#at the very least i should have said 'if your answer falls between the options

[gamebunny-advance]

Huh.

I'm already getting a good amount of response to today's polls, and now as usual I come to realize in hindsight that my wording of the questions might be affecting how people are voting.

I've really got to be better about that.

[scatterbrainedbot]

I AM SPINNING I AM PACING I AM FULL ON FROLICKING IM SO EXCITED

@d1sc0rd1a THANK U FOR THESE TAGS

okayokayokayokay so pretty much all of these questions will be Officially Answered properly in the character design/intro pages im working on but also i am physically vibrating with excitement about the fact that you noticed all these details and i have very little self control so! lore dump time!!!

(minor tw for mentions of leos self-harm/self-destructive anxious behaviors and unhealthy coping skills)

- mikey does indeed have curly fur! i believe he would be considered a 'rex' rat (pictured on the left) for this trait? though the curls can be more easily seen on mice (pictured on the right). or, at least it seems that way. have not delved too deeply into the details of rodent genes and husbandry, but id assume its the same sort of mutation considering curly haired mice are also referred to as rex sometimes? either way hes a extra floofy bby 🧡

-as for raphie, unfortunately being more fluff and less shell than the average rapheal comes with its downsides. especially if you and your brothers occasionally encounter things like territorial dogs, hungry cats, or sewer crocodiles while exploring places ur dad said not supposed to go. (most of his scars will have more ninja related stories, but his ear i think got messed up from something very animal. probably around age 11 ish? old enough to sneak out from dads protection but young enough to not fully know how to handle himself alone against real danger. thankfully his ear injury looks worse than it actually is for the most part, as the damage was largely to the outer ear. his hearing wasnt super affected, except that he now has a bit of a harder time being able to track/pinpoint noises origins if its on his right side.)

-also yep! dons got some glasses that just clip/rest on the bridge of his nose! theyre mostly just for home use, as they do fall off if hes knocked around. in the field he has some goggles he tends to use (theyre helpful as they have multiple additional functions like heat-imaging, extra zoom/telescoping, and recording capabilities. but also theyll give him headaches if he wears them for too long without breaks). contacts are theoretically also an option but he absolutely hates the sensation of putting them in. so sometimes when hes tired he'll just not bother with either clips or goggles and just squint and struggle. leo hates when he does that lol.

-speaking of leo, he is def an anxious baby :) he has a few patches of fur missing on his hand cos he has the tendency to tug on it while hes thinking. he yanked and chewed on his own tail a lot when he was younger too, which is why when hes older he usually wears some wraps to cover the scars left from that behavior. he finds those scars specifically to be kinda embarrassing and shameful because they werent from any battle or life-lesson, just his own 'inability to control himself'. all of his brothers have repeatedly called him out on the fact that that is not a healthy way to think about his anxiety or mental health, but leo insists hes fine. hes kinda convinced himself that a proper warrior always has control over his own body* and his own thoughts, thus he should be able to just like willpower-brute-force his way into 'being better'. (this line of thinking pisses raph off so much he has to leave and go hit something)

Splinter also tries to talk him through some of that internalized guilt/shame/everything, but splinters very metaphorical, poetic, and indirect when it comes to talking about Big Things, which combined with how much leo gets caught in his own head, makes it kinda hard to gauge how much these talks actually help

*this is made extra fun considering leos also ftm trans, so he is faced with a body that fundamentally disobeys him perhaps more than the average rat-man.

-and im still going back and forth between a few species for splinter, but im leaning mostly towards an African Spurred Tortoise! they have these beautiful if kinda subtle geometric shell patterns and are the third largest species of tortoise in the world. the only thing that doesnt fit perfectly with Splints is that (allegedly) their lifespan in captivity is around 50ish years, whereas im p sure Tortoise Splinter is well over 75, probably closer to 90 when the boys are born and hes mutated into Old Man Papa.

but maybe hes just a particularly long lasting African Spurred Tortoise.

the Hamato family has taken very good care of him for many decades after all. :)

(well. until everything all fell apart, that is.....)

[nolita-fairytale]

burn your life down | chef luca x fem!reader | chapter five

summary: you and luca finally talk about what happened the night of the ballet -- and finally have a chance to clear the air.

warnings: fluff, eventual smut, eventual angst not use of y/n, conversations about divorce, slow burn, baby, second person pov, swearing, danish inaccuracies, very little connection to the world of the bear.

word count: 3k

a/n: let me know if you'd like to be added or removed from the taglist!

part four | masterlist | part six

You’ve been avoiding his calls all day. 

After Luca bid you goodnight on Thursday, you’d practically sprinted upstairs and into your apartment, slamming the door behind you while wondering what the hell was wrong with you?

You’re too stubborn for your own good, you think to yourself, recalling the moment – the one where you could’ve kissed him but you didn’t – between you and Luca. You stood there, too paralyzed to make a move, yet unable and unwilling to walk away from him. 

Luca had given you space most of yesterday, save for a text later in the evening, but the fact that today is Saturday, the day he almost always comes into the restaurant, is not lost on you. Instead of dealing with it, you’ve been hyper focused all day, choosing to bury your head in work as you run lunch service with Mathilde, more than grateful that business has run at a steady pace today. 

It’s not until you hit a stop, forced to pause after a few hours in between the lunch and dinner rush, reaches a lull. Your brain is suddenly inundated with too many thoughts: was this it? Had you scared him away forever? Did he think you were a total freak considering you’d practically run away from him after he’d said goodnight?

“So are we going to talk about it?” Mathilde presses you, ripping you out of your thoughts with the sound of her voice. You look her way, noticing that her lips pursed in sheer annoyance at your avoidance mechanisms. 

Your face falls, unable to carry this solo for much longer, letting out a sigh of resignation because you know she’s right. 

You can’t run from this – from your feelings, from Luca – forever. 

“Yeah,” you give in. “Yeah, okay.”

“What the hell happened?” Mathilde hisses as she approaches you. “I mean, he’s gorgeous, he’s cultured… he took you out to the ballet, and you like him!”

“I don’t know,” you huff, disappointedly. “I just-, I think I got too caught up in my head. It’s like one minute I was really jazzed at the idea of being on a date, let alone a date with Luca, and the next I’m just… I don’t know… totally psyching myself out and pushing him away.”

“Merde,” she swears in French this time. 

“Fuck,” you sigh, at least releasing a little of the pent up pressure you’ve been holding onto all day. 

“Babe, I know that holding all of this,” she begins, gesturing wildly towards you, “gives you a certain edge in the kitchen… but I can’t imagine it’s good for you.”

You send her another look – one that says ‘fuck off because I know you’re right’ this time. 

“I don’t know what to do, Mathilde,” you confess, your eyes pleading with her for some advice. 

She turns to you, this time with a much more serious expression as she says, “Luca seems like a really great guy. Maybe you should just tell him all of this.” 

You nod slowly as you process. It’s not that you haven’t thought about it – it’s not like it’s a new concept to you – you were married once, after all. But the idea of being vulnerable like that, showing someone new your whole hand feels really scary. You know it’s the thing you need to do; it’s the kindest, most honest option that you have – and you know that Luca deserves just that: kindness, transparency, the truth. 

As you continue to think it over, the only words that come to you are:

“I told him that I wasn’t in love with him anymore – with Joe. When he asked.”

“Luca?”

“Yeah.”

“It wasn’t a lie. Was it?” Mathilde questions you carefully. 

You share your head, growing more and more certain in your answer. 

“No, of course not. It’s not that. My hesitation has never been about Joe. It’s-, it’s about me…” you explain, finding the right words in the moment. “... about my heart.”

Mathilde places a gentle hand on your shoulder as you share a knowing look as she listens.

“What if I do this? I mean, what if I jump… and it’s a horrible mess… and I ruin a good thing with a really great guy because I’m not ready?” you ask, shining a light on your biggest fears. 

She takes a beat, thinking it over, before crossing her arms over her chest, as the two of you stand side by side, leaning up against a stainless steel prep station. 

“Then you do,” she answers, as if it were that simple. “And you figure out the rest. You’re only human after all.” 

You chuckle, playfully rolling your eyes at Mathilde’s not-so-friendly reminder. 

“Here’s an idea,” she starts back up again, catching your attention as you glance sideways to look at her. “What if you jump? And it’s the best thing you’ve ever done? What if it’s worth it?” 

You take a deep breath, letting her words sink in, letting yourself feel the possibility that this could also be the best thing you’ve ever done too. But before you can say anything in response, Jesper comes back into the kitchen, calling for you. 

“Hate to break up the slumber party, ladies, but can I borrow you for a moment, Chef?” he asks, making it clear that he’s talking to you. You and Mathilde exchange glances as Jesper nods through the open kitchen to where Luca waits for you in the dining room. You open your mouth to say something, but instead, you just nod, murmuring a ‘yeah, of course,’ quick to follow Jesper out of the kitchen. 

It’s impeccable timing, really, you think to yourself, that you were just contemplating the possibility that this could be something you could do. 

You could jump, you remind yourself, if you really wanted to. 

“Hi,” you say, barely above a whisper as soon as you see Luca. 

“Hi,” he smiles warmly in return, causing Jesper to look from you to Luca, then back to you again. 

“I’m just gonna-,” he starts, searching for an excuse. 

Only, he doesn’t have one, so Jesper simply excuses himself before disappearing into the kitchen to find a place where he and Mathilde both can pretend to do something when really eavesdropping. 

Jesper’s abrupt and clumsy exit seems some of the palpable tension, earring a laugh from both you and Luca. 

“I thought-,” he begins as you simultaneously say, “I’ve been meaning to call-.”

“Sorry,” he says with an apologetic half smile. 

“No I’m-. You go first,” you encourage, blushing on a little as the two of you clumsily dance around each other. 

Luca takes a breath, reminding himself that it wouldn’t be this weird if there wasn’t something between the two of you – that he hasn’t been imagining this – not even a little bit. 

“I hope that it’s okay. That I’m here,” he finally says, his voice steady and even. 

“I-, of course. Why wouldn’t it be?” you ask him, suddenly insecure about the fact that he felt he needed to ask in the first place. 

“I just-, well I thought ehm, maybe you’d need some space. I didn’t want to ehm, you know… show up here if-, even though it’s Saturday because it is your place and I wouldn’t want-,” Luca tries to explain, stopping and starting again and again. 

“Luca, no I-,” you say, before pausing, swearing to yourself under your breath as you mutter. “Shit. Fuck, I-. Goddamn, you really are fucking perfect.”

“What was that?” Luca asks, only catching the swearing part at the beginning and the ‘fucking perfect’ part at the end. 

“Um…” you trail off, looking around you. 

As you catch Jesper and Mathilde ducking behind a shelf out of the corner of your eye, and a few of your waitstaff hurrying to make it look like they’re busy and not listening in, you realize that you and Luca have managed to earn the attention of some very curious onlookers. 

“Do you want to step outside for a moment?” you ask, gesturing towards the front door. 

“Sure,” he nods, letting you lead him to a spot outside.

You make sure that you're both as out of sight as possible, staying far away from the broad windows that line the front of your restaurant. 

“Hi,” you say again on an exhale.

“Hi,” he says back, simply. 

“I’m glad you came. I know I-... I should’ve called, or- or texted you… after Thursday,” you begin, nervously, eager to own up to the very big part you’ve played in the lack of communication.

“Yes. You should’ve,” he repeats, his eyes catching yours as you nod in confirmation. 

It’s good – that he’s not going to let you off the hook – and while you like it, you like that he has boundaries, you’re disappointed in yourself as you say:

“I’m sorry.”

Luca sighs, shaking his head as he immediately counters with:

“No, I’m sorry. I mean, yes, you should’ve called. Or at least texted. But I should’ve been clear in the first place that Thursday…” he trails off, almost as if he’s mustering up the courage to say what he needs to say. 

“... that Thursday was more to me than our regular excursions. That it was a date. To me at least.”

“Luca-.”

“I wish I would’ve told you – made it clear in the first place – so you knew what you were getting into,” Luca finishes, carefully watching for your reaction. There’s something so honest in the way he goes about this conversation, and you sure as hell feel like you could take the proverbial jump right fucking now. 

“I appreciate that. Really, I do…” you start, before trailing off again. “But I-. This isn’t on you, Luca.”

“How do you mean?” he asks you, his expressive brows knitted together, as if you’d just spoken in tongues. 

Here goes nothing, you think to yourself.

“I-. This has been great. I mean… I really like spending time with you,” you start, anxiously, instantly realizing that it sounds like you’re breaking up with him. “Fuck, I-.” 

You let out a frustrated groan as it seems you’re having an impossible time getting out what you need to get out. You take a breath. And a beat, before continuing. 

“And I’ve really liked this… hanging out, getting to know you… borrowing your books. I-, I just… we’ve got such a good thing going and I really don’t want to fuck this up, you know?”

He sighs your name this time, looking down for a moment as you add:

“I’m-, I’m afraid that… I’m going to fuck this up.”

“Yeah. I know,” he answers, heavily. “I-, I am too.”

“And then Thursday night, things were so, so good, and I-, I panicked and I feel terrible because… you don’t deserve that. You don’t.”

Luca takes a beat as he listens. He’s not sure what exactly that means, but he reminds himself to stay on track, stay the course and make sure that he says what he came here to say to you. 

“It’s alright,” he reassures you, softly, taking a step towards you. “I don’t want you to feel like… like you have to feel a certain way just because I-.”

“No, that’s not it! That’s not-, that’s really not the problem,” you interject as you struggle to explain yourself, unsure of where to even begin. You take a step towards him this time too, your voice softening as you continue. “Luca, I don’t feel obligated to feel… any kind of way just because you-.”

“Because I?” he questions you.

The silence his questions leaves goes on a few beats longer than you expected, and you realize that he’s waiting for you to fill in the blank. 

“Well, I don’t know,” you pause, a shocked look on your face as one of you waits for the other.

“You didn’t-, I never let you finish your sentence so,” you ramble aimlessly, immediately bursting out into a fit of laughter as you realize that neither of you are getting anywhere. 

Luca laughs too, joining in on the much needed reprieve. 

The two of you exchange glances, and one more shared laugh, before settling in once again. 

With a crooked smile spread across his lips, Luca can take a hint, realizing that he may need to take the lead on this one.

The way your name sounds on his lips is so heavenly, so divine, so soft that you know you’ve got it bad, as you scramble for a way to tell him everything that you’ve been feeling. 

“May I?” he asks, in reference to taking the lead. 

“Please.”

“I just came here to tell you… I want to tell you…” he corrects himself, taking a step towards you. 

“... that I really like you. I really like spending time with you. I like that you get me out of the kitchen in search of something different. And I think that your mind, even though incredibly neurotic, is absolutely brilliant. And if what you need is for us to be friends right now, I want that. We can… slow all of this down. All you’ve got to do is talk to me.”

It feels like time fucking stops, and the world goes black and white for a moment, then full color all at once as you hear the words coming out of his mouth. Your revelation comes rushing in, clear as day – that this man cares so deeply for you and that maybe, your heart could be safe with him. Unsure of how to deal with the grace and compassion Luca is showing you, you’re only left with one question, as it falls from your lips like a boulder. 

“How?”

“What?”

“How do you always have the right thing to say…” you ask him, your voice caught in your throat as you finish your question.  “... when I only have the wrong things to say?”

Luca opens his mouth to say something you’ll never hear, as you choose to completely throw caution to the wind. 

Perhaps the question was rhetorical anyways. 

You’re not sure what’s coms over you, but instead of words, you only have actions left, and the only thing that will remedy the situation is to do the thing that you’ve been panicking over doing since Luca showed you into the pastry room at AOC. You charge forward, reaching out for him, and he’s right there with you, meeting you halfway as you eagerly press your lips to his. 

You can feel all the blood in your body rush through you as your lips connect. Your heart flutters. Your head spins. It’s the kind of kiss that people write sonnets about – write love songs about. It’s almost three months of simmering tension, finally allowed to reach its boiling point. You pull away, just for a moment, uttering out a breathless:

“Holy shit.”

Luca laughs with a shake of his head as he agrees with a, “Yeah.”

You exchange a look, and a laugh, before kissing him again. 

And this time the kiss is a hello, it’s a new beginning, it’s a ‘thank god I met you.’

This time, Luca pulls away, reluctantly releasing you as he does. 

“It’s not that I don’t like this,” he begins, using all of his restraint to put this on pause. “I really, really do, but… I’m kind of getting mixed signals here.”

“No, no, I know,” you apologize, turning as you hear your name called, swearing under your breath again as soon as you see Mathilde peeking her head out of the front door. 

“Oh… my God! I am so sorry, I’ll just-, except for we need you to-, she calls after you, stumbling over her words as soon as she realizes what’s going on between you and Luca. 

“Nevermind it can wait!” Jesper exclaims, poking his head out of the front door as well, before dragging Mathilde back into the restaurant.

You and Luca exchange another laugh. 

“They’re… something,” you chuckle, with a shake of your head. 

“Good wingmen,” Luca adds, mirroring your previous exchange with his coworker. 

Returning his focus to you, Luca shakes his head incredulously, considering this is not the way he thought this conversation would go. He grins as he takes you in, but knows that this is time limited. He’d noticed the curious staff of your restaurant that he’s come to know and love doing their best to pretend they weren’t listening in on your conversation earlier. They know exactly what’s going on here, so if they felt the need to interrupt, Luca knows that you’re most likely needed back in the kitchen. 

He shifts his weight in between both of his feet, taking a small step back as he states:

“We’re gonna have to talk about this.”

“Yes,” you agree, your declaration certain.

“But right now you have to go,” Luca continues. 

“Right now I have to go,” you echo as confirmation. “Later. I promise. We’ll talk. Tonight?”

“Yeah ehm. Not to be… presumptuous. But my place is closeby. We could… perhaps talk. Tonight. There?” Luca suggests, trying to downplay the fact that it sounds like he’s asking you to come over for a booty call. 

It’s certainly not his intention, considering he’d just offered to slow things down, but he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about it. 

“Yeah. I’ll text you,” you agree, suddenly nervous again. “When I’m done here. If you’re still up.”

“It’s a date,” Luca agrees, deciding to move in towards you again.

You nod, taking another step towards him so that you can kiss him again. 

“Oh, and Luca?”

He hums in response, his eyes flickering from yours to your lips because he really can’t wait to kiss you again either. . 

“I should be-. I want to be clear,” you begin, deciding to be brave in this moment. 

He raises an eyebrow. 

“I really like you too,” you say, before standing tall on your tiptoes, and pulling him down to you for, this time, a see-you-later kiss. 

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

a/n: ummm hi how are we doing is everyone doing ok?!

[leggerefiore]

How would Poke villains react to their s/o asking if they'd kill for them? Just as a hypothetical, but I imagine some of them would take it seriously haha

cw: consideration of murder(?)

characters: Lysandre, Maxie, Archie, Cyrus, Guzma, Volo

The moment the words leave your mouth during what would have otherwise been a quiet evening in, he turned to look at you. His face was clearly twisted in minor confusion, which prompted you to repeat the statement. "Would you kill for me?" It almost sounded partly like a tease. What could have brought up such a statement? He thought on it for a moment...

🔥Lysandre🍷

☕️ Lysandre becomes stuck between it being a joke and you truly having someone you must want dead. The Flare Boss understands. He understands very well. His connections could easily see most people dead, should that truly be what you desired. Though, it likely would be easier to simply wait until after he completed his plans. Though, of course, you could just as easily be joking. He blinked a few times. You never spoke a name, however.

☕️ “Perhaps,” Lysandre eventually replied, “Though, I doubt you have anyone in particular you wish dead, do you?” You let out a laugh and shook your head. He joined you in laughing, fully able to play along. Of course not. You were much too kind. That was a trait in you that he deeply admired. He leaned down to press a kiss to your temple. “All you would need to do is ask, however,” he whispered quietly, “I would do anything to make you happy, my love.” Though, whether you realised how honest his words were would remain unknown. Either way, it was just pleasant to have his reassurance.

☀️Maxie🌋

🪨 He freezes for a moment. Kill for you? His glasses almost fall off his face from how he angles his head. What? The Magma Leader was quite a few things, but a killer he was not. Most of the time, he refused to even resort to violence. Your words almost made him recoil before he recalled that exaggeration was quite common these days. Yes. You must have meant that as a question of how deep and strong his love for you was. Not as an actual request. If you had, his answer would have been a firm “no.” Maxie was no killer.

🪨 “Figuratively, yes,” he agreed with a nod, “Literally? No. I'd be happy to help you find other options, however.” You sighed. That was the expected answer from Maxie. He seemed to catch on to your mild disappointment and leaned forward to peck your cheek. “Dear, I'm not going to lie and say I will do something like that,” he felt his cheeks grow warm as he looked away nervously, “I do love you greatly despite that.” You laughed and hugged him tightly. Then, you teased him by saying the Great Maxie is a pacifist. He just grumbled.

🌧Archie🌊

💧 Archie blinked a few times. Kill? Would he kill for you? Objective situations entered his head of what might warrant such a reaction, but none of them seemed like places you would be. Especially not with him nearby. Archie then remembered Shelly's complaint that he was killing her with work and chuckled. Ah, you must have meant like that. An exaggeration of love. A guffaw left him as he pulled you close to him. The Aqua Leader would do a lot for you, but killing, sadly, would not be one of them. He would throw down with someone for you, though.

💧 “Nah,” he said simply, then spoke again, “Well maybe. Depends. But I'm gonna say no.” You rolled your eyes. Archie seemed a bit scattered on his reply. He pressed a sudden sweet kiss to your cheek. “Now, I might fight a guy for ya, Luvdisc,” he grinned, “Like that time I chased off that Gorebyss that was after you.” You laughed. Well, that was about what you had expected from Archie. He was not exactly the violent sort. You tugged his bandana lightly to make him look up at you. He got the hint and kissed you again. Well, the pirate man was good at expressing his love in other ways, at least.

🌌Cyrus🛰

☄️ Cyrus blinked. Kill? As in murder? He almost scrunched up his face at your words. Naturally, he knew you were not serious. There was no one reasonably that you would want dead, nor would he seem like a reasonable candidate to get rid of someone. Well… He believed that anyway. The tablet was turned off as he moved to face you. What was going through your head? Why say such a thing? The Galactic Boss was aware that he was being far too analytical for such a basic statement. He supposed he had heard Mars tease that she would kill someone for him. (At least, he hoped it was spoken in exaggeration, but…)

☄️ “Beloved, I would rather simply make you a world where that feeling needn't exist,” he replied, “There is no need for such grizzly actions to be taken.” His hand came to cup your cheek unconsciously as he gazed into your eyes. You blinked, unsure of his words. “I dream of a world where such vile emotions don't cause these kinds of situations,” he continued, “I only wish to bring you and I to some kind of peace.” Cyrus's lips lightly pressed against your temple got a moment before he pulled away to return to what work he was doing on his tablet. You blinked again. What was that? It felt more intense than if he had just said yes and proceeded to describe a form of murder. Well, you certainly felt assured in his love towards you, at least.

💀Guzma🕶

□ Not even missing a beat, he laughed. Kill? Well, maybe. Probably not ever, but why not? Guzma was more than ready to throw hands for you usually, so why not just lie and say he would kill, too. Granted, he most likely would not ever, no. Killing seemed far too intense. He got what you meant, though. Some situations did cross his mind that might warrant it. Very few seemed even partially likely to ever happen. Alola was simply too peaceful for any of that shit.

□ “Sure,” he said plainly, “Why not.” His arm pulled you closer to him as he grinned at you. The hypothetical was pretty common, he thought. No different from being asked if he would still love you if you were a bug. (In which you had asked him a few times. Him of all people. Like he would ever say no.) You leaned closer to him and laughed lightly. “I mean, I love you,” Guzma continued, “Now, would you kill for me?” You thought on it for a moment. He nearly jumped out of his skin at your reply. A deadpan, yes.

💫Volo📜

⭐️ The merchant was stricken by your words. Kill? Him? Well… He was not going to pretend that he was some upstanding moral type, but he was not exactly the type to handle things directly. Even when it came to his plans, he figured actually killing someone would be a do-or-die situation. Though he supposed that as a merchant, he was quite ready to defend himself should the situation arise. He did have a knife on him, just for a situation in which bandits dared threaten his life. For you… He closed his eyes. Well, certainly, he would not say no.

⭐️ “If the situation called for it,” Volo spoke with a playful tone despite his words, “You never know what may be required in the wilds of Hisui.” You smiled at him so sweetly. He could not help but lean over and press a kiss to your head. “Though, I do expect the same from you,” his voice seemed to take on a different cadence, “Should I ever be in danger, I hope you would act to protect me as well?” His hand held yours delicately as you went quiet. It was all too easy to assume these were just common requests for the time period. You nodded in reply, and Volo's grin seemed a bit more intense than usual.

[mysticsublimeperson]

<< part 2 >>

Merlin woke up feeling cranky, he didn't exactly sleep. It resembled more to several disgusting and sweaty naps, and a lot of self deprecating introspection in between.

So Merlin decided to stop trying around 10 am, and moved to the sofa. He didn't have anything to do that day, they weren't waiting for him in the lab, nor in the office, they all thought he would have been too hangover. Funny.

He needed to get out, to get coffee, to try and look for a new perspective, or at least a solution, so he got up and dressed and went to open the door.

A sharp thud sounded when something collide to the ground.

"Arthur?"

"Shit, er... Merlin, sorry, good morning?" Arthur was trying to blink away the heaviness.

"Were you sleeping in my hallway?" Merlin was really confused now. Arthur had always been a bit of a prat, and he grew up rich (and still was very rich, even if he denied it) so he was posh. In all the years he knew him, Arthur had never volunteered himself to discomfort, because he could afford not to.

"Yeah, I.. Well, you told me to go, but then I thought that if I went then I would have to come back in a few hours, and well it was really early in the morning, and I didn't bring my car, so I would have to call for a car and then, well come back, and wold spend like a proper half hour just pacing around my flat, just so far away from you... guessed you also wouldn't be answering your phone, so waiting here seemed like the better option. But now that I say it out loud, it sounds kinda stalk-ish" He said sheepishly, his voice was still deep, and slow. Trying to recover from sleep. He stood up, but was supporting in the door frame. "It's just... you seemed really upset. I know I was the reason, but" he gulped "you are always for me when I'm like that..." Merlin sighed.

"Come in" Merlin talked with a controlled voice. He would have wished for a little more time to figure this out, but if he was honest maybe more time would have only made him more paranoid.

"I, er, yeah, thank you" It was extremely strange to hear Arthur so insecure, but Merlin needed to focus on his situation, and not fall into old habits. "How.. How did it go? Yesterday I mean, sorry I didn't ask sooner"

Bad, he wanted to say.

You ruined it, he wanted to shout.

I missed you, he wanted to cry.

"Fine, I guess" he didn't want to offer information, he sat in the sofa again.

Arthur gulped again and put on a tight smile. "I see" sitting beside him.

"And you? How was your dinner?" Merlin suddenly felt tired again, he didn't want to shout, or yell, he didn't want to incriminate or fight, he just wanted this situation to be over. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

Arthur opened and closed his mouth several

"Merlin. I am so sorry" he said after a while. Without looking at him. "I know there's no excuse... and the way I treated you when you arrived here too... you didn't deserved that" his voices sounded tight.

If this had been any other day, Merlin would have folded, he would have told him that it was forgotten. Any other day, Merlin would have bitten the bullet of disappointment, and would have try to understand his point of view, his situation. Any other day...

"Arthur" he said after a long silence "I think it's time for us to rethink about what we want from this relationship" he could see the moment all the muscles in Arthur's body tensed up.

"What do you mean?" He sounded so scared, and Merlin fought the urge to hold him.

"What I mean Arthur it's that, this relationship can't go on like this forever" Merlin breathed slowly, trying to express himself as accurately as posible "I feel like im living on borrowed time with you, and even if you are the one in the wrong, I feel like I should just be grateful to have you a little longer, no matter how you much you may hurt me"

"That's not true Merlin, please, I would never intentionally hurt you. how can you think that? I love you" he finally looked Merlin in the eye. They were red and swollen, and a bit desperate.

"I know you love me Arthur, I believe you" he tried to swallow the knot in his throat "but sometimes that's just not enough" Merlin sat back at the sofa, looking at the ceiling. The same ceiling he had been looking since he arrived yesterday, thinking the same things, over and over. "I know you love me, and I love you, more than anything. But I also know that you would never invite me to a company dinner, you would never even acknowledge me in front of your coworkers, you would purposely hide me from your dad..."

"Merlin" Arthur said his name like a warning.

"Im not trying to be resentful Arthur" Merlin spat "they're just facts. Like the fact that you hate your job, and it makes you miserable. But you would never leave. Even if it's a shit job, at a horrible and inmoral company" he kept his tone neutral, he wanted to make a point "I would never ask you to leave, because a would never want to put you in a position where you would need to choose"

"Merlin" now his name sounded like a prayer, and a question.

"I think I always knew that I really never had a chance if you had to choose" suddenly his voice quivered.

"That's not..."

"Arthur please!" he really didn't want to hear empty promises, so he made a gesture for him to wait "I told you that yesterday was important, you knew that. And you choose him" he will not cry, no more "You ditched me, last minute. You left me alone even though I told you I Wanted you with me" his words bouncing on the walls.

"I didn't think..." Arthur was trembling a bit. And he looked like his world had been rocked and put upside-down.

"Arthur, you already have a life planed out. And you are the one that's choosing to keep it that way, you are going with the plan. And one day I will have to see how the papers and magazines cover the stories of you ascending to CEO of the world's most evil construction company, and marrying a young nice pretty girl, who is really boring and bratty but also insanely rich and has good connections, and have three beautiful very normal and healthy kids... all while I keep fighting with my little NGO to change the status quo that you reinforce. Don't you see that you don't have space for me in your future?" all the resolve to keep his cool abandoned him mid speech but at least he got it out. Arthur was looking at him like he had just told him that he only had a minute to live.

"I don't see a future without you Merlin" Arthur said, really softly, eyes shining with soon to be shed tears.

It hurt Merlin to hurt Arthur.

He never wanted to hurt Arthur.

Merlin brought up his legs and hugged his knees, hiding his face momentarily biting his lips hard, while blinking away the tears. "I love you Arthur, and I don't think I could leave you alone if I wanted to. But I think this relationship... it puts unfair expectations, for both of us" Merlin swallowed "It's not fair for me to expect something you are not ready, nor willing to give" he argued as calmly as he could. "I suppose we work better as friends"

He could see Arthur wanted to fight.

He also could see that Arthur had seen his point.

"What if...?" Arthur started, shaky. "What if I leave?" Merlin's brows furrowed confused. "My father, I mean. What If I leave him? What If I leave Pendragon Constructions? Everything... what if i..." he was starting to stammer and was not making sense. So Merlin took his hands.

"Why would you do that?" I was the genuine confusion in his expression that made Arthur sob.

"Because I love you Merlin!" he practically screamed with broken voice and desperate eyes. "please" begged silently.

"I think that if you do that. You'll resent me, eventually" he tried to reason while giving a reassuring squeeze to his hold "He is your father Arthur, you love him, and you want to make him proud, I understand that" even when he knew what it meant for himself "But you also are better than he could ever be" he assured "You won't ever lose me, I'll just need some space"

"I don't think I can do that" Arthur spoke carefully while caressing his hand "I don't know how to, I don't want to" he breathed trying to calm himself. "But I will try for you if you want me to" he swallowed "But don't misunderstand. I am not giving up on us. I won't" using his hold he pulled Merlin in for a hug. "I am sorry, I am sorry I disappointed you, I am sorry you felt like that, but above all I am sorry that you are right" he hugged him strongly and Merlin tried and failed nor to melt in his arms. "But this won't be the end Merlin, you are right for now. I will work, everyday, every moment to deserve you, to make you feel loved, to prove to you and to myself that I can become the man that you think I can be, and when that day arrives, Merlin I will sweep you off your feet" he talked those words like it was a threat, directly in his ear, while holding him close, so Merlin decided that just one last time, he would believe in him.

He would keep hoping.

[erxxi3]

Can you do an angst/comfort Leon x reader where Reader is in a depressed state and while going on a walk, she bumps into Leon. They end up having a cute movie night at Leon’s house with cuddles and food?

I need some love from Leon. >~<

YES OFC I CAN!!

I haven’t done angst at all, so this is probably gonna suck ass atleast I tried though that is all that matters.

Anyways the angst part is about the fem! reader loosing her parents bc I couldn’t think of anything else I am very sorry!’ I didn’t know how to end it but I eventually thought of something.

— Restless Comfort

Pairings: ID! Leon x Fem! Reader

Summary: What the request said.

Cw. Angst to Fluff, death of parents, grieving /mourning of death, kissing, age-gap (The reader is like a couple years younger than him), Leon being shy/embarrassed, reader slowly falling in love w Leon, cuddling, waking up ontop of him, and Leon admitting he loves you and you do reciprocate back. :)

Character Count: 19.9k

On a cold September evening, you were walking arms crossed underneath your chest through the park. The sun had disappeared, leaving only a bitter layer of light in the sky behind the clouds. Your breath left small puffs of cloud in front of your face as you walked. It was getting darker now too. The park was empty except for you and the occasional bird that swooped by from time to time.

You sighed deeply as the cold air brushed against your cheeks, as you thought of attending your parents funeral today. They ’d been married nearly three years already, and yet the loss was still raw to you. They had always been so supportive when you needed it, but now you were alone in this world with no one to turn to, nothing to fall back on. Not for the first time, you wished you had someone at home to take care of you, someone who could make sure you took care of yourself.

Shaking your head, looking down at the pond you sat before. You were watching the ducks swim around lazily, their feathers brushing along each other every now and then, creating tiny waves beneath their surface. Your eyes drifted over them as you let out another deep sigh, the sound carrying off across the quiet of the area.

You decided it wouldn’t be best to attend, but you couldn’t bear to let yourself not say any words to them. After all, they were the people you would have to live with now until you found your place in life.

Besides, never getting to tell them how you been holding up these last few months is not an option either, you reasoned with yourself. So, instead, you turned, making your way toward the parking lot, which you bumped into a tall attractive looking man. As he stumbled backward, trying to regain his balance, you saw he also wore sunglasses. You frowned in confusion before he spoke. “Oh geez, I’m sorry ma’am. Are you alright?” He asked politely, reaching out for you, helping steady you.

“I’m fine thank you. I apologize too for bumping into you. I wasn't watching where I was going,” you apologized, giving him an apologetic smile. His gaze flickered meeting your eyes. You felt heat rush to your cheeks, but pushed away from the uncomfortable and embarrassing moment. You cleared your throat before stepping away, you said, “Well…I’ll just get going now. Goodbye…”

Just as you turned to leave, you heard his voice calling after you, “Wait a minute.” Your eyes immediately shot up, and you saw that he was smiling. You didn’t know what to say as the silence stretched between the two of you. “What’s your name?” he asked finally, breaking the silence. Your stomach dropped at the question, and you felt the urge to run.

What the hell do you tell a stranger?

Should you even give him your real name, or just a fake one?

Oh no, this isn’t good at least not at this time.

You opened your mouth to respond to him, but he interrupted before you got the chance, saying quickly, “That’s okay! No need to answer if you don’t want to. I shouldn’t have asked. I’m sorry for bothering you…I…uh…well…” you watched as he scratched the back of his neck nervously, “Never mind,” and turned on his heel, striding back towards his car that was parked some distance from yours. You watched, slightly dumbstruck as he climbed into his expensive looking car.

A couple minutes later and you heard the engine revving loudly and he drove off slowly, disappearing from view. You shook your head, laughing to yourself silently, amused at his strange behavior.

How did he get so flustered all of a sudden anyway?

Was there something about you that made him seem like a total idiot?

Maybe he was just really awkward?

Who knows, maybe you are just being dramatic, you thought, shaking your head again as you began to drive homewards.

The rest of the night flew by uneventfully, and before you knew it, tomorrow morning arrived and your family gathered in the parlor room, ready for their final viewing of your parents. You had cried during the whole ceremony, though you tried desperately to conceal that fact.

After the service, you sat in the living room, talking to some of your closest friends that had came. Jill and Claire were the one’s always there for you even when you were little, but this event that took place was not merely giving you guilt it was more so a grievance that would haunt you for the rest of your life. Your parents were murdered. You lost your mother, and your father. And yet somehow you managed to try and pull yourself together by going to live with Jill & Claire. It was hard for you to believe sometimes how far you'd come since then. But as you stood there next to one of your best friends, Claire told you she invited one of her friends to join them as well.

She had gone out to the lobby fetching him bringing him over to where you were, your eyes began to meet his once again. He seemed just as shocked to see you as you were to see him, but you simply smiled at him warmly. Claire introduced both of you to each other, but you weren’t really listening to them. Your focus was solely on the man you had met earlier, and who hadn’t looked quite as flustered anymore. In fact, he looked almost smug.

His eyes danced with amusement, and suddenly you found yourself unable to take your eyes off him as you continued to smile shyly. Finally, he broke the eye contact, shifting awkwardly, his eyes darting to the ground. You blinked several times wondering if you’d actually seen something pass through his blue eyes, like electricity sparking through the air. When your trance was broken, you tore your gaze away from the man, focusing instead on what Claire was saying.

You nodded absently at her explanation, not even realized what was happening in the conversation until it ended abruptly, Claire having noticed your distraction as well. You turned to look up at the man standing before you with distance once more, feeling a bit sheepish. He must have noticed your glance as he chuckled softly, glancing up briefly, giving you a wink. It was then that you realized that he was gazing at you. Noticing that he was taller than you, much taller than you, with broad shoulders and strong arms. You gulped, taking another quick glance at him, and you felt your body temperature raise.

It took all you had in you not to avert your eyes in his direction, embarrassed by your own reaction. You were supposed to be grieving but you couldn't help the butterflies in your stomach that you felt as he looked at you.

Why do I feel this way?

Why am I falling for a complete stranger that happens to be handsome?

As if sensing your internal turmoil he smirked. He gave you one last lingering look before turning away and whispering something to Claire. She replied to him, giggling. You got up from your seat dusting your skirt off, telling them that you have to take a call and will be back soon, leaving the parlor. Walking to the closest room in the building, it was small, however, could possibly be a dressing room of some sort. Pulling your cell phone from your pocket, you hit speed dial 3 on speed dial, and waited patiently for someone to pick up on the other end.

‘Please pick up, please answer. Don’t hang up, please don’t...’ you kept repeating in your mind, the number didn’t answer. You paced in a circle trying to dual it again, but it was no hope. The door closed behind you, someone coming from behind you grabbing you hand over your mouth, so that you wouldn’t scream as you tried to fight against the person, tears filling your eyes.

They pulled their hand away from your face, letting out a sigh of relief once they saw that it was only you. ‘Thank god…’ you thought relieved, but the person who had grabbed you turned you to look at them. “Didn’t mean to make ya think I was gonna hurt ya..” you heard him mumble. You were still stunned at seeing him again after all you been trying to avoid him, but his apology made you relax. You didn’t trust yourself enough to talk at first as a blush spread across your cheeks. “It’s all right, I forgive you…” you whispered.

He let out a small chuckle before replying, “Good…” he trailed off staring at you intently. Your heart began beating fast as he moved closer to you. You gulped nervously as your breathing increased, “So um…who are you exactly?” You questioned nervously, your fingers rubbing against the fabric of your dress trying to calm your rapidly beating heart. He chuckled lightly before speaking.

“My name is Leon,” he said, “Leon Kennedy…”. At hearing his name you felt like something inside you clicked in understanding, “Oh! You must be Claire’s friend, right?” you asked. “Yeah…that’s me. Nice to meet you.” He responded, a grin plastered across his face. His hands rested lightly on his hips as he leaned down to speak with you, which gave you an unobstructed view of his chest, as well as his eyes. “I never caught your name earlier…I was trying to ask you, but I didn’t want to put pressure on you, you know?” he explained. You chuckled nervously, feeling your cheeks begin to flush red once more. “I see…my name is Y/N….”

.

“Nice to meet you once again.” he remarked. “What are you doing here anyways? I thought Claire told you it was my parents funeral before she invited you..” He could hear the worry break in your voice at the mention of Claire’s words. He sighed inwardly. “Yeah…I know, Claire mentioned something about that earlier.” He paused, “I guess I should have known that you’d be attending it, since it’s your parents….” He spoke softly, placing his hands around you bringing you into him for a hug. You froze up in his arms, unsure of what you were supposed to do.

For some reason, you felt safe in his arms, like you belonged there. You breathed a sigh of relief as you held onto him for what seemed like forever, enjoying his security.“I…I-“ You said hesitantly wrapped your arms around his middle hugging tightly to him, while letting your tears just come pouring down the sides of your cheeks.

You were grateful that he did not push you away, and you were content that he did not leave keeping you in comfort due to the loss.

Eventually, he gently eased you apart from him, looking straight into your eyes, wiping the remaining traces of your tears from your cheeks. “Better?” he asked. You sniffed nodding your head, “Yeah…thanks…” You said softly, he wiped a few stray tears from under your eyes, leaving you to feeling embarrassed.

There was silence between the two of you. He seemed hesitant to say anything else, but he finally decided to take matters into his own hands. “You know… I haven’t gotten the chance to thank you properly for inviting me to come here…” he said moving to stand directly in front of you.

You looked into his eyes, trying desperately to memorize every feature of his face, “Yea..” you murmured, as the corners of his lips upturned into a slight smirk. He placed one of his hands on your cheek pulling you close towards him, making you gulp nervously, his thumb softly stroking your cheekbone. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet you sooner…” he said softly, his eyes searching yours.

You shook your head, “Don’t be sorry…” you said, “I’m glad Claire invited you and that you had even showed up…” you admitted quietly as the both of you stared at each other deeply. Your hands found their way to his chest, resting comfortably on his bare skin, and he gazed down at you as if you were everything he’d ever wanted, and more.

Suddenly, as if a switch had flipped somewhere deep inside of him, his body tensed. His dark eyes widened as a look of horror appeared on his face. You frowned in confusion, “What’s wrong?” you asked worried. He seemed as if he were struggling to breath. “Are you okay? What is it?” you questioned.

“it’s just that esrlier I was going to ask if I could get your number, but I think it is such a bad time this moment…” he muttered almost too low to be heard. His hands began to shake slightly, his knuckles turning white in a visible sign of panic. You narrowed your eyes at his behavior.

‘Why does he seem uneasy?

And why do I feel anxious?’ you wondered in frustration, clenching your fists tightly, ‘Why do I feel like something is going to happen?’ you continued to ponder on your thoughts, not noticing Leon standing beside you. You were too lost inside your own mind to notice the man standing next to you.

“Well..uhhh” you stuttered looking at the male in front of you, “You can have it if that makes it up…maybe we could go grab some coffee or see a movie?” you suggested.

He smiled at the offer, “Sure…that sounds perfect. I think it has been a long time since I went out to dinner anyway.” he said chuckling sheepishly. ‘A date?!’ your mind screamed in excitement, your body becoming lightheaded. ‘I have a date with my bestfriend’s friend?!.' you thought excitedly. “Let me get my keys and say goodbye to Claire so we can head out.” Leon stated, grabbing his keys out of his pockets and opening the door to walk out of the room followed by you back into the parlor.

Saying goodbye’s to your friends and family as well you stepped outside, waiting for Leon to open the car door for you. After saying goodbye to everyone you climbed into the passenger seat and waited for Leon to join you. As soon as he got into the car he started the engine, backing out of the driveway.

A few seconds later you couldn’t help but notice his hands were shaking again, his knuckles white from how hard he was squeezing the steering wheel. You furrowed your eyebrows in concern, deciding it would probably be better for him if you didn't say anything. Instead, you chose to focus your attention outside of the window instead, watching the scenery rush past you quickly. Leon cleared his throat breaking the tense silence. "Sorry, my hands are a little shaky." he apologized, "I've never been in this area before." he explained.

You knew this was a lie, so you just played along.

You nodded in acknowledgement before taking a glance over to him, you were surprised to find he was looking right at you, his blue eyes gazing at you intensely, causing goosebumps to form along your skin.

"Do you live nearby?" you asked, suddenly nervous when he turned his gaze away from you. He nodded, “Yes..in fact, my house is not far from here actually.” You hummed nodding in approval before returning your eyes back outside.

The only thing on your mind now was your upcoming date and whether or not Leon is going to remember you. “So uh…” you began awkwardly. “What exactly are we going to do when we get there?” you asked after awhile of staring out the window, hoping he might be able to give some sort of response to your question. “Well…I suppose I should tell you all about myself first then, huh?” He chuckled as he took one hand off the steering wheel to fix the hair that fell across his forehead. You rolled your eyes smiling fondly at him before answering, “Alright, shoot” you replied.

*

Your eyes trailed slowly over to the side of him, noticing that he was still holding his hand on the steering wheel. You grabbed your bag strap pulling it tighter against yourself. The air became tense. You didn’t like the way the atmosphere felt, like it was getting darker and darker. When you had arrived to his house, taking off your shoes before you came in. He went to make popcorn and started up the movie.

Once finished with that he walked over to the living table where you sat and set the bowl of popcorn, and drinks down in front of you sitting dowm.

After a few minutes into the movie you fell asleep resting your head against his shoulder, which woke you up once Leon had placed you carefully on the couch. “(Y/N), wake up…” He whispered softly rubbing your arm soothingly.

You blinked your eyes groggily before lifting up your head slightly to see Leon’s face, “mmhm…Just a few more minutes…” you would groan, yet he moved you laying a pillow on his lap as you slept with a blanket thrown over you, his arm on your back rubbing light circles helping you drift back to sleep. Once you were asleep he carried you to his bed placing you next to him, tucking you kissing your forehead gently, “Sleep well, princess.” before resting his eyes taking in some sleep next to you.

*****

It was late afternoon and you woke up half asleep finding yourself lying ontop of Leon’s chest and he was still fast asleep, but his arms wrapped around you. You felt comfortable in his strong hold and your dreams were filled with nothing except him.

When your eyes fluttered open, you realized that you hadn’t dreamed, and that you weren’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. It was definitely a pleasant surprise though. You smiled lightly before shifting yourself to look up at him, leaning forward to press a kiss to his cheek. That’s when he woke up. His face immediately turning red, as he shot his eyes open.

“Hey sleepy head…” you cooed at him teasingly, running your finger across his chest. He turned his gaze shyly “Good morning...I was beginning to wonder when you would awaken, but I had decided that you were uncomfortable on the couch so I brought you in my room to sleep….ending up falling asleep myself. How embarrassing am I right?” he muttered quickly, averting his gaze. You giggled, “You are so embarrassed. I find that cute!” you grinned letting out a small laugh.

“Oh no, please don’t tell anyone else, they will tease me.. .” he joked laughing at the same time, you rolled your eyes playfully. “Okay I won’t tell anyone…but, maybe you should let me stay with you more often.” you suggested jokingly. He raised an eyebrow at you, “Hmm…are you sure? Because I think Claire might get the wrong idea....” he teased. You gave him a stern look, “And if she does? She can’t do anything about what she doesn’t know….” you smirked, making him raise his eyebrows even higher. Your face turned pink when you realized what you had just implied. He stared into your (e/c) eyes for a while, a smile appearing on his lips, “Don’t worry I won’t push you to tell her about us if you prefer to keep our relationship under wraps.” That smile sent shivers down your spine and caused your heart to begin pounding in your chest, your palms starting to sweat slightly.

Before you had a chance to respond he leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss against your forehead, letting his lips linger there for a second before moving his face closer to yours as your faces were inches apart, you opened your mouth to speak when he spoke. “I’ll always make sure our secret stays between the both of us…no matter what…” he breathed.

Your breath caught in your throat, the heat building up inside of you growing stronger than before. He pulled away, his face blushing slightly while you felt as if you were floating. He leaned back in closer and pressed another kiss against your forehead. Then finally closing the gap between your two faces, he kissed your lips tenderly, brushing them with your own. Feeling yourself melt into the kiss you parted your lips, allowing him entrance. This kiss wasn’t filled with passion but it was gentle and sweet. It was different from any other kiss that you had shared before.

He held onto the back of your neck, gently pushing you further into the kiss. He tasted of coffee and mint toothpaste as his tongue explored your mouth. This kiss was short lived however as the two of you pulled apart, gasping for air. A small chuckle escaped your lips as he laid your down gently onto the bed.

He laid down beside you wrapping his arm loosely around your waist, “I love you, Y/N” He mumbled quietly. “I love you too, Leon.” you responded, giving him a kiss on the lips. The rest of the night was filled with soft kisses and cuddles with his arm draped protectively over your waist. Neither one of you said anything, knowing that there wasn’t really needed to be.

All you could feel is pure happiness with him.

[surelynotaspider]

I love you

Al-Haitham x gn!reader

-> IN WHICH you and Alhaitham always go adventuring together. What happens when you're this one time alone?

-> Tw: Death (a little bit of gore) -> Wordcount: ~1.2k

Masterlist

"I love you." You laughed at your boyfriend. Al-Haitham smiled back at you while hugging you from behind, lifting you up.

It was an exhausting day. You, studying the whole day and him, dealing with council meetings.

You two always spent them together. Relaxing on the couch or on the bed, talking or just enjoying the presence of one another.

"What was that? I didn't quite catch that." He buried his head into your hair, hiding the huge smile on his face.

"You're such a dork!" You couldn't stop laughing. Escaping from his cruel claws, you turned around and smacked him. It probably hurt you more than him, but the thought is what counts.

"I don't think that's what you said, try again." He waited for another answer, when none came he put his arms around your waste and yeeted you onto the bed.

"Stop it!" You giggled. How could you not? You had the sweetest boyfriend you could've ever imagined for. It was the small things that made you as happy as you are now.

Making you coffee in the morning.

Bringing you lunch, knowing you forgot it at home.

Repositioning you when you fall asleep on the couch, so you don't wake up with back-pain.

Same goes for him.

Al-Haitham has never been happier in his life. He thought romantic feelings or emotions in general are a massive waste of time, clouding his rational thinking.

But when he met you. Oh boy. He fell in love.

Your smile.

Your eyes, sparkling in interest when he told you different facts.

Your laugh. The sweetest sound he's ever heard in his entire life.

How could he not love you? You. In his eyes the perfect being alive.

He would do anything for you.

You want new books? Consider them already yours.

New clothes? Al-Haitham has already put them in your closet.

Flowers? He now has a new garden. What does he do with it? He doesn't know, as long as you're happy, he is happy.

I think you get it now. For you, he would burn the world- no Teyvat down.

Since you are his world.

That's why this hurt him more than (something emotional)

You were stupid. You were so fucking stupid.

Your new study project required different materials that aren't easy to obtain. That's the reason you were here. Underground in what looks like a temple.

Ancient symbols covering the walls, well you thought these were walls. The whole temple looked like it would crumble every passing second. There were more holes in the wall, than, well uh, stone.

It didn't look like anybody was here for the past decades, or even centuries.

You were so occupied with copying each and every strange symbol, you didn't notice the ruin guard walking towards you, its goal? Get rid of the intruder.

Even if you did notice it before, your only option between fight or flight was, well, flight.

During your studies you never had the time to learn martial arts. Hell, you didn't even have a vision. Usually your boyfriend, Al-Haitham would accompany you to dangerous adventures such as these.

But he slept so comfortably. You have to go explore at least once a week and him following you is adding more stress on his side. You didn't want that. In your eyes, Al-Haitham should have the best life, no stress, no worries and no more death.

As soon as you heard a hissing noise behind you, you knew it was already over for you. You dodged the missiles, fired by the ruin guard.

You hid behind the 'walls'. Praying to whatever Archon listening to get out alive.

Please, please, please-

Just please!

You began crying. Will you ever see Al-Haitham again? Can you live a normal life after this?

Will you even get out alive?

These thoughts plagued your mind.

What were you going to do?

When Al-Haitham awoke he was very very confused.

Where were you?

Usually he would wake up before you and make you coffee. Usually you would wake up about 30-45 min after him.

Usually there wasn't a note on your bedside. 

Hi love of my life :]

When you read this note that means I've already left the house! The new project requires us to search for different materials! You looked so peaceful, I didn't wanna wake you up! I'll probably be back in a few hours, and if not, well, uh, let's hope I get back!

~sincere [Name] :>

What were you thinking? He thought. Going out alone without him? How do you expect that going to work? You've been in dangerous situations before and if he wasn't with you...

...you would've died.

You have no vision,

no weapon

and no combat training.

Al-Haitham, now worrying and putting on his clothes.

Not even Kaveh could ask what was up, Al-Haitham was already gone.

Fortunately, you told him a day before that you had to go exploring and explained where you had to search.

But sometimes, knowing where your loved ones are is not enough.

You took a deep breath. Blood escaping from your body, floating down onto the earth.

The ruin guard got you. It picked you up with his metal arms and threw you out of the temple.

On a rock.

You were bleeding everywhere. Your head. Your stomach. Your arms. Name it.

You were dying and you knew it.

You struggled to breath, heaving, choking.

You began crying. What was Al-Haitham gonna think? It was all your fault. You were so stupid.

Please just let me see him one more time.

"[Name]?!" You whimpered. Was that Al-Haitham? Or were you hallucinating because you were dying?

"Oh my Archons [Name] you are bleeding everywhere." Your boyfriend fell on his knees right in front of you. "Don't worry darling, I-I'm gonna bring you to the hospital. It's going to be okay." He whispered sweet nothings to calm you, it seems.

But in reality he knew there was nothing he could do. You lost too much blood. Multiple bones were probably broken.

Hell, you couldn't even sit up.

"H-Haitham?" You weekly mumbled. "I-I'm sorry." You let out a shaky breath.

"No, don't apologize now. It's going to be fine." He took your hand in his and cried.

When was the last time he cried? When was the last time he let through such emotions? He didn't know. He didn't care.

He cared about you and you only.

"I love you." Al-Haitham sobbed as the light left your eyes.

Your sparkly eyes,

now only a deep void.

[bisexualbaker]

Dreamwidth and Lurking

In (I think) the notes on my "Why is everyone recommending Dreamwidth as a Tumblr alternative?" post, someone asked if it was possible to lurk on Dreamwidth. My first instinct was to automatically reply with "yes", since wasn't lurking just kinda. Hanging out and reading someone's posts and generally not letting them know you're there in any way? But getting the question at all made me stop and think for a minute, because if that's all that lurking is, then why would someone feel the need to ask the question in the first place? Does that mean that lurking means something different on Tumblr than I'm used to?

This lead to my initial question post, and, a few days after that, my All About Lurking Poll, which wrapped up yesterday. I personally found the results fascinating, and while the answer that got the most votes out of the 2808 responses was "You do not interact in any way with the poster(s); you can only read", other answers together made up more than 50% of the responses.

So when it comes to the question of whether it's possible to lurk on Dreamwidth, it depends heavily on what you consider lurking to be! I'll be covering the first four options, which should between them cover at least most of the rest of the poll answers.

Option one: "You do not interact in any way with the poster; you can only read"

Generally possible! I had five different Tumblr accounts each open to their own tabs before I broke down and got my own account to condense them down. Given how many tabs I have open as a result of that decision, for reading or reblogging later, that backfired a bit, but the intent was there!

I did it for at least five LiveJournalers back in the day that I was too intimidated to add to my friends list (basically the equivalent of Following on Tumblr), only that was also before tabs, and I hated having extra windows open, so I would cycle through the links in the search bar.

That said, there are some people who have their journals set to "Access Only"; they have posts that only people with a Dreamwidth account who they have granted the ability to access these "Locked" posts will be able to see. It's a privacy feature that's very beloved at Dreamwidth, and it means that anyone without an account, or without access, can only see posts that are shared publicly.

I want to add that I'm not actually sure how Dreamwidth works on other RSS Readers, which I'm sure would simplify things somewhat, but I do know that you can subscribe to RSS accounts through Dreamwidth! If someone wants to chime in with more details, I would welcome them!

Option two: You can follow the poster, but not interact any farther than that

Yes! I've got any number of "ghosts" following me, who have Dreamwidth accounts and who have subscribed to my account, but who haven't granted me access and who don't comment on my posts.

Aside from the above-mentioned RSS Feed idea, the easiest way to do this is to create a Dreamwidth account and, well, subscribe to someone whose updates you want to see! It's basically the same as following on Tumblr, with a few functional differences; and for the purposes of this poll answer, it may as well be exactly the same.

As an important note, you don't actually have to grant anyone access to your locked posts in order to subscribe to them! On LiveJournal, these features were connected (you could only follow an account by adding them to your "Friends List", and this would grant them access to all of your locked posts, IIRC), but Dreamwidth made a point of separating them. This allows greater privacy for everyone involved. Dreamwidth went one step further, and created "Access Filters", so a given journal owner could make a post that only a certain subset of people could see, but that's a post for a different time.

Option Three: You can follow the poster and like their posts, but not reblog

Unfortunately, this is where things fall apart for anyone who likes this answer best: Dreamwidth has no "Like" function. The closest you can come here is to create an actual comment, and only include an emoji in the text. This is probably a little bit more interactive than a lot of people are interested in when it comes to lurking, and understandably so!

If you want to read about why Dreamwidth doesn't have a "Likes" system, site co-owner/co-founder Denise talks about that in a comment on an official news post right over here. (Full disclosure, I'm soc_puppet on Dreamwidth, so that's me replying to her comment there.)

Option Four: You can follow the poster and reblog their posts, but not like them

Almost no one picked this option 😂 I can understand why, since reblogging is a higher-interaction function than liking, and if you're reblogging already, you might as well go for the lower-interaction function as well.

That said, the answer for this is surprisingly: Yes! You can do this form of lurking!

Reblogging is not a native function of Dreamwidth, though, so it takes a bit more work to do it. If you want to reblog things, you need to learn how from this post. I'm still used to the old way of signal boosting from LiveJournal, so it's not something I ever installed myself, or really intend to install. But if you're looking for a way to reblog stuff on Dreamwidth, this is your answer!

Ironically, I'm pretty sure this script makes the Dreamwidth equivalent of reblogging lower-interaction than the Dreamwidth equivalent of liking. I'm reasonably sure that the person you reblogged from with this script doesn't actually get any sort of notification of your reblog, so you can add just about anything in the tags, or even in your own reblog, and it's very unlikely that they'll see any of it.

What about Asks, anonymous or otherwise, and DMs?

Dreamwidth doesn't really have an Ask function. A lot of Dreamwidth users have a pinned introduction post, and some of them doubtlessly use it to welcome questions from the public, but Tumblr's Ask function is pretty unique. There may be communities with an equivalent feature or interaction (such as posting questions to a community, which may or may not have moderated posts), but it's not something you can generally do with individually owned journals. But Asks aren't something that everyone on Tumblr has enabled either, anonymous or otherwise.

Dreamwidth does have a Private Message feature, but as on Tumblr, a journal's owner has control over who can send them a message.

So that's it!

That's all I can think of to tell you about Dreamwidth and lurking, and lurking on Dreamwidth. If you have any questions I didn't already cover, feel free to ask, and I'll do my best to answer them!

[shikonstar]

I was paired with the amazing @kalcia, whose work was truly an inspiration.

Here is your snippet; is it out of context? Yes.

Is it definably Inu/Kag? Also yes.

@inu-spiration

Kagome knelt down, her spine straight as she folded her hands to her chest. She closed her eyes to better help her concentrate on a few calming exercises before attempting the first spell. As her reiki flared around her, she heard Inuyasha back up a few paces, although it was unnecessary. He should be safe, although she amended that thought when she felt her energy clash with that of the previous caster. She frowned in concentration, focusing all of her effort on the barrier.

“Try going through now,” she told him, cracking one eye open.

Inuyasha responded by moving as he always did; quickly and with force. He didn't even have time to make a sound before he was being slammed into the wall of the cave, just as he had the first time he attempted to leave.

“Dammit!” he growled, falling to the ground.

Kagome winced sympathetically. He could take more physical abuse than a human, but that didn't make it any more pleasant.

“Sorry! I knew it was too much to hope for--let me try another.”

Inuyasha stalked back to his original position, his pride not allowing him to rub the lump he could feel forming on the back of his head.

Sending him an apologetic smile before closing her eyes once more, Kagome redoubled her efforts, hoping that at the very least, she was weakening the spell.

“Try it again.”

Once more, Inuyasha sprang forward, this time bracing himself as he was flung back.

“This is one case where I’m not happy that I was right,” she sighed, slumping slightly at her failure.

Inuyasha sat up, but wasn't as quick to move across the cave. “This spell has been in place for a long time, and we can't be sure how many people have recast and altered it. It would have been nice, but I guess I couldn't expect you to break it in one go,” he said grudgingly. The last thing he wanted was for her to give up.

“Maybe not, but I won't let this get the best of me!” Kagome replied, her jaw jutting out stubbornly. “There are still plenty of things to try, and I have a friend with scrolls that might help if I run out of options.”

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. Bold words for the person that wasn't being slammed into the wall at every attempt, but he had to admit, she had guts.

“Let’s go, then. I can take more hits than that.”

Although most of his Marks were now hidden by his clothing, Kagome had an excellent memory, and knew very well just how battered he must have been to earn each one.

“If you don't mind using a human, I know someone who add your Mark for this,” she offered quietly, hoping he wouldn't be offended.

Inuyasha froze, hardly able to believe what she was saying. Most humans thought that Marks were barbaric, and nothing more than a way to brag about the atrocities the youkai had committed against humans. While he couldn't deny that was the case for some, the Marks held a much deeper meaning, and in most cases did not involve humans at all. It was clear that Kagome had an understanding of their significance, but he couldn't help but wonder if her offer wasn't connected to the possible bond between them. He glanced away, unable to meet her eyes.

“Not sure if this is worth a Mark--or one that I wanna remember,” he finally answered.

Kagome gave a light shrug, not wanting to pressure him. “Maybe not, but I didn't think you would be able to resist getting one to rub in Sesshomaru’s face.” She grinned as his eyes jerked in her direction, an answering expression curling his lips.

“Damn, you're vindictive. I might have to take you up on that.”

“The offer is always open. Now,” she sighed, resisting the urge to rub the muscles in her legs that were beginning to protest her position, “Let’s try this again.”

They continued throughout the morning, and then into the afternoon. Each time her efforts failed and Inuyasha went sailing through the air to smack into what was becoming a sizable dent in the cave wall, Kagome felt a horrible sense of guilt.

“Dammit, Kagome!” Inuyasha howled, brushing tiny bits of stone out of his hair, one eye clenched shut while the other glared at her balefully, “Are ya tryin’ to kill me, or get me outta here by tunnling through the other side of the damn cave?”

Abruptly, the feeling passed.

[blackjackkent]

It annoys me a bit that you don't have the option to tell Astarion about Oblodra BEFORE bringing him to meet her. Like "Hey, this lady says she knows you're in the party and wants to talk to you. You good with that?"

But as it is, Rakha just yanks him along to Moonrise to see what's up. And, of course, Oblodra pounces on his presence immediately.

"I never thought I'd see one in real life. I read about your kind for so many years, but you are a finer specimen than any bestiary could describe. You're really a vampire? At least one of their spawn..."

For once, Astarion has no glib response; he just stares at her, visibly bemused - and visibly uncomfortable. "Don't worry!" he says with an awkward laugh. "We're all friends under the Absolute. I won't bite."

She gives him a slow smirk. "Oh... I'd prefer if you did."

Her eyes flick to Rakha. "And he's yours to command. My envy is palpable."

Rakha doesn't say anything for a moment. It's evident that there are undercurrents to this conversation that she doesn't fully understand. But she shakes her head at once at Oblodra's assertion.

She and Astarion do not get along with deep sympathy - but they are the same in many ways, both driven by a dark hunger that is outside their control, both struggling to determine their own fate regardless. She would no more assert ownership of Astarion's fate than she would want him to assert ownership of hers.

"We travel together," she says flatly. "That's all."

"Ah," Oblodra says, somewhat unimpressed. "It's like that." She shrugs, looks back to Astarion again. "Do you have a name, spawn?"

"Astarion," he says uneasily. "But hold on--"

"Good," she purrs. "Now, Astarion... I've dreamt of being bitten by a vampire since I was a young girl."

He blinks, thrown by this. "I'm sorry - you *want* to be bitten?"

Her eyes half-close with an expression of dreamy bliss. "To feel your life's blood slipping away? To dance on the edge between life and death? Yes... I want it."

Her lips curls. "I'll even compensate you - a potion of legendary power that forever increases the strength of the one who consumes it. It's not for sale, but it's yours..." She leans closer to him, her eyes fixed on his mouth. "If you bite me."

Rakha is more than a little surprised when Astarion flinches back with a tight, rictus smile and replies instantly, "I will have to decline."

"Excuse me?" The dreamy look falls at once from Oblodra's face and she scoffs in irritation. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and you're squandering it!"

"I gave you my answer!" Astarion snaps. It is, perhaps, the sharpest Rakha has ever heard him speak. Usually Astarion is all smooth practiced lines, easy arrogance, casual sarcasm. His anger here is sharp-edged - and carries a distinct note of fear.

Oblodra scowls at Rakha. "Can't you talk some sense into your obstinate charge?"

Rakha's jaw tightens. She was willing enough to go along with Oblodra's research before - but this is different. She wants to use Astarion and he, quite clearly, does not want to be used.

She knows he has not eaten much since they left the wildlife-rich mountain pass. Even the Underdark did not have much in the way of hunting targets, and the shadowlands have nothing at all. He should be jumping at this opportunity to drink from a willing, intelligent throat.

But he isn't. He is angry and frightened at the offer. She doesn't fully understand it - but there are many things she doesn't understand. All she has, as always, are the facts she can put together, and in this case, the picture is clear.

"He said no," she says matter-of-factly. "There's nothing more to discuss."

Astarion relaxes immediately. She sees his back straighten and the hunted look drop from his eyes.

"How very disappointing," Oblodra says coldly, and turns away without another word.

[leuchtstabrebell]

Whumptober Day 20 / Prompt: Found Family

They found Judas lying there, in the aftermath of the violence. Judith and Simon were carrying her home between them. She tried to walk but her mangled legs couldn’t keep up with them.

There was black blood dripping from her wounds.

She kept telling them that she was fine. They kept ignoring her protests.

“You’re barely human right now!” Simon tried telling her.

But Judas only laughed. “I know!” she said. “Isn’t it marvelous?” She tripped over the vowels in her speech and saw Judith shake her head.

As they dragged her along the streets, through concerned strangers and polite crowds, although their feelings quickly turned bad once they actually got a good look on Judas, she felt herself fly away from herself.

There was something seriously wrong with the broken shell of her body, she noticed from above her mind. Her arm wasn’t bending right, and there was a nasty gash exposing raw flesh on her right leg, and there was a rip poking through her skin and clothes. Her lungs should have been punctured. She felt fine.

“Shit, shit,” Judith said, when she dragged Judas up the street to the house and discovered the rip.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Simon panicked and pushed the rip back into place, or tried to, at least.

Judas heard herself moan. She still didn’t feel much but the darkness and the horror and the devinity.

Peter and Andrew were the first ones to see her, as they came stumbling through the door. The fact that Andrew did not make a stupid joke concerned Judas more than anything.

“Judas, what did you do?” Peter said and came running towards them. He gripped her by the shoulders, as if he could shake the answers loose from her that way.

“It’s not her fault,” Simon hissed back.

“It probably was though, wasn’t it?” Andrew said with furrowed brow.

Simon let go of Judas completely, leaving Judith to struggle with supporting Judas all on her own.

“If the next words out of your mouth are some variation of ‘she was asking for it’, I will end you,” Simon said.

“Well, walking around as Iscariot is just stupid”, Peter chimed in. “What did she think would happen?”

“Enough!!! She needs help, now! And since Jesus and Mary aren’t here right now, you’re our next best option, Peter. So stop being assholes and fucking help your friend. If you haven’t noticed, there are several things severely wrong with her body,” Judith said.

“Patron Saint of Lost Causes,” Andrew sneered. “Why didn’t you go to the hospital?”

Simon leveled him with a cold look. “Are you a fucking moron? What do you think would happen if we went there with her like that, huh?”

Meanwhile, Peter had turned serious and professional.

“You’re right,” he said, and patted Judas’ shoulder.

“Let’s get you all fixed up, alright?”

They brought her to the kitchen.

“Judas, you’ll have to come back to this body for a moment,” Peter told her softly.

She shook her head.

“What’s to say you won’t just leave me like that?”

Peter sighed. “We won’t. We’re your friends.”

He was lying. He was not her friend, had made that very clear on a few occasions. This would be a nice opportunity to get rid of her without too much fuss. But then again, he had also helped her several times, and tried to comfort her. And she couldn’t stay in this form forever.

Simon and Judith were looking at her with matching pleading looks and she was so very tired of it all.

“Fine,” she said. “I don’t care either way.”

She let herself fall back to the pain, fall back to petty nuisances like pain and love.

For a moment, there was terrible agony as she was falling. Then she was caught by loving arms.

[colorfuldreamsmkg]

He’s Making a List, and Checking It Twice || Lau Fei || Trial 1.2 || Re: Suzie || Attn: Hitome, Inazuma, Erika, Sonny, Maria Dolores

Well, this sure was a pickle, wasn’t it? Even with everyone’s points, Lau Fei was still pretty lost on who the culprit could actually be among them all. There was at least one way to help narrow things down. And it came back to alibis. As much as Hitome tried to claim they didn’t matter, Lau Fei was going to trust in people corroborating one another at the very least. One person’s word may not be enough, but multiple? 

“I’ve been listening to everyone’s alibis, and that does help us narrow it down, at least,” Lau Fei said. “A lot of us have people to corroborate us. With that in mind, that narrows down the list of suspects to: Johann, Maria Dolores, Kanji, Hitome, Sonny, Inazuma, and Erika! Nobody saw them between 8:46 and 9:32. This is just based off of timeframe though.”

Lau Fei made a little gesture like they were marking names off of a list, and continued to speak, “I don’t think those jammies would fit Johann, Maries Dolores, or Kanji.” A reasonable take in his mind. “So! That leaves us with Hitome, Sonny, Inazuma, and Erika!”

“Also, Maria Dolores and Sonny, just real real quick, super quick! You both said you returned to your SEKAI to sleep about 8:45, right? Why didn’t you guys see each other? Do you have different rooms? If you do, you should probably explain that otherwise it seems weird.”

Four options. That was a whole lot better than where they started, and hopefully someone would have there wherewithal to narrow it down further.

“Also, I don’t know if the killer is injured or not, but just because someone doesn’t look injured, it doesn’t mean they’re not. I mean, makeup is a thing. Couldn’t the killer have just covered up any wounds? But, y’know, also…like in Erika’s case, she was already injured before this case even happened. We remember what happened with Ozzy. My point is I don’t think we should assume the killer is injured just because there’s a lot of blood. I mean, those pajamas we found didn’t have any blood on them, right? Or at least we didn’t see any. What about you guys?”

SO weird. 

“To answer Suzie’s question…I can’t really tell if she was falling falling, or just regular reappearing. It happened really fast…there was, uh…like a halo of blood around her in the air, like around her whole body. It was big. I guess it’s possible she could’ve been falling for a while when she spawned in, but I really can’t tell for sure. Maybe one of the other two knows that better… I’d kinda rather not think that hard about it anymore right now.”

They pulled Cecilie’s shawl around their shoulders tighter. Yeah… They knew it was necessary to solve the crime, but Lau Fei really didn’t want to keep reliving this.

[atomsurvived]

DIFFICULT Q's -> @allswell said: #1-6 for headcanon questions

1. Which should be saved – a bus full of innocent lives or a loved one?

"Bus full of innocents," he nearly blurts out, leaving little room for hesitation. He's not going to think too hard about that. He can't. How can Nate be allowed the chance at being selfish? ( is one life worth that of tens more? )

2. You meet a man who has killed someone and done time for it before. Does this factor into how you treat him? Will he ever truly escape that sin?

"That depends... I'm guilty of that very same sin." Nate is no stranger to murder. The Wasteland leaves few options. And so does war, doesn't it? Breeding desperate, hungry, husks of people behind? Raiders, and ghouls, and all sorts of other things. Things that just want to live. Who is he to judge, in the world as it is now? How can he judge when his hands are stained red from the life of a soldier in war? "If he shows remorse for it, or has a moral justification. . . who am I to judge someone else for something I've done so much already? Even before the war? No, he probably will never be free of it. But that's not for me to decide."

( but sometimes, it's difficult to have faith when you take one glance at the bombed streets of Boston ).

3. If you could jump back through time to save a loved one’s life, would you? Despite what it might to do the timeline? To everyone else? Do you believe it is their fate to die regardless?

He has to take a moment here. It should have been him. Nate takes in a deep breath, swallowing thickly; to watch his wife die, as he was helplessly trapped in the cryopod, was one of the worst days of his life. Not the bombs, not his missing dog, not war, not corruption. Nora, fighting with all she could, to protect Shaun. And all she got for the effort was a bullet between the eyes. . . would switching places have saved her? Would that have made anything better, to force her into the life he now cruelly lives? To force this psychological horror onto her?

( would letting her live actually save her? ) "No. She's in Jannah now. My wife. Fate is what we make of it, but I wouldn't turn time so that she'd be in my place. That would be. . . cruel."

4. You have a secret you swore not to reveal. But this secret is the only thing that would prove your innocence in a separate matter. Is it worth risking your own well-being for the secret? Or would you betray the trust given to you?

"If accepting false guilt is all it takes to protect something so secretive to someone I hold dear. . . then I don't mind taking the fall too much. I'm used to it." It's not a hard question at all. Nate has done it so many times that he sometimes expects it. "If revealing the secret can save somebody else and doesn't bring harm to anybody else? Then fine. Whatever answer helps the most people."

5. Is it better to hurt others before they hurt you or let yourself be walked all over and hurt by others?

"If they haven't done anything to me or someone else yet, then. . . So what if I get hurt in the process? At least my conscience will be clean." Or, at least, as clean as it can be in the Wasteland.

6. If you tell the truth, an evil person gets to walk away free. If you lie, you may be able to send them away like they deserve. Is honesty worth more than justice?

"Is it justice if there's no honesty? Whatever this evil person did, if it's worth being prosecuted, then they'll be prosecuted. Nobody is free of sin. Nobody can claim complete innocence. But what we can do is judge accordingly to the crime accused. If the truth absolves them of the crime, then that is justice. Why would this be a difficult question?"

[paganwitchisis]

"What Love Can Change" Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen: Astarion’s Patience and Suspicions

Rated: E for Explicit!!

Pairing: AFAB Female Tav/Spawn Astarion

Words: 10,130

TRIGGER WARNING -Breeding kink, violence, descriptions of trauma, sexual assault, torture, suicide attempt and mention/idealization, self harm, starvation, depression, pregnancy, hyper-sexuality, Dead Dove Don’t Eat and rape

AO3 link is here!

This chapter is not proofread!! It should be mostly ok, maybe some grammar issues. I apologize in advance if there are any issues.

Story:

“What’s wrong?” Tav looked concerned and worried and Astarion kissed her before she could go further down that rabbit hole.

“I want you, I want you hard and now that you’re healthy again, I’d like to do a few new things because of what I want. Then we’ll let you rest, you can get your energy back for tomorrow so I can make it all about you, as promised. After that, do you mind, doing me a favor or humoring me?

“Of course! What do you need?” Tav asked as she looped her arms around her husbands neck

Astarion sat back removing her hands, on his heels between her legs and looked down at the delicious sight before him. “I’d like to try, not having sex. At least until we go to kill Gortash and the brain. I love you like no creature can love another but I would like to show you love without sex. Now don’t get me wrong, worse case if it becomes too much for you my dear, we’ll figure it out but at least we can try. Right now if they wrote a book about us it would be almost all smut at some point” Astarion pretty much giggled. “Not that I didn’t enjoy that. In fact” Astarion kissed her ear, her cheek and her neck “I want to take full and total control tonight. I want to do things a little different. I need you so badly right now. What do you think of…” Astarion gestured around himself “all that?”

Tav frowned and looked up at her husband, this gorgeous man that she had trouble not touching. She wasn’t sure of it herself why she had such an issue but he was right now that he mentioned it. They were fucking more than they were questing lately. She wasn’t some slack jawed teenager so why was there an issue? Was it because he was the first glimpse of real bliss with sex that she had? That cant be because she slept with him months ago in the grove and was able to keep to herself well enough. Of course she took care of herself in her tent too. Did she have that option now that they shared a bed considering how…displeased he seemed when she masturbated? Maybe she should talk to him about it?

“It wouldn’t be a problem if you were…er…um…” Tav looked away from his hungry gaze, his cock on attention and his hands roaming her lower legs, waiting for an answer. “If you lightened up about me masturbating. Sometimes I do it to relieve stress or to help me fall asleep. I don’t always need help. Yes, sometimes it is because I want you and you’re not available but if you want us to go longer stints without, you’re just going to have to get used to sharing the bed with me as I pleasure myself.” There, she said it Tav thought to herself. She finally brought it out to the light but then why was her husband grinning so lustfully at her still.

Astarion crawled up to her and although she was sitting up when she spoke to him, his action made her have to lay down. He dropped his forehead onto hers and very huskily said, his voice laden with lust “Do it. Right now.” Tav spread her legs but it must not have been wide enough for the vampire as he took this into his own hands and hoisted them back and wide. Her legs were now raised and no longer lying on the bed, Astarion used his arms to loop them at the knee and Tav felt foolish snaking her hand to her groin.

“Play with yourself like you did before the attack. Before we made love at the graveyard, when I didn’t see you do it and you had to keep as silent as a mouse in fear our companions would find your escapades.” Astarion began kissing her deeply, pulling back she bite his lower lip on purpose, smiling. This was like a challenge to him it appeared. Tav finally dipped her fingers into her folds and began going in a circular motion, a motion that seemed very practiced, precise to hit a patch of nerves on the side. Astarion saw this of course and noted that she held back her moan, her eyes closed. Was she imagining the vampire not being with her at this particular event? What was she thinking of to get her off?

“What are you thinking of?” Astarion asked as he kissed her neck and collarbone, dragging the flat on his tongue against the warm skin as he savored her taste.

Tav let out a pant, and started to breath fairly heavily from her mouth.

“You. Your teeth in my neck or thigh. Your fingers inside me, swiftly replaced by your thick cock. Your divine tongue bringing me closer and closer to my demise. Gods below, I’m gonna…”

“That’s it my love, come for me.” Astarion gently sunk his teeth into her neck near the point of her orgasm to help her go over the edge. With a cry out, she came, her hand not facilitating her went rigid as it was around his shoulders, holding him. Astarion pulled back from drinking her, although he had barely started in the first place and had a minuscule amount of her exquisite blood. He wasn’t doing this to feed, as much as he enjoyed doing so, he did this for her to feel good.

“That’s it my girl, how does it feel?”

“That felt great” Tav replied, then looked at her legs still being held wide apart by the knee and blushed. He could see everything of her at that angle, it was so revealing and she was embarrassed.

“Do you…um, mind putting my legs down”

Astarion smiled as he was now sitting back on his heels between her legs, he placed one leg on his shoulder instead while still holding the other the same way. There, Astarion laid his cheek against the warm leg and appeared to be caressing his face against her but he slid his head down her leg to the inside of her thigh and made eye contact with her. He kept her stare and she knew what he was going to do, it made her even more wet at the thought and he knew. Astarion kissed the flesh lovingly and licked it tenderly, being so modest and sweet and then bit her again with much more force than he did before. This time he did drink from her but only a little. Enough to wet his palate and make him want to keep coming back for more. He pulled away and plunged himself deep inside her core not once but thrice, moaning that special moan that only Tav got to hear before once again yanking himself out with a growl. He crawled his way up and whispered in her ear.

“I want nothing more than to fuck you into the bed or up a wall right now and fill you again and again all night long but I want something else. Can I….Make a request?” Astarion seemed embarrassed as he looked away.

“I’ll be happy to do whatever you wish” Tav whispered back as she clamped her lips on his earlobe, licking them on the rim and fondling them with her hands, in made Astarion rut into her body softly more and Tav enjoyed the power play. This man was close to losing control.

“I…after rediscovering sex, after him” Astarion spat his name in reference to Cazador “With you, I began to” Astarion nervously laughed “love it again, which is why I never complained much about the frequency. I loved making you learn new things and teaching you new ways to come. I felt wanted, needed, loved. Right now I’m having trouble feeling those things…I…I had naughty ideas for you tonight but I can hold them off until tomorrow. Tonight, I’d like to push them aside. How do you feel about…I mean…would you…worship my body, make me feel loved? Make me feel safe and needed? Help me feel? It doesn’t happen often after we killed him but I still get scared he’ll come for me, that I’m not free, that…” Tav turned her head and kissed him, Hard. She understood and she would help to sooth his pain. She pushed Astarion, while still kissing him, over so he would lay on his back and pulled back.

“Cazador is dead. You killed him, you and even without the powers from the rite. To me? That makes you the most powerful vampire in this damn area. YOU killed a vampire lord when others could not and you held everyone’s lives in your hand at one point.” Tav kissed his jaw as he processed this and then kissed his neck, slowly making her way south.

“Your hands helped to save the tieflings and although I know that wasn’t the preferred option you wanted it gave you an excuse to slaughter hundreds of goblins along the way as we decimated their camp. You never were a fan of goblins.” Astarion cracked a small smile at this. Tav kept kissing but she began kissing his arms

“Your hands also did many wondrous small things along the way, from showing tiefling kids the right way to do sleight of hand tricks and scams, to making progress in a necromancy book after slaughtering a bunch of giant spiders to get the gem to open it.” Tav kissed his palms and the top of his hands, sucking on one of his digits as Astarion’s eyes narrowed and his length stood at more of an attention. He ground his bum into the bed, wanting relief from the build up between them. Tav went to his chest and sucked on his nipples.

“When we got to the Last Light Inn, you helped us protect Isobel and later rescue her lover, a powerful ally. Your hands again saved us from ruin. You made a difference. I know you’re not into heroics, far be it actually but you are a hero. You got the final hit on the first chosen three after his creepy transformation, which might I add didn’t seem to bother you. That thing was grotesque!”

Astarion laughed, Tav leaned over him from between his legs as he spoke “When you’ve seen worse monsters in the world, the others seem like nothing” Tav started kissing his stomach. She saw from her side view as she approached that his cock was begging for attention so when she pulled back from the one kiss, she made a quick kiss to his cock uttered a phrased he loved hearing “You are so beautiful” before resuming her work on the rest of the body.

“You helped me remove a curse on the lands, you at this point must have killed hundreds if not thousands of idiots who got in our way. You killed an Orthon and you basically told that drow bitch to fuck off as she treated you like a fucking dog “this time it was Tav who sneered and Astarion sat up to bring his hand to his wife’s face and kiss her.

When he finally pulled back Astarion spoke “This was when I knew I wanted to be with you…for real. You never treated me like that, you respected me, loved me and never forced me to do anything. You showed me what healthy boundaries are.” Tav smiled but she wasn’t done yet “Lay back, I’m not done with you…although….I do have a question for you…”

Astarion placed the pillow behind his head and told her to ask away.

“How do you want to come? With my mouth, inside me or? Do you want me to fuck you again”

Astarion’s phallus was still hard against him, his eyes were lustful as he looked at Tav. He didn’t need time to decide, he knew what he wanted. She was certain of it. Maybe he was afraid of asking?

Tav took the man’s cock deep into her throat and began working him hard and fast. This shook the vampire out of his stupor.

“Ahh, fuck!…I’m gonna…” Tav felt the familiar taste of his semen fill her mouth and throat as she swallowed it down with ease. She pulled back, not surprised to find he was still hard. He was surprised however not only about that but also that she was going into her pack to grab the toy and lube. What Tav didn’t notice is the letter fall out and land partly under the bed. He told her she didn’t have to go through so much trouble and that he was fine but she didn’t listen, he was embarrassed by the looks of it. Tav just kissed him deeply and told him she loved him a lot. After making sure it was completely on, she turned to her husband who was stroking himself.

“If you don’t want to continue we don’t have to but I suspect you want me to fuck you. Is that right?” Tav asked as she got on the bed on her knees. She almost fell off the bed after being clumsy with her balance if not for Astarion who grabbed her last minute, he pulled her back up on the bed and she hugged him tight.

“I’m trying to show you that you’re safe yet you keep saving me from falling” Tav laughed. Astarion just kissed her and took the lube from his wife. He poured a small amount on his fingers and kept kissing her. Tav couldn’t see what he was doing but as he moaned into their kiss and his one hand on her shoulder shuddered as he grasped her, she suspected he was preparing himself and had his fingers inside himself. Tav would follow his lead on this since he was taking control of the situation.

Astarion moaned again but this time he pulled his hand from behind as he broke the kiss. Tav leaned to the side and grabbed the damp cloth they had there from earlier and handed him it just in case he needed it with the lube. Astarion took it and wiped his hand before tossing it to the other end of the bed. Astarion pushed Tav back onto her back on the bed and she complied. She smiled up on him as he straddled her, blush overcoming his cheeks, the toy cock just grazing his backside, his hands resting on her chest and massaging her breasts. Astarion kissed her again before huskily begging her “fuck me. Fuck me hard and fast”

“I will honey. I’ll do whatever you ask. I’ll go deep too if that is what you like”

“Please!” Astarion begged as he kissed Tav again and slipped his tongue in. Tav reached behind and grabbed his ass, Astarion moaning for the effort. She spread his cheeks to probe him and found he was very adequately prepped, hells she didn’t know what he did but he was so loose and ready, she could slid into him this very moment. Tav pulled back from his lush lips to speak.

“Do you want…stimulation first. You could fuck my face again…”

“And chance your exquisite mouth making me come again? My love, just ram me already”

Tav smiled and layered a plentiful amount of lube onto the toy and his hole, lined the cock up to his now prepared hole and entered him smoothly due to the excess of lube she used. Astarion moaned, his hands on her shoulders as they gripped her. Tav gripped his waist and planted her feet.

“I love you. You’re safe, you matter and have worth” Tav said to her husband warmly and with love as she looked him in the eye before shoving herself fully inside him.

Astarion arched his back and gasped, he called her name and she paused, when a moment passed he asked her to move. Tav began to move like the extension and toy were a part of her own flesh and drove it into the elf at an intense speed and power. She made love to him like he asked, hard, fast and deep. Astarion dipped forward and clung to her, his breathy moans, as soft as a kitten was something only she could hear as he moaned next to her ear.

Tav reached forward and began stroking his forgotten manhood as it dripped natural lubrication on her belly. It was weeping, wanting so badly to explode and release all the tension he had. With a practiced hand, Tav stroked him as she kept pounding his entrance. She grabbed the lube on the side and poured some down the crack of his ass so it would meet at the junction where they made love and provide more protection from dryness as they coupled. Tav used one hand to stroke his cock and the other to grab his buttock.

Astarion straightened his back, went rigid and moaned with his eyes closed.

“I’m going to…”

“Let go and come” Tav gently coaxed and sped up her thrusts and hand motions. The next moment his stomach clenched and his cock spurted out his essence. The first strand of his seed flew as far as her breast as he finished. Tav slowed down to a complete stop as soon as his cock stopped throbbing and ejaculating.

“Gods you’re beautiful” Tav said looking up at her husband who smiled at the compliment. Astarion grabbed the discarded cloth from earlier and handed it to Tav to wipe his seed off her chest while he pulled up and off of her toy. As Tav cleaned the area and the toy, Astarion got to work setting the bath for them both of them.

Tav was a little concerned because although Astarion was smiling at her, he wasn’t talking.

“Are you okay?” Tav asked as she got into the tub with Astarion after cleaning everything up.

THE REST CAN BE READ IN ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN! TUMBLR DOESN'T LIKE MY LONG CHAPTERS

[sharkdream3421]

Garrus Vakarian X Reader - Deadly Love Triangle

That mission was so tricky we all kept running out of ammo, but thankfully Nihlus had extra thermal clips on him. At least we finally cured the genophage. Wrex was thrilled that his people would be okay now, and would finally be able to reproduce and have offspring so the krogan can shape their own future. Wrex told me that he plans to focus on rebuilding and no more war for them. That was a relief to hear, all war does is cause chaos, diversity, and hate. Reminds me of the first contact war, it was war between the humans and turians. All it did was help me to cause hate toward the turians. I mean the war caused my grandpa to die, I then hated turians from that point on.

Everything changed until I met Garrus. Nihlus was the first one to come aboard the Normandy, but even then I didn't even trust him. He was one cocky son of a bitch.

"I move faster on my own."

Yeah right he could have died if Kaiden, I, and Ashley had not interfered. I told Kaiden to use his biotics on Nihlus causing him to fly into a bunch of crates and pass out. Ashley just shouted "Gun!" which did not help what so ever. I sniped the other turian, I didn't kill him because it only hit his shields, but I did throw off his aim when he was pointing that carnifex on Nihlus.

When I met Garrus I still doubted I could trust him, he just seemed dangerous. I mean he almost hit the hostage when Me, Shepard, and Ashely were about to save the lady that was from the Med Clinic, as she was being mugged from some gangsters. After talking on the Normandy though I started to know him better. He was a C-Sec officer who was surrounded by regulations, and all he thought that mattered was getting the job done no matter who he had to sacrifice. His father said he was starting to become like Saren, and for the best part. His Dad wasn't wrong.

I suggested to Garrus that he should calm down and look at the bigger picture.

"Sacrificing civilians is not the right thing to do. You know Garrus, Shepard told me that she learned from Captain Anderson that all that Saren wanted to do was complete the mission no matter how many lives were sacrificed. So don't you see? Your acting just like Saren. You also don't have to be like Nihlus either." I sighed realizing that Nihlus was Saren's apprentice. I know that Nihlus is different from Saren, in terms of treating humans with kindness and not segregation. Although, his way of fighting is the same. Shepard told me that his goal was simple, "I don't care that your human Shepard, I just care that you get the job done."

After some talking with Garrus and helping him stop Dr. Heart. Garrus started to become a paragon and less of a renegade. That was good to hear, I'm honestly a paragon and shooting people isn't always the answer. If convincing is no longer an option, then I take out my gun and shoot. Shepard is like 60% Paragon and 40% Renegade. Meanwhile, Nihlus is...complicated. He is mostly renegade, but then sometimes he's just nice? Merciful? I don't know it's hard to figure out what happens in the turian spectre's mind.

I was starting to fall for Garrus probably after we picked him up on Omega. When I heard he was very injured I was having a heart attack. I felt like I needed him, I prayed so hard that he was going to be okay. When I saw that he was fine, and he was going to recover. I just gave him the biggest hug ever. Garrus was my best friend after all, it was very hard not to hate him. He just had a great sense of humor, which would always make the crew laugh and cheer up even in the most darkest times we were in. I trusted him with my life now, and I saw no reason to hate him. I loved him, but so did Shepard.

Shepard managed to reach Garrus first before me. Dang it! I should have told him my feelings sooner! Kasumi was like the rumor mill. She would always sneak around the ship and go into other people's business. I saw Shepard head into the elevator before the Suicide Mission, then not long after I saw Garrus go into the elevator. Neither one came out of that elevator until three hours later. Who knew what they were doing? Well I knew, it hurt me like a ton of bricks. Garrus belonged to Shepard. Not me, I mean who would want to date a nerdy girl like me? Absolutely no one. I talked to Liara on the phone, she was about another one of my close or best friends I've had in my life. She suggested that I could wait for Garrus and Shepard to break up, or go find someone different. I just plainly said "I think I'll just wait, but I doubt that Shepard and Garrus would ever break up. They are like two sides of a coin, their is no Shepard without Vakarian." Liara just told me that all you can do is just hope.

Not long after the suicide mission, Shepard was placed on house arrest for being associated with Cerberus. The alliance are pretty much good at being idiots. I remember Shepard making her point across and dang it was true, but of course Hackett is too dumb to even figure out it was true.

"I had to do something about the collectors, only Cerberus did something about it. The alliance didn't even give a shit about it!"

"We would have done something if it weren't for Cerberus." Hackett defended.

When Shepard was on house arrest, I decided to hang out with Garrus and help with things on Palaven. I had never been on Palaven and yet it was amazing! The warm and sunny beaches, the nice alien like palm trees. Palaven's city's also looked nothing like I had ever seen before! I was surrounded by Turians, and some of them even gave me strange looks. Although, Garrus told me that humans do visit Palaven just not many of them do.

Garrus managed to become a "Expert Reaper advisor." I just became like his side kick or associate? Anyway, when we heard their was trouble on Palaven's moon we took a shuttle and made our way to the moon.

There we met Shepard, and Liara. Man it was good to see them again. I watched Garrus and Shepard shake hands, but their was like no kiss or anything? Maybe they accept that their relationship is finally done? This might just be my chance! I also met James Vega, and man he was just very handsome over all, but my heart belonged to Garrus. Not some muscular man, who swears f-bombs once and awhile.

Well I was wrong because after our mission on Palaven, I went down into the cargo hold, where the computer for our security cameras were. I looked at the camera that was in the Battery room and there was Shepard and Garrus kissing. I should have not gotten my hopes up. I have to admit, that Garrus and I don't belong together. He's just a friend and that's probably what he will always be.

Primarch Victus was aboard the Normandy and was hanging out in the War room. I needed some advice, and maybe Victus could have a good answer.

I walked up to him with a smile on my face, "Hey Victus!"

"Ah, Y/N. What do I owe this fine pleasure?"

I chuckled, man he was so polite and handsome. "Victus, I need some advice. I've been head over heels for Garrus for months now, but Shepard and Garrus are in a relationship right now. What do you think I should do?"

Victus sighed, "I'm not really an expert on relationships Y/N."

"Please Victus, I need your help. I'm going to lose my mind." I begged.

Victus sighed again, "I think you should tell Garrus how you feel Y/N, and if he doesn't feel the same then you should find someone else to be with."

Victus was right, there was no way Garrus and I could just become boyfriend and girlfriend if we never confessed our feelings for each other.

With me feeling super confident I thanked Victus and walked out of the War Room with me being head over heels to tell Garrus how I feel.

~~~~

Each step I took toward the elevator I got even more excited. I took the elevator one floor down, so now I was on the crew deck. I was just about to round the corner toward the main lobby where the whole crew hangs out until I hear some Human and a Turian laughing. I quickly hid around the corner and peeked to see the most surprising thing I have ever seen today.

There was Shepard and Nihlus slowly walking out of the Starboard Observation deck kissing each other with Shepard's hands on Nihlus's chest and Nihlus's hands on Shepard's waist. They walked into the elevator and then I hear the elevator door close. What the heck was that?! I ran to the front of the elevator doors to see that it was going to Shepard's cabin! What are they doing? Please don't tell me they are...no Shepard wouldn't.

I have to know, I know only one person who could find out what was going on in Shepard's room.

I barraged into Liara's office to see her looking at me with a confused look on her face.

"What's wrong Y/N? You looked panicked." Liara asked me looking worried.

I quickly ran up to her shadow broker terminal. "Liara, can you see what is going on in Shepard's room?" I asked.

"Yeah I can, why?" She asked.

"I think Shepard is doing something really bad, just please Liara, I need to find out what she's doing! I hope it isn't what I think it is." I said with worry in every fiber of my being.

"Okay calm down Y/N. I'm pulling up Shepard's room." I see Liara hitting the keys on her keyboard.

When we saw Shepard's room finally come up on the screen. Me and Liara looked at the screen very shocked. How...how...how could Shepard do this? Why? Why to Garrus?! Their was Shepard having...having sex with Nihlus. It was entirely disturbing to see. Their was Nihlus and Shepard naked and rolling in bed. It was very inappropriate to watch.

"By the Goddess." Liara said with astonishment in her voice and on her face.

Why did Shepard have to do this to Garrus? Garrus...never deserved this! Garrus never did anything wrong! Garrus was loyal to Shepard ever since from the very beginning and this is how she treats Garrus?! My hands curled into fists. I'm going to kill her!

Liara looked at me seeing the hate all over my face. She put her hand on my shoulder, "I'm so sorry you had to see this Y/N." Liara said with sympathy.

I looked down on the floor. "Why did she cheat on Garrus. Especially Garrus, why him? He's been betrayed, failed at his job, lost his own team, and now he's being cheated on over another handsome Turian. I thought Garrus was the most handsome person, his voice, his humor, he's perfect."

"I don't know Y/N, but Garrus definitely never deserved this." Liara said with sorrow.

~~~~

The next morning I had a plot for revenge! Everyone will know, because everyone will be there to see me expose Nihlus and Shepard. I woke up from my bed in the room where the crew would hang out. I took the covers off me and landed on the cold floor with my two cold feet. I slipped my jacket on, my boots, and a pair of jeans. With my anger in tow I opened the door and made my way to the lobby where breakfast was always served.

There she was. That piece of shit sitting at that table looking very happy to see Garrus, yeah right! Wait until I expose the truth.

Liara sat across the table looking at me with a worried look on her face. I looked at her, and she shook her head when I had my fist right by my side.

"Don't do it Y/N, if you expose the truth it's going to do more harm than good." Liara told me, she wasn't loud, but she wasn't quiet either.

"I have to do this Liara. It's the only way." I said.

I raised my fist and hit her really really hard, right in the jaw. Even a tooth popped out! Garrus looked at me very shocked. I mean I did just hit his ex-girlfriend.

"Y/N what are you doing?!" Liara had yelled.

"I'm doing what is justice! Hey everyone, I have something very important to tell you!" I yelled where everyone in the ship could hear.

Everyone gathered around, and I mean EVERYONE gathered around like in a giant circle with Garrus, Shepard, and I in the middle.

"What does (Last name), (First name) wish to tell us?" Legion asked with his head tilted as his optic grew even brighter.

"Shepard cheated on you Garrus! I saw it! I saw it all! Shepard had some really good sex with Nihlus over there!" I yelled as I pointed to Nihlus who looked completely chill.

Liara sighed, "I can confirm that Y/N, is telling you all the truth. I saw it with my own eyes."

Garrus looked shocked, no emotion, utter despair on his face, he didn't even move an inch. Several people gasped, several people looked at Shepard in disapproval, and looked completely pissed off.

"Not cool Commander." James said.

"You are no Siha." Thane blurted out.

"We find Shepard-Commander's actions unforgiving." Legion sounded displeased.

Garrus just walked away in depression. I looked at Garrus, he just showed no emotion, his heart was completely broken. Most of me feels like it was the right thing to do, justice was served. Although, a part of me feels like I did the wrong thing. What did I do to Garrus? Shepard looked around seeing everyone very pissed off. Shepard just ran away, probably to her little hideout, which was her cabin.

I ran after Garrus to see if he was going to be okay. "Garrus! Garrus are you okay?" I asked.

Garrus turned with sadness in his eyes, "No, I don't think I will be. I just need to do some calibrations." Garrus had said as he slowly walked toward the Main Battery.

I would have laughed at him because he said calibrations, just like every time I would, but this time no laugh came from me.

~~~~

Everyone had done their own thing for the rest of that day. Shepard just stayed in her cabin the whole time unless she was called to the War Room or had some matters to attend to. Today, I decided to visit Garrus and see how he was doing as yesterday must have been tough on him.

When the main battery's doors opened I found Garrus collapsed on the floor.

"Garrus!" I yelled as I ran up to him.

I helped him up and he looked at me with tired eyes. "Y/N, I had the most weirdest dream. You were there saying that Shepard cheated on me, and everyone else was so pissed." Garrus said.

I looked down in shame. "That wasn't a dream Garrus, it's true. I revealed that Shepard cheated on you with Nihlus."

Garrus looked down. "Oh, I see. I'll just work on some calibrations then."

I sighed. "Garrus, it's not your fault, I'm sorry that I was selfish and told everyone what had happened, I didn't think that it would affect you like this, I should have known better."

"That bastard Nihlus. Besides I felt like my relationship with Shepard was a bit odd after all. It's okay, I just need some time to move on." Garrus said as he took a small deep breath.

"Garrus, I...I love you, but I understand if you don't want to be with me. Your previous girlfriend cheated on you, and I should probably shut up now. I'll be in the shuttle bay." I walked out of the main battery with a lot on my mind.

~~~~

No, that part doesn't go there. I attached the modifier on the top of the carnifex. Ah, there we go! Now it can provide a little more damage. I also attached another modifier, which can allow some more shots to be fired so we have a less chance that we are going to run out of thermal clips. I grabbed the next weapon, which was the N7 Hurricane. Has a really fast rate of fire, but has very bad accuracy. I just probably set more modifiers on the stability and accuracy then.

"Y/N."

I turned around to see Garrus walking toward me. Looking scared? "Hey Garrus, what's wrong?" I asked my best friend.

"I had time to think, and I...love you too Y/N. All those times we had on Palaven, having dinner together, watching Turian films with each other, going shopping. I loved every moment with you. I didn't know if it was okay to abandon my relationship with Shepard, but I also felt something in me when I was around you. The truth is, I love you (First name), (Last name). I loved you for a couple months." Garrus then put his talons on my hands. "Is it okay if you can be my girlfriend?" He asked.

He asked...HE ASKED me! Oh my gosh, my dream has come true!

"Yes! Yes! You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment!" I cheerfully shouted as I hugged my new boyfriend.

"I love you Y/N." Garrus said with comfort in his voice, as I felt his talon going against the back of my head.

"I love you too Garrus, always have been, and always will." I said with the biggest smile on my face.

~~~~

"(Last name), (First name) we would like to ask you something."

I turned around to find Legion with flowers in his hands. It was strange seeing the innocent geth boy with flowers in his hands.

"Yeah what's up Legion?"

"We have researched some of Earth's culture and religion, and we believe that when someone wishes to show gratitude or kindness. Flowers are a good way to show it." Legion had talked like he was a calculator or something, which was like all the time.

"Who are you giving it to?" I asked with a smile on my face. It's hard to be mad at Legion. He is so good at acting innocent all the time.

"Creator Zorah. We calculate that giving Creator Zorah flowers will help increase our trust, and have less hostility towards us." Legion replied.

I smiled, he's so adorable. "Go ahead Legion, I think she will like it."

Legion replied with a nod and the flaps around his eye opening up. Legion left my cabin in search of Tali.

I smiled as I looked back at the datapad.

"Why was Legion holding flowers?" Garrus asks as he sat on the edge of my bed and gave a little kiss on my cheek.

"He was wanting to give them to Tali, I think he might just have a crush on her." I told Garrus as I smirked.

"So what brings you up here?" I asked.

"Oh, I just wanted to see the love of my life, and make sure she was okay." Garrus said as he gave a small chuckle.

I set the datapad down, and scoot closer towards Garrus. "I am okay thanks for asking, just looking at preparations before we land on Rannoch. I could use a break though."

Garrus put a talon on my face and gently played with my hair with his other talon. "How about we ease up some tension and test your flexibility?"

I smirked, " I would love too."

I read someone's story about Garrus and a Nihlus lives AU and then suddenly I thought what would happen if Shepard cheats on Garrus for Nihlus? Nihlus deserves more attention and should have survived Eden Prime. He would have been a great squad mate in the trilogy! Thank you for reading and have a awesome day!

Masterlist

[citygirlcharlotte]

The Sister Halstead (Part 6)

Masterlist

Pairings: Hank Voight x Female OC, Will & Jay Halstead x Sister!OC

Warnings: SMUT Ahead. I'm a whore for Henry Voight.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay alone?” Jay asked me as I packed up to leave his hospital room. 

“Who said I was going to be alone Jay bird?” I laughed. 

“Henry I’m guessing?” He snorted. 

“Yeah. He’s going to keep me company tonight, I told him I had a hard day.” 

“Some keeper this one is huh?” He joked. 

“That’s what I’m thinking. Glad you agree.” 

I leant down to give him a hug and a kiss on the head. 

“Get better, okay? I’ll be back in the morning, and I promise to bring some real food.” 

“Thank god.” He groaned. 

Will walked me to the front entrance before pulling me aside. 

“Hank’s coming over tonight?” He questioned. 

“I really don’t want to be alone Will.” 

“I could always come over, Jay would understand.” He started. 

“No offense bubba but I just want to cuddle my boyfriend tonight if that’s okay.” I sighed. 

Will looked at me for a second before pulling me into a very tight hug. 

“You guard that little heart of yours, young lady. That man is trouble.” He warned. 

“That man has treated me better than anyone ever has, only second to you, Jay and my parents. I just want to ride my blissful bubble before Jay finds out.” 

“Fine but my warning still stands.” 

I ubered to my apartment and upon the elevator doors opening, was met with a beautiful smell wafting from my kitchen. I rounded the corner to see Henry, in a relaxed pair of sweats and a t-shirt, stirring something on my stove. A large bouquet of roses stood on the counter overlooking a box of chocolates from my favorite pastry shop. 

“Have I ever told you you’re amazing?” I asked, setting my stuff down and rounding the corner to hug him. 

“Once or twice.” He commented, maneuvering me around so he could place a kiss on my forehead. 

“Thank you.” I sighed, burying my face in his neck. 

“No need to thank me. All you need to do is go and take shower. Dinner should be ready when you’re done.” 

I had a chance to reflect on this whirlwind of a day and was having difficulty processing jay getting hurt, Henry being his boss and Will seemingly no longer supporting my relationship. As much as I wanted to cry, I knew it would do me no good, so I threw on a hoodie of Henry’s and went back to the kitchen. 

We made light conversation over dinner, both seemingly avoiding the elephant in the room until we were finished eating. Curling into each other on the couch, we got down to the discussion that needed to be had for us to go forward. 

“What are we going to do?” I asked him. 

He took a second to answer, seemingly weighing every possible outcome in his head. I was going to let him take the reins on this one, knowing that although Jay was my blood, Henry knew him much better than I did. 

“Jay’s a hot head when he’s mad. He’ll probably be very upset when he finds out, maybe a little bit aggressive. Your brothers will insist that you stop seeing me, which I can’t really blame them for. Like I said in the beginning sweetheart, I am not a good man. I’m good to you but not to everyone.” He stated. 

“So Jay gets mad for a bit, but he’ll get over it right?” I asked hopefully. 

“Hopefully. It will probably take longer than you realize though. We have a lot of history and that history possibly coming back to hurt his little sister is not something he’s going to let happen without a fight. He’ll probably hit me or something and I’ll probably let him.” 

“I don’t want to lose you, lose this.” I murmured, looking into his eyes and holding his hands. 

“And I you, sweetheart. We’re just going to have to ride this wave out.” 

“Then at least we have a plan. Breaking up isn’t an option, right?” I asked hopefully. 

“Not unless the choice comes down to your brother or me. You should choose your family.”

“I shouldn’t have to choose between the man I’m falling in love with and my brother.” I sniffled, deciding now is a better time than never to make a tiny confession. 

“I don’t deserve your love, trust me sweetheart.” 

I sat up straight, straddling his lap and took his beautiful face in my hands. 

“You, Henry Voight, deserve all the love anyone has to offer you and I won’t let a single day go by with you thinking anything less. Especially when it comes to the love, I have for you in my heart.” I vowed kissing him gently. 

As we pulled away, he looked at me gently before bringing his lips back to mine. I was losing my breath again, thinking that I’d happily be in his arms for the rest of time if he’d let me. I did however get a little needy at some point and grounded my hips into his. Usually, he would hold my hips in place to stop me but tonight he raised his hips to meet mine, the both of us shamelessly grinding on my couch. There was a very clear wet spot forming on the front of his sweatpants, whether it was from me or him I had no idea. I made quick work grabbing the hem of his shirt and pulling it over his head, throwing it somewhere across my living room.

“Please Henry.” I whined, now with both of my hands on his soft yet firm stomach, mercilessly riding the front of his pants. 

“Tell me what you need sweetheart.” He growled, running kisses up my neck. 

“Your fingers.” I cried, desperate for his touch. 

His dominate hand traveled down my torso to my core, moving my underwear out of his way slightly to rub at my sopping center. As soon as he calloused hand caught my clit, I shuttered, trying to ride his fingers to an orgasm. 

“Good girl.” He praised. 

His thumb remained on my clit as his index and pointer finger traveled lower to my entrance. I was so wet at this point that they slid right in with little resistance.

“Henry.” I cried, the heavenly combination of three of his fingers about to send me over the edge. He quickly found a rhythm had me loosing my mind before inserting a fourth finger. The fullness I experienced was enough to reduce me to a mewling mess and with a rough nudge of my clit, he had me soaking his hand and his jeans. 

“Fuck.” I cried, the euphoria that comes after an orgasm from this gorgeous man hitting me like a ton of bricks. I fought to keep myself upright as I leant forward, catching his lips with mine. 

“Please Henry, I need you so badly.” 

“Then have me sweetheart.” He promised, lifting me up and carrying me to my bedroom. 

He gracefully threw me onto the bed and I hastily discarded my shirt as we watched my from the edge, taking in my naked form. 

“All this for me honey?” He teased, slowly shotting himself on the bed to hover over my trembling form. 

“All for you baby.” I groaned, willing him to touch me. 

He placed gently kisses down my body from my lips to my thighs before settling a soft kiss on the top of my mound. 

“Please daddy, need your cock.” I whined. 

All he did was chuckle and start stroking my core. 

“As you said sweetie, I’m big. Daddy is going to have to stretch you out a little more before you can take my cock, okay baby?” 

Whining, I quickly nodded my head but receiving a nip on my thigh. 

“Use your words baby.” He growled. 

“Ugh please stretch me out daddy! Want your big cock so bad.” I cried. 

He latched onto my core quickly alternating before licking and sucking before solely sucking on my clit and plunging his fingers into my entrance. The feeling was euphoric as always but the promise of him actually fucking me took me over the edge quicker than I’d like to admit. 

“Henry.” I cried out as my orgasm overtook me. My thighs shamelessly tightened around his head as my hands grasped the back of his head roughly. He kept a steady pace of sucking until the overstimulation got the best of me and I was headed toward my third orgasm of the night. 

“Fuck.” I whined, trying my best to push his head away from my core. The overstimulation was becoming too much for me to handle. 

That bastard had the audacity to laugh at my actions. 

“What baby? I just want to give my good girl all the orgasms she deserves.” He smirked. 

“The only orgasms I’m letting you give me for the rest of the night better be with your cock inside of me.” I growled, alright sitting up to paw at his sweatpants. 

“So eager for me sweetheart.” He smirked, rubbing his thumb down up and down my cheek as I was finally able to pull his sweats and underwear down. 

Let me just tell you that it was definitely worth the wait, and I was totally right, his dick was massive. 

“Fuck I’m in love.” I gasped, immediately moving out of his reach to grab it. 

Before he could even formulate a Whitty reply, I took his head directly into my mouth. 

“Fuck.” He cried, finally experiencing the sensation of my mouth wrapped around his dick. I’ll never know why he chose to deprive me of this gorgeous appendage when he could have willingly had me on our second day of knowing each other. I do have to admit though, the anticipation of waiting until this moment had me wet beyond belief and I was going to need it if I even hoped to take this monster inside of me. 

He didn’t let me get far worshipping his beautiful cock because he quickly pulled me off it. I whined at the loss of his weight on my tongue, immediately trying to take it back into my mouth. 

“Later sweetie, Daddy wants to make love to his good girl.” He growled, moving me onto my back and crashing hips lips back to mine. 

I felt his hand gather some of the wetness from my core to spread onto his dick before slightly dragging his cock up and down my slit. 

“I don’t have a condom princess.” He groaned. 

“I’ll take a plan b in the morning.” I cried out, willing to do anything to have him inside me. 

He let out a short laugh before beginning to slide his massive member into my little hole.

“So tight baby.” He whined. 

Even three orgasms later, the stretch was deliciously painful, and I was immensely grateful this was not my first time. 

“Fuck.” We groaned in unison, him finally bottoming out and his balls hitting my butt. 

“Oh my god.” I cried. He took this an encouragement to start to speed up this thrusts. He kept is slow and steady, really not even fucking me but making love. I couldn’t be pulled away from hips lips as he kissed me deeply, all aspects of ourselves finally joined together. 

It felt like we were loving for an eternity. I could barely tell where I ended and he started as he moved in long strokes that had my toes curling. The pressure in my core build quickly and I’m sure he could tell by the way my walls clenched around him. 

“Come for me my love.” He cooed in my ear, sucking on my neck lightly. 

His encouragement prompted me to come with a loud enough cry that I’m sure the entire city could hear. I felt his thrusts become sloppy as his orgasm was quick to catch up with him. 

“I’ve got to pull out baby.” He warned, already placing his hands to find leverage to push away from my body. I greedily wrapped my legs around his waist, locking them behind his lower back. 

“Don’t you dare.” I cried, the overstimulation of my walls pulling me quickly towards a fifth orgasm. I felt him smirk into my neck as he gave everything he had left in one final stroke and buried himself close to my body as he came. I could feel his warm seed painting my insides as he tightly held onto my body, his head tucked securely in my chest as he alternated between pants and kisses. 

Any man being vocal in bed was incredible but hearing the sounds Henry made pushed me over the edge to my final orgasm. 

I laid under him trying to catch my breath before he rolled next to me on the bed and pulled me to face him. The feeling of him inside of me was too great to give up just yet and I threw my leg over his hip to make sure he stayed put. Enough soft he was so big that there was no way he’d just slide out. 

“God I love you baby.” He confessed. 

I looked up at him, frankly quite shocked at this confession. 

“Really?” I asked, my eyes quickly filling with tears. 

Three words I never really thought he’d say to me because of his past were spoken into the dead of night. 

“So much sweetheart.” He promised, wiping my tears away and kissing me sweetly. 

“I love you Henry.” I answered. 

This was the moment I knew that we would never be able to be torn apart. 

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