#but he finally witnessed just how much his friends love him and how much po loves him

[ayoungroyal]

From this:

To this:

[lowkeyrobin]

reader has had a crush on Rory since they were kids when they kissed (for practice ofc) but rory just has eyes for Erica and it breaks reader's heart but is still supportive cause as long as rory is happy so are they and SOMETHING happens which means reader is slowly dying and rory doesn't realizes his feeling until it's too late and reader dies in his arms.....

holy shit Alex you are evil. when I said angsty mbav I didn't realize you took that personally 😭🙏 /lh /pos

RORY KEANER ; you don't know what you have until you lose it

summary ; you like rory, but he doesn't reciprocate

warnings ; language, death, talk of throwing up, influenced by some music bc I was listening to sleep token LMAO

track ; take me back to eden ; sleep token

word count ; 1.5k

masterlist

The only good thing about living in Ontario, Canada, was your friend group, the Supernatural Squad. Although you were just the comedic relief, you were the most reasonable and level-headed. You were still a staple to the group. You weren't very supernatural, however. Just an ordinary human who happened to be friends with a bunch of vampires, a witch/wizard, Benny couldn't decide on a damn label, and a seer.

You and Rory and Benny and Ethan were the two duos of the group that'd been together the longest. Benny and Ethan met in middle school, and you and Rory met in 4th or 5th grade when he moved to White Chapel. Sarah and Erica met in their freshman year, having been bonded over the lack of friends and their good grades in English and history classes.

You and Rory were a different kind of close. In every universe, you knew you'd met each other, one way or another. He was the funny, dim-witted vampire who was still a geek even through his transformation into puberty and vampirism. You, on the other hand, remain the second half of his comedy troupe, the smart and level-headed companion he needed to keep him mentally stable through all these new, weird things he was going through. He'd forever be 15 while you grew older, something you weren't too worried about right now.

You remembered like it was yesterday when you shared a first kiss for "practice." It was practice, really, Rory wanted to know how to kiss before he tried asking Erica out. However, for you, that was the problem. You didn't want it to be practice for him to be able to woo over Erica.

There was no doubt that Erica, the tall, blonde, vampire, was hot. Hell, if you weren't already head over heels for the younger blonde, you'd totally date her. But, that was the whole thing, he had googly eyes for Erica and you just solemnly looked at him with love stuck in yours like a curse.

But, of course, Rory hadn't learned about the phrase "you don't know what you have until you lose it." He wasn't expecting to lose you, nor was he aware that he even had you wrapped around his finger.

During the final fight with Vice Principal Stern, you'd gotten hurt, and hid it from your friends ; you saved White Chapel for good, ridding the town of evil. You didn't want to sour the mood about a wound that would heal itself, and you didn't want your friends worrying about something so small that'd disappear in time.

Stern hit you with a purplish magenta light-beam from his staff, leaving a very painful, burn-looking wound on your side. Over time, it didn't heal like you hoped it would, if anything it only looked worse, like your skin was decaying.

You had it wrapped up nearly 24/7 to prevent infection, the grey-ish skin was pruney and nasty looking from the amount of moisture. You'd only been living through the pain thanks to a lot of Tylenol, which you probably took a little bit too much of sometimes on accident. The center of the wound was a weird purple color, like a bruise, and it branched off like veins almost. It ran down your hip and up your torso, a grey color, acting as if you were a rotting corpse or something.

The theory was that it'd heal over time or completely disappear after a way since Stern was gone. But obviously, those were both incorrect.

You touch the wound, feeling a sharp pain radiate through the area as you pull your fingers away with a grimace. Your next idea was to ask Benny for a potion or something to help it go away. I mean, he had to have had some wound-dissolving spell or potion laying around somewhere, he was a witch for Christ's sake. It shouldn't be too hard to just ask for one.

That was easier said than done, however. He and Ethan wanted to know what it was for before he made it, and they wouldn't stop pressing after you said it was nothing. They eventually figured you out though, having been the first to notice and point out the veins spreading up to your collarbone and shoulders while you were all hanging out at Ethan's after school.

You kept telling them you were just tired and you had a cold, etcetera etcetera, the past few months, but after a while, they started to wonder why you were only looking worse. Then they persuaded you to just show them so they could help. You complied, showing them the wound you acquired from the final battle with Vice Principal Stern.

Ethan is the first to speak, quickly questioning you, "Dude, when and where did you get that?"

"Fighting Stern a couple of months ago." You shrug nonchalantly as you try your best to force your eyes open to stay awake, "Look, I just need something to make this heal or disappear, okay?"

Benny and Ethan share a worried look, barely able to look at your wound without cringing in disgust and the pain they felt for you.

⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡° ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡° ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°

Within another agonizing week, Sarah, Erica, and of course, Rory, had found out as well. So much for secrets.

All that week, no amount of drugs or spells or potions could help your condition whatsoever. You would frequently throw up and would have to skip class to go to the nurses office or sit in the bathroom while your stomach twisted and turned inside of you. Rory tried helping you as much as he could, carrying your things and flying you straight home after school, but it didn't help much, neither did the magical help from Benny and his grandma, it was like you were immune to it at this point.

You lay in bed on your side, a trashcan accompanying you for any biohazards. The veins now climbed up your neck, your shoulders, and down your legs, your eyes were made heavy by suitcase sides bags under your eyes, it felt like your eyes were swollen, yet they weren't. Rory sits beside you, one hand rubbing your shoulder as you mindlessly babble on, his other hand holding an ice pack to your forehead as you experience heat flashes.

The four other teens stand outside your closed bedroom door, trying to think of any ways to help you. They wanted to convince your parents to take you to the doctors, but how would you explain the massive wound on your side. And how would you explain that you were now a walking corpse acting like a shitty father after a trip to the bar?

"Y'know, Rory, I've always liked you, like, like-liked you" You giggle, ruffling his hair. "You're adorable"

Rory lightly smiles, not taking your words to heart.

"Really, please listen to me, R" You quickly place your hands on his cheeks, cupping his face, "I like you. And I know you don't like me back and shit, you like Erica and you're constantly talking about it, but I want it off my chest before this stupid thing probably kills me or starves me out of my body"

The blonde boy blinks a few times, and wraps you in a hug. "I'm sorry" He mumbles, remembering the fact you were definitely on your last limb here, "You're the best, most awesome friend I could ever ask for, so you're not gonna die! Wait- could I turn you into a vampire and save you? Would that work?"

You shrug, not wanting to get too excited, I mean, the others probably already thought of that and imagined a bad outcome.

The four walk back in to see you resting your head on Rory's lap, probably sleeping as he speaks up, his speech moving a million miles an hour.

"What if we turn them into a vampire? Would that work? I mean, they'd become immortal, right?"

The four look to each other and shrug, positivity shining through their worried expressions.

"Did they say they wanted to try it?" Sarah asks, "It's a big devotion... I mean, this is literally life changing, maybe for the better"

Rory nodded, "They said to ask you"

Sarah nods down, looking at you, "Ask them, I'll be downstairs, I'm gonna make them some tea" She lightly smiles, dragging Erica along with her.

Rory shakes your shoulder with no response, your cheeks pale as the veins quickly crawl up your face. He gets a little more aggressive with it, calling your name, the fear showing in his voice.

"Y/n, Y/n, Y/n? Y/n? Y/n!"

Ethan stands frozen, seeing your entire face begin to be engulfed by the weird infection. Benny begins shouting for Sarah and Erica, sprinting down the stairs as quickly as possible. The blonde turns you face up, seeing blood trail out from your nose.

You were totally limp in his arms, a sense of calmness painting your face instead of the now usual pained and tired look. You seemed peaceful laying there while your whole body is painted in a spider web like pattern.

"Y/n/n, please, wake up! I can help you!"

No response, your chest wasn't even slowly rising or falling anymore, you were just a limp, heavy body laying on him.

Tears prick at the blonde's eyes as he stares at your relaxed features, wishing that just maybe he'd thought a little sooner.

Maybe if he just thought of that a little sooner, then you'd be okay.

[nnnyxie]

Could we get headcanons for masked!Pro!Izuku x Fan!reader??? Masked au as in Hero identities are secret and we‘re besties with Izu and have no idea he is our ‚celebrity‘ crush and we own like tons of merch and a card board cut out and all- idk is that too specific?? Or weird?? Hsbfikskss

OHTMAGDK MY FIRST MHA REQ???? YES!!!

i absolutely adore this idea <3

and baby trust me this is not weird at all!! (i’ve gotten some odd requests, do not fret sweetheart)

y’all have that like— MJ and spiderman dynamic, before she knew he was spiderman. (the tobey maguire ver. first movie ofc ofc) (i love spiderman btw)

anyways.

whenever he hears you gush about your crush on the sweet ol pro hero deku— he always gets all quiet.

you assume that it’s cause he’s letting you rant about how much you adore this hero but nope!!!

our boy is doing his best not to explode!!

he knows that he has fans and he knows that his fans have those small appreciative ‘celebrity’ crushes on him!!

but, you being one of those fans?? you being one of those fans who have that little crush?? it makes his heart swell and stomach churn.

you, dear reader, are so clumsy (projecting…) and you somehow find yourself in trouble quite often!

especially since you quite LITERALLY stumble into danger. like. literally. it just happens. canon event, you cannot stop it! (/ref)

back to the program

i like to think that you guys go shopping together!! cause shopping with friends (wink) is so fun<3

whenever you go out you HAVE to buy merch of pro hero deku!! and he gets all fluttery when you do!!

(also we’re not going to talk about the secret cardboard cutout that he found in your closet when looking for a sweatshirt. he could’ve died right then and there /pos)

now. one day, you stumble in on a drug deal (jfc…) cause you were looking for smthn in your bag and didn’t wanna be in the way of people.

obviously things go awry. the druggie men (one looks like he could be a mafia boss??) grab you and throw you deeper into the alleyway you chose.

luckily our pro hero deku was on patrol! he witnessed the men shoving you to the ground and pulling out weapons.

now, deku doesn’t usually jump straight into fighting, no— he tries to reason first. he tries to convince them to put their weapons down and see that this whole ordeal is dumb. but— this time??

he jumped straight into action. he hurdle himself over the small concrete edge of the building he was on one of the men.

straight up knocked the guy unconscious. dude was out cold. dead asleep. concussed.

this would also be the first of many saves.

the next couple of times were just small things—

like pulling you away from oncoming cars (aka drivers who weren’t paying attention) when he was patrolling in your area

about the,,,,, 7th?? time he saved you— he just couldn’t believe how you were always getting yourself in these situations.

he’ll ask, “how do you keep getting yourself into situations like these?” half serious, half joking

“not sure but, i’m lucky you’re always there to save me,” you’d reply, good lord your heart would racing.

he’ll laugh and sport a blush under his mask. you’ll feel a slight churn in your stomach (not a bad one) because— he sounds so familiar.

you go back home— feeling giddy because he finally spoke to you— yes he’s talked to you before but— they weren’t sentences. they were small ‘be safe’s and ‘watch out’s.

you immediately call up izuku, needing to talk to someone about this. and he’s trying to hide his blush as you compliment the hero, as you compliment him.

it’s a dim, snowy day that he saves you, again. it’s cold and your lips were chapped because the air was dry.

once again, you find yourself in an alleyway. surrounded by ‘villains’.

he, of course, saves you. just like the last time.

“you might need to become a homebody,” he jokes, he’s frustratingly concerned.

“that’d be no fun, how else would i see you?”

where the hell did that come from? that really wasn’t a ‘you’ thing to say.

pls the way you left— you got so embarrassed omg

as soon as you were at home, you, once again, called izuku!! and he went to your house an hour after.

he listened to you rant about how you embarrassed yourself in front of deku and how you could never face him again. you said “i’d rather be shanked by a villain than face him again. i can’t believe i said that.”

you were hot with embarrassment and honestly felt the urge to cry (or is that just a me thing?)

“it wasn’t embarrassing, plus, i’d rather you not shank yourself because of me.”

“what?”

i’m sorry if this wasn’t what you were hoping for <//3

[taralen]

Wowee, five days late, but here is my April Fool's Day picture! What's the joke here? Well, that's the joke! There isn't one at all except for one foolish woman's endeavors.

This is a drawing of my Addison lady, Thetalan (aka Theta), loosely based on the Fool Card of a tarot deck.

During the 1990s, Theta was a naive White Addison lady who fell deeply in love with Spamton G. Spamton, the BIG SHOT himself! Years before he burst into stardom, the two had a chance encounter in 1993 when Spamton was still building his wealth. While Theta was working at a sports arena on her first day, Spamton approached her stand to buy beer for him and his friend. However, he noticed her lack of training and, as a small gesture of kindness, showed her how to properly pour a beer from the tap before handing her a generous $20 tip. This encounter embedded into her very SOUL; Theta never forgot him, and her adoration for him grew into unconditional love in the years that followed.

Like the fabled sun in their world without one, she gazed upon his visage in awe and often said, "Someday, I want to be just like him and shine brightly above the city lights!"

Despite her best efforts, he rose higher and higher while she remained nothing more than a regular Addison. However, this did not stop her from believing that someday they would surely talk again!

Thoughts of love swirled in her mind, inspiring her to write him many poems, but she never had the courage to mail them. Then, one day in 1997, Spamton announced the opening of a dedicated PO box to send him fan letters with the possibility of reading his favorite ones on TV. This was her chance to finally get him to acknowledge her love for all to witness!

She rushed to her desk and poured all her devotion onto the paper, confessing every thought and feeling she had since their initial encounter. With a heart-shaped seal, she sent the love letter off, praying that he would find hers, remember that small moment they shared, and let all of CYBER WORLD and the neighboring Dark Worlds know how much he meant to her.

Every episode of the SPAMTON LOVE NETWORK sent her heart pounding. Surely there would come the day he'd find hers in all those piles of fan letters? She never gave up hope and believed he would read hers one day!

However, by 1998, Spamton's sales and net worth declined. The SPAMTON LOVE NETWORK was canceled in 1999 when a mysterious health condition robbed him from going on stage again. Crestfallen, Theta sobbed, knowing she'd never hear her "prince" announce her words of love. She prayed from the core of her SOUL, hoping he read her letter despite everything and kept it close to his heart.

[zzprompto]

hi ! I hope this isn't too much 😭 I'm the same anon as before and I loved the ignis fic so much it made me cry a bit /extremely pos

I was thinking if you could do another one of the reader meeting ignis for the first time after he became blind, and how ignis would act? also the reader worrying about him and comforting him

thank you sm in advance I love your writings so much 😭

im so glad you enjoyed it! ofc i can write you some more :)

☆ together

ignis scientia x male reader [he / him]

sypnosis: above.

the lowercase is intentional !

- slight episode ignis spoilers and mentions of fighting & injuries.

fighting, bloodshed and chaos. those words accurately described what had happened at altissia a few days ago. a day that many, such as [name], had never experienced before in their lives.

yet, everything seemed like it just happened in a flash. [name] barely remembered what happened, it was almost as if he was not present during the event. unfortunately, he was. he absent mindedly witnessed such tragedy.

it had been a few days since the group had been truly together. the group consisting of gladio, ignis, noctis, prompto and [name] had been all seperated after the fight, but they luckily all found eachother in the end. even if that meant that half of them were gravely injured.

noctis had gotten gravely injured, and so had ignis. nobody had spoken to noctis yet as he was still knocked out, and similarly so for ignis.

ignis had used the powers contained within the ring of lucii to try and defeat ardyn. however, he didn't know the consequences it would bring. he had scarred the left side of his face and he had gone blind. it was horrible, something nobody imaged would happen to a person like ignis. yet, ignis risked everything just to make sure his friends were safe.

[name] was anxiously sitting outside of the room where ignis was resting. the man hadn't seen how ignis looked like yet, he was just waiting outside whilst biting his nails out of nervousness.

[name] was scared, and saying he was scared was truly an understatement. he was terrified, really. he doesn't know what has happened to the man he cares about the most, the man he loves the most. it was unbearable just sitting there waiting on the floor. too unbearable.

a few footsteps caught the attention of [name]'s ears and a door opening. then, someone cleared their throat to alert [name] and it was none other than gladio.

"you can go see him now, he's awake." gladio said, his voice hoarse. it was different to how he usually sounded, [name] noted. this was definitely taking a toll on gladio, and everyone for that matter. everything that had happened those few days ago was affecting everyone.

[name] immediately stood up and nodded at gladio before rushing into the room. he couldn't wait a second longer to see ignis, or what had happened to ignis. [name] knew he had to brace himself for what he was about to see, because it could be rather unsettling. luckily for him, it wasn't.

[name] walked into the room and his eyes immediately scanned the room. every wall, every corner and every surface was looked at before [name]'s eyes finally met ignis' face.

"ignis.." [name] whispered out loud, taking a few, small steps forward towards the man he had just mentioned. [name] then finally got to the bed ignis was laying on and he crouched down besides it.

"hey." [name] continued to whisper. "are you alright? are you feeling any pain?" [name] asked, gently stroking one of ignis' palms. he was being as careful and as gentle as he could possibly be to not injure him any more than he already was.

ignis groaned a little before he sat up on the bed, rubbing his eyes and staring into practically nowhere. "i'm alright, just a little sore." ignis sighed, trying to make his injuries seem better than they actually were. in reality, they were worse. that fight with ardyn, using the ring, it hurt like hell. it didn't help that ignis could no longer see anything, not even [name], anymore.

"that's good." [name] hummed, his voice gentle, just like his touch. he tried to be as soothing as he could be, if that was even possible. he wanted to make sure ignis was okay, but it didn't seem like that was really the case.

ignis sighed again and he closed his eyes. it wasn't as if it made a difference anyway, his vision had gone and his whole world was shrouded in darkness - just like eos' fate.

"actually, i'm not alright." ignis admitted. his voice was unusually quiet, and shaky. [name] was starting to get worried - this wasn't the ignis he knew.

"i can't see, [name]." ignis confessed, his voice growing more and more shaky as he continued to speak. it was as if he was on the verge of tears, getting ready to cry at any given moment.

[name] looked at ignis a little confused. "of course you can't see.. your eyes are closed, ignis." [name] replied, trying not to laugh at his comment.

"no, [name]." ignis sighed again, a small frown on his face. he then opened his eyes and tilted his head towards [name]. "i can't see, [name]. i've gone blind." ignis admitted.

[name] was now in a state of panic and confusion. he didn't understand. how did such a thing happen? ignis could see without his glasses.. but now he had gone totally blind?

unbeknownst to [name], ignis had used the ring of lucii to try and fight ardyn. it led to him gaining a scar on his face, and his loss of vision. the power was too much for him that it deteriorated his eyesight and painted his skin with a memory he'll never forget.

"i.. got myself into a fight with ardyn trying to protect noct." ignis explained, trying his best to keep his composure and look strong infront of [name]. "i used the ring's power, [name]. it was too much and this is how i ended up." ignis shook his head. he didn't enjoy the situation he was in, but he would live with it no matter what.

"oh.." [name]'s voice dropped along with his face. he couldn't believe what he had just heard. he didn't even know that ignis had gotten into a fight with ardyn. why did he not know sooner? ignis was meant to be the man he loved, and cherished, and cared for but he didn't even know that the other had been seriously injured.

"ignis, i'm.. i'm sorry." [name] mumbled, letting go of ignis' hands. he then burried his face into his own hands, feeling as if he was about to cry. he couldn't believe such a thing had happened, and all he could do was apologise for something he hadn't done.

"[name], it's alright." ignis frowned as he felt the mood shift suddenly. he knows he shouldn't of dropped something so heavy, but [name] was bound to find out anyway. "i'll get used to it. it's fine." ignis sighed. in reality, it wasn't fine. nothing was fine about this situation, but ignis just wanted [name] to stop worrying.

[name] shook his head, biting his lip whilst he was at it too. none of this was fine, when ignis said it was fine he lied. how could [name] trust him now? everything was going to be so different, [name] couldn't help but worry. he had to worry for himself and ignis, there was nothing else he could do.

"it's not alright, ignis. i know you don't think this is alright, you yourself said earlier you were alright then you lied." [name] spoke, his voice cracking as it filled with various different emotions. he felt so distressed, yet angry, yet worried at the same time. he was so confused. why wasn't he there for ignis?

ignis felt the area around him before he grabbed [name]'s hand and held it close to him. "yes, i'm afraid you're right. i'm not alright, [name]. i'm far from it." ignis admitted, feeling vulnerable speaking about his emotions so openly.

"i'm scared, terrified even. i don't want to live the rest of my life in darkness. i won't be able to see you, or the others anymore. i won't be able to cook or drive the regalia." ignis started to break down, letting all of his emotions flow as he spoke to [name]. "i'm useless now, [name]. my lost vision had made me useless." ignis sighed.

[name] shook his head and he gripped onto ignis' hand tightly to try and somewhat reassure him. "no, no ignis. you're not useless." [name] said, frowning as he heard how negative ignis was about himself and his situation. "you're far from it, being blind doesn't make you useless! we'll get through this, ignis. i'll help you, ignis. i'll do everything i can to help you." [name] continued, practically on the verge of sobbing.

"[name], it would be pointless." ignis mumbled, still thinking of himself as useless because of this situation. he didn't believe that anything good could come out of this situation. "my vision won't magically come back if you help me, and nothing good will come from this!" ignis groaned.

then, [name] cut off ignis with a kiss. he couldn't take ignis speaking of himself so negatively. it hurt him too much to hear the love of his life speaking so negatively about himself. he couldn't stand it, and he wouldn't stand it one bit.

"ignis." [name] stated as he pulled away from the kiss, brushing a few stray hairs out of ignis' face. "you are far from useless, and me helping you won't be pointless." the male continued, doing his best to reassure ignis.

"we'll get through this together." [name] carried on speaking as he slid onto the bed to lay next to ignis. "no matter what, we'll always be together. i'll guide you until we're old, help you navigate the world when all you see is darkness." [name] hummed, speaking more and more sweet promises into ignis' ear.

[name] carefully traced the scar that was under ignis' eye. it was so beautiful that it looked natural on ignis. [name] loved it already.

"ignis, i love you. i'll love you no matter what. if you're blind, unable to get out of bed, or even unable to do anything. i'll always love you." [name] whispered into ignis' ear before placing a kiss on ignis' scar.

"it's me and you, together forever. you got that?" [name] smiled, placing a few more kisses along ignis' face. he wouldn't stop, even if ignis asked him to. he loved him too much to ever stop loving him.

ignis sighed, giving up all of his protesting now. he wouldn't even try to stop [name], because he knew [name] wouldn't stop if he asked.

"fine, yes. it's us together, always." ignis smiled himself, leaning into [name]'s touches and kisses. he didn't want this feeling to stop, ever. he wanted to truly stay with [name] forever and for as long as possible.

"now that you said that, i'm never letting you go." [name] chuckled to himself, leaning in and making himself comfortable against ignis' chest. "we're staying by eachothers side no matter what."

it was true, [name] never let go of ignis. the two faced the impossible and [name] did whatever it took to help ignis face the darkness he was surrounded it. the two stayed by eachother's sides, together, forever.

☆ author's note : i hope you liked it, anon :) i really enjoy writing for final fantasy characters so keep the requests coming! im sorry this took a bit longer, i'll try get more requests done near the holiday time.

☆ requests ▪︎ masterlist

[petalkitshadow]

I’m terrified of the fall out of this when it comes to Petalpaw’s reputation in the clan. Obviously the emotional toll/grief is gonna be rough, but on top of that she basically has no support system now. Her little siblings are going to need her support, not the other way around, and they’re her only remaining kin. I don’t trust Petalpaw’s new friends to not turn on her after this either, so they’re out as well. (Although I’m very open to being wrong about that, bc I really loved their dynamic in the previous chapter!) There’s also only two surviving witnesses, one of them being Petalpaw herself, and having been caught in the position she was in (and being Maple’s bio daughter), I’m extremely worried that Petalpaw is going to be framed as responsible for Appledusk and Reedshine’s deaths. Reedshine, the one cat who would definitely 100% defend her and explain what really happened is dead. I know Perchpaw ends up okay, but I’m worried that his grief over Appledusk and his tail are going to lead to him acting out and blaming Petalpaw as well. He’s like her only hope and I love him so much… he’s so well written… but I do not trust him at all. The only character who I’m sure will support Petalpaw is Eeltail, but only emotionally as she wasn’t a witness. And even then, poor girl is already going have her paws full dealing with Petal’s younger orphaned siblings. This also makes the warrior name Petalshade go from super cool to absolutely soul-shattering, and I’m super excited to find out what the in-universe justification for that is going to be.

Apologies for the super long ramble, I’m just so invested in this fic, and I wanted to share how much it’s rattling around in my mind. I’m terrified. You are an evil genius /pos

thank you <3 <3!! I love getting long messages and hearing peoples thoughts, it means a ton to me when people want to engage with the story i'm telling!!

I am super excited to write Petalpaw and Perchpaw's development going forward. Both of them mean a ton to me and I think this event plus their development is like getting to see what they're really made of!

I am also excited to explore the seasonings for their names. I put a lot of thought into the suffixes they got, even though theyre both "legacy" names i still wanted them to have meaning and represent the characters theyre given to.

I thought maybe Perchshine being named after Reedshine, as well as the timeline being shifted so her kits were born BEFORE maple's return, would make it kinda obvious she was going to die... but based on peoples reactions, i guess not!! LOL the response to the latest chapter has been overwhelming in a good way. I'm so glad everybody seems to have liked it! like I said, the original draft of it was the first thing I wrote for PkS, late last year, so I've been sitting on it for a while now. I didn't think I'd ever actually get this far in writing a story. The support from everybody has really helped, getting feedback and having readers engage with the story really motivated me to keep making more, I can't thank you all enough!! i became very nervous to kill Reedshine (even though i've had it planned since the very start) since she was a definite favorite among readers... hopefully her sendoff did her justice!

If it's any consolation, I imagine now she's taking care of Patchkit and Larchkit in StarClan while watching over Petalpaw and her other kits. She can finally have the quiet, uneventful life she wanted (and deserved, tbh!)

but yes, again, thank you everybody who has taken the time to give my fic a chance, i really appreciate it <3 <3

[kairiscorner]

Hello and goodevening po!! Can I ask for a Miles x Gn!Filipino!Reader where the two have been bsfs since like middle school and they've just started dating and one day reader's family invites him over for dinner where they serve adobo and pork sinigang, and him and the parents are just casually talking while the little siblings are being complete chismosas abt y'all and stuff and when your finally only with him in your room and everything is romantic your brothers are lit just stalking y'all and suddenly teasing you and your just chasing them out embarassed 😭

(Aaah i'm really writing this in the notes app for practice bcs this is my first request but i just can't get this out of my head 😭😭😭, also pls take your time on this time, don't need to rush and gl on that miguel fanfic!! <33)

AH HI !! DWDW, thank you btw <:DD (mgee it's just sitting in my gdocs collecting dust LOL) BUT GOOD LUCK WITH WRITING THAT TOO ON YOUR END, I HOPE YOU LIKE WHAT I MADE <333

(reblogs are greatly appreciated, it helps get my content out there! if you guys like what you see, please reblog it too <:D)

gonna admit it? miles x gn!filipino!reader

summary: you and miles are just really good friends, but your family wishes you two were a little more than that–and your siblings are eager to witness how in love you both are with each other. word count: 1,184

you invited miles over for dinner, which was common practice in your family's household. he wasn't any stranger to this custom, in fact, he treated your family as if they were his own. he got along with your parents quite well, calling them 'tio' and 'tia' and extending his hand out to them to receive their blessing. he was who your parents wanted for you, a decent guy who was respectful, cheerful, helpful and loving–but you and miles swore there was nothing going on between you two.

"i just really care about them a lot, tio, tia." he said as he got himself another bowl of adobo. you pretended to gag as you got yourself a pork sinigang, which miles rolled his eyes and smirked at. you two had this silly little rivalry between you two where all friendships would be forgotten when adobo and sinigang were on the table; he always chose adobo, and you always chose sinigang–never the other way around. your parents chuckled to each other and shot a devious look at you and asked you if you and miles weren't lying, to which you chortled out your response. "siyempre naman po, i'd never pick a boy who'd choose adobo over sinigang, no..." you muttered as miles made a yapping motion with his hand that mocked your expression as you spoke, eliciting laughter from your younger siblings as he laughed along silently with them.

you shot them an intimidating look and kicked miles lightly in the shin to get him to stop being so smug as your parents smiled to themselves, finishing their meals as you and miles still bickered in a friendly way on how adobo and sinigang are better than the other. you loved miles, apart from his–what you believed–very twisted way on taking the adobo versus sinigang debate, and was extremely happy to be his friend. you have known miles ever since middle school, and since then, you two have never been anywhere without the other. most of your friends had shipped you and him together, going on and on about how cute of a couple you two would be.

your family was obviously no stranger to this incessant pairing between you two, and you were relieved they liked miles enough to treat him like he was family, but you absolutely hated how annoying they got whenever you mentioned him or they saw your posts on instagram with him in the pictures. like tonight, your parents kept asking you subtly (and not so subtly) for hints between you two, if you two changed your minds and were secretly dating now, or...? well, you didn't have to think about your answer too much, because the answer was the same as always: siyempre, hindi.

your parents pretended to believe you as you and miles were going to head upstairs to your room to just hang out, your dad stopped miles on the way and reminded him not to do anything stupid with you, and shot you a look of warning, as well, as your mother chimed in and told you the living room was a better option to 'hang out'. you tried telling your parents nothing weird or dangerous would happen anyway, while miles poked fun at you from behind to entertain your little siblings–making silly faces behind your back as you spoke.

you turned around quickly as soon as your parents finally let you and miles go, smiling a little at miles' funny faces. you rolled your eyes at him as you took him by the hand and dragged him up along the stairs. your little siblings followed you two up without you knowing, and they were giggling to themselves as they snooped around and watched you two, hoping you two would finally kiss.

you and miles just sat on tour bed together, not really doing much but just teasing each other. miles really refuses to let go on his love for adobo, and you refuse to let down your stance that sinigang is superior. amid your friendly argument, you started to tickle miles to get him to let up his side. miles cried out for you to stop tickling him through peals of laughter as you laughed alongside him and tickled him even more. your siblings were watching you both by the door and squealing in delight to themselves as they took out their phones to film and capture this moment, while also debating on which ship name would be better for you two.

your tickle fight with miles wasn't one-sided, as miles tickled you back with full force, causing you to squeal out in laughter as you tried to subdue him. your siblings watched the whole scene unfold, and their hopes that you two would get closer was fulfilled when miles accidentally got on top of you as his tickling got a little out of hand. you both quit tickling each other and laughing as you were both now face-to-face with each other so up close. "i... i can, um, sorry. i-i'll get off now." miles stuttered in embarrassment as he tried to get off you, but you held him by the shoulders and gently pulled him back down closer to you. "huwag, ah... please stay." you pleaded with him as your face felt hotter as you pulled him closer.

miles smiled as he got more flustered in the face and did as you asked him to. "alright, but you'll admit adobo is better, right?" he asked you in a teasing voice as you cursed him out playfully and smacked him lightly on the arm. your siblings couldn't handle it anymore and squealed loudly as you two got closer. they screamed in utter delight at how adorable you two looked, and as you heard them, you momentarily got off from under miles and creaked the door open slowly as your siblings celebrated your admission of feelings towards him--well, almost admission of feelings, at least.

you coughed loudly, which made your siblings turn to face you slowly, as a raging fire was kindled up in your eyes, you screamed at them and told them to hand you their phones and never to speak of what they witnessed to any living soul, ever. "SINASABI KO SA INYO, MUMULTUHIN KO KAYO, KAHIT PAG PATAY NA AKO, 'PAG PINAKITA NINYO SA KAHIT SINO YAN, HUMANDA KAYO SAKIN!" you exclaimed as your siblings ran away from you, with miles poking his head out the door as he watched you hunt down your siblings and see them begging for mercy from you as you waved your slippers around to scare them even more. he chuckled as he leaned against the door frame, calling out to them, "hey, send me the videos and pics! i gotta have a copy of them!"

you berated miles from a distance as you kept threatening your siblings never to tell your parents or anyone about what they saw. though miles doesn't mind if anyone else knew about you two like that... he'd like to know from you yourself how much further this 'friendship' between you two will go.

[house-on-sand]

!!!

any comic you read recently that has been on your mind and you'd like to talk about?

YES ACTUALLY A FEW!

are you scared of darkseid? (2021)

its a halloween one-shot ft. damian n the titans! it's a silly little collection of "spooky" stories they're telling each other while they're out camping (presumably damian's idea) and its genuinely so cute? + the way the titans all vibe together is great & the stories are all pretty great! the first one feature harley quinn and darkseid akshsksv hunting down bloody mary & then the last one is rlly spooky, it's about clark n lois helping locate missing twins who are the kids of one of clark’s childhood friends & they find them at this weird house where a guy is like. finding people / kids to bring to his "wife" so it can drain them of their lives and the "wife" almost drains superman its so wild

my favourite story from it tho was kid flash's! it was rlly intriguing and i wish it was a full story somewhere. basically there was this set of stairs and a man who would come down them to bring people (usually anomalies) home as he told them. he leads a whole town of people away bc they've been exposed to magic and they're changing n stuff so it's not necessarily safe for them to be around and idk it's such a good story it had me gripped man

the question (1986) issues 9-11

idk man i can't think of what i want to say about these ones or the series as a whole other than it drives me fucking insane /pos

these ones were really good bc it kinda shows a different side of vic almost? like he's really self aware about how his friendship w tot was up until that point kind of one sided? in the sense that he knew hardly anything abt tot whereas like tot did know quite a bit about him! + yknow kind of aided in him becoming the question (provided the artifical skin stuff that makes him look faceless among other things!) so it was just really cool to see an arc where he went after him after tot had been kidnapped

+ the bad guy for it was? wild? he was trying to witness a miracle of like alchemy or whatever bc he thought it would change his soul essentially so he wasn't such an awful person anymore. and its kind of vaguely implied at the end that it did work

can't remember the issues exactly but booster gold (2007)!!!

the lengths he was willing to go to so he could bring ted back was so :(

even when rip tried to teach him that sometimes time really is set in stone and you can't change things, he still ended up going back to save ted (granted it was part of a whole Evil Plan and he didn't know that at the time but still)

like rip sent him back to the day that babs was shot, claiming it was never supposed to happen and it was one of the anomalies they were supposed to fix together, bc they both knew that ted cared about babs a lot! (granted pretty sure they only met after she became oracle but whatever) and booster tries so hard again and again, pretty much getting tortured by the joker just bc he's trying to keep this person who his person cares about so much from being hurt. even when it's so clear he can't change it! bc it's cemented in time and they world needs oracle! he still tries. to the point that rip finally has to stop him bc booster is hurt so badly and the booster is so fucking angry and hurt and he doesn't totally get why things have to be this way and he's angry with rip for lying to him and telling him if he helps fix time then they can go save ted and booster would have his best friend back its UGH

people don't understand how much booster gold cares! even in universe sometimes! no one can see past his outward persona n stuff to see that he cares so big and he was willing to fuck up TIME bc he wanted to save his best friend bc he didn't think he should've died! nd yes sometimes how big he cares n loves goes badly (once again fucking up time) and it hurts! ted knew what had to he done and knew he needed to die in order for things to be okay again and booster was so desperate to find some way around it. all signs pointed to that being the only answer but he didn't want to see it.

i also wanna talk about how rip hunter seems put out and annoyed by booster n their relationship is pretty difficult but he cares! bc that's his fucking dad! even though booster doesn't know that and can't know that (at least not yet), he's rip's dad!!

after everything with ted is resolved and he knows how badly booster is taking that n how shit he's gotta be feeling, rip surprises him with someone booster thought was gone forever!! rip was able to save michelle, booster's twin sister!! and they were both so happy to see each other (she was dead for booster, he thought she was dead forever) & one of their first adventures together involves them stealing babs' batgirl costume aksgakvsjs with michelle posing as batgirl (originally when i saw the preview image in the issue before it i thought it was BOOST dressed up as batgirl and i LOVED that, that's what we deserved)

^^ the aforementioned image. genuinely had my hopes up i thought it'd be fun tbh i loved the idea of him trying and failing to convince people he is in fact batgirl

OH AND!

alfred straight up tries to shoot him and michelle ajakbsksb that's the context for this panel if you've eever seen it before. boost n michelle break into the batcave bc their plan a was for them to steal the batsuit n boost was gonna pose as batman (terrible plan) but things go terribly terribly wrong. they do end up stealing the batmobile! which leads to a very confused dick coming down into the cave wondering if bruce left without him.... at day time.

still not over how down alfred was with potentially maiming these people who found and broke into the batcave like i get it i do but on god if it isn't a little funny. like my boss might not kill people but i sure will lmao

booster does end up posing as killer moth. and dressing like elvis bc somehow that was a good disguise to him

[kunikinnie]

a/n: HAPPY BIRTHDAY FUKUZAWA i finally did something for someone's birthday humaygahd

Fukuzawa Yukichi SFW Alphabet

A - AU (Random AU here, so like domestic, prince, vampire, etc.)

obvious and highly inaccurate but just let me have this one HAHAHAH

Samurai AU where Fukuzawa falls in love with one of the daimyo’s children. OR he falls in love with a rival samurai. I think both would be fun :3

When I was writing this I originally wrote about the neighbor AU but I’m actually writing it out rn so ye

B - Best Friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

You’d definitely be the one to approach first, even if you met due to work, so even if you’re already “friends” it will take time and effort to truly be his un/official “best friend”. Intrigue and annoy him enough and he might give in to you. With this man, perseverance is key. Once he tolerates your shenanigans that’s when you know you’re close.

He’ll certainly be the “exhausted because of this idiot but they’re MY idiot” sort of friend. Not quite the parent type of friend, more like the personification of the good side of your consciousness type. You can poke fun at him but fortunately (or unfortunately, if you’re looking for fun) he doesn’t react much at all. What is fun though is that you’re the only one who knows and witnesses the embarrassing stuff he does .

C - Cuddles (Cuddler? Not a cuddler? Maybe a cuddler? How would they cuddle?)

He’s not that big on physical affection, so I wouldn’t say he’s a cuddler. He’ll big spoon for you if you ask him to. BUT when he initiates it and/or doesn’t let you go longer than you’d expect, that’s when you know he’s subtly letting his heart out and saving it from breaking into a million pieces. Big spoon for him during those moments and he can’t thank you enough.

D - Dance (Do they like to dance with you? How good of a dancer are they?)

No. Cannot and will not. Although you might be able to convince him; it just really depends on the reason and the mood. If it’s something romantic then he’ll actually try his best.

E - Excitement (How do they act when they’re excited? What excites them?)

He’s not that excitable even when it comes to things he does like. The most is he’ll be more open and enthusiastic in sharing his thoughts about the subject, but if you’re observant enough you’ll see his eyes light up and there’s a hidden smile throughout your discussion. Point it out and he’ll get quite flustered. Fukuzawa likes talking about books he finds interesting as well as some history, and of course, cats.

F - Films (What kind of movies would they like? Theaters or Netflix?)

He can enjoy most films but he prefers those with some reflective aspect to them. They’re usually better visually and it’s just his nature to “not waste his time on mindless things.” Definitely prefers theaters, but watching it at home with you is alright as well.

Oh, and maybe he avoids action/spy/assassin-themed films. It triggers memories he’d rather forget.

G - Group Mates (how are they as a group mate?)

He’s… perfectly average. Doesn’t complain, doesn’t say much, usually attends meetings. His skill set is pretty general too. Whether it’s researching, writing, or even presenting, he can accomplish all those satisfactorily. He’ll do anything he sees as necessary, even leading the group if it comes to that, except anything that has to do with art or designing stuff. Big no no for him.

H - Hugs (How would they hug you? Is it common for them to hug you?)

He doesn’t hug that often, except for every single night before the two of you go to bed. Most of the time he communicates through his eyes or small touches whenever he wants something, so if he’s in the romantic mood, he’ll first grab one of your hands and lightly squeeze it, gazing at your eyes all the while, before gently pulling you into a tight hug from the front.

I - Injury (How do they react if you get injured?)

Regardless of the reason or situation, he’ll maintain his calm and address your injury as quickly as possible. It’s never a good idea to let your emotions get the better of you – or so he says.

Unfortunately if even the slightest blame can be put on you, he’ll be furious at you. How could you endanger yourself like that?! Thankfully the anger dies out quickly and he apologizes for raising his voice like that at you, before locking you in a tight hug and whispering that he loves you so much and just can’t bear to lose you.

J - Jealous (Would they ever get jealous? How would they act if they were jealous?)

He’s the type to not realize he’s jealous until someone calls him out on it. It starts out so subtle: he’s a little worried about this person around you, which is, he says, totally a normal thing to worry about, and then more intrusive thoughts pop up when this person lingers around you longer than they should.

Yet he wouldn’t do much about it. You can handle it yourself, right? He’ll observe everything about your interactions with that person – only to make sure they don’t harm you, he claims – and will only intervene if he feels it to be necessary.

It’s actually not that difficult to tell – at least to you. He suddenly sulks a little more often and tries to be more affectionate: sure signs that he’s feeling a little insecure about your relationship.

K - Kisses (How would they kiss you? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Fukuzawa prefers slow and soft kisses on the lips. It’s intimate and encompassing of all that he feels for you and even what you feel for him. Again he’s not that physically affectionate so kisses are rare, which is why when they do happen he’d like them to be a little bit more special.

L - Little Ones (How are they around kids? Do they want a family?)

He’s gentle and more soft-spoken around them, but given how he doesn’t like to socialize much, caring for younger kids drains him quickly.

A younger Fukuzawa would definitely not want to start a family. It’s not that he hates children at all – in fact he can’t help but smile when he hears genuine laughter from them – but given his profession and his doubt in his parenting skills, he would avoid having to take responsibility in caring for a child.

But once Ranpo comes around (or if you convince him enough), he might give in if you try. Soon he’s taking care of many lost children that at this point, what’s another addition?

M - Memory (Favorite memory together?)

It would definitely be one of your vacations alone together at the beach. There’s a unique serenity to it that he finds worth going over and over again.

Maybe it’s in how the air smells fresher – far from the urban musk of Yokohama – or how the sun seems brighter –was it just how much you smiled the entire time? Regardless, being able to actually enjoy himself and be far from the usual worries makes every moment feel new. Earth’s blessings, you included, make themselves bare and welcomed him to appreciate its beauty in its totality. If only that peace could last for the rest of his days…

N – Nicknames (What do they call you, and what are their favorite things to be called?)

He just calls you by your first name, and he expects that from you as well (save for the added honorific like -kun or even -chan). You can get away with calling him something super embarrassing but please do not do so in public.

O - Obvious (How obvious do they make it that they like you?)　

He hides it well. It’s almost scary. One would have to know him extremely well AND be around him very often to notice any change in his demeanor.

But if for any reason he has to be a little bit more obvious without being too obvious, then that’s when he’ll fail miserably. It’s his natural tendency to hide his true feelings so letting them out “naturally” will be a huge challenge for him. Please be patient with this poor guy.

P - Photographs (Are they into documenting your relationship? What kind of pics would they take? candids? posed? funny?)

He’s not much into taking pictures except on very important occasions. But there are moments where the setting and lighting are just perfect – that’s when he’ll tell you he’d like to take a picture of you. I don’t see him taking candid photos because he feels that’s inappropriate, but he doesn’t have a preference for the poses you do. The only sort of picture that he’s still not good at taking is selfies. You’ll have to do it for the two of you.

Q - Quizzes (How much would they remember about you?)

Unfortunately due to how busy he is, he tends to forget some facts and stories about you, including those you’ve told him yourself. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you or doesn’t try to show it, it’s just that he worries about a lot of things that other things can get lost somewhere in between. Feel free to tell him again though, he’ll be more than happy to (re)learn anything about you.

R - Romance (How romantic are they? What are their go-to ways of being romantic?)

It’s a little weird with Fukuzawa. Some of his acts are extremely romantic, while others barely hover above platonic. Sometimes it’s intentional, sometimes it’s not. Perhaps it’s because he’s not used to being vocal about his affections that he’s not sure how to gauge himself.

His favorite romantic act is giving you flowers from the largest bouquet to the daintiest single flower. It’s perfect for all occasions, he thinks, and it’s easy to scale the gift based on the mood he’s trying to set. But the most rewarding times are when you expect it least – the smile on your face is unmatchable.

S - Sleep (What are their sleep habits?)

Before he sleeps, he has to read something. It doesn’t matter what it is (fiction or non-fiction books, the newspaper, heck even a frickin magazine) as long as it’s in print. He’ll also drink some sort of tea before bed (how he doesn’t wake up in the middle of the night to pee is a mystery).

He does have pajamas (yukatas) which he uses regularly. Falls asleep on his back but tosses and turns every now and then, but generally speaking he doesn’t move much at all. He prefers sleeping on a futon since that’s what he’s used to, so if his partner is okay with it then he’ll just sleep on an adjacent futon. But if his partner insists on a Western-style bed, then that’s okay too. Just no touching while sleeping – he likes a little personal space.

T - Try (how much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, everyday tasks?)

Here’s the thing: his “best effort” tends to look like the bare minimum if one is used to more “high effort” things. But trust me he’s really trying his best to show you that he loves you.

Fukuzawa shines best with the smaller dates over big ones or even simple everyday tasks. It’s special enough for the effort to bear fruit the most but not large enough to tire him out. The reason why he’s not as good with daily tasks is that he’s not meticulous like Kunikida, so he tends to skip out on things when he feels like he could.

U - Ugly (what would be some ugly habits of theirs?)

One would definitely be that he gets annoyed easily and that he’s not honest about his emotions at times, even to himself. It creates distance between the two of you (or really anyone for that matter). In the former, his outbursts usually come as unintentionally harsh words, and in the latter even if you can tell what he’s thinking, it’s hard to get him to do anything about it. He’s quite stubborn like that.

V - Victorious (Would they play games with you? What kind of games? Would they win?)

It’s canon he plays go, but I think he also plays hanafuda and a handful of other Western card games (not that he’s particularly good at those). Any board game that’s strategy-based and not too difficult to learn is right up his alley as well.

I’d say he’ll do quite well in games he’s already well-versed in (like go), and if he loses more than half the time his pride can’t take it and gets a little sulky.

X - (E)x (How do they handle exes? What do they do if they see them?)

If it’s his exes, he avoids them like the plague. For him if someone is out if his life then they’re out, out for good. Honestly, he’d rather not remember they even existed.

When it comes to yours, his reaction depends on your history with that ex. Did they hurt you in the past? Then he’ll be a bit wary of them (if you’re with him) and make sure you’re okay (both physically and mentally). If it ended amicably and they’re totally out of your mind, then he won’t say anything at all.

It’ll be a little different if he notices that there’s still something there, however. After a long internal debate (please read the jealousy portion) he’ll confront you about it in private.

Y - Yearning (What do they do when they miss you?)

He likes to look at small objects that remind him of you. Whether it’s a gift you bought him, vice versa, or a picture of you he keeps at his desk(s), he’ll stare at it longingly and reminisce internally about moments of your relationship he’s most fond of. Usually a few minutes of that is enough to satisfy him.

But if it’s that bad, he’ll be talking to cats about you. Yes. He talks to them. As he pets them he’ll either complain about how it’s been so long since he’s seen you or he’ll reminisce out loud.  He’d die from embarrassment if someone catches him so he only does it in deserted public spaces (or at home if you two happen to take care of any cats).

Z - Zodiac (What is their zodiac sign? Do they fit it to a T? Speaking of zodiac, how superstitious are they when it comes to love?)

a/n: I’m also a Capricorn but idk any of these HAHA

Some stereotypes of the Capricorn that could also apply to Fukuzawa are: being old-schooled, a workaholic, on the cold side, and highly disciplined. Based on what I’ve seen it looks like he pretty much encapsulates Capricorn energy except that he’s a little more grounded and less ambitious.

He doesn’t believe in this at all, however. Even if he’s head-over-heels in love with someone he wouldn’t check out their zodiac compatibility (unless someone else tells him – but still, he doesn’t really believe in it).

[melanielocke]

Stay away from my brother

This one is a sequel to He's how much older? because I thought Charles deserved what he gets here. Actually, he deserves far worse. Events of this are referenced in Lost of the Shadows but also inspired by events in CoI

Taglist: @alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer @foxglove-airmid @alastair-esfandiyar-carstairs1 @justanormaldemon @styxdrawings @ipromiseiwillwrite @a-dream-dirty-and-bruised @alastair-appreciation-month @writeordie-4 @amchara @ddepressedbookworm

Cw: Charles Fairchild, mentions of abuse, grooming, alcoholism

Alastair had finally broken up with Charles a couple of weeks ago, and Cordelia was happy for him. She knew it couldn’t have been easy. Breaking up with James hadn’t been easy either, but at least in her case she’d trusted him to accept and understand her decision. Charles had not.

So far, Jem didn’t know it was Alastair she’d asked help for, but he’d given her some good advice on how to help and be supportive. She’d given Alastair some space to figure it out by himself, and about a week after they’d first talked, Alastair had admitted to her that Charles was cruel to him. After another week Alastair had begun considering leaving Charles, but he wasn’t sure how. Another week, and he’d gone to Charles to break up, except the next day Alastair told her technically they weren’t broken up, Charles had convinced him to stay and he regretted it already. Ultimately, he’d sent a text message to break up with him and Cordelia had gone with him to talk to Charles one last time, witnessing Charles’ mind games firsthand. She understood then how Alastair had failed breaking up with Charles the first time.

Two weeks after the break up, Cordelia had found out about her father, what Alastair had kept hidden from her, and she was struggling to process that her father who claimed he loved her and told her she was beautiful was really an alcoholic who’d made her believe he was sick and needed her care. She understood an addiction, of course, it was an illness just as much as any other, but he’d lied to her, he’d pretended he was overcome with a sickness and he needed her when she’d wanted to leave. He’d refused any treatment and had instead let her mother and Alastair fix any problems his drinking caused.

Alastair had been through the worst of it, suffering through Father’s drunken moods and manipulation. They’d moved out with their mother and were staying with Risa for now. In a few weeks, she and Alastair would be leaving for Scotland to spend the summer with Lucie’s family. Cordelia was beyond excited, Father hadn’t wanted her to go on a vacation by herself yet, which honestly was odd because she would be with Lucie’s parents, it wasn’t as if she and Lucie were going with just the two of them. Now that they didn’t live with him anymore, her mother had told her she should go, and Lucie’s parents had offered to take Alastair as well. They all hoped some time away from the city would be good for him, the woods were said to be beautiful around there and Alastair was looking forward to taking long walks in the woods.

Today, she and Alastair were in the shopping center in London. While Alastair liked clothes, he’d never liked shopping in person much, mainly because he didn’t have friends to go with and hated when it was crowded. He usually bought his clothes online, but today he’d offered to accompany her. They’d been spending much more time together since Cordelia had learnt about Charles and their father and she felt like she was finally getting her brother back.

‘Which color do you think I should get these shorts in?’ Cordelia asked.

She’d tried them on and was glad to find something that fit her, with a mid sized, curvy body type it could be difficult to find trousers that had enough room in the hips. The store carried the shorts in her size in several colors, but she didn’t need more than one pair and had narrowed it down to two.

‘This one looks like it’s over twenty years old and all the color faded out of it,’ Alastair said, pointing at the bleached blue shorts.

‘That’s the point,’ Cordelia said.

She imagined Alastair might say something like that, he was not the kind of person who would be caught wearing ripped or bleached jeans, he usually looked perfectly put together.

‘It’s stupid,’ Alastair said. ‘The bright blue pair looks far better, you should get those.’

Cordelia decided to buy the bright blue shorts and they left the store together. Alastair wanted to take a look at some daggers in an antique weapon store a few streets away later, and Cordelia still needed to find a swimsuit.

‘Do you want to get ice cream?’ Cordelia asked, pointing at the ice cream shop across the street.

‘There’s too many people,’ Alastair said.

‘The line isn’t that long,’ Cordelia said.

‘I don’t mean the line, I mean in this street. In general.’

Alastair hated crowds and was generally annoyed when he was forced to be around this many people. He had a point that it was a busy street.

‘I can get us both something and you can wait at the bench over there,’ Cordelia suggested, pointing somewhere a little farther away where it wasn’t as crowded. She really wanted ice cream now and Alastair’s aversion to people wasn’t going to stop her.

‘Alright.’

‘What flavor do you want?’

‘Just pick something. Maybe a fruit flavor,’ Alastair said.

‘Last time I got you a fruit flavor and you didn’t like it,’ Cordelia pointed out.

‘Yes, I don’t like lemon. I thought you knew that. Any fruit flavor but lemon.’

Cordelia nodded and walked to the line for the ice cream shop while Alastair went to find someplace more quiet. She decided to get him blackberry favor, she was sure Alastair liked that one, and chose mango for herself. When she returned to join her brother, someone else had found him. Red hair, a navy business suit. Cordelia had met him only once, she’d gone with Alastair when he’d broken up with Charles. After Alastair had already broken up with him over text, Charles had demanded to speak to him. Cordelia hadn’t wanted him to go at all, but Charles had a way of getting inside his head, and in the end he’d asked her to come with him so he’d feel safer, so he would be sure Charles couldn’t manipulate him anymore.

What was he doing here? London was a big city, you’d think you could go shopping without running into Charles Fairchild.

‘Are you really going to let your sister drive us apart?’ Cordelia overheard Charles say. ‘You don’t know what you want.’

‘What I want is for you to leave me alone,’ Alastair said.

To anyone who didn’t know Alastair, he might seem fine, but it was as if he was trying to disappear into the bench, his voice was soft, he sounded scared. Cordelia briefly considered throwing her ice cream at Charles’ face but that would be a waste of perfectly good ice cream.

‘Charles, I thought you’d agreed too stay away from my brother,’ Cordelia said.

‘Haven’t you ruined enough, Cordelia?’ Charles said in that awful, superior tone of his. ‘It’s about time you learned not to meddle with other people’s lives.’

‘Excuse me?’ Cordelia said. ‘Alastair told you he wants you to leave him alone.’

Charles returned his attention to her brother. ‘Alastair, only a coward needs his little sister to rescue him.’

Alastair glared at Charles. ‘So you admit I was in need of rescue from you? Only an ass puts people into situations in which they need to be rescued at all.’

Charles was taken aback by Alastair’s sudden vehemence, yet remained determined. Cordelia wondered why he kept trying, Alastair had been very clear he wanted to be left alone, and she didn’t think Charles loved him exactly. He didn’t seem like he was going to leave, did he want Alastair back that badly? Did he think this was going to change Alastair’s mind? Cordelia decided it was time for drastic measures.

‘Charles, if you do not leave my brother alone, I will post about what you did on my twitter and Instagram,’ Cordelia said. ‘I have enough followers that I could spread the story far, and I’ll make sure your career is destroyed.’

Charles hesitated for a moment. Calculated. Cordelia wasn’t sure what her chances were at ruining his career if she followed through on her threat, but if she managed to spread the story, it would certainly have a negative impact on him. Charles seemed to reach the same conclusion, turned around and left. Alastair was still very stiff as Cordelia handed him his blackberry ice cream, which had begun to melt a little.

‘How did he find you?’ Cordelia asked as she began eating her ice cream.

‘I don’t know,’ Alastair said. ‘Maybe it was just a coincidence. He can’t have known I would be here, right?’

Cordelia didn’t know how either. How long had Charles been there? Had he only noticed Alastair as he was waiting here for her to return with their ice cream, or had he waited for longer until Cordelia was away and he could approach? Charles hated Cordelia and was possibly also scared of her. She had to admit to herself she was proud of that.

‘Please don’t write about what happened to me on your social media,’ Alastair said. ‘I find it difficult, to talk about it. I know many of your followers will be supportive, but some people will not. I’m not sure I am ready to deal with people accusing me of lying, or trying to ruin his life out of jealousy. I… I question myself a lot. Was he really that bad, wasn’t if my fault for being in a relationship with him at all. And I know people on the internet will be ready to judge without knowing anything about me.’

‘I understand. I would never post anything without your permission. But Charles doesn’t know that and since he’s so obsessed with his image, I figured threatening to ruin it would be effective.’

Alastair smiled faintly. ‘Thank you. Maybe someday I will write about it. But no matter when, the timing would never be right. Now is too early, and I can’t, but if I wait until Charles is running for prime minister, then people will say it’s very convenient timing.’

Cordelia imagined that would be difficult. Charles was very ambitious and wanted to be prime minister one day. It had to be terrifying if your creepy ex came to hold such a position of power.

I don’t know what to do. I just want him to leave me alone, but I’m also scared. What if he keeps coming after me? Or what if he gives up and instead finds another vulnerable teen boy?’

‘You’re not responsible for his behavior,’ Cordelia said, but she imagined it couldn’t be an easy idea, that it might happen to someone else and he was the only one who knew what Charles was really like.

‘Was there anything else you needed?’ Alastair asked. ‘I want to go home.’

[po-tato2]

Drarry HC: “Love You”

After the War, 

Harry says “I love you” super casually and to everyone. Every time he says bye to Ron, or Hermione, or Luna or Neville, there’s an “I love you” tacked onto the end because he wants his friends to know how much he appreciates them. And sometimes he’s haunted by the fact that death is so easy to achieve, and is desperate to have his last words to someone be “I love you”. 

And in eighth year, eventually, once he and Draco become good friends (because we all know they did), he tacks on little “love you”s his statements to Draco as well. 

Now, on the other hand, Draco NEVER says “I love you”. Even as a child, he very rarely received or gave that statement. It was usually said by his mother, and even then only whenever he was leaving for Hogwarts, or if something bad had happened. He got maybe four times from his father in his entire life. 

Which is why he is completely and TOTALLY thrown by Harry’s casual declarations of love. Of course, once they started becoming friends, he’d heard Harry say it to Weasel and Granger, but even then, he’d scoffed, reminding himself that Malfoys didn’t need love. And that he wasn’t worthy of Harry’s love anyways. 

But when Harry first says it to Draco, Draco’s throat goes dry, and his heart stops. He whips around, pausing from where he’d been leaving the common room. 

“What did you say to me, Potter?” 

Harry was confused. He hadn’t been Potter for a while now, and he didn’t know what he’d done to make Draco use it again. 

Not to mention, no one else had reacted like Draco did, so of course, Harry only furrowed his brows like an idiot, and repeated, “Uh, I said ‘love you’,” like it wasn’t a big deal at all, except it WAS a big deal, or at least to Draco it was. 

Which is why Draco fell silent, staring at Harry as if he’d seen a ghost, his pale face going ashen, then red. He turned and sped from the common room, disappearing in the blink of an eye, leaving Harry to stand dumbly, his mind working overtime. 

Of course, he went to Hermione, because who else would have an explanation? Fortunately, she was on the common room couch, and had witnessed the entire scene. Ron was also there, but he was playing chess, and had missed what happened entirely. 

Harry immediately walked over and plopped on the couch, throwing his legs on Ron’s lap because he was learning that casual affection wasn’t a bad thing.  

“I wonder what that was all about,” Harry pondered out loud, poking at the pawns on Ron’s chessboard. 

“Wonder what what was all about?” Ron muttered, prodding his bishop forward. 

Hermione was silent, waiting to hear how Harry described the incident. 

“I don’t know, Draco was leaving, and I told him bye, and I said ‘love you’ like I always do, and he got mad!” Harry dropped his head back onto the arm of the couch, staring at the ceiling of the eighth year’s common room, contemplating the mysterious reaction, that just didn’t make any sense, none at all. 

“No you don’t,” Ron said, suddenly sitting up, paying attention. “Mate, you only say that me and ‘Mione, and a couple of other people.” 

Hermione was silent, watching over the top of her book. 

Harry scrunched his eyebrows together, clearly doing his best to think. “Are you sure? I mean, I say it to all my friends, and Draco’s my friend.” 

Hermione snorted, and to Harry’s surprise, Ron laughed out loud. “Come on, mate, we’re not blind.” 

“What are you talking about?” Harry asked, sitting up and taking his legs off Ron’s lap, seriousness suddenly taking over his face. 

Hermione finally spoke up, since Ron was laughing again, and didn’t seem inclined to stop soon. “Harry, it’s really rather obvious how you feel, I mean, practically everyone has caught on.” 

Harry flushed red, refusing to think about the implications of what she was saying. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Draco’s my friend just like you guys!” 

Ron pretended to wipe tears from his eyes, saying, “Unless you’ve got a secret want to snog me, then no, he’s not.” 

“I-I do not want to snog him!” Harry stammered, his heart suddenly hammering for reasons he wasn’t sure of.

Ron stood up, stretching, Hermione following suit. “Well he sure wants to snog you, Harry. And I’m quite sure you’d like to do it back. You should do some thinking on that.” Hermione tugged on Ron’s sleeve, leading him to the common room door. 

Harry tried to stutter back a response, but they were gone before he could say anything, and he suddenly found himself alone, with the thought of kissing Draco rapidly taking over his mind. 

Of course I don’t want to snog Draco, those two don’t know what they’re talking about. It’s not like I would want his kiss his silly face anyways! What with those pink lips, and those silver eyes staring at me, and the long eyelashes, and his soft, blond hair. 

Harry sighed out loud, his daydream getting away from him rather quickly. 

It’s not like I would ever want to press him up against a wall, and tangle my fingers through his hair, the hair that falls over his eye sometimes, and run my hands over his jaw and cheekbones, and leave bruises on that pretty, elegant, pale neck that’s just begging for my lips to suck on it- 

Harry blinked. Cutting off his train of thought. 

Oh. 

Oh no. 

Part Two here: https://po-tato2.tumblr.com/post/640700577945403392/drarry-hc-love-you-pt2 

[nikki-writes-stuff]

Beauty In the Blood - Part Three

Summary: One day your friend convinces you to join a dating website that matches people based on their search histories, and when you match with Loki Odinson, a handsome, intelligent coroner who’s a fan of your murder mysteries, you’re absolutely thrilled. But there’s something off about Loki, and as your relationship progresses, you discover that his dark side is even darker than you could ever have imagined…

Pairing: Serial Killer!Loki x Writer!Reader

Read part two here!

Read part four here!

A/N: This story is based off of this post! I hope you guys enjoy; this is my first time writing Loki, and this will probably be the darkest thing I’ve ever written. Please let me know what you think as the story progresses! 

A/N”: So, if the gif usage isn’t enough, here is a quick warning - here be smut! It’s important smut, though. It’s porn with a smidge of plot. :D Enjoy!

You did a once-over of your home one more time, wanting to make sure everything was perfect before your guest arrived. You’d cleaned everything top to bottom, taking the majority of the day to make sure everything was just so – you’d even dusted, something you’d never really bothered with before. But your hard work was worth it; everything was all but gleaming, and the whole house smelled of lemon and fresh linen.

Right at 6:30, you heard your doorbell ring, and you felt your pulse rate skyrocket. On the way to your front door, you glanced at yourself in the mirror, brushing an errant strand of your hair out of your face and smoothing down the front of your little black dress. You smiled at your reflection, thinking about the surprise you had in store for Loki under your clothes. The lingerie set had been on the pricier side of things, but you already knew that it had been worth it.

After taking a deep breath, you opened the door, feeling butterflies spring to life in your belly at the sight of your date. Loki was dressed in a pair of black trousers, a dark green button-down, and a black sports coat; your eyes trailed up and down his figure, lingering for a second on the golden watch that was looped around his wrist. It was the perfect accessory to his ensemble, and you were thankful that you’d decided to dress up for the evening.

“Hello, there,” you grinned, and Loki’s smile matched yours as he took in your appearance.

“Good evening,” he replied, stepping inside. He leaned down, pressing a chaste but lingering kiss to your lips, and though the date had only just begun, you were already left wanting for more. “You look ravishing, as always.”

“I could say the same about you.”

You looked down to his hands, just then noticing the bottle of wine he held in them. He followed your gaze, lifting it up so you could see the label.

“Ah, yes. I hope this will suffice; I didn’t know if you preferred red or white…”

“This is perfect,” you assured him. “But, if I’m being honest, I don’t really know all that much about wine. I do know that I like to drink it, though.”

For a moment, you were afraid that your admission would make you come across as uncultured, but Loki just chuckled.

“Well, that is the most important thing when it comes to wine,” he remarked. “Dinner smells delicious, by the way.”

“I did say I was going to seduce you with my cooking.” You took the bottle of wine from him and lead him into the dining room. You’d laid out a white cloth over your table, and there was a candle burning in its very center; you were very pleased with how romantic it made the room look. “Make yourself at home! I’ll go make our plates.”

“Nonsense, love. I insist on helping.”

“Oh, you really don’t have-“

“I insist,” he repeated.

“Well… That’s very sweet of you, Loki. Thank you.”

With that, you led him into your kitchen, setting out two glasses for your wine before pulling out some plates. After searching for recipes the night before, you’d found one for a pasta dish that you thought Loki might enjoy. It was among the more complicated things you’d cooked in your lifetime, but you were determined to impress your boyfriend. At least, you thought he was your boyfriend. Significant other? …Man friend?

You busied yourself with scooping the pasta onto the plates while Loki opened the bottle of wine and began pouring glasses for the two of you.

“So,” he said, breaking the moment of silence. “How has the writing been coming along?”

“It’s going pretty well, I think,” you answered. “I sent my editor the first chapter of my new book and she loved it; she’s a close friend of mine, and she’s always good about being honest with me about my work.”

“I’m almost jealous that she gets to read it before I do,” he chuckled.

“Well, maybe I’ll let you take a peek sometime. How has work been going for you?”

“Oh… Same old, same old. No interesting deaths today. Just a few old ladies who died of heart failure. And one poor sap who died in a hit and run.”

“Oh, gosh,” you murmured. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

Loki shrugged, walking into the dining room to set your glasses down before coming back and taking his plate from you. You followed him with yours and took the seat across from his.

“Does it ever get to you?” you asked, watching as he took a sip of his wine. “Your job, that is. I couldn’t imagine dealing with death as intimately as you do.”

You took a sip from your own glass as he thought about his response, noting that he’d picked out a dry blend that you were sure would compliment the pasta well. If you’d followed the recipe the right way, at least.

“…I won’t lie,” Loki finally said. “Not to you; I know death should bother me more than it does. I’ve never been terrified of it, as some people are. Nor does it make me uncomfortable; even the most gruesome of the bodies I’ve autopsied haven’t so much as turned my stomach.  But there is a moment, when I first see a body, that always takes me off guard. The transition from being a living, breathing organism to becoming a lifeless, empty object, it’s always something humans perceive as unnatural. Even humans like me who work with corpses four days a week.”

You nodded your head, studying the man across from you as he twirled a bite of fettuccini onto his fork before popping it into his mouth. You waited with bated breath as he chewed and swallowed, but your worries were put to rest when he looked up at you with a smile.

“It’s wonderful, darling,” he chuckled. “You can relax.”

Your shoulders visibly slumped with relief, and both of you shared a laugh before digging into your meals in earnest. You turned over his words as you ate your first few bites, shaking your head and smiling to yourself.

“What is it?” he asked, arching a curious eyebrow.

“Just… You. You’re such a unique person, Loki,” you said. “You’re special. It’s not every day that I meet someone who isn’t at least a little concerned by the macabre stories I write. But you, you actively enjoy them. Plus, it’s so rare to find someone who shares my morbid interests who isn’t, you know, a psychopath.”

Loki chuckled at that, and his eyebrows twitched upwards as he took a quick gulp of his wine.

“Ah, well,” he grinned. “I could always be one, you know. I might just have you fooled.”

You narrowed your eyes, setting your chin in your palm as you studied him.

“Mm… I suppose,” you conceded. “You could be the villain in my own story for all I know.”

You smiled, then, before turning back to your meal.

“But I don’t think you are,” you added, oblivious to the intensity in Loki’s eyes as he watched you.

The rest of the meal went by without much incident, and Loki once again insisted on helping you before starting to load the dishes into the dishwasher. You, for your part, surprised him by pulling a pie from the local bakery out of your fridge, and soon, the two of you were curled up on your sofa, each with a small slice of pie sitting on a plate in their hands.

You had the thought, as you were sitting there, that conversation was so much easier with Loki than you would’ve expected. On the surface, Loki seemed intimidating; he was always so put-together, and his wit was sharp enough to cut through anyone, but for some reason, as you sat there talking about everything and nothing, you didn’t feel the need to filter yourself at all with him.

…Or, maybe, that was just the second glass of wine talking.

“…It’s killing me inside, you know.”

You snapped to attention upon your date’s sudden declaration, and you frowned in confusion.

“What is-“

“Not knowing what you’re writing, other than it’s a story with a main character who you’ve admitted to basing off of me,” Loki clarified.

A smile came to your lips, and you chuckled as you scraped the edge of your fork across your plate, gathering the crumbs and filling left over from your pie onto your utensil before bringing it up to your lips. You watched as Loki’s gaze settled onto your mouth as you licked up the last of your dessert, and you couldn’t help the smirk that spread over your face.

“Well,” you said, clearing your throat, “I suppose that I could let you read the first chapter…”

His eyes snapped up to yours once more, and eagerness was glittering in them, along with a deeper, smoldering feeling that made your breath catch in your lungs.  

“I would love that, darling.”

And that was how you found yourself, a few minutes later, perched on top of your desk just to the right of your laptop, watching Loki as he read what you had written so far. You studied his profile as he leaned over your computer, a furrow forming between his brows as he concentrated on the screen. One of his hands was absentmindedly resting on your knee, tracing nonsensical patterns into your skin as you waited with bated breath. Your lip was already sore from how much you’d been chewing on it; you really wanted him to like what you’d written. Maybe it hadn’t been a good idea to let him read it; what if-

“Darling, I… I love this,” he suddenly murmured, his head tilting back as he finally tore his gaze away from the words. “I think this might be my favorite beginning to any of the books you’ve written.”

You felt your cheeks heat up from his praise, and you looked away as you tried to fight the large smile that had come over your face.

“I… You don’t mean that,” you stammered, but Loki’s hand came up to cup your cheek, turning you back to face him. When you saw the look on his face, you felt your mouth go dry and your thighs press together; his smile had fallen, and he was focused solely, intensely, on you. There was a quiet desperation shimmering in his eyes, and you gulped as you felt yourself automatically straighten up.

“I loved it, darling,” he uttered, sincerity evident from his tone. “The beginning of the chapter immediately made me feel captivated by Olivia, and the first killing scene immediately set the tone for the rest of the story.”

As he spoke, you watched as he slowly stood from his chair, and the breath caught in your lungs when he stepped between your legs. His hands were cold as they came to rest on your thighs, just below the hem of your dress, and you couldn’t stifle the gasp that left your lips when he abruptly shoved them apart, taking the opportunity to press his body against yours. Those same frigid fingers came up to brush against your neck, pushing your hair back so he could whisper against your ear.

“The way that she drew it out, torturing her victim in that controlled, calculative way…” His lips pressed a kiss to your cheek before he dragged them along your jaw line, and your eyes fluttered shut when you felt his breath settle over your lips.

“It shows you exactly what sort of a monster she is,” he finished, just seconds before his hands once again settled on your waist, pulling you towards him for a searing kiss.

Hungry. That was the only word you could use to describe the way his mouth moved against yours. There was a feverish passion that seeped from him to you through the caress; you could taste it on his tongue, sweet and yet bitter at the same time, just like the wine you’d shared. His fingers were digging into your flesh, squeezing you as he pinned you against him, and you felt heat pool in your belly when he pressed his hips to yours; you could already feel his cock growing hard.

Loki’s tongue explored your mouth, tangling together with yours and gliding along the back of your teeth; he took his time with you, undoing every ounce of self-control you possessed as the seconds ticked away. For your part, you didn’t know where to put your hands; one moment, they were settled over his biceps. The next, they were in his hair or on his chest or clawing at his back as he ground his hips against yours.

A disappointed huff left your lips when Loki pulled away, and he arched his eyebrows, giving you a wicked grin.

“What is it?” he chuckled, his hands reaching for yours. You tried your best not to pout as he laced his fingers through yours, resting your connected hands on either side of your hips.

“I…” You hesitated, looking Loki up and down. A strand of hair was falling down into his eyes, and even though the expression on his face was one of confidence, you could see the way his chest was taking in ragged breaths, heaving in and out as he leaned over you; he wanted you just as badly as you wanted him. No doubt, the fire in your belly was burning in his, too, if the tent in his trousers was anything to go by.

“I… I want you to stay the night,” you breathed, and though it could have just been your imagination, you could have sworn that you saw his pupils dilate as you said it.

No words needed to be spoken before his lips were on yours again, and you smiled into the kiss, wrapping your arms around his neck. You broke away, though, when a startled gasp parted your lips as Loki suddenly gripped your hips and pulled, wrapping your legs around his waist as he picked you up. You clutched his shoulders as he started walking out of your office, surprised that he could support your weight.

“How are you this strong?” you whispered under your breath, incredulous. You hadn’t even meant for Loki to hear you, really, but the upturn of his lips showed that he clearly did.

“I’m not as wiry as I look, believe it or not,” he snarked, pressing a kiss to the top of your head before making a beeline to your stairs. “I assume the bedroom is up here?”

You nodded, and he immediately headed upstairs, not even breaking a sweat despite having you in his arms. Once you reached the upstairs landing, you pointed towards your bedroom door, and he immediately darted towards it, nudging it open with his hip as he kissed you once more. You felt butterflies erupt in your belly as he walked with you towards the bed; this was finally going to happen. You were going to make love to Loki.

Your back hit the mattress harder than you’d expected, and you bounced against it a few times as Loki stood over you. You gulped, propping yourself up on your elbows and watching as Loki took his sports coat off, draping it over the chair you kept by your bedroom door.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” he suddenly asked, looking at you with a smirk as he started to unbutton his shirt. “Strip.”

Understanding washed over you, and you drew yourself up onto your knees, reaching behind you to lower the zipper of your dress. Loki stalked over, popping one button after another as, inch by inch, his pale torso was revealed to you. You could see that, despite how thin and tall he was, there was clear muscle definition to prove his strength, and your eyes lingered for a few seconds on the outline of his abs.  The dark green of his shirt contrasted nicely with his natural pallor, and as you pulled your dress off over your head, you caught yourself wondering what his skin would look like with bruises left behind by your lips.

You paused, tossing your dress to the side as you knelt on the bed, and wondered where that thought had come from; you’d never felt particularly dominant in the bedroom. If anything, you’d always been more submissive. Why were you suddenly thinking about marking Loki up with hickeys?

Your thoughts were interrupted when you heard Loki suck in a breath through clenched teeth, and your eyes snapped to his as he took in the lingerie you were wearing. Its dark emerald lace hugged your curves delicately, and you knew that your breasts looked fantastic in your bra. It was connected to a corset, which squeezed your waist in just the right way, making your figure look exquisite as you knelt in front of your date. Your panties were boy-cut, showing off your ass, and you were almost tempted to bend over, just so Loki could appreciate the view. But it seemed that your lover had other ideas as he stalked towards you.

As he came to a stop, right in front of you, your eyes couldn’t help but linger on his crotch; an impressive tent had formed by now in his trousers, and you licked your lips as you thought about what you would find on the other side of that zipper. From this angle, with you sitting on your heels, you were right at eye-level with it, but you finally managed to tear your focus away when you felt Loki’s hand tangle in your hair.

He tilted your head back, forcing you to look up at him, and you felt your eyes widen when you saw how far blown his pupils were.

“I think you know what I want from you,” he murmured, his free hand coming up to fiddle with his belt. “Are you going to give it to me?”

You unconsciously felt yourself nod as understanding washed over you, and your hands soon came up to replace his on his belt. You hurriedly unbuckled it as Loki finally shed his shirt and tossed it to the floor. As you unzipped his trousers and pulled them down, your eyes once more widened in surprise when you saw that he was wearing no underwear beneath them.

“A little bit presumptuous, don’t you think?” you chuckled, glancing up at him as you pushed his pants down his thighs.

“Never,” he shook his head. “Just optimistic.”

When his cock finally sprung free, you wrapped your hand around its shaft, taking a moment to admire it. He was long, that was for sure, and thick enough to make your thighs clench in anticipation; you knew that he would feel amazing inside of you. You were surprised that he was entirely hairless below the belt; he must shave, you realized. And for some reason, you liked that.

Without preamble, you leaned forward, tracing a vein running along the underside of his cock with your tongue. A stilted sigh left Loki’s lips, and you grinned, letting your tongue dart out to lick at his slit, tasting a drop of salty precum that had gathered there. His head was flushed a deep pink, and even though you’d never found cocks to be particularly appealing to look at, you couldn’t help but find every part of Loki beautiful. Maybe it was your feelings for him, or maybe it was just his natural appearance, but for whatever reason, you enjoyed wrapping your lips around Loki’s cock just as much as he did.

You stayed there for a short second, letting your tongue play with his head, sucking on it as you watched his face. A pain was starting to form in your neck from having to tilt your head back far enough to see him, but it was worth it; the expression he was wearing was one of bliss, and you had the thought that you’d never seen anyone quite as beautiful as him before. His eyes were closed, and his lips were parted in a small ‘o’ as you started to slowly bob your head forward. You felt his hand clench in your hair, unconsciously pulling you closer, encouraging you to take him deeper in your throat. And you did; every time his cock slid into your mouth, you took another inch of him until you felt his head tap the back of your throat. The sensation, at first, made you gag, but you fought that feeling down, taking deep breaths in through your nose as he started to thrust his hips forward.

Your hands came up to his thighs to support yourself as he started to fuck your mouth, and you clenched your thighs together as you listened to the breathless, desperate moans that were pouring out of Loki’s lips. Your name was like a prayer on his tongue, and every time he whispered it in that broken, pleasured voice, you could feel your pussy squeeze around nothing.

Just as he was starting to get louder, though, and before his thrusts could start to become too frenzied, too fast, he pulled away, letting out a groan at the sight of you. You didn’t need a mirror to know that you looked absolutely wrecked right now; your lips were no doubt swollen, and your hair had to be messy from where he’d been holding onto it. You felt your cheeks heat up when you spied a trail of saliva that stretched from his hard cock to your bottom lip, and you brought your hand up to wipe your mouth.

Loki caught your wrist before you could, though, and held you in place as he looked at you. It was as if he were committing the sight to memory, and you felt yourself flush even harder at the realization.

“You are beautiful,” he declared. His thumb came up and brushed against your lower lip, swiping away the saliva there before he took a step back. “Lay down for me, will you?”

Your heartrate jumped, and you knew, instinctively, that this was it. Nodding, you turned and crawled up the length of your bed, feeling Loki’s eyes on your ass before you laid down on your back with your head propped up against the pillows. After stepping out of his pants, he soon followed you, a predatory look in his eyes as he made his way up your body.

With a rough shove, he forced your legs apart, pressing kisses to your thighs as he climbed up your body. His lips trailed over your clothed mound to your belly, but he paused at your breasts, cupping them over your bra and admiring them as he rolled and squeezed them in his hands.

“Your body was made for my touch, love,” he sighed, his fingers making their way underneath you to the back of your corset. “And as much as I adore this, I would like to see it bare beneath me.”

With that, he started undoing the garment’s clasps, and you leaned up to help him. As soon as he was able too, he pulled the fabric away and threw it behind him, where it laid right beside his discarded shirt. His hands immediately fell onto your breasts, and he darted down to lick over one of your nipples. You arched up, letting out a surprised gasp at the contact, and Loki smirked before wrapping his lips around it and starting to suck. Your back arched up as if you’d been electrified, and you felt his smirk as he ran his tongue along your sensitive bud.

“L-loki,” you stammered. “Please, I-I need you…”

There was now a constant throbbing in your cunt, desperate to be filled, and you couldn’t handle much more of his teasing. You’d never gotten this worked up from giving a blowjob before, but you were so wet that you could feel it starting to seep through your panties. And something in your tone must have told Loki how much you needed it, how ready you were for him, because he pulled away and looked up at you, your eyes locking as he reached down to your panties.

“You need me, do you?” he asked, his voice nearly a purr as he started sliding your drenched panties down your legs. “What do you need me to do so badly…?”

He trailed off as his eyes fell down to your pussy, and he blinked in surprise at what he saw. You squirmed, feeling self-conscious as he ran a finger down your slit, gathering your wetness, and a breath hissed in past his lips.

“You’re so wet,” he breathed, and you nearly moaned as he slipped his finger into his mouth, tasting you. His eyebrows furrowed, and he let out a groan that was borderline pornographic. “And so sweet-“

“Loki, please,” you begged, “please, I need you inside of me-“

“Shh, don’t worry, love,” he hushed, guiding you to wrap your legs around his waist. “I’ll give you what you need.”

He let his body cover yours once again, his chest pressed against yours as he pulled you into a kiss. He supported his weight on his elbow, cradling your head in the crook of his arm as he reached his other hand down between you. You broke the kiss when you felt him guide the head of his cock against your entrance, but his lips were still hovering just a hair’s width from yours as he started to push inside.

Your lips parted at the initial stretch, forming into a silent moan as he slowly pushed inside of you. Your nails dug into his shoulders as your pussy started to adjust to him, taking every last inch of his cock until you felt his head bump against your cervix. You let out a soft moan at the sensation of it, letting your head fall back against your pillows as you tried to grow used to the feeling of him inside of you.

Loki, meanwhile, had his eyes closed as he tried to get used to the feeling of you wrapped around him, of your tight pussy pulsing and clenching around him as he bottomed out inside of you. He’d never felt anything like this before; sure, when it came to sex, he had plenty of experience. But he’d never felt a connection like this; when his eyes opened to find yours staring at his face, waiting for him to move, he felt as if an electric spark ran down the length of his spine.

With a soft, barely perceptible grunt, he started to move, pulling his hips back before rolling them forward again. Your eyes rolled back as he found his rhythm, white-hot pleasure starting to break through your initial pain. Your legs tightened, pulling him closer against you, and once the pain faded completely, once you’d relaxed around the feeling of his length stretching you open, you opened your eyes.

Green irises were waiting there for you when you did, and a moan escaped you as your gazes locked. His eyebrows were drawn together, and broken, quiet moans fell from his parted lips as his thrusts became faster. Your hands were now on his biceps, squeezing them to ground yourself.

“That’s right,” he moaned, snapping his hips harder. “Take it; take all of me-“

And just then, the head of his cock brushed against something inside of you that made your toes curl. You cried out, clinging to him, your nails scratching paths down his back as he once again rocked his hips, hitting your g-spot again.

“There?” he asked breathlessly, and you nodded hurriedly, looking up at him.

“Y-yes, Loki, right ther- Oh, fuck-!”

It wasn’t long before he was pounding into you, both of you getting closer and closer to climax. Your body felt as if it were tight as a bowstring as you moved against your lover, your muscles tense as you rolled your hips against his, steadily craving more and more of him. As your pleasure built, as he moved inside of you, you started to feel what you’d seen in him earlier – hunger. Deeper, faster, harder – your brain was a continuous mantra of thoughts like these, until you were consumed, possessed, by your need to cum, your need for him.

Loki sucked in a gasp of surprise when he felt you push up against him; his eyes flew open in time to watch you shift your weight, using one of the legs you had wrapped around his waist to flip the two of you over, and before he could fully realize it was happening, he found himself beneath your body, still inside of you as you rolled your hips against him.

“Fuck,” you moaned, letting your head fall back. “Fuck, just like that-“

He watched, stunned, as you started bouncing on his cock, your hands on his chest pressing him down and pinning him against the mattress. Your hips were moving frantically, writhing and rolling against his as you chased your release. Your eyes were closed, so you couldn’t see the look of awe, of pure adoration, on his face, and for that he was grateful. Because, yes, he had plenty of experience with lovers of all cultures, backgrounds, and genders. He’d delved into every extreme of humanity – murder, power, lust – every single one, except for submission.

And, yet, here he was, laying beneath you as you used him and his body for your pleasure. And despite the fact that he’d never submitted to any of his former lovers before, despite the careful control he felt the need to keep over himself, his life, and the lives of so many poor, unfortunate victims, he liked it.

His eyes remained on you as he started thrusting up, if for no other reason than to aid you as you chased your orgasm. He was rewarded when you immediately tilted your head back and let out a moan, hips faltering in their rhythm as he pounded up into you. One of his hands cautiously snaked between your bodies, resting his palm on your upper thigh and letting his thumb brush past your folds.

You gasped, eyes snapping open as he started circling your clit, and unthinkingly you reached out, your hand falling to his neck and wrapping around it as you felt the knot inside of you tighten.

“Oh, my God, Loki-!”

You looked down, taking in your hand as it wrapped around his throat, staring at the wrecked, owned glint in his eyes. And part of you, somehow, realized how important this was for him, how rarely he let himself trust someone else to hold dominance over him like this. And the fact that you were able to do this to him, the fact that you had this man under your control, completely at your mercy, was what finally made you cum.

You felt it first in the very tips of your fingers and toes – the aching, throbbing feeling of release. It spread through you slower than usual, gripping you tight in pleasured bliss before, abruptly, something snapped in your core. With a wail, you tightened your hand around his throat and came, clenching around his cock as your pleasure washed over you in one final wave. Your hips fell to a halt just as Loki tilted his head back and groaned your name, his seed spilling inside of you as he found his own release. You flexed your fingers, slowly releasing their grip on him as you both settled into your afterglow. Your pussy fluttered around his softening cock, and the vice-like hold he had on your hips started to relax.

Your elbows wobbled just a second before your strength gave out, and you found yourself laying pressed flush against Loki, his chest against yours, rising and falling to the rhythm of his deep breaths. His hands shifted, gliding down to your thighs, and gently you felt him push against you. With a grunt, he guided you off of his cock, and you both winced as it slipped out of your pussy.

His arms wrapped around you, then, lazily brushing up and down your back, and you felt a faint twinge of embarrassment as you felt cum start to leak out of you, spilling down your thighs and onto the sheets. You expected to see disgust on Loki’s face when he felt some of it drip onto his leg, but he only gave you a quick peck to the lips before maneuvering you to lay down beside of him.

You closed your eyes and felt his weight leave the bed as he stood up, and you listened to the padding of his feet as he made his way to your bathroom, coming out a few seconds later with a damp washcloth. You jolted when you felt its cold dampness against your leg, but you relaxed as you watched Loki clean you off, taking care as he guided the rag over your sensitive pussy. Once you were cleaned up, he dabbed at the sheets, managing to clean them a bit as well before tossing the cloth into your clothes hamper and climbing back into bed with you.

Once again, he gathered you into his arms, and you felt a smile tug at your lips as you rested your head over his heartbeat. It matched your own as you laid there, soaking in each other’s essence and replaying what had just happened in your minds. You felt a bit sheepish as you thought of how surprised Loki had looked when you flipped him over, and you glanced upwards to find him already staring at you, deep in thought.

“Sorry I, um…” You bit your lip, trying to find the right words. “Sorry I went all alpha-male on you there. I don’t know what came over me…”

Loki chuckled, pushing some hair out of your eyes.

“Did you hear me complaining?” he asked, arching an eyebrow. You smile, relieved, and let your head fall back down to his chest.

“Mm. Well. I promise I’m not…usually like that,” you explained. “Typically, I’m more of a sub.”

“And, typically, I’m the dominant one,” Loki mused. “But for whatever reason, with you…”

He trailed off, but you understood what he meant; you’d said it before.

“This is special,” you stated once again. You reached down, grabbing one of his hands and pressing a kiss to the back of it. “You’re special, Loki.”

Loki felt his heart squeeze, and he let out a soft sigh as he felt his chest swell with… Love. With love.

“I love you,” he breathed, under his breath. He actually, truly, loved you; that had to be what this was, right? Because he’d felt a variety of things similar to love before – lust for his former lovers, affection for Thor. But this was so much deeper, so much brighter – it was like a fire burning within him. Not one that consumed, or burned, or destroyed. It was warm, and glowing.

He hadn’t realized he’d spoken aloud until he felt you stiffen in his arms, and when he looked down, he saw pure surprise etched across your features. His heart sank; he hadn’t meant to confess his feelings to you. Especially not after having sex for the first time on your third date.

But relief washed over him when he saw a smile form over your lips, and you leaned up to kiss him softly, sweetly. You pulled back and laughed, a sound that was so honest and pure that it made his own mouth turn up into a grin.

“I love you, too, Loki,” you whispered, pressing your forehead to his. “God, it’s not the smart thing to do, and I know everyone will say it’s too soon for me to know it, but… Fuck, I love you.”

In that moment, as he stared up at you with a smile to match your own, he knew that now that he had your love, he’d never be able to live without it. He was addicted to it, to the sound of those three words on your lips, to the way you looked at him, the way you touched him – he was addicted to your love in the same way he was addicted to killing.

And as the two of you kissed, and, later, when you slid onto his cock again for the second time that night, he found that he couldn’t tell which love would be the more all-encompassing. He honestly didn’t know which would be the one to take him down, his love for murder or his love for you. But he was also just as certain that he absolutely didn’t care.

[spookygrantaire]

Of Heroes and Thieves

Part 3

Notes/Warnings: shitty written accents and French, swearing here and there. Places I’ve mentioned here are places I’ve actually been and they’re actually AMAZING 10/10 go if you ever get a chance. NOLA is literally my favorite city on earth and I had to force myself to stop writing about it. But any who, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It’s a decently long one. 

CLINT POV

She’d dropped him off in the French Quarter, right near Jackson Square. “If you go half a block that way,” she pointed, “you’ll get to Cafe Du Monde. Get some coffee and a couple beignets. I’d take you somewhere less touristy, but for obvious reasons I can’t. And from here you’ll be able to find your footing fast. I guess I’m also just assuming you’ve never been here, huh?”

He grinned. “Once, a long time ago. And it was not a vacation.”

“Hence how you know who my famille is, huh?” she guessed, slipping into the accent she’d mostly lost. 

His smile grew. “Yeah, babe. You gonna keep that accent for a while?”

His girl rolled her eyes. “Shut up. I’ll call you when I can. One way or another. I gotta go. Ride’s here,” she nodded toward a tall man leaning against a motorcycle. “I’ll pay for the parking,” she pulled out a twenty and handed it to him. 

With that, he sighed as she walked away after kissing his cheek, watching to see her hug the man and get on the back of his bike. He caught a whiff of fried dough and coffee; time to follow his nose. He needed the distraction anyways. 

The famous beignets were just as delicious as everyone said they were, he had to hand it to them. The coffee was perfect. It was a beautiful evening out as well. He just wished he could be exploring the city with Y/N. He finished the coffee and started heading off in a random direction. The idea came to him to get some souvenirs for both the team and his girl. Something that would scream home to her whenever she missed it. That’s when he found a street artist putting his stuff away for the night. “Are these paintings for sale?”

The man looked up in surprise. “Yes, sir! New to town?”

“Just passing through for the night,” Clint mused, looking at the artwork. One painting of the architecture of the Quarter in particular caught his eye, then the man also had something that showed the rows of graves in one of the cemeteries. A little dark, but quite beautiful. “How much for these two?”

“Thirty for both, sir. Why only here for the night, might I ask?” the man got the paintings together for Clint as he handed the money over. 

“Gir--uh, my friend has some family drama. I’m here for moral support in a way. She sent me to roam around. What’s a good place to eat a quick dinner?”

“Ah, now son, you’re in New Orleans! Everywhere is good to eat! But just around the corner you got a great place for some po’ boys, there’s a few bars on Bourbon Street that have great jambalaya. Whatever you’re in the mood for, there’s something good. You like pizza? Find any of the daiquiri bars. They got deals on the booze and have great pizza. Oh, a burger! Esplanade Avenue, Port Of Call. Best burgers in the city. Cooked however you like to perfection, and you will not regret it.”

“Burger does sound good. Thanks!” 

“Thank you, sir. Have a lovely visit.”

With that, Clint first took a detour to drop the art off at the car, then ventured off for this famous burger. Taking in the sights and sounds of the city on the way, he definitely could see how Y/N was going to be sad to leave. It was a beautiful city and so inviting. When he finally made it to his destination, he was mildly surprised how dark it was inside, but it was true to the old ship theme. He ordered himself a beer and a burger, the menu being only a few items. Once he took a bit, he almost moaned. It was indeed, cooked to perfection. After he left, he decided to follow the music. On the way to the restaurant he’d seen a parade and some street dancers and what appeared to be shows. Time to find one. Maybe he should take one of the haunted tours?

READER POV

She’d missed Remy more than she’d realized and it was a shame that this was one of the last rides she’d ever take with him. The man was like a brother to her her whole life and when her older sister had married his older brother, it only became official. He’d protected her from Julien and Belle’s bullying often enough when they were kids, and she knew he was upset he couldn’t help now. 

“‘M sorry dis is happenin’ ta yo’, Chere,” he said when they parked at the big family mansion. 

She took her helmet off and looked up at him, staring into those sunglasses he always wore in public. “It’s not on you, Rem. It’s on me. I’m the one who chose to get involved.”

“Yo’ really mus’ have it bad for de bird man, non?”

She elbowed him lightly. “That’s entirely none of your business, LeBeau.”

“It’s my business, though!” rang a voice behind them. 

Shock rolled through her body when she turned and saw her big sister, round belly and all the sass in the world. Tears stung at her eyes upon the realization that she wouldn’t be around for the birth of her nephew. “Mercy!” she ran over and hugged the blonde woman. “I’m so sorry, Merc,” she cried into her sister’s shoulder. 

“Hush, sug. Nothin’ ta be done now. We’ll come visit yo’, soon we can. ‘S all gonna be alright, Y/N,” Mercy soothed. 

A cough came from behind Mercy and Y/N looked up to see her brother in law. “Lemme hug you, ‘fore I have ta take yo’ to pere,” he smiled. 

“Missed ya too, Henri. You best be the one responsible for knockin’ up my sister,” she laughed. 

“All night long, Chere,” he laughed.

“Gross,” Y/N wrinkled her nose. She glanced around as the group entered the house. “Where’s Tante Mattie?”

“Righ’ here, chil’!” came a shout. “Ain’t no one r’spect Mattie no mo’. Who tol’ me yo’ were back? Not a soul. Who told me about ev’ryt’in only jus’ dis morn’? Mercy. Chil’ gets slack b’cause she’s givin’ Jean Luc a grandbaby, but wait til she pops,” the old woman shook her head. “Now come here, an’ hug me.”

Y/N obliged, a smile on her face. It really had been too long since she’d been home. And now it was too late to plan future visits. She pulled back and smiled sadly. “Guess I bes’ get this over with. If it is a death sentence, Merc,” tears now rolling down both sister’s faces as they locked eyes, “you better tell my nephew all about me.”

“It won’ be. I tol’ Jean Luc he’d never see his grandbaby if it is.” Y/N laughed, knowing it was a serious, yet idle threat. 

“Take me to your leader, Henri,” she said, jokingly holding out her wrists for cuffs. 

“Stop that,” he rolled his eyes. “Now,” he led her away toward the large room they used for council meetings. “It’s the whole council here, and Marius Boudreaux is here to make sure the sentence is actually given,” he frowned. 

She nodded. “Wouldn’t expect any less, truth be told.”

He nodded before opening the doors, and gesturing for her to enter first. 

“Y/N, Chere, I really wish yo’ were home under better circumstances,” Jean Luc greeted sadly. “All de same, nice t’ see yo’.”

“You too, Jean Luc,” she glanced around at the council members. “May I say, I am sorry for the trouble my actions have caused?”

“Yo’ ain’ sorry for yo’ actions though, are yo’?” Marius spoke up from the side of the room, standing up straight. “Gettin’ involved in things dat don’ concern you. Bes’ we can say is leas’ you were alone.”

The statement shocked her. They didn’t know she’d led the Avengers to the warehouse. How did they not know? Julien must have left as soon as he knocked her out. 

“I’ve been working long enough I know better not to get involved in Assassin business. I just couldn’t resist some action, I suppose. I’m sorry,” Y/N lied through her teeth. She was a good liar though and could only hope Marius was slipping in his age. She knew Jean Luc could see right through her, however. 

Marius scoffed. “Yo’ always were a hothead.” He leaned against the wall once more. “Le’s get dis over wit’.”

Jean Luc nodded. “We decided yo’ punishment is yo’ done t’ievin’. Fo’ de Guild, leas’. And,” he glanced at Marius, who nodded once. “Yo’ officially b’trot’ed t’ Julien Boudreaux.”

[kmclaude]

An AU thought, unfinished: Annemarie as a nun. Not a sexy nun, but someone found out about the whole “preggers with her brother’s baby and sent to a convent as punishment” type nun, who may or may not wind up teaching a bunch on unruly kids and has her fellow sisters breathing down her neck to make sure she doesn’t sin again. But hey, guess who’s the priest/confessor for the order? And considering nuns “have” to obey Fr. Tiefer’s authority…! Not smutty but it’s all I’ve got 🤷🏼‍♀️

oh how decadent! oops my hand slipped!!!

Émile is probably the one who gets mad when he finds out she’s pregnant and who’s kid it is because sure he’s white trash and has been bending his daughter over for years but he draws the line somewhere (and part of it is because he knows Emilein is a freak, he knows he wouldn’t want her so it’s obvious she’s the whole reason for being knocked up – and she’s been using the stupid baby in her fat gut as a shield to mouth off to him and run the joint – why not punish her? Besides, no one in that family can afford another mouth to feed…)

So he pulls Emilein aside, says, “hey, you’re good with that priest, yeah?” and Emilein shrugs, says, “maybe I am,” and braces for a nasty shot about how of course he is, he loves being on his knees, but it never comes, just, “so he knows about like…them wayward girl schools, yeah?” and Emilein plays dumb until his daddy plays his hand: send Annemarie off to a convent or wayward school or hell an asylum – she wants to use a baby to get her way, well then she can get out of the way. Forever.

Emilein, for once, is more than happy to help his daddy out.

He talks to the priest, Fr. Michaud, who has offered him chance and again ways out, one in particular though it would mean the priesthood, and reveals his sister is pregnant (not that it was terribly secret: the whole town was waiting for the day she slipped up at this point) and she is…troubled. And is there a place. The Church. Anything.

Of course Fr. Michaud hesitates because yes there is one nearby but it’s practically an asylum, run by an order on their grounds – cloistered – “And, to be frank, we all know your sister is…not exactly saving herself for anyone…but unless she’s a-a maniac it would be almost cruel–”

And Emilein puts his hand lightly on Fr. Michaud’s, smiles in a way that doesn’t meet his eyes, and says, “You know how she hasn’t named the father? You’d think someone like her’d be going up and down the street, demanding a wedding or at least support, wouldn’t you? But she ain’t. ‘Cause she can’t. Now, remember the first time we actually talked, you an’ me, an’ I told you I’d suck your cock in a heartbeat ‘cause that’s usually how things went with me an’ older men an’ not always by force?”

“Difficult to forget,” says Fr. Michaud, neglecting to mention that most fourteen year olds don’t say that.

“So we both agree I’m…funny.”

“What are you getting at, Emilein?”

“I’m sayin’, the reason she ain’t beatin’ down no po’ bastard’s door to help with her own bastard is ‘cause she doesn’t want anyone to know that the daddy’s her own brother.”

Michaud goes pale and Emilein isn’t smiling any more.

“We both know she don’t interest me much. So, Father, please: help me.”

–

Of course, being a good man, Fr. Michaud helps him, and Annemarie is sent away to have her child (and then work off the debt she’ll have accrued – after all, not like her father and brother can afford to pay.)

Her choice is very simple: go as willingly as she can pretend and nobody has to know about who the father is or fight and Emilein tells (with Fr. Michaud as a witness – Émile, of course, is more than willing to rat her out but really, every other word from his mouth is a lie.)

And life is peaceful – until Émile decides he can fully boss around his son like he did his daughter in a house he doesn’t own.

Emilein is having none of it but Emilein is terribly small and Émile has friends too, friends just as nasty as Annemarie’s boyfriends, and Émile ties him to a bed and starves him and lets all sorts of men use him for days and brags about the money he’s made from him – “shit, cher, we should’ve been whorin’ you out years ago! Guess yer cunt sister was just too jealous to share.”

He lets him go, eventually, after a week that feels like forever and Emilein runs to Fr. Michaud, banging on the church door, and when Fr. Michaud answers his request is much the same as it was before: “please, help me.”

Of course, being a good man, Fr. Michaud helps Emilein Tiefer and gets him connected to the seminary.

–

At twenty-five and with the title of ‘Father’ himself, Tiefer is assigned to a convent in Fuckoff Nowhere, Louisiana to be the priest and confessor on the grounds. Segregated from the opposite sex and the real world for so long only to be thrown headfirst into the wide world, some were realizing, was not the greatest idea: so, the younger were sent off to serve their religious siblings first, particularly their sisters.

The Mother Superior is kind when she greets him on his arrival, a stark contrast to all the rumors of the convent here: it was a convent, yes, that made its daily bread with something of a home for wayward girls – part home, part school (for the younger ones whose unfortunate choices and circumstances left them behind their peers as well as their children, for those who had or expected them), part workhouse so the former two could survive – but for years its nickname had been the asylum because, regardless of how long one worked, much like the TB asylums, the only way out was in a casket.

Which is where, Tiefer always figured, his sister was at this point. 

Until, during a tour of the small school on the grounds (as the children would be needing sacraments as well) he sees one of the nuns with the children – though she’s not a nun, not exactly, as she only wears a veil and simple dress and the bangs of her blonde hair peak out and frame her face – and she, in turn, sees him and freezes.

“Mother Superior,” he asks, voice steady as possible, once they’ve passed, once he’s calmed down, “who was that woman?”

“With the children? That’s Sister Anne, one of our success stories – quite a tough one too. She came here, pregnant, no idea who the father was and ready to dare I say fight every one of us sisters who came near. But the Lord works in mysterious ways and eventually He brought her ‘round. She should be taking her vows in a few years.”

“Ah. Do many of your girls usually wind up joinin’ the order?”

The mother superior sighs, sort of pointed in a way that hints that the topic is better put to rest. “Unfortunately, it’s not always part of God’s plan,” she says and then adds, “You sound a lot like she does – how far down South did you come?”

“Very.”

“Hm. She also.”

–

“Sister Anne. A word?”

After all the introductions and required niceties are made, Tiefer doubles back to the classroom of children, led by the novitiate.

“Of course, Father,” she says, the shock from earlier long gone from her face, a little more lined than he’d remembered it, her eyes a little less bright.

“In private?”

He lets her lead the way to a small, unused classroom and locks the door behind them.

“Well. Never thought I’d see you here, Sister.”

She scoffs, the plain novitiate from earlier twisting, like a monster under flesh, into his sister, the way he knew her, cocky attitude and all. “Why not? You put me here.”

“You know what I mean. ‘Sides, he put you here.”

“You helped.”

“Just told the truth is all. You want me to tell the truth again?”

“Can’t send me away again, sugar. Anyway, I’m a changed woman. The success story of these sisters.”

“Ain’t you special, huh?”

“Had to be. Play along or die like the rest.” She looks him over, sixteen years on his twenty-five, sizing him up. “You obviously understand, don’tcha Emi?”

“Father, now, actually.”

“Father, right, Father, now, huh? So Father – what was it? Not enough dicks to suck back home, you had to join the biggest boy’s club around? Or you just get sick of Daddy – bet he was a real sonuvabitch once he didn’t have me ‘round to take his shit out on.”

He cuts her off: “Annemarie. You like it here?”

“You like it where you are?”

He doesn’t answer, simply pulls out a cigarette and his lighter. He watches her reach out, then freeze.

“I’ll share if you tell me what the fuck you’re doin’ playin’ nunnery.”

“I told you. Play along or die. Same as you.”

“You don’t know shit about me or what I been through.”

“An’ you know ‘bout me?”

Tiefer shrugs, lights up. Refuses her one.

“I heard the girls who come here only leave one way.”

“Do I look like I left?”

“Mm.” He offers her a cigarette and a light. Her fingers brush his. He tries not to grab her wrist and crush it. “So this is better? Bein’ a mother to a slew of bastards an’ prayin’ to God who put you here?”

“I dunno, Emi–”

“Do not–”

“Father Emi, you tell me: would you like being worked like a dog to pay off your own existence your fuckin’ family sold off, gettin’ beat ‘cause no one gives a damn about you, and not knowin’ if the priest they brought in to hear confessions this ‘round would rather you suck him off than say you’re sorry. I’m fuckin’ forty-one years old: I wanted something close to freedom, even if it’s from behind a wall an’ veil. ”

Tiefer makes a sound like mock pity. “Sounds like every damn day of my childhood, Annemarie. In fact,” – he grabs her by the jaw, pulls her close, tugs the cigarette from her lips and puts it out against the back of her neck, hidden by her veil – “looks to me like you’re getting off easy, little miss success story.”

“Em–”

“That’s Father to you, now.  An’ come to think of it, I’m sure Mother Superior would love to hear what you really did.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Would they put you back in the work house? Or just turn you loose on the streets like a dog. Where you gonna go, Sister? Y’all take vows of poverty last I heard – gonna finally be a real whore and suck dick in the gutter?”

“Please…”

“Please what, pity you?”

Tiefer lets her go, takes a drag from his own cigarette, blocking the door. He grins, more a snarl than anything else. 

“Oh Annemarie… You’re right: I wouldn’t dare as long as you don’t give me a reason to. I’m your superior now…let’s start treatin’ me as such, hm?”

He unlocks the door. “An’ Sister Anne? If you thought those other priests who put your ol’ ass on your knees were bad, you’re gonna really regret all your earlier sins against me.”

[dailyaudiobible]

02/12/2021 DAB Transcript

Exodus 34:1-35:9, Matthew 27:15-31, Psalms 33:12-22, Proverbs 9:1-6

Today is the 12th day of February welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we continue the journey…well…we’re…we’re journeying toward the center of the second month of the year. We’ll be there in a few days. And, so, we are moving right along but we have…we have moved through some significant territory in the Bibl. And as we begin our reading today from the book of Exodus, we still find ourselves around the mountain of God, otherwise known as Mount Sinai. Just some really, really important things have happened and transpired. We read of this golden calf that the people decided to worship as their redeemer as their savior as the one who brought them out of Egypt. And we saw Moses come down from the mountain away from God's presence to discover all this, all that transpired there. Moses is back on top of the mountain again. Now he's been pleading for the people. God basically told Moses, “yeah, I can't deal with these people. I'm sending you to the land. You lead them in, but I'm not going.” And Moses is like, “if you don't go, if you don't go then I don't even want to be a part of this story. If you don't go, we have no hope.” And there’s this moment of real deep realization that there is no hope…hope outside of God, that we whether we acknowledge it or not we are utterly dependent upon Him. And, so, let's continue the story. Exodus chapter 34 verse 1 through 35 verse 9. And we’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week.

Commentary:

Alright. Let’s look at some words from the Psalms that we read today or the Psalm that we read today in light of what we’re seeing kind of both in the Old and the New Testament stories. The story in the Old Testament, of course, is God beginning to give the law, but the people's rebelliousness their stiff-necked, their neck…necked-ness…their…their stubbornness and their rebellion and their adultery spiritually by worshiping false gods and just all of this stuff that we…we’ve been able to witness.

In the New Testament we just completed the trial of Jesus, like, He’s sentenced to death, which is how…that's what we'll experience tomorrow. So, let’s just consider for second in these stories the posture of heart of humanity toward God.

So, in the Old Testament we have God invading Egypt to set His people free and all of the drama about that and they’re in the wilderness seeing and hearing from God and God is laying out a tapestry for a culture and yet they are stubborn, they are rebellious, they grumble, they complain, they are not grateful, and they are easily distracted into putting their hope and their allegiance and their heart into the worship of something false. And God is exasperated about it. Who wouldn't be? But He is patient, He is continuing forward with the journey despite their rebelliousness.

We go into the book of Matthew and then we look at the posture of humanity toward God and we see that these same people, like the descendants of this stiff-necked people, they want to do away with God while trying to defend God. But now they have this law, they’re trying to obey this, and it's turned into a power struggle of control over the people. They have to obey the rules. And then God comes in the flesh and they don't even recognize Him. In fact, they are so put out, they are so put off by Him and His ways that they don't…like it…that's how backwards it's gotten. I mean you would…we would say that God would display God's ways, right? He's God. So, that's what we’re seeing in Jesus. If they can't recognize the ways of God and they call him blasphemous and they call him of the devil, then they have so perverted the actual ways of God that it can’t even be seen anymore. And what do we see? God in the person of Jesus patiently taking out there giving. He is going to allow Himself to be killed by His people. That’s a pretty stark thing to think about. But could we maybe at this point in the year acknowledge what we’re seeing here and stop blaming God for things He doesn't do us and stop telling Him He doesn't understand what we’re going through? He does. And He patiently and carefully continues to love humanity until this very day, including us and our complaining and our lack of gratitude and our grumbling and our turning to something else for hope and our giving our allegiance and fealty to something that is false and our acting like a two-year-old and throwing ourselves on the ground and kicking and screaming when we don't get our way. God is patient and kind because He loves us. If we would ever actually get that through our heads it would change our very lives, it would change the way we behave toward everybody.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit come. Let us see this. Let us see Your kindness, let us see Your patience, Your compassion as we continue to navigate all of the different times and stories and people's lives that we find in the Scriptures because we find ourselves in…in…in these stories. We find ourselves in the lives of these people. And, so, open our hearts. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear what You are speaking to us and where You are leading. We acknowledge that You have been patient, beyond what we could ever deserve. You have been kind in the face of our unkindness. You have loved us even while we were Your enemies. Help that to sink in we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello DAB family this is your friend your brother in Christ in Michigan. I want to say thank you to, so many. Your prayers have touched myself and my family in ways you can ever imagine, and we are praying for you all. I'd also like a prayer over my wife. She struggled with many many ailments now but fibromyalgia now followed by lupus and she has some problems with her liver. Through it all she's been upbeat and God fearing and showing me what it is to be a true believer. So, I ask that you raise her in your prayers as I raise all of you all in my prayers. I want to thank the DAB family. What a blessing to hear this every day. I am new. I've only been here since December 21st of last year but to say…I can't even describe the impact on my life, and I want to thank you. With love from Michigan. Bye now.

My name is Latasha and I'm calling from California. I need prayer in the way of my housing situation. I was placed on a housing program for homeless and disheveled men and children. It could be for anybody for that matter, but it's been going up and down. Sometimes I feel like I'm out of the loop. And I found out that my rent wasn't being paid. And now that I'm able to get a lower income of housing I'm being told by management here at the property that I need to hurry up and sign my lease when there are damages, i.e., a big old hole in the ceiling of the bathroom and the thermostat not working. It seems like these companies work together and they try to make the person like myself feel as though I'm crazy almost by saying that you have to hold off but then the other parties saying you have to hurry up and expedite. And I just don't know what to do. I'm at a complete and utter loss and I just need prayer. I need prayer so bad because I'm afraid of being homeless again. I'm afraid of my children finally being stable and it could be taken away from us. And I'm afraid bad because of my situation and circumstance maybe they believe that I'm not apt enough to understand clearly. I just need guidance and direction because I'm so tired. I'm so tired of being tired. And it hurts so bad to feel as though on this earth I am alone and by myself and mostly I'm just…

Hello Daily Audio Bible this is Janelle living in China and I wanted to call and say I am caught up. Yay. At one point last year I was over two months behind and now it is February 7th 11:37 AM in __ China and I am caught up. I just listened to today. That was all I had to listen to today. Yay. I also wanted to do a little bit of gratitude because I have not been doing much of that. So, Lord I thank you that I am living in China and I am able with the low cost of living that China has I am so grateful for my job even though it is stressful and I am trying to learn how to teach without any formal education. It's still an amazing journey and I'm so grateful for it. I am also, as strange as this may seem, grateful for Covid still happening in the US because my church, Church of the Highlands in Alabama, is now doing online small group classes and I can be in a small group. It's at 5:00 AM on Sunday but I can be in a small group. I will wake up for that. I just…I miss that so much and I am so grateful that I’m now able to get back into being in small groups with my church even though I'm living in China. It's amazing and I can't believe it. I’m…I'm in shock. I'm just odd that says even possible a possibility...

This is Whitney in South Florida and I'm here with my kids Finley, Levin, and Lenna and we just wanted to call. And mommy had heard a message from Jody from Arizona and she wanted prayers for her granddaughter Leslie. And we just wanted to let Jody know that we heard her prayer request and we are praying for Leslie and we are praying for that whole family and your daughters one year old as well. Just that their home would be safe and Leslie would feel…that Leslie would just feel Jesus comforting loving arms all around her and know that Jesus is King. And it happens that Ezekiel in his reading had the perfect words that maybe another kid to another kid could hear and he had a great prayer on February 7th, and it was just about the devil and that he has no place in our homes. And, so, we just pray that over Leslie just as Ezekiel did. And the kids wanted to tell Ezekiel one of their favorite parts about his reading and what is that you guys? Bye. Bye guys!

Hi neighbors it's Lisa the Encourager. I'm calling tonight because I really had God press upon my heart to share with you a bit of encouragement regarding the reading that Brian did a couple of…probably a week or so ago and it was about when the disciple asked Jesus, what is the greatest commandment. And, of course, Jesus replied back to love the Lord your guard with all your heart and your soul and all your mind. And then the second one was to love your neighbor as yourself. And I really embraced that I think it was a couple of years ago and that's when I started calling in and I'd refer to all of you as my neighbors, to remind me to love you as I love myself. And this year God pressed on my heart to share with you the first commandment and that is to love the Lord our God with all our heart our soul and our mind. And I really started thinking hard about that, like how…what would that look like in action. You know, of course we can say it with our words and our lips but in action. And the only thing that really only came to my mind and the Holy Spirit bless me with was your prayers. Your prayers to God shows the tremendous amount of love. Just think about when somebody calls into the Daily Audio Bible and they call out your name and you hear it and how much it just…it just warms your heart. Well, that's probably the feeling that God, when you call upon His name and you seek Him, and you pray daily. So, I just encourage you to show love God and put that to action, that first commandment, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind.

[therainroguefanfiction]

❉ 139 Dreams (Jinyoung Park) Elysium

📑 Table of Contents

Genre: Fluff, AU ☁

Word Count: 2,162 ☁

Pairing: Reader x Jinyoung ☁

World: Got7 ☁

Author’s Note: I wrote this for a good friend of mine and fellow writer, @prettywordsyouleft​. I hope you enjoy this ❤

WARNING: This fic is all about death, so read at your own risk.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ: *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: . ☁

Your grandmother always used to say that love could come from the most unexpected placed and when it was least expected, but you never really believed her. You didn’t believe in the idea of fate, the idea that your entire life was predetermined before you were even born. You were strong and stubborn, and you believed that you made your own destiny. The choices you made in life were your own, not some fixed destiny. And though you had no desire to fall in love at your current stage in life, you felt confident that you could find it when you so desired.

Unfortunately, life did not go as you had planned. Perhaps it was some divine punishment for spitting in the face of destiny so many times, or maybe it was a simple mistake. You didn’t know, but it was honestly frustrating to you how your life had derailed so quickly and without the slightest bit of warning. At the end of the day, you knew you had brought it upon yourself. You had been far too wrapped up in your job, too focused on the list of items you needed to buy that day, too pre-occupied with the angry customer complaining to you over the phone.

You thought the sign was green, giving you the okay to cross the busy intersection, but you had only given it a fleeting glance before returning to your notepad, where you were jotting down the complaints of the woman on the phone, promising to make the appropriate changes as soon as you were able. People always say it happens so quickly, that it’s over in the blink of an eye. You weren’t sure if they were wrong or if you just got the short end of the stick but, for you, everything slowed down.

You could see the SVU heading toward you, the driver laying on the horn, but it seemed to be moving so slowly. You doubted it was going more than a snail’s pace. Surely you could just step out of the way, right? But when you tried to do so, your limbs moved even slower. Were you submerged in quicksand? It seemed so. You could hear people screaming – or maybe it was just the woman on the phone, angry that you had yet to answer her.

It seemed to take an eternity for the vehicle to finally reach you, slamming into your body. Paper flew into the air, fluttering in the gentle summer breeze. The phone fell from your hand, smashing into little bits on the pavement. Your body slowly flew backward, landing on the ground in a bloody heap several feet away from where the SVU came to a screeching halt. You became aware of your accelerated heart rate as it pumped in your ears, muffling the slowed sounds of the concerned onlookers.

A face blocked your view of the clear blue sky, but it was just a shadowy blur without features. You tried to piece together what had just occurred, but the memory was quickly fading from your mind as your body slipped into shock. An eery chill wafted over your body. Why didn’t you feel any pain? Even when the vehicle had struck you, you had felt nothing. You were no expert, but you were pretty sure getting hit by a vehicle was supposed to hurt.

Your eyes fluttered closed, just for a moment, and when you opened them again, you found yourself looking down at your battered and bruised body being lifted into an ambulance. Again, you were no expert, but you were pretty sure seeing your own unconscious body was a bad sign.

Footsteps echoed behind you and you noticed that all of the other sounds had faded away. “Y/N? Are you ready to go?”

“No, I am not ready to -” You whipped around, surprised by the young face that greeted you. As angry as you wanted to be, it just felt… wrong to snap at him. Instead, you asked who he was.

The man smiled, showing off a set of pearly white teeth. “Sorry, I should have introduced myself first, it’s been a long day. My name is Choi Youngjae and I’m one of the grim tasked with ferrying souls over to Elysium.”

And then it hit you, “I’m dead.”

His smile turned sad as he nodded, shifting his weight. He had done this so many times since he was given the job, but it never got easier to meet someone after their life had come to an abrupt end. “I’m afraid so. I’m sure you have a lot of questions, and I’m here to -”

“I want to see your boss,” you demanded.

“I… uh, what?” Youngjae had witnessed many different reactions over the course of his career, but no one had reacted quite like this, and no one certainly had never demanded to see his ‘boss’.

“Your boss,” you repeated, feeling frustration begin to bubble within you. “This is clearly a mistake. Let me talk to whoever is above you so we can fix this and get on with our lives.”

His lips tilted downward, but he didn’t have the heart to tell you that the grim did not make mistakes. He doubted doing so would change your mind, anyway. With a nod, he snapped his fingers, stepping back as a white portal opened up where he had just been standing. “Please, follow me.”

You didn’t think twice as you followed him through the portal. A blinding white light made you shut your eyes for a brief moment, but it quickly faded and when your eyes slid open again, you found your surroundings to be very different from the blurry grey you had just been standing in. To your left was a sprawling spruce forest, the trees towering toward the. Behind you was an open field filled with soft-colored flowers. To your right lay a mountain, the peak of which could not be seen beyond the fluffy clouds above.

Was this supposed to be some sort of afterlife? What people referred to as heaven?

A wave of calm came over you, pushing against the annoyance and frustration you felt, but those negative emotions wouldn’t be shoved away so easily.

Youngjae moved forward, approaching a long stone bridge that curved over a break in the land. A man stood by the bridge, eyes trained on a black book within his hands. “Jinyoung, hyung.”

Hearing his name being called, he lifted his head and smiled warmly at his younger brother. “Welcome back, Youngjae. How did your last job go?”

The struggle between the negative emotions and the calm came to a halt when his words reached you and suddenly, it was if the calm didn’t even exist anymore. You huffed as you approached him, fists clenched at your sides. “A job? You think someone losing their life is just a job for you people? Do you get paid to end lives early? Do you get a commission for each life you end?”

His dark eyes flickered to Youngjae before returning to you, his plump lips parting.

You didn’t allow him to answer, shaking your head. You needed to focus on getting out of here and back to where you belong, there was no time to waste arguing. “Look, there’s clearly been some kind of mistake or mix up. I have so many orders that are waiting to be filled, I have to get back home. Please figure out where you screwed up and fix it.”

“I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way,” Jinyoung snapped the black book shut before handing it over to his younger brother, who nodded and took up post by the bridge. “The grim do not make mistakes, nor do they have mixups. There are extreme measures in place to ensure this. It may be hard for you to accept, but it was your time to leave the Earth.”

You followed him across the bridge with a scowl, having to raise your voice over the sound of the rushing water below. “Says who? Who has the right to decide when I live or die?”

“The universe,” he answered simply. “Your kind often believe that a singular god determines the fate of man, but it’s far more complicated than that. Many factors are combined to determine one’s life expectancy, but even destiny can be altered by minute changes within one’s environment. For whatever reason, the universe determined that you were destined to arrive here today.” He paused at the steps leading up to a large hall, turning to look at you.

“So that’s it, then? I’m just… gone.”

“Your soul will remain here in Elysium,” he explained softly. “After one week’s time has passed, the rebirth program will be opened up to you. You lived your life without causing harm to others and because of that, you will be offered the opportunity to start again. A second chance, if you will. A brand new life, a new set of experiences, and challenges. Your soul will be merged with another to form a new soul and neither of you will remember your past lives, your death, or the time you spent here.”

Your brow furrowed as your head started to spin. He was feeding you too much information too quickly and you didn’t know how to feel about any of it.

“Jinyoung!” A tall blonde male came bounding over, a bright grin lighting up his face. “Hyung is calling for us. There’s a situation he needs us to handle.”

“I’ll be right there, Jackson.” He promised before turning back to you, his eyes meeting your own. Another, stronger wave of calm came over you, leaving you feeling a bit lighter than you had just a moment ago. “This is a lot to take in and acceptance doesn’t happen overnight. I promise you, Y/N, it’s not so bad here.”

You could only watch as the two of them headed across the bridge to collect their brother, disappearing within the mist that shrouded the center of the bridge.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ: *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: . ☁

Two months had passed since you had first arrived within Elysium and you still hadn’t fully adjusted to life there, but you weren’t too fond of giving up your memories, either. The only thing that made the situation more bearable was the time you were able to spend with Jinyoung, whom you had gotten quite close to. You hated to admit it, but… he was quickly becoming a very important person to you, the rock that was keeping you grounded.

As you crossed the bridge, you took pause halfway, leaning on the railing and taking a moment to take in just how beautiful it was. A large waterfall poured from a break in the forest, the water flowing down into the large crack that separated the hall from the rest of the land. The spray from the water created a thin fog that covered the bridge. Seeing such a beautiful sight made you wish you had a camera, though you knew it couldn’t capture the beauty as you could see it with your eyes.

“Y/N!” Jinyoung sent you a bright smile as he approached you, the black book tucked under his arm. Seeing him filled you with warmth and send your heart spiraling.

‘Remember, Y/N, love can come from the most unexpected places when we least expect it,’ The words of your grandmother suddenly echoed within your mind.

Your brow furrowed. ‘Why did I just -‘ And then it clicked within your brain. The reason Jinyoung had become so important to you. The reason you were so reluctant to enroll in the program. You had fallen in love with the gatekeeper. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me…’ You pinched the bridge of your nose, repressing a groan. ‘I finally fall in love, and it’s in the afterlife? What kind of cliche novel is this?’

“Are you okay?” He questioned, gently bumping your shoulder with his own as he stopped beside you. “You seem more distracted than usual,”

You met his dark eyes, shimmering with concern and warmth. Your heart skipped a beat as you thought how beautiful this man was. ‘Shut up, heart. No one asked for your opinion,’ You cleared your throat, tearing your gaze away to stare back down at the water. “I’m fine,”

“Have you made a decision about the rebirth project?”

You were silent for several moments, wringing your fingers nervously. With a slow release of breath, you gave him a nod. “I have. I’ve decided to turn the offer down.”

“Are you sure?” Jinyoung asked softly.

As you looked upon his warm eyes, shining brightly under the sunlight above, you spoke from your heart. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,”

The smile he offered you was so full of warmth and happiness that it took you by surprise. His shoulder bumped against yours again and his voice was so soft, you briefly wondered if he had spoken at all. “I’m glad,”

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ: *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: . ☁

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