#bury me in my corset

[funnyuforg0t]

[loveyjelly]

Love and Deepspace Boys and their kinks ♡

CW: SMUT, fingering, cunnilingus, piv, thigh job, creampie, clothed sex. (kinks involving clothes specifically) MDNI pls

Rafayel - Uniform Kink

He would insist that you keep your uniform on during sex. He would push you face first against the wall and eat you out from behind, your pants just barely below your ass. His cock would twitch and throb at the sight of you trying so hard to hold yourself up when you're so close to cumming from just his tongue and fingers.

One of his arm would find it's way near the side of your head to support him and the other would reach down and rub gentle circles on your clit. His cock rubs against your folds, using your soaking wet pussy to lube him up. "Cum as much as you want, I need to see your uniform soaked and messy."

He loves gripping your waist and feeling the leather corset that wrapped around your blouse and pulling on the buckle that rested at your collar. After reaching your limit, making you cum multiple times, only then would he allow himself pull out and shoots his load at the fabric resting at your lower back.

Xavier - Nylon Fetish

"Let me just rip it, please" He moves to the edge of the bed and kneeled between your legs, kissing your inner thighs. You tried to protest, you still had a date to go to after all. "Forget about the date. Please, let's just stay home tonight. I'll replace it, I promise" His pleading worked every time. You nodded, and he immediately rips it out to give himself a way to your pussy.

He was eating you out like it was going to be his last meal. His tongue going up and down, his thumb rubbing circles on your clit, and his free hand jerking himself off. Your heartbeat and the slurping sounds Xavier was making were the only thing you can hear right now. You try to push his head away, cuming made you sensitive.

Xavier finally got up, grabbing your ankles and putting them against his shoulders. He pressed your thighs against each other and positioned the tip of his cock in between. He starts thrusting, using your thighs like it was a pussy until he shoots his hot sticky load on your stomach.

Zayne - Wearing his shirt

"Come here" Zayne pats his lap, gesturing for you to sit on it. You do as you're told and wrapped your arms around him. He hooked his finger on the hem of the shirt and lifted it up. "Wearing just panties, huh. Were you expecting something to happen tonight?" He moved your legs so you were straddling his thigh, grabbing your hips and guiding them back and forth. "Don't take your shirt off" He places your hands on his shoulder to prevent you from taking it off.

Your hips started grinding on his thigh by themselves so Zayne moved his hand away from your hips and reached under you shirt to cup your breasts. Every inch he touched left a cold sensation to your skin. It soothed your needy aching body. "Take out my cock and ride it like it's yours." He knew what you wanted from the moment you stepped foot into his apartment today and he is more than willing to let you take it from him. He wanted the same thing too, walking around with just his shirt and panties on, who wouldn't go insane after seeing that? Your hips slapped against his, you wrapped your arms tighter against his shoulders and bury your face on it.

"Fuck, you're clenching around me so tight." He hissed. The sensation of your walls gripping his cock is enough to send him over the edge. You shudder and arch as you take it to the base and cum all over his cock, his orgasm followed not long after. He slowly pumped in and out to see his cum slowly drip out, while enjoying the sound of your heavy breathing and the weight of your body resting on top of his.

[snowsinterlude]

stuffed.

(coriolanus snow x f. reader)

summary: what better way to show your affection towards one than trapping them by your side forever? well, if there was one, president snow didn't knew about it.

c.w: forced breeding, baby trapping, president snow, cnc, slapping, forced creampie, possessiveness, stockholm syndrome at the end, fem. reader, reader is (was) a opera singer

singing like there was no tomorrow was something you did quite often, being a opera singer to the capitol was the best thing that could've happened to you before. especially since you were from the districts.

so now, knowing the president is your fan (something you didn't expected, not even in a thousand years), you were singing your heart out at his parties. every bouquet of white roses he gave you always hid something. pearls, diamonds, earrings of white colored jews. he seemed to like white very much- even though his suit was always the red ones.

then, there was money.

the motive for him to give so many things was revealed when he was pinning you on the wall, the posca he drank seemed to have took control over his brain. somehow, you didn't mind it. maybe because the idea of being the president's favorite girl was something quite appealing- something your stupid self seemed to like very much.

feeling so desired, feeling so loved was something adorable, lovely. especially when he woupd promise you so many things.

you didn't believe any of them. you always made sure to be on the pill, always made sure to put a condom on his dick, always made sure to tell him to pull out when you didn't had a condom.

he was tired of it. he wanted you to be pregnant for him, wanted to see your belly showing through your clothes and the fantasies you used when performing. he wanted you closed on his room with your legs open and your pussy wet- he wanted to kill all of those who were thirsting over you, over the way your corset hugged your body so nicely and made your boobs bounce.

with that in his mind, you noticed just how rude he was tonight.

"i want you to be my wife," he said, midfucking. he would always say things like that while pounding inside you. it was crystal clear to you that he didn’t really wanted it, or so you thought, because his intention ever since he saw you was to fuck his babies into you and make you bear all of them.

"c-cory, let's talk about it later- oh, fuck!" you moaned, fucking yourself on him as his dick entered you so nicely, hitting all the right spots. as always.

you recieved a slap on your ass, accompanied by a thick, strong grab. "not later," he pounded inside you, hand on your waist, grabbing you so tightly you felt like you'd simply die at his touch. maybe it was a good thing. "now. 'wanna talk about it now."

you mewled as he thrusted inside your cunt again, his dick hitting all the right spots, from your cervix to your sweet g spot. "n-no, later, mm, truly."

he slapped your clit. it was getting rough now. you could notice from how hard he bit your nipple, it's not that you don't like it- it's just because you weren't ready for it.

"i'm serious, dove. i want you to be my wife." you didn't listen, too caught up in the pleasure, in the painful bites on your nipple, on the angry soft slaps on your swollen clit.

"s-stop it, you know i can't- i'm a performer, i-"

"i don't fucking care," he grunted, his nails buried into your skin "you're mine. from the moment i layed my eyes on you you were mine." he said, looking at your mewling melted state. "you're so wet, so tight on me, and yet you claim you don't want to be my wife?"

he laughed, as if telling a joke to himself, as if that was the biggest joke on the world. each two thrusts made you squirm, you already came some minutes ago. there were two condoms filled to the brim with his seed by your side on the bed of his guest room.

trying your best not to cum again, he took himself out of you, taking the condom of your side into his hands. he hated the texture. if it depended on him he would fuck you raw everytime. and yet there he was, obediently following your rules just to fuck you senseless.

"w-wait, what are you doing? stop. stop it! ah, fuck!" you squirmed at the hot feeling of his cum entering you, being poured inside of you, it felt so good you couldn't help but want more, for your own surprise. "p-president snow-"

"now is president? until some seconds ago it was coryo." he said, fingering his own cum inside you, making sure nothing would spill.

"p-please stop, i can't be pregnant-"

"you can." he stuffed you with it again, spilled all the cum of he other condom inside you "you will. i'll make sure of that"

taking the condom out of his dick again, the blonde introduced his dick into you again, smiling at the sight and the feeling of your wet cunt.

"fuck- look at you. so wet and still trying to say you don't want it." he smiled, nibbling on your nipple.

"n-no- i dont want to be pregnant, i can't- i have to sing!" you moaned, your hips meeting his with every thrust. you bucked your hips on him, did your best not to like it, but you couldn't lie to yourself, it was wonderful.

"if you don't want this then why are you fucking yourself on me?" his answer was a long moan you gave him, your nails scratching his back, burying themselves deep inside him. "god, you're a whore."

"p-pills. i-i need to find my pills!" you squirmed, your cunt tightening around him so deliciously god that you had to bite your bottom lip as to not let anything out- not to let him know you liked it, from his dick inside you to his cum stuffed into you.

"you wont find them," he smiled. "threw them away"

"oh fuck- pull out, p-pull out!!" you squirmed, but it was too leste already, you were cumming on his dick and he was laughing at you while pinching your clit.

"you said you didn't want that"

"i-i don't. i can't, i sing. my entire life revolves around singing"

"not anymore" he came inside you, dick throbbing into your cunt as you squirmed. "just for nome months, you'll be a caged bird."

the idea he pictured to you was terrible. a wife, always in white, drained out from taking care of two babies. even if the feeling of his cum inside you was terribly good, the thought of being a mother was your worse nightmare.

he proposed to you again the next night. and of course you had to accept. being a single mother is never good to a girl who were originally from the districts. a lot of the capitol's people were running their mouth already, saying you seduced him, manipulated him, or whatever it was.

it was the contrary.

but of course they wouldn't know that, not with your wings clipped together for you to not sing your way out.

not with your round belly showing up. not with the two babies on his arm and his. both looked like you both. your nose, his eyes. his mouth, your hair. you loved them.

maybe it wasn't so bad.

[insaneprincess]

⭒ ryomen s.

sukuna who lost all his self respect from the day he married you and the night he was first deep in your cunt. had him rolling his eyes back and his legs almost going numb from how warm and tight you squeezed around him. he had to on top- his beefy resting on your wide childbearing hips as you slammed down on him causing him to release the load he was trying to hold. he felt so stimulated and you had his cock twitching without you even knowing. when you tried to ask him what’s wrong he asked to go again practically begging. he wouldn’t and he couldn’t get his mind off how the white fitted corset pinched your waistline and squeezed your breast so tight they could pop out whenever you breath, or the bustling full-skirt that hid those thighs he wanted to be between. whenever you’d look over to him exposing those pearly whites if yours. sometimes in the morning he would kick out the maids and butlers out of the room to lay you down on the table and bang you right there. you didn’t know what to grab on for support to save yourself from his hard thrust. you would cry out and whimper when the plates crash on the ground but he didn’t stop. you would be so shy about the incident after and you would feel so bad about how you didn’t even get to taste the food they took their time with. he couldn’t control himself so when you came to meet him he offer you to sit on his face with no shame at it. sukuna’s body on the carpet while his head rested on the end of the throne and you hovered over his face while your legs were resting beside his head. slurping, and sucking noises echoed the room and you tried to keep quiet but no matter what he wouldn’t stop shoving his face deeper into your wet cunt. “ wait- someone could come innn!!” you protest grabbing the throne to light yourself up but you’d get yank back down to his face while feeling the laces of your corset untied. “ no one is gonna interrupt me and my wife- fuck sit back down” and you would lost it, wanting to bury yourself 6 feet deep down in the dirt when someone would walk in

[bassmars]

submissive! neuvillette x gender neutral reader.

it’s been so long but I am back, I still love neuvillette. Matter in fact I got him a hydro goblet with 35 crit dmg I know I know…. Be jealous.

No proof read sorry if this is all messed up, wrote this pretty late too.. I might start posting more but who should I write about?

—————

Justice served hot

Sub! Neuvillette nsfw.

warnings: semi-public setting, mild exhibitionism, oral sex, penetrative sex (reader can either have a dick or like a strap on I tried)

"Not now, Y/N," Neuvillette murmured, his eyes never leaving the mountain of paperwork that had piled up on his desk. The late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the cluttered room, the only sound being the scratch of his quill against parchment. Y/N, ever the persistent one, leaned against the heavy oak doorframe, arms folded across their chest. Their eyes, filled with a mix of longing and mischief, scanned the room for any signs of weakness.

Neuvillette's desk was a battlefield of legal documents, ink stains spreading like spilled wine across the once pristine surface. The scent of parchment and candle wax filled the air, a stark contrast to the faint hint of incense that usually lingered in the hallways outside. The judge's white hair was slightly disheveled, as if he'd been running his hands through it in frustration, and the blue underside of his single strand was vivid against his pale skin. His pointed ears twitched slightly as Y/N's footsteps grew closer, the quiet thud of boots on the cold stone floor echoing in the vast chamber.

"Comeee onnnnn," Y/N whined, their voice a sweet symphony of seduction, "You've been buried in this stuff for hours." They stepped closer, the leather of their corset creaking faintly. "We haven't had any...quality time in so long."

Neuvillette sighed, setting down his quill with a delicate clink. He rubbed his eyes with his gloved hand, the blue fabric stretching over his knuckles. "You know how important this is," he said, his voice strained. "The fate of Fontaine is literally in my hands."

Y/N pouted, their eyes scanning the room as they approached the desk. They leaned over, their chest brushing against the papers, and whispered into Neuvillette's ear, "I know, but so is my happiness." Their breath was warm, sending a shiver down the judge's spine.

Neuvillette swiveled his chair to face Y/N, his gaze dropping to their mouth. "And what would make you happy right now?" His voice was low, a challenge wrapped in velvet.

Y/N smirked, their hand sliding down to graze the bulge in Neuvillette's trousers. "Well," they murmured, "since you're already sitting..." They knelt down, pushing aside the chair slightly, and flipped the desk's edge up, giving them the perfect access.

Neuvillette's eyes widened, his heart skipping a beat. He looked over his shoulder at the door, then back at Y/N. "Here? Now?" His voice was a mix of surprise and arousal.

Y/N nodded, their grin growing wider. "Why not?" They leaned in, capturing Neuvillette's bottom lip in a teasing nip. "It's not like anyone's going to walk in, right?"

Neuvillette's cheeks flushed a light shade of pink, his pointy ears turning a darker shade of red. He glanced at the clock on the wall, the ticking sound suddenly very loud in the quiet room. "Almost time for the next session," he murmured, trying to regain his composure.

Y/N's pout grew more pronounced, their eyes shimmering with a hint of desperation. "Are you really going to leave me like this?" They whispered, their hand still playing with the fabric of his trousers.

Neuvillette sighed, the weight of his responsibilities pressing down on him. "I have to, Y/N. You know how much is on the line for these cases." He began to stand up, but Y/N's grip tightened, their eyes pleading.

"C'mon," Y/N whined, their voice a siren's call, "Just a quickie, before you go." They leaned in closer, their breath hot against Neuvillette's neck, sending a shiver down his spine.

The judge's resolve wavered, the temptation of a passionate encounter with Y/N almost too much to resist. But he knew he couldn't. "No," he said firmly, pushing back his chair, "We can't." He gently but insistently removed Y/N's hand from his crotch and stood up, straightening his robes.

Y/N pouted even more, their eyes glinting with a hint of annoyance. "You're no fun," they grumbled, crossing their arms over their chest.

Neuvillette chuckled despite himself, reaching out to stroke their cheek with his gloved hand. "I know," he said, "but duty calls." He turned and made his way to the courtroom, the heavy doors looming before him like a final boss in a video game.

Y/N trailed after him, their steps echoing down the hallway. "Fine," they said with a dramatic sigh, "but I'm coming with you."

Neuvillette rolled his eyes but didn't protest. He knew Y/N well enough to know that once they had their mind set on something, there was no changing it. They arrived at the grand courtroom, the air thick with the anticipation of the looming proceedings. The room was eerily empty, the wooden benches untouched by the usual bustle of plaintiffs and defendants.

"Well, this is odd," Neuvillette murmured, checking his pocket watch. "We're not supposed to start for another half an hour."

Y/N snickered, their mood lightening at the sight of the empty room. "Maybe the universe is giving us a little gift," they said, wagging their eyebrows suggestively.

Neuvillette couldn't help but laugh. "Or maybe it's just another one of your jinxes," he teased, pushing the door open with a squeak.

The judge stepped inside, his footsteps echoing in the vast space. The high ceilings, adorned with frescoes of ancient battles and legal triumphs, seemed to watch over them like disapproving parents. Y/N followed, their boots clicking against the marble floor.

"Come on," Y/N whispered, sidling up to Neuvillette, "at least give me a kiss. It's been ages."

Neuvillette's resolve was waning, the heat of their earlier encounter still simmering between them. He leaned down, their lips meeting in a soft, chaste kiss that sent a jolt of electricity through his body. But Y/N wasn't satisfied with just a peck. They grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him into a deep, passionate kiss that left them both breathless.

Their tongues danced together, a silent conversation filled with longing and desire. Y/N's hands roamed down to Neuvillette's waist, fumbling with the knot of his sash. They pushed him backward, the large judge's chair looming behind him like a throne. With a grunt, Neuvillette gave in, his body weight carrying him backward into the plush velvet embrace of the chair.

Y/N's eyes sparkled with triumph as they sank to their knees in front of the chair.

Neuvillette's cock, now free from its confines, stood proud and demanding. Veins bulged with anticipation, tracing a map of pleasure along its length, and the underside was particularly sensitive to the touch, a fact that Y/N knew all too well.

As Y/N leaned in, Neuvillette's hips jerked involuntarily, his hand shooting up to grab a fistful of their hair. He gripped it tightly, his eyes squeezed shut as he tried to hold back the moan that threatened to escape his lips. The sensation of Y/N's warm breath against his cock was almost too much, and he had to bite his lower lip to keep from crying out.

Y/N, ever the eager participant, took the hint and wrapped their lips around the tip, teasing the slit with their tongue. Neuvillette's grip on their hair tightened, his legs spreading wider as he pushed his hips up slightly to meet their mouth. The feeling of their tongue flicking against his most sensitive spot sent a shiver down his spine, making his toes curl in his boots.

Y/N took him in deeper, their cheeks hollowing as they sucked hard. The sound of wetness filled the quiet courtroom, the only other noise the occasional crackle of the candles that lined the walls. They could feel the judge's thighs trembling, his gloved hands clutching their head, guiding them deeper. The taste of his precum was sweet on their tongue, a promise of the release to come.

Neuvillette's breathing grew ragged, his chest heaving as he fought to keep his composure. He knew that Y/N was a master at this, that they could make him cum in seconds if they wanted to, but he was trying to hold out. The anticipation was part of the thrill, the knowledge that they were about to be caught up in something so deliciously scandalous in the very heart of Fontaine's legal system.

But it was a battle he was quickly losing. The way Y/N's mouth moved, the pressure and rhythm, it was all too much. His hips began to buck, his hand moving to the armrest of the chair to keep from toppling over. He could feel the orgasm building, a storm brewing in his core, threatening to spill over at any moment.

And just as he was about to let go, the doors to the courtroom swung open, the sound echoing through the room like a gavel's final blow.

Y/N and Neuvillette froze, the latter's eyes shooting wide open as a parade of officials and assistants began to file in, their murmurs of greeting and shuffling of papers a stark contrast to the silence that had been moments before. Y/N, ever the quick thinker, ducked under the desk, their heart racing. Neuvillette's cock, still wet from Y/N's eager mouth, twitched in response to the sudden cold air.

The judge took a deep breath, willing his body to behave as he forced himself to sit up straight, the chair creaking ominously beneath him. He smoothed his robes down, trying to look as dignified as possible despite the raging hard-on he was trying to hide. The room grew louder as more people filled in, taking their seats, arranging their notes. Neuvillette could feel the heat rising to his cheeks, a blush that was hopefully just from the exertion and not the embarrassment of being caught.

Y/N, hidden from view, couldn't help but let out a stifled giggle, the sound muffled by the fabric of Neuvillette's robes. The judge shot them a glare, his hand shooting down to grip the edge of the desk, his knuckles turning white.

"Thank you all for being here today," Neuvillette began, his voice a little shakier than usual. He cleared his throat, trying to compose himself as he continued, "We have a very important case to discuss." His eyes darted around the room, looking for any signs of suspicion. The attendees nodded and murmured in response, none the wiser to the scandalous scene playing out just out of their line of sight.

Y/N, unable to resist the temptation, leaned back in and took him in their mouth again, their hands moving to stroke the base of his cock. Neuvillette's eyes rolled back in his head, his grip on the desk tightening as he bit down on his knuckle to keep from moaning. The room was a blur, the faces of the officials swimming before his eyes as he tried to focus on the case at hand.

With a Herculean effort, Neuvillette pulled Y/N's head back, their teeth grazing the sensitive skin just before they were fully extracted. "Not now," he hissed through gritted teeth, his voice barely above a whisper. Y/N pouted but obeyed— for now, sitting back on their heels and watching him with hungry eyes.

Neuvillette took a deep, shuddering breath and tried to compose himself. He couldn't very well start the session with a raging erection, now could he? He shuffled his papers, hoping that the rustling would cover the sound of his racing heart. The room had filled up, the murmur of conversation growing louder as the minutes ticked by. The tension in the air was palpable, a mix of anticipation for the upcoming case and the unspoken tension between the two lovers.

He took his seat at the bench, adjusting his robes to try and hide his arousal. The first case was brought before him, a dull roar of words that barely registered as he tried to focus. His eyes scanned the pages before him, but the words swam together like ink in water. The pressure of Y/N's mouth was still imprinted on his cock, the ghost of their touch driving him wild. He could feel the wetness of their saliva slowly drying, leaving his skin feeling tight and sensitive.

As the prosecutor began their opening statement, Neuvillette's hand strayed to his mouth, his teeth sinking into his lower lip to keep from groaning. The pressure grew, his cock throbbing with the need for release. He glanced down, trying to be subtle, and found that Y/N's hand had slipped into his lap, their fingers tracing lazy circles around the base of his shaft.

The first time he stuttered, he blamed it on the poor lighting. The second time, he coughed and took a sip of water, his hand shaking slightly as he brought the glass to his lips. The third time, the prosecutor paused, a look of concern flashing across their face. "Your honor, are you feeling quite alright?"

Neuvillette's eyes snapped up, his cheeks burning with a mix of arousal and embarrassment. "I'm fine," he ground out, his voice strained. "Just a... a bit of a cold, I think." He coughed into his fist, hoping it was convincing. The room watched him for a moment before the proceedings continued, the murmur of whispers and shuffling papers resuming.

Y/N took advantage of the distraction, their mouth once again wrapping around Neuvillette's cock. This time, they were more cautious, their movements slow and deliberate. They could feel the judge's thighs tensing, his hips trying to rock up to meet them despite his efforts to remain still. The sound of fabric against skin was almost silent, but to Neuvillette, it was like a symphony in his ears.

He tried to focus on the case, really he did. But every time Y/N hit just the right spot, his eyes would squeeze shut, and a strangled sound would escape his throat. He bit down on his gloved fingers, the leather muffling his moans. The room was so still, so formal, and here he was, on the verge of losing control.

The case droned on, the words a blur as Neuvillette's mind was a whirlwind of pleasure and panic. He could feel the climax building, a crescendo that was all too familiar. Y/N's tongue swirled around the tip of his cock, teasing the slit before plunging back down, taking him in deep.

Neuvillette's body tensed, and he had to bite down on the leather of his gloved hand to keep from crying out. The sudden sharp pain brought him back to reality for a brief moment. He looked up, trying to focus on the defendant standing before him, but all he could see was the swirl of color from the stained glass windows above, casting a kaleidoscope across the room.

"Your honor," the prosecutor's voice cut through the haze, "the defense seems to be... distracted. Is everything alright?" Concerned whispers spread through the courtroom like a ripple in a pond.

Neuvillette coughed, his voice strained. "Just a bit of... allergies, yes. The flowers outside, you know." He cleared his throat and hoped his face wasn't as red as it felt. "Please, continue with your questioning."

The prosecutor looked at him skeptically but carried on. Meanwhile, Y/N had found his sweet spot, licking and sucking with the finesse of a maestro conducting an orchestra. Neuvillette's eyes watered, his hips jerking slightly as he felt the release approaching.

He had to get a grip, literally. He clenched his fists in his robes, the fabric bunching in his grip. "What is your defense?" he managed to ask the defendant, his voice a mix of authority and the beginning of a moan.

The defendant, a burly man with a scruffy beard, looked confused. "I-I was just saying, Your Honor, that I didn't mean to..."

But Neuvillette wasn't listening. Y/N's mouth was like a vise, their tongue a whirlwind of sensation. He could feel the pressure building, the dam about to burst. "I-I need a recess," he blurted out, his voice a strangled whisper.

The room went silent, all eyes on the judge who was clearly not his usual composed self. The prosecutor and defendant exchanged glances, while the bailiff looked like he was about to ask if Neuvillette needed medical attention.

"A... recess?" the prosecutor echoed, looking at the clock. "But we've only just begun."

"Now," Neuvillette snapped, his voice firm despite the tremble in his legs. "This... this case is too important to be rushed." He slammed his gavel down, the sound echoing through the hushed room.

The bailiff stepped forward, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Your Honor, are you feeling... well?"

Neuvillette took a deep breath, willing his body to calm. "I'm fine," he assured, his voice a barely controlled rumble. But Y/N's mouth was like a siren's call, latched onto that spot that made his toes curl and his vision swim. He couldn't ignore the way their tongue danced around the sensitive ridge, the flicks and swirls that sent bolts of pleasure through him.

The prosecutor looked unconvinced, but the defendant's counsel nodded, eager to take advantage of the break. "Very well, Your Honor," the prosecutor said, their voice filled with skepticism. “We'll reconvene in fifteen minutes.”

The room buzzed with whispers as everyone began to stand, their movements a symphony of confusion and curiosity. Y/N didn't waste a second, pulling away from Neuvillette's cock with a final, tantalizing kiss that left him gasping for air. They slipped out from under the desk, smoothing their clothes with a smug grin. "Fifteen minutes, perfect," they murmured, giving Neuvillette's leg a final squeeze before sauntering out of the courtroom.

The judge took a moment to compose himself, his breaths coming in ragged gasps. He adjusted his robes, trying to hide the evidence of their tryst. The room emptied slowly, the murmurs of the crowd fading into the hallway. He waited until the last set of footsteps had disappeared before standing, his legs wobbly with need. He could feel the stickiness on his cock, a testament to how close he'd come.

"Y/N, office," he called out, his voice still a little hoarse. Y/N's eyes lit up with excitement, their hand already on the doorknob. They stepped aside, allowing Neuvillette to pass, their fingers trailing over his lower back as they did so.

Once in the office, Neuvillette's gaze swept over the chaos. Papers littered the floor, ink pots were overturned, and the smell of spilled wine filled the air. He took a deep breath, trying to regain control of his body. "This place is a mess," he said, his voice tinged with a hint of amusement.

Y/N shrugged, a mischievous smile playing on their lips. "It's all part of the ambiance," they said, stepping closer to him. They reached up, untying the knot of his sash with nimble fingers. "Now, where were we?"

Neuvillette's eyes darkened with desire, his hand coming up to cup Y/N's cheek. "We were about to take this somewhere more... private," he murmured, his thumb tracing their jawline. "And then, we're going to make up for lost time."

The door clicked shut behind them, the sound echoing through the cluttered room. Y/N's eyes locked onto his, their hands roaming over his body with a hunger that matched his own. They stepped closer, their bodies pressing together in a delicious dance of heat and want.

"Fuck, you're so hard for me," Y/N growled, their fingers fumbling with the button of his pants. With a swift, brutal motion, they tore open his fly, sending his cock springing free. It jutted out, a testament to his unabated desire, slick with pre-come and begging for release.

Neuvillette's cock sprang free, a testament to his unabated desire. He watched as Y/N took it in their hand, their grip firm and sure. They stroked him slowly, their thumb circling the sensitive tip, sending shivers down his spine.

"Turn over," Y/N ordered, their voice low and commanding.

Neuvillette whimpered at the interruption but reluctantly obeyed, his palms flat on the desk as he bent over, his ass in the air. The cold wood sent a shiver through him, making his skin prickle with anticipation. He was panting and flushed, cock leaking heavily between them as he learned to savor each delicious slide.

Y/N stepped closer, their cock brushing against his thigh. Neuvillette could feel the heat of them, the promise of what was to come. He took a deep breath, trying to prepare himself for the onslaught.

The first slick press of Y/N's length against his entrance was like a spark igniting a flame. Neuvillette gasped, his eyes squeezing shut as they pushed inside him. The sensation was almost too much, a mix of pain and pleasure that made his knees wobble, the sensation of their bodies reconnecting after so long almost too much to handle.

Their rhythm grew steadier as they lost themselves in the moment, their movements driven by pure instinct. Neuvillettes nails raked down Y/n’s back, leaving a trail of heat in their wake.

"Y/n," Neuvillette moaned, his hips rising to meet each thrust. "Harder."

Y/N didn't give him any time to adjust, their hips snapping forward with a force that made the desk shake. Neuvillette let out a strangled cry, his body taking a moment to accommodate the intrusion.

They set a relentless pace, their length sliding in and out of him with a wet, slapping sound that filled the room. The desk creaked and groaned, a testament to their passion.

Neuvillette's nails dug into the wood, his knuckles white with the effort of holding on. He could feel his orgasm building, a crescendo of pleasure that washed over him with every thrust.

Y/N leaned over him, their breath hot against his neck. "You're so fucking tight," they murmured, their voice strained with lust. "So good, Neuvillette."

Their words were like a spell, casting a net of desire over him. He pushed back, meeting each thrust with a wantonness that surprised even himself. The need to be filled, to be claimed, was overwhelming.

Y/N's hand slammed down onto the desk beside his head, the sound echoing through the room. "Fuck, yes," they grunted, their hips driving into him with an intensity that bordered on violence.

Neuvillette's eyes watered as Y/N hit that spot, that magical spot deep inside that made his toes curl and his body spasm. He bit down on his gloved hand, trying to stifle the moan that threatened to spill from his lips. The fabric muffled the sound, but the pain only added to his pleasure.

Each slap of their hips against his ass was a symphony of sensation, a crescendo that built and built until he thought he couldn't take it anymore. He could feel his orgasm coiling in his belly, tightening like a spring ready to snap.

Y/N's length slammed into Neuvillette with the force of a storm, the sound echoing through the otherwise silent room. The judge's face was a picture of ecstasy and torment, his eyes squeezed shut as he bit down on his lip to keep from crying out. Each thrust was accompanied by a wet smack, the sound bouncing off the walls like a taunt to their secret.

Neuvillette's legs trembled, his toes curling in his boots as he tried to keep his body from betraying him. He knew the Melusines were just outside, their sensitive hearing attuned to every little noise. The thought of them hearing his desperate gasps and the sloppy sounds of their lovemaking sent a thrill of both fear and excitement through him.

He couldn't help the way his body reacted, his muscles clenching around Y/N's length with every thrust. He was so close, so desperately close to losing control. The pressure was building, a coil in his belly that tightened with every movement. The room swam around him, the candlelight playing across his skin like a lover's caress.

He could feel the tension in Y/N's body, the way their muscles tightened and released with each movement. They were both chasing that elusive high, that sweet release that hovered just out of reach. Neuvillette's mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, each one more depraved than the last.

His body arched, his back bowing like a bowstring pulled taut before releasing an arrow. His orgasm hit, sending waves of pure ecstasy crashing through his body. He bit down hard on the leather of his glove, muffling the scream that threatened to rip from his chest.

His cock spasmed, shooting ropes of cum across the desk, painting the once pristine surface with a chaotic pattern of white. The smell of sex filled the room, a musky scent that seemed to cling to every inch of them. Y/N's eyes widened in surprise and delight at the display, their own hand moving faster as they watched him come undone.

The hand over his mouth was almost painful now, but Neuvillette didn't care. He bucked and thrashed beneath Y/N, the world outside the office forgotten. The only thing that mattered was the exquisite pleasure that consumed him, leaving him boneless and panting.

Finally, the storm passed, and he collapsed against the desk, his breaths coming in ragged gasps. The hand over his mouth slipped away, and he took a deep, shuddering breath, his eyes still closed. The silence was deafening, the only sound the faint tick of the clock on the wall.

Neuvillette's eyes snapped open, his heart dropping into his stomach. He looked at the timepiece, the hands pointing to the number fifteen. "No.”

[babybeastluv]

Feigning Innocence

Mina x 10th Member reader

Synopsis: Mina uses her “innocence” to get the things she wants most, and right now the thing she wants most is you.

cw: thigh riding, it's just sex

@forbebeandjam I almost forgot to @ you this time :(

prompts: random: 63,70,73,79,32

Mina was known for her innocent demeanor, which often disarmed those around her. She had a unique ability to use her innocence to her advantage, getting the things she wanted without anyone suspecting a thing. Right now, the thing she wanted most was you - you who had been on her mind for quite some time.

You were sitting on the couch in the dorm, all the other girls were out. Or so you thought, you were scrolling mindlessly on your phone when you felt like someone was watching you.

Looking up you see Mina standing in the doorway "what do you want?" you asked. Already semi-knowing the answer just based on the look that crossed her face.

See there was a simple understanding between all of you in the dorm, since you all weren't allowed to date you used each other for sex. This time it was no different except Mina has never once asked you to do such things with her.

Mina sauntered over to you with a sly smirk on her face, stopping in front of you she placed her hands on your shoulders and hovered over you as she giggled and said “don’t make me say it, you know what I want."

Normally you would be taken aback by how bold she was being but you wanted to test how serious she was about this so you decided to feed into it.

With an unreadable expression on your face, you pulled your shorts up slightly to expose your thigh, you looked her in the eyes and exclaimed “use my thigh then.”

She gulped as she looked between your thigh and your face. She clearly didn’t think this through. However, you didn’t give her much of a choice as you grabbed her by the hips and brought her down to straddle your leg.

Her skirt rode up a bit, you smirked as you caught a glimpse of her light grey underwear. She shuddered as her warm core made contact with your thigh.

“Let’s ruin these, shall we” you spoke in a husked voice as you rubbed soothing circles on her hips. She took in a sharp breath as your thigh muscles flexed against her.

“I was kidding” she mumbled, her hands squeezed your shoulders as you began to rock her hips slowly along your thigh. A smirk graced your face as she picked up the pace.

She rocked herself against you without realizing that you had no longer had a hold of her hips and instead had started to place kisses along her arms. Gently from her fingers to her elbows small pecks were placed.

A moan was let out into the air as Mina began to move faster, a chuckle slipped past your lips “I thought you were kidding” you spoke as your fingers worked to untie her corset-like top.

You halted her movements much to her dismay as you delicately removed her straps from her shoulders to expose her bare chest.

Her nipples perked immediately as the cold air made contact with her skin, you marveled at her body as a whine slipped out of her in a desperate attempt to get you to let her move again.

"Patience love" you murmur as you place delicate kisses all over her upper chest. Mina threw her head back and let out a sigh of ecstasy.

"Let's get these out of the way" you exclaimed as you snapped the waistband of her underwear against her skin. She made quick work of pulling her underwear off and discarding them on the floor along with her shirt.

Her bare core hit your thigh and with a shaky breath, she slowly rocked her hips again.

Your hands roamed her body as you left open-mouth kisses all over her upper body, your lips finding their way to her perky breast. Taking a nipple in your mouth Mina suppressed a moan by burying her head into your shoulder.

Letting go over her nipple with a pop.

“There’s no one else here, be louder,” you said as you pinched her nipple. She threw her head back and let out a guttural moan that would have definitely drawn some attention.

Whimpers left her as she squeezed her eyes shut, her legs began to shake as her orgasm hit, “look at me while you cum” you ordered as you rocked her hips faster against your flexed thigh.

Her eyes slowly opened at your command and the moment she made eye contact with you she released all over your leg. "Just kidding huh?" you remarked with a smug look.

“This was a one-time thing,” she stated out of breath as she laid her head on your chest, and you brought a blanket up to cover her. Just as her eyes closed the front door opened.

[xxacademy]

BLOODIED HANDS OF A LOVER'S MISFORTUNE —THRONE OF HIS OWN PART II

Leon Kennedy x Agent!Reader (she/her)

-> READ PART ONE

Summary: Blood, wine, fangs, touch-- his touch. Leon Kennedy made you his princess. He put you in pretty dresses, and put is mark on every part of you. But, it's time to face the reality of your situation. You are not Leon's princess, you are his back up. Now you're forced to do your job, and come face to face with the chaos of the vampire court.

Word Count: 2.5k

Content warnings: blood/gore, reader gets drugged and restrained, weapons, vampires, typical violence and themes associated with resident evil, i shamefully reference one of Leon Kennedy's cringiest one-liner's.

a/n: i had so much fun writing this!! action & horror elements are the best. i think i could write descriptions about blood and wounds forever... it's so strangely fun (?) anwaysss im playing re4r again and i cannot get leon's kicks outta my brain, lol. i hope you enjoy, and as always thank you for your patience. i am a full-time student and i have a full-time job, so writing can take me foreverrrrr.

Leon sits among the vampiric overlords while you sit alone, drinking a cup of tea, wearing yet another tightly corseted Victorian monstrosity.

The servants were undoubtedly kind to offer you clean clothes and breakfast, but that didn't make you want to leave any less. The uneasiness lingers dense in your stomach.

Last night was... Indulgent, to say the least. But the welcome has been overstayed, and you're antsy to leave the vampire's den. Hopefully, Leon will be quick to end their little conclave.

── ･ ｡☆*☽*☆ﾟ.──

You awoke suddenly to a loud clank beside you. To your groggy surprise, your tea cup had fallen and shattered at your feet.

The idle warmth of the fireplace and the cozy living room must have lulled you to sleep. Despite your mind being deep in a heavy fog, you found the strength to look around the room and confirm that you were still, in fact, alone.

You meandered to the heavily draped window and peeked outside. You prepared yourself to be blinded by searing bright snow, but... Oh, dear god.

The sun was setting. You rubbed your eyes in harrowed disbelief. The sun was fucking setting.

How could it be? It was only just morning. You couldn't have possibly slept the entire day.

Your hands were trembling mess as you squatted down to analyze the shattered tea cup. You grabbed a piece of jagged porcelain and brought it to your nose, breathing deeply.

You caught an unmistakably bitter note buried underneath aromatic peppermint. A sedative herb most definitely was used to lace the tea. You felt ashamed; how could you be so naïve, falling for such a novice trick?

But, there was no time to dwell. You scoured the room for a weapon. The only object that stood out to you was a particularly pointy piece of metal off an ornate candelabra. You ripped out the half-melted candles and bent the metal into a makeshift weapon, poking it into your skin to test its sharpness.

This should work, and if it doesn't? Well, It will, you told yourself.

Jaunty candlestick weapon in hand, you headed for the door, which was, unsurprisingly, locked. You analyzed the clunky metalwork and quickly determined it was an old-fashioned skeleton lock. You pulled several pins from your hair, fashioned them into impromptu Allen wrenches, and began picking the lock.

After several attempts and numerous broken pins, you finally jimmied the door open.

You set out into the gothic night-veiled estate, creeping through the labyrinth of hallways. Your heeled shoes and sweeping gown made stealth damn near impossible, but you had no choice but to make it work.

You followed the networking corridors aimlessly, pressing your ear to closed doors in the hope of finding Leon.

You heard pattering footsteps coming towards you, and in a desperate attempt to hide, you angled yourself behind a column of an archway. But as the person passed, a white-gowned servant, she stopped dead in her tracks and turned on her heels to face you.

Glowing red eyes met yours, and a mindless, other-worldly voice flowed from her: "You made a very grave mistake, chérie." The servant lunged at you, unarmed, fangs bared.

The candlestick you weld plummeted to the ground, and you grabbed the servant by the wrists and held her firm, straining to keep her away as she thrashed with all her might.

You threw her down by twisting her arm to the ground and holding her in place by firmly pressing your heel into her sternum. She cried a blood-curdling howl in pain, thrashing under your foot.

"Where is he? Where is Leon?" You demanded, rage filling your wavering voice.

The servant snickered, flashing small, jagged fangs.

"Tell me!" You demanded for the last time.

She was hysterically laughing now-- It was useless to attempt to communicate with a mindless thrall.

You reached for the candlestick and quickly bent over the thrashing servant and slit her throat with the sharp metal edge.

Hot blood spilled down her virgin-white dress, but her glowing red eyes stayed fully conscious. "You're a fool," she mocked, her fingers laced around your wrist.

You sunk your heel back into her sternum, this time with much more force, causing her head to smack against the floor. She hissed in pain. Blood was still pouring from her neck as you forced her hand off of yours. You repositioned the candlestick in your hand, aiming it for her heart.

You held her still by wrapping your hand tightly around her neck and drove the weapon through her chest. Her head lulled to the side limply, and her glowing eyes dulled- she was dead, finally.

You took a moment to catch your breath, staring at the woman's lifeless body. You couldn't recall a single vampiric servant from the previous night, so why now?

As you began to regain your composure, you looked down at yourself, pretty dress all covered in blood. It was an honest reflection of how terrible the last twenty-four hours have gone.

Regardless, you grabbed your blood-drenched candlestick and began creeping through the hallways once more. No one else seemed to be coming for you now. You were utterly alone as you tip-toed through the darkened estate. Utterly alone-- besides the gut-wrenching feeling that you were being watched.

The oil-painted portraits that decorated the looming walls felt like they saw everything. They saw you massacre that servant, they saw you lie to their rulers, they saw you drunkenly court your colleague. Maybe it was your own internalization showing, but you couldn't shake the feeling.

But you felt relief when you spotted a warm candlelit gleam emanating from the crack of a closed door. It had been the first trace of light you'd seen in these gloomy halls.

As you approached the door, you heard overlapping voices talking and laughing. It sounded like a blend of English and French was being spoken, adding to the dissonance.

You ever so gently pressed your ear to the door, attempting to make out what was happening. You couldn't understand a lick of the French being spoken. But you overheard something in English: "When are you going to get the girl?" a mysterious voice asked.

Another more familiar voice replied. “Quand nous en aurons fini avec lui.”

The King.

They must have Leon here. Your stomach dropped.

What could they possibly be doing to him? And the girl, that has to be me, right?

You don't know how it happened or how your cover could have been blown. What if they killed Leon?

There's no way you'd be able to defeat them on your own. Your mind traces all the rational options to go about this, but you conclude there is none. There is only one way.

You draw a quivering breath and open the mysterious door.

To your surprise, you revealed a grand banquet hall swarmed with almost the same lineup from last night's soirée.

The creak of the door caused all of their necks to turn to you instantly. The first thing you noticed was a sea of glowing crimson eyes. All the Lords have been turned now.

The King's stark pale skin and deep blood-red eyes burrowed through your soul. The pointed corners of his mouth raised in an impish smile. At the King's side was Leon, his arms bound and his head hung limp.

He had been draped and displayed at the hands of the merciless creatures that stalked this land. A centerpiece to their dastardly festivities.

"The bunny makes its way to the wolf's den. It's almost commendable." The King squinted, his head reaching forward in his throne to get a better look at you. "It looks like you even found someone in my estate to prey on. How scary."

"How did you find out?" You kept your words steady and firm.

The King laughed, "Ah, this is a good story."

"Go on," you said, taking a step closer.

The King shifted in his chair and took a sip of what was presumably blood from a crystal glass. "I had one of my men doing perimeter control on the south end. He made it all the way to the road, where he saw a car a few meters away-- and chérie, cars do not drive on that road."

Your heart sunk.

"He found a car and stopped it. I could tell you who he found, but I think you might already know. But in case you need a refresher, it was a United States agent with a very detailed file about you and Mr. Kennedy in his car."

You tried to close the gap between you and the King, but two guards restrained you by your arms after throwing your makeshift weapon to the ground.

"You bastard! You bloody bastard! What did you do to him? And what have you done to Leon!?"

"You're going to love this ma chérie. Leon is on the path to grand ascension— he'll become one of us soon. As for the agent that brought you here, he was at lunch the following day. Not exactly my taste, as I prefer the sweet blood of a woman, but he sufficed."

The room erupted in laughter, and long fangs taunted you everywhere you looked. Even the men who held your arms laughed at you.

You tried to break free of their grip, but they outmatched you. The men lifted you by your arms and dropped you before the King's throne. They pushed you down by your shoulders so that your knees crashed to the ground.

You hoped Leon would look up or say something. But he just rested on his knees, head down, in unwavering silence.

Your voice cracked, "And what about me?"

The King clicked his tongue, scanning your blood-soaked figure with heavy lids and a cocky glint in his eye. "You're simply too... Beautiful to just let go."

You rolled your eyes, "Give me a break! You think I'll just go along with you, easy as that?"

His lips formed into a cruel smirk, "I do."

You noticed earlier that the men who restrain you have swords attached to their hips, which could quickly turn the tide of this unlucky evening. The answer is, how?

"Just you wait, little dear." The King arose from his seat and picked up Leon by the collar of his shirt.

The King was tall; he easily towered over everyone in the room. His raven black hair flowed long down his back, extenuating his gaunt appearance.

It appeared that Leon had also been drugged. His body was limp, and he barely resisted as the King pushed him up and threw him into the arms of guards.

The King cleared his throat, demanding the room's attention to himself. "Good evening, everyone. You all know Leon here; He was incredibly loyal and fearlessly dedicated to our cause. But it's recently come to light that he and his darling little girlfriend are federal agents for the United States military."

The crowd murmured their feelings in disgust. "I know, this is very disheartening. But, I have a fitting punishment for the traitors."

The King dragged on about how he planned on turning you both into vampiric slaves, doomed to a life of servitude. But you couldn't care less. He clearly underestimated you.

You notice Leon begin to come to consciousness. It started with his hands forming into fists and then him rolling his neck from side to side.

He lifted his head, sunken blue eyes meeting yours. You were kneeling on the ground, dress blood-soaked and arms forcefully restrained by guards, all before him, to save him.

Leon's eyes darted to the swords the men beside you adorned, and then they darted back to you. He raised an eyebrow as if asking if you saw what he saw.

Yes— you mouthed the words, and Leon nodded.

"Ahh, you're awake." The King forcefully grabbed Leon's neck, digging his talon-like nails into his skin. "Your time has come, Kennedy."

Leon remained silent in the wake of the King's cruelness.

The King yelled for more guards, and they arrived holding a small box upon a velvet pillow. The King opened the box, taking a sizeable, needled syringe between his fingers.

That's how they're doing it, and Umbrella parasite, of course, You thought to yourself.

The guards holding your arms tightened their grip as the King approached Leon, flicking the serum vial menacingly.

"Let the coronation commence!" The King exclaimed to exuberant cheers.

In a quiet voice, he said to Leon only, "I wasn't planning on the girl being here, but how sweet is it that your lover gets to witness your rebirth?"

Leon scoffed, staring at the King directly, sizing up his foe. "We'll see about that."

The King was unphased as he closed the gap, reaching the needle closer and closer to Leon's neck, and when he was in range, Leon charged his leg and landed a devastating kick to the King's chest.

He went flying back and fell to the ground with wind-knocking ferocity. The syringe skidded across the marble floor, far from the King's grasp.

Before anyone could react, Leon freed himself from the guard's grip, flipping one of them over his shoulder and slamming him to the ground. He kicked in the other guard's kneecap, sending him down instantly. Leon stole both swords from either injured guard and pointed them at the King.

Sweat dripped from Leon's brow, and his skin looked washed out and pale. But he stood tall in the wake of the tyrannical leader. The people around began to stir. Some remained frozen in shock, and some readied themselves for a fight.

This was about to get very ugly, and you needed to break free. With your knees pushed into the ground, it was difficult to maneuver against the guard's strength.

You hastily attempted to drive your elbow into the stomach of one of the guards. He deflected it. But you tried again, aiming for his knee. You landed it this time.

"You bitch," the guard grunted as he stumbled back. The other one grabbed you by your arms, lifting you to your feet and placing you into a headlock.

Leon reacted swiftly by throwing one of his swords in your direction. The guard flinched as the sword propelled through the air, seemingly aimed right at his head.

But, you caught the sword by its hilt and wasted no time driving the blade through the belly of the guard who restrained you. The other guard, who was still reeling from his punched-in knee, was next. It was light work for you as you twisted the blade through his chest.

Leon called for you, requesting your backup as he fought off the vampire spawns. They had Leon surrounded, protecting their King like devoted honey bees.

You axed through the crowd, driving your long sword through the hearts of fresh vamplings. Leon held his own impeccably well. He pushed away hungry fangs with ease, kicking and slicing the hoard.

You joined Leon and pressed your back against his as you fought against the opponents from behind.

Through ribbons of blood, chaos, and murder, you gritted through your teeth, "What's the plan?"

"Kill the King and run," Leon grunted.

"Where to?"

"The cabin."

"You got it; I'll follow your lead." You couldn't hide the smirk that formed across your lips. It felt good to finally be reunited and dishing out justice.

Leon chuckled exasperatedly, "Just stay alive, sweetheart, and we'll all be singing kumbaya later."

part three coming soon xx

!! tag list -> @g4ys0n @elijahsprincess

[watchmegetobsessed]

AND THE GRAMMY GOES TO

A/N: this is literally just a little something i thought of upon seeinf this pic of Lizzo recording Harry lmao

WORD COUNT: 698

SUMMARY: The moment Harry wins another Grammy.

MASTERLIST | SUPPORT ME!

“And the Grammy goes to…” Trevor Noah starts the big announcement as he opens the envelope and the whole room goes eerily quiet.

You have your eyes glued to the stage, you’ve forgotten about how uncomfortable your dress feels around your chest (note to yourself, corsets only look good, but they are straight from hell when you actually wear them). You’re holding your breath while both of your hands are gripping Harry’s underneath the table and his hold is just as tight, his palms sweating as you all wait for the winner’s name to be dropped.

You allow yourself to peek at him and you see his blank stare, but you know there’s a whole tornado behind it, his mind is probably racing faster than ever and you almost miss how he is anxiously kicking the foot of his chair as the silent moments tick by.

When you look back at the stage you see Trevor opening the envelope, but instead of saying what’s inside, he looks behind, as if he was searching for someone and when he steps over to the adorable old lady in the line behind him, you already know.

Harry won.

He won another Grammy. 

“Har-Harry Styles!” the lady screams and you jump to your feet, unable to control your excitement any longer.

“Oh my God! Yes! Yes!” you scream and jump around, like a deranged football fan after her team just won. Everyone around is cheering and clapping and you look at Harry who has his face buried in his hands, his shoulders gently shaking.

“Baby, you won! I’m so proud of you!” You practically jump on top of him and he finally lifts his head, all his happiness reflecting from his eyes as he jumps to his feet and gathers you in his arms, squeezing you so tight that air gets knocked out of your lungs, but it’s okay, because you want to feel it all, you want to feel his pride and happiness in the moment he deserved so much. 

“You did it, H! I’m so so so proud of you!” you bounce in his arms before he pulls back and his lips land on yours, probably for the first time ever at an event like this. There are thousands of people around you, but in that moment it’s just you and him, sharing this magical experience he earned.

When he lets go of you to accept more congratulations you keep jumping and clapping with your hands up in the air, screaming in happiness and then you spot Lizzo behind you, her phone in her hand as she records your reaction.

“He won! My man won another Grammy!” you scream into the camera, making her laugh before it’s her turn to hug the winner himself. You’re out of breath by the time Harry heads up to the stage and you have to fix your dress so you don’t flash on national TV.

“Oh my God, this is amazing,” Lizzo laughs next to you and peeking over her shoulder you see that she is watching the video back, you’re acting like you just lost your mind while Harry is just hugging everyone one after the other.

“Don’t you dare post that anywhere,” you warn her, but you already know from the look in her eyes that she won’t gatekeep this one.

“Oh babygirl, your birthday is coming up, right?” She laughs like a maniac as you gape at her, pretending to be shocked, but before you could say a word Harry’s voice is heard coming from the speakers. 

He starts his totally random acceptance speech, rambling on about how thankful he is and how much this means to me, his gaze keeps flickering down at the award in his hands and you’ll never forget that smile that’s etched onto his face in that moment.

“...so, thank you so much and, erm…” he looks up, eyes swiping over the crowd before landing on you as he continues.” I wouldn’t be here without you.”

It seemed like he was addressing it to mostly his fans, but from the way his eyes were piercing into yours, you knew that it was meant only for you.

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed and buy me a coffee if you want to support me!

[lilgarbitch]

Running in Circles- Three

Pairing: Noah Sebastian x Reader

CW: Fainting, should I be adding swearing as a warning…or is it just obvious at this point?

Word Count: 9k

Author’s Note: Don’t hate me for being a cliche. Also, don’t hate me for involving my favorite artists;) It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but many more faces will be popping up throughout this story. Some of you might hate it, but I know a lot of you will love it.

Part two

Y/N

I awoke to laughter outside my bunk, causing me to stir and finally open my eyes to see that the curtain to my bunk was open and three fat-headed boys were staring at me. I rub my eyes and yawn, then wipe my mouth when I realize I had been drooling. 

“Fuck offfff,” I groan out to them in a tired voice, covering my eyes from the light shining in. 

“Good morning, sleeping beauty. You were snoring like a goddamn horse, so I went to check on you and saw you drooling all over Noah’s hoodie.” Cam laughs out. I quickly open my eyes and look down at my sleeve, now with a giant wet spot on it. Goddamnit. There’s nowhere to even fucking wash this unless I can stop at a laundry mat or wash it in the sink somewhere.

“Are you gonna mention her mumbling his name every ten minutes,” Tony mumbled from behind Cam, causing me to groan, smack whatever body part was closest and reach for the curtain, pulling it back to cover me.

“FUCK OFF,” I yelled at them, trying not to laugh as I turned back over, burying my face into my pillow..that now had that amazing musk soaked into it from the hoodie…

“You better get ready soon, love. We get there in three hours,” Tommy calls in, causing another groan to escape my lips. 

Wiping my face one more time, I hop out of the bunk and walk to my bags. Well, try to, as the hangover was absolutely kicking my ass and the room was still spinning. I use my barely open eyes to look over what my choices for today could be when they land on that lace tank top (that was actually more like a soft corset) that I almost wore yesterday and decide that even though I feel like the devil was about to come and pull me down any minute now, I should look cute again today. So I grab that, a pair of lower-rise black shorts, almost knee-high socks, and other essentials before walking to the bathroom and taking my much-needed shower.

I walk out of the bathroom, after probably an hour, needing to soak all the sticky sweat from my sleep off, finally feeling fresh and clean and looking like a normal person again. 

“Can someone pretty please find some pain killers for me while I finish getting ready,” I ask, peaking my head into the room that all the boys were sitting in. I rub my eyes with deep pressure, hoping to bring some relief. Someone could be banging against my head with a hammer right now, and it wouldn’t even compete with the pounding inside it.

“Way ahead of ya,” Tony responded, holding up Advil and a water bottle. I look at him like he was a goddamn angel and give him a wide smile and a small exasperated ‘thank you’ before taking some and chugging the water. Then, Cam handed me an energy drink, and I just about kissed him. 

“What would I do without you three,” I gushed as I cracked open the can.

“Probably not be so hung over,” Tommy jokes, making me giggle before turning back around to finish getting ready. Grabbing my make-up bag and whatever hair tools I brought with me, I head into the back of the bus, not caring how bumpy it would be. I just needed some space from voices.

But I still opened my phone to put on some quiet music since it was impossible for me to actually handle pure quiet, and see I had another message from Noah, making me smile. I looked around, checking to see if anyone had caught me, before saving his number on my phone. After I send him a simple good morning text, I turn on some music and go back to getting ready for the day.

After over an hour, my arms felt sore from forcing myself to put extra work into my hair. My make-up and hair were done, and I walked to the bathroom to take one last close-up glance over my appearance. Smiling at how well I did my eyeliner and wiping off any make-up that ended up on my piercings, I step back and glance at my full outfit. I was showing off a lot more skin than yesterday, and my stomach tattoos and a bit of my back piece were showing off since my shirt was more of a crop top, but I felt cute. 

I make my way back out to the living area and expect to see the boys, but noticed we were already at the next venue, so they were probably out hanging with the other group already. Pulling out my phone again, I check the time and weather, seeing that I still had a lot of time before we had to do anything, and that it was a little warmer than where we were yesterday, even though it was mid-October, so I should probably still grab my cardigan and bring it with me just in case. But then my eyes land on a new message notification.

Noah🖤- Morning? It’s 2 pm

Noah🖤- but good morning to you too:)

Y/N- Shush

Y/N- I don’t know why I let you guys convince me to drink last night. I feel like death.

I close my phone and glance around the bus. This is probably one of the only moments I will get to myself on this tour, so I’m absolutely going to take advantage of it. I have a good two hours until sound check, so I walk over to the speaker on our bus and turn it on, pairing it with my phone and pressing play on one of my playlists before going to my bag and grabbing my laptop. I sit down in the back of the bus, turn on Demon Slayer, rewatching it for the millionth time, and sing along with my music. Maybe getting a little too into the music, since it wasn’t often that I had time to sing along to my favorite songs as loud as I could without feeling like I was bothering the boys. 

Still choking on the bed

Found your waste while the ember red

Keeps falling down and burning in holes

Until the pillow and the mattress glow

I sang along to one of my favorite albums, not really paying attention to anything else as I tried to hit Vic’s notes.

Now I want to be the tattoo ink

That swims down through the needle in your skin

That’s when I heard someone cough to catch my attention, making me open my eyes. I guess I had been so entranced in the song and in hitting the notes that I was now sat back on the couch with my eyes closed. 

I blink a few times and clear my throat before my eyes focus and I see Noah standing in front of me with a smirk on his face. 

“I texted you a few times asking if you wanted to come join us, and then Tony told me to come and see what you were doing,” he confessed before laughing, “I was a little worried I’d walk in on something embarrassing, but that was actually really good.” I blushed a little at his compliment, hoping that my make-up covered it well. 

“I- uh. Sorry. I just figured this was one of those rare times that I had to myself, you know? So I just let you all do your thing until you needed me.” I replied with an embarrassed chuckle. 

“No, no, you’re all good. If you want me to leave, I’ll just get Tommy or someone to come get you when you’re needed,” he said, hooking a thumb over his shoulder. Then his eyes caught my laptop. “Are you watching Demon Slayer?” 

“Yeah..?” I replied, eyeing him to see his reaction. He came over to me and motioned for me to scooch over so he could sit. 

“I fucking love that anime.” I laughed as his eyes didn’t leave my screen. I stood up and walked over to where my phone sat and turned off my music, disconnecting it from the speaker and walked back. He had moved closer to the laptop, which was at an angle to face where I was sitting, so I walked around the small table it was sitting on, and moved the laptop to face straight towards the couch, and sat down about a foot from him, the show now being played in front of us. I know I wanted alone time, but this wasn’t so bad. I figured being alone with Noah would be awkward and uncomfortable, so it was nice being able to be in his presence and know I didn’t need to be so freaked out yesterday. I’m not sure if it was because I opened up my personality to him so easily yesterday, or just how sweet he was and how much we had in common, but I almost felt like I could treat him like any other friend. Like I had been close to him for years.

We watched for a little while before I felt eyes on me. I look up from the screen and see Noah looking at me, making me smirk. His eyes trailed down my body, following the lines of the ink in my skin like a maze. A giggle escaped my lips as I watched him out of the corner of my eye. He immediately dropped his gaze to the screen again after noticing he had been caught.

“You’re gonna miss some important scenes if you don’t pay attention,” I tease. He chucked softly.

“I’ve seen this anime so many times. I already know what’s gonna happen,” he defended with a shy smile. I gave him a fake, shocked look.

“So you intruded on my ‘me’ time to watch a show you’ve already seen?” I ask with my eyebrow raised. He looks at me with slightly widened eyes, about to defend himself, before I laugh, cutting him off,” I’m just kidding. This is probably my tenth time seeing it.” His head fell as he shook it with a smile before going back to watching, so I did, too. 

“You sounded really good earlier, by the way,” he mumbled out after a few minutes. I look over at him through the side of my eye and smile. 

“Thank you. I’ve been really working on hitting higher notes like that. It’s not easy for my vocal range.” I respond with a warm smile.

“Pfft. You have the craziest range I’ve ever heard. I can’t see those notes ever being a struggle for you.” he says, making me shake my head in disbelief.

“As if! I saw you guys a few years back, and you were hitting and holding notes I couldn’t even imagine doing.” I confess, elbowing him lightly, which caused him to laugh. But then his smile faltered slightly.

“Are you..uh.. talking about that one festival we did...?” He asked, watching for my reaction. I turned my head to the side, confused, before nodding, remembering that day, once again, as if it were yesterday. 

“How..?”

“I uh.. I actually think I remember seeing you in the crowd.” he trailed off, his arm raising so his elbow rested on the back of the couch as he rubbed the back of his neck, losing eye contact in embarrassment. I did my best to hide the shocked look on my face as I turned to face him, giving him my full attention. 

“Th-that’s kind of crazy..but actually pretty cool. Seeing each other again all these years later..” I weakly respond, not knowing how I should react to him remembering me on the day my life took a complete turn. 

“Yeah. I actually..uh.. I also remember the day I saw a friend of mine post pictures of your band when he was traveling, and I just had to give you guys a listen, and I was really impressed.” I giggled softly, still shocked.

“Is that why the next day, Jolly reached out to Tommy? Because you saw us?” I teased. The words left my mouth before I even had control of it because, of course, the only way I knew how to keep conversations from being awkward was by joking. I internally curse myself before he answers.

“Yeah, I mean, I could never let a voice like that go unrecognized. I’m actually really happy that Jolly and Tommy became friends.. and that we managed to get this tour set up. I’m really glad… I got to finally meet you.” he confessed, making complete eye contact again.

“I can’t lie, I was worried I was never gonna see you again.” I said, before realizing I spoke before thinking, “You know..because..I enjoyed your music so much,” I tried adding with an awkward laugh and internally cursed at myself again. He gave me a look, letting me know he didn’t believe me. 

“I was actually thinking the same thing…” he trailed off as we looked at each other. That was when I noticed how close I was to him. He had leaned in when talking, and now our faces were barely a foot apart. My breath hitched when I glanced down at his lips as he finished speaking. Don’t do it, Y/N. Not yet. You can’t let yourself give in on the second day of finally seeing him again. You won’t be able to handle it if this goes south in the future. I looked back into his eyes and saw that he was now looking at my lips, slowly inching forward. And I was too, not even in control of my body. I could feel his breath on me the closer we got, and suddenly, all restraint in my body left as I was about to close the distance, desperately needing to feel his lips on mine. 

“SOUNDCHECK IN TEN MINUTES. GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE, Y/N,” Cam shouted in through the door of the bus, causing both Noah and I to jump. I look up at him with a shocked look before standing up, letting out a quiet ‘fuck’ before quickly grabbing my phone and cardigan. I feel a soft touch on my wrist but ignore it before rushing out the door and past Cam.

“Also, have you seen Noah? We sent him to get you, but he just disappeared.. never mind, then.” I heard him ask as I ignored him and walked to the venue.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. What the fuck are you thinking? You know better than this. Why the fuck did you let him stay and watch? You told yourself time and time again you wouldn’t let your feelings take control when you finally saw him again. And even fucking better, you haven’t even fully warmed up today! This is a goddamn job, Y/N. Not a touring party bus with occasional performances. I run my fingers through my hair, pulling on it, trying to ground myself again. God, I’m a fucking idiot. He probably only even tried kissing me because I’m the only girl here. Because that definitely wouldn’t be the first. Fucking hell, dude. You’re gonna ruin the tour for everyone. 

I had reached side stage, waiting for the rest of my band, and started pacing. I feel a presence behind me and jump, looking over. Thank god it was just Tommy, with the other boys trailing behind him. 

“Are you okay?” Tommy asked with a concerned look on his face. I finally stopped my subconscious pacing and let out a sigh. 

“I uh..I just haven’t warned up..” which wasn’t a complete lie.

“Is that why I saw Noah walking out behind you on the bus?” Cam teased with a smirk, causing Tommy to smack him in the stomach, earning a slight ‘oof.’ I completely ignored them and saw the stage manager beckon us on stage for our soundcheck. I immediately walk out and in front of my mic, trying my hardest to ignore the weird looks I was getting from the boys. I let out a deep sigh before we started. 

The boys sounded fine, but I didn’t. My voice cracked at every high note and I couldn’t hold my growls. I could feel tears threaten to escape my eyes. 

“Y/N, what’s going on with you?” Tony asked from behind me. I turn to him and he immediately shuts his mouth when he sees the redness in my eyes. I hear someone walking up behind me. 

“Hun, you can warm up when they do their soundcheck. It’s okay..” Tommy tries to comfort me as he rubs my back. I know he knows that it wasn’t my voice bothering me. Hell, something was upsetting me so much that it was throwing my vocals off. But he didn’t dare ask. He never did, not once in over five years I had been lying to him about the thoughts in my head. I give him a weak nod, and we all walk off stage. As we do, we run into the other group of boys. Folio goes to greet me but closes his mouth when he sees my appearance. 

“She’s uh..she’s just having some trouble with her vocals today. So she’s gonna warm up then stay on vocal rest until we have to head on..” Tommy thankfully answers for me. Nick nods, and the other boys give me a pitying look. I don’t even glance at the tallest, not wanting to see what he looks like right now. My band and I walk to the room backstage and sit down as the other group walks on stage. I sit down, and Tommy continues to rub my back as I take some deep breaths. 

“I know you don’t like to talk about these things, but you can’t do this all tour. For you. For us. For the other boys. So, please, Y/N, please talk to me when you need to,” Tommy spoke softly into my ear. He rarely ever used my name, always calling me one pet name or another, so I knew he was serious. I nodded with another deep breath.

“Can we have this talk tonight? I just...I need to warm up..” I asked him and he gave me a fast nod, surprised I was finally willing. I knew he was right. It’s been way too long bottling all of this up, so I had to say something, especially now that I gad to see the problem every single day. 

“Do you want to do our warm-up, or do you want to be alone?” Cam asked me softly, almost like he didn’t want to upset me. 

“I think it’s better for me to do it alone today. I have to let out some emotions...you know?” He nodded, understanding what I meant, and patted Tony’s shoulder, signaling for them to head somewhere else. Tommy gave me a kiss on my temple before standing up. 

“If you need anything, just call. If one of those fuckers starts bothering you, I’ll beat their ass,” he jokingly threatened, hooking a thumb over his shoulder, pointing towards the stage. That made me giggle, which made him smile, seemingly happy he put a smile on my face. He followed the boys, and now I was left alone. With one last large sigh, I pulled out my phone, ignoring every notification, and opened Spotify, knowing exactly what song I had to put on to practice to let out some pent-up feelings. I typed it into the search bar, pressing the song, and turning my phone all the way up. The music started off soft and I cleared my throat. I had a good few minutes until they were gonna come off stage, so I was able to be alone just long enough to ‘sing’ this song with no embarrassment. 

The vocals were about to start, so I inhaled, holding the phone up to one ear and my other hand cupped my other ear so I could hear myself, then I started singing along. My head and body moved as I tried to hold and reach each note, so I started walking around the room. There was a reason I never really sang songs like this in front of anyone. I had a few times around the boys, but after being told so many times that I sounded too manly when I showed off my ‘party tricks,’ even their compliments didn’t help, so I started hiding it from them again. 

We’re dancing like flames

Flickering in the night

We sway in time with the wind

Before melting away

You're far from my reach

But not far out of sight

You know the way to my heart

But you just play the strings again

I paused to control my breath as the song continued. I hadn’t sung along to Lorna Shore in so long, not really having time to. I couldn’t do each scream Will did, but I had worked on different screams over the years that I could replace the ones I’ve been unable to learn. I joined back in singing along with the lyrics after a minute, and the grumble in my chest felt amazing. I really missed this. I held out every growl as long as I could and tried replicating his screeches to the best of my ability. The tunnel screams were my favorite to both hear and do. Eventually, the song ended, and I was so in the zone that I just let the next one play. I felt every emotion in my chest get shaken out with every growl I made. My head felt empty enough that I genuinely didn’t care if the boys came in to check on me.

‘Sun//Eater’ was now playing, and I continued letting out everything in my body as I sang along. I’d get a little frustrated when I couldn’t replicate certain parts of it, but I got so into it that I didn’t stop until the music faded out. I pulled my hands away from my head and turned down my phone volume after closing Spotify. I didn’t actually need to ‘warm up’ per se, so my clean vocals didn’t need any practice. I truly just needed to get all these emotions out. 

I turn to make my way towards the door, ready to join back up with my band, when I came face to face with four incredibly shocked men. I paused and stood there equally as stunned. My mouth gaped open, about to let out a small ‘I’m sorry,’ but was immediately cut off. 

“DUDE, THAT WAS SICK! WHAT THE FUCK!” Ruffilo yelled as he walked towards me. I couldn’t remove the shocked look on my face as the rest of them agreed almost as loudly. I didn’t know if I was more shocked at them catching me or the praise. I know we were both bands in the metal genre and that they were all nice guys who enjoyed my band's music, but I still never got a reaction like this from anyone before. 

“I- uh,” and then I got cut off again as my band came running back, I’m assuming after hearing the yelling. I looked up at them with a shocked look as the other group looked at them like they had just discovered the most insane thing in their lives. My boys looked between all of us before finally making the connection. 

“Oh, come on! I haven’t heard Y/N scream in so long, but you guys get to hear it?” Cam whines. Tony and Tommy walked over to me, and Tony put a hand on my shoulder. 

“It’s crazy, right? But we can never convince her to perform like that on stage no matter how much we try.” Tony says with fake sadness, smirking down at me. Oh, they’re about to team up on me again, aren’t they? They did this every time they heard it. Just now, there are more people here to pressure me. The shocked look still hadn’t left my face, but was now closer to an offended one when I realized what he was trying to do. I look back at the rest of them, and they were all staring at me once again. I instantly shook my head. Absolutely not. 

“Come onnnn,” Folio chimed in, “ That was the most incredible shit I’ve ever heard. If you don’t go do that on stage, I’m coming out and doing it, and you don’t want that.” he laughs out. I look between all their faces, each with a reassuring yet pressuring grin. I didn’t know how to respond, still overwhelmed by everything that just happened. 

“I- I,” I stutter out. I really don’t want to, but they’re all begging me at this point. I continue looking at all of them, Tommy now having a pout and puppy-dog eyes. 

“Fuck! Okay! I will. I guess I’ll try it out tonight, but if I get any bad reactions, none of you are ever allowed to hear me sing again.” I say exasperated. This caused them all to reach in and hug me, almost causing a dog pile, making me laugh. 

“Wait, how would that work? You’re our lead singer.” Cam questions with a confused look on his face. 

“Trust me, I’ll find a way, even if it means deafening you.” I threatened, pointing a finger at him, which caused a scared smile to form on his face. 

I had just finished most of the songs on our set. My mind has been on overdrive this whole show, and I feel terrible that I haven't connected with the crowd as much as I usually do. We only had three songs left to do, the ‘Fan’s Choice’ and our two encore songs. My mind was running a mile a minute as I wondered if I should do this or back down. It was rare that I stole the choice away from the fans, so I’m worried they’ll be upset about that, and I’m also worried they won’t even enjoy it. I took some deep breaths before setting my mic back on its stand and looking towards the crowd, one full of beautiful fans who had been singing with me the whole night. I really didn’t want to disappoint them. So, with one heavy exhale, I began speaking.

“So, I know you may all know that it’s around the time for our special ‘Fan’s Choice’ song. And I know so many of you love it, which is why we do them every show. But tonight, we’re gonna do something a little different.” I spoke into the mic. The crowd cheered when I finished, but they quieted down a little when they saw my serious demeanor. 

“Now, this wasn’t my choice, I have to warn you. So, if any of you have complaints, take them up with the boys behind me,” I paused to point at my bandmates, “ And the wonderful yet pressuring boys of Bad Omens.” I paused once more, knowing the crowd would get loud hearing their name. A smile creeps up on my face as they do. 

“Tonight, I’m gonna sing something a little different. Hopefully, it’s a song many of you enjoy, but again, if you don’t, it’s not my fault,” I said, holding my hands up in defense with a smile. The music began over the speakers since none of the boys had any time to practice this. So it was just me and the speakers. It was just me performing this song. A few people in the crowd got rowdy as they recognized the opening cords, which gave me a little hope.

“I hope you all enjoy Lorna Shore because this is ‘To the Hellfire,” I yell into the mic as the music got louder and I was about to start. The crowd got so loud I could hear them over the music and even through my earpiece. I pulled the mic off the stand and began moving around, knowing I was about to put my whole body and soul into this cover after doing it so many times in my room alone. I let every inkling of anxiety leave my body as I begin screaming. 

I’ll hold onto feeling until my final breath escapes

Gazing upon this world until it fades

Fall with me into the other night

We can go beyond the horizon again

Fall with me until we’re out of time

Let the current swallow

These whispers keep clawing

Your mind is dissolving light

I hold out the last note the best I can. My mind was entirely somewhere else. I forgot about all the people staring at me as I put my whole body into these screams. I know I don’t sound anything like Will, but I’m doing everything I can to at least hit his notes, even if I’m not getting his exact growls right. 

After a good minute, I open my eyes, remembering where I was and turn towards the crowd. I felt so good in this moment, screaming my heart out. As my eyes reach the crowd, I see them going absolutely insane. There’s two giant mosh pits forming, and I’ve never felt so accomplished in my entire life. This is all I’ve wanted when I became a vocalist and started teaching myself to scream. I was close to the end of the song when I knew exactly what I wanted. I look towards Tony and nudge my head towards the crowd, holding the hand that wasn’t holding the mic out in front of me and moved it outwards, signaling to him what I needed his help for. He immediately understood with an excited smile on his face. He grabbed his mic and ran towards the front of the stage. The instrumental began as he shouted into the mic. 

“ALRIGHT! I NEED EVERYONE TO SPLIT THIS BITCH DOWN THE FUCKING MIDDLE.” Instantly, those who were moshing stopped and began moving back. Those who were staying away from the moshers moved even farther back, knowing exactly what was about to happen, and did not want to get sucked in. I see Cam zoom past me out of the corner of my eye and jump off stage, right into the open floor, with the widest smile on his face. He stood exactly in the center, holding both arms in the air, and Tony joined him by raising the arm that wasn’t holding the mic.

“ON YOUR FUCKING MARK” Tony shouted.

Sink while you bathe in hallucination

“READY”

My final breath

“SET”

Swallowed by the womb of-

“GO” 

DEATH

Cam’s and Tony’s arms shoot down like they were starting a race. I held out the note in the deepest tunnel scream I could. I watched as two waves of people ran to each other as fast as they could. 

As you pass through the fucking gate

I did the best screech I could, switching halfway to a fry scream as I watched hundreds of people run full force into each other. I lost Cam the second the two walls of people met, but I knew he was loving every second of it.

Descending towards the end faster

Now was my time to shine. I did the pig squeals and snorts the best I could. After four good enough ones, I clenched my eyes shut, arched my back, and faced the ceiling, holding the mic above my mouth as I let out the longest pig squeal I’ve ever tried, shifting into a goblin scream halfway through as I threw my body forward into itself, compressing my lungs to get the loudest noise I could. 

After I finished, my abs were killing me, but the feeling was immediately diminished as I saw the crowd lose their fucking mind. I pulled out my earpiece to hear them better. I laughed as I watched them all push each other and scream in adrenaline and excitement. I finally see Cam being crowd-surfed to the front with the widest, most insane smile I’ve ever seen, making me laugh harder. He returns to the stage and climbs onto it, out of breath. I feel hands on my shoulder and look to see Tommy with a proud look on his face. Instantly, I felt two more large men tackle me in a giant hug, screaming about how proud they were of me, and all I could do was try to keep my balance and laugh.

Finally, they pulled away, and I turned towards the still rowdy crowd with a proud grin. 

“So, what I’m hearing is.. that you all enjoyed that?” I asked into the mic, immediately getting ground-shaking cheers in response. I made a face like I was thinking, “Hmm. I’ll see what I can do in the future then.”

The crowd was still insane as we sang the rest of the set, and it didn’t take too much to get them hyped up for the rest of the show. With a proud smile on my face and my brothers patting my back, we walked off stage and into the back, immediately getting tackled by more large men. 

“That was so fucking good, Y/N, are you fucking kidding me?” Ruffilo praised. I gave them all a bright smile. Until my eyes landed on Noah’s, who was also wearing a proud smile. I looked down, biting my lip as I tried to hide my smile, and did my best to shimmy my way out of everyone’s embrace. I walked towards Noah, who was standing a foot away from the group. I had so much confidence pouring out that I completely forgot about how awkward the encounter should be.

“Hi,” I awkwardly greeted with a giggle.

“Hi” 

“So..what’d you think?” I asked, rubbing the back of my neck, looking up at him with a shy smile. 

“That was insane, Y/N.” He complimented with a low laugh. I looked down again, trying to hide my blush. “I knew you could sing and scream, but that...that was fucking incredible.” 

“Really? You’re not just saying that?” I teased, crinkling my face in embarrassment. 

“Fuck no. I told you earlier that your voice is amazing. I literally forced the whole band to listen to you when I first heard you, and to know you also had this in you is absolutely mind-blowing.” I feel my cheeks heating up more. And as much as I wish they didn’t, his words went straight to my ego. Probably because it was coming from him, of all people, but I think I’m finally feeling good about this. I looked back into his eyes and smiled.

“Thank you. I’m actually really thankful for you and your band. You guys gave us a chance, and you all pressured me into doing this,” I said with a laugh, “So I really appreciate it.”

“I’m just glad to see you finally believing in yourself like the rest of us believe in you, Y/N,” he spoke lowly after a moment, leaning down to my height like he only wanted me to hear. I bit my lip and looked at him. I didn’t understand. He was so… perfect? I know everyone’s been nice to me, but he especially has. Not once since we finally met has he done anything but help me or compliment me. All I could think when I looked at him was..appreciation? Adoration? I wasn’t sure. But when I looked into his eyes, I just felt..good. Like when you finally come home after a long day. When you finally lay in bed after being on your feet all day. Like being surrounded by the people who bring out the best in you. 

And then I looked at his lips. All the thoughts from earlier came rushing back. Suddenly, there was no one else in the room but us. Hell, it felt like there was no one else on this earth but us. I glanced back up into his eyes, and it felt like I was back at that festival all those years ago. All my senses shut down. The only thing that my brain registered was his eyes. His beautiful fucking eyes. The eyes that haunted my dreams. My every waking thought. I can’t tell if I’m upset that this keeps happening or if I’m starting to enjoy it. 

Jolly whips an arm over and pats Noah on the back, bringing me, or probably both of us, back to earth. I blink a few times and turn to everyone. Thankfully, the boys were all still in their own little conversation, probably talking about how they can use and abuse this ‘talent’ of mine now that they know I’m slowly opening up to it. But truthfully, I wasn’t actually paying attention. I couldn’t. Even though I looked away, I was still stuck in his presence, like a bubble keeping me in, drowning me in the same thoughts I’ve had for so long, just more concentrated. I can see Jolly say something to Noah, and him nodding back as a response. I see five mouths moving as they speak over each other, yet not a single voice registers in my brain. Wait, this was starting to get scary. What the fuck do I do? No, like actually. I feel stuck. 

I watch as Noah gives me a short glance, almost contemplating something, before following Jolly past the other boys. Ruffilo and Folio catch them, say their goodbyes, and follow them as well. And now it was just me and my boys. But I was still stuck. He was gone, and I’m still stuck. My mind races, and I try hard to pick apart what specific thought is keeping me shut off from the world. Was it the compliments? Was it finally hitting me exactly what was happening, that I’d been spending time with the man who has plagued my being for what felt like centuries at this point? Was it my feelings towards him? Just hitting even harder now? 

I get pulled from my thoughts to a hand waving in front of my face. I slowly look up and see Tommy with a concerned look on his face. He’s speaking, but once again, every word is just unintelligible to my brain. I go to open my mouth to speak, but there are no words I could even form right now. I watch as Tommy glances back at the other boys, who are now a little concerned as well. Tony comes forward and says something. I tried to read his lips, but everything was like I was underwater. Words jumbled, and everything became a blur. And then more blurry. And slowly, my peripherals turned dark. I saw Tommy reach out to hold my shoulders as Cam came forward, looking like he’d seen a ghost. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but then everything went black.

I quickly sat up, gasping, like I had just regained the ability to breathe. The world slowly came into sight. I blink a few times, then scrunch my face in discomfort as my ears begin ringing. Slowly but surely, the ringing passed, and I could finally hear again. What the fuck happened? 

“Hun?” I hear to my left. I blink a few more times and turn, seeing Tommy looking at me. I give him a confused look. Tony was sitting next to him, looking the exact same. I coughed a bit before speaking. 

“What the fuck happened?” It came out harsh as if I desperately needed water.

“Medics said it was probably an adrenaline crash... Dude, you scared the shit out of us.” Tony reached forward and held my hand tight. 

“You’ve been out for a hot minute. Cam was freaking the fuck out, so we made him go wait off stage to let the guys know what’s happening.” Tommy said, reaching to rub my back. I run my hand through my hair and scrunch my face, trying to remember what even happened. Suddenly, I hear feet slamming against the pavement outside, then up the bus stairs. Noah appears, looking wild as his eyes finally land on me. He lets out a breath of relief once he sees me. He walks forward and crouches by my feet, resting a hand on my ankle.

“What happened? I come off stage to see Cam looking like someone died, and when we finally get anything out of him, he says she passed out.” Noah asks the two in front of me, running a hand over his face, both collecting sweat and to soothe himself.

“I don’t know, man. You guys head on stage, and we turn to her, and she’s as white as a ghost. Couldn’t even get her to say anything before she passed out in Tom’s arms. Medics say adrenaline crash, but I don’t know. It was fuckin scary, man.” Tony gets out, looking stressed as ever, hand still holding mine like I was about to drift away. Noah looks at me with a look mixed with terror and confusion, but also relief that I’m still here. I open my mouth to speak, causing him to tighten his grip on my ankle ever so slightly. 

“Water.” was all I could get out. Noah and Tommy instantly stand up as Tony points to the case of water with the hand not holding mine. Tommy reaches it first and hands it to me. I chug it like I hadn’t had water in days. Once it was gone, Noah reached over and grabbed another, setting it beside me and returning to his spot at my feet. I run my hand through my hair again. I probably look like a fucking mess right now. 

“I want to try to stand,” I state. They all look at me like I’m insane but slowly back up. I hook my feet around and off the couch that I guess someone laid me on. Using my arms, I push myself up. All three watched me, ready to catch me if anything happened. Gaining stability, I let out a deep breath and walk towards the bathroom. I take a peek at myself in the mirror and grimace. Who knows when my mascara started running, but it was everywhere. I grab an old towel and wet it, wiping under my eyes, before holding my hands under the water, letting the feeling ground me. 

After about a minute, I walk back out to the boys, who all still looked like I was going to drop dead any minute, and I snicker. 

“I’m fine, guys.“ I say, chuckling a little at their concern. I know I shouldn’t, but their faces were just a little funny. “Aren’t we off tomorrow? Shouldn’t we be heading to a hotel or something?” 

They all nod, calming down a little that I’m now normal again, but still tense and on edge. I move to walk passed them.

“I’m gonna go let everyone else know that I’m okay, and then we can head over,” I say, walking down the stairs of the bus. I watch my feet, knowing I’m still a little out of it, but once I get on solid ground, I glance up, seeing four boys giving me the same look as the others, causing me to laugh again.

“Oh my god, I’m so glad you’re okay,” Cam gushes as he walks over to me and holds me tight. “I didn’t want to overwhelm you, so I stayed out here, but I almost cried.” 

I chuckled and looked past Cam and at the other boys, who all nodded, agreeing that he did, in fact, almost cry, making me laugh harder. I gave Cam a tight squeeze before pulling away and looking up at him. 

“I’m okay, I promise. I’m gonna rest on the way to the hotel, and everything will be back to normal once we get there,” I reassured him. And I guess the mention of the hotel reminded everyone, who all let out a tired groan.

“I’m so fucking ready to sleep in a bed again. I know it’s only been like three days, but those bunks are ass,” Folio whined, causing everyone else to nod in agreement. 

“Alright, then, I’ll see you all in a little bit. I need some fucking water.” I said, turning around to head back into the bus. But once I turned, I almost ran face-first into Noah’s chest. I look up at him in shock as he looks down at me with the same reaction. 

“Sorry..” he squeaked out. “I uh.. you all good riding back? I can join you if you need..” he mumbles. I give him a warm smile. 

“I’ll be okay. The boys can take care of me if need be. I’ll see you all in less than an hour.” I give his arm a soft squeeze as he nods. I walk past him and onto the bus, Cam following suit. I sit back where I was lying before, grabbing the water he handed me earlier and opening it. Taking a quick glance out the window, I see them teasing him over something before walking back to their own bus, making me chuckle. After taking a few gulps from the water bottle, I set it down and turned to the three guys staring me down. My eyes widen, not knowing what I should’ve prepared for. 

“You know I care about you, we all do, and we’re glad you’re okay, but you gotta spill.” Tony eyed me down. “I don’t care if you wanna just talk to me, I’ll kick these two into the back, but you’re telling me what the fuck happened earlier today, and if that had anything to do with you passing out.” I let out a sigh and leaned my head back against the couch.

“I mean... I guess it’s time I spilled everything. To all of you. Even though I know you’re all gonna tease me one way or another, it’s been too long to deal with this myself.” and that’s when I told them everything. From the day at the festival. To the days I spent lying in bed only thinking of him. The depression it caused. The rage. The song lyrics. Almost kissing him today. Even what I could remember before I passed out. I told them everything I could. All three of their faces switched between shock, concern, understanding, and outright bewilderment as I spoke. I spoke the whole ride to the hotel, and surprisingly, I was not interrupted once. Once I finished, they all seemed speechless. 

“And now we’re at the hotel..” I notified them, bringing them out of their shock. I stood up to grab a bag, filling it with everything I needed for one night, and walked back to them. Not a single one has said a word yet. “You should probably grab some things so we can head in.” 

“Oh! Yeah, yeah.” Cam said, being knocked back into reality as he stood, the others following him. I gave a nod towards the bus driver as I opened the door and walked off towards the hotel, leaving the boys and apparently him too in their own shock. 

I walk through the doors of the hotel and see four giants causing a ruckus, probably waiting for us. They all stop when they see me like they got caught by their moms, making me laugh. 

“By the way, the boys are gonna seem a little..perplexed..when you see them. Pay them no mind. They’re..uh..still upset about the whole passing out situation.” I laughed as they looked at me, then at my boys as they came walking in behind me, looking dazed out and deep in thought. It was a bad lie, but oh well.

“Anyway, we only have four rooms for all of us, and since you’re the only girl, you get to choose a roommate first,” Jolly said, handing me my card. 

“Oh, pick me, pick me, pick me,” Folko joked, looking up and crossing his fingers, until Noah smacked him in the stomach, causing a loud ‘oof’ and a laugh from all of us. I thought for a moment. Do I say fuck it and pick Noah? Should I pick Tony or Cam and deal with their annoying asses all night? Do I pick one of the other boys and get to know them? Or choose the safe bet and pick Tommy?

“Uhh..Tommy,” I finally said. Jolly handed Tommy his card, and the rest figured out who was bunking with whom. I walk over to Tommy and lean a head against his shoulder, not tall enough to rest on it. He wraps an arm around me, and I look up but see that he was still lost in thought.

Once everything was situated, we all headed to the rooms we were given. I unpacked what I needed and headed to shower, not even calling dibs because I knew he would let me take it first anyway. Once I came out, clean and in my pajamas, oversized band tee, and shorts with fuzzy socks, I sat down in the bed I claimed earlier. Glancing over, I see Tommy still deep in thought. 

“Penny for your thoughts, love?” I ask, catching his attention. 

“So this whole time..”

“Yes, this whole time, it was Noah.” 

“Since the festival?”

“Yes, the festival, like five years ago.”

“Why’d you never tell us?”

“It wasn’t really anything I was ready to be teased about until now.” I answered, shrugging.

“Are you planning to say anything to him?”

“What am I supposed to say? ‘Hey, I think the gods above put me in a trance when I first saw you, and now I’m stuck?” He took a minute to respond to that. 

“I get that, but what if he likes you back?” 

“You remember what I dealt with last time. After Gus, I was a fucking mess. Which is why I was even harder on myself with all of this.”

“Y/N. Noah isn’t Gus. Noah won’t hurt you that badly then..you know..”

“I know... it’s just..hard. Plus, I just finally met the dude face-to-face. I can’t confess anything to him now.”

“I get that. But you’re almost 27. You barely let yourself live after Gus. And then you hid yourself away the second whatever the fuck that was happened with Noah. So maybe just.. live a little?” After he said that, it really hit me. He was right. I definitely did my fair share of partying, but I was dealing with my ex for so long and just never put effort into mingling after. I sat there for a while, thinking about the best course of action to take here. Like, how long can I let this play out? Do I just go the rest of the tour, almost passing out when I see him? Do I act now? Can I rely on the fact that there is definitely something there? Am I even ready for something like this? If not, would he wait for me? Fuck, does he even like me? I mean, he tried to kiss me. There’s something there. But what if this feeling was only one-sided? What if I’m losing my mind over him, and he just has a small crush? Or what if he really likes me and immediately wants to start something? I don’t know if I could even handle a relationship right now. I just finally met him. Fuck. I let out a deep sigh. Fuck it. No matter the decision I make, my feelings will be at severe risk.

“Should I..should I go see him?” I finally ask wearily. I turn to see Tommy looking at me with wide eyes, but then they turn mischievous as he smirks. 

“Just go..talk..you know?” He replies, a little too suspiciously. I immediately understood his undertones and rolled my eyes. 

“Not like that. But yeah. To talk.” I chew on my lip, knowing that with talking alone comes with me losing control. But talking has to be done. 

“Bitch! Go talk to him!” He whisper yells, emphasizing ‘talk’ again, making me laugh. I pull out my phone. It’s already midnight. Would he even be okay with hanging out right now? What if I bother whoever he’s staying with? I chew on my lip some more, feeling Tommy staring me down, before finally clicking on his contact and texting him. I hit send, and anxiety rushes over me. I just fucked up, didn’t I? I definitely did.

“Okay, well…I’m gonna go shower. If you’re not here when I’m back, just text me in the morning,” He winks at me before walking into the bathroom. I roll my eyes before letting out a groan. What the fuck did I just do? 

Noah

I glance at my phone again. It’s already past midnight, and I’m too worked up to sleep. I want to text her and ask if she’s okay, but I know it’s stupid. She was fine when I saw her downstairs. I just got so scared. Cam looked at us with pure terror, I thought someone died. When he said her name with such sorrow, I almost took off there and then. Thankfully, I waited for him to finish and she had just passed out, but the pure fear I felt just wouldn’t go away. It still won’t. 

Jolly keeps tossing and turning in the bed across the room, so at least I know I’m not the only one who can’t sleep. Who knows if it’s from the same thing, or just the fact we haven’t had a normal sleeping schedule in so long.

Suddenly, my phone buzzes. I assume it’s one of the guys who also can’t sleep, asking if we wanted to hang. I sit up and open my phone, clicking on the notification without even looking to see who it was. But as I read it, my eyebrows furrowed until I finally checked the contact.

Y/N🦇- Can I come over?

Y/N🦇- to talk?

I drop my phone and scramble to turn the light on beside my bed. The second I find the switch and light shines through the room, Jolly groans.

“The fuck, man?” he mumbles out.

“Y/N wants to come over..to talk? So uh… out.” I say, pointing towards the door. He looks at me, annoyed, but you can see the words register in his head before he gives me a tired smirk. He pushes himself off the bed, and throws a shirt and slides on. 

“Have fun talking.” he teases with a chuckle as he grabs his phone and heads towards the door. I roll my eyes when he leaves before picking my phone back up.

Noah- Yeah of course. room 203 

Y/N🦇- Okay:) I’ll be there in a few minutes.

My heart starts racing once I realize what’s actually happening. Why now? I mean, is she really coming to talk, or is this some type of booty-call? I rub my hand over my face, groaning. She’s definitely not a booty-call type of person. And she literally fucking passed out earlier. Plus, she freaked out when we almost kissed earlier…Fuck. I forgot we almost kissed earlier... Okay, just keep your distance and keep her comfortable. But what does she want to talk about? 

Part Four

[promptsforyourwhumpfic]

The Grand A-Z List of Whump 1/3

This list contains ~290 items listed A to H

As always, I heavily encourage people to research topics thoroughly when writing as it is important to avoid stereotypes/misinformation. This list's intention is not to glorify/romanticise sensitive topics in any way.

This part one-of-three comprehensive lists of injuries, Illnesses and tropes - including those from the Whumptober 2023 trope vote!

All submissions are listed in italics, and those who wanted to be tagged will be included at the end. If you have any more submissions: please send them via DM/my ask box.

[I-Q] [R-Z] [NSFW List]

List below the cut:

#

"I don't need your help."

"I'm doing this to make you better"

"I'm fine, take care of them!"

“I’m Fine”

"Kill me instead"

"Let me in."

"Look at me."

"Should I know you?"

"Take me instead."

(No) Anaesthetic

A

A Good Ol' Sickfic

Abandoned

Abdominal Pain

Aching Wounds

Acne

Adrenaline Crash

Adrift (in space/at sea)

Agoraphobia

Airsickness

Alien abduction

Allergies

Alopecia

Ambulance Ride

Ambush

Amnesia/memory loss

Amputations

Anaemia

Anesthesia

Angina (Heart condition that causes pain)

Animal Attack/Bite

Ankle Sprain

Anthrax

Anxiety/Anxiety attack(s)

Aphasia

Appendicitis

Arrested

Arthritis

Asking for help

Asphyxiation

Assumed Dead

Asthma/Asthma Attack

Auctions

Autoimmune disease

Avalanches

B

Backache

Bad Caretakers

Bandaged Head

Banished

Barbed Wire

Bear trap

Beaten up by ex-friends

Beaten with blunt object (i.e, bat or pipe)

Beatings

Bedrest

Bedside Vigil/Hospital Vigil

Begging

Betrayed by close friend/team/family

Bites (Animal, Bug, Human….)

Biting

Black Eye

Blackmail

Bleeding Out

Bleeding Through

Bandages

Blindfolded

Blindness (this could be temporary or permanent)

Blisters

Blood Loss

Blood Poisoning

Bloodied Knuckles

Bloodstains/blood trail

Bloody handprints

Bloody nose

Blunt force trauma

Blurred vision

Body modification

Body Sharing

Body Switching

Bounty on their head

Brain Damage

Brainwashing

Breakdowns

Breathless

Bridal Carry

Broken Bones (Ribs, Arm, Leg)

Broken Nose

Broken Promises

Bronchitis

Bruises

Building Collapse

Bullet Removal

Bumpy roads jarring injuries

Buried Alive

Burning Building

Burns/Scalding

Busted kneecap

C

Cancer

Caning

Capgras syndrome/delusion (belief that someone close to/important to the person has been replaced by an imposter)

Capsulitis

Captivity

Captured

Car chases (and maybe a car crash)

Carbon monoxide poisoning

Cardiac Arrest

Caretaker has to “play nice” with whumper.

Caretaker has to hurt whumpee while undercover.

Caretaker sacrificing something dear to them to get something the whumpee needs.

Caretaker turned Whumpee

Caretaker-whumper who's a parental whumper. But their "love" is not real love. Or even right treatment.

Carsickness

Cataracts

Catatonia

Caught in a fire

Caught in an explosion

Cauterization

Cave In

Cavity

Celebrity whump (exploitation in the music/movie industries…)

Chaffing from ropes/handcuffs/shackles

Chained/Shackled

Checking for injuries

CHF - congestive heart failure

Chicken Pox

Chills

Chloroform

Choking

Chronic pain

Claustrophobia

Cleaning wounds alone

Cold/Flu,

Collapsed Lung

Collapsing (into someone’s arms is usually nice, bonus points for cradling their head as they lower the whumpee to the floor)

Collapsing after they win

Collapsing/Fainting/Passing Out

Collars

Coma

Comfort after a nightmare

Common cold

Completely betrayed by their own team

Complications

Concussion

Confusion

Constipation

Constricted Airways

COPD - Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease makes breathing increasingly more difficult.

Corporal Punishment

Corset too tight and won’t unbutton

Coughing

Coughing Up Blood

CPR

Cramps

Crikes (intubation through neck)

Crush injury

Crying

Cuddle pile

Curses

Cuts/Grazes

Cutting off hair (more of an emotional hurt)

Cyanide poisoning

D

Damaged Larynx/Vocal Cords

De-aging

Deathbed Confessions (don’t have to actually die and stay dead, just the threat of dying)

Defeat

Defenestration (throwing out a window)

Dehydration

Deja Vu

Delirium (bonus points for this being drug/ fever induced)

Deluded whumper/thinking they’re helping the whumpee

Dengue Fever

Denial

Depression

Dermatitis

Diabetes (type 1 and 2)

Diarrhea

Diseases ('mystery' diseases are the best kind)

Dislocations

Disorientation

Disowned by Family

Displaced hip

Dissociation

Distress call

Dizziness

Dragged Away

Dream sequence

Driving to the hospital with a whumpee slumped barely-conscious in the seat of the car

Drowning

Drunkenness

E

Ear Infection

Edema (swelling from build up of fluid)

EKG

Electrical Burns

Electrical shock

Electrocution

Emergency field surgery

Emergency Surgery

Emotional angst

Emotional manipulation

Endometriosis

Enemy to Caretaker

Energy Drain

Environmental whump

ER

Execution

Exes reunited with one wanting a relationship and the other just wanting friendship.

Exhaustion

Experimentation

Exposure

Extreme Weather

Eye injury

F

Facing Phobias

Failed Escape

Failure to thrive

Fainting

Fainting (but also fainting aftermath) / Fainting due to lack of sleep, food, or overworking fainting from exhaustion

Falling

Falling for Caretaker/Whumpee/Whumper

Falling Through Ice

Fatigue/Exhaustion

Fever

Fibromyalgia (Chronic Pain)

Field medicine

Fighting (while injured)

Financial difficulty faced + how whumper might take advantage of that + how caretaker handles everything (well/badly)

Finding your loved one dead without explanation but thinking they’re still alive.

Fireman's carry

Flare ups

Flashbacks

Flinching away

Flu

Food Poisoning

Forced to... (Break out, Choose, Hurt, Kneel, Scream, Watch)

Forehead kisses

Forgotten by team

Foul-tasting medicine

Found family

Found unconscious

Fracture (Arm, Hyoid bone etc)

Freezing / cold whump

Friendly Fire

Frostbite

G

Gagged/Muzzled

Gangrene infection

Gaslighting

Gas (noxious, poisonous etc)

Gastritis

Glass (shards, debris etc)

Grief

Gunshot Wound

H

Hair Pulling/Cutting/Matting/Stroking

Hallucinations

Hanahaki

Handcuffs

Handgag

Hard ground

Haunted

Hay Fever

Head injuries/concussion

Head trauma

Headache/Migraine

Heart Palpitations

Heartburn

Heat Exhaustion

Heatstroke

Heavy metal poisoning

Held at gunpoint/knifepoint/weapon point

Hematohidrosis (Sweating blood)

Hemophilia/Hematophilia (Blood unable to clot)

Haemothorax

Hernia

Hidden Illness/Injury/Scar/Medical Issues

Hiding

High Blood Pressure

High Fever (like dangerously high)

High Pain Tolerence

Hit by a car

Home Sickness

Hospital Codes

Hostage Situation

House burnt down

Huddling for Warmth

Human Shield

Human Weapon

Hunger

Hungover

Hunted for Sport

Hurt no comfort

Hyperalgesia,

Hypermobility

Hyperventilating

Hypo/Hyperthermia

Hypo/Hyperthyroidism

Hypoglycemia

Hypotension/ Hypertension

Hypoxia

TAG LIST: Thank you very much to the following people for submitting ideas! (I apologise if some tags did not work, I'm not sure why tumblrs not letting me tag you!)

@I-eat-worlds | @greygullhaven | @letsgowhump | @cyberwhumper @firapolemos05 | @originaldeerhottub | @whumpilicious | @drawing-dinos82 | @carenrose | @stellarinuscronicles | @gottheseasonalblues | @marvelflame2010 | @sowhumpful | @avamcu | @courtneygacha | @lordofthewhumps | @autismmydearwatson | @kuddelmuddell | @the-most-handsome-ginger | @whirls-and-swirls | @painsandconfusion

[talkingparrotkee]

One thing I like about MCU Shuri and also think several people sorely get wrong is that she's the more cool-headed character. She is slower to shout, panic, and anger, being relatively more laidback. Shuri would rather wall up and bury herself in her lab (M'Baku confirms this at Ramonda's funeral, and we see her doing just that in the beginning) before lashing out.

Even Ryan described how T'Challa was more hotheaded to T'Chaka's diplomat, while Shuri was the more cool and laid back one to fiery Ramonda.

We see it in her clothing styles.

We see this in the way she initially approaches things. Two key instances:

The way she first responds and confronts Namor. Shuri is still on defense at the river, but she is less combative or reactive compared to Ramonda. Shuri more quietly assesses and responds to him. Compare this to Ramonda, who immediately fires back and disregards what he says without even checking if it could possibly be true, to which Shuri has to point out some truths by empirical evidence (i.e., Ramonda dismissed him saying only they had vibranium, Shuri gently nudges her, saying he's covered in it, so that cannot be the case). A similar thing happens when she is down in Talokan with Namor. Throughout it all, Shuri kept a leveled head and bit back her tongue to think of solutions, even when things started turning south. She knew how to shut up as well rather than argue him down more (something not many people know how to do).

The way Shuri tried to extract Riri compared to Okoye. For starters, Shuri did not break into bathrooms or bring spears in Riri's dorm - she blended in and used the door. She did not make threats and give an ultimatum either. Shuri just tried to explain the urgency to Riri and draw her out without the use of physical force.

We also see it in her reactions with other characters.

In the first movie, she tells T'Challa to "calm down" when he shouts at her to drive. We also see her not care to fight T'Challa for the mantle, even if it is her birthright (she just wanted to go home and get out of a particularly uncomfortable corset). Instead, she prefers to fight alongside and as support.

Black Panther: "The Black Panther lives. And when he fights for the fate of Wakanda, I will be right there beside him."

Black Panther 2: "I was not trying to save the mantle mother, I was trying to save my brother."

For another example regarding her interactions with characters from Wakanda Forever, Riri is consistently depicted to be the more anxious and is more inclined to lose composure. Shuri, even when she's stressed or overwhelmed too, is often the one to remain composed. Shuri attempts to calm Riri down so she doesn't have a panic attack. Shuri also didn't reply when Riri started snapping at her about the FBI, only calmly working about and mapping out an escape plan.

One last particular example is with Okoye. Shuri is less quick to be defensive or shout compared to Okoye. We see it in the way Okoye commanded her to get in the car, and rather than shout back, she simply uttered quietly, "Why are you shouting at me..." Shuri didn't reply to Riri snapping, but Okoye did not let anything slide, pointing the finger back to her. During this entire exchange, Shuri was quietly observing before cutting in, saying how they needed to work together to get out of their situation.

Black Panther Wakanda Forever was her later in-character out-of-character. In other words, that unrivaled anger and snapping you saw was never her baseline. She's not an angry or vengeful person. That was the point of Ramonda, "Show him who you are," when she was hesitating killing Namor.

It was the result of her character at a breaking point. Shuri was not coping properly and dealing with frustrations she couldn't see her way out of. Shuri was struggling with spirituality. She was trying to know if her family was truly still there. She was trying to find the reason behind her failure and loss. Shuri already began cracking since T'Chaka died (see: Wakanda Files). T'Challa's death just broke her, with her narrowly holding her pieces together.

[genshinluvr]

Your Highness

Pairings: Various Genshin Men x Isekai'd!Reader/Royal!Reader

Summary: Imagine your retainer (Heizou) waking you up from your slumber, telling you to get up and get ready for the day before high-profiled visitors arrive to the kingdom. Who are these high-profiled visitors, you may ask? Oh, they're the people your parents have chosen for you to get married to! Speaking of getting married, you're unaware of the arranged marriage situation until Heizou woke you up from your slumber. So, Your Highness, who are you going to pick to be your future husband?

Note: Finally! The last AU that has been stuck on my mind for ages is finally here! Next fic, we will be back in the usual Isekai'd!reader world! Kind of. Each man in this Royal AU does have titles. Some of these titles aren't princes, emperors, or crown princes. There are retainers, military leaders, bodyguards, etc. I tried to make it accurate, but Wikipedia and Google did not help me much with my attempt at research. The title gave me the most complications out of the entire thing. I also typed the list out in my Discord server so I wouldn't have to list it all out on here. To those who are new readers or not, please remember that I don't post anywhere else but on Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and on AO3 (Aaliah_exo).

Warnings: None that I know of 🤔 uh, mentions of an arranged marriage? Idk if that would count as a warning

Word Count: 8.7k

“Your Highness, you need to wake up.”

You hear someone say as they try to wake you up from your slumber. You groan and snuggle further into your pillows and blankets, feeling too comfortable to wake up. The person lets out a sigh of frustration and flicks you on your forehead, causing you to jolt and groan in pain. You open your eyes and see Heizou peering down at you.

You glare at him and bury your face into your pillow. “Go away, Heizou. Can’t you see I’m trying to sleep?” You mumble.

Heizou chuckles and pokes you in the ribs, making you jump and smack his hand away from you. “Come on, sleepy head! You need to get up! Your parents want you to be up and ready before the Princes, Crown Prince, and Emperor arrive,” Heizou sighs. 

Your eyes snap open, and you sit up on your bed and look at Heizou with wide eyes. You rub the sleep from your eyes and look at Heizou with disbelief. “Why are they visiting the kingdom?” You whisper.

Heizou purses his lips for a moment. “Did your parents not inform you that you will be choosing who you will be betrothed to?” Heizou asks, propping his hands on his hips.

You shake your head, mouth agape. Heizou sighs and hunches over, unsure of what to say. You look over at the clock on the wall before scrambling to get off your bed. As you’re running to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for the day (and unexpected meeting with other royals from other nations), you hear Heizou bark orders to the maids. 

The sudden news of royals from different regions stopping by to visit is news to you. Your parents did not inform you of the event, nor did they mention it to you! You are not only angry, but you’re also upset that your parents give you little to no time to prepare for the visitation. 

After your shower, you’re pulled out of the bathroom, and the maids dress you in your daily attire. While you wear the most exquisite clothing with expensive materials, you’re forced to wear the most uncomfortable clothing of all: corsets. 

“Your Highness, did you not sleep well last night?” Tsu asks, yanking on the corset strings, making you gasp out in pain.

You shake your head. “Unfortunately, I did not get an adequate amount of sleep, Tsu.”

“Your Highness! You know how strict your parents are when it comes to your bedtime!” Mingxi scolds you, tutting and pulling the corset strings with Tsu. 

You groan and take a deep breath. Tsu and Mingxi tie the corset strings before assisting you with putting other clothing on you. You have no idea why they make you wear so many layers of clothing. Quite frankly, you wish that corsets were outdated so you wouldn’t be forced to wear something that could potentially snap your ribcage. 

“How does one get an adequate amount of sleep when the King and Queen are pestering you to do well in your tasks?” You mutter, adjusting the clothes on your person. 

You, Tsu, and Mingxi hear a knock at the door. Tsu walks to the door while you gaze into the mirror and brush your hair with a cor lapis-encrusted comb. You look like you’re sleep deprived and are in desperate need of sleep.

“Hans! What are you doing here?” Tsu asks, crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing her eyes at the blond man in front of her.

Hans clears his throat. “Heizou has informed me to make sure that Their Highness is preparing for the meeting. The visitors are almost here,” Hans says.

“Oh? I thought Heizou would be the one that’s taking me to where the visitors will be,” you mutter, letting Mingxi apply light makeup on your face to cover the bags underneath your eyes.

Dear archons, you look like death. You don’t think there’s enough makeup in Teyvat to hide the dark circles underneath your eyes. You’re tempted to rub your eyes, but Mingxi lightly slaps your hands away from your face and gives you a scolding look through the mirror.

“Sorry,” you mouthed to Mingxi, letting your hands fall to your sides.

Hans nods his head. “Heizou will be taking you there, but he is currently tending to other duties as of now. Heizou wants me to make sure you’re getting ready and not sleeping in,” said Hans.

“The guests aren’t here yet, are they?” You ask anxiously.

Hans shakes his head. “They have yet to arrive, Your Highness. Since it is still early in the morning, you will be having breakfast with your guests,” Hans informs you.

You press your lips into a thin line and slowly nod your head. “Understood. Thank you for informing me,” you said, a small smile appearing on your face.

Hans gives you a brief smile and bows to you before turning to leave. Tsu closes the door after Hans leaves and sighs, walking over to you and Mingxi. After Mingxi finishes applying makeup on your face, Tsu reaches for the perfume on the vanity and sprays the fragrance on your pulse points.

“So, do you have in mind who you want to choose from the bachelors?” Tsu asks casually.

You blink at Tsu and shake your head slowly. “Tsu, this is the first time I hear about an arranged marriage my parents put together. I don’t know who they have chosen or invited to come and visit,” you sigh in defeat. 

Mingxi dusts her hands off and props her hand on her hips while leaning on the vanity with her right arm. “My word of advice to you is to reject all of them and choose Heizou.” 

“Heizou?” You ask; Mingxi nods her head. “My retainer?” You raise your eyebrows at her.

“Oh, come on! He’s cute! And it’s clear that he has feelings for you, Your Highness!” Mingxi exclaims, shaking you lightly by your biceps.

Tsu swats at Mingxi. “Quit it, you! You’re going to make [Y/N]’s clothes crease!” Tsu hisses.

Mingxi releases your biceps and quickly apologizes to you, rubbing her arm with a sheepish look on her face. You snort and shake your head. Tsu and Mingxi have been by your side since you were pre-teens; while they work for you as your maids, they’re also your friends. People aren’t allowed to casually call you by your name, only by your title. But with Tsu and Mingxi, they’re an exception; only they can’t call you by your name in front of your parents, other royals, and servants at the castle. 

“Let’s put your shoes on, and I think we should be finished!” Mingxi claps her hands.

After a few minutes of struggling to put your shoes on (the corset was making it hard for you to bend down to put your shoes on), you hear a knock coming from the door. Instead of Tsu and Mingxi being the ones to open the door, you walk to the door, grab the door handle and crack the door open.

“Are you done getting dressed, Your Highness?” Heizou asks, peeking through the crack.

You smile and nod. “Yes, yes I am, Heizou!” You reply.

“Great! Now that you’re ready let me assist you to the foyer. The…. men… have arrived,” Heizou hesitates, giving you a stiff smile. 

You look at Heizou worriedly. “You don’t look too excited,” you pointed out.

“That’s because he’s not! And quite frankly, I’m not excited either, Your Highness,” Itto says, strutting up to you and Heizou with his hands crossed over his chest. 

You raise your eyebrows with surprise. “Oh? And why is that? Pray tell,” you said.

Itto clears his throat. “You see, Your Highness, your parents are setting you up with a bunch of men to get to know each other for who knows how long, and you have to marry one of them by the end of a certain time,” Itto explains. 

You did a double-take. “Wait, are you implying that these men will be staying at the castle for a while?” You ask.

“That is correct! They’re going to be staying for a while, so you can bond with them and see which man is husband material,” said Itto. 

“Hypothetically, what happens if I don’t pick anyone out of the men that my parents have chosen for me?” You ask.

Itto hisses softly. “Ooh, that, I do not have the answers to! You’re going to have to talk to your parents about that, Your Highness,” Itto says.

“Well, at least I was able to get a small explanation,” you mutter. “Heizou, you may now take me to the foyer to meet my future husbands,” you said.

Heizou stretches his arm out for you to take, you link your right arm around his left arm, and the two of you begin walking toward the foyer of the castle, with Itto walking behind you two. Not only were you unaware of your own arranged marriage, but you’re also unaware that the men that are visiting your home will be staying for who knows how long. Great! 

“I’m hoping my parents didn’t pick out people close to their age,” you mutter. 

Heizou and Itto don’t respond to your comment. You scan your surroundings nervously as you walk down the long staircase of the castle. The heel of your shoes makes a click-clacking noise on the white tile floors with each step you take, the sound echoing through the hallways of the castle. You can’t help but internally wince at the sound of your shoes click-clacking; it’s almost like you have a bell collar on that will notify people that you’re nearby. 

The closer you, Itto, and Heizou got to the foyer, the more nervous you became. You don’t do well when it comes to meeting new people. It wasn’t because you’re asocial; it was because you fear that you’re going to mess up or make a fool out of yourself in front of people that you don’t know. Heck, other than new people, you’re afraid of messing up in front of your parents! 

Upon entering the large foyer of the castle, you see a long line of men standing in front of your parents. Your father stands tall and regal, his head held high as he makes a speech to the large group of men in front of him and your mother. You can feel power oozing from your father from a distance. Then there’s your mother, standing beside your father. While she looks dainty compared to your father, she holds almost as much power as your father. Her arm is looped around your father’s arm, gazing at the men in front of her with sheer intensity. 

One of the guards steps up to your parents, bowing to them. 

“Your Majesties, your child has arrived,” said the guard. 

Your parents and the guests all turn to look in your, Heizou, and Itto’s direction. You feel your face turn hot when all eyes are focused on you the more you walk into the foyer with your retainer and bodyguard at your side. 

You unlink your arm around Heizou and clasp your hands before bowing to your parents. “Mother, father. I have arrived,” you give them a small smile, “I hope I didn’t keep you all waiting for too long,” you say, subconsciously tucking your hair behind your ear.

“You didn’t keep us waiting, sweetheart. The guest arrived not too long ago, and we were talking to them about what will be happening for the next few days, perhaps weeks,” your mother said.

You look at her, feigning surprise. “Oh? May I get an explanation as well? I did not know we would be having guests today until Heizou woke me up from my slumber,” you said.

You cross your arms over your chest as if you’re trying to hide from everyone in the room. The number of eyes focusing on you makes you feel out of place. Almost naked, in a way. Your father gives you a look. You uncross your arms and give them a fake smile. Your father puts a heavy hand on your shoulders and turns you so you can face the large group of men in front of you.

“Gentlemen, meet my child, [Y/N],” Your father introduces you to the men in front of you with a smile on his face.

Annoyed, you mutter, “I’m not a child, father.”

Your father ignores your comment and continues to sing his praise. You’re intelligent, graduated top at the private university you once attended, mastered many languages and instruments, you’re skilled in many arts, and you’re also a fantastic cook. Speaking of cooking, since you’re a royal, learning to bake and cook wasn’t necessary for you. But you pressed on and begged your parents to let you learn to cook and bake because it’s a basic (yet beneficial) skill. And because you also want to sneak into the kitchen to bake yourself a cookie at two in the morning while everyone is asleep. 

“Now, [Y/N], my sweet child,” you shoot your father a look, “I would introduce these men to you, but there are too many for me to do so. If I were to introduce each man in this room, it would be lunch by the time I finish,” your father lets out a hearty laugh. 

The men in the room chuckle after hearing your father’s explanation. 

“I will let you and these handsome gentlemen converse over breakfast. After breakfast, you and these men can continue getting to know one another,” said your father.

“You’re not going to join us?” You ask, looking up at your father quizzically.

Your father and mother shake their heads. 

“We will be joining you all for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But afterward, we will give you and these lovely men some space to get to know one another! Of course, Heizou and Itto will also be keeping you all company,” your mother says, looking over at Heizou and Itto with a smile. 

You nod. “Understood.”

The head butler of the castle announces that breakfast is ready. The butler leads everyone to the dining room. Heizou and Itto walk in front of you, their eyes focusing ahead of them. You, Itto, and Heizou walk in front of the large group of men while your parents walk beside you. Your parents are seated beside each other, whereas you’re sitting at the farthest end of the dining table.

On the right side of the table, the men from the three nations (Liyue, Inazuma, Sumeru) sit down in their seats while the men from the other three regions (Mondstadt, Snezhnaya, and Khaenri'ah) sit on the left side of the table. Heizou pulls the chair out for you to sit. You sit on the chair, and Heizou pushes the chair in. The servants bring the food out and place them in front of each person. Your stomach grumbles when you catch a whiff of the food in front of you.

Everyone began eating in silence; the sound of forks and knives scraping against the fine china filled the silence. You turn to look at Heizou and Itto.

“Have you two eaten today?” You ask.

Heizou and Itto nod, not saying a single word. You blink at the two before slowly turning back to your food, unsure why they didn’t reply to your question. Heizou looks up and notices a few lingering stares from the visitors. Some are curious stares, and others are looks of interest. Heizou locks his eyes with one of the princes and gives him a fake smile.

“Which one of you men wants to start introducing yourselves? If you all want, I can reintroduce myself?” You cock your head to the side.

“I’ll go first if you don’t mind, Your Highness,” the man with an eyepatch speaks up, giving you a gentle smile.

You smile back and nod. “Please, be my guest.”

And thus, the dark blue-haired man with an eyepatch starts to introduce himself to you. One by one, each man introduces himself to you during breakfast while your parents sit by and watch the interaction in front of them, observing how you all interact. 

“You look lovely today, Your Highness,” the Crown Prince of Snezhnaya says, sending a wink in your direction.

You feel yourself blush at the sudden comment. “Thank you, Prince Ajax. You’re looking handsome yourself,” you reply shyly.

The Snezhnayan Crown Prince leans back in his seat with a victorious smile on his face, turning to look at the men with a smug look. The Crown Prince of Mondstadt gives Ajax a subtle glare before turning to look at you, looking at you curiously.

“Your Highness, what is your relationship with those two men behind you? If you don’t mind me asking?” Diluc says.

You look over to your left and right shoulders. “Heizou is my retainer,” you gestured to the maroon-haired man to your right, “And Itto is my bodyguard! His job is to be at my side at all times. You all will be seeing these two with me everywhere I go,” you said. 

“Everywhere you go?” Prince Aether asks, looking at you curiously.

You clear your throat and reach for your cup of water. “Almost everywhere I go. Heizou is at my side more than Itto. Itto will accompany Heizou and me when guests are visiting, if there’s an event, whenever I leave the castle, you get the gist,” you explain. 

You take a sip of your drink, resting your back against the chair. So far, the interaction with each of the men isn’t too awkward like how you would have imagined, thankfully. The thing that you’re nervous about the most would be the event that happens after breakfast. Each man has their charm; they are incredibly sweet and attentive. The light banter between them is not only entertaining, but it’s also heartwarming, in a way.

While you’re unfamiliar with the political affairs between your region and their region, seeing powerful men from different regions bonding is something you didn’t think you would ever witness in person. Seeing them laugh, converse with each other, share a toast with one another, and joke with each other makes the atmosphere at the castle lively. 

“Your Highness?” Dainsleif calls your name (title?), pulling you out of your thoughts.

You blink and turn to look at the blond man. “Yes, Dainsleif?” You ask, finishing your last bite of breakfast.

“We have been calling your name for a minute now. What’s on your mind? You seem distracted,” Lord Kazuha says, looking at you worriedly.

You give Lord Kazuha a brief smile and shake your head. “Apologies, gentlemen. I did not get enough sleep last night, and I guess I was staring off into space,” you reply, clasping your hands on your lap. 

The Chief Alchemist strokes his chin. “You do need to get plenty of rest, Your Highness. It’s unhealthy for the human body not to get an adequate amount of sleep,” said Albedo. 

“We do not know what you do in your day-to-day life, but we don’t want your duties to get in the way of you getting plenty of sleep at night,” Doctor Baizhu says, wiping his lips on the silk cloth napkin.

Venti props his head in the palm of his hands, giving you a sweet smile. “If you would like, I can play you a song or two before you go to bed~! What do you say, Your Highness?” Prince Venti asks, gazing at you with his aqua-green eyes. 

You press your lips into a thin line, contemplating whether you should take up on Prince Venti’s offer or not. While you don’t mind having someone serenade you to sleep, you don’t want the other men to misinterpret Prince Venti’s offer.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to be going into someone else’s bedroom to serenade them before they go to bed,” Emperor Zhongli says, giving Prince Venti a blank stare. 

Thoma chuckles and nudges Emperor Ayato beside him. “Do you think the Emperor of Liyue is jealous that Prince Venti offered to serenade Their Highness before they go to bed?” Thoma whispers to the Inazuman Emperor.

Emperor Ayato chuckles. “Can you blame him? He and I share the same sentiment about Prince Venti’s offering,” Emperor Ayato replies nonchalantly.

After contemplating, you decide not to take up on Prince Venti’s offer, much to his disappointment. Your declining Prince Venti’s offer of him singing you to sleep has nothing to do with a specific issue (for example, you not liking Prince Venti). You declined his offer because you’re not sure if your parents would approve of a stranger going into your room and singing you to sleep. Plus, you’ve had a fair share of random men trying to sneak into your bedroom while you slept and then trying to assassinate you.

“Is there a reason why you declined Prince Venti’s offer? I’m surprised a musically talented prince would get turned down,” Tighnari says, gazing at you curiously.

You purse your lips, unsure whether you should tell them of the incident or not. You look at your parents from across the table, waiting for them to answer for you. You didn’t get a response back. All your mother and father did was stare back at you while casually finishing their breakfast. You stare at them blankly before turning to the men, giving them a sheepish smile, subconsciously rubbing the back of your neck.

“How do I explain this without making it a huge deal?” You mutter, pressing your lips into a thin line.

Crown Prince Al Haitham cocks an eyebrow at your question. “Oh? Did you happen to sneak a boy into your bedroom while your parents were asleep?” Crown Prince Al Haitham asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

Your eyes widen, and you shake your head rapidly. “No, no, no! It’s not like that!” You squeak, your face turning hot. “Why would someone from the royal family get into that kind of situation? Do you know how much trouble I would get into with my parents and the public?” You huff, looking away from the guests, your face hot. 

Heizou and Itto stare at the men blankly, not saying a word. How dare they (mainly Crown Prince Al Haitham) assume you were sneaking boys into your bedroom late at night while everyone in the castle was asleep? Not only are there top-notch security at the castle, but you would never get into a scandalous situation because you know better. And Heizou and Itto ensure that you don’t sneak boys into your room because those boys would have to get through Itto and Heizou first. 

You sigh and grab the cup of water in front of you, taking slow sips of water. You only know Crown Prince Al Haitham for less than two hours. Yet, he has already left a sour taste in your mouth by assuming you are sneaking boys into your bedroom while everyone is asleep. 

“I don’t allow anyone into my bedroom except for the maids, Itto, Heizou, and my parents. There are a few instances where people will try to sneak into my bedroom to,” you trail off, placing the cup down on the table, “try to assassinate me. It got to the point where I couldn’t sleep alone in my room for months. Guards will stand outside of my bedroom door, outside of my bedroom window, to catch the culprits.” You said.

Prince Kaveh huffs, turning to look at Crown Prince Al Haitham, his eyes narrowing. “Way to be a total jackass to Their Highness, Crown Prince,” Prince Kaveh says sarcastically.

You laugh nervously and shake your head. “No, no, it’s fine, Prince Kaveh. Crown Prince Al Haitham didn’t know, so let’s not start anything at breakfast when we all barely know each other,” you said. 

“So, you’re implying that we can start trouble with each other when we’re more familiar with one another?” Cyno teases, the corner of his lips curling up.

A loud huff of breath interrupts the conversation. You turn to see the Prime Minister sitting there, his arms over his chest, looking at the other gentlemen in the room with a disapproving look on his face.

“Almost all of you have juvenile behavior. Accusing Their Highness of having late-night affairs while everyone is asleep?” Prime Minister Pierro asks, scoffing.

Pantalone leans back in his seat and chuckles softly. “You only knew Their Highness for less than two hours, and you’re already making a fool out of yourself, Crown Prince Al Haitham,” Pantalone says, poking the inside of his cheek with his tongue. 

The Chief Physician snorts. “Way to ruin your chances of Their Highness picking you to be betrothed to,” Dottore chuckles. 

“As if Their Highness will pick them in the first place,” The Captain snorts, flicking his jet-black hair over his shoulders. 

The Shogun rolls his eyes and scoffs loudly, crossing his right leg over his left. “You four fools think you have the chance to be with Their Highness? Ha! Please, that’s comical,” Scaramouche laughs sarcastically. 

You turn to look at Heizou and Itto. “I thought my parents invited royals. Did my parents invite high-profiled people in general?” You whisper.

Heizou and Itto shrug their shoulders simultaneously. You sit back in your seat and watch how the men interact with each other. There’s tension between them, and you’re hoping that Crown Prince Al Haitham’s comment won’t be the reason why there will be war among all nations. You clear your throat to grab their attention.

“If you’re all finished eating, then we can all go to the gardens outside the castle to get to know each other. More so, this is a way for me to get to know you all individually without having to speak over anyone. Perhaps this can be a way for all of you to strengthen the bonds between your nations,” You said, getting up from your seat. 

General Gorou’s head perks up, and he smiles at you brightly. “That sounds like a fantastic idea, Your Highness! Plus, you can also give us a tour of the castle while we’re at it,” General Gorou says.

“A castle tour? Is this your first time visiting the kingdom?” You ask, looking at everyone owlishly.

General Xiao shakes his head. “We have visited the kingdom before, but we have never gone anywhere that isn’t the foyer, training grounds, ballroom, and throne room,” General Xiao explains. 

“Oh! Well, if that’s the case, then I will be delighted to give you all a castle tour if it’s okay with my parents?” You look over at your parents, waiting for them to give you approval. 

Your mother and father nod their heads, giving you a small smile. You got up from your seat and gestured for the men to follow you out of the dining room. Since you’ll be giving the visitors a tour of the enormous castle, Heizou and Itto stick by your side, giving the men stern looks.

“If you think we’re going to do something sketchy to Their Highness, both of you are wrong,” General Xiao says, glaring at Heizou and Itto. 

Emperor Zhongli chuckles and places his hand on General Xiao’s shoulders. “General Xiao, please try to get along with Their Highness’ bodyguard and retainer. They’re doing their duty to protect Their Highness,” Emperor Zhongli says. 

General Xiao grits his teeth, lets out a sharp sigh and complies while bowing to his Emperor. “Understood, Emperor Zhongli,” General Xiao mutters.

The Chief Physician smirks, crossing his arms over his chest. “Every ruler needs to keep their pets on leashes, or else they’ll bite those around them,” Dottore says.

Archons, you genuinely hope that this doesn’t result in some kind of war. You, Itto, and Heizou shake your heads and continue walking ahead of the men behind you three. The tour of the kingdom has barely started, and yet the men are already starting trouble with one another. You’re not sure how much longer these men can stay in the same room as each other without wanting to rip each other’s heads off or insult one another.

��I hope the head butler of the castle has shown you all your rooms,” you said, turning to look at the men behind you.

The Captain, Capitano, nods his head. “Yes, the head butler has shown us where we all will be staying for the time being prior to your arrival,”

You nudge Heizou lightly. “When you and Itto went to get me, I thought the guests had just arrived at the castle,” you mutter.

“Your retainer must have seen us after we have seen our rooms. The servants took our luggage to our rooms after the head butler showed us where the rooms are,” Prime Minster Pierro interjects. 

“I see,” you murmur.

The tour around the castle took a bit of time because of the size of the castle. It wasn’t a boring tour, surprisingly. Some men would crack jokes here and there to lighten the mood. Some of them even asked you about your childhood to get to know you, their future significant other, if you pick them, better. 

And now here you are, sitting on the concrete bench while the men are scattered around, conversing with each other and settling into the castle. Itto and Heizou insist on staying by your side at all times, but you chide them and order them to go and have fun and socialize with the visitors. 

“Your Highness, why are you here all alone?”

You look up to see Prince Kaeya, Prime Minister Pierro, and Dainsleif, the Captain of the Royal Guard, walking over to you. You stand up, briefly bow to the three men in front of you, and make sure your clothes look presentable. You clear your throat and give them a smile.

“Oh, no need to worry about me. Some alone time is nice once in a while,” you said.

“Especially after having to give almost thirty people a tour around the castle and interact with so many people.” Captain Dainsleif says, nodding. 

A bright smile appears on your face. “Yes, exactly! I do hope that you three are enjoying yourselves at the castle. If you need anything, do let me or any of the servants know,” you said.

Captain Dainsleif, Prime Minister Pierro, and Prince Kaeya nod, giving you a smile as they watch you walk to the next group of men who called you over. 

“We notice that you were alone, and we want you to hang out with us for a little bit before someone else drags you away,” Prince Venti jokes, patting the seat beside him. 

You see Heizou standing beside Prince Aether, a faint smile on Heizou’s face. “Heizou, it’s good to see that you made friends!” You said, approaching the two men.

“Huh? Did Heizou not want to hang out with the rest of us?” Prince Aether asks, looking at you curiously.

You chuckle. “Heizou and Itto were hesitant to leave my side, but I insisted they hang out and socialize with all of you,” you explain.

“As your retainer and bodyguard, I can see why they are hesitant to leave your side. Danger lurks in every corner, and as a royal, the chances of being in danger are higher than a normal civilian,” Lord Kazuha explains. 

The Shogun points over at General Xiao with his thumb. “General Xiao is the same as Heizou. He was also reluctant to leave Emperor Zhongli’s side, and it took some convincing to get him to join our group,” said Scaramouche, smirking over at the flustered Liyuen General. 

You look at General Xiao and give him a polite smile. “I hope you all get along. I don’t know how long you all will be here, so you might as well make yourself at home and make some friends!” You said.

General Xiao exhales through his nose, nods, and bows to you. “Yes, Your Highness,” said Xiao.

“Gentlemen, as much as I would love to stick around longer, I have to check up on the others to see how they’re adjusting to their stay,” you said.

As you turn to walk away, you’re tackled to the ground. You let out a loud shriek, and a wheeze accompanies it when your back meets the grass. 

“Your Highness!” Heizou gasps, running over to your side. 

“Crown Prince Ajax, why did you tackle them!?” Emperor Ayato hisses, storming over to where you and Crown Prince Ajax lay.

Crown Prince Ajax cages you between his body and the ground, propping himself up on his hands and looking down at you worriedly. 

Crown Prince Ajax swallows the lump in his throat. “Are you okay, Your Highness?” the Crown Prince of Snezhnaya asks, his eyes scanning your face for a reaction. 

Instead of lashing out at the Snezhnayan Crown Prince, you lightly tap him and attempt to push him off you. You turn on your side and slowly sit up. You’re still struggling to fill your lungs with air while taking deep gulps, your hand pressing against your chest.

“You knocked the wind out of me,” you wheeze, grabbing onto Heizou’s arms as he helps you get up from the ground.

The Crown Prince of Mondstadt stomps over to the Snezhnayan royal and yanks him up from the ground by the collar. “Why did you tackle them, you Snezhnayan scum?!” Diluc growls.

Pantalone, a notable Treasurer, grabs Diluc by the shoulders and pulls him off the Snezhnayan Crown Prince. “It’s best not to start problems, Crown Prince of Mondstadt. Do you want to cause tension between Mondstadt and Snezhnaya?” The Treasurer raises his eyebrows at the redheaded Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince of Mondstadt glares at Pantalone and smacks Pantalone’s hand off his shoulders. Albedo and Baizhu rush to your side; Baizhu makes sure you’re physically okay while Albedo asks you many questions to see if there’s any damage.

“We should take you to the infirmary,” The green-haired Physician says, dusting grass off your clothes. 

You shake your head. “I’m fine. I’m just out of breath,” you said. You turn to look at the ginger-haired Snezhnayan man. “Is there a reason why you tackled me to the ground without warning?” You ask.

“Your pupils are dilated. We need to get you checked out to ensure you didn’t hit your head when you fell,” Albedo says gently. 

General Gorou runs up to the crowd surrounding you and holds up an arrow. “This was flying toward your direction, and Crown Prince Ajax knew that you wouldn’t be able to dodge it, so he took it into his own hands and tackled you to the ground before the arrow could hit you,” General Gorou explains, tossing the arrow to the ground in front of you. 

“Where did that arrow come from?” Crown Prince Al Haitham mutters, turning to survey his surroundings. 

“Your Highness,” General Cyno calls out to you, walking up to where you stand. “Is there a training ground nearby?” General Gorou asks, stopping in front of you.

You nod and point to the large cement wall. “Behind that wall is a training ground,” you answer. 

“Maybe the arrow that flew in Their Highness’ direction came from the training ground. I don’t think it’s an assassination attempt. If so, then the assassin would’ve been caught almost immediately,” Thoma says, standing beside the Inazuman Emperor. 

You snort. “Thoma, I don’t know if I have informed you all of this already, but the person that has tried to assassinate me is still out there,” you rub your aching back. “Now that I think about it, I should get checked out. I’m starting to feel a bit sore,” you said.

“We’ll take you to the infirmary to get you checked out. I’m sure I brought some medicines and remedies just in case anything happens,” Tighnari says, holding his hand out for you to take. 

Prince Kaveh sighs and rubs his temples. “Their Highness’ parents are going to kill us all if anything happens to them,” Prince Kaveh mutters.

Upon your arrival at the castle's infirmary, you’re swarmed by doctors and nurses. While you try to tell them that you weren’t horribly injured, seeing the grass stains on your clothes and little tears on the expensive fabric sends them into a frenzy. 

“Please back up and give Their Highness some space. We don’t want to overwhelm them,” Tighnari instructs, shooing people away from you as you walk to the chair and sit down.

As the Physician to the royal family (your family), Baizhu walks up to you and begins to conduct basic examinations. 

Other than a scratch, getting grass stains on your clothes, and a bruised pride, you’re in decent condition. There aren’t any life-threatening injuries or injuries in that case. To make it short: you’re fine. You’re humiliated that Crown Prince Ajax tackled you in front of people. Handsome people, him included. After Heizou has taken you to your room to change your clothes, you collapse on your bed and cover your face with your hands.

“This is so humiliating.” You groan, shutting your eyes and feeling the heat rise to your cheeks.

You hear the door to your bedroom open. You open your eyes, remove your hands from your eyes and see Tsu and Mingxi enter your bedroom with new clothes in their hands. Mingxi gestures for you to go to the bathroom and wash up (you also have some grass in your hair) before they change you into your new clothes. Before going to the bathroom to quickly wash up, Mingxi and Tsu untied the corset for you and helped you out of the corset. 

You shut the bathroom door behind you and begin stripping your clothes off. The bath has already been prepared for you by Tsu herself. You sit in the bathtub, hugging your knees to your chest, replaying the most embarrassing moment in your life in your head. You close your eyes in misery and rest your chin on your knees. You’re not prepared for what’s to come for the next however many days the men will be staying.

The next day, you sit across the two Emperors of Inazuma and Liyue, having tea with the most powerful and influential men of their nation. Heizou pours the tea into the ceramic teacups, concentrating on pouring the right amount of tea for each person. You tuck your hair behind your ear and look out of the window, watching the other men chase each other around while conversing with each other. 

“It’s nice to see everyone getting along after one day of knowing each other,” you murmur, reaching for the steaming cup of tea. 

Emperor Ayato sips his tea elegantly after lightly blowing on it. “How are you feeling today, Your Highness?” Emperor Ayato asks, gazing at you with his gorgeous blue eyes.

You sip the tea and almost hiss at how hot it is despite blowing on the tea to cool it down. “I am doing well, Emperor Ayato! Thank you for asking,” you smile at the Inazuman man sitting across from you. 

“You didn’t stay up late, did you?” Emperor Zhongli asks suddenly, gazing at you intently with his amber eyes.

You clear your throat, place the teacup on the saucer and shake your head. “I did not, Emperor Zhongli! In fact, I believe my parents are allowing me to take a week off of my studies,” you said.

Right when you answer Zhongli, Hans peeks his head into the room. 

“Your Highness, your parents would like me to inform you that your piano lesson starts in an hour,” said Hans.

You sigh, slouching in your seat as you prop your head up in the palm of your right hand. “Understood, Hans,” you give him a small smile, watching him leave the room. You lean in your seat and close your eyes. “I stand corrected,” you said, snorting to yourself. 

“We can keep you company if you’d like. We would love to see you play the piano,” Emperor Ayato offers, a soft smile appearing on his face. 

You suddenly became shy. “I mean…. it’s up to you if you want to watch me play the piano. I don’t want to bore you all to sleep,” you murmur.

“I’m sure the others wouldn’t mind watching you play the piano. After all, as your future husband, we must indulge in your performances and activities,” Emperor Zhongli says nonchalantly, sipping his tea. 

Your cheeks grow warm when you hear Emperor Zhongli mention the word “husband.” “Well, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. You all have a choice,” you said shyly. 

“Don’t be ridiculous, Your Highness. We’ll be there to watch your performance,” The Shogun says, entering the room with his head held high.

You blink at Scaramouche. “Were you listening to the conversation the entire time?” You ask, turning to look at the window only to see that no one is outside. 

“We arrived not too long ago when Hans was informing you that your parents wanted you to go to your piano lesson today,” Crown Prince Diluc replies.

Prince Kaeya leans on the back of your chair, smiling down at you. “Your Highness, I didn’t know you play the piano,” Prince Kaeya says, lifting your left hand up and pressing a kiss on your knuckle.

“Their Highness’ father went on a tangent about them being able to play multiple instruments, Prince Kaeya,” Captain Dainsleif deadpans.

“Ah, but Captain Dainsleif! Their Highness’ father never specified the instruments!” Crown Prince Ajax interjects.

You look over at the clock and nearly jump out of your seat. You stand abruptly from your chair, almost spilling the teacup over during your haste. “Oh, dear archons. It’s almost time for my piano lesson. My piano teacher, Juliette, is going to have my head on the silver platter if I’m late,” you panic. 

“I’m sure your piano teacher will understand,” said the Chief Alchemist. 

You drag out a sigh and frown. “I didn’t even get to finish my tea,” you tell them sadly before walking out of the room with Heizou and Itto by your side while the men follow close behind you, Itto, and Heizou. 

“Is your piano teacher aware of us visiting?” Lord Kazuha asks, his red orbs scanning the portraits hanging on the castle’s wall. 

You shrug your shoulders. “That, I do not know. I’m hoping my parents informed her of your visitation. Still, because I was also unaware of the visitation, I’m assuming my parents didn’t inform her of it,” you answer. 

“Your parents didn’t inform you about our visitation and the arranged marriage situation?” General Gorou asks, looking at you in disbelief.

You shake your head. “They did not, unfortunately. I don’t know why they kept it hidden from me until the last minute when Heizou, my retainer, informed me about it yesterday morning,” you shrug your shoulders.

“Maybe they didn’t let you know about it until the last minute because they’re worried you would lash out at them or make a big deal about it?” Baizhu asks, looking at you curiously. 

You purse your lips and stroke your chin. Could Baizhu be correct? The topic of marriage never emerged in any of your and your parents’ conversations, so you’re not entirely sure why they kept it a secret until the last minute. 

Prince Venti skips up to you, squeezing between Itto and Heizou. “You know, Your Highness, since you’re musically talented in various instruments, what do you think about performing at a music festival with me in Mondstadt?” 

Your eyes light up. “A music festival, you say?” You gasp, stopping in your tracks. “I would love to join you, Prince Venti! Do you know when this music festival will be held?” You ask, twirling from side to side with giddiness.

“Are you talking about the Windblume Festival, or are you referring to the Iridescence Tour?” Prince Aether asks, butting in between you and Venti.

“I think he’s referring to both!” Thoma says. 

You and your esteemed visitors arrive at the entertainment room (which is the ballroom where your piano lessons are usually held). You all see Juliette standing beside the grand piano with her arms crossed over her chest, her foot tapping on the glossy floor impatiently. Juliette’s head snaps in your direction, her blonde eyebrows narrowing when she sees you enter the room.

“You’re late!” Juliette exclaims; Juliette has a heavy Fontaine accent.

You give Juliette a sympathetic smile as the blonde woman walks down the stairs and approaches you all. “Apologies, Juliette. I was informed at the last minute, again, by Hans about the lesson.” 

“I do not accept tardiness, Your Highness. I do not care if you’re a child of poverty or a part of the royal family,” Juliette hisses.

Al Haitham stares at Juliette blankly. “Your parents made a grave mistake of hiring someone like that to be your piano teacher, Your Highness,” Al Haitham mutters, narrowing his eyes at the blonde woman standing in front of you.

“Let’s not waste any more time, Your Highness! Chop, chop!” Juliette claps her hands, ushering you to the stage where the grand piano stands. 

“If anyone speaks to my spouse like that, I would fire them immediately,” Cyno states.

Kaveh scoffs and rolls his eyes. “I don’t understand how someone like Their Highness’ piano teacher can disrespect their student like that,” Kaveh grumbles.

Prime Minster Pierro clears his throat. “After Their Highness’ performance, I’ll have a word with Their Majesties about hiring a new piano teacher,” Prime Minister Pierro says gruffly. 

You sit in front of the piano and stare at the keys. The only people you have played the piano for are your parents, your piano teacher, Itto, and Heizou. Now that you have a reasonable-sized crowd watching you play the piano, you can’t help but feel nervous. Not wanting Juliette to chew you out in front of your guests (and future husband), you began playing the piano while gazing at the music sheets in front of you.

You were doing so well until your finger slipped, making you play a tune that wasn’t part of the music. Juliette’s eyes twitch, and she whips your hand with a riding crop, making you pull your hand to your chest with a loud yelp. 

“Your Highness!” Prince Aether gasps in horror, running up the stairs to the stage where you sat.

You rub the area where Juliette has whipped your hand, trying to soothe the searing pain on the back of your hand. Juliette always has a way of punishing you for messing up your performance, and whipping your hand with a riding crop is one of them.

“Out. Your presence isn’t needed here anymore,” The Capitan glowers at your piano teacher. Juliette glares at The Captain. “I do not take orders from anyone,” Juliette scowls, pointing her nose up in the air. 

You can see the steam coming out from his helmet as The Captain stomps over to Juliette, grabs her by the bicep, and drags her to the door of the ballroom.

“Your piano teacher doesn’t treat you like that all the time, does she?” Pantalone asks.

You chuckle weakly. “That’s how I learn how to play the piano fast. I didn’t want to upset Juliette or annoy her in any way by messing up,” You reply.

The Chief Physician frowns. “Your Highness, messing up is part of the learning process. You may be part of a royal family, but that doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to make a mistake or two,” Dottore says softly.

You wave Dottore’s comment off. “I understand that, but Juliette has been my piano teacher for years now. I’m used to her attitude and the way she teaches,” you said. “Although I shouldn’t be taking it lightly at all,” you grumble under your breath. 

“Your Highness, your performance is beautiful. Sure, you made a small mistake, but that doesn’t take away from the performance,” Lord Kazuha says.

You press your lips into a thin line and stand up from your seat, walking down the steps with Prince Aether walking beside you. “I was hoping to give you all a good performance, but I messed up, and you all witnessed Juliette being Juliette,” you sigh.

Prince Venti walks up and places a comforting hand on your shoulder. “Oh, don’t be so hard on yourself, Your Highness. Your performance is beautiful! Everyone in the room enjoyed your performance, and the only person that didn’t was your cruel piano teacher,” Prince Venti reassures you.

“The only thing that hurts is my pride. First, I get tackled by the Crown Prince of Snezhnaya. That bruised my ego. Second, I mess up my performance in front of all of you. Third, my piano teacher whips my hand with a riding crop in front of all of you,” you sigh.

“Are you upset because you have been getting hurt in the last two days of us being here?” General Gorou asks.

You slowly nod while thinking it over. “Yes. And because I’ve been humiliated way too many times in front of all of you. If it was in private, where none of you witnessed my humiliation, I would’ve been okay with it. But….” you trail off, pinching the bridge of your nose. “This is so embarrassing!” You whisper. 

“Your Highness, it’s okay to have some embarrassing moments. You’ll be seeing us humiliate ourselves during our visitation! Plus, when you marry one of us, we’ll witness many humiliating things. We might as well get used to it or try to,” Tighnari says, smiling at you. 

You give the men a weak smile. “Thank you for trying to comfort me. I don’t really know what else to say,” you rub your neck.

“Let’s go put some ice pack on your hand,” Crown Prince Al Haitham says, reaching for your hand and rubbing the area where Juliette whipped your hand.

You wince and pull your hand out from Crown Prince Al Haitham’s grasp. “Yes, we should ice my hand. It’s stinging,” you murmur, hugging your hand to your chest. 

You turn around and walk out of the ballroom with the men following behind. Heizou and Itto are fussing over your hand while you allow them to talk your ears off. You can’t help but notice that Juliette had whipped your hand harder than she did the previous times she had done it. 

Prince Kaveh nudges Crown Prince Al Haitham. “Were you trying to make a move on Their Highness in front of us?” Prince Kaveh whispers to Crown Prince Al Haitham.

“It seems like it’s a subtle way of showing Their Highness affection in front of every one of us,” General Cyno mutters.

“I think he only did that to make up to Their Highness after getting off on the wrong foot with them the day before,” Prince Kaeya interjects, the corner of his lips quirking up.

The Shogun snorts. “As if that would let him be ahead of us,” Scaramouche rolls his eyes. 

“Out of all of us, who do you think Their Highness is going to pick to be engaged and married to?” Crown Prince Diluc asks.

The question causes everyone to pause in their tracks, you included. The men turn to look at you, waiting for you to answer. You stare back at them, trying to process the question Crown Prince Diluc had asked. 

You laugh nervously. “Gentlemen, I only know you all for two days. I still need time to get to know all of you before making a decision,” you say. 

Captain Dainsleif crosses his arms over his chest. “Fair enough,” Captain Dainsleif says.

“I don’t want to dampen the mood, but let’s be real. Their Highness is going to choose me,” Crown Prince Ajax says, smirking.

Baizhu rolls his eyes. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves now, shall we?”

You all continue on your walk to the castle’s infirmary. The men behind you, Itto and Heizou, continue to debate on who you’re going to choose to be married to. You’re not entirely sure who you’re going to pick out of everyone. Mainly because you don’t want to break their hearts and because you really do not know who you’re going to choose. So, Your Highness, who are you going to choose out of the twenty-five men around you?

Note: Next week's fic is going to be another idea of mine of the reader being isekai'd into Genshin Impact. Instead of it being like "Crash Landing in Teyvat," it's going to be different. The story will be in my usual format, and I hope you all like that one when it gets released. Other than next week's fic, I'm really hoping to be posting a mini-fic soon. I didn't get the chance to type it out this week because I have loads of assignments to do for my classes 🥹 anyway, other than that, for those who want to be on my new taglist, here is the link to the taglist [Genshinluvr Updated Taglist Form]! Please make sure that you allow people to mention you/tag you in posts, or else I won't be able to tag you in any future fanfics! And as usual, I ONLY post on my Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and my AO3 (Aaliah_exo)! Nowhere else except Tumblr and AO3!

Taglist for my Isekai'd!Reader one-shot series and my overall taglist: @alhaitham-scribe, @xyji, @kazuhasmuse, @chirikoheina, @yoru-trash, @kaoyamamegami, @kwelibeeery, @yumakj, @deartoru, @luminarymoonlight, @toobytub, @ins4nebish, @bokuto-kinnie, @honeybedo, @exhaustedcommunist, @jadedist, @mompt2, @living-my-best-life5, @chalksdreams. @rinswriting, @thelost-in-time, @mxn14, @ventisweetheart, @unwantedsleep, @kattythesimp, @hispasian-otaku, @Orah-s, @juuuuuj101010, @nxns3nse, @sickly-falling, @alteeeeyang, @wind1y, @wh0-ta0, @samarill, @testsubject0012, @irisxiel, @HistoryNerd™️, @kazuhaprnt, @lunarapple, @urlocalhothuman, @emilymikado, @vinnie-w, @n8mareee, (If your name has been crossed out, it means that your account did not show up when I try to tag your account. Please make sure to allow people to mention you and tag you in posts and make sure the spelling, symbols, and numbers are correct)

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[hocuspocusbabyy]

A ring of bright light: Chapter 1. ‘It’s happening again.’

Eloise Bridgerton x Female OC.

Description: Eloise Bridgeton is to marry Lord Brennan this upcoming season, following a residency at her familiar home Aubery House. Their betrothal is to be announced in two months. If all goes to plan…

Warnings: None?

Word count: 1k (just an opener don’t panic loves.)

Next Chapter

Eloise tightened her gloved hands on the balcony wall, partially to resist the temptation to leap ahead and greet those who waited on the other side and partially to wake herself from the nightmare to come.

Winter air cools against her skin, the long gown doing little against the harsh country noir exterior that was Aubrey House at night. Buried deeply into the evergreen stitch of her corset, her heartbeat ragged against the confinement. If birds were not built for cages, surely the same logic would be applied to herself? Bare feet making a swift sloshing sound aggravating the gravel below, debris digging into the pads of flesh deeper than any weapon she had known before.

The gardens seemed alive with light as every inch of ground bubbled with people and for a fleeting moment, as more carriages approached the castle. A warmth raised within her chest as undeniable anxiety, familiarity. Turning her back to the on coming guests, the small of her back pressed deadly against the barrier. Shadows filtered through the historic windows, as the dust licked walls still seemed to cling onto the fleeting light of Friday as though an old friend they had yet to have finished talking to. A shaking breath escaped the mouth, caught in a brief moment of admiration towards the dripping sun - for out of all the fires she had seen this hideously biblical form was one she had grown fond of; or rather the flashes of red from within its last moments as through snippets of the passing day mere memories now. Only the future night was imminent.

She was running unusually late, she could tell by the main entrance to the building growing peacefully desolate; as the other inhibitors congregated within the ballroom. Her eyes squeezed shut, desperately clinging to those final moments of silence.

“You’re not considering jumping are you?” A voice asked the approaching footsteps drew closer, heart edging to her throat.

“What would that help? Death has no use for me yet, although I do wish he would.”

“What makes you so sure death is a man?” The voice asked again, their body finding rest beside Eloise.

“Surely only a man could be so cruel, as to hover such a fate in my peripherals.”

“I see.” The voice hummed as though mulling the conversation, “And clearly you see so much with your eyes practically melted closed.” Eloise’s laughter was a welcome sight to her visitor, the brunette's eyes finally opening as her head found rest against the woman’s shoulder. Her mother – Violet. A buoyant woman; complimented heavily by her Angelically crow-like features - coils of ash tamed in a formal updo so different to the style had grown accustomed to as she usually pottered away her hours within the castle greenhouse. Fingers never without the soil beneath them, a relationship with a ghastly old nail brush that lay upon the kitchen sink heavily established. She'd always lecture upon the importance of soil, on how each particle of the earth somehow held its own story and origins - for soil had seen more love, more pain than any human. As she'd place lumps of the material within their hands "Rub it in then the memories never leave you".

It was reminiscent of her father, of his death. Violet hadn’t allowed anyone to tend to the lilacs since.

“Is everyone here?” Eloise asked after a moment, basking in the comfort of her material figure.

“All the ducks are in rows my dear, now they await a leader.”

“You’re their leader.” mumbled the familiar scent of gardenia flowing past her, upon the open air.

“Now for long my little swan.” Violet sighed, a perfectly delicate hand raising to card its way through the princess’ hair.

“Is he here?”

“Your suitor? Yes dear unfortunately for you he has shown” The queen laughed hoping to lighten her daughters mood.

"We have a nasty habit involving men in this family" her mother would often say whilst winking at her father Edmund across the room. He had passed on almost ten years ago; he'd been the best hug giver and secret magician, never failing to pull a coin from an awaiting child's ear. A sometimes overbearingly traditional yet progressive man, his head still surprisingly full of hair till the day of his early demise. Collins is seemingly thinning already.

His passing had wrecked the family. His wife, all the more scornful and ironically loving; the clone of her mothers, and the replica of herself - Lady Violet was no elementary being, her voice like bathwater, every syllable effortless and wise. She played the piano as though it were second nature to breathe air; embraced few but loved many under the guise of something to be feared. Eloise’s most loved and favoured person in the entire world… unless you asked Benedict.

Then there was Eloise, Lou and 'Flower' on the not too rare occasion, for as her mother was prone to say and the people continued, was the "one of the most precious examples of life to ever grow within these gardens.” with her uncontrollable ripples of dark hair, ill radiance and sea filled eyes, the procurement of two fine specimens to create the most poorly formed swan the world was ever to behold.

“I wish he were here.” Eloise mumbled gently, Violet’s lips falling to kiss the crown of her head.

“I know my dear, as do I.”

Father had died in these very Gardens during her seventh year. Leaving behind Anthony as the elder brother to ascend the house.

“Come now. Best to hit the ground running, keeping your guests waiting is a terrible introduction.” Violet stated, stepping towards the balcony doors.

The set of grand doors that almost shook with vigour with the level of presence behind it, the noise and voice of many locked behind it. Eloise came to her mother’s side – she could not run from this, this was her home.

The doors were opened with one swift movement of the awaiting footmen, revealing a ballroom, many familiar inhibitors of the neighbouring families huddled around in festivities, laughing. Drinks not far from hand, and children in clear scheming mode begging their respective guardians to stay up late; while others could be seen playing games in each corner, the low light shining on each face – new and old.

“Introducing The Dowager Viscountess Bridgerton and Miss Eloise Bridgerton.”

[tiredlilguy]

Chuuya, Sigma and Akutagawa when reader drags them to a lingerie store

a/n: ty for requesting >:D i tried my best, this isn't that NSFW, but it's more suggestive

pairing: Chuuya, Sigma, Akutagawa X GN!Reader (separately) cw: suggestive, not proofread desc: you're out shopping with your boyfriend and happen upon a certain store...

Chuuya:

he wasn’t really paying attention at first, mainly just because he let you take him anymore

That was until his eyes widened: noticing the several mannequins in various sets of lingerie

To say the least: a blush went on his face… and he was red the WHOLE time

Nonetheless, he let’s you lead him around the store while you looked around

If you ask him for his opinion, he’ll say “anything looks good on you…” while also only glancing at it for a short moment

I feel like he’s so embarrassed he can’t look you in the face, and only really stares at the floor nervously - though maybe after a while, he’ll take a deep breathe and follow you around and looking at things eye-level (he’s stiff as hell though)

Though, do make his pockets hurt- get some cute shit, expensive shit, whatever you want

He takes me to the guy to like really lacy lingerie sets with some holsters as well

Sigma:

you’re going to kill him

He was already denying you the moment you let out a small giggle and started leading him into the store

He’s probably also staring into the floor, but probably more intensely

No take that back, he wants to bury himself into the floor

Halfway through he might just give up and hand you his card while standing outside

You probably still make him red-faced though anyways: sending him pictures of certain sets that you took in the dressing room

He’s dying- once again, do you want to kill him?

Likes babydoll sets- specifically the ones that are really flown and have ruffles

Akutagawa:

he wasn’t paying attention, but he probably read the name of the store and just let out a soft hum

He tries to act like everything fine: being a mature person with no specific expression, but on the inside, he’s dying

He had a blank expression the entire time, letting you drag him around the store and asking if “this or this will look nice on you”

He actually points and nods, only letting out a grunt in response

Though despite being sort of no expression, no shake in his voice, his eyes give him away

You’ll see his pupils dilate, or his eyes widen at something that he likes (kind of like a black cat)

He’s into corsets and more strappy lingerie

[blueberryarchive]

(18+, non-con, smut, mentions of death)

Sigh, it seemed like you were a teenager again. All the time with this eternal and lethargic tiredness, the light nose wrinkled in disgust with everything and everyone, the shoulders hunched in search of angst. You had screamed a few minutes ago, to be left alone, that the damn constant questionnaire was driving you crazy. No, you didn't know if you wanted to wear the cotton dress or the suede one, or if the sunglasses were too big, you didn't care. 

You had screamed a few minutes ago, and now only the immense and regurgitating loneliness of your closet accompanied you. It was raining heavily outside, but the closed windows didn't let you hear its sweet fall. Everything was abhorrent: another phrase you would have said when you were fourteen. 

You don't know what your husband saw in you the first time you met, but none of that mattered anymore. His opinion was about to be buried next to his disfigured, hand-stitched, suit-clad body. As if he were a rag doll.

The door opened after two firm knocks. There he was, the only person you could stand at the moment: Jeon Jungkook, your husband's servant. 

"Were you looking for me, My Lady?" His voice, abrupt and strong as a brick, warmed your burning head. Turning thoughts into a nebulous collection. 

You nodded. 

"I can't manage to do the only thing that is asked of me in this house." Your frustrating laugh didn't contort Jungkook's face in grief. That's why you needed him, you were tired of the probing around you and the way they spoke softly as if you were going to break. 

"It's not like it's easy on such a surreal day." 

"I thought he would die in a bed like all the men in his family." Your gaze drifted to the geometric figures on the carpet. Jungkook closed the door behind him, working on looking for a black dress suitable for the situation. "I thought," you continued, "that like the other wives, I would be at his side before he closed his eyes, that his children would be able to see him and remember his last smile." You shook your head, biting your thumb. "You cannot blame yourself for the circumstances, My Lady." Jungkook pointed to the armoire behind you, where there were three options, all daring in some way or another, but it's not like you were someone above those options. 

"Besides, it's not like, with all due respect, you and Mr. Bass were an ordinary couple." 

"Indeed." You were a young woman, he was old and rich. Everyone talked, laughed, cried, joked, and threatened about it in his family.

You pointed your finger at the dress on the left. 

"You'll need a corset for that," Jungkook murmured and turned around to look for the best option for that dress. 

Hands are next to the mirror, your mouth slightly open as you feel your skin and bones tighten beneath the fabric. Behind you, Jungkook used his thin, fine fingers to adjust the corset a little more. He looked from time to time at your reflection in search of a reaction, of pain, but you endured the molding of your bones like a champ. 

"You can tell me if it's too tight, My Lady." You shook your head and raised a hand, signaling for him to finish before you regretted choosing a type of dress that needed that kind of torture. When finished, he created a delicate bow. 

The whole morning had been torture for you: the funeral arrangements, your parents' faces full of melancholy, having to console your husband's children, the sorrowful voices of your maids when they tried to serve you tea or find a way for you to eat. Like you were a girl, it was horrible. That's why Apolonia and Gretchen weren't in your exaggerated closet with you, but rather your deceased husband's servant. Jungkook was a young boy, considering the fact that everyone in that mansion was in their 50s or older, men and women who raised each Bass since they were old enough to properly hold a child. 

Jungkook was young, like you, the two of you were barely six years apart. You had an obvious interest in men older than you, Jungkook was like a child the first night your husband brought him to introduce you three years ago. His eyes were always wide open, lips always a little parted, alert and helpful. He was adorable. 

But the man behind you was physically stronger, his long hair was tied up in a low bun, and his way of speaking was more fluid and assertive. He always said the right thing, it made your nipples hurt, and your heart fluttered between his words. 

"Would you like some kind of stocking for the dress?" 

"No, I think I'll go with high boots." 

"Very well, My Lady." While you were putting on the dress in front of the mirror, Jungkook didn't move from his spot, half of his body reflected next to you, hands behind his back and a little erratic with his gaze. "Everything okay, Jungkook?" The man lowered his face, a shameful laugh. 

"I'm sorry, it's just that from here you can see the place where Mr. Bass died. I can't imagine how much he suffered-" he sealed his lips with red cheeks. "I'm sorry, My Lady. It's insensitive to talk about something so brutal in front of you."

"No, please." You tried to smile. "It's not like the police didn't give me the raw details the next morning, the photos are still tattooed on my retina."

The face was chewed beyond recognition, and parts of the eyebrow and forehead were torn to the bone. Evidence of dental markings on the zygomatic bone and mental foramen.

You read the reports with your breakfast while the police questioned you about your relationship with Mr. Bass, the dogs in the house, and your opinion of his friends, his servants, and coworkers.

"I found it very unusual that you did not go through the garden to our farmer's cottage that day."

"The sun was at its highest point, and I felt like I was fainting every time I got out of bed."

"I understand." It was the only thing he said, he laughed at your response and you frowned, your skin crawling from the new questioning of your person.

"How do you know I go every day?"

"The farmer and I are very good friends, after your visits in the afternoons the smell of vanilla remains on the furniture when I visit the farmer at night for dinner."

"And how do you know I didn't go that afternoon?" You turned around, neck held high, aristocratic arrogance within you searching for what Jungkook truly wanted to say.

"The smell was not even on the pages of the book laid out on Mr. Bell's table. Your favorite book."

Your eyelids fluttered softly, deadly. You smiled.

"Go get my gloves, the long suede ones." You said in the softest tone possible.

Jungkook obeyed, covering each finger in the soft fabric.

"I know what you did to Mr. Bass." The voice was barely a trickle as he finished putting on the gloves, his large hands caressing the suede on your arm as if massaging the information into you.

You didn't know what to say. You swallowed deeply before snatching your arm from his caress, he stood there without stopping looking at you. It made you nauseous.

"It's not my duty to tell you the morality of your choices, but we can say that I agree with your decision, My Lady." He gets close, trying to finish the buttons of the dress with steady hands. "Even though Mister Ron and Master Edward will suffer greatly from the loss of their dear father."

"They will be fine, they will go to therapy." You were quick to answer.

"Of course. Nothing you can't solve. Turn around."

You were the one to obey this time. You stay still, looking at his reflection, waiting for the police to come in when your tongue accidentally slips the fact that you were the one who left the door open of the three beautiful Rottweilers, that you were the one that pointed and gave the distinct whistle for the three dogs to attack your husband.

"But you must know, My Lady." He licked his lips, thinking very well what he was about to say. "I won't fill My Lord's position in any shape or form, that's out of the question." The air was filled with a deep smell of roses, lilies, and all types of flowers that were arranged in every corner of the closet, its pungent smell making you a little dizzy.

"But I hope you know that I'll be here, always." His hand trailed, wandering off to your snatched and whalebone-molded waist. "In one way or another."

"Is this a proposal, Mr. Jeon? If it is, I can assure you this is very inappropriate and vulgar."

He opens his doe eyes, and a gloved and pristine hand reaches his chest. "Oh, My Lady, I'm so sorry. A simple mistake."

Another step, closer. Closer than ever in the last three years. It felt like a big and broad wall was destroyed in front of your eyes. Everything felt a little smaller around you, his face was more detailed and you couldn't smell those damn roses anymore.

"This is not an indecorous offer, but more of a negotiation."

"Is this about money?"

He seemed offended by your question.

"This is about information, my dear."

You tremble, your husband used to call you that when he was in a good mood. Now it felt like a threat in the honeyed voice of your dearest butler. "It's about you having the ability to negotiate and give me a great price for my silence."

He lifted your chin and took the plum lipstick sitting in your cabinet. He opened his mouth slightly, and you mirrored his face. The thick paste settled in your quivering lips as he dragged along the stick. "Now I know it was Mr. Bass' skill being the one who does... did, business. But I know you didn't study the same career as him just so you can sit around with that kind of information. Just to end up being the one who changes the colors and textures of the curtains in the mansion every season, to make tea parties and charities."

"I'm glad with the life I was given." Your voice shakes, and your eyes cannot stop drinking every little piece of heaven that made his face.

"I don't know what shoes to put on." You tried to sound as normal as you could.

"I'll help you with that, My Lady." You took a sit on the leather couch while he opened your wardrobe, dozens of shoes for every occasion and others to create them. "And no, I know you abhor the life you were, not given, but placed upon you like a rock you must climb to the top over and over again." He took a Miu Miu black pair of stilettos, and he smiled while putting the heels on your feet. "Like a feminine, aristocratic Sysiphus"

"How dare you?" Your cheeks burned in embarrassment, and you stood up with a growing pain in your stomach. Now you think about not remembering the last time you properly ate, besides cigarettes and an occasional toast.

"I dare because I know, not only about your boycott but about how you feel about me."

"Oh, please." You laughed so hard you worried the servants outside might hear you. Your trembling hands trying to put on a subtle silver necklace. Taken back when the rough hand made you turn around, the other pressing hard on your cheeks to see him, your fragile body falling to the couch next to you.

"I've seen you looking, I've seen what you read and what you wrote in your journal; read every page of that day. That summer in the chateau by the lake. You couldn't stop thinking about me, finding me in the bathtub jerking off." He laughed erratically. "I read every little note you made about it: the length, the girth, your opinions on my crooked moans. A very thorough essay, I must add."

"If you keep talking I will yell and tell everyone that you tried to rape me." This was absolutely ridiculous. So ridiculous that both of you went completely silent.

You never thought you could say something like that, even less to Jungkook, who respected you more than anyone else in the Bass house. You were a pariah because of your age, because your husband found you on vacation, and when he got home he already signed all the papers to make you his Lady. Almost 28 years apart, but you loved him more than yourself...until you didn't. Until he started treating you like he treated every ex-wife, but he fucked up; and know the coffin must be a closed one because the lovely Nova took a bite at his cheek, leaving the teeth exposed with a wide smile, the eye came out of his socket; the cops never found it.

The stoic expression Jungkook ported broke, shattered into pieces by the force of his sudden laughter; leaving you awestruck by his decadent beauty and the raw force of his devilish smile.

His long legs started getting closer in elongated steps, your nails digging into the fleshy brown of the leather couch when he got so close to your ear that the warm mist coming out of his lips made you tremble.

"I dare you."

The outline of a scream was the only thing you could create before your butler's hand sealed every orifice, you couldn't breathe. You fell to the floor trying to crawl, his knee pressing into your lower back until your entire body was flat on the carpet.

"Sh, sh, sh. Don't make this any harder than it should be."

You heard the ripping of your underwear, the corset stabbing into your lungs, causing the edges of your vision to turn black.

"God, you're wet." He said it as a surprise, expecting you to be a tough catch.

You shook your head, gasping for air, your nails useless with the gloves. His index finger moved so that you could breathe, the air entering and leaving your pits with a cry.

The sting of his cock entering your pussy made you scream, your body felt trapped between Jungkook's weight and yet you tried like a caterpillar to get out of its confines. You denied and denied and more juice came out of your pussy with each crash, it was sinful.

"Open that little hole for me, I'm going to do what your husband couldn't do."

You opened your eyes when you felt the hot liquid run down your thighs and into your dress. You grabbed Jungkook's hand when the brush of the carpet against your clit betrayed you and your pussy started pumping his cum out. A spanking, you moaned, raising your ass in the air looking for more.

"We could have done this like civilized people, but you never understand." He whispered in your ear before turning you around. A soft kiss to your needy lips, the hand-painted on your skin. You closed your eyes, letting your back arch at the strange sensation of being kissed with so much love.

"What I do not understand?" You whispered, brittle.

"Now that you have killed your husband, you have destroyed the only wall that protected you, which means you are just one more object in this mansion full of monsters that all they want is to kill you." His explanation was expressed so lovingly, that the caress on your cheek made two tears fall to your temples. "And I'm going to take advantage of how little you will be now. Like a hole in a wall, just a fucking bother." Another kiss, wet lips molded in heaven, the dark stains from your lipstick leaving evidence.

His smile warmed your chest, it sounded divine. To belong.

ps: gotta be honest with you, chief. this fic is not it for me but i felt like i had to write something, even though words are difficult for me. if you have some constructive criticism, please go ahead. as always thanks for reading, bisou.

[toms-cherry-trees]

Don't Hold My Hand (I'll Break Your Heart) || Tommy Shelby x Fem OC ~ Ch. 4

Summary: Charlotte realises that she doesn't know her employer as well as she thought she did. Clouded by indecisions, she takes a path that may have unexpected consequences when things take a turn for the worst

Word Count: 5.2k

Warnings: Talks of medical procedures, needles and blood. Mentions of PTSD. Tommy gets violent. No beta reading we die like John

Author’s note: I have NO excuse. Not even I know why I dropped the ball on this, but I will just say that 2024 has been sucker punching me in the face since January 1st and has not given me respite. I am hoping that this time I will be able to post more consistently, but again, who knows with me?

PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU NOTICE ANY GRAMMAR ERRORS

Requested taglist: @call-sign-shark  @zablife

《Prev part -

Bright sunlight peeked into the bedroom through the gaps in the curtains, bathing everything in golden warmth. Blackbirds and nightingales chirped in their branches, their cheerful songs mingling with the sounds of the daily bustling of the state; horses neighing in their paddocks, hounds barking at the sight of wild rabbits; the old truck coming up the road bringing fresh meat and groceries for the week. It all sounded so typical, so average, not a toe out of place, nothing out of the ordinary. Except Charlotte.

The first thing she noticed was that the bed under her aching body was not hers. Albeit top quality, the mattress she slept in had obviously been used before; softer around the middle and with a characteristic indent in the exact position where she sat every morning to slip on her stockings and shoes. But the one under her was much firmer and sturdy, and her back had definitely noticed it. The pillows also felt different, as did the sheets. The sun shone on the wrong side, not landing on the bed like she preferred. But it was all forgotten when she noticed a hand clinging to hers, fingers intertwined with her own on a gentle grip.

Her eyes opened abruptly, and she sat up so quickly bright lights danced in her vision. She was used to being awoken in a startle; injured and dying soldiers didn’t wait for her to wash her face and tighten her corset before coming in. But waking up in Tommy’s bed, dressed in only her nightgown and robe and with his hand laced with hers surpassed any startle. 

The memories from the last 24 hours flooded her mind like a horror movie. Doctor Keller’s visit, the uncertainty of the wait, the abrupt waking up with Thomas moaning in pain in the dead of the night, and the horrifying discovery of the punctures on his back, crimson blood soaking through gauzes and clothes onto the bed sheets. 

The man next to her slept so peacefully, face buried in the pillows and soft snores escaping his lips, one could hardly believe the suffering he had been subjected to just hours prior. The laudanum dosage Charlotte administered should keep him out of it until midday at least, but that didn’t worry her; he definitely looked like he needed that rest.

Carefully, with the same gentleness one would handle a newborn with, Lottie turned him on his side, propping his body with pillows to properly assess the damage. At least he hadn’t bled through his clothes again, but that small relief did little to placate the cold feeling that settled at the bottom of her stomach after she cut off the bandages. 

The wounds on his back had already begun to scab, surrounded by near black bruises of various sizes, from his mid back all the way down to the top of his tailbone. The punctures were evenly spaced both sideways and lengthwise, and Charlotte soon realised they were meant to follow the length of his spine. She could not even fathom the pain those must have caused, nerve damage or not.

Charlotte didn’t know how to proceed from there. Every fibre of her being urged her to run to Mrs. Gray, expose Doctor Keller for a charlatan, and let the Peaky Blinders dispose of him as they saw fit. But on the other hand, acting behind his back would surely shatter the feeble bond of trust Lottie and Tommy had developed. It didn’t matter that she only did it with his best interests in mind; he would perceive it as betrayal on her part, and would set back the small but significant progress she had made with him. She had a duty with her patient, but that duty had divided in two widely different roads, both pulling at her with equal strength.

A firm knock on the door interrupted her train of thought. In a panic, she realised it was a quarter past 10 in the morning, much later than the hour in which she usually fetched Tommy’s breakfast tray from the kitchens, a little after 9. A second, much larger panic overcame her as she took note of her state of dress, or rather, undress. She had no proper excuse to be in her nightgown only, and even if she explained that she had spent the night watching over Thomas, it still did not give her reason to look like she had just risen from bed, his bed. 

She paced back and forth, debating whether to answer the door or just feign deafness and pretend she wasn’t there. She could not hide there forever, but she much preferred to step out with no witnesses present. And God forbid it was Mrs. Gray on the other side; she held the woman in high esteem, and being found by her in such a compromising situation was mortifying, even if nothing less than honourable had happened. 

A third knock urged her to make a decision, and a small, female voice coming from the other side

“Nurse Tindall, are you in there? I’ve brought up the breakfast tray for Mr. Shelby, may I come in?”

Lottie breathed a sigh of relief as she recognised the voice of Ella, a new maid who was as sweet as she was witless. It would not be hard to distract her, as she did anything she was asked to, no matter how stupid the request sounded. Charlotte cleared her throat and walked closer to the door, making deliberate sounds around to appear busy.

“Mr. Shelby is getting dressed, come back later please” She did her best to sound firm in a kind way, not wanting to trigger another of the girl’s crying episodes over feeling herself scolded. But much to her unluckiness, Ella seemed committed to delivering the food, surely not wanting to unleash the cook’s wrath upon her. Peeling a cartful of potatoes surely drivers the lesson home to not let the eggs go cold.

“But I’ve already brought the tray over, and Mrs. Bird will be upset if I go back down with it. May I come in? I promise I won’t look!” Lottie could hear the distress in the girl’s voice; she knew that Ella would not survive long in the house’s service like that.

“I said no, Ella. Mr. Shelby needs his privacy” Her words came a little harsher than she had originally intended, and she could practically see Ella flinching and the wobble of her lower lip. Not wanting to send the maid back down defeated and in tears, she spoke again, a little softer this time “Leave the tray on the side table and I’ll bring it in once we’re finished here”

Lottie waited with bated breath, ears perked up as she heard Ella push aside some ornaments to place the silver tray down, catching even the soft tinkling of saucers and teacups. Her relief lasted only until she heard footsteps going down the stairs, for soon a deeper, slurred voice came from behind her.

“With that level of quick minded resourcefulness, you could work for my company”

Tommy was awake, no doubt aroused from his slumber by her banter with the maid. Charlotte had been certain that the sleeping tinctures would keep him under until at least after lunch, but again, what could half a cup of laudanum do against a man who had been using morphine and opium freely for the best part of the last five years?

Her nurse instincts kicked in and she immediately rushed to his side, taking a motherly stance as she gently brushed hair away from his forehead, discreetly checking for any rise in his temperature; although he felt sweaty, he didn’t seem to be running a fever. Her fingers circled his wrist, counting the steady beats of his heart, and her ears perked up, ready to detect any change in the pattern of his breathing.

“I am not dying, not yet at least” Thomas huffed, in what turned out to be a poor attempt at lightening the severity of the situation. But even then he couldn’t deny he had been left extremely weakened; even opening his eyes appeared to be a struggle, and the dark circles under them cut sharply against the sickly paleness of his complexion.

Charlotte felt grief tugging at her heartstrings at his sight, alongside an overcoming sense of guilt for not having stopped Doctor Keller; she should have trusted her gut and dragged them all out by the ankles the second they kept her from accompanying Thomas through the treatment. Nothing good ever came from things happening behind closed doors. And certainly nothing good could ever come from a treatment that required him to be gagged and held down.

She reached over to the basin to retrieve a damp cloth, gently dabbing away the sweat from Tommy’s temples and brow. His eyes closed again, tongue darting out to moisten his cracked lips. Lottie wanted to ask, she needed a what, a how and a why, but she didn’t want to push him when he looked like that, so miserable and battered. The sight of his back pierced and stabbed, his limp body lying on blood soaked sheets, and the helplessness and vulnerability in his eyes, had been forever engraved in her memory. To see a man like him brought down to that, it made her heart ache.

“Are you hungry?” She asked quietly, swallowing down her other questions and worries to focus first and foremost on his comfort. “I could ask the cook to make you something light if your stomach is upset. Maybe some soup and toast?”

He shook his head, opening one eye just enough to gauge Charlotte’s expression. Just like his aunt’s, there was something unsettling about Thomas’s gaze. While Mrs. Gray looked like she could know all your secrets with just one look, Thomas had a certain determination in his eyes, a glint of mischief added with something that Lottie couldn’t quite pinpoint; but she knew for certain that Mr. Shelby could convince anyone to do his bidding only by staring them down. But she also noticed he possessed the same perennial shadow that all war veterans did; a mark that they all shared and would never fade.

“I suppose asking you for a glass of whiskey and to pass me cigarettes won’t work even now, eh?”

Charlotte had always had more than a few opinions about Thomas’ average diet of eating nothing, but the fact that he felt well enough to joke about it did manage to lighten her spirits. She noticed he kept trying to dampen his lips and his tongue appeared quite parched; with a teaspoon she managed to give him some sips of water, since she didn’t feel confident enough to sit him up just yet.

A pregnant silence hovered in the air, with Charlotte knowing both had things they wanted to say. Her thoughts continued to swirl around aimlessly, torn between rushing straight to Mrs. Gray to tell her everything she knew so far, or to wait to hear the complete story from Tommy’s lips. But would he be willing to tell? Did he remember even, or had the memories been wiped away by the trauma and the pain medicines?

Even if she wished to avoid it forever, she couldn’t. She needed to redo the dressings on his back, and she had learned through experience the way some veterans reacted when their wounds were touched, as if the contact triggered the memories they so desperately tried to bury deep, deep down. And so, she figured she might try while the laudanum still lingered, hoping that the remaining opioids in his system would keep him tame should he lash out.

“Tommy, there’s some wounds left on your back from your…treatment” Calling that medicine left a bitter taste on Charlotte’s mouth, but she couldn’t go and call it torture to his face “I need to bandage them again but I promise to be careful. You need to let me know if anything is bothering you, is that okay?” A part of herself felt she was talking him down like a child, but that had worked before with other veterans in similar situations, and at worse, Thomas would get mad at her, which would be no different than usual.

But much to her surprise, Tommy appeared awfully calm with the information she had just given her, as if the notion of having been poked full of holes didn’t faze him at all. A chill ran down Charlotte’s spine as she began to consider the option that Tommy knew what had been done to him, or worse, that he had willingly submitted to it.

While she gathered her supplies, she noticed some dried blood lingered under her nails from the previous night’s ordeal. The sight of all that blood, gauzes dripping with it, the liquid pooling since the sheets could not soak up any more…She had seen ten times worse over the years in the front, and had faced it all with a sternness that unnerved even her colleagues. Why could she not detach herself this time? Was it because she could not stand the desperate being taken advantage of? Or had she grown attached at last to her insufferable patient?

Suddenly her common sense decided to abandon her. She dropped what she had on her hands and rounded the bed to face Thomas, leaning down until she was eye to eye with him. She had to gauge the truth from him, she needed the story straight so she could put a stop to this.

“Thomas…Thomas do you know what that doctor did to you?” She breathed through her nose once, to keep her voice from faltering “Did he tell you what he did exactly?” She reached to take one of his hands. The previous night the contact had been an act of desperation, and now it bore similar purpose “I don’t know if you remember but last night you woke up and..and you were-”

“Bloodied and in pain? Yes, I remember” The way he said it, with such carelessness as if he were simply saying he woke up thirsty, didn’t sit quite right with Charlotte. Far too calm, even for a man like him. “Doctor Keller warned me that the first couple of nights would be difficult to get by. He told me to rely on the laudanum, but I thought I could toughen it out. I should have listened…the doctor always knows best.” 

His dovish words confirmed her worst fears, and Lottie felt her stomach drop to her knees. He knew. He knew everything that had been done to him. How could he not? Thomas Shelby wouldn’t let a doctor put a single finger on him without knowing first what would be done to him. 

Her grip on his fingers tightened, and she leaned closer, far closer than their faces had even been before “Tommy, what he’s done to you is inhuman. It’s barbaric. I’m sure men who have been tortured have endured less than what you did yesterday. You cannot let him get away with it, or he will do it again to others. I will tell Mrs. Gray to deal with him, we won’t let him get close to you again”

“No” That time, his hand gripped hers, with such strength that made her fingers ache. “You will not do such a thing. You will leave that man alone, and let him do what he must. Understood?” There, in that moment, Charlotte caught a glimpse of what Tommy used to be like, when he was the man that terrorised Small Heath and had half of Birmingham bending the knee like he were some sort of king. A man who had built an empire from scratch and, rumour had it, ruled it like a tyrant. 

“Thomas, look at yourself!” She protested, not allowing herself to be intimidated “Look at what he’s done to you. What treatment can be worth being punctured by needles the length of your hand all down your back? Do you even know what’s been injected?”

“I don’t need to know. All I need it’s for it to work” He had to have lost his mind, That was the only answer as to how Thomas could so blindly trust Keller. That quacksalver had sweet spoken his way into Tommy’s mind, and had used his fear and hopelessness as grounds to plant the seed of hope. He saw Tommy as a drowning man, and appeared before him offering him a raft, which turned out to be only a rotten piece of wood.

“No” Determination laced Lottie’s words “I will not allow this to continue. You have been taken for a fool, Thomas, and it is my duty as your nurse to make you see reason when you can’t for yourself. I know a trickster when I see one, and God knows I’ve seen plenty” She felt anger loaded in her words; but not directed at her patient. Rather directed at Keller, and the dozens of men like him who saw chance for profit in the suffering of the war veterans who had lost everything fighting for their lives “I will not allow that man to set foot here again. I’ll barricade the door myself if I must, and I know Mrs. Gray will agree with me” Charlotte knew that Mrs Gray tried to antagonise her nephew as little as possible, only in extreme circumstances; well, this was definitely one of those.

What happened next took Lottie completely aback. Thomas let go of her hand, but instead gripped her chin, his fingers holding her with such strength that she felt the pain radiate up her jaw. His eyes were pure ice, cold and unforgiving, and he pulled her face down, forcing her to meet his gaze

“You won’t do shit. You will do what you do, what you are paid to do, and nothing more. For everything else, you keep your head down. I believe Polly told you that you would be expected to turn a blind eye for some things; well, this is one of those things. You are not family, you are just a worker, and you do what you are told, eh?”

“But-”

“But nothing” His grip tightened even more, if possible, forcing a whine out of Charlotte’s lips. She had never seen him like this before, not even during her first days in the manor when he did everything in his power to be a nuisance to her and scare her away. He had screamed, he had slammed tables, he had thrown to the wall cups and glasses and trays, but not even once had he laid a hand on her “You do what I say, and nothing more. If you tell Polly, I will fire you on the spot. If you try to interfere with Doctor Keller, things can get very ugly very quickly. Am I clear?”

Charlotte felt fear. For the first time since her arrival to Arrow House, she felt fear. Her heart hammered her ribs and her knees felt weak. This man before her was not the Tommy who had shown weakness just the night before, asking her to keep him company for the night and holding her hand; not even the man who had flipped over a table because she begged him to eat. Lottie recognised in him the first tendrils of the madness proper of someone with nothing left to lose. Tommy saw Keller as his last chance, and he would not let anything or anyone take that chance away. He had become obsessed, and obsession was just a step away from madness.

She nodded at his words, if anything to get Tommy to let go of her face. After a few more seconds of staredown, in which she felt diminished to the size of a mouse, Tommy let her go and laid back down

“Good. Now fuck off. Doctor Keller said that the wounds need to be aired to heal faster, and I want to sleep”

Somehow, Charlotte found enough control of her legs to stand and walk away, tripping on the carpet and crashing against an armchair on her way out. Her heart beat rampantly, the thumping booming on her ears and temples. She held herself until she had closed the double doors behind her, and only then collapsed against the panelled wall, burying her face in her hands. She had been threatened before, plenty of times, by men far too deep in their cups, or their drugs, or in the demons inside their heads. 

But never before by a true threat.

She knew as well as any what the Peaky Blinders did, and she knew they had no qualms on the choosing of their victims. And something in the way Tommy said those words, the intensity of his gaze, the strength of his grip, told Charlotte that he wouldn’t doubt acting upon his words should she cross him. 

She immediately thought of telling Mrs Gray everything. Every last detail, her position in the house be damned; Thomas could fire her but he could not rid himself of his aunt. With that steely determination Charlotte walked down the stairs, her steps resonating in the emptiness of the house. But that lasted only until she reached the landing. Would Mrs Gray side with her? Or would she let her nephew entertain his false hopes, if only to give him a false sense of happiness? Would she find in the older woman an ally, or would she just waste her time and her job entertaining her sense of justice? After all, just like Thomas said, she was just a worker, not family, and she should not speak above her station.

And yet.

Clinging onto her morals as only support, Charlotte set out to find Mrs Gray and tell her exactly what had happened; it might cause her to lose the best job she had held since the war ended, but at least she would leave that house at peace with her morals. But her mission finished as quickly as it began. She asked Frances the whereabouts of Mrs Gray, and a bucket of ice water was dropped upon her head when she was informed that Mrs. Gray had left to tend business in London and would not return for at least a week. Speaking face to face with her, locked in the privacy of the older woman’s office was one thing. But telephone her all the way to London, and possibly interrupt her affairs to basically snitch on her nephew…

A week. She would have to wait a week. And Charlotte hoped her resolve would last that long.

~

She felt out of place, wearing her blouses and skirts after spending the best part of half a year in only her nurse uniforms. Lottie sat on the terrace of a fancy French cafe, enjoying an espresso and a small assortment of pastries. She had a few magazines before her, and pen and paper to finally write down those letters she had due for weeks, but she simply could not concentrate, not on a day like that. The bells of a nearby church rang five times; in the blink of an eye two hours of her life had escaped her, for it was a few minutes past three when she sat on that chair, feeling her knees weak and her hands clammy.

After Tommy’s threat, things had gone down as well as one could expect. Charlotte spent the following week walking on eggshells around him, scared to even look him in the eye. Tommy had been a particularly obedient patient, dutifully drinking all his medicines and eating all his meals like he had never done before, but he had once more condemned Lottie to the silent treatment, not giving her more word than the occasional command to bring him something or, more specifically, to leave him alone. She had anxiously awaited the return of Mrs. Gray, hoping his aunt would help him see reason where she had failed so spectacularly. 

The showdown between them had surely been heard all through the county, the tone of their argument escalating steadily to the point Charlotte could clearly listen to every word they said, even sitting at the foot of the staircase, her elbows resting on her knees and her thumbs pressing on her brow in hopes of alleviating what had become a chronic headache. Perhaps she had committed a calamitous mistake telling everything to Mrs. Gray. Or perhaps her first big mistake had been taking that job.

When Mrs. Gray finally came down to meet her, she looked absolutely defeated; and Lottie knew right away that she had risked it all for nothing.

Thomas had absolutely refused to back down on his treatment, quoting over and over that Keller said it had to get worse before it got better. He had said horrible things about his aunt and Charlotte, about how they wished him ill and had no desire to see him recover his life because it suited them better to keep him chairbound. Mrs. Gray had let the hurtful words sweep past her like breeze, but Charlotte felt them more like stones thrown to her face, even if they were just lies. 

In the end, Lottie had not been fired, her job position saved by Mrs Gray’s resilience to not let go of the first caretaker who had made it past the three month mark. She did however insist that Lottie cash in all the days off she was owed, plus an extra paid day on the house. That gave her exactly a week of holiday, and therefore, would keep her away the day Doctor Keller was scheduled to come for his next appointment. 

When she boarded the car that would take her to the station that Sunday morning, wearing her navy blue coat and her prettiest hat, a part of her wondered if she should leave for good; mail in her resignation and have someone else pick up the rest of her belongings. She could not envision what future she could have there now, as her relationship with Tommy had surely been permanently and irreparably damaged by their rift. He would never trust her completely again, and she couldn’t stand by idly and watch him pay himself into an early, horrific death.

Not wishing to spend her week in good old Birmingham, Lottie decided her salary allowed her to take her time off in London. She found lodging on a small bed and breakfast near Camden, and put her time to good use, hoping to keep herself distracted. She got new books to read, dined in a different place each night, and finally gave her wardrobe a much overdue refresh. But she could never shake off the knowledge that, each day that passed, was a day closer to Doctor Keller returning to Tommy’s side. It remained a perpetual nagging feeling on the back of her mind. She could not go a single day without something reminding her of it.

Charlotte felt her blood boil whenever she thought about how many men had been tricked before Thomas. Perhaps if she found one or two who had undergone the same treatment, with obviously less than satisfactory results, they could help her convince Tommy to abandon before it was too late. Hoping against hope, she set aside money to post a few small, as inconspicuous as possible advertisements, avoiding directly mentioning the doctor by name. At worst, it would all end in a few wasted coins and nothing else. 

Saturday she spent in a continuous fright, obsessively checking the hour everywhere she could. By 3 pm, she knew that awful man and his equally awful aids would be crossing the threshold. By 6, she figured they would be done cleaning up whatever gruesome mess they had left behind, with Tommy tucked in bed, absolutely knocked out by double and triple doses of opioids. 

She couldn’t find sleep that night, tossing and turning until the blankets were tangled in her legs. Even through emotional exhaustion her mind refused to quiet down. Was Tommy sleeping well? Was he comfortable? Would he wake again in the dead of the night in agony and alone, with no one to wipe his brow or change the sheets? Charlotte tried and failed again and again to force the thoughts out of her mind, but they refused to budge; even if she chastised herself for caring so deeply, she couldn’t help herself.

Sunday she spent no better, and after a short walk she decided to return to her room and give herself a lazy day, rearranging her suitcase and indulging in one of her new books alongside some cookies she bought nearby. She wasn’t expected back on the manor until Tuesday morning, yet she kept all her belongings packed and ready to go fleeing out the door.

After a humble dinner in a nearby pub, Lottie returned to her lodgings, deciding to indulge herself with a long bath, taking advantage of having a private bathroom. But just as she had crossed the entrance, a bellboy came to meet her, telling her there was a call for her on the front desk. 

Puzzled, Lottie followed the boy, wondering who could be calling her at that hour, since no one knew her whereabouts. Trepidation creeping up her spine, she picked the apparatus, trying to ignore the uncomfortable fluttering in her gut

“Hello?”

“Charlotte” Mrs Gray's voice resounded from the other side. Despite the familiarity, the knowledge that it was her calling didn’t reassure her one bit. A woman like her didn’t call at that hour to talk about the weather

“Mrs Gray, is everything okay?” She didn’t even bother to ask why or how she had Charlotte’s current address. They knew everything about everyone; they probably knew more about Charlotte than she herself did.

“No, things are not okay. Doctor Keller came yesterday; only God knows what he did, but Tommy didn’t wake up until today after midday, and he didn’t let me or any of the maids touch him or feed him”

Charlotte sighed, sensing immediately where the conversation was heading “Mrs. Gray, if you think that I can get past his thick head-”

“No” The older woman cut short “I don’t think you can, and that’s not why I called. Around dinner I went to check on him, try to get him to eat. Force feed him if I must. And I found him” Charlotte could hear her sigh slowly “I found him unconscious. So pale he was grey, laying in a pool of sweat. He had vomited too, I think. Couldn’t even wake him with a slap to the back”

Charlotte’s eyes widened, and her heart raced at the information she received, immediately noticing how bad the situation had turned “Mrs Gray, that is very serious. He needs to be seen by a doctor! Did you-”

“I called the ambulance. They’ve taken him right away. It’s the hospital I’m calling from. The doctor says he has an infection and that it’s reaching his blood”

Charlotte swallowed. Infections of the blood never had a good prognosis in the field, not even in the hospitals. Yet she clung to false hope when she asked her next question

“Did he…did he say it was bad?”

The pause that followed seemed to stretch for days, but that wasn’t half as bad as hearing Mrs. Gray voice crack for the first time

“They say he’s likely to die”