#and the entire reason i was trying to get this degree was to get a higher paying job

[mirandasidefics]

But Home Is Nowhere- Chapter 14

Pairing(s): Lucien x Plus Size Reader, Azriel x Plus Size Reader, and Ruhn Dannan x Plus Size Reader.

Summary: Reader finally learns what information the Prison holds. Instead of this trip helping to alleviate her fears, it confirmed the worst of them. There is no going home for her now.

Word Count: 6.1 K

Warnings: More spoilers for Cresent City 3. If you haven't read this series, or this book I highly recommend that you do. This entire fic is my version of CC3 and ACOTAR6.

Author's Note: Aine is pronounced "Aw-nya" and is from Irish/Celtic mythology. There is also heavy inspiration from Irish mythology throughout this fic, but more so in this chapter and future chapters when we learn more about the world Reader comes from. Thank you everyone for sticking with this story! I can't believe that it's been a YEAR since I started to share it with everyone. I feel like I've only now gotten to the real good parts of this story. I hope everyone is enjoying this, even though it is slow paced. There is still so much more to go!

As always, a HUGE thank you to my beta reader @hardcoremarvelfan for all her help!

Series Masterlist Divider by @/tsunami-of-tears

Previous: Chapter 13 Next: Bonus Chapter #2

The frozen mountain side of the prison was the same as the last time you had been on the island nearly four years ago. Snow swirled around you, Bryce, and Ruhn as you all made your way to the front entrance of the Prison. The large carved doors loomed in front of your small group. You scanned over the intricate design, a seamless slab of…your breath caught in your throat. The doors were made of bone. You followed behind Bryce as you approached the entrance, Ruhn’s hand in yours. The warmth of his fingers interlaced with yours helping to calm your nerves. There was really no telling what you may find in the chamber where Bryce had claimed the piece of starlight power from Silene. While Bryce had not been a direct descendant, she already held the inherited power of Silene’s mother, Queen Theia.  

You had your suspicions of what this trip could reveal, of course, but you still needed to see the chamber where so much power had laid dormant for millennia. Bryce waved her hand, and the pale off-white hue gave way to a depthless darkness as the gates groaned. Your body was immediately hit with a wave of heavy despair. The unmarked entrance you had been pushed into all those years ago did not have this intense level of energy attached to it. The darkness beyond the bone doors seemed entirely lifeless. 

“Stay close,” Ruhn reminded you, his grip on your hand tightening. “Try not to touch the walls either. We don’t know if you getting past the barrier in that unmarked entrance was a fluke or not.” The male looked down at you, his half smile intended to help relax you, but you could see the worry in his eyes. 

“You tell me this now?” You looked up at him, eyes wide with your growing anxiety. “What if I can’t get back out? You really think that-”

“Relax,” Bryce commented as she began to walk forward. “You think I want to piss off some of the only people that are willing to help save my world? If there was any real reason to worry I wouldn’t have agreed to bring you here without anyone from that stupid ‘inner circle’.” You eyed both Starborn heirs wearily. Ruhn tightened his hold on your hand in reassurance. 

“You’ll be fine, baby.” Ruhn reassured, “Bryce and I have entered and exited easily over the past few years now.” With a deep steadying breath, you took the first step across the threshold. You weren’t sure what you had expected to happen once you entered, but you had expected something. Instead, you were greeted with silence and stale stagnant air. 

“I told you.” Bryce smiled, obviously pleased that she had been proven right yet again. 

The fact that the three of you were able to easily enter the massive former palace solidified that you had some degree of blood relation to Rhysand, or even worse Bryce and Ruhn. You blanched, holding back the slight bit of bile that burned the back of your throat. The mental reminder that you had kissed and wanted to have sex with a potential relative made your skin crawl. Even if you were literally from different worlds, and different species, and your ancestry lines diluted by thousands of years. What made it all worse was that a part of you still found yourself attracted to the male Starborn heir. You loathed dwelling on the idea any further, and instead hoped that you were more closely related to that stupid selfish prick calling himself a High Lord.  

The winding staircase that led down to the depths of the prison grew impossibly darker with each and every step. Even with Bryce using the starlight from her chest to light your path, the surrounding darkness felt oppressive. As you all came to what you assumed was the bottom landing of the massive staircase another set of towering double doors greeted you.  This time Bryce didn’t pause before waving her hand again, magically opening the barrier between you and whatever secrets lay beyond. Swallowing down the nervous lump in your throat, you entered the chamber. 

The chamber was a massive circular cavern. Darkness filled a majority of the space. The only light source was a distant hole in the ceiling. The trace amount of light formed a singular beam illuminating an empty pedestal in the center of the floor. After a few moments, your eyes adjusted to the change in the visibility and more of the chamber came into focus. However, the far end opposite of where you stood with Bryce and Ruhn remained shadowed in a pitch black shroud. Stone walls rose high above your head. Columns and intricately carved arches highlighting walkways going up at least 5 floors. Along the sides of the bottom floor were panels of carved images. You had remembered one discussion with Azriel about the images he, Nesta, and Bryce saw in the tunnels underneath the Hewn City and leading towards this very room. But no one had ever mentioned anything about the panels you currently found yourself inexplicably drawn towards. 

Your feet pulled you towards the closest of the panels of their own volition. Despite the rapid throbbing in your chest, your blood froze with primal fear. Tears began to brim your eyes as images of crying and pleading figures all reaching towards a single point rattled a deep seeded guilt within your bones. Despire, pain, and terror etched in perfect, precise detail in each face. Limbs protruded from bodies at odd angles. Flames and rocks and tree branches intermingled with the figures of the dying.  A tear slipped down your cheek as you tore away from the carvings , instead granting your vision a reprieve by focusing on the blank center of the panel.  After blinking back any additional tears, you could faintly make out a dark crack running through the center of the blank space. 

“Baby?” Ruhn gently tugged on your hand. “Everything alright?” Concern laced his warm tenor and tore your attention away from the cracked wall. 

“Huh? Oh, Yeah,” You lightly shook your head to clear it of the jumbled feelings that were settling in your stomach. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Your eyes started to scan the rest of the space as Bryce walked towards the center of the room. That was when you noticed the raised carvings on the ground and your heart stopped, freezing again as you took in the sight of constellations and a two dimensional rendering of a seven planet solar system. Your voice cracked as you whispered, calling out to Bryce. The air in the chamber felt suffocating, constricting your throat further. The air was so stagnant and oppressing, not even Bryce’s hair moved as she turned to face you. 

“What is it?” The same concerned tone laced Bryce’s voice as she took in your ashen face “(Y/N)? What’s wrong?” The only movement you could force from your body was the extension of your index finger, pointing it at the designs on the floor surrounding the pedestal. 

“W-what are…” The half-fae female followed the line where you pointed. Her perfectly arched brows furrowed together as she continued to examine the pallor taking over your features.  

She didn’t move her attention from your face, her voice taking on the slightest edge of hesitation as she answered, “Why do you…You recognize them, don’t you?” You could barely register if you had acknowledged or answered her question. Your gaze was glued to the raised markings as you checked off the constellations that you instantly recognized. “These are the constellations of Midgard,” Bryce finally supplied before walking you through and naming each configuration of stars. 

“Scorpio and Sagittarius,” Your voice shook as you whispered the names of the constellations as you knew them. Eyes filling with tears as you walked across the map of the heavens. “The Big Dipper…Orion… Pisces.” Giving voice to each connected pattern of stars broke you down. Knees giving out you fell to the floor and the silent tears began their descent. The constellations you had grown up observing nearly every night with your father, were an exact match for the constellations that Bryce and Ruhn had grown up with as well. 

This couldn’t be possible. It wasn’t possible. Your eyes turned back to the panel and your feet moved again of their own accord. With a trembling hand you reached toward the stone, fingers tracing over the ears. Rounded ears. The scream lodged itself in our throat as you realized what the image truly depicted. You had been told of Silene’s message and of Nesta’s brief vision when she first touched the Harp. How Silene left dozens of Fae to their deaths at the hands of the Asteri and their army as she traveled through a portal back to her home world. Your eyes scanned the other panels in the chamber. Walking from one to the next you saw the story unfold as you moved from one panel to the next. A group of Fae with ears going from pointed to rounded arches. The opening of a portal where the land was lush, and the sky depicted the same constellations as the chamber floor. The altered Fae traveling through the portal, various items crossing the threshold to include a small cauldron, a sword, a spear, and some kind of stone. Again your heart raced, as your mind put together what the images really depicted. This was not a rendition of Queen Theia’s departure to Midgard. Nor were the violent images a depiction of Silene’s return and permanent closing of the rift to Midgard. Each and every one of the surrounding panels depicted a portal to your world. 

“Baby?” Ruhn was by your side instantly. “I’m serious, what’s wrong?” The cavern felt like it was closing in and sucking the life out of you. His hands, warm against your rapidly cooling skin, were the only things that reminded you of life. Blood pounded in your ears, drowning out all sound. Your vision began to tunnel, the edges growing darker than the blackness that surrounded you. Your throat dried out with each rapid inhalation. You couldn’t get a breath as your chest felt like it was going to collapse. 

You knew that if you didn’t get a hold of yourself you’d pass out. You forced your eyes to move away from the constellations, instantly being drawn to the depiction of the sun surrounded by various raised decals. The replica of Midgard’s solar system. A system of seven planets as opposed to the nine you had grown up knowing. The stark difference between the known number of planets pushed forward the reality of what you feared the most.  

“The names…”  You breathed, not daring to move your focus off them. “What are the names of the planets?” Your nails dug into the grit as you tried to ground yourself. Bryce named each one, pointing at the images representing the Gods they were named after. Names so similar and yet different to the Norse Gods of your world. The final nail in the proverbial coffin of what you had wondered for years now. It was no mere coincidence that Bryce and Ruhn were from a planet named Midgard, meaning it was no mere coincidence that your world had such large similarities. Bryce pointed to each of the markings, the first few were unfamiliar, but the remaining names dissolved all your remaining doubt. 

“Odin, Loki,” Your whisper echoed off the large cavernous stone walls, “Thor and Freya…” Your voice cracked as the name for the Goddess left your lips. “It can’t be…oh Gods.” Your stomach rolled. You mentally kicked yourself for not asking more about the pre-existing religion of Midgard prior to the Asteri and Vanir arrival. It suddenly made sense, though, why Bryce couldn’t use the Horn to open a portal to your world. The contents of your lunch made a second appearance. 

You could feel Bryce and Ruhn’s eyes as they stared at you. For a split second you wished you could hear the mind to mind conversation the two were sharing. Then again, you probably wouldn’t have been able to hear anything over the sound of the blood rushing through your ears. You knew Ruhn was doing whatever he could to soothe you through your existential crisis. The weight of his hand felt solid on your back, rubbing small circles. 

“This was a mistake,” You looked at the male crouched next to you. The knowledge this trip had already revealed was overwhelming. “Get me the fuck out of here. Please.” You rose to your feet, your body fighting between its desire to flee and the heavy leadened weight of the truth. Even if the truth should not have been realistically possible. 

“Bryce,” Ruhn glanced towards his sister. You followed his gaze when there was no response. Bryce’s amber eyes glared at you, the gears obviously spinning inside her head. Was she putting it together too? Was she on the verge of figuring out where you really came from? The only question you had was how did your Earth factor into all of this if it wasn’t even part of this universe?  

“No,” Bryce stated firmly as she stepped closer to study the panic in your eyes. “You need to see the rest.” Bryce moved to the center of the chamber and stood on an eight pointed star. A small flash of light revealed an image of a young Fae female. The image reminded you of holograms from sci-fi movies. 

The female identified herself as Silene, daughter of High Queen Theia. The hologram recounted the details of the Asteri’s- the Daglan’s-rule in Prythian, the corruption of the Cauldron through the making of the Dread Trove, how the Daglan were then driven out of this world, and the rise of the first and only High Queen and King of Prythian. Silene talked of how the Fae followed the High Queen and her two daughters into Midgard. The war with the Asteri, which resulted in Silene’s ultimate return to Prythian. The cries of the Fae left behind had long gone silent within the recording. You looked over to Bryce, her expression dark with the resurgence of her loathing for what Silene had done. Ruhn’s expression held a similar level of contempt. You could only guess that the memory was supposed to make Silene’s actions justified. A female in mourning with decisions meant to benefit the greater good. Something deep in your bones empathized with her. A sense of knowing that had you been in her position, you would have made the exact same ones. Your eyes traveled to the blank stone, the spot where the portal of Silene’s escape had once been. Swallowing, you resisted the instinctual urge to approach that empty wall. The image of Silene, as she was curled upon the ground crying over the loss of her sister Helena and mother, shimmered, drawing your attention back to the moment. The once cold and silvered hue specter gave way to a warm and golden glow. 

“What the fuck…”Bryce’s voice trailed off. The image of Silene shimmered again as a loud groaning could be heard. Ruhn immediately pushed you behind him as he scanned the room. The sound bounced around the chamber making it nearly impossible to pinpoint where it originated. It took you all a few moments to realize that the sound came from the magical recording, where a new voice was heard calling softly. 

“Who’s there?” The muffled feminine voice cut through Silene's mournful wailing. The darked haired female’s head swiveled up to look towards the opposite end of the room, presumably the direction of where the voice and groaning originated.  

 “S-Sil?” The warmth the voice exuded mirrored the coloring of the image. “Mother above, Silene!” The owner of the voice rushed into view and sank down to her knees. Your own knees suddenly wanting to do the same. Something about the female’s timber sparked a deep seated memory. One that was familiar and elusive simultaneously. Ripples of silvery-white fabric billowed as the new female’s arms hovered near Silene. Long, thick golden blonde hair obscured most of the unknown female’s upper body. The few instances where her face should have been visible, was instead blurred. 

“Aine?” Silene lifted her head, taking in the second female’s appearance before allowing herself to be wrapped in her arms. Silene continued to sob as Aine continued to sooth her. Minutes went by, the image flickering until Silene’s soft voice broke the silence. “Aine, I failed…I-I lost them.” You weren’t certain if Aine responded as the image faded. Your body trembled, an overwhelming sense of familiarity at the exchange. The air felt like it was ripped from your lungs as sudden realization hit you. You had witnessed this interaction before, in the form of a dream when you were a teenager. 

Your hands began to shake as you tried to remember the rest of that dream from so long ago, but the details remained cast in shadow. The scene of the two females was quickly replaced, the blueish-gray toned image of Silene reappearing. The older image of Silene explained how the prison came to be, which then resulted in the death of the land her mother and sister once called home.  

“That…” Bryce swallowed nervously. “What the fuck was that? She-Aine, was not in the original message.” The back of your throat burned as stomach acid rose up. You prayed to whatever Gods would listen that your face remained neutral as Bryce’s attention rounded on you. You were well aware that Bryce, Ruhn, and Rhysand had reviewed that message dozens of times. There had never been any mention of Aine. Just as there had been no record of her in the Night Court’s documents pertaining to lineage. It was possible that Aine wasn’t ever a member of the Night Court. All you did know at this moment was she was close with Silene. 

“How’s that possible?” Ruhn’s question was directed towards his sister, but his eyes were on you. Almost as if he too had rationalized that the only differing factor on this trip was your presence in the chamber. Everything about that scene between the two females made it clear that the memory was not Silene’s, but Aine’s memory. Every part of you knew you were meant to see that memory play out, but you had no idea why it would be relevant. Unless it had something to do with your dreams…

“Bryce? ” Ruhn called out again, his attention now on his sister.

“How the Hel should I know? It’s magic.” Irritation saturated Bryce’s tone. “And unless it’s some weird ass tech from another world, some kind of spell protected this part of the message. It clearly was not intended for just anyone to view.” Bryce looked toward you then. Her amber gaze almost seemed to burn despite the fact that she didn’t inherit an ounce of her father’s fire magic. 

“What?” Your defences rose, fighting against your instinct to flee as she glared at you. 

“What about your world?” Bryce asked, a hint of accusation coated her voice. “You claim there is no magic there, but are you being honest about that?” Her eyes continued to stare you down but you remained silent. You couldn’t definitively say that your world didn’t have magic, but if magic existed it wasn’t the same as the magic they had grown accustomed to on Midgard or in Prythian. “Because it’s not like your world has tech capable of creating a projected image like that. Especially if it is as similar as you claim it is to what we’ve got in Midgard.” Bryce continued, slowly making her way to where you stood next to Ruhn. 

“No.” Your statement was simple. “My world doesn’t have that technology.”  Bryce narrowed her eyes. You steeled your nerves and met her stare, back and shoulders straightening. “But it doesn't have magic either, as I’ve said many times before. If my world had any capability of creating something like that I’d be ecstatic at seeing the same thing here.”

“Just like you were ecstatic at seeing the constellations from your world on the floor?” The half-fae’s tone was unrelenting as she continued to stare you down. It was as clear as the Night Court’s skies that she knew you were holding back information. You couldn’t blame her for getting pissed at you. You weren’t exactly lying, but you also weren’t forthcoming with any theories you had on why or how you stepped through that portal. Your arrival was still the biggest mystery that honestly prevented anyone from making moves against the Asteri or investigating Koschie.  

“Bryce, that’s enough,” Ruhn’s warning tone was entirely ineffective given by the rolling of her eyes towards him. 

“You don’t have to believe me,” Your own irritation grew, matching Bryce’s energy, “but I have no reason to lie about it. The differences my world has to yours does not mean th-”

“What?” Bryce tilted her head in mocking innocence. “That your world has no connection to this one or Midgard? That’s what you want everyone to believe, isn’t it? You're just this poor victim of some higher power. Who are you to go against fate?” You bit the inside of your cheek as you stared the female down. You had to give her credit, she knew exactly which buttons to poke and prod; attempting to trick you into revealing the information you had kept locked away for years. 

“Careful Bryce,” You hoped you sounded stronger than you felt. Bryce’s penetrating glare made you feel exposed. As if she could see the truth of where you came from written all over your face. 

“Or what exactly?” Her bemused smile only showed that she was enjoying this little spat. “It’s not like you’re at all special right? You’re constantly insisting that you aren’t. So what is a weak, helpless, and hopeless human going to do to me?”

“Shut up,” You demanded, gritting your teeth. Her words found their marks as she cut into your insecurities. You weren’t special. You were reminded of that fact every day. The only human living in a land of mythical beings that were significantly stronger, prettier, and more important in the lives of those around them. You were none of those things, and it was slowly eating away at you. 

“Then be honest with me (Y/N). You recognized those constellations, you recognized names of the planets,” Taking a few steps closer to you, Bryce’s smile grew wider. “Yet the Horn couldn’t open a portal to your world. How am I supposed to interpret that information, hmm? Lying isn’t a good look for you. Especially when you want our help.” 

“Damn it Bryce just-” Ruhn moved to stand between the two of you, but you were faster. Your scream and Bryce’s near manic laugh drowned out his words. Tackling the half-fae, you both fell to the ground. 

“Fuck you!” The breath in your lungs burned from the sudden exertion. “Fuck you Bryce!” Said female was pinned to the cold stone floor by your knees on her stomach and her forearm. Your own forearm pressing against her windpipe, tears of hurt and anger in your eyes. “You fucking bitch. I told you how I felt in confidence, and you fucking use it against me!” The grin on Bryce’s face remained plastered to her features as she looked up at you. 

“I knew there was more to you than meets the eye,” Her voice rasped through her slightly constricted airway. “Tell me, just between us girls, you’re a human from Midgard. Only you’re from a different time. Before the Asteri arrived aren’t you?” Her words shocked you, causing you to loosen your grip and sit up. That’s when you felt Ruhn’s hands wrap around your waist and lift you up and over his shoulder. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you two?!” You couldn’t see his face as he screamed, but you could hear just how pissed he was. You and Bryce began to protest at the same time, drowning out each other’s excuses. “Both of you fucking shut up. We’re going back to Velaris.” Ruhn kept you slung over his shoulder as he turned and began to leave the large chamber. Bryce stood back up and followed as she brushed the dirt off her clothing. 

“Put me down Ruhn,” You protested, wiggling around in an attempt to get him to loosen his grip around you. However, your movements only had the opposite effect as he tightened his hold of your waist and one of your thighs. You held still as the hand on your thigh became dangerously close to your center. 

“Hold still and be quiet,” He ordered. “We don’t need to attract unnecessary attention.” He continued to carry you all throughout the ascent back up through the Prison. The second you all walked out of the enormous bone doors you resumed your demands to be put down. With the blink of an eye, you found yourself surrounded in the warmth of the town house. Ruhn continued to ignore you and merely carried you upstairs to the bedroom. 

“I’ve calmed down,” You tried to placate, but you knew that your tone wasn’t as convincing as it should be. 

“Yeah, sure, but I’m keeping you two separated until you tell me what the fuck that was all about,” Ruhn kicked the door closed behind him, one of his shadows flicking the lock as he practically flung you onto the bed. You internally cursed yourself as your body hummed with excitement. A split second later you bit the inside of your cheek as a reminder to keep your hormones in check. The last thing you needed was for him to smell any tinge of arousal from you. Pushing away the impure images that sprung into your mind, you looked up at the male as he towered over you. 

“What the hell is your problem?” You demanded, calling your irritation back to the surface. You hoped that you sounded more pissed off about his behavior rather than your own. His glare sent a shiver down your spine, one that had you biting the inside of your cheek a second time. Your back hit against the wall, however, the solid mass felt like ice. The last time you felt anything like that was from Azriel’s shadows during the week he tortured you. Your pulse quickened as you quickly glanced around, horrified that it was Ruhn’s own shadows blocking your path from retreating backwards. Terror slowly gripped at your chest. Ruhn’s shadows had never once made you feel afraid. Their typical soothing warmth shifted to ice as he continued to box you in. 

“You attacked my sister,” His usual warm tenor was now stony and calm. “I don’t care that she said some shit to antagonize you. You had no right to pin her to the ground.” His piercing blue eyes rooted you to the spot. The glacial brush of a shadow across your skin adding to your growing distress. You tried to suppress the tremors in your hands as your own eyes surveyed his face. You couldn’t move, couldn’t even think as his intense stare bore into you. If he was capable of becoming this cold towards you, there was no way you could trust him with the truth. Your instincts told you it would be safer to try and diffuse his anger towards you. 

“I know,” Your admission was soft. Intrinsically you recognized that regardless of what fueled your actions you had behaved childishly. Responding irrationally to the panic being in the Prison chamber brought. Bryce was smart and merely put together the pieces of a puzzle. Only she didn’t have all the pieces. Honestly, you didn’t either. Yes, you now had the answer as to why you couldn’t find any information about your world, but it left you with so many more questions. Having more questions than answers made you feel stressed, and it wasn’t fair to take your stress out on someone that was only trying to help. Taking a deep breath, you closed your eyes and sighed. “Seeing the familiar constellations and the carvings scared me. I lost my composure and that wasn’t right. She could have been trying to calm me down and I would have lashed out.” Ruhn remained silent for a few moments before calling back his shadows. Reaching his hand forward, he gently hooked his fingers with yours. Flinching at his touch, you pulled your hand away and took several steps back. 

“(Y/N)?” Ruhn felt his brows scrunch in confusion. He watched as she backed away, her hands clasped together tightly. To stop them from trembling. He felt his expression shift to horror with the realization of what his actions caused. “Baby, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Fuck, I’m so sorry.” Ruhn reached back out to her, and while he saw her muscles tensed, she did allow him to touch her this time. He gently took hold of her hands, his thumbs rubbing soothing circles on the backs of her hands. The last thing he ever wanted was for her to not feel safe in his presence, yet the anger he felt at the fight she had with his sister overrode all sense. Much like how her fear had overridden her own when Bryce started talking shit. He knew Bryce wasn’t in the right to have antagonized her the way she did, but he had been curious about (Y/N)’s reactions as well. 

“Just…” She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. “I understand the instinct to protect your sister. I’d have the same reaction if someone launched themselves at one of my siblings. But…keep your shadows away from me when you’re mad. They get cold…and the cold reminds me of Azriel’s…” Ruhn looked at her apologetically.

“I’m so sorry. Really I am.” His apology was sheepish, even to his ears. His gaze looked over her form, noting the slight trembling in her hands. As he continued to look her over, he noted that her entire body was as tense as any of the moments after her nightmares. A part of him knew that even with him present in the room tonight she would be reliving her time in that cell in her dreams. 

She moved to sit back down on the mattress, her arms folded cold to her stomach.His heart lurched as he realized she was instinctively guarding the most physically vulnerable part of her body as her mind began to tunnel down into itself. He knew that if he didn’t get her out of her mental spiral he’d have two very angry males threatening to remove his favorite appendage. 

“You need to get warm, baby,” Ruhn kneeled in front of her, his hands on the outer parts of her thighs, gently rubbing circles to warm her up. “How does a hot bath sound?” The woman looked up at him, nodding her agreement as she allowed him to help her stand up from their shared bed.

“Is there any more of that bath oil you bought?” Her voice was tentative as they walked to the ensuite bathroom together. Ruhn nodded and made his way to the wicker basket that was lined with various bath oils and salts he had gotten her for Winter Solstice. 

After collecting her favorite scents from the basket, Ruhn walked over to the large tub and turned on the tap. The sound of rushing water drowned out the silence between them. It was only then that Ruhn was able to think back on the day’s events and the way she had behaved in the large Prison’s chamber. 

“You really did recognize the constellations, didn’t you?” He mused, the tension beginning to slowly diffuse. She nodded tentatively, sitting on the edge of the bathtub as she met his gaze. Steam filled the air, but he had yet to see her shoulders relax. 

“We have different names for them,” Her voice sounded automatic, lacking any natural inflection. “Some names are similar, but not identical. Fifteen thousand years is long enough to account for that. The positioning of stars takes millions if not billions of years to change from the perspective of the Earth’s surface, but the linguistics behind the names-” 

“You’re not from a different time,” Ruhn matched her matter of fact intonation, effectively cutting off her rambling. “It doesn’t fit. Midgard’s technology-the style that you are also familiar with-was only developed within the past 20 years. Even with the Asteri’s bullshit narrative about Midgard, there was absolutely no record of any of the human settlements having that type of tech. The humans that were there, well they were much more…primitive.” She turned her head, giving him an incredulous look. 

“Primitive?” The rest of her body towards him, “Even if that-” Ruhn held up his hands in surrender. 

“Bad choice of words. I’m sorry,” His smile was soft, barely tugging at the corner of his lips. He watched her eyes immediately fall on the faded scar on his lower lip. The spot where his lip ring used to reside before it had been ripped out in the Asteri dungeons. “I simply mean the humans didn’t have the skills for that kind of tech just yet.” This seemed to placate her ire from resurfacing. Though, if he was honest, any anger he incited was allowing her to slowly come back. 

“You are on such thin ice, Ruhn.” Her lips pursed trying to suppress the slight smile. With a slight shake of her head she turned her attention to the running water. “What makes you so sure that I’m not from a different time? You have to admit that the similarities are…” He watched her eyes flash with some type of realization.  “There are similarities, but there are differences too.” 

“Exactly,” Ruhn smiled, he loved watching her expressions as she put pieces of information together. “The Asteri would have just improved upon the tech had it existed when they arrived. So it doesn’t make sense for you to be a pre-Asteri Midgard human.”

“No, no that’s not, well yes that makes sense, but that’s not what I meant,” She quickly stood up from the edge of the tub, bath entirely forgotten as she rushed out into the adjoining bedroom. “The difference is in some of the gods and goddesses of your world. The planets in your solar system have names similar to Gods and Goddess of just ONE pantheon in my world. There are hundreds of different belief systems that have spanned across the past 15,000 years in my world.” Ruhn watched as she paced back and forth, the movement seemingly helping her collect her thoughts. 

“Okay…” He waited patiently for her to continue. 

“Your surname is Danaan correct? Is that a name from the homeworld of the Fae, this world?” She halted mid stride just to race over to the small writing desk in the far corner of the room. 

“I..um…I think so, I’m not sure.” His brows furrowed as she hastily took about a scrap of paper and began to scribble down something that appeared like a list.

“When do you go back to Midgard?” She didn’t bother to look up at him as she continued to write. 

“Next month,” He answered, a slight pang in his chest at having to leave her again so soon. 

“I need you to find out whatever you can about the origins of your surname,” She turned back towards him, folding up the paper as she took a few steps back towards him. “See if any relatives have these first names. Also, see if any of them had the items on the list with them.” He unfolded the torn scrap of paper, looking over the names, none of which he immediately recognized.

“Who are these people?” His blue irises scanned along the list. “I don’t think I could even pronounce half of these.” Placing the folded paper into the pocket of his jeans he began to search her face. Her gaze remained distant, a clear indication that her thoughts were racing. 

“I have a theory,” She admitted, “But since Rhysand won’t let me go to Midgard myself, I need your help. Please Ruhn? You’re…you’re the only one I can trust with this.” He stood there, gazing into her pleading expression. 

“Of course, baby.” He smiled softly, pulling her into a hug. “Of course I’ll help you. You can trust me.” 

General tag list: @loving-and-dreaming

Series tag list: @jenniferpendragon @impossibelle @sweet-chai-amore @myheartfollower @iimichie

@fightmedraco @nikkitch0703 @eerievixen @ang-taylorsversion

@randomness-it-is @thehighlordishere @rachelnicolee @hardcoremarvelfan @awkardnerd @sundayysunshine

@jpgtae @cheneyq @morganwdarius @latinxbipride @catharticlovewriter

@mis-lil-red @rcarbo1 @celmentine111002 @abacteriamicroorganismsalmonella @julesvanslutta

[petz5]

would u guys still love me even if i take one billion years to finish college

[purbiworl]

I love having joined 2 different art Secret Santas for the first time 2 months ago and still having not received anything. I'm totally not death gripping my tablet pen right now. Good things come to those who wait...

[scorpiusmalfoylovesoscarwilde]

I made a meme do you leik it :)

[sureuncertainty]

i'm actually so livid right now. i work for disney and one of the biggest perks they offer (well, used to offer) is what's called the Aspire program, which funds tuition for higher education completely. So I decided to pursue a master's degree with the understanding that it would be fully funded by my employer. and now they've just decided (with NO warning) to change that, effective immediately, and introduce a funding cap for what they'll provide tuition. which does not cover the literal THREE classes that I have left to graduate. that i cannot afford. I am literally almost done with my program, I've been in it for over a year, worked my fucking ass off with the understanding that it's paid for and now suddenly it's not

the fact that they're taking away this benefit is already shitty enough but that they're doing it to anyone who is like. in the middle of a program is like. what the ACTUAL fuck. because now I get to choose between paying out of pocket for classes I cannot afford, when I can barely even afford rent, (and if I did have extra money i'd be using it for other things), waiting another year or possibly two to finish my program to stay under the yearly funding limit, or just cutting my losses and dropping out, essentially throwing away the months of work I've already dedicated to this degree

and like. man i wanna look at options but I kinda wanna just say fuck it and quit my studies, spend that time working on silence agenda, which i ACTUALLY want to do, and then also quit my job and work somewhere else since i'm getting burnt out at work anyway. like i have homework due in a few days but why does it fucking matter now why should I sink MORE time into this degree that i might never even be able to get. I was so fucking close.

so yeah. feeling pretty scammed and cheated right now. apparently they did try this once in the past and ended up reversing it due to public pressure? so I've been holding out hope that they'll do that again but it's looking pretty unlikely at this point.

[arolesbianism]

I may be failing my plan to not make any isat aus. So there's this guy her name is Euphrasie right. What if I took her and combined what could be 3 separate au concepts into one. And in the process forced myself to go back and reread a bunch of shit to make sure I know how to maximally fuck over this sad wet puppy of a woman

[phagodyke]

ykw actually I am angry + disappointed w them. I've been pushing how I feel aside and trying to make it my own fault so it's all contained but I think theyve just been mean. and they really should know me better ik I try to pretend I don't expect more from them so I feel less hurt when they do things that upset me but we've been friends for years by this point. like come on.

[yangjeongin]

.

[mistninja]

every day i ask myself "should i quit uni" and every day i stop myself from posting it as a tumblr poll. but its getting harder

[samderella]

Living with my in-laws after evacuating from a hurricane be like

I appreciate you love and want to spend time with me, but if you don't let me hide in the guest bedroom and write nonsense for five uninterrupted hours, I will scream

[teaboot]

Kinda gotta admire the tiktok instagram cottagecore tradwife hoes a little bit.

Like. THEY know that the perfect pretty obedient natural-makeup gently-coiffed rural June Cleaver, barefoot-and-pregnant in a sweet little peasant dress, baking fresh bread24-7 housewife doesn't exist.

They KNOW she doesn't exist. They know she CAN'T exist- that nobody can maintain that façade without burning out eventually-

but they also know that the political divide between men and women is deeper than ever in North America, that men as a demographic are getting increasingly angry and conservative and lonely (fuck off terfs and radfems i can sense your bioessentialism coming), and that women aren't legally beholden to them anymore.

This is one of the first generations in North America where women aren't entirely reliant on finding a husband and keeping him happy to survive, to hold a bank account or live apart from their parents, and so what men are dealing with is several hundred years of being told that REAL men have hot fuckable agreeable wives and...a present reality where nobody is lining up to apply for that position.

So what these shills have done- and they ARE shills- is that they've seen that divide, that niche that isn't being filled, that role that's so unpleasant but so desired- and they've constructed a caricature for profit.

Women aren't naturally more gentle, or parental, or submissive. Women aren't naturally, effortlessly smooth and soft and hairless and desiring of simple tasks to fill their time and a big, strong provider to protect them.

But generations of marketing and media have told us it's POSSIBLE, if not for those pesky man-hating feminist libs and their oversensitive woke culture lashing out at Normal Folks for no good reason.

Like- they're selling themselves, the characters they're playing, as an IMAGE, as a FANTASY, and they rely on people BELIEVING in that fantasy to keep the money rolling in.

The people who buy into it sincerely, the women who give up their degrees and careers and financial freedom for this "simple, peaceful life" we ALL desire in some form, away from stress and technology and horrible things on the news... only to get trapped with six children and a partner with all the power who could up and strand them at any moment... they're just collateral.

Like, "Shame it didn't work out for you, have you tried losing weight and trying harder? Maybe some extra Adult Time? He wouldn't have to chase someone younger and prettier if you'd just take care of yourself and put out more."

I on't hate this faux-humble faux-simple wannabe-amish bullshit just because I grew up rural and know it's fucking stupid, hard work and blood and shit and cow piss and placement in the rain kinda crap.

I ALSO hate it because these women are straight-up class traitors, selling off not just their own image as people, but everyone else's, just to make some paper on a grift.

You know Marie Antoinette used to wear sweet little milkmaid-style dresses and play with lambs in the field, just like the poors?

Never mind that she OWNED the land, and the field, and the people, the cute little frocks, and didn't help the sheep birth, or bury the dead premies, or slaughter for meat, or fight off wolves and dogs, ferrets and foxes and rats with a stick in the winter.

It was just fashionable to pretend.

Sweet and coquettish and Quaint.

THAT is why I hate that shit, and THAT is why I give a fuck.

[harmonizewithechoes]

.

[nerdygirlramblings]

implied poly!141 x fem!reader

The 141 is delighted the first time they see you lose your shit with a rookie. You're working with a section on the shooting range when some dumb cunt disobeys a direct order and endangers an entire fire team.

"Are ya deaf or just dumb?!" you shout at the soldier who seems to be in shock at the damage his disobedience caused. "You were nearly the reason those three," you sweep your hand to the soldiers being helped to medical by the other fire team, "went home in a box! Yer're sapposed ta have their back. Now yer gunna have to earn their trust all over again. I wouldn' trust ya at my back after that shite." The soldier looks ready to piss himself as you take a deep breath. Instead of railing at him more, you point to the training field and say, "Run a lap a year fer the ages of each of those soldiers you injured, and if you drop or pass out, you'll just need to finish 'em later."

The 141 decide in that moment to make you theirs. Anyone with that much spitfire will be perfect.

And it is.

Until it's not. Until you turn that ferocity on them.

Maybe Soap says something stupid or Ghost does something condescending or Price tries to put you in your place or Gaz underestimates you. And the claws come out.

The boys quickly realize the venom you spewed the first time they saw you is only the beginning. The first day after the incident, you respond to their jokes and flirting with a glare more icy than Price has ever given. Day two, as they squirm under your stare and try to apologize, you are somehow more stoic than Ghost, which none thought was even possible. By day three, they move on to gestures - bringing breakfast to your room, keeping your coffee filled, getting your laundry done - that you simply respond to with words more vicious than Gaz ever delivered during interrogations. Four days in and they're at their wits end. They are practically begging for your forgiveness and approval which is when you go truly feral to a degree Soap could only ever wish to achieve.

The pet they thought they found to round out their group is really a wild animal. And their approach to you changes. They know they need to prove themselves trustworthy, so you accept their love and affection again.

You find insubordinate rookies quickly reprimanded and your own consequences backed by Price and Ghost. And despite how frustrating running training is, you're given more sections to work with. Clearly they trust you as a soldier.

Duplicate paperwork and random checks of your forms stops. Price or Laswell signs off on things in record time. They show they trust your leadership.

Finally, they stop treating you and your presence with them as a default and treasure every moment you spend with them.

more

[cheezritsu]

Itoshi Sae has far more feline traits than those narrow turquoise eyes of his. At the top of your notes app titled “I don’t need a cat, my boyfriend already is one,” is the fact that Sae will never, ever be clingy, will never ask for your touch, and is coy about romance as a whole—but he just has to be near you.

Manshine City is playing Ubers. Ubers cannot resist having a yellow card every time they step on the pitch, and Manshine City pisses Sae off more than even he knows. You’ll press him about that later, because he’s watching the match in your shared bedroom and not the living room television which is not only bigger, but louder like he likes. Why is he fixing your temperpedic to be a damn near 90 degree angle when there’s a perfectly good couch in another room?

“Who’s winning?” You call from the bathroom. You’ve chosen to grab a bar stool from the kitchen to make yourself comfortable as you part your hair into four sections. It’s a hard ritual, but it pays dividends; you noticed that you were shedding a lot less hair when you sat down and pre-detangled before the shower. And you were a little optimistic about your last style and ended up stretching it out a few days longer than you should have. The end result wouldn’t be good to your heart.

You’re half way through finger detangling your section when you realize Sae hasn’t answered you. You lean back, the open door to your bedroom allowing you to catch a glimpse of him. There’s something off about his expression—Sae’s normally indifferent looking, sure, but there is a harder frown etched into his face. And he’s not even looking at the game. He’s glaring at…the door frame?

“Babe,” you say, and it breaks his trance. He looks up at you, but you’ve once again disappeared from his line of sight. That lean back was killing your spine.

“Huh?”

“I asked who was winning.” You carefully two-strand twist the now slippery section together, then use an alligator clip to keep it off your back. It’s kind of crazy how long your hair is now compared to the beginning of the year. You take down your next section, looking up from your lap and-!

“Holy shit!”

Sae gives you an unimpressed look in the mirror. You look at his reflection instead of him when you demand “When did you get in here?”

“While you were daydreaming.”

The tv is off. Or it’s paused. The vacuum of silence is a little uncomfortable. You were doing your hair in an old tshirt; a reprint of Sae’s U20 match jersey. It would make plenty money on the internet, and here you were getting hair products all over it. Sae looks at the front of your shirt with a wrinkled nose. Other reasons your boyfriend is a cat: he needs a fucking collar, and he pulls faces instead of vocalizing.

“What are you doing?”

“My hair.”

You can see his roaming gaze trying to piece together the exact routine you have, but he’s struggling. Before another quip can leave his mouth you elaborate. “Pre-detagnling. That way when I wash my hair it has less breakage.” You squeeze your detangler into your hands and slather it into the wetted section of hair you were working on. “I wanna keep what little hair I have.”

You get a real reaction this time—a snort of disbelief. “You have more hair on your head than Aiku has on his entire body.”

You blink. “That’s not really a metric I’m privy too.”

“He’s like a gorilla. It’s gross.”

You hum, but you love Sae’s endless opinions. You can tell he still has some rattling around in his brain that he’s having trouble spitting out. Perhaps he’s finally using a filter around you, or he’s really trying to find just the right delivery to piss you off. It’s 50/50.

He finally settles on, “You hair has gotten really long,” as he’s transfixed by the quick motion of your digits twisting the hair into a long rope. When it drops against the side of your head and he sees where it reaches, he shakes his head. “Like, really long.”

“Thanks,” you smile, and warmth spreads in Sae’s chest. “Weren’t you watching the match?”

“I paused it.”

“Why?”

He doesn’t answer. “I thought long hair bothered you?”

“It does,” you answer slowly, really trying to keep up with this conversation. Sae pings questions at you like the midfielder he is, but this is a little too quick. “But I think when I was growing my hair out the first time I never shaped it, or did styles with it. There was this girl at a restaurant I went to, like, years ago when I was at the beach with my parents who had long natural hair. She had it pulled back in a satin scarf and had like two little front pieces sticking out.” You create the style by gesturing your hands over your head. Sae’s gaze melts, the usual hard line of his mouth settling into something content.

“She was so pretty.” You have a distant look on your face, and Sae doesn’t doubt you have that crystal clear memory in your head. “I wanted to be as pretty as her. But I didn’t really know what to do with my hair, and it has really hot all the time, so I cut it. I think about it all the time though.”

Sae acknowledges your story with a nod. He traces shape of your curls with his finger, careful not to pull too hard. A soft tug elongated the spiral, and then it snapped back.

“Your hair is beautiful,” Sae suddenly spits, making eye contact with you in the mirror. “I liked it when it was short, and it’s pretty now that it’s longer. I don’t know if I ever told you.”

He hasn’t. Not so bluntly, at least. Sae never needs to occupy his hands, so he doesn’t touch your hair at all, ever, but now he coils the strands around his finger like his own personal fidget. Something stupid balloons in you lungs and press hard against your ribcage. Pride, maybe? Love, probably. You twist your neck and the piece of hair slips from his grasp.

“‘Preciate it,” you reply, adopting his casual air to force down your excitement. Sae’s face stays the same though, and he even goes so far as to press a little kiss to your exposed shoulder blade. He must feel the heat of your skin, because a smirk curls across his face. Oh, you could kill him.

“Alright, alright,” you shoo him. “I gotta get to work. This is just the pre-wash, so I’m going to take a minute in here.”

“I could shower,” he says absently, and before you could even protest, Sae is opening the shower door, rearranging products around the wall to make sure your shampoo, conditioner and wide tooth comb are front and center. “It’ll be warm though, and not scalding hot like you like it.”

“Then don’t shower with me.”

The pipes turn on, Sae’s funger’s dipping under the water the check the temperature. “It’s bad for your skin anyways.”

You don’t even mention it. You probably will halfway through when he’s “unknowingly” doing your hair for you, but it could wait.

[sweet-as-an-angel]

Giant! König Headcanons

Warnings: 18+, Creep! König, Perverted! König, König Owns a Cum Jar, Size Difference, Giant! König, Size Kink, Sadistic! König, Abuse of Power, Dub-Con, Cum Soaking, Attempts at Forced Impregnation, Implied Pregnancy, Voyeurism, Hostage Situation, Human Pet! Reader, Physical Violence, Human! Reader, Fem! Reader.

Giant! König captures you after he catches you sneaking around his castle, trying to loot something of value to take back to your impoverished village.

Giant! König immediately jumps at the opportunity to take you as his human pet, throwing you into a nearby jar and closing the lid, observing you like a spider beneath a glass.

Giant! König who, after deciding he wants to keep you long-term instead of turning your body into the sprinkles atop his ice cream, creates a more sustainable living space for you after discovering you’re not as durable as he thought (almost suffocating, dehydrating, and starving to death whilst being held in that damn jar).

Giant! König surprises you with a dollhouse of his own design: a door that locks from the outside, windows too small for you to crawl through, and walls made of a material too strong for your tiny utensils to burrow through.

Giant! König doesn’t take long to start using you for his own pleasure – almost like he has no other outlet; like he was just waiting for this opportunity to come.

Giant! König who, whenever he feels like punishing you, puts you in The Jar and stares you down whilst stroking his cock, gigantic even in comparison to other giants’. He grunts, berating you, telling you how he’d “Fill you with my cock if you weren’t so small – bet I could crush you with it if I wanted to.”

When he’s ready, he cums into the jar – all over you – thick and heavy, almost drowning you with just one spurt of his load.

He loves watching you struggle to keep your head above the viscous pool he’s trapped you in as you literally swim in his semen, looking up at him with pleading eyes, begging him to “Get me out, please!”.

He’ll often leave you in there without clothes to try and teach you a lesson. Until it turns into another reason – to breed you – which you accidentally sparked in him when you told him to be careful! You’ll end up getting me pregnant!

Giant! König can’t get your words out of his head, the primal urges he’s suppressed for so long unearthed by your pleas for him to spare you, if only once.

Giant! König knows he’s way too big to fit inside you, so this –  cumming profusely into a jar he’s encased you in whilst giving you no means of refusing his attempts – is the next best thing.

Giant! König gets off on the sheer size difference between the two of you  – the fact that you’re entirely dependent on him for your survival. Makes him feel like the kind of giant he’s supposed to be; strong and well-seeded.

Giant! König lays awake at night and fantasises about having a family, a far-off dream until you came along. It’s all he can think about as the image of you, his tiny wife, swollen to an almost painful degree as you bear his children, floods his mind, makes his cock twitch – harden. He resists the urge to relieve himself of this burden, preferring to save every ounce of his seed for you rather than wasting even a drop of it.

Giant! König who, despite his…questionable treatment of you, does try to treat you well. He lets you eat as much as you want, both because he knows you come from a poor background and because he has to keep you healthy to bear his offspring — especially since he knows they’ll be quite big compared to you.

Giant! König enjoys questioning you about your life before him, how humans work, what they do all day, whether the stereotypes of them all being lustful, pride-driven,  creatures are true.

If you validate any part of this stereotype, he’ll use that as an excuse to sink you in even more of his cum, to subject you to the task of sitting on his cock (horizontally, might I add) while he commands you to get yourself off by humping the shaft.

Man’s had no outlet for basicall all his life – he’s feral.

Giant! König loves to watch you while you’re tucked up in your dollhouse, observing everything you do. Humans are a rarity in the Giant Lands, so to have one in his home is a mythic occurrence.

Giant! König loves showing you off; he thrives on the reaction he gets when his friends see you. You’re, as stated before, a rarity in their parts, often used as a delicacy rather than a pet since humans aren’t particularly sturdy compared to giants, so managing to keep one alive is something of a status symbol in itself; the mark of a truly capable mate (hence captive humans are often given as courting gifts between giants).

However, König is also highly protective of you – especially after he caught Horangi (another giant he’d been showing you off to) goading you – harassing you – stroking his cock, telling you to “Lick the tip. Never felt a human tongue before.”

Needless to say, König never invited him around again after that.

Giant! König is, obviously, good with his hands and technical know-how. Thus, if his method of soaking you in his semen doesn’t work when trying to knock you up, he’ll create some unlawful contraption to make it inevitable.

Despite his size, König has managed to make a tiny glass syringe that he’s packed with his cum, holding you down easily with one hand as he presses the tip to your entrance, pumping you full of his seed.

He struggles to contain how the scene – the feeling – of you trying desperately to fight him off, to stop him from filling you, makes him feel. You have to watch the bulge between his legs grow as the feeling of being filled past full overcome you.

Giant! König does this as many times as he likes until he knows his seed’s taken, when you start showing. Which, considering how big his offspring will be, is pretty early on.

He definitely makes maternity clothes for you – comfortable garments that show the swell of your stomach as the weeks crawl by into months.

Giant! König loves bathing you, too. Especially after he’s covered you in his cum.

There’s something so intimate and gentle about it – a scarcity in the Giant Lands. Having something so small and fragile in his hands, knowing that he can crush you in his grip at any moment, makes him feel…responsible. Trustworthy.

Giant! König will never let you go, btw. You can try to run as much as you want, but he’ll always catch up to you, his human pet.

Reblog for more content like this! It helps creators like myself tremendously and it is greatly appreciated :-)

Masterlist Masterlist [Continued] Masterpost Modern Warfare AI Masterlist

AO3 Wattpad Tumblr Backup Account

[sunderwight]

Shen Qingqiu gets hit by a rare wife plot.

And it actually is a rare one because Airplane didn't even write this one down! He toyed with the idea before ultimately dismissing it as being too controversial for the tastes of his readers, and adapting only a few of the same elements for a subsequent chapter of PIDW.

But apparently the System can pull inspiration even from the author's thoughts, especially when there's nothing to contradict the concept and even a few threads of it still to be found in the original, and somehow Shen Qingqiu runs afoul of this previously-unwritten plot bunny.

The core concept was a cuck scenario, of all things. One of the Luo Binghe's wives gets afflicted by a poison that can only be cured by dual cultivation, but specifically can't be cured by by dual cultivation with anyone who has mastery over demonic qi. Something something conflicting energies, something bullshit something. Peerless Cucumber would have ripped the chapter to shreds if it had actually made it to publication, not just for the insult of implying that Luo Binghe should let one of his wives sleep with someone else, but also because why would Luo Binghe -- able to use both kinds of cultivation -- somehow not be able to keep his demonic energies from influencing the situation just in this one case?

Well it turns out that in his specific case it's because sex gets him too worked up to keep things strictly separate, and the degree of control required to treat the affliction whilst dual cultivating is extensive enough that even a little slip-up would be fatal.

Of course, in the actual chapter of PIDW, this same plot device was altered and used to create a harem orgy where Luo Binghe oversaw several of his wives "treating" one another's "afflictions", but Shen Qingqiu just had to go and get a fatal of dose of the more severe version (he didn't realize the risk, because again, this version didn't even make it into the novel).

Anyway, of course this ends up with Shen Qingqiu trying to figure out another way to cheat death, while Luo Binghe goes through the five stages of grief before accepting that he's just going to have to let someone else fuck his husband. This leads to an argument because of course Shen Qingqiu's not going to cheat on Luo Binghe, and he's especially not going to force one of his martial siblings to sleep with him, come on now, and Luo Binghe trying not to cry tears of blood while bringing himself to explain that a fair few of Shen Qingqiu's sect siblings would be happy volunteers for this task.

Shen Qingqiu's just like, well of course you think that, for some bizarre reason you think everyone wants to sleep with me. Bias is what it is. Really it's flattering Binghe but obviously every other person we know is straight, that's just statistics, and everyone in the entire cultivation world knows that Qi Qingqi would sooner chew glass than have sex with a man!

Luo Binghe, weeping now: Shizun please. This is serious. I need you speak words that make sense in the order you're saying them.

They argue, they reach an impasse, the clock is ticking. So Luo Binghe reluctantly turns to the most reliable source of information (outside of himself) on Manipulating Shen Qingqiu to Do Things That Are in His Own Best Interests -- Shang Qinghua.

At first Shang Qinghua is like, well I'm flattered Junshang but I don't think I could shoulder the baggage of fucking Cucumber-bro for you. But then Luo Binghe is like no I need someone who is way hotter and more capable than you, if Shizun is going to fuck someone else at my behest they're going to be TOP TIER so that when I fuck him better afterwards he's really impressed with me. Liu Qingge, obviously.

Not Yue Qingyuan, Shang Qinghua asks? (He'd take the insult a little more personally but honestly he's just relieved that he's not being asked to navigate this social minefield.)

No, Luo Binghe says. He's not 100% sure he could beat Yue Qingyuan in a fight even to this day, which in his mind also translates to not being 100% sure he could do sex better than him either, so Yue Qingyuan is an emergency last resort. He's way more likely to cry on Shizun too and Shen Qingqiu is into that shit, it's too risky.

Alright, says Shang Qinghua, and he thinks about it, and then he comes up with the beautifully simple solution:

Luo Binghe has to fuck Liu Qingge first.

Because of course the crux of the issue is that even with permission, Shen Qingqiu doesn't want to cheat on Luo Binghe. But in the twisted annals of his mind, Luo Binghe himself is still entitled to a harem, even if Luo Binghe is also happily monogamous in this life. So if he shacks up with Liu Qingge first then Liu Qingge essentially joins Luo Binghe's harem, at which point if Shen Qingqiu sleeps with him it's not an affair, it's the gay version of those fanservice-y 3P scenes that the wives in PIDW did. Shang Qinghua translates the concept as best as he can to Luo Binghe, who -- though slightly dubious -- must accept that so far Shang Qinghua's wisdom hasn't steered him wrong with regards to his shizun's eccentricities.

Luo Binghe's mission: seduce Liu Qingge, or at least convince him to have sex, or possibly to lie and (convincingly!) tell Shen Qingqiu that they had sex. That last one is the longest shot so he's probably going to have to just fuck him (Luo Binghe still underestimates how willing his husband is to believe that just about anyone would have sex with him).

Shang Qinghua's mission: convince Shen Qingqiu that he owes his husband steamy threeway gay sex or something so that this plan he pulled out of his ass doesn't backfire and get him killed.