#anyways yeah today was really hard for like a lot of reasons but it’s okay! hard days happen!

[jiraisupportgroup]

₊‧°𐐪♡𐑂°‧₊

Sometimes life is harder than usual. Sometimes triggers hit you harder than you think they “should”, sometimes your emotions take control, sometimes thoughts of relapsing are stronger than others, some days are just too much.

♡ and that’s okay!! ♡

Having bad days doesn’t mean all of your progress is gone, it doesn’t mean all your work is for nothing, it doesn’t mean you’re going to be “like this” forever.

[felassan]

June 14th 2024 Developer Q&A (from the official BioWare Discord) - Complete transcript

Under a cut due to length.

Update: This post has now been updated into a word-for-word transcript.

[Link to video recording of Q&A] | [Link to equivalent post for second Q&A (August 30th)] | [Link to video recording for second Q&A]

Update: This post has now been updated into a word-for-word transcript.

If you would like to listen to the Q&A for yourself in video format, or listen to it again, Ghil Dirthalen recorded it and has now uploaded a video of it here. This blog post is linked in the description under the video. ( ˶´ ᵕ `˶ )

Corinne Busche, John Epler, Matt Rhodes and Community Manager Katey were the devs that were there.

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Katey: Hello!

John: Hello.

Katey: Beautiful, your mic sounds beautiful. How's everybody doing?

John: Excellent. I, just as a headsup, I have some folks doing some service, in the next room so, if I, if you hear background noise, that's what that is.

Katey: No worries at all. Well I hope that everybody who's been waiting in here is really excited, because I'm super excited. I'm Katey. I'm the Community Manager. If you don't already know, you can usually see my name at the top of this Discord server. But I'm joined here with some awesome guests that I'll let introduce themselves. Let's start with Corinne.

Corinne: Can you hear me okay?

John: Yep.

Katey: Yep, we can hear you beautifully.

Corinne: Great, perfect. I'm Corinne Busche, Game Director of Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

John: Awesome. I'm John Epler, Creative Director of Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

Corinne: John!

John: Hello.

Katey: And then we've also got Matt Rhodes, who may be struggling to find the unmute button which is at the bottom left.

Corinne: Our, our resident artist-poet, Matt Rhodes.

Katey: I could unmute him, actually, I don't know if I can unmute him, but if he needs help, he can message me on the side.

John: The joys of being a giant nerd is I spend a lot of time on Discord anyway, so.

Corinne: Well there you go, right?

Katey: Fair enough. Alright, well, we have a ton of questions to answer. We probably won't be able to get to all of them today. You all have sent in so many really really great answers, sorry, questions for us to answer. And if we don't get to them today, we're hoping to be able to do things like this in the future. So without further ado, I'll get started. First question's a bit of a soft ball, I feel. If you could belong to any of the main factions shown in the game, which would you choose?

Corinne: I mean, listen Katey, you say softball, but like, this is hard! I’m gonna cheat, and I’m gonna give you two. So for fashion, the Antivan Crows, all day long. Their threads, you’re gonna love it. For vibes, though, like the ones that capture my vibe, Mourn Watch. Gimme those necromancers.

John: Those are good answers. I have, I have one for fashion, and also for, just general faction I’d like to be a part of. Veil Jumpers. Who doesn’t like a nice walk in the forest, y’know? Even if that forest is filled with horrifying monsters and terrifying anomalies, but yeah.

Katey: I love that. I know that Matt has a few technical issues – oh, he’s unmuted. There we go. Or maybe not. That’s okay, I think we can move on.

John: The Fade has taken Matt.

Corinne: That’s right, that’s right.

Katey: Yes. One quick thing, if you check your settings, the cog-wheel in the bottom left, make sure that your voice, like, your audio is all good. If you’re still hearing the music, feel free to maybe, force-quit Discord and rejoin by just joining the stage directly. And mute the music before you come in. Okay. I can move on to the next question for now. I’ve seen, so this question was from Acra. I’ve seen a lot of talk about only having two companions in your party instead of three for this game. What is the reasoning behind this and will we still get the same companion conversations and banter as seen in the previous Dragon Age games?

Corinne: Ooh, this is such a good question. Thankyou, whoever submitted this one. Yeah, I’ll guess I’ll start and then I’ll turn it over to John Epler. So, first of all, as you saw in the gameplay reveal, this is a much more intimate experience. We’ve pulled the camera in. For those that aren’t aware, the reason why is we want you to feel like you actually are in this world, right? Like, you’re walking these city streets of Minrathous, you’re looking up, seeing the buildings all around you, you’re a part of this place. So it’s much more intimate, and we believe as the narrative unfolds this creates a lot more immersion. Now, how that relates to companions is in doing this, we went back and forth on it a lot, but we actually found, with this perspective, having two companions, really allows them more visibility and presence. We’ve talked about the incredible depth and focus we’ve put on fleshing out these companions, they’re very fully-realized. So here, you really get to see them more clearly, you get to see them shine. When you see Lace Harding jump into the air and unleash a volley of arrows, you can only really get that because of that more intimate view. So I love the spotlight that’s been put on them. But, I think, in addition to the banter, one of the things that people are wondering about is, okay, but what about gameplay? So again, this has come about from our testing, working with the internal team, also our lovely Council of players. We just found that when you’re playing in the combat system, when you’re planning your strategies, two really felt like the right number to manage. So keep in mind, Rook has a lot of different types of actions, Abilities, individual attacks that are more fully fleshed-out than ever before. Timing and positioning matter a lot. So this really felt like the right balance to have. The number of inputs and actions we’re asking you as a player to take, including directing your companions, is higher than ever before. And I will also say, I engage with the companions, like I actively control what they’re doing more than I ever have before in any of the other three games. But John, I’ll toss it over to you for the banter. That’s kind of like the, we got a two-for-one there.

John: Yeah, yeah.

Corinne: I think that’s a, a great question.

John: So - it’s a great question, yeah. I mean honestly, I don’t think you could actually stop the writers from writing banter. I will say for myself, it’s, it’s one of the more light but fun things to do. You get to write little stories, little arcs between different characters. And I mean, The Veilguard is no different. Banter is still absolutely core part of it. You know, we’ve got global banter, you know, the general stuff that you get in all spaces, as well as mission-specific stuff. But, yeah, it’s definitely still a big thing. I think it’s, if anything it’s the most we’ve, we’ve ever done for pairings of companions. Beyond that we’ve also made sure, and I mean I’ve been on Dragon Age for a while, and I know there’s been issues, you know, things like, okay, well I don’t wanna miss this banter. So we’ve even added stuff like some interruptible and resumable banter as well, just to make sure that, because again, it’s a core part of the experience. Everyone loves hearing these companions talk to each other, everyone loves hearing these little stories and relationships develop over the course of the game and, as mentioned before, companions are the heart of this experience and banter is a big part of that, so, you still have it, it’s, if anything, like I said, you could not stop the writers from doing it even if we tried, so.

Corinne: That’s right, that’s right. Well, John, you know, listening to you speak, one thing that comes to mind, maybe people are wondering, with two companions in the field do I get less interaction between, that, like do I get to see my companions interacting in a broader group more often.

John: Oh -

Corinne: And, the way you’ll gather them around the kitchen table, there’s just so many of those moments where they’re all interacting with each other.

John: Well, I think –

Corinne: Those are some of my favorite parts.

John: Yeah, and I think, yeah, and actually that’s a, a good call, because I think the other side of it is, we’re not talking too much about your home or anything, but, we also want to make sure that they feel like they have a relationships and a life outside of just, the times you take a certain pair of companions out on the field. So we made sure that, they have those interactions there as well.

Katey: Love that. Let’s see. Um, Matt, are we, are we all set, are we good? Yes? No? Okay. I can continue and we can come back to some of your questions. Alright. So that, I loved the answers to those. How customizable is the backstory of Rook? Will we get to determine their past in the Character Creator? And that was asked by Briar.

John: Yeah, so. Absolutely. So, one of, each, Rook has six different backgrounds that you can choose from. Each of them is tied to one of the major factions in The Veilguard and each one sets out who Rook was before they recruited, were recruited by Varric, and. Well that sets out the broad events. As you go through the game, as you’re gonna have conversations, either with members of your faction, other characters, you can define, not just what those events were, but what they meant to you, what was your motivation, what was the kind of person you are as you build up Rook, because again, we wanna make sure that roleplaying is at the heart of this experience. And taking Rook, giving them, again, giving them background to ground them in the world but then letting you decide what that means and what that says about you is also a big part of it, so. And again, there are six different factions in this game, two which, anyone who’s played Dragon Age for a while will remember. You’ve got the Grey Wardens. You’ve got the Antivan Crows. We also have, in addition to that, we have four new ones, because we’re in northern Thedas. We have the Veil Jumpers. We have the Mourn Watch. We have the Shadow Dragons, and we have the Lords of Fortune, so. Again, a lot of different options, a lot of different background, and a lot of opportunities to really define what your, who your Rook was, and who they are now, so.

Katey: Amazing. Will crafting return? If yes, has it been improved over the system in Inquisition? Asked by Some Dude.

Matt: Testing.

Katey: Oh hey Matt!

Corinne: “Some Dude”, is that, I’m gonna assume “Some Dude” is a username. Great question.

Katey: Yes.

Corinne: Welcome Matt, the lovely Matt Rhodes.

Matt: Testing, testing.

Corinne: Welcome, welcome, hello. Alright, so, will crafting return? You can absolutely improve and customize your gear, yes, that is a big part of RPG progression, so yes you can improve and customize it. I will say, though, it’s different this time around, and it does get into spoiler territory, so I, I’m gonna be a little bit cagey about it, but there might be a mysterious entity that assists you with that that’ll be an important part of the narrative.

Katey: So mysterious.

Corinne: Oooh!

Katey: Matt, I’m gonna actually go back to our first question so that you can answer, so everyone knows.

Matt: Thank you.

Katey: What faction, what faction you would choose if you could choose one for yourself?

Matt: Absolutely, oh, for me it’s definitely the Lords of Fortune. I’ve had a chance to try out a bunch of them, but I think I’ve finally settled on them. And it’s largely just because pirate-barbarian is just such a great combination of elements, so. Treasure-hunting plus beaches and palm trees and all that stuff, it’s a, it’s a really good mix, so that’s kinda my default.

Katey: I think I’m with you there, for sure. How about this one - this one was definitely asked probably amongst the most in Discord. Axolotl asks, can we kiss or romance Manfred the skeleton?

Matt: Uh, I, I would say, not that skeleton, but we’re not saying no skeletons.

Katey: I love that answer.

Corinne: This is my favorite answer so far.

Katey: Alright, so I’m gonna get back on track here. Alright. What, what were some of the development considerations that you had to take into account to ensure that this new game flows and functions with prior games, and Dragon Age Keep, if Keep is being utilized?

Corinne: Ooh, that’s a good one too. So, first of all, I would, I would point everyone to, we did an interview with IGN that goes into some of the details there, so, like, if you want a deeper dive on it, check out that article. But just to summarize, we have taken a different approach on how you import your decisions this time around. It’s now actually been fully-integrated into the Character Creator, and kinda serves a dual purpose, to be honest. I, I playfully, it’s not called this in-game, but I playfully think of it as ‘Last Time On Dragon Age’.

Katey: I love that.

Corinne: Right? Now, when I talk about its dual purpose, it’s been ten years since the last Dragon Age game released, so it serves as a refresher on critical events as well as allowing you to re-make those decisions that are critical to you. The thing I love about it is, it’s very highly visual, it uses the familiar tarot card aesthetic, so it’s actually really visual and playful experience as you go through it. It is very much important to us that it’s built into the client, though. You can play this game entirely offline. No connection. You don’t have to link to your EA accounts, like that’s been a really big request. So, the refresher plus make those decisions in-client, I think we’re all pretty happy about that. I don’t wanna spoil anything by revealing what decisions you can import, like, look, y’all don’t want the spoilers, but I will say, it’s been a really interesting creative intersection for us, because on the one hand, this is a whole new adventure. You’re in northern Thedas, these locations that you’ve literally never been to before. So that affects some of what will matter and what we’re not using this time around, as far as decisions. But obviously there’s some very, very clear connections to existing characters. It’s no secret that the Inquisitor, our dear Inky, is gonna show up, so, that’s, that’s a factor.

Katey: Peachy asks, will this next game be an open-world game, or is it just contained to Tevinter?

John: Yeah, that’s a great question. So, you are in northern Thedas, but the game only begins in Minrathous, it doesn’t stay there. I’m, I think one of the most exciting things for me, honestly, and again, to Corinne’s earlier point about spoilers, I don’t wanna get into too much spoiler detail, but getting to go to, and work with the art team, work with the narrative, work with the design team to build out these locations that we’ve talked about. Places that characters have referred to as where they’ve come from, places that characters, obviously, in previous games, have hailed from, has been absolutely exciting. So, it’s, you do start in Tevinter, you do start in Minrathous, but again, that’s not the entire game by any stretch. So yeah.

Corinne: Yeah, and the first half of it is, is it an open-world game? We’ve gone back to what we believe delivers the best, most curated –

John: Mhm.

Corinne: - intense narratives. So, this is a hand-crafted experience, it’s mission-based. Now, these locations can open up. You can go back, solve mysteries, do some really great side-content. Not fetch-quests, not grind-quests, some really great side content.

John: Mhm.

Corinne: But, I wanna be clear. It’s, it’s a really curated, hand-crafted experience.

John: And just to, just to bounce off of that very quickly. The most important thing for us, to what Corinne was saying about hand-crafted, obviously we’ve talked about how, you know, narrative, story, characters, are the most, are critical to us, and this has allowed us to build these experiences in a way that emphasize that, extremely long, while still, again, tying into the story threads and the story beats, so.

Katey: Awesome. TastefulToxel wants to know - will the companions have unique specializations like Dragon Age II, or will it be the same ones we will have access to as the player in like DA: Origins, or Inquisition?

Corinne: Oh, cool. Hey TastefulToxel. Yeah, so, cool question. I think the best way for me to describe this is that, yes, our companions will have Abilities that are truly unique to them. But also, the companions do fall into the archetypes of mage, rogue, and warrior. Like, for instance, you might be surprised to hear, because she has a bow, but Bellara is, in fact, a mage, and I, I love that. So, some of the Abilities, the bulk of the Abilities of the companions are based on their own unique personality. Like, Neve is the only mage that is an Ice Mage, so you get distinct Abilities for her. But, because she’s a mage, she does have access to Abilities that all the mages share, like Time Slow. So we really like the balance there. It’s like a good mix of representing their archetype, their class, and also their distinct specialization or personality, whatever you wanna call it.

John: Yeah, actually, I would actually say the word ‘personality’ is a really great one because that’s, again, each of these characters exists, each of these characters have a history, have a story of how they became who they were, and part of that was finding that intersection between narrative and gameplay, and making sure that, again, we, we serve the needs of gameplay but also allow these characters to breathe and exist as their own people, not just in conversation, but out of conversations, as well.

Corinne: I would also say as part of that core mage kit, healing spells are there, so any of your mages, you wanna make ‘em a healer, do that.

Katey: Lunasoul Darkmoon asks, will The Veilguard have tactical combat still?

Corinne: Ooh, such a good one, such a good one. Okay. Yes! Combat gets quite tactical, like, obviously this is an evolution of the combat system, and I talked about immersion, wanting you, to put you in the world, like you’re actually living and existing in it, but it is very tactical. And, I will say, we have a robust difficulty system. The tactics are increasingly important the higher difficulty level you go. So like, look, if you’re showing up for a highly tactical experience, I would crank that difficulty level in particular. But I wanna make clear, I’m, super, I wanna make sure I’m super clear in my answer. You saw the gameplay reveal. Our pause-time tactical mode is not overhead. It stays close to Rook. It does allow you to cycle between targets, both in and out of combat, there’s a reason for that. As the game progresses, and you didn’t see this in that opening hour of the game, but it’ll display strategic information on the enemies, so like, what are their vulnerabilities, what are their elemental weaknesses, their enhancements, what are they resistant to? So your type of Abilities, learning into elemental gameplay, matters a lot. I’d also say, this is a long answer, it’s such a good question – tactical decision-making also takes the form, I would say this is front and center, of coordinating your Ability usage between Rook and your companions to create synergies, or really devastating – we call them – detonation combos. So, let me give you a couple of examples, because it can be a little hard to visualize, so hopefully this helps. So one of the tactics that I personally enjoy in my own builds, I just recently played as a Veil Ranger, I love it, it’s one of my favorites. If I’m fighting Fade-touched enemies in Arlathan, I like to use Bellara’s Galvanized Tear to pull enemies together, it’s like a gravity well. You then Slow Time with Neve and, Slow Time affects the world around you, but it does not affect you, so you clump them up, you Slow Time, and then with Rook, I come in and do, like a devastating AOE or damage over time spell or Ability, and it’s even better if it’s a lightning-based Ability, because the Fade-touched in Arlathan are vulnerable to that. So there’s so many layers of coordination and strategy and tactics. Now we did talk about the devastating, like, detonation combos, honestly, that’s probably one of my favorite features, because that’s when you’re really leaning into explicit teamwork between your companions and Rook, or, the companions together. So when I, when I build out my team and I’m going into a mission, I try to ensure that I have at least a couple of possible synergies, detonation combo synergies within my team. Might be between Harding and Neve, or it might be between Neve and me, or it might be both. So here, I would go into battle, I’d pause time, open the Ability Wheel, get information on the enemy, and the Wheel will actually tell me that there is a synergy combo, you might have seen a screenshot that says “combo available”. It will remind you of those synergies between companions. You can queue both of those Abilities up at the same time, go, close out of the pause-time menu, they’ll both execute, both Abilities will happen, then the detonation AOE happens, applies debuffs to all the enemies in a radius of it, it’s so satisfying, it’s so satisfying, I can’t wait for y’all to see it. But the interesting thing is that too is a tactical choice. I’m choosing to use my companions to do that, and that means, in that moment, I’m not using them to heal me, or to give me that defense bonus, or to knock an enemy off a ledge, so it’s about the opportunity cost. I, I could spend the rest of the session talking about this, I, apologies for being long-winded, but this is just one of my favorite parts of, of the game.

Katey: That was a great answer. Can you choose Rook’s pronouns? If yes, being, is being non-binary an option? And also, how detailed is Character Creation?

Corinne: Hell yeah you can select your pronouns! Absolutely. You can actually select both your pronouns and your gender, because those are related concepts, but they’re not actually the exact same thing, so. It’s really cool. Yeah, you can be non-binary. We have they/them, she/her, he/him. Yes, emphatic yes. How detailed is the Character Creator? Oh my goodness, y’all. Like. Very! I don’t wanna give away too much just yet, but it’s very, very deep. It has been revealed, it’s out there in a couple of articles, about the focus on hair, the focus on skin-tones that are done respectfully, full-body customization, hell yeah, we love to see it. But we’re, we’re gonna, we’re gonna come back, we’re gonna show you a lot more on Character Creator, but we wanna make sure we have the time and space to, to do that.

Katey: Will there be a Photo Mode in-game?

Corinne: So that is something we’re actively looking into. We know there’s a tonne of interest, so stay tuned on that one. But we are very much looking into it.

Matt: I can add to that, is a feature that is, that, we like, we like the idea of, and, and, it’s not just player-facing but internally, it’s a really helpful thing for us as we’re, as we’re building things out to have that so it’s, it’s, we’ll let ya know.

Corinne: Yes, yeah, absolutely. We, we are as geeked on that possibility as you all are.

Katey: A lot of people were asking about Abilities. This one is from Clemmy. Abilities, I don’t think I saw this answered yet, but are we going to be limited in how many Abilities we can pick from the Wheel?

Corinne: Ah! Yes, yes, yes. So, Ability Wheel does have a capacity. You have to choose which three Abilities you wanna bring for Rook, which three for one of your companions, and which three for another companion. And what I, what I like about this is there is, kind of, an emergent gameplay depending on who you and your companions are coming into the mission with. Now the reason for that is, it actually creates really interesting balance of strategizing, having to do that strategy about your kit, your combat kit, before the mission. And then the tactical decisions once you’re in the field in combat, deciding what to do. But, I do wanna clear one thing up, because, while there are three Ability slots for Rook, there’s so much more than that. Other actions that you can perform directly from the Wheel include, you’ll have an Ultimate Ability, associated with your class or your specialization, so there’s variance there. There’s a type of items that you’ll get that function like Abilities, they’re typically like buffs and enhancements in form of Runes. So you’ll control that for Rook and/or the team from the Wheel. You may have also seen that you can direct which targets your companions will focus on, but what you might not know is that a lot of the companion gear really synergizes with that directing your companions. When you issue those commands, that too will proc based on the gear they have equipped. Really interesting and strategic effects. They can be more Ability-like, more, like, procced effects, there’s just so much from the Wheel, that once you get in and see everything working together, becomes more and more apparent.

Katey: We have another question from TastefulToxel which is, will Fireball and Cone of Cold be back as skills, or as spells in Dragon Age: The Veilguard?

Corinne: Ohh, I love, all these combat questions, really good. So Fireball and Cone of Cold aren’t specifically back, however, their successors are. Frost Nova and Meteor. So these serve the exact same combat role and function as those other Abilities. I would also say, it gives ‘em quite the glow-up, so. Meteor in particular, like, so satisfying nuking a group of darkspawn with a well-placed Meteor, it’s really wonderful.

Katey: What accessibility features are available? I would love to know if there’s an arachnophobia mode. Will there be mod support?

Corinne: Oh my goodness, arachnophobia. I am wicked afraid of spiders too, my partner always laughs at me. I’m just terrified of them. That said, that’s one we’re going to save for a little bit closer to launch before we’ll go into full details about accessibility features. But I do wanna assure you, we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this topic so you can play the game in a way that really works for you. I’m, I’m excited to share that with you when the time is right.

Katey: So this one is from a username named Cookie. How long is the time-skip from Inquisition to The Veilguard? I know we’ll probably get more info on this, but I’m so curious.

John: Yeah, so, anyone who’s paid attention to Dragon Age, and I can say as somebody who’s been on Dragon Age since Origins, timelines are always a little iffy. They change, and they morph over development as we see how long events taking. But, for The Veilguard, we were actually pretty consistent from the start. It’s been about ten years since the events of Trespasser. As you may or may not have noticed, Varric’s become a little bit of a silver fox. I know, I’ve heard, seen, I’ve seen a lot of comments on that on social media, but, yeah, ten years. Solas’ ritual is taken time to set up and you’re kinda coming in at the end of that hunt, so.

Katey: Siddy is asking the hardest-hitting question which is, is Solas still bald?

Matt: Yeah. I mean, if you’ve watched the gameplay thing, we can all confirm, yes, Solas is still bald, Solas is still Solas. We’ve, we’ve, I really, I really like how Solas has turned out this time around. I will say, here’s a comment on this specific question that’s gonna sound like a non-sequitur, but, once you get a chance to play it a little bit more, maybe you’ll see it. In Thedas, ancient elves, they go bald when they’re like millennia old, so. Solas wasn’t always bald. So if you were to end up, end up seeing what Solas looked like in the past, things might be a little different. You’ll have –

John: - Now, now that said, I’m sure some of you are wondering what happened to Solas’ wig from Tevinter Nights. I’m sure he still has it somewhere, so.

Katey: He’s just taking care of it elsewhere.

John: He’s just taking care, it’s, it’s his most important possession.

Corinne: The Pride there, huh?

Katey: I have another one for Matt. This is, will we be able to, will we be able to change companions’ appearances and outfits, or are they fixed, similar to Dragon Age II?

Matt: Yeah we, Dragon Age II was, we loved how the followers turned out in that but it was, it was sad given, given our constraints that we had to keep them with just one, one basic outfit. So we really tried to make some space for them this time around. So they’re, they still have, kind’ve iconic color palettes and things like that, but they do have a wider range of appearances that you can, that you can find for them. Some, some are just cool, but then there are some that are tied directly to their, to their narrative and just kinda what’s happening in their life.

Katey: Another one for ya, which is, will we be seeing or visiting Kal-Sharok? It’s, and, Tyrant says that they’ve been obsessed with it forever.

Matt: Yeah, me too. I, I will say, what’s, what’s been really cool, so in previous games, we’ve kind’ve alluded to this before. It was a lot of fun to hint at the locations that were off the map, the mysterious places that you weren’t gonna go, you weren’t going. And so you could just bring in some props or some characters, a piece of art, things like that, and you know, even Tevinter was only vaguely hinted at and then we would just add drips and bits and pieces, so that stuff was really fun. In The Veilguard, we’re actually getting to visit, most, like a whole lot of those locations that had only been hinted at for real, so you actually do run around Tevinter and a bunch of the other locations that we’ve revealed. But this also means, like, we’re not completely filling out the map, and so that there are actually new things that we can start hinting at, that we can start drip-feeding, and so, it’s, it’s kind’ve fun. I’d say, yeah, for what we can show of Kal-Sharok, and, and other locations, it’s just, there’s, there’s more to do.

Katey: Awesome. MrFightmonster118 asks, will the dialogue wheel slash options be similar to Inquisition and Mass Effect: Andromeda in the sense that it’s more tone-based?

John: Yeah, so, we have a number of different types of wheels in our game. All the dialogue wheels are based off the same principle. Anyone who’s played a Dragon Age game remembers what they look like. In Dragon Age: The Veilguard we have tone wheels which are, you know, again, roleplaying your character, picking consistent tone. We also have emotion wheels where you can pick specific emotional reactions. And choice wheels which are, I don’t have a strong emotional or tone tie here but I do want to make a choice based on what I do. Investigates obviously return as well, but. We do want players to understand as much as possible what it is they’re going to be picking, and understand, and again, choice and consequence is fun, we wanna make sure the choice is clear, even if, again, one of the best parts about consequence is making sure that’s not entirely clear, so.

Katey: How extensive are Rook’s decision trees for dialogue going to be with the companions and also with NPCs throughout the game?

John: Huge. I mean, again, it’s a Dragon Age game, we wanna make sure you have choices, we wanna make sure you can choose both your roleplaying but also choose outcomes of conversations, choose how events unfold, so, I mean, again, it’s a Dragon Age game, we wanna make sure that we also react to decisions you’ve made, so. For example, you may be talking to a follower who is an elf, and if you yourself are an elf, obviously you’re gonna have a different perspective on events than someone who’s not an elf. Sometimes that means different conversation options, sometimes that’s going to mean entirely deep dialogue trees, as well as based off decisions you’ve made throughout the game so, again, making sure that the game feels like it’s noticing what you’re doing is a huge part of how we’ve written out the dialogue wheel, or dialogue trees, in this game.

Corinne: Blueberry has a question for Corinne. It was mentioned that there will be, that we will be able to romance who we like. Does that mean that all companions are romanceable by all player characters regardless of race or gender, as it has been in the past?

Corinne: Yeah, yeah. So, we have talked about this in some of the interviews, I’ve seen a few articles about it, so I’d recommend everyone check out those articles. But let me just give you a quick overview. Each of the seven companions have full romance arcs and they are romanceable by all genders, absolutely. But something that’s really important to, to us on the team, so I wanna make sure that we clarify and just double-down on, that doesn’t mean playersexual. And if anyone’s unaware of what we mean by that, it doesn’t mean that they can form or twist their identities to who you the player are, like they, they won’t suddenly have a preference for men or women based on what you’re playing, right? Instead, they have their own fully fleshed-out identities, they are true and authentic to that. So in this game, they are all pansexual, with their own histories of romance. Sometimes you’ll hear about preferences, or things of that nature. And what I really love is, if you don’t pursue a romance with them, they’ll actually build their own romances with each other. So, in one of the interviews I talked about Lace Harding and Taash getting together. I give that example because honestly, it’s one of my favorites. I’m gonna put a question back to the community, though. I’ve heard we’re going with “Laash” for that ship-name? You tell me, like, what is that ship-name?

Katey: That one just rolls off the tongue, I feel like that works. This next question is from FallenArtesia. What are the markings on the faces of the elven Warden and Veil hopper?

Matt: So there’s a, quite a few, probably, I think, easily more than we’ve done before, tattoos from various, various cultures. We’re bringing the vallaslin back, of course. But there’s, yeah, ton of different options, especially when we’re, again, going into all these new regions. Each, each area has its own kind’ve visual language for that. But yeah, we are bringing the vallaslin back and then a couple of the characters have them, but we’ve kind’ve customized them a little bit, they’re a bit more specific to their personality.

Katey: And this is a question for all of you. What are you, what are you as a developer most proud of about the game, and what are you most excited for players to experience when it’s out?

John: Ooh, that’s a good question.

Corinne: Isn’t it?

John: Corinne, you wanna go first?

Corinne: Yeah, sure. Gosh. So I suspect for most of us, myself included, it is really gonna be the depth and authenticity of the companions, journeying along with them on their arcs, learning about their hardships, what they care about, being by their side, that, that authenticity is just so good. They all feel like my dear friends. But, I have to say, the closest runner-up for me, has to be the Character Creator, has to be. That Character Creator, the makeup options, the range of sliders. I’m a qunari fan, so even just the, the way you customize the horns and combine that with the really great-looking hair. Character Creator has to be my, my, like very close runner up.

Matt: Oh yeah. For me, I would say, as far as, what, what I can say I’m most proud of on this one, the, I can speak for the art team. We worked incredibly hard to make the story more visible than ever. Games are a visual medium, but, you know, it’s, sometimes it’s easier to do things in text format or written in a Codex somewhere or alluded to off-screen. But we really leaned in to trying to make sure that every design, prop, character, environment, the VFX we’re choosing, everything, all, all these choices, were putting the story on-screen so that you can really see it unfold. And I think, having worked on all of the Dragon Age games, I would say Veilguard represents one of the best attempts at that we’ve made yet.

John: I’m gonna cheat, because I’m going last and I get to do that when I go last, and kinda combine both Corinne’s and Matt’s answer. Honestly, the companions are, for me, the absolute highlight of, just, being able to work across all the disciplines, building characters who look and sound and behave in very specific and characterful ways. These are the deepest companion arcs we’ve ever done. Not just on Dragon Age, but at BioWare in general. Each, each companion has their own story arc, you can go through decisions you can make, they really do take center-stage, and I think, as you play through with them you see the care and love that the team has put into each and every one. I mean there’s, there’s moments in each arc that make you cry, make you angry, make you excited and, and the way that they integrate into the story as a whole is just, for me, something that’s been really fun. Finding ways to bring these characters together, finding ways to make this, this narrative, this story of, you know, you need to put together a team and stop the end of the world, it’s just been absolutely exciting and thrilling. And again, you see the team’s love in every single piece of it. As for what I’m most excited? For me, I’ve been, I mean Dragon Age has been part of my career, part of my life for literally the last decade and a half. I’ve worked on it since Origins and there’s something about The Veilguard that feels like a amazing mix of, novelty but also familiarity. It’s like coming home in a way that I think is going to be very exciting for people who are existing Dragon Age players, but there’s also so much here that’s just new and exciting for people, new players and old players alike. And going to parts of the word, seeing things we’ve never seen before, and just getting to take this amazing world, this amazing series and expand on it and build on it in ways that have just been, honestly, an absolute thrill, the best part of my career. And I’ve been in games for seventeen years now, this has been the absolute highlight for me, so. That’s what I’m excited about.

Corinne: John, that was, that was such a good answer, and I just, I just wanna “yes, and -” that. It, I so completely agree with you. There’ve been times in the companion arcs where even, knowing exactly what’s going to happen, we work on the game, with some of these decisions, I, I’ve had to set down the controller, let out a heavy sigh and go “oh my god, what am I gonna do here?” Yeah, the depth of them is wonderful. And, I do wanna say, I, I’d be, I wanna put this out there, when we talked about as a developer, what are we most proud of, can we just give a big shout-out to the dev team? I am so proud of them. This team has poured their heart and soul into this.

John: Absolutely.

Corinne: Anyone from BioWare who’s listening in, thank you so much, y’all are just the best.

John: Hear, hear.

Katey: I absolutely love that. I knew that question was going to have some of my best, some of my favorite answers, and it delivered, so thank you three. This one’s a fun one. Why does Varric have dark hair now? I feel like John mentioned this a little bit earlier, but.

John: Just for [inaudible].

Matt: He’s been, he’s been adventuring for a while now. His hair is, is more gray, but he’s been in very dark scenes so far, so. We’ll see him in some more contexts.

Katey: In this question, we actually took from Tumblr, because there were a few really good ones in our ask box. Will the Inquisitor be appearing in the flesh, or are we just choosing their major Dragon Age: Inquisition decisions?

Corinne: Alright! Yeah, yes! They will. The Inky does appear. We know how attached y’all are to the Inquisitor, I’ve seen the love for your OC. Yes, the Inquisitor shows up. Now, we, we’d already confirmed that in a few places, so, let me just say, you can also customize them, includes some of our new customization options, yeah, they’re gonna show up and they’re gonna be your Inquisitor.

John: And I think, I think beyond that, I mean, the story of Solas and the story of the Inquisitor, obviously are tied, they’re tied together as much as any story, so. It would have been strange for us not to bring them in for this one. They have, they’re gonna be a part of the story, so.

Katey: Will there be any planned DLC? Just curious, as I always love the DLCs. Oh, and transmog armor. This one came from Lavell.

Corinne: Oh, heck yeah, good question. So, right now, our focus is entirely on the quality of the game. Like, it’s so important at this stage for us to be all-in, all attention on, just, finishing this game and delivering on the quality, the promise of it. So honestly, like, that’s all I can really say about it. We’re 100% focused on this being the most complete game we can make it. I will say, kind’ve related to that though, and I just wanna underscore this, I wanna emphasize it. There’s not gonna be any microtransactions, there’s not gonna be any battle passes, you don’t have to connect online, our focus is making this the most complete singleplayer game we possibly can. Now, this was kind’ve a two-for question, I love when we do that. Will there be transmog? Hell yeah. I’m the kind’ve player that, that believes fashion is the real end-game. Yeah, there’s a transmog system, absolutely, it’s sick.

Katey: And then this next question is from Scott. I was asking if any of the characters will be explicitly asexual, or on the ace spectrum?

Corinne: So good. Such a good question. So, look, I’m just, I’m gonna be really forthcoming with y’all and a little bit vulnerable here. I’m ace, I’m a gray-ace, I don’t mind sharing that, I’m kind’ve public with it. I will say though, that none of our companions this time around are explicitly ace. When we look at the characters, their motivations, who they are, we always assess, like is, is this the right time? This time it wasn’t. But what I will say for everyone on the ace spectrum out there, I would love to represent an ace relationship sometime in the future when it feels like the most authentic fit for a companion, when we can do it best. Oh, and I do see some questions, you know, some questions, what do we mean by ace? Asexuality. We often refer to it as the ace spectrum.

Katey: Can mage Rook do blood magic? Will blood magic be a skill tree separate from regular magic?

Corinne: Okay. Um, this gets a little spoilery, so let me just say, Rook has some pretty good reasons to avoid blood magic. Rook is not gonna want to be interested in that. But I will say, the mage skill tree is packed with all kinds of spells, traits and perks to give you a ton of flexibility in your magic. Gonna go off-script just a little bit, because –

John: Oh no.

Corinne: I’ve seen, like, can you tell us about the specializations for mage? I’m not gonna tell you the deets, but there is a necromancer one, there is an elemental one, and there is one that’s actually more of like a combat mage, it’s my favorite.

Katey: Can we name the griffon? We also have a griffon emoji now in this Discord server.

John: Excellent. So, someone on your, in your party, again, spoilers, may have already named the griffon, but, don’t worry, Assan is a very good boy, so.

Corinne: All these griffon emojis are, y’all are killing me.

Katey: Yeah, I love that, griffons in the chat. Let's see. Will we have a camp/home/headquarters that we’ll be able to customize?

Matt: Well this time around, in Inquisition you had Skyhold. In this case you have a headquarters called the Lighthouse. More to be seen on that. But, it’s, it, narratively it, it serves kind’ve a different purpose but also the same purpose. As far as customization goes, there are elements of it that change over time, and some things that you can adjust. I, I don’t know how much we’re really going into that at the moment.

Katey: This one is –

Matt: But yeah, I would say, it’s like, there’s some, it, one thing I like about it is it definitely does start to feel very much like a home over time.

Katey: Sorry for almost cutting you off there Matt. We have another very hard-hitting question, if I'm, if I do say so myself.

John: I love this one.

Katey: We need to - Same. We need to know, does pasta and noodles exist in Thedas? Thank you.

Matt: Well, and I’ll take it as a chance just to geek out about worldbuilding, because, again, we’re, The Veilguard for us is a really kinda dream opportunity to go to places that we’ve only ever heard reference to, or we’ve seen hints at. And so, in going through the worldbuilding process and trying to, trying to build these places out, not just as neat things from the IP but also as, you know, if you’ve, if you've read about this stuff, if you’ve been following along, you’ve got your own version of it in your head. You’ve imagined what it might be like, you’re, and probably hoping for something spectacular. And our brains are always far better at creating this stuff than any game developer, any artist, or anyone can really do justice to, so you really have to swing for the fences to make something very satisfying and exciting. You know, is, that can be everything as big as architecture and landscape and biomes and ecosystems, but it does get into things like art and culture, costume design, and also food, and this time around we did, you know, that was one of the many things that we, that we did, looking to, just to try to catch the character and the feel of a place to make it feel believable and lived in, so. That’s my really long answer for, yeah, I’m sure, I've, at least one place does have pasta.

Katey: I loved that. This next question is from Spectre Karro. Are we getting a mabari?

John: Ooh, that’s a good question. I will say, you’re spending most of the game in the north of Thedas. Mabari are not nearly as big of a thing up there, so. In this particular instance, no, you will not get a mabari, sadly.

Katey: Honestly, I should’ve pulled this one up to where we answered the first question about the griffon, but, can we pet the griffon?

Matt: You, I’m really sorry to have to be the one to tell you – nah, I’m kidding, yes you can. But it’s not even just petting the griffon. I’ve, this isn’t a spoiler, I think you can actually, I’ve actually hugged the griffon, so, that feels like, even there, a step up. Yeah.

John: There’s lots of opportunities to interact with the griffon.

Corinne: Can we see, can we see Assan in chat if we wanna see him in the Lighthouse hanging out?

Katey: Assan in chat everybody.

Corinne: Assan in chat, alright!

Katey: I love it.

Corinne: Okay, y’all this was so important to the team too. Like, this is the team’s like, just such huge support for this feature, so props to them.

Katey: This one is from Coriander. Will we get to see any of the Character Creator before the game releases?

Corinne: Yes, yes you will. We’ve got a, you’ve probably seen, we’re laying out a roadmap for, you know, what we’re gonna show and when we’re gonna talk about, so, yes you will see it as we get a little bit closer to launch.

Katey: And then we’ve got this question which is, will we be able to play as a qunari, dwarf, elf, or human?

Corinne: Hell yeah, hell yeah you will. All four, and all four have that full-body customization. I already talked a little bit about, I mean listen, I’ve always loved the qunari. I will say in Dragon Age: Inquisition it was hard to get a good-looking qunari hairstyle, so yes you can play as them, you can customize them, the horn options are rad, the hair options are rad. And also, I guess related to this, your lineage gives you a lot of really unique dialogue options, so that’s a really lovely aspect of choosing your lineage as well.

John: Yeah, I would, so to actually just to bounce off that, to an earlier question about backgrounds, each lineage, there, depending on the lineage you choose and the background you choose there are some specifics call-outs to, for example, if it’s the Mourn Watch, the Mourn Watch being a faction from Nevarra of mages, you play as a dwarf, obviously your experience in that faction is going to be different than, say, a human or an elf, so. There are also specific call-outs tailored to those combinations and, with again, giving, the intention of giving each lineage their own little flavor as to how they're, they fit into that faction as a whole.

Katey: Okay, John, I’ve got a question from someone named Joe for you. Where is Barkspawn and is he okay?

John: That’s a Great question. Barkspawn is safely gnawing on a bone next to a fireplace somewhere in Ferelden, don’t worry, he’s fine. You may question, ask yourself, but John, it’s been so long, in which I say, mabari live exactly as long as they need to.

Corinne: Getting into the deep-cut questions now.

John: Deep-cut questions, yeah.

Katey: Yeah. We are really speedin’ through these. Let’s see. Will Rook have a set of default name?

John: Yeah so, Rook’s last name is defined based on their faction, again, we wanted to tie that into your backstory, but also, there’s a, that’s a name generator that can give you a selection of first names. Obviously if you want to make your own first name, that’s definitely something we support as well. If you’re somebody who maybe has a little bit more difficulty coming up with a name, so for example you name every single character “Bob” because that’s the only name you can think of, we also give that opportunity for that generation, so.

Katey: I definitely always have trouble coming up with what I wanna name my characters, so that’s great. This next question is, when will the voice acting cast be announced?

John: So, we worked with a lot of very talented actors on this one. I am super excited to talk about the voice acting cast. We’ll be talking a bit more over the summer, we’re not quite ready to announce names yet.

Katey: And I think we have a similar answer to this next question, which was, will there be a Collector’s Edition? When can I pre-order?

John: Yeah, same answer, we have, we’ll talk more about the different editions of the game soon.

Katey: Are there any special musical guests writing the sound-track? Will tavern songs return.

Corinne: Oh my goodness, yeah. There are tavern songs. And huge credit to the audio team and performance teams because they’re pretty great. There’s one in a little tavern in Minrathous called The Swan, and the song you hear there might just, it might be, it’s up there, it might just be my favorite of the tavern songs.

Katey: Let’s see, are there any – ope, I have just asked that one. What are the required PC specs?

John: Much like the other two, we will have more information on required PC specs soon.

Katey: Saph from the Discord server noticed that two, Dragon Age II’s main theme from the soundtrack brought back much of the iconic thematic material of Origins’ main theme, but I heard less of it in Inquisition’s. Can we expect The Veilguard’s main theme to recall more or less of that original thematic material than Inquisition?

John: So we’re not, we’re not quite ready to talk about music yet in specifics, but in broad strokes I can say the process for us is always the same. Working with the composer, working, figuring out themes, figuring out what kinds of elements we want to keep, tying specific elements to, maybe specific characters. It’s a really in-depth process and a really collaborative process. We have some fantastic audio people on our team that have done an amazing work, amazing job, working with composers, and, with the team as a whole to make sure that, again, we said earlier about cohesiveness. Making sure that the music feels like a cohesive part of the experience.

Katey: And this one, I see is also for John, but I think anyone can answer this. When writing the overall story of this game, what themes did you want to have as the prominent focus?

John: I mean again, it’s interesting, so it’s interesting, because when we were writing these games, and this has been true on every Dragon Age I’ve been part of, what you start with and where you end up aren’t always necessarily the same. Sometimes you start writing out a theme, you realize actually it’s more interesting if we attack from this angle, or maybe if we twist it a little bit. I will say for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, from the beginning one of the biggest themes has been regret. How regret’s shaped peoples’ lives, how people deal with their regrets, how people maybe move past their regrets and, each of the characters, you know, the stories as a whole, have elements of this tied throughout. We really wanted to have that thematic, that cohesiveness to the game’s story and the game’s writing so.

Katey: And I know that, you know, we’ve, we've kind’ve already answered this a few times, but can we play as dwarves and does the world react to your race and backstory? Probably be good to just directly answer that one.

John: Yes you can play as a dwarf. Yes the world does react to your race and backstory. And, again, you’ll have unique dialogues or unique conversation options based on that, on that backstory and as well as that race.

Corinne: I’ll give you a little nugget here, because I saw it scrolling through real quickly. Do you have beards, like. So when I think about can I play as dwarves I think about, do we have glorious fantastic beards? Hell yeah, we do.

John: Yeah, I can say, as somebody who plays a lot of games with character creator, the beards on, I don’t know what magic the character art team did for the beards, but they feel like a beard should feel like, it’s great. They look awesome.

Corinne: Just saw somebody say “it’s beard time”, I love it. It’s beard time!

Katey: Will our heroes and companions leave us if we go against their wishes?

Corinne: Oh my good – do y’all just love pain? Do you want us to make you cry? If you go against their wishes, if you make decisions they don’t like, I will tell you, you can piss them off, you can, they might not agree with you and they, they will take some time away. That said, this is the biggest threat to Thedas we’ve ever seen, so they’re, they are always gonna be willing to show up to defend Thedas but, yeah, you can piss them off and they’ll leave for a minute. As it relates to them showing up to defend Thedas, well yeah, they will, unless…

John: No spoilers Corinne!

Corinne: Aughhh, I’ll leave it there, I’ll leave it there.

John: No spoilers.

Corinne: Okay, alright, alright. But they want it!

John: Yep.

Matt: Don’t try to stop me, Smee!

Katey: This one’s a fun one about some inspirations for the game. Dracanmo would like to know if any songs, books, movies or anything have had inspired any of the writing for the characters?

John: I mean, honestly, the thing about art is, art is always a synthesis of your own experiences both in the real world but also the art you consume, the art you pay attention to. I don’t think that any characters have what I would describe as, this character was a direct reference or direct inspiration but, I mean, yeah, they’re all inspired by the things that we do, the things, both, again, in the real world, and also in the media we consume. And you’re gonna see elements of characters that, yeah, the things that we’ve enjoyed, the things that’ve shaped us, show up in these characters. I think, for me, it’s, it comes down to, and I, I, writing is a deeply, can be a deeply personal experience, so even if you don’t intend for it to be the case, things, parts of you are going to show up in your character, I think that’s true for all the characters in The Veilguard. And, you know, sometimes it’s, exploring, exploring the, y’know, things that, about yourself that you may like or may not like, and it’s also about exploring things about characters that you like or don’t like, so. That’s kinda my long-winded way of saying yes, it’s impossible to not have that happen when you’re creating art. But I wouldn’t say that there’s one where you can say, oh this is this character, this is this character.

Katey: What was the thinking process behind making Harding a companion this time around? Was she always going to be one or did it evolve into one because she was such a lovable character?

John: Ohh, yeah. So Harding, I mean. When we released Inquisition, it was impossible not to see the love that people had for our murderous girl next door dwarf. She’s always been a fan favorite obviously, but I think beyond that, it’s something that there, that Harding’s writer wanted to explore. There was more of a story to tell there, more perspective, and beyond that, Harding obviously has a strong connection to Solas, and to the, to Varric, and to the events of the past ten years, so. I wouldn’t say it’s always been, but I’d say Harding’s probably one of the first ones we settled on as like, yes, this is a character we want and the writer had a story that they wanted to tell with her, so, it just made sense.

Matt: You know, I think actually, to piggyback on that, that’s something I hadn’t really even thought about that much, but, and it’s not a huge part of her character, but, she tends to be one of the people that have the most insight into he was.

John: Yeah, that’s exactly it, that’s exactly, and yeah, that’s a great way of looking at it too. It also provides you with a little bit of that, that perspective. For players who’ve been around, you know, who played with previous Dragon Age games, but also for new ones, who was Solas? What kind of character was, was he?

Matt: Yeah.

John: Yeah, it’s a great, it’s a great, using characters to provide windows onto the world is honestly one of my favorite things.

Matt: And, and when I say was, I just mean, in Inquisition.

John: Yes, that’s, that’s exactly it, yes. Thank you for correcting that.

Matt: Yeah.

Katey: And what approach are you taking to quest and world design in The Veilguard?

John: I think for us it just comes down to relevance and narrative heft. We want to make sure that each quest provides either a perspective on the world or perspective on the characters, or feels immediately and obviously relevant to what you’re, what you’re doing here. You’re here to save the world and, again, at the end of the day, one of the things that we heard, we heard loud and clear, was some feedback about how relevant, or in this, in our case, not relevant, previous quests have felt, so for Veilguard, we really wanted to make sure that these quests felt like something that you, somebody faced with the end of the world would believe was necessary and important. So, again, there’s quests of all sorts and sizes, but all of them share that same feeling of, this is the kind of thing that The Veilguard would do. This is the kind’ve thing that my hero would do, especially faced with the end of the world.

Corinne: Yeah, that’s, that’s really good John. That’s so right. I would just, again, double-down on how hand-crafted all the quests are, and whether, whether you’re doing, like, the main story, or you’re journeying with your companions, or you’re out exploring and you encounter a mystery. Everything’s handcrafted, intentional. We spent a lot of time listening to what y’all said, and of course everyone has slightly different tastes, but, you know, you’re not gonna be gathering shards in the Hinterlands. Everything is built with intention, and, you know, a dev there lovingly handcrafting the experience.

Katey: Are there any locations in the game that can only be accessed by making specific story choices?

John: So I don’t wanna get too much into spoilers here because this does start getting into spoiler detail, but I will say that locations can fundamentally change based on decisions you make. Some of the parts of the world that you go to, you can have, the decision, the choices you make have an impact on how these spaces exist and develop, so, yeah, and again, don’t wanna too many into, into story spoilers, but, your decisions do impact how the world shows up.

Katey: And will we be able to control our companions in combat through tactical mode, or if the PC, or player character, gets KO’d, like in previous games?

Corinne: Right, so. If Rook gets KO’d, your player character gets knocked out, this time around it is time to re-load your save, or better yet, the companions have really interesting progression, you can spec them out to be able to revive you, but that’s, that’s if you’ve invested in their own progression and what they can do. And that said, I, I mentioned this earlier but I, I personally spend more time in the nature of this combat system when everything comes together, interacting and directing the companions than I have in any of the other games, so, like, like that, that interactivity between them, once you play it you’ll see how, just engaged the team is.

Katey: A user named It’s Sarah said, my real most important Dragon Age question is, will Solas still occasionally or dramatically speak in iambic pentameter?

John: You know, I was, I actually spent a little bit of time trying to figure out if I wanted to answer this question in iambic pentameter and then I very quickly gave up. Massive kudos to Patrick who, who always writes Solas so well. Again, Solas is a returning character, it’s the same Solas you know and love, or hate, depending on who you are. Same writer, so, I think, this has been, the answer is, well of, yeah, it’s Solas.

Katey: Will our decision of who in particular was left behind in the Fade be important?

John: So, while that decision does not show up, that – sorry, let me, restart. Not for The Veilguard. That decision doesn’t show up here. Now, that said, that doesn’t mean that’s that’s not a decision that will ever be important in the future, so. Again, not for this one, though.

Matt: I’m glad to hear you say that, John, because one of my favorite stories was Bob getting stuck in the web in reboot and it just feels like -

John: That’s a, that’s a deep cut!

Corinne: Very, that’s a deep cut.

John: Holy smokes.

Corinne: My goodness.

John: The sound of my childhood.

Katey: Will we have mounts again? If so, any hints to what types we’ll have?

Matt: So no, no, mounts, excuse me. Mounts were, they were, they addressed a need in Inquisition that we don’t have in Veilguard, and you’ll see why, when you get to play.

Katey: LightningStar asks, how is the side quest design? Will they be mostly story-based, or will there be a lot of radiant quests or resources or Power, like in Inquisition?

John: We talked about it a little bit earlier, but, no, they are all hand-crafted and story-focused. Again, narrative, the companions, not just the companions but the characters in the world as a whole are so much at the core of The Veilguard that, anything other than hand-crafted quests just felt like it would be a disservice to the game we were building.

Corinne: Yeah. And maybe, we can clarify as well, because, like Power was such a divisive mechanic in Inquisition. There’s no mechanic like that that blocks your progression until you fill a bar, right, like that’s just not a thing in this. You have the autonomy to engage in these, these quests as you like. There’s no, like, y'know, grind-out gates before you can progress.

John: That’s right, yeah. Again, we wanna make sure that, again, that doing this content feels as natural and part of the logical flow of the story as possible.

Katey: So, it looks like we only have time for three more questions, so I’m going to get through those. With this next one, is from someone named Jason. Will there be a similar system to the War Table missions?

Corinne: Ooh, interesting. So, we haven’t talked much about the player’s base, the Lighthouse. And we’re gonna save that for a beat, but what I will say is that the Lighthouse, your headquarters so to speak, it has its own unique purposes and functions this time. So that’s an area that we’ll, we’ll leave for you when we talk more about the Lighthouse, and then when you have a chance to hop in, you’ll be able to see what those unique purposes and functions are.

Katey: If there is dual-wield for warriors, will it rely on dexterity or strength?

Corinne: Ah, okay, yeah, yeah. So we did wanna bring dual-wielding back. It is part of the rogue kit this time. So warriors are really focused on mighty two-handed weapons, can’t wait til you see, when you swing and connect with those weapons, there’s, there’s a real heft to it. And then of course sword and shield, so. We’re leaving the dual-wielding to the rogues, but you, you can see just, the amount of hits you can get in in rapid succession dual-wielding as a rogue is really satisfying.

Katey: And the last question that we’re able to get to today, is, what have been some of the challenges and advantages of working on a single, on a single game for so many years? How did you sustain the work in yourselves and the process?

John: That is a fantastic question. I will say for myself, I’ve often joked, and I don’t know how much of a joke it actually is, that when this game is out and I suddenly don’t have to keep all these pieces of game and lore and story and everything straight in my head, I’m suddenly gonna be able to speak Latin or something because there’s gonna be a ton of brainpower freed up. But for me it’s just, you know, it's, the thing that keeps me sustained is just knowing the game that we’re building is the right one. Knowing that the beats are coming together, and knowing just how much people care about this franchise, care about these games, and how excited people are going to be when they get to see the fantastic work that the team has, has been doing. And that really is, I can say, I’ve been on this project since the start, and even today, I see things on a daily basis, I’m like holy – smokes, sorry, I almost swore, I can’t believe what the team is doing, I can’t believe the, how good this looks, I can’t believe. Because it’s a huge game. There’s pieces that I, I don’t see every piece of the game every day so, I get pleasantly surprised on a daily basis and that, I will say, you know, confession, sometimes if I’m having a particularly long day, I’ll spend about an hour late at night just watching cutscenes coming in, watching the work coming together and just, sitting back and being like, holy smokes, I cannot wait for someone who hasn’t seen this every day for so long as I have to experience this and just be blown away by the work, so.

Corinne: It's, it’s been very real, hasn’t it? And, and I will just say, speaking on behalf of the dev team, everyone’s working so hard, they’re putting so much passion, so much of themselves into it. Like this is a franchise they truly love, and seeing your support, cheering us on, it’s just meant a lot to them, so, let me just say thank you to all of you.

Katey: And I wanna say thank you to you three for taking the time to do this. I know that it matters a lot to the community to be able to, you know, get some time with you guys and, you know, make sure that some of their dying questions are, are answered, so thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to do this. For anyone who’s still listening I promise that I’m that I’m working on a way for these questions to be immortalized somewhere. Stay tuned for that so that you don’t have to worry about this, just, you know, disappearing into the ether. So, stay tuned, thank you all for your time. Anything else we wanna say before we jump off?

Matt: Thanks everyone.

John: Thank you. Yeah, I’m super excited to show more of this and, yeah, this is gonna be, hopefully this is the first of many of these opportunities to talk to you all directly. Again, it’s been a while, and getting to talk about this game has been absolutely exciting. I know for myself, as well for the rest of the team, so thank you all.

Corinne: Just thank you, it’s, the Dragon Age community, how much it means to you, how much it means to us, it’s just wonderful to see you all so invested and excited to come here and talk to us. Thank you again, truly.

Katey: We'll hopefully do something like this again soon. Okay, cool, have a great day everybody! Talk soon!

John: Bye y’all!

Matt: Bye.

[source: The dev BioWare Discord Q&A on June 14th]

Update: If you would like to listen to the Q&A for yourself in video format, or listen to it again, Ghil Dirthalen recorded it and has now uploaded a video of it here.

[nyashykyunnie]

˗ˏˋ Jealous! Lovesick! Jinwoo x Fem! Reader ◛⑅·˚ ༘ ♡ ˎˊ˗

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚𝕊𝕦𝕟𝕘 𝕁𝕚𝕟𝕨𝕠𝕠˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

・┆✦ Entry : 042 ✦ ┆・

╰┈➤ ❝ [ You really wanna do this?] ¡! ❞

Hunting had always been a dangerous job, but in your eyes? it's better than an average 9-5 job. You were never really the type to be locked in a simple place. You loved getting into gates just because they inspire you for your next creative projects— Minus the fact hat you have to help transport heavy mana crystals.

Better than nothing, it pays a lot and you get to spoil yourself with things you could only dream of as a child.

As the day comes into a close, your boss hands you your pay for the day and sends you off.

With the heavy envelope in your hands, you cheer happily and rush home where you can shower and dress properly

Despite the fact you're a weak hunter, you still can't help but dress prettily. You were sweating like a pig earlier, and now that you're clean and fresh you're wearing a frilly dress and a cardigan over your shoulders.

After making sure you're looking okay, it's off to the outside world you go.

Your childhood teddy bear made a comeback and you decided you wanted to buy the new big size for it.

The streets of seoul were so alive and crowded, but thankfully the air was extremely refreshing.

When the store finally came into view, you immediately jumped in excitement and dashed inside to where the shelf of the teddy bear was.

The yellow bear was given bigger sizes, and the one you picked is almost as big as your upper torso.

Are you complaining? No of course not! The reason why you worked so hard today is because you wanted this bear specifically.

After fangirling for a bit, you clear your throat and make your way to the cashier where the lady smiles at you politely and scanned the code.

Before you can even reach for your wallet to pay— A hand behind you shot up and offered the cashier a black card.

"I'll pay for the bear," The familiar, handsome voice says. "Please."

"Jinwoo!" You squeak, turning your head to see Jinwoo's familiar face who just threw you a charming smile.

"I told you that if you wanted something, just text me." Jinwoo says, ignoring the cashier who was clearly trembling and out of her wits as Jinwoo tapped his card on the scanner. "Is that so hard to obey, hm?"

"...How did you even find me" You pout.

"You wont shut up about the doll last night and I just so happen to know there's a plushie store nearby your apartment." Jinwoo ruffles your head, just as he always did ever since you two were little. "Come on, quit being a pouty little thing and walk with me"

Jinwoo takes your heavy plushie in his arm, taking your wrist with the other and guided you out of the store.

"H-hey, where are we even going?" You whine, but ultimately just gave in and followed behind Jinwoo.

The two of you walked for a while and eventually reached a relatively peaceful park.

Jinwoo starts chatting you up, asking about your day and how work went. And in turn, he told you about how boring his day is.

Yeah, must be nice to be a powerful hunter now, huh? Everything is relatively nboring for Jinwoo now because it's just so easy now.

"Stay here, I'll get us something to drink." Jinwoo says, handing the plushie to you.

⋅ ˚ ₊ ‧ ଳ ‧ ₊ ˚ ⋅ ⋆ ౨ৎ ˚ ⟡ ˖ ࣪

Jinwoo went to a nearby cornerstore, slightly humming to himself as he starts picking up a few snacks and drinks.

His mind was stuck on you, he is supposed to be doing something productive for today. But after Jinho heard that he was craving to visit you, the boy's face beamed immediately and pushed Jinwoo out of the ahjin guild— Practically kicking out of the building he owns himself and be off.

What was going on in Jinho's head at the time? He can never really know.

But he is thankful anyway, he had always been quite fond of you. Jinwoo has long since had a crush on you, but never once tried to court you. You two grew up together after all.

You probably think of him as your older brother figure.

While him?

Oh Darling,...

When he's with you, the grey skies would turn blue and brilliant. The air would feel even more fresh and lovely. Everything around you would suddenly be seen through rose-colored lenses.

Just as long as you were there, everything was beautiful.

He wanted to give you the world, he wanted to protect you, only him.

You were Jinwoo's salvation.

So long as you are there for him, he'll always come out as the strongest.

Everything is much bearable as long as he knows he would come back to earth greeted by your lovely smile and affections.

Jinwoo wanted nothing more than to protect your precious smile, make sure that tears won't ever threaten to touch that lovely and pretty smile of yours.

What is it that you want? Just tell him and it shall be yours.

Why would you be denied of your own happiness anyway? As long as he is there, you'll never be unhappy. You wont ever be sad.

He will make sure of that.

"..."

Jinwoo pauses in his tracks towards you, his grey eyes turning lilac immediately as he sees you chatting up another man.

He saw that person before in the eyes of his soldiers whom he placed in you. He was one of your colleagues who is acting a little too close with you sometimes.

That bastard is always hovering around you and was icking Jinwoo as of late.

And to dare even appear now when he is having his alone time with you?

Jinwoo's gaze hardened even more when the bastard tried reaching his hand up towards your face.

"Hey," Jinwoo's voice interrupts, immediately startling both you and the man into stopping what he was doing.

He fakes a polite smile, approaching with confident strides, "Ah, a coworker?"

"Mhm, he was passing by and decdied to greet me!" You cheer happily, failing to notice the ever slightly flicker of lilac in Jinwoo's grey eyes.

"Is that so?" Jinwoo hums, giving you the snacks and drink he bought you before reaching his hand up to offer it to the man. "I'm Jinwoo, her friend."

"J-Jinwoo?" The man paled as he shakily accepted his offerm and winced lightly when he felt Jinwoo's tight grip. "U-uhm..."

It was only a small squeeze, really, not enough to break his finger. No, not just yet.

Jinwoo's grey eyes would flicker into a different color, not that you can see so he isn't too worried. He was directly gazing at the man, his stare direct and straightforward.

It was a silent statement to back off.

A silent exchange between men, really.

That should be enough, right?

Jinwoo lets go of his hand and the bastard excuses himself, saying he needs to help his mom back home.

"You were smiling at him," Jinwoo says once the person was far away, his grey eyes coming back as it gazes upon your shorter stature beside him.

"Should I be grumpy then?"

"Pfft," He rolls his eyes, tapping on your nose lightly. "And what if I wanted you to?"

"Hahah, knock it off!" You lightly smack his hand away, making Jinwoo just shake his head in return.

⋅ ˚ ₊ ‧ ଳ ‧ ₊ ˚ ⋅ ⋆ ౨ৎ ˚ ⟡ ˖ ࣪

Jinwoo thought he already warned the bastard enough, wasn't that handshake enough?

he was just checking in on you really, when his shadows picked up the distant conversation of your coworkers saying that the same man should just start making a move on you.

He hasn't been hiding that foolish lovestruck look on his face after all.

Why waste any more time.

"Hahah..." The bastard sheepishly chuckles, scratching his cheek. "I'll ask her out in a bit"

A pit in Jinwoo's stomach dropped, and it wasn't a pleasant one. He was never the jealous type of person anymore after all. After becoming the shadow monarch and getting whatever he desired back then, he stopped yearning for unnecessary thing in exception for you whom he has been pining for forever.

Unlike his little jealousy back then, right now it's as blazing as the fires of hell. He was mad.

It's an unpleasant thing he is feeling.

That man? Really?

What can he do for you?

Fuck around and all?

He doesn't even look like he is willing to move mountains for you.

And if a monster suddenly appears what then? Will that vastard throw himself head first to guarantee your safety?

Can he ever even spoil you?

Will he stay loyal and never break your heart?

Will he never dare to look at another woman once he's yours?

Will he ever make sure you never cry?

It's making Jinwoo's head spin.

And before the bastard can even get your attention— He disappeared.

"..." Jinwoo's eyes would turn purple again, tapping his finger on his throne's arm as the man appeared before he completely startled.

"Wasn't my warning enough?"

"Hunter Sung?" The man trembles, collpasing on the floor as Jinwoo suddenly rose from his seating and approached. "Wait! I-I can explain!!"

"Explain what?" He snarled, his gaze completely cold and ruthless. "That you just attempted to make a move on my girl behind my back? I already shook your hand, wasn't that enough?"

"Please!" He begs, completely scared and about to piss himslef as Jinwoo wrapped his hand around his neck and lifted him up. "Hunter Sung, please!"

"I could kill you right now," Jinwoo tilts his head a bit, his blank look completely deranged. "Or maybe lock you up here in the land of eternal death, torture you, break your your mind, tear you limb by limb and put you back together,... Do you think I can't do any of this?"

"I-I'll stay away!" He cries out, "I-I have a family, my mom!..."

Jinwoo drops him, wiping his hand with a handkerchief as the bastard gasps for air.

"I-I wont touch her! N-no, I'll resign and find another job!" He begs. "Please, please don—"

"No need." Jinwoo scoffs. "Getting jobs these days is hard. If your mom needs you then keep the job,"

"But!—"

"Do you want me to change my mind?"

"No sir!"

Jinwoo gritted his teeth, if it weren;t for the fact this guy had his mom he would have kept him here. Instead, he just waved his hand and the bastard disappeared right before him.

He pace back and forth on the throne room for a while, taking a breather, trying to calm down. Nibbling on his nail even as he just felt so restless and pissed with no way of calming down.

Calming down?

Jinwoo fishes out his phone, it's 6:30 and you probably have clocked out by now.

He gets out of his domain and waited for you in the usual spot he wait in when you finish your shift.

"Jinwoo!" The sound of your voice echoes in his mind when you called out to him. "How come you're here?"

"I was bored" He lies, simply grinning. "Come."

"But I'm sweaty and icky!" You complain.

"Just for a bit, yeah?" He insists, and you in turn only pout.

"Alright, what is it?" You cross your arms.

"Free tomorrow?" He simply says.

"Well, yeah, I don't have a shift" You say. "how come?"

"I'm asking you out, duh" Jinwoo chuckles.

There was silence at first as you tried processing his words.

"Are you serious?" You blurt out, your face turning completely pink.

"Have I ever lied to you, hm?" He muses, leaning down to meet you at eye level.

"N-No, but... I mean..." You fidget, playing with your fingers. "You're an S-ranker.. And I'm... Well."

"I'm Jinwoo, jagiya" He simply says, making you look up at him.

And in those grey eyes is a tender and loving gaze, in those eyes you see that he is silently asking you to not look at him as the most sought after hunter. Not the most powerful man ever to live, not the man who turned his situation from helpless to this, not the man who was always mocked and now basks in the spotlight of fame and wealth— He was asking you to see him as a man who is courting you.

"Yes, you're..." You smile softly and leaned up with your tippy-toes, kissing his cheek gently. "My Jinwoo."

꒰ 🪼 A/N: When I tell you Ilove my monarch so much you don't understand. Jagiya can mean either= Honey or Baby heheh. I love him so much pls I wanna cri. Let me kiss him silly. And btw I'm no longer making the moodboard things because they're tiring and I don't wanna run out of photos to use! I hope u understand ueueueu!!! The Jinwoo cai requests will be up tomorrow that is a promise ꒱

ʚ(੭´͈ ᐜ `͈)੭ .｡✧･ﾟ: ~♡ — All stories written by kyunnie; translations, reposts, plagiarism are strictly forbidden.

[gothic-thoughts]

Music To My Ears

Gojo Satoru x Black GN Reader Smut

MDNI, Perv Coworker!Gojo, Bimbo!Reader

CW: all the dirty words(he's a whore), stupid and oblivious Reader, Gojo jerking 📴 to your voice, reader being fluent in Yapanese 😭, imma degrade y'all cuz u lack brain cells

Word Count: 1191 (give or take)

It was 11 pm, and you were on the phone with your coworker, Satoru. You've been talking for about an hour now, but after a while, you noticed soft huffing and heard soft panting. Since there's not much going on up there, all you thought to do was tilt your head to the side with confusion. You shrug it off and continue to yap, but the longer he listened, the more he groped and palmed his erection through the grey sweats he wore.

“Uh, Gojo?” Your first mistake was saying his name.

“Yeah? What’s up, girlie?”

“You good?"

"Say again?" He heard you perfectly fine, but you can't tell can you?

"I asked if you were good. You workin' out right now?"

“Hah, yeah.” He responds before muttering, “I'm workin' somethin', ngh."

“Huh? You keep mumbling, Toru.”

"Hehe, don't worry about it." More panting "Just...continue your story."

You shake your head, believing his panting really came from a workout regimen, knowing damn well the strongest sorcerer don't need one.

“So like I was saying...”

He chuckled and made a low growling noise as he reached into his sweatpants, feeling how damp his boxers were from how much precum soaked into them. He bit his lip, slowly pulling out the erection that you caused from that voice you blessed him with. Every inflection, filler word, and gasp when you remembered another part of your story drove him so wild.

“And then I was like, ‘Ohmygod, Shoko’s not working for once?’ So I ran up to her...”

He grunts, trying his best to keep his voice away from the whiney territory he knew it could rise to if he felt too good. To you, his breathing sounded a bit...off, as if it sounded heavy and...well, different than normal. But he was working out, of course, he’d sound like that.

“The only reason I hesitated was because I feel like she don’t like me...”

With every passing moment, his fist passed over his shaft while his left hand kept a firm hold around his base, keeping him from exploding too soon, and with how often you clicked your tongue or sucked your teeth, he could’ve at any moment.

“Do you think she likes me; ion think she likes me. Anyways, though...”

The grunting sound only grew in pitch as the groans started to sound more...animalistic, mouth forming a smirk. He whispers your name, guiding his hand up and down his cock a little faster, getting the palm sticky with precum.

“Toru...” The concern in your voice makes his hand stop, “You sure you okay?

He bites his lip as he moans softly, watching another drop of precum squeeze out his tip and slide down to his still fist. "Yeah... heh...” 

“You huffin’ like a dog.”

“Oh sorry. I’m doing... I’m doin’ some push-ups right now so..." 

"Ohhhh, aight."

"Keep talking, short stuff."

"You even listening, Gojo?"

"Of course I am, I can, ngh, multitask."

"Mmm..."

The little hum of yours made him bite his bottom lip so hard that it bled. "I mean it, girlie." He sighs, "Hanging on every word. You were talking about your shopping spree."

"Oh yeah! I got a bunch of clothes with Utahime today! And they are the fuckin’ cutest! Like, there’s one that was...”

He groaned quieter as he heard you continue on, pumping his hand up and down to the speed your excited voice spoke. His fist twists with each stroke, grinding his red, sensitive cockhead into his palm which makes him shiver. The sound of his breathing had become noticeably heavier and deeper. He didn't respond just yet, instead, he only let out low grunts and 'mhm's in response to what he heard you say. He started to lift his hips from his bed, fucking his fist while pretending it was him making you ride him.

“And I got new lip gloss. Like a lot of lip gloss; cuz you know me...”

He did, in fact, know you; meaning that you prolly got almost every color, scent, and flavor imaginable just to try out. That sentence was all it took for the strongest sorcerer's mind to switch from thoughts of how good you'd feel bouncing on his long dick to how soft and wet your mouth was. You talk so much so it's gotta be moisturized as hell, not like he wouldn't make you use so much spit it made the colors on your lips smear around his veined shaft.

He whined into the speaker as you rambled, but TRUST he was listening. His eyes were rolled back, his hand began pumping faster, massaging the swollen head of his cock while his free hand gripped the base. He wanted to smear that lip gloss, stick, whatever so bad; just the thought of leaving your plump lips and chin stained with white and whatever other color made his full balls tense.

"H-hey, short stuff? You think you can you count down from 10 for me?"

"Yeah, why?"

"For my workout, remember?"

"Ohhh, right." You let out another oblivious giggle, "I forgot about that."

"Y-yeah, I'm, uhm, planking... and I'm al-most....done. Count for me."

"Kaykay. Ten.... nine..."

His hand slows down, trying to time his orgasm with that sexy voice. Gojo groaned and grunted, letting it all out since your dopey ass wholeheartedly believed he was tired from overexertion.

"Eight... seven..."

"Yesss~" He whispered, "Suck it, baby girl, that's it. Show me those eyes."

His breath got shallow as he looked down at his thighs, imagining you were scratching at them while your glazed-over eyes blinked up at him.

"Six... five..." 

"Yeah, not a fuckin' thought behind them, huh? F-uck, lemme give your mouth somethin' else to do."

Unable to help himself, he speeds up his hand, coating his entire dick in his own precum. His back arches from the bed as his hips thrust up, fucking his fist as you got close to one.

"Four.... three..."

"So fucking close, s'fuckin' close. I'm...gonna...cum. W-wanna cum in your mouth, baby please."

"Two... one."

"Ah, shiiit!!"

He let a resounding, drawn-out growl as pent-up cum spurts from his cock, shooting across his slim fingers. He continued driving his shaft through his fist, body shaking on his bed as his load continued to spill over his hand. He finally calms down, resting on his bed, and looking down at the cum all over his abs and lower stomach, clinging to his happy trail and pubes. 

"Damn," Your voice snaps him out of it, "Did you hurt yourself, Toru? That sounded painful?"

"N-no, I'm okay just...." He gulps thickly, collecting himself, "J-just planked longer than I could handle, heh."

"Was that okay? Did I count too fast or...?"

"Haah, no. It was perfect, girlie, th-thanks."

"Oh... uhh..." You tilt that empty head of yours, "What was I saying...?"

"You were talkin' 'bout... gettin' some clothes from Utahime... I think?"

"Oh, yeah! Then I was talkin' bout lip gloss!"

"Yeah, yeah." His cock slowly starts to harden again, putting a tired, yet devious smirk on his face, "Tell me what colors you got."

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

(a/n): eat up.

[growup-thatbeautiful]

Can I get asking gym crush!Dave Lizewski to spot you and needing his help. I think that could spark a beautiful romance

a:n: yes of course!! if anyone wants more of this idea definitely give me any thoughts. college aged dave :)

It's embarrassing. You don't even know his name, and you've never once talked to him. Sometimes he comes in with his friends- two of them- but you haven't caught any information about him besides his frankly impressive workout routine. And it's not like you see him a lot; he comes here way less than you. Yet somehow he seems to be stronger than most other regulars at the gym.

It’s probably for the best that you don’t see him a lot, though. Because when he is there, you find it hard to focus on anything except for him. Everywhere you look he seems to be there in the corner of your eye or in the glimpse of the mirrored wall.

It's unfair, really. No one should be able to look that good while covered in sweat, his curls sticking up in every direction and matted to the back of his neck. The compression shirt that he's wearing is dark with sweat, but his expression doesn't look fazed at all.

Today, though, you're determined for it to be different. You have a few more reps you want to do at the machine, then your plan is to go to the bar and do squats. Then you have your usual cool-down mile and stretching routine. Distractions don't fit into your schedule, especially because you’re already bone-tired today.

You do the last rep, timing your breath in and out to your movement. There's a pleasant, constant tiredness in your legs that you’ve come to love, and the music blasting in your ears pushes you towards your next exercise.

Luckily, the bar is open and you’re able to start your set right away. Maybe it's because you're still a little bit sore from your last leg day, or maybe you're just not feeling it today, but it feels harder than usual. By the third set, your legs are shaking much more than usual and you’re having trouble getting through the reps.

It’s definitely not your smartest decision ever to keep going, but you really don’t to stop early. Some part of you thinks that you can just push through and make it; the reasonable part of you is saying that you’re going to need someone to spot you.

Looking around, you don’t see anyone you know- no friends or friends of a friend. It’s relatively empty for the time of day, but you need to ask someone to spot you.

And in the opposite corner of the gym, there he is. He’s not doing any reps, and from the way he’s checking his phone you don’t think that he’s in the middle of any.

You try to tell yourself that everyone else is busy and he’s the only option, but you know it’s not true. Even if he was busy, you would wait for him to finish and ask him anyways. There’s no telling when you’re going to have another opportunity like this to talk to him- at least you have an excuse to go up to him.

If your legs weren’t already shaking, they are as you walk over towards him. It’s a sin, for him to look at good as he does without really doing anything at all. Your own music blasting through one of your dangling earbuds isn’t enough to calm your nerves. He’s wearing headphones too, so he can’t hear you coming, and he seems immersed in whatever he’s doing, so you stand there awkwardly while he finishes. When he looks up at you, a smile makes its way across his face, and he holds out his hand for you to shake it, not caring about the obvious sweat.

You tell him your name and shake him hand, your stomach doing flips the whole time.

He, in turn, introduces himself. “I’m Dave. Do you need something?” He says it with a pleasant tone, but he must think that he’s been rude because he backtracks immediately. “Shit, that sounded rude, sorry. I just- people don’t usually come up to me.”

“It’s okay,” you assure him with a laugh. “I actually wanted to ask you if you could spot me. I only have a few sets left.”

“Oh, yeah, of course.” He looks genuinely excited at your request, and he dutifully follows you to your rack.

You take a deep breath and look at the weights waiting for you. The soreness in your body seems worse now that he’s there standing behind you, his hands clasped behind his back. When you take another breath, it sounds a lot like a sigh. You’re thrilled that he’s willing to help you, but you don’t want him to think you’re weak.

“Hey, you got this,” he says lowly. “I’ve seen you do this a million times before, it’s just another rep, yeah?”

You don’t have the brainpower to think about him saying he’s seen you do this before because all of your thoughts go to his hand on your back, gently urging your forward towards the bar. He doesn’t say anything more, but the message is received.

You step underneath the bar and stand up straight, the bar’s weight settling into your shoulders. You can’t see Dave behind you, but you can feel the heat of his hands underneath your arms as he supports you.

You breathe in. Go down.

Breathe out. Push yourself up.

Do it again. And again 8 more times before stepping forward to rerack the weights.

When you turn around, Dave is looking up at the ceiling, his hands straight down at his sides. You fix your hair and pause your music before taking a sip of water.

“Dave?” you ask. “You can look at me, you know.”

“I didn’t want you to think that I was checking you out,” he explains while he brings his eyes to yours. “M’not gonna be that guy.”

“I appreciate it,” you respond, your heart warming at the sentiment. “Really, I do. But I wouldn’t mind you looking.” It’s not exactly the most subtle hint you’ve ever given a guy, but something tells you that subtle isn’t the right approach with Dave.

“What?” He really looks clueless as to what you’re talking about, his head tilted to the side. Your brain helpfully supplies you with “puppy dog.”

Too subtle, then. “Do you want to get coffee after this?” You’re positive that your smile is uncertain and crooked.

“Me?” he asks.

“Yes, you,” you laugh. “Look, I know you don’t know me, but I’d like to get to know you.”

“I’d like that, too.” The grin on his face is wide and full, bringing light and laugh lines to his eyes. You haven’t seen this smile from him yet, which is probably a good thing because it has a dangerous effect on you. “You have another set left,” he informs you. “So why don’t we finish that up and go get coffee after?”

“Sounds like a plan,” you agree, stepping back underneath the bar, a renewed vigor in your legs. That vigor, of course, goes away when you actually start the last set.

You do the first five without an issue, but you start struggling more with the sixth. By the eighth rep, you’re face is twisted with effort and you can barely get back up.

Dave doesn’t say anything, but you know he’s there. And his presence is fully reassured to you when he mutters close to your ear, “Come on, just a few more. I’m right here.”

He has to help you with the last rep, his arms supporting you underneath your armpits as he takes some of the weight off and helps you get back the the rack. It forces him much closer to you than before, and you can feel his heart racing against your back. You know yours is beating just as fast.

“Thank you,” you tell him, a little bit out of breath still. “You’re a live-saver.”

A funny look comes across his face at that, but it clears away in a blink. “Anytime.”

“How about that coffee?” you ask, grabbing your keys and water before shooting a quick text to your friends so they know where you’re going. Then, holding out your hand, you say, “It’s the least I can do.”

He takes your hand in between his own, leading you towards his own pile of things. “I know a good place around here.”

“Lead the way,” you tell him.

Maybe asking for his help wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

[hyuckiefluff]

Hey so I hv request! Really love the way you write♡ ok so mark is on adrenaline high frm the concert and is really touch starved and really just wants to fuck his gf! Established realtionship y/n and Mark, feel free to add your magic, thank you!!!

a/n: thank u for the nice words and for sending in this req!! this is exactly what i needed to get back into the mood cuz i’ve (once again) been neglecting my writing lol but anyway when i read this the first thing i thought of was quiet down hence the pic :)

ps: requests are still open btw (still got a lot of them to go through but feel free to send in more) i usually do them in order of which one inspires me the most so even if you send rn i might get to it first!

pairing: mark lee x fem!reader

wc: 1.3k

content warnings: semi-public sex, unprotected sex, slight choking, brief mention of blood, mark is sex starved so he goes a bit crazy, ass groping, handjob (m. receiving), cum eating yeah ik ik i keep writing this but i can’t stop sawry, big c0ck mark!! barely any prep or aftercare (they don’t have time!!!) basically just a messy & needy quickie backstage.

masterlist

Mark was losing his mind. 

Why?

All because you placed him on a week-long sex ban in an attempt to prepare him for the upcoming tour. He knew you were just trying to help him adjust to being away from you, but it felt like torture.

Everything was fine at first, or at least Mark was doing a great job pretending. But as the first week neared its end, his resolve started to crumble. Today, in particular, he was extremely horny for no reason.

...Well, he actually did have a reason and it was the picture you sent him this morning, wearing the new underwear he had gifted you  'They fit perfectly, Markie ;)'.

And as if that wasn’t enough, you showed up to his show wearing his favorite skirt—the very one you knew he always fucked you in. He wasn't sure if he was just thinking with his dick, but it felt like you were trying to push him to his limit.

Either way, it was definitely working, because when you leaned in for a kiss, he caught a glimpse of your underwear in the mirror's reflection and and he had to fight against every part of himself to not moan right then.

To make matters worse, you were still wearing the black lace panties he had gifted you.

By the time he stepped on stage, he was already painfully hard. What kind of pervert gets turned on in front of an audience just because his girlfriend accidentally flashed him? Well, apparently, Mark Lee did.

But he didn't care about looking like a desperate, sex-starved fool. 

So as soon as the VCR started playing and they had to change outfits, he made a beeline for you backstage. Ignoring the protests of staff and confused band members telling him he only had 10 minutes to get ready he grabbed your arm and pulled you through the crowd.

“That’s more than enough time,” he muttered under his breath. Despite your persistent attempts to ask where he was taking you, Mark didn’t stop until you were hidden away in a dark, secluded corner behind the stage.

"Mark, what's going on? Are you okay?" You inspected him with concern in your eyes, checking for any injuries.

"Ah...fuck... I have a really big problem," he groaned.

"What's wrong?" But you quickly understood the issue when he pulled up his shirt, revealing the growing bulge in his pants.

You tried not to laugh, but the way he looked like a child in need of help was too endearing. "Aw, did I do this to you?"

"It's not funny," he protested, suddenly invading your personal space. "I need you to fix it." His forehead pressed against yours, his hands roaming over your sides and gripping your hips to press you firmly against his body, your lower abdomen coming in contact with his hard on.

"Of course, baby" you replied, ready to kneel down, but he stopped you by grabbing your arm. You looked at him confused, and the stage lights cast an angle that highlighted his pleading eyes. They were glossy with desire.

"I need to be inside you," he murmured, his voice strained and raspy.

The idea of having backstage sex at his concert with just about seven minutes left before he had to return to the stage felt crazy. But there was something about it that turned you on beyond explanation.

So, you cupped his face and kissed him hard enough that your teeth clashed with his lips, but not even the slight taste of blood stopped you from devouring each other’s mouth. Mark quickly matched your intensity, his tongue wasting no time exploring every corner of your mouth. Every time he nibbled on your lips, it elicited little gasps from you. His hands moved from your hips to your ass, pressing you firmly against his bulge, a clear reminder that he was about to explode down there.

You started to undo his pants, the friction of his erection against the fabric made him suck in air through his teeth. He broke away from your lips, allowing you to pull down his pants. His boxers were already stained with pre-cum, and when you lowered them, his dick looked at you flushed and angry. You bit your lip, his size always made you clench your thighs in anticipation.

Before you could even touch him, he turned you around and that’s when you realized you were pressed against one of the glass boxes from their performance.

"Mark..." you moaned his name when you felt the tip of his dick at your entrance. There was no time for much preparation so when he slowly pushed his hips forward, a string of curses left his lips at the tightness.

"Fuuuck..." he groaned when your walls clenched around him relentlessly. Tears welled up in your eyes, and you leaned against the box for support

“God, you feel so good” His hands gripped your hips, and you felt his lips kissing your shoulder before he whispered that he was going to start moving. You nodded weakly.

His pace started out slow, but there was an undeniable urgency in each motion. His hand moved from your hips to your neck, gripping you softly and pulling you closer with every deep thrust. His lips found that sensitive spot just below your ear, and with every kiss and nibble, you couldn't help but clench around him, making his hand close tighter against your throat. This pattern continued for a while, bringing you closer to the edge.

"Please..." you whimpered, and he grunted softly against your neck.

"What do you need, baby?" he asked.

"More, please, I need more," you moaned, feeling his grin against your neck.

He wasted no time. His thrusts quickened, and you couldn't help but release soft gasps and moans with each movement. You leaned forward against the box, your breath fogging up the glass, feeling it tremble beneath you as he continued fucking into you harder. Mark was losing himself, or perhaps he already had; he was rutting against you as if he was an animal in heat.

"M-mark... I'm close," you mewled, not sure if he even heard you amidst the loud cheers.

"Mhm, me too," he moaned, his voice strained. 

It only took a few more thrusts and you were spent, moaning and mumbling incoherently as he helped you ride your orgasm.

 "Fuck, it's gonna be messy if I cum inside you," he realized, slowing his movements.

He was right… he wasn't wearing a condom so as soon as he pulled out, it would definitely drip down your legs. And there wasn’t anything nearby to clean you up with.

"Pull out," you said, and you could see his confusion from the corner of your eye. Nonetheless, he did as told. His hand was already on his dick, ready to take care of himself, but when you knelt down, it was as if his body glitched momentarily.

Your hands replaced his, applying just the right amount of pressure in your strokes to evoke that familiar sensation building in his gut. You looked at him through your eyelashes, your makeup slightly smudged from tears and sweat. The sight was incredibly hot, and just when he was about to cum, you opened your mouth, catching all of his release. Some of it trickled down your throat. The whole scene, along with the sounds you made while swallowing, had Mark almost in tears from the sheer intensity of the moment.

After swallowing every drop, you stood up, adjusting your panties and casually licking a remnant from the corner of your lips, all while maintaining eye contact with Mark. He watched you in stunned silence, still catching his breath. You chuckled when he remained frozen for a good 10 seconds, pulling him close gently and zipping up his pants. In that moment, you heard his voice.

“Please come on tour with me,” he begged, his eyes wide with hope. You just smiled and kissed him.

“Where’s Mark?! You guys are up in 2 minutes!” The staff's frantic shouts pulled you both back to reality. You exchanged a glance and burst into giggles like a pair of teenagers.

i think i might be shadowbanned guys so interact with this post if u enjoyed it pls <3

[rzyraffek]

Slashers with y/n that just gets along with everything

Like slasher could litteraly kill somone near y/n and she would be like alr alr whats really important is that you are happy🤠😎. Im sorry that first 2character had super long headcanons while last ones have way less :( I had no ideas Request open!

Billy Lenz

He always expects some sort of negative response when he calls people and when he heard new voice on the Phone he got even more exited cuz new person new reaction! He totally didnt expect her to just go "yeah yeah sure buddy, anyways... how is your day man? Cuz im so so tired...*starts normal converstation*

He probably tries to stay in character but he is so caught of Guard he doesnt know how to react really (hehe the table has turn)

Now he kinda hopes that she will pick up cuz shes very intresting😈 billy likey

"Ew its this creep again! He is asking for you y/n? Of please dont tell me you befriended him??" "So what? He said hes favourite fruit is strawberry he cant be that bad!" *billy saying slurs on the phone*

You need to constantly tell him that, no Billy no harrasing women isnt sexy, you arent quirky, you are mentally ill

"Y/n i killed that bitch that was gossiping about you 🧍 " "👍good for you billy im glad you found healthy way to cope with that negative emotion😇" "on god"

His whole moral compass is created around the simple question 'does it hurt y/n?' .1:no it doesnt so feel free to do it .2 do not do it, she will ban Billy from sweets (bad ending)

The man from hush

This guy. This dude. This Little gremlin. He is upset that he gets no reaction! Like please oh please act all angy when he 'acidently' shot tire in her car! But oh no ofc no, she had to be like "oh its okay honey i have backup in garage🥰" hes like HHUH SINCE WHEN WE HAVE GARAGE

Like tbh thats how i imagine how they met: he saw her, he wanted to hunt her, she was so chill that she didnt even leave her household while the power was off and he went inside and just saw her having lil nap on couch. 🧍🤨erm exuse me gurl im trying to roleplay epic hunter here tf

He probably kidnaped her cuz she was too weird to just kill her but he didnt want to risk her calling police. He probably tied her up and yeeted her on backseats. And then she begun judging music on the radio"yo big guy can i get some good music taste?" "What? Whats wrong with Taylor Swift?"

He will overshare everything to kinda check where is her limit if it comes to being chill "yeah so i killed this old lady.." "im sure you had good reason🥰" "🤨... anyways... yeah so i was drinking some redbull when some guy said i look ugly so i shoot his head off and-" "HEY HEY hold up geez you CANT drink Energy drinks?? Bestie you know it is unhealthy?? Also you like hunt for sport it will ruin your condition!? How you gonna shoot people with shakey hands?? You crazy or something?" "Damn😔"

Micheal myers

I tried to put him here but i realised he will be as chill as her.

Like he can give her gifts covered in blood and she' just going to clean it and wear it like nothing happened or completley ignore it

He cares about this stuff as much as y/n so like not at all. I mean tbh theres is a bit of difrence: shes at least positive about it! Like "yeah micheal go for it, love🥰😇 i know its hard to cope with trauma take it all out alr?" Shes trying to be a good supporting gf not her fault she never had serial killer bf!

Brahms Heelshire

He lives for attention! What do you mean the war crime he commited this lunch break is okay!?!? Baby pleasee

But this negativity disapears the moment he realised he can get a lot of positive attention when he will do some nice stuff! "Oh honey I didnt kill any rats today" "oh that's amazing brahms I'm sure you and the rats inside walls will get along well soon🥰" (rats in walls bully brahms)

Please complement him or he will get a tantrum and destroy something

Brahms and rats have very hard past i might do seperate hc about that

Ghostface

"Look babe! My newest victim *shows photo*" "ugh baby...😰 you NEED to buy new camera or watch some youtube tutorials about how to take good photos" "aw man whats wrong with my pictures 😔"

Otherwise y/n supports his hobbies! People need to grow😇 (and he needs to grow up)

If theres 2ghostfaces(like in most movies) they will bet money on how long you gonna keep this 'do whatever as long as youre happy' act. Well they didnt know that this wasnt an act but her personality

Also they will probably try to use this chillnes aginst her like "oooh y/n something terrible happened! I crushed my car oh what will i do!" "Alr bestie i will drive you over there😇" "😈omg you are so nice i totally didnt expect that(heheh i dont need to pay for gas today (hes very evil))

[yeoosaangg]

៹ TALK DIRTY || KINKTOBER ─ DAY 4

➛ PAIRING:: PARK SEONGHWA × FEM!READER × CHOI SAN

➛ NOW PLAYING:: TALK DIRTY — DANIEL DI ANGELO

⤷ ❝I THINK I'M FUCKING ADDICTED TO YOUR BODY, BABY. CAN YOU BLAME ME?❞

➛ GENRE:: IDOL!AU, POLYAMOROUS RELATIONSHIP, SMUT

➛ WARNINGS:: FREE USE, DEGRADATION, DOUBLE PENETRATION, MARKING, MULTIPLE ORGASMS, OVERSTIMULATION

── ⋆ ⋆ ── 𔘓 ── ⋆ ⋆ ──

When you got hired as ATEEZ's personal fucktoy, you never expected to fall in love with them.

Your contract expired months ago, but you never left them. They asked you to be their girlfriend and the rest was history.

You cuddle into Seonghwa's side, enjoying your movie night. He chose something random, not really caring about its plot. He just wanted to spend time with you.

San walks in from his room, pulling your bottom half close to him.

Seonghwa smirks, knowing where this was going.

San: What you guys watching?

Y/n: Don't remember the title. But this guy's going around killing everyone. Must be important.

San: Oh, yeah?

He pulls your bottoms off, discarding them on the floor. You won't be needing them anyway.

You resist grinning in excitement, his fingers opening you up with ease.

Seonghwa: Really, San? During movie night?

San: Don't act like your dick isn't getting hard. She's our girlfriend for a reason.

You just stare at the TV, acting blissfully unaware of the conversation. Just like how your boyfriends love it.

Y/n: Look! He found the main bad guy.

San: So interesting, sweetheart.

You know he doesn't give a shit about the movie, but it's fun to indulge the idea he could.

He takes off his sweats, kicking them off somewhere. He aligns his cock into you, moaning at the feeling. You hum, holding back from reacting.

You continue to stare at the TV, loving the way San's cock stretches you out.

Seonghwa unbuttons his jeans and quickly takes them off. He pulls your shirt over your head, growling at the sight of your bare chest.

Seonghwa: Hey, baby. How was your date with Yunho?

He guides your hands to stroke his cock. You mindlessly continue, wanting so bad to take him in your mouth.

Y/n: It was- Mmm- It was so fun. We had a picnic at the park. Picked a spot with a great v-view of the lake.

It's getting really hard to not moan. San's cock hits your g-spot so deliciously.

Seonghwa: I'm glad you had a good time, baby.

He pulls your head down, shoving your head down his cock. His hips slam up into your throat, brutally abusing your mouth.

You desperately want to react having both of them using you like the whore that you are, but you just continue to stare at the TV.

San: I'll be asking Yunho for pictures of your date.

Seonghwa lifts your head, letting you answer San.

Y/n: He took- Hm- He took a lot.

Seonghwa: I bet he did. What'd you wear, darling?

Y/n: Sundress. The yellow one he bought me.

San speeds up, ramming his cock inside you repeatedly. Seonghwa leans forward and starts covering you in hickeys.

Y/n: How was work today?

San: It was great. We went over the choreo and fixed up some vocals in the studio.

Seonghwa: Same here. Nothing too major.

Y/n: Can I- Fuck- Can I visit next time?

San: You can go whenever you want, gorgeous. I bet the others would love to see you.

Y/n: Miss you guys lot when you work.

Seonghwa coos at you. He can see you crumbling at their touch. He can see the drool wanting to spill.

He shoves your head back on his cock. He moans as your tongue rubs the bottom of his shaft.

San: Look at you, so pathetic. Our hungry cockslut doing so well to please us. I can feel you cumming on my cock right now.

Seonghwa: Is she, now? So perfect for us. It's okay to react. We love watching our little whore enjoy herself.

You try to talk, but just choke around the big cock in your mouth.

They find you so cute.

San grabs your hair and pulls you off of Seonghwa, back against his chest. He bites your neck, watching you roll your eyes and fuck yourself on his cock.

Seonghwa: I was wondering when she'd crack.

San: Lasted longer than I thought. Guess she deserves her reward.

You scream, not holding back from the pleasure you're feeling. He fucks you so good.

Seonghwa stops you from moving, making you whine.

San: Watch it, princess. Or else we'll stop.

You bite your bottom lip, whimpering as Seonghwa lifted you off of San. The loss of contact was heartbreaking, but when San covers your holes in lube, you gasp in surprise.

San: Think you can take both of us at once, sweetheart?

You nod furiously. You love feeling both of them fucking you dumb.

He slowly enters you from behind, a string of curses leaving his lips.

Seonghwa grabs your legs and lifts them onto his shoulders. This was a new position, but you're not opposed to trying it.

He slides into your aching cunt, both of their arms wrapping around your waist.

Seonghwa: Remember your safe word, darling?

Y/n: Star.

San: Good girl. What's your current color?

Y/n: Green.

They exchange a look, slamming you down as both of their cocks enter you. You scream, scratching at Seonghwa's back from the pleasure mixed with pain.

Y/n: So- Fuck- So full!

Seonghwa kisses you, muffling your moans as San bites your neck. Tears stream down your face, the pressure in your lower stomach intensifying with each double stroke.

San: Aww, look at her. She's a babbling mess. Can't even talk properly. So fucking cute.

Seonghwa: Wonder how she'd do with all eight of us fucking her silly. We'll have to plan that day out, won't we?

San: Fuck, yeah we do. Take her to the dark room.

Seonghwa: Absolutely. Has Yeosang finished the arrangements?

San: We'll ask later.

You don't even give a warning as you squirt all over Seonghwa's cock. It dripped down onto San's cock in your ass.

Your boyfriends cum at the same time, stuffing you to the brim. You love it that way.

They don't stop fucking you, though. They just keep pounding until you no longer can think. Everything felt fuzzy.

San: Fuck, she's getting heavy.

Seonghwa hums, both of them slowing down. When you get this non-verbal and exhausted, they end the scene immediately.

San: I'll get the bath ready.

Seonghwa strokes your hair, seeing your eyes flutter between open and closed. He can tell they pushed you too deep into sub space.

Seonghwa: You did so well, darling. Our good girl. We're sorry for losing control like that. We love you and never want to hurt you.

San comes back, carefully lifting you into his arms. You giggle, feeling like you're going on a rollercoaster.

Seonghwa kisses your temple, chuckling at how cute you are.

They take you into the bathroom, cleaning you up and massaging your body.

It feels nice to know that even though they say cruel things while fucking you, they never actually mean it.

They couldn't have asked for a better girlfriend. You are everything to them and more.

═══

a/n: i gotta stop reading nsfw tweets... they give me ideas for more fics. thanks for reading! ‹𝟹

[writerscall]

you’d have to stop the world just to stop the feeling.

author’s note/s: 2k+ words. trigger warning for some internalized homophobia. butterflies with girls hit different, hit better, but why was embracing it so difficult?

You liked Hazel Callahan.

Her friends knew it, your friends knew it, everybody who saw the way you two acted around each other knew it. You assumed even Hazel knew, since she’s stopped being shy about her own very likely similar feelings a while back.

But coming off from a break up with your longtime boyfriend and moving on to a girl right after just felt so strangely cliche, if that was even the right word for it. No, it definitely wasn’t, but you couldn’t be bothered to wrack your brain for a more appropriate one with the current situation at hand.

“I’m just saying, it’s fine. People know you’re into both teams — all teams now,” Isabel says. “Maybe just the one team? Anyway, there’s no right waiting time for you to start dating a girl after dating a guy. Mine was like, less than two weeks honestly.”

You snort, glancing at your friend lounging on your bed. If anyone understood what it felt like, it would be Isabel. “Well, unlike you, I only just realized that it’s not just guys for me. You said you always knew.”

Isabel considers your words, her head tilting to the side in thought. “True, but my point still stands. Plus people are gonna be a lot less judgy now that it’s college and not high school, everyone is discovering things about themselves and getting into new things. I really don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

If only assumptions could be confirmed right away. It was sweet of her to be so encouraging, and you did appreciate it, but your issue wasn’t really with everyone else. It was with yourself and feeling more�� comfortable with all these new feelings. People often said you’d feel freer once you came out but they never talked about the process of fully coming to terms with it after, like it was an everyday type of thing. It still felt like a new pair of shoes that needed breaking in.

“Look, it’s no rush. But… don’t push Hazel out throughout all of this, okay? She likes you, and I know that you—”

“I know, I know.” You sigh. “She’s pretty hard to ignore, as we’re both well aware.”

Isabel smiles at you knowingly. “She just really likes being around you.”

It was funny how different things could feel inside while everything else around you stayed the same. Your earliest class was still at 8:30 and your latest at 3:00 in the afternoon, your roommate still ate an apple with her cereal every breakfast, your grandma still texted every night. And Hazel still waited by the bench outside your last class’ building, that giddy smile lighting up her face once she spotted you.

Your stomach flipped. You weren’t sure if it was nerves or excitement.

“Hey,” she says, jogging up to you with a grin. “I got us some scones from Popeyes. I think they made them a little bigger than usual today for some reason, so if you’re hungry, you’re in luck.”

“Oh, thanks, Haze. That’s really nice of you.” 

Hazel shrugs, shifting the Popeyes bag to her left hand. “Well, anything for you, you know.”

God, how was she making it harder and easier at the same time?

“Would you mind if we ate it in the dorms? Yours or mine, I’m fine with whatever. I just really wanna relax after such a long day.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course! Um, could I uh…” She fiddles with the hem of her shirt for a second, and you think she might ask if she could carry your books or your bag for you in that silent conversation she appeared to be having with herself. Cute. 

What came out next wasn’t either suggestion but it made your stomach flip again, in greater intensity now, and you were positive your heart actually skipped a beat too. If that was even biologically possible.

“Could I hold your hand on the way there? If that’s okay with you?”

Oh you could kiss her— you really could, and you would eventually. But time and place and all that.

You reach for her free hand in reply, smiling shyly as you lace your fingers together. The way Hazel’s eyes soften at the edges and her face literally brightens almost makes you forget about coming across anybody who might give the two of you curious glances. Hazel’s propensity for rambling about the happenings of her own day definitely helped, too.

Hard emphasis on almost, though. You knew you probably wouldn’t be bumping into your ex so soon since he did study elsewhere, but the fact that his brother went to your university totally slipped your mind.

You freeze when you hear that familiar voice call your name, the momentary panic overriding the guilt you felt at swiftly taking your hand away from Hazel’s when you turned in its direction. Breaking up with someone didn’t necessarily mean you were breaking up with all the other people that connected the two of you, and considering how you were being treated like always, his brother didn’t seem to be bitter or angry on his behalf. And thank god, cause you did not wanna deal with that with Hazel or anyone else around.

The conversation’s over quickly and soon you’re back on your way to the dormitories, but you keep your hand swaying alongside hers this time. It felt weird to just go back to holding her hand and you were also trying really hard not to overthink the dampened expression on Hazel’s face.

She only really speaks again once the two of you are in the comforts of her dorm room. “I’m just gonna be blunt here and say it… you know that I like you, right? Like in that kind of way?”

You did know, but the question takes you by surprise that all you can do is nod at her slowly.

“And I… I’m not trying to rush anything, I know you just broke up with your boyfriend about a month ago— and I’m totally not assuming your feelings are the same as mine, god I… sorry—”

“Hazel,” you say, walking towards her with an understanding look on your face. “I know what you’re trying to say. Thank you. And you don’t have to worry about anything in the feelings department, I promise.”

You take both of her hands in your own, holding on to them tightly. She gives them a squeeze in response. “One step at a time though, yeah?”

Hazel smiles at you, and maybe it was because of how intently she was staring at you, but there might’ve been a shine of tears in her eyes. “Yeah. I’ll be there every step of the way.”

The rest of the afternoon to early evening goes by just fine, but there’s this weird feeling in the air that you just can’t shake.

“Why are you doing the one thing I told you not to do?”

Your gaze shoots up from your laptop and then around the library, checking if anyone might’ve been looking. Isabel could cause a scene if she wanted to but thankfully, she was only whisper-shouting. Though if the conversation was going where you thought it was, it might not be whispers for too long.

After that day in her dorm room, you have been avoiding Hazel a bit. You did it little by little to avoid suspicion but you knew she was more perceptive and observant than she let on. It was just that damn encounter with your ex’s brother that made you realize further how much things would change, and as much as you liked Hazel— and you really, really did, there was an embarrassing part of you that wished things didn’t have to change.

It was so much easier with boys, that was true. But it felt so much better with girls.

“Look, Bel, the two of us agreed that we weren’t going to just jump into a relationship.” You tell her, although you know it wouldn’t sway her. “It just… it needs time.”

“And Hazel’s giving you that. Willingly. But she’s trying to be there for you and you’re just pushing her away.”

“Isabel,” you start, but she’s determined to have the final word.

“Take it from someone who knows: it’s a lot easier to accept that you like girls than it is to accept that you like them a lot more than you like guys.” She lets a moment pass, and then, “If you still even like guys at all.”

Now that definitely struck a chord. She’s right and you know it, and she knows you know it.

“I’ll talk to Hazel,” you say quietly. “I will. Today. I promise.”

The walk to Hazel’s dorm room has always made your insides tingle but this time, you knew you wouldn’t be soothed by the easy smile on her face that would greet you once she opened the door. At least it was likely that you wouldn’t with how you’ve been treating her.

You knock twice. “Haze? It’s me.”

You hear some shuffling behind the door and a breath taken exhaled before it opens, revealing the woman of the hour. Of every hour to you lately, in spite of everything.

“Hey.” She offers you a tired, half-hearted smile. You hate that she wasn’t beaming at the sight of you like usual. “Got your text. You sure you’re not too busy with something at the moment?”

You shake your head. “No. I really do wanna talk to you, Hazel.”

Hazel stares at you for a moment before opening the door wider and stepping to the side so that you can go in. When the door closes with a click behind you, you know there’s no running away this time.

You take a deep breath, wringing your hands together as you say, “I’m not gonna make any excuses. The way I’ve been shutting you out has been shitty and it has everything to do with me and all these new… feelings that I can’t seem to deal with. Or I guess, that I haven’t wanted to deal with.” You mutter the last part and steal a glance at her. Hazel is looking at you thoughtfully as she sits on the edge of her bed, her eyes silently urging you to continue.

“This is all pretty new to me. I’m not like you or Isabel— you’re both so secure in your sexualities, just knowing them from the get-go. And I’m not saying I’m ashamed of mine because I really am sure that I like girls. That I like you. I just…”

“You don’t want things to change?”

Hazel is looking at you so sympathetically that you want to cry. You almost do when she tugs you closer and on to the bed, right beside her spot on it.

You take another deep breath. “I can deal with change. I just wish it didn’t feel so… difficult.”

“I meant what I said that day. That I’d be there every step of the way.” She pulls you even closer and you let her, just wanting to get lost in the feeling of her and the intimacy of the moment. “But you have to let me be there for you. I want this to work out.”

“I want that, too. I want everything with you.”

And maybe that was a little too much to say so soon, but it doesn’t matter anymore when Hazel moves to kiss you on the forehead, then on your cheek, and finally on your lips. It’s so gentle and loving that you almost do cry this time; trust Hazel Callahan to always know how to make you feel better.

You cup the side of her jaw and kiss her back, letting the moment last for another second before pulling away. “I am really sorry too. I was getting to that part.”

Hazel chuckles softly. “I’ll forgive every tiny heartbreak this past week as long as you’ll be my girlfriend after this.”

“Just like that?” You lean back a little, studying her face for any sign that she might be joking. She looked very amused and pleased with herself, but dead serious all the same. 

“I want everything with you, too.” Hazel leans forward again to press a lingering kiss on your cheek. “So… yes?”

You close the gap and smile into the kiss you give her, knowing she’d understand that as the resounding yes she was hoping for.

[melodic-haze]

First off, congrats on being able to open up your request box again. In honor of that, I have a very personal request for you; Natasha. Just Natasha.

Just kiddin, I was thinking of the stereotype trope of: main character has a scary resting face but is actually just a nice person. Where reader has one mean bitch face and unnatural eyes that just brings fear sorta like Arlecchinos. This causes reader to get into fights constantly and needing to go to the only person that isn't scared of reader, Natasha. Always taking care of reader with her gentle smile, while wrapping the bandages of the people who started the fight a bit too tight for ones comfort. Reader slowly starts falling for Natasha and promises to help Natasha in anyway they could. Weather that be helping patients, managing the local kids when she can't, or even protecting her and her clinic. Anything to repay the kindness she has given them.

Have I ever told you I love Natasha? Yes? Well then you get to see it again. I love this women and would kill for her.

-🍎(I probably don't even need this for this one)

☆ — DEMO TRACK: Natasha x Reader

☆ — TYPE: SFW

☆ — CONTENT WARNINGS: Mentions of violence

☆ — NOTES: opened my req box but I didn't end up answering them until like idk months later LMAAIOAAOO but anyway idk dude I think you gotta prove you love Natasha idk I just can't tell like at all 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

It's a hard life, when you're unlucky enough to strike fear in the hearts of those around you DESPITE the fact that you want the complete opposite effect. Perhaps you jsut wanted to pay for some nice looking handmade phone case being sold at the street and instead the people audibly gulp and say that you can keep it just don't hurt me--

Needless to say, it's inconvenient

Yeah perhaps you just have a naturally mean-looking face, or maybe you're scarred for one reason or other. Your eyes are unnatural—freakish, even—and with how Jarilo-VI hasn't necessarily received a surplus of otherworldly visitors due to the otherwise uninhabitable climate, not a lot of people are gonna really.. welcome such an intimidating appearance with open arms 😓

People shy away from you because they're scared that you're going to fight them, and then there are some loons that approach you bc they DO want to fight you. This ends in two ways; either you know how to fight back to support your appearance and you beat their asses (which doesn't really bode well for your already kinda negative reputation) OR you DON'T know how to fight and you end up getting your ass beat

And so what do you do if you feel like you've been dropped down to the seventh layer of hell? You go to Natasha's clinic!!! Oh, but with your bruises and cuts and your natural look that has people running at the sight of you, your presence may not be appreciated in what people may consider a safe space (hypocrites, all of them really LOL). But that's okay!!

After the long day you've had and the thorough beatdown you've gained, you willed yourself to limp back home. Passing out on the street was not an option, and neither was going to a place where most people had often rested and had their wounds tended to.

In hindsight, it was probably better to bear the scrutiny and get yourself nursed back to health, but despite having dealt with it for the past several years you've been percieved as the lone boogeyman that terrorised the streets, you weren't willing to face any more today.

Unfortunately, however, your legs lose their stability and your body falls out of balance. And with you fighting unconsciousness, perhaps due to a concussion that you couldn't care less about, there was no hope on being able to--

But you feel someone hold your falling body, their grip soft yet undeniably strong. Consequently, however, that startles you awake and alarmed.. which also ends up with you falling on the ground from pushing the person away, albeit with a softer landing due to the interrupted fall.

"Oh! My apologies for giving you a scare, dear."

"Wha..?"

You look up and you see the Underworld's most trusted doctor, Natasha. But her presence is what doesn't catch your eye, not specifically.

It's the way her eyes look at you unblinkingly, as if you were a person with no societal defects whatsoever.

You had to look away.

"You seem to be in such a state," she gently chided as she bent down with her eyes inspecting not your face or your unnatural eyes or anything that may seem out of the ordinary, but rather the dozen injuries that litter your body from the beatdown you recieved, "times like these are when I would personally advise you to see a doctor, you know."

While her words are sensible, you can't help but shake your head, "And risk getting turned away? No thanks."

"I don't recall ever turning you away throughout this very interaction."

You look back at her, and you see soft magenta eyes staring unflinchingly at you with her hand outstretched. And for the sake of that sick, tentative curiosity in your head, you look back at her with your 'cursed' gaze in an attempt to see if she, too, felt a lick of fear and panic at the sight of you.

"You still could. You could turn around and run back to your clinic now—fat chance of me stopping you when I'm all battered and beat like this."

"And it is precisely because you are battered and beat that it becomes my duty to nurse you back to health as your doctor." Natasha holds her hand out closer and gives you a smile; a foreign, almost alien, look when it comes to being under the moon's serene gaze, "I can treat you at your own home, if that's what you'd prefer.. and you can refuse, of course. But I would very much like to help, if you'd let me."

"..Okay."

In the cold underworld devoid of all natural light, there is a bright spark of warmth as you tentatively reach for her hand and pull yourself up to her with a wince.

You guide her over to your house located at some hidden area that people don't tend to visit and let yourselves in, to which she guides you to a chair and basically glides along her path as she looks for a first-aid kit. When she finds it, she goes over to you and treats you so gently—her gaze look at you in such a motherly way, her voice is soft as she asks you questions, and the silence between you is comfortable

As she stays with you to tend to your condition, the both of you engage in small talk. It's mostly started by her, there's no chance that you WOULDN'T be guarded when you've basically been estranged by the general public your entire life, but then you get comfortable enough that it turns into a full-blown conversation between the two of you

When she leaves, your house just feels a bit colder. And as you recover from your injuries and reflect on the kindest woman you've ever had the opportunity to converse with, you swear to yourself that you'd help her in whatever way you can as a way of showing your gratitude

Everyone sees you out much more often, particularly circling around the clinic and even, god forbid, going inside. But the doctor sees you trying to tend to her patients' needs without disturbing them, playing with the children in whatever way you can (and they even start to come over to you to play after a while + Hook's approval, calling you an Honourary Mole), and scaring off anyone who would dare to disturb her and her clinic's peace

You often can't help but wonder about the discrepancy of the way you're treated by everyone else and then her—much as you were grateful, let's be real you'd be mildly suspicious as to why she basically welcomes you with open arms when nobody else does. Does she have an ulterior motive? Did she want something from you this entire time? Oh, but everyone knew Natasha and everyone knew that she was quite possibly one of the most earnest people in all of Belobog so maybe you're just overthinking!! And that still doesn't stop you from wanting to help her out in any way you can anyway, your gratitude ran deeper than your lingering distrust from all the similar distrust you were faced with

Over time you develop feelings.....though whether it's bc of how she may be one of the only people to treat you like a person rather than a monster with deformities, how she had swooped in and saved you that time (and maybe even times after that too), or how you just genuinely fell for her, who knows. Either way, you start noticing her well-kept hair despite the constant rush in the clinic, and the scent of her perfume whenever she passes you by and gives your arm a light squeeze as a form of greeting towards you. You pay even more attention to her soft-spoken voice that was so full of care and conviction for nursing her patients back to full health, and her careful yet expert precision with her hands as she handles her medical tools

No matter what she does, you stayed captivated by her. Not just because of her beauty, but the kindness she shows and the love she has over those around her.

Perhaps it was due to your lack of such warmth and affection as a result of your status as a feared outcast, but you found yourself greedy—wanting more. But you know you couldn't ask that of her, not when she considered herself responsible for caring for life within the Underworld.

Especially not when you get these occasionally quiet nights to yourselves, devoid of anything else but you, her and a fresh pot of tea.

You're well-versed on how these nights usually went because they were repetitive and comforting: the two of you enjoyed a nice cup of tea as you told each other of your current days and your past experiences before settling into a nice lull, the silence comforting as you sat next to each other. You still found it strange, how the doctor had opted to sit next to you rather than far, far away from you, but it wasn't like you were going to complain about the warmth that you're now growing to be familiar with.

Right now though, there was something.. different to the silence.

It wasn't as if there was anything out of place, but you had noticed that the way Natasha looked at you was different—it was filled with.. a different form of affection, the type that you were a complete stranger to.

It was only when she spoke up in the midst of your otherwise-comforting moment of mutual peace and quiet that you realised why.

"Do you like me, [Y/N]?"

It was a simple question, one you could easily say 'yes' to because of course you like the woman you consider as your first true friend.. but the way she muttered it with her voice just a hair's breadth above a whisper made you stop and reconsider.

"..Why?"

"Mm... A doctor's curiosity, perhaps?"

"Just a doctor's curiosity?"

"Maybe more than that too. Won't you be a dear and entertain my line of questioning?"

...

Though really, what was there to reconsider?

"..So what if I do?"

"Hm."

You get no further acknowledgement back, and so of course you think that's the end of the conversation.

But then you see her turn around to meet your gaze, unflincing magenta eyes staring right at your unnatural own despite its initial tendencies to categorise you as a monster, and she gives you the most loving look you had ever seen from her.

"I've found that I like you too."

"Even if I'm--"

"I like you, dear. All of you."

You hear her put down her teacup to focus in you, but you can't bring yourself to care about anything else.

Not when the both of you lean into each other's embrace and breathe each other in.

Not when the Beauty kisses her Beast as if you breathed life into her being.

I tjink when you finally get with her it's so funnt bc you'd essentially be the "she asked for no pickles" couple except it could go either way

You're like the adored doctor and her bodyguard and neither of you would have it any other way :3c

[little-miss-dilf-lover]

Hotel Room

PAIRING: Tangerine x fem!reader

WORD COUNT: 2392

SUMMARY: changing plans midway into a mission in Tokyo- you, Tangerine and Lemon decide to stay in a hotel instead of taking the bullet train.

TAGS/WARNINGS: 18+ only. dry humping, pinv, unprotected sex, pull out. no use of y/n MINORS DNI.

A/N: this is my first post and im a little scared to post it, so please plz be kind. I tried to keep it as accurate as possible, however I accidentally made Tangerine kinder than I had originally planned and changed some things about the film plot so it doesn’t create a domino effect in this- aka Tan dying

rewritten 09/12/23 - no change to the plot, just made it less crap

"I don't think we should be getting this train," you mutter like you were talking to yourself, eyes darting across the busy platform of the station. "Guys?" you repeat, turning to see only Lemon behind you. "I don't think we should get this train."

"Yeah?" Lemon hums, sounding distracted.  

"I have a bad feeling. The next one is in thirty minutes. I say we wait," you respond, wary eyes glancing around.

Tangerine joins you both, looking over the tickets he just collected. "What's that now?" he questions, brows furrowed.

"I got intel someone I used to know might be on here," you murmur, avoiding the Twins' focused gaze.

"Like an ex?" Tangerine prods, his tone slightly cautious.

"No— stop it. I'm being serious," you emphasise, eyes squinting to show your annoyance.

Usually, when others act possessive around you, you'd turn the other way - having no interest in games. But when you talk about other guys in front of Tangerine, you'd often notice how his forehead vein would subtly protrude, like he was bubbling with rage from the inside - keeping it hidden. Though you'd always notice. It wasn't hard to tell when he was jealous. His quick, snappy comments are often the main giveaway.

"Alright, alright. Keep'ya knickers on, bellend," he scoffs, crossing his arms and widening his stance as if he was trying to intimidate you - which it doesn't.

"Okay, so, you remember Johannesburg? When we saw that guy— dirty blonde, mid-length hair? Facial hair? Yellow outfit. Looked like a prisoner? That one?" 

"No, not really," Lemon adds, shaking his head - looking clueless.

"Lemon. You shot him— a few times."

"No, not ringing a bell," he continues, just as clueless as before. "Oh, you mean Joburg?"

Tangerine pipes in, sighing. "Yes, you daft fuck."

"Well, I was just checking."

"Yeah, but it ain't important now, is it?" the twins bicker, overlapping each other.

"Oh my god," you mutter, rubbing the bridge of your nose. "Right, anyway, none of that's important. I used to work with him— Ladybug, like way way way back. I got a tip-off he's gonna be getting this train, and he's clearly been assigned to snatch that case," you nod to the silver briefcase tucked under Lemon's arm. 

"We can keep the case safe. We got hired for that reason," Tangerine adds, subtly reassuring you. 

"No, no. That doesn't matter. He's seeing a new therapist, and he's got some weird fate, destiny thing protecting him— like everyone except him gets hurt. I dunno about you, but I don't really feel like getting shot at again today."

You look between the brothers, eyes softening like you are talking without words - telling them things to make them take your side, to make them see that you're trying to protect them. You find it harder to pull away from Tan's fixed blue gaze, feeling strangely hypnotised under his attention.

"Okay," Tangerine agrees simply. "We'll wait," he nods, extending his hands towards you, resting them on your shoulder as if he's comforting you - telling you in his own way that everything will be okay. He rips his hands away when he hears a cough from beside him - Lemon suspicious at the placement.

The kind gesture wasn't long-lived, but it helped. A lot.

You suggest staying in a nearby hotel for the night, offering to try again in the early hours of the morning. The case would be safe, and that's what mattered.

————

You and the twins walk into the quiet hotel lobby, asking for three rooms - preferably all next door to each other. Once collecting the key cards, you make your way up to your floor, letting yourselves into your rooms with a quick nod to one another, silently saying goodnight.

After the nonstop events of today, all you wanted was to shower. To wash away the grime of the day, literally.

You throw your overnight bag on the floor and do a quick sweep of the room to check it's safe, then head into the bathroom, stepping into the shower to begin a lengthy wash.

Afterwards, you pat yourself dry with a fluffy hotel towel, dressing in an oversized tee when you hear a few rhythmic knocks at the door. You look through the peephole to see a wet, curly-haired, ‘stached man - there was only one person that could be.

You tug on the hem of your t-shirt, covering your exposed thighs as you open the door, greeted by Tangerine on the other side wearing a baggy tee and a pair of boxers.

His eyes leisurely travel over you, slowly pulling away from your thighs that you subtly tried to hide. He coughs, clearing his throat like he's refocusing, diverting his attention from your lower half back to your fresh face.

"Just doing bed check. And you are... ahem," he masks the pause in another cough. "You are accounted for. So that's. That's good."

"Right, okay," you murmur, purposely keeping your gaze fixed on his face - stopping your eyes from glancing lower.

He hesitates, lingering like that wasn't all he knocked for. You wanted to invite him in. To hang out for a bit. But you get all finicky and squirrely when it's just the two of you, and you never know what to say or do. It was like you couldn't think straight, his aftershave and biceps acting like a barrier in your brain. Besides, it's not like anything can happen between you anyway - he didn't like you in that way.

He clears his throat once more, scratching the back of his neck. "My tv ain't working. I don't wanna watch Lem's shit, so can I watch some in your room?"

Letting out a small puff of a sigh, you agree and move aside, allowing him to walk past. He settles in almost instantly, shimmying himself under the covers and flicking through the channels, trying to find something good to watch.

You sit down awkwardly beside him, leaving a safe and comfortable gap between you, subtly scootching away when he moves closer to you.

"What's up with you? You're being well weird," he asks, diverting his attention from the Japanese game show to you, looking over you with furrowed brows.

"I'm not being weird. You're being weird," you divert, crossing your arms over yourself, trying to minimise space. "Just trying to get comfy."

"That's cos'ya hanging off the bed, knobhead. Get closer, then."

He swiftly pulls you closer, gently dragging you towards him so that both of you are leaning against the headboard, his arm draped over your shoulder.

It was the complete opposite of what you were trying to accomplish - now smushed up close to his side, forced to smell his masculine shower gel. You had no idea what to do with yourself.

You have only been this close in proximity a few times. And on those occasions, one of you would always be drunk - never to be brought up again. But when you're sitting so close to him, both completely sober, your brain can't help but stir up those feelings you've been trying to suppress.

Lewd and vulgar thoughts spiralled around when you feel the steady sound of his heartbeat against your arm, everything so casual and natural - like everything was a breeze with him. Your mind begins to wander when you feel him shift beside you, legs spreading, groin adjusting like he was making himself comfortable - like he was situating himself in your bed for the night.

In your line of work, you don't often experience genuine human interactions - ones that are soft and gentle, ones filled with tender love and care. Every encounter lately has ended in a blood bath - literally. 

So when you feel Tangerine's hand slip into yours, you can't help but overthink it. It was so unlike him to physically show how he felt, so it was tricky not to question his motives.

His thumb swipes over your hand, softly squeezing yours, so you decide to look up at him, but he is already focused on you - the tv a mere thought away. The way he looked at you was so unexpected, so different to all the other times. 

All you could offer under his concentrated attention was a faint and gentle smile, nose softly scrunching as you held his gaze. He returns with a boyish grin, tache twitching with the movement.

You momentarily break eye contact, quickly glancing down at his lips. You thought you were sneaky, but the way his breathing ever so slightly faltered told you otherwise. 

He slowly leans towards you, his movements articulate and calculated as he pulls you in for a kiss, working over your lips carefully and considerately. His large palms nestling on the side of your face, cupping your cheeks as he deepens the kiss - everything turning somewhat desperate. Hasty.

His mouth travels away from your slightly bruised lips, now working along your jaw and down the side of your neck. Muttering faint groans into your skin as you tug on the damp curls at the back of his head - holding him close to you.

Tangerine's movements remain dominant. In charge. Guiding you and bringing you down the bed, laying you flat on your back so he can situate himself between your spread legs - hovering atop of you with his chest pressed to yours.

His cock feels firm against you, tucked and slotted perfectly between your thighs, nudging and brushing your clit with every subtle move he makes. 

It wasn't long before you found yourself whimpering into his mouth and toying with your hips, the dry humping working you up more than you had thought.

He parts from your lips, looking into your hazy, blissed-out eyes -ones that mirror his own- and begins to lazily push up your tee, stroking up your stomach, exposing just what he wanted to see; plushy tits and cute soft tummy. 

You help him out of his t-shirt, wanting to see more. Eager fingers trailing over the contours of his stomach before pulling him back to you, his happy trail brushing against your abdomen - chests sandwiched together. 

He trails a faint line of kisses down your neck and along your collarbone as he slips himself from your grasp, sitting on his knees between your thighs. He picks up your hand, sliding his gold rings onto your fingers. "Look after these for me, would'ya?" he whispers, kissing the back of your hand.

It's then that he finally slips a hand between your legs, faintly trailing up and down your slit, teasing you as he palms his cock through his tented boxers, circling over the wet patch of fabric - right by his head.

His gaze remains lidded, lazily looking over you as he dips his hand into the waistband, rolling over his aching cock a couple of times. Your eyes respond pleadingly, silently begging him to hurry up.

Your keen fingers make haste movements, brushing over his boxers like you were trying to strip them from him - doing his job for him. 

He answers your prayers and tugs down the fabric, flinging his briefs to the edge of the bed, letting his thick, hard cock spring free. He grips himself at the base, guiding his head towards your slick hole - rimming his tip around before slowly easing in. 

He goes slow, steady. Like he has all the time in the world. Letting you adjust and accustom his size, deeply filling you. Bottoming out.

With his cock stuffed inside, he leans over you once more, hovering over you and caging you to the mattress - your arms and legs clinging onto him, wrapping around him like a monkey on a tree. 

"Fuck me," Tangerine blabbers, voice hoarse and incoherent. Hot grunts against your throat as he winds into you, cock grinding inside you. "Christ."

He brings his hands up to your face, cupping your cheeks, holding you still so he can lap over your lips, swallowing your whimpers - your sweet pretty sounds muffling against his tongue. 

Your touch mirrors his, moving your hands from his back to hold either side of his face, pushing away a stray curl that fell. Holding him close. Keeping him there.

Tangerine quickens the pace, fucking into you a little better. More deliberatly. The curve of his cock rubbing against your gummy walls in the most sinful way.

He chases your release, wanting to feel you shudder and tighten around him - wanting to feel you cum on his cock. So, he parts from your lips and trails messy open kisses over your cheek, halting when he reaches under your ear. 

"You feel so perfect wrapped around me—  you're so perfect," he hazily whispers, talking low. "God— yeah, that's it," he nods slowly, encouraging you. "You're right there, pretty girl. I can feel it."

With his soft praise, you find yourself gripping onto his dick, tightly clamping around him as you cum. Moaning sweet cries senselessly into the crook of his neck.

Your release triggers his own, pumping his thick, warm load onto your stomach, biting back broken groans as he milks the rest of his cum onto your jittering tummy. 

He leans back over you once more, placing a lingering kiss on your lips before pushing himself off the bed, heading for the bathroom.

Returning with a lusty smile and a wet washcloth, he sits on the edge of the bed beside you, gently wiping it over your stomach before doing the same with his cock, rubbing the fabric over his leaking, messy tip.

"We should've done that years ago," you whisper, flattening your tee down your stomach.

"Fuckin' years ago," he coyly grins, raking back his now-dried curls.

Your smile widens, meeting his eyes. "You, uh... you can stay over? If you want... so you— you can watch tv?" you offer, trying to persuade him - finding a reason for him to stay.

"For the tv," he chuckles, nodding. Playing along

He slips into the bed beside you, tugging the covers up and settling himself next to you. His large, warm arms find you under the sheets, holding you to his side.

"We got an early start. Get some sleep, love," he whispers, placing a delicate kiss on your temple. "Goodnight."

[moonlightspencie]

Devils Roll the Dice…

Description: A new recruit to the BAU catches Reid’s eye. Unfortunately for the both of them, she has a past with someone very close to him. Are they willing to keep secrets just to keep one another? (TWO-PART MINISERIES)

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!Reader

Warnings: alcohol consumption, sexual references/content (i’ll accept 16+ because its definitely not more than pg-13 material but writing anything sexy makes me feel weird if i know teenagers are reading it)

Word Count: 4k

I took a deep breath, looking in the mirror. I knew we were meeting the new recruit today, and just the thought of it exhausted me. Not that I didn’t like meeting new people. I just hated the break in routine.

We had a concrete team. Kate had already joined. We didn’t need anyone else coming in and messing up a very new rhythm we’d found with each other.

I finished tying my tie, pressing it down, and preemptively steeling myself against the new person. Probably some guy who didn’t know the difference between a tyrannical and enforcing sadist. Half of the students I’d met in recent guest lectures only wanted to go into the field because they’d listened too many crime podcasts anyways.

I walked into the bullpen, taking my seat as usual, ready to turn that cold shoulder at the first misstep of whoever this mystery recruit was. Unfortunately, I felt anything but cold when Hotch called our attention to the figure standing in his office doorway. He stood partially in front of her before he allowed her to stand right next to him as he introduced us. My eyes locked onto her at an embarrassing rate, and I felt far more embarrassed when she caught me and flashed a smirk.

She was anything but shy as a newbie, and for some reason that thrilled me. She wasn’t afraid to get into conversation with the team immediately as she unpacked her things at her new desk. She wasn’t afraid to tell Garcia everything she wanted to know. Much to my surprise, she wasn’t afraid to send me the cutest smiles every time she caught my eyes on her.

“Hey,” she said, walking up to me as I stood in the kitchenette.

Truthfully, I needed the time alone because of her. I couldn’t stop looking at her, and it was becoming a problem considering I was supposed to be doing work. She was just so… Different. She was sweet and funny and so attractive it made my mouth dry up.

“Hi,” I said after a moment. “Coffee?”

She nodded, holding out her mug. I filled it up from the pot in my hands after I topped off my own. She blew on it, looking up at me with big eyes. I watched her, not realizing how long it had been until she broke eye contact, a smile settling onto her face.

“You’re gonna keep watching me blow on my coffee?”

I opened my mouth to say something, but fell quiet when she smiled again. She moved the mug from her face.

“Got any advice for me with the BAU?”

I swallowed. “Uh, you came from Intelligence, right?”

She nodded, brows raised. “Yeah. How’d you know?”

“I was listening earlier. You said it to JJ.”

“Alright, so I know one fact about you other than the eidetic memory,” she said with a chuckle.

I smiled softly. “Right. Sorry, I haven’t been very talkative today.”

“That’s okay,” she said, giving me a reassuring smile. “I’ve tried really hard to get into this unit, so I don’t plan on leaving any time soon. We’ll have time to get to know one another.”

I nodded quickly. “Uh, so, advice. Um, I guess you should know this team is a lot like a family. We really care about each other, and we’re pretty close. Especially us field agents.”

“Good to know,” she nodded thoughtfully. “If you have any more wisdom floating around in that big ol’ brain of yours, let me know. I already heard Penelope calling you ‘boy wonder’, so I’d love to see you live up to that reputation.”

She finished off her sentence with a wink, turning away from me and rejoining the others who still gathered around her desk. She was shiny and new, and everyone wanted to know about her. I couldn’t blame them. I’d love to know as much as I could get my hands on.

One thing I learned very quickly is that she had a habit of flirting.

At first, I thought it was a general behavior she exhibited towards everyone. Then, after some keen observation I came to a terrible and exciting realization: she really only flirted with me.

I think most of it was due to the fact that she just liked to see me flustered. She could make it happen very easily, too. All it took was a sly, under-the-breath comment in passing and my face was turning red.

She’d smile at me, enjoying the tint in my cheeks. I’d stare back at her, just glad to see her smile.

Four weeks in and I was entirely wrapped around her finger.

She wasn’t shy about flirting on cases either, though she was always really good about making sure the only thing anyone ever saw was me being a total dork.

I almost never tried flirting back. I was pretty terrible at it anyways. But there were occasions when I’d make an attempt.

We were working on a case that leaned heavily on the geographical profile, meaning: I spent the entire case in the precinct. I finally cracked it after a few days, and the team found themselves at a farm. One of my least favorite places for a case to be, leaving me very thankful that I wasn’t along for the search and rescue. I really only went to the farm because everyone else was there.

By the time that I actually got to the crime scene, the unsub had already been apprehended. So, I stood near the cars, waiting on the others to come back. It was several minutes before I heard Hotch and Derek walking up and talking to one another. I turned as the rest of the team followed several steps behind. Y/N came into view last, and I couldn’t help but let out a laugh as she walked closer.

She gave me an exasperated smile, throwing her arms up as I took her in. She was covered in dried mud, clearly having taken a fall somewhere gross.

“I tripped and fell while doing absolutely nothing. I feel like you, all clumsy,” she joked, laughing.

I smiled, looking her up and down.

“How are you still pretty covered in dirt?”

“You can’t do that,” she said quickly, looking over her shoulder. “Not right now, anyways.”

I scrunched up my face. She had been much more forwardly flirtatious on cases before now. I couldn’t fathom how this was any different, especially since all I did was make a flirty comment. I guess my facial expression could’ve conveyed more. I seemed to have a hard time concealing my feelings for her when she looked at me the way she did.

“Why?”

She looked behind her again, like she was keeping an eye out for someone. But the only person there was Morgan. Maybe she was afraid of him telling on us for flirting on the job. But he was the one that relentlessly flirted with everyone else. Why would he be coming after us? Maybe she didn’t know that well enough.

“Morgan flirts with people all the time. He’s not going to—”

“Spencer,” she groaned, grabbing my arm and pulling me behind the SUV.

I furrowed my brow again. “What?”

“If I tell you something, you have to promise not to get weird about it.”

“Get… Weird?”

“Like, don’t be all freaked out,” she clarified.

“Okay,” I said, unsure where this was heading.

She cleared her throat, stealing one more glance at him. She looked back at me, chewing her lip with a coy smile. I had a feeling that now wasn’t the time, but I blushed, unable to stop myself from fully taking her in. Luckily, my upstairs brain started working again just in time to give all my attention to her as she started speaking.

“I’m sure this will make things a little awkward,” she stated, sighing softly, “but, he and I… Uh, Derek and I, we have a history.”

I quirked a brow. “Oh? How?”

She stared at me, expecting me to take a hint that I was most certainly not picking up on.

“We… We were involved. Romantically.”

My brows shot up. “Oh.”

“Yeah. It was only like five months, really, but,” she shrugged. “That happened. Hence why it’s been a little awkward between us.”

She said that bit like it was the most obvious thing in the world, but I hadn’t been any the wiser about it. Maybe it was just another case of me being a little more oblivious than some of my coworkers about behaviors that didn’t have to do with the job. Maybe I was just too enamored with her to pay attention to how she interacted with our coworker.

“I didn’t notice,” I said quietly.

“Good. I’ve been hoping to keep it on the down-low,” she said with a laugh. “I haven’t exactly wanted to endure teasing from the team about sleeping with Derek of all people.”

I swallowed, not having thought about the fact that she’d been… Physical with him. More so, that he’d gotten to be with her in that way. He’d seen her. Heard her. Felt her. All of her. I took in a breath, clearing my head of that image.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve told you sooner if I was going to keep flirting like this,” she said, suddenly a little shy as she shoved her hands in her pockets. “I know you two are close.”

“Yeah. I’m surprised he didn’t tell us about you.”

She laughed. “Our relationship wasn’t completely… A serious thing.”

“Serious enough to last five months.”

She snorted. “Most of the time we spent together wasn’t exactly romantic. He was great, but we both kind of used each other. Hard time in life for both of us back then.”

“Ah,” I said, nodding curtly. “So it was mostly, uh— Sexual?”

She smirked, looking away. “Not entirely just that. But that was a lot of it.”

I nodded again, feeling my cheeks flush. She nudged my arm, pulling my attention again.

“It’s been well over a year now since that all happened,” she said quietly. “I just… I don’t want to rock the boat right now. Being new to the unit, I should probably try my best to be on everyone’s good side, you know?”

“I get it. I’ll stop with the flirting,” I said, giving what I hoped was an affirming smile.

She furrowed her brow. “That’s not what I meant.”

“It isn’t?”

“The flirting is fine, I just think… Maybe we should keep it a little more quiet when we’re around the others,” she shrugged. “If that’s okay.”

“You’re okay with me— doing that?”

“Spencer, I don’t know if you know this, but you’re crazy hot.”

I was certainly blushing now. I swallowed, blinking in surprise as I looked at her. Her smile only grew. She enjoyed teasing me. I couldn’t say I didn’t like it just as much as she did.

“Uh, th-thank you?”

She rolled her eyes. “Quit acting so shy as if you don’t already know.”

My eyes widened. “I’m not acting.”

“Every woman who meets you flirts with you.”

“No they don’t,” I argued, my brows knitting together.

“Are you blind?”

“No,” I said, still in a state of confusion.

She laughed it off. “Alright, boy wonder, we’d better join the group. They’re gathering like vultures.”

I followed after her as she integrated into the group where they stood as Hotch spoke. She was so good at finding her way in. I was thrilled to see how she’d find her place in my life going forward.

In the following weeks, she gave me an idea of what that would look like. Stolen glances at every turn had my heart racing. It went even faster every time she found a way to touch me in some inconspicuous way.

A hand on my arm as she asked about the maps I was working on. A brush of fingers as she’d hand me a coffee cup. Her shoulder pressed into mine to whisper to me some detail of a case that really could’ve been said at full volume.

She usually didn’t step past those boundaries though, ever cautious not to let herself get caught out by anyone else. The comments she made towards me were still relentless, however. I didn’t know how she had it hidden so well.

I, however, had much more trouble hiding my attraction, and I was sure I’d heard some of my teammates whispering to each other about it. They’d give me knowing looks every time I got caught out staring at her. Even Morgan gave what seemed like mostly-good natured glances my way when I paid a bit too much attention to her. Probably only because he didn’t know that I knew about them, and even more likely didn’t want anyone else to know. It would be a tell-tale sign if he didn’t make fun of me.

It felt wrong to be keeping this odd little secret from him. I wasn’t necessarily sneaking around with his ex-girlfriend, but we were still flirting. We were still hiding something from him. I wondered how he’d react if he found out, and hoped for my sake that he was well and truly over it.

Especially after our last night on a case in Georgia. The summer air in the state was hot, and it felt like it was actively pulling air from my lungs every time I went outside. Maybe it was some kind of metaphor for what was to come.

I held back for hours from going to her door. The teasing had been terribly relentless the entire time we were on the case, and the week before. Tension was building, and I knew if I was easily picking up on it, she definitely had to be.

I paced around my room, contemplating my options. If I went to her, there was a chance we’d finally talk about whatever was happening between us. There was also a chance she’d tell me to leave if I attempted to tell her how I really felt, and I’d be left pining over her probably forever. Both were pretty scary.

Either way, I decided it was better than continuing to fall for her without having a real conversation about it. I walked to the door, my hand on the handle.

She stood just outside my door, her hand raised as if she was about to knock when I tugged it open. A smile graced her pretty lips, her hand dropping.

“Looks like we had the same idea,” she stated, pushing past me into my room. “Good timing.”

“It was.”

She chewed at her lip, looking around the space with her arms crossed. I stared at her as she took it all in, waiting for whatever was on her mind to be put out into the open. She looked back at me, apparently reading my mind.

“We’re both waiting on each other to speak up, huh?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“This is a ridiculous thing we’re doing right now. It’s like sneaking around with any of the fun parts,” she said with a laugh.

“I think it’s fun,” I shrugged.

“It could be more fun.”

I swallowed. “Yeah. But I’m happy just to have your attention.”

She smirked, walking towards me.

“I think you’re kind of needy.”

“Maybe.”

“It’s cute.”

I blushed, giving her a smile as I looked away. She still looked at me like she was about to devour me. I could sympathize with all of those animals I saw in nature documentaries as the predator closed in on them. It was in vivid color. She stalked closer and closer, knowing full well that my guard was down enough for her to launch an attack.

“You really enjoy this, don’t you?” I asked. “Knowing you make me flustered. Half of the time I can hardly talk when I’m around you. Everyone knows it, and they all think it’s one-sided.”

She leaned her chest into mine, surely able to feel how fast my heart beat for her.

“Are you embarrassed by it?”

“No.”

Her hands crept their way up under my shirt, leaving goosebumps in their wake as if her touch didn’t feel as hot as the sun. I watched her silently, letting her do whatever she wanted. She couldn’t asked me to jump out of the seventh-floor window with her and I would’ve gone head first without a question.

Panic only crept in when she started leaning in closer to my face, and I realized her lips were on a path that would end with mine.

“Wait,” I said, grabbing her wrists.

Her eyes widened, pulling her head back slightly.

“Are you okay?”

“I just don’t think this is a good idea,” I breathed out.

She retreated from me, and it was hard not to let my body follow hers. She was only a step away, but it felt like a continent’s worth of space. My fingers itched to reach out and pull her back in.

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly, eyes wandering over her face.

She swallowed. “I don’t know what you want, Spence. One minute you’re telling me you want me, the next you’re pushing me away.”

Logic kept trying to overtake my head. It was annoying.

“I can’t… You’re Morgan’s ex.”

She sighed. “I’m also a human being. I am my own person separate from him. One that is very attracted to you.”

I wet my lips, not missing how her eyes followed the action. I felt a fluttering in my stomach just watching her react. She smiled, as always, catching me in the act of being wildly into her. She took half a step forward.

“You’re telling me this is a bad idea, but every time I look at you I’m getting a different message.”

I swallowed. “I know.”

“So, which is it?”

“It is a bad idea,” I started, intending on making it a whole sentence, but not knowing what to say next.

“But?”

“But I don’t know if I care enough to stop it.”

She smirked again, not holding back this time. She reached up, pulling me down to her lips with her hands wrapped in my hair. I wound my arms around her waist, pulling her tightly into me. I relished feeling her body fully pressed against mine, especially when she let out a contented sigh as I deepened the kiss. She started guiding my backwards towards the bed, and I obliged her silent request until the backs of my knees were against the mattress.

“Sit,” she requested, the word whispered against my lips.

I did, peering up at her as she staying standing in between my legs. She grasped my chin in her soft hand, tilting up my head to see me.

“How sure about this are you?”

“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully.

She smiled. “Good. I don’t either.”

She dropped into my lap, kissing me like we hadn’t even stopped in the first place. My hands gripped her hips for the first time, and she was everything I had daydreamed about. Soft and responsive. I couldn’t imagine being the one to let her go, and I found myself questioning Morgan’s judgment in that moment.

It made me feel even better every time she smiled or made a little comment about the ways I reacted to her. Usually I’d be embarrassed, but she just made me feel good.

“Sweet boy,” she mumbled against me, moving her lips from my jaw and down my neck.

My hands found themselves wandering across her back, and my eyes were practically stuck shut as I felt her lips against my skin. I could’ve died right then and there and been happy to go.

But a knock at the door sent us both into high alert. She sat up straight, looking towards the door.

I stood with her legs still wrapped around me before I turned and dropped her on the bed. She bounced on the mattress, looking up at me with a surprised smile.

“Just— Stay here and stay quiet. Please,” I said, then walked to the door, trying to frantically fix my hair.

I cleared my throat as I opened the door, forcing myself to not look like I was embarrassingly close to…

I shook myself out of that thought the second I saw Morgan. He definitely put an end to any sexy thoughts that clouded my head.

“Hey, kid, can I ask you something?”

I furrowed my brow. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “I just… Do you know what’s been up with JJ? She’s been a little off. Won’t really talk to me, so I was wondering if she said anything to you.”

I let out a breath of relief. “No, she hasn’t told me anything. But I know Henry’s been pretty sick the past week. Maybe that’s it.”

“Hm,” he hummed, nodding slowly. “Alright, thanks. Just… Worried, you know?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “It’s JJ, though. She’ll be okay.”

“Right, yeah, I know,” he nodded again. “Alright. Thanks, again. You get some sleep tonight, alright?”

I nodded, bidding him a goodnight. I shut the door, seeing her on the bed still. She was propped up on her elbows, smirking at me.

“That ruin the mood?”

I locked the door.

“Not particularly.”

To my surprise, she ended up being the one who wanted to take it slow. We kissed for another hour or so when I got back within her reach, but didn’t go much further. Not that I was in a position to complain. I was ecstatic just to be touching her, and she somehow felt the same about me. I wasn’t sure I’d ever understand why that was.

She’d told me when I’d dropped onto the bed, crawling over top of her, that she didn’t want to go all the way. She said it so sweet. Almost like she was afraid of whatever answer I’d give to her. As if I’d say I didn’t want to kiss her all night long.

Besides, I was pretty sure I’d spontaneously combust if we had gone any further.

We woke up the next morning, still holding onto one another. She had changed into my t-shirt before she climbed into bed with me, and looked absolutely incredible with her messy bed-head and sleepy smile.

“Good morning,” she mumbled.

“It is a very good morning,” I said, pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

Her hand pressed against my cheek, the smile spreading on her face as she looked at me.

“You’re adorable,” she said quietly, granting me another kiss.

I sighed. “I don’t think I want to stop this.”

“Why would we?” she asked with an incredulous smile.

“Because, I mean, we can’t tell anyone about us,” I said with a shrug. “I just thought you wouldn’t want to make this— A thing.”

She wet her lips. “We don’t have to tell anyone in order to be together.”

I contemplated that for a moment. I’d never considered having a completely private relationship. At least not with someone who wasn’t actively being stalked. That was an entirely different scenario. I guess to her, it was probably scary to get into a relationship with one of your ex’s best friends. I couldn’t blame her for that.

I took a breath. “You… You want to keep it a secret?”

She nodded. “If that’s okay with you.”

“I’ll do whatever you want,” I said with a nod, not bothering to filter my thoughts as they came out into the open.

She smiled. “Anything?”

“Almost. I draw the line at murder.”

She laughed. “Team’d catch you anyways.”

I laughed right back, giving her another kiss. She leaned into my touch, shyness creeping into her face.

“I do really like you, Spencer.”

I nodded. “I do too.”

“This’ll be great, you know?”

She smiled brightly, causing one to form on my face. She brushed my hair away from my face, just looking at me.

“Yeah. I know.”

…ANGELS ROLL THEIR EYES (part 2)

[lifblogs]

Mayday

Week 5 Prompt: "You're a bad liar." Alt. Prompt: "Need a hand?" @summer-of-bad-batch Rating: General Audiences Word Count: 6646 Summary: Crosshair falls incredibly ill during a storm, and his family does what they can to help him. Only, there's not much they can do. READ ON AO3

Rain pattered down hard against the stone roof, and against Crosshair’s window above his bed. The dark night had turned into a gloomy, gray dawn, and he could even hear the waves crashing tumultuously against the rocks. For some reason he couldn’t discern he didn’t want to get out of bed. He just didn’t have the energy.

Thunder rumbled, and he winced. Oh, that had been too loud.

A knock sounded on his door (ow), and he tried to suppress a quiet groan, but it came out anyway. He took his pillow and put it over his head.

“Crosshair, you getting up?” Hunter asked. “Wrecker and Tech made breakfast.”

Thank god. It’ll be something palatable.

He wanted to tell Hunter that bit of sarcasm (Hunter actually was a good cook thanks to his enhanced senses), but he felt sluggish, mind moving slowly.

Maybe I’m getting sick.

“Yeah, yeah,” he eventually grumbled at him.

Crosshair sighed, moved his pillow back under him, and slumped down on it.

“Omega’s waiting,” Hunter added.

“Fine,” he breathed.

That was enough to get him moving.

Today typically wouldn’t have been a rest day on Pabu, but they’d all seen the storm coming the night before and had prepared.

Lightning flashed as he finally sat up. Ugh. His limbs shook slightly, and he passed a hand over his tired eyes.

What is wrong with me?

He’d slept the whole night, to his surprise; maybe those medicinal herbs the healer had given him really were helping with his nightmares. So what was the problem?

Crosshair clambered out of bed. He went through the motions of getting ready, wincing at the soft glow of light from his lamp each time his eyes passed over it. Everything took longer, like he was trying to move his limbs through mud.

Eventually he was sitting at the kitchen table with his family. Tech was on his datapad, half-ignoring his food, his two mechno-fingers on his left hand gleaming. In the dim light their lamps provided the scars across the left side of his face looked deeper, more jagged from the shadows.

Omega sat next to Crosshair, excitedly eating the pastries Wrecker and Tech had made, nudging Crosshair, trying to get him to eat something.

For some reason nausea curled in his stomach, but he tried a few bites.

He admitted to himself that if he wasn’t getting sick the flaky pastry with the tangy fruit filling would have been delicious. Yet he was sick, or something was wrong.

Crosshair sat with his hand under his chin, eyeing everyone tiredly.

His family was talking about Phee and whether she was safe today (though she could easily handle herself), and Hunter was trying to keep Batcher away from the food, but Crosshair wasn’t really taking it in.

Omega nudged him, and he glanced at her.

“What?”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re a bad liar.”

Crosshair sighed, and pushed his plate away.

“What’s wrong?” Hunter asked.

“Not hungry.”

Crosshair thought of the projects he could work on while inside, something to bring life to Pabu, and earn his family some money or traded goods. He supposed he could try to work on his paintings, but there wasn’t really good lighting for that. Maybe there were some nets he could weave?

“Here, maybe this’ll help,” Wrecker said, handing over a mug of caf.

What is the logic in this? Yet…

Knowing Wrecker it was strong, and bitter. The thought turned Crosshair’s stomach.

Yet, if he put a lot of cream and sugar in it like he did for Omega’s small, small cups (he did not want her drinking so much caf so young, but they let her have some or else she’d steal theirs) maybe it’d taste good. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t want the sweetness of the pastry, but suddenly wanted a sweet cup of caf.

His movements were slow as he prepared it.

Crosshair ended up moving to the couch in their living room. The living room was actually in the same room as the kitchen, no wall dividing them since the open space had better air circulation, so he wasn’t being too antisocial. Was he?

Crosshair grabbed one of the nets he’d been working on the night before, right hand trembling as he tried to tie the knots. This wasn’t like painting. For some reason painting stilled his hand. This was more difficult, but when he took his time everyone said he was even better at this than any of his brothers.

Batcher rushed over, and instantly put herself under the net. She wasn��t trying to steal it at the moment, just nudging her head up into it, so he didn’t admonish her.

Omega, another pastry in her hand, sat next to him, taking the net off of a disappointed Batcher. But the smell of food had her nudging at Omega.

“Don’t get that on the couch,” Crosshair told Omega about her breakfast.

Mouth full, a crumb falling onto her lap that Batcher immediately licked up, she mumbled out, “I won’t.”

“Mm hmm.”

A few seconds passed, Omega thoroughly enjoying her food, and Batcher trying to climb up into her lap.

“How are you not full yet?” Crosshair ended up asking Omega.

She shrugged.

Maybe it was something to do with how she’d sprouted so much recently, and all the growing pains she was dealing with.

The others set to their own tasks after breakfast. Tech started working on something at the table, and Crosshair glanced over, curious, seeing tech strewn about, accompanied by the flash and hiss of a solder. Wrecker was also at the table, looking over architecture plans for an aquarium he was helping to make in lower Pabu, though he kept getting distracted talking to Tech about the fish and marine life they’d be helping. Hunter was washing the dishes.

Rain continued to pound down in thick sheets, the ocean’s wrath a constant roaring reminder. Batcher decided hiding under the kitchen table, nestled between Tech’s and Wrecker’s legs was the safest place to be for the moment. She whined a bit from the storm, and Wrecker pressed his leg against her to try and comfort her.

Lightning flashed, blue and brilliant. Even with the curtains closed Crosshair saw the flash, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

Thunder boomed around them.

It was so loud!

Argh!

Crosshair put his head down, wincing.

Suddenly, Wrecker complained, “Tech, don’t do that with your eye.”

“The lightning is too bright. I’m simply making an adjustment so I don’t get a headache.”

“At least take it out in your room.”

“You have a cybernetic eye too.”

“Do you see me taking it out at the kriffing table?”

“Language,” Hunter reprimanded.

Omega giggled, though Crosshair could now feel her watching him, and she put a hand on his arm.

“Are you okay?”

“Mmph.”

Crosshair fumbled a knot, and had to untie it, starting over. Hunter finished with the dishes and sat in a chair by the window, probably taking note of Crosshair struggling with his work.

“Need a hand?” he asked.

Can’t they all just leave me alone?

“No.”

His body froze up for an indiscernible reason, even as weakness flooded his limbs like cold water. 

Something’s… wrong.

Something’s…

Crosshair wanted to tell his family. He wanted to…

The net fell from his hands.

He wanted…

He…

Crosshair was no longer sure what he was looking at. His mind took in that yes there was something, but what? The words seemed to have been erased from his head. Comprehension and language floated away. He could feel it leaving him.

If only he could…

He looked around, feeling like everything was thumping through his body. What that “everything” was, he didn’t know.

There was a sensation at his arm, a… a face in his field of view. But whose face?

What was… a… face?

Crosshair’s head (he thought maybe it was his head) started pounding, and pounding, and aching, like someone was hitting him with a stone, or a wooden beam, like they’d bypassed his skull and directly hammered his brain. He could have sworn someone or something was trying to scoop out his right eye with a spoon, the pain going all the way down into his teeth.

He curled in on himself; maybe he was groaning, maybe he didn’t make a sound.

Where am I? And why did it matter?

Who… who am I?

What am I?

Crosshair—is that my name? What’s a name?—couldn’t think, couldn’t comprehend anything.

And the pain. Oh, stars, the pain. He just wanted someone to stop hitting his head! Why couldn’t they stop?

Please…

Everything seemed to be… shaking.

There was pressure against his arms, his back, his field of view changing, body moving. Dizziness nearly had him collapsing.

He was lying on something now, something glowing too bright in his vision, searing his eyes.

He groaned, and rolled over, head sloshing.

His ears picked up on sound—maybe language—and it all hurt, like someone was puncturing his eardrums with picks and getting right inside his brain.

There was pressure on his shoulder, his back. Something was placed over him, and he perhaps felt a bit warmer, maybe more comforted.

The light was thankfully turned off, and he was left alone. Head swimming, not knowing a thing, he closed his eyes, and wished for it to end.

Instead, he floated in the madness, the suffering, the confusion, the raging tempest.

Help.

Omega was drinking Crosshair’s cup of caf, even though it was no longer hot. Holding the mug at least kept her hands from trembling. They’d gotten Crosshair in bed, but he hadn’t been able to say a word to them. He had just mumbled and moaned, and was otherwise completely unresponsive. But he was in pain. Omega had seen it in how he had curled in on himself, had heard it deep in his rasping voice.

Batcher was trying to go into his room, but worrying she’d be too loud, Wrecker was on the floor in front of the door, deterring her.

“We need to get AZI,” Omega said. “I think he was last at Shep’s checking on Lyana’s cold.”

“I agree,” Hunter told her, rising.

“I’ll go,” Tech volunteered, also standing, albeit with a slight hitch when he put weight on his left leg.

Omega took a big sip of the incredibly sugary cup of caf, and decided, “I’m going with you.”

“I’ll watch over Crosshair,” Wrecker volunteered, petting Batcher hard as she nuzzled into his hand.

Hunter crossed his arms, looking thoughtful.

“I’ll stay too. Tech, Omega, be quick.” Hunter stepped in towards Tech, and asked, “Do you still have that brain scanner you used for the chips?”

Tech pressed his lips together, shaking his head.

Hunter put a hand on his shoulder. “All right. Be safe. This is a bad storm.”

Omega and Tech got ready in their ponchos to head outside. She glanced at his left leg. Was it acting up today?

He didn’t bring it up, so Omega didn’t ask him. Her gut was clenching, and she kept leaning forward a bit, putting weight on the tips of her toes, feeling the horrible need to get going.

What was wrong with Crosshair was… scary. She’d never seen anything like this before. He had been completely unresponsive, and his eyes had been unfocused (when they were even open). His breaths had been coming in quick pants and gasps.

A groan sounded from his room.

Tech put an urgent hand against her back. “Come on.”

Rain pounded down on them as soon as the door was open, pattering at least a meter into the kitchen.

Omega headed out first, ignoring the discomfort of the storm upon her, Tech following behind her.

She walked fast, but it didn’t feel quick enough. They passed house after house, lamps and plants and other various decorations blowing in the harsh breeze, soft light leaking through the curtains out into the dreary day. Some trees had fallen down, but most of the outdoor furniture had been tied down the night before so it could stay in place. Still, there were a few tables and chairs strewn about in their path, along with various debris. Omega hoped Phee was okay, but reminded herself she probably was. The problem was Crosshair.

“How’s your leg and hip today?” she asked, huffing slightly as they went up the winding path to Shep’s, the wind fighting against them. She had an arm up to shield her face from the rain.

“Fine,” Tech answered, voice faint under the roaring of the rain and wind, the booming of thunder. 

He gripped his hood tightly. Omega had completely given up on hers.

“You’re a bad liar too,” she called to him.

“Fine. Yet I do believe I am well enough to jog,” he admitted.

That was all Omega needed to hear.

Lukewarm rain pelted them in the muggy air. Lightning flashed. Thunder sounded. From the sea wall she could see the grueling, foamy waves, homes that had been evacuated being pounded by water before it receded for a few seconds, only to flood around them—and possibly in them—once more.

And Omega couldn’t stop thinking about how Crosshair had held his head, how his eyes had grown unfocused, the agonized groan he’d let out after dropping the net.

There could be something wrong with his brain.

“Have you seen anything like that before?” Omega called to Tech, who raced beside her, his left hip dropping lower than the right one.

They dodged an airborne flower pot, clay smashing against stone.

“No, not really. But perhaps he’s having a seizure of some sort.”

Fear gripped Omega’s throat tight, and she broke into a run, not at all caring for the slippery rock, and the puddles she splashed through, soaking her from head to toe.

“Wait up!” Tech called.

“Why did you volunteer?” Omega asked, voice accidentally coming out much snippier than she had wanted. Oops. “I can tell your leg needs a tune-up. Did you take all your medicine?”

“Stop mothering me.”

“I’m older than you.”

“Only in one way,” Tech pointed out. Then eventually he said, “I wanted to help. I wanted to do something useful for once. I… have much to make up for.”

Omega couldn’t help how she stopped in the rain, almost slipping, but catching herself, and turning to Tech: Tech, who looked so different after his Fall, his imprisonment, his brainwashing. She met his eyes unflinchingly—the brown, and the cybernetic.

“Tech, you have nothing to make up for.”

“I… know.”

From the way he bowed his head she could tell he didn’t.

“Well, let’s do this then.” She took his hand, lacing their fingers without a care that she was touching his two cybernetic ones. “Come on.”

Tech fought against the storm with her.

By the time they made it to Shep’s and Lyana’s, Omega was sweating and soaked through with rain. Tech was too. They were both panting as they knocked urgently on the door.

Lyana opened it up, hair gusting back violently, her eyes squinting against the wind.

Omega could hear AZI saying, “I do not think it wise to go out in the rain in your condition.”

“Omega? Tech? What’s wrong?” Lyana asked, sniffling, voice stuffed with congestion. 

Her eyes were red-rimmed, and Omega wished she had more time to check up on her. Though she was glad that she’d picked up on their obvious distress so they could skip the pleasantries.

Lightning flashed, and the resulting thunder seemed to shake the whole island.

“It’s Crosshair. He’s sick or—or something,” Omega panted out. “We need AZI. Quick.”

“Oh, I do not like rain.”

Omega raced in to grab him, gritting her teeth against his reluctance. “You were made on Kamino. It’s fine.”

“I never said I liked Kamino either.” Then he shot back at Lyana, “Stay inside.”

As Omega was leaving, Lyana put a hand on her arm, “Please let us know if Crosshair’s okay. As soon as you can.”

“We will,” Tech assured.

The race down the island was harder with the wet rock, and Omega’s shins were burning. Tech was managing all right, and even managed to pull Omega out of the way of an errant, flying deck chair.

They were filling in AZI on Crosshair’s condition as they hurried back home, and Tech suggested he could be having some kind of seizure.

AZI started running through the potential problems, and Omega felt her eyes trying to fill with tears. She lied to herself that it was just the rain, but she was a bad liar too.

There was so much that could be wrong: brain aneurysm, migraine, seizure, cranial hematoma, stroke, apparently even a heart attack. It all sounded so horrifying. Omega hated that she wasn’t by his side right this instant. Tech picked up the pace, only slipping and needing to catch himself a couple of times, though he winced. Omega wondered what this was doing to his lower back.

Yet she could see his love and determination as he raced back home, a love that Omega shared. Crosshair was an important member of their family.

They made it back home, and Omega didn’t bother taking her poncho off, leading AZI right to Crosshair’s room down the main hall.

She turned on the lamp, which caused Crosshair to groan, and roll over onto his stomach. He was shivering and sweating. She felt his head for a fever, but he was cool to the touch.

She did her best to not say anything, wondering if sound was hurting him too.

She pulled up a chair, and waited as AZI started what tests he could.

Hunter was pacing outside Crosshair’s room. He’d monitored his breathing and heart rate the whole time that Tech and Omega had been gone, able to hear it clear as day. Wrecker sat on the couch, hands clasped, rocking back and forth. Batcher had nestled in beside him, but her head was in the direction of Crosshair’s room. Clearly she knew something was wrong.

Hunter could hear AZI performing various tests, Crosshair groaning the whole time.

Omega, still soaked, suddenly rushed to the doorway.

“We need a bucket.”

In a flash Hunter was moving to the refresher, grabbing a bucket from under the counter, and unceremoniously dumping the cleaning supplies it held onto the tile floor. He belatedly realized that the clattering might have been too loud for Crosshair. He rushed back to Omega, handing it to her. She was back in the dimly lit room.

The sound of a hand smoothing against fabric reached his ears, and when he peeked in Omega was rubbing Crosshair’s back.

She and AZI had managed to get him hunched over the bucket.

A terrible moan left him, and Wrecker stood up, Batcher whining since she had just been placing her head in his lap.

Hunter held him back.

“He needs his space.”

Wrecker groaned, and hung his head.

Tech was leaning against a wall in the kitchen, dripping water, datapad in hand, fingers typing away faster than usual—a sure sign of his anxiety. He winced when he switched which leg held the most weight.

Hunter leaned his head down, and put his back against the wall when he heard Crosshair throw up. He pinched the bridge of his nose. Thunder shook the house.

He was tapping his toes against the floor, wishing there was something he could do, anything! He wanted to be in the room with them, but he worried it’d be too overwhelming. And, he didn’t trust himself to not get in the way. Crosshair needed these tests, not another person taking up his space.

But please, anything to help Crosshair.

“That’s it?” Omega suddenly asked, tone straightening Hunter’s spine. “No, no, that can’t be it. Please, there has to be something!”

That’s it.

He made to enter Crosshair’s room.

AZI floated over, blocking the doorway, and in a flash Wrecker and Tech were by Hunter’s side. Omega leaned against the doorjamb, arms crossed, lower lip trembling.

Hunter blinked at the sight, and reached out to her, rubbing her arm. Then he brought everything back into perspective, looking to AZI, who tapped his fingers together.

“Well?” he asked.

AZI held his little arms out in the approximation of a shrug. “I have tested him for everything I can think of, and was able to scan his brain. From what I can see there’s nothing wrong.”

Omega just about stamped her foot.

“Something’s obviously wrong,” Wrecker argued.

“I agree. These symptoms are quite unusual for the tests to not show anything. Perhaps this is just a migraine.”

“Just a migraine?” Hunter asked.

“Migraines can be quite severe,” Tech chimed in.

AZI floated closer to Hunter, and asked, failing to whisper, “How has his hand been?”

“The—the same,” he responded, taken aback by the question. Then it dawned on him. “Wait, are you saying this could be trauma related?”

“It is quite possible.”

Hunter glanced back at Tech, thinking about all his trauma symptoms he suffered from as well. Though, his didn’t make physical manifestations quite in the same way Crosshair’s seemed to. And Phee seemed to help. Crosshair didn’t have that, though maybe he didn’t need it. He had them.

“Was there anything that happened on this day?” AZI asked. “Anything you can recall?”

Hunter frowned, rubbing at his chin.

“No,” Omega sighed, chest caving with defeat.

“We were apart for some time,” Hunter said, that old regret an uncomfortable, lukewarm ache right above his stomach. He looked back at Wrecker and Tech. “Did he mention anything to you?”

Wrecker rubbed at the back of his head, looking down. Tech lifted his head from his datapad, squinting as he thought.

“No, nothing,” Wrecker said.

“I can’t recall anything either,” Tech responded.

“Will he get better?” Hunter asked.

“I assume so. Whatever is causing this in his mind will pass. Sometimes the body remembers things we do not. He could very well be better tomorrow.”

“And what if he’s not?” Wrecker asked. “What are we supposed to do? AZI, I don’t even think he knows where he is.”

“It is quite possible he does not know. We can treat symptoms for now to keep him comfortable. I have given him some injections for the nausea and pain.”

Hunter peered around AZI and Omega to where Crosshair was lying in bed, hopefully asleep. His shaking had thankfully subsided, and his breathing was a little easer. His heart rate had slowed.

“Well, thanks for your help, AZI,” Hunter said, tone low, deflated that there wasn’t more they could do. 

His body was tense, the chemicals in his brain telling his whole system that there was a problem, and as a soldier he had been able to fix many problems and dangers with physical action. Now, there was nothing he could do. His nerves were shot.

“I can stay in case he needs more immediate care,” AZI suggested.

Tech chimed in, a pointer finger raised, “I would like that.”

“Yeah, me too,” Wrecker agreed.

“Looks like you’re sticking around,” Hunter said.

AZI gave a little bob and retreated back into Crosshair’s room, Omega doing the same, hugging a pillow to her chest as she sat in the chair she’d pulled up before his bed.

Hunter didn’t know what he was supposed to do with himself.

Wrecker put a gentle hand on Omega’s cold, wet shoulder, kneeling down beside her. She was tense, body as hard as the stone walls keeping them safe from the storm. He glanced at Crosshair, who might have been sleeping; he hoped he was. AZI was in the corner, monitoring things.

“Hey, I need some help making lunch,” Wrecker said to Omega.

“I don’t want lunch.”

“Well, everyone else does.” 

Which wasn’t exactly true, but Wrecker couldn’t let Omega keep sitting here doing nothing. Tech had fallen into his work, though his right leg bounced anxiously, and Hunter was using the living room to workout and roughhouse with Batcher. Omega needed something.

She finally pulled her gaze from Crosshair, and Wrecker felt some success at this.

She sighed. “What are we making?”

“Can’t tell you yet,” he said softly. “I won’t have you making lunch in wet clothes.”

Omega frowned, looking down at herself. She was even still in her purple poncho.

“Oh.”

He wasn’t surprised she’d forgotten. Wrecker had often forgotten his own physical state while watching over his brothers when they were sick or injured. Once he’d forgotten about a deep slash to his arm, and had bled everywhere, and then had barely felt a thing as a droid stitched it up. He’d been so focused on Hunter at the time, who had fared much worse than he had on that particular mission.

Wrecker wasn’t sure he wanted food, either. But there was nothing they could do for Crosshair for now, and in case he did need them they had to keep up their strength. Besides, he had a fun recipe planned that he knew Omega would usually feel joy from. It was worth a shot.

She nodded, and winced slightly, rubbing at the back of her neck.

“Yeah, I’ll change.”

“Good. Meet you in the kitchen.”

Wrecker was getting out the ingredients for the noodles by the time Omega came over in a fresh set of clothes, her hair wrung out. She took a seat at the counter, kicking her legs.

“So what are we making?”

“I dunno the name,” Wrecker admitted, the dialect from the culture it had come from flying right over his head even faster than basic tended to. “But, we start with noodles.”

Omega brightened somewhat at that, as Wrecker had hoped she would. They always had a good time making noodles together.

This recipe called for milk, rather than egg, which thickened up the dough quickly once they’d made the well in the flour and started to mix.

In no time at all, Wrecker and Omega were at the counter, rolling out their own separate sheets of the blue dough. Though, she kept her head down, maybe in concentration, but there was a stiffness to her neck, and she kept angling her face away from him.

“Crosshair’s gonna be okay,” Wrecker told her.

“How do you know?”

Wrecker shrugged. “I guess I don’t know for certain, but AZI thinks he’ll be all right, and… well, with whatever’s going on with him, he can get through this. He’s strong.”

“Yeah. He is.”

Omega pounded her dough a bit too hard, but Wrecker let her do it. She had to get out her feelings somehow.

Wrecker tried to hold in a grin as they started slicing up the dough to shape the noodles. He picked up a thick strand, and then flung it at Omega. It hit her face, sticking to it a bit before dropping down.

She gasped, but then lifted up her head, grabbing the noodle and flinging it back at him. A hitched giggle left her, as if she were surprised by it.

As they started to fling noodles at each other, cutting them fast and haphazardly into the dough, Tech groaned and moved his stuff to the other side of the room. “Please do not get those on my work!”

Omega dodged a noodle, and Batcher caught it.

Wrecker didn’t exactly want Batcher eating their food, but he couldn’t help but laugh.

Hunter was up now, panting a little from his workout, a surprised smile on his face.

“How are we going to have anything to eat if you throw it all at each other?” he asked.

Wrecker stopped, noodle in hand, its own weight stretching it and making it drip down onto the counter.

“Oh, right.”

Omega giggled, and they got back to work, trying to be very serious about it. Wrecker flicked a noodle in her direction, and she snorted.

Hunter ended up helping, chopping up the various squid and octopi and shrimp they’d need. Omega was soon cleaning out the clams, and Wrecker chopped up the herbs, tomatoes, and peppers.

Together Wrecker and Omega breaded the squid, and Hunter was frying up the seafood, asking Wrecker repeatedly for instructions and how he wanted all the ingredients added together. The other pan for the squid was heating up.

Omega set water to boiling for the noodles, and Wrecker started frying up the squid.

Sizzling and bubbling and the scent of good food filled the kitchen.

“That smells very good,” Tech complimented.

“Can I have the wine?” Hunter asked.

Omega grabbed it for him from their little pantry near the counter, and passed it over. Hunter splashed some into the pan with all the seafood. Omega leaned in over the counter, and checked the pot.

Wrecker almost said a watched pot never boils, but it was good to see her occupied.

Batcher had padded over, lured by the scent of cooking seafood.

Wrecker almost snuck her a piece of the fried squid, but he resisted the temptation. Yet she was so cute! It was hard not doing everything she wanted.

She started pawing at Hunter, and he asked, “Tech, can you give Batcher some treats?”

“I’m a little busy.”

“What are you working on?” Omega asked.

“I am creating a new brain scanner… just to be safe.”

Crosshair moaned, and five heads turned towards his room.

Omega tensed from where she was perched on the counter.

“Should… should we check on him?”

Tech stood, breath hitching a little at first, a fist pressed against the table. “I’ll do it.”

Wrecker was dying to check, but he did have to get the noodles in the water if they wanted everything cooked on time. He craned his head around the cabinets, wishing he could see into Crosshair’s room rather than just glimpse a dark doorway at the beginning of the hall.

Tech limped as he went over. Wrecker wondered if the storm was bothering his scarring and permanent injuries. His own scars ached today.

Lightning flashed hard enough to shake the house, and Batcher ducked down, Omega reaching over to comfort her.

Somewhat reluctantly, Wrecker got back to work, putting the thick blue noodles in the water.

An ache was running up into his head, and he realized his jaw was clenched tight.

He breathed out hard, trying to release the pressure.

Hunter put a hand on his elbow, and just that acknowledgement and reassurance centered him a bit more. Yet he realized he felt like the ground was going to fall out beneath him, like he wasn’t standing in his kitchen making lunch with his family.

Tech came back in, and Wrecker widened his eyes, taking in his tired stance. He took a seat at the counter, engineering project abandoned for now.

“He’s… he’s holding up okay,” Tech said. “I think. It’s a little hard to tell, but AZI isn’t overly concerned. Though he did mention he might need an IV.”

“We don’t have those supplies,” Omega said.

Hunter was drying his hands as he said, raising his voice over the sizzling pans, “I could go to the healer’s, see if she has any available.”

“I believe she had to evacuate to upper Pabu,” Tech said. “I’m not sure where she is, or that she’d have what we need with her.”

Idly, he tried to reach over to the pan with the squid, and Wrecker slapped his hand away.

Tech rolled his eyes at him, but settled down.

In about ten more minutes, almost all of them were sitting at the table with their delicious lunch, noodles piled high with seafood, Crosshair’s vacant seat a horrible reminder of what their brother was enduring.

Tech kept glancing at it, stomach feeling hollow.

He forced himself to eat, tried to take the time to enjoy the various enriching flavors that bit pleasantly at his tongue. And he tried not to groan from where he sat in his chair, body aching in more places than he wanted to count.

There seemed to be a pit in his stomach, a dark shadow writhing inside his brain.

A part of him kept blaming himself, as it always did, murmuring, You did this. You hurt them. You hurt all of them.

The wind smashed one of their flowerpots (hopefully not one Crosshair had made). Hunter groaned, and Wrecker and Omega sighed. Tech flinched, tensing. Unable to release the tension, he tried to ignore it, and speared a piece of the fried squid onto his fork.

Eating sometimes felt… odd, which was to be expected with a branded tongue and memories of normalcy, and it felt odd now. But more than that, Crosshair’s seat was too empty.

You hurt him.

He knew it wasn’t true, but he couldn’t help but feel the blood rushing through him, pounding, pounding; couldn’t help the thorny darkness that expanded in his lungs, stealing his breath.

He squeezed his eyes shut, hanging his head, the squid forgotten on his fork.

Wrecker’s foot nudged him under the table, a subtle reminder of where he was, who he was with, and yet…

You hurt them. Your hurt all of them.

Tech tried to inhale, tried to fight the darkness back, but it just fought back harder, an equal reaction to him pushing on it like it was some sort of real force within him. It expanded into his stomach.

Tech put his fork down.

Crosshair groaned, making everyone at the table tense.

Tech, feeling horrible that his family had made such nice food and he couldn’t eat it, tried to stutter out some excuse, and then gave in to the tether he felt pulling himself inexorably towards Crosshair’s room.

Besides, it was surely his turn to sit and see if his brother was safe.

Tech missed the companionship of his family as he sat in the dark, watching over Crosshair, but at the moment he didn’t feel like he could be anywhere else.

He wished he could talk to him, tell him it was going to be okay, but he imagined even the sound of his voice would be like a knife through his head.

Tech waited.

Recognition slowly came back to Crosshair, though he was unsure how long it had taken, time still out of reach of his weekly-grasping mind. He was in his room, in near-darkness, a droid—AZI?—hovering in one corner, and… and someone beside him.

Crosshair groaned, and lifted a heavy arm to rub at his right eye.

Pain was subsiding.

Outside, the storm had calmed to a gentle rainfall, wind only whistling slightly instead of gusting and bellowing.

“What time is it?” he grumbled into the dark room, wondering if someone really was there.

“I believe it is eight p.m.” Tech responded.

Crosshair let out another groan, and slowly turned his head towards him.

He almost remembered what had happened, and there were lingering remnants: nausea, vertigo, some pain. Things were very slowly starting to make sense.

Tech pulled out his datapad (that’s what that was, right?), and held it close, keeping the light away from Crosshair.

“Correction,” he stated. “It is eight-oh-four p.m.”

“Thanks.”

AZI floated over, and the light almost didn’t bother Crosshair. “How are you feeling?” AZI asked.

“Like I got hit by a speeder,” Crosshair responded. “A large one.”

Or like he had the worst hangover of his life.

“We believe you suffered from a severe migraine,” Tech told him.

“Why would that happen?” Crosshair asked, grunting as he sat up in bed. He leaned over, rubbing at his eyes.

The silence was deafening.

He looked over. “What?” he spat.

“All of your physical tests came back normal,” AZI responded. “We believe your migraine was due to trauma.”

“But I didn’t hit my head,” he argued.

“Mental trauma,” Tech clarified.

Crosshair gritted his teeth, holding in a growl.

Kriff!

Energy suddenly flooded him as he had the urge to throw something, but the sickness in his body kept him in the bed. The two battling forces ended up with him breathing hard, shaking.

Tech put a hand on his shoulder, and Crosshair leaned into it slightly. He didn’t tell him it was going to be okay. Sometimes you just weren’t okay. How could he be?

He had thought maybe he was getting a handle on this, expressing himself through painting and even the spare bit of pottery-making, the tremors stilling as he worked. But now there was this? Did that mean this could happen again? Crosshair had never been so sick in his entire life.

He realized he was hyperventilating, sobbing, snot dripping out of his nose.

“Breathe,” Tech told him. “Just breathe.”

I am!

Though from anyone else the words would be condescending. From Tech, from someone who shared pain deeper than their very marrow, it wasn’t. He knew. He understood, even if his brain wasn’t stupid enough to come up with things for his body to feel because he couldn’t handle it.

Oh, kriff, he was so scared.

He turned, leaning into Tech, instinct and pain telling him he needed protection, that he had to watch his back. With Tech there, he knew he was safe.

In a few minutes Crosshair had calmed down somewhat, exhausted body simply not letting his panic attack continue.

Finally, in the silence, Tech asked, “Are you all right?”

Crosshair shook his head.

“That’s okay.”

“Excuse me,” AZI said, “just to be safe I think I should run more tests.”

Crosshair gave the barest of nods, and leaned back so AZI could have access to him.

In a few minutes he was given a somewhat clean bill of health. Though, he wasn’t sure what he could do for his mind. Helplessness surrounded him, pressed in through his pores, his orifices, seeping down into his bones.

Tech had a hand on his knee, which… it was something. He was with his family, he was home—home, a word he had once thought he’d never have again.

This was all so exhausting, and yet his stomach grumbled, and he thought he could smell leftover remnants of a good meal.

The uncertainty of his situation, of his health, dug into his brain like wire and spikes, settling along his brain stem, making his spine rigid. He didn’t know if he was going to be okay. He just never wanted this to happen again.

AZI explained that perhaps his body remembered something traumatic that he hadn’t been able to keep track of. He supposed that was a reasonable explanation.

With a long-suffering sigh he managed to drag himself out of bed.

He sat at the table, Batcher sitting under said table so she could lean against his legs. No places but his were taken, everyone in the living room to give him some space. It was… nice to have them around, and nice not to be crowded by them immediately. Tech kept glancing his way, though he was pretending to have his nose buried in his datapad. Wrecker, Hunter, and Omega were doing the same, “busy” with other pursuits.

Crosshair sighed.

“I don’t know what happened,” he admitted. “I… don’t know what today could have been an anniversary of.”

Everyone seemed to take that just fine, but Crosshair didn’t.

He wondered, he wanted to know. He couldn’t remember.

Nothing came to him as he ate the admittedly scrumptious meal his family had made for lunch while he had been sleeping, while he had been… suffering, completely lost, mind gone. He was still slowly coming back to himself, not fully recovered just yet.

What could it possibly be?

Crosshair hadn’t been keeping track during his late days with the Empire, but his body knew, and it would always know: it was a year to the day that Mayday had died beside him, killed at the hands of a cruel, and uncaring Empire.

[heretek-birth]

Two-Stage Pregnancy (Part 3, Chapter 6)

Part 3, Chapter 5 The Whole Story

Early afternoon:

"So, how are you doing right now?"

"Nnnnnh! Kelly! This head is driving me insane!" Sarah curls forward once again, pulling back her legs and bearing down hard against Dave's hands over the head.

"You've been crowning on and off since this morning, right? How're you holding up?"

Sarah lets out a loud moan, her legs twitching in the air as his tongue drags her to yet another orgasm. "What- What does it look like- HaaaaAAH-" She hauls back her legs and pushes again, her face turning red from the effort.

"Hehehe, glad to see you're having fun." Kellner watches her shudder and gasp one more time before the contraction fades and Sarah lays back onto the bed. She takes her hand and sits with her through the next few contractions, coaching her to push as long and hard as she can, being with her as she shudders and gasps again and again whenever she bears down hard, resisting the urge to imitate her with a hand down her pants. Instead, she contents herself with watching Sarah closely, drinking in every minute detail - the way her face shifts whenever she's driven over the edge, the way she grips her hand so tightly whenever she bears down, the way her hair falls, matted just a little with sweat in a way she just can't help finding beautiful right now, the way she lays back, so, so tired, at the end of each contraction…

Actually, that might be important. "Sarah, how're you feeling?" Kellner waits for a break between contractions to interrupt. "Are you doing okay?"

"Kinda…"

"Is something wrong? Or did we-"

"No, I'm just tired. I've been pushing a lot today." She directs a feigned glare towards the foot of the bed. "I'm a little glad to hear you worrying about me, though."

"Awww, thanks…" Kellner feels herself start to blush a little. "This would be a good time to have this baby for real, if you feel like you're ready for it."

"Yeah, I'm ready. Let's do this"

"Alright. Here, let me-" She takes Dave's place holding the head. "You're not too tired for one more thing, are you? To make this last part really special?"

She shakes her head, then groans softly as she feels her baby start to move back inside.

"Good, that's what I was hoping for." Kellner starts to press the head back inside, more and more, until Sarah's lips close over the head. "It'd be about time for this anyways if we weren't birthing the head."

"How does this-"

"Here-" Kellner pushes two gloved fingers inside on either side of the head. "How'd you like to really stretch for me?"

Sarah's breath starts to quicken at the thought - maybe she wasn't that tired.

"Yeah, just like this, pulling with my fingers. It's the closest we can get to an instrumental birth right now without an actual medical reason for one. And-" She seems entirely too excited by this. "It's completely off-the-books."

What the hell is this woman? What kind of complete pervert is she to come up with that idea? "Do it." The same kind Sarah is, apparently.

"All in one contraction. We'll have you push, and I'll pull on the head, and you'll crown your baby just like that. It'll hurt, Sarah. It'll hurt so bad, burn like nothing else so far, stretch you even more than you've already gone. It'll be hard, but I know you can do it."

Sarah takes deep breaths, equal parts nervous and eager for what's to come.

"Your next one should be soon. Give me one, long push, right through all the burning when you feel it. You'll push hard, and feel that head coming, feel my fingers stretch you so, so wide, and then you'll crown the head, okay?."

She nods, as she feels pressure start to grow.

"Good girl, good girl. Wait just a second for me, let that contraction get nice and strong."

Sarah does her best to breathe through the nervous anticipation, through her body's growing urges, waiting and waiting for the all-clear. She shifts uncomfortably, eager and nervous to push, feels the pressure start to get really serious, just waits and breathes through it and-

"Alright then, Sarah. Are you ready to have your baby now?"

She nods again, and grips the sides of the bed.

"Good, good girl…" Kellner gives a smile, but no word just yet. "Thaaaat's a good girl, there you go… Aaaaaand…."

"Push! Push hard! Theeeeeeere you go-" She tugs gently with her fingers, then a little less gently, helping ease the head forward as she watches Sarah's lips spread apart more and more, watches the head as it pries its way forward, as it's forced down by Sarah's huge, shaking push, by her fierce, determined efforts to feel herself stretch.

Sarah wants to scream, to cry out at the sudden, harsh pain as her baby is dragged forward, as she's suddenly forced to open wider and wider, as she loses all control of the pace, feels the head bulling forward no matter what. Instead, she tucks in her chin, grips as hard as she can, and pushes even more. She gives everything she has to make her baby move down, to try to force it through the most sensitive part of her body. She struggles and fights through the pain, pressure, burning, to force the head down, to make all of it worse and worse and worse.

"Beautiful, beautiful stretch, Sarah. Just like that, right where it burns."

She feels the head pulled forward, feels the stinging fire grow and grow as her baby comes closer to the world, fulfilling her deep-seated biological drive to push to burn and stretch so, so far for her baby's head coming out of her. This is it. She's doing it. She's giving birth, for real this time. She's pushing and pushing and opening up for her baby, stretching so wide, so wide for the head and it's coming more and she's stretching more, and this time she does scream, pain and fury and determination, but she doesn't let up, doesn't let the head stop. She needs this. Needs to feel the burning- more and more, as much as she can get. Needs to feel herself stretch. Needs to feel herself open- For her baby to come through her, through that burning, to push and push and-

"Have your baby, that's it- Push right here-"

Sarah throws back her head, squeezes her eyes shut, and gives everything she has, every bit of effort, to make her baby come out. It's wide - too wide - stretching her so much more than it should, but she doesn't care. She's going to push and stretch and scream again and again, whatever it takes. She's going to make herself a mom, right here and right now. She's going to have a baby.

"Push! Push! Here it comes!"

She grips the sides of the bed like her life depends on it, spreads her legs inhumanly wide, keeps pushing with everything she has to give. She feels gentle fingers inside her, pulling the head forward and giving her that much more to stretch for, wider and wider, no breaks and no pauses. It won't stop- The burning, stretching won't stop- and she won't stop either. She can't stop. All she can do is hold on as she's pried open, wider and wider, beyond all sense and reason, as she's set on fire, feels a terrible ring blazing more and more, as her baby is born. She feels it coming, slow and steady, building and building as her body opens up for every bit of the head, forced apart by the huge, overdue dome between her legs, stretching more more and more until she hears herself scream, until-

"Crowning! Here it is! You're crowning!"

All she can give is one long, wordless shriek, shaking with the effort, with the desperate, inhuman struggle to just get it out of her.

"Slow! Slow! Take it slow, okay?"

Kellner doesn't take her fingers out, doesn't let the head come. She pauses it, holds it in place for one glorious second, stares mesmerized at just how far Sarah's managed to open herself up, feels her frantic, total effort to force her baby's head out of her, fighting with everything she has to give birth then and there. Kellner stalls things just a moment longer, lets Sarah stay so unbearably stretched for just a brief second, then two, then three, searing every part of this memory into her brain, before she finally lets the head start to ease forward again.

"There you go. Push for me- Have your baby-"

Sarah shudders, gasps, writhes, feeling every bit of the head as it inches its way out of her. She feels the long, endless moments of that titanic crown, feels herself forced open, stretched and burning and crying out again and again at the slow agony as her baby comes. She gives everything she has to get the head out, but it makes no difference as long with Kellner's hands controlling the speed, letting the head come at what feels like a glacial pace as the extra fingers add even more to the unbearable wize of her baby's crowning head. The brow, the eyes- They come one by one, bit by bit, eased out carefully through her burning, over-stretched lips. The nose, the mouth- maneuvered with exacting, expert care while she screams and screams. There's the briefest of pauses. The chin-

"That was perfect, Sarah! That was so, so good!"

Sarah moans and clutches at her husband, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt as she fights for breath.

"Alright, alright, just helping the shoulders rotate-" Kellner presses two fingers near the top of Sarah's opening, drawing a soft groan from the other end of the bed as her baby slowly shifts. "Sorry, sorry. Shoulders are really hard, I know." She pauses for a moment. "This next part will suck. There's no good way around it. These babies have wide shoulders, yours especially. Just give me a short push when I ask for one, and you'll be okay."

"Okay." Her hands find her husband's and she grips tightly as the contraction builds.

"Alright, nearly there now. Just one more-"

Kellner pushes down on the head with surprising force. She presses two fingers inside near the top of Sarah's opening, reaching deep inside to try to hook the arm.

"AHHHHHHH- KELLY-" Sarah feels herself stretch upwards, right into her clit, as fingers probe harshly inside her. "WHAT'RE YOU-"

"Push!"

She does, feels herself stretching more and more, fierce burning right where she's most sensitive. She feels Kellner's fingers digging inside her, tugging, pulling, feels something coming and coming and- She can't stop herself from shuddering, can't stop herself from crying out at the sudden pressure, can't stop herself from cumming as she stretches up right into her clit, feels the fresh, bright pain as something wet and warm is pulled out of her.

"Next one. Here-"

There's no recovery and hardly any warning. This time, her baby is pulled up, fingers press and dig and make her burn near the base of her opening, making her grit her teeth from the pain, the overstimulation, the pressure-

"Sorry! Just- Try and hold on a little-"

Sarah pants and groans and grips Dave's hands as she tries not to give in to the contraction crushing, overwhelming, pressing down on her, while Kellner's fingers probe deeper and deeper, stretching her, searching more and more-

"Breathe! Just breathe!"

She tries. She tries to let it come, to just lay back and pant through that unbearable pressure, to just hold on and wait however long it takes, to just let it burn again, more and more as fingers quest in vain, as she gasps, as she shudders, as she loses-

"Push! Now!"

She cries out again, stretching and burning even worse as she bears down, as Kellner's fingers guide something, bulky and yet so impossibly delicate, closer and closer, as they make her burn more and more until-

"GAAAAAH-"

"That's it! That's it! Sarah, open your eyes!"

There's something big, pink between her legs.

"Reach down for me."

It's warm, wet. There's a head, two arms out of her.

"Push one more time."

She grunts, one brief flare of pain, and then-

"Baby! You're here! My baby!" Sarah pulls her son close to her chest, and everything else is forgotten as she stares down at the tiny life she made inside her.

-

Four weeks later:

"When was this?"

"A few months ago." Kellner looks sheepish, explaining far too late something she should've been upfront about.

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea!" Sarah reaches across the table to take her hand. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"Having our third was what did it. Being in this program, she could get behind that, but unambiguously getting off on it was just a step too far."

Sarah reaches out again, offers another hand to hold.

"I thought she would understand, at least-" She swallows, shakes her head. "I guess you didn't notice when I stopped wearing the ring."

She gives a dry laugh. "I guess not."

"On paper, it's all wrapped up with a neat little bow, custody and finances and all that - I haven't been cheating with you, or anything. I guess I didn't say anything because I just- I needed to be sure. This was all so sudden to me, and you're not exactly single, and-" Her voice starts to break as she continues. "And- I-"

"No, no, it's okay." Sarah takes Kellner's hands in her own. "You don't need to be sorry. I wanted to be here for you, that's all." They share a moment of silence. "I'm here now, though. You'll be okay."

Kellner nods, breathing deep to steady herself. "I can't- I couldn't do something serious, not this soon. But would we be together for-"

"For yours, at least." Her eyes glance downward, towards Kellner's sizable baby bump. "Until that one's born. Beyond that, how about we wait and see."

Kellner clings tightly to Sarah's hands, a single tear squeezing out along her cheek. "Thank you." She breathes a sigh of relief, balanced, somehow, on a knife edge between too much and too little commitment. "I mean it. I couldn't do this alone. Not right now."

"Of course. I couldn't have done it alone either. I didn't have to. I'm only returning the favor."

A few more moments pass between them, before Kellner breaks the silence. "This might get complicated."

"Let it be complicated. We'll work something out."

The two of them arrived separately, but they leave together.

-

Shortly afterwards:

"Jesus-" Was all Dave could manage, at the sight of the heap of packages on his doorstep. Almost, though not quite all, of them were plain cardboard boxes or carried simple "Amazon" logos - "Discreet shipping", as the various websites had offered.

"Maybe we went a little overboard." They'd been making plans, big ones. Coming up was the nine-month mark of Kellner's pregnancy (what was her first name again?), and the three of them had decided to make an event of it. A few back-dated forms later and with a "few" things ordered online, they were in business. Of a sort.

"At least it'll be an interesting weekend."

Some closing notes:

If the relationship between Sarah and Dr. Kellner seems like it was completely unplanned-for until I started writing part three, it's because that's exactly what happened. It sounded like a good idea when I came up with it, so I did my best to kludge that new story direction together with the earlier content. There hasn't been any explicit retconning, but I wrote parts 1, 2, and 2.5 under the assumption that both Sarah and Kellner were straight and married to men, so that might represent something of a shift in tone.

Furthermore, as the author, I declare it to be canon that no infidelity was involved in that character arc. Sarah was forthright and Dave was supportive of their relationship, and Kellner was single before anything untoward happened.

For anyone claiming this fic to be inaccurate, you are most likely correct. I have maintained some economy with the truth for the sake of creating better pornography. Additionally, I have as much experience with LGBTQ and polyamorous relationships as I do with the actual experience of giving birth, to wit: none whatsoever. I have done my best in that regard, and I can only apologize if my best is not very good.

Also, to anyone wondering how Kellner can participate in all this kinky stuff while holding down a full-time job as a doctor, this story is set in a fantasy universe where doctors work reasonable hours.

[chronicowboy]

Buck doesn't even question it when he pulls up to Eddie's house instead of his own apartment block. He has the go-ahead to return to work, but for some reason, the relieved joy he'd expected has been buried under a confusing mudslide of emotions that make his head hurt if he looks at them too closely.

He tells himself he's at Eddie's because he's returning the favour, paying him back for last year when Eddie had showed up on his doorstep with a six pack, a grin and his transfer back to the 118 paperwork.

Buck doesn't have a six pack, or a grin, or a vague date for his return because he hadn't even told Bobby about his cardiologist appointment today for fear of the news awaiting him.

But he knocks on Eddie's door anyway because he may be just Buck, but that's enough. Its always been enough at the Diaz house, and maybe that's what he should be appreciating after everything.

The smile Eddie gives him when the door cracks open is enough to ease most of the tightness in his chest. He remembers a similar smile two nights ago, the way it had blossomed so softly on Eddie's face, how it had lit up his eyes and rosied the apples of his cheeks.

Yeah, he's enough here.

"Dr Salazar told me to ask you how her diagnosis of repression was holding up," Buck says, pushing past Eddie, eager for the warmth of the living room. "She told me you'd know what that meant."

"You really need to learn to say hello," Eddie grumbles good-naturedly as Buck drops onto the couch with a blissful sigh. Buck cranes his head in time to watch Eddie's face do something complicated. "Wait, what'd she say?"

"She asked how her repression diagnosis was going," Buck sounds out slowly.

"Motherfucker," Eddie hisses to himself. Buck watches rapt as his cheeks fill with colour.

"Yeah, do I get to know what that means?"

Eddie meets his eyes, and Buck wonders if she was a bit too hasty in her dismissal of him because his heart does something worrying in his chest at the dizzying intensity of emotion on Eddie's face.

"Not yet," he murmurs. It sounds like a promise.

Buck swallows past the lump in his throat.

"Wait, you had an appointment today?" Eddie drops onto the coffee table in front of him, a beautiful concern simmering in his eyes. Buck flushes at the attention. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Buck nods, "I am more than okay. In fact, I'm so okay that I am free to return to work whenever I please."

"Okay..." Eddie squints at him. "Why do I feel like you're about to make our quitting the 118 score two-one?"

"I'm not quitting the 118," Buck sighs. "Not again."

"But?" Eddie prods gently.

"But," Buck drags a hand down his face, "I don't know if I'm quite ready to come back yet." He thinks he must be imagining the slight sag of Eddie's shoulders, can't help but wonder if its disappointment or relief if he wasn't imagining it.

"Its a big step after something like this," Eddie concedes.

"After your shoulder, you got cleared with Frank one day, and had a return to work date the next."

"Yeah, and we all remember how that turned out," Eddie snorts.

"Fair enough."

"Its natural to take a bit of time when you aren't ignoring absolutely every warning sign your body is sending you," Eddie tells him. "Bobby will hold your place for you, you know that. Hell, he'd hold it for a decade if he had to. And I might be a bit bummed without my partner around, but I'll live if its so he can take care of himself." Eddie's voice is unbearably soft in a way that makes Buck's skin crawl, its been doing that a lot around Eddie since he woke up. "Besides, I'm sure he'll be drinking my beer and crashing on my couch most nights anyway." Rolling his eyes, Buck huffs a laugh.

"It just feels weird, you know?" He shrugs a shoulder. "After my leg, I fought so hard to get back."

"Yeah, I remember," Eddie says dryly.

"Shut up." Buck shakes his head. "I fought so hard to come back and now I'm being told I can and I just..."

"It feels too easy?"

"Yeah."

"Buck, you're so used to fighting." Eddie shuffles a little closer, and Buck does his best not to flinch at the spark that jolts through him when their knees knock together. "For everything. Ever since you were a kid, you were fighting for everything everyone else just had handed to them. Its hard to shake off a lifelong habit." Eddie tilts his head to catch Buck's eye, he was unaware they'd wandered away from Eddie's determined face. "But last time was different. You know that. You were different."

And Buck knows what he means. That Buck seems so drastically different to the Buck he is now, whatever software update he's at. The Buck who tied his worth to firefighting, who had no identity outside of it, who felt like he was always one step away from being left behind.

But he's also not convinced he's all that different. Firefighting is still his life. He has maybe one or two friends outside of the 118 family. And, yes, he knows that they're a family now, knows that not one of them would leave him behind. The past week has been proof of that. But who is he outside of the firehouse?

"I don't think I really know who I am when I'm not fighting fires," Buck whispers to the carpet.

It feels a lot like a shock of lightning when Eddie uses his pointer finger to nudge Buck's chin up.

"You're Buck," Eddie nods, conviction dripping from him.

And that's enough?

"You're an amazing firefighter, yes," Eddie's hand is still on his chin. "But you're an even better brother to Maddie and Hen and Chim. You're an incredible uncle to an incredible niece. You're the best of friends. You're Christopher's..." Here, Eddie pauses. Buck's heart thumps. "You're Christopher's," Eddie says decisively. "But more than all of that, you're Buck. And maybe that's all you need to be."

Buck grits his teeth when the familiar sting of tears has him squeezing his eyes shut. He takes a few steadying breaths, the ones the lung specialist had taught him when he could finally keep his eyes open for more than ten minutes. With every expansion of his lungs, it feels like his heart grows a little bigger too.

The bravery hits him out of nowhere.

"To Maddie, Hen and Chim, huh?" he asks, meeting Eddie's eyes. "What am I to you, Eddie?"

"Not yet," Eddie says softly. "Not just yet."

And Buck thinks he doesn't mind waiting for this answer.

[redbleedingrose]

i think eris collects fancy wine and lucien has a lot of old maps what do u think

Oh, I have been waiting all DAY for someone to send me an ask about my favorite Vanserra bro’s! I am so excited tehehhe!!

Hobbies for the Vanserra Bro’s

Eris Vanserra

Okay, starting with the love of my LIFE!!!

He is a master of all trades tbh. He has so many hobbies, especially once Beron goes bye bye LMAO. He has so much more free time, he was already practically running the Autumn Court, even when Beron was alive. But now, without the added stress of his father, he is trying to explore all different avenues for hobbies, especially when you can join him.

He absolutely collects fancy wines. I think Er is a collector in general. He likes collecting wines that you both can share after a long day of hard work, he likes to collect unique and rare editions of his favorite books that he can display in the library he built for you, he likes collecting rocks and geodes and seashells that he will use as decorations in Marwa and Twila’s nursery. When they are born, Eris becomes a collector of all things for his favorite babes. He collects dresses and jewelry that they will use when they are older, he loves collecting shoes and handbags for them. Eventually, a new wing to your home is added just so he can store all of things he has collected over the years for them that they have unlimited access to. I also think Er would collect children’s stories and books for them, he loves encouraging them to learn and grow into smart, young ladies. He absolutely expands the library for them, creating a little play space for them along with hundreds, if not thousands of books that all belong to them.

I also think Eris would become involved with creating DV shelters. He would absolutely love being involved in foundations and charities that specialize in helping women get away from their ab*sers, and building a new life for themselves. He has created a whole new job sector for these women, and often finds himself visiting these shelters so that he can help the older ladies running the home cook and clean. You can picture him in his apron, scrubbing away at the tile with furrowed brows trying to get the grout out. He would also bring his pups to the shelters so that they can play with the ladies and the children.

While Beron was alive, he did have a secret hobby that only you know of. One that you and him will take to the grave. One that was the reason for your first oathe to him, the reason that you have a tattoo that matches his on your left forearm.

Tehe.

You know those smutty books that Nesta reads?

Yeah…… He ghost wrote those.

Don’t ask questions, but he did.

The poor male had to express himself and his desire for you somehow.

Anyway, only you and him know that he is Prythian’s best selling romance author. And thats the way its going to stay.

That secret follows you both to the grave.

Oh and Eris is for sure an animals rights activist. He loves his horses and his pups so much, even though he will never admit it, but he has spent a lot of time creating laws that provide protections for endangered species and animal rights in general. He has limited hunting grounds in Autumn Court to allow for safe areas for animas to roam and exist freely. He absolutely tries to convince you to move onto a farm with him. He wants so many animals on that farm, he wants pigs and goats, dogs and cats, horses and cows. He also really loves the idea of having chickens.

One day you will give in from his incessant begging.

Not today, but one day.

Lucien Vanserra

Lucien is also a collector, just like his older brother. He absolutely collects old maps. He also collects coins that he finds on the ground, claiming they are lucky, and he also collects stamps from different courts, using them to depict his travels and act as an homage to his journey through life that lead to finding you. I think Loosh also collects art and pottery, and I know he himself, has dipped into the talent of pottery as a hobby. Even if all of his vases are a little crooked and his mugs are kinda cracked and a janky orange color.

He tries his very best, and thats all that matters to you.

So you will absolutely display his crooked vases in your home, and use his janky orange mugs, even if he glares at you while your coffee leaks in dribbles onto the floor and you smirk at him over the rim of the mug and you wiggle your eyebrows as you “cheers” him. Because you are a loving, good mate who displays your mates talent of course.

Even if it is just to make fun of him

But I also think he is a nature freak. He loves cultivating and collecting rare herbs and plants that he can grow in Day Court. He loves using those herbs and plants to create herbal remedies. He is a big naturalist. I think before you accepted him as your mate, he spent a lot of time in the Day Court libraries trying to get his mind off of you and he did that by studying old medicine. He studied different healing techniques and herbs that he could use to create medicinal potions. Over time, it grew into collecting these herbs and creating these potions for those who are sick, especially the elderly where he ended up donating a lot of his creations.

He also loves going fishing, he could spend hours in the ocean or in a lake or river swimming and fishing. He always releases them back into the wild, but I think there is something he finds peaceful about being in nature and being able to use nature in different ways. He loves going on hikes with you, and he absolutely is a camping nerd. His first holiday with you included going no-contact with every other person he knows for a week and spending that week in nature with you. He taught you different ways to find fresh water, and he would catch fish and cook them for you over the fire he stoked. At some point, he became really really good at cooking outdoors and was creating meals that are almost impossible for the most experienced chefs to make out door using nature.

Anyway, it was fun, and while it may not be your cup of tea for every vacation you take, you will go with him on this camping trip at least once a year to get away from society and spend time with your favorite male.

But!!! This does spark an idea for Lucien.

He loves to take young children out into nature to teach them about it, teaching them how to fish and how to survive in the outdoors just for fun. So he creates a little group of 5-10 year old children similar to Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, encouraging all children to join him as he takes them out into nature. He teaches them how to swim, and how to tie sailors knots, and how to safely make s’mores. The children of Day Court look forward to it all year, excited to spend one on one time with their high lord who teaches them so many things, who is so kind to them, who is so funny and cool to hang out with. Story time in front of a campfire slaps for those kids. Eventually, when your children grow of age, he brings them with him, giving you a whole week for yourself to rejuvenate and vacation in peace.

With that being said, Lucien does take action similar to his brother. He creates national parks and conservation areas to protect nature. It is something that he finds incredibly important and he knows that one day, his children and grandchildren, and future generations as well, will appreciate his efforts to protect the world. He goes as far as convincing other courts to join his efforts as well, expanding protected areas.

Masterlist