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sissytobitch10seconds · 1 year ago

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Birdsong: Ribs

Fandom: Grishaverse: Six of Crows and Shadow and Bone (TV) Summary: Wylan is kicking himself in the ass for being as late as he was. He knew that his partners had to be worried, it was almost three hours after he sat that he would be home, after all. It seems as thought the world is determined to make him even later than ever when he hears something in the parking lot near his work. Warnings: Physical assault, mentions of canon-typical grooming/child abuse, and blood Word Count: 10,501 Ship(s): Nina Zenik/Wylan Van Eck/Jesper Fahey/Matthias Helvar/Inej Ghafa/Kaz Brekker

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A/N: At the time of writing this, I had not read the books so a lot of the plot was still pulled from the show. I've now finished the book but I don't want to rewrite the whole series so I'm editing some things as I go. If you notice inconsistencies from here on out that's why! Stay sissy and bitchy everyone <3

Wylan winced as the door to his lab shut harder than he had meant it to. He had gotten so wrapped up in the work that he had been doing, finally hitting the breakthrough that he had been searching for, that he hadn’t noticed how late it had gotten. He tried to make sure that he was home no later than six so that he could eat with his partners before Kaz had to go oversee the opening of the Crow Club. Inej often had a call time around seven as well, so it killed two birds with one stone to be home before they left. That way he knew that he had at least one in person interaction with them each day, since they were usually asleep when he woke.

He had broken the rule that he had made with himself by working over what his normal limit was. He didn’t break the rule often, maybe once or twice a year. A lot of the time when he was working in the lab, he was running the same experiment over and over again, which was so monotonous that he would often skip out on a test or two that he could have run that day in favor of doing it the next day instead. It was worse when he was writing his reports, since he had to speak slowly to his speech-to-text program so that he could get it written up faster than it would take him to try and type everything. Spellcheck was a godsend, but reading and writing were so much harder for him than they were for everyone else that he worked with.

Today he had been so wrapped up in the new breakthrough that they had made, that he had totally forgotten to keep track of the time. He had been mumbling down ideas into the notepad app on his phone the entire day so that none of the ideas would escape him. By the time that he had looked up again, ripped from his thoughts as he realized that he was famished, all of his coworkers were gone and the building had been darkened.

Wylan had finished cleaning up the lab and then locked the building as quickly as he felt he could while still being responsible so that he could go home. He hurried towards the parking lot that he had found a spot in that morning after running a little bit behind. That was the annoying thing about working so close to the university campus when school was in session, it resulted in him having to walk two blocks just to get to his car so that he could go home because all the other spots were taken. Still, it meant that they got a lot of student interns so they didn’t have to spend the extra money they were already strapped for, instead just giving them credit for their classes and real world experience.

He tugged his headphones out of his bag and then connected them to his phone as he picked the audiobook that he had been listening to that week. He and Jesper had a mini book club that they participated in, though it was turning into a playful argument about which audiobook producer was the best. Despite the fact that Jesper listened to more podcasts and music than he did audiobooks, he still had very strong opinions about it. Jesper was able to read physical copies even if it was only in short bursts, but Wylan preferred to keep reading as much as he could even with his learning disability, so he tended to plow through the books that they were allegedly reading together.

The soothing voice of the narrator washed over him as he stuck his hands into his pockets and walked down the street towards his car. He was trying to focus on what was being read to him instead of the plan that he was coming up with for the end of the study. He knew that if they made a big breakthrough and patented or sold something, then they’d be able to continue the work that they had been doing in the lab more than they ever expected to. Wylan didn’t look at science as a way of making money necessarily, he would still experiment by himself even if he wasn’t being paid to do it, but this way he could continue to work with the team that he had grown very attached to.

After about only three minutes and half a block, he decided that trying to pay attention to an audiobook just wasn’t going to happen because he was too invested in what he had been working on. Jesper and Matthias were both going to be very pouty when he got home and all he could talk about was work despite being late. At least Kaz would understand, but he’d be at work until midnight at the earliest.

Wylan let out a little put-upon sigh. It was hard to navigate adult relationships, even if the freedom of adulthood was more than worth it. Sometimes he longed for the simplicity that had come with being a teenager, but he was always quick to remind himself how much happier he was now. Even if he had his partners back then, the abuse that his father had put him through would have made him miserable despite the support of the five wonderful people he had met.

Instead, he hummed the song that had been pestering the back of his mind as he walked. Ever since they had actually started going steady with her, Jesper and Matthias had been playing the music from the band that their new girlfriend was in. The artists were very talented and Wylan had to admit that her voice was soothing, but it was still annoying that they were so good at becoming earworms when he was trying to have other thoughts.

He paused when he got to the edge of the parking lot to the bar that was on the other side of the block to his lab building. The area was mostly deserted now that students weren’t using it to get as close to campus as they could, but a few cars were still parked there. It was one of the least popular bars in town (and Wylan wasn’t biased because the Crow Club was becoming busier every day, he assured himself), so there were only about a half dozen vehicles.

What really caught his attention was the scene that was unfolding. There was a man wearing a red and white varsity-style jacket with the last name ‘Kaminsky’ stitched into the back and a pair of blue jeans with a thick brown belt. He was advancing on a woman while shouting at her, “You think that you’re tough shit because you stole Alina away from Aleksander but you’re nothing but a fucking whore!”

“Ivan, you’re drunk, you need to go home,” the woman replied.

Wylan took a step forward so that he could get a better look at her. She had coiled brown hair that was loose around her face and shoulders, which only served to bring out the pronounced jawline and cheekbones of her face. Her lips were soft and pouty, but that was mostly because of the peach colored lipgloss that she was wearing. She had accented eyeliner in pink under the black and rosy cheeks to match the eyeshadow. She was wearing a blue mini skirt that was tucking into a loose black bodice that had sheer puffy sleeves.

Objectively, she was very pretty. Wylan knew that women who were stereotypically attractive tended to get accosted by drunk men a lot, especially since he had begun his queerplatonic relationship with Inej. She had taught him a lot about women that he had never been able to pick up from his step-mother because of their distance. His own mother had disappeared when he was too young to learn about the kinds of things Inej had taught him and come back into his life after he had gotten together with the aforementioned acrobat.

Still, they seemed to know each other so Wylan hung back to let things play their course. He didn’t want to interrupt something and then get shouted at for it, especially when he was already feeling emotionally frayed from working too much that day. He desperately wanted to go home so that he could cuddle with his partners and eat dinner while watching bad TV, but this was important. It was possible that the situation would turn violent and she would need help, but he didn’t want to assume right away.

“You don’t get to talk to me like you know me!” the man screamed. He smashed the beer bottle that had been hanging loosely from his hand down onto the car behind her, which caused a few shards of glass to cut through her freckled skin. Beads of red blood blossomed on the skin and began to dribble down her cheek. She was pinned up against the car, the only other option for her was to move towards the wall which would result in her being trapped from all sides.

Wylan got out his phone and pointed it towards the fight. He had gotten used to doing that a lot when he was a teenager, but he was glad that something had come from that miserable time in his life. Hopefully if things escalated it could actually help the woman.

The woman had finally regained her voice after the sharp cry of panic that she had let out, “Ivan, you know that I don’t control what Alina does! I have nothing to do with the breakup, I just rejoined the band when she said she wanted to start playing again.”

That only provoked the man further instead of de-escalating it like she had no doubt hoped for. “You are the only person that was still allowed to be in contact with her from the old band. I know that you continued the music too. You really think that I’m stupid enough to believe that lie you made up for everyone else?”

“I expect you to be a rational fucking human, but apparently I set my standards too high!” she shouted back at him. “You really think that I single handedly tried to tear down The Fold?” she snarled.

Wylan could hear the fear in her voice as she did so. He took a step forward, preparing to help her if things got more serious, his phone still recording. He could feel her anxiety in his own veins, heart thrumming, lungs gasping for more air, mind racing.

“I think that you’re a traitorous bitch that would do anything to try and ruin the career of a man you hate,” the other man replied. He kept advancing on her, caging her in with his body more and more. He was svelte, thinner than she was, but he was also a couple of inches taller than her. It was made worse based on the fact that she was cowering back against the car that he had pinned her on.

Wylan envied the confidence that took over her features as she pushed up her chest and stood at her full height despite that mostly closing the space between them. She had a fierce look burning in her eyes, one that Wylan would have never been able to summon up if he had been standing in front of his father during one of their fights. Her mouth twisted into a truly feral smirk as she said, “I had nothing to do with the falling of The Fold. I think that you should talk to your precious Darkling about why he tried to sink all of his money into shit lawsuits to get back the girl that he groomed when she finally dumped his ass and took him for all he was worth. Maybe he should have thought before he decided that he didn’t need a prenup.”

That made Ivan snap.

He had swung his arm back and then brought it forward before Wylan even had the time to process what he was doing. The sickening crack that sounded as his fist collided with the woman’s jaw made him cringe. He shoved his phone in his pocket so that the camera was peaking out over the fabric and still recording their conversation as he rushed over. He may have been several inches shorter than the attacker, but two bodies were better than one so there was a good chance that he would actually be of some use when it came to helping her.

“Leave her alone!”

“Stay out of this,” Ivan replied.

The woman was bent over slightly, slumped against the car. She was supporting herself with one of her hands so that she wouldn’t fall over and holding her cheek with the other. One side was still dripping blood down her forehead so that it streaked the rest of her face and the other side was no doubt going to be blooming with a dark bruise based on the sound alone.

“You know, I don’t think that I will,” Wylan replied. He reached down into his bag for the pepper spray that he brought with him everywhere he went. He was a little less paranoid about people randomly attacking him when he was out on the street than Kaz, but the couple weeks that he had spent homeless had made it so that he never went anywhere without a way to protect himself. Just remembering the fights escalating to the point where he had decided the open streets were safer for him made him furious that the woman was being attacked out in the open like that.

Coming over to help had the effect that he wanted, which was both a good and a bad thing. Ivan had seemingly forgotten about the woman and had turned fully to Wylan, but there was more hate and rage burning in his drunken eyes than before. “This has nothing to do with you,” he snarled, spewing flecks of spit out towards Wylan.

“This has something to do with me because you’re attacking someone less than a block from the place where I work! I may not know who you are or why you’ve decided to be an absolute ass, but it’d be wrong of me to just walk away. That’s the right thing for you to do, though,” he said confidently. He uncapped the pepper spray in his bag and then wrapped his fingers around the small bottle. It would take him less than a second to bring it out, aim, and then incapacitate the man, as long as alcohol was the only thing in his system. He had seen pepper spray being used on another one of the homeless youth from his camp, and because the other had been on PCP it had been basically useless.

“He’s right, Ivan. What would Fedyor think about you doing this? I know that your husband still works for that scum but we were once friends. I don’t think that he’d be very happy about you wailing on me,” the woman said as she righted herself.

“Keep my husband’s name out of your mouth, wench,” he snarled as he turned back around. Apparently mentioning whoever she had was the wrong move, as he wrapped his hand into her dark locks and threw her down to the ground.

Wylan had moved in an instant, before he even knew what his legs were doing. He brought the pepper spray out of his bag as he moved, aiming and spraying just as he had been playing over and over again in his mind. The red liquid dusted through the air until it was covering the eyes and face of the attacker, burning into his skin.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he screamed as he fell down to his knees and began to claw at his eyes. It would do nothing to remove the irritant from where it was sticking, but it was the only thing he could think of in his addled state to get rid of the feeling.

Wylan quickly stepped around him and then offered his hand out to the woman. She had bounced hard against the asphalt of the parking lot but was already beginning to right herself, one hand once again cupping the side of her face. “Do you think that you can stand?” he asked as he offered his hand out to her.

She nodded weakly as she took it and used it to haul herself to her feet. She whimpered as she took a step, her ankle doubling because of the break in her heel. She bent down and removed both of her shoes, looping her fingers around the back so that she could carry them. Wylan took her hand in his again and then began to pull her down the street so that Ivan couldn’t get up and follow them if he somehow overcame the burning that of the pepper spray. It was unlikely that would ever happen because of the potentness of the irritant, but Wylan had learned that sticking around to make sure the monster had been taken down resulted in getting hurt.

They ran over the street, crossing against the red light because there were no other cars on the road. She held onto him like if she let go then she’d drift back to the place of pain and fear that she had been in before, something that he was intimately familiar with.

Wylan was by no means unfit, but he didn’t work out as much as his partners did. He and Kaz tried to do at least a little bit of physical activity, Wylan so that his body didn’t go stiff with how long he spent over a desk and Kaz to help self-regulate his chronic pain issues. Matthias worked out because he enjoyed it, Inej did it because it was part of her job, and Jesper somehow managed to stay fit because of the singing and acting that he threw himself at every chance he got.

Running down two blocks and into the parking lot where his car was left him gasping for air, along with the woman next to him. Her chest was heaving to bring in air even though she was nowhere as winded as he was. He wondered what she did for a living that let her have that much breath control, but now wasn’t exactly the time to ask.

He winced as he realized what he had done, eyeing her shoes where they were still clenched in the hand that wasn’t holding onto his. He dropped her hand then when he remembered that he hadn’t yet let go and said, “I’m sorry for bringing you all the way here, I should have brought you to your car.”

She waved him off dismissively, “I didn’t drive here and this is far enough that I can’t imagine Ivan being able to follow us.” She paused for a moment as her hand drifted up to where she had hit her head through the thick chocolate curls and Wylan remembered another thing that he technically should have done.

“Would you mind if I checked you out? I may not be a medical doctor but I’m still trained in first aid so I should be able to see if you have a concussion or not,” he explained nervously. He reached into his bag and dug out the keys to his car, unlocking it with a fluid motion. He opened up the hatch to the back and then pulled the emergency wool blanket over the dirt and grim covered edge so that she had somewhere to sit that was relatively clean.

It was a bit of odd paranoia that had followed him well into adulthood, even after he had become the legal owner of a home. He knew that it was unlikely that he would ever break up with his partners and even more unlikely that it would be all of them, or that him no longer being in a relationship with them would result in him being back on the streets, but it was a worry that always hung heavy in the back of his mind. He made sure that any vehicles that he owned had enough space for him to sleep in the back comfortably so that he wasn’t quite as exposed as he had been when he was a teenager.

“Right, you probably should,” she nodded. “I think if I said no my friend Tamar would find out and actually come to kill me.”

She let out another one of her pleasant laughs. It made Wylan feel comfortable and happy, settled back into his body instead of pushed out of his skin by adrenaline and bad memories. This woman reminded him a lot of Inej, though she was soft where Inej was sharp and quick where Inej was slow. While Wylan’s queerplatonic partner was a lot more partial to fixing people that bothered her with a silent yet deadly stare that promised untold pain, the woman next to him was the type to face her problems head-on with all the ferocity that she could muster. She didn’t seem jagged and broken afterwards the same way that Inej did, her confidence letting her head stay high instead of crumbling to dust after.

Wylan wanted to get to know her more, but he could do that after he made sure that she was okay. “I’m going to check your pupils with the flashlight on my phone,” he warned her. She had sat down on top of the blanket in front of him so that he could reach her easily, which he was grateful for. Despite the fact that she had already removed her heels, which had made her a few inches taller, she was nearly a head taller than Wylan when he was standing at his full height.

She just hummed in acknowledgement, choosing not to nod her head, which was probably for the best. Wylan grabbed his phone from his pocket and stopped the recording that he had completely forgotten about. He then placed his hand on the edge of her eyelid. He shook the device in his other hand twice to activate the flashlight before he brought it up and shone it directly into her eye. The pupil shrank and revealed more of the beautiful green color in her irises.

He repeated the process on the same eye once and got the same response before he did it to the other. When he was sure that her pupils were dilating and constricting as they should have been, he pressed the light button on the back of his trunk so that they could properly see each other. The overhead streetlights had given them enough that he wasn’t worried about hurting her while he checked her out, but it would be easier for them both to maneuver around.

Wylan fidgeted with his first aide kit as he tried to figure out what he was going to do next. Before he even got the chance to start forming a sentence, she asked, “What’s your name?”

“Huh?”

He winced. He wasn’t very good at meeting new people.

She didn’t seem to mind very much, just laughing again. She slid further back into his car so that her knees were hugging the lip of the trunk. “I think it’s only fair that I get to know your name after everything that I put you through,” she explained easily. She was so warm, like freshly baked bread or pancakes directly off of the griddle. She had just been through something so deeply traumatizing and yet the kindness and compassion that she seemed to carry with her came off of her in waves.

“You didn’t put me through anything,” Wylan shook his head. “I could have just kept walking or gone into the bar to get one of the bouncers to help you if I didn’t want to deal with it. I wanted to help. I know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of some guy’s anger.”

Worry took over her pretty features for a moment before she winced and placed her hand up on her face where she had been struck. “So does that mean that I get to know your name or are you going to be the handsome stranger that saved me for the rest of my life.”

For some reason, he didn’t feel panicky or strange when she called him handsome the way that he had when other woman had done the same thing. It made him feel bashful and excited the same way that he did when Inej called him that, like she was complimenting him objectively instead of seeing someone that she could possibly romance. It was a different feeling than when his boys complimented him, which made fire run through his veins and excitement flip his stomach. “Wylan,” he supplied after he realized that he hadn’t answered her again.

Her face fell and her eyes widened. For a moment he was worried that she was going to puke or that he had missed a pivotal sign of concussion despite her not acting like she was dizzy or nauseous before. Then she asked, “Hendriks?”

He nodded, “How did you know?”

She sighed and slumped against the side of his car, her head resting against the rubber insulation on the side that wasn’t already swelling with injury. “My name is Nina Zenik. You and I were supposed to meet tomorrow so that Jesper and Matthias could introduce me to you.”

“Oh!” he gasped. Relief washed over him as he realized just how much of a good thing it was that he had interrupted the fight instead of minding his own business. Sticking his nose where it didn’t belong had actually resulted in him getting a lot of good things in life, which is why he had made such a massive habit out of it despite the way it had treated him in childhood. “I thought that you looked a little bit familiar.”

She righted herself, squaring her shoulders dramatically before she stuck her hand out in front of her. Wylan took it and gave her a shake like she had been asking for as she said, “It’s good to meet you.”

“You as well,” he laughed. “Now, do you want me to take you back to your apartment?”

Nina deflated again. Her eyes glanced back towards the parking lot that they had come from. She took a moment before she finally, cautiously answered, “I don’t think that I can go home. Ivan and Fedyor both know where I live and where I keep my spare key. I’ve been trying to find a new place to move it but I haven’t quite figured it out yet so there’s a chance…”

“Do you have a friend that you want to stay with?” he asked instead, not judging her in the slightest for not wanting to go home. Wylan himself had struggled with panic attacks for the first week that he had been living in his family estate after he had inherited it. Matthias and Jesper had spent every waking moment that they weren’t working or spending time with their other partners helping him remodel the house so it felt more like his home and less like his prison. If she felt at all unsafe in her apartment then there was no way that he was going to pressure her to go back, especially since he understood that feeling.

A small blush joined the makeup on her cheeks, which only served to highlight the freckles brushed across her nose and ears. “I would suggest that you bring me to Matthias and Jesper if you hadn’t already told me that you were their partner.”

“I can bring you back to the house,” Wylan immediately replied. Just the idea of doing so already soothed a lot of the anxiety that had been brewing in his gut. He was worried that the second she was out of his sight something horrible was going to happen to her, like it had been before he arrived. It was a lot less creepy to suggest that he take her back to his home when he knew that she was already very familiar and comfortable around two of his partners, so he was grateful that they had learned that fact about each other that early into their interaction.

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to intrude or anything, I know that the five of you live together,” she touched the edge of her mascara where it was still smearing with blood.

He offered her a shy smile as he reached into the first aid kit that he kept in the back of his car. “Well I actually own the house, so I’m technically the one that gets to decide who does and does not get to go inside of it. Step mother? Proably not. The woman that two of my boyfriends have been going out with that just got hurt? Absolutely.”

She laughed, more of the tension beginning to melt from her. It was clear that she was beginning to come down from the adrenaline rush that the fight had brought her, the exhaustion hanging off of her. Wylan wanted to get some of her wounds cleaned up in the car before they had the actual first aide expert look her over.

Finally finding what he had been searching for, he handed her a wet wipe and asked, “Do you need to go to the ER or do you feel comfortable coming back to my place?”

“It’s going to sound so silly,” she mumbled as she picked at the edge of the wipe’s packaging.

“I don’t think anything you say when you’re going through shock is going to sound silly,” he assured her. It was a bold move from a very unbold person, but he touched her arm to try and emphasize what he had said with actions.

She leaned easily into the touch as she collected her thoughts. She then said, “All I can think about is seeing Matthias and Jesper. I know we haven’t been together for nearly as long as you have, but they’re the best thing that has happened to me in a long while.”

“Not your band getting back together?” Wylan asked.

She shook her head and then winced. She unwrapped the wet wipe and then tenderly brought it up to her face. Nina was only able to get some of the blood off of her skin, a decent amount of it already congealing and making it monumentally harder to do what she needed to.

Carefully, he pried the item from her hand and then began to patiently rub it over her skin to clear away the blood. She scrunched her nose and took in a sharp inhale when he got closer to the cuts. He couldn’t see any shards of glass so far, but he wasn’t trying to clean out the wounds, but rather make her more comfortable until he could actually tend to them properly.

While he was cleaning she explained, “My band getting back together has been messy, as you saw with my fight with Ivan. I was partially signed to the label owned by a really famous artist and when I started refusing to produce music under the contract I got in a lot of trouble. They stole a shit ton of money from me but I made it work. They didn’t really like that and so now I’m on the shit list for the rest of my life.”

“If that was anything to go by then I can see that,” Wylan murmured. He got the gauze out of the first aid kit and then wound it around his hand until it made a thick pad. He slipped it off of his nimble fingers and pressed it to the cuts on her face before they had the chance to continue bleeding. “Do you want to do the rest of the cleaning and tending back at the house?”

“Yes,” she nodded immediately. “As comfortable as the back of your car is, I would much rather have somewhere that has soap and running water.”

He held his hand out to help her steady herself as she stood back up properly. She was holding the gauze to her face with one hand and moving around the edge of the car with the other. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, the asphalt making up the parking lot had to be painful on her stockinged feet.

While she was moving, he packed up the first aid kit again and then shoved everything properly into his trunk. He clicked the light off and shut the hatch before he went to the driver’s side and got in. He turned the car on so that the heater was running and hopefully helping to warm her up since the night was a little bitter and she didn’t have a coat.

“I’m going to text the others to tell them what happened before we get going, is that okay?” Wylan asked as he motioned to his phone with his other hand.

She nodded her consent and he got to work. He opened up the group chat that he had with his partners and then held the phone up to his mouth. He spoke clearly and deliberately so that the speech-to-text program could actually write down what he wanted to say. “I’m sorry for being home so late from work, but I found Nina in a fight with someone. She’s doing mostly okay but I’m going to bring her back to the house so that we can help her. Be home soon, love you.”

He glanced at her, a bit sheepish as he sent the message off to his partners. He connected his phone to the car’s computer and opened Spotify so that he could pick some music as a social lubricant. He felt comfortable with silences, even relished in them at times, but he had been dating Jesper for long enough to know that other people felt pressured to talk when everything else was quiet. Music usually stamped that down at least a little, made silences between acquaintances more comfortable and soothed anxieties.

He had four pinned playlists other than his liked songs up at the top, each with a combination of his name with one of his partner’s. It was something cute that they had done with each other, making a playlist where they could send messages to the other, give music suggestions, or just generally be sappy. It worked best with Kaz, who loved them very, very, very much but had trouble being able to express that physically on some days.

Wylan had been thinking about Inej a lot since he had gotten Nina back to his car, a lot of the feelings he had for her recurring in his chest. Of course the emotions were nowhere near as strong as they were for Inej since he had known her longer, but they were still there. He had only ever felt the warm giddiness pooling in his chest for one other woman before, and it was the one that he was queerplatonically dating. He was going to have to take a moment to process that when he was no longer feeling quite so sleepy and frazzled.

He finally settled on the one that he and Matthias had made for each other, setting it to shuffle before he deposited it down onto the center console. His phone lit up with a couple of texts from his partners but he was unable to read what they said or who had sent them. The only way that he had been able to parse through his playlists was because the covers had been very unique, for the express purpose of helping him when he was struggling with reading. The combination of him overworking himself earlier that day and the adrenaline made the words swim in front of him whenever he tried.

Once his bag was deposited into the back and Nina was buckled in, he pulled out of the parking lot and began the drive back to his home. He lived on the very outskirts of the city so it was going to take them a while to get there despite the ten o’clock traffic being so light that outside of the center of town, there was no one.

He had been right to start music for the drive. Nina didn’t seem to be up to doing much talking, simply holding the gauze to her forehead and switching hands when one got tired. Wylan made sure to check on her every so often by glancing in her direction, admiring how cinematic she looked when the streetlights were bathing her in soft yellow and red light.

The ride had been going smooth until they got about ten minutes away from the estate. A new song that Matthias had added came onto the radio, and it just so happened to be one of the ones that her band had produced. Wylan had been informed that it was Nina singing since those songs all happened to be Matthias’ and Jesper’s favorites, not that they were biased, but it was also deeply personal to him. He couldn’t relate to every line that was said, but it was so reminiscent of the way that he had grown up and how he would raise children if he and his partners ever decided to have them.

The sultry voice murmured out of the radio as he reached down to change the song. Before he got the chance, Nina’s hand landed on top of his and stopped him from doing so. She gave him a kind smile as she began to sing along, matching the notes perfectly since it was her.

“Marrow made a wife of Eve, but no one gave up a rib for me and mine. My hearts did expose to the elements, calloused and untouched by a man's design. Oh, my ugly organs, how lucky we are. Brick and mortar between my bones, built a kingdom fierce and fortified. My name fading from the yellow page, stones are laid upon the mountainside Oh, my savage empire, ow lucky we are, never to be moved by the words of a liar. The dark doesn't frighten me, I chose to close my eyes. It is mine, it is mine. The night doesn't frighten me, I chose to let it thrive. It is mine, it is mine. Time has changed the metaphor. Now, dust is not the origin of bone Little girl, don't let them sell you any armor, all your ribs are still your own. Oh, my precious child, how lucky you are, handed down a shield for your tender parts.”

By the time that they had reached the end repetition of the chorus, Wylan had joined her in singing the song. It felt cathartic to be able to sing it out loud when usually he was too shy to do so. The song was raw in a way that many things rarely were any more, which was only part of the reason that he adored it so much.

Nina hadn’t removed her hand from where she had stopped him from changing the song. Instead, their hands lay on the center console. Their palms were pressed flush and their fingers slotted together without interweaving. It felt right and gentle, not forward despite them having only known each other for half an hour.

When the song finished, she took a deep breath. “I wrote that song immediately after I left The Fold. So many of my emotions went into it and it was so personal, I wanted to produce it under my other name. It fit better with Shadow and Bone than it did with Heartrender, though, and the band agreed that they’d be okay with producing it.”

“Is it about everything that happened under that label?” Wylan asked, his eyes darting towards her for just a moment. He was worried that he was asking something that was too personal or prying into a wound that hadn’t healed yet.

She didn’t seem to mind as she gave him another affirmative hum. “It was also based off of some of the things that happened when I was young. I knew Alina, one of my bandmates, when we were both fifteen. We went to that huge Catholic school, the one that everyone else calls the Little Palace because the chapel attached to it makes it look kind of like a castle. We were both so sheltered and we had all that religious drivel drilled into us so hard. It made me feel so guilty for being able to love women as well, but it also opened us up to some pretty nasty older men. I was able to avoid it from the romantic side, but when Kirigan approached us and promised us the fame and fortune that we had been dreaming of, there was no way that we could reject it. We signed with him and things got worse for her but they eventually got better for me. We’re both okay now, but that song…”

“I relate to it too,” Wylan gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. “My dad was shit and my mom was always telling me that I had to find armor wherever I could find it. She left when I was eight and then she couldn’t be my armor anymore, so I had to find it in other things. There was no one there to protect me,” he shook his head as the memories all came pouring back.

Nina took in a deep breath and cleared her throat. “That’s enough hard stuff for tonight! We should talk about something else.”

“Yes,” Wylan nodded in agreement. His face then brightened as he turned onto the street that would lead him to his home, “Have you had the chance to meet Trassel yet?”

“I haven’t! Matthias was going to bring him to a date that we were supposed to have in a park but then we got that horrible thunderstorm and had to change to a cafe, which meant no dog,” she pouted.

“Well you’re about to meet him. I want to warn you that in pictures he looks a lot smaller than he actually is because Matthias is massive. He’s absolutely sweet but can be kind of scary if you were expecting a dog closer to the size of a lab,” Wylan informed her. He had a bad reaction when he first met Trassel because of the sheer massive size of the dog, despite Trassel being the sweetest animal that he had ever had the fortune of living with.

They pulled into the driveway and then the garage. He noticed that Kaz’s car was gone, but the one that Matthias and Jesper shared was parked dutifully in the spot on the other side of the garage. “I knew that it had to be a big place for you to all live together but I wasn’t expecting it to be this huge,” Nina commented as she carefully got out of the car.

“We’re not secretly rich or something, this was the only thing that I inherited from my dad when he died,” Wylan explained as he grabbed his bag and phone. He got out and locked the vehicle.

A smile pulled at his lips as he could already hear the deep barking from inside the house where his pet had heard the garage door opening. Trassel was smart enough to know that meant someone was coming home and he adored them all so much that it didn’t matter which one of them it was.

Wylan walked over to Nina and brought her to the steps that led to the backdoor of the house instead of the ones that led to the dog run in the sideyard. It had been a massive undertaking for the rest of his partners to get used to the size of the estate when they had finally moved in. The only reason that Wylan had been an exception to that was because he had grown accustomed to every nook and cranny of the place while hiding from his father and private tutor.

They stepped over the threshold and into the kitchen just as Trassel finished barreling down the stairs that led up to the bedrooms. The space that they were in was massive, but felt more snug than it had in Wylan’s childhood because of the details that his partners had helped him add to the space to make it his own. The tile was white and black diamonds that went halfway up the walls. They had recently painted the kitchen to be a butter yellow color, with red curtains hanging and drawn over the windows. All of the appliances had been updated within the last couple of the years but were also the ugliest stainless steal. The fridge was the best part, now covered in little magnets and sticky note reminders for each of them. Art hung around the cupboards, which were a rainbow set of colors in the most obnoxiously bright yet not neon colors that they could find. Every surface other than the counters was also cluttered with aloe vera and spider plants, which Inej had brought from her apartment when she had moved in.

“Hi puppy!” Wylan beamed as he patted his lap to call the dog over to him. He knew that Nina would likely need a second or two so that she could become accustomed to the new space that she was in.

Trassel barked excitedly as he immediately ran over to Wylan. He was massive even for a utonagan, coming up to the Wylan’s waist with all four paws down on the ground. He was also about a hundred and ten pounds, most of which appeared to be fur as they got closer to the winter months. He was beautiful shade of brown-black with the white clinging to his chest and the underside of his muzzle. It would likely spread as he continued to get older, but at only five years old he had retained all of the luscious color he had been born with.

“Have you been good today?” Wylan asked as he began to run his fingers through the side of the dog’s face. The fur around the top of Trassel’s head was his favorite, soft and already brushed back so it didn’t hang in front of his eyes or nose.

He received another bark as the dog’s excitement rose. When Trassel got so overwhelmed that he placed his hands onto Wylan’s chest to get closer to his face, Wylan reached down and took his hands. It stressed his hips enough that he calmed down, so Wylan let him go as soon as he had calmed.

When he saw Nina he barked again and rushed over to her. She knelt down in front of him as she dug her hands into his fur and began to baby talk him. “Hello there, hello! I bet I smell like all kind of interesting and same things, don’t I? You’re so handsome, so handsome,” she murmured.

The meeting was cut short as they were reminded why they were there in the first place. Matthias walked down the hall with Inej and Jesper hot on his heels. “Nina?” he called out, his voice more accented than it was normally, which just illustrated how stressed out he was.

“Hey,” she breathed as she rose to her feet. Matthias was by her side in an instant, peeling back the gauze that was just barely soaked with enough blood that it was sticking to the wounds on its own.

Trassel was wuffling and barking to be played with, so Jesper grabbed him under the collar and led him to the back door. “Go run,” he instructed with a firm point to the space that they had for him. He listened and rushed outside so that he could complete his course and get a prize. As soon as the dog had been taken care of, Jesper rushed back to his girlfriend to check on her. “What happened?”

“I was attacked by an old friend of mine’s husband. He was drunk,” Nina explained. She winced as Matthias reached up and peeled the gauze away. It broke some of the scabs that had begun to form there and restarted some of the bleeding.

“Here, why don’t we move to the bathroom to get you cleaned up,” Inej said. She swatted Matthias hand so that he would leave the wounds alone until she could take care of them herself. Matthias did know a decent amount of first aid and wouldn’t make anything horrendously worse, but he wasn’t as knowledgeable as her.

The group moved through the house until they were upstairs in the master bath. While they were walking, the shorter of the two women said, “My name is Inej. You probably guessed that since I’m the only feminine presenting person here that could be called girlfriend,” she chuckled.

“Nina Zenik,” the other replied. “You’re about to go on some sort of tour, aren’t you?”

“I have a couple of shows in Vegas that I’m doing this week,” she nodded. “I was cuddling with the boys while waiting for Wylan to get home when we got his message. I’m the one that knows first aid the best so I got up to help you. It’s wonderful to meet you, Nina, even if I wish it was under better circumstances.”

“At least we got to bring it forward?” she offered with a light laugh.

The master bathroom was huge, so it was no trouble for the five of them to get inside. Matthias took up the spot on the edge of the tub where he could see all of his partners. Wylan and Jesper stood near the shower part of the room, leaning heavily against the gray colored glass with their fingers interwoven between them. Nina was sat down on the counter space between the two sinks while Inej spread out the things that she would need to check and clean the wounds around them. “How did you get these?” she asked as she turned Nina’s face to the side to get a better look at them.

“Ivan broke a beer bottle above my head and some of the glass got on me,” she said. “I think that they’re mostly just weeping so much because they’re on my face, they don’t feel all that deep.”

“They’re not,” the other woman answered. She got a wet cloth with some antibiotic soap and then carefully began to drag it across the wounds. Nina winced and let out a little whimper, holding her hand out towards Matthias. He was there in a second, threading their fingers together so that she could focus on something other than the pain of having her wounds checked.

Once they were cleaned, Inej put some cream on them that would help fight any leftover bacteria and numb the area to dull the pain. “Do you have any allergies?” she asked as she fished through the pile of band aides. Kaz had topical allergies, bursting into hives whenever he had an adhesive that less than medical grade on his skin.

“No,” Nina replied. “Nothing that you’d have in that kit, anyway.”

Inej plucked one of the larger plasters from the pile and then opened it up. She set it over the biggest of the cuts and then used two smaller bandaids for the others until everything was covered. “I don’t think that there’s anything I can do for that bruise, other than this,” she supplied a small jar containing a balm. “It will sting really bad and it smells quite strong, but it helps aide the healing process.”

Nina glanced towards Wylan and he gave her a confident, reassuring nod. The balm that Inej had was a godsend for sore muscles, which he and Kaz often got. “Alright,” Nina agreed with a little nod. Matthias brought his hand to the side of her head that wasn’t being tended to, running his long fingers through her thick hair as he pressed a kiss to her temple.

Inej’s skilled, calloused fingers dipped into the balm and then began to carefully and evenly spread it across the darkened area on Nina’s face. When she finished, she wiped her hands off on a baby wipe and offered Nina a makeup remover wipe. “If you’re going to be staying here tonight then I think you’d like to be comfortable.”

“Yes, thank you,” she replied as she took the offered object. Inej cleaned up the rest of the scraps before she ushered the other two boys out of the room. Wylan and Jesper hung in the background long enough to hear them making plans about clothing and where she might sleep.

Eventually, Wylan tugged his boyfriend down to the kitchen so that he could cook something. Eating always settled their nerves and made them feel better, especially since they had both been rather food insecure at one point in their lives. Jesper jumped up onto the island counter in the center of the room, folding his legs underneath him to make balancing easier while watching Wylan working. “So what happened?”

“Well, I got lost in my work, which is why I was late coming home,” he winced. He had forgotten to properly apologize for that and bringing it up had reminded both of them that it had happened in the first place. He set down the tortillas and cheese that he had gotten out of the fridge as he walked over to Jesper. He wrapped his arms around the other man’s waist to bring them closer together, knocking their foreheads together softly. “I’m sorry for not texting you as soon as I realized what time it was and for losing track of time. I know you worry about us when we go silent.”

“Inej had to talk me down like four times. I was a second away from texting Nina to get reassurance that you were alright and she doesn’t know anything about that particular issue yet,” Jesper mumbled. He was pouting slightly but there was real hurt behind his words.

“I’m sorry,” Wylan apologized again. He brushed their lips together in a sweet yet chaste kiss to accent the words with something positive.

It worked and the anger immediately drained from Jesper. “I know. I just worry that something bad has happened to you guys when you don’t respond like that. Like with my mom…”

“I love you,” Wylan whispered as he brought their lips together for another sweet kiss. Jesper’s mom was a sensitive topic that would result in a lot of feelings about his own mother, feelings that Wylan wasn’t quite emotionally prepared to look into that night.

“I love you, too, baby,” he mumbled as he held the side of Wylan’s face.

Neither of them had been able to clock the sound of the garage opening and shutting over Trassel’s barking from the backyard. They lived far enough away from the city that sometimes he found deer and foxes out past the fence that he wanted to talk big game about but could never dream of ever getting to, so they tuned out the sound of his barking at that tempo. They both realized what he had been barking at when the door to the garage shut and Kaz said, “I thought that we had agreed no food was to be left out on the counter.”

Wylan broke away from his boyfriend and then flushed when he realized that he had been caught. They were supposed to make sure that anything that wasn’t actively being eaten or used was put away to make sure that their mischievous puppy didn’t devour it and make himself sick. “I’m sorry, I was supposed to be cooking something for myself since I missed dinner but then Jesper and I got talking and that led to…” he trailed off and felt his face flush harder. “Sorry.”

Clearing his throat loudly to get the attention on himself, Jesper jumped off of the counter and stuffed the food back into the fridge. “That is enough apologizing from Wylan! We don’t want our sweet boy thinking that he has done all the wrong in the world, after all,” he grinned as he wrapped his arms around the aforementioned man’s waist.

“Jesper,” he complained as he was bombarded with kisses. He knew that part of it was actual adoration for him and the other part was the actor trying to make sure that his anxiety didn’t overwhelm him. When it was clear that Jesper wasn’t going to stop anytime soon, Wylan turned to face their boyfriend, “You’re home early. Is everything okay?”

“It was a slow night and I thought that you would all be able to use me here more,” he replied. “Also, I got you all something to eat.”

He placed the bags of food down on the table and Wylan felt his heart sing. It was hard for Kaz to show love in the same way that Jesper did, but his actions meant so much in their relationship. “Thank you,” he breathed as he tried not to cry from how overwhelmed he felt.

“You’re alright,” Kaz reminded him gently as he brought their lips together in a very chaste kiss. That was all that Wylan was going to be able to get from his partner after work. Even if the Crow Club had only a dozen patrons, the amount of strangers that he had to be around when he was working often overwhelmed Kaz to the point where he didn’t feel safe being touched unless he instigated it. He had updated the group chat when he had been in the office for half an hour, which Wylan had seen just before he realized what time it was.

They moved to the living room with the food and an extra set of paper towels. The living room was their biggest work in progress yet since it had been a formal parlor before they had moved in. They were slowly replacing all of the hyper modern furniture with the more vintage pieces that they preferred, which meant that seating was a little bit sparse at the moment. The most modern piece that they had left in the room was the sectional that could transform into a big enough space for all five of them to cuddle together when they wanted to. The TV stand was pulled straight out of the sixties, reshaped by Matthias and Jesper so that it could actually fit their flat screen in the middle of display case. The rug and coffee table had been picked out by Inej, both of them reminiscent of how her house had been decorated before her parents’ accident.

The trio settled in to eat what Kaz had picked up for them, Wylan and Jesper both sitting on the ground with their backs pressed to the couch while Kaz sat in the armchair that he had gotten to help with his pain before they had even moved in. Other than his clothes, it was the only thing from his old apartment above the Crow Club that he had brought with him.

About fifteen minutes later they heard some of their partners coming down the stairs and turned the TV off. Nina was walking hand-in-hand with Matthias, wearing a pair of Jesper’s sweatpants and one of Matthias’ shirts since everyone else had a vastly different body shape compared to her.

“Hey baby,” Jesper said as he moved onto the couch. She smiled, trying to hold back tears as she trekked over to him. She collapsed down onto the couch, her legs pulled up near his chest and her head immediately on his shoulder. He moved his arm around her back and pressed a kiss over the top of the band aids on her forehead. “How are you doing?”

“I’m tired and scared,” she mumbled. “Glad that it was Wylan that helped me, though.”

“Yeah, he is pretty great like that,” Matthias replied. He stooped down and kissed Wylan within an inch of his life. “Thank you for being such an amazing, kindhearted person, min brandstifter.”

“That was one time,” he muttered, his cheeks turning a dark red color with embarrassment.

Inej sat herself down in his lap and stole a couple of his fries. He didn’t mind, since she indulged in processed foods so rarely that she deserved a treat. “It’s fun to tease you.”

He buried his face into her shoulder, which he knew was why she had sat down on him like she had. “Fun for you, maybe.”

Nina laughed, which was a great sound to hear with how clearly worn out she was. The energy in the room got a lot more somber when Jesper asked her once again what had happened. She recounted some elements from her past like she had for Wylan in the car, still refusing to let herself cry. She cuddled in between her boyfriends like they were going to be able to save her from her own bad feelings, something that Wylan remembered doing vividly after he got the news that his father had died.

She finished telling her story and they all agreed to watch something calm to wind down before bed. Wylan finished his food and then gave Inej a sweet kiss on the cheek before he dumped her down onto the couch next to Kaz. He made sure that there was enough space between them that they wouldn’t accidentally crash together. “I’m going to go shower, I know you’ll all probably be in bed by the time I get back,” he sighed. He was both glad and upset that he had gotten off work so late.

“We’ll see you in the morning,” Matthias promised as he tenderly kissed his boyfriend. Jesper mimicked the movement as well before settling in next to Nina.

“I can give you a kiss if you want, but what I really want to do is say thank you,” she replied, witty and sharp-tongued even in her exhaustion.

“I would have done it even if you weren’t dating two of my partners,” he replied as he fought back another blush. The only thing that Kaz was able to do was give his hand a squeeze through the thick leather of his gloves, which Wylan was okay with.

He disappeared up the stairs as exhaustion sunk low into his veins. A lot had happened in one night, but the net effect seemed to be good overall. Nina fit right into their flock like she had been there from the beginning.

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fabulanarratio · 5 months ago

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Brisdong, Prologue

"Out of bed after hours, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore's voice came out of nowhere. She didn't hear him enter the room, and being so focused on the book in front of her, she didn't notice him either.

Hermione looked up at the clock on the mantelpiece. It was almost midnight. Only now has she realised she spent the entire day in the Room of Requirement, studying everybook she could find, looking for clues, trying to find a way to save him. To save them both. To save everyone. Becasue when Dumbledore dies, they are all doomed. Without the remaining horcruxes, or knowing where they are, defeating Voldemort will be impossible.

"Professor... what if there is no way?" she asked looking up at Dumbledore, who was now sitting in the chair opposite hears, looking at the burning coles in the fireplace.

"Then we must let it happen" he responded calmly, glancing at her over his glasses. "And I need you to be there for Harry when it does. He will need your help. And Mr Weasley's."

She rubbed her eyes, suddenly feeling very tired.

"You should get some rest, Miss Granger" said Dumbledore with a kind smile. "Next few days are going to be very difficult for you and your friends".

Hermione put the book on the end table by her armchair and stood up, "I wish we had more time..." she said quietly as she started walking towards the door.

And that's when it hit her. Why did she not think about this before? Time. She's done it before. There was no more left... not at the Ministry... but there may be one somewhere. She will build one, if she has to. One time turner is all she needs.

"I figured it out!" Hermione exclaimed running out of the Room of Requirement.

#Dramione #Birdsong #ff #fanfiction #harry potter #hp fanfic

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whiskawaybelf · 4 months ago

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Little excerpt from Chapter 7

He knocked once and heard the sounds of fabric and feet, she didn’t bother to peek through and see who knocked, she knew the only person who would bother with the new servant.

“You’re settled comfortably?” Éomer leaned against the door. Other than her time as a princess he had never seen her in a dress. It had looked wrong when she dressed in finery, with her hair braided and jewellery glinting in the sun. Now she just looked softer, the thick dress added curve to her edges, her tight braid was loose, she was clean. It did not look wrong, this version of her, but it did not look exactly right either, it would take adjusting to. For both of them.

“I’m not sure you want a real answer to that question, I think you want an answer that would make you feel right in bringing me here.”

“It was right.”

“Then it was right,” her tone was dismissive and Éomer tried not to take it badly. He would hate to be hidden in her castle, surely a princess would have one, and servitude there would anger him. But he saved her life again, whether she would admit it or not. He tried not to feel entitled to her gratitude.

“It will take time to adjust,” he finally said, very diplomatically.

“I won’t be here long, that is what we decided. I don’t need to adjust, only to get through it.”

“This is not the worst of your tribulations, not even close. You might try not to hate it. For my sake if not your own.”

She nodded and took a step back, letting him into her tiny room. It felt like he barely fit, “I don’t hate it. It could be much worse.”

“High praise indeed,” it was easier now. She was trying and that’s all he needed.

“Your people love their lord, that bodes well for you.”

“Does it?” his frustration became amusement, it often did with her. She said the things he expect and then she surprised him, each time getting a little deeper under the skin to avoid.

“Your maids are all in love with you, that must feel nice,” her wicked grin flashed as she turned away, meaning it in every way it was possible to mean it and finding herself very funny, “Where are your wives, Éomer?”

“You have left your kindness at the forest, Little Bird, I miss it already.”

“I don’t need to be kind to you,” she looked over her shoulder and that same grin was there, “I’m not a maid.”

He wasn’t sure how to answer that, he didn’t need to, which was perhaps her real kindness. She came back to him with a pendant and a ring.

“Keep this safe for me. It is my name and my title.”

“No one will steal from you here.”

“No, but still. If it is seen, it would announce me. If something should happen it would let my father know.”

“I promised you safety.”

“Yes, but I have little sense, you’ve said it before. Perhaps servitude will be the end of me.”

Éomer grinned then, shook his head, “I should not expect gratitude from you.”

“Don’t make me a maid,” Lothíriel said, her eyes still wicked, “Or I’ll know why you really brought me here.”

“Goodnight, Lothíriel,” he said with a little shake of his head, “try to sleep.”

#lothiriel #eomer x lothiriel #eothiriel #eothiriel fanfic #eothiriel fanfiction #lothiriel fanfiction #eomer eadig #eomer x reader #eowyn #theodred #birdsong

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witchofthesouls · 3 months ago

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What would spooky birb child Jack first flight be like with Optimus? If Jack got too overwhelmed with the new sensation of the sky would he return to Optimus? Randomly thinking of the Lennox seeker fanfiction and how he had to be somewhat dragged out the sky. I wondered if it be somewhat similar with Jack first taste of flight

Optimus doesn't have wings, nor does he have the Seekerkin-coding to understand the core-deep need to be in an environment he was meant for.

But Jack is still very young and is, thankfully, for Optimus' nerves and sanity, unable to access an alt-mode. He did worry over Jack's habits of climbing the highest points to look at the sky, but that turned out to be Jack tracing unknown (to him) constellations and watching the skyline to distant hubs and cities they can't access.

Jack, however, is far closer to his Other side, reaching out with non-delicate nor gossamer wings to catch the words (signs. the unspoken, subtle signs.) of the wind, shadow, and birdsong, and when he skips, he hovers for a moment before setting back down to the ground.

Optimus does take Jack on supervised 'flights' when the planetoid has enough space and gravity or when a space station has a wide track, then he lets Jack scurry to a great highpoint to jump down to his arms or allows Jack to ride on top of the cab of his alt-mode. It helps exercise Jack's wingspan, get used to falling down, and help navigate different kinds of environmental data through his extrasensory limbs.

But when Jack figures out how to access his anti-gravs and thrusters, then Optimus will feel another Age had passed over the course of a single week.

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khrrarepairweek · 9 days ago

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KHR Hanami 2025

Hello everyone, the KHRRarepair Week mods are happy to reveal the KHR Hanami mini-event prompts for 2025!

Day 1: Blizzard | Birdsong Day 2: Hyacinth | Rain Day 3: Nest | Lilac

The event will run from March 21st to March 23rd. We will be using the tag #khrhanami2025 to track all submission so please make sure to include it in the first 5 tags of the post.

As always, all forms of fanworks are encouraged, from fanmixes and moodboards to fan art and fanfiction.

For more information please follow the links below!

We look forward to seeing what everyone makes this spring!

~KHRRarepair Week Mods

#announcement #khrrarepairweek #khrhanami2025

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florencebirdsong · 3 months ago

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Trick or Treat

Agatha Harkness x Rio Vidal x Reader

summary: with Agatha away planning a trick, Rio decides to have a little treat

tags: mentions of slapping, marking, biting, possible dub-con at the start regarding Rio as she uses magic, fingering (r & Rio receiving), praise kink, cunnilingus (Agatha receiving), bondage, bunny pet name

authors note: when you’re only intending to write a quick one shot but the lesbians won’t stop playing tug-a-war

masterlist | ao3

You hum quietly along to the old radio as you continue stitching. Agatha has yet to explain her need for a blanket covered in such a wide variety of runes but as her familiar you are happy to help anyway.

You’re currently in a slump hobbies-wise and needed something to distract you while your mistress is away.

It’s Halloween Eve, which means she’s currently tormenting her victims into a corner so she can begin her real trick at the witching hour.

A fond smile graces your lips as you move onto the next rune. Agatha may complain about what the modern world has done to Samhain but that doesn’t stop her from enjoying herself immensely. You can already feel her anticipation through the bond and can’t wait to bask in her wicked glee when she watches her prey realise the trap they’ve fallen for.

Being able to fully bathe in the feeling is one of the reasons you don’t join her. The other is how long she likes to celebrate her victory when she comes home to a ready and wet pet.

The back door slams shut and you jump, needle piercing your finger. Blood oozes from the wound and you frown as the rune it’s resting against greedily drinks it up.

You pull your finger away with a quiet tut and poke the unrepentant rune with the sharp point of your needle. Instead of releasing the blood, it sucks up the drop still clinging to the metal.

You sigh. That’s going to make the empowering stage much more annoying. Balancing is already hard enough when every rune starts at the same level.

Another door slams, this one closer, and you frown. The back door could have just been the wind but you can’t even tell which door that last one was. The cabin isn’t exactly big.

You pierce the current rune you’re working on so it doesn’t get any ideas and slowly lower the blanket. You can still clearly feel Agatha through the bond. She isn’t hiding from you and is still a fair distance away which means this isn’t her playing a game.

Rapid footsteps have you shooting to your feet with your hands raised. You may not have the powers of a full-fledged witch but you are the familiar of the most powerful witch alive and this is your home.

The footsteps stop at the door to the living room and then start to go around. Through the wall. They continue to circle the room as you try to think. Some sort of ghost, probably, but you can’t feel anything. Your mistress is a spirit witch, you have more of an affinity with it than most. You cast your magic and when that doesn’t show anything you begin muttering spells under your breath. Also nothing. Does that mean it isn’t a spirit? The footsteps reach the front porch and you decide it doesn’t matter. You bolt for the back door, where the sounds had originally started. You make it through one room before she appears in front of you. Dark hair, purple eyes, green jacket.

You freeze. Your Mistress’ magic sings at the sight of her but the animal part of your brain screams run. You don’t get the chance to take a single step. She has you trapped between her a second after you see her.

You’ve been Agatha’s familiar for long enough to know Lady Death. But only ever in spirit. A vague awareness that she’s there. Agatha is the one she talks to. For her to not only show herself but be in her physical form? For her to touch you? Your heart is going to beat out of your chest.

“Bunny, it’s so good to see you again!” she says with a big smile. “Is your mistress not home?”

You rapidly shake your head. Your panicked breaths reinforcing how tightly she’s pressed against you.

“Aw, what a shame,” she says, looking delighted. “I really was hoping to see her.”

Her hands climbs up your sides and you desperately try to wriggle free. You can barely move at all.

“Feeling shy?” she asks innocently.

You’re too panicked to respond. You can feel Agatha worriedly looking down the bond but you don’t know how to respond. The clear intention behind Rio’s touch is breaking some very big rules, but that’s what a large part of her and Agatha’s relationship seems to be about. You manage to send a jumbled weird-fine-what do? down the bond which doesn’t do anything to ease Agatha.

“No need to call her,” she says and nudges your chin up. “I can take care of you.”

Her nose runs down your neck. You tense as you feel her get close to the familiar mark. Agatha’s mark. Anyone other than her touching or interfering with it results in quite a lot of pain for both parties. She pauses just above it and her hot breath has you squirming again. Something warm and wet touches just below it and you freeze.

Rio’s gives your familiar mark a long, slow lick. What should burn sends waves of pleasure through you instead. Your eyes roll back as you moan and buck into her.

Only Agatha should be able to get such a response from your mark. The fact that Rio can means-means something that’s too hard to work out with her sharp teeth scraping over it.

You whimper and instinctively bare your neck further. Her laugh is low and her breath hot against your skin.

The bond flares as Agatha’s presence fills your mind. No doubt looking through your eyes for who dared touch her pet. You force them open and on to Rio, who is still sporting the same grin. The teasing look in her eyes isn’t for you. They never leave yours as she gently brushes her lips against yours. Agatha, consciously or not, urges you forward and you lean into it willingly.

Rio pulls back with a victorious smile. You have to shut your eyes. Agatha isn’t pleased at being so easily played and between that, her own lust and yours it’s too much.

Agatha breaks the connection to your sight with a snap. She’s still close but her emotions aren’t being directly shoved on top of your own anymore.

Rio nudges your head back up to bare your neck. You can feel her anticipation rolling off of her in waves. She practically vibrates with it. You whimper when you realise she’s going right back to your mark. She teases around it, working you up until she finally laves that last bit of attention on it and you’re limp and pliant in her arms. She eagerly begins sinking her teeth into the skin around Agatha’s mark. You don’t know enough about Rio and Agatha’s relationship to know which end it will send Agatha over, pure possessive rage or insatiable lust, but you can already feel the explosion growing with every step closer she gets.

Rio’s nails trail up the delicate skin of your inner thigh and you try to close your legs with a whine. You can’t with her pressed against you.

One more swipe over your familiar mark has your legs opening for her. All thought of resistance gone as the ancient magic lulls you into an obedient, pleasure-filled haze. Rio slips her hand under the waistband of your pants.

“I can see why Agatha likes this so much,” Rio murmurs as her fingers delicately circle over the wet spot forming on your panties.

You can feel Agatha getting closer and closer. Her emotions invade the bond more and more. Indignation, anticipation, pure lust. It has your hips rolling against the light pressure Rio is giving you.

Rio’s fingers move to your clit and she has you mewling for her by the time Agatha slams open the door. You can feel the way her magic pulses, inside you and against your skin, and it has you moaning.

Agatha tears Rio away from you. You whine at the loss, something that would have earned you a slap if Agatha’s hands weren’t full.

Agatha slams Rio against the apposing wall.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she growls. Her emotions are still wild and the fight between possessiveness and hunger has your knees weak.

“Enjoying Halloween,” Rio says innocently. “I thought I deserved a little treat and that you,” she leans her face closer to Agatha’s, “Would enjoy a little trick.”

“She’s mine. Find your treat somewhere else.”

“Like under your skirt?” Rio smirks. You can feel the anger and desire grow within Agatha. “She responded so well to me, didn’t you bunny?”

She peeks over Agatha’s shoulder and you nod without thinking. It’s not entirely your fault. Touching the familiar mark in such a way is designed to flood you with the desire to please.

Agatha reaches through the bond and tugs you to your knees.

“Behave,” she snaps. The new position means you can squeeze your thighs together without falling. The tiny bit of pressure squeezing your sensitive clit has you grinding. “That is not behaving.”

You can’t stop yourself. Agatha enters your mind to find the source of your disobedience. All she finds is a lust-filled haze.

“Aw, did Rio touch my mark? Is that what turned you into such a mindless bunny?“ she says with mock sympathy as she advances on you.

You whimper up at her with pleading eyes. It’s a mistake. Moving your head clearly shows your mark, and the way it’s covered in Rio’s own.

Anger flashing down the bond has you barring your neck to her and the dark desire that hides beneath it makes your mouth water.

“That’s quite a sight, pet,” she says with a smile that stretches too wide. “It’s a miracle you aren’t dead on the ground.”

Unable to think enough to respond you continue to stare up while panting. Not wanting a dumb doll just yet, Agatha eases some of the fog from your mind.

Thoughts are still form slow and it takes you a few moments to realise she wants a response.

“It felt good,” you whimper like she doesn’t already know.

“Oh?” she reaches down and grips your chin. “Are your loyalties so easily swayed?”

Anger claws at you. Your devotion to Agatha is complete. The familiar bond only cemented it.

“You know that’s not how it works,” you snap. Agatha looks at you with mock shock at your outburst.

“Then how does another bring you such pleasure, bunny?” she asks. You swallow. Such a dangerous question when it comes in regard to Rio. But not answering will be much worse than telling the truth.

��My feelings mirror my mistresses’ own,” you force out quietly. There’s more nuance than that to the bond, you don’t become a copy of her, but it’s true enough for what happened.

Her eyes flash just like you knew they would.

“I think that’s enough talking,” she moves her hand from your chin to your mark and presses down. Bliss bursts from the contact. It travels to your brain and down to your soaked cunt. Your eyes roll back. Your hips continuously move as you seek just a hint of pressure. Agatha kicks your thighs further apart to prevent you from getting any. “Naughty pet, telling secrets. Your mistress will have to teach you a lesson, won’t she?”

You whine, wanting to beg for mercy, but there’s barely her name in your head let alone a full thought. Before Agatha can continue, Rio breaks free from Agatha’s hold. She swings Agatha against the opposite wall with her magic. Agatha collides with a dull thud that has you trying to get up automatically. Your limbs are still weak and your brain fuzzy. It’s easy for Rio to push you back down.

“I sought out your pet for a bit of fun, Agatha. Not to be put in a corner,” she kneels in front of you and gently cups your face. Her thumbs smooth gentle circles over your cheek. You melt into it. “Your mistress is so mean, you poor thing. Trying to punish you for something that’s her fault.” One hand slides to the back of your neck and into your hair, gently scratching. You make an agreeing noise to get her to continue.

Agatha’s indignation is clear through the bond but it feels so far away. So much attention on your mark has you floating and Rio’s soft touch isn’t bringing you down.

“Why don’t you let me help, bunny?” she says as she gently guides you to lay down.

You make a noise of confusion. This feels like your mistress but not, and only your mistress can have you in such a way. You try and move her hands away but she shushes you. You try to close your legs but teasing fingers running up your inner thighs has them opening again.

It shouldn’t feel so nice when your mistress’s presence is further away. You follow the bond and turn your head. Agatha’s pupils are blown and her breaths heavy. Her magic makes no appearance and she isn’t using the bond to force some clarity into your mind to stop Rio.

“I promise to be nice,” Rio whispers as she slowly raises your shirt. Her cool touch feels so good on your overheated skin that you can’t stop her. “Let’s continue where we left off.”

Her hand slips back into your pants to your wet panties and she begins circling your clit again. You mewl quietly, eyes finding your mistress again. She’s leaning forward in her restrains and her tongue darts out to wet her lips.

You whine when Rio’s fingers disappear. Your panties disappear along with them and the chill air makes you shiver. Her fingers find your clit again and your legs spread wider.

“There’s a good bunny,” Rio says and the praise has you arching. “Such a good familiar.” Your body shudders. The bond has only increased your reaction to praise, especially when related to your behaviour as a familiar. “I wonder,” Rio says curiously. Her spare hand finds your mark and she presses down hard enough to have you going limp. Her other hand doesn’t stop. “You’re such a good girl,” she says. The heat curling around your core immediately snaps and you cry out as it flashes through you. You twitch and press into her hands. Rio laughs. “It really does make you so sensitive, huh Bunny?” her fingers circle your mark and you whimper pathetically.

“That’s enough,” Agatha says, finally using her magic to break Rio’s own.

“Is it? I haven’t finished enjoying my treat yet.”

“You know better than to break my things.”

“I guess I’ll have to do my trick then,” Rio disappears but you can feel her as clearly as you do Agatha. It’s strange to be connected to another in a way. You aren’t sure how much you like it. She isn’t your mistress. Still, a tug from Rio has you trying to stumble to your feet and a tingling sensation has her distinctiveness fading.

“What are you doing?” Agatha asks as she steadies you. She’s right next to you. You frown and look towards the other presence. Why was she calling you from over there? You can’t make your lips work. Agatha uses the bond to brush against your mind. “Interesting trick, dear. But it won’t change who she belongs to.”

Oh, Rio was the other presence? But it doesn’t feel like Rio. It feels like your mistress. If it was her, wouldn’t Agatha be more angry? It doesn’t make sense. You just want her fingers inside of you.

Rio cackles and you’re pulled out of Agatha’s arms. The walls pass in a blur but you’re caught in a warm embrace before you begin to panic. Arms wrap around your waist and her chin rests on your shoulder. You eagerly lean back into the feeling of your mistress. She’s cooler than she usually is but you don’t mind with her skin against yours.

Frustration and delight flow through the bond and you nuzzle her neck to try and help soothe her. Since her head is on your shoulder you end up nuzzling her cheek instead. She purrs. It relaxes you further. Your eyes flutter shut.

“Rio,” mistress says warningly from far away.

“It looks like she wants to come with me, isn’t that right bunny?” she asks from right next to you.

Yes, you send clearly through the bond. Of course you want to go your mistress. Fingers find your chin and nod for you anyway.

Agatha growls and you feel magic wrapping around you again. It only pulls you for a second before it stops, her arms tightening around you. You don’t know why she’d send you away but you don’t question it with her so close.

She summons you through the bond and you try to press even more tightly against her. A frustrated growl. Hands creep under your shirt again and you shiver. Nails lightly scraping along your ribs before fingers find your nipples. They squeeze and pinch and pull. A hot mouth finds your neck and begins sucking, thankfully giving your oversensitive familiar mark a break. You moan and arch into the touch, desire licking through the bond.

Fingers slip into your soaked core and you desperately grab her wrist. Just for something to hold on to. You’re too fuzzy to do much more than take it.

You end up on your toes, back arched and mouth open with needy gasps. The building pleasure is much calmer with no touch to your mark. Mistress’ fingers pump into you lazily, her fingers curling as you get closer to the edge.

“Be a good bunny,” she murmurs against your skin. “Come for your mistress.”

The warmth crests and pleasure runs through you. Desperate, needy sounds escape you as you grip her wrist tightly and grind down. Mistress doesn’t seem to mind, her other hand still groping your breast.

You slump against her. She gently pulls out and holds her hand up, slowly opening her fingers so your cum stretches between them. You turn to try and hide your face in her neck.

“So messy,” she says. Her desire burns bright in your mind.

“You’ve had your treat, Rio,” your mistress says with a gravely voice. “And now you’ve played your trick. Time to give her back.”

“Why don’t you come and take her?”

The disorientating feeling of teleporting envelops you. Arms wrap back around your waist to steady you.

You’re in the kitchen, facing the door. Which mistress slams through. Your bond bends and the presence of your second mistress disappears. You turn your head to find Rio. Mistress summons you and you try to squirm out of Rio’s hold. It’s as successful as the last time. Arms that were safe turn cage. You push at them but they don’t budge.

Rio teleports you again and you stop pushing her arms to cling to them. The door handle turns and Rio does it again. She lets go this time and you wobble for a moment before falling forward. Your bed is there to catch you. The comforter is soft against your hot skin and the mattress cradles your sore muscles. You feel your mistress appear in the room but neither of them reach for you so you don’t bother to turn.

A body slams into wood and Rio moans loudly. Agatha is growling too lowly for you to understand but Rio’s teasing response ends in a gasp. You want to see but your body is so heavy, the haze making you sink down now that everything has stopped.

Wet sounds fill the room and Rio’s moans indicate that your mistress has won. You force your eyes to stay open, wanting to see what Agatha dominating looks like from the outside. Pushing yourself up onto shaky arms you manage to turn over. You can only see part of Agatha’s face and the movement of her hand but Rio is in full view. There’s still a teasing smile on her face but it’s slowly morphing into one of pleasure.

Rio’s mouth falls open as Agatha does something with her fingers and her smug look disappears as her eyes drop to Agatha’s mouth. The want in them has heat licking through your pussy again. One leg moves to wind around Agatha’s waist and her hands grips her shoulders. Agatha says something you can’t make out and Rio’s head falls back against the wall. Two thrusts later and she’s moaning, holding tight to Agatha as she comes. You watch in awe as Death unravels at the hand of your mistress.

Death is still panting when Agatha pulls out, her eyes hooded.

Agatha raises her soaked fingers to Rio’s mouth. You’re surprised at how willingly she takes them. Rio’s dark gaze never leaves your mistress’ and you watch in fascination as her throat moves. Rio sucks as Agatha pulls her fingers out and you swallow at the noise.

“No kiss?” Rio asks as she licks her lips.

“After stealing my familiar? No.”

“Pretty please?” Rio gives an exaggerated pout and bats her eyes.

“You’ll have to make it up to me first,” Agatha winds her hand in Rio’s hair and slowly pushes her to the floor. Rio never breaks her gaze as she gets on her knees.

She reaches up and undoes the button on Agatha’s pants before slowly pulling down the zipper. Mistress’ face is indifferent but you can feel her need flickering down the bond. It grows with every inch of skin Rio reveals.

Rio slowly pulls Agatha’s pants down before kissing Agatha over her panties.

“Teasing isn’t going to get you what you want,” Agatha warns. Rio gives a long, slow lick over the panties in response but doesn’t push it any further. She magics Agatha bare and immediately dives in.

Agatha moans and holds a hand out against the wall to steady herself. Rio isn’t easing into it. You can feel the corresponding waves of pleasure from every lick, swipe and press of her tongue. She sucks and Agatha’s other hand shoots out, head bowed. A finger teases her entrance but a flash of purple has Rio’s hands back in her lap. She huffs but doesn’t attempt again, moving to hold onto Agatha’s thighs instead. When Agatha said Rio has to earn it she meant it and you watch as Rio does. Her head constantly bobbing, lips making messy sucking sounds, the feeling of her running over Mistress again and again.

You want to touch but don’t dare risk Agatha’s ire with Rio turning onto you.

You can feel her orgasm building through the bond although she doesn’t allow it to show. Rio still hasn’t looked away from her face.

Rio scrapes her teeth against Agatha’s clit and the feeling of Agatha’s orgasm floods you. Agatha grinds down on Rio’s face as she prolongs her high. You watch as Rio digs her fingers into Agatha’s thighs and give as good as she gets.

Agatha slows to stop as her high ebbs and jealousy runs through you as you watch Rio lap up the mess dripping down your mistress’ thighs. You haven’t gotten to taste either of them.

Agatha leans heavily against the wall as her legs continue to shake, she doesn’t take her eyes off Rio. A deep satisfaction fills her.

Rio rockets to her feet, head popping up between Agatha’s arms and kisses her. Instead of gripping Rio’s hair like you expect Agatha cups her face and melts into her. It works to Rio’s advantage.

She uses Agatha’s moment of weakness to force her to the floor. You watch with wide eyes as she climbs on top of her and pins her down. You push yourself up onto your arms so you can see them. You’ve been on top of Agatha before but never like this. Not with the control Rio has.

Rio makes Agatha kiss her. Her hand moves to Agatha’s neck and squeezes. The way your mistress gasps has you squeezing your thighs together.

Your desire is too loud and your mistress notices you. Her magic fills your mind. You beg to keep watching but her magic flows through the bond, encouraging you towards sleep. You try not to pout at not getting to see Agatha in your usual role but your eyes slip shut anyway. Pretending to sleep won’t work with you so connected and her magic coaxes you that last little bit towards unconsciousness. You slip into it just as Agatha breathes her first moan

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manweweek · 1 year ago

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Introduction/About

Hello and welcome to Manwë Week!

Manwë Week is a week-long fandom event dedicated to Manwë Súlimo from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Silmarillion, planned for March 11th - 17th 2024. The month of March is known as Súlim��, so it seemed only fitting to create an event to celebrate the Lord of Winds!

All sorts of fanworks are welcome, including but not limited to art (digital or traditional), fanfiction, moodboards, headcanons or playlists.

Here is a brief overview of this year's prompts:

For more details, please have a look at the prompt list.

Any questions, suggestions or concerns? Check out the FAQ or send an ask! You can also reach out on @cilil's blog.

ʚ Mod @cilil

A big thank you and shout out to @glorf1ndel and @arofili for providing advice, inspiration and resources for setting up and managing fandom events.

#mod post #manweweek #manwe week #manwe #manwë #manwe sulimo #silmarillion #valar #ainur #tolkien fandom #fandom event #tolkien event

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sissytobitch10seconds · 1 year ago

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Birdsong: Allies or Enemies

Fandom: Grishaverse: Six of Crows and Shadow and Bone Summary: Kaz and Nina work out who they are to each other outside of the rest of their partners. Warnings: Pre-negotiated BDSM, sex, chronic pain, insecurities in polyamory, and bars Word Count: 8,498 Ship(s): Nina Zenik/Kaz Brekker/Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Eck/Matthias Helvar/Inej Ghafa

Archive link!

A/N: We're at the second to last installation of this that I have written already! I hope that you guys have been enjoying this and the little rarepairs that I've scattered throughout. I'm almost sad to know that it's going to be leaving soon, but it'll be out there for everyone to see forever. Stay sissy and bitchy everyone <3

The Crow Club was busy for a weeknight.

Kaz had become very familiar with the patterns of people. There were always outliers and people that broke the mold, but he had been running a club long enough to know very well how they acted. Sometimes it would be so deserted that he wondered why he even bothered to pay for a staff to come if they weren’t going to have anyone to serve. He usually closed early on those nights so that he could spend time with his partners for an extra hour or two. On Fridays and weekends, the place would sometimes get so packed that he would be forced to uphold the fire code and limit the maximum amount of people inside. On those nights, he hid upstairs and checked on what was happening with the security cameras linked to his computer.

It was a Tuesday and relatively busy, but that was likely because some sports game or another had just gotten out. Birthdays, breakups, weddings, and sports were the biggest drivers in his business. He had held several of his own partner’s birthday parties at his bar, though usually only after Jesper begged and pleaded until Kaz finally relented. He wasn’t sure that he ever would, but if he did happen to get married then he had already informed everyone in his polycule that not a single part of his wedding was going to take place at his bar.

Kaz was having a good day when it came to his pain, so he was mostly using his cane as a ‘just in case’ measure instead of relying on it heavily. He was able to pace around the main floor space to make sure that everything was okay without the stiffness that he was used to. He had some paperwork that he needed to be doing, but he was waiting for a certain person to come through the doors before he retreated back to the upstairs office.

About thirty or forty people were sitting in various booths and around tables while laughing with each other and consuming copious amounts of alcohol. He internally cringed as he thought about how extensive his orders were going to have to be later that week. On the outside, he made sure that his face was just as passive and unresponsive as always. Everything about him was always calculated, until he was within the closed doors and closed blinds of his partners’ home. Even then, when he chose what to wear there were always a million thoughts running around in the back of his head. He had told Matthias that once and the other man had commented that it sounded like it was exhausting.

It was, but he had made sure to thoroughly deliberate on what he was going to wear for his meetup today. He had chosen a crisp red button up and then put his favorite gray vest over the top, the one that was decorated with flowery black lace in the front. His pants were the slinky black high-waisted slacks that Inej had helped him pick out and buy the week before. He had styled his hair back with just a little bit of gel, so it was already beginning to break free so that it was hanging down in his face. His gloves were on securely over his hands, but he was already planning on taking them off and discarding them when he got the chance to be alone with his guest.

He turned towards the door as it opened and shut, then felt the weight resting on his shoulders alleviate some. “Nina,” he greeted curtly.

“Kaz,” she replied, her face splitting into that teasing grin that she always wore. She looked so pretty with it on, which was one of the reasons that he had continued to pry at her despite Inej pouting whenever he did it.

As soon as he noticed the smirk, his eyes were directed to the rest of her voluptuous body. She had just come from a show so she was wearing rather dramatic makeup, but it still complimented her face in the most beautiful way. She had dark, blood red lipstick on over her pouty lips that brought out the umber color of her blush and bronzer on her cheeks. She had black eyeliner on the underside of her eyes and matching red eyeshadow on the tops. Her hair was locked around her head in an intricate system of braids that her band’s stylist, Genya, must have spent at least an hour on. Nina was wearing a satiny red dress that clung to her breasts and stomach in a way that made Kaz’s hands twitch to touch her. It was held onto her shoulders with two thin strands of string, faux sleeves on her arms in the form of red bows. It came to the middle of her thighs and brought attention to the beautiful black fishnets and red pumps that she was wearing.

“Would you accompany me back to my office, darling?” he asked, holding his hand out to her.

She glanced towards the guitar case where she kept her phone when she was doing the gigs with her band, obviously thinking about what their texts had said that morning when it came to touch. He had rated himself at an eight, which was as high as he had ever gotten with her. He enjoyed sex with specific partners in his polycule that he knew he could trust, but he had raised it that high specifically just to worship her in the way that she deserved.

She placed her hand on top of his gloved one and then giggled as he shifted them around so that she was holding onto his bicep as they walked through the club. A few of the patrons turned and looked at them as they walked through the relatively quiet space, but Kaz couldn’t care less at the moment. He had never really cared how he was perceived as long as others understood that he was not someone to be trifled with, and nothing that he was currently doing with his gorgeous girlfriend would dissuade them of that fact.

He opened the door for her and she walked through. She placed her guitar down on the chair opposite from the one that she plopped herself down in. She held a kind of revenant grace and elegance about her that made Kaz dream of what she had to have been in past lives. He could only see her bathed in the most expensive brocades and silks that her noble family could purchase. She would have turned every head that she came across no matter where she was, he was certain of that.

Kaz closed the door behind them and locked it so that anyone who wanted to speak with him would have to knock to get through. He didn’t want either of them to be interrupted while he was carrying out his plan. “How was your day, darling?” he asked as he sat down on the couch across from her.

“Tiring,” she replied, tilting her head to the side so that her face was cushioned in the palm of her hand. “I had to let Genya play with my hair for hours before she finally let me go. And we weren’t even live streaming this one because David forgot the charger,” she pouted.

A part of him filled with pride at having guessed correctly. He liked being up to date on his partners and what their lives were like, it made him feel more secure in his place in the polycule, like he had earned something. He rested his cane against the end table next to the couch and asked, “Why is that such a bad thing?”

“I got all prettied up for nothing,” she replied with yet another sigh. She rolled her head back onto the chair for a moment before she returned back to her previous position, giggling at her own antics.

“I wouldn’t say you got prettied up for nothing,” he replied as he let his eyes obviously rake over her form. He could see her squirming in the same way that she did when Matthias said dirty things to her in Danish when he thought the others wouldn’t notice. Nina always gave him away since she was so easily riled.

“Oh?” she asked, that curl returning to her painted lips.

Kaz pushed himself into a standing position and walked over to her, leaving his cane where it was against the end table. He wanted to be able to cage her in how he knew she liked, and the cane would hinder him from doing so. While it drove Wylan absolutely insane to have the object pressed against him in a vast array of inappropriate ways, Nina didn’t care much for it.

He paused when their legs knocked together. He put his hands on either side of the chair and leaned down over the top of her, his nose just barely brushing against her own. She took in a shaky breath as her bright green eyes flickered down to his mouth and then locked with his own. Just that action alone was enough to make him feel like he was drowning and she was his only hope of being saved. “You’re trying to tell me that you didn’t wear something like this just to rile me up when you knew that we had a date tonight?” he trailed one of his still-gloved hands over the fishnets on her thigh until he was edging closer and closer to the hem of the dress. “Darling, I may be a fool in love but you could never lie to me like that.”

She let out a hot breath as she leaned forward a miniscule amount so that he could feel the hairs raising on the back of his neck. She was just within his reach and yet still so far away. He wanted nothing more than to jam his tongue down her throat and take her to a faraway place where she never had to think about anything other than how good he was making her feel. But that wasn’t what he had planned that date out to be.

A week ago, almost to the hour, he had asked her, shamefully over text, if she would be okay with something like this. He had wanted to have enough time to plan properly and to let her kind of forget what was going to happen so that she would be surprised. He hadn’t talked to her about very specific things in the scene he wanted to have like his partners usually did with him. He knew that Nina preferred more sporadic lovemaking as long as verbal consent was given before every action, which they had struggled with when it came to sex in the beginning of their relationship. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t been able to find a middle ground that worked for both of them, but he could always see that she looked more strung out and relaxed when she played with their other partners than with him. He had done a lot of work to try and make it so that he could hit all of her needs on this night, to try and show her just how much he loved her.

They had a long conversation about the kinds of things that she was feeling up to that week. She had told him her highest fantasies that she was feeling up for and Kaz had sorted through everything to find the middle ground of what he was willing to do. He hadn’t told her what items from the list he had already selected, which was keeping up the mystique of the scene for her.

“I would never call you a fool. If anything you’re a fox in love,” she purred as her hand moved around to the back of his head. She ran her nimble fingers through his long locks and then surged forward so that their lips were finally pressed together.

He let out a growl in the back of his throat as he reached out and grasped the back of her neck. He used the edge of his gloved middle finger to play with the baby hairs right below her skull. She mewled into the touch as she felt his body slowly moving closer to hers, so that they were basically pressed together.

Nina gasped into his mouth as her body bucked up so that they were flush together for a moment before she fell back down into the chair below her. Her eyes were hooded with arousal and her lips were slightly swollen from the kiss. Despite nearly being ravished already, her lipstick was still perfectly where she had applied it before coming to his office.

“I do like it when you get all dressed up for me,” Kaz murmured as he slowly began to move his hand around the side of her head so that he was brushing against her cheek instead. The tip of his thumb touched her lip and she gasped, opening her mouth so that he could press on it even more.

“I’d do it a million times over,” she promised, breathlessly.

“I know you would, you’re wonderful like that,” Kaz murmured as he pressed another kiss to her full lips. She mewled into the touch, her skin reaching for any kind of contact that she could get from him. He was able to recognize the desperation in her immediately, so he snaked his arms around her hips to tug her just a bit closer to him. He wished that he had the ability that Jesper and Matthias possessed so that he could haul her up and set her down where he wanted her in his office. It was so enthralling to watch his other two boyfriends scoop Nina up like she weighed nothing and cart her around the house while doing various dirty things to her. Kaz would never be able to do that due to his poorly knee.

Nina threaded her fingers through his hair as she lifted her hips up to allow his arms to thread behind her so that they were flush together again. Their faces were mere centimeters away from each other, breathing in the scent of the other without actually touching. It was intoxicating, the best thing that Kaz had ever experienced, when he was so close and yet so far. His body would begin to long for the touch of another person to deeply that he could feel it slithering down into his bones and making a home within his very soul.

“What are you going to do to me?” Nina asked, batting her pretty eyelashes at him.

He adored her with his entire being, he realized as they continued to wrap around each other like a pair of snakes using each other as prey. She was so uniquely full of light and love. She had touched a part of his being that none of his other partners had been able to reach, brought out a part of him he didn’t know that he could be. Nina was beautiful, inside and out.

“I think you’d prefer it if it was a surprise,” he replied. He pressed a kiss to her rouge covered cheek and then grasped the bottom of her earlobe in between his teeth for just a second. She gasped as she tossed her head back so a couple of her long brown curls escaped the updo that they had been contained in.

He knelt on the edge of the chair so that he didn’t get a flare up of pain during the middle of their scene, giving the nerve sheaths a break. He brushed his hand over her curls until he found the pin that Genya had used to secure the entire mess of braids. He knew that Nina didn’t have any other work that she had to do that night and they’d be going home to reunite with the rest of their polycule as soon as they had finished. So, Kaz tugged on the pin and released the braids from where they had been.

Nina pulled back from him slightly so that they could look at each other. Her eyes were still slightly lidded and she was biting at her kiss-swollen lips while watching every ripple of his body. “I thought you said that I looked pretty,” she pouted a little.

“I do, but I want to make sure that you look debauched by the time I’m done with you,” he replied huskily. He leaned in and captured her lips in another blazing kiss, trying to make her legs weak and her head spin.

She replied by letting out a pleased hum and a giggle. She placed her arms back where they belonged, one of them strung around his shoulders and pulling at his shirt while the other messed up his hair. Her dress was riding up slightly due to the way that she had to move her legs so that he would fit between them, exposing more of the black fishnets pressed to her creamy white skin.

When they broke apart so that they could catch their breaths, Kaz smirked as he could see the bottom part of her tattoo peaking out from underneath the skirt. She had only gotten it a couple of months ago but it looked like it had been there forever. It was another crow to join the aviary that they were building within their polycule. Matthias had one on his upper arm, Inej down her back, Jesper on his abdomen, Wylan on his shoulder, Kaz over his heart, and now Nina on her thigh.

It made him feel like she was truly dedicated to them, willing to join in on even the weirder rituals that their group had decided made them interconnected.

“Kaz,” she mewled as she arched her body into his touch. He had one hand cupping the back of her head so that he could keep her tilted upwards towards him while the other began to slowly trail down her body. He brushed his fingers over the patches of skin that were visible through the holes in the fishnets, pressing the seams of the glove into her soft flesh. “Please,” she whimpered.

He could practically smell the arousal coming off of her in waves. It made his mouth water to think about her soaking through whatever lacy panties she was wearing.

“Please what, my beautiful love?” he asked, his voice extra husky in her ear as he tried to keep a low level. They were alone, above the bar and several doors away from anyone that would be able to hear them, but there was an appeal in saying things like it was supposed to be a secret between just the two of them.

“I need you,” Nina murmured in reply. She moved so that their eyes met and he took a moment to admire the desperation that was already clinging to her features.

Kaz remembered the first time that he had seen her in this state of arousal. He hadn’t been able to touch her back then, but the rest of his partners had voted that they were okay watching her. She and Matthias had already spent quite a few sessions with each other, unable to keep their hands to themselves when the dam finally began to crack. So they had spread Nina out on the bed, voluptuous curves hidden only by pretty lace undergarments and the thin blanket from the end of the bed. Inej had taken her apart with deliberate yet light movements, trailing over the vast expanse of pale skin and over tattoos without touching anything big and important. Matthias and Jesper had taken turns with her after that, always pulling away just before she had the chance to unravel on them. She had been sobbing and begging, quaking in their hold, by the time that they had finally let her topple over the edge. Matthias had her in his arms when she did, so Jesper had crawled over to Wylan so that he could ravish the lover that had gotten barely any attention.

Of course Kaz had participated and witnessed her being pulled apart like that many times before, but all of them had paled in comparison to the first time he was finally allowed to witness her beauty like that.

He breathed close to her ear, trying to withstand the urge growing in his chest to ravish her then and there. They had agreed that they would drag it out a little bit, try to work each other up so much that they basically exploded when they finally reached their climaxes. Kaz was going to do his best to give Nina everything she wanted, and the woman underneath him was more dedicated to orgasm denial than any other partner Kaz had ever been with.

“Tell me exactly how you need me,” he purred into her ear. He pulled away from her so that he could look into her eyes, boring into her very soul. They had played around with their dynamics before, usually with her pulling him into pieces and then putting him back together with the tender methodicalness that she played her instruments with. Tonight, Kaz was in charge and the dark flush over her freckled cheeks showed that she was more than a little aware of that.

She mewled underneath him, squirming again. Her eyes were transfixed on his for just a moment before she dragged her gaze down to where he was pulling his gloves off of his hands. It shouldn’t have been as erotic as it was, but Kaz almost never took his gloves off while he was in public. He was comfortable doing so with his partners, even if it was a day where he absolutely could not be touched. The fact that he was stripping them off after teasing her as much as he had meant that he was exposing himself to her in his own way.

“I want you to fuck me,” she whimpered. She reached one of her own hands up behind her so that she was grasping the headrest of the comfortable chair she was perched on. The other hand was still grasping out towards him while having the faux position on the armrest. “I want you to pin me up against the wall and fuck me until I can barely walk. I want you to call our partners so that they know how much you’ve destroyed me, so that they have to come pick us up after the bar closes because you can’t take your cock out of me. I want to be so destroyed that we meld together, please, please, Kaz.”

It was so hard to keep the modicum of self control that he had scrounged up inside of him when she spoke like that. He reached down and cupped her cheek in his hand before he pushed down on her lip. “Such dirty words from such a dirty mouth. How do you feel about getting me off at least once before I give in to all of those demands of yours, love?”

She moaned, her eyes rolling back into her head at just the thought of it. She wasn’t always sex-positive, she had her own days when she sometimes didn’t want to be touched, but on days like today she was nothing but a cockslut. Kaz almost wished that the rest of their partners were also there to help fill all of her empty holes until she was just as ruined as she had begged him to be.

Her nimble fingers reached out towards the waistband of his pants just as the phone on his desk went off. The only people that had access to that number were his business partners, who would have been calling at the latest around five in the morning, and his romantic partners. If he was getting a call at that number then it had to be something important, otherwise the rest of their polycule would have called him or Nina on their cellphones.

“You’re going to have to give me a moment, my love,” Kaz said. He leaned down and kissed her on the lips in a way that was sensual enough that it would keep her warm for him until he came back but not enough that it would work her up even further.

She whined desperately as he stepped away from her, but she didn’t even reach out to grab at him. She knew that whatever he was doing had to be important and she was behaving herself so that he would do exactly what she asked when the time finally came.

Kaz picked up the phone from the cradle and then answered it. He pressed the device to his ear as he asked, “Yes?”

“So angry,” came Jesper’s teasing lilt from the other side.

“You interrupted me while I was trying to seduce our very lovely girlfriend, of course I’m angry,” Kaz almost spit. As much as he tried to act tough and scary around his partners, there was never any real venom in his words when addressing them. He had turned so that he was speaking into the phone, connected to the cradle by a cord, while staring at Nina to make sure that she was still worked up and wasn’t getting bored.

“Oh, were you planning on doing that tonight?” Jesper gasped, as though he had somehow forgotten that fact.

Kaz closed his eyes and brought his fingers up to pinch the space between his brows. His nails bit little crescent marks into the skin enough to calm the anger that was brewing in him. He would never really snap at his partners, he had long since moved through that part of his life after he made Inej cry for the first time. That fact didn’t stop the brewing anger in his gut as his cock ached. “Jes, how could you have missed it when I literally put ‘K and N date night’ on the group calendar in the kitchen?”

“I never look at that unless I think I may have a date soon!” Jesper said defensively.

Affection flared inside of him, overtaking the anger. After his body was jerked out of the ever present fight or flight mode, that had been the primary reason that he hadn’t been snappish with his partners like he was at the beginning of their relationship. All of the quirks that irritated him made him love them more because it reminded him of interactions that they had with each other that he had been blessed enough to observe.

Kaz let out a little sigh and then asked, “What did you call me for, Jesper?”

“Well I was going to talk dirty to you to convince you to come home and help Inej rail me, but I think that you have something else going on,” he replied awkwardly. Kaz could almost see the way that his cheeks were burning from the tone alone, which made a small smile bite at the edges of his lips.

“I am. I would appreciate it if you reminded our other partners that they’re not to bother me either, at least not for a while,” he tried to put as much dominance into his tone as he could without making it sound like he was trying too hard. Jesper was fairly decent at dominating, though nowhere near as fun as Wylan, but he was always putty in Kaz’s hand with the right tone and commands.

“Right away, boss,” he replied. He gave a clipped, “I love you,” before he ended the call.

Kaz set the phone back down in the cradle and then turned back to the woman that he had splayed out on the other side of his office. “Now, my beautiful girl, where were we?”

“I think that you had just promised to make me come undone,” she smirked at the little pun that she had inserted.

He rolled his eyes but crossed the space towards her anyway. He placed his ungloved hands down on either side of the chair so that she was caged in again, slumped down so that she was looking up into his dark eyes through the haze of arousal that he had left her in. “I supposed that I did promise you something similar to that, didn’t I?” he asked, his voice low and gravely in her ear. He watched as the vibrations traveled through her to the base of her spine, where she shuddered.

He tilted her head up with one finger, bringing it away from where he had been keeping her in place. The few inch space between them closed as he brought their lips together in a sensual kiss. They met together time and time again, their lips dancing in a beautiful display of intimacy before it turned to a swirling of tongues and clashing of teeth when things began to heat up.

Kaz wound his hands around her waist so that he was holding onto her with both of his palms cupping her ass. He grasped there hard enough to make her squeak and break the kiss apart so that she could moan properly. He had been content to be breathing in the noises that she tried to make, but hearing them was fueling the firepit in his belly that made him way to obey every request that she had made to him.

He placed a kiss on her cheek and then another on her jaw before he nipped at her earlobe. He caught the skin in between his lips and then rolled it between his teeth before he released it. She had placed her head almost flat against the chair so that she could expose as much of herself to him as possible. She was writhing underneath him and he had barely done anything.

The trail of kisses continued, open mouthed marks on her skin from the bottom of her jaw all the way to her high collarbone. He grasped the skin in his teeth hard enough that it was already blooming red when he finally released it. He made sure to kiss over the marks like he was sealing them with love to show her just how special she was. He moved his hands from the plush expanse of her ass to rest on her hips so that he could keep her still as he worked.

Once he reached her collarbone, he took some of the skin into his mouth and began to suck so that it would leave a dark welt. She had agreed to let him mark her body up as much as he wanted as long as she could hide it without having to wear a turtleneck or put on excessive amounts of makeup. Kaz was going to take advantage of that generosity, fascinated with the idea of her walking around with a physical reminder of what he had done to her for days to come.

“Kaz, Kaz please,” she whimpered as she began to writhe underneath him.

“I’m getting to it, beautiful,” he replied gruffly against her skin when he was forced to release the mouthful that he had taken. He would never get over what Nina looked like when she was begging for him, especially when he was working so hard to bring her to pieces. He rewarded her by dragging his now bare hand down the silky material of her dress until he reached the hem, the tips of his fingers brushing over the holes in her fishnets.

She gasped when she finally felt his fingers touch her, the hairs on her arms and legs raising as arousal dumped through her body. “If I didn’t know better I would have thought that you had cum from just me touching you,” he teased her as he began to give her another hickey directly next to where the first one was.

“I would never cum without you telling me to,” she whimpered. “I want to cum so badly, but I want you to be in control of it, please, I want it so badly.”

“You’re going to get it,” Kaz promised. He set back to working on marking up the upper half of her chest until he was content with it. One of his hands was holding her hip to control how much she was able to grind down on the chair below her. The other was exploring the space just underneath the hem of her dress, toying with her to keep her in the moment.

It was only when he had basically given her a necklace of dark bruises that he decided he was ready to continue. He slipped his hand properly underneath her dress as he began to explore what kind of panties she had worn. She would have likely put something very nice on so that she could surprise him and seduce him into going faster.

He was right, of course. His bare fingers brushed over coarse lace and silky smooth fabric. She was wearing her set of the pair that she had bought for herself and Kaz for Jesper’s last birthday. He was very familiar with what they looked like since he had his own, so much so that he could visualize what they looked like underneath her clothing. The bra had a thick underwire and structured shape to keep her voluptuous breasts as far up and together as possible without being a push up bra, with lace just barely tickling the edge of the swell. It was tight to her skin, enough so that they didn’t need to have thick straps like some of the other sets she had for actually going underneath clothing. The dark red would mark her skin and bring out the marks he had already left on her perfectly.

The panties were another story entirely. They were the same dark color of red with lace around the waistband and thighs, clinging to her skin. The primary place for the silk was over her rich folds, which allowed the rest of her skin to be seen through the patterns of flowers and hearts that the lace made. They’d show off her ass by barely covering it and promising something enticing with the color allowing her wetness to be seen fully before they were even removed.

“You’re a naughty girl, you know that?” he asked. He had been aware of what her plan would no doubt be, but he was still struggling against the urge to just give in and hand her everything she wanted on a silver platter. She had said that she wanted a little push back from him, so that was what he was going to give her.

“You like?” she asked, though she was still heaving for breath like she had just run a marathon. Matthias described kissing Kaz to be a very similar experience, not that Kaz himself would know about either.

“Of course I like,” he replied snarkily as he caught her lips in another kiss. He brushed his hand up further so that the silky material of the dress was pushed up and bunched around the very upper parts of her hips. It revealed even more of the fishnet, so that he could see they were actually clipped on instead of covering her entirely.

He groaned as he reached down and unclipped one with nimble, intelligent fingers. He brushed his fingers down into the stocking and pushed it away so that it was pooling around her knee and more of her skin was revealed to him. He then grasped her leg like it was going to suddenly jump away from him if he didn’t hold her down. He dug his fingers into the spongy flesh so that Nina let out a loud moan, breaking their kiss so that the sound could resonate properly in her throat.

“You asked me to destroy you and baby, I promise that I will,” he whispered as he nipped at her ear again. He let his hand travel further up her leg after moving the other one down so that he was holding the fishnets, toying the tips of his fingers in the rough material.

“You’d better,” she whimpered. “I didn’t put this much effort into this outfit to not be rewarded.”

He liked it when she got snarky when they were in bed. Her mouth would begin to run like this and then he would bury himself inside of her, fingers and cock in her cunt and mouth until the only word on her mind was his name. He could tell that Nina liked it as well, which is why she pushed and pulled at him until he was finally at that snapping point.

The edges of his fingers had just begun to brush against the edge of her panties when there was a sharp knock at the door. Immediately the haze of lust that had been hanging in the air around them snapped. Kaz pulled back and looked down at Nina, trying to convince himself that he could ignore it and go back to what he was doing. The edge of her dress was bunched up around her waist and he could see the growing dark spot on the panties without even getting everything out of the way. She was quite the sight, her legs splayed open to find him in between and one of her stockings shoved down around the knee.

He didn’t get the chance to continue like he wanted to because the knock came again. “What?” he snapped, which made Nina giggle behind her hand. He didn’t want her to be giggling during this scene, he wanted to hear more of her loud moans and squirming motions as he ripped her apart and then put her back together. He had planned something and was getting a little tired of being interrupted already. Maybe he should have picked a day when the bar was closed, even if that meant that she wouldn’t have come to him as pretty as she had post-show.

“There’s something downstairs that needs your attention, boss,” the man replied from the other side of the door. Kaz was able to recognize it as one of the bouncers that he had hired for the busier nights to toss out patrons that got a little too riled up. They were supposed to be able to handle their own, which is why they had gotten picked from his pile of applicants, but every so often the business owner did have to get involved in something. This particular bouncer was notorious for bringing him down for nothing, which had ruined quite a few date nights by leaving Kaz in a bad mood.

He wanted so desperately for this evening with Nina to go well that he was willing to risk the issue behind mishandled as long as he got to have his partner the way he wanted her. “I doubt it. Handle it!” Kaz replied.

He turned back to Nina and began to kiss up and down her neck, pressing longer kisses to the bruise that he had left in the joint her neck and shoulder. She giggled and buried one of her hands in his hair before she let out a pleased moan. She was beginning to melt at his ministrations again, which meant that he had made the right call in what was actually going to set the mood for them.

“Is this part of the scene?” she asked, the callouses on the tips of her fingers toying with the sensitive skin on the back of his neck.

“Us getting interrupted every forty seconds? Do you really think that I’m that bad of a lover?” he retorted, raising a brow at her. She didn’t giggle or laugh the way that he was expecting her to, nor did she snap back at him with a witty snipe of her own.

He tried to keep the scene going by kissing her neck again, but the knock at the door interrupted him again. “Boss, I’m pretty sure that this is something that you’re going to have to deal with.”

Kaz sighed, resting his forehead against Nina’s shoulder for a moment. He gave her a sweet kiss on the lips and then began to right himself so that he could go out in public. His once hard cock had wilted significantly with all his worries about whether or not his girlfriend was actually enjoying herself and being interrupted, so he only had to shift things slightly so he didn’t look aroused. He re-tucked his shirt in his pants and adjusted his vest before he shoved his gloves back on his hands and got his cane. “I’ll be back in a moment, my dear,” he said.

“I’ll be waiting,” she replied with a small smile.

---

After nearly half an hour of dealing with a problem that he really did have to be the one to solve, he was finally allowed to escape back up the stairs to where his girlfriend was waiting for him. He was feeling frazzled, but still very much looking forward to getting to spend a lovely, romantic night while fucking his girlfriend into oblivion. He had promised that he was going to ruin her and while his body was in more pain than it had been before, he was going to follow through on it.

Kaz slowly made his way up the stairs, relying heavily on his cane and the railing that Inej had made Matthias install after the first time that Kaz had nearly fallen. He paused when he got to the door, already able to hear the melodic tones of Nina’s voice as she went over the same phrase in a song to get it right in her head. It was one of his favorite things to hear when he got home, next to all of his partners laughing over something while cuddled together on their massive front room couch. She was so beautiful when she sang, almost like a spirit of some kind had descended into her body and flowed out of her whenever she allowed herself to be who she really was.

He paused when he got to the doorway, holding onto the handle while watching her so that he could catch even a blink of that wondrous beauty.

While he was gone, Nina had replaced her stocking and removed both of her shoes. Her long brown hair still pooled around her face and shoulders, haloing her like the angel that she was. She had her guitar in her lap and was still tuning it as she hummed a melody that he didn’t quite recognize.

“Miss me?” he asked after a solid two minutes of watching her and admiring just how lucky he was to have started dating her.

“Kaz, I have something I want to play for you,” Nina replied, her voice clipped and nervous. His own stomach flipped with nerves as he nodded and walked to the other chair. He turned his body so that he was looking properly towards her and waited for her to start.

Nina took a deep breath, her eyes staring down at the hand on the neck of the guitar as she began to play. Her voice joined in with the notes of the instrument, floating heavenly through the air. “The words I speak are wildfires and weeds. They spread like some awful damn disease. I swear I didn’t mean what I said, I swear I didn’t mean it. Now listen close, you owe me ears for dropping eaves. Forget it all, you caught me in a moment weak. Sometimes I just can’t help myself, sometimes I can’t help myself at all. Are we allies or enemies? This will be the death of me. Remember when I could tell you not to smile when you were mad? And you would always crack and we’d both be laughing in the end. Now you’re not so quick to forget. Are we allies or enemies? This will be the death of me, this will be the death of me. All is fair in love and war, but I can’t fight with you anymore. This will be the death of me. What happens now? Do we have another go? Do we bow out and take our separate roads? I’ll admit I’ve had my doubts, but I want to be let in, not out, but I want to be let in, not out. Are we allies or enemies? This will be the death of me, this will be the death of me. All is fair in love and war, but I can’t fight with you anymore. This will be the death of me. Are we allies or enemies? This will be the death of me.”

By the time that the song finally ended, Kaz felt anxiety sitting high in his throat. He knew that several of the lines were specifically things that he had done with her and that she had asked him to listen to it for a reason. What that reason might be was flying through his mind as he tried to figure out what it was and how he could remedy each one. The idea of any of his partners being upset or discontent with him was one that made him want to simply stop being. He had to make sure that they were all happy and content, he loved them and they deserved that much and more.

“Nina,” he whispered, his voice barely working as he tried to reach out to her.

Her head was bowed and tears were still streaking down her face. She sniffled slightly and then wiped at her cheeks to make the streams disappear. They had ruined her makeup a little bit, but he thought that she still looked lovely with the smeared eyeliner and clumpy mascara. Literally nothing that Nina did ever made her look less than divine.

Kaz left his cane so that it was leaning against the end table next to his chair and then got up. He carefully bent both of his legs and knelt down in front of her. He moved the guitar so that it was resting propped up in the other chair and then took her hands into his own. He was still wearing his gloves, but he couldn’t even think about that with the all consuming panic of possible having upset Nina. “Is that… Is that how you feel about me?”

“Part of it is,” she whispered. “That’s a song for the new album that our manager wants us to release, so part of it was written by Alina. I don’t think that you necessarily hate me like that song says but… I do wonder if you want to be with me or if you’re with me because I’m together with everyone else in your polycule.”

That was a punch to the gut. He struggled showing his emotions and tailoring his love to the languages and actions that his partners understood best. He had been trying to hard and apparently still missing the mark, to which he knew Jesper and Inej would just say that he had to ask more and do less.

“Nina,” he whispered. He brought his hand up to the side of her face so that he was cupping her cheek and then touched his forehead to hers. “I love you for you, not because you come with my partners. I’m sorry that what I’ve been doing hasn’t shown you how much I care for you, but I truly do.”

“I just feel like I’m in the way of what you really want, sometimes,” she whispered.

“What I want is you and the others,” Kaz replied. “The only thing that I want nowadays is you and the others. You’re everything to me.”

“You don’t hate me?” she asked, plastering a smile over her watery features. She leaned her head into his hand when he began to rub his gloved thumb over her cheek and kissed the tip of her nose.

“I could never hate you,” Kaz murmured. “You’re impossible to hate, not only because of how devastatingly beautiful you are, but because you’re funny and witty and probably the only person other than Inej that could properly put me in my place. I want you to be by my side because you fill that hole that I had in my heart, Nina.”

“That’s awful sweet coming from you, soul of darkness,” she teased, though he could see the flush beginning to creep up her neck. “I’m sorry for ruining date night.”

“I don’t think it’s ruined,” Kaz replied easily as he pressed a kiss to her lips. “I think that we should just put it on pause and go home. I’m sure that Jesper would like to shower you with love.”

She reached down to his hand and cupped it in hers for a moment. She then peeled the glove off of his skin and set it down next to her. “I think that I want to spend a night with just you, if that’s okay.”

He was surprised to hear that. Usually their date nights included a dinner where they out-sexied the other until one of them caved and they returned to a private residence so that they could fuck the brains out of the other. It was rare that she asked to have tender, sweet moments with just him. He supposed that if she had been having that much inner turmoil about the state of their relationship then it only made sense that she would need that form of aftercare.

“Of course it is,” he replied, trying to keep his voice calm and patient instead of lashing out like his first instinct was. He had come a long way and was trying to reassure her that he did love her, so snapping at her would have the opposite effect. “Come, let’s escape the bar and go back to my house so that I can shower you with the affection that you deserve. I’ll make you come undone by picking up a box of your favorite sweets on the way instead of fucking you on my desk like I had planned.”

“Mm, promise me that’s something we can do after another one of my shows and you’ll have basically married me, Brekker,” she replied. She was already sounding more like herself, which caused the knot of anxiety in Kaz’s chest to easily melt away. He threaded his fingers together with hers and then helped her up from the chair. They gathered their things and walked out of the bar much the same way that they had gone up the stairs, disappearing from the nosy eyes of the patrons to their own private island of healing and love, just the two of them.

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