#at least i still have something to fill the emptiness i've been feeling this whole week since bbs ended ;;;

[walpu]

I've got those requests almost at the same time jsrfwwxewe also I fucked up big time and accidentally deleted them but thanks god I've made the screenshots

I've been looking forward to writing something nsfw for him lmao

nsfw headcanons w/Aventurine

characters - Aventurine notes - gn!reader, nsfw, subby!Aven. Somehow turned into a character study. Somewhat angsty but with a turn for hurt/comfort. No beta.

Okay, first of all, he's no virgin. But he's NOT a manwhore either. Like for some reason when it comes to the cunning characters it's always either he's a dickrider-pussydestroyer-900 or he's actually a fragile innocent virgin baby. Not the case with Aventurine, not on my watch at least.

I mean it's pretty much canon that the only moment he feels truly alive is when he's gambling so he won't seek sex for the purpose of filling up the hole in his heart. And I don't see him as a lustful person in general.

He has one-night stands from time to time though. Not particularly often but once in a while he feels a certain level of frustration and stress budling up in him so in order to distress without losing his cool he seeks sexual relief. For him it's a safe way to relax a bit without actually taking off the mask of a frivolous and confident man.

Also. He's very touch starved. Not even in a lustful way, he just wants to feel someone's touch. Someone on twitter pointed out that he's practically hugging himself on his e6 and I haven't been the same ever since.

And now look at his body language in almost every cutscene. He has his arms crossed and is generally pretty reversed. I think he doesn't trust people around enough to be in his personal space but when it's a part of the sexual act, it's just natural. He doesn't have to feel exposed. So yeah. This is another reason why he seeks sex.

Now do you remember what Sparkle said to him? About stripping himself naked for Sunday and all that? Yeah I feel like he gets comments like that a lot due to people's prejudice against Avgins. People are usually not this straightforward butttt the idea behind their comments is the same.

He may act unaffected as long as he wants to but I do think it messed him up quite a bit.

Due to his fucked up views on his own value and his sexuality he doesn't have a healthy set of boundaries with his partners, allowing them to be as mean and rough as they want. And I don't mean just kinky stuff, I mean genuinely uncaring partners who really don't give a shit about Aven's comfort. I think subconsciously he seeks people like this. In his eyes, it's better this way, otherwise he may crumble from a gently and caring touch.

So yeah. His sexual encounters usually leave him sore and exhausted. The initial feeling of relief washes away in the morning, leaving him more empty than before.

Okay now to the happier part because we are 466 words in and I still didn't say anything good or sexy.

If the two of you started your relationship as a fling then initially he would be surprised because of how observant and attentive you are.

"My, my, how caring you are. But don't worry about me, you're free to use me as you wish" he says in the same flirty tone as usual. And you just. Stare.

He acts like he's bored while you literally pry the information out of him and, well, he doesn't give you anything specific anyway so you have to ask questions during the whole prosses to make sure he's doing fine. Orrr you just set for something very vanilla just in case.

In reality he's a bit confused. Has mixed feeling about this. Being treated with such care makes it harder for him to hide behind his mask but it feels so nice.

And when he realizes that he has actual feelings for you he just. Stops sleeping with you lmao. If you have questions about this he'll find 2134144 excuses but in reality he just tries to figure out his own feelings.

If you started off as friends then he would not try to sleep with you until you start dating. At first he just doesn't want to mix up this dynamics. And when he catches feelings, he just tries to make sense of it. Plus since sex is not something entirely positive for him, he's just kind of... unsure how it may affect your relationship even if it's obvious that the two of you want each other.

Okay now the real talk. When the two of you are officially lovers be prepared to face his messed up views on his own sexuality. Will probably need a lot of reassurance, attention and aftercare to realize the importance of his own safety and comfort. Learns to value himself through you.

A very good lover, knows how to please you and wants to please you. His previous sex partners weren't important to him so he didn't go out of his way to make them feel good but with you it's a different story. Literally worships your body, pressing kisses everywhere. Especially likes your thighs. Kisses them, bites them, leaves marks all over them. Loooooves teasing them while keeping eye contact with you right before giving you oral.

I feel like he's a switch but leans towards being a sub. May dom if you want him to or, rarely, if he feels like it.

May look like a brat but is not actually a brat. Well, most of the time. He's a tease but still does pretty much everything you want without making you work for it. However, if he's in a playful mood, may get all cheeky with you. Says stuff like: "Oh, that's all? I know you can do better" or "My dearest, don't disappoint me, okay? You know I don't make deals that don't pay off" just to rile you up. He loves being tamed okay. He knows you won't hurt him so him being all cheeky and disobedient is actually a huge sign that he's comfortable with you and trusts you fully.

Worship his body and he'll melt. Like. He'll genuinely crumble.

Goes all worked up and needy and soft and completely submissive in your arms.

Loves loves loves edging you. And fucking hate being edged. And by "hates" I mean he will whine and sulk and beg you to let him cum already. Secretly loves it but won't admit. You know it anyway since he never tries to stop you, obeying your every command, like a good boy he is. If you tell him that you'll stop doing that if he actually wants you to he'll huff and admit that he's not actually against you being a meanie.

Loves marking your body and loves when you mark his. HOWEVER would prefer to leave/have hickeys on the parts of your bodies that are usually covered. Doesn't want to create any rumors and doesn't want to make you uncomfortable. However, if you're into this, he'll gladly cover your entire neck with hickeys.

Is actually very sensitive pretty much everywhere so it's quite easy to overstimulate him. Once again, he'll whine but would never be against it.

Has the pretties moans and is very loud as well.

Doesn't have a lot of stamina so if he tops and you're still not satisfied after he cums, he'll use toys to entertain you up until he is ready for another round. If he bottoms then please give him some time to rest. Andddd kiss all over his body so he would get worked up again as soon as possible.

Has a praise kink. And a bit of a degradation kink too actually. Don't just insult him, mix it up with a praise and boom he's ready to cum.

Loves aftercare. Both giving and receiving it. He feels extremely vulnerable after a sensual lovemaking session so please just hold him and tell him he did great.

[222col]

Can you please write a fanfic about shy nerd Stanford student Art being in love with reader who studies in the same college and her repeatedly rejecting him but Art pining for her and doing everything to change her mind and he only has eyes for her even though there are many girls who have crush on him and trying to seduce him and get him to like them back. And one day his best friend Patrick decides to set him on a blind date without Art knowing because he knows he would refuse so when Patrick tells him to meet a girl he thinks that they would meet for studies or something and when Art goes to that "blind date" he notices that y/n was on a date in the same place on and she realizes that she has feelings for Art because she gets jealous when she sees him with the girl but she can see that he's feeling very uncomfortable around that other girl. You can add smut and them ending up together I'M BEGGING YOU TO WRITE SOMETHING LIKE THIS 🧎‍♀️

oh my god yes yes (i changed the blind date idea a little hope thats okay!!!) i may have gone a little overboard on the length i was excited okay | 18+!!!

"c'mon, please, just say yes this time," he's pleading with you. holding your favourite flowers in his hand. part of you feels bad, rejecting him again and again. he is cute, just a little too cute for you. "art, i've told you, you're not my type." your arms are folded, he sighs and leans his head against your door frame. "will you at least accept the flowers?" his words are like whimpers. you smile sweetly at him, extending your arm. that smile is all he needs, handing you over the bouquet. you find an empty cup in your dorm room, filling it with water and placing the flowers inside. he watches your every move from the doorway. "goodbye, art" you mumble, grabbing your phone from your back pocket and laying on your bed. you don't watch him leave, he studies you for a few moments before closing your door and heading back to his own room.

"hey, art," girls flutter their lashes at him on his walk home, he always just smiles awkwardly and moves along, breaking the heart of another girl, because they just aren't you. he arrives to his dorm, collapsing on the bed. his cock twitches, he didn't even realise he was hard until that moment. must have been when your hand grazed his taking the flowers, or the sight of your hard nipples against your stanford t-shirt. his hand is already in his trousers, thinking about you bursting through his door, apologising for all the times you rejected him, kissing his whole body telling him how stupid you were for not letting him take you out. his door swings open, he comes there and then, stuck in his fantasy. "oh jesus christ art, did she say no again?"

art quickly covers himself and his mess as his cheeks blush red, patrick sits on the edge of the bed. "don't laugh," art begs, burying his head in his pillow. he can hear patrick smiling in his words, "i'm not, but christ, man, you need some pussy." patrick watches him shake his head in his pillow. "dude, i watch girls throw themselves at you nearly every day, and yet you're the only guy on campus not getting laid." art sits up, still covering himself with his blanket. "i don't want those girls, i want-" patrick just slaps his arm. "yes, i know you want her. but she doesn't want you. hey, i wonder if she's just gay or asexual or something, maybe i should try and fuck her and we'll find out." patrick says, deep in thought about this idea. art's eyes darken, "don't you fucking dare, patrick." patrick just rolls his eyes at his friend. "hey, calm down romeo, we can share." art is up now, pushing patrick out of his room, locking it behind him. "i was only joking, art, don't be so sensitive."

weeks go by, art still rushes to meet you after class, carrying your bag or books back to your room. leaving you notes and your favourite snacks outside your door late at night, bringing you a coffee some mornings. every time he sees you he asks the same question, "will you say yes, let me take you out?" it's met with a sigh by you every time, sometimes squeezing his arm or kissing his cheek to soften the blow. these acts of kindness only make art fall more and more for you. art sits in his room, studying tennis plays and doodling love notes on a thursday night. his phone lights up, a text from patrick.

meet me @ our favourite bar tomorrow night? 7pm?

art replies 'sure' and continues doodling. tomorrow comes, art does up the buttons to his pink shirt and zips up the fly of his jeans. he fluffs his hair on his way out, leaving to go meet his friend at the bar down the road. walking through the entrance into the dimly lit bar, art scans the room for patrick, only to see a blonde waving him over. he furrows his brow, slowly walking in her direction. "hey! patrick told me you'd meet me here at 7, i was a little early so i just got us both a drink, hope that's okay?" art has literally no idea what she's talking about. "what is happening right now?" he asks, his tone blunter than expected. "your friend, patrick, told me to meet you here, for our date?" art slowly sits in the chair opposite the blonde. " i was like, so surprised when he told me you wanted to go on a date because obviously i see you on campus and at tennis but like, i didn't think you'd wanna date me-" she's rambling, art cuts her off. "what's your name?" he can barely cover the boredom in his voice. "oh, um, it's lindsay. would you not already know that if you asked patrick to set us up?" she's confused, sipping her drink, red lipstick sticking to the straw.

he's thinking of an answer, debating just leaving. there's no point him being here, on this stupid date that patrick has orchestrated. he questions whether just running for the door would make him a terrible person, but as he checks the exit, he sees you. sat on a table by the window, leaning over, talking to a man he's never seen before. is this why you always said no, because you had a boyfriend? no, you would have just said that. well, now he definitely can't leave. he watches intently as your cleavage bulges over the top of your dress, laughing as you bring your drink to your mouth. you're five tables away, but you're sat facing him. "uh, art?" the blonde questions, bringing art back to the situation at hand. "sorry, uh, lucy. yeah, i guess i must have forgot talking to patrick about it all, i've been so busy with tennis."

you look so beautiful, all art can think about is ripping your little white dress off your body and fucking you over the table, right in front of the stupid guy you're on a date with. "it's lindsay," the blonde whispers, sipping her drink again. "yeah that's what i said," art's eyes revert back to the girl in front of him. he leans back, allowing more physical distance between him and lindsay, lucy, whatever her name is. your eyes scan the room, landing on art. your mouth opens slightly, he's on a date? why did part of you feel jealous, sad even, that after months of trying to win your attention, he's given up. he's moved on. you bring your focus back to your own date, trying to shake off the emotions running through your body. your eyes keep darting back to art, letting your date take over the conversation. he looks uncomfortable, leaning back on his chair, fiddling with the hem of his button up. you think how beautiful he looks in this light. you smile slightly, as his eyes meet yours. he smirks, catching you staring at him.

he watches you excuse yourself to the bathroom, your hand lightly grazing his back as you walk behind him. his breath hitches, immediately cutting the blonde girl off to go to the bathroom. you're washing your hands when art rushes into the room. "art, what are you doing, this is the ladies r-" you can't finish your sentence, his lips are on yours. you push him off you, as he just smirks down at you. fuck, that's what you wanted. no more nice little art, following you around like a lost puppy. but a tall, hot art, forcing his lips on yours, not caring about anything else but kissing your mouth. you grab him by the hair and pull his lips back onto yours, feeling him chuckle against your lips, his hands rush around your body. he pushes his tongue into your mouth, moaning as he does, his hand grabbing your body and lifting you up onto the sink. he slots himself between your legs, lips never leaving yours. you taste like perfection, everything he'd been dreaming about.

you remove your lips from his, leaning up to whisper in his ear. "take me home," you kiss and bite at his earlobe. "no, i'm gonna fuck you right here," you lean back and look up to him, the blue of his eyes overshadowed by the size of his pupils. "what if someone walks in?" you question, your lip between your teeth. "do i look like i fucking care?" you've never been so turned on in your life, neither has he. he's trying so hard not to jizz his jeans. slipping his hands under your dress, lifting you up slightly to remove your underwear. he tucks the lacy pair into his pocket, "i'm keeping these," he growls into your ear, your head leans back, hitting the mirror behind you. he positions your body at the edge of the sink, wrapping his arm around you to keep you in place. his other pushes his jeans and boxers down to his ankles, his cock hitting his stomach, finally free from the constricting fabric. you gasp at his size, he just smirks and runs his fingers through your folds. "you're fucking soaked," you blush, "don't get embarrassed, i've dreamt of making you this wet."

all you can do is grab his head and kiss him. he lines his member up with your hole, teasing your entrance. "how badly do you want it?" he pushes the tip in, "fuck- so badly, art, please," he keeps teasing you, so very slowly sliding more of his cock inside you. "you're so tight princess," he can't keep his eyes off your face, savouring every expression you make, every quiet noise that escapes your lips. he pushes himself all the way in, holding himself there. you feel even better than he ever imagined, it's the most perfect thing he's ever felt around his cock. "please, art, please fuck me," you're begging him, he's revelling in it. he's been begging for your attention for months, and now here he is, inside you, you begging him to fuck you. you buck your hips, in need of any kind of movement. "fucking hell, art, please, i'm desperate for you, i need you,"

his hands grab your ass from underneath you, pounding into you harder than you've ever been fucked before. the bathroom fills with the sound of skin slapping skin as you bury your moans into his face, arms tight around his neck. he pulls your head back by your hair, desperate to see your face as he fucks you. he moves his hand over your mouth, as much as he wants to hear every ungodly noise you make, he wants to finish inside you before getting caught. he lifts you up again, spinning around and pushing your body against the wall, your legs wrapping around his waist as he keeps pumping into you. one hand around your waist, the other on the wall keeping him steady. only making you even wetter, his strong form holding you up with just one arm. he bites down on your shoulder to stop the groans escaping him. "you're fucking mine," he whispers into the nape of your neck. you simply nod your head, not good enough, he thinks. "tell me, tell me you're mine," his words leave his lips in between thrusts.

"i'm yours, fuck, i'm all yours art," your breath is shaky as you answer, legs tightening around his waist. "that's my girl," he peppers your face in kisses, his hair sticking to the sweat on his forehead. "christ, shit, i'm so close," he mutters against your lips. "come inside me art, fuck, i'm on the pill, please baby," it's like you can see his thoughts, read his brain. he moans against your lips as thrusts once more, pushing his body up even closer against yours, your orgasm comes at the same time as arts. both mumbling profanities against each others lips. he pulls out of you, gently setting you back on the ground, still holding you, keeping you steady. you can feel his load drip from your pussy onto your thighs. he kisses your forehead repeatedly, "my god, you're so beautiful."

you shyly smile at him, leaning up to kiss his lips. the two of you return to reality, art helping clean you up, pulling up his boxers and jeans. "am i really not getting my panties back?" you ask him, giggling. "nope. these are my souvenir princess." your knees go weak again, readjusting your hair and clothes in the mirror. "christ, why did i wait so long for that?" you laugh, looking to art through the mirror. he plants a kiss on your cheek. "i knew you'd come around eventually, sweetheart." the two of you double check your appearance in the mirror, "back to mine?" art asks, still nervous for your response. you simply slip your hand into his and nod. the two of you leave the bathroom, heading towards the exit of the bar. you notice art's date has already left, yours still sat at the table waiting. "what the fuck?" is all he can muster, seeing you and art holding hands leaving the bar, laughing, art leads you back to his dorm.

"can you just wait here a sec?" he asks sweetly, pulling his keys out of his pocket. "my room's a mess." you nod, leaning on the wall next to art's door. he scrambles through the door, almost running to his desk to discard the ridiculous amount of love notes dedicated to you. he trips on his way, landing on the floor to see patrick sat on his bed. "what the fuck did you do? i set you up on a date out of the kindness of my heart, and what do you do? leave through the bathroom, you little shit! she's been blowing up my phone complaining about you." patrick hits art lightly on the head. still on the floor, art smirks. "well, i didn't actually leave through the bathroom," patrick interrupts him, "fine, so you stayed in the bathroom so long that she left, same thing!" art stands up now, "i had a very good reason to stay in the bathroom so long." patrick leans back on the bed, looking up to his smirking friend. "enlighten me," you enter art's room, having heard the whole conversation. "i think that good reason he's talking about might be me." you stand before the boys, holding your hands behind your back, faking innocence. "holy shit, you finally fucked her?" patrick jumps up, hugging his friend. "and in the bathroom, while on a date with someone else, i'm so proud."

[raysrays]

Fatal Attraction Chapter One (NSFW)

18+ MDNI‼️

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

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

Y/N Perspective.

It's early, too early. I don't know why I keep doing this to myself. For weeks now, I've followed the same routine: waking up, wandering the forest surrounding my village, and searching. Every day, I look for a sign that something, or someone, is out there. Yet somehow, I always come up empty-handed. It's not just me, though. My entire group is burnt out on this whole thing.

Searching for monsters has never been a passion of mine, but when you're down to your last cent and someone offers you free food and board in exchange for your help, how can you say no?

I still remember when Miss Tamayo approached me. It was snowing hard up in the mountains, and she saw how badly I was struggling in the cold. She was kind, took me in, and talked to me at length about the mystical monsters and beings her group had been studying and searching for. I'll admit, it was interesting, but I didn't believe any of it was real.

We've all heard the tales—the stories of the creatures we now call the Hashira, the terrifying monsters that once protected their respective villages and residents. While they made for nice campfire stories, there was simply no way these beings existed. Even if they did, why would they stay hidden? Wouldn't they seek revenge on the villagers who used them and then cast them out? None of it made any sense to me.

Despite voicing my concerns and disbelief to Miss Tamayo, she still wanted to help me, as long as I was willing to help her. And that's why I'm here now.

I'm in the middle of this forest. The sky is grey and cloudy, with rain surely on the way. It's foggy, and visibility is poor. Since I'm new and have only been working with these monster hunters for a few weeks, they've given me a basic route—one that minimizes the risk of encountering a real threat. Tamayo wanted me to look for a special flower that supposedly grows around here, but I haven't had any luck yet.

If I can't even find a flower, I don't feel like I'll make a promising monster hunter. At least, that's what Yushiro, one of Tamayo's most relentless supporters, thinks. Though we are civil to each other's faces, he openly voices his concerns about having me around. He says it's a waste of time to bring along someone who doesn't even "believe in the cause."

I suppose I can't argue with him too much. I've walked this same route every day for a few weeks now and still haven't come across the flower Tamayo sent me to find. Maybe it really is a waste of time—

My thoughts are interrupted by a rustling sound in the distance. My body immediately tenses up. I glance around, but the thick fog makes it hard to see. All this talk and thinking about monsters and mythical creatures is starting to get to me.

What was that? Did I lose the path? No, that's just me overthinking it, thanks to Tamayo and Yushiro filling my head with stories. I'm just being paranoid.

The rustling resumes, this time from the opposite direction. I can feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

"Tamayo? Yushiro? Is that you?" I call out into the fog.

I wait for their reply, but none comes. Adding to the unease, the air feels hotter now, and a strange clicking noise echoes through the area, growing closer and closer.

What should I do? Should I run?

As the clicking grew louder, I made up my mind and began to sprint through the fog, knocking branches and anything else in my path aside. At some point, I lost my footing. The trail must have ended, and I twisted my ankle on a tree root protruding from the ground.

My ears were filled with the sound of my own breathing, and it felt like my heart was going to burst out of my chest. This can't be happening. I was sent on an easy route to fetch a flower, not to be chased by some crazy monster.

I tried to stand, but the pain in my ankle was too much. I strained to stay silent and listened for the clicking sounds; they were faint but still there. I had to get out of here.

Grabbing onto the trunk of the tree I had tripped over, I pulled myself up. It hurt, but the adrenaline rush made it barely bearable.

The fog was finally starting to lift, and I could see the path I usually followed. I must have accidentally stepped off it while running. As long as I could get back, Tamayo would be able to help me with my ankle.

As I started to move slowly, a red light in the distance suddenly caught my attention. Squinting, I tried to make out what it could be and then realized it was two red lights, gradually moving closer to me.

Eyes.

Panic surged through me as I scrambled to move, trying to go as fast as my injured ankle would allow, grabbing onto anything I could for support.

This can't be happening. I refuse to believe any of this is real. How could all those stupid campfire stories be true? And why, out of all the monster hunters in Tamayo's group, did I have to be the unlucky one?

I wanted to scream and yell for help, but I was so deep in this forest nobody from the safe house would hear me.

It hurts. It hurts so much. It feels like my body is going to give out any minute, but my mind is racing, forcing me to keep moving.

The clicking is now accompanied by a deep growling, making it sound all the more intense. Whatever this thing was, it sounded terrifying. And those deep red eyes didn’t really help with my imagination.

Then it happened. I had to take a knee. The strain on my ankle kept getting worse the more I moved. I'm done for. Whatever this thing is, it's going to kill me.

At least Yushiro can look at my corpse and say, "I told you so."

As the clicking and growling got even closer, there was a small thump to the ground as whatever was about to kill me approached. I shut my eyes and prepared for whatever my fate was.

I felt it stop a few feet behind me. This monster is just staring at me. I’m too afraid to face it. I don’t want the last thing I see to be those glowing red eyes.

"What are you doing? Why did you run away?"

My heart nearly stopped. That voice—it was deep, loud, and had an eerie, echoing effect. Was this monster talking to me?

I took a deep breath. What should I say? Should I beg for my life?

"I asked you a question, human. Why are you running away?"

I could hear a hint of annoyance in its tone. The last thing I wanted was to anger a mythical being. I slowly turned my body. The sight that met me made speaking even more difficult.

It was tall. He was tall—about eight and a half feet.

He had blonde fur and a long mane of hair with red accents scattered throughout, tall pointed ears, and those glowing red eyes.

My lips parted. I wanted to answer, to beg for my life and apologize for intruding. But his appearance was so intimidating, so... enchanting.

I froze as he moved closer.

"Can you not speak, human? Are you afraid of me?" He chuckled. His laugh was as intense as his voice.

"I can speak," I managed to choke out.

His eyes seemed to light up, and he smiled.

Dear God. Those teeth. Long and sharp. If he wasn’t terrifying before, he definitely was now. I felt my heart beating rapidly. I knew I was done for, but this was all too much.

"What is your name, human? I've seen you walk this path for days now. I deserve to know who intrudes on my territory daily." Instead of anger, his tone was oddly amused.

"My name is Y/N L/N." I tried to keep the nervousness out of my voice but didn’t do a great job.

"Well then, Y/N L/N. You wandered away from your usual trail as soon as I got close to you. Why did you run away? Aren't you supposed to be looking for me?" He laughed, a mocking sound.

"You are a 'monster hunter,' aren't you?"

I didn't know what to say. He was right. I was supposed to be looking for him. That was the whole point of Tamayo taking me on, but I hadn’t expected it all to be so real.

"I didn’t believe in monsters. I was sent to look for a specific flower," I mumbled.

"Didn't believe?" He moved closer, towering over me. "Tell me then, Y/N L/N, do you believe now?" He smiled, those sharp teeth gleaming.

I felt my body run cold. He was terrifying, not just in appearance but in his entire demeanor.

“Yes, I do.”

For a moment, silence filled the air, broken only by the sound of the wind and his slight clicking.

“What is your name?” I asked.

“I am Kyojuro Rengoku, the protector of this land and its residents.” The echo in his voice cemented my assumptions.

There was no mistaking it—I had run into one of the Hashira.

I’d heard the stories, the legends of Rengoku, the fierce protector of this area. He was kind until he wasn’t. Then, humans saw him as a threat and banished him to the forest.

He kneeled down in front of me, still on the ground.

“You don’t seem too surprised. Have you heard of me?” His ear twitched, and I noticed the massive tail behind him curl around his body.

I took a deep breath and nodded. “I’ve heard the stories. You’re the Hashira associated with fire.”

He perked up at my response.

“So, my legends live on! How amusing!” He laughed.

His voice was so loud, it was almost funny.

Why is he acting like this? I thought he would have killed me by now.

“You’re hurt,” he said, gesturing to my ankle.

“Yeah... I sprained it,” I replied, shifting awkwardly.

“Yes, I know. From running away from me.” His tail flicked slightly, and a smirk formed on his face.

I didn’t know what to say or do. I was completely at a loss. Here I was, casually having a conversation with one of the scariest and deadliest creatures to walk the earth.

“What are you going to do with me? If you’re going to kill me, can’t you just get it over with?”

He looked at me, a mix of confusion and amusement in his eyes.

“Why are you so desperate to die so soon? Do you not enjoy my company?” His voice echoed with a chuckle.

Is he being serious right now?

“No— I’m just... confused. Why are you still talking to me? I’m a monster hunter, not a very good one, but still a monster hunter. Shouldn’t you just kill me and get it over with?” I was desperate for an answer, needing to know if I should prepare to die or not.

He stared at me for a moment, as if deep in thought, his ears twitching slightly.

“No, I don’t think I’ll kill you,” he said plainly. “However, only on the condition that you continue to return here. Tell no one of your kind about me and continue to come see me.”

I sat there, dumbfounded. This terrifying creature was willing to spare my life as long as I returned for his company?

“Why would you want to see me again?” I asked.

He smiled, baring his long, sharp teeth, his ears perking up.

“Because, Y/N L/N, you are the first person to talk to me in a long time. To be quite honest, something inside me is telling me that you and I are really going to like each other.”

His tone shifted, becoming more sinister. What did this creature have planned for me?

And why was I excited to find out?

Next>>

[xhoneygirlxx]

he's not magic

eddie munson x fem!reader

summary: the time of the month has come and Eddie is the only person who can sooth you.

warnings: talks about menstrual cycles/blood. mentions of dying. tooth rotting fluff. Eddie is a cutie pie. pet names used; sweetheart, baby, honey. shitty writing/spelling errors; if you find any plz ignore it lolololololol.

a/n: i'm currently in so much pain from my period and the only thing i want is for someone to coddle me and tell me i'm going to be ok. i hope you guys enjoy this very small thing, it's not much and it's not good but maybe it'll help you feel good on those days when life is shit. love you all <3

--

You're dying, a slow, painful, and mournful death. At this point you stopped caring, stopping all the begging you've done all morning for your life to continue. If this was how you were going out than so be it, you just wished your end had come faster.

You've already bled through two pairs of panties and two pairs of shorts, now left in your trusty period panties and an oversized shirt. Your stomach was bloated to the point it was uncomfortable, your breasts were so swollen that your chest felt like it was going to concave under the weight, and your back felt as if it was going to snap in half at any moment.

It felt like you tried everything, ibuprofen, heating pad, and propping a pillow in between your legs - none of the tricks worked. Now you were left in the fetal position, arms wrapped around your middle and knees pulled to your chest.

For the past how ever many hours you've been moaning out in pain, the stabbing feeling in your uterus just too much to handle. You're sure if someone were to walk in and see you they'd think you were insane and right now you couldn't blame them.

You did look insane, hair wild and matted to your face from all the sweat you've accumulated, voice hoarse and scratchy from all the wounded animal sounds you've made, and your face screwed up in an unflattering way.

Your phone has gone unanswered all day, the only person to have texted you was Eddie. At first it was only tik toks, small comments he thought would make you giggle, and then it turned into him updating you about his day at work, and finally worried questions about if you were okay.

You felt so fucking guilty for not responding, not telling him that you were fine but you just physically couldn't move from your crouched position. This only made you angrier, the fact that your temporarily paralyzed and are restricted from doing the things you need to do.

The fridge sits empty and in need of new groceries, laundry stays piled up by the washer where they wait to be cleaned, and Eddie is waiting for your response worrying about your well being - that is if he hasn't already contacted the national guard to track your location.

Everything is so shitty, the pain, the hurting, the guilt, the frustration. You feel like you're a balloon that's been filled up too much and is waiting to burst at the seams.

You don't have to take long before the heated tears from your eyes fall down, hitting the bridge of your nose, only to land on the pillow beneath your head. It's not a violent cry, at least not yet, just frustrated tears that seem to slip away from their barricade.

You don't even notice the front door of your apartment opening or the sound of Eddie calling for your name, only focusing on the pulsating of your uterus that debilitates your body.

"Fuck, baby I've been worried about you," You don't even turn and look at him, your eyes are still harshly closed. By the sound of his voice you know he's out of breath, brown curls probably wild from the speed of his running.

"Shit, sweetheart, are you okay?" The worry in his voice hits right on the spiderweb crack, shattering you into a million little pieces.

You can't hold it back, the wailing that rips from your throat is something close to bone chilling. Tears streams from your eyes without relent, whole body shaking from the cries that rip from your body.

It doesn't take more than thirty seconds to feel the bed dip as your boyfriend crawls into bed next to you. He doesn't think twice before pulling you in, one arm wrapped around your back and the other soothing down your hair on the side of your head.

"It's okay, baby. M'here, you're okay." Eddie coos and it's like music to your ears.

The warmth from his body fills you in a way your heating pad couldn't. Even with the mucus that fills your nose you catch a whiff of his scent, smoke, pine, and outside -undoubtedly him. His calloused hand runs soothingly up and down your back, allowing your bones to relax into his touch.

Eddie doesn't have to ask, he knows you better than you know yourself, and the way your scrunched up on your bed and crying he knows that you've been battling your pain all day.

"Sweetheart, you have to breath. Can you do that for me? Take one big deep breath, s'all I want, okay?"

You nod your head against his chest, following the way his chest moves as he demonstrates for you. Between hiccupped breaths and streaming tears, you allow your lungs to fill up with as much air as you can take in, releasing it right after in one long exhale.

"Good job, baby. Did such a good job f'me." Eddie's being soft with you, a side of him he only allows you to see and no one else.

You let his praise melt over you, soaking it right up like the plants in a drought. For the first time since you woke up you feel lighter, something you only feel when Eddie's by you. The cramps that have been going nonstop have finally subsided, the presence of your boyfriend scaring them away.

"It hurt so bad, Eds. S'really bad today." Your voice is shaky, as if one wrong move and you can break out into another sob.

"I know, honey, but it's okay. I'm gonna take care of you, kay? I'm gonna make it all better."

You both know that he has no control over what your body decides to do but just the promise alone has your worries easing away. Your body relaxes into him, your knees slowly falling down to their normal position until your laying right up against him.

"On a scale from one to ten, where are you at?" You take a moment to think about it, really evaluating the squeezing of your organs.

"Was a ten but now it's like a seven."

Eddie hums, his hand still soothing up and down your back. A small pause settles over his words, like he's trying to wrack his brain for the next action he's going to make so you can feel better.

"How 'bout you get some rest, then when you get up we'll get you something to eat? Sound okay?" You nod again, too tired to form any sort of response.

Eddie acknowledges your response with a kiss to the top of your head, making you hum in content when he does. It doesn't take long for the tiredness of your body to settle over you, quiet snores coming from your nose in no time.

Even if his arms fall asleep and his back feels stiff, Eddie stays there with you, soothing you in your sleep to ensure that your pain stays at bay. When you do wake up he's right there, waiting for you with some water and more medicine before helping you into the shower.

He's not magic and he has no idea what to do when it comes to woman's health but Eddie Munson will be damned if a period makes his girl cry like that again.

---

[kithtaehyung]

[ 3tanfall ] ok so i posted this in the cul de sac but it's also gonna live on the blog too bc!! it's part of 3tanotes and i'm way too excited about it :')) so thank you all again and here's the spoiler passage!

A gentle autumn breeze wraps around your shoulders as you wait. Leaves traverse the concrete at your shoes, and you feel at peace while the sun starts to set. 

How long have you been standing here? Surely Yoongi would’ve responded or at least texted you by now. 

Knocking again, you pull out your phone to call him, noticing that the water bowl next to your feet is empty but the food bowl still has some spare scraps. With your free hand, you scoop up the empty container. 

Where is he? You know he’s home so—

The door opens while your phone still rings, so you’re staring back at a pair of glasses in shock. Probably not how he expected to see you. “Hi.” 

“Hi,” Yoongi responds, blinking at the bowl in your hand. “Oh, was that empty?” 

“Mmhmm.” While you step inside, you quietly swoon at the way he slips your bag from your shoulder, laughing at his sudden set of questions.

“What the—? What the hell’s in here?” 

You throw an explanation over your side on the way to the kitchen. “A surprise!” 

Thumps hit his counter as he exerts effort. “Goddamn. You moving in?” 

“You wish!” If this man says that one more time, you're packing your bags. Only hypothetically, of course. Because there's no way he means it right now.

Your sad grin’s light bounces off the sink at an angle. “Just got some things at the store and didn’t wanna use bags.” 

When a hand braces the counter next to your waist, your mood instantly blooms. A hint of shyness will linger as always, but it’s paired with beautiful familiarity. Truly a welcome change in this new chapter, new season with him. 

Yoongi’s other hand warms your arm with a light skim. And he doesn’t speak until you’re done with your task of filling the bowl with water,

“You could.” 

Oh. 

Just as the world transforms outside, so does your soul as every pretty and fleeting emotion nestles under your cheeks. When you slowly look Yoongi’s way, you admire his eyelashes as he focuses on the fingers touching your skin. 

“I could,” you whisper back. When he lifts his gaze, your smile spreads. “If you convince me.” 

That damn scrunch of his nose would be enough. But Yoongi sniffs in determination, straightening his posture before folding sleeved arms. “Mm… Sounds tough.” Your hands are still damp when he squints at the ceiling, but that doesn’t stop you from wanting to strangle him when he jokes, 

“And I’m lazy.” 

“Oh, you—!” You laugh along with him as he breaks his facade, which doesn’t prepare you for the way he quickly tugs you in for a stupidly delicious kiss. It’s almost lethal enough for you to drop the bowl completely, but he releases as quickly as he pounced. 

Leaving you with swollen lips and swirls for eyes. 

Gathering what’s left of your sanity, you slowly squeak out, “That’s a… Good start.” 

“Nice.” Yoongi flicks your nose before walking to his room. “After you put that out, come in here. Wanna show you something.” 

“Something? Or something...”

He laughs. “Just hurry up. You’ll see.”  

-

-

a/n: goodbye i've missed them so much and i can't wait to finish this oh my godddd. hope y'all are ready for a whole pile of fluff and steamy goodness lmao

[l1vchuu]

resentment. part four

!! warnings: mentions of sh and suicide, strong language, may contain triggering themes and blood, angst, and slow burn, P.S. This chapter might have a lot of time skips, so be wary.

A few days went as you were gone, and you weren't the only one who felt the changes.

It was a Monday afternoon as you sat at your kitchen table, reading a book you randomly had picked off your old shelf- "Norwegian Wood" by Haruki Murakami. You bought this book after watching the film that just got released in the theaters, hoping that you would read it someday and feel the same emotions you did when you sat in front of the big screen. After some unfortunate events that occurred in your life at that time- you never really got to read it.

The soft yellow tint of the light from the cheap lightbulbs filled your small kitchen, going through your hair, and making a slight shadow on your face. The tea you had made for yourself earlier was getting colder as the minutes passed by, and you couldn't feel more peaceful.

So far, you tried taking things slow- since you had a whole month to figure things out. You've put out the thought of seeing a therapist later, your mind was still blurry. Currently, you were trying to calm your mind by reading and watching movies.

A few hours later, you put down the book and decided to take a shower. As you entered the cabin and turned on the shower, the sudden warmth of the water took all your thoughts with it.

You recently bought some new showering essentials- new shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, and a few other things. Maybe if you tried to take better care of your hygiene you could feel prettier, or at least have some type of order in your life that you follow.

The sweet honey scent filled the atmosphere as you washed your hair, slight steam flowing in the air, getting captured in your lungs with every breath you took. Your mind was roaming through your memories, mostly the good ones. You remembered the first time you discovered Wes Anderson.

A few years ago...

You sighed as you scrolled through your Letterboxd watchlist, the titles moving faster than the thoughts in your head.

"'Detachment', 'Lost in Translation', 'Vertigo'..."

You mumbled to yourself as you kept scrolling, looking for something to watch. Then your eyes stopped at a yellowish poster, excluding itself from the others.

"Fantastic Mr. Fox"

You had heard of that movie before, all positive things. You stared at the trailer for a while

"Who even watches trailers for movies that have been out for years?"

You thought to yourself as you kept looking, but you were mesmerized. You hadn't seen anything else like this. It was so quirky and sweet and bitter that you wanted to watch it badly. You found the movie, and just as you were about to put it on, Simon opened the door.

He entered the room, looking at you with his brown, empty eyes.

"How was the shift?"

You tried to spark up a conversation, but it ended nowhere.

"Fine."

He sat on his bed, still with his mask on. You know he took it off when he slept, but you had never seen his face. It's like he knew the moment you woke up and fall asleep just so he can put his mask back on and act like nothing had happened.

"You gonna' sleep?"

You asked him, your eyes looking up from the monitor of your laptop.

"Not now, why you ask?"

"I was going to watch a movie, that's why."

You could somehow see his eyebrows rise underneath his mask. It was the first time he heard those words from a Sergeant. People usually never had time to do anything really, being tired from long work shifts and all.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It just... It's the first time I've heard that sentence here."

"What? You don't watch movies?"

"No- It's not that. People don't find the time for things like these."

"Well, I do. Does it bother you?"

"As long as it's not too loud, no."

"Good."

You sat back on the couch as you hit space and the movie began.

Half an hour later, you were so invested in the movie that you didn't notice the presence of your roommate next to you... until he coughed, causing you to flinch, and because of your reflexes, your hand went into a defensive position. He looked at you, his eyes slightly wider.

"Oh, sorry."

"I think... I think I saw Jesus."

He chuckled, showing the slightest bit of emotion he ever has.

"It's just me."

"You really live up to your name, huh? Sneaking in like that."

"I didn't do anything, it's the movie's fault for having you so fuckin invested."

"Yeah, sure."

-

It might not seem like the brightest memory ever, but that was the first time you had such a close interaction with Ghost ever since you got moved into a room with him. That moment felt like a slight push into a whole other universe. A universe where you felt less scared to talk to him, a universe where he got to be the closest person to you.

The whole story began when you joined the British Army at 17 years old after a really bad banter between your dad and your brother, resulting in your brother's suicide. At his funeral, you could barely hold yourself up and alive- it had shattered you completely. You couldn't help yourself to eat, your mother had to force-feed you just like she did when you were a baby. Your body was aching with every step you took, every time your jeans brushed against your thighs, making your fresh scars bleed again from the friction. A month later, you were at your lowest point in life- you didn't go to school, and your mother ignored every call from the principal because she didn't know what to say. Everyone at your house was so lost, your father refused to go out of his room, leaving the house in the process, your mother barely slept at night, and you had ruined yourself. At this point, everything was a lost cause.

One morning, as you barely walked towards the front door, placing the rubbish bag in its' place, you saw the leaflets from the military scouts that live in your area. Usually, you would throw them in the rubbish bin and continue on with the day, but this time something was off. Your brother wanted to enlist in the military so much, he even started going to the shooting ranges outside the city to train his aim. You could feel your cheeks getting wet as you stared at the papers in your hands- he would've served his country and fulfilled his dreams in a year.

With slow and steady steps you went to his door, opening it slowly. His room was always cluttered, as he never got the time to clean it- always so busy with his voluntary work and training. There was a big flag hung on his wall, frames with pictures of him in his boy scouts uniform, pictures with him and his friends at a red cross event, and posters of his favorite movies and superheroes, he was such a bright and generous kid. There were stacks of military scouting leaflets piled on his desk, catching more and more dust as the days go by.

You sat on his bed, holding a picture of him with a German Shepherd 'Scouty' - a military dog that was pretty famous in your city and had saved multiple lives. You remembered taking that picture, him getting so excited when they allowed him to pet the dog, his eyes lighting up when they said that we could take a picture with him, his big smile, showing his braces as the dog stood still. Everything seemed so wonderful, life was so full and bright.

The tears began rolling down your cheek as your fingers traced his face, the room still smelled like him, somehow. You felt a pair of fragile hands holding your body close to them. You looked up with your red and teary eyes at the figure- it was your mother. You two sat in silence, crying quietly as you held each other. She noticed the leaflet in your hand.

"When does the recruiting start?"

Your mother asked you, her voice quiet and shaky as she looked at the paper.

You wiped your cheeks as you checked the dates on the leaflet- it was slightly damp and crumpled.

"The applications can be sent in a month from now."

You said, your voice cracking as your hands shook slightly.

"Mhm."

Your mum responded as she gently pat your head, her fingers brushing through your hair.

You stared at the paper in your hands.

"Will you leave Dad?"

You asked.

"I can't, you are still here."

She replies.

"What if I leave for university? Will you leave him?"

"Yeah, I suppose so."

But you still had two years left, and with your absence, you were sure no university or college will accept you. You thought about it- if you were to return to school, people would ask you questions back and forth, and you couldn't deal with that. You knew your mother was suffering more than you, I mean, losing a child can be amusingly painful for a mother. And the last thing you wanted to do is to make your mother suffer even more, but continuing to live with your father after all that had happened was doing that same exact thing.

You thought about this the whole day. Holding that same leaflet, making all the research, asking people about it- and then you made your decision. You were going to join the Army.

Sure, you may have absolutely no experience, unlike your brother, but that's what he would've wanted. You were doing this for him and your mother.

You walked back and forth in your room, wandering in your documents and checking in your strengths. You knew a little about artillery from your brother's trainer and all of his lessons. You had a month in order to prepare for it. You went to consult your mother on the decision.

"Are you sure you want this?"

"I'm sure, I just need to train a bit, but I need to know that if I go, you leave him."

She thought for a minute.

"I'll stay at your aunt's place until I save up enough money for rent and divorce."

You looked at her, your eyes full of uncertainty.

"Do you promise- No- Will you promise me to do that?"

You took a breath before continuing.

"When I leave, you leave him. You go as far away as you can. I'll lend you money if I can- Go to another country and live there if you need- Just promise me you'll leave that man, please..."

She put her arms on your shoulders, making you look at her.

"I promise you, but how do you know if you are going to get recruited?"

"I will get recruited, don't worry."

She looked at you, not being sure if you were just talking nonsense or actually meaning your words. By the look in your eyes and the sound of your tone, she knew you weren't joking.

After your mother made that promise- you got to work. You went out and trained every single day, but before that, you visited the shooting range. You knew that the trainer was a British Air Service veteran, so you asked for his help.

'You want to enlist? As in, you want to apply?"

He looked at you, a worried look on his face. It was the first time he saw you since your brother's funeral, and he saw the change in your appearance.

"Yes, and I need your help."

You said, looking up at him. You had explained everything to him, in detail, too.

"For a month..."

He silently thought to himself as he looked at you, his eyes narrowing.

"I can manage a training schedule, but I'm not sure if you could-"

"I'll do it.'

You interrupted him.

"- handle it."

He stared at you, his eyes slowly wider than before. He sighs.

"It won't be easy. Not at all. Your brother had months and years of practice, but now you have to make it up to him in a month."

You nodded your head, your eyes burning with ambition once again.\

"I'll do it. I won't give up."

"We'll change up your diet too,"

He paused, taking in the situation with your family. Your mother could barely stand up from her bed, and your father was nowhere to be found.

"I'll bring you food, you'll eat here."

You tilted your head to the side.

"Will that be okay with you?"

You asked him, a worried look on your face.

"It'll be absolutely no problem. I'll pack in food for your mother as well."

You nodded, feeling grateful for his offer.

"Thank you."

He nodded, holding his hand out for a handshake. You took his hand, giving a firm squeeze.

"I'll come pick you up tomorrow at 5:30 AM."

He searched your face for any reaction.

"As I told you, it'll be hard."

He gave you a slight smile.

"But now I believe you'll make it."

During that month, he took care of you and your mother- you trained with him all day, and he checked in with your mother in the meantime. He was a single father taking after his father's business. His son enlisted two years ago, leaving him alone in his house all year round. You became attached to him quickly, he was almost like a father to you. He helped you become the person your brother wished to be. For a month, you became a weapon, which got you in the Army, which got you in the Special Forces (SAS). That's the place where you first met Simon.

It was three years after you joined the Army- you were now 20 years old. You finally had the opportunity to apply to the SAS- which you did. After a long process of training and selection- you finally made it into the force.

When you got in, they introduced you to a couple of people, Captain Price and some other Lieutenants. As you entered the base where you would be working and living, they introduced you to one final person- your roommate- Simon Riley, or his callsign 'Ghost'.

As you finally got to call your mother, announcing the news to her, you were surprised more than usual when your trainer picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

The male voice echoed through the phone. You furrowed your eyebrows, barely recognizing it.

"Hello?"

You replied.

"It's you! How's it going, kid?"

And that's when you recognized him. You two had a long conversation- apparently, your mother had moved in with him, which got you flabbergasted. Your mother was at work when you two were talking. You announced the news to him.

"Really? You got in?!"

He said, his voice full of pride and joy.

"I knew you would make it. I'm so proud of you!"

I'm so proud of you.

I'm so proud of you

That sentence kept you up at night. It replayed in your mind non-stop, echoing through your veins with each word.

Someone was proud of you.

-

Simon looked at Soap as he ate his lunch, holding his bowl in one hand as always. It's been a week since you were gone, and by that time everyone was aware of your absence. Soap looked back at Ghost, unsure about how to approach a conversation with him after all that had happened. Your seat at the table was empty, and nobody dared to sit on it, leaving a gap between Gaz and Ghost. It was rather quiet, everyone was lost in their own mind. Some of them were surprised that you never said anything, that you didn't notify anyone. Johnny was probably the first person who decided to write to you.

"Come on, I can't do this by myself. We have to let her know that we are with her and that we miss her, right?"

Johnny states, looking at the empty piece of paper in front of him.

"So, what do we write?"

Kyle grabs the pen and begins the letter, slowly filling it up with words until the page is full. Signing at the bottom were Johnny, Kyle, and Alex. After a few hours, the letter was sent to you, arriving in your mailbox.

The morning after, your neighbor notified you that you got mail. You looked in the box, a confused look on your face as two letters appeared in your hands. One of the letters had three signatures, while the other had only one- a skull face.

.⋆｡⋆☂˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆.☆.｡.:

Heyy!! I'm back as promised with the fourth part. This part had a lot of time skips for which I apologize if you were confused with! Sending lots of love and see you with part five <3

[convexicalcrow]

fic: when the void stares back (ren&false)

a/n: posting a bit late bc i've had family stuff going all weekend oml. written for the @hermitadaymay solstice social event! found out too late that my partner wasn't able to participate in the end due to irl stuffs, so i only have a fic for you, but i hope you still enjoy it. <3

read here, or on ao3

-

"Ren."

"Yes, Falsie?"

"Don't you ever get���"

False walked to the small window in the bridge, watching nothing but stars fill the view. She wasn't sure how to word her thoughts. Perhaps she'd been cooped up here too long, maybe that was it. Certainly, she'd broken the silence because it had grown a little too uncomfortable.

"Don't I ever get what?"

"I dunno, I think maybe I thought space would be … more filled with people or something. I wasn't expecting the silence."

Ren joined her and stood next to her, tail wagging gently behind him. "Yeah, well. It is pretty empty this side of the galaxy. We got another two months travel though, do you want to go back into stasis?"

She scrunched her nose up at the thought. "Oh, it's not that. Besides, someone has to keep you sane out here."

Ren laughed. "I mean, that's very true."

She turned to face him and smiled. "Don't want you hallucinating again, do we?"

"Hey, it was one time! And it was the spores, I promise! I'm all good now!" Ren protested.

False gently moved past him, shaking her head. "I mean, you say that Ren."

"Hey!" Ren pretended to sound offended, but even he knew what he was like. "At least this new planet won't have spores, or so Gigacorp tells me."

"Yeah, but their planetary intel is 20 years behind at this point. I mean, even this ship is old for one of her size. There's so much she can't do that the newer ships can. We wouldn't need to travel an extra two months in a new ship, that's all I'm saying. And the squirtapods create more than enough spores as it is," False said.

"True, true. I've been tinkering behind the scenes on all the blueprints, trying to modernise them, but it's hard. So much of the new tech these days doesn't retrofit easily! It's such a pain!" Ren said.

"At least you're trying. Anyway. Not sure I like the idea of another two months of this, but there's not really much choice there, right? Company policy doesn't let us pilot alone, you know that as well as I," False said.

Ren sat down at a console, pretending to idly check the dials. In reality, they didn't need to do much to run the ship. Grumbot kept it all running well enough with the maintenance drones while they were in stasis and would alert them to any issues. All they had to do was pass the time.

"I dunno, maybe I wish I had…"

Ren's voice faded off. False turned to him. "More people? I think that's it. More people."

Ren idly scratched an ear. "Yeah, I think that's it. More people."

-

This ship was too big for the two of them. A Hermetheus class ship needed a crew of at least 50 to feel in any way full of life. With just the two of them, it felt like they were piloting a casket. Maybe if they had crew in stasis, it might feel okay. She could wake them up to get some more company, take her place while she has some time in stasis as well to keep her own sanity. Instead it was just her and Ren, and the vast emptiness of space.

Had she really signed up for this when she joined Gigacorp? Well, yes, actually. That was the whole reason. Get away from, well. Get away from things. And of course, you didn't need a full crew to scout out planets to colonise. A pair will do. Once they find good planets, then the rest of the group can follow to build up the infrastructure needed for the meganodes or whatever they're called.

She smiled grimly at that thought. She was working for a jumped up telco, of all things. Of course, communications were vitally important in space, she knew that as well as anyone, so it made sense. But it still sounded so silly in her head to be travelling around, finding good planets to put big satellite towers on. Hardly felt glamorous, really. They were tradespeople, electricians, not astronauts. Not that she'd go back, of course.

Her hand clasped around her gun again purely out of habit. It sat at her waist, standard issue Gigacorp weaponry to be used when necessary. It wasn't a very good gun though. It had a janky trigger that False did not like, and its accuracy was atrocious. If there wasn't a sensor in the holster to check the gun was still in there, she'd have ditched it for a proper weapon ages ago. But Gigacorp didn't work like that.

She sat on her bed. She'd been having stasis dreams again. Always tended to happen in the few weeks after leaving stasis. She could tell them apart from regular dreams because they were so strange to her. Figments of places, people, memories of building things and rivers and giant eagles and all sorts. Lots of towers on fire and laboratories she didn't really remember the purpose of. Her sister-

She hadn't thought about her sister in a very long time. Hadn't really seen her since she was a kid anyway. Just remembered her standing in the doorway of a burning ship, telling her to run. So she did. False ran.

She'd dreamed of her before, of course, but not like this. She was her sister, seeing through her eyes. Seeing False leaving her behind. Seeing jail cells and dead scientists and fire and a maniacal laughter. It had shaken her to her core. It was just a dream though, right? Yeah, it was just a dream. Stasis hallucinations to keep her mind busy. That's all it was. Perhaps her hand clutched her gun a little tighter, just in case.

-

False busied herself with inventory. There was still a lot to do before they arrived at the planet, and the sooner they had their equipment and supplies organised, the better. At least, it made False rest easy, and it gave her something to do. Ren usually just took care of the navigation and computers, making sure they had all the supplies on order that they needed. There were always some things they had to order in from Gigacorp, and at least they were finally close enough to tap into the local networks to get more up to date information on the planet they were heading to.

False busied herself in the hangar bay where all the ships were. The exploration ships they would take out to find suitable landing spots needed to be supplied with what would be needed to begin a colony, unpacked from the cargo they'd left with. Sand, dirt, grass, seeds, and, of course, squirtapods and their containment equipment.

The droids were doing the heavy lifting. They were faceless silver things, with simple voices and simple functions. Good enough to maintain a ship at a basic level and lift heavy supplies, but that was about it. But then these droids were as old as the ship itself. A newer ship, and newer droids, would do so much more than they could right now.

She sighed as one of the droids stumbled across a grill and nearly dropped the bag of soil it was carrying. "Oi! Don't you go breaking yourself, or it'll be coming out of our wages!"

"Sorry Ms Symmetry," the droid intoned as it straightened itself up. There was no fluid movement here, just a jerky slow correction to its gait and its foot position as it rebalanced itself.

"Yeah, so you should be. Honestly. You have, like, one job! I have like, sixteen! Get it together!" False said, half-serious, half-laughing at the struggling droid.

She got out of the way once the droid had corrected itself. She didn't really need to supervise them. Grumbot was doing that. But she at least wanted to feel busy, so this was what she did with her time. The thing was, the time would pass faster than she always thought it did. Six weeks very quickly turned into two weeks, and that's when the panic kicked in, even though they were very well prepared.

She sat down on the floor, watching the droids pack the ships up. It occurred to her that Ren was, at least, ten minutes away from her. Maybe twenty if the elevators fucked up like they always did. If something happened to her, something the droids couldn't help with, she was dead. Just, straight up dead. Ren would never get to her in time.

That thought sent a shiver up her spine. She didn't want to die, of course. But they were far too few on a ship that was way too big. The nearest ship could be months away, too. Communications could take days to arrive, if they arrived at all. She tried not to think about this too much. It tended to just make her anxious.

"Falsie, how's the inventory going?" came Ren's voice on the radio, breaking the silence.

"Oh, it's going. Droids are packing up the ships. How's things up there? Still heading on the right track?" False said.

"Yeah, all good up here. You want a break? I'll make you a cuppa tea?" Ren said.

False smiled. "Yeah, sure, be right there."

-

She wasn't, of course, right there. It did take a while to navigate back to the bridge. But she found Ren sitting there with a thermos of tea and a plate of biscuits, a rare treat they'd been saving for months. Thankfully, they had kept well. They'd moved a spare table and chairs into the bridge as there wasn't really anywhere close to take a break or just sit down without risking spilling things onto the consoles. False took a seat and Ren poured her a cup of tea.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Ren said.

"Oh, you know, the vastness of space, how alone we are, how we really should have more crew here, the usual." She laughed to dismiss the fears in her head. It was fine. She was fine.

Ren laughed. "Yeah I hear you, hey Falsie? Wish Gigacorp would stop hoarding their money and get us more crew members. There's all those stasis pods going to waste for crying out loud!"

"I just can't imagine it's cheaper or more efficient to run a ship this big with only two people as opposed to like, I dunno, fifty, you know? We could get prepared for landing in a week instead of two months," False said.

Ren sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I know, I know. Look, I have told them this repeatedly, but do they listen? No! Of course not! There's too much of the universe to explore, they can't spare 50 person crews for every ship!"

"No, I mean, it's not like they're the richest and only corporation in the universe. Can't hurt those profit margins though, can we now? That's why we run in old ships. Too expensive to get new ones," False said.

"Yeah, well, there's worse jobs out there for sure. At least we get to see a bunch of different planets though! That's good, right?" Ren said.

"I mean, I guess? But you can do that on your own. You can just buy a ship with a warp drive and you're set. Small ones aren't that expensive anymore if it's just you," False said.

"What do you think I did before Gigacorp? I went to so many cool planets, Falsie! And now I get to do it as a job! It's so awesome! Don't you think it's awesome?" Ren said, the enthusiasm clear in his voice.

"I guess so, maybe. If you like exploring," False said.

"Don't you like exploring? Surely you must like exploring! Why else would you sign up for these missions?" Ren said.

False shrugged and took a sip of her tea. "Sometimes you just need to- Never mind."

"Oh! Also! I finally managed to get some images of the planet we're going to! Current ones!" Ren said.

He got up and headed over to the console to bring up the pictures. He flicked through a series of pictures of the planet's surface. They showed a rocky planet with pockets of ocean and green land. It didn't look promising to False.

"I bet it's another uninhabited world," False said, going to join him.

"It might not be! There could be life there! Life can thrive anywhere!" Ren said enthusiastically.

"Hmm." False was not yet convinced. "It's just, thirteen out of the last fourteen worlds were uninhabited, is all I'm saying."

"Look, not every planet can have abundant intelligent life! That's actually what we're doing here! We go to a planet, see if it can sustain life, and leave that information for Gigacorp to deal with. Then we move on to the next assignment. It's a perfectly fine system," Ren said.

"What do Gigacorp do with all these planets anyway?" False said. "Feels like it's just busy work at this point."

"It's for the Giganodes! It's connecting the Gigaverse together! Why wouldn't you want to be involved with that?" Ren said.

"So what you're saying is that we're the chumps installing satellite. We're doing the boring cable laying gruntwork of the Gigaverse more like," False said. "I'm not paid enough to care that much about the Gigacorp vision, if I'm honest."

"Aww, come on, it's great work we're doing here! Spreading the love of Gigacorp to new and exciting planets!" Ren said.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Ren."

-

False ran her hand over her ship, a small Valkyrie class tucked behind all the Gigacorp vehicles in the hangar. They'd been all over the galaxy together, and she'd smuggled her aboard when she joined Ren as crew. She wasn't as old as the ship they were piloting, but she had a knack for upgrades and repairs, so she was as good as the newest ships out there at the moment. Warp drive, chameleon skin, the works.

She could just fly off. She could get inside, open the doors, and fly off. Leave all of this behind. It wouldn't take much. She could stash enough supplies in here and just go.

She got inside, in spite of herself. It was comfortable in here. She knew this ship better than she knew herself. She always had a stash of emergency supplies in here. Sometimes, it was quicker to take her to rendezvous with supply ships and stations than get their Hermetheus to change course.

It was always nice to get away from the ship for a while. Talk to different people. Catch up with contacts and friends. Upgrade her ship. Profit a little on the side when she could. She knew how to take care of herself. Ren was always fine. She put Grumbot in autopilot and told him not to touch anything, and they were fine.

She sunk into the pilot's chair, her hands going to the controls through muscle memory. The desire to fly away was very strong. But she knew it would pass. Part of the training was dealing with that flight response that came from spending too much time with your partner. She knew it would pass. Just breathe. Find a supply station. Talk to other people. She'd be fine.

She closed her eyes. Imagined saying the words to open the hangar doors. Powering up the ship. Disappearing into the void like she always wanted to do.

She opened her eyes, still sitting in her ship. She shook the itchiness from her body and left, softly touching her nose as she closed the doors and powered down the ship. One day they would fly again. One day. But not today.

-

"Falsie."

"Yes, Ren?"

Ren shifted a little in his chair. "Did you know you'd never see your home again when you joined Gigacorp?"

"I mean." False glanced at him. "To be honest, I'd left home a long time ago. It didn't really worry me. I was already homeless. Best kind of person for these kinds of missions, I think. No attachments."

"Yeah, but like…" Ren paused. "I mean, you can die out here, and who'd even notice? Everyone's so so far away! By the time they get here, we'll just be skellingtons in the sand or something."

"You been having stasis dreams again, hey?" False said. "What's brought all this on?"

"I dunno. I guess the distance kind of just hit me earlier. Seeing how far we are from anywhere, really. I mean, sure there's planets out there close by, but inhabited planets? The last one was the one we left hundreds of light years away, you know?"

"I think you should stop worrying. Nothing much you can do about it. I mean, what do you want me to do? Magically make an inhabited planet appear? If it's getting to you, you can always retire, of course," False said. "Sorry, that sounded mean. But you know what I mean, yeah?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Maybe we should stop at that refuelling station coming up in a couple of days. I think I need to get out of this place for a while. It's doing my head in," Ren said, resigned.

False touched his arm for a moment. "Yeah, maybe we just need to get some time off the ship. Before we get to the planet, of course. We don't actually need to refuel, do we?"

"I mean, it doesn't hurt to get everyone topped up before a mission. And we've been travelling a helluva long time to get here, you know?" Ren said. "And, I dunno, maybe it's a good idea, you know, stock up on anything we need before we land."

"Ren, you don't need to justify it this much. We can just stop there, it's fine," False said.

"Yeah, but, like-"

"Ren, it's fine. We might as well if it's close by. And you clearly need a distraction, so. Maybe we take inventory tomorrow, and then we'll know what to pick up while we're there. Then at least it's a business expense," False said.

"True, true." Ren sighed. "I'll be honest, Falsie, there's really only one thing I want, and it's some actual good stinking food! I'm tired of living off the supplemental day rations! I'm wasting away here, Falsie, I swear!"

False smiled. "You're not wrong. I know why it's there, of course, it's all that will survive the journey, but god, I could do with some actual food."

"We're gonna dine out so stinking good, I promise. So much good food we can take to the planet with us! That'll set us up for a good start," Ren said.

"Yeah, of course," False said.

Ren fell quiet. He got up and went over to the navigation console. False saw him adjust their trajectory to head to the refuelling station. They were lucky one was close by. Sometimes they were months away, and they would have to get by on base power until they got there. Which, to be fair, was not that hard to do with only the two of them. Sometimes, they could go into stasis if there was enough power, but other times, it was just to isolate themselves in a small corner of the ship, power that for life support, and shut down most of the rest of the ship.

It would be nice to be off the ship, though. Talk to some different people. See some different things. Trade in some of the, well. Some of the things she'd collected over the years. If she'd learned anything at all over her lifetime, it was to keep your own money that your employer couldn't touch. You never know when you'll need to make an escape.

[zaceouiswriting]

Fairy Prince - Hearts of Leviathans - Ch.45

Character: Sky x male reader, Riven x male reader, Brandon x male reader, (OC) Callisto x male reader

Universe: Somewhere in Winx Club/Saga

Warnings: A bit steamy, brutality, a little gore

Author's note: This will be the last chapter for this year. I plan to write smaller things for the rest of the year and maybe the beginning of next year, but I will be back with another chapter early in January anyway.

(Callisto)

(Brandon)

Awakened, I stretch happily, my body lighter than it has been in a long time, the bright sun dancing in my eyes. I feel so warm, so much better, that for a moment, I even think I have died, finally joyfully jumping across the endless meadows of the Leviathans. But no. A glance to the side is enough to realize that I am still firmly in the world of the living. Right next to me in my bed lies a peacefully sleeping Callisto, his face even more relaxed than when awake. I haven't seen him so colorful in weeks since we returned to the Academy, but now, in the light glow of the morning sun, he looks almost divine, like one of the champions of the great Leviathans.

When I see him like this, I can't help myself. I lean towards him, grab a few strands of hair, carefully brush them away from his graceful face, and gently touch his cheek. Feeling his soft, warm skin under my fingertips, a shiver runs down my spine; my heart beats so hard that my whole face turns red while my eyes are fixed on his full, reddish lips. Should I? I mean, he's fast asleep; he'd never know, right?

While pondering whether I should steal a kiss from him or not, I'm suddenly torn from my thoughts when I feel our noses touch. My eyes widen involuntarily. Despite my head's reluctance, my heart and body seem aligned. Even though I know my first love is gone, I still fear Callisto might just be a replacement for him. It all would be easier if he would just do something my first love would never even consider; maybe then I could see the truth behind my feelings and hope that only love for Callisto would remain.

And yet, I want nothing more than to steal a kiss from him. Just one. That would be enough to sort out my feelings, at least for a while. But could I really be so selfish? Should I even do this while he's sleeping? It feels dishonest that I wouldn't do it when he's awake, but only when he's asleep. It feels wrong, like I'm doing something disgusting, maybe even perverted, just like the rumors suggest. Perhaps I'm a pervert, but only for him, his beautiful face, and those hazel eyes whose depth can make me swoon.

Suddenly, something interrupts my concentration. Did someone speak? Just as I'm about to turn my head away, I hear it again.

"Do it!" the voice commands, quiet, sleepy, and deep. Another shiver runs down my spine as I immediately recognize this stupidly attractive voice. My gaze darts back up to Callisto's eyes, only to be confronted by his hazel orbs. We are still close, but neither of us is moving away. "You coward," he murmurs agonizingly slowly, followed by his trademark grin that made me fall in love with him in the first place. I can only shake my head as I suddenly realize how easy I am. It's almost pathetic.

All my resolve dissolves as I feel his large hand at my side, tightening its grip around my waist. It's not small; I've trained my whole life, after all, but this man is just so monstrous. 

By the Leviathans, send me strength, for if you do not, I cannot promise to act rationally instead of instinctively. A pit forms in my stomach, and a feeling of longing reawakens that I haven't felt since the wild times I shared with my first love before his premature death.

As I see his grin widening, I suddenly feel a draft of air around me. Before I know it, I'm lying on my back, staring straight into those same hazel eyes, filled to the brim with lust so unbridled that I don't think even the crystal clear seas would be big enough to empty it. Callisto comes eerily close, his playful face now serious.

“Don’t make such a vulnerable face; otherwise, I can’t promise you that I can hold back any longer!”

Those huskily spoken words excite my whole body. Not only do I feel desirable, but I also wish I could let him do what he wants with me, what he seems to have always wanted.

But I need more time, maybe some new environments without him, to clear my head. When I think about it further, though, I already know that it would hurt me too much to be away from him, despite his indecent thoughts and obvious desperate attempts.

Staring into his eyes, I can see he wants an answer, and I know what he wishes to hear. If I could be honest with him, I would agree to do it here and now, even though we are in a dorm, and our noise would disturb the others, since Callisto seems big in all his measures, like the naughty teenagers we really are, even if we both pretend we aren't. In noble or royal families, you have to grow up faster because you often have to be prepared to take your parents' place if something suddenly happens to them.

“Please,” Callisto suddenly begs so fervently that it shocks me.

When I return from my thoughts, his face has changed again, and he now looks as desperate as his voice sounds. I almost feel sorry for him, but feeling sorry for him wouldn't help either of us.

I move my hand over his rock-hard abs and see his desperate look return to the previous cheeky gaze. But suddenly, he starts to blush. Slowly, he comes closer, our lips almost touching, but at the last moment, I wrap my legs around his thighs. The next second, I put my hand around his neck and saw his cheeky grin. I could only wonder what was going on in his cheeky head, but I had already pushed him before he could say or do anything. His eyes widen in incomprehension. And before he could say anything, I had already switched our positions and was now straddling him. I'm sitting on top of him, with my knees next to his waist, staring down at him, grinning triumphantly.

Callisto's stunned look and slightly open mouth soon give way to his trademark grin, but what really throws me off is when he suddenly flexes his biceps, which almost makes my mouth water. But he doesn't stop there: He moves his arms up and then puts his hands behind his head, wiggling a little, only to lie back down again, grinning even wider.

I tilt my head to the side, trying to figure out what he's talking about since he hasn't said anything. He must have noticed because his eyes soften slightly, but his smug grin doesn't change.

“If you want to be on top, you can,” he murmurs, quite pleased with himself, “but I hope you are prepared to ride for a long time because I have stamina for days!”

Although his husky, deep voice turns me on, I don't understand what he's trying to say, but I have to admit that our situation is starting to feel strange.

"Fuck no!" another voice suddenly shouts at us. I almost fall off the bed, but Callisto catches me just in time. With my hands on those muscular pecs, my head snaps to the side, and I'm confronted with an angry Vinok. "Isn't it enough that you two make everyone suffer by flirting like idiots, and now you want us to watch you fuck right in front of our eyes?"

Even more confused than before, I feel dizzy. When I turn back to Callisto to ask him about Vinok's unfounded assumptions, all I see are his crimson cheeks and his averted gaze. The realization hits me like a ton of bricks. I hadn't even thought about our almost intimate relationship anymore because I thought I had already put an end to it by turning us around! But when I look down at us, I find that Callisto is not only wearing hardly anything—just his underwear—but it is bulging to the extreme.

I slowly raise my gaze again and meet Callisto's mischievous eyes. We stare at each other for a moment. But it is only when his mischievous, shining eyes take on an apologetic expression that I really comprehend what is happening. Immediately, I feel my pulse increase, and my hands sweat profusely, only for Callisto to moan. Fucking moan! It quickly reminds me that my hands are still on his pectoral muscles, and I may have clenched them due to shock.

More screams and panicked whispers come from across the room, but as Daniel and Vinok make their way out, I realize that if I let them go, Callisto will take full advantage of the empty space and somehow get me to fool around with him.

I squeal at the mere thought of Callisto's hard body hovering over mine while he... no, don't even think about it! Feeling myself getting aroused, my eyes widen in horror; I quickly jump up from his body and try to get away from him, only to fall. Just a second later, I find myself hanging humiliated from the edge of the bed, with my foot caught in the blanket.

"Help," I say sheepishly, feeling like an idiot. My question for help is met with silence. I can't see anyone, but then, out of nowhere, laughter breaks out, just a little at first, until I can swear I hear at least two of those three idiots rolling on the floor. "Very mature," I continue to mutter, fed up with all three of them.

A large hand finally helps me back onto the bed and gently frees my foot, but even in Callisto's sharp features, I recognize a broad smile and a sincere desire to join in the laughter. Although I show an annoyed face, I'm inwardly grateful that he at least has the decency to keep his mouth shut.

Callisto even makes room for me by shuffling to the edge of the bed, giving me a chance to calm down, but I just want to fall into a hole and never come out. I hide my face behind my hands; I still can't believe this happened before others, even if they are our friends. It still feels so wrong.

As I lie there hiding, something pokes into my side; I try to find it, but as my fingertips touch its soft surface, my brows furrow in utter confusion. My heart skips a beat as I grab it and pull it out from under me.

"Who made this?" My voice shakes as I speak, as I desperately try to keep my composure. However, when no one answers me, I turn to Callisto, who I assume made it. "Did you make this little guy?" Until this moment, I really tried to hold back my emotions, but I couldn't anymore. Tears pool in the corners of my eyes. Although I somehow can still hold back tears, it all goes to shit as I take another look at the little animal.

Unable to hold back my gratitude any longer, I lunge forward, throw my arms around his neck, and nestle my head into his neck.

"Thank you!" I almost shout in his ear, but I don't care; I can't hold back anymore. Before I know it, my tears are flowing; I'm just too happy. "You must really like me for that; after all, almost nobody knows the Bogglewiks." After mentioning this silly name, I have to pause so as not to giggle because of it. "I know their name sounds stupid, but that's what the animals were like; they could barely survive, but they died out a long time ago, and despite it, somehow you managed to make an almost perfect replica!" As I cry like a baby, Callisto has to turn around to hold me upright and gently push me onto his lap. "You have no idea how much this means to me!"

I can only stare at the little animal, unable to believe he went through so much trouble to make me feel better. As I feel the stuffed animal up and down, my body suddenly freezes. My screams stop. I release Callisto's neck from my arms and stand up from his lap without saying another word. The cold floor sends a shiver up my feet. Silently, I grab some clothes and leave the room. At least I hear Daniel calling after me, but I don't care. I quickly wash myself in the communal shower and put on my new clothes, but when I return to my room, the others still sit around.

"What are you doing?" I ask, quite annoyed. "Are you coming or not?" The others seem stunned, but why shouldn't they? I've slept far too much over the last few weeks, and this sudden change would confuse everyone.

"What's wrong?" Daniel asks from the side. I turn my gaze to him; I see uncertainty in his eyes. But before I answer, I turn back to Callisto.

"I don't know where you got the gems for the plushie's eyes, but I need to talk to someone about this, so get up, shower, and then come to the landing pad!" I grab my backpack and quickly make my way back to the door. "And bring someone who can fly a hawk; even though I hate flying like that, we need to be quick!"

Without giving them a chance to say a single word, I storm out and run through the halls, hoping not to run into anyone who could ruin my mood again. But that's life. Something always has to happen.

Out of nowhere, a hand appears in the corner of my eye. Not wanting to be caught by anyone, I spin around and summon a stone spear. As soon as I stop, I plant my right foot heavily on the ground, encasing it in stone, and thrust the spear forward with all my strength. The other person narrowly avoids being impaled by the sharp point of my weapon by taking a step back.

To my shock, the teacher from my last visit is standing right before me. His long black hair makes him look almost like an undead monster from old stories, but his eyes are more like those of a snake; maybe he's both.

“What do you want?” I hiss and don’t put down my weapon because I don’t trust this man.

The man scoffs at me. He probably thinks I'm a moody child, but I don't really care. Why should I? This man creeps me out.

“You shouldn’t be running through the halls,” he finally says with a crooked grin and a fearless look, as if he knows I won’t use my weapon.

He was right about that, at least. I immediately make all the stones disappear again and walk away.

Just one step. I can only take one step before I feel a heavy hand on my back and am pushed into the other hallway from which the professor came, where he hurls me against a wall. Before the man can even say anything, I catch a glimpse of a tattoo on the base of his arm, one that an intriguing magical web should cover but, for some reason, has broken free of its bonds. It seemingly confirms my suspicions about the jewels in the plushie, but I'm still not completely sure.

"Another try?" I ask, my voice clearly mocking. "I wonder what your Grand Master will say when even a high-ranking one like you is killed by a child!"

But suddenly, I feel a sharp pain in my side. When I look down, I see blood seeping out, staining my clothes. But the man obviously doesn't like my reaction because he presses my head harder against the stone wall.

"Cry for me, little boy, beg for your parents as you die!" he whispers, clearly enjoying the moment of power he has. What a pathetic little man.

However, I must admit that the blade hurts a lot more than it should since metal is part of my magic. Yet it fails me miserably as if there is something that can keep my magic in check.

His head is suddenly much closer to me, next to mine, perhaps to see my facial reactions, but I have none. A strong, minty smell overwhelms my nostrils, but only briefly. And in the next moment, he is gone. I crumble against the wall, wondering what happened, only to hear a familiar voice not too far away.

"You damned old bastard!" He screams, angrier than I ever thought I'd hear him. "How dare you touch him, huh? Did you think you'd get away with touching one of your students?“

Between his words, all I hear is the cracking of bones—a sound I know all too well. He must have left his weapon in his dorm room. However, I can't really concentrate on it because there's still a damn blade stuck in my stomach.

Breathing heavily, I move my hand behind my back, grab the knife's handle, and pull it out. For a second, I see nothing but stars and wake up on the floor, but the weapon is still in my deadly grip. Awake and strengthened by sheer will, I look at the dagger, only to become absolutely certain that the teacher is just another of the black hand.

“Hey, hey, be careful!” Brandon’s worried voice, right after he has beaten the professor to a pulp, is almost disturbing. But his concern grows when he realizes what really happened. “I’m going to fucking kill him!” he screams, watching me bleed.

I can barely manage to grab his hand just in time before he can rush back to the teacher. I smile weakly at him and shake my head gently. 

"You already killed him." 

I nod towards the man on the ground. Brandon's head snaps in the same direction. The teacher's head is completely shattered, and his brain oozes out the side. Not even one of the Leviathans can do anything for him now.

While Brandon stands there in shock, I use the moment to close my wound with a layer of stone.

"Help me up," I tell him, but he doesn't react. "Brandon!" I say louder, but still no reaction. "Pull yourself together!" I finally scream.

In an instant, Brandon is looking at me blankly, just like the day I took my first life. He holds up my other hand, takes it, and helps me up. I know that there is only one way to help him. Carefully, I lead him to the body and tell him to twist his right arm. But he hesitates, so I try to do it myself, only to exaggerate the pain I feel and groan loudly. He quickly pulls me back up and does it himself instead, just as I wanted. Once the teacher's wrist is exposed, we can see the tattoo even more clearly.

"He was an assassin sent by the Black Hand to right their worst mistake," I explain.

“What's that?” Brandon asks, his eyes a little clearer now.

Putting a hand on his cheek, I gift him another smile. "Killing me," I whisper softly. "They tried for a long time, but this time, without you, they would have finally gotten what they always wanted."

Finally, some life returns to his eyes, but he lowers his head and plays with my hand. It will take a while for him to regain his bearings. But we don't have time right now.

"Now help me to the landing pad; I still have more to do."

I see that he wishes to say something, but I cover his mouth with my other hand, which I only then realize is covered in some of my blood. 

"Sorry, I couldn't clean my hand before," I apologize quickly. But Brandon seems unaffected; he even licks the blood off his lips. He doesn't say another word but simply leads me outside without letting go of my hand, which is starting to feel warm. But at some point, he suddenly lifts me up. Has he seen my pain getting worse? I thought I hid it pretty well. I can't help but blush against his chest as he carries me out.

[Masterlist]

[fallinforerling]

LOVE ISN’T ETERNAL. chapter 4 - jb

ೃ⁀➷ jude’s masterlist

ೃ⁀➷ jude’s taglist  

ೃ⁀➷ masterlist

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

The weekend arrived without any nasty surprises, which was very much appreciated. Jobe was still a bit bitter towards Jude for all the lies he told the family, but you convinced him to not pick any fights with his brother. Jude didn't deserve it, but you still cared about his family dynamic staying the same regardless of how he managed the breakup and everything that came after it.

Now you were laying in bed, not having the energy to do much. It's not like you were allowing yourself to be consumed by the grief or sadness (which you still felt), but you were a bit apathetic. Luckily, Nikki and Mia were coming over to help you with that. 

“I want this to end.” You whispered after a while, wanting to say something to fill up the silence in your apartment.

Because you truly wanted to get over him. Why bother grieving him? He has been partying and probably sleeping with girls every night since his arrival to London. And what were you doing? Missing him? Wishing he’d call? Having insomnia?

“Fucking prick.” At least insulting him was good therapy.

Before you could enter the space of mind where all you did was hate him and his existence, your phone started to ring. The only connection to the outside world this past week and a half was that little device.

Nikki was calling.

“Yeah?”

“Check my chat, girl. This is fucking insane. Go! We're almost there!” And then she hung up.

“What's up with Nikk and hanging up after saying things like that?” You laughed, expecting something funny or a photo of them. But no, it was a Twitter thread. When you clicked it, you almost had a heart attack.

“The fuck is this?!” You screamed.

The author of the thread simply wrote: “Jobe's new girlfriend???? I'm so jealous, who is sheeee???” followed with four photos per tweet. They were from the park meeting just a few days ago. There were photos of you hugging, when you were sitting together and when you started to leave the park.

At least it wasn't going viral, but there still were lots of people interacting with it. They were trying to guess who you were and for how long you two have been “dating”. A nightmare.

This had never happened in the ten months you dated Jude, mostly because privacy was important to him... And now you were mistaken for his little brother’s girlfriend? You felt like having a panic attack, but your front door opened and closed loudly, interrupting your thoughts. 

“Did you see it?” Mia said, entering your bedroom after a few seconds.

“How did you find it?”

“Oh, you know I love gossip. I was digging for some information and I came across it. Did you see the date? Someone posted it three days ago.” Nikki sat next to you, biting her lip.       

“Yeah…” Your brain started to analyze how it happened… Who took the photos without you noticing? The park was almost empty the whole time. Unless… “Fuck… I know who took those photos.” 

“Who?” Mia asked with apprehension. “Someone we know?” 

“No, far from it” With a sigh, you sat. “We met at a park near here. I've always liked that place because most of the time is empty… But that day I spotted a group of girls near us; I didn’t even payed them attention, they were far enough to not eavesdrop.” You covered your eyes, feeling frustrated. “They were teenagers, so of course they took the opportunity when they recognized him.” 

“Yikes, girl… Someone’s going to cancel you for dating a minor.” Nikki joked, winning a very small smile from Mia and you. 

“That’s not funny, my god.They probably will if they ever find who I am and my age.” You sighed, absolutely sick with the path your life was taking. “Why can’t I have one day of peace, huh? Life sucks.”

“Of course it sucks, that’s the main thing about living,” Mia said, sitting in your bed. “Well, let’s pray for that threat to die soon enough. You know how people are, they’re probably hunting for the next big gossip of the week.” 

“Yeah…” You grabbed your phone again, thinking about your next move. “I probably should send this to Jobe as well, I don’t want him to be taken by surprise if people begin asking about this.” A tiny smile peaked between your lips. “And let’s hope the girl he likes doesn’t find it either.”

“Do you know what else you need to start doing?” Nikki said while you send the link to Jobe, who started to laugh about the ridiculous assumption those girls made about you. 

“What?” You asked without paying much attention, smiling a bit when Jobe started to call himself Mr. Steal Your Girl. 

“Being a soulless, heartless, and cold girl for once. What about some clubbing, some fun… Some boys?” 

“You’re like the devil on her shoulder, Nikk,” Mia said, nudging Nikki’s arm. “But I agree, you need some fun. We forbid you from staying at home, drowning in your sadness. That boy doesn’t deserve it.” 

“Not one bit,” Nikki replied, hugging you. “I promise it will be super fun, just go out with us tonight.” 

Instead of responding, you took a look at the ground. There it is. You knew them too well, there was no way for them to “casually” suggest a night out; they had a plan. Their bags were on the floor, but you noticed a small bag that Nikki only took out of her house if she was planning to party: her makeup bag, which was essential if she was going out clubbing.

“Are you trying to persuade me into partying tonight?” You smiled, not even mad at the idea. 

“Maybe?” Both of them said, trying to look as innocent as possible. 

The three of you looked at each other with big smiles before laughing. 

“We’re going out tonight!” Mia screamed, gaining more laughs from Nikki and you. 

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

The fun part about going out with Mia and Nikki was the part previous to the actual clubbing. There just was something magical about getting ready with them: the makeup with the collaboration of everybody, constantly changing outfits, Nikki persuading both of you to drink a little bit for good luck and Mia insisting that all of you needed smoky eyes, so guys felt intimidated. Most of it was nonsense, but they were your best friends in the whole world and you always felt extremely thankful for their support.

“Promise me you’re going to at least try dancing with the hottest guy that approaches you tonight.” Mia said while doing your smoky eyes (yeah, you gave in).

“I’ll try.” And you will because it wasn’t fair for you to stay in your comfort zone. If this whole thing didn’t cheer you up or make you feel better, then you could always find other ways to keep your mind occupied.

“That’s more than enough for me. Try to have fun, this is a girl’s night.” 

“And talking about girls. Put this dress on, the girls look stunning in it.” Nikki dropped a black dress on your lap. 

“No way!” You lifted it with a smile. “I completely forgot about this dress. I haven’t worn it since…” You paused, feeling uncomfortable. “Uh, Jude’s birthday.” 

“Well, who cares about that? You still look amazing.” Nikki smiled, obviously not about to let you think much about Jude. 

“Done!” Mia said after a few seconds, biting her lip. “This is my best work so far.” Her eyes were sparkling, so you believed her. 

Facing yourself in the mirror, you almost didn’t recognize the face that was looking back at you. You looked amazing; the color of your eyes popped, the glitter was doing the right job of not making it look too dark and the red lipstick was the final touch. You loved it. 

“That’s the face of a heartbreaker, girl.” Nikki admired your face for an instant before smiling. “Ah, I can’t wait for the boys to fight over you.” 

“Very funny, Nikk.” 

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

The club Nikki choose was wild, especially since a manager was waiting for you at the door, guiding you to the balcony section of the club- which was the freaking VIP one.

“Nikk?” You half-screamed through the music, dying to know how she managed to pull this off. Mia seemed as confused as you were. “Anything you want to tell us?”

“About what?” She kept walking with the biggest of smiles.

“Uh… Us getting into the VIP section wiht no even five minutes of being here?”

“Oh, that?” Her smile grew bigger, if that was physically possible. “I know someone.”

Clearly, that was all the information you were getting. Mia gave you a look and the both of you silently decided that it was better if you didn’t dig into it.

“Tonight it’s about having fun, girls. My treat, don’t worry.” Nikki said once you were at the table, which already had a champagne bottle resting comfortably on an ice bucket. Three champagne glasses were next to it, patiently waiting for you. 

“Oh, so this is luxury, luxury.” Mia whispered, laughing a bit. 

“The fun it’s all that matters, trust me, Mia.” A waiter appeared out of nowhere, silently grabbing the bottle before smiling at all of you. 

“Welcome, ladies. May I open it now?” You nodded, and with one quick movement of his wrist, he had the job done. Impressive. “Hope you have a good night. Don’t forget you can always call a waiter with the button that’s underneath the table.” And then he was gone. 

“You were right, Mia. This is luxury luxury.” You accepted the glass Nikki offered you, excited for the night ahead. 

“Let’s enjoy it without actually wondering how much all this is, babe.” Was all she said before chugging her glass in one sitting. “I’m ready, give me another one.” 

“That’s what I’m talking about!" Nikki cheered, happy to see Mia engaged with tonight’s mission.                                                                                                     

“Come on, you need to chug that thing too, there’s more in here.” Nikki told you, already serving Mia’s second glass. 

“Fuck it.” You said before doing as Nikki said, chugging your champagne as carefully as possible so you didn’t choke. “If I end up vomiting all over the floor at the end of the night, I want you to know, I’m blaming you.” 

“That’s fine to me!” And then Nikki chugged her glass as well. 

Yeah, this night was going to be hella interesting.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

Needless to say that within two hours of clubbing you were pretty drunk. Not to the point of falling when trying to walk because the world was spinning or to the verge of unconsciousness, but a good point between being able to not care if something ridiculous escaped your mouth and dancing with strangers without giving it a second thought. 

Nikki had found some friends along the night, and now three more people, which were the nicest ever, were sitting at your table, chatting and laughing along. You enjoyed the their company, but felt the need to give yourself space to drink a very much needed glass of water in peace. 

So there you were, leaning against one of the multiple spaces in the balcony where little chairs were dispersed. It felt almost peaceful if you ignored the music blasting through the speakers or the many waiters going around the place, dealing with drunks and orders. 

“No way! Is that you?” A voice startled you, taking your mind away from the blankness it was immersed in. “I knew I wasn’t mistaking that face!” 

You turned, slightly pissed at the person that was basically yelling at you, until you realized it was Gio. Gio Reyna himself. 

“Gio?!” You didn’t know why, but the excitement made you scream. Maybe it was because you were drunk, but seeing Gio was one of the highlights of the night. “What the fuck are you doing here?” 

“I’m taking the few days off I have.” He hugged you tightly once you stood up, almost swiping you from the floor. “You look amazing! What are you doing here?” 

“Thanks! I’m with my friends, they’re right there!” You pointed to the table, where all kept chatting without noticing your encounter. “It’s a girl’s night!” 

“That’s cool! I thought you were with Jude, since he’s at London and all that.” 

Your smile never wandered from your face, not caring about Jude’s name being dropped from Gio’s lips. You shook your head, letting him know you weren’t with him today. Or ever, for that matter. 

“Nope, just my girls and I.” He kept looking at you like he was in front of a new person, not Jude’s “girlfriend”. You didn’t know if you liked it or felt bad about it. He was one of Jude’s good friends after all. “What about taking a picture? It’s been so long since we saw each other.” 

“Sure! Are you okay if I post it to IG?” 

Oh?

“Of course, go for it.” 

Then the two of you moved to a more illuminated area, he took his phone and you knew this was one of a kind type of opportunity. Time to be the pettiest bitch I know. Taking advantage of him getting closer to you for the sake of the photo, you passed one arm over his shoulders, and after a couple of pics, you decided to give him a tiny peck on the cheek. 

“Let's see.” He said shyly. Aw.

A few of them were blurry, but most were decent and the peck one was fabulous, not only for the sake of your intentions, but also because of how good the two of you looked. Your makeup was still intact, and with the lighting, it shined in a very pretty way. Gio had a light blush due to the alcohol, his smile being evident, giving his already handsome face something else. 

“That one?” You said, picking the one you liked the most. 

“Yeah! We look amazing.” He started to set it but paused before publishing it. “Do you mind if I tag you?” 

Bingo. 

“Go ahead, I have no problem.” And that was it. 

You said your goodbyes, and while returning to the table, you felt some type of triumph. Did this make you a bad person? 

“Where were you? We thought you got lost or something.” Mia said when you finally arrived, sitting beside Nikki. 

“So… I did a thing…”

[cowboydisaster]

The Fire In Your Eyes

part IX: horseshoe overlook v

pairing: Arthur Morgan x fem!reader

word count: 6.1k

summary: Three days after watching Arthur fall, three days of grief, three days of regret, and it all comes crashing down on you in one bittersweet moment.

a/n: here we are fellas... a much awaited chapter, technically the second half of last chapter. Star waits three days at the bank of the river... and so I've made you wait three days too. I want to say a few things so if you're sticking around to read the notes buckle up. Firstly I could absolutely not have done this chapter without Margo (linked below). She literally held my hand through writing this lol, and offered me more support, kindness, and praise than I deserve. She gave me so many tips and ideas and suggestions for this and I'm just so proud of the way it turned out, thanks to her. This was a group effort for sure. Secondly, I'm still in shock from the level of support this series has been getting. Its just incredible to see how many people come back so consistently. Last but not least, I love you guys, really I do. And I can't wait to see what you guys have to say about this chapter.

beta read by @margowritesthings

warnings: nsfw, 18+, minors dni, violence

series extras

SERIES MASTERPOST

It's been three days, searching the banks, knowing that he won't be back, won't be coming home. You saw him hit the water, and he didn't come back up. A fall like that is barely survivable. You know he's gone and it isn't until you allow yourself to think it that you break. All that you should have told him, should have opened up about and you didn't. You didn't. And now Arthur will never know any of it.

Arthur is gone, and he left thinking that you didn’t want him. You hate yourself, for your inability to open up and you hate him for this whole job. You told him you didn’t feel right about it but no one listened. Now he's gone and you're so mad, so angry with the world and your heart and him. 

It's pouring, thundering and lightning in the dark night and you've started to accept that he isn't coming back. In your head you know it, it's all you've thought about. You know he's gone, he's never returning to you, but your anger keeps you from returning to camp because what is the gang to you without Arthur? Can you really go back there and live with his ghost?

The rain pounds down on the top of your tent, falling down and drenching the ground. Lightning lights up the night, showcasing to you the dark, empty lake. John had come by a day ago, and when you realized he was alone your heart shattered all over again. It's a strange thing, you realize, to love someone but never have the courage to admit it until it's too late. Thinking back, you know you loved Arthur, it's obvious, but you couldn't admit it at the time. It took losing him to realize how much you need him. You don't know who you are, here now, without him. You belong nowhere, you have nothing, you want nothing other than him. 

You think about going up north, up to West Elizabeth for a while, but you can't bring yourself to leave the shore just in case. You haven't eaten. You haven't slept. You've been sitting in this tent at night haunted by ghosts and regrets, and surveying the lake in the day, futile as it may be. You know you need to do something, to go somewhere other than this damn shore, but you're lost. Your head tells you to run, but your heart tells you to go back to those who care about you. 

Arthur cared about you. And it's sick, and it's twisted but you're so mad at him for your feelings, so mad that he cared about you so much because it made losing him that much harder. 

Lost in thought, you don't even hear the footsteps as they approach the tent, nor do you hear Balius's quiet nicker. The rain doesn't help, coming down along with thunder that shakes the ground. You don't even notice his presence until he speaks up. 

"Star?" 

Everything stops. Your eyes go wide, and immediately fill with tears at the familiar, gravelly voice that you haven't been able to get out of your head for three days. At first you're sure you're imagining it, losing your mind, until he speaks up again. 

"Star? Y'in there?" He asks again, and too shocked and confused to speak, you crawl out of the tent. Your eyes land on him as you stand in the rain and you freeze, mouth agape. He looks…  he looks fine. And you take a step back as the emotion of it all comes crashing down. At first you're shocked and confused, and then you're relieved… and then you're mad. Because you spent three days thinking he was dead, and he's standing in front of you washed up in a brand new outfit with a smile on his face. The rain soaks in your clothes, drenching you as you try to breathe. 

"Where have you been?!" You cry out, full of emotion and fear and rage. Arthur sees it all playing out on your face, and his eyebrows draw together. 

"What-" He begins but you interrupt him.

"Why are you walking up here  like everythings just fine? Where were you?!" You half cry- half hiss, thinking of all the time you'd spent scanning the water, waiting for his body to wash up. 

"Swam down the river and hid out for a couple days till the bounty hunters lost me." Arthur sighs like it's the most obvious thing in the world, "What's the matter wit you?" 

Arthur isn't used to having someone to return to. No one asks or complains if Arthur comes back late from a job, he's never had anyone care so much as to worry for him like this- he's just not used to it.

You huff, a humorless, sarcastic laugh. 

"So you were just hidin' out?" You ask as a loud boom of thunder shakes the ground. 

"Yeah." Arthur huffs, irritated with your attitude. Your tone is angry, condescending and sarcastic as you continue on. Tears fill your eyes, but he can't see them in the dark.

"Well, I'm glad you've been safe all this time." You reach into your tent grabbing his hat before throwing it towards him angrily. "Here's your damn hat. Found it washed up in the river after you fell. Y'know, it would have been nice if you let me know- If you let me know you were just camping, taking a few days off while I've been here!" You yell, fighting back sobs, watching as he grips his soaked hat, growing more confused. 

"Star- what is your problem?" 

"It doesn't even matter." You toss your hands in the air, chuckling humorlessly. Your hair is soaked through, and Arthur glances to the sky as it lights up with bright white lightning. 

"Clearly it does matter! Ain't my fault you can't express your damn feelings!" He yells, growing angry alongside you. 

"Oh, that is rich coming from you. Like you can?!" You immediately bite back, voice growing louder as you step closer to him. 

"Yeah! I can, with you! I told you about my past, about my son and my parents and Mary! And I know nothing- I know nothing about you- what you want, where you've been." Arthur yells louder than the thunder, pointing his finger in your face as he does so, "You won’t open up and it's killing you. God- what are you so afraid of?! What's holdin’ you back? It's eating at you and you won't just deal with it SO WHAT IN THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLE-" 

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!" You yell, stepping forward with your shoulders squared, meeting him with just as much aggression. You're so angry with him, for the train and for coming back like nothing happened. Your anger gets the better of you as you lean forward, hands pressed against his chest and you shove him backwards with all the fire you can muster, growling as you do. He stumbles backwards, eyebrows drawn together as you ball your fists, ready to scream at him, to berate him for leaving you out here. But at the thought, something in your heart cracks, and the fire and the rage pales in comparison to the fear of losing him. 

A loud boom of lightning sounds out, and Arthur prepares for your inevitable verbal knives with his eyes cast on the ground, but you never throw them. 

When he looks back up, your shoulders are rising up and down heavily, and your finger points at him like you're about to chastise him, but you don't. He watches as your shoulders slump slightly, and he sees the way your hand, pointed at him, falters. Glancing up to your eyes, he sees that you're fighting back tears, and biting down on your lip to stop it from trembling. 

Exhausted, and terrified and hurting, you can't find it within you anymore to yell. In fact your voice is barely above a whisper as you meet his green eyes, 

"I spent days thinking you were dead… Do you have any idea what that was like?"  

Arthur sees the moment that you break. He watches as your face crumples, and he sees the pain that you've been going through. God, he didn't even think. He didn't even think. You crumple, erupting into quiet sobs as you hold your face in your hands. In two strides his arms are around you, and you sink into his touch, letting all of the pain and the grief be washed away by the rain.

"I'm so sorry, Star. Shit, I'm so sorry. I'm here. It's okay." He coos, protecting you from the rain with his warmth as you sob into his shirt, wrapping your arms around him to make sure he's really here. 

"John had to pry me away from that bridge…" You choke out, "I thought you were dead and I can't- I can't lose you, please, please don't leave me-" You whimper, feeling more vulnerable than you ever have in your life, but knowing that you trust Arthur with every fiber of your being to be the one to piece you back together. At your words, Arthur's heart shatters, falling to the ground in fragmented pieces along with your own that had fallen apart three days ago. Even with the rain, lightning and the pitch black, he cups your cheeks, pulling your teary eyed gaze up to him. 

"Look at me. You aren't alone- look at me, Star- I'm not going anywhere." 

And looking into his eyes, seeing him here, you know it's a promise he intends to keep. He's in front of you, he's safe, and having him here is too much and not enough all at once. He's scanning your eyes, searching for something to signal that you're going to be okay, and that's when it happens. With his hands resting on your face, and his eyes searching yours, you lean up on your toes, and you kiss him. You kiss him with everything you have in you, ignoring the storm and the pain in your heart. You thought you'd never have the chance to do this. And with him here in front of you, you need him to know that you want him too. You've repressed so much love and so much emotion, and now that he's here in front of you, you can't help but feel it all. 

He's shocked at first, eyes open and lips slack until he catches up and leans back into you with just as much emotion. His eyes slip shut, and you curl your hands into his shirt, opening your mouth for him to gain entrance. Your tears slip down your cheeks, mixing in with your lips. It's hungry and raw and filled with the emotion of you terrified of losing him, and needing him in every way possible now that he's here.

You pull away to catch your breath, tears slipping down your cheeks as you look up to him, making sure once again he's still here. He smiles down at you, wiping your cheek with his thumb, smearing the rain and the tears away. And then you're pulling him back down to you, kissing him again with the same hunger, and he kisses you back. His hands grip onto your waist and he pulls you against him as your lips slot against each other. It's him who breaks the kiss this time, and he looks down to your eyes, his green irises searching yours and seeing the intention in your gaze.

"You sure you want this?" He asks you, rain soaking his hair and causing a piece to hang down in front of his face. 

"Stop talking." You whisper, barely a breath as you run your fingers through his hair before leaning up to kiss him again. Your hands grip onto him, and you whimper into his mouth as his tongue mixes with yours. You need more, you need him. You need to know he's with you. 

Arthur seems to read your mind, hands grabbing the underside of your thighs as he pulls you up against him, carrying you. Your legs wrap around his hips, and you only break the kiss momentarily as he carries you into the tent. He lays you down on the soft blankets, taking a moment to admire you laid before him in the lantern light. Then he lines your body, leaning over you on his forearms as the storm rages on outside. His lips are on you again, in the crook of your neck, kissing the spot where your pulse beats erratically. Your legs are still wrapped around his waist, and as he kisses you, his left hand unbuttons your shirt. 

"You done this before?" Arthur asks, pressing messy kisses to your jawline. He remembers your conversation up in the Grizzlies, and he's almost certain this is new for you. You shake your head. 

"No." You admit. You're no saint, but you've never trusted anyone enough to go this far, not before Arthur at least. 

He exhales, nodding, but he seems hesitant, his hands slowing on your buttons. You grip either side of face, pulling his attention to you.

"I want it to be you. I need it to be you." You admit, whining as he groans, nodding. He leans back, sitting up in between your legs to shed his clothes. You help, pulling his shirt off of him quickly once the buttons are undone. He's left in just his jeans then, but you stop him from taking them off. You pull him down back over top of you, and he obliges, though a bit confused. 

"Kiss me." You plead, and he does. He kisses your lips over and over again, he kisses your neck and your jaw and your forehead while you get used to everything. He wants to do right by you, he wants to do this your way. 

You reach your hand down between your bodies as Arthur pops the last button to your shirt. You line your hand along the bulge in his jeans, and you press against it, eliciting a deep groan from Arthur. You smirk, popping the button of his jeans before slipping your hand inside. You wrap your hand around his shaft, feeling how much he wants you. 

It's overwhelming, all the feelings he gives you. In every way. He's perfect. Warm and loving, and his tan skin is kissed with freckles all over and he's so beautiful it makes your heart ache.

"I'm ready, but I don't know- How do we do this?" You whisper against Arthur's ear. You're letting him take control, and he nods, kissing your lips softly. 

"Let me take care of you, let me be strong for you." He whispers, pulling your shirt over your shoulders and kissing your collarbone until there is a mark.  Then he leans down, pulling your dark jeans down over your legs by the waistband, leaving you fully exposed. Once your denims hit the discarded pile of clothes, Arthur leans back, smiling down at you. You can't find it within you to be self conscious, not with the way he's looking at you. You lean up on your elbows, watching him drink you in as he leans up to grip onto your hand. 

"You're so beautiful…" He mumbles, eyes trailing up your figure lovingly. He squeezes your hand, and leans down to your right thigh where a messy scar lies, the gunshot wound from Blackwater. He kisses the scarred skin. 

"N' so strong." He whispers, rubbing his thumb over your knuckles.  Leaning up to meet him, you crash your lips against his own, trying to shove his jeans down off his form. He chuckles, leaning back to shed the denim. Now both fully undressed, he stops, looking over you again. Your wet hair is sprawled out on the blankets, lips plump from where he's kissed them. He's sure you're the most beautiful thing he's ever laid eyes on.

"Arthur-" You whimper, pulling him back down to you by his hand. He takes his time warming you up. There's no rush, and you're so glad to just be together. 

He places kisses down your chest, in between the valley of your breasts, and you chuckle, fingers intertwining into his hair as you pull him back up to your lips. 

"Arthur?" You breathe out. 

"Hmm?" 

"Touch me." You plead, spreading your legs for Arthur. He smiles, running a finger down your thigh as he leans in to kiss your neck. You gasp, feeling his fingers brush against your core. He stops, groaning when he feels how wet you are, the sound cathartic. Then once you wrap your legs around his waist, he resumes his pace. His thumb gently rubs around the small bundle of nerves at your core, and you gasp, gripping onto his shoulders as he continues to kiss your neck. Then as his thumb continues, his middle finger stretches into your tight heat, and your nails dig even deeper into his shoulders. 

"Please, just-" You beg, but he stops you, pressing a kiss to your lips. 

"Sweetheart, I gotta take my time. I don't wanna hurt you." He says, and you nod, trusting him. He works his finger in you for a while, curling it up and coaxing little gasps from you. Then, he stretches a second finger into you, and you wince from the pull, but after a while of him working you, it starts to feel good. And shortly you're breathing quickly, ready. 

"Perfect." Arthur whispers, sliding his fingers out of you while he presses a kiss to your forehead. His arms flex on either side of your head as he holds himself up, and your legs wrap around his waist as he lines himself up. 

"You ready?" 

"Yes, yes-" You mumble. 

You feel the tip of his length against your entrance, and you spread your legs even further for him. And then he's sliding in, slowly. You gasp loudly, gripping onto him tightly as he thrusts in, slow as to not hurt you. 

"S'it hurt? You okay?" Arthur asks, stilling as you toss your head back and pant. 

"No- yes-?" You whimper, acclimating to the feeling. You nod, signaling him to continue as the thunder rumbles outside, not nearly as loud as your gasping breaths.

"Oh, Arthur-" You moan as he slides into the hilt, and bumps into your sweet spot. He slides back out partially, and then picks up a slow, steady rhythm. Your body arches beneath him, and you moan, pulling his face down to yours in search of his lips, tears coming in rivulets. He kisses you again, giving you butterflies as he thrusts in and out of you. You grant him access to your mouth then, and when he pulls away to breathe, still thrusting steadily, you whimper, tears running down your cheeks. 

"Star?" Arthur asks, worried. And he stills his movements. 

"No- don't stop." You beg, pulling his head down into your chest as he resumes his movements. 

"I'm so glad you're okay Arthur." You cry, shaking against him as you hold his head against you. 

His lips are on yours then, reminding you that he is here with you, safe, loving you. 

"I'm right here, darlin'." He reassures, and you nod against him, biting your lip. You can't help the moans that you start to let out, timed with every one of Arthur's thrusts. He runs his thumb over your hard nipple, teasing it and giving you goosebumps. You don't have to worry about the noise, as there is no one to hear you but the raging storm outside. The power of the black clouds, bright lightning and pounding of rain pale in comparison to the crashing together of you and Arthur. Your moans seem to encourage Arthur, and he begins to thrust even harder into you, kissing you in between his movements. You can't keep your hands off of him, running them from his face, pulling his lips to yours or digging them into his shoulders as you gasp and moan. 

He feels the same way, gripping your hips, kissing your breasts, and your lips and your neck it's almost too much. You feel yourself approaching an orgasm quickly, but you fight it, clamping down on yourself in an attempt to slow the process. You don't want this moment to end, you could stay here forever with him, and never have to worry about anything else. But your abdomen clenches and you feel your nerves begin to tingle. Arthur isn't oblivious to this, and he runs his thumb over your sensitive bud, leaning down to whisper in your ear.

"Star, let go." He whispers, lightly biting your earlobe. You shake your head, gripping his shoulders as tight as you can manage. .

"No." You argue, squinting your eyes shut and shaking your head, thighs clamping around him as you try to stop the inevitable. 

"Darlin, let go. I told you, I'm not goin' anywhere." He whispers again, and you release, automatically setting off the intense waves of pleasure that crash down over you. You set Arthur over the edge, constricting around him and your moans fill the tent as you arch your back, pulling his lips down to yours. You moan into his mouth, hips rocking against his own as you climax, feeling so close to him and so intimate and vulnerable. You never knew it could be such a beautiful thing. 

He begins to groan loudly in your ear, and you pull him down to you as you continue to rock and moan against him. Your grip on him tightens, and you're not sure whether or not he's planning on pulling out, but you don't want him to. You need him with you. Your legs wrap even tighter around him and he gets the message. A few stuttering breaths later and Arthur groans, grinding his hips against you as he finishes in you, lips pressing kisses to your own between heavy groans and breaths. 

His forehead falls against yours, resting there as he catches his breath. You do too, still clinging to him in every way possible. After a few moments, he presses a slow kiss to your forehead, and then slides out of you. You wince from the pull, but once he lies down on the blankets beside you, he pulls you into the crook of his arm and covers you with the blanket. You rest your head on his chest, soothed by his heart beat after the past three days. 

"You okay?" Arthur asks, running his hand up and down your back over the blanket. You nod, truthfully. 

"I think I'm better than I've been in a long time." You admit. Arthur leans up on his elbow, grabbing your canteen from his side of the tent. 

"Here." He offers you the water, and you take it willingly, sipping down some of the cool liquid before handing it back to him.

You cuddle down against his chest again, hand sprawled out on his stomach as he looks up at the ceiling, thinking. 

"We gotta talk about this. Please, don't close up again, not now." Arthur says, worried that come morning you'll close yourself off again. You nod. Truly, you have no intention of hiding anymore, not after tonight. But for now you don't want to talk, you just want to be with him.

"In the morning?" You ask, tucking yourself into his side, yawning. 

"Yeah, in the morning." He whispers, and you lean up, pressing one last, slow kiss to his lips. He chuckles as you toss your leg over his, formed tightly against him. 

"Arthur?" You ask, not meeting his eyes. 

"Hmm?" He asks, hand still running up and down your back while the other holds yours tightly. 

"I'm so glad you're okay." You say again, a tear falling down your cheek and getting lost against his chest hair. You draw stars on his bare skin, distracting yourself as he wraps the blanket tighter around you both, protecting you from the thunder outside. 

"I know, sweetheart. S'alright now, you just get some sleep."

Everything seems to make sense now, like it's finally fallen into place. You grip onto his hand, holding it as you start to drift off to sleep. You're his grief, his joy, everything he desires and loves. And you feel the same about him. You've denied yourself this for so long, that finally having it happened in one big collision. You wouldn't change it, lying here with him now. You know you have to talk about this, and you have to get Arthur back to camp, but it's all a problem for tomorrow. Right now it is about the two of you, just existing together for the first time.  

— — — — 

When you begin to wake up, it takes you a few moments to come to your surroundings. Your eyelashes flutter open, eyes squinting to block out the harsh sunlight that is filtering through the tent flap. There is a strong, steady warmth underneath you, and realizing your surroundings, you smile. Your head is laying on Arthur’s chest, legs still intertwined and hands still locked together under the blankets from the night before. Arthur's other hand runs soothingly up and down your bare back, and you prop your chin on his chest to look at him.

"How'd you sleep?" He asks, voice deep and groggy. 

"Real good." You hum, telling the truth. You've slept in the same bed as Arthur on a handful of occasions, but you've never been able to do so as openly as now. You've never woken up so content before, even with the residual ache in your hips. It's a good ache, a reminder of where Arthur had touched you, binded his body to yours in the most intimate of ways.

"I'm sorry that I just… jumped you last night." You whisper with a chuckle, fingers running down Arthur's chest, tracing through the sandy blonde hair there. 

"Do you regret it?" Arthur asks, looking down at you sprawled over his chest. Immediately, you shake your head.

"No. Not at all." You say truthfully. Even though the circumstances around your crashing together were less than ideal, you don't regret it even for a moment.

"Good." Arthur hums, smiling down at you. 

It grows quiet for a while, comfortably so. You listen to the birds and the river, but mostly Arthur's steady breathing, and you realize that you could lie here with him forever. You thought you'd lost him, and now that he's here, you can't bring yourself to let go for fear that he will disappear again. At the thought, you realize that you've not discussed what happens now, and a question forms on your lips. Your hand is still intertwined with Arthur's, and you play with his fingers as you speak up. 

"I reckon I already know the answer to this… but this was more than just sex right?" You ask, a little nervous. You're almost certain this is an emotional commitment, but your anxiety still prods at you. Arthur cracks a smile, bringing your wrist up to his lips before tenderly kissing the point where your pulse beats.

"Yes," He laces his fingers back with your own, "I'm all yours darlin', if you'll have me."

"Always." You whisper, ear pressed against his chest. The rhythmic pounding of his heart is a sound you can't get enough of as you slip your eyes closed, still reassuring yourself that he's here. 

"We gotta head back soon," You sigh, "I know John is worried sick. I'm sure everyone else is too." You whisper, feeling a pang of guilt in your chest for keeping John in the dark while you'd kept Arthur to yourself all night. 

"Just a few more minutes." Arthur counters, wrapping his arms around your waist. His thumb glides over your lower back, and you look up to see him lost in his head again. 

"Why did you stay out here? Why didn't you go back to camp with the others?" Arthur asks, propping his hand under his head to look at you. 

"How could I have left you? I didn't know if you were alive, I didn't think you were, god- that fall… but the thought of you hurt somewhere, or needing help, I couldn't just leave." You whisper, emotion bubbling up again at the thought of his fall. You don't bother to hide it anymore, even though your nature wants you to. 

"I can't stop seeing it, Arthur. I've never been that scared in my life." You admit. 

"It was a hell of a fall, I'll tell you that. Hurt like hell hittin' the water too. I didn't even know if I was alive, the water turned me around real bad and then I was on the shore of the Upper Montana River." He explains, eyes lost in the memory, "Hid out for a while and I heard the law whistles so I stole a horse n' ran to Strawberry. I was so worried about you… I didn't see you get away." 

"Cause I didn't." You whisper, "John had to pull me away from the bridge. Athena carried me here and I sat in the grass the rest of the night just… waiting for you," You take a deep breath, a loose tear slipping down your cheek, "and then your hat washed up, and I was sure you weren't coming back."

You can't shake it. Every time you bring up the bridge it all comes rushing back. 

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't come back to you." Arthur hums, feeling terribly guilty as he sits up in the tent. You sit up next to him, pulling a blanket around your shoulders to cover your breasts. 

"Well, you're here now." You whisper, teary eyes looking into his. He shakes his head, and you see the regret in his eyes. 

"I shouldn't have called you a hypocrite. That was unfair of me." Arthur says, and your hand reaches up to his cheek, running through the thick stubble there. 

"No, you were right. That's somethin' I've thought about a lot the past few days, somethin' I plan on workin' on." You say, "And, Arthur, I shouldn't have gone through your journal."

Arthur huffs, humorously. 

"S'all you anyway." Arthur admits, and your eyebrows pull together, not understanding. 

"My journal. It's all you." He reiterates and you smirk. 

And then he's pulling you into his lap, unable to keep his hands off you now that he's able to touch you like this. 

"We have to go." You chuckle as Arthur runs his thumb over the purple splotches on your collarbone. His lips are on your jawline in a heartbeat, pressing slow, languid kisses to it. 

"They can wait." He whispers against your skin, thumbs gripping onto your bare hips as the blanket slips down from your shoulders. You lean into his kisses, loving the feeling of his lips on your skin, something you've denied yourself for so long. 

Your stomach grumbles lightly, and Arthur slowly leans back, raising an eyebrow at you. 

"You eaten anything?" He asks, and you sigh. 

"No." You admit, sighing as he slides you down off of his lap. 

"C'mon, let me make you breakfast." 

"Didn't think you were the type; cookin' a girl breakfast the morning after." You chuckle as Arthur starts plucking your wet clothes up off the floor, tossing them in a useless heap. 

"Yeah, well… only for you." Arthur huffs, grabbing your saddlebag from his side of the tent.

"You got any other clothes? These are drenched from the rain." Arthur asks, nodding to your outfit from last night. You nod, searching through the bag until you find a decent outfit. You grab a pair of black jeans and a white long sleeved shirt and you pair it with a tight black vest and a choker-style neckerchief, it's a damn cute outfit. 

“Alright, go on and get breakfast ready, I’m starvin.” You joke, pulling your shirt over your arms and buttoning it from the bottom up. Arthur laughs, eyes lingering on you for a moment before he groans, getting himself dressed for the day. 

He makes a little fire out front, and you smile, sitting at the entrance of the open tent as he prods and pokes at the smoldering logs with a stick. He puts on a little pot of coffee, and pulls a few cans from his satchel. 

“It ain’t much, but it’s what we got.” Arthur says, stabbing his knife into the top of one of the cans and cutting away the seal. He hands it out to you then, and you smile at the label. Strawberries, another delicious treat that Arthur had stashed away in his bag.

“It’s perfect.” You hum, slipping your fingers into the can and pulling out one of the berries. Today proves to be the calm after the storm, and despite the rain that soaks into the ground, covering the grass in a mist, the day is beautiful. The sun shines brightly down onto you and Arthur, sipping your coffees and making quiet, comfortable conversation. One by one, eating the berries, you begin to feel replenished. Not having eaten for the past three days, too devastated to even move, you devour your whole can of strawberries, and then you pick at Arthur’s. It breaks his heart a little, seeing how you’ve deprived yourself of basic needs in his absence, but he says nothing. You squint your eyes shut, relishing in the warm bitterness of your coffee until you’ve drunk it all down. 

“Thank you.” You say, placing the empty cup on the ground next to the empty cans, “For everything.”

“Course.” Arthur smiles, standing from the ground with a groan. He picks up the trash, and you raise an eyebrow at him as he tosses it into the woods. In just a matter of one night he’s managed to piece you back together, both physically and emotionally. It’s a debt you’ll owe him forever, though you know he’ll ask for nothing in return. 

“Star?” Arthur asks, looking at the tent as you stand from it, packing up, “This John’s tent?” He asks, looking over the familiar dark camping kit, one that he’s pitched his own next to on many occasions while out working.

Your eyes go wide and you snort, remembering that John had left you his camping kit back when you’d told him you planned on staying by the river. 

“Oh my god-” You say, horrified, “We’ll have to get him a new one.” 

Arthur chuckles, amused as he brings the tent down and starts packing it up with the blankets. 

“Nah, he won’t know.” Arthur brushes it off, snickering to himself. 

“Arthur-” You chastise, jaw open slightly as he rolls everything up and ties it onto the back of Balius. Arthur says nothing, a smirk on his lips as he walks to the front of his scarred shire, petting his head. 

“Missed ya, boy. I hope you took real good care of the lady while I was gone, I know you did.” Arthur whispers to his stallion, patting his neck a few times while pulling some mints from his saddle bag. He gives Balius one, and then looks back to you, blushing at the smile on your lips from his whispering. 

“Ready?” He asks, gripping the horn of his saddle. 

“As I’ll ever be.” You sigh, kicking dirt into the fire before mounting onto Athena, patting her in thanks for getting you across the river all those days ago.

You wonder what happens now. When you return to camp will Arthur showcase your newfound relationship?- If that's what you’re calling it, that is. You don’t know if things will slip back into their usual routine, or if this will change everything. You’re not ready for the gawking, hushed whispers of the girls, or the disapproving glare of Dutch. Though it's nonsensical, you feel that everyone will know what happened out here, and you feel terribly selfish for spending the night with Arthur when his own family didn’t even know he was alive. Still, you don’t regret it. 

Trotting across the river back towards Horseshoe Overlook, back towards home, you glance up ahead. Arthur is in front of you leading the way, and you release a breath, letting all of the worry and the guilt fall from your shoulders and be lost in the river. Because no matter what faces you back at camp, he's with you now, by your side with no intentions of leaving. You'll face it together.

taglist: @margofiore @mrsarthurmorgan7 @woman-with-no-name @tillith @luvliewriting @pine4pple-b0i @photo1030 @dudsparrow

series taglist: @catnotbread @chxosangxl @globetrotter28 @justalittlerayofpitchblack @fruittiest-of-loops @randomidk-123 @heyworld-whatsup @btsiguess-kpop @how-the-heck-would-i-know @rratman @eyelovie

[spoilmesweetieforficssake]

That Brunch

So I'm still skirting round filling the requests in my inbox - they're crawling their way to completion, but my muse is flitting between ideas, hence, I've somehow ended up with another little follow up to a previous fic Between The Lines.

~*~

“You promised you’d tell me!”

Melissa could feel a blush that couldn’t be blamed on the mimosas creeping up her cheeks.  So far, she’d largely managed to avoid bringing up the subject of how you and she had managed to get together, but Barb was right.  She had indeed promised her the whole story.

“You at least have to tell me who made the first move.”

The red head felt her blush deepening.  She ducked her head, biting her lip as she tried to figure out the best way to tell her friend the story of you and her.  It wasn’t that she was ashamed of your relationship.  Not at all.  But she was perhaps slightly embarrassed by throwing herself at you lips first. 

“You did?” grinned the kindergarten teacher, not needing Melissa to speak to read her answer in her reaction.  “Oh now you really do need to tell me.”

It was with a fond smile that Melissa finally looked back up at her friend.  “Well, you know we’d been spending time together, lunches, the farmer’s market, that kinda thing?  All platonic at that point!  Anyway at some point I must have mentioned a book that I read years ago, and that if I came across it I’d love to read it again.  I’d almost forgotten about it, but then one day she comes in and hands me the book.  She’d seen it in some second hand store and picked it up.  It was such a small thing, but I dunno, it just…something shifted and I stood up and kissed her then and there.  I didn’t even think about it, I just kissed her.”

Barb looks across at her friend, drinking in every word.  She takes in the soft, warm tone of her voice, the matching smile and sees that her friend is absolutely smitten. 

“I mean once I realised what I was doing I bricked it, went to run outta there, but she just put her hand on my arm, said if a book was all it took to get me to kiss her she hoped it had a sequel,” she finished softly, picking up her glass, almost hiding behind it. 

“I know you’re not going to like it, but I’m calling the whole thing cute,” smiles the older woman.  She laughs as Melissa scrunches her nose in disapproval.  This wasn’t her usual story of flirting her way into a fling, or being flattered enough by someone coming into her to spend the night with them.  This was different.  “You look happy with her, even talking about her.”

“I am happy,” admits Melissa quietly.  “And I am sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.  I didn’t tell anyone.  I was in this little bubble where it was all great and I didn’t want that to burst.”

“And then the funeral happened.”

“And then the funeral happened,” nodded the red head.  “That, let me tell you was an intense way to meet the family.”

Barb held up her empty glass, signalling the waitress to bring a refill.  She watched as her friend promptly emptied her own glass and also held it aloft.  It wasn’t called a bottomless brunch for nothing and this was a story best told with a drink in hand.

*

“Y/N?”

You look up from your book to see an older man standing beside the open window of your car.  Or rather, Melissa’s truck.  “Uh, yeah?”

“Sorry, I just recognised the truck,” said the man.  “I’m Gerald, Barbara’s husband.”

Quickly setting down your book, you turn your attention to the man.  “Gerald!  I’ve heard only good things.”

“I’m pleased to report so have I.  Barb speaks very highly of you.”

“Then consider me flattered,” you tell him honestly.  “Really.”

He smiles at you.  “She thinks you’re good for Melissa.”

That you were not expecting, and you find your mouth hanging open in surprise.  “She does?”

“She does,” he nods.  “And having seen Melissa recently, and seeing you now, I find I have to agree.”

At this, you frown.

“Can I be honest?”

You nod.

“I never liked Joe.  More precisely, I never liked the way he treated Melissa.  He was crass, selfish, downright cruel sometimes.  If he ever had to collect her, he’d pull up and if she wasn’t outside waiting for him, he’d be barging in and practically dragging her out.  That or he’d drive off and leave her.”

Your frown only deepens.  “He did what?”  The thought of ever just driving away and leaving Melissa standing alone and abandoned hurts you to even consider. 

“Yeah,” nodded Gerald.  “Lost count of the times I’d take her home or take her back with Barb and I if she knew it was going to be stormy night and she didn’t have it in her to face it.”

Your frown gives way to sadness at the thought of Melissa not even wanting to go home.  “Thank you,” is what you say, after a pause.  “For being there for her.”

The smile he gives you is wide and genuine.  “I think I like you.”

“Feeling’s mutual,” you smile back, the moment broken by a loud peel of familiar laughter.  You both turn to see Barb and Melissa stumbling out of the restaurant, clearly having tested the ‘bottomless’ aspect of brunch to its limits. 

“You let her drive?” laughed Barb as she caught sight of the two of you, leaning on Melissa for support.  “Sure she’s old enough?”

The red head slapped her friend’s arm for her cheek.  “Hey!”

You and Gerald share an amused smile as the pair continue to make their way across the car park.  The make slow progress, but they make it.  In between many hugs and promises to do another brunch soon, the pair of you get your respective partners into your vehicles without incident.

Waiting at the junction, you turn to look at the read head. 

“I love drunk Barb,” she grins.  “She gets sassy.”  She turns to face you, her head lolling against the head rest.  “I love you too.”

You lean across to press a kiss to her lips, ignoring the honking of the car behind you.  “Love you more.”  You mean it too.  This woman crossed continents with you to be by your side during your grandmother’s funeral.  She faced meeting your family at the worst possible time.  Asked nothing in return.  And here she is, happy all because you waited outside for a few minutes to collect her from lunch.

This woman deserves the stars, and while you might not be quite able to reach that high, it’s not going to stop you from trying.  You’ll do anything to try and be worthy of the beautiful smile currently being aimed at you.

[starryredpandawrites]

Halloween with the Siblinks

Hey fam, I've been working on the next update and I wanted to post it yesterday for Halloween BUT I'm not quite finished with it yet.

So, instead, have some headcannons of what what I think Halloween would be like for Audrey and Bendy (in both forms) and a rough draft/outline of a scene for their very first one.

Btw, I would love to hear anyone else's headcannons/ideas about what any of the siblinks' Halloweens would be like so feel free to respond/reblog this post with your ideas and/or tag me in any posts that you make yourself :)

For their first Halloween together, I think Audrey would play it safe and plan on the two of them staying home together. She explained the whole holiday to Bendy and he was intrigued (Ink Demon form) and very, very, very excited (toon form) about the whole thing. He wanted to go trick-or-treating but after a few arguments he settled for just giving candy out to people and letting them see him in "costume". Audrey would have been more comfortable just hiding away and setting a bowl of candy outside the door but he gave her puppy-dog eyes and she couldn't say no.

At first, she didn't want to decorate to deter people from coming but realized how out-of-place Bendy would look answering the door to a normal apartment, so she goes all-out with the decorations. Obviously, they carve pumpkins (with Bendy's cartoon as the theme).

During the days building up to the holiday, Audrey talks about Halloween and tells him stories of her experience with it. Joey was too old to take Audrey trick-or-treating (plus, he wanted to keep her existence on the down-low) but he bought her lots of candy each year and she would help him pass it out. At one point, she told a story about a group of teenagers that showed up and took almost all of the candy they had and they ended up running out of treats to pass out super early. Both her and Joey were upset by this and he would talk about it every year after that, so she made a promise to herself to always buy extra candy so they wouldn't run out. She says offhandedly about how she believes teenagers should leave the candy/trick-or-treating to the kids, forgetting once again how Bendy takes everything literally the first time he hears it.

Anyways, the day before Halloween, Audrey is super stressed and has everything prepared in advance (and has had it prepared for weeks). Bowl of candy is filled with backup bags stored in the kitchen, and her costume is nicely laid out so she can jump into it right after work (she dressed as Alice Angel or some cartoon character to fit the theme). She also sets a chair by the door as a plan B just in case she gets caught up at work so that he can just set the candy outside the door.

She goes over the plan/what trick-or-treating will look like to Bendy. She'll do the talking, he'll hold out the bowl, then they'll go back to watching a scary movie together.

However, she forgets to mention her plan B.

Halloween happens and Audrey gets caught up at work. She is really, really sad about it but knew it was a possibility. She's still working on setting healthy working boundaries with her boss/coworkers but at least she gets paid overtime now.

When she gets home, late, she finds the chair exactly where she left it before and all of the candy she bought is gone.

Bendy is in his Ink Demon form, sprawled out on the couch and watching a horror movie. There's a half-full pillowcase of something on the floor next to him and several empty bags scattered on the floor but Audrey doesn't notice them at first.

Audrey: "Bendy! Did you eat all the candy I bought? That was for the kids!"

Bendy, glances at Audrey once before looking back to the TV, clearly unbothered by her anger.

Audrey storms over to the TV and turns it off.

Bendy jumps up with a challenging hiss and goes to turn it back on but she blocks him. Insert tense moment where they're boths staring at eachother, neither backing down.

Finally, Bendy basically asks, WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?! but imagine it with spookier, more eloquent words.

Audrey: "You ate all the Halloween candy."

Bendy: I DID NOT!

Audrey: "Then where is it?!"

Our inky demon boy stomps over to the pillowcase, picks it up and, in true asshole fashion, dumps its contents over Audrey's head.

Candy spills out of it, and Audrey is now surrounded by a ring of assorted types of candy. To her growing horror and surprise, she notices a lot of the candy is definitely different from the type(s) she bought at the store.

Audrey, no longer angry, just scared: Where did you get this?

Bendy: FROM THOSE WHO SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN OUT TONIGHT.

With some interrogation, Audrey decodes the Ink Demon's cryptic yet blunt answers and confirms that he did not set the bowl outside the door. Instead, he answered the door himself, switching between his Ink Demon for and his toon form depending on who was outside the door.

At some point, he was running low on candy (he was passing it out in handfuls) and began to panic. However, the next group of people that came to their door was a group of rowdy teenagers and he overheard them making fun of their decorations.

Bendy is now pissed and remembers what Audrey told him about teenagers and how candy should go to kids instead.

So, when they open the door, he pulls a Grunkle Stan and jumpscares them. They all scream and run off, leaving their bags of candy behind.

He didn't expect that but isn't going to just leave free food/candy lying around, so he takes it inside.

When he runs out of Audrey's candy, he starts giving that candy out instead. Whenever he inevitably started running low on candy, he would wait for a group of teenagers to stop by and jumpscare/steal their candy to give out to the little kids. The idea of just giving less candy out to each group of kiddos never passed his mind.

Audrey is horrified (and a little impressed) and fully expects someone to report them and for the police or the Gent Corporation to show up and cart them away. She quickly takes down their decorations and starts preparing for a hasty getaway when someone inevitably shows up to investigate the appearance of the demon in her apartment.

Except, they don't.

A few days pass by and she still hasn't heard from either group. However, she has heard from her neighbors.

Everyone had something to say about her brother(s)* presentation. She gets mixed reviews (all the ones that got Toon Bendy loved it but some of the ones who got the Ink Demon thought they went a little overboard) but overall most people were very impressed.

She debates relaying this to Bendy because she doesn't want him to get too cocky but decides it would be wrong to keep it from him. Sure enough, Ink Demon Bendy is hyped and is now thinking of other ways to scare people next year and Toon Bendy is just excited to see more people. In both forms he is very disappointed to learn that Halloween only happens once a year/every 365 days.

*Everyone assumed Toon Bendy was her little brother but some people were arguing on whether the Ink Demon was her brother, friend, or even boyfriend. She VERY quickly shot down the third option. Now everyone assumes she has a little brother that lives with her full-time and an older brother that stops by every once in a while.

Disclaimer, personally, I have nothing against teenagers trick-or-treating and kept going out with my little sister until her senior year of High School. I just thought it would be funny if Bendy stole candy from kids/teenagers and figured this would be a good excuse for him to do so lol

[lifewouldbebetteronmars]

Welcome to Angstmas 2024

Title from Party Tattoos by dodie

Part of the TLH Tattoo Shop AU

This is a sample from a multi-chapter fic idea I have for LuciexGrace in my TLH Tattoo Shop AU, so please let me know if you like it or want to be tagged when it eventually gets posted. I'm aware Lucie and Grace might seem a little OOC here, but this is how I picture their relationship in this universe

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

Black Lipstick Will Never Be A Sin

Normally, at this point in the tattoo, Grace would be blissed out. Eyes closed, lips opened slightly. It was a sight Lucie was used to, because in all of the times she had tattooed Grace, the reactions were always the same.

The tattoo bliss always came before the little snores that signalled Grace had fallen asleep. She'd tried to explain it to Lucie a couple times before, something about her weirdly high pain tolerance or some yoga technique that she learned from Matthew when he was in his short-lived crunchy phase.

But not today.

No closed eyes, open mouths, or little snores. Just Grace staring ahead with empty grey eyes. Dull in a way that they never were.

Black lipstick, that was new too. She'd worn it almost every day for the past month. It went with the new all-black clothes she'd been trying out. Thin, oversized sweaters and baggy faded jeans. None of which was Grace. Not even slightly.

Gone was her black honey lipstick. The one recommended to her by Eugenia after her crush on Arwen from Lord of The Rings. It was the same shade Liv Tyler had worn.

Lucie couldn't remember a time when her lips weren't painted in the glossy purplish sheen. It had been a long time since she'd seen Grace in black lipstick.

Gone were her cropped science-pun t-shirts and mini skirts. But the Mary Jane's stayed. Though right now they were little more than loafers.

This girl sitting in her chair looked like Grace and talked like Grace, but she wasn't Grace. At least, she wasn't Lucie's Grace.

"How are you feeling, Gracie? Still good to go?"

Grace nodded, not looking at her.

“I need verbal consent to keep going, Gracie, you know that. We’ve done this enough times.”

"Just keep going and don't call me that."

Her harsh tone made Lucie stop the gun and look back up at her face, which now had an annoyed look plastered to it, grey eyes wide open.

"Okay. What's going on?" she asked, setting the tattoo gun down and removing her latex gloves.

Grace huffed in response. "Nothing is going on. I just want this to be over with."

"It isn't nothing. I've been tattooing you since we were sixteen and doing illegal stick-n-pokes and I've been calling you 'Gracie' since basically forever."

"Maybe I've just outgrown it. Can you just continue with the tattooing please?"

"Math literally called you Gracie yesterday. I was there. And no, not until you tell me what's wrong."

"Matthew is my brother and as my brother, he has privileges that you do not. Just as you do with James." she explained in that overly polite way of hers that seemed almost rehearsed. "And it took me a long time to finish that sketch and I want it on my body as soon as possible, if you would be so kind as to do so."

The sketch Grace was referring to was the basis for this whole session. An almost large rib piece that spanned from her first few ribs, almost touching the side of her breast. It was a beautiful design; a spider's web connected to vines, all twisty and dark, filled with dead leaves and vague references to flowers. But the pièce de résistance had to be the moth caught in the center of the web, trapped.

It was haunting and beautiful, the best sketch Grace had given her yet.

"Fine." Lucie said, casting her eyes downward and sliding on another pair of gloves before picking the gun back up and starting again on the stark black vines.

It was silent between them for a while. Only the sounds of tattoo gun buzzing. They were the only ones in the shop, with it being so late that everyone else had gone home.

It made the silence more deafening.

Grace was the one to break the silence, just as Lucie was starting to clean up the last bits of blood and ink from the fresh design. "I don't like how Gracie sounds anymore."

Lucie stilled for a second. She didn't respond. Just kept on with what she was doing, wrapping the gauze along her ribs. Grace kept on talking.

"It sounds too much like Daisy. Gracie. Daisy. It drives me mad. Absolutely up the wall when you call me that. I thought I should tell you before..." she trails off, eyes looking anywhere but at Lucie.

"Before what?" This time, Lucie couldn't help but respond.

"Nothing. You'll find out later."

"Later? What will I find out later?"

Grace laughed. Lucie missed that sound. She hadn't heard it in what felt like so long. "This is our last time doing this. Our last tattoo. I wanted it to be special."

That wasn't what Lucie was expecting. She stilled, completely frozen as she stared up at Grace. Who didn't even look like she cared. Not even slightly.

"What do you mean? Our last tattoo?" Lucie couldn't help but feel frantic. "I've given you all of your tattoos. Since we were sixteen, Gracie."

Grace nodded, sitting up slightly to finish up the gauze herself, since Lucie had been too shocked to continue on. "Alastair's going to be doing my next one, I think. We've been working on this watercolor design, I think it'll make a nice sternum piece, maybe a spine. I'll show you when he gets back next week."

"Grace."

She just kept talking, ignoring Lucie.

"I'm actually really excited about it. I've been admiring Alastair's work for years, you know."

"Grace."

"I know it probably hurts you, but I promise, I'll be in excellent hands."

"Gracie!" Lucie yelled at last, no longer able to contain it. Grace had been off all night. Had this been why? If it was, then why did she seem so happy about it. "We've been good, had a good thing going. You design, I tattoo. Why now?"

"I just need a change. And you need more clients than me."

"I have plenty of clients. You're just my favorite."

"This was the last time, Lucie, I'm sorry." Grace's tone had started to waver. Lucie thought she might be starting to cry.

"Can you at least tell me why?"

"I was thinking about what Cordelia might think."

"Think about what?"

"Think about you tattooing me. It must drive her mad. Just like it does when you call me Gracie and her Daisy." she says, hopping off of the chair and pulling her sweater back down and using the sleeve to wipe the tears they were both ignoring.

She didn't need aftercare instructions. They'd done this enough times.

She went to the rack of coats, grabbing her black coat, Lucie was there when she bought it. She told her it made her look like Sherlock Holmes. Grace had laughed and said she was more of a Watson type.

"Cordelia doesn't care."

"That's what she tells you. Why would she tell you? No one wants to be the jealous girl."

"She has no reason to be jealous. You're my best friend. It's just a tattoo."

Grace's eyes widened. Her mouth dropped open in shock. "You haven't told her."

"That's besides the poi-"

"She doesn't know who I was to you. She's clueless to our history. I'm just the best friend to her. She has no idea who I really am."

"And I'm going to tell her. But for now, Cordelia doesn't care."

"Cordelia doesn't know."

"She will eventually."

"Eventually." Grace laughed. It was bitter as the nightshade Lucie had tattooed on her bicep when they were nineteen and in love. "And why would she care then? She'll be your wife by then. And it won't be easy to divorce you, trust m-"

"Gracie. Enough."

"What? It's the truth. You won't tell her until you absolutely have to. I know you. And because I know her too, she'll be jealous. Tell me. How many of her tattoos are yours? Or better yet, how many of hers were done by James?"

"It doesn't matter, I'm not jealous of James and Cordelia isn't jealous of you."

That silenced the blonde girl.

Grace turns away from Lucie, slipping her long coat over her shoulders. She doesn't say anything as she gathers her things and walks towards the door, leaving Lucie to lock up.

She turned back just slightly, hand on the doorknob, only the black of her lipstick was visible to Lucie. It was all she could see as Grace began to speak once more.

"You think Cordelia won't be jealous of me, once she knows. But I'm the first wife and she'll be the second, Luce, she'll always be jealous of me."

And with that, she was out the door. The door's bell ringing couldn't compete with the ringing of Lucie's ears.

Her phone lit up beside her. Cordelia flashing as it did. She declined it.

A bomb had been dropped and she'd been left to deal with the aftermath. Alone.

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

Happy Angstmas to all and to all, a good Angstmas 🎅🏼

@petalsofaflower-shutupthomas @wagner-felll @tessherongraystairs @hahahax30 @littlx-songbxrd @i-die-for-alastair-carstairs @alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer @alastaircarstairsismybff @melanielocke @crispynun

(Ask if you want to be added or removed)

Grace’s tattoo

[just-my-type-x]

heyyy ummm,can you write something about brad keeps bailing the reader and missing their dates so they end up having steaming "make up sex" and then he does really sweet after care like run a bath and then brad apologizes when they're in cuddling ready to go to sleep x

Tit For Tat

I was feeling scandalous so i added some things to make the angst good. Hope u enjoy it ♥️

TW: unprotected sex, mentions of alcohol

Y/N is an actress in here

🍾

"I'm sorry, love, can't make it tonight. Late studio session, Tris was late.", i stare at the text message while looking around me. The whole restaurant is packed and i shrug in frustration, aware of how much time I've spent on the waitlist to get a dinner scheduled here. I don't even think I'm mad. I don't feel anything, but disappointment at this point.

I leave him on read and take my purse, looking for my wallet. Great thing i didn't think to leave it home, playing the Oh, Bradley, i forgot my wallet card, but it looks like i don't have a partner for this game. I call the waiter to my table and ask for the check. As he leaves, i see a familiar brownish curly hair, looking as disappointed as me. I wave at him and his smile lights up his whole face.

"Y/N! What a surprise!", Gavin says and hugs me on the side, taking a seat afterwards.

"I know! What are you doing here? And why the sad face?", i take one more sip of the white wine i ordered hours ago while waiting for Brad.

"I think i just got stood up", his smile fades for a second but his iconic smirk shows up again. "Why are you sad and alone in a fancy restaurant? With no more drinks around you at least", he laughs and tells the waiter to bring us 2 glasses of champagne instead of my check.

"I got stood up too, by my own boyfriend..", the last part is almost whispered and i look another way. Gavin gives me a questioning look, lifting one of his eyebrows. "Late studio session. So he says. I think they're just having more fun without me", i laugh, but it does feel like that sometimes.

"No way, there's no way he'd have more fun without you. You're amazing and he knows that. Maybe he's really busy right now. You know how schedules get messed up when you're also on set.", he assures me and taps me on the back of my hand.

"I don't know, Gav. It's something that keeps repeating. We see each other pretty rarely as it is, I've been free for three months and we only went to two dates. Two out of forty.", i throw a napkin in frustration.

"It's not my business to discuss this with you and you won't erase the past if you only tell me this stuff. Talk to him, tell him how you feel. All i can tell you is that as busy as he might be, you were way busier when you were working and still managed to go to dates with him and spend quality couple time."

I sigh at his words, knowing he's right. I never discussed this with Brad and i always assured him that we're fine and that we have all the time in the world to go on dates. I nod at Gavin and give him a smile.

"Thank you for that. I guess i just wanted to push the conversation away.", i shrug my shoulders

"Now, let's have fun", he takes another sip of champagne while looking thoroughly through the menu.

🍾

The next day i wake up to an empty bed. I frown and check my phone to see any texts or calls from Brad, but nothing. When i got back home last night from the restaurant, Brad was still not home, so i didn't bother waiting for him, as i was already upset with him and angry.

I get out of the bedroom and relief fills my body as i see him making breakfast. I let out a breath, unaware of the uneasy feeling i had. I smile at him when he looks towards me and he does the same. We hug and give each other a good morning kiss.

"I didn't hear you when you got home last night", i take a bite of the bacon

"I know", he turns his back at me and flips the eggs. I frown.

"How was the studio session?", i ask, my intention of asking nicely fading with each word in the question. You can say i hold grudges.

"Good. We have 2 songs", Brad keeps his distance. "Did you have fun last night?", he asks as he pours the eggs on a plate and places the plate with force on the counter top, making the plate slide under my nose. I push the plate away from me.

"On the date you didn't bother to show up to? I had a blast", i sarcastically answer him, but it's not completely true, because at least i had good company.

"You didn't seem to need me", he eyes me for the second time this morning, his stare burning mine. He hits a glass on the counter top with the same force he had on the plate and pours himself orange juice.

"I'd like more information. What?"

"Oh, you don't know about your own date with Gavin? Your friend? Or should i extract myself from the equation?", Brad slaps his palms on the table and his head drops between his shoulders. "What happened last night, Y/N?"

He pulls out his phone on an Instagram page that posted a picture of me and Gavin at the table, both of us in our fancy clothes, sipping champagne close to midnight. The title said "Y/N Y/L/N all fancied up with new love interest Gavin Casalegno? The young costars were spotted last night in London's fanciest restaurant", i grab Brad's phone to read the caption. "Does love beat the movie? In their case, maybe. Source says they seemed to have fun and quote not a care in the world as they were sipping champagne and staring in each other's eyes all night. Follow us for more. " i shake my head in disapproval.

"Nothing happened, Bradley. I wanted to leave but Gavin showed up. We were in the same situation, our dates bailed on us", i get up from my chair and walk away from the kitchen. Brad scoffs behind me and follows me.

"Stop blaming me for that", he says and sits down on the couch next to me

"Why not? How many time did you ditch me in the past few months? Almost every time, Brad. This isn't normal. I work my ass off and sometimes i work more than you do, but i don't forget that we're a couple and i don't forget about my boyfriend!", i take a deep breath when I'm finished. Brad's eyes sadden. "I'm sorry, i didn't mean it to sound like that", i look down at my lap, my hands intertwined.

"No, don't be", he takes my hands in his and sighs. "I didn't see things this way, love. I was so focused on coming out with new music that i didn't even realise how many times i ignored us.", he cups my face with his hand.

"It's alright. I just want more time with you, love, please. My upcoming project is going to take me away from home for four months, I'm just trying to spend as much time as i can with you.", he pulls me in a hug and i lay my head in the crook of his neck, kissing him.

"We're gonna be fine, love", he whispers and i raise my head to kiss him. Brad grabs the back of my head and pulls me even closer to him. I push him into the couch and i climb on his lap, never breaking the kiss and he groans when i sit myself on him. I moan when i feel his hard member underneath me. A smirk appears on his face and i kiss it away, his tongue pressing on mine hungrily, pulling on my pj top. I take it off and Brad takes his own t-shirt off, glueing our bodies together and switching positions. He kisses down my jaw and neck, leaving red marks on his way to my exposed chest. He cups both of my breasts and gives them a few squeezes, while his lips leave trails of kisses on my breasts, one at a time.

Brad moves lower, kissing and nibbling at the skin on my stomach, triggering a tickling sensation. I chuckle when he bites on the side of my hips, causing me to rise my hips towards him. The quick touch of my lower half with his upper body causes goosebumps on my skin and i let out a quiet moan, keeping my hips elevated.

"So eager", Brad's words are muffled, his face buried in my skin as he pulls my pj pants down. He smirks and looks at me with darken eyes, the sight of me not wearing any underwear pleasing him. I put on a proud smile.

"I know you love it when there aren't many inconveniences.", i drop my head back on the couch as one of his fingers massages my clit.

"I wish i had you naked around the house all the time so there weren't any inconveniences.", he adds more pressure while drawing small circles, quiet whimpers from me giving him all the assurance he needs that he's doing a great job. Brad stops his action and drags his finger down to my entrance. "So wet for me, love.", he pushes hus finger inside just a little bit, making my body squirm underneath him. "Fuck, the power you have over me is insane, baby", he pushes his finger all the way in, brushing it over my g-spot. I moan after every pump and the pleasure intensifies as Brad's lips start sucking on my clit. He sucks it, licks it and massages it, making my legs shake because of all the pleasure and pressure i feel between my legs.

"Oh, fuck, this feels incredible", i praise out of breath and i feel a smile creeping on Brad's face. As i feel like I'm getting close, he gets back up on his feet, taking off his pj pants and grey boxers, that were already soaking in his precum. I bite my bottom lip when he's fully naked, his size never failing to surprise me. Somehow, i never feel prepared to take him.

"I love you staring at me like that, but i don't have the patience today, babe", his voice a little raspy, i only open my legs as an invitation to hurry things up. "I'm so going to ruin you right now", as a promise, he gets back between my legs and holds himself up by one of my knees, while his other hand guides himself closer to me. He pumps himself a few times and i groan, the action making me go crazy in moments like this. Both of us on the edge, horny and ready to let go of our frustration in the best possible way.

Brad pushes the tip of his dick inside me, the little stretch causing me to gasp. He pushes more and more, little by little giving me time to adjust to him before he leans in all the way in. I moan loudly and i grab onto his shoulders as he starts pounding into me hard and fast. One of my hands stays on his shoulder while the other one is in his curls. His head drops in the crook of my neck, his hands pinning me down onto the couch. His grip on my hips intensifies with every thrust of his hips in mine and i embrace the pleasure and the slight pain. Brad's breath is fast and his movements are desperate and i wrap my legs around his waist to give him a better angle.

"Oh My God", i gasp and i hold on to the cushion underneath me. "Fuck, Bradley", i pull on his curls and raise his head so i could kiss him. Our kisses are messy and sloppy and we bite on each other's lips. Brad grabs the armrest of the couch and picks up his speed.

"I'm so close", he almost whispers and rests his forehead on mine. I nod slightly.

"Me too"

He groans and moves his hand from my hips higher up, grabbing me from the sides of my ribcage, his thrusts getting harder. Soon after, the familiar feeling of my orgasm getting closer takes over my body. My legs shake and my back arches off the bed, which gives Brad the opportunity to wrap hus arms around me. He rides my high, cuming with a loud groan and scratching the skin on my back. I feel his dick pulsing inside of me as he stays on top of me to regain his strength.

"That felt so good", he whispers out of breath

"I know, right?", i smile and try to catch my breath as well.

"I love you and I'm sorry i didn't realise what i was doing by not showing up for dates.", Brad kisses my forehead and looks me in the eyes, one of his hands playing with a strand of hair.

"I love you too and I'm sorry i didn't talk to you about this sooner. I hope you know i didn't replace you yesterday"

"Of course i know. People just have a way with words", we both chuckle at his statement. "Let's go get you all cleaned up", he gets up from the couch and hurries to get me a towel. Brad helps me clean myself up and we walk into the bathroom together. He gets the bathtub ready, throwing in a bath bomb and my favourite bath foam. He helps me get inside the tub, making sure i don't slip. Brad disappears from the bathroom and then comes back in a glimpse, holding his speaker and his phone. He plays a chill playlist and i motion him to get in with me.

I press my back on his chest and he starts massaging my sides, adding pressure on my hips, a place where he knows i love some attention when it comes to having massages.

After the water cooled down, we step out of the tub and dry ourselves before going back to our bedroom. Breakfast long forgotten, Brad and i turn on the tv and play a comedy movie on Netflix. He pulls me on his side, my head resting on his chest, our hands intertwined in his stomach. Brad kisses the top of my head and i look up at him to kiss his lips.

"I love moments like this. I'm so lucky i have you", he whispers and runs his free hand up and down my arm, in a soothing manner.

"Me too, I'm also lucky to have you, you're everything i ever wished for", i smile up at him and he closes the gap between us again.

[weirdgenetic-fuckup]

You need to do more Castor your one shot about him was so good!!!

A/n: I've been meaning to do more of Castor! He's literally the reason I started writing these because there's nothing of him and it's honestly criminal, I love him so much. I wrote most of this while feeling like absolute dogshit and did not proofread it so it might suck but smut is smut so enjoy :3

Warnings: Smut, oral sex (reader receiving), fingering (reader receiving), I think that's if you think I missed something please let me know otherwise enjoy :3

Castor was home from a tour. Bastardane was supposed to start work on their next album the day after they got back but everyone quickly realised that was a terrible idea as they were all exhausted and their bodies hurt.

Which led to a very peaceful morning for you and your boyfriend. He was tired but he wanted to spend as much time with you as he could. He didn’t want to just lay in bed so he came out into the living room to be with you, making himself a bed on the couch.

You two had moved into an apartment together not long ago. You never wanted a really big house, you knew Castor would do anything to make you happy so if you did want one he’d find you one, instead he settled on getting you some nice, new, slightly expensive furniture. Everything looked a little off in the small space but you filled it with enough homey things that everything just tied together so nicely.

You got two bowls of cereal for the both of you, something easy and quick because Castor was whining the whole time you were away from him but you still wanted him to eat. Coming back to the couch you saw that the blonde didn’t have a pillow. You reached for one from a nearby chair but he stopped you.

“Don’t need a pillow, just gimme your lap.” He mumbled as he reached out for you, his long limb prodding your thigh. Your ass, really. It was the closest thing he could reach.

You chewed your cheek, thinking it over for a moment but when you saw the innocent, tired pout on his face you just couldn’t say no. You sat on the couch and Castor got his head all nice and comfortable on your lap, nuzzling into you.

You turned the TV on so you’d have something to watch while you ate. Castor ate sideways and was very careful to not drip any milk on you, though a few drops escaped him. He spilled a spoonful and nearly spilled the whole bowl as well, making half of your pant leg wet.

Castor apologised, you told him you weren’t mad and got up to change your pants. “Where are you going?” He asked, leaning on his elbow.

“To change?” You replied. He shook his head.

“Just take your pants off, you don’t need to leave.” He tugged on your pant leg. Again you thought about it, and again you were deterred by his sweet pout. You slipped off your pants and sat right back down.

Castor finished the rest of his cereal sitting up, though he refused to not lean against you. His chewing was right in your ear. Frankly you didn’t care, you missed him just as much as he missed you.

You both set your empty bowls down on the coffee table, saying you’d clean them up later. They will be forgotten for at least a week. The TV was still on and you let your focus drift back and forth between it and your own wandering thoughts.

Castor rolled over. You thought it was just to get comfortable but then you felt him pushing his nose against you, into your panties.

He kissed around the thin fabric, poking his tongue out to lick your inner thigh or trace the waistband of your underwear. He loved watching you twitch, hearing those deep breaths you took to calm yourself when he just knew he was driving you crazy.

“Please, Cassey,” you said, “just do it.” There was already a whine in your tone. You were needy and desperate for his tongue to just be inside you already after all this time apart.

Of course, Castor didn’t wait a minute longer. He loved teasing you but at this point he was just teasing himself. He got on his knees in front of you and took your panties off, tossing them to a far side of the room. He planted his hands on your thighs and spread your legs, staring at your glistening folds.

“You’re so pretty.” He mused as he hooked your knees over his shoulders. He kisses you soft, sensitive skin, his hot breath fanning over your heat. “All needy for me.” He licked a strip up you, dipping his tongue in your hole. You moaned softly, your hand reaching for his head and tangling in his long blonde hair.

He sucked on your clit, lapping at it as well while his fingers prodded deep inside you, pumping in and out at a wild pace. You bucked your hips to meet him, mind fogging at the sensation. “Fuck, you’re so perfect.” He purred against you.

“Hah~ Fuck, Cassey-Cassey, ‘m close.” You moaned, head falling back onto the couch. You ground your hips against his face, cherishing the feeling of his nose hitting your clit, his tongue and fingers taking turns fucking you.

Castor was looking up at you, waiting to see that look of ecstasy fill your face. And soon it did. Your eyes rolled back and your mouth dropped open in moans. Castor didn’t stop, continuing to deliciously eat you out. Your thighs closed around his head, holding him in place as you rode out your high on his face and fingers, juices spilling down his chin, onto the couch.

When you finally let go of him and pulled back and got up, moving to sit back down on the couch with you. He wrapped an arm around you and pulled you close to his side. “I love you so much.” He whispered in your ear.

You leaned up against him, nuzzling into his warm embrace. “I love you too.” You purred.

[baldurs-gape]

Op your tumblr fucks just fyi. I've loved everything you've written. I need more please 🥺

Watch as I have fumbled sixteen different attempts at answering this ask. You are just too kind. Allow me to respond with the only kind of expression of gratitude I can muster and write you a little something. How about a follow-up to Silence?

The Underdark was still a miserable place, devoid of sun and general vivaciousness that came with life above ground. At least there was something in the way of food for Astarion down there but, after the Shadowcursed Lands, he had gotten wise and had a couple of bottles of blood as backup. Even with those though, Astarion had a knack for running out too soon. No matter, he'd gone hungry before and he would do it again. Just as long as he didn't find himself in sudden need of it to help heal.

What a fool he'd been. The Grymforge was not worth the fighting in his opinion but, as he'd learned, that rarely mattered. None of them were prepared for the fight and their little group had come out rather battered. Wyll had been caught in the flames of an exploding arrow while Lae'zel waded into the heart of the battle. They both looked rather worse for wear and Shadowheart was using the last of her spells to patch them up. Shuffling closer, Astarion wondered whether he could ask for a bit of help, having taken an arrow of slaying to the gut. Hunched over a little, hand over the protruding remainds of the snapped off shaft, he smiled.

"A little help?"

Critical eyes roved over him. Considering he didn't bleed like a living creature would, Astarion didn't know quite what they were looking for.

Pulling out a potion of healing from her pouch, Shadowheart uncorked it and downed it while maintaining eye contact.

"That was my last potion, I needed it to make it back to camp."

Lae'zel stood next to her and offered her own unhelpful advice. "You've got blood smeared on your face. Just lick yourself clean, that'll tide you over, right?"

The small smears of blood splattered on his cheek were about as much use as a finger width strip of bandage over hanging out innards. Truly, Astarion didn't know what to expect but it shouldn't have been anything helpful.

Returning to camp was painful. Astarion was slow, each step sent spasms of agony through his whole torso. The damn arrow had lodged deep and he couldn't move in a way that didn't make it shift in him. Hanging to the back of the party, Astarion did his best to keep up without attracting attention. The last thing he needed was to be seen as an inconvenience. If he set a toe out of line, he feared he'd be thrown out of the group and lose what little protection they offered.

Back at camp, he was sad to note Halsin wasn't around. The Underdark wasn't a place filled with happy memories for him, so Astarion could understand why he ventured away whenever possible. It still didn't make his own misery any better. Rather than greet anyone, he managed to all but crawl into his tent so he could deal with the arrow in private.

As Halsin returned to camp, he cast a curious gaze round. The group that had headed out were back yet he couldn't see Astarion. Ignoring the sinking feeling hin his stomach, Halsin tried to remain optimistic, maybe Astarion needed a rest after what looked to be a rough fight. Sticking his head into Astarion's tent, all hopes were shattered.

"Little one?"

Astarion was in the furthest corner of his tent, hunched over. Empty blood bottles littered the floor around him as he'd obviously tried to scrape out any remnants of blood from them with a finger. His face was a mess of tears and streaks of smudged blood. At his pet name, Astarion looks over at him blearily.

"Bear." A shaking hand reached out towards Halsin and he took it without hesitation. "I can't get it out."

What 'it' was didn't take long to figure out. Looking at the broken arrow shaft, Halsin took an involutary gasp. There was no way the arrow was coming out the hole it had made. Its barbs would catch and tear devastatingly at tender flesh.

"It's okay, Starling, my little bird." Sinking to his knees, Halsin appraised the situation. "It'll have to come out the back."

"Out. I want it out."

"I'll be as gentle as I can."

Sitting down, Halsin pulled Astarion to straddle his thighs, chest pressed to chest. Thankfully Astarion was already topless so that made his job a little easier. Taking the remains of the shaft, Halsin gave it a push and winced at Astarion's groan of pain. Slow wasn't going to be any kinder. Pushing again, Halsin watched at the tip of the arrow stretched pale skin, pushed it taut until it burst. As the skin split, Astarion screamed. The worst was almost over, a little more of a push and enough of the arrow poked out that Halsin could grab it and pull it free from Astarion's back.

A dry sob and Astarion collapsing into him signalled the end of the ordeal. The arrow was free, even if Astarion did have a gaping hole from front to back.

"I'm sorry, Starling. I'm so sorry. Here, drink."

Halsin tried to offer his neck but Astarion was too weak to hold himself up, let alone bite through skin, no matter how soft. Cursing, Halsin helped him turn, slender, cold back against his broad, warm chest. Raising an arm, he pressed it against Astarion's parted lips.

It was useless, Astarion tried to bite but weakness stripped him of the ability. Steeling himself, Halsin had to improvise. One hand supported the back of Astarion's head, held him in place. It meant he could push up with his other arm, forced fands to break his skin. The pain was deep but Halsin grit his teeth and helped push Astarion deeper past tendons and muscle. Thankfully a tongue lapped against the trickle of blood and, after a moment instinct took over. Correcting the placement of the bite flared sharply along Halsin's nerves. Fangs ripped through him to get to the best place to drink from. In his haste, Astarion's jaw worked trying to push yet more blood into his mouth. At least he wasn't helplessly weak or unable to eat anymore. Halsin took comfort in that even as he gritted his teeth against the feral way Astarion took from him.

The wounds closed, Astarion slowed down from frantic to something more gentle. Tongue lapped over the wounds, helping them heal. Finally, eyes so vibrant and full of life again met Halsin's.

"Thank you."

Leaning in, Halsin kissed the corner of blood smeared lips and smiled. "Anything for you."