#being fair. not the darkest game by any means.

[bunny-heels]

bitch was merciless

ko-fi

[bitchlessdino]

OMFG!!! i just read that chan smut and omg. THE DUALITY!! i literally love all the smuts that you write. also my birthday is february 6th so, if you don’t mind, could you write me a smut with my bias/biases. as you know i have a daddy kink. my biases are chan, seungcheol, and hoshi. you don’t have to. love you and thank you for the dino smut i absolutely loved it!-🎧

Pairing: Fem!reader x seungcheol x chan x soonyoung

Genre: smutty smut smut

Word count: 4.7K

Tags: poly, reader wearing a dress, exhibitionism, voyeurism, pet names (princess), degradation, praise kink, brief choking, fingering, oral (rec. And giving), unprotected sex (please assume everyone is clean, don't do this w/o prepping IRL), pussy slapping, ass play, triple penetration (i know), daddy kink, mean chan, sweet Cheol

Summary: it was just a dumb little party game, gets taken too seriously in teh best way possible. Happy fucking birthday to you.

Author note: first off, happy birthday! You’re always active here and sending me ideas and I appreciate you so much. Second off the fact that your list is my exact top three made this very self-indulging. I thank you for that. Please enjoy me writing out of of my darkest fantasies 😭

“Fuck. Marry. Kill. Seungcheol, Chan, Soonyoung. Go.”

You scorn up at Mingyu, “Didn't know we were still in middle school?”

You were celebrating your birthday with a couple of close friends having some drinks and good quality takeout at your place. Somewhat small for others but what you preferred it. Having all the attention on you in a public place was not your scene. These small intimate gatherings were more your speed. Then again, it prompted dumb shit like this.

Mingyu was not many shots in, but he looked like a toddler that learned to walk for the first time, so it was fair to say he drunk out of his mind. “Don’t cop out, answer the-hic-damn question.”

Your gaze shifted from the three men, all equally waiting for a response. You take a moment to linger in each thought of each man, internally listing out any and all of their redeeming qualities. 

Seungcheol, who pretended to not care about your answer, peeks at you through his peripheral. He was the impossibly attractive guy next door, figuratively and literally. It was easy to tell he does everything with purpose and excluded this natural confidence and charisma. Not to mention he was a guy you could rely on like most people already do.

Then we have Soonyoung, the man full of life. If you could describe him in one word, it’d be ‘crazy’. This was the same guy that commits to being a tiger but calling it his ‘brand, and let’s not forget his astrology chart, which you’re not gonna get into. He’s fucking hot, don’t get it wrong, but also the strangest man you’ve ever met on planet Earth. 

Now finally Chan, the cute man sitting next to you, eyes coated in nectar-like sweetness with a soft smile on his face. He’s always has been a sweet guy since you met him. He’s amicable and seemingly harmless, which made people feel comfortable around him. You can’t go wrong with Chan.

You visibly ponder, licking your lips, before answering.

“Fuck…Soonyoung, marry…Seungcheol, and I guess kill Chan? But I can’t kill him,” you look to the man mentioned and interlock arms, “so, I’ll just have to kiss him.”

You press your lips against his cheek, laughing emitting from onlookers. A warm blush spreads across his cheeks and he looks down at his feet. His smile turns bittersweet. “Great. Nice.”

“You’ll always be my favorite buddy, Chan. I could never kill you,” you coo, a finger lightly stroking at his red cheeks before he lightly shoves you away, rolling his eyes, and grabs another beer.

You initially don’t think much of it, it was only a dumb ice breaker after all. However, that event had his friends teasing him the rest of the night (but what’s new) and Chan was being the joke of the night, while Seungcheol was poking fun at you instead. Every chance he got, he’s saying things like he’s ‘waiting on that proposal,’ or ‘should I get started on the wedding planning?’ And Soonyoung seems to be a step behind the older gentleman, playfully suggesting what things he does make him ‘fuckable.’ He could be only cutting up limes for shots, or posing on the back of a wall asking, ‘this do anything for you?’ Attention was on you mainly, as expected, but that didn’t warrant the number of times you had gotten flustered.

Nonetheless, everything that night seemed all in good fun,  a birthday worth having. At some point in the night, Soonyoung passed out on the couch, while everyone else was preparing to leave. Seungcheol offers to help clean up, it was very neighborly of him, which you always welcome. Chan, in the midst of all this, was nowhere to be found and it caused you to worry, calling his phone with no answer. You weren’t apart from him long typically in these social situations.

“Thanks for helping out, Cheol.”

“Anything for my betrothed,” he teases.

“Shut up,” you lightly elbow, “It’s late, I’m gonna wash up to sleep. Just make sure to lock the door when you leave, okay.”

He nods off your request and lets you venture off to your room. He pays it no mind, finishing off some dishes, unable to hear anything underneath the sound of the sink’s running water.

On the other end of your closed bedroom door, you make a startled expression once you realize what, or should you say who was behind it. “Chan? I was wondering where you were.”

He softly scoffs from the mattress, slouching in his spot, looking as if he waited for your return. “Really? Didn’t seem to think you had a second thought about me.”

“Of course I did.” You walk up towards him and pull him up from the mattress by the arm, smiling at him. “I can’t help but think about you all the time.”

“But you’d kill me, hmm?” He tears his wrist away from your touch, drawing his face closer to yours, “That’s not what you said last week up against my bedroom window.”

You purse your lips in amusement, remembering that day all too clearly. It was moving day for him and out of all people, he called you. He mentioned needing a few boxes brought in and everyone else seemed busy, little did you know, he had other plans that night with you. Those plans are how many times he can get you to cum within an hour, or how pretty you look pressed up against a clean glass window. 

“But they don’t know that.” You retort.

“You embarrassed me out there, you know,” His eyes narrow at you, ignoring your attempts of pandering as you flirtatiously tease up his arm, “The friend-zoning, the familial kiss, the rejection, and in front of all our friends. I didn’t like it.”

You softly laugh, fingering through his pretty brown hair, “I’m sorry, but it'd be obvious if I said one of the other two. Could you find in your heart to forgive me?”

He turns away his eyes, feigning thought. “Well, since it’s your birthday, I could…doesn't mean I will.”

He tugs on you similarly the way you did to kiss him, only this time his lips locked on lips, and his skin was noticeably flushed from alcohol and lust. Your eyes naturally flutter shut, arms instinctively reach up for his face, cupping his warm cheeks. You melt in his touch, brazen and ruthless, your arousal basically dripping a hot stain in your underwear as his teeth pull at your bottom lip deliciously.

He strokes your sides, hands drawing the curve of your posterior and clutching in a hearty squeeze, a whimper leaving your lips. You feel the corner of his lips quirk up, eyes pressing into you with a smug expression. “Are you like this with all your ‘buddies’?”

You shake your head with a cheeky smile on your face, “No.”

He hums amused, lips drawing close to your ear, his decadent voice pricking your ear. “I want you to fall apart for me. Can you do that, hmm? Can you do that for Daddy?”

Your abdomen tenses up, a sultry moan escaping you, “Yes, daddy.”

“Such a good girl,” He draws out.

He pulls the zipper down from your dress, pulling off the straps from your shoulders, chuckling against your skin, as your outfit hits the floor. You giggle as he hoists you up, your legs locking around his waist, meeting his lips again more feverishly than the last. He runs you on top of your dresser, parting your legs to stand between them.

“Your turn,” You reach for the hem of his hoodie, pulling it over his head and tossing it to the side of the room, “That’s better. Happy birthday to me…”

Hand trailing over Chan’s chest, down his torso, tracing over every dent of his abs, making you lightheaded and giddy. You pull on the top of his jeans, meeting him in a kiss, they become the next article of clothing to come off, following his boxer briefs and grasp his length. His nose nuzzles your cheek, hot breath on your skin, and his digits press up against the fabric of your panties to dip in the wet spot and plunge into your clothed arousal. You pleasantly gasp, hips jerking in his direction, one hand combing through his hair.

“Oh, daddy…”

His smile grows wide. “You’re so wet already, sweet girl.”

He allows himself a taste, humming at the familiar flavor, and pushes past your underwear to gradually thrust them inside, watching uneven breaths escape your lips. He revels in your whimpers, pushing them deeper inside you. The airiness of your voice was additive, but what was more addictive in the look on your face when he sees you close. “That feels good, huh? You like my fingers fucking you like this?”

You were practically vibrating in your seat, and your back arches in distress, gripping the edge of the dresser, “God, yes…You’re so good to me, daddy.”

It was a matter of time before his cock would replace his fingers, swiping your taste on your tongue for you to sample. Moaning, your lips wrap around their slender length, your arousal coating the surface of your tongue and inside your mouth. You hold him by the wrist, his knuckles swallow inside you before his very eyes, sucking your neck dry from his hands as he fucks his fingers into your burning hot entrance.

You whimper into his palm before he decides to pull it away and wrap it around your throat, meanwhile, his cock finds entry in your warmth, your fluttering walls welcoming him. Your hips falling slightly below the dresser's flat surface, you gasp for air. Your vision blurs as much as your abdomen clenches, submitting to Chan’s rough touch. He leverages you by holding you up the back of your knee while your other leg hung over his shoulder, snapping his hips back into you with such ferocity, a throaty moan falling short of every thrust. He sounded scrumptious, like fresh honey oozing out of its comb, you wanted to lick every part of him.

“What do we have here?” 

Your helping hand for the party has finally found your helping hand in bed (or this case the dresser), rutting in you like two rabbits in mating season. Chan doesn’t stop his pace, only a smile growing wider on his face. “I guess the jig is up.”

“You’re just gonna keep fucking her while I’m here, kid?”

Chan only grows cockier when you show no sign of change, still moaning his name, “Why shouldn’t I, she sure likes it. Don’t you, filthy birthday girl?”

You nod, “Y-yes, daddy.”

Seungcheol looks impressed, crossing his arms together, he can’t help but enjoy the view. The times he imagined you looking a mess in front of him went on but no image in his head could do justice to the real thing, even if it was Chan’s dick inside you. Your sweat made your beautiful body glisten under the lamp lights, your pretty little pants endearing as they steadily leave your lips, and your messy hair so damn pullable that made his dick twitch.

“Need some help?” He offers nonchalantly.

Chan looks back at the older man for the first time, almost barking back a no, but instead takes a moment to consider and turns to you. His eyes flit back to you, holding you by your face, hips unbearably enthusiastic. “What do you say, huh, you want two cocks in you? Hmm, is that what you want?”

You choke up on your drool, tears already running down your faces as you respond in a hard nod, then proceed to be thrown back on the mattress to have Seungcheol witness your lewd form in its entirety. His hands go to the tent in his pants, palming himself anxiously. He knew you were beautiful beyond words, but there was no other beauty than the way you were almost naked. Your arms come up to your chest, shielding your stiff peaks but at the same time emphasizing the roundness of your breasts.

“W-what?” You ponder up at him, your pretty eyes looking back in a way that made Seungcheol want to scream. “I’m a mess, a-aren’t I?”

“A very pretty mess,” Seungcheol reiterates.

“Of course she is.” Chan sits beside you on the bed, pushing hair away from your face and pressing his lips to your ear, “How about you get his dick wet first, birthday girl?”

“Okay,” you answer back eagerly, trudging forward and pulling Seungcheol by his belt and carefully removing it from him.

Seungcheol gives a look of astonishment, a quick glance thrown to see pride written all over the younger man’s face before turning back to you, already pulling down his pants and exposing his cock slapping on your face.

“Wow.” You gasp, wrapping your hand around his girth, feeling his weight.

“Think you can take it, princess?”

Your heart pitter-patters at the name Seungcheol gives you and you let out a hearty ‘yes.’ Chan stays behind you, hands cupping your breasts, fondling your flesh, he becomes a little devil in your ear. “What are you waiting for then?”

You inch closer to Seungcheol, his angry tip on the center of your tongue. You drag your pink muscle over his shaft, tracing over every bulging vein, hearing him suck in his breath. Your other hand cradles his balls, kneading them lightly in your palm. When you push your head over his length, your mouth coats its surface area, feeling like a new, yet familiar world to him.

“S-shit.” His hips twitch forward, hands against his hips.

You bob down to the base, filling your cheeks and stretching your lips. He feels your saliva dribbling down his thigh, seeing the same scene happen over your chin, while your throat takes him with a gutty grit, taking all of him. When you gag slightly, having him almost pulls away in concern, but Chan takes initiative and combs through your hair, slamming you down on Seungcheol’s crotch, a shit-eating grin on his face. The older man almost doubles over, hand firmly planted on your shoulder in anguish.

“Mmh…god…that–”

“Look at you taking his dick like a perfect little slut,” Chan exclaims before mouthing over your neck, love bites adorning your soft skin, “you can’t wait to be fucking filled with cock, can’t you?”

You lacked the ability to be verbal, only vibrating a confirmation around Seungcheol’s cock, the man shuddering in the process. “Princess…”

Chan's hands snake around to your clit, rubbing it with his digits, his firm chest pressing into your sweaty back, the shaking in your body evident. “Take it deeper, slut.”

Tears burn your eyes, hands lifting to press behind Seungcheol, warming his cock in your mouth until you can’t breathe. The said man lets out his share of obscenities, his hands on either side of your head, fucking your mouth at a desperate man’s pace until he feels it swells well past its limit, “Fuck. Fuck!”

He cums hard, long, and deep. The trail of ivory slides down your throat with no warning, Seungcheol fills you to the brim, even overflowing to the corner of your lips. “So…good…”

“Shit, you lasted a lot shorter than I expected, old man.” Chan smugly grins.

The older man tries catching his breath, but not without letting the other man hear it. “Shut up…Chan.”

“How long have I been asleep?”

The voice resonates from the doorway, a barely awake Soonyoung blinks at the scene in front of him in confusion, adjusting to the change of lighting from the pitch-black living room. “Huh, what are you eating, y/n? A hoagie?”

“Oh, god.” Chan groans, bowing his head. 

Seungcheol couldn’t pull out of you soon enough, the remainder of his cum swallowed up by you in the process. You picked up the courage to be the first one to ask, “How long have you been standing there, Soonie?” 

“Not sure…wait. Are you guys having sex?”

Seungcheol pinches the bridge of his nose, visibly cringing. “Yes, Soonyoung.”

“Do you want to join,” you suggest, exchanging looks with both men already involved.

Their eyes initially express reluctance but eventually, they nod in agreement. Chan whispers an “alright,” in your ear before kissing the side of your face. Seungcheol being still very fresh to their current situation had no complaints, nor was he in the place to. They all redirect back to the intruder, and you ask him again. “Do you want to join us, Soonyoung?”

A pink tinge on his cheeks as your naked body slips from the bed gracefully, sliding down your underwear to the ground. “Join? Can I do that?”

His eyes locked on your prowess, your soft laughter sending off butterflies in his stomach as your hands crawls up to his face, stroking it endeared, “Yes, you can. Will you?”

“P-please…”

You guide him by the hand and bring him over to the bed, joining the rest. You slip the worn-out muscle tee over his head to toss it aside. Once you meet his lips, your hands run through his slept-in hair and melt against you like a dream. You were like taffy, sweet yet salty, no doubt from what he witnessed earlier, but he didn’t care. Forgetting the others around him, he pulls you in his lap, your wet cunt rubbing into his denim jeans as his hands take care of your body, collecting its warmth.

Seungcheol simply watches, running his hand down his body and stroking himself, feeling the tension build back up in cock. Chan joins him from across the bed. Licking his lips, he locks on the way your hips grind against Soonyoung’s, blood rushing towards his cheeks, wondering whether he was turned on imagining it was him or that it was genuinely fun watching.

Your bare skin meshes against Soonyoung, inhaling the stretch of alcohol and his expensive cologne etched into his skin, “Mmh…Soonie…”

“Shit,” the man moans, holding your bare ass in his hands, “I really wanted to do this. You have no idea.”

“You came at a good time too, Soonyoung. We were just about to fuck her together,” Chan doesn’t forget to mention, “She was ready to be filled up with two cocks, what’s one more?”

Soonyoung grins against your lips. “Three cocks in our pretty baby huh…I’m certainly glad I woke up.”

The men strip down to their birthday suits. Chan, taking less time than the others, utilizes this opportunity to retrieve the lube you kept in the drawer of your bedside table. Seungcheol kisses you for the first time that night, sensually stroking your back and parting your hair, while Soonyoung lips attach to your breasts, feeling your nipples grow hard on his tongue as he cradles them. It really hits you what’s happening when Chan squirts the cold lube on the center of your folds, rubbing it between his fingers, up in your warmth, before sliding down to prep your other entrance. 

His middle finger carefully tests the entryway, teasing the outer edge, before the lube lets him slide in and adjusts to your grip. Your moans were hard to suppress when he playfully slid them in and out and shot them deeper inside when you ask for more, to which he can’t help but laugh. “Cute little slut, taking it up your ass so well for us.”

He tucks in another digit, curling it inside you, ramming it, and preparing you for every opportunity.

You flex your fingers and toes, “Please Chan, I’m r-ready.”

“Are you sure?” He teases.

“Yes, please…”

Chan obliges, letting you go with a gentle thumb to the opening. They all position themselves, having discussed it moments ahead of time. Soonyoung has his back on the bed with your back hovering inches above his chest. He fingers the hole Chan had gotten ready and made sure it was adjusted to his liking, squeegeeing the excess lube. You twitch on top of him, finally feeling the tip of his cock circle at your entrance and slowly make its way inside you. Your jaw drops open, his member suffocates between your walls.

“Christ…” Soonyoung gasps, “You feel heavenly, Y/n.”

He holds you up from the back of your knees, spreading you wide and pretty, and taking a slow, deep stroke inside you. You let out a low growl, throwing your head back, and reveling in Soonyoung’s gentle pace. “Thats…so…good…”

Chan takes care of himself with aid of the scene, spitting in his hand, and his cock grows to his touch. “You look so fucking good stretched out.”

He approaches you, falling to his knees, and buries his face in your vacant warmth, still stroking himself. He licks stripes up your core, moistening his lips, as the tip of his nose brushes against your clit. Your stomach sucks in, ecstasy enflaming your core. “Fuck, daddy…”

Chan grows only harder and devours you faster, his tenor voices aches inside you, feeding his everlasting lust. Soonyoung takes his time with you still, hands now falling to your thighs, spreading you apart for Chan’s convenience, his hips gradually ramping up the speed. 

Seungcheol is respectful in watching, only inching forward when you beckon him closer with moans on your tongue, mouth still wide and welcoming. He takes advantage of your invite, knees meeting the bed, reuniting his length with your mouth, and seeing you take him just as hard (if not harder) as before. Hands land in your hair, straining your neck but filling out of your throat, that glorious sensation coming back to Seungcheol almost immediately. “Pretty mouth…Princess…take me good, hmm..”

“That’s so hot, fuck, what the fuck?” Soonyoung was being overwhelmed in the best way possible, bouncing you harder in his lap, leaving the man with his mouth full smiling with less work to do.

Chan smacks your center fold with the tip of his fingers, feeling you flinch under his touch, and he does it again and again. 

“Daddy hurtss…but…feels good…” You can’t help you mumble with Seungcheol’s cock pressing to your lips.

“S-shit, you’re gonna make me cum in my hand,” Chan shutters, honest to his word, “bad girl, but I don’t think I can wait anymore.”

He picks himself off the ground, his cock visibly furious. He rubs your slit with the tip, landing a lash to your clit, your sound of ache music to his ears, before he parts your folds and slides inside you, joining Soonyoung. He presses your legs back, Chan rocks in you in a steady rhythm opposite to Soonyoung. “Mm, daddy’s cock with Soonie’s, l-love so…m-much…”

“Such a—ah—cockslut. T-that good, hmm? You like me fucking you with Soonyoung inside you, hmm?”

“Y-y—Mmh..”

“Say it, fucking tell me you love our cocks splitting you open.”

“I-I love your c-cocks split-t-ting me o-open.”

You clench your body in anxiously, taking both cocks the best you can, but your body can only hold back so much cum.

“Look, who’s desperate to cum?” Chan observes, “Well, you can cum all you want, we’re not stopping.”

Chan is a man of his word. Even when your hips shake sporadically in front of them all, no one's pace falters. You were filled in all ends, an eternal loop of euphoria, the pleasant ache of your muscles easily manageable as long as you don’t lose this sensation. 

Seungcheol ruts your mouth with his eyes shut, only hearing the work your mouth puts in and pulls out when feels you’ve had enough. Your slobber prints your cheeks, a tired look in your eyes, but a manic smile on your face. He wipes some saliva away with his thumb, pressing a sweet kiss to your lips. “I’ll be sure to be slow at first, okay?”

Heart racing, you nod at his message, eyes drifting to see him place himself between you and Chan. Knees planted in the mattress beside either side of Soonyoung, he eases his length in your entrance on top of Chan’s, and unearthly sound follows coming from all around. Not a dry eye in the room, Seungcheol takes your calves and pressed them against his shoulders, squeezing with Chan in an uneven rhythm. 

“FUCK!” He bites into your leg, muffling his groans, filling you deep, “take me too, you can handle it. I believe in you.”

You scream in pleasure, your holes being fucked and filled, nodding your head forth and back. “Fuck, yes, like that, please…so full…”

The way it feels like everything at once, you can help but be overfilled with pride. You couldn’t describe in words how it felt, only process the event enough to scream and moan.

“That’s it, take us. Never have three cocks fuck your hole like this,” Chan points out through his sweaty pants.

Soonyoung simply groans deeply in your ear, snaking his hand over your clit, pinching the slick skin, your moans only growing louder and louder, and he then sticks his digits in your moisture, as if you were full enough. “You’re so talented, Y/n. Should’ve fucked you sooner…”

The sounds echoing in the room were like a broken record, waves of euphoria played over and over. It didn’t matter how long it took or how many positions were involved, you felt your heart rate taking ups and downs up they eventually grew tired.

“I’m gonna cum in you, that okay,” Seungcheol requests.

“Y-yes, d-daddy…” A blush deepens the surface of Seungcheol’s cheeks upon hearing that.

On the other hand, hearing his title being misused, Chan gets ticked off. He fuck harder with remorse, reminding you only one person can hold such a title, all while Seungcheol drops his load inside, coating you in snow white, grunting in you as his full length pushed the cum deep inside you until he finally pulls away. You open your mouth again, nonverbally asking to finish him off where he has before and he lets you, stroking what's left against your tongue.

Soonyoung follows soon after, his hips losing patience, “C-cum, in your ass, baby?” 

“Yes, please, Soonyoung…” You answer sweetly and he wastes no time, holding his cum deep in your ass after shooting hot cum in your backside until it’s dripping out of the edge.

“Good little cumslut, should I give you my gift too?”

Chan doesn’t even let you answer, encouraged by your startled, shrieks. Finally, his cum spurts from his cock, mixing itself with Seungcheol remnants and pulling out to spray on your torso and fall against your flushed skin, showing you once again he never planned on giving you any mercy. You fall limp against the mattress, ivory honey trailing on your chest, stomach, cunt, and ass. The two of the older men lay beside you, fatigued as you were. Chan tears away from the scene at the moment to come back with wet towels. He tosses one to each of the men before coming to sit at the edge of your feet, wiping away the mess like he always does.

“Should’ve let you lick it up, but fuck it. It’s your birthday,” Chan jesters with a soft grin.

“I would’ve enjoyed it though,” you butt in.

He rolls his eyes, “Yeah, but I like taking care of you.”

Soonyoung and Seungcheol grin upon hearing that, finding their younger friend endearing even after such an unfathomable event, both glancing to see you smile at his words. The intimacy piques both men’s curiosity, erupting all kinds of questions.

Seungcheol shifts his gaze from both you and Chan, smiling knowingly, “You two do this a lot?” 

“And you've been hiding this from us for how long?” Soonyoung chimes in with a cheeky grin, ready to tease you both.

“How did this even happen?”

“Chan’s meaner than I thought, Y/n, did you know that? Is that what you like about him?”

“Chan? Chan? When I lived next door?”

“Seriously, how long was I asleep?”

“I’ve never cummed so much in my life. How the fucked did you do that?”

“Can you guys call me about the next orgy?”

The opposing duo laughs, finding the situation amusing already. Chan squeezes himself between you and Seungcheol, nuzzling his face in your neck as he cuddles you, “Well, ‘buddy’ are you gonna answer their questions?”

You roll your eyes and clear your throat, taking your time in answering, still breathless, “I’m definitely calling you both over again.”

[contentloadingandstuff]

Smut Headcanons - Signora & Arlecchino

A/N: The smut version of the spooky Halloween special. If evil, why hot? CW: Unhealthy/toxic relationships, Arlecchino being scary, manipulation, conditioning, hard femdom, humiliation, degradation, collars, pegging, cbt, estim.

For Signora, power is the name of the game. 

She can safely consider herself one of the most powerful politicians of the Fatui, meaning she has thousands of men underneath her in the hierarchy. But controlling one, so very handsome, so privately? It's far, far more exciting than any kind of malicious trick she can pull on her underlings. 

It's obvious who is in power here. La Signora, The Fair Lady, being a pleasure toy for a man? Simply unthinkable.

To keep this dynamic in mind, you'll always be naked during playtime, while she will be clothed (to a reasonable degree of course). Her outfit usually includes her favorite, very expensive fur stole, a delicate and slightly tight lingerie bra to hold up her massive tits, and a pair of panties - all of them the darkest shade of black, of course. It perfectly contrasts with her fair skin, and when one size too small, it makes your male brain melt at the sight of those curves. 

Another piece of clothing she's fond of are her long, black, silk gloves. They are very thin, enough so that you can feel the warmth of her hands, but not the softness of her skin. And they stay on at all times. Did you seriously think she would touch your dirty cock with her bare hands?

And don't you dare cum on her, or any piece of her clothing. You are permitted to spill your filth only on yourself or the floor. If you fail to follow this simple instruction, you will find yourself liking your own seed clean. 

Signora prefers you naked, but she gladly puts a collar around your neck. She tightens it to give you a reminder of who you belong to, and adds a leash for some extra power over you.

Signora enjoys a good dose of bullying, and she has many interesting ways of making you tremble with embarrassment before her. 

The main one is depriving you of pussy. Sure, you get it during 'normal' sex, when either of you are too tired, or just not in the mood to do the standard routine, but it's generally a reward. 

She likes to see you desperate, so expect to be offered a hard aphrodisiac before the session begins. That, in connection with edging or a short chastity term, brings out the most desperate, painfully horny male she so likes to observe. 

Since her slit is a reward, most of the time you'll get a fleshlight instead. She'll watch, mouth agape, blushed with fingers knuckle deep in her cunt as you fuck the rubber pussy, whining and moaning so pathetically. Sometimes, when Signora feels the need to humiliate you even more than usual, she will make you fuck the fleshlight right on top of her pussy. The face you pull, knowing that her warm, wet hole is right there and still being unable to fuck it, is priceless. 

If Signora feels especially nasty, she will give you just a pillow to satisfy yourself. Watching you hump it, whining and cringing at your own desperation, gives her the strongest orgasms.

Although she enjoys some real cock every now and then, The Fair Lady doesn't care that much about having normal sex. She's far more into fulfilling her own kinks, which gives her the sort of pleasure fucking can't compare to. 

Why even ask for that when her paizuri skills are the best in all of Teyvat? If you behave, you'll finally see that tight bra dropped, and your dick buried in those amazing, fat globes. Signiora knows what she's doing - she'll be using lube and breaking up the standard stroking with some creative techniques that absolutely short circuit your brain with pleasure. A reward must be as thorough as a punishment, so Signora will edge you - not right to the edge so it doesn't feel disappointing when she stops - but more than enough to significantly prolong the experience. 

Should you moan and beg nicely enough while fucking the rubber pussy or dry humping, she might even give you a hand in getting yourself off. Signora may be a quiet woman, but she enjoys when her sub is loud. And she will make you moan if you're naturally quiet. 

She has her techniques. The main thing is to enhance the pleasure. Chastity, edging or drugs all do a great job in making you desperate, and thus more sensitive. She will order you to moan then, and after enough such training, your brain will make the right connections, making you moan naturally. She will train you as long as it is necessary.

But what if you don't listen to her orders? You cum when and where she didn't ask you to, or don't moan enough? Well, the punishments are rough and quite difficult to endure.

Signora has an affinity for hurting others, and it shows. Of course, you won't be hurt in an unfun way. You'll give her the limits, and she will make the most out of them.

The simplest way to hurt a man is to target his balls. It's a low hanging fruit, yes, but it gets her soaking wet when you tremble in her hands. She prefers the more refined way to deliver your torment - slapping, squeezing, or especially using her heels to make you cry.

Pegging is a punishment with her. After a rough fingering as prep time, you will be made to get on your hands and knees and take her studded cock. She's quite good at it - her hips work amazingly, having the dummy cock pleasure your prostate with every thrust, making you moan and whine at the relentless stimulation. Too bad, as Signora loves to humiliate you while pegging, especially if you cum. 

"You call yourself a man, cumming from just being fucked in the ass? You really are pathetic~" 

And then she'll fuck you post orgasm, just to hear you whine and beg even more. 

Her Delusion isn't off limits either. Cooling down her finger and dragging it over your exposed, oh so sensitive head brings out the most pitiful, sexiest noises from you.

Extra enjoyment (for her) comes from spanking you. Painting your ass red with a cane or a whip, forcing you to moan, groan and whimper satisfies her sadistic side quite thoroughly, and gives you a painful reminder of the consequences of disobeying her.

Expect your hands to be tied during punishment. She loves to see you struggle against the bonds when she works on you, but would rather not be interrupted while administering the torture. 

Signora will take great care to respect your limits. If she didn't, you would surely deny her all the freedom to do what she wants with you, losing her a very entertaining toy. 

Oh, and because she loves you. That too. 

For an onlooker, being with Arlecchino might look fairly normal, all things considered. Most of the time it's just vanilla sex with, surprisingly, her being the bottom. 

But all of that? Just because she trained you so well.

She admires your masculinity, she really does. Your stoic approach to life makes you a pillar she can rely on, both emotionally and professionally, and your body never fails to set hers ablaze. 

That's precisely why she does all of this. She loves your masculinity, she loves you. The Knave wants you all to herself, she wants you to be at her beck and call, she wants to control this strength, to have it satisfy her urges whenever she wants to. 

Control. This is what she desires. Control not only over your soul, but over your body as well. 

Arlecchino made this clear when you first got to this level of intimacy. And, quite foolishly, you agreed. But, really, how could you have resisted her unnatural, demonic allure?

Ordering you around wasn't enough for her. And so, she trained you to cum on command.

It took a lot of training, true, but for her? It was all worth it. She would pleasure you with a sleeve, and give you a countdown. If you finished at her mark, she would praise you and give you a fulfilling orgasm - certainly those were some of the best ever.

If you came too early, she would ruin your orgasm and lock your dick in chastity for the rest of the day. The pent up lust would be enough of an encouragement to do better next time. 

The punishment for being too late was far worse. Instead of denying you, Arlecchino would force you to cum. And then one more time. And one more. And once more. And again, until you were crying, begging her to stop with tears in your eyes. 

Enough said, after more than a dozen of such 'tough love' training sessions, your cock adjusted to her pace and you were able to cum whenever she told you to. This allows you to experience simultaneous orgasms, which are absolutely breathtaking. So, maybe this journey, filled with denial and post orgasm torture, was worth it…?

Another of her ideas was to control when you get hard. Believing that direct, harsh punishments for not meeting her expectations were more effective than words, Arlecchino connected an electrode to your nut sack and got to experimenting. 

She wanted to see if she can condition you to harden only to her. She used the prettiest courtesans money could buy, and zapped your balls if you did get excited. 

This was not a fun time. 

Even if the experiment didn't succeed, she did manage to teach you to control your arousal more. So much so that you couldn't resist only direct stimulation, but always got hard at her own slightest suggestion. A great achievement, if you ask her. 

Sometimes you fail to do precisely what she wants, or maybe even playfully stand up to her. In such cases, Arlecchino will be sure to administer a swift and severe punishment, always including your balls. It's the simplest way. Your lustful, male mind will get the message if she hurts your precious little jewels.

The torture includes squeezing them, pressing them between her two fingers with metal claws on, standing on them with the nails of her heels or, most terribly, crushing them with a toy. 

Just to keep things interesting, Arlecchino regularly switches up the torture device. Once it is two flat glass panes, sometimes it's a narrow, workshop press, and sometimes it's spiked. 

Although seeing you in pain doesn't bring her satisfaction, the way your whole body acts when she is punishing you is very… arousing. When the crusher is on, Arlecchino likes to sit over you, passionately making out with you. It's a little one-sided, as kissing her is notably difficult when your vulnerable balls are being pressed so tightly they turn white, but it never bothers her. More - it turns her on even more when your lips tremble, your body shivers or your speech becomes a flurry of pleas and cries. 

The mix of fear and arousal is what rings her bells. She tends to randomly bite your dick while giving blowjobs - not hard to actually hurt you, but her teeth are sharp enough to really make you feel it. It doesn't help that her tongue is just as agile as she is eloquent. Arlecchino loves to take your cock in her mouth and look you straight in the eyes, see the mix of fear and arousal, and feel your hot length throb in confusion. 

When you'll be trained to a satisfactory degree, Arlecchino will go back to more vanilla sessions. You might be the top, but make no mistake - she is the one in charge. Just one word from her is enough to make you change holes or positions, and a short countdown never fails to force your body to climax. You also know well not to do certain things - spanking her or being rough when unprompted can lead to a swift and severe punishment. 

The penalties are for your own good, she says. Arlecchino claims that she doesn't enjoy hurting you, and that the torture is as painful to her as it is to you. Still, her moans and the speed at which she fingers herself while you suffer paint a different picture. 

The majority of these sessions are fun to some degree, but sometimes Arlecchino can be very cruel. Can you say no? Well, in theory - yes. But is it a good idea to refuse her? Even if she claims she will be okay with that, you still have the stories in mind. Stories about how even her favorite subordinates could be sacked after one single failure, and vanish without a trace in the following weeks. She claims you're her first lover, but you can't for the life of you find proof for that statement. Nobody wants to utter a word about her previous lovers, even if a large bribe is on the table. The Knave did kill in the past, and with her own hands at that. Who says her previous interests couldn't be the targets of her wrath?

What's worse is that you're enthralled by her, emotionally and physically. This woman, a constant uncertainty of intentions, has you by the balls - both literally and figuratively.

Maybe it's better, then, to focus on the good, grit your teeth, open your legs and let her have her amusement.

🎃Happy Halloween!🎃

[victoria-grimesss]

Hello! I was reading what you are okay with to write and I noticed that included angst and self harm? I know that's a heavy topic, but if you're still okay with that, could I request Gale and Astarion finding out their fem Tav (separate please) has self harm scars? I have my own and this game is currently my comfort. Thank you

masterlist

->Pairing: Gale x Fem!Tav, Astarion x Fem!Tav ->Warning: Trigger Warning for talk of self harm/suicidal thoughts. Please do not read if you are not comfortable with these topics. And if you ever are going through anything please reach out to someone, you matter and are loved :) My inbox is always open. ->A/N: Some game spoilers. I wanted to use both character's stories to really connect them to Tav. I hope this is something like you wanted!!

->Astarion:

He had been troubled since opening up to you about Cazador. You never did mention the scars on his back after your first night together but he saw your lingering stare. He wondered what you thought. He never really cared about what others thought about him until you. Others were always just pawns to be played, what could he gain from them? How could he get them back to Cazador easily? But you ruined his whole plan, he didn't like how mushy he felt around you. How his walls were coming down and he didn't know how to handle it. So he turned his back on you, becoming shorter and more distant. Trying to build the wall between you two back up.

--

Everyone was asleep by the time you had wrapped up your night and approached his tent. He was staring at the symbol on the ground, the marks on his back you had so kindly drawn into the dirt. The scowl on his face was evident.

"It's repulsive, isn't it?"

You cross your arms, sympathy blooming in your chest.

"I find no part of you repulsive Astarion. This being one of them."

You point to the ground. He scoffs, his eyes rolling before he huffs and sits before the marking.

"May I sit with you for a while?"

"I suppose."

You join him on the rug adorned right outside his tent, it's a tense silence. You're not quite sure what to say. Of how to approach this.

"We'll figure out what it means, I promise." You place a hand over his in a way to comfort him. He pulls back, if eyes could burn that dirt would be lit-aflame by now.

"And what good will figuring it out mean?! It will still be there, a reminder of all the torment and years Cazador had-has a hold on me.”

“Maybe it can give you some closure, we’ll figure out what it means and we’ll take down Cazador together.”

He laughs a bit, standing and looking down at you. “I do admire your ambition darling but I don’t think you know what you’re up against. And gods even if we did kill the bastard what then? It will still be there. Taunting me, reminding me of what those 200 years held.”

You chew your lip, somehow comforting people was the hardest battle you’ve encountered.

“Your scars are a reminder of how strong you are, of what you’ve gone through and survived. They don’t define you.”

By now he’s grown frustrated, trying to maintain his suave composure and demeanor.

“Right. And what would you know about scars hm? Did you have them forcibly carved upon you while all you could do was sit there and bear it?”

“I do.”

“Oh”

He’s surprised, he certainly didn’t mean to taunt you with those words, all those times he fed on you he never saw any scars. But to be fair you were quite elusive with exposing yourself.

You clear your thoughts and urge him to sit beside you again.

“I may not understand scars being forced upon me, but I inflicted them upon myself.”

Your eyes move to your sleeve where you roll it up, your scars being shown to him, your past on full display.

“Darling, I-”

“It is fine Astarion. These scars are just a part of me. Within the darkest part of my life, I carved them, hoping they could take my pain away. But I look at them now and I see a stronger version of myself. I lived through this dark time and it shows I am stronger than my haunted past. I want you to find your strength in yours. You are more than your past. I fell in love with the man before me for who he truly is.”

“Gods you truly do speak like those romance tomes don’t you.” He speaks through a sniffle that’s masked with a laugh.

“Well, this has turned into quite the sappy night.”

He laughs but his eyes are watery, as are yours.

"Plenty of adventuring to be done tomorrow, lets go to sleep yea?"

"Yea, lets. My sweet."

--

->Gale:

What a kind man.

He was always so honest and caring towards you.

It had been a long day, grueling and never-ending. Your thoughts just yearning for any kind of rest. You slowly make your way over to Gales's tent, he's propped up on some pillows inside reading as usual, candle-light flickering, painting the walls of the tent with shadows. His eyes light up seeing you there.

"Hello, my love what a pleasure seeing you tonight."

You smile and he pats the spot next to him, you oblige and lay next to him, his tent smells of old books and tea leaves. It's instantly soothing, you study him in the low light. How the veins from the orb move and weave around his chest, lightly dancing around his cheekbone.

"I can feel you staring." He looks at you from the side of his eyes, a smirk just barely there. You hum lightly,

"Just admiring you." He traces your eyes back to the orb, then refocuses on the book.

"Does it bother you, it being there forever?" You ask quietly.

He closes the book and sits up more, full focus on you.

"I mean, seeing how the route I plan to take will keep it there forever I have.. made my peace with it. Although your generosity with those magical items certainly makes it easier. I do owe you that much. Why do you ask darling?"

You grow quiet, nerves playing with you.

"I just, sometimes I wonder if I will grow comfortable with mine as you are with yours."

He seems to understand the gravity of your words.

"Oh Y/N."

He grasps your hand before placing a kiss on the back of it,

"I may not be able to make you comfortable with yourself or your scars but I assure you, you are everything one could want and more. I assure you I see the most beautiful woman in front of me and nothing in your past or present could ever change that."

Your free hand comes to cup his cheek, pressing your lips to the other one.

"Promise?"

"My lady, you have my word."

[wayfayrr]

This fic was originally inspired by the song Kerosene by tart, as it fits got the strong vibe of a yandere needing more in my opinion and I would recommend listening to it while reading <3 but eventually it spiralled into a full on self-aware sky x reader

And with that tone, they ask me 'If I'm ready…'  

Impatiently asking me to throw away my entire life for them, to cast aside everything I've ever known for the chance, the meagre chance, to stay in Hyrule. To join their duet of death, a fight that seems never-ending.

With only Sky offering me an alternate way, offering instead something more valuable than his own life to me. The offer to follow me, of his own regard instead of a twisted love demanding it of me. 

Yet, still sitting here with Sky has its own charm to it. I don't feel pressured to talk or do anything unlike how it can get with the others at times.

"You know my dove, with a touch of your life I was filled with envy… The fact that I haven't been able to live with you, know you longer than I have. I scare myself sometimes."

His chuckle wasn't as reassuring as he would thought it should be if he were trying to be reassuring to me. He could just be nervous after what he simply just admitted to. I know I would be.

"How would you scare yourself with that Sky..?"

"..."

"... I don't - It's just - I… Sometimes I uh- have thoughts. This really isn't easy to say."

Why is he looking at me like I should already know what he’s talking about like he’s going on about an inside joke? 

“It was a catastrophe, as a result of your sanguine vanity. Your confidence that everything was just a game, when you really knew better didn’t you?”

“...Knew better? What do you mean?”

“That I could see you… that from the moment outside the academy when I was told what buttons you would need to press to control me I started to connect everything, that I was alright with you being the one who had this ability to puppet me? You knew, didn’t you? You fell in love with me at the same time didn’t you?”

“Sky I - I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Is he - No he can’t be. He couldn’t have known he was in a game. He can’t have been in love with me since then… even if he did know… He should hate me. At best, this is some broken-down mechanical love, some remnant of stray code… Oh what am I doing lying to myself, nintendo made Link as a blank slate, there would never have been any failsafe like that. Because it shouldn’t be possible for him to become self-aware.

“When I first woke up that day it was like there was this other part of me, you it was you, but it didn’t take me long to realise that you weren’t a part of me. You were you and you could control my every single action.”

“My world at that point was a plaything for you but I wouldn’t have had it any other way.  I didn’t need to eat nor sleep when you were there for me, it was like I was complete. I was blinded by looking for Zelda for so long that I wasted the time I could’ve spent just basking in you.”

“I love you more than I need to breathe because you complete me… but you don’t feel the same.”

“Because I’m just a toy to you aren’t I? Be-because you left me. You just left, you left me behind and didn’t come back.”

Everything, he knows everything. Where do I start, how do I handle this? I can’t leave him spiralling like this, it’s not fair to him. Would he even believe what I’ll tell him? Do I want to tell him? 

“Sky I’m not going to lie to you. I did see you as just a game, I didn’t know that you were a person that you were alive. But I know better now. You’re not just a toy.”

“But I was just that to you…  you - you were just like a god that was sent from above to help me in my darkest moments. I didn’t- I mean I know, I shouldn’t have been able to have known any of that but I just - I don’t - I- I don-”

Tapering off into the most heartwrenching sobs after all of that isn’t something I could ever have imagined coming from the hero of the skies. I can’t comfort him. I’m not a monster.But I’m not a god either. Even if that’s what he saw me as, even though that’s what he wants me to be.  

“Sky I’m not a god. I never was, but I do care about you, I’ve said it before and seeing as you need to hear it now more than ever. I love you Sky. The you, I’ve gotten to know over this whole thing with the shadow.”

“But I - [Name] I just -”

“I know this is a lot to go through. It must’ve been absolute torture going through all of that. Can you breathe for me? I’m here to listen to you but I can’t if you’re too stressed to speak properly.”

“I - Thank you.”

The tears staining his face are starting to dry now, leaving streaks as proof of his own sadness, ones that have too much emotion behind to have been faked. All of this has to be true, there’s too much detail on things I’ve never mentioned to him for him to be lying to me based on one thing he’s heard about my own world. Which means he’s been aware of me for so much longer than he’s let on. That he might have known me for far longer than he’s let on. There’s no safe way to ask this now though so I’ll just have to hope he brings it up on his own. 

“I first figured out that I was this character after the dream I had about demise, after I woke up, when Horwell was talking to me about the lost remlit and how he told me to press z to target him, not even calling me by my name he called me Sky. But what made it even worse is I could remember fighting demise, making up with Groose and getting the triforce yet I was back to the start and being called something different.”

“That’s when you knew? Did you realise it was me immediately or did that take longer? You don’t have to answer of course, just talk about what you’re comfortable with Link.”

His breathing is slowly evening out now, clearly his earlier panic is starting to subside. Although now I don’t have my past option of being able to move away from him anymore, not with how he’s leaned all his weight against my side in, if he wasn’t so deeply upset about all of this, what I could call a desperate attempt to keep me by him. With all of this only seemingly proved more by how he’s tangling his fingers in mine to hold my hand tightly against his chest. 

“I first knew it was you when Zelda pushed me off that landing again. Your disgust at her doing that, at her not trusting me even though you already knew it was going to happen at that point. It wasn’t until I was first in the temple with Fi that I saw you properly though. I couldn’t even spare more than a second to bask in your beauty because, well I was scared that if I acted too differently from what you expected then you would just abandon me, but I wanted too more badly than anything. What I wouldn’t have given at that time to just have been able to spare more than a simple glance at you. Who I wouldn’t have killed to get the faintest chance to simply hold you.”

“...What was that last thing you said?”

“What do you mean my dove? The fact I would’ve given anything to spare a glance at you?”

“No that other thing you said.”

“That I couldn’t act differently out of fear that you would abandon me to a lifeless world where everyone was acting like soulless husks only repeating the same line over and over and over.”

“No that very- you know what, don't worry about it.”

The last remains of his tears finally fade away now as he nuzzles himself further into my shoulder and brings up our intertwined hands to kiss my own. Drawing out the moment as long as he can, fitting as he’s spent so long pining for this very touch. What’s going unsaid here is more than enough to be unsettling now, with how overbearing his feelings are getting and how desperate and cheery he’s sounding now. It’s a terrifying combination.

“I realised pretty quickly that it was your second playthrough. That I’d missed out on basking in you because I was too focused on saving Zelda,  but now I’m done with saving. I don’t want to go back to my own world, I don’t want to go back to her with how she’s always asking for more. I wish I could’ve just crawled through the screen and into your arms instead; burn away my past but I never could. I was stuck in that damned game, watching as you were so happy with me even though I wasn’t a person to you - just a toy. I could hear all the things you were saying from you complaining about your day, to how you kept calling me your precious baby girl.”

“Oh so… you heard everything… everything I was saying?”

“Everything. From the sweeter things like when you would apologize for me getting hurt even though I would never have held it against you, to how you thought I looked good in 'that green', how you'd let me do that to you as I finished off a skulltula, even how you thought ghirahim was fatherless. By far the best things to hear were you just talking about your own life, hearing you going on about your day made me feel more real than anything else did. I could imagine myself there with you, as a real part of your life.”

The chill down my spine at that admission didn’t go unnoticed by him as he coiled tighter into my side as if he was attempting for my touch to consume him fully. Like he’s gotten a taste of this touch and he’s wanting some more, like a hit of kerosene or something sweeter. 

"I don't want to go back to how it was before [name], I can't go back to Skyloft. I don't ever want to be pulled apart from you again, because when you finished the game? it felt like nothing was worth anything any more. I'm convinced I would have been better off dead than how I was without you."

He seemed not to be fond of my stunned silence, even still he respected it, letting me have precious moments to gather my thoughts. To say what? Where would I begin with handling this? I can’t question him, he’s so fragile right now and I’m too scared to break him. Maybe just…

“I’m sorry, Sky I’m so sorry. I’m sorry that I didn’t know earlier… that I couldn't help you through all of that, that I didn't treat you like an actual person. Is there any way I could possibly make it up to you?"

If that wasn't the best worst thing to say then, I don't know what I could have said instead. Luckily he seemed to like it if how he’s burning himself further into my side is anything to go off of, proven more by the contented hum he’s let out. 

“Please, just don’t leave me again - I- I won’t hold it against you if it's not your own choice, like how the shadow brought you here to me, but I never want to have to be apart from you again. I want to go back to your own world with you, a brand new life with you is all I need.”

“I promise link, I won’t leave you of my own choice from now.”

“If anything happens so that you get torn away from me - can you start a new save on your switch?”

“What..?”

What good could that be - what if it only made things worse? What if that got rid of his memories? No. [name] you have to trust him on this. He knows so much more about it, he’s the one who’s lived this. If that’s what he thinks the right option is. Then it’s the best option.

“If you make a new save then this time - this time I won’t have to be worried about you overreacting and deleting me - I don’t know if I’ll be able to talk to you -  There has to be some way I can get out of that game and into your arms again my dove. I just know it.”

[lili863]

Hunted (pt 2)

(Part 3 coming)

An: YALL! THIS IS LONG AF. I got a bit carried away and had to make a part 3 Im sorry! It was like 10 pages, and I had to cut it short. Anyway, I hope yall enjoy. Part 3 is coming today or tmr!

Warning: None. Well maybe some mature language.

The young blonde headed slytherin stood there listening your hurried footsteps walk out of the library.

His eyes followed the wisps of your magic floating behind you before they disappeared and left traces in your wake.

He expressed his amusement with a scoff before swiping his hands over his face with a sigh and haunched over the table.

"Fuck..."

Did he he go too far?

Your whimpers rung in his ears, causing the alabaster-skinned male to fist his hands against the table, reprimanding himself for acting so distastefully. His obsession with you was hard enough to suppress every day and now that he had a taste of you, he was helpless.

He had never felt this intensely obsessed with any of the girls he had met before, whether at Hogwarts or through introductions by his parents. It's possible that you were not aware of his feelings until now, and he couldn't help but wonder what your thoughts were on the matter. Did you reciprocate his feelings? Or were you simply being polite and didn’t want to hurt him?

Ominis reminisced the moment when you wrapped your arms around his neck and whispered his name in a sultry voice. How absoulutly sweet you sounded. Your response was promising, and he couldn’t help but feel a sense of hope. Although he wasn’t certain if you felt the same way about him, it gave him the courage to pursue his feelings for you by agreeing to this challenge.

A challenge he knew he would win.

In some aspects of his life, Ominis was willing to use any means necessary to obtain what he desired, and you were undoubtedly at the top of that list

His nimble fingers reached up to the button of his cloak before unclasping it throwing it onto the nearby chair. Rolling up his sleeves and adjusting his tie, he knew that finding you would require some effort, even though he was skilled at tracking. He recognized that someone like you should not be underestimated.

The fair skinned male began walking, wand in hand as his boots clacked against the marble floors of the grands hall.

His eyes followed the various traces of magic some of which he recognized. Until his eyes caught the unique signature that was yours. Though it was faint, it stood out to him among everything else he observed.

With a flick of his wand, Ominis effortlessly casted an amplifying spell, creating a trail right to where you were in the castle.

"And there are you are..." the fair skinned male muttered with a smirk.

The complex trail that only he could sense led up the stairs all the way to the top. He deduced that you were probably heading up to the astronomy tower, likely in an attempt to get as far away from him as possible.

Regrettably for you, you wouldn't be able to escape very far. Ominis had no patience to let this game go on for too long. At present, all he desired was to capture you and lock you away with him in the darkest corner of the castle where no one could see you, hear you, or save you.

The possessive though had Ominis pausing in his steps and closing his eyes before rolling his head back with a deep sigh to calm his raging heart beat and control the dark thoughts creeping up in his mind. His wand twirled in his hand before his knuckles clenched around it in an iron-like grip.

He couldnt stop the quick flashes that struck through his mind, imgagining the enticing feel of gripping the smooth flesh of your plump thighs or kissing the delicate skin on your neck.

Or feel the violent racks of your body as he fucked your soaking pussy senseless.

Ominis groaned lowly pinching the bridge of nose in frustration, grateful no one could read his mind. The lewd thoughts struck him every now and then that had him running for the restroom to fix the problem they caused.

And it was all because of you.

Looking back down Ominis fixed his stormy gaze to the trail of your magical essence beforing muttering "Fuck it".

He refused to let you leave him like this any longer.

'Catch me if you can Gaunt'

Your sweet voice was the most tempting invitation Ominis had ever gotten.

And it was one he would gladly accept.

< ---------------------- >

You ushed out of the library quickly feeling breathless and disoriented as if someone had knocked the wind out of you. The memories of your encounter with Ominis kept replaying in your mind like a broken record, making it hard to focus. Thebconstrast of his gentle kisses and jolting bites sent warmth radiating down to your stomach. The way you had almost lost yourself in his embrace had you shyly hide your face behind your dark locks.

Despite your efforts to resist, at that moment, he held all the power over you. And you would be lying if you said you didn’t savor every moment of it.

You quickened your pace to move ahead quickly, noticing a few students lingering in the corners, perhaps studying or socializing one last time before retiring for the night. Your gaze then shifted to the right, where a group of students were chatting softly. However, as some of them turned to look at you, you realized how disheveled you must have appeared.

Not wanting to attract any unnecessary attention you quickly attempted to compose yourself self consciously.

To be frank, this was not how you planned your evening would go at all . You were just surprised Ominis accepted your challenge and agreed to venture out past curfew, knowing the risks involved. This behavior was unlike him, as he usually cautioned against this kind of recklessness.

However, despite your embarrassment and mixed feelings, you couldn't deny a sense of anticipation. Deep down, you were eager to witness Ominis' abilities firsthand, and had offered the challenge recklessly to provoke him without expecting him to accept.

As you ascended the stairs, you reached the portrait of the man who could often be heard playing his guitar throughout the day. However, his melodies did nothing to soothe you as you turned the corner and began to climb another flight of stairs.

" I give you my word'

His alluring promise sent shivers down your spine as you sighed in defeat and rubbed your arms to calm the bothersome bumps.The things this man did to just by uttering those simple words was a wonder. By now you realized that his words weren’t just a challenge, but also carried a hidden promise, one that you had been waiting to hear from him for years.

And Ominis seemed to have made sure you understood the implication very well. As you thought about it, you began to question if it was a good idea to be engaging like this so late in the castle where anything could happen.

Not to mention, with Ominis of all people.

Harmless was the word people often associated him with. But you knew very well that couldn't be farther from truth.

Especially at times, when you found it quite unsettling that Ominis could move around without making a sound despite being blind. His quiet steps and nimble movements were quite impressive and made you feel like a klutz in comparison.

Sebastian had mentioned on several occasions feeling frightened after glimpsing a tall, pale figure lurking in the shadows of the undercroft or elsewhere in the castle, moving with an eerie silence. And now the idea of you being pursued through the dark hallways by this figure in question was stirring up an emotion within you that you didn't experience frequently especially when it came to him.

Fear.

Since fifth year, Ominis Gaunt had been your crush. Initially, you thought it was just a passing phase, and you allowed yourself to entertain the thought for a while, as you battled against Ranrok and his followers. However, to your surprise, your feelings for Ominis did not fade away, and now, after two years, he was all you could think of. You spent time with him, sharing meals, studying together, and even sharing your aspirations, but it only made you fall deeper into the rabbit hole of your infatuation.

Initially, your interactions with Ominis were just brief glances and casual touches. What drew you to him was the way he respected and valued your opinions, and how he genuinely cared for your well-being. You admired his integrity and morals, which he kept intact despite coming from a family that prioritized power, wealth, and cruelty. Gradually, you found yourself constantly wondering if he was taking care of himself, getting enough rest, and was happy. Now, two years later, even Sebastian felt sympathy for you.

You had to quite literally threaten him to keep his mouth shut and not go prattle to Ominis about this.

You had never been able to muster the courage to confess your feelings to Ominis. How could you after building such a close friendship with him for two years? You were ready to take the next step, but was he? What if he didn’t reciprocate your feelings? What if it ruined your friendship forever? These fears had held you back for as long as you could remember, until now.

You raised your shaky hands to touch your sensitive neck, wincing at the spot where he had bitten you. You cautiously looked around, grateful that there weren’t many students around to see what was probably the most visible hickey in the world.

You realized to yourself what you needed the most right now.

A confession. Despite what happened. Otherwise, you can't bring yourself to believe it he had feelings for you. You have always been a bit of a romantic. A little pathetic, really. But you couldn't bring yourself to be together with a man, one whom you grew closer to more than anyone in your life - get away with doing this to you without a confession. A commitment.

Not that you thought Ominis was that kind of guy. But you wanted to wait. You wanted to see if he truly wanted to take this relationship to the next level. Perhaps....this is his chance. And he knows it. He just needed to find you. And tell you. Besides, if Ominis truly rises to this challenge, you weren't going to hold back anymore.

After thinking for a while, you took a deep breath moving quietly up the stairs, being cautious and keeping your senses sharp in case the caretaker were still wandering around. The candles above you flickered across the hall casting a tired and hazy ambience.

Your only plan here was to get away from Ominis as far as you could, reckoning the sightless slytherin would have trouble catching up.

Even if he could track you by mysterious means as stated by Sebastian, surely it would take him time. Perhaps you should stall for the time by reaching the farthest places you could in this castle. Astronomy tower maybe? The fact that Ominis's abilities remained a mystery to you only added to the uncertainty of where you should go.

You couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh at the irony of the situation. If it were a sighted person trying to find you, it would have been an easy game. But here you were at a complete loss over the potential fact that a blind guy could seek you out better than anyone else.

You approached another staircase, feeling the aching burn radiate down your calfs.

“For goodness sake… these stairs are be the death of me,” you muttered under your breath. Soon enough you made your way up the tower and knew you had a few more flights to climb before reaching the top. As you turned the corner, you could hear voices coming from just ahead of you.

"Paxton, thats enough, stop fooling around"!

You screeched to a halt and froze in your spot.

"What? Its not like anyones here, dont be so uptight"

Peeking from the corner you saw your worse fears come true.

Perfects.

"Just loosen up a little"

You furrowed your brow in focus, studying the two prefects before eventually fixing your gaze on the male seventh-year.

Alexander Paxton.

A 7th year slytherin whose mere presence gave you the ick.

That fraud would constantly call you out in public, opting to choose the title the school unofficially bestowed you with after taking down Ranrok in your fifth year, which did nothing but embaress in public.

The shady antics of his contstantly reminded you of rookwood.

There seemed to be no shortage of people like him in the world, and it was disheartening to see more and more of them appear. Despite your victory over Rookwood, individuals like Paxton seemed to diminish the significance of your accomplishment.

Ominis on the other hand loathed him. Rightfully so. And while you tried to be nice to his obvious flattery, Ominis would always find you and drag you away after exchanging some unpleasant words with the boy.

After a while even you couldnt handle it anymore.

The unidentified female prefect sat on the staircase with a look of concern, the location where you had intended to run to, while Paxton stood in front of her.

You frantically scanned the area, searching for an alternative route to avoid going back down the stairs, but your options were limited, and the stairs remained the most efficient path to your destination.

Whipping out his wand, Paxton suddenly casted levioso on the girls glasses, raising it up in the air with a playful grin before the girl jumped up with a gasp.

"Hey"! She yelled

"Paxton, give me my glasses back, this is not funny"!

He chuckled in response and kept stepping away from her as she jumped to grab them. He only continued to raise them higher as you witnessed the scene quietly.

"Oh come on Bailey, you could do better then that"

The girl named Bailey huffed frustrated before giving chase to the boy in an attempt to get her glasses back.

You noticed them stepping out into the hallway to the right until they were fully out of sight.

Now was your chance!

Not wanting to dither, you jumped up from your crouching postion and bolted towards stairs when your sweaty hands suddenly lost grip of your wand.

The wood swiftly slipped out of your hand and fell to the floor with a thud loud enough to echo through the room.

Your steps faltered at you looked back at the wood in trepidation before quickly glancing down the hallway.

"What was that?" Paxton exclaims in the distance.

Shit.

With seconds to spare, you dived for your wand and ran behind the staircase in the corner.

'Damn it! You only had one job, that was your chance '!

You felt bitter disappointment before worry slowly crept in at the sound of the prefects running across the hallway. You fumbled with your wand and cast a disillusionment spell on yourself

You observe the two prefects hurrying to the scene and looking around catiously

"You dont think it could have been a student right"? You hear the girl ask.

The dark haired male glanced around and shook his head rather confidently.

"If it is, I swear I'll catch them and drag their arse straight back to Professor Sharp."

Paxton's insipid voice made your eyes roll so far back into your head you almost fell off balance.

What a tool.

You questioned why up until this point you never once pointed your wand at him and taught him a lesson.

Thanks to the dim lighting, your corner was pretty dark and effectively hid your disillusionement well.

"Shouldn't we look around?"

You became alert and stood up straight, attempting to blend into the wall behind you, upon hearing the girl's suggestion.

Paxton scoffed at the question.

"Bailey, I assure l would know. My abilities have been praised even by Professor Sharp. Nothing can escape my notice. "

Your hands flew to your mouth to suppress a snort at his absurd lies. You knew fully well Sharp despises him, and he wouldn't know it even if Sharp gave him detention to his face 4 times a week. The girl, on the other hand, was pretty naive since she seemed to believe everything he was saying. She nodded at his reassurance and reached for her glasses in his hands.

"Okay, if you could please-"

He cut her response off by dodging her hands to put the glasses on himself. It looked like Paxton hadn't had his fill of being an arse yet. With the glasses on, the dark-haired male began to stumble with a shocked face.

He looked like an idiot, but you didnt have the luxury of telling that to his face right now.

"Bloody hell! How can you see in these?! Are you sure your not blind"?

You frowned at his comment, observing the girl obviously blushing in embarrassment, a tinge of annyance in her face.

"Paxton..please. Just give me back my glasses. I need them" the girl pleaded in defeat.

The male only clicked his tongue in annoyance at her response. "Relax, Bailey. Its not like I am gonna break them. You'd probably be useless without them and we cant have that can we"?

You gaped at the male and his disgraceful behavior. The demure girl only stood there and took it as if she was used to these comments already.

"You'd probably get right along with that Blind sytherin kid"

"You mean Ominis Gaunt"? The girl timidly asked.

Your breath hitched.

Paxton face soured at the mention of his name. "Yeah. That weird kid with the foggy eyes and a sharp tongue" He took off the glasses and toyed with it still not giving it back to her. "Hes quite the annoying git, if I say so myself"

Your face darkened upon hearing his remark. You always found that you had absolutely no tolerance when it came to people's crude jokes and comments about Ominis.

Unlike Ominis you never had the paitence to deal with it without breaking a nose or two, so the struggle to contain yourself was real.

Bailey frowned, seemly uncomfortable.

"He's always trying to hang around Y/N"

Your furrowed eyebrows and listen attentively at the mention of your name.

Paxton's eyes observed the girl from where you stood before a mischievous grin appeared on his face.

"As her boyfirend it just bothers me too much you know"

You let those words sink in for a few seconds before your face fell and your jaw dropped.

Did you hear that right?!

"Y/N is your girlfirend"?! Bailey excliamed as if she couldnt believe it herself.

Paxton grin widened at her reaction, seemly enjoying the attention his statement gave.

"Why yes she is. Though I would appreciate if you could keep it a secret. She's a bit popular in this school so all she wants is to keep things a bit quiet"

You blinked rapidly in shock, wondering if you had temporary amnesia or something, because you couldn’t recall ever having a boyfriend, let alone agreeing to court this incompetent guy.”

Your hand squeezed your wand until your knuckles turned white.

"...She wants to..keep things quiet? Does anyone besides me know? What about her firends Sebastian and Ominis? They were ok with it"? Bailey's vaild question had even you perked up ready for the answer.

But Paxton face darkened at her hesitance to believe him. He stepped forward and flung the glasses back to the girl, which she just barely caught with a yelp.

"Why does that matter" his tone dropped, and suddenly, the tension in the air thickened.

Bailey immediately noticed the change in behavior before instinctively stepping back. "No! No. I just - I said that because I thought-"

"You thought what?" he spat, interrupting the poor girl.

Ominis was right. You should have never given him the time of day. Becauee now the poor boy's having deranged delusions and taking it out in innocent girls like her.

Thats it.

As much as you wanted to finish this game with Ominis, you couldn't hold back anymore. To hell with the detention you would get, it would be well worth it to see this wanker on his knees with begging for mercy.

Before you could step out from the shadows, a third voice suddenly rang throughout the room, stopping you in your tracks.

"That's the most ludicrous lie I've ever heard"

Your heart dropped to stomach. The prefects quickly turned around to face the voice with alarm.

No way....

A tall, pale figure approach the prefects. The suddenness of his appearance seemed to catch both you and the prefects off guard.

A small smirk pulled at the young man's face before his smooth voice pulled you back from the shock "Hello Paxton".

The male prefect scowled at the figure before he slowly approached him.

"Well, well look who it is. Your certainly a sight for a sore eyes Gaunt" .

You felt a panic quickly set in.

'How did he find you'?! 'How was he here'?!

Ominis stood in front of the boy amused, his small smile never reaching his eyes, "Fortunately I can't say the same"

Bailry immediately interjected after a couple of moments. "You shouldn't be here, Gaunt. It's past curefew. I am going to have to take you in to Professor Sharp-"

Suddenly, Paxton finger flew to her face, a gesture that told her to close her mouth with balant disrespect.

"Let me handle this prick," Paxton commaned, still keeping his eyes on the slytherin.

Bailey look of shock quickly dissipated to one of bitterness, which Paxton didn't bother to care for as he stood right in front of your nightmare.

Thr girl quickly turned around and walked away leaving only you three in this hallway.

You couldn't even have the time to sympathise with the young girl with he stood across the room casting a menacing presence.

Ominis Gaunt. The blind boy, really did track you down all the way across the castle in record speed. And you didn't have clue in how he did it as you were overcome with curiosity. If Ominis had truly found you by some means, it meant he was not only an exceptionally skilled wizard but also not as blind as many people believed.

As of this moment, there wasn't much you could do. You couldn't let the Paxton find you here and Ominis..well, you didn't know what he had planned.

For all you know he could be dragged to Professor Sharp right now for staying out past curfew.

"Don't try to act superior, Gaunt. Just remember that your name holds no significance to me." The dark-haired boy spat.

Ominis on the other hand stood right in front of him, a few inches taller then the prefect. His eyesbrows furrowed at Paxton comment with a scoff.

"My name shouldn't even be heard from your mouth, Paxton. You sully it". His biting tone had the prefect's face harden before he stepped in closer as a means to intimidate.

The young Gaunt it seemed would have none of it, though.

" I didn’t expect you to sink any lower, but you’ve managed to surpass my expectations. What makes you think you can claim Y/N as your own? Wake up, Paxton" Ominis emphasized with sudden snap of his fingers making the caught off gaurd prefect flinch.

"I'm afraid your delusions have crossed a boundary which I have not the slightest bit of tolerance for"

Ominis’ biting remarks penetrated through the façade of the prefect’s conceit, leaving him visibly humiliated.

" The only delusional one here is gaunt. Do you really think Y/N would rather go for a useless blind-"

Your body lurched foward violently determined to put the dereanged jerk back in his place when suddenly Ominis wand flew to Paxton's throat quicker than you could blink.

Paxton's body recoiled in response to the sudden movement, and his previously tough expression was quickly replaced with one of fear.

If looks could kill, the young prefect would have been lifeless at this point. The menacing look on Ominis face sent even you taking a step back before a venomous tone seeped out the gaunt's lips.

"Y/N is not yours to speak of, name of, or to even think of"

His head ducked lower to reach the Prefect ears before he continued "And if I ever catch you spreading such atrocious lies again, then I will happily make sure that you and your entire family suffer a fate worse than death. I will ensure that your name is forgotten, your legacy is tarnished, and your very existence is erased from the face of this earth and buried 6 feet deep before her name even escapes your lips again. You've exhausted my paitence, but know that even in this moment, as I endure your insufferable idiocy, this is me being generous. "

Ominis was at this breaking point with the irritating prefect. If he knew you weren't in the room with them at this moment, he wouldn't have hesitated breaking every bone in his body and nail him to the wall for every person to witness in the morning. The darkness within Ominis tempted him to act on his violent impulses, but he managed to reign in his emotions with the shred of self-control that he desperately clung to.

The way Paxton's face dropped was momentous before it morphed to one of horror at the Gaunt's terrifying threat.

"Y-you can't do this?! I- I am a prefect!" The crack in Paxton's stuttering tone caused Ominis to scoff, thoroughly entertained by how easily the facade of bravado and intimidation had crumbled.

'At least the twat got the message' Ominis thought. He was ready to retort to Paxton’s fragile threat, when suddenly the wisps of your magical aura caught his senses, whisking him away from this irritating encounter. The darkness within him immediately replaced by an intense desire to seek you out.

The traces were still fresh after you casted that disillusionement spell.

Ominis didnt even need to amplify it after his senses practically vibrated afterwards, which was actually what led the young Gaunt right to where you were unbeknownst to you.

His sharp gaze darted back and forth and started following the traces across the room. At that moment, all that mattered to him was finding you and getting you out of there.

The harsh words that escaped the young gaunts lips left you still, almost feeling bad for paxton before you caught his sudden distraction from the conversation. His ghostly eyes scanned every inch of the room with a calculating gaze.

'What were his eyes following..'?

You had already noticed this behavior in him before, back in the library. It was peculiar, the way he seemed to focus intently on your surroundings, as if he could discern something that you couldn't. It was obvious that his gaze was purposeful, but you were oblivious at what he was looking at.

Ominis sensed you were close as the little clusters of your magic became bigger and brighter.

Your quivering hands were placed over your chest, and you couldn't determine if it was a feeble effort to mask the sound of your fast-pounding heart or to ease the nervousness growing inside you.

Somehow, his gaze that was getting closer and closer to where you stood in your corner was way too eerie for your liking.

You were hesitant to acknowledge the possibility, considering how improbable it was, but it appeared as though he was actively seeking you out. It was as if he was already aware of your presence.

His piercing eyes finally zeroed in to where you stood with bated breath. And now, in amazment, you found yourself looking directly at the blind slytherin. You audibly gulped with wide eyes before your breathless state compelled you to take a deep breath.

'No...it cant be'..

Ominis tilted his head, catching the faint sounds with his unnaturally sharp hearing. A vicious smirk twisted his lips, sending shivers down your spine.

You let out a sudden gasp, your back pressing against the wall as if trying to melt into it, desperate to silence any other sounds that may give you away. Your stomach churned with fear, and yet, a sickening warmth spread through your body, betraying the inexplicable terror that had taken hold of you."

The realization hit you like a ton of bricks - Ominis had found you. And what’s more, he had managed to do so with a place where even those with normal sight would not have been able to. A rush of fear and desire coursed through your body, causing you to tightly clench your legs together as a pool of heat gathered between them. His gaze was like a searing brand on your skin, making you feel exposed and helpless. And then, with a barely perceptible nod of his head, Ominis confirmed that he knew you could see him.

At that moment, you were nothing more than prey to him, and he was reveling in every moment of it, right in front of a prefect who was completely unaware of what was happening.

Was he being serious? Was he trying to get both you caught?!

Ominis on the other hand could not have been more amused. You were probably shocked and he fought to contain the laugh brewing at the back of his throat. If only

You raised your wand quickly, sending a small, barely noticeable basic cast behind the perfect at one of the many non sentient paintings decorating this hall, causing tumble and shatter on the ground with a subtle noise.

Paxton jolted at the upon hearing the thunderous sound and quickly snapped his head to your right cursing under his breath.

Ominis flinched, momentarily stunned by your audacity.. His eyes found your presence again and shot a glare, slightly shaking his head as a warning to stop. He instantly understood what you were trying to do.

'Clever little witch...."

You, on the other hand, only took that as a cue to continue.

You refused to give Ominis the satisfaction of thinking he had the upper hand.The game was still on. After all he hadn't caught you yet. This wasn't a playful game of hide and seek anymore. You and Ominis both knew that all too well. But what you didn't expect was the level of intensity he was bringing to the hunt. Nevertheless, you were determined to put up a fight and not go down without a struggle.

Ominis sensed your defiance. At this point in the relationship he could read like a book through your actions alone.

As Paxton looked away, distracted by the course of events, Ominis deftly flicked his fingers. In a split second, your wand was ripped out of your hand and grasped by Ominis mid-air before he concealed it behind his back. You stood there, dumbfounded, unsure whether to be impressed or irritated by his impeccable mastery of the Accio charm that had left you defenseless. Ominis held an innocent expression, as if he wasn't the most infuriating mischievous wizard you had ever encountered.

You huffed at your wandless state you glared back at the wizard with determination. Two can play at this game.

With a swift snap of your fingers, you cast a jinx that tripped Paxton, who was still in shock from the events that just unfolded. He let out a startled yelp as he stumbled forward, colliding into Ominis and sending them both crashing to the ground in a heap.

You couldn't help the giggle that erupted from your lips as you seized the chance to escape. Quickly you emerged from your hiding spot in the corner, but your disillusionment charm failed as you made your sudden move, revealing your presence to the two boys still recovering from the fall, shock wriiten all over their faces. Paxton was the first to notice you, but you ignored him, instead turning your attention to Ominis.

"Still haven't caught me yet, Gaunt. You have 20 minutes" you challenge daringly.

Ominis crushed under the weight of Paxton body, raised an eyebrow at your challenge, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"What- Y/N!? Wait, what's going on?! " Paxton exclaimed.

Ominis wasnt going to let you escape like this. Your cleverness caught him off guard but he should have known better than to understimate how quick you can think on your feet sometimes. Ignoring his the prefect on top of him, he reached for his wand with lightning speed, determined to halt your escape.

But his efforts were cut off when Paxton suddenly grabbed his collars, preventing him from casting the spell on time. "What exactly are you two playing at here?!

Damn it.

Upon seeing the scene, you huffed out a laugh and bolted for the stairs leaving a very frustrated Ominis behind.

You just slipped through his fingers, and Ominis couldn't do anything about it. The young gaunts face twitched in irritation before becoming aware of the vicnity between him and Paxton. Ominis gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Get. off. me"

With a hard shove, Ominis didn't wait for his reply and pushed Paxton off as he landed to his right side with grunt.

Ominis quickly got up feeling repulsed and very much pissed at you for causing this little situation.

Paxton rolled over after everything finally sinked in and quickly jumped up, pointing an accusing finger towards the pissed young slytherin.

"That's it. That's fucking it! I am handing you BOTH over to professor Sharp right now-"

"Obliviate".

The tip of Ominis wand glowed brilliantly before fading and falling limply by his side. He couldn't be bothered anymore as he was fresh out of his saint like paitence.'The dark-haired male slumped before falling to the floor with a thud unconscious. Ominis patted his uniform down with a breathy laugh in disbelief. Pulling that kind of petty trick was just about the worse thing you could do because you were really in for it now.

So you wanted to play cat and mouse with him? Fine. But he wasn't going to be sweet about it.

"Tightly clutching his wand with white-knuckled fingers, Ominis spun on his heels and charged after you with newfound fervor. Your bratty behavior had ignited a fire in him that he was now obligated to extinguish. This evening was by the far the most frustrating for the young Gaunt before he quickly tried to fix the straining bulge that pressed painfully against his trousers.

You earned whatever he was about to do to you.

Ominis clicked his tongue in annoyance before making his down the stairs and fixated on your magical trace once again. He decided he would feel bad about it later. But right now, he knew you were wandless, and you would quickly learn how the gravity of that mistake.

[deltaruminations]

Following the approach that EggMan Gaster and Goner_Maker Gaster are two different shards of the fractured whole (which i do believe), how do you think him being shattered in this manner will affect the whole conflict between him and the Angel?

GOOD QUESTION this is very interesting to think about

on a symbolic level, we could guess that Tree Man, to Gaster (or Gaster as we know him, “The Voice”), is sort of what Gaster as a whole is to the Angel (or the person acting on its behalf; i’ll just use “Angel” as shorthand for both). Like mollystars pointed out in TDT3, there's an irony or maybe hypocrisy in how Gaster seeks to free deltarune from the Angel’s narrative, while insisting on some amount of compliance to his own Prophecy. Tree Man, then, is the glitch in his game (or at least one of a number of glitches lol), an ungovernable force that encourages players to behave in ways beyond what the Prophecy prescribes. in a sense, Tree Man might be the most radical distillation of Gaster's actual values – freedom, curiosity, compassion, etc. — as well as his flaws — maybe, above all, a weak sense of boundaries. Tree Man, perhaps not unlike Gaster, may just want to help. but his presence is inherently destabilizing – change is inherently destabilizing – and even Gaster, the agent of entropy, might not be comfortable having his own internal order disrupted by an interloper he didn’t invite.

resolving Gaster’s “internal” conflict, asking him to acknowledge his blind spots or “Shadow” (encompassing, among other things, the faults in his perspective and his approach), might be a prerequisite for any meaningful intervention with the Angel, because he needs to understand why the Angel is receiving his attempts to “help” as antagonization. he has to understand how he’s making the situation worse before he can try to make it better.

it makes sense to me that meaningful intervention would start with Gaster; Gaster is the one we're closer to, and as the agent of Curiosity and Freedom, the one who's constantly inviting input and feedback, it seems reasonable to say he's the one who's more receptive to, you know, re-evaluating his beliefs based on new information lol. the main hurdle might just be getting him to see and acknowledge the information to begin with. the Angel (or whoever) is the tougher nut to crack, because its entire ethos is seemingly to resist challenge, resist feedback, resist change. the Angel’s position might be that maintaining the status quo of the story is better than risking it being made worse; or, rather, its fear of a worse story matters more to it than any belief or hope it might have for a better one. and to be fair, the Weird Route is basically the ultimate confirmation that those fears have a real basis. so how do you really “help” someone who’s that afraid? i mean, you stop doing shit that scares them even more, obviously. but then what do you do? you can’t guarantee them that it will only get better, even if you do happen to believe in that. you can’t control an uncertain future any more than they can.

maybe there’s nothing more to be done than for someone to just meet them where they’re at, in the Darkest Place, and ask them: what do you want from a better world? if i said a better world was possible, would you help me make it? if i said the world needed you, really needed you, would you believe me? would you take that responsibility? and if you make a mistake — when you make mistakes — if i said someone would be there to ride out the pain with you, and help you pick up the pieces, would you believe that, too?

of course, they’d need proof that such a person exists in order to believe it. and certainly there’s no character we can think of who by that point will likely have proven themself, if sometimes in flawed and clumsy ways, to be supernaturally determined, radically optimistic, infinitely patient, and stubbornly devoted to causes (and perhaps people) that matter to them, who also exists on the same metaphysical level as the Angel and might be capable of actually matching its power long enough to be able to talk to it. surely, no one like that, exists,

[freeuselandonorris]

the implications of oscar asking lando to let him drive are insane. i will keep thinking about them. like maybe he knows he's tying the noose around his neck but does he know what it means /???? AARGHHH

-🧸

YESSS i had so much fun thinking about all these horrible implications!! this is by far the darkest fic i’ve ever written in terms of the unsaid.

when i was kind of figuring it all out over whatsapp w @glasscushion i used the analogy of people who have been in abusive relationships then gravitating towards those kind of relationships in future because it’s what they know and what they interpret of love. that’s kinda how i see oscar in this fic (without being flippant about people who have been in abusive relationships!) in the sense that the only “love” he’s ever known in it is the rewards he gets from motorsport, something that requires huge amounts of pain and sacrifice and doesn’t let him have any other life outside of it. there’s hints of that where he realises his trophies would be worthless to a burglar, and the constant repetition of his routines and the way nobody ever talks to him about anything other than whether he’ll be fit to race. so when lando comes along and demands so much from him but promises some sort of love (albeit a very fucked up and manipulated kind) then oscar’s kind of predisposed to see it as a worthwhile deal.

basically oscar’s very lonely and his life is very empty in this fic, but he’s so wrapped up in racing that he doesn’t ever really acknowledge it to himself, which is what makes it easy for lando to step into that void. and lando of course can’t believe his luck, because oscar is physically incredibly fit but emotionally kind of broken — which is ideal for lando’s purposes.

i honestly don’t think oscar cares what the implications are for his life outside of racing. he knows in his heart that it’s going to be very bad, but as he sees it, the racing is the only meaningful part of his life anyway, so if he can keep that, everything else is fair game, and he’ll at least get some facsimile of companionship or love from lando (even though he’s kind of aware that lando’s at least partly bewitching him into feeling that way about him).

soooo yeah. bleak!! obviously it’s all very heightened and unrealistic but as i was writing it i was thinking about how like, oscar (and most of them tbh) struggles to name any interests outside of racing, moving to the UK at such a young age, racing with a cracked rib and not even mentioning it… there’s so much darkness in motorsport, so it was interesting to draw out some of those grim aspects and really ramp them up here.

[obxone]

Marmoris (Chapter Seven)

Edited-ish. ~1.4k words.

Master Page

The sun feels nice, warming your skin as you stretch out on the dock, humming in bliss. It feels weird to be in the Cut alone, but it also feels good to take back the reigns of your freedom more and more. You are still being careful, but you are determined to see it through. Senior year begins after this summer, and you refuse live in the shadows of your trauma any longer.

“Am I interrupting?” JJ asks, and you tip your head back to see him leaning against one of the docking posts. That cocky grin he loves to display on his face.

“Maybe.”

He chuckles a little. “Should I leave you alone then?”

“And get out of helping me,” you murmur, turning your face to the sun. “Not a chance.”

“Touché.”

He sits beside you, kicking his legs out and leaning back on the palms of his hands. A moment of silence stretches out, and you inhale deeply, willing the rays of the sun to touch the darkest corners of your mind.

“Really, I can go if you want to sunbathe.”

“Nope,” you smile and turn, sitting crisscross as you face him. “Ready to come up with a game plan?”

He frowns. “Why can’t you have Kiara help you?”

Your eyes narrow at him. “I know you know Kiara hates Sarah right now.”

“For good reason.”

You roll your eyes, picking at the splintered piece of the dock in front of you. "You probably don't even know the reason."

He smirks, you are right about that, but he is not going to admit that to you. "You think that she didn't tell her best friends the shit you guys did to her?"

“Asshole.”

He smirks before looking back out at the water.

“Why are you so mean to me?”

His tongue pokes out to mess with his scabbed-over bottom lip. “It is fun when you get riled up.”

“I’m not riled up.”

He snorts at your obvious lie, and you roll your eyes.

“You kooks are so easy to mess with.”

“And you pogues are so easy to make cry,” you quip, and he mocks a laugh.

“Want my help or not, Princess?”

You sigh, grab your phone from the dock and open your notes section. “Even with John B working for my dad, they still have limited interactions. He is always working on or around My Druthers. Then we have Topper, Scarlet, or the others monopolizing her time. So, I think the best bet is to have them around each other more and more. Maybe working towards a common goal to create that bond.”

“What goal?” He asks, eyes squinting against the sun as he looks at you. “What could they possibly have in common to have a shared goal?”

“That’s where I’m struggling.” You admit and look up at him. "It is why I wanted to brainstorm together."

He nods. “You could just tell them and make them admit their crushes.”

“Right, and Topper will just magically become her ex.”

He smirks, looking back at the water. "Fair. Pretty boy is not going to go down easy."

"Not a chance," you agree before sighing and looking at the fishing boat that passes you both on the way back to its pier. "This is going to be tougher than I thought."

He shrugs, studying you again. "Maybe you could just give up."

"Not a chance," you stare at him as you speak. "Cameron's don't just quit."

He rolls his eyes and mocks your last name with a high-pitched voice.

"I will punch you!" You narrow your eyes again with your threat. "And Rafe taught me how to hit."

JJ's eyebrows raise in surprise. "Scrappy, huh?"

"A little."

You both smile before you look away, not liking the feeling in your chest at his smile. "So, no ideas?"

"I have one, but it will never work."

"What is it?"

JJ frowns, looking at the dock. "It's a shitty idea, forget it."

"No," you reach across, fingers closing around his forearm. "I have no ideas, so your idea is already kicking my ass."

He chuckles before shrugging. "Whatever. What if we pretend to date?”

“I’m sorry, what?” You ask, head snapping up to look at him again.

“Fake being boyfriend and girlfriend until your evil master plan works.”

You gape at him. “JJ, you can’t stand me.”

He shrugs, not disagreeing, and you glare at him.

“And I’m not exactly your biggest fan.”

“Enemies to lovers, they’ll buy it.”

You quirk an eyebrow. “You think so?”

He grins. “Come on, Princess. The Cut’s bad boy and Figure 8’s perfect princess pairing together? They’ll eat it up.”

You study him before shrugging. “Fine, but we need a feasible plan, and I’d prefer a short-term one.” You open a new note section. “And we need a story on how this came about.”

“Easy,” he leans closer to you. “You could not ignore my charming personality.”

You snort and lift your head to meet his gaze, and he flashes his trademark singular dimple smile at you. You roll your eyes.

“Right, this is the dumbest thing I’ve ever agreed to.”

JJ smirks before grabbing your phone to see what you are hurriedly typing out. “I doubt that.”

“Give that back!”

“What is this?” He laughs, reading over it. “Ground rules for fake dating?” His ocean-blue eyes snap to yours. “Way to suck all the fun out of it.”

You roll your eyes and grab your phone back. “I’m protecting myself. Ward and Rose will have my head if they find out.”

“Why does it matter?” He asks, reaching for your phone again. “Am I really that bad of an option?”

“It’s not that,” you mutter and shove at his chest to create space and get your phone out of his reach. “They are just weirdly protective right now.”

“For what?” He asks, grabby movements pausing. “What did you do Princess? Break curfew?”

“Not exactly.”

His eyebrows lift. “Caught smoking pot?”

“No.”

“I’ll keep guessing until you tell me.”

You sigh before locking your phone and starting to get up. “I can finish the ground rules and story without you. I’ll send you the details.”

“You don’t have my number.”

“Kiara will give it to me. I work tonight.”

“Then I’ll just come by the Wreck,” he gets to his feet and blocks your path. “Now, do I get to know your little secret or not, Girlfriend?”

“Not, Boyfriend.”

He smirks but does not move from blocking your escape. “Tell me, or I shove you into the water right here, right now.”

“You wouldn’t!”

He reaches for you, and you slap his hands away.

“JJ!”

“Come on Princess, tell me or I'll tell everyone I got the Cameron Princess wet.” He moves closer, and you struggle between either taking a step back and getting closer to the edge or letting him touch you. “3…2…” His hands find their way around your waist.

“Fine! You win!” You scream, hands gripping his upper arms. His muscles flex under your palms as he pulls you away from the edge. “God, JJ, you are a grade A asshole.”

He grins but keeps your body nearly pressed to his. “Out with it,” he murmurs, his face mere inches from yours.

Your breath catches, and he smirks, eyes dragging down to your lips and then back up to your eyes.

“There was a boating accident last year, and they are super protective now.”

“I remember,” he murmurs, tone changing as he releases you and takes a step back. “Your boyfriend…”

“Kasey.”

“Yeah, Kasey, he died, right?”

You nod, arms crossing over your waist. “Safe to say that I’ve been in a bubble since, and I don’t think my parents would be pleased to know my first boyfriend since then is a pogue, much less you.”

JJ smirks, thumb dragging over his bottom lip. “Fine, we can follow some silly rules.”

“Good,” you nod and step around him. “Text you later?”

“I’ll see you tonight,” he says, and you slow your steps and look over your shoulder at him. He winks, a wide smirk on his face “Can’t get away that easy, Baby.”

You groan, aware that the decision you have made is probably not the best, but it will have to do. “Bye, JJ.”

“Bye, Princess.”

“Asshole!” You shout as you hit the end of the dock. His laughter carries across to you, and the tiniest of smiles teases at your lips.

(Chapter Eight)

[londonspirit]

You know what I love (and fear) the most???

ANYTHING and EVERYTHING is possible. As in any fic I've read in the past 500 sth days (and even before that in other fandoms): IT COULD JUST HAPPEN!!!

DJ's brain is just wired like that - and im pretty damn sure the rest of the writers are vibing just the same.

So any trope, any cliché, anything we could've thought of, has the OPTION to happen ON SCREEN!!! FOR US!!! OTP, OT3, orgies (I mean i wouldnt put it past them if HBO lets them...)- it's POSSIBLE!!

WHEN DID THAT EVER HAPPEN???

Normally I read (and write) to get what *I* want to happen, knowing full well it'll NEVER happen but with OFMD EVERY DAMN THING is fair game!!!

And i would not be surprised if there's some fics that predicted it!!!! This fandom is sooo fucking smart and talented - and DJ is just one of us!!! It's shit like that that makes me love the show and everyone working on it sooo much more.

Because they KNOW!!!! They just cannot disappoint us!!!

They can torture us, they can rip our hearts out and they can go and mend them just as easily but it's all from the same fucking place where all the FANart and FANfic and everyone FANmade comes from: LOVE!!! Plain and simple.

And understanding what we want and need!!! Representation for everyone. Queerness as the most normal thing in a world where people are assholes if you're not straight, white, cis... Just giving us the things everyone else has been getting for decades and making it the most natural thing!

And now im making myself tear up and wished i had people here I could hug and share this with in person. So yeah, much much love to the OFMD cast and crew for being a fucking rainbow and our North Star in the darkest of times!!!!

For doing things RIGHT!!!

[cringecompanionapologist]

Cradle of the Snake Part 2: Adventures of the Mara!Doctor

So, I took a fuckton of screenshots for this and I had to cut it to just fifteen, most of them being Turlough and the Mara!Doctor. Time to overanalyze some dialogue!

When last we left our heroes, the Doctor was fully taken over by the Mara and is now trying to spread its influence to some of the locals. The script directions try to explain what the Mara is actually doing when it possesses someone:

So, Mara!Doctor is supposed to be the dark side of the Doctor? Mara!Doctor is mostly just Obviously Evil in general, so I don't really know what this means here. Hopefully, we'll find out as we go.

Mara!Doctor tries to turn Tegan against Nyssa. This has no strategic benefit for it. The Mara is Chaotic Evil and just wants to cause more problems.

Mara!Doctor shoos Tegan away and then uses the Mark of the Snake to traumatize the cab driver. But, the cab driver's not important, so he doesn't get possessed.

The Mara specifically wants this entertainer/mad scientist named Rick to join him, but he has to get through the boy working for him, Baala. It doesn't work because Baala is special, as we'll learn later.

The Mara looks for some Darkest Dreams to close in on, but he's got nothing and has to take a break from recruiting the locals.

Meanwhile, Dadda, a sort of snakecharmer priest, uses his evil-detecting snake on the Doctor's companions to clarify that none of them are under the Mara's influence at this moment in time. Something was up with Tegan, but it's gone now, Nyssa is fine, and Turlough apparently gave Dadda some bad vibes but the snake is cool with him.

Turlough is sent to look for the Doctor, giving me something better to do than just recap the plot with a few screenshots thrown in. There's no particular reason Turlough had to be the one that left. It could've just as easily have been Tegan or Nyssa who left to search for the Doctor, so the Mara would've had to have been ready for any of them. Mara!Doctor was watching the whole snake thing at a safe distance, since the snake would sense evil on him.

I must once again emphasize that Mara!Doctor is Obviously Evil. There is something obviously wrong here. His voice and speech patterns are different. There's something really obviously "off" about him, that none of his companions seem able to immediately identify. Tegan thought he was acting weird earlier, but in a "in a bit of a bad mood" sense that was easy to dismiss. Turlough doesn't even notice that.

This leads into the reoccurring theme of temptation with the Mara. Mara!Doctor suggests that Turlough forget about Nyssa and Tegan and go have some fun at the fair instead. It's a very "Sunday School PSA" sort of temptation. "Ditch your responsibilities and go have fun instead".

The Mara!Doctor, while still being Obviously Evil and Not the Doctor, actually does manipulate Turlough here by singling him out. The Doctor's being secretive and Only Turlough Knows, because he can keep a secret, right? Turlough's not usually the trusted confidant, so this is a positive change. The Doctor trusts him. After all the Black Guardian stuff, Turlough wants to be trusted.

So, Turlough is worn down by this special attention he's getting. The Doctor wants him to be involved in Secret Business that the girls aren't in on and now they're going to spend some quality time together at the fair.

So, we're off to the fair! The Doctor wins a carnival game, but he still believes the game was rigged against him and gets upset, even though he won.

As for the Doctor's Dark Side, this feels like a petty version of the Doctor's sense of justice. This is unfair so it has to be stopped. He also brags about how clever he is. Five's one of the less arrogant Doctors, but the Doctor commenting on his own intelligence isn't exactly uncommon.

I would love to know what kind of Giant Cuddly alien animal that toy is. For some reason my own mental image of it is off an octopus. It can cuddle you back, I guess. I'm weird.

Mara!Doctor casually hands the prize off to Turlough, who doesn't act like he's carrying a giant stuffed animal throughout the rest of the story, so he most likely abandoned it somewhere. I would be mad about the stuffed animal neglect, but there's too much going on here to stop for that. I hope someone gave it a home.

Mara!Doctor looks for more problems to cause and Turlough tries to keep up. He goes on a bit of an evil rant.

Turlough's response to just being asked what he wants is interesting. "I thought this was our night on the town". Mara!Doctor asking Turlough what he wants isn't a contradiction of it being their night on the town. It could even be interpreted as "What do you want to do next?" or "Want me to buy you something?". From Mara!Doctor's tone, he clearly means it in a more "tell me all your hopes and dreams" sense, but it's still an odd response. What Turlough wants and this being their night out are correlated.

This night out, this quality time with the Doctor, was what Turlough wanted. Now he has it, but it's all wrong, because it's not really the Doctor he's out with.

Turlough falls back on having learned to accept things. And the words in context with his last line feel like "It turns out that what I want is impossible, but I'm settling for what you'll give me."

The Doctor, as himself, taught Turlough to be thankful for what he has, but this whole experience being such a let down means that the Mara!Doctor has also taught him that he's never going to get what he wants, the Doctor's trust and undivided attention, and he just accept that. At least the Doctor is part of his life.

Mara!Doctor is still in Evil Rant Mode, but the script directions here are kind of funny:

Turlough is embarrassed. You'd think he'd be scared by how obviously wrong this is, or concerned because there's something wrong with the Doctor, but he's embarrassed. The Doctor's antics are ruining their date and attracting attention from strangers.

By this point, Tegan and Nyssa, with Dadda's help, have figured out that the Doctor is possessed and Turlough's alone with him. It's quickly assumed that Turlough's been possessed too, which isn't surprising. It's not even an unfair assumption. The Mara has been going around possessing everyone with a name. Why wouldn't it possess Turlough, especially if it's already possessed the Doctor, someone Turlough would be easily persuaded by and comfortable getting close to.

The Mara hasn't possessed Turlough yet because it would actually break a pattern. The attempt to possess Nyssa through Tegan was when they were alone in their bedroom. Kerrem was possessed while alone with the Doctor in his office. The Mara doesn't seem to strike in public places. Kerrem screamed when he was possessed, so it would obviously attract attention. The entire time Mara!Doctor's been with Turlough, they've been at a crowded fairground. The Mara is waiting until they're alone...

This happens at the abandoned studio where the Mara hopes to continue its plan for world domination, just bringing Turlough along for the ride. By this point, Turlough has either realized that something's very wrong or is just done with all this bullshit and wants out.

But, in the abandoned studio, they're alone now. So the Mara can actually try to possess Turlough, which would definitely prevent him from leaving.

Turlough saw the Mark of the Snake on Tegan's arm and should know that it's associated with the Mara, but he probably never expected to see the Doctor be possessed. He's the Big Good of the universe in Turlough's mind. He protected him for the Black Guardian, basically the Devil. The Mara couldn't possibly be more powerful than that!

Turlough's "I don't know" is similar to his "well" before deciding to go to the fair. He's actually being convinced, more by the Hypnotic Evil Power of the Mara than by anything that's being said. But, it's also the Doctor offering Wealth and Power here...

But, they get interrupted and the Mara!Doctor pulls Turlough into a nearby warehouse.

Turlough is sort of tempted by the Mara's offer, even after everything else that's happened. We're also back to the double entendre with Nyssa and Tegan in part 1. They're alone together, one of them removes some of their clothing and offers the other basically whatever they want. It stood out with Nyssa and Tegan because it happened in a bedroom. It stands out here because Mara!Doctor took Turlough on a date first. So, if this was a sexual offering, Turlough would totally be up for it, but Mara!Doctor is being too rough with him. Not being a gentleman, just leading him to an abandoned building and grabbing him like that! In his "darkest dreams" it was way more romantic. Worst. Date. Ever.

Okay, I've had my fun.

Anyway, Mara!Doctor locks Turlough in a stall. He has to meet with Rick now, so he doesn't have time to possess Turlough. He can't bring non-possessed Turlough along to the meeting, because he might hinder his plans in some way. But, he can't risk Turlough escaping and tattling to Nyssa and Tegan either. So, he has to lock him up somewhere.

The Mara!Doctor hurt Turlough. Turlough thought the Doctor would never hurt him. He trusted him. This is when he starts to get really scared.

[zorciarkrildrush]

Vampire hdb

So there's two DE things I keep rotating in my mind and one of them is elaborations on What Makes The Pale Wax And Wane, because I think the game and the book give us some insight we can play with and I want to add what I think on top of it, in addition to the existing wonderful essay. This one deserves a proper writeup and I'm gleefully procrastinating.

THE OTHER ONE HOWEVER WHICH I CANNOT LEAVE UNSAID AT ALL is Vampire HDB.

To be fair it started with a more general "what if there's a vampire inner layer to the RCM not a lot of people - including within the RCM, including Harry - know about, but there's good reasons people are afraid of the cops and it's not just the usual". Harry finds out, chases increasingly offputting cases where a likely suspect is a well-placed officer, and so on.

But for the past week I've been thinking of a vampire hdb. What I'm thinking is, this is something that happened around the same time as the bender. He wakes up with a classic transformation hangover. We don't even have to decide he's magically cured of brain damage and other pains - vampirism could preserve him as he is and only prevent further injury. Another option is that the curse will heal him in all ways, even neurological, but only eventually and with enough nutrition and adequate slumber and so on.

So this lead me to several fun thoughts about the game, as a vampire Harrier:

(By the way during the course of this I'm gonna refer to we and you kind of interchangeably. It just means you or I as players of the game. This is a side effect of rambling.)

We can run around in daytime as usual. Any discomfort we experience early on is attributed to the bender, so Harry doesn't think of it as very strange. Even after the reveal, the game doesn't actively stop us from going around in sunlight and only uses narrative means to dissuade us. I'm basing this on hdb being perfectly capable of running around after getting shot in the leg (and possibly the shoulder as well) - obviously there was a gameplay consideration here but hey, this is one too. There's 2-3 other points where the game encourages walking, but ZA/UM didn't feel like mechanically punishing us for running anyway and I don't feel like it either. I feel like some narrative punishments can include skill disadvantages, Kim uneasily suggesting you open an umbrella or wear shades (a classic for hangovers!), or just take it easy in general during the daytime. Also, maybe the night doesn't cap out 02:00 anymore, and the suggestions to pack it in for the night also come later than usual. Waking up is… maybe no longer at 0730? Volition will be disappointed. Then again the vow was to do so until you die, is it really truly relevant anymore?

Obviously this affects the investigation - who knows what you really are and archly hints at it? The Smoker? Evrart? Who dismisses the concept out of hand as fantasy? Joyce? Are the cryptozoologists actually extremely skeptic of the concept, and attribute it to Harry's generally confused demeanor? Is Pryce the one who turned you, hypnotizing you to forget it before sending you to Martinaise?

Are there other vampires, or different creatures of the night around Martinaise? Can we finally meet the Mysterious Eyes, when the night is darkest?

Can we finally eat the rich? Or at least say we want to, as good socialists should, and do we distress our environment with our violence a-la roughing up the lorry driver?

I also thought of a sliding scale between the desire for humanity and morals (not to be confused with moralism) vs the vampiric instinct. Obviously this is tracked in-game via a score called good vampire / bad vampire. To me this can affect the sensitivity to anti-vampiric implements - one of the approaches I like best is that the sun is harmful to vampires not because of UV, but because it's seen as a force of celestial good and illuminates the vampire's sins, of which they are so ashamed they experience physical pain. Having to be invited into places (another hilarious narrative option) also has to do with this - the vampire wants to make their victim bring disaster upon themselves with the invitation. I was thinking as you slide further into darkness, you must become less and less ashamed of what you are. With a person like hdb, where shame is already a massive issue, I can't help but wonder how this score can manifest, and how the skills will react with various scores and in different interactions. This of course brings me to -

Skills! Let's talk skills, I've been dying to talk about the skills all day. Logic, Empathy and maybe Esprit De Corps - I want to say, these stay kind of normal to begin with, but they do suffer if you slide more and more into darkness. Rhetoric, Visual Calculus, Authority, Suggestion - these always benefit from being a vampire (unless challenged with anti-vampiric implements, maybe) Drama, Inland Empire - insanely high. Off their rocker. Drama quotes deliriously from works such as The Vampire Lestat, IE is conjuring entirely new concepts of what it means to live in the garden of savage beauty that is your mind. All the motorics are higher. That one's a given. Phys. Instrument, pain threshold, and endurance - also boosted, not much to say. Vampires are strong and fast and can tolerate much more than humans, when they aren't staked through the heart.

Finally, there are 4 more skills worth mentioning. Half Light, for all intents and purposes, is your vampiric instinct to feed. The cornered beast. It hates what it's doing, but at the same time - what it wants is survival. It has to do it. When pressed by hunger or whatever else, it will push you to kill and eat. Electrochem is also deeply vampiric. To the newly formed vampire, the world is beautiful. Scents are magnetic. The taste of fresh prey is almost carnal. It wants you to partake of everything. Permission is granted. God is in his heaven.

But there's two skills who aren't as supportive of bad vampire actions. Volition is always Harry's moral support. Volition always wants Harry to do the right thing. The more Harry tiptoes into darkness, I want to say Volition grows wearier, and sadder, and Volition checks start getting worse and worse. If there's one skill that might convince us as players to steer clear of being a total monster, it will be Volition.

And there's Shivers. I think the spirit of Revachol knows what you are. I think the spirit of Revachol loves you, as it loves everyone in Revachol, but it also knows you are a blight upon it. It will try and dissuade you. It will try to humanize whoever you stalk. It will remind you you have a part to play, much grander than this. But if you disregard it, it will have to find another champion. It will blow away, and for all intents and purposes, Harry can be abandoned entirely by it.

[taekookpassion]

The Temptation Game (Chapter 9)

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Chapter Title: Fractured Connections Content Warning: This chapter explores themes of emotional turmoil, rejection, and frustration in a romantic relationship. Small Summary: In the aftermath of a public humiliation, Jungkook grapples with his feelings for Y/N, longing for a deeper connection while facing her hesitations. Word Count: Approximately 1,000 words

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The days that followed the library incident were a haze of mixed emotions for Jungkook. He buried the humiliation deep within him, trying to act as if it didn’t bother him. But every time he caught a glimpse of the girls whispering and giggling in the cafeteria or around school, he felt the old wounds reopening.

He tried to push past it, telling himself it didn’t matter what they thought. What mattered was Y/N, and the way her smile could light up even his darkest days. Yet, every time he attempted to get closer to her, to bridge the gap between them, she pulled away.

“Jungkook, can we just take it slow?” she would say, her voice soft but firm. “I’m not ready for that yet.”

“Okay,” he’d respond, his heart sinking. He wanted to respect her wishes, but with each rejection, a sense of frustration built inside him.

It wasn’t just the physical intimacy that felt stifled; it was the emotional connection they had forged. It felt like they were dancing around each other, and he was desperate to close the distance.

One evening, they were hanging out at his place, the atmosphere warm and cozy. Jungkook sat beside her on the couch, his heart racing as he leaned in closer, hoping for that moment of vulnerability they had shared before.

“Y/N,” he murmured, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, his fingertips grazing her soft skin. “Can I kiss you?”

Her eyes widened, and she instantly pulled back. “Jungkook, please…”

His heart sank further. “What about all those times you allowed me to kiss you? You actually enjoyed my kisses!” he shouted, the frustration boiling over.

Her expression shifted, confusion and sadness washing over her face. “It’s not that simple, Jungkook! I—I thought I was ready, but then it felt overwhelming.”

“Overwhelming?” he repeated, incredulous. “So what am I supposed to do? Just sit here and pretend like everything's fine? I’m tired of being rejected!”

“No, that’s not fair! I appreciate everything you do, but you have to understand where I’m coming from!” she pleaded, her voice tinged with sadness.

“Understand?” he echoed, frustration spilling over. “You’re the one who keeps pushing me away! Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to just sit here and act like I’m okay with it?”

Y/N’s face fell, and for a moment, he regretted his harsh words. “I don’t mean to hurt you. I just… I feel suffocated sometimes, Jungkook. It’s overwhelming.”

He ran a hand through his hair, trying to rein in his emotions. “I get it. I do. But do you realize how hard it is for me too? Every time I try to get closer, I feel like I’m being shut out. It’s like you want to keep me at arm’s length.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Then what do you want?” he shot back, feeling the heat of his frustration rising. “Because I’m done with being rejected. I’m tired of waiting for you to decide if I’m worth your time.”

Silence hung between them, thick and heavy. He could see the hurt in her eyes, the conflict she felt. But Jungkook was tired—tired of being patient, tired of feeling like he was the only one fighting for their connection.

“Maybe we need some space,” she finally said, her voice trembling. “Just… think about what we’re doing.”

“Space?” he echoed, disbelief flooding his voice. “You mean push me further away? What will that solve?”

“Maybe it’ll give us both time to think,” she insisted, her voice steady despite the emotion swirling within her.

He felt a storm brewing inside him, a mix of anger and confusion. “You want space, fine. But I can’t pretend this doesn’t hurt. I can’t pretend that it’s easy watching you reject me over and over again.”

With that, he stood up, feeling the weight of their unresolved issues pressing down on him. “I need a moment,” he said, stepping outside to escape the suffocating tension. The night air was cool against his skin, but the anger still burned inside him.

Jungkook paced back and forth, feeling the turmoil of emotions crashing against each other. He wanted to reach out, to pull her close and drown out all the doubts and insecurities. But the rejection cut deep, and he was done being the one always trying to break down her walls.

With each passing day, the temptation to take what he wanted from her grew stronger, and the humiliation he’d felt before now morphed into something darker. He had been patient for too long.

He just wanted to feel alive again, and Y/N was the only one who could awaken that fire within him. To be continued.....

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[ninjastormhawkkat]

The Fall of Fair City - Chapter 25

The commissioner tried to compose himself, ignoring the chills he was getting from the mysterious voice. "Look I am in the middle of work right now and wasting valuable time talking to you right now." Watson spoke, sounding annoyed. "If this is an emergency, call one of the operators. If this is some type of stupid prank, hang up or you will be arrested for interfering with police work." "But this is an emergency Commissioner Watson. I have good reason to call." The mysterious caller responded in a tone that if Commissioner Watson hadn't been suspicious of the guy before, he would have believed it to sound like genuine concern. He was about to ask what it was before the caller continued to speak some more. "I mean, your gambling problem would cause anyone to be alarmed, wouldn't it commissioner?" Watson froze in shock, letting out a small gasp, ignoring the caller's snarky change of tone. "How did..I mean..I don't know what you are talking about?" Watson fibbed. The caller, not sounding convinced, proceeded to speak as if giving a scolding lecture. "Oh but I know you know what I am talking about Police Commissioner Watson. Of course there is nothing illegally wrong about someone gambling, unless the law forbids it which it doesn't here. Moral ethics aside, there is nothing to be ashamed of if a person of the law gambles cash in poker games. But I am surprised you have not wracked up any debt from your poker nights. Unless those debts have been paid off with police department funds you have been dipping into from time to time in secret. Unnoticed until now that is. tsk tsk. Now that is definitely illegal here." Commissioner Watson's expression bore one of shock and horror. 'No one was supposed to know about this. How did this person find out? He didn't take too much. He couldn't help it.' As if able to read the commissioner's mind, which Watson would have believed was a strong possibility right now, the caller continued to speak. "Now don't try to deny what I said my dear Commissioner Watson. I have the evidence right in front of me clear as day. Now I am sure you don't want this being revealed to the rest of the department and ultimately the citizens of this fine city if you still want me to call a 911 operator, now would you?" Commissioner Watson gave a defeated sigh. He could hear the caller taunting him even with the disguised voice. "What do you want?" Watson asked with a begrudged tone. "I would like for you and your officers to let Miss Question go. Scamper off on her merry way and forget she was ever there. No reports should mention her even being at the pawn shop. Don't even trying to look for me. I can see you, you can't see me. Just focus on the task I am giving you right now. Keep the line open so I can hear you accomplish your task." The caller commanded. Commissioner Watson stood frozen for what seemed like an eternity. He didn't want to let a criminal walk free, but he had no choice. This mysterious figure knew his darkest secrets. Watson could loose everything if he tried to do the right thing. With a heavy and reluctant sigh, Commissioner Watson sealed his fate, and unknowingly, the fate of the rest of the city. "Let Miss Question go." Police Commissioner Watson commanded the officers as he turned back around to face the others. All the officers, even Miss Question herself, looked shocked at Commissioner Watson's statement. "Um could you repeat that sir?" One officer asked cautiously and with much confusion. Commissioner Watson put on a serious facade as if to say they all heard him correctly and he was making this decision under 'rational' circumstances. "You heard me. Let Miss Question go this time. She hadn't broke any crimes yet. We have no evidence or reason to arrest her right now." Watson put his hands to his hips to emphasize his statement.

@melodythebunny @dualnaturedscientist

[firewalkzwit]

runt // jonathan crane x reader. (13)

Chapter 13

cross-posted on AO3

masterlist

To Crane and many others, sex and violence had always been directly correlated. Violence manifests itself in sexual desires, and the lack of sex also often proves itself to be channelled through violence. Similar to when captive chimpanzees are celibate for too long, and they begin to become destructive and aggressive. People also manifest their unresolved emotional conflicts and defence mechanisms they develop from their childhoods in the shape of violent sexuality. The desire to be choked, spanked, beat up, or being the aggressor and finding sexual arousal in it fascinated Crane, as much as he didn't pay studies of sexuality half the time he did to fear, he was immensely passionate on most fields within psychology likewise.

However, it was not until recently that his long forgotten student years, where he first read Freud and Wilhelm Reich, and particularly the latter and his correlation to sexuality and violence, had struck his memory. Him and Freud's apprentice shared a fair amount of discrepancies, yet this didn't mean that when he had his second wet dream with Y/N, the men's names assaulted his mind. Waking up hard again, and with the latent scent of the coffee lingering from his dream, Crane almost felt like his own mind was playing sick games with him. He felt immensely conflicted. He knew even though they were just dreams, the repetition of the same scenery, only this time more vivid and violent, and the remaining sensation that he could hear her being significantly more lucid, had an underlying meaning he tried to refrain from investigating.

What he hated the most, was that trying to avoid the analysis of his dream only continued to prove that his dreams were what hid in the darkest corners of his subconscious desires. The desire to fuck, destroy and contaminate her female purity. The Y/N in his dreams held a knife, and would ask him to get naked, holding the weapon threateningly. He'd see himself in third person, as he usually dreamed in such state. The blurry vision reminded Crane that although he always dreamt in colour, as soon as he woke up he couldn't name any one of them. Once completely naked, she'd eye him down in an expression indiscernible, yet he could perceive her desire to subvert him. Soon, the scenery would switch and the memory of when or how completely disappeared as soon as he woke up -they were in a bed, room being dimly lit, and she was under him playfully resisting as he held her wrists. He could vividly recall the vision of her breasts under his chest, and how the tender meat would quiver along with the rest of her body as she moved.

"Hit me." She'd ask, to which he would initially resist, his visions seemingly panning shots of flames consuming a candle like a film. "Hit me.” she'd whisper.

"No."

"Hit me, hit me!" And finally, he'd comply, slapping as her head darted the opposite direction, finally snapping him awake.

He never got to see her face in the dreams, but he knew it was her. Something about sensory perception in dreams often gets lost in translation, but one can vividly remember paradoxical invisible sights or inaudible sounds one perceives. Dreams fascinated Crane, he often journaled about them as soon as he'd woken up. But those two particular dreams he had with Y/N he refrained from writing them down, something in their sinful nature being scolded and repressed by his conscious self. He sometimes hated to watch himself subject his own psyche to follow the most recurrent, basic archetypes in psychoanalysis. Then again, he was only human, as much as he wished sometimes he could exempt himself from tendencies that seemed so primal. Psychoanalysis breaks down human behaviours and reduces what most presume to be civilised creatures into simple animals, chained to their tendencies and desires. He found solace in the thought that the humanity we live in is only a piece of a process in the evolution of our species, but it ached him to know he couldn't form part of the future generations and their developments.

Her naked body was covered by a silk white dress, and she'd gracefully move in a circle of illumination drawn by the spotlight over her head. Her limbs were lightweight, and she moved with such flexibility that her body often seemed to lose its consistency and shudder like liquid. He was watching from afar, she couldn't see him, smell him or hear him, she just knew. As she danced, she could feel the dress beginning to melt off, becoming milk and dripping down on the floor, exposing her naked body to who, in the dream, seemed to be her captor. As she stood immobile and impotent, unable to help her exposed body or exit the spotlight, his approach rapidly culminated in his lewd touch. All over her body, she'd feel his touch infect the purity of the white milk that had traced down her body. He'd slide his hands up her legs and suck his fingers, drinking off of her and taking the only thing she possessed in that world; her milk.

Unusual dreams were often accompanied by sexual undertones, never arousing her, but always violating her, and the implications of purity in the embodiment of herself in dreams. It particularly caught her attention that this time, Crane was the protagonist of her dream. She recalled in her sleep feeling a sort of hesitant desire, her dream self being prude and even puritanical, yet an underlying desire causing her to reject his touch yet not want him to stop. Until then, the thought of having sex with Crane had been either downright terrifying or nonexistent at all, yet it wasn't until that particular dream that she begun to think of having sex with Crane on a more objective standpoint. Now that they were supposedly going to work together, would he ever want to have sex with her? He never even insinuated it, not even physically coercing the formality between them by touching her in a way suggestive enough to trigger her, in fact he hardly ever touched her at all. She wrote down her dream, and pondered on the potential interpretations to her recurrent dreams on scenes that depicted her desiring her purity to be corrupted in an overly sexual manner. As she reached the end of her memories, she figured she'd ask Dr. Crane about dreams as soon as she saw him.

[saiilorstars]

Love, Ours Ch. 8: Gift of Joy

Fandom: MCU

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC, ft. baby!oc

Story Summary: One-Shots/AU collection of Seren and Steve outside of their fics (Darkest Before Dawn, Alignment, etc.).

Story Masterlist ○ Seren’s Masterlist ○

Also available on Fanfic ○ Ao3 ○ Wattpad

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag​ @arrthurpendragon​ @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @averyhotchner @foxesandmagic @kmc1989​

[If you’d like to be a part of any OC’s works/edits, let me know!]

If there was one thing Seren loved, it was the whole decorating process of Christmas. If there was one thing Steve didn't like, it was organizing little details, especially those that were in danger of being crushed between his super-serum hands.

Seren laughed at him when he couldn't, for the life of him, put up some lights around the living room. "The Captain America can fight robots and aliens, but he can't put up a single Christmas light? You know I'm not gonna let this go anytime soon, right?"

With a sour face, Steve abandoned the lines of lights and turned to his wife. "You wouldn't be you if you did."

Seren's grin was from ear to ear before she burst into laughter again. Steve mocked her laugh until they heard a familiar babble nearing the doorway. They both turned just as Bucky walked in with some very busy arms. There was a box tucked between his right arm and side, along with a small white kitten in his hand. He had a baby boy tucked in his left arm like he was another box. He was facing down babbling to himself, one hand continuously banging the metal of Bucky's arm underneath.

Seren laughed at the sight. "Well, you sure seem loaded!"

"Amazon delivery," Bucky announced as he made a nod down at the box in his arm. "Oh, and this is yours too." He motioned to his right arm just as Noel lifted his head. He squealed and clapped his hands together at the sight of his parents.

"I didn't know Amazon delivered babies too." Steve remarked and glanced at Seren. "Maybe we can try that next time."

Seren snorted. "You know what, if Amazon can do what I had to do to pop that kid out, by all means go ahead."

"Can someone just take him already?" Bucky asked, "Or the box? Or both?"

"Why are you holding him anyways?" Seren asked. "He was supposed to be with aunt Natasha downstairs."

"Yes, but aunt Natasha thinks it's hilarious when he goes after Alpine."

The kitten in question meowed, drawing Noel's attention. He reached one of his hands towards the kitten and when that didn't work, he tried with both hands, small fingers wiggling at the cat.

"See?" Bucky raised an eyebrow. "I'm all for games but I don't want the kid to get scratched or something."

"More like the kitten getting hurt," Seren remarked. Noel had incredible strength even at his early age. "Which is fair."

"Noel, are you going after Alpine?" Steve took the baby into his arms. "Noel?"

Noel seemed to understand the question very well because as soon as Steve asked, he covered his eyes and giggled.

"Gives himself up just like his dad," smirked Bucky. "With no clue."

Seren laughed and Steve scowled.

"Now don't go insulting Noel like that," Seren walked over to Steve and took the baby out of his arms and into hers. "My baby has my social skills too so he has a chance."

Now it was Bucky laughing, and Steve was still scowling. And with all the laughing going on, Noel decided he would start laughing too, making it all the more funny to the adults.

"I think I'm gonna go now." Steve decided that it would be better to leave before Bucky really started chiming in on his faults.

"You'll survive, lovey, it'll be okay," Seren said. "Plus, we still have a lot of work left."

Bucky started looking around the living room. He set down the Amazon box on the table then let Alpine down. "I'm surprised Chloe hasn't come in yet to give it her special touch."

"Oh, she was coming in a bit. I think she and Thor went out shopping." Seren shifted Noel on her side. He was eyeing the kitten near the table.

"Christmas shopping," Bucky said. "I wasn't allowed to come."

Steve chuckled. "I think she made a good call."

Bucky flashed him a sour smile.

"Don't fight boys," warned Seren. "Bucky, do you think you could help with the lights? Apparently, Captain America loses against them."

Bucky would never miss the chance to rub something in Steve's face. "Of course."

Steve rolled his eyes.

"Steve, maybe you can help by holding onto the bottom of the lights for Bucky?"

"Yeah, Steve, help me out," Bucky said with an even wider smirk.

Steve had some good words he wanted to use but for the sake of Noel and his busy ears, he left them for another time.

"Now you mister," Seren planted a kiss on Noel's forehead, "can help me finish the tree. Let's get all the shiny baubles!"

She moved to the tree nestled in the corner of the living room. She and Steve had already finished most of it but a few places. She put Noel down and brought a few baubles around him to entertain him.

Noel was entertained by the baubles for a few minutes. He stuck one in his mouth, threw the other one near Steve's foot and even managed to throw one at Bucky's leg.

"Kid's going to be a baseball player," Bucky remarked while Noel laughed. "He must get that from Seren too."

Steve couldn't help it that time and shoved Bucky face first into the wall. Noel thought it was hilarious; his laughs echoed around the room.

Bucky pulled himself off the wall and turned to Steve, his expression flat. "For the sake of your dignity in front of your son and wife, I won't respond to that. But I make no promises for later."

"Boys," Seren called from the tree. She didn't bother paying them attention, not when she had to figure out the pattern of the baubles on the left side of the tree. There were a few that just didn't fit together.

"Start doing the lights already," Steve told Bucky in a mutter.

Noel threw another bauble near the coffee table and it landed near Alpine. Without a second thought, he started crawling towards the kitten. Seren saw him through a gap of the Christmas tree branches and chuckled to herself. He was a very fast baby.

The kitten saw Noel coming and just as it seemed like Noel would reach him, he hurried to the other side of the table. Noel stopped and sat down on his bottom with a little frown on his face. His green eyes narrowed slightly and then, like a streak of determination hitting him, he pushed himself forwards into another fast crawl.

Seren stopped decorating to watch her son race-crawl around the room in chase of Alpine. If Steve and Bucky stopped bickering for a second, they would have probably heard the scruff of Noel's legs as he crawled over the rug.

Noel briefly touched the kitten's tail but a loud noise startled him into freezing. Chloe and Thor had finally returned and were rushing into the room with their bags. They were an identical pair of excitement and loudness.

"Well, sounds like somebody had a good time shopping today," Seren said, stepping from around the tree. She eyed the bags that the two put down on the couch. "What, did you buy gifts for the entire city?"

Thor let out a hearty laugh. "No, no, the whole city?"

"We just picked up the cutest things for Noel, watch!" Chloe exclaimed as she dug into one of the bags.

"Noel, no!" Steve called just as Noel was about to pull Alpine by the tail. Luckily, Alpine had escaped his clutches and dashed under the couch.

Noel thought it was a game and went after the cat again.

"Noel, come out of there!" Seren sighed once she saw Noel sticking his head underneath the couch. "This kid…" She strode over to the couch but Thor got to Noel first.

"Come on out little warrior," he pulled Noel out by one of his legs, eliciting a happy squeal. "See what uncle Thor got you!"

"I thought you went Christmas shopping?" Bucky said to Chloe who was busy sifting through her bags.

"Calm down, I got you something too," Chloe said dismissively. "It's somewhere — aha!" She pulled out a bright red elf hat with golden bells dangling around the bottom.

Bucky was not impressed. "You got that for me?"

Chloe snorted. "No way! You wouldn't look half as cute as little Noel would!" She tossed the hat over to Thor who popped it over Noel's head. "Noel, the elf!"

Noel's hands dove for the bells dangling over his forehead now. Once he figured out they made a noise, he shook his head to hear the bells.

"That's gonna be fun at night…" Steve already felt the dread of what would happen if they even tried to take the hat away from Noel.

"That's okay, we'll just send him over to aunt Chloe's and uncle Bucky's room," Seren said, crossing her arms. She adored watching Noel have that much fun but, like Steve, knew that it would eventually get old quickly in the night.

"Now why do I have to suffer?" Bucky frowned. "Chloe bought it, not me."

Noel was giggling over and over with the ringing bells. He pulled two of the bells then started tilting his head from one side to the other.

"My turn, my turn!" Thor said and deposited Noel into Chloe's arms. "They are apparently very popular right now," he said with a smug smile. As soon as he pulled out a mini red cape and miniature version of mjolnir, everyone burst into laughter.

Thor didn't mind it and neither did Noel. The baby was more than curious about the bright red cape being wrapped around his neck. And when he saw the mini Mjolnir, he became even more delighted. He knew exactly what that looked like. He babbled with squeals in-between and desperately reached for the hammer.

"That is plastic, right?" Seren said with a slight nervous tinge in her voice. She could already see Noel using it with his full strength.

"Foam," Thor said, though he didn't seem to get why Seren asked. He handed the hammer to Noel who instantly gripped it with his fingers. He couldn't be more excited and started waving it around, knocking Chloe in the face twice.

"Now I'm seeing the appeal," Bucky smirked.

"Shut it!" Chloe exclaimed, shutting her eyes as the hammer hit her again.

Noel burst into a fit of giggles once he realized he was hitting his aunt's face.

"Ah, there we go! He loves it!" Thor exclaimed.

"Yes, yes, here you go." Chloe was happy to hand Noel over to Steve and watch him get whacked by the hammer.

"Thank you, everyone…for this…" Steve turned his head slightly as he now became the next victim. "Amazing, really." Seren laughed behind her hand. "C'mon Noel, let's get you down for the night."

There's no way in hell he's sleeping right now, thought Seren as Steve walked around the group with Noel clad in a cape, elf hat and hammer out of the room.

"You guys are horrible," Seren said once Steve was gone. "Now we're going to have to deal with that stuff until he either breaks it, or loses it."

"Hey, you're the one who decided to have a kid," Chloe said with her hands in front of her.

"Wasn't exactly a decision last time I heard," Bucky smirked.

"Shut it!" Seren pointed at him. She then looked at Chloe and Thor with a much kinder smile. "Thanks for the presents, guys. Really."

"No problem, we thought they were really cute," Chloe said. "And there's more! Wanna see?"

"Was there a sale?" Seren chuckled.

"We're just very good at shopping!" Thor said proudly. "Although not so much at wrapping. Could I get help to wrap a present for Jane, please?"

"Of course," Seren said with another laugh.

~0~

When Seren caught up with Steve, she was not surprised that Noel was nowhere near sleeping and, more importantly, that it was Steve who looked ready to nap instead. He was lying sideways on the bed, his legs over the side, with his arm over his face. Noel sat next to him on the bed, hammering his gingerbread stuffy while one of his other hands gripped the edge of his red cape still attached to his back.

"So, sleeping is definitely not in the itinerary?" Seren laughed as Steve groaned and shook his head.

"I tried touching the hammer and he started screaming bloody murder. Then I tried the cape and he bit me."

Seren laughed even louder. Hearing her, Noel let out his own laugh and looked at his father like he knew exactly what they were laughing about.

Steve pulled his arm off his face and saw Noel with a flattened expression. "Alright, you little comedian…" He turned himself in Noel's direction, pinning the baby to the bed and tickling his stomach. "That enough funny, for you?" Steve watched as Noel burst into another fit of laughter and giggles.

Noel eventually let go of his toy hammer and while he was so distracted, Steve shoved it off the bed. He then pepper-kissed Noel's face and tickled him, playing with him.

Seren loved hearing her son laugh so much; the sound was too much for her heart not to swell. She went into the door of Noel's conjoined nursery room to gather some of his things for sleep. Five minutes later, Steve joined her with Noel in his arms.

"The cape was non-negotiable," he said when Seren turned and saw that although the hammer was gone, the red cape was still on Noel's back. "I'm gonna get Thor for this."

"Just get him changed already before he goes back on his word about the hamm—" Seren motioned him to the clothes she left on the changing table.

"Don't say it," Steve said quickly, eyes widening in alarm.

"I'm gonna go take a shower. Will you be okay? You know, since you're having such a rough night tonight?"

"My night was going just fine until you all decided to make fun of me," retorted Steve.

"Someone's a bit bitter today," chuckled Seren. She reached a hand up to his cheek and gave him a gentle pat. "M'sure we can fix that later tonight."

Interest piqued, a smirk tugged at Steve's lips. "Sure could."

"But Noel has to be fully asleep by the time I get back."

Steve loved the deal and side-stepped Seren with Noel. "Off to sleep. Now."

Seren chuckled to herself as she left the room. She may or may not have taken her time showering to give Steve ample time to put Noel down, that and maybe she wanted a nice break too. When she returned, their bedroom was a lot more quiet than earlier. It was dark with only the city lights illuminating it once in a while.

She peeked inside the nursery and saw the night light was on instead. Noel was much more quiet but still note quite asleep. Steve was standing closer to the window (Noel's favorite place to be at) and was holding Noel in his arms with his favorite blanket draped over him. It was baby blue with golden stars decorating it. Noel's head was resting on Steve's chest, sucking his pacifier like his life depended on it. His fingers lazily played with t he edge of his — Seren chuckled — red cape.

It was truly non-negotiable.

Steve was gently rocking Noel, patting his back. When Steve saw Seren, and her expression, he knew exactly what she wanted to say.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he whispered with a roll of his eyes. He has failed to put Noel to sleep like they agreed. "Worst dad, I know."

Seren playfully rolled her eyes in return. "Not even close." She walked over to them and reached on her toes to kiss his cheek, then Noel's head. "Think you're the best dad and if Noel could talk right now, he'd agree."

Steve appreciated the gesture. It was something they both often struggle to accept, and speaking of…

"Then you have to agree that you're a good mother too, even last week," he told her.

"Mmm," Seren only hummed at that. She took to tracing figures on Noel's back, soothing him more towards sleep.

"Seren."

Seren's eyes flickered up at Steve. "It was scary," she admitted.

"I know," Steve agreed. Who wouldn't be scared the first time their baby had an allergic reaction to something?

Seren nearly lost it even though, according to Helen Cho — the only doctor Seren trusted — it was only a mild reaction. Noel was indeed a one of a kind baby with his special DNA and inheritance but at the end of the day, he was also still human and as any other human he was susceptible to allergies. In this case, it was a peppermint cookie Seren had allowed him to suck on. A few minutes after sucking on it, he started growing red bumps on his skin.

Needless to say, Seren panicked and truthfully so did Steve. Noel had never reacted to anything but he was also being introduced to new foods everyday. Luckily, Dr. Helen Cho was in the Tower that day for a session with Chloe and she quickly treated the baby. It was a mild case of an allergy he developed for peppermint. After a dose of benadryl, the reaction lessened until it disappeared altogether. Noel was fine, but Seren was not. She blamed herself even though Steve, and Helen herself, told her that it had nothing to do with her and her choices. It was life. All they could do from now on was keep anything with peppermint away from Noel, just like anyone else with a food allergy.

"He's fine now," Steve said, smiling down at Noel whose eyes were beginning to flutter close. "Very fine, if you ask me. He's not letting go of the cape anytime soon."

Seren smiled at that as well. "Christmas with a cape. Sounds about right in this building. He's following in the team's footsteps."

Finally, Noel's eyes fell shut and he went to sleep. A few more minutes passed and then Steve felt confident enough that he would stay asleep in his crib. Seren untied the cape from Noel and stepped back so Steve could put him down in his crib. Then, just as carefully as before, stepped out of the nursery with Seren. Only then was he able to breathe normally again.

"Was it me or did he seem to have way more energy today?" He asked, flopping down on the side of the bed.

"He did have more," Seren admitted, coming over to sit on his lap.

Steve brought one arm around her waist and dug his face into the crook of her neck. She smelled so nice…

"You tired, Captain?" Seren asked, holding her chuckle just for his sake. He groaned in her neck.

"Give me a robot, give me a crook, but don't give me an 8 month old on the eve of Christmas," he muttered.

"And tomorrow we have to finish putting lights in the kitchen…"

Steve groaned again.

Seren laughed and kissed his hair. "Maybe we can leave it for Bucky and Chloe and see how long they'll actually work together before they try to kill each other?"

Steve finally raised his head to meet her eyes. "You're godsent, Seren. That would be a good show to watch."

Seren chuckled. "It'll be our little plan. Twenty bucks Chloe breaks first."

Steve grinned. "You're so on! Bucky won't be that patient. He'll crack first."

"I don't think so and when I win, I'll be happy to take you out on a cinnamon roll date!"

Steve's smile very quickly turned into a smirk. "You're sweet, but when I win I'll be more than happy to take you out on that date. And some coffee, of course."

Seren closed her eyes as Steve wrapped his arm tighter around her and kissed her cheek. "Mm, in this cold weather, I'll be happy with a cup of hot chocolate…" He pressed another kiss on the side of her neck. "And maybe even some gingerbread cookies? We can give one to Noel. I'm sure he'd have the time of his life sucking on it.

Steve smiled against her skin. Somehow, almost everything they planned included Noel in the end. He loved it. He loved her, and their son, so much.

"What if we go out tomorrow instead?" Seren asked suddenly. She opened her eyes, turning her head at him. She cupped the side of his face. "I'm sure Natasha will tell us who cracked first. We can take Noel with us, unless you want to have a solo date…?"

Both ideas sounded great to Steve when he thought about them. Noel was even more excited about the streets now that they were decorated and snow was falling. He was sure to have fun with them. But…the idea of spending some time alone with Seren was also tempting.

"Your silence is worrisome…" Seren hummed, making Steve chuckle.

"No, no, I was just thinking…"

"About?"

"Why don't we take Noel out in the day and at night, you and I go out for dinner?"

"Ooh, some alone time?" Seren raised a brow at Steve. "Tempting offer, Mr. Rogers."

"Well that's because you, Mrs. Rogers, are very tempting yourself." Steve pressed a kiss under her jaw. "So, how about it, then? Can I take you out on a date tomorrow night?"

"After hours with you?" Seren looped her arms around his neck and gave him a short kiss on the lips. "Anywhere, any time," she murmured and went in for another kiss.