#because I feed her horse when she’s gone

[ultimateaclrecovery]

Weird etiquette question with far too much background because it matters. So I am basically long term cat sitting my friends brother cat (in my house) so should I be offering to pay my friend when she comes by to cat sit for the weekend?

So the cat originally belonged to her mom who then passed away. The brother wants to take the cat eventually it is currently van-living so can’t, so she posted asking if anyone would be willing to take care of the cat for six months or so and also offered to help pay expenses. I’ve been thinking about maybe getting a cat so this seemed like a good trial run.

I’ve asked her to pet sit for like a day right when I got her, and didn’t offer to pay her. But recently I had her look after the cat for a week. She also coordinated having her niece come the couple of days she couldn’t make it. I will be offering (really just asking hot to best pay the niece) to pay the niece what my friend usually pays her, but I have no idea if I should also be offering to pay my friend?

She is doing me a favor, but I only need the favor because I am to some extent doing her a favor. But really her brother. And she had offered to cover expenses for the cat (I do not plan on taking her up on that) but it makes it feel odd to then pay her to look after the cat

[devil-in-hiding]

Teach me how to write like you because oh my god I’m in love! Your writing is amazing and beautiful and just so UGH but anyways

Imagine the 141 with Farmer! Reader and she takes care of them like she does her animals. Like she’s the mama and the men? Oh they’re all for it. They totally love being all babied and taken care of since they had such a rough life so far like? Seeing the Reader is their dresses waking up to make them breakfast, feed them, make sure they’re happy and safe. Like she would definitely do anything for these men like she would for her animals😩 The men would be struggling each and everyday to contain themselves FOR SURE. Soap and Gaz definitely the two that would be the most handsy. They would so be turned on by basically a mother reader. They would try to grab her and everything any chance they get. Price would be the one who would be more reserved but her would so imagine filling her up with his children (I feel like he would probably move the men to make that actually happen) Ghost? Oh that man is silent but you can definitely tell he has a lactation kink. (They probably all do but I just feel like he and Price are like the one with most likely have it the most) I don’t care what anyone says that he would so be the other person who would try to fill her up with his kids too if Price doesn’t do it first (they’re so trying to see who would knock her up first to see who could make her a mom first) sorry I just had to get that out lol definitely feel free to add onto this because I need for this to be a reality 😩

Y’all really hitting my breeding kink on the head today huh?

i would like to think Ghost never really saw himself settling down, starting a family (especially when the only holes he’s been filling are extremely male)

but once they’ve settled on the farm, and all your worry has melted away and the search for them has died down (it’s an easy out but these men are trained soldiers, i think after a year of them not showing up on the radar, they think they’re gone for good)

he allows himself to picture you round with child, waddling around the farm feeding the ducks and goats that follow you like loyal subjects, barefoot and glowing. pictures himself and Soap chasing squealing chunky babies across the yard, holding them up to pet the horses, delighted giggles ringing in his ears

he is a mad man after that, will not keep those giant paws off you, massaging your stomach whilst you sit on his lap in the evening, letting his mind wander and it’s not long before he has the image of you spread out beneath him, teary eyed as he laps up the milk trickling from your tit, groaning at the way you’d clench around his cock, soaking him in your essence

[artydonsgf]

Hi, requesting dad art … we didn’t get to see that in the movie… or domestic art. The way he’s so gentle with Tashi

hi!! please enjoy dad art!! this was so fun, i love soft art

Art Donaldson as a Dad

- when he finds out that he’s becoming a father, he cries 100%

- hopes it’s a girl, he thinks he’s destined to be a girl dad

- when he finds out the baby is a girl, he cries again

- buys shit you will never use “just in case”

- “baby are you sure we don’t need three different breast pumps? just in case?”

- a worrier the entire pregnancy

- he checks you over every night before bed, puts his ear to your stomach to make sure baby’s alright, just always has a hand on you

- googles things that could go wrong and drives himself mad with worry

- wants to do every genetic test possible to make sure mom n baby are healthy

- when your water breaks at 2 in the morning, he’s freaking the fuck out

- he’s running around in his underwear trying to find your hospital bag, trying to find his phone to call patrick for a ride, trying to find his pants

- hovers every time the nurses do anything to the point of having to tell him to sit down and calm down

- refuses to leave your side even when nothing is going on

- has your entire birth plan memorized and is a fierce advocate for you

- holds your hand the entire time and whispers reassurances to you and tells you how excited he is to be a father

- if anything goes slightly wrong, he’s nearly passed out from the stress

- once he hears the loud healthy cries of baby girl, he’s completely smitten

- tells you that she’s the cutest baby in the world because she looks “just like you”

- mind you the baby is still covered in gunk

- gets to cut the umbilical cord and is stressing as he does it

- “i’m not hurting her right?” he says as he cuts something baby girl does not feel

- immediately takes a selfie with baby girl n sends it to all his friends (so literally just patrick)

- just very giddy and excited

- as happy as he is about baby, he’s also glued to your side the whole time you’re in the hospital

- he showers you, helps you go to the bathroom, fixes your hair up, etc

- constantly thanks you for the sacrifices you made to have baby girl

- will nearly fight you if you try to stay up to do anything that isn’t feedings

- wrangles baby out of your hands as soon as she’s done feeding so you can get a few hours of sleep

- has not slept or eaten or showered since the baby was born but he wouldn’t have it any way

- finally showers but with the door open “just in case his girls need him”

- when you’re finally out of the hospital, he’s walking out like a turtle

- he’s taking the slowest steps possible and looking down at the baby the whole time

- you have to tell him that walking fast will not give your baby shaken baby syndrome

- drives even slower, it takes an extra 30 minutes to get home

- treats you like an absolute queen the moment yall get home

- gives you massages of all sorts, takes baby when she’s being fussy, always asks you to get in a few hours of sleep, etc

- as baby girl grows up, it becomes apparent that she has him wrapped around her finger

- every birthday he gets her something even more ridiculous because “she wanted it”

- she got a mini car for her 3rd birthday

- a horse for her 4th birthday

- gives your daughter the silliest nicknames ever, he’s a cheesy dad

- extremely excited about daddy daughter dances every year

- steers her towards other sports and interests besides tennis, he doesn’t wanna pressure her to follow in his footsteps

- when baby girl starts becoming an older kid/preteen, it’s even more apparent that she has him wrapped around her finger

- he’s had to remind himself on multiple occasions that he can’t buy a car for his 12 year old daughter

- celebrates you becoming a mom after baby girl has gone to sleep on her birthday every year

- gets you a small cake n a gift and gives you plenty of kisses as a thank you

- essentially he’s the best husband n dad in the world

i hope this was everything you wanted and more!! please gimme more requests i love writing

[nthspecialll]

Do you know who I treat before the end of chapter six? My horse. I take her on quiet long trail rides through peaceful areas, feed her so many treats she gets fat, let her graze in meadows while i sit by a fireplace and appologize to her for what she has gone through and what she will go through, for simply buying her, for not treating her as she deserves.

I appologize for her life not being quiet trails where the most danger she will endure is a snake on the road that she will race away from and back to the warm stable where she will get fed and groomed in shelter from the rain drumming on the roof. Instead of that she has to deal with me, carrying me and down steep hills, almost being blown up by road side robbers, being shot at by O'Driscolls, fleeing from wolves and bears and standing in the rain as I hide in a tent on some god forsaken mountian side. She has hurled my ass from the O'Driscoll cabin back to Clements Point after I got kidnapped, come running with my rifles when Murfree Brood ambushed me while i picked flowers and in so many other ways saved my ass. I do my best to treat her, I feed her every time before i jump off, brush her every time I jump on, try to bring her on quiet rides, but they will never really be quiet because there will always be some danger lurking and what I can give her of affection isn’t enough.

She has stuck with me all the way from start chapter two and gone through everything with me more than once, I wish I could do more for her, she gave me everything and yet I could give her nothing in return.

[nitpick7]

i feel like the life series fandom has not properly utilized the angst potential of the wildcards yet. and maybe i just haven't read enough posts or fics yet, which is definitely possible, but i'm gonna ramble anyway. (disclaimer: i've watched every pov but probably will get details wrong anyway.)

session one. pearl goes off, alone, away from her group for just a bit. just to mine a little bit more, get some iron. she's crouching at the edge of a cliff to get a better look at the cave, when suddenly the ground isn't underneath her anymore. she doesn't even slip, doesn't have time to react, she just falls.

session two i've thought about so much that i started writing a oneshot (unfortunately still a wip). everyone having to eat rocks and ores and wood and just so many things that they are not meant to eat... but they're all literally starving and real food doesn't fill them anymore. so they're biting into anything they can get their hands on, just hoping and praying that it fills them and doesn't poison them or make them float away... the terror every time the food changes? scrambling to find the next items to eat. ough.

the SNAILS. god. the snails. those things are cute but deadly. bigb, start of the session, seconds after the wildcard activates, hearing something and seeing something and then he's dead. gone. he's gone from peacefully mining to dead in seconds flat and everyone instantly knows just how deadly this one will be.

the speed one... has less angst potential. it's more just the constant fear, being constantly on edge, not used to the speed everything is moving at. they're frustrated at being too slow or their brains aren't moving as fast as their legs, or it's the very start of the session and they're frozen in time with no idea what's happening.

triviabot is less about the trivia itself and more about how it makes everyone act. sabotaging their friends and enemies alike, hiding bots, feeding people false information. they can't trust anyone in that session. but the moment they can trust someone, they latch onto them. someone gets a question about an ally and books it across the server to ask them about it, hoping their bot is still there when they get back.

more on triviabot: there's also the effects if they get something wrong. the robot voice is crazy because to themselves, they sound perfectly normal, but no one can fucking understand them. they're just unable to communicate and don't know for how long. or they're knocked down a few hearts, unable to be fully healed. constantly hurting at least a bit. being equipped with leather armor that they can't take off, unable to protect themselves. tripling in size, not being able to fit anywhere or do anything because they're so big. or their snails coming back, slower but still terrifying.

the mobs one... the very first thing that happens is everyone's beloved pets being killed. unless they happened to have the resources for a nametag beforehand. bdubs almost lost his horse! lizzie spent forever trying to collect mobs just for them to be murdered again! and the trial chamber. grian, joel (who didn't even want to be there), etho, scar; already in the midst of battle, and then all the fucking mobs change? they were terrified in real life, do you know how good that could be in fics?

you may think that there is little angst potential from superpowers. you would be wrong. again, it's less from the wildcard itself and more from how it makes people act. impulse teleporting ren into an obsidian box full of water in order to prove ren was lying about his power? that shit's CRAZY. WHAT THE HELL. impulse literally tried to drown ren to prove scott's point! and like good for him but!!! holy shit!!!!! or grian, who should know what he's doing, losing pearl's ability mid-air and falling to his death - grian falling to his death? (and obviously the listener symbolism with martyn and jimmy. we know we can do stuff with that.)

the final session is just. all of that. but combined. and more wild. it's everything all at once, randomly activating and deactivating, no one knows what's going on and it's a mess. just confusion and chaos.

so. yeah. there is my ramble, i might do smth with this but i might not. please add to this if you have more wildcard related angst, i will love you so much. Ɛ:

[clearlydiamondz]

The Game

 Erik!Stevens X Black!Reader

Part Nine

- - - - - - - - - -  

Erik, the most popular person at  Texas Southern University, has his heart set on a particular girl.

Warning: Smut, creep behavior,

- - - - - - - - - -    

"Can you believe her!?" (Y/N) exclaimed walking around the table where her father and her boyfriend sat letting her vent out. "It's one thing to want me to move back home, but it's another to pimp me out to a whole ass man." she snapped as her dad looked up at her.

"Aye I know you upset but watch your mouth." he warned her as she sighed.

"I'm sorry daddy, it's just those women don't make a lick of sense. What the heck do I look like getting up getting the chance to work for NASA for $10 an hour." she aggressively said. Erik thought it was cute how she respected her dad's command.

"I don't even want to go to the Christmas event they holding up at the church." she rolled her eyes as her daddy shook his head.

"Oh noo you going up there. Even if it's for an hour, because I gotta stick with your mother when you leave popping up at my house and blowing my phone up about you not coming.'' he said standing up and walking to the refrigerator.

"Oh I just know that pedophile gonna be there. I just know it too."

"Well good think you got me to be there. I promise you, ain't nothing getting by me, I got you." he said grabbing her hand and placing it on the table as she smiled at him. Her father looked at the two of them, knowing that his daughter was safe with him.

"And it ain't nothing walking up to the church with my shot gun. The bible might say peace be still but I gotta piece of steal that'll hurt somebody if they hurt you, understand me girl." he told her as he nodded.

"I don't want y'all stressing, this is a vacation. Matter of fact, gone head back to the stables and go show this city boy how to ride a horse." he said squeezing Erik's shoulder as (Y/N) smirked at him.

"You down?"

"Let's go."

_______

They walked to the stables where the three horses were. "Hold these for me." she said holding the bowl of carrots and celery that she cut up for them this morning.

"So, how long you been riding horses." he asked her as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Man to be honest, ever since I've been walking." she chuckled grabbing two saddles. "It's like riding a bike, takes some practice but you'll get the hang of it." she winked at him walking to the side of the stables where. All three horses heads hang out as they looked at (Y/N) and the intruder.

"Is that my Baby Blue?" she gushed walking to the all gray horse. The horse started to nay at the sight of his owner as she hugged his head.

"Baby blue done got so big. Yes he has." she said patting him. She grabbed some of the carrots putting them up to her mouth.

"Alright, this is Baby Blue. Or just Blue. He's my horse. Had him ever since I was like, 13?" she said in a question tone.

"This is Ms. Lady. This my daddy horse. She's the oldest, but she is most definitely the fastest." she said walking to the middle stall where the all black horse drooled at the sight of the vegetables. She grabbed some celery and carrots putting it to her mouth rubbing her head. "He goes horse back racing with her every weekend. I think we might go to one so you can see her in action." she said. "Gone head and touch her she ain't gonna bite." she said moving to the side. Hesitantly, he rubbed the top of her head as the horse accepted his advances.

"Now this, this is the horse you'll be riding." she walked to the other end of the stable where there was a mixed there was a black horse with grey spots on it.

"Now this is Dolly. My father and I rescued her about a few years ago. Now she's a little shy, that's why you gonna ride her cause she gonna sit still for you." she opened the stable for him as he slowly walked inside.

"Hi pretty girl, I hope you remember me." she said slowly walking up to her. "Here feed her some of the carrots and celery sticks." she said moving the opposite side, him hesitantly walking towards her.

"She ain't gonna bite me right?"

"It's a horse not a shark." she laughed scratching behind the horses ear. "Plus she shy. She probably more scared of you then you are of her." she added. Unlike the others that she fed, Dolly was a lot more hesitant with taking the food from him, even backing away.

"Dolly don't be like that.." (Y/N) pouted before the horse shook her head making Erik chuckle. "Let's try petting her first." Erik started to gently to brush the bag of her hair, as the horse started to warm up.

"Well damn that was quick. She ain't let me or my dad touch her for a couple of days." she chuckled. Erik tried with the carrots again and she slowly took it.

"Okay! I see you." she excitedly said pushing his shoulder as he gloated himself. She grabbed the lead rope hooking it to her weaver, then placing it on the horses head.

"Alright, let's go out to the field."

The two of them spent the rest of the afternoon horseback riding. Erik caught on to it pretty quickly, having a few mishaps here and there. The two of them hopped off their respected horses looking out into the empty field on the acres of land. "So how do you like it?" she asked tilting her her head to the side with a smile on her face.

"Exciting most definitely," he said petting Dolly, the horse leaning into his touch, more comfortable with him than she was with anyone.

"Dolly really likes you, she doesn't even act like this with me and my daddy." she chuckled standing in front of him. She looked him up and down seeing the outfit he wore biting her lip. Quite honestly, this outfit was probably her favorite outfit on him. The boots, the black jeans with the white T-shirt and the jean jacket. Maybe because Erik was the only city boy that could make her feel this way, but seeing him like this unlocked a new passion she didn't even know she had.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" he cut her out of her train of thought, as she blinked unknowingly at him. Both hands were tucked away in his back pockets one of his eyebrows was raised and a smirk was on his face.

"I can't look at you? Dang." she playfully said rolling her eyes as he chuckled. Just like he was reading her mind like he always does, he says,

"I'm not going to lie though, seeing you ride horses kinda make me wanna see you ride somethin' else." she gasped hitting him in the arm as he shrugged. "Since you're scared to say it, I will." she bit her lip before saying,

"I mean... you do look good," she said grabbing the hem of his shirt and licking her lips.

"Too bad I can't have you how I wanna have you."

________________________

The two of them entered the house to see her dad watching television and eating a bowl of Cheerios. "We are going to take a nap before we head out to the church," she told him as he nodded.

The two of them walked down the hall and into her room. She walked in first taking her braids down that were in a bun. He stood by in front of the door with his hands behind his back, locking the door unnoticed by her.

"We need to leave in a few-" Before she could finish her sentence, Erik grabbed her face and kissed her. Kissing him back, she wrapped her arms around his neck. He walked forward making her take steps back as they continued to kiss.

"Ooh.. Erik." she whispered once his lips left hers and connected to her neck.

"Did you think I was playing when I said you looked good huh?” He asked into her neck as he nipped at her skin. She bit her lip in an attempt not to moan out loud.

“Fuck baby..” she whispered with her lips parted.

“Can you be a good girl and be quiet for me? Huh?” He whispered pulling from her neck. She nodded as he smirked while unbuttoning her jeans. “Daddy just wanna take a look, that’s all.” He whispered to himself as he lifted her off the floor and onto her bed.

He yanked her jeans and underwear down as she took her shirt off. Erik couldn’t help but chuckle at her eagerness, but was quickly bought back to reality when he noticed her pussy clenching over nothing.

“Like this daddy?” She whispered, getting into his favorite position. She held her ankles pulling her legs towards her head. He smirked at her as she smirked back at him.

He properly made her a trained slut just for him. Knowing his favorite position, and knowing not to deny him even a glimpse of her pussy was enough to make him want to give her anything in the world if she asked for it.

“Just like that pretty girl.” He commented before placing a kiss on her clit. She whimpered before whispering,

��I thought you said you just wanted a glimpse.” She pouted as his middle finger tapped on her clit, the slight sound of her wetness meeting her ear.

“I know, but I know what you want daddy to get a taste right? You want daddy to make you cum all over his tongue.” He whispered, his tongue slowly licking circles around her clit as she threw her head back. “Got my dick all hard.”

Just the mention of his dick had her opening her eyes and looking at him, only to see him unbuckling the belt and his jeans. “Can I see?” She pouted. Giving into her looks, he pulled his boxers and pants down to his thigh as he dick sprung out, hitting her on her heal ass cheek. She let go of her ankles as she sat with him standing between her legs. She grabbed his dick before spitting on it and jerking his dick.

“Nasty girl…” he whispered before grabbed her face and kissing her. This time, the kiss was a lot messier with their tongues sliding against each other. She whined her hips on her bed in attempt to use the friction to release the tension that she had in her pussy. Erik noticed, and without breaking the kiss he rubbed her clit as she moaned into the kiss.

She broke away, as she bit her lip. “Fuck me?” She asked him with a tilt of her head. He damn near came at the sound of her voice but was interrupted by his own train of thought.

“Wait baby- fuck.” He started but was cut off by (Y/N) rubbing his tip on her clit as she looked down at it in awe.

“That feels so good.” She whimpered.

“Hold on baby girl-“ he stopped her by grabbing her hand as she pouted. “You sure? Your dad is right outside the door.”

She answered his question by lying back down and placing her foot on her shoulder. She grabbed his dick placing the tip at his entrance without breaking eye contact. She pushed herself on as she gasped at the feeling of him invading her walls.

“Does that answer your question daddy?” She asked sitting up on her shoulders and playing with her nipples.

“You nasty fucking bitch.” He groaned before wrapping his hand around her neck and choking him. He thrusted into her slowly, letting her walls swallow his dick as her wetness coated him.

“Ooh fuck me just like that.” She whispered as she looked at him fucking her. His dick glistened every time he pulled back out with her pussy lips tugging.

“I should make yo nasty ass walk around with my nut in yo pussy all the time huh? Let everyone know who pussy this belong to.” He whispered bending down to her ear. He grabbed her other leg throwing it around his shoulder before she accidentally moaned out from the position.

“Oh my goodness daddy!” She whispered as he put his mouth to her hand.

“Shut the fuck up before I stop. You can take this dick without making noises.” He taunted her. He actually wanted to see if she could. If she could do this, he’d fulfill one of his kinks by fucking her in public. Maybe in a restaurant bathroom, or even a dressing room.

Her eyes locked with his as he continued to fuck her at an even slower pace. With the slow fucking, she felt herself cum all over his dick, hearing the new wetness sound.

“Look at you just creaming on my dick with that slutty pussy.” He praised her as she continued to nut. She mumbled profanities into his hands as her eyes crossed from the intense pleasure.

“Fuck…” he grunted out before throwing his head back. “This pussy finna make me put a baby in you girl.” He said as she groaned. Another orgasm made its way through her as he looked down at her.

“Freaky ass. You wanna walk around with my baby? I’m fucking you so good you wanna have my baby.” She nodded her head as she clenched around him just by the thought. She was taking the shot every three months but damn her imagination was running wild right now.

"Who pussy this belong to baby... huh?" he whispered to her as she looked at him biting her lips.

"It's yours daddy... fuck this pussy is yours..."

“Fuckkkk…” he trailed out as he came without warning into her pussy. Without leaving a drop she sat up as he still held his dick inside of her, slowly thrusting as she bit her lip.

“Daddy..” she whimpered as he slowly pulled out. He bent back down to be eye level to her pussy. He loved seeing the way her pussy looked after a good nice fuck. He placed a kiss on her clit like a few moments before.

____________________________________________

The two of them pulled into the parking lot of the church. Erik parked the car as (Y/N) continued to look out the window. “You good?” She turned to look at him as he looked at her with a concerned look on her face.

“Oh sorry, yeah. I’m good.” She forced a smile at him. He could tell that she was still nervous so he grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

“Look, the moment you get uncomfortable, you let me know and we leave. Got that?” He asked her. She nodded slowly before he exited the door. He walked to her side opening the door for her as she stepped out. He grabbed her hand walking her to the front door and opening it.

The church was filled with people, most likely more visitors because of the holidays. She recognized some of her old church members considering she grew up within the church. Some of them recognized her and ran to greet her.

"Sister (Y/N)! It's been a long time how have you been!" one of the ministers, Sister Barbra, exclaimed as she gave her a hug.

"Hi Sister Barbra, I've been good. And yourself?" (Y/N) smiled at her.

"Blessed and highly favored. And who's this young man?" she asked looking at Erik.

"This is my boyfriend, Erik. Erik, this is minister Barbra." she introduced the two. Erik gave her his hand to shake as she shook it.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Erik." she smiled at him. "Your mother is in the back preparing dinner for later on. Do you want me to let her know that you guys are here? She's been talking nonstop about you guys." she gushed, immediately (Y/N)'s interest was peaked.

"She has? What has she been saying?"

"Well that you decided to go to school, how you are the top in your class, and how you meet a potential husband. Though I see no ring on either of your fingers.." she stated looking at Erik and her hands in confusion.

Erik couldn't help but let out a chuckle, but (Y/N) had to remember not to roll her eyes in front of her.

Typical.

"You don't have to tell her we are here. Once service starts I'm sure she'll find us." she responded back. Sister Barbra left to go greet some more visitors, as the two of them found a seat on one of the back pews.

"Well at least she is proud of you?" Erik said as she scoffed.

"She is not proud of me. My mother has always done this. Ever since I could remember she would always talk crap about whatever I wanted to do unless it made her look good. Of course she's telling everyone what I'm doing." she rolled her eyes. "I'm willing to bet any amount of money as soon as we are alone, she's going to start that shit up again about me abandoning my career and coming back to the church." she replied with a shake of her head.

Erik was about to say something, but three women came up to them. Immediately, (Y/N) recognized them as the pastors daughters. Ashley, Olivia and Carolina. They were about three years older than her, and they were triplets.

There was no way to put it other then that (Y/N) hated them. Considering that this was a small town, all of the kids that went to the same church all went to the same school. And as far as she could remember, the three girls made her life a living hell. Of course when she told her mother about the bullying and teasing, she just dismissed it. A part of her knew that she didn't want to address it because these were the daughters of the pastor's of the church.

"Hello, welcome! How are you doing?" The three greeted Erik as he nodded his head in their direction, not really paying them the attention. Cut off guard, their similar faces showed the surprised expression.

"This is Ashley, Olivia and Carolina. Pastor Carl's daughters." (Y/N) replied as the three girls looked at her in shock.

'"Oh my gosh, (Y/N)! How are you?" Olivia exclaimed. Ashley and ' Carolina looked at her in shock as she waved at them.

"Jesus, you have changed a lot since the last time I seen ya." Carolina said with her arms crossed over her chest.

"I've been great, how about y'all?" (Y/N) replied as Ashley shrugged.

"All is well, and who is your friend?" Ashley said looking at Erik. "He's quiet ain't he?" she looked back at her sisters as they nodded.

"I'm Erik. And I'm not her friend. I'm her boyfriend." he corrected them. (Y/N) couldn't help but chuckle to herself.

"Well nothing ain't official until marriage. According to the bible of course." Carolina said with a smugness, making (Y/N) roll her eyes.

"If you seen how I had just had her a few hours ago you'd think different." he mumbled as she kicked his foot underneath the pew as he chuckled.

Not sure if they heard it or not, but I'm sure her mom will grill her later about it. "Well it was nice see and meet you, (Y/N) and Erik." Olivia replied looking back at her.

"It was, you have changed a lot. You should have seen her back in highschool Erik. Might make you second guess yourself." Carolina replied laughing as Ashley laughed along with her.

Highschool (Y/N) may have been embarrassed, or may even be insecure. She kind of wanted to kick herself in the ass. It was kind of pathetic how they still acted like they were in highschool with the bully mentality. She couldn't help but to say,

"I'm going to be honest, why does it matter what I used to look like? That's so weird to say." she couldn't but chuckle but Erik egged it on.

"No second guessing over here. She's the most beautiful woman I have laid my eyes on." he smiled at (Y/N) as she smiled back at him.

"Well I didn't mean it like that.." Carolina chuckled nervously. "It was more like a-" she looked at her sisters for help.

"It was more of a statement. She was just saying that she looks good now, because she looked different back then. Ya know?" Ashely defended her as Erik shook his head.

"No.. I don't get it." he said squinting his eyes. There was a quick few seconds of silence before an announcement was done over the microphone for everyone to take their seats and prepare for tonight's service.

"Well we are going to go ahead and take our seats. Again, it was nice seeing y'all!" Olivia exclaimed as she dragged her two sisters from them.

"That was..." Erik trailed off.

"A lot. Yeah. Why do you think I went to school in Texas." she joked with him making him chuckle.

"How do you know them?" he asked her tracing her hands with his thumb.

"Well like I said, their the pastor's kids. Also, we all went to the same schools. Let's just say they weren't so kind to little younger (Y/N)." she told him as he smacked his teeth.

"I wish I would have known that before they came over. I would've really embarrassed them." he admitted. She laughed before shaking her head.

"I'm over it honestly. Just seeing them act like that really just satisfied the little girl in me." she said slightly cringing.

Service had started and she still had yet to see her mother. She wasn't really worried about that though, she just took this time to appreciate the music and the word as it has been a minute since she been to church.

After service, everyone sat down in the dining hall. As the two of them ate and talked, her mom finally showed up.

"Didn't think you would be showing up." her mom walked over sitting on the other side of Erik.

"Well I said I was coming didn't I. I'm a woman of my word.. unlike some people." she mumbled the last part.

"Why do you have so much lip-gloss on your face, you look like a freaking proustite, who told you that looked cute? And did you have to wear that dress. You are showing way too much." her mom chastised her. "It's one thing to have not have any respect for your so called boyfriend, but in the house of the lord? Really?" Her mom complained.

'(Y/N) looked down at the baby pink dress she had on that stopped an inch above her knees. Her cleavage wasn't out, but it did show off her figure though it wasn't skin tight.

"Mom please, there is literally nothing wrong with my dress." (Y/N) said rolling her eyes.

"Brother Ron wants to see you by the way. He says that-"

"She's not talking to him." Erik cuts her off looking at her mother as her mother scoffed.

"Excuse me? Who are you to tell my daughter what she can and can't do?" she asked furrowing her eyebrows at him.

"He's my boyfriend and he's right. I'm not talking to his creepy behind." she said wiping her mouth with a napkin. Her mom looked between the two as (Y/N) stared at her mother waiting for her next response.

"Wow.. so you're just going to listen to him and not your own mother." she replied shaking her head. "See this is why I didn't want you going to that damn school, you come back being disrespectful and rude. That boy is a bad-"

"See that's not what we finna do. I have told you plentiful of times that I don't want to talk to that creep. You don't know how to take no for an answer and is pissed off that someone other than dad is standing up for me." she snapped back at her mother. The look on her face was shocked to see (Y/N) stand up for herself, but she deemed it as a token of disrespect.

Patricia was used to (Y/N) following whatever she said, just because she knew she could guilt trip her daughter when she was younger. Now that she didn't really have that power any more, she knew she had to come up with something quick to make her.

"Wow, you know what? If you are going to be disrespectful to the person that birthed you then you can just leave. I don't need to-" she was cut off by (Y/N) standing up and grabbing her things. Erik followed her actions before she looked at her mom and said,

"Until Erik and I can get an apology, I am no longer talking to you."

____________________________________________

The two of them drove back to the country side as she sat in the passenger seat. It was quiet with one of his R&B playlists playing lowly in the back ground. "I appreciate you standing up for me back there, baby." she looked over at him. He grabbed her hand bringing it up to his lips before kissing her hand.

"Well I'm not finna sit up here and let someone disrespect you any kind of way. Don't care if it's your mom no offense." he said looking at her and back to the road.

She licked her lips before saying, "I mean.. I still want to show my appreciation." she told him batting her eyelashes at him.

"I'm not going to lie... you do look cute with the church girl outfit. So cute and innocent." he said stopping at a stop sign. The pink dress in question was paired with a white purse and white heels, with a white bow for her hairstyle. Even before she left, when Erik saw her he wanted to go for another round.

She leaned over the seat, tracing her hands over his area. He shifted into his head, holding the steering wheel with one arm and using the other to grab her hand.

"You can't be touching me like that while I'm drive girl. I'll pull over and fuck the shit outta you right now." he warned her as she smiled at him.

She got back into her seat as he sped off before pulling her dress up her thighs and reaching for her black underwear. She placed it on his lap as he looked down at it then looked at her.

"You being a bad girl? What happened to my sweet and innocent (Y/N) ?" he asked her as she placed her feet on the dashboard.

"I don't know.." she whimpered widening her legs. "You wanna see how wet you got my pussy daddy.?" she asked. She slowly opened her legs as he saw glimpses of her pussy from the street lights. That's when he decided to pull over on the dirt road and unbotton his seat belt.

"Fuck.. the pretty pussy stay wet don't she." he asked leaning over the council and reaching down to her wetness. He spread her lips to see her pussy dripping. He could tell just by looking at her pussy that it was still recovering from the session they had earlier. He slowly started to rub small circles on her clit as she bit her lip.

"Mmm daddy, take that dick out." she said. He sat back in his seat, unzipping and unbuttoning the slacks that he had on, whipping his dick out as it hit his stomach.

"Fuck..." he moaned as he started to jerk his dick off slowly. She faced towards him getting onto her knees, bending over to place his dick into her mouth.

"Mmm.. yummy." she said to herself tasting the precum that blessed his tip. Bobbing and twisting her head, she made sure to slob over his dick.

"Yeah.. get that dick sloppy and wet." he moaned watching her. He looked behind her to see that the window had a reflection of her wet pussy underneath the dress. He pulled the dress up her back as he smacked her ass a few times.

"Shake that ass for daddy.." he instructed her. Wiggling her ass cheeks, her pussy winked at him through the reflection as he spanked her ass cheeks making her moan.

Without any warning, she sat back up and moved across to sit on his lap. She grabbed his dick and lined it up to her entrance before sitting completely down.

The two of them moaned, as he pushed the seat back and laid it down letting her have more room to work.

"There you go, ride daddy's dick like a good slut.. fuck." he cursed as she moved up and down slowly.

"Shit.." she gasped. It's been a minute since she rode him but damn, every time she does she forget how big he is.

"Come on.. I know you can take all this dick. You done it before." he said assisting her as she slide down even more as she gasped.

'"Damn your so deep." she whimpered, loving the pain.

"Keep on riding my dick like you doing before I fuck you (Y/N)." he warned her. Placing her arms over the seat so her titties were in Erik's face, he happily pulled the dress down letting her boobs free from the dress and bra, and took one into his mouth to suck and play with.

She bounced up and down, the sound of her ass hitting his thighs and her wetness filled the car, along with their moans and their dirty talk.

"Fuck girl, got the best pussy in the world fuck." he moaned out throwing his head back. That statement gave her some boost as she started to ride him even faster.

"Mmm I love this dick so much.." she moaned with her eyes rolled back into her head and her head thrown back. Erik's hand found their way up her chest and to her neck, squeezing it as she gasped at the sudden lack of air. All it did was make her ride him faster.

Her orgasm broke through her as she fell onto her knees, shaking on top of her

Erik took it upon himself to plant his feet on the ground and fuck up into her. "Yeah.. daddy beating this pussy up ain't he." he growled into her chest while smacking her ass.

"F-Fuck baby please." she moaned as he let out a moan himself.

"I'm finna cum, I'm finna cum all in this good pussy.. fuck!" he screamed out, scratching at her ass and smacking it.

"Shit.." she whispered falling back into the passenger seat. The windows were foggy as she looked back at Erik and laughed.

"What's so funny?" he asked looking over at her.

"I can't believe we just did that."

____________________________________________

@life-in-the-slut-house @gloglamsparks @waveynaee @lalaooopsie @luvvjada @nccu-rnc @prettyisasprettydoes1306 @leahnicole1219 @meeksmillsfenchfries @hinatasfleshlight @kokokonako @junie04 @sourbabynaee @sociallyawkward18 @raysunshine78 @justgetitoverwith0 @lishabaybee @rbhp @ladymac82 @musicismeb @keviekevswife1 @chaneajoyyy @youlovechicky   @sexicherri3 @amirra88 @jameica17695 @lishabaybee @softleoblue @automaticdragonmugalien @lynaye1993 @eterrealluvrr @xsweetdellzx @ajenae @forevermoremagcon @babbydollaaassignn @ziayamikaelson @blmcd57110 @kaireads2020 @ts1mp0ne @luvvvjada @cozyashhh  @hippieonboard @ejs398 @royaler1999 @bhjszsdxc @xsunaxrinx @doublesidedscoobysnacks @mixornomix @callmemckenzieee @niahsa @nanii2x @mysteryincarnate

[sukibenders]

Glinda mentions to Elphaba how Fiyero can't stop thinking about that moment in Dillamond's class, or that he's having thoughts in general and how it worries her because it's not something she's used to from him (which is him thinking about actual things), in contrast to Elphaba, who doesn't seem all that bothered and, even more so interested in the manner when Fiyero brings up how he can't stop thinking about when they rescued the lion cub. I don't know about everyone else but for me, even with this scene probably being added for lighthearted value, I also see it as another piece in the puzzle cementing how Fiyero's and Glinda's actions will, eventually, either pull them closer or further away from Elphaba. I lowkey don't like it when people act surprised or confused as to why Glinda was spelled or get annoyed that Fiyero is in her place but I, personally, don't think she would have helped in that moment, specifically in the movie.

Prior to the train scene, Glinda is shown to, not only, be completely rude and spoiled (as shown with her literally fainting over not getting her way), when in class, she publicly points out Dillamond's inability to pronounce her name correctly even though it's an obvious struggle, parading in front of the class how easier it was for her other teachers to do it, then being dismissive during the rest of the lesson when learning the importance of history and why to learn from it (correct me if I'm wrong, as it has been a minute since I've seen the movie). All that already tells me that she doesn't really care for the animals' cause, let alone enough to follow Elphaba and Fiyero into the woods after stealing the lion cub and I think, subconsciously, Elphaba knew that. In fact, I can only see Glinda trying to sway them to leave the cub and how what their new professor wanted to teach probably wasn't all that bad (not saying that she would want the cub to be harmed, just that she would try to rationalize what's going as we've seen her do before). This is the same woman who, after learning that the Wizard was a fraud and responsible for the missing and harmed animals, still tried to justify his actions and berated Elphaba for not "acting accordingly" to the news, but yet we still think she should have been there to save the lion cub? That she would have helped those animals alongside Fiyero and Elphaba? I think it could allude to how Glinda could/will be used to help further push propaganda for the Wizard, especially given how it benefits her socially, as figures of propaganda often don't think too hard, or enough to critique the system around them not because they aren't smart enough too (for the most part), but more so because they understand how their world works and understand the consequences that follow when stepping out of line.

You don't have to like Fiyeraba or even find Fiyero interesting, but to purposely ignore what the movie is presenting you is such a cop-out. Fiyero enters the film being a sort of anti-establishment-like character, caring little if he gets kicked out of Shiz for breaking the rules, or just hardly caring in general (something Elphaba calls him out for), and so on. Why wouldn't he be down to rescue the lion? Even if it was to just feed his rebellious streak, he still would have gone, but when he and Elphaba meet, he's on a talking horse and they are conversing like lifelong friends. That might add another layer to the pair saving the lion. Even if he wasn't on the same level as Elphaba at that moment, the train scene shows that it had a profound impact on him that he couldn't shake. I think, had he been presented with the choice of joining Elphaba or staying, he would have gone, not only for her but also because he now knows that the Wizard is a fraud and most definitely wouldn't stand for what he [Oz] is doing. This is what sets him apart from Glinda which, isn't necessarily me hating on her but just stating facts. Glinda isn't/won't be willing to sacrifice her position and what it brings her, until it's too late (which is the tragedy of her character and her relationship with Elphaba), while Fiyero risks everything, even to some extent his own body (Scarecrow) and, in the end, gets to stand with Elphaba.

[islenthatur]

So we all know the stories where Jaskier collects Witchers like dnd players and dice, how could he not!? And we all know that the ones where Witchers collect Jaskiers friendship too.

But honestly, I just want a fic where the Witchers mounts and lil bleater just collect the noisy-colourful-being-withsnacks...

Animals are smart okay, the horses talk to eachother because how else would they get civilised conversation and of course they'd brag about who carried the heaviest for longest, how many times their stupid people got hurt...

Roach starts off complaining about the noisy-being that followed them one day that just never stopped making noises or trying to pet her. The years pass and the complaints turn into fondess and she comes home more full and cared for than she had in a long time and her witcher does too.

The others, Scorpion, horse, lil bleater all want to meet the human, try to ease their own witchers burdens and just... does.

Jaskier is away from geralt for a competition, and suddenly, he has a very insistent goat bleating at him, pushing him off the road towards Eskel who was injured.

It just goes on from there... Lambert's mount Horse finds him, lips at the pants roach knew held sugar cubes and both Lambert and Jaskier stare at eachother awkwardly while he feeds horse the cubes.

Word travels between the mounts, a hawk that was a familiar to a Griffin flys down and rests on Jaskiers lute while playing, scaring the fuck out of him but shows him to another injured witcher.

Then the mountain happens

Roach loses her horse mind in anger at her Witcher, there would be no more soft songs, no more flowers in her main or apples, her Noisy-foal gone...

The animals revolt, it's a hard season for all witchers and when Geralt gets back after Cintra and Jaskier is with him the animals just go absolutely ballistic in joy and surround him

All the witchers are just watching with the most adorable wtf faces ever.

[acewritesfics]

There's a lot of making up to do | Tommy Shelby

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x Reader

Request: No

Warnings: Mentions of suicide, a minor side character being a drunk. Former friends to lovers. As usual italics are flashbacks.

Word Count: 2,990

Tommy Shelby Masterlist | Main Masterlist

"This girl should be out on a farm, with lots of grass and space to run," Y/N says as she runs a brush through the mare her father was keeping at his scrap metal yard. "All the noise and ruckus has her anxious and scared." 

"She's here temporarily," Charlie tells her as Curly starts cleaning the mares shoes and hooves. "Tommy's still looking for a home for her." 

"I see that hasn't changed," she chuckles.  

“What hasn’t changed?” Y/N hears from behind her.  

She pauses her grooming of the horse and turns towards the person who just spoke. “Speak of the devil and he shall appear,” she says with a small smirk on her face. “Good to see you again, Tom.” 

“Y/N Strong,” a smile also appears on his face. He hadn’t seen his childhood friend in 7, almost 8, years. As soon as there were talks of war, Y/N had left for London to go become a nurse. “It’s been a long time.” 

“It has,” she agrees, “and it’s also Y/N L/N now.” 

“You’re married?” He asks unsure how he felt about it. Y/N didn’t know it but she was the one who got away. The first girl he loved, and the only person he’s loved unconditionally. He thought he had moved past all the feelings he had for her. She was out of sight out of mind except when he over heard his “Uncle” Charlie mention her when someone asked how his daughter was doing. But seeing her here in Birmingham, in Small Heath, those feelings were flooding back. 

“Not anymore,” she tells him, turning back to the horse, her smile disappearing. “You know, you really ought to find her a home, out in the countryside, away from all this noise and chaos.” 

“How long are you back for?” He asks ignoring what she just said about the horse. 

“I have cottage on the outskirts of town,” she tells him.  

“Will you be at the Garrison tonight?” He asks, sounding slightly hopeful. 

“I might be,” she tells him. “Dads invited me out for a drink. He told me it’s under new ownership.” She adds smirking slightly letting him know she’s heard about him buying the pub.  

“I’ll see you tonight, then,” he smiles as he starts to leave. 

“I said I might be there,” she reminds him. 

He turns to face her once again, walking back over to her, this time standing so close, she could smell his cologne mixed with the scent of cigarettes. “You’re never able to stay away.” 

“I was the one who moved away, wasn’t I?” She challenges him but knows she’s last as she realises her words hold nothing. 

“But you’ve moved back,” he points out, his smile still on his lips. “Now why is that?” 

“If you think it’s because of you, think again, Thomas Shelby,” she says before tip-toeing to place a kiss on his cheek. “It was good to see you again,” she goes back to brushing the mare who has seemed to calm down a little. 

- 

Later that night, Y/N walks into the Garrison and is surprised to see how much it has changed. Tommy has really tidied the place up. For her it doesn’t seem as cozy as it use to be. But it’s still nice.  

She quickly spots her dad and Curly sitting at a table off to the side and starts making her way towards them. But she only gets a couple of feet when she’s stopped by someone. 

“We’ll look who it is, looking even more beautiful than she did when she left us.” 

A large smile makes its way onto her face as she turns to greet Polly. “And look at you, as stunning as always, Aunt Polly.” 

Polly pulls her in for a tight hug. Y/N’s mother walked out on her and her father not long after her 2nd birthday with no explanation for her absence and just a note saying goodbye. She was just gone. Charlie always told Y/N when she was older that her mother wasn’t ready to become one when she was born, she couldn’t bond with Y/N and aside from feeding Y/N, Charlie mostly cared for her.  

Until Polly and the Shelby siblings mother stepped up. In the way that her father had become Arthur Jr, Tommy, John, Ada and Finn’s uncle, their mother and Aunt became her Aunts who were like a mother to her. Y/N couldn’t be more grateful for the two woman who helped raise her. Her heart broke almost as much as the Shelby's did when Mrs. Shelby passed. 

"Tommy told me you were back," she smiles, letting her go. "How long have you been back?" 

"A few days," she tells her. "I wanted to unpack and get settled in before I made my presence known again. Dad was the only one I told about me returning."  

"Were you hoping to surprise us or is there a reason you didn't want to tell us?" she asks feeling a little offended that Charlie was the only one she told. 

"Surprise!" Y/N cheers, her smile stretching from ear to ear. "Did you really think there was a reason I wouldn't tell you about me coming home?"  

"And I haven't heard from you in a while. I wasn't sure," Polly admits, voicing her worries.  

"I'm sorry I haven't written or called in a while," Y/N apologises for her lack of communication. "I had a lot going on." 

"I understand," Polly smiles reassuringly. "You can tell me all about it over a cup of tea tomorrow."  

"Sounds wonderful," her smile falters a little. The only people who knew about her husband was her dad and Tommy but they didn't know the full extent of what happened. 

Polly hugs her once more before making her way back to the gentleman who she was occupying her time with. Y/N continues to make her way over to her father.  

An hour goes by before Y/N sees Tommy walking through the door and towards the bar. She politely leaves the table and makes her way over to Tommy before he can disappear into the snug beside the bar where she knows him and his brother go for privacy. 

"Tommy, can I speak with you, please?" she asks as she reaches him. 

"Is everything all right?" he asks her as he gets the bottle of whiskey that he ordered.  

"Is there anything I can get you, Y/N?" Harry asks before she can answer Tommy. 

"No thank you, Harry, I'm good for now," she smiles politely at the bartender and former owner and turns back to Tommy. "Everything is fine. I have a suggestion for that horse of yours." 

"I'm looking for a more suitable space for her," he tells her, trying to assure her the horse will be okay. 

"What's her name?" she asks.  

"Rosebud," he tells her. 

A look of shock makes its way onto her face when she hears the name of the horse.  

“Rosebud?” she asks, wanting to make sure that’s what she heard him say. 

“She looks like her, doesn’t she?” He replies.  

Y/N’s taken back to when they were about 13-years-old. She’d drawn a horse that looked very similar to the horse Tommy now owns, claiming that she’ll one day own a horse that looked just like that. Tommy laughed at her thinking she’d never find a horse that looked exactly like her drawing. 

As soon as he saw his horse grazing in a paddock on one of his drives out of Birmingham, he thought he was hallucinating. The mare was a remarkable resemblance to the one Y/N had drawn when they were younger. Once he realised he wasn’t hallucinating, he hatched a plan to convince the owner to sell her to him. It didn’t take much convincing for the owner to hand her over to him.  

“She does,” she agrees now that she’s reminded of the drawing she drew. Letting out a laugh of disbelief, she shakes her head. “How did you even remember that silly drawing?” 

“I remember a lot of things,” he tells her simply as those brilliant icy blue eyes of his bore into her. “And it wasn’t a silly drawing. You were so sure that horse you drew existed somewhere out there.”  

“She was always in my dreams,” she smiles. “That’s how I knew she was real,” she continues before laughing and gently hitting his shoulder before grasping it. “And now the boy who didn’t believe me has her. What a coincidence,” she chuckles and let’s go of him. “This is wonderful.” 

“What did you need to talk about?” Tommy asks, an amused look on his face.  

“Oh right,” her amusement falters slightly as she remembers that she needed to speak with him. “It’s actually about the horse… Rosebud. I may have somewhere you can keep her. It’s away from all the noise and smoke. She’ll have plenty of room to run and graze. There’s also a small barn that could be turned into a shelter for her.” 

“Where is it?” He asks. 

“Not far out of town. I can meet you there tomorrow, show you it. The owners already given permission for you to use it,” she tells him, adding the last part to reassure him everything has already been set up.  

“How does 9AM sound?” He asks. “Not too early for you?”  

“Not at all,” she agrees to the time and tells him the address. “I have to get back to my dad. I’ll see you at 9.” 

Tommy nods and watches her go back over to Charlie and Curly. 

- 

Y/N checks the clock in the entry way seeing that it is 8:57AM. Tommy would be arriving any minute and the sun had yet to shine through the cloudy skies. The smell and the feeling in the air let her know it was going to rain soon and she wanted to show Tommy where Rosebuds potential new home could be. After a minute passes she decides to stand outside and wait for her childhood friend.  

As she waits for Tommy her mind goes back to the last time she was with him.  

It was the night before she was meant to leave for London. She’d said goodbye to everyone except Tommy who had suddenly disappeared.  

After scouring all the places he could be, she found him sitting on her bed after she returned home feeling defeated that she couldn't find him. Seeing him sitting there she feels relieved but also angry as she glares at him.  

"Where the hell have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you?" she scolds him, letting her anger win. 

"You have no right being angry with me," he glares back at her as he stands up. "You're the one who's leaving, after all."  

"You're the one who encouraged me to go," she shouts back at him. Confusion adding to her frustration. "What was it that you said? You'll be the best nurse this country ever has? You were made to be a nurse, because you're always looking after others? London will be lucky to have you?"  

"Well I've changed my mind," the 21-year old Tommy, backtracks on his words. "Maybe London won't be lucky to have you and you'll make a terrible nurse." 

"Get out," she yells at him, throwing her hand towards her bedroom door and pointing to it. 

"No," he says stubbornly standing his ground.  

"Leave, before I decide I never want to see your face again." 

Tommy sits back on her bed, further proving that he wasn't going anywhere.  

"What is it that you want, Thomas?" she asks, giving into the young man's stubbornness after a few moments go by. 

"I want you," he declares. "Because I am in love with you." 

Y/N is stunned. Her heart is beating out of her chest and there is a lump in her throat preventing her from saying anything. 

"I've been in love with you for so long," he continues.  

"Why now, Tommy?" she says exasperated, feeling tears build up in her eyes. She can't remember the moment she fell in love with her best friend but she knows it was a long time ago.  

"Because I don't want you to go," he stands up and moves in front of her.  

She refuses to look at him, knowing as soon as she meets those beautiful blue eyes of his she'll give into him. "I have to," she sighs resting her head on his chest. "I start nursing school in two days. I can't back out now. It's too late." 

"I know," he says as his arms wrap tightly around her. "Tell me you love me too and give me tonight. Then we can go from there." 

Lifting her head from his chest, she pulls him in for a kiss. 

That night she had gotten little sleep wanting to spend every minute she could with him. Tommy stayed with her until she got in her car to drive to London.  

Once she settled in London, Tommy went to see her on the weekends he wasn't busy with the illegal betting den his father started. They wrote letters every week, reminding each other how much they loved them and missed them. There was a few weekends that Tommy was with her when he talked about moving to London to be with her. He even got as far as packing his trunks with all his belongings but then his dad had disappeared on one of his benders, leaving him and Arthur Jr to pick up the pieces. They were both frustrated and disappointed but aside from that things were going well between them. 

Until the war happened a year later.  

They had both been shipped off to France, Tommy to fight and Y/N to tend to the wounded. Letters became less frequent as the war went on. The letters eventually stopped under the war ended and Y/N sent a letter to Polly to make sure everyone made it out. Tommy was the one to reply to her, telling her he loved her but nothing was the same anymore. That was the last letter she received from him despite her having written to him multiple times. 

Y/N's pulled from her thoughts when Tommy's car pulls up outside the front gate. She waves to him as he gets out and closes the door behind him. Opening the little gate, he walks closer to her. 

"Did you say to meet here so I can pick you up?" he asks her, dressed in nice suit, his peaky cap on his head and a cigarette hanging from his lips as he buttons up the jacket. 

"No, this is the place I told you about," she informs him and takes his hand.  

He allows her to lead her through her small cottage and into the backyard. At the edge of the backyard was another little gate that lead to a paddock and a small barn structure that could indeed be converted into shelter for Rosebud. 

They reach the small barn just as it starts pouring with rain. The heavy rain showed that the barn had a few leaks that could easily be fixed. 

"So, what do you think?" Y/N asks, letting go of his hand and moving to face him.  

"You were right about it being enough room for her and being away from the noise and smoke," he says pleased with the space. "How much do you want for me keeping her here?"  

"I don't want any money, Tom," she replies. "You pay for her feed and upkeep and she can stay here free." 

"What about the barn?" he asks.  

"You can pay for the conversion, if you must." 

"Anything else?" 

"You can let me ride her and let me groom her but you must clean out her stall. She is your horse after all." 

"Fair enough," he agrees and looks at her. She looks back at him before looking away and like she there was more that she wanted to say. "Whatever it is, you can tell me." 

Y/N looks at one of the leaks as though she's inspecting it but the leak is the last thing on her mind as she ponders whether it would be a good idea to bring up the past or not. 

"Why did you never write back?" she asks, unable to stop herself from asking.  

"The man who came back from France wasn't the same one you fell in love with and he wasn't the man you deserved," he answers, his eyes never leaving her. "From when we were kids, I was always told that you were too good for me." 

"And it took a war for you to listen to those people?" she asks now looking at him. "When have you ever listened to other people's opinions?" 

"It's not just their opinions, Y/N," he goes on to explain. "It's what I've done, who I have become. I'm a bad man who's done bad things." 

"We've all done bad things, Tom," she tells him. 

"I never stopped loving you," he tells her. "Seeing you yesterday reminded me that I still do." 

"It's too late," she tells him, thinking about all the time she could have had with Tommy but because of his decision she spent it with a man who was drunk more than sober and eventually took his own life. Was she in love with this man? No, because she never stopped loving the man standing in front of her right now.  

"No it's not," he says moving closer to her. She makes no move to stop him as he takes her face in his hands and tilts it up, making her look at him. "Tell me you still love me too." 

"I never stopped loving you too," she admits out loud. "There's a lot of making up to do." 

"Then let's start right now," he says and pulls her in for a kiss. 

[nobedofroses]

October 14th

pairing: Pero Tovar x fem!reader

warnings: reader has given birth in the last few months, mentions of nursing

words: 743

a/n: Hmm I don't know that I can count the word "cottage" as a prompt from @illfoandillfie since I had to come up with everything else (lmao ily). Little bit of missing Pero, little bit of reuniting

Directory, Day 13

🎃🎃🎃

A year after your last autumnal visit to the market, Pero was there selling another horse and you were not. You had wanted to go and he had so wanted you to go, but your tiny baby girl, Alma, was too little to travel yet. With tears in your eyes and an oblivious three month old in your arms, you bid Pero goodbye with a sweet, loving kiss that you kind of hoped would be enough to keep him there. It sadly didn’t work, but he did look back several times as he rode away. 

Pero was only going to be gone one night since he wasn’t going to be spending extra time with you in the market and had even offered to make the trip in one day, but you didn’t want him traveling that late or for that long. 

It was surprising all the ways you missed him for just one day. The way he always got up earlier than you so he could build up the fire and bring your housecoat from where you left it by the washbasin like you always did. How he would scoop up Alma after she was done nursing to burp and take care of her so you could rest and relax. The way he spoke to her as he patted her back, telling her about what the plan was for the day with the horses and asking what she was planning to do with her day. 

Thinking about all of this when you fed Alma after he left made you a little misty-eyed as you took care of her by yourself, more out of absolute love for Pero than being sad that he was gone for a day, but it was pretty close. 

You ate your meals with William and Charlotte in the inn so you could have some adult company and because it was strange to cook for one. Plus they loved every second they had with their niece. 

That night, when you were getting ready for bed, you had to build up the fire a little extra. The nights were getting colder and colder and you wouldn’t have Pero to keep you warm. 

In the morning, you went through your normal routine, pointedly trying not to think about the differences you had anticipated yesterday, and instead focused on the fact that Pero would be back in a couple hours. And with him would be goods for not only your home, but some medicines and things for whoever wanted to buy or trade for them in the village. You also knew there would probably be a book or two and something for Alma, which was exciting. 

At lunch, Charlotte half-jokingly offered to take Alma until dinner so the two of you could have a proper reunion. You laughed but said that Pero would want to see Alma as soon as he got home. And he’d have to unpack. And take care of his horse, Fred. Then she suggested taking her after dinner until you came and got her for her last feeding and bed and you readily agreed. 

Pero came back within an hour after lunch. Alma was napping in her bassinet, so you rushed outside to be able to embrace him as soon as he got off his horse. Possibly you had been watching out the window for him. 

His strong arms were around you in an instant. You buried your face where his neck met his shoulder and said, “Pero, oh darling, I missed you so much.” 

“A mi también, querida. So much.”

You loved being enveloped in him like this, but you knew Fred should be unburdened and you shouldn’t leave Alma alone for much longer. 

“Alma’s napping, but I’ll bring her out to you if she wakes up before you’re done,” you told Pero, knowing he’d want to see her as soon as possible. 

“Yes, perfect. I’ll be in as soon as I can,” Pero said before bringing you in for a deep kiss that you weren’t expecting. 

When he released you, you stood there for a second, dazed, until Pero grabbed your shoulders and bodily turned you back to the cottage. You walked back, a little wobbly, and when you got to the door and turned back to look at Pero, he was watching you with a grin. 

You felt your cheeks flush with heat but wondered if maybe you should’ve taken Charlotte up on her first offer.

🎃🎃🎃

[willowthewiisp]

Lore points in the dlc that piss me off and make no sense

The greater will going AWOL after sending the elden beast breaks so many lore points I'm inclined to just straight up disregard it altogether because it makes no sense. The beasts were given intelligence presumably by the greater will. The elden ring existed during the time of the beasts we know that because of farum azula and the elden ring depiction there. The greater will not being around during that time makes no sense. It would make much more sense that the greater will left during the beginning stages of marikas rule and most certainly cutting ties when the elden ring was broken. But to straight up say god wasn't there from day one is so...? Bad??? I can accept the mother of fingers making shit up after the greater will cut her off but there are things that only a god like the greater will can do. what about the eternal cities being banished underground by the greater will??? If GW wasn't around for that time who did it then? What could possibly have that kind of power. It just makes no sense?????

Also the outer god of rot being written out is so bad too because what the fuck did the blind swordsman seal under the lake of rot then??? Was that just bullshit? Malenia wasn't a candidate anymore because she was an empyrean being used as the vessel for the god of rot because it wanted to imprint its age of rot on the elden ring. It literally makes no sense if Romina is the creator of rot if she's not an outer god.

and another thing, if all the numens in the shaman village were supposedly killed off by the hornsent or maybe even sacrificed by Marika (who knows) who were the black knife assassins and how were they numens associated with Marika if supposedly they were gone.

Why is rellana in the land of shadow have I missed something.

Why is there one crucible knight here.

If Marika was so traumatized by the saint jars why did she fucking allow living jars and why did she allow the jars in general to feed the erdtree. I don't believe this whole narrative that Marika is a tragic baby hurt by the evil hornsent for a second. Her entire backstory and foundation reeks of white colonizer to the point I bet those fuckin numens came here and tried to start shit. Anyways.

I know this horse has been beaten to death already but why on earth would radahn agree to be a consort to a god who wants an age of peace if "war suited him". He held the stars in place to probably protect ranni (and sellia) but also to help the golden order because we know the golden order wasn't a big fan of reading the stars and shit. He was a huge fan of Godfrey, and saw his father as a hero and wore his red hair with honor ( in contrast to radagon who hated it). Look I have no idea if radahn is just as fucked up as miquella or not but you cannot deny him being this consort is bizarre and left field. I would have genuinely accepted godwyn of all people over radahn. Godwyn was a powerful warrior he defeated the dragons but he was also kind and compassionate because he befriended fortissax to the point that dragon bro was ride or die and allowed himself to be eaten alive by deathblight. Also hello miquella literally calls him lord brother. Godwyn being revived was literally miquellas big plan other than curing malenia. So why the fuck was radahn chosen??? It's not like godwyn was dead when miquella was born and shit???? Also?? If mohg had to be used it would make kind of sense that he was used for godwyn since they share the same mother and father rather than radahn who didn't share either Godfrey or Marika (yes I know radagon is Marika). It would have probably been easier for godwyn to sink into mohgs body since they shared actual blood.

If marika was so very traumatized and hated everything having to do with the crucible and the hornsent why the hell would she allow Godfrey to have crucible knights as well as other crucible vestiges.

There's more but I'm just flabbergasted by the lore direction in general. It's almost like two different writing teams are at work.

[cxrsed-angel]

Attachment Issues (Joel Miller x f!Reader)

Word count: 2k words

Warnings: 18+ only (minors DNI!), established relationship, I can't remember if its mentions but age gap (reader is in her twenties, Joel is in his 50s), smut (p in v, unprotected), oral (male receiving)

A/N: I miss my man guys 😔, gif credits: @/manny-jacinto

Joel went on a trip with Tommy to spend time together after being apart for a while, he told you about the trip a few weeks before but you didn’t think much about when you lived in the QZ he would leave on runs and you would you too. But on the second day, you started to miss him and he was supposed to be gone for almost two weeks. 

You didn’t think you were that attached but you were wrong. you tried to do things around the communication to help out and take your mind off of it but when you laid down in your bed it felt too big for you, too cold and empty. You miss feeling his back against your chest as you slept, you miss waking up to him playing his guitar early in the morning and going for rides on the horses late at night. 

It was the third day since he left, and you woke up to Ellie banging on your door waking you up. “Come on, you've been sleeping all morning, get uppp!!” she yelled as you rolled her eyes. you sighed and reluctantly got out the bed and answered the door. 

“Ellie, I have no shifts or anything today. Why are you screaming at me?” you go to close the door, but she forces it open and enters you and joel’s room. you sighed as you lay back down on the bed. you watch as she goes to sit on the bed before she stops and looks at it. 

“Ew you guys probably have sex here huh, i’ll sit on the floor.” she cringed before sitting crisscross on the floor across from you. 

“What do you want Ellie,” you ask rolling your eyes annoyed and choosing to ignore the sex comment.

“I’m not letting you mope around like a sad puppy because he isn’t here.” you smile slightly, appreciating the gesture, but you can’t help it. You felt like something was missing. You just missed him too much, 

“Yea Ellie I know I feel stupid but i can’t help it and i don’t even know why i’m missing him so much. We would go more than a week not seeing each other back at the QZ and I was fine.” you said as you lay your head on the bed. 

“Well you’ve been traveling across the country for months you literally didn’t spend a day apart.” she comments in a tone that makes it sound obvious, and the more you thought about it she was right, for months you’ve been right by his side. 

“That’s true but that’s doesn’t help me get over it.” you shrugged, slumping further into the bed. 

She stands up and grabs your hands pulling you off the bed “let’s first start but getting out of the sex bed and out of the room that’s reminds you of him.” you roll your eyes and stand up. 

“Stop don’t call it that it’s just a bed.” you lightly scold her as she leads you out of the room. you spent the rest of the day helping out around and watching movies, then you slept in her room instead of yours and Joel and it helped. you still miss him but nearly as bad. 

Two days later you were feeding the sheep with Ellie when you hear horses pulling into the stables you turn and see Tommy and couldn’t help handing the food to Ellie and you ran over to the stables knowing Joel was back. When you were there you could barely wait for Joel to get off his horse before you crash into him hugging your arms around him and relaxing against his chest. you hear Tommy laugh but you don’t care. 

“Hey darling, you really missed me huh?” he asks as he hugs you back, placing a short kiss on the side of your head. 

“Just a little,” you mumble against his chest you hear Ellie laugh behind you. 

“Oh yea, because missing him so much you could barely get out of bed the first couple days is a “little” she teased as you flipped her off for a few seconds before going back to hugging Joel. 

“Well, he wasnt much better, kept complaining about how much he missed her we had come back home early.” Tommy adds as he finishes putting the horses away. 

You pull away slightly, looking up at him “really you missed me that much too” he nods and pressing a soft kiss on your lips. 

“Missed you so fucking much it was hell being away for so long” you smile and stand next to him, grabbing his hand and holding it yours as you lead him back to your house. Joel follows your lead, chuckling a bit. He lets go of your hand to lightly pinch your ass before holding it again. 

“Looks like you missed me in more ways than one huh honey.” he teases. You were about to reply when you heard Tommy catch up to you and Joel. 

“You two better be safe, he's too damn old to have a baby” he calls out as he playfully pushes Joel's shoulder before walking away. 

Joel rolls his eyes as he pulls you closer against him as much as physically possible as you approach your house. When you're both inside he quickly closes the door and pushes you against it before putting his lips on yours, you close your eyes and put your arms around his waist, and you melt into him. You part your lips allowing his tongue to slip inside your mouth. after a few minutes, he pulls away to catch his breath. 

“Missed you so much, Joel,” you whine against him as he nods. 

“Missed you too princess fuck I missed you so goddamn much.” He grabs your hand and places it down his jeans, feeling his hard bulge. you moan slightly before rubbing your hand slowly up and down through his boxers before removing your hand. 

“Bedroom Joel,” you mutter as you realize you are still by the front door. He follows you up to your bedroom you take your shoes and jeans off and wait as Joel closes and locks the door. You watch as he takes off his shoes and unbuckles his jeans to take them off. you walk up to him and unbutton his shirt slowly while looking up into his eyes. 

“You look so hot in buttons up,” you blurt out, and you slide the shirt off and place marks along his chest. He smiles lightly before moans replace it. 

“Good to know baby.” he gently pushes you off of him and takes off his boxers before sitting on the bed. you climb onto the bed, straddling him hovering over his throbbing cock. You spit in your hand before grabbing his dick and rubbing it slowly against your wet slit. 

Joel closes his eyes and throws his head back “fuck baby,” he whines and shudders under your touch. After a few minutes, you line his cock along your entrance and slowly sink down onto him. you let out a gasp as he moans and grabs onto your hips roughly. 

He opens his eyes and looks at you, full of lust, but he is still concerned, “you alright, baby?” 

You nod “mmhm just-fuck- you’re big still have to get used to it.” you breathe out as you feel your brain starts foggy from arousal. after a few seconds, you start rolling your hips as you grind against him. You bite your lip trying to keep quiet knowing the walls are thin. 

Joel shakes his head and brings his finger to your lips, opening them “uh uh wanna hear, you sound so pretty moaning for me.” You clench around him at his words before you open your mouth, letting out small gaps and moans. But you were still quiet, and Joel knew that. he holds onto your hips, stopping their movement before he thrust his hips up, pounding his dick deeper inside you. 

“Ah-ah Joel fuck-oh my god!” you moan out significantly lounder than before, making Joel smile. 

“Atta girl-fuck-let me hear you, missed those pretty sounds.” He praises as he continues thrusting into you, the pornographic sounds of your skin smacking your combined moans filling the room. You feel Joel's hips start slowing down, so you take over, bouncing yourself up and down his cock. 

“Fuck you feel so good baby, he praise and he lifts your shirt up and takes it off along with your bra, and places his mouth on your nipple licking and sucking on it. Your eyes close as you breathe out a moan at his touch. 

“Shit Joel I’m close-oh god!” he flicks his tongue against your nipple for a few seconds before pulling away. 

“Can tell, you’re clenching ‘round me come on baby cum on my cock.” he growls, southern accent getting stronger as guides you through your release. You squeeze your arms around him and melt into his neck as you let out cumming around him, you relax against him as your body shutters slightly. He rubs your back as you come down from your high. After you compose yourself, you lift your head up and see Joel’s disheveled hair. You slowly lift up off of him, you place your hand on his thigh spreading his legs before placing yourself between them, eye level with his throbbing cock glistening from your juices. he looks down at you and shakes his head. 

“No,no baby you don’t have to I can-“ you lick up his cock, making him moan out mid-sentence and jerk his cock up and down as you interrupt him. 

“Shut up and let me suck you off Texas.” he nods and leans his head back, closing his eyes as you take him in your mouth, hallowing out your cheeks and taking him further down your throat. you hear him let out whimpers and moans about of good you feel. you start moving your head up and down slowly at first but slightly increasing your pace. your hand comes up and fondles his balls lightly, making him twitch in your mouth. 

“Holy- princess Imma cum if you keep touching my balls like that.” You roll your eyes and take him out of your swollen lip, replacing it with your hand. 

“That’s kinda the point babe, want your cum.” you lean down and suck on his balls as you jerk him fast, making him let out a shaky breathes. You take your mouth off of him and look up at Joel through your eyelashes. 

“Wanna cum on my face?” you ask, looking at him innocently despite the lewd question you just asked him. He opens his eyes, looking at how pretty you look with spit around your lips and it has him immediately cumming all over your hand and slightly on your face. He curses as his  cock twitches lightly. You smile at him, making him shake his head as his chest raises fast as he tries to catch his breath. 

“You’re so dirty darling” he teases as he takes his thumb across your cheeks, wiping his cum off of you and placing it in your mouth, happily sucking on it. 

You take it out, and watch him get up and put his boxers on and grab a towel wiping your face before grabbing your underwear and shirt. but you shake your head “No I want your shit” you tell him and he walks over grabbing his button up and hands it to you as you put it on. He lays down and you lay next to him resting your head on his chest as his hand rubs your back. 

“Really fucking missed you, I think traveling with you gave me attachment issues” your confession has him laughing, feeling his chest rumble under your ear. 

Just add it to the list,” you frown your eyebrows looking up at him to clarify, “attachment issues, abandonment issues, mommy issues, daddy issues-“ you gasp softly, your mouth falling open for a second before lightly slap his chest as he chuckles.

 “Missed you too princess, I don’t think I can be away for that long again," he assures as you close your eyes, slowly falling asleep. 

“Then dont.” you mumble, and he nods “I wont, not going anywhere, I’m staying right here.” he closes his eyes too and leans his head on top of yours falling asleep.

[sserpente]

A/N: Request from anon and some of my own ideas that had to be written down because Loki demanded it. This is technically Part II to this Imagine!

Words: 2492 Warnings: implied smut, biting

Your hair was still wet when you got out of the water, your back numb from the gushing waterfall Loki had kept you pressed against while fucking the life out of you and you were sprawled out on the blanket. Loki conjured a soft towel for you both to dry off and afterward, you ended up leaning against his chest as he fed you some of the grapes and read you passages of the book he had brought. It didn’t matter you couldn’t understand Old Norse—his voice was mesmerising either way and certainly the best form of aftercare you’d ever had.

Hours must have gone by. Hours filled with even more sex, passion, and some of the most profound conversations you had had in a while.

But once the sun began to set and the lagoon got darker and darker, Loki stirred and you, much to your dismay, decided to return to the palace through the stables to go unnoticed.

“Thor will decapitate me.”

“As if you care what Thor thinks,” you said, chuckling.

Loki smirked. “I don’t. But I do quite fancy my head, pet.”

Pet. There it was again. Before your mind could swoon over his new nickname for you, you were interrupted by a cute and boyish voice the very moment you entered the stables.

“Prince Loki! Shall I prepare your horse for you?”

The stable boy emerged from behind a wooden wall carrying a pitchfork. He was sweaty from the manual labour and his clothes were filthy from working with the horses. He was cute though. You could tell he had a heart for animals straight away.

“No need, Edri. I’m just passing through. Avoiding attention, you understand.”

“Of c—oh. You brought company. Oh…” He paused, blushing. “You brought beautiful company.”

You smiled at him but not without noticing how Loki tensed up right next to you. His arm came up to wrap around your waist, pulling you closer to make a statement. Edri immediately cleared his throat and forcefully ripped his gaze away from you.

“Well then… I haven’t seen either of you, my prince.”

“Thank you.”

“Loki? Can I see your horse?”

“I’ve just fed her. She’s right over there?” Edri offered before he could answer.

Loki gave you a smirk and a defeated sigh. “Very well.”

The experience did not disappoint. After Edri led you into one of the boxes, you were greeted by one of the most beautiful black mares you had ever laid your eyes upon. She seemed friendly—and she immediately let you touch her and even neighed in delight when Edri slid you an apple to feed to her.

“What’s her name?”

“Skelmir—it’s Old Norse for Trickster,” Loki answered.

You chuckled. “So she’s as mischievous as you then?”

“Occasionally.” He winked.

“She likes you. Skelmir is one of the shyer horses around here,” Edri explained. “Animals can tell if one has a good heart.” His gaze was soft and gentle—and it lingered long enough to make Loki seethe, it seemed.

“We should head inside now. Shall we? Edri.” His voice was stern and you chuckled once more, realising with a start that Loki was jealous the stable boy was flirting with you. There was no real danger here, of course—he was cute but it was Loki who had stolen your heart. But you were flattered. The fact that he was jealous meant he cared, right?

You nodded, tearing your mesmerised glance off of Skelmir, and followed Loki back into the palace. Not even a moment later, an aggressive voice echoed through the palace walls.

“Loki!”

Loki sighed. “What?”

You both turned, facing a fuming Thor.

“Where were you two? The entire palace was looking for you!” The God of Thunder spoke your name reproachfully. “You were supposed to remain supervised, Father said—“

“I was supervised,” you offered.

“By Loki! There is a reason we have asked you to stay away from him.”

“Oh, please.” What’s the worst thing I could do? Sleep with him? You grinned at your thought.

“Where did you even go? Why is your hair wet?”

Neither of you answered and Thor sighed. “Well, what’s done is done, I just hope Loki didn’t twist your head with his nonsense too much.” Your grin grew even wider—and Loki joined in. Part of you wanted to tell Thor, just to see his reaction but perhaps for now, it was for the best not to tell him that you had quite literally fucked the God of Mischief.

“We’re having a midsummer celebration in the throne room tonight. Everybody is welcome.”

You turned to Loki. “What’s that gonna be like?”

“Drinking, dancing, eating, and karaoke. Surprisingly, it’s not too different from celebrations on Midgard.”

“Karaoke? On Asgard? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Well, I’d dare assume the songs we sing are nothing like what you are used to from Midgard but essentially, the concept is the same.”

“I won’t miss that then. But only if you get up there and sing too,” you teased, grinning at him. Thor tilted his head in confusion, clearly not used to somebody being all flirty with his adopted brother.

“I’ll have a maid sent to the guest chambers to dress you for the occasion,” Loki said. And with that, and perhaps to not raise even more suspicion in Thor, he walked off with a final wink.

You didn’t realise how hungry you were until the maid came knocking on your door about an hour later, a selection of dresses in her hands—the decision was quickly made to wear the green one she had brought. It took her half an hour to get your still a little damp hair situated before finally, she escorted you to the throne room that had transformed into what could only be described as a food hall.

Your eyes scanned the room and you smiled awkwardly when Volstagg waved at you.

“Looking for someone in particular?” Loki offered, appearing behind you. Your heart skipped a beat and you spun around, joining him at the table he led you to. The other people chatting away and drinking there you did not recognise but that wasn’t important. Not even the fact that Volstagg and the others looked downright shocked upon you choosing to sit with Loki rather than with them mattered.

“You look beautiful, pet. One could mistake you for an Asgardian.”

“Thank you. I’ll blend in then. Is that the stage for the karaoke?” You pointed at an elevated platform next to the throne.

“It is indeed,” Loki said while a maid came by to pour you drinks.

“I don’t see a microphone.”

“You don’t need one. The stage is enhanced with magic. Once you step on it, your voice will be heard across the entire throne room.”

You clinked your glasses and then, the celebrations began.

You got tipsy fast, the Asgardian mead messing with your mind only one drink in. Loki needed a few more to let go. You learned from one of the men sitting at the table with you that Loki used to be the most hedonistic party guest one could possibly invite to a celebration.

You did not doubt it—because after a few more drinks, Loki stumbled on stage and sang an Old Norse song. He even changed to lyrics of the chorus to English so you could sing, clap and dance along and just for once, it seemed, all was well.

No one was judging him for attempting to take over Earth but rather for how much mead he’d already downed. You’d possibly never had this much fun in your life. And even though you’d refrained from singing a song yourself, you soon found yourself in Loki’s arms, dancing like there was no tomorrow.

The sexual tension between you grew with every beat until eventually, the God of Mischief leaned down to whisper in your ear. “Let me take you to my chambers, pet.”

You nodded with wide eyes, unable to ignore the wanton pulsing between your legs. Next thing you knew, you were on Loki’s bed on his armchair in his chambers, kissing him senseless.

“Loki…” you mumbled against his lips. “I wanna…” Another kiss, leaving you breathless.

“Wanna suck you off…” you choked out. Loki pulled away for a moment, surprise evident on his gorgeous face. He tilted his head with parted lips.

“You truly are the most peculiar mortal I have ever met.”

You grinned. “Would you say I’m also the most endearing one?”

Fuck, you felt like a teenager again. Loki and you spent half the night making out, exploring each other’s bodies, and coaxing orgasm after orgasm out of one another. By morning, he was familiar with every square inch of your skin and the soreness between your legs… it spoke for itself when you opened your eyes in his chambers when the sun was up again, naked, satisfied, and happy. Heavens, you’d spent the night making love to a god, after all! Life couldn’t get any better than that… right?

You rolled over, briefly distracted by a stinging pain in your neck. Ouch. Loki had gotten quite rough at some point last night, attacking your sensitive skin with his teeth and sucking and nibbling wherever his mouth had landed on.

“Good morning, pet…” Loki purred.

You smiled sleepily. “Good morning.” You sighed. “I want to spend the entire day in bed,” you stated. But then, your stomach growled.

Loki chuckled. “I’d dare say your body disagrees and needs sustenance after all the… activities last night.”

Reluctantly, you got out of bed. He was not wrong. You were starving. You walked over to the mirror naked, examining the hickeys he gave you last night. The one on your neck wasn’t a hickey though. It was an actual bite mark.

“Shit, Loki, I had no idea you’d be so kinky in bed.” You chuckled, practically admiring it. Loki came up behind you, his hands stroking over your upper arms as his blue gaze crossed yours in the reflection.

“Does it hurt?”

“Not more than hickey, surprisingly. I suppose you don’t have make-up here to cover this up though? That’d be easier than explaining to the rest of Asgard why the Earth girl suddenly has a bite mark on her neck.”

Loki waved his hand and the bruise disappeared. “Wait, did you…”

“It’s still there. I’ve concealed it. We can head to the healing room once you’re dressed.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Loki!”

The banging on the door that followed had the God of Mischief sigh.

“Loki, I know you’re in there! There’s someone here to see you. You have a lot of explaining to do, brother!”

Loki frowned.

“Who?” you asked quietly.

“I don’t know. I don’t normally get visitors from other realms. At least none that announce themselves officially and march straight through the palace doors. Get dressed, pet. I shall take you to the healing room right after.”

You nodded, putting on the clothes he conjured for you, and gave your hair a quick brush before you followed him outside, making sure that nobody saw you leaving his chambers. You made your way through sun-kissed hallways. It was a beautiful morning and you could already smell the Asgardian delicacies waiting to fill your tummy.

Still, you were curious about who Loki’s mysterious and unannounced visitor was. So you joined him, pushing the thought of breakfast to the back of your mind for now. In sight came a blonde woman with a suit of armour very similar to Loki’s, a guard right next to her to ensure she didn’t pose a threat.

“Who is that?” you whispered.

Loki swallowed thickly, his lips parted. His voice was a mix of relief and surprise. “That… Sylvie.”

“Your Asgard doesn’t look too different from mine, actually,” she said by way of a greeting.

“What are you doing here?”

“What, are you not happy to see me?” she mocked. Loki pulled her into an embrace. You felt a twang of jealousy inside of you.

“I’m glad to see you’re okay. Come in. And tell me what you’ve been up to. Have you heard from Mobius?”

“Not yet. Communication is a bit brittle across time and space. I have a lead on Renslayer though. You won’t like to hear it but she was last seen with Kang.”

“Great. So that’s another problem on our growing list.”

“Who’s that?” Sylvie nodded toward you and all of a sudden, you felt self-conscious about yourself. You lifted your chin in a feeble attempt to feign confidence.

You told her your name before Loki could answer, followed by a quick explanation as to why you were here. “And who exactly are you?” you asked then.

“She’s… me,” Loki answered for her. “Well, not exactly me but one of my Variants—from another corner of the multiverse, if you will.”

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Sometimes I wish I was, pet.”

“Pet? What’s going on?” Sylvie scanned your form—then, her eyes fell on your neck. “Is that… You idiot! You marked her?”

You frowned. How could she even see it? But you supposed that if she was a Loki, then she was able to see right through his concealment. “What? What does that mean?”

“She’s human, Loki! It’s a miracle she’s even alive!”

Loki glared at her, daring her to keep speaking all the while your confusion kept growing. Marked you? What the hell was that supposed to mean?

“Can we speak about this in private? Preferably where not the entire palace can hear us?”

“Loki, what does she mean?”

“The bite mark of a Frost Giant,” Sylvie explained coldly, “it’s like a magical seal that signifies a partnership between two Frost Giants.”

“So… what… does that mean I have magic in my veins right now?”

Sylvie ignored you. “What were you thinking, Loki?”

“I was drunk!”

“Of course you were.”

“Oh, don’t think for a second I wouldn’t have done this had I not been. She’s fine.”

Just this morning, you had asked yourself what exactly Loki and you were. Calling him your boyfriend seemed inappropriate but quite apparently, you now had an answer to your question. Partner.

Loki did not seem like the type of person who would sleep with just anyone. Having fun and giving pleasure was one thing but even then… the God of Mischief surely was selective with his lovers. You bit your lower lip. You hadn’t known about the meaning of this bite mark but you couldn’t say you minded it. If that was his way of making you his, you’d receive it with open arms. You could only imagine the exciting kind of future you’d have with Loki—even if it would take a while to convince whoever this Sylvie was that just because you were human, that didn’t mean you’d let anyone mess with you or keep you away from the cheeky God of Mischief.

A/N: Come check out my blog if you like for more Imagines and my novels! ♥

[wobblesthecowgirl]

I'm No O’Driscoll!

Chapter Five: Shopping Spree

Tags: Arthur Morgan x Femreader, enemies to lovers, O'Driscoll reader, game plot, Arthur doesn't have tuberculosis, eventual smut, age difference, 18+, mild gore Word Count: 3k A/N: I'm so sorry for being gone for so long! I had a lot going on, but I'm back with a long chapter! This is not plot related, but in the next chapter, we get back a certain Irish lad. Chapter One

“Y/n! Let’s go into town and do some shopping!” Karen grabbed Y/n’s forearm and gave her an excited shake.

“Shopping? And with what money exactly? Slaving away doing chores for Mrs Grimshaw isn’t paying well. In fact, it isn’t paying at all.” The new member of the gang sighed. After her drunken fun with Lenny and Arthur, she had the worst hangover known to man. Then, there wasn’t anything to do at camp, no missions she could take part in, as they were trying to settle down and keep a low profile. Which left Y/n to help the other women with chores and get treated harsher than the others due to her O’Driscoll past.

“Well, that’s what the men are for, silly!” Karen rolled her eyes. They had just finished folding up the clothes, which meant they were done for the day.

Y/n shook her head, “As fun as it sounds, no man here would give me money. Except Kieran, but he hasn’t got any.” She thought that maybe Lenny would, but just asking anyone for money made her feel bad, and he was probably only nice to her because he was drunk, which wasn’t farfetched when she thought about how Arthur treated her that night too.

Karen dragged her towards Tilly and Mary-Beth, who were washing and drying the food bowls. They looked like they were nearly done too, and upon seeing Karen forcefully pull Y/n towards them, they raised an eyebrow.

“We are going shopping!” Karen declared and finally let her go.

“We are?” Mary-Beth sounded excited immediately, probably already thinking about what to buy. Tilly scoffed, “Oh yeah? And with what money?”

“Exactly what I said. We can’t go asking the men.” Y/n nodded in agreement with Tilly, glad that someone saw some sense.

Mary-Beth dried the last bowl and brushed her slightly wet hands on her apron before removing it and said, “It is rather impolite.” Karen groaned in annoyance at the three before her eyes gleamed and a sly smirk spread across her face.

“Then we’ll steal money!”

“Steal?” Mary-Beth giggled, putting a hand over her mouth. Y/n thought about it for a minute, yes stealing was bad, but she had shot multiple people in the head, she would hardly call herself morally sound. Plus, she really wanted new clothes.

“I’m down.” She said and Karen cheered. Tilly crossed her arms, a playful smile on her lips, “Ok, ok, me too I guess.” They all faced Mary-Beth who laughed, “Count me in.”

The four of them put the clean bowls and cutlery away; it was only early afternoon, many on the men were out doing their own thing, a few chattering away. They began to plan quietly among themselves: They would ask one of the guys to drive them into town, they’d pickpocket as much men as they could, then buy whatever they want. Not the most solid plan in the world but it was a start.

When they were happy with it, Karen began to make her way to Arthur who had only just come back to camp. Y/n’s eyes widened as she grabbed her wrist and whispered, “What are you doing? You’re going to ask him?”

“Yes! Arthur’s nice enough he’ll say yes to us!” “He’ll say yes to you, not me. He hates me. And I don’t like him.” She watched as Arthur tied his horse up, feeding her an apple and brushing her mane. Karen pulled her arm back and said, “Well I’m asking him; besides we need a big brute in case we get into trouble.” There was no stopping her as she made her way over to him. Y/n watched as she convinced him, his face turning from confusion to a grin and a slight chuckle with a shake of his head. When Karen waved the girls over, the other two ran, whereas Y/n sighed and strolled over, hand in pocket.

Arthur was leading them towards the wagon, where Kieran was attending to the horses. Y/n waved at him, and he smiled at her, before his eyes drifted to Mary-Beth and he looked away sheepishly.

“What are you ladies even buying, and with what money?” Arthur asked as he made his way to the back of the wagon and began helping Tilly up, then Mary-Beth, but hesitated when Y/n made her way around. She waved him off and awkwardly climbed up herself, feeling Mary-Beth pull her forearm up for support. Karen followed Arthur to the front to help him with the horses and they set off.

“Don’t you worry about that Arthur you just sit and look pretty.” Karen tapped his arm, and he scoffed, “Well excuse me for being worried when a group of women ask me to take them to town to go on a shopping spree.”

Tilly changed the conversation before he started to catch whiff of their plan to rob unsuspecting men, “Where were you today?” She asks him.

He grumbled while steering the horse to the right, a farm coming into view, “I was running errands for old Dutchy. I came back empty handed of course.” His face looked like he had just bit a lemon. They continued to have small talk amongst themselves, although Arthur didn’t acknowledge Y/n, not that she was complaining.

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Once they made it into town, the women hurriedly hopped off the wagon and thanked Arthur. He raised an eyebrow at them before saying, “I guess I’ll sit here and look pretty. Don’t be too long now.”

Tilly and Karen linked arms, while Mary-Beth did the same to Y/n. The weather was perfect; sunny and a light breeze. The town was bustling which would make pick pocketing easier because of the distractions.

“Should we start at the saloon?” Tilly asked as they grew closer. Karen nodded, “Good idea, drunk men are easy targets.”

The four made their way inside, gaining a few stares as a group of women entering a tavern was a rarity.

“Make sure to keep safe,” Y/n warned them, “Don’t be putting yourself in harms way just for a couple of coins.”

Mary-Beth playfully bumped her shoulder and teased her, “We know what we are doing! Don’t go worrying about us now!”

She should’ve guessed these women had done this before, but she still felt a weird protectiveness towards them. There was a very drunk man all alone sat at the bar and Karen tapped Y/n.

“I’m going to flirt with that man, while he’s distracted you pocket his wallet.” She whispered. Sounded easy enough. Tilly and Mary-Beth did something similar on the other side of the bar, and Y/n watched Karen work her magic; she couldn’t deny that she was very charismatic, and the man was practically ogling her. While he was distracted, she acted casual and stood near him, looking to see any indication of his wallet, and grinned when she saw it was peeking out of his back pocket. Back pocket? Basically asking to be robbed. She lightly grabbed it and as suspected, he didn’t even feel it. She winked at Karen who grinned back as she excused herself. She dragged Y/n to the stairs as they opened the wallet. There was easily one hundred dollars.

Karen cackled, “We are a perfect duo! Let’s keep at it!”

They looked over to the other two girls who had done something similar and gave a thumbs up. They did this a few more times, sometimes Y/n would flirt, and Karen would steal, and other times all four of them would target one man. Just from the saloon alone, they had easily made nearly four hundred dollars. Karen made her way to her, a gleam in her eye.

“Listen Y/n, there’s a very rich man that I have wrapped around my finger. He wants to take me to a hotel room, if I go with him and you steal his wallet, we could easily get double of what we already have!”

Y/n hummed in thought, sipping a beer she was given by a man she flirted with.

“I don’t know, we’ve got enough for what we want. A hotel room? I don’t want you in danger.”

Karen huffed, “Oh come on! Don’t be like that, I’ll be a smart and safe little lady.”

She sighed at her blonde friend but reluctantly agreed. The plan was to follow Karen and this man from behind as they went into the hotel, and stay outside the door. When it sounded like the man had his trousers off, Y/n would take those along with the wallet. So, they did just that, she tailed them, keeping hidden from the hotel receptionist, and stayed posted outside the door. She grimaced as she heard him zipping off his trousers and his sickly perverted words. She just had to open the door quietly while he was distracted, but when she heard Karen begin to struggle and then shout, Y/n lost her temper immediately.

When she burst open the door, she saw the man had Karen pinned down, while he was just in his boxers, and he whipped his head around in shock.

“What? What is this?” He shouted angrily, getting off Karen.

“Karen, get behind me.” Y/n demanded and was glad to see her friend listen to her. She then turned her attention back to the man, “You don’t know how to treat a lady, Mister?” she taunted, a rising feeling that this man wouldn’t leave without a fight. Of course, she was right. The man immediately went to grab her, as she pushed him back.

He scoffed, “I’ll show you how I treat bitches like you.” He swung at her, punching her on the nose, causing it to bleed straight away.

“Y/n!” Karen shrieked as Y/n wiped the blood off but only smeared it. She shook her head, “Karen, go find the others and get out of here. I got this don’t worry.” And before finishing her sentence, she kicked the man in the stomach then punched his jugular.

Karen ran out and the man tried to follow her, but Y/n pushed him again and scoffed, “Don’t even think about it.”

He pushed her harshly until she stumbled out the room, before punching her in the nose again and running down the hallway towards the stairs, still in his boxers. Y/n quickly chased after him and pounced at him in the middle of the stairs, causing them both to tumble down. She knew all these injuries would hurt like a bitch the next day, but she had to stop him from getting to Karen. She punched him on his cheek as he pulled her hair aggressively. The receptionist was hiding under the desk after hearing them scream, as the rich man hissed at her, “You think you can fight like a man? You think you can stop me?”

She finally freed herself from him before kicking him in his gut. He wheezed and stumbled to the doors. Before he could open them himself, Y/n kicked him again and the doors burst open as the man fell down the porch and into the mud. She strode towards him, some of the public quickly walking away, others watching and whispering. Y/n felt weirdly good, it had been a long time since she overpowered someone; she had spent weeks being frail and weak.

He got up, getting into a fighting stance and all she could do is laugh down at him while she stood on the porch.

“You look ridiculous, Sir! You’re still in your underwear!”

He screamed in pure rage as he began to run towards her but was stopped when a hand grabbed his shoulder. Y/n grimaced.

An angry looking Arthur had stopped him before snarling, “Just what do you think you’re doing?” The rich man instantly cowered, his mouth opening and closing like a gaping fish. He couldn’t respond however, as Arthur punched him once and instantly knocked him out; to everyone’s surprise, he didn’t stop there. He sat on top of him and began punching and punching. Y/n’s eyes widened, if he didn’t stop now, he would kill him. She quickly ran over and pulled his forearm, “Arthur stop it! You’ll kill him!” He reluctantly got off the now severely injured and unconscious man and shook his head. When he realised people were staring, he shouted, “Fights over! Go home!”

The crowd quickly dispersed as the other three women ran over, Mary-Beth hugging Y/n tightly, “Y/n! Are you ok? Your nose is bleeding!” They pulled apart as Y/n wiped her hand along her nose and sure enough it was still bleeding. She looked down and the clothes she was going to replace for being tatty were even worse now. Her button up shirt had been pulled so the first two button were gone, the original tear on her thigh and grew bigger, as well as having blood splatters on them.  

She chuckled, “I look like a mess, huh?”

“Yes, you do.” Arthur grumbled, “come on, we are going back to camp.” All the girls whined in protest but when he looked at them, they quietened down. He was never mad at the women in camp (Minus Y/n) so they hurriedly got back into their original seats. Arthur pointed at Y/n and demanded she sat with him at the front, so she did without arguing.

Once they finally made it out of Valentine, Arthur began to shout at only her, “What the hell was you thinking! Look at you, trying to fight for money!”

“I handled it! You didn’t have to get involved!” She snapped back, wincing a little as the adrenaline died down and now her whole body was aching from being punched, pulled, kicked, and falling down half a flight of stairs.

He scoffed, “You call that handling it? You could’ve ended up dead if Karen didn’t find me when she did!”

The women in question interrupted him, “It’s my fault, Arthur. It was my idea, she saved my hide.” He sighed and shook his head, responding, “I don’t care. I’m disappointed in all four of you. Couldn’t you have just told me what you planned to do? Or just ask for some money?”

Y/n could tell that under his frustration, there was an underlying worry, most likely for the other three.

“We just wanted to do things our way, we’re sorry.” Tilly explained, as all of them went quiet. Until Karen coughed, “Although… we did get quite a bit.” And she held up the rich man’s wallet. Y/n burst into laughter, “No way! After all that you still managed to take it? A master thief over here!”

She glanced at the once angry man and saw that a smirk had crept on his face. The tension was disappearing throughout the trip, and while the three girls in the back was distract in conversation, Y/n turned to Arthur.

“I’m sorry for causing a commotion.” It physically pained her to apologise to him, even more than her actual injuries, but it didn’t feel right not to. His eyes widened slightly but he quickly replaced it with a scowl.

“I still have to let Dutch know what you did. Your little ‘commotion’ could have people sniffing around camp.”

She sighed, slumping a little more in her seat as he spared her a glance, “make sure you sort your face out, you nose doesn’t look happy.”

Y/n looked away quickly and snapped, “Shut up. I won that fight.”

“Sure you did.”

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Dutch took the situation surprisingly well. He was smiling throughout her retelling of the story and laughed at the end. He gestured at her state and said, “You definitely need some new clothes now!” He laughed harder at her appearance as she bit back her tongue, she could quip back at Arthur all she liked, but she didn’t dare do it to the leader of the gang. Once he had calmed down, he asked her seriously, “So, you can fight? Arthur has mentioned before about your skills with a gun too.”

She nodded, straightening her back a little bit, “Yes, I can fight. I used to be a sniper before… all of this.”

Dutch nodded, “A lady sniper? That’s not something you hear every day.”

Arthur spoke up, “Where are you going with this, Dutch?”

He smiled, the cogs in his head turning, “Good ol’ Josiah Trelawny has given us some information about Sean. I’ve sent Javier and Charles to investigate but I want you to go too, Arthur. And Y/n should join you for the ride.”

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Y/n had finished washing her face and sighed when she looked at her clothes. So much for getting new ones. She had to get a good night’s rest, as tomorrow she would have to stick by Arthur’s side yet again to help go rescue a captured member of the gang. Clearly Dutch saw something in her, which she appreciated, but she didn’t appreciate always being paired off with the man who shot her.

As she got to her tent, she was surprised to see some clothes folded up and a wallet she had helped Karen steal earlier that day. When she unfolded the clothes she raised an eyebrow. They were clean and smelt fresh, but they were large. A black button up top and some dark blue jeans, and a black belt. She knew she would have to use the belt and tuck the top in as these were clearly for men. There was a note under the jeans, and she was shocked.

These are some clothes I don’t wear anymore. I know they aren’t your fancy ones you were hoping to buy, but it’s better than the ones you have on now. Arthur

Arthur had given her his own clothes. Why? Out of embarrassment? To say sorry? She almost didn’t want to wear them, but then again, she was grateful. She folded them back up before changing into her pyjamas, and climbed into her cot, trying to get some rest for the big mission tomorrow.

Tags: @insaneintheemembranev2 @friendlyspacemartian @gloriasttbh @fmlmf

[ratcash-wasgud]

My take on Taigen

And his relationship with Mizu

I know that usually I'm not the type to express much opinion on here unless it's about how much I love Mizu, but I feel like I need to get this off my chest.

I truly am a Taizu hater. I usually don't hate ships unless they are problematic in some way, but this one just...irks me.

With Taigen as a character, I have no problem with. He experiences struggles, character growth, and has traits that are likeable to the general public, but when he gets paired with Mizu it really angers me.

Taigen was a big source of suffering for Mizu when she was younger, and I cannot fathom how can people just forget that. But I also know that he had his reasons to do that. He was an average guy with the intention of making it big, so he had to feed the people around him so they could uplift him. Understandable. That's a way someone could make it big.

But we also never heard a proper apology. Should he apologize? No. It wouldn't fit him. He's not someone who apologizes. But to me, without an apology, sexual tention is not enough to see the potential of him being a good partner to Mizu.

He has a similar personality to Mikio, in my opinion at least. He has a big ego, but he becomes very playful when he warms up to someone.

The playfighting they do in that one scene is similar when Mikio rides horses with her while laughing. Taigen and Mizu would end up like Mikio and Mizu did: with a man's wounded ego and Mizu feeling the need to burry a big part of herself.

I feel like from his relationship with Akemi, we could learn a lot from how he would be with a woman. He easily neglects live for the sake of his own ego, and I don't think that would change with Mizu.

Now a couple words on what kind of love Mizu needs:

(In my opinion of course)

She need gentle love, the kind she got from Mama when she was younger. The love she got from Mikio worked for a while, but that's it. She needs to be treated like a child (even if a little bit), because her childhood has been stripped from her. And I think she knows that. She needs her childhood back, but that's not possible because it's already gone. So instead she needs someone who she can protect like she wanted to protect Mama (but failed), and someone who's gentle and caring, and could protect her emotions in return.

Could Taigen do that? No.

Taigen is someone who is needs to be assisted in his dreams. Even if he no longer "wants to be great", he'll still have dreams. He still wants his honor, he still wants that peaceful life he desires to be like how he imagines it. And he needs someone who can assist him, not someone who can build it alongside with him. He's not a team player. The moment he feels like he's dragging someone down, he demands to be left to die, because that's honorable.

I will not start disliking you if you ship Taizu though, I'll just never understand it.

[moutainrusing]

peace

779 words, no warnings, @dorlenemicroficprompts

There was no one in the world Dorcas found more annoying than Marlene.

Dorcas was never one to reinforce stereotypes, and sure, she was possibly a bit judgemental, but she really meant it when she described Marlene as this: the typical dumb blond.

Marlene was just so… infuriating. Never paying attention, and if she did bother to write notes, they looked like they’d been scratched into parchment by the claws of a chicken. Her hair was always so shiny, obscenely golden, too gaudy to be presentable. Dorcas could rip it out and feed it to horses, and they would simply believe it to be extremely smooth hay.

Always talking out of turn, Marlene was obnoxious and loud, constantly yelling about Gryffindor bravery because she was a clone of her fellow Gryffindors. If she didn’t see it, she was dumb. And she didn’t see it, so she was dumb.

Teachers would pick on her, and Marlene would stare back cluelessly. Dorcas had seen her grades. T for torturous to look at. Although Marlene used to be better… it wasn’t like Dorcas cared why Marlene was beginning to slack off her NEWTs after doing well enough in her OWLs, but what if something was up?

Loss could do this to someone. If Marlene was mourning, Dorcas would be rubbish at comforting her. Perhaps they should have a seat change. This would be beneficial in two ways: Dorcas would be free of Marlene, and Marlene would get a partner who cared for her properly.

Dorcas wasn’t going to question why she wanted someone she hated to be cared about ‘properly,’ whatever that meant. Properly? Properly?

“Um, hey,” she tried to get Marlene’s distracted attention. Sighing, she resorted to tapping her shoulder.

Marlene turned, and Dorcas rapidly rushed out, “Do you want to change seats? Partners. Ask the professor to give us different partners?”

Marlene’s lip curled. “I never really cared where I sat, mate, but now I do. I don’t wanna be anywhere next to you.”

Dorcas rolled her eyes, “So then we’ll ask for a swap.”

Marlene crossed her arms, unbothered, leaning back and swinging on her chair. “You ask, then.”

“Um, am I allowed to?” Dorcas hesitated, glancing at Professor McGonagall. Admittedly, she found McGonagall terrifying. She’d expected Marlene to ask. After all, McGonagall was her Head of House. Gryffindor favouritism, right?

“Dunno,” Marlene shrugged. “Haven’t asked a professor anything in ages.”

Dorcas frowned, “Why? I mean, you used to…”

Marlene side-eyed her, smirking, “Watch me, do you?”

“No,” Dorcas lied. It was the hair, okay? Impossible to miss. Eye-catching, in a very bad way.

They lapsed into silence. Marlene’s eyes took on a hazy quality, glazed over like glass windows with a different view on the other side. Marlene wasn’t in a classroom next to Dorcas. She was… somewhere else.

Tentatively, Dorcas tapped her shoulder again. Marlene looked at her, glass gone. Flatly, she asked, “What?”

Dorcas mumbled, “Are you okay?”

Marlene snorted. “No.”

Hesitating, Dorcas glanced at Marlene’s empty desk, then her face, and decided to try some semblance of comfort. “Y’know, you’re actually clever. Like, you act dumb, but I know you’re clever. It’s annoying.”

Marlene paused, staring at her curiously. “Which one’s annoying? My intelligence or my acting?”

“Acting.” As if Dorcas even needed to think about the answer.

Marlene grinned slightly, for less than a second. “Want me to stop acting?”

Dorcas decided to drop her hesitation. “Yes.”

Marlene raised an eyebrow. “Okay.” Harshly, she began whispering, “I am clever. I know. But this,” she gestured cuttingly at their surroundings, “Doesn’t matter. Not anymore. Because there is a fucking war, and being clever won’t cut it. Grades,” she hissed, “Are useless.”

“Oh… well… if you’re gonna fight,” Dorcas eyed her. “Which I’m assuming you are,” because you’re a typical Gryffindor, “Then I think the spells we learn might actually be useful.”

Marlene waved a dismissive hand, then abruptly dropped it. Her gaze softened. “Sorry. You said to stop acting.” She rolled her shoulders, bit her lip, then murmured, “I can’t. I can’t focus on anything anymore. Everything’s so… wrong.”

Dorcas pursed her lips. “You don’t have to focus on it like it’s one big thing blocking your vision, you know. You’re making it all about the war. But there are different parts of a war. There’s… training. Practising spells for it. And teamwork. Communication. Peace.”

Marlene gave her a sceptical look. “Did you say peace comes with war?”

“Yeah,” Dorcas nodded. “Yeah. At peace with yourself. Don’t let war make a war inside of you.”

Marlene smiled. “So the typical Slytherin snake became a preacher.”

“And the typical dumb Gryffindor is actually listening,” Dorcas retorted.