eyes locked lovingly for a moment, alessia gently forcing herself to pull away from you.

though no sooner had her arms unwrapped from your waist had two new little ones clung onto her leg, delilah chattering away a million miles an hour as alessia squatted down to her height allowing your niece to throw her arms around her neck in a tight hug.

"aunty lessless you did it! was that for me? like you said at the zoo?" delilah asked excitedly as alessia stood, picking up the five year old with her and resting her on her hip. "of course it was, just for you!" alessia poked at the girls nose causing her to scrunch it up adorably.

"kiss again!" your niece suddenly demanded, her small fist reaching out toward you and tugging on your top making your girlfriend laugh. "you heard her babe." alessia grinned, craning her head over as you pecked her lips and delilah giggled.

"again!" the five year old clapped as you rolled your eyes but pecked alessia's lips again much to your nieces delight, the demands nothing new.

neither you or your girlfriend could figure out why but there wasn't anything that seemed to amuse delilah more than making the two of you kiss, an amusingly common occurrence when you'd babysit, not that alessia would ever complain.

you were quick to take your niece from the footballer much to the five year olds protests, allowing your girlfriend to spend some quality time with the rest of her family as you distracted delilah, carting her around to chatter to several of the other lionesses and their families.

it seemed the excitement had worn her down and as everyone started to depart the stadium delilah was slumped in your arms dead asleep, chin resting on your shoulder as her soft snores sounded in your ear.

"must run in the family." alessia teased, appearing beside you as you smacked at her with your free hand, the blonde sneaking a kiss and fondly moving a few loose strands of hair out of delilahs face.

intertwining your free hands the two of you walked toward the busses in a comfortable silence, and unbeknownst to you the thoughts flying through alessia's head were this scenario in the future.

only this time, with your own child.

[cameronspecial]

Best Way To Wake Up

Pairing: Dad!Drew Starkey x Reader

Warnings: N/A

Pronouns: She/Her

Word Count: 0.4K

Summary: Drew's favourite sight waking up in the morning involves his wife and daughter.

A/N: Inspired by this post.

Masterlist

Y/N wakes up to the babble of her one-year-old daughter over the baby monitor. She turns to see if her husband is asleep and decides to go to her child when she spots that his eyes are still closed. She knows she could wake Drew up to get the awake child, but she might as well go because she is awake. Upon approaching the crib, the baby girl begins to giggle at the sight of her mother. “There is my beautiful girl. Good morning,” Y/N gushes, leaning over the crib to pick up the wiggly baby. Millie’s arms flap in the air, “Mama.” The baby’s slobbery mouth smacks against her mother’s cheek to show her love. “Aww, thank you, my love,” Y/N thanks. “How about we get you changed for the day? What do you want to wear?” Y/N places different onesies on the changing table and holds Millie up to examine the choices. Millie picks a pink flowery onesie and Y/N gets it onto the small frame. The mother notices the shiver of her daughter, getting the blanket from the chair in the corner to wrap the baby up. She can hear the shuffle of her husband from the other room and smiles at her daughter, “Sounds like Daddy is waking up. Let's go see him.”

Waking up to an empty bed isn’t unusual for Drew, even before Millie was born. Y/N has always been a morning person, who loves getting things done in the morning, while Drew is known to spend his time in bed until late into the morning. He hears her speaking to their daughter in the other room and smiles. 

Millie nuzzles into her mother’s chest as she is being taken into the other room. Her eyes light up at her father. “Dada,” she screams, reaching out for the man. Drew grins and takes the girl into his arms, “Good morning, Mills. How did you sleep?” The little girl responds in her baby talk and Drew answers with hmms and haas to show he is listening. Once the girl tires herself out, she rests against her dad’s chest in a sleepy stupor. This allows Drew to turn his attention toward his wife. “Good morning to you too, Sweetheart. And how did my wonderful wife sleep?” Y/N flashes her teeth at him and settles beside him, resting her head on his shoulder. “It was amazing. Very peaceful. How about you?” she tells him. Drew kisses his temple, “Spectacular, but I think I prefer the view I get to wake up to more.” Y/N’s head nods against his skin. “I think I prefer waking up this way too.”

Taglist: @winterrrnight @loves0phelia @thelomlisrafecameron @wickedlovely121 @thepatriarchykeychain @drewsmusee @starkowswife @maybankslover @forstarkey @loving-and-dreaming

[professorsnape394]

Day 8: A Cosy Night In

Pairing: Severus Snape x OC

Rating: 🥰

Prompt: Cosy

Summary: Severus has a question to ask Y/N after a long day spent bonding with her family.

A/N: Short lil fluffy piece for a change. Hope ya'll like it.

Warnings: Cuteness overload!!

Word Count: 779

Credits to Gif Creator

“God, it’s freezing in here!” Y/N exclaimed, blowing hot air between her palms as she and Severus returned back to their home.

Before Y/N even had a chance to ask, Severus set the fireplace ablaze with a quick flick of his wand.

“You’ll heat up soon.” He reassured her, taking her icy hands in his and pressing them to his lips.

“Thank you for today.” She beamed, staring up at her boyfriend.

“You don’t need to thank me, darling. It’s my pleasure.”

Their day had been spent at The Burrow surrounded by excitable Weasleys and friends; all fighting to get a word in edge-ways. While it wasn’t his ideal way of spending Christmas Eve, Severus would do anything if it made Y/N smile, and Molly and Arthur were the closest thing she had to family. It had taken the whole family by surprise when Y/N announced she was dating Severus, especially the younger generation, but now they welcomed the professor with open arms, something Severus was still trying to get used to.

“I know they can be a lot, but they mean well.”

“I had a good time.” He promised, trying to ease the woman’s mind. “Although I am grateful, I get you all to myself tomorrow.”

“And tonight.” She reminded him, a menacing grin creeping onto her face.

“First, let me take care of you. Today’s been a lot for you too.”

As promised Severus drew Y/N a warm bath, complete with a thick layer of bubbles, a rim lined with candles and a large glass of red wine. She happily plunged into the tub, the … water melting away her tired muscles and defrosting her once ice-cold skin.

The twins had insisted on the whole family partaking in a giant snow ball fight, which was mostly an excuse to pelt their potions master in the face with snowballs. Unfortunately for them, Snape used Y/N as a human shield and she took the brunt of the …. Yes, it had turned her nose into an icicle but thinking back it was worth it to see her boyfriend interacting with those closest to her. She knew it had taken a lot for him to come out of his shell around them, and she planned to reward him accordingly.

Practically drifting off in the tub, Y/N eventually emerged from the bubbles, wrapping herself in the warm fluffy robe Severus had laid out for her.

This is truly what bliss feels like. She thought to herself, thinking she couldn’t possibly get any happier than she was in this moment.

Upon exiting the bathroom she was instantly proven wrong.

The room had been decked out in hundreds of …, her favourite flower. Rose petals lined the cold wooden floor, leading through the jungle of flora to a perfectly laid picnic blanket sat out in front of the fire, adorned with …. And in the middle of it all was Severus, bent on one knee, an open ring box positioned carefully in the palm of his hand.

Y/N’s hands flew up to cover her face, unable to form a coherent thought, let alone strong a sentence together.

Slowly she stumbled forwards, liken to a baby deer learning to take its first steps, and met Severus on the blanket.

“Severus.” She finally was able to say, as he peeled her hand away from her face, clasping it tightly in his own.

“Y/N.” He started, allowing himself to clear the lump from his throat. “I never thought I’d feel a fraction of the love you have given me this past year. My whole life I was taught to believe I was unlovable and you were able to change that in such a short amount of time. You are an absolutely incredible woman, and now I could never imagine my life without you in it. You’re the one, Y/N. I never want to spend a second more without you by my side. And if that means taking a snowball to the face from those Weasley twins I will take it gladly.”

Y/N let out a mixture of a laugh and a sob, her emotions running absolutely wild.

“I would do anything for you, Y/N. But could you do me one thing in return?”

Y/N nodded enthusiastically, willing him to go on.

“Will you marry me?”

Words had become a foreign concept to the woman at this point, unable to answer she simply threw herself into the man’s arms and sobbed into his shoulder.

“Is that a yes?” He asked started to get worried.

“Of course it’s a yes.” She croaked through a steam of tears. “Of course I’ll marry you, Severus.”

[joyfuladorable]

Fuck it, here's all my favorite Mikey-centric fanfics!!

There's A LOT + personal blurbs, so they're going under the cut (Mostly AO3, but there are some FFN links, too. Also, besides like the first two, there's no favoritism in the order)

2k3:

Pretend That I Never Left by redstringraven(sirimiri) - Complete/Plans for an Epilogue & Sequel!!

Fic that changed my BRAIN?! If my fanart [1 | 2 | 3] for it is any indicator, lol. I'll say for the umpteenth time that if you're looking for an Excellent Mikey fic with Perfect Characterization, this is IT (and you don't need to know ANYTHING about HZD trust me TRUST ME this fic deserves WAY more love) His swift ride-or-die friendship with Aloy will melt your damn heart!

Dragon of the Sun by ForestWhisper3 - Ongoing

My Other TOP favorite Mikey fic!! Again, fanart [1 | 2 | 3] indicator! Slow Burn(ish) Canon Divergence of Mikey unlocking his Mystic Powers as his family looks on in dismay as they struggle to protect him. The Good Shit!!!

Of Darkness And Light by Bayluff - Complete

OOOOOOO THIS ONE! Very good (also drew fanart for it)! Evil creature literally trying to consume Mikey's lifeforce from within as his family scrambles to help

A Chat With The Titan by secreterces5 - Complete

Mikey has a fun one-on-one talk with the supposedly reformed Bishop in Fast Forward. Mikey vaguely threatening Bishop, HEEHEE

A Simple Act Of Kindness by UlisaBarbic - Complete

That feel when you put your worth in what you can DO and the wish to be Acknowledged and the ONE thing you thought you did right was taken away OOGH AGH OOOOGH

Difficulty Breathing by RealityBreakGirl - Complete

Mikey did not come out of Grudge Match unscathed *smile* Truly one of my favorite 03 Mikey prompts to read about (honestly just check the entirety of the Grudge Match tag on AO3 for a fun time)

"A delivery boy! Uh, or turtle." by LollyHolly99 - Complete

Fic that has the distinction of being the first one I ever did fanart for! Gender Feels for Mikey cuz they're just like me FR!!

What Darkness Most Fears by UlisaBarbic - Complete

OOOGH AGH I LOVE THIS ONE!! Mikey has to save his bros from the clutches of an evil spirit while surviving horrifying monsters and battling a wicked fever!

Michelangelo by ForestWhisper3 - Complete

Mikey through the eyes of his family and how much they respect him and know him UwU

Mikey's Jigsaw by SailorSaysAhoy - Complete

Another awesome gender Mikey fic HOOHAA

Train-Wreck of Thought by halogalopaghost - Complete

When you're so talented you learn how to astral project but you start using it for pranks instead of understanding the drawbacks of said power and that bites you majorly in the ass big time (very good my stomach turned while reading this /pos)

A Brother's Bond by SuperKat - Complete

Mikey gets Real Sick and the fam can't help but remember last time one of them got so ill. OH MAN heartstrings WILL be pulled in this one!!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by moogsthewriter - Complete

Why can't Mikey ever catch a break during Christmas! A short fic that I enjoy Immensely for Mikey being stubbornly heroic and his family desperately trying to play catch up to help him

Questioning Choices by Mystic Medjai - Complete

Fun day at the beach goes catastrophically bad and the fam has to make difficult decisions to keep Mikey alive. THIS THIS THIS!! If I could pour this into my veins for the perfectly paced plot and characterization...

When It Counts by Kallasilya - Complete

Short fic of Mikey stubbornly and bitterly proving his brothers wrong (+ Don being a good brother)

Favourite Disease by devirnis - Complete

Mikey is forced to save his brothers as his body gradually falls apart from the inside. SO GOOD UGH Mikey being forced to deal with situations on his own always show how far he can Shine!

Nowhere Boy by taizi - Complete

OOOH I dunno how I can summarize this without giving the plot away but just know Mikey pulls through by thinking of his family

To Fit the Crime by T33la - Complete

AHHH AHHHH AHHHHH AHHHHHHHH!! Mikey is accused of Murder and receives his sentence before his brothers can even jump to his defense! Oh the twists and turns of this murder mystery!!

you want to know why i sit and sigh (the night is so young it hurts) by love_killed_the_superstar - Complete

Angel and Mikey bonding over comics and unsupportive brothers So Cute)

imma be real with you (cause i started being real with me) by love_killed_the_superstar - Complete

Leo and Usagi being supportive of Mikey as he struggles to train for the upcoming Battle Nexus fight (and also maybe they flirt with each other a teensy bit)

just a hop, skip, and a jump away by baba_buoy - Complete

Mikey sick fic. Heart melting amounts of comfort UwU

Weak Link by yellowhollyhock - Complete

Sweet fic of Mikey feeling insecure about his place on the team, and Leo going through great lengths to prove him wrong like a good older brother :')

'Cause you are the sun, he is your moon/And though he can't speak, he will thank you soon by naivesilver - Complete

Post-Grudge Match Mikey waking up in the middle of the night bitter and sore and gods damn why's Raph awake, too?

Hunted by DysfunctionalRequest - Complete

Mikey wandering the woods alone in the middle of the night and having a VERY unfortunate encounter with hunters

Flipbook by T33la - Complete

Heartfelt moment between Mikey and Don concerning SAINW that makes me want to smash a cinder block against my head /pos

Dramaturgy by Completely_Unaware - Ongoing

Mind the tags! Mikey deals with a Battle Nexus loss in an unhealthy way (UmU)

The Red Means I Love You (Work) by AnonymousCritter - Ongoing

MIND THE TAGS! AU of Fast Forward. Mikey isn't saved from the traffickers in time and things spiral from there

The So-Called "Champion of the Battle Nexus" by 0ozero0 - Ongoing

Grudge Match canon divergence where Mikey gets hurt a little more seriously than in canon (but still wins)

2012:

Devil took your hand by moogsthewriter & taizi - Complete

Mikey mind controlled by the Shredder moment!! *laughs through my pain and tears and screaming*

walk with open hands by taizi - Complete

Mikey gets his hands on one of Renet's watches and things go topsy turvy from there (and it HURTS ME)

(un)reality by SpectrumWriting - Complete

Mind the Tags! Dimension X AU where Mikey is captured by the Kraang and is put through the wringer in more ways than one (OWIE)

evermore (Dimension X AU) series by coffeejellyenthusiast - Complete?

Mind the Tags! Mikey was in Dimension X for over a year and he's NOT OKAY

Gravitational Collapse series by Writing_In_Denial - Ongoing

MIND THE TAGS!! An Incredible it gets worse before it gets better series of Mikey being unintentionally abandoned by his brothers post-series and dealing with some Major Isolation and OOOGH IT HURTS ME SO MUCH BUT I WILL KEEP READING FOR THE EVENTUAL COMFORT

traveling so far to get there by taizi - Complete

Mikey and Raph getting stuck in an empty, post-apocalyptic world and struggling to survive (their BOND IN THIS IS SO SWEET WEH)

Rise:

nice, nice by postergirlsprank - Complete

Short fic of Casey Sr and Mikey bonding after an unfortunate encounter while on a snack run (Hey if you want more context for how this author writes Casey, go read his fic Imperfect Animals too heehoo)

either way, we're not alone by sinaesthesis - Complete

Mikey throughout the years of the Kraang Apocalypse (Lots of Loss and Hurt and Badassery)

going under by redhairedmuses - Complete

Mikey almost drowns during a fight with a mutant

Hyperactive Hypothermia by VeryAngryGremlin - Complete

After Mikey's winter wear accidentally goes in flames and a villain-enduced avalanche, Donnie struggles to keep his baby brother warm

that’s where the blood’s supposed to be! by Dragon_Scales_and_Fairy_Tales - Complete

With Raph and Leo constantly bickering, Mikey ignores a very serious injury after a fight with Meat Sweats

Clever Little Dino! by VeryAngryGremlin - Complete

Mikey trying to keep a robot pet a secret and suffering the consequences

Vs The World by DysfunctionalRequest - Complete

The aftermath of the Kraang strains the family's bonds, and Mikey feels hopelessly alone (and definitely isn't dealing with his trauma properly)

Empathy Amplified by Filsamek - Complete

When you accidentally use your powers to connect with your brothers' emotions then purposefully use them to ease their pain

Sunshine in the Rain by Carnati0n_bl00m - Complete

Probably the first fic I read after watching the Rise movie cuz I wanted to find something Mikey-centric involving Bishop and BOY does it deliver with the additional bonus of Leatherhead!! (also hey look fanart)

A Mystic Connection by rytheoneandonly - Complete

Mikey's mystic powers manifesting and evolving in ways he could never predict (aka Long Fic of Mikey stumbling to figure out why he wakes up exhausted and hurt every night)

The whole world in your corner series by GibbousLunation - Complete

Two fics of Mikey being Mikey and his bros being protective

Better Check Twice by Marz_Zero - Ongoing

Bishop captures a turtle with a bear trap (OW) and is an absolute bastard about it

Come Home Soon by Sherlock_Brolmes - Ongoing

With his brothers unavailable, Mikey (with the help of a former enemy) uncovers a massive conspiracy involving New York and the Hidden City. I LOVE THIS I LOVE SOLO DUO TEAM-UPS!!!! *PUNCHES THE AIR 13 TIMES*

Mikey's Artistic Guide to Dealing with Trauma and Fame by Origami_Nami - Ongoing

Mikey using graffiti as an outlet and accidentally becoming famous

Rook by unorthodoxx - Ongoing

Another Bishop fic of him outwitting the turtles to abduct one of them (Mikey)

Multi/Other:

Mystic Malfunction by VanillaVengeance - Ongoing

Rise Mikey accidentally portals himself to the 2012 Universe and struggles to survive and avoid this other version of his family (with mixed success). The progression of familial bonds in this is just *Chef's Kiss*

The Gauntlet by T33la - Complete

A mix of IDW & 03, a wonderful showcase of how Donnie and Mikey support each other (also, a cool invention and a big rocket and a terrifying near-death experience are involved)

I Get Knocked Down (But I Get Up Again) by Justalittleobsessed - Ongoing

MIND THE TAGS!!! Set in its own original iteration, Mikey has been immortal for as long as he can remember, and he's used to his occasional deaths (and revivals). But then his brothers find out... (AGH AGH THIS ALSO HURTS MEEEEE BUT OOGH the comfort and hope of the later chapters is so Worth It)

Whumptober 2023 series by Justalittleobsessed - Ongoing?

Collection of Mikey-centric one-shots from different iterations and feeling the HURT (Personal favorites are If Only the World Could Stop Spinning..., Just a Flesh Wound, and Not the Best of Days)

To Know Peace (You Gotta Let Go) by Deadpool1763492 - Ongoing (technically)

The Last Ronin Spoilers!! Mikey survives and whisks the new turtle tots away to live on a farm instead of being raised as soldiers. (AUUUUUU THE FEELS!! THE TOTS! MIKEYYYY!!!)

How to accidentally kidnap yourself several times over by Camildeni - Ongoing

Rise Mikey gets captured and accidentally summons other iterations (03, 12, and Bay) of himself trying to get out! They do NOT have a good time!! (but at least they have each other)

the dad diaries by angelmichelangelo - Ongoing

More TLR Mikey being a Dad (and dealing with his trauma sorta kinda)

The neighboring cell by SaltyYagi - Ongoing

2012 Mikey and Rise Leo trying to escape Dimension X together (and bonding)

Bonus Non-Mikey-centric:

Weathered Strings, Tethered Wings by Deadpool1763492 - Ongoing

(2003) SAINW AU!!! With the possibility of Don being alive dangled in front of them, the remaining turtles begrudgingly reunite to save him. Drew a cover for this with more art to come! LOVING the slow burn of reconciliation between these bitter old turtles UwU (Bitter Old Mikey my poor Bestie)

Mutant Nightmare by HamsterMasterSamster - Complete

(2003) The immediate aftermath of Worlds Collide

Hanging By A Turtle by CamsthiSky - Complete

(Rise) Literally the turtles struggling to get out of a deep pit they're hanging over

Shell Game by T33la - Complete

(2003) OKAY OKAY SO!!! OOGH Don encounters something Impossible while prepping a tracking device (for himself) and it snowballs into another Renet-involved time adventure (AND UMMM lots of existential contemplation and a surprise historical guest who's Very Cool)

Turtle Power by halogalopaghost - Complete

(2003) Immediate aftermath of the star ship reactor explosion in Exodus

Disposable by orphan_account (kudos to you wherever you are, author) - Complete

(2003) Bishop captures Don and Mikey and gives them a terrible choice

Dissection by AmevelloBlue - Complete

(2003) So much Comfort after the trauma of Worlds Collide (ie Don's interrogation and Mikey almost getting sliced open)

Find the Road by SillySocks - Complete

(2003) Perfect encapsulation of the family as they cope with Leo's absence while he trains with the Ancient One

Handle with Care by HamsterMasterSamster - Complete

(2003) April is seriously injured during a mission and has to deal with the turtles distancing themselves from her as she recovers

mind-body problem by hiraethseok - Complete

(2003) April and the Turtles Being Siblings the Fic

Healing in Tandem by Eggstasy - Complete

(2003) Canon divergence of Worlds Collide where Splinter is just a little too late to intervene before Bishop starts sawing into Mikey's shell

Let's Take Ibuprofen Together by GreenGoddessSmoothie - Ongoing

(2003) The turtles swap body and have learn to cope with each other's chronic pain

Not the Face I Know by GreenGoddessSmoothie - Ongoing

(2003) Mikey accidentally makes a wish that changes his family's lives forever (THEY'RE HUMAN THEY BECOME HUMAN AND THE PLOT IS COOL AND ALSO QUEER THEMES MY BELOVED)

The Great Skittle Heist of 2105 by AmevelloBlue - Ongoing

(2003) AU of Fast Forward where the Dark Turtles are babies instead and are very swiftly adopted by the Fam

The Labyrinth by HALFnHALF1 - Ongoing

(Mix of IDW/03) The Turtles wake up separated in a labyrinth with only a mysterious voice in their heads to guide them (and manipulate them)

“You didn’t tell me your extended family was in town!” by BoStaffsAreCool - Ongoing

Post-Turtles Forever. The 03 fam is Just beginning to wind down after the events of the movie and look who's knocking at April's door (the 87 turtles)

[breadbrobin]

the bet

part two

cedric diggory x reader — harry potter

[fem!best friend reader]

summary: the summer is going well. you’re not in love with cedric, and you’re so gonna win this bet. totally. right?

warnings: quite a lot of swearing, betting/gambling, underage drinking, cringey flirting (PLS i wrote this years ago), GOD they’re so in love it’s stupid, minor character death (sort of???), i think i’m a comedian (i’m not), switched from an x oc story so might have a few mistakes oops, mediocre writing (again i wrote this years ago and this is the worst part i think)

word count: 2.7k

(ok first of all tyyyy for the love on the first part i can’t wait for y’all to read part three! there is just one more part after this and it’s the best one imo)

part one

part three

——————————————

The Flowers

Cedric was splayed out on your bed. One of his feet hung off near your head and you was infinitely glad for his quality hygiene.

You were reading the Wizard of Oz again, and he was dutifully drawing something that he refused to show you.

“Okay,” he finally said. “I’m done.”

You finished your page and slipped the bookmark in, turning to him. “Can I see?”

“No, I drew this for you but you’re never allowed to look at it.” he teased, straight faced.

“Never?”

“Never.” He broke into a smile and shoved the sketch pad in your face.

It was a… Well, you weren’t exactly sure what it was. There was some interesting shading, a tuft of what could either be grass or hair and a strange egg shaped blob in the middle.

You hoped your face didn’t show your emotions as you quickly schooled your features into a smile. “It’s great, Ced.”

He had a wide grin plastered on his face as he nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, I know. Now turn the page.”

You did as he said and blinked in shock, your jaw dropping. “There is no way you drew this.”

“I’ve been practising.”

“Have you been taking classes from freaking Van Gogh in between Quidditch practise?” you gaped, looking from the sketch of sunflowers and daisies and his beaming face.

“Maybe,” he shrugged. “An artist never reveals his secrets.”

“I think that’s meant to be magician.”

“Same thing.” he waved her off. “Anyway, I know sunflowers are your favourite, and daisies are my favourite. So I combined them.”

“This is honestly incredible.” you gushed.

“Oh, stop it.”

“No, seriously.” You stood up. “Can I put it on my wall?”

“Go for it,” he beamed, somehow even brighter than before.

You gently pulled the page from the pad and ripped a tab of blu-tack off, sticking it to the wall above your desk. Once it was hung, you stepped back to admire it. “Oh!” you gasped. “You need to sign it!”

Cedric stood up and brushed past you, scribbling his signature on the bottom right corner with a small heart. “Happy?”

“Mhm.”

That should have been your second sign.

They stood side by side and admired it for a moment.

Then you broke the silence.

“I can’t draw for shit,” you laughed. “And look at you. Mister Artist himself.”

“Oh, piss off,” he groaned, hugging your shoulders from behind and resting his chin on your head. “You can sing though. I can’t.”

“Liar.” you scoffed, patting his arm. “I’ve heard you sing. Besides, you’re practically perfect at everything you do.”

Just as he was about to respond, Cordelia burst through the lightly shut door, eyes still red and puffy. The two separated. “Lunch is ready.”

“Thanks, Dells,” he nodded. “We’ll be right there.”

As she left, he wrapped an arm around your shoulders and led you out. “God, I’m starving.”

“You’re always starving.”

“Very funny.”

The Second Week

As with most summers, you and Cedric spent almost every waking moment in each other’s company.

Unlike most summers, however, you couldn’t chase the thoughts of a certain bet from your mind.

You knew, you knew, that there was nothing to it. That it was just your friends being annoying and messing with you and everything you’d started reading into was just in your head… But, God, was it hard to remember sometimes.

You were mostly worried that he’d find out. Maybe one of your friends would send you a letter mentioning it? (Not that he’d ever read your letters.) What if Liz came for a random visit? Or worse: what if she told her friends, the Weasley twins, and they came for a visit?

You chased your swirling thoughts from your mind as Cedric walked through the front door, performing the mental equivalent of shoving all of the mess in your room into the wardrobe and hoping it closed right.

“Hey,” you smiled, standing up with your bowl of milk that used to hold cereal. “You’re early.”

“It’s eleven o’clock.”

“Yeah, early,” you shrugged, setting the now empty bowl in the sink. “What’s up?”

“Wanna go into town?” he asked, leaning on the counter and gesturing to the fruit bowl.

You tossed him an apple. “Sure. When?”

“Now?”

You sighed heavily, half-joking. “A bit more warning would be nice. Lemme go get changed.”

“Yes!” he cheered through a mouthful of apple. “You’re the best, N/N!”

N/N? You wondered as she jogged up the stairs. Since when am I N/N?

If you’d been listening carefully, you would have heard Cedric bang his head against the kitchen bench.

The town was quiet as always.

A farmer’s market was dying down, most vendors packing their remaining wares and smiling sheepishly at you and Cedric as you wove your way through the stunted stalls. You purchased a fresh bread roll and split it between you as you walked, both surprised that it was still warm.

“You know,” Cedric said after a few minutes of silence as you left the market and strolled along the main street. “We should do this more often.”

You squinted as you looked up at him, the sun assaulting your eyes. “Really?” you asked dryly. “What, burn ourselves to a crisp and get blinded while we’re at it?”

“No, dummy. Do stuff.”

“What? You don’t like doing nothing with me?” you teased.

“No, no, I love doing nothing with you,” he stole a chunk of bread that you’d been eyeing up. “But I also like spending money.”

“I bought the bread. I was the one who spent the money.”

He gasped, as if he didn’t already know. “What? Really?”

“Shut up, Ced,” you smiled, pushing him and stealing the last chunk of bread from the packet.

You were awake uncharacteristically early, so when you knocked on the Diggory’s front door, Cedric looked supremely confused.

“Are you feeling okay?” he asked. “Did someone die?”

“No, why would you— You’re an arsehole, you know that?” you pouted.

“Yeah, I know. Come on.”

He led you down the short hallway and into the living area. You sighed contentedly. The Diggory’s house always smelled amazing; a combination of vanilla, coffee and cleaning supplies that somehow worked. Cedric often smelled similar, you realised. The vanilla that clouded the house seemed to hang around him as well. You shook yourself out of it as he began speaking.

“My dad’s gotten obsessed with the TV,” he admitted, nodding towards the man who was watching with a rapt expression. “He doesn’t really understand it, but he’s addicted. He really likes cricket. Probably because he can’t figure out how to change the channel.”

“Oh, I used to play cricket! I love it so much!” you gushed, joining Amos on the couch. “Who’s playing?”

“England and India,” he said distractedly.

“ODI, T20 or test?”

“Test. We’re on Day Two.”

“So England’s batted?”

“Three-thirty-seven.”

“Not bad,” you squinted at the numbers on the screen, showing one-twenty-eight for six.

“I have no idea what you guys are saying,” Cedric cut in, looking blankly between you two.

“We’re talking sport,” Amos said, almost giddily.

You didn’t spare either of them a glance as the English captain went upstairs for a review. “Yeah, get back in the kitchen. Go make us a sandwich.” you teased.

“I thought you were coming to hang out with me,” he almost pouted.

You finally dragged your eyes from the screen. “But… Cricket…”

He shook his head with a smile. “Right, of course. Two sandwiches coming right up.”

The Moment You Knew

The days seemed doomed to repeat. Groundhog day, your mum had called it. So, when you found a way to rid yourself of the monotony of daily life, you took it without a second thought.

“Mum, please!”

“I don’t know…”

“I’ll even get petrol! I’ll… I’ll… I’ll pay for it myself too!”

“Y/N…”

“Mum,” you pleaded. “It’s just me and Ced. It’s a twenty minute drive and I’ll get petrol on the way back. We’ll be back by four and I’ll wear suitable shoes while driving.”

Whitney pursed her lips in thought. Then she sighed. “Fine. Don’t bother getting petrol, I’ll fill up on the way home from work on Monday.”

You squeaked in excitement, hugging your mum tightly. “Thank you! You’re the best! I love you!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Love you too, hun,” she smiled.

True to her word, you did wear suitable shoes. The drive ended up taking around twenty-five minutes, but you supposed your mother couldn’t fault you for driving just under the speed limit all the way there.

There was a secluded lake you’d found out about from an old magazine in your mum’s collection, when you’d been looking for something, anything, to make your days less boring.

“This is awesome,” Cedric breathed as you broke through the treeline and onto the rocky shore of the small lake.

“Yeah,” you sighed contentedly, breathing in the fresh air.

You set up their towels and supplies in the shade of a tree and pulled off your sturdy shoes.

Cedric pulled his shirt over his head. You would be lying if you said your eyes didn’t catch on his muscles.

“Race you in,” he said as you had your own shirt halfway over your head.

“What?” you asked, hearing him run away. “Oh, you prick!”

You tossed your shirt on the ground, followed by your shorts, leaving you in your swim suit, pouting as Cedric splashed around in the cool, blue water.

You stomped over to the water’s edge, frowning down at him. The rock you were standing on was about a metre above the surface, casting a navy shadow over the rippling water. He waded a few metres out from you.

“You coming?” he asked.

“No,” you pouted, folding your arms. “I don’t swim with cheaters.”

He barked a laugh, swimming over to the edge and pulling himself out. Droplets of water hit your skin.

You backed away. “Cedric…”

He took a step closer.

“Don’t you dare, Diggory…”

He tilted his head, grinning widely as he continued to step closer to you. “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

“Sure, you don’t,” you pointed at him. “Stay back!”

He laughed and pushed off his heels, springing towards you. Before he could reach you, however, you turned tail and ran, feet skimming over the rocks as you raced for the safety of the towels.

You only managed to get a few steps in before he caught you, his cold arms wrapping around your waist and lifting you off the ground. He spun around, carrying you back to the edge of the water and tossing you into the lake.

You yelped as the cold water hit you, but remembered to hold your breath, your hair swirling around your face in the water. You heard the telltale sound of him jumping in too and forced yourself up to the surface.

“I hate you!” you gasped, pushing your hair off your forehead. “I hate you so fucking much!”

“Liar!” he retorted, shaking his head and sending water droplets flying everywhere. “You love me.”

You didn’t respond for a moment, treading water and staring at him. “You wish,” you finally uttered.

He just smiled.

The days ticked by much faster than expected. Soon, Cedric was waving his parents off on their week-long trip and then hauling his bags over to your house, a shit-eating grin on his face.

“What did you do?” you immediately asked when you were alone.

He closed the door gently before skipping over to the bed in the guest bedroom he was staying in. He sat on it cross-legged, still smiling, and patted the mattress ahead of him.

When you finally sat down, he leaned forward.

“Guess what I bought,” he said.

You waited.

“You’re meant to ask,” he sighed.

“Oh, my bad,” you cleared your throat. “What did you bring, Cedric?”

He didn’t answer, simply reaching down to his backpack and pulling out a bottle of firewhiskey.

“That’s it? Oh, you sweet, sweet child,” you teased. “I have three of those in my room.”

“Sorry, N/N, not all of us are casual rulebreakers,” he sniffed.

You pushed his shoulder. “I’m kidding, Ced. I mean, technically, I’m not, but I do appreciate the sentiment.”

He poked his tongue out at you.

The Night Things Happened

The day started like any other.

You and Cedric usually woke up at vastly different times, so when he woke up, he went for a run, had a shower and ate a light breakfast before going to wake you.

A lot of groaning and a few thrown pillows later, you were standing in the kitchen making pancakes.

As you flipped another one, leading to Cedric cheering as if you’d never done it before, Whitney entered the kitchen.

“Morning, you two,” she greeted, kissing your temple and patting Cedric’s shoulder. “Cords and I are going to that Girl Scouts sleepover tonight, remember? So you’ll have to make dinner yourselves.”

“Yup, we know, Mum,” you said, taking the pancake out of the pan and slapping it onto a plate. “We’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want you burning the house down. Remember last time?”

“Mum.” You turned to her grimly. “We don’t talk about last time.”

Whitney raised her hands in surrender. “Right, right. But, on a more serious note. I shouldn’t have to tell you not to invite anyone else over and to be in bed by one, should I? And I won’t come home to drunk teenagers all over my house?”

“Nope, we’ll be all good, Ms Ridge,” Cedric shot her a winning smile.

She pursed her lips jokingly. “Mhm… Alright, I trust you two. I’m going to the shops, need anything?”

“We need more eggs.”

“Eggs, got it.”

The night was when things changed.

After Whitney and Cordelia were gone, at least long enough that it was unlikely they’d turn around and come back, you took your first swig of firewhiskey.

It burned its way down your throat, like it always did. Cedric coughed and sputtered, nearly spitting it mouthful out.

You held back a laugh. “You alright, Golden Boy?”

“Shut up,” he seethed, voice hoarse.

You raised your hands in surrender. “Alright, alright. I was just asking.”

You sat and ate the pizza you’d ordered already, taking sips of firewhiskey whenever you felt like it.

You closed your pizza box one slice after Cedric did, placing it on top of his on the coffee table. “You good?”

“Great,” he smiled dopily. It seemed the whiskey was hitting him harder than he was letting on.

You smiled back. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

You took a larger swig of whiskey, shaking your head at the strength. “I just wanna point out that if you get sick, I’m not cleaning you up. Got it?”

“Yeah, got it.” He nodded, looking a little bit more put together. “I’d clean you up though. If you got sick.”

You smiled again. “Thanks, Ced.”

The night was going surprisingly well. You’d turned on the TV, both staring, fixated at Friends reruns, leaning heavily on each other. The bottle was half gone and, as the advertisements came on, you each took another swig.

Cedric was looking at you weird.

You straightened up, frowning in confusion. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” he slurred slightly. “You’re just… Fuck, you’re pretty.”

Your heart fluttered. “Oh. So are you.”

He blushed, looking down. “Yeah, I know.”

You couldn’t stop yourself from laughing. “Yeah, I bet you do, Goldie.”

“Goldie?”

“Golden Boy. It’s cute.”

“You’re cute.”

“You’re cute.”

“No, you’re cute.”

“You’re cuter.”

“No, you are.”

“You are.”

“You…” he was very close to you now, his grey eyes darting between you eyes and your lips. “You’re very pretty. You know that, right?”

“Yeah,” you breathed.

“No, I don’t think you know how pretty you are. Like… When you laugh your eyes light up, and… And when you do that thing when you’re thinking… Where your eyebrow twitches… Oh, and that thing you do… The thing when your favourite songs come on and you tap your legs really fast…”

You swallowed tightly as his hand brushed your cheek. His breath smelled of firewhiskey, but you were sure yours did too.

He wasn’t looking at your eyes anymore. “You’re incredible, Y/N. And you deserve to know that.”

“Cedric…” you started.

“Sh…” he cut you off. He was hardly an inch away now. “Don’t talk. Just…”

Friends came back on the TV.

“Just watch Friends with me.” He leaned back, looping an arm around your shoulders and pulling you flush against his side.

You tried with all your might to ignore your pounding heart.

You weren’t sure if you were going to win this bet after all.

[seaheaded]

• 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈: the unfortunate mermaid

cregan stark x original female character (eventually)

this is part of the series a heart for the sea

summary: prologue + aērwyn's world, where things are not entirely as they seem.

5.8K words

warnings: character driven story, mentions of blood and sex, anxiety, angst. check series masterlist for more.

series: ongoing

notes: i'm nervous for this fic ahhhh. i'll try to my best to write it well, and i hope you guys enjoy it!!

series masterlist ┊ next

PROLOGUE

Once the sound of her mother's voice entered Jaehaera’s ears, her attention on the rest of the world faded.

Each day, the little girl became more entranced by her, and it should not come as a surprise to Alicent, but it did.

Helaena had a peculiar mind, but the entire castle had grown used to the way her thoughts spilled out of it; in whispers and incomprehensible presages.

Yet, the more time Alicent spent with them, the more she noticed that the child listened. And, again, she should not be surprised, for Helaena’s voice was gentle. Her hands were gentle. Jaehaera was too young to know of the hearts of others, but her mother’s heart was gentle. Too gentle for that city, for that family.

The rumble of thunder and whispering of the wind outside the closed windows collided with another voice, one louder and childish.

“Jaehaera,” Jaehaerys called his sister, galloping the wooden horse he played with in her direction, but all she offered him was a finger to the lips, in a motion to ask for silence.

He scowled, making Alicent sigh out a weak laughter through her nose.

“Come here, dearest,” Alicent called Jaehaera once their attention turned to opposite directions, with open arms and a short smile.

After one last glance at her mother’s direction, Jaehaera obeyed.

Taking care of children had never been one of Alicent’s favourite duties, but in the years spent watching her only daughter grow surrounded by a world that did not deserve her beauty, she discovered she disliked when people interrupted her moments of crafted peace even more.

It brought her an unfamiliar sensation of warmth to know that Jaehaera agreed. Even if it was in a different way.

“Do you like to watch your mother work, Jaehaera?” She asked, picking up the girl to sit her on her lap.

Jahaera’s meek and sweet voice hummed in affirmation as she nodded.

“I want to see,” She said.

There was something in her voice that reflected the way Helaena spoke as a child. She did not whine, was simply honest and serene all the same when she had a request. It made Alicent sad, the realisation that she did not belong in that place the same way Helaena did not. But from time to time, she let herself smile and that sensibility. That afternoon was an example of the privilege.

Alicent moved a lock of white hair behind her shoulder to see her face better. “People need privacy at times. To work better, with a… Clearer mind.”

“But I like to listen to mommy.”

Jaehaera’s gaze was still set on Helaena, and Alicent followed it with her own.

Her daughter did not seem to be in the present with them, but far away in the dreams she muttered about as her hands worked. From what Alicent could recognize, she was crafting a green snake.

Jaehaera’s next words were accompanied by a glint in her eyes, that sort of excitement only small children possess, and it drew Alicent’s attention to the rare sight.

“Mommy was talking about mermaids yesterday,” The girl whispered, and let out a lighthearted giggle.

Alicent huffed a laugh, lifting one side of her mouth to humour her, but she did not know what to say to that.

Mermaids? How absurd.

I: THE UNFORTUNATE MERMAID

Embar, the sea god, was present at the birth of all his children, for they needed his blessing to be conceived.

One night, every fifty years, a human heart was brought into his underwater palace, crushed by his divine hands, and from the red foam it bled into, another merperson was born.

It was rumored that the continuous cycle was caused by the cessation of originating any more children who stood closer to divinity than not, between the sea god and his wife, the goddess of the wind, when their daughter Elenei fell in love with a man, and became mortal after laying with him, infuriating the deities. Hence the appeal of half-mortals: they were less in everything. None of them would become fully mortal no matter how many beds they laid on because part of them consisted of the same thing humans did.

The night Aērwyn came into the world, the heart that would soon turn into her was watched by several eyes, and as the god’s hands sacrificed the organ for her creation, no one dared to speak.

“Mermaid!” He declared.

Mermaid was the term used to describe a woman who possessed a tail with fish scales as her lower body and a human torso. But with that word, came the condemnation of what Aērwyn lacked in comparison to her siblings.

You see, the thing most people do not know about mermaids is that their whole body will adapt to their surroundings, not only the lower half. The darker the place, the brighter the golden gleam that is hidden behind the natural colour of eyes shine. They have patches of scales on their forearms and shoulders, gills on their necks, and fangs. All of that is not necessary once they are above the water, however. If a human does see it, well… It means they are not living long enough to talk about it.

And all that made Aērwyn peculiar for all she did not possess.

Some of her siblings even told her they might give her a proper name for it, and jest or not, that was the biggest insult of all.

None of the merfolk received proper names the moment they were born. It was not necessary in the sea god’s eyes. Elenei had because she was the daughter of gods. The water dragon, Nagga, was a mighty sea creature during its life, not a simple leviathan or shark. Not letting Aērwyn, in her weakness, choose her own name, would have meant she was too much of a bother — an enemy.

They did not give her one, but the mockery came frequently.

“Aērwyn?”

Edmyn’s voice reverberated through the waterless room. A hint of desperation could be heard in it, as if his patience was wearing thin, and it scared Aērwyn.

Slowly, but without hesitation, she pushed open the door of the closet.

Out of all of her siblings — there were a little over a hundred of them — Edmyn was the only one who did not care about her flaws, and she never wanted to make him regret that.

“I-I’m here.”

The space would be completely dark if not for the dim light of the moon coming through the clear ceiling, so when his head snapped towards Aērwyn, his yellow-golden eyes were the first thing she saw. Edmyn’s eyes had that colour naturally. They matched the golden band he always wore on his left arm — a valuable acquisition from one of his first trips to Essos, according to him — except their warmth faded in moments of solemness.

“Aērwyn—”

“I’m sorry,” She cut him. “Don’t be mad at me.”

There was a brief interval of utter silence, broken when he opened the door completely and got on one knee, resting his arm on the other.

“Who said I was mad?”

And there it was again. His never-ending gentleness, so unexpected from a merman like him.

“I heard it in your voice.”

“That was worry, not anger. Worry for you, little sister.”

Aērwyn hugged her legs closer, hiding her tear-stained cheeks behind her knees. She did not want to cry in front of her big brother. Not again.

“You know,” Edmyn tilted his head to point at Aērwyn with his chin. “This fabric was the most beautiful one I brought from Dorne. And you are getting it dirty with snot.”

“I’m not crying anymore,” Aērwyn said, defensive.

“So you were before?” His voice was as kind as the tilt of the corner of his lips.

Aērwyn shook her head, letting go of her legs. She stretched them inside the small space of the closet, where her child frame still fit, and grabbed the fabric of the dress in her fingers.

“You told me I should try to explore by myself.”

She could see his nod from the corner of her eye

“I was doing that today, but they… They were laughing at me.”

“Who? What happened?”

“I— I can still hear them in my head.”

“It’s okay,” Edmyn’s hand found one of hers. “Remember to breathe.”

Aērwyn inhaled and exhaled. The latter came out shakily.

“What happened?” Edmyn repeated himself.

She stared at the purple fabric pooling over her lap as she told him.

It was not usual for Aērwyn to leave the palace without Edmyn, but she was thirteen now, and he believed it was time to let her know about safe places she could explore on her own. He would always mention the wonders of making discoveries by himself.

Unfortunately, it was easier for him to say that, than for her to accomplish it.

Edmyn was only the second youngest child of the sea god after Aērwyn, yet he was the most impressive, from the moment he came into the world.

During the birth ceremony of the merfolk, every child would receive the same gift from the goddess of the wind: a prediction. And every fifty years, the predictions were those of good health, talented crafters, beauty, and so on… But Edmyn was different. He was the first to be predicted to not only be strong and change the progress of the future, but a title. That which he had earned at only twelve, after fighting a leviathan and winning.

The sea god was not known for dotting on his children, but when the title of Prince of the Depths became frequent in the mouths of those describing Edmyn, he finally had a favourite son.

It was as curious as magic, how his greatest achievement had come to shelter his biggest failure.

“I was following them from afar because they were talking about swimming with whales. I wanted to see some, that's all.”

“That's okay. And then?”

“Then…” Aērwyn wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “They started talking about humans. About how they are ugly and boring... How much I resemble them.”

“That is not true. Humans are complex creatures the same way we are. Not merely ugly and—”

“You're lying.”

It was evident that Edmyn was stunned by the bite in her tone and the squint of her eyes.

“Aērwyn—”

“I never lie to you, so why do you do it?”

Hurt crossed the glint of his golden gaze.

“I do not lie to you.”

“Yes, you do,” Her bottom lip trembled. “Why does everyone else look at me like I am a— a useless freak of nature, but you tell me I am perfect as I am?”

“A useless freak of nature?” He was revolted. “Where did you hear those words?”

“Where do you think?!” Aērwyn yelled, pulling her hand from his hold, and folding her legs back into the previous position.

Her eyes were shut, but she could feel Edmyn’s stare set on her for an arduous moment.

Freak.

“Stop it,” She said.

“I did not do anything,” He replied, calmly.

But it was never as silent as she wished in those moments of agony. The laughter and the words echoed in her head.

Useless.

“Aērwyn.”

“What?”

“Look at me.”

His tone left no room for arguing now.

“I’m sorry,” She whispered.

She turned her head so he could see her eyes, but did not lift it to show her entire face.

“I am not angry. Not at you. I need you to listen to me.”

Aērwyn nodded.

“Our father is not fond of humans. You are aware of that.”

She nodded again.

That is why he hates me.

Edmyn continued. “You will always hear our siblings speaking about them in the same manner he does. To him, they are merely boxes. Boxes made of flesh. He only cares about their hearts.”

“To create us.”

“Yes.”

“Why do you drink their blood, then?”

Her older siblings were incredibly proud of it; Drowning the men crossing the waters, biting their necks and sucking them as they dragged their bodies to the darkness. The practice was performed above as well, but merfolk were more careful with the bodies there, simply taking without killing. According to them, doing that on human land was not as pleasing, since it was harder to get rid of their bodies.

“That is something you do not need to worry about.”

“I cut my finger yesterday, and it tasted really bad.”

That made Edmyn laugh. “You will never have to drink anything you do not want to.”

She shrugged with a hum.

“All you need to know is that humans are not beloved by our father, but you cannot trust our siblings’ words. They enjoy the company of humans as much as they enjoy pulling them under.”

“But they say they are despicable.”

“That is not true. Well… They—” Edmyn closed his eyes with a frown and sighed.

That was the first time Aērwyn witnessed her brother be at a loss for words.

When his eyes opened again, he brought his hand to detangle her hold around herself again, placing one of her hands on her own chest.

“There is nothing inherently wrong with looking like a human. The heart that beats inside your chest is there because of one of them, remember? It is the same for the rest of us.”

Aērwyn’s eyes darted between his own with a frown.

“Even if our father hates them?” She whispered.

“Even then,” Edmyn whispered back. “All of the merfolk are part deity, part mortal. It would be unwise to ignore one of them.”

Aērwyn nodded in response, trying to grasp the weight behind the words. They sat on her mind as a fact. Simple as a coin tossed in the water.

It would be unwise to ignore her mortal side. Even if it brought her the pain of standing out.

“However,” Edmyn warned. “This is something you cannot discuss with anyone else.”

“Why?”

“They would not comprehend it.”

That was what he said, at least. But the truth came to her realisation later in life:

There was no need to make herself look weaker. To all, she was already worth less than a box.

After her fifteenth anniversary, it became Aērwyn’s duty to welcome Naria, the goddess of the wind, to her father's palace.

Every night, the light of the moon bent in the water as it parted itself to her, and she descended with her companions by beating her wings — when she decided to wear them — , walking down invisible steps of air, or simply jumping until the sand beneath her feet was swept by a gust that eased her graceful fall.

Aērwyn swam in a hurry to her post that evening, carrying the golden sandals she would need once she transitioned into her second form in one hand. The other fixed the straps of the new dress she managed to finish that night. Not as early as desired, but in time to take the position and watch as the path the goddess would descend on disseminated and dried the entire palace.

“You could not look more radiant,” Edmyn’s voice came from behind.

She was sixteen now, but he still wore the carefully crafted necklaces she used to make and beg him to wear when she was younger, and his arms were still adorned in thick, golden bands or bracelets, the one on the left always there. They contrasted well against his tanned skin and blue of his garments.

Even then, the more Aērwyn grew, the more she noticed how he somehow increasingly became a reflection of his title with age.

I think you are already starting to age, brother, she jested one day, pointing to the wrinkles that appeared in his eyes when he smiled. The sea will dry without you.

He laughed at that. It was often that the gods pointed out how he was his father's greatest strength, but he always mocked their belief to Aẽrwyn, for a reason she could not comprehend. So, she did it, too.

Edmyn stood beside her, hands joined behind him, like his dark and curly hair that he recently began to wear loosely tied.

“What about this excruciating wait could ignite radiance, brother?” Aērwyn asked, observing the shiver of sharks swimming by the entrance. “She will not come. Again. The guests will take their seats soon and I will stay here.”

Aērwyn was only thankful that her task of waiting at the door did not require bidding farewells, especially because of the nights when Naria stayed even after testing their father’s temper. She had never witnessed her angry exits and did not wish to. They pulled the air that dried the palace with her arrival, causing all to lose their breath and control of their limbs for a moment, and the distress only dissipated when the door of the palace closed as water filled it again in her absence. No one spoke about it, but the discomfort was clear in everyone's faces each time.

Edmyn hummed, glancing around. “Father looked less stormy at the council meeting this morning.”

“Any news?”

“You know I am not allowed to tell you,” He answered, with pity in his eyes. “But there is nothing to worry about. For now.”

For now. So, they did not have a clue about who the culprit of their father's fury was yet.

Besides the current gossip about the brewing war happening on the surface, word about a traitor — something that worried the sea god even more than the dragons constantly flying above his kingdom — had been spread with the currents. Naria’s work, of course. Someone here is loyal to the weak, husband. Aērwyn could imagine her saying, her winds dancing with whispers of his child that betrayed a god for a box of flesh.

She did not know what to make of this. If Edmyn was the one, she would have known a long time ago, and she could never see any of her other siblings choosing to bind themselves to a human and commit treason.

And how did one do such a thing? The appeal of their kind was that they could not harm their father, was it not?

Yet, Aērwyn knew better than to voice those questions. Those were strange times, with even stranger stories being written around the world.

“He does not think it's me, does he?” She whispered.

Edmyn frowned as if she had asked him to punch her in the face. “Why would he even consider that?”

“Because I am the most human of us all. I…” She clicked your tongue, adjusting the strap of the dress again. It needed fixing. “I do not wish to disappoint him even more. To make him think I have any sort of secret affection towards them.”

A moment passed, where Edmyn’s eyes studied her face with a look that boarded suspicion. She could not tell if he was out of words, or if he did not want to tell her exactly what he thought of that statement.

He sighed through his nose.

“Sister,” His voice was gentle. As always. “You are the only one who has not gone to the surface or drank any blood. Ever. He has no reason to think you married a human. You have never even seen one.”

“But I look like one.”

“Do you? I have never seen a human with gills,” He jested, poking her neck, but she did not laugh. He clicked his tongue then, rolling his eyes. “I do not mean to disrespect you, sister, but you… You lack the experience to dare such a risk in times like these. Father knows that.”

After a beat, where she could not deny her nonexistent contact with the human world, he spoke again.

“But I will ask you to not repeat these words to anyone. Do not let them know of your insecurities.”

She was used to the warning, but still had to ask herself who would I tell about them?

“Of course,” She agreed.

He was right. Even with her inexperienced mind, she should not give anyone a reason to consider her guilty.

When the guests started to leave to take their seats in the dining hall, she turned to Edmyn again.

“Are you sure she is coming tonight?”

“I believe so. Father needs her,” His voice became lower for the second part. “She must have heard something new and dramatic.” He observed.

“Yet her winds always whisper the same thing,” Aērwyn said.

Edmyn frowned. “What do you mean?”

His last word was almost silenced by the bent of the moonlight shining over their eyes.

As always, he was right.

To be entirely dry in a second did not feel like anything in particular, and Aērwyn was used to the trick by now, but an uncomfortable chill constantly ran over her exposed arms and blew the fabric of her garments when the invisible companions of the goddess walked in. Or maybe flew in. She could never be sure. They were made of air.

Not only that but for the lack of visual presence, they made themselves known by being loquacious. It was why the adjective windy existed. Every night, they passed by Aērwyn, and their multiple whispers merged, overlapping each other in a bedevilling chant: Goddess. Goddess. Goddess.

Aērwyn knew Naria was a goddess, but the introduction never ceased, and it was certainly not a smart option to showcase her annoyance at the wind in her ears, so she simply wore the sandals in uncomfortable silence, waiting for the mistress.

In contrast with the invisible and noisy creatures, the goddess was not one for many words, but visibly buoyant and divine. Her skin was as bright as it was strong, which she constantly showcased in sleeveless silks, and her hair reached her knees. On most nights, she wore it in a single braid, but when she did not, it fell like a golden veil behind her.

This time, she appeared by the door as quick as lighting. Her golden feathers stretched behind her, casting a large shadow. Aērwyn stumbled back, surprised by the sudden intake of air and the harsh breeze blowing her hair and dress, simultaneously. Her sandals had slipped from her grasp, and she only did not fall because of Edmyn’s quick reflex to find her back with his hand.

Naria was even taller and brighter that night, eyes gleaming white.

“Goddess,” Aērwyn mumbled the greeting, fixing her posture.

She ignored it.

“Greet me, prince.”

She spat the last word.

Edmyn returned to his previous position and bowed his head. His jaw clenched behind his trimmed beard.

“Goddess.”

He had never voiced his disdain for Naria, but Aērwyn could see it in his face. It was like he was ready to defy her divine power at any moment.

The light from her eyes was so bright, that Aērwyn could scarcely see her expression, but she tilted her head, observing the pair.

She brought a cold hand to Aērwyn’s green dress. “Who gave you this, child?”

“My brother,” She answered. She did not have to specify which one.

“I always see you in such expensive fabrics. He must care about you.”

“I do,” Edmyn’s voice was loud and clear.

The glow in Naria’s eyes slowly dimmed, revealing her sharp gaze and a smirk. Her wings lingered.

Aērwyn could tell she enjoyed hearing the lack of insecurity in his words. She was a goddess, after all. Gods had a taste for being defied, for letting themselves go through a slight struggle before overcoming it with pretended effort.

But Aērwyn did not want to see her toy with her brother.

“Shall I walk you to the council room, mistress?” She asked.

“No,” Naria answered, but her eyes were still set on Edmyn. “Your brother will.”

Used to it, Aērwyn suppressed a scowl, bowing her head and walking away in silence.

The back door of the dining hall opened smoothly with the light touch of Aērwyn’s hands.

Inside, the buzz of multiple conversations and occasional gibberish from the winds filled every corner and seat of the three long tables, and gossip about the surface was the main source of entertainment as it was on most nights.

It seemed that the health of King Viserys had worsened, which did not mean much to most as it was. Edmyn once told Aērwyn that wars only bothered their people when they got in the way of their fun, like when the humans fought for the island chain known as the Steptones a few years back, and the merfolk were bothered by it because their trips to Dorne would have to be more carefully planned.

Even with the constant gossip, Aērwyn did not remember many important human names, but it was easy to discern the Valyrian ones. Especially when they were accompanied by the house name Targaryen.

While the sea god talked about them with disdain because his children were amused to be close to the only people he could not control — for Targaryens had the blood of the dragon, and not even a god could stop a dragon — , the merfolk under his judgement enjoyed the risk of mingling in the city that fire and blood had ruled for 127 years.

Some of them even spoke about sneaking into their beds when the god was not around.

There was also talk about a newborn white-haired prince, but Aērwyn was not listening anymore. Her focus was set on Edmyn, who entered the room through the main door with their father and Naria, quickening his pace to reach his seat beside her.

One of the goddess' relatives was already boozing in wine as he gestured for Aērwyn to pour more. She did it, also offering a false smile, then watched the man extend the goblet in his feathered hand, greeting the couple and falling into conversation with her father rather quickly.

Naria, however, did not rush or speak as she took her seat in front of Aērwyn, and the stretch of her lips was as pointed as her gaze on her before she began to eat.

She did that sometimes. Her eyes would fall upon Aērwyn, defiant, forcing her to look down at her plate, and then find something else to focus on.

At least, she never said anything. Not that it was needed to guess what her thoughts were. Aērwyn only hoped the stare would go away when her place at the table came to belong to another sibling in thirty four years.

The sound of Edmyn practically falling on his seat with a sigh brought her back to a more comfortable reality.

They exchanged looks. How did that go? On Aērwyn’s part, and on his, an expression of pure annoyance that made her chuckle.

“Aērwyn doesn't hunt,” The sea god’s voice caught both of their attention.

Aērwyn shifted her gaze between the four new pairs of eyes studying her, straightening her shoulders.

“What do you do?” The feathered man asked with curiosity.

She blinked.

What did she do?

The answers were never attractive. Aērwyn made accessories, collected trinkets left behind by humans, sewed dresses with fabrics that never stopped appearing in the palace, swam with her brother, and tried to help injured animals that she found during her time alone. Only Edmyn and one of her sisters thought she was helpful for that, but it was nothing significant compared to most since all of her siblings did some form of craft or helped animals. Aērwyn was a sort of special that did not appeal to others. It was visible on her face, perceptible in her manner. She was not considered valuable.

“She—” Edmyn started before she could formulate an answer, but he too was cut by the sea god.

“She serves me by staying here, of course,” He said. “She is too weak to do what the others do. It would be unwise to let her try. But Edmyn has shown her a few tricks, since she is still not fully human, despite the looks of it. He tries his best.”

Rigel, another one of her merman brothers, who was sitting beside Naria, let out a muffled sound similar to a contained laugh behind the goblet he was bringing to his lips.

“She has never even drank blood,” He told the feathered man, then gulped his wine.

Aērwyn’s fingers tapped the silvery beside her plate, starting a count. One, two…

The last time Rigel opened his mouth to talk about her, she accidentally set down her goblet too hard, spilling wine over the table. Her father did not appreciate it.

Three…

What did he know, anyway? Rigel, the one Edmyn constantly complained about because of his irresponsible attitude. Rigel, that little—

“Do you think she would make good use of human blood, father?” He asked now, patting dry the corner of his mouth. The sea god was not paying attention anymore, but he proceeded, turning to the feathered man again. “We believe she looks too much like one to consume it, you see. It could be an internal problem.”

“At least she is not causing any real problems to us by, I don't know, being addicted to it,” Edmyn replied, calmly. He looked at the feathered man, too, and smiled with feigned humour. “Imagine that.”

Rigel was frozen in place after that sentence, but the stiffness of his motions and ceasing of his mockery did not make Aērwyn feel any better. His face was a reflection of contained ire.

Aērwyn lowered her gaze to the table once she saw that, munching the fruits and fish silently.

One, two…

As much as she did not mean to be the object of Rigel’s bitterness again, her own contained feelings bothered her.

She knew it was true. She was useless. She was as weak now as she was on the day she came into the world, with no augury, no strength. So, why were echoes and trembly hands slowly taking hold of her, tighter with each passing day? Why now?

The feathered man groaned. “I struggle to understand the appeal of human blood to your species.”

Rigel tilted his head with a smirk, curls falling over his eyes. He shared a look with the brother sitting on his other side as if they knew something the man did not. And perhaps it was true since merfolk were the only ones interested in consuming blood.

Aērwyn tried not to roll her eyes at their cockiness.

She felt full, and her cheeks were warm with wine, so she turned to the god, letting the knife she was gripping fall on the table.

“I will retire now, father.”

He did not look at her, simply nodded and waved his hand as he continued his conversation with someone a few seats away.

Rigel snorted as she pushed her chair back to get up, and when she gave him a look, he wiggled his eyebrows with mirth in his eyes.

“What?” She asked.

“Not going to the surface with us tonight?”

“Rigel,” Edmyn warned.

“You know I won't.” Aērwyn answered.

He smirked behind his cup again. “Yes, I do.”

She wanted to scream at his satisfaction. To grip his hair when her other brother laughed at the interaction. But decided to do as she always did: ignore it.

“I will walk you,” Edmyn whispered to her, looking up.

Aērwyn shook her head, ignoring the dryness in her mouth.

“I’m fine.”

Her hands immediately started the motion of pulling her skirts up to her thighs when she reached the door of her bedroom.

She sat on the floor without refinement after accidentally stumbling over the leftovers of another failed attempt to make an ink shell, like an anchor being thrown, and a sigh of relief left her lips at the cool sensation of the floor; eyes closing as she rested her back on the bed frame.

There was a… worry, right there, flourishing in the back of her mind. A worry about all and nothing, about her and everyone else, more saddening than ever since that question was brought upon her: What do you do?

Every time that feeling touched her, it made her dread the next days, months, and years.

Before the consolation of her seclusion could find her, a soft blow kissed her exposed skin.

“You are no mermaid.”

Aērwyn gasped, head snapping to the door.

Under the dim light of the moon, Naria seemed to float with each step she took.

She had never approached Aērwyn intending to talk to her directly before that night, and she would never even guess that she knew how to find her bedroom so quickly.

Did she follow me?

It was terrifying to be at the receiving end of her grey stare when they were alone, in the dark.

“Goddess,” She bowed her head.

“Get up.”

Aērwyn did it without questioning.

“Are you not going to tell me anything?” Naria asked.

Tell her what?

Oh…

Did she think…

“I am not the traitor my father is looking for—”

Naria’s annoyed groan cut her. “I know that. I speak of your flaws. Your missing parts.”

“I am used to hearing about my lack of mermaid traits,” Was the honest answer Aērwyn had to offer.

Naria came closer, taking one of her hands and lifting the arm, inspecting it. “I thought you were born with all of them hidden. That you would learn to display them eventually. You are almost seventeen, child.”

Aērwyn’s throat began to burn like never before. She could hear Rigel’s laugh as if it floated around the room.

Naria continued her questioning.

“Can you sing?”

“I enjoy it.”

“Be direct,” She snapped. “You can't charm anyone, can you?”

“No.”

“No scales…” She tilted her head to the left, then to the right. “No glowing eyes, no voice. What are you?”

Aērwyn hesitated.

“A mermaid.”

The goddess dropped her hand with a scoff.

“An unfortunate one.”

Aērwyn waited another ten seconds after her door closed to let out the sob she was holding.

It left her like a thunder of melancholy blended with the confusion about the reason behind this treatment, and she had to cover her mouth to keep the cry from growing louder.

Yes, she could handle the occasional insults from her siblings, but the disdain of a goddess had to be earned.

How was her existence such a heinous offence?

She kicked the ink shell with enough force to make it hit the wall with a bang.

When the crying ceased, that night had successfully shown her a sensation of emptiness she was not familiar with, and the days of dread and anger became more frequent.

next

notes: wasn't this just a ray of sunshine? let me know if you have thoughts and questions about anything!

like every other writer, i really appreciate interactions from readers. any sort of feedback is welcome to let me know if you're enjoying the story ♡

[thlayli-ra]

Punkintyre; a twisted love story

As anyone who follows my blog knows, I like posting my headcanons and LOVE posting about Punkintyre, and yet the two have never met... until now! This will be very long and probably split into different parts as I have a lot to say about them. So sit, back, relax and enjoy.

***Please note; this is all my own personal headcanons just for a bit of fun***

Punkintyre, at its core, is a story of obsession, possession and hate. Fiercely passionate hate. The kind of hate that consumes the soul entirely, and once it has destroyed the vessel, it goes on to destroy everything else around it.

But above all, to me, the essence of Punkintyre is that it's a story of unrequited love.

To understand this better, let's look at the players in this ship;

Drew McIntyre - 'You complete me!'

By the close of 2023, Drew was already a good girl gone bad. Having been a popular babyface for years, his attitude had noticeably changed after a series of disappointing losses, becoming more aggressive, ruthless and caring only about himself. The crowd didn't like this new direction and were rapidly turning on him.

Then hell froze over! CM Punk made his glorious return.

And Drew had an epiphany! Here was a true villain, a man currently looming beneath a large, dark cloud. A cancer. A disease, threatening to infect the WWE with his sickness. At the Royal Rumble, he targeted Punk and injured him, putting him out on the shelf for months. Drew basked in his triumph, calling himself the Saviour of Wrestlemania and waited with anticipation for his flowers. Because, if there was one thing that was guaranteed, it was that everybody hated Punk far more than they hated Drew.

Except... they didn't! The mindless drones had already been swayed by the lies of the wolf in sheep's clothing, had already fallen for Punk and his cult of personality. Drew made it his mission to wake them up; to rip that smiling mask off of Punk's face and expose the putrid flesh beneath, show them all the monster that Punk truly was.

To do this, he used the same weapon that caused Punk's downfall in AEW; social media. He constantly mocked and prodded at Punk, hoping to elicit a reaction from the notoriously thin-skinned veteran. He got plenty; but only from the fans. Not from the one he craved! So he pushed harder. Vandalised his signature ringer tee, used Punk's own move set, his entrance, visited his favourite bakery in his beloved hometown and bought him muffins.

Soon, he found himself flying high. His popularity had taken a massive up-swing, tongues were wagging, people were sitting up and listening, waiting on tender hooks for his next move. So he fed them, more and more. Taking pot shots at Punk every opportunity he could on every platform at his disposal.

Until Punk had become something else. Something more. Sitting cross-legged on the announce desk opposite the man who had made that particular taunt famous, Drew called him 'my muse', telling Punk that 'you complete me'. And it wasn't a word of a lie. He now needed Punk, needed him like a crutch to lean on. Needed to feed that hate.

Somewhere along the line, Drew's mission had become an obsession. Not for his goal of exposing the man, but for the man himself!

He didn't want to love Punk...

..he needed to!

CM Punk - 'I love you because you love me!'

Punk, meanwhile, is the not-so-innocent innocent in all of this. Punk never wanted all this attention from Drew, calling him 'an ex-girlfriend that I can't get rid of' yet he's the one who's responsible for making Drew's unhealthy infatuation even worse.

Drew accused Punk of being a 'succubus', a sex demon that seduces men and sucks the em... 'life', shall we say, out of them. The metaphor fits well. Punk has a way of seducing those around him, both in the crowd and in the back, sometimes even to the point of insanity (a certain Maxwell Jacob Friedman immediately comes to mind!). Punk fans affectionally refer to it as Punk Derangement Syndrome.

Punk once told a crowd 'I love you because you love me'. He lives for the adoration! He feeds off of the spotlight and the attention it affords him, soaking up any and all reactions from the crowd. Cheer him, boo him, love him, hate him; so long as it's loud, he'll take it. Unlike Cody who struggled with the hate at AEW, Punk faced against the waves and waves of boos battering him from all sides with a shit-eating grin on his face, doing his worst to up the noise even more.

And this is precisely why he just can't drop this petty tit-for-tat with Drew. The man's obsession with him is feeding Punk, and while his attention is a nuisance at best - and dangerous at worst - it's just not in Punk's nature to be the bigger man and let it die. He has to keep poking the bear even if it might tear his face off (which, it eventually does, but we'll get to that Smackdown later).

And so the players are locked into battle. Neither of them willing participants but their respective obsessions have honed in on one another, fingers on the trigger and aching to fire, neither taking heed of who they hurt along the way.

To be continued...

Part 2

[libraryofolive]

use your words

part one

featuring: Salaryman!Nanami Kento x fem!reader

genre: SMUT, pwp so 18+ MDNI

word count: 717

synopsis: Nanami's colleague has started having some rather unprofessional dreams about him, little does she know that he has been having the same problem.

Like this? You can find my smaus here and my drabbles and other fiics here!

Do you also have a request? You can find my rules for requesting here!

You sighed as you made you way into work, dumping a pile of papers and folders on your desk, exchanging it for a custom mug you had received in last year’s office secret santa. You made your way over to the communal coffee pot, mug in hand (you refused to keep it in the cupboards of the office kitchenette, lest somebody steal it. It was one of the few secret santa gifts you actually appreciated, and you had a hunch it had come from your favourite colleague, Nanami). You greeted various co-workers as you passed them, smile undeniably forced as being at work was the last thing you wanted to do today. You had been plagued by rather unsavoury, lewd, dreams the night before, resulting in a tired disposition and an inability to look your colleague - friend - in the eye.

Gasps of pleasure and the squelch of Nanami’s large fingers thrusting in and out of you filled the room. You were situated on his lap, hands grasping his hair in an attempt to ground yourself, kissing him hungrily. He drew away only to mutter praises that went straight to your throbbing cunt - “Doing so well f’me, love. Yeah, that’s it, taking my fingers so prettily.” You could only mewl as he added another finger, curling them expertly and pressing into that spot that had you seeing stars.

“Ken -ngh- please, gonna… gonna cum.”

“That’s it, baby. Cum f’me, you can do it.”

You had woken up just before that wave of pleasure could crash over you. When you checked your alarm, it read 2:30am. In a lustful haze, you had your grabbed your vibrator and replayed your dream, your imagination extending it. It was only until after two satisfying orgasms had the shame of picturing Nanami Kento, the most professional man you could think of, in such a shameful manner.

Your face heated as you caught yourself reminiscing whilst stood in a very public section of the office. Your thighs rubbed together as you got back on task, pouring some of the shitty coffee into your much less shitty mug and turning to head back to your desk.

“Well, hello to you to.” A deep voice startled you - the one you had imagined whispering dirty praises into your ear. Nanami.

“Er- erm- Hi, Nanami!” You cringed at the tone of your voice, a mix of surprise and embarrassment.

“Are you okay? You’ve walked past me twice without so much as a ‘hello.’ Normally it’s you who has to bug me for a greeting.”

“Oh, yeah, no, I’m all good. You don’t have to worry about me! Just tired, is all.”

“Bad dreams?” You almost dropped your coffee at his words, your whole body tensing out of what could only be described as fright.

“What?” You asked, the tension from your body seeping into your voice.

“You’ve told me some of your more… eccentric dreams in the past. What was the last one, a murderous clown as a teacher?”

“Oh, yeah, er. I guess you could say it was bad dreams, yeah. Anyway! I’d better head back to work. So much to do, so little time, as they say. I’ll see you later, though!” You walked away furiously, head down to avoid anyone seeing how wide your eyes were. Your face was near-boiling out of embarrassment, and you could have sworn the universe had it out for you.

“I’ll see you in my office for lunch, as usual?” Nanami called after you. You sent a general affirmative hum in his direction, avoiding eye contact. You had barely gotten through a conversation with him, never mind the hour long lunch break the two of you normally take together. What was wrong with you?

The work morning somehow simultaneously dragged on yet passed in the blink of an eye. You were distracted - much too distracted to work productively - your mind often wandering to the same place it had visited the night before. What would his cock feel like inside you? He was a tall man, you knew it had to be big. Would it be too big? How much would he have to prepare you beforehand, with his fingers, his tongue? You could feel your panties dampen as the dirty thoughts infiltrated your mind. Nanami was an attractive man, you had always known this. As you got to know him further, his dry, sarcastic humour, his dedication to his work (no matter how much he despised it), his loyalty to those he cared about, he had grown more attractive to you. You had begin to fester a small crush on the blonde man - this was something you were well aware of - but until now you had always perceived it as a silly crush, something to keep your work day more interesting. But now what? And what did it mean for you current relationship, both professional and platonic?

Your phone buzzing brought you out of your thoughts. Speak of the devil, you thought, as the very man you had spent all morning thinking about had messaged you.

Thinking about going for lunch in 30, does that work for you?

You had debated declining his invitation, to sit by yourself and stew over just how deeply you were into him. But that would arouse suspicion, and you didn’t want him catching on. You could imagine the horror that would adorn his face if he ever found out how you were thinking about him, if he gained knowledge of your perverse fantasies. So you gritted your teeth and messaged him back, agreeing to meet him. You had half an hour to mentally prepare, and that was surely enough, right?

You entered his office without knocking, lunch box under your arm. 15 minutes had passed since Nanami had messaged you, but if you waited any longer you reasoned you might burst from anxiety. His back was turned to you, and you could just see the top of his head over the back of his large office chair. But as you went to announce your presence, you heard him groan your name.

“Nanami?” You asked hesitantly, brow furrowing. At the sound of your voice, Nanami’s hand froze on his cock. Shit, he had been caught - by you, no less. What the fuck was he supposed to do now? You, unknowingly, had worn both his favourite and most hated blouse today - it left very little to the imagination, with your nipples sometimes peeping through it when the office was particularly cold. When he has spoken to you earlier, he could see them, and he hadn’t been able to get the image out of his head. His morning was spent imagining groping your breasts, both over and under that goddamn blouse. He had imagined taking those perky nipples into his mouth as his hands dipped lower, and lower, and lower…

“Can you, erm, can you give me a minute?” His voice came out unsteady, his face beet red.

“Nanami, are you okay? You sound.. off.” You too were frozen in place, half way between his desk and the door. You looked behind you, double checking you had closed it after you had walked in.

“I’m fine - truly - I just er, I need a second. I wasn’t ready for you to come so um, early.”

“Nanami, you can at least turn around and look at me when you talk to me. You sound ill, or in pain - do you need to go home?” You walked towards him, placing your lunch on his desk and walking around it hesitantly. It was only as you got closer to him you realised what you walked in on. His slacks, usually so perfectly ironed, were crumpled around his ankles, his underwear pulled down just enough for his cock to be free and hard. He had been in here masturbating, and had called your name. The cogs in your head turned as you started to piece together what this meant, that you clearly weren’t the only one having lewd imaginings of your colleague.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry - this is so - oh my God, what have I done? I should be fired for this, report me, wouldn’t blame you-”

“Nanami.” You interrupted his panicked babbles, eyes burning with lust, your mouth dry and pussy wet at the sight of him. “Were you thinking of me to get yourself of?”

“I’m sorry, I have no excuse-”

“Answer my question.” Your voice left no room for questioning.

“Yes.” He breathed, his eyes going wide as you sunk to your knees before him. Your hand reached out, hesitating just before you touched his length.

“Well, would you like some help from the real thing?” He nearly came at the sight of you looking up at him through your lashes, hand hovering over his dick, a coy smile decorating your face. He audibly gulped, nodding his head.

“Words, Nanami. Or should I call you Kento?” As you said his first name you grasped his cock, already slick with precum from his previous activity. His whole body shook, one hand flying to his mouth to muffle a moan.

“Please.” He gasped when your hand didn’t move, “Please help me.” Your smile widened as you began to move your hand. This was going to be a productive lunch break.

[reallyhardydraws]

2023.

i hope any of you reading this will forgive the essay. i started posting to this art blog ten years ago in 2013 when i was just at the very end of high school, uploading short animations i'd made for one of my final projects, preparing myself for art school where i was gearing up to become an illustration/animation student.

i went into my art foundation course in 2014, still thinking i was going to be going into storybook illustration or with faint hopes of becoming like a concept artist for game/animation, although even then i'd started thinking about patterns...

and then in 2015 i did go into my BA, going in for that illustration with animation degree that... usually when i talk about it in real life, i say didn't really feel like the best place for me. if i think back, the best things i got out of it were two of my best friends, one of whom is now my partner. looking back on my BA era, there's some bits of sketchbook stuff...

and while i was at university my main fandoms were thunderbirds are go and x-men for a bit... these are from the end of 2015 into the beginning of 2016...

then for a little while i was doing this still sort of pastel-ish lineless situation:

and i alternated between that and this thin fineliner type work (pretty sure all of the linearted pieces were done on paper and scanned, and all the lineless were graphics-tablet-only) - it was in this style that i started to offer commissions for the first time too.

and i also had fineliner-lined work in sketchbooks that i coloured with marker and posca pens, the colours of which were generally a bit more intense just based on not being able to slide the hue/saturation around on paper:

also 2016 was when i discovered the spongebob musical just after it's trial run in chicago (which ended in july of 2016) and i started making fanart at that point... which would have the biggest effect on the way i drew (and i did end up handing in a piece of spongebob musical fanart as one of my art school homeworks lmao)

from summer 2016 until early 2017 things were still quite soft and pastelly in my digital art, colour-wise:

and then suddenly everything got whacked up to 100% on saturation. also i was using the binary tool to give everything really thin pixel lineart for some reason.

then i went on vacation in summer 2017 and didn't draw for maybe a month? just short of? and when i came back i decided to change everything up again... giving characters blobbier, more ugly-cute faces with large squinting eyes and big nostrils and i was worrying a lot less about making anything look smooth, lineart-wise. i turned off the pen stabiliser in SAI and let it wiggle.

then... the spongebob musical opened on broadway in late 2017, i went to see it live in person for the first time... and my whole brain was ENTIRELY consumed by my love of it. i was putting that david zinn inspired pattern explosion into everything, even if it wasn't sbm fanart.

as we go into 2018, i started colouring my lineart. my biggest interest was still broadway musicals (with spongebob at the top of the list)

i think summer 2017 - early 2018 is probably my favourite art era, i was at my most bright and colourful and exciting... although i know in my actual real life i was struggling a lot with my home situation and i had been for some time. art was definitely my escapism back then, and i think a lot of the time i drew really bright, joyful stuff to try and inject that feeling into myself.

as for my university work, i was putting my focus into 3D paper-mache puppets:

and i was also starting to do more repeat patterns, mostly inspired by things around me. i'd learned how to make patterns actually tile and repeat in 2017, so made a few during my time at uni just to accompany some of my projects, but never as the focus of them. one of my university tutors told me that maybe i should put more focus on doing surface pattern, and maybe applying it to textiles, but i said i wasn't interested.

i graduated from my BA in the summer of 2018, and immediately began volunteering at the whitworth art gallery doing anything i could - stewarding, helping with arts and crafts, dancing with families...

in 2019 i was still very colourful... i was trying out more chunky colouring on characters skintones that i think was def inspired by tumblr artist jadenvargen:

but the blobbyness and ugly-cute style of drawing faces was gone by here, and i think... the way i drew characters probably had better *anatomy*, proportions were maybe a bit more realistic...

in 2020 i started adding the black shading to under the chins and some other places on characters' bodies because i started watching the anime my hero academia with my brother, lmao (and i was starting to pastelise colours a bit again, these are the most pastel-ish examples) my lineart has really smoothed back out too, though i never turned my pen stabiliser back on in SAI. i think my hand just adjusted. probably seems a bit insane to miss that, but i do.

by the end of 2020, the almost-year of lockdown over cobid had... made me a bit insane, i think, and i moved out of my mother's house and into a flat with a friend from university.

in 2021 i think things were much the same... i think from this point on is where things have sort of settled. i don't want to say stagnated, but i do think things have been very... like this for a while.

2022 - got the most exciting examples out...

also i was very into these little frames in 2022.

and then on to 2023! in 2022, i did begin trying to shift gears a bit -- hoping to put more energy into sewing and making products (like my tutor has suggested back in uni, even though i'd really resisted the idea.) i sold at a few in-person markets during winter of 2022, but got disheartened by the amount of money i had to sink in up front to sign up for a spot...

which has made me VERY grateful for the people who have supported me via online sales. it has really helped me stay afloat in 2023 - AND it has felt more wonderful than i can describe that there have been people interested in my work... especially when a lot of it has been my original designs, rather than the fanart that i expect a lot of people initially followed me for.

i've also... in the past 2 years... branched out a bit more when it comes to 'being an artist' - and have had the opportunity to deliver arts & crafts workshops with local refugee & asylum seeker support charity, afrocats. it's taken me to their home base in a church to hotels across the city where asylum seekers were temporarily placed while waiting on their new homes, and of course to my beloved whitworth art gallery, where we welcomed visitors from all backgrounds: from the typical white middle class visitors the gallery usually expects, to all the refugee visitors coming into the space for the first time.

and through my volunteering at the whitworth, i showed up so often they decided they might as well pay me. so i've also become a facilitator of... creative play sessions, my favourites of which have been outdoors. monthly, year-round, we have 'outdoor art club', where i get to paint with mud and make potions from leaves with kids & families - here you can see me tell you a little bit about it in this video below with 'crempog' a puppet character that makes videos about activities for kids and families around manchester (my bit starts at 01:10 although i am in the intro and thumbnail haha)

and then of course the summer 'PLAYTIME' activities we've had the past two years: scrap studio in 2022, and play market in 2023. it's the best freelance gig ever -- just to hang out and encourage families to be creative and have fun.

in working more in these new avenues... outside of being - as i've called myself for a long time - "an internet artist"... i've found myself more interested in this sort of thing. in being a "real world artist" too. in doing surface pattern design, and being a workshop facilitator, i find myself wanting to put more energy into these sorts of projects.

in 2023 i've also dabbled a little bit more in youtube videos! i have had a channel for a while and have made videos in previous years, but 2023 has been the year i've done the most in. admittedly most of them haven't been about my art, and more just like... random things that interest me (the spongebob musical in particular) but i've really been enjoying video editing. that's kind of an art form too, so i'm including it here!

moving forward, want to keep putting even more of my energy into other things. my shop, with a bigger range of products to offer. workshops in real life, where i can make a difference.

as for my art blog... i feel like i've done the least drawing in many years in 2023, and... well, things have been weird and complicated for a bit in my real life. i hope to draw for fun a bit more again very soon, and to return to doing things in more of a wild and crazy way, to be more creative and exciting with the way i draw things. still, here's some of my favourites from 2023:

thank you so much to everyone who has borne witness to my art journey this past decade!!! i hope you will stick with me, who knows, maybe for another 10 years if tumblr holds out. especially a big thank you to everyone who has ever commissioned me, or bought anything from my store, you literally keep me able to make art at all and i cannot, cannot, cannot overstate how much it means to me.

i'm moving homes soon, possibly into very cramped temporary conditions for a little while before HOPEFULLY starting my real life with my partner. if i can take one more moment to plug my work, then [here is a link to my online shop] and [here is my ko-fi page too.]

cheers, cheers, cheers!

- LOREN 🌈🍍🎉

[otmaaromanovas]

Anastasia's personality

Lesser known quotes about Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanov and her personality, from those who knew her and from Anastasia herself!

Happy reading :)

"Once they had seen this demonstration [of security dogs sniffing out objects], the Grand Duchesses often amused themselves by hiding objects on the island, and asking us to have them retrieved by the dogs. That was, above all, the favourite game of the youngest of the Grand Duchesses, Anastasia Nicholaievna. So the guide asked permission to take the Grand Duchess by the hand and let the dogs sniff it, who then disappeared into the island and brought back the hidden object. Of course, the Grand Duchess was hugely delighted." - Alexander Spiridovitch, Last Years at Tsarskoe Selo, Volume 1

Anastasia to tutor Pyotr Vasilievich Petrov: "Wikied P.V.P. I am very, very upsit with you. Why didn’t you write a litter to Maria and me? I’m telling you, you are very, very bad, extremely bad even. Maria and I have written you so meny letters and you haven’t replied. I am going to make mystakes on purpose. I alredy see where I made mystakes. Anastasia. 1909. 9 November." - Helen Azar, George Hawkins, Anastasia Romanov: The Tsar's Youngest Daughter Speaks Through Her Writings

"Sometimes, the Grand Duchesses would enter the thatched houses and strike up conversations with the peasant women. The male population worked far away, at fishing, Anastasia Nicholaievna made friends with an old peasant woman, whom she came to see in her thatched cottage several times, and with whom she had long conversations. The peasant was knitting a stocking, and showed the Grand Duchess how it was done. On her birthday, Anastasia Nicholaievna visited the old lady, and asked her how old she thought she was. When the old lady could not guess, the Grand Duchess announced proudly that she was eight years old!" - Alexander Spiridovitch, Last Years at Tsarskoe Selo, Volume 1

"We used to make long outings around the islands. One day, Anastasia Nicholaievna begged the Emperor to take her on one of these outings. The Emperor consented. It was a very long outing. We covered some fifteen to seventeen versts. Everybody, except the Emperor, was very tired, with Anastasia Nicholaievna at the point of tears. The people who accompanied the Emperor took turns carrying her pick-a-back [piggy back]. That outing was remembered for a long time." - Alexander Spiridovitch, Last Years at Tsarskoe Selo, Volume 1

"Anastasia Nicholaevna was a lively witty child, who developed rapidly in the midst of her sisters. Very mischievous, always gay she still amused herself with toys such as the little, stoppered bottles and pots which a doctor who visited the Imperial Family used to bring her. She and her brother got no end of fun from these things." - Alexander Spiridovitch, Last Years at Tsarskoe Selo, Volume 1

"Little Anastasie was delighted with the stir and bustle of city life and deeply interested in all she saw. The children developed a love for those little toy balloons which are sold in the streets. When they were very good I used to send out and get them one each. But Anastasie used sometimes to want me to stop the carriage and buy them from the men, and this, of course, could not be allowed. So I always said simply that I could not, without advancing any reason. She evidently thought force would have to be used to induce him to part with them, for one day she saw some little children walking on the Palace Quay, each one with a balloon. She drew my attention to them. "Look, look!" cried she; "little children with balloons; get out, take them from them and give them to me." I explained why that would not do, so she said, " Well, get out, and ask them nicely and politely, and perhaps they will give them to me."" - Margaretta Eagar, Six Years at the Russian Court

"Someone in speaking to me of the four little girls lately said to me, "...little Anastasie has personal charm beyond any child I ever saw."" - Margaretta Eagar, Six Years at the Russian Court

"I had got from England a preparation for the children's hair, and was rubbing it into little Anastasie's head one evening. She objected, and I said, " It will make your hair grow nicely, darling," so she submitted. Next evening I went to get the kappuka [solution] from the cupboard, and mademoiselle ran off into the next room. She returned dragging by its leg an awful dolly, a regular fetish, minus a wig, one eye, and an arm. She gravely took a little piece of sponge and began to rub the kappuka into the creature's head. I remonstrated, telling her I had to send to England for the stuff and did not want it wasted. She looked at me most reproachfully, and said, "My poor Vera! she has got no curls; this will make her hair grow." Of course, she got her way." - Margaretta Eagar, Six Years at the Russian Court

"Anastasia Nikolaevna was especially attracted to stores, where they sold doll shoes of various sizes…" - Sophia Ivanovna Tyutcheva, A Few Years Before the Catastrophe

Letter from Alexei to their father, Nicholas: "[22 Sept 1914] …Anastasia was throttling [tutor] M. Gilliard." This has also been translated as "…Anastasia was trying to strangle M. Gilliard" - George Hawkins, Alexei: Russia's Last Tsesarevich - Letters, diaries and writings

Letter from Alexandra to Nicholas: "Jan 6 1916 …Anastasia has bronchitis, head is heavy & hurts her swallowing, coughed in the night,, she writes about [Dr.] Ostrog.[orsky]. “Although he said that I look a little better than yesterday, but I am pale & my appearance is foolish in my view” just like the “Shvibzik” [her nickname] to say such things…" – Joseph T. Fuhrmann, Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna. The complete Wartime Correspondence April 1914 – March 1917

Letter from Alexandra to either her brother or sister-in-law: "7 May 1913… Anastasia is growing gradually and is as funny as always." - Petra H. Kleinpenning, The Correspondence Of The Empress Alexandra Of Russia With Ernst Ludwig And Eleonore, Grand Duke And Duchess Of Hesse

The following are from Helen Azar, George Hawkins, Anastasia Romanov: The Tsar's Youngest Daughter Speaks Through Her Writings:

Tutor Pyotr Vasilievich Petrov to Anastasia: "12 October 1909. Hello dear, good, diligent, obedient (albeit not always), kind and affectionate (also not always?) Anastasia Nikolaevna!" - Helen Azar, George Hawkins, Anastasia Romanov: The Tsar's Youngest Daughter Speaks Through Her Writings

Anatoly Mordvinov to the Grand Duchesses: "September 19, 1915 My beloved torturers! I can’t express how pleased I was with your joint, dear, sweet letter… What terrible news, reported by my chief tormentor Anastasia Nikolaevna…"

Anastasia to Nicholas: "October 3rd [1915] …There was a psalm-reader who read so incredibly funny that it was simply impossible not to laugh"

Note from Anastasia to Alexei "…Now you, little piggy, know all the rooms…"

Letter from Anastasia to Alexei: "1 November 1915. ...My Dear and Darling Little Alexei! I haven’t forgotten my responsibility [to walk dog Joy], and every day either I or Madeleine or Tutles goes for a walk and it goes very well."

Last diary of Alexandra: "12/15 April. Marie comes with us [to Ekaterinburg], Olga will look after Baby, Tatiana the household & Anastasia will cheer all up." - Last diary of Alexandra Feodorovna

"Anastasia was not allowed to go to dinner, had to go to bed early, which was why she had dinner alone with the nanny in her giant lonely “upstairs”… So sad, these poor children live in a golden cage." - the memoirs of V. I. Chebotareva

Diary entry of the palace priest: "April 11, 1917 - …The former Heir was taken past my window in a wheelchair. Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna saw me in the window and loudly said to her mother, “Over there, the batiushka [father] is looking at us”" - Belyaev, Potapov, The Romanovs Under House Arrest: From the 1917 Diary of a Palace Priest

Letter from Maria to Nicholas: "April 1915 …The little Shvybzik [Anastasia's dog] just made a “governor” [accident] on Mama’s carpet, and Anastasia is not training him…" - Helen Azar, George Hawkins, Maria Romanov: Third Daughter of the Last Tsar, Diaries and Letters, 1908–1918

"...the most energetic and speedy - Anastasia Nikolaevna - had a rather silent, sedate and serious Navigator A.V. Saltanov [to look after her]. The latter ended up with most trouble and turmoil. Dear 'Nastasya', as the Gosudar [tsar] called her, was a trouble making tomboy. With her hair always messed up, always dishevelled, from morning till night she ran around the yacht, climbed up ladders, peeked where she should not have, until, with a lot of screaming she was finally led away and put to bed. Her parents said she was the "clown"." - Memoirs of Nikolai Vasilievich Sablin

"It was after Anastasia had arrived as a pupil that Gibbes met his first real problem. Still slightly built (she would soon grow rapidly), eager in her movements, her eyes sparkling with intelligence, she was self-possessed and in entire command of her features; he had met nothing like it any other child. Remembering a course in child psychology he had taken during one of his exploring periods at Cambridge, he tried as many innovations from it as he could; they did not shelter him from storms, usually sudden. Once, after a disturbed lesson, he refused to give her five marks, the maximum (and customary) number. For a moment the wondered what might happen; then, purposefully, Anastasia left the room. Within minutes she returned, carrying one of the elaborate bouquets that seemed always to be in waiting. 'Mr Gibbes,' she said winningly, 'are you going to change the marks?' He hesitated before he shook his head. Describing it long afterwards in a letter (1928) to the Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, the Tsar's brother-in-law in Paris, Gibbes wrote: Drawing herself up to the most of her small height, she marched into the schoolroom next door. Leaving the door wide open, she approached the dear old Russian professor, Peter Vassilievich Petrov. 'Peter Vassilievich', she said, 'allow me to present you with these flowers'. By all the rules he should have refused them, but professors are human; he did not. Later, we made it up again, and I received my bouquets once more, for the Grand Duchess nearly always gave me one during those early years. I-well, I was more careful in my marking. We had both learned a lesson. Another morning would not be forgotten. There had been a children's fancy-dress dance at Tsarskoe Selo on the previous night. Gibbes, in tail-coat and white tie, waited at his desk for Anastasia to arrive. When she did, quickly and mischievously, her face was blackened like a chimney-sweep's and she carried a small golden ladder which she placed beside her while she waited for the lesson to begin. Gibbes, deciding to take no notice, was about to speak when he heard a rush of laughter outside the big double doors at the end of the room. They flew open, and through them there appeared the three elder Grand Duchesses with their mother. The Empress looked in horror. 'Anastasia!' she cried, 'go and change at once!' And, meekly, the sweep vanished. When she came back, her face scrubbed as red as a lobster, the gold ladder was still beside her desk; but everybody pretended not to see it and the lesson continued in the Empress's presence." - Trewin and Gibbes, Tutor to the Tsarevich

"Through the years he preserved from Tobolsk two cheap exercise books, each labelled ‘English’. ‘M. Romanof’ had written her name on one label. The other book belonged to A. Romanova (Shut Up!) Tobolsk 1917-1918.’ Grand Duchess Anastasia, more exuberantly talkative than her sisters, seized on one of Gibbes’s exasperated moments. When he told her to shut up, she asked him how to spell it and adopted it as her nickname." - Trewin and Gibbes, Tutor to the Tsarevich

"‘At the end of the farce [Gibbes reported] the husband has to turn his back, open his dressing-gown as if to take it off- Anastasia wore an old one of mine - and then exclaim: 'But I've packed my trousers; I can't go.' The night's applause had excited the little Grand Duchess. The piece had gone with a swing and they were getting through the 'business' so fast that a draught got under the gown and whisked its tail up to the middle of her back, showing her sturdy legs and bottom encased in the Emperor's Jaeger underwear. We all gasped; Emperor and Empress, suite and servants, collapsed in uncontrolled laughter. Poor Anastasia could not make it out. All were calling for a second performance, but this time she was more careful. Certainly I shall always remember the night; it was the last heart unrestrained laughter the Empress ever enjoyed.’" - Trewin and Gibbes, Tutor to the Tsarevich

"...Anastasia was the most amusing; she was always full of mischief. - “Anastasia is our family clown!” the Emperor once exclaimed, laughing, to my mother." - Olga Voronova, Upheaval

"Fleeting memories come back to me of those cloudless summer days. Pictures of the Emperor and his daughters at the Garden Party at Tsarskoe, the little Grand Duchess Anastasia, her cheeks scarlet with excitement, surrounded by a group of midshipmen, plying them with eager questions. “You will take me up into your conning tower,” her clear childish voice rang out above the hum of conversation. “Couldn’t you let off one of the guns and just pretend it was a mistake?”" - Muriel Buchanan, Ambassador's Daughter

"The youngest girl, Anastasia, was spirited, sly and playful; she would get under the dinner table and pinch the legs of some elderly statesman until her father pulled her out by her hair. She has been described as ‘a little inextinguishable volcano, with a world of her own’." - Bernard Pares, The Fall Of The Russian Monarchy A Study Of The Evidence

"The Tsar's youngest daughter was much the sprightliest and most entertaining. She had a comic gift as a mimic, picking out people's foibles in a way that made everyone laugh. "What a bundle of mischief," recalls her godmother, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, the Tsar's sister. There was also a serious side to Anastasia's nature. She had a restless, questioning intelligence. "Whenever I talked with her," says Count Grabbe, "I always came away impressed by the breadth of her interests. That her mind was keenly alive was immediately apparent." More than her sisters, Anastasia chafed under the narrowness of her environment and used her comic sense in revolt against it." - Count Alexander Grabbe, The private world of the last Tsar, in the photographs and notes of General Count Alexander Grabbe

"The Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaevna was sixteen or seventeen years old; she was short, stout and was, in my opinion, the only one in the family that appeared to be ungraceful Her hair was of a lighter color than that of Maria Nicholaevna. It was not wavy and soft, but lay flat on the forehead. Her eyes were grey and beautiful, her nose straight. If she had grown and got slim she would have been the prettiest in the family. She was refined and very witty. She had the talents of a comic actor, she made everybody laugh, but never laughed herself. It appeared as if her development had stopped and, therefore, her capacity faded a little. She played the piano and painted, but was only in the stage of studying both." - The Examination of Sidney Gibbes, The Last Days of the Romanovs

"The Grand Duchess Anastasia, I believe, was seventeen. She was over-developed for her age; she was stout and short, too stout for her height; her characteristic feature was to see the weak points of other people and to make fun of them. She was a comedian by nature and always made everybody laugh. She preferred her father to her mother and loved Maria Nicholevna more than the other sisters." - The Examination of Commissar E. S. Kobylinsky, The Last Days of the Romanovs

Hope you enjoyed reading and learnt something new!

Want to find a book listed here? Reply, ask, or message me! I'd be happy to help!

[thisreadswhatever]

Anything For The Club: Part Two

series masterlist

[description]: jax teller x female reader, reader x oc characters

[wordcount]: 1.6k+

[summary]: Jax gets back from his run after rushing home to you, and a concerning discovery is made at Diosa.

[series cw]: 18+ minors do not interact! female reader, swearing, sexual harassment/assault (non-canon characters), alcohol use, mix of fluff, smut and angst throughout, p in v sex, teasing, violence, gun use, mentions of blood, murder, blackmail

[authors note]: still no smut yet.. but it's coming, i promise! this however is my favourite part because soft jax makes me feel a type of way. let me know if you want to be tagged in part three :)

You woke up to the feeling of strong hands wrapping around your waist, goose bumps forming at the feel of his cold rings pressing against your skin. You turned to find Jax curled up next to you, still dressed in his jeans and kutte, too preoccupied with getting into bed with you to change. An audible sigh of relief escaped your lips as you came to realise he was home. “You’re here.” 

You melted into the feeling of him beside you, like you could finally breathe again. His safe arms cloaked your body as he wove himself between the sheets and your skin. “I didn’t think you’d be back so soon.” He still made your heart race even after all the years you’d been together, it always felt like that first time you saw him when he came home to you. 

He pulled you in tighter, pressing your back snug against his chest, and you closed your eyes as you revealed in the warmth.

“We decided it would be easier to let Chibs and Juice handle the rest, too much heat for all of us to be involved. I couldn’t wait any longer to see you. I rode back as soon as I could.”

He leaned over and found your lips, crushing his mouth to yours with urgency. His hand cupped at your chin as he drew your face higher into his, stroking your jaw with his thumb as his tongue encased yours. You never wanted it to end. 

“You sure you’re okay?” You didn’t want details, but it concerned you that whatever had happened on the run, he felt like he needed to get out of there. Despite how relieved you were he was home safe, you knew it wasn’t like Jax to bail from club business, no matter how much heat there was.

“I am now.” He laid back on his side as he was engulfing himself around you again, kissing your ear as he stated softly, “Not like you to drink on the job.” He must’ve smelt the lingering alcohol on your breath. He never did miss a thing. 

You had already made the decision to not bother Jax with the events of last night. It was well known that you had to handle drunk clients at Diosa, and it didn’t feel like it was fair to bother Jax with it when he had so much else going on. 

“The girls wanted to take a few shots before I left.” You had tried your best to sound nonchalant, hoping he wouldn’t sense your anxiety. He found your face again and kissed you once more, reassured by your response.

You broke from the intoxication of his lips long enough to look over at the clock on your bedside.

“What time is it?” With your hazy eyes, you could just make out the bright red numbers.

“Shit Jax, I really have to sleep before I get back to Diosa.” 

“Don’t work, stay here with me.” 

Jax pulled you into him, shifting your body so you were facing him in bed. He continued to kiss you, his hands intertwining with your clothes as he attempted to pull your shirt off, struggling with the task due to the dead weight of your half asleep body. He gave up the fight and wrapped one hand through your hair, while the other felt every inch of you. “I missed my girl too much.” He trailed his fingers along your side under the fabric, caressing the skin leading to your breasts. It was so hard to say no to him. 

“If only I wasn’t Vice President of Diosa”, you groaned. 

He slowed his kisses down, a smile cracking from his lips he planted small pecks along your jawline. He laid his forehead against you, and met his nose to yours as he nuzzled the tip gently. “Get some sleep, VP. I’m gonna work on the bike in the garage.” Jax kissed your cheek once more and shuffled out of bed, letting you drift back to sleep peacefully. 

----------

You arrived at Diosa the next day, still slightly hungover from the one too many impromptu shots. As you walked into your office, one of the girls greeted you and handed over the mail. You set the stack of envelopes on your desk, and logged into your laptop, checking your email and upcoming calendar. 

You heard a knock, and looked up to see Nero was standing in the doorframe. “How you feeling?” 

“Like I could use some coffee.” 

“You sure you’re okay? Last night was tough. That guy was a total prick.” 

“I’m fine, Nero, honestly. Let’s just pretend it never happened.”

“You tell Jax?” 

You loved Nero, but his pestering about the situation was grating on you. You just wanted to forget it.

“No need, they won’t be back.” 

Nero nodded and smiled warily as he left down the hall, “I’ll get Mandy to bring you that coffee.” 

“Thanks boss.” 

You slumped back in your chair, sighing. For some reason that guy really had left a churning feeling in your stomach. The guilt was eating at you for keeping it from Jax and lying to reassure Nero that you were fine, despite the fact you felt it was almost an overreaction to feel how you were now. The President had disappeared as quickly as he had arrived, and you never had to see him again. He was just some random creep, but that darkness in his eyes kept haunting your memory.

You tried to distract yourself with work, digging into your email and spreadsheets. Mandy brought your coffee in, asking if you were alright. 

“Not you too. It isn’t the first time a client’s been a dick. I’m good. Thanks for the coffee”, you added with a reassuring smile. 

“Alright alright, just checking. Can we go through the bar stock today? We’re looking pretty light.” 

“Yeah, just give me a few minutes and I’ll be with you.” 

She nodded and started to head out before noticing the pile of mail on your desk. “Do you need any help with that? You got a hefty stack there to get through.” 

You glanced at the piling envelopes again, realising you hadn’t even attempted to look at them yet. “Sure, let’s do that before we start the bar.” 

Mandy started shredding through the pile with your letter opener, as you filed away the invoices and booking confirmations. She was chatting away with you about the new guy she was seeing, and how he was planning a romantic getaway weekend for the two of them in Nevada. That was something you and Jax didn’t really get to do. Despite how happy you were for her, you couldn’t help but feel envious at the idea of her seemingly “normal” dating life.

You looked up at Mandy as she had gone quiet. She was suddenly no longer gushing about her boyfriend, holding a tan envelope up closer to her as she seemed to be reading it intently.

“Weird. This one doesn’t look like it’s for us.” 

She handed it to you. You didn’t recognise the forwarding address, but your blood ran cold as you read the first two lines.

 ‘M L GALINDO, VAGOS CLUBHOUSE’. 

The letter fell through your fingers, your coffee crashed to the floor as you tried to catch it, and the contents spilled across the cream carpet. “Shit!” Mandy yelled as she shot up from her seat, rushing to get some paper towels. You scrambled to the floor, picking up the empty cup and envelope, now covered in coffee. You ignored the liquid, prying open the side of the letter without ripping the entire thing. It was an electric bill, dated from two months ago. 

Mandy rushed in with the paper towels, dropping to her knees to soak up the remnants from the floor. She tossed her head back in frustration as she realised with scrubbing that the stain wasn’t budging. “This is never coming out.” Her attention turned to your eyes, which were still starring at the envelope, “are you alright? What is it?” 

You tried to play off your confusion with a shrug, “just me being a klutz again. The letter must’ve been sent to the wrong address.” 

Mandy had never known you to be a klutz. She looked at you with prying eyes, “isn’t that the name of those guys who were here last night?” She leaned over to look at the letter again in your hands, “‘Vagos’?” 

You put the wet letter in your desk and locked the drawer. 

“I’m sure they accidentally dropped it while they were here. I’ll take it to the mailbox and let them redirect it.” 

You played it off as best you could, considering it was hardly a believable story. As if a group of gang members would just happen to drop an electric bill behind at a escort hub. It was a hard sell, though you truthfully didn’t have any explanation for it either.

Mandy stood up from the floor, holding the now soiled paper towel soaked in cold coffee. You’d never seen her look at you so seriously before, her brows furrowed as she scanned your face for the truth. “Are those guys bothering you? Do we need to get The Club?” 

“Its just some random coincidence. Nothing that we need to bother The Club with.” You headed for the door, trying to change the subject. “Let’s go check out that stock.”

———

part three

find my masterlist here