#and then you’re stuck stumbling around in life after it’s healed

[spinebuster]

if you send anon hate i hope you break your pinky toe so bad it ruins your balance for the rest of your life

[raysrays]

Fatal Attraction Chapter Two (NSFW)

18+ MDNI‼️

CW for the entire story: Breeding, Size Difference,Size Kink, Jealousy, Scent Marking, Age Difference, Vaginal Sex, Possessive Behavior, Angst, Twisted, Creampie, Angry Sex, Vaginal Fingering, Hair-pulling, Biting, Master/Pet, Light Dom/sub, Violence, Knotting.

Content disclaimer: This story is inspired by the amazing artist @PammyJammy117 on Twitter/X. I in absolutely no way own or claim the idea of the “Cryptid Rengoku” character. Please give credit to the original artist who inspired the story.

Chapter One

He let me go. I can’t believe what just happened as I stumble back to the small, secluded residence where Tamayo has been housing us. My ankle hurts, but not as badly as before. The pain lingers, though it's less intense after resting and talking with that monster.

I'm in shock and disbelief. Out of all the people who have been searching for these mythical monsters for years, I had the misfortune of encountering one—and a dangerous one at that.

I think back to that haunting smile, those sharp teeth, and the glow of his red eyes. However, Tamayo's rambling might have saved me in a way. I never looked Kyojuro Rengoku directly in the eyes, which means he couldn’t sway my emotions.

If I remember correctly, the Hashira—or more specifically, these cryptid creatures—have the ability to influence a person’s control once you look into their eyes. This could be a means of protection or a manipulation tactic. I didn’t care what Kyojuro Rengoku’s intent was. Once I realized the situation I was in, I kept my gaze low.

He seemed not to notice, or at least he never mentioned it.

My mind is racing, and there's a nauseous feeling in my stomach. The full realization of the situation crashes down on me all at once: I encountered one of the nine most dangerous monsters our group has been researching. And I can’t breathe a word about it to any of them, especially not Tamayo.

The guilt didn’t set in until I finally made it back to the small house. I could see Tamayo, Yushiro, and some of the others talking in a group through the window.

There they were, discussing theories and ideas, while I stood outside with a twisted ankle, no flower, and a huge secret I had to keep from them.

In that moment, it felt like the world was working against me. I didn’t even believe in any of these ridiculous creatures, and now I’m stuck returning to see one every other day.

And return I did. Once my ankle healed, I kept my promise to him, bringing offerings of different foods and teas. I tried bringing blankets and fabric once, but he didn’t seem to enjoy those.

Even though sneaking around at night to see him was difficult, I made it work. Our dynamic was confusing, but I tolerated it. The first few times I visited, we sat and ate together. He would ask me questions about myself and my life, which I usually answered briefly. I didn’t want a terrifying monster knowing everything about me. Recognizing my face was bad enough.

When I tried to ask him questions, he would either change the subject or ignore me completely. If anyone else behaved like this, I’d probably tell them off. But when you’re dealing with an eight-foot-tall cryptid with teeth sharper than any blade, I let it slide.

Today, on my way to see him, I felt different. I’ve been visiting him for around two weeks now and never felt us getting closer, but I’ve started getting used to his company. As I continued to see him more, his appearance began to grow on me.

The blonde fur, the sharp teeth, and the red glow emanating from his eyes became something familiar, something I expected. Over time, these once terrifying traits started to become... not so bad.

"Why do you look like that?" His booming voice jolted me back to reality.

"I'm sorry, I was just thinking."

"It seemed like you were staring... Haven't you gotten used to me yet?" He flashed a smile so terrifying yet charming it sent shivers down my spine.

"No, it's not that. I was just trying to decide what food to bring next time."

"I really enjoyed the sweet potato dish. Bring it again." His ears perked up almost like a dog's. It was kind of cute.

"I've brought that one too often. You should try other dishes. Besides, I won't be able to come see you for a few days, so you'll have some time to think it over."

I waited for a response, but there was none. Slowly, I looked up at him. His face was scary, his sharp smile replaced by a terrifying scowl. His ears flattened.

"That's not what we agreed upon, Y/N. Why won't you be able to come see me?" he growled.

I struggled to find the words. Tamayo had informed the group that we'd be moving locations for a few days to cover new ground. I thought he'd understand. I never assumed he'd be upset by my absence.

"My group has to move locations for our search for a while. It shouldn’t take too long. I’ll return soon. It will only be a couple of days."

He got up and moved closer, and I felt every part of my body tense as he approached.

"Where exactly will you be going?" His face was so close to mine now. I felt like my heart was going to burst out of my chest.

"North… we’re going north."

I didn't have to look at his face to feel the intense glare he was giving me.

"You can’t go. You won’t," he snarled, pulling away.

"I don’t have a choice—"

"I don’t care. You aren’t going."

I didn’t understand. Is it just for the food? Why would this terrifying legend of a monster care if I came to see him or not?

"Why is it a problem? Why can’t I go?" I somehow managed to push the words out.

He was quiet, then I suddenly felt something around my wrist. I looked down to see his tail tightly wrapped around me, pulling me closer. That’s when I felt his sharp-clawed hand lifting my chin.

I instinctively shut my eyes.

"Look at me, Y/N." That usually happy tone had vanished from his voice, replaced with a voice as cold as ice.

Every bone in my body wanted to comply with his demands, but Tamayo's warning lingered in my mind.

"I can’t.”

"Look at me," he repeated.

I couldn’t resist. I knew Cryptids could influence humans, but I didn’t realize how much.

Slowly, I felt my eyes open, adjusting to the sight in front of me.

My mouth fell slightly open. I’d never seen such deep red glowing eyes before. That smile I’d grown accustomed to was completely gone.

I was scared, but why was I so… attracted to him?

"You will not go, Y/N. I'm sure you can come up with some excuse for this Tamayo woman you speak of so much," he spat.

I wanted to protest, to argue, but I just couldn't.

"Okay, I'll talk to her."

With that, he let me go, his tail slowly unwrapping from my wrist. His smile returned.

"Very good! You'll return to me tomorrow. I want the sweet potato dish once more!"

I could practically hear my own heartbeat—what a one-eighty.

As I walked back to the safe house, I planned what I would say to Tamayo, what excuse I would give for not going with the group.

Yushiro was definitely going to give me a hard time about it. But this whole situation sucks. I don’t want Tamayo to kick me out of the only place I have to call home, but on the other hand, I risk getting killed by one of the scariest creatures known to man.

-—————-

"Where have you been?"

I glanced up to see Yushiro and some of the others packing for the journey.

"I just stepped out to get some fresh air."

"Seems like you've been stepping out a lot lately," Yushiro muttered, rolling his eyes.

I had no idea why he was so hard on me. His attitude had only worsened the longer I stayed.

Ignoring him, I walked away. I don't answer to Yushiro. I answer to Tamayo, and that's who I needed to talk to.

My hand felt heavy as I knocked on the door to her office.

"Come in."

I opened the door slowly.

She was nearly hidden behind a giant stack of papers and books. As I approached, she stood and walked around to meet me.

"Y/N, what is it?"

I couldn’t believe how intimidating this small woman was.

"Tamayo... I can't go with you and the rest of the group up north."

She looked at me blankly for a moment. "Why's that?"

"Because I'm afraid I might be coming down with a cold... or something..." I hadn't really thought of a convincing excuse.

"You look fine to me. You're going," she said coldly.

Damn.

"I want to, I really do. It's just that I don't feel well, and I'm afraid I'll hold everyone back."

She scrutinized me. I knew she could tell something was off, but she was making this difficult on purpose.

"Y/N, I've asked you to look for the same flower for weeks now and you've brought me nothing. Now I'm asking you to join the group on our search up north and you're telling me no?"

When she said it out loud, it sounded ridiculous.

"You will go with us, Y/N, or you can't continue to stay here. The choice is yours."

So, my options were to face this 4'11" intimidating woman or an 8-foot-tall cryptid monster.

I'll take my chances with Rengoku.

After all, Tamayo controlled whether or not I had a place to sleep at night. I'm sure he wouldn't be too angry with me as long as I brought him more food.

"Suddenly I feel a lot better. I'll be ready to go in the morning," I said, forcing a small smile.

"That's what I figured." She retreated back behind her desk.

Something inside me felt off, my body a little uneasy. Yeah, he's going to be upset, but he'll forgive me. Right?

I walked up into my small room to get things ready, but I started to feel a little strange. My body felt odd, as if I was doing something wrong.

Climbing into the covers I think about everything, this whole situation that I’ve gotten myself into, with Tamayo, with Rengoku, all of it. I just don’t understand why it had to happen to me.

I never wanted any of this.

I was feeling confident until this morning. As I was helping Yushiro get things ready for the set out, my body kept feeling weird.

It’s like I kept having this odd sense of I’m doing something wrong. Like I’m in danger. I kept trying to shake it off but, it doesn’t go away.

Things only got worse once we hit the road. Tamayo may have thought I was lying earlier about being sick, because I was. But now, my whole body feels awful.

But it’s just a few days. I can push through. I’ll come home, make Rengoku a large dish of the sweet potatoes he loves, and all will be forgiven with a little ass-kissing.

“Y/N, are you ready?”

I look over and see Yushiro and the others staring at me.

“Yeah, sorry. Let’s go.” I push the sick feeling down and start to move.

I can’t help but think about why Rengoku didn’t want me to go up north. I know the territory mark ends, but really that shouldn’t mean anything. It’s not like I’m staying up there permanently.

As I walked with the group, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I felt like something was staring at me. It only felt more intense the closer and closer we got to the border that separated our usual territory from the north.

Once we started to step over that line, I glanced over my shoulder one last time. I practically felt my heart stop as I noticed two shining red eyes glaring at me in the distance.

He saw me, and he looked furious. I made the wrong call.

———————

To say that the trip up north was a waste of time would be an understatement—at least in Yushiro's words.

We searched around but found very little. To be honest, I was more paranoid about what we couldn't see. Knowing about the Hashira's existence has made me overly wary of wandering around.

While we were camping out, I read that we were in the territory of Sanemi Shinazugawa. His description was just as horrifying as Rengoku’s.

But what truly scared me was how violent this monster was compared to Rengoku. I knew these monsters were fierce, but the tales of Shinazugawa were extreme.

I felt so guilty keeping this secret. My group had no idea how much danger we’d be in if we ran into him. And it would be all my fault.

Honestly, if Sanemi Shinazugawa wanted to find and kill me, I wouldn't complain too much after the way Rengoku looked at me on my way out. I figured I was painfully dead either way.

I could feel my steps getting heavier as we walked back towards the safe house. It’s not like I wanted to stay in a monster-infested forest, but I definitely didn’t want to be there with Rengoku.

I’ve looked through books and journals of Tamayo’s and still can’t find much about him. Everything I found was positive. He was a kind, protective cryptid who watched over the main village in this area until humans deemed monsters too dangerous to trust.

There was nothing on his origins, background, family, or anything—certainly nothing about a temper.

So why was he looking at me like that? Like he wanted to kill me for going against him. Honestly, it felt like my body wanted to punish me for it too.

Ever since we left—no, ever since I agreed to go—I’ve felt sick and worried. I just kept feeling like I was doing something wrong.

“Y/n, when we get back, I need you to get some firewood.”

I glanced over to see Tamayo looking at me.

I’m dead.

“Oh, okay.”

The rest of the walk, all I could do was dread what would happen to me. Not only was Tamayo forcing me back into the place I wanted to avoid, but I’d also be going without some sort of food offering.

I might as well have signed my own death certificate.

Once we made it back, I helped unload everything and then slowly made my way back into the forest to get the wood. As soon as I stepped out of the clearing, a shiver ran down my spine.

Then the clicking started. He’s here.

“Y/N L/N.” The way his echoing voice spoke my name made me want to run, but my feet stayed planted.

Once he emerged from the shadows, his tall, broad figure just as terrifying as I remembered. But this time, there was no sharp smile or perked-up ears. Instead, angry, glowing eyes and a scowl that would scare any man.

I stepped back as he approached.

Just as I was about to speak, his tail wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer.

He leaned in and sniffed me. When he pulled back, his whole demeanor changed. His eyes darkened.

��You disobeyed me,” he growled.

“I had to. If I didn’t go, Tamayo was going to kick me out—”

His grip tightened, and his ear twitched with annoyance.

“You could have stayed here, with me. You don’t need her approval. The only person you should wish to please is me.”

His glare was piercing.

Stay with him? What is he talking about?

“I’m sorry, I really am. I didn’t want to go.”

“I cannot believe you would deliberately disobey me. You even smell like him,” he hissed.

“Who?”

His clicking intensified with his agitation.

“Shinazugawa.” He growled fiercely.

“You left me to fall into his company? He is a vile, horrible creature. You dare to choose him over me?” His eyes flashed with anger.

I felt my heart racing as his words sank in. My mind scrambled for something to say, anything that might diffuse his rage.

“No, it’s not like that! I didn’t choose him over you,” I pleaded. “I didn’t have a choice.”

His grip loosened slightly, but his eyes remained fixed on me, burning with anger and something else—betrayal.

“You always have a choice,” he said, his voice low and dangerous. “You chose to leave. You chose to put yourself in his path.”

I didn't know what to say. I hadn't even interacted with Sanemi Shinazugawa, yet somehow his scent was all over me.

I looked up at him, my eyes pleading. "Please, Rengoku. I would never choose anyone other than you."

His glowing eyes bore into mine, as if trying to gauge the truth of my words.

Suddenly, he pulled me closer, his large, clawed hand grabbing my face roughly.

"Prove it to me then. Prove you're loyal to me—not to Tamayo, not to Shinazugawa, to me."

"How? How can I prove it?" I was practically shaking. I would do anything to get out of this life-threatening situation.

His intense gaze lit up, his sharp smile returning. He leaned in close to me.

"Become my mate, Y/N L/N. Prove your loyalty to me, and become mine." His echoing voice suddenly sounded less sinister and more sincere.

Become his mate?

I felt my face heat up. There’s no way. There’s just no way Kyojuro Rengoku, a cryptid, a Hashira, one of the most dangerous beings to roam the earth, is asking me, a human, to become his mate.

“What? What do you mean?”

His smile only widened at my curiosity.

“Become my mate, Y/N. Stay with me, love me, and I’ll protect you for all eternity.” His ears perked up.

I didn’t know what to think. Am I actually considering this? I’ve always found Rengoku oddly attractive despite his terrifying nature, and yes, I do enjoy coming to see him. But was becoming his mate really what I had to do to survive?

And how exactly would I hide this from everyone?

As I looked into his eyes again, they flashed. Something in me felt different. Why was I suddenly feeling more attached to him?

I remembered the first time I looked into his eyes. I could tell he was influencing my body and emotions, but this time it was different.

Everything I’ve felt for him just felt amplified: fear, intimidation, attraction, lust.

Was I seriously about to bend to the will of this monster just because my twisted mind was genuinely attracted to his horrifying appearance and oddly charming personality?

If it’s going to keep me alive, then Yes. Yes, I was.

“Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll become your mate, Rengoku.”

His eyes widened, his smile growing larger as his grip on my waist tightened.

“If you agree to this, you must know I’ll never let you go. No matter where you run, I’ll always find you and bring you back to me.”

That sentence startled me, but I never expected to succeed in any escape attempt. I knew I couldn’t outsmart a monster like him.

“I understand. And I agree.”

That seemed to be all he needed to hear. He pulled me closer, our distance vanishing. His animalistic nature began to show as he sniffed and licked my skin.

“I’ll erase every trace of him on you. You’re mine,” he breathed.

I couldn’t help but feel my cheeks grow hotter, my body reacting to his possessive words.

In an instant, he was on top of me, pressing my body against the grass.

I struggled to breathe, his weight nearly suffocating me.

His eyes were locked on mine, his glowing red stare seeming more passionate than threatening now.

Suddenly, he pulled back and tore the clothing from my body, his hands groping and feeling my exposed skin.

My heart raced. I knew what was about to happen, and it terrified me. But I was also strangely excited.

He was quick, his claws shredding the remaining scraps of fabric from my body, leaving me bare beneath him.

I couldn't believe what I'd gotten myself into. This terrifying, mythical creature was about to claim me as his own. And the thought of it drove me wild.

As his large, clawed hands gripped my waist, he positioned himself between my legs.

His eyes looked at me, hungry.

"Y/N L/N."

"Yes?"

"You're mine."

I felt a surge of excitement run through me as I nodded.

"Say it," he growled.

"I'm yours."

His clicking started up again and he positioned his face between my legs.

I can’t believe it, is he really going to—

"Aah!" I cried out as his long, rough tongue began lapping at my sex.

My back arched as he lapped and teased, his sharp teeth nipping and tugging at my sensitive flesh.

I could barely catch my breath, the pleasure almost overwhelming.

I could feel my legs shaking, and my body begin to tighten as his tongue flicked against my clit.

"R-Rengoku..."

His glowing eyes peeked up at me.

“Kyojuro.” He corrected.

“If you are to be my mate, you will not address me so formally anymore.” He growled, sucking marks onto my thighs.

He returned to licking and teasing my pussy.

I can't believe this is happening.

I felt the heat building in my stomach, the pressure building as he lapped at my sensitive spot.

"Ahh... K-Kyojuro, I'm close," I moaned.

"Perfect," he rumbled, his echoing voice vibrating through me.

His grip on my thighs tightened as he pushed his tongue deeper into me, licking and sucking at my throbbing sex.

The pleasure was overwhelming.

"I'm gonna cum... I'm gonna cum," I moaned softly.

He growled continuing his assault on my clit.

His voice, his touch, it was all too much.

I cried out, my body shuddering and spasming as the intense waves of pleasure crashed over me.

Kyojuro held me in place as my orgasm washed over me, his tongue never slowing its pace.

The pleasure was so intense I couldn’t think straight. My body had never felt so used like this.

As my mind started to settle I couldn’t help but crave more. And by the way he was looking up at me between my thighs. I could tell that wasn’t enough for him either.

Once he arose up in front of me, I took in his body. The ripped muscles beneath his blonde and red fur. His tail and ears, and now…

Now for the first time I’m finally looking all of him. His cock was the biggest I’d ever seen. It was thick and curved and had a large knot close to the base.

my body shivered with pleasure, I wanted more. I needed more.

As if reading my thoughts, he smirked and positioned himself between my thighs, his cock teasing my entrance.

"Tell me what you want," he taunted.

"I... I want you, Kyojuro. I want all of you," I panted, my body aching with desire.

That was all the encouragement he needed.

He grabbed both my ankles holding them with one of his large hands above my head.

I’d be lying if I said this position wasn’t slightly embarrassing, but at this rate I didn’t care. I don’t know if it was the cryptids influence or if I was just fucked up in the head, but I was willing to let this monster use me in any way he wished.

With one smooth motion, he pushed his thick cock inside of me.

I moaned out as he stretched and filled me.

He paused, letting me adjust to his size.

"My mate," he growled, his eyes locking onto mine.

I panted, feeling his cock twitch inside me.

He started moving slowly, his cock rubbing against my walls, sending sparks of pleasure through my body.

"Oh god..."

I couldn’t hold back any longer.

I gripped the grass below me tightly as he slid in and out of me, his knot pushing against my entrance with every thrust.

The pressure was building, the heat spreading through my body as he picked up the pace.

"Oh fuck," I moaned, my body trembling with pleasure.

He clicked and growled in pleasure, his glowing eyes staring into me with a mixture of passion and possession.

He was relentless, his hips pounding into me with a primal fury.

"Fuck, Kyojuro," I cried, my body surrendering to the ecstasy.

The pleasure was so intense, it was almost painful.

His eyes flashed with desire, his pace never faltering.

I felt his cock twitch inside me, his knot pushing into my entrance stretching me even wider.

It was painful but I didn’t care, the high of my orgasm made it bearable. His cock was buried so deep inside me I thought my mind was going to blank with every thrust.

even after I came he still kept going, chasing his own release.

His rhythm grew more erratic, his breathing labored.

"Mine, my mate." he growled.

"Yes," I panted.

My words sent him over the edge.

He let out a roar, his teeth digging into my neck as he spilled his seed inside me, filling me with his thick, warm cum.

I cried out in pain and pleasure, feeling his cock pulsing inside me, his cum not spilling a drop due to the thick knot inside of me.

I was breathless, my body exhausted and sore, but my mind was completely satisfied.

"My beautiful human." he whispered, his voice heavy with lust and possession.

I held onto him, my body still trembling.

He released his grip on me, his clawed hand releasing my ankles.

I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed as he pulled his softening cock out of me.

As the warmth of his body faded, the chill of the evening air set in, sending shivers down my spine.

But before the cold could sink in, he covered my body with his own, his warm, heavy frame keeping the chill away.

His face nuzzled into the crook of my neck, where he had bit me. his nose taking in his scent on my skin.

What have I done?

Next>>

[pandora-writes-one-piece]

The Meet-Cute - Zoro's Story - 2

Source for pic

Trouble 2

Word Count: 4550

Tags For The Whole Story: Fem!Reader; Protective!Zoro; Soft!Zoro; Sexual Tension; Teasing; Flirting; Mature Audiences (I'll always tag the NSFW chapters); Modern Day AU; Reader is being stalked; Fear; Paranoia; Angst; Rom-Com Vibes; Mild Gore-like Descriptions; Blood; Dead Animals Mentioned; Reader in a terror-like state; Fluff; Romance; Banter; Manipulation; Miscommunication; Frustration; Reader is very clumsy;

Special Warning: English is not my first language, I apologise for any possible spelling or grammar mistakes.

Summary: After moving away from the hustle and bustle of Grand Line City to help your father around the property following a horse-riding accident - and in the hopes of healing your broken heart after your asshole ex-fiancé cheated - you settle into the country calmness of the Calm Belt. You and Zoro are slowly returning to your easy friendship filled with banter and flirting and you actually begin to glimpse a future with the green-haired cop. But then you start to receive weird gifts. They quickly escalate to manipulative texts. And now you're stuck in a spiral of terror and there's no way to get help because the Stalker, whoever he is, is threatening something other than just your life.

Notes: Chapter 2 is here! Please enjoy while everything is light and fluffy 😋 Maybe the author will quickly turn this into angst and horror! Who knows? 😯

Masterlist | |Chapter 2| | |Chapter 3|

Saturday comes in a heartbeat, and with it, a lingering anxiety. Zoro assured you that you had nothing to worry about, and deep down, you know he’s right. But that still does nothing to stop the churning in your stomach or the maddening pounding of your heart.

Luffy had long since left his grandpa’s house, your neighbour, but he had traded the farmhouse for a nice, cosy home not too far away, and with a backyard big enough to host weekly gatherings, as Nami had filled you in. 

One that’s standing right in front of you.

Your shaky breath does nothing to soothe your lingering nerves, and you clutch the strap of your bag tighter as you fidget with your hair. Then you stop, tempted to turn back around, deciding that perhaps this isn’t a good idea at all.

Who, in their right mind, would want to hang out with someone they haven’t seen in forever?

Are you boring company? Are you actually fun to hang out with? They remember you from when you were a teenager. Years have passed. Will they still like you?

“Oi? Are you coming in or not?” Zoro’s gruff voice is enough to ground you, and you nod, taking two shaky steps forward before you regain your stride. “You’re late.” He grumbles from his leaning position on the front porch where, apparently, he was waiting for you.

“Fashionably late. It’s a thing, google it.” You quip back, a quick grin spreading with the easiness of your and Zoro’s banter. 

“How can you say that with a straight face when I just witnessed you wavering in the front yard, pissing your pants from meeting your oldest friends?” Zoro gives a thumbs-down and blows a raspberry. “Shaaaame!”

“Shut up! I thought your bad sense of direction had rubbed off on me for a second, and I was lost.” Climbing the steps, you meet his gaze with a look of defiance, but he merely snickers at you. 

“I’ll pretend to believe you, Trouble.”

You take a deep breath and face the closed door, licking your lips nervously as you fidget with your hair again. 

“There’s no need to be nervous. We’re all friends, and everybody’s missed you.” Zoro nudges your shoulder with his, and you chuckle. 

“Right.”

“Ready?”

“Let’s make an entrance.” And damn it, if your words aren’t a prediction. As soon as you open the door, you stumble on your feet, almost falling face-first to the floor, if not for Zoro’s steadying hand around your upper arm.

“That’s one way to do it…” He mumbles through clenched teeth, and you grimace. But there’s no more time to counter-argue or to say anything else, really. All you see is a red blur, and then you’re being held in a tight hug. Luffy’s arms grip you as if he’s made of rubber, his smile so wide it’s contagious, and you can’t help but smile and hug him back. 

Why were you nervous, anyway?

-*-

Everyone is as friendly and welcoming as you remembered them to be. Nobody treats you as an outsider, as you feared, and the evening goes by smoothly. You meet new people: Vivi, Nami’s beautiful girlfriend, and you bond instantly since she’s such a kind person. Then there’s Chopper, the youngest of the group. Apparently, they’ve been classmates since junior year of highschool - after you left - because he skipped a few years, being practically a genius. A very shy, adorable genius. Barto, a very punk-rock-looking man, seems to follow Luffy around and indulge him in all kinds of shenanigans. 

Sanji is the most recent addition to the group, but he blends in so well that it's almost as if he's always been part of the gang. You all get along like you’ve never left, and you’re having the time of your life. 

At one point, the groups separate casually: Robin and Nami are huddled on the sofas, gossiping about a party at their office and the ensuing scandal; Kaya and Vivi are secretly shopping for a gift for Nami’s birthday on the front porch; Sanji is preparing more food with Luffy and Barto hovering around; and Chopper is playing a videogame with Usopp. You travel from one place to another, throwing your two cents when asked, but you notice the casual way Zoro follows you around, almost like he’s hovering, expecting you to need him at any given moment.

You don’t think he’s doing it on purpose, though. As Kaya and Vivi return to the living room, you sit with the girls and notice Zoro leaning against the doorframe, closing his eyes as if he’s resting them, but his stance is alert. Then you go cheer on Chopper, who seems a bit overwhelmed by Usopp’s prowess in the game, and Zoro follows you, lingering in front of Usopp long enough to make him lose the game. 

When you go to the kitchen, Sanji is leaving with more food, and you decide to tidy up the dirty dishes before joining them, feeling a bit overwhelmed yourself. After a few seconds, as the warm water from the tap relaxes you into an easy smile, Zoro appears, leaning casually against the counter, facing you. Close enough that you can smell his strong cologne.

“Hey, Troublemaker. Making trouble?”

A smirk tugs at your lips as you rinse a glass. “Not this time. I’m sitting pretty tight. Didn’t even bump into any chair for about half an hour.”

“That’s an improvement right there.” He teases back, and you chuckle. A small, comfortable silence lingers as he takes a sip of his beer. “You don’t have to do that, you know? If the cook sees you doing that, you’ll give him a stroke.”

“Sanji is being very nice by cooking for all of us. I can lighten his load by cleaning up. Besides, I needed a little space.” You let out an exasperated sigh.

“The crew’s too much, right? You’re not used to it anymore, Trouble?”

Shaking your head, you rinse the last glass and turn off the tap, wiping your hands on the clean rag that’s hanging by the counter. “Not used to it at all! But it’s… refreshing.” You turn fully towards him and realise he’s even closer now. 

“And don’t you feel silly now?” He laughs, and you roll your eyes.

“Extremely. I don't know what I was afraid of.” You take another step, being pulled towards him like a magnet. There’s just something about Zoro’s steadying presence that makes you feel safe and secure. 

“We’ve missed you.” He whispers, his smile dropping at the same time as his eye lingers on your lips as you wet them with your tongue. “I’ve missed you.”

“Yeah?” You ask, nonchalantly. There’s no denying that there’s attraction between you and Zoro. Heck, it’s always been there, even when you were teens. Is now finally the time when you two can act on it?

“Hey, have you seen– shit! Sorry!” Nami curses and turns away when she sees you and Zoro practically over each other. You and Zoro fall apart quickly, a blush spreading fast on your cheeks.

What were you two about to do? Isn’t it too soon for this? You can’t do this! You and Zoro are friends, you don’t want any relationship. 

“Nami! What did you want?” You ask with a squeaky voice as you turn to arrange a plate of snacks. 

Nami chuckles and exits the kitchen. “Nothing, nothing, forget I was here! Carry on, carry on…” She sing-songs, and you grunt. Zoro just chuckles, and the moment passes. 

-*-

Night falls down pretty quickly and Sanji decides to fire up the grill in Luffy’s backyard. You’re not sure how anyone can eat another bite, but then again, Luffy is always ravenous and Sanji likes to please. So food keeps appearing and disappearing in a heartbeat. There’s a slight chill in the air so someone lights up Luffy’s backyard fire pit, and Nami is already petitioning for the games to turn into drinking games. 

Sanji finishes up grilling the meat and sits down to complete the circle. Nami giggles when Zoro sits on the arm of the lounge chair you’re sitting on, but you try to ignore her. You can almost feel the body heat leaving him and trailing up your skin, though, no matter how close to the pit - and Zoro - you are, you can’t help shivering slightly.

Zoro raises a brow at you and sheds his jacket, draping it casually over your shoulders without another word. Your face raises to meet his, but his eye is back on the fire pit, hand clutching the bottle he brought for himself. You can’t help but feel your cheeks warm up as you snuggle against the warmth of his jacket. “Thanks.” You mumble and he grunts back at you.

“Marshmallows!” Chopper exclaims excitedly when Robin passes a bag around along with some skewers. You giggle and reach for one, but Zoro steals it away before you have a chance to grab it.

“What are you trying to do, Trouble? Skewer yourself or get burnt? I’ll roast you a damn marshmallow.” He says between grumbles and positions himself in a way he can roast the sweet, though his attitude is a stark contrast to his annoyed words. 

“Hey! I can very well roast my own sweets!” Crossing your arms, you pout and scowl at him, but that only manages to make him smirk. 

“Yeah, I bet you can. I just don't think the sweets will be the only thing roasted when you're done.”

“Mean!”

“Truth teller!” He counters and you jab him in the ribs to coax a laugh out of him, instead of those annoying snickers and chuckles, but it doesn't work, it only manages to make him wince. 

It takes a bit of back and forth for you two to notice Nami staring at both of you with a knowing smirk, her arm laced around Vivi’s waist. When you see her, you swear even your ears turn red as she begins to laugh. 

“See, honey,” Nami leans towards Vivi, “aren't they cute?”

“The cutest.” Vivi quips back and you sink in your seat. Zoro seems unfazed, though, as he squishes your marshmallow between two crackers and a piece of chocolate. 

“S’more. Take it.” You mumble a thank you and immediately shove the thing in your mouth, trying to disappear from your friends scrutinizing gaze, since Zoro's attentiveness only makes them snicker more. “It's still hot so don't–” Zoro turns and sees you huffing and waving at your open mouth, a deadpan look crossing his features. “You just had to, didn't you? I should've known…”

That just makes Nami and Vivi cackle more. When you finally manage to swallow the s'more, there's tears gathering at the corner of your eyes, so Zoro pulls out the bottle he's been nursing the entire evening and reaches for a glass, filling it with two fingers of the crystal clear liquid and handing it to you. 

“Here, this will help.”

Wiping your tears you accept the glass. The ice floating in the - almost pale golden - liquid, seems like paradise to your scalding tongue, so you swirl it a bit before sipping slowly. It's like tasting silk. Smooth, delicate and floral-like in its flavor. You've never tasted sake as delicious as this one. 

You hum in contentment, your tongue still aching, but much more at ease. “This is exquisite, Zoro. Where did you get this sake?”

He smirks, proudly, resting the bottle against his chest as if it's a prized possession. “Daiginjo Sake. The best there is. Mihawk, my Captain, gave a case of it to me some time ago, for an achievement.” His eyes focus far away but he doesn't elaborate and you don't press. 

“I can't believe this!” Nami says, irritation dripping from her words. “I've been begging you to let me try it for years, Zoro! Years!”

She seems genuinely annoyed and you open your mouth, clearly caught in the midst of a battlefield of an ancient war. 

“We've been through this, Witch, you don't appreciate good liquor. It would be wasted on you.”

Sanji gasps like he was the one personally offended by the comment and your eyes jump from Zoro to Nami to Sanji. “Take that back, Mosshead! Apologise to the lady!”

Mosshead? Your eyes linger on Zoro's head and there's a flicker of recognition when you connect the nickname to the why of it. Zoro growls at Sanji, shoots you a warning look, as if daring you to tease him about the nickname, and gets up with clenched fists. 

“Wanna start, Curly?”

Curly? Oh! The Vinsmoke brows. Dang, that would've been a good quip to throw at Ichiji way back when. 

The two men face off, faces inches from each other, and Nami sighs. You shrug and offer her the glass. “Want to try it?”

She shakes her head, a silly giggle dancing on her lips. “Girl, I tasted it the year he got it. He just never realised it. I'm such a good thief.” She throws her tongue at you while Vivi shakes her head. “I just said it to rile him up. Aaaaand to prove a point.The drink is special, and he just shared it with you.”

Nami lets that thought linger in the air as she grabs Vivi’s hand, pulling her away from the scene. Then she stops near Sanji and Zoro and exaggerates a faint. “Oh, what I wouldn't give for a warm, soothing drink.” 

Sanji perks up, stops fighting with Zoro, and with a swirl and a declaration goes off to give Nami and Vivi a warm beverage. Zoro keeps grumbling as he sits on the arm of your chair again, his brows furrowed and lips pursed. 

“Thank you.” You say after a moment of silence when he sticks more marshmallows on a skewer, probably imagining swirly brows in each and every one of them. 

“For what?”

For what? Everything… “Making me feel like I'm still part of the crew? Giving me a s'more? Your jacket? A taste of your prized booze?” You chuckle nervously. Nami has been pointing at it the entire evening, but is she right, though? Does Zoro think you're special? “Choose…”

You don't look at him and he doesn't look at you. The fire suddenly seems much more interesting. 

“It's nothing.” He answers after a while. But glancing at him from the corner of your eye, lets you know his ears are red and his frown turned into a slight smile. 

-*-

“Come on, Nami, aren't we a little old for that?” Zoro grumbles as she boos him. 

“You're never too old for a game of ‘Never Have I Ever’, right, gang?”

There are boos and cheers all around, but eventually, the crew agrees to play the game. Mainly because it's cold and Usopp found an old bottle of whiskey that Garp had given Luffy when he bought the house. 

“I'll start: Never have I ever… drank until I passed out!” Nami starts with a giggle and sips her drink. Everybody but Luffy and Chopper takes a sip and agrees. 

Usopp is next, and he snickers, eyeing both Luffy and Chopper, who are now behind on the game. “Never have I ever eaten so much meat - or sweets - that my belly got bigger!”

Luffy and Chopper whine and sip their drinks, a tiny sip, followed by a big chug of cola to mask the booze flavor. Barto also takes a sip, and the crew laughs at that. 

It's your turn, and you see Zoro yawn from the corner of your eye, so you decide to mess with him. “Never have I ever fallen asleep during work hours.”

“Damn you, Trouble.” He says, amused, before sipping the drink.

“How did that happen, officer?” You smirk, quirking your brow, waiting for him to brush you off, but he becomes rather serious. 

“Murder investigation, way back. I found the body, so I assisted the detectives. Pulled shift after shift, barely resting until we caught the culprit. Had to find effective ways to rest in between.”

You weren't expecting that… 

“Wow, Zoro, I don't think you've ever graced us with that much explanation on why you did something…” Nami says nonchalantly before staring at you, deadpan. “Looks like someone's special!” 

There she is again, hinting at that. But are you really? 

The game continues with silly exclamations and serious ones, and after a while, nobody feels cold anymore, and laughter comes easily around the circle. 

“Ohhhhhh, I've got a good one!” 

“Nami…” You whine at your friend, somehow already anticipating some form of embarrassment from her sentence. 

“Never have I ever…” her eyes glint mischievously as she locks her gaze with everyone before setting her brown eyes on yours with a smirk. “Had a crush on someone sitting in this circle.”

You freeze. Shit. Almost everyone takes a sip, but your hand seems frozen. Will it be obvious who your crush is? It probably already is, anyway… so, with a sigh and blazing cheeks, you sip the drink. 

Zoro does, too. 

And chaos ensues. 

There are wolf whistles all around, cheers and whoops, and you don't know if you should giggle or feel mortified. 

But Nami strikes again before you have a chance to do either. “Wait, wait! I can figure this out… so, Usopp and Kaya are obviously each other's crush, as are Vivi and me. Sanji has a crush on all the girls in this circle…”

She sighs as Sanji flushes red, babbling in agreement. 

“Chopper has been infatuated with Robin since he met her–” Chopper squeaks, and Robin smiles sweetly at him. “Barto has had a weird thing for Luffy since forever, platonic or not…”

Barto just shrugs as Luffy laughs out loud, and you begin to sweat. Damn Nami! Is she a sleuth, or just a witch, as Zoro calls her? She's got dirt on everyone! 

“Now I'm actually curious about these two…” Her gaze sends hot flashes through your neck and up your face. Zoro seems unaffected, though, at least from what you can tell from the corner of your eye, since you refuse to look straight at him. “Who's your crush, Zoro?”

Zoro grunts, you stifle a squeak, and Nami beams.  

“Is it Sanji?” She begins, earning an outraged cry of ‘sacrilège’ from the blond and a curse from Zoro. “Or maybe…”

“Just drop it, Witch.”

“What if I don't want to?”

They both stare intently at each other before Vivi places her hand on Nami's and she relents. “Fine, I have another anyway.”

“It's not your turn, Witch.”

“Never have I ever let someone drink from my prized bottle of sake.”

“Witch…”

You start to sink lower into your seat as Nami remains relentless in her teasing. What is she trying to accomplish? Embarrass you to death? Because it's working. 

“Or maybe, never have I ever had a crush on someone since high–”

“Blergh!”

Chopper suddenly throws up into the fire pit, startling everyone and putting an end to whatever was going on between Nami and Zoro, as everyone rallies to help poor - not-used-to-drinking-at-all - Chopper. 

Zoro sighs on your left and takes two sips of his drink before getting up to help Chopper. 

-*-

“This was so fun. Thank you guys for having me.” You smile at Nami while Luffy hugs you for the tenth time in a row. He’s already made you promise to return next weekend since, apparently, they have gatherings like this almost every weekend. 

You say another goodbye and turn around, looking for Zoro to give him back his jacket, but he appears next to you before you can call out to him, hands in his pockets and his usual scowl in place. “Let’s go, Trouble.”

Tilting your head, you raise your brow. “What?”

“I’m walking you home. We just got you back. You think I’m going to let you fall into a dark abyss, a cliff, or, God forbid, a large pothole, just because you can’t see what’s in front of you?”

If looks could kill, Zoro would be squirming on the floor. “You’re terrible.”

“And you’re terribly impaired to walk safely home. Let’s go.” His tone leaves no room for argument, but, truth be told, there was none to have anyway. Once again, you find yourself craving more of Zoro’s company, more of your quips and jabs, more of your back and forth.

Is it flirting? Is it just banter?

Whatever it is, it makes you happy. 

Your house isn’t that far from Luffy’s new home, but the night is pitch black and there’s barely any light along the way. You’re secretly glad Zoro is walking home with you because, once again, you feel that weird prickling in your neck, a shiver that doesn’t come from the cold, but from a deep unease, and you don’t know why.

The silence surrounding you is quite comfortable, and it’s only broken by Zoro’s grunts and mumbles of ‘careful’, or ‘watch it’ as he steers you away from trouble, something you attract without even meaning to. 

“How are you feeling, Trouble?” He finally asks, a lightness to his tone, almost like he knows what you’ll answer.

“I know what you want me to say.” You tease and bump his shoulder, barely making him budge but getting your point across.

“Then just rip the band-aid off. Say it.”

“Nope.” You stretch the ‘p’, and shake your head, skipping two steps ahead, away from his reach.

“Is it so hard to admit, Trouble?”

“Hmm, hmm!” You mumble, ears turning bright red as you turn to him and walk backwards, making him curse and reach out to you with another warning of ‘careful’, like he’s constantly watching your step, afraid you’ll fall and hurt yourself. “Fineeeeee!” You roll your eyes and turn forward, making him sigh in relief. “You were right…”

“I barely heard you.”

“You were right, Zoro! I had fun, I didn’t feel left out! There!” You give him what he wants just as you reach the steps of your porch. The darkness of the night finally illuminated by the weak light of the door lamp. 

“Was that so hard?” He asks as you climb the steps with harsher stomps than necessary and hear him chuckle behind you. 

“No…” The words leaving your lips are barely a mumble.

“I can’t hear you.”

Instead of climbing another step, you turn, ready to tell him again, louder and angrier this time, but he’s right there, a few breaths away, and you can almost feel his heat against you.

“I…” The words get caught in your throat as you stare down at him. Zoro is standing two steps below you, making you slightly taller than him. His eye is staring right at your lips, and you gasp. “You…”

He climbs another step, and you hold your breath. He’s at eye level now and you feel like leaning in. It’s just a peck, how wrong can that be?

Is it because of the alcohol you’ve been drinking? Maybe… Or maybe it’s just because you and Zoro are attracted like magnets. He’s drawn to you as much as trouble is…

Wait…

Perhaps Zoro is trouble…?

“You were saying?” His breath feels hot against your lips, and you can feel the ghost of his touch against your waist, where his hand lingers, not touching yet, but inching closer by the second.

“I…” What were you saying? Maybe there’s nothing to be said… 

Your eyes drop to his lips and you lick yours slowly. Zoro releases a soft grunt and leans. 

It’s happening.

You can almost taste the sake on Zoro’s tongue, you’re so close… so close…

BANG!

You gasp and pull back, startled by the loud noise coming from the barn. Zoro’s hand shoots to his back, where he probably has a gun, and he looks around, alarmed. 

“Get inside.”

“But–”

“Now!”

You don’t make him repeat it, and fumbling with your keys, you enter the house and close the door with the loudest click ever before drawing the curtains to keep an eye on Zoro. He only moves after he makes sure you’re inside the house, and you watch him draw nearer to the barn with carefully measured steps. 

Your heart thrums against your ribcage, and you fight to calm it down. It was already under stress because you and Zoro were about to kiss, but the noise that disrupted the moment almost made it jump out of your chest.

It takes a few minutes - that feel like forever - for Zoro to come back. You quickly open the door, an alarmed look on your face, before he chuckles with a shrug. “It was just the barn door. It was unlatched and banged with the wind. There was nothing inside the barn but scared cows and half-asleep horses.”

You nod, but your face doesn’t relax. “That’s strange, though… I latched the door myself.” You always double-check the latch, lest the animals go off wandering into the night. It happened once when you were younger, and the scolding was so big you never forgot it again. 

“Maybe the gust of wind was so strong it unlatched it on its own?” Zoro tries, and you look at the trees. At the unmoving trees. There’s barely any wind. “Is Mr. S. home?”

You sigh and take the phone out of your pocket. “He sent me a text ten minutes ago saying he was leaving the bar where he went to see the game, so he must be almost home.”

Zoro nods. “I’ll keep you company until he arrives, okay?”

You nod, your eyes still lingering on the barn door as that familiar shiver courses through your spine. Was it really just the wind? 

What wind, though…?

Or did you really forget to latch the door properly?

You never do…

“Oh!” You shed Zoro’s jacket and hand it to him when he climbs the steps to join you. “Your jacket, thank you.” 

Zoro waves his hand. “Keep it. I don’t need it, I’m already hot.”

His line is so ridiculous that it diffuses the tension and gets you giggling. “That was so lame, Zoro.”

“Made you laugh, didn’t it?” Another chuckle leaves your lips as warmth spreads through your chest again, chasing away the lingering fear from the earlier fright. Zoro is so easy to be around. He always was. 

You can’t help but think that, maybe if you hadn’t left town, you and Zoro might’ve been something together. High school sweethearts, perhaps? The kind of couple that gets together early and just knows they are meant to last?

Or perhaps you would’ve just remained friends…

But you still left. And now all the possibilities are opening up again. Are you willing to embrace them, though?

But before the moment builds back up again, Shanks’ car enters the property and you and Zoro sigh at the same time. 

“Your dad’s here. It’s my cue to leave. Take care, Trouble. Stay safe.”

You snort and turn around to open the door again. “Right, I’ll be really careful climbing the steps to my room. Thanks for the tip, officer.” When he doesn’t answer, you turn to see his gaze still lingering on the barn before he says another quick ‘bye’ and goes to talk to your father before leaving.

Tags: @rosidaze @beachaddict48 @armiliadawn @jintaka-hane @sprinkklz @baby5555 @hopelesslover06 @mars-mizuko @sleepykittycx @nerium-lil @eustasscapitankid @ren-ni @jqperi @lycoriskalmia @daydreamer-in-training @iloveyoushanks

|Chapter 3|

[bluetoes-andstuff]

A Hidden Desire

Chapter 2 - Once Upon A Time

Summary: Once upon a time… you wish to be rescued. Your rescuer is not who you would expect, but he hears your plea and rushes to your aid.

Rating: T (Eventual NSFW)

Word Count: 4.4K

Relationship: Caesar x Fem!Human Reader

Warnings: Mentions of abuse, implied sexual abuse

Previous Chapter

***If you are under 18 I would advise not reading, this is not an explicit chapter but this will be a story that explores nsfw themes later on. Best to just not go down the path to begin with. Be safe***

You wake up to the familiar, harsh reality of this dreadful camp after a long night of restless sleep. The tent you’ve recently started to call home is a tattered, makeshift structure, barely held together by willpower alone. In short… It was a mess. The fabric was worn and stained, letting in drafts of cold air with every slight breeze. The ground beneath you is hard and unforgiving, littered with pebbles and uneven clumps of dirt, and a thin blanket being your only comfort against the harsh chill.

Your pitiful collection of dirty, ripped clothes lie in a pile across the tent beside your other meager belongings. It didn’t amount to very much considering your camp’s habit of spontaneously uprooting, forcing you to leave behind whatever you couldn’t carry on foot.

The subtle aches of your body greet you as you slowly sit upright. You glance down towards your legs, covered in your baggy sleep pants, the gross memories from the day prior surfacing. You reach forward and wince as you slowly roll up your pant leg to expose the nasty gash bordered by a developing purple bruise. That was going to make it kind of difficult to get your chores done today.

You poke at the sore bruising. The entire area burned and you had a feeling it was going to be a difficult healing process. Your stomach spasms with a loud grumble, bringing to attention the hunger that gnaws at your stomach, and you push your face into your knees with a soft sob. Sometimes the reality of your situation just hits you all at once, and you can’t do anything more but cry, because what else can you do about it? You’re stuck here, and you’ve come to accept that now.

Your few personal items scattered about were almost like remnants of a life from a distant memory. A life you can only see through the eyes of childhood, reflected upon by a maturity brought on not only by age but circumstance. Abuse and misfortune is all you’ve known since the plague first took your parents six years ago. Even if you happen to escape this camp of abusers, you’re bound to stumble across another one eventually. It’s just how things worked now and you’ve come to accept it.

As you step outside, the camp comes to life around you. The air is thick with the smell of sweat and unwashed bodies, a smell you’ve sadly grown quite accustomed to. Everywhere, men are hollering and laughing, a general hum of conversation and jokes. You keep your head down to avoid any unwanted attention. You’ve resigned yourself to a life of torment, but that didn’t mean you wouldn’t try your best to avoid it at all costs.

Your first task of the day is to fetch water from the nearby stream. The bucket is heavy, and your arms tremble as you carry it back to the camp. Your injured leg adds a whole new level of difficulty, slowing the process to almost twice the time it’d usually take. No one takes care, or even notice, of your limp, or the constant grimace on your face. No one offers help, but you didn’t really expect them to.

As you pass by one of the larger tents, a man you’ve come to know as “Tommy” steps out. He frowns at you, and roves his eye up and down before scoffing.

“Don’t be so dramatic, kid. It ain’t that bad. Move faster.” His mouth actually upturns into a snarky grin and he laughs, but you know it wasn’t because it was a joke. You don’t say a word, because you know better than to argue. So instead, you nod quickly, pick up your pace and try your best to walk as normal as you can.

Back at your tent, you set the bucket down and begin cleaning the pile of boots piled up beside it. As you take a careful seat, another couple of men pass by and toss their boots into the large pile without even a simple word or glance at you. Your hands are raw and blistered, but you work diligently. The sooner you get it done, the sooner you can get out of their line of sight.

As you scrub the dirt from the boots, your mind drifts as it usually does during these mindless chores. You escape into your recurring fantasy world, surrounded by lush green meadows, and wildflowers dancing at your feet. The air is crisp, the sun warm against your skin.

In these moments, you felt a fleeting sense of peace and comfort, a stark contrast to your reality. These dreams were a sanctuary; your final cling to sanity. A place where you could escape from the harsh reality of the fear and pain dominating your life. You longed for someone to come and take you away, to offer you the love and protection you had never known. Something you were rarely able to even receive from your own parents.

The daydreams, although always slightly different, always revolve around a particular event; a savior, someone strong and kind, coming to rescue you from this nightmare. The thought brings a faint smile to your lips, a giddy excitement as your fantasies bring to life a futile hope. You know better than to cling to such dreams. In this world, hope is a dangerous thing, a fragile illusion that can shatter with the slightest touch.

Yet, despite everything, a small part of you refuses to let go. It’s the part that dreams of freedom, that believes in the possibility of a better life. You hold onto that hope, even though you know it’s fruitless. It’s what keeps you going, what gives you the strength to face another day because maybe, just maybe, if you hope hard enough, your dreams just might come true.

****

Caesar led his group through the dense forest, the sound of thumping hooves muffled by the thick underbrush. The horses moved with practiced silence, their riders alert and watchful with weapons ready. As they neared the human camp, Caesar raised his hand with a quick sign and the group quickly dismounted and scurried up the nearby trees in a practiced order, their movements fluid and silent to blend seamlessly with the shadows.

From their new vantage point, Caesar observed the camp below. It was a sight he’s seen many times before through the years when humans got brave enough to venture into his territory. The area was a stark contrast to the natural beauty surrounding it, a blot of harsh order amidst the chaos of the forest. Tents were being set up in a precise, almost militaristic fashion, each one identical and devoid of any personal touch, fabrics worn and stained from years of constant use.

A crude fence was already being erected around the perimeter, its jagged edges a clear statement on their intention of permanence. Caesar was quick to note the weak points —areas where the wood was hastily patched or still unfinished. These would be the entry points for his attack if it came to such drastic measures.

Inside, commands and varying conversation were barked out, and the occasional burst of cruel laughter echoed through the camp. Not one voice he heard was that of a kind man. These men were not just survivors, vying for peace and a desire to live; they were predators, hardened by years of conflict and driven by a relentless need to dominate. Caesar had become well accustomed to men like this through the years.

This was all he needed to know to proceed. This camp was a place where fear would soon rule, and any semblance of humanity had already begun to fade. They needed to prevent this camp from becoming a permanent blight on their forest, and if they didn’t act now, they would only become stronger.

He was just about to pass on his orders to Koba, but a sparkling “light”, so-to-speak, caught his eye.

A human woman—You. Enveloped in an innocence so rare to find amongst humanity. You moved with a grace that stood out amidst the harshness of your surroundings, your beauty a stark contrast to the brutality of the camp.

Your clothes were worn and ripped, not at all a compliment to the beauty you possessed. You deserved far better. Caesar pictured a blue dress, to compliment the vibrant color he’s sure you held in your eyes. A flowy material, soft to the touch, to tease and foreshore the softness and gentleness of the skin it hid beneath.

His chest tightened and his stomach began to burn and roll as he watched you. It had been a long time since he had seen a human woman, especially one as alluring as you. Your hair, though unkempt, shone in the dim light, and your eyes, even from a distance, held a depth of emotion that drew him in. A desire to speak to you, touch you, and hold the entirety of your attention.

You carried a heavy bucket, your steps unsteady, revealing a soft, yet pronounced limp, causing a strain in every movement. He noticed the dark bruising on your arms and the way you cower and flinch when a man shouts and laughs at you.

It angered him in a way he wasn’t familiar with. It was fervid and dangerous, as he didn’t know if this was an instinctive emotion he’d be able to contain. He knew in his mind that any rash move could endanger his group, but that burn drew a curtain between his mind and heart. They needed to act fast before his anger called on him to do something stupid.

Caesar turned towards Rocket and Koba perched on branches beside him. Rocket was still focused on the camp and the guards spread around the perimeter, mouth parted open as it usually was when in deep thought. Koba, however, wore a scowl as he looked down upon the camp.

“We need to be careful,” Rocket eventually signs, his hoots of caution low and urgent. “There are many of them.”

Koba grunted in agreement, but his eyes were hard. “Humans are dangerous,” he signs, his expression filled with disdain. “We need to act before they do.”

Caesar’s mind raced as he considered their options, the thoughts of you begging to pull his attention away. “We need a plan,” he grunts as he signs. “We can’t just charge in. We need to create a distraction, something to draw the men away from her.”

Without any thought to mask his true intention, Caesar reveals his thoughts as they are and his chest immediately convulses with a weird nervousness as he stares at his two friends, waiting for their reactions.

Both Koba and Rocket give him a weird look, before looking down at where Caesar pointed. Right there, on the outskirts of the camp is a young human woman, and both apes look back to Caesar who now seems to act as a young chimp caught in the midst of a bout of mischief: guilty.

“What do you mean, “her”?” Koba signs emphatically “what about her?”

“She cannot get hurt,” Caesar quickly defends. “She is innocent.”

“How?” Koba retaliates, “she is human.”

“No, she is victim of humans… just like us.” Caesar doesn’t plead; he never pleads. But at this moment, he needs the others to understand. You cannot get hurt… he can’t allow it. And they need to understand.

Rocket nodded thoughtfully, cutting Koba off before he pursued the argument. He trusts in whatever Caesar decides. “We could use the horses,” he suggested. “Send them running through the camp. It will cause chaos and give us a chance to get her out before we attack.”

Koba’s scowl deepened. “Why risk our lives for a human?” he asked, hissing with contempt. “They are not worth it.”

Caesar looked back at you as you scrubbed away at men’s boots, his resolve hardening. “No one deserves to suffer like this. We will help her.”

He wants to help, he tells himself. It is for you, not for him. He expects nothing to come of this. He will not touch you, he will not pursue what he’s been wanting. He will not be selfish.

Rocket grinned, his eyes lighting up with excitement. “And while they’re distracted, we can take out the guards,” he added. “Quick and silent.”

Caesar nodded, ignoring Koba’s glare. “Good,” he said. “Rocket, you handle the distraction. Koba, you and I will take out the guards and get her. We move on my signal.”

The group nodded in agreement, though Koba’s reluctance was palpable. They moved into position, each ape taking their place in the plan. Caesar’s heart pounded with a mix of anger, determination, and maybe just a little bit of misplaced excitement. You deserved the world, he knew it, and he would make sure you got it.

Caesar watched as Rocket and a few others moved to enact the distraction, leaving him and Koba in position. His eyes returned to you and never left, your every movement drawing him in. He could feel Koba’s gaze boring into the side of his head, but he ignored him in favor of watching you. He would savor every moment he had to gaze upon you, because who knew how much longer he’d be able to. You were cleaning those boots with a quiet determination even despite the pain he could see etched on your face. But he could also see a glimmer of hope that refused to be extinguished.

Suddenly, one of the men approached you from behind. Caesar’s muscles tensed, nostrils flaring with a possessive huff. The look of a predatory male was universal across the animal kingdom and humans were not an exception. The man grabbed your arm roughly, yanking you to your feet, causing you to buckle on your bad leg with a soft cry. He yanked you again even as you tried to pull away, but his grip continued to tighten, his voice a low, menacing growl.

“C’mon sweetheart, you remember what happens when you put up a fight,” the man teases, his eyes raking over her with a lecherous gaze. The panic that overtook you was palpable, and you struggled harder in the man’s grip.

If Caesar was not so distracted by the occurrence of events, he would have noticed Koba’s accompanying growls of dissent and anger.

But his own heart was pounding in his chest, that surge of protective rage flooding through the very veins in his body. His muscles cramped with the restraint to act. Because if he didn’t act he knew something terrible would happen to you, something he didn’t dare want to think of. His vision narrowed, focusing solely on the man as he began to drag you, a poor little girl, across the camp while your body wracked with pleas and sobs. The world around Caesar seemed to fade, leaving only the burning need in his gut to protect what his heart had already apparently claimed as his own.

His nostrils flare with the heavy breaths and pants that leave his being, lips turning up to bare his teeth.

“Koba, stay,” Caesar whispered aloud, his voice tight with his barely controlled fury. He didn’t bother waiting for a response. With a roar that echoed through the forest floor below, he leaped from the trees, propelling him into the camp. He lands on the ground, immediately ducking into a roll to keep momentum, barreling forward on all fours towards the man his eyes are set on.

The man turned towards him, shock and panic flashing across his face at the sight of the approaching ape. His grip on you releases and you stumble back in fear. You gasp in shock as Caesar’s body collides with the man’s, the force of the impact sending him flying several feet away and left sprawled out on the ground.

“Do not touch!” Caesar barked, his canines on full display for the rest of the camp to see. An act of disobedience was an open invitation to be mauled by the towering ape king and they knew well what that meant.

You sat on the ground, cowering, knees tucked close to your chest as you tried to fit yourself beneath a nearby stand.

Koba had stayed back to watch the entire scene unfold, his eyes wide with shock, his usual disdain for humans momentarily forgotten. He had never seen Caesar act so impulsively, so stupidly. Without care for his own safety

The man Caesar had thrown scrambles to his feet, a newfound bravery at the sight of his comrades surrounding them, but Caesar was on him in an instant, vaulting forward in all fours once more. He grips the front of the man’s shirt, lifting him clear off the ground. “You will never… touch her… again,” Caesar spits, voice low and dangerous. His muzzle inches closer, his teeth bared to where the tips of his canines nearly brush against the man’s turned cheek.

The man whimpered, his bravado shattered. “Please, don’t kill me,” he begged, his voice trembling.

The other men surrounding him begin their onslaught, and he throws the one in his hands across the camp, sending him flying through one of their tents. He turns and positions himself between you and the others. He could see you trembling behind him, eyes boring holes into the side of his skull.

He would prove himself to you. He will prove he will protect you; that he can. You will see that he can provide you what you need.

The first man lunged at Caesar with a club, swinging it with all his might. Caesar raises a hand and halts it in the air, caught in his fist, and he tugs the man forward to hiss in his face. He yanks the club from his hands then swings his other arm around into the man’s gut, sending him skidding across the rocky ground.

Another came at him with a long knife, slashing wildly. Caesar grabbed his wrist, twisting it until the knife clattered to the ground and the fragile bone snapped in his grip.

He had no care to be gentle.

***

Koba watched the chaos unfold, his eyes narrowing. He knew Caesar was strong, but even he couldn’t take on so many men alone. It baffled him why Caesar stood to protect a mere human woman who hid so cowardly behind him. However mad Caesars actions appeared, Koba would stand by his king no matter the circumstance, so he shook off the distracted thoughts and flung himself into a hurried descent.

He rushed towards where Rocket and the others were waiting for Caesar's signal. He hoots to get their attention as he approaches. “Rocket!” he signs urgently. “We need to go now! Caesar’s in trouble!”

Rocket’s eyes widen and he hoots in alarm. “What happened?” he asked, him and the others already moving towards the horses.

“Humans attacked him,” Koba signs, approaching his own horse. “He’s trying to protect the human woman, but there are too many of them.”

Rocket didn’t need to hear more. He mounted his horse in one swift motion, the others following suit. He howled, a command the others knew well and they spurred their horses into a gallop, racing towards the camp.

The sound of hooves thundered through the camp as Rocket and the others burst through the unfinished barricade. The men surrounding Caesar turned, immediate panic descending upon the group at the sight of the approaching apes. Rocket leaped from his horse, landing in the midst of the fray with a fierce battle cry.

Caesar, bloodied but unbowed, felt a surge of relief as his friends joined the fight. Rocket tackled one of the men without hesitation. The other apes followed suit. And Koba, despite his earlier reluctance, fought with a savage intensity, his anger and resentment for the humans fueling his attack. He knocked a man unconscious with a single blow, grinning down at the bloody face left in his wake.

“Are you alright?” Koba signed to Caesar on his approach, his gentle hoots gruff but concerned.

Caesar nodded, then turned towards you who he still stood in defense of. “We need to get her out of here.” You remained huddled behind him, completely at loss to the signed conversation as you stared at the two apes with a wild, frightened look in your eyes.

The fight ends quickly. The few men remaining had fled not too long after the others arrived.

Watching the last of the men flee, Caesar turned to you behind him, his scowl immediately softening as he crouched low to the ground. “Safe,” he grumbles softly, offering one of his large hands to help you up. You hesitate for a long moment, your eyes wide and teary.

“Safe,” Caesar reiterates, pulling his other hand to his chest in a gesture to himself. Your eyes darted around towards the other apes gathered around him, lip beginning to tremble pitifully before reaching out a trembling hand. Caesar reaches the rest of the way to gently grasp onto your dainty fingers, pulling you forward gently to help you rise to your feet.

The moment your hands touched, he felt a spark igniting a dormant flame in his chest; that same warmth he felt earlier. Your hand was so small, so delicate, the skin so impossibly soft against his rough, calloused palm. More so than ever imagined it could be. He wondered how it would feel if you would thread your fingers through the fur of his chest and up his shoulders, down his arms… it makes his body spasm with a shiver.

He could feel your innocence, your vulnerability, in that simple contact. It was as if your very essence was communicating with him, whispering of the pain you had endured and the hope you still clung to.

Your small fingers trembled in his, as you gripped tightly to his fingers. Your fear and hesitance shivering through your body… yet your fierce grip clinging to his hand ignited something fierce within him, a desire so strong it took his breath away. He didn’t want to let go. Holding your hand felt like holding a fragile piece of light in a world shrouded in darkness. Letting go felt unthinkable, as if releasing your hand would mean losing a part of himself.

He wanted nothing more than to draw you closer to him and embrace you, blocking out the fears and uncertainty that swarm your mind as he nuzzled his face into the soft skin of your neck and breathed you in. But he doesn’t— he won’t… instead his eyes linger on your bruised and weary form, and the desperation in your eyes.

He didn’t want to let go… but he knew bringing you back to his camp could be dangerous, not just for you, but for his people. And he knew if he did bring you back, who knows how long he could cling to the control he had over his desires.

So he gently released your hand, your own hovering in the air, frozen in the moment he released her.

“Go,” Caesar grumbles, his voice heavy with reluctance, nostrils flaring with the internal frustration and restraint. “Find a…safe place… away… from here.” He gestured towards the forest.

You stared at him, confusion and conflict bleeding through her gaze. And then you spoke to him for the first time, a meer whisper of desperation, voice soft and sweet. “But… I have nowhere to go. I-I-I… Please, don’t leave me here.”

Caesar’s heart constricted at your words, heart beating rapidly, like he was in fear for his life. He wanted nothing more than to protect you, to keep you safe, to hold you close and never let go. But he also knew his own limitations, his own fears. Bringing you back might mean losing the little bit of control he’s been clinging to. It wouldn’t take long before his instinct and desire won over and he became possessive and controlling. It was a risk he couldn’t take. He couldn’t put you into a situation like that, you deserved better.

His lips crinkle in apology, eyes softening towards you. Then he tips his chin in a gesture for you to go and he turns towards his own horse to leave. But before he could take more than a few steps, you throw yourself forward, body colliding into his as you grab his arm, your small fingers digging into his fur, brushing against the rough skin beneath. “Please,” you begged, your voice breaking. “I have no one else. I-I…Please.”

Caesar stopped. He turned his head and saw the desperation in your eyes. The way you trusted him, needed him. The way you wanted him, even if you didn’t realize it yourself yet.

Rocket and the others watch in silence, all in awe at the sight of their leader buckling beneath the plea of a human.

Caesar’s chest heaves with his heavy breaths, his resolve finally cracking. He couldn’t just send you off, not when you had nowhere else to turn. And if you were asking to come with him… then it wouldn’t be his fault what might happen. It’s not him, deciding your fate for his own selfish reasons.

“Alright,” he said softly, his voice filled with a gentle determination. “Come.” He wraps his arm around your waist, pulling it from your grip to ease you forward towards his horse. He can feel the warmth radiating off you, the tantalizing brush of his fur against your clothed skin. One of the other apes holds the horse in place as you two approach and before you can so much as try to climb up on your own, Caesar grips you around the waist and lifts you effortlessly onto the stallion’s back. You squeak softly at the sudden movement, and you grapple forward once seated to grasp onto the horse's mane. Caesar can’t help but smile at your innocent anxiety and mounts behind you to ensure you wouldn’t fall.

The other apes around them mount their own steeds and Caesar grabs the reins with one hand, the other wrapping around your waist to pull you back into his body, slotting you so you sit comfortably between his legs. He spurs the horse forward with a soft hoot to direct the others to do so as well, and you grip tightly to his forearm as you move forward, pressing your back further into his chest to steady herself.

Caesar smiles and tightens his hold as they pick up pace to a gentle trot. He never would have pictured things turning out this way… a human woman pressed so closely to him, holding her, smelling her, feeling her against him. He already knew he was going to have a difficult time controlling himself.

In the midst of his thoughts, you lean back slightly, your body relaxing into his as you get lost in your own. For the first time in a long while, you felt a glimmer of hope. This ape, whoever he is, is safe… you are finally safe.

Taglist: @night-shadowblood-writes2 @edynmeyer1 @chermg @httpvomitello @hrlzy

**Thank you all very much for reading. I’d love to hear your thoughts. If you want to be added to the tag list let me know. Next chapter is when it starts to get pretty good, so stay tuned XD**

[mydadleft471]

Stubborn

Summary: Messmer hurt his ankle and is confined to his bed for a week. His thoughts spiral when you, his darling husband, take care of him.

Spoilers for Elden Ring and SOTE. No warnings, just some fluff and Messmer's serpents being as needy as he is lmao.

This was a request from anonymous! I'll link the post with all their wonderful prompts here. Thank you for requesting and I hope I did you justice, hubby-anon!

As always, thank you for reading, liking, commenting, and reblogging! It never fails to make my day better! Enjoy! <3

Messmer had never been so humiliated yet happy in his whole life.

He blames his serpents for his misfortune. Instead of helping Messmer watch where he’s going, they were looking at you, per usual. He can’t necessarily blame them, you did look stunning. He had just gifted you a red cloak almost identical to his with his insignia on it, and you looked stunning in red. His husband, his beloved consort, was wearing his color and his insignia proudly. He couldn’t take his eye off of you either.

Unfortunately, that meant he was half-blind, and he stumbled over a table like a lovesick fool and sprained his ankle.

If it weren’t for your love and care, he believes he would’ve died right there from mortification. 

When you heard him fall, you rushed over to him immediately and tried to help him stand, which led to Messmer hissing out in pain when he put pressure on his right foot. You had thrown caution to the wind and told him to hold on, and suddenly, he was being hoisted into the air by his husband, who was much smaller than him. You didn’t know Messmer’s face could get so red. It would’ve been funny to you had your Lord not been injured. You carried him to your shared bed and immediately began poking and prodding, but you could tell he needed someone well-versed in healing.

After summoning one of his medics, you had (thankfully) made up a story about how you two were sparring and you knocked him off balance, causing him to twist his ankle uncomfortably. He was silently thanking whatever greater power gave him his husband in that moment.

His medic instructed Messmer to stay off his foot for a week at the very least and bound it tightly in wrappings to ensure everything would heal right. You jokingly told him that at least it wasn’t you who got hurt, as demigods heal much faster than humans. You would’ve been confined to your bed for a month, perhaps longer. He merely shook his head at that. He hated reminders of how frail you could be compared to him.

A few days had passed since he had initially hurt himself, and he was getting restless. You’d bring him books to keep his mind occupied or talk with him for hours. Your company was a welcome luxury during his time stuck in bed. But at night, sleep would evade him. He’d look down at your smaller frame curled into him, resting peacefully, and wonder. Though he loved your thorough attention and care, he grew uncomfortable being so indebted to you, more so than he already was. He knew he’d never be able to repay your kindness, but he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to try. It was during times like these where he’d endlessly take and take that he wondered why his darling husband had married him in the first place.

These thoughts had followed him well-after the sun came up. Perhaps you knew of them, as you always did. He found he could hide little from his perceptive consort.

“Hey,” you began, smoothing down a few strands of hair. “You’re much more handsome when you smile.”

His frown doesn’t budge.

As if infectious, a frown spreads onto your face. Messmer wants to kiss it away, but feels too horrendous to do so. “Do you need anything? Or are you in pain?” Your eyes widen in worry.

“I wish to get up.”

You place a hand on his chest, firm yet gentle. “It hasn’t been a week yet. I’m not letting you get up.”

“Have you any idea how humiliating it is to be carried around like a child?” His voice holds an edge to it and you flinch.

“You carry me around all the time and don’t seem to have an issue with it.”

“There’s a difference. I should be the one caring for thee. I should not be lying here, useless.”

“You’re injured, my love. Rest is necessary for you to heal. And I don’t mind caring for you at all.”

“Thou hast given so much for me. I wonder when I will cease to take from thee.” He doesn’t look at you, too ashamed.

“Husband, I made an oath to care for you when we married. We both did.” You sit down on the bed beside him. “This relationship isn’t one-sided, if that’s what you’re worried about. You do plenty for me.”

“Such as?”

“Well, for starters, you’ve given me a home. I’m safe, fed, and comfortable here. I have you, the love of my life, who makes me happy each and every day. Do you need me to keep going?”

He looks at you, his eye shimmering. The love of your life?

“No. I am terrified to take too much, to tip the scales too much towards myself, and lose thee altogether.” He admits in a shaky voice.

You cup his cheek and look at him with nothing but love in your eyes. “That will never happen, Messmer. I promise you.”

“I apologize for my endless anxieties.”

“You have nothing to apologize for.” You give him a small kiss on his lips and he sighs. Smiling, you begin to move the covers off of Messmer.

“I’m going to check your ankle, okay?”

He nods at you.

Carefully, you move his leg so his ankle is dangling off the bed. Kneeling on the floor, you inspect his wrappings. They remain tight and you notice his foot isn’t swollen or splotched with bruising. You gently run your fingers over his skin and look at Messmer for any signs of pain. You see none, so you continue and unwrap his ankle. The bandages fall to the floor and you press your fingers into his muscles and tendons tenderly.

“Any pain?” You shoot him a worried glance.

“None, beloved.” He grins at you.

You continue to press along his foot, but there’s no sign of damage or pain. Messmer experimentally rolls his ankle around and you’re relieved to see that he can do so easily. He moves to put his foot on the floor as if to stand, but you stop him.

“Not until your medic clears you to walk.” He rolls his eye at you. One of his serpents nips at his ear and he swats at it.

“Bothersome pest. I shalt ne’er see the day in which they take my side.”

You chuckle and stand up. “Stay in bed. I’m going to fetch the medic.” 

You swiftly exit the room and begin descending the stairs. Guards bowed their heads and greeted you as you passed, and you gave them a curt nod and continued. Passing a few shades and scholars in the Keep, you wound the corner and knocked on the medic’s door. She opened the door and curtsied.

“Does Lord Messmer require me?”

You nod. “His ankle looks much better. There’s very little bruising and he can move it without pain.”

“And he is still wanting to get up and walk on his own?”

You lay a hand on your face and shake your head. “You have no idea.” She laughs. The servants of the Shadow Keep always found you easier to talk to than Messmer. He was kind and gentle, but they couldn’t see past his tall and intimidating facade. You, on the other hand, were the beloved consort who went out of their way to make others’ lives better, and for that, you were respected.

“I suppose I should go see him then.” She walks back into her room to grab her bag, tossing a few things inside, then closing it and rejoining you in the hallway.

“I don’t want you to tell him he can walk because he’s pouty.” You say as you walk together.

“Oh, never, my Lord. I am sure you’ll keep him in line, just as you always do.” She smiles at you.

“Of course. Someone has to.”

You reach your room and enter, half-expecting to see Messmer out of bed and walking around, but he has stuck to his word. He remains just as you left him, his serpents perched on his shoulder awaiting your return.

The medic bows. “Good morning, Lord Messmer. How are you feeling?”

“As my consort surely informed thee, I am in no pain.”

“I am glad to hear that. Allow me to ensure you are okay to walk.” Messmer nods his head and she walks over to him, kneeling to inspect his ankle.

You watch from the other side of the bed. Messmer looks unfazed as she touches his ankle. She moves his foot from side-to-side and prods at the skin. His serpents slither across the sheets and you pet them. They nuzzle into your touch and flick their tongues happily. Messmer shakes his head at their incessant need for attention.

The medic stands, grabbing her bag. “You seem to be fully healed, my Lord. You may walk, but try to limit yourself for another day or two.” She looks over at you. “And please, no sparring.”

“Thank you. I’ll make sure he listens.” Messmer shoots you a look.

She curtsies once more and you lead her to the door. The serpents try to coil around your arm to prevent you from leaving, but you slip out of their grasp and promise to return.

“As always, please let me know if you need my assistance.”

“I will, don’t worry.”

“If he sprains his ankle again, though, I might forbid him from walking altogether.” You both laugh. “Farewell, my Lord.”

She exits and closes the door behind her. You walk back over to the bed where the serpents are, unsurprisingly, waiting for you. They hiss in greeting as if they didn’t just see you.

“Needy things. Not unlike your master.” You smirk.

“Wilt thou help me stand?” He says, ignoring your comment.

You nod and make your way over to his side of the bed. You wrap his arm around your neck and slowly lift him. He gingerly places his foot on the ground and slowly applies more pressure to it.

“How do you feel?” You look up at him.

“Unsteady from not walking in days, but no pain, beloved.”

“Do you think you can walk around the room a few times?”

“I believe so.”

He begins to take a shaky step forward and you ensure he doesn’t fall or lose his balance. He leans on you as he begins to walk around the room. The first pass is a little sloppy and takes a few minutes, but you’re glad he’s pacing himself. The second time is easier, and by the third time you go around the room, he’s removed almost all his weight from you, but still holds onto you just in case. He looks happy.

You deposit him back onto the bed and hug him. He wraps his long arms around you and noses into your hair.

“Whatever is this for, husband?”

“Am I not allowed to hug you?” You tease.

“What a ridiculous notion.”

“I’m just happy you’re okay, is all.”

His heart flutters in his chest and he holds you tighter. His spiraling thoughts are quiet and the only thing he can think about is you. Your body pressed against his, your soft breathing, and the earthy smell of your hair. He doesn’t know what he’s done to deserve someone so caring and patient, but he will not take you for granted.

“I love thee, husband.” His voice is soft and tender, almost a whisper,

“And I you. Please don’t ever forget that.” You say into his chest.

“Thou wilt not allow me to with how thee cares for me.”

“Good.”

[flowhence]

johanna finding out reader sh? 🤔 i'm in desperate need of johanna fanfics 😓

two broken people - j.m.

summary: johanna finds out that you aren’t as ok as you seem.

pairings: johanna x fem!reader

warnings: self harm, depression, suicidal ideation, angst, hurt/comfort

author’s note: if anyone is struggling with these issues, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. you are not alone.

You wondered why you were alive, why you survived. Your hands bloodied with the blood of many. You don’t want to keep living. You don’t deserve it. The hopelessness grips onto your bones, settling deep within your soul. Everything is numb, yet you still smile your fake smile, you still laugh that fake laugh. It didn’t matter how many people you were always around, the inexcusable feeling of being lonely weighs down on your chest.

Johanna has noticed something different about you, but you cannot seem to bring yourself to care. You can’t seem to keep up the act.

After training you were exhausted, mentally and physically. You quickly darted out of the training area, speed walking to Johanna and yours room. When arriving at the room you quietly closed the door, going towards your stash of razors you picked out the sharpest one.

[i tried it like before and this time i made a deep cut]

You rolled up your sleeves, not even wincing at the way they stuck to your past wounds. You took a deep inhale, pressing the razor hard against your skin before you exhaled and drove it deep into your flesh watching as the blood oozes out.

[i thought about my friends and the way i didnt give enough]

Distantly, you should’ve known it would’ve been too deep. The blood starts to ooze out in a faster yet still somewhat sluggish pace, you feel dizzy and lightheaded. Vaguely you thought you didn’t really want to die.

[and i shouldve told my mother, “mom, i love you,” like a good son]

You stumbled into your desk, before you could think much about it you cut even deeper on your other wrist. A smile mixed with relief and remorse carved its way onto your features. You hear the door open, but you can’t really focus on anything but going to lay down.

[but this life is overwhelming and im ready for the next one]

“Y/N! Oh god… what did you do?!” Johanna yelps, running to you immediately. You can barely make out the words she’s saying. All you can think about, is how you’ll finally be free.

[take the blade away from me]

“Let me go…” You whisper, your voice sounds weak and slurred.

[i am a freak, i am afraid that]

Johanna shakes her head, “No! You promised… you promised me.” she says, desperately.

[all the blood escaping me won’t end the pain]

Johanna desperately screams for help, you vaguely see Katniss run in, the shock and despair on her face is heartbreaking.

[and i’ll be haunting all the lives that cared for me]

You can’t seem to get your eyes to stay open, you can hear Johanna screaming, crying, and sobbing, yet you can’t bring yourself to stay awake.

You woke with a start, looking around you you see that you’re in medical. You clench your teeth. Looking down you see the bandages on your wrists and … tears start streaming down your cheeks.

“Y/N? it’ll be ok. i’m here,” You sob even harder at your girlfriends words.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.” You sob into her shoulder, gripping onto her shirt like its your lifeline, and it very well could be.

At least, at least you have Johanna. Two broken people trying to love, trying to heal.

[possibilistfanfiction]

Prompt for your little Hallmark AU: Christmas market (You know, those markets where there are booths who sell Glühwein and Punsch, Im not sure how to correctly translate it in English in Austria we call it Christkindlmarkt)

it’s grey outside, the clouds heavy but not quite snowing yet; it’s warmer than it’s been on clearer days, still cold but almost pleasant, and quiet.

you make sure to give yourself extra time to do your stretches in the morning after you go to camila’s to get breakfast. the atmospheric pressure of the incoming storm is, unsurprisingly, causing your back to ache, but that’s not new and it doesn’t really faze you at this point. if things get bad enough — and they do, sometimes — you just reschedule your plans and take pain meds and muscle relaxers from dr salvius after you do your physical therapy exercises. but your hands don’t ache and you don’t have any numbness in your feet, your temperature is normal, and so you go through your routine and feel better by the end of it.

beatrice picks you up at eleven on the dot, as she confirmed twice over text the evening before with perfect punctuation that made you feel a little bit like you were in trouble but was charming anyway. 

‘hey stranger,’ you say when she knocks on your door, and she blushes and smiles and you’re delighted by the effect you have on her, almost immediately — this exceedingly smart and competent person stumbling over herself the second you smile. it makes you feel powerful and it also makes you want to treat her kindly, to make her laugh.

‘good morning, ava.’ she fidgets, for a moment, and you’re curious why you’re not just going to her truck, but then she takes a hand out of the pocket of her peacoat and opens her palm. ‘i, uh, i noticed your cane was getting stuck in the snow.’

‘oh.’ your first instinct is to be embarrassed, eleven years of abuse rearing its ugly, awful head, but then you look at what she’s actually holding.

‘i already had it,’ she explains, slightly rushed like she’s trying to make sure you’re not upset, like it was just a thoughtful aside of hers. ‘i tore my acl a few years ago and used both on my crutches, and so, i just figured, well… if it doesn’t work, that’s fine, but maybe worth a try?’

you take the winter cane tip attachment from her outstretched hand and it really does feel like some kind of offering for a moment. it’s nice, the crampon itself retractable, and easy enough to put on your cane. when you try it outside the door on the way to her truck, you can’t help but smile, remember a little bit of the joy that first came with movement as you started receiving proper care and accessibility and mobility aids. you don’t take healing for granted, even now. ’thank you,’ you tell her as she unlocks her truck and goes around to the driver’s side. 

she nods. ‘like i said, i already had it sitting around. not a problem at all.’

‘still,’ you say, climbing up and twisting around to greet a suddenly very excited theo in her kennel strapped into the backseat. ‘not many people have been particularly thoughtful in my life, especially not at this.’

she frowns at your admission, her jaw clenching, her face stormy. she’s handsome in her rich maroon scarf and camel wool coat, careful hands on the wheel.

‘anyway,’ you say, a little overcome, ‘how’d you tear your acl?’

she immediately reddens, pulling out of the driveway and trying to act like she’s concentrating very hard on her turn signal to merge onto the completely empty road. 

‘bea, please.’

she sighs, refusing to look at you even at the red light. ‘i was training with theo,’ she says.

‘that’s not horribly embarrassing on its own.’ you grin. ‘there’s got to be more to it.’

‘fine,’ she says, mostly just to humor you, you’re pretty sure. ‘she was small, and we were both learning how to herd. i, well — i tripped over one of the sheep.’

you wait a beat to picture it and then laugh, not unkindly but without any remorse. ‘thank you truly so much for telling me.’

she rolls her eyes. ‘you’re so welcome,’ she says flatly, and you laugh again.

/

you’re confused if your little outing to the christmas market is a date or not for the two minutes it takes for beatrice to park the car, get the small pack holding treats that she carries around for theo buckled around her waist — a little nerdy and totally adorable — and then letting theo out of the kennel. she’s in a little green coat, the same as the other day, and it kind of makes you feel like you’re going to scream, she’s so cute. she greets you fully now, with happy little wiggles, and then situates herself at beatrice’s side. she has a leash connected to her harness, the other half slung over beatrice’s shoulder and across her chest so her hands are free; you think theo doesn’t need it at all, but beatrice explains, ‘in crowded public access areas, it’s appropriate.’ theo, for her part, is busy sniffing a few treats beatrice scattered around her feet in the snow, and then she smiles at you and gestures to head inside.

you’re confused no longer when you see camila’s booth, advertising hot chocolate, apple cider, and egg nog, and she whistles. ‘beatrice, you look so nice with your fancy jacket.’

beatrice glares. 

camila turns to face you fully, a smirk on her face. ‘she never wears that unless it’s a special occasion.’

you can’t help yourself: ‘well, i am a special occasion, if i do say so myself.’

’no one else is saying it,’ lilith grumbles from her seat behind camila, and beatrice fights a laugh while you pout.

‘you look nice too, ava,’ camila says, keeping the peace as you’ve quickly figured out she always does. 

you preen a little, just for the fun of it. ‘why thank you. i love your sweater.’

camila looks down at her jesus was palestinian sweater. ‘’tis the season and all that.’ she beams at you, then beatrice. ‘well, what can i get you both on this romantic outing?’

beatrice sighs in defeat but you grin and look at the menu. ‘well, i’m on vacation and bea picked me up—‘ camila perks up even more at this— ‘so i’m going to do your bailey’s hot chocolate.’

‘i’ll have a cider,’ bea says, and you shoo away her attempt to pay for things, which brings a blush back to her cheeks when you tap your card with a pointed flourish. 

you go through the market with your warm drinks, your cane not sinking into the snow as it had been the past few days, making everything easier, simpler, less nervous with every step. once you have half of your hot chocolate, you lean into beatrice with a smile, and she offers her arm, all clove and pine and her soft scarf. there are booths with ornaments, knitted coasters; you convince her to buy a pretty wreath for the front door of her cabin, which you kind of hope she’ll invite you to see.

it starts to snow when you’re about to leave, the sky darkening early, and she feed theo a few treats before she situates her in the kennel. 

it’s quiet when she starts the truck, and she seems nervous, her hands white knuckled around the steering wheel. ‘i apologize if i was presumptuous.’

you soften. ‘that was a really wonderful date, bea. you can be as presumptuous as you want.’

her smile is shy, bathed in the waning light. ‘well, in that case, would you like to come to my house for dinner?’

‘yes, obviously.’

 she laughs. ‘alright then.’

[fuck-you-upmusicbracket]

The Foundations of Decay (My Chemical Romance)

The guiltiness is yours/You must fix your heart/And you must build an altar where it swells/When the storm decays/And the sky it rains/Let it flood, let it flood, let it wash away/And as we stumble through our last crusade

And if by his own hand his spirit flies/take his body as a relic to be canonised/and so he gets to die a saint /while she will always be the whore

Let our bodies lay where our hearts will stay/Let our blood on vacation, you'll find God in pain/And if by his own hand his spirit flies/Take his body as a relic to be canonized/And so he gets to die a saint but she will always be the whore

"Every single lyric is so fucking powerful. the instrumentals hit every time. it’s such a powerful and moving and motivational song like yeah, everything is fucked up and ruined and will never be the same again. but keep moving. get up (coward). fix your heart. god it’s so good."

Aside from being MCRs return song after 10 years. There's so much pain, and rage, and just deeply felt emotion. When I saw them live, screaming GET UP COWARD at the end is the single loudest sound I have ever made in my life."

"It's just... a spiritual feeling that washes over me whenever I listen to this song. I feel like I die and am reborn thousands of times throughout its six minute duration. The lyrics are poetry. A battle between giving up and letting the decay take over you or overcoming it and getting up no matter the consequences. But it's not like a gym song to work out to. It's a battle song to make it though the dark cave that is depression and suicidal thoughts and trauma. It's a song that brings you back from the dead."

Soap (The Oh Hellos)

I’ve heard if I werе tougher/Then maybe I’d makе it alive/I got a tender side/I’ll need a harder shell to survive/But if seeing is believing/I don’t know I’ve seen a thing grow/Without an open coat/Not without a softness showing

"GRRRR I don't know if I can adequately explain how unwell this song, and the whole EP, makes me. I was stuck between submitting this, or Theseus (from the same EP), and I think they both deserve it but god. Soap. I think that you’re worth keeping around / I think you’re worth holding onto. healing is a process that takes time and it's gonna hurt and be awful and painful and you're gonna want to hide away from it. take your heart out of the stone prison you've built up around it. let it see the sun. and it will hurt. but there are people who love you and want you to heal. we're in this together now let's go get some therapy 🤝"

The Foundations of Decay submitted by @themagnusalchemists + others

[curried-mermaid]

Manga Review: Fruits Basket

We often forget that love is more than just romantic. Natsuki Takaya does an excellent job delving into the human heart and analyzing the different ways people fall in love. Tohru, your average bakadere, accomplishes this just by being herself and soothing the other character’s hearts. She listens to them and says exactly what they need to hear most, even if it comes out weird. Takaya doesn’t portray romance like we normally see in anime or in western media. She focuses on how unconditional love can heal all wounds.

            A perfect example of this theme is when Tohru helps Yuki (the dandere) defend his ‘secret base’ (a small vegetable garden) from a typhoon. Yuki expresses that he only acts nice for himself, it’s not because he’s a nice person. He’s jealous that Kyo (the tsundere) can easily make friends and that’s why he’s nice. He wants to be liked. Tohru tells him that everyone has their own kindness that develops through their experiences. Yuki’s “is like a candle. It suddenly lights up” (Takaya, Vol. 1, 131-137).

            Another theme pops up as she is talking to Kyo as she makes rice balls with him. She mentions that he’s really good at making them and someone who’s been trying to learn would be jealous. He responds with that’s dumb. She comes up with the analogy that everyone has great qualities they cannot see in themselves because they’re like pickled plums that stick to rice. They’re stuck on someone’s back. Everyone else can see them except the person they’re stuck to. Kyo is a wonderful person (Takaya, Vol. 1, 262-267). This theme is important because it helps Tohru develop relationships with the other characters that pop up in the series. She can see everyone’s good qualities regardless of what trauma they’ve been through and how they lash out at those around them. She heals by accepting them for who they are, zodiac spirits and all.

            Takaya’s writing style helps keep the audience at ease as she tackles the hard topics of trauma. This easy-to-read format makes Tohru an effective protagonist. We find out that one of the other zodiac members, Hatori, fell in love only to have to erase his love’s memories after they tried to get permission from the family head, Akito, to marry. Akito lashed out and caused Hatori to go mostly blind in one eye, and his love, Kana, was mentally broken because she thought it was all her fault (Takaya, Vol. 1,  374-395).

            This introduces Akito as Tohru’s “rival” in this series. This is evidenced by Yuki telling Tohru’s friends “She (Tohru) deserves the moon but would never ask for it” (Takaya, Vol. 1, 224) versus Akito saying that he wants the moon (242). This is an excellent way to introduce and show the differences between Tohru and Akito. The narrative style follows a third person omnipotent view. The story is told mostly through dialogue and various character inner monologues. This is effective because the audience can get a clearer picture of what’s going on. The flashbacks are relevant to the story and help us understand what each character has gone through up to the point of the story.

            The largest problems I have with Takaya’s narrative is the story moves slowly and Tohru is a passive protagonist. If you’re not paying attention to the small details, you’ll miss how the relationships develop. The other important thing is the ending for this first volume is sad and nostalgic at the same time. It’s just the daily life of an average girl who stumbled into a supernatural family.

            Overall, I’d say this series is worth checking out and is one of my favorites because it brings a refreshing take on love through deep connections. Love is more than just romance. Be [1]prepared to fall for this series over and over through bittersweet heartache and blissful triumph.

Takaya, Natsuki. “Fruits Basket Collector’s Edition”. Volume 1, 2016, Yen Press.

[alicewritingstories]

Whumptober Prompt Fills Part 5: Stranded

~Also on AO3~

Prompts:

No. 10: “Can’t you see that you’re lost without me?” | Broken Phone | Stranded | “You said you’d never leave.”

Warnings: Ambiguous ending (possible MCD) but I say what happens in notes, injury

Central character(s): Time

The Chain had had a relatively peaceful few days in Warriors' Hyrule, but that ended suddenly with an ambush in the mountains. With tight quarters and an apparently endless stream of monsters, they were quickly overwhelmed.

Time cut down yet another monster, panting for breath and wiping away the black blood that sprayed across his face, and glanced around. This was bad. Sky was down in a pool of blood, three arrows in his back. Twilight was standing over him, defending him, but it wasn't clear if he was still breathing.

Time beheaded a bokoblin as it leaped at him and brought the biggoron sword down on another as he swung it back.

He heard a high-pitched scream and, out of the corner of his eye, saw Four and Hyrule sprinting over to a pale-blue figure that had just fallen under a darknut's claymore. From the moment's flash he couldn't tell if it was Wild or Wind.

He leaped over to strike the darknut, trying to give them space. Then he saw Warriors, stumbling to his knees, bleeding in several places and hunched around an arrow in his stomach. Wild wasn't far away, slumped against the cliff with blood running freely down his face, struggling to get up but unable to support himself.

A cold feeling ran down Time's spine. They didn't have enough healing. There were too many monsters left. Sky might already be dead. Wind and Warriors might be fatally wounded and Wild seriously so. All four were certainly out of the fight and had to be defended.

It was only a matter of time.

They needed a miracle.

Then he felt a shift in the air. He looked round and gasped in shock and relief to see a portal spinning into life.

One of the others also cried out in joy.

"Go!" shouted Time.

Twilight hoisted Sky in his arms and hurried through, closely followed by Warriors and Wild leaning on each other, then Four staggering under Wind's weight as Hyrule kept his hands on the gaping wound that looked all the larger contrasted against the sailor's tiny body.

Legend was the only one left, darting to Time's side though Time could see his right arm hanging limp at his side, clearly broken.

"Go," said Time firmly. "I'll be right behind you."

"You sure?" asked Legend breathlessly.

"Yes - go!"

Legend turned and ran, Time scrambling after him. He turned at the last moment to strike a final blow at a bokoblin that had followed them, making sure Legend was through the portal safely before he turned to follow.

And watched in horror as the portal twisted away like smoke on the wind, leaving him staring at an empty road ahead.

No sign of his boys.

No way out.

A heavy blow on his back sent him sprawling, jarred out of his horrified, frozen state. He rolled onto his back and raised his sword just in time to block a blow from a moblin's club that would have crushed his head, but the monsters were swarming him and lying on his back he was all-but defenseless.

"Help!" he shouted instinctively before he remembered.

Nobody was there.

He was alone.

Stranded.

Abandoned.

A moblin's sword found a gap in his armor and ripped through his shoulder, pinning him to the ground. In the same instant a bokoblin's club slammed into the side of his head.

Everything went dark.

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

[Feel free to go with the ambiguous ending, but I might write a continuation at some point and if you want to know the plan for that, read on!

Time's actually just knocked out and the monsters leave him for dead, but he comes round and manages to find some shelter and do some improvised first aid. He's stuck for a couple of days wondering if he's permanently cut off from the rest of the Chain (and is never going to see his home and Malon again) but then has to go deal with some monsters that are attacking civilians even though he's not fully recovered. During that fight another portal opens and the others return just in time.]

[aajjks]

mommy issues!JK

“j-jun-koo~” you moan into the kiss barely managing to keep up with the desperation of jungkook’s lips. he can’t even remember the last time he properly kissed you and despite his drunken state, he’s still able to make out the feel of your sweet lips.

“are you forgetting that you’re injured?” you say after breaking the kiss apart. “you could—,” there’s a twinge on your tongue but it’s familiar and it tastes strong. you lean in close to jungkook’s mouth and take a whiff of his breath before asking “are you drunk? were you drinking?” you pull jungkook in for another kiss to taste him again and turns out, you’re right and his movements only make it more obvious.

“should’ve known you were drinking when i saw eunwoo stumble to the car. c’mon let’s get you washed up and ready for bed, okay?”

despite jungkook’s whines and protests, you help your fiancé bathe and put his pajamas on since he’ll be stuck with one arm for awhile. once you’re both comfortable in bed, you run your fingers through jungkook’s hair until he’s sound asleep and after doing a 360 around the home: checking seol’s room, downstairs, and finally moon—you head to your daughter’s bedroom to finish putting the nursery together.

another night without sleep won’t kill you.

right on time (at 4 AM), moon begins to holler for another bottle and since you’re starting to get used to her eating schedule, you have a bottle already warmed up and ready for her to eat. you take your small infant from her crib, careful to not wake jungkook up, and proceed to feed a whiny moon.

“let’s go to your room so mommy can change your diaper, okay?” you whisper before leaving the master bedroom and heading to your daughter’s room that is 90% completed.

~🫧

The morning is not so chirpy due to the cold weather.

Jungkook is still sleeping when he tries to pull your body closer, with his left hand but he only feels the cold mattress. Jungkooks eyes flutter open and he groans.

You’re already awake. Of course the baby must’ve not let you sleep, oh fuck his head hurts like a bitch. You’ve been doing this on your own for the past two weeks and he’s done nothing to help you.

Jungkook grunts before stretching, and he gets up from the bed. He goes into the bathroom but it’s hard for him to brush his teeth… he’s gonna need your assistance..

He’s become useless now, it hits him hard. He stares at himself in the mirror. The scars litter his chest.

Jungkook stares at himself in disgust. “Fuck- you’ve become completely useless.” He cusses at himself. He hates this feeling of being helpless.

He wants to punch the mirror into pieces but what’s the points? The scars are not going to disappear from his flesh. He wants to scream in frustration.

This is fucking with his mental health, that person ruined his life. But jungkook won’t give up and sulk. He’s going to get through this- he will heal. He will become stronger.

For you, and his children.

Jungkook tries to calm himself down. The doctor prescribed him with some pills to relax his mind.. maybe he should take them…

He thinks, the hangover is only fucking him up even more.

Unable to decide, he comes out of the bathroom, he sighs, composing himself, and his evaporating emotions, Jungkook puts on his best fake smile and walks out of the bedroom.

And there you are, a beautiful mess as you hold moon in your your arms, rocking her. “Oh baby….” He coos, watching you and soon he’s by your side in the living room.

Jungkook kisses your cheek, “oh you’re exhausted….” He exclaims, suddenly guilt ridden. “I’m sorry that I haven’t been of much help and you just gave birth and you have to take care of two children and now me too… fuck- I’ve sit down on the couch, so give her to me.”

You protest, you say to him that you’re fine but you’re obviously not, your eyes are bloodshot, your hair has been getting so much longer he has noticed, and honestly, it looks really pretty.

Even though it’s a mess right now, you look gorgeous.

“Oh yn give her to me I can hold her.” He insists, after a few minutes, he finally given to his demand and you give your baby into his arms.

Just as he embraces Moon into his arms carefully. His eyes catch your empty ring finger. “Hey… yn. Where the hell is your engagement ring?”

[strawberryfemmesapphic]

Chapter Two of ‘A Coven Shrouded In Violets’

The last thing I remember was being shot from the tree I was perched in, watching over the coven we were supposed to attack. Then the sizzling pain of an arrow latched into my hip, causing me to fall from the tree and hit the ground which broke my leg. I don’t remember anything after that.

…

I woke up in a dimly lit room. The smell of spices and lavender filled my nose as I drifted into consciousness. A freckled face came into my peripheral vision, green eyes and ginger hair.

An angel? No…a witch.

I immediately grab for the dagger kept in my boot, only to realize that it’s not there. I then try to sit up but gasp as lava hot pain shoots up my leg and into my hip.

“You got shot” the freckled face says as she stands up and helps me sit so I can eat, “I had to save you…though I wouldn’t have cared if the wolves got you first” her voice has the faintest accent, common for witches.

“Well then why did you save me?”

“Because you were betrayed by your hunting party, and that is even more unforgivable” she says it so calmly as she give me a bowl of soup. That’s where the smell of spices came from.

I raise an eyebrow at her

“It’s not poisoned. If it was, you’d be dead as soon as you touched the bowl” her lips quirk up into the smallest smile.

“So….i owe you a life debt now. Since you saved mine,” I drawl out slowly, keeping my golden eyes on her. She spins around so fast that she drops a pot of dirt she was holding, “excuse me?”

“I can’t leave your side until I save your life in return” I clarify, eyes bore into hers.

“I’d rather be burned at the stake then work with a witch hunter” she snarls, reaching for a fire poker to prod at the flames.

“That can be arranged” A smirk crawls up my lips as she shoots me a look taken directly out of the nightmares of children.

This woman isn't like the witches we’d been told about during training; she doesn't have the sharp nails or the long noses…maybe we were just told stories to scare us. We began our training when we turned twelve.

“I hate humans, but I hate disloyalty more” the accented voice comes back, washing over me like a beautiful poison.

“Interesting code of morals for a witch. I thought you were all into cursing people and hiding in plain sight” I shot back, wanting to get a rise out of her.

The witch sighs “Fine. I have to go to the mountains as my coven’s delegate. The Council of Witches meets every three years to discuss…things,” her eyes flick to me for a second before continuing, “You will accompany me there”

…

Our journey starts out with utter silence. For three days the witch doesn't speak to me, which I can't blame her for since my hunting party was the one that almost kill her coven and now she's stuck with me.

Finally, we make camp in a secluded cave, shelter from the rain and any predators the witch tells me. She makes a fire by throwing dirt into the air, whispering something incoherent, and as soon as the dirt touches the ground, sparks appear at our feet. The sound of thunder surrounds us as she hands me a small flask of soup and medicine she brought “You’re no good to me weak or dead” is all she spits out. I try to make myself as small as possible, slowly drinking the soup and medicine.

“I’m Wren” the words escape my lips randomly. She looks over and studies me with her beautiful green eyes before rolling onto her side to sleep with her back to me.

…

A week passes before something happens that puts a chip in the witches walls and I make a breakthrough. It happens because a loud splash wakes me from sleep, causing me to shoot up from where I slept, gasping in pain once again at the still-healing wound in my leg and hip. Ignoring it, I stumble out and follow where the splash came from until I reach a lake…where a lake monster is wrestling with the witch. She is hopelessly loosing, whatever spells she tries are useless against the monster. It wraps it’s slimy arms around her and yanks her down under the water.

I wait for her to resurface, but nothing happens, so without thinking, I launch myself into the lake, stabbing at the monster with my knife and grab at the witch, hauling her to safety. Her red hair is soaked and stringy, I cant hear her breathing so I search for a pulse. Nothing. I do the next best thing, I press my hands to her chest like we were trained to do and roll her onto her side as water shoots out of her mouth. She gasps for air as water expells from her lungs. I hit her on the back a couple of times to help the water leave faster. She gives me an angry look as she stumbles to her feet and storms off, soaking wet but no less breathtaking.

Anger wells up inside of me as I walk after her, catching up and shoving her against a tree, my gold eyes bore into her blue ones. I’m taller than her by at least a head which makes me look smaller as I look down on her and plunge into my words “Look, I know this isnt an ideal situation. You dont like me and I dont like you, but we have to at least be civil if we want to survive. You cant swim and I cant walk properly. We need each other if you’re going to get to that mountain” my fingernails dig into her arms as I press her against the tree, wanting my anger to sink into her bones.

“Astrid” her voice is quiet and she refuuses to look at me.

“What?”

“My name is Astrid”

She repeats her name as we sit around a fire she made, the spoon in the small pot of soup we share.

“I’m not a full witch. I can only heal. That’s why I don’t actually live with my coven. When your hunting party came to the woods near us, they were looking for me because they knew I was the one who knew how to stop the poisons that other covens were spreading and they wanted me alive. When they shot you, the strings around their neck choked them and they died” this last bit throws me into a deep hole of confusion and anger. These people who I’d known since I was twelve had betrayed me for no reason and then got what they deserved, I looked down at my own string necklace that we all knew would kill me I betrayed my kin.

“Why did they die but I didnt?”

“You almost did” is all Astrid says.

“So you know how to stop the poisons the other covens are spreading. And that’s why you want to go to the council? Can you talk to them?” I ask, changing the subject, to which she snorts, “hell no. They have all the poisons hidden amongst members of the coven, I’m going to steal each one and make it so the poison can’t hurt anyone” her green eyes light up with nervous glee at telling someone this.

I nod slowly, listening intently as I wrap the injury that twists around her arm, obvious teeth marks from the lake monster embedded in her skin. Hopefully, this monster wasn't poisonous, is the only thing circling around in my thoughts. Astrid looks up from the fire at me,

“Thank you, for helping me earlier”

“Well you saved my life and now I saved yours” I shrug, “so does that mean my life debt is over?”

“Stay” Astrid whispers and as the fire fades, I think I see a smile and a flash of fangs.

[druckkugelschreiber]

Finally getting around to the tags I missed during the workshop weekend!

Find the words. Tagged my the lovely @mxkelsifer thanks for the tag!

Search your works for the given words and post the context of what you find! My given words were anger, laugh, shot, and wing!

This is going to be long lol.

Me? Being brief in my writing? I think the fuck not.

Anger

“Hey halfwolf!” someone shoved me from behind and I stumbled. 

With an angry growl I whirled around to face Maria and her two friends. A literal gang. It was like being in highschool all over again, just that humans never dared to get in trouble with changelings. “Didn’t have enough the last time?” I snapped. I never took any shit from people my age. I wouldn’t go toe to toe like this with the older soldiers, but Maria was fucking hot air. 

“Why so tense?” Maria asked with a sneer, “didn’t get a good fuck out of your alpha wolf?” she came closer, “or didn’t she want you in the end after all?”

What? Confusion doused the anger. What the ever loving fuck? “What?”

“Yeah, no wonder she wanted someone as slow as you”, Maria snapped. 

Her eyes fixed on something behind me. The wind blew in the other direction so I didn’t know who or what it was. Maria’s eyes widened in visible fear. 

A presence appeared at my back. Incredibly warm and strong. I knew immediately it was Selenka. Now I could smell her. Her scent wrapped itself around me like your favourite blanket. 

“Leave”, she growled. 

Maria and her friends scattered like leaves in the wind. 

I turned around to Selenka, she was close enough that my shoulders brushed against the front of her body as I turned and it make sparks run up my arm. “I could have handled myself.”

Laugh

I woke to someone wriggling in my arms and it wasn’t Scotch. This was definitely a person sized plushie. I squeezed them tighter and buried my nose in their hair. Grumbling but not forming words. 

Laughter tinkled through the room and the fuzz of sleep in my brain. “Jas.”

Holy fucking shit. My eyes flew open and I found myself cuddled into Nat’s neck. She had turned around some time into the night, properly intertwining our bodies, not even a cat fit between us. 

Blood rushed through my head faster than fire out of a volcano. “Oh my god.”

She grinned at me. “Good morning, sunshine.”

My eyes fluttered shut again and I kind of wanted to sink into the couch and disappear. Her voice raspy from sleep sent me straight into oblivion. 

“Jas”, she whispered and my entire body shuddered. 

“Hmh?”

“I need to get up.”

I let her go. 

Nat rolled out from our cuddle fortress and I listened to her pad to the bathroom. 

I ran a hand down my face and questioned all my life choices. So at what point did I consider asking her out for a date? Was this a date? Was this a friendship thing? Dating women was hard.

Shot

I threw the shirt into the tub behind me and knelt down next to her scanning the bullet wound. “God damn it Ri.” 

“I know”, Lorraine leaned back against the wall, “I’m sorry.” I twitched in surprise when her fingers trailed through my hair, “you deserve better.”

I was pretty sure she wasn’t talking about her showing up to my house wounded and beaten. I looked up at her and saw her walls entirely down and there was true sorrow in them and adoration. My heart ached seeing the play of emotion in her eyes. Which I had once upon a time doubted. The reason why I had broken up. And now she was here and it took her getting shot to show me what I meant to her. 

Wing

I couldn’t help the smile that flickered over my face as she said my name. “I help them out sometimes. And they’re heavier than most in full tack gear so better for training., I'm not letting like the last mission happen again.”

I flashed the left wing, but only slightly. 

Natasha’s eyes still got stuck on it. “You’re fully recovered then?”

I nodded and folded out the wing entirely so she could take a look at the healed primaries and secondaries. There was a thin silver grey line where the flesh had been damaged and the colour faded back into the powerful blue outside of it. I didn’t often get scars from wing injuries, but then again I rarely had wing injuries in general. It was somewhat poetic that Natasha’s rescue had caused that injury. 

Natasha stepped closer and she raised her hand. Her eyes flickered over to me in question. 

She either had read my file or she was just you know the normal kind of person who didn’t touch someone else without consent. I gave her a 'go ahead' nod. 

Her fingers ghosted over the scar. “It scarred.”

I smiled. “Something to remember you by. Not everyone can say they rescued the Black Widow.” 

She snorted. Her fingers prickled on my feathers and I barely resisted the urge to press my wing into the touch. Natasha rested her hand gently on the feathers once and then pulled back. “I’m glad you made a full recovery.”

We do not talk about the fact that finding a oneshot for 'laugh' was the hardest lol.

[thelovethatgrowss]

You Saw Me

Yandere!Gyutaro x Reader

In which you’re the first person to see him and it costs you.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

You were so pretty so so very pretty. Maybe prettier than Daki but he’d never let her hear him say that. Gyutaro couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t help watch you as you worked you helped prepare the other girls.

You had a small scar on your eye. In his opinion it just made you even prettier. You were gorgeous and you never noticed him. It was okay though why would you ever notice someone like him to begin with. Until you did.

“Are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine.” You were talking to him.

“I always see you alone. You can eat with me if you want.” You noticed him and that was how it started.

Gyutaro followed you around like a lost puppy afterwards even if you weren’t aware of it but you were Daki’s. You helped apply her makeup when you weren’t busy. He’s always helped his little sister it wouldn’t hurt to ask for something in return would it?

That’s how you ended up in Daki’s room.

“You’ve been good to me y/n but I have an even better job for you now.” She beamed at you those unnerving beautiful eyes gleaming.

“It-it would be an honor to assist you in any way.”

“It won’t be you’re assisting.”

You wanted to scream but your voice seemed stuck in your throat. Another body was emerging from the young woman’s back, you were going to be sick.

You stumbled back as Gyutaro appeared from her body.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared of me now y/n”. He gave you a strained a smile spread across his face as he dragged his nails across his arms. You swallowed as blood poured from the would before it healed.

These things weren’t human. You had been living among demons.

“Please don’t hurt me.” He ran a bony finger down the side of your face before shaking his head.

“Hurt you is the last thing I’ve ever wanted just be good for me okay.”

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

You sat in the corner as Gyutaro devoured the girl in the corner. You had learned after trial and error Gyutaro craved to be praised even for the slightest things. You valued that he would at least clean himself up before he came to lay with you.

“Did you miss me y/n”. He squeezed your wrist just a little.

“I always miss you gyu how could I not.” You whispered caressing his cheek as his bony body cuddled into you.

He held all the power in your relationship but he still looked at you like you hung the moon in the sky.

“I can’t believe someone as perfect as you want to be with me.” He giggled excitedly.

“You do want to be with me right y/n.” You nodded as expectant yellow eyes peered up at you.

“Nowhere else I’d rather be.” He pulled you into a sweet kiss before laying beside you. Your bowl of food laying carelessly next to the bed.

Your prison was pretty, almost as nice as Daki’s room. As long as you loved him the way he wanted you to your life was okay still you tend to wonder how a random act of kindness got you here.

“Gyu why me?”

“Because you saw me. No ones ever saw me before.” He whispered petting your hair.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

A/N: I tried hope you guys enjoyed it

[spiriteddreams]

got to watch jjk 0 again with my friends who hadn't seen it yet so here's some fluffy yuta content bc i love this man sm!

okkotsu yuta, who adores the little things in his life that make him smile. there’s maki, who’s always there with her brutal honesty, though laced with kindness to push him to be more determined. there’s panda, who loves to tease him slyly and help him momentarily forget about the hectic world around him. there’s inumaki, who’s friendship he holds so dear to him as his best friend, always there to make him smile. and then there’s you.

okkotsu yuta, who met you on his first day at jujutsu tech after rika lashed out at his new classmates. you were hesitant at first, a bit on edge about the curse that trailed behind him, but that didn’t stop you from extending your hand with a smile painted across your face, welcoming him to the school.

okkotsu yuta, who finds that he enjoys training with you, no matter how many times you knock him over because he was distracted by something. but it pushes him harder and harder to try to pin you down, and the first time he does, his wooden katana presses gently against your chest which rises up and down quickly from heavy breathing, he forgets how to speak. because when you scramble up and throw yourself at him for a hug to congratulate him on doing so, yuta stumbles back and falls to the ground in your embrace.

okkotsu yuta, who knows that you’re worried for him. you left with the others to fight at the night parade of one hundred demons, but not before you had pulled him aside to talk on the roof the night before. he knows he’s being selfish when he asks you to promise him that you’re going to be okay, knows he’s being a bit unfair because he’s still stuck between being attached to rika and his growing feelings towards you. but for all that he’s been through, the pain and suffering that yuta’s had to face head on, he just wants to be selfish for one night. he kisses you that night.

okkotsu yuta, who watches in horror when you appear to help defend him, and geto sends you flying across the open space, your body slamming against the wall as you cry out his name. he’s enraged and calls upon rika, sealing his deal with a promise and a kiss as he fights against the curse user. in his mind he hears his friends say his name, hears them repeat the words that have been engrained in his mind since he met them. and then he remembers the kiss you two shared under the cloudy sky. and yuta fights.

okkotsu yuta, who is patient while the two of you heal from your injuries. he knows the other three are not so subtly pushing for the two of you to make a move or do anything that might give them the hint that something has bloomed. but he waits a bit longer until things are looking better, until you’re back to knocking him over in training, until gojo is suddenly giving yuta the most embarrassing advice to ask you out.

okkotsu yuta, who finally makes his move, totally on accident. he had managed to win during a training match, his body pressed against yours on the ground as you squirm beneath him, trying to escape. he chuckles and you stop, looking up at him with curiosity. and then panda, good ol panda and inumaki begin cheering that yuta’s finally asked you out. he stares down at you, red in the face, flustered and stammering that you most definitely were not supposed to hear that.

okkotsu yuta, who is silenced when you grip his uniform and pull him down to kiss you, uncaring that inumaki is somehow the loudest as he shouts onigiri ingredients, and panda exclaims that he just took a picture and is now sending it to gojo and maki. he can’t help but smile as he pulls away, quietly asking if you would like to join him for dinner in the city that night. it doesn’t matter that the two of you are still on school grounds, covered in sweat and grass and still running on adrenaline. because okkotsu yuta has you, and right now, that’s more than enough.

[whumpsday]

Kane & Jim #29: Slice

~ Whumpmas in July Day 21: Bleeding ~

Masterlist

content: vampire whumper, captivity, knife/cutting

a short one! takes place in the later years of jim’s captivity, well after Broken.

-

Another night in Kane’s house. Wake up, shower, breakfast, be fed on, and do whatever all night in this room until he fell asleep. Do it all again the next night.

Forever.

Jim opened the fridge to get the ingredients for his dinner. He’d have to rotate the drawings tacked to it, his newer ones were much better and there wasn’t any more room. He had a passing thought of asking Kane for a how-to guide, but decided against it. Learning how to draw through trial and error was a way to pass time, and he didn’t want to make the process any faster. It wasn’t like anyone else would ever see them.

He grabbed some stuff for a sauté, nothing fancy tonight, and started chopping vegetables. This was okay. Peaceful, even. He liked cooking, had even before it was one of the only good things in his life. A lot of people would find joy in this kind of life, maybe. Introverts. Jim was the furthest thing from an introvert, but he was making the best of it. He’d build a little life for himself yet.

It was so stupid. A noise. Not even a particularly scary one, just the sound of Kane probably dropping something.

Whatever it was, it made him startle. He was always jumpy, these days. It would have been fine if he wasn’t holding the knife.

As his arms curled together on instinct, Jim gasped as the blade he clutched in his right hand sliced through his opposite wrist.

Blood. There was so much blood. The pain of it was nothing compared to the overwhelming fear, the sight of his blood splashing onto the floor. Kane had already fed from him tonight, he couldn’t afford to lose more!

Oh god, I’m going to die. Jim burst into tears, his breaths coming quick and shallow.

Kane. A vampire could close the wound.

“Kane!” he shouted, his voice desperate and fearful. He ran to the locked door, dripping blood behind him, and pounded against it with his right fist. “Kane, help! Please!”

The door opened, Jim flinching back at the appearance of his tormenter, despite calling him here.

He stuck out his bleeding arm, shoulders quaking as he cried. “Help, it’s, it’s-”

“Fuck, what did you manage to do?” Kane snapped.

Jim stumbled, beginning to feel dizzy, but Kane caught him before he could fall. He tensed, terrified of being held in his owner’s arms.

“Let me see that.” Kane grabbed Jim’s arm and held it up to his mouth, running his tongue along the slash.

Jim relaxed as the wound closed. The pain was still there, he wasn’t healed. But at least the bleeding had stopped, a long scab in its place. He wasn’t going to die.

“There. You’re fine.” Kane announced, letting go of him. Jim took a couple of cautious steps back. Kane pointed at the blood painting the floor. “Clean that up. Don’t do that again, wasting perfectly good blood. That’s half tomorrow’s meal!"

Jim’s heart spiked at the irritation in his voice.

He’d been doing so well. Kane hadn’t hurt him in... it must have been months, at this point. He’d been keeping to himself, keeping quiet. Often, the only time he saw Kane was for feeding, and he was behaving. If he was stuck with this life, he might as well stop fighting it.

“It was an accident. Didn’t, didn’t mean to.” Jim whispered, trembling with fear and blood-loss. Kane was angry with him. He was going to be hurt more. Jim sobbed, wrapping his arms around himself, cringing away from his owner. He debated tacking a “sir” onto the end, but he still had a sliver of self-respect. He would only resort to that once Kane made a move to hit him.

Kane sighed. “Just don’t do it again. Don’t be a crybaby, you’re fine. Look, I fixed it.” He gestured to Jim’s arm. “Relax.”

He thinks I’m still upset about my arm. He doesn’t realize I’m afraid of him. The realization was jarring. To him, Kane was a terrifying monster. But Kane wouldn’t see himself that way.

Jim nodded tearfully, quieting himself again.

“Anything else?” Kane asked, eyebrow raised.

He was so lonely. Part of him wanted to follow Kane back out into the living room, hang out with him while he wasn’t being mean, like he used to. Watch a movie, play cards, listen to Kane rant about vampire drama. Just be with another person.

But he didn’t. He was tired. He was scared.

Jim shook his head.

“Alright, then.” Kane left, locking the door behind him.

Jim looked around. He had to clean the blood off the floor and counter, and he’d barely gotten past the prep stage of dinner. His vegetables were covered in blood now, too. May be appetizing to Kane, but not to him.

He still woozy from the blood-loss. He just wanted to lie down. But there was no one else to clean up after him, no one else to make him a meal. He decided that he’d make himself something low-effort like a sandwich after he finished, sluggishly heading to the closet to grab a mop.

-

@whumpmasinjuly​

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