#and then she moved to the right wrist (which i protected MUCH more instinctively) and she outright stopped and said this was surgeon level

[thespacesay]

ID: tags. #Also 'it's all in your head' #Bro that's the worst place for a problem to be #I keep my whole me in there / end ID

Not to mention that they say this about physical disability too! The problem is a failure to care about and support people, and they damn well don't care what the problem is.

people will hear you talk about struggling with mental illness and say “you can do anything if you just put your mind to it”. brother what part of the body does the mental illness happen in. what do you think is the problem

[seravphs]

ੈ♡˳·˖✶ — TEEN DAD! GOJO x FEM READER

When Megumi gets injured on a mission, you realize you’re not capable of taking care of a child.

wc — 1.8k

tags — misunderstandings; self doubt; the pitfalls of teenage parenting when you’re all child soldiers; mild angst with a happy ending; happens post sometimes a family is you, teen dad Gojo, and the six year old child he accidentally orphaned, part I of teen dad gojoverse, in which you and Gojo raise Megumi together. 

You shove Megumi into his arms, a bundle of bloody black fabric and dead weight. Gojo doesn’t stumble - he never does - but it’s a close call as he instinctively wraps his arms around whatever you’ve pushed onto him. 

“Teleport! Teleport!” You’re so frantic you’re incoherent. It takes a full minute, a minute you don’t have, before you realize that you can’t just say things. Gojo, as invincible as he is, can’t read your mind. You have to explain what’s going on, but how can you focus when Megumi is bleeding out? His little face is growing paler and paler by the second. 

His hands are so tiny. Why is that the only thing you can focus on? They’re grasping the front of Gojo’s jacket for dear life as he coughs weakly. 

“Teleport him back to HQ! Get Shoko!” 

You resist the urge to shake Gojo by his lapels, slap some sense into him. It would only hurt Megumi. Why won’t he move?

“I can’t!”

“What do you mean you can’t? Go! He’s losing so much blood, you have to go now!” 

You know you’re getting hysterical, but Megumi is dying right in front of you. 

“I can’t teleport! There are conditions-“ 

“He’s going to die!” 

“Stop- I need to think!” 

In the back of your head, you can hear Shoko telling you in that cool and detached tone of hers that you’re hyperventilating. 

Look, she says, you see that? You’re breathing too quickly. You feel lightheaded, right? 

Gojo spreads his jacket out on the ground of the forest. “Help me get him ready. I’m going to sew up the cut.” 

“Let me-“ 

“I’ll do it. I’ve done Getou’s before. You just focus on keeping him breathing.” 

You can do that. 

Hunched over Megumi’s body, Gojo gets to work. He looks so frail, spread on the grass with only Gojo’s jacket beneath him. His eyes are normally dark, but they’re blacker with pain, his pupils swallowing up his irises. 

The first puncture of the needle makes him wail before he slaps his hand over his mouth. You peel it back and make vaguely soothing noises, trying to be comforting. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” you murmur, letting him rest his head in your lap.

“You can scream, Megumi. I know it hurts. Oh, honey, I know. I know.” He’s making this face that agonizes you. His nose is all scrunched up as he clenches his jaw. He’s the type of kid that would rather chew up his suffering and swallow it back down then let anyone see it. 

This happened on your watch. 

Sick self hatred rises in your throat. 

Gojo would’ve never let anything happen to Megumi. 

He whimpers quietly and you flinch. Without even thinking of it, you reach for his hand. You force yourself not to tremble. You’re an adult. It’s your responsibility not to scare him like that. 

His eyes are closed as Gojo grimly works the needle through, but there’s a jump in his frantic heartbeat, as tiny as a rabbit’s. You can detect it through the pulsing vein in his wrist, funneling blood to the injury only to waste it on air. 

He’s such a brave kid - your brave little boy. You smooth his sticky wet hair back from his face, damp with sweat. He moans in pain and twists away. Your heart crumples. 

It takes so much for him to be vocal about anything that hurts him. How much pain must he be in?

“Gojo,” you say. 

“I’m trying!” 

You know. Going any faster is likely to have dangerous consequences. This is the only way. How cruel. You have to hurt him to help him, and isn’t that just the story of your parenthood? 

You curl around him, protective as if your body can shield him from his own body working against itself. The more blood he loses, the harder his body fights to keep him alive. 

It’s an infinitely long minute before Gojo proclaims the grim deed finished. Megumi had passed out long beforehand, his death grip on your fingers slackening as the pain pushed him into nothingness. 

He wakes up on the long drive back to campus. Ijichi has never bent so many speeding limits in his life. Normally a careful driver, he shoots furtive looks at the kid staining his back seats red. You can feel his judgment of what kind of parent you are settling over you. 

Shoko must be thinking the same thing as she patches Megumi up in your kitchen. Her reverse cursed technique seals the cut up in seconds flat, though a scar remains, puckering the flesh of his forearm. 

“Just like Utahime,” Gojo tells him, pinching his cheek. “You didn’t cry either, so you’re better than her.” 

“Don’t talk about your seniors like that,” you say absentmindedly, though your mind could not be further from disciplining Gojo for his poor behavior. 

You can’t send Megumi to the Zenins. You know what they’d do to a sweet kid like him. They’d turn him into a monster like his father. You shudder, thinking of the creature from your nightmares who had stolen the life of a sixteen year old girl, and nearly taken Gojo with him. You could never let them do that to Megumi. They probably wouldn’t take care of Tsumiki either, unless to hold her over his head. But just because they aren’t fit caretakers doesn’t mean you are. 

“Hey.”

“Hey.” 

“Hey.” 

Gojo’s been trying to get your attention for who knows how long. When he sees that he finally has it, he sends Megumi off to bed and jerks his thumb at the door. Wordlessly, you follow him to the porch. It’s dimly lit from a singular overhead bulb without a covering. The two of you stand in a circle of light, the night outside pressing in against the walls of your home. 

“What is it?” He says impatiently. “I fixed everything, didn’t I? Why are you still upset?” 

“It’s not you,” you say. It’s so cliche, but what else is there to say? “It’s my fault.” 

“Don’t,” he says softly. 

You pull your hand back when he tries to take it. There’s a perverse sense of satisfaction in denying both of you what you want. You don’t deserve this. 

He’s silent for a long time. You let the silence stew, determined to outlast him. Quickly, it becomes clear who has the upper hand. You shift from side to side, nervous and tense, while he just waits with his hands shoved in his pockets. When you finally look over, he’s wearing his sunglasses again. His hair glows under the porch light, attracting moths. “Finally felt like playing nice?” 

He’s attractive when he’s mean. You hate that about him, the way the cruel twist of his mouth ties knots into your stomach. It would all be easier if you could hate him, but everything he does only makes you love him more. 

What a twisted little family you’ve built for yourself. 

He sighs. “Stop that. Don’t-“ he waves his hand in your general direction in frustration. “You always do that. It’s not your fault.” 

“He needs a real parent, Gojo. I couldn’t protect him.” 

“I was there too,” he says. “You don’t see me agonizing over my mistakes. It happens.” 

What mistake, you think bitterly. Gojo’s only fault is trusting you with Megumi. He’s the strongest. If it was him, nothing would’ve happened. 

“It wasn’t your mistake. It was mine. If I hadn’t been there, everything would have been fine.” 

“Again?” Gojo says quietly. 

It’s a forceful reminder of how much you sound like Getou right now. He never recovered from what that monster - Megumi’s father - did to him. Even now, your class lives with the scars of that day. Gojo’s face is wistful for a brief moment, deluged by memories. Then it’s gone, wiped from his expression like it had never been there. 

“I didn’t mean it like that,” you say, wondering if it’s too late to take it back.  

Gojo never falters. He’s unreasonable and childish, but he’s as solid as stone. You’ve watched him shoulder every single burden he’s ever been asked to carry since he was a child, and now he’s taken on one more. You promised Gojo that you would watch his back, regardless of whether he needed you or not. The words you spoke in a fit of anger and self pity bring you regret now. Weakness isn’t just failing to shield Megumi from all the dangers of sorcery that you wish you and Gojo had been protected from. Weakness is running away when it gets hard. 

Megumi’s your baby. 

You’re not going to give him up. 

A step forward has you pressing into Gojo’s space. He doesn’t yield, watching you with those ancient eyes. 

“I know it’ll only get harder, but it has to be us, right? Who else will keep him safe from the Zenins? I won’t leave, Gojo. I promise.” 

His relieved expression contrasts with his smug words. There’s a crooked smile on his face when he says, “I knew you wouldn’t just abandon us. You think Megumi wants to stay with me? You’re the one keeping him here.” 

“I get it,” you smack his arm. “No need for flattery. I’m with you until the end.” 

“I’m not kidding,” he protests. “There’s no universe in which Megumi likes me more than you.” 

How can you stay upset when he looks so proud of himself for finally figuring out the right thing to say to get you to stay? 

“He doesn’t,” you insist. 

Gojo rolls his eyes. “Don’t lie to me. Here, I’ll prove it.” 

It’s not uncommon for Gojo to put Megumi to bed. In fact, it’s a chore he fights you for. It’s probably one of his favorite parts of having Megumi around. He likes telling stories, and surprisingly enough, he’s good at it. He gives each character its own voice. More often than not, he ends up as invested in the bedtime story as Megumi is. Tonight, when he closes the book, he doesn’t leave. The soft light of the lamp on the bedside table shines through a crack in the door as Gojo and Megumi talk in hushed whispers. 

“I want my mom,” he says quietly. 

You lean against the door, pressing your head to the wood to try to keep yourself from falling to the ground. You want to try. You want to be there for him. But Megumi needs his mother, not some teenager who can’t even take control of her own life, much less a child’s. You’re all he has, though, and you have to make it work. You wish Mrs. Fushiguro was still alive, even if that means you would’ve never gotten to meet him. 

“Then ask her to come in,” Gojo says. 

Megumi makes a startled noise. You can almost see him burrowing into his blankets. 

“Go on,” Gojo coaxes. “Oh, come on. Don’t be shy now. You really won’t? Fine.” 

He calls to you. “Come in, sweetheart. Don’t keep us waiting.” 

The first thing you see when you open the door is Megumi’s head buried beneath the covers. Gojo’s trying to peel the sheets back. 

“What are you hiding for? I brought you your mom! You should be thanking me!”

“I hate you!” 

“I told you,” Gojo says. “He loves you more than me.”

[venerawrites]

ship: sasuke x fem! reader

genre: fluff

sasuke is travelling around the shinobi world during the blank period and he falls in love with a shinobi from one of the smaller villages like, the hidden waterfall after going on missions with them and eventually after a few months of knowing them he confesses ☺️😉

Sasuke x fem! reader

author's note: Once I read the request, I immediately had a scenario forming in my head and the whole story kind of "wrote itself"! I feel I did move a bit from the original request, but I really hope you still enjoy it! <3 Thank you so much for your ask!

Warnings: none really (Sasuke may be a little bit ooc? idk, it's always hard to decide with him, isn't it?)

“Again.”

Taking a deep breath, your hands instinctively moved in front of your chest, forming the now way too familiar hand signs. Feeling a burning sensation forming in your stomach, you brought your hand up to your mouth, creating a cupping motion and exhaling a large wave of water from between your lips. One by one the targets across the wall opposite of you fell on the floor, unable to withhold the strong pressure of the water.

A thin wooden stick suddenly slapped you across the wrist, making you drop your hand with a wince.

“Again.”

Gritting your teeth, you repeated the action, spewing a large amount of water from between your lips, while twisting your body towards the right side of the room. Moving your aim across the wooden targets that stood in a row, you made sure to hit all five of them, before dropping your hand away. Turning towards your teacher, you slightly bowed your head, before clasping your hands in front of you.

Yakizo, the middle-aged woman who your family hired to be your teacher, looked at you with squinted eyes, before clicking her tongue and letting out a scoff.

“Hmph”, she walked around you, the end of the stick hitting the lower end of your waist, immediately straightening your posture,

“You are not fit for a fighter. Perhaps you should focus more on your healing studies.”

You bit the inside of your cheeks, a strong metallic taste filling the inside of your mouth.  The strong urge to snap back at the woman was making your fingers tremble and for a second you entertained the idea of unleashing your water wave jutsu directly at her always scowling face.

Your life has not always been like this.

Years ago, when your father was still among the living, you were trained alongside your brother Shibuki in various fighting techniques. But once he passed away and your sibling became the village head, everything changed. After drinking some of the Hero Water, Shibuki feared that his life span would shorten the same way it happened to your father, which would leave you as the only remaining member of the head family.

And that thought alone was enough for Shibuki to become paranoid and overly protective of you.

You were rarely allowed to go on missions and when you did - they were always lower-rank missions, way below your level of training and skills. Your lessons started to focus primarily on healing and medical ninjutsu, a decision made by Shibuki since "the village would benefit way more from having a highly-skilled healer, than another fighter".

When you refused to give up your fighting lessons, your brother decided to hire Yakizo to be the one teaching you. She was a bitter lady in her late 40s, who was a decent fighter, but a questionable tutor. She refused to let you practice anything more advanced than basic water release attacks and even then, she has always found something to critique.

"Lady Y/N", a voice called out. Both you and Yakizo turned towards the door, where a young male servant stood with his hands clasped behind his back, "Lord Shibuki request your presence."

Nodding your head, you turned towards your tutor, before laying your palms against each other in front of your chest and bowing respectfully. She never returned the gesture, instead clicking her tongue and twirling around, making her way towards the exit. You waited for a minute after her exit, before finally exhaling a breath of relief.

"Tough session, huh?", the servant asked, leaning against the door frame and smiling at you. You playfully rolled your eyes, before making your way towards him.

"Isn't it always, Suni?", you joked, exiting the room, "I don't understand why Shibuki insisted for her to be my teacher. I am pretty convinced she hates me."

Suni hummed in agreement, quickening his step so he could be beside you. Despite being from different social classes, both of you shared a strong friendship, which was formed early in your childhood days. Being the only person who knew the real dynamic of your strained relationship with your brother, he was also the only person you could fully relax and be open to.

"Perhaps this is exactly why he chose her", he said, tapping his index finger against his chin, "Maybe he hopes that since she is so awful, you are going to give up fighting altogether."

You snorted at his words, but you saw the logic behind them. And knowing Shibuki, it would not be surprising if that was his interior motivation for the choice.

"If it is going to make you feel better, I heard he is sending you on a mission", Suni said, bumping your shoulder playfully with his, "And this time it does not involve picking any fruits or vegetables."

A small spark of curiosity appeared in your eyes and you looked towards Suni, silently inviting him to say more. He, however, remained silent, choosing to move his gaze ahead instead.

"Are you not going to tell me more?", you pressed, leaning your head towards him, while trying to catch his eyes again. The way his face suddenly reddened and his eyes twitched in every direction but yours led you to believe that he knew more than he was letting on.

Fortunately for him, before you could enquire more, you both found yourself in front of the wooden sliding doors of the grand hall. Suni gave you a small apologetic smile, before sliding the door open.

"Lady Y/N", he announced your presence, before stepping aside and clearing a way for you to enter. Stepping inside, your eyes immediately fell on two male figures sitting opposite each other in the middle of the hall, one of which was your brother.

"Sister, welcome", Shibuki smiled and stood up, making his way towards you. You bowed your head towards him, before turning your attention to the other man. He remained seated with his head tilted down, calmly sipping from a small cup full of jasmine tea. His long raven locks fell in front of his face, blocking most of it from your view, but revealing enough for you to get an idea who he was.

"Please come meet our guest", Shibuki enthusiastically said, offering you his arm to grab, before he started making his way back to the centre of the hall. The man, who so far has not acknowledged your presence in any way, finally stood up, turning his head towards you. His onyx eyes met yours and for a second, you felt your breath hitch in your throat.

Finally finding yourself in front of him, you politely bowed your head, patiently waiting for Shibuki to introduce you.

"I don't believe you met last time you were here", your brother said to the man, gesturing with his hand for all of you to sit down, "This is my sister, Y/N. One of the best medical ninjas in the village, despite being still in training."

You bit your bottom lip, biting down the urge to snap at your sibling. Instead, you choose to let a tight-lipped smile spread across your face, but you couldn't help the slight gritting of your teeth.

"This is Sasuke Uchiha", Shibuki continued, this time turning toward you, "He is a ninja from the Leaf Village, who kindly agreed to come here to help us with our current problem with the threats we received last week."

Sasuke's face remained stoic, his eyes focused on you. Unlike you, he did not offer any type of response or a greeting, instead choosing to take another sip of his tea, while his gaze remained boring into you.

"Very kind of him, indeed", you commented, refusing to give up in this little staring contest you found yourself in. You couldn't help but feel your body becoming more tense as time went on, a feeling of uneasiness setting deep inside your stomach. Not because of the foreign presence, but rather from the fact that you still did not have even the slightest idea of what Suni was talking about earlier.

"Right?", Shibuki brought his own cup to his lips, closing his eyes once the warm liquid made its way down his throat, "With allies like this, the people of Takigakure would have nothing to fear about."

"Forgive me my bluntness, brother", you said impatiently, your foot twitching nervously under the small table between you, "But what is the reason you have requested my attendance today? I assume it is not only so you introduce me to... your ally."

Before your brother can even open his mouth to reply, Sasuke's deep monotone voice sounded beside you:

"I need a guide."

"A guide?", your head snapped toward him, one of your eyebrows raising in a questioning manner.

"I need someone to be my guide during my time in the village", Sasuke calmly explained, his face remaining expressionless, "The threats you have received are made by a shinobi who, I suspect, are from the village. Their familiarity with the area is already to their advantage."

"I am afraid my duties do not involve providing tours to foreigners", you countered, your eyes squinting at him, before moving your gaze to Shibuki, "Brother, I told you that if you send me after them, I am fully capable to-"

"Enough!", your sibling's voice boomed, immediately silencing you, "Y/N, we already talked about this. You are not fit for fighting."

"But I am a shinobi! I just need a chance to prove myself and-"

"I SAID ENOUGH!", Shibuki's hands slammed on the table. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming his trembling body. It was a rare occasion for him to shout at you.

"You are to escort Sasuke during his time in the village. I believe you are going to be a good example of our village's hospitality and make sure he is feeling comfortable. You are going to accompany him to the neighbouring lands during the course of his investigation."

Your brother stood up from his chair, casting a quick glance at the clock on the wall opposite him. Nodding his head at the servants sitting in the corner of his room, he turned his attention back to the Leaf ninja.

"Please accept my apologies, Sasuke Uchiha", Shibuki's eyes quickly turned to glare at you, before they focused on the young male again, "I am afraid my sister sometimes forgets her lady manners and her place in this village. However, I believe she would be of great help in your pursuit of these criminals."

With those words, he bowed his head toward the man, before stepping aside and giving you one last warning look.

"Take Sasuke to his room and maybe for a walk around the village this afternoon", he commanded, before pointing his index finger at you, "And no fighting."

You reluctantly nodded your head, embarrassed that a foreign ninja became a witness to your little family row. Disagreements like this were not uncommon between you two, but so far they were rarely witnesses, and when they were, it was usually by people working at the Residence.

Once you were alone with the Uchiha, you took a deep breath, a polite fake smile forming on your lips.

"Well, then", you said, while getting up from your place, "I better take you to your room. Please follow me."

You turned on your heel and started walking, without waiting for him to get up. Your eyes met those of Suni, who gave you an apologetic look, before sliding the door open for you.

Walking through the corridors of the Residence, you had to look back a couple of times in order to make sure Sasuke was following you. He has remained silent the whole time, yet you could feel his gaze burning a hole in your back every time you faced away from him.

Finally arriving in front of a heavy wooden door, you grasped the handle and pushed it open, letting both of you inside. Quickly moving towards the window, you pushed the curtains aside, letting the daylight in.

"We are delighted to have you as our guest", the rehearsed words used for every guest made their way out of your mouth before you could even think about them, "I will be back later this afternoon, once you have a chance to rest. Meanwhile, if you need anything, a servant will be made available for you soon. You can let them know if you desire any food or refreshments."

Not waiting for a response, you started to make your way out, before his deep voice made you freeze in place.

"Your brother is right."

"I beg your pardon?", you turned towards him, waiting for him to elaborate. Sasuke was not even looking at you, instead focusing his attention on removing his cape and swords from his body. Your eyes fell briefly down his body, acknowledging how swiftly he worked his robe and weapon belt, despite having only one arm, but quickly made their way back to his face once he spoke again.

"These criminals are dangerous", he stated, grabbing his bag and starting to unpack it, "They have to be dealt with quickly and efficiently by a skillful shinobi, before they cause even more problems."

"I am a skillful shinobi", you protested, narrowing your eyes at him. Your fingernails pressed against your palms, a painful reminder that you were speaking to a guest and you had to hold your tongue behind your teeth.

"You said you were a healer", he looked at you, arching a brow. It happened just for a second, but you could've sworn that you saw the corner of his lip twitch upwards in what looked like a smirk. It disappeared as fast as it came, leaving his expression blank.

"Shibuki said I was a healer", you corrected, emphasizing your sibling's name. Sasuke hummed, looking you up and down, before focusing on unpacking his back again.

"And is he mistaken? Given your attire, I can already assume you are definitely not a fighter."

"Well, your assumption is wrong", the words came out more snarky than you intended, yet you did nothing to correct the way they sounded. Something about the way he was speaking irritated you - his tone, so calm and collected, sounded almost mocking in your ears. You couldn't help but feel judged by this stranger - whether it was because your brother has said something to him earlier or because he simply lacked a basic respect towards women - you did not know, but you did not like it.

Sasuke did not say anything else, instead letting out a low "hn" sound. He continued putting his clothes away, neatly arranging them by colour and size in the wardrobe. You stood in your place, following his movements with your eyes, before looking down at your dress. Technically, he was right that you were not dressed as a ninja - your long flowy light green kimono would be highly impracticable in a real fight, despite the fact you wore it during your basic training earlier. However, you felt unfairly judged, considering that you were at your own home, so of course you are not going to wear fighting attire.

Irritated by his earlier comment, you decided to bite back:

"You may have fooled my brother, Sasuke Uchiha", your voice came out low and sharp, "But the villagers, including myself, have not forgotten the terror you and your team of rogue ninjas have caused to our neighbours and allies. Do not mistake our hospitality for an opportunity to try and harm our village."

The words made Sasuke's movements halt for a while, his eyes glancing towards your through the thick curtain of raven hair covering half of his face.

"You have heard of me."

You scoffed, rolling your eyes.

"We live in the Village Hidden by a Waterfall, not in a hole in the ground", you replied, turning towards the door again, "And even then, I believe your reputation would've found its way there too."

Before exiting you made sure to stop, giving him a chance to give you any sort of reply, which he did not. Instead, he remained silent, and after a minute of waiting, you heard him walking towards the wardrobe again, carefully arranging his stuff. Realising you won't get a response, you left the room and made your way back to the training grounds.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few days have passed since Sasuke's arrival. Little words were exchanged between you, and when they were, they were primarily you explaining the layout of the village and him asking questions about the security around the area.

Being his guide was way more draining than expected. The large amount of time you spend in silence and his always blank expression soon started to bother you more than you'd expected. It was obvious that neither of you was thrilled with the other's presence, but you felt like you at least tried to pretend to be polite and appear unbothered. Something you couldn't say about him.

"He makes a lot of sounds", you complained one afternoon while sparring with Suni, "It is weird. It is like he has never interacted with another human being till this point! He just "hn"s and "mm"s all the time!"

The boy laughed, successfully blocking your swing towards his neck.

"You seem way too bothered about it", he commented, his smile dropping once you cast a harsh glare at him, "Just try to ignore him. I doubt this mission would last that long anyway."

You rolled your eyes, stepping away from Suni and wiping the sweat forming on top of your brow with the sleeve of your top. Taking this as a sign that the fight is over, he took a seat on one of the nearby rocks and passed you his pouch of water. Thanking him, you took it from his hands and took a large gulp of water.

"One mission this is", you mumbled under your breath, before taking a seat next to him, "I'm just walking the Uchiha around the village like he is on some type of holiday. Meanwhile, the threat to our village remains unresolved and my brother keeps holding me back."

Suni's eyes filled with sympathy and he laid one of his hands on your upper back, rubbing soothing circles.

"Shibuki just cares about you", he tried to reason, his words gentle and calm, "You are the only family he has left."

"As he is mine", you argued, turning your eyes towards your friend, " But I would never deprive him of the liberty of making his own choices. It's not fair! It is not right! There is a whole world out there I haven't even seen!"

You let out a sign, a feeling of guilt immediately washing over you. It was not Suni's fault for how you felt. And deep inside, you knew he was right - your sibling treated you the way he did, only because he was trying to protect you.

Sensing the way your body tensed, Suni wrapped his arm around your shoulder, pulling you towards him and landing a comforting kiss on top your head.

"Lady Y/N", a cold voice sounded behind you, making you jump away from the boy and turn around. Dressed in his cape and holding his bag over his shoulder, Sasuke Uchiha's dark eyes stared intensely at you, not acknowledging Suni in any way.

"Sasuke", you cleared your throat, suddenly feeling embarrassed by the idea that he may have heard your conversation. For how long was he sitting there?

"How can I help you?"

"I am leaving the village", he bluntly said, his eyes briefly moving to Suni and narrowing, before focusing back on you, "I believe I have all the information I need now."

You stood there silent for a while, both shock and confusion forming inside your mind. What was he talking about? What information? When did he even gather it, given for the past few days he was just silently walking around?

"I, um...", you opened your mouth, but quickly closed it again. You assume that you should have felt relief hearing his words, but for some reason, it never came.

Shaking your head, you offered him a tight-lipped smile, before moving towards him.

"That is great news", you said, your tone not matching the expected enthusiasm, "Please follow me. I will take you to my brother, before we provide you with enough food and coins for your journey."

Nodding your head to Suni as your "goodbye", you started walking towards the stairs of the Residence. You couldn't hear the Uchiha following you, but at this point, you have learned that he moved so silently, that it was impossible to hear his steps with the average human hearing. His long shadow, however, was an indicator that he was closely walking behind.

Your fingers were just reaching for the doors and about to open them when he spoke again:

"Come with me."

Your movements halted and you felt your breath hitched. Turning your head, you looked at him, sure that you have misheard him.

"Excuse me?"

"Come with me", he said again, this time taking a step closer, so he was towering over you, "We are leaving in an hour."

Opening your mouth, no sound came out, and you closed it again, before repeating. There was dozens of thoughts flooding your mind, yet none of them could make their way to your lips.

"I.. I can't! I have duties, I-", the words died on your lips and you suddenly felt unsure how to justify it.

"Duties of a 'healer', I know", the corner of his mouth twitched just a bit upwards, his expression suddenly looking almost humorous, "Your people seem to be of good health. I am sure they will manage a few weeks without you."

The mention of the word "healer" seemed to act like a switch for you and you managed to gather your composure. Your face hardening, you turned away again, grabbing the door handle one more time.

"It is not about that."

He hummed behind you, staying still.

"That's what you wanted, wasn't it? To finally have a chance?"

Closing your eyes, you nodded your head, before you let out a dry chuckle.

"I wish it was that simple", you mumbled, finally entering the building. Before you could make more than a few steps, however, a calloused hand wrapped around your wrist and tugged you lightly backward. You turned around, ready to question him, but stopped once you noticed how close he was to you.

"It is that simple", he stated, his fingers finally releasing you. His eyes traced your face from your forehead to your lips, before they stopped at your own, "I can find my way to the grand hall. You go and pack your bag. I will see you at the gates in an hour."

Before you could protest, he started walking away with a hurried step, leaving you alone in the corridor with a choice.

Either to finally give yourself what you have been craving for all your life or willingly give it up once and for all.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was either something genius about Sasuke Uchiha or something severely wrong about him.

There was no other explanation of how he convinced Shibuki to let you go with him outside the village and for an unspecified amount of time, on top of that. Either way, whatever tactic he used, he refused to share with you, instead saying that your sibling agreed straight away.

Surprisingly, Sasuke insisted on walking, saying that while it was a slower method of moving, it was a better way of caving your energy and chakra. The logic behind his decision was questionable, but you did not argue further, instead deciding to follow him. So far, he has failed to share any details about your pursuit of the criminals, other than both of you are heading towards the Hidden Stone Village.

Hour by hour, the sun was moving lower and lower towards the horizon, letting the forest around fall in darkness.

"We better find somewhere to rest. It is going to rain soon", he observed, looking up at the dark grey clouds that were slowly traveling your way. You followed his gaze, nodding your head, before looking around you. You were surrounded by trees and there was no sign of any caves or shelters, you could use as a cover for the night. Your trained ears, however, caught another sound.

"There is a river nearby", you stated, turning towards the sound of moving water, "We better set a camp there, so we can refresh in the morning."

Just like you suspected, just a few minutes walk away from where you stood, was a stream running in the middle of a small meadow. Wasting no time, you took your jacket off and started going around, collecting fallen branches, bark, leaves, and everything you considered necessary, in order to start building a short-term shelter for the night.

Sasuke watched you with interest, deciding to help you with some of the bigger branches, despite having one hand. While you knew that even like that, he was at least twice more capable of handling himself, you couldn't help but feel bad at his effort to felp.

"It's okay. I've got this."

He scoffed, ignoring your words and lifting some of the materials off your hands. You quickly dropped what you were carrying and grabbed the branches and bark back, while giving him a stern look.

"I said I've got this."

Sasuke looked at you in surprise and after a minute, he raised his hand in a defensive motion. Putting the branches on top of the pile on the ground, you again lifted all of the stuff, making your way towards the middle of the meadow.

"You have an attitude problem", he calmly stated, while watching you build the frame for your shelter. You couldn't help but let out an obnoxious snort, looking up at him with a small smirk on your lips.

"That is very rich coming from you", you mused, wrapping some of the branches together. Sasuke's eyes narrowed, but he remained quiet, knowing that you did have a point. He watched you for a while, before deciding to start unpacking some of the food and drinks you brought with you.

"You don't talk a lot", you decided to break the silence, still expertly working your hands at making a secure frame on top of which to lay the bark and leaves.

"I have nothing to say", he replied, his voice waving just the slightest at the end of his sentence. If you hadn't listened carefully, you would have missed it.

"That's usually said by people who have awful lot to say."

Sasuke didn't answer and you assumed that was the end of your short conversation. Lifting the wooden frame you managed to build, so it stands, you started to carefully put pieces of bark and leaves on top of it. Putting the last few ones, you felt the first water droplets landing on your skin.

Both you and Sasuke hurried under the shelter, escaping just by seconds the moment the rain intensified. The space was quite small and you had to sit extra close together, your shoulder and knee pressed against each other. While in any other scenario, you would feel quite uncomfortable by the close proximity, now your attention was solely focused on the raging weather outside.

The last time you left the village was before your father passed away. To you seeing the outside world again was almost like a surreal dream and you tried to engrave every single thing inside your mind, knowing that another chance like this may not present itself for a long time.

"I hate the rain", Sasuke suddenly said, bringing you back to reality. You snapped your head in his direction and before you could stop it, a loud "pfft" sound left your lips.

"How could anyone hate the rain?", a quiet chuckle left your lips and your eyes lifted towards the sky again. Rain was a rare occurrence in your village and definitely something that was admired by your people. It was believed that it carried good luck and prosperity.

"It brings bad memories", was all he said, his eyes staring at the distance. You raised your brow, expecting him to continue, but when you looked at him, he seemed lost in what you assumed was a painful memory lane.

Crawling on your knees, you exited the shelter, goosebumps covering your skin the moment the cold water drops hit your skin. Your hair immediately became drenched, sticking to the side of your face, but the small smile that started dancing on your lips hinted you are anything but bothered by it.

Your hand extended towards him, inviting him to take it.

"Come."

He looked at your hand with an unimpressed gaze, before lifting his gaze to your face and clicking his tongue in annoyance.

"Do you want to catch a cold? Come under."

With a playful roll of your eyes, you grabbed his hand and tugged him toward you, not hard enough to pull him completely outside, but enough for his sleeve to get wet.

"Are you insane? Now I am all-", his irritated rant got interrupted the moment you laid your fingers on top of his mouth, laughing at his sour expression.

"Is the great Sasuke Uchiha intimidated by some water drops?", you taunted, tugging his hand again, "Come on, stop being a coward."

"I'm not-", he started saying, before letting out a sigh. Gritting his teeth, he crawled after you, his eyes narrowing in annoyance once the water quickly made its way through his clothes and hair. Exhaling an angry breath of air through his nose, he glared at you.

"Happy? Now we are both drenched."

You shushed him with your finger, pulling him away from the shelter and towards the middle of the grass meadow. Once you were satisfied with the place, your dropped on your knees, pulling grumbling Sasuke down with you.

"What are you doing?", he sighed, reluctantly following your silent commands. Sasuke was not one to let someone drag him left and right but he knew there was no point in arguing with you, as it seemed you were just doing whatever you wanted, without real consideration of how he felt about it. He couldn't help, but question if taking you with him was really a good idea.

And then he felt it... a gentle touch brushing the sticky hair out of his face, exposing both of his eyes to you. His immediate reaction was to grab your hand and pull it away, but you slapped his fingers with you other hand before he could do so.

"Let them go."

His eyes widened, unable to move away from your own. The way you stared at him, full of hope and expectation, made his throat suddenly feel dry. Raindrops continue to fall on both of you and he could swear that the way they reflected the moonlight made you appear... almost ethereal. Almost like all of this was one strange dream, one he was not really sure he wanted to wake up from.

"You said the rain brings bad memories", you continued, blinking through the heavy drops falling on your face, "It is time to let it wash them away. Let them go."

He opened his mouth to reply but no words came out. Instead, he closed his eyes, letting the vivid images of his bloody past flood his mind. They felt so real, he almost thought he was experiencing it all over again, the only thing reminding him of the reality being the warm feeling of your hands holding his hair away from his face.

He would never be able to explain what happened that night. Perhaps he was tired, or having a weird sensation due to the cold... But something has changed. When he woke up the next day, you were already up, cooking some fish for breakfast. Looking up at him, you smiled.

"Beautiful day, isn't?", you pointed up towards the shining sun, while inhaling the smell of fresh grass, "It's like the forest had a fresh life brought into it. Wouldn't be possible if the skies hadn't cried their tears last night, I'll tell you that."

And for the first time he had known you, he openly agreed with what you said.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You and Sasuke travelled for three months together. During this time you visited many different places, including his home village Konoha. He has not shared any details in your pursuit of the criminals threatening Takigakure, but you assumed that your long journey meant that they kept moving from place to place. It annoyed you that they always seemed to be one step ahead of you, but you used the opportunity to enjoy the scenery and experience the culture of nations, you have only read about in books.

During these months, both of you also grew closer, and you were surprised to get to know the man who was hiding behind this emotionless mask he presented to the outside world. What you thought to be a selfish and arrogant ninja, turned out to be a deeply wounded and hurt individual, who continued to seek its place in this world. He shared with you what happened to his clan, his raging teenage years, spent seeking revenge, as well the truth he learned from his brother during their final battle. He talked you through his journey of change and his ultimate decision to travel the world in an attempt to atone for his sins.

You, on the other hand, had far less to share with him about yourself but still did open up about your dream to be a fighter, your strained relationship with your brother, and the heavy burden you felt growing up in a society where women were expected to act and behave in a certain way.

"Sometimes I'm sick of being Lady Y/N", you shared one day, while you were walking through the woods, "Sometimes I want to be just Y/N."

Sasuke hummed at your words. One thing that hasn't changed is his preference to make noises, rather than use words.

"There is nothing wrong with being both", he finally said after a minute, and you clicked your tongue, before crossing your arms in front of your chest.

"But I don't want to be both", you huffed, annoyed that he couldn't just agree with you and instead wanted to counter your point, "I don't want to sit in pretty dresses and practice medical jutsus all day long. I want to fight for my people and protect them! I want to be a warrior."

Your words made the man stop in his place, turning toward you with unreadable expression. Staring into your eyes for what feel like couple long minutes, he finally lifted his hand towards your head, before flicking you on the forehead with his middle finger.

"Ow!"

He let out a low chuckle, something you have heard only once since you've met him, his expression looking amused, while yours seemed annoyed.

"There are far too many warriors there, damaging the world", he said, before pausing for a minute, looking up at the sky, "and far too few, who can heal it."

Your lips twitched sideways, brows lifting in surprise at his sudden wisdom. Adjusting the bag on your shoulder, you continued walking down the forest path,

"The most I've fixed is a broken wrist of a child", you admitted, grumpily, "The truth is that our ninjas do not get assigned a lot of missions, therefore they do not get hurt. So my healing record is just as bad as my fighting one."

"You healed me."

Those words made you stop in place. So far you've indulged only in two fights and Sasuke managed to handle both of them pretty much by himself without even a scratch on his body. So what was he talking about?

"What?"

He took a few steps towards you, stopping right in front of your face. You were not sure if the sunset was casting it's light into his pale skin or if it was a result of some other optical illusion, but there was the slightest hint of rose colour covering his cheeks.

"You are the most stubborn, impulsive, impatient, and assertive woman I know. You also have a massive attitude problem", he said and you felt your jaw drop. Was he serious right now? Clutching your fists next to your body, your eyes narrowed and were ready to fight back, before he continued:

"And believe me, I know a lot of women with attitude. Yours is unmatched so far."

Pushing him on the chest, you managed to make him stumble a step back, while you got directly in his face. With cheeks and ears reddened from the blood boiling beneath your skin, you were unsure where his sudden passive aggression was coming from, but if he was seeking a fight, he was going to get one.

"Yeah? Well, that's funny, considering you are the most arrogant man- Hmpf!"

Sasuke's hand covered your mouth and he smirked seeing the rage behind your eyes, while shaking his head.

"See? Too impatient", he said, before moving his hand and flicking you on the forehead once again, "It is this tough personality and behaviour, that is often too much to handle, that makes you the woman I admire and respect so much. You showed me what is really important and taught me how to let go of the past... past which has been haunting me for years and which heaviness I believed I was destined to carry for years."

The beating of your heart suddenly increased, loudly drumming against your ribcage. A warm feeling spread inside your stomach, making your muscles tense. You loudly gulped, bringing your hands up to move his palm away from your mouth. He let you do it, relaxing at the feeling of your warm touch.

"Are you saying..."

He nodded.

"I am saying that during these past three months, you made me feel and experience things I have never before. Seeing the world through your eyes felt like... it felt like I was seeing it for the first time too", he moved his glance sideways, focusing on the little white flowers poking out of the grass next to you, "You have brought a fresh life into my existence."

You stayed silent, your brain taking some time to process his words. Sasuke's hand became tense in your hold, a sign of his anxiousness as a result of your lack of response. He was about to pull it away when your fingers dipped into his skin, a small playful smile playing on your lips.

"Say it."

"Say what?", he looked at you confused.

"Say "I like you.""

"I've literally just did that", he deadpanned and you rolled your eyes, tugging him close to you by his arm. Pushing your face into his again, you tried to ignore his musky smell, instead focusing on remaining a serious expression.

"You didn't say it directly, you just hinted at it", you pointed out as a matter of fact, tilting your head to the side, "I want to say it directly."

"No."

"Coward."

You stepped away with a smile, but before you could pull your hand, he laced his fingers with you, before starting to walk again. His expression and attitude seemed completely nonchalant, but the slightest blush covered the side of his cheeks, neck, and ears. You smirked a little, deciding it is enough teasing for now and giving him a light squeeze with your fingers, while continuing your journey through the woods.

"I like you too."

"I know", he said, his voice giving away the small smile on his lips. Clicking your tongue, you slapped him playfully on the shoulder, before your eyes widened.

"Wait a minute...", you stopped in your tracks, noticing the waterfall in the distance, "We are back home."

"We are", he confirmed, seemingly unphased by the fact you were back to the Village Hidden by a Waterfall, completely empty-handed. Not only you did not capture any of the rogue ninjas that threatened your home, but you didn't seem to have made a lot of progress in finding who they were during the few months you were away.

Running in front of him, you laid your hand on his chest, stopping him from continuing forward.

"Wait", you panted, your brain erratically thinking of what you should do, "We can't go back. We have not found those ninjas yet, we-"

"They have been in prison for months now", he interrupted you, "We captured them on the morning of the day we left."

Your mouth fell open and you tried to pull your hand away from his grasp, but he held it firmly. Unable to control yourself, you slapped him on the chest with your free one, emphasizing each word with each hit:

"You. Tricked. Me!"

Sasuke pulled you forward, using the opportunity to wrap his arm around your shoulder and press you against his chest, stopping your movements.

"I didn't trick you", he defended himself, "I said I was leaving because I had all the information I needed, which I did. I knew who the rogue ninjas were and I left Shibuki to deal with their punishment."

You relaxed in his embrace, processing what he said. So the whole time while you thought you were chasing some genius criminals... you were just travelling from place to place?

"The day we left... You said there is a whole world out there you haven't even seen", his words brought you back to the day you sat in the gardens, complaining to Suni, "I wanted you to have that."

His words soon started to fade away and your focus shifted to the sound of his heartbeat. Your arms, which were limply hanging down, slowly moved around his waist, pressing him against you as a silent "thank you". Your eyes set at the horizon, following the shapes of the dark clouds forming in the distance.

"It's going to rain."

His chin gently relaxed on top of your head.

"I like the rain."

cc artwork: Arthur Zima

[mackjlee9]

hiiii! i hope taht you are having a good day! my suggestion is a Leon Slut Kennedy x SMR! where we punish him for being a jealous and dubius for our relationship with ada! GOodNight!

I- is this good enough?? I don't like how it turned out 😭😭

Leon Kennedy x Top!Male!Reader [Smut]

Warning; dubcon-ish(?, overstimulation, size kink, manhandling, dumbification, feminization, buff!taller!reader.

Masterlist.

Resident Evil 4

(M/n) was walking ahead of Leon during one of their missions, and something prompted him to briefly glance behind him, in part just to make sure Leon was still there, when he caught a glimpse of red.

On instinct, he grabbed Leon's arm and dragged him until he was standing behind him, protecting him with his body, pistol in his hand, holding it up in the direction where the person was hiding.

"I know you're there, you can come out, Ada," she smirked behind the pillar she was hiding in, holstering her pistol, both hands up in the air as she walked out of her hiding spot.

"As sharp as ever, I see," (M/n) smirked and holstered his gun, taking a more relaxed stance at the sight of her. (M/n) and Ada used to work together for a short period of time, always assigned as partners and they got along pretty well -maybe too well- but eventually they parted ways, so they were close, perhaps not friends, but acquaintances. It's been years since they've seen each other.

Whilst (M/n) and Ada continue to have a small conversation, Leon is just silently observing their interaction, Ada hadn't even looked at him since she arrived, and it probably was because he was hiding behind (M/n)'s body, but he wasn't sure it wasn't because she was too focused on the (h/c) haired male, which she was. Ada had started openly flirting with him, taking a few steps closer and Leon couldn't stop himself.

He grabbed the back of (M/n)'s shirt, pulling on it, "We should keep going, (M/n)."

He looks back over his shoulder at Leon. There was nothing too obvious on his expression, but the way his brows furrowed and the look in his eyes when he glanced at Ada told (M/n) all he needed to know, and damn... He has never been the type to like a jealous partner, but the fact that Leon was jealous made him want to spoil him, maybe even tease him a little bit.

"Well, I see your puppy is mad at me, how adorable~," Ada spoke with a playful smirk, finding the current situation really entertaining, "See you around, (M/n)," and like that, she was gone.

//////

For the next twenty minutes, Leon had been completely ignoring him, constantly responding rather coldly, and (M/n) had to ask him what was wrong.

Leon held back a scoff, "I bet you never had problems with Ada."

Confused, (M/n) frowned at his words, "What-?"

"Why don't you just go back to her? I'm just a bother to you right now," okay, now (M/n) wasn't having as much fun as he did when he realized Leon was jealous.

He gritted his teeth at the insinuation that he had feelings for Ada and enjoyed her company more than his, when (M/n) was painfully aware that wasn't the case at all.

His eyes caught sight of a familiar door, it was a room they had entered before since now they were retracing their steps, as it was usual in these kinds of missions. (M/n) grabbed Leon's wrist and dragged him inside the room, fighting against the blond's struggling.

"What the fuck are you doing-?!" (M/n) didn't appreciate his tone of voice one bit, and slamming the door behind them with his foot, he took Leon to the bed in the middle of the room, getting on top of him, holding him still and preventing him from running away.

"I'm gonna make you realize how much I love you, Leon," he leaned down to kiss him, but Leon turned his head away, and (M/n) sighed, deciding this could work too, so he wasn't that angry yet. Slowly, he started leaving soft kisses down Leon's neck, tightening his grip around the blond's wrists when he felt him squirming underneath him, trying to break free, "Please, love, let me show you."

(M/n) moved Leon's hands above his head, holding them still with one hand as his now free hand sneaked under his black shirt, gently touching his warm skin, tracing the definition of his abs and up to his chest, lifting the shirt on his way up. His lips opened slightly, placing wet kisses down Leon's collarbone, gently nibbling on his skin.

"You're so pretty, Leon..." He whispered next to his ear, slowly grinding his hips down on him, letting him know just how much Leon drove him crazy with just being in his presence.

However, during this whole thing, Leon had been squirming around, tears gathering in his eyes and he could barely hold them in, deciding on masking them with anger, grunting and mumbling at (M/n) to let him go. And well, (M/n) was getting a little annoyed at that.

"Leon!" He exclaimed, observing how the blond stopped moving, looking into his glossy blue eyes, "You're all that matters to me."

Leon scoffed, ignoring the knot forming in his throat, "I'm sure you said the same thing to her."

A growl resonates in (M/n)'s chest as he gets off the bed, and when Leon thought he had finally broken his demeanor, he felt his hands down on his hips, turning him around on the bed, making Leon gasp at how rough he was when doing so.

"If words won't work, then maybe my cock will," Leon gasped at the feeling of (M/n)'s hard dick pressed against his ass, "She means nothing to me, and I'm gonna make sure you get that through that thick skull of yours."

//////

Whether Leon got it or not, that wasn't something he could answer right now. Especially not when (M/n)'s hands were keeping a tight hold on his hips.

Leon's chest was pressed against the bed, his mind completely gone and drowned in pleasure, dizzy and lightheaded, fading in and out of consciousness as (M/n) continues fucking him hard, each thrust reaching deep inside, hitting his overstimulated prostate and making his body shiver. His legs had long given out but that wasn't something that would make (M/n) stop, ending up with Leon's trembling legs dangling off the ground, being manhandled easily by his boyfriend.

His eyes kept rolling into the back of his head, tears streaming down his flushed face, drool dripping down the corner of his mouth, his gloved hands weakly pulling on the bedsheets as he releases quiet whines and whimpers, his voice hoarse and raspy from all the moaning and crying he did minutes prior, he has no idea how long its been, and he honestly doesn't care.

He could feel his thighs all sticky with cum and he swears his insides had become nothing else but a pussy for (M/n) at this point, especially when (M/n) kept telling him how good his boypussy felt around his throbbing cock.

"You're all mine and I'm all yours, love," (M/n)'s thrusts stopped as he makes Leon cockwarm him, making his eyes open wide as his body twitches and trembles, "I won't ever be able to love anyone other than you ever again, fuck- my cock was made for you, and only you, baby," (M/n)'s arms wrapped around Leon's waist, lifting him off the bed, "Love you so fucking much," his words were breathy as he whispered them desperately, holding Leon's limp body with ease.

Leon blinked slowly, regaining his awareness of what was happening, the fog in his mind dissipating slowly, and he looked at (M/n) over his shoulder.

"Love... You t-too," he managed to say slowly, swallowing his saliva when he felt his throat dry.

(M/n) leaned closer and kissed him, pinning him down on the bed again, but now holding him in a mating press position.

"'M gonna make you take all my cum, like the good babygirl you are~," Leon looked into (M/n)'s dreamily, whimpering as he felt him resume his relentless thrusts inside his weak body.

"Please~ I'm... I'm your good, pretty babygirl, all... All y-yours, sir."

Damn...

It took Leon a few hours to recover his energy and strength from all that.

[avocadorablepirate]

What Do We Call This? - 06

prev || mini masterlist || next

Pairing: Trafalgar Law x fem!reader

Summary: On a quest to find what you've been looking for, you acquire the help of the Straw Hat pirates, who've agreed to let you temporarily join them. There are however many challenges that come along with your temporary recruitment - an alliance with a certain Trafalgar Law being one of them.

Word Count: 1.4K

Warnings: fluff, angst, kinda slow burn, swearing, the occasional OP spoiler (this chapter contains spoilers for the Zou arc)

A/N: Protective Law reporting for duty. I didn't want to delve too much into the Zou arc so this is just Law being protective at various points in the arc. Also, can I just say, Zou Law is my favourite Law cause gawd dammit he looked so hot in that black button down shirt, you know the one....anyway, I hope you like it!

—⁠☆✿☆—⁠

Despite initially finding your newly acquired bounty amusing, it had made Law hyper-aware of your every move. While bounties would usually imply that you were more than capable of holding your ground in battle, to Law it signified a potential recklessness - a reason for you to test the limits of your powers to a dangerous extent, which only meant you could cause more harm to yourself than you had in the past. And whether it was the sudden soft spot he harboured for you or the fact that you had mentioned Corazon twice, indicating your familiarity - that intrigued him, Law felt protective.

This protective instinct first manifested when you were approaching Zou, or rather it was the first time Law had come to realise this need to protect you. He had watched as you emerged from one of the cabins and sat alone on the deck, a frown etched on your face. Prior to the incident at Dressrosa, he would have disregarded your demeanour, but now felt that his dynamic with you had shifted, and it was only right to show concern.

"Everything okay?" he inquired as he took the seat beside you, and the faint smile that you gave him, told him all that he needed to know.

"Who were you healing?" His eyes searched you for any fresh wounds, though you had done well to conceal your bruises with a long sleeved top and a pair of loose cargo pants, not to mention the bandages that you were already covered with.

"Some of Bartolomeo's crew had a few minor injuries, nothing to worry about," you reassured him with another smile, touched by his concern.

"Don't overwork yourself," he advised as he made himself comfortable beside you. If you attempted to heal anyone again, at least this time he could intervene.

The next time Law felt his protective instincts surge was when it came to climbing to the top of the elephant on whose back rested the island Zou, where his crew had been waiting for him. The pink dragon that Kanjuro had conjured up made Law feel uneasy. Regardless of the fact that he found your gushing over the dragon endearing, he couldn't imagine a single scenario in which a terribly drawn dragon would reach all of you to the top. However, there weren't any other options, and Luffy's excitement, plus your words of encouragement to the little dragon had everyone piling on top of him, with Law quick to take the place behind you.

The climb was going smoothly until Law noticed your body sway as if on the verge of unconsciousness. His arm instinctively encircled your waist, providing support as you fell against him. "What's wrong?" The tension in his voice was clear, and as he watched you struggle to stay awake he grabbed at your wrist to check your pulse.

"Using her powers on Bartolomeo's crew members must be making her drowsy. She should be awake by the time we reach the summit," Robin answered on your behalf, and Law couldn't help but click his tongue in frustration as you slumped further into his embrace, his hold on you tightening. He couldn't blame anyone for not knowing the repercussions of your powers, but the frustration grew within him towards everyone who had made you use those damn powers.

As Robin had said, you awoke just as the summit came into view. Law felt a sense of relief wash over him as you stirred in his arms, and with a gentle squeeze to your side grabbed your attention.

On feeling Law's presence behind you, you sat up straight and mumbled an apology as you fumbled to break away from his grasp, but he wouldn't let go, instead leaning closer to you, "I told you not to overexert yourself," he chided, and you rolled your eyes in response, missing his irate tone.

"This was before, and it really was nothing. I'm all good now." Despite your assurance, Law remained unconvinced. Once again silently vowing to protect you from any harm, especially in your endeavours to heal others.

_______________________________________________

Law remained glued to your side as you ventured further into Zou and took to examining what remained of the Minks' residence. Earlier, he had let his guard down and you were nearly electrocuted by a Minks; luckily Zoro had stepped in before she could get a hold of you. Now he watched over you carefully, his sharp gaze scanning the surroundings for any potential dangers.

"This looks like it was used to inflict torture." Law eyed you with concern when the words you spoke were accompanied with a tremor as you took in the remnants of the wooden cross that had been stuck to the ground, worry settling in the pit of your stomach. From a little further ahead Usopp yelled something about a huge drop of water, and from where you were crouched on the ground inspecting the wreckage you strained your neck to see what had cast a huge shadow onto the ground.

"We need to get to higher ground!" You heard Robin instruct through the sudden chaos. Before you could even comprehend what you were looking at, Law's hand closed around your arm, a tinge of annoyance in the sigh he let out as he transported everyone to the top of a building that hadn't been destroyed in the earlier conflict.

As you caught your breath, your heart racing from the sudden teleportation, you looked around, taking in the view from the elevated point. The destruction that spread out before you was a clear sign of the chaos that had engulfed the country, and once again a feeling of dread settled over you. You tried to peak your head over the edge of the building, curiosity getting the best of you as you attempted to catch a glimpse of the water from above flood the city. But Law's grip on your arm remained firm, holding you back from leaning any further. Fate seemed determined to test his resolve to protect you.

"Stay back, we don't know when these buildings could collapse," his voice was authoritative yet imbued with concern as he pulled you away from the edge, and you couldn't help but throw him a glare. At first his concern for your well-being had been endearing, but now it almost felt suffocating; his overprotectiveness acting as a sign that he didn't think you could handle yourself.

"I can take care of myself, you know," you muttered under your breath.

"I'd rather not take any chances," he didn't miss the irritation in your tone, countering it with his own stern response. Before you could retort, Usopp's voice cut through the almost rising tension, alerting all of you that he had spotted Luffy.

_______________________________________________

Even when Law had to momentarily separate from the group to reunite with his crew, he was reluctant to leave your side. He would claim that he would go look for them, but then wouldn't move an inch, instead his eyes fixating on you in a silent plea for you to say that you would join him. Though that was far from what you wanted. You were looking forward to reuniting with the other Straw Hats for a short banquet, and if anything craved to get away from Law's protectiveness.

Just when he had had enough of the indirect approach, and was on the verge of suggesting that you come along with him, you spoke up, seizing the opportunity to get away, "Law your crew's probably waiting for you, we'll catch up with you later." You locked arms with Nami and Robin and pulled them away before he could even get a word in.

Law, ever perceptive, knew you were trying to keep your distance, and it was starting to bug him how good you were at it. Upon returning with his crew, his interactions with you were short-lived; you would either swiftly engage in conversation with someone else, or make a quick exit the second he took his eyes off you. Your avoidance made it clear to Law that you would be more inclined to go with Luffy to Whole Cake Island, whether it was to retrieve Sanji, or evade him. Nevertheless, Law remained determined to keep you by his side. As discussions about the division of the group for the missions to Whole Cake Island and Wano arose, he was quick to suggest that you accompany him.

"Why?" you asked, your curiosity sparked by his unwavering insistence, and for a fleeting second you thought you saw a flicker of hesitation before he composed himself, "I need your assistance." His cryptic response didn't give you the explanation you were looking for, it was however, compelling, and you found yourself willingly agreeing to accompany him nonetheless.

_______________________________________________

A/N: Wanted to include the whole ninja scene but thought I would only ruin it XD. Next chapter is the one that I wrote well in advance (⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ we've made it this far y'all ᕙ⁠(͡⁠°⁠‿⁠ ͡⁠°⁠)⁠ᕗ.

taglist: @trafalgardaria @deathsmajestysworld

[lincolndjarin]

Best Kept Secret

chapter sixteen : absolution (RE-UPLOAD)

ao3 link �� series masterlist ✩ main masterlist ✧

pairing : bodyguard!Din Djarin x afab!princess!reader

rating : 18+ mdni

word count : 4.6k

summary : the reader attends a ball

warnings, etc. : language, angst

A/N : i had to change accounts so this is a re-upload of my ongoing fic bks!!

There’s a visceral sense of dread when you wake up, for several reasons. 

The glaring obvious culprit of your discomfort would be the fact that today’s your husband's birthday. The much more subtle one being the fact that it still sounds like someones revving a podracer out in the main room, clearly indicating to you that the Mandalorian is still asleep. 

You should wake him. 

The last thing you need is the girls coming in to find him in your bed.     

So you sit up, trying to stretch as quietly as possible before getting up and making your way out.

There are a lot of questions milling about in our mind right now, the most prominent one regarding his memory of last night.

Will he remember what he said?

Will you tell him if he doesn’t? 

He seemed pretty out of it, and even if he did recall his words would he even address them?

He has to. He can’t just do that to you. It doesn’t matter how tired he is, he doesn’t get to toy with you like this.

So you step into the main room. 

How is it possible to look so serious while sleeping yet sound so ridiculous? 

You make your way to his side of the bed, gently shaking his shoulder. 

“Mando, you need to get up.” You mumble, still trying to wake up your own brain.

He’s unmoving. His snores are as consistent as ever as you reach down to grab both of his shoulders, shaking him much less gently.

“Get up, the girls are gonna be here any min-“

You don’t even get a chance to scream as you’re flipped onto the bed. In the blink of an eye he’s got you shoved into the mattress. The wind gets knocked out of you, on instinct your hands go to take a defensive position in front of you but they’re pinned into the sheets, his body on all fours hovering above yours. 

Neither of you speaks for a moment as he seems to still be waking up, your eyes wide as you stare up at him. 

“…It’s just me.” You manage to squeak out through your shock and his grip on your wrists immediately loosens. Before he has a chance to react further there’s a single knock at the door signifying that Elaine and Lysa have arrived and as the door swings open you both move too quickly and your forehead knocks against his helmet as you struggle to get out from under him which subsequently sends you off the edge of the bed.

You can’t help but think that this morning can’t possibly get worse. 

Of course it does though because you’re you and for some reason the Maker loves to see you suffer. 

You grab onto him for support before you go tumbling off the mattress and of course he goes off of it with you and of course he twists himself so he hits the ground first. 

Normally you’d be touched by the fact that his natural instinct was to protect you, but you don’t really have a chance to because the wind is knocked out of you for the second time this morning as your chest slams against his when his back hits the ground. 

The girls walk in on the scene you’ve found yourself in and their chatter immediately goes silent. 

Your first thought as you get your bearings is, at least you aren’t on the bed anymore. 

But you can’t help but wish you’d stayed like that as you realize the position you’re in now. Your thighs straddle his waist and he’s holding you against him as you both groan in pain. 

You both turn to look at the girls in sync, Lysa has a look of horror on her face and Elaine simply shakes her head as she grabs the other girl's arm, dragging her out of the room in silence before slamming the door shut. 

You stare at the Mandalorian underneath you once they’re gone. You must look like a tomato with how red your face has become.

Before you can make it any worse he silently grabs you by the waist and lifts you off of him, setting you down next to him, neither of you daring to move further until he clears his throat. 

“Are you alright?” He sounds as embarrassed as you feel.

“Yeah, just a little shaken up.” You whisper back. He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. 

“I didn’t mean to, I’m not used to being-“

“I know. It’s okay.”

It makes you a bit sad. What a life he must have known to have reacted like that when being woken up. To immediately be under the assumption that someone is going to hurt him.

He spends all of his time protecting you but who protects him? 

Before you have any more time to wallow in that realization he’s on his feet and pulling you to yours. 

You open your mouth to say something, anything, but he’s already heading for the door and you don’t bother trying to stop him as he goes, leaving the door open for the girls to come back in. As they step back into the room cautiously you watch him lean against the opposite wall before Elaine closes the door. 

They both stare at you expectantly but you don’t have any words. No sense in lying and the truth sounds like a lie so you just keep your mouth shut. 

When they realize you aren’t going to explain yourself they sit you at the vanity, Elaine takes a brush to your hair as Lysa hurries off to the closet, she looks more mortified than you do. 

You frown at the mirror and watch as Elaine stifles a laugh.

“It isn’t funny.” You grumble as she continues brushing your hair.

“Of course it isn’t, my lady.” She dons an expression of mock seriousness as you turn around to glare at her.

“Nothing happened, he was just sleeping.” Before the words even leave your mouth you know they must sound absurd as she chokes back another laugh.

“I’m sure he was ma’am.” She turns your head back towards the mirror and you don’t bother arguing further. 

Lysa returns from the closet with a dress you’re sure you’ve never seen before and you can’t help but gawk at it. 

It’s gorgeous. You swear you haven’t seen it there before, it’s a beautiful champagne ball gown, she sets it carefully onto the bed.  

“Shall we go to the fresher? We’ve already drawn your bath my lady.” Elaine takes you by the arm and leads you out of the room. The Mandalorian looks like he’s managed to pull himself together as the girls lead you to the fresher down the hall. He follows closely behind, only halting when you arrive, thank gods he stays outside when the girls usher you in. 

They carefully strip you of your nightgown and Lysa leads you to the tub. Once you’re settled they prepare to take their leave. 

“You’ll need to see to it that you are properly clean, my lady, you’ll want to look your best for tonight, can I get you anything before we leave to continue your preparations?” Elaine cocks an eyebrow as Lysa hurries out, still not making eye contact with you. “Don’t worry about her.” Elaine winks and you frown at the implication.

“Just a book if I’m going to be here for a while I suppose.” 

She nods.

“Right away, my lady. And shall I send the Mandalorian in when I take my leave?”

“Elaine!” You shriek as she leaves, snickering until the door is shut, leaving you to stare, embarrassed, into the bubbles. 

After you have to sit in your shame for a few minutes she returns with a smirk, handing you some raunchy romance novel which you take with a scowl before she leaves without a word. 

You soak in the tub for quite some time. You get through a good third of the book by the time the girls come to get you. 

If you thought they spent too much time dressing you on a normal day that was nothing compared to today. Hours of doing absolute nonsense to your body. They rub unfamiliar oils into your hair and skin, pluck at stray hairs and spend an obscene amount of time deciding what jewelry would look best with the dress. 

You try to find a time to talk to Mando but everytime you think you’ll get the chance one of the girls whisks you away for another unfamiliar skin care regimen until you feel scrubbed and raw. 

They quite literally do this the entire day. By the time they’re done the sun is setting outside your window and you know the ball is going to begin soon. They lace you into the gown. It really is a work of art with its long flowing skirt and the way it hugs your torso. A beaded pattern runs up the front like vines. The color of it reminds you of the way Elaine makes your tea and caf, a light cream color. 

They decided on pearls. Simple and elegant strings of pearls around your neck and wrists. You stop them as they go to do your hair. 

“Can we leave it down? I like it the way it is.” You stare at yourself in the mirror. 

You look nice. Really nice.

Like you.

“It looks good like that.” Lysa speaks up, seemingly she’s recovered from earlier. 

“If you need anything at all, do not be afraid to call for us, my lady.” Elaine says as she smiles at you before they make their way out. 

“Elaine?” 

“Yes, princess?” She turns to face you, Lysa on her arm.

“Send the Mandalorian in please.” She doesn’t hide her smirk.

“Right away, my lady.”

They’re gone and you’re left alone for a few moments as you admire their work in the mirror until you hear the door softly creak open. He doesn’t speak as he enters, closing the door behind him, you smooth out the front of your gown with your hands before turning to face him.

“Can we talk about last night?” You try not to sound like you’re begging but in all honesty if that’s what it takes to get him to talk you’ll do it.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” His voice is cold and unfeeling. You hate it. 

“Please don’t do this.” You close your eyes. You give him a moment, a chance to say something, but he never speaks so you take a deep breath before marching towards the door, he’s hot on your heels.

“Princess, please, just wait-“ He tries to shut the door but you yank it open.

“I’m sick of waiting, I’m not doing this again, now let's go before we’re late.” You snap at him before taking off towards the main hall, the sounds of music and chatter already filling the castle. 

He doesn’t try to stop you again.

You walk until you see a line of people entering the hall, all of them clearing a path for you, as you step into the noisy, bright room you’re immediately overwhelmed. A man immediately to your left loudly announces:

“Princess Harand.”

You cringe slightly at the name as you stare out into the crowded hall.

There's way more people than you had expected. If it weren’t for his tasteless electric blue suit you wouldn’t even know where to begin to look for Kodo. Is it literally glowing? It looks like the jacket is literally glowing.

You have to shimmy your way through the crowd to get to him, eventually, once people see the Mandalorian they start clearing a path. He always stays just a few steps behind.

Get to Kodo, wish him a happy birthday, have a few drinks, make sure people see you, then get out. It’s easy enough.

When you finally make it to Kodo you can hear him saying something vulgar loudly to a group of men, many of whom you recognize from that terrible dinner a few moons back. A fair amount of them take a step back as you approach with the Mandalorian. 

It disgusts you to do so but you lean in to give Kodo a chaste kiss on the cheek.

“Happy birthday, my prince.” You give him the best smile you can muster considering the fact that he repulses you and you’re already in a sour mood because of Mando.

“There’s my little mouse! I’ve been waiting for you!” He wraps the arm that isn’t currently nursing a drink around your waist as he pulls you in for a sloppy, drunken kiss. You manage to pull away from it quickly and resist the urge to wipe your mouth. He holds you at his side for a disappointing amount of time. Dragging you around like an accessory or perhaps a show dog for everyone to see, never even directly speaking to you. That is until about an hour and a half into your time at the ball, he leans in to whisper to you, his breath hot on your ear.

“Say, little mouse, what do you reckon the Mandalorians type is?” 

The abruptness of his question makes your blood run cold.

Married women? Princesses?

You struggle to come up with an answer for a brief moment until he drunkenly slurs in your ear again.

“I’d like to give him the night off, maybe give him a girl for the evening.”

The thought makes you sick. 

Of course, maybe the Mandalorian would want that sort of thing. But you want no part of it if that is the case so you give Kodo a weak smile as you eye Mando, still standing behind you, certainly listening in to this conversation.

“I have no idea, dear husband.” You whisper back. 

Almost as if on cue the doors are pulled open and you see exactly what Elaine meant when she said that this party would get rowdy as the night went on. What must be dozens of girls are ushered into the room and Kodo immediately releases his grip on your waist. 

“Run along now little mouse, perhaps go get yourself some refreshments.” He doesn’t even bother to look at you as he says it, his eyes trained on the women as they make their way over to him. Birthday boy must get to pick first you think as you roll your eyes, making your way over to a table with drinks, gulping down a glass of wine. As you look around the room you can’t help but laugh dryly.

It seems like all the other wives have been dismissed. 

You sip on another glass of wine as you watch Kodo pick out three girls.

Ambitious.

You want to laugh again but you don’t get the chance to as Kodo points behind him and see him leading one of the girls towards Mando.

You hadn’t even realized he wasn’t with you, Kodo must have told him to stay. 

She’s pretty. 

It makes your stomach churn as her fingers trace his chest plate and you can’t look anymore as she starts whispering to him. You look back to your husband whose tongue is already down another woman's throat.

That should bother you more, but you feel nothing as you stare.

Yet when you look at Mando simply speaking to the beautiful woman before him your heart clenches. 

So you stop looking, instead you shove yourself through the crowds until you make your way out of the party. 

Struggling to catch your breath as you stumble through the hallway, kicking your heels off and rushing towards the door you know will take you to the gardens. Desperate for air. 

You don’t hear his footsteps coming up behind you. You don’t even see him until you’re outside the castle, marching towards the forest trail. 

“Princess, please.” You hear the crackle of the modulator but ignore it as you continue stomping barefoot across the grounds. He catches up easily, he reaches for you but you swat his hand away.

“Go back inside, I’m sure that girl is waiting for you.” You snarl before continuing to make your way into the trees. You aren’t exactly sure what the goal is here but you just know that you need to get as far away from the castle as possible. 

“Don’t do that, you know I didn’t ask for that.” He pleads as you turn around to face him, hiking your skirt up a bit.

“You seemed bored and she seemed to be entertaining you just fine.” You hiss, before turning back around and continuing your hasty trek until you finally reach the gardens, settling near a few trees as you look up at the moon.

What’s the plan now that you’re here?

You’d kind of assumed that he wouldn’t follow you yet here he is, moonlight reflecting off of his armor. 

“Go back to her, I’m sure you’ll have a much better time there than you will here.” You grumble as he stands behind you, dutifully as ever.

“I dismissed her. Obviously.” His tone is snarky and his breath sounds shallow as you turn around to better assess him.

He’s panting. It’s a bit surprising considering he’s so rarely out of breath, he’s never struggled to keep up with you previously and in instances of stress he rarely sounds winded.

Yet right now his chest heaves under his armor and he sounds as if he has been chasing you his entire life and has only just now caught up.

“What is wrong with you? You sound as though you have followed me across the planet, not out into the gardens.” You scold him as you lean against one of the trees. Sick of playing this endless game with him as his head falls back in exasperation. 

“This is what happens when one aches as I have ached.” He growls back, taking a step towards you and pointing an accusatory finger in your direction. 

“You… ache?” Your brows are furrowed in confusion at his choice of words as you scoff. 

“Yes.” He drops his hand to his side as he sighs. 

“I don’t- I don’t understand.” You stand up straighter as your gaze softens a bit, he sounds so dejected.

His helmet faces you with such severity that it is as if there isn’t a layer of steel between you. It’s as if you’re staring directly into each other's eyes. 

It’s quiet. The only sounds are his heavy breathing and the occasional sound of bugs buzzing through the leaves of the greenery around you. The modulator crackles every so often like he’s trying to figure out what to say but just can’t seem to find the words. Every so often he’ll stutter out the start of a sentence and then stop.

You don’t walk away this time. 

And you don’t chastise him. 

Instead you let him figure it out as you stare at him, unable to keep the sympathetic look off your face as you try to come off as stern. 

You give him time, he watches you as you watch the moon. 

After several minutes he seems to settle into a calm so you look back into the visor. 

He sighs, and when he does speak his voice is low and hoarse.

“I ache. Day and night, my flesh, my bones, and my mind ache.”

Your breath catches in your throat.

He takes a step towards you.

“I ache in your presence, I ache when we are apart and the only thing that soothes the agony within me is to be the object of your attention. I cannot so much as breathe without being wounded by you. You have buried yourself so deeply within my very being that I cannot escape you. There is not a blade in this galaxy that is sharp enough to carve out the mark you have left inside of me.” His voice doesn’t tremble, he doesn’t so much as stutter as he speaks now. 

You have to look away. You don’t know how it’s possible for someone wearing a helmet to have such an intense gaze but you can’t bear to see it anymore as you stare at the ground. 

“You don’t mean that. You can’t possibly mean that.” Is all you manage to mumble, your mind racing almost as fast as your heart as he takes another step towards you, he’s within arms reach of you but he makes no move to touch you yet.

“I could leave right now. Pack up my things and fly to the furthest outer rim planet I can find, spend the rest of my days alone, and every second of my existence would still be spent wondering if you are okay, what you are doing, and if you are happy.”

He brings his hand up to rest under your chin, tilting your head up to face him once more before dropping it to his side again.

“They could drag me away right now, lock me up, bind me in steel in the deepest cell the castle dungeon has to offer. They could torture me for things I’ve done to you, for the things I yearn to do to you, and I would live out the rest of my days hoping that my imprisonment does not inconvenience you.” 

He takes one more step forward. You’re certain you’re trembling at this point, his voice drips with a level of devotion that you cannot begin to fathom. He’s close enough now that if you listen carefully enough you can hear his real voice behind the helmet along with the modulated version, unfiltered and raw.

“You could force me to my knees right now, make me renounce my creed, tear my helmet from my head, and lay me bare for your judgment. And all I would do is pray that my face is up to your standards.” 

His breathing is labored as he stares down at you.

There is no air of falsehood to his words yet you can’t seem to accept them. 

You want nothing more than to believe everything he is saying but you just can’t bring yourself to, as you stare right back up at him.

“Why should I believe that? Why should I believe a word that comes out of your blasphemous mouth when I don’t even know who I’m talking to?” You can feel your anger bubbling to the surface.

He doesn’t seem to have a response and you’re getting fired up so you don’t bother waiting for him this time.

“Why should I believe that this is not a trick? That you are not simply toying with me to get me into your bed?” You jab a finger into his chest plate as you say it. 

He doesn’t so much as move an inch.

“Every hour I find that I am speaking to a new version of you, why should I believe that this version, the version that aches will not be gone just as quickly as the others?” Your voice is strained as you continue to berate him, the part of you that longs to believe his every word is creeping into your mind as you try desperately to shove it away. “I don’t even know which one I’m speaking to now, so who is it Mando?” 

He takes another step forward and you shove him back this time. You know you aren’t actually strong enough to move him so you’re grateful for the fact that he takes a step back on his own. 

“I know I’ve been cruel to you and I’m sorry, you think it doesn’t bring me shame to know that I’ve hurt you?” His voice carries that gentle tone that always manages to soothe you, the one he reserves just for you, except this time it does nothing to put you at ease.

“It brings you shame? Imagine how I feel. You do not know what it is to ache as I have, you are one of the only good things I have left and I don't even know what you are. So tell me Mando, who have you decided to be today? My bodyguard? My lover? Perhaps you would like to be my rival today, or maybe even my friend?” You feel your eyes growing misty as you fight to keep what little composure you have left. “Spit it out! Which Mando have you decided to be today? I’d love to know who I’m talking to, which one have you decided to be? Who are you Mando?”

“Din.”

“What?”

“Right now I’m Din.” 

It takes a moment for it to register in your brain. And when it does there isn’t room for anger anymore, and there isn’t room for confusion. There’s only room for him, he’s taking up all the space. 

Din. 

“Is that okay?” His voice is barely a whisper.

Just Din.

You don’t want to be mad at Din.

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry. For everything.”

“It’s okay.”

“It isn’t though.”

“Din is enough, for now.”

You want to take his hand, something, anything to comfort him, to let him know that for now it’s okay, but before you get the chance you feel leather covering your eyes. His hand presses gently against the top half of your face and your vision goes dark. 

And then you hear the hiss of air. 

You let out a small gasp and as you do his lips are on yours. Warm, soft, and needy. 

You’ve read hundreds of kisses. Every one of your little romance novels has them. They’re always rough, desperate and electric. That’s always how they’re described. Like an electric shock.

This isn’t that. 

This is familiar, and sweet, quite literally his mouth tastes like vanilla. (If that’s even possible.) It crosses your mind that this is probably his first kiss but it certainly doesn’t feel like it. As his lips fit against yours like they were made to. As if he were forged just for you. His kiss feels like he wants to melt into you, like he’d be content to do just this for the rest of his life.

But most importantly, it soothes the ache.

He doesn’t pull away, he breathes into you. His mouth is persistent against yours, his stubble scratching against your chin. When you bring your hands up to cup his face you realize he’s holding his helmet up just enough to expose everything below his nose. You settle for resting them on his shoulders instead. 

He doesn’t ask for more.

Just this.

He doesn’t push for anything other than his lips on yours and it gives you a strange feeling of safety. 

And it’s over too soon. 

He pulls away and before you’re ready for it to end you hear air hissing again and his hand moves from your eyes to cradle your cheek.

You’re staring at Beskar, as if he never even took it off in the first place.

“Was that okay?” He sounds almost self-conscious and you can’t help but smile.

“More than okay.” You murmur as his thumb caresses your face.

“I will make it up to you. For everything I did, I will find a way to make it up to you.” 

“Okay, Din.” You say softly as he reaches down to take your hand. 

“No more days, no more rules, and no more games. Just you.” You let him bring your hand up to rest on the steel of his helmet. “I’ll make it up to you sarad.” He holds your hand there for a moment before taking a step back. “I have an idea.”

It feels too good to be true. All of this, and something in the back of your mind tries to remind you of that fact but you push it away. 

“I want you to know me, is that okay?” 

You nod.

He holds his hand out to you. 

You take his hand. You take Din’s hand.

“Would you like to see my cabin sarad’ika?” 

I am no longer doing taglists so follow @lincolndjarinnotifs and turn on notifications to be notified when new chapters are posted !!

[unfortunately-a-miraculous-fan]

Every goddamn day, I think about how Chameleon was a very stupid episode, but for the exact opposite reason that I initially thought it was.

I always thought it was because the entire class was acting unreasonably stupid, but they were actually pretty reasonable, all things considered.

It was Marinette's writing that was the issue.

You're not gonna complain about your assigned seat being moved around to accommodate a disabled new student, nor demand proof of her disability, that would just be a dick move. (It doesn't make sense for the ENTIRE CLASS to be moved around, but I'll ignore that point because it's just kind of a nitpick.)

Many members of the class have personally met at least one celebrity, with a few classmates even being celebrities themselves. Lila's stories are certainly out there, even by this class' standards. But it's her first day, and again, most regular people don't hound others for proof on claims like this, even the ridiculous claims. (It doesn't make sense for the class to be so enthralled by her stories, but I would just chalk that up to them being nice to the new kid. The show does get kind of ridiculous with how much the class trusts her later on though.)

Lila could've absolutely caught that napkin on instinct. It would've hurt, but she wouldn't be thinking about her injury because that's how instincts work. Lila actually almost drew unnecessary attention to herself by making up that "explanation" on the spot, as protecting herself with her injured wrist needed no defending in the first place.

The only reason Marinette knew about Lila's lies to Adrien is because she stalked the two of them, which Alya and Nino are rightfully distrustful of. (It's still completely stupid for them to ignore her story entirely though. That's potential evidence of Lila lying to someone. At the very least, they should've verified the story with Adrien. But they just completely blew it off, and that point is never brought up again.)

From the class' perspective, Marinette complained about accommodations made for the new girl's disability because she wasn't allowed to sit close to her crush anymore, demanded hard evidence of the new girl's claims despite having some ridiculous celebrity stories herself, threw a napkin at her, potentially making her wrist injury even worse when she protected herself out of pure instinct, and then stormed off when that didn't work out in her favor.

I don't like this episode, not because of the way the class was acting, but because they took the girl who is supposed to be the smartest character in the show, and had her make probably the worst possible decision in every single situation. There are fatal flaws that cause characters to make understandable mistakes, and then there are characters just ignoring the obvious right answers because that would make far too cohesive of a plot, I guess.

They could've literally had some Spy vs Spy esque shenanigans between Lila and Marinette where neither can openly admit what they both know the other knows and have to skirt around social barriers in order to make the other look bad while saving face themselves. That would not only write itself, but would make more sense given their respective characterizations and would allow for much more interesting drama and character dynamics across multiple seasons.

[drksanctuary]

I guess I’m just gonna be behind from now on. @titan-army-week

Part 5: Supplies

When Alabaster regains his el senses and gets them back to shore, he’s in survival mode once more. It’s uncanny how it kicks in automatically . He is suddenly 12 years old again, running from a monster and his dad…no. It’s not time to think about past failures… not when he had a brand new failure to-

“Alabaster?” Marina’s says, her small voice cutting into Alabaster’s despairing.

“Huh? Yes what is it Marina?”

“I’m hungry” she says, almost ashamed.

“Ah…well” Alabaster looks around to find a small convenience store with its neon open sign on and flickering. He pats his pocket. Of course he doesn’t have his wallet with him. Not like it has much money in it anyway.

He runs through the usual tricks in his head. Most require mist cards (which he doesn’t have) or illusions (which require . His last mist travel jump to get to the two of them to shore has him exhausted. Marina has magic to spare. But she’s mostly been practicing traps and protections spells.

He runs his fingers through his hair in frustration as he he thinks. His hand is sopping wet. At least the water washed away most of the blood on his face but it still hurt like a bitch.

“Right” Al says “it has to be in the middle fucking August didn’t doesn’t exactly look like we’re coming in from the rain”

Marina shivers. Al instinctively holds her and rubs her shoulder.

“Oh! You remember that trick we pulled on Dennis had the nerve to say we can’t do anything without magic?”

“Yeah…why?” Marina asks

“I have an idea”

***

Marina bursts into the store laughing loudly. She heads over to the candy section and starts picking out one of each thing. “I want this one! This one! Oooh and this one! And ooh this one??” She piles them on the counter and the cashier regards her, almost asking for money when Marina says

“Oh wait!” She dashes off to the chips aisle. “This and this and-“

Alabaster enters looking frantic. Marina ducks to hide.

“Jenny?” Alabaster whisper shouts “come on…mom’s gonna be pissed!”

Marina stays quiet .

“Jenny! It’s not hide and seek time!”

Marina moves slowly to the other side of the aisle as Al comes towards her.

“I’m not kidding! Let’s go!” Al says channeling all the impatient teenager energy he can muster.

Marina takes the chance and runs out of the store, hands full of chip bags .

The cashier who is a bit stuck behind the pile of candy and safety pane. Almost darts over but grabs the phone instead.

“Fuck! JENNY NO!” Al darts after her.

When they are on the outside in a place that had a wall obscuring the view, Marina chucks 2 bags of chips behind the trash can.

Alabaster gives her a thumbs up before he pretends grab her and drag her back in the store.

“I’m so so sorry” alabaster says “she stupid and hyper” he says as he dumps what must be 6 bags of chips onto the counter in top of the candy. He quickly grabs a Kit Kat bar off of the counter amongst the chaos of falling bags and pockets it.

“What do you say?” Al scolds

Marina pouts

“Jenny” Al admonishes.

“I’m sorry” she says

The cashier, who seems to have either bought the ruse or figured it wasn’t worth his trouble.

“It’s fine” he says

“Thank you” Al says “we’re leaving. NOW” he emphasizes and holds Marina by the wrist.

He pulls her along while she continues her role as pouty energetic brat.

They grab the two chip bags and head away, waiting until they’re a good distance away to partake.

Alabasters mind is already going to next steps. Finding a drachma might get them ability to Iris message. Luke had small safe havens throughout the area…maybe he’d find one of those?

“Alabaster?” Marina says mid Chip munch

“Hmm?”

“Is it ok…that…that was fun?”she says and look up at him with just the biggest brightest eyes and a wide grin.

His heart crunches like an empty tin can under a good stomp.

“Of course it is.” Alabaster says

“But…but everyone-“

“Everyone…no matter their state would just be glad you’re ok…bonus points if you are happy”

Marina chomps her chip pensively but nods. “I hope they’re ok.”

“Me too Marina” he pats her shoulder, holding her closer to keep her warm. “I really really…hope so”

[blindvogel]

Continuing on with the indulgent (me, I am indulging myself here) little modern AU. Now onto the action-y part of things.

~~~

Just a piece in the game (Part 2 of 3) (Part 1 ) It is decidedly past midnight when Kamari lets herself into the museum via one of the employee entrances that would be unguarded during this timeframe. The soft leather soles of her boots make no sound as she strides through the halls toward her goal, already familiar with the path even in the dark and knowing which hallways to avoid to pass the guards on patrol. The only other security measure to speak of that she will have to figure out how to deal with efficiently is the enchantment on the glass case. She feels sorry for Emmrich - he was right to worry about its ability to keep the artifact safe. 

When she finally reaches the last hallway leading into the exhibition a light that should not be there draws her up short. Silently she swears and slows her steps to a careful prowl, inching her way closer to a position that lets her see into the room. 

Kamari almost swears out loud when she sees that it is Emmrich, surrounded by wisps of magelight, leaning over the item she is here to purloin. What in the Maker’s name is he doing here at this hour, and also - what is he doing? Unlike her he hasn’t changed, still wearing that lovely suit and the several dozen bracelets that twinkle in the summoned light. If he is a thief  - which, a shocking thought - he’s perhaps one of the worst she has seen, being that flashy or careless. 

Or just confident? That thought doesn’t sit quite right with her, it would mean she might have misjudged him completely. 

The much more important question is however how is she supposed to get past him. Kamari does not want to hurt him, under no circumstances. And if she can at all avoid being seen then that would be best. 

As she is considering her options, she pulls out her telescope short staff, extending it with a flick of her wrist, the crystal powering it hidden in the palm of her hand. She will need it in either scenario.

Unfortunately the noise of the staff extending carries, catching Emmrich’s attention. He straightens, squints against his own lights to try and see her hidden by the shadows. Really, this alone tells her that whatever he is doing is entirely out of his comfort zone. However she would be stupid to underestimate him.

Especially when several of his bracelets ignite in Veilfire, pouring down into his open palm. With quick practiced movements he is soon holding a length of rope in his hands, turned into a lasso or a whip in a heartbeat in the hands of a trained Mourn Watcher. Less devastating on a living being, but not less painful in skilled hands. Kamari is very certain he knows how to wield it.

“Who is there?” he calls out, his voice dangerously low which she would find sexy if they weren’t in the middle of a standoff. 

She shifts her weight from both feet to her left, angling her body to move quicker in a moment.

His arm shoots forward, the rope follows in its trajectory but Kamari saw it coming, jumps to the side avoiding it. However she cannot avoid being seen. The Veilfire illuminates her chest and arm as she dodges. So much for a sneaky option. 

Then a glint in the shadows to Emmrich’s right catches her attention. Someone else is there. 

A second later a small silver ball rolls out of the shadows and bounces against his foot, drawing Emmrich’s attention away from her and down. Another point for him being clueless as he just stares at what is an active flash-bang. 

Kamari acts on instinct, forcing her body to propel itself forward, pushing herself with a Fadestep, another, until she slams into him, dropping her staff to protectively wrap both arms around his head. Her momentum is enough to send them both flying, twisting so that she hits the ground with her side first before they roll to a halt. 

Despite pressing her eyes shut there are bright specks dancing in front of Kamari’s eyes from the flash-bang and her ears ring painfully, dizzying and disorienting her as she pushes Emmrich off her and attempts to scramble to her feet. 

Her first attempt sends her falling down painfully on her knee, her ribs screaming in protest as well when she twists to reach for her staff. 

There is someone by the glass case, getting to the artifact before she can - the exact thing that she tried so hard to prevent - while she is on the ground forcing down a wave of nausea. With a frustrated growl she staggers to her feet again, staying upright this time, and lunges after the retreating shadow. 

Her staff swings in a wide arc, catching the other thief in the shoulder, spinning them around to face her. Her next swing is parried with a slim dagger and Kamari grins, baring teeth. Electricity crackles around her and flows down her staff, jolting her opponent who drops the dagger. For a split second she sees a pair of wide blue eyes staring back at her, then narrow and dart behind her. Clearly they have figured out her weak spot.

“No, you don’t,” she barks. Kamari swings again, staff crackling with lightning, fighting her bruised body to do her bidding and move to cover Emmrich who she suspects to be behind her. Her swing goes wide as the figure jumps away. 

Instead nearly blinding pain erupts across her back, fire licking at every nerve ending as she collapses back down on her abused knees. A ruse. Motherf-

Taking the opportunity the thief takes off running, disappearing into the dark of the museum. 

This time Kamari doesn’t have the strength to get back on her feet to pursue, her body feels overwhelmed by too many different painful sensations. 

Instead Emmrich kneels down at her side a moment later, worry writ large across his face. He doesn’t look quite as put together as earlier but otherwise it looks like she’s got the brunt of it. Good. 

“Maker, Kamari. I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to-” He sounds panicked now, and yes, she probably looks like something chewed on her and spit her out. 

She shuts him up by simply putting her hand over his mouth. Not how she imagined touching his lips for the first time but at this point everything has gone tits up anyway. 

“Help me up. We need to get out of here before the guards finish their round.” She says wearily and pulls her hand away, placing it on his shoulder instead. 

Emmrich simply stares at her for a second and she can tell that he is trying to process everything that happened in the span of just a handful of minutes. 

“You are hurt. I have-” He stops himself when she squeezes his shoulder. 

“Neither you nor I are supposed to be here, am I right? If the guards find us, then I will be in pain and we will both be arrested, and I can only deal with one of those things tonight. Please, Emmrich.” 

That seems to convince him or at the very least to get him moving, as he wraps an arm around her middle and pulls her with him to their feet. Kamari winces when he touches her back or her side but the worst of the pain subsides eventually as they quietly hobble through the museum with her nudging Emmrich along on the right path. 

When the fresh night air finally hits her face, Kamari could weep in relief, but they are not out of trouble just yet. 

“We need to keep going, I have a-”

“Just a moment, Kamari,” Emmrich interrupts her firmly, which is so rare she quiets, staring at him. 

He releases his hold on her and begins to take off his suit jacket while she sways and continues to stare at him, gobsmacked. When he then drapes it across her shoulders before putting his arm around her again she finally catches on. 

“Sorry for getting blood on your jacket,” she says as they set off again and feels his fingers tighten a little on her waist. He is not looking at her, firmly staring forward as he guides her away from the museum. She wonders if he’s more mad at her or at himself.

“My apartment is not far from here, and your injuries need tending to.” 

Obviously she’s never been to his apartment before so she is curious, but she is also not in the best shape to argue either way so she doesn’t.

“You first or me?” she asks him instead while they walk. Things could not have gone worse tonight, she’d rather not lose her friendship with Emmrich too.

“Hmm? What do you mean?” he finally turns his attention to her, his brows furrowed quizzically. 

“What were you doing in the museum, Emmrich?” She means it to be a simple question, given tonight’s events but he still blushes. 

“I could ask you the same question..”, he murmurs, stalling.

She sighs but can’t help a smile either way. “Alright. I can go first then. I was there to steal the Disk of Ghislain before the DreadWolf got his hands on it, which unfortunately didn’t work out. I don’t know what he will use this artifact for but given his track record it’s not going to be good.”

Kamari does her best to deliver this information matter-of-factly. He’ll either judge her for it or he won’t, believe her or not, she sees no point in lying further.

“That- that was the DreadWolf?” Shock and worry flash across his face. At least this means he believes her.

“No, just one of his agents. We’ve been hunting the DreadWolf for a few years now, he’s almost never involved in person in any of his smaller acquisitions.” She thinks about it for a moment, going over the information she’s gathered so far in her head, and almost misses Emmrich’s jaw visibly drop. 

“Is that why you left? Is that what you have been doing in the past years? Kamari, that’s terribly dangerous!” He stops walking entirely, looking at her so seriously that it feels almost disapproving. Almost.

She pulls at him to keep going, winces when that strains the muscles in her side. 

“Apologies,” he murmurs and they continue on in silence for a little bit. She lets him digest what she just told him and doesn’t push to hear his reasons for breaking into the museum. If he even had to. For all she knows he might just have used a key.  

“I was there to put a note on top of the Disk to prove a point with the museum security, that it is insufficient.” He says it so softly that she almost misses it, and oh, what a truly ridiculous series of events tonight is.

Kamari can’t stop herself, she starts giggling, then laughing hard enough that her side hurts more and tears run down her face. What are the odds of three people being there at the same time, all technically there to prove that security at the Necropolis museum sucks, one of those being the sweetest, most inexperienced not-burglar she knows, the other an agent of the DreadWolf? Truly, what are the odds?

“I’m glad you see the humor in it.” Emmrich is visibly unsure if he should feel offended or amused but as she continues to look up at him his face finally settles on something that feels far more like fondness.

He reaches over with his free hand to gently wipe the tears off her cheeks, catching Kamari off guard. She has to turn her head to hide the blush that is burning under her skin.

[dumbkiri]

𝕆𝕌ℝ 𝕎𝔸ℝ 『4』

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰᴏᴜʀ: ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀᴅꜱ ꜱᴀɪᴅ

[Name] should have kept her mouth shut. Now she lost an important person figuratively speaking. Everything was moving too fast and she was left behind with the mission to protect her brother and the Eldians. She's never drinking again.

[Name] released Levi and slumped back into the cushion of the booth. Her eyes skimmed over her drink which only had one sip left inside of it. She grabbed the mug and allowed herself to indulge in that small amount of liquid. 

She swallowed thickly and said, “I hold power of one of the nine titans. It can make structures and weapons with the hardening ability.” [Name] looked at Levi and hummed, “Right, hardening is like armor or crystallization. It’s much stronger than the Armored Titan’s ability though. So I’m basically impenetrable.”

“Stop talking,” Levi whispered to warn her. 

[Name] sighed and put the mug back on the table, “Do you believe me or not?” 

“I’m not sure if I want to believe you. I’m not sure what to do with the information right now.” Levi gave her a side glance and watched her hands rub together. The woman shrugged her shoulders and pressed her lips into a thin line. She was thinking and Levi didn’t like that she was. 

A drunk [Name] leads to very bad-

“I’ll just show you a small party trick for you to believe me,” Her hands pulled apart, but as the space between them gradually got bigger something was being materialized. His eyes widened a fraction before he grabbed her hands and forced them under the table. His face was dangerously close to her as he harshly whispered, “Do you have any idea of what you’re doing?”

[Name] looked at him dumbly and looked down at her hands, one of which held a dagger made of crystallization. “Well, yeah, “She responded nonchalantly, “I just made a dagger with my titan ability. Here, you can examine it.” 

“Stop messing around, [Name],” Levi gripped her wrist tighter and looked down at the entirely white dagger. He glared at her and the weapon demanding her, “Get rid of it.” 

[Name] looked at him with annoyance and scoffed, “Are you listening, Levi? This is important information. This - this!” She waved the dagger in front of his face, “is made with my hardening ability. If I’m impenetrable because of the hardening ability, it means that this dagger cannot be destroyed. At least, to my knowledge.” 

“Is this all a joke to you?” Levi was not in a mood to fool around with a drunk woman declaring that she’s some kind of titan shifter. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with her right now. She was being a reckless idiot.

“Not at all, I only want you to understand my ability. I want you to know that I can shift into a titan.” She admitted truthfully with her full attention to him. “I can’t do this alone, I need someone to help me get through the plan.”

“What plan?” He questioned.  

“The plan to save humanity as we know it.”

“Why did you tell me? Erwin…even shitty glasses would be more helpful than I ever can be. One knows about titans more than a normal human being would and the other is driven by curiosity. I’m a fighter, [Name]. I’m the one that kills titans, I don’t help them.” 

The words left his mouth so quickly, his brain didn’t register what he said until his eyes landed on a very troubled [Name]. Her breath hitched in her throat and she looked away from him quickly. She knew she was drunk, she could feel the fuzziness all over her body. Yet, the quickest way to sober her up was Levi’s blunt way of saying, I can’t help you. I’m the one they call to kill you. 

She looked over at her sleeping siblings and the instinct to protect them washed over her. If Levi was going to betray her, now was the time. Her siblings were vulnerable as well as herself. Her most trusted comrade, the one she started to develop feelings for, was…was not a helper. He was a killer.

“And welcome to our seventh round of the most amazing beer we ever had!” Hanji slammed two overfilled mugs on the table with a giant grin on her face. 

Levi watched [Name] slip the dagger up her sleeve and greet Hanji and Erwin with the fakest smile he’s ever seen. “Geez, guys! You took forever! I was starting to get really thirsty! Anyways, let’s get this round over!” [Name] jumped on the table and raised her glass high in the air. 

She called for everyone’s attention and they all cheered her name out loud when they saw the happy energy radiating off of her. “I believe it’s time for a song! Let’s sing out loud for those we have lost! Whether they were lost in sickness, in expeditions, in patrols, or most recently during the Fall of Shiganshina! I raise my cup for my mother! For all the citizens I couldn’t save!” 

She takes three huge gulps of the liquid and hands the mug to Hanji who sets the half filled mug on another table. She wiped her mouth with her arm and she cleared her throat. 

“I raise my cup for my brother!” 

“I raise my cup for my comrades!” 

“We raise our cups for the citizens of Shiganshina!” 

“For your mother!” 

Random people in the crowd shouted together and [Name] softly smiled at them. This time, Levi noted, this one was genuine. “Alright now, I’m going to end the night for myself with a song. Annnnd~” [Name] began searching in the crowd for her singing partner, Kaiser. 

“Over here, [N.Name]!” A voice shouted and [Name] pointed at the man that jumped on another table with a musical instrument in his arms, the amazing banjo. He was a few tables away with a happy grin on his face. [Name] took time to remember what was created in Marley and introduced amazing recipes and instruments to Paradis. 

“Ah, my loyal Kaiser! Alright, where is Faith and Donny? I need drums and violin for this song!” She shouted and she heard a squeal of laughter come from Faith as she was lifted in the air by her partner. He set her on the table and she stood up with a blush on her face taking her violin and bow from her partner. She was a shy one, but she could play the violin like a professional. Then Donny banged on his basic drums by the bar announcing his presence.  

“Now that my crew is ready, I want you all to sing with me! It’s a very well known song! Let’s do it, let’s sing Bitter Water!” 

The crowd cheered and [Name] took the extra banjo from a helpful customer. She put the strap around her and began plucking the notes, Kaiser joining her. Bitter Water was an appreciated song by the pub’s visitors. Everyone sang with her and Kaiser and the crew played their hearts out with smiles on their faces. 

[Name] let Faith take over the singing with Kaiser then she hopped off the table giving the banjo back to the person that gave it to her earlier. She moved past Levi silently and woke up Eren and Mikasa telling them that it was time to leave. She put Eren on her back as he examined the crowd singing loudly, Bitter Water was on repeat now. The night was going to be long for these people. 

The melody and lyrics were stuck in Eren’s head as he laid it on [Name]’s shoulders. Then Mikasa was carried in [Name]’s arms, the little girl resting her head on the unoccupied shoulder. The song was bittersweet for the little girl and her eyes scanned the joyful, tired eyes belonging to Eren. 

“We can help you, [Name]!” Hanji shouted over the music and singing. 

[Name] shook her head and began walking through the crowd with her siblings holding onto her tightly. “It’s okay, I’ll see you guys after I get everything situated! Don’t miss me too much!” She glanced at Levi one last time and gave him a sorrowful smile. She didn’t know if this was goodbye or not. She hadn’t decided what to do and it scared her. But she also knew that Levi hadn’t decided his course of action either. 

They were both lost. 

Levi looked away from her gaze and when a few seconds went by, he looked back to see drunk people singing and spilling their drinks everywhere in her place.

“I know I shouldn’t love you, but I do!” Hanji’s out of tune voice sang with the crowd bringing Levi back to reality. He had to inform Erwin and Hanji about [Name]’s ability to shift. They needed to talk to her about what she knows. It was important that her secret came to light now. If it didn’t and she transforms without notifying the higher ups, she could be as good as dead. 

…

Meanwhile with [Name], her siblings insisted that they could walk home with her. The stars and moon illuminated their path and the atmosphere was warm. Mikasa was lightly humming the melody from the pub while Eren sang the song from time to time. 

“You’ll bury me beneath the tree I climbed when I was a child.”

The woman looked down at her brother and he was currently bobbing his head to the melody Mikasa hummed. She stopped walking and they stopped with her and she gestured to the two story home she was standing in front of. “Welcome to your new home, Eren and Mikasa. I’ll make sure to look for Armin and his grandfather tomorrow, okay?” 

“Can we come with you?” Eren asked. 

[Name] shook her head and said, “No, it’ll be a quick trip. I don’t want you two getting lost. I promise I will get them back here. Now please, let’s go inside.” She walked ahead of them and unlocked the front door with a bronze key. She opened the door for them and Eren was the first to walk in followed by Mikasa. 

The house was huge in Eren’s eyes and he was amazed by how much she had achieved. She grabbed their hands gently and began leading them into a room, their new room. Their room had two small twin beds parallel from each other. 

“I knew that at some point you two would visit me when I had the time so I made a room for you both. However, when Armin comes, Mikasa will move into a different room. I will be working hard to make it, so don’t worry.” She gave Mikasa’s head a teasing pat because the little girl was blushing lightly.  

Then she watched the two kids walk to their respective beds. Eren took the right one and Mikasa laid in the left one. She kissed Mikasa’s forehead and whispered sweet words towards her. Then [Name] made her way to Eren’s side and gave him the same affection. 

“That song was cliche, you know?” Eren told her directly and [Name] couldn’t help, but laugh at his statement. The boy climbed into the bed with the sheets going over his body. 

“May have been cliche because it’s kind of a love song, Eren. You’ll understand when you get older, it was made for-” [Name] straightened out her back and hummed. “It was made for someone, I don’t know. A lot of the people ask me to write songs for their loved ones, friends, enemies. I don’t remember who asked me to sing Bitter Water.”

Eren gave her a skeptical look and said, “People get you to sing songs for them? That’s even more cliche.” 

“Eren, weren’t you singing the song when we were walking home?” Mikasa interjected, her eyes directed at the ceiling. 

The flustered boy sat up in his bed and pointed at Mikasa accusingly, “That’s because you were humming the melody! And it got stuck in my head!” 

“It’s not bad to request a song, Eren, or to get it stuck in your head. I wrote a song based on our father’s feelings once and well, of course I gave the lyrics for my friend Kaiser to sing it. It comes better out of a man's mouth to convey a man’s feelings.” She laughed at Eren’s baffled expression and began to walk towards the door. 

“When can we hear that song? I want to know!” Eren shouted and she only shook her head. 

[Name] stopped at the door and turned around, “Eren, you let me know when you want to go back to the pub to listen to that song. I will get Kaiser to sing it, okay? But right now, let’s all rest. I’m so tired.” 

Eren looked at her body then to her [e.color] eyes which usually had golden freckles, but they were so dull now. He nodded his head and she closed the door to their room leaving him with Mikasa. He laid down on the bed, his head resting onto the pillow. “Hey, Mikasa.” Eren called out to the girl, “did you see the look in [Name]’s eyes? I think something is wrong.” 

Mikasa responded, turning her body towards him, “She blames herself for not saving your mother. She was accused by military officials of abandonment. She was put on trial and it all happened in two days. I think that in her eyes, everything is falling apart. Everything is wrong.” 

The little girl’s eyes were getting heavier. Her body was exhausted emotionally and somewhat physically. Like her older sister figure, all Mikasa wanted to do was sleep. She barely got enough at the pub. Unlike Eren, she couldn’t exactly sleep with all that noise. 

Also, Mikasa may have pretended to sleep as [Name] told Levi an important secret. This little girl was smart enough not to blab it out to other people though. She wouldn’t want [Name] to be in any danger. 

Eren turned away from Mikasa’s attracting gaze and sighed. An image flashed of his mother being grabbed by the smiling titan and [Name] walking away with a tearful expression on her face. The way she clenched her hands and that gaze of sadness turned into a scornful one. Eren could feel her anger and it was passed on to him. He wanted to kill all titans. 

“Yeah, you’re right. Everything is wrong.” 

……

“Everything is wrong.” 

[Name] told herself as she gripped her head in between her hands. 

“Why did you tell him? He won’t help you, he can’t.” She groaned and smacked her forehead on her desk. She finally let the tears fall onto her lap as she cried for everything that had happened. “You’re alone in all of this.” 

Sobs broke out as she used the sleeves of her jacket to wipe at them furiously. [Name] needed to come up with a new plan. Her father must have heard the news, he must have known that the Warriors have infiltrated Paradis. She had to think of a new plan because he was going to be gone soon. 

She needed to- 

Bap! Tap! Tap!

[Name] jumped up from her seat and looked out her window where the noise came from. She looked down to see a disheveled man in her small backyard. She squinted some more then she immediately ran out of her office. She swiftly made her way downstairs and passed the kids room to make way to the backyard door. 

She opened it up and saw the man at her door with a fearful look in his eyes.

[Name] invited the man in, his titan scars beneath his eyes had her confused. She had so many questions, but he was the first to speak again. “Where are Carla, Eren and Mikasa?” 

“Dad, you need to calm down. Eren and Mikasa are sleeping right now. I put them to bed 20 minutes ago.” She pointed over to the closed bedroom door where the children were indeed sleeping. Then she looked at the floor, “Carla was eaten by a titan during the fall.” She was definitely going to hold back what- no, who ate her. Her father was fragile and it looked like he just went through hell. 

“I need to pass down the Attack Titan tonight. You need to hand over Eren,” Grisha demanded and [Name] was having none of it. 

“Are you serious? You can’t do that to Eren. We agreed that I would inherit the Attack Titan.” She pushed Grisha away from the path to the door. His eyes were frantic and he shook his head, “You cannot inherit the Attack Titan anymore. You just can’t.” 

He walked past her and she quickly grabbed his wrist to stop him. A flash of memories infiltrated her mind and she immediately let him go. She blinked a few times and shook her head, “You defeated the Founder, you ate the Founder? But why? How could you do that?” 

Grisha looked at his only daughter and tears pricked his eyes, “He forced me. He forced me to kill all of The Reiss family and claim the Founder. I had no choice!” He whispered with a scared expression. “We don’t have time, [Name]. I need Eren to inherit the power. And I need you to watch over him. Can you do that?” 

[Name] stared at her father dumbfounded before slowly nodding her head. “I understand, I just…I’m going to be all alone now. I was hoping to look to you for guidance, but now you’re-” 

Grisha ran into her and hugged her body tightly. “I love you, [Name].” He told her. His hand holding the back of her head. “You have always been so strong and I’m sorry that I separated you from Zeke. I’m sorry we made you inherit the War Hammer Titan. I want to explain everything to you, but I do not have time. Will you please forgive me?” 

He looked down at her, still holding onto her. The golden flecks in her [e.color] eyes flickered with the tears covering them. He watched her blink them away and she returned the hug back, “Of course, I forgive you. I’ll watch over him, I promise.” 

The events that transpired went by in a blur. A sleeping Eren was carried out of her house by their father. Shadis accompanied Grisha into a carriage waiting outside and she waved them goodbye. She waited for two hours for Shadis to deliver Eren back to her. Then she laid the sleeping boy back into his bed. 

[Name] didn’t sleep a wink. She couldn’t find a peace of mind to do so. When it was dawn, she dressed up in a white blouse, light beige pants and a white cardigan. Then she walked into the kitchen to prepare herself a cup of tea to wake her up. She sat by the kitchen sink looking out to her backyard watching the leaves of her apple tree sway in the gentle breeze. 

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

[Name] set her cup down and walked over to the front door being greeted by Hanji and surprisingly Levi. “Good morning, songbird! Where are the kiddos?” Hanji shouted and looked into the house, seeing it pretty empty. 

[Name] pushed their head out the door and said, “They are still sleeping. Mikasa will wake up soon, although I think Eren will be out for a while.” Assuming that he wakes up groggily like she did when she inherited the War Hammer Titan. 

“Levi, are you babysitting with Hanji too?” [Name] asked the soldier with one raised brow. 

Levi rolled his eyes and bit back, “Since when do I babysit? I’m not here for them, I’m here for you.” 

“Oh,” [Name] said and looked at Hanji who was grinning, “what is it?” 

“Ah, he was so worried about you! We all know I don’t wake up early and he never sleeps, so he caught me sneaking out of the base asking me where I was going. I told him that I was helping you by watching over Eren and Miaksa while you looked for their friend! He wants to join you!” 

[Name] shook her head and said, “I don’t need help with that. I only needed someone to watch over-” 

“Just get in the carriage, [Name].” Levi ordered and walked towards the transportation means. 

[Name] sighed defeatedly and opened the door wider for Hanji to come through. The mad scientist walked in and she had to ask her friend what happened between her and Levi. “So what was said when Erwin and I went to get more drinks?” 

“Huh?” [Name] looked away from the polished floor to her unusually concerned friend.

Hanji shrugged her shoulders and said, “You and Levi, it’s pretty tense between you guys.” 

“Oh…that,” [Name] hummed and waved her hand, “I may have confessed to Levi and well, he doesn’t feel the same way.” 

“You what? He what?” Hanji loudly whispered and grabbed [Name] by the shoulders, “How did you confess? Why wouldn’t he accept your feelings? You’re like the prettiest scout and the strongest! Everyone loves you! You can sing, play the piano, you’re fun!” 

[Name]’s expression changed into a bittersweet one and said, “Sometimes the truth is hard to handle. I don’t think Levi can handle my…charm.” [Name] put that lightly. Turning into a titan wasn’t a charming trait. Now she knows that for future references. 

“Pah! Whatever! You know, Kaiser is still single and-” 

“I don’t have all day,” Levi’s voice came from the open front door, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes set into a glare of annoyance. 

Hanji let go of [Name] and pretended like they weren’t talking behind his back. 

“Please take care of them, Hanji. They are all I have left,” [Name] said sadly. 

Hanji noticed her look and the woman pointed at her and Levi, “You have us too, okay? No matter what.” 

No matter what…[Name] internally scoffed at Hanji’s kind statement. If only that were true. She thought Levi would be on her side. But he proved her wrong by saying he kills titans. ”Right,” [Name] nodded her head at Hanji to give her friend a peace of mind. 

She knows this ride with Levi was going to be a very awkward one. And he didn’t care for atmospheres like it. He was a blunt and honest man. Something she had no problem with until now. 

>>>>>>>

Little notes: - Drunk [Name] recognizes that she screwed up telling the truth about her ability. - [Name] fears that Levi will betray her now. - Levi did not mean to tell [Name] that he would kill her. That was bad on his part. - Yes, this story will have moments of "what the hell did I just read?". - Lowkey didn't want [Name] to confess, then I remembered how Reiner straight up told Eren the truth on the wall. And yeah, I want that honesty lmao - Yes, Levi will be OOC, I'm sorry for that. He's very difficult to write for. - Bitter Water is a song by The Oh Hellos. I do not take credit for that. - Also the song for Grisha is inspired by Just a Man by the EPIC Troy Saga - Y'all notice the lyrics Eren sang while walking home? That hurt my soul. - Yes, Mikasa knows [Name] is a titan shifter, but she's no snitch. > Thank you for the likes and reblogs!

[xoxoavenger]

Different

pairing: Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader

summary: Based on the song ‘Different’ by Joshua Bassett

word count: 2779

warnings: mentions of domestic (child) abuse

masterlist

birthday celebration masterlist

It had been two years since Y/N and Steve talked to each other. They had broken up right before his junior year, right before he got together with Nancy. It was easy to not talk to each other at first, but then they started running in the same crowd since Lucas Sinclair, one of the kids she babysat, told her all about how Steve Harrington saved them from demogorgans. After that, Y/N's babysitter instincts kicked in, and she was thrown into the fight of protecting the kids with Steve Harrington.

But they never talked directly to each other. Never had a conversation. They weren't friends.

Which is why it was so shocking when he showed up at her door, soaking wet from the rain at midnight. His keys were in his hand, and his car was right behind him, so she knew he had to of been standing outside for awhile.

"I missed you," Was the first thing out of his mouth after minutes of staring. The door had been open for so long that water was inside, flooding the small greeting room and wetting the tile.

"Steve," She whispered, grabbing his arm finally and pulling him inside, shutting the door. He was cold, she could feel it when she grabbed his hand. They stood close for a moment, and she watched his gaze flip to her lips before looking into her eyes.

"I had no where else to go," He muttered, and his face was dripping from the rain but she could tell there were tears falling. She had only seen Steve Harrington cry at one thing, and she doubted that had changed in the last two years.

"Steve," Her heart broke for him, and she forgot all about the fact that they hated each other yesterday. "I didn't know they were home." Not that she deserved the right to know when her ex-boyfriend's parents were in town, but she normally heard from one of the kids who were concerned that they hadn't seen Steve in awhile, or he seemed more drawn away than normal.

"I'm sorry," It was like they were having two separate conversations. "I shouldn't be here, I know, but no one else knows." He admitted, and Y/N just shook her head.

"But Robin's usually the one who-" She started, but she was clearly too slow.

"That's not what I'm talking about." Steve cut her off. She licked her lips as she thought for a moment. They used to be on the same page about everything, but now even as Y/N tried her hardest she couldn't understand Steve. What did she know that no one else knew, especially Nancy?

"You're wet." She said instead, shaking her head because she had to think about something else while she worked out what the fuck Steve meant. "I'll get a towel." She let go of his hand, but he grabbed her wrist.

"No one else is here?" He questioned, and she nodded. She had moved out of her parents house a couple months ago, but it seemed there was always someone around her new small townhouse. He knew Max stayed so much that she had her own room, which is the only way Steve knew where she lived now.

"Stay here, I'll be back." She told him, walking away quickly. By the time she had returned, Steve was down to a short sleeve shirt. She realized he was wearing pajama pants, that he probably threw on a sweater. That's what tipped her off to what was underneath the shirt before he even lifted it.

"I had no where else to go," He said, eyes wide with tears. He was struggling to hold himself together, and one look at him had her feeling the same.

He had a grip mark around his wrist, the softest bruise in this collection. She stepped closer and realized there was a bright red handprint that stuck out on his face, but they both knew that had been a mistake. The face was not a popular spot for Mr. Harrington.

The worst one was the blotches around his throat. The uneven sides telling her that he had done it with his own two hands.

"Oh, Steve," She cried softly, tears falling down her cheeks as she put two hands to his face and then brought him close, letting him collapse on her. Her hands went under his arms, gripping his shirt while his held her waist in a tight squeeze. This is what he was talking about. This is what no one else knows about.

"I - I've fought fucking monsters," He sounded much calmer than she felt, and that unnerved her. How many times had he gone through this without her? "This is what is going to break me." He held her close, so close that she had to be on her toes to accommodate the way he was tugging on her. The way he was speaking made her soul ache for his, hating the certainty that this would be the end. It wasn't Steve.

"No," She responded, pulling back slightly to put her hands on his face once more and bringing their foreheads together. "You are strong. So much stronger than him," She lifted her chin out of instinct but remembered at the last second not to kiss him, leaving their breathes to mingle. She was forgetting herself, not remembering why they had broken up in the first place.

It was a weird feeling, to be in each others arms after everything they had gone through. They had fought actual demons from hell without even speaking to each other. Everything had changed. Nothing would ever be the same between them.

And here she was, about to kiss him, because it felt like they were in high school again.

"If I were strong I wouldn't have left you." He whispered, his lips almost touching hers when he spoke.

"I would have left me if I were you." She admitted, remembering how insufferable she had been. He gripped at the end of her shirt.

"It was the worst mistake of my life." He told her, because when he thought of Y/N the first thing that came to his mind was the heart shattering picture of her face when he broke it off. They had both been to blame for the downfall, but it was fixable things and Steve wanted an out.

"Not even getting into this mess?" She asked, instead of the question she really wanted to.

"If I hadn't gotten into this mess, who would protect the kids?" He smiled when she dipped her head again before bumping their chins together. "Besides, I wouldn't be here if I hadn't ran back in that house." He moved impossibly closer, and her eyes fluttered close, he lips tingling as she waited for them to touch. She wanted it.

She was waiting for a few moments, but nothing ever happened. He didn't move back, but he wasn't moving forward.

"I'm trying not to kiss you," Steve started, lips moving against hers in a way she wished would count as a kiss. "We - we've been through this. We know how it ends." He moved back at that, shaking from emotion and the cold. His hands were now barely resting on her hips, and before she knew it she was grabbing his biceps, a silent plea not to go. The chill and bumps on his arms brought her back to reality.

"I know," She whispered, so quiet Steve barely heard her over the raging storm outside. She grabbed the towel she had dropped, luckily away from the water puddle at her front door, and pulled it around his shoulders.

Now for the embarrassing part.

"I still, uh," She shook her head, not able to look at him and instead looking into the small living room. "I have a sweatshirt and some sweatpants of yours. I mean, they're a couple years old, but, uh," She closed her eyes and turned around to not see him, only opening them when she started walking. She could hear he followed her, and knew he was barely containing a chuckle as she handed him the clothes she had kept after all this time.

"So this is where my basketball sweatshirt went." He smirked, and she felt her cheeks heat up.

"It's your JV one, so I figured you wouldn't be too hung up over it." Steve was only on JV for his freshman year, and she had stolen it the second he had left it at her house.

"I thought I got rid of it." He confessed, taking the clothes and then looking around. When he realized he had never been in this house, his eyes widened. "You brought this with you when you moved." This was just embarrassing.

"The bathroom is the closed door." She pointed, still not looking at him.

"Okay," His voice was still teasing, and she just shook her head. He had been the one to actually say 'I miss you,' but this just showed that she did as well.

And actions speak louder than words.

What was she doing? Two years of going on countless dates with other guys and none of them had been able to make her feel even a fraction of the way she felt when Steve accidentally brushed his lips against hers.

"I'm sorry," Steve said, startling Y/N and causing her to flip around. He was changed already, which meant she had been in her thoughts for far longer than she meant to.

"About?" She didn't mean it to sound rude, but Steve did have a couple of things to apologize for.

"I guess I deserve that." Steve chuckled, looking down. "Right now, I'm sorry about showing up at your house in the middle of the night." She noticed he was holding his side in a way she knew meant that Mr. Harrington had more than likely punched Steve in the ribs, trying to teach him some sort of lesson.

"That is the one thing you don't need to apologize for, Steve Harrington." She smiled, feeling her heart grow just slightly when he looked at her.

"Speaking of apologies," Steve stepped closer, close enough that Y/N could see the bags under his eyes. She knew Steve didn't sleep well when his parents were in town, and she heard from Robin and Dustin once that Steve never slept well.

"I don't think that boy has had a good day worth of sleep in his life." Robin had muttered to Y/N. They were all in the Wheeler's basement after the whole StarCourt fiasco.

"What?" Y/N realized she had been staring at Steve, who was knocked out in a chair. Robin and Y/N were the only ones awake in the dark room, everyone else either asleep or pretending to be asleep. It had taken far too long for everyone to get showers and clean up, and even longer to convince their parents that they were okay but needed to be together.

"I've only known Steve for a couple months," Robin started, making sure to keep her voice down. "But every single time I've ever seen him, he seems exhausted." This was news to Y/N. When her and Steve were together, Steve slept like a baby. She practically had to pull him out of bed.

"I don't," Y/N started, but she had no idea what to say. Maybe he wasn't sleeping well after the whole UpsideDown thing.

"It's because he doesn't." Dustin said from right in front of them. The two jumped, hearts racing from left over adrenaline.

"Sleep well?" Y/N asked, still concerned.

"Yeah." Dustin sat up, showing he was going to be involved in this conversation. "He's told me a couple times that he never sleeps well. Especially after all this, but from the way he talked about it even before." That had to be a lie.

"I thought you two dated for, like, years?" Robin questioned, because that sounded like something Y/N should know.

"We did," She said slowly, still trying to figure it out. "When we were together, he slept fine." She muttered, gaze shifting back to Steve. Had he really been having trouble sleeping? Maybe his parents were home.

"That's good to hear." Dustin yawned as he laid back down. "Hopefully he sleeps well with you here." And before Y/N could say anything the boy was asleep.

"I'm sorry for being an absolute dick." Steve said sheepishly, bringing Y/N back to the present.

"It's been two years." Y/N blurted out, mentally kicking herself because she was really fucking all this up.

"Yeah," He smiled awkwardly, stepping back slightly and looking at the ground. She almost reached out to grab him closer.

"I'm sorry as well," She quickly blurted, loving the way his eyes reached hers.

"You don't have-"

"I do," She chuckled slightly, looking away from him. "I was just jealous. Which is stupid, because you never gave me any reason to be. But, I mean, it was years ago. So, it's not like it really matters anymore." She said, heart cracking slightly as she said the words. It still mattered to her. She watched as Steve shook his head, frowning.

"It matters to me." He whispered, voice high and hurting. Y/N stared at him, swearing he was lying. "It never stopped mattering to me." He's telling the truth, she knows he is, but she can't stop herself from stepping back.

"But you left, I mean, you went off and dated Nancy as if we were nothing - as if I meant nothing." She's finally asking what she's wanted to ask for years, what she thinks about every time she sees his face.

"I thought I had to find somebody. I mean, my parents, they told me," He shakes his head as he cuts himself off, lips pressed together. Y/N starts to connect the dots as she thinks back to high school, all the things Steve said, things she knew about him. "You had a reason to feel jealous." He can't look at her as he says it.

And suddenly, everything slips into place.

"Your parents," She starts, watching a tear fall out of Steve's eye as he nods.

"I can't go back." He tells her, and she takes him into her arms.

His arms go under her arms and grabs onto her shoulders and grab her shirt, head in her shoulder. Her arms were around his neck and pulling them close together. He began to cry, and she moved a hand to run through his hair.

"You're safe here." She told him, turning her head to kiss the side of his head. "You're safe with me."

~

Steve slept better than he had slept in the years since they had broken up.

He woke up with light in his eyes, Y/N tucked into his side. She looked up at him, and for a moment she thought she was going to push away from him as she looked up.

"How are you?" She said instead, and Steve was shocked for a moment.

"I was supposed to catch a flight. Follow my dad to wherever the hell he was doing." He looks at the clock next to her bed. "It left three hours ago." He couldn't help but feel like a pressure was lifted from him at the thought of not having to go with his dad.

"I'm glad you stayed." She tucked back into him, and he tightened his arms around her.

"Me too." He pressed his chin down to kiss the top of her head, causing her to look back up again.

"Steve," She whispered, voice so quiet he almost didn't hear it.

"Yeah?" He softly replied, heart beginning to race as she pushed away slightly to climb up, now face to face.

"I don't want you to go ever again." She was almost shaking with nerves and emotion, and all Steve could do was put a hand to her cheek, moving some hair out of her face, and kiss her. He was surprised she let him, even more surprised when she shifted to kiss him more passionately. He regretfully pulled away, needing to talk.

"I can't go back." He had said it last night, but he was reaffirming it. He couldn't go back to his parent's house.

"You don't have to." She ran her fingers through his hair, and Steve couldn't remember why he had left her when she made him feel this safe.

"I love you." He blurted softly, expecting to feel her tense. She just opened her mouth slightly, no words being able to be formed. "You don't have to say it back, I mean, I would get it if you didn't-"

"I love you too." She smiled, hand swiping through his hair once more before resting on his cheek, stubble prickling her hand. "I never stopped."

//

tags: @avada-kedavra-bitch-187 @roxaya @sadbitchfangirl @gloryekaterina

@oblivion-void @thatcatbsong @alexshaff2002 @m-rae23 @freezaz123 @mads-weasley 

[skylarstark4826]

Watching Spider sleeping calmly and peacefully brought opposite feelings to his father. Miles was sure that the boy hadn’t had many good nights of sleep in his life and he was very guilty of that. Now, with his son close by, Miles was determined to keep his word to take care of him. He just didn’t know exactly where to start.

Trying to clear his thoughts, he left Spider’s room, letting the boy rest without his somewhat dark presence. By the sea, the former colonel sat on the sand, watching the waves, trying to leave his mind empty, his tail still moving restlessly, despite his efforts to clear his mind.

A sudden touch to his ribs put him on alert, grabbing the malefactor’s wrist, which he quickly recognized as his wife’s.

-Careful, sweetheart - he relaxed a little - you shouldn’t try something like that in his conditions.

-I’m not a less efficient warrior because I’m pregnant - Varang quickly replied, in the same proud and haughty way as always.

-You understood what I meant - he soon closed his expression again.

Varang, instead of feeling intimidated, just found the situation even more inviting. With a sideways smile, she quickly glanced at her husband and sat down in front of him, like a stubborn child. Despite being serious, Miles waited to see what would come next.

Her delicate hands went straight to his defined abdomen, drumming quickly, trying to tickle her husband. When the attempt didn’t work out very well, she just opened her mischievous smile even more, moving her hands to his chest, but not lingering there too long. In a cunning way, Varang tickled his armpits, knowing that they were exactly his weak spot.

She got a low laugh from Quaritch, which she seemed pleased with. He suddenly wrapped his arms around her, keeping her still there.

-What do you want, woman? Why do you disturb me so much, Varang? - he kissed her ear when he finished speaking - that wasn’t what I wanted in return for loving you.

-I know you love my teasing - she hummed back, but soon became serious - what ails you, Miles? Just tell me.

-Spider is my problem - he admitted - problem might be the wrong word, he is my responsibility, I’m afraid that he won’t adapt to the tribe, or that I’ll never be enough for him.

-It could be so - she didn’t deny his statement - there’s no way you can completely control Spider’s opinion of you, but your attitudes can count in your favor. I am living proof of that.

-Does that mean I didn’t win you over right away? - Miles looked at her directly - what was it that made you change your opinion about me?

-Your survival instinct - Varang replied calmly, leaving the games aside for a moment - your desire to adapt, despite anything, took a while for you to open your heart to me, perhaps this will harm you in getting closer to the boy , but if you’re always true to him, you’ll be the father I know you already are.

Before any trace of doubt appeared on Miles’ face, his wife took one of his hands, resting it on her belly. Feeling his child move, the consort her gave a smile, overflowing with what his wife understood as love and protection.

Varang trusted him to keep his promises to care for and protect his entire family, which included Spider. Grateful for his wife’s advice and wisdom, Quaritch kissed her sweetly. Varang, somehow, took his fears and anxieties far away.

[anerdquemoraaolado]

@skylarstark4826 asked for a Quarang fic, so here you have it guys.

(Honestly, I miss them too, I'm think in writing a series of prompts for them when I get on vacation)

Watching Spider sleeping calmly and peacefully brought opposite feelings to his father. Miles was sure that the boy hadn't had many good nights of sleep in his life and he was very guilty of that. Now, with his son close by, Miles was determined to keep his word to take care of him. He just didn't know exactly where to start.

Trying to clear his thoughts, he left Spider's room, letting the boy rest without his somewhat dark presence. By the sea, the former colonel sat on the sand, watching the waves, trying to leave his mind empty, his tail still moving restlessly, despite his efforts to clear his mind.

A sudden touch to his ribs put him on alert, grabbing the malefactor's wrist, which he quickly recognized as his wife's.

-Careful, sweetheart - he relaxed a little - you shouldn't try something like that in his conditions.

-I'm not a less efficient warrior because I'm pregnant - Varang quickly replied, in the same proud and haughty way as always.

-You understood what I meant - he soon closed his expression again.

Varang, instead of feeling intimidated, just found the situation even more inviting. With a sideways smile, she quickly glanced at her husband and sat down in front of him, like a stubborn child. Despite being serious, Miles waited to see what would come next.

Her delicate hands went straight to his defined abdomen, drumming quickly, trying to tickle her husband. When the attempt didn't work out very well, she just opened her mischievous smile even more, moving her hands to his chest, but not lingering there too long. In a cunning way, Varang tickled his armpits, knowing that they were exactly his weak spot.

She got a low laugh from Quaritch, which she seemed pleased with. He suddenly wrapped his arms around her, keeping her still there.

-What do you want, woman? Why do you disturb me so much, Varang? - he kissed her ear when he finished speaking - that wasn't what I wanted in return for loving you.

-I know you love my teasing - she hummed back, but soon became serious - what ails you, Miles? Just tell me.

-Spider is my problem - he admitted - problem might be the wrong word, he is my responsibility, I'm afraid that he won't adapt to the tribe, or that I'll never be enough for him.

-It could be so - she didn't deny his statement - there's no way you can completely control Spider's opinion of you, but your attitudes can count in your favor. I am living proof of that.

-Does that mean I didn't win you over right away? - Miles looked at her directly - what was it that made you change your opinion about me?

-Your survival instinct - Varang replied calmly, leaving the games aside for a moment - your desire to adapt, despite anything, took a while for you to open your heart to me, perhaps this will harm you in getting closer to the boy , but if you're always true to him, you'll be the father I know you already are.

Before any trace of doubt appeared on Miles' face, his wife took one of his hands, resting it on her belly. Feeling his child move, the consort her gave a smile, overflowing with what his wife understood as love and protection.

Varang trusted him to keep his promises to care for and protect his entire family, which included Spider. Grateful for his wife's advice and wisdom, Quaritch kissed her sweetly. Varang, somehow, took his fears and anxieties far away.

[bambirex]

This Evil Romance (So Good I Never Wanna Waste It)

Pairing: Yennskier

Characters: Jaskier, Yennefer of Vengerberg

Additional tags: sex magic, ritual sex, kidnapping, NOT by yennefer, non-consensual drug use, also NOT by yennefer, vaginal fingering, oral sex, cunnilingus, nipple play, nipple licking, face-sitting, light dom/sub, spanking, squirting, mind sex, body worship, horny jaskier, genderbending, fem!jaskier, human sacrifice, except it's not

Word count: 4,678

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

"See something you like, little bird?"

On one hand, definitely. This woman was so incredibly hot, if Jaskier wasn't literally tied into a knot, she would have fallen on her knees to worship her.

On the other hand, judging by her unnaturally perfect looks, the dark lace and the ominous necklace - not to mention the fact she was smirking over a kidnapped girl - she was most definitely a witch. And that was not very good.

--

Jaskier wakes up tied up and disoriented in the company of a very sexy, but probably insane witch, and her first thought, of course, is that she is going to be sacrificed- but the witch has other plans. Really exciting ones.

Author's notes: I bet you thought I would come back with a bit more finesse after the events of season 3, but apparently, all I can think about is hot women having sex with each other. So, here's some more genderbending from me as well as nearly 5k words of lesbian sex.

Read on Ao3

**

Her head felt like it was filled with bricks. With great effort, Jaskier tried to open her leaden-heavy eyelids, but no matter how hard she strained her eyes, she couldn't see anything. There was pitch-black darkness, and something brushed against her eyelashes as she blinked. Shit. She was blindfolded.

Panic immediately filled her upon realizing that her wrists were tied together, the sturdy rope chafing her wrists as she flailed around in terror. She let out a muffled gasp around the gag in her mouth (some kind of cloth) when she noticed that her ankles were also tied, rendering her completely helpless. Jaskier writhed on the cold ground, small rocks pressing into her back through the thin material of her nightgown.

Melitele, what the fuck was she supposed to do now? Her first instinct was to cry for help, but she couldn't do that with the rag in her mouth. She couldn't move and she couldn't see anything. There was no way for her to escape or protect herself.

Jaskier tried to recall the events that might have happened before this. She remembered playing at an inn, she remembered a not very eager, but very attractive crowd - she was propositioned by a very handsome gentleman, too, and oh, yes, now she remembered how she wanted to go with him but couldn't, because she was struck with an awful headache and she had to go to her room early to sleep it off.

So, she went to bed, her own bed, this time, so someone must have broken in and dragged her out of it. Jaskier didn’t remember anyone attacking her, so she must have been passed out when she was brought here - wherever that "here" even was. It wasn't a very comforting thought. Suddenly, Jaskier remembered all those nightmarish stories she's heard about pretty young girls being kidnapped and hurt. Maybe her asshole father was right about one thing, which was that if she traveled alone, she shouldn't be surprised if someone took her against her will.

Daddy Dearest, Jaskier thought with a bitter chuckle, you would have a field day with this.

Now, she tried to focus on her surroundings as much as she could while being so handicapped by these unfortunate circumstances. She strained her ears, and faintly, she could hear a fire crackling, and the distant song of cicadas. She felt chilly, her thin nightgown not keeping her warm enough against the light breeze.

Jaskier let out a muffled cry when she felt something brushing her back. She rolled onto her side, desperately trying to wriggle away from whoever or whatever touched her. She was dragged back with a mighty strength. Jaskier kicked out blindly as she was rolled onto her back.

"That's enough," a very authoritative, and decidedly female voice stopped her. Jaskier stilled. A naive part inside her believed that if it was another woman, the chances of her getting horribly dishonored were a little lower. But then again, it was probably better not to blindly trust a stranger, especially someone who was probably responsible for kidnapping her.

"Stop flailing around, or I'll have to paralyze you. And you won't like that."

Even more paralyzed than she already was? Jaskier wasn't sure how that was possible, but she decided it was probably wiser if she didn't push her luck.

She winced as a hand touched her cheek. Long fingers cupped her jaw, turning her face upwards. They felt almost gentle against her skin as they inspected her face. Jaskier swallowed as a thumb brushed her lower lip.

"You're a pretty little thing," the woman stated. Her fingers danced lightly over the bridge of Jaskier's nose before they moved to remove her blindfold.

Slowly, Jaskier opened her eyes, squinting against the soft glow of the fire that burned inside the place she was held at.

Jaskier expected a lot of things, but she certainly didn't expect to see the world's most beautiful woman leaning over her.

Her raven-black curls fell over her shoulders loosely, cascading down her back. The light of the fire accentuated her warm skin and the elegant slope of her nose. Her eyes, a deep, unnaturally beautiful violet, were framed by the thickest and darkest lashes. Jaskier's eyes traveled further down, taking in her perfect, hourglass-shaped form that was hugged by a black, lacy dress which didn't leave a lot to the imagination: her deep cleavage displayed the beautiful swell of her breasts. Her blood-red lips curled into a smirk. She leaned in closer, the Obsidian star around her neck dangling.

"See something you like, little bird?"

On one hand, definitely. This woman was so incredibly hot, if Jaskier wasn't literally tied into a knot, she would have fallen on her knees to worship her.

On the other hand, judging by her unnaturally perfect looks, the dark lace and the ominous necklace - not to mention the fact she was smirking over a kidnapped girl - she was most definitely a witch. And that was not very good.

"I wanna hear your voice," the witch said. There was something in her voice that made shivers run down Jaskier's spine. "But don't scream. There's no need: no one hears you out here."

She pulled the rag out of Jaskier's mouth not very gently, causing her to gasp and cough for a couple seconds. She blinked up at the witch, who never stopped grinning like a cat that just got the cream.

"Where are we, exactly?" Jaskier asked, her voice a little croaky. She figured that instead of becoming hysterical and begging for her life, she could try and hold a civilized conversation with the witch - maybe she will have mercy on her, if she sees she's a well-mannered lady.

"And how did I get here?"

"Oh, well. You're in my little sanctuary, so to speak," the witch pointed around with a generous gesture. To be honest, the place was actually a cave, it was obvious now that Jaskier managed to look around - a cave with a little fire to keep it warm and...

Wait.

Behind the witch, Jaskier noticed something that looked like a table. There were several candles around it, and some kind of elaborate pattern was drawn across the surface. It looked suspiciously like something that would be used for human sacrifices.

"Ah, how nice," Jaskier squeaked. Panic rose inside her again. She wasn't just randomly kidnapped, apparently, no, she would be fucking sacrificed, bled out like a pig in a slaughterhouse and not even the fact that a hot woman would be doing it could comfort her.

"Thank you so much for bringing me here, it's very kind of you to show me around, but I'm afraid I shall get back in town soon," Jaskier continued, trying to slither further away from the witch. The witch held her hand out, and Jaskier was dragged back by a magical force until she was practically on her lap.

"I did not bring you here," the witch told her easily. She carded her fingers through Jaskier's hair, almost gently, as if she was trying to soothe her. "I never asked the townspeople to bring me gifts, but they started doing it anyway. And who am I to refuse such generous offers?"

She smoothed a hand over Jaskier's nightgown. The fine, peach-colored silk made her feel naked as the witch's fingers kneaded into the soft flesh of her belly through it.

"Good," the witch murmured, licking her lips, "they remembered I like them a bit plump."

"I hope that doesn't mean you're planning to eat me," Jaskier muttered, more to herself than the witch. She took another quick look around, trying to look for an exit, a weapon, anything that could save her from her impending sad fate - it was futile, though. Tied up like this, and with a magic-wielding woman hovering over her, she stood no chance.

Fuck, she was going to die here. Her initial plan of not panicking was quickly discarded.

"You don't have to kill me," she pleaded, trying to give the witch her best puppy eyes, "I-I can get you whatever you need! Money? You want some money? My parents are nobles, I can rob... Hire some from them? I have some money on me back at the inn! Or, how about a song? I'm a bard, I can entertain you for free!"

"I find you quite entertaining already," the witch grinned. Her hand traveled to Jaskier's hip, following its round curve with unabashed glee. "I assume they took you from that inn, bard. After a performance, perhaps? You went to sleep off your drunken stupor..."

"I wasn't that drunk...!"

"Clearly, you weren't. They slipped something in your drink. It knocked you out cold. They're predictable. That's how they always do it. They are too cowardly to outright tell the girls what their fate is going to be. So, they use this slimy method on them. Ridiculous."

"What...shit," Jaskier cursed. It must have been those three guys that insisted on buying her ale. That was why she felt so tired, and that headache... they poisoned her drink so she could be killed by a very sexy, but clearly very insane witch. Great. She should have never stopped at this hellhole of a town.

"But why," Jaskier whispered, "why are they taking girls to you? What are you doing to them?"

The witch's eyes lit up. She licked her lips slowly. Jaskier watched the way her tongue moved, feeling her cheeks warm up.

"It's their way of keeping me away from their town. They're terrified of me, albeit I didn't give them much reason to. I barely hurt anyone."

"Barely," Jaskier repeated with an eyebrow raise. The witch practically giggled.

"Oh, don't look at me like that. If I hurt someone, it's because they deserve it. It's not my fault this town is full of scum. Anyways, they decided that for some reason, I required human sacrifice to leave them alone. Like a goddess. Very flattering, but very stupid, too."

She caressed a hand down Jaskier's side. Jaskier tried to fight the way her entire body lit up and broke out in goosebumps under her touch.

"So, they started bringing me young, pretty girls to quell my hunger."

"So, you're really gonna eat me," Jaskier choked out. She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back the tears. "Fuck. Are you sure there isn't another way to, uh, quell your hunger? You know, I'm down for a lot of things..."

"I'm so glad to hear that," the witch laughed, her voice making the hairs on Jaskier's arm rise - but not with fear, for some reason. There was a certain sense of thrill that washed over her, and it made her believe she must have gone insane in her last moments.

"Because, while I don't know what the townspeople expect me to do with the girls, I somehow bet they get it all wrong. My hunger is a very different kind from what you're scared of, little bird."

She accentuated her point by slipping her hand a little lower, skimming Jaskier's bare thigh. Her touch made Jaskier's body twitch with need, and she bit down on her lip to stifle a moan. Fuck, the effect this woman had on her was incredible - every single lustful look, every teasing word and light touch set Jaskier's body on fire.

"So..." Jaskier whispered, "you're not killing the girls, you..."

"... we join together in a fiery embrace. We share our passion. I show them something different. Something they have never experienced before."

"Alright, let's be clear: they bring the girls to you, and you fuck them."

Jaskier gasped when a slap landed on her hip, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to send sinful jolts of pleasure racing down her spine.

"That's not a very lady-like way to phrase it, now is it, little bird?" The witch smirked. She squeezed Jaskier's thighs, her fingers digging into her soft flesh. "But, yes. Would you like to experience what it's like? To be shown pleasure you have never felt before?"

Asking the Continent's biggest slut if she wanted more pleasure was not a question that required an actual answer, Jaskier thought with a chuckle. There was a chance the witch was playing games with her, luring her into a false sense of security before she slit her throat, but Jaskier found it harder and harder to remain doubtful as the witch's hands caressed her body lightly. After all, sleeping with a witch is not something many people could brag about. She might even get a good song out of it - as well as a night she would never forget.

Jaskier was not the type to back down from a challenge, and she certainly wasn't the type to not try new, exciting things. And, well, the fact that she wouldn't die a gruesome, ritual death was one that needed to be celebrated.

"I might be interested," Jaskier breathed. She opened her legs slowly, and the witch's eyes followed her movements. Jaskier grinned. "But you'll have to convince me."

"You're a cheeky one, huh?" The witch chuckled. She gave Jaskier's thigh a small slap again, making her gasp. "I like that. It will be fun to render you speechless."

"It's not easy," Jaskier laughed. "I talk a lot."

Immediately taking her up on that challenge, the witch's fingers danced across the soft skin of Jaskier's inner thigh. She grinned hungrily when she saw the goosebumps rise on the pale flesh. Jaskier felt her composure crumble as those long, elegant fingers kept teasing the small crease where her thighs joined her groin, so close to where Jaskier needed them.

"Don't worry, I'm very skilled."

The witch's index finger slid across Jaskier's underwear that was slowly growing damp. She pressed down, pushing the thin material between Jaskier's swelling lips. Jaskier let out a soft moan, her hips involuntarily bucking up at her touch.

Jaskier only felt a breeze and saw a small flicker of light before she found herself lying on the table that she wrongly made out to be a sacrifice altar. The ropes disappeared from her body. She had every chance to run away now, like she so desperately wanted just a few minutes prior, but now, lying on her back with her legs open and with a beautiful woman climbing over her, she suddenly believed staying would do her better.

"What's your name, little bird?" The witch asked as she gave Jaskier's breasts a squeeze. She thumbed her nipples through her nightgown, teasing them with the pad of her fingers util they stiffened, poking through the thin material with interest.

"I'm, ah, Jaskier," Jaskier moaned out, "and you?"

The witch chuckled. She leaned down to kiss over the mound of Jaskier's breasts, leaving red lipstick marks over her skin.

"You think that's something I'd share with you?"

"I need to know," Jaskier sighed in bliss, pushing her chest upwards to get more of the soft kisses, "what name shall I cry out in the throes of pleasure."

Surprisingly, a soft moan left the witch's mouth at that. Jaskier grinned in triumph.

"Oh, you," the witch breathed. She dragged the straps of Jaskier's nightgown down, freeing her breasts. "Call me Yennefer."

With that, she took one of Jaskier's nipples into her mouth and started lavishing it with her tongue. Jaskier moaned, her back arching off the table, her hips pushing up against Yennefer's. Yennefer ground down against her, rubbing her crotch against Jaskier's thighs.

"Yennefer," Jaskier whispered, tasting the name on her tongue like wine. Yennefer responded with a little hum, her teeth lightly scraping Jaskier's nipple. She pinched the other one not very gently, pulling a cry out of Jaskier.

Yennefer pulled her lips away from Jaskier's chest, only to surge forward and crash her mouth against the human's. She kissed hungrily, licking inside Jaskier's mouth, exploring every corner inside. She sucked on her tongue, bit at her lips: she didn't leave Jaskier time to breathe, and oh, how Jaskier liked that. She relished the way the witch dominated her, the way she took everything she wanted. Jaskier happily gave it to her.

Yennefer bit down on her lower lip harshly, making Jaskier whimper. Immediately, the witch's tongue soothed over the abused flesh with a gentle lick.

"You're so delicious," Yennefer breathed. She kissed over Jaskier's neck with a pleased hum, sucking marks into the delicate skin. "The tastiest little treat."

"I taste really good at other places, too," Jaskier replied. "Maybe you should try."

"Don't give me orders, bard," Yennefer growled, but Jaskier could see the spark of interest in her eyes.

She gave Yennefer an innocent little smile which soon melted into an open-mouthed gasp when Yennefer tore her nightgown off with a wave of her hand. Feeling so exposed, utterly naked in front of Yennefer who was still dressed in her beautiful dress, Jaskier trembled. The hungry gaze that Yennefer looked at her bare body with did not help her situation.

"Look at you," Yennefer murmured appreciatively, "all soft skin and round curves. Like a sweet, juicy peach. Just waiting for me to devour it."

She leant down and kissed all over Jaskier's stomach, nipping at the small rolls at her waist. Jaskier closed her eyes in bliss as Yennefer kissed and licked all over her torso.

Yennefer moved further down, her next kiss landing over Jaskier's mound. Jaskier sucked in a harsh breath, her thighs falling further apart, desperately trying to invite Yennefer between them.

Yennefer had mercy on her: she licked a stripe across Jaskier's pussy, her tongue dipping between her lips just enough to draw out a high-pitched whimper. Jaskier gripped the edge of the table as Yennefer teased her with tiny kitten licks.

"Ah, fuck," Jaskier moaned, "come on."

Yennefer gave her ass a curt spank.

"Ask nicely, Jaskier," she ordered, and the way she said her name made Jaskier whine.

"Please," she whimpered, her thighs trembling, "Yennefer, please."

Jaskier threw her head back and let out a long moan when Yennefer's tongue finally slipped further in, circling her clit. Jaskier felt like her body has been filled with sparks, burning her up from the inside as Yennefer sucked on her clit, her tongue drawing maddening patterns over it.

Two of Yennefer's fingers pressed against her entrance. Jaskier writhed on the table beneath her, her hands grasping at Yennefer's hair. She didn't know if it was even allowed to touch Yennefer, but she couldn't help herself: she tangled her fingers in Yennefer's curls, holding onto them for dear life.

Yennefer didn't seem to mind, if the soft moan that she let out straight against Jaskier's heated core was anything to go by. She slipped her fingers inside Jaskier, not wasting much time before she started fucking her.

This had to be what Yennefer was talking about, her ways of showing her "victims" what they have been missing out on. Jaskier has slept with many people: women, men, human-like creatures, has filled many roles in bed from fucking someone into the mattress to being taken apart by rough hands. She was not picky when it came to sex at all: she has experienced many things in bed, had incredibly amazing, earth-shatteringly good nights and absolutely atrocious ones, as well.

But nothing, absolutely nothing could ever compare to how Yennefer made her feel right now.

There had to be magic involved, Jaskier could feel it fill her entire body up. It was buzzing, humming with a mighty need, overwhelmed, and still wanting more. She felt it fizzle at Yennefer's fingertips that caressed her deep inside, owning her, making her hers completely. Jaskier clenched around the fingers inside her, pulling them in deeper, her heart leaping to her throat as that spark of pleasure continued to crackle like fire inside her core.

She felt the same buzz around her clit where Yennefer kissed and licked at her, eating her out as if she truly wanted to devour her. The thumb of Yennefer's other hand brushed Jaskier's anus, sending cracks of pleasure there, too. Jaskier felt tears streaming down her face as she sobbed with pleasure, writhing on the table. She clawed at Yennefer's head, mumbling incoherent nonsense as her body trembled under the witch.

"Mine," she heard Yennefer growl, but her mouth was still occupied with licking Jaskier's pussy: she actually heard her in her head as she filled her there too. She was everywhere on her, in her, she claimed her as her own and Jaskier adored every second of it.

Jaskier felt hands all over her body, fondling her breasts and pulling on her nipples, kneading at her belly and grabbing her bum, fingers slipping inside her mouth and making her suck on them, her hair being pulled: but when she opened her eyes, she didn't see multiple people. It was still only Yennefer between her legs, and her magic taking Jaskier to unknown highs.

Yennefer picked her pace up inside Jaskier, her fingers pistoling in and out of her mercilessly. They kept hitting her sweet spot inside, attacking it with both her skilled fingers and her pleasuring magic, until Jaskier felt like her body would fall into pieces.

"Sing for me, Jaskier, my little bird, my sweet bard," she heard Yennefer purr inside her head, "let me hear you sing my name."

Jaskier screamed, her body tightening like a bowstring. Every single muscle twitched and trembled, pulled so taut as Yennefer filled her body with herself until Jaskier felt like she was bursting with it, combusting with unspeakable pleasure. White noise filled her ears, her head buzzing like a swarm of bees, every single nerve ending lighting on fire.

Yennefer pressed her fingers in so deep, her lips closing around Jaskier's clit like a vice. Jaskier screamed, sobbed, howled Yennefer's name as her body released.

Spots danced before her eyes, and the world kept spinning. Jaskier's body twitched and convulsed, nearly falling off the table. She probably would have if it wasn't for Yennefer keeping her in place.

"Oh, my sweet thing," Yennefer cooed as she emerged from between her legs. Jaskier blinked her haze away with great effort, before she let out a gasp upon seeing the mess she's made on Yennefer's face. The witch's lips and chin were covered with Jaskier's pleasure, even her nose glistened with it. Jaskier could see the hairs around her face glistening wetly, too.

"I know you can't speak now, as I said, I would render you speechless," Yennefer noted with a grin as she licked Jaskier's juices off her lips. She sucked it off her fingers too with a satisfied hum. "But I can hear your thoughts. You haven't come like this before. Good."

She moved up and placed a lazy kiss on Jaskier's lips. Jaskier moaned when she tasted herself on Yennefer's mouth.

"P... Ah... Please...", Jaskier squeezed out quietly, her mouth barely cooperating as her mind slowed down to a dazed, foggy state, "let... me... you."

"What was that?" Yennefer chuckled, caressing Jaskier's flushed cheeks. "You want to give me pleasure, too?"

Jaskier nodded lamely. Yennefer cooed again, brushing Jaskier's sweaty hair out of her face.

"My, what a lovely offer. I shall not refuse it. I figure your mouth is not fit to speak now, so you shall use it for something else."

Jaskier could only whimper in response. Yennefer understood her, luckily, climbing up until she was hovering above Jaskier's face.

The witch didn't waste a lot of time before pulling up the skirt of her dress and descending down on Jaskier's face with a quick, elegant movement.

Jaskier has never tasted anything so sweet before. She let out a helpless, pleasured moan when Yennefer took her rightful place on her mouth. She was warm and so very wet, dripping down Jaskier's chin. She grabbed onto Jaskier's hair with one hand as she started rocking her hips back and forth.

Yennefer was a vision with her dress rucked up around her waist, the muscles in her firm, slim thighs flexing. The veins were visible in her long, elegant neck, accentuated by the way she threw her head back. Her plump breasts heaved in the confines of her dress as she gasped.

Her taste, her smell, everything about her was so unnaturally perfect. She was magic on two legs, enchanting Jaskier until there was no going back. Jaskier brought up her weak, trembling hands to grab onto Yennefer's hips, helping her grind against her face.

Even in the throes of passion, Yennefer looked beautiful and put-together. Not a hair out of place, not a drop of sweat. Not even her lipstick was smeared, not even after covering Jaskier's body in kisses, not to mention after the mess Jaskier has made on her face.

"You're very talented with your tongue," Yennefer moaned, biting her lip as she rolled her hips. Jaskier pointed her tongue and dipped it inside Yennefer, gently fucking in and out of her until she felt Yennefer's legs around her head tremble.

"I guess, ah, all that talking and singing did you good."

Jaskier couldn't help but grin at that. She slipped her tongue out to toy with Yennefer's clit, teasing the swollen little nub. Yennefer cursed softly.

Daringly, Jaskier's hands slipped from Yennefer's hips to her pert bum, giving it a gentle squeeze. Yennefer didn't seem to mind, not judging by the way her hips bucked forward.

A new wave of arousal flared up inside Jaskier as Yennefer rode her face with abandon, taking everything Jaskier could offer. She looked dangerously beautiful, wildly majestic. Jaskier couldn't get enough.

She squeezed Yennefer's butt just a little harder, her fingers digging into her skin. Yennefer moaned again, breathing out Jaskier's name so beautifully, that Jaskier thought she would come again just from hearing it alone.

As everything else about her, Yennefer's orgasm was perfect, too: she ground down on Jaskier's tongue one more time, pulling on Jaskier's hair as she rode it out, gasping and moaning.

Jaskier lapped up the sweet remnants of her pleasure with a happy little hum, caressing Yennefer's still pulsing pussy with her tongue as she licked her clean. It must have been part of her magic, too, that she tasted like that, so impossibly delicious that Jaskier felt insatiable.

She let out an unhappy whine when Yennefer pulled back, taking away Jaskier's delicious treat. With a grin, she wiped Jaskier's chin with her thumb.

"Well, my little bird," Yennefer spoke softly, "it was really nice having you here with me."

"You..." Jaskier started, her voice finally returning, if a little weak, "You're sending me away?"

Her heart clenched at the thought. The idea of never being able to see Yennefer again sounded absolutely awful. Maybe it was magic, maybe it was post-orgasm emotions, maybe something else, but Jaskier desperately wanted to stay with her.

Yennefer cooed softly. She caressed Jaskier's cheek until the human melted under her touch.

"I usually offer the girls a choice," Yennefer explained, "they can either go back home to their old lives, but then I'd have to erase their memories which is sad, considering they would have to forget our lovely experience... or, they can stay with me, but then they can never go back."

"What do they usually choose?" Jaskier asked. She wrapped her arms around Yennefer's waist who straddled her lap comfortably.

Yennefer smirked. "Take a guess."

Jaskier snorted. No one in their right mind would ever want to leave something so special.

But she was a bard, an artist, she had a lot of things to do...

"You will never have to worry about working for your coin ever again," Yennefer told her, clearly seeing into her head. "And you can always sing for me and my girls, little bird."

"Performing for a crazy, hot witch and her harem of enlightened girls?" Jaskier considered it with a hum. Yennefer looked down at her, eyebrows raised expectantly.

Jaskier grinned as she reached up and dragged Yennefer down into a hungry kiss, giving them both the answer they needed.

[andsheoverthinks]

why i'm skeptical of the success rate of an american sex strike (re: roe v wade and twitter discourse)

tldr: if men don't get laid, it's entirely women's fault (according to the patriarchy). although we should abstain in order to protect ourselves from harm, we can't expect anything to change as a result.

*an aside: i don't really like the terminology of 'sex strike.' women aren't employees, and sex is not a job.

you may or may not remember alexandra hunt's tweets earlier this year. here's a refresher:

obviously, a right to sex is an absurd idea, and i say this as someone who considers themselves to be involuntarily celibate (in the original, non-hateful, self-effacing sense as when a female Canadian college student coined the term back in the 1990s [source][source]). you have more of a right to drink a gallon of chocolate milk a day.

alexandra hunt used this image as evidence for a right to sex; the fact that young men are apparently having far less frequent sex compared to women than ever before in the united states is problematic and a sign of deeper problems, and women must remedy this by whoring themselves out to the nearest buyer/converting their vaginas into a soup kitchen. again, this is absurd for obvious reasons.

even a MGTOW (who at the very least generally mildly dislike women) website called her out [source]:

And here’s where she goes terribly, terribly wrong. As I and many other people have argued before, a “right to sex” is fundamentally incompatible with the right of others to say no to sex. And we can’t use sex workers to “pick up the slack” and have sex with men no one else will have sex with. If you spend even a few minutes reading the Incels.is forums — the most popular incel site by far — you’ll see that there are good reasons why no one is having sex with these guys. It’s not because they’re too ugly, or because their wrists are too small — or any of the other reasons incels cite for their sexual failures. It’s because they’re nasty, bitter, and often quite dangerous boys and men who fundamentally hate women as much as, if not more so, than they hate themselves. These are the sorts of men that most women reject instinctively — and that sex workers try to screen out.

as you can see, us women are apparently already on somewhat of a sex strike. since the educational and financial liberation of women, we have less and less incentive to couple with potentially dangerous/abusive men, which given their online behavior and links with mass murderer, incels often are. i'm certain the number of young men not having sex in a year has only increased since the pandemic and post roe era.

it's interesting that this rise in sexless young men has accompanied gamergate, the incel community, and the rise of misogynistic podcasters/youtubers/influencers.

[last year, a man killed seven women (six of whom were Asian) and one man at a massage parlor. he claimed it was due to sex addiction, saying he saw the women at the parlor as 'sexual temptation' and therefore had to eliminate them. btw sex addiction isn't even in the dsm.]

[there's also 'fresh and fit,' two guys who host a podcast in miami. i found out about them because one of my childhood friends moved there (i think she may be involved in the sex industry) and went on their podcast. the concept of the podcast is that they bring pretty, but regretfully shallow and not very smart women who are themselves misogynistic, talk about their misogynistic ideals, and berate their guests whilst their chat calls the women names like 'whore' and 'free use'. women are compared to cars and other objects. women should put out on the third date, but also not be whores. additionally, they also hate Black women to an extreme degree which is just the cherry on top. i feel i'm lucky, though, that misogynists usually hate Black women and avoid us like the plague and so i don't have to deal with them as much as white and Asian women do.]

In a nutshell, the hosts take the predictable stance that women ought to serve in a subservient role — you know, like in the kitchen — otherwise men won’t be interested. They argue that women who are successful are not appealing to men, and hold that while men should be allowed multiple sexual partners, women should remain faithful to one man. Ironically, given how busy these guys are sleeping with multiple women (allegedly), one wonders if they’re glad that the women they sleep with, at least, reject their advice. ... So, why are Fresh & Fit popular? The answer is only partly because Gaines and Weekes appeal to the type of guys who lay the blame for their own dating woes on women.

as women, we are socialized from birth to self-critique. is our personality annoying? our breasts too small? stomach too flabby? face too asymmetric? if no one likes us/the way we present ourselves, we are trained to try our hardest to change -- to shave more, wear more makeup, get plastic surgery, be less argumentative, act more agreeable, smile more, et cetera. women aren't socialized to believe they have a right to sex. therefore, when rejected, we simply believe that there's a set of criteria which we haven't met and therefore we should attempt to determine what said criteria is and adjust to match it. this can be as simple as wearing different clothes or as dramatic as expensive and dangerous plastic surgery [source]. my parents would often tell me as a child things like 'i feel bad for your future husband, don't nag/be so aggressive' or 'with your stretch marks, you'll never get a boyfriend' or 'your eczema scars look horrible, you'll never get a boyfriend' etc so this type of fix-yourself-for-the-male-gaze- thinking becomes very natural to us. on the other hand, my male cousin would be asked at the same age what kind of girl he found attractive, what type of girlfriend he wanted, etc, without any admonishment/direction as to what flaws he needed to fix.

it's not surprising that women expect that if since when we are rejected, we modulate our behavior, attitude, and presentation, men will too if we reject them enough. if no one wants to sleep with us, we assume it's for a reason (usually our looks). this is not universal.

well, we are rejecting them, more than we ever have. and instead of a mass realization amongst men that maybe (1) the majority of them are misogynistic shitheads or at the very least enablers and they should stop behaving that way (2) if women are less likely to fuck them if abortion is illegal, it might be in their best interest to keep abortion legal, this mini sex strike has done the opposite.

a perfect example of cognitive dissonance theory, men have changed their worldview but not their behavior. it's modern western women's fault, you see, women who aren't marriageable, women who are slutty, women who are prudes, women who could have her pick of a hundred nice guys at any given time but instead we all get ran through by the same ten top 5% of men. i've even heard some rancid and moronic youtubers suggest that the world is 80% women and 20% men or vice versa in order to justify our 'bad behavior' of not putting out/getting ran through by a mysterious and elusive subpopulation of men.

women are often berated for not putting out [source][source][source], as if sex is automatically owed as a natural consequence of going on a date.

When Alaska Gurl questioned her date about his last-minute decision to go Dutch, he asked, “Are you going to give me some a**?,” inquiring as to whether she’s willing to have sex once they left the restaurant if he picks up the tab.

To that, she responded with an emphatic, “No,” which prompted the less-than-chivalrous chap to hand over her bill, totaling $42.74 (AU$60)

“F**k you,” barked Alaska Gurl. The man sharply retorted: “See? That’s your problem. You don’t want to.” Adding insult to injury, he said, “Hey, how do you plan on getting home?,” suggesting that he wouldn’t be escorting Alaska Gurl back to her residence and stranding her as a punishment for rebuffing his sexual advances.

“You’re f**king taking me home,” she spat, to which he asked, “[Do] you got gas [money]?”

After yelling “No,” Alaska Gurl zoomed in on the man’s face and spouted off a warning to his future inamoratas, saying: “You guys, he’s making me pay for my food, because I won’t have sex with him. That’s a sad shame.”

“Look at this man,” she continued. “Don’t ever go out with him. Don’t give him your number. Just f**king run!”

this fury comes from the idea of being owed something, of having a right to sex. even employers don't have a right to labor from employees; that's why employees are paid, and why striking makes sense at all and why it is so powerful. since the employer is not owed labor, employees may withhold it in order to pressure for better conditions, pay, et cetera.

for a significant portion of the male population, the response to not getting laid for a while is to hate women to a violent degree. on the other hand, we have the joke that long-term single women like to knit, eat microwave dinners, and adopt cats.

it's often quoted that women initiate 80% of divorces; yet i know of no large cultural zeitgeist amongst husbands to please and accommodate their wives to stave this off. instead, it is said that women who divorce simply want to get their hands on the alimony. this is despite the fact that 30% [source] to 50% [source] of women in het marriages outearn their husbands. in many cases, women are paying men alimony. i know women in my family who are paying their husbands alimony.

no, so even if we all as a global collective refused to have sex with men for an indeterminate amount of time, i doubt that men as a global collective would decide to change their behavior, because, at the end of the day, alexandra hunt did voice what a lot of men (and some even more deluded women) believe. men are owed sex. a women saying no is depriving him of a civil right -- the use of her body. alexandra hunt said the quiet part out loud. women choosing to exercise their reproductive and sexual freedom by abstaining causes fury and indignation, not self-reflection and contemplation.

while this 'right to sex' idea exists, a sex strike will never work because the basis of a strike is that the labor of employees* puts employers* in debt; our employers* will simply believe they are being wronged. of course, never believe that you owe anyone sex, the right that you do have is the right to say no. but don't hold out for a miracle. let's go on a sex strike (especially if you live in a red/pro birth state)! but for us!

and last of all, dear men, if you've made it this far: have you considered smiling more [source]?

[solspectre]

grab

actions speak louder than words // not accepting

grab, sender grabs receiver's wrist to stop them from leaving.

sometimes, shepard wonders if she could have done it any differently. any better.

anderson had said he was proud of her. in his last moments, he spent what few words he could say praising her and yet she didn't think she deserved it, her record carrying the ghosts of far too many to count. and when these thoughts drifted to the forefront of her mind, an ache courses through her body, wounds long since healed hurting once more, as if they knew and wanted her body to be the reminder.

and what good was she to anyone like that?

vaguely can the commander hear garrus calling her name, but he sounds far away, as if at the end of a long tunnel. her gaze remains fixed out the window, but what she sees is not the tranquil night sky, but the darkness of space lit aflame with the symphony of war raging endlessly. fingers twitch, hand instinctively raising to cradle almost protectively against her abdomen. something warm seeps through her fingers– and she knows. her body feels too heavy to keep up and slowly, every sound around her seems to grow quiet. and as her eyes close, there's a moment of peace. a light at the end of that tunnel–

' Sh..... – e....pa ....– Shepard ! '

but the light was not hers to grasp. emerald eyes snap open, alert with an intensity that burned hotter than the sun as a sharp inhale breaks that tense quiet. her body moves immediately, turning on her heels, acting without any thought. she needed to leave. she needed to go back out there, to keep fighting, to fix whatever the hell was going wrong now and make sure that nothing would fuck up this hard earned victory. but before the commander can even get close to the door, something closes around her wrist and her body stalls, freezing in place as her head snaps around towards the source, ready to put up a fight but–

" ....Garrus?"

no. that's not right. he shouldn't be here. he was back on the normandy, wasn't he? she ordered him to evacuate with the others. cofusion colors her expression but as her focus eases up, she realizes that this..........wasn't the top of the citadel.

shepard glances down and everything is normal. no shattered and torn fragments of armor barely clinging to her skin. no cuts and gashes decorating her flesh, blood running so fast she hardly knew which wound it was coming from. her lungs weren't begging for rest and the quiet wasn't punctured by the blasts of cannons. she doesn't realize she's even holding her breath until she has to breathe, air exhaling harshly and finds that it doesn't hurt. with her free hand, she quickly tugs up her shirt just enough to press her palm flat against her stomach, expecting to find torn skin and blood. instead, she only feels the bumps and ridges of healed scars, the only marks left by harbinger's blast.

her hand drops, shirt following suit as she realizes she's not back home but in the city, that, for all intents and purposes, she was okay. (and yet, her blood continues to run cold.) and all the while, garrus remains ever vigilant, his grip on her wrist tightening, as if afraid to let go.

damn it. why couldn't this have happened when i was alone?

" Sorry. " her throat feels dry as that one word cracks in a whisper. shame doesn't find her, nor embarrassment, but regret does. worry– not for herself, but for the turian. she doesn't need to look at him to know what expression he's wearing right now. and so, like always, half-hearted humor is all she can give. " Guess I was thinking too much. Won't happen again– promise."

at least, not around him. though shepard trusts garrus with her very life, she doesn't want him to carry these remnants. who knew coming back from the dead a second time would be so troublesome?