#anyone else find it cute how they almost have similar hair

[fruitface]

kit with her betrothed, expectation vs reality

[thinkinonsense]

forgive if it’s a bit scatterbrained but hear me out… some sort of reverse corruption w old man!logan >///< i just feel like he won’t be the type of guy who’d immediately be into having a thing w young!reader. i feel like he won’t even take it seriously at first or there’s def gonna be more resistance from him, he’d probably feel initially repulsed by the idea of even beginning to think of them that way given how young they are. but reader is bold bold, so they’re gonna keep pushing and pushing until they’ve got him where they want him. but even if she’s practically sinking down on him, logan is still probably gonna be like “fuck’s wrong with you, huh? old enough to be your fucking grandfather, kid. c’mon, you don’t really want this.”

poor old man’s just too decent for his own good :(

old man!logan x young bold fem!reader *mdni

logan couldn't stand you. how young and ambitious you were; how you couldn't just take no as a fuckin' answer. you thought it was cute but logan found it rather obnoxious. you were persistent with your attraction towards the older man; frequenting the only bar in town that logan was still welcomed in.

"what are we drinking tonight, lo?" your voice was a siren song that he wished he could turn off.

"whiskey." he mumbles against the glass.

the mean glare he sent your way would've made anyone else run in fear, but not you. instead smiling up at him with bambi eyes. at first, logan thought you were just dumb, not picking up on his signals but as it turned out, you're just stubborn.

every friday night, you sat on the stool next to him. you should've been flirting with guys your age by the pool table but no, you would rather get rejected by the old man who drinks alone. at one point even the bartenders started to think that you two were together which logan quickly shut down.

"c'mon, at least let me pretend that i'm yours," you whine, swirling around your second fruity drink tonight.

"you don't want to 'be mine', kid," he said in a stern voice, similar to one you would use on a child who won't behave.

"aaand...why not?" you ask him, crossing your arms and already getting pissy. "don't gimme that bullshit about you being 'too old' either."

"has anyone ever told you that you're-"

"pretty? hilarious? tight? yeah, a few times actually."

logan sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. he tries to give you some sympathy but there's only so many times that you can burn your hand on the stove until you learn your lesson.

"look, cherry..." logan sets his glass down. you adored when he called you, cherry because that meant he was paying attention to you and what you drank, always having to top it off with a cherry. "i'm probably your grandfather's age-"

"don't care." you interrupt him, leaning forward to stare into his eyes and run a hand through his hair. "your grey hair is so hot, lo. should let me pull on it sometime."

logan was finding it more difficult to resist you. almost letting out a groan when you pull slightly. logan could smell your arousal forming; clouding his vision.

"why don't you throw your panties in someone else's direction, huh? i'm sure those boys over there wouldn't mind." logan snarls, getting fed up with your attitude.

it wasn't that he didn't find you attractive, quite the opposite really. maybe if he was younger or you were older then he wouldn't mind your flirty personality so much but that's not the way that the world works. logan is -whether or not he wants to admit it- old and he didn't have time to put up with your whiney shit.

"okay." you shrug, getting up from the barstool.

logan doesn't believe that you'll actually go talk to those boys. in one minute your ass will be back here annoying him. he was sure of it.

then ten minutes passed and giggles were still falling from your lips. nothing the guys said was actually funny but you played it up to look better. there was one guy who you actually didn't mind talking to; both of you went to the same college and shared the same major. for a second, you'd completely forgotten about the man burning holes into your side.

the two of you talked for a while, exchanging stories while you leaned against the pool table in your tiny cut-off shorts. logan watched those boys gawk at you; staring everywhere but your face.

"i know right! her class was horrible! all she did was-" your words fell short when someone grabbed your upper arm, attempting to pull you away from the guy, who you think his name was josh, or john, or jake? you couldn't really remember and you definitely didn't care.

"c'mon kid, i'll give you a ride home." logan growled in your ear.

"oh, it's okay!" you chirp like a little bird at him. "think i'll find another way home tonight."

it's just a facade, logan told himself. you were just trying to prove a point. always stubborn.

"i'm not messing 'round, kid-"

"leave her alone, old man." the kid interrupted, giving logan a push.

logan snarls, about to teach this boy a lesson but you are faster; heel-kicking him in the nuts. the boy hunched over, allowing you to be ear level with him.

"fuck off." you spit, angrily before walking away.

logan looked at you completely dumbfounded. he had no other choice than to follow you blindly outside of the bar. he found you leaning against his truck; under the dim street light, logan would've misplaced you for some angelic figure.

"mind takin' me home, lo?" you ask him, for once not acting like some horny little rabbit towards him.

he nods, fishing out his keys. you give him directions to your apartment. the silence in the car makes you think logan's mad at you for real this time. you pushed it too far, embarrassing him and yourself this time. logan wasn't this dirty old perv who would actually give you the time of day, and maybe it was time for you to face that reality.

"i just wanted to say sorry for everything." your voice is low and quiet. afraid logan won't even acknowledge you. "i know that i should've left you alone a long time ago. you wouldn't want someone like me anyway-"

the car came to a dead halt in the driveway. logan turns to face you and you fear the worst; afraid he will yell at you.

"do you seriously think i wouldn't want you?" he asks. "you haven't left my mind since the day we bumped into each other at the bar and i spilled my whisky down your shirt. remember that, cherry?"

you nod, carefully. that day was imprinted in your mind. your friends and you were celebrating your birthday when logan bumped into you at the bar on accident. he frantically apologized for ruining your white shirt which you suggested for him to lick you clean. it had been so long since someone had flirted with him that he didn't know how to react.

"i'd never seen someone look so pretty and sticky at the same time." logan's hand gently caresses your cheek.

"could've seen it more often if you had fucked me like i wish you would've." the words fall out without pressure, making logan smirk. no matter how much you tried, you were desperate for him.

"you've got one dirty fuckin' mouth, cherry."

"it gets dirtier than that."

"hmm... don't know if that's possible."

"i could show you if you like."

the offer hangs hot in the truck. logan leans back into his seat, asking for forgiveness on what he's about to do. three light taps on his thigh and you crawl right into it.

"atta fuckin' girl, cherry." he groans as you grind against his crotch and bite on his neck.

"also for the record, the only person i want to have my panties is you, logan." you purred in his ear, referring back to your earlier conversation at the bar.

"i know, sweetheart. i know." he chuckles, watching you kick off your shorts and underwear.

once your back in his lap, you unbuckle his belt and wait eagerly for him to have his way with you. yet, logan doesn't offer anything.

"if you want to fuck an old man like me then you need to get used to doin' all the work, cherry." he says, half-joking. "can't keep up with an eager little thing like you."

you knew his game. to scare you off by acting like an asshole but you didn't mind doing the work to get what you want.

"fine with me." you smile, hands inching towards the glasses that hang on his button-down. "can't forget these, want you to see what you do to me."

logan groaned when you pulled him out of his pants, pumping him a few times before aligning him to your entrance. he was a bit bigger than you would've guessed, only making you wetter. just as you are about to sink down onto him, logan stops you, holding your hips in the air.

"fuck's wrong with you, cherry? you still want this, huh?" he taunts you, only getting a whine from you in response. "such a desperate little thing."

"p-p-please, logan." your hips wiggle against his tight grip. "want you... need you."

without another word, he lowers you down onto his length. both of you moan at the adjustment. your nails claw at logan's shoulders and you feel him twitch inside of you at the pain.

"happy now?" logan groaned, watching you bounce up and down on your own. his hands stayed on your waist, squeezing at the fat of your hips. "got what you fuckin' wanted."

"mhm..." you nod along dumbly agreeing to whatever he says. too busy trying to get his white button-down off of him. frustrated, you break open all the buttons.

once his chest was exposed, you litter it with kisses and dark bruises. for the first time, logan was happy that his healing abilities were slowing down so now he can admire your artwork longer. you grab both of his giant palms bringing one hand to your chest and taking the other thumb into your mouth, licking the pad of it before moving it down to your clit. tracing circles in a way that made your head fall back with your mouth wide open.

"do you always get this wet for older men or is it just for me, sweetheart?" logan asked, fist full of your hair.

"j-just you, lo..." you gasp.

logan's lips found your jaw, kissing up to your chin before capturing your lips. he wasn't a fan of fruity drinks but he loved the taste they left in your mouth. your backs against the wheel lazily and logan can tell that your orgasm is approaching.

"don't give up now, cherry." he teased. "you were doing so good, being a perfect little slut in my lap. what happened to her?"

you were too fucked out to say anything back and he knew it. logan finally took pity on you and started pistoling into you, listening to every pretty curse word that fell from your trembling lips.

"where do you want me, sweetheart?" logan grunts in your ear, pulling at the lobe as you come down from your high.

"inside, please."

that's all logan needed to hear to spill inside of you. the warmth indescribably flooded you. the two of you collapse in each other's arms, collecting yourself for a few minutes.

"told you, i'm a good fuck." you told him, looking up at him with messy hair and an unapologetic smile.

"didn't doubt you," he says, mirroring your smile as he moves some pieces of hair from your forehead. maybe logan could see you being a permanent person in his life.

"and to think..." your words drift off as you start to move again, feeling him get hard again inside of you. "we are just getting started."

[hxney-lemcn]

Jealousy is a Bitter Look — Overblots x gn! reader

summery: how the overblots react to being jealous (some are a bit more jealous than others, but they all have their moment).

tw: unhealthy attachments (Malleus, but he's working on it). ngl this shows a bit of their flaws so its not complete fluff and a bit of a character study.

a/n: so I can't make a fluffy/cute jealous fic cus I find jealousy an emotion to work on? Like its not terrible to be jealous, it happens to the best of us, I just don't wanna romanticize it? 'Cus if left unchecked it can lead to toxic relationships so that's why I wrote this in a more uplifting manner (?). Idk, I'm weird ik.

wc: 1.5k (~200 per character)

Master List

❥ Riddle Rosehearts

Riddle tried not to get jealous. He trusted you wholly. But sometimes his insecurities got the best of him. Cater was more affectionate, did you wish he were more affectionate like that? Trey was kind, did you wish he would give you more? Ace and Deuce were stupid, but it was undeniable how well you got along, did you wish he were more carefree? Those feelings would tug at his heart, but it was something he needed to work on himself, it wasn’t your problem. That’s what he kept repeating in his mind as he watched you have fun with your friends. Lips downturned hidden behind a teacup, ocean grey eyes sharply watching the scene before him. He thought he was hiding it better, but it was clear to you with how he pouted. Excusing yourself from Ace and Deuce, you made your way to the ruby haired housewarden. Riddle greeted you, eyes softening and frown lifting slightly. You tell him that he could’ve just told you if he was jealous. Unlike some, he won’t deny it fully, instead explaining his reasoning. Work on it with him, reassure him that you like him for him. If you wanted someone else, you wouldn’t be with him, and he takes that to heart.

❥ Leona Kingscholar

Jealousy is Leona’s middle name. After everything he’s been through, constantly being in second place, never getting what he truly wants…he feels like having you will slip through his fingers as well. Being with you, creating all those happy memories…it scares him. That one day you’ll find someone better and all he’ll have left of you are memories. So yes, he does get jealous, quite easily, and he masks it with his ego. He’s the best, don’t look at anyone else, he’s a prince, why would you settle for less? It’s quite clear that he’s jealous, his tail flicking, ears twitching, the sharp glare. When you confront him he won’t tell you the full truth, that’s a step too far at the moment. Be gentle with him, if someone flirts with you, tell them you have a boyfriend. Leona gets this smug smile and a warmth in his chest. As much as he won’t hesitate to claim you if someone won’t stop their advances, he loves it when you claim him. After all, it shows how much you care for him, how much you want him, and even the big bad lion needs a bit of reassurance.

❥ Azul Ashengrotto

He’s actually quite similar to Leona in this regard. Azul was bullied when he was younger, which led him to having an inferiority complex about almost everything. He is bad at hiding it as well, clearly needing to be reassured that he was doing well and he was a good partner. It was just hard for him to comprehend that someone as amazing as you was actually with someone like him. He loves you so intensely, he can’t help but let his insecurities get the best of him sometimes. He thinks you’d hate his mer form or that someone that could offer you more will swoop you away from him. He wouldn’t even blame you, he’d just be hurt he couldn’t do more for you. (He’s thinking all this even though he would and could offer you the world if you asked). When someone is trying to flirt with you outright he’s trying to mask his insecurity with his suaveness, asking if the person needs anything and if you're uncomfortable he leaves in a small threat about Floyd not being in a good mood (if you’re really uncomfortable he might use Jade as the threat instead). Azul checks in on you, but if you're smiling he might die a bit. Please just reassure him that you only have eyes for him.

❥ Jamil Viper

Unlike Leona and Azul, Jamil doesn’t get that jealous or has an inferiority complex. No. Instead, he knows you wouldn’t go behind his back, after all, you managed to become his partner and that’s a feat in itself. He does get smug when you tell someone off, or politely inform them that you have a boyfriend. Jamil reveals in their look of defeat (he is a bit of a sadist in that regard). The time his jealousy truly shines is when Kalim is in the equation. He refuses to allow Kalim to take anything else from him, never mind you. The way Kalim easily makes you smile, steals your time with frivolous parties, puts his hands on you…yeah it's a feat that Jamil didn’t snap. Jamil is very good at masking his feelings, but the facade unravels when you both are alone for once. Give him your attention, affection, love, reassure him through touch that you want him. If you poke and prod enough he’ll admit he’s jealous, how it just reminds him that Kalim always takes and takes, afraid that you’ll fall for the charm (that Jamil couldn’t understand) of Kalim and fall into his arms instead. But when you soothe him, tell him that you see Kalim more of a brother if anything…Jamil will calm down and realize how foolish he’s being.

❥ Vil Schoenheit

Vil, jealous? Yeah no. Not normally at least. Have you seen him? Vil is one of the fairest of them all. If someone tried flirting with you he’d laugh in their face if that wasn’t disgraceful. If anything, you were the lucky one in this relationship…he does cherish you though, and he loves you more than he’d like to admit. You may be a lucky potato…but he was one lucky man as well. He managed to snag your heart without the flashing lights and fame, you loved him for who he was and he was grateful. So when Vil watches Neige talk to you with no care in the world, hearts practically in the boy’s eyes…yeah it's the one scenario you’ll witness a jealous Vil. He’ll perch himself by your side, arm slung around you as he greets you with a kiss to the cheek. A pleasant surprise as Vil isn’t this affectionate in public usually. Neige doesn’t seem to take the hint, so Vil ups the ante, talking about your last date and how he’s lucky you chose him. It’s an obvious change (and everyone knows the vitriol Vil holds for Neige). You eat the attention up, but after you're alone in his room, give him a ton of kisses, teasing him about how sweet he was, he doesn’t like to admit his jealousy, but he loves your affection.

❥ Idia Shroud

I’m noticing a pattern. Most of these guys have an inferiority complex. Idia’s is the most obvious. He barely believes you actually like him, so him being jealous is more common than not. Depending on how long you’ve been together he’ll react differently. If it's in the beginning, he’s blaming and degrading himself for not being good enough, that you deserve better and he locks himself in his room. He needs a lot of reassurance in this stage, lots of quality time. The longer you are together the more confident he gets. Someone tries to flirt with you; he's dissing them with his chronically online lingo. Doing that little giggle when you elbow him trying not to grin. Although those self-deprecating thoughts still swirl in his brain, he’s learned to trust and believe you, after all you decided to stay with him for how long? Not to mention that your reassurances made him feel better and trust you. You’ve seen his worst multiple times and you’re still by his side. Besides, if anyone dares insults Idia in their attempt to woo you you go crazy, insulting them which makes Idia want to melt, die, and kiss you all at once.

❥ Malleus Draconia

Malleus is a bit confusing. On one hand he 100% trusts you, on the other he can be a bit childish. You spend too much time without him or go out to something he wasn’t invited to and you’ll find him pouting upon your arrival. He doesn’t mean to, he’s glad you have others to have fun with and he doesn’t want to restrict you in any way…but he is a bit needy when it comes to your affection. He is so touch-starved and isolated that he can’t help but cling to you, feeling a bitter pang when you have to go. If anyone dares to flirt with you it's when he isn’t by your side and you're declining them instantly. If someone is actually insane and tries to flirt with you when Malleus is present either 1. Malleus watches on trying to hide his smugness as you decline or 2. Sebek is shouting insults at them before you even get the chance. All in all, Malleus isn’t too jealous, and when he is he tries to work on his possessiveness. He wants a healthy relationship with you after all, and he’d do anything to make you happy, even if that means letting you go for a day to hang out with your other friends.

[alexiroflife]

'stay with me'

"Across the Earth" Part 3 [finale]: satoru gojo x reader

part 1 | part 2

Synopsis: after having talked with suguru about your relationship with satoru, you find yourself rethinking everything during a night out with the group

to sum it up: suguru suggests you should confess, but you're too scared

WC: 8,997

Ten o’clock eventually rolls around after Satoru spent a good five minutes shouting throughout the house for everyone to get dressed to go to a bar. The thought of drinking or having to deal with one of your friends being intoxicated does not sound very appealing to you at the time, but you figure you shouldn’t argue considering where you currently stand with Satoru.

After your talk with Suguru, you finally managed to get your work done before it was time for you to get dressed. You rummaged through the overnight back that Satoru had apparently taken upon himself to pack for you in search for something to wear when you found the short black dress you had tossed into your luggage on a whim in case you were to happen upon an instance in which you would need to wear it. How Satoru had managed to locate this piece of clothing, you’re not even sure, but you put it on and do your makeup that Satoru also so graciously remembered to pack for you. 

You glance in the long mirror by your dresser at your reflection, turning to the side to examine the accentuation of your curves against your dress's stretchy fabric with a sigh. The dress clasps around your thighs and reaches down just above your knees. You admit to yourself that you look good, but your physical appearance does nothing to sway the pit that proceeds to sink into your gut at the thought of Satoru and everything that Suguru said to you. 

You’re in the midst of trying to give yourself a pep talk to mentally prepare yourself for the night when you hear Satoru shouting again for you to get a move on, his voice vibrating through the walls of the house. You assume you’re the last to get ready when Satoru doesn’t address anyone else but you.

You trudge down the steps with your hand gliding against the railing, wedges clacking against the stairs until you reach the main hallway and find your friends standing by the door. Shoko’s wearing a cropped silk shirt and a skirt with a cute pin holding up the side of her hair while Suguru, naturally, wears loose and dark pants with a black button up.

But then, of course, there’s Satoru, standing almost as a god before you in a similar shirt to Geto’s only his is a pale light blue with the first few buttons undone and sleeves rolled up to his elbows in the same fashion he wears most of his shirts and linen pants. 

You immediately look at everyone but him, completely unable to withstand the gorgeous sight of him dressed up and so well. 

When you walk over to them, you feel Satoru’s eyes hit you in what has to be less than two seconds, and while you aren’t looking at him, Suguru notices the way his eyes twitch wide and his brows lift ever so slightly as he looks at you, wandering eyes roaming swiftly over your figure before bouncing back upward. 

“I’m here now, no need to keep screaming,” you say with a rigid face. You can’t help but let your eyes flicker into Satoru’s direction to catch his gaze for a millisecond before clearing your throat and looking down. 

“We can’t take you two out like this,” Suguru groans, referring to you and Ieiri. You both look at him with quirked brows. “We’re gonna be swarmed by thirsty men the second we step outside.”

“What?!” you and Shoko exclaim as you all start making your way to the door, you, Shoko, and Suguru leading while Satoru trails behind to lock the door after everyone. 

“Don’t be mad because (Y/n) and I are hot, Suguru,” Shoko snaps, poking the dark haired man in the shoulder.

“I am mad. I don’t want randoms ruining the night because they don’t know how to coexist with attractive women.”

“You don’t hear us complaining about you and Satoru when girls try to clobber you! Don’t be so sexist.”

“I’m not being sexist, I’m being realistic.”

“Can we all just agree that we’re all hot and attention will follow wherever we go?” you hear Satoru chime in cockily as he locks the door behind him. “No need to compete over it.”

“Who said we were competing? I just said that I don’t want the extra attention,” Suguru responds. You watch as Shoko climbs into the back seat, but you freeze when Suguru follows and sits next to her, leaving the only empty seat to be the front passenger next to the driver, Satoru.

You glare at Suguru out of the side of your eye urgently, and he looks up and around, pretending he doesn’t see. You seethe and swear to yourself that at times, Suguru is even worse than Satoru, which you suppose is why they are such good friends. 

You force yourself to suck it up and keep yourself together like an adult. You reach for the car door handle, only to be intercepted by Satoru’s soft hand. His fingers brush yours clumsily, and you jump to look at him when you realize that you two are reaching for the same thing. 

The albino man holds your gaze for a moment, watching as you mumble a timid apology instead of barking at him to question what he’s doing so close to you. He doesn’t acknowledge your words when he reaches again to yank the door open and hold it for you stiffly, just as he always does.

You press your lips together, clasping your hands in front of you and slowly stepping into the car. “Thanks,” you mumble, unsure as to why Satoru is still willing to display these gestures of gentlemanliness for you when he is allegedly upset with you, and more importantly, when he’s not goofing around with you and trying to gauge a reaction. 

Satoru lingers at the door for a few seconds too long when he shuts it behind you, pressing up to it with both hands before making his way to his seat. 

You arrive at your destination after a short drive, clambering out of the vehicle to enter the bar, or at least, what Satoru told you all is a bar. Nevertheless, when you push open the door and make your way inside, you’re greeted by bright lights waving violently through darkness, a crowd of people moving about in the center of the space and dancing wildly. A hightop bar surrounds the outskirts of the room, bartender tending to girls who lean on each other for stability and men who try to hit on said girls. The space is loud, as well, blasting an array of different music genres as the DJ up front nods his head aggressively to the beats.

You and Suguru falter, staring ahead of you in distaste as Satoru smiles for the first time since this morning, or so you believe. “Welcome, you guys,” Satoru beams, gesturing his arms toward the tightly packed enclosure. 

“Satoru,” Suguru starts, a dangerous tone in his voice. “What the fuck is this?”

“A bar?” the blue eyed man responds as if the question’s answer is obvious, which it isn’t. 

“This is a nightclub,” Shoko yells, shouting over the noise. “Not a bar!”

“Is there really a difference?”

“Oh my god.”

“What’s with the faces? It’ll be fun! Like old times,” Satoru grins, inching further into space. “We go to places like these all the time.”

“Yeah,” Suguru catches up to him to smack the side of his head, and Satoru yelps dramatically. “With a warning.”

“Well yeah sure, suck the fun out of the outing,” Satoru shoves Suguru back, the dark haired man tossing a murderous glare to him over his shoulder. 

You shake your head to yourself, truthfully not even angry about the entire ordeal. You’ve spent weeks being angry with Satoru and now that you’re out, you’ve been caught off guard but you can’t say that you have the energy to care any longer. You feel Shoko lock her fingers with yours and tug you, leading you to follow. “We’re gonna go get drinks,” the brown eyed woman announces, the two of you skipping off to push through bodies to reach the alcohol. 

“Don’t get kidnapped!” Suguru calls out.

Geto doesn’t miss the way Satoru’s eyes follow you intensely. He scoffs and elbows him in the ribs, Gojo bending over and clutching his upper abdomen. “What the fuck,” he wheezes.

“Get your shit together tonight,” his hazel eyed companion demands, and Satoru’s squinting his eyes up at him over his frames. 

“Don’t tell me you’re gonna give me a lecture…”

“If you get it together, I won’t have to,” Suguru says.

Satoru rises slowly, face mellowing out into an expression of discomfort. “Is this about what I think it’s about?”

“What else would it be about?”

Satoru frowns. “I told you already, I’m not gonna keep making myself look stupid. If anyone’s gotta fix anything, it’s her.”

“Oh really?” Suguru hums. “You know, Satoru, it’s unhealthy to direct all of the blame to the other person

“Wh- she ghosted me!”

“And you reacted by…?”

Satoru clicks his tongue and rolls his eyes, brushing strands of white hair from his line of sight. He glances over the crowd to relocate you and Shoko, watching as the brunette hops up into a stool while you lean against the counter, that damned dress he threw in your bag without thinking lining the curve of your ass as you poke it out subconsciously while pressing against the wood. Satoru thinks he’s going to lose his mind, watching the way your foot crosses over your heel and as men stumble bass by, but not without throwing a glance your way unbeknownst to you. 

Why do you have to look fucking edible tonight? Why couldn’t you have just worn sweatpants and a t-shirt and called it a night? Why do you have to look so breathtakingly gorgeous everywhere you go?

“I’d do it again too,” Satoru says to himself though Suguru can hear it loud and clear. “She just needed to be reminded that she cares about us, that’s all.”

Satoru hears Suguru release a long sigh, eyes closing and arms crossing. “You’re completely missing the point. Both of you are,” he repeats, this time to Satoru.

“What? Both of us?” he perks up at the last part of his best friend’s sentence. “What does that mean? Is that coming from whatever you guys talked about earlier? What did she say to you?”

“I’m not doing this,” Suguru stops him while he’s ahead. “I’m going to get wasted. I feel like I’ll need to with however this night is about to go.”

“No fair! I’m the designated driver,” Satoru whines, following closely behind Suguru to make his way through the crowd. “You’re all gonna drink without me?!”

“You’ll be fine, lightweight.”

“Some thanks I get for bringing us all out tonight. You guys suck.”

The guys eventually make their way over to you at the bar and find that Shoko has already ordered the two of you shots. Suguru chuckles at her hastiness and orders one more, leading Satoru to murmur incoherently to himself as he leans his back against the counter and watches you all down the nasty liquor. You all tighten your faces and scrunch your noses simultaneously, slamming the glasses down. “Alright, that was a mistake. I’m done,” you say quickly, rejecting the shot glass and shoving it toward the edge of the counter. 

Satoru, from Suguru’s side, peers over him to look at you curiously. You look over at him, relaxing your face to see what he wants from you. “Done already?” he marvels, a question that holds no hint of playfulness to it. You shrug. 

“Yeah. The taste of alcohol’s not agreeing with me tonight,” you reply casually, catching Suguru ordering another round with a giggling Shoko out of the corner of your eye. “Looks like I’m playing babysitter instead.”

“That’ll make two of us,” Satoru agrees, and the conversation falls short. You nod to yourself awkwardly, setting your hands on the countertop and looking down. Before Satoru can ponder saying anything more to you, the bartender returns to your section with two more shots for Suguru and Shoko. He’s wearing a small smirk as he sets the glasses down before them, slinging a cloth over his shoulder and leaning forward on his forearm.

“You guys haven’t wasted any time,” he comments, attempting to spark a conversation you assume is for the sake of tips.

Suguru chooses to dissociate, hardly in much of a social mood if it’s not with the friends he has arrived with, leaving Shoko to answer for him. “Party’s gotta start somewhere,” she shrugs, and the bartender grins. Suguru and Satoru exchange knowing, annoyed gazes. Here goes the first one of the night.

“That’s absolutely true,” he nods, turning to look at you. Satoru sees the shift of attention as fast as it occurs, and he already isn’t liking it. “What about you? You don’t wanna party?”

You tighten your lips into a harsh smile, laughing lightly with the shake of your head. “No, no, just looking out for these two.”

“Ah. Then you must be a good friend.”

“Oh, you’d have to ask them,” you point down the line of the three beside you. “I can’t say.”

“Don’t be so humble,” he needles lightly. ��I’m sure you’re wonderful.”

“What about me?” All heads turn to Satoru, whose chin is propped up and his glasses are lifted above his head, strained grin on his features. “I’m not drinking either. Do you think I’m wonderful?” he drawls, and you slap your hand over your face. 

The bartender laughs with far less energy he had speaking to you, suddenly busying himself with polishing a glass. “I’m sure you are, man,” he says before excusing himself to check on other customers. Shoko bursts into loud laughter once he leaves and Suguru downs his second shot, eager to become numb to everything he’s noticing. 

“What? He was trying too hard,” Satoru defends, and you look at him intently, for this is the second time within a day that Satoru has interfered with a man’s interaction with you. You were so mad about it before because he was disrespecting your research partner, but now with this guy you didn’t even want to talk to in the first place, you’re taking a second look at his behavior in a different light.

The word Shoko used earlier flashes through your mind. Territorial. 

What the hell did Satoru have to be territorial over when you were his friend?

“That’s his job, Satoru. He’s gonna talk our heads off to get a good tip,” Suguru reasons, wincing at the taste of alcohol fresh on his tongue again.

“I don’t give a fuck,” Satoru says rather brightly. 

“God, just order another round already.”

With Shoko and Suguru on their way towards blacking out, you and Satoru remain keenly aware of the things that happen around you. The room grows hot due to the gathering and compaction of sweaty bodies dancing together. 

At one point, Shoko drags you into the heat, pulling you by your hands and dancing wildly along with you. You laugh at her tipsy state, moving along with her nonetheless as people bump up against you, hollering with intoxicated joy. You allow yourself to let go for a moment, bringing yourself back to all the late nights you had shared with your friends within this exact kind of environment, screaming with each other for absolutely no reason without a single care in the world.

You recall the times Satoru would drag you to the dance floor with him, making you watch the absurdly ridiculous way he danced that had you kneeling over in laughter, hands gripping his arms as the alcohol within your system made you practically die laughing. You had always missed the way Satoru would look down at you as you laughed with your head bowed, an affectionate grin sweeping over his face as the sound of your amusement inspired his own laughs. 

You look back on those memories and find yourself momentarily happy to be here, Ieiri jumping up and down before you as if she’s having the time of her life, spinning around and yelling out the lyrics to a song you didn’t even think she knew. 

You’re enjoying yourself, gripping Shoko’s hand as she spins you around in turn, watching her trip slightly over her feet as she manages to do so. She’s always been an energetic drunk, you think to yourself, often matching the chaotic behavior of Satoru.

At the thought of his name, you look around to find him and see that he’s still by the bar with Suguru, seemingly poking fun at his mellow drunken state. The dark haired man blinks slowly, eyes lidded as he tunes out whatever nonsense is being spewed into his ear by Gojo. After you watch the tall man take a video of Suguru and the said twenty one year old smack his phone out of his hand, Satoru’s eyes catch yours when he picks himself up from dropping his phone.

You can feel the air thicken with tension, and suddenly, the chaos around you slows. You don’t understand what brings the two of you to constantly lock eyes, for you can’t even count how many times the two of you have made eye contact throughout this night alone. Satoru seems to watch you in slow motion, both of your smiles sparked by separate occurrences dwindling in the slightest as the concentration of your gazes consume the moment. You can feel your heart ringing in your ears, confusion, desperation, fear, and admiration gripping your body as those ocean blue eyes sink into you from across the room, dominating the hundreds of other presences far closer to you than he is. 

You ponder over where all the anger you had just harbored for him went. You’re looking at him now, under the flashing pink and green lights that cross over his majestic features, and you can’t find a thing to be mad at. You haven’t been able to, in fact, since after your conversation with Suguru, or perhaps even before that when Satoru stormed out of your room.

Looking at him now, all you can see is him looking at you, the longing to have you back in his life, the hope that he hasn’t completely ruined his chances of remaining friends with you. Suguru had suggested that Satoru may surprise you if you were to confess to him, and the sentiment has your head reeling. Does he know something that you don’t? Does he understand better the reason as to why his eyes can’t seem to tear themselves off of you? As to how he manages to find you in a sea of people as if you are the only person there? 

You’re a mess of confliction and heartache when it comes to comprehending your dynamic with Satoru. You thought you had understood him so well, that he’s a person of privilege who can get whatever he wants without caring how it affects others along the way, that he only stuck by your side for so long because he liked to play with your head and to test your patience. You thought you knew, but there’s a chance that you weren’t paying as much attention to him as you thought you were.

If Satoru didn’t take you seriously, why would he have remembered the foods that you like? If he didn’t take you seriously, why did he always stay the night whenever he heard of you having a rough call with your parents? If he didn’t take you seriously, why did he watch you as though you’re the only individual that exists within his line of sight, within his mind, within his entire universe?

You don’t know what to do anymore. Everything you thought you knew has been completely misconstrued, thrown into question, and you’re finding it difficult to return to the mindset you even had this morning. 

You’re under a spell cast by his attention on you until a pair of women brush by him and Suguru, pausing to get their attention by tapping Satoru’s shoulder. Your smile has fallen now and Satoru looks torn, eyes flickering between you and the redhead in front of him who leans up to speak directly into his ear due to the overbearing volume of the atmosphere, Satoru tensing as he forces himself to listen. His stare grows anxious, as though he’s been caught doing something bad. You can see the slight panic hit his face as he throws on a suave facade to respond to the girl, looking subtly weary at the way her hand lingers on his shoulder.

You don’t watch any longer, ripping your eyes away and turning back to Shoko. You don’t want to know, you tell yourself. You don’t want to see, you don’t want to hear anything about what that girl could have been saying to him, leaning in close as her lips brush centimeters away from his ears. You don’t want to think about it, whether the conversation is benign or not, you can’t handle the sight. You can’t handle the still lingering possibility, no- the fear that Satoru would see you as just the same as that girl, grasping for his recognition like the rest of the world. 

Therefore, you subconsciously avoid him for the rest of the night, bringing you right back to where you started. 

The two of you decide that the night should come to a close when it hits one in the morning, and Suguru can barely stand while Shoko is trying to steal the mic from the DJ. Satoru has to physically remove her from the premises, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder as he makes his way to the door. You’re left to help Suguru, telling him to wrap his arm around you to stabilize himself while you lead him to the car. You grunt under his weight, removing your arm from his torso to help ease him into his car seat by holding his arms. He stumbles in ungracefully just as Satoru bends down to lower Shoko down next to him. You and Satoru sit in silence once more as Shoko rambles to herself about god knows what, and Suguru holds his forehead as though he has a headache. 

When you make it back, you somehow manage to get the two up the stairs and situated into their own rooms. You huff, out of breath after having to pull Suguru into his room with a glass of water and a trash can beside his bed. You step out into the hall, closing his door gently behind you to hear a struggle a few doors down where Satoru is begging Shoko to go to sleep and by the sounds of it, she’s too busy jumping up and down on her bed. You laugh to yourself at just how different Shoko is from her normally laid back personality after a night out.

You think about turning in to go to sleep, but for the second night in a row, you don’t find yourself tired from the day. You elect to take your shoes off and head out back to the pool, sitting on the side and wading your feet in the cool water. You sigh softly and look down at the small waves that ripple with the sway of your feet, the gentle splosh of liquid filling the night air. At one point, you notice that the commotion upstairs has gone quiet, and you assume that Satoru has finally managed to put Shoko to bed. 

You hear heavy footsteps slowly descend the stairs and approach from behind you. You get a feeling of deja vu from the previous night when you turn and find Satoru standing just a few feet away with a look of surprise on his features. You see that he’s taken off his glasses and shoes, likely having come to do exactly what you are doing.

“Oh,” he mumbles. “Sorry, I thought you were in your room,” he says quietly.

You shake your head, looking at the ground then back up to him. “No, not tired.”

“Again, huh?”

You nod. “Yeah.” 

He hums, unsure of where to look all of a sudden. “Is… Suguru good?”

“Um, yeah he’s fine. He passed out as soon as he hit the bed,” you tell him. “What about Shoko?”

“She’s knocked out, finally,” he says. “She made sure to make it extra difficult for me, though.”

You smile gently. “I heard.”

“I swear that woman is a nightmare when she drinks.”

You appreciate the way Satoru attempts to lighten the conversation, bringing a hint of humor into something you can both laugh at. The lights inside are all out save for a dim lamp in the kitchen and the pool lights that keep the outdoor area illuminated. It grows blatantly quiet, the house still as Satoru stands in the walkway, tired, nervous, unsure.

After a few moments, you hear Satoru clap his hands awkwardly. “I guess I’ll leave you to it then,” he says slowly, and you look up at him with a hint of disappointment. “I can take you back to the city tomorrow morning so you can, you know, get back to work.”

Your lips part, (e/c) eyes glazing over in the soft light as Satoru watches you to see if you have anything more to add, but you unfortunately can’t think of the right thing to say. You don’t want him to leave, but you don’t know what making him stay out here will do for either of you. You’re in such a strange space with him, questioning whether he’s still angry with you and him most likely doing the same. The only thing that’s on your mind now is how bad you’ve let things get solely because of your love for him, and it’s eating you up on the inside knowing that as long as these feelings are bottled up inside you, the likelihood of losing Satoru as a friend for good remains. 

Satoru takes your silence as a means to leave and exhales, turning to go back inside. “Good night,” he tells you halfheartedly.

“...Good night.” 

Satoru stops suddenly, fists tightening at his sides. You notice that his posture has stiffened even more than it already was as he prevents himself from leaving, and you grow slightly concerned. “Satoru? Are you okay?”

“Is that really all you have to say?” he asks, whipping his head around to look at you. He’s upset again, you can tell, but possibly even more so than he was earlier. He looks angrier, more enraged as his brows furrow harshly and his eyes glow with unreleased emotion. You look at him blankly, put off by his outburst as he awaits something more from you, anything from you.

“...I don’t know what you mean.”

This does not seem to be the right answer, for it only makes him angrier. “How can you not know what I mean? After everything that happened today, you still have nothing to say to me?”

“If you’re looking for an apology about this morning, then I don’t think I did anything wrong…?”

Satoru scoffs and laughs disbelievingly, eyes widening as he stares at you as if to process the words that have come out of your mouth. He courses his hands through his messy hair in stress, astonished by you. “I genuinely don’t know what to do with you, (Y/n),” he chuckles. “It’s not even just about this morning- it’s about everything. Everything that’s led us here.”

“I apologized for trying to stop talking to you, Satoru, what more do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know, to say that you care about me?” he throws his hands up. “I mean, do you? Do you even care?”

Your heart clenches at his words, turning to bring your feet out of the water. “Of course I care.”

“Then why do you act like you don’t?”

You stand, sensing the way the conversation takes a turn into intensity. Water drips down your legs from your shins and onto the ground, the air nipping at your damp skin though you can hardly tell. “How could I possibly act like I don’t care about you?”

“Because you choose to be civil with everyone but me, (Y/n)! Suguru, Shoko, your research partner, some bartender- everyone, when I’m the one who's always been here, who’s always cared about you. Me! And you still just-” Satoru sucks in a breath, realizing that he has inched himself further toward you with each passionate stance he takes, face reddening and hands grasping the air for nothing, though what he longs to hold the most stands right before him, appearing as lost as he feels caring for you. He drops his hands to his sides, tightening the muscles in his face.

He’s hurt. He wants you to hear him, to see him, to fight with him over your relationship, but you do nothing, just like always.

Just then, your phone lights up from where it sits by the pool and rings. You jump, startled by the sound and turn to see who is calling you at this time of night. As if the universe couldn’t have hated you any more than it already did, the sight of Aoto’s contact buzzing only solidifies its discontent with you.

You turn back around and watch Satoru’s hardened eyes stare at your phone knowingly, nosing flaring. “Satoru-”

“Forget it,” he spits. “Just fucking forget it.”

“No, Satoru, wait-” you call out. You see him moving away from you, drawing himself back, and your heart drops. You don’t want him to go, you don’t want him to go.

You jump forward and grab his hand tightly, pulling him back over to you with desperation. He looks shocked at first, yet still aggravated when he turns back to look at you. When he sees your hand gripping his firmly, his resolve cracks just a bit. 

“Please, I don’t know why he’s calling right now, please,” you beg him, fully aware of how pathetic you sound, but you don’t care. You’ve spent your entire friendship being angry with Satoru, and now you just want to make things right. You want to understand him. You want him to know that everything you did to harm him was to prevent yourself from getting harmed, and while you understand that it’s selfish, it’s what you thought was right. But you don’t think that anymore. 

Satoru can feel his body burn from the touch of your hand. He’s so weak for you, he’s known this for a long time, but he can’t stand it. He doesn’t want to look stupid in front of you, he doesn’t want to be ridiculed for caring about you any longer. You’re torturing him, but he can’t pull away. “(Y/n),” he breathes out raggedly, eyes stuck to your conjoined hands. “I can’t do this anymore.”

“What can’t you do?” you whisper, eyes glistening over, the sound of your phone ringing eventually dying off. “I told you I wasn’t gonna do what I did again.”

“Somehow, I just don’t believe you,” he murmurs. “I can see you constantly running from me in your head and I don’t know why. I never will.”

“Please,” your voice betrays you, trembling slightly, and Satoru can not help but melt at the sound. 

He’s so weak. You make him so god damn weak. 

“I’m sorry,” you say.

“What are you sorry for?” the blue eyed man questions, turning into you. “Do you even know why you’re apologizing anymore?”

“Clearly I keep doing something wrong, Satoru, or else you wouldn’t be looking at me like this!” you cry hopelessly. “I know I fucked up before. I know I did, but today we have a whole other issue that I just don’t understand!”

“(Y/n), you’re the one who got angry with me in the first place.”

“Because you keep doing things that mess with my head, and I don't understand where I stand with you!” you say, and Satoru stares at you, aggrieved. “I don’t know how you can’t understand why I was mad! You weren’t in any place to talk to another guy like you’re-” you cut yourself off, but Satoru is too invested now to let you freeze up.

“Like I’m what? Just tell me!” he urges, and you slip your hand from his abruptly. 

“I- UGH!” you shout out, rubbing your hands over your face. You pace around, walking in a circle in front of Satoru before settling back to where you were. “Satoru, I compare myself to you all the time. I’m always looking at the difference between where you stand and where I stand.”

The corner of Gojo’s noise twists upward in confusion. “What?” he exhales.

“Everywhere I go, I see you. I see the way people look at you, the way girls try to talk to you, the way you brush them away, all of it.”

Satrou thinks back to that moment at the bar when those girls approached him asking for his social media handle and he refused politely, claiming that he didn’t have one. “What- what the hell does any of that have to do with anything I’m saying right now?”

“I pushed away because I thought you saw and cared about the same differences between us. But I was the one who cared, who was nervous about it,” you confess. “I thought that you were always around, teasing me because you wanted to prove that you can affect anyone, including me.”

Satoru’s shoulders slump. “...You thought I was only friends with you so I could bother you?” he repeats lowly, as if the very words that touch his tongue are too dangerous to be spoken any louder.

“You have to understand, I was raised differently from you.”

“Why the fuck does that matter?” he demands. “Why would I care about anything like that?”

“I don’t know, but that’s what I thought! That’s what I was afraid of.”

“So you just lumped me into the same category that everyone else in the world lumps me in?” he says bitterly. “You saw me as someone who didn’t value our friendship? That’s what you numbed me down to?”

“I didn’t know!”

“How could you not know, (Y/n)? How could you not know that I would do anything for you?” He steps toward you, gathering your shoulders in his hands as he stares directly into your soul. Your lip trembles as you look at him, overwhelmed. “How could you see me as something so much less than how I see you?” his voice dips down, and a lump builds in your throat.

“It wasn’t like that,” you deny. “I was just scared.”

“Scared of what? You’re fucking killing me, here, (Y/n).”

“I was scared of caring about you more than you could care about me,” you tell him gently, voice sliding into a strained whimper. Pools of sapphire blue dart over your features in search of a clearer explanation, a reason as to why you’ve inspired so much pain. 

“That’s what I’m scared of,” Satoru emphasizes. “I’m terrified of it. I’m terrified that you’ll just disappear one day without telling me. That’s why I couldn’t handle you ‘taking space,’ that’s why I couldn’t stand the sight of you with your research partner and not with me, that’s why everywhere you end up going, I will pathetically follow because I can not stomach the thought of you pulling completely away,” he pours out, such raw candor capturing his face.

Your heart is thrumming, caught in your eyes and your throat as tears well up into your eyes. You breathe swiftly through your nose, watching as Satoru takes your face in his hands and stares at you as though he can’t catch any air in your presence. “I pushed you away because I couldn’t stomach the thought that you’d deny me the way that you deny everyone who crosses paths with you,” you tell him, mimicking his words.

“Listen to me,” he whispers firmly. “You are the only person in this world that I would never deny. I don’t know how much clearer I can make myself to you.”

A tear breaks past your lashes and rushes down your cheek, your own emotions betraying you. You can’t fight your heartache any longer, not when the man you love is cradling your face in his hands and telling you that he would choose you over anyone who tries to come his way. 

He swipes his thumb over your cheek tenderly, smoothing away your tears. “Why are you crying?” he asks delicately and you shrug.

“I just spent the last three years so scared of you not giving a shit about me,” you sigh shakily. “And I behaved accordingly, and now…” you gulp, hands trembling at your sides as Satoru caresses your face softly. “I was angry with you because you were acting possessive over me with Aoto,” you breathe out, a weight lifting from your chest. “I always thought you did things to get a rise out of me, so when you talked to him like you had a reason to be possessive, it got to me. Especially after you came here unannounced.”

Satoru doesn’t speak for a moment, studying the flutter in your lashes that are decorated with pearly tears and the way your nose twitches move when you sniffle, (e/c) eyes soaking in his being. It doesn’t take long before he notices that he’s slightly shaking himself. “Why do you think I'd be possessive over you in the first place?” he poses the question gingerly, brushing a piece of hair from the side of your face. 

You glaze at him, torn. “I don’t know,” you mumble and he bows his head in defeat.

“Come on,” he breathes, looking back up at you. “Come on,” he says again, holding you tighter. “Stop making me look dumb.”

“I’m not trying to,” you tell him, truthfully. “Satoru, why did you come here?” you muster up the strength to ask him for the final time.

“You know why,” he responds.

“Tell me.”

His face relaxes, his brows releasing from their pinched state and his lips falling into a neutral stance as he continues to stare at you. “Because I’m in love with you,” he admits, and your head spins. Your pupils expand as a few more tears rush down your face, blurring the image of him that you so desperately yearn to see. He lowers his head to meet your eyes at your level, holding your head still so that you can’t look away. He looks suddenly calm as the confession rushes from him, leading you both beyond the point of no return. “I love you so much that I flew all the way across the earth for you, and I’d do it again.”

You lean into him and shut your eyes, overcome by relief and love and regret all at once. The pads of Satoru’s gentle thumbs proceed to slide under your eyes to gather the mass of your tears, smearing them across your makeup. 

“I love you so much that I woke up every morning to text you, that I memorized every single class schedule you had so that I could meet with you when you were done, that I always came over to your dorm when I was free, that when you stopped texting me my heart felt like it was going to shatter into a thousand pieces, that when I heard you were traveling my first instinct was to run after you because I don’t want you to go anywhere without me.”

His words shower over you like golden rays of warm sun, easing around your heart and mending the torment that you had subjected yourself to for months on end. It’s too much, hearing Satoru Gojo list all the things he has done for the sake of love when you’ve been accusing him of being selfish all this time.

“(Y/n),” he says your name like it’s a prayer. “I love you so much that I feel like I’m going to lose my mind any time another guy even speaks to you. I can’t help but be possessive over you for those reasons. I can’t help but want you all to myself, and I know that’s selfish, but if you only see me as someone who doesn’t care, then there’s nothing I can do to change that. And I am sorry for any time I've ever made you feel like you were nothing when you’ve been everything.”

You can’t breathe. You’re completely captured by Satoru, his essence, his being, his confession. Your heart is bursting, your body is shaking, and you have no words to say that could begin to explain all that you are feeling. 

Satoru loves you. He’s always loved you, and you had been so blinded by your insecurities that you hadn’t seen everything he has always done to show you that. 

You open your eyes to gaze at him, his rosy cheeks and sharp eyes that send shivers down your spine, his perfect lips, and his body towering over you, swallowing you into him. You see him clearly now, and you break. 

You reach out and grab his sides, pushing in to connect your lips.

Years of doubt and pent up tension wash away the moment your lips touch, and you can finally think clearly. Satoru’s eyes go wide when he feels you against him, stunned by your boldness and asking himself whether this is real or not. It doesn’t take him long to give in when he processes what is happening, and he tugs you further and returns your kiss, melting into you blissfully. 

You think fireworks are going off, sparks flying, and electricity jolting as he digs his fingers into the back of your head, tilting his own to deepen your kiss and glide his glossy lips over yours. You furrow your brows, drifting into his warmth and humming softly as his mouth moves languidly against yours. 

His hands move down, clutching at your waist and wrapping you to his chest, seeking to bring you into him with the hopes of conjoining souls. He’s sweet, the way he kisses you, meticulous and passionate, absorbing the taste of you that he’s been longing to obtain for as long as he’s known you. His palms smooth over your curves, familiarizing and feeling over the fabric of your tight dress, every dip in your hips and plush of your backside, smoothing over your body like a man starved.

Satoru groans, parting from you for a split second to tilt his head the other way and kiss you again, even deeper. Your mind goes numb as you wind your arms slowly around his neck, leaning onto your tiptoes to press yourself further against his mouth. The white haired man is quick to comply, tucking his arms under your thighs and hoisting them up and around his torso. You crush down into him from this new angle, hair falling over your faces as his tongue swipes against your lip, begging to gain access to yours. You part your lips eagerly, welcoming the swirl of his wet muscles around your own, moaning softly into his mouth as saliva pools over your lips.

Satoru’s whipped, completely smitten by you and the feeling of your body pressed to his, addicted to the way your dress rises up over your thighs and the outline of your underwear rubs against his pants zipper. He can feel the blood rushing down already, his face down to his chest flustered angrily as he loses himself in you, biting greedily at your lip and sucking in the delicious taste of your mouth. 

He’s moving forward subconsciously, palming over the fat of your ass and pushing you further against his crotch, your pretty fingers knitting into his snowy locks and tugging at the roots. God, it’s everything he’s ever wanted, everything he’s dreamed of brought to one moment in time. The two of you repeatedly break away to push back in, mushing damp lips together in supple pecks, and you breathe a proclamation into him as he grows dizzy, the heat of your breath fanning over his swollen lips. 

���I love you too,” you whisper so enticingly, so fully, and he’s moaning helplessly into you, grinding his hips up into yours. “I’ve always loved you.”

You can feel him all over you, touching you, kissing you, and you're drunk off of his affections, falling into the sugary taste of his lips and the warmth of his hands smoothing over your bare thighs. 

His lips break away to find your neck, licking and biting along your skin. You tilt your chin back, allowing him further access to your throat as his lips swim over it graciously, sucking hungrily at soft patches and dragging the most beautiful noises from your mouth. “Need you,” he hisses into your neck, teeth nipping and tongue smoothing over bruises in his wake. “Stay with me, please,” he begs senselessly. “Please, baby, I need you. I’ll always need you.”

You’re nodding against him, lips falling into an ‘o’ shape as he sucks marks down to your collarbone, tugging at the straps of your dress and pulling them over your shoulder so that he can kiss all over your chest. “I’ll stay,” you promise him. “Need you too, Toru, I’ll stay. I’m not going anywhere.”

Satoru thinks he’s floating into heaven, now, blessed by your assurance and your reciprocation after having convinced himself that he would never get it. He lifts his head again to reconnect your lips, stepping forward once more only to lose his footing, foot meeting the water instead of the concrete. He parts from you with a smack and you shriek when balance is lost and the two of you are falling into the pool with a SPLASH!

Satoru doesn’t let go of you when you submerge underwater, keeping you close to him when you resurface with a gasp. The two of you breathe harshly, looking around in a stupor. Your arms are still around his neck and legs around his torso, drenched. You look over at his flat hair dripping over his face and you push it away, peeling it from his wet skin to see that he’s already laughing. You gape and whack him on the shoulder, leading him to laugh even louder. 

“Satoru!” you cry and he’s giggling, curling his fingers into your skin underwater and leaning into you.

“Sorry,” he laughs, wiping away at his eyes. “I forgot the pool was there.”

“You idiot,” you shake your head, running your fingers over his cheek as he looks at you lovingly, lips stretched into a dopey grin. 

“I love you, (Y/n),” he says again, dipping his head to press his lips to your forehead then to the bridge of your nose, and you’re smiling too, stupid off of his adoration.

“I love you,” you tell him and he’s squealing, gripping you tight and squeezing you to him by your waist.

“Tell me again,” he grins, and you roll your eyes. 

“I love you, moron.”

“Again.”

“I love you,” you giggle.

“Again, this time with my name.”

“Satoru,” you groan.

“No, you didn’t do it right. Say ‘I love you, Satoru Gojo.’”

“You’re so annoying,” you press against his soaked chest.

“Say it again!” he demands dramatically and you huff.

“Oh my god!” you exclaim. “I love you, Satoru Gojo. Always.”

His cheeks warm, lips moving to peck all over your face. You squeak, gripping his shoulders as he peppers you with loud, obnoxious kisses, leaving you with little space to breathe. “I love you so much,” he mumbles against your cheek. “Almost gave me a heart attack. I thought I was gonna have to kidnap you or something if you kept trying to leave me.”

“You already did kidnap me!”

“And I have no regrets. Sue me,” he beams.

“Of course you don’t,” you exhale. “After all, you followed me to America with no shame. Which I knew you did from the beginning!”

“Duh,” he scoffs. “I’d go anywhere for you.”

You laugh, wrapping your arms back around him and brushing your nose against his. “You’re crazy.”

“When it comes to you, absolutely I am,” he smiles then presses back into you, lips meeting in harmony as he spins you around the water, holding you close and vowing to stay by your side for as long as you let him. 

The ping off your phone disrupts the moment once more and you look over, Satoru groaning and ducking his head to your shoulder. “I should probably check that now,” you say, and his grip around you tightens.

“No, don’t,” he pleads. “Pay more attention to me.”

“Just give me a second, drama queen, it could be important,” you say and he pouts.

“Fine,” he grumbles, dragging you over through the water slowly so that you can reach the edge and look at your phone. You quickly read the message that pops up and panic.

“Oh shit.”

“What?”

“I forgot to send Aoto the spreadsheet.”

-

“Fucking finally.”

You and Satoru break away from each other to turn and see Suguru at the foot of the stairs followed by Shoko, wrapped up in a blanket with a miserable look on her face. It’s the following morning, and you and Satoru were up all night talking, kissing, holding each other. You had managed to take a second to send your spreadshirt to Aoto at around three in the morning, and you could only hope that he didn’t mind. At some point, you made your way into the kitchen to sit inside, and Suguru caught Satoru leaning over your seat to kiss you softly at nine in the morning.

“Well, well, well, look who's up,” Satoru announces as the two trudge their way toward the kitchen table where the two of you reside, Shoko immediately plopping down into a seat.

“Not so loud,” the brunette groans.

“So? You two finally kiss and tell?” Suguru raises a brow, moving around to fix a cup of coffee. You catch the way his eyes glance at your marked up neck and he smirks. “Or maybe more than that?”

You puff your cheeks. “Okay know-it-all, we get it, you knew about us all along.”

“To be honest, everyone knew but the two of you,” he says tiredly. “Right, Shoko?”

“Basically,” she confirms in exhaustion. “It sucked watching you two make one mistake after the other because of it.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault (Y/n) decided being in love with me was bad enough to completely kick me out of her life,” Satoru says exaggeratedly and you nudge him.

“Shut up,” you bark, and his eyes gleam as he leans over to wrap you up in his arms and kiss the top of your head. 

“That doesn’t bother me anymore though because I know you’re head over heels obsessed with me,” he sings and you roll your eyes, practically suffocated.

“Oh god, this is what we have to deal with now? Fourth wheeling?” Shoko grimaces.

“Maybe it was better when they weren’t talking,” Suguru adds.

“Boo, you guys are just jealous,” Satoru brags. “After all, (Y/n) and I are in love while you two are still single. How sad,” he pouts tauntingly, then turns back to you to land a kiss directly onto your lips. Shoko cringes while Suguru shakes his head humorously. 

“Just make sure you guys are quiet whenever you decide to inevitably fuck on every surface in this house,” the dark haired man says.

Satoru cocks a brow, releasing you and standing up straight. “Who says we haven’t already?”

“Alright, enough out of you,” you cut the conversation short, face bursting into flames. “I have to go back into the city this morning anyway so you don’t need to worry about us. Duty calls.”

“Oh yeah, you two are welcome to come with me, but I plan to stay with (Y/n) for the next few days at the AirBnB.”

“You mean you’re leaving us with this big ass house and no car?” Suguru questions and Satoru smiles.

“Yep. You’re welcome!”

Suguru sighs, far too tired and hungover to engage any further with this conversation. “Whatever. I’m going back to bed.”

“Already?! But I haven’t made breakfast yet!”

“I’m too hungover for this and your cooking sucks.”

“No it does not.”

“Yes it does, Satoru, it’s practically inedible. If you’re gonna let anyone cook, let it be (Y/n).”

“Why do I have to do it? I have to go!”

“Geez, Suguru. How much more sexist can you be?”

“What is with you accusing me of being sexist, Shoko?”

“Since you wanted a woman to cook.”

“I asked (Y/n) to cook because she knows how to! You don’t see me asking your ass to make breakfast, do you?”

“Fuck off. Go back to sleep.”

“I was already going to!”

The kitchen fills with overlapping voices as the four of you bicker over absolutely nothing, just like how you used to. You feel your heart warm, surrounded by the people you care about the most and questioning why you ever thought that you would be better off without them. 

You look over at Satoru and smile, watching him provoke Suguru with an evil grin. Despite his hastiness to tease and to poke fun, you see now that he does it out of love, and you relish in the abundant memories of Satoru showering his love over you.

By badgering, by clinging, and by crossing the earth to be by your side.

[darling-solaire]

Redacted Hair HCs ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

David

For David I definitely see him having roughly shoulder length hair in his younger years pre Gabes death so they could match because he always looked up to him and took pride in people saying they looked alike

However after his death I can definitely see him finding it too painful to look in the mirror and see his father staring back at him so he began to consistently cut his hair much shorter in a buzz cut style to create as much distinction as possible

After the inversion and the hectic months that followed I definitely see him being too overwhelmed to keep up with meticulously cutting his hair (he had so much else to worry about) that he didn’t even notice until one day he was cuddling with Angel after a long day drifting almost to sleep when he notices them playing with the ends of his hair and they say “your hairs gotten so long it suits you so well” and David can’t help but smile as he drifts off in their arms

+ Bonus Darlin

I think Darlin also was someone who had longer hair most their life but after leaving and going with Quinn they cut their hair short at least to jaw

When asked they’d say it’s so Quinn had easy access whenever he needed a quick fix but in reality it felt like the only thing they still had control over

I HC darlin and David as cousins so I think they would also suffer a similar issue that with their hair grown out their simply reminded too much of what they left and getting rid of it is the easiest way to dull the empty feeling but now that they’re free they definitely have started to grow it back without even realising

Sam

Sam was definitely one of those kids that were super light blond as a kid but their hair darkened with age except in Sam’s case it started reversing back to blond simply because of how often he spent days in the sun (I also think that’s how he got his freckles)

And after years of being unable to go out in the daylight those are his only reminders of how much he loved the sun

Also he definitely has a shaggy mullet

Milo

Milo has meticulously taken care of his hair since he was old enough to take care of it himself to the point that Marie had to hide her expensive oils because he would put too much on whenever he’d go out

I’d say he’s probably the most dedicated to keeping himself on top of self care (David is a solid second)

That man has naturally loose curled hair and because he doesn’t keep it very long he always makes sure to have a strategic curl hanging on his face

Milo and sweetheart definitely spend weekends piling each others hair before they shower together as a little couples activity

Babe (+Asher)

To me babe has braids and I will not let anyone fight me on that

They used to keep them in their natural colour until one day they asked Asher what colour they should do and he joked about going blond to match him and they’ve used the same colour ever since

Lasko

Lasko was definitely born with black hair and maybe it was hereditary or maybe it is all stress but that man started turning grey the second he left home

He had his guest grey hair at the ripe age of thirteen and it’s been going down hill since then

At first he was probably really self conscious about it but he’s definitely embraced it fully now especially with how often dear comments how cute it is

Anton

Anton is the type of person to not care too much about his appearance like he was the type of kid who had a bowl cut growing up because who cares about what he looks like when his mind is what actually represents him right?

He wasn’t a slob but he was neglectful at times and it wasn’t until he’d first met his partner did he ever feel the need to fix up his hair to the point where it became a twitch whenever he’d think of them

[yurislotusgarden]

Hii! could I request ranpo and chuuya with a fem s/o who makes cute bento boxes for their lunch at work? (I was curious on how this would go, feel free to add any details you want!)

My bento!

ʚїɞ Separately! Nakahara Chuuya, Ranpo Edogawa, Sigma x F!Reader

ʚїɞ Keep in mind English is not my first language, so you may find mistakes!

ʚїɞ word count: 1764 (Chuuya - 537, Ranpo - 664, Sigma - 561)

ʚїɞ Have Sigma as an extra bcs my ass forgot it was meant to be Ranpo instead of him after I was done with Chuuya's part

ʚїɞ Tw’s: None! Just pure fluff, pet names are used (barely), reader’s gender is not specified that much

Nakahara Chuuya!

ཐིཋྀ He loves the bentos so much, well more like the fact that you take time to make them for him

ཐིཋྀ Tries to always eat them

ཐིཋྀ Once, when you started making them, he didn’t eat the food because he was so busy that day, and when he had a little free time, Chuuya decided it was a better idea to go on a stress smoke break (He tries to limit smoking to the minimum he can if you don’t like smoking/the fact that he does it. He knows it’s because you care about his health)

ཐིཋྀ It ended with you fussing over him eating almost nothing that day and he doesn’t like causing you stress or making you worry so he makes sure to eat those bentos😭

ཐིཋྀ He may be an executive but this man is not embarrassed at all to eat those bentos in front of people, no matter how colorful or cutesy the food looks

ཐིཋྀ Food is food, he’s not gonna not eat cause you to worry just because the bento is one that doesn’t look like someone like him would eat

///////////////

“Lad, may I ask where do you get those bentos from?”

It was a long time since Kouyou noticed Chuuya’s bentos, and she tried to ignore just how much she wanted to try one. The only reason why she didn’t is because she doesn’t know where he is getting them from.

The young woman looked at many shops in Yokohama and saw a few places with similar bentos, but it was easy to see that none of the stores were the ones where Chuuya kept getting his lunch from.

…She really wanted one for herself, especially with how obvious it was that they were delicious, kept quiet about it tho.

Chuuya turned towards the older woman, whom he came to see as an older sister over the years.

“They’re not bought from a shop.”

“You don’t buy them?”

“Not a single one of them. Actually,-”

Kouyou was confused. Where did he get a bento from every single day? She knows the younger of the two probably wouldn’t bother spending his free time making food for lunch definitely a day before, even if he did, it wouldn’t be so colorful or detailed. There were even rice balls decorated as bears and stuff, it obviously took time to make one. But if he wasn’t buying them,  then the only other option that came to her mind was-

“- [Name] makes them for me.”

“She does?”

“Yeah, and she’s yet to make one I dislike.”

It all makes sense now to the red-haired woman. You have more free time most of the time compared to Chuuya, and you were probably aware of the eating habits he had before.

The fact that you take time, quite a lot it seems if Kouyou was to guess, the bentos are even detailed, in a very cute style if she was to say, made a smile appear on her face.

“Mhm, you wanna try?”

“How could I refuse such an offer?”

The food was even better than she thought. Kouyou made a mental note to ask you if you would have a problem with making two bentos from time to time.

Edogawa Ranpo!

ཐིཋྀ Another reason as to why he’s dating you -you give extra homemade sweets to the Bentos-

ཐིཋྀ He doesn’t even need to try to remember to eat it because he ends up eating it before lunch anyway -the reason behind you making more than one bento usually-

ཐིཋྀ He fucking boasts to everyone about the food😭

ཐིཋྀ “See what I have here? HAHA! Something you don’t and probably never will!” ← totally not Ranpo to anyone else -and totally not him to Dazai and Atsushi about the fact that they will probably never have homemade food like him-

ཐིཋྀ Don’t make the bentos with him in the kitchen unless you have prepared double the amount of food you plan to use. He uses any opportunity to snack on the not-ready-yet bentos

ཐིཋྀ BUT! He will share with you if he notices you’re hungry or just generally wanna eat it <3

///////////////

“C’mon give me just a little piece!”

“Nope! [Name] made it for me! Make your own if you want a bento at work, Yosano-san!”

“I can’t make such a bento Ranpo-san!”

“Not my problem!”

With a pout, the brunette turned his chair away, trying to eat his food in peace. It’s one of his favorite bentos! You put his favorites in this one! The only thing he doesn’t like in it is the veggies which Ranpo would ignore or throw out but he knows that he won’t get his favorite candy made by you anytime soon if he does (the others will snitch if he throws them out, especially Dazai and Yosano they did that the one and only time he did so. He learned a lesson from that after you didn’t cook his favorite like you said you would that morning)

Ranpo could practically feel the eye-roll done by Yosano. “It’s not like it’s the only bento you had today.” It’s true, he ate a similar one 2 hours earlier. “Doesn’t matter. It’s my bento either way.” A sigh came from the woman.

And right when one would think his problem was solved, another arrived. 

“Ranpo-san! What an interesting bento you have there!”

“Go away Dazai. I’m not giving you a single piece of my food!”

“Oh c’mon! You can spare a little!”

“Nope! Especially not when it’s [Name]’s cooking!”

Seriously, can’t they leave him alone? He knows your cooking is good, everyone at the agency knows that! But he wishes that you’d never let Dazai taste your food. The bandaged man has horrible eating habits, you both know that, and yet he always tries to get his hands on Ranpo’s bentos. The audacity!

Ranpo could tell that Dazai's annoying mouth was about to open again before someone interrupted him.

"I can make bentos for you too if you like them so much, Dazai-san"

Isn't that his angel who came to visit him at his oh-so-tiring job? Lovely timing, if Ranpo was to say, but there was one problem.

Among ‘hello’s and ‘hi’s from others upon noticing you, gasps could be heard, from 2 men specifically.

"You would do that for me?!"

"Excuse me?!"

What is this?! There's no way that you’re gracing anyone else with the perfection that are your his bentos!

“Hm?” It’s easy to see for anyone in the room that you were confused.

“[Name]-chan, if you could be so nice, could I ask for a bento with cra-”

“No no no! Shut up Dazai! She’s not making you any bentos! In your dreams!”

In the end, while Ranpo and Dazai at first thought that you wouldn’t make the taller brunette a bento after your conversation at that moment, you indeed did as a surprise. 

The best detective in the world didn’t like that but he allowed you to after bribing him and reminding him that if you can get Dazai to eat, you will, no matter if Ranpo will allow you to make a bento for him or not.

Dazai's happy scream the next day could probably be heard throughout the whole building.

Sigma!

ཐིཋྀ He didn’t think he’d be able to adore you more than he already does, and yet you found a way to make him do so

ཐིཋྀ He tries to eat the bentos every day but it isn’t that rare that he forgets about eating altogether when faced with a mountain of paperwork or problems in the casino

ཐིཋྀ He loves how they look and taste. He, at one point, will ask if you can teach him how to cook. Like not even necessarily a bento, just to learn since he doesn’t want the kitchen to end up in flames one day, he’s aware he sucks at cooking

ཐིཋྀ He probably would be a little embarrassed by eating it. Not because of how colorful or cutesy they are, but because of the looks he gets from people who see it. 

ཐིཋྀ The stares aren’t criticizing or anything, others just don’t expect that their boss/the manager of the casino would eat food that looks like that

ཐིཋྀ Someone was probably jealous because he has homemade bentos like that and they have some store-bought sandwiches 💀

///////////////

“It’s mine actually. Sorry, I forgot to take this from here earlier.”

The man standing in front of the bar was shocked.

He’s been sitting there and drinking not too much for some time now. At one point he noticed the bartender taking out a bento from under the bar, the lid see-through enough to see the food inside. He has to say, the detail and overall look were very cute, it definitely took time to make it look so.

The man had thought that the bento was made by someone for the bartender (In his mind it was a fair thought as he didn’t think that one could buy a bento like that anywhere close to a place like this. Especially if you work there).

The slightly shorter man changed his thought upon noticing that the bartender didn’t touch the food he had taken out (later on the lunch break he took out something else to eat)

Around 2 hours after the lunch break, -the bento still untouched, he noticed- the man decided to finally ask, curiosity winning over after all the time spent at the bar seat.

“Excuse me, who is the owner of the bento? I couldn’t help but notice that it hasn’t been touched at all.”

And he really chose the worst time to ask that question didn’t he? Right as the person to whom the bento belonged to, came.

“I-It’s yours sir?”

“Yes, why?”

How is he supposed to answer? That he didn’t think that such a cute-looking bento -that if he could he would consider stealing, it looks delicious and definitely better than his sandwich- can belong to the ever so stoic and calm manager of the sky casino?

“No reason! Was just that curious, that’s all! after all, the bento was lying here for the past, almost, 3 hours by now.”

“Ah, understandable then”

The bi-colored-haired man turned to the bartender, who was already giving the box over to him.

“Thank you for keeping it here for me, Shuichi-kun”

“no problem, Sigma-san. [Name]-san also told me to tell you-”

Yeah, the man needs a break from the confusion and shock for the next week.

And Sigma? He’s just happy you leave the bentos somewhere he can take them from when you know he’s busy.

Notes, comments, and reblogs are greatly appreciated <3

Do not copy or translate my works on/to any site

[thefrogdalorian]

The Best of Both Worlds - Chapter Four

Din Djarin x Female Reader Modern!AU

❁ Series Masterlist ❁ My Masterlist ❁ Read on AO3 ❁

Word Count: 6822 Rating: General Summary: Despite his reservations and against his better instincts, Din heads to a Star Wars convention that he was invited to. Although he fears that his cover will be blown, curiosity gets the best of Din and he can't resist attending a panel. But Din doesn't exactly find the answers he was looking for. Instead, he finds something far more precious. Something that he would never have expected... Content Warnings:  None! Author's Note: This was fun to write. Middle pic is one I took in a panel at SWC last year, just to set the scene. Din was down bad from minute one and honestly it's very cute to see him so flustered 🥺!! Also adorable how similar their experiences/reactions to the convention were! Anyway, hope you enjoyed! I can't wait to post the next chapter, hopefully coming on Sunday :) Thanks again @suresnips for being my beta! I appreciate your help so, so much ♡

4. Curiosity Killed The Cat (Din's POV)

To an observer with no background knowledge of Star Wars or its fandom, it would appear that most of The Mandalorian panel's attendees were merely a little bored. However, someone more familiar with the Star Wars world may have realised that the audience had been expecting something more profound. Maybe they had been hoping for some character analysis of the titular character or to participate in a larger discussion on how the show slotted into the wider Star Wars galaxy during this talk. After all, the panel was entitled: ‘The Man behind the Mandalorian: Exploring the Identity of the Galaxy’s Best Bounty Hunter.’

Instead, anyone who had sought out this panel surely would have found themselves bitterly disappointed, as the host had reduced The Mandalorian to nothing more than its violent action scenes. The host appeared to have a fixation on the fighting which occasionally took place in the show, at the expense of all other elements. 

Perhaps that was the reason why the audience, on the whole, looked so incredibly bored. Even one attendee, wearing an almost unbelievably realistic cosplay, seemed more entertained by the seams of his gloves than anything the panel had to say about the show he was surely such a huge fan of. His helmet was bowed towards the floor as his leg bounced up and down repeatedly, a sure sign of his restlessness and his keenness for this panel to be over so he could continue his day at the convention.

To outside observers – whether they knew everything about Star Wars or nothing at all – the man dressed in full Mandalorian armour was possibly one of the biggest fans of the show. After all, he had replicated Mando's costume in painstaking detail; it must have taken an unbelievable amount of effort and hours, borne out of the intense love for The Mandalorian that he surely had.

But Din Djarin was not a cosplayer… his armour was not a costume.

The suit that he wore had not been crafted due to his undying love for Star Wars, it had been cast in Beskar, according to ancient traditions, at a forge by the golden-haired woman who served as The Armorer for his tribe.

It felt strange to Din for him to sit there and be spoken about as if he was not present. Of course, to everyone else in the room, the notion of Mando being in the room with them seemed as likely to happen as it was for pigs everywhere to spontaneously begin flying. To all other attendees, Din had just cosplayed as his favourite character. Everyone else in the room did not have the faintest idea that they were in fact in the presence of the man behind the character they all loved. While the assembled group enjoyed Mando enough that they had made their way to the far corner of the enormous convention hall for this panel, they didn’t know that sitting amongst them was the man who portrayed the Star Wars character that they loved so much. Nor that the armour that they had seen so many times on their screens was right there, beside them. Close enough to touch, if they wanted to.

The thought of being amongst so many super fans almost dissuaded Din from attending this panel, which had caught his eye. After deciding to attend the convention the previous evening, Din had used his laptop to search through the events for the day as he lounged on the couch in his cottage, Grogu playing on the rug beside him. This particular panel had instantly stuck out to him, above all others that were advertised. Din had always harboured a curiosity about what The Mandalorian meant to people. But it was perhaps a more selfish interest that had motivated him to seek out this panel in particular: Din wanted to know whether the fans had any idea about his identity.

Din had intended to sneak in and hover at the back and watch the panel from there before exiting as discreetly as he entered. But things had not gone according to that plan at all. Din had never attended an event as enormous as this and had no idea how it worked – he felt out of his depth. It was a feeling he was unused to and uncomfortable with, as Din always liked to be in control and have a plan. 

Ironically, it was the very show which was being discussed that had first put cracks into his careful, considered nature. Relinquishing some of that control in signing up to be The Mandalorian had been difficult for Din, as he was required to be on set for a strict filming schedule in a brand new country. The stability and money that had been offered was something Din had struggled to refuse, especially given the fact he now had an extra mouth to feed.

But as Din sat there in the room where the panel was being held, he knew that coming here had all been one gigantic, terrible mistake. It was a stupid, nonsensical idea. It had been nothing more than a rush of blood to the head, Din just hoped he would be able to leave again having remained undetected. There was an old saying that Din had heard many times: ‘Curiosity killed the cat.’ Now, Din felt as though he finally understood that phrase. 

Din was furious with himself that he had put himself in the position to hear such harsh words about the show after he had tried so hard to keep himself away from all of the attention portraying a lead role in a Star Wars show brought. For a man who was usually so calculating and meticulous in his actions, this had surely been the most foolish decision that Din had made in a long while.

Even worse than Din's decision to attend this panel, he mused, was his decision to attend the convention wearing his armour. Being surrounded by superfans made Din keenly aware that if any one of their gaze were to linger long enough, perhaps they would realise that his armour was not merely a highly impressive cosplay. So in a bid to distract himself and calm his racing heart, he began fiddling with the stitching of the tips of his mustard-coloured gloves. It was a sign of the acute anxiety that he was currently enduring, but to anyone watching, his fidgeting probably indicated sheer boredom. 

Din mentally kicked himself for the ridiculous decision to attend the convention wearing his armour. The choice had made the entire event even more anxiety-inducing than it needed to be. Din lamented the fact that he could have come here with Grogu and simply blended in with the thousands of other families bringing their children to the convention for a fun-filled day. True, it would have still been an overwhelming experience and Grogu may have struggled with the crowds, but at least then, Din wouldn’t have had to constantly fear his identity being exposed when someone realised that his armour was a little too screen-realistic to be a simple cosplay. 

Indeed, it was the skill and dedication of other fans that had initially eased Din’s fears of detection when he had walked into the crowded hall and began moving with the sea of people to an unknown destination up ahead. Even if he wanted to choose his path, there was no way to; Din was lost amongst the endless sea of people. As he travelled down the main hall, his mouth felt dry underneath the helmet and his heart thundered in his chest as he had no idea where he was going. But once he had made it to the side and stopped briefly to orient himself, Din realised just how many fans there were cosplaying as Mando.

Din had been stunned by the many amazing cosplays he had seen. After collecting his nerves, he slowly began to move down the hall and gave a polite nod of the head to any other Mando cosplayers he passed. Most returned the gesture, in shared acknowledgement of each other’s craftsmanship. Progress had been slow, though, as Din was constantly asked for photos. Even worse were those that did not ask, but merely threw themselves at him. Some even touched Din without asking first, a gesture which made him flinch. It annoyed Din, just because he was dressed in cosplay did not mean he gave consent to be touched whenever others pleased.

Despite the host of incredible cosplays he had passed, Din knew that none of them truly lived up to his armour, his was a cut above the rest. There was no way to perfectly replicate real Beskar, no matter the incredible lengths that some of the cosplayers had gone to. He just hoped that no one would question it too deeply.

After a few minutes of walking around the main hall, Din had decided he needed some respite from the endless photo requests and eyes that Din felt watching his every move. Din found a quiet corner of the hall with some near deserted toilets and headed for them. He sealed himself into the stall and removed his helmet, grimacing at the way his hair clung to his forehead thanks to how much he had perspired due to his nerves. The helmet was climate-controlled, so the heat of the building should not have been an issue. It could not legislate for Din's emotions, though.

Each time Din moved to leave, he found that the anxiety he had felt while walking through the hall reared its ugly head. He kept telling himself that he only needed a few more minutes to regain his composure. That was until Din checked his watch and realised it was not long until the panel began.

So Din had unintentionally spent most of the time before the panel hiding away in the toilet stall in an attempt to repair his shattered nerves. At that point, it would have been so easy for Din to leave. But he knew that the curious part of his mind would never forgive him if he did not at least check out the panel. It was perhaps the best opportunity he was going to get to discover what people thought of the show, whether they liked the character and, most importantly, whether they had any theories on who The Mandalorian was.

Yet, now he was actually sitting there in the panel, he cursed not only himself for not leaving earlier, but Din also cursed Peli Motto for giving him such a stupid idea to attend this convention in the first place.

Many times throughout the panel – which was headed by a man called Jeff who wore a backwards baseball cap, despite looking as though he should have grown out of such a fashion choice several decades ago – Din had considered getting up and walking out. He had arrived pretty late as it was, only a minute or two before it began, as he hoped to sneak in and take an unassuming spot at the back. But the seats had all been filled back there, and an overly enthusiastic volunteer had guided him to a spare aisle seat about fifteen rows back from the front. 

Luckily, almost everyone had been too wrapped up in watching Jeff and his cronies fumble around with technology to pay him much mind, except for the people on his row who were in awe of his ‘cosplay.’ It would have been so easy for Din to just up and leave since he was on the end of the aisle. But he was fearful that it would have drawn too much attention to him. Thus far, he had pretty much gone undetected. Jeff had not bothered to look at the audience too clearly to notice the incredibly realistic Mandalorian that was currently in the room with him. Which was unsurprising, given how self-centred the man appeared to be. The panel really ought to have been retitled ‘The Jeff Show.’

Most of the panel had been pretty inoffensive, if a little dull. Din silently objected to the way that Jeff had reduced the show down to only its violent components, rather than engaging with it on a deeper level. At times, Jeff was so close to understanding what the action scenes demonstrated about Mando’s character and the wider politics of the galaxy. But then he would just make another crass comment about how good Mando was at killing and all progress would grind to a halt.

But then Jeff opened up the floor and invited the audience to step forward to the mic so he could hear comments from the fans. Din leaned forward in his seat, excited to finally fulfil the purpose of attending this panel and hear what others thought of the show that he had poured so much of his heart and soul into. But if Din was expecting to hear positive feedback, he was about to be bitterly disappointed.

Frustratingly, most speakers took their opportunity to address the audience to do nothing more than complain about never seeing Mando’s face or knowing his name. It was no surprise to Din that people felt that way, even if he was a little disappointed that people were so fixated on those two elements. Din knew it had been a concern at the beginning of the show, during early production meetings. But thanks to some input from Din himself, the character of Mando now felt more fleshed-out than he had when Din had joined the project.

Plus, Din felt as though viewers could understand enough about the character and his intentions without needing to know his name or see his face. It was a belief that was being challenged by the attitudes of the attendees of this panel. But Din was not too upset. After all, he was more concerned with whether any fans had any viable theories about his identity. Mercifully, none of them appeared to have picked up on any rumours. When the show's creators told him that no one suspected that Din Djarin was The Mandalorian, it appeared they had been telling the truth.

Fortunately, despite the name of the panel, there had been no speculation on Mando's true identity thus far. Despite the panel's title hinting that the man behind the Mandalorian would be discussed, that had so far not transpired. Things appeared to be looking up for Din; not only had there been no speculation as to his identity, but none of the audience had noticed the incredibly realistic cosplay that was sitting amongst them.

That was until a young man with brown hair, dressed in a Mando t-shirt and jeans stood up and moved towards the mic. His comments started positively enough, “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love the show and all,” The man confessed, and Din smiled slightly underneath the helmet. However, he continued: “But I just feel like we don’t know that much about Mando. It’s as if we, as an audience, are being held back from connecting with him fully because of some diva’s selfish demands to keep his identity hidden!” The man exclaimed.

Din felt his blood run cold. He swallowed thickly, feeling bile rise in his throat. He should have known that this was a bad idea, that coming here was a mistake. But the man was not quite finished, yet:

“Seriously, the guy who plays him must be such an asshole. Imagine having to work with that guy!” He ended his tirade, to a smattering of laughter and applause from the room.

The accusations that he had thrown Din’s way, about him being an asshole or a diva – a charge that in particular made no sense, as surely a diva would want their name and face to be plastered everywhere – had been like a punch to the gut. And Din had endured many of them throughout his life to understand exactly how painful they could be.

Far from the kind words he had been expecting, instead, Din had been forced to listen to various people slander both the show and him as a person. Din’s heart ached as he heard the charges being levelled against him; it was one thing to criticise the show but to call his character into question caused a whole other level of pain. If they only knew why he had to keep his identity a secret, they would never throw such cruel accusations his way. 

Din wasn’t naive. He knew that by signing up for a Star Wars show, his life would change forever. It was not a decision that he had taken lightly. Especially given that his way of life was opposed to everything the mega-corporation that now owned Star Wars stood for. But it presented an opportunity to not only secure a consistent income and better life for himself and his son but also to showcase his culture to the world. It was an opportunity that Din really could not turn down. However, just because Din was prepared for his life to change in some ways did not mean that he could ever be prepared to be attacked on such a personal level.

At that moment, Din almost tossed aside his priority to remain hidden and not draw attention to himself as he debated walking out of the panel. After hearing such personal attacks against his character, Din was so close to just upping and leaving that room. He had heard enough. If there was even one more vaguely harsh word tossed Din’s way, it might have tipped him over the edge.

Despite the tough exterior that Din Djarin projected to the rest of the world, he was at his core, a fairly sensitive man. He knew that the things that he had already heard about himself would take him a long time to come to terms with. He couldn’t bear to hear any further unkindness.

Din planted his feet firmly on the floor and began to lean forward, preparing himself to leave. It seemed that in a war between his mind and body, his body had won… his subconscious was going to make him stand up and storm out of that room, against all rational thought.

In all of his anguish, Din had missed the girl who had stormed forward to the microphone, dodging limbs and hurdling bags, to stand before the room.

But then she began speaking and her presence became impossible to ignore any longer; her voice was shaky with nerves but there was absolute conviction and certainty behind every word.

And Din was frozen to the spot, utterly transfixed. Suddenly all thoughts of leaving exited his mind.

“I think tying Mando’s identity to his name and face is a pretty narrow way of viewing how we can understand who someone truly is inside and what exactly motivates them. I mean, I think I’ve connected to his character pretty well without ever seeing his face or knowing his real name. That’s because Mando has proved time and time again what kind of man he is,” The girl argued and Din found himself instantly relaxing and leaning back in his seat. “The way he has risked his life multiple times to rid the galaxy of threats and evil shows that he is committed to securing a brighter future, even if he is not around to see it. This man is willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good. Sure, we don’t know his name or face or a lot about his origins, but I think to us, that should prove that he has nothing but noble intentions. That human side of the man beneath all of the armour allows us to connect to him on a far deeper level than just seeing a face and learning a name ever could,” She finished and Din shut his eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. Unbeknownst to her, the kind words she spoke had soothed Din's soul. She had begun to heal the wounds that were opened by the previous speakers' harsh words.

Din noticed how nervous the girl seemed and the way she fiddled with her hands as she stood at the microphone. He marvelled at the way she had been up like a shot to defend the character, though. Plus, judging by how eloquently she spoke, Din assumed she was used to this. 

Din sat there and listened with a small smile on his face, shaking his head slightly in awe as she launched into a passionate defence of the character. Unlike all previous speakers, the girl understood just as Din did, that seeing someone’s true intentions and the qualities they possessed mattered more than knowing their name or what they looked like.

Suddenly, Din began to feel a lot lighter. People did care, people did love and appreciate the show and they understood Mando as a character. He was pleased by that fact. Din knew he would stay now. Even if the next speakers reverted to being less than complimentary, the girl had bolstered his confidence and soothed his bruised ego enough to stick around.

Din expected that the girl would retreat to her seat after giving her opinion. The awful man who ran the panel certainly seemed to think that was the case as he met her passionate speech with empty platitudes, which Din thought bordered on the patronising. 

However, what she did next caused Din’s jaw to drop beneath his helmet. The girl did not return to her seat. Instead, she spoke up and continued to defend not only the character of Mando but also the man behind him.

Din listened in awe as she started speaking up to defend the man who was, unbeknownst to her, sitting only a few feet away.

“Also, I know no one outside this room will probably ever hear what had been said at this panel, but I think attacking the character of the man who portrays Mando, simply because he wants privacy, is unfair. I think we should always talk about people, online and publicly, as though they can read or hear what we say,” She argued and Din almost snorted at that assertion.. if only she knew that he was right here. “We don’t know why he won’t say who he is, but I trust that he has his reasons. Even then, he doesn’t need to have a good reason. Everyone is entitled to their privacy for the simple fact of wanting to be private,” The girl appealed to her fellow fans. Din felt tears pool in his eyes at her beautiful sentiment. Until she came along, he had been about to leave, with his last memories of the panel, believing that everyone hated him and thought he made the show worse. Now, though, he was listening to a passionate, eloquent defence of his character.

The girl finished off her speech with a comment about the show. She explained how Mando respected everyone that he encountered in the galaxy and left the places he visited better than he found them. She implored her fellow fans to take the same lessons from the show, rather than focus on the violent, action scenes. When she was finished, Din wanted to stand up and applaud her, before rushing up to her and thanking her from the bottom of his heart.

It was clear that she understood exactly what The Mandalorian was truly about. The show was, at its core, about respecting others and learning to peacefully coexist. Mando was fighting for a better galaxy, a kinder galaxy and once people understood that, they would understand how important it was to respect the actor behind the Mandalorian.

Din had an overwhelming urge to make his way over to this stranger, to thank her from the bottom of his heart for standing up for Mando so passionately. He knew, given his cosplay, that he could easily pass as an enthusiastic fan. 

Then Din remembered who he was and settled on the upsetting reality that he couldn’t take such a reckless action.

If he spoke, she might recognise that the voice beneath the helmet was the very same one that she had no doubt seen on screen so many times. It was too great a risk and, much as Din would have loved to thank her, it now seemed as though their paths would diverge without her ever knowing how truly thankful Din was for her words and how much they had done to boost his confidence. Ultimately, although it was sad, Din knew that it was how things had to be. The risk was too great.

Although for the short time remaining that Din would remain in her orbit, Din was determined to commit every inch of her to memory, so that he would never forget the woman who had unknowingly done so much to him. Din was determined to impress her on his memory on the off-chance that their paths would one day cross in a scenario where he might be able to get to know her. After all, Din was a man, and he was not immune to the fact that she was a beautiful woman, perhaps several years younger than him. But her beauty was not just skin-deep; it was to be found in the way she spoke so eloquently. How she addressed the room with such maturity and wisdom. To Din, it appeared as though she had lived several lifetimes.

Now she had sat back in her seat, Din could only appreciate the back of her profile, though he had noticed the cute slope of her nose and her plush lips as she made her way back to her seat. Din focused on her hair. It looked so soft that he wondered how it would feel against his skin as he nuzzled into her scalp and pressed a soft kiss of gratitude there.

The T-visor had its perks, as no one else in the room was any the wiser to how intently Din had affixed his gaze to her, much like Mando did when tracking a bounty. Din found that, even if he had wanted to, he could not look away from her. He watched quietly as her friend whispered excitedly to her. She was only a couple of rows in front of him and was almost close enough to reach out and touch. 

Perhaps that was how Din could make her feel his appreciation in a low-risk way, through a simple touch. He wondered whether he could put his hand on her shoulder on the way out and convey his thanks with a nod of his helmet the way Mando would. But that was another fantasy that would not come to pass, as Din knew that when this panel was reaching its conclusion, he had to make straight for the doors before he got swamped by any of the enthusiastic fans in here. He had seen the way throughout the panel that the number of people who had spotted his incredible ‘costume’ had increased. Din knew he was drawing many eyes.

Despite the overwhelming urge inside him to thank the girl, Din knew that he had to keep moving through the convention centre. Cutting a dedicated path, scything his way through the crowd like the methodic warrior he was.

So, when Jeff started wrapping up the panel, Din sprang straight to his feet and strode towards the doors, before a single soul could say anything. There were a few excited faces and murmured gasps as he strode purposefully towards the exit, but fortunately, no one was quick enough to stand up and thwart his quick exit. 

Bizarrely, even though he was unused to being around so many people and had initially found the experience overwhelming, Din found that after the panel, he felt far more comfortable in the larger, crowded spaces at the convention. In a small room, there was no privacy. Anyone and everyone could look at him, their steely, judgmental eyes burrowing into him. They know… he had been constantly thinking to himself throughout the panel. But of course, no one was any the wiser to his true identity. Even if the panel's attendees thought that the costume was realistic, the idea of the real Mandalorian attending a convention dressed as himself was too far-fetched to be real. Even the most imaginative fanfic writer could not come up with such a ridiculous plot.

So, Din found himself physically relaxing as he made his way back to the main hallway. His shoulders were less tense, his jaw unclenched. After he left the panel, Din had not intended to linger much longer. But as he found himself wandering around, stopping for more and more photos with eager fans who were so blown away by his ‘cosplay,' Din discovered that he began to almost enjoy the attention.

There were so many children here too. Some were not much older than Grogu. Din wished he had brought Grogu with him, but he knew that the convention would not have been a welcome environment for his precious son, especially given his nervous disposition. But Din knew with absolute certainty that Grogu was having a pleasant afternoon, he was being looked after by an elderly man named Kuiil, who was a babysitter that the studio had initially put him in touch with. Kuiil was always dependable and happy to help Din out whenever he needed him to take care of Grogu, no matter how little notice Din gave.

Din was gradually growing in confidence as he strode through the main hall of the convention centre. Now, when fans asked for photos or even launched themselves at him without asking first, Din found that he was less nervous. To every request, Din just nodded. When people thanked him, although they didn’t always – Din occasionally wished he could speak to remind them to mind their manners – Din made the same gesture. A simple nod said so much, without saying anything at all.

Din would never speak while wearing his armour. To most, it perhaps came across as an incredible amount of dedication to cosplaying the character – Mando, after all, was a man of few words. But the reality was that Din knew his voice could blow his cover. 

Ordinarily, Din rarely feared his voice would give him away as The Mandalorian, as his Mando voice was distorted somewhat by the helmet, so the difference was sufficient enough for Din to feel confident that no one would realise he was Mando. But surrounded by superfans at this convention, in the very helmet that would distort his voice to make him unmistakably sound the same as Mando, Din deemed it far too great a risk to take. 

After stopping for photos and fistbumps with enthusiastic fans of all ages, Din was finally ready to make his exit, much later than he believed he would have initially. Ultimately, Din was glad he had attended the panel and not rushed off earlier in the day when he had felt so overwhelmed that he had been driven to hide in the toilet. Although the panel had not been an entirely positive experience, it had been worth it just because of her.

And to think, Din was so hurt after the comments some fans had made about him at the panel that he would have missed out on feeling all the love and appreciation for Mando, had it not been for that girl who took a stand and raised her voice in defence of him. Her words had allowed DIn to feel lighter, freer and as though he wanted to open himself up to the love the fans were prepared to show him. 

The day at the convention had been an amazing, eye-opening experience. One that was far out of Din’s comfort zone, something that he never would have believed he could do for himself. But now he realised that he had also stayed far longer than he had been expecting. Din wanted to get back to his son. Grogu was usually settled and happy for the first few hours, but Din knew that it would soon begin to veer into the territory where a meltdown may be more likely.

Plus, Din had finally had enough for the day. He was accustomed to wearing his armour for long periods – it was like a second skin, after all – but he hadn’t sat down, nor removed his helmet for hours. Despite his increased confidence, the fear of being discovered lingered. The fear that his ‘costume’ would be sussed out set him constantly on edge and was draining him far more than a heavy suit of armour could. 

So Din began making his way to the exit through the expansive main hallway. He almost made it through without stopping, until he noticed a massive banner with a photograph of himself on it. Din stopped for a second, looking up at it as he remembered the day that photo had been taken. It had been a nerve-wracking experience for him, he was certainly not a model, but they had needed some promo shots. So Din found himself there, posing awkwardly in front of a professional photographer who was barking orders at him and wondering when arms and hands had become such awkward, cumbersome things. Din would rather have spent an entire day throwing himself into walls without a single break before repeating the experience and had informed The Mandalorian's creative team as much. So future photoshoots were completed with a body double wearing a copy of Din’s armour. The photo on display was one of the few that was him, though.

Din stood there for a few moments, smiling proudly at it underneath his helmet before a small voice caused Din to stop reminiscing over the gigantic poster and abruptly turn on the spot to face the direction of the voice.

“Excuse me, could we take a photo with you, please?” A timid voice said. In response, Din felt every hair stand on end as he instantly recognised the person who the voice belonged to.

It was the girl from the panel, staring at him with absolute admiration and adoration. He stood open-mouthed and gawked at her for a few seconds, stunned to be in her presence once again. But then her beautiful features changed. She frowned slightly and then Din realised he had been standing there, frozen, as he stared at her in disbelief. She had taken his silence and inaction as a dismissal and almost retreated before Din snapped out of his trance and nodded quickly. He wanted to tell her how wonderful she had been at the panel, how much her words had meant to him. But everything happened so fast.

Din felt his heart rate quicken as the girl moved to stand next to him. Her arms hung by her side somewhat awkwardly, just like Din’s had in the photo on the poster that he had just been admiring. She was too nervous - or perhaps polite - to sling one around his shoulder or waist. Din wouldn’t have minded though, there was something imperceptible about her that made Din want to be drawn into her orbit. She had a magnetic presence.

Din barely remembered to turn and look up at the girl’s friend who was taking the photo, his ordinarily calm and composed mind had been catapulted off its axis by her presence. The girl went to step away, but Din raised a hand just in front of her body to stop her from moving off.

“Wait, let me… pose properly,” Din choked out, forgetting his vow of silence in a moment of recklessness. He held his breath for a few seconds, but if she recognised his voice, she did not acknowledge it. Din released a shaky breath, trying not to be frustrated with himself. After all, Din had only good intentions. Out of everyone he had taken photos with today, she deserved the best out of them all. 

“Oh, thank you!” The girl laughed and smiled appreciatively as she took her place back by Din’s side.

Din placed one hand on his belt and leaned in towards her, hoping that the picture turned out to her satisfaction. They stood there side by side, almost close enough to touch. At that moment, Din wanted nothing more than to remove his helmet and bare his face to the alluring woman who had publicly spoken so eloquently in his defence and been equally polite in their more private encounter. But even if he had wanted to, they were out of time. Their few seconds together were over. 

“Thank you! Your cosplay is amazing, by the way! It looks so realistic!” She said with a shy smile as she stepped away. “I think there’s a cosplay competition at the Twin Suns stage this afternoon, you should seriously consider entering. I’m sure you’d win!” The girl said encouragingly.

Din nodded stiffly, struck by her manners and how genuinely excited and encouraging towards others she seemed to be. Both traits mattered deeply to Din. But there were also nerves behind his suddenly restricted motions as he once again feared his cover being blown. Din supposed that it would be unsurprising if it was the same girl from the panel who had shown such a passion for the character was finally the one to connect the dots.

Despite the momentary panic caused by her comment about how realistic his costume was, Din was still amazed by how sweet she had been. The way her eyes shone with genuine excitement as she approached him and yet, she managed to maintain that respect for him that other attendees did not. So many people rushed up to Din when he was in this costume, without even stopping to ask his permission for a photo, let alone take a second to look at him or politely thank him. The fact she had thanked him and complimented him and even spoken encouraging words about his cosplay proved to Din that she was one of the politest attendees. 

Din had a few more seconds to appreciate being in the girl’s presence as the friend she was with stepped up to have a picture with him. The girl’s friend seemed more confident than her in the way she posed, she seemed to know exactly what to do. But Din was paying her no mind. Instead, he glanced at the details of her face he could see from behind the phone – complete with Mando case – that she was using to take the photo. Din noticed the spark in her eyes, the way they lit up when she looked at him. She probably didn’t realise just how much Din could see in the helmet and that he was staring directly at her, noticing the look of awe she wore on her face.

“Thank you,” The girl’s friend said with a polite nod and the two walked off.

Din stood for a moment, watching them as they went. They flicked through the photos, jumping up and down excitedly as they looked at one. They were just out of earshot, but Din could tell how excited they both seemed by the pictures they had taken together. He smiled beneath his helmet. Knowing that he could bring such joy to others was a phenomenon he had lived in blissful ignorance of for most of the time since he had been cast as The Mandalorian, the only exception being when he had visited that children’s hospital a few months previously.

Today had opened Din Djarin’s eyes to the impact he was having out there, on so many different people. It was a debt that he owed to her, a debt that he knew he would, regrettably, never be able to repay.

Perhaps, in another reality, Din would have run after her, stopped her and confessed how appreciative he was of her kindness. He would have told her that he wanted to get to know her and asked her on a date if she was single. Maybe she would have been momentarily taken aback, given the bizarre circumstances of him wearing a full suit of armour and running up to her at a convention like that. But hopefully, she would have given him a chance.

They would have gotten to know each other, and gradually fallen in love over the next few months. Perhaps, if things went well, they would have lived a long and happy life together. It felt so real, for one fleeting moment, that Din could almost see their future together.

But that was ridiculous. In this reality, Din watched from behind his helmet as the outline of the girl he felt himself so drawn to grew smaller and smaller before eventually being swallowed up by the crowd.

She disappeared into the distance. Out of view, and out of Din’s life.

Next Chapter

Taglist: @toxic-seduction

[olivyh]

Hello, I hope you’re having a wonderful day/night/evening so far, and I was wondering if I could request hcs or scenarios for how the 2nd years would act around/be like for having a crush on their popular and kind classmate who is also Malleus Draconia’s younger brother

Hi!! Thank you! <333 Most of my fics use gn reader (or, very rarely, fem reader) so that's the format I went with for this! The pronouns used are you/your! Since I use she/her, I'm not 1000% on writing for m!readers, which is why I tend to drift towards gn for most of my fics, but I see a lot of writers that do write specifically for male readers in the twst x reader tag (a lot more than there were last year, which is good!). Sorry ;;;;;

Also, I really wish Malleus had a canon younger sibling like this! I think it would be so cute- especially if there was a big age gap between them (almost like the age gap between Cheka and Leona)

Riddle:

-He isn't the most popular, nor is he kind, so he has a hard time interacting with you

-Between your differences in social standing (despite him being in a position of power, again, he's not the most popular :( ) and your general kindness, which he's so unused to from anyone other than Trey or people trying to get on his good side

-I think he would be... a little unnerved at how often you get swarmed by people

-Honestly, I think most of his interactions with you would be through Cater as a middleman

-Of course, he's not dense. He realizes he has a crush on you the second he notices how clammy his hands get and how he can't seem to focus around you, constantly pulling out his phone's camera to use as a mirror as he adjusts his crown and hair. He tries to be his best self possible in front of you since he grew up thinking that he has to do everything the way someone else like it in order for them to like him. 

-He goes about it in a classy way; pulling out chairs, offering you tea, and walking you back to ramshackle so you don't go back alone...

-He was doing good! Every night he would run over his actions in his mind and try to find flaws, noticing how the shaking in his hands have lessened and how he wasn't as nervous. He was finally okay!

-So, when you asked to invite someone to the unbirthday party, he had no problems with it whatsoever!

-When he saw you with Malleus, he was a little shaken up. He was, however, used to the fae's presence at this point because they were both dormleaders. 

-Until he noticed how comfortable you were around one another, and how similar your appearances were, and...

-He had to excuse himself when he put two and two together, mind racing with questions and concerns about how he should go about things...

-He was also a little embarrassed about how he didn't pick up on the obvious signs earlier...

-He was planning to confess soon, but this changes things! He was suddenly nervous around you, well aware that you were royalty (not only that, but powerful royalty...) and how this could change the course of things

-He gets more and more nervous around you as the unbirthday party continues, and stays the same even afterwards. You might have to hunt him down and get him to talk about it afterwards, because he won't admit how jumbled his brain feels

-He has a plan for if you like him back or not... but he is still very nervous about your relationship going forward

-Just reassure him that you like him back and he'll be more than happy to prepare himself to fit right into the Draconia family <3

Ruggie:

-I feel like I say this a lot, but it fits with his character, so here I go

-He definitely uses your kindness to his advantage

-I mean, he's not above using puppy eyes or staring at your food with a pout, knowing all too well that you would notice his forlorn expression and give him some of your food. Normally dark fae like you aren't as kind, so of course he's going to be thrilled when you are!

-He doesn't have a problem with your popularity, as long as it doesn't affect him or his work

-Ruggie seems like the kind of person to have to be close friends with someone before he even considers having a relationship, so it's pretty hard work to get to the point of where he's head over heels for you

-But once he is? Oh boy...

-Suddenly he's doing everything to impress you; making jokes, teaching you some recipes for when you're short on materials, you come back to the dorm and your laundry is folded and the shelves are dusted...

-He likely won't confess first, so he patiently waits until you do

-But that doesn't stop him from doing everything in his power to butter you up as much as possible, trying to make himself seem as boyfriend-material as possible

-He thought he finally had it in the bag, he saw how your gaze would shift to him, how gently you brushed his hand when you took something from them, how you would stutter when he shuffled a little closer than usual...

-Until he came across Malleus one day after a magshift match, and noticed how similar the two of you looked... and how your scents seemed to be almost the same

-Ruggie felt his heart sink

-He knew you were also a dragon fae but he just kind of... assumed you and the heir of the Valley of Thorns shared a similar species...

-Falling for someone was one thing, but falling for a noble? In his position? He felt hopeless

-He may start acting cold towards you at first, his jokes dry as he can't seem to meet your eye

-Like Riddle, you would have to sit him down and have a conversation with him before you two do anything. His insecurities get the best of him, especially when he hears that most nobles are in arranged marriages with other nobles...

-You would have to have a lot of talks with him, and then talks with his grandmother because, even in your relationship, he still tries to hide stuff from you so you don't worry

-Once you say that you like him back, he instantly bumps up his game. He suddenly puts more effort into his appearance thanks to Leona('s credit card), and tries to act more polite in order to get the approval of your brother and grandmother

-The start of your relationship with be bumpy, but it's very worth it when you have Ruggie 

(Definitely not biased bc I think out of the twst cast, Ruggie would be at the top of the list of boyfriends...)

Azul:

-He is,,, a character to you at first

-Of course, because of the tweels acting as spies, he catches onto you and your brother quickly

-He's very wary the first few times when he tries to use your status and popularity to his advantage, knowing all too well that Malleus could put a stop to him at any second

-That doesn't mean that he stays away from you completely

-Since you're a fae, you may come up with some solutions to contracts that catch him off guard (what with fae being more magically inclined)

-Especially with your magic capabilities and your connections to other nobles

-He ends up spending so much time with you that he sort of... develops feelings without knowing it

-One day you're both sitting in the lounge, and then the next you're scooting closer to him to read the words on the paper more clearly and he suddenly feels as though he's in a cloud and his heart races when he realizes your thighs are touching and he could practically hear your heartbeat-

-He has to excuse himself

-I think your popularity would spring him into action. He knows that many others see your kindness (and your status) and he has to be the first!

-He'll act so gentlemanly and so kind, so terribly out of character for him that you might be confused at first

-It doesn't take too long to realize that he's putting on a show to gain your affection, that he feels as though you wouldn't love him as he is

-Once he confesses, please reassure him that you like the real him and not the face that he puts on!

-Also, please reassure Malleus that Azul is not going to rope you into his schemes, as the dragon fae is still incredibly wary of the mer...

Jade:

-Another one who knew of your status from the get-go

-I have such a strong hc that Jade falls in love SO easily

-Very much a love-at-first-sight kind of guy

-Even though he doesn't show it

-It's very likely that you heard him while he was searching for mushrooms and you helped him

-It's also very likely that he overheard people talking about how they saw the two of you together (and also heard their impressions of him)

-He was conflicted, knowing that your reputation wouldn't be hurt with him, but he also didn't want to drag you down with him

-Of course, he still spends time with you as he is very aware of his feelings toward you 

-Since the Leech family is fairly influential, I don't think he'd be too intimidated by your status

-He is well aware of the Draconia family, however, and is constantly trying to think of different ways to impress your brother in order to gain an "in"

-Malleus might think of Jade's advances as being him trying to take advantage of you, so please, please have a talk with your brother before it goes any further

-Once your relationship goes further, he'll be much less secretive towards you and you'll get to see the hopeless romantic side of him come out

-Please give in to his whims; he's been dreaming about this since he was a kid

Floyd:

-I don't think his personality would change much given your status/reputation

-He just wants a hug! He doesn't care if you're the Malleus Draconia's younger sibling! He doesn't care if you're a royal of one of the most powerful countries in the world!

-Ultimately, though, he would easily understand if anyone in your family is wary about your relationship

-I feel like Floyd with a crush on someone popular could go... one of two ways

-When he's in a good mood, he can also be pretty popular! He's pretty down to earth and has a good sense of humor! He's the class clown type, so I think a lot of people would be (hesitantly) drawn to his presence and go along with his games

-When he's not, though... he doesn't want anyone else to talk to you. He wants to keep you all to himself so you can hold and comfort him and listen to his troubles

-He is very aware about the implications of marrying into royalty, but it doesn't faze him that much

-He knows that your family is powerful, and that your brother is aware of Floyd's reputation around campus, but he knows who he is, and he has full confidence in himself that he can make you happy and keep you safe

-I feel like malleus would also see this quality in Floyd and accept him :)

-There isn't really much buildup into the relationship; Floyd knows instantly what he wants and he gets it

-Though, he might just start of being more touchy than usual- casually slinging an arm over your shoulder, lifting you in the air (even if you're taller than him), hugging you from behind while you have a conversation with someone else,,,

-There might be some miscommunication when it comes to exactly when you started dating... (Was your first date when you had a sleepover in his room all those months ago or was it just last week when you helped him clean the lounge? The world may never know...)

-Also a small hc, he won't touch your horns before you two date. After you start and you're in the full swing of a relationship? Please let him touch them. Also will hang things off of them

Kalim:

-He knew you were Malleus' younger sibling from the start!

-Despite how isolated the Valley of Thorns is from the rest of the world, Kalim's family is still very influential throughout Twisted Wonderland and chances are you two have met prior to NRC

-He's relieved to see that you're much more outgoing than your brother, and often invites you two out while you chat (while in NRC, of course. I doubt that anyone would let three Nobles, two of them royalty to one of the most powerful nations in the world, wander around alone)

-I think Kalim falls in love very quickly, but he's very hesitant to speak about it

-Given his childhood experiences, I think he would be worried about something happening to someone he has feelings for, even if they're not dating yet

-Kalim thinks that anyone associated with him is in danger, so he tends to keep people at arms length. Everyone knows him, but nobody really knows him

-Anyways, back to the hcs

-He's a little more relaxed in this case, knowing that your family is not only influential and politically powerful, but that you're magically and physically powerful as well. He doesn't have to worry about you getting kidnapped due to your strength, and your resilience to magic and curses makes poison less effective

-He feels as though he can relax around you, and that makes him fall even deeper in love

-Even more so when you turn into a dragon and fly beside him and carpet <3

-Noth much changes with him either, he's just more excitable around you and gets a little more touchy-feely. He also listens to you better than he listens to anyone else, and is more than willing to dial it down should you ask him to.  

-Of course you guys have met each others' families so it makes things a little bit easier for them... they don't have to arrange a marriage with the other nobles if you two already fell for each other!

-Just... please reassure him sometimes when he seems a little jumpy around you. He's just worried someone will try to hurt you :(

Jamil:

-Piggybacking off Kalim's part, I think he also met you before when the Al-Asims and the Draconias would get together

-Your popularity and kindness reminded him of Kalim, so he tended to keep his distance unless he was invited to sit with you and the other boy

-Of course, where Kalim goes he goes, so chances are those are really the only times when you two would meet up

-And who would guess that, in those times, he would fall for you?

-He would keep his distance as much as possible, not wanting to deal with the problems that could arise should you two get into a relationship

-Similarly to Ruggie, he would be acting more cold and distant from you due to this

-He would approach you after what's likely to be a few weeks, his heart breaking at your forlorn expression

-It's also very likely that Malleus started picking up on the reasoning why you seemed to be so sad lately, and Jamil didn't want to cause a conflict between the Scalding Sands and the Valley of Thorns (jk jk...)

-Jamil would be the one to explain himself, except he would probably confess to you and then deny to advance the relationship much further until he figured out what to do

-You two remain as close friends for a little while after that, now with this new, unnamed thing hanging around the both of you

-It's painfully clear to everyone else that you two should be dating, but neither of you take the first step until, thankfully, big brother Mal takes the reins and decides to talk with Jamil himself

-It's a little intimidating, but Jamil has finally been given the go-ahead (and he's very thankful that Malleus did that, given that it's highly unlikely that his family/the Al-Asims would have accepted/believed you two were in a relationship otherwise)

-No worries though! His feelings become near unbearable until he finally asks you out

-He treats you very formally the first few months, but soon after that he just turns into a very domestic, loving boyfriend :) 

Silver:

-He would be... the most conflicted out of anyone in the group

-Especially in this sort of situation

-He first falls in love with you due to your kind nature, and is very excited that many people like you, even in your home country

-But also... you're the younger sibling of his master. And... indirectly his master as well

-He was conflicted over this, though you could barely tell from the way his attitude didn't seem to change at all

-He was still strict, and spoke to you very politely (as was expected of him due to his status)

-It was only when you pleaded with him to speak to you normally that he was finally allowed to relax and show you the side of him that the rest of your classmates see

-Nothing much changes when he realizes his crush on you, aside from the fact that he may be paying a little more attention to you rather than Malleus

-He feels as though he's stuck in a corner, even more so when you ask Malleus to have Silver as your personal knight instead

-He has a few long talks with Lilia about this, who, even with the centuries that he's lived, struggles to come up with a solution

-Silver decides to be as forward with you as possible about his feelings, speaking about them very bluntly besides the faint flush that stains his cheeks

-He barely gives you time to respond, instead bowing deeply and running back off to his dorm room

-Hes embarrassed, and a little scared :(

-Honestly, he might need some time to get his thoughts in order, now that he's finally spoken to you about everything. 

-Of course, he has a talk with Malleus as well. 

-I don't think Malleus would have any problems with Silver dating his younger sibling, aside from the whole human/fae thing (which Malleus promises to solve, even if he has to defend your maybe-marriage against the entire royal court)

-He's just very... princely once your relationship starts, although he dials it down a bit after you've been together for a while. He is still very chivalrous, but the further your relationship continues the less it feels like knight/royal and more like normal lovers 

[skzhocomments]

Mafia Book #2 - PART II - The Withered Rose - Chapter 2 - A chance meeting

Story masterlist - please consult it for the summary of the story, trigger warnings etc.

General masterlist

PART I - The Black Iris

---

Wattpad | AO3

Chapter 1 | Chapter 3

---

PART II - The Withered Rose

Chapter 2 - A chance meeting

chapter word count: ~3.3k words

~present day~

~Emilia’s POV~

Okay, this looks nice enough! I smile, looking proud at my flower arrangement, then I glance around the small flower shop and notice something’s missing. “Ivy, baby, where are you?”

I stand up and look around the flower bouquets, when I finally notice my cute, almost 3-year old daughter squirming happily under the sun rays in the street.

“Ivy, how many times have I told you not to go off like that?” I pick her up in my arms and scold her softly, and she pouts.

“I want play!!!” She wiggles and tries to escape my arms, but I’m stronger.

“A-ha! You thought you could escape! No wayyyy!” I squish her cheeks and kiss her little mouth, and she starts giggling.

After playing with her for a little longer, it’s time to get back to work and put her back down.

“You better stay here where I can see you.” I scold Ivy again, and she picks at the hem of her dress and looks at me with her big brown eyes and a little pout.

She’s way too adorable, but every time I look at her, I can’t help but notice the similarities between her and her father.

She looks so much like Chris that it’s scary. From her curly hair and brown eyes to the way her mouth curves when she smiles. Hell, even their dimples are the same.

A small pang in my chest distracts me, and I almost don’t notice a customer coming in.

“Ciao!” I say as cheerfully as I can. It’s hard getting used to Italy, to never hearing your own language and to everyone treating you like a foreigner. They don’t discriminate or anything, but I still feel out of place.

Sure, the sun is nice, people are not too bad either, but… after living my little dream of the ‘perfect life’ for a while, I can’t say I don’t miss the thrill of the rush a Mafia would provide.

Maybe I was never made for the quiet life, after all.

Still, I’m no longer alone. I have to take care of someone else as well, and Ivy should never have to grow up the way I did.

“Hello.” The woman replies, and what a delight to notice she isn’t from here either. This small town doesn’t have many visitors. It’s boring to never see any different faces, so this young woman is at least a break from the mundane.

However, I can’t deny how good it is to never have visitors. It makes it a good place to hide. You can never be too careful. As much as I want to trust Jeongin, I can’t be sure if he has actually told anyone that I died, or if he dug a grave for me.

“Oh, a foreigner.” I say back, trying to stop getting distracted. It hardly works, though, as I keep going back to my old life in my head. Years have passed, but I’m still in the same place mentally.

I wish things were different. I wish Chris never betrayed my trust, and I wish I didn’t hate everyone.

I wish I knew what happened to Felix. Did he make a full recovery? Is he still bed-ridden?

Did he even make it?

“Yes, you as well?” The woman asks with a laugh, and I turn my eyes back at her just when Ivy starts running happily to be picked up. “Oh my, you have such an adorable daughter!”

“Thank you, she’s 3, and a menace!”

“Is that so? Are you making mommy upset?” She asks Ivy and pinches her cheeks, and Ivy is really happy with the attention. We’re too wary of strangers to really get close to anyone, so besides me and Wooyoung, there really isn’t anyone else to play with her.

“So, would you like to buy some flowers?” I divert my eyes to the many flowers around us as I start picking up a few, about to recommend something.

“Oh, yes, I’d like a-”

“-bouquet of white lilies, please.” I hear and freeze.

It can’t be…

I’m hesitant to raise my gaze. If it really is him…

But it makes no sense. What would Minho be doing here?

How did he find me?

My inner turmoil lasts about a second when the woman’s voice confirms my suspicions.

“Minho?” She asks, and I drop everything from my hands and rush towards Ivy.

I have to get her away from the woman.

Minho is here for me.

She knows him.

Fuck.

Fuck.

I try not to ponder on how he found me, as I am already distressed enough remembering Chan’s words from years ago.

“I’m gonna give you some time to pull yourself together… and when your world’s sweetest, I’ll hunt you down with everything I have.”

Fuck.

What if he’s been looking for me all this time, and sent Minho to get me?

Fuck.

All this time, I tried not to think that I’m at the top of his murder list. I tried to trust Jeongin. But now that Minho is here…

Fuck!!!

It’s not the time to be weak. I need to protect Ivy and get the fuck out of here.

I don’t hesitate to hit that bitch right in the head and make her go unconscious, and then I pull Ivy behind me.

“Emilia.” Minho whispers, eyes large. “It really is you.”

He begins to walk towards me, which sends me spiralling.

“Step back.” I threaten, making sure to keep Ivy from going to him. She just wants to play, but this would be a game of death. “Why are you here?”

“I should be asking you that. What the fuck is this, Emilia?”

He takes another step further and I glance towards my desk. I left a gun there, just in case.

“I told you to step back, Minho.”

“I just want to make sure my wife is okay. Damn, why did you have to hit her?” He sighs.

“Wife?”

Don’t lower your guard, Emilia. It’s Minho. He’s not your friend.

“Yes. We’re on our honeymoon.”

“Don’t bullshit me.”

“I’m not. It’s true. Where the fuck are your manners? Tsk.” He tuts.

“Should’ve taught her how to fight if you didn’t want her getting hit.”

“She knows how to fight.” He mimics my tone in slight annoyance. “She just didn’t expect you to attack her, for fuck’s sake. Neither did I. Aren’t we old friends?”

“Drop the act, Minho. I know he sent you. How did you find me?”

“Find you?” Minho snorts. “I didn’t even know you’re alive. And what the fuck is this? Chan’s child?”

“No.” I deny. “It’s not his. It’s my husband’s.”

“Husband?” Minho laughs. “Good one, Shade.”

“I’m not joking.”

“You might be married, not that I care, but that child is definitely Chan’s. She’s his splitting image, for fuck’s sake.”

“You’re wrong.” I say, and my voice shakes a bit. The urge to mutter a curse under my breath is stronger than ever, but I keep to myself.

I want to shoot Minho.

I reach to my desk, but fuck, he’s faster.

“Let’s be civilised, yea?” He asks, holding his own pistol in the air directly towards me. “I know what you’re trying to do. Don’t. If you promise me you won’t reach for your gun or whatever weapon you’re keeping in that drawer, I’ll put this down.”

“Aren’t you here to kill me?”

“Shade, I really had no idea you’re alive! That little fucker lied to us!”

“Jeongin?”

“Yes! Jeongin! I even went to your grave. He dug it up quite nicely.”

“Had fun asking for forgiveness?” I chuckle spitefully, and Minho rolls his eyes.

“I don’t want to talk to you with my gun pointed to your head. We have history. I want us to talk as old friends, okay?” He says, then puts his gun back in his holster. “Felix told us the truth. We know it wasn’t you. We fucked up.”

“So, he’s alive…” I smile to myself, ignoring Minho’s words completely. I’m really happy to learn Felix didn’t die.

“He is. He’s doing so well, Shade!”

“That’s good news.”

“It is. Feels even better now that I know you’re not dead either. Aren’t you curious about how we’re doing? How’s Jeongin? Han? Seungmin? Everyone else? I sure as hell have a lot I want to ask you.”

I stay silent for a few seconds and watch him closely. He seems to be telling the truth. Jeongin truly lied for me, and kept this lie up all these years, even without me there.

That’s a comforting thought.

Minho is right. I want to know what everyone is up to these days.

“They say curiosity killed the cat, you know?”

“But curiosity brought it back.”

“Hah. Fair point, love.”

I am suddenly reminded of an old conversation between me and Chris, that took place when we first met, when I was on my death bed after the suicide mission my former boss sent me to, and he was on top of me, keeping my hands tied and forcing me to look at him. When I had yet to learn his name and fall in love with him.

It seems that I never learn, and I am still as curious.

What a funny thought.

However, curiosity alone is not the only reason why I ponder a moment too long on Minho’s offer. It’s not like he would let me go too easily either. If it’s one thing I know about Minho, it’s that he is really persistent when he wants to know something.

“Okay.” I say after a little while. “Let’s go inside and talk. You can take your… wife off the floor as well.”

~

“Place her there. Make yourself comfortable.” I wave my hand around the living room and sit down at the table, holding Ivy in my arms. She’s restless, trying to wiggle her way out and play.

To my surprise, Minho joins me immediately, eyes stuck on mine, instead of tending to his wife.

It seems like I won’t get out of this no matter what.

After a few seconds, he starts looking intensively at Ivy.

“Fuck, she really is Chris’ daughter. They look the fucking same. Why are your genes so weak, Emilia? She doesn’t take after you at all.”

“Thank you.” I say, my tone laced with irony.

“Hello baby, I’m uncle Minho.” He leans towards Ivy and sticks his tongue out at her, and she is quick to want to play with him. I immediately get a sense of danger and involuntarily move her a bit further away.

Minho is one of the deadliest men I’ve ever met, and there can’t be anything good about her playing with him.

“Wooyoung!” I say loudly, and a few seconds later, the brunette man comes in.

“What is it?” He asks, and then scans the room and freezes. “Emi… what…? What is he doing here?” He looks panicked and I see his eyes frantically looking around the room.

The gun you’re looking for is in the middle drawer, idiot. I think, but shake my head instead. I don’t necessarily want him to try and threaten Minho. He would laugh at him anyway.

Wooyoung has never been a fighter, even when he was part of a mafia.

“Oh, do we know each other?” Minho smirks.

“No… I know you, though. You’re Lee Know… from Stray Kids, right?”

“Yes.” I reply. “It appears we have some visitors. Minho, I introduce you to my husband, Wooyoung. He was in ATEEZ before...”

“Before Scarlet Rose took us down.” Wooyoung shows a brief smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.

“Anyways, can you take Ivy for a bit? It’s time for her nap anyway.”

“Sure.” He nods and I let go of my daughter, who happily runs away towards Wooyoung with a bright smile and a “Daddy!”.

Minho furrows his brows at me. It’s like he feels that I want to keep her as far away as possible from him.

“And when you’re done putting her to bed, can you come take a look at her?” I point to the woman lying unconscious on the sofa. She’s probably okay, but it wouldn’t hurt to check.

“Do you also want some coffee? Snacks?” Wooyoung asks with a roll of his eyes.

“Come on, don’t be like that. You’re a doctor, that’s what you’re supposed to do anyway, no?” I frown. “But coffee does sound nice!”

“Fuck off.” He grabs Ivy and leaves.

“Can’t believe you’re really married.” Lee Know says when they’re gone, with a small laugh and a shake of the head. “How did you make him want to raise another man’s child? Unless you tricked him to marry you, lying that he’s the real dad.”

“You’re accusing me of such vile acts, like you haven’t already figured out that it’s a fake marriage.” I roll my eyes.

“Obviously I have. Everything about you is fake, Emilia. Your marriage, this happy, tranquil life. Hell, even your death. Still can’t believe I fell for that one.” He says in a joking tone, but I can’t help but feel he praises me a little.

“Yeah, well, what can I say?” I chuckle.

“Is your name fake as well? What is it now, Amelia, Emily, something along those lines?”

I shrug.

“I know what wasn’t fake, though. Our fellowship.” Minho replies in a serious tone.

“Fellowship?” I let out a laugh.

“Yes.” He nods.

“Yeah, well, all that fellowship went out the window the moment you thought I shot Felix. You didn’t even care to listen to me.”

“I didn’t even meet you that night.”

“And thank God for that, I might’ve not managed to run away if you did.” I retort, and he presses his lips in a tight line.

“… Touché.” He says after a few moments.

Seems like I won.

“What happened to you, Emilia? How did you get here?”

“Where should I start?” I chuckle. “This feels so weird, Minho. I never expected to see you again. Nor did I want to.”

“I did want to see you again, though, and I’m glad I did. Feels like fate. Who knows, you might even want to come back with me. Don’t you miss home?”

“Home? What home? The home that threw me out, threatened to kill me?” I smile. There’s a bitter taste in my mouth.

“He didn’t do it, though. That’s a first.” Minho shrugs. “You’re the only person he’s ever spared, actually.”

“What, didn’t he forgive that two-faced bitch Hyo?” I ask, amused. Saying her name is no longer that difficult. Time does patch some wounds and stops them from bleeding.

“No. She’s dead. As soon as Chris found out what really happened, he went berserk on her.”

I don’t know what to say for a moment, and I’m glad for Wooyoung’s brief interruption as he brings two cups of coffee and checks on Minho’s wife.

“What did you kick her for?” He asks with a shake of his head signalling disappointment.

Well, that’s not new. Wooyoung and I aren’t exactly on good terms… He’s only still here because of Ivy.

“I thought Minho came back to finish something he couldn’t a few years ago, so I tried to protect Ivy.”

“You and your impulsive reactions. You’ve always been like that.” He rolls his eyes then stands up. “She’s fine. She’s probably gonna have a big headache when she wakes up, but other than that, I doubt she’s badly hurt. We’ll check more when she’s awake.”

“And when’s that?” Minho asks, crossing his arms.

“No idea. You probably have enough time to talk things through.”

“Wanna sit with us?” I ask, but he shakes his head.

“Nah, I’d rather watch Ivy sleep. Less boring. I’ll come by later.” He says, and with that, he leaves the room again.

“I do miss… some of it.” I confess after I notice Minho’s gaze on me again. “I miss early morning training with you and Lix, or the stupid little fights with Hyunjin and Sky and Han. Oh God, I even miss Changbin’s lame flirting. Imagine.” I exclaim, and both of us start laughing.

“What about Jeongin? I’m gonna rip him a new one when I see him.”

“No, don’t. He’s a good kid.”

“Not anymore, he’s not. You should see him now. He’s a shell of himself. I sometimes think he’s even worse than Chris. And Emi, you should see Chris. He’s bad. He’s been listening to She’s gone by Steelheart and Scorpions’ Lonely Nights on repeat, and then he denies thinking about you. Your name is actually taboo in the house.”

“Sucks to be him, I guess.” I say, but I don’t feel happy about it for some reason.

How twisted is this? You should wish the worst upon the person who does to you what Chris did to me.

Inexplicably, I can’t bring myself to truly hate him. The only thing I feel about everything that happened is this heart-wrenching sorrow, a void that can’t be filled. And I still don’t want to see him again. I’m not ready to, and I don’t think I’ll ever be.

“What is up with Jeongin, though?” I try to change the subject from anything Chris-related. I don’t want to think about him or the hurt he’s caused. I don’t want to think about how I’ve been living as if I’m on thin ice, trying to brace myself to take another step forward with fear in my heart that the ice is going to break and I’m going to fall back in despair’s arms.

I want to forget how fast my heart started beating when I heard Minho’s voice and I thought Chris finally decided to follow through with his promise to ruin my life when my world’s sweetest.

Who knew he actually thought I was dead all this time?

“Jeongin is… not doing very well, Emilia. Sure, he's still a talented doctor. He does his job flawlessly. But…”

“But what?”

“He’s scaring the shit out of us, that young punk.” Minho laughs. “You should see his eyes. They’re the eyes of a true cold-hearted murderer. He’s no longer the kid you knew.”

“That’s a shame. His innocence was what I loved most about him.” I smile absentmindedly and try to recall Jeongin’s smile. I look back on the time we spent together walking in the gardens, eating dinner or watching movies, and my heart aches with longing. I miss that Jeongin.

“Didn’t we all change, though?”

“I don’t know. You seem the same to me.” I shrug.

“Really?” Minho smirks.

“Except for the wife part. Never thought you’d fall in love. If you love her, of course.”

“You and I both. I do love her. She’s the centre of my universe now.”

“I wonder if she’s having a happy dream.” I look at the unconscious woman on my sofa briefly.

“I hope she does. She deserves it, after you fucking hit her.” Minho chuckles. “I’ll forgive you if you apologise to her.”

“Sure, whatever. But really, teach her how to fight. It’s a must know in your world.”

“Really, she knows how to. You just took her by surprise. She’s gonna be so upset that she couldn’t see it coming, but I’m glad. It was a good lesson for her.”

“What, did she insist on going on missions with you?”

“For a little while.” Minho nods. “Maybe she won’t anymore. I hope she won’t, at least.”

“It’s still a useful skill even if she does or doesn’t.”

“Are you planning on teaching your daughter how to fight, then?”

“Maybe. But I’m not part of that world anymore.”

“Aren’t you?” He raises an eyebrow. “I don’t know, Emilia… I don’t think any of us actually gets out of this world. Even if we try to leave it behind… it stays with us.”

I ponder on his words for a little while, and then I nod.

“It does.”

He’s right.

Even almost 4 years after leaving the mafia life behind, some things stayed the same. There are guns or other weapons hidden in every other drawer of this very house, just in case we need them; I always look over my shoulder, no matter where we go, and it’s hard to fully relax outside the confines of my home. I’m wary of everyone, and it’s still easy to notice the people lurking in the shadows.

“You also changed, Emilia.” Minho says all of a sudden.

“Yeah, I trust people less.”

He lets out a soft chuckle. “You always had trouble trusting people.”

“I guess so.” I laugh along, but it’s one of those laughs that gets ripped from your throat and you force it out.

“So, how did you end up here, Shade?”

I circle the coffee cup with my finger and attentively watch the black liquid.

“Where should I start?” I look at him with a lazy smile.

“… what happened after the night Hyo betrayed you?”

“Well…”

---

Chapter 1 | Chapter 3

[yoonzinuhh]

prettiest in my eyes - vernon

𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 : vernon x reader

𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲 : fluff,smut,comfort

𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 : smut,minors dni !! mentions of weight/body appearance. reader has vagina,breasts. fingering,oral (f receiving),intercourse.

𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲 : this is purely fiction. i have no intentions in sexualising any idol and have great respect for them as an artist. these are for entertainment purpose only.

with a grin like a child vernon was leaning onto your shoulders. “i’m so excited” so were you. you’ve been dating vernon for almost 4 months now and he thought it’s finally time to show you off to his bunch of best friends. while you have already met 2 of the members,joshua and wonwoo who visited him often,you were kinda excited yet nervous about meeting the other 10 too.

giggling at him your eyes travel to his phone where he opened a picture of a group picture of his members and some of their girlfriends and boyfriends that they took during the christmas last year. he takes time showing you who was who. your thoughts wander,seeing the members’ girlfriends. they were so pretty,their perfectly sculpted bodies,smooth hair falling through their shoulder. something similar to what vernon deserved.

“they’ve been dating so almost 7 years he should propose already right? its too- y/n are you here with me?”

staring blankly at him while whatever he said processes into your mind halfway.

putting his phone off he tries to find your eyes that’s little moist.

“is everything alright..is it because i’m rushing this…i can cancel you know its not a big deal-“

“NO..i mean yeah we’re going..it’s just…” swallowing your thoughts “it’s..nothing i was just amazed by how pretty they all are..”

he could sense it,the way he caught your eyes focusing on the pretty girlfriends of his friends.

vernon was very much aware of your insecurities and never stopped reminding you how beautiful you are. you guys have talked about it and he was so shocked because you ?? the prettiest girl of his ?? being insecure ?? oh love.

turning his body towards you,holding your chin to meet your eyes he speaks. “y/n..i know that you know but i just want to remind you..you know you’re way prettier than anyone right..”

you chuckled “come on vernon..we both know you’re lying plus it’s not a big deal..lets wa-“

“baby ! it IS a big deal. my gorgeous girlfriend isnt aware of how pretty and perfect she is. it is a big deal,to me” he breathes. little hurt of how you don’t acknowledge yourself.

your eyes glisten while you look at him. he’s looking at you,full of love. you could throw up at this thought of how someone like vernon,with such beauty,amazing personality can fall in love with you.

he talked about how he wants to see your wear his clothes which when you tried hugged your body a little tight than it should. he still called you cute. when you first saw each other with little less clothing,your tummy rolls with stretch marks which he called as his favourite and beautiful thunder strikes. it’s obvious he doesn’t think that way..right ?

but he knows he does. you’re the most beautiful person he has ever known. inside and outside. you were so perfect for him,for anyone else.

slowly leaning in he kissed you. very slow. as if he had the rest of his life just to kiss you. pushing you a little on the couch he hovers and kisses you deeper.

“i’m going to show you how much love i have for you y/n” he slowly moves his kisses to your jaw then to your neck and your collar.

this wasn’t new. you and vernon have had make out sessions,some even led to impatient grinding but nothing more.

he sucked the skin being your ears as you moan out his name,audible just to him. he worked his hands to the buttons of your shirt while he looks at you for permission. you slowly nod as he continues to move his hand to the back of your bra and undoes it in less than a minute,freeing your tender breast.

“beautiful..so fucking beautiful” he says,eyes still on your chest. your cheeks are hot. you gulp and he makes his way to your nipple while massaging the other. slowly licking and sucking it. you grip his hair and his hands goes down to your waist band slowly touching your clothed heat.

“my pretty baby..already wet for me huh?”

“v-vernon please..please touch me” thats all he wanted to hear.

sneaking his hands inside he slowy draws circles on your bud making you whimper. two of his fingers makes its way to your hole while the thumb stays on your bud. he pushes his fingers in,very slowly. slow enough not to hurt you.

with two or three thrusts he removes his fingering leaving you empty. you whined as he kissed you one last time and slowly moving himself down. removing your panty he held your knee open looking at your wet and dripping pussy. you couldn’t help but close it shying off while he grips it.

“oh love..don’t hide what’s pretty” as he dips his head between your legs trailing off kisses onto your lips down there.

tongue dancing on your clit then slowly to your entrance. he laps his tongue against you and his noise bumping to your clit. you leave a loud moan at the friction and your hand locks to his perfectly curly hair.

“f-fuck nonie i’m- VERNON !” you scream when he increases the speed,slurping your juices as if he slurps his ramen after starving for a whole day. feeling more and more pleasure you moan out

“vernon i thin- vern im please non” you blabber and he knows you’re close and he backs out. you cry out tears forming in your eyes.

he kisses you and you feel the saltiness of yourself on your mouth. you feel like crying when he stopped.

“my gorgeous woman..you know only a pretty lady can take up my cock right”

you nod desperately.

“so tell me who deserves this cock love”

“me..vernon please”

“and you are?” he raises his eyebrows with a smile.

“your p-prettiest lady..” satisfied with your response he slowly slides his tip onto your hole. the stretch was painful but the way vernon stared into your eyes while pecking your tears away,you swear you could barely feel any pain.

he starts moving very slowly,your hole sucking him right well. like it was made just for him.

“feel good ? my pretty girl taking me so well” he says while kissing your shoulder,your collar,while massaging your stomach.

his pace fastens. you swear you could burst out,rolling your hips harder to get more friction. the whole room filled with slapping noises,your moans and too many praises from vernon. apart from sexual pleasure you could feel his love. he’s not just fucking around but making love. making love to someone to the point where he doesn’t want you to think anything less of yourself. his pretty girl.

“vernon w-want to cum..” you say. your thighs trembling,back arching. you might even break a bone.

“cum for me love”

you feel euphoria washing you,soon his as he moans right onto your ears. hearts connected,thumping so loud.

he lies down next to you,pulling you closer to his chest,fixing your hair. the way he looks at you,like you’re the most precious thing ever,like he could make you drown in his love until you burst,like you were his everything. he knew you are,you always will be.

“you might think i’m saying this just for the sake of it but y/n..you are literally the most beautiful person i’ve ever laid my eyes on. the way your eyebrows meet each other when you’re focused,the way you make weird noises when you mess something up,the way you start tearing up after laughing hard,the way you tilt your head when you are confused,the way you open your mouth and drool while making little snores when you sleep,the way you wake up with a messy hair making my favourite tea,the way your cute tummy falls like a cinnamon roll that i could lie on all day with little thunders on it..all of it y/n..i love all of it,all of you and trust me these are just half of the things i terribly love about you. you are such a pretty person at face at body at heart. i dont know if i even deserve you but i really hope i get to keep you until forever.”

you weren’t even trying to hold your tears. you don’t really cry infront of anyone but god this guy has you. he loves you. you can’t believe he notices all of this of you..you’ve never left this loved before.

“i love you” you blurt out and see his eyes widening a little.

“i mean i know its early and you don’t have to say it back but i just really-“

“i love you far more” he replies with a kiss giggling. kissing all over your face until you physically stop him because its ticklish.

“vernon..do i really snore while sleeping..?” you ask playing with his fingers with a pout.

he chuckles and hugs you tight,suffocating you with his arms and love. “i love you so much baby you have no idea”

oh you know you do.

[questforgalas]

The Bad Batch HCs - Their PDA

Crosshair

my sneaky link next to Obi-Wan and Rex

he's not much of a conversationalist. in fact, he's literally the worst with words and he knows this

so he lets his actions do the talking

he's not one to have his lips constantly attached to you in public, but he's making sure you know what you mean to him

his love language is physical touch, he needs you touching him and him touching you to feel peace

but again, he's not someone to be in peoples faces

master of subtle touches

hand on your lower back when you're standing side by side or lightly brushing as he passes you by

hand is gently on your shoulder as you all listen to the next steps in a mission

in quiet moments, he's pressing your back to his chest with his chin resting on top of your head/shoulder (depending on your height)

amongst the regs? ohhhh baby mr subtle touches suddenly becomes not so subtle

his arm is DRAPED around your shoulders in front of the regs and his smirk says "try something i dare you"

you give him a hard time but you L.O.V.E. it

Echo

look at him he's so freaking cute and admires rex so much

ANYWAY back on track

Echo is similar to Crosshair, he's not someone who's in your face but making sure you know how loved you are is important to him

however, he's significantly better with his words than Crosshair, but I digress

he doesn't mind PDA as long as it's subtle, again not needing to bring outside attention to your relationship to feel secure in it

you know that since Skako Minor he's self conscious about his cybernetics, and because of that he finds being able to hold your hand as precious as any kyber crystal

whether you're sitting on the Marauder or out in trading ports, he's gently grabbing your hand, rubbing circles with his thumb

he'll do it without realizing it while you're both relaxing, reading or catching up on reports

your favorite moments are when you know he's so relaxed and comfortable that he's softly humming to himself while he rubs his thumb across the back of your hand

Hunter

the sergeant of the batch takes his role as leader seriously

he wants his squad to feel comfortable and needs to be 140% when on missions

so because of that, he's not one for PDA unless you're on leave/down time

and even then, it's very very subtle

he's more about the subtle gestures

brushing your hair behind your ear, a quick peck on your cheek before he leaves the Marauder, or even just locking eyes across the room before the next step of a mission

they're all his ways of checking in making sure you're ok

in rare cases when you're both relaxing, usually when you're traveling in hyperspace, he'll rest his hand on your leg and rub circles with his thumb

if you both have the Marauder to yourselves, he gently pull your head to him and lay it on his shoulder, resting his head on top of yours while you finish reports for Cid

Wrecker

his affection to you is on the same level as towards his brothers which is loud and proud and affectionate (poor Crosshair)

he doesn't care about PDA. he'll hold you, kiss you, tease whenever and wherever he wants

his brothers adore his giant energy (yes even Cross as grumpy as he tries to be) so they don't bat an eye at his larger than life antics with his s/o

he'll have his arm draped around your shoulder anywhere you go, keeping you close to his side

and when he sees something exciting? he's grabbing your hand and pulling you with him with a boisterous "YEAH"

when he returns from his latest errand, he's not greeting anyone else until he's planted a giant kiss right on your lips

doesn't care who's in the room

when relaxing on the Marauder, he wants you in his lap with an arm wrapped around you

his love is as big as he is

Tech

this is my favorite gif of this sweet boy

Tech is not into much touch, if any at all

when you're intimate together, he's almost plastered to you, but outside of the bedroom he enjoys his personal space

he also isn't as comfortable as some of his brothers with showing affection in front of others

so the PDA with him is going to be minimal if at all

but he shows his affection and protection in other ways such as standing as close to you as you'll allow in public or around his brothers

during down time, he'll plop down to work on a project next to you wherever you are

he's much more about quality time than touching, just needing you near calms him

his only exception is pre and post mission because the only way to quiet his mind is by finding you and placing a kiss to your temple ensuring him you're safe

in that moment, he doesn't care who's around, he's going to make sure you're with him

[therubyreader]

My Review of Powerless by Lauren Roberts

See a full list of my book reviews here

*Disclaimer: there will be spoilers later on in the review*

Review Word Count, non-spoiler: 875 Review Word Count Total: 1,553

Hello everyone! It’s my first review of 2024! I have once again fallen victim to the influence of BookTok and read Powerless by Lauren Roberts, after not being able to escape it being recommended to me by essentially everyone and their mother. And this time they’re onto something, they have not disappointed me with this one. 

Powerless follows Paedyn Gray, an Ordinary, someone without any powers in a society where being Ordinary is a crime punishable by death, surviving the slums of Ilya by pretending to be a Psychic and stealing to stay alive. One day she unknowingly saves one of the princes and is forced to participate in the Purging Trials, a brutal competition to showcase the powers of the Elite, powers she doesn’t have, while managing to not get caught lest she be killed when they find out what she really is.  

Let’s get a couple of things out of the way, first this book is marketed as an enemies to lovers story, which it isn’t. Paedyn and her love interest, Kai (because of course his name is Kai) are rivals in the Trails by circumstance, but like they both take a liking to each other immediately. I saw someone call it insta-love which, sure, but I wouldn’t go that far per se, but there isn’t really an “enemies” thing, Paedyn just dances around the fact she likes Kai for most of the book and this dude is smitten almost immediately. So, sorry to disappoint you all with that one. There is romantic chemistry pretty immediately, but they do have some fist fights and hold knives to each other’s throats also so if you’re into that, wink wonk.  

Second, this book is marketed as a mixture of Red Queen and The Hunger Games, which like, I guess. The comparison to The Hunger Games isn’t completely accurate, I mean there are games that can result in death but people dying isn’t a requirement, there are people who participate in the Trials and lose but also stay alive. The comparison to Red Queen though, is very on the nose, if you liked Red Queen and wanted to read a world with a near identical magic system and a very similar plot progression, this is the book for you. I’m saying this as a fan of Red Queen, it is one of my favorite series of all time, but there were a lot of mirrors between it and Powerless, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it is something you should be aware of.  

I think my biggest complaint with this book was how the magic system wasn’t really explained in depth, there were different classifications between the different types of powers, each had its own cute little name like they do in Red Queen. People with super strength are called Brawnies, or teleporters are called Blinks, or those who can control plants are Blooms (just off the top of my head). While we are told that the plague is what gave certain people cool abilities and fancy hair colors, we don’t really know much else. At least in Red Queen we know that people inherit their father’s power, but in Powerless they don’t seem to have any rhyme or reason. For example, Kitt has a dual ability, cool, why? He’s the only person we know of that has two abilities and everyone is very chill about this though it is out of the norm and never explained. Kai is a Wielder, meaning he can use anyone’s ability if they’re in range, which is mildly related to Kitt’s ability if you think really hard about it and it makes sense since they’re brothers, but their dad is Brawny? You’ve lost me there. Also, what made certain people have abilities and others be Ordinary, why are Ordinaries still being born, like how does that work genetically if both their parents have abilities. I don’t know, maybe it’s just a me thing where I’m thinking too hard about it, but I do honestly hope that the rest of the series goes into this a bit more since I crave answers. This was probably done on purpose, and we’ll get Ordinary lore further down the line and lore about abilities as a whole, which is a selling point to get you to keep reading, but I would’ve appreciated a small bit of lore as I read. I shouldn’t have had this many questions about the magic system while reading since it did pull me away from the story a bit.  

I did enjoy the book despite my mild complaints, the story was entertaining enough for me to keep me reading even though I could essentially predict what was going to happen next since it follows a very basic YA plot progression and the characters were, mostly, fun to read about. Honestly, for a debut book, it was fairly well written, and I don’t have very many complaints on the writing style outside of the typical cliches, but I’m reading a YA book so I cannot complain. Overall, it was very enjoyable, though nothing groundbreaking, and I plan on reading the sequel when it comes out later this year, I give it an honestly pretty decent entertainment out of ten.  

Spoilers!!  

Normally I start the spoiler part of my review talking about something negative, but I have decided, new year new me, for now, and I’ll talk about something that I liked. I did enjoy the emphasis on the eye colors, which at first is super annoying because you’re like “omg can they stop talking about each other’s eyes we get it” but as the book goes on the eye color becomes super important. When Kai first meets Paedyn, he’s fascinated by how blue her eyes are and she always talks in detail about his gray eyes, while when she meets Kitt she can’t look him in the eyes since he has his father’s green eyes and Paedyn’s father was killed by the king so she sees the eyes of a killer whenever she looks at Kitt. As the story goes on, Paedyn is able to look Kitt in the eyes and starts to see them as his eyes, not his father’s cruel eyes and slowly starts to associate the green eyes with Kitt and not her father’s killer. But then right at the end we learn that it wasn’t actually the king who killed Paedyn’s dad, but Kai, and Paedyn’s dad was the first person he ever killed. So then the whole thing is flipped on its head! Paedyn realizes she had been hallucinating the king killing her dad (which like I get the trauma, but she was too weird about the green eye thing for me to just pretend she had never seen the king before but I’m not going to worry about it) when it was actually Kai. She had spent the whole book lovingly staring into the eyes of her father’s killer, and we find out in Kai’s bonus chapter that he took note of Paedyn’s dad’s blue eyes as he killed him and then was practically writing poems about Paedyn’s eyes. And then Kitt is for sure there.  

Speaking of Kitt, I’m excited to see him enter his villain era, though poor guy just doesn’t know what’s going on which is honestly a type of villain that is underrated. Unlike Red Queen where you could tell pretty immediately that the goal the entire time was to get rid of the monarchy, it’s a bit more ambiguous in Powerless because Kitt is genuinely a nice guy who wants to do better but unfortunately his dad was assassinated and he’s a little confused. There is honestly a lot of room for his character to develop and I think that’s what I’m most looking forward to in the next one. 

I do have to complain though, because this is who I am as a person. The thing that annoyed me the most was the love triangle (which if this isn’t your first time here you know about my hatred for love triangles) but this one specifically since it’s between two brothers, which is just icky. To paraphrase myself in one of my Goodreads updates (shameless plug) if I had a nickel for every time I read a book where a love triangle involves a pair of half-brothers, I’d have three nickels which isn’t a lot but I’m a little annoyed it’s happened three times. I honestly cannot put my finger on as to why I hate it so much, maybe because it has an incest-y vibe about it, but I just do not like it Sam I am.  

Not to keep word vomiting, I will stop there, but I am honestly willing to talk more about Powerless if you jump into my asks, I did very much enjoy the book despite all my complaining. I could also go into a whole thing where I compare it to Red Queen if anyone asks me nicely because I do have thoughts about that, but this is not the space for it. I cannot wait for Reckless and am very excited to see where the story takes us next! 

[thephoenixandthecrocodile]

My thoughts on Rings of Power Episodes 4 and 5 before I watch Episode 6

Episode 4

Overall episode 4 is definitely a filler episode or b storyline episode and I’m fine with that. Sometimes, as a writer, you accept that that one chapter isn’t as strong as the rest. That being said I wonder if the scenes that make up this episode might have felt better pacing wise if worked into other episodes instead of cramming the filler all in one episode?

That being said, I love the developing relationship between Isildur and Arondir. I know Arondir has to die sometime between now and the end of the series because otherwise Isildur would have destroyed the one ring.

I also love Isildur’s developing arc where he seems to become a spokesperson for the southlanders to Numenor whenever he returns. I imagine both Elendil and Miriel and the rest of Numenor want nothing more to do with the southlands and I can see Isildur campaigning their cause, similar to how Boromir campaigns Gondor’s cause to Aragorn: “yes there is frailty in men but there is also strength and courage.”

Estrid as a character herself is meh, but what she represents is really interesting in context of the bigger story. You can’t expect everyone to be suicidally brave all the time. People want to survive. To paraphrase another franchise, “Just because someone stumbles and loses their path, doesn't mean they're lost forever.”

Oooh Isildur you’re such a disaster. Only you would stumble upon the bog of eternal stench

“We shall call this lunch.” XD

Rory Kinnear! As someone who is not a huge Tom Bombadil fan (don’t kick me out of the fandom), I was more excited that Rory Kinnear was in this show than the character he was playing. That being said, I liked his portrayal of Tom especially the mind games “Is anyone else with here with you?” “You’re here, right? At least I think you are.”

Also, I didn’t mention this last time, but the whole “no one can give you a name, it finds you” bit is so trans coded.

Also, Gandalf you have like ten million names, so don’t start XD

And I would die for that lamb, Iawain I think their name is.

Stoors! Future Hobbiton!

HOLY SHIT ENTWIVES!!!! The Ents have always been my favorite part of the Lord of the Rings universe and to see an Entwife! I want to cry!

I would die for Winterbloom. She can do and has done no wrong. I support her murderous rampage against all tree enemies

That scene with Arondir and Winterbloom: forgiveness takes an age. It had me near tears. And “do you think they know peace?” It was so beautiful and gentle and so Tolkienesque. It was absolutely perfect.

I’m really curious how Theo’s storyline is going to develop. I can see him becoming one of Isildur’s trusted knights. Season 1 I was convinced he’d end up as a nazgul, but this season I’m not so sure.

The bickering between Galadriel and Elrond was fun, but also put aside your pride and be friends again! You need each other!

Poor Elrond feeling responsible for Brimby’ fate ☹

 The barrow wrights were fun. It was cute that this was basically everything Peter Jackson cut out of the first half of Fellowship minus Glorfindel.

I swear Elrond’s hair grows poofier the more stressed he is

“According to lore…” Elrond, you big nerd

Not enough Adar this episode.

Episode 5:

Dwarves!

Argh, Durin III you drive me crazy. I want to like you but also you are a stubborn ass

Love the whispers that occur when Durin III takes one of the rings.

Also love that the dwarven ring is like crack for Durin III. Let me make a huge hole in the foundational way, let me introduce a new tax system, alienate all my allies by demanding half of their wealth in exchange for these awesome rings, and forgive my son while discounting his wife’s opinions all in one day

Also love the sheer terror in Durin IV and Narvi’s faces as Durin III almost brings down a foundational wall XD

And those dwarf miners are so me. Get to go home early? Don’t have to tell me twice

And that’s going to come back and bit them in the ass right? You can’t just weaken a foundational wall and expect nothing bad to happen, right? (I know nothing of construction, but I feel like that’s a bad idea)

That Khazad……DUM was pretty awesome

I love this idea of the resonating being a gift from Aule, a skill that has been passed down generations and is this time honored traditional that belongs to the dwarves and then these rings come in and try to replicate that power but whereas resonating is having a conversation with the mountain, the ring just pierces through the mountain and sees what the wear wants to see. It’s an interesting commentary on how outsider will try to appropriate indigenous skills without truly understanding its purpose or how it works or how it helps maintain balance within the ecosystem

Also can I say one more time for those who missed it DISA IS MY QUEEN AND GODDESS. I WILL DIE FOR HER

Sauron is soooooo done with this gathering it’s hilarious. He is me during any and every work meeting

Ah Brimby and Narvi having a moment together. So sweet

DOORS OF DURIN BABY!!!!

Guarded by a password known only to “friends”. Eh, eh, get it? Haha

So I know Sauron really left because he doesn’t care about the doors, but I also choose to believe he left because he was jealous of the banter between Celebrimbor and Narvi XD

Oooh this balcony scene is painful because of the levels of gaslighting.

“You don’t always listen. Once you have an idea set in your head” – god I’ve heard things similar to that so many times from my own abusers.

“It is a game you play, is it not? Sowing seeds in others’ minds and then convincing them that the fruit is of their own thought.” - Brimby is starting to get it, but too late. :(

Also I love that Celebrimbor is so fond and protective of his dwarf friends. “this is a night for dwarves” and then later when Sauron tries to cast doubt on Durin III’s character, Brimby says such a strong NO! So different from the relationship between dwarves and Elves in the third age, when an Elf would probably be more likely ot distrust Durin III instead of the rings themselves.

Celebrimbor may be a dwarf man but he does NOT like men (the race, not the gender haha)

Also love how queer the relationship between Celebrimbor and Annatar is. As much as I’d love to see an official queer couple in LOTR world, I also love how often Patrick and Payne queer-code things. They seem really open to the idea of queerness in Tolkien, so maybe we’ll see a queer couple some day?

Nine rings?! Yeah, it does seem like a lot, right? I thought so when I first read the poem XD

“Fine, I’ll do it myself” poutness activated!

Also, Brimby, dear, when did you lose control over your own forge? Do you even know how that happened?

Fucking Pharazon and Kemen. Hope a sea monster eats the both of you

Also Pharazon makes the most demented grandpa/santa claus face right before ruining his son’s life

Seriously who tells their son, “hey, did you know your mother said you were going to die horribly” while breast feeding you that one time? Like WTF? Would have felt bad for Kemen IF THE REST OF THIS EPISODE DIDN’T HAPPEN

Elendil, darling, what are you doing in the queen’s bedchamber in the middle of the night?

Also, I’m not usually a shipper, but every time Elendil and Miriel are in a scene together I’m like:

Also poor Miriel trying so hard to do what is right. Terrified to do anything that could jeopardize her people’s future

The chest touching, the arm grabbing, the hand touching. You two are soooo in love, you dorks

Fucking Kemen and Earien

I LOVE that Elendil spends this entire scene thinking, “can punch the kid. Think of what Miriel said. Really want to punch this kid. No, no. Keep calm, keep calm.” XD

Ok Earien and Elendil need some family counseling. They’re both grieving and so they’re lashing out but also “and yet overthrowing a queen earned you a promotion” and “you’re path is made of seawater” is soooooo cold, Elendil

I’m annoyed with Earien but I understand her and I feel bad for her. She’s truly alone because her Dad and oldest friend don’t do feelings and her brother is dead and the other one is Eru Iluvatar knows where. (also is anyone going to tell Anarion that Isildur is “dead”?)

But seriously, Earien, you can do better than Kemen

Gil-Galad’s vision!!!

Run, Elrond, run!

Edna Mode: No capes!

Disa! Disa! Disa, just let the rock go! It’s not worth it! You’re going to give me a heart attack!

Nothing bad can happen to Disa, you hear me Patrick and JD?

The Watcher? It has to be the Watcher right? I can’t see the Balrog hanging around a pool of water

Just thinking about Arondir’s relationship with the tree he had to cut down in season 1 and his conversation with Winterbloom and Disa’s personal relationship with the mountain and the importance of respecting your own environment and ecosystem

Also, it’s tragic how these rings bring so much hope to those who receive them/make them and we all know what they will truly wrought. The downfall of so many people/kingdoms

“Who set these restricts?!” Haven’t we all been there? We made rules ages ago and then we’re like wait who’s the mook who made these rules up? XD

Love the small panic about misplacing the ring and its heaviness

Durin IV will put up with a lot old man, but don’t you dare disagree with Disa! She is ALWAYS right

When will people LISTEN to Durin IV!!! FFS

Celebrimbor’s little anvil paperweight is so cute :3

Do you think Sauron was insulted when Mirdania called him stinky? XD

Also, I like the hint that even though Celebrimbor is “old” looking, he’s still got quick reflexes and prowess as he dodges and counters Mirdania’s attacks.

Also, that look on Celebrimbor’s face when Mirdania explains what they were doing. I think he is taken aback not just because of what they did but also because, potentially, that is something Annatar should have known was dangerous and how to counter the negative effects. They’ve made ten rings together already. Surely Annatar of all people should know how volatile and fussy mithril can be.

Also fucking Annatar being all, “we could really use your help” *puppy dog eyes*

Seriously WHEN WILL PEOPLE LISTEN TO DURIN IV

Also love that other people just call him Durin the younger XD

Sauron just doesn’t know how to flirt, does he? Let me compare you to my ex-girlfriend. That will win you over, right? Also, your boss is secretly that flaming, stinky thing you saw. Just trust me on this

“Meet again in a far green country under a sweet sunrise” *cries*

Elendil puts a clam for Isildur and it ends up being for Valandil *cries*

FUCKING KEMEN, YOU LITTLE SHIT!

“It’s in the way of the new aqueduct” Ok, that line reading made me laugh

HOW DARE YOU DESTROY THAT RELIC!! KEMEN YOU LITTLE SHIT

Elendil FINALLY punching the little shit

“May the Valar forgive me.”

Meanwhile the Valar are eating their popcorn and chanting: “punch the little shit. Punch the little shit.”

“Put it down, son” *cries*

VALANDIL NO!!!! KEMEN YOU LITTLE SHIT!!!

The washing away of the blood – just KEMEN YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!!!

So Isildur’s eventual return to Numenor is going to be realllllllllly awkward

“Just be mindful someone is not manipulating you” Sauron, you little shit

Poor Brimby, so terrified of questioning Annatar, but having to do it for his dwarf friends

And then Annatar’s all like, “While you lied, so it’s your fault.” Such a little shit

I really feel like Celebrimbor wants to say, “But I lie to my cousin all the time. It’s what family does, after all haha.”

I also love that Annatar’s like, well the dwarven rings were made under a cloak of deception and that’s bad, so let’s just finish the nine since we’re in hell anyway and Brimby’s just like, “Yes, the trauma and depression agrees with you.”

Poor Durin and Disa. They just want to do what’s right for their people and their king. :(

Also that need flourish to the dwarven theme kicks ass. Well down Bear McCreary

 Poor Brimby. Lashing out at his artists because he can’t come out and admit what he did and all that guilt and shame eating him from the inside out. He needs Durin IV to move in with him and call bullshit whenever Annatar speaks

“The nine must redeem us all” *Cries* You did nothing wrong, Brimby, except trust a random man who did an impressive lightshow and called himself a messenger from the gods. Yeah…that wasn’t your best moment haha

And then the trembling hands because he knows something is wrong, he just can’t figure it out and he knows he’s to blame but he can’t understand why. *cries*

Charles Edwards is going to break me in the next few episodes as we get closer to the end.

I love how Gil-Galad is like we can’t defeat both Sauron’s and Adar’s armies and that’s it. End of scene. It’s like, do you have a plan? Are you going to do anything besides look pretty and depressed?

Adar! Adar! Adar!

Why does Adar look so turned on by Galadriel holding a knife to his neck? XD

[ashipiko]

Ashiii I hope you don't mind me askin a question about twst ashi!

I know the people she's close to are in her profile, like epel, floyd, leona, but exactly how do they act around her and vice versa? And are there any other characters? I'm very curious!! (also i'm working on something rn)

Take your time to answer if you need!! And you don't need to go through every character, just the ones that seem the most important/significant to you :D

HI TARURU!!!!!! 🤔 tbh this question isn’t really that hard to answer so I’ll go in depth about leona/epel? floyd used to be listed as a close relation but EHHH. tho I HAVE written little things for every single chara so that’ll be under the cut!!! (wrote it on discord so the like? rhythm behind the words might be weird cuz I cut them out www) 👁️👁️ TY for the interesting ask tho. hope you have fun w whatever you do!!!!

EPEL: yo the besties EVERRRRR!!!! their dynamic is countryboy that knows how to do so many things and princess who knows how to do so many things BUT neither of them know what the other does. THEY LEARN A NEW SKILL LIKE EVERY DAY THEYRE SO FUNNY. epel acts like his yeehaw self around ashi cuz they’re really close and he loves to catch a break wherever he can 🙏 ashi is more feisty and speaks her mind w/o worry (most of the time) w epel because there’s just a certain level of trust between them?? like you can speak your mind and really form a true connection. ashi who was never really close to anyone and epel who never really had friends his age growing up…… WWW I CRY. like imagine two elementary school students who are best friends. THEM.

LEONA: leona is his usual grumpy self and he doesn’t say it BUT he cares for ashi a lot. he’s not really a word person but more so an action type of guy? he’ll do things that’ll make her go “AWWWWWW” and stuff 🫶 ashi gets to be PEAK annoying and AGAIN doesn’t really worry about keeping up a front because she feels comfortable w leona. she’s the youngest at home after all!!! seems like they wouldn’t vibe at all but you’ll find em hanging out at the botanical garden together

OKKK EVERYONE ELSE IS UNDER THE CUT

—HEARTSLABYUL

RIDDLE: they’re pretty chills…… riddle likes ashi because she abides to the rules of heartslabyul (that she knows of) even if she’s not even a member of Heartslabyul herself <3 tho he does not understand what goes thru her head sometimes. “this slang is worse than cater sometimes and ACE??? ASHI YOU DESERVE BETTER YOURE TOO NICE FOR A RULEBREAKER LIKE HIM” vibes

ACE: do I need to even need to explain. I wrote 6K words about them and won’t shut up

DEUCE: THEY VIBE!!! NGL i do think that ashideuce have like sliiight similarities if you peek but deuce is more open and genuine than her 🤔 they’re very cute and I think Ashi wingmanning him could be cute <3 Ashi thinks he’s silly

CATER: people compare her to him sometimes and she’s like “……IMIG?” they would get along really well on paper but in reality they don’t interact all that often….. nothing special but I think they both know that they’ve got smth going on that’s not entirely the same

TREY: uhhhhh. TRULY JUST ACQUAINTANCES FRS <3 like he’ll ask her if she wants anything because she’s prefect and also cuz she’s like a regular at unbirthday parties but that’s bout it 😔

—SAVANACLAW

LEONA: accidental adoption at its finest. leona and ashi both have that bougie background even tho Ashi isn’t an ACTUAL princess so “out of pity” leona treats her 🙏 they have fun talks and ashi likes to draw w leona when she needs a break from ace or if he’s busy 🫶🫶 v chill……. leona could see right thru her act I think so he also likes to tease her and stuff. THEYRE FUN. i think they styled eachother’s hair to look like eachother once

RUGGIE: 😔 the person leona sends to do the dirty work to get food for Ashi…… they’re chill and they like to catch up!!!! ruggie tried to finesse her once and it almost worked 😭😭they talk sometimes when they both end up at Monstro lounge <3 homies!!! RUGGIE KINDA LEARNS TO ACCEPT HER AS A LITTLE SISTER TOO I THINK

JACK: truly just acquaintances pt 2 😔 it’s really hard to keep a convo going w these two and the only thing they’ve got in common is tsunderes. THE TYPE OF FRIENDS TO BE FRIENDS IN A GROUP but not 1 on 1

—OCTAVINELLE

AZUL: she wants to punch him SO BAD. twstshi acts nice w him cuz he’s her boss and she’s very chill but she SWEARS everytime he opens his mouth she wants to sock him across the face. azul thinks they are great business partners HE MEANS FRIENDS. MAYBE

FLOYD: FLOYD LOOOVES ASHI he thinks she’s SO fun to rile up. will squeeze her very hard if he spots her at basketball matches and if crabby doesn’t point out that she can’t breathe 🫶 ashi likes him but she still finds him VERY scary. unreliable coworker 😔 tho I think wayy later on when Ashi feels more vulnerable their mood swings would be veeeeery uh. ruh oh

JADE: HORRIFYING GET HIM OUT. WHY IS HE LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT. STOP SMILING AT ME. GET AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

—SCARABIA

KALIM: they’re SO CUTE. ashi’s a foodie and so kalim invites her over to Scarabia a lot <3 slowly he helps her build up a spice tolerance…… slowly……….. both kinda naive but ashi’s more cautious than him I think

JAMIL: very skeptical of one another. vvvvvv sussy but ashi likes his food so. it’s okie <3

—POMEFIORE

VIL: ADMIRES HIM SM vil’s very neato and espec after book 5 Ashi can’t even be MAD at vil’s overblot because she’s like damn fam 😔 i lowkey getchu. it’s okie <3 and she holds absolutely NO GRUDGE against him. there’s like nothing bad about him she can pinpoint and she thinks he’s really hypesies

ROOK: kinda scary but he’s fun so it works out 🫶🫶 rook is the type to joke and tease Ashi and make her laugh I think but give these one off lines and she’s like “???? WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN.” they’re funsies

EPEL: BESTIES WHO LOOK SO CUTE BUT WOULD KICK YOU IN THE NUTS IF THEY COULD. ashi loves hearing about everything epel and is SO invested in his hometown. she also loves all the apple cider he brings over and thinks it’s SOOOOOOOO good 🙏 ashi’s walls naturally come down w epel and TBH he doesn’t really notice or make a big deal about it? so they act very cute and proper w others but you might catch these two on the roof of NRC one day

—IGNIHYDE

IDIA: ashi hates him so much. so many reasons and she wishes she could curse him with rabies.

ORTHO: thinks he is insane and was fine w him until he threatened to blow up the entirety of NRC and now she thinks that he’s terrifying but she can’t mess w him MORE SO THAN IDIA because 😔 child

—DIASOMNIA

MALLEUS: very scary. she gets so scared and yelps everytime she sees him. she’s like constantly shaking when she talks to him and malleus is like teehee <3 gargoyle

LILIA: KINDA FREAKY WHERE DOES HE COME FROM. lilia think she’s very fun and he likes to talk to her!! tho she cannot eat his food. holy moly my guy like WHAT

SILVER: ashi’s just awed by his existence NGL like damn fam. how are you just like perfection 😭😭 she doesn’t talk to him much tho. like that person you look at and think about but don’t talk to <3 silver thinks she is a very nice girl

SEBEK: one sided affection and ashi is very “😨 huh. stop yelling at me” 😔 she wouldn’t punch him but she will give him the silent treatment cuz she’s so annoyed <33 she laughs everytime Ace disses him

GRIM: IFS LIKE. WEIRD because I don’t think Ashi is ALWAYS putting on her front w him because they’re together literally 24/7 but they care for eachother a lot 😔😔 like Ashi will be moody w Grim but gives him discipline like a dog WITH JUSTIFIED REASONS so he can’t really get mad at her…… even if she is moody she still seems cheery so like. weird middle ground. Ashi still plays it safe but he still gets a good look at a wider range of emotions w her

[kalid-raven]

First Christmas (Angels of Ambrose)

Christmas... When was the last time she celebrated it at all, let alone with anyone else? Mia stood beside Ellie, one of her new family members, in the kitchen of her house helping her decorate cookies. Percy and Bo playfully disagreed about what decorations to use on the tree, teasing one another and throwing tinsel back and forth. Ava was shuffling with Vincent through his music collection for something properly festive, but also metal, to play for the family. Lester was putting small, stuffed antlers on Jonesy and her little brother, attempting to make them as cute as possible, though a certain pup was trying to eat them instead. As for the two local cats? They were napping together in the window, watching a frog no one knew was outside glaring in.

It was a full house, and they were prepping for a very festive celebration ahead. Mia still felt so overwhelmed at times, having shown up not so long before, and yet here she was with a whole family that had mostly accepted her with open arms. Vincent was the only one who seemed to be withdrawn from her, but Ellie assured her it was nothing to worry about, and he was just slow to warm up to someone, like Bo but a lot more so.

Mia wondered, as she wondered many things, ‘Why the mask’? She figured out right away him and Bo were twins, hence the obvious similarities, but he always wore it, and didn't spoke. She picked up he used sign language, and had considered asking Ellie if she would help Mia learn some, so she could try and at least say "hi" and understand the response he gave.

But, maybe that would seem too pushy? She didn't want anyone to feel like she was trying to force them to like her, she knew she could be pretty unlikeable, the kids at her school and her father regularly drove that home. If it wasn't for William, Percy, and Mia’s friends online(like Taylor), she wouldn't have believed she could be liked at all. That very thing is what made all the care and warmth given to her in heaps, with no strings in sight, so shocking and overwhelming. It made her feel so warm it was almost like her heart wanted to shatter under the pressure, only so it could come back together better than when it was first broke long ago.

"Something on your mind, Mia Me?" Ellie disrupted Mia's thoughts, a train she was glad to be knocked off of given where it wandered. The smile on the woman's face, only a few years her senior, was probably the most vivid one she had ever seen. And her aura? Pure sunshine glowing behind her with pearls in a wreath about her beautiful brown hair. Mia couldn't help but smile.

"Nothing, just thinking about how this is the first Christmas I've gotten to celebrate since I was five. I'm really happy." Mia answered, only to find her eyes stinging as emotions kept locked away were battering at the cage of her chest to get out. "Ah-sorry." She said, raising a hand to try and stop wayward moisture from getting free, only to be pulled into a hug without warning or hesitation.

"Oh, Mia Me..." Ellie cooed like a mother to her child. "This is just the first one, I promise you there'll a ton more, every single one with you in it. Wouldn’t have it any other way." She assured the girl, someone who she eagerly took in as a little sister in her eyes, despite the honorary title of "aunt" via the sisterhood to Percy. Whom, of which, had taken notice of what was going on in the kitchen. The writer hadn't quite heard what was said, but she was smiling knowingly all the same. Mia had a lot of hurt to heal, and if anyone was the perfect doctor for that, it was Ellie.

A/N: Got a sudden stroke of inspiration to write a little something about the holidays from Mia’s perspective. :) With appearance of the AoA cast, and Ellie playing the role of nurturer as she does so well ❤️ Merry Christmas!

[icharchivist]

aah that's fair that's fair! I'm glad you're feeling comfortable enough sharing it here though <3

I'm posting it like this so i can post the actual fic under a read more (else it'll be impossible to scroll by ahah) but thank you!!!

so i'm going through it and, indeed there's a few things that have been disproven since then, but there's no point in pointing them out as you're more than aware of those ahah. Yet it's really pretty nice! i do really get in the end this feeling of Lucilius trying to explain calmly and seriously his situation but somehow not realizing when he gets emotional on the side. I really like it.

and the line "Of course, they are both bastards, so that didn't work out." cracked me up really bad. And so did the line about Belial's sense of humor.

and that ending is actually perfect imo. The build up to Lucilius' anguish for this gutpunch by the end is just muah it's great. thank you for sharing it with us!!!! truly appreciating it, and i'm sure others will too ;D thank you!

[Onward is the fanfic Anon wrote]

So, we know that Lucilius and Beelzebub are clones of the Speakers, Sahar/Lucio and Shalem, made for the Astral World. For whatever reason, really. Probably has something to do with God splitting in two and one half going to the Astral World and one half staying in the Sky Realm. The why isn't that important, tbh, they're basically gods, they can do whatever the fuck they please.

But I imagine Lucio went "I don't want to burden my clone with all this power and responsibility that I hold. I want them to be able to live freely and find their own path in life. Not that predestined stuff". Shalem agreed and thusly nerfed her clone as well. That was the beginning of the end.

Because the Astral God was the creator half of Bahamut, their world is unchanging. Almost frozen in time. Astrals themselves pride themselves on not being subject to change, like those whimsical Skydwellers. So they lead long, long lives and remain static throughout. I still choose to believe that they start out as babies, because they look anatomically human and can canonically interbreed with humans. But mainly so we can picture baby Lucilius. Arguably the only one of the three to have ever been a baby. Lucifer popped into existence fully-grown and Lucio uh. Probably did, too. Admittedly, the idea of Bahamut raising two babies is adorable, but I'm getting sidetracked again.

So Lucilius and Beelzebub appeared as babies in the Astral world, cute and innocent. They were given to foster families and raised there. For bonus points, Beelzebub's family was slightly higher class, allowing him an easier start at life and to rise through the ranks in the Astral military more easily. Well, that, and because man's a walking wall of meat.

But growing up, Lucilius was haunted. Haunted by dreams of himself, with long, flowing hair, six feathered wings, cosmic powers at the tips of his fingers. But every time he saw himself in the mirror, all that looked back with bloodshot eyes was a scrawny little nobody. Short and weak. No wings, no powers to speak of and when he tried growing out his hair, it just looked weird. He was suffering almost some kind of dysphoria. Not to mention, Lucilius was defective. He required sustenance, needed to eat, which is unusual for Astrals. He was definitely picked on for this. Some mused that he was a Skydweller pedigree or that something was wrong with him. He definitely shoved a pencil up his head bully's nose for that.

That his parents weren't his birth parents wasn't a secret, anyone with working eyes could see as much, so they didn't bother hiding it from him. If nothing else, he appreciated the honesty. As Lucilius grew, he was less interested in figuring out his parentage and more how to bridge the gap between the him that he was and the radiant being he kept seeing in his dreams, but that he simply failed to grow into, no matter how much time had passed. He threw himself into his studies.

Beelzebub suffered similar dysphoria growing up, but it kind of mixed in with his actual dysphoria, so it was a bit less jarring. Let's assume that the Astrals aren't terribly transphobic and Bubs managed to transition in relative peace. With his refitted body, he was less haunted by the image of Shalem. He was himself now, Beelzebub. No comparisons necessary. The only thing he craved was ever more power.

Lucilius looked into evolution, in hopes of finding the fingerprints of God all over His creation. He wasn't terribly impressed by what he found.

When the Astrals invaded the Sky Realm, Lucilius wasn't initially terribly interested (Bubs on the other hand was all over that shit, waging wars on those poor Skydwellers in search of a challenge), but finally followed the siren song of his visions of Sahar. Perhaps this Realm held the answers to what he was looking for, after all.

He was a mere little research assistant, nobody paid him much heed, but that also meant that he was able to work in peace. After looking over the creatures inhabiting this fragile world, beings without the Power of Creation his people had been bestowed, creatures who would die, he became less impressed with the Omnipotent. Primal cores were something he fell into ass backwards, they were either an unintended side effect of an experiment of his, or something other Astrals had created, but didn't pay much attention to, since they didn't see the use.

Lucilius however decided to start researching those curious cores instead. He discovered that by inserting them into living beings, he could increase their strength and longevity. Assuming they survived the process, anyway. The rats usually did not, but larger creatures, such as dogs and cattle, had less issue incorporating the cores into their bodies. But still, perfect integration of tissue and core was difficult to achieve. Experiments with infant animals bore little fruit, as again, their bodies were too small. Thus, the idea of creating being with bodies specifically suited was born. In fact, if they were able to integrate cores perfectly, if they could utilize that power, perhaps he could recreate this figure that was always haunting him.

Lucilius got to work on creating the first primal beasts.

It took years and a lot of effort. Many crushed cores, many broken bodies, created with technology similar to the one that had helped Beelzebub transition to a form he found more suitable.

Lucilius' place was covered in bodies that all bore a more than uncanny resemblance to him, trying different combinations of different factors, but unwilling to budge on the amount of power that he wanted the core of his creation to hold. It had to be perfect. Most bodies, even if technically flawless, could not handle that amount of power. Lucilius had seen people bearing his face die more often than anyone reasonably should. It didn't even bother him anymore.

So consumed by his work was he, the council was beginning to think he'd gone mad. They sent Beelzebub to check on him, which was how those two idiots first met. To Lucilius' surprise, Beelzebub wasn't the big oaf he'd expected. In fact, he seemed very into the research he was doing with those cores, the goals he planned to achieve. Not to mention, a strange, almost familiar feeling of being near him. Like they were somehow meant to be friends and companions.

Of course, they are both bastards, so that didn't work out.

The finally, the day came where Lucilius' experiments were a success. Not just once, but twice, even.

The perfect clone, handsome, tall, white-winged and powerful, opened his sky blue eyes and Lucilius thought he was going to die. It was everything he ever wanted and more. He had created life, made right what had gone wrong with him. Truly, he was a god now and considering the power and beauty and immortality of what he had created, he was better than the old god had ever been. Perhaps he was a little bit mad after all.

And so absorbed was he in his triumph that it took him a few moments to recognize that the other one was starting to stir as well. The control group, so to speak, based on a different principle, created from a different mold. Really, more of an experiment of how far he could deviate from the formula and still succeed. He hadn't expected it to make it this far, much less for it to open its blood red eyes and look at him.

But, two was better than one, he figured, so instead of tossing the unwanted second one out, he named them Lucifer and Belial and presented them to the council, his head held high.

It felt good to see those self-righteous idiots overcome by awe for his genius. They appointed him their new head researcher and for a while, all was right with the world.

He ran that lab in Canaan and was free to do as he pleased. More research on primal cores had to be conducted, but also tests on the two creations that he had.

They were happy to play along. In between testing everything from their reflexes to their thought processes though, Lucilius found himself growing fond of them. Lucifer, of course, was his crowning achievement, but even Belial was still his work. The three of them spent a lot of time together, actually. It was a bit of a "we vs the rest of the world"-feeling that drove Lucilius, since he'd known them longer than all those phoney research assistants, who were either out to waste his time or steal his work. To Lucifer and Belial, he was, well, their creator. Almost like a father figure. They only really had him and each other, since they were the only ones of their kind and the only ones they could relate to. Belial and Lucifer were close then, like brothers. Despite his poor patience, Lucilius did his best to train them in combat, teach them about the world. It helped that they were both intelligent and quick learners. Every time they did something right, his expression brightened, because they surpassed his expectations and filled him with pride. Especially Belial seemed to really like it when Lucilius smiled, because he tried harder and harder to surpass his expectations. To surpass Lucifer. Despite being designed to be weaker than the other, because Lucifer had to be the strongest and most powerful, obviously, Belial pushed himself to keep up with him. All for Lucilius. Back then, even if he noticed, he didn't much care for the why. Only that the results made him look better.

But even the good times couldn't last forever and once the council determined that they knew enough about those existing primals, they wanted more. Hand the unwanted tasks of overseeing the Sky Realm off to them, leave the Astrals more time to do Astral things. So Lucifer was given a fancy new role and title, and Belial, as his adjutant. The two's relationship was never the same. The happy family time was over. But Lucifer would spend his entire life thinking back to those days, yearning for them.

Unfortunately, it turned out that mass producing more primals, angels to bolster the ranks and fulfill all sorts of purposes, didn't make Lucilius happy. With time, he grew bitter and paranoid. So he was a god now, a creator of powerful beings, but he still had to kowtow to the whims of the council and their dumb ideas. They were idiots.

And while he took pride in Lucifer, that still didn't solve the problem of himself being defective and weak. He still needed to eat and while at least no one would dare mock him for it anymore, it irritated him beyond reason. What was the point to being a creator of perfect beings if you yourself are still so woefully flawed?

That's when it occurred to him that perhaps it would be best if all should come to an end.

He embezzled funds for his research and used cores that hadn't survived previous experiments, mushed them all together and finally created Avatar, the beast that could shake the world to its core. Surely if there were a God, He would have to stop him now, right? And the second He showed His face, Lucilius would be able to take a good look at it and tell Him how much He sucked. How awful He was for creating all these flawed beings and leaving them to fend for themselves in this imperfect world.

Truly, deep down Lucilius was just a petulant child, acting out because he wanted attention from his parents. But his parents were God and God had left this world. So his tantrums were left unanswered. Lucilius grew more and more frustrated with time.

His adjustant caught wind of his plans and threatened to inform the council. He tried to blackmail Lucilius - him, who had given life to gods. It was in his darkest hour that he remembered his other darkest creation and sicced Belial on the poor fool. The primal was beyond happy to be of use to his master. He also had no issues with murder. Quite the opposite. Lucilius remembered that if nobody else, he could trust his creations. They wouldn't betray him. Well, Lucifer, as appointed steward of evolution, might grow beyond his purpose and turn on him yet, but he had Belial. Belial, who wasn't meant to change. A perfect, immutable being with perfect, immutable loyalty.

So Belial was transferred from working under Lucifer to working under Lucilius. Lucifer was sad to see him go, but Belial had never been more ecstatic in his life.

Together they furthered the research into Avatar, spending many a sleepless night slaving over their work. If a primal caught wind of what they were doing, Lucilius had ways of making them disappear and incorporating their cores into his newest creation. He turned a blind eye to Beelzebub helping himself to primal cores that were as of yet unused, if only to see how that would turn out. Who was he to turn away a willing test subject?

As a contigency plan, Belial's tolerance to the Avatar core was increased. This included fitting him with new wings. Gone were the fluffy purple feathers, replaced by the same bat-like wings Avatar bore. Besides, they allowed him to glide soundlessly through the night. The process must have been excruciatingly painful, seeing how an angel's powers are stored within their wings, but Belial never complained.

The council decided that the Supreme Primarch should have a replacement, a precaution, if nothing else. And while Lucilius was offended at the notion that his perfect creation could ever be killed, by this point, creating primals was easy. Lucifer found out about this and begged and pleaded to be a part of the creation process, so Lucilius left the design process to him. When Sandalphon came into this world, Lucilius wasn't impressed. The dark hair and red eyes on the primal he could understand. It was quite obvious that Lucifer was nostalgic for the days when it had just been the three of them, or even just working so closely with the being who had shared his cradle. But seeing Sandalphon's short stature reminded Lucilius of his own shortcomings. Perhaps it was out of spite then that he refused to tell Sandalphon his purpose, to make him a target for the mockery of his peers, have his own insecurities gnaw at him. Like the God he despised, Lucilius had bestowed his own fate upon his creation. But while Lucilius had been allowed to rise above his station, Sandalphon was to stay in a garden, safely tucked away, always waiting for Lucifer to have time to spare to spend with him.

Another not-so ideal creation was Sariel, the Archangel of Execution, prepared for the purpose of cleaning up messes. He turned out far too sensitive for the task and attempts at lowering his emotional responses through limiters only hampered his intelligence instead. Like all his failures, looking at Sariel made Lucilius sick to his stomach. It was Belial who saved his fellow primal from either the incinerator or joining the ever-growing horror that was Avatar, suggesting that Sariel's naivety made him a useful pawn.

Things were going well for a while then. The council was far too occupied with their decadence to pay attention to what was going on right under their noses. Beelzebub was too blinded by his hatred for the primals in general and Lucifer especially to pay attention to anything. What a shame. Lucilius had had such high hopes for him.

Belial recruited more and more primals for him, those who were struck with ennui at the prospect of spending their immortal lives in servitude, or those who were still loyal to their creator. Though, he also flat-out lied to a bunch to get them to join him. And even Belial didn't fully know that he was leading this congregation to their slaughter like a flock of lambs. It didn't matter to Lucilius. Nothing mattered anymore. Nothing but ending this hellish, imperfect life.

They called themselves the fallen angels, because Belial had developed a weird sense of humor Lucilius didn't remember programming him with.

Finally, the day arrived. The promised day, one that would put an end to all of creation. His fallen angels attacked the Astral and Primal forces. It was a massacre. People dropped dead left and right. Their blood covered what felt like all of Canaan, painted the buildings, the sky itself. It didn't matter. Everything was going to end here.

Lucilius had hoped for death for the longest time, at least somewhere deep down, but he hadn't expected to meet it at the hands of his perfect creation. And even in the face of total annihilation, Lucifer looked conflicted to have to slay his creator, his father, the man who had given him life and purpose. When his head was severed from his neck, Lucilius couldn't help but smile. Perhaps Lucifer wasn't as perfect as he had always thought. But at least he was still powerful and radiant. Just as Lucilius never could be.

He died that day and it was fine. It may have even been a relief. Lucilius was saved. Finally at peace.

Until he opened his eyes again, 2000 years later.