#but i can still manage to slap out snippets every now and then

[im-his-druidess]

The Deal

No one asked for this, but I needed something dark and gross 🤷‍♀️

TW: Dub-Con turned Non-Con; Infidelity; Cheating; Rough sex; Forced sex; Slight fuck-or-die but not really; Dead Dove Do Not Eat; Unnecessary amount of commas

Setting up the arrangement with Charlie Hewitt left a sour taste in your mouth at the way he openly leered at you the entire time, but you just kept thinking about finally going to bed with a full belly to get you through his poorly concealed innuendos and crass language. It wasn’t until you arrived at the Hewitt’s home, telling your husband you were walking to the next town for groceries as an excuse, that your plan began to crumble. The memory of Charlie’s words making fear squeeze your lungs and bile rising in your throat.

Just when you think you couldn’t feel even more worthless, here you were spreading your legs for a man that wasn’t your husband, all for the chance to get food on your table.

Your husband acted just as worthless as you currently felt and invited his parents to move into your already cramped house without discussing anything with you. Four grown adults living in a one-bedroom shack of a house, with your husband barely making enough money to feed you both let alone two more mouths, was enough to want to pull your hair out. Of course, it didn’t help that your mother-in-law found fault in every single thing you did which your husband agreed with to stay on his mother’s good side. Coupled with your in-laws living beyond their means, including gorging themselves on food that you managed to scrap together, which often left you going to bed hungry and riddled with anxiety. So, when you overheard the local gossip hounds whispering how the Hewitt family would give meat from their job at the slaughterhouse in exchange for favors, it didn’t take long for you to come to a steely resolve. It might have been the numerous days without a steady meal, or how you were belittled everyday at your home, that made you snap and jump at the chance.

‘As much as I want a piece of that pussy…I made a promise to my kin. Tommy’s birthday is coming up and it is far past time for him to become a man despite what mama says. So that’s who you’ll be fucking today. If you got a problem with that then you can fuck off.’

He was so matter-of-fact about the whole thing that it made your head spin.

Relief that you wouldn’t have to sleep with that disgusting excuse of a man making you giddy, before realization at his words struck you like white-hot lightening. You’ve only seen Tommy Hewitt once and the memory was seared into your brain.

You had come across him as he lumbered down the main road on his way home from the slaughterhouse and you were frozen in your tracks as his hulking form stalked past you. He was a large burly man, with broad shoulders, huge biceps, and thick thighs, and his dark shaggy hair didn’t hide the fact that he wore some type of leather mask on the lower part of his face.

He still wore his bloodstained apron.

You had reluctantly agreed once Charlie “sweetened” the deal by promising double the amount of food he would give. Now, here you were, propped up on a bench in the shed while listening to Charlie whisper harshly outside the door. From his tone it sounded like he was scolding someone, Tommy to be exact when you heard his slow heavy footsteps nearing the door, and you swore your heart was going to beat out of your chest the longer you had to wait. From the snippets you could hear it sounded like he was giving instructions and you grimaced when you heard him give vivid instructions on what to put in where.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Tommy came stumbling through the door looking exactly like you remember minus the apron. You realized his blunt appearance was because he was being pushed into the room. Charlie gave you a dirty lingering look, shaking his head with a wistful sigh, before slapping Tommy on a broad shoulder before ducking back out.

The door shut with a firm thud and then you were left alone with the behemoth.

Fear and anxiety once more rushed through you fast enough to make you lightheaded, your heart pounding rapidly in your chest, and the man lingered almost awkwardly by the door. You dimly noticed that he kept his head down, stealing glances at you and your body through his curtain of hair, and you took a deep breath to gather your courage. The bench underneath you was hard and uncomfortable and you knew the sooner you got this over with the sooner you can go home and forget this entire thing.

With shaky hands you hiked up your skirt, removing your panties so they won’t get lost or ruined, and spread your legs. Your face burned in mortification at your actions, even more so when Tommy’s entire body jerked as if sucker-punched, and he didn’t even bother trying to hide the way he openly stared between your legs with wide blue eyes. You fumbled with the small bottle of oil you brought with you, knowing you weren’t going to get properly wet enough to make things less painful, and you quickly waved Tommy over. He approached slowly as if you were going to bite before settling between your spread legs. With him so close you suddenly realized just how big he was, your thighs straining to accommodate the width of his hips, and you nearly jumped out of your skin when a large heavy hand landed on your thigh. His skin was rough and overly warm, thick fingers digging into the meat of your thigh curiously, and you spotted his eyes darting over the rest of your body before settling back between your legs. Your nerves were starting to crumble at his slow pace so you reached down and began unbuckling his pants with trembling fingers.

His entire body tensed up and you mumbled a quiet apology, but your hands continued their work. You knew this was supposedly his first time, but you were anxious to get this over with. Tommy made a low grunting noise as he shuffled on his feet before you got his pants open and his entire body seemed to spasm when you reached into his pants to grab his dick.

You immediately paled at the sheer girth you encountered as you fingers weren’t even close to touching.

He was clearly proportionate to the rest of his body, but that also meant that he was hung like a fucking horse. You let go and fumbled with the vial of oil with a quick prayer for things to be over quickly. You ignored how he jerked his hips closer to you as if willing your hand back as he restlessly pushed his pants down with a grunt to offer you more room to touch him.

His cock stuck out just below his button-down shirt, almost drooping from the heavy weight, and the thick tip was an angry shade of red. You couldn’t help but compare him to your husband. He was larger in every single way, almost laughably so, and you had the brief thought of if you could even get that inside you. It twitched under your gaze. You looked away suddenly embarrassed and saw out of the corner of your eye his hips jerk once more towards you. You felt sweat pool at your lower back, the hot summer air doing nothing to cool you off despite being in shade, and you nervously wiped the sweat beading at your brow the back of your hand. You chided yourself and focused once more at the task at hand.

You poured a generous amount into your palm, nearly half the bottle, and steeled yourself before reaching down to coat him thoroughly. The sound he made didn’t seem human, the punched out garbled growl making the hair on the back of your neck stand on end, and you held back your whimper of fright as he thickened even more in your grasp. You tried to not think of how you were going to struggle to take him into your body. You dropped him once he was completely coated and dumped more oil into your hand, steadfastly ignoring the way Tommy panted through his mask. You leaned back while taking a deep breath before reaching down and slathering yourself, working the oil into your cunt while simultaneously trying to stretch yourself with two fingers in preparation. It wasn’t long until you felt calloused fingers brushing against the back of your hand making you nearly shriek in surprise. You whipped your head down to see Tommy had moved closer, eyes completely transfixed between your legs, and you realized he was gripping himself with his other hand.

He was stroking himself at the same pace you were working yourself open.

Unexpectedly, heat simmered low in your pelvis at the sight and you couldn’t help but squirm in place. It was only about a minute later that you could tell he was getting restless, his hand squeezing his cock tight enough to make you wince, and you pretended to not notice him rubbing the weeping tip against your thighs. Tommy suddenly gripped your leg and spread you even further and you did whimper at the pain shooting through your hip at the unnatural position. He began grinding against your hand still buried in yourself, huffing in annoyance when he was denied entry, and you took a shuddering deep breath before moving your hand away to grip the edge of the bench.

“Go…slow, okay? Slow,” you muttered in a raspy voice and the only answer you received was the sensation of something blunt and sticky nudging at you.

He suddenly surged forward in an attempt to ram himself in, making you shriek and kick your pinned leg uselessly, but thankfully he just slid through your wet folds and brushed against your clit. He did that a few more times and was clearly growing agitated.

Even as you tried to weakly soothe him by weakly petting the hand holding you open, but that just seemed to work him up even more. Eventually the head of his cock notched at your entrance and he began to slowly push forward, seemingly learning from his mistakes, and you felt your eyes widen at the stretch. He was impossibly wide, nearly making you scream as your body attempted to reject the intrusion, but he was determined and those dark blue eyes never strayed from your straining cunt. You tried to help by shifting your hips, bracing one foot on the bench to widen your pelvis, and even stretching your other leg out to help ease the tension.

Nothing worked and you couldn’t escape the mounting pressure.

“It’s not going to work…Tommy, you have to stop. It hurts,” you pleaded, beginning to push on his thick chest while wiggling your hips away from him, and your vision blurred with unshed tears. Tommy didn’t like you pushing him away.

With a growl he pulled back, but your relief was short lived as he easily grabbed your hips and flipped you over and resumed his position. One broad palm was flat on your back between your shoulder blades, pinning you in place even as you squirmed and kicked, and you felt him trying to push in again with renewed vigor.

“Tommy, stop! I changed my mind! Get off of me!” you shrieked with growing panic only to have your shouts silenced by the feel of that fat head popping inside you.

Your eyes widened, body freezing and clenching down on reflex, and you barely had time to draw in a breath before Tommy drew back and slammed himself halfway inside you. The scream you let out was ear-piercing and your throat immediately felt shredded from the sound, but was cut off by him rearing back and slamming his hip back into you until he was eventually buried to the hilt.

His croaky moan of pleasure was covered by another scream from you.

Tears were now flowing freely down your face as you howled in pain, feeling as if you were being ripped in half, and you barely noticed Tommy’s other hand reaching down to paw at your wet cheeks as if to soothe you.

He only stayed still for a few seconds before leaning back and beginning a downright brutal pace. His hips were slamming into you with enough force to have the bench beneath you creaking ominously, your pelvis felt like it was going to shatter, and you had the stray thought that no amount of preparation would have ever prepared for you for him. Your gasping cries were short and choppy, from both his frantic pace and the hand pushing you down effectively squishing your lungs, but you still shrieked and yelped for him to stop or at least slow down to let your body adjust.

He didn’t listen.

He seemed possessed, grunting and snarling as he pounded into you mercilessly, and eventually your body went limp. You clawed helplessly against the wood beneath your cheek, blubbering incoherently, and prayed that Tommy would finish quickly. As if punishment for accepting this deal, you were granted no such reprieve.

He continued to rut into you like a mindless beast for what felt like hours, your insides swollen and throbbing as they were pummeled by his thick cock, and sweat was dripping off of him and mingling with your tears as he leaned over you to reach impossibly deeper. It wasn’t until his hips started stuttering and his thrusts turned deep and hard instead of fast and frantic that had you crying in relief at the telltale signs that he was nearing his finish. Then a horrifying realization dawned on you. Tommy wasn’t stopping. Instead it seemed he was spending longer and longer buried completely to the hilt, pressed flush against you as close as he could, and a new wave of terror-induced adrenaline washed over you.

“Not inside…Tommy don’t you fucking dare finish inside me,” you shrieked, renewing your struggles to escape him, and you grew increasingly wild as he only grunted at you.

You began writhing and attempting to twist away from him, kicking your legs and reaching back behind you to claw at his face, anything to get him away from you.

It only resulted in the hand on your back to slide up and fist painfully in your hair, nearly slamming you back onto the table hard enough for you to see black spots swimming in your vision, and his other hand grabbed your hip to further hold you in place. You continued to beg and plead for him to not come inside you, literally anywhere else but inside, but you were steadfastly ignored. His pace suddenly quickened, a low rattling whine escaping his broad chest, and you wailed as he stilled completely buried inside you. You felt his cock jerk and throb followed by a wave of scorching heat soothing your ravaged channel and you screamed in outrage and in despair. Tommy continued to grind into you, riding out his orgasm with small hurt noises escaping his throat, and by the time he was finished you were limp and shivering with shock. Realization of what all just happened rolling through your mind as fast as nausea rolled in your stomach at the feeling of wetness slipping down your thighs. Bile threatened to rise in your throat, silent tears spilling anew down your damp face, and your entire body felt both boiling hot and icy cold.

You wept quietly as he stayed buried inside you. He petted through your hair as if you were a frightened animal, his ragged breathing filling the stuffy air of the shed, and you swore you heard him cooing at you. You felt him lean down and nuzzle the back of your head as his hand moved from your hip to shyly pet over the back of your hand in some twisted form of affection after what just happened. The door suddenly swung open and you didn’t even have the energy to even twitch.

“Atta boy, Tommy! Heard that bitch caterwauling clear down the road!” Charlie shouted with clear glee and humiliation burned in your veins.

You heard the man move closer, no doubt wanting to leer at your crumpled body, but Tommy growled and moved his body more firmly on top of you. As if shielding you from view.

“Aw, what’s this, boy? You finally get your dick wet and now feel like you’re somebody special?” Charlie sneered and you felt the large body on top of you press even tighter to you.

You heard movement around you before a large item wrapped in brown paper tied with twine plopped on the table by your head.

“A deal’s a deal. Don’t be shy now. I’m sure Tommy would love to see you again,” he continued with a wheezing laugh, clearly finding the whole ordeal hilarious, and he walked back out of the shed laughing to himself.

Regret and disgust swirled in your gut at the sight of the paper bag, knowledge of what all transpired making you want to cry all over again, and you let out a small hiccupping sob. Tommy nuzzled into your hair once more, his body relaxing now that Charlie had left, and he resumed his petting. He was letting out a happy garbled sound, clearly not realizing how he had just brutalized you, and you squeezed your eyes shut.

You felt Tommy begin to harden inside you once more.

[muffinsin]

Hello! I wanted to say that I really love your writing! Idk if you may have written a request like this or not but I was wondering how the Dimitrescu daughters would give G!P reader a handjob? Thanks so much!

Hey, hon! :) finally getting to this one XP I’ve decided to write this out as snippets, though! Hope y’all like it ;)

Masterlists

Bela

You squirm in your seat, your vision blurry from blinking tears away every few seconds.

Bela is- overwhelming, in the best ways.

You’re mewling as much as you’re moaning and groaning, panting and hissing.

Eventually, you open your eyes again, finding Bela’s intense golden ones.

Your wrists and ankles tied to the wooden chair you’re sat on, you can’t do a thing but squirm helplessly for her. With a sweet smile on her face, she hungrily pumps your dick more and more, cruelly even.

She’s ruthless, insatiable, even as your cock is sore and overly sensitive already and parts of her face and cleavage are painted white in your cum already.

You’ve lost count of how often she’s made you cum already, can only blink away the tears as you’re brought to orgasm over and over again for her.

Her hand works wonders on you, her movements quick but delicate, eager but measured and calculated.

She drags her fingertip along your sensitive tip each time she comes to the top, dipping and stroking, rubbing before her hand thrusts down again, slapping against your aching, drained balls.

You ball your hands into fists when you feel your next orgasm approaching again.

“Be-Bela”, you whimper, squirming and looking more pathetic than you’d have liked.

Bela, however, seems to drink in the sight of you, your desperation and desperation. She feels your cock throb in her hand, and decides to tease you even further, it seems.

Being entirely naked in front of you and jerking you off with her soft hand and strong fingers, there’s hardly anything you thought would be more erotic.

Then, she sticks out her tongue and leans into the space between your spread legs fully.

You groan and gasp watching her, the warm tip of her tongue sliding and pressing against your tip, her breasts pushed up for you to see.

You shiver as she licks and teases you, her hand jerking you off fast.

“Bela..!”, you moan, your thighs trembling, your fingernails digging into your palms.

In the end, you can’t stop yourself, groaning and twitching as you cum, your tense and sore cock aching and twitching as you empty your balls.

Again, wet cum slaps against her face and in her mouth and you force yourself to keep your eyes open in favor of watching the erotic display. What sticks to her face is cleaned by her fingers and tongue, then swallowed down.

“Very good! You can get me one more, little one”

It’s a promise, and an order.

Cassandra

She’s sat between your spread thighs, sucking and moving her hand at your cock, slowly jerking you off. Even with the sharp glare pointed at you, she looks positively adorable and tempting in the position.

Having supposedly tamed her after yet another bratty episode, you now have her between your legs, sucking and gagging on your hardened cock, warming it with her tight throat and massaging your balls with her strong hand and fingers.

Her face is messed already from the past half an hour of sucking at your cock. You don’t think you’ve seen a thing more erotic, her light makeup smeared across her face, her drool sticking to her thick lips and chin, your cum- wet and thick, new and dried- sticking to her cheeks and forehead.

She looks ready to kill you, despite the collar and leash you’ve managed to get around her throat. And still, she obeys when you tug the leash and make her throat you again.

She moans around you, as hungry for you as you are for her. You groan when she brings you right to the edge again, her mouth and hands Heaven-like.

“Fuck, yes-more”, you groan.

You don’t even notice your grip on the leash loosening a little, nor do you notice it when it drops to the ground eventually.

It’s as if you lose your control over her with it, the woman’s eyes somewhat darkening. With your eyes closed and mouth open, moaning and gasping as you get closer and closer to cumming down her throat again, you’re none the wiser to her movements and intentions.

That is, at least, until it’s too late.

You moan as you cum, feeling the sperm slowly drain from you, shoot from your tip and onto her warm, wet tongue.

You keep your eyes closed, lost in the blissful pleasure. You hear something snap, but don’t pay any mind to it, too exhausted from your orgasm.

“Wha-!”, you gasp, then, when you suddenly feel her hands at yours, the rope previously cutting into her wrists suddenly wrapped around yours.

“Cass!”, you hiss, but all your squirming and such helps you none now.

Even with the collar around her neck, she’s hardly in a vulnerable position, her eyes seductive and eager, the smirk on her lips telling.

You gasp when you’re pushed back into the armchair, your hands bound and legs pushed apart by her strong hands.

“Just relax, sit back, and enjoy yourself”, she teases, her tone low, her smile teasing and playful.

You hiss when her hand’s back on your sore cock, stroking your sensitive tip teasingly.

It hurts, almost, your cock so sensitive after your orgasm, but it feels so very good, too, and your sadistic girlfriend knows that fully well. And, as you know, she so very much loves to play with you.

“Mhmmm, I smell your arousal, little mouse”, she coos, her flies buzzing in excitement.

It seems there’s nothing cuter to her than you, squirming and whimpering, moaning and hissing in the thick armchair.

Her hand moves fast, her fingers around you tight, but creating perfect friction against your cum and spit soaked cock. She teases your tip and balls, all while with a sweet, but sadistic smile on her lips.

“A-Ah, fuck! Cass!”, you groan when you suddenly feel her teeth dig into your upper thigh.

You feel yourself be jerked off faster, closer to the orgasm you’re trying hard to deny her, sure you can somehow regain control of the situation.

Still, deep down you know it’s no use, her hand too skilled, your body so very responsive to your lover.

She giggles, perfectly aware of this, too, and when she licks all the way up your thigh and wraps her lips around your balls, you hear the chain of the leash as it moves with her.

“Mhmmm, yes, yes!”, she groans. You know, you can’t hold back any longer, especially when her hand tightens around you a little.

Your body lurches forward as you cum, your bound hands twitching, your thighs shaking. You can’t help but feel your face heat up as she keeps your cock right up, causing the cum to no longer hit her face, but rather your own stomach.

“That’s it, morsel”, she finishes with a teasing smile.

Daniela

You sit straight, your body tense, your eyes struggling to stay open. You’re just thankful no one’s attempting to talk to you.

Next to you sits Daniela, a cute smile on her lips. She looks so innocent, listening to her older sisters bicker.

All the while her hand is dropped below the table, her fingers tangled underneath your shorts and grasping your hardened cock.

You try not to pull anyone’s attention to you, yet feel your face heat up red and fight to keep quiet and still the better you begin to feel.

Daniela’s head rests on your shoulder. It seems, no one suspects her at all.

You’re hardly surprised. Your girlfriend is a lot better at keeping a poker face than you, really.

“Ah!”, you gasp when she squeezes your pulsing cock, but quickly manage to play it off in a series of coughs when Alcina’s head turns to you.

The thought of being beheaded the moment the mother of three finds out what’s happening underneath the table is motivation enough for you to stay quiet.

When you pick up your glass of water, your hand is shaking slightly and your arm’s trembling.

All you want is to grab your girlfriend’s naughty, wandering hand and pull her back to your shared bedroom. You want nothing but to plant her in the bed, to tear her clothing off her beautiful body like tearing the wrapping off a Christmas present, to push yourself deep into her and fuck her into oblivion.

Clearly, Daniela has different plans.

She shows no indication of stopping or even pausing, instead jerks you off faster and harder, clearly trying to make you cum right at the table.

You grit your teeth at the bratty and risky goal, but can’t help but feel a light wave of excitement at the thought, too.

She’s bold, and is getting even more so when her lips part and she becomes a part of the conversation.

You groan lowly, swallowing your moans with bits of water. Still, you begin to feel hot fast, your body on fire and cock aching and twitching in her soft, petite hands.

You squirm helplessly in your seat when the speed of her hand picks up, squeezing at your thick length and a fingertip sliding up and teasing at your tip.

You nearly choke on your water when her finger pushes down.

Again, you feel your orgasm coming faster and faster, though you know: you won’t be able to subtly cum.

As such, you allow your bratty, bold girlfriend to continue, more and more, with that sweet, innocent smile on her cute face.

You allow her to bring you right to the edge, then, when you’re gripping the table tightly already and are already almost hunched over, decide to intervene at last.

Daniela gasps under her breath when you reach down, roughly grasping her wrist and pulling her delicate hand from your warm underwear.

She looks at you, her wide eyes pleading, her cute bottom lip jutted out in a silent question, a plead for you to let her continue.

You squeeze her wrist tightly, a silent demand for her to obey.

It seems, for now she will. You know her obedience won’t last long, but can’t bring yourself to care.

Edged and overly eager to cum already, you want nothing more than to pull the beautiful woman from the table with you and bend her over the closest surface in private.

[redjayson]

oh boy, now that chapter 17 is posted I can talk about some of the extras that I want to write in full at some point! since that’s rather far off in the future (and probably a lot of work when second-hand alibis still has its own Incredible Amount of Work left), have some quick and dirty snippets/ideas of what they might look like.

first one is a "su xiyan lives" spin-off:

exactly what it says on the tin. shen yuan makes a deal with the system (which would have to be somewhat less strict in this scenario) or he gets his hands on a macguffin or something and manages to make it to the luo river in time to help su xiyan through luo binghe’s birth and save her life afterwards

that, then, leaves them both desperately injured with a (somewhat unhappy) baby in the middle of winter when huan hua is undoubtably searching for them and their only allies probably think shen yuan and su xiyan betrayed them

shen yuan has the bright idea to lead them down the river to the washerwoman who was luo binghe’s adopted mother in proud immortal demon way. she’s kind enough to take them in, softened immensely by the baby and by how injured and grief-stricken shen yuan and su xiyan are

shen yuan and su xiyan slap up every (subtle) barrier and disguise and warding talisman that they can possibly think of to help hide them from any huan hua searchers, before collapsing from the expenditure of energy. shen yuan possibly uses his altered-but-no-longer-untested body-stasis talisman on su xiyan, who is predictably Not Amused by the recklessness of shen yuan having used this on himself, but it gives them more time to handle the poison while also allowing su xiyan’s qi to replenish itself and hold off the effects of the poison trying to kill her while they find an actual cure for it (assuming shen yuan's macguffin/system deal wasn't enough)

they both heal. they help around the house as much as possible, and gift the washerwoman with as much money as she’ll take from them, which is far less than she deserves for all the kindness she’s showing them. eventually, they’re healed enough to begin moving again, and they judge that it’s likely too dangerous to stay this close to huan hua any longer. 

before they go, though, there’s the matter of tianlang-jun. they debate for days—is it too dangerous to try and check on him? do they think zhuzhi-lang was sealed as well? what happens if they’re captured by huan hua? what will happen to binghe? (yes, luo binghe ended up with the same name as canon. shen yuan only suggested the “binghe” portion of the name, but su xiyan came up with and ran with the “luo” portion of it, because it’s far too conspicuous for a child to be running around with her surname, isn’t it? shen yuan, twin brother of shen qingqiu, keeps his mouth shut.)

in the end, they decide that they’ll take their chances now, while there’s still enough chaos and confusion from the end of the battle + setting up how the guard on tianlang-jun is going to look long-term for them to get close. better yet, if they can find zhuzhi-lang, then they won’t even have to get all the way to bailu mountain. 

whatever happens, it ends up being a bit of a mess. zhuzhi-lang is not happy, but shen yuan has spent years being one of his favorite people, and both he and su xiyan are still moving pretty gingerly when they manage to find him. in the end, zhuzhi-lang believes what they tell him about the betrayals committed against them, too, and agrees to carry the news to tianlang-jun (and plead their case, should he prove unwilling to listen).

after that…su xiyan and shen yuan beat feet out of huan hua territory, taking binghe (and possibly the washerwoman!) with them to live a life as rogue cultivators. cue years of sneaking back into bailu forest to visit zhuzhi-lang and tianlang-jun and try to figure out the best way to help tianlang-jun escape. shen yuan helps zhuzhi-lang get ahold of some sun and moon dew mushrooms, but warns that unless they experiment wildly and are also exceedingly lucky, the mushroom body will fail pretty quickly with a demon inhabitant instead of a human one. 

I imagine that this au would either end up as a su xiyan/tianlang-jun/shen yuan throuple, or zhuzhi-lang might finally shoot his shot with shen yuan and actually get somewhere with it. I lean toward su xiyan/tianlang-jun/shen yuan, just because there’s only so many times you can pretend to be married with a child, spending literal years working toward a common goal and in close proximity and with shared fondness, before you fall into an actual relationship. tianlang-jun is on board with this when it’s explained to him—shen yuan is great! (the wife-beam strikes again, it just took a little bit longer with tianlang-jun because he was so focussed on su xiyan)

also it’s deeply funny to imagine shen yuan reuniting with shen jiu (+ yue qingyuan) and cang qiong mountain sect and boldly gesturing toward binghe and declaring, “this is my son.” yeah, this carbon copy of su xiyan, with eyes that are notably not hers or shen yuan’s? suuure. the other peak lords aren’t going to argue, though, because shen qingqiu looks way too willing to fight them (read: yell at them) about it, and that’s almost never worth it. plus, like, what do they care? 

shen qingqiu, notably, doesn’t believe that luo binghe is shen yuan’s biological son, but apparently he is shen yuan’s adopted son (son by marriage?), so it’s really all the same thing. he’s doing some math about the tianlang-jun situation (as is yue qingyuan) and not liking the answers that he’s come up with, but if shen yuan wants to keep the child, then let him. better to allow a half-demon on his mountain than to lose his brother again. 

shang qinghua is losing his shit in the background. you did what with my protagonist’s parents?! my cabbages plot!!!

[greyghoulclub]

WIP WEDNESDAY

A snippet from an obikin fic im writing, based on Baby Driver

For all intents and purposes, Anakin didn’t mean for this to happen. It was just one small job to pay off his family’s debts, and he was a free man. All he had to do was wait in the car outside the bank, nice and simple. But trouble seemed to keep an eye out for one Anakin Skywalker, and trouble came in the form of a redheaded man with a gun, yelling at him to start driving. Who was Anakin to refuse?

He weaved through the twisting streets of Corsucant City, pushing the speed limit as far as he could. The man in the back muttered about 10,000 dollars in cash into what looked like a burner phone. Anakin knew to keep his nose out of it. He’d been burned before.

Sirens blared from behind them, giving them chase. The man in the back told Anakin to step on it, his tone warning as to what would happen if Anakin didn’t. White-knuckling the wheel, he pressed on the gas pedal as much as he could, the car engine roaring with pressure. Anakin could feel the other man keeping a close eye on where Anakin was turning to throw off the police’s trail. If Anakin did manage to create a diversion, he looked pleased, as if he was appraising Anakin’s skills. They were racing towards an interchange in the middle of Corsucant, one of the busiest roads in the city, and it was easy to lose someone. Anakin saw two cars on the road that looked very similar to the nondescript black car he was driving, the corner of his mouth pulled into a small smile as he pulled the manoeuvre to get the police car to follow one of the other cars as he took the way towards the western edge of the city. His eyes flicked to the rearview mirror to see if no one was following them. In the all clear. But curiously, the man in the back seemed to be proud of how Anakin managed to pull off that trick, and he vocalised that too. It made Anakin feel a small flutter in his stomach but he didn’t want to look into that now.

“You’ve done this kind of driving before, haven’t you?” his passenger asked. He was looking directly into Anakin’s eyes via the rearview mirror. The other man had this way of speaking, it was charming, amicable even, but his eyes were analysing every move or expression Anakin made.

“I used to,” Anakin answered curtly, keeping his face neutral to the best of his ability. But the man in the back seemed to be able to tell that Anakin wasn’t telling the entire truth. And maybe Anakin was being too naive but felt he could trust this man. And even so, he did owe Anakin big time for getting away from the cops.

“I don’t think you’re telling me everything but either way, you’re good. Could use someone like you on my team, if you’re interested in a job,” something was slipped into Anakin’s pocket, but his gut told him not to look at it. Watto would know and his mother would be disappointed that Anakin was still involved with not-so-legal activities.

“Look where can I drop you off? Can’t risk having you in here for too long,” Anakin sighed, knowing he was in deep shit either way.

“Urscu district. You know the Outlander Club yes?” Anakin nodded, he’d been a patron of that club a few times, when money allowed. Anakin took a sharp left at a junction between the COMPNOR building and the Corsucant public library, heading into the entertainment district. It wasn’t long before he found the Outlander. The outside of the club was dark, the neon lights dimmed in the daylight. It would be an eyesore of colour once nightfall hit.

“Thank you for your help,” a wad of 100 dollar bills was slapped onto Anakin’s lap, “If you reconsider, call the number on the card, and ask for Kenobi.” The door to the car closed and the man disappeared into the club, leaving Anakin staring at the wad of cash he was left with and wondering how the hell he would explain this to his mother.

[ly-art]

I had to do it. Snippet of Chapter ??? Of my Sebastian x MC fic (they're 23 guys, not teens here)

Okay, so my creativity slapped me in the face and said, "Hey, this chapter is nowhere near the beginning but because I have fun torturing you, you can write this scene, RIGHT NOW!" So I did. Oh also my fic will be Explicit for those who didn't guess lmao the snippet is not

So she scurried around her house, carefully looking into every corner, wondering where he went. Just as she was putting her head into the kitchen, a deep voice made her flinch. "What in the world are you doing, sneaking around in your own house, huh?" She squeaked, disappointed in herself for reacting like some random girl despite being an *Auror*. She slowly turned around, hoping not to flush like a tomato, but that hope was completely destroyed when she saw Sebastian. He leaned against the doorframe of her living room—naked, only a towel around his hips. He had this smug grin on his face she loathed and his eyes gleamed with mischief. Her mouth fell open, and she couldn't stop herself from looking him up and down. *More than once.* His grin widened, knowing full well where she was looking. Whatever doubts remained, that was not the teenage boy she knew. He was an adult, and she couldn't stop staring at his muscles. *What kind of life is he living to look like that?* "Enjoying the view, Cat?" he asked, his voice laced with obvious amusement. Somehow, Catriona managed to meet his eyes, but whatever words she was trying to form, her tongue was tied. Why was her mind blanking out? She had to say *something*. Sebastian couldn't have the upper hand here. Proud of herself, she finally found her voice again and tried to look annoyed. "You're really feeling at home here, Sebastian. Can you please explain why you're walking around like this?" "I bathed," he answered with a shrug. "I can see that," she gritted out, holding back on that eye roll. "But why are you not wearing any clothes after taking a bath?" "I wanted to see how'd you react." He couldn't be serious. Her *reaction*? For what reason? Was he insane? Did the Dark Arts decrease his intelligence? "And? Satisfied with my *reaction*?" "Very." "Great. Now, could you please wear some damn clothes?!" she pleaded, turning away from him as she dismissed him with a gesture. However, overconfidence always bit you back, and so she didn't anticipate him closing the distance. "Catriona." "What?!" She whirled around, glaring at him with so much fervor as possible and almost bit down on her tongue because he was mere inches away from her, still only a towel hiding his lower body. Sebastian tilted his head, studying her intently, and she felt like a deer caught in the light. Catriona couldn't look away. His eyes fixated her and she felt like watching into an abyss that slowly pulled her in. She tried to bring some distance between them by retreating towards the kitchen, but Sebastian quickly guided her towards a wall instead, his knee between her thighs. He placed his hands next to her head. "You know what I've noticed, Cat? You try to look angry, but underneath that little facade of yours, I can see something very different." Swallowing hard, she asked, "And what is that?" "Attraction. Desire. *Want*. Don't think I didn't see the looks you gave me. Especially just now." Catriona paled at this. He knew. Of course he knew. She made it so obvious. How shameful. If anyone knew she felt attracted to a dark wizard. To the man who didn't see her more as a tool. They would ridicule her, be disappointed in ger. She felt disgusted with herself. Despite her inner turmoil, she spat out, "You must be blind then. Because all I feel for you is hate. And stop calling me that! You lost that right the moment you decided to go the wrong way!" Sebastian arched an eyebrow. "Hate doesn't rule out attraction, Cat. What a coincidence that I feel the same. But why not have a little fun until it gets serious again?" His hand grabbed her chin, pulling her towards him, his voice a husky whisper. "And I'll call you whatever I want. You hold no power here. Try to stop me if you want."

My friend, who I always go to if I have problems or am uncertain about my writing convinced me to post this here, enjoy fellas. I'm trying my best to write it as fast as lightning!!

[mstarcreates]

Another snippet from Crow’s Calling - Coffee Shop AU. Please enjoy these two idiots lol. Somehow I still managed to slip some angst in here 😅.

—

“Hey Amanda,” Crow called from the front of the shop as he wiped down the counter.

“Be right there!” She answered, he could hear her hauling boxes around sorting inventory. This shop wouldn’t run half as well without her, Glint and Eido to help him out. He’d probably need a few more baristas at some point but for now the three of them managed just fine.

Finally, Amanda came up front, dusting her hands off. “I’m here, boss. What can I do you for?”

“Please don’t call me that,” he said, almost shuddering. “You know I hate it.”

“Which is why I do it.” She grinned wide.

He shook his head, taking the cloth he’d been cleaning with into one hand as he spoke. “You’ll never believe who came into the shop the other day. The Hunter Vanguard himself.”

“What?! And you didn’t call me! Crow I swear to the Traveler—how could you let me miss out on that?!” She slapped his arm playfully.

“He wasn’t here very long,” Crow chuckled a little. “Just gave him his order and he went on his way. You know how those Vanguard types are, always got somewhere to be.”

Amanda crossed her arms and lifted a skeptical eyebrow. “There’s somethin’ you aren’t telling me.”

“I swear, that was it.” He lied as he averted his gaze to focus on scrubbing an imaginary speck off the countertop instead. His face was heating just at the memory of Cayde calling him cute to whoever he’d been chatting with.

“Don’t make me pull the security footage.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” he shot back, finally meeting her gaze again.

“Aha! You’re all blue in the face! I knew it!! Something DID happen. Tell me everything. Please I have been dyin’ for some juicy gossip.”

“The Hunter Vanguard was flirting with him,” Glint chimed in as he appeared next to Crow. Amanda put a hand to her mouth, gasping in a rather dramatic manner.

“What? Glint! You’re supposed to be on my side!” He cried out, unable to believe his own Ghost would betray him so. “You two are ridiculous, he probably flirts with everybody. That’s like his whole deal isn’t it?”

“Well…did you at least flirt back?” Amanda asked, her expression all hopeful.

“No.”

“Aw come on! You’re no fun. You turn down everyone.”

“There’s a reason for that,” he said quietly, finally pulling back from cleaning the counter. “And we both know what that reason is, so can we please drop it? I’m sure it’s all just fun and games for a guy like Cayde but for me…” he trailed off, wringing his hands a bit.

Amanda touched his arm. “Hey I’m sorry, I was just messin’ Crow I didn’t mean nothing by it. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do alright?”

“I know,” he said softly, his hand falling on hers. “Thank you though, for apologizing. I appreciate it.”

****

“Welcome to Crow’s Calling. Back again so soon?” Crow said with a soft smile when Cayde returned the very next day, around the same time he had before. Once again he was dressed down, and even Crow had to admit the guy could fill out a pair of jeans. Could probably fill some other things too—stop it! We’re at work right now!

“Yeah, turns out my coworkers really liked the place. So two of your blackest black coffees and the—“

“Golden Gun Blast with a tooth-rotting amount of caramel syrup, got it.” Crow replied as he entered the order effortlessly.

“Wow, you remembered.”

“Not every day the Hunter Vanguard comes into my shop.” He said softly. “Please pay when you’re ready.”

“Do you print receipts here? Trying to see if I can get this written off as being a work expense.” Cayde asked casually as he paid.

“Sadly no, I can send a digital copy to your Ghost though. Would that work?”

“Yeah, that’s perfect actually.” Crow got the feeling that Cayde was still fishing for his name, so as he brought up the receipt on the datapad he changed where his name would usually go and then sent it off.

He turned away to start making the drinks, allowing the music playing from the speakers to fill the silence. Only a few moments passed before Cayde spoke again. “I see what you did there, very funny putting ‘Barista’ on the receipt.”

“Well, perhaps you should come up with something more original next time.” Crow smiled again, he had to admit he kind of liked this little game between them. He wondered how long could he keep Cayde guessing? Only one way to find out.

“You got yourself a deal. I’m gonna come in here every day until you crack.”

“Suits me, means more Glimmer in my pocket.” He placed the finished drinks down in front of Cayde, their gazes meeting. “Your loyalty card?” He held out his hand. Cayde continued to watch him for a beat before finally pulling the card out. Crow quickly punched three more holes into it and handed it back.

“Say uh…if I fill that card could I get your name then?”

“You’ll get a free coffee.” He reiterated, not backing down.

“Can’t fault a guy for trying. See you next time, Feathers.” Cayde gave him a playful salute and took the coffees.

[sugar-softies]

Have this snippet I wrote for me and my qpp's dogboy and catboy ocs asdicjdwjdj:

Avi took a step back, heart pounding, to take in the full sight.

Isaac, a man who once allowed himself nothing, was now so glutted his eyes were glazed over.

He was sitting in a creaking kitchen chair, his soft drooping stomach so round and taut that the front had started to grow a little red and... even more alluring was that Isaac kept trying to rub it and couldn't reach the front. His hands kept rubbing the sides weakly and occasionally stretching as far as they could, but Avi had made him so swollen he likely wouldn't be able to reach until he digested.

"You can still talk, right puppy?" He asked carefully, feeling a little guilty for a moment as he surveyed the trash covered table. The fridge and freezer had been entirely emptied into the poor man's gut.

"Yeah..." Isaac managed to wheeze out, his hand moving sluggishly up to wipe drool off his chin.

"So..." Avi bit his lip, because he still needed more relaxation and it was so hot seeing Isaac stuck in his seat and useless thanks to him. "You can still say red?"

"Yeah," Isaac confirmed.

"But you're not yet?" Avi opened the pantry and looked at what they had left.

There was some pasta, and he did start boiling water, but that would take too long.

"Mhmm." Isaac smiled almost drunkenly. "Still hungry, master."

Avi's tail lashed with energy as he pulled the bag of sugar out of the pantry.

"Well that's good, because I still have more trash to get rid of." He watched with delight as Isaac's eyes widened and his tail wagged. "Open up."

Isaac opened as wide as he could and tried his best to swallow as Avi poured sugar into his mouth. He was so focused on swallowing dry mouthfuls of the stuff he barely even noticed when Avi switched to the last of their salt and a half finished bag of walnuts they'd used for some brownies.

Avi bit his fist as he stepped back again to survey his progress and saw Isaac was gasping for breath under the weight of his packed belly.

"Fuck..." Isaac wheezed, hearts in his eyes. "You really just... used me as... a trash can."

"Yeah, I did." Avi's heart pounded. "And you were so good, so so good." He scratched Isaac behind the ear and rubbed under his belly. "The whole kitchen is in here... go-" he couldn't even finished his amazed sentence before one of the chair legs cracked and splintered.

Isaac made a startled sound, and though the chair didn't fully collapse the change in balance caused him to fall onto the floor with a loud thud.

"Shit! Are you okay?" Avi fell to his knees, eyes wide with concern.

Isaac just giggled and panted more. "Fuck... didn't even feel it... all I feel is my stomachache... God I'm so full."

Avi tasted blood from biting his lip and felt every muscle in his body relax as he looked at Isaac: trapped on the floor until he digested enough they could move him, laying on his side with his whale of a stomach spilling out onto the floor, his tail wagging lazily past an enormous ass shoved into too tight jeans-

He bent down and kissed him, rubbing the side of his belly before giving it a ruthless slap.

[otome-on-the-side]

Pride

So, I shuffled some stuff around to make this deadline. This fic is a more personal exploration of something I grew up seeing so many people mock growing up on the internet - even as recently as here, within the om community. 

Neopronouns are seen as this cringey, absurd concept. They can be strange and confusing - but so much of the queer experience is. How is expressing oneself through words in one way, any worse than another? 

This line of thought is what led me to pick out neopronouns for my self insert, thanks to a wonderful post that linked me to a wonderful carrd. 

nect / nectar / nectar / nectars / nectarself  in relation to the easier to understand  they / them / their / theirs / themself 

Are Joe “Slip” Little’s pronouns. Nect shares a nickname with me, along with other characteristics, as they are a self insert. Exploring my identity through this lense has been a joy, and ultimately I’m glad to write what I’ve written;   A short story about Slip discussing with nectar new pacts about their man eating habits. 

Trigger warnings include: death, murder, man eating, and talk of shit 

“Alright, I’ve gathered you all here today to ask a very important question- one that’s been on my mind for some time.”   Mammon, Leviathan, and Beelzebub sat at the dining room table, looking at Slip expectantly.  Mammon looked ready to break into a sweat, Leviathan was shifting restlessly in his seat, and Beel simply tensed. 

“All three have said something along the same line of thought; so, I wanted to ask- How would you have eaten me and disposed of my body?” 

Mammon immediately began sputtering as Leviathan gaped openly at nect- even Beelzebub was shocked. Slip plowed over their reactions, cutting off Mammon and any other protests with, “Ordered in youngest to oldest!” Nect spoke forcefully, pointing at the sixth born. “Beel, go!”

He blinked, wide eyed for a moment before answering, his eyes downcast in shame. “I would have eaten you from your head and worked my way down, consuming all of you until there was nothing left.” He forced himself to meet nectar eyes, and chillingly, Slip knew he was speaking the complete truth. Consuming was his curse, gifted so wretchedly from his father. 

Even now, it still gnawed unceasingly at his stomach. Slip had fallen off the menu by proving how capable nect were, and what nect would do to keep people nect cared about safe. But that didn’t mean he didn’t feel like he’d been ranting at a butter sheep when he’d first opened up to nect at two am. 

Despite this, nect grinned, taking a bit of sick delight in the brothers’ discomfort. Slip’s morbid curiosity hadn’t left nect, only intensified. Nectar lips quirked into a smirk as nect asked further. “Would you chew?” 

“...Yes.” 

“Would ya stop fuckin’ encouragin’ him?!” Mammon snapped. 

Leviathan was prevented from adding in, as a single held up finger from Slip managed to shut up both elder demons. 

It surprised nect that this worked, even as they still held eye contact with Beelzebub, but nect spoke before either demon broke the unspoken command. “It isn’t the most creative method, but it’s fitting, I think. You didn’t specify how you’d get rid of any remains...” nect rubbed at nectar jaw in thought. “But considering the implications… they would be hard to find, and deeply unpleasant for Lucifer. 8 out of 10.” 

“You’re scoring this?!” Leviathan cried out, wide eyed with horror and dismay.

“All that, and that’s what ya have a problem with?!” Mammon critiqued. 

Slip interrupted the banter by turning nectar attention on Leviathan, crying, “You next Levi!” articulating the command by pointing nectar finger at him. “Go!” 

Terrified, he murmured and stuttered haltingly, “U-um..., I, I- I would have.. ” Before his mortification made something snap, and proceeded to yell, “I WOULD HAVE SWALLOWED YOU WHOLE!! I ALREADY TOLD YOU THIS; WHY DO I HAVE TO SAY IT AGAIN?!!” A part of him had taken pleasure in the thought, back when Slip had goaded him into playing that farce of a TSL quiz. The nerve of this weak human, and his brothers helping nect, all the made him look stupid because he took joy in something- all in order to gain his pact mark. 

He didn’t regret keeping his word to Slip, not at all, but thinking about how he’d felt at the time upset him- even if every nasty bit of it was true.  Especially because it was true. 

Slip merely nodded again, hand returned to nectar jaw, looking thoughtful. “Yeah, but I’d wondered if you’d changed your mind.”

“Of course not!” He sputtered. 

Nect interrupted him before he could protest more. “6 out of 10. Same kind of disposal as Beel’s, but I feel as though the remains could be found easier, as the skeleton would be more whole. Plus, I’d be conscious for way more of it than I would with Beel, and I Do Not like the idea of going out knowing what vore feels like.” 

Slip continued on nectar conversational rampage without letting Leviathan protest his low score, pointing at the room’s eldest. “Mammon! You next!”  

The second born could only sputter for a moment as his thoughts got together “Alright, ya weirdo, without a doubt I’m going to get the best score.” “He’s stalling.” Levi commented from the peanut gallery. “Shaddup! I’m not done talkin’! I’d-” He’d been blustering, full of puffed up fake confidence until he’d taken a glance at Slip. Then all of it started leaking out of him as he spoke, even as he ripped his gaze away from his master. “I’d just- kill ya, and sell off all the parts for cash on the illegal market.” 

His shoulders drooped and his voice softened as he spoke. “ ‘S not like it would be hard. You’d let me walk up and snap your neck before you could realize. Then it’s just wrapping it up like a delicacy and cranking the price up so it would be worth the effort.” His gaze was on the floor now, cold dread dragging its fingers down the back of his neck and into the pit of his stomach. 

He’d turned away from nect without realizing. His brothers had no quips to add on; they’d already had the same realization. Mammon turned, looking at Slip over his shoulder to speak. “You’re too fucking trusting.” 

Nect merely shrugged in response. “It isn’t really a me problem if someone crosses a line. A corpse is just that: a corpse. It isn’t me at that point, even if you knew it as me beforehand.” There was a pause there, as what nect said sank in. There was more to be said about it than that, but that was a conversation to be had in private; just for nect and Mammon alone.  “Anyway. Points redacted as you wouldn’t succeed-” 

Slip was aware something was looming behind nect. It wouldn’t stop nect  though, as he could damn well wait for nect to finish nectar conversation. 

“-because you’d get caught wrapping the meat and all the over stuff up. But I respect the swift action and creativity there, plus the hustle. Always respect the hustle.”  

“Slip,” Lucifer warned. 

“ 7 out of 10.” nect finished.

[mwolf0epsilon]

Please may I have just at least snippet of Were eel Fives being Twitchs ori'vod? Also he can be adopted by the entire Domino Squad... oh the possibilities...

I did the best I could, I am a little burnt out for writing at the moment. Hope you like it!

---

To say Umbara had gone unexpectedly was putting it mildly, which was honestly a crime in of itself. Everything had gone disastrously, and sugarcoating the absolute abuse of trust and power that had hit the 501st like a slap across the face, was nothing short of abysmal behavior.

Every single one of them was reeling from the events that had unfolded. From Krell's obvious disregard for (clone) life, acts of sabotage, and the slaughter he'd orchestrated prior to his death, to the fact that Fives wasn't entirely as human as he'd initially appeared...

All of it was a hard pill to swallow. Even for the medics. Especially for the medics.

There were still so many wounded vode to treat and so little medical supplies to go around... The 212th were offering what they had in their stocks (because their general had made sure every assault they'd partaken in, had no bigger a number of casualties than one or two), but even they couldn't bare the weight the 501st was unfortunately limping around with.

Coping was just... Hard.

Twitch was unsure how much more they'd all be able to take before one or two medics finally cracked under the amounting pressure.

Kix at least looked close to a break down, which the younger clone didn't fault him for. He himself had lost his batch to the relentlessness of this insatiable war. He knew what might be going through his ori'vod's mind when he'd gotten so close to losing Hardcase and Jesse in one go.

It wasn't a good feeling.

The fragmented chain of command that still remained wasn't really paying attention to what was going on with medical. Not for lack of caring, but because Rex currently had a lot on his plate to contend with.

He, Jesse and Domino Squad had holed up somewhere to discuss the not so metaphorical eel in the room (which was still mind-boggling to think about, even after getting a bit of an explanation for why in Sith-hells one of their own had just turned into a giant eel-man), and then whenever the captain wasn't trying to figure that particular problem out, he was left pacing up and down the halls trying to decide what to tell their general.

He was already throwing what little trust he had left to give to general Kenobi. Could he really afford to bring in general Skywalker into this mess, when they all knew the man was rather oddly close to the chancellor?

What if he let something slip? What if Fives got executed for killing Krell? What if he got sent away to be experimented on, like his batch had been so terribly convinced might happen if his secret were to be discovered?

Twitch honestly didn't know what to think about any of that. Mostly he was just concerned for everyone else's sakes. This amount of despair and suffering was just too much, even for highly trained soldiers like them.

So he focused on trying to give aid where he could. Starting with those in range of his posting.

The barracks had become a makeshift medbay. They'd moved what Umbaran equipment they'd figured out how to work with (most of it was simple guess work that even a cadet could work around, but other more specialized machinery relied on heavier security measures) and, despite the heavy workload, they'd at least managed to stabilize a lot of their patients.

Waxer was healing nicely from the shot he'd suffered to his abdomen, with Boil sitting by his bedside and telling off his rowdier brother whenever he tried to sneak off to do whatever. Hardcase too was in better condition than before, although Twitch doubted he'd be back on the frontlines for a long while. Not while most of his body was coated in angry red burns that limited his movement so significantly. Lastly there was the beast coiled around his cot to consider...

Now, he'd never really seen a Rishi eel before, but there was no denying that they must be some magnificently powerful creatures. Thick carapace-like scales armouring their bodies, strong muscles, impeccable night vision, razor sharp fangs, and no doubt a mouth only a mother could love.

Add to that the attributes of a clone, and then you had yourself something on another level entirely. If just because Fives still had hands to work with. And claws. Very sharp claws.

In all the time they'd spent treating the sick, the medics had been especially wary of the Were-eel that was, essentially, guarding Hardcase while watching their every movement. It never really made to move or even showed aggression barring when they'd first shown up wearing their buckets. Mostly the great big beast just seemed tired and curious.

Echo insisted he was quite harmless, which the rest of his batch and Hardcase vouched for. Twitch didn't doubt them.

Not when he could see how careful this thing that scared everyone else was being towards their severely burnt brother. A monster wouldn't bother to be as gentle as the Were-eel was trying to be.

Krell certainly hadn't even considered the need to try...

The still slightly shiny medic mirrored it in curiosity. Watched the Were-eel as carefully as it watched him. Stopped feeling the need to be slow and careful around it as he did his rounds.

It was remarkably easy to grow comfortable in the presence of such an oddity. Especially since Twitch was almost 100% certain that not all of it was just animal instinct at the helm. Fives had to be in there if he recognized and cared for them in this state. Surely that had to be the case.

There was only one way to truly find out, however, and maybe it would also get the others to stop walking on eggshells while they too made their rounds trying to lessen the suffer of their vode...

"Hey Twitch, how are you holding up kih'vod?" Hardcase greeted him warmly as usual. No amount of damage he suffered seemed to kill his good disposition. It helped him to smile back a little more confidently.

"Hello Hardcase. I'm doing ok..." The Were-eel was watching them, one out of ten eyes open, head cocked slightly to the side so it could also listen despite the Dominoes mentioning he likely couldn't really understand what they were saying. Maybe it just understood tone. "I thought I might have a look at some of Fives's cuts, I don't think anyone's had the courage to try just yet..."

"Hm..." Hardcase turned his head slowly, wincing every so slight with every little movement. They had nothing strong enough to numb the pain for more than a few hours. "They don't look good, do they?"

"No... I don't think licking at them the way he has been, is helping much..."

"Probably not. I don't think he's brushed his teeth since, you know..." Hardcase tried to lighten the mood, but it fell a little flat. "Can't be sanitary and all that..."

"Nope." Twitch took a deep breath and slowly made his way closer to one of the Were-eel's arms. It was using them to cushion its face, and now that he was somewhat closer he couldn't help but gulp under the pressure of being watched.

All ten eyes were open now and the young medic could see his own reflection in those massive red pools. Well, he could see the pupils contract as the much larger creature focused its entire attention on him. Not intimidating at all... No sir...

Steadying his breath and trying to calm his wildly beating heart, Twitch made sure to hold up the medical kit he'd brought with him. He was sure the Were-eel had seen all the medics carrying one when treating the others, so hopefully it wouldn't perceive it as an act of aggression.

Fives had to be at the helm. It couldn't just be an animal that kind of looked like a brother.

Still, no matter how logical he was trying to be, his fight or flight instincts were fighting him on this thought process. Especially now that the Were-eel had raised its head to stare down at him with an unreadable expression.

The way it's jaw plates moved as it regarded him was a little unnerving to say the least.

"Those... Definitely look like they're getting infected." He mused as he stared at one particularly deep cut on his left arm. The fight had cracked the armour-platting and there were splintered pieces of it jabbed into irritated looking flesh. Another few days or so, and it might start puffing up and leaking. "I don't really know how Rishi eels work on a biological level but, uh, well it can't be good for him to keep those like that if he's still part clone."

"Probably not. I think he'd appreciate some care." Hardcase agreed as he too watched the Were-eel. The older clone seemed more at ease about this than Twitch. "Been crying a little when he thinks we're all asleep..."

"Right..." He popped open the kit and took out a few things he'd need.

Something to remove the splinters, something to clean the wound, something to dress it.

Well, here went nothing.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

Every single soul in the medbay nearly jumped out of their own skins at the sound of the horrifying screech. Twitch wasn't entirely sure how he himself hadn't bolted right then and there. He just stood there bracing himself as he held a set of forceps that were themselves holding a piece of carapace that had once been embedded in the thick hide of the beast.

The Were-eel was no longer laying down, instead holding itself above all of them while cradling its left wrist close to its chest. The expression on its face was one of fear and pain rather than animal fury.

"Oh come on Fives! He barely pinched you, you big baby!" Hardcase called up as loudly as he could while very obviously rolling his eyes. "Let our little Twitch'ika sort that out before you get sick! I'll guarantee you that it'll be better than whatever Kix or Sponge come up with, once you get back to being your smaller and dumber self!"

The Were-eel whined loudly, almost sounding offended. That got the younger medic to laugh. Something like a wave of relief washing over him and the rest of the room upon seeing something so very Fives-like coming from such a huge creature.

Yeah... That was definitely the ARC trooper in there...

"Don't say that, you might scare him..." He warned Hardcase. "Or you might actually give Kix and Sponge ideas, who knows what they have ready for when Fives does go back to normal..."

The Were-eel slowly lowered itself back down, still whining and almost looking like it was pouting. Reluctantly it offered its left arm again and whimpered even more loudly as Twitch took out another splinter.

It didn't take long for him to remove all of them and then clean the wound (which in of itself evoked more shrieks and hisses that were likely the equivalent of eel curses). One cut down, Twitch then proceeded to move on to the next. And the next one after that. And so on and so forth...

In due time he'd managed to patch up the 25 foot and however many tons of eel-man. To say he was a little tired after all that, was the understatement of the year.

Not that he had to be overly concerned about where to go to, to get some rest for very long...

"I think he feels a lot better!" Hardcase snorted as he watched the Were-eel lean down and scruff their kih'vod by the very back of his armour. Those massive jaws were surprisingly dexterous, and it wasn't like Twitch had the energy to protest (nor likely the ability to get him to let go).

The feeling of being suspended only lasted a little bit, as the Were-eel settled him back down on its back. It looked very pleased with itself as it did so, chirping and clicking in a relatively softer tone than when it had hissed and screeched while it had been enduring treatment.

"Looks like it." He couldn't help smile as the creature settled back down, letting out a deep sigh that certainly indicated it was at least a little more comfortable. That smile widened when a few seconds later, the beast began to purr like an overgrown tooka.

"Aww... Kinda cute for a huge scary monster, uh?" Hardcase grinned.

"I wouldn't say he's a monster." The younger clone shrugged. "He's a little intimidating... But it is just Fives."

"Yeah, it is." Hardcase nodded in agreement. "He's got some bite, sure, but he's mostly all bark... And he's his usual big softy self. I mean, come on, who'd be afraid of him when he's got a little kih'vod on his back like that?"

"I'm not that little..."

"Sure you're not." Hardcase settled back down. "Enjoy your nap Twitch."

"I will." And that was the truth. Hard as the Were-eel's carapace-like scales may be, it was actually quite comfortable to lay on its back. The warmth coming off of it, and the steady movements of its breathing, were also helping to lull the tired clone to sleep.

Maybe it would all be ok in the end.

[spaghettificationandpretzels]

The Reaper and the Death Angel Part 17

Snippet 2 - The Hand Model Part 16

Series Masterlist

Contains: LOVE. A discussion of sex, consent and BDSM. I have borrowed captain Hold for Brooklyn Nine-Nine because he is just the coolest. Protective younger brother. Fluff. I like my men feminists and allies so I write them that way.

2.4K Words

Comment if you want to be tagged

The truth is out

"You've got to be working some kind of angle. You somehow always know shit that we're not allowed to ask about, you say you're a doctor and yet you kill like an assassin and you can somehow knew all about us before we even knew your name. Why are you doing this?" You couldn't stand it anymore, it felt like you were choking.

"Because I love you, you insufferable man."

You slapped a hand over your mouth.

"Oh my God, I said that out loud, I said that out loud." Jax was standing there, mouth agape.

"Well it's out now. I love you Jackson, wholly and entirely for all that you are. Everything, the guns and the cops, the Club, all of it. I love you Jax, with all my heart."

The silence was crushing, everyone was standing there staring at you and Jax. There was only one thought in your head right now, run.

But your brother was standing at the exit.

Jax was putting his beer down and walking up to you, then your head was in his hands.

"May I kiss you?"

You huffed out a laugh and felt your eyes get wet, "I would like that very much." He giggled against your lips before pressing his to yours.

He tasted like beer and cigarettes and home, his lips were soft and warm and you could feel his calluses drift over your skin. There could have been a raging fire or a storm of locusts, you wouldn't have noticed it. You were vaguely aware of the fact that the only air you were breathing was recycled air from his lungs, but each time you went to pull away, you were being sucked back in by the feel of his skin against yours.

"I FUCKING WIN YOU BITCHES, PAY UP." That pulled you away, Jax still had you in an iron grip so all you managed to do was shift your gaze.

Chibs was skipping along collecting handfuls of cash from all the guys, you looked at Jax, who's eyes were just a little wet and he smiled at you before rubbing his nose with yours.

"I think they might have had a bet of their own."

He ran his fingertips over the very tops of your cheek, "it seems that way." He gave you another nose rub then he was leaning in to kiss you again. This one was short, just a peck, like he needed to remind himself what your lips felt like before he faced the world.

"I love you too, every part of you, with every part of me."

It had taken a while for you to extricate the truth about the betting pool, it turns out they were all in on it, including your brother. Chibs won because he said your confession would be all heartfelt and sappy and that you'd be the first one to spill the beans.

"Hey, all that cash better be going to a good cause. I can not abide cash wagers."

Jax's hand yanked you into his side and pressed a kiss to the side of your head, "you're such a dork."

You rose up a little and kissed his chin, "you're going to have to get used to leaning down all the time because I'm going to get tired of constantly craning my head to kiss you."

Jax smiled down at you and lifted a hand to brush your hair away from your face, "I think that's a fair trade to be able to kiss you whenever I want."

He kissed your lips again, soft and affectionate, before long, the hand on your side was moving across to your ribs in a far more intimate touch.

"Gross man, I'm going to have to watch my sister and one of my best friends suck face for the rest of our natural lives. I hate both of you." You pulled away from Jax to laugh before looking your brother dead in the eyes.

"Yep! All the time."

Sam screwed up his face in mock disgust, "I'm never going to be able to look at either of you in the eyes again." None of you held out long, it took one too deep breath before the Clubhouse erupted in laughter.

****

Drinks were being passed around and you and Jax separated so Jax could go outside and smoke, when he was about halfway through his cigarette, Sam wandered outside and sat next to him.

"My threat still stands, if you hurt her, I will make you suffer before I kill you. And don't think I'm going to let y/n sing your praises for just being a good partner, you won't be getting a pat on the back for listing to her or helping her around the house or taking care of emotional needs and you certainly won't get one for not being a shit head." Jax went to respond but Sam kept going.

"I get that she would be pretty pissed that I'm having this conversation with you but I don't care, she deserves the world and because she loves you, she's not going to ask for it. I mean this with full offence but there's no way I'm going to let you treat her the way some of the guys treat their old ladies, you're not going to leave her with all the child care, you're not going to let other women hang all over you and you're going to treat her like, other than your son, she's the best thing that's happened to you."

The 'do you understand' was left unsaid but Jax heard it loud and clear. He had no doubt in his mind that Sam was telling the truth, he had seen flashes of a man far more brutal and cruel than what he represented to the world.

"Now I'm gonna go inside before she catches me and comes out here to chew me out." Sam tapped him on the shoulder just hard enough for Jax to know how strong he was and went inside. Jax finished his cigarette and went inside.

Jax finished his cigarette and went inside, you were talking with Gemma while showing her some kind of flyer.

"What you got there Darlin?

You held it out to him with, the paper covered in brightly coloured graphs, "we're starting a new program at the lab to teach law to enforce how to better tend to crime scenes, if an officer gets certified, they can testify to initial forensic findings." You didn't look impressed.

"I'm not happy about it, it's only going to lead to ruined evidence and problems in the courts. But again, they hold funding over my head." Jax wrapped himself around you and pressed a kiss to the side of your head.

"What does Holt say about it? I would have thought he could have said no to something if it took time away from casework."

You closed your eyes in frustration, "the opposite, when he first started working, they wouldn't even let him testify on account of being black and gay. If he doesn't do what the admiration wants, the whole lab will lose their ability to do our jobs and then we will never get funded."

Jax often worried if you took on too much, between working cases, doing tours and education, teaching and lecturing and now this he was concerned you hate your job and end up leaving to look for one elsewhere.

"Don't do too much, I'm sure you can work it so it only happens when you're not busy. What about only accepting cops with good records?"

You smiled at him, all affection and warmth, "that is an excellent idea Jax. I can say that it's due to expenses and staffing cost, the upside is that cops with completely clear records are very rare. Unlike the public, we can see complaints even if they've gone nowhere."

As the night wore on it, it become quieter, with one last yawn, you stood up and stretched.

"You would like to come over and stay tonight? Not to do anything, just to sleep."

Jax huffed and gave you a charming smile, "if I get to sleep on that mattress again, then answer is yes."

You looked up at him with a cheeky smile, "Who says you'll be sleeping in the bed Teller?" He leaned down to kiss you in response, using one finger to tilt your head towards his.

"You're a real brat, you know that?"

You giggled and kissed him again, "yep, and it's only going to get worse so I hope you've got a hold of your pants." Jax could tell by your facial expression that you picked up on his innuendo.

Oh you were going to be so much fun.

"Speaking of pants, we need to have a kind, sober, and fully dressed conversation about some things before they come off. Nothing scary, I promise, in fact it's all good stuff." Jax was happy you brought it up, he wouldn't hide the fact from himself nor from you that after he read the paper before the fair, he fell down a rabbit hole and read most of the stuff you wrote, including all your clinical sexology papers.

He didn't really think about it that much, it had taken a week before someone brought your degree up and you shut it down right away.

"What does a sexologist do?"

Tig was being salacious, not curious."I personally do research and education but some people run clinics or treat clients. We aren't sex surrogate, we don't touch or talk to anyone we are working with in a sexual manner."

Tig deflated a bit at that and Happy chimed in, "do you have a speciality?" His tone was curious and you reflected that in your answer.

"Yes, two. Kink, fetish and BDSM with no focus, meaning I never looked at one single aspect and my other specialty is education with a focus on consent and women's right."

You held up a hand before Tig could speak again, "just because I have a degree doesn't mean I have sex all the time or will have sex with anyone. Just because I write a paper about a kink or fetish doesn't mean I have it. I'm a sex-positive person but I'm also a very private person and unless you have a genuine question, don't talk about this subject again unless I bring it up. Do you understand?"

"I'd like that, maybe tomorrow some time?" You nodded, leaning in again to kiss him. There was a sense of relief that came with his statement. You knew how the Club treated women and you knew that Jax slept with everything with a heartbeat, but you had no idea what he was like. So his willingness to talk about his wants and needs, and hopefully yours, was a nice surprise.

****

You and Jax had arrived home a little while later. After having something to eat and a shower, you were getting ready for bed while Jax was shirtless, sitting up against the headboard.

"I'll be back in twenty minutes, I just need to go stretch before bed. If you don't know already, the toilet has a bidet so don't freak out."

Jax laughed and leaned over to grab your wrist, "I know what a bidet is Darlin, Juice talks about his all the time." You huffed and shook your head.

"Why didn't you stretch before you came to bed?" You sat down next to Jax.

"I usually do it in here before I settle down but you're here too and I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

Jax rolled over so he could look at you better, "why would that make me uncomfortable, you're just stretching?" You thought for a minute before responding.

"It's not the most pleasant thing to watch, or hear for that matter. I jumped out of plans are carried very heavy things on my back for years, I also have hypermobile joints so it's less sexy and more 'crack crack, oh my God the human body isn't meant to do that.' I can do it here but only if you promise to stop me if I gross you out."

Jax ran his hand up your arm and landed on your face, "of course y/n, but I don't think anything you do could gross me out." You gave him a look like you were planning something.

"Well that brings me to my next point, we should get you set up with an ID so you can come and go at the lab without going through security each time. I pose a wager, you come to one of my practical lectures on your day off. If you can make it through twenty minutes, you win. If you don't, I win."

Jax smirked at you, "what do I get if I win?"

You kissed him before pulling away to get the maat from out of your closet, "I'm sure you can think of something over the next twenty minutes."

Jax watched you fold yourself into different positions, every now and then he would ask why you did something and you would explain what it stretched and why it felt good, his dick lasted until you got to the splits before if made it's known.

"Why do you do that?" He would hope the explanation would give him something else to focus on.

"Hip and leg flexibility is crucial to good control on a horse, a horse is sensitive enough to feel the riders heartbeat so making sure you have a good seat, how you sit on the horse, is really important. To do that, you have to have movement in your hips joints. Hense the splits, plus, it's a pretty cool trick."

The explanation helped a little, he had seen how much work you put into riding well and he was more impressed than he was turned on, "that makes sense, maybe you can take me one day." You finished up and put the mat away, climbing into bed next to him, "I would like that."

"What time will you leave for work in the morning?" Jax had your back pressed to his chest and he could feel you burying yourself into the space his body made around yours.

"Nine, I'll be home at four. It should be an easy day, I have one exam to do and then paperwork but if you want to come over for lunch, I'll be free. If you do stop by we can get your ID done while we eat."

Jax lifted his head and kissed the corner of your jaw, "ok then, I'll be there. Good night y/n."

You pulled his hand to your lips before kissing it softly, "good night beloved."

Part 18

[definitelynotcesia]

Special

"only one in my world, special" —blue hour

pairing: choi soobin x fem!reader

genre: vanilla flavored smut, fluff, angst if u squint

word count: 3.3k

warning: this is a smut fic, so please read at your own risk.

"soobin, someone's here to meet you", the manager said as soon as he picked up the call.

"alright. please tell them to wait in the lounge, i'll be there in a few", he replied tapping away on the drum pad, his forehead creasing as he can't seem to find the right note for the song that he was producing.

"too late. she should be there by now", the older man replied and quickly ended the call as he knew all too well how the artist would respond.

as soon as the call ended, a knock was heard from his studio door.

"soob?" you asked in a cautious tone hoping he wasn't in the middle of doing something important.

his facial features softened at the sight of your smiling face. he practically leaped from his chair to give you a bear hug.

"i missed you", he whispered in between the crook of your neck.

"me too, baby", you replied smiling at how tight he's hugging you showing that he truly missed seeing you. you placed feather kisses on his cheeks. "are you busy?", you asked.

he shook his head and hummed before answering, "not anymore". you laughed at his stubbornness and playfully slapped him in the back causing him to break off from the hug with a pout.

"why?"

you can't help but chuckle at the sight of his puckered lips. "i know you're doing something, love, let me see?"

he smiled and dragged you to his table. on his screen, you noticed the familiar software that song producers use. "you're producing a song?" you asked rather excited at this. you were his fan before you became his girlfriend in the first place.

he guided you to sit on his lap, to which you naturally did so. wrapping his arms around your waist and his head on your shoulders, he showed you snippets of him singing the song.

"oh my god it's so good!" you cheerfully replied twisting your head a bit to meet his eyes.

you expected for him to have that goofy and proud smile plastered across his face whenever you complement him, yet you were met by his half-lidded stare looking at you as if he was in a trance.

"god i miss you so much", he whispered "can we just make out?"

his randomness made you laugh so hard.

"suddenly?" you asked. he stared at you still smiling like a fool. if you didn't know better, you would've thought he was drunk.

you were still laughing at his face when his arms around your waist tightened.

"please stop moving", he said in an unusually low tone. this is when you noticed the hardness of the thing in between his legs. the foolish smile on his face was now replaced with an expression you have not seen in him, somewhere in between begging and intimidating.

your heart started to pound so hard at the way he was staring at you, boring through your soul, making you realize how much you love this man. how much you miss him and crave his kisses. without even thinking straight, you reached for his face and kissed him as passionate as you could. your emotions pouring through. he responded right away, placing his right hand on the back of your head to pull you a little closer— as though you could get any closer than you already were. short moans escaping his lips as he tasted your strawberry flavored chapstick. he always found it sexy for some reason.

you shifted the way you were seated, now completely straddling his lap. both of your arms are now around his shoulders, fingers running through his soft hair. you managed to do so without breaking the kiss, which gave you the confidence to slowly grind on his hardness.

he quickly broke off the kiss with an airy moan. "oh fuck, y/n."

hearing your name on his lips like that did nothing but turned you on even more. you quickly pulled him for another kiss, hips still bucking at a painfully slow pace making him whine.

with every moan you felt him getting hard and your core getting wet. though you've made out with him so many times before, you can't deny that this time is different. your cheeks flamed at the thought that you might finally do it with him now.

"something wrong, baby?" he asked when he noticed your kiss started getting slow as if you were distracted by something.

you looked at his flushing cheeks and his concerned smile. his chest rising unevenly under his shirt.

"you're so sexy", you whispered and went to trace kisses on his cheeks, jaw, and neck while still grinding at his hard bulge. his moans getting more and more uneven.

"fuck i might cum, y/n", he cautiously said thinking you might not like the fact that he's getting worked up under you.

to be honest, you never had sex before. it's not something you talked about before though. you just never got to a point like this— or you probably had, if not with your boyfriend pulling away as fast as he can before he looses control.

"let's do it, soob", you whispered once again as you stare at his beautiful black orbs. "i want to do it with you now, baby."

"y/n... don't..." he started. you can't pinpoint what he was trying to say as his eyes looked almost like they were pleading for you not to say it once again.

"it's okay if you don't want to. i'm sorry if i brought that up", you said rather embarrassed by how needy you sounded.

"no, my love, don't get it wrong. i want to do it with you. God knows i fucking want to", his breath hitched, "i just want your first to be special."

your eyes welled up at his words. you've witnessed too many failed relationships of other people enough to believe that no one would love purely— that all men want in a relationship is sex. yet here he was, destroying every bit of that notion you had.

you buried your face at the hollow of his neck, inhaling the scent of his body oil. a mix of bombshell and blue sage salt, a scent that makes you feel cozy and comfortable. he truly feels like home.

"all this time, i thought you just didn't want me enough to do it with me", you honestly said. your breath hitting the exposed part of his collars made him unconsciously moan.

"baby", he started unable to hide the shakiness of his voice. your confession broke his heart. "i'm sorry for making you feel that way. i love you so much... so much that i'm willing to wait until you're ready", he said trying to lift your face to meet his gaze. "not do it only because of the heat of the moment."

this time, a tear escaped down to your cheeks. you never felt this loved and treasured before, its so overwhelmingly good. not being able to find words to answer him, you went for his lips to place a deep kiss.

"i... soobin, thank you"

"it's nothing to thank, my love. its what you deserve", he replied, pulling in to kiss you again.

yet before he could do so, you stopped him. "i love you, and that's why i want to do it with you right now."

he pecked on your lips while slightly chuckling, "didn't you listen to what i said earlier? i want it to be special."

"im with you, anything is special", you whined like a child hoping it would convince him.

"stop moving. swear to god, y/n", he said holding your hips down. his voice full of warning, yet his eyes remained playful.

"i just missed you so much, and hearing you say those words... made me realize how much i really want to do this with you", this time you said with full sincerity. "please fuck me, baby."

"oh god", he breathed heavily. his felt his cock getting harder at how sexy that was and how warm your core has been hugging his. he closed his eyes tightly trying hard to cling on the last piece of restrain he have in his body, but even your scent is driving him insane right now.

his head leaning on the chair's head rest, eyes tightly closed, adams apple bobbing up and down. you can't believe how hot your boyfriend is, and it would drive you insane if he won't fuck you senseless right now. you just want to be fully his, and him fully yours.

after a few seconds, you can't stand the tension anymore. you dived in to his lips, kissing him rather harshly than you did earlier, or even ever in the past. this was all it took for soobin to break free from his retrains and respond to his heat.

as he kissed you toridly, he ran his hands to your button up blouse and tore it like it was made of paper. he made his way to skillfully unclasp your bra, without breaking away from your hungry kiss.

"ohh" you moaned when his huge hands cupped your boobs.

"fuck, you are so beautiful. let me suck them, y/n", he pleaded.

"do it baby" and he even more gladly did so.

the sight of your pretty boobs made him feral. he sucked one, while kneading the other making sure that both mounds would get as much attention. your moans getting even more high pitched by the moment, as he used his tongue to play with your nipples, occasionally biting them too.

"oh god", you let out a breathy moan which motivated him to continue the assault. you matched his pace by grinding your hips to his hardness, moans escaping his lips while still sucking on your boobs like a hungry child.

"now why don't we move to the most fun part, yeah?" he asked in his most intimidating tone paired with icy stare, you almost squealed at how scary and hot that was. you nodded.

in that same second, he pushed you upwards to strip you off your gray sweatpants. his eyes sparkled at the sight of your laced beige panties. he traced light kisses on your stomach down to your panties, yet before he could reach your wetness, he slowed down to look up at you with teasing eyes.

you swallowed at how everything he did just turned you on. "please take them off, baby. make me feel good", you pleaded.

"needless to say my princess", he smirked as he leaned you unto the empty space of his working table. he then proceeded to bite the ends of the panties to reveal your dripping pussy which made his mouth water. he wasted no time and dived right into your pearl, licking the juices like how he would lick a melted ice cream.

you half-screamed at how good his tongue circled and played around your clit. as if this wasn't enough, he poked two fingers inside your hole which instantly shot a euphoric feeling in your blood. "i have to prepare you, my princess", he said and licked his lips at how messy you looked whimpering under the stroke of his fingers. he pushed deeper and faster, arching his digits to hit a certain spot that made you roll your eyes backwards.

"you like that huh?" he asked whispering seductively right in your ears. "let me hear how much you like that, baby, come on"

"s-soobin i..." you can't even think of anything anymore, your mind went haywire for how good his fingers were at taking you to your high. you moaned his name over and over.

"i think... i'm...", you managed to whisper.

"yes, i can feel that", he replied as he slipped another finger and moved faster. his fingers reaching even deeper it's impossible it hasn't reached your stomach at this point. his fingers are just so long and slender, and they have their way to make you feel incredible. you clung unto his arms as you felt something is building up inside you. his biceps contracting under your grasp as he sped up the pace even more. "go on princess, cum for me. let it out", he whispered once again taunting you to come undone.

"no... baby, it's... wait", you replied miserably failing to put your words together.

"you're about to come, babe. its okay, it's going to make you feel really good. come on baby, do it for me". he placed chaste kisses on your neck. his eyes full of reassurance and lust.

unable to hold any longer, your hips bucked as you feel a rush of release inside you. it was exhilarating, like a rollercoaster coming down parallel to the ground, you swore you felt like you reached heaven at that point.

"good job, baby". you opened your eyes at the sound of your boyfriend praising you. "look at that, you did so well for me", he said as he brought his fingers to his mouth. he stared right into your eyes as he licked his fingers covered in your release. "and so sweet", he added. his behavior made you blush.

he roamed his eyes around your fucked up figure. only then he remembered how his cock has been struggling in his pants since you both started.

"soobin...", you called while going after your breath. "i want to make you feel good, too", you said while still blushing.

as if your words were a switch, he hurriedly took of his shirt almost ripping them in the process. he also took his gray sweatpants and boxers down, revealing his body in its full glory. his chest and arms toned on the right places, six pack abs sculpted on his stomach, and his massive erect stood proudly under the light of the studio. you were never good with measurements yet you were absolutely sure its impossible to fit the whole thing inside you.

he began to palm himself as he stared at you, moaning a little bit about how beautiful you look. his other head dripping with pre-cum. he walked towards you.

"i..." you started, "i said i wanted to make you feel good", you continued almost shivering with embarrassment with the thought you had on mind. but you already started this, might as well do it. plus, he did you so well you felt the need to return the favor. "sit on the chair", you commanded.

he willingly did so despite getting a little confused on what you wanted to happen. you went down from the working table and proceeded to kneel down on the floor.

"no, what are you doing?" he asked pulling you up from your previous position.

"i wanted to..." you replied unable to hide your embarrassment.

he chuckled slightly and quickly kissed you on your lips. "i would love that too babe, but...", he ran his fingers down your pussy and touched you like he did just earlier. "right now, i want nothing more but to feel this on my cock", he whispered and kissed you once more. as you respond, you felt his arms snake around your waist guiding you to the chair back to the same position you started with.

"are you ready?", he asked as you position yourself above him, preparing to take him in. you nodded and slowly slid his hugeness on your dripping core.

as you slowly made your way, you felt something tear inside you making you yelp in pain. "shhh it's okay. you're doing so well, baby", he kept on reassuring while placing wet kisses around your collarbone to your nipples to distract you of the burning sensation.

it took you about a minute to fully take him in, and another two more to get used to the pain. you lay on his neck as he cradled you in his lap motionless.

"baby?", he asked checking you.

instead of responding to his question, you started slowly moving around his dick making him groan in surprise. you looked up on his eyes, his expression just as roused as you were. you continued doing so, switching the pace often from slow to medium providing a plodding pleasurable sensation for the both of you.

"ohh baby, you fucking feel so good... so fucking tight..." he said repeatedly. his moans motivated you to put on a good show for him. you shifted the direction and started moving up and down, slowly bouncing on his lap. it was supposed to be a good ride for him but the mixed sensation of pain and pleasure is also taking you to the edge. his hugeness reaching impossible places his fingers couldn't, hitting places that sends you to your high once again.

you are nothing but a moaning mess at the newly found pleasure. remembering that you were still in the studio, you covered your mouth to suppress your moans. soobin looked up at you only to see his girlfriend whimpering helplessly. he took your hips and started bucking his to meet your thrusts, making it even more impossible for the both of you not to scream each other's name.

"soobin", you whimpered as you felt the budding feeling inside you once again.

"me too baby. can i cum inside you?", he asked to which you nodded.

his moans getting ragged by every thrust and quickening pace indicating that he's getting close. you desperately clung unto his shoulders for support, his hands digging deep into your waist. the sensation was becoming too much and too good, you almost wished you'd only go higher from there.

you screamed his name once again as you couldn't hold any longer. you walls contracted around his cock making him cum at the same time.

it was euphoric. truly a feeling you can't explain.

you plopped down on his chest feeling breathless. you felt his muscles under your hands relax a bit and his thrusts became slow.

none of you said a word for a while. you both remained in that position, enjoying each others closeness. you surely felt even more connected to him now, literally and figuratively.

"why are you quiet? are you regretting this already?", he asked breaking off the silence. you chuckled at his question.

"and what if i do?"

he gasped a little bit, obviously taken aback by your reply.

"yah, for someone as good as you, you're seriously so gullible", you teased looking up to his eyes while your head remain leaning on his chest.

"come again? someone as good as me?"

you rolled your eyes. "ugh i regret saying that"

"hmm, it's okay baby, no need to say it again if you're shy", he cooed. "my neck says it all, anyways"

confused at what he meant, you quickly peered at his exposed neck. your eyes widen at the number of hickeys you unconsciously have given him.

"i must did you so good for you to suck on me that hard huh?", he cockily asked.

you blushed so hard at his teasing unable to meet his eyes. he laughed at how adorable you look so he pulled you in for a tight hug.

"it's okay baby, there's nothing make up can't hide anyways", he reassured you. "but if it shows, then so be it. i'll just proudly tell them my y/n gave it to me"

you playfully slapped his chest and both of you laughed. perhaps it's the fact that you just came twice releasing all your pent up stress, or that you are comfortably surrounded by the arms of the love of your life. nevertheless, you felt total at peace, nothing but contentment and pure bliss. if given the chance, you swore you would turn back to this moment again and again.

having you in his arms made him feel nothing but secured and complete. the same elation, the pounding of the heart, and the overwhelming feeling. he felt like he found himself once again. and if given the chance, soobin swore he would live to keep this feeling for the rest of his life.

— end.

cesia's masterlist

OMFGSHBSBDI what is this?? i swear this is my first time making a smut ff so apologies if it wasn't even good enough. i hope you like it still though. thank you for making it this far 😩✋ let me know what you think :)

[foreveranevilregal]

How about a funny snippet where Pepa and Felix had gotten drunk and had fun in the nursery and Mirabel pours water over them the next morning and tells them that next time they do something like that at least give her some warning so she can get out of the room before her Tia is getting naked and the two are so embarrassed and apologetic.

You asked for a snippet, and this ended up being like 1700 words, so...oops. Hope you still like it!

*slaps this fic* This baby can fit so much secondhand embarrassment.

The party was in full swing, with music blaring and people dancing energetically on the dancefloor. It wasn’t even their own family’s occasion they were celebrating, but somehow every party in the encanto ended up at la casa Madrigal. Not only was their courtyard the perfect spot to bust some moves, but the drinks were indeed strong.

Her mamá had not been kidding there, Pepa reflected. She set down her emptied glass, deciding that two (or was it three?) had been enough. Drinking could easily make her powers go haywire, so she was normally more cautious with her alcohol intake. But tonight was a party- there were no stakes for her, and she just wanted to let loose and have some fun.

It seemed like Félix agreed. He handled it far better than she did, but Pepa knew his tells. His voice would get a little too loud, his movements just a bit exaggerated. Yet somehow, he managed to keep dancing gracefully, whereas Pepa would have gotten dizzy after just a few spins at this point. The way he moved drove her crazy.

She sauntered over to the dancefloor to let him know just that. Grabbing him by the collar, she leaned down and whispered in his ear exactly how seeing him dance like that made her feel, and all the things she wanted him to do to her in private.

His eyes widened at her words. Letting out a gulp, he quickly excused himself from the group he had been dancing with and followed Pepa out of the crowd.

Her balance was not all that great, and she found herself leaning on Félix as he practically carried her up the stairs. She turned to head towards their room, but she’d jerked her head to the side too fast and it made her surroundings spin. They weren’t going to be able to make it to their room, Pepa decided, yanking him into the closest room, which happened to be the nursery. She had just enough presence of mind to close the door most of the way, leaving it cracked open barely enough to be able to see.

Immediately, he pinned her up against the dresser, latching his lips to hers and kissing her hungrily. “You have no idea how much you drive me wild,” he growled into her ear, moving his lips to her neck and sucking on the delicate skin.

She moaned at the feeling, closing her eyes. “Then why don’t you show me?” she challenged, panting out the words. The alcohol was hitting her hard; she was more than a little woozy now. She rested her back fully on the dresser, rolling her hips to get him to hurry up. This was not the moment for torturous teasing.

He slipped the sleeve of her dress off her shoulder, kissing the exposed skin with surprising gentleness for how inebriated he was.

“Hurry up,” Pepa whined. Surely she was imagining the bright light that suddenly bathed her. Just an alcohol induced vision, right? At any rate, it wasn’t doing her head any favors. Thankfully, it was gone as soon as it had appeared.

Meanwhile, Félix, who had noticed nothing, clearly, was still teasing her, peppering kisses across her chest, with the top half of her dress just hanging around her waist. “Takes me back to when we were teenagers,” he reminisced, chuckling. “Though then we took turns complaining.”

“I wouldn’t be complaining if you would just-“ Her retort was cut off by his mouth covering hers as he pried her off the dresser and maneuvered them over to the bed clumsily. She yelped as her back hit the mattress more roughly than she’d have liked, but the alcohol blunted the pain.

Time jumped forward in strange globs. One minute he was undressing them; the next her heels were hooked over his sides as she tried desperately not to scream for…some reason? She couldn’t really remember why, but she knew it was very important that they not make too much noise. All she knew was that her husband was making her feel so good, and apparently she was making him feel good too, because soon enough it was over.

“You up for another round?” he asked, bringing up the blanket to cover her.

She shook her head, groaning. Everything was so fuzzy. She wished she could go get some water, but she had no idea where her dress had ended up. Her eyes were so heavy, and she couldn’t fight off the need for sleep any longer. With a murmured “buenas noches” and a sloppy kiss on the cheek, she fell asleep.

Suddenly, cold water hit her body, shocking her awake. She gasped, her eyes shooting open as she struggled to adjust to being awake. The first thing she registered was that she was soaking wet. Not the fun kind, oh no. It didn’t happen gradually, like from her rain, either.

The second thing she registered was that it was, once again, infernally bright. It felt like the light was drilling into her skull, exacerbating the throbbing of her head. Who kept turning on the light? She was going to give them a piece of her mind when she found out, she thought to herself, shimmying to a more upright position.

To her surprise, the bright light came from the sun, streaming in through the window. The blanket she was cocooned in was not her own. It looked like the one in the nursery. Wait, the nursery? What was she doing in the nursery?

Félix was next to her, appearing as confused as she did. “Pepa, why are we wet?” he asked, confused.

“Don’t look at me, this wasn’t my doing,” Pepa grumbled. “And don’t talk so loud, my head is killing me!”

“Good morning, tío, tía.” A cheery voice filled the air.

Dread filled Pepa as she realized that Mirabel was standing in the room with them, holding an empty bucket. In her room, where she and Félix had apparently fallen asleep, but not before…the memories flooded back. Dios mío. She burrowed further under the blanket, not wanting to meet Mirabel's eyes while she was in this state. She started hyperventilating, a small whirlwind whipping around her, as she tried frantically to think of a way out of this mess, to no avail.

“Good morning, Mirabel.” Félix broke the awkward silence, making sure the blanket was covering his middle before looking at her. “I, uh, we, uh…you didn’t see anything, did you?” he finished desperately.

Mirabel shook her head. “You were tangled up in the blanket when I came in.”

Pepa sighed in relief. The last thing she needed was to traumatize her niece. “I’m so sorry you found us like this, Mirabel.” Her voice was barely more than a whisper, shaking in mortification. “You have every right to be mad.”

Mirabel shrugged, swinging the bucket around. “I’m not mad. This is just super awkward. At least this morning I knew what I was going into. Last night was a different story.”

“Last night??” Pepa sat up so fast that her head spun. She threw her head into her hands, feeling her cheeks burn with shame. “You saw us last night?”

“Sort of? I mean, I didn’t see you see you. Not like…naked or anything. But like…before,” Mirabel babbled. Of course she was uncomfortable with the situation. Seeing your tío and tía about to get it on was super awkward. “Before…all the clothes came off and stuff.” She wrung her hands nervously. “Uh…”

Thunder crackled. “Mirabel, please, just get it out.” Pepa really wasn’t in the mood to decipher hidden meanings. Her head was killing her, her stomach was churning, and having added anxiety didn’t help. “What happened?”

“Well, mamá sent me to check on you. You made some weird weather last night.” Mirabel let out a nervous laugh, tilting her head and toying with the strap of her bag. “I didn’t find you in your room, but I saw a rainbow glowing outside the nursery door, so I opened it to look inside. And there you two were…making out against my dresser,” she finished flatly.

“Mirabel…we are so sorry,” Pepa apologized profusely, grinding her teeth in frustration, her eyes boring a hole in the floor.

“So sorry,” Félix echoed, looking sheepish.

“It will never happen again,” Pepa promised.

“Yeah…wait, what? But I thought we had fun…”

Pepa elbowed him in the side and shot him a glare. “Mirabel almost walked in on us last night,” she hissed. “We just have to be more careful and pick places we won’t get caught.”

“Oh…” He grinned. Apparently Pepa wasn’t the only one with alcohol still left in her system.

“Uh, hi, I’m still here.” Mirabel waved at them awkwardly, her eyes darting from them to anywhere else in the room. ”Look, I get that you’re still ‘very much in love’, but can you please just like…give me a heads up if you’re gonna be somewhere I could walk in on you? Before you start taking clothes off? I reeeally don’t need to see that.”

“Of course,” Félix answered.

At the same time, Pepa muttered, “Believe me, sobrina, none of us want that to happen.” Her stomach still churned, but at least her heart had stopped pounding. They were going to be okay.

Mirabel sighed. “Good. I can’t really say I’m glad we had this chat, but I am glad we came to an understanding.”

“Again, Mirabel, we are so so sorry about everything.” Pepa massaged her temples, willing her head to stop throbbing.

“We really are,” Félix added.

Mirabel studied them. “You already apologized. But uh…thanks. So, um…” she trailed off, “I’m going to leave the room now. Your clothes are on the floor next to the bed. Mamá sent up some food and water.” She gestured to a tray on the desk.

Water! Pepa’s heart leapt with joy. “Thank her from us.”

Mirabel’s eyes sparkled mischievously. “We all know abuela likes to make her drinks strong.”

Pepa gasped. “What are you saying?”

“Tía…just because you don’t remember doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t.” With that cryptic remark, she backed away towards the door. “I’m leaving now.”

[yukidragon]

Our Life - Mermaid AU - Scrapped Drafts

Recently I got to talking about the dark fantasy mermaid AU I wrote up a while back for Our Life: Beginnings & Always by @gb-patch. After posting the Family “chapter” of it, I posted a couple of teasers of the next part, but I wasn’t quite satisfied with how it turned out. After taking a prolonged break and looking back to examine it, I think I have a better idea of where I want to take the story, which will do a drastic change up to the direction I was going.

Rather than just leaving the previous version go unseen, I decided I’m just going to share it here in this post, because why not? Just as a warning, this writing is going to be pretty rough and potentially have continuity hiccups as I was making small tweaks to the previous parts due to events that happened in the Step 3 DLC (which means spoilers for said DLC.) It'll also be jumping around a bit, as I'll be showing off a few different scene ideas I tried and scrapped.

Eventually, I’ll hopefully post a full and complete story of this AU on AO3.

As a warning: this is mature writing, with some heavy topics involving trauma and implications of some bad things, so I’m going to slap on an Adults Only warning onto this snippet. This story is more mature than the gameplay for the subject matter.

Since I’m going to be going with the adults only label, I’ll throw in a bonus just for fun smutty extra scene I wrote as well at the end. Hopefully some Cove/Jamie spice can offset the trauma and dark implications that appear in this snippet. I hope you all enjoy it.

...

[Scrapped Chapter 3]

...

Jamie was a mermaid.

Such an idea had shocked Cove when it was nothing more than a fantasy. It was something he had been surprised to have never imagined before Jamie playfully suggested it to him not that long ago.

As a child, his desire to meet a real mermaid had been his greatest dream. Combining it with the woman he loved, the special person who he once childishly believed existed only to find him when he was lost, was so fitting it was almost overwhelming. The playful thought thrilled him and made him feel like a kid again to imagine it.

Now that it was a reality, Cove had no idea how to handle it.

It was impossible to tell how long Cove stared at Jamie, struggling to process everything, before he was forced back to reality when her strength finally gave out. Her grip went slack, and she started to fall despite his hold on her. He cried out in a panic as he lunged for her, quickly scooping her up into his arms.

A piggyback ride was out of the question when Jamie no longer had legs for Cove to hold onto, so he had to make do with a princess carry. The familiar weight of her body in his arms grounded him. It didn’t matter how strange it felt to touch fine scales where there should have been skin. No matter how shocking, her transformation was a secondary priority right now.

Jamie was back. She was warm and alive and real.

And she needed his help.

Jamie could barely keep her eyes open. Her breath came ragged and heavy. She had been worn to the bone, drained of nearly every drop of energy during her desperate effort to return home.

“It’ll… it’ll be okay,” Cove said when he found his voice again. “I’ll take you home to your moms, and then…”

The thought ended there. Cove couldn’t imagine how Jamie’s moms would react to her transformation when he was still struggling with it himself.

A shudder rippled through Jamie, and she rallied herself enough to shake her head, energy returning to her eyes as they went wide with fear and pinned Cove to the spot. “No!” she shouted. Her voice cracked before it weakened, as even what little energy adrenaline afforded her started to bleed away. “No, I can’t go… they’re watching my moms…”

The rest of Jamie’s warning was lost as her voice finally failed her, coming out as incoherent mumbling that grew fainter with each word. What little more Cove managed to catch didn’t make sense, but he understood at least that he couldn’t bring Jamie back to the Leimomi house.

Of course, bringing Jamie across the street from her childhood home instead might have not been the best idea either, but, in his defense, Cove hadn’t been in a state to think straight after she slipped unconscious. All he could think about was bringing somewhere safe right away, and if her house wasn’t then the next place was his childhood home. He at least made sure to slip in from the back, away from the street between their houses.

It was fortunate that Cliff was asleep and didn’t mind his son visiting at odd hours of the night. Cove was still struggling with the sudden shift in his reality without having to try and explain things to his dad.

Not that he knew much of anything to explain.

As a child, Cove often had fantasies of sneaking a mermaid - or mercreature - home. He would hide them in the bathroom attached to his bedroom, knowing that his dad would never look in there if he just said to stay out. The mercreature would hang out in his bathtub and tell him all the wonders of the underwater kingdom while he shared what it was like living on land. Then they would sneak off to the ocean together and have amazing adventures.

After meeting Jamie and becoming so close to her, his childish mind added introducing her to his merfolk friend in those fantasies. Then it would be the three of them going off on magical adventures under the sea.

Eventually the fantasy lost its sparkle, and Cove found himself preferring to imagine spending time with Jamie in the mundane world. Although the idea of mermaids would always hold a special place in his heart, he had grown content with letting them remain nothing more than fantasy.

It was these thoughts that came to Cove’s mind as he gently laid Jamie down into the bathtub. There had been a short war in his mind between letting her rest in his bed or taking her to the bath, but in the end he worried what might happen if she remained out of the water for too long. At the very least, he could make her comfortable by washing the sand and salt off of her body.

More importantly, he needed to clean her wounds.

It had been easy for Cove to overlook all the bruising and scratches on Jamie’s skin earlier when the lighting was dim and there were more shocking things for him to focus on. Now in his well lit bathroom, her injuries jumped out at him and became his priority.

Not long ago, the idea of stripping Jamie would have been a problem for Cove. Fortunately, the two of them had overcome that obstacle together in the most wonderful way, in this very house in fact. It didn’t take long for him to grow intimately familiar with his partner’s body after that, each curve and plane forever etched in his mind.

Which made seeing half of Jamie’s body so radically transformed feel all the more wrong.

The clothing Jamie wore was strange as well. Though it had clearly seen better days, despite the frayed edges and tears, it was a beautifully colored tunic with ornate stitching. The material felt unusual, reminding him a bit of silk in how smooth and cool it was, but thicker. Somehow it barely seemed wet as well, but Cove didn’t care to examine it more than at a cursory glance while he carefully stripped the garment from Jamie’s body.

Removing the tunic revealed Jamie had a necklace tucked underneath it. At the end of the dark cord was a dazzling multicolored crystal of an unusual shape, framed by intricate metalwork. It was beautiful, but what caught his eye more was the much more humble keychain attached next to it.

Cove could never forget the dolphin keychain that he had gifted to Jamie over ten years ago - she always made sure to display it in a place of honor in her room until eventually attaching it to her phone. She had somehow kept it in pristine condition despite how well loved it was. Now, however, the precious keychain was in as rough of shape as its owner, battered from water damage and who knew what else, the once vibrant blue fabric dull and tattered.

Cove had to take a moment to fight back the tears stinging his eyes, his throat choked with emotion. He didn’t have the heart to remove the necklace and separate Jamie from the keychain when she had clearly gone to great lengths to keep it close in spite of whatever ordeal she suffered through. He made sure to work around it instead when cleaning her wounds.

The injuries, though alarmingly numerous, appeared mercifully mild. Cove could only hope there wasn’t something more serious he didn’t see, like a broken bone. The idea of bringing Jamie to a hospital and what people might do to her was too much for his frazzled mind to think about right now.

There were too many horrifying ‘what if’ scenarios popping up in Cove’s head for him to handle. It was all he could do to focus on taking care of Jamie.

There was no issue in having enough waterproof bandages in the medicine cabinet’s first-aid kit. Years of spending most days splashing around in the ocean made it a priority to keep such medical supplies on hand that could handle repeated contact with water. Even after moving out, his old room and bathroom were still stocked and ready for whenever Cove visited. He made a mental note to thank his father for that later.

The worst injury Jamie sported was the red and raw skin of her left wrist underneath the shackle binding it. For a moment, Cove could only stare at the restraint in silent horror at the implications.

What exactly happened to Jamie during those weeks that she was missing?

It was torture waiting for answers, but Cove had no choice. He worried too that whatever happened might have left Jamie too traumatized for her to speak of it, even to him. He had to prepare himself to accept that as a definite possibility.

No matter how much Cove wanted answers, Jamie’s mental and physical well being always came first before anything else.

Cove glared balefully at the shackle. If nothing else, he was going to get rid of that damned thing before Jamie woke up.

The shackle was strangely ornate, made from a dark red metal with etchings of strange symbols decorating it. If not for the four large links of chain still stubbornly attached, it could have been mistaken for an excessively large and thick bracelet. Strangely enough, there was no sign of hinges or a lock, but Cove wasn’t about to question how the culprit attached it to Jamie when they also somehow managed to transform her into a mythical creature.

The answer was magic, as simple and insane as that.

Cove gently placed Jamie’s hand down on the lip of the tub, wincing at the way the metal clanked harshly against the porcelain despite the care he took. He noticed Jamie flinch at the sound, and immediately he focused on her grimacing face.

To his alarm, Jamie thrashed away from him, colliding her newly bandaged shoulder into the tiled wall as her arms flew up in a defensive cross in front of her face, her tail twisting and tucking in close to her body. In her half-conscious daze, she yelped something that Cove couldn’t understand, but he couldn’t mistake the panic in her voice.

“It’s okay,” Cove said softly, trying his best to sound soothing. “Jamie, it’s okay. I’m here. It’s me, Cove. It’s okay. You’re safe now. You’re safe, I promise.”

Cove continued to murmur reassurances until Jamie began to relax, her arms lowering slowly. She blinked her dark blue eyes repeatedly to rid the haze of sleep from them as she finally focused on his face.

“Cove…?” she murmured, still in a daze.

Relieved, Cove offered Jamie a weak smile. “Yeah. It’s me. I’m here. You’re sa-”

Cove didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence before Jamie suddenly latched onto him in a desperate hug.

“Cove!” Jamie cried before she buried her face in the space between his shoulder and neck. She babbled his name almost in a mantra, the words muffled against his skin as tears spilled forth freely from her eyes. The relief she felt was so strong it left her trembling as she clung desperately to her fiancé.

She was back home. She escaped.

Cove returned the hug just as desperately, drawing in as much comfort from Jamie as she did from him. He could no longer hold back his own tears, and he let them fall free as he pressed his cheek into her damp blue hair.

For a long time, the two simply remained like that, holding each other while crying out all of the pain and suffering they endured during the weeks they were apart.

Eventually their desperate grip on each other softened to tender touches. Jamie slid her fingers through his seafoam green hair, reveling in the familiar softness. Cove shivered delightfully at the feeling and gently cupped her cheek, shifting them both so that their foreheads touched. He closed his eyes for a moment as he simply breathed in the relief of having the woman he loved back in his arms. When he opened his eyes again, he gazed deeply into night blue eyes, which he had started to fear he would never see again.

“Are you okay?” Cove asked softly when he finally found his voice again. The question was woefully inadequate given the circumstances, but it needed to be asked.

Although Jamie looked exhausted, with dark circles beneath her eyes, she still managed to smile sincerely. “I am now.” She leaned in with purpose, and Cove was only too eager to meet her lips with his own.

For a little while, questions were forgotten. The only thing important was simply drinking each other in. One kiss led to another and then another with neither of them wanting to stop when their bodies began to burn as relief slowly gave way to desire.

A loud clatter of metal striking porcelain shocked the pair apart. Jamie had forgotten about the shackle binding her when adjusting her hold on Cove and accidentally bumped it against the lip of the tub. The mood was broken, the sound a sobering reminder that everything was not alright yet.

Cove glared at the shackle before reluctantly pulling away from Jamie. “Wait here. I’m gonna get some bolt cutters and take care of that thing.”

Jamie snatched a fistful of Cove’s shirt, preventing him from leaving. His attention snapped back to her instantly, and she shook her head, her expression tired. “Bolt cutters aren’t gonna cut it.” She offered him a bent smile at the unintended pun. “You wouldn’t believe what I had to go through just to cut the chain.”

Cove regarded Jamie for a moment before he pointedly trailed his gaze to the lower half of her body. “I’m pretty sure I’d believe just about anything at this point.”

Jamie looked down at the tail that had replaced her legs and let out a breath that failed to be a laugh. “Yeah…”

Cove took a hold of Jamie’s bound hand delicately, the chains clinking from the movement. “What happened, Jamie?”

Jamie peered deep into Cove’s beautiful aquamarine eyes that gazed at her with worry and affection in equal measure. She sighed before lacing their fingers together to ground herself. “There’s… a lot. Way too much.” She took a moment to gather her thoughts. “I guess the short version is… mercreatures are real, and they’re assholes.” She gave him a lopsided smile. “Sorry to have to break it to you.”

Cove tried to return the smile unsuccessfully, though he did appreciate that Jamie was in good enough spirits to make an attempt at humor.

The smile slipped from Jamie’s face, and she sighed as she leaned into Cove. “And that especially includes my birth parents. Who are actually alive. And merfolk.”

Cove’s eyes widened as his mouth dropped open in shock. Despite Jamie’s radical transformation, he never imagined that it had anything to do with her family.

“So… this is my ‘real’ form,” Jamie said bitterly while throwing a gesture to her tail with her free hand. She shifted the large appendage, waving the fin at Cove a little. Though the gesture was almost playful, there was no hiding the unhappiness from her expression. “My aunt turned me into a human with magic when I was a baby. There’s a spell that should turn me human again, and I’m pretty sure I know how to cast it, but I haven’t actually tried it since I’ve been underwater all this time.”

Though Cove tried to remain quiet to give Jamie the freedom to explain at her own pace, he couldn’t help a startled outburst. “You can use magic?”

Jamie offered Cove a bent smile. “Yeah, one of the few perks about this whole mess.” She sighed, tilting her head back as her eyes drifted towards the ceiling. “They said I’m a special kind of mermaid called a siren. Sirens are super rare because they’re supposedly closely connected to the source of magic, some god whose name hurts my ears.” A shudder rippled through her at the memory, and it took her a moment to continue. “Other mercreatures can use sirens to get stronger. So that’s why they kidnapped me… to use me.”

Cove sucked in a hiss of air, his expression going tight. It took all his willpower to keep quiet so that Jamie could continue her explanation.

Jamie took some solace in the outrage in Cove’s eyes and snuggled against his body, soaking in his comforting presence. He responded by wrapping her up in his arms, holding her close.

“Yeah,” Jamie muttered as she closed her eyes. “Apparently my birth mother’s sister felt the same way we do about that, so she hid me in our world and faked my death using a sea monster attack.” She tried to smile, but it failed to be much more than a grimace as a shudder rippled through her. “Sorry to say, those are real too.”

Cove shivered a little himself, not just at the news that monsters were actually real, but because the haunted look at Jamie’s eyes told him that she had seen at least one for herself. The stuff people dreamed up for movies and ghost stories were bad enough, but the idea that monsters actually existed - worse, Jamie had been forced to encounter one… “I’m sorry.”

Jamie squeezed Cove’s hand, and he was quick to return the gesture.  “If it helps, they’re in the other ocean, not ours.”

“‘The other ocean’?” Cove repeated, blinking.

“That’s what I call it anyway,” Jamie said wryly. “It’s like our ocean, but there’s so much stuff in it that’s like nothing we’ve got here. Mercreatures aren’t from our world, but I guess another dimension or something, and they can get here using these really powerful magic crystals.”

At the mention of a crystal, Jamie’s gaze dropped to the necklace, drawing Cove’s attention to the unusual jewelry she wore. She straightened up and used her free hand to pick the crystal up, offering him a better look at it. “I managed to steal one when I escaped.” A small but viciously proud smile tugged at her lips. “And I made sure to destroy the others they had too.”

Her smile faded away as though it had never existed in the first place. She set the crystal down before delicately stroking the dolphin keychain hanging beside it. Although she didn’t comment about it, the action told Cove just how much having the keychain with her during her ordeal meant to her.

Jamie paused upon realizing she had gotten distracted and why, then turned back to Cove, her smile soft but filled with affection for him.

Cove couldn’t find the words for how he was feeling, caught up in too many emotions both good and bad, particularly the latter. The horrors Jamie had gone through and the consequences she was suffering from even now were immense and world shaking. Instead of trying to force it, he took the time to show her how glad he was to have her back home with him.

Gently, Cove squeezed the hand he held in his, as his free hand lightly caressed her cheek. He was rewarded by a slight pink flush beneath his fingertips, and Jamie closed her eyes with a shaky sigh as she took a moment to just savor the way he lovingly traced the contours of her face. His thumb stroked her jawline then brushed against her lower lip.

Playfully, Jamie kissed his thumb before flicking her tongue across the tip. She opened her eyes in time to see Cove turn red and suck in a breath of air, startled but certainly not displeased by the suggestive action.

“Cove…,” Jamie breathed before nuzzling into her lover’s hand. “I missed you so much,”

“I missed you, too,” Cove murmured before closing the distance between them.

For a little while, the only thing they could think about was breathing each other in, their kisses lingering and filled with love. The questions and trauma still lurked at the back of their minds, but for the moment they simply focused on comforting one another, and reminding each other that they were finally together again.

The moment, unfortunately, didn’t last as long as either would have liked. Jamie was the one who eventually drew back, her thoughts heavy and her eyes pained as she looked at Cove. “I… I can’t see my moms again,” she whispered, her voice fragile. She took a deep breath to collect herself before she went on to explain further. “They can spy on my moms whenever they want. If they see me, or, hell, if you tell them about me, they’ll know I’m here.”

Jamie rubbed her hand across her face, her anxiety growing as she plowed on ahead before Cove could fully process the news. “If they see you tell them I’m here, they’ll know to watch you too.” She let go of his hand to gesticulate wildly, the chains on her shackled hand jangling with every move of her left arm. “They let me see my moms all the time because they said if I didn’t do what they said, they’ll kidnap my moms too and hurt them.” Her body started to shake as her eyes grew wide and wild. “If they still have some crystals or make more, they can just come here and take my family and take you and they’ll…” She choked on her rapid breath, tears welling up in her eyes. “Oh fuck… If they tried to hurt you I can’t… I can’t…”

Cove pulled Jamie’s trembling body as close as he could with the bathtub separating them. He murmured soothing words in her ear as he stroked her hair. The picture she painted was terrifying, overwhelming. He didn’t know what to do except calm her before she blacked out from hyperventilating.

Jamie let out a keening noise as she buried her face in her fiancé’s neck once more.

Cove could feel the hot tears against his skin and his heart broke for Jamie all over again. He held her so close it was nearly painful and murmured against the top of her head. “It’s okay…,” he said on instinct, only to wince. “Well, no, it’s not okay, but we’ll figure this out.” His voice lowered, and he tried not to sound as worried as he felt, knowing he needed to be strong for her sake. “I won’t let them take you again, and I won’t let them hurt your family either.”

“Or you?” Jamie asked, her trembling voice muffled against Cove’s skin.

“Or me,” Cove said, nodding against the top of Jamie’s head. “I won’t let them hurt you again.”

Jamie let Cove’s reassuring voice rumble through her and tried with her whole heart to just believe in him as she always did. She knew he was just as uncertain and scared as she was, but he was being brave for her sake like he always did whenever she needed him. The memory of a little boy shaking in the wind even as he reached out for her hand brought a gentle smile to her face. It was this comfort, his very presence, that she ached for the most during this whole nightmarish ordeal.

It took a while, but Jamie was eventually able to calm down again. She shifted back a little, just enough so that she could look at Cove’s face. She managed a weak, but grateful smile before she did her best to focus on important matters.

“They can’t track me,” Jamie said. “Because of that god, they can’t use magic to spy on me directly.” She forced a short, bitter bark of laughter. “Apparently it’s like staring at the sun or something if they use magic to look at me, so they had to find out about me by interrogating my aunt, then tracked me down using the orphanage she put me in.”

Cove immediately drew a connection to the last texts Jamie managed to send him. “Was the person who tracked you the woman who said she was your mom?”

Jamie nodded, her expression growing uncomfortable. “Yeah… One of them anyway. She showed up when I took a walk on the beach to clear my head after my moms told me about her wanting to contact me.” A shudder rippled through her. “She’s…” She faltered, words failing her before she shook her head, her voice coming out weak and shaky. “She’s terrifying.”

Cove gave Jamie’s shoulder a squeeze before rubbing small circles there with his thumb. The sympathetic gaze he gave her told her that she didn’t need to go into more detail than that, and she was grateful for it.

Jamie slid a hand through her bangs, brushing them back as she let out a weary sigh. She opened her mouth to speak, only to close it again after a moment of silence. Her gaze wandered between Cove, her tail, and some point off in the mid distance.

Cove lightly ran a hand up and down along Jamie’s arm and gave her the time she needed to get her thoughts in order.

After a few minutes, Jamie finally focused on Cove, her smile faint and apologetic. “Sorry. There’s so much… too much… I want to tell you everything, but I just… It’s all…” She used both hands to rub her face, bone weary and frazzled. “They… they shouldn’t know I got a crystal. I hope. God, I hope they don’t know…” She paused to take a deep, shaky breath. “As long as I stay away from Mom and Ma, they won’t know for sure I came back. They’ll look for me around the palace and the outside and then…”

That was as far as Jamie could speculate, and her voice tapered off on a helpless note.

Cove tried to give Jamie more time, but his anxiety grew to the point that he couldn’t help but voice his growing worries. “I didn’t go to your moms’ place, and I haven’t seen them in hours, but we’re at Dad’s house. Do you think they’ll figure out you’re here?” He started kicking himself for being so short-sighted. Jamie herself had warned him to stay away from her moms’ house, but he took her right across the street from it!

Jamie met his worried gaze with her own before looking down at her hands as she flexed them open and closed in front of her. It took her a long moment to mull the thought over before she managed to respond. “They don’t care about you, or your dad, or our friends… They didn’t even pay attention to Liz. They hate humans a lot. A lot a lot… They’re only watching my moms because they don’t think anyone else is important to me. I didn’t tell them anything about me, and all they cared about me w-was…”

A shudder rippled through Jamie as she felt her skin crawl. She curled up into herself instinctively before burying her face in Cove’s neck again, gripping his shirt tight and pressing as close to him as she could despite the bath separating them.

Cove could feel the goosebumps rise along her back as he rubbed her there. Whatever she remembered had her tense to the point of trembling. “I’m here, Jamie,” he murmured into the top of her head. “I’m right here.”

It took a little time for Jamie to start to relax again, though she remained where she was, her fingers still hooked onto his shirt. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I’m trying, I’m really trying to deal with all this and tell you everything. We should be safe here, they shouldn’t know, and I know I need to focus and come up with a plan, but I don’t know. I don’t know! And I’m so tired and I just… I just want to be happy I’m finally home with you… at least for a little while…”

Jamie’s already fragile words broke apart completely, and Cove felt his heart break with them. He shifted their positions and gently cupped her chin, tilting her head upwards so that he could see her dark blue eyes shimmer wetly. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead, then her temple, followed by her cheek. When her eyes closed, he made sure to place a delicate kiss on each eyelid. The kisses were brief as he focused on every inch of her face, eventually finishing with her lips.

Jamie couldn’t help but melt under such tenderness. It didn’t erase the fear, but it was a gentle reminder of just how much Cove cared for her. There was nothing else she wanted more in this world or any other than to be with him, and for the moment she was able to focus on nothing else but how much she loved him and how much he loved her in return.

“It’s okay,” Cove said gently, lightly stroking Jamie’s cheek with his thumb. “We don’t have to talk about it right now.” He lightly pressed his forehead against hers, gazing deeply into his fiancée’s eyes as they fluttered open again. “I’m just glad you’re here.”

“Me too,” Jamie murmured as she managed a small but sincere smile.

After a moment, however, she shifted with some discomfort due to the confines of the bathtub and her smile turned lopsided. “Though… maybe here could be a bed instead? I’ve had enough water for a while.”

Although Cove wanted to give in to the request, worry caused him to hesitate. “Will you be okay?” His gaze trailed significantly to her tail. “You won’t, ah… dry out?”

Jamie let out a weak chuckle. “Merfolk are surprisingly durable. Maybe it’s because they’re built for land and sea, but there were plenty of places that had dry land in their underwater kingdom.”

Cove blinked, surprised for a moment before a thought clicked in his mind. “Because they know that spell that can turn them human, right?”

Jamie nodded. “That, and some mercreatures don’t need it. It seems if you have tentacles instead of a tail, you can walk on land just fine.” She looked down at her tail, shifting it uncomfortably. “Not that I’m wild about either option.”

Cove gave Jamie a sympathetic look. “You said you think you can cast that spell that’ll turn you back into a human, right? Do you need to do anything special for it?”

Jamie sighed and stretched out her tail. “Just some rest and practice until I get it right, pretty much.”

The answer hung between them for a moment before Cove nodded. It was clear to him that Jamie was too mentally and physically exhausted to attempt it now, and he wasn’t about to push her on the subject. He focused instead on fulfilling her earlier request and making her more comfortable.

Despite the change in Jamie’s body, Cove had more than enough practice carrying her to lift her up out of the bath with ease. He didn’t care how wet he got in the process as he held her close. His clothes were still damp from his earlier swim in the ocean anyway.

Cove’s childhood bedroom hadn’t changed too much since he moved out. Certainly, he had taken most of his personal belongings when he moved out, including his pet fish, but his dad had taken great pains to keep the place familiar and welcoming to him for whenever he wanted to visit. This meant that the bed was made and ready to be used.

Cove didn’t care that the bedsheets got wet when he laid Jamie down on top of them. It was far from the first time that he had climbed into bed still dripping salt water. He only left her briefly to lock his bedroom door to prevent his dad from potentially giving them an unwanted wake up call during their secret sleepover.

Having it happen just once was more than enough for a lifetime.

Jamie reached out for Cove upon his return, only to draw her left arm back when the jangling of the chains drew their attention back to the shackle on her wrist.

Cove frowned at the shackle, realizing in the excitement of reuniting, he forgot to finish treating her wrist. “We need to take care of that,” he said. “Hang on, I’ll be right back.”

Without another word, Cove rushed off to the bathroom and retrieved the first-aid kit, not wanting to be away from Jamie for even a second longer than he had to. Once he was by her side again, he sat down on the edge of the bed and set to work.

It was difficult to properly clean and bandage Jamie’s wrist with the shackle in the way, but Cove managed to carefully slip in some gause between the metal and her raw, red skin. It wasn’t the best solution, but it would at least help keep the wound clean and offered some cushioning between her skin and the metal.

With the injury treated, Cove then used a couple elastic bandage wraps to cover up the shackle and chain to keep the latter from swinging around. It didn’t erase the fact that the shackle was there, but at least with it covered, Jamie could be a little more comfortable.

Jamie looked over the large wrap on her arm and a wry smile graced her lips. “It’s not as cool as a cast, but it’ll do.”

Cove managed a bent smile in return. “Sorry. The only thing I know about casts is wearing them, not making them.”

That got a weak, but genuine chuckle out of Jamie, which Cove took as a victory. It felt good that, in spite of everything that had happened to her, he was able to lift her spirits just a little bit.

When the first-aid kit was set aside, Jamie wrapped her arms around Cove’s neck and pulled him close. He returned the embrace easily, only to be startled with a sudden kiss. His surprise was brief, however, and he was only too eager to lose himself in the kiss and in her.

Despite countless heavy thoughts weighing on her mind, for now Jamie was able to push them aside and just focus on Cove. The sweet taste of his lips, the warmth of his body pressed so close against her, and his comfortingly familiar scent of citrus and the sea wrapped around her like a cozy blanket that she just wanted to bury herself in forever.

The kiss ended reluctantly as the pair came up for air, their hot breaths intermingling between them. Jamie couldn’t sit still even as she caught her breath, slipping her hand up the back of Cove’s neck to card her fingers in his soft green hair. His hair was still soft and a pleasure to run her fingers through despite how damp it was from his earlier swim in the sea.

Cove smiled softly as he enjoyed the feeling and reached up to gently stroke her cheek before slipping his hand back into her hair to return the favor. He threaded his fingers lightly in the dark blue strands, combing down the entire length and admiring how it shimmered like flowing water before returning his hand to the back of her head to repeat the process.

Jamie sighed and leaned into the touch as her eyes drifted closed, her own hands slowing as she lost herself in the soothing sensation.

...

[Explaining the chain]

...

Jamie eagerly reached out for Cove upon his return, only to stop short of touching him as the jangling of the chains on her shackle drew both their attention. She grimaced and drew her left arm back, taking a hold of the end of the chain in her right.

Cove frowned at the shackle, growing frustrated by his own powerlessness to remove it. He sat down on the bed and gently placed a hand on Jamie’s shoulder. “Is there any way we can get that off of you?” he asked.

Jamie chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment as she mulled over what she knew. “I don’t know how they got it on me,” she said at last. “And they never took it off the entire time I was down there. They said there’s no way I could use magic to get it off myself, but I guess that could be a lie since they also knew I didn’t know anything about magic before they kidnapped me…”

“How did you break it before?” Cove asked hesitantly. Jamie had avoided answering the question earlier; he hoped asking again wouldn’t be a mistake.

Jamie took a hold of the final broken link of the chain, too mangled to unhook from the other links. “It’s a pretty crazy story,” she said before shaking her head a bit. “I still barely believe it actually happened, and I lived through it.” She took a deep breath then pressed on before Cove could respond. “The really short version is… I got a sea monster to eat the other end and blew it up.”

Cove stared in shock at Jamie. He admittedly hadn’t known what to expect, but that wasn’t anywhere close to what he had been guessing. “Really?”

Jamie nodded, her smile bending just a little with pride. “See, this chain was how they would take magic from me.” She held up the broken end of the chain. “This was a lot longer and was sort of like a magic pair of handcuffs, only the other end was easy to put on and off. One of them would wear it, and I’d basically be a living battery charging them up with magic.”

“It was like sending electricity through a wire,” Jamie continued.

...

[Surprised awakening]

...

When Cove woke up the next morning, everything that had happened the night before felt like a dream, one born of a desperate wish. He expected to find himself back in his apartment, alone. That was why it took him a few moments to realize that he wasn’t still dreaming and Jamie really was right there wrapped securely in his arms.

Emotions overtook Cove, and he pulled Jamie close, almost afraid that he would really wake up or that she might disappear again at any moment. He buried his face in her hair, quietly crying her name as tears came to his eyes.

It wasn’t the first time Cove woke Jamie up with a hug. It was the first time she woke up screaming.

Instantly, Cove jerked back in a panic, afraid he had somehow hurt her. Jamie lurched back as well, only to fall out of the bed entirely, pulling the blanket down with her.

...

[It’s hard for Jamie to sleep now]

...

Jamie hadn’t always been a light sleeper, but due to her sensitivity to sound, it didn’t take much noise to rouse her awake. Now, however, it was all too easy for her to slip out of sleep even when everything was quiet and still. That was why she was already awake when the first rays of dawn peeked in through the window.

Despite waking up in the comforting embrace of Cove’s arms, Jamie woke up tense, her body coiled like a compacted spring, ready to be set off at the slightest trigger. It took her a while to force her muscles to unclench and accept that she was really there with him, that this wasn’t all just some desperate dream she clung to while being trapped in the deep dark depths of another world’s ocean.

This is real, Jamie repeated to herself until she could finally believe it.

Once a little less tense, Jamie focused on Cove’s sleeping face. He looked so peaceful, just as he always did when they slept in each other’s arms. Delicately, she ran her fingers through his pale green hair, reveling in the softness. The gentle smile that slowly grew on his face as he sighed at her touch was familiar and wonderful. He looked so absolutely precious that she couldn’t help but lean in closer to press her lips against his forehead.

The kiss had been enough to rouse Cove from his slumber. Jamie watched as he blinked away the last traces of whatever dream he had been having and focused his beautiful aqua eyes on her. An array of emotions played across his face. First, there was that familiar relaxed recognition as he saw her. Next was shock, as her return after going missing for so long struck him almost as hard as when they found each other in the ocean last night. Then, as memories caught up to him, there was a more complex array of emotions that she couldn’t quite place, but no doubt they were caused by remembering the more otherworldly and unsettling aspects of her return.

“Good morning,” Jamie murmured. She smiled gently at Cove as she waited for him to fully wake up. After a moment, he returned the smile a bit more delicately.

“Good morning,” Cove said, his voice soft. “How are you feeling?”

Jamie made a quiet rumble at the back of her throat as she seriously considered her answer. “Better than I have in weeks,” she finally said with a slight bend to her smile.

Cove supposed that would be the best they could hope for given the circumstances. He couldn’t help but notice the dark circles that still lingered under her eyes. “Did you sleep okay?”

Jamie considered giving Cove the same answer as before, but thought better of it. “Not really,” she sighed and closed her eyes as she pressed their foreheads together lightly. “It’s hard to stay asleep now. I couldn’t really rest in… that place. They wouldn’t leave me alone, and sometimes…”

The way Jamie stopped talking made Cove’s stomach drop. He chewed on the inside of his cheek, struggling to decide if he should let her leave things there or if it would be better to coax more out of her. Ultimately, he decided to encourage her very gently to continue, if only to unburden herself of the ordeal she had to face in that other world.

“Sometimes…?” Cove said slowly, hoping he wasn’t pushing her too far.

Jamie looked off at some point in the distance. She pressed closer to Cove on instinct, breathing his familiar ocean-y, citrus-y scent that was distinctly him, with an undercurrent of something more musky and primal underneath. Neither of them had bothered to get dressed after making love last night, and she could still feel the faint but pleasant thrum of her body that always lingered a while afterwards. All of it was a reminder that she was home, Cove was right there with her, and she was finally safe.

Still, that didn’t make it easy for Jamie to figure out exactly how to tell Cove about the nightmare she experienced in the other world.

Eventually, Jamie returned her focus to Cove once she was ready. “You remember how I told you merfolk use sirens, right?”

Cove frowned, but nodded. The idea that people wanted to use Jamie for anything sickened him.

Jamie took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm her nerves. “A big part of how they use sirens involves…” She faltered, really not wanting to put it bluntly, but struggling how to be delicate. “...Stockholm syndrome.”

“Stockholm syndrome?” Cove repeated slowly, his brow furrowing a bit. The term sounded familiar, but he couldn’t quite figure out where he had heard it before or what it meant.

Jamie bit back the urge to sigh. She couldn’t blame Cove for not getting her meaning when she was being so indirect. “It’s when captors make their kidnapped victims get emotionally attached to them… even…” She felt sick forcing the next words out. “...even love them.”

Cove froze, his eyes flying open wide.

Jamie grimaced, but forced herself to push on with the explanation before Cove started to panic. “Apparently, the more I care about someone, the more of my magic they can take from me, and if I love someone, they can gain this special power from the god of magic. I didn’t exactly find out many details about that part considering I only know that much by managing to overhear a couple merfolk talking about how much they wanted that power.”

It was hard for Jamie to watch the shock and horror play across Cove’s face, so she focused on her hand as she drew small circles on his shoulder with her finger. “So… I couldn’t really sleep, because some of those bastards thought I’d like them more if they snuck into my cage and…” Her hand stilled and her voice dropped to a fragile whisper. “...Tried to seduce me.”

“Oh my God,” Cove gasped, utterly horrified at the implications. Instantly he sat up, his back going ramrod straight as he began to panic. He didn’t even notice he knocked the blanket halfway off the bed, his eyes focused only on Jamie. “Did they… did… are you okay?!”

Jamie forced out a mirthless chuckle as she reached up to stroke Cove’s cheek, trying to be as soothing as she could given the circumstances. “Yeah. Ironically… my birth mother kept them from doing anything worse than pinning me down or using bad lines on me.” She met his worried gaze and offered a fragile smile. “She’s… she’s messed up.” Her gaze went distant, seeing something haunting in her memories. “She was convinced I loved her… and that she loved me, but that kind of ‘love’…”

A shiver ran through Jamie, and instantly Cove pulled her so close she almost let out a startled squeak. She recovered quickly from her surprise and snuggled into him as they laid back down together on the bed. There was no more reassuring feeling in the world, any world, than being in his arms.

“So… yeah…,” Jamie eventually muttered after she had calmed down a bit. “A lot of times when I tried to sleep, I’d wake up because I’d hear the cell door open, and either it’d be her, or some merman and sometimes when she was getting rid of them…” Her face twisted with nausea. “There’d be blood in the water… and I’d try not to breathe it in.”

Cove couldn’t bring himself to feel bad for the mermen getting bloodied when they intended to force themselves on Jamie. He couldn’t even really feel grateful that her birth mother had fended them off given how much the woman clearly traumatized her.

The only person Cove felt any sympathy for was Jamie. Unfortunately, he found himself at a loss. For a long while, all he could do was hold her close and rub her back, trying desperately to soothe away the small tremors that ran through her and goosebumps on her skin.

Cell, cage, chains, shackles… It was almost inconceivable for Cove to imagine, but Jamie had been chained up in an actual prison. She was still chained. Though she kept her left arm tucked under the pillow almost the entire time they were in bed, even while they made love, he couldn’t forget the shackle binding her wrist for a second.

And he doubted Jamie could either.

Then there was the violence, monsters, unwanted advances, emotional manipulation, and the unwilling transformation of her body… not to mention the kidnapping itself. All these horrible things were subjected on her for a power that no one, especially not Jamie, had any idea she possessed. It sickened Cove to think that he ever idolized the cruel creatures that made the woman he loved suffer so much.

A stab of guilt pricked Cove at the thought when he realized that sweeping generalization now applied to Jamie too. As much as she hated the changes to her body, it was hard to avoid the fact that she was a mermaid. He could feel her tail pressed up against his legs at that very moment.

Cove shook off the thought to focus on what was most important right now - Jamie was not okay. She might have been safely back home, but her body had been warped into a shape that repulsed her, and her experiences had left her with a level of trauma beyond anything he knew how to deal with. He couldn’t even suggest she get professional treatment for either, which meant they had to deal with it themselves regardless of how they felt about it.

A low rumbling noise snapped Cove out of his thoughts, and he realized it was the sound of an empty stomach demanding food. A second later he realized that wasn’t his stomach that made the noise.

Jamie blushed lightly as she placed her unbound hand on her stomach. “I didn’t really eat much there either,” she admitted in a quiet voice.

Cove smiled gently before leaning in to place a soft kiss on her forehead. Hunger, at least, was something he knew how to deal with. “Don’t worry, I’m sure Dad won’t mind making you all the food you can eat.”

A beat later, Cove realized that meant they would have to tell Cliff about everything that happened. He grimaced in spite of himself, not looking forward to the conversation.

Jamie let out a small chuckle at his expression. “Can I borrow a shirt first? I think we’ll need to show your dad some proof if he’s gonna believe something as crazy as mermaids being real.”

Cove appreciated Jamie’s attempt at levity, giving her a bent smile. “Yeah. He’s already gonna be shocked that you’re back even without that part.” He paused for a moment, his smile fading away. “Or the rest of it…”

Jamie nodded, her expression going somber. She saw the growing concern on Cove’s face and guessed where his train of thought was headed. “It’s… okay. To tell him everything I’ve told you, I mean. Even the… really unpleasant stuff.” She scrunched in on herself as she looked down. “I’ll be okay as long as you’re with me.”

Cove pulled Jamie a little closer before rubbing her shoulder soothingly. “I’m not going anywhere without you, but are you sure you’ll be okay?”

Jamie closed her eyes and sighed, her conviction wavering. “Maybe? I don’t even know… I mean… there’s still so much to tell you about what happened, and I want to tell you, but I also just want to forget it happened at all… but they’re still watching my moms, and I can’t even tell them I’m back and safe without putting them and everyone else in danger and risking them coming back for me and…”

Her rambling dissolved into wordless sniffles as Jamie could no longer hold back her tears. When Cove pulled her close, she buried her face into his shoulder and cried. For a while, that was all she could do.

No, Jamie wasn’t okay at all.

...

[Making love to a mermaid]

...

Cove couldn’t help but marvel at the way Jamie opened up underneath his fingers. It was strange how seamless the tail appeared to be up until he started rubbing in just the right spot. Fine scales parted on his gentle touch to reveal a slit of pink that he had grown intimately familiar with.

Jamie moaned as she felt Cove’s fingers delicately slide across the folds of her womanhood once it was uncovered. Despite the loss of her legs, his touch in her most intimate place still sent familiar waves of pleasure throughout her body. When his wandering fingers discovered that even as a mermaid she still had a clit, he wasted no time in lavishing his attention on the sensitive nub. The jolt of pleasure was so sudden and strong after going so long without his touch that she had to cover her mouth to stifle a cry as her hips bucked uselessly against his hand.

Cove didn’t want Jamie to stifle her voice. He wanted to hear her cry out in pleasure and babble his name senselessly while he drove her to the brink as she always did, but he knew if they were too noisy they would wake his dad up. The last thing in the world he wanted was for anything to stop them from making love after they had been separated for so long.

Instead of regretting that they had to hold back, Cove focused on pleasuring Jamie. He bent down, using his mouth on her as well as his fingers. Despite the transformation, the taste of her core was the same mixture of sex and sweetness that he could never get enough of. Her sweet spots were still the same as well, and he delighted in how he made her shudder and mewl when he teased those places with his fingers or tongue.

Jamie couldn’t stop moaning Cove’s name around her hand, practically biting it in her desperate attempts to keep quiet. After weeks without such intimacy and how much she had longed for him in all that time, her body responded more strongly than she was prepared for.

She was wound tight, too tight, and it was all too soon that the tension snapped, her back arching like a drawn bow as the world went white and she screamed into her hand.

Cove enjoyed watching Jamie writhe in the throes of her orgasm beneath him. He never tired of the sight of her absolutely overwhelmed with pleasure, knowing he was the one responsible for making her feel so good.

When Jamie finally fell slack onto the bed, boneless and panting for air, Cove withdrew his fingers from her. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before wiping his hands on his pants as he sat up, turning his focus back to his fiancée’s flushed face. “How are you feeling?”

Jamie blinked blurrily at Cove, still deliciously dazed. She noticed the smug bent to his smile, which told her he already knew the answer, and he was quite pleased with himself for it. That look was so damn sexy. “Wonderful,” she sighed as she gave him a tired smile of her own.

When Jamie reached for him, Cove was only all too eager to embrace her, lying down beside her on the bed. Though their chests pressed close, he tried to keep his hips at a slight distance so that she wouldn’t notice his arousal. He didn’t want to make her feel obligated to focus on his needs while she was still basking in the afterglow. He lightly stroked her back and just relished the fact that he was finally holding the woman he loved in his arms once again.

“I love you,” Jamie murmured before nuzzling into Cove’s neck. She heard his heartbeat pick up as it always did when she said those words, and her own pulse quickened when she heard him murmur in her ear in return.

“I love you, too,” Cove said, his voice growing thick with emotion. “I love you so much.”

They drew closer, their mouths meeting in soft, leisurely kisses. It didn’t take long for those kisses to grow hotter, deepening as their hunger for each other was far from saited.

Jamie slid her hand down along her fiancé’s chest before tugging upward on his shirt. Cove was quick to comply with her silent request, breaking their latest kiss only long enough to strip the offending garment and toss it aside before seizing her mouth with his once again.

Once again, Jamie trailed her hands down Cove’s chest, but she didn’t linger there long, quickly crossing the plane of his stomach to blindly seek out the buckle of his belt. That, too, Cove was quick to remove. He didn’t bother waiting for her to go after the next garment and just stripped off the rest of his clothes, leaving nothing left to separate them.

Cove failed to stifle a moan when Jamie gently took a hold of his hard manhood. She used only one hand, the one not restrained by the shackle, but she knew exactly how to touch him to make him shudder deliciously against her palm.

To his surprise, Jamie was already trying to guide him to her, silently urging him to enter her already. Usually, they took their time, but she was unexpectedly impatient tonight.

Cove took a hold of her shoulders gently, breaking apart from their current kiss to gaze deep into her heavy-lidded blue eyes. “J-Jamie?” his voice shook, husky with desire. He tried to think of how to phrase his concern, but words failed him.

Fortunately, Jamie caught the implication anyway from his hesitation. “Cove, please…,” she said, her voice soft and almost heartbreakingly needy. “Make love to me. I need you.”

There was no way Cove could turn down such a request. Although he was still concerned, he carefully adjusted their positions so that the tip of his manhood hovered just inches away from her entrance. She seemed wet enough from his earlier ministrations, but he touched her again with his fingers to be sure.

Jamie buried her face against Cove’s shoulder to muffle her moans as his fingers gently pumped in and out of her. First it was two fingers, but soon it was three stretching her out inside to prepare her for more. She felt so full, so hot, and so touched by how careful he was not to hurt her.

Despite how wonderful Cove made her feel with fingers alone, Jamie wanted more. Shakily, she touched his hard heat once again, trailing her fingers upward along the length until she could run her thumb across the tip, feeling his own wetness already leaking out.

Cove had to quickly bury his face in Jamie’s shoulder to stifle a cry against her skin. Her touch was electric, sending jolts of pleasure through his entire body. His hips instinctively rocked into her hand as she gently slid it down and then back up again, quickly settling into a familiar rhythm.

Jamie couldn’t help but smile at how strongly Cove was reacting to her touch. She wasn’t the only one who was especially sensitive right now, it seemed.

It took Cove a moment to compose himself, and he leaned in to murmur directly into her ear, his voice low and ragged. “J-Jamie… if you keep doing that… I… I’m not g-gonna last.”

Jamie felt a delicious shiver run through her at the way Cove sounded, so breathless and aroused, and how his breath caressed her ear. After a moment, she nodded as she reluctantly let go of his manhood and placed her hand on his hip instead. As much as she wanted to pleasure him, her body ached to feel him inside her far more.

Cove sighed in a mixture of relief and disappointment when Jamie stopped. Truthfully, he wouldn’t have complained if she continued. Sometimes during their lovemaking sessions, they were so focused on making each other feel good that they would exhaust themselves before they could indulge in penetrative sex. Still, he understood - after everything they had been through this past month, he couldn’t deny that he was dying to be inside her just as badly as she wanted him there.

It took a little time to adjust to the changes in their usual positions that Jamie’s transformed body necessitated. The angle Cove needed to take was different, and she had no legs to wrap around him, leaving him to do the straddling instead. The feeling of her scales, however fine, against his thighs was also strange, but she still felt warm, soft, and smooth and above all else this was Jamie.

No matter what Jamie looked like, no matter how her body changed and how they had to adjust to those changes, Cove could never lose sight of the fact that the woman lying underneath him right now was the most important person in his world.

Despite the way her body burned, Jamie couldn’t help but notice the awkwardness in the way Cove moved, all because of her body. It made her unpleasantly aware of the wrongness of this new form, of a body that she was supposedly born to have that was just not her. The tail was so stiff, so constricting compared to her legs. She hated it so much.

“Jamie?” Cove asked, noticing the frown that had formed on his fiancée’s face as her gaze grew distant. He paused to cup her cheek, drawing her attention back to him. “Are you okay?”

Jamie blinked then felt a pang of guilt for the unpleasant direction her mind had wandered when they were about to make love. “Sorry,” she mumbled as she reached up to place her hand over his. “I want to continue, really. I… I really need you right now. I really do. It’s just…” She pointedly directed her gaze down to the lower half of her body. “I just hate this… thing.”

Cove felt his heart go out to Jamie. He bent down to kiss her, soft and chaste despite the heat of arousal that throbbed between them. “I get it,” he said softly as their eyes met again. “We’ll find a way to fix this, I promise.”

Jamie lost herself in another kiss, this one longer but just as tender as the last. “Cove…,” she murmured against his lips.

Words failed Jamie. All she could do was try to silently convey all of the intense feelings swelling inside her heart with her eyes alone as she stroked the back of Cove’s hand with her thumb. She lost herself in his mesmerizing eyes of aquamarine that she had feared too many times that she might never see again.

Fortunately, Cove understood that Jamie wanted him to continue. After giving her just one more tender kiss, he returned his focus to their positioning. Carefully, so very carefully, he eased himself inside of her, making sure to move as slow as his body would allow. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her, and although he hadn’t noticed any real difference inside her when exploring her with his mouth and fingers earlier, he didn’t want to risk misjudging just how much she could handle right now.

The pressure was heavenly. Jamie had to bite her lower lip to keep quiet as Cove slowly, deliciously filled her up inside. Despite the changes and all the things that were different and wrong, the feeling of his hard heat filling her to the hilt was exactly as wonderful as it was supposed to be. She struggled to keep her voice low as she moaned his name and wrapped her unbound arm behind his neck, pulling him closer.

Cove answered with a throaty groan of his own shaped around Jamie’s name. The exquisitely familiar tight heat wrapped around where he was most sensitive was almost too much. He wasn’t sure he could last long enough to make sure she came before he did.

A plan of action quickly took shape. Cove took care to balance his weight on one arm, freeing his other hand to reach between them, seeking out that little sensitive nub he knew drove Jamie crazy. He watched her blue eyes fly open wide as he touched her there while he slowly moved his hips.

The delicious friction both from within and without was almost too much for Jamie. She pulled Cove as close as she could so that she could bury her face in his shoulder to muffle the pleasured cries that fought to escape her. His thrusts were slow, delicate, but his fingers worked her in a faster rhythm, creating a contrast that made her squirm helplessly underneath him.

Cove struggled to keep his voice low as he murmured words of affection in Jamie’s ear, punctuated by ragged breaths and husky moans of her name. It felt so wonderful being inside her, the delicious heat of her body wrapped so tightly around him already so intense, but there was also the way she writhed against him, grinding their chests together. Although the noises she made were muffled, he could feel the vibration of her voice against his skin, each especially loud stifled cry letting him know exactly how good he made her feel.

What had changed didn’t matter - the only things that mattered were the pleasure and love they shared with one another. In that moment, they were able to forget everything else and lost themselves in each other.

[beelspillowpet]

Filthy Otaku - Leviathan x Fem!MC

Another thing I’ve been whipping up for when I hit 100 followers on this account~ I recall seeing a snippet from someone else about degrading Leviathan and I couldn’t help but dive into that topic more here~ I love our little Otaku snake boy so much  ♡

Content Warning!!! Degradation kink, slight edgeplay, generally just being mean, but is still somewhat soft towards the end. MC is a female.

You didn’t need to hustle. Life in the Devildom wasn’t always easy, but one thing that kept you neck deep out of trouble was money. The Avatar of Greed let you in on a little secret; life down here in the Devildom wasn’t too different from life in the human realm. Get a little bit of cash to spend, you’ll have demons dancing in the palm of your hand.

What started as a little joke quickly devolved into a means of getting consistent cash. It was like a little daily piggy bank, spilling its contents for you to keep forever. You somehow never suspected the creepy Otaku to be the real pervert in the family; especially with Asmodeus right there.

After your shower, you felt clean and refreshed. Nothing felt better than pampering your skin after a long day. To get into nice clean clothes, and then crawl into bed to wake up the next day. Or at least whenever Lucifer woke you up. You still weren’t used to the day/night cycle, without a sun to tell you to wake up.

Now, though, you added something new to your shower routines. You slipped into your new pajamas, silky smooth. Asmodeus had wanted a pair like that for a while, and questioned how you got your hands on it. The others did as well. You gave a sly grin, “That’s a secret~” you purr. The secret was the Third Born.

You walked down the hallway in nothing but your robe. After knocking a few times, you opened the door without giving the phrase. You didn't need it. No one else came into his room at these sorts of hours. “Levi,” you say boredly. He sits up from his bed (bathtub, really) and removes his headphones. His face is flushed.

“I’ve got a new pair for ya’,” you smirk, reaching into the pocket of your robe to pull out your underwear. It was a pair you had just taken off before your shower. It only made sense that deprived freaks like Leviathan would be into this sort of thing. Using the underwear of pretty girls to jack off with, sniff, and do whatever else it is weirdos do with them.

Leviathan scrambled from out of the bathtub and over to you. His clammy hands reached for the used pair, before you snatched them away. Your other hand came out, curling the fingers and uncurling them.

“Grimm,” you instruct. “I want cash in hand, before I hand anything over. So go get my grimm.”

Leviathan nods, going back to his bathtub and leaning over it. You stare at him, admittedly a bit turned on by how excited he is to use a new pair of your underwear. He returns with a hand full of grimm, and another hand with your used up underwear from the previous day.

“I figured you might… want them back?” he tries, but doesn’t offer them with the grimm.

“No,” you say scoffed. “I don’t want my used underwear back. That’s disgusting.” he cringes a bit, but takes the new pair in place of his grimm. You step back and look him over once. He’s flushed, a bit out of breath, and very shaky. “You were just jerking off, weren’t you?”

He shamefully nods, not looking you in the eyes. You smirk. This might be your chance to try something out.

“You really are a disgusting otaku freak.” You spat out. He shuddered. “That one was free, by the way.” He lowers his head and steps back towards his bathtub. He had expected you to leave, but you just stood there, confident smirk on your face. “I want to try something.” you say. “I want to watch you sit in that chair,” you point to his gaming chair across the room. “Touch yourself. I want to see how a revolting freak like you gets off.”

He swallowed, his knees weak. He wasn’t sure how much more he could take already. He sat in his chair across the room, sliding down his pants to present his hardened cock. With both pairs of used underwear in his hands, he wrapped the silk fabric around his girth and stroked slowly. He was slow now, giving soft pants every now and then. You were getting bored quickly.

“Yank it already, god dammit. Or are you making love to my fucking panties?” You scowl. You’re almost running across the room now, going through his drawers. You know he’s got a toy or two hidden in here somewhere. If not for- aha. Your eyes land on his bathtub, where you know he keeps his Ruri-Chan body pillow. You pace towards it, reach inside, and pull out the body pillow. His eyes widen in fear, his hand stilling.

“W-what’re you-”

“I wonder if I cut a hole in her face and stick a onahole inside, would that get you off faster?” You muse. “Face-fucking your cute Ruri-Chan pillow for me. I bet you’d thought of doing it before, am I right?”

“N-not to R...Ruri-Chan, no…” he trembles. You raise an eyebrow. He must be lying, but you don’t press on it.

“Have you thought about me?”

The color in his face drains. Bingo.

You drop the body pillow back into the bathtub lazily, creeping towards him. “Stroke yourself, you pathetic bitch.” you sneer. As if he was a fully charged battery, his hand stuttered back to life. It was robotic, as if he were merely following orders. “That’s right. Mm, you’ve thought about it, haven’t you? Fucking me silly in your bathtub. On the floor. Against the wall. You’ve thought of doing horrible things to me, haven’t you, Levi?”

“Yes,” he breathes. “I-I’ve thought of you. Your body, d-doing lewd things t-to you, aah…”

“Tell me.” You cooed, right next to his ear now. “Tell me some of the things you’ve wanted to do to me.” You turned and kissed his temple. He choked on his own spit for a moment, stroking himself harder.

“I-I can’t…” he sobs. “P-please, it’s too embarrassing…”

“Tell me or I’ll never give you another used pair of underwear again.” You threaten. His eyes open and he jolts away from you, staring bewildered. “I mean it, Levi. I can just give my used panties to another sweaty, fat bastard. Someone somehow much less useful that you. But…” his eyes brighten, a distorted smile slowly creeping across his lips. “If you tell me… I might bless you. By taking your virginity for you?” you pout innocently.

He pants, squeezing his cock in his fist. “Re...really?! You’d let me-?”

“I don’t want you to speak another fucking word. Not unless it’s about what you imagine doing to me. Do you understand?”

“F-fucking your thighs…” he starts slow. He licks his lower lips before continuing. “M-making you were thigh highs and pushing c-cock…. Between them.”

“Am I only wearing thigh highs?” Your hands start massaging his shoulders gently. “You like when I touch you, huh? Even if our knuckles brush, it just makes you so hot and bothered doesn’t it?”

Leviathan let out a puffy sigh, stroking himself slower. You eyed his hand as he kept talking. Occasionally butting into his fantasies. Your touches roamed from his chest, to his neck, where you unceremoniously choked him for a few seconds. There was a time where you took to slapping him, and even thought of spitting on him. While you didn’t deny the fact that he would be into it, it still stopped you from going through with it. You weren’t an idiot; if you pissed him off somehow, he would tear you to bits. Maybe fuck you before doing it, though.

You stood up straight, hissing. “Are you edging yourself?” you question. By now he was a shivering mess, barely able to string words together. “Fucking loser. You’re so desperate for pussy. You’re wanting for me to open my legs like a cheap whore for you. You want to fuck me?”

“Y...y-yes… Want to… please you…”

You smirk. “Good boy. You might be worth something after all. Well then? Get up. Now.”

It took him a moment, stumbling out of his seat and on to shaky sea legs. You opened your robe and discarded it on the floor. “By the way,” you start, a smile on your face, a smile in your voice. “You’ll pay for this too, in the morning. Even more if you cum inside. Got that?”

With that, you sit in his chair and slouch. “Get to it then, you worthless sack of shit. Make me feel good. Make your mommy- your master- your precious senpai feel good. You think you can do that? With your pathetic otaku dick, you think you can please me?” You lift your knees up to your chest before opening your thighs slowly, a cocky grin spread across your face. You move down to your pussy and trace circles across your clit. He’s watching, cock in hand, hunched over like an animal.

Just like one, he pounces.

He barely shoves more than half of his cock inside you and you’re clamping down hard on him. You give a choked groan that dies somewhere in the back of your throat when he immediately starts thrusting in. His hips are moving at an uneven, wild pace. He pulls almost all the way out, leaving you empty, trying to suck him back in. Then he bottoms out all in one thrust, making your body spasm.

“Fuck!” You yell, nearly kicking him in the face. “Calm the fuck down!” He leans forward, now hovering over you. “Fucking freak! I said calm down!” he doesn’t listen, too wrapped up in the pleasure of your fresh, wet pussy to do anything else. One of his hands grabs your ankle, the other his supporting him against the chair as he pounds into you. His hips crashing into yours leaving a bruising pain on your ass. His balls slapping against your skin, and his harsh breathing reminds you of a fish out of water, gasping.

You grit your teeth and decide the only thing you can do is hold on and hope he manages to get some sense into him. Hoping was a stupid idea, especially for someone like Leviathan.

“Fucking stupid otaku,” you groan. “This is how you fuck a lady? This is how you treat her? Like a blow up doll?! You’ll never amount to anything. Absolute trash.”

He seems to hear just fine when you’re degrading him, because with each harsh word, his thrusts get harder. He’s practically dragging you against his cock now, pushing and pulling you. His hands find purchase on your hips and he quiets down for a moment, head dipping low. You can feel his clammy fingers tightening their grip before stars burst behind your eyeballs.

“Fuck! God you’re such a slut! Yes!” You’re squeezing down on him, clenching on to the chair for dear life. You were so busy insulting him that your own orgasm literally blindsided you.

There was a distinct growl that came from Leviathan, and he muttered in a dangerous tone. “Came on that cock, huh?” An uneven laugh followed. You could barely form words, still riding out your high while he continued with his frenzied pace. It wasn’t long after before you felt him spilling himself inside you. You contorted at the sensation, but with practiced ease, stilled after, allowing him to finish.

As he slowed down, still riding out his high, he let go of you. He muttered a soft apology as he began to pull out, stepping away. Your legs dropped to the floor and you sighed, content. You could still feel that distinct ache in your fingers from tensing on the chair so fiercely. “Fuck, Levi…” you pant.

“I’m s-sorry…” he stammers. He reaches out to help you stand, and when you get a steady footing under you, you sigh. “Do you need any help?” he asks, picking up your robe off the floor.

“No,” you smile. “I just need another shower is all. Thanks, though.” You didn’t feel like keeping the façade up. You were exhausted after that brutal fucking. You needed a nap.

It’s not like you were always mean to him. It was just strict business, and he didn’t seem to mind it. You treated him nice everywhere else. You never quite understood why he was so into this degradation kink, since he was such a powerful demon. But everyone is into their own thing, you guess.

[unstoppableforcce]

ghosts

CHAPTER ONE: nocturnal thoughts

pairing: Javier Peña x f!reader

next part | masterlist

a/n: so this was just supposed to be a little snippet where I expanded on a drabble I wrote for @tiffdawg around Halloween (👻) and it became a lot more ;) I have more ideas, I may or may not write them, feedback as always is appreciated !!

Nights like these were the worst kind. 

Faster than the wind could blow, whipping it’s way through the open windows of the jeep with a cool and haunting whistle, the hours got away from you, ticking away minute by minute until there was more moonlight in the sky then there were headlights in the streets, forcing you back on the same promise you made every morning. The same promise you hoped with every inch of your being, every ounce of your exhausted heart, that you might actually be able to keep. 

Every morning you promised. Every morning he believed you. 

And every night he ended up in bed. Alone. 

Shutting off your engine, you couldn’t stop yourself from dropping your forehead forward onto the wheel. The lights were already off, stealing a glance at the thick-banded watch suffocating your wrist after hours of wear, the lights had probably been off for a while at this point. He had given up on waiting up for you months ago, yet every morning you promised you’d be back, and every morning he believed you. 

Every. Single. Morning. 

Up until the second he found his way to the sheets of your shared bed alone, the sun long since setting, he believed you. That just made it hurt that much more. Every. Single. Night. 

Holding your hand as steady as you could possibly manage as you turned the lock over and fell into the apartment, there was still little you could do to silence every noise you were making. The keys still chimed as you set them on the counter, your shoes still thudded when you kicked them off into the wall, your bag was too heavy, it practically echoed across the room as you dropped it as carefully as you could onto the kitchen table. It didn’t matter how hard you tried to stay quiet, every single noise might as well have been a siren, he was too light of a sleeper when he was alone. 

The second you opened the squeaky fridge and flooded the pitch black kitchen with light, you knew it he was awake. He had to be. You knew him better than he thought you did. 

There were few bottles of beer still left from the last case you had bought, a couple boxes of take-out, a container of leftovers from the last night you cooked… as you kept the fridge open with your hip, you popped the lid off the container and gave it a quick whiff. Too old to be edible anymore. Honestly, you didn’t know what you were looking for, maybe a drink, maybe food… maybe just to hide your face for a few more seconds.

If he was awake, he was just waiting for you, alone in bed, probably listening to every sound you made in the kitchen. Just waiting. Waiting for you.

The contents of the fridge door rattled as you shut it, no matter how gentle your touch, and returned the room to pitch darkness spare the hint of orange light floating in from the street light right outside the kitchen window. It was just enough light to see the pictures taped to the door, four of them, blurred by the darkness but just visible enough to see the edges of his smile in each of them. 

You had taken them, or well, you had taken three of them. 

He had taken the fourth. 

It had been a few months ago, in the heat of the summer that seemed to foreign to you now, the two of you sat back on the leather couch trying your best not to suffocate in the sticky humidity. He was reading through files, one right after the other with mindless determination, while you fed a new roll of film into your camera. 

It was a simple domesticity you certainly wouldn’t have guessed him capable of when you first met him. 

The heat was sweating you out of your skin but you wanted to be next to him, you needed to be next to him. It didn’t matter what you were doing, it didn’t matter that neither of you said a word, it was just having him close. 

You loved having him this close. 

But he hated when you took pictures of him while he was working. 

He only needed to tell you once and you understood completely, you didn’t do it, you knew better. But you liked watching him, the way he furrowed his brow and ran his tongue unconsciously over the interior of his bottom lip, you liked watching him like that. The problems storming in his mind showed in the meticulous corners and creases of his face, the determination glowing in his dark brown eyes, brighter than the daylight. You just liked watching him. 

“No, you can’t take a picture of me.” Were you that obvious?

With an embarrassed tilt of your head down, your chin finding your chest, your laughter muffled into the loose fabric of your tank top. “I wasn’t going to.”

“Mmmhmm… sure…”

“I wasn’t.”

His eyes still hadn’t left the file in his hand but his lips were pulling into a smirk, he didn’t bother trying to hide it either. God, if only he knew how much prettier that made him. “I can see you thinking about it--”

“Stop being so pretty and I’ll stop thinking about it--”

“Alright, give me the camera,” he slapped the file shut and tossed it onto the table with the rest he had gone through in the last few hours, holding his hand out your way as you laughed again. “Come on.”

“This is my camera for work,” you defended as the laughter kept tumbling from your lips, pulling the camera back to your chest as his hand reached out further for it. “No…”

“Give me your other camera then.”

The camera was cool against your chest as you held it tight, glancing back to meet his stare, laughter still tumbling past your dry lips, but you let the camera fall weakly to your lap as you kept your stare locked with his. Beneath his boyish smirk and somewhat unruly morning mustache, there was something else you weren’t expecting. 

He was being serious. His beautiful brown eyes narrowed gently and the warm palm of his upturned hand stayed where it was, extended out between where the two of you sat. He was truly being serious.

Your lips became a mirror, reflecting the sly smile he had pulling at the corners of his own lips. “Give me a second.”

The hot leather stuck to the back of your bare thighs as you pushed yourself up off the couch but the cool tile floor of the kitchen was nearly refreshing as you padded your bare feet towards where your heavy camera bag sat on the kitchen table. Returning the expensive camera you had just reloaded with film, you grabbed for the one he was much more familiar with in your hands.

As you padded back to where he sat, reclined back in worn leather, he waited patiently for you to feed the film into the camera, dragging his one hand unconsciously up and down the inside of your thigh where it rested against his. He wasn’t a patient man, but he was for you. 

“Here...” 

He took the camera in both hands, looking at it with the same analytical stare he had been giving his files just minutes ago. “Just point and shoot?”

“Yeah, like a gun.”

He met your laughter with a strained exhale of his own as you knelt down on the couch slowly, one knee on either side of his hips while he continued to fiddle with his large grip around the somewhat inferiorly sized camera. But even as you settled down, straddling him gently, he couldn’t help the correction that fell from his lips, “Very different from a gun.”

“I know.”

“Very different.” His stare flicked back up to yours and you nodded.

“I know.” 

If he had any other corrections bubbling in his chest, he kept them to himself, choosing instead to lean further back into the leather of the couch and bring the camera to his eye for an angle on you. 

And you did exactly what he did every time you tried to get an angle on him. 

You leaned back as far as you could manage while staying on top of him, flinching from the focus as your head turned to hide your burst of laughter. He only laughed more though, snapping the first picture and cuing up the next, “Not so much fun being the model, huh?”

“Ha ha...” you mocked, pushing the camera away as he persistently moved it back for an angle on you. He just snapped another picture, smiling brighter the more you fought him as the laughter kept tumbling from your lips. “Javi, come on--”

“No, you look pretty--”

“I get it,” you fought one last time, catching his wrist and pinning the camera aside just long enough to pull him forward for a quick kiss. “Thinking you’re pretty isn’t a good enough reason to take a picture, I get it.”

“We’d have to switch professions if that was the case, baby--”

The rest of his argument fell mute on your lips as you surged forward, releasing his wrist and grabbing both sides of his face in a cradling grip to keep him close. One of his large hands found your thigh, but the other kept its hold on the camera as he leaned forward, engrossed in you. 

You heard the camera click but if you were being honest, you didn’t think anything of it, you were too caught up in him. Nothing in that moment mattered as much as the taste of his mouth on your tongue or the feel of his burning touch running up from your thigh to find your waist and not stopping as it continued up, scorching every inch of your skin he could get his hands on. He was all that mattered in that moment and you didn’t think you could be happier. 

At least until you were developing the film. Happiness seemed to have no limit in that moment. 

Out of all the perfectly focused and well-shot pictures that you had taken with the rest of the roll of film, you stumbled upon the few that he had taken, each of them out of focus and way too bright. But the one he had taken, the accidental picture he had snapped as you caught his lips... it was better than anything you had ever taken. 

He looked so happy, his smile was so bright he was barely able to kiss you but he threw every ounce of his being into it anyways. It was out-of-focus, it was back-lit and streaky but he looked so happy to have you. 

You could only catch him looking at other things. The way he smiled at the nice women running the stalls in the market he took you to on the weekends, the stern focus in his brow as he read the smudged recipe his father mailed to him, the roll of his eyes when Steve made a joke he refused to laugh at... you had hundreds of pictures of him looking at other things. 

This was the only one you had of him looking at you, one of the only ones you even had of the two of you together, and it was better than anything you could ever take. 

He just looked so... he looked so happy.

It was a side of him you hadn’t seen in a while. You fingertip just barely grazed over the edge of the sun-bled photograph where it was taped on the fridge door. You missed it. 

You missed him. 

“I tried to wait up for you…”

The low rumble of his raspy tone cut through the stale air of the apartment and nearly leapt you out of your skin. You knew he’d wake up, you knew he had heard you and still, you leapt, just barely, shocked out of the memory and dragged back down to the cold reality of the night. 

“I fell asleep, I’m sorry, it was a long day…”

He always woke up. Even when he looked like he needed the sleep now more than ever. 

He was like a ghost where he stood, propped as upright as his exhausted form could manage in the doorway as his tattered UT shirt seemed to swallow him whole. He was losing weight, he swore he wasn’t and he didn’t think you could tell, but you could tell. You could always tell, you knew him better than he thought you did.

It was never supposed to be like this between the two of you, it was never supposed to get this serious, it was never supposed to get complicated. You were just supposed to be in Colombia for a few months on your contract with National Geographic, you were never supposed to stay, you were never supposed to move in, you were never supposed to call this apartment home. 

“You’re home late…” He hummed, running his hand over the mustache settled as a permanent fixture over his upper lip and the rest of the patchy scruff emerging from the lower half of his face after the long exhaustion of the day. There was a fateful tremor to his voice, not from the exhaustion but from something else. It was hesitation, like he was afraid, afraid of saying the wrong thing, afraid of stepping out of line, afraid of… 

Afraid of losing you, afraid he already was, afraid it was all his fault. 

You took up a similar stance, propping the majority of your weight onto your hip as leaned onto the counter, rubbing your hands over your face just as he had. “I know… I’m sorry.”

“It’s… you don’t have to apologize.” He fought as he folded his arms across his chest. 

Silence was nothing new between the two of you, god knows Javi wasn’t much of a talker and you were far from much better, not after a long day, but this wasn’t the typical, comfortable quiet. The two of you were split apart by a valley, as deep as it was wide as you both held your ground, the tension was a thick, heavy rope hanging between the two of you, but you might as well have been miles away and tonight wasn’t the first night you had noticed. 

He wasn’t stupid, he could see it too.

“Come to bed if you feel like it.” He huffed, dropping his hands to his hips. 

This wasn’t the kind of problem that could be solved in a night. 

He wasn’t looking for a fight, you knew that much, he wasn’t the kind of man who went out of his way looking for a fight, he didn’t have to. The bite to his tone was pure sleep deprivation and who were you to blame him for that, hell, you were probably to blame for that. You weren’t looking to fight either, but sometimes it didn’t matter what you were looking for. Sometimes things just happened. Sometimes everything just builds and builds and builds… 

And you don’t have to go looking for mountains, they tower over you whether you ask them to or not. 

“Yeah, I’ll get right on that…”

His footsteps slowed to a stop in the hall as he hesitated. Javier Peña wasn’t a man who hesitated.

He turned his head back carefully over his shoulder, not that either of you could really see each other in the dark from the distance you kept, but you could feel his attention, you could feel him stop and turn back your way. You knew him a lot better than he thought you did.

“I’m not doing this tonight, I’m going back to bed.” The sigh sounded wrecked as it broke through his chest, crashed on the vast shore that stretched between the two of you. The following steps he took back down the hall were nowhere near as silent as the steps he took in his approach, he was practically cracking the foundation beneath the wood flooring with every pounding step. 

Eventually, you’d follow him, you both knew that. Sleeping on the couch wasn’t good for either of you and sleeping together was one of the only things you could do right anyways, but for now, you needed at least a few seconds alone, you needed to catch your breath. Crossing your arms over your chest, you sagged back into the counter, your stare trained all too carefully on the one photo among the set of four. 

It wasn’t his fault, it wasn’t yours either. It just wasn’t a problem you could solve in a night and it was really the only time you had together…

Nights like these were the worst kind and too many nights ended like this. 

It was maybe an hour later when you found your way into bed alongside him. He had stripped the UT tee at the foot of the bed and you left a similar pile of your clothes there before washing up and crawling into the soft sheets. He wasn’t asleep, he could pretend he was, you were fine with that, but you knew he wasn’t, you could tell, he was too tense--

“I got a call about a contract in Brazil…”

He didn’t roll over, he didn’t move an inch. With his back to you, all you could make out in the darkness was the mountainous outline of his side, but he was awake. He could hear you. 

“Just thought I should tell you…” You sighed, rolling over onto your side, facing away from him. “We don’t have to talk about it.”

He stayed quiet, apparently he agreed in that respect at least. 

Sleep was a fickle thing. You wanted nothing more than to lay awake, stubborn and unmoving just like him, but you had been out since dawn and you really didn’t have much choice in the matter once your head hit the pillow. 

The cold autumn breeze fought through the slightly cracked bedroom window and fluttered over your sleeping form just enough to force you to reach unconsciously for more warmth in the throes of sleep. It didn’t matter that your conscious mind wanted nothing to do with him, the chill was just enough to roll you onto your back as your arm outstretched for the smallest hint of warmth you could find, but it wasn’t warmth you found but a burning fire laying beside you instead. 

Every inch of hot skin you found peeking out from beneath the sheets as your hands searched mindlessly woke you up further and further until your heavy eyes began to fight the midnight darkness for sight. The ridge of his side was the most you could see and it was trembling, he was shivering under your grip though he felt like a furnace under your touch. 

You gave him a futile shake, hoping miraculously to wake him from his feuding thoughts but you had been here before, you knew it was useless. 

Maybe you weren’t the only reason he wasn’t getting much sleep recently. 

“Javi?” Your rough voice was still half-asleep, barely audible and no use, even as you tried to shake him again. As the image of the colonel’s hand pulling the trigger on the young boy in the alley played over and over again, further wrecking his mind, it didn’t matter how hard you shook him, he wouldn’t wake until it was over.

And when the trigger was finally pulled for the last time, his adrenaline-fueled terror shot him awake into your grip, making the both of you jump in bed beside each other, the same way you jumped at the fridge however long ago that was now when he scared you from your thoughts. 

“Javi…” your voice was awake now, trembling just like he was as he fought to catch his breath beside you. You tried to stay gentle, you knew it wasn’t his fault, but there was only so much you could do when he was like this. “Javi, baby…”

“I’m fine.”

He was out of your touch before you could even really touch him, up and out of the bed entirely, leaving you all alone in the hot sheets he left behind. “Javi--”

“I said I’m fine.” He defended with a sudden slam as he tore the nightstand drawer open, grabbed a pack of cigarettes, and slammed it back with an equal violent force. “Just leave it at that.”

“Javi--”

“You want to talk about Brazil?” Your stare dropped back to the thin sheets beneath you as you twisted the edge of the top sheet between your fingers and he scoffed, lighting a cigarette and staying at the window. “We’re not talking, go back to bed.”

You met his scoff with one of your own as you threw your legs out from under the sheets, climbing out of the opposite side of the bed. “You first.”

Nights like these were the worst kind. He blew his smoke out the window and you found your way to the couch instead. 

You missed the man in that picture, the man smiling so bright that he could barely kiss you. 

You just wanted him back.

--

tags: (let me know if you’d like to be untagged, this is a combined list of those who liked my tag post and those on my Javi tag, also let me know if you’d like to be added !!)@tiffdawg @gravegoth @xjaywritesx @leonieb @burnt-august @doodlingbreak @mistermiraclee @theocatkov @lovinglokiforever @abanaqun @friendscall-me-mom @lazybeeches @onfiretakemehigher @lonemeerkatofbloodredland @sesamepancakes @beachteach @embonbon @rogueonestan @videogamesandpoorlifechoices @paperbag33 @witchyavenger @littlevodika @hoodedbirdie @nominalnebula @seasonschange-butpeopledont @thehippiequilter @anu-simps

[gravegroves]

“11. Billy” seems mysterious ! pls I must know more

11. Billy

The actual fic is named so too, as that's the way Billy signs all his postcards. The fic is about Claudia Henderson giving Billy a lift from the hospital to the airport and about the postcards he sends her from his trip. It's eventual Harringrove, but I haven't gotten that far yet. Here's a weird assortment of snippets from the fic:

As they pass the turn-off for Hawkins, the road Claudia would have originally taken to get home, Billy sinks down into his seat beside her, turning his head away from the town sign to stare straight ahead, jaw clenched.

"You from Hawkins, too, Billy?" Claudia ventures, curiosity and concern competing for first place.

"Not from that shithole," Billy mutters. Claudia frowns. "Lived there until yesterday."

"Oh, you're moving?"

Billy barks a harsh laugh and Claudia flinches a little in surprise.

"Got a bedside visit from the old man to tell me not to bother coming back to get my shit. After everything and he's the one that gets to slam the door in my face--" Billy's voice cuts off, his breathing harsh and uneven.

Claudia tightens her hands on the steering wheel.

*****

"Help yourself."

Billy gives her a look that tells her he doesn't have much confidence in her taste, but he opens the glove compartment and pulls out a box of tapes. She can hear the click clack of him looking through them all, reading the labels and discarding them one by one before he stops.

Curious, Claudia looks over. In his hand, Billy holds a familiar, well-loved tape.

"Oh, I haven't listened to them in a while. Pop it in!"

"You like Led Zeppelin?" Billy asks, choked, like his whole world is turning upside down.

Claudia laughs, "Oh yes. I wanted Stairway to Heaven played at my wedding, but my husband wouldn't allow it."

"And you still married him?" Billy grins, somehow brighter and more real than any he's given up so far. Claudia feels a little proud of it somehow.

"Well, he's now my ex husband, if that helps."

Billy's grin only grows wider. None of the usual averted eyes and condolences Claudia typically prepares herself for. It's refreshing. "Good for you."

*****

"You call me when you get where you're going, alright honey?" She says, "Let me know that you're not dead in a ditch somewhere."

Billy nods, folds the paper securely into his threadbare wallet. He looks back through the window at her.

"You're the only person worth anything in that fucking town, Ms Henderson."

She smiles, "Oh, I think we both know that isn't quite true."

His face goes distant. Claudia watches him, silently.

"Maybe."

He hesitates again. 

"Thanks, Claudia." He slaps the edge of the open window, straightens up with an air of finality and adjusts the duffle bag on his shoulder.

"You take care, Billy." 

She watches him walk into the airport. He never turns to look back.

*****

Steve is sleeping on the couch when Claudia gets home. The boy is sitting in the sofa chair in front of the muted TV, neck bent at an odd angle, mouth open and drooling on his own shoulder.

She wakes him gently, coaxes him half asleep out of the chair and down the hall into the tiny guest bedroom.

He collapses onto the bed, out like a light before she can bid him goodnight. The boy never seems to get enough sleep, so she's happy to leave him there instead of sending him back to that lonely, empty house of his. She throws a blanket over him, knows it's not her place to pet his hair and give him hugs unless he asks it of her. So instead she makes sure his feet are covered, knows by now that if Steve's feet get too cold that it'll wake him and keep him up until they're warm again.

Before going to bed herself, Claudia checks on her son. She notices the light coming from under his door and sighs a little before she gently knocks. There's no reply. She cracks the door open and peers in. Dustin is tucked into bed, his bedside lamp on and a book collapsed over his face.

With a small smile and a shake of her head, she moves into the room. Gently peels the book away, marking the page with a bookmark before placing it on the bedside table. She tugs one stray arm down -- knows her Dusty has a tendency to sleep with his arms above his head and wakes up with them half numb and hurting -- before she tucks him in and kisses his curly head.

She turns off the light and closes the door on the way out, ready for bed herself and happy knowing her boys are safe and sound and close.

*****

The last time Claudia cried herself to sleep was the day she accepted that Mews wasn't coming home. She's an easy crier, it doesn't take much. She'd cried as she picked up Tews from the shelter and again the first time she woke up with him sleeping at the foot of her bed. 

This time is different. When the first sob escapes her, it feels like it's being wrenched out of her by force, like a cork out of a bottle, leaving her helpless to stop the grief from pouring out. She feels like she might explode from the emotions if she doesn't let it happen, so she just… lets it all out. Bawls into a pillow, hugs it to her chest when she can manage to breathe without great heaving keens and stares into the dark.

She cries for Dustin, her darling boy who's been so brave for so long, for Steve with his absent parents and desperate need for company, for Billy and the kind of life that leads a boy to wherever he is now. Maybe even a little for herself.

Being a single mother hasn't always been easy. Claudia has gone without more times than she can count, but that's on her. She brought Dustin into this world and for that she owes him the best life she can give him. Even when that means divorcing her no-good husband. Even when she struggled to make ends meet and put food on the table. Things are okay now, but there was a time not too long ago when her tiny family had been one injury away from losing everything.

Even then, she knows things could've been so much worse.

She imagines Gene doing to Dustin what she suspects Neil Hargrove has done to Billy. Or abandoning him to a lonely hell like the one Lorne and Kate Harrington have left Steve in and she buries her face into the pillow yet again.

Claudia is definitely not the only good person in Hawkins, but she thinks there are far fewer than she might've once thought.

*****

Billy doesn't call. 

Claudia knows there could be a multitude of reasons for why that is, the most likely of which being that Billy simply doesn't want to. She still feels a little ball of worry forming in her stomach.

The first post card arrives two months later. It's short and to the point, but Claudia feels such immense relief that each word feels precious to her.

Not dead yet. Prague is nice.

Billy

Claudia clears the cork board she has up for reminders and shopping lists and pins the picture of a beautiful European town where she can see it every day.

*****

Karen Wheeler is someone Claudia knows by association. They've exchanged the usual niceties while picking up their kids from each other's houses and should they pass on the street they smile and nod to each other at the very least. Claudia knows Karen Wheeler, but they aren't friends and they certainly don't frequent the same social circles.

Claudia likes her book clubs, her cats, her knitting. She enjoys a quiet and comfortable existence after a life of too much family drama and financial strain.

Karen Wheeler likes… well, none of those things. Which simply means that conversation doesn't exactly flow between them unless they're talking about their sons.

Today, talking at length seems unavoidable. Dustin and his friends are insisting that they need another fifteen minutes to finish up their English presentation and Karen is standing at the front door looking done up and impatient.

Claudia, of course, invites her inside for a cup of coffee while they wait for the children to finish up.

It's as they're both sitting at the dining table that Karen spots the cork board.

"Is that Billy Hargrove?" She points to the latest photo he'd sent her, tacked over the letter that came with it. Claudia opens her mouth to respond, but instead watches, speechless as Karen gets up and untacks them both before bringing them both back to the table.

Claudia swallows down an annoyed comment and smiles politely.

"Yes, that's Billy." She says, before going on to explain how she came about meeting the boy.

"He sends you postcards?" Karen's eyebrows shoot up towards her hairline, corner of her mouth twitching and giving Claudia a look she can't quite discern.

"It's more of a favour to me," She laughs "I asked him to let me know if he made it safely so I didn't have to worry and since then he's been nice enough to keep my mind at ease. You do hear about such awful things happening to young travellers, it's good to keep track."

"That's… that's very sweet of you, Claudia."

Claudia wraps her hands around her mug and frowns a little. "Someone needs to care about that boy."

"Oh, of course." Karen says, looking slightly taken aback.

"If his parents won't, then that someone might as well be me."

Karen hums and goes back to looking at the photo. "He's rather good looking, don't you think?" 

Frowning at the incredibly odd change in subject, Claudia opens her mouth to answer when the words really begin to sink in. She closes her mouth and stares. 

Unaware of Claudia's scrutiny, Karen continues. "Did he send other photos? I'd love to see them."

Claudia opens her mouth again and knows she's about to tell a lie. She's interrupted by Mike sulkily appearing in the doorway to the kitchen.

Karen gets up. "All finished?" She asks and doesn't seem bothered at all when Mike ignores her and disappears out into the hallway to put his shoes on.

"Thank you so much for the coffee, Claudia. Please, don't get up, I'll let us out."

She rummages around her purse before she takes out a pen and piece of paper. She scribbles something Claudia quickly realises is her address and phone number before she slides it across the table. She clears her throat.

"You're right to be so worried for Billy, he needs all the support he can get. Maybe… maybe I could write to him as well? The more people that care, the better."

It's only when the front door closes that Claudia realises that the photo is gone.

There is a moment where she stares at the spot where the picture should be, right beside the letter, completely dumbstruck by the sheer audacity of Karen Wheeler. And she might have let it go under different circumstances, but Claudia has been on this earth long enough to know when to trust her gut, and her gut is telling her to not let Karen get her hands on any piece of Billy Hargrove, no matter how small.

Emboldened, she snatches the piece of paper off the kitchen counter and runs to the front door. When she steps out onto the driveway the Wheelers have already gotten into the car.

Claudia marches up to the car without hesitation and knocks on the window. Karen looks surprised for a second, then rolls it down.

Without a word, Claudia sticks her hand in, palm flat and face up.

They stare at each other.

The other woman tries for confusion for a few seconds, before she, rather guiltily, reaches into her purse and takes out the photo.

Claudia snatches it out of her hand before she can give it over and the woman flinches slightly.

"I don't think this will be necessary." She tosses the crumpled piece of paper through the open window, turns about and marches back up to the house without a backward glance.

She doesn't miss Mike's "What just happened?" Drifting out into the evening air, but she's too angry, too… something to care in that moment.

When she's back in the kitchen she calls Steve and invites the boy to dinner with her and Dusty.

I have much more, but I don't want to flood peoples feed. So I'll leave it at that.