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eatfishies · 5 months ago

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Black Lace and Trouble All Over Your Face 🔞

summary: A black lace underwear vs a lust-driven Sylus.

He may or may not have seen a peek of what you wore beneath your dress.

word count: 2.5k tags: NSFW, sylus x reader (afab), no plot just filth, oral sex, cunnilingus, clit play, swearing, vaginal fingering, vaginal sex, squirting and ejaculation, overstimulation, choking, blowjobs, slight fluff, panty kink (?), deepthroating, pet names, nipple play, established relationship, creampie, degradation fish notes: please and PLEASE heed the tags oki !! only read if ur comfy but yes anyways i decided to share my smutty sylus fic here too ^__^ forgive me if it's a lil rusty, i haven't wrote in awhile T__T ── ao3 link ★ ˙ ̟ song recs: guess by charli xcx

She honestly didn’t know how it even came to this point. From trying on an innocent dress to now, laying and spreading out before the most fearful man in the whole N109 Zone. And yet, Sylus finds her the prettiest like this — flustered and bewildered. The dress she was trying on hiked up a bit, showing off her bare, smooth legs.

Sylus could no longer ignore the gnawing primal hunger he feels towards her. It was torturous, having to hold back his desires and maintain a facade of nonchalance when all he wanted was to ravage her and make her feel like she’s on top of the world.

Her breath hitched in her throat as she stared at him. Red eyes swirling with multitude of thoughts. “W- what are you doing…?” She asked, slightly confused, yet mildly curious. Of course, she knew what he was thinking about it, she’s not entirely dumb.

Sylus traced her jaw ever so softly. “Don’t play coy with me, kitten. You knew what you were doing wearing this dress.”

Well, it wasn’t really a revealing dress per se, it’s just that… she was in the middle of picking up her phone that had dropped to the floor when he walked in on her. Bent down and revealing a peek of what’s underneath her cute little dress. Sylus briefly caught a glimpse of a black lace underwear, but he couldn’t be too sure. He needed to see it for himself to confirm his suspicions.

If only Sylus hadn’t come home at this exact moment, then maybe she wouldn’t have been in this exact predicament. Not that she’s complaining much but she is more or less a little bit surprised that it took Sylus longer than she anticipated to make a move. For someone so bold with his adoration towards her, he is awfully slow when it comes to voicing out his inner desires. Perhaps this train of thought goes way deeper and… dirtier than it seemed.

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just trying on a cute dress I had just bought online. It’s not my fault you saw my underwear. You should’ve knocked before you entered anyways.” She spoke, trying to remain casual and calm but only he knows how fast her composure is slipping the more she is pinned beneath him.

He only smirked, as he wasn’t particularly phased or bothered by it. The tent on his pants says otherwise though. He really is curious to know what lies beneath her dress. For once, he’ll let go of his pride and bite the bullet. After all, he couldn’t resist her, no matter how hard he tried. She’s the only one that can conquer the depths of his heart.

“Well then… care to satiate my curiosity then? Or is my kitten too shy to admit that she wears such a pretty little thing underneath her clothes everyday...”

A blush crept on her face even more. “O- of course not everyday!” She looked away, too embarrassed that she may have worn it because she had also bought it along with the dress. It seemed like her wishful thinking came true after all. Now that Sylus has her trapped and nowhere to go, she could only let herself go.

“Why don’t you take a guess then? What do you think I’m wearing, hm?”

Sylus stared at her, amused by her sudden bold question. “You want me to guess, huh, darling?” He leaned down to gently bite her earlobe, sending tingles everywhere down her body. He whispered hotly in her ear, “I think it’s black and lace. Am I right, sweetie?”

At this point, she was still surprised at how she’s even holding up. She merely croaked out a flustered, “yes” before Sylus smirked and went lower to kiss and bite her neck, leaving a trail of hickeys that would be visible to everyone tomorrow. She could only let out whimpers and moans at his ministrations.

“Sy- sylus! Please…” She begged as he continued to tease her. He pulled back slightly, “What do you want baby?”

With no hesitation, she said breathlessly, “I want you.”

Red eyes gleamed dangerously as his usual smirk tugged at his lips. “As you wish, princess.” In a swift motion, he took the dress she was wearing and tossed it somewhere on the floor. Normally, she’d be a little pissed but now, she couldn’t care less.

Not when Sylus is marveling at the underwear she’s wearing. A black lace, almost see-through underwear with pink bows on it. It should be a crime on how it ridiculously made him salivate at the sight before him.

“Like what you see?” She bit her lip shyly, observing his expression carefully.

“Like it is not even a word for it, sweetie.” His fingers went up to expertly take off her bra, leaving her breasts exposed. He grasped both of them before pinching her nipples, eliciting a moan out of her. Sylus closed the distance between them and kissed her hungrily, addicted to the way she tasted as he played with her tits. He pulled away and gazed at her with a wild look in his eyes, “I am going to devour you.” Was what he said before his lips enclosed on the nipple, feeling it hardened as he continued to twirl with the neglected bud.

Pure ecstasy ran through her body. She can feel herself getting even more wet the more Sylus continued to suck and lick her nipples. He watched her carefully as he trailed kisses along her soft skin, igniting all sorts of butterflies in the pit of her stomach.

She squirmed beneath his watchful eyes, “Sy… please. Don’t tease me.” She pleaded, her tone was sweet and desperate. A deep chuckle was all she heard before Sylus slowly moved down to stare at her sopping wet panty. He smirked, finding this amusing, “Already so wet for me, kitten?” He prodded at her soaked underwear, pressing down on her clit.

At the sounds of her whimpers, Sylus continued to rub her clit through her underwear. Edging her closer to release but the moment she arched her back and curled her toes, Sylus stops. Unable to control herself any longer, she begged, “Please… I want you. I’ll be good, I swear.”

“Really? Then I shall reward my good girl, hm?” Sylus pulled aside her cute lace underwear, staring in fascination and adoration at her dripping cunt. “Your pretty pink pussy is so eager for me, sweetie.” She blushed, seemingly having a hard time to grasp on his crude, yet blunt words.

Without giving her a chance to dwell on it, Sylus begins to lick her pussy. All she could do was lay back and let out a string of moans– overwhelmed by the pleasure. Ruby eyes gazed at her intensely as he continued to expertly suck on her drooling cunt.

“Haaa..! Ah! Fuck–! It feels so good, Sy…” She moaned out his name and it sounded like heaven to his ears. He hummed, skillfully tonguing her pussy with vigor, aching to witness her orgasm. The tent in his pants is becoming awfully hard, he longed to see her on her knees and choking on his cock. The more she mewls and cries, the faster Sylus laps at her eager cunt.

Her fingers find their way to grasp and pull on Sylus’s soft hair, a plethora of moans and whimpers choked out of her throat as she feels herself reaching her climax. “Ah! Sylus, Sylus! Fuck, I’m so close!” A wave of euphoria washed over her as she came undone on Sylus’s sinful mouth.

“That’s my good girl.” He spoke lowly as he licked his lips, she felt herself flush at the sight of his face wet with her juices. Just when she thought it was over, her underwear was pulled down and tossed to the side, revealing her dripping wet pussy. Her cunt clenched around his digits, sliding in and out of her gummy walls with ease.

“Argh…! Sylus… put it in me. I want it. I want your cock.” She whimpered and who was Sylus to deny his slutty girl what she wanted. “Relax, kitten. Let me see how much you can squirt for me.” She bit her lip, hard as he continued to finger her, casually inserting three fingers at once.

He chuckled, “My… someone’s insatiable. Can’t get enough, hm? Such a dirty whore for me.” She could only moan out in response as Sylus sped up, ramming in her cunt like there’s no tomorrow. The room was surrounded by her cries of pleasure and wet squelching sounds, courtesy of her desperate pussy.

Curses and whimpers elicited out of her throat, her cunt spasming against his skillful fingers. Sylus curled his fingers and that’s when she saw stars, coming once more for him. “So… so… good…” She said breathlessly, seemingly in a daze.

Sylus brushed a strand of hair out of her face, drenched in sweat as she stared back at him. Her eyes are unfocused and filled with desire. “Does my slutty kitten want my cock?” He leaned down and began to litter bite marks at her thighs. Sylus loved this, claiming her as his own. Letting everyone know that she belongs to him and him only.

She whined, her hands reaching out to grip on his shirt. “Want it, Sy… please. I’ve been so good…”

He lets her unbutton his shirt, her fingers are itching to feel his skin against hers, while Sylus removed his pants, speeding up the process. Without wasting any time, Sylus stroked his hardened shaft, letting out breathy moans. His gaze remained on her, laying beneath him. “C’mon sweetie, open up.” He said as he guided his cock to her parted lips.

She lets out a whine, swallowing him whole. Sylus was way too big to even fit in her mouth but the more he trained her, the more she became accustomed to it. “What a good cockslut.” He praised her, his fingers tugging onto her messy hair.

Eager to please, she began to bob her head around his shaft while he roughly throatfucks her. Saliva trickled down her chin but all she could think about was him. Sylus is truly the definition of perfect.

The sight of him in bliss and in pleasure turns her on way more than she’d like to admit. Feeling strangely motivated by the looks of his face, she quickened her pace, wanting, no, she needs his cum.

“Ah… yeah, just like that, kitten. Fuck, you’re so good at this. You like sucking my cock, huh?” He stroked her hair as she gazed up at him, nodding. Unable to resist any longer, Sylus grips her hair, and she lets herself be used just like a toy. “You dirty little whore, so good at pleasing me. Fuck, I’m close!” He thrusted inside her hot mouth before finally reaching his high.

As soon as he came, she hummed in satisfaction. Pulling back, she stuck out her tongue and showed him before swallowing. Sylus’s eyes glowed, he’s hungry for more. In an instant, he grabbed her throat, “You pretty little thing, I’m going to ruin you.”

She braced herself when she felt the tip of his cock slowly push inside her dripping cunt. Once he finally slid all the way in, he let out a moan. “Your pussy is so needy. It’s gripping me so hard, sweetie.” She could only arch her back as her fingers scramble to grab the sheets.

Feeling herself clenching tightly around his shaft, she whimpered, “Move… Sylus, please, I need you hard and fast.”

The usual smirk appeared on his handsome face, “As you wish, my slut.” Was what he said before ruthlessly pounding into her with an inhumane pace. His name falls out of her lips like a prayer – a mantra as she feels her pussy drooling and becoming wetter with each thrust.

“Scream for me. Say my name.” His hand gripped her throat, “Say it, you dumb slut.”

She had no choice but to obey his demands. With a choked voice, she screamed out, “Sylus! Sylus! Fuuuuck! Feels so good– ah! Right there, right there!”

He could only admire her as he thrusted deep into her sweet spot. Watching his lover make such lewd expressions makes him feel a swell of pride, knowing that only he could do that. No one else.

He lets go of her throat, thick fingers coming down to rub and flick at her clit. “Cum on my cock, whore.”

The world turned white as soon as she reached her orgasm. Sylus continued to ram into her before coming deep in her tight cunt. He pulled out, staring in fascination as cum dribbled out of her used pussy.

“You did so well, kitten.” He said softly, caressing her cheek as she nodded dumbly, too out of it. Sylus could only smile, knowing that she is still in a state of euphoria. He leaned down to press a kiss on her forehead, “Let me take care of you, my precious.”

The next morning, she woke up feeling sore and satisfied. To her disappointment, Sylus was nowhere to be seen. She frowned as she sat up in bed, maybe he has work? She thought to herself before getting out and walking to the bathroom.

Bite marks and hickies scattered across her skin as she observed her disheveled state in the mirror. She blushed as she recalled their intense activity last night. After she had finished washing her face and brushing her teeth, she walked out and was surprised to see Sylus in bed with a tray of breakfast.

“Good morning, sweetie.” He said, his eyes softening at her appearance.

Her feet instantly moved to sit beside him, “Sylus, did you make this?” She pointed to the fluffy pancakes and a cup of coffee. A smile crept on her face once she realized that the pancakes were shaped like hearts.

“Of course. I dismissed the chef for today. Wanted to pamper you for being so good to me last night.”

If it wasn’t possible, she felt herself falling for this man more and more. She smiled brightly at him, “Thank you, this is lovely.”

He returned her smile with his own, “Anything for you, my sweet.”

The couple enjoyed their morning with breakfast in bed and cuddles. When Sylus was feeding her, he suddenly asked, “Where did you get that underwear from?”

She raised a brow, “I ordered it online. It’s pretty, isn’t it?”

“Very. Next time you want to buy something, put it on my card.” He said casually.

A hint of surprise etched on her face, “Oh? Okay then.”

Over the course of a few days, she finds new packages arrived at her doorstep. No doubt the work of Sylus when she shook her hand and sighs as she held up the new lace panty that he had ordered for her.

There was a note at the end of the package, it wrote, “Wear this for tonight.”

She could only smile as she knew she would be in for a treat once more.

#love and deepspace #sylus love and deepspace #qin che #lads sylus #l&ds sylus #love and deep space #sylus qin #sylus x reader #sylus x you #sylus x y/n #l&ds #lnds smut #sylus #sylus smut #love and deepspace sylus #lads #lnds sylus #lnd sylus #l&ds smut

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melancholiaincarnate · 2 months ago

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yours, now and forever

a regency era kento nanami longfic

「 in which ᵎᵎ 」 kento nanami is a fool with his words, and you can't seem to get on his good side.

「 words ᵎᵎ 」 many. (12k)

「 author's note ᵎᵎ 」 wow okay, so. this is my baby. it has gone through many versions, many rewrites, and now it's moved blogs with me. if you know my old blog, you know what fic this used to be, and i felt as if it were wasted on that fandom. without that fandom though, i wouldn't have found my closest friend and idea gremlin, @zooone. thank u to my zone. thank u to my proofreader @egglain who took the time to research my historical inaccuracies and then deal with me even as i proceeded to ignore them. anyways, heed warnings etc etc, this is NOT historically accurate, nor is it very good, but i love it. if the people demand, there will be little drabbles about their lives bcus i am not ready to give up regency!nanami just yet :DDD

「 tags n warnings ᵎᵎ 」 no smut deal with it, lottts of angst, major character death, historical inaccuracy, satoru gojo being a little bitch, satoru gojo matchmaker arc, kento nanami is a little ooc, everyone is a little ooc, nanami somehow became choso and yuji's guardian??? choso uses itadori last name, yuko ozawa mention?!, lots of angst, reader is a bitch if you squint, pining!!, bridgerton/pride and prejudice inspired :D

it’s beautiful this time of year. you’ve always loved the springtime, not only because of the warmer air and the fresh scent of flowers, but because it meant you were traveling up to the ton.

the ton was one of your favorite places, if not favorite, to ever be. as much as you loved your father’s estate in the countryside– complete with its own stables, riding grounds, and grandoise library– nothing compared to stepping outside the door of the town manor stepping outside the door of the town manor to the bustling carriages and people laughing in the streets. the feeling of the sun shining down on you and casting gorgeous shadows of the leaves was incomparable.

springtime was the social season - when every family who meant something in society flocked from their vast country homes to the smaller, (yet just as grand), manors that lined the streets of london.

social season also meant that you would see friends and family that you barely saw otherwise. each year, as your carriage pulled up to the manor, you could see the figure of your favorite younger cousin. even from quite a bit away, your excitement was infectious and you could feel it bubbling in your own body.

this year was no different. as soon as the carriage pulled to a stop, you were bounding out, (nearly tripping on loose pathing), and bombarding your cousin with a tight embrace.

“oh nobara,” you exclaimed, leaning into your cousin, “it’s been so long. my god, you cut your hair!” your mouth widens in surprise as you bring a hand to twirl the ends of your cousin’s hair. A

“over the winter i have discovered an affection for shorter hair. i saw a girl with it in a town i visited and i decided i must attempt it for myself.” nobara beams, “it looks gorgeous on me, does it not? i am sure to capture attention!”

there was a glint of anticipation beyond measure in nobara’s eyes. this year, nobara would be making her debut at the first ball of the season, where she and other debuting ladies would announce themselves as open candidates for matrimony.

the tradition was as follows: each lady, upon turning eighteen years, would make their entrance into society, and find themselves a husband. it would be done so via a series of balls, in which the ladies would dance with men who approached them, and be courted by men for four months before they were offered a hand in marriage. nobara, being from japan and having to find a companion to travel to london with, would be debuting herself a little later - at her current stature of one and twenty.

according to nobara, she had spent the entirety of last year taking notes and writing down tips from older ladies in a small pink journal - all so that she would find a perfect match in her first year. she was entirely too determined, you thought.

most ladies, if not all, find their match in their first season. there were some unlucky ones who took two, and even three. they were generally looked down upon by society, and nobara would be damned if she didn't get her husband her first go-round the ton.

you, on the other hand, were completely comfortable without a husband. you found the whole courting process tedious, and thought it a waste of time to spend hours at tea parties and balls flaunting off to men who simply see you as nothing but a warm bed to come home to at night. unfortunately, this would be your last year of freedom, so to speak. ladies around the ton were beginning to imply, (more like shove in your face), that you needed to be married soon, as it was quote unquote improper for a lady approaching five and twenty to be unmarried.

you took pride in your family, especially your father, and if he were to somehow lose out on business prospects or be shunned from society simply because you did not fancy any man in london, you would feel most guiltily. he had done nothing but provide for you; how awful it would be to outcast one’s own family for lack of a suitable marriage.

“cousin?” nobara cocks her head to catch the eldest’s attention, “you are always so far away, even when you are standing right in front of me. please, cousin, enlighten me. what is on your mind that has you so troubled?”

you simply smiled and shook your head. “i am only mentally grieving the loss of my freedom, nobara, and nothing more. you know i am not as eager as you are to be wed, and yet, the general populace are starting to talk. as much as i may protest, i fear that within the next two seasons– nay, one– i must procure myself a match.” you sighed, lacing your arm within your cousin’s as the two ladies entered the manor.

they enter the drawing room and the scent of fresh flowers wafted in the air, a vase full of fresh lilies on the table by the door. the drawing room had alabaster walls, green accents, and was complete with gorgeous chestnut furniture commissioned by your father from a local carpenter after your mother had mentioned an affinity for the look of chestnut. the tables were recently polished, and sat right in the middle of a small side table were scones and tea.

“oh cousin, you are always so dreary!” nobara sighs, having a seat on the sofa. “pass me a scone, will you? i am starved.” upon your completion of nobara’s request, you sat down at your own small table, where your father had left a newly bound journal for you - complete with a small sprig of baby’s breath tucked in between the pages as a marker.

although your father was often physically absent due to business travels, he was certainly not emotionally absent. he made sure that his daughter, no matter your age, was properly taken care of and had everything a young lady could possibly ever ask for.

you didn’t mind his frequent absences though. you enjoyed your own company, and had no problem finding things to busy yourself what with your insatiable curiosity. you’d beguan reading more intensive books at ten, playing the pianoforte at twelve, and sewing at fourteen, though you’d stopped once you began pricking yourself too often. recently, you had picked up drawing, and you wanted to head to the markets sooner rather than later to pick up a brand new journal and some charcoal pencils.

tuning nobara’s drawls about the season out, you spoke. “nobara,” you asked, twirling the baby’s breath around in your fingers, “i am going to take to the markets if you would like to join. you would be agreeable company.”

“sounds wonderful!” nobara beamed, standing up quickly, “i need to pick up some new ribbons anyhow, the first ball is only a mere three nights a ways. i must begin preparations!”

upon hearing your cousin bring up the ball yet again, you could not help yourself as laughter bubbled out of your throat. you shook your head, grabbing a small shawl and wrapping it around your shoulders, before setting out the door to the market, nobara in tow.

the market was an average place. everywhere you looked were small shops lit by candlelight and newsboys trying to hustle a pound or two by selling the latest society papers.

there were, of course, girls –-- with their corsets tied a little too tight and their legs crossed gracefully as they sat on park benches underneath lacy umbrellas. with girls, came men, who were seeking to start the season early as they paraded downthe side walks with an air of pompous grace, their eyes manically searching for the girl they were to court.

“humourless morons in my opinion,” you scoffed as you watched a man procure a smushed flower from the back of his pocket and present it to a lady - the same man who, moments earlier, you’d watched do the same to another, only to be rejected. “not an ounce of shame behind their actions. it is honestly a mystery to me how they manage to get away with such behavior. do women not see? or do they choose not to see simply because they are deluded with silly fantasies of marriage?”

“you need to watch your tongue, cousin,” nobara teased, her eyes also wandering and scouting for a possible match, “for one day, one of these morons will catch your eye.”

“in some other world, yes,” you laughed, shaking your head, “but in this one, i have yet to find one man who possesses the ability to be both aware of himself, and of the world, and i doubt i ever will. london is full of nothing but raffish rakes.”

after mingling amongst the patrons for an hour or two, the girls return home. nobara’s hands are filled with pretty ribbons and hair pins, while your hands are quite empty - save for a journal and a pair of charcoal pencils.

as soon as you arrive back at the manor, you bid goodnight to your cousin as night has settled its way into your bones. you hadn’t slept in your room at the ton manor in almost a year, and so the minute your skin feels the soft silk of the sheets and the pillow that has been kept well fluffed, sleep weighs your body down.

the next three days go about the same. you spend ample time in the drawing room with nobara, occasionally making a journey to the park to people-watch and draw while nobara converses.

you’re sitting in the park, your charcoal pencil composing a beautiful illustration of the landscapeand its nature. nobara is sitting next to you, a cross-stitch project in your hands when a girl runs up to them, one you both recognize, and the girl looks quite roused.

“you will never guess who is slated to visit.” the girl, a longtime friend of yours named yuko ozawa, is laughing. “the itadori’s and their guardian, kento nanami! they have not been back to london in ages! and,” her voice drops, as she looks around to see if anyone is listening, “rumor has it - the two eldest, yuuji and choso, are looking for wives. oh! and how could i forget! they are hosting a friend for the season. there are varying reports - some say it is lady ieiri shoko, but most believe it is lord satoru gojo, and my, he is wealthy.” she giggles, “i do not want after the wealth though. i have heard that the youngest itadori, yuuji, i believe, is around my age and is quite handsome.” she smiles, mischief dancing in her eyes, “hopefully, they attend the ball. oh! i must go home and start preparing. i do hope to see you there tonight?”

“we will be in attendance,” nobara confirms with a soft look and somehow, yuko’s smile brightens.

“magnificent!” she laughs, “i will see you there! best of luck to you nobara, and you,” yuko turns to you, “i will not wish luck for, as i know you will not be courting.”

“i am glad you know me so well, friend.” you smile, and yuko laughs.

“right, well. i shall see you two later.” yuko bids her farewells, and nobara turns to you, eyes dancing just as brightly as– if not more than– yuko’s.

“did you hear that, cousin?” her voice is filled with titillation and glee, “the itadoris, and their friends too! i am sorry to interrupt your art, but we must go and dress! one of us,” she smiles knowingly at her cousin, “might catch the eldest or,” mischief sparkles in your eye, “lord gojo’s attention.”

“and it will be you, dearest nobara. once they lay eyes upon you, they will be smitten for the rest of their lives.” you shut your book carefully, tucking the charcoal pencil behind your ear as you stand.

nobara does the same, dusting the dirt off of her dress as the two of you grasp arms and walk back home.

as soon as you arrive, nobara is sent into a frenzy. questions like, “should i wear this dress?” or “which pendant matches better?” are echoed down the long halls of the manor, making their way to your ears.

you’ve already picked out a dress, and compared to the dresses other girls will be wearing tonight, it’s rather, well, plain. a pale pink base with barely visible white lace decorating the front, and a white ribbon tied round your waist. your hair is tied into a neat bun, with your neck and face accentuated with a matching pearl necklace and set of earrings. after almost six seasons of watching, you know your ensemble will attract the least attention, and allow you to stay in the shadows as you please. you’re content with your look, and that is all that matters to you.

nobara, of course, the very meaning of elegance, was dressed beautifully. her jewelry was polished perfectly and light bounced off of it like a mirror, while her dress was a gorgeous deep blue that made her face pop.

the ball was not short of ladies dressed similar to nobara - their faces shining with bright smiles as they fanned themselves lightly. it was the beginning of spring, after all, and the weather was beginning to heat up slightly. people danced in the middle, soft giggles from girls wafting through the air. it was the first ball of the season - girls needed to make an impression.

you watched from the sidelines, carefully cradling a small cup of champagne, until suddenly, the entire room went silent. it was odd - never in your life had you’d heard a room so silent, especially one that was just bouncing with life only moments prior.

you saw the crowd parting for a group of people, and though you couldn't see all of them, you saw one particularly tall male. you craned your neck to get a look at the rest, and their prestige only clicked when they were announced to everyone.

“lord choso kamo,” the steward of the household pointed to a raven-haired boy with a frown, “lord. yuuji itadori, ” a fair-skinned, pink-haired man with a mischievous glint in his eyes, “lord kento nanami,” he was rather stoic and tall with gorgeous blonde hair, “and lord satoru gojo.” a couple inches taller than kento, he had a prideful sort of look about him - one that caught the attention of every lady in the room.

as soon as the announcement of their arrival finished, the ball was back into full swing, with girls being twirled and spun around, and laughter dancing through the air. the small group of four separated, with the two younger men immediately finding themselves dance partners, and satoru entertaining himself with the women that flocked to him. his blonde friend seems to have his own fair share of admirers, but for some odd reason or another, he is ignoring them.

it was the eldest of the group though, that tall blonde one, that caught your attention. you cannot decide whether it’s his handsomeness, or if it’s the displeased look on his face, but something about him makes you peel yourself off the wall and out of the shadows.

for the first time in your life, a man has intrigued you.

people are bumping into you, but you weave yourself right through expertly. right as you reach the two men though, a drunken man pushes you, and you trip over your own feet. fortunately, there’s a pair of strong arms that wrap around your waist, preventing your fall.

“are you alright?” the voice is hiding its laughter, and you look up to find a quirky smile paired with a the most crystal blue eyes. “i must say, you would have taken a rather nasty fall if i were not there to catch you.” he helps you regain your footing, and as soon as you recognize him, you bow.

“lord gojo.” you murmur, downcasting your eyes towards his unnaturally shiny boots. “my apologies, sir.”

“no need for such formalities.” the man laughs as you raise your head back up to meet his eyes. “it was simply a mistake. drunken men, yes?”

“oh, nothing unusual.” you titter, “take a walk around the town at night, and i bet you would be penniless if you had to give me a dollar for every drunken man you saw. it does not take away from the charm though, oh not at all, especially with the way the pond in the park glitters at night.” your eyes sparkle with a certain fondness that does not simply pass the man behind satoru. kento’s fist clenches at his side, and he takes a breath, his stoic demeanor returning instantly.

“you speak of the town as if you have grown up here. am i correct in my assumptions, miss?” satoru’s voice is enchanting and it’s obvious his friend is hanging on your every word. his mouth parts slightly as if he were to speak but you begin talking again and he shuts his mouth obediently.

“you would be partially correct. i spend my warmer seasons here, and the colder ones on my father’s estate not too far from here. i do consider this my home though.” memories of you underneath your father’s arms as you strolled around the town come flooding back to you, and your heart fills with warmth.

satoru is quiet for a moment. as he goes to speak, a new song begins, and he looks at you sheepishly. kento’s fist clenches at his side. “forgive me if i am too forward, but would you like to dance? i may not be the best but you draw my curiosity.”

you duck your head with a smile, and bow, “of course, my lord.”

as the two of you take hands and begin waltzing around the room, you lock eyes with satoru’s companion. he has his head cocked and is looking at you with a look you cannot place, but that you assume is nothing other than pure curiosity. his hands are crossed against his chest, and he is still blatantly ignoring any women that come to his attention. you decide then that you must ask him for a dance. your curiosity is insatiable.

the dance comes to an end, and with a reddened face, satoru gives you a bow. “i do hope to dance with you at least once more before the night ends, if you are not opposed of course.” his eyes are sparkling and you think to yourself that he is quite handsome.

“i am not opposed, my lord. come find me whenever you see fit.” with that, you bow, give a heart-melting smile, and find your way through the crowd towards the itadoris’ guardian.

he seems shocked–, no, confused–, as to why you’re approaching him. “lord. nanami.” you curtsy. you receive no greeting back– - not even an acknowledgement of your presence. he simply stares down at you with blank, cold eyes, the complete opposite of satoru’s. “i just had the pleasure of dancing with your companion. he is a wonderful dancer, i must say. do you dance, mr. nanami?”

“no.”

“oh. i see. is there a particular reason?” your hands have come to play with the pearls on your neck, a nervous tick of yours. it’s becoming awkward to keep standing here while this man blatantly ignores you.

“because i do not.” his voice is stern, and finally, he makes eye contact with you. “i do not dance, and if i did, i would not dance with you.” his words are harsh, and you cannot help the sneer that graces your lips.

“such pleasant words.” you retort with a bite, “it clearly appears you enjoy your solitude, so i will leave you be. good day.” you huff, your pride wounded. kento, on the other hand, takes a step to follow you, but then returns back to his post, watching your figure practically stomp away from him. you berate yourself for even thinking about dancing with him while similarly, he berates himself for his sharp tongue.

you stand off to the side, fuming, as nobara gracefully steps beside you. “you danced with lord satoru, cousin, so why do you seem so down?”

“his companion,” you shoot a glare at kento, the ice in your eyes fading to confusion as you realize he was already staring at you, “is an impolite arse with no home training. i do not care how much wealth he boasts for it means nothing if he is rude to every person he comes across. for heaven’s sake, nobara, he didn’t even look at me for half of our short-lived conversation!” you are vexed, and as kento watches you recount the tale to your cousin from across the room, he cannot help but feel slightly remorseful for his actions.

the guilt rises to his throat and nearly chokes him to death once he sees your rant interrupted by none otherthan satoru gojo. he feels ill, he thinks, as he watches your scowl lift into a smile at the sight of his friend, and his friend’s equally bright smile as he takes your hand and youproceed to the dancefloor.

kento turns away, clenching his fist at his sides, and instead decides to take a walk around the grounds and sulk in the byproduct of his social ineptitude.

“miss,” satoru asks you as the dance ends, “i was wondering if you would be home tomorrow, so i may call on you. our dances this evening were wonderful, and i would be most grateful to get to know you more. of course, it is your decision. if you do not want to see me, i shall oblige.” he gives you a smile, and suddenly, the idea of marriage does not sound too horrible to you. not if it is him, at least.

“do not sell yourself short! i would be nothing but honored to receive you at my home.” your features soften. “it would be my pleasure, truly.”

“magnificent!” satoru laughs, his chest bursting at the prospect of getting to know you more. “i shall see you tomorrow, then?”

“tomorrow, my lord.” you bow, and he shakes his head.

“please, miss, the formalities are not necessary.” he reminds you as you both approach nobara, where you are waiting by the carriage. “miss.” he gives nobara a bow, which you return, and then he stands regally again in front of you. “it was a pleasure getting to know you today. i look forwards to our visit.”

his excitement was unmatched. the next morning, as soon as the clock hit a decent visiting hour, his presence was announced at your manor.

he looked nervous, almost, but his look of anxiety was quickly swept away by a bright smile. “miss.” he bowed, “i am here, as promised. thank you again for having me. it was wonderful to meet you last night.” nobara gave a small knowing look to her cousin, and then promptly escorted herself out of the room.

nobara would only be gone from the room for a mere few hours– - as satoru had said, he had business to attend to. he did not leave without extending a dinner invitation for that evening, inviting them both to the itadori’s’ manor.

you accepted with a bright smile and a curtsy, but the minute you heard his carriage begin its venture down the road, you groaned loudly.

“i cannot– - he is– - i cannot.” you tried to gather your words, but couldn’t. “i do not think i will be able to sit at a dinner with kento nanami and not watch my tongue. he is … there are no words to describe him. oh, this is going to go horribly. absolutely terribly, nobara.”

“tell me, why do you care if it goes horribly?” nobara asks, not looking up from her cross-stitching. “i thought you were not looking to marry this season.” there’s a teasing lilt behind the words, and it makes you roll your eyes in displeasure.

“you are so attentive, nobara.” you sigh, fiddling with a pillow on the couch. “i … i am not enthused by the idea… but i am not completely… opposed to it.” you know you’re lying to yourself and your cousin– - you’ve always been severely opposed to marriage, but there was something so captivating and appealing about lord gojo that made you even the slightest bit open to the idea.

“falsehoods.” nobara scoffs. “you have said since we were little that you hate marriage! just admit it,” nobara simpers, “you have grown affections for satoru! and after only one dance, my god! if i had known it was that easy, i would have set you up to dance ages ago!”

“i have not,.” you huff, giving nobara a pointed look. “who is to say that i am not just utilizing the man and his wealth for a nice dinner? i am positive the food tonight will be like nothing either of us have ever had, and a singular dinner will not guarantee his affections for me. i am sure he will not offer his hand in marriage immediately.”

“you speak so lowly of men, my dear cousin. they are but fragile and sensitive creatures, and they fall hard.” nobara tuts, finally putting down her cross stitch to look at you. “you are playing a dangerous game and i do hope you will know when to end it.” she sighs, “i only wish for your happiness, but not at the expense of others, and especially not one as sweet as lord gojo. please do keep that in mind.” with that, nobara leaves.

as the clock ticks on, and time moves closer and closer to the hour when you are supposed to arrive, your anxieties grow. nobara was right - you are walking a thin line, and could hurt a good man in the process, but your heart just isn't in it the way you think it's supposed to be.

you watch the townsfolk through the carriage window as you think. people have always described love to be this beautiful thing. your own father would tell stories about how he felt like he could not breathe when he was around your mother. you were only so averse to love because of the way your father described it– - overwhelming and smothering. your father would say that he felt like he was being strangulated every time he was apart from your mother, and the thought of that just was not appealing to you. you wanted to be your own person, not bound to a singular person for a source of air, and especially not bound to a pompous, arrogant man.

the books, though…, they described love as some fragile glass knickknack that needed to be cradled gently or else it would crack.

you did not want love if it was similar to asphyxiation and you did not want love if it was delicate and dainty. you wanted a love that you did not have to stifle yourself for, and you were positive you would never find it. everyone fell hard and fast– - but you thought love at first sight was ridiculous. how were you supposed to decide based on one look– - one dance–, that this was your life partner?

nobara, of course, knew all of this. she was not lying when she said she wanted the best for her cousin and whether or not that was marriage was up to you. nobara could sense the yearning though. she could see the lingering glances at happier couples and the hesitance behind every step you took away from men who approached you. she has taken peeks at the novels her cousin picks up from the market– - all romance novels. she knew her cousin wanted nothing more than to love and to be in love, but she also knew her cousin was a stubborn woman and would not settle for anything less than exactly what she wanted.

you spoke of an ache in your chest to nobara often. you both attributed it to the loss of your mother, but the stars knew better. the hole in your heart was an ache for love– - pure, genuine love–, and whether or not you liked it, the stars would deliver it to you in the form of one kento nanami.

your attention focused from your wandering thoughts to three figures standing by the entrance to the itadori manor. lord gojo, with a smile so bright it rivaled the sun, and the two itadori’s at each side.

“you made it!” satoru is at the carriage door immediately, helping nobara out gently, and then you. “you look wonderful, i am so happy you are here. it is not my home, of course my home is a day's journey away, but the itadori’s are lovely hosts!” he smiles, his enthusiasm palpable and his love for the itadori’s clear.

it's endearing to you, and you find a small smile creeping itsit's way up your face. “the manor looks lovely so far, my l-satoru.” you stop yourself, remembering the man’s wishes from the night before.

“i am unsure if you were properly introduced to the itadoris.” he leads you gently to the boys, who are making conversation with nobara, “this is yuuji,” he points to the boy with pink hair, “and this is choso.”

yuuji shakes his head, and then glances at his hand. “i hope… i hope you enjoy your day at our manor.” he smiles brightly, putting his hand down quickly. in a flash, you could see words were written on his hand and you suppress a giggle.

“our guardian, kento,” the thought of that man makes your chest tighten with upset, “is in the study. he says that he hopes you and your cousin enjoy the grounds and he will try his best to be present at dinner.” choso’s voice is bland.

“but if you ask me, he will not be there. he never is.” yuuji huffs, turning his back to the group. “i will be in the parlor with the piano, if you will excuse me.”

“excuse him,” satoru laughs awkwardly, “the boy has got a bit of a temper.”

just like his guardian, you think.

“would you like a tour?” choso asks softly, saddling up to your side. “i do not mind showing you around, i actually quite like this manor compared to our other one. it has more life in it.”

“i feel the same way about my manor.” you give him a soft smile, “i would love a tour, choso. satoru, choso is going to give me a tour around the grounds if you do not mind.”

“no, of course not!” satoru grins, “i had some work to finish before dinner any way, i was hoping the boys would entertain the two of you. i am sorry, i invited you over too early,.” he gives you a bow, “but i swear to you i will be right by your side at dinner. you have my word.”

“i trust you.” your eyes soften and you feel a sense of warmth wash over you at his promises. there has never been a man so thoughtful towards you, and yet, nobara’s words ring in your head.

you walk through the halls with choso as he shows off his art collections that hang on the wall. the boy has an affinity for art, you find out. at some point, they come across yuuji playing the piano rather beautifully in the parlor, and nobara disbands from the tour to go listen to yuuji playing. eventually, you find yourself at the library with choso. it is a tall room in the middle of the manor, with books lining every corner of the room. some old, some new, and others clearly loved. at one end, a window covers the entire wall, looking out onto the gardens.

“kento's collection.” choso says with a smile, “he has been collecting since …” he trails off, “since he was a boy.”

“it’s beautiful.” you murmur. it’s true. in the spaces where there are not books, there are beautiful paintings, depicting nature at its finest. landscapes with flowers, oceans with boats floating atop them, and in the middle, the centerpiece, a garden filled with an assortment of gorgeous flowers.

your eyes wander around the room. his collection rivals your own back at the estate, and you’re surprised that someone would have more books than your father.

“this must have cost a fortune.” your hands run across some of the books nearest to the door. these are the ones that look as though they were brought recently, and you notice a copy of a book you own on the shelf.

“kento has a way with words,” choso chuckles, “half of these, actually–, most likely more–, were bartered or traded.”

you hum. “i will agree. though, not positively.” you smiles, “your guardian shared some… choice words towards me regarding a dance last night.”

“did he say something of offense?” choso frowns, “my apologies. my guardian is, well, not the best, i shall say, at using his words properly, despite his affinity for writing. i am sure he did not mean it.”

you don’t want to hurt this poor boy’s opinion of his guardian, and so you keep your mouth shut. “i will take your word for it, choso.” you pull out a book, caressing the pages carefully in your hands. the smell of old book hit your nose and you felt as though you were back at home in your father’s library.

“if you would like, i can leave you here until dinner. i am sure kento will not mind. he never really comes out from the study any way, so you will be completely undisturbed.”

twice now, the boys have mentioned kento's frequent absence.

you ponder it for a moment, before smiling and nodding. “that would be wonderful. thank you for your hospitality, choso.”

“it is my pleasure, miss.” he gives you a bow, and shuts the door softly, leaving you to explore the room on your own.

you immediately head towards the couch situated by the window. there are books stacked upon the floor and on a nearby table, and you step around them carefully so as to not disturb them.

a book at the top of a stack by the couch peaks your attention. it's worn and has obvious signs of wear, but that only warms your heart as it means the book has been loved. you grab it, immediately becoming immersed.

you don’t notice when the door opens, and watching you curiously from the doorway is kento himself.

leaning against the doorframe, he clears his throat. “and may i ask what you are doing in my personal library?” he looks a lot more relaxed than he did at the ball last night and you cannot tell if it is his attire or the fact that he is simply in his own home. he's dressed casually, with his sleeves rolled up and his shirt untucked. his hair is slightly messy, and he's got a pair of round glasses on. despite your dislike for the man, you think he looks quite handsome.

“oh, mr. nanami.” you close the book carefully, setting it to the side, “my apologies. i did not mean to intrude. lord gojo invited my cousin and i over for dinner but he had some work. choso showed me around the manor and told me i could stay if i wanted. if you would like me to go though, i will.” you stand, smoothing out your dress, but he shakes his head.

“no, it is quite alright. you may stay.” he leans off the wall and shuts the door carefully behind him. “it was simply unexpected. that's all. i am not used to having visitors who are interested in my library.” as he approaches you, he notices the book in your hands. “you have a fondness for poetry?”

“i do.” you smile, “i do not write myself– - no i could not use such eloquent words–, but i cannot help but enjoy them.”

“one of my favorites too.” he murmurs, bending down to grab the book you were reading off of the couch.

“i could tell. it is well-loved. you ought to buy yourself a new copy, mr. nanami.” you laugh lightly, “the words are fading.”

“do not tell me what to do with my own possessions. you have no right.” his head snaps up, “i have changed my mind. take your leave.” his voice is rigid and there’s a palpable anger behind his words.

“i- my apologies, mr, i-”

“out. i am not asking.” he orders, pointing a finger towards the door.

“i am sorry.” you mutter once more, before practically flying out of the room. the door shuts with a thud and he closes his eyes, biting his lip as hard as he can. he thinks he tastes blood.

he sinks onto the couch with the poetry book gripped tight in his left hand. with a small sigh, he turns the book to the side, running his finger along the barely visible “‘y.h.”’ engraved on the spine. it was so small and so worn out that one wouldn't notice it unless they knew it was there. he blinks away the tears and swallows down a lifetime’s worth of regret, opening the book as his fingers trail along the first stanzas of the first poem. he isn't reading– - he knows this book better than he knows himself– - this book is an extension of himself. he couldn’t ever bring himself to replace it for it would be as if he were replacing his own flesh and blood.

kento is late to dinner but the evident shock at his arrival on both yuuji, choso’s and satoru’s face tells you enough. he spares no one a glance, not even his own wards, and seems ticked off that the conversation at the table dwindled.

you catch the side glances that yuuji and choso throw at each other, and you turn your body towards nobara, who is seated right beside you.

“he looks miserable.” you remark quietly, shoving the peas on your plate to the side. you were not a fan of peas, nor kento, but you would have to tolerate both it seemed.

“he always looks like that.” nobara replies back smoothly, “in the past four- and- twenty hours we have known him, i do not think i have ever seen a different expression on his face.” you let out a little giggle, turning your attention back to the conversation that was at hand. currently, yuuji was enthralling kento with a story of this young woman he had danced with last night.

“she was absolutely stunning.” he sighs, “and yet, i am afraid i do not know how to capture her affections.” “what is her name?” kento takes a sip of his wine, cocking his head. “i would like to put a name to the woman you have not quit babbling about.” “yuko.” even saying the name causes the boy’s face to erupt in a smile, and you cock your head. “yuko?” you hum, “i have a friend named yuko about your age. say, i think your beloved yuko might also be mine.” “really?” his eyes sparkle, “you are friends with my dear yuko?” he gives you a quick description of the girl, and upon confirmation that they indeed share the same yuko, he leans in to the table. “do you know what she likes? what can i do to gain her admiration? what do you recommend to gain one’s affections?”

“dancing.” your eyes flit quickly to kento who lets out an unamused snort. you were not going to remark, but his reaction irked you. “even if one’s partner is a discourteous soul.”

“and what if one’s partner is just barely tolerable?” kento places his fork down, giving you a nasty look.

“well then,” you clears your throat, “everyone has their own interpretation of ‘barely tolerable’ and mine is sitting in front of me.”

satoru clears his throat, the tension between the two of them becoming suffocating. “well,” he smiles, “maybe you should call upon yuko tomorrow. invite her to dinner. and you, of course,” he turns to you, “are welcome to come tomorrow as well, since you are acquainted with yuko. oh, and your cousin as well!”

“i appreciate the invite, my lord,” you wipe off your face with a small napkin that was provided, “but it seems as if i am an unwanted guest. i would absolutely hate to intrude on the itadori’s’ home for yet another anotyour day, especially considering the animosity i have been shown by their guardian.” you smile sweetly towards kento, who feels his chest constrict. “i would be delighted to have dinner again with you though, and so i am instead offering to return the favor and host you, yuko, yuuji and choso at my home tomorrow.”

the fact that you purposefully left him out causes kento to slam his fork down in anger. the plate rattled, and he nearly tips over his wine glass. “you are in my home, and i will not stand for your intolerance. i do not care if you are a guest under satoru–- you will respect me.” his voice is low and he is looking at you with a look his wards haven't seen since they were entrusted into his care.

you scoff, “i refuse to show respect to someone who has treated me with such contempt. i have been nothing but courteous to you, and yet you still find it in yourself to be ill-mannered. bless satoru’s soul because quite honestly, i am shocked you even have friends.”

“you are undermining me in my own home, and i do not appreciate it.” he hisses, “you become upset at my rejection, intrude upon my own personal library, and then proceed to invite every person i hold dear to me and exclude me.”

“i undermine you?” you laugh dryly, your eyes squinting at him, “you are delusional. you are the one who sits here and belittles everything i say, even if not directed towards you. though,” you stand, smoothing down your dress, “i suppose it is to make up for your lack of charm. lord gojo,” you bow, “i really do appreciate your hospitality. the same goes for you two,” you gives a soft smile to the boys, “but unfortunately, i am incredibly uncomfortable. nobara and i will be leaving now. thank you though, and my offer for tomorrow still stands.” nobara scrambles to bow to them, and you both leave. you waste not another glance at kento, your chest full and clenched with anger.

“i have plenty of charm, i just do not wish to waste it on a woman as average as you.” he shouts after you. as your footsteps recede, he shoves his own chair into the table, causing it to shake, and he retreats to his office, his fists clenched at his side.

the manor door closes noisily, and in the aftermath of their altercation everyone remaining at the table heard the slam of his study door and the simultaneous rumbling of your carriage pulling away out of the roadway.

“i have lost my appetite.” yuuji mumbles, “please excuse me.” yuuji quietly tucks in his chair and leaves the room.

“as have i.” choso follows, leaving satoru alone in the dining room by himself.

there’s a silence that follows, one that satoru does not like. satoru does not like silence much to begin with, but this one is heavier. this one was a direct cause of his actions. he leaves the dinner table, choosing instead to retire to his room for the night. in all his years of friendship, he has never seen kento so upset with a person, and he would hate to continue distressing his friend, especially considering the hardships the man is facing. on the other hand, there was a look in kento’s eyes that he could not place. it wasn’t hatred or disdain, and it bewildered the hell out of satoru. he saw the same look in your eyes too.

last night at the ball, you weren’t walking over to talk to him. no, of course you weren’t. his friend was spacing out and staring off into the distance, and when he followed his eyes, they were fixated on you. you were looking back at him with the same intensity, and then, both of their attentions were grabbed and pulled away. satoru noticed, how despite the many beautiful girls approaching kento, that his eyes kept wandering to that shadow, silently pleading for it’s attention. twenty minutes later, it was gone from the wall, and another two after that, satoru caught you from falling.

satoru had known from the very start that you were not into him and that your affections lay with kento. everything he had done was calculated from the minute he had asked you to dance. positioning you in kento’s line of sight so you could see each other while you danced, asking you to come over for dinner, and even choso’s manor tour. he’d specifically instructed choso to take you to the library and leave you there, as he knew midday was when kento decided to leave his office and head there.

he had everything planned out perfectly. what he hadn’t counted on though, was kento’s pure stupidity.

upon being seated in his office chair, kento picked up a quill, shuffling through the stacks of paper as he searched for a blank one. there, he scrawled a journal entry. his friend, haibara, had suggested a journal back when kento was a teen, though he’d had filled the pages of the journal haibara gifted him long ago.

his journal was normal teen angsts that he entered in frequently, but nowadays, his entries were far and few between, scribbled upon waste paper scrambled on his messy desk and then shoved into the bottom drawer, never to be read again.

his quill moved faster than the words could process in his brain. kento had not felt any emotion in a long time, and now this girl–, you–, had brought upon more than he knew how to deal with. his eyes droopy and tired, kento abandoned the page as he stumbled his way up to the bed, disregarding his formal wear and simply passing out on his bed.

surprise is kento’s first thought of the day - most nights are spent pouring over documents and estate affairs in his office. most nights are spent half-slumped into his office chair until he hears yuuji and megumi chasing each other around the halls. but tonight, he'd woken up in his own bed, so he decides to savor it, before he must get up and bear the responsibility of his world on his shoulders.

it’s then, when kento is enjoying the feel of his downy mattress and not of his hard wooden chair, that it gets sent. satoru hadn’t planned to find his note, truly. he had gone into the office to wake kento up as he had done every morning he stayed with the itadori’s’ and when he opened the door, there was no kento.

he was gone. and so satoru walked over to the desk, his eyes squinting at a note written on yellowing and half-ripped paper. it was in kento’s messy chicken-scratch, and after a quick read, satoru shoved it in his pocket anyways and exited the room, sealing it with the itadori family crest and sending it off with the rest of the post for the morning.

you receive the letter mid-day during your afternoon tea with nobara. the two of you hadn’t spoken about the quarrel between your and kento, and you were grateful for it. nobara instead spoke about her suitors, providing you a nice distraction from the anger, and slight regret, that bubbled in your chest.

“a letter for the miss.” your butler states, entering the room. it’s placed on the table next to you, and you pick it up gingerly, frowning at the state of it.

“if it could even be called that.” you mumble, “the paper is eons old.” you recognize the crest immediately, as it had been adorned around the manor you had spent time at yesterday. an ugly feeling claws its way up your throat.

“what is it?” nobara peers curiously, but you hold it away, hoping that satoru had just used their stationary and that it was not a letter from kento.“hey!” “give me a moment, i am reading, nobara.” you hiss out as you run your fingers along, squinting to read the handwriting.

it has been ages since i have written, and unfortunately, as all others, .i am writing in a state of great frustration and vexation. her recent behavior has been most unbecoming, and i cannot help but feel incensed by her actions. how could she be so rash... so .. thoughtless in her choice of words? i suppose she has every reason to, though. i have not been the kindest man. then again, when have i ever?

and yet, despite this soul-encompassing anger, there is a sense of admiration. i cannot tell if it is admiration for her sheer audacity, or admiration for the lady herself. her fiery spirit and unyielding determination are truly remarkable, and i cannot help but be drawn to such a force of nature, as much as i would like to deny it.

perhaps it is my own stubbornness that blinds me to the true nature of my feelings, but it is becoming harder and harder for me to fight the notion that there is an underlying sense of attraction that persists. there is just some thing about the way that she carries herself. despite almost every interaction we have had being negative, i have left each one with a tightening feeling in my chest.

i believe it is regret. it’s a feeling i am used to these days. the other night i could not sleep, how could i? i’ve treated her with such disdain that if my mother were still alive im sure she'd scold me.

yet i cannot stop thinking of moments ago. it was the way she simply just disrespected me in my own home, without a care in the world, and looked so utterly ethereal doing it. her beauty makes me stupid and loose with my tongue.

she insulted me and she did it with grace and a bewitching voice. there is just something about that girl that i cannot forget and i -

it cuts off there, the quill mark running off the page indicating that his hand had slipped. without another word, you fold the letter, holding it neatly in your hand as you walk out of the manor, ignoring nobara’s calls.

the itadori manor was across town, about thirty minutes walking. you had left without a coat and it was cold, but you pursued on, the hand holding the paper trembling. you needed an answer.

you made the walk in twenty and your knuckles rapped upon the door loudly. a butler opened and after a quick explanation of your business, you made your way to kento’s office. you slammed open the door and surprisingly, based on the way the boys speak of him, he was not in his office.

you were going to talk to him one way or another, and you wandered your way around the manor, angrily stomping. it was only when you’d made your way back to his office that you bumped into him. he had clearly just woken up and had haphazardly dressed himself. his hair was messy and he looked sleepy, but you did not care that you were probably going to bother.

“what is your issue?” you hiss, stepping towards him. “have i done something to offend you? am i just that awful of a person that you deem it necessary to toy with me?” “what- what are you talking about?” he sighs, running a hand through his messy hair, “and why is my office door open? was this you?” you ignore the question, instead unfolding the paper from it’s crumpled home in your pocket. “perhaps it is my own stubbornness that blinds me to the true nature of my feelings, but it is becoming harder and harder for me to fight the notion that there is an underlying sense of attraction that persists.” you read, your voice wavering not once despite the shaking of your limbs and your heart.

his own heart stops. it stops beating completely and kento is pretty sure that this is what death feels like. “how did you get that?” his lip wavers, despite the rigid tone that escapes his mouth. “where did you get that from?”

“oh so now you are playing games with me?” you scoff, throwing your hands in the air, “seriously! you are a joke, kento nanami.” “is that why my office was open?” his eyes squint, and he looks terrified for a moment at his next thought. “did you go through my things?” “of course not! you sent this to me, did you not? stamped with the itadori seal, am i wrong?” you shove it in his face and you’re right, of course. the letter is stamped. “i am just wondering. why? why me? why did you choose to amuse yourself by picking on me? there are so many other women who would die for any attention given by someone of your stature, and yet you choose to belittle me!”

“it was not my intention, you have to believe me.” he sighed, adjusting the glasses that sit low on his nose, “i might as well be honest.” he clenches a hand by his side before taking a breath. “the first good thing you have done ever.” you scoff, and he bites his lip. he decides looking anywhere but your face would be a better choice at this time, so he settles his eyes on your collarbone.

“i was a fool. i will admit my faults, and there are many–- too many to name. believe me when i say this, i have never been more enchanted to meet a person in all my miserable years. i blundered, my jealousy overcoming me at the sight of you dancing with satoru and i continued to make a laughing stock of myself with each interaction. please, this is no scheme or ploy as you may think, i am genuinely and utterly enamored with you. there is no reason i should have treated you the way i did, but you make me absolutely stupid.” his chest is heaving, and you can see his hands shaking by his side. “please, i know this is sudden, but i would like to court you–-”

“you are a madman.” you whisper, cutting him off. “you are stupider than i thought you were if you think that for one second i am going to believe any display of affection from you, no matter how wordy. you have done nothing but make me feel as though i am nothing to you, and for that, you are the last man on earth i would ever marry. you are arrogant, disrespectful, and most of all, you have no empathy for the feelings of others. i would rather bring shame upon my family before i accept any proposal from you.”

it’s silent between the two of you. he’s finally made eye contact - and you’re breathing just as heavily as he is. your lips are parted, and so are his, and he is fighting the urge to lean in right then and there.

the moment is ruined when you crumple the note in your hand and place it on his chest. he comes up to grab your hand, holding it close to his chest as he grabs the paper. his hands are warm, and they fit perfectly around yours. you both realize it.

part of him hopes that you will take back your words, but it is far too late for that. it was too late for him the minute you asked him about dancing.

“have a good life, lord nanami.” you say nothing else, dropping your hand and turning on your heels away from him.

he takes a step. kento wonders if you would take him if he chased after you and begged you on his hands and knees.

it’s silent after that. his ears are ringing and his chest is hot and burning in the spot where your hand just rested. he feels his heart sink to his stomach, a feeling he hasn’t felt in years. it’s not disappointment and it’s not regret - it’s a yearning and a longing for something he won’t ever have.

he needs to talk to his friend. it’s not a want, but a need. his friend would know what to do. he always did. within fourty minutes of your departure, the boys, satoru, and kento have packed up, abandoning the manor as quickly as they came.

the boys were quite prepared as they knew their guardian so well. it was not the first nor the last time that their guardian would relocate them in hopes of escaping whatever it is he seems to be running from. they had not even unpacked their bags, simply shoving the necessities back in and looking solemnly as kento took his own horse, not even riding with them.

kento arrives far earlier than the carriages do and without another word, he hands off the horse to a housemaid and stalks off. he does not care that he has not eaten today or that it looks like it is going to rain; he needs to talk his friend.

when kento was thirteen, he and his friend explored the woods behind their house together in an attempt to soothe kento's fear of the woods. for as long as he could remember, kento always had a fear of the unknown, and the sprawling landscape behind their house certainly did not help.

kento entered the woods hand in hand with haibara. haibara was explaining the different trees and flowers they saw, right until they stumbled across a small clearing, barely big enough for an outdoor lunch. it was right off the beaten path and was only a five minute walk from the forest entrance.

he remembers being excited that this was the only spot not covered with grass - as there was only a small little circle sprawling with magnolia flowers. his friend said that it was beautiful that in the woods kento had found so scary there was a small, serene place with beautiful flowers.

“if you had not come in here with me, neither of us would have stumbled upon this.” haibara had smiled up at him that day, “see, kento? there is beauty in this forest you fear.”

kento laughed and called it cliche and predictable, but now as he sits in front of haibara's grave in the middle of these magnolia flowers, he knows his friend lied. there has been no beauty in anything since his friend died, and everything to him has been unknown. kento’s been living in fear.

upon entering the tiny field, there was one stone carving in the middle. kento sits right next to it, pulls his knees to his chest, and despite the neck pain that ached, he placed his head on the stone.

“hello, my friend.” kento begins, “i am sorry i was gone for so long. we went up into the town for the spring season. it was all satoru’s idea of course, you know him, and the boys were excited– - so i had to. i have done nothing but disappoint them and i hoped i would regain their favor by bringing them to the ton.” he sighs, his breath shaking. “i met a girl there. she is intelligent and gorgeous and kind. i know, i know, i always told you i would never marry and i would travel the world alone and explore. since you- since you left, i have had to reconsider. the itadori’s’ were placed in my care and .. and so- so, i thought it would be a good idea to socialize and get myself out there. i will need a wife eventually.” his voice cracks, and kento removes his head from the stone placing it in his knees as he cries. “the first time i met her, she was standing on the wall and she looked so, so beautiful, but of course-” he lets out a hiccuping sob, “she was not interested in me. who would be?” he laughs dryly, “i was… upset, and i said somethingsome thing that i did not mean and my pride would not allow me to apologize. the next time i saw her, she had your book in your hands. your favorite. sometimes i wonder why we did not bury you with it. i saw her and i got upset and i insulted her and at dinner i did it again. then, i confessed to her and she rejected me, and god, it is the worst emotion i have felt since you died. i feel sick and it hurts and i just,” he whimpers, “i just wish you were here still, haibara.”

there is silence. of course there is. he is talking to a stone.

“i really, really messed it up, and i wish i could take it all back because she is absolutely wonderful.” he sighs, “of course, it is much too late for that.” still, silence. “i must get going, there is much to do.” he stands up and sighs, wiping the tears from his eyes quickly. “i will come to visit you again soon.”

true to his word, kento visits his friend everyday for the next week. some days he talks to him and tells him how choso and yuuji are doing, others he sits there and cries, and few times he has brought paper out to write.

there are hundreds of speeches he has written out and almost sent to you, expressing himself, and all of them have ended up crumpled and thrown into the trash. you asked him to leave you alone, and as much as it is killing him, he would rather die lonely than face any sort of argument with you again.

he decides he needs a weekend away, so after packing his bags and leaving the boys in the care of satoru, he sets off to a small cabin his father owned in the woods not too far from the estate. far enough that he'll be left alone, but close enough that if needed, he can return within a day.

yuuji, yearning for yuko, sends a letter the week before kento leaves. it asks her to come over, and yuko would have agreed almost immediately if not for the fact that she needs a chaperone.

you refuse immediately. “no, yuko, my answer is final. i refuse to visit the itadori’s’. please, forgive me.”

“please, friend.” she pleads, “no one else is available and yuu said that kento would be going on vacation! you would not even have to deal with him, please.”

“you are sure kento will not be there?” you raise a brow, the idea becoming a bit sweeter now that kento is not there.

“i swear. look.” she holds out yuuji’s letter, pointing out where he mentions kento’s absence.

yuko’s eyes brim with hope as you reconsider. “fine. i will go with you, but just for the weekend.”

you arrive friday evening, when the sun has set and dinner has been served. kento had just left that morning according to the boys, so you will be free of him and his incessant behavior.

some small part of you ached though, for their constant bickering. the look in his eyes when he'd told you he loved you has haunted you, and caused many sleepless nights.

you’re beginning to wonder if you had made the wrong decision.

he was wealthy, sure, but one could tell he cared for his wards. he was intelligent and he had an affinity for the arts, and was well-spoken. but does any of that really outweigh his behavior? you wonder.

it was as if your thinking about kento summoned him.

“oh. hello.” his voice sounds strained and you turns around to find kento standing there, his fists clenched at his side. “i was unaware you would be here.”

“i did not mean to intrude. yuuji and choso told me that you were gone for the weekend. i will make haste and leave as soon as i can.” you stand up, dusting off your dress. “my apologies, mr. nanami.”

“kento.” he clears his throat, “please. just call me kento. you do not have to leave, either. i was going for a walk around the grounds before i retreat to my office. i will be out of your way, as per your wish.” he takes a small bow, refusing to meet your eyes. “it's.. pleasure … it's a pleasure to see you again.” he stutters, and then turns away quickly.

“mr. nana–- kento.” you reach out to tap his shoulder, and the jolt through his body does not go unnoticed by you., “may i walk with you?”

he looks nervous, and his eyes flit around. “of course. i was going to.. visit my friend. i am,” he gulps, taking a deep breath, “i am sure he would love to meet you.”

“oh.” you smile softly, “i have not seen him around, though, i have only been here for a day.”

“i have told him much about you.” his voice is soft, as the two of you begin your walk. you are so close in proximity that your hands keep brushing together, and everytime they do, you watch his breathing seize.

you think you have killed him when you grab his hand and he stumbles over his own footing. “we should– - you should not be holding my hand, you are.. you are eligible and i- i am not courting you and–-”

“do you want me to stop?” you ask softly. in response, his hand squeezes yours softly as if to say, ‘please don't let go.’

you walk in a comfortable silence for another couple of minutes, hand in hand, before reaching the small magnolia field.

“here we are.” he clears his throat, letting go of your hand. “my. .. my friend. i know, it is embarrassing that i speak to a gravestone, but. .. i have no one else to confide in.” he looks for any worry or fear in your face, and he finds nothing. nothing but compassion and kindness.

“i do not think it is silly.” you smile softly, “i think it is perfectly alright. that is your friend, after all.” you crouches down next to the stone, brushing your fingers over his name. “haibara. it is very nice to meet you, mr. haibara. there is no doubt in my mind that you were an excellent man.”

“you are going to dirty your dress.” kento frowns, “you do not have to sit.” his heart is pounding a million miles a minute, and he thinks it could not be any louder. he is sure you can hear it.

“nonsense.” you smile, waving him off. “it would be rude of me to stand and speak to him.”

watching your speak to his closest friend’s gravestone with such compassion makes him tear up. he knew that he loved you for a reason, and the fact that you started speaking to haibara with no questions asked simply hammered it home for him.

“i am only here for a day or two more,” kento is thrown out of his thoughts by your voice, “but i must say this estate is lovely. i do not even think my home rivals this.” you laugh, and the sound flutters in his stomach, “it is gorgeous.”

there is silence for a moment as you looks up at kento. he's standing over you with his fists clenched and in near tears and you just shake your head. “you should be very proud of kento.” you says loud enough for him to hear, as you make eye contact with him, “he is doing a wonderful job raising yuuji and choso. you have a wonderful friend.”

kento turns his back from you, but you can see the shaking of his shoulders and hear him clear his throat.. “my apologies, please, excuse me.” he sniffles, “i am a little overwhelmed.”

it hits you now. kento has every reason to be as cynical and as rude as he is– - life has not been goodwell to him. he has grown up without a mother, and halfway through his life his father passed, and then his closest friend. add to that two wards that were thrown on top of his responsibilities and you have one struggling kento nanami.

“he is a wonderful man.” you project your voice so you can still hear him, “and i have been entirely nonsensical about him.”

“pardon?” his voice cracks, making him cringe, but you still looks at him with that same soft expression. he is glad you cannot see his face right now, for all you would see is his despair.

“i was wrong about you.” you stand, placing a hand on his shoulder. his back is still turned to you, and you respect his space, staying out of sight. “i was entirely wrong.”

he closes his eyes and prays– - prays that this means what he thinks it does. “three words from you will silence me forever.” he whispers brokenly, “if you are not going to say it and mean it, please, just say it once so that i may replay it in my head for when you are gone.”

“i cannot.” his shoulders fall and his stomach sinks. you slides your hand down his arm to reach his hand, and you squeeze. “i refuse to be the first time i declare my affections for you to be said to your back.”

he whips around almost immediately, and standing on your tiptoes, you cups his face with both of your hands. your thumbs wipe the tears from underneath his eyes.

“hello, handsome.” you smile and his head leans into your hand as he laughs with a little sniffle. “your smile suits you. i wish i could see it more often.”

he tries to duck his face away where you cannot see but you keeps it sturdy in your hands. “do not shy away from me, i want to see your face. there you are.” you smiles., “i apologize for my misunderstanding of your character. i said some harsh things that i am realizing now that i did not mean, and i am hoping you could forgive me. i am pleading.”

“you do not have to apologize. ever. it is my fault for being immature. my answer remains the same as it did a few weeks ago– - if you will have me, then i will be yours. no-now, and forever.” he rushes his words and you let go of his face with a nod and he blinks at you, his face swelling with joy.

“it is a deal, then.” you laughs, “forever is quite a long time though, kento.

“it will not be nearly enough time for me to spend with you. there will never be enough time.” he lifts your chin up to look at you. “god, you were plucked out of my dreams and put into my arms. i am the luckiest man on earth.”

you swat his arm gently., “you are magnificent with your words when they are not shooting to kill,.” you say lightly. your cheeks are beginning to hurt from smiling, but you do not care.

“my words will be soft and sweet for you, always,.” he tucks a piece of hair behind your ears, “from this point on.”

“i was just about to mention how they have not been in the past.”

“and for that, i will spend the rest of my life making it up to you.” he kisses your hand, and keeps eye contact the entire time. “every minute of every day. i love you.”

there it was.

“i love you,” he kisses your knuckles, “i love you,” he kisses your palm, “i love you,” up your arm, “i love you,” on your left cheek, “i love you,” right cheek, “i love you,” nose, “i love you.”

and finally, his hands coming up to cradle your head, he presses a promising kiss to your lips. “i love you. forever.”

#nanami x reader #nanami kento #nanami x you #nanami kento x reader #jjk x reader #jjk x you #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen x you #female reader #jjk imagines

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winterrrnight · 9 months ago

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march '24 recs <3

let's all ignore the fact that the last time I posted fic recs was back in july 😭😭 anyways, I'll try to be more regular w them now! <3 these are some of the fics i loved reading this month 🫶🏼🫶🏼 please heed the warnings if they have any so that you aren't reading you aren't comfortable with!! 🩷 check out the tag 'edith's fic recs! 🪄' for more stuff that I liked reading! <3

RAFE CAMERON

date me to scare them by @diqldrunks

the blind date by @obaex

kildare split by @ghostofwriting

unfold by @totalswag

bookstore dates by @gh0stsp1d3r

the compound by @rafeandonlyrafe

at her beck and call by @cameronspecial

BONUS

@ipetite69 & @rafeinterlude have lovely moodboards! <3

@boysssofthemonth and their whole blog basically! lots of lovely smaus! <3

@viawritesstuff has such a funny poguelandia group chat fic! <3

@runningfrom2am has absolutely wonderful and breathtaking fics for coryo so if you're into him please please check out my bae's blog! <3

@sadfury's entire blog!! lots of gif imagines which I adore sooo much! <3

i haven't read any drew or zach this month, plus I know these aren't a lot but this month was quite busy for me :( + I spent more time exploring my own writing this month :) if you read these fics, make sure to reblog and support the creators!! 💗💗

fic recs library!

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irisbleufic · 1 month ago

Note

The shade you’re throwing @ intersexist assholes in the tags on the IWTV story you finished today have me crying with laughter and also applauding, but I also feel mad on your behalf that something probably brought that on. Was someone a dick to you? It’s been a bad year for what y’all in the intersex community have had to put up with what with the Olympics, I can imagine :|

Hey, much appreciated, anon 💙 It has been a bad year for that, yeah. I’m not so much bent out of shape as annoyed about something that’s potentially intersexist in tone (see under the cut, where I try to pick it apart a bit) that I saw a while ago when I looked through the notes people have left on series-level Caldera bookmarks.

I sometimes forget that people leave annotations for themselves and others, and one in particular sort of made me blink and wonder who the fuck else might be reading and making themselves miserable by sticking around and reading content they could have so easily avoided and, you know, not bothered to bookmark? IDK, man, why not just bookmark the single story or stories you liked early on rather than bookmark the whole series to bitch about something the writer is examining at the intersection of gender identity and biological sex variations (especially when that’s something the writer reckoned with over time themself, and which plenty of other intersex people reckon with, too). Anyway, the weird AF note in question:

Like, I mean…okay? Thanks? Glad you liked a bunch of it, whatever that means, but gender identity and biological sex variations are running themes for half or more of stories in the series at this point, and not just for Armand (there are three characters for whom this is relevant, one of whom is canonically intersex in the novels, but whose portrayal has never quite sat well with me given the similarities to how intersex athletes are treated in the media—Petronia from Blackwood Farm; any other treatment of her/his/their monstrosity would’ve been brilliant, because, you know, fucking vampires, but it definitely crosses a line that plays into an awful stereotype). Getting back to Armand, though, the last sentence of this note is hilarious to me. In my stories, he doesn’t even change the pronouns he’s using even if, armed with new knowledge about himself, he’s also acknowledging a level of gender fluidity that he might not have been comfortable explicitly articulating and fully exploring before. I have a soft spot for writing about genderfluid/nonbinary characters who use he/him pronouns alongside the other ones I write about who tend to use they/them pronouns. There’s a relative lack of he/him gender-nonconforming characters in fiction, in my experience, so I have a few of those running around in fic across my fandoms. Given the fact that Armand’s pronouns haven’t changed here, this reader could pretty easily have just ignored everything else. I don’t even think Armand as I’m writing him is terribly offended by anyone who still calls him a man on days where he’s more masculine-presenting in the way he dresses, and there are still plenty of those. The bookmark comment feels sillier and sillier the more I dig into it through the lens of close reading my own text, and the discomfort feels a lot more like it’s down to the intersex theme than the gender identity theme even though the two are connected in the narrative.

If you find the existence of intersex people trying to work out their gender identity in fiction triggering, I regret to inform you that this is something that happens all the time in real life. And that you might hear about it, because we do talk about it. So, pro tip: heed the fic tags and consider not bitching about it where the author is going to see that and then just double down on being a thorn in your side, and anyone else’s who thinks like you, by writing even more about it.

#iwtv #fanfiction #intersex #intersexism #ao3 #this shit is so weird

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training4theapocalypse · 7 months ago

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A Nest of Vipers Ch7. (Cormac McLaggen x Original Female Character - Slytherin)

Rating: Explicit 18+

Word Count: 6.6K

Warnings / Tags: Canon atypical descriptions of violence, parental abuse, pure-blood supremacy, tragic romance

Summary: Una and Cormac's activities at Slughorn's party last night have caused a stir. A scandal from Una's childhood comes back to haunt her.

A/N: Please take heed of the warnings because, damn, Una is actually pretty normal all things considered.

Masterlist

Chapter 7: Scandal

The usually frantic corridor of the Hogwarts Express felt less chaotic to Una as she walked down holding Cormac’s hand. Perhaps she was achieving a thus far unprecedented sense of inner peace. Or maybe it was just because the crowd was parting and hushing each other as they passed.

Last night’s events at Slughorn’s Party had spread like fiendfyre - Una Montague and Cormac McLaggen were caught cheating with each other and thrown out. Then to top it all off, Una had been attacked by Ginny Weasley for stealing Hermione Granger’s date.

It was the scandal that everyone was talking about on the train ride home but Una was on top of the world. Ginny might have been popular amongst her Gryffindor classmates but she was notorious for her fired temper throughout the rest of the school. Una had even received sympathy for her twisted ankle from the Hufflepuff prefect, Zacharias Smith, who had been on the receiving end of the Weasley girl’s hexes more than once.

Una stopped outside a compartment when she saw Sabine and Meredith sitting inside and Cormac almost walked right into her.

“Woah,” he said, realising that she was intending on sitting with them. “I’m not going in there.”

Una laughed. “Oh, come on. I need to patch things up.” But Cormac stood resolutely still. “You’re not scared, are you? They don’t bite.”

“Sure about that?” asked Cormac and they both glanced through the compartment window to Sabine and Meredith, who looked as if they might as well have been sharpening their fangs.

“Alright - I’ll find you again before we get to London,” she said. “I need to smooth things over first.”

“You’re welcome to come and sit with us, y’know, if the ‘patching up’ doesn’t go to plan.”

“And Eddie Carmichael would be happy about that?” asked Una, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, he definitely doesn’t bite if you change your mind.”

Una smiled and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. Cormac pulled her close by her waist and kissed her back, his tongue slipping into her mouth unashamedly. They broke apart and Cormac squeezed her hand as he made to walk away but Una pulled him back for one more.

“You’re making it very difficult to leave,” murmured Cormac, his lips smiling against hers.

“I can’t help it. It’s so unfair I won’t see you for two weeks after this.”

“Think of all the time we’ll have in detention next term,” he said, grinning.

“As if Snape will let us be in detention together,” groaned Una. “Detention. I can’t believe I need to tell people I’m doing remedial Defence Against the Dark Arts. As if everyone wont guess that I’ve got detention anyway after Snape paraded us in front of everyone.”

“It was worth it,” said Cormac as if that settled it. “Come and find me when we get to King’s Cross, yeah?” He pressed a kiss on her forehead and this time turned and walked down the corridor to find his friends Eddie, Leanne and Katie.

Una let out a happy sigh as she watched him walk away. Things were finally going her way. But the sigh dissolved in her throat when she saw Sabine and Meredith glaring at her from behind the compartment window. Sabine mimed shoving a finger down her throat as if she was being sick.

She slid the compartment door open and sat down.

“PDA much?” shot Sabine.

“Thanks for ditching me at breakfast,” said Una sarcastically, ignoring her comment. The pair had left the dormitory before she was even dressed this morning.

“You seemed pretty cosy at the end of the Gryffindor table with Cormac McLaggen and Katie Bell,” Sabine sneered. “And that seat is taken.”

“By who?” asked Meredith obtusely.

“Anyone except her,” snapped Sabine while Meredith recoiled in fear.

“Well, I don’t see anyone else clamouring to share your compartment,” said Una. “Come on, Sab. It doesn’t have to be like this. You don’t see Blaise and Draco telling Graham to piss off.”

“That’s because Blaise and Draco are idiots. I told you what would happen if you went with Cormac so why don’t you go and find his friends and sit with them?” Sabine grabbed her magazine from the empty seat between her and Una and snapped it open, holding it in front of her face.

“I suppose I could…” said Una. “You know, it would be a pretty unstoppable group if I did.”

Sabine just tutted and turned a page of her magazine.

“I mean Carmichael is in Ravenclaw, Cormac and Katie are both in Gryffindor and their friend Leanne is in Hufflepuff. Who knows what kind of information would just slip out before it gets to us on the usual grapevine? I mean, think about it - if it wasn’t for Cormac, I never would have found out about what the Weasleys did to Graham.”

Sabine lowered her magazine slowly. “And what kind of information would you give them?” she asked, raising a perfectly threaded eyebrow.

“Only the type of information we choose to divulge. Information that would directly benefit us... Or me, I suppose if we’re not friends anymore,” Una pouted playfully.

Meredith looked between Sabine and Una as they stared each other down. “Sab, please, I hate that we’re all fighting -”

“Shut up for two seconds, Meredith,” groaned Sabine. She pursed her lips, surveying Una for a moment. “You know what, Una? You really are a conniving bitch.”

“Maybe… but you know, there’s no one else I’d rather connive with,” sang Una, scooting closer into the empty seat as Sabine’s lips curled into a small smile. Could she actually be pulling this off? Just the right amount of flattery with a subtle threat seemed to be working. And she should probably get in Meredith’s good books too, for good measure.

“You too, Meredith,” she added and Meredith’s face cracked into a smile.

“If you backstab us, I’ll tell your parents about Cormac,” said Sabine casually, leaning her head on Una’s shoulder so they could both read her magazine.

Her parents. They’d never approve - would they? Cormac had all the appearance of being well-off but he had mentioned that his dad and his uncle both worked at the Ministry. Surely, if his family worked, they couldn’t be from old money like the Montagues.

And the name ‘McLaggen’ wasn’t on the old tapestry in her father’s study detailing the lines of the sacred twenty-eight pure-blood families. That didn’t mean that he wasn’t though - he could be from a pure-blood family that was extinct in the male line. But she didn’t want to ask Cormac this - she didn’t care if he was a pure-blood at all but her parents on the other hand absolutely would. And Sabine knew it.

But Una pushed that thought to the back of her mind. She’d cross that bridge when she came to it. For now, Una had it all. Her best friends were speaking to her, she no longer hate to date Cormac secretly and her plans for revenge against the Weasleys were primed and ready to go after the holidays - everything was coming together nicely.

“Fair enough,” agreed Una, looking at the magazine. “Please just be cool when you see them at the Minister for Magic’s Christmas lunch,” she said.

“Ugh, I’m not going,” Sabine huffed. “My mother is engaged again - we’re spending Christmas with her husband-to-be.” She lifted her head and looked at Una. “You can tell your new friends that - if you need a piece of gossip to get them on-side.”

Una nodded.

Meredith, feeling left out, got up from her seat and plopped down on Una’s other side. “I won’t say anything about Cormac. I promise,” she added unnecessarily, overestimating her own self-importance in Una’s plans.

“Thanks, Meredith,” said Una, taking pity on her and deciding to throw her a bone

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cormac McLaggen continued down the train looking for Katie, Eddie and Leanne. To his horror, Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger emerged from the compartment next to theirs just as he was about to slide the door open.

“Oi, McLaggen,” said Ginny, and Cormac’s hopes of slipping in quietly evaporated as her sharp voice cut through the air.

He turned slowly, forcing a neutral expression. “Alright?” he asked.

“Alright?” repeated Ginny angrily, while Hermione’s jaw tightened. “Your little girlfriend should have been expelled.”

Cormac laughed derisively. “Una? You’re the one who should be expelled. You attacked her.”

The compartment door opened, revealing Eddie, Leanne, and Katie, with Graham Montague looming behind them. He hadn’t seen Graham since last night and was now wondering if he should have asked Una if her hulking brother was the overprotective type.

“What’s going on?” asked Katie.

“Look,” Cormac began. “Hermione, I’m sorry for ditching you last night. That was poor form. But there’s no excuse for the pair of you attacking Una -”

“Oh, really?” asked Ginny, rolling her eyes. “I didn’t think you were the type to excuse that sort of behaviour… unless she didn’t tell you what she said to Hermione?”

Una hadn’t mentioned anything about provoking them.

“She -” Hermione swallowed. “She called me a Mudblood.”

There was an immediate uproar of dissent in the corridor as everyone started arguing and clamouring over each other. Eddie, who was muggleborn and never liked Una anyway, was immediately outraged. Katie and Leanne were shocked. And Cormac felt slightly dazed, stunned silent by the accusation.

“Woah, woah, wait a second,” said Graham. “Una would never say that.”

More than anything right now, Cormac wanted to believe him. But Graham, after all, was -

“Well, obviously you’d defend her. She’s your sister,” Ginny retorted.

Graham’s defensiveness grew. “I swear, she isn’t like that. She hates that word.”

“I know what I heard,” Hermione insisted.

“So you can stop covering up for her -” said Ginny.

“He isn’t covering for her,” said a quiet voice behind Ginny and Hermione. Blaise Zabini had arrived in the corridor and was looking intently at Ginny. “Una tells people off for saying that sort of thing in the common room.”

Ginny glared at him. “Stay out of this, Zabini.”

“I’m serious,” he said, addressing Cormac directly. Ginny and Hermione also looked at Cormac expectantly.

“I think,” said Cormac carefully. “You were looking for an excuse to pick a fight and misheard her.”

Ginny groaned in fury, and Blaise touched her arm. “Weasley, listen to me -” he started, but she shrugged him off indignantly.

“Why am I not surprised you’re covering for her?” she shot. “You lot are all the same.”

Linking arms with Hermione, the two of them pushed past Blaise and marched away down the corridor, in the direction of the trolley witch.

Blaise closed his eyes and sighed before turning his attention to Graham. “Montague, Draco is looking for you. We’ve saved you a seat in our carriage. Are you coming?”

“Get in here, everyone’s staring,” Eddie urged as more curious faces peered around the surrounding compartment doors.

“And you’ve got some explaining to do, Cormac,” said Katie.

“Ugh. Yeah, I’m coming, Blaise,” said Graham, squeezing Katie’s hand in farewell. “I really don’t want to hear McLaggen explaining anything about my sister.”

Comac drew his shoulders back, standing aside to let Graham pass. Should he say something? Apologise for snogging his sister? But Graham just gave him a curt nod as he exited.

“Montague, I -”

“Look, McLaggen, I’m not exactly thrilled you’re dating my sister but if you’re waiting for me to say something like ‘If you hurt her, I’ll jinx you,’ don’t hold your breath. It’s not gonna happen. She can handle herself - I mean - not -” He sighed before adding in a low, solemn voice, “I grew up with Una and I know her. Really know her. She’s not what people like Granger or Weasley think. She wouldn’t say that word.”

Cormac felt the deep worry sinking like a stone in the pit of his stomach lighten considerably. Graham Montague had a point. Eddie might argue that Graham was biased, but somehow Cormac didn’t think so. As he watched Graham walk away with Blaise, Cormac’s mind raced. Could Una really have said something so horrible?

There was an irritating niggling feeling in the back of his mind as he remembered how Una had taunted Myrtle in the bathroom. The vicious things she had said to get a rise out of her. He himself had called Una a bully that night. He’d even once jokingly told her he thought she might be evil.

But being mean to Myrtle was nowhere near as bad as calling someone ‘mudblood’. And she had been sorry about what she’d said to Myrtle, hadn’t she? And after that Una had been so vulnerable with him - opened up to him. He couldn’t reconcile that image with someone who would use such a hateful word.

He glanced at Eddie, who was still fuming, and at Katie and Leanne, who looked concerned and confused. This was a mess, but the sincerity in Graham’s eyes and Blaise’s calm assertion gave him hope. They knew Una better than anyone, and they were adamant she wouldn’t do something like this.

Taking a deep breath, Cormac made his decision. He believed the people who knew her best. He had to trust them.

“Look,” he said to his friends, “Let’s get inside. I don’t believe Granger and Weasley.”

Eddie opened his mouth to protest, but Cormac held up a hand. “Graham and Blaise know her better than you lot.”

“Graham wouldn’t lie,” said Katie slowly. “But I know Hermione and Ginny. And I can’t see them attacking her for no reason.”

Leanne pursed her lips. “Ginny smashed into the commentator’s box just because Zacharias Smith’s commentary about Gryffindor was less than complimentary. And I heard Hermione sent a swarm of birds after Ron Weasley just for snogging Lavender Brown.”

“Sounds like I got off lightly, then,” said Cormac, trying to deflect the subject to something less serious.

But as they all filed back into the compartment, Cormac couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling gripping him. He hoped he was right to trust his instincts. For now, though, he had made his choice. He would find out the truth from Una when he saw her again after the holidays.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Christmas morning, Una stood in front of her ornate bedroom mirror smoothing down the front of her dress - a short, black velvet number adorned with pearls along its sweetheart neckline.

“You can’t wear that to St Mungo’s,” said Una’s mother, startling her. Una hadn’t even heard her stealthy footsteps enter the room which was no small feat in her high heels.

“You - you bought me it,” Una stammered as she watched her mother’s reflection approach. Morgana Montague, with her features drawn tight in perpetual scrutiny, examined Una’s choice with evident disapproval.

“To wear to an event where you might find a husband - not to visit a hospital,” she said, rolling her eyes, lined with dark eyeliner. Morgana Montague was a beautiful woman when she smiled, not that ever Una saw it, for when she spoke to Una, her face was always twisted with disdain.

“I thought it might be nice to wear to the Minister’s Christmas party… It’s just that I won’t have time to get dressed into something else if we’re going straight from St Mungo’s,” said Una in what she thought was a reasoned argument.

Her mother disagreed.

“Well, whose fault is that?” her mother sniped, priming herself to dredge up the event that hung over their family like a dark shadow. “Whose fault is it that our entire family needs to spend every Christmas morning visiting the Marchbanks boy in the hospital?”

“Mine,” she said resignedly. “I’ll change.”

“We won’t have time for that - you’ll make us all late. Just put on some tights and a jacket to cover yourself up. We don’t want the healers to think we’ve brought him a prostitute as a Christmas gift.”

That stung unexpectedly. She hadn’t spoken to her mother since summer - she’d almost forgotten how her cruel comments could come from nowhere like a slap in the face. Una felt tears welling up in her eyes. Stupid, she thought. Don’t ruin your makeup.

“Oh, don’t pout, Una,” said her mother, putting her hands on her shoulders as she stood behind her and watched her face fall in the mirror. “It’ll all be over within an hour or two.” Of course, her mother thought her tears were from guilt about what happened to Everett Marchbanks all those years ago, rather than her own cutting words. “His family are still content to believe it was an accident,” she added, seeing only what she chose to in Una’s reflection.

Una bit her bottom lip.

Una’s mother’s eyes met her own. “Your father tells me you’re doing very well at school now. And I suppose that means you’re much more in control of your magic these days.”

“Y-yes. I told you I was made Head Girl. I wrote to both of you -”

“Well, someone who was made Head Girl shouldn’t accidentally blow someone up if she were to be betrothed again.” Her mother smiled. A different smile than the sort she reserved for Una’s brother. “The consequences would be much more severe now that you’re of age.”

“Mother, you promised after what happened last time that you wouldn��t.”

“Una, you’re eighteen years old and you still haven’t met a boy from a decent family. Tiberius Ogden is bringing his nephew to Rufus Scrimgeour’s party this afternoon and -”

“Tiberius Ogden?” asked Una in disgust. “From the Wizengamot? Isn’t he about a hundred? How old is his nephew?”

“Do not interrupt me,” her mother hissed in her ear, her grip tightening on her shoulders. “Tiberius is a friend of your father’s and he’s very sympathetic about what happened. No other families have dared offer their sons as a suitable match after they heard about what you did to Everett Marchbanks.”

What kind of horror must Tiberius Ogden’s nephew be if he was unmarried and willing to be matched with her? Una shuddered to think.

“Mother, please, I’m begging you. I don’t want to be bartered like livestock -”

“You should be grateful.” Her mother cut across her, her tone sharp as steel. “Meredith’s mother was just telling me that Meredith was desperate to secure a betrothal. You know, there aren’t many pure-blood families left.”

“I don’t care about that,” said Una, picking up her lipgloss from the dresser. The little talisman that made her feel in control. Made her feel powerful. How would she break it to Cormac if she came back from the Christmas holidays betrothed? “Tell Meredith’s mother she can have Tiberius Ogden’s ugly, old nephew - ow!”

Una’s mother grabbed a fistful of her hair from behind and pulled her head back, forcing her to look her in the eyes. She wrenched the lipgloss from Una’s hand and threw it with such ferocity against the mirror that it cracked.

“Listen carefully,” said Una’s mother venemously. “If you don’t have a suitable match by the time you graduate you have two choices. Either you’re no longer a member of this family - and that means no inheritance and no trust fund. Or -” She let go of Una’s hair roughly and walked towards the door. “- I will inform Mr and Mrs Marchbanks that you’re willing to fulfil your obligation to Everett”

“You expect me to marry someone who’s a permanent resident in St Mungo’s?” asked Una, horrified. “He’s lost his mind - he’s -”

“And I ask you again: whose fault is that?” repeated her mother, turning around to look at her.

Una said nothing. Instead, she sniffed and opened her chest of drawers to find a pair of tights.

“Una?” called her mother in a voice so gentle that Una’s shoulders relaxed, hoping beyond hope that maybe she’d changed her mind. She looked up into the mirror to where her mother stood by the door. She held her breath, waiting for her mother to take back her harsh words.

“Forget the tights. You’ll want Tiberius’s nephew to get a good look at you.”

And with that, she shut the door, leaving Una to stare at her distorted reflection in the fragmented mirror.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Is it too early for Firewhisky?” grumbled Cormac, eyeing up the drinks cabinet as they walked into the reception room of the Minister for Magic’s official residence.

“Oh, come on, m’boy. It won’t be too terrible,” said his Uncle Tiberius, slapping him on the back.

“It’s already terrible. I’m wearing a shirt for Merlin’s sake. I’d much rather be spending Christmas in my pyjamas.” Cormac looked around the room, observing all the Ministry types and wondering if they too would rather be spending Christmas at home than mingling with their higher-ups. “I don’t get why you brought me instead of Dad.”

“Well, er…” Uncle Tiberius looked around shiftily. “I’ve been meaning to tell you. You’re here to help me get Ministry approval for our next hunting trip.”

“Oh no. No way. What, do you want me to ask for sponsors or something? On Christmas Day?! I’d rather empty my own vault at Gringotts if money is the issue -”

“Keep your voice down,” hushed Uncle Tiberius, putting his arm around Cormac’s shoulder and taking him aside. “Gold isn’t the problem. But a culling licence for Nogtails is - and I need you to get old Ulysses on side. He’s a Ministry benefactor and, more importantly, friendly with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.”

“What’s that got to do with me?”

“Well, these sorts of things can’t be bought with money. They’re bought with favours and I said I’d do him one…”

Cormac had a feeling where this was going and he didn’t like it one bit. “Get to the point, old man.”

“He’s trying to marry off his daughter into a pure-blood family and -”

“Oh, right. No big deal. Just get married to some pure-blood supremacist hag. Cheers, thanks, Uncle Tiberius.”

“You don’t have to marry her. But I did promise you’d at least have a conversation with her. Apparently, she’s very beautiful.”

“Sure, that’s why her parents are desperate to find her a blind match,” Cormac heaved a sigh. “And I have a girlfriend, by the way.” He added, and thinking of Una sent a pang of longing through him.

“Well, your girlfriend might be old news when you see Ulysses’s daughter.”

Cormac dragged his hand down his face. This was unbelievable. “You feel good about whoring me out for a hunting licence?” Uncle Tiberius just grinned. “Fine - I’ll endure one conversation. That’s it. But I am actually going to need a Firewhisky then.”

“That’s the spirit, Cormac.”

“Spirit is right,” said Cormac, pouring two large Firewhiskys from Rufus Scrimgeor’s drinks cabinet. “You know the whole concept of arranged marriages is messed up, right? I can’t wait until these old traditions die out.”

“Well, they worked out for your great-aunt and me,” said Uncle Tiberius, looking delighted despite the joke at his expense and raising his glass slightly in a toast. “And don’t hold your breath waiting for old traditions to die out. I’ve got plenty of years left in me.”

Cormac drained his Firewhisky in one and winced. “I wouldn’t be so sure, Uncle. Try and set me up again and you may just have a suspicious hunting accident.” His eyes searched the room as he swirled the ice around the bottom of his empty glass, not entirely sure what he was looking for. “What’s the spinster’s name anyway?”

“Quiet - there’s Ulysses there,” hushed his Uncle nodding and Cormac froze. Uncle Tiberius laughed at his stunned expression and waved to the family of four who had just entered from the other side of the room. “See? I told you she was a looker,” he said out of the corner of his mouth.

Across the room, Cormac watched Graham Montague elbow Una in the ribs and point to where he and his Uncle were standing. Una’s eyes widened as she and Graham followed two people, who Cormac assumed to be their mother and father, in their direction.

“Tiberius!’ said Ulysses Montague, a short, amicable sort of man who let go of his regal-looking wife to shake Uncle Tiberius’s hand. “Good to see you. You know my wife, Moragana, of course. This is my son, Graham - he’s the Slytherin Quidditch Captain. And this is my daughter, Una.”

Cormacs brows knitted together slightly. He didn’t fail to notice the lack of plaudits before Una’s name.

“Well, this is my nephew, Cormac,” said Uncle Tiberius and Cormac extended his hand to Graham.

“We meet again,” said Graham, shaking his hand.

“Of course! Cormac plays Quidditch too. You must have crossed paths on the field,” said Uncle Tiberius but Graham just grinned.

“McLaggen hasn’t had the pleasure yet. How many games have you had this year?”

“The same as the amount of goals you scored in your last game, Montague.”

Cormac turned his attention to Una. “You know they’re trying to marry us off to each other, right?” He asked.

“Cormac,” groaned Uncle Tiberius behind him.

“So I’ve heard,” said Una quietly. He thought that his question would amuse her but on the contrary - she looked anxious.

“Do you two know each other too?” asked Una’s father and Cormac didn’t miss the way Una’s mother observed them shrewdly. But there was something else there when she looked at Una. Something worse. Something like disgust.

Una’s eyes widened in what Cormac understood to be alarm.

“Hardly,” said Cormac, quickly correcting his misstep. “We have a few classes together.”

Graham Montague raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

“Cormac, why don’t you show Miss Montague the library while I catch up with my dear friend, Ulysses?” asked Uncle Tiberius jovially. “I hear the Minister has a fine collection of books on hunting Nogtails.”

Una looked at her mother, waiting for permission and Mrs Montague’s jaw tightened for a moment. “Graham - go with them please,” said Una’s mother sharply. “It’s not proper to have them meandering off on their own.”

And so, Una, Cormac and Graham left the reception room and entered the polished marble foyer. The double doors shut behind them, muffling the hum of distant conversation.

“Honestly,” said Una scathingly. “A chaperone. What does she think will happen?”

“The same thing that happened at Slughorn’s party?” suggested Graham.

“She doesn’t know about that. And besides that was different -“

“Gross - don’t tell me any more. Just - come and find me before lunch is served. I’ll get it in the neck from Mum if she thinks I’ve left you alone.”

“You can come with us if you want?” offered Cormac but secretly hoping he’d say no.

“Not a chance. I’d rather jump off the Astronomy tower than watch you two snogging.”

“Graham, we’re not -“

“I’m going to see if Albie Selwyn is here yet. He might have cigarettes,” said Graham cutting across and waving his hand dismissively behind him as he left.

Una and Cormac began walking to the library, the footsteps creaking on the antique hardwood floorboards of the Minister’s residence. “So… you never told me you’d be coming back from the Christmas holidays betrothed,” he said, with a sideways glance.

“You’re one to talk,” said Una. “I only found out this morning.”

“So did I,” admitted Cormac. “I didn’t even know arranged marriages were still a thing.”

“Lucky you,” grumbled Una. “My mother -” She stopped abruptly, already feeling that she’d said too much.

“What about her? You can tell me.”

“Not here,” she said, looking around edgily. “I don’t want to be overheard.”

They continued walking and, when they found the library, Cormac shut the door behind them. The stately room was walled with towering bookcases and had a grand piano in front of the large bay window. It was snowing outside and cold winter sunlight danced on the lid of the piano. Una’s shoulders immediately relaxed when Cormac pulled her into an embrace. She slumped her forehead against his chest and Cormac felt tears against his shirt as she let out a shuddering sob.

He made a soothing noise and held her tight. He had known something was wrong the second she and her family had been introduced to him.

“I’m - I’m so relieved it was you,” she choked in a muffled voice. “Cormac - you - you have no idea what it’s like.”

“It’s okay. I’m here,” he said quietly, now feeling guilty about joking about their situation in the foyer.

She took deep breaths before pulling back. Cormac studied her mascara-streaked face. The dark trails cut through her skin like spilled ink on paper.

“Your shirt,” she said, her voice strangled with hopelessness. “I’m sorry. Here - ” she fumbled, looking for her wand in her handbag. “Scourgify,” she added, pointing her wand at his white shirt and the black makeup stains vanished. Una wiped under her eyes and sniffed. “I didn’t mean to go to pieces like that. I’m fine. It’s just been a rough day.”

“Unes, what’s going on?” asked Cormac, his concern deepening. He’d never seen her cry before. Una was formidable. If something had brought her to tears, it had to have been serious.

“It’s a long story,” she said. “And you’d think the worst of me if you heard it. Everyone does. Well… except Graham. But he’s the only one who doesn’t think I’m a fucking terrible person.”

Cormac said nothing for a moment. He thought hard about what happened on the train and was certain at this moment that Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley, like Eddie Carmichael, like everyone else, were blinded by their preconceptions of Una.

“I don’t think you’re a terrible person,” he said simply.

Una sniffed and sat down on the piano bench. “Maybe we should keep it that way. Let’s talk about something else.”

She stared at the floor but Cormac crouched down in front of her and held her hand, putting himself in her line of sight. “Try me,” he said gently. She bit her bottom lip worriedly, just like she had done when her mother glared at her earlier. “Is it your parents? Una, we can just tell them where to stick their betrothal.”

Una snorted a dismal laugh. “Yeah, right. You might be able to say stuff like that to your uncle but my mother would… My mother is a difficult woman.”

“Graham told me at Slughorn’s party that they tried to set you up with someone before and it didn’t work out,” Cormac said slowly, recalling the confusion he had felt during that particular conversation.

Una paused. “Cormac, I almost killed him.”

Cormac’s words of reassurance were momentarily erased from his mind in shock.

“See?” said Una with a pained smile. “I told you it was bad.”

He needed to understand. His heart pounded in his chest. “Una… how? What happened?”

She sighed heavily. “It happened when I was eight -”

“Then it wasn’t your fault,” said Cormac immediately. “Kids don’t have control of their magic.”

“Oh, I had control alright. But I’d never shown any signs of magic until that point. My mother and father thought I was a squib. Graham had been showing signs of magic since he was a toddler So they called out experts from St Mungos, my dad even used his connections to have the Head of the Department of Mysteries come and take a look at me. They said I was a late bloomer. But my parents didn’t listen. They were so worried about their reputation. Having a squib in the family would taint their bloodline,” she added bitterly.

“But you do have magic,” said Cormac, his voice filled with conviction. “Loads.”

“But they weren’t to know that. So, to secure my future, they betrothed me to a boy a year older than me, Everett Marchbanks..”

Cormac frowned. He had heard of the Marchbanks family but never an Everett. “Was he in the year above us?”

Una shook her head. “He never got to go to Hogwarts. You see, my parents kept my lack of magical abilities hidden. But Graham knew. And he was only seven so he wasn’t great at keeping his mouth shut. And Everett found out.”

“And he told his parents?” asked Cormac.

She shook her head again. “Nope. One day, we were over at the Marchbanks house. Graham and I were playing in the garden and Everett came out and told him our parents were looking for him. Everett and I were alone outside and he -”

Una took a deep breath and Cormac squeezed her hand reassuringly.

“I didn’t really understand what being betrothed meant. But he did. He said he didn’t want a squib for a wife and would make me his house elf instead. He told me to eat dirt. I refused, of course. That made him angry. He called me names, and I called him plenty back.”

“I bet you did,” offered Cormac with a small smile but Una didn’t return it. She continued.

“But then… Then he pinned me down, grabbed a handful of dirt and tried to shove it in my face. I opened my mouth to scream for my brother and he shoved it in my mouth. He pinched my nose and covered my mouth, forcing me to swallow it.”

Cormac felt his pulse quickening, his stomach turning at the awful image Una was painting. His heart ached for her, a mixture of horror and pity washing over him.

Una squeezed her eyes shut. “And I did. It was - it was disgusting. I vomited immediately, thinking it was over. But then he shoved another fistful into my mouth. I started choking. I couldn’t see anything through the tears and the dirt falling into my eyes.”

A mixture of horror and pity washed over Cormac, he had to make a conscious effort to breathe. “Una - that’s awful. I’m so sorry that happened to you. You need to remember, though, that kids have magical accidents all the time. Especially if they go through something traumatic. If you did something uncontrollable when he was choking you, nobody could blame you.”

“It wasn’t uncontrollable. I didn’t even hear Graham shout Everett’s name until he was pulling him off me. I was sick again. On my hands and knees - retching until there was nothing left. And when I looked up, my parents and Everett’s parents had come out to see what the commotion was. And then I saw her face. My mother. She was furious. But not at Everett. She was looking at me - disgusted by the mess all down the front of my dress.”

Cormac was horrified. He felt a surge of anger towards Una’s parents. How could they have been so blind?

“And so I stood up. And I felt it. Magic. For the first time. I really felt it. Rising up inside me like it was boiling. And I saw Everett. He took one look at my mother then back at me and smirked like he knew I was in trouble. And then…” Una looked up from the floor. “I remember all I wanted was to hurt him. I'd never wanted to hurt anyone or anything before. And I just exploded. I don’t remember how - I can only remember a bright, searing light and the next thing I remember was Everett’s mother sobbing over his body. He was unrecognisable.”

She sat up slightly, her voice trembling. “But I do remember one thing. It felt good. Really good. I meant to hurt him. Badly. And I did. I didn't feel any guilt... I felt powerful. Powerful because I fought back.”

Cormac’s heart was pounding, his mind reeling from the weight of Una’s confession. He felt a wave of horror at what she had done, mingled with an overwhelming pity for the child who had been so brutally mistreated and pushed to the brink.

“He deserved it,” said Cormac.

“No, he didn’t. It was stupid kid stuff -”

Una, it wasn’t just kid stuff. It was fucking sick,” Cormac insisted, his voice low with intensity.

“My mother knew I meant it. My father blamed her for a while - it was her idea to betroth me so young. They haven’t mentioned marriage for years, until this morning.”

“Why do they care about you getting married now? I mean, you’re only eighteen.”

“The same reason your family cares.”

“Well,” said Cormac, realising that his problems from this morning paled in comparison to Una’s. “My uncle only set this up because he wants your dad’s help getting a hunting license.”

Una laughed unexpectedly. “Wow,” she said. “Well, my parents want me to marry into a traditional family.”

“A pure-blood family,” confirmed Cormac with a tight-lipped smile.

“Yep. And the whole awful ordeal with Everett spread pretty quickly amongst the sacred twenty-eight. And none of them wanted to put their sons at risk with someone like me. So that only leaves minor houses - the ones whose names became extinct in the male line.”

“Like mine,” finished Cormac.

“Yep,” said Una bitterly. “And my mother told me this morning that unless I find a marriage match before I leave school, she’ll force me to honour my obligations to Everett.”

“Where is he now?” asked Cormac.

“In St Mungos. Permanently.”

“Una, they can’t just force you to marry him.”

“They’ll disinherit me otherwise.”

“Fuck their inheritance. You’ll make your own way.”

“It’s not the money I care about. It’s Graham.”

“Look, I don’t know Graham but from what you’ve told me, he’s a decent guy. He’d understand.”

“They’d disinherit him too. And he missed so much of last year when he was in the hospital wing that he’ll be lucky if he leaves Hogwarts with a handful of O.W.Ls. - who’s going to give him a job? And besides, I don’t want to force him to choose between them and me.”

“Fine. Let’s tell them we're getting married then,” Cormac said fiercely. Instinctively. He couldn't not.

Una blinked at him. “Cormac, that’s very gallant of you but we hardly know each other. I mean, what are we? Are we even boyfriend and girlfriend? I can’t let you do that.”

“You can,” Cormac insisted. “And maybe we don’t know each other well.” He pressed his lips to the back of her hand. “But I know how I feel about you. You're my girlfriend and I care about you enough that I don’t want you forced into a marriage with Everett Marchbanks.”

A bell rang some distance away and the door to the library opened.

“Oi, you two. You were supposed to come and meet me - woah, Una, are you alright?” asked Graham as he stumbled into the scene before him. Una’s face, streaked with tears and Cormac kneeling in front of her.

“I’m fine. I just - I was telling him about Everett Marchbanks.”

Graham’s face darkened. “It’s been ten years and I still want to punch his stupid face. Even if he’s only got half of it left.”

“Well, we’ve worked out a solution,” said Cormac.

“A solution to what?” asked Graham but Una stood up abruptly.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said and shot Cormac a warning look as he got to his feet too. “Thank you for the offer, Cormac, but I can sort this out myself.”

“Sort what out?” asked Graham, increasingly perplexed.

“None of your business,” said Una, pulling a compact mirror from her bag and touching up her appearance with a tissue. She snapped the mirror shut and swiftly moved past him, bumping his almighty frame with her small shoulder as she exited the room.

Graham stared after her incredulously. “She’s always like this. Never walks anywhere - just stomps ominously.”

“I heard that!” called Una from the corridor.

“I hope you know what you’ve let yourself in for, mate,” said Graham, clapping Cormac on the shoulder in condolence.

Cormac straightened himself up and followed Graham from the room. He wasn’t sure what he was letting himself in for. Not really.

But he had a feeling he was about to find out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Join my tag list: @countlambula, @ratsys, @aweidlich, @navs-bhat, @stainedpomegranatelips, @chiaraanatra, @xxvelvetxxxx, @ohnoitsrosie, @dracosisteer, @daisydark, @intense-sneezing, @lipstickandloveletters, @ichorai, @marmie-noir @evabellasworld, @ivebeentrashsince2001 , @xyzstar (let me know if you want removed at any point - if you're only interested in specific stories or even if you are finding this tag annoying 🖤)

#freddie stroma #cormac mclaggen #slytherin #slytherin fanfiction #harry potter fanfic #harry potter fanfiction #cormac mclaggen x original female character #cormac mclaggen fanfic #slytherin aesthetic #hogwarts au #cormac mclaggen x reader #cormac mclaggen x female reader #cormac mclaggen fic

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lorwolf-salt · 1 year ago

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Okay, Coop7011 here, SaltyLoria staff, ignore my first post. Weird vore person here (she for those who don't know), not sure if I should be doing this but I figured it's better that people hear from me instead of talking about me and making things up, plus whatever the frick happened in that thread. Keep in mind all of this (besides the thread issue yesterday) happened months ago. And it started in that thread yesterday because I merely said something along the lines of 'I am not in the official Lorwolf Discord for private reasons, and never will be' and random curseword guy got butthurt about that for some reason, even though it's against the rules to discuss moderator actions. I don't know who he is, but I can only assume it was just a guy who really hates vore. And I suspect a lot of people here also hate vore, and that's fine. I just hope some of you can see past that hate and see the truth of what really happened.

Yes, I was banned from the discord, but not because I 'wanted to show little kids NSFW'. Keep in mind that while I was ON the server, my username was not Wholesome Vore Writer, it was Coop7011, the same as it was on the website. You would only see Wholesome Vore Writer if you DMed me. At the time, I did not have Nitro, so when the staff asked me to remove the link to my Ao3 (that nobody has to click, nobody is forced to read, and has warnings and tags everywhere about the content of the stories) then I'd be changing it for every single discord server I was in. They were also forcing me to change my base username, and not just my nickname on the discord server (which was Coop7011 anyway). I felt this was unreasonable, but changed it for a time so I could conclude some trade deals on the discord server. Then, after some time, I admit that I got salty about the staff of one discord server (LW) forcing me to change so much on an account that I use for so many other things. So I changed it back. Things were fine for awhile (because that's how unnoticeable it is, unless someone snoops through my profile or DMs me) but then eventually I was banned without word. I don't agree with this choice, but I've long since accepted it as a fact that I didn't heed to their requests/went back on it and thus they had their right to get rid of me. I didn't care that much as long as I was able to play on Lorwolf itself. Keep in mind that no word of my writing is on the server or the website, all of this is about my base Discord username (hidden since I set my nickname on server to be my Lorwolf username) and a link to my stories on my discord profile. Personally, I also don't agree with calling my work NSFW, as they are not sexual and I don't write them with sexual intent. They are emotional comfort stories to cope with trauma, where no one is harmed (yes vore is people being swallowed, but they're safe in my work). I won't get into too much detail about this, because frankly, I don't think it should matter what I write about off-website. It's not using Lorwolf characters and it's not being posted directly on Lorwolf anything. This is the most I've ever talked about it in a semi public space about this pet sim game. So there you go, that's what happened. And I am deeply sorry to VNX for what happened to the thread, I purposely didn't take part in discussing back and forth because I knew it would go nowhere and would just result in countless removed posts, but I guess someone else did argue about it.

#lw forums #long post #lw discord

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mike----wazowski · 10 months ago

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i completely forgot i had something for sunday six last week lmao but i'll just post it today @four-white-trees @overdevelopedglasses @skysquid22 @passthroughtime @woundedheartwithin i've also seen @jichanxo being tagged in others so i thought i might add- hope that's ok!! 🫡🫡

this has been sitting in my drafts for ages and is a really old snippet. rikiya content was the first writing i did for yakuza 😔✊️

***

"Riona, what are you doing out here? I asked you to get me your dirty laundry."

Kiryu's scolding seemed to go over Riona's head. She had her hands on her hips, and was striking a pose. "I'm practising my runway walk, Uncle Kaz. I'll need it for when I'm a supermodel!"

Kiryu sighed. "A supermodel."

"Yeah!"

"I thought you wanted to be a fashion designer?"

"Changed my mind!"

"Right. Well, maybe practice being a supermodel after you've given me your laundry," Kiryu said, with as much patience as a father-of-nine could muster. "You won't get on the runway with dirty clothes, will you?"

"What's this about bein' a supermodel?" A bright voice rang out. Haruka beamed as Rikiya approached the gates of Morning Glory, Mikio in tow. The moment they heard him (Rikiya could be heard from Downtown Ryukyu), the other kids emerged from the house, and Taichi came running to wrestle him, as was his signature greeting.

"Riona's practising her walk for the runway," Haruka chirped, as Rikiya was almost knocked off his feet. "She wants to be a catwalk model one day."

"Ohh, right, of course- Riona's our little fashionista!" Trying (and failing) to fend Taichi off, Rikiya called, "Let's see that walk, then, Riona!"

"Okay!"

Kiryu cleared his throat as Riona readied herself. "What about your laundry?"

Riona paid him no heed, starting up her attempt at a runway walk. She looked rather like a wobbly duckling taking its first steps, but Rikiya and Mikio cheered with the enthusiasm of a stadium crowd.

"Wow! You're gonna be at all the big shows!" Mikio said, and Rikiya yelped in agreement, unable to say more with Taichi trying to drag him down.

"Thanks! I keep asking Uncle Kaz to get me a pair of heels so I can practice properly, but he always says no," Riona said.

"Aniki- just doesn't- understand the lifestyle," Rikiya wheezed. Fortunately for him, Taichi had now switched targets to Mikio. "He's an unfashionable old man, y'know?"

"She's too young to wear heels," Kiryu intoned. "Plus, you're pretty far from the supermodel lifestyle yourself, Rikiya."

"Whaaa-" Rikiya let out a theatrical gasp, wheeling around to face Haruka. "Haruka-chan, did ya hear what he just said?"

"I did," Haruka giggled.

"Am I wrong?" Kiryu asked, voice dust-dry. "Anyway, we've had our fun- laundry now, Riona, and if you two are here you can help me with the-"

"Nope, nope, nope. I ain't lettin' this stand!" Rikiya interrupted, pushing his chest out. "I'm gonna show you how I strut my stuff, Aniki!"

"... what."

"I'm gonna do a runway walk that makes you go gaga!"

Taichi finally let up on his assault, dropping off of Mikio's back. "Isn't that for girls, Uncle Rikiya?"

"Don't say that like it's a bad thing!" Ayako scolded him.

"Both girls and guys both do modelling," Mikio told him. "I dunno if Rikiya fits the part, though. You gotta be good looking to be a model."

"Hey, go to hell!" Rikiya protested. "I'll show ya both what I can do!"

Though Kiryu looked like he wanted to protest, the prospect of seeing Rikiya make a fool of himself was enticing. And now Rikiya had his audience, he probably would go ignored anyway.

"Gotta have a good starting point..." Rikiya jogged over to the gates of Morning Glory. "You watch this!"

"Oh, I'm watching," Kiryu sighed.

Rikiya took long, flying strides, head angled so he was gazing dramatically into the distance. He wiggled his hips in a way that shouldn't have been anatomically possible. The kids shrieked with laughter, and Kiryu shook his head in disbelief.

"I'm gonna show you my passion... I'm gonna show you my fire..." He seemed to be going above and beyond a regular catwalk, adding off-key singing to the mix.

"Are you a model or an idol?" Kiryu asked.

"Both, aniki! I'm a triple threat! Singin', dancin', and killin' with good looks!" He turned to the kids. "Wanna join in?"

Izumi and Riona jumped at the chance, running to join him on his little stage. It took a moment of bravery, but Mitsuo followed. Never one to be upstaged, Taichi jumped in next, and soon all of them but Haruka were following Rikiya's makeshift choreography.

"I guess I'm never getting that laundry," Kiryu sighed, but he was smiling so openly Haruka couldn't take him seriously. "Not feeling like a supermodel, Haruka? Or dancer- whatever he thinks he's doing."

"Come on, Haruka-chan! Gotta show your oji-san what's what!" Rikiya called. "I'll have your heart inside of my hand-"

"'Cause I am the queen, oh queen of the passion!" Haruka jumped in, and Kiryu let out a genuine laugh, loud and strong.

It was just like Rikiya to turn a quiet night into one where everyone danced.

So of all the things wrong with his body- the bullet wounds, the blood, the empty eyes- the stillness was the worst part.

#sunday six #my writing #...sorry about that ending #rikiya shimabukuro #kiryu kazuma

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cloudbrooksblog · 1 year ago

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Critical blogs have the worst critique and complaints about the Hellaverse

Calling Millie and Velvette's designs offensive for not having curly hair.

Claim all the POCs in the Hellaverse have grey skin when every fur less demon have unnatural skin. Charlie and Niffty have unnaturally pale skin FFS

Hates Angel but say he should be the main character

Accuse Viv of internalized misogyny because Angel and Alastor are her favorite characters in Hazbin Hotel, ignoring Charlie being in the spotlight in the promotions and official synopsis

Say it makes no sense for Charlie to run a hotel for sinners because rehab exist in Hell, missing the point the hotel's purpose is to redeem sinners so they can go to Heaven and rehab is just for naive Hell denizens.

Misunderstand why sinners are stuck in the Pride Ring. Hell is punishment for sinners, not naive Hell denizens. It's why the plot for Hazbin Hotel exist in the first place. If sinners were stuck in rings corresponding to their sins we wouldn't have a main cast.

Disregards Hell as a Red/Worst Earth

Believes Angel/Val's relationship is glorified when the Addict music video portrays it as wrong and controlling. Even when they kissed, it was obvious Angel didn't want it

Got heated over the composition error in the Charlie's Excited. Are you? Gif. Every cartoon is going to have animation errors.

Get angry over broadway actors in Hazbin Hotel when it's a broadway inspired musical. Viv can't get her favorite singer in the celebration episode of Helluva Boss without antis getting on her ass about it.

Always critique Hazbin Hotel as if it came out but they're basing their "critique" on leaks, test scripts, the pilot and outdated information

It goes on and on.

i agree with this, these are criticisms that annoy me too. The one that inspired the post I made was the one after viv posted that blitzo and stolas are her favourites. i saw 3 different blogs going "so THIS is why everyone who hates them are painted as antagonists!"

now that im better rested its more funny than it is irritating. It's a little like watching someone you dislike fall over and break a vase you liked. Like wow, it's not great that youre causing an inconvenience, but its very funny that you're upset.

Anyways, I'd like to take this moment to thank the people who left notes on my original post. People are so much more pleasant than I expected! It's cool :) Y'all are cool. And user timkontheunsure, i will heed your advice and block the antis LOL maybe i dont need to mute tags that sometimes have good things to say. Anon, thank you for this little list of controversies, it's a good reminder that They Just Hate The Show

#hazbin hotel #helluva boss #discourse #sorry for not tagging the last one discourse (for people who block the tags)#i forgor :skull:

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kitkatyes · 1 year ago

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Whumptober 2023 Masterlist!

Yippie! (I've gone mildly insane) Anyway, I thought I might as well go through and link all my fics for whumptober in one post so see below for all those goodies

I've quite literally linked every single fic I wrote over the course of the month in here as well as their descriptions so this is a long post (I think I kinda broke Tumblr when writing this out so oops-) Just make sure you heed the tags on ao3 when you're reading- some things get a little graphic and all that jazz

But if you wanna go through the list without all my nonsense, then you can take a look at the series link below:

Without further adieu, lets begin!

Operation: Jest

There's a note on Phoenix's desk… "Meet me in my office at 14:00! Please don't set anything on fire while you're waiting… - Your Handler"

They really hoped they weren't in trouble

Prompt: Safety Net

Keep it Cool

The mission had gone mostly to plan. Phoenix was still in one piece, all they had to do now was make it back to Agency headquarters

Prompt: Thermometer

Operation: Settling Dust

All good EOD agents should know that if their mission is going exactly to plan, there's something up Phoenix really should have listened to their gut

Prompt: Debris - Start of a miniseries

Search and Rescue

"Their eyes slid shut as someone wearing a familiar uniform appeared in front of them." Mason could only watch his monitor in horror as a Zoraxis operative dragged his Agent out of the rubble

Prompt: Recording but it can also be seen as made to watch- This one is also a continuation of the previous day

Come and Go Out My Mind

Paid time off is very hard to come by at the Agency. Sure, Phoenix has had plenty of medical leave but having time to spend with themself was practically unheard of. Let's just hope they'll get to enjoy it.

Prompt: Alleyway - Part of a twoshot

So the Blade Pierces Through Me

“Hey, bossman,” The agent began, “I’m gonna take them to the hospital– the Agency’s too far away.” Phoenix fades into consciousness

Prompt: Overcrowded ER - This one is a continuation of day 6 (Search and Rescue)

Thirty-Two

Phoenix smiled sombrely as they disconnected the generator from the elevator, ignoring their Handler's pleas. Their stomach dropped as the elevator fell.

Prompt: Mistaken identity

Lost Without You

It was a routine mission: Get in, get the files, get out. With their luck, it decidedly wasn't.

Prompt: Standard - Start of another miniseries

Loose Stones

"The blearing of an alarm broke through their thoughts, jerking at the sudden noise. Looks like they didn’t have the time to think things through. Phoenix ran."

Prompt: Animal trap - Also a continuation of the prior day

Operation: Losing Sleep

Phoenix scribbled crude stick figures in the back of their notebook as they shifted uncomfortably in their seat for the 15th time that hour. Occasionally, they looked up at the small door they were tasked with surveying. God, stakeout suck

Prompt: "I'm up, I'm up!"

Steady-

Phoenix’s mouth opened in a silent scream as tears pricked the edges of their vision. The three above them conversed, the words seemingly foreign to the Agent. A hard boot kicked at them as they were lulled into a fitful state of unconsciousness.

Prompt: Feaver - Also a continuation of day 11 (Loose Stones)

Operation: With The Fishes

Great! Phoenix gets the pleasure of infiltrating a fishing boat. They can already smell the fish

Prompt: Flare

Assumptions

So what if Phoenix gets hurt during a mission? They'd be fine, they always were

Prompt: "I'm fine"

Code: Red

Phoenix smiled as they knocked at the door of their Handler's office, eagerly awaiting his somewhat sullen response. Listen, they were bored.

Prompt: "Don't go where I can't follow"

Trust..?

Phoenix felt tense, listening to the constant 'tick, tock' of the clock. They couldn't help but keep surveying the room as their fingers ran across the bandages that circled their neck.

Prompt: Touch aversion - Also a continuation of day 7 (Come and Go Out My Mind)

Decline

Artificial wind rushed past them as they felt their stomach drop, arms flailing uselessly at their sides. Through lidded eyes, Phoenix noted the shocked expression of their Handler before they landed with a loud ‘crunch’.

Alternate prompt: Aftermath of failure - continuation of day 16 (Code: Red)

Keeping You Company

The constant beep of a heart monitor echoed throughout the room. Mason found himself in the doorframe, a bundle of flowers in his arms.

Prompt: Floral bouquet

Lights Out

They were in an oddly-shaped elevator- it felt familiar. They couldn't do anything as they felt the cables snap under some unseen force, plummeting Phoenix woke up in a cold sweat

Prompt: Blanket

Rue

Mason nervously adjusted his tie as he paced the hospital's waiting room. He knew, logically, Phoenix would be okay, but he needed to see it himself.

Prompt: "Don't move" - Also a continuation of day 8 (So the Blade Pierces Through Me)

Fragmentary

Phoenix thumbed the makeshift license in their hands, eyeing the Agency-issued car. Well, they just hoped it wouldn't explode- but they didn't exactly have the best track record

Prompt: Vehicular accident - be mindful of ieytd 3 spoilers

Stalkers Tango

Phoenix hummed to themself as they bustled around their kitchen, cleaning up the mess they'd made while cooking. They got to work cleaning the dishes

Prompt: Stalking

Doing Everything so Manically

With nimble hands, they grabbed their keycard before leaving the room. If they were quick, they’d be able to escape before anyone realised anything was wrong. Let's just hope their luck won’t run out now.

Alternate prompt: Miscommunication - Continuation of day 13 (Steady-)

Still Standing in the Rain

Phoenix smiled to themself as they looked out the window, eying the bleak grey of the clouds. If they were lucky, it'd start to rain soon.

Prompt: Storm

Set the Stage Aglow

Phoenix usually loves long-term undercover missions but every now and again, it really drains them. They find themself sitting on the edge of a stage.

Prompt: Seeing double

Ember

Phoenix ran their fingers along the edge of the briefcase, occasionally flicking one of the latches. The nuclear codes were safe- they'd get it to the Agency in one piece

Prompt: Matches

Split Decision

Phoenix finally has a day off after God knows how long. They just want to watch a movie

Prompt: "You'll have to go through me"

Take it Back to the Start

Phoenix visits the place where they grew up

Prompt: Troubled past resurfacing

Split the World in Two

Following the events of project [REDACTED]

Prompt: Bridal carry - be wary of ieytd 3 spoilers and the start of a twoshot

Before I Burn Out

Phoenix needs to really stop waking up in places they don't recognise- Now that they think about it, why does their head hurt so much?

Prompt: "Take it easy" - continuation of the day before and some minor ieytd 3 spoilers

#whumptober 2023 #fanfiction #literally everything I wrote for the month #ieytd #i expect you to die #agent phoenix #the handler #john juniper #roxanna prism #long post #very long post #god fucking help me #I went insane making this post-#this took me far too long to make #I literally couldn't save this as a draft

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kittykittyanon · 10 months ago

Note

🍓🥑🥤🧃❄️🦴🧩

HIII KITTY!!! I HOPE YOU ARE HAVING A GREAT DAY OR NIGHT OR WHATEVER TIME IT IS FOR YOU!!! I THINK YOU ARE SUPER RAD 😎😎 AND I LOVE INTERACTING WITH YOU!! (I gotta come with up with a tag for you, i just realized 🤔🤔)

ANYWAY DON'T FORGET TO DRINK WATER AND EAT IF YOU'RE HUNGRY OR USE THE BATHROOM IF YOU NEED!! LOTS OF HUGS AND KISSES (you can ignore the personal lore one if it makes you uncomfy :D)

GAH!! HAIII!! I GOT THIS ASK WHILE I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF TYPING OUT MY COMMENT ON YOUR AO3 POST!!!! what great timing, amor!!

I LOVE INTERACTING WITH YOU TOO!!! gosh,, i was just about to add that into my ask to you!!!! i decided not to cause i already said it in a recent ask, but you're really very thumbs up!!! /pos!!!

and for the ask game;;

🍓 - "how did you get into writing fanfiction?"

ooohhh,,, what a story. i had my start on wattpad!! i first found out about it when i was 8 and on my school bus, i stood on my seat to peek over a highschool girl's chair to look at her phone 'cause i was curious and a bit of a dumdum. she had wattpad opened and was reading a story and i was instantly hooked and reading alongside her without her knowing ☆⌒(>。<) when she noticed me, she exited out of it and i saw the app name and got it as soon as i got home. ever since i read my first bnha fic, i've been writing. ((but if you mean writing stories in general? i remember writing one with a friend back in first grade, but other instances of me writing before 2018 were very rare!! i've always had that want to do something creative since i've been able to hold a pen, so i guess it makes sense lmao))

🥑 - "you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?"

cry, panic,, then run to @lykaiosthinks or @itsyagurlchip (*ﾉ∀`*)

🥤 - "recommend an author or fanfic you love"

OH ABSOLUTELY??? if i had to say my favorite writer here, it'd be @ziipzeepzop-eez,, and for my other recommended awesome writers whose works are DELICIOUS, they'd be @itsyagurlchip, @lykaios2, @sleepytime-fics, @tmnt-narratives, @oleander-nin, and @amorvincitomnia-14 ((YOU!!))

as for yummy yummy fics: whatever you do, don't get attached by @sleepytime-fics where reader gets yoinked into the rise universe after eating a very silly fruit, and every night the longest day by ashtreelane on ao3 where leo gets cursed by a mystic user during a fight that makes it so he cannot sleep. at all. ((VERY ANGSTY. HEED THE TAGS.))

🧃 - "share some personal lore you never posted about before"

my family's always been adoring of cats. my very first cat was a big fluffy grey cat, the only memory i have of said meow meow is when my dad had to give him away. i think my parents have a picture of me petting him? for the next couple years we'd always feed the cats outside, some of them even coming inside sometimes to chill with us, until my mom came home one day with a big tabby cat that followed her up the stairs and into our apartment where he is now part of our family, fondly named "chunky"!! then a year later, a pregnant cat we'd been feeding for a while gave birth to kittens, of which we took in as ours :3

❄️ - "what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?"

mweeehhh,, i don't necessarily have a dream plot for anything, but if i had to have one? i'd pick something to do with me and donnie because of course i would /lh (though i prefer platonic a TON more than romantic) and i'd want myself to write it 'cause i know myself best. (similar to your answer, amor!!)

🦴 - "is there a piece of media that inspires your writing?"

ehhhh, not really?? i guess sometimes i get inspired by other writers' works, but if i had to pick some sort of media it would be music or games!!

🧩 - "what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?"

no paragraph breaks, and constant author's notes in the middle of the fic itself!! i'm not reading a screen-full of text without spaces— and i wanna read the fic uninterrupted thankyouverymuch (つω`｡)

this post's a long'un (attempted british accent /lh)

#kittykitty asks #kittykitty interactions #the loveliest amor!!

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mysticstarlightduck · 1 year ago

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Songs and Ships Tag!

I was tagged by the wonderful @tabswrites, whose post is here.

Rules: write about two to five songs from them that represent a ship between your ocs (it can be platonic or romantic or a secret third thing). then add a quote from said WIP (if possible!) underneath it.

(I'll put snippets of the song's lyrics instead of the quote from my WIP because it's still in the process of drafting 😂)

Since I am writing the first actual chapters of my WIP Tales of WIlted Flowers this week and the next, I'll do this tag for both main ships from the book: Xarian/Lorelai, and Rylisan/Eiralis.

🍂 Xarian and Lorelai 🍂

Xarian is a fae outlaw, running from the sorcerer that destroyed his life in the past. Lorelai is a human oddball, yearning to become a hero like the ones of the old tales. Together, they might yet achieve something.

For the Dancing and the Dreaming - HTTYD Peter Hollens Cover

"I'll swim and sail on savage seas With never a fear of drowning, And gladly ride the waves of life, If you would marry me. [...] Through all life's sorrows and delights, I'll keep your laugh beside me"

Bad Romance - Lady Gaga, Halestorm version

"I want your love And I want your revenge You and me could write a bad romance I want your love and all your lover's revenge You and me could write a bad romance"

King and Lionheart - Of Monsters and Men

"Howling ghosts they reappear In mountains that are stacked with fear, But you're a King and I'm your Lionheart [...] As the world comes to an end I'll be here to hold your hand 'Cause you're a King and I'm your Lionheart"

Wild Uncharted Waters - Jonah Hauer King

"Miles beyond the sea I was darkness-bound, I had almost drowned 'Til you came around and you found me [...] And I hope you're there in the open air There's no map or compass to guide me Time may change the shoreline, but time will not change me"

You Said - Eurielle

"You said I would swim, never drown You said I’d never be buried underground My breath would always breathe in and out Your love makes me immortal (Now the darkness will take me down...) Your love made me immortal"

+ Bonus - First Meeting Song! Brave New World - Kalandra

"Close your eyes and sleep Ignore all the burdens that you keep Come whatever may They could never harm you anyway, Stirrings in the wind Resonates a whisper from within Warnings from afar Telling you to heed the Morning Star Waking from The Dream Witnessing the smoke that's rolling in The end is what you fear The scent of embers lingers in the air"

🌸Rylisan and Eiralis🌸

Rylisan is a young elf who wanted to be a warrior but now lives in exile and is haunted by a dark past that he wishes to escape, desperate to prove himself again. Eiralis is a human girl raised by dryads, who is in equal measure too sweet and too dangerous for the quest she is in.

Unchained - Colm Mcguiness

"A way to resolve but no way to forget Unchained and unshackled but bound by regret Twisted in torment As you waged this war [...] How to atone and to wash what you've seen? Hands forced by another, But stained all the same [...] Revenge and Redemption both tread the same lines."

Lend Me Your Voice - Belle

"It's easy to push me away from you Easy to say you want to be left on your own Yet somehow I can't help but see How your eyes shy away Your hands seal the entrance and the path to your heart Anger kept fear and the sadness you feel Under the surface for so long Locked that room, you keep it in inside Lend me your voice Words you try so hard to forget, they will break through the silence Bring me close Let me see the past you regret deep down below Show it all"

Mary on a Cross - Ghost

"We were speeding together Down the dark avenues But besides all the stardom All we got was blues But through all of that sorrow We were riding high And the truth of the matter is I'll never let you go, let you go We were scanning the cities Rocking to pay the dues But besides all the glamour All we got was bruised But through all of that sorrow We were riding high And the truth of the matter is I'll never let you go, let you go"

Home - Dotan

"Run past the rivers, run past all the light Feel it crashing and burning, till it all collides Strike a match, lit the fire, shining up the sky As it all comes down again As it all comes down again As it all comes down again to the sound The sound of the wind is whispering in your head Can you feel it coming back? Through the warmth, through the cold, keep running till we're there We're coming home now, we're coming home now"

I'd Pluck a Fair Rose - Anne Dudley

"I'd pluck a fair rose for my love I'd pluck a red rose blowin' Love's in my heart, I'm tryin' so to prove What your heart's knowin' I'd pluck a finger on a thorn I'd pluck a finger bleedin' Red is my heart, a-wounded and forlorn And with your heart needing"

+ Bonus - First Meeting Song! Firecracker - Cami Cat

"Set all the world into a mighty blaze And dance the night away Light up the night with your fiery gaze He won’t forget your face It was then that the girl came into his sight Shining brighter than any star in the sky Spinning round her feet kick the ground into a spark Setting fire ablaze inside his heart With her dance she began to warm his world again And he knew he would love her until the end"

Tagging - @writernopal, @chauceryfairytales, @clairelsonao3, @aziz-reads, @cabbojage, and @rickie-the-storyteller

#writing #writeblr #writers #writerblr #character writing #my wips #my characters #my writing #writers on tumblr #tag games #songs and ships tag!#WIP - Tales of Wilted Flowers

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magnoliacharmed · 2 years ago

Text

Mango Lip Gloss

(not my gif!)

18+, Lalo Salamanca x Fem!Reader one shot smut

[Also available on Archive of our Own!]

Word count: ~2.8k

Tags: Rough sex, condomless sex, older man/younger woman, teasing, eye contact, sugar daddy, dirty talk, car sex, daddy kink

Summary:

Lalo Salamanca brings you along with him and Nacho for a late night ride in the desert. Nacho is made to wait outside of the car while Lalo and you have fun.

The warm desert winds of New Mexico whipped strands of your hair to get stuck in your sticky lip gloss. For about the hundredth time that night, you moved your hair out of the way and pushed it back only to be thwarted again. The wind did feel nice despite you annoyance. It was dry, much drier than the wind from your hometown. Staring out into the landscapes passing you by, you began to think of home. There was nothing waiting for you there. No home to call your own, no job, no family, not even a pet to anxiously await your returning presence. New Mexico was your home for the time being. Your thoughts began to get clouded at the circumstances that led you to this moment; sitting in the back of a drug dealer's old school car while flying through the never ending desert late at night.

The song playing was something upbeat in Spanish. It pounded through the impressive sound system in the car and was bringing forth the beginnings of a headache. Maybe getting involved with someone you couldn't understand half of the time was not a smart idea, you thought. But on the other hand it didn't matter. You preferred to be ignorant of the things he said. From his tone it tended to sound like something you didn't want to know anyways. You did at least wish you could understand the music. Lalo Salamanca talked loudly over it to the man driving the car, Nacho Varga. He was in a particularly jovial mood for reasons you weren't fully aware of. A wide smile covered his face as he told what seemed like a joke to the driver, who returned a tight smile to him.

From your position behind the driver's seat you could tell that Nacho was strained. He was always strained the few times you'd seen him. His eyes, pools of sorrow and anger surrounded in long curled lashes, flickered over to Lalo and then to the rearview mirror. As soon as you met them there you had to look away. Too intense. Lalo curled his body back around the passenger seat to look at you. You were once again removing the strands of hair from your lips. Surely the gloss was smudged across your face now.

With a frustrated huff you reached for your tiny designer purse. It didn't contain anything but a few hundred dollar bills, a compact, lip gloss, and extra pair of panties. Lalo had managed to convince you that you didn't need to carry anything else, not even a cell phone. You figured that since he bought you the purse you should take heed on that "suggestion". As you flipped open the compact and unscrewed the applicator from the gloss tube, Lalo shifted just the slightest in his seat. He was watching you reapply the shiny, mango scented gloss. Something about the way your full lips parted just slightly… your concentration while you applied to make sure you didn't go past your lip line, the way your lips smacked together when you were done. The scent of the gloss was strong and wafted through the car quickly as the wind flew through the open windows. A playful wink at your boyfriend was all it took to make him rock hard.

"You're getting yourself cute for me." Lalo's eyes were aflame with passion, but his smile tried to show that he was just joking around. "Or is it for Nachito over here? She looks cute, huh?" Lalo nudged Nacho. He was too smart for the trap, eyes not leaving the road ahead of him. A terse nod was the only response he gave. Yes, you were a cute girl. A girl, not a woman. He figured that's why Lalo kept you around, because of your youth. You weren't a baby at 22 years of age, but you certainly weren't as grown up as you thought. Nacho could tell that just like many other men, Lalo liked having a young woman worship everything he did. Besides, Nacho was too occupied with the extenuating circumstances life kept throwing at him in recent days. He had no time for relationships of any kind. In fact he wondered how Lalo made time to drag you away.

"He's so stoic. Never has any fun!" Lalo waved off his associate. "But you, mamita, you know how to have fun with me." Blood rushed to your cheeks at the memories of your escapades. Hotel rooms, in his car, in Nacho's car, behind auto shops… Lalo would take you anywhere he wanted to. Whenever he grabbed you it was with a tight grip and an urgency. He left you wet and aching, clawing at him for more before he told you to be quiet and wait for later. You liked being used like that, especially in the broad daylight when he was in the middle of his business. You'd return to the room with a huge reddish-purple hickey on your neck or the top of your cleavage, letting all the other cartel members know that you were his. Then he'd take you out to eat at a nice restaurant or buy you a fancy piece of jewelry at the mall. Yes, this was much more exciting than home.

A yawn, louder than you expected, escaped your lips. A quick glance at your dainty gold watch told you that it was midnight. How much longer would you be driving? Where were you even going? When you got in the car Lalo told you that you all were just going on a trip. That was two hours ago. If you fell asleep now you'd probably wake up just as you arrived back in Albuquerque. With that thought now being the only thing on your mind, you rearranged yourself to lay on your side and face the backseat. You didn't wear much more than tank tops and cutoff shorts around Lalo, and tonight was no different. The pair you had on was cut a little higher than usual. He knew you were teasing him by having your ass face out to him. The view of the seat of your shorts meeting right at the soft flesh of lips caused him to squint into the rearview mirror, then shut his eyes.

"Hmm," was the last thing you heard from him as you drifted off into sleep.

---

The sound of a car door slamming shut awoke you with a jolt. It was still nighttime and you were still in the middle of nowhere. You wanted to take a nice, cool shower and lay in plush sheets instead of being glued to a leather car seat. The car was parked as Nacho and Lalo were outside for a bathroom break. With a stretch of your limbs, you turned onto your stomach. Hopefully after this you'd be taken back to ABQ. You didn't even understand what the point of all this driving was. The rear door by your feet opened and suddenly the full weight of Lalo's body pressed down on you. You were trapped under him, feeling shocked, scared, and immediately turned on. His erection pressed right into your smooth legs, the feeling weird due to also having his scratchy denim against you. His large metal belt buckle, which always made you giggle internally at its size, was cold against the small of your back.

Lalo's lips were close to your ear. "You've been teasing me all night. The smell of that gloss drives me insane. And those shorts... you know exactly what you're doing." He moved your hair to the side to begin kissing your neck more gently than usual. He was going to take his time. The prospect of that sent butterflies through your stomach.

Just as soon as you thought tonight would be different, you felt the seat of your shorts and panties moved to the side. Lalo rocked back onto his knees, your legs spread apart around him. You were glistening with arousal. The pushed to the side fabric of your shorts pressed your outer labia together. Lalo's eyes widened at the soft plushness of your lips, shining and full just like the ones on your face. He pressed back down on you, filling you to the hilt with his thick cock.

"Ah!-pshhhhh." You could no longer form coherent words, just noises while his member massaged you. Lalo loved the way that you mumbled when he fucked you, the way you always went dumb when he fucked you hard. The tip of him hit your g-spot, causing your legs to fly up behind him. He grabbed you up by your neck and turned your face into his. The clear gloss was definitely smudged now. The scent of it invaded his nostrils while he hungrily kissed you, tongue swirling around yours. A string of spit trailed between you two as he moved his head away, pushing your face back down into the seat. The artificially sweet mango scent settled into his mustache while he pumped away.

The hickey Lalo began to leave was painful as usual. Your moans alternated into gasps interspersed with nonsense mumbling. Every few strokes, he'd push into you as deeply as possible. He'd stay there for a second, then pump quickly into your spot for a few strokes to make you scream. He laughed the first time he did it, raising your head back again to wipe away the drool from your mouth. The fabric of your jeans continued to rub into your clit while his strokes pushed you back and forth. Your thin wife beater shirt rubbed into your nipples too, reminding you that you weren't wearing a bra. The overstimulation was sending you to the edge.

"How does it feel? I'm gonna fuck you until you can't feel those pretty legs. I want my little slut to beg me to stop." There was that mean edge to him, the part of him that flashed to the world every once in a while. It could be a little surprising but you came around to liking it. Only a man like him would be allowed to be so awful in that way and still command respect. It had to be that way because he'd always get nice again, even if it was a facade.

More gurgles came out at Lalo's purposefully slowing strokes inside you. His fingers moved to your clit to rub lazily over it. He knew you were reaching your limit. He was too, the warmth of you almost too much to handle. Your pussy clenched around him while your nails clenched into the seat. The weight of him on you knocked the wind out of your chest and made you blank out for a second. Right, you were getting fucked harder than you'd ever been in the back of a car! How could you ever forget?

"Feels good… you feel good," Your lips were smushed against the seat as the words dragged and lilted out of you. "You feel so good, daddy."

Lalo's hand curled into the hair at the base of your scalp to raise you up roughly. You were sure it was going to rip out of your head if he held it any tighter. He was still mid-stroke, cock almost pressing against your spot again. You were instantly regretful over your choice of words.

"What did you call me?" Lalo's voice was… you couldn't quite tell. Strained? It was growly, definitely. On the calm side though. He had to be pissed.

"D-daddy. I'm sorry," You breathed.

His laugh was dark. Dark and playful. "Mmm. I like that. Means I'm fucking you right! Tell me, is daddy fucking you the way you like?"

Lalo's hand was still tangled in your hair. Thankfully he had released some of the grip on it. In the reflection of the window, you saw that charming smile he mastered in the reflection. The same smile he gave cashiers and clerks when he wanted to get his way. The same one he gave you when he had you right where he wanted you. With a suddenness that disoriented you, you were placed on your back. Lalo's face was so close to you that your noses almost touched. Your right leg was placed on his shoulder, giving his cock purchase against your warm opening. His eyes were locked on you, while yours darted around your head. A hand began to gently run across your cheek, such a sweet gesture from him.

"I love the way you fuck me."

With those words, the feeling of him filling you up erased all other feeling from you. Lalo refused to look anywhere else but into your eyes with a look you could only describe as passionate. He wouldn't say that, of course. You could tell. He slid into you so easily. His large arms wrapped behind your back to get you even closer to him. The belt buckle dug into your stomach and felt alien in comparison to the feeling of fabric and skin. His thrusts were more deliberate than earlier. He wanted to feel every part of you, every muscle grabbing and releasing around his dick. The words he said to you in Spanish didn't seem as mean as usual. You wouldn't know the difference either way.

"Tell me again, and look at me this time. You're gonna look me in my eyes when I make you-- come." Lalo's breath quickened in pace. He was close. He didn't think the term of endearment you let slip would make him feel like this so soon. His hand moved from your cheek to your chin to hold your face in place. There was no running away. It's not like you had anywhere you wanted to go.

"I fucking… love the way you fuck me, daddy. Will you come inside me, please?" Your lips trembled at saying it again. Something about the way your voice rose when you spoke to him in the throes of sex made him keep coming back. The little things you did, from putting on lip gloss to fixing your shorts were the things that Nacho didn't understand about your presence amongst them. You had your worth.

"You know just what to say, huh? Naughty girl, begging for my come like that. Impaciente." Lalo refused to lose by breaking eye contact first. He needed to see you come undone from him. He wasn't able to hold on any longer though, thick ropes of his seed releasing inside you. You lost your breath at the warm sensation. Your own orgasm hit you hard, so hard you wrapped your legs around him so he couldn't pull out too soon. You had to have his cock in you while you twitched over it. The two of you stayed stuck together like that for a moment to revel in the moment. Little aftershocks rolled through you while he smiled at you again, this time with no semblance of mischief or evil. Just the genuine happy relief of someone who was thoroughly satisfied. Your smile back was small. He tired you out even more than you already were, causing your eyelids to get heavy.

"Ha!" Lalo laughed, winning the staring contest. "Alright, get up and change out of those panties. We've got a long drive back to Albuquerque." He left a wet kiss on your cheek before raising up to put his softened dick back into his pants. Climbing out of the car, he shut the door for your privacy. You quickly switched out your underwear, happy he made you bring an extra pair. Despite all of his terrifying moments there was a caring man somewhere within Lalo. That's what you told yourself, at least. You could pretend for the time being that he cared. He cared enough to buy you things and let you stay with him. In the back of your head you knew that could change at any second. For the meantime you decided to push that thought away and just be happy.

You were sitting upright when Nacho and Lalo got back in the front seats. The car roared to life, music blasting. Nacho still wore that same terse look on his face as reality dawned on you. You and Lalo forced him to wait outside while you two had sex! Embarrassment took you completely. Lalo turned to wink at you mockingly as if to say "Gotcha!. He began to speak to Nacho in Spanish, laughing every once in a while. Deep breaths inhaled that mango scent over and over. You moved back behind the driver's seat to stare out of the window again, the wind rushing by just as before to throw your hair into your lip gloss while the three of you sped back to ABQ.

#lalo salamanca x reader #lalo salamanca #bcs #bcs fanfic #bcs smut #better call saul #magnoliafanfic

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saltymongoose · 2 years ago

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🔞 [THE KISS] 🔞 - How They React to a Vampire!Player's Bite ft. The Main 4

I'm so glad to finally be posting this, sorry for the long the wait. 😅 You guys know the deal, minors do not interact in any way, heed the tags and TWs. Other than this, enjoy! <3

(TW: !Minors Do Not Interact!, Extremely Suggestive Content, Yandere, Obsessive Behavior, Biting, Descriptions of Blood, Reader is a sadist again lol) [Part 1 - WORLD WITHOUT LOGOS] ←

As it turns out, your vessels were more than happy to accommodate you in every way possible, and this includes your dependence on vitae - blood.

You'd be lying if you said you didn't expect a positive, if not outright excited reaction to the idea of you feeding on them. (After spending so much time around them, their amusing amount of possessiveness over you wasn't something you could ignore.) However, their complete lack of regard for their own safety was still something you found concerning. Especially when you let them know that you took more than just blood from your vessels.

You let them in on this when you were trying to warn them: “Well, besides the fact that you might die, another effect of a mortal getting fed on by a Vampire is that said Vampire can get your soul, or part of it,” you had said flatly. A look at their stunned and weirdly awe-filled expressions was enough to prompt you to continue before they asked any questions.

"Most kindred don’t have the ability to do that, but I do. It’s one of the things that makes me so powerful if I go overboard with the feeding. If I drain you dry, your entire soul is mine, period. I already know you’re going to ask, but even if I don’t kill you by feeding, and the loss of that part of your soul won’t have much of an effect if any, it’s still important. If I get your blood in my mouth and I swallow it, a part of who you are will belong entirely to me. Forever."

You thought that would be a deal breaker for them. Surely giving up something so important to a monster like yourself wouldn't be desirable in any way, right? Wrong. Which you admit you honestly should've expected.

On the contrary, the thought of you legitimately owning part of their souls was actually exciting to them. Even the more level-headed grunts of your troupe couldn’t help the flush that overtook their faces as they silently mused on how wonderful it’d be to have such a thing happen; to be yours in the most literal sense possible and have the essence of their existence belong to you (as it should). They even thought it sounded romantic, really. Your fated partner having a part of your very being integrated into theirs, so that you’ll never truly be away from them (even in death).

Your vessels were touched by how much you cared about their safety, but that didn’t stop how tantalizing being bitten by you appeared to be. They want you to own them. So no, of course they wouldn’t dare let anyone else have the privilege of receiving “The Kiss” from you (as your kind called it). And you weren't the type to look a gift horse in the mouth (blood from the willing always tasted far better anyway), so you accepted their little proposal, to their absolute delight.

- [HANK J. WIMBLETON] -

Hank has zero hesitancy whatsoever in regard to you biting him, having wanted to bear your mark from the moment you first met. In his eyes, your relationship was one of ownership already; he was your vessel and you were his Player. (The only one he’d allow to control his every movement without question, the individual who he respected and loved enough to give himself to completely.) Being bitten by you would serve to make your claim on him open and obvious, so the fact that you would be bound together through his soul afterward was just a bonus if anything.

Perhaps this is what makes him so incredibly impatient whenever it’s his turn to receive The Kiss from you. His trembling and rushed movements are symptoms of the excitement he feels at getting closer to being marked by you. You can feel it especially well when he's yanked you into his lap, pressing you so tightly together that you have to bend backward to look him in the face. He beats you to it when you try to undo his coat and bandages, nearly ripping the offending cloth away before leaning into your shorter form. (You give him a look when he turns his head to bare his neck to you. It hasn't even been five minutes since you started.) Honestly, it seems like Hank is on the verge of somehow forcing your teeth into his neck himself most of the time.

Biting Hank also comes with an additional stipulation. With most of your vessels, you do a quick bite - one that you can cover up and heal quickly. Thing is, Hank doesn't want you to pierce him with just your canines. Instead, he prefers for all of your teeth to penetrate his skin; the full mark of your bite left indented in his flesh is what he truly needs. You’re fine with it, of course, even if it’s a bit unorthodox for vessels you actually mean to keep alive.

Hank is surprisingly noisy when you feed on him. His breaths grow more and more labored when your maw's sharpened razors begin to stab into him, sinking into his skin easily as you squeeze your jaws down and sending an odd jolt of heat to his lower body. Another harsh nudge of your teeth further into his neck is met with a low groan from him, the noise muffled from behind his mask.

(He's never felt anything like it. The sharp sting blooms into an intoxicating mixture of pain and overwhelming pleasure, only made better by the way he can feel your lips pulling into a smile when he pants.

The haze from your bite clouds his mind until he’s lost in the euphoric feeling of you finally showing him everything you try to hide: The animalistic nature of your hunger that he only sees in fights, the cruel, amused laughs you make when another moan or whine leaves his mouth, and how you nip playfully, painfully, at his bite to elicit more noises from him. It’s overwhelming in the best of ways…but it’s still never enough.)

The slow draw of his blood from you sucking at his wounds makes him want more of something, igniting an urge for him to completely surrender everything to you. It's something you realize early on, with how you're able to read your vessel's minds like this.

He tries to satiate that incessant need by leaning further into your form to try and catch your fangs deeper into his skin, attempting to silently persuade you into making this even bloodier than it began. Perhaps even trying to force you further into his lap, caging you tighter to him in the hopes that the closeness of you pressed against every part of him would somehow stop that hunger for more of whatever you can give him. It doesn't work, though, and you can tell from the way his hips shift underneath you, and the tightening grip that threatens to force the tips of his claws into you that he's getting frustrated with it. (He can’t even explain why he feels so discontent; this is what he wanted, but it still aches. He has to have more, he needs it-)

However amusing (or perhaps even cute) you find his uncharacteristically desperate movements and noises to be, you acknowledge that you probably should give him some small kindness to alleviate that pull you know he’s feeling. Considering how you can't drain him dry, your chosen remedy is simple. Bite him again. The sudden burst of pain is enough to pull a choked moan from him, his purrs rumbling even louder as you tear another deep mark into his flesh. And then you do it again. And again.

You aren't really sure why it works, but you can tell from how the tension in him seems to be winding tight and how his body is starting to tremble that it’s at least a suitable distraction. This, and the fact that the only thing you can read from his mind is a hazy sense of happiness and adoration (odd, considering what you were. If you happened to be more careful in pulling your teeth from him after that, and soothing the wounds with your tongue, then it was purely coincidental.)

Of course, it’s not like Hank always stands perfectly still when you do this. He’s obedient to a fault, especially to you, but you honestly can’t expect him to just sit there and take it when you’re moving around in his lap and marking him repeatedly like that. So when you inevitably end up pinned somewhere with Hank’s panting form looming above you, blood dripping down onto you from the collar of bites you've left on him, you suppose you only have yourself to blame. Tempting the beast, and all that.

Either way, you've probably been full for a few minutes and the extra bites are always more for his benefit than anything. It won’t fully sate that deep-seated need he has for more from you. Nothing will, until you do more to claim him as your kind would.

But watching him almost frantically pull his mask down before slamming his mouth against yours in a bloody kiss, and feeling the way his weight rests on you heavily to seek out more contact tells you that this has been at least somewhat satisfying for him. Although, you'd be a fool to assume he'd calm down quickly from this high you've given him and let you go just because you think you're finished. (If he croaks from blood loss, he figures Doc can just bring him back again. Right?)

- [2BDAMNED] -

2BDamned tries to approach you biting him in a clinical, professional manner, he really does. He insists on doing it in a sterile environment, even taking a shower beforehand so he’s completely clean for you. He sits at his desk and has his tablet in front of him in case he needs to record information on anything odd he’s feeling. He wants to treat these occasions as research in addition to something just to feed you. However, he never actually fulfills that objective, no matter how many times you do this.

Doc tries to ask you questions about the process while you stand over him, lifting his jaw and tilting his head to the side to get a better view of his neck. You find it really funny since it’s obvious he’s trying to get himself together. The cracks in his composure start to show when you bring your face closer to his, and he stumbles over a few words. That’s nothing compared to how he gets when you respond to his inquiries, though, lips and the edge of a sharp canine ghosting over his skin.

(“We’re lucky I’m not from one of the more…picky clans. Some of us can only drink from really specific types of humans, and I’d probably starve if I was restricted by that,” you muse quietly, paying no mind to how your lips press slightly to his throat on some of your words. What you do notice is how 2B’s breath hitches from it. You tilt your head and breathe out a silent chuckle. You can’t even tell if he got anything you just said. “What, no questions?” He flinches a bit. So he wasn't focusing on what you were saying. How interesting.)

His hold on his composure only slips further once you bite him. The press of your teeth is met with a sharp inhale, and he tenses up when they pierce his skin. You won’t hear any obvious noises from him, at least nothing he doesn’t attempt to muffle. With your hearing though, it isn’t difficult to pinpoint the little gasps he tries to hide when you nudge your sharp fangs a little deeper into his flesh, nor is it hard to tell that he's fighting to keep his breath stable.

He’ll try to continue asking questions, only to fade off in the middle of them, completely losing his train of thought as you drink from him. In Doc's defense, having you so close and sucking at his neck is enough to stop him from thinking; his head feels fuzzy, and he isn’t sure if that distinct warmth he feels building in him is from your vampirism or your traits as the Player. He can admit to himself that it feels...good. Too good, actually. It's enough to make him achingly self-aware of his own reactions, and to compel him to at least try not to act so “out of line” with you there.

(You're someone he considers a sort of superior; your status as his Player demands the utmost respect; even if you're biting his neck and draining his blood, he has to keep some level of decorum with regard to that. It's difficult, with how a large part of him wants to just give in to the feeling of you, but he tries to manage it.)

Sometimes you might try to get him to let go of this facade he's so desperate to hold onto. (You don't want him worrying about something like this since it really doesn't matter to you, and the experience would be so much better for him if he just relaxed for a change.) This could mean letting your tongue linger for a bit longer as you lick up his blood, or nibbling at the edges of the wound harshly so the bruise of it'll stay for a while longer.

Does it work 100% of the time? No. But it's a convenient challenge to focus on when you're ensuring your focus doesn't fall entirely into draining him. Though if you want a guaranteed way to break Doc, you found that outright telling him how good you think he tastes works exceedingly well. It's enough to make him choke back a small moan, so you consider it a success. The blush you see sweeping across his skin, even visible on his jaw and neck, makes it even better.

2BDamned knows that you do this just to make his attempt at a professional demeanor slip. It's obvious from how he can feel you grin once you manage to get something substantial out of him, which causes his face to burn hotter. He doesn't know what to do with the knowledge that you seem genuinely pleased when this happens, and embarrassingly enough, he can even feel himself beginning to purr when it does. He stiffens when he feels the rumbles starting to build up; it's like that animalistic part of him is satisfied by how happy you are when his instincts begin to break through. (They are an important part of him, even if he keeps it hidden most of the time.)

2B also tends to go far longer than the others do with letting you feed. He’ll allow you to drink from him for a concerning amount of time before doing anything to try and alert you, whether it be outright telling you that he can’t go on further or tapping you to signal that something’s changed in his condition. Even if he's starting to feel exhausted, he doesn't feel the need to stop you. Not with his claws digging painfully into the palms of his hands as he fights the urge to make more noises (he'd die of mortification if he lets another loud whine slip from him again). Not even when he shifts back into his seat to stop from squirming too much at the euphoric feeling of you draining him. The motivation just isn't there.

He'd never openly admit it, but he feels far too good to. (And it's not like he can think of a pragmatic way to do it with his head so foggy.) It's probably because of your abilities, but he also concludes it's also connected to how he's essentially being marked by you. Claimed as yours in the way that grunts have always staked such importance on. He likes it, to put it simply. It's fulfilling, and he relishes in the event as much as he can. Of course, you receiving part of his soul along with his blood was not something he initially expected, but with Nevada's poor excuse of an afterlife, he thinks it's the best option. He wants to give all that he was to you, and you spending so much time marking him worked perfectly with that. Even if it makes him weak, why would he ask you to quit when the positives so obviously outweighed the negatives?

This means it typically falls on you to stop this, which you do with little fanfare. You may or may not press a little kiss on his jaw to soothe him after working over the wound with your tongue (just so it heals up all nicely, an effect of your saliva), earning another pleased sigh from him, but you hold off on a lot of what you could do. You figure with how Doc is, the nicest thing is to let him try to regain his composure. Even if it takes a lot, with how boneless he looks under you and how red he is, even with all that blood loss. You can tell his heart is beating unnaturally fast, but you're blind to how he's looking at you in an almost lovesick daze. You smile at him and he shifts in his seat. You still have his blood on your lips.

At this moment, he usually wonders if it's disappointment he feels at you not continuing and doing more with him. It only takes receiving your Kiss a few times to realize that this is entirely correct, and a couple more for him to start formulating ways to get you to stay.

- [SANFORD] -

For someone who faces the chance of getting grievously injured nearly every day, Sanford is surprisingly nervous leading up to your bite. He doesn’t talk that much or shift around a lot, instead just fidgeting a little with his hands and stiffening up when you come closer. It’s almost like he’s trying to mentally prepare himself for it, which you can understand. Being bitten by you is incredibly overwhelming, even for other vampires.

You’re more gentle with Sanford from the get-go since you don’t want to take him off guard too much or make him uncomfortable. The added gentleness is obvious from how you softly rest your hands on him and slowly work him through some of the steps you’re doing, even outright telling him when you're about to bite him. You're careful in a way you rarely show to others, and it makes his heart start to beat faster before your lips even touch him.

Sanford is incredibly restrained whenever you officially start one of these encounters. The nervousness shows, but he tries to steel his facial expression to keep it down, biting back a noise when you finally cut into him with your teeth. He can feel your hands moving, fingers tracing comforting circles as you tighten your jaws to pull blood from him, and he shifts slightly, turning his head to both bare his neck more to you and hide his flustered expression. You haven’t even really begun draining him, but he’s already getting overwhelmed.

(A reaction he blames on how grunts are. It’s only natural to get flustered if someone you like romantically incidentally claims you with a piercing bite, especially when it’s in such a visible spot. He knows you're aware of this too, which only makes the reaction worse. Is it really so outlandish to assume that you welcome this idea of officially staking a claim on him, since you showed zero hesitance to continue after being informed? He hopes not.)

The grunts have always felt very warm to you due to your vampirism, but you’re a little shocked by just how hot he feels. If it were Deimos, you could blame it on pyrokinesis, but with Sanford it's more worrying. You were relieved to find that it was simply his blush that made him like this. It seems this flusters him more than you initially thought it would. (How odd it is, that he’s able to get so red when you’ve started draining him of his blood.)

To your joy, you can actually feel him relax into your grip when you gingerly remove your teeth, even if he tenses up the slightest bit when you run your tongue over the opening you made, testing to see if the bite was deep enough. Honestly, Sanford thought it’d be painful at first, maybe with some numbness mixed in. But when your lips seal onto his neck and you suck at his split skin, he realized that it’s the exact opposite. The feeling of your mouth on him, pressing roughly onto his flesh as you tongue at the cuts where his life essence spills from is one that makes heat curl in his gut.

Despite how hard Sanford tries to remain quiet, not wanting to be inappropriate when you’re only doing this for food, he can’t stop noises that leave his throat; little cut-off moans and deeper groans, even a few breathy whines and gasps. He's purring too of course, the rumbling echoes in your ears while you busy yourself with pulling blood from his body.

It's shameful for him since he worries he's putting you off by acting this way, but he just can't stop it. It feels so good, to have you leaving a mark on his flesh and pressed so close to him. The painful sting of the wound only elevates the sensation, and the tension in him winds tighter every time your sharp teeth graze him. He has to do something with this weird longing he feels, whether it be making noises or subconsciously reaching up to rest his hands on you to ground himself. You let him pull you closer with no complaint.

You really don't care about how he acts, of course; it's a completely natural reaction to what you're doing. The biggest reaction you'll give is a chuckle when he gives a particularly loud moan, or a small exhale in amusement when you notice how his hips jolt when your thighs brush his. Seems noises aren't all you can get from him if the way he seems to seek contact with all of you is any sign.

Shame can wait until after you're finished, when the high of having you biting him and sucking his blood has faded away. At the moment, he's too lost to the heat from your actions and the hazy, painful pleasure of your Kiss. It's paired with an odd duality from you; the gentleness you show in all aspects except for the way you nip at his skin and suck harshly, as though you want the "hickey" you leave to last for days afterward. He can't tell if he feels lightheaded from blood loss or just being overwhelmed by your actions, but either way, he wants more.

(Or perhaps he just wants you to desire more from him. He knows you already get a part of his soul from this, but he still aches for you to take him completely. He knows that it's probably an irrational thought, since this is probably just a side effect of losing a part of himself, but the overwhelming need is still there.)

However, Sanford at least has the sense to stop instead of insisting you go on. You don't often push him too far, but if he ever feels like he's starting to get too weak, he'll tell you as best he can manage. (Or maybe just nudge you pointedly if he can’t muster the words, which happens.) You're quick to pull away as soon as you notice, taking a quick glance over him to check for any serious signs of blood loss. It’s nothing too bad but you still agree that you should stop, so you give him a soft look before slowly returning to the wound to close it. He shudders when he feels your cold tongue swiping over him, and you pause for a moment to make sure he’s alright before continuing. You’re honestly really sweet to him when you end your “sessions”; you even whisper a small thank you to him after you’re completely finished, sometimes accompanying it with a soft peck to his cheek.

Sanford questions if he’s more embarrassed by his reaction to your bite, or at how something so simple and innocent almost makes him just as flustered. In any case, it’ll provide him enough motivation to ask you to stay, at least for a little while. He’d like the company while he recovers, he reasons, and you accept the proposal every time. It’s a good way to monitor him (plus it’s just nice to cuddle into Sanford's side while he rests, not gonna lie). If Sanford happens to play up his condition a little more to get you to remain with him for another hour or five, then the others will just have to put up with it. (Forever would be better, he'd muse to himself as he tightens his arms around you...Maybe becoming a Vampire wasn't such a bad idea after all.)

- [DEIMOS] -

If there’s one word you would use to describe how Deimos acts when you bite him, it’s restless. His clawed fingers tap repeatedly on your waist and thigh as you loom over him, and he squirms with anticipation when you bring your face closer to his skin and your hands move up to pull his coat off his shoulders. No matter how you try to ease him into it, whether by doing it when you’re already cuddling him or during your other more comfortably intimate moments, he just doesn’t stop fidgeting.

(If you were someone with less experience (or maybe if Deimos had been anyone else), you might’ve been annoyed. But you were in no rush, and truthfully, you found it to be a little endearing.)

This doesn’t stop when you actually bite him, either. He might pause and hold his breath when your lips brush his skin, swallowing roughly when you stop over a spot you like, but this halts the moment your teeth actually pierce him. A loud cry will leave his lips before teetering off into an airy whine, his legs knocking into yours as his hips jolt under yours, forcing you to rebalance yourself as you instinctually clamp your jaws down a bit tighter. Something you’d do as a warning for your more expendable sources of blood, but the pain just forces another raspy moan from him.

Deimos is one of the quickest to fully lose himself to the sensations of you biting him, his mind going fuzzy and thoughts spiraling until the only thing that’s tethering him to the moment is you. Maybe it’s something about you being a vampire, or that it’s you who’s doing it to him, but the only thing he can focus on is your lips pressing roughly to his skin as you suck his blood into your mouth, your hands cradling him so carefully, and the weight of you over his body.

Deimos is probably one of the most vocal vessels you’ve had the pleasure of drinking from as well. His whines, raspy moans, and ardent praises fill your ears when you suck at his wounds, lapping his life essence up with restrained delight. During those few seconds where you have to pull your lips away to reorient yourself (mainly to stop from getting too into it and draining him dry), he whimpers little pleas for you to come back.

(“Fuck-wait, nonono, don’t stop, please.” He begs, trying to hold you tighter when he feels you wrench your mouth away from him with a wet squelch. No, you can’t leave him like this, you wouldn’t- You just laugh and hold him tighter, pressing a few bloody kisses to his jaw in a move that makes him blush a deeper shade of red, if that’s even possible.)

If it weren’t for the fact that everybody knows what you’re doing, you might’ve considered using your abilities to stop him from being so loud. You happen to find it extremely amusing (and perhaps a little cute) though, and the self-satisfaction of reducing him to such a messy state is enough to stop you from even dwelling on the idea. Come to think of it, messy really is the perfect adjective to describe the state you reduce him to when you drink.

Especially with how his noises rise slightly in pitch with each rough suck to his wound and his clawed fingertips scratch at your skin, hips bucking up while he squirms underneath your form like he’s trying to seek out friction from you. The only intelligible words from him are little praises, curses, and begs, intermittent with panting, moans, and raspy purrs. It’s so funny, just how little inhibition he has with acting this way around you. Not that you blame him that much; it’s normal, and he just can’t help himself.

(This won’t stop him from being mortified by his behavior afterward. Even if you’re okay with it, since it’s pretty natural for those you feed on, you still shouldn’t be seeing him like this when the situation shouldn’t call for it. It just isn’t proper. Then again…what if you like it?)

Sometimes, if you’re feeling particularly generous, you’ll brace a hand on his chin, tilting his head down as you remove your bloodied mouth from his neck and allowing him to regain at least some of his composure. It doesn’t work a good majority of the time, since he typically just whines out a complaint and arches his back as a way to try and return that closeness you had before. You still ask questions about how he is to try and bring him back to the moment (“Dei, you feeling alright? Lightheaded? Dizzy?”), because you're responsible enough to make sure he isn’t too out of it. A sly grin spreads across your face when you lean closer and delicately wipe the drool from his lips with your thumb, gauging his facial expression as you wait for some semblance of a response. (Again, very messy.)

Occasionally you don’t get one though, because even if he’s suffering from the effects of blood loss, most of the time he won’t even acknowledge it. This is partly due to how your abilities work to dampen that realization (something you try to lessen by stopping for those few minutes), but more importantly because he just really wants your mouth back on him. Even if he’s starting to feel a slight weakness creeping up on him and his pulse is rising dangerously high, the sensation of your lips on his jugular and your tongue lapping at his wounds fills him with an odd, stirring warmth that’s just too good.

You’d say that Deimos is lucky you have a lot of self-control for a vampire, otherwise you think you'd completely devour him. His blood is almost addictive; thicker than the others is due to the nicotine he consumes, and almost sticky. It’s like syrup to you. The reactions you get out of him just make the idea more tempting, especially since you can tell that he seems to desperately need more contact with you, to press together and have you swallow him whole so you'll never be apart. But you can't do that.

By the time you’re finished with him, he looks utterly debauched. Purring and in a strange trance as he looks at your blood-coated lips, another desperate noise leaving him when you lean back further. It'll take him a while to recuperate and get back to "normal" after this, so you keep an eye on him for the time being. It's not like it's difficult to justify when he hasn't actually let you go yet.

A small thought comes to Deimos' mind when you start to clean him up, gently swiping the residual blood away from his skin with your tongue, your saliva working quickly to heal up his wounds. Maybe he can get you to leave the bite next time? Or better yet, make it permanent?

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primofate · 3 years ago

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2K Followers Event: Pancake and Waffle Cafe Masterlist

Nutella Waffles (overhearing and misunderstanding a conversation/situation) MODERN AU ANGST

Characters: Childe, Kazuha, Thoma, Albedo, Kaeya, Zhongli, fem!reader

Warnings: not proofread :D, cheating, fighting, insulting, misunderstanding (duh), pregnancy, sexual innuendos, implying sex, mentions of sex, still SFW though, of course I bent the lore since it’s an AU

Notes: I had trouble with this so I decided to make it a modern AU. That’s also why it took so long. I think my brain is starting to run dry XD I mean, there’s only so much situations/conversations I could think of that could be misunderstood. Still, enjoy!

Childe

"Ah, sorry, Y/N, I can’t walk you home today... Maybe tomorrow?” Childe smiled at you, scratching the back of his head, his school bag swung over his shoulder already. He looked like he was in a hurry.

It’s been a few days like this and you really didn’t know what was happening. You asked him if he needed help with stuff at home or if he was having a hard time with his homework and if that’s why he was always rushing off. He would just give you the same smile and wave a hand. “It’s nothing like that,” and then off he’d go.

The next day, as you walk towards his classroom during lunchtime you hear him and his friends talking before you even reach the classroom door.

“Zoe is totally cute,” Childe says. The voice he uses is something that he’d never used on you before. You freeze in your tracks and try to listen in more. “Wow, she really is! Great job picking her!” one of his friends said and it sounded as if they’d hit Childe on the back as a congratulations. “Let me see, let me see,” another one says followed by a gasp. “Have you taken her out yet?” Childe laughs nervously and you know all too well without even looking at him that he’s probably scratching his head. “No, not yet,”

“Does your girlfriend know yet?” Someone else asks.

And then you hear a laugh that’s all too mischievous. All too playful. All too heart-wrenching. “She doesn’t know!” and they continue to laugh.

You turn away and try your hardest not to let tears escape from your eyes. It felt as if you were being laughed at. Like everyone knew that he was cheating. Everyone except you. It doesn’t help that there was a Zoe in the other class too. The way his friends laughed made your cheeks heat up in embarrassment and the tears you were so desperately holding back to finally flow through.

You ended up staying in the washroom for the whole of lunch time, staying in a cubicle for an extra few minutes, late for the next class.

Somehow you didn’t expect Childe to still show up in your classroom to pick you up for the day and walk you home. You stare at him at the classroom door, your eyes had already gone back to their normal shade, but still glossy. He doesn’t notice, he has a big smile on his face that mocks you. Ridicules you.

“Y/N! Let’s go together today!” Does he feel guilty? Is that why he finally agrees to walk home with you? Cause he’s had his fill of Zoe already? You don’t say a word and exit the classroom, going past him. Childe blinks, and turns to watch you walking away from him. “Y/N?”

He walks after you, and takes his place next to you. He touches the strap of your backpack, as usual, and says “I’ll take this--”

“I got it,” you reply curtly and move away from him. He’s dumbfounded, eyes still a little wide at your sudden coldness. Now he’s getting anxious. Did he do something wrong? “H-Hey...Y/N, are you mad because I didn’t walk home with you the past couple days? See, I was just--”

“I’m not that petty!” You nearly growl at him, holding his gaze for a few seconds before walking off again. Your eyes are starting to prickle with more tears. You just wanted to get home. As soon as you can. Away from him. You didn’t have the heart to break up with him face to face. You liked him too much, you knew you wouldn’t be able to do it while looking at his handsome face.

Then, he snatches your wrist and pulls you back towards him. The school hallways are emptying out, there’s a few students walking by who ignore the two of you. “Then what’s the matter? I don’t like it when we fight. At least tell me what I did!”

You wrench your wrist away from his and start sniffing. He stands there, shocked at where your tears are coming from. Until you start talking. “I heard you, during lunch time,” his eyebrows furrow. “Lunch...time?” He mumbles, not following. “When you were talking about your cute Zoe!” He doesn’t say anything for a moment and that only confirms your fears.

He’d been looking at other girls, and probably wanting them.

“...Y/N, Zoe is...” Childe scratched his cheek, averting his eyes away.

“I don’t wanna hear it,” you try to turn away, but he doesn’t let you and holds your shoulders with his hands, staring straight at you. “My dog,” You were crying at this point, and when you hear his next words your eyes narrow. “W-What?”

“Zoe is my new dog,”

“B-But your friend asked if you took her out yet...”

“Yeah,” Childe tilted his head, “for a walk?” As you start to connect the dots he takes out his phone and shows you the picture of a cute miniature poodle, it had a collar and a silver tag on it that said “Zoe”. You thought that you might cry again at how cute she was but you just glare up at Childe. “Well, I didn’t tell you cause I was gunna surprise you. I’ve been going home early these days cause we had to go visit the pound a few times and finalize the papers and everything...”

“I-Is that true? Is that all it is?” You sniff, now wiping your stupid tears away. Childe smiles down at you and takes your hands away from your face, replacing it with his, thumbing away the streaks of wetness. “Y/N, no one can ever replace you,” you sniff and let him dote on you. You’d been missing him for a while anyway.

“...Well except Zoe, maybe Zoe can,” he’s clearly teasing you and you don’t hesitate to lift your fist and punch him on the shoulder, earning a small “Ow,” from him followed by a laugh. “I’m just kidding, how ‘bout you come over and visit her today? It’s only her second day home!”

Thoma

You’d made an appointment with your friend a long time ago. Just a quick lunch and catch up date. Thoma had graciously volunteered to drive you to the mall where you were meeting up with her.

“You sure you don’t need me to pick you up? It’s Saturday. I’m free,” he flashes you a smile, his eyes darting towards you only for a second before going back to the road. “I’ll be fine hun, I’ll take the bus home,” you reply to him.

Halfway through your journey he says that he needs to buy something from a convenience store, and so he parks the car properly and grabs his wallet. His phone is on the car phone stand and you pay no heed to it until a soft ‘ding’ makes you pick your head up to look at the screen.

Your best friend’s name pops up, she’s messaged him and your blood runs cold.

“I’ll come over when Y/N’s gone,” the message read. Your heart is already at your throat, and you don’t know what to think. What is this make-believe situation that you’re suddenly in. Is this really happening? Your eyes dart upwards to look at the door of the convenience store. You could see Thoma was still looking at the shelves.

You gulp and you wonder what the right thing to do is. Invade his privacy and peek at his messages? Let it go? Confront him? Cry? Another ‘ding’ fills up the car.

“How long is she going to be out? The longer the better. So...” you couldn’t read the rest of the message, it being cut off but you were already spiraling down the hole of despair. How could he? Your sweet and loyal Thoma ended up going behind your back with your best friend. You thought you were going to be sick, you actually had to roll the windows of the car down to get some fresh air, just as Thoma came out of the convenience store door with a plastic bag.

You couldn’t look at him. You couldn’t even be in the same space as him. You were going to cancel today with your friend, you didn’t think you’d be able to function properly. When he sat on the driver’s seat and saw you looking out the window, he didn’t think much of it and revved the engine up. “Ready hu--”

“Take me to my sister’s place,” Thoma blinked and turned to you, confused. “But, what about your lunch date today, dear?”

“I don’t feel like going. My sister’s place is nearby, just drop me off there,” Your hands were already typing a reply to the friend that you were about to stand up on, but you couldn’t even think of what to do or say.

“Dear is everything okay?” He asked while backing the car up, arm outstretched to your side while he’s looking at the rear. He was appalled by your sudden mood change. You didn’t answer but he hears you sniff and he immediately stops the car again. “Y/N? What’s wrong?” He’s alarmed that you’re crying and he reaches to cup your chin and tilt it towards him but you move your face away from him.

“Y/N?” he asked, the confusion in his voice is actually genuine and you can hear a bit of panic in it. “How long have you been seeing Aya?” you spit the words as if they’re poison and the car is quiet. You laugh bitterly. “I thought so, cat got your tongue, huh?”

Thoma shook himself out of his confusion to say, “No, wait, I don’t know what you mean,” You scoff at him. You’re shocked at the amount of resentment you had, you trusted this man and yet this is what happens. “Yeah? Why is she sneaking into our house then?” You point at his phone, the screen is still lit up because of the messages and there were more coming in from your best friend.

Thoma snatches the phone away from the stand and looks at it. Then, he deflates and slumps back on his seat. “Y/N, it’s not what you think,” You hate that line so much. You cross your arms and say, “Just drop me at my sister’s house,”

“Y/N--”

“NOW!”

The drive was quiet. You didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to push you but didn’t want to drop you off to your sister’s without explaining as well. So, just before your sister’s block, he parks on the side and unbuckles his seat belt, then opens your side of the door. “Y/N, listen to me,” he’s rarely this assertive, but you still don’t listen. He’s blocking your escape path.

“It’s your birthday today,” Thoma starts and you blink, completely forgetting about it. “Ayu is sneaking in our house while you’re gone because we were going to set up a surprise for you.” He says slowly, as if he’s talking to a child. Your eyes widen, and you relax in your seat. He gives you his phone and urges you, “Go on, Y/N, you know my passcode right? I don’t hide anything from you, you can read the rest,”

You hesitate, but accept his offer and type it in.

“How long is she going to be out? The longer the better. So we can set up the balloons,”

“I got the cake don’t forget the candles and lighter,”

Thoma picks up his other hand that had the white plastic bag from the convenience store, he picks up the two items from inside. Birthday candles. And a lighter.

Your mouth opens, but you can’t say anything and you only bury your face in your hands out of shame. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry Thoma, I--” He manages to let out a laugh and kisses the top of your head. “I’m so stupid. I trust you, I really do, I just--” now you’re not sure if you’re crying out of relief or embarrassment. “I’m so sorry,” You can’t say anything else and he only kisses you on the forehead again.

“It’s alright, you can make it up to me by going on that lunch date, okay? You deserve the rest. You haven’t cancelled yet have you? Let’s freshen up at your sister’s place and I’ll send you to the mall,”

You nod your head, small smile on your face. This was gunna be one story to tell in the future.

“Oh and it would help if you act surprised when you come home,” Thoma adds with a full laugh that you join in on.

Kaeya

"So how are you and Y/N?”

It’d only been a couple of months of the two of you dating. Kaeya was handsome, gallant and he knew exactly what to say to people. It wasn’t a secret that he was quite popular in school.

Little old you was just another girl in just another class.

“Good, I think,” Kaeya responds, you smile around the corner, hidden from sight, knowing that he was taking a juice box break with his friends. “It’s a little annoying though,” your smile drops and your head tilts sideways in question. “I can’t keep her away and she doesn’t even realize how annoying it is,”

Keep me away? You think. Am I too clingy? You hear them exchange words a bit more, but none of the other words process in your head. Their laughter spurs you out of your thoughts and you return to your classroom dumbfounded.

When the bell rang for dismissal you immediately packed and walked home by yourself. Kaeya was confused when he arrived at your classroom door, and found that you weren’t there anymore. “...Hey, did Y/N go home?” he asked one of your passing classmates. “Yeah, she went out pretty fast,”

Now he was worried. Did something happen at home? He takes his phone out as he’s out the school building, tapping your name and calling, only for the call to not even connect. His brows furrow but nonetheless, he goes home for today and types in a message for you.

“Hey, you okay? Talk to me if you need something,”

The next day, when he usually waits outside your door for you to come out, he realizes that you’re a little late and further realizes that you weren’t going to come out. He wasn’t about to knock on your door, your parents didn’t know about him yet.

He tries to call you again but he’s met with the same result as yesterday. He sighs and looks up at the sky while he’s walking. He hasn’t seen you for nearly a full day now, and he doesn’t realize how long a full day is until now. He just wants to see your smiling face again and he starts to wonder if he’d done something wrong.

By lunchtime, he’s sprinting towards your classroom as soon as the bell rings, wondering if you were there. Indeed, finally, he spots you in your classroom and his shoulders slump in relief only to tense up again when he sees a guy in your class talking to you, and you, smiling happily.

“Y/N,” he calls out to you, waving his hand. You look away from your conversation to him and he notices how your smile turns into a tight line on your face. His own smile drops, but you walk out of the classroom anyway and address him. “Yes?” He blinks down at your tone of voice. “U-Uh... Wanna have lunch together?”

“...But it’s annoying that I’m clingy right?” The two of you unconsciously move away from the door to out in the hallway, so that you’re not blocking the way of people coming in and out. He narrows his eyes in confusion. Where is this coming from? “I--No, what do you mean? I never said that,”

“Yesterday, you said you can’t keep me away and it’s annoying,” you averted your gaze, feeling your eyes start to water. Kaeya reels back a little, replaying things in his mind, trying to remember if he said something like that. And, with a light bulb moment, his face breaks into a grin and slight laughter. You glare up at him, “What? It’s funny?”

Kaeya places a hand on your shoulder and explains while smiling. “Y/N, you didn’t listen to the rest of the conversation, did you?”

---What really happened---

“It’s really annoying though. I can’t keep her away and she doesn’t even realize how annoying it is,” he sips on his juice box again.

One of his friends pipe up, “Dude that’s a little harsh,”

Kaeya blinks. Once, twice and thrice. Until it dawns on him. “Oh, no, I meant that I can’t keep her away from other people,” he grins and leans both his elbows on the windowsill. “She doesn’t realize that she’s super friendly, and other people like talking to her a lot. Whenever I go to her classroom she’s always talking to different people.”

His friends make a sound of understanding. “I wish I could just keep her to myself,” and continues sipping on his juice.

“That’s really cheesy, even for you, Kaeya,” one of his friends say and the lot of them starts laughing.

---That’s what really happened---

It was your turn to blink at him, confused. “S-So...”

Kaeya pats your head and smiles. “You can ask my friends if it makes you feel better,”

A small blush crosses your cheeks and you duck your head to hide it. It earns yet another chuckle from him. Your moment is interrupted by another guy who approaches the two of you. “Hey, Y/N, if you’re free, do you think you could help me out with this? I don’t really understand it,”

Kaeya just looks at the guy and sighs, then turns to you again. “See what I mean?” to which you just goofily smile at.

Kazuha

“You saw what?”

Your hands freeze, holding the book you were reading open. The living room had gotten lively again, seeing as your little brother had come home from school. “I saw Kazuha with a girl,”

You try to keep your face composed. It was a school day. You’d stayed home because you weren’t feeling too well. Your brother was saying it without a care in the world. He was just a grade schooler and telling you about the things he observed. He was looking through the fridge for something to drink.

You didn’t ask more, but you were DYING to know more. Kazuha didn’t mention going anywhere today... You picked your phone up and wondered if you should ask him. Your phone had blown up this morning cause he didn’t see you at school and he was wondering if you were alright.

But it seems that Kazuha himself was having a grand time too.

“So...T-The girl...Did they look close?”

Your little brother closes the fridge and looks at you while drinking from a milk carton. “Mm...They were holding each other...” You bit your lip as tingles run down your spine. They weren’t the good kind. It was the kind that you get when you watch horror movies and or a drama movie and a revelation had just happened. You were silent for a moment, but in your mind you were already thinking of how Kazuha looked with another girl. Holding each other? What did your brother mean? Like...hugging? Or...? But you couldn’t ask him about that, could you?!

You sighed out loud and slammed the book you were reading down on the table, just as your phone started ringing. “Kazuha,” you whispered under your breath and looked at your phone screen. Well...you believed in him, and you thought the best way to clear this up is to talk to him about it.

So, you grabbed your phone and retreated into your bedroom to talk to him. You picked up the call, “Kazu-kun?”

“Y/N,” he greeted. Even apart, his voice has this effect on you. Like he was really there and breathing into your ear, sending shivers down your spine. You were sure that you were blushing. “How are you? Are you feeling better?” His voice is smooth and calm and you melt into your bed. “Yeah, a little,”

“Could I come over later? I just want to check on you,” You smile into your phone and close your eyes. Kazuha could never do that to you, you think to yourself. But still, you really wanted to ask. “Of course, I don’t think my parents would mind...Hey,” you start, your fingers nervously drawing circles on your pillow. “My brother said he saw you...with a girl,”

There’s silence on the other line, and you can hear him shifting a little. “A...girl?” He repeats the question and you bite your lip. He sounds unsure and now you were unsure too. “Yeah, he said that you were holding on to each other...or something,” Again some silence, until he makes a sound of understanding.

“Ah, he must mean Sango,” there’s a little lilt to his voice, like he was happy and you were a little jealous. “Sango’s my cousin, she came to surprise me for my birthday week.” Kazuha laughs nervously and adds a little hesitantly. “She...uhm...would like to meet you actually, is it okay if I bring her over today?”

Your heart sighs in relief, as do you and you don’t realize that you’ve done that out loud. In the next moment though, you smile and nod, even though he can’t see you. “Of course! Bring her over!”

Albedo (More fluff than angst)

Cleaning at home was one of the things you did to get your mind off of things. Some people would call it tedious, but to you, it was sort of relaxing. It was something easy to do, you didn’t need much of your brain, just motor memory. Folding. Laundry. Ironing. Sweeping. Basic chores.

But when you clean up in the bedroom you shared with your boyfriend, and found a neatly wrapped present, red wrapping paper and blue ribbon tied on the top with a tag that said “To: Leila” you’re a little dumbfounded.

Who’s Leila? Is your first thought. Your second thought is, what’s inside? You hold the nicely wrapped box in your hand and turn it all over, trying to get some type of hint. A flash of doubt seeps into your mind but you shake it away. Albedo isn’t like that...Is he? He’s always so dedicated to his scientific research and sure he comes home late sometimes but he always makes it up to you on the weekends...

So who’s Leila? You ask yourself again. And why hasn’t he mentioned it to you? Why didn’t he ask YOU to wrap it? Menial tasks like these were usually passed on to you. You bite your thumb just thinking about it, but in the end just leave the present where you find it.

Later that night as you’re fixing dinner, you aren’t as bothered by the gift as when you first saw it. But it’s still there at the back of your mind and it resurfaces to the front when you hear the familiar keys rattle. Despite that, as he snakes his arms around your waist from behind you can’t help but smile and melt a little, pressing back against him as he leans over to kiss your cheek. “...Smells nice,” he simply mumbles and closes his eyes, enjoying the warmth of both you and your home.

“Welcome back,” you say, while closing the lid on the pot and turning around to give him a proper kiss on the lips. He hums into the kiss as a response and pulls you away from the stove. “How’s your day?” he asks you first and you smile, because your day is nearly the same time and time again. “Fine, I did find a little secret though...” you start and peek up at his beautiful eyes.

He nods to ask you to continue. “A present, nicely wrapped. and it’s addressed to someone called Leila,” He looks down at you and you stare at him. A moment passes by before he takes his arms back and go into his thinking pose. “...Leila...?” he asks, eyes averting from your gaze. You wonder if he’s pretending. You wonder if he’s trying to make an excuse up. “...I don’t--” and then his eyebrows twitch. “Ah,” he says and drops his arms to his side.

“We were invited to a birthday party, remember? By a co-worker,” he tucks in strands of your hair as he talks. “It’s her daughter’s first birthday...I don’t care much for such things but you insisted it’d be alright to go.” he chuckles a little. “Her daughter’s name is Leila,”

You make a sound of understanding. Suddenly your hesitant thoughts wither away. “Hmmm? You could’ve asked me to wrap the present,” Albedo pulls away from you and towards the fridge, wanting a glass of water. “The wrapping wasn’t done by me, it was the shop, free service,” and so it made more sense.

And although you want to ask more questions, like where he got it, when and what’s inside, you realize it’s such a trivial thing. It was not worth that much time. A gift is a gift, and you turn back to continue making dinner while making idle conversation with him.

Zhongli (Warning: Suggestive) (but this is also my personal favourite... aha...)

“Zhongli?” You arrive home a little early today, dropping your keys at the front shelf. You don’t hear him anywhere and you shuffle around your living room for a while, looking at the letters for today.

He was on a work from home arrangement today, and he would usually be in his office. You were quite sure that he would’ve come out to greet you though, if he heard you. He must be busy at the moment.

You’d wanted to wash your hands as soon as you came home, and went for the guest washroom. When you open the door, your eyes land on something on the counter, next to the sink. This bathroom was always kept clean for visitors. You liked to host people once in a while, or just invite friends and you took pride in having them comfortable in your house.

Your eyes narrow as you go closer and your hands pick up a pregnancy test that was lying there.

It was positive.

You put it back down and shudder a little. You don’t remember getting a pregnancy test. You bite your lip and look at yourself in the mirror. You’re already jumping to conclusions, and you can’t help it. Who the hell would leave a pregnancy test in YOUR guest bathroom? Zhongli didn’t mention anything...

You sigh a breath out and close the bathroom door behind you, taking your phone out to text your best friend.

“There’s a positive pregnancy test in our guest bathroom,”

After a moment, there’s a reply.

“OMG Are you preggers?!”

“No, it’s not mine,”

The next reply takes a moment more. “Oh, maybe ask him?” and you know that your friend hadn’t known what to reply at that moment. Because a random positive pregnancy test in your guest bathroom was NOT a good sign. To top it off, you didn’t announce to Zhongli that you were coming home early today.

Your perk up when you hear noise from the other room. You open the bathroom door slightly, and hear the unmistakable low voice of your fiance, coupled with...the voice of another woman. You close the bathroom door again, not bothering to lock it, and sit on the closed toilet seat. You’re sitting there with nothing in your mind, unable to think.

A few minutes later the voices are louder, they’ve moved to the living room, right outside the bathroom you were in. You tense up, and your jaw tightens. You don’t want to see them. You don’t want to hear them. For a moment you wish that you didn’t come home early, and just pretend this didn’t happen, but the door to the bathroom door opens, leaving you eye to eye with a woman you recognize.

Luna was a beautiful woman. Long cascading brown hair, they’re wavy and stops right at her waist. Doll-like blue eyes and a slender body. She sees you sitting there and you feel stupid, but she just breaks into a grin. “Y/N!” she grabs you by the wrist and pulls you out of the bathroom before you could even say anything. You’re numb, so you don’t respond to anything around you.

Zhongli turns around wide-eyed to see you standing there meekly, not meeting his gaze. He still goes to you though and asks curiously. “When did you come in? I didn’t hear you,” he places a hand on your arm while Luna releases you, but you still don’t look up and he wonders if something happened at your workplace to make you come home so early. “Luna and Childe stopped by,” Zhongli says, in at attempt to cheer you up. You look up, and only then did you realize that Childe was there too, talking animatedly to Luna. You tilt your head sideways, “They came with a surprise. Ah, but it’s not mine to tell,”

That’s right... Luna and Childe had been together for a while and then it hits you when Luna shows you the same positive pregnancy test you saw on the counter, and announces that she’s pregnant. Your eyes are wide. You can’t tell if you’re more relieved that it wasn’t what you thought or more happy for your friends. You feel horrible about it but you manage to crack a smile and went along with the festivities. The more time passed the more you were able to enjoy their happiness and by the time they left, that was the only time you sighed and let your shoulders slump, exhausted.

“Is something the matter?” Zhongli asked. He noticed how your smiles were a tad bit forced. How you seemed to enjoy everything but also seemed to be on edge. You turn to him and shook your head. “It’s...stupid. It’s my mistake,” but he holds on to your waist and urges you to tell him.

And you tell him. How you came home and saw what you saw in the guest bathroom, what you thought it was and how you felt. The only thing you can feel now is embarrassment and shame. You couldn’t even feel happy for your friend. Zhongli only smiles and combs his hand through your hair. “It’s the normal reaction,” he reassures you, again trying to make you feel better. You only respond with your own hug but his next sentence makes you flustered, all thoughts of earlier gone as he whispers into your ear.

“Would you like your own positive pregnancy test?”

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