#bejeweled skull

[texaschainsawmascara]

o.g.braids on ig

[elysianaut]

Some studies of the very good christian game

For inspiring is the art direction of the miracle

[annoyingpastryineyeliner]

[starshideurfics]

Thirsty Thursday - Ring My Bell

steddie, omegaverse, flagging/signaling culture, mdni 🔞

Based on a fun worldbuilding convo in the SHOM discord that’s still buzzing around my head. Credit to @itcanbepalped and @jeffgoldblumsmulletinthe90s for vibing on this one

Steve’s parents never wore rings. They said it was gauche; very new money of them.

“Why bother with jewelry on your fingers that will get banged up on your hands when you can wear a necklace,” Clarissa would say when she spotted someone at the club with a ring, or god forbid two! Her own betrothal and bonding necklaces were layered, drawing the eye to her bite.

That was the whole point of a necklace. Either it emphasized a bonding bite, or it highlighted the fact that the wearer’s bonding gland was intact.

Steve had been given a necklace after he presented, a simple gold chain with a bejeweled padlock.

Pretty fucking gauche if you ask him.

Steve wouldn’t have worn it, but it was expected. Plenty of omegas wore something similar; he’d rather have his grandmother’s old claddagh ring, but his mother said it was low class.

So he wears his necklace every day, a reminder that he belongs to his father until he is mated. Then, he’ll belong to his alpha. Legally. At least until Congress hot its act together and passed some of the proposed equity laws.

Maybe his mom was right, rings were more easily lost. They tainted the scent of your hands with harsh metal.

It’s just that he’s seen some interesting ones, shapes so far beyond the standard lock, circle, and eternity knot. Meanings far more individualized than his necklace.

Which is why when the pups start following after Eddie Munson, Steve really notices his rings.

He gets what the book means. Or, he thinks he does. Munson doesn’t wear blockers, ever. His scent is an open book.

And the skull could be one of those gothy, ‘I mate for life’ things.

But the pig makes no sense. And no scents. Pigs don’t typically have a smell worth advertising.

The ring on his right hand is so simple in comparison that Steve gets stymied there, too.

He drops it, not wanting to reveal his interest in anything to do with Eddie Munson.

Steve is perfectly ready to let it stay a mystery until the night he comes to pick Dustin up after Hellfire only for Eddie to be the only one left in the lot, hauling his stuff out to his van. 

“Sinclair got his permit; your chuckleheads all went with him so he could show off.”

“Oh,” Steve says dumbly, only for his brain to catch up and spit out, “And they’ve never heard of a phone?”

“Real butthead behavior on their part,” Eddie agrees with a smirk. “Anyway, sorry you came out here for nothing.”

“Eh, could be worse.” Steve’s thinking monsters or g-men.

Of course, Eddie doesn’t know that. He gives Steve an appraising look. Then he surprises Steve. “I could make it up to you,” Eddie says with a crooked grin.

“How?” Steve asks, swallowing back the ‘not your fault’ that almost slipped out automatically. Because it kinda is.

Steve wouldn’t be here if not for Eddie’s club and the hold it has on Steve’s merry band of twerps. So he’s open to whatever Eddie’s offering to make them square.

He shouldn’t be surprised when Eddie pulls a joint from his pocket, sets it in his mouth to light, and inhales.

He holds it towards Steve as he blows out a stream of smoke. “We can hang, take the edge off your night.”

Steve takes the joint. Eddie grins and skips over to his van, opening the back door and giving a joking bow.

Steve laughs. He didn’t expect to be charmed so easily.

But he is, and after a couple hits he feels relaxed and loose in a way that would be fine in the safety of his bedroom, not so much when he has to drive.

He’s going to say as much, tell Eddie he should clear his head, when his eye catches the shine of silver on his fingers.

It’s like his brain isn’t connected to his mouth as he asks, “Why the pig?”

Eddie looks up from the box of cassettes he’s looking through and furrows his brow. “Huh?”

Steve’s brain must be cut off from his body too, since he reaches out and snatches up Eddie’s left hand.

“The pig,” Steve says, tapping on the offending ring. “Like, the book and the skull I think I got, but I’m coming up empty on the pig.”

“I’m surprised you knew it was a book.”

“But it’s book-shaped!”

“You mean rectangular?”

“But it is a book right?”

“Yeah.”

“So that’s about your scent,” Steve feels smug as he says it.

“I don’t smell like books,” Eddie says, clearly confused. “That’d be pretty awesome, though. Old books smell nice. Unless they’ve been in a basement too long.”

Steve nods sagely. This is obvious wisdom. No one wants to jump your bones if you smell like a musty basement.

Then he remembers his point. “You don’t smell like books, you are a book. Easy to read your scent ‘cuz you don’t wear blockers.”

“Don’t like ‘em. Make my head all fuzzy, and not in a fun way.”

“And the skull is a ‘til death’ thing right?”

“It’s actually a vampire skull.” Eddie points out the elongated canines. “You know, ‘the eternal kiss’ or whatever. I think bites should mean something.”

Steve nods again, feels a weird pull low in his belly. “That’s cool. Not enough alphas I know have that opinion.” He’s seen too many broken bonds at the country club and his father’s company Christmas parties.

Seen too many couples who shouldn’t have bonded in the first place.

“So, what’s the pig?”

Eddie looks down where Steve is still holding his hand. “Ever heard of a truffle hunter?”

“Like the chocolates?”

“No, the mushrooms! You’re rich, don’t you know about fancy mushrooms!”

Steve shakes his head, feels dumb. 

But Eddie just accepts his ‘no’ and moves on, “Well, they’re these rare mushrooms, and pigs like to eat them, so they’re really good at sniffing them out. And that’s me. I fully plan to sniff out my scentmate, and until then…” He shrugs. “Plenty of hot omega pussy to smell.” 

As soon as the words are out of his mouth, Eddie slaps his right hand over his whole face in shame. “Shit, sorry. Not appropriate in front of an omega. Or anyone. I promise I’m not a creep trying to get in your pants.”

But Steve’s mouth has gone dry. He wears blockers still, for work, the scent neutralizing deodorants and perfumes good at covering up his scent. The only place he doesn’t apply it is his crotch, because no one should be getting close enough anyway.

Suddenly he wants Eddie to be close enough.

He’s still holding Eddie’s hand, can still smell the edge of his woody scent over the weed. “It’s okay,” he says. Turns Eddie’s palm toward him and brings it to his nose.

The metal smell is there. But also pine and herbs, deepened by dark musk. His tongue darts out for a taste.

His hand mostly tastes like skin, a little like salt and smoke, but the scent is still there. Makes him want more. He pulls back, looks at Eddie who is staring at him with awe on his face.

“Okay, Mr. Trufflehunter, how do I smell?”

“You’ve got blockers on-”

“Not everywhere.”

His movements are slow, giving Eddie every chance to back out as he slides his fingers into Eddie’s hair, gripping the side of his head, and guiding him down towards Steve’s crotch.

Towards his wet pussy.

continued in part 2

[cvnt4him]

Think'n ab being katsukis chubby mcbling gf<33

...........................................

He loves the way you dress. He thinks it's unique and beautiful, the way your shirt skirt rides up your ass in the best way, your baby phat purse n shoes twinkling and going so well w your bejeweled top, your glossed lips and your ethereal braids with beads matching your outfit.

You were so different it was just so purely amazing and refreshing to him, when mina introduced you two he didn't expect to actually like you. You were funny, charismatic, and kind of ditzy. A complete airhead but far too sexy to even care.

It's like you were some Bratz bimbo bitch, but damn did he find it attractive. You were pulling him like a damn magnet and he hated it, but he wanted to be closer to you.

Once you started dating you had dressed a little less revealingly. You wore shorts instead of short skirts, and you just wore more shirts instead of crop tops, katsuki hated that he felt like he was taking away your style but you were doing it willingly.

You didn't want him to feel like you wanted other peoples eyes on your body (not that you mind much bc that's how you bagged him) but you wanted him to know you two were fr 4lifers n what not.

Cuddling and watching movies was your fav thing ever!! The way he held your body close to his, squishing the chub in your tummy and laying his cheek against your arm occasionally peppering kisses over it. He would always make sure you didn't have to move an inch, but everytime he got up to do something for you he'd slap your ass for the fun of it.

I feel he loves to have you sit on his lap, just the way your thighs expand over his js sexy to him. Pinching your thighs n tummy in public when you wear revealing shit to make you angry is his fav thing to do to you. He always makes sure to stand behind you when you walk and bend over (bc you can't seem to get it in your thick skull that you shouldn't js bend over and that you should crouch down to pick up what you need.)

Going shopping w you is like a warzone, if someone takes the top you've been eyeballing from across the mall you will throw hands , no doubt ab it. He holds you down fr if the bitch man step in yk he does too. He don't play behind his bbg!!!!

Okay but when the bitch decides to comment on your body that's when you really lose your shit. You don't care ab what people say anymore but it's the fact she was trying to get under your skin whilst saying what she did. It might've slightly gotten under your skin.. but not that much!

You hate fighting in nails especially bc you love getting long nails however no broken nail is gon stop you from giving a bitch a well deserved ass beating better fucking believe it.

Bc I created this you obviously win the fight.

You go out to get ice cream as a reward, bakugou however is still heated from the fight he fr would've killed that man let's be real🤷🏽‍♀️

I feel like the "white girl effect" / "black girl effect" is actually a thing, bc bakugou wasnt really necessarily stiff w the way he dressed before you but let's js say he looks sexier now that you're together.

Making out while listening to "mama I'm inlove w a criminal">>>>>>>

He hates your music taste fr but he thugs through ts for the love of you.

Speaking of thugging, he loves when you sit on his face, ain't nothing like coming home from doing whatever and burying his face in your ass. Slapping it n js putting his face all up in there like some kind of dog.

He loves putting you in a mating dress fr, or having you ride him, he likes the way you scratch up his back and chest. Sloppy head or no head is his motto

The way you walk n talk gets to him sometimes, like you can js say the stupidest shit n he'll get so red unintentionally like you are js too cute for him n he don't even believe in that typa shit bro

Watching mina do your hair or the both of you going out to get your nails done then treating yourself to chipotle is one of his guilty pleasures, I'm sure most guys don't wanna be trapped w their girlfs why they're doing all that feminine shit but bakugou doesn't mind it actually. He loves spending time w you no matter what, leaving your side was not on his 2024 bingo.

Don't get me wrong, being a mcbling bimbo is your life fr, however, you don't mind js putting away that side you sometimes. Js walking around in one of his shirts some boxers and glasses while your braids are in a bun is js how you crave to be sometimes. N he def don't mind seeing you like that either the way those boxers hug your ass is just absolutely divine in his eyes.

You don't really get insecure but on the occasion when you feel less than he's so quick to tell you to shut the fuck up.. that's it, js stfu.

Anyways, being katsukis chubby mcbling girlf 😞🙏🏽

...........................................

AN: this is a black reader/self insert so when I say braids I do mean like box braids, butterfly locs, French twists type shit so... Yeah!!!!!!!

This came out longer than I expected

[pursuitseternal]

“Our Blood: Into the Fire:” 🔥 a conclusion, three times hotter than ever🦇🐦‍⬛😈

A!Astarion x Tav (Cordehlia) x Raphael |E | 5.8K

Summary: One good and wicked turn deserves another… a tryst to sate all curiosity and balance all scales to leave no deal unfulfilled.

CW: poly, M/F/M, possessive dominate A!Astarion, submissive devil, voyeuerism, body worship, Cambion form smut, lots of oral sex, degradation, inappropriate use of the vampire mating bond, grab the devil by the horns… and balls.

Previous Ch | ao3 link | original series | Masterlist

Just an extra reward for them, a rejuvenating bath for the Ascendant and his Bride, a visit to the infamous House of Hope.

All three mighty beings reclined in the waters, bubbles in the water hiding most of their bodies, cups of wine in their hands.

“Even without the Crown of Karsus, you’ve come so far, devil,” Astarion gave a lazy half-smile as he lounged in the relative comforts of Raphael’s bath. Legs stretched languorously in front of him, he reclined in the magical waters of the House of Hope, at ease with Cordehlia seated on his lap. “Nothing like the hospitality of the hells under your care. I find my needs most thoroughly met.”

“I am but a humble purveyor of needs,” Raphael grinned from the top of his bright, golden chalice, his own posture one of flawless pleasure and relaxation as he lounged in the waters across from the pair of undead. “Wine, food, a bath, a rest…. It is the least I may afford you by way of hospitality for your efforts on my behalf today. I won't forget how gloriously you’ve returned the favor, my vamplings.”

Astarion hissed as Cordehlia sucked a bit too hard from her bite in his neck. “Easy, darling,” he admonished before taking a drink from his own bejeweled cup.

“Your pugnacious consort deserves every drop. She put up such a spectacular display of brutality, Astarion, it’s good to let her rejuvenate,” Raphael chuckled as he watched them. “I’m so grateful, I’d offer my own neck, if it would burn the pretty little tongue from her mouth.”

Astarion scoffed, sipping from his cup as he opened his mind to his love. “Sounds like the kind of shit Cazador used to have us go through…”

“Astarion… Play nice with yourself,” Cordehlia hummed back as she licked his wound gently. “Because of Raphael, because of his timely aid in the Rite, you can start living again… with me and forever.”

“I know,” he replied, a wave of adoration swelling from him to flood her heart. He tried not to think about just how close to losing her he had come. All because of that fucker. “Death was too good for Cazador. I still should have saved Cazador’s skull and made it into a piss pot…”

Cordhelia bit his neck anew, a laugh in her mind as he hissed and almost spilled his drink into the rejuvenation bath. “Don’t make a scene, or Raphael will think you’re not enjoying his favors.”

It was a warning and an observation all in one.

“I’m fairly certain he’s thinking up a nice long list of more favors to ask of us now that he rules Avernus.”

Crodehlia kept lazily feeding as they communed, “We are mighty allies to keep, the Ascendant and the Bone Picker.”

“I thought you hated that name?” He scoffed, annoyed and high-pitched in tone.

“I decidedly hate it less when Raphael uses it,” she admitted, running her hand gently over Astarion’s bare chest. “But it still pales compared to all your little monikers for me… darling.”

“I wasn’t worried… darling,” he stressed his pet name for her, emphasizing it with a squeeze of his hand around her breast. “But you do know that there’s one favor he’s silently asking…”

“What?”

Astarion gave her a look that spoke to his centuries that had jaded him. “I’ve seen that look a thousand times from… my past. But this time, I’m not the main course of his desire. He desires us… you especially,” the grip on her sensitive flesh grew more demanding, making her mouth break from his neck with a moan.

“If that bothers you…” Cordehlia started to bristle, and Astarion pulled her from those possessive, violent tendencies with a brush of his thumb over her pink, peaked nipple.

“Don’t fret, darling. I find myself surprisingly unbothered, now that I’m free to follow my own desires. Besides,” he paused to raise her bloodied mouth to his for a kiss, “I rather like flaunting what is so obviously… mine.”

The way he growled that last word into her mind made her back arch and her thighs shake. No touch required to bring her so near the crest of her pleasure.

“I’m more than happy to flaunt what I have, to dangle it before his greedy little devil eyes and have him watch you reduced to a mess in my hands,” Astarion’s voice rumbled in her head as his lips brushed hers.

Her teeth sucked his lip in between her own deadly fangs as she nibbled it. “A mess, you say?”

Astarion groaned, just loud enough for her ears… well maybe louder. “If he’s a good little imp, you could even let him have a taste, if you wish. But…” his fingers slipped so quickly into her, the waters of the bath barely parting in a wake as he moved. Thumbing her clit, fingers curling just as she liked it, he worked her damp folds, another groan sounding from his lips. “This is mine, and he will never know its ecstasy.”

Cordehlia lost all control, too pent up and hot blooded from the day. Only one thing could satisfy. Her lips devoured his, her thighs spread so that, even beneath the bubbling waters in the House of Hope, there was little doubt as to their actions.

A deep voice cleared its throat from across the waters. “Enjoy your indulgence. You’ve earned it, vamplings,” Raphael laughed as he emerged from the bath. Water flowed in steaming rivulets down his red-dusky skin, his toned and sculpted ass hiding most of his signs of arousal. A towel quickly wrapped around him, he moved inward towards his bed within the boudoir, where Haarlep’s fluttering wings twitched audibly.

“You know, devil,” Astarion crooned over his beloved’s shoulder. “You could stay here and sleep with that sad, sorry excuse of your own imitation, or…”

The Ascendant’s brow arched, just as Cordhelia let out a moan so desirous, the devil’s cock visibly twitched beneath his towel.

“If I’m right, and I always am about these sorts of things, devil… you want to cash in on one last favour?”

Something at the corners of his human brown eyes hardened, a flicker of desire fanning brightly in his gaze. Raphael smiled. “I must admit, it is something I have… long desired.” He gestured towards that inner room, that scarlet, opulent bed lying in the distance. “Shall we?”

“Ah, ah, devil,” Astarion tutted his tongue. His hand pulled Cordhelia’s head back, fingers tugging her fiery locks to display the look of bliss on her pale face as his finger still worked beneath the surface. “My precious prize is only savoured in my house… under my purview.”

“Is that so?” Raphael purred, shifting stance.

“From one master of the house to another, you can’t tell me you wouldn’t insist on the same…” Astarion ceased his talking, claiming her mouth with possessive ferocity, muffling her cry of pleasure with his tongue as she came.

Raphael’s skin barely rippled, his control, so precious and measured at all times, slipped away at the sight and sound of their play. He took a deep breath, steam fairly blowing from his nostrils. His deep voice bubbled with a chuckle. “Very well.” With a nod of his head and a snap of his fingers, he flew them from plane to plane, leaving only smoke in their wake.

Blues and golds, warm enchanting sunlight broke through the haze of smoke. The creaking floors of their bedroom under their feet.

Home, the Palace. With a guest in tow.

Astarion glanced around his chambers, the fading light of the sun bathing them in warmth and heat. He drew up to the flames that danced in the grate as light caressed those ridges and valleys of his chest, warming the whorls of his scars on his back. How convenient, he laughed inwardly, that they all apparated here, completely nude.

“Sit devil,” he ordered, waving his arm towards the chair by the fire. A bottle and chalices on the mantle glinted brightly in the beams of sunset. “A drink, devil?” Astarion crooned, holding up the bottle. “To our alliance, our victory…”

“To our deeper need for one another?” Raphael’s dark eyes narrowed, a leer on his lips and he closed in on them both. One hand reached for the silver chalice offered, while the other began to wind through the errant tendrils of Cordhelia’s fiery red hair.

Astarion’s dexterous fingers quickly batted the devil away, a silent snarl on his face. “I’ll be clear with you, Raphael, in this game, I make the rules. What’s mine is mine… and if you are worthy enough, you might just get your own chance to play by my rules.” A flicker of power in his crimson eyes, and Astarion released Raphael’s hand. “Are we in accord?”

Raphael eased himself into the chair by the fire, his bare chest still beaded with bath water. Conflict flickered in his brown eyes, the fires of his devilish nature flamed brightly, defying the mere notion of subjugating himself to a mere undead Vampire Lord. But that part of his nature that was human, that slice of him purred at the chance to be told what to do, to be given a chance to earn favors from the one female that had fascinated him for centuries. It was too good a chance for his human nature to ignore, to please his Bone Picker and her mate. “You have my word,” he crooned, holding his hands in the air in supplication. “Not a touch, or taste, or thrust without your permission, oh mighty Ascendant.”

Fangs glinted in crepuscular light as Astarion smirked. “Good boy,” he praised in those honey-dripping tones. Fingers wrapped around Cordhelia’s wrist, pulling her out of the devil’s reach. “Now, my angel, my Raven, my love,” he purred, tilting her face up into his, two fingers pressed beneath her chin, “shall we show the devil what he desires?”

Cordehlia’s voice hummed in approval, deep in her chest, her lips pursing to kiss her beloved. Fingers wound into her hair, those familiar nails scoring into her scalp as he angled her head just so. Her skin burned with the devil’s gaze, his lips drank from his cup, his eyes drinking the way her beloved’s hand gripped into the curve of her ass.

Astarion’s nails dug into the supple flesh, biting into the skin to draw angry red lines in her pale canvas of flesh. Marks that he made. Marks of possession. She didn’t need to tap into their bond to know; he was too deep into his desires for her.

His teeth and fangs bit into her bottom lip, drawing blood with a soft snap of flesh, another on her neck. Lower and lower he bit down her right shoulder, bites not for feeding. Bites to brand her.

There was blood in the air now, and every monster and predator would want a bite. Astarion couldn’t help himself, running that wide pad of his tongue up her neck. He knew Raphael watched, he could hear the slightly slick beat of his own infernal hand on his outwardly mortal cock.

A smirk on his bloodied lips, and the Ascendant turned his love around in his arms, caging her against his chest. One strong arm reached from behind to grip her chin, the other splayed wide over the rapid rise and fall of her belly. Strands of her red hair clung to her sweat-sheened cheeks and neck, and blood ran in trickles from his bites.

“Isn’t she divine? My elven lady, my vampiric bride…” He shifted her to one side, tilting her by her chin to smile down into her face. “You know, devil, I was the first to taste her precious delights centuries ago, and I’ll be the last to consume her when the world falls down. She is more invaluable to me than all the treasures you have amassed in your House of Hope.”

Cordhelia breathed, closing the distance between their lips, letting the wet sound of their mouths kissing resonate in their room.

“This is no mere trifle we offer you, so pay attention, and play nice,” Astarion chuckled, deep in his chest as he locked eyes with Raphael. “Well, my love, shall we to bed?”

Her crimson eyes glinted as she tilted her head, a little smile tugging the corner of her mouth. Ravishing. Confident. Commanding. “Only if the devil shows us his horns…. All of them.”

Astarion giggled. “Oh you naughty, kinky girl. You want to take the devil by his horns?”

“I should like to touch a Cambion’s… appendage, wing or otherwise,” she smirked. “But as for gripping the horns of his head, that is a privilege I leave to you, my love, my lord.”

On cue, Raphael stood in a burst of ash and fire, his form bubbling with magic. Tanned skin turned scarlet, smooth flesh wrinkled into the near-scaly, bone-ridged texture of his powerful frame. With a few flaps, Raphael flexed his wings, his tail twitching carefully behind him.

“An excellent choice,” Astarion purred his approval, “but do watch the wings. Don’t want you wrecking the furniture, devil.” A lilting laugh on his lips, and brought Cordehlia’s lips to him.

Just the slightest brush of her presence in his mind, and he opened himself up, their bond flooding with mutual sensation. Astarion could feel his own hands in her cool, alabaster skin, he could taste himself on her tongue with all its richness and heat.

Nothing held back. All of it shared between them. “This is going to be fun,” he purred, echoing in their bond.

“Astarion,” she sighed, “I want to taste you first.”

“As you should,” he smirked, casting a sidelong glance at the devil. “Watch carefully,” he instructed with a snap to his tone as he reclined against the pillows. He stared at Raphael a moment, those black and yellow eyes fixed on them as he pumped his cock lazily and shifted his weight

“I intend to, and I intend to do more than watch,” he crooned in reply, velvet tones rougher than usual as his lust grew with every stroke of his clawed hand.

The devil has come undone, Astarion smirked to himself, enjoying the little ways Raphael’s careful, controlled demeanor began to crack… the glaze over his eyes, the bulging of his veins in his arm as it began to work faster.

What’s better than a devil you know? A devil you know will be whimpering by the time they were through, the Ascendant smirked.

Astarion crooked his finger at his love, reaching that hand into her red hair the moment she crawled into range. Its weight settled at the nape of her neck, pressing her simpering and smiling lips to suck him.

Cordehlia grinned around his length, giving that rock hard shaft a few extra loud sucks, a few wet slurps as her own crimson eyes glanced up from the bed. A shiver of arousal, of pride, trembled through their bond.

Those black ringed eyes of gold drank in every move she made, the tips of his forked tongue absentmindedly licking at the corner of his lips. With every beat of his hand on his thick length, his tail twitched, just a little. Raphael clearly enjoyed her… wanted her… burned for her.

“Yes, darling, he’s being such an obedient pup,” Astairon’s fingers pulled the loose stands of her red hair that clung to her chin, pulling back the curtain of her hair to expose the workings of her mouth. “At this rate, he might just earn the right to worship you… if you wish it.”

“Yes,” his voice lacked its sonorous velvet tones. Raphael’s words strained through pointed, gritted teeth. “Anything for my beloved Bone Picker. Just to have those hands that have silenced civilizations barely brush my…”

He grunted, hips thrusting erratically into his own fist. Wet, strained pants sounded from his infernal lips as he shuddered. Voice lost, composure broken, wings falling as his cock twitched and spilled its load.

Thick ropes of cum shot to the floor, the slightest sizzle of heat hissing as it hit the floor.

A low chuckle resounded from above her head, fingers guiding Cordehlia to sit up.

“Oh, how disappointing.” Astarion shifted on the mountains of pillows behind him, a wry smile on his face. “Well, I hear Cambions are quick to go again…. You’re going to clean that up before you go…”

Fingers pulled her chin, her face pulled closer until their lips brushed. “Well, my treasure, how should we punish him for coming before we say, hmm?” His voice rang with pride and power. His crimson eyes were bright with delirious joy at the thrill of commanding every detail.

It made her shiver with delight. Made her body shudder as his hand turned her about and pulled her into his lap, her back resting against his chest.

Kisses peppered the sensitive nerves of her neck. “Look at him, my darling…” he whispered loudly, a sentence meant for her, meant for the devil to overhear. “So pathetic, son of the mighty Mephistopheles coming all over our floor because he just can’t contain himself. Tch,” Astarion’s reverent touch pulled her legs wide, draping them over his own spread long in front of them on the bed. “Centuries roaming the planes, craving untold power, and all it takes to bring the great Raphael low is a few sucks of my beloved’s pristine lips on my cock…”

Cordhelia giggled, for the looks that passed over Raphael’s scarlet face told his own inner conflicts and arousals. He could hide nothing, especially not the way his devilishly ridge cock hardened more the harsher Astarion spoke to him. “Tch,” Cordhelia imitated her love, “how… disappointing.”

“It won’t happen again,” Raphael interrupted, his voice strained even as he swallowed loudly, as if tamping down his pride by doing so.

And Astarion chuckled contemptuously, “Oh, devil, we both know that isn't true. I would bet you all seven-thousand and seven souls from my rite of ascension that my blushing Bride could make you come again with a single word and a well placed kiss.”

“Perhaps,” the devil grinned back, that bright fire behind his yellow eyes as his tail swished impatiently, “if only she would afford me the chance to prove you right or wrong.”

Cordehlia shifted in Astarion’s lap, her lover’s warm, familiar fingers sweeping to part her folds. “Well,” he purred in her ear. “You give the word, and you can be worshiped by the devil himself.” He grinned against her neck, fingers thrusting into her cunt with wet, sloppy sounds. “Doesn’t that sound… divine, heavenly almost.” He laughed loudly and deeply at his own humor.

A sigh from her lips, and she arched back against him. “Make him beg for it, my love,” she hissed, fangs bared in a twisted grin.

Rumbling in her ear, Astarion’s chuckle was deep and delighted. “That’s my merciless darling.” With a satisfied breath, both his hands swept down her thighs, spreading her wide. “I wonder just how quickly the new Archdevil of Avernus will drop to his red, leathery knees for a single lick?”

Two pairs of crimson eyes smiled from the bed, and Raphael’s wings shifted on his back, every muscle in that infernal body wound tight in anticipation. “It takes more than a single offering to bring me low…” his warm, silken voice forced through his pointed teeth. But he couldn’t hide the way his hardened cock twitched again, just at the sight of her wetness, the sounds of her rapid breathing, and at the scent of her sex that permeated the air more Astarion ran his hands up and down her toned thighs.

Astarion sucked his teeth in a show of disappointment, “Where are your manners?” he crooned. “I offer you the most… exclusive of my hospitality, and this is the thanks I get?” His fingers finally dipped into her cunt, teasing her folds apart as he dove his touch deep inside her.

Those black and yellow eyes honed in on the object of his desires, even the veins in his neck seemed to bulge a bit more at the sights and wet sounds.

With a sweep of his thumb on her clit, Astarion drew a wet, pleasured moan from his beloved’s lips. “That’s it, my Raven, let it all out. Make your pretty little noises for him. Show him just how tantalizing you are and maybe he will say please….”

Licking his lips, Raphael drew two steps closer to the edge of the bed.

“Ah, ah,” Astarion chided, withdrawing his hand and snapping her thighs shut. The sudden withdrawal made both of them groan in frustration. But the Ascendant only laughed, petting Cordehlia’s head soothingly. “Please is such a simple word, why can’t you say it? Aren’t you all about control and manners and decorum?” He paused waiting for the devil to cave. “See what you’re doing to her… one little word, and you can put her out of her agony. You just have to beg…”

Infernal eyes narrowed, wings fluttering as he rolled his shoulders. “Please,” he relinquished through gritted teeth and a slightly submissive tilt of his great horned head.

“Ah, there we are,” Astarion crowed in victory, parting those pale, muscled thighs again. “What say you my love, was that a pretty enough of a please?” While he whispered into Cordehlia’s pointed ear, his gaze stared, unwavering from those fiendish eyes.

“Not yet,” she groaned, hips bucking as the Ascendant’s digits thrust into her again. Her own sharp stare pinned him down, her parted lips turning in a wicked smirk. “Kneel for your lady. It’s what’s done when you’re so… inferior.”

Astarion tensed at the humiliating tone, but, as he watched the Cambion’s cock twitch as he sank to his knees, all worry left him.

This was going to be fun.

“How deliciously pathetic, isn’t he my love?” He purred, peppering kisses on her neck slowly. “Or should we make him get lower…”

“Lower,” Cordehlia affirmed with another roll of her hips. “Like a devil-skinned rug for me to walk on…”

Tilting his head back, Raphael sighed, long and deep, as his clawed hand wrapped around his cock to pump once more.

“You like that, devil?” Astarion growled, looking down at the mess of red at their bedside. “You’d want her to step on you, to bend you and break you like she has countless others?”

His hand beat faster on his red, ribbed cock. “Yes,” came his admission.

“My violent vixen, my wife of warfare, my bride of battle…” Astarion’s fingers swirled loudly in her slick. Then, he reached out towards Raphael. “I’ll deign to give you a taste. Savour it, for you’ll only get this once…” Sighing, he watched every movement the Cambion took to crawl to the bed, leaning over to suck his fingers into his red-hot mouth. “Isn’t she… divine?” he purred. “And just think, she mine to sample each and every night.”

Cordehlia breathed, heavy and lust-laden, watching her beloved bringing the ruler of Avernus to his knees. All for her. Only for her.

“My love… you’re so wicked,” she poured her arousal down their bond.

“Aren’t you just obsessed, and here I am, not even trying…” he smirked, pulling his fingers free from his lips with a loud and sudden pop. “You’ll enjoy his forked tongue, my love, if you think him properly submissive for you.”

“Let him approach,” she purred, leaning back against Astarion until she felt his cock press insistently against her ass. The bed buckled under him as the devil finally climbed on, red silk sheets dull and drab compared to the brilliant scarlet of his form. His great wings folded in tightly, tail curling its warm length around her calf as he slotted himself between her thighs.

Fingers closed around one rough and jagged horn, and Astarion jerked the devil’s head up with a snarl. His fangs bared, lips raised, he hissed in Raphael’s face. “Be a good… obedient pup and you might just be lucky enough for more rewards.” With a shove, he released him, “Don’t be surprised if I grab you by the horns when you displease us.”

“Very well,” Raphael nodded, his charming smirk revealing those pointed teeth. Lips pursed, he kissed those toned inner thighs. Warm, supple lips pressed higher, his hands gripping around the backside of her legs to bring her closer… and closer.

“Faster devil, before I lose my patience with you,” Cordehlia rasped down at him, angling her hips and threading her arms around her mate behind her. One hand wove into his silver curls, pulling this cheek against her own, and the other gripped hard into his own leg, clenching into his corded thigh for support. To ground her.

She pushed her presence into his mind, feeling his arousal return. Every nerve in his body trembled in anticipation, every touch on her body passed into his… each lick or bite, he could sense as if it were his own flesh. And that made him place a tender kiss on her flushing cheek. “My precious treasure,” he purred aloud, “mine…”

A cry came from her throat, strangled as her muscles bunched. Heat seared through her loins, that scarlet tongue swiping once up her seam. Another pass of his forked tongue, another muffled groan as Cordhelia buried her face in Astarion’s neck.

“Look at you, precious thing, you can withstand the heat,” he purred. “And the devil can work harder to earn that sweet taste now on his forked tongue.” Astarion allowed one more lick, that heat and pressure intruding deeper this time into her cunt. Grabbing the devil by the horn, he sneered into his face again. “Isn’t she delightful? And here you are lazily licking like she’s so two-penny sweet from a shop.” Shaking that devil's head he snapped his fangs. “Pleasure her, unless you don’t mean it…”

Released, Raphael’s mouth set to work in earnest. Little growls from his throat, he sucked her clit until wet, squelching sounds deafened the noises he made. Fingers slipping inside her channel plied in and out, careful not to scratch with his claws. And that tongue… hot, not warm, passed that searing forked pad up and down. Swirl after swirl of it on her clit sent her writhing and bucking back on her lover’s lap. He devoured her, messy and dripping, sloppily feasting on her essence to savor her taste on the tips of his forked tongue.

Panting as one, every sensation swept through their bond, and Astaion’s brow was growing beaded with sweat. One particularly persistent lick ended with a pinch of her clit between Raphael’s teeth, and two voices cried out at the pained bliss that flooded their bodies.

Raising his head and licking his lips, Raphael chuckled. “Curious use of your mating bond, little vampling. Jealous of your Bride? Or just… supervising my techniques?”

Astarion yanked his horns punishingly hard. Jerking the devil’s head to meet his fiery gaze, Astarion sneered from over her shoulder. “Careful, devil, you’re in my house, under my rules, remember? I’d hate for you to be the reason the Vampire Ascendant your father created suddenly got a taste for… fiendish prey.”

The threatening glint in Astarion’s eye, the way he let his fangs catch the firelight, Cordehlia practically swooned at his ferocity. A primal sort of purr came from her throat as she nuzzled against those twin scars of his neck.

Raphael fought to lower his head back down, but Astarion’s grip only tightened. “Apologize,” he crooned, voice like honey, eyes like flint.

Catching Cordhelia’s hand from her side, Raphael placed a kiss on her pale fingers. “I’m sorry, my precious lady…”

Another rough jerk on his horn, and Raphael grunted in surprise. A face full of fangs and ire, Astarion shook him like a naughty babe. “Not to her,” he snarled, “to me, you ingrate.”

The devil canted his head, relishing this tension with all his infernal heart. “My apologies, my lord,” he crooned in that viciously velvet voice.

“Good,” he released his horn to pat him on the cheek. “Satisfied, darling?” he nuzzled the hollow of Cordhelia’s neck. “Would you like for us to taste a Cambion’s ridged cock?”

The question hissed straight into her ear, her back arching with tingles that raced down her vertebrae. “If you like, my love,” came her reply, a wet moan as she leveled her sly gaze at the worshiping devil between her thighs.

“Good, because all this excitement has me in desperate need to fuck you, my dear. I’m sure you can concentrate on two things at once, can’t you my Raven?”

Gods… she simpered at him, glowing with lust and blazing with hunger. “On your knees, devil,” she sneered, a derisive grin on her lips as the devil rose up and sank obediently on his heels. That girthy cock twitched again… and again… with every move he observed. Her full breasts swayed as she shifted onto her hands, her face glistening with a greedy smile and eyes that gave sneaky little furtive glances at his bobbing cock. The hand that had gripped daggers for centuries as the Bone Picker closed on his shaft, unyielding and commanding.

Just like her.

He was… massive, she smirked as she lowered herself, breasts pressing into his thighs. Nothing she couldn’t handle, she assured herself. But the instant she laved her tongue over his flesh, she flinched at the heat.

Raphael chuckled, that staccato roll of a laugh as he carded his fingers through her red hair. “We Cambions are known to run warm… don’t worry, my lady. You’ll get used to it.”

Cordehlia’s eyes glinted at the challenge, her hand fisting around his balls, taking their weight in her command. Raphael grunted, a challenge in his eyes, and yet, he waited patiently and obediently for her to swipe her tongue up the length of him.

It was a strong sensation, the heat from the devil’s flesh. Even Astarion smacked his lips at the shared feeling in his mouth from their bond. She was a treat, his precious, indulging in the spoils of war… She was his treasure, he preened inwardly, his one finger slinking into her cunt from behind, spreading her slick as he soon teased his cock head against that glistening entrance.

And, just as she started to take the devil into her lips, Astarion thrust home, making her moan and arch until she lifted back up. Every roll of his hips filled her with that ancient familiar friction, that pressure that was just as much a part of her as herself.

As Astarion’s rhythm settled in her cunt, Cordhelia returned her mouth back to the devil’s need. “So patient,” she praised before her mouth took him in as far as she could. Ridges cut over her tongue as she sucked, that heat and salty taste a delicacy she savoured with every bob of her head.

“What’s the matter, devil?” Astarion sneered slyly, his hips snapping with expert precision against her ass. “Sweating already? Don’t tell me my love already has you desperate for release…”

Those heavy horns pulled his head back, his spine bending as Raphael arched into her waiting lips. A cacophony of pleasure, a tidal wave of bliss, Cordehlia shuddered with every thrust inside her, her voice moaning, nearly weeping as she sucked and licked every ridge of that cock before her until she nearly gagged. “He’s close,” she heard Astarion purr into her thoughts, “slow down, my love. Make him suffer.”

Just his fleshy cockhead in her lips, she licked and suckled, feeling it grow thicker and hotter against her tongue. It made her drool, made her lips smack sloppily around that red, ridged cock.

“Yes, my love,” the Ascendant growled, words timed with thrusts deep into her cunt. Red, scaled hands gripping into her hair harder, not daring to force her down but clenching as Raphael erupted inside her waiting mouth. Snarls echoed above her, so rough and consuming, waves of growls with each spurt of his cum down her throat. Hot like boiling water, burning like spice, she swallowed as much of him as she could, her hand working that hard, ribbed shaft until all the devil could do was level his gaze down at them once more.

“Isn’t she a gem, devil? Isn’t she… remarkable?” Astarion praised, licking his own lips and skating his fingers against her scalp. “You’ll never know pleasure like this again,” he groaned, pulling her by her hair, making that flexible, elegant back bend until he could kiss her neck.

Eyes locked together, black and yellow into those glinting crimson ones. Cordehlia was too lost, a thrall to his fucking, cum still dripping down her chin as she panted and smiled. She couldn’t care less about the straining power between two males.

As the Ascendant stared him down, power coiled in his muscles and heat flowed in his veins as he snapped into her with abandon. Every wet and noisy slap signaled his possession, every grunt screamed ‘mine,’ until he spilled into her with a guttural cry. He keeled over on her back, and Cordehlia shook in ecstasy, her own steely and toned sinews quaking in orgasm and relief.

A kiss on her neck, and Astarion pulled her nearly-limp frame in his arms to rest against the pillows. She nuzzled into that familiar dip of his chest, his thumb sweeping over her chin to clean that last stick of cum.

Cordehlia took a deep, satisfied sigh. “Well, Raphael, your offer of worship to your lady was acceptable.”

A laugh from his own slack mouth, a tilt of his head, and Raphael grinned. “Of course. It was, and is, my pleasure to serve,” he purred. Sliding from the bed, he untucked his wings. “Consider all our scales balanced and… satisfied.” That final word was graced with careful enunciation, and Raphael never felt more pleased.

A nod of contentment, Astarion kept his gaze roaming over Cordehlia’s blushing face. “I’m sure you’ll see yourself out, devil,” Astarion sighed, still stroking his fingers over the soft dips and rises of her shoulders and back.

A burst of searing heat and a wave of flame, Raphael vanished from their sight.

Astarion’s lips caressed the shell of her ear, “How do you feel my sweet?” His hands wandered over her every inch. “Properly victorious and thoroughly worshiped?”

Cordehlia lifted her head, the tangled muss of her hair falling to one side as she smiled. “Yes and yes,” she whispered her reply against his lips. “But that doesn’t mean I’m yet… satisfied.”

“Insatiable vixen,” he purred, pulling her familiar weight on top of him, losing himself in her body, heart, and soul. “You consume me more than any fire, more than all Avernus itself.”

And Cordehlia smiled at her love.

Thank you, dear reader, for joining me on this slide quest. Our heroes are Happy and sated…. For now 😈

The main arc of “Our Blood” will have a few more updates as well coming up.

And perhaps, some more of these companion side quests will surface. If you have ideas, compliments, suggestions, I’m more than happy to hear them.

On behalf of @marimosalad and myself, Thank you for loving Cordehlia, our Bone Picker, our Raven ❤️🐦‍⬛

[echantedtoon]

Ocean Deep Ch18 Feelings Are Complicated

(Warnings: Mentions of kidnapping, Koyuki's condition, and Yn's hurt shoulder. Cursing.)

I also have an announcement. Have you ever wanted to date the Haishira all at once(minus Muichiro for obvious reasons)? Well now you can. Reverse harem Haishira fic has been launched with the first two chapters posted here! Just let me know if you'd like to be added to it's tag list!

taglist: @six-eyed-samurai @lavenderdrxp @jjamsbangtan @camilo-uwu @hopefulworld1

@shadyd3ar @amypop122 @azuredragonstrike

@mimisweetz @chaoticoperatorduckhairdo @staarflowerr @aleee-386 @summrwalkr

@nicora04 @miniverse-zen @heijihattorisgf

@lavender-moony

Remember if you want to be added to the tag list lemme know.

SPLAT!!

Silence.

There was a silence. Giyuu sat there with eyes boring into his face as a thick glob of sand ran in a teardrop shape over the left side of his cheek, and with a ka-thunk sound dripped off his chin leaving a sticky trail behind before dropping into the water below. Everyone's head looked to where the ripples floated away from the sight where it disappeared from, before exchanging looks with one another, and then slowly one by one looked at where the mysterious attack had come from.

"Now that I have your attention-..PAY ATTENTION OR ELSE!!"

A woman's voice echoed over the waves and with it carried the beginnings of anger. The normally nonthreatening image of a delicate maiden replaced by a shadow of fury's wrath. Stunning the water dwellers in the sea bobbing up and down amongst the waves.

You stared furious and scowling. "What the ever loving hell is wrong with you all?!" You shouted angry at them. "Just..WHAT have you all been thinking?!"

"Sunlight! I don't know what's gotten into them but I assure you it was a misunderstan-"

"STOP!" You ORDERED Kyojuro and held up a full hand in his direction but didn't look at him. "Just stop. You've done absolutely nothing to help in this situation! I'm disappointed in you. ALL OF YOU!!" You pointed right at the teary eyed and snarling shark. "Starting with you! Don't you dare give me that look when you know very well Kanae said she wanted nothing to do with you this entire time! You're stressing her out because you keep pushing her and pushing her! I'm surprised she didn't snap sooner!"

"SSSTAY OUT OF THIS!!"

Your gaze snapped to the snake giving you a other one of those narrowed eyed looks however unlike last time you felt no fear. Only annoyance and anger. "I'd LOVE nothing more than to mind my own businesssssss!!" You hissed back at him making an irritated vein pop on his forehead. "But unfortunately it became my business when I was brought here! And you're one to demand I stay out of it!! YOU TREAT THOSE GIRLS LIKE YOU'RE A FUCKING PRISON GUARD LETTING YOURSELF INTO THE HOUSE ANYTIME YOU WANT TO AND DEMANDING DOORS STAY OPEN ALL THE TIME!! YOU REALLY ARE MAKING YOURSELF OUT TO BE SOME KIND OF INSANE PERVERT!!"

"TENGEN!! REIN IN YOUR DAM WIFE!!"

"I'M NOT HIS WIFE!!"  Your voice echoed loudly over the heads and piercing the ears of anyone who dated to be heard causing a jingling bejeweled head of wine red eyes to turn startled towards you. Fiery eyes wielding the same whiplashed expression."I AM NOT TENGEN'S WIFE!"  You pointed at Tengen. Then at Kyojuro."I AM NOT KYOJURO'S WIFE! I AM NOT MAKIO'S OR SUMA'S OR EVEN HINATSURU'S WIFE! I AM NOBODY'S WIFE!"

If you were in any other state of mind then you would've felt guilty about the shocked and guilty faces upon your friends but your brain was fried from everything that not only happened to you but to those poor girls as well. You were determined to get the truth through their thick heads once and for all. EVEN IF YOU HAD TO LITERALLY POUND IT INTO THEIR SKULLS!!

"LET'S GET THAT STRAIGHT!!" You jabbed a thumb to yourself. "I DID NOT know that letting those girls groom me was flirting!! I WAS NOT FLIRTING!! I REJECTED Kyojuro's proposal!! I DID NOT ACCEPT IT!! AND I SURE AS HELL WASN'T FLIRTING WITH YOU, TENGEN!! I WAS JOKING AROUND BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT HUMANS DO!! THEY JOKE AROUND WITH EACH OTHER FUCKING PLATONICALLY!! I WAS RUNNING AWAY BECAUSE YOU FUCKING SCARED THE LIVING HELL OUTTA ME?!"

Too stunned to speak. Too stunned to respond. No one spoke a single word.

"HUMANS!! DO NOT!! COURT!! THE WAY!! MERS DO!! SO THAT MEANS KANAE DOESN'T LOVE YOU!!" Sanemi's face completely dropped as the petite woman pointed at him. "MITSURI DOESN'T LOVE YOU!" Obanais eyes went wide. "SHINOBU DOESN'T LOVE THAT ONE!! AND I'M SURE AS HELL KOYUKI DOESN'T FEEL ANYTHING FOR YOU!! AND I SURE AS HELL FEEL NOTHING ROMANTIC TOWARDS ANYONE!! SO LET ME TELL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU HOW HUMANS ARE ACTUALLY FEELING AROUND HERE!!"

Sand kicked out from under your feet as you face back and forth about two yards in length motioning your arms as you did so angrily.

"These girls are away from their families for who knows how long, trapped alone on this island without anyone to help them and to them you're all responsible for everything." You stopped suddenly. Going wide eyed and silent for a few seconds. "No. Scratch that. Actually.." you snapped up again narrowed eyed and scowling. "YOU ALL ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!! EVERY ONE OF YOU ARE GUILTY IN A WAY!!"

"N-Now, Y-Y/n." Kyojuro tried to do some kind of damage control shakily raising a hand. "Maybe that's going a little far-"

"Oh don't you try to spin this any other way! Do you know how much it hurt you and Tengen when your wives were kidnapped!?" Both your arms threw themselves at the house. "YOU ALL KIDNAPPED FIVE GIRLS!!!"

Silence. 

Shocked.

Stunned.

D E A D SILENCE.

"SAY IT HOW IT IS DAM YOU ALL!! YOU KIDNAPPED KOYUKI!" YOU POINTED OUT AKAZA! "YOU KIDNAPPED MITSURI!!" YOU POINTED AT THE SNAKE! "YOU TWO NOT ONLY KIDNAPPED KANAE AND SHINOBU BUT THEIR OWN LITTLE SISTER TOO!!" YOU POINTED AT TWO IN THE MIDDLE! "YOU TWO AREN'T INNOCENT IN THIS EITHER!!" YOU GLARED AT THE TWO HUSBANDS WITH SUCH INTENSITY THAT YOU THOUGHT THE OCEAN WOULD BOIL THEM FROM YOUR ANGER!! "YOU ALLOWED THEM TO KEEP THOSE GIRLS TRAPPED ON YOUR OWN DAM ISLAND AND YOU DIDN'T DO SHIT ABOUT IT!! THE GIRLS AREN'T OFF SCOTT FREE EITHER! EVEN IF THEY DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THOSE GIRLS THEY SHOULD'VE TOLD YOU TO LET THEM GO AFTER THEY FOUND OUT!! YOU'RE DOING TO THEM WHAT AKIRA AND HIS FAMILY DID TO YOURS! YOU BROKE YOUR PROMISE TO LET THEM GO!! IF I WAS THEM I'D HATE YOU TOO!! SANEMI HOW THE FUCK COULD YOU THINK THIS IS OK WHEN YOU HAVE A LITTLE BROTHER TOO?!"

You clutched your head feeling it start to hurt and your shoulder throbbed.

"DAM IT ALL!! YOU TOOK THEM FROM THEIR HOMES!! THEIR FAMILIES!! I FUCKING SAW THE WAY KANAE'S PARENTS CRIED FOR THEM!! YET YOU'RE DEMANDING THAT THEY FORGET ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM THE MOST AND CALL THIS THEIR HOME WHEN YOU'RE ALL THE ONES WHO KIDNAPPED THEM, HELD THEM HOSTAGE OR AREN'T DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT, AND DEMANDING THEY LOVE YOU!! EVEN IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND OUR CUSTOMS HOW HARD IS IT TO FUCKING UNDERSTAND IN ANY LANGUAGE THAT-"

You threw your arms at them eyes scary bloodshot and your voice louder than ever in your life 

"-N O   M E A N S   F U C K I N G  N O?!"

You were heaving. Chest pumping in and out with every inhale of air as you gasped l. Your voice giving a small raspy hiss with every inhale you gave. There was nothing but silence from the waters. Not surprising. 

"So here's what's going to *gasp* happen." You pointed out each one of them as you addressed them with a growl. "You're gonna stop trying to court Kanae and stop trying to fucking sing to her when we're trying to sleep!! You stay away from Shinobu!She's not allowed to study you anymore! YOU FUCKING STOP COMING INSIDE LIKE A FUCKING PRISON DOG OR I'M GOING TO TURN YOU INTO THE BIGGEST PAIR OF SNAKE SKIN BOOTS!! And stay away from Mitsuri!! You-..." You regarded the colorful pinked haired man. "I don't know about you too much..But I'll leave you this Intel. Koyuki needs access to doctors! REAL DOCTORS!! Those girls only know a few things. What if Koyuki ends up really sick and needs actual medical attention!? Or God forbids she needs surgery?! She can't get that from them trapped on an island with no dam proper hospitals!! And ALL of you stay away from Kanao!! That little girl must be terrified by now!!"

Finally you looked Kyojuro and Tengen one by one in each of their eyes slowly.

"And you two." You pointed out into the ocean. "You both go think about what you've allowed to happen! Tell the girls they need to talk to you about their lack of say as well!" Your eyes scanned all of them. "And lastly- ALL OF YOU LEAVE UNTIL YOU ACCEPT WHAT YOU'VE DONE!! Don't talk to me OR any of those girls unless it's to genuinely apologize for everything and to say you'll take them home!! You all need time to think about the enormity of what you all have done!"

With that you turned. Stomping through the sand with each step through the squishy grains until you got to the door. Pushing it open before SLAMMING it shut behind you harder than Kanae did previously. A loud UGH sound left your mouth before you kicked out at a random empty umbrella stand sending the cylinder shaped furniture into the adjacent room. 

"Y/n?" Your eyes snapped up to Koyuki. She was looking like she was just coming downstairs when you came in. Ah. She must've went with Mitsuri to sooth Kanae. "What happened? Are you alright?"

You must've looked quite a sight to her actually. You sighed. "Yes. I'm fine. I'm more concerned about Kanae. How is she?"

She gave a glance back upstairs. "I think she'll be alright. Mitsuri is telling her stories about her cats." 

"That's good. I'll bring her bread. You go rest up. You still look tired."

You did not see a single mer the next day. Not surprising since you threatened to turn them to sushi the other day...but now that could think clearly, you DID feel guilty especially for how you yelled at your friends but they needed to hear the truth. They couldn't just look through rose colored glasses anymore and realize what they did before anything else happened. Kanae thankfully seemed ok when you saw her. Her face was pink from obviously crying, but she seemed alright for the most part. 

You didn't think anyone heard you tearing into the mers outside considering Koyuki was upstairs with Mitsuri and Kanae and Shinobu and Kanao didn't come back until much later with baskets of wild fruits and vegetables. Thank God the fish soup crisis was over!! 

Well that one day turned to two. Then three. And now four. Some time away from their fish pals seemed to do everyone some good. Mitsuri did comment on it once though saying how strange it was to not see them around. You only shrugged and pretended to not know about it, although Koyuki gave you a slightly confused look. 

"I'm going to make some pies today!" Mitsuri announced loudly and gushed.

"Pies? Now?"

"Uh huh!" She nodded at her best friend. "We have berries and everything else from that old pantry! We can have some to celebrate! Besides we haven't had some in so long, and they're so yummy!!" She licked her lips with a happy smile grabbing her cheeks. 

"A pie sounds wonderful. " Kanae had smiled at the thought of it. She seemed the most relieved by the absence of mers. In fact the other clippy was returned to the other side of her head after being cleaned up. 

"Then I'll make my famous raspberry coconut pie!..Only..We don't have coconut." She slowly blinked humming. "In fact, I'm pretty sure that we're completely out of it. Maybe someone could go get some more?"

"I'll do it." You slowly got up where you were sitting with Kanao playing some kind of card game you didn't understand (and loosing since she was good) with a smile. "I saw some on the trees when I was walking on the beach."

"Are you sure you'll be ok? Isn't your shoulder still sore?"

"Yes but as long as I'm not putting strain on it or moving it too quickly I should be fine. Don't wor-"

"I'll come with you." You were surprised when Kanae stood up with a smile.

"What? Kanae, are you sure?" You raised a hand but paused. "You uh..You sure you're feeling up to it? I mean Shinobu can come instead if you're worried about me-"

She nodded happily. "I'm getting some cabin fever just staying inside all day anyways. It'll be good to get some fresh air."

"Well.. Alright. But if you want to go back anytime you can."

"I'll keep that in mind. Shall we go?"

You nodded to her still unsure of what to do. Sanemi hadn't come around but he was obviously still out there. If he saw Kanae out walking around he might try to give her more unwanted advances or start a fight. Or at most Kanae would get angry or stressed again...but you had a feeling if you pushed her to stay, she'd only go anyways. So it was better if you went along with her to make sure nothing happened. 

So that's where you both were. Walking along the shore in silence. Nothing but the waves, wind rustling through the trees, the soft squishing sounds of sand, and the cawing of seagulls in the sky to break that silence. ..You cautiously gave a look out to the waters every so often to see if you were being followed but you didn't see any mers in the water. Maybe they were all throwing tantrums under the water?

"..So..Are you feeling alright?" You finally broke the silence after so long turning to Kanae. 

She smiled brightly at you. "Never better. Why do you ask?"

Maybe she was feeling better because of the plans night being so close. "I mean..Well a few days ago you were uh.." Crying? In hysterics? "..Stressed?"

She smiled wider. "Oh I'm perfectly fine now. I released a lot of pent up emotions and it was quite relieving. You don't have to worry about that anymore." You still did a little bit but at least her answer was reassuring. "Are we close to the coconut trees?"

"Uh yeah." You pointed up ahead. "Just about past that weirdly shaped log there."

You both continued to walk along the sand looking up towards the tree tops in search for any coconuts. You could've sworn you saw some the last time you came through here. Where were they? You both kept walking along and looking around at any and all trees until- AHA! You stopped spotting a couple brown round lumps hanging off the ends of a palm tree. There they were. You finally found them! You pointed them out to Kanae who silently nodded and together you both walked up to the tree they hung from. It was a medium sized palm tree that hung low over the beach, and it had around eight of those coconuts bunched together. Kanae was silent still until she calmly looked at you. Or more accurately your still hurt shoulder.

"..We only need two of them. I'll climb up and retrieve them. You're in no state to climb trees."

You gave her a look. "Are you sure? That's kinda dangerous."

"I've had to climb a few trees before," she assured you. "I'll be fine."

"Alright but be really careful. I don't want anyone else hurt around here."

"You don't have to worry about me. I'll be perfectly okay."

"KANAE?!"

A scream shattered the silence around you both. You literally heard a glass breaking sound go off in your mind as Kanae looked behind you surprised to see a white haired, scarred face bobbing out near the shallow shores looking down right miserable at her. 

"Oh you motherf-"

"NO!"

Kanae had snatched your good arm just. I'm. Time. Because in one fast motion that even had Sanemi flinching, you had whirled around on your heel, snatched the shoe off your left foot, and lifted your good shoulder back to launch the said show right at his face- Or you would've if the talker woman hadn't snatched onto your wrist with both hands.

"GET OUT OF HERE, SUSHI HEAD!!," you snarled at him. 

"I-.." he gave to Kanae who looked a mixture of surprise, worry, and annoyance. "I-I just wa- wanna talk-"

"WE are NOT interested in anything YOU have to say!! Get out of here before I-!!"

"YOU WERE RIGHT!!"

Silence stilled the waters as the three of you stared at each other wide eyed. You were paused in the comical position of throwing a shoe half barefoot with Kanae clutching your wrist with both hands tightly. Each having a similar wide eyed expression as Sanemi stared nervous. Eventually you opened your mouth after nearly a whole minutes-

"What?"

"Y-Yo-..." He gave another VERY nervous glance at Kanae's wide pink eyes. Opening his mouth.. before closing it and gulping thickly. "I-I sa-sa-said..Y-You were right! You were ri-right about it! All of it!" You both still stared as soft splash sounds went off as his arms gestured around. "You were right! I was selfish and an idiot and it's my fault and I made her cry and now I don't know what to do so I came here to apologize because I love you so much and I want to make things right because I'm scared you're gonna hate me and I don't want you to hate me and Im a fucking idiot who made you cry! So I'm here apologizing again because I really, really do love you and Im scared you won't like me anymore so I'm here so please tell me what to do because I DON'T know what to do and I'm sorry and I promise I won't do anything else to break your trust anymore!" He rapidly fired out at you both. By the end of that he was heaving for air chest rapidly rising and falling in breaths.

You both still stood in that position in silence.

".... Well..That was certainly a mouthful." You settled on saying after another few seconds.

You glanced at Kanae when you felt her hands loosen their grip on your wrists slowly. Her face was still wide eyed and staring at the merman. "what did you just say to me?" Her voice was so small. Like a whisper. He'll you were literally just a foot in front of her and you barely heard what she said under her breath in that tiny weak voice.

Sanemi opened his mouth again under her stare.. before gulping back the nervous bile that threatened to come up. "I-I sa-sa-said that-..I lo-love you. I-I LOVE YOU, KANAE!" He uses his arms to pull himself up further onto a nearby rock. "I mean it! I love your smile! A-And how beautiful you sound when you laugh!"

Pink eyes blinked widely and unbelievably at the man. 

"A-And I'm not saying this to pressure you o-o-or anything! IM IN LOVE WITH YOU!! I've been in love with you since you saved me and treated my wounds as kids!"

Wait..You snapped to her with a raised brow. Say what now?!

"I love you so much and I wanted nothing more than to be with you! To just..Grow old and raise a fucking family!" He felt his vision blur as stinging saltwater that wasn't the sea stung his eyes. "Bit I know in the long run it's only a fucking joke to wish for that because you're perfect! Fuck you're more than fucking perfect! You're beautiful and kind and you can have any man you want. I just thought-.. Maybe I had chance y'know? If there wasn't any other guys a-and I could show you how much I could do-"

"Sanemi. That's enough."

You blinked as a taller figure brushed past you. Each step she took left a small imprint behind as she got closer. Those footfalls reducing to soft splashes as she delved deeper into the water closer and closer towards the gulping man. "Sanemi-"

"I know. You wanna go home. I-I'll take you home I swear! I promise I won't fuck up this time. Please don't hate me anymore! I-I know I fucked up-"

"Shush."

He went wide eyed as two hands grabbed his cheeks and squished them lightly. A beautiful face looking up at pink eyes, bottom lip trembling as a thumb gently wiped at a place under his eye. The waves wetting her gown her unimportant as anything else around her-

?!

You cleared you throat quietly looking away from the kiss to give them some space. Well...This is happening. ..Um..You should probably put your shoe back on- You did do while still averting your eyes away from the emotional scene. They uh-...They probably needed a moment to talk.

"Hey uh..If you two need to talk-" You refused to look pointing a hand away from you. "-I can just go get some of the coconuts on the ground there."

There was a small peck sound as Kanae finally turned to you with a large smile. Past her you could glance Sanemi's face wide eyed shocked and about as pink as Mitsuri's hair. Looks like he really had trouble processing this.

"That's very considerate of you, Y/n. But I don't think that'll be necessary." She turned back to Sanemi. "We'll discuss this later. I'm  still upset with you." Her lips delivered one last kiss to his forehead before she turned and as graceful as a swan walked on out of the water.

"So..were you literally going to say anything about the hidden backstory or are we just walking through someone's romance novel they're still writing?", you asked her crossing your arms and raising a brow.

She giggled at you. "Let's just say some things are better left unsaid. But I'm sure you're going to be a little distracted by a 'plot hook' yourself." She pointed behind you and you looked.

"Y/N!!!" Your f/c went wide see seeing at least five people popped up out of the water, with Suma on top Tengen's shoulders smiling and waving a full arm at you. 

"Oh you've got to be kidding me."

Janae giggled again. "Don't worry. I'll handle the harder job of coconut collecting."

You deadpanned. "Now I see how you're related to Shinobu. The both of you are cruel in different ways."

That statement only made her giggle harder before shrugging and turning to walk off. You shot her a dirty look before Suma calling your name again forced you to look back to the quintet of mers sitting in the water. You stared at them all and they all seemed to have some expression on their faces. Suma was beaming waving a full arm at you, Hinatsuru looked as calm as ever, Makio was looking annoyed, Kyojuro smiled widely, and Tengen seemed to be the only one who looked serious yet at the same time lightly bothered by something he was thinking about. You stood there raising your brows higher at them in silence before crossing your arms and not going further from your spot. 

"I told you all Im not speaking to any of you until you apologized to everyone," you stared firmly not changing your expression.

"We know! And we did!," Suma declared throwing up her hands before losing her balance and falling off Tengen back into the water with a loud splash. If this was any other normal occasion you would've laughed at her antics.

Instead your brow rose higher. "Oh really?"

"YES! WE DISCUSSED THIS LONG AND THOROUGHLY!!," Kyojuro announced in that loud voice of his that made you blink. "WE CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT WE MADE EVERYONE UNHAPPY WITH OUR ACTIONS SO WE GAVE YOU SPACE TO CALM YOURSELF BEFORE WE ATTEMPTED TO TALK!! HOWEVER YOU WEREN'T HOME WHEN WE SPOKE TO THE OTHER LADIES!!"

"Uh..Yeah. I'm doing what you call forging for food. But you all are...A lot more up front and forward about this than I thought you'd be."

"WE WANT TO STILL COURT YOU AS WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!!" His blunt happy yelling did catch you off guard enough to go pink. "HOWEVER THAT'S DIFFICULT IF YOU ARE RIGHTFULLY ANGRY WITH US!! SO WE'VE CONE TO MAKE IT UP TO YOU!!"

"YAY!!" Suma added throwing up her hands behind Kyojuro reappearing.

You could only stare at the two of them with a blank look.

"I told you being straight forward was a bad idea!," suddenly snapped to the both of them before throwing an arm at you. "we should've eased in to it!! Look! You two broke her brain!" 

"We did not!" 

"Did too!"

"Makio, I would have to agree with Suma! Straight forward is better than beating around the bush as they say!"

"I DIDN'T SAY TO BEAT AROUND THE BUSH!! I SAID WE EASE INTO IT!!"

"Makio, let's all calm down-"

"Don't take their sides! I'm the only one who doesn't have kelp for brains around here!!"

"Tengeeeen! Makio's calling me a kelp brain again!"

You stared at the four continuing to argue with one another in usual fashion as they always did before looking back to Tengen. The 'flashy and flamboyant God of Ocean's deep' was uncharacteristically silent for himself and just looking at you like a completely exhausted man. That wasn't like him. Hesitantly you lowered your arms 

"Tengen?" You stepped forward and tilted your head to him. "Are you alright?"

He didn't answer, at least not right away. Instead he just looked at you for a long silent moment and then slowly held his arm towards you. You did blink but when you didn't flinch or move away, his hand came forward to gently grab yours completely enveloping it into his palm. You blinked when you were pulled forward and suddenly found yourself pressed into his chest again but this time there was a now gentleness to it as his forehead just found your shoulder. Silently you blinked as he just rested there tired and seemingly not wanting to argue or fight anymore. ..You sighed reaching out to pay his back.

"Alright, Big Guy. Apology accepted. Don't worry about it anymore."

"I'm tired of fighting for everything." His voice sounded muffled from your dress. "I don't want to fight anymore.....Also you are very warm and soft."

"PFFFT! HAHAHA!!" You couldn't help it. Out of everything else that was serious now, his antics were still present.

"And you're getting my dress all soaked in seawater."

A smirk formed into your shoulder. "Maybe I can try saving it with medical kissing?~"

"OH MY GODS!! STOP WITH THAT!!" You death glared behind him at about four other voices laughing. "And you all be quiet! Kyojuro, I blame you for this!!"

"AND I WILL HAPPILY NEVER LET YOU LIVE THAT DOWN!!"

"UUUUUHHHHH!!!"

 You give up. Just plopping your head into Tengen's shoulder back as he literally just pulled you snigger against him. Actually...this was nice. You never experienced that from Akira. Tengen hugged you tightly but he was absolutely mindful of the injuries you had and didn't squeeze or put pressure around your hurt shoulder. Guess that proved how much attention to detail he actually gave. You didn't even mind the water soaking you from his body at this point. 

A few chuckles in turned to a long sigh as he stayed there snug. "...Hey. I know I said I was already sorry for everything but-"

"It's fine. I already said that I accepted your apology. I'm sorry if I made you feel bad, but I still stand that everyone needed to hear what I had to say."

"I'll give you that right. ...Not going to lie, your flamboyant beauty is doubled when you're made. I wanted to kiss you passionately right then and there."

"Don't say that!" You could already feel your face heating up again. "EEP?!" It certainly didn't help were suddenly once again lifted into a certain white haired merman's arms as he beamed at you. "TENGEN!!"

"IN THE FLESH!!" He happily smiled at your blushing scowling face and cooed. "I don't suppose this would be an appropriate time to ask you if we can court you now?"

You facepalmed. "You all are the most stubborn mers I know..." You looked at him in thought for a moment.  "You really want to court me that badly huh?"

"YES!" You shouldn't have been surprised at the unified answer 

"Uh huh..." You rose a brow at him. You sighed. "I'll..Think about it. There's still a lot of stuff to sort out."

A look of disappointment passed over his face but it was quickly replaced by a bright smile. "I'll take that as a good sign! After all you won't be able to resist me for long ~"

"I've resisted you for longer than you think."

His pupils went wide again. Uh oh-

"Really?~ Is that so, Mrs. Uzui?~"

"Hey. I'm not your wife yet-"

"Yet?" He went quiet suddenly. Wide eyed and stared at you suddenly. Before snapping to Kyojuro. "YET?!"

"YET!!," Kyojuro confirmed back absolutely beaming.

"YET!?"

"YET!! YET YET!!"

You wanted to disappear into air the more they repeated that word before you looked back to Uxui who you SWORE suddenly looked a hundred times brighter. He made to move forward but suddenly stopped-...Ah. Right. You sighed before assuming the position and held out your arms much to his surprise.

"Alright. Kiss me then but don't take all morning. I got a pie with my name on it at home."

Again his eyes went wide. "..Home?"

"Tengen, do I have to repeat myself or are you going to kiss me? Because I will get down and go eat instead."

Kanae had to blink a moment before blushing and turning away from the sight of Tengen half cradled in your arms kissing you with Suma shouting that she was next right behind him as Makio pushed her.

"So...I got those coconuts?"

You looked up. Tengen ref faced and swooning as you held his head. "In a second."

Tengen wheezed."...I think my lips fell in love with you too."

[thesightstoshowyou]

A Trick for a Treat

- A Series -

~~ Over the next few days, I hope to get out a few shorts detailing what my favorite characters are up to on Halloween ~~

(Part I) (Part II)

Part III

Derek Goffard (TPOF) x AFAB Reader (NSFW)

Warnings: Drug use, theft, nonconsensual touching, praise, pet names, Derek is the “victim.”

Thumping music, drunken conversation, raucous laughter, crystal glasses clinking, champagne fizzing, lights flashing…. It’s too much. You’re tired, skull aching and legs protesting as you weave through the crowd of fabulously-constumed party-goers. There are designer labels everywhere you look; sumptuous fabrics, bejeweled masks, high-end makeup.

Halloween for the über rich.

Pushing past a couple dressed as a sparkling Bonnie and Clyde, you slip into a deserted hallway. Your tense shoulders deflate with a sigh, the cacophony of the main room now mercifully muted. In your hand, your untouched drink grows warm. You’d been too busy to even take a sip.

Absently, you set it on a nearby table. The painting hanging on the wall above catches your eye. You lean in, studying the details. It’s an original, you’re sure, and probably worth more than ten years of rent.

“There are cameras everywhere. I’d think twice.”

You whirl around, startled by the sudden voice behind you. A young man leans against a doorway, arms crossed, blonde hair slicked back, smug grin creeping across his face. Your eyes are drawn first to the chic, all black suit he wears, then to the devil horns perched atop his head.

Great. Another spoiled rich boy. You’d had your fill already tonight.

You put on your customer service face. A pleasant smile tugs at your lips, at odds with his own sneer. Chuckling, you relax back against the table and shrug, “Just admiring.”

The man pushes away from the threshold and saunters over, invading your space and coming to a stop inches from you. Expensive aftershave and cologne—eau de Spoiled Brat—assaults your senses. Just the same as the rest of this god forsaken party, it’s too much, like he’d just doused himself before stumbling upon you.

Hands slipping into his pockets, he adopts the stance of every other smarmy prick you’d dealt with tonight. It’s the posture of someone accustomed to getting anything and everything they want; head cocked to the side, chin raised, shoulders squared, disdain etched into every feature.

You’re used to it—have to be in your line of work—but there’s something a little different about this one.

It’s his eyes. They’re brilliantly green and sharp as a knife, a little too wide and too intense for comfort. He looks at you like a feral dog would a wounded rabbit.

You’re suddenly and acutely aware you’re very much alone with this man.

“Cute,” he quips, slipping a hand from his pocket to flick one of the white, feathered angel wings strapped to your back, your last minute costume for the night. You don’t balk. You’ve had worse.

Reaching out, you tug on a lapel of his undoubtedly handmade suit, “Is this Prada?” He grimaces, glancing down at your hand on his jacket, then back up at you. Confusion crosses his features. He doesn’t understand your question.

Good, he’s stupid. You can work with stupid.

“The horns. The Devil Wears Prada….” You trail off, eyebrow raised teasingly. The man scoffs.

“Who are you?” he questions, the smug smile slipping from his face, an annoyed scowl quickly taking its place.

“Your guardian angel, baby.” You open your bag to dig around through the stash of pills, powder, and cash within. Producing a tiny bag housing two white pills, you tease, “These’ll make you see God.”

As expected, he immediately zones in on the baggie. Gotcha.

“How much?” he asks nonchalantly, crossing his arms. You purse your lips like you’re thinking.

“You can sample it on the house…if you get me another drink?” The corner of his mouth quirks up in a satisfied grin. You knew he’d like that.

“Derek Goffard,” he announces, holding out his hand. He says his name like it should mean something to you.

Returning his grin, you grip his hand. “So nice to meet you, Derek.”

~~

Derek had lasted longer than you thought he would after swallowing your little pill. He did his best to carry on conversation, brag, show off all the expensive stuff in his room. You began to wonder if you’d given him the wrong thing, but then you noticed that telltale glaze in his eyes, the slurring of words, the sweating.

Now, he’s flat on his back, splayed out in his bed, staring at the ceiling. His suit jacket lays in a pile on the floor, dress shirt half unbuttoned.

Taking a sip of your drink, you perch on the edge of Derek’s mattress. Feigning sympathy, you coo and brush your fingers through his crunchy hair. His eyes flutter closed at the touch, a breathy little sigh leaving his lips.

“Aw, baby,” you murmur, laying down next to him. “I forgot to mention these were big boy pills.” You slip your hand in his pocket, feeling around for his wallet. He mumbles something incoherent, blinking slowly.

“What was that?” you ask condescendingly as you rifle through the cash. Five grand. You pocket two. He won’t even notice it’s missing.

Returning the wallet, you push to sitting and throw a leg over his hips to straddle him. Derek utters a strangled grunt, hips twitching like he wants to buck them, but cant. They’re just too damn heavy. It brings a small smile to your face. He’s almost endearing like this.

“Doesn’t feel good being on the other side of it, does it Derek?” you whisper, your fingers teasing his bottom lip. Half-closed eyelids droop further and his mouth falls open. You chuckle, “Well, it feels a little good, huh?”

Derek’s eyes fly open when you roll your hips. His fingers scramble clumsily through the bedding, searching for your thighs, hoping to grip and hold on tight. All he can manage is a weak squeeze and a pathetic whine.

You praise him anyway, sickly sweet words murmured against his panting mouth, “You’re trying so hard, aren’t you, handsome?”His cock twitches in his trousers, probably aching to explore the warmth between your thighs. You decide now is as good a time as any to leave.

“W…wai…wait…” Derek slurs when you slide off his lap. As you straighten your clothes, your gaze is drawn to the tent in his pants, desperate for attention. That’s gonna hurt for a while.

“Sorry, sweetheart. It’s past my bedtime.” Fluffing your hair, you turn to leave as Derek mumbles something else. “Hmm?” you question, leaning down over him and turning your ear toward his mouth.

“G…Gonna…fucking…kill you.”

Quickly, you straighten, unnerved. That had sounded…startlingly sincere. Goosebumps prickle along the back of your neck as you look down at Derek. Still staring at the ceiling, he blinks one eye, then the other before closing them altogether.

As he is now, he’s completely harmless. You seriously doubt he’s going to remember any of this tomorrow. This reassures you enough to gather your bag and depart without a backward glance.

On your way home, Derek’s parting sentiment returns to your thoughts, unbidden. There was something…something extremely off-putting in the tone of his voice, something you can’t shake. Hastily, you glance over your shoulder, your feet tapping against the ground a little faster than before.

[eevees-hobbies]

Hi! I was wondering if I could request a x self insert fic of Tengen helping reader relax since they've been going through a very stressful period? Both smut and/or fluff are fine by me. Sorry if this isn't enough detail, I'm not used to requesting much haha ( @linden-honey )

Note: Thank you for being my first-ever request! I tried to keep this gender-neutral since there weren’t specifics. I appreciate you so much for asking and also for making me come out of my comfort zone and write Tengen, haha! Also, sorry for the back-story at the beginning; I’m learning that it’s hard for me to just dive into smut without context! Tag @linden-honey

CW: Slight sexual stuff with a sneaky finger, but nothing explicit.

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

“Oh no,” you say primarily to yourself as you wince, a hand rising to your forehead. You feel an intense migraine beginning to permeate through your skull, and you weren’t even the slightest bit surprised. Life had been a lot lately. Your carrot farm wasn’t producing sprouts as it had many years before, and this caused significant financial hardship for you. Upon further investigation of your crops, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary until a strikingly tall, handsome, and beefy man with jewels adjourning his headband showed up at your small, isolated home 

You wearily asked how you could help him as his bright fushia eyes scoped out the land. “This is perfect.”

“Um, thank you, but it’s all dead,” you remarked as you looked around to see what he was referencing. As you turned your attention back to him, you were admittedly in awe of him. Do they make men this handsome out here in the sticks? No, there’s no way he’s from the area.

As you open your mouth to inquire about him and why he’s in front of you, he cuts you off, informing you hastily that the presence of a demon was killing your crops and terrorizing your sleepy town. You silently sulked to yourself. Why do the crazy ones always find me? Just last week, a boy with bright yellow hair and a shrill voice asked you for your hand. Luckily, one of his companions, who wore a boar's head, dragged him away. Perhaps it’s time for a move?

You nodded as he continued speaking, his hands gesturing wildly to the moon that sat above you both, “are you listening to me? It’s dangerous to be out here at night-” And as if on comedic cue, a feral-looking man—if you could call the thing barreling towards you a man—burst from your small shed, prominent fangs reflecting the light from the moon, his clawed fingers curled as he beelined towards you both. But the bejeweled man moved quickly; you assumed he moved because, in the instant that it took you to blink, he was standing next to the decapitated body of the assailant—his Nichirin Cleavers, covered in blood and being returned to their sheathes.

As the demon's body turned to ash and drifted wispily into the night sky, the man looked at you with a smirk and triumphantly announced, “See, I told you so!” 

And that’s how you found out demons were real! That’s also how you found yourself being courted by Tengen Uzui. He had chosen to stay with you to ease you into your new knowledge of the existence of demons—he also thought you were cute, but he’s a chivalrious God who doesn’t need another person calling him a pervert—so he’d never outwardly admit that. And now that you knew he wasn’t fully crazy, you allowed yourself to grow closer to him, looking forward to his quick quips and vivid storytelling of his adventures across the country. He eventually had to take his leave, but he visited you as often as his job would allow, sharing small bits of his life with you—the fact that he had three wives, that he left the violent life of a shinobi behind, and that he was someone called a “Hashira” who protects innocents like yourself from demons. It was a LOT to take in.

That was months ago.

Tengen’s eyes find yours as he watches you react to the pressure in your head, “Y/N, are you alright?”

You grit your teeth and shoot him your best, “I’m not in pain” smile, but sometimes Tengen knows you better than you know yourself. Your relationship was unique. He had multiple wives—three to be exact—and he was in the process of courting you. You adored the other women but couldn’t help but feel out of place because you weren’t a Kunoichi. One of the first insecurities Tengen had to help you grapple with was that your normalcy was very attractive to him. 

“Here,” he gently removes the knife you’re using to chop up vegetables for dinner from your hand, “I can finish the rest.”

You side-eye him, and he returns your eyes with a glare, “what’s that look for?” 

“If I eat anything you make, I’ll certainly die.” 

“Get. Out,” orders Tengen through gritted teeth. As he watches you as you stroll off, he can’t help but smile. You may not possess the same skill set as his other wives, but you’re witty and make him laugh, and sometimes he needs that more than anything in this cruel world. He turns his attention to the uncut purple carrot in front of him. “I cut up demons for a living. How hard can this possibly be?” 

——

You dry the remnants of water from your body as you head to your bedroom. As soon as you had lowered your body into the water of your bath, the heat and steam alleviated the pressure of your migraine immensely. As you slide open the door, you smile to yourself. The room is dark except for candles lit on the windowsill, and the aroma of lavender floats through the air from your oil diffuser. The culprit of these thoughtful gestures greets you with a smile that could illuminate any space. “You know what they say helps with a migraine?”

“Are you talking about…?”

“Yes- no! A massage! Get your head out of the gutter!”

You laugh softly, never one to turn down his touch, even if it’s something as innocent as a massage. Tengen gets to work spreading the oil in his hands and rubbing his palms together to warm the liquid. His hands feel like heaven as he firmly grips your shoulders, his thumbs rubbing large circles against your glistening skin. As you melt against his touch, you contemplate how you got into this situation. Maybe you were more stressed than you liked to admit, but you certainly can’t deny it now, as Tengen massages away the physical embodiment of your stress.

Tengen leans down and whispers huskily in your ear, “I need to remove your towel so I can be an effective masseuse.”

You give a quiet hum of approval.

Tengen wraps his fingers around the hem of the towel and pulls, a low growl escaping his throat as your naked body lies beneath him. He looks at the oil, contemplating all the things he could do to you with you on your stomach and your backside exposed. But he quickly regains his composure—dedicated to getting this job done and not allowing any temptation to distract him! This is for YOU—his love—after all. 

He continues to spread the oil across your skin, a layer of sheen making your body glisten, the shadows produced from the candles licking across your body and creating intimate shrouds on the curve of your back. Admiring his work, Tengen’s hands move their way from your shoulders to your lower back. You moan underneath him, moving slightly as you can feel something firm poking at your ass, and if Tengen’s hands are at your waist, then you’re being prodded by something else. You’re stopped from saying anything as Tengen massages your flesh and, as discreetly as one can, slips a finger inside of you.

You let out a gasp, and your body clenches reactively. Tengen whispers a “sorry,” but you can hear a hint of a smile on his lips as he then moves on to diligently work at the rest of your body, rubbing the tension from your thighs, calves, and feet—taking extra special care to areas where you let out a content sigh. As he finishes your lower body, you flip onto your back so you’re staring up at him.

He looks down at you, playfulness pooling in his eyes, “I just showed considerable strength just now.”

“I give you a B- for that little stunt you pulled.”

Tengen smiles and presses his forehead against yours, “how’s the headache?”

“Nonexistent thanks to you.”

Tengen takes your hands in his, intertwining your fingers and pinning them above your head. “If there’s ever a means by which I can alleviate a burden from you, please don’t hesitate to ask. You mean so much to me.”

You consider his words carefully. He’s smiling down at you, but his eyes show some semblance of concern—silently pleading for you to take his words to heart. You nod in agreement. “I’ve been doing so much alone for so long that sometimes I forget to ask.”

“We’ll get you into the habit then,” he trails kisses down your face until his lips hover closely to yours. “Let’s start now. How can I help?”

“Don’t be a tease,” you whisper as you wrap your legs around his waist. Tengen chuckles to himself and plants a kiss on your lips, sinking into you.

[jareckiworld]

Chris Millar — Bejeweled Double Festooned Plus Skull for Girls (acrylic paint, styrene, ABS, glass, metal, 2009),

[sculptorofcrimson]

Long be His Reign

Inspired by @bispecsual!

And also because I listened to a cool song.

The Emperor died ten thousand years ago, and the Custodes built shrines on His corpse.

~~~~~

He thought He’d never die. 

Ten thousand years would pass, and He would still endure. They thought He’d outlast them and then His sons, then His empire. When even the hallways of gold crumble to dust, when even the finest of steel turns to rust, He will still endure, endless, immortal, unending. He will kiss the sun when the oceans begin to burn, He will outlast the sands when they turn to ash, He will be there when the skies themselves curdle, and fade away into ash, and He’ll be all alone with life itself decays.

“I believed in all their lies, I believed that I was safe, and that I would never die.

Now I’m all alone, I’m still hiding in the dark. 

I wish that I could live, but I fear I’ve gone too far.” 

But even immortality ends, even gods die. All things end, even love, even life, even gods. In the end, the only thing that lasts forever is loss. 

“All stay strong, we live eternally.”

They thought He’d live forever.

They thought their duty would never end. 

They thought their duty end only in death.

They loved Him. And He abandonned them. The Emperor died, He died before they could lay down their spears. They failed in their endless duty and He died and left them all alone. 

He cannot love, they are too fragile, too delicate to be loved, He can hold no one in His arms without them breaking from the force. He called them His Companions, but they were His dogs, unable to fathom the disappearance of their master. They defined themselves by His law, they saw themselves through His eyes, and when He died they saw Him through His corpse. 

Did He know? Did He know the weight of their love? What would become of His dogs when He fell, if He ever fell, for death was no longer an option? 

Of course He knew. Of course, He was the Emperor, He would always know. But it didn't matter. And He didn't care.

But it mattered no more than their cries had mattered. It mattered no more than when He stole a child from a weeping mother’s arms, when He took him and turned him into the First of the Custodians. He made it so their minds would break before their loyalty would, He made it so they would destroy themselves in their obsessions, and thank him with their dying breath for it. 

He died ten thousand years ago. He died, and left them alone.

Who is there to mourn for you, when your sons have departed for the stars, when even your willing slaves can’t even accept your death?

They are nothing. They love nothing. They know nothing. They are His slaves, His pawns, and when death did them part, they lost their way. They live for no one but Him, and what else is left now but to endure? What else is left but to gather His bones and enshrine what’s left of Him, forever executing the same, menial orders like a well-trained automaton, until your gears grind down and your golden plumes decay and you become one with your dead master now?

They are so beautiful. They love none except for Him, they love His loves, they love His dream, they love what graces the gold of His eyes. They are golden, glorious, made holy by their obsession, the strength of their loyalty. 

But He died. And left them alone. In return, they built themselves a false idol from His bones, they turned His tomb into a temple to worship what remains of His corpse.

They wrap His bones in the finest of silks and polish His throne, the golden march a thousand to their deaths before Him, and sacrifice them screaming to His chains. They keep Him there, dead and still alive, they’ve loved Him enough that not even death can do them part. 

They polish His skull, they adorn HIs ribs with gems and jewelry, they carve intricate patterns into His robes and bejewel Him in finery. They rest at the foot of His throne and ache for His words, to make sense of His babblings. They drag the youngest of the Companions to gaze upon His decaying glory, preserved in brume and gold, so that they might marvel before their lord, so they might weep for what was lost. They caress what remains of His hair and gently, so reverently, lay down the laurel and crown Him king.

King. God. Emperor. Warrior. Master. 

They were the most faithful of His servants once. They still are now, in a sense. They’ll remake Him, they’ll baptize false idols in His raiments and smother them again and again, they’ll weigh down their Emperor with gold until He suffocates again beneath a hell of His own creation. 

He built them to love Him. And love Him beyond even death they will. 

[czenzo]

Watch Out for Skull – Chapter 4

[ao3] chapter links: [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ]

summary: Lucy takes on a cat-sitting job for a stranger, hoping for a quiet week in a nice London flat, with free food, no bills, and enough time to finish an art commission. But the cat is a menace, and the stranger’s friend is ridiculously charming—and a huge distraction.

words: 1,829 rating: T

note: hey, remember that angst and hurt/comfort tag I snuck in between all the happier, fluffier tags? yeah? cool. I’m not asking for any particular reason, it’s definitely not related to this update :)

A man standing tall, chest puffed with pride, wielding a bejewelled rapier glinting mid-swing at an off-canvas opponent.

This, Lucy thought, was by far her most flamboyant—and perhaps egotistical—commission ever. But if it was what Quill Kipps wanted, then it was what she would paint.

From his perching spot next to the canvas, Skull meowed, swatting at one of the reference pictures she’d stuck up by her work in progress.

“I know,” Lucy replied. “I still can’t work out what’s missing.”

She had already spent the morning deliberating over every glint and glimmer on the rapier’s rhinestones, followed by altering the swoop of Kipps’ red hair to give it more volume and shine. Neither of those things had been the elusive missing piece of the painting—but on the bright side, Kipps would surely be okay with the minor improvements to his appearance.

A swift knock at the front door was followed by the sound of a key rattling in the lock. Having lost track of the time, Lucy started at Lockwood’s arrival. The sudden jerk of her arm knocked her paint water over, and time practically slowed as she watched everything go to shit.

The cup careened to the floor, spewing an arc of murky water as it flipped through the air. Skull tried to leap out of the way but was still hit full-force with water, and flew, claws-first, straight towards Lucy's canvas.

She didn’t recognise the sound that clawed its way from her throat as she watched the canvas fabric tear in one long arc. She didn’t recognise her own voice as she scolded Skull for ruining her hours upon hours of work.

She didn’t realise the front door was still open as Skull ran away from her.

“Lucy, is everything alright?” Lockwood called out. Then—“Oh God, no— Skull!”

Lucy hurried out of the bedroom just in time to hear Lockwood vehemently swear as Skull sprinted into the hallway and down the stairs of the flat complex.

“Shit,” Lucy said as nausea settled heavily in her stomach. “Shit!”

“Shit,” Lockwood agreed. Together they rushed out the door, descending the stairs so fast Lucy was sure she’d fall flat on her face. As they reached the ground floor, they passed a man Lucy recognised as one of George’s neighbours.

“Excuse me!” she called out to him. “Did you see a cat run by? Black, with white patches on his face?”

“Oh, yes, he was a peculiar little fellow,” the man said. “I thought he was a stray that got trapped inside, so I let him out.”

As Lucy took a deep breath to prevent herself from speaking her mind, Lockwood spoke in her stead. “Did you see which direction he went in?”

“Right,” the man said with confidence. “Or maybe left. Actually, I’m not quite sure.”

“Fantastic,” Lockwood said, voice thick with foreign-sounding sarcasm that made Lucy’s stomach feel even funnier.

She grabbed his hand and dragged him outside, wincing at the sudden nip of the wind hitting her face. Their heads darted this way and that, hoping to catch a glimpse of black fur trotting down the street, or hiding under a parked car.

“He’s fast,” Lockwood panted.

“Little shit. I’m going to kill him.”

“Let’s split up. I’ll go this way, okay? I’ll call you if I find him.”

Lucy nodded as she caught her breath, then set off in the opposite direction. She picked at the drying paint on her hands as she desperately searched high and low for George’s beloved cat, pss-pss-pssing and ch-ch-ching and getting more than a few strange looks from passers-by, but she couldn’t give less of a toss.

George had trusted her, Holly had recommended her, Skull had befriended her, and she’d betrayed them all with a single careless mistake. It was her fault the commission was shredded—she shouldn’t have let Skull anywhere near it—and then she’d had the audacity to scold him for it.

Her brows furrowed as she fought off the frustrated sting in her eyes, arms wrapping tight around her chest to fend off the streets’ bitter chill. She hadn’t even put shoes on, and felt her threadbare socks becoming caked by dampness and grime with every step.

“Lucy,” Lockwood said. She jumped and looked up, realising they must have circled the whole block and met in the middle. “You’re shivering.”

“Didn’t grab a coat,” she said. “Or shoes.”

Lockwood's eyes widened as he looked down. “Christ, Luce. Let’s nip back.”

She wasn’t sure if it was the sudden use of the nickname, the numbness in her toes, or the embarrassing wetness in her eyes that made her agree and follow him back to the flat. Wordlessly, Lockwood took off his coat and wrapped it around her, enveloping her in warmth and the faint smell of cologne. There was a weight in one of the pockets, and whatever was inside crinkled as she walked.

“Sorry,” Lucy murmured. “I know this isn’t what you had in mind for our date.”

“Date?” Lockwood choked on his breath, face flushing far more than the cold warranted. “Date. Oh. Yes, I suppose you’re right. That’s what it was.”

“You look nice, by the way.”

He froze as he held the door open for her. Lucy wasn’t lying—his jumper was a lovely, deep shade of red, with a crisp white collar peering out, and his hair was far more meticulously styled than when she last saw it. She nodded in thanks and trudged back up to George’s flat, Lockwood in tow, painfully aware her mascara had begun to streak her blotched cheeks.

“So do you,” Lockwood eventually said. Lucy gave him an unamused look.

As she peeled off her disgusting socks (and threw them right into the bin), she cast a forlorn look at her phone. “I should tell George.”

“No, not yet,” Lockwood insisted, tapping away at his own phone. “Skull won’t have gone far, and we don’t want to distract George from his nerd enrichment time. We’ll get you wrapped up warm and… Ah! This site says using his favourite treats and toys can help coax him back.”

Lucy’s phone began to ring, and the caller ID made her nausea increase tenfold.

George.

Without a moment's hesitation, Lockwood picked it up.

“Hi, George,” he said with an easy smile. “No, you called the right number. She’s having a well-deserved nap right now. No, I’m not bothering her. Yes, Skull’s just fine. Still hates me, as usual, but he’s really taken a shine to Lucy. How’s your trip going? Oh, that’s great. Say hi to Flo for me. Of course. Bye.”

He hung up and then shut the bedroom door, blocking Lucy’s view of the painting. He pulled a scarf from the coat rack—patterned with dinosaurs, undoubtedly George’s—and handed it to her along with her coat. As she wrapped up and put suitable footwear on, Lockwood got to work deciding which toys to bring.

“He likes the ghost one,” Lucy said. Lockwood added that to his small collection before nipping into the kitchen to get a treat pouch.

He emerged with a calm smile, so full of self-assurance that Lucy could feel some of it rubbing off on her. “You ready?”

She nodded and led him back outside.

–––

The rumbling of Lucy’s stomach could barely be heard over the hubbub of London in the evening. Cars whizzed by, people chatted and jogged and cycled, streetlights flickered on one by one, and Skull was still nowhere to be seen.

She continued to dangle the ghost toy around her as Lockwood rattled the pouch of treats; he’d insisted he stayed by her side once it began to get dark.

“It’s been hours,” Lucy said, watching her breath turn to plumes of mist. “He could be anywhere by now.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lockwood’s shoulders slump. “He’s probably found a hiding spot for the night. How about we head back, get some rest, and set back out in the morning?”

“I don’t want to leave him alone out here. I don’t want anything to happen to— Oh, God. George is going to be devastated.”

“Don’t give up just yet,” Lockwood said softly. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Skull’s probably fast asleep somewhere safe. As menacing as he may be, he isn’t stupid. You need rest, too, or you’ll make yourself ill from stress.”

Lucy rubbed her eyes with a heavy hand. He was right, and she knew it, but admitting it was the last thing she wanted to do.

“We can leave some of his things by the door, then have some good food—George’s cooking makes for the best comfort meals, I swear—and rest up before heading back out early tomorrow. How does that sound?”

She took a deep, shaky breath, then forced herself to nod. “Yeah. Okay.”

–––

Lockwood was, once again, right: for a moment, George’s cooking made everything feel okay.

Lucy ate it curled up on the sofa, savouring every mouthful; Lockwood worked his way through the other portion by her side. The warm food settling in her stomach eased away some of her nerve-induced nausea and the throbbing headache that had plagued her for hours. And if Lockwood sat closer than usual, thigh pressing against her own, well—she wasn’t going to complain. It kept her grounded.

“What does he put into this?” Lucy groaned as she finished her final mouthful.

“Drugs,” Lockwood said simply. “There’s no other explanation.”

“Thank you,” she said eventually. “For dragging me back. I’d have gone half mad if I’d stayed outside.”

He turned to her, face softly illuminated by the glow of a nearby lamp. In that moment, she wished she could take a snapshot of his gentle smile, memorise it and paint it and frame it, keep every detail of it forever.

“Oh,” he said suddenly, standing and striding over to his coat. “I have something for you.” He returned with a poorly wrapped object, running a slender finger along the wonky pieces of tape holding it together. “Sorry, Christmas paper was all I had left. I was going to give it to you when I arrived earlier, but…”

She carefully took it from him. “I— Why did you—?”

“It’s nothing, really. I just saw it in a charity shop and thought of you.”

Lucy peeled away the paper patterned with shining snowflakes to reveal a mug that said ‘Fuck off, I’m painting’. Against her better judgment, she let out an ugly snort.

“Sometimes the key to surviving a disaster is simply drinking good tea from a good mug,” Lockwood said. “I stand by that.”

She slowly turned it in her hands. It was just a mug—yet so much more. As Lucy’s smile began to wobble, she got up and retreated into the kitchen. “Tea?”

“Always,” Lockwood called back. He didn’t follow; the moment alone gave her time to gather herself. “Thank you, Luce.”

[annoyingpastryineyeliner]

[chim-aera]

be good to me

I feel heavy, tired. like dew laden grass wet and scraping stuck to the back of my ankles like plaster of paris, like paper mache dripping and course, glue running down my thighs making every step more and more difficult.

I want to be light. deer light, fawn fast. rabbit racing. I want to bolt and run and run and run. through meadows and glades, let me be Atalanta let me be free. but I sink knee deep into the earth and Gaia gently lifts me out of her mires, setting me carefully onto my own trembling two feet.

everyone is moving quicker then me. flitting like bejeweled little dragonflies into their next chapter, their next page, while I'm left stuttering, stammering in between inkwells trying to wipe the murky stains across my palms trying to force in my own meager scribbles to fit somewhere, anywhere, then my own fragile mindscape.

I'm tired of being a poet im tired of being pathetic

I haven't picked up the pen in months, ages. too long, yet not long enough. I try to hold them down, clench my teeth like stark white enamel shining sentries yet the melonchaly worms its way out of my throat until it's spat into my palm all convoluted and chipper like an owl hacking up a pellet and instead spitting out its own beak.

I'm so tired.

I want to be loved.

gods damn it.

I want to be loved.

I always figured I'd prefer a dear destruction, enjoyable and pleasurable, soak me in honey, bitter with aconite, smile and call me darling as you drown me alive. as hands, rough and tender, crush my windpipe, as it was nearly done oh so long ago.

pull me down by my hair, yank me up by my chin, hold me down. with force, with chains, push me into the floor, the earth, Gaia winces, for I'm no Daphne, be it may, but no bark, no wooden armor will grace this fragile form of mine. no, I'm out in the open as all the hounds' fair game.

call me pretty as you summon forth my destruction, yet put me back together with soft words and praises. I'm used to sewing needles and crimson thread. the seams crude and trying, like everything I ever do if you dare to look close enough.

gods. gods I dont think I want to be destroyed anymore.

I want to be held. I'm tired of this awful, putrid self induced purgatory, let me for once, be held gently, caress my face, cup my cheeks in warm or calloused palms, let me nuzzle into them, desperate, like a cat melting into a caress. let me need you. will I let myself need you?

I've spent a lifetime picking myself apart with embalment tools. scalpels and pliars, neatly dissecting my diversities my dualaties until they were lined up in pretty little jars. an emotional, egregious apothecary if you will. I don't want this anymore.

hold me.

be good to me.

I'm resourceful, yes. like a fox, like a scholar, like a poet, like a fool. I've survived this long on clever little lies and armor sewn from hellebore, ivy coating my skin as a second layer of poison yet it only weakens myself.

I will exist. I will persist.

but gods, I am fragile.

unwind my paper wings, my metal key, see how battered my skull is. my mind clouded and clogged up with words and screaming. insults and fears toxic and tiring. my hands shiver, my body creaks, I want to collapse, into the cool dark dirt. into pillows, down soft and cottony, into someone's arms. hold me gently, hold me firm..

gods, I want to be protected.

that's all I've ever longed for.

but I sheathe my own sword. I've always been my own knight, my own champion, as meager a job I do, i keep myself alive. perhaps this is how Joan of Arc felt, I am not righteous but I understand that madness we deem holy that drives you forward into myth or misery.

In the end, she didnt want to die. no prophecy can warn you of how it feels to be aware, conscious as your soul slips agonizingly slowly from a mortal shell into that shadowed little waiting room we call the afterlife.

I don't want to go out like that.

please.

please.

as much wildness as I still cling onto. the sharpness of my words, the bite in my voice, the curve to my jaw, my teeth, my hands. my fierceness, my sensuality, hides sensitivity. It's armor too, a mask of itself, all honeyed kisses and fae fake frivolity

I'm so scared

I've always been. fear sets into my skull like a second soul. but will I ever discover how to soothe it?

please, please I'd let you destroy me if you asked nicely enough. I'm so used to people wanting to, theres some sick joy in watching something already so broken shatter into nothingness just to pick itself back up on trembling, trivial tenacity isn't there?

kintsugi.

let me dip my scars in gold, glaze my fractured fragments in ichor.

but as pretty as it may be, no amount of metal changes the fact that vase is still broken.

that I'm still broken.

gods. please.

I want to be held gently, because they want to.

"be good to me, I beg of you."

I'm so good at begging.

so please, please.

be gentle, I break easily, and I'm so tired of forging myself back on Hephaestus's irons.

I just want to be held.

please, be good to me.