#but the lights and tree are still very pretty ❤️

[myth-blossom]

I'm so very tickled about the holiday decorations now available in the Hitmansion 😍 but as I started taking some screenshots, I noticed the reflections in the ornaments show the moving boxes and crates from when you first start Freelancer, regardless of the decorations you've chosen in the area around the tree.

Yes, the reflections aren't clean-cut and that's fine. But the implications for my fandom brain are HUGE. Are you telling me this holiday magic is all in 47's head? Is he STILL stuck in that damn basement?!

HALP

[swordgrace]

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐋𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍.

⠀ཾ༵ 𑁍┆ cregan stark x fem!targtower!reader.

SYNOPSIS: a blissful marriage to an honorable man — it is more than you could’ve asked for. with the heir on the way, you make a request of your husband.

anonymous request. unofficial sequel to wolfsblood, dragonsblood.

{ FORMAT: one-shot — requested by anonymous.

{ WORD COUNT: 6.1K.

{ WARNINGS: SMUT (mdni), overprotective cregan, reader is pretty horny for cregan (valid), pregnancy, reader is pregnant, sexual activities while pregnant, cregan is a father in his mind, oral sex (fem!rec), cunnilingus, cregan loves munching, vaginal fingering, teasing, biting, hair-pulling kink, obvious size difference + size kink, slight face-riding, lots of cregan admiring in this one-shot, very soft ending + aftercare

{ AUTHOR’S NOTE: I love writing for Cregan so much, y’all don’t understand the depths of my adoration for him. I churned this out pretty quickly, but I loved writing it, Father Cregan is the best! I hope that you all enjoy, & thank you for your support! ❤️

𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐩, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬.

It was easier to breathe, you’d realized — King’s Landing had always been so stifling and pungent, the population too thick, the air acrid. Here, in the North, it was sprawling with open spaces, regions of untouched forest and unsettled countryside.

The bite of the harsh, Northern chill was not an easy adjustment to make after a lengthy life spent in Southern regions — the gnawing wind often seared your extremities, and it was not any easier on Silverwing. Fire ran through your veins, tempered by your tender heart and kindly disposition.

Your beloved husband would not have it any other way.

What had started as an unsteady, tumultuous betrothal marked by obvious bitterness from your family and wariness from his own House, had blossomed into a fruitful union. You couldn’t have asked for a better partner, and it made you realize how fortunate you were.

Snow was uncommon in most of the South, yet it remained constant in the North, mountains blanketed in endless horizons of white. It was a particularly icy day, winter winds stinging your cheeks, prickling your flesh with its pinpricks.

Mounds of pale, grayish fur swaddled your form, lined in the finest fleece, downy and plush against your skin. The trodden path to the Godswood was marked by frozen dirt, dusted over with a fresh layer of snowfall. Sprinkles of crystalline drops fell from the cloudy skies, and your breath emerged in hot wisps of air.

Lilac hues drifted toward the mountainous form of your husband, whose back was turned to you, swathed in the dappled pelt of a direwolf. Ice hung from his shoulder, a massive longsword of Valyrian Steel, an heirloom passed down through generations of House Stark.

Someday soon, it will pass to your firstborn son.

You recalled the night that you were wed, beneath the crimson leaves of the Weirwood Tree. It was serene, a moonlit dusk that struck the snow with an ethereal glow, your hands bound as you recanted your vows. It had been some moons now since that day, and you had only felt joy since then.

Cregan listened to the light crunch of snow beneath your footfalls as they reverberated throughout the Godswood, the pond frozen-over with a layer of ice. Pale bark marked with a foreign face peered back at him — this was a place that he and Rickon visited many times.

Before his little brother had passed, they pretended to fight wars here, forge their weapons, sticks found from the forest floor, and envision themselves as Knights. He could still feel his brother sometimes, his presence a whisper in the blood-red leaves, somewhere within the forest’s song.

Religion was a complicated thing for you. Your mother wielded the Faith of the Seven like a crudely-worn shortsword, letting it strike to her advantage even when it was rusty, at best. You had little interest in it, and Cregan seemed to respect your growing distance from your old roots. The Old Gods were his — you had nothing.

Inklings of snow drifted from the pale skies, growing darker as evening approached. The North became unyieldingly harsh after the sun began to wane, the sting of biting wind swirling around you, seeping into your bones. You were rather cold, but persisted for Cregan.

“Ser Rodrick said that I might find you here,” Silence dissipated, filled with the sound of your voice, as soft as feathers, a soothing balm. You stepped closer, beneath the boughs of the great tree, the canopy thick with vermillion leaves. “How are you faring?”

With Winter approaching, spreading its cold, brittle tendrils across the North, Cregan’s duties had increased tenfold. Preparing his people for winter, ensuring that food was plentiful, that they were safe — it was the burden of leadership, but there was no one better suited for it in your eyes.

“Well enough,” Cregan murmured, storm-colored hues drifting over the Weirwood tree before they turned to you, completely and utterly transfixed. You stole every wisp of air from his lungs with your beauty, clad in the trappings of his people. “I apologize for running off.”

An amiable smile crossed your features as you reached for your husband, slipping a gloved palm against the crook of his arm. “You needn’t apologize, husband. You are owed your solitude, and I wouldn’t dare tell you otherwise.” You have his bicep a gentle squeeze.

Cregan’s gaze softened, sparkling with a warmth reserved only for you, his beloved. Your presence always seemed to melt away his hardened exterior, but he much preferred it that way. He stepped closer, towering above you in all of his indomitable glory, craning down to press a kiss against your brow.

The gloved leather of his hand moved to cup your abdomen, and the growing life within. The joyous news of your pregnancy had been the talk of the North, the new Lady Stark, preparing to birth an heir of Winterfell. Those thick furs you wore obscured your belly quite well.

“I should be asking you how you fare, carrying our child,” Cregan insisted, gingerly caressing around your stomach with the pride of a doting husband. “Here you are, walking all this way to the Godswood, when it is I who should be by your side.” If there was one word to describe Cregan, it was overprotective.

Gods, he was attentive — if he did leave your side, he ensured that you were well looked-after, under the watchful protection of his guardsmen. You couldn’t fault your husband for his safeguarding nature, given that it was to be your firstborn.

Sometimes he forgot that you were a dragon-rider.

“Being beneath the open sky has done me a world of good, husband,” You mused, canting your head to one side. You were not completely round and waddling just yet — halfway through, as the Maester stated. “I cannot stand to look at that dreadful cobblestone for days on-end.”

Cregan did not protest, nor invalidate your claims. He was not the one carrying a child — he did not have a right to speak on behalf of you. A shiver rolled down your spine, due to the bitter chill of the wind, coupled with the encroaching snowfall.

Instead, he reached for your jaw, cupping your face within the roughened texture of his leather-clad palm, presenting you with a kiss. It was kept brief, yet the ardor lingered, as strong as a burning flame. “You are shivering, beloved. Let us return to the Keep.” He rumbled, shielding you beneath his cloak.

A respite from the cold would be welcome. Even if you possessed the blood of the Dragon, you did not fare well in such blisteringly glacial conditions. The thick cover of your husband’s cloak brought a sense of comfort, coupled with the natural heat that radiated from him.

Snow crunched beneath his heavy footfalls, your own masked by his boots. Cregan made sure to guide you every step of the way, hovering with his impressive shadow. “I have been contemplating a name for our child.” You spoke softly, a smile toying upon your lips.

“Have you?” Cregan appeared appeased, a stoic smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “You don’t know if we are to have a son or a daughter.” He remarked, letting your hand wrap around the bulk of his forearm, guiding you through the Godswood.

“Perhaps not, but I wanted you to hear,” Such ideas had been stirring around within your mind for weeks, and with Cregan so preoccupied, you hadn’t broached the topic of conversation. “Gilliane, after your mother, should we have a daughter, and … Rickon.” You hesitated. “Should we have a son.”

Cregan’s steps began to slow, and he looked upon you with such love and devotion that it was nearly overwhelming. He couldn’t have loved you anymore if he tried — and he had tried. Towering over you, he pressed a kiss against the top of your head, one that blossomed with fondness.

You gave him the greatest honor of all — that of fatherhood, and now, you had bestowed upon him sentimental names, those of his family. Love flourished within his storm-colored hues, and he seemed to soften at your words. “You would honor me beyond words, wife. Do you not wish to pay tribute to your own family?”

Placing a hand over the growing swell of your stomach, you seemed somewhat indifferent to talk of your family. Helaena and Daeron were the exceptions in this, but it did not pain you any less. “I pay tribute by carrying our child,” You replied, your smile threadbare. “That is enough.”

Solemn, Cregan simply nodded, understanding your strained relationship with the family you had left behind in King’s Landing. From what you told him and from what he discerned, you seemed much happier here, liberated and free of such poisonous clutches. “Of course.” A soft rumble reverberated throughout his chest.

Winterfell’s snow-laden gates were now within reach, as guards in Stark tabards harkened the return of its Lord and Lady. He thoroughly enjoyed watching you interact with the denizens underneath his protection — you often greeted them with smiles and laughter.

He watched you grow into your station as Lady Stark, a growth that showed such promise. You had been shy around Northerners at first, but you now walked as if you had been in Winterfell your whole life. Cregan kept you close, his stance that of a protective husband, hovering above you with his hulking stature.

The Keep was close, and you could feel the crackling warmth of the hearth lick across your skin in the forefront of your mind. Cregan was characteristically stalwart, keeping you wedged against his side, swaddled in the thick furs of the direwolf.

Once inside, you welcomed the gust of warmer air. The Keep burned many fires and braziers when winter became sharp and bitter, your cheeks stinging from the cold. “Shall we retire this evening, or are you lacking in nourishment?” Cregan inquired, knowing that your penchant for foodstuffs had increased while pregnant.

“Could something be brought to our chambers? Perhaps a stew or a broth, that sounds rather warming.” As if on-queue, your stomach lurched with inklings of famish, as if your child also demanded something to eat.

“It will be done,” With his stoic assurance, your husband bent down to press a kiss against your temple, smoothing a palm across your back. “I will join you shortly, wife.” Cregan had a tendency to walk the Keep before retiring — spare a word to the guards, those in the kitchens, and anyone underneath his care.

“Do not keep me waiting for too long.” You mused, lips curving into a warm smile that could melt even the hardiest of ice — including that of your husband. The vulnerability that seemed to come to him in your presence was a comforting thing.

With a soft huff, Cregan cupped your chin, looking upon you with tempestuous hues, as gray as a winter’s storm. “I wouldn’t dare.” He assured, presenting you with a tender kiss. Gods, you had sorely missed his mouth in many ways, and you were swift to reciprocate.

After you had become with-child, fuller and round with the heir to Winterfell, you had not engaged Cregan as much in terms of intimacy. He wanted you to relax, to not have to lift a finger. You missed your husband in more ways than one, giving way to your own basic desires and carnal instincts.

The kiss possessed a charged edge, tension looming above, the fringes of it seeping into your lips. You held onto his forearm, an audible sigh slipping past your mouth when Cregan withdrew. He could detect your yearning — the sentiment was a mutual one, but he feared hurting you, as any man would.

With a gentle hum, you allowed your husband to leave you, watching as his impressive form encapsulated all space within the corridor he walked in. You let him tend to his duties, and you made for the spiraling stairwell, making your way to your chambers without a hitch.

Thick, wooden doors gave way to the sanctuary within, the hearth being stoked and tended-to by one of the servants. “I thought you might want it warm, m’lady.” She mused, having laid out a series of new wardrobes for you across the foot of your bed.

“Thank you, Tanea.” The new gowns and dresses seemed to be made with your new specifications in-mind, accommodating for your growing belly. Part of you felt self-conscious when it came to your pregnancy — you no longer seemed to fit into your own skin.

“You must be excited, with the babe on the way,” Tanea was easy to speak with, an exuberant young woman with cherubic features. “Your Lord-Husband certainly is.” She chimed, finishing with the hearth as she moved about.

“Is he?” Cregan was sometimes difficult to read, countenance permanently etched with that stoic Northern scowl of his, but you knew how happy he was. Knowing that your servants could see it filled you with delight. “I may need your assistance, Tanea.”

“Very much so, m’lady. He speaks as if he is a father already,” She fluttered to your side, assisting you in relinquishing the weight of your fur cloak and overcoat you wore. Tanea arranged the garments back into the large, wooden wardrobe. “Do you need anything else?”

“I do not,” You smiled, moving to sit atop the fur-laden footlocker at the end of your shared bed. “You have my gratitude, Tanea.” The girl curtsied, a proper gesture, before making her way from your chambers.

Intrigued, you happened to admire the new gowns strewn across your bed, many of them styled in the Northern way of dress, save for your evening shifts. One in particular caught your eye, made of sage-hued silk, translucent and frilly, the sleeves billowing.

Pinching the fabric between your fingers, you decided on wearing it to bed, pushing yourself up right as you organized the rest elsewhere, into the space of your wardrobe. Heavy footfalls resonated outside of your door, with it creaking open to give way to Cregan.

Your mountain of a husband carried two bowls of steaming stew, placing them down along the small, rounded table. The intricate carving of a wolf rested along the table’s edge, made of wood from the Wolfswood. “Are you tired?” He inquired, removing Ice from his shoulders, scabbard and all, placing it near his bedside.

After you had become with-child, he kept it close, in case of any unsightly, dire circumstances. He would not ever allow himself to be defenseless in your presence. You had thought it to be somewhat overly cautious, but you did not dissuade him otherwise.

“Not really,” You hummed, reaching for the many pins keeping your braids in-place. You removed them one by one, placing the ruby-studded needles upon your vanity. It felt better to let your hair down, pale tresses cascading across your shoulders in soft waves. “I am perfectly awake.”

Cregan’s visage was one of clear appreciation and adoration as he stepped closer, admiring the way you looked. “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.” He insisted, hands moving to assist you in unlacing your dress. This was a common practice with each passing night — you enjoyed it.

Warmth crept along your features as you stood still, allowing him to untie your bodice with his calloused fingers, until the garment loosened. “You are much too kind, husband.” Stepping from your gown, you were left in a white slip, one that had grown somewhat uncomfortable with its tightness.

“It is not a kindness, but the plain truth.” Cregan replied, pressing a kiss against the pale crown of your head, inhaling a gust of your saccharine scent. “You are my beautiful wife.” He affirmed with a grunt, and moved away to change into his own smallclothes. Abandoning his leather and armor always felt unusual for him.

There was no debating your husband, whose stubbornness was sometimes renowned. Instead, you smiled, abandoning the snug, ivory fabric for your field of sage, hastily pulling it on over the swell of your stomach.

It gave you ample time to observe Cregan, whose musculature ensnared you time and time again. He was impressively thick, broad-shouldered and built like the Wall itself. Seeing him standing there in just his trousers made something hot stir between your legs.

You crept forward, shamelessly wrapping your arms around him from behind, and you could feel a tremor throughout his body when he huffed. “I have a handsome husband, a perfect husband — and that is the plain truth.” You hummed, cold cheek burying itself against the warmth of his skin.

Wordlessly, you peppered soft kisses against his spine, and to any scars and bruises that you could see. You listened to the sharp exhale from your husband, who did not protest your actions. Your lips felt like the kiss of snow, still cold from the chilly outdoors.

Cregan let you stay that way, and in-truth, he enjoyed it thoroughly. Those large, calloused hands placed themselves atop yours, lifting both to his lips as he kissed your knuckles. He let them drop, and you caressed him wherever you could. The gesture was soft, but he couldn’t deny the growing sensuality present between you both.

“For the blood of the dragon, your hands run cold, wife.” Cregan rumbled, soothingly tracing his fingers across your wrist, feeling your physique against his back, including the swell of your belly. You pressed your palms against his abdomen, able to feel the taut, subtle muscle there.

“It is a good thing that I have you to warm them,” The silky, soft resonance of your voice brought him comfort. You sounded so relaxed and blissful, feeling him sluggishly turn around within your hold. Cregan cupped your cheek, rough pad of his thumb tracing across your lips. You kissed his thumb. “Kiss me.”

Cregan’s lips twitched into the ghost of a smile, and he instead gestured to the meal he’d brought with him. “Once you eat and have proper sustenance, I might indulge you then, beloved.” He mused, noticing the twinge of disappointment on your face.

“Might?” There was an upward inflection within your tone, as if the mere suggestion of might had offended you to some degree. Your burly husband then caged you within his embrace, palms soothingly caressing along your hips. “Must you insist on tormenting me?” You teased.

With a low grunt, Cregan reached for his tunic, eyes twinkling with mirth. “For now.” Tugging on the dark blue linen of his nightshirt, he gestured for you to eat, sitting beside you at the table. His own chair groaned in protest, and before he knew it, you were devouring your stew.

A mouthful of warm, seasoned broth filled your maw, accompanied with hearty chunks of venison and stewed vegetables. The cuisine in the North differed greatly from the South, not that you minded. You often felt more fulfilled after meals than you used to.

“Gods, that was wonderful,” You groaned, the stew satisfying your cravings. It warmed you to the bone, causing a shudder to roll down your spine as you finished, nudging the bowl aside. “I could eat several servings of that.” Your confession prompted Cregan to smirk.

“Famished, were you?” Cregan mused, watching as you moved out of your chair, cradling your stomach with one hand. He very nearly rushed to assist you, but he knew you would’ve swatted him aside.

“Quite, but I am eating for two. Your child needs it as much as I do,” You remarked, wandering toward the hearth as you extended one palm toward the fire. The comforting heat licked across your flesh, the orange light dancing over your features. “Much better.”

Cregan joined you not long after, guiding you to sit atop the large footlocker at the end of your marital bed, closest to the open flames. His rough fingertips glided over the plane of sage-hued silks, as he admired your womanly form through the fabric. “This suits you.” He rumbled, gently tugging on the silk to accentuate his point.

“Tanea had the seamstress craft me new clothing, given that I’ve grown quite a bit,” Admittedly, you felt some insecurity in your current state, afraid that your husband may not enjoy you as he once had. “I am glad that you like it, husband. I was worried that you wouldn’t.”

Perplexed, chestnut brows furrowed together, his countenance one of clear concern. Slipping an arm behind you, he calmly stroked your side, silently beseeching you to tell him of your worries. He knew what it pertained to, even if it was left unspoken. “Your worries are misplaced. I love you.” He assured.

“It isn’t just that, I — I suppose I feared that you wouldn’t still enjoy me this way. Most husbands in the capital seemed so disinterested when their wives began to show.” This wasn’t the South, and Cregan was as far from a disinterested husband as one could get. He kissed your jaw, letting you rest against him.

“You are carrying our child, the heir to Winterfell — I would continue to love you regardless of what your body might look like. Damn the Southerners,” Cregan murmured, planting a hand atop your belly. “I look at you and I see my wife — I see perfection. My heart calls your name.” For a man so rugged and rough, his words made your blood surge with exhilaration.

Joining his hand, you placed your palm atop his, the one firmly perched against your belly. If Cregan were being truthful with himself, he found you to be painfully beautiful like this, swollen with his child, knowing that he put a pup in you. Those lascivious fantasies had now become reality.

“Ñuha dōna zokla,” My sweet wolf — your High Valyrian often brought him to heel, bringing out the siren’s lull within your voice. Cregan had made a valiant effort to learn some of the language for you, but it never sounded as pleasant on his Northern tongue. “I am yours.” You beamed, lilac hues glistening with ardor.

Bringing a calloused palm to your face, he traced the fine plane of your cheekbone, reveling in the velveteen texture of your flesh. A wolf, brought to heel at his dragon’s side. Cregan studied your Valyrian features, basking in your beauty, coaxing you in for a kiss.

Your mouth was disarmingly soft, catching him off-guard, stealing away all of his coherency. He felt you turn inward, palm planting itself against the thick, corded muscle of his thigh, gripping him tightly as he deepened your kiss.

Something warm stirred within him, a longing to feel your body against his, able to detect the hitch within your breath as he drew you closer. Your wanton need radiated from you in thick, permeating waves, enough to bring him into the intricate web of your desire.

“Easy, wife.” Cregan rumbled, wanting to temper your carnality before it raged into that of a dragon’s flame. Your pleading gaze suggested otherwise, prompting him to caress along the length of your spine. “I do not wish to hurt you.”

A begrudging sigh escaped your lips as you incessantly tugged at his tunic, staring at your husband with furrowed brows. “You wouldn’t,” You uttered, tracing your fingers over his heart. “We do not have to commit the entire act. I simply want to enjoy you in other ways — I miss it.”

Subtlety wasn’t your strongest suit, and Cregan knew this. Arousal stirred within him, cock twitching at your lascivious insinuations. “Hm,” A soft growl left him, one that seemed to share your sentiments. “Is that what my lady commands of me?” He murmured, holding you close.

“She does,” You hummed, treating him to a playful smile as you reached for his chestnut tresses. One of your hands slithered beneath his tunic, feeling along the solid, thick muscle of his abdomen. He stroked at your belly, a stern hum reverberating within his throat. “Gods, I need you.” You exhaled.

With your need laid bare, Cregan heeded you with a fire swirling within his gut. His hand dipped down to the apex of your thighs, pushing beneath your silken shift until he found your cunt. Gods, you were wet already, a tantalizing thing, one that he found delight in.

“You are warm already, beloved.” Cregan’s thunderous timbre raked down your spine, effortlessly gaining your subservience with ease. You shivered, feeling his thick fingers deftly caress across your slit, teasing and toying with you, gathering your slick.

Feather-light touches would have to suffice as Cregan lazily pressed one digit against your clit. His mouth found the slender expanse of your neck, delivering hot, passionate kisses against your throat.

A simpering whine tore past your parted lips, one filled with such urgency as you shifted closer, writhing against the sensation of his hand. Any lick of friction would do, consuming your body with its amatory heat. He grunted into the hollow of your throat, kissing you wherever you could.

Your own mouth found the impressive bulk of his shoulder, seeking to bring your teeth into his flesh. A sonorous, rumbling grunt left your husband when you bit him, leaving behind the crescent marks of your teeth. If it weren’t for your pregnancy, he would’ve marked you in this way, too.

Seeking the softness of your mouth, Cregan’s mouth twitched into a threadbare smirk as he kissed you hard, letting it linger as his hand withdrew from your skirts. A groan of disappointment left you, but he intended on making up for it fully.

He moved off of the footlocker, planting a lasting kiss against your brow. Towering over you, Cregan’s shadow eclipsed most flickers of firelight, gray hues swirling with warmth as he bent the knee to you, his beloved. It was a mesmerizing sight, one that you reveled in.

His massive musculature bullied its way between your thighs, warm palms shifting to caress along your legs, from ankle to calf. He had never seen someone as resplendent as you, breathtakingly beautiful, the blood of the dragon, his wife.

Gathering your skirts within your hands, you fisted the silks, dragging them up until they pooled around your hips. Warm lips embraced the crook of your knee, peppering kisses across your leg, until he reached the velvet flesh of your inner thighs.

Your hips began to tilt forward, seeking the pleasant heat of his mouth, a heat that he gladly granted you time and time again. Cregan kissed his way to the slick warmth between your legs, a thunderous exhale escaping him, chest vibrating with a grunt.

Cregan gingerly adjusted your position, letting your legs rest against his broad shoulders, your back sloped against the furs and footboard of your bed. He pressed a kiss against your mound, nose buried near your pelvis before he made his descent.

A warm lap of his tongue dragged itself over your core, like hot embers raking across your cunt. You sighed, blissfully succumbing to wanton desire, reaching for his crown of chestnut tresses, gripping at the back of his skull. “Cregan.” You whined, head rolling forward just a bit.

Pale waves framed your face, countenance contorted into an expression of sheer and utter bliss, brows furrowing together. Your husband happily found his solace between your legs, mouth pressing hot kisses across your cunt. His hand gripped at your haunch, the other trailing against your leg.

It was ambrosial, your taste; a finest stout, sweetest of nectars that stained his lips with your perfection. Cregan lapped at your cunt, dutiful and attentive, ensuring to find every spot that made you gasp for air.

Nimble digits fisted into the furs at your side, mouth agape as a myriad of throaty moans escaped you. Your hand roamed through his tresses, tugging and pulling whenever his tongue graced the pearl of your cunt.

Splitting past your folds, Cregan tasted every inch of you, tongue seeking your cunt with a fervor. He was vigorous in his ministrations, not shying away from consuming every drop of your arousal. His nose brushed against your mound, hands kneading into your thighs to reassure you, let you know that he had you.

Any inkling of roughness had dissipated from him in the wake of your pregnancy, replaced with a passionate devotion, a rapture reserved only for you. His strong hands held you close, caressing you wherever he could.

You tasted sweet upon his tongue, honey-thick and a feast to sate his appetite. If he would choose his fate, it would be in between your legs, listening to the myriad of moans and throaty whimpers leave you. It was satisfying to know how much you enjoyed this; derived pleasure from it.

A tremor gripped your legs, little spasms of delight making their way throughout your body. Cregan’s mouth forged a blazing path from the hood of your cunt to your entrance, tongue greedy and hot, before he went back up again, seeking your sensitive pearl.

“Cregan!” Gods, he brought you such pleasure, a pleasure that seemed to seep into your very bones, sate your endless yearning, for now. Your legs curled inward, tight atop his shoulders as you rocked yourself into his mouth, doing little to suppress the volume of your moans.

He pressed closer with a wolf’s appetite, throat burning with carnal hunger as he continued to lap at your slick cunt. Your arousal felt honey-thick upon his tongue, something reserved only for him, chin glistening with your nectar. Your legs squeezed at his head, and he knew that he pleasured you well.

Molten heat churned within the pit of your stomach, a sensation that you had been longing to feel again. Cregan did not relent, yet he happened to slow just enough to savor you, dragging his tongue toward that clutch of nerves at the hood of your cunt.

As soon as he pursed his lips around your clit, you nearly forgot your own name, thoughts completely derailed, scattered into a blissful abyss. Your body reacted with shivers and tremors, hand gripping at the nape of his neck with a reckless abandon.

Your back arched slightly, collarbone glittering with perspiration through the thick, warm haze of your chambers. The hearth had brought about a feverish heat, coupled with the throes of your intimate entanglement. Cregan derived satisfaction from your pleasure, delighted to please his wife.

Pliant flesh filled his palm as he cupped your derrière, bringing you closer, letting you grind yourself against his mouth, use him and take whatever you needed. A grunt stirred within his chest, reverberating within his throat as he went about seeking your clit, suckling on the pearl of your cunt.

“Oh Gods,” You moaned, nearly clasping a hand over your mouth to hide the salaciousness of your voice. Surely, the servants had heard you by now — you would be fortunate if all of Winterfell didn’t hear you. “I — I’m close!” Rocking forward again, you let out a whimper.

With a strangled whine, you desperately chased after your release, one that you had sorely needed. Cregan’s cock twitched at the sound of your delicious moans, a shudder rolling down his spine whenever you whimpered his name. “That’s it,” He rumbled, hot breath fanning over your core. “Go on.” His encouragement was softly spoken through his Northern timbre.

He wanted to stay there, rooted between your legs, mouth consuming your cunt as if it were his last meal; a man wrought with starvation.

Cregan favored it, thoroughly reveling in the way your body reacted to him, visceral and ecstatic. He gingerly suckled on your clit, feeling your fingers tighten within his chestnut locks, gripping him tight. He wanted you to have your release, built upon this pent-up feeling.

He could feel your encroaching release, feel the tension in your grasp, the way you let your hips continue to lurch forward. Without relenting, Cregan continued to suck at your clit, letting it intermingle with hot laps of his tongue, dutiful and fervent between your legs.

A comfortable silence filled the gap between you, intermingled with the sounds of your pleasured cries and Cregan’s sonorous grunts. That heated coil within your stomach began to unfurl, bringing an onslaught of arousal with it as you bucked into his mouth.

At last, your peak consumed you in a white-hot oblivion, and you very nearly saw the stars themselves. With a strangled gasp, your legs tightened on either side of his head, followed by a blissful rush of liquid heat. Your grip began to slack upon his tresses, chest heaving from exertion.

Cregan lingered there for a few moments more, tongue caressing your cunt, cleaning up any last drop of your nectar. His mouth glistened with it when he did inevitably withdraw, lashing across his lips before he kissed your thighs, showering you in affection.

“Do you feel better?” He mused, kissing the crook of your knee before standing to his feet. You were positively hot, feeling a feverish warmth crawl across your skin, thighs shaking in the aftermath. You hastily adjusted your slip, regarding him with a gracious expression.

“Very much,” Your confession made him smirk as he helped you into bed, abandoning his tunic at the iron-wrought foot. As he settled down, you joined him, curled within the space at his side. “Would you like me to return the favor?”

Cregan never expected you to do anything that you didn’t want to — never feel obligated, either. He would survive without a night of release. “Tomorrow, perhaps.” He murmured, moving to rest a hand against the swell of your stomach, caressing your growing bump.

“Thank you, husband — for everything.” A gentle hum left you as you placed your hand over his, allowing him to protectively cradle your stomach. You let your head rest against his shoulder, his arm holding you at his side.

A bemused huff escaped him as he peered at you with mirthful hues, gray eyes that resembled a thunderstorm. “You needn’t thank me,” He assured, briefly pressing a kiss to your temple. “You needn’t ask for it, either.” Cregan enjoyed the taste of your cunt more than anything else.

You couldn’t help but smile, sheepishly moving to press a kiss against his jaw. “I love you,” You sighed, letting your ardor for him be known as you felt your eyes grow heavy. “Tomorrow, I would like for us to see Silverwing. She grows lonely in my absence.”

Cregan knew how much the creature meant to you. He had met Silverwing before, but he dared not climb upon her back — you’d asked it of him several times before. “Of course, beloved.” He murmured, basking in the heat of the firelight.

A sharp, fluttering sensation blossomed throughout your abdomen, prompting you to gasp. It was sudden and unexpected, but not painful. It was foreign, and had been happening on rare occasions.

“What is it?” Cregan questioned, visibly concerned before you dismissed it with a bright, delighted smile. You gently guided his hand elsewhere atop your stomach, pale brows furrowing together as you searched for the source.

“There,” You mused, joyous laughter escaping you as another kick fluttered against your joined hands. “Do you feel it?” It was heartwarming to watch the happiness glisten within his eyes, the way in which he adjusted his position to truly feel. Cregan’s true smiles were a rarity, and you saw it now.

The blood of the wolf and the dragon stirred within, prompting you to smile appreciatively at your husband. This was something the both of you had made with your love, the heir to Winterfell. “They seem strong,” Cregan remarked, leaning over to plant a kiss against your brow. “Perfect, just like their mother.”

His hand never left your belly, even as he maneuvered the furs over the both of you, letting you move to lay against the warm expanse of his chest. Cregan exhaled, staring into the dying embers of the heart, tracing his digits along the swell of your stomach.

“Strong, just like their father.” You whispered, pressing a kiss against his jaw before you settled down for slumber, shielded by the protective grasp of your Lord-husband.

[kneelingshadowsalome]

Mother, I am hungry☹️ could you please give us a list of Kinks you think Konig would have to satisfy my hunger?🙏🏾

Hooooo boy!

CW: PURE FILTH below the cut, 18+ only. Light dom/sub, disciplinary/power play, exhibitionism, light bondage, domestic servitude, somnophilia, yandere!König killing someone who saw you naked, squirting, porn, M/F/F/F

Nature lover. The blowjob in the forest fantasy wasn't a lie! König thinks it would be romantic to make love to you in the middle of a dreamy glade, rut you against a sturdy tree, or have you take him in your mouth on some picturesque beach empty of other people.

He would also love to "warm himself" during a nice little wintertime walk, perhaps push you on your belly in the snow and tug your pants down just enough for him to slide inside your wet heat. The contrast between the frigid air and your warm, wet pussy drives him over the brink in mere minutes, and it's cute to watch you pout all the way back home – he knows his cum is spilling out of you, staining your underwear. He should give you a wash when you get back to turn that frown upside down ❤️

Powerplay. König loves to be in control. He would like to set a few rules for you and punish you when you "accidentally" break them. Those rules would be nonsensical and superficial – such as that you must greet him in nothing but your underwear when he comes home, ensure he always has clean clothes in the drawer, cook his favorite meal on Sundays, things like that. "You know what this means, Schatz," he mutters on your neck upon noticing you've broken his Sacred Rules, much to his delight – because the disciplinary action is that he's allowed to take you right then and there.

It's even better if you beg him not to punish you, explaining that you're tired or that you forgot. It's too bad, because only a safeword will save you. König is already getting his leaking cock out while you're on your knees, asking him to be merciful, just this once. "You know I have to do this… It's the only way you'll learn," he says before commanding you to either open that pretty mouth or turn around and bend over.

Squirting. He would be overjoyed if he got you to squirt. König has mainly watched amateur porn because regular porn is too emotionless and unnatural in his opinion. His preference is women doing solo – that's when he learned what squirting was and immediately vowed he would make his future wife squirt one day.

Exhibitionistic tendencies. This kind of ties in with the sex in nature fantasies: König would secretly love to get caught while having sex. He would particularly love it if the one catching you was a man, so that a "rivaling male" could see 1. how a woman is supposed to be fucked 2. how much you enjoy being fucked by him 3. what they can never have, i.e. gorgeous, whimpering, devastated you.

Yandere König would also kill the one who witnessed you two (and what's worse: witnessed you in a vulnerable, naked, quivering state), and I mean kill him right away, then come back to continue the session as if nothing happened 💀 In his mind, it's all very simple: he has to get rid of the one who laid eyes on you, then give you and himself an orgasm. In that order.

For him, there's nothing odd or wrong with striking a bloodied knife on your nightstand when he returns from his quest for blood. He'll insert his still hard cock inside you while speaking sweet nonsense in your ear, cooing how tight you are in a shaky, adrenaline-filled voice. You try to ignore the fact that he now has dried blood on his muscles, but it's no use. König reminds you of what he just did when your face distorts with tight pleasure. "No one is going to see you like this and live," his voice is almost a growl when you cum around that torturingly long cock.

Dominance and prisoner play. König would love to tie you up and use you as his personal fucktoy. And not just for one session��� But for a solid, good 24 hours.

He wouldn't tie you too tight, just enough to prevent you from escaping the bed while he goes about his day, drinks a beer or two, comes to you every few hours to either make sweet, slow love to you… or fuck you with pent-up lust.

You being tied and helpless like that makes König attentive and tender one minute, and needy and greedy the next. You never know how it's going to be when he walks through that door, all you know is that he's going to pump you full of his cum.

He stays to watch it ooze out of you – it's actually one of the main events of this whole show because it means he'll have to fill you up again soon. He might also give himself a fap if you look too used and miserable or if you beg for mercy and whimper that you're sore. It's no problem: he's more than happy to cover your body with his seed. He's merciful like that.

When the day is done, you're a mess – inside and out – and he's fucked you stupid more times you can count, giving you so many orgasms that you feel soft in the head. What's fun though is that the man himself is in no better shape: you notice his legs are shaking when he finally comes to release you, looking like he has lost more than a few brain cells due to breaking the Guinness record of fucking you and himself senseless.

If you ever want to fulfill this fantasy, you will receive abundant aftercare. And I mean abundant. Bathing, cooing, pampering, treats, praise, and cuddles galore!

Mirrors. Fucking you in front of a mirror is like watching the best porn ever. Anything with a reflection will do, as long as König can watch you come undone, helpless and needy for his cock while he gets to display his strength. This man will probably install a mirror to your bedroom ceiling without asking your permission, but he prefers doing you from standing, prefers to do the lifting and the work.

Ballet dancer from behind and a stand & carry variation of Nelson are his favorite positions when using mirrors. All you have to do is enjoy... and obey when he tells you to watch what he's doing to you. "Look at that... You like being fucked like this?" he pants in your ear with strain and love while you both can see just how much you like it – his cock is practically glistening from how wet you are.

I'm sorry, were you busy? God forbid if you're wearing a dress or a skirt while making an important call. It doesn't matter if you're sitting: König will approach you, gets on his knees and then starts to kiss his way under your skirt.

Good luck trying to concentrate on that call when there's a horny giant forcing his head under your cute little dress. Soon he's sniffing at your cunt and tries to pull your underwear aside with his teeth. Try keeping your voice normal when he actually succeeds and you feel the first lick sweep over your pussy, flat tongued and hot.

You don't dare to fight him or tell him to stop in the middle of your serious, official and important call, which means you can feel the smiles on your poor wet heat. Of course König notices you're starting to sound like you're half crying... It only spurs him on!

You're a bit disoriented and don't register it at first that this hulking man is already climbing on top of you. It's rare for him to beg, but as he continues to dry hump you and then forces his cock between your thighs in search of your wet heat, you can hear him whisper: "Engel? Bitte... I have to put it in. Don't say no…"

Somnophilia kink. Yep, he has it, because the more helpless you are, the more "loving" he gets. König loves to watch you sleep, safe and secure there in his bed and in his arms. He caresses you like you're the Sleeping Beauty and if you happen to sleep naked (like he always does, this guy is a bit of a nudist at home), his fingers soon drift down to tease your clit, his hips start to slowly grind against your leg until you stir.

Gangbang fantasies where he's the one doing all the banging. One of his fantasies is to have multiple women all to himself. König would never seek to fulfill these fantasies in a committed relationship, but when he was lonely and only had his hand to keep him company, König used to dream he could have a row of women waiting for him when he returned from a mission 🙄

Usually three ladies who all want to worship and touch him and tell him how big he is, how heroic he is. He will command them to all fours, and they obey happily, ready and willing to be used. He does these ladies from behind, switching between them until everyone, including him, is on the brink of an orgasm. In these fantasies he always makes those women cum first. No one can say our King lacks manners! (How cute that he's so sure of himself... Would König even have the willpower to switch from one pussy to the next, not to talk of outlasting three women? I highly doubt that.)

Or how about these girls getting on their knees to suck his cock? In König's desperate, lonesome fantasies, these cute ladies love him so much that they start to fight over who gets to take him in their sweet wet mouth. They will eventually solve the fight by forming a queue – every woman gets half a minute with their King before changing. The long seconds when his cock is bouncing there in the cold air, devoid of a warm mouth, are torture. But he would stand strong!

Our brave soldier falls asleep while imagining how these purring, warm babes would cling to him for warmth and cuddles. Everyone is happy and pleased and he has been loved and worshiped thoroughly. In truth he just came in one minute, then tries to curl into a fetal position in a bed far too small for him. Cooling down from the day's highs, this Goliath is all alone, his last thought being that if he could get just one real woman to admire and love him and hug him before they go to sleep together, he would be the happiest man in the world.

[hadesnumber1daughter]

Pretty like the sun

Pairing: Percy Jackson x Apollo daughter OC (she classes as an oc cause I gave her a name but you can just read it like your name or Y/N if you want, I just feel better when I'm writing and the characters have names :)

Summary: Percy has always felt something for you, something that you had felt aswell. These quests of life and death finally knocked some sense into you two.

Warnings: Blood, Pain, Agony, Violence, Weapons, Wounds, Wound treating, Curse words, Oblivious idiots, Fluff, Angsty??, Sexual tension, Mutual pining, Almost death, Non-Canon, Hugs, Kisses, Holding hands, Ooc Percy??? Cerberus as a violent dog (ik she isnt really but this is my imagine so idc), Not proof-read, GUT-WRENCHING LOVE, IDK how i wrote this considering I've never been in a relationship OR have ever had an actual crush in my 16 sad years of life

Words: 6.3k

Notes: This is my first imagine so I'm sorry if its bad😭😭. Also if anyone would be willing to give me a few pointers when it comes to working this app as a creator please do cause, yeah I've been using this app for years but I have no idea how to use it when it comes to posting things. I would be very grateful. ❤️❤️❤️. Also, if anyone wants to request something else for me to write I would love to write something for either Percy or Luke, I'll probably make a list of people who I'm willing to write for later today cause it is 10am rn and I haven't slept so I'll just go bed after this 😭😭😭

As soon as percy got handed this quest, with Grover being part of the cloven council and Annabeth being gone to spend time with her family, Percy knew his immediate first choice would be Aurora, there was no doubt about it. The Apollo girl had a spark about her that has drawn him in the second he laid eyes on her.

He had deemed it because she was a daughter of Apollo so there would always be some sort of light that would draw him in, but he hasnt been very sure of that for a very long time. Every time he laid eyes on her, it felt as though time stood still and she was the only source of light and happiness in this dark, gloomy world. 

They had became extremely close when he first came to camp, she taught him the ropes in archery as to put it plainly, he was absolutely shit at it. He had no aim and his stance was awful, in her own words.

When she first said that to him, he wanted to throw her in a dumpster, but then he saw her, he properly saw her. He didnt know what Aphrodite looked like, but he was sure she would be a spitting image of the girl. He was even more sure that she was a daughter of Aphrodite but instead she was not, which made sense as to why she was hanging around the archery booth. From that day forward, she helped him freshen his archery skills, and he helped her with her sword skills.

He has never understood why she wouldnt ask Luke as he was the best swords-man and would probably be a better trainer. However, when he brough it up to her one time her cheeks flushed the tiniest bit and she stated how she was helping him, so he should do that same.

That's how they have ended up here. In the middle of nowhere, trying to find and 'kill' a beast that has been accidently lost and let out from the underworld and send it back. Although quests always have 3 people on them, the oracle specifically stated that this was only a 2 person job. Percy had never been so sure in picking Aurora at that moment in time. 

🌊

"Are you sure we are going the right way Perce, I swear I've seen this tree 3 times already" Aurora stated this time taking a dagger and marking said tree with an X so if they do cross it again, she would be right.

"You never trust my navigation skills sunshine, why is that, is it cause you always get lost in my eyes" he says turning to look at her with a smug smile on his face. The girl abruptly stopped at his turn and could feel the blood rush to her cheeks in that moment, her honey-brown eyes immediately locked with his water coloured eyes and she broke the gaze, not letting him have the satisfaction of being right.

"You wish seaweed brain" she muttered and walked past him knocking into his shoulder in the process which led to him letting out a dramatic gasp.

"That hurts sunshine. Where are you going, it's getting dark, we should stop, set up camp and get some rest so we can re-think and re-strategize." The girl slowly stops her steps and turns her back to the boy who is standing there leaning against a tree with his arms crossed giving her a cocky glance that makes her want to die and kill him at the same time. 

The two had a stand-off for a bit before one decided to speak up.

"As long as I don't have to scavenge this creepy forest for wood then its fine by me" the girl said walking back to him while his eyes following her every movement till she was a few steps away from him. The girl went to grab something from her pocket with her left hand and with her right, she grabbed the boys arms and dragged her hand down it, to his hand which automatically opened up. She placed something cold into it with her left hand.

He looked at her and she had a glint in her eyes he hadn't seen for the past 12 hours, looking to his palm, he was a coin. Not just any ordinary coin or ordinary drachma. It was a coin from sea life, the one coin they give to one another which can be used for many thing, they talked it over before the quest. The coin can only be used for 2 things during this quest, to make sure the other doesnt die, or the person who has been handed the coin has to do what the person giving the coin wants no matter what.

He looked up at her with a confused look but seeing the mischief in her eyes gave enough away. Sighing he pocketed the coin and stepped away from the tree which only left 3 steps in-between the two. 

"What do you want me to do" not even bothering arguing.

"I want to see you fail at making a fire" she said just giving him the brightest smile, basically oozing sunlight from her. The boy felt like a deer stuck in headlights in that moment, he almost forgot the reason for her heavenly smile. He wanted to tell her he loved her right there and then, that he could never get enough of her, that he searched for her in every room he ever walked into, that she was the one and only constant source of light in his life, that she was the sun and he would orbit her in every universe no matter how close he got, no matter how much it destroyed him. He was utterly inconsolable without her. He loved her.

"Aurora" the boy started to say, in a serious tone which immediately made the girl's smile falter as she looked into his eyes, he didnt need to say anything. His eyes spoke more words than he would have liked, enough for the girl to get the message and understand him. All of the glances, the subtle touches, the comfort of each other like no other. She felt and understood it all. 

He was about of continue when a roar sounded, echoing in all directions and rustling the trees. The two could hear the howl of Cerberus all around them. Percy immediately uncapped riptide while Aurora unclasped her bracelet which turned into a bow and an unlimited supply of arrows. 

The both circled back to back, covering each others blind spot like muscle memory. They could feel the ground shake with each step the otherworldly creature took. 

"How are we going to do this?" the girl asked while keeping an eye on all of her surroundings. 

"You distract with your arrows as they are long-range and while she's focused on you, I'll go for the kill shot"

"She can't die" she could feel him rolling her eyes as the words left her mouth.

"You know what I mean" 

They could hear the low growl from the side of them. The three-headed beast emerged in all its glory with its 6 menacing eyes ready to rip these two teens to shreds and send the wrong beings in this equation to the underworld. Percy turned to stand next to Aurora and the girl grabbed his hand and squeezed to which he immediately responded. There were many unspoken words that had been said in the past 10 minutes and this was another addition 'dont die, be safe, come back to me'.

Slipping through her fingers, his hand left hers and quietly stalked away before the beast could get any idea there were 2 of them. Wishing the best for the boy, she instantly got the dogs attention by shooting an arrow at the middle head's nose. 

It did not like that.

They all barked at once and got ready to run at the girl. She didn't like to admit it but she was fucking terrified. Cerberus ran at her and she leapt to the side and ran as fast as she could not looking back until she could feel he's a little away from her. She got another arrow ready in her bow and blindly shot it behind her. 

She heard a small whimper which brought a smirk to her face but that was immediately wiped away as she heard the barking intensify. Hiding behind a tree the girl caught her breaths and looked for the hound and she couldnt spot it or Percy. She got another arrow ready and looked behind the tree once again but was faced with the thing she was hunting. 

Fear spread to every part of her body and she had no time to brace the impact as the dog clawed the tree which in return clawed her. She let out a bloodcurdling scream as she was flung into another tree. The bark from the destroyed tree splintered her, her head hit against a tree on impact and the large gash on her side felt like a fire that was melting her skin off. The girl felt her breath stick in her throat, she felt as though she was dying as immense pain filled her and black spots invaded her vision. Only one other thing was on her mind.

Percy.

The ocean eyed boy lost sight of Cerberus immediately as it began to chase Aurora, his Aurora. He followed as fast as he could not wanting anything bad to happen to the girl he loved before he got any chance to be with her, to confess and to just live a life content with his feelings. 

As he heard, the whoosh of Aurora's arrows increase, he could feel himself being uncapable of keeping up with the beast from the underworld and he cursed himself for it. He lost sight of Cerberus and it scared him, it was too quiet. He couldn't hear the creature or the girl he loved. 

His heartbeat quickened as he looked all around him trying to see a glimpse of either of them. 

Then all blood drain out of his face when he heard the one sound he wished he did not have to hear, ever. Aurora's scream made his heart almost leap out of his chest. He didnt know what to do, he didnt know where she was, he couldnt see the hound, its his fault, she going to die because of him. 

She most certainly is going to die if you dont get a fucking move on, that one voice in his head said. And he pushed all the doubts to the back of his head and focused on 2 things. Defeating Cerberus and finding Aurora. 

He could hear the three-headed dogs footsteps and instantly ran to it. It didnt see him coming and it's tail was on the ground so he didnt the best thing he could think of. He ran up the tail onto the body of the beast.

This elicited loud barking from the beast and Percy could only do one thing. Repeatedly stab the dog until it dissolved. 

Now... admittedly, this was not a good strategy. It was fucking awful. There was no thought to his stabs, they all just angered the beast and considering she was quite resistance to stabs, it wasnt helping. He was just tiring himself out. 

He then has the genius idea of stabbing the beast in the eye, or eyes. He started with the left head. The beast let out a large whimper, and stumbled which cause the boy to almost loose his grip on it. He wasnt going to stop now, he needed to send Cerberus back and get to Aurora.

Aurora. Her scream was echoing in his mind. Bouncing around his skull like he has no brain inside, only her gut-wrenching scream.

He subtly shook his head. As much as he was dreading where she was and if she was okay. He needed to secure Cerberus and he needed all attention to so it as fast a possible to get back to his sunshine.

He then stabbed riptide into both the right heads eyes. Percy knew what to expect this time so he braced himself and held on as tight as he could. He could not fail now. He was too close.

The dog slumped onto the floor which made percy's last task much more easier. With agility and caution the boy leapt onto the middle head and punctured the eyes out which evoked a whimper which made the boy feel bad for the animal and it slowly turned to dust. 

In an instant the boy caught his breath and his mind raced with only one thing. 

Aurora.

"Aurora! Sunshine! Where are you?" The boy felt as though he could not breathe. His head was spinning trying to find her in the mountains of trees and in the darkness of this forest, he has never needed to see her more now than any other time. 

"Aurora! Please if you can hear me make a sound! Anything so I know you're alive" He would never leave her. He would die before he left her to rot in these woods. He would never be able to face the guilt and loss.

"Please! Say SOMETHING" he could feel himself getting frustrated. "HELP! SOMEONE, ANYONE" tears welded in his eyes trying to find her. 

There was a rustle of leaves from the left side behind him. He was running to the sound before it even registered in the back of his mind. He kept hearing the rustling and a small whimper. 

He saw a faint glow of light behind a tree and he held his breath for the sight that was to come. He skidded to a stop and fell on his knees infront of her.

His heart dropped to his stomach when he saw her. Her face was significantly paler than when he left her and she had a wood splinter sticking out of her thigh and worst of all, the 4 claw marks across her abdomen with blood everywhere, it seemed to have stopped pouring, but it was a nauseating sight to see. He didnt know what to do. 

"Aurora, darling, open your eyes" his hands reached her cheeks and his thumb rubbed circled on her cheek and his two fingers made their way to her neck to check her pulse. He let out a sigh of relief when he felt a pulse. It was faint but not too faint to the point it would slip too far out of his grasp. 

He reached for his bag on his back to get some first aid supplies, ambrosia and nectar for the girl, when she let out a pained gasp.

The girl had barely an recollection of anything, the only thing on her mind at the moment was the immense pain shooting through her whole body, It felt like she was on fire and couldnt breathe. She wanted to die.

Then her vision cleared and she saw the golden haired boy looked at her like she was the only thing in the whole world, he held so much worry in his eyes that she thought for a second if she was already dead and it was her spirit seeing his reaction to her death.

"Gods, Aurora, you're okay. You had be so worried, I was terrified, I cannot lose you. If I lost you I would lose myself" The boy held one hand to her cheek while speaking so intently to her.

In that one moment she could feel his stare, like clockwork, bubble something inside of her. It almost made her forget why she was on the ground, why she could taste something metallic in the back of her mouth, why she couldnt move her right leg. It almost took it away. Almost.

That fire spread throughout her body again and she couldnt stop the wail that left her mouth. The pain was nauseating. A flood of curses left Percy's mouth as he grabbed the bottle of nectar and opened it.

"Okay, sunshine, I know you're in a lot of pain but I'm going to give you some nectar, you need to drink it but you need to sit up a little straighter." The girl immediately shook her head as a no in response to the boy. 

"I know. The amount of times we've both had to do it but you know deep down that its the only thing that will fix it." The girl tried to harden her stare at the boy but she was too weak to even look at him properly.

"O-okay, but... I can't" she inhaled sharply as she tried to move the slightest bit. She didn't have to finish her sentence for the boy to understand what she was trying to say. He took one his flannel button ups from his bag, scrunched it up and gave it to her. She could only give him a confused look.

"Put it in your mouth, bite down hard cause I'm gonna move you into the right position and its gonna be a pain. I'm sorry sunshine but I have to." She took it with her shaking hands and was about to put it in her mouth when she smelt it, sea salt and musk, then the girl really looked at what the item of clothing was. 

"this is yours" she said in a hoarse voice, looking up at him, confusion plastered all over her features.

"Well I dont exactly know where your bag is so next best thing." he gave her a weak smile and moved closer to her but she weakly grabbed his hand.

"I'm scared" she whispered so pathetically but the boy understood, he knew her. He knew that he needed to keep talking to her, to make sure he is doing something close enough to her for her to know that she's still alive. 

He only interlaced their fingers and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. 

"I won't let go, I promise. You aren't leaving me, not after everything we have been through together" the girl's eyes welled with tears but she nodded and stuffed her mouth with Percy's flannel. 

He wrapped his arms around her from the side, where he was sitting and placed a kiss in the hair before counting down.

"3...2..." the boy didnt get to 1 before he pulled her up so she was sitting not laying down and with the movement came muffled screams and tears that flowed down the girls face. He was whispering sweet nothings in her ear as she lent into him and he repeatedly kissed her hair or forehead. 

"I'm sorry sunshine, I really am. When you're all better I promise you can hit me" he tried to uplift her but she could barely hear him. Her body shook and agony filled her every sense. He couldn't even express the guilt and regret he felt for the girl, immediately grabbing the nectar, and slowly taking his flannel out of her mouth. 

"You're doing great sweetheart" he says while slowly pouring the nectar into her mouth. Her head is resting against his shoulder as she swallows the drink down in small sips. After she drank it, Percy put it away and the girl began to close her eyes.

"Hey, hey, sunshine you can't be doing that right now. Come on I need to patch you up and then we need to get back to camp, I'll call blackjack. I know how much you like riding on him" he lifts her head off his shoulder and places her on the tree, but this time sitting up so he has easy access to her abdomen. 

She opened one eye and slightly smiled at the boy.

"You're gonna call blackjack?" the girl asked a bit delirious but seemingly in less pain. This brought a instant smile to him as he let out a chuckle, nodding his head while grabbing gauze and 2 bandage rolls.

"I promise I will, but you have to make sure to keep fighting okay. Once this is over, I have something special to tell you" He came loser to the girl and her breath slowed for a moment. 

He looked at her abdomen and a thought crossed his head that made blood rush to his cheeks, he was thankful the girl was delirious and it was dark or else he would simply wallow away. He cleared his throat and looked back up to the girl.

"I'm going to have to cut your shirt off so I can access the cuts and clean them properly" he looked into her eyes once but couldnt face her after that.

"okay" she whispered in return, locking her eyes onto his every move. 

The boy went back into his bag and grabbed a pair of scissors then faced the girl again. He could feel her watchful eyes on him the entire time and he hated to say it but that small voice in the back of his head was wishing she was a bit more delirious right now so he wasnt under her scrutiny while undressing her. Clearing his throat again, he begins to speak.

"Just tell me when to slow down or when to stop, if it gets too painful for you and I'll stop and slow down, okay" he looked to her for reassurance and an okay, to which she nodded.

He didn't know how to position himself so he just opted for kneeling next to her, facing her. He then grabbed the scissors and started to cut her top. Starting from the bottom to the top. As he reached the first claw mark the girl hissed as the shirt was stuck to the wound due to all the dried blood. Percy automatically stopped what he was doing. 

"No, no, keep going, don't stop now otherwise we will never get this done and I can't go back to camp cause I'll be dead" her honey-brown eyes were glossed with tears and the boy just wanted to hold her in his arms until the end of time in a place where they aren't fighting monsters all the damn time and in a place where they can settle down, have fun and just enjoy their life like regular teenagers.

"Don't say that so casually, you are not going to die. Not when you have me. Not when I'll always be here for you, patching you up, nursing you back to health forever. I will never in a million years let you die. I swear on the river Styx." 

She couldn't say anything to him, he will always render her speechless. She just nodded her head as tears cascaded down her cheeks to which he wiped away and placed a kiss on her forehead. Feeling the warmth off eachother brought a sense of peace to them that no one else could ever fill. 

He finished wiping her tears away and then continued cutting her shirt away from the wound. Every time she hissed, winced or flinched, the boy had the overwhelming urge to stop everything he was doing as long as it stopped bring her more pain. Whenever this would happen, the girl would softly squeeze his knee, as her hand was resting there to make sure he was still close to her and was still okay and breathing. 

This reassured him immensely but it did not stop him from the guilt that was drowning him. This would not have happened if it wasn't for him. She would not be in this position right now if he just chose someone else to go on the quest with. She had almost died due to his decision making. He chose her, he told her the plan, the plan that put her straight into danger, he didnt even second guess his choice, he put her into the battlefield without even asking her properly. Whatever he said went. 

The boy had not realised that during his intense self-loathing session, he zoned out and stopped the task at hand.

"Perce?" the girl asked while bringing her hand from his knee to his bicep. "Are you okay? whats going on in your kelp filled brain?" she said with a half smile as the boy looked up at her.

"Nothing, its okay. Just zoned out for a sec" he replied in an instant, looked away from her and continued to cut her shirt away. He was almost at her breasts and he could feel himself getting a bit hot. Obviously, there was no reason to in this situation but just being so close and intimate to her in a non sexual way made him flustered, he couldn't even imagine of it was in a sex- STOP. He shouted at his brain.

She let out a whimper of pain and a few laboured breaths as Percy carefully peeled her shirt of off the biggest wound she had. Her hand squeezed his knee harder than he would have liked her to but it didnt matter, not anymore, not when he caused this, not when he was the reason for her pain. 

He finally got it off the biggest cut and last cut and now he just had to cut the rest of the shirt off. No big deal right?

WRONG. 

The boy was telling himself to suck it up and just cut the rest of her shirt off but he was flustered. It was times like this that made him remember he was just a boy. He was just a boy with a silly crush. Except it isnt a 'silly crush' he was utterly in love with the girl. He tried to clear his head and at the same time, cleared his throat while he cut higher. 

He could feel her eyes watching him, he could feel how fast her heart was racing and he could feel how fast his own was racing. It was as though their hearts were in sync. Every beat was the same. 

Yes the girl felt flustered in this situation, she also couldn't help but want to tease the boy she loved. The girl had always grown up with a life where she never 'loved' anyone, not truly. To her love was always a very strong word in her dictionary but whatever she felt for Percy Jackson it was so powerful she felt as though she needed a word more meaningful than love. 

A word that expressed how everytime she thought of him, that specific memory of him will be branded in her brain forever to the point where even Hera could never make her forget him or forget the way he makes her feel.

He makes her feel alive, the most alive shes every felt in her 16 years of life.

"Are you blushing water boy?" the girl asked him with a half smile on her face and eyes half opened as she felt a sharp pain run through her, while also trying to control her own breathing at the same time. Percy didn't respond, he only kept cutting her shirt off, fingers lightly brushing over the material of her bra. 

She held her breath when he did that, whether it was on purpose of not, the feeling it sent through her body made her want to repeatedly bash her head against a solid wall while ripping her eyes out... in a good way of course. 

Percy finally cut her shirt fully off and it just slid down her arms and bunched at the bottom, near the tree. She felt exposed and could feel the goosebumps on her exposed skin. Percy didn't waste any time and grabbed a clean towel and his water bottle.

Before he could drenched it in water, she stopped him by kicking him with her uncompromised leg to indicate he needed to stop. This instantly stopped him and caused him to look at her. 

"Give me the water bottle before you soak the towel, if the water is warm it will work better and not hurt as much so i'll just heat it up" Percy thought about it for a second before he retaliated.

"You already aren't well enough to get off the ground, how on earth are you going to make it back to camp if you drain yourself of more energy. I know its going to hurt but it will either way, but getting you back to camp is the priority at the moment" Percy didnt want to say those words to the girl, he felt so bad for her and he couldn't help but blame himself. And when he looked into her eyes, like really looked into her eyes after he said that, he wished he could take it back.

Just looking at her made him want to give into her. 

"I can take it, I promise, I'll be okay enough to get back to camp, but I'm telling you now Percy, if I feel anymore extreme pain, I will just end up passing out. Please just let me do this." she tried to move closer to the boy but forgot about the fact that she literally could not move a single inch without his help. 

This just lead the boy to wrap his arm around her back and lent her against the tree again. He looked at her with a stern look.

"Okay, you win. But you have to promise on the river Styx that you will preserve every other bit of your energy for the ride back home." 

"I swear on the River Styx that I will preserve every other bit of my energy for the ride back to camp" He gave her one last look before giving her the water bottle. She focused some most of her energy to her hands and they started to glow. She took the bottle from percy's hand and he could feel the warmth radiate off of her. 

He looked at her in awe but if anyone else was there they would have told you that the boy was love struck. She opened her eyes and made sure to not boil the water. As it was simmering, she gave the bottle back to the boy and he instantly uncapped it and poured the, now warm, water onto the towel. 

"This is going to hurt... a lot, and by a lot i mean a lot, you might want to brace yourself" the boy said as he gave his flannel back to her and some ambrosia for her to eat before they start the painful part of fixing her up.

Aurora took both and muttered a small thanks under her breath before eating the ambrosia which was very pleasant to chew and then stuffed percy's flannel in her mouth again. She felt so weird but if she didnt and someone heard her scream bloody murder, they would get caught and the police would want them... again.

His ocean blue eyes met her honey eyes and he shared a look of regret and guilt before he wiped the dried blood away, starting from the bottom of her abdomen. She instantly clenched her jaw and recoiled as agony ran through her and her hand immediately shot out to grab Percy's wrist in a painfully tight hold to stop him from further cleaning the wounds that caused her pain.

"Sunshine, I know its painful, but I have to do this, I'm going to do this as fast and gently as I can but I will have to be rough at times" he gently takes his freehand to clasp over hers and took it of him and intertwined them while speaking to her. 

In his favour, it seemed that the energy it took the girl to warm the water up finally caught up with her as her hand lost most of its grip and her eyes closed slightly. He chuckled slightly and placed her hand back down next to her before continuing what he was doing.

He carefully but efficiently cleaned the areas surrounding her wounds while she was rejuvenating. He would hear muffled noises from time to time but other than that she was essentially knocked out. As he finished she seemed to feel less tired and her eyes opened wider than they did before.

"I'm almost finished sunshine, did you like your nap?" the boy questioned with a smirk but deep down he was glad that she kept her promise and she would have enough energy to go back to camp.

The girl nodded and looked at her abdomen. It was really clean and the wounds were barely bleeding anymore but she was fucking freezing. She shivered a little bit and percy could tell instantly.

"I've just got to bandage you up then you can put a jumper on. Okay?" he reassured her while taking the sterile dressing, he placed it over the 4 slashes and began to unwrap the dressing to bandage her up.

They both soon found the position to be quite awkward. 

Percy needed to bandage her whole abdomen which needed him to wrap the dressing over her back but she was lent up against the tree without a shirt on and unable to move to do it herself. He stopped to think of a good way to do this.

"Okay, I've got it. I'll lean you up against me and bandage your abdomen from behind." The girl thought for a bit before she agreed and the boy got up so he was only seen in her peripheral vision. He hooked his arms under hers and moved her along the ground to sit inbetween his legs. The position felt very compromising for both of them but it needed to be done.

She could feel his warm breath on her cold neck and she felt the urge to pass away because if thats how she passed, she would not mind. She held her breath as Percy begun wrapping her abdomen, she could barely feel the pain cause all she could think about and feel was him.

His breath on her neck, his fingers brushing her skin, how carefully he was handling her, like she would break at the wrong touch. He was everything she wanted, everything she needed. Everything they both deserved.

He quickly finished wrapping her up and he mentally called Blackjack from where ever he was right now. Before he could move or start to get things sorted he just looked at Aurora. She was peaceful. She looked ethereal under the moonlight, though she did look better under direct sunlight.

He decided to just stay still for a bit and wrapped an arms around the girl loosely as to not injure or hurt her more. They just needed some rest, no matter how long or short it was.

Both Aurora and Percy could hear the flap of Blackjacks wings so he quickly moved the girl back to lean against the tree while he packed everything away. Not before making sure to torniquet the girls leg where the wood piece was still protruding out of it. He made the decision before to not take it out as they both did not know how severe the injury underneath it was.

Percy grabbed a warm, woolly jumper from his bag and a blanket and gave both items to the girl before zipping it up.

"I'm going to find your bag and your bracelet before we leave, and before you say anything. I'm going to call Blackjack here to be with you before I look for them" he stated as he got up.

"Thanks a lot Perce, but before you look, how am I meant to put this jumper on without raising my arms and disrupting my bandages" Percy felt like an idiot. He dropped his bag back on the ground and knelt next to her carefully putting the jumper through one arms hole, then the next, then her head through.

Percy would never admit it there and then but he always loved when the girl would wear his clothes. It sent a warm fuzzy feeling through him knowing she was wearing his clothes, especially when she was willingly wearing his clothes. 

Similarly, Aurora would never admit it there but having Percy help her get changed into his clothes and help clean her up made her fall even more in love with him if that was even possible. She felt as though she was just falling into deep pit everytime he did anything for her or even just looked her way. 

He finished by wrapping her up in the blanket and chuckled when he saw how she looked... Exactly like a burrito. 

Blackjack came down and the girls eyes instantly widened at the sight of the creature. To which the boy just smiled at. Before he left to retrieve her bag and bracelet which were very easy to find. He quickly arrived back to the girl and Pegasus and was met with an adorable sight.

The Pegasus was on the floor next to the girl and was almost hugging her with its wing. Percy didnt think he could fall in love with the girl again but she has gone and proved him wrong, like always. 

"I've got your things sunshine, and I know its going to hurt but I'm going to have to pick you up to put you on Blackjack. Is that okay?" He knelt next to her and she nodded.

He wrapped an arm around her back and one under her knees, making sure not to hit the piece of wood and picked the girl up, quite easily, bridal style. It make them both feel fuzzy and warm inside. Even blackjack could feel the warmth.

He placed her sitting on the Pegasus so she would be infront of him when he got on. He then grabbed both of their bags and got onto blackjack himself. 

"You'd normally need to hold on tight to blackjack but I'll hold you okay? Just rest" The boy whispered in her ear as he gave her a peck on her cheek while she slowly drifted off and leaned her head back onto the boy's shoulder.

"Blackjack, No crazy flying today. We aren't at war today, its a rest day. Just take us back to camp, quick but not to the point we normally fly." Blackjacks reply left Percy with pink staining his cheeks and they made their way back to camp.

______________________________________________________________

OH MY FUCKING DAYS, I AM NEVER WRITING ANYTHING THIS LONG AGAIN

(such a fucking lie)

But I have to honest, apart from the small mental breakdowns. This was really fun to write. I love these two soo much.

When I went into this, I wanted to actually get them back to camp and I wanted them to confess but it was getting tooooooo long for that so if anyone wants a part 2, I'll gladly make it. Please dont critique me too much, this is still my first imagine 😭😭😭

I LOVE YOU ALL ❤️❤️❤️

unless you piss me off

[cjlouwho]

Prompt:

Buck thinks he and Tommy should send out a Christmas card together. Tommy agrees...Clipboard Buck appears 😆

This was fun!! Thank you ❤️

“Evan?”

“Hm?”

“Um, when I- when we agreed to send out a Christmas card together this year, I can't say I was expecting all of this.”

Their front porch was decorated top to bottom in Christmas décor. Garland and bows around the door and front windows, small trees with white lights lining the steps, fake snow sprayed onto the glass framing of the front door. There were some boxes that were wrapped perfectly too, clustered together just past the top step.

It looked absolutely beautiful.

It also looked absolutely insane.

Especially since it was September.

The idea of sending out Christmas cards came to Buck a month earlier, as he moved into Tommy's place. He was putting away some things and found Maddie, Chimney, and Jee's card from the year before. The thought of him and Tommy sending out a card of their own for everyone to see was too enticing to pass up. Plus, it was a perfect way to let distant relatives know that he was in a committed relationship with another man without having to do the whole awkward, and downright ridiculous, coming out routine.

Tommy had agreed pretty quickly. He had learned by now to always be prepared for whatever Buck threw at him next, and he found it pretty exciting to say yes to all his little ideas and suggestions that he himself would never have thought about otherwise.

What Tommy didn't account for is that a suggestion like this would not be taken lightly. Not with Buck involved.

“What do you mean?” Buck asked, eyes shooting up from the clipboard he'd been staring down at.

“I just... I thought we'd pick a selfie, from our phones,” his voice wavered when he saw the look of utter disgust come over Buck's face, “and choose a template from Walgreens...”

Buck stood there, mouth hanging open. Like he couldn't believe such a crazy idea even came out of Tommy's mouth.

“Thomas.”

Tommy sighed. The full name was never a good sign.

“Christmas cards are quite possibly the most important piece of stationary you can send out into the world.”

“So, when we send out our wedding invitations they'll be, what, number two?”

“A Christmas card tells the people within your world,” Buck continued, ignoring Tommy's question, “that the person or people you are with in that card is who matters the most to you.”

Tommy crossed his arms over his chest, nodding. “Right, but Evan, Babe,” he smiled, moving closer, hoping to cut the tension he had created, “I'm pretty sure most people toss their Christmas cards like, as soon as they get them, or the day after Christmas.”

Buck shook his head. He lifted some papers from his clipboard and pulled out a sheet that he handed to Tommy. “Not this one. Ours is going to be made from botanical paper,” he said, pointing down at one of the options on the paper. “They'll plant it somewhere around their house or in a pot or something and from our love, plants will grow!” He smiled brightly as he finished his explanation, eyes wide and filled with excitement.

Tommy couldn't help himself. Buck was so cute when he got this way. There wasn't a piece of Tommy that ever wanted to dull Evan's happiness from even the smallest things in life. He leaned forward and gave Buck a gentle peck on the lips. “That's adorable,” he said, handing the paper back to Buck, “and very sweet.”

“I, uh, I think so too.” A blush rose on Buck's cheeks. Even after all these months together, he still got butterflies in his stomach when Tommy kissed him or was on board with one of his plans.

The thing was, Buck knew that he could be a lot to deal with sometimes. He knew people got frustrated when he had a clipboard in his hands. He knew he could get obsessive and overdo it. And, while Tommy may sometimes suggest simpler options (which were obviously wrong and insane), he never made fun of Buck or belittled him. Buck never had to worry about being too much with Tommy, and that was such a freeing feeling.

“Now!” Buck rocked up on his tippy toes, getting back to his list. “We've got our first photographer coming in half an hour. Our next one comes at one. Then we've got to wait until four for the last one, so you'll have to change out of your outfit or put on a robe or something so you don't spill.”

“We... We've got three photographers coming?”

Buck nodded, double checking his list. “Yes. Uh, three today, two tomorrow.”

“So five then? Five photographers coming?”

“Correct.”

“Evan, honey,” Tommy placed his hands on Buck's biceps, pulling his attention from the clipboard yet again. “Why exactly do we have five photographers coming?”

“To make sure we get the best photos?” Buck replied as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Right... Right, okay. Alright, well, you just tell me what to do and when to do it and I will be there.”

Buck leaned in this time, a hand placed at the nape of Tommy's neck, and kissed him. “First,” he said once he pulled away, “I've gotta go get the house ready for the dog. He'll be here in fifteen minutes.”

“Okay,” Tommy agreed. Buck was already back in the house when his words sunk in. “Wait! Dog?!” Tommy called out, “Evan, we don't have a dog!”

“We do today!”

[ticklygiggles]

Lovelynim's tickletober Day 30: Magic

Hyuna & Luka

A/N: after fallen into Alien Stage despair, I asked my best lizard cutie ( @lovelynim ) to choose a day for this pairing that I was craving. I don't care what everyone thinks, my beloved Luka is just baby ❤️ fabifabi, I hope you like this, it's certainly not the best but I hope it's good enough hehe 💕

"You know..." 

Luka felt a chill run down his spine as he heard Hyuna's voice behind him. He did his best to stop himself from jumping as the girl sat down beside him under a large tree in the garden. 

Luka blinked. "... what?" 

"I learned a magic trick from the other kids. Do you want to see it?" 

Luka frowned a bit, such a baby face looked so serious as he stared at Hyuna as if she had lost her mind, yet, he couldn't resist that bright smile on her lips and he nodded hesitantly.

She giggled, her cheeks turning a bit pink. "Great. First, you have to raise your arms aaalll the way up!" She lifted her own arms just to show him and, still unsure, he slowly raised them, tilting his head to the side. 

"Amazing. Now, you need to close your eyes!" Luka looked at her wearily and she giggled again, nodding her head. "Go on! Go on!" 

Luka let out a long sigh, but again, he did what he was told and closed his eyes tightly. 

"Nice! Now, the magic trick will start when I count to three! One... two... three!" 

"Gah-! Ahahahaha!" 

Luka burst into loud laughter as Hyuna's fingers touched his underarms. His arms came down immediately, clamping to his sides as best as he could as those fingers wiggled nonstop against his skin. 

What a weird sensation. It was something akin to an itch? Like a bug crawling on the skin, but intensified numerous times. It was overwhelming, he couldn't escape it. It made his body go crazy and uncoordinated; he squirmed, and jerked and, most of all, he was laughing uncontrollably. His stomach was starting to hurt and tears were clinging to his pretty eyelashes.

It was as if his skin was vibrating. It was too intense, especially when Hyuna's fingers moved down slowly towards his ribs. Luka fell back onto the green grass, arching his spine as Hyuna's light fingers touched all his ribs, from the highest to the lowest. 

His mind was blank. He couldn't think, just feel this magic trick make his skin wake in gooseflesh. He felt vulnerable, exposed, but at the same time... it was a little fun? It felt good to laugh like that. He didn't want Hyuna to stop, but so much laughter was already making it difficult for him to breathe and so he started to beg. 

"H-Hyuhuhunahaha!" He said through very high pitched laugh, a horrible shrieking sound leaving his mouth when those fingers now moved to his tummy. "S-Stahahap! Stop! It feheheels weheheird!" 

"Hehe, do you like my magic trick, Luka?" 

He shook his head no, but that was a lie. "Plehease! Ahahaha, n-nohoho!"

Hyuna giggled mischievously, but she did stop and Luka went limp, like a little puddle of residual giggles and heavy breaths. Whoa, that was so revitalizing. 

"I h-hahated it..."

"Oh? Of course you did~ C'mon, Luka. Let's show this magic trick to Hyunwoo~!"

[vilevenom]

This fic started out as a little 3K word ficlet, inspired by the smarmy little Hickory in a suit, drawn by the amazing @em-doods. It then turned into this 15K+ beast when we starting chatting about his other outfits.

Hope ya'll enjoy ❤️

Hold Me Tight, or Don't

Fandom: Dreamworks Trolls

Pairings: Gen, Hickory/John Dory

Summary:  Since leaving the troll tree, there was only one troll that John Dory kept unintentionally running into. Unfortunately, they weren't always exactly pleased to see each other.

Excerpt:

"John? That's it? Pretty plain name for a troll such as yourself," Hickory said with a smirk, arching an eyebrow as they were dealt a fresh hand.

"What's that supposed to mean?" John asked, wrinkling his nose as he checked his cards.

"Oh, not much," Hickory said with a light laugh and a shrug, "You're just a real, hm…rugged looking troll. I figured you'd have a more interesting name."

John scowled as he tossed chips into the pot, shooting Hickory a glare. "It's John Dory. Happy?"

"Like the fish?" Hickory laughed, adding his own chips to the pot, "Well. That shouldn't surprise me."

John bristled, sitting up in his seat with a low growl. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Hickory shrugged, easy smirk on his face as he flipped over his cards. "I've got a straight. What about you?"

Link to fic on AO3

John hadn't really known where he was going when he'd wound up stumbling upon a grand building situated at the edge of the funk troll territories. He'd just been exploring idly, hoping he was heading in the right direction to get to where he'd been told the country trolls lived, so finding such an especially tall and extravagant building in what was basically the middle of nowhere had been startling, but intriguing. It rose up towards the sky, higher than any troll made structure he'd seen before, and its glass and metal walls glistened brilliantly in the afternoon sunlight. The huge neon sign declaring "Jazzy's" was also something John hadn't seen before, so much like a moth to a flame, he wandered towards the building curiously.

"Woah there," an older, rather gruff looking country troll grunted at John Dory as he approached the front doors of the building, holding a hand out to stop him before he could go inside. He halted in his tracks, slightly on edge as the larger troll looked him up and down. "Haven't seen you around here before. What's yer name an' tribe?"

"Uh…it's John Dory. And I don't know what you mean by 'tribe'?" John offered, absently fixing how his goggles sat on his head as the other troll frown at him. He'd been to some of the other kingdoms. Was that what this troll was talking about?

"Y'know, yer tribe. Your genre? We don't take kindly to certain kinds of trolls 'round here," the troll practically snarled at John, rising up from his seat, as John took a step back and raised his hands in a placating gesture.

"Hey now, Axel," a well dressed purple troll came waltzing out the double doors of the building, a lazy grin on her face. She was wearing a loose, flowing red robe that practically hung off her frame, and wild blue hair seemingly floated around her face. "You tryin' to scare away fresh meat?"

"Meat?" John echoed quietly under his breath, suddenly very much wishing he hadn't even tried to approach this place.

"He won't tell me his tribe," the troll named Axel growled, still glaring down at John, only to deflate as this new troll placed her hand on his arm.

"You know that anyone who wasn't actually wanted around here would come up with a better lie than 'I don't know what you're talking about'," the blue haired troll said with a laugh, before turning a sharp eye towards John, who bristled slightly at the attention. "Besides…I'd say it's pretty obvious he's some kind of pop troll. Look at him, Axel. He's harmless." She chuckled and floated over to John, who swallowed thickly and suddenly wanted to be very far away from this place, but couldn't get his feet to move. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

"John Dory," John found himself answering before a thought could pass through his brain.

"What a peculiar name," she hummed, a placid little smile on her face. "My name's Jazzy, like it says on the building," she said, gesturing vaguely at the sign shining down on them, while stepping next to John and wrapping her arm around his shoulders, "And this is my casino. Have you got anything worth trading? Coins, you know?"

John frowned, but nodded a little, reaching into his hair to pull out a handful of assorted coins from the various areas he'd passed through on his travels so far. "Sorry, but…what's a casino?" John had a feeling he'd asked the wrong question when Jazzy's eyes lit up, a grin spreading across her face.

"Oh, well now!" she cooed, tugging John in close to her shoulder and pulling him along with her into the building, "Don't I have a treat for you!"

Jazzy steered him through the casino, and John quickly realized his earlier feelings of trepidation were probably well founded. He spotted some rock trolls who looked like they were about to rough up a couple of country trolls over a card game, a handful of trolls who just looked like they were on their last legs, and others who waltzed around in the most glamorous outfits John had ever seen. The whole place just had a general uneasy energy that John was not pleased to be in the middle of. Jazzy assured him that he was perfectly safe when she noticed that he was looking a bit on edge, though he had a feeling that she was lying through her teeth as she took the coins from his hand, spoke quietly to a troll behind a barred off counter, and handed him back some colorful plastic chips.

"Now…You know how to play cards, don't you?" Jazzy asked, steering John in yet another direction.

"Uh, yeah. Sure," John said with a small nod, grunting as he was pushed into a seat at a table with several other trolls already sat around it.

"Perfect! This is Lonesome Hold 'em. Real easy to learn. You get two cards that my dealer here will toss you," Jazzy gestured at a young looking techno troll sat at the top of the table, with a rather nasty looking rock troll stood just behind them, "Don't let anybody see them, alright? Then the dealer will flip over five cards, one at a time. You need to make a good poker hand out of those cards. Best hand wins. You've played poker before, haven't you?"

John nodded quickly, as he was garnering glares from the other trolls sitting around the table. He'd never been so happy about his grandmother having an addiction to five card Rummy as he was right now.

"Excellent! Now, you boys have fun!" Jazzy cheered, waving at the table before whisking off to somewhere else in the casino.

"Minimum bet is a tenner," the dealer said, nodding towards John, "The blue chip. You need to put one in to play."

"Oh! Right," John quickly tossed one of his chips into the pile on the table, offering a nervous smile to those around him, only to have glares returned to him.

The first few hands went rather abysmally, with John quickly losing a good handful of his chips as he figured out how the betting system worked, along with the tells of the other players. But, once he'd worked out the reactions for good and bad hands for each of the trolls sat around him, and what hands he should bet high on, he found himself starting to win. He could really see why his grandma had loved gambling so much; it was a thrill when you were winning.

Unfortunately, that did mean that the other trolls at the table were getting tired of losing. Some got up and were replaced by other trolls who wanted to test their luck against John. They would win one or two hands, until John figured out how they played, and he'd start winning again.

Luck truly seemed to be on his side, and he was beginning to think that perhaps this casino place wasn't so bad, right up until he showed up. A rather sleek looking green troll, with a smarmy little grin on his face, slicked back orange hair, and a sharp suit. He sat down across from John Dory at the table with a friendly little nod, though John immediately got a sense that this troll was not one to be trifled with. It was relatively obvious from the way he held himself that this was not his first time at the table, and John had a funny feeling that this troll thought he'd be an easy mark.

They played a few hands, with John losing the first couple as he got a feel for how this new troll played, until he began to win again. But then something seemed to shift, and the trolls playing style changed. Which was strange, since most trolls had a set way they played and superstitions they followed, and those were not something most gamblers would alter on a whim. It was something his grandmother had taught him when he was young, telling him that being able to pick up on tells and playing styles wasn't just good for cards, but something that would come in handy throughout his life. He already knew this would be one of those times.

A few more rounds passed, with the rest of the table clearing out except for John and the slick troll who offered a wide grin as John won another hand.

"My, my. Can't say I've ever seen someone pick up a game so quickly before," the slick troll hummed, drumming his fingers along the edge of the table.

"My grandma was real into cards," John offered, stacking his winnings up carefully in front of himself.

"Is that so? She must be quite the lady."

"She is."

The slick troll nodded, rocking back in his chair for a moment, before dropping the legs back onto the floor with a loud thud. "The name's Hickory. Figured I should be properly introduced to one of the first players to give me a run for my money."

"John," John stated bluntly, a little more aware of himself this time around, and not quite as willing to give him name freely.

"John? That's it? Pretty plain name for a troll such as yourself," Hickory said with a smirk, arching an eyebrow as they were dealt a fresh hand.

"What's that supposed to mean?" John asked, wrinkling his nose as he checked his cards.

"Oh, not much," Hickory said with a light laugh and a shrug, "You're just a real, hm…rugged looking troll. I figured you'd have a more interesting name."

John scowled as he tossed chips into the pot, shooting Hickory a glare. "It's John Dory. Happy?"

"Like the fish?" Hickory laughed, adding his own chips to the pot, "Well. That shouldn't surprise me."

John bristled, sitting up in his seat with a low growl. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Hickory shrugged, easy smirk on his face as he flipped over his cards. "I've got a straight. What about you?"

John blinked, not having noticed that the hand was even over. He flipped his own cards over. "Two pair."

"Looks like I win," Hickory hummed, scooping up his winnings. "Want to go again?" John scowled but nodded, tossing in his bet.

Hickory won a few more hands that way; riling John up to make him lose focus until the hand was over so he hadn't realized he was betting on garbage cards. But grandma Rosiepuff's voice rang in his head the third time he lost due to his own irritation, telling him to breath deep and calm down. He used to get riled up the same way when she'd beat him at Rummy when he was a little kid. She'd told him that if he didn't calm down, he'd never win, since anger would only ever lead to loss. Wise words that he should have listened to sooner, really. But that wasn't something he could focus on at the moment, with Hickory smirking at him infuriatingly across the table.

After taking a few deep breaths, John began to steadfastly ignore the barbs and jabs Hickory shot his way to try and get a rise out of him, and slowly he began to win again. As his pile of chip began to grow, Hickory's smirk began to fade, slowly being replaced by a scowl.

John lost track of time in the large, windowless room the poker table was in, so he wasn't sure how much time had passed before his pile of winnings was quite sizable and Hickory was down to a a small handful of chips. Enough, really, to get him through one or two hands more.

"I'd probably give up now," John said with a smirk, earning a sharp glare from Hickory, "I don't think your luck is going to drastically turn in one hand."

"You'd be surprised," Hickory snapped back, shoving his remaining chips into the pot as the cards were dealt, while John shook his head with a low chuckle.

But surprised John was. Hickory won the next hand. And the next. It didn't seem to matter what cards John was dealt, Hickory always had something better. Until, finally, John was down to his last few chips.

"I'd probably give up now," Hickory mocked, a cruel gin on his face as he flipped a chip between his fingers, "I don't think your luck is going to turn in one hand."

But Hickory made a fatal mistake as he flipped his chip in the air, causing his sleeve to shift just enough for John to spot a card tucked into it.

"You're cheating!" John shouted, slamming his hands onto the table and swiftly rising from his chair, causing it to fall behind him with a clatter.

"I… what?" Hickory choked, dropping the chip he'd been playing with, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

"I can see the cards up your sleeve!" John snapped, pointing at the offending sleeve, while the rock troll behind the dealer began to shift and move towards Hickory.

"I-what? No, I-" Hickory glanced between John and the rock troll, swallowing thickly as he slowly rose from his seat. He shifted on his feet, shooting John a glare that made the teal troll freeze where he stood. "I'll get you back for this," he growled, before tossing a handful of chips into the air, gaining the attention of several trolls in the vicinity. They began to swarm the table, half blocking the rock troll from getting to Hickory, who began to run from the table. John watched as he dodged other rock trolls scattered around the casino floor, before ultimately booking it out the doors.

John slowly picked his chair up from the floor and sat heavily into it as Jazzy swept over to him and several trolls dispersed the crowd that had gathered to scoop up the fallen chips.

"Thank you for alerting us to that crook, John Dory," Jazzy cooed, reaching across the table to pull what was left of the chips over to John while patting him on the shoulder. "These are all yours, sweetheart."

"Thanks," John muttered, quickly pocketing the chips. "I think I'm done playing, if you don't mind."

"Of course," Jazzy nodded slightly, "Would you like a room? We've got lots upstairs that are open."

"I-No thank you, ma'am," John said, offering her a strained smile as he rose from his seat. "I think this was a bit more excitement than I was really prepared for. I should get going."

Jazzy made a face at him, but ultimately nodded. "All right. You can exchange your chips at the cashier cage," she said, gesturing towards the barred off counter she'd gotten his chips from earlier. "Be mindful of which coins you ask for. Some will cost more chips than others," she added. With that she turned to the trolls that had followed her to the table, leaving John to his own devices. Quickly he scurried to the cashier cage, exchanging his chips for country troll coins, since that was where he'd been planning on going before he'd found this place, and headed out the doors.

He didn't mange to get too far from the lavish building, before he found himself being tackled face first into the ground and sat on by none other than Hickory, though he looked distinctly more disheveled than he had inside the casino.

"Not very wise to be heading out all on your own after pissing someone off during poker," Hickory hissed, digging his knee into John's back, making the teal troll wheeze.

"M-maybe you shouldn't've cheated then," John gasped out, wriggling beneath Hickory to try and get his arms free.

"Maybe you should've minded your own damn business," Hickory growled, grabbing at John's wrists to pin them against his back, wrenching his shoulders in the process and making John yowl in pain. "I've been working that place for months, and then you come along," Hickory grunted, his weight shifting against John's back as the teal troll kicked his legs up to try and dislodge his attacker, "and ruin everything."

"Again," John wheezed, Hickory's weight shifting just enough that he could roll onto his side, dislodging the grifter entirely from his back, "Maybe you shouldn't have cheated!" He quickly scrambled to his feet, heaving for air as he rolled his now sore shoulders. "It's not my fault you decided to do something stupid and got too cocky while doing it."

Hickory didn't even respond to John Dory this time, simply letting out an enraged bellow as he ran at the teal troll. He tried to tackle John again, but this time he was ready, quickly side stepping the grifter while swinging his arm down into his back, causing Hickory to stumble and fall with a shout as his momentum worked against him.

"Look, I don't want to fight you," John said quickly as Hickory pushed himself up, turning to John with a scowl.

"No. You don't," Hickory snarled, raking his hair out of his face and shifting as though he was going to run at John again, only to freeze at the sound of his name being shouted from off in the distance. He groaned, then spat at the ground near John's feet, making the teal troll recoil slightly. "You're lucky," Hickory snapped, straightening up and fixing his rumpled jacket. He then turned on his heel and dashed off into the underbrush, leaving a rather bewildered John Dory behind.

Time passed, and soon John had mostly forgotten about the odd troll who'd tried to beat him up outside the casino. However, he most certainly avoided the area where he'd come across the opulent building in the first place. Although he'd found Lonesome Hold 'em somewhat fun, he didn't particularly fancy getting caught up in whatever was going on inside that building. He had enough worries in regards to keeping himself alive in the wilderness, he didn't need to unnecessarily add to them by getting into trouble with the trolls he'd seen hanging out in there.

After a couple of years of roaming around and through the country and funk kingdoms, he found himself coming across the rock troll territories. When he had first started exploring the different areas the various genres called home, he hadn't wanted to try traversing through the volcano ridden territories of the rock trolls, especially not after hearing the stories that the other nations would mutter about the rambunctious and rowdy kingdom. But, now that he was a bit older, and had his sweet Rhonda at his side (who was nearly as tall as he was already, so he was fairly certain most other trolls would leave him alone if she was with him), he felt more at ease about crossing into and exploring the rough terrain.

Happily, John was quick to note that what the other trolls had said about the rock trolls seemed to be untrue. As he reached what he'd been told was Volcano Rock City, the main settlement of the territory, he was approached by a grinning red troll, who thrust a piece of paper into his hands, declaring an invite to a party.

"Hey, man! Wicked critter. You should, like, totally come to this party that's gonna be a total rager later," they said with a laugh, before trundling off to hand his flyers out to other trolls nearby. John watched them walk away with a confused little smile, before looking over the paper he'd been handed.

"Huh," John offered the flyer to Rhonda, who sniffed at it and churred, earning a chuckle from John. "What do you think, girl? Wanna go check out a rock troll party? It might be fun." Rhonda simply growled in an excited manner, her back end wiggling as John scratched at the back of her head. "Yeah, okay. It couldn't hurt to check it out."

John would later come to regret saying that.

He arrived to the party as it seemed to be getting into full swing, with music blaring from huge speakers next to a stage where a band was playing, and trolls milled about in nearly every available inch of space. Some were dancing near the stage, while others were trying to talk over the music, while still others gorged themselves on the swathes of snack foods that seemed to be floating around the party in random bags and bowls. It wasn't quite like the parties he'd attended when he was younger, but it was similar enough that he felt right at home. Rhonda, on the other hand, seemed to become somewhat skittish and agitated at all of the loud noise. John cooed at her to try and calm her down, but when that didn't work, he left her near the outer edges of the party, where there were fewer trolls, and the music was a little quieter. He promised he'd be back for her in a couple of hours, tops, before heading back into the crowd.

Admittedly, John's first taste of the rock genre was going pretty smoothly, in his opinion. One troll commented on his goggles, noting that they'd be cooler with spikes, while another told him that his fur lined jacket was 'sick', but it would look better in black. And the music, oh, the music. It was so different from anything else John had heard before, but something about it really struck a chord with him. He found himself head banging along with a group near the stage, and a rather gnarly looking blue troll showed him how to throw up 'devil horns' and 'rock out' appropriately. It was absolutely fantastic.

That was until a green troll with wildly curly orange and black hair appeared in front of him.

"John Dory," the troll shouted over the music with a rather unwelcoming grin.

"Uh, do I know you?" John asked, frowning slightly as he backed away from the troll as he stepped further into John's space.

"You sure do, fish boy," the troll snapped back, grabbing the front of John's jacket and yanking him close. John's eyes widened as he realized exactly who he was currently faced with.

"Hickory?!"

"Got it in one."

John made to pull away from Hickory, but the grifter's grip on his jacket was unyielding.

"I think it's about time I paid you back for the trouble you made for me, back at Jazzy's," Hickory said, grin widening at John's obvious struggle to get away from him.

"What are you even doing here?!" John asked, grabbing at Hickory's hand to try and pry his fingers from his jacket.

"None of your business," Hickory hissed, before turning his head and bellowing out, "MOSH PIT!"

John gasped as a rush of trolls started to crowd in and around where he and Hickory stood, jostling them roughly. John could feel Hickory's fingers loosening in his jacket, but the grifter's gaze snapped back to him quickly as he began to slip away.

"Nuh-uh. You're not getting away so easy this time," Hickory snapped, using the commotion and rowdiness of the crowd around them as an excuse to toss John to the ground. He shouted loudly, grinning as the trolls around them echoed the noise, before he pounced on John as he tried to scramble away.

They tussled through the crowd, Hickory obviously enjoying himself as he continuously shoved John into trolls who took no mind of him as they elbowed him, kicked him, and generally battered him ruthlessly as they moshed to the music blasting from the stage. Finally, John managed to stumble his way out of the crowd and fell to his knees, very much worse for wear, and fairly confident he had bruises littering about 90% of his body. Hickory, meanwhile, strode out of the crowd with nary a scratch, obviously quite used to the nature of mosh pits, and knew how to get out of them relatively unscathed.

"It's someone's first day in the scene, isn't it?" Hickory mocked as John staggered to his feet, clutching at his rather sore ribs.

"It was going fine until you showed up," John growled back, glaring at the grifter, who simply laughed at him. He bristled as Hickory approached him casually, an easy swagger to the way he was walking telling John that this troll didn't have a doubt in the world that he could and would get away with whatever he wanted here.

"Go home, pop troll," Hickory seethed at John, before reeling his arm back and punching the teal troll squarely in the face.

John stumbled back, spots already forming in his vision as he raised his hand to the now throbbing bridge of his nose, while Hickory smirked cruelly at him. The last thing he registered was the sound of Rhonda 's bellow over the din of the party, and Hickory quickly disappearing into the surrounding crowd, before his world went dark.

When John awoke, Rhonda was hovering over him, a worried little coo leaving her as he blinked up at the late evening sky. Slowly, he sat up to find that she had dragged him from Volcano Rock City into what looked like a forest. There were no other trolls around, though in the distance he could see the massive volcano that stood in the center of the city they'd left behind. He sighed and gave Rhonda a grateful little pat as she nuzzled up against his side, while gingerly touching his very tender nose.

"Maybe we keep avoiding rock trolls, huh?" he asked Rhonda, who churred unhappily next to him. "Yeah. I think it's probably best if we don't go back there."

And avoid it he did. John spent the next couple of years exploring the Neverglade trail, rather than continue through the troll kingdoms. Although exploring other genres was fun, a break from other trolls was more than necessary, he figured. Especially after his last run in with Hickory, which had really soured his urge to meet new people. That wasn't to say he didn't run into other trolls and sentient creatures while out on the trails, of course. He met many interesting characters over the years who had plenty of stories to share with him. Which did eventually lead to him learning about the various and notorious bounty hunters that roamed around; one of whom was described quite similarly to Hickory. A rather nasty sounding yodeling troll, who was one half of a pair of brothers with quite the reputation. Hickory was apparently known for his disguises and charming trickery, gaining the trust of his targets and drawing them away to somewhere secluded, where his older brother would inevitably ensnare them in a trap.

According to the hiker who had casually mentioned all of this to John, the brothers had a staggering track record with very few, if any, misses on their hit list. Which just made John somewhat confused as to why Hickory had let him go not once, but twice. Though, he supposed, that might have something to do with the fact that their encounters had little to nothing to do with Hickory's 'work', and capturing John wouldn't exactly be profitable to the bounty hunters. He decided to simply be thankful that he was unlikely to see Hickory again, and moved on with his life.

Eventually, John did find himself back in the kingdoms, with Rhonda now just big enough for him to ride inside, so long distance travel was much easier. He figured the coast would be the best place to check out, since he'd heard techno trolls lived just offshore and were pretty chill, and Rhonda loved a good beach. What he wasn't expecting to find was a community of trolls, who claimed themselves to simply be 'surfer trolls', living near the seaside. Their music was an odd sort of mixture of pop and rock, but it was catchy and fun, and John couldn't help but find himself humming along to the melodies.

They were friendly, too, inviting John to join in their dances and offering to teach him how to surf. He happily agreed to the surfing lessons, pleased when Rhonda jumped into the water after him to swim alongside their surfboards, much to the delight of the other trolls in the water. Anytime John began to wobble on his board, Rhonda would surface just below him, throwing him off and into the water, earning laughs from everyone around. John was fairly certain she thought she was helping, so he couldn't exactly get mad at her for accidentally sabotaging his lessons.

After roughly the tenth time Rhonda dumped him into the drink, John decided it was probably best if he leave surfing to the surf trolls and just enjoy the beach. So, he dragged his soggy self out of the water and propped his borrowed board up in the sand, as the other trolls had shown him to do, and turned to watch Rhonda continue to frolic in the waves. As he turned, however, he spotted a relatively familiar looking green and orange troll that immediately had his hackles rising up. Although he looked slightly different, with dreadlocked curls and baggy beach clothes, he just knew the troll he was looking at was Hickory. After all, hadn't that hiker told him that Hickory disguised himself frequently? It would explain why each time John had run into him, he'd looked different. The bounty hunter was casually chatting with a couple of other trolls just down the beach from where he'd gotten out of the water, and John had no doubt that Hickory was here for a bounty on one of the surfer trolls.

He decided that, for now, it would probably be best if he stayed back and just watch the bounty hunter. He was relatively certain that Hickory knew he was here, since Rhonda was sort of hard to miss. However, he did wonder if Hickory even remembered her, since he was also rather certain that the bounty hunter would've approached him by now if he had any sort of inkling that John was nearby. After all, they weren't exactly on the best of terms.

So, he sat and watched, noticing how Hickory kept gravitating to one rather pretty pastel green troll in particular. She had wavy pink hair with flowers nestled throughout, and appeared to have a rather easy going attitude, along with an absolutely phenomenal singing voice. John wondered, briefly, if perhaps Hickory was simply pursuing her in some sort of romantic sense. However, that idea was quickly squashed when he happened to spot a smaller green and orange troll half hidden in the beach scrub not too far off from where Hickory and the girl were. Likely the infamous older brother, Dickory, he'd heard about. That had to mean they were there for a bounty, and based on Hickory practically sticking like glue to the girl, it was most likely her.

A slow smirk crept across John's face as he watched Hickory and the girl chat, an idea forming in his mind. Another miss on the yodelers otherwise near spotless track record would certainly put John Dory in an even better mood than he already was.

John drew himself up from his seat on the beach, whistling for Rhonda, who bound out of the water with an excited trill, drenching the trolls around her on the beach as she shook herself off. He grinned as her antics drew the attention of everyone on the beach, including Hickory and the mystery girl he was following. A satisfied little chuckle escaped John as he spotted the way Hickory's expression soured upon spotting him. He eagerly waved at the bounty hunter, which only served to confuse Hickory, as he frowned and tilted his head, watching with dawning horror on his face as John practically skipped across the beach, Rhonda hot on his heels, towards the two trolls he'd been keeping an eye on.

"Hey!" John chirped, slapping his hand down on Hickory's shoulder and giving it a not so gentle squeeze as he reached the two, "It's been a while, man! How've you been?"

"John Dory," Hickory feigned cheer through gritted teeth, adjusting the yellow sunglasses perched precariously on his nose, "It's goin' swell, bro. Been real chill. What's brought you out to the beach?"

"Oh, you know," John let Hickory go, waving his hand through the air, while Rhonda flopped down into the sand behind him, "Just adventuring. Been out on the Neverglade trail. Heard some really interesting stories while I was out there." He glanced over to the pastel troll who was observing the two with open curiosity on her face. "Oh, I'm so sorry," John said with a light laugh, "How rude of me. I'm John Dory. You are?" He offered the pastel troll his hand, earning a soft giggle from the girl.

"Aquata," the troll hummed, taking John's hand and shaking it gently, "It's, like, totally righteous to meet you. It's wild to meet someone who knew Reef from before he came to the beach. How long have you two, like, known each other?"

John shot Hickory an amused look, earning a sharp glare from the bounty hunter from behind Aquata's shoulder. "Oh, I've known 'Reef' here for a few years. Met him pretty shortly after I started adventuring. He's always been a real character." Aquata simply laughed at John's anecdote, while Hickory fumed just outside her line of sight. It was incredibly entertaining to John, to watch the way Hickory's face contorted at John's antics.

"That's so rad! Reef is always so quiet about his past," Aquata sighed, turning a lazy smile on the bounty hunter, who quickly plastered a calm little grin on his own face.

"It's 'cause none of it matters, man," Hickory hummed, stepping up next to her and wrapping his arm around her shoulders, "The past is, like, unchangeable. Why bother dwelling on it?"

"Deep," John commented, barely able to keep a laugh from escaping him at the way Hickory's expression twitched, like he wanted to scowl at John but knew he couldn't. "But, y'know, the past sort of defines who we are, so it's kind of important."

"Wow! That's so true," Aquata said, patting at Hickory's hand on her shoulder. "Hey, why don't I go get us some drinks? And you two can, like, catch up for a minute?" She twirled easily away from Hickory's hold with a breathy laugh. "I'll be back in a sec!"

The two watched her sashay away, before Hickory turned a sharp glare on John Dory. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," John hissed back, hackles up. "I can only assume you're here to kidnap that poor girl."

Hickory scrunched up his nose, placing his hands on his hips. "Kidnap is a pretty strong word, fish boy."

"It's accurate though, isn't it? That's what you do. Kidnap trolls and deliver them to whoever pays you the most coin. I heard all about you and your brother," he nodded towards the tall grass along the far side of the beach where he knew Dickory was hiding, "while I was out on the Neverglade trail. You two have quite the reputation."

Hickory snarled quietly under his breath, before sucking in a deep breath and slowly letting it out. "All right, fish boy," Hickory grunted, "What do you want?"

"I want you to leave this beach and that poor girl alone. I doubt she's done anything especially nefarious that would justify you and your brother dragging her away from her home."

"I can't do that," Hickory groaned, pushing his sunglasses up to rub at his eyes, "My brother would not like that."

John arched an eyebrow, an idea striking him as he reaching back to gently pat at Rhonda, who lifted her head with a curious trill. "Would your brother prefer it if I let Rhonda eat you, instead?"

Hickory blinked, quickly taking a step back as he eyed the armadillo bus, who stared right back at him. "What?!"

"You heard me. You can either take off, and haul your brother along with you, or I'll let Rhonda swallow you. She's eaten a few bigger critters out on the trail, so I know a troll wouldn't be much of an issue," John said, as Rhonda rose to her feet behind him and shook herself clean of the sand that clung to her carapace. He watched as Hickory eyed the critter, his demeanor quickly becoming more nervous and agitated. Of course John wouldn't really let Rhonda eat Hickory, though he did know she could. He'd just get her to store the bounty hunter in the weird pocket dimension trunk she'd developed over the last few months and drop him off somewhere in the woods. Not that he needed to know that, of course.

"You wouldn't," Hickory said with a shake of his head, swallowing thickly as a slow grin spread across John's face.

"Are you really willing to test those waters?"

Hickory looked between Rhonda and John once more, his gaze fleetingly darting off in the direction his brother was hidden, before finally settling back on John. "Fine. Fine! It's not like this was a big job, anyway. Just some rich arschloch who wanted a private, captive singer. We'll leave."

"Great," John hummed, his grin turning into a genuine smile. Even after Hickory had beaten him up a few years back, he really couldn't say he held a grudge against the other troll. As a matter of fact, he was growing just a little bit fond of the only troll that kept circling back into his life. Messing with him periodically was starting to be a bit like a game he got to play every couple years. "You know, this little game of kitty critter and mouse we've incidentally been playing over the last few years has, weirdly, been kind of fun. I hope you don't mind that I won this round." He offered Hickory his hand, at which the bounty hunter stared in mild confusion. "C'mon, man. You can't tell me you've never shook someone's hand before."

"…Not usually right after they've threatened to have their pet eat me," Hickory scoffed, though he did tentatively take John's hand.

"First time for everything, I suppose," John laughed.

"I guess that's true," Hickory hummed thoughtfully, gaze focused on their hands until he pulled his away. "You are a much more surprising, and dare I say tenacious troll than I gave you credit for, John Dory."

John's grin brightened considerably, another joyful little laugh escaping him. "Thanks! I'll take that as a compliment."

Hickory simply snorted quietly at that, a slight smile on his own face as John chuckled.

"Looks like you two had an excellent catch up," Aquata said merrily as she came trotting up to them with three cups in hand. She then offered Hickory and John each a cup of what looked to be fruit punch.

"It was pretty good, I think," John offered, shooting Hickory a cheeky wink, to which the bounty hunter simply rolled his eyes.

"Like, yeah, man. Wicked good," Hickory added, easily slipping into his laid back surfer persona. "But, like, totally bummer news. Johnny here reminded me of some family business I, like, totally forgot about. I'm gonna have to take off. Sorry, Aquata."

"Oh," the pastel troll seemed to deflate a little, though an understanding smile settled on her lips. "That's a drag, but I get it. You gotta do what you gotta do."

"Yeah. Maybe I'll catch you on the flip side," Hickory offered, handing his cup to John so he could tug Aquata into a quick hug. He then gave John a short nod, before turning and walking off into the beach grass where Dickory was hiding.

"So lame," Aquata sighed, rolling her cup back and forth between her hands, "He was gonna, like, take me on a trip to see Vibe City."

"I'm sure he's just as sad as you are that he can't take you there anymore," John consoled the pastel troll with an understanding frown, though inwardly he was quite pleased to have completely thwarted the yodelers mission. As well as, perhaps, come to some sort of understanding with Hickory. Or, at the very least, gotten more on his good side. Somewhat.

John hung around the little beach community for a good few months, both because he quite enjoyed the energy of the trolls that made their home there, but also to ensure that Hickory and Dickory were not planning on suddenly reappearing. Once he was well and truly certainly that Aquata was in no danger of being spirited away, John decided it was time to move on. He debated on visiting Volcano Rock City again, but ultimately decided he had his fill of socializing for a while, and headed back to the Neverglades to explore the trails once again.

Another year or two on the trails passed him by, with John eventually coming to realize that he'd been gone from the troll tree for roughly ten years. Far longer than he'd ever planned on, but time he felt was well spent, learning about the world at large and also about himself. Working out and past all of the issues that he'd let get so intricately wrapped around him that he'd lost sight of who he really was. He hoped that the time that had passed was long enough that his brothers would perhaps even forgive his past actions, and be at least somewhat happy to see him again.

And so, John Dory gathered as many supplies as he could fit into Rhonda, before taking off towards Bergen Town. He had hoped, over the years, that he'd hear news from one of the kingdoms he visited that the pop trolls had relocated somewhere outside the tree. That they'd somehow managed to escaped their prison. Unfortunately, no one had apparently seen any signs of other pop trolls until John Dory had come waltzing through. It didn't exactly fill him with joy to go back to his child hood home, knowing that his family had gone through so many Trollstices without him, all while he'd been galivanting around the world. But his grandma had always made sure they had the best possible hiding spot. Especially after what had happened to their parents.

He was sure they were fine.

Or, at least, that had been what he'd thought, right up until he scaled the wall of Bergen Town and spotted the decaying remains of the troll tree. His heart plummeted.

"No…"

Rhonda made concerned little churring sounds from where John left her near the base of the wall as the teal troll fell to his knees, but he quickly turned to shush her and tell her he'd be back as soon as he could.

Quickly, and as quietly as he could, he made his way through the town, making sure to stick to roof tops and shadows to keep any wayward Bergens from spotting him. Soon enough, he landed on the shriveled grass that surrounded the tree, dread and guilt rapidly filling his chest as he took in the carnage around the base of it. There wasn't a single soul anywhere to be seen, with pods laying shattered on the ground, scattered pieces strewn everywhere, alongside long rotted wooden carvings of what John assumed were supposed to be trolls. He hurried to scale the tree and ran to his grandmother's pod, hoping for some sort of sign or indication that his remaining family had somehow gotten out of this damnable place.

John was at least somewhat relieved to find his grandmother's pod still hanging securely amongst the branches, though the front door was limply hanging open, brokering no illusion that anyone was still living there. Gingerly, John crept towards the pod, not even conscience of the fact that he was holding his breath as he crossed the threshold.

The pod was a mess. Whatever had shaken the other pods from the tree had caused the cozy looking furniture to fall over, while any picture frames that had previously been hung on the walls lay scattered across the floor, the protective glass shattered into sharp shards. The thick layer of dust settled over every surface brought to sharp focus that whatever had happened to the tree had happened a long time ago, which only served to make the guilt in John's chest grow until he felt like he just might throw up. He should have been there to protect his little brothers. To make sure that whatever had befallen the tree didn't claim his family among the casualties.

Slowly, John picked his way through the pod, making his way to the bedroom he'd once shared with Spruce. Upon entering the room, he found it barely changed since the night he'd left. The beds were neatly made, as their grandmother always insisted, their posters were, surprisingly, still tacked up to the walls with little pins, and although any possessions that had once been on shelves and the dressers were scattered across the floor, John couldn't help but feel like he'd just stepped back in time. Seeing nothing of note that could tell him what had happened, he then moved on to the slightly larger bedroom that his three youngest brothers had shared.

What he found shocked him slightly. Where he'd been expecting a bunk bed and crib, he found a single toddler bed, and instead of two small desks crammed into opposite corners, he just found one, pushed up against the wall. He frowned as he approached the desk, finding childish little drawings that, frankly, didn't look like anything any of his brothers would've drawn. At least, not while he'd been around. The drawings were rough, like the artist had been pushing down on the crayons too hard. Simple little words like 'RUN', 'HIDE', and 'NO' were featured rather frequently throughout the drawings, while little figures that John assumed were trolls were being scooped into the mouths of what appeared to be Bergens. The drawings were dark, and frankly more than a little graphic and disturbing, as some of the crudely drawn trolls were being crushed between the teeth of the Bergens.

John felt tears welling in his eyes as he flipped through the plethora of drawings, a broken little sob escaping him as he came to a drawing at the very bottom of the stack, obviously from before all of the other scribbles, with a happy little blue signature that read 'Branch' across the bottom corner. Only two trolls were depicted in the drawing, labeled as 'Grandma' and 'Me'. The way Branch had drawn himself lead John to believe the sketch was from well after the band had broken up. There were no other drawings on the table, nor any scattered across the floor that depicted any of his brothers. It made John's heart twist in his chest. What had happened to his baby brother? And where were his other brothers when it had happened?

It was as John turned to leave the bedroom and explore the rest of the pod for clues that his heart stopped in his chest and all of the air left his lungs. There, carved into the wall and door of the bed room were the words 'THEY ARE GOING TO EAT US'.

It felt like the world was tipping as John fell to his knees in front of the display of complete and utter paranoia and despair that stood boldly in front of him. It was most likely that Branch had been the one to take a knife to the wall, since the lack of any other beds in the room and the drawings indicated he was the only one to dwell inside. But what had happened to their Grandmother? There was no way she would have let Branch near the knives, let alone take one to the wall and door. And if any of his other brothers had been around, surely they would have stopped him.

John's head spun, heaving as he emptied his stomach onto the floor of the bedroom, gagging as his body was wracked with shivers and tears fell down his cheeks in a torrent. His family - they had to be dead. It made so much sense, now, why not a soul in any of the kingdoms he'd travelled through had seen hide nor hair of another pop troll, besides him.

He didn't know how long he drifted around the pod in a daze after that, collecting up everything that wasn't broken or moldy into as many bags as he could feasibly carry. He then stumbled out of the pod, considerably less careful than he had been on his way up. But that didn't really appear to matter, as most of the Bergens roaming around the streets didn't seem to be looking for trolls. John vaguely thought that perhaps it had been so long since the troll tree had died that they didn't think there were any trolls left to even bother looking for.

Somehow, John made it back to Rhonda without being spotted, although he could barely recall the trip through Bergen town. She cooed at him worriedly, and he managed to scrape together enough wherewithal to give her a pat and tell her to head back towards the Neverglades, before he climbed inside. Once inside, he reverently set the bags of memories he'd collected down, crawled into his bed, and buried himself under a blanket. The near constant flow of tears had finally stopped, though where sadness and despair had only just had a chokehold on him, empty numbness had begun to take over. He felt like someone had pried open his chest and scooped out his heart, leaving him bereft.

After a time, though he truthfully wasn't sure how much, John could feel Rhonda come to a stop. Slowly, he dragged himself from the huddle of blankets he'd been bundled under and stumbled to the door, dehydration and lack of food making his head swim slightly. He'd definitely been cooped up in Rhonda longer than he'd intended. Which meant that the poor girl had been going for far longer than John Dory had ever driven her before. He felt a pang of guilt in his chest for his negligent behavior, and tumbled out the door, forgetting just how high it really was. John fell face first into the dirt, earning a churr of despair from Rhonda as she turned to watch her caretaker push himself up onto his knees. She turned to nuzzle at him, which John quickly returned, raising his arms to give her his best approximation of a hug.

"I'm sorry, baby girl," John murmured, the emptiness he'd been wallowing in slowly ebbing away to allow sadness to creep back in as he felt tears well in his eyes once more. "I'm so sorry. I promise I won't hole myself up like that again, okay? You deserve so many treats for being such a trooper." He hiccupped, a sob following shortly after. "I gotta make sure to take care of you. You're all I have left."

And take care of her, he did. She was a little worse for wear after having run what John would later figure out was nearly three days straight without stopping. He cleaned her up and made sure she had as many snacks and treats as she could eat, and let her rest where she'd stopped in the middle of the Neverglades for a week straight. Once he felt that Rhonda was well rewarded for dealing with his breakdown, he steered her to the nearest town and filled as many cupboards as he could with fermented juices, nectars, and barley. Anything and everything that he could get his hands on that would allow him to temporarily forget about his family and the state of the tree, when he wasn't taking care of Rhonda. Because as much as he wanted to drown himself in alcohol to forget what he'd seen, she needed him to take care of her, and he vowed not to fail another soul that relied on him.

Months passed before Johns supplies began to run low enough that he needed to venture back into a town to stock back up. Still feeling less than social, he decided to stick to the outskirts of most settlements, and avoided the larger cities all together. Rhonda seemed to love meeting new trolls who gushed over her, though, so John would stop in the little towns for a few days at a time so she could get her fill of social interaction. Meanwhile, John would fill his cupboards with whatever alcohol the town had to offer, and drink himself stupid, before the two would spend the next couple of weeks roaming the country side again.

It was during one of these spans between towns that John and Rhonda came across a little band of nomadic folk trolls, near the border of the desert where the country trolls lived and the forest that separated the rock kingdom from the others. The group was rag tag at best, their patchwork tents endearing in the way they were cobbled together in a multitude of materials and colors, while nearly every troll looked like they had rolled around in a meadow, with twigs and flowers sticking out of their hair that John could see even from a distance. Rhonda seemed especially interested in them, so John brought her to a stop near their encampment, and decided it was about time that he try to fill his social interaction quota once again. He was doing his best to get back into the swing of talking with other trolls again, but so far it hadn't exactly gone well.

"Hey there," he called to the camp, waving his arm above his head while trying his best to feign a smile.

Truly, the very last thing he'd been expecting was for a troll near the center of the camp to perk up at the sound of his voice and call back a confused, "John Dory?"

"Uh," John said rather eloquently, suddenly wishing he'd showered at some point in the last few days. He probably looked a mess and smelled just as unpleasant. The troll in question strode across the camp, John's eyes slowly widening as he took in the scruffy orange hair and beard of the familiar green troll he couldn't seem to stop running into. He didn't want to call the bounty hunters name, unsure as to what he'd even be doing with such a group. Surely a folk troll wouldn't fetch him much coin?

"What in the world are you doing here?" Hickory asked as he finally made it to John, a small frown on his face.

"Exploring," John offered bluntly with a small shrug, "What about you?"

"Trying to get away from my brother," Hickory replied with a shrug of his own, "You reek."

"Haven't showered in a few days," John sniffed, tugging absently at the bottom of his jacket. "What're you going by?"

Hickory scrunched his nose up and tilted his head, reminding John of a confused cuddle pup. "My name?"

"Yeah, but," John leaned in to Hickory's space, the bounty hunter gagging quietly at his smell as he did, "Can I call you Hickory? Or are you going by 'Reef' again?"

Hickory blinked, then snorted a quiet laugh, nodding his head slightly. "Oh, yeah, right. You can call me Silas. But, how about you go and take a shower, and then I'll introduce you to some of the group? You smell like you slept in a pile of garbage."

"Yeah, alright," John said, turning on his heel to head back into Rhonda. He did not miss the mildly concerned look Hickory shot him at his short, somewhat stilted answer. However, he really couldn't bring himself to care that much. Although he'd grown to think fondly of the bounty hunter over the years, they didn't really know each other. His apparent concern was appreciated, but John didn't really feel like he'd earned it.

John showered quickly, then took a moment as he dripped dry inside Rhonda to clean up a little. When Hickory had said he smelled like he slept in garbage, he hadn't really been that far off. Piles of food and drink containers had stacked up over time, and several dishes had been languishing in the sink, growing mold. John filled the sink with soapy water to let the dishes soak, and tossed all of the trash into a couple of bags to take out the next time he went through a town. Finally, he opened all of Rhonda's windows to let her air out, since her cabin was starting to smell a bit musty. It was while propping open her front window that he overheard who he assumed was Hickory talking to his baby girl.

"You're a good girl, aren't you? Does John Dory take good care of you? You certainly look nice and healthy. Would you eat me? No, you wouldn't. Noooo. You're too sweet for that."

John snorted into his hand at the babying voice the other troll was using on Rhonda, though it was obviously winning her over as she churred happily and audibly licked someone.

"Ah! Ew…Uh, thank you. I think," John heard the other troll say, mild disgust dripping from his tone, prompting the teal troll to slip back inside to stifle his laughter and get dressed.

Once he felt he was at least mildly presentable, he hopped back outside, finding Hickory covered head to toe in Rhonda's glittery spit, confirming that it had, indeed, been the bounty hunter talking to her while John was cleaning up.

"Making friends?" John teased, nodding towards the sparkly troll with a crooked little grin.

Hickory snorted, brushing glitter from his shoulder. "Trying to. I think I succeeded? She didn't eat me, at the very least."

"She might be marking you as prey," John offered, though he knew she definitely wasn't. She only licked people he liked.

"Well, isn't that a comforting thought," Hickory laughed, reaching out to wrap an arm around John's shoulders, effectively half covering him in drool as well.

"I thought the point of me going to take a shower was to get clean? Now I'm covered in slobber and glitter," John scoffed, following along with Hickory as the other troll began to steer him towards the camp.

"The shower was more to make you smell better. And you do! So now you have to suffer my glittery fate with me."

"That's fair," John said with a quiet laugh. He blinked at the sound as it left him, fairly certain it was the first time he'd actually, properly laughed since he'd gone back to the tree. He felt a little squeeze in his chest as he glanced at Hickory, who had an easy going little smile on his face as he lead John to a small group of trolls loitering by the camp fire.

John barely paid attention as he was introduced to several of the folk trolls, shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries on auto pilot. Finally, he was lead to a log set somewhat near the camp fire, just the right distance from everyone else meandering around the camp to be somewhat secluded. A bowl of stew was pushed into his hands as Hickory sat down next to him with a sigh.

"They seem friendly," John commented idly, before taking a sip of his stew and immediately perking up. "Wow! This is delicious."

"Thanks. I made it yesterday, so the flavor's gotten better. Wasn't as good then," Hickory said with an easy smile, "And, yeah. They're real nice. Took me in without asking a single question. I've been traveling with them for a few months now."

"Oh, yeah? And you promise you're not trying to snag one of these poor, unfortunate souls to sell to some high paying douchebag?"

Hickory sighed, swirling his stew idly in his bowl for a moment, before shaking his head. "I swear to you, I'm not. The last year or two of bounty hunting was just…It was getting to be too much. My brother was taking worse and worse jobs for us, and I was getting tired of the constant run around. I also realized one day that I really don't know who I am."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Every time you've met me, I've been someone different. In the early days I could at least still go by my own name here and there, but I don't think anyone but Dickory has called me 'Hickory' in years. I don't even know my own likes and dislikes at this point, having to change my personality to fit whatever persona my brothers come up with at the time. I wanted to figure out who I am, without Dickory breathing down my neck, or our job putting pressure on me."

John felt suddenly stricken at Hickory's response, memories of his own little brothers complaining about the parts he'd forced them to play flashing in his mind. The only one who'd never complained was Branch, but he was only a toddler, so that was to be expected. He had always just been happy to be included. Which then brought the realization to the forefront of his mind that Branch would only be fourteen this year. The same age as John had been when they'd started Brozone.

He hadn't even realized Hickory had continued talking until the sound of his voice suddenly stopped.

"…John?"

John startled slightly, his nearly untouched bowl of stew almost falling to the ground as he lifted his head. He blinked, feeling tears he hadn't registered catching on his eye lashes. "Sorry," he breathed, setting his bowl aside quickly and rubbing at his face. He took a couple of deep breaths, trying to ignore the way Hickory was looking at him. "I gotta…Sorry, I just remembered something," he floundered, yanking his goggles down over his eyes as he rose from his seat. He then quickly took off towards Rhonda, ignoring her worried trills as he ducked through her door.

Perhaps if he'd been paying more attention, he would've noticed Hickory following close behind as he went inside. Instead, he pulled open one of his cupboards, grabbed a stout bottle of the strongest liquor he'd managed to find in the last town they'd passed through, and began to unceremoniously chug it down.

"Woah there!"

The half empty bottle slipped from John's fingers as he jumped at the sound of Hickory's voice, mildly irritated with himself at being so easily startled twice in a row by the same troll in such a short amount of time. He turned to glare at Hickory, forgetting his goggles were obscuring half of his face. "What?!" he snapped, stooping to scoop the bottle off the floor and putting it back to his lips to finish off what was left.

"Look, I know we don't really know each other that well, but you have to understand that this is concerning behavior," Hickory stated, hesitantly reaching towards John, "You just suddenly ran off and started trying to drink yourself into oblivion. What happened?"

"None of your business," John hissed, finishing off the bottle and reaching for another. He knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, that Hickory really didn't deserve his terse behavior, but all he wanted to do right now was forget.

"Hey, now," Hickory stepped forward and placed his hand over the top of the new bottle, frowning lightly at John, "You have every right to tell me to leave, but you've got to know that I'm worried. I've seen trolls do some awful things to themselves over the years, and drinking themselves to death isn't really that uncommon, or fun to watch. Believe it or not, you've been one of the only trolls I've managed to run into more than once over the years that didn't have anything to do with my work, so I've grown kind of partial to the idea of getting to run into you more. C'mon, John Dory. Talk to me."

John sniffed, tugging the bottle away from Hickory's hand to take a swig, though he didn't try to upend the bottle like he had the last one. After a moment he let out a slow breath, shoving his goggles back up into his hair to reveal his watery, red rimmed eyes. "You reminded me of my brother."

"And that made you need to drink an entire bottle of fermented nectar?" Hickory asked, taking a step back from John, now that he was less worried he was going to dump another bottle down his throat.

"Yeah. It did," John sighed, shortly followed by a sardonic little laugh. He gestured for Hickory to follow him over to the couch, flopping himself down onto it as he took another swig of his drink. He watched idly, tears slowly dripping down his cheeks, as Hickory gingerly settled himself down on the couch next to him. "My youngest brother would be fourteen now," he stated, as though it wasn't out of left field and a rather confusing thing to mention, given the situation.

"Good for him?" Hickory offered, shooting John a confused look.

John gave another hollow laugh, shaking his head as he sipped at his drink. "He's dead."

Hickory reeled back in surprise as if he'd been slapped, one hand going to his chest, while the other moved to hover in the air over John's shoulder. "Oh. I'm so sorry," he breathed, obviously not quite sure what to do with himself now.

"Yeah…I finally decided to go back home. It'd been ten years, y'know? I'd been running from my responsibilities for a long time. So I tried to go back, but…no one was there," John paused to swallow down more of his drink, the liquor just starting to make his head go a little bit fuzzy, "Not a single soul was anywhere. The tree I grew up in was rotting from the inside out, and our pod was in shambles. I thought, for just a minute, that maybe my family had escaped, or run away, but then I found-" he choked on tears, covering his mouth to stifle a sob.

"It's okay, John Dory," Hickory said softly, letting his hand settle on John's back to rub gentle little circles there, "Let it out."

A moment passed before John managed to suck air back into his lungs, coughing quietly as he struggled to get the next words out. "My youngest brother, he was only four when I left. I found drawings of his on a desk. They were so fucked up," he wheezed, tipping the bottle back into his mouth once again. He hiccupped and shook his head as he continued, "Drawings of trolls getting eaten. And then I found words carved into the wall. There's no way, if anyone was around, they'd let him do that. My baby brother had to have been left all alone, before he probably got eaten, too." Another broken sob ripped itself from his chest as he doubled over his knees, clinging to the bottle in his hands like his life depended on it. He barely even registered Hickory still rubbing at his back and murmuring quiet little reassurances at him. "I should've been there," he finally wailed, sitting up and turning a wild look on Hickory, who sat back in surprise, "If I'd been there, maybe I could've done something. Maybe we could've escaped together, and-and…I don't know." He slumped back down, the bottle slipping from his fingers, allowing him to bury his face in his hands.

A few minutes passed, before he finally registered the feeling of fingers carding through his hair. Slowly, he lifted his head to find Hickory giving him the most sympathetic look he could muster through his stupid scruffy beard, his fingers gently combing along John's scalp before slipping through his hair. John wiped at his face, sitting himself up and somewhat lamenting the loss of Hickory's fingers as the bounty hunter tucked his hands back into his lap.

"Feeling any better now?" Hickory asked quietly, watching as John pulled his goggles off his head and tossed them aside.

"Got a bit of a headache," John admitted, rubbing at his forehead.

"That'll happen when you drink around a bottle and a half of booze, then cry your eyes out, without eating," Hickory said with a sad little laugh, watching John intently.

"Yeah," John sighed, grabbing a random rag from the floor to blow his nose, ignoring the way Hickory scrunched his face up at the action.

"Have you been doing this a lot? Drinking yourself silly when you think about your brother?"

"Brothers," John corrected idly, tossing the rag towards the rough proximity of his garbage can, "I had four younger brothers."

"I'm sorry…but that doesn't answer my question."

John sighed, rubbing at his eyes, noting that his vision swam minutely at the action. Apparently he'd managed to drink a bit more than he'd thought. He grunted quietly, shifting to sit back on the couch and stare up at the ceiling. "For the last few months, yeah. I ran away from my family when they needed me most, and they all died before I could get the chance to make anything right. You can't blame me for not wanting to think about that. Booze helps."

Hickory shifted on the couch next to him, making a quiet humming sound. "I get wanting to drown your sorrows, I do. I've done it once or twice. But, I can tell you from experience, it'll only make things so much worse in the long run."

"Pretty sure you're younger than me," John muttered idly, tilting his head so he could watch the bounty hunter from the corner of his eye, "Shouldn't I be the one giving you sage advice?"

Hickory chuckled, combing his fingers through his wild, foliage filled locks, a few leaves cascading down to settle on John's couch. "Probably. Got any advice for someone currently running from their family?"

"Try giving them a chance," John sighed, reaching out to take Hickory's hand in his own. "You never know how much time you have left with them."

Hickory watched John with a pitying sort of expression for a moment, before giving a small nod. "Yeah, okay. I guess I can give my brother another shot."

John simply nodded, a sad smile on his face, before he tipped his head back and let his eyes slip shut. The two of them sat together on the couch with their hands entwined for quite a while, until someone came knocking on Rhonda's door looking for 'Silas'. Slowly, Hickory extracted his hand from John's and got up from the couch, the teal troll watching through half lidded eyes as he walked towards the door.

"I'll see you in the morning, John Dory," Hickory said as he got to the door, before disappearing through it.

John didn't stay until morning.

Once night fell, and all of the trolls in the camp were asleep, John crept through the tents until he found where Hickory was sleeping. As stealthily as he could, he tucked a small note under the edge of the bounty hunters pillow, simply stating 'Thanks for listening - JD', before sneaking off.

Back at Rhonda, he quietly urged her to move, leading her away from the camp, before climbing aboard and driving her away. As much as he appreciated Hickory offering an understanding ear, he didn't think he could really face him come morning. Or anytime soon, really. These burdens were his to bear, and it really wasn't fair of him to dump them on Hickory, who had his own issues to deal with.

And so, John spent the next several years roaming around anywhere and everywhere that Rhonda could go, trying to get a handle on his sorrow and work on being himself again, while also actively avoiding any green trolls with orange hair that he happened to spot. Something deep in his chest yearned to try and find Hickory again after that fateful evening spent in companionable silence, but he just couldn't bring himself to face the other troll until he could truthfully, and with his whole chest, say that he was doing okay again. And, perhaps then, they could actually start to properly get to know each other.

Everything seemed to finally be working out for John Dory, nearly ten years after discovering the troll tree in shambles. He managed to get himself sober, he was taking care of himself and Rhonda, and he was finally having fun travelling again. At least, he'd thought everything was going well, until one day while driving Rhonda through the funk troll territory and humming along to the radio, he suddenly felt like all of the joy was sucked out of him. He gasped at the jarring sensation and slammed on Rhonda's breaks, watching his hands on the wheel as they turned grey.

"What?" he murmured to himself, his heart jumping into his throat in a panic at the sight of his grey fur. He'd heard stories, when he was a child, about trolls turning grey, but he'd never actually seen it. He'd always chalked it up to being some sort of cautionary tale, especially after he'd fallen so far into the pits of despair all those years ago and had only ever dimmed in color.

He jumped from the drivers seat and hurried to look at himself in the bathroom mirror, finding what looked to be a ghost of himself staring back. He gingerly touched his face, feeling tears starting to well in his eyes, before he heard something on the radio. Someone declaring that the queen of pop had caused all trolls to lose their music. But that couldn't be right. All of the pop trolls were supposed to be dead.

But then something else came on the radio. Something that wasn't quite music, but had a bit of a beat to it. John all but ran to the radio to turn it up, listening as beat boxing, clapping and odd techno sounds soon changed to a single, clear voice singing a slow, but hopeful tune, which was shortly joined by a second. One that was distinctly older, but John could recognize any of his brothers singing voices.

"…Branch?"

John cranked up the radio even further and hopped back into the drivers seat, steering Rhonda towards where the radio station was broadcasting, all previous worries about his grey fur going out the window at the prospect of his baby brother being alive. He barely even registered when his colors came back, too focused on the prospect of seeing any of his family again.

It took longer than John would have liked to get to the rock troll kingdom. The drive typically took a handful of days, but with the right route and treats for Rhonda, he figured they could make it in roughly three. However, on the way, he found a rather startling note taped to his door. The signature said it was from Floyd, but it obviously wasn't, as his hand writing wasn't nearly so fancy. The note changed things, though. It made John realize that he'd wasted so much time wallowing in guilt ridden sorrow, when he could have been out looking for his brothers. And now, with the dire nature of Floyd's note, he'd have to put his plans to find Branch on hold until he figured out if his second youngest brother was truly in danger.

Mount Rageous was not a place John had ever explored before, given how much larger the inhabitants were in comparison to trolls. But he'd gone and found Floyd, trapped just like the note had said.

When breaking the bottle proved to be impossible, and Floyd brought up the perfect family harmony, John was hesitant. Not in saving his brother, of course, but to the idea of presenting the thing that shattered their family apart as the only way to rescue Floyd to their brothers. Not to mention, he still had no idea if Clay and Spruce were even alive, or where they might be if they were. But he agreed, and left Floyd to go and collect his brothers.

Now he really needed to find Branch.

Finding his baby brother had sent John's heart soaring to the moon. Getting him on board to help save Floyd brought him back down to earth. The itching feeling slowly crawling up his spine as they stood amongst a crowd of Bergens made him feel like crawling into a hole. But eventually, and with much cajoling from Poppy, Branch agreed and John steered Rhonda as quickly as he could away from Bergen Town and off in search of his remaining brothers.

Finding and convincing Spruce and Clay to join in their rescue mission had been tedious, but thankfully successful. John had his family back! All of his brothers were alive and well (for the most part). Sure, they'd fought, with John falling back into terrible old habits, almost breaking them apart yet again, but they were alive. Though he'd just about had a heart attack when Floyd nearly died in front of his eyes, even after they managed to pull off the perfect family harmony. But, somehow, they'd brought him back from the brink and John's heart hadn't felt so full in years, even despite the heart breaking news of his grandmothers death.

Eventually, his brothers did have to go back to their own lives. Reluctantly, after spending a few weeks in Pop Village (HOW had he never found it?!) while Floyd recovered from the worst of his injuries, John drove Bruce and Clay back to their respective homes. He then debated on staying out in the wilderness with Rhonda for a bit, before ultimately deciding that the best place he could be was in Pop Village, offering any help and support he could to his two youngest brothers.

Upon returning to Pop Village, he was surprised to find Hickory, of all trolls, chatting up with the Queen of Pop and his youngest brother. After the initial burst of joy he had at seeing the other troll after so long, knowing he could finally tell him how much their last talk had meant to him, he quickly became suspicious. Hickory was decked out in a cowboy hat and jeans. Certainly not what a yodeler would be wearing. The last time John had spotted the bounty hunter through a crowd a few years back, he'd been wearing lederhosen and a stupid little hat that John had immediately hated. It made John worry that Hickory had been dragged back into working with his brother, and that Branch or Poppy could be in danger. He hoped with every fiber of his being that that wasn't the case, but he had to be sure.

"Hickory!" John shouted as he jogged towards the trio. Unlike the last time John had approached the bounty hunter, he had no qualms in calling his name. If he was trying to trick the queen and his brother, he wanted that out in the open immediately. Even if it meant he'd have to save Hickory from the pop trolls, instead of the other way around.

Luckily, though, instead of panic or anger at his name being called, Hickory perked up and grinned widely upon seeing John approach. He lifted a hand in a wave, stepping forward eagerly as John came to a stop in front of them. "John Dory," Hickory said with a laugh, pulling the teal troll into a friendly hug, "If it ain't my fishy friend! It's been a dogs age."

John had to keep himself from melting into the hug, overjoyed that someone would be so happy to see him. The cold shoulders he'd received from his brothers had nearly broken his heart. Reluctantly, he pulled away from Hickory with an awkward laugh as Branch's voice asking, "Fishy friend?" caught his attention.

"Because he's named after a fish," Hickory offered, turning to Branch with a grin. "Call it a bit of a runnin' joke between us."

"I can't believe you know John Dory," Poppy chirped next to him, "What a small world! How did you two meet?"

It was Hickory's turn to look awkward, as John let a wicked grin split his face. "Hickory tried to fleece me at poker."

"Well," Hickory was quick to cut in, rubbing at the back of his neck bashfully, "I feel like that's a bit of an oversimplification of what happened."

"Is it, though?" John snorted a laugh, enjoying the way Poppy giggled behind her hand at Hickory's obvious discomfort with how bluntly John described their first meeting. "As I recall, you were pretty confident that you'd be able to beat me. And then when you couldn't, you starting using cards tucked up your sleeve."

Hickory flushed, letting a stilted little cough escape him as he scuffed his heel on the ground. "I was just gettin' the hang of the whole gamblin' thing," he offered in way of explanation, but John wasn't having any of that.

"And the whole swindling thing, too, apparently," John added, folding his arms over his chest.

"I'm having a hard time believing that John, of all trolls, beat you at poker," Branch cut in with a snort, arching an eyebrow as he looked between the two.

"Grandma taught me Rummy before you were hatched," John said with a light laugh, reaching over to ruffle Branch's hair, much to the younger trolls chagrin, "I'm great at poker."

John couldn't help but notice the way Hickory was looking between him and Branch, seemingly completely bewildered at their interaction as his little brother shoved him away. John was tempted to let Hickory stew in his curiosity for a while, but was far too elated at being able to share his news with the other to bother trying to be coy. "He's my little brother," John said, realization dawning on Hickory's face, quickly followed by joy.

"That's fantastic!" Hickory crowed, yanking John into another hug, much to Poppy and Branch's blatant confusion, "I'm so happy for you!"

"Yeah," John laughed, squeezing Hickory back happily, before pulling away, "All of my brothers survived! My second youngest brother, Floyd, he's also in town right now. I just got back from taking the other two back home. They're all spread out, but they're alive."

"I, uhm, think it might be best if we let you two catch up for a bit?" Poppy interjected, leaning in towards where John and Hickory where practically huddled together.

"Oh! Excuse my manners, Miss Poppy," Hickory offered, sweeping his hat off his head and looking contrite, "That was mighty rude of me."

"Not at all," Poppy waved her hands in front of herself, smiling brightly, "I'm really happy to see you two reunite! You obviously have some catching up to do, so we'll just meet up with you again later, yeah?"

"That's mighty kind of ya," Hickory said, placing his hat back on his head, "I'll come an' find ya when we're done chattin'. How's that sound?"

"Sounds great," Poppy hummed, taking Branch's hand and tugging him away, even as he protested against leaving the two behind when he had questions, "Have fun!"

"We will," John called after them, waving until the royal couple were out of sight, before arching an eyebrow at Hickory. "Okay, spill. What's the cowboy get up for, and who are you after? I thought you were done with bounty hunting?"

Hickory blinked in mild surprise as John immediately launched into an interrogation, before chuckling quietly. "I am all done with huntin'," he sighed, wrapping an arm around John's shoulders and steering him towards the market, "Took a real long time, but I got out. I've got Poppy an' Branch to thank for that. In return, Miss Poppy asked that I visit Pop Village at least once a month to check in, an' make sure everythin' is still hunky dory. Mostly 'cause my brother wasn't too keen on me steppin' away again."

"So…you did find him again? After the folk trolls?" John asked, letting Hickory lead him to a set of table and chairs, outside a little cafe.

"Sure did," Hickory hummed, gesturing for John to wait as he trotted over to the counter and quickly placed an order. When he returned it was with two milkshakes in hand. He then sat across from John and slid one of the glasses across the table to him. "Picked up a real sweet tooth, hangin' out with Miss Poppy," he explained as John arched a perplexed eyebrow at the shake, "But, anyhow…yeah. After you vanished on me- thanks for the note, by the way- I kept to my word, an' went to go find Dickory. Didn't take too long, since apparently he'd been trackin' me. I told 'im I didn't wanna do huntin' no more, but he wasn't havin' any of that. Got real uppity with me, an' we had a pretty big fight. He apologized, but still didn't get out of huntin'. I spent the last nine or ten years bouncin' back an' forth like a yo-yo, tryin' to get out of the business. But then Queen Barb hired us to capture the Queen of Pop, an', well…here we are."

"So," John drew out the 'O' sound, his fingers curled absently around the cool glass of the milkshake, "That doesn't really explain why you're still in disguise."

Hickory let out a guffaw, shaking his head slightly. "Ain't no disguise. I spent a good bit of time with the country trolls, an' I finally figured out who 'Hickory' is. He ain't no bounty huntin' yodeler. He's a pretty laid back country troll, if I do say so myself. Which I do."

John felt a pleased little smile settle on his face as he reached across the table to place his hand over Hickory's. "I'm really happy you got to figure yourself out. And that you get to be yourself. And I'm sorry your brother never let you, before. Speaking as a bad older brother, myself, he never should've done that to you."

"I appreciate that," Hickory hummed, turning his hand over to give John's a gentle squeeze. "Now…tell me, where'd you run off to in the middle of the night, an' what've ya been up to since I last saw ya?"

John laughed heartily, drawing his hand away from Hickory to lean back in his chair. "I didn't really run off to anywhere in particular, honestly. I just didn't want to pile all of my baggage on top of what you were already dealing with. I just wound up back in the Neverglades. I sort of wished I'd stayed, though."

"Oh, yeah? Why's that? Picked up a taste for folk music?"

"No," John snorted, idly stirring his milkshake with his straw, "I should've stayed for you. I was only thinking about myself, but you probably could've used someone who actually knew who you were around, I'm sure. Plus, maybe then I could've helped you get away from bounty hunting sooner. Or, maybe-" John froze as Hickory reached across the table to flick him gently in the nose.

"Hey, now. Ain't no reason to go dwellin' on things we can't change," the ex-bounty hunter said with an easy smile.

John chuckled, tilting his head slightly with a smile of his own. "Yeah, but the past defines who we are. So, it's kind of important," he echoed his past self, causing Hickory to roll his eyes with a snort.

"That may be true, but what's really important are the decisions we make now. That way we can make sure that our future selves don't have no regrets about their past."

"You got so wise in your old age," John teased, propping his chin in his hand as he took a sip of his milkshake.

"You're one to talk, old man," Hickory shot back with a grin.

They sat in companionable silence for a while, enjoying their milkshakes, before an idea struck John and he reached across the table to flick Hickory in the nose, both for retaliation for earlier, and to catch the country trolls attention.

"May I help you?" Hickory laughed, rubbing at his nose.

"Yeah, actually. I was just thinking-"

"Don't hurt yerself."

"Shut up. I was thinking, if you come by Pop Village once a month to visit Poppy, where do you stay?"

Hickory frowned slightly, but shrugged. "Around. Usually someone's willin' to put me up for a night or two."

"Well, why don't you come stay with me?" John asked, drumming his fingers absently across the table. "Rhonda's even bigger than the last time you saw her. It'd be nice to actually get to know each other properly. And, y'know, see one another more frequently than every few years."

A slow smirk curled Hickory's lips as he steepled his hands in front of himself and leaned his chin on his fingers. "Why, John Dory," he hummed, "Are you asking me out on a standin' date?"

"What? No!" John sat back, nearly falling out of his chair in his haste, "I just thought it'd be nice! You can say no, if you think it'd be weird."

Hickory's expression softened as he dropped his hands back down to the table. "Never said I was opposed," he hummed, taking a sip of his milkshake, "I think that's a right fine idea. I usually come mid month, every month. It's when Miss Poppy has the most free time, in between all of the crazy holidays the pop trolls have."

"Great," John said, absently rubbing at one of his blatantly flushed cheeks before chugging down half his milkshake in one go. He let out a little breath as he set the glass down, glancing at Hickory who was simply watching him with a tender little smile. "It…it's a date, then."

For the next six months, Hickory arrived in Pop Village every month, just as he'd said he would, and spent the day with Poppy and Branch, catching up and gossiping about the goings on between Lonesome Flats and the village. He would then meander to where Rhonda parked at night, and spend the evening with John, swapping stories about anything and everything they had done in the years they hadn't seen each other, and generally getting to know one another. Frequently, Hickory would bring little gifts for John; simple little knickknacks or art he found and thought the teal troll would like, while John always made sure the food and snacks he had on hand for Hickory's visits were exclusively things the ex-bounty hunter declared were his favorites, or things he'd casually mentioned that he wanted to try. Both were always pleasantly surprised by the fact that the other had thought of them while they were apart.

And then one night, quite unexpectedly, Hickory slumped into John's lap while they'd been watching a movie, quiet little snores escaping him, and John felt his heart skip a beat in his chest. He'd never expected to develop feelings for the troll that had once punched him so hard that he passed out, but here he was, his face flushed the darkest teal it had ever been as he shakily let his fingers card through curly orange locks. He swallowed thickly, not letting a thought pass through his mind as he quietly whispered, barely audible above the movie, "I think I love you."

When the movie ended, Hickory woke with an undignified snort, earning a quiet laugh from John. "Have a good nap?"

"Yeah," Hickory grunted, sitting up and rubbing at his face, "Had a weird dream, though."

"Oh, yeah? Care to share?"

Hickory stretched his arms above his head, letting out a quiet groan, before turning to John with a curious little look. Hesitantly, he reached out and took John's hands in his own, brushing his thumbs gently over them. John simply watched him, slightly perplexed at the fact that Hickory was just staring at their hands, anxiety clearly growing in the ex-bounty hunter as his shoulders slowly started to creep up towards his ears and his expression began to scrunch up.

"Hey," John tried to soothe, tilting his head to try and catch Hickory's eye, "If it makes you uncomfortable, you don't have to tell me. I was just teasing."

"I know," Hickory was quick to reassure, lifting his gaze to meet John's eye, "I'm just pretty sure it wasn't really a dream. But, I can't be sure, an' I don't wanna freak you out."

John blinked, a tiny frown on his face, until it dawned on him what Hickory could be talking about. Slowly, he extracted his hands from Hickory's, ignoring the near inaudible noise of protest that left the ex-bounty hunter as he did it. Gently, and with mild trepidation, he cupped Hickory's face in his hands, doing his best to swallow down his nerves. "You can totally punch me, if this is out of line, okay?" he said, smiling crookedly at the way Hickory shook his head quickly at the offer. He then leaned forward and pressed his lips to Hickory's, taking mild satisfaction at the surprised, but pleased little sound the country troll made.

When John pulled away he licked his lips and quirked an eyebrow at Hickory, who looked a little dazed. "Was that…was that okay?" he asked, his thumb absently stroking along Hickory's cheek bone.

"Hooweee," was Hickory's only response for a minute, his gaze slightly unfocused as he lifted his hands to hold John's to his face. "Oh, uh…yeah. Yeah, that was great," he finally said, blinking to focus on John with a dopey little smile on his face. "I think I love you, too, by the way."

[anonymous-rendezvous]

Dancing in Red

❤️ Vox Akuma x GN!Reader

✦ — Written by Mod S 👿. Beta Read and Edited by Mod I ✨.

✧ — Contains: Established Relationship, fluff, NSFW 🔞, semi vanilla, light dirty talk, & multiple rounds

✦ — Word count: 13k+ | Ao3

Intimate moments with your demon lover, Vox Akuma, weren’t far between. Him being as affectionate of an individual as he is. The two of you have been dating for a while, yet you haven’t tried taking anything further in your relationship. That may change when you ask to visit his home for the first time.

Mod S 👿: There needs to be more soft Vox, so I’ve taken matters into my own hands. Enjoy this 13k mountain of softness and smut.

Reference for his room, and we semi-reference the first few minutes of his first date scenario.

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

The trees and scenery around you passed in a blur as you drove down the long road. “Come on, me.” Your grip tightened around the steering wheel. “Don’t be so nervous. Your boyfriend has invited you over to his house for the first time. No need to panic.” It took a few moments before your own words seemed to process in your head. “Oh god–” Your eyes widened and your breath caught in your throat. “I’m going over to his house for the first time!” Quickly and carefully, you pull over to the side of the road, putting the car into park so you could get your breathing under control. Once you start to calm down, you can’t help but chuckle at yourself. Putting the car back into drive, you continued on your way.

Although slightly ridiculous, you felt valid in your feelings of nervousness.

Vox Akuma, voice demon and clan leader of the former Akuma clan, was your boyfriend. As fierce as he is as a demon, he still manages to maintain an incredibly soft and comforting demeanor. Always the first to give encouraging words to those he cares about. When you think about it, it was truly inevitable that you’d fallen for him all those months ago.

The previous times the two of you had spent time together, it was either out in public or in the comfort of your own home. When you had questioned him about it, the demon had explained that he’d wanted you to be comfortable and feel safe when you were together. As a result, you had never visited his home before; waiting till he knew you’d be comfortable. It hadn’t been until last week when you breached the subject that he knew for sure. Asking if he would be okay with you finally gracing his home. Vox seemed ecstatic at the idea, giving you a designated hour and everything. Said he needed time to make his house as welcoming as possible for you. The concept was incredibly sweet, which only caused the butterflies in your stomach to double.

You took in one final deep breath as you watched his house come into view. Even from a distance, you could tell the building was very intricate on the outside. A large garden encompassing the front with a lovely bench placed on his front porch. It was very traditional Japanese in appearance. Which made sense, of course, with him originally hailing from Japan. Though you still couldn’t help but think it was immensely fitting. Parking your vehicle in the driveway, you text Vox about your arrival. Sliding your phone back into your pocket and exit the car, locking it as you make your way up to the front door.

As you approach the door, your hand raises, fully prepared to knock when the door suddenly opens. Your eyes widen slightly as you watch your demon lover casually lean against the door frame; almost like he had been waiting for you. A gentle smirk tugged at the corners of his lips, eyes dancing with delight. “Hello love, I hope the drive here wasn’t too hectic.” His voice was deep and smooth like always, but there was a sweetness in his tone that he reserved only for you. Vox opens the door wider, stepping aside so you have room to enter his home.

The surprise melts away quickly as you offer him a smile, shaking your head fondly. “It was a pleasant drive, actually. The forest on the way here is very pretty.” You stepped inside as you spoke. After shutting the door, he helped you remove your coat, hanging it on the coatrack beside the door. Slipping your shoes off before setting them away, out of the way next to the door as he responds.

“I’m glad it wasn’t a hassle. I admit, one reason I was hesitant to invite you is because my home is fairly out of the way.” He reached out to place his hand gently on your arm, silently asking you to follow him. You give him another smile in silent acceptance, allowing him to guide you further into his home as you continue to converse.

“Well, since you make the effort to come all the way to my house, I should make the effort to come to see you as well. It’s a two-way street Vox.” He smiled at you so warmly that you swear you felt the heat radiate onto your face. Or maybe that was just you getting flustered. Unable to hold his gaze, you look away bashfully. Vox can’t help but chuckle at your reaction. He had merely smiled at you and you were already embarrassed. ‘Utterly adorable,’ he thought to himself.

However, instead of teasing you about it, as he typically would, he just leads you to his living room. As this was your first time here, you couldn’t help but let your eyes wander, taking in all the furniture and decor. It wasn’t long before you noticed that he had two mugs, presumably with tea, sitting out on the coffee table. Ready for both your enjoyment as they steamed lightly. What truly caught your eye, though, was the controllers next to them.

Unable to help yourself, you playfully roll your eyes. “I didn’t think you were gonna invite me over just to kick my ass, babe.” Your lips twitch as you attempt not to smile, keeping your fax seriousness. “That’s pretty ruthless.”

Vox pauses before chuckling, shifting his hand from your arm to lightly pat your shoulder. “It’s only me kicking your ass if you suck today~,” He only laughs harder as you turn to pout at him.

“You’re lucky I like you.” You grumble, lightly smacking his arm.

“Yes, I’m very lucky indeed.” He leaned over to plant a small peck on your temple. His giggling picks back up when you make a sound equivalent to a keyboard smashing. With an embarrassed huff, you quickly stride toward the couch and drop down on it. God, he can be so infuriating. This can’t be good for your heart. As you reach for one mug, Vox takes a seat beside you, making himself comfortable. He picks up his mug, taking a drink before speaking again. “Don’t worry about being bad at any of the games we’re playing.” He takes another sip before looking over at you with a teasing smirk. “If I really wanted to teach you a lesson, I’d have put in ‘Smash’.” He sets his mug back down on the table before picking up the controllers.

Setting your mug down, you accept the controller he offers to you. “If you did, I would think I had done something wrong.” Both of you laugh at that. As he gets the system set up, you take the opportunity to settle further into the couch. With a tilt of your head, you watch him for a moment before asking, “So… what are we playing? We rarely play co-op games.” 

Before he could answer, the game popped up on the screen. ‘Clubhouse Games’. A decent collection of some classic games. Vox leans back with you, slightly scooting closer to you as he did. “I’ll let you pick the games. I just want you to have fun while you're over here.” You couldn’t help the way your expression softens, yet another smile tugging at your lips. He was so sweet. Even when he teases you, he wants to make sure that you were still having a good time. Not that this was abnormal behavior for your boyfriend. No matter how much he teased, taunted, or egged on those he was close to, he never wanted to push to a point where any of you were genuinely not enjoying yourselves. Not for the first time, the nagging thought prodded at your subconscious that you had yet to find a way to repay him for all the kindness he has shared with you.

Though knowing the demon as you do, he’d likely say your company was repayment enough. Some way or another, you would still find a way to return his love in full.

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

Time passes quickly as the two of you have fun. Neither of you realize how late it was getting; the room getting darker as evening crept around the corner. Your only indication of the time is when your phone alarm sounds, causing the two of you to pause. You finish stretching before leaning down to retrieve your phone. Sitting in the same position for so long has started to cause your back to ache. It’s only when reading the time on the alarm that you realize how late it’s gotten. “Oh, crap…” You had set an alarm reminder for when you should probably leave. You still had a work-related project to finish. Even though there was still a lot of time before it was due to turn in, you wanted to finish it quickly so you could spend your time on other things. Turning off the alarm, you couldn’t help but feel this sinking sensation in your heart. ‘I… I don’t want to leave yet…’ you thought with a sigh. A warm hand resting on your shoulder snaps you out of your thoughts.

“Everything okay, love? Is it for something important?” His golden eyes were warm, yet you could tell he was thinking the same as you. Vox didn’t want you to leave either, which only made the decision to leave harder.

“It’s fine. I had set that for a work thingy. So I should… probably go soon. I still gotta cook something for dinner and then–” The more you thought about work, the tenser you got. You had so much to do and, jeez, you just did not want to do it. Not today. Why did you constantly try to make yourself as busy as possible?

Vox could feel the way your shoulders tensed beneath his hand. Shifting his hand from your shoulder to your arm, he began rubbing gentle circles with his thumb. “My dear, you know better than anyone that I can make you dinner. Not an issue at all. Plus, if I’m being frank with you…” He pauses for a moment before continuing, “I don’t want you to depart just yet. And,” he brought his other hand up to caress your chin, gently coaxing you to look at him, “I don’t think you want to either.”

Your lips trembled slightly as a lump formed in your throat. Exhaling, you avert your eyes from him. “Your way too good at reading me,” you sigh, albeit fondly, “but yeah I… I don’t wanna go. Not yet. I mean, I gotta milk how comfy your furniture is before I leave.” You joke in hopes of stopping the butterflies ever-rising in your stomach from how naturally romantic he is. His gaze was already fairly intense on a normal basis – maybe that just comes with being a demon – but it always caused you to feel a mixture of emotions.

Vox smiles and removes his hands from you, turning to collect your mugs. As he stands from the couch, he lingers, tilting his head as he looks over at you. “You know,” He seems to hesitate for a second, wetting his lips before continuing, “I wouldn’t mind you staying the night. Like I said earlier, my house is fairly out of the way. I don’t want you stressing yourself while driving so far when it’s pitch black.” There's a slight shift in his expression. His eyes lidded as his lips quirked in a faint smirk. “My bed is enormous enough for two.” His tone shifted with his last sentence. If you had thought longer on it, you likely would have caught on to the implications of his words. Yet, you were too worried about inconveniencing him to pick up on it.

“Oh Vox, I couldn’t–I don’t want to–” He gently interrupts before you could speak any further.

“Love, it’s okay. If it was inconvenient, I would just drive you home myself. I’m okay with you staying in my home.” Mouth opening and closing a few times, you can’t think of a solid argument. You huff, unable to stop yourself from pouting up at him. The demon chuckled at your expression, eyes filled with love. “If you’d like–” he gestures towards the corridor– “you can go rummage through my closet for some clothes to sleep in. I’ll get started on a quick meal for us.” Still unable to verbally respond, you give him a nod before scurrying your way to his room.

Though not even a second later, you re-entered the room. “Umm… which one is your room?” The laughter that pulled from Vox was boisterous. Once he gives you the directions, you make a hasty retreat.

As soon as you reach the room, you can’t help but stare in awe. It was a very beautiful, somewhat traditional, room. The floor was covered in a nice dark wood that reflected the few beams of sunlight that managed to sneak in with the setting sun. Your eyes can’t help but travel to the slightly elevated part of the room where a large pristinely made bed sat, tatami mats covering the surrounding floor, sliding doors able to hide the area from view. Taking a deep breath, you noted the scent of lavender and leather was much more prominent here than throughout the rest of the house. The sophisticated state of his room caused you to feel a twang of embarrassment over the times he’d seen your room in its occasional hazardous state.

Shaking the thought away, you maneuver your way toward Vox’s closet and drawers. Finding a fair-sized red hoodie and some shorts that were adjustable by a drawstring you could wear. Moving to his bathroom, you quickly change your clothes. Folding up your clothes, you set them aside on the counter before moving on to wash up. Once finished, you head back out to meet Vox in his dining room, where he was already serving the two of you dinner.

Sensing your arrival, golden eyes flicker up to greet you. However, it takes him a solid moment and a double-take before he fully takes you in. His eyes slowly trail over your body. Seeing you in his clothes affected him in a way he hadn’t truly prepared for. It wasn’t even in a lustful way. Seeing you move around his home, in his clothes as he prepared a meal for you… it felt so utterly domestic and his heart swelled with love. ‘Someday,’ he told himself, pushing those thoughts back for now. But someday? He would love nothing more than to make this permanent.

Blinking himself out of the slight daze he’d fallen into, he realized you were still standing in the doorway, shifting on your feet. His staring made you feel a bit embarrassed. With a soft chuckle, he gestured you into the room with a smile. “Sorry, love, you just look really cute in my clothes.” For a second, you could have sworn his expression changed. Yet, once you blinked, it was back to his gentle smile.

Clearing your throat, you finally move further into the room and take a seat before ducking your head to hide your sheepish expression. “U–um, the food looks really good, Vox.” The demon's smile grew at your praise as he took his seat across from you. “Thank you for the meal. Let’s eat!”

The pair of you eat silently at first, enjoying the food. Yet it’s not long before you start looking around, as though looking for something. Vox notices this, cocking a brow at you. “Something the matter, love?”

“Nothing wrong, just,” you sit back fully in your seat with a confused tilt of your head. “I’ve been here a couple of hours. Is Onigiri out today?”

Vox makes a sound of understanding before explaining, “Oh no, he’s actually gone home this month. Spending more time with his wife.”

“Aww, that makes sense.” You can’t help but smile at your next thought. “At least he gets a break from you, then.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” He scowls at you, except you can see the corners of his lips twitching. “In reality, I’m the one getting a break from him!” Your bright laughter fills the room.

The tension you had been feeling before faded as the pair of you have a pleasant conversation, enjoying your meal. Once finished, you help Vox with the dishes before moving back to the living room and reclaiming your spot on the couch. He joins you not a moment after, flicking through Netflix for something to watch. You let him pick what to put on as you leaned into his side. You were positioned somewhat awkwardly; feeling unsure about fully cuddling into him. You don’t know if it was because of your embarrassment or just wanting to be considerate and not cling to him if he needed to get up. Ultimately, you didn’t have to worry about it for too long. Feeling the weight of Vox’s arm shift around you, his hand lightly clasping the shoulder not already pressed against him. When you don't pull away, he pulls you further into his side, allowing you to feel just how warm he is. Releasing a breath you didn’t realize you were holding, you all but melt into his side. Basking in his warmth. Feeling extremely satisfied, Vox can’t help but press a light kiss on your head. The hand still on your shoulder runs soothingly over the fabric of the sweater– his sweater.

“You know,” your gaze shifts to find him already watching you, “you do look good in my sweater.”

“Mmm, it is very comfy. I might just steal it from you.” You joke; though you are a little tempted by the thought.

“Cheeky brat.” He mutterers with a fond roll of his eyes.

The two of you remain like that for a while. Snuggled against each other, silently taking comfort in each other's presence. Gradually, you can feel your attention shift from the TV to the demon beside you. Looking up at him slowly, you take in every feature of his face as his focus remains on the TV. Your mind drifts back to thinking of ways you could potentially thank him for loving you as he does. It might seem silly, and you know he would gently scold you for thinking you needed to replay him for such a thing. But you wanted to. The only problem is that there isn't anything you could physically do right at this moment.

Or at least that’s what you thought until an idea popped into your head.

Of the two of you, it was normally Vox who instigated physical affection. It wasn’t that you didn't want to; it was just that your embarrassment and nervousness more often than not overruled your wants of affection. Except tonight, you wanted to change that.

Feeling the heat of your gaze on him, he turned his head to meet your eyes. “Is something wrong, love?” As he spoke, you couldn’t help but let your gaze trail from his golden eyes down to his lips. Vox caught onto that immediately. Testing the waters, he intentionally wets his lips and feels incredibly amused as he watches you grow more flustered. The corners of his mouth twitch in a smile, bringing you back up to his eyes.

“Uh–umm, well I–” You cleared your throat, your attention subconsciously trailing back towards his lips. This time, his lips fully curl into a smile. The hand on your shoulder shifts down to your waist. The motion makes you feel even more bashful.

It’s not as if you haven't kissed before. You’ve done it multiple times. When he visits you. When you separate for the evening. Sometimes he’ll just be feeling affectionate and give you a random peck while the two of you are spending time with each other.

Except, this time, it felt different.

Raising one hand, you gently place it on his chest. The house was silent aside from the comforting white noise of the TV and the sound of your pulse rushing through your ears. Sitting up slightly, you slowly start inching your face closer to his. It’s clear what you want to do, and he’s not pushing you away. Except it seemed like he still wanted to tease you just a bit more. His eyes remained open, staying fixated on you. The expression on his face says, ‘ask me,’ which only causes you to feel more flustered. “Are you…” your voice is barely above a whisper, soft breath fanning against his lips. “Are you gonna close your eyes?” The words are shaky as they leave your mouth. You could feel his laughter more than hear it with the hand you still had resting on his chest.

“Not until you ask me, sweetheart.” His eyes are half-lidded as he peered at you. His gaze filled with love, but once again, that certain emotion you still couldn’t quite pinpoint. The look he’d given you multiple times throughout the day. More prominent now than ever.

He was messing with you again, the tease. You can’t help it when your lips purse into a small pout, but huffing in resignation nonetheless. “May I kiss you… please?” Pushing your face closer with the last word, hoping to entice him out of teasing you further. Your half-lidded gaze pleaded with him to finally let you connect your lips.

Vox chuckles, reaching a hand up to caress your cheek. His voice lowering an octave as he spoke softer. “Of course you can, darling.”

Finally, with permission, you softly plant your lips onto his with the lightest touch, closing the distance. You were still feeling a bit hesitant; not usually the lead in kisses. Vox, however, was calming you down with the circular motions his thumb was making along your cheek. Feeling a bit bolder, you push your lips a little firmer against his. Tilting your head to deepen the kiss as your hand slid up from his chest to his neck. Vox kissed back with the same enthusiasm, yet you could tell that he was fully letting you control the kiss. His motions do not pursue anything more than what you initiate. And you’re grateful for that.

Pulling back after a moment, you drink in the much-needed air, feeling a bit breathless. A mix of embarrassment and intoxication flutters in your chest over just how nice Vox’s lips felt against yours. With your hands still on him, you could feel the way he was also breathing a bit heavier than before. You dare to glance at your boyfriend's expression, only to find his intense gaze already focused on you. Neither of you dared to move. Hands remain firmly on the other, not wanting to pull away fully. A collective thought rang through both of your minds. 

‘I want more.’

Moving forward once more, you felt more confident in kissing him this time. He let out a deep sigh of contentment as he moved the hand on your cheek down so that both of his hands rested on your waist. Pulling you closer to him as he fully turned towards you, wanting you pressed against his chest. You also made an effort to get closer as the kiss grew more heated. Both your hands moved to caress his face. Wanting, needing his lips to be connected to yours. It became a priority higher than breathing. Yet you still didn’t feel like you were close enough. Shifting your weight around, you moved your legs, so you were in his lap; effectively straddling him. Being in such a daze, it had yet to dawn on you that you were now making out – Vox’s tongue making itself at home in your mouth.

However, you're abruptly broken from your subconscious state when a whine tears itself from your throat. Frantically pulling away, you cover your mouth as you stare wide-eyed at your boyfriend before darting around the room in a flustered panic. Desperately thinking of an explanation before you heard Vox chuckle, your gaze was drawn back to him. His cheeks were a light dusting of pink, and his lips were moist and red from your previous make out. When you locked eyes with him, you caught sight of that emotion again. And finally, the dots connect and you swallow hard. Lust.

One of Vox’s hands shifted from your waist to your thigh. Sliding ever so slowly inwards towards a very dangerous place causing you to shiver. In anticipation – and panic. Your eyes dart towards the spot as one of your hands jumps to stop him. Immediately, his hand froze in place, and his expression shifted to concern. Removing his hands from you completely, he meets your gaze while apologetically asking, “I’m sorry love, am I moving too fast?” Except you can’t retain eye contact, dipping your head toward your chest. He moved his head forward to try to catch your eyes with his, hoping to get a read of your expression. It didn’t help much though, as you’d shut your eyes tightly. Too embarrassed to look at him.

“U–um yes, but no–I mean–” Your eyes open only to fixate on your hands as you fidget with them between your bodies. With a sigh, you try to swallow around the lump that had formed in your throat. Yet it still doesn’t stop your words from coming out a bit wobbly. “I’ve–uhh, never done anything like this before, so umm..”

Vox looked a bit confused, raising an eyebrow in question. “You’ve never made out with someone before?”

“Umm no, not that! I–uh, I’ve never…” You huffed at your inability to speak properly and quickly blurted out your next words. “I’ve never had sex before.” You were met with silence. The only sounds filling the room was your combined breathing and the no longer comforting white noise of the TV. Your eyes shut once more as you braced yourself for something. Anything.

Realistically, you knew Vox wasn’t going to make fun of, or degrade, you for being a virgin. Except your anxiety was begging to convince you he’d be disappointed. I mean, he’s a 400-year-old demon. It’s practically inevitable that he’s had partners before that were way better at this than you. You just didn’t want him to have a bad time. You heard a huff from him and almost deflated on the spot. Yet you weren’t expecting what came out of his mouth next. 

“Darling, look at me…” Vox gently raises his hands to hold your face, guiding your head to look directly at him. Blinking your eyes open, your breath nearly hitching in surprise. You feel a swell of emotions build up within you at the sheer amount of love you see in his eyes. “I know what your brain is doing. I am not disappointed that you have no experience.” He rubbed your cheeks with his thumbs and you put your hands on top of his, wanting the comforting feeling to stay. “I just wish you had told me a bit sooner. We could have had a whole conversation about what to do when you felt ready. If you ever feel ready.” He shrugged his shoulders as he continued. “If sex was not something you wanted, it would not make or break our relationship. I am more than capable of taking care of my own needs.” He laughed lightly, trying to lift your mood.

You take in a shaky breath, trying to calm your emotions. Though your eyes well with tears, you smile at him. He was so perfect for you and to you. Who knew a demon could be a better partner than most humans you’ve met. “I’m sorry, I really should have told you earlier...” Your eyes drift away for a second as you collect your thoughts. “I guess I just felt slightly embarrassed. Especially since I wouldn’t know where to start asking… I’ve never really had anyone I could talk with about it before.” The last part is spoken more so to yourself.

“It’s alright, love. Remember, you can talk to me about anything. There are no stupid questions in this matter.” He shifted the both of you slightly. “Here, lay back with me. We can just chill for the rest of the night.” He starts to remove his hands from your face. But, with your hands still covering his, you swiftly keep hold of them. Vox looks back at you with confusion, tilting his head slightly to express his feelings.

You can feel a lump in your throat but are determined in your feelings, wanting to be honest with him. “Vox, I–” The way your heart pounded so fast in your chest, you swear Vox could hear it himself “I’m ready now,” He looked at you seriously, pulling his hands away to place them on your shoulders.

“Are you sure? Don’t feel like you have to just because we got heated earlier.”

“I’m sure, I promise.” You tilt your head, pressing a kiss on the palm of his hand as your eyes remain locked with his. “I’ve been thinking about it for a hot minute, but like I said earlier… I just… I didn’t know how to ask.” Vox didn’t say anything else, but you could see the way his throat bobbed as he swallowed. He lets you go so he can reach over and turn off the TV. You were about to ask what he was doing, but squeaked suddenly when you felt his large hands on your ass. You’d all but forgotten that you were in his lap. He stands from the couch, causing your arms and legs to wrap around him in paranoia. He can’t help but chuckle at your cute reaction. The demon starts walking down the hall, taking the same route you did earlier, and it only takes you a second to realize he was taking you to his bedroom. You could feel heat begin to well up in your stomach.

Vox set you down as soon as he entered his room, closing his door behind the both of you. “Sit on the bed, love. I have a few things to say before we do anything further.” Confusion washed over your face, but you did as you were told. Moving across his room and past the sliding doors before making yourself comfortable on his plush bed. There's a subtle tension in your body as you watch him remove his suit jacket and put it on a dresser before rolling up the sleeves of his maroon dress shirt. Not really understanding why; you felt the heat between your legs flare up as you watched him, causing you to clench your thighs together.

The demon then proceeded to make his way toward you, sitting so close to you that his thigh brushed against yours. His hand rests on your shoulder before sliding down your arm to turn you slightly toward him. These soft touches weren’t helping your already hormonal brain from imagining all the things his hands could do to you. However, you take a deep breath and try to remain as calm as possible as he begins to speak once more.

“Alright, first things first, love. I need you to tell me how much you know about safe words and the color system.” 

“Uh,” your mouth shuts as you think it over. “Well, I know safe words are meant to be like a hard stop. The color system is like the traffic lights, right?” Vox nods his head at your words.

“Yes.” His tone was firm but still caring. “These are verbal ways for the Dom, or person leading, to gauge how their partner is doing without having to break out of a scene. Green is an ‘I’m okay’ or ‘I’m good to continue’. Orange works for a variety of things, but it still stands for ‘slow down, check in’.” He brings the hand on your arm up to your head, softly petting your hair, wanting you to be as comfortable as possible as he continues. “And as you said, red and safe words are for all play to come to an immediate stop. Aftercare should be immediately initiated, and at some point, there should be a discussion about what went wrong.” His free hand reaches up to caress your face. “Never hesitate to say red, or to use your safe word. Understood?” Immediately, you nod.

“Now,” he continues, “because this is your first time I will be taking the position of Dom.” Your mouth opened at that, however, you quickly shut it again. Untimely it would be for the best; knowledge from the internet does not equivocate experience in real life. “And because we haven’t had a chance to talk about this more in-depth beforehand, we’ll just stick to the color system for now. We will discuss safe words in the future. Now, Darling, do you know what a non-verbal queue is?”

“Well,” your head tilts to the side in thought, “I assume it’s a non-verbal… safe word?”

Vox smiles and places a kiss on your forehead. “Exactly love. It’s one of the best ways for you to communicate with me just in case–” he pulls back just enough for you to see a mischievous smirk curling at his lips– “I fuck you so good that you can’t speak.” You can’t help the immediate reaction of sputtering at his wording, your eyes widening as you try to look anywhere but at him. Even when explaining serious things, he just can’t seem to hold back from teasing you – the motherfucker. After a moment, Vox cleared his throat, steering you both back on topic. “Usually it's a certain number of taps with two or three fingers. At least that’s the most common one. You could also tell me to watch for a pattern, such as you clenching and un-clenching your fist, or you could blink rapidly.” Vox glided his hand from your hair, this time moving to hold your hand. The feel of his big palm enveloping yours was a desired comfort. “What would you like to use, my dear?”

Taking a moment to think about it, your free hand subconsciously begins tracing the structure of his hand wrapped around your own. Still a bit unsure, you sit up straight and hold up your hand, your fingers mimicking what you were saying. “I’ll hold up three fingers and tap you three times. Is anywhere on the body alright or should it be more specific?” You were still a bit nervous, your voice wavering at your last word. Though Vox answers you with another kiss on your forehead.

“That’s perfect, love. Now with that out of the way…” He releases your hand and moves it to rest on your back. You’re not confused for long, as he repositions himself before softly urging your body to lie back, sinking into the soft sheets beneath you. His body hovers over yours as one hand presses firmly on the mattress beside your head and the other slides out from under your back, making way to the buttons on his shirt. “I’d really like to indulge in your body and show you the pleasures you’ve been pining for.” The demon licks his lips sinfully slow, maintaining eye contact with you as he does, desire fully prevalent in his eyes.

You almost feel yourself explode on the spot, averting your eyes quickly as if his gaze itself would eat you up if you kept looking. This didn’t help how horny you already were. If your thighs were pressed together any tighter, you swear your legs would fuse into one. He finished unbuttoning his shirt with ease, chest becoming exposed to you fully. Your hands twitched forward before hesitating with embarrassment. Vox noticed this, his deep chuckle sending shivers down your spine.

“It’s okay, you can touch me, baby.” His hands guided yours to his pecs, letting you feel the warmth of his skin and the quick beating of his heart. Enraptured, your hands moved over his chest with a feather-like touch, drawing out a satisfied hum from him. He lowered his face closer to yours, causing you to grip his chest as he drew closer before he captured your lips in a kiss. Lips moving against each other in such a way that drew a soft sigh from you. When he tried to pull back, you could help but follow, causing him to smile. “You have no clue what you do to me, love…” Vox’s words came out in a low whisper, almost breathless, before he kissed you again.

Releasing another satisfied sigh against his lips, returning the kiss with just as much vigor. The smacking of your lips together only adds to the intensity, his tongue wasting no time in entering your mouth. Vox tasted immaculate to you – unsure if this was a normal demon trait or simply just your extreme attraction to him. Sliding your hands from his chest to his back, you pull him in closer; needing him closer. This drove another airy laugh from him as his hands finally graced you with a more intimate touch. One reached under his hoodie you were wearing, making its way to your bare chest. The other tugged at your shorts, to which you lifted your hips just enough for him to pull them down.

In between the passionate moving of your lips and tongues, Vox spoke up, his tone husky. “You can be a bit more greedy, love.” The hand on your chest fondled you, his fingers gracing your nipple. You let out a sharp gasp, hands balling into fists against his back. He leaned closer to your ear, breath tickling you with the warmth. “I want you to show how much you want me. I may be leading this, but this is your first time.” He follows his words with kisses down your neck, occasionally leaving nips that make you whine.

‘This man is way too good at riling me up, jeez.’ Your hands moved from his back to the front of his shirt, wanting it off so you could see all of his torso. He seemed to get the signal as you felt him smirk on your neck. He pulled back from you entirely, sitting back on his knees as he lets his shirt slide off his shoulders. You take this opportunity to remove his your hoodie, having some slight difficulty as your eyes are glued to his motions. ‘Why does him taking off his shirt look so hot?!’ You take a deep breath as you get the hoodie off; only your underwear remains. 

Vox takes you in as you lay before him, completely intoxicated by your entire being. Every little noise you’d make when he touched you, the way your eyes fixated on him anytime he did something. It was truly a wonder you hadn’t noticed the bulge in his pants. To be fair, he could practically feel your shyness radiating off you, preventing you from making any bolder moves. But he’d help you overcome that. He shifts forward for his hips to press and grind into you, smirking when he hears you gasp. Vox slid one of his hands to grasp the underside of your thigh, drawing it up to press the apex of your sexes even closer together. You reach a hand up to tangle in the base of Vox’s hair, slightly tugging at the strands as your hips twitch forward with his guidance. He laughs teasingly at your reaction, continuing to rub his hips against you as his bulge glides against your most sensitive parts, causing you to moan and gasp. It felt so different. So new. This was unlike anything you’ve ever done in an attempt to pleasure yourself. Physically feeling another person against you was way better than anything you’d imagined or could have tried to replicate.

Vox leans down to attend to your neck again, biting and sucking with the intention of leaving hickeys. Finally, you decided to take his advice and be greedier. Slowly, you start to push back against him, rutting your hips in time with his rubbing. The friction causes him to groan in satisfaction as you let out your own pleasurable sigh. Taking your free hand, you slide it down his chest, making way to the hem of his white dress trousers. You were in your underwear, so it would only be fair for him to match you. With slow movements, you unbuttoned and unzipped him, your hand skimming over his bulge as you do so.

Letting out a breathy moan of his name as he bit down harder at your boldness. “Vox–” You palmed at him, curiosity taking the majority of your thoughts. You wanted to taste him. If you could even fit him in your mouth, that is. He felt pretty large, and you had never attempted to try on anything before; much too embarrassed. He pulls back from your now surely hickey-ridden neck and hisses through his teeth. His eyes clouded with want, the hand on your thigh tightening its grip, lips parted slightly and bruised from putting his lips to work on you.

Taking this opportunity, you raise your other hand, pulling at his waistline. You can tell he’s about to speak, but still, you quickly verbalize what’s been in your mind since your hands slid down him. “May I, umm… suck you off? Please?” You bite your lip harshly, surprised that you even got that out of your mouth. And seemingly you caught your boyfriend off guard as well.

Vox was frozen in place for a hot minute, almost like he was fully processing what you had just asked. After it was processed, he took a sudden breath as he appeared to forcefully cease his movements. Almost like he was holding himself back from saying something – or, more accurately put, doing something. You swear you saw his eyes go from the beautiful gold you know to a flash of pink. You almost thought about totally backpedaling your statement, ‘I think I accidentally awakened a beast–’ Except before you could blurt anything out, Vox finally released his breath with a verbal ‘Hah’, before leaning back down to give you a gentle kiss on the forehead. Confusing you even more than before.

He brings a hand up to smooth over the top of your head, pushing your hair back. “Not this time, love. Maybe next time we do this. I want you to experience the pleasure, and I’ll take mine from seeing you feel good.” You gulped hard, but nodded in understanding. You were honestly a bit disappointed, but you fully understood where he was coming from. This is your first time, after all, and he didn’t want you to lift a finger while he spoils you.

You’re snapped out of your thoughts by Vox thumbing at your bottom lip, your eyes shifting back to his face quickly. He releases another breath and smirks at your reaction, his eyes looking mischievous as you once more notice a bit of the pink hue return to his eyes. “You’ve given me a good idea, though, love. How about I return the favor of you wanting to serve me–” Vox placed his other hand on your empty thigh, hands creeping up slowly to drag down your underwear as he moved his head down to kiss your chest– “by giving you some much-deserved service to your most precious places.” You trembled at the way his voice deepened, hands gripping tightly at the sheets below.

“I–I think I would like that very much…” You glanced away shyly, lifting your hips slightly to help him with his motions. “But… um, you might need to hold me down. I don’t want to kick you…” You knew how your body would react, at least somewhat from the times you’d touched yourself. Though you don’t doubt it’ll be ten times more effective with someone else’s touch.

Hearing a growl, your eyes snap back down to Vox, startled by the sudden sound. You were not mentally prepared for what came out of his mouth next. “Darling, you have no idea how much I would love to do that. You make it so hard to hold back, fuck.” You ascended on the spot, making your body go comically limp as you inhaled sharply. Vox openly laughed at your reaction, bringing his head back up to be face-to-face with you. “Are you alright, love? Am I teasing you too much?”

Shaking your head a bit, you pouted in his direction. “No, it’s just… god, your voice is so stupidly hot! I didn’t think the title ‘Voice Demon’ was literal.” You threw your hands up in exaggeration and huff. “I… I just need to get used to you talking like that, 'cause I know you. You’re not gonna shut up.”

Vox chuckles and you can feel his fingers tracing circles on your thighs. “It gets a reaction out of you, darling. Of course, I’m not gonna stop.” You lightly punch him in the arm, and he lets out his little gremlin laugh before speaking again. “Come now, let’s not stall anymore. I’m supposed to be giving you a memorable first time, love.” Once again, he moves his way down your body, leaving kisses and small bites with his fangs to reignite the fire in your body. Letting out small pants, your hands making their way back to his hair.

Vox makes his way in between your legs, licking his lips as he peaks up at you. His hands spread your thighs apart and up, putting you in a prime position to be eaten as his grip becomes firmer. Without even testing it, you knew if you even attempted to move at all, you wouldn’t be going anywhere, his hands tightly pushing on you. “Is my grip hurting you at all?”

“N–No, this is honestly perfect. Can I, um, can I keep my hands in your hair?” Vox's expression shifts back into one of lust at your question before leaning in and darting his tongue over your sex, making you gasp at the sudden contact.

“Please do.” His words came out more akin to a purr, causing you to shudder at the heat of his breath on you. “Don’t hesitate to pull and grip at it as well. I’ll be trying my best to make you squirm, love.” He punctuates his sentence by pressing a kiss to your thigh.

Biting your lip, your hands react to his words by tightening their grip on his hair slightly. He latched his mouth onto you and you can't help the way your body shudders as his tongue starts to flick and prod against you. Breathing out his name as your head falls back against the pillows and you moan. He can feel your thighs begin to tremble as he picks up the pace, getting into a steady rhythm with his mouth. Fuck, he’d love to sink his teeth into your thighs. Coat them in bruises and bite marks, a reminder that he was the one to bring you this pleasure. ‘Another time,’ he thinks to himself. Another time, he’d allow himself to act upon his wants; for now, this was about what you wanted. You felt like you were on cloud nine. The sensation was entirely new to you. And quite frankly, you couldn’t get enough. As your hands gripped his hair tighter, you eased your hips into him, wanting his mouth to be as close to you as possible.

Vox groaned against you, encouraging your movements. The deep rumble of his voice only made the pleasure increase. He kept his eyes on you, feeling his cock twitch at your expressions and how unashamed you were being with your voice. God, he wanted to break you. Wanted to show you the full extent of his desires. But shushes those thoughts, mentally shaking his head at himself. ‘Another time,’ he reminded himself once more. Vox was fully intent on making this about you. Showing you all the things he wants to do would have to come later on. ‘And what an exciting thing to look forward to.’

He pulls back for a moment and you whine at the lack of contact. Picking up your head to look directly at your boyfriend, desperation written across your face. Vox lets out a long breath, his nails slightly digging into your thighs. “You taste so fucking good, love. Can I make you cum like this?”

You wasted no time in responding, nodding your head vigorously. “Yes! Please please please, make me cum. I need it–I need your mouth–” You would have felt embarrassed over the words you just unabashedly moaned out if it weren’t for you feeling so overwhelmingly turned on. Enjoying Vox’s mouth so much more than you probably should’ve, but right now you just wanted the ecstasy to return, wanted to ride the high of this new feeling until you came. Luckily for you, the demon wasted no time in engulfing you with his mouth again, twisting and prodding his tongue twice as fast as before.

You both moaned without shame as Vox continued his actions, picking up the pace. He growled and groaned into you, making sure to leave no inch of you untouched by his mouth. Your legs kicked in the air, and your body reacted to the build of pleasure by trying to clamp your thighs close. Vox wouldn’t let you, however, his hands keeping you firmly in place as he kept you spread.

“Vo–Vox–oh god! Please, I’m gonna–!” Your eyes started to water as you felt Vox give you the last push you needed, his mouth moving rougher. He watched as your back arched and you let out a euphoric moan, gripping his hair tightly and tugging on it. He swallowed all of you, only making you whimper from the continued pleasure as his tongue slowly lapped you up. Refusing to let even a drop of your taste escape him.

Licking his lips, Vox could feel the way your thighs trembled in his hands from the aftershocks, and eventually, he pulled back. Sitting up, he gently helped guide your shaking legs down as you caught your breath. Your hands dropped down from his hair, reaching up shakily to push your hair out of your face. Even after a few moments, you could still feel yourself throb in aftershocks, and you swallowed hard. Your throat was dry from how hard you had been panting and moaning. “Holy fuck…”

Vox repositions himself above you, letting out a quiet laugh at your words. Reaching up, you wrap your arms around his neck, wanting to keep physical contact with him. You lightly tug him down with your arms so his chest makes contact with yours. Still taking deep breaths as your heart was continually beating wildly in your chest. Though the thing that surprised you most was that you were still very, very horny.

“I assume by that reaction, I don’t need to ask if that was good. Right, love?” All you could do was nod, averting your eyes from his. He couldn’t help but find the way you pout extremely cute.

“I… umm, I don’t know what came over me. God, I said such embarrassing things!” You take your arms off his neck, covering your face, which causes him to laugh.

“My darling, it’s totally fine.” One of his hands moves to play with a lock of your hair. “When you moan like that, telling me what you want–” A deep groan rumbles in his chest, cutting off his sentence. “Well, frankly, it is incredibly sexy. Just hearing the way you enjoy yourself almost made me cum.”

With how flustered you are, it takes a moment for you to fully register what he said. Once you do, your arms slowly move from your face before your eyes widen and you sit up quickly, causing him to recoil a bit as he sits back. “You haven't cum yet?”

He shakes his head calmly as he gives you a gentle smile. Your eyes trail down his body, gulping a bit as your eyes land on his hard cock. He follows your gaze before leaning forward and kissing your cheek before trailing his mouth closer to your ear. “I know you said you were ready, but I wanna ask again. I’ve already made you cum tonight, so if you're done, I will fully respect your decision. You don’t have to worry about me.”

Swallowing hard, you tilt your head to meet his eyes. “I do want to do this, Vox. I want to give you my body, I want to give you all my first…” You reach out to grasp his biceps, pulling him with you as you lower yourself back onto the bed. “...and even though it’s my first time, I want you to feel good, too.”

The look Vox gave you caused your heartbeat to race again. You let out a startled squeak that grows into laughter when he suddenly leans down and starts attacking your face and ears with kisses. He has so much love for you that he can’t even put it into words at the moment. He pulls back from you after one last peck on your lips, smiling brightly at hearing your giggles. “I’m very honored that you're so sure to give this old demon your first. Let’s get you prepped then, love.”

You tilted your head a bit, intrigued, as you watch him lean over and open his nightstand drawer. The first thing he pulls out is a roll of condoms; ripping one off from the pack and setting it away from the others. His hand reaches back into the drawer and proceeds to pull out a bottle of lube before closing the drawer with the back of his hand. Vox picked the condom packet back up and returned to his position over you. He muffles a laugh when he notices your curious expression, but couldn’t hide the amused tone of his voice. “What’s with those eyes, darling? You look a bit confused.”

You clear your throat before biting your lip in embarrassment. You hadn’t realized you were staring so intently. “Oh–umm, sorry. Guess I was just surprised, more so about the lube than the condom. Don't condoms come... lubricated?” The pitch of your voice raises as your sentence finishes, visually unsure of your words.

Vox blinked owlishly at you for a second before chuckling. “They do, but my dear, it’s never a bad idea to use more. Besides, spit doesn't make for the best lube, so trust me, this’ll make the… heh, fucking, a lot smoother.”

You huffed at the way he worded the last part, squinting your eyes at him. “Did you have to phrase it like that?” He chuckled, looking right through your mock annoyance.

“Of course, darling. If I know it’ll fluster you, I have to say it.” He doesn’t even attempt to hide his mischievous smile. “You like it~.” Vox laughs as he feels your hand lightly hit his arm, followed by a loud ‘shut up!’ directed at him. He leans forward, catching you off guard once more as he wraps his arms around you. Your embarrassed state was the perfect distraction for him as he captured your lips in a deep kiss. Your eyes widen for only a split second before fluttering closed as you reach your hands up to gently caress his face. Before you part, you can hear the snap of the lube bottle opening, and then the sudden feeling of a cold, slick finger circling over your hole.

Jerking in his hold, squeaking at the sudden feeling. “Holy shit, that’s cold!” swearing as you instinctively tense. Vox, however, is quick to distract you; peppering kisses along your neck and shoulders while easing his finger into you. Your eyes flutter, one of your hands reaching out to firmly grip his wrist.

“Don’t worry, love, just getting you ready. You’re being very good for me, baby.” The way he whispered in your ear caused you to have a full body shiver; your breaths picking up for what felt like the thousandth time tonight. You mentally smacked yourself for questioning the lube. The coldness was no longer a problem, a newfound pleasure rushing through your body. Touching yourself had never felt like this. ‘The internet actually wasn’t lying.’ You would have laughed at that thought, but, at that moment, Vox added another one of his large fingers. Sliding them deep inside you and moving them in and out slowly to stretch you for his length. 

“Darling, if your head isn’t too empty right now, could you open the condom? Your body is being so obedient for me.” Your breath hitches at the way he practically purrs those words. “You're just about ready.” Nodding your head, you let out a breathless ‘yes’. Reaching over, hand shakily patting the wooden surface before finally feeling the plastic beneath your fingers. Grasping the condom, you do your best to carefully tear the plastic from the slot; removing the condom from the packaging and, with a trembling hand, presenting it to him. Vox takes it with his free hand while simultaneously sliding his fingers out of you.

“Goood. Now just give me a moment, love.” You watch your boyfriend in wonder as he quickly and flawlessly puts on the condom. He hovers over you not even a second after, his hands guiding your legs around his hips.

You chuckled almost breathlessly and decide to try to get one last quip out before your thoughts would inevitably turn to mush. “Wow, that was fast. Almost like you’ve done this before.”

“My dear, when you’re 400 years old, you get good at certain things.” There is a heat to the way he stares at you through his lashes, his voice dropping an octave with his next words “Now, let me show you my years of experience firsthand.” All the confidence you had to try to tease him vanished. With your hands gripping his forearms, you let your gaze travel down to his cock, where it rested in between your legs. It felt easier to watch the way your bodies pressed together than to look into his eyes. Though the way his length rubbed against you made you gulp, you were extremely thankful for the prep beforehand, as it would make the process of him sliding inside you much easier.

Vox lifted your chin with his fingers, so it forced your eyes to meet his. “Color, dear?”

Your voice was already out of breath as you responded, “Green.”

He smiles as his thumb soothes your lower lip. “I’ll go slowly, love. You’ll still need time to adjust to me once I’m inside. Take deep breaths and if you need to, claw and grip me as hard as you need. If it’s too much, you need to tell me.” He places a soft kiss on your lips before pulling back to look into your eyes. “Do you understand, darling?”

You nod slowly, soaking in every syllable that comes out of his mouth. You respond with a firm ‘Yes’ and are already bracing yourself as you tighten your grip on his arms. He smiles and before he fully settles against you, grabs a pillow. Gently urging you to lift your back before setting it under your hips. You assume it’s for your comfort, or at least that’s what you’ve heard. You don’t have much time to ponder further on it as you feel Vox push against you, his hand guiding his cock into you slowly. Your mouth opens, except no sound comes out as you feel yourself clench down on him. This differed significantly from his fingers. Hell, this was a completely different feeling from any of the toys you had ever used. Feeling the way he stretched you, the way his cock twitched; it was all your mind was preoccupied with as your head fell back from the pleasure.

Vox let out a deep groan as he pushed into you, eyes darting back and forth from your expression to his cock disappearing inside you. Your borderline painful grip on him only fueled him on, yet the sliver of rationale he had took over for a moment. He stopped about halfway, causing you to look up at him, lips parted as you pant.

You gulp hard before asking, “W–why’d you stop?” The hands you had on his forearms subconsciously loosened, thinking that maybe something was wrong. You’re surprised, however, when he brings a hand up to caress your cheek, able to feel the heat of your skin against his palm.

“I just wanna make sure you’re alright, love. Am I hurting you? Your breathing is too hard. Take slow, deep breaths.”

“O–oh! I’m okay, I promise. I just–it feels… it feels so good.” You do your best to even out your breathing after answering and he smiles at you, pecking your forehead.

“That’s perfect, darling. I’m gonna go all the way in, so prepare yourself.” And as he said, Vox shifts his hips forward slowly until his hips are flush against your skin. Biting your lip hard as you feel a whine build in your throat at the feeling of him fully seated inside you. It’s only now that you’ve finally realized what the pillow under your hips was for. The elevation of your hips helped him reach deeper inside, while also supporting your hips.

“Oh fuck–” Every word from your mouth was drawn out. Tightening your legs around his waist and pulling him in further resulting in pleasing reactions from both of you. Your arms slide around his neck as you meet his eyes, your own eyes misty from just the initial pleasure. “Vox, please move. I’m ready, please.”

Vox didn’t say anything in return, just slid his hands down your body to your hips, gripping them firmly. He thrust once, eliciting a loud moan from you before moving again. Picking up a constant pace and pushing your hips into the pillow and mattress. Every movement spurred a moan or whimper from you, your hands tangling in his hair, needing something to hold on to. The lube made the sound of your skin connecting echo loudly in both your ears, only driving him to move faster in you.

Vox leaned his body forward, wanting to engulf you in his scent–his entire being. His rough grip on your hips moved to your thighs, pushing them back as he leaned forward. He wanted to be deeper, wanted to hear more of your sweet moans that were stirring up the heat inside him. His mouth latched onto your neck. Taking up any unmarked skin with his fangs to leave visible reminders of his love along your body. The whine you let out was music to his ears. The way your hips rolled upwards into him was euphoria. He loved every ounce of your being, and having sex with you was now just another way he could express his love to you.

As he continued to kiss and bite at your neck, you couldn’t help but drown in the feeling. The myriad of sounds coming from your mouth likely would have embarrassed you at any other time, but you were currently too far gone to care anymore. You pulled his head in closer and spread your legs further for him, wanting to take in every inch of his cock. You understand now why people say they could get addicted to this. The ecstasy you were feeling was unparalleled. You moaned out his name as he sunk in deeper between your spread thighs, his nails digging into the skin to show his approval.

He pulled back from your neck but refused to let himself go far. His mouth leaves a trail of kisses and bites down your exposed chest, taking extra care to lick and flick at your nipples. You called out his name more frequently, realizing it seemed to rile him up even more. The coupled feeling of Vox’s cock pushing fully in and out of you, and constant attention to your upper half, had your head spinning. Your stomach began to feel tight, and you felt his rhythm start to waver as he went faster.

“V–Vox, I’m gonna cum!” Your hands slide from their grip on his hair to his back, nails digging in from the immense pleasure. He pulls his head away to look at you, lips swollen and pink from their work on you. The pink that you had seen earlier in his eyes was fully visible now. His expression is half-lidded and just as twisted in pleasure as yours. Yet, even with all of Vox’s visible pleasure and the way his hips rud into yours, he slows to a stop, causing you to let out a high whine.

“Baby,” you drew out the word, voice breathy as you spoke, “why’d you stop? We’re both sooo close…” Vox lets out a breathy laugh, and kisses your forehead, pulling back with a smirk on his stupidly attractive face.

“I’m sorry, love. I just had an idea.” He moves his hands off your thighs and places them next to your head. The way he looks hovering above you truly does not help your delayed orgasm. “I was just thinking about how–” he cuts himself off with a groan, clearly lost in his imagery before he continues, “beautiful you’d look riding me. I’d love to see you bouncing on top of me. Of course, only if you are willing.”

You swallow hard, your voice sounding a bit hoarse from all your moaning. “D–does that mean I’ll be taking control?” You wouldn’t lie, you’d had random thoughts about what it’d be like. But those were just passing thoughts. Topping isn’t just about physically being on top, it’s about knowing how to give pleasure and take the lead. It is a very appealing idea, but could you top Vox? You didn’t feel nearly as confident as Vox currently appeared.

Seeming to feel the anxiety radiating off of you, Vox clarifies, “No, love. Being on top of me doesn’t mean you’ll have control.” One of his hands rubs soothing circles over one of your hips. “Unless you want to try taking control. I will not force you to, though. We can just change positions.”

Averting your eyes from him, you take a moment to think it over. On one hand, it’d be good to get experience from it, but on the other… your lack of experience with all of this could cause you to overthink your actions. You know he wouldn’t be upset with you and would likely give you tips if you wanted to, but you still wanted him to get some pleasure from this. After weighing your options, you shake your head and meet his eyes again. “I would like to change positions, but I don’t think changing roles would be good right now. We… We can test it another time.”

He nods and gives you a light peck on the cheek. “Alright, darling. Let me lay back, then you can get on top of me.” Vox slowly pulls out of you, causing you to let out a deep sigh from the sudden emptiness. As you reposition yourself to sit on your knees to wait, Vox grabs himself a fresh pillow, placing it behind his head as he fully lays down. He looks at you with a soft smile and holds his arms out to welcome you to him. The second you are given the okay, you're already crawling over and straddling his waist, his hands resting on your hips as soon as you do. “Color?”

“Green. So, so green.” This causes you both to laugh.

“Go slow as you sink down on me. It’ll feel better that way, I promise.” Vox massages his hands into your hips, eyes filling with anticipation as he watches you closely.

You give a small nod and look down at his cock resting between your legs, still hard, if not harder, than before. Feeling a shiver run down your spine at the sight, you inhale deeply before you take a hold of his length. He lets out a pleased hum at the contact and you gently guide him inside you as you sink down. The new angle and already built-up tension made your hips twitch and your body shake, the ecstasy coming back from the contact.

Vox kept you steady with his hands, lifting his hips to help ease the process. Once his hips were flush against your skin, you both let out soft groans as he lowered his hips back onto the plush bed. Placing your palms on his chest, you give an experimental grind of your hips as you watch your own motions. The demon gripped you tighter, letting out a hiss through his teeth, his eyes fixated on your expression of pleasure.

“Go ahead, love.” Your attention snaps back to his face. “You don’t need to hesitate.” You hold his gaze for a moment before you nod, lifting your hips before pushing them back down to sink onto his length.

Your mouth falls open, eyelids fluttering at the new angle. A pleasurable shudder coursed through you at how much deeper he felt from this position. You could tell he enjoyed it as well; urging your hips up with his hands, needing the sinking feeling again. You start a steady rhythm, letting out hot breaths and moans as his cock pushes deep inside you. The sound of skin meeting skin resonated through the room, coupled with the heavy panting coming from both of you. Balling your hands into fists, your mouth hangs open as you bounce on top of him with vigor. Your moans only get louder as the tightening feeling in your stomach comes faster than before. 

“Fu–fuck…Vox, I’m so close again. I–oh–I’m gonna cum!” Your words come out shaky and breathless, as you leaned forward, sliding your hands onto the bed to pick up the pace easier. Vox moved his hands to your ass, groping and digging his nails in as he looked up at your ecstasy-ridden face just inches from his.

“I’m close as well, baby. God, I wanna watch you cum–” He gasps, before groaning in pleasure. “Please cum. Cum for me, sweet thing.” Shifting to get enough balance, he ruts his hips up into you, matching your greedy pace with his own. Vox could feel you tighten around him, trying desperately to reach that peak. He let out a low, gruff sigh, his eyes fixated on you as you moaned out his name. God, the way you moaned his name, like he was the only thing you ever needed, the only thing you’ve ever wanted.

You gripped and pulled at the sheets under your hands, your pace becoming erratic as you finally reach your climax. Burying your face in the crook of Vox’s neck, you let out a cry of pleasure as your body shakes from its second orgasm. Vox, with just a few more thrusts, presses your ass down on him further, reaching his orgasm as well. You shudder from the guttural moan he lets out, and the way his hands grip you, making you stay close. After a moment of collecting yourselves, you lift your head up to look at your boyfriend. You open your mouth to say something, but Vox is quicker, capturing your lips with his. He puts his hand behind your head, kissing you like he’d been waiting to feel your lips for years. You pull back after the impromptu make-out session and look at him in slight confusion.

“What was that for?” You tilt your head slightly to accentuate your question, but he just gives you a lazy smile and strokes your hair.

“I just really love you, darling.” He tries to maintain eye contact with you, but you refuse and sit up, a big pout on your face.

“Vox, please, you being so sweet shouldn’t be hot.” The demon just chuckles and sits up as well, keeping you in his lap as his arms wrap around you.

“Oh? Then maybe I should switch to being more down-bad?” The sweet smile on his face changes to a devious smirk as he moves his face closer to yours.

“I–That’s it. I’m done for. K.O.’ed” You cover your face with your hands. Bad idea, cause it just gives your boyfriend the element of surprise.

With a mischievous look, Vox smugly, purposefully, rolls his hips. “You’re done for? Oh no, that’s such a shame~”

The squeak that came out of your mouth surprised you, drawing your hands down to cover your mouth. With a muffled voice, you try to scold him, “H–Hey! Don’t move too much, I'm sensitive–”

Vox just chuckles and rolls his hips again, making you whine out his name. You were adorable, and he only wanted to mess with you more every time you reacted to his teasing. He shifted closer, lips ghosting your ear, his hot breath fanning against you as he spoke low. “Lift your hips for a moment, darling. I need to change this condom.” 

He stroked your thighs as you lifted your hips, letting out a breathy moan as you did. His cock slid out of you with ease, and Vox’s hands went from your thighs to his cock. Even after just finishing, he was still so hard. As he removed the used condom, you lean over and quickly grab another wrapper from the nightstand. Vox chuckles at your enthusiasm, glad he could rile you up again with just a roll of his hips. You both moved quickly; him tying the used condom and throwing it aside as you got a new one out and ready. As soon as you handed it to him, he tugged it on, making sure it was properly secure before you straddled him once again. 

“Come on sweet thing, let me inside you again.” The demon’s large hands gripped your hips as you let him guide you down on his cock again. Both let out a shuddering breath at how sensitive you each still were. He wasted no time; not even a moment after you’ve fully sunk down on him does he start thrusting into you again. 

You grip his wrist tightly, wanting him to keep guiding you as you desperately try to keep pace with him. Your eyes watering from the overstimulation, and your throat was becoming dry again from your panting and moaning. Your legs felt like jelly, and you could tell you were gonna be sore in the morning, but that didn’t stop you from grinding down onto Vox. His nails dug into your hips, the slapping of his thrust getting sloppy as he felt you clench around him again, ready for another orgasm. Your words came out almost unintelligible, and your tone was desperate as you told him you were going to cum again. “V–Vox! I–!” 

With him feeling just as sensitive, he was already right at the edge, ready to cum again. “I know, sweet thing. I’m right there with you.” He quickened his pace.

It only took a few more thrusts before you doubled over onto his chest, moaning loudly as his hips pushed up into you. Reaching your peaks together, hips stuttering as you breathed heavily. Bodies covered in sweat from the multiple orgasms. Vox looked down at you, your head buried in his chest as you tried to get your breathing under control. He moved one hand from your hip to your head, resting it there.

Lifting your head enough to rest your chin on his chest, gaze meeting his. You both stare into the eyes of the other for a moment, seeming to soak in all that just happened. Vox spoke first, having a content smile on his face. “My love… thank you for letting me experience this with you.” He raised his hands, cupping your cheeks with both his hands. “I am extremely honored that you trust me this much to give you the pleasure you desire. I’m happy that I now have another way to show you just how much love I have for you, my sweet thing.” Vox’s voice was filled with care, and you could see in his eyes that he meant every word, saying it with his full heart.

Leaning into his hands, you smile, one of your own lifting to rest over his as your thumb rubs over his knuckles. “I’m just happy you also had a good time. That was incredible and I couldn’t be happier to give you my first. I…” You swallowed hard, looking away bashfully. “I love you, Vox.” You looked back at him when you heard his soft chuckle and he leaned his head toward you to kiss your forehead.

“I love you too, baby… so much.” He leaned his forehead to rest against yours, you both closing your eyes to soak in the moment. Remaining like that for a few moments, reveling in each other's presence, before Vox spoke up again. “Come on, love. Let’s go get cleaned up.” His voice was soft as he nuzzled his head into you softly, coaxing you into motion. “You still need your rest. You have a project to work on tomorrow.”

“Good idea, besides I don't think we both wanna be sweaty and sticky.” You lifted yourself off of him, letting out a deep breath as his softening cock slips out of you. “Will you give me motivation by cuddling me when we sleep?” 

“I would cuddle you regardless, darling.” He laughs, pushing himself to the edge of the bed before getting up and properly disposing of both condoms. “But yes, I’ll give you all the affection you want and tell you just how proud I am of you.” He offers his hand to you and helps you get up when you take it. He’s frozen in place for a moment as he looks over at you. His brain conjures up other scenarios; ones where you wouldn't have to leave in the morning. Every day he could look forward to falling asleep and waking up by your side.

You tilt your head, asking if he’s okay. He just smiles; rubbing his thumb over your knuckles and envisioning a ring on your bare finger. ‘Someday,’ he reassures himself again.

“It’s nothing, love. Let’s get you cleaned up now, shall we?”

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

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[vibratingskull]

What would you think of maybe Thrawn x Reader on a camping trip to somewhere scenic and isolated? Maybe on vacation, away from the stresses of work? I'm definitely imagining Thrawn shirtless and chopping firewood, for some eye candy. Maybe like, half fluff/half spicy?

🥺 pretty please?

(my love as a gift, regardless of if you write this!)

Of course, anything for you my sweet ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

ThrawnxF!reader

Tags: Winter vacation, fluff, fingering

“Ch’acah, we have arrived.” Thrawn pats your thigh to wake you up.

You rise up in a jolt, still half asleep. You were so comfortable pressed against Thrawn's back, holding him tight on the speeder, his body's higher warmth still spreading to you past the thick leather jacket he wears. 

You rub your eyes and wipe a bit of drool off your mouth and discover a wooden cabin under a thick layer of snow. Thrawn already jumped off the bike to get the luggages as you hug yourself to shield yourself from the biting cold. He was so warm…

“You are shivering, Vir. Let’s get inside.” He invites gallantly.

You jump on the ground, leafing through the bunch of keys you have. You haven't come here in decades, you almost forgot your grand aunt bought that cabin in the middle of nowhere.

You would have come in summer under a blazing sun but you saw how Thrawn's eyes were shining when you told him everything froze in winter in the region. You hoped for a resort near a beach for those vacation, but seeing him getting excited by the prospect of living through a cold climate for some weeks made you cave in, for your Chiss…

As much as Thrawn shows excitement of course, which is always in moderation. 

But enduring the cold and wind is worth it if Thrawn gets something reminding him of his homeworlds.

You enter the key in the door and push the heavy block of wood to enter the modest abode. It is completely dark and cold. You search for a lightswitch on the wall until you find it and flip it.

Nothing.

You flip it again.

Still dark.

“We may have an electricity problem.” You annonce.

Thrawn puts the luggages down in the largest room, consisting of a kitchenette, a sofa, a double bed and a fireplace.

Real small cabin, you see.

You mingle with a heater mounted on the wall, to no avail.

“Let’s start the chimney.” Thrawn says. “Let’s get some light and warmth.”

You go around the cabin in search of the wood reserve, finding the ax in the meantime. You find back Thrawn securing the bike in the nightfall against a tree. You don’t know who would come lost themself in this forest to steal a speeder bike, but security first you suppose.

“No cutted logs, but I found the ax.” 

He nods, standing up. He is only wearing his leather jacket while you're wrapped in the puffiest winter coat you ever saw, a heavy lana scarf and some gloves. 

“I will see the wood, go collect some ice.” He instructs

“Why?” you tilt your head, blowing hot air on your hands.

“For the bath.” He says with a thin smile.

You take a hammer from the top case and a very large bucket. You wave at Thrawn as you go, looking at him chopping wood with application and venture a little bit deeper in the forest. If your memory serves you right there must be a lake not too far away…

You break the ice with the hammer and collect enough to fill the bucket. It is a really, really large bucket and it gets really, really heavy. You have all the pain in the world carrying it back to the cabin, especially with this hindering coat. You take double the time it took you to reach the lake to come back.

But you’re not disappointed, far from it.

Because when you finally reach the cabin, you raise your eyes from the heavy bucket to discover Thrawn, still cutting logs, bare chested and muscles glistening with a thin layer of sweat shining under the rising stars. 

You are so surprised and enthralled you stop dead in your tracks, completely hypnotized by that scene. You cannot help but admire his form, his powerful muscles flexing so wonderfully under the new moonlight. 

You remained silent, eyes wide open, arms holding on desperately on the heavy bucket that started trembling in your hands. He catches a glimpse of you mid swift, sliding a log in too with such force and power the two parts fly on the side. He lays down the ax to turn to you, gasping for air, his breath forming steamy clouds at his mouth. You see his large chest rising up and down rapidly and you imagine his heart beat racing in his rib cage. 

You close your agape mouth with a gulp, shaking your head back to reality. 

“I found ice.” You inform gingerly, trying to keep your eyes to his ember eyes and not his mouth watering chest and abdominals.

Maker… He is such an athlete! He has been carved by the gods in pure marble!

“Good.” He nods, already getting back his breath under control, “Put it in the chimney, we are going to melt it for the bath.”

You greet your teeth as you carry the bucket inside. Right behind you Thrawn gathered the wood he cut and places them in the fireplace. He starts the fire as you get rid of your heavy coat. You take one of the furry plaid and lay it on his naked shoulders, he raises his head to meet your gaze, a silent ‘thank you’ in his eyes.

“You’re going to catch a cold in this outfit.” You smile gently.

You just see a drop of sweat rolling from his pac to roll on his muscular stomach, making you gulp again. He doesn’t close the plaid over him, only holding the sides with the tip of his fingers, letting you appreciate his whole carved bust as he rises back on his feet. The red and yellow flames bounce beautifully on his deep blue skin, creating delightful tones and shades dancing on his skin. You breathe deeply through your nose, trying your best not to drool at that sight.

He turns his head to you, completely lost in your admiration of his body, and smiles thinly before booping the tip of your nose with his knuckle. You wince and wrinkle your nose in reaction, almost sneezing.

“I think we still have some hot cocoa in the thermos. You are shivering, Ch’acah.”

He invites you to sit on the sofa in front of the burning fire and brings the two cups and the thermos bottle, pouring you a cup of the fuming drink. As you blow on the steaming cup in your hand he sits beside you, throwing the side of the plaid over your own shoulders. You smile and snuggle against his warmer body with a sigh of contentment.

“I know you wished to go to the beach for those vacations.” Thrawn says after a very long moment of comfortable silence, “I am sorry, Ch’acah.”

You kiss his shoulder before laying your head on it.

“No need Thrawn. I saw how happy and interested you were in this location.”

“And I am thankful to you for accepting.” He brushes his cheek against the top of your head.

“If you are happy, it is good enough for me.” You assure, sighing contented as you finally started to warm up.

“We will go to that resort you saw, cheo vir, I promise you.”

“And we could come back here each winter, if you wish!” You propose.

“Thank you, love.” He kisses your hair tenderly.

You press yourself against his warm body, feeling his arm circling your shoulders, pressing you tighter against himself. You deeply inhale the natural musk of your Chiss with glee, letting it invade your lungs with great pleasure.

He is so, so warm…

And smells so, so good.

His thumb comes caressing the plump of your cheek softly.

“I love you, Thrawn.” You let escape in the softness and intimacy of the moment.

“I love you too, Ch’acah.” He responds with a melodious tone.

You sip your cups, letting the heavy and thick chunks of ice slowly melt in the bucket over the fire. He keeps caressing your cheek with his thumb, softly, lightly, tenderly…

You hear him purring lowly, feeling the waves through the skin of your cheek. You close your eyes, comfortable and relaxed.

“Do you like it here?” You ask.

“It is quite rudimentary, but yes. It brings back some soft memories.” He admits.

“Good, that’s what I wanted for you.” you press your cheek on his shoulder.

“Thank you, Ch’acah. You take such good care of me.”

You raise your head to look him in the eyes. His so beautiful crimson eyes.

“Because you do it too…” You whisper.

His fingers travel from your cheek to your chin, tilting it to give him a better access to your lips. He leans forward and captures them delicately, pressing sweet kisses on your lips, purring deeply at the sensual contact. In place of purring you moan for his ears, mewling alluringly for his pleasure.

He parts from you with a satisfied sigh, looking into your eyes. His face is stern and unreadable but his eyes are spilling love and adoration. He gently puts a strand of your hair behind your ear before taking your cheek in his palm. You mewl and snuggle against his warm palm.

“I could drown in your eyes.” He murmurs with his deep baritone voice.

“Your eyes set fire to my soul.” You respond.

He kisses your forehead lovingly.

“We should take the water off the fire before it boils.” He simply says, leaving your embrace.

He lets the plaid fall off his large shoulders like a cap in a regal movement, letting you admire his magnificently sculpted back and well defined shoulder blades. You feel your throat drying at that simple sight.

“Will it be sufficient?” You ask tilting your head.

“It is plenty.”

You hardly see how it is enough to fill a bathtub…

He seizes the heavy bucket, flexing his powerful biceps just for you and easily carry it to the ridiculously small bathroom.

This room is hilariously small.

There is no bathtub, not even a shower. There is only a larger than usual metallic barrel next to a crude, but serviceable toilet. Thrawn easily lift the bucket and pour the fuming water in the barrel, filling it up.

“Oh this is really, really rudimentary.” You concede.

“We will be a bit squeezed in here, but it will be quite… pleasant.” He turns to you.

Your gaze travel between the barrel to Thrawn, eyes round.

“You want us to take our bath together, in… this?”

“Will it be a problem?” He asks, opening his pants.

You purse your lips.

You hardly see how Thrawn could squeeze his large and tall body in this barrel, so your two bodies at the same time…

“Hum…”

“I thought it would be agreeable to bathe together, in each other's arms.” He presents his argument.

“I mean…” You hesitate.

You turn back to him to see him naked in all his glory and immediately avert your eyes, suddenly shy.

Which is quite weird, you've been seen naked more than once. And you always loved it, a lot!

You feel him come to press his naked form against your body, gently opening the buttons of your thick lana cardigan.

“Come bath with me, Ch’acah.” He whispers in your ear, making you shudder instantly.

You gulp, feeling your body temperature skyrocketing by the second. He pulls the cardigan off your shoulders  gently, nibbling at your ear. You gasp at the touch of his breath on the shell of your ear, sending shivers down your spine and pussy. You bite your lips and take your shirt off while he unbutton your pants before pulling them down, letting you in your bra and tights. You fill his warm hands snaking their way back up your legs, caressing and squeezing the flesh as they rise. 

This is not an alluring stocking but lana tights with extravagant colors and patterns as they tend to be. You hear a low chuckle behind you.

“I am sorry, you may have hoped for a thin shaded stocking.” You mumble. “I am sorry.”

“Not at all, Ch’acah. I know you cannot endure cold climates as well as I. These eccentric patterns and colors are also pleasant to see.”

“I was so cold on the ship.” You admit. “I needed a new layer.”

“I will make sure you remain warm during our stay.” He says lowly, darkly, seductively…

You feel his lips on your lower back brushing the thin sensitive skin like a butterfly, making you shiver again. He stands back to his full height and opens your bra expertly, with a snap of the hooks and his warm hands come forth and grabs your tits delicately. You breathe through your nose, mouth agape as he gently kneads the round mounds of flesh, before making your nipples roll between his master fingers, tugging on them softly.

“I love unclothing you.” He whispers again, “I know really well what I will found, but it is like I am rediscovering our body each time, like a new first time.” and he bites down your ear.

You yelp, to his pleasure.

“Come in with me, sweet thing.” He kisses your shoulder and leave you to enter the barrel.

Somehow, someway he does enter the barrel entirely, sitting down in the warm water, his legs wide apart to leave you space. He extends his hand to you invitingly.

You get rid off your tights and panties quickly and enter the fuming, hot water. Miraculously you manage to both fit in the barrel, squeezed against the other, but surprisingly comfortable nonetheless. Your back is pressed against his chest as you sit between his legs. 

“How is it?” He asks.

“Hot.”

“Too hot?” He worries.

‘Against a body such as yours? It is scorching hot’ you think.

“It is agreeable.” You correct, getting comfortable against his chest.

You sigh of comfort, slowly relaxing in the fuming water.

“See? We could fit without any difficulties.”

“I wouldn’t have bet on it!” You retort.

He kisses the top of your head, pecking your hair, hugging your body tightly in his arms. He crosses his legs before yours, imprisoning you between his embrace completely.

“Lay on me, Ch’acah, I am warmer.” He invites.

You let your head fall back on his shoulder with a moan. One of his hands starts drawing circles on your arm while the other one sneakily traces its way on your stomach and goes south. He keep kissing your ear and temples as his hand keeps going until it scoops your sex in his palm. Air gets stuck in your throat as you feel him dressing down your cunt with his large hand. One single finger curls up, trailing your slit until it flicks your clit at the top. You immediately jolt back, and in doing so compress his cock between your two bodies. He hisses in return in pain and pleasure.

“I’m sorry!” You immediately present your excuses.

“Do.not.move.an.inch.” He orders. “Remain here.”

“O-Ok…”

He trails your slit once again, before going at it seriously, pushing past your folds and massaging your entrance with the pad of his finger.

“You are already gaping, I can feel you pulsing against my finger.” He notes satisfied.

“You are teasing me, of course I am going to react!” You defend yourself.

He adds a second finger at the circles he traces around your entrance, applying sweet pressures here and there, titillating your cunny from time to time. His fingers rise to your pearl and knead it thoroughly, adding pressure, making it roll, flicking it repeatedly. Your legs start trembling and you try to close them, but it only imprison his hand in place.

He licks your ear with his warm, wet tongue and a guttural growl. His second hand leaves  your arm to caress and grope your breast, kneading it lovingly, weighting them in his hand, appreciating their roundness and fullness with a hum of approval.

His fingers go back south and one enters you, gently, letting your entrance time to embrace the girth of his digit. He pushes it further, knuckles deep and immediately grazes at your gummy spot, caressing it and crossing it without missing a beat.

You can feel all your south muscles contracting at the shockwaves of pleasure currently spreading in your body, squeezing his finger inside.

“That is the kind of reaction I enjoy…” He says amused and pleased.

To prove his point a second finger enters you deeply, stretching you wide open. His fingers are like his hands: large and long, and a trial to take in, but they give you so much pleasure they are worth any struggle. He spreads his fingers wide to stretch you more and more until your cunny muscles are at their maximum. Shuddering terribly, you hold on his arms for support.

“Can you take a third one, Cheo vir? For me…” He purrs deeply, enjoying himself tremendously.

Mouth agape, gasping, only a strangled moan escape you as an answer. He kisses your cheek and decide for you.

“Yes you can, sweet thing.”

And he pushes the third in. This time you are at your maximum. You are fully stuffed and feel your pussy compressing his three fingers tight, threatening to cut the blood flow in them.

“I love how your tight pussy always struggles to take what I offer you. Even fingers are too much… Somedays I wonder how you can take my cock in your sweet little cunt. But you always do. To my utmost pleasure.” He praises, licking your neck all the way up. “You are so good for me, Ch’acah, always pushing your limits to please me.”

He thoroughly massages your pussy as he speaks, caressing and stroking any hidden spots inside your pussy, sending powerful waves of pleasure in your core.

“I am so stuffed!” You manage to let out in a gasp.

“Are you?” He muses, “Already?” And he pushes his finger deeper until their whole length is inside.

You pant terribly, digging your nails in his arms. You are so stretched! So full! So filled! You cannot take anything more, it is impossible, you would explode in a million pieces!

“You are strangling my fingers so much, sweet thing.” He breathes lowly, “This is so… delectable.” You feel his hips moving behind you, his big, lengthy cock brushing your lower back from side to side, getting as much friction as he can.

He circles your G spot, scratching the itch and resumes the flicking of your clit, he is not one to neglect such an important aspect of womanly pleasure, quite the contrary.

You moan and mewl uncontrollably under his caress as he deep massage your pussy while licking and kissing your neck and shoulder.

“Maker!” You cry out.

You feel your pussy clenching and convulsing furiously around his large fingers while your nervous clit pulsates powerfully.

“Come for me, Ch’acah. Come hard for me...” He whispers seductively in your ear.

You come in a jolt, the pleasure suddenly exploding in your sex like fireworks forcing you to curl over yourself, but Thrawn holds you down with his mighty arm. Your eyes roll inside your skull and your toes curl deliciously as the fire spreads in your veins slowly to your nerves ending.

You tremble, but not of cold, but of pure, raw shock. The aftermath of your climax slowly subsiding, you relax bit by bit, relaxing easily in his arms with a sigh, slouching in his embrace.

“Thank you, Cheo vir.” Thrawn praises you, “You came hard and good. Just as I wanted.” He kisses your cheek again, purring loudly, so much you feel vibrations in your back.

As much as a hard, long warm shaft in your back…

Oh.

Oh…

He rolls his hips again, brushing his erection against your back gently with a hum. You slide your hand between your two bodies to stroke and caress him but he stops you.

“No. Leave it.”

“Are you sure?” You ask nicely. “You made me cum, I should reciprocate.”

“Not now.” He decides, pressing you tighter against him, “It is so nervous and sensitive like that, it is really pleasant.” He moves his hips back and forth gently, “I quite like it. Let me appreciate it a bit longer…”

@bluechiss @thrawnalani @justanothersadperson93 @al-astakbar @thrawnspetgoose @readinglistfics @elise2174 @debonaire-princess @twilekchiss @pencil-urchin @ineedazeezee @mssbridgerton @dance-like-russia-isnt-watching @Cortisolcosplay, @obbicrystaleo, @germie2037

[themushroomprince03]

Trying to figure out the exact species of the JATGP bugs (and also cool bug facts!)

(Warning: pictures of bugs)

I’m gonna start with ya boi:

Mr. Grasshopper:

First of all, I love him and I wanna be him

Grasshoppers are the only herbivores of the 6 bugs. Uh. Yeah.

Grasshoppers have camouflage! And they can fly just a little bit, but their strong hind legs do most of the work.

Since Mr. Grasshopper is green and British I’m going to infer that he is a Omocestus viridulus, AKA the common green grasshopper

Literally the same guy.

The common green grasshopper is from Britain, and, like the name suggests, common. Very common, in fact. I think they’re like the second most common grasshopper in Britain (most common one isn’t green)

Mrs. Ladybug!

She’s so sweet msmfjrjgjggjjgfjf

FIRST OF ALL, IN BRITAIN LADYBUGS ARE CALLED “LADYBIRDS”

WHICH IS STUPID BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT FUCKING BIRDS

In related news, ladybugs are actually a type of beetle. Sorry for ruining your life.

Ladybugs eat aphids and scale insects (little tiny insects idk) and also pollen and nectar. Not peaches though.

Anyways considering the fact that she is red and has black spots, I’m gonna say she’s probably a Coccinella septempunctata AKA the Seven-Spotted Ladybug. They are just THE ladybugs of all time.

Very cool. Also easy asf. These ladybugs can play dead when threatened and also they are real pretty.

Mr. Centipede:

Silly billy he’s always been my favourite especially in the book he has a goofy little smile

Centipedes are venomous and carnivores. They eat anything they can overpower with their venom. Centipedes are nocturnal, because they dry out VERY easily in the daytime. They usually either don’t have eyes or have shit eyesight. They also have no ears. They “hear” by sensing vibrations in the ground.

This one was a little bit difficult because centipedes don’t vary all that much, but I’m thinking Lithobius forficatus, AKA the garden/brown/stone centipede.

They have many names. They are also very common, especially in North America and the UK. Garden centipedes are born with 7 pairs of legs, and grow legs throughout their life, maxing out at 15 pairs of legs (they always have an odd number of leg pairs) They live under rocks, and if someone lifts those rocks, these centipedes are in luck, because they’re also very good at running. I THINK they have eyes, but if they do, their eyes can only discern light from dark.

Stone centipedes mostly eat flies, springtails, and, uh. Earthworms. But us JATGP Musical fans knew that

Mrs. Spider:

Y’all know spiders I will not explain them. Also I’m scared of spiders so I will NOT show many pictures of them *shudder*

Mrs. Spider could be literally any spider in France. The only spider that’s black with white stripes like this is a zebra spider (Salticus scenicus) and they don’t actually look like her that much. But they’re cute as fuck❤️

I wish I could show you a picture but mobile Tumblr has a maximum of 10 photos per post, but they’re really cute and fluffy.

Anyways, I feel like she’s more likely to be a Steatoda grossa, AKA Cupboard Spider, but they look more scary so I’m not gonna show photos.

But only the males are black and white.

Fuck uhh

Okayy she’s possibly an Araneus nordmanni, AKA Nordmann’s Orbweaver. They’re really scary and I wanna cry but I’ll try to describe them. Black with brown legs, weird white pattern, giant ass. These spiders do exist in France, but they are very rare. (Not just in France, but in general.) They are VERY GOOD at climbing and tend to build webs high on trees (like in a dead peach tree. Maybe with their mate.) They eat insects like gnats, flies, and wasps. Good for them. I’m still terrified.

Also female Araneus nordmanni are apparently the dominant party in the relationship so…

…yeah she’s definitely a Nordman’s Weaver.

(Edit: user @my-favorites-suffer said she looks like she could be a species of wolf spider!)

Mr. Earthworm:

OH THANK GOD I CAN STOP LOOKING AT SPIDERS AND LOOK AT THESE CUTIE PIE WORMS!!!!

Earthworms are boneless, muscleless, eyeless silly billies. They’re also hermaphrodites (male AND female at the same time) and they can regenerate parts of their bodies (not always so please don’t go around cutting worms in half) They eat fruit, fungi, and anything decaying.

So, I don’t remember the whole movie or the book, but in the musical, Earthworm speaks Spanish sometimes, and his song is vaguely Latin-esque (our director gave him a mariachi jacket for Plump & Juicy. It might not actually be Latin-esque that’s just what I’ve been told if it isn’t then oopsies) so I always thought he was from like Central America, maybe Mexico?

How did a worm get from Mexico to Britain? Guess what: Most earthworms in Mexico are invasive and from other places! Which means it could happen the other way around, but also it means that doesn’t narrow down what species of worm Earthworm is! Fuck!

He’s probably supposed to be a Lumbricus terrestris (The common European Earthworm.)

They are the most common worms. Everywhere. But other than species and location, nothing connects this earthworm to THE Earthworm.

So I propose a much funnier idea: That he is some species of Amynthas.

There isn’t enough info about the Amynthas for me to figure out exactly which species of Amynthas he probably is, but look it has a smooth white clitellum like Earthworm!!

So there are 3 reasons why I feel like Earthworm is an Amynthas. 1. Appearance. 2. They are part of the family Megascolecidae, which are the largest family of earthworms (They do say he is a big worm, although that’s probably because he’s literally human-sized)

And 3. These worms are also called Jumping worms. Because they. Uh.

They jump. When they are scared. It’s REALLY funny.

Most Amynthas are from Asia, but somehow a bunch ended up in Mexico. And now I guess one ended up in Britain. And then New York. Invasive species behaviour. (Actually a lot of the JATGP insects are invasive)

Take your pick of worm!

(Also Glowworm is a Lampyris noctiluca, AKA common glow-worm. If you even care. Nobody cares abt Glowworm. How dare you. And James is probably a human boy.)

And that is all thanks guys heart emoji

[breezybangtanbebe]

❤️Kihyun : The Wholesome Boyfriend❤️

A/N: this one is little different from the others as far as structure because I originally intended for it to be a part of my AMBW Monsta X series that I was cooking up, but its still within the theme of the Boyfriend series. It isnt set in SK. I kinda had a vision of him having a foreign girlfriend because even though he is pretty conservative, I wouldn't put it past him to date outside of SK or his race if the connection is strong. Plus this is fiction anyway so if its not for you, its not FOR YOU...hell...anywho. This one starts out kinda fluffy with sexual tension. Kihyun falling in love with a thick queen with locs and a whole lotta ass. Not that thats relevent🌚 or is it😏

KihyunxOC named Chloe🥰 (yes..its the Chloe youre probably thinking lol i love her with him) fluff, slow burn but smut definitely occurs.

🎶🎧: Butterflies by Michael Jackson

9.6k words

<The Other Boyfriends >

Emotionally

If there was anyone in Monsta X that would be the ultimate 'bring him home to mama', very 'husband coded' type, it's Kihyun.

Emotionally, he's an open book. Will pursue you and make his interest known early on with clear intentions. He's the type to properly court you. Ask you out on a date, pick you up and take you home. Open doors and lay the napkin in your lap. Bring you food randomly. He's not shy and would absolutely kiss you on the first date but only if you want him to.

And you'll want to.🌚

Chloe's door opened abruptly and Kihyun blinked in surprise when their eyes met.

She stood in the doorway of her place, bare-faced and barefooted, with her mane of brown and honey blonde locs piled high on her head. The loose curls at their ends fell from the messy bun in spirals and kissed her cheekbones and nape in ways Kihyun wished he could, and her gaze lights up with fondness at him through her glasses.

"Hey" she chimes and Kihyun thaws instantly, remembering that he'd probably been staring like a doof.

"Hey.." he exhales.

His gaze dropped to the way her leggings hugged her shapely legs, her soft tummy just barely visible in her over sized cropped college tee.

Kihyun had laid eyes on her countless times in the various moments they shared.

From the first time he saw her in class.

Then later under her favorite tree out on the courtyard.

To the day he approached her in the campus book store.

Study meet ups had become customary since they now shared a few courses, but Kihyun would have found any reason to be in her presence.

"You brought food?" Chloe's chipper tone distracted Kihyun from his daze and he glances down at the forgotten white plastic bag dangling from his fingers.

"Oh...Yeah. I figured we'd get hungry at some point. It's from that vegan place you said you liked." He nods and her dimpled smile strikes him straight through the chest in an explosion of flutters that by now he couldn't suppress.

"You remembered?" Chloe beams and Kihyun rolls his eyes at her teasing tone.

"You talk about them enough. It'd be sad if I didn't. You gonna let me in or what?" He chuckles as he steps forward. He pauses with his foot over the threshold when Chloe puts her hand on his chest.

"You gonna be nice or what?" She looks up at him with her version of a playful mean mug, but all Kihyun could ever do was stare.

Her eyes.

Her lips.

The little shine at the rounded tip of her small nose.

He blinks, remembering to breathe as he shrugged.

"Im always nice. I brought you food didn't I?." He smiles and with a smirk and roll of her eyes, Chloe nudges Kihyun's chest and turns on her heels to grant him access to her humble abode.

Chloe's apartment felt like stepping into an earthy girl's aesthetic thread on pinterest. Cream colored couches and over darkwood floors, burnt sienna and green accents all around the room.

The air always held a combination of the same scents.

Jasmine incense.

Coconut and shea.

Whatever perfume she wore to class that had Kihyun distracted through out the entire lecture when he decided to sit closer to the board. Forgetting his glasses at his dorm seemed more like fate than inconvenience since it put him a row in front of where Chloe always sat.

The fuzzy cream carpet welcomed Kihyun's feet after they were freed from his Nikes at the door.

He loved it here.

Some hours had passed and two chapters worth of information had been effectively crammed into their brains.

They ate everything, empty food containers littering her small coffee table being the aftermath and the afternoon rolled into the evening seamlessly.

Chloe sat across from Kihyun on her little sofa with her legs tucked under her, gazing at him intently and laughing with him as he recounted something embarrassing that happened in his childhood.

Hanging onto every word with a soft smile idling on her lips the more he spoke. Something about his voice always calmed her and she was sure she could listen to him talk another few hours if it weren't getting later.

"Oh shit, what time is it?" Kihyun pauses his story to ask. Before he could pull out his phone, Chloe had already tapped her screen.

"Almost 7." She says with a confused scowl. She turns to look out of her balcony window at the darkened skies and glittering city lights beyond the glass.

"Damn..it feels like 9 or something." Kihyun mutters and Chloe nods in agreement.

"Daylight savings.." she adds and Kihyun hums in understanding but says nothing else.

That comfy silence fell over them then.

With nothing more to study, no more food too eat and no excuse to stick around any longer.

"Well..I guess I should head out. Since its so dark.." Kihyun begins, albeit reluctantly, and Chloe sits up as he moved.

"You don't have to." She says, pausing mid-sentence to glance down at the way her hand rested over his. It had to have been out of reflex because she had no idea she'd reached out for him until the warmth of his hand brushed her palm.

Kihyun was staring at them too, his lips parting to allow the tip of his tongue to wet the corner of his mouth.

"Yeah?" He lifts his brow. He never meant to look at Chloe the way he was looking at her now. The look where his eyes danced between hers, then falling to her glossed lips.

Chloe blushes under his gaze, turning her head away with faint smirk playing on them now.

"Well..yeah. I-I don't mind. I like it when you're here.." she admits bashfully.

Kihyun doesn't say anything at first since he's admittedly surprised at her words. He knew Chloe liked him enough to be around him so much but usually it was with some excuse. To study. To eat. To try some new place out with him there as her emotional support companion since she didn't like eating alone in public.

But now, with their studying done and food digesting, there were no distractions from what they had in front of each other.

"Unless you have other plans..." she backpedals a hitch, sounding almost as nervous as he felt. Kihyun shakes his head immediately.

"When do I ever have other plans Chloe?" He chuckles and she shrugs.

"I don't know...it's the weekend. You might have somewhere you wanna be or..someone else to be with."

With that, a shift commenced between them. There had always been an unspoken thing between them and Kihyun felt like too much of a coward to pursue it. Which was very unlike him considering he was generally a very confident man.

But now, with the object of his desire basically giving him the green light to venture forward.

"Well, Kinda.." he pauses, allowing his hand to turn over so that his fingers could interlock with hers tentatively. Chloe follows his gentle lead, staying put when Kihyun slowly closed the distance between them on the couch.

"Im sort of there already. So..if you want me here. Im here..."

Chloe blinks up at him, her breathing visible in the steady rise and fall of her chest. Kihyun noticed it, feeling himself drawing closer.

He's timid in his approach but his eyes are sharp and intent on her lips as his leans into her. Immediately her hand comes up to rest on his jaw as they their mouths greeted eachother with slow and savored pecks.

Kihyun hums from deep in his throat as he inhaled the sweetness of her scent.

Her hair.

Her skin.

Her excitement.

Her arousal.

Potent and sweet.

Inviting and tantalizing.

He wanted nothing more than to reach down and push his hand past the barrier of her leggings to explore her body further.

But before his carnal impulses could take over, he stops.

Her eyes flutter open as the warmth of his closeness fades when he pulls away. She frowns.

"What? Whats wrong.." she whispers and Kihyun exhales a chuckle as he shook his head, the tip of his nose brushing hers swiftly.

"Nothing...I just.." he pauses to swallow, not even sure of what he wanted or needed to say. But the feeling of her lips not pressed against his felt more wrong than the direction of thoughts. So without thinking any further, Kihyun dives back in to smother her plush lips with his selfishly, easing her back to lay beneath him on the couch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He's so smart so naturally, intellect attracts him. He loves deep conversations and hearing your stance on different topics. He loves a good debate and he's one to play devil's advocate so be prepared for that. He loves making you laugh with his overconfidence, never shying away from doing or saying something a little silly to make you smile.

Kihyun will define the relationship very fast so you never have to wonder what you are. He might have been a player when he was younger but now, he doesn't have much patience for games.

He's big on communication so he will check in with you consistently, even if he's busier than normal. He has an old soul so sometimes, you may feel fathered by him when he gives advice but its out of love. He just want the best outcomes for you, so try not to get to bothered by his unsolicited guidence sometimes. Especially of its money related. Mans is frugal as F° (see what I did there 🌚)

Very protective of you and will fight so, don't put him in so many positions where he'll have to. That'll piss him off 😂

He is absolutely the type to say I love you first. Because fuck it, why not?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was raining.

Chloes apartment took on the light grey tone of the sky as the two of them enjoy the gentle pitter patter of the storm against the window pane. Kihyun was watching something on TV with Chloe's little feet resting in his lap while cozied up with a book on the other side of the couch.

He steals a look at her from the corner of his eye to admire her soft features as she focused on the printed text, her crown of locs wrapped in a patterned silk scarf that matched the sky.

She was so gorgeous to him, especially like this when she felt she looked underwhelming.

"I love you." He blurts out as if the thought itself escaped him on its own mind. She glances up from her book curiously, her expression blanketed with mild shock as she pulled the ear bud from beneath her hair.

"Hmm?" She hums curiously and the softeness in her eyes doesnt make it easier for Kihyun's galloping heart to regulate enough for him to repeat himself.

It had been about a month or so since he'd first kissed her, and their time spent together was comprised of mostly that when they weren't supposed to be studying or watching some movie that would ultimately become background noise. It was very high school of them but Kihyun enjoyed it. He valued her beyond what his body wanted.

He genuinely loved her.

The words werent hard to say.

He'd been saying them to her for weeks.

In every lingering kiss when he left her apartment.

In every savored touch when he held her close to him.

In every thoughtless act he did for her to help in any way he knew he could.

His love for her was obvious.

But it didn't feel as known until she could hear it from his mouth.

For a moment Kihyun doesnt say anything though and he just stares into her soft umber toned irises.

What if its too soon?

What if she doesnt feel the same way?

What if all this time Kihyun had deluded himself into thinking a woman as cool, beautiful, sexy, smart, and genuine as she could ever love him back?

His jaw sagged under the weight of what he was about to say and with caution thrown completely to the wind....

"Nothing's wrong. I...I just love you."

Kihyun called bullshit on any claims that its impossible to tell when a black person was blushing. Because the moment his words hit her, the apples of her cheeks brightened with her smile and the flushed tone made Kihyun want to reach across over her body to brush his thumb over her face.

"Really?"

Kihyun nods immediatly and he smiles at the squeak in her voice.

"Yeah. Like..alot." He adds and he blushes at how juvenile he probably sounded.

But she doesn't care.

"Good." Chloe quips nonchalantly, moving to put her Airpod back in place. Not expecting her to be so passive about his confession, Kihyun scoffs humorously.

"Good?" He laughs and Chloe smirks up at him with nod.

"Yeah...I was beginning to worry it was just me feeling this way over here." She says all too casually.

Kihyun huffs, shaking his head in amazement before turning his body towards her while still cradling her dainty feet in his lap.

"You were worried?" He tilts his head. Chloe looks at him over her book again with timid eyes.

"A little. Was starting to think you only liked me for my lips.." she half jokes, prompting Kihyun to roll his eyes.

Things go quiet again, apart from the low volume mumbling from the TV and the distant sound of thunder outside. Amidst it all, Kihyun never takes his eyes off of Chloe. Even after she resumed her attention to her book.

Recalling her words, Kihyun glances down at her feet and runs his finger tips over her soft skin,

"So....you love me too?" He lifts his brows, still looking at Chloe's nude pink painted toes when she regards him.

Her heart flutters at the vulnerability in his voice as well as the adorable interest he showed in her pedicure.

She sighs.

"Yes, Kihyun. I love you too. Duh..." she crinkles her nose in mock disgust, nudging him with her foot before immediately going back to reading with a lighter shade of happiness and contentment on her face

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Physically:

Kihyun keeps it player. He doesnt have to be all over you in public and nor does he have anything to prove. The most he'll do is hold your hand of course or kiss your lips in greeting or to say goodbye. Otherwise hes very reserved and polite. Especially when other people are around. If youre the type to show alot of affection in front of family or friends, Kihyun would be prone to some mild embarrassment. Flushed cheeks and red ears. Despite him being really chill and composed, I can see him being extremely nervous to meet your family.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I look ok?"

He'd asked her that for the third time since leaving the hotel and it was endearing that he cared so much.

Standing on Chloe's mother's porch, the music could be heard inside just as loud as the sound of Kihyun's heart beating in his ears.

He was so nervous. It had been about four months since he and Chloe made things official and despite her family already knowing of him as her friend, it felt different being around them now.

Chloe looks over at him in his dark crewneck sweater, his chesnut brown fringe peaking beneath his hat.

"You look fine for the bazillionth time. I told you this is a casual dinner. No one is dressed up. My mama doesn't care about what you have on anyway. She already loves you."

"Maybe. I still want to make a good impression on the rest of your family though. If I knew everyone would be here I would have packed more.."

"You worried for nothing Ki." She shakes her head and turns away just as the door opens,and a beam of bright warm light from inside the house covers them.

"Hey!! Look whose here!" Halle, Chloe's sister exclaims. The sisters engage in an exchange of excited squeals and giggles as they hug, leaving Kihyun standing by to watch them awkwardly.

Pulling back, Halle acknowledged him with a much less animated hug but its warmth is felt as she greeted him.

"Hey Kihyun! Nice shirt..." she compliments him when stepping back.

"Oh? Uh...Thanks Halle.." he mutters with a shy smirk, looking down at his crewneck as if he wasnt just fussing over it.

Chloe shoots him a satisfactory look that he resists rolling his eyes at.

"Mmhmm..We've been waiting on you two..get in here!" The exhuberent sister beams, waving the awaited couple into the warm family home enthusiastically.

Since dating her, Chloe had described the house she and her siblings grew up in back in Georgia as modest and homely but what Kihyun stepped into was far from that.

Hell, even from the car he was in awe of the vast lawn, high white pillars and contemporary architecture.

The foyer leads them down a hallway thats lined with countless family photos telling the story of a tight knit family that captured every moment they could immortalize. Chloe's dance recital as a toddler. She and her sister at Disney world as children. An array of Her senior and graduation photos.

It was like Kihyun was given a glimpse of the past as well as his possible future if he and Chloe stayed together.

"The food is almost done. Daddy is taking the last bits of meat off the grill now.." Halle says to Chloe, the two of them talking fast amongst each other while Kihyun distracted himself with the wall of photographs on their way to the living room.

As if to confirm her claim, the smell of BBQ wafted thickly through the house, hitting Kihyun and his appetite in the face.

Just as they passed the kitchen doorway, a woman shrieks with happiness before scurrying after Kihyun and Chloe.

Both of them turn just in time to be greeted by Chloe's bright eye'd mother

"Oooh there's my favorite..."she opened her arms. For a moment Chloe thought she was referring to her, at least until it was clear where her affections were being aimed.

Kihyun blushed with his infectious smile as he's trapped in a warm hug, he and Mrs.Bailey's bodies swaying as if they were long lost family being reunited at last.

"I thought yall would never get here. How was your flight?" she asked him all while suffocating him with her embrace.

"It was ok..." he chuckles, hugging her back.

"Long.." Chloe mutters from beside him under her breath and Kihyun chuckles. If she thinks the trip from California to Georgia is long , that flight to Seoul he managed once a year would be an interesting experience for her.

Chloe is able to lock eyes with Kihyun over her mother's head, mouthing a sly 'I told you so' to him in reference to her mother's prolonged embrace. He rolls his eyes before pulling away , smiling down at her warmly.

As dramatic her greeting may have seemed to anyone else, Chloe's mother was genuinely happy to see her daughter here with Kihyun. Especially after the devastating break up she'd endured last year. It was refreshing to see her with someone who was as doting and "clean cut" as Kihyun, even if he was far from the type of men she typically dated.

It warmed Kihyun's heart and eased his anxiety to know he was so welcomed.

And loved.

"Well good. You dont know how glad I am you were finally able to make it out here. Both of you..Hey baby.." Chloe's mother reached for her finally and hugged her.

As he did before, Kihyun stepped back to allow them their moment.

Mrs.Bailey pulls back to look at Chloe, rubbing a dainty finger over the soft swoop of her baby hairs as she observed her freshly retwisted locs.

"You look good. Happy.." she notes softly and Chloe shares a quick look with Kihyun before nodding, the same sentiments clear in his warm gaze.

"I am, Mama." She smiles.

"I am." She repeats, this time holding her hand out for Kihyun to take. Their fingers interlock in the way they always did and Kihyun steps up to join his girl with her mother.

"Im glad to hear it baby. So, tell me Kihyun...You do like BBQ and soul food right? I know this child of mine probably has you eating kale and imitation meat out there in Cali but thats just because you like her right?"

Chloe's eyes nearly pop out of her head at the question, making Kihyun's face light up with laughter.

"I love BBQ and soul food Mrs.Bailey..." he chuckles softly, avoiding Chloe's glare.

"Aht aht..Courtney, Mama, or mom. I already told you this..."

"Thank you..Mom.." he smirks, feeling a little embarrassed to speak so informally despite him feeling at home in her presence.

She reaches up to cup Kihyun's cheek, mirroring the joy in her eyes before nodding.

"Very good. Now come in here and meet everybody." she turns on her heels and walks briskly up the hallway and into the living room, where Chloe could already hear her cousins and siblings chattering loudly amidst the music.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In private, he grabby as hell.

Grabs you by the neck for kisses. Grabs you by the wrist and pulls you to him playfully when you try to walk away after teasing him.

While I don't classify him as an ass man overall, if you have a nice one, he becomes one.🫠 But he's sneaky about it. He'll always be staring at, watching you walk away and smacking it hard  when you pass him just for fun. Overall a very handsy guy. He wont admit to enjoying being cuddled but he will always find reasons to touch you. In bed of around the house in general, he likes you either in his lap of nuzzled up to him with your head tucked under his arm and your thigh hiked up over his pelvis.

Oh yea, and he sleeps nakey. So skin to skin for the win🌚

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I dont think theres anything I hate more in this world than a musty ass avocado..."

Kihyun sputters mid sip of his drink at the random outburst and turns to find her trudging towards him from the kitchen with a scowl.

"A musty what?" He choked, laughing at Chloe's diction.

She huffs childishly as she met him at the couch, plopping down on the carpet and scooting back to settle between Kihyun's legs. Back in California after spending a holiday weekend with Atlanta, Kihyun and Chloe seemed to become closer in their relationship. If that were even possible. Instead of spending most of his time at his place, he was at hers. Cooking for her. Helping her clean and her things because he just found it way more therapeutic than dealing with his own.

She had a plate in hand as she got cozy on the carpet and Kihyun peers over her head to see what all the fuss was about. A mushy brownish green smear of avocado colored her large slice of multi grain bread in her lap. The color was a tab bit off putting and Kihyun grimaced from behind her.

"Eugh..." he chuckled and Chloe whimpers.

"Its not funny..I just bought them yesterday and at the store they were most definitely not ripe. I get them home and now theyre over ripe and musty. Now my toast is ruined..."

Kihyun leaned back to take another sip from his cup before setting it down, his free hands now pulling at the elastic band that held Chloe's loc's back in a low ponytail. They fall free and splay out over her shoulders, and Kihyun immediately begins gathering them in his hands.

"So don't eat it..."he mutters distractedly as he began finger combing through her coiled tresses, pausing to massage her scalp occasionally.

Chloe sighs at the feeling of his gentle touch in her hair before mindlessly lifting the slice of avocado toast to her lips.

"But I don't wanna waste it. Ugh..." she nearly gags after taking bite and Kihyun reaches around her to knock the toast from her hand so that it drops back onto the plate.

"Surely you can spare one slice of bread and a musty avocado for your stomach and sanity's sake. Just order something and I'll pay. Im hungry too."

He goes back to playing in her hair, something that he'd recent taken a liking to after one night of cuddling. He loved the texture and the softness of her hair, as well as the smell. It was completely different from what he'd been used to, having mostly been with women with naturally straight hair. It fascinated it him how Chloe's hair routine differed from theirs and he often wanted to be a part of it out of curiosity and another way to show her affection.

"Fine...and don't be snatching food from me." She grumbles and Kihyun snorts.

"I saved your life. Shut up..."

Chloe then busies herself with scrolling on her phone while Kihyun entertained himself in her hair. She'd occasionally show him something amusing on her timeline and they'd laugh or discuss random topics as time creeped on.

"I want you to meet my parents." He says after being quiet for a while, casually rolling the top section of her hair into a cute little imperfect top knot and securing it with her hair tie.

Pausing mid-scroll, Chloe goes tense.

"Your parents?"

"Yeah. I was planning on making a trip over there soon. After finals and stuff of course. They ask about you and wonder when theyll meet you so...why not." Kihyun shrugs, his finger combing much lazier now than it was minutes ago and at her silence, his hands goes still.

"I mean..If youre comfortable with that. I...I don't wanna assume.." he begins to retract his offer and Chloe quickly turns her body to look at him.

"No Kihyun......" she pauses to touch his knee.

"Im just surprised. I...I don't know. Just didn't think your parents knew about me."

"Why wouldnt they? Your family knows about me.." Kihyun quirks his brow with a confused smile and Chloe shrugs a shoulder lazily.

"Thats because we werent always a couple Ki. I introduced you as a friend before you became my man. They knew you."

"And now my parents want to know you. Whats the big deal?"  Kihyun's brow crinkled with confusion just as Chloe's mimicked him with a type of worry he had never seen on her.

She drops her chin with an anxious sigh before asking..

"Do they know that Im....you know.." she looks back up, finding Kihyun's soft eyes still on her.

"What? That youre a Cancer but apare tly act like a Virgo? Whatever that means...Horribly lactose intolerant but in denial? That you hit every curb when you turn? That you snore sometimes and are vegan but only on Wednesdays?" He teases in an attempt to lighten her mood. It works a little but he still earns a back handed slap to the chest.

"Aagh!" He falls back into the couch, clutching his shirt dramatically as they both laughed. Chloe, reluctantly of course.

"Shut up. That Im black, you dirtbag. Did you tell them that?" She pouts adorably, not dousing the humor at all and Kihyun breathy cackle tapers into a long winded sigh as he sat back up.

"Whew...man. Thats it? Thats what youre worried about??" he exhales. Although he found it funny, Chloe wasnt all that amused.

She didnt know why she was worried about what Kihyun's parents thought of her, apart from the fact that , according to him, she was the only black woman he'd ever dated seriously. If at all.

He never made her feel as if she were his first. The way he was immediately comfortable with her and her family made it seem like he was accustomed to different cultures. They had similar tastes in music and movies. Hell, he'd even put her on to a few things. But what if his family was different? She'd heard stories from others and their experiences in interracial relationships. Mostly positive but negatives stuck with her.

Specifically the parts where the parents didn't approve of the partner merely because of their race or ethnicity.

"I think its a pretty valid concern." She says after allowing Kihyun to stop finding everything about her worries so entertaining.

He couldnt help it though. The way her bottom lip poked out made him want to lean down and bite it.

Kihyun sighs before gesturing for Chloe to come to him. She does so with no hesitation, climbing into his lap and nuzzling his neck as he hugged her waist.

"Youre right. How you feel is valid...But Ive shown them your picture. So I'd hope that part of you at the least was obvious. Though my mother paid more attention to your big pretty eyes and perfect smile than the color of your skin. Oh and your hair. She loves your loc's and the way the curl at the end. She said she'd never seen any like that before, and that you wear them so well and how much they suit you...."

"No she didnt.." Chloe mutters grumpily against Kihyun's neck, although he felt her smile at the genuine compliment.

"She did. And my dad is most impressed with how smart you are. How you're studying law and undoubtably the smartest woman Ive dated. I agree with him." He shrugs his free shoulder, resting his chin on top of her head as his thumb soothed her waist just below her t-shirt.

"Baby. If youre not comfortable meeting them yet, I respect that. But please dont ever think you have a reason to worry about their approval. Shit, I had more reason to be afraid of your folks accepting me..The scrawny Asian kid you met at University."

At that, Chloe rolls her eyes.

"Stop it, my family loves you." She scoffs and Kihyun pulls back from her just enough to make her lift her head and look at him.

"Yeah? Well I love you, Ok? So know that I would never suggest anything that would put you in an uncomfortable situation. Not with my parents. Not with anyone. I'll protect you from whoever. I mean that.."

Searching his eyes for any fragility or reason to believe he was bluffing, Chloe ultimately found nothing except the reflection of her shining eyes and trembling bottom lip.

"Why do you have to say stuff like that..." she huffs after a beat.

She lets out a half hearted laugh in exasperation as she wiped a disloyal tear from her eye. Kihyun regards her softly, biting back his grin as he leaned forward, tipping her chin up for her to offer her lips to him for a kiss.

When their lips meet, Kihyun hums in contentment before smiling against her.

"Youre such a baby...." he mumbles, smooching her lips much more sensually. Kihyun inhales softly as he parted her lips with the sweep of his tongue, squeezing a handful of her cheeks to pull her closer. Chloe squeals in his hold,but her smile fades gradually as Kihyun deepens the kiss.

They'd have to finish the whole "meet the folks" conversation later..

Sexually

Kihyun is nasty. He's a dom and he's running the damn show. He's not the kinkiest fella. He might dabble in some light BDSM-esque type play but over all hes quite vanilla. Very attentive and passionate. Loves to take his time and can get kind of rough and mouthy in the heat of the moment. Loves to leave hickeys all over if you let him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sex was always on Kihyun's mind, even when he didn't show it. It was hard when a woman like Chloe, who exuded sexiness even in the simplest ways, was by his side.

On the outside, he's as cool as they come. Polite and mindful of who was around. He still made sure to keep her close by holding her waist or caressing her thigh. Tracing his fingers over the inseam of her jeans as a subtle hint of where his mind was.

No matter what they were doing or where they were, she had a way of keeping his mind on her body.

How it felt and her smell. Her taste. God, he loved her taste. He's almost a slave to it.

Internally, every cell in his body was attuned to hers. There were times when Kihyun's desire for Chloe was so overwhelming that he'd rush to get her naked and in his or her bed the moment they were alone.

Plans to visit Seoul were set in motion, Kihyun's parents generously paying for their tickets and even FaceTiming them ahead of time to ease some of the apprehension. Despite it being non traditional and the slight language barrier, Chloe felt nothing but warmth from their introduction. His mother especially, accepting many compliments on her beauty with a cherub cheeked smile and little head bows.

She even impressed them with the little Korean she did know, phrases and words she'd picked up while being with Kihyun or from what he'd taught her. His parents were almost as fluent in English as he was but it was still endearing of Chloe to make the effort.

Watching them interact and chiming in to still translate every now and then, Kihyun's heart soared at this new part of his life melding with the old.

After saying goodbye, Kihyun tosses his phone behind him to land on the couch before launching himself on top of Chloe. Her surprised giggle is muffled amid Kihyun's rushed kisses and hands busied sliding beneath her shirt.

"Ki...Kihyun...what the hell.." Chloe laughs when his lips detached from hers and began to travel down her jaw. The moment he latched on her neck, Chloe gasps.

By now Kihyun knew Chloe's body well enough to know exactly where to touch her. He was efficient in that way.

With his hands.

With his lips.

With his words.

"You make me happy. So happy and I just love you..So much..You dont even know...." He mouths against her skin between wet kisses. His hands curl around her waist to hold her beneath him as he nuzzled her neck, his

He takes a chunk of skin between his teeth, making Chloe roll her hips and press their bodies together in a way that has them groaning in unison.

"Ah!..love you too..." she manages before moaning his name again as Kihyun continues licking and sucking a his brand into her skin, grinding his obvious erection against the crotch of her thin leggings.

"But..what did I do?" She giggles, cradling his head against her

Before they could start a fire, Kihyun pulls away and drags his flustered and starry eyed girlfriend upright and to stand with him.

His kiss-burned lips shined even before he licked them, his fingers interlocking with hers as he guided her to stumbled closer.

"Nothing..." Kihyun shakes his head, holding Chloe in his smoldering gaze.

"That's the point. You're just...you." He admits.

The two stare at eachother for a moment, and before Chloe could respond, Kihyun leads her by the hands away from the couch. He cautiously steps backward around the furniture and into the shadows of the hallway with Chloe following him without question, tilting her head cutely and tucking her lips to keep from giggling when he nudged her bedroom door open with his foot.

There were nights like this, when the city was quiet and the orangish glow of the street light through the blinds of her bedroom window would cast stripes over the curves of Chloe's body as she stood before him, that made him want to take his time.

Time to ensure she knew how much he cherished her for being herself ,and being open hearted and brave enough to love him.

Kihyun knew a little bit about her past relationships through being her friend first. He knew about the lies and manipulation. He knew about the mental abuse and the cheating. He knew about the lasting effect it had on her emotionally, even to this day.

And yet she let him in anyway..

Kihyun had just finished pulling his shirt over his head, shaking his hair back in place while Chloe freed herself of her own. She stands inches away from him in a sexy lacy bra and panty set that matched the shade of the night sky.

He traced every shadow and line of her features under the scarce lighting with adoring eyes, the corners of his mouth twitching into the faintest smile.

She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen and in his mind, that wasn't even an exaggeration due to his feelings. Kihyun had seen beauty in many shades and forms. Some natural and some...not so much.

And none of them compared to her with her bare face, smooth sepia skin and her gorgeous crown.

Speaking of..

Kihyun's eyes lift to Chloe's dark roots and trickle down the curve her long locs framed her round face, scattered flecks of gold cuffs and honey blonde bleeding down to their spiraled ends. Chloe keeps her attention on his gentle focus as he pinched a stray curl between his fingers daintily before freeing her top bun from the confines of her the elastic band. Her head falls back as a waterfall of curly ended locs cascading down from the loosened knot he put them in earlier.

Kihyun immediately goes to raking his fingers through them so that they don't obscure his view of her face and the deepening mark brandishing her neck.

"Youre so perfect.." he exhales, saying it more to himself than to her. But the sentiment is received with shy smile before Kihyun captures it with his lips. As they did before, wet languid kisses travel from Chloe's pout, under her chin, and down the side of her neck.

"So fucking perfect baby.." he writes over the curve of her tummy with his kiss, nibbling at her navel and dipping his tongue into it on his way down.

He slowly drops to his knees with his lifting  eyes on hers, his hands gliding down with him to hold her hips possessively.

"Everything about you..." he fragments as he leaned into her, his lips tracing the line of her panties, his fingers teasing over their elastic as if he were about to pull them down.

But he doesn't. Instead, he nosed at the bulge of her other set of pillowy soft lips that begged to be kissed. So he did, pressing his lips right over their covered seam to tease her clit with the warmth of his tongue through the her panties.

Chloe watched him with drunken eyes, biting her lip and tipping her head back when the friction of Kihyun's tongue over her clothed pussy became too much for her.

"Kihyun..." she whines, finding him watching her dutifully. He knew what she wanted, even with the way she said his name just now. He knew she wasn't in the mood for teasing.

"What baby?" He tilts his sultry, only to drop his chin and drag the flat of his tongue over the tiny hill under her panties. The warmth of his mouth soaks straight through, making the fabric like a second skin as he licked her slit again.

This time, he sneaks a finger between her mound and his tongue and he pulls back to watch it rub tortuous circles over her clit.

"Hmm?" He reiterates with his other hand holding her fast at the hip, kneading her affectionately as she squirmed above him.

"Stop playing with me." Chloe scolds him but Kihyun merely smiles wickedly, glancing up slowly. He stands without warning, bumping his forehead against hers as he pulled her flat against him.

"But you love it." He exhales before lips apart and dipping his tongue between them.

"...love it when I touch you. Love it when I....fuck.." he pauses with groan at the way Chloe sucks his tongue, bobbing her head slowly before pulling back. They both smile against each other lips before diving back in, Kihyun's words forgotten.

He resumed undressing her as he distracted her with his deepening kisses, starting with the clasps of her bra and going back to peeling her panties down her thick thighs and helping her step out of them. All the while, his kept his gaze on her face.

Even when he dove back in with his tongue, dipping it between her folds to lick over her sensitive bud.

Chloe's knees buckle slightly on contact, her crescendoing moans only spurning him on.

"You don't want me to play with you baby? Hmm?..Want me to stop?" He mutters between teasing his tongue over her heat, tasting the way she dripped for him.

Desperate hands rake through Kihyun's hair as he focused all of his efforts on flicking his tongue over Chloe's hardening clit, his muffled groaning and fluttering eyes almost enough to push her over the edge.

"Thats right...Cum baby.." his words vibrated over her sex, the loudness of his wet tongue lapping over her clit becoming the only sound either of them could focus on.

He didn't even have to use his fingers and Chloe was already on the brink of exploding hard against his lips and tongue, crying out with a fistful of his hair in her grasp.

Before she could, Kihyun was rising from his knees. Lips wet from her pussy and eyes burning with desire, he quickly shucks off whatever clothing remained until only sweat existed between their bodies.

He's rock solid against her thighs, his shaft pulsing against her glistening folds as held her close.

He lays Chloe down with his tongue caressing hers, taking every needy mewl and moan she gave him as he settled himself between her thighs. His nimble fingers dig into the meat of her hips, hiking one of her legs up and over his arm to spread her wider for him. He had her pinned and helplessly open.

Kihyun wasn't a big guy in terms of stature or height (still taller by every partner he’s had) but he had the strength of two on a good day. Especially when it came to lifting up, tossing, or keeping Chloe right where he wanted her.

Like now, when the way he had her folded, creasing her soft tummy and making it a little hard to breathe. It was a discomfort that Chloe welcomed.

And as far as his size size, Chloe would never tell him how surprised she was to find out how much Kihyun had to offer. His girth was perfect, the length being just enough to make her gasp every time his tip swept against her walls when he was inside of her.

Kihyun's dick rubbed over her slick folds as he ground his hips against her, teasing his shaft against pussy while kissing her deeply.

Occasionally, he'd slip only the tip in before letting it slide up to rub over her clit, making her whimper pitifully beneath him.

Over and over, until Chloe was begging for him to put it in. When he did, they both cussed at the indescribable pleasure that rippled through them.

It was like this every time.

"Like that baby...grip me tight.." he growls with a pained and pleasured scowl marring his perfect features.

His grunts are low and deep from in his chest everytime his dick made impact, forcing her body into the mattress. Breasts bouncing and hands gripping the sheets. Chloe hiccups when he slams against her cervix, making him grin devilishly.

"Again..." she pants and Kihyun obeys, drawing his hips back and slamming into her again. She tenses and arches from the bed at the pressure but Kihyun pins her legs back so that shes unable to run.

"Fuck!...Kihyun.." she whimpers.

"Nope. Stay with me. I'll make it hurt so good, my pretty baby. Just hold on for me, ok?" he gruffs with a short peck on her lips and Chloe's walls spasm around his length.

While he may seem gentle with his words and his foreplay, m he's a straight menace otherwise. Coaxing the most inhumane sounds from a normally composed woman was his newfound specialty.

He'd never fucked anyone the way he fucked her, nor did he ever want to. Hell, he didn't think he could. The amount of stamina he exhibited as he manages to pull orgasm after orgasm from his woman made him feel superhuman.

He fucked her with everything he had, with one of her legs over his shoulder, both of them over his shoulder, turning her over and pinning her flat against the mattress. But its when he has her back on her back that he pushes himself nearly to the point of tears as he called her name in the crook of her neck when he came.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kihyun is a very dirty talker but the way his buttery voice caresses the words, you'd swear he wasnt. He's also a huge tease so be prepared for that. Some light degradation and edging. Lots of praise too though. He prefers raw sex so hes not the type to have anything casual. Hes very adamant about sexual health, hygiene and being clean overall. So If he's having sex with you regularly, that means yall are in a relationship and the idea of making a baby at some point isn't too far from his mind. Cream pies are his favorite kind of pie. But he'll absolutely wear condoms if you prefer it.

But he secretly hopes you don't so he can leave it in🥴

As it was mentioned before, I don’t rake Kihyun for much of an ass man (he loves a nice booty as much as the next man) but Kihyun loves breasts. Those are the first things he wants to see in the morning. He loves tracing his finger around the textured parts of the areola when he’s big spooning. He loves suckling them even more, flicking his tongue over the nipple and smiling around it when it makes you tremble. He’s fir sure ripped a few bras in the heat of passion and always makes sure to buy you new ones.

The really pretty, vibrant, lacy ones. When in doubt, always wear the blue ones.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Korea was amazing. Kihyun brought Chloe to his parents home straight away after they landed. His father was actually the one to pick them up from the airport and Chloe immediately saw where he got his charm and sense of humor from. Although a little more reserved and quiet, it was obvious.

Kihyun's mother was just as sweet as Kihyun, very thoughtful and doting. She asked Chloe a million questions and expressed multiple times how she wished she had a daughter and how she was glad to have one now. It was a little overwhelming at first, and COMPLETELY unexpected, but perhaps this was how Kihyun felt when he met her family.

Surrounded by love.

Its a quiet morning in the city park and most of the movement consisted of people walking their dogs, joggers winding through other pedestrians, and mothers in track suits pushing big strollers containing cooing infants.

Chloe beams as one mother passes them, catching a glimpse of a tiny round faced baby with almond eyes, tan skin and wispy curly hair.

"Do you want kids?"

The question doesnt catch Kihyun as off guard as it would anyone else. Especially considering how Chloe was the type to ask if he'd still love her if she was a worm or some other random sentient being.

"Why? Are you pregnant?" He asks jokingly while squinting againt the scope of his Canon EOS. The shutter sound clicks as he captures a photo of a wren perched on the railing of a nearby fence. He frowns at the image with scrutiny before going back to scanning their surroundings for something inspiring to shoot.

Chloe walks alongside him quietly, hugging herself against the autumn breeze in her oversized sweater and ripped jeans as she continued to people watch.

She hadnt even realized she didn't respond to Kihyun's rebuttal question until he is stopping dead in his tracks, leaving her strolling leisurely ahead until she notices. Chloe turns to him and furrows her brow.

"What?" She frowns, noting his expectant expression.

"I just asked if you were pregnant and you stopped talking. Thats what. " he blinks, mirroring the way Chloe's lashes batted at him in confusion before she smiles.

"Oh...Oh! No....hell no." She laughs, nearly snorting. She waved off his apprehension before encouraging him to resume his place beside her on the leaf littered path.  They crunch loudly under Kihyun's feet when he stepped towards her, lifting his camera to take an obnoxious snap of her before grabbing her proffered hand.

"Yeah very funny. Are you sure?" He lifts his brows and Chloe nods emphatically.

"Positive. This IUD has about 3 more years before it expires and it hasn't let me down yet." She bumps Kihyun with her shoulder. He grunts in amusement (and relief) before nudging her back gently.

"Good. I felt my blood pressure go up just now. Don't do that.." he exhaled with a laugh of his own.

Chloe drops her chin to watch their synchronized steps. She smiles guiltily for spooking the hell out of her unshakable partner while tightening her grip on his hand.

"No no..Im sorry. I only asked because I see everyone with a baby is outside today. Then seeing my sister all excited about her baby...Plus, we never really talked about it so.." Chloe trails off with half of a shrug.

Which was true. The two of them never had any conversations about the future in that way. Kihyun loved kids and was so patient with them from what Chloe observed. She never told him how it made her feel when she saw him holding his two year old nephew back at his parent's house, refusing to put her down even while he helped his mother in the kitchen.

She felt something stir within her that she never felt before. A flutter much like butterflies in her chest as well as her tummy.

Was this what baby fever was supposed to feel like?

Kihyun was momentarily distracted with his camera, scrunching his face with it lifted and aimed at the canopy of trees towering over them.

"Oh..well, sure.. eventually." He pauses to review the shots he'd just taken.

" I mean, Id for sure marry you first though." He mumbles, his thumb tapping the tiny buttons to scroll through the photos.

Now it was Chloe's turn to stop dead in her tracks. Their hands come apart, stealing Kihyun's attention from his camera to look back at her.

"You'd marry me?" Chloe asks in blatant surprise with a dash of disbelief in her expression, an ironic contrast to how Kihyun was just looking at her a few minutes before.

"What makes you think I wouldnt?" He smirks with his brow crinkled in amusement. Chloe glances around the busying park before shrugging.

"I don't know...." She mumbles, doing a horrible job at hiding her little pout. He regards her blankly for a second before sighing.

"Well I would. If that answers the questions that are probably swirling around in that big ass, over active ass brain you've got over there."

Chloe scowled cutely at the mini jab, prompting Kihyun to lift his camera to capture it as he continues.

"..and yes I would put babies in you. Maybe 2 or 3, if you're up to it. Boy or girl, I don't really care. As long as you're all healthy..." he goes on, closing the small gap between them and pausing occasionally to check the screen on the camera and smirking at the way Chloe's expression softened gradually from frame to frame.

"We would of course be done with school by then. I'll buy you a new car for a graduation present and you'll cuss me out for being over the top. And I'll tell you to shut up because I'll be the one driving it anyway. Then we'll get a nice house. Nothing too crazy. Modern but cozy. You'll be a tough ass defense attorney and I'll be in journalism doing something way less interesting than you but I wont care because I'd rather brag about my wife and her job than mine anyway..."

He's directly in front of her by now, snapping countless photos of Chloe's enamored and twinkling doe eyes as she gazed at him over the camera, her lips twisting in a subdued smile that she was failing at fighting back.

It was the type of smile that could break the hardest exteriors and melt the coldest hearts. Not that Kihyun ever claimed to be that cold or hard bodied. Some might have described him as such but not since he found her.

Kihyun lowers the obstructive device so that she could see the earnestness on his face when he spoke. He lifts his hand to pinch her chin softly, stroking her skin with the pad of his thumb.

"Because Ive never felt more sure about anyone in my life and you deserve all of that and more. You'll figure that out one of these days. Sooner than later , I hope."

Chloe finally gives in to the fullness of her smile, her soft dimples denting her cheeks and her bunny nose wrinkling slightly. She tries to turn away from his touch to hide her blush that only he could see, and Kihyun tips her chin back towards him and holds her in his eyes.

"Of course, Im in no rush for any of that. Thats just my plan...Im enjoying having you to myself these days."   

He pulls Chloe into his side, pressing a kiss to her temple and then her lips.

Just then, a bright red cardinal perches on a branch that bobbed merely inches away from where they were standing. Kihyun's eyes open at the sound of its song and he abruptly breaks their kiss, leaving Chloe's eyes fluttering in confusion until she hears the telling clicks of his camera shooting over her shoulder.

Its as if Kihyun had completely forgotten she was there and that they were having a moment by the way he was now fully engrossed by the disinterested bird.

"Ooh thats perfect..." he mutters as the continued to capture stills of the bird until it ultimately flew away. His shoulders drop, as does his smile and his shoulders.

Even the camera droops in his hold , giving Chloe the perfect opportunity to snatch it from his hands. Kihyun barely has time to react before shes turning it on him and going ham on the shutter button.

Snickering, she lowers the camera to look at the screen, smiling warmly at the array of expressions she'd captured. His pout and furrowed brow. His eyes wide with surprise and confusion. The last photo she'd taken immortalized Kihyun's handsome face and heart stuttering smile looking back at her. She bites her lip in reaction to that familiar and almost overwhelming sensation of butterflies swarming in her chest again.

"Youre right..." she lifts her brows before looking back up at him.

"Perfect."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Love Language:

Im on the fence between Acts of Service, Gifts, and Quality time. All of which could be valid because we all tend to dabble in multiple (or all) love languages. But since he is basically hubby, he's extremely reliable, loves spending time with his partner when his schedule permits it. Loves cooking for you and feeding you. Loves making things for you in general. Things that he knows you'll use often.

And he loves buying you things. Clothes, jewelry, high quality food. He doesn't really care about receiving gifts as much as he enjoys giving but if you were to gift him, make it something useful and personal. That would really make him blush.

As far as gifts giving, Kihyun would absolutely buy you a car out of the blue if you mentioned needing a new one lol He'd just randomly pull up in it and you'd be like "oh this is nice" and he'd say "oh you think so? Here." , tossing you the keys. He's the young flexer after all.

Must be nice..

Pet names/terms of endearment:

'Darling' or 'Baby' seem to be his go to's for pet names. With his deep voice and the way his lips kiss consonants when he speaks, I cant imagine anyone being able to resist him when he calls them one of those two. Maaaybe even princess or "My Queen" when he's being cheeky. For sure 'Baby' though.

[simpingforthemm]

christmas with oitnb women

(outside of prison)

includes: ouija, zirconia and taystee

word count: 1k

a/n: consider this a late christmas present ;) enjoy and happy new years guys ❤️, reader is fem / gender neutral

Ouija

she's actually somewhat of a Grinch

around Christmas time, she's just in a bad mood, not feeling very festive

but if you really like this holiday, she'll try her best to get in the Christmas mood

I can imagine her wanting to decorate the Christmas tree in darker colors or not wanting a Christmas tree at all

tries to convince you not to put up too much decorations bc if she sees another santa figure or tacky baby jesus crib, she swears she will lose her shit

will probably be really into mistletoes bc that just gives her an excuse to make out with you

she will do her impressions for you on Christmas Day, since you love them so much

one of those people who goes shopping for Christmas presents last minute

doesn't want to admit it but gets Christmas stressed pretty easily but not bc she wants christmas to be like perfect but bc everyone is making such a big fuss out of it and constantly asks her whether she's in the ✨mood✨ yet and if she still needs to buy a Christmas tree and whether she's bought presents yet...

don't go ice skating with her bc this girl has no balance at all and will basically cling to you the whole time you're on the ice

also, spending time with her son miguel!!

I can imagine it being hard for her to get custody of him back after being in prison and committing WIC fraud

But if you do succeed you'll probably both make this the best Christmas you can for him and spoiling him with presents <3

also the Christmas season would probably be a lot about her winning her son's trust back (since he saw that video of her being aggressive to the guards taken hostage during the riot and the poor boy is probably traumatized)

probably isn't the most emotional around Christmas time and doesn't really care about the reflective / contemplative aspect of Christmas

just wants you and her son to have a fun time

will threaten any christmas carolers that knock on your door and if they dare sing their bullshit jingle bells, best believe hands will be thrown

she thinks the grinch is the most hilarious movie

also, will get aggressive whenever she sees a fake Santa trying to lure her son into sitting on his lap

probably thinks dude is a pedophile targeting him

so she isn't the best at giving gifts so her Christmas present to you will probably be something like a coupon

also REFUSES to go to church on Christmas bc she just isn't religious and also doesn't want her son to be

one of those ppl who would and will eat fast food on Christmas and do something like going to a trampoline park or theme park

Zirconia

this girl is HYPED for Christmas!

and when I say HYPED I mean she's already going Christmas shopping on the first of december, decorating your living space all christmas-y, baking cookies (which she burns, oopsies) and forcing you to wear Christmas sweaters

If you live in a village and have a house, she will probably get in a petty competition with the neighbors over who decorates their house the best

she will go all out and buy inflatable santas, colorful and flashy fairy lights, garlands

bc ain’t no way is she going to let this asshole of a neighbor win this competition

will probably make it into a newspaper bc of her over-the-top, completely exaggerated decorations on your house

you will probably wake up in the middle of the night bc the lights that she brought were too bright or bc you found out that one of the inflatable reindeers she bought can actually sing Christmas songs

like ouija, she will love mistletoes

and probably also the fake santas at the Christmas market

will also probably believe that dude is real

best believe she will watch all of those cheesy christmas Hallmark movies with you and still be surprised when Janet and Hunter get together at the end

also complaining about the lack of wlw representation in those movies!!

loves all the Christmas treats and definitely has a sweet tooth

Anyway she's so excited for Christmas and just wants to have loads of fun with you! ❤️

Taystee

kind of like Zirconia, Christmas would be fun with her but also very emotional

it would remind her of all the christmases she had spent with Vee, in a foster family or the christmases in Litchfield

she would be in a very melancholic mood and reminisce about her childhood

I can imagine she would love jazzy Christmas music

just something that she could dance to

would love to invite some of your friends for Christmas (maybe some prison friends like Janae, Alison..)

she’d love to rekindle with them and would probably be very emotional when seeing them again

mourning the loss of poussey would also be a thing she’d want to do at Christmas, maybe lighting a candle for her or putting up a picture of her in your home

she's super open about trying your Christmas traditions since she's not really keen on implementing the traditions that Vee did with them when she was young

so she'd definitely be super happy to try some traditional food from your country for Christmas or anything like that

she's the best at gift giving and is super thoughtful

like Zirconia, she will also watch cheesy Christmas movies with you (remember she used to like watching this little girl beauty pageant series when she was younger which is also not that high quality tv but don't tell her that)

will just want a normal & relaxed christmas where she can feel safe and loved

will absolutely go to church with you if that's what you want but if you're not religious she will also not mind staying home & just chilling

she would love to go on a drive with you and look at all the pretty Christmas lights while drinking hot chocolate

if you have an old lady living next to you who is spending Christmas alone she would definitely be the type to invite her over so she wouldn’t have to be by herself

definitely the person who gets the meaning of Christmas (giving back and such)

around Christmas time she’d also want to help the less fortunate (assuming you two are more fortunate rn) like donating clothes you don't need anymore, helping out at the homeless shelter

and she's just the kindest to everyone around, even your grumpy ass neighbor who hates Christmas bc that's just who she is

merry christmas everybody and a happy new year!

[lilyevanstan1325]

❤️ Built For This World ❤️

Chapter 1

I drag myself with difficulty to the edge of the long road that stands in front of me.

My senses are on alert as I move slowly but decisively towards the trees on my right.

I feel too exposed here, the trees will give me a little more shelter from prying eyes and teeth ready to bite me.

I blink violently as the sunlight blinds me, burning my clear eyes.

Mum always told me "Clear eyes are delicate, always protect them"

And I, who was only five years old, snorted impatiently while, with a very sweet smile, she placed a pair of sunglasses on my nose and then kissed the tip making me giggle.

I have always loved my green eyes just because they are the same as my mother's, they are the only thing that reminds me that she existed.

I have nothing left of her except an old photo, creased and worn by the tears I shed over it.

Every time I see my reflection, if I concentrate hard enough, I can see her in my features, I can pretend for a few moments that she is there in front of me.

Our resemblance is the only thing that constantly reminds me that she was a real part of a life that today no longer belongs to me.

Emerald eyes.

That's how dad called her.

I can still hear his voice as he whispers those sweet words to my mother.

I sigh thinking about how much they loved each other.

They have always been my example of true, pure and strong love.

They are what I aspire to or rather what I dreamed for myself before.

Now there is nothing left, only death and despair.

I look around looking for a slightly shadier spot but without great results.

The heat is increasingly unbearable, especially at this time of the afternoon.

Not that I have a watch with me but from the position of the sun in the sky I'm pretty sure it was a few hours after noon.

I breathe deeply and the hot air burns my nose, my lungs.

The heat burns my throat, corroding every clear thought.

Damn…

I didn't know Georgia was so damn hot.

I mean, even though I am walking in the depths of the forest, the sun gives me no respite, it infiltrates the branches and leaves with unprecedented violence.

It's like it wants to constantly remind me “Hey bitch I'm here, I know where you are.You can't escape me"

The jeans I'm wearing fit like a second skin, making me sweat even more profusely while the white t-shirt I'm wearing has noticeable, and if I had been in the company of other human beings, embarrassing patches of sweat near the armpits and along the entire back.

Let's say the smell I give off isn't the best.

For a fraction of a second my vision blurs, slowing down my already limping and clumsy pace.

The sounds around me become muffled.

I no longer hear the cicadas singing in the heat of this desolate and cursed land.

Without realizing it, I stop and rest my hand against the rough trunk of a tree, the bark scratches my palm but I barely feel the pain.

Nowadays I feel numb to everything.

I no longer feel anything except the inexorable passage of time.

Forty-two days, I think as my vision comes and goes, repeatedly showing me white points of light on my black boots.

That's how long I've been wandering.

Forty-two damn days.

On my long journey to Atlanta I encountered few living people but many, too many, dead.

Fucking biters.

I tried to keep a low profile, only killing them when I really couldn't help myself.

My only weapons are my trusty knife and a machete found in an old abandoned car near Charlotte.

As for the living, well...in that case I avoided them as anyone would avoid STI.

Or the biters.

It depends on your point of view.

But the thing that amazes me is that I have never met his men.

Or him.

Maybe they didn't think I would run away south.

Or maybe they never looked for me.

Why should he commit his men, in his opinion his most precious resources, to look for me?

Maybe there was a time when he would have turned the world upside down to find me but in the last few weeks he had grown colder.

It wasn't him anymore.

Without feelings.

No hugs, no sweet words.

Only barked orders, half-hearted phrases.

As if I were another one of his stupid men and not the most important woman in his life, as he used to call me.

It is as if he had convinced himself that his love for me made him weak in the eyes of others, as if love me made him vulnerable and therefore less credible or reliable as a leader.

I feel my legs give out, my knees tremble, forcing me to kneel on the hard ground.

I bring the hand that isn't busy gripping the tree to my head, as if this gesture could ease my pain.

The same excruciating pain in my head that hasn't left me for days now seems to explode with ferocity, as if I suddenly found myself hanging upside down and all the blood was draining towards my brain, giving me the not so pleasant sensation of my eyes being forced out of my eye sockets.

In the midst of this ocean of pain I can hear the cawing of a crow that echoes throughout the forest, making me jump violently, making my heartbeat skyrocket.

I feel it beating so hard that I have the almost mathematical certainty that at any moment it could break through my ribs and come out of my chest.

The crow flies away with a rustle of wings, continuing on its way unaware of having almost caused me a cardiac arrest.

Another dizziness takes me by surprise, making me lose my grip on the tree and finding myself on all fours, my stomach shaking with violent spasms while empty retching fills my dry and sore throat.

I know what's happening.

I'm aware of it.

The problem is that I'm fucking scared of it.

I can't accept it.

After all, who could do it?

Who would be able to accept their death as if nothing had happened?

I feel my eyes burning but no tears appear.

My crooked mouth in a grip of perpetual pain burns, the dozens of small wounds that cover it bleed with every small movement.

I've learned to live with hunger, it's not as difficult as it seems.

The last time I think I ate was about two or three days ago.

I had found a small cabin in the woods, I think it was an old hunter's lodge.

With only a few hours of light ahead of me, I had decided to stop and set a small trap near my refuge for that night.

Maybe I would catch a disgusting possum or if I was really lucky a rabbit.

But instead, the next morning, the only thing I found was a little mouse.

Small, defenseless, gasping desperately with his little paw stuck in the trap.

He squealed forcefully, fighting for his life.

I still remember the tears of disgust at what I was about to do but it was for my own life.

For my survival.

I felt pathetic feeling sorry for a small and insignificant ball of fur but I think I saw myself in him.

Too small and defenseless for this world that is now too cruel and cowardly, destined to succumb but not therefore willing to give up.

I believe my sleep deprivation played a major role in my little mental breakdown.

An hour later I was sitting in front of a small fire, my hair glued to my neck from sweat and the remains of that little warrior on the ground in front of me.

“Mors tua vita mea” I found myself whispering while looking at those little bones.

Both of us, the little mouse and I, had only one mission, survive and there would be only one winner.

The failure of the little rodent guaranteed the achievement of my goal...surviving a few more days.

A rustle in the distance brings me back to the present.

I try to use every ounce of strength to concentrate all my energy on lifting my head, to at least try to understand where the noise is coming from, but by now dehydration is taking over, making me weak and exposed.

Vulnerable.

And in this world if you are vulnerable you are dead.

I lower my head in defeat, my forehead almost touching the dry leaves on the ground.

The smell of mold and musk tickling my nostrils.

My fingers dig into the ground with anger and frustration.

The sun continues to burn the back of my neck undisturbed, dulling my pale skin.

Some dirty strands escape from my bun and stick to my sweat-beaded forehead.

I am thirsty.

I'm literally dying of thirst.

And honestly it's a horrible death.

I finished my last water about five days ago.

For the next two days, after the end of that precious liquid, I drank my own urine twice.

I still remember the feeling of disgust, the tears rolling down my cheeks.

My head screaming at me not to do it while my body begged me otherwise.

I had to do it, I had no choice...

But then between the sweat and the lack of any other liquid even the urine disappeared and now I haven't drunk for almost 48 hours and my body can't take it anymore.

It's shutting down.

I am slowly and surely losing all functions.

Like I'm falling but I'm doing it in slow motion, I know I'll crash eventually and it'll be horrible but I can't do anything to help it.

I'm there, sitting in the front row watching my end.

Cool.

That rustling again.

I would like to get up, my instinct tells me to check what it is, to fight, but my body no longer responds to me.

It's like my brain has dissociated itself from everything else and told me “Hell no baby, I don't give a fuck, I'm done.Now it's your business"

Another round of retching knocks me out, forcing me to lie down on the ground, melting against it, with the dry leaves as a pillow.

I hear footsteps and I can't understand if they belong to a human being or to a biter.

The sounds are confusing, like everything else after all.

Thoughts become incoherent, and reality mixes with memories of the past.

“Come on my little girl, don't give up”

Is my daddy's voice?

The almost musical cadence of his voice makes my heart skip a beat.

Or is it just the palpitations due to dehydration?

Then another voice…

“Summer?Where are you my dear?"

Mom?

It's you?

Where are you?

Rolling onto my side and using the last of my strength I lie down onto my back.

Behind my closed eyelids I can perceive the intensity of the sun.

The sounds in my ears don't make sense, they come and go garbled and distorted.

Words, angry growls, whispers.

I believe my time has finally come.

The only regret?

Knowing that I came close, so close.

Atalanta is only a few tens of miles away and dying like this, devoured by some horde or simply devoured by my own thirst, sucks.

Dying sucks.

It's not how I imagined it.

It's certainly not like in the movies, that's for sure.

There is no last soft sigh, nothing romantic.

No cathartic moments.

No understanding of the meaning of life.

There is no flashback, no images of your life flashing before you.

Indeed...every breath is a stab, a slow torture that consumes your soul.

First, it fucks your brain and then he takes everything else.

An agony without grace.

Dying is not easy.

But despite everything I will die happy knowing that I tried in every way.

I tried to survive tooth and nail but in the end this world got the better of me.

A lone tear drips from my left eye.

Then the darkness.

Here, today, my journey towards a better life ends.

My run towards the freedom ends.

Please comment, share and rate ❤️

🔥 Masterlist 🔥

Tag list

@deansapplepie

[lantur]

updates,

I got back home from Japan on March 16!! It's been such a busy time since then. I left again on the afternoon of March 18 to attend a work event in St. Louis, Missouri, and I just got back home again yesterday evening.

I was surprised to really enjoy St. Louis. I didn't know anything about the city before, but it's a beautiful place. There are so many flowering trees all over, and lots of green space with Forest Park. The Arch and the Wash U campus are impressive.

The work component of the trip was exhausting. I worked 7 AM - 7 PM every day, and it was very social. Between colleagues and other members of the public, I was literally talking to people for almost the entire time every day. Caffeine kept me going. Still, it was a positive experience. I got to meet my organization's staff in St. Louis, and they're really nice people. I also met dozens of other people who were very interested in the work we do.

But it's so good to be home. I've been gone pretty much constantly from March 7 until today. I missed the comforts of home, and Derek, and Westin.

Highlights of my last few days in Japan,

Visiting the massive Todai-ji Temple in Nara and the surrounding temple spaces. My visit in the morning lined up with several dozen students taking a trip there, and it was cute to see them so excited and enjoying the experience as well, ringing the bells at the temples and lighting candles and incense offerings. I lit an incense stick in front of the Great Buddha with them. :)

Matcha latte at a cafe overlooking Nara Park, as the deer harassed people for food.

The deer!! They were so cute! I saw baby deer too.

Walking up to Kasuga Taisha Shrine and exploring the surrounding areas, finding the deer on the way.

Walking in the old Nara neighborhood of Naramachi, where I bought the best strawberry daifuku I have ever had, and ate it while sitting on the banks of a lake.

I felt so very sad about my last evening in Gion, so I made it a special one with dinner at Gion Duck Noodles, dango, and the most delicious hot taiyaki filled with fresh chestnut cream.

The last thing I did in Kyoto was a shibori silk scarf dying class at the Kyoto Shibori Museum. It was a 1:1 workshop and the instructors at the museum were so kind and hospitable. I'm thrilled with the scarf I made!

My last afternoon in Tokyo was a chill one. I got a foot massage, went out for dinner, and visited my beloved sento public baths one last time. The peak relaxation of those baths ended up being one of my favorite Japan experiences. ❤️

I did some shopping on Saturday before heading to the airport, and it was a smooth 11-hour direct flight home. I'm glad to be home with my family and friends, but I miss Japan. The food, the ease of public transport, the public baths... My heart was happy there. The vibes were good. I felt sadder upon leaving Kyoto than I ever have for any other trips.

I've wanted to go to Japan since I was 12. I'm so happy I finally got to experience that dream come true, and I still hope I can go again someday and explore more of the country. ❤️

[vilevenom]

Howdy, folks! Sorry I haven't posted much in terms of fic the last couple of weeks, I've been having pretty bad writers block 💕

I finally got a smidge of inspiration, though, talking with @em-doods about her sweet BroZone parent OC's, and what it would be like if they managed to get back to their boys. If you don't know who Birch and Flora are, please check out these amazing posts over here, and here! There is also a very sweet sketch of them, if they were older over here. They're in the top right corner ❤️ This is short and sweet, and I hope y'all enjoy~ When Will I See You Again title inspo

The journey to find pop village had been arduous at best, but absolutely nothing in comparison to their slapdash escape from the Bergens twenty-five years prior. Battered and utterly terrified, Flora and Birch had barely managed to escape Chef's kitchen and flee from Bergen Town all together. The Bergens had given chase, making them lose their way and not stop running until they were well and truly lost, with no feasible possibility of finding their way back home.

Now, after two and a half decades, they'd gotten word through the grapevine that the pop trolls were inviting trolls of all genres to their new home, hidden in the forest. Birch had jumped at the news, and promptly began packing their belongings to start on the journey. He'd wanted to immediately try to find their way back to their boys, to get them all to out of the tree, once they'd stopped running. Unfortunately, it took years for them to even find their way back to the troll kingdoms, let alone figure out where the pop trolls had disappeared to once they'd found out the troll tree had been deserted. It had seemed hopeless. Until now.

With no other mode of transport available to them, and age slowing them down, it took weeks to travel by foot. But finally, after nearly two months of traversing the kingdoms, they could see brightly colored pods hanging from the trees in the distance, and hear the sound of upbeat music wafting through the forest.

"We're so close," Birch exclaimed, giddy glee blatant on his face. He began to bounce as he walked, the pans hanging off his pack jangling together at the movement. Flora couldn't help but giggle at her husband's exuberance, forever wearing his emotions on his sleeve.

Slowly, though, her laughter died away as they approached the village. Her heart squeezed in her chest as she stared up at the little houses tucked snuggly between the branches. Her babies would be so much older now. Their egg would be nearly 25. She wouldn't even know them to see them, outside of the vibrant shock of blue hair that had protruded from the top of their shell. She could still remember, in vivid detail, the look on John Dory's face as he clutched the egg in his arms and screamed for her as she was ripped away from him by clawed fingers. It tore her heart to shreds to think of that moment, knowing just how much must have wound up in John Dory's lap because of their disappearance and inability to return home. She wondered what kind of trolls her boys wound up becoming without their parents around.

"Hey," Birch's voice snapped Flora out of her ruminations, drawing her gaze down to his smiling eyes, "Stop thinking so much. I can hear it from over here."

"Sorry," she said with an embarrassed laugh, tugging absently at the shawl draped around her shoulders, "I just can't help thinking about how much our boys must have changed since we last saw them. How much they've grown without us. We didn't even get to name our egg, before-"

"Stop that," Birch stepped in front of Flora, forcing her to halt her steps, "Sure, they'll be different from when they were kids. That was bound to happen, with or without us. But, they'll still be our boys. I'm sure they all turned out to be amazing trolls. You need to give Rosiepuff a little bit of credit, here. I'm sure she raised them well. After all, look at how you turned out." He gently took her hands into his, giving them a light, reassuring squeeze.

"I know. I know, it's just…you know how my mom was with the boys, sometimes. And, what if…what if, during Trollstice-"

Again, Birch cut her off, shaking his head as he spoke. "You can't think like that. Our boys were resilient and smart. They knew how to keep themselves safe."

"But, the egg-"

"Johnny and Spruce were old enough, you know they would've taught the baby everything they knew to stay safe. Heck, they were looking after Clay and Floyd during Trollstice without us even needing to ask them for years. They're all fine. I know it. I know it, Flora. Have a little faith."

Flora sighed, a soft smile curling her lips at the hopeful expression on her husbands face. "You're right," she sighed, curling her fingers around Birch's hands to return his steadfast grip. "We won't know anything until we get to town and find them. I need to keep my head up!"

"That's my girl," Birch hummed with a grin, leaning up on his tip toes to press a kiss to Flora's cheek. "Now, c'mon! I can't wait to see this place! It looks massive in comparison to the tree! Do you think Peppy is still king? One of his daughters must have taken over by now, don't you think?"

Flora let her husbands gentle ramblings wash over her as they trekked on towards the village, trying her best not to come up with any more worst case scenarios about their children. Birch was right, she had to think more positively. Their boys were survivors, and they wouldn't have let anything happen to their youngest sibling.

Walking through the last barrier of scrub and tall grass into the village was a bit of a shock to the both of them, freezing them both in their tracks. The vibrancy of the colors, and cacophony of sound were so different from what the troll tree had been. While the tree had always been bright and music was nearly always heard, it was truly nothing in comparison to what they'd stepped into. There had always been an air of despair and hesitancy around the tree, making trolls more cautious in how loud they sang, or how brightly they colored their pods. But here, everyone was free to be as boisterous as they wanted, and it truly showed. There was so much life everywhere you looked. Flora felt overwhelmed, glancing down to her husband who was openly weeping as he took it in.

"Look at this place," he breathed, looking up at his wife with a grin, "Look at how they've flourished."

"It's amazing," Flora easily agreed, feeling tears of her own welling in her eyes. She took her husbands hand in hers as they began to venture into the village, her heart beating a sharp staccato in her chest, anticipation buzzing in her veins. Her eyes scanned the crowds of trolls as they walked, keeping an eye out for the shades of hair she had memorized since the day each of her children had hatched.

However, absolutely nothing would truly prepare her for the feeling of elation that bulldozed into her as she finally caught sight of teal hair she hadn't seen in twenty-five years. The goggles nestled into his hair sealed it for her - that was her boy. Her sweet little green bean, all grown up.

"John," she breathed, before letting go of Birch and running full tilt at her son, who was stood casually chatting with another troll in the middle of the market place.

~

Branch had nearly had to forcibly drag John to the market to do some shopping. As much as the eldest brother whined about wanting to spend more quality time with Branch and Floyd while he was living in pop village, shopping was not something he was overly keen on doing. The two had talked about it once, both commiserating that there were just too many trolls all over the place for it to be an enjoyable experience. But, they had come to an agreement to at least accompany each other when shopping was necessary, so they could complain about it the whole time without being judged by their respective partners.

Which is what they were doing, griping about the price of fazzlefruit, when a troll suddenly barreled into John Dory, clinging to him like her life depended on it.

"Woah there!" John grunted, startled into holding his arms out to the sides as the troll in question buried her face into his shoulder and began to weep, muttering 'my baby, oh my baby' over and over again into his jacket. "I, uhm…well, this is awkward," John chucked, glancing at Branch who looked like a swag stag caught in the headlights. "Right, uh…" Gently, he pried the crying woman's arms from around his ribs, slowly easing her away from him. "Look, I'm really sorry, but I think you've got the wrong troll," he murmured quietly, "I don't-" He paused, eyes wide as the woman lifted her head, his jaw going slack as he took her in.

"JD…?" Branch prompted quietly from behind him, though John barely registered his brother had even spoken.

"…Mom?" John whispered, barely able to believe what he was seeing, his vision blurring as tears welled in his eyes, "But…no. No, I saw you. I saw you get taken! How can you be here?!"

"Oh, Johnny," Flora gasped, wiping at her face before reaching out and tugging John into another embrace, "I'm so sorry, baby. I'm so, so sorry."

John returned her hug with fervor, clutching her close like she'd disappear if he let go. "Oh my glitter. I never thought I'd see you again! I can't believe it," he cried into his mouthers shoulder, "I can't-wait! Is dad with you? Did he-" he pulled away from his mother, but kept her shawl clutched in his fingers. He let out a shout as he spotted his father jogging towards them, tears running down his own face as he waved at them as he approached. "DAD!" He opened his arms as Birch reached them, the three quickly sinking to their knees as they cried and clung to one another.

They sat like that for a time, before Branch quite loudly cleared his throat and kicked at John's foot to get his attention.

"Oh! Oh, cupcakes," John reluctantly pulled himself away from his parents embrace, stumbling to his feet to grab at Branch and tug him forward, much to the blatant confusion of his baby brother. "Branch! These are our parents! Mom, Dad, this is Branch." Gently, he pushed Branch towards their parents, who stood from where they'd been kneeling on the ground, cheeks ruddy from their tears. "He hatched a month after Trollstice."

"Look at you!" Flora cooed, wiping at here eyes quickly before stepping forward, hands outstretched towards Branch's face. He cringed as she approached, fully expecting to have his cheeks squished, much like Clay had done when they'd reunited, only to be pleasantly surprised as she simply cupped his cheeks in the palms of her hands.

Branch let his shoulders slowly relax as she looked him over, frowning slightly as she began to cry again, silent tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Hello, my sweet baby," she finally sighed after a long minute, a sad smile on her face, "I'm so sorry that we missed you."

Her gentle words seemingly broke something in Branch's chest as he heaved a sudden, ugly sob, surprised by the wave of emotions that crashed over him as she drew him into a tender hug. He let his arms wind around her as she rubbed at his back, openly weeping like he'd never done before as she murmured reassurances into his ear.

"I'm here now, sweetheart. Momma's here."

[lilyhoshikawa]

🎶 MUSICAL NOTES, 💤 SLEEPING SIGN, 🎄 CHRISTMAS TREE, 🐷 PIG FACE, 🌴 PALM TREE, ❤️ RED HEART, 🤍 WHITE HEART, 💔 BROKEN HEART, 🍝 SPAGHETTI, 🍰 SHORTCAKE, 🤔 THINKING FACE for ghost maria please

🎶 MUSICAL NOTES — what type of music does your oc like? do they listen to music very often?

I feel like during her life, given how often she found herself without much to do, Maria would definitely find herself experimenting with a lot of styles of music. As a ghost, once she visits Earth with Shadow, she gets obsessed with synth-heavy techno music as soon as she first hears it, stuff that is evocative of feelings and thoughts without directly expressing them. It would broaden her horizons, which she always enjoys. I also think she has a secondhand affinity for Shadow’s edgy rock music. Much like with Shadow, it speaks to her anger and angst in a very direct way.

💤 SLEEPING SIGN — is your oc a light sleeper or a heavy sleeper? how are their sleeping habits?

Due to her condition and the frequency of her getting really horribly sick, I think her sleep is tumultuous to say the least. She probably can’t keep a consistent schedule due to a combination of fevers and the whole being in space thing, so her hours are odd. She definitely spends a lot of time either sleeping or in bed due to pain and sickness, and when it gets especially bad she tends to pass out. She can be a pretty heavy sleeper when the weight of it really strikes her, but other times she can be woken up easily by the sickness. As a ghost, I was initially going to have her not need to sleep at all, and maybe she still doesn’t need to, but I for one really like sleep and think it’s important to be able to do it and get cozy comfy. So she definitely can nestle into her own spot in the bed, sort of stabilize her form where the mattress is, and rest. It feels good, because sleep is where you’re the most human and raw, the least conscious (duh) and so it’s harder to care about the obvious differences in nature between being a ghost and a human. It’s one of the easiest ways for her to feel at peace when the weight of everything catches up to her. And I think she definitely takes naps sometimes while Shadow is doing stuff on his own, rather than deal with being a ghost with nobody around to talk to.

🎄 CHRISTMAS TREE — what is your oc's favorite holiday?

I imagine most of the minor holidays weren’t celebrated aboard the Ark, stuff like Valentine’s Day are basically largely commercial holidays anyway so it would be hard to make it work. But I don’t think they could get away without giving the girl a proper Christmas at least once a year. I do think a version of celebrating Hanukkah could work here too depending on the version of the characters we go with, but for me it’s easier to write this based on all my known experiences, and I think Gerald would want Maria to have at least one big “getting presents and attention and being celebrated and doted on and having bright lights all around” type of holiday to make her feel special once a year and make the normally mundane lifestyle aboard the Ark bearable, to keep spirits high if nothing else. I think this is one of the few things she comes to enjoy more about being a ghost on Earth, though, since she gets to see so much more of it. The snow, the decorations in the city and in towns, the lights, the storefronts, every little detail as the world shifts into full holiday mode. She loves the buildup to the day itself and she wants to try a hot chocolate so bad but she’s a ghost so she can’t and it’s very tragic.

🐷 PIG FACE — what is your oc's favorite animal?

“Hedgehog” feels like the obvious answer but I wanna inject my headcanon that the species decision for both Shadow and his prototype, the Biolizard, were suggested by Maria. She was like “make it a big lizard” and then that experiment failed so Gerald was like “ok can we pick something smaller this time.” I also think Maria would find reptiles fascinating in terms of their biology. She spends a lot of time around blood so hearing abt reptiles and their cold-blood nature would be very cool to her. So I’m gonna say favorite animal is lizards initially, but after Shadow comes around it’s obviously hedgehogs.

🌴 PALM TREE — does your oc have a green thumb? do they enjoy gardening?

I feel like she absolutely loves plants, is curious about them, and sees them as one of the most tangible connections between her and Earth, the home she never got to see. Aboard the Ark there’s almost definitely a garden or farm of some sort or some research on botany going on, and she probably feels very connected to it. The soil comes from Earth, after all. She would want to work with the botanists all the time, and they’d be reluctant to let her, worried it would make her sicker, worried she’d damage the plants, worried about whatever other boring considerations responsible adults have to take. But as I’ll discuss later I think she has a habit of getting her way, and eventually they’d let her, and she’d love it, and she’d work very hard to keep her own personal flowers alive. She’d for sure do that thing of talking to plants bc it helps them grow, and no matter how many times the botanists explain it’s just because of increased exposure to CO2 she believes it’s because the plants like her. She likes them too. Unfortunately, as a ghost, Maria is surrounded by plant life and utterly unable to touch it. She probably bugs Shadow into getting some flowers for wherever he ends up living and tells him how to take care of it. She still talks to the plants, too. Even though it doesn’t help anymore. It can’t hear her.

❤️ RED HEART — what are three of your oc's positive traits?

One of Maria’s only canon traits is that she is kind and hopeful despite her condition, and that’s 100% true. She’s still young, full of wonder and curiosity about the world, full of hope and eagerness. At her best she’s a fountain of energy, positivity, and fun. She’s funny, she’s uplifting, she’s smart and picks up on things quickly. Full of all this potential that everyone around she knows she may never get to use. Even as a ghost, I think those traits stick out. She’s angrier, dealing with more trauma and righteous fury, but she’s still in love with the world she now gets to see up close. The trees, the flowers, the wind, the sounds. Birds and stray cats and people’s cozy little homes with all their personal touches. She’s observant and curious, and she sees it all, makes note of it. Her observational abilities probably help Shadow out, too, and her ability to learn things quickly helps her bring him up to speed. She’s really a perfect ally for a lot of the deadlier stuff Shadow gets up to that she’d prefer not to do.

🤍 WHITE HEART — what are three of your oc's neutral/questionable traits?

Again, Maria is sharp. Notices things, picks things up quickly. She’s able to put pieces together in ways that make life a bit harder for people around her sometimes. She’s never been surprised by a surprise birthday party, or received a Christmas present she doesn’t already know the identity of. She’s also more than willing to view intelligence as a truly amoral thing, she sees as much value in her cousin Ivo’s intelligence as in Tails’ for example, even when one person is trying to destroy the world and the other to save it. I also think she’s able to be pretty apathetic to her own circumstances, which in her life makes it easy to navigate the emotional baggage of her condition, but also means she doesn’t see her worst days as especially scary, and can tend to overexert herself for the hell of it. She’s pretty emotionally mature and understands that she is probably going to die, and that’s as helpful as it is terrifying. When ghost time comes around, the apathy carries over. Sure, she’s outraged at the situation, but she doesn’t spend too much time getting mad about it, just lets herself stew in the unfairness of it all, knowing that being openly frustrated won’t do her or Shadow any good. It can cause her to be closed off, but also more capable of focusing on an important task if she’s needed.

💔 BROKEN HEART — what are three of your oc's negative traits?

Maria exists in this really unenviable position of being a child who lived onboard a space station surrounded by exclusively adults and your sibling who is also the ultimate life form and also a fluffy little guy. So I imagine during her life she frequently gets frustrated and acts out due to people refusing to listen to her or take her seriously, who don’t bother explaining stuff to her despite her curiosity, even when it’s her own body they’re doing stuff to. Bc of the Robotnik reputation I think Gerald probably didn’t bother checking if his elite team of scientists and doctors was any good with kids, and their behavior annoys her to no end. She’s prone to intentionally making her condition worse to get their attention or being difficult on purpose to annoy them, typically to the detriment of her own health. She would not be above using Gerald’s guilt about taking her from her parents and trapping her aboard a space station and, most of all, the fact that they both know he isn’t going to cure her, against him to get her way. Maria is at her core hopeful and full of curiosity and love but she’s also so angry about how unfair it all is. And when she’s a ghost, it’s even worse. She’s bitter, she’s sad, she’s in constant mourning. She’s jealous of everyone around her getting to live full lives, even Shadow, who means more to her than anything. Watching her killers get off scott-free. It’s easy for that rage and bitterness to overtake her and make her vindictive and petty. And to be honest, can you blame her?

🍝 SPAGHETTI — what is/are your oc's favorite food(s)?

So Maria is born on and spends her whole life aboard a space station, and bc of how I envision her ghost form working, she isn’t actually able to eat food in that state. So I imagine her understanding of flavors to be really messed up by that, and she’d have to be limited to stuff they could store in space. I do think due to her pain she’s a fan of stuff that is easy to eat and relatively soft, it’s the most stress-free eating experience and relatively stable. I also think if given the chance she’d be a veggie fantastic. She would get so mad at anybody who doesn’t like any vegetable for any reason.

🍰 SHORTCAKE — what is/are your oc's favorite sweet(s)/dessert(s)?

I think she 100% has a sweet tooth. She is a kid so immune system disorder be damned she was insistent that Gerald keep the Ark kitchen stocked with chocolate and space ice cream or whatever equivalents they could get, and she regularly snuck around swiping some when she wasn’t supposed to, to the exhaustion of her doctors. Shadow was also skeptical about it until she shared some chocolate with him and he immediately understood. Some things are worth the risk.

🤔 THINKING FACE — what are some of your oc's quirks/mannerisms?

As many other folks have rightly pointed out, it is an often-overlooked fact that Maria is a Robotnik. This family is known for many things, but mostly, being cartoonish evil scientists who try to take over the world. While Maria’s brand of revenge and evil is different than Gerald or Ivo’s, she definitely retains their propensity for stuff like evil laughter, as well as the idle curiosity and intelligence (Maria is raised amongst genius-level researchers and scientists after all). So from that, I think she likes to keep her hands moving, touching things, building things, at least when she has the strength for it. Once she’s a ghost, she no longer has the pain, but she also doesn’t have the corporeality, so she can’t fidget with her hands. It’s basically torture, and she hates it. Sometimes she runs her hands through Shadow’s quills and watches them fade into him and back out. It’s the closest she’s got.