#by now i'm really satisfied with how the painting came out

[chiseikumo]

some art for the new zero 9:36 songs. technically the visual is more inspired by the cover art of "stuck in my ways" but "self-destruct" was on repeat throughout the process we have (1) a painting (2) some photoshop filters and textures as usual (3) the quickest and dirtiest edit yet (4) and an edited version of it with a gradient map (5) i have no idea but it got a vibe

[reysdriver]

i need more dad James 🫣🫣🫣🫣

James comes home from a trip to the farm supply store with a wild surprise — dad!farmer!james x mom!reader fluff

warnings: a little bit of fighting but it's absolutely not angsty, some parental nervousness ig

words: 1.3k

a/n: I need more of him too lol (I'm gonna use this ask to test out my new au tho so I hope you're ok with that <3)

James came home right when you were starting to prepare dinner, much to the joy of you and both your children. You scooped up your baby girl from her play mat on the ground, then right on cue, your toddler showed up at your side, rushing to the front door with you. 

“I guess you heard the door too, Haz?” You asked your son, holding out your hand for him to take.

As he looked up at you and nodded, he took your free hand so that the three of you were all going together to see James. 

Once you saw your husband at the door, all you felt were the butterflies in your stomach that still hadn’t flown away even after all these years. But then, you noticed how he was leaving very little space between him and the door as he closed it, and how he was covered in little strands of fur even though he was just running a few quick errands. 

Before you could even ask him about it, he wrapped his strong arm around your waist and pressed his lips against yours. It took you a bit of time to register what was even happening, but as soon as you started to melt into the kiss, James pulled away and flashed you a sweet smile. 

He then bent down to greet both Ivy on your hip and Harry standing beside you. 

“I have a surprise for you and the kids.” James said, mostly excited with a hint of guilt. 

You raised an eyebrow at your husband. “What are you talking about?”

He shrugged and touched the door handle, ready to open it. “I can’t really tell you. It’s better if I show you.”

He opened the front door to reveal a ridiculously small horse standing fifteen feet away from you and tied up to the bannister outside. 

It was half your size and incredibly fluffy. You had to resist going over to pet it just because you were so in shock at the fact that your husband came home from the farm supply store and surprised you with a whole horse—or maybe just a third of a horse, based on its size.

A thousand and one thoughts raced through your head but before you could make sense of any of them, Harry giggled loudly and began to run towards the horse in front of you all. 

Panicking, you called your son back and walked him back to the porch. You used your free hand to hold him tightly against your thigh so he wouldn’t run back the animal James just surprised you with. 

“You bought a pony on a whim?” You asked your husband. 

“No, of course not.” He shook his head. “She’s a miniature horse. They’re totally different. The guy I bought it from told me all about them!”

Of course. Now that the horse’s title is settled, everything is fine. 

“James, we need to speak in private. Stay here.” 

His face flushed. He knew you were mad because you almost never called him by anything other than your various pet names for him unless you were upset. 

You then ushered Harry back inside the house to the living room, where you set Ivy back down on her play mat. 

“Play with your sister for a minute, Haz. If she gets fussy at all, you can come get me outside, okay?”

He smiled and nodded, sitting down next to the one year-old. “Can we play with the pony soon?”

You exhaled, unsure of how to respond. “Your dad says it’s a miniature horse, not a pony. And maybe, if you’re good.”

The boy seemed satisfied with that, so you pressed a kiss to the top of his head and walked back outside, where you found your husband looking extremely guilty as he awaited your return. 

Once you closed the door behind you, he immediately tried to make the situation better. 

“Lovie, I knew you’d be reluctant about all of this, but I swear I can explain—”

“You bought a horse, James! You were only supposed to be going out for a new shovel and some paint, then you come back with a horse?!”

 “Well, I got the other stuff, too, it’s just in the truck. I just got to talking with a man at the supply store and he said he was selling some of those cuties right out of his horse trailer in the parking lot.”

You sighed and crossed your arms. “How much did it cost?”

“Not much at all! The guy was selling them for bottom dollar ‘cause he’s moving soon and needs ‘em gone!” James rested his hand on your upper arm and stroked lightly. His voice softened, and so did his expression. “Believe me, I wouldn’t have bought her if we couldn’t afford her. I’m always thinking about our family.”

You were trying real hard not to look into your husband’s pretty eyes because you knew the second you did, you would have no choice but to give in. You stared at the porch swing, the miniature horse, the chicken coop, anything but James. 

And he could clearly tell you weren’t convinced just yet, so he kept going.

“Look, I know we got rid of most of the animals before Harry was born, but those were the more unstable ones, and that was back when we were nervous about everything. Now we’re more experienced, and she’s just the sweetest thing.”

You exhaled, peeking through the window to check on Harry and Ivy playing on the living room carpet. 

“They’re just babies, Jamie.” 

He bit back a smile at the use of his nickname, letting him know you were warming up to the idea. 

“Harry’s already three, love.” He removed his hand from your arm and gestured at himself. “I was just barely older than him when I started riding the real horses, and now look at me!”

He smiled and posed with open arms, which in turn made you smile. 

“I love looking at you.” You said sincerely. “You’re the best.”

“Your words, not mine.”

You giggled, then pulled him in for a kiss. And not just one to distract like when he first came home. A real kiss, and a good one too.

When you pulled away, you left your hands where they were and caressed softly. 

“Next time you want to do something extravagant for the kids like this, talk to me about it first, okay? If you kiss me enough, I’ll say yes to anything.” 

James raised an eyebrow, insinuating things that made you glad the kids were inside. 

Your jaw dropped in mock stun. “Not like that, Jamie! What do you take me for?!” 

The two of you both laughed, and he pulled you in for a sweet hug. “My wife, the mother of my incredible kids, the love of my life. I could go on.”

You would have claimed he was just flattering you as an apology for buying the horse, but you had already told him he could keep it. Plus, he says things like that far more than he had ever bought something crazy and needed forgiveness. 

“So I can go introduce the kids to the horse for real now?” 

Your gaze moved over to the animal a few feet away from you, and you nodded as a response to your husband’s question. 

“As long as you have a saddle for that thing.”

He grinned, then kissed your nose quickly before darting away. “Thank you! It’s in the truck! I love you!”

You laughed to yourself, and shook your head amusedly while you walked towards the miniature horse that you now owned. 

“Hi there, sweetheart.” You greeted, brushing her mane with your fingers. “Welcome to the family. James there can be a bit daft, but I think you’ll like it here.”

[cvnt4him]

IIDA WITH A PREGNANT WIFE 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

ask n you shall receive‼️

Some time ago you were talking amongst your girl friends, gathering around and chatting about whatever topic came up. First it was how you husbands/boyfriends were, then it was work, then it was something you'd seen online, and then ochako randomly surprised everyone with some news.

"I'm pregnant!"

Dramatic gasps coming from around the table, all the girls squeal and congratulate ochako in mushed together tones, you were so happy for your friend! She was starting a new chapter of her life with the love of her life and you thought that was truly amazing!

Sooner or later it had you zoning out in front of the love of your life, he was speaking to you about something that had instantly slipped your mind. You were just blankly looking at him, his biceps, his pretty face, the way his jawline was so sharp, and how thick his neck was. You wanted to litter marks all over him leaving no inch left un painted.

He soon instantly realized you weren't paying attention, his words falling into deaf ears. Tenya hummed in disapproval. He couldn't believe you were zoning out like this!! He put his hands into his hips and looked at you with a look that made you absentmindedly bite your lip. He could be so sassy yet not even notice it.

The way you bit your lip and your pupils looked blown wide instantly made him see something hiding behind you, he swallowed hardly and fixed his clothes clearing his throat then moving to sit next to you on your couch. Your eyes follow, you look at him and blink a couple of times before slowly coming back to reality.

Tenya grabs your hands and held them in his larger ones, he created a warmth in between both of your hands. It was so comfortable and loving, the way he looked at you with those beautiful eyes, ones that swallowed you whole with just a glance, he could tell a story without even speaking. He was just so beautiful without even trying it was enviable.

"my love.. is something the matter? You seem to be spacing out quite a lot these days. I'm getting quite worried. Are you sick or feeling under the weather in some way? Is there anything, anything at all that I can do to satisfy you?"

Tenya went on and on trying to find a quick solution to an unknown problem. He turned his head to the side like a lost puppy and that only made you whimper lowly. He heard it and was quite concerned he just didn't know what to do. He sighed beginning to speak again before you quickly shut him down.

"i want to have a baby."

"I- what."

His face was serious and his eyes were wide. Had you just said what he thought you did. Your saddened yet turned on face never changed, you looked at him with pouty blown wide eyes that only ever made him love you more. He was speechless, truly he was.

"I— a- a baby? With me? Really.."

Tenya stumbled out, tenya loved his job and he loved you just as much. The thought of you wanting to have a child, a family with him was nothing less than a dream. It was something he had thought about and hoped to talk to you about. He wanted a legacy sure, but most importantly he wanted to see you waddle around his house full and swollen with his seed. His kid, growing inside of you like he planted it to do.

The thought of him putting his child inside of you made him feel filthy. The fact he thought of you like this, all pregnant and aching for him made him feel so so disgusting. He felt like a pig, but God he just wanted to get you pregnant, and now that he knows you want it he just doesn't know how to control the feelings burbling inside.

After getting you pregnant his main priority was assuring that you took off of work immediately. He wanted you resting at all times, he didn't want you to move not even if you absolutely had to. He wanted to do everything for you.

Tenya was so glad he could see you like this, you were pregnant with his child. The next Iida would have your DNA glowing through it. That just felt so right to him. But the thought of it was also so dirty. He couldn't help but to think about how the two of you made your little child growing bigger inside of you each and every day.

He would hold you tightly and tell you how excited he was while rubbing your tummy, tenya is a big strong guy he can carry you every where if need be. Of course it isn't because you would never have him do that but just the fact that he would makes your heart flutter.

Tenya loves the fact that every time your tummy gets bigger you have trouble bending down, like putting on socks or your shoes or even your underwear. You groan in frustration anger growing inside of you as you try to put your flats on, you hated wearing anything other than them as other shoes began to get rather uncomfortable. Tenya simply chuckled at you getting all angry over nothing, he walked over to you and bent down putting your shoes on for you while you hold onto the wall for support. You thank him with a giggle and go on about your day.

Being on your feet is a pain in the ass, it's bad on your back and it's just tiring. You've noticed that you've gotten more and more tired as the days go by, you hated not being proactive sometimes and your feelings for alot of things have just been heightened. You get angry quicker, more emotional it's just a lot for you sometimes it's quite overwhelming.

Your lovely and caring husband tenya notices and he hears you. He heard how you hate being pregnant, he understands how tiring and annoying it is so when you complain to him how your back hurts or how your feet are aching he's quick to lie you down and rub your feet or gently apply cold oil onto your back and massage into your skin. His large warm hands tracing up and down your back gliding across your shoulders and wrapping around the back of your neck before sliding back down your back. Tenya whispers sweet things into your ears like how proud of you he is, how strong and smart and perfect you are for him, how he can't wait for you to be the mother of his child and how he can't wait to meet your child. It all gets to you and makes you tear up which eventually leads to you down right so being in his arms.

You love looking at your ultrasound pictures. Seeing your little child that the two of you made just sit inside of you makes you so happy. The thought of being a mom scares you, and the fact you're going to have to push out a whole kid sooner or later fucking terrifies you, but tenya is always there to make you feel so much better and so strong.

Tenya is such a king, he lays his head on your stomach and the baby kicks him in the head. He scoffs with a huge smile on his face, matching the surprised and happy face you make. You both look at each other then back down to your tummy in union it makes him laugh loudly while he lies his head back onto your tummy. You laugh as well and he can feel the way you tummy moves up and down as you do.

He feeds all of your cravings with no questions asked. No hesitation no back talk, he's just up and at em. Tenya is so quick to ask you if you need anything, absolutely anything before he lies down next to you. Sometimes it's so hard to want to get up when he lies down into his comforting slot beside you. The warmth that created in between the two of you just soothes him and lulls him off to sleep.

Everytime tenya tells you in some way shape or form how much he loves you and how proud of you he is. He tells you how he can't wait to meet his child and how he can't wait to see you give birth. Everything scares you, the thought of being a mom, being a new mom, and having to push a kid out. But having tenya by your side telling you how strong and empowering you are just seems to give you confidence as if you could conquer the world.

AN: this was fun to write, I havent really been in the mood to do much but writing this madr me feel better.

I'm gonna start writing for haikyuu soon so feel free to request HQ cuties gang ‼️‼️

[wittlesissyb4by]

Normalcy

"I'm so sorry! This…this never happens!!”

She drew her lips in a line and nodded, like she’d heard it a thousand times before, then went back to smacking her gum as she balled up the soggy diaper with practiced precision.

“No! I’m serious! I’m a grown man!! It’s not like I walk around pissing myself all the time!”

She scoffed, then shrugged. “Well you weren’t doing much walking—first of all—more like waddling. But you mean to tell me you never wet yourself? You’ve never wet a diaper before?”

“No…i…”

She inclined her head to the corner of the room, where a big sack of loaded diapers sat in a blue see-through bag.

“Okay…fine, I do. But only after a very long time period!! You don’t understand! My wife will leave me in them for the whole day!”

“I’ve only been here for an hour…”

“Yes but…” i wanted to tell her that was because my wife had made me drink three entire baby bottles of nasty fluids before she left. I tried to hold it. I really did. I didn’t want her little ‘babysitter’ to see me in a soggy diaper. In hindsight, i should have just let it all out with my wife and begged her to change me before she went off with that other dude. “It’s not a regular thing!”

“She told me you wet the bed.” The girl said, hardly even blinking as she taped my plump padding into a ball.

It was hard to explain that one away. Sure, there were several drunken nights where I’d blacked out and woken up with wet sheets in our marital bed. My wife was none too happy, but somehow those incidents kept happening even when I was sober, until she finally grew sick of it.

“So how long have you been in diapers?” The girl asked, setting my old one to the side and grabbing a fresh pamper. She asked it so casually, like it was a common point of conversation.

“3 months…” I said, unable to deny it anymore. “For the last two weeks it’s been 24/7. She…threw out all my underwear.”

The girl nodded as if nothing were out of the ordinary, tapping my thighs, apparently signaling for me to lift. I did so without incident, allowing her to slide the new diaper underneath.

“Do you make poo poo’s in them too?”

“No!” I said instinctively, but again she looked at me like a rugrat attempting an obvious lie.

“So if I go put your head in that bag, you won’t suffocate under a cloud of your own shit?”

Her words were cold, I had a feeling she’d do it too.

“Okay…fine. I do…”

“Do what?”

“P-poop…”

“Poop where?” She grinned, still smacking her gum, “I want you to tell me.”

I scrunched up my nose, feeling my cheeks flush with embarrassment. “I poop in the diapers.”

But she wasn’t satisfied, “now tell me wike a baybee!”

She couldn’t be serious, but when her face turned stern with impatience, it told me that she probably wasn’t someone I should cross.

“Uh…i…” I felt my voice growing smaller, higher, “I make poo poo’s in my pampies!!”

She smiled wide at that. “How do you poop?”

“I…what?” I asked, voice returning to normal.

“How do you do it? Do you crouch? Get down on hour haunches and make a pushy? Or have you learned to go in any position already? All the men I babysit have a different method. It’s adorable. One of them even has to sit on the potty in order to go!“

“I just…do it…I guess. I dunno?” Usually squatting, it came out surprisingly easy that way, but I didn’t want to tell her that, and she didn’t press further, just seemed intent on making me blush.

“Well…I don’t feel like changing a poopy diaper today. So you’re going to get the plug, okay?”

P-plug?

She reached into her diaper bag that she brought herself, and pulled out a rather large silicon buttplug.

“Oh…i dunno…” I said, squirming on top of the diaper splayed out beneath me. “My wife and I don’t really do butt stuff…”

But she just smiled and squirted some lube on it, painting the glob over it with her fingers. “It’s cute that you think you have a say in the matter.” She giggled, “legs up!”

Before I knew it, my ankles were in the air. It was like she had some sort of power over me that I couldn’t resist.

I winced as she pressed the plug to my hole, gently working it in and out, in and out. I had to bite my lip to keep the squeals (and moans?) in. It felt…surprisingly good.

By the time she’d worked it all the way in, there was a little puddle leaking out of my chastity cage. It had spread onto my belly button while my legs were in the air.

“Sorry…” I said as she grabbed a baby wipe to clean up the sticky mess I’d made.

"Don't worry about it.” She smiled, amused. “It's...normal..."

“Is it?” I asked, feeling a sense of relief.

“Sure.” She shrugged, but it came off sarcastic. “Well…not normal to be a grown man in diapers. To poop said diapers. Not normal to have your wife go off and hire a babysitter to change your diapers. And definitely not normal to have another man fuck your wife. But leaking a little cum through your chastity cage while getting a plug shoved up your ass?” She tossed the sticky wipe down into my open diaper, lifting the front so she could tape it on, “yea, I guess that’s pretty ‘normal’…”

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[uva124]

THE MOMENT WE WERE ALL WAITING FOR, FINALLY FINISHED THE DESIGN OF ASTER YESSSSSS ✨✨✨✨✨✨❤❤

This design belongs to the Wish rewrite called "The kingdom of wishes" (Written by @annymation and soon illustrated by @emillyverse and me)

Sorry for the delay, but this guy had so many things to draw and I also had a thousand ideas that it took me a while to capture them all (4 drawings wow, even I'm surprised lol)

Now after this introduction I will tell you the procedure of its design :]

2D MODEL:

-Maybe some don't notice it, but for the 2D drawing of Aster I didn't add many shadows, because in the classic Disney movies the animation doesn't have many shadows if we look closely, this is for several reasons (at that time they had to inking FRAME BY FRAME, can you imagine how much longer it would have taken to add detailed shadows? I really have respect for the animators)

(Here are some examples of what I'm trying to explain)

-As I said before, I didn't detach myself much from the concept art of the movie, I just added some other details that occurred to me, Anny and Emy.

-We decided that his cape would have the constellations of the signs of the zodiac (It was Emy's idea), which in the final result are on the cape, the constellations are noticeable more or less depending on Aster's mood.

-In the Wish rewrite it is mentioned that Aster's hair is like a candle (Reference to Hades) so I decided not to add the lineart in that part

His hair changes depending on his emotions, but not only that, but also his lineart, the calmer he is, the cleaner his animation will be, however with strong emotions (anger, sadness, nervousness) his details will be more neglected, especially when He is REALLY angry, by the way I made his hair look like a flame to give more drama to his design and also make a reference to Ember from Elemental

And as a final detail, the star-shaped gem that she has as a brooch changes color, just like her earrings.

3D MODEL:

-When Aster disguises himself as a human, his details on his clothes would disappear and the shape of his accessories would change to ones without a star shape, also the tone of yellow would look duller, you know so as not to draw attention (although he is dressed like a prince with a giant cape, the boy doesn't know how to hide the truth very well lmao)

-In general, it's just that the design becomes simpler, the only thing that changes is her hair that is no longer a flame, her freckles that are no longer little stars, her clothes no longer have so many details and her mark on her eye disappears(￣▽￣) .

By the way, I wanted to thank @the-autistic-idiot for giving us the great idea of ​​Aster having a star-shaped mark on his eye :D.

-Also, I think that those who have seen my other Wish redesigns are wondering why it seems like I had spit a rainbow at Aster's 3D drawings, what happened is that when I was painting my neurons said ✨Change your coloring✨ and well, The drawing in the end came out like this, although I honestly like it better, it better represents how I draw in a traditional way

Yes, basically the coloring of my drawings is as if a unicorn had spit on them lol

FINAL COMMENTS:

-It was very fun to draw Aster! The boy really has a lot of changes, but thanks to him I already discovered my digital drawing style so I am satisfied.

-Again sorry for the delay, I know that for many Aster must be their favorite character so I hope your wait was worth it :]

See you next time!✨✨

[readychilledwine]

Hello. I hope everything this going well with you. I have to say I fell in love with your book boyfriend post and... It got me thinking on an idea I hope you can write for me.

So reader is the daughter of either feysand, necessian Or gywnriel ( sorry if I got the spelling wrong) and she is reading books which are way more smuttier than what the ladies read. And the dad is just not having it and momma is having that moment where she believes she raised her child the right way and is encoraging her.

Thank you and i hope you have a great weekend ❤.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Summary - After finding his daughter in the "I don't want Cassian to know I'm Reading Smut" Pose, girl dad Cass loses his cool

Warnings - girl dad cass, mentions of knife play and kink, smut

A/N - Happy @cassianappreciationweek! I should have posted this for family day, but day 7 it will be 💕

🗡Cassian Masterlist🗡Master Masterlist🗡

"No," Cassian muttered to himself as he saw his daughter in an all too familiar pose. "No. No. No. No. No!" Each no grew louder as he observed her. The soft flush on her cheeks, the subtle way she bit her lip, the way her eyes were wide with excitement.

That pose was one Nesta mastered. One of the many he had named, and seeing his babygirl, his little y/n sitting in it had his heart feeling as though a Naga had ripped it from his chest. He stormed his way to her, ripping the book from her lap and gasping at the filth before him. "Y/n! What is this?!"

You were in shock, tea stilled near your mouth as you blinked at your now empty lap, "Um, my book?"

"This isn't literature! This is! This is! Oh, Cauldron! No!" Cassian could look away from the words, could stop reading the sentence about the mysterious warrior using his dagger for obscene acts on the young maiden. He could stop the way his gut twisted with each word. "This is worse than what your mother reads!"

You stared at him, wings twitching, "Dad, I'm 27. If I want to read smut, I ca-"

"You can not," he cried. "Not my daughter. Nope." His head was spinning as Nesta came into the room, looking between you two. He turned on her so quickly, striding to her with two steps and holding the book to her pointed nose. "What is this!? Who gave my daughter this?"

Nesta couldn't hide her smirk, those silver eyes lighting up as she took the book, "Oh, this is delicious. Who is this by, my sweet dove?"

"Some new author. They just go by Yarrow."

Nesta nodded at your answer, sitting next to you on the couch, "And you understand this is dangerous in real life?" She was satisfied with your nod before pulling you into her so both of you could read the scene being painted before you.

Cassian felt the air leaving his lungs. His throat grew tight as he tried not to scream. "Nesta, we need to talk," he grit out. "Now, please."

His mate held her finger to him, grabbing your pressed flower book mark from Aunt Elain before setting the book on the coffee table. "Yes?"

"She can not be reading this shit, Ness. She needs to read... Anything but that." He motioned towards the book he desperately wanted to throw into the fire. "This is completely inappropriate for her at her age."

Nesta only hummed, "She is reading books similar to what I did at her age. I do not understand what you are so upset about." You glanced between both of them, suddenly feeling so small, so insecure. "I would rather she is reading these things than going to pleasure halls and-"

"Do not finish that sentence," Cassian's tone grew sharp. "Do not even joke about my daughter doing something like that. Do not put it out into the world."

"It's a book," you whispered. "It is just a book. I like how the author writes. I love their use of language and structuring. I enjoy the way they build worlds. Yes, there is smut, but the world building in this series is fantastic. Everything is vivid, well layout, clear, consistent. I really enjoy the story. The smut is just a bonus."

"It's very well written," Nesta hummed. "Graphic without teetering the line of uncomfortable."

Cassian glanced between the two of you again, "I do not like it." He began to pace, "I am not comfortable with her reading garbage."

You shrunk slightly, "It's a fantasy series about found family, finding inner strength, and healing, Dad."

"It's a smut novel!"

"It's her choice," Nesta growled back. The room grew cold at that. Cassian sitting in a mix of fear and respect as he stared at his wife. "She is a grown female. If she wants to read smut, that is her choice. This is a much healthier option to so many other things she could be doing to explore her sexuality, Cassian. We should be proud this is the method she has picked and not whoring herself out."

Cassian seemed to pale at that. The image of you doing what he had done as a young male, racking a body count with different fae every week, scarring his mind. He didn't want that. He wanted better for you.

He picked up the novel, "This isn't the only type of smut you read, correct?"

"No," you answered softly. "I prefer dark fantasy, but I do soft things too. I just finished one you might actually like." You ran to your book shelf, grabbing the novella. "It's about a warrior and a lady. He partakes in a knights contest and she offers him her favor. Very strangers to friends to lovers, slow burn."

You handed the book to your dad, smiling as he looked at the romance novel hidden behind a black leather cover.

"I also have this one about a couple who met over summer, fell in love, she went away for something, family stopped their communication, she comes back, they're still in love," you ran back to grab the other book. "There's a super passionate rain storm kiss. It'd be neat to have that some day."

Cassian rolled his eyes as the books slowly piled up. The novels varied from great adventures with a kiss of smut to downright no plot. He let his eyes go to Nesta, watching as she stared at you with a look of pride, love, and admiration. "Hey," he whispered to his wife. "That's your hard work, Ness."

Nesta sighed dreamily, watching as you grabbed a 10th book and physically crawled into Cassian's lap, telling him about the fae King of Night who forced criminals into bargains before falling in love with a siren.

Cassian tugged the bond, sending his white flag to Nesta, a silent "You win," as you settled into his lap, showing him how the author of the first novel had built her world, the maps included, and the brief history that went into the fantasy smut novel.

He found himself in the same spot hours later, you asleep on his chest while he read a soft romance novel and Nesta read something that had her eyes going wide.

He decided then that perhaps this wasn't so bad. There could be worse things than having a daughter so much like her mother.

General Taglist:

@hnyclover @glitterypirateduck @slytherinindisguise @mischiefmanagers @bloodicka @starsinyourseyes @the-sweet-psycho @mariahoedt @rinalouu @sarawritestories @starryhiraeth @starswholistenanddreamsanswered @cumuluscranium @loneliestluvr @eternallyelvish @azrielsmate3 @daughterofthemoons-stuff @meritxellao @aria-chikage @hungryforbatboys @lilah-asteria @fandomrejects @sleepybesson @tayswhp @itsswritten @milswrites @littlestw01f

[worldofkuro]

Painted Smile

Painted Smile XX

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Summary: You couldn't wait to meet new friends. What you didn't expect was this smiling little boy, only one year older than you, that would take such a big place in your life.

Notes: I died writing this chapter. This is Alastor's POV since his last chapter. So, please, do tell me your thoughts about it. Beware of: blood,gore, killing, smut and Alastor being ALASTOR. I'm happy with how the chapter came out, Alastor's mind is now available for you to discovered. What he was doing and thinking all this time, now you shall find out!

“ Is he…dead?”

You were so cute, of course his father was finally dead. He was dead, dead, dead, dead. Blood was pouring out of him like a fountain, it was a magnificent sight that he was sharing with you, how beautiful.  You were beautiful. 

He tugged you against his chest, making you dance in the snow. You really did it. You shot his father with him.  You did the worst sin with him. Robbing someone from their life. Were you feeling as powerful as he was feeling right now? 

“ You were perfect, dearest ! I don’t think I could have thought of a better performance !” he kissed your face multiple times without stopping as you laughed heartily. “ Now dearest…” He put you down before taking something out of his pocket and you couldn’t help but gasp as he kneeled in front of you.

He was kneeling in front of you, the only person he would ever show his vulnerable side. It was you, it would always be you. You were his everything, you were the curse of his sanity, everything he did, you were in his thoughts.

“ This is your last chance to run away” he scoffed “ but you know now that I can catch you.. But I’ll let you believe you have a choice.” he smirked at you, opening the box, showing you a golden ring.  He could already see it in your eyes, you were already his. You wouldn’t ever leave him, these thoughts didn’t exist in your mind.

You smiled as he slid the ring on your finger, watching him as he kissed it and then tugged you against him, kissing you like a mad man. He was starving for you. You were beautiful, all bloodied, all his. 

He laid you down on the snow as you pressed your body against his. This kiss tasted like blood, and yet, he couldn’t think of leaving your lips. You were a drug he couldn’t help to indulge. Were you aware of how delicious you looked? Like a fallen angel, all bloodied in the white snow.

He settled between your legs, groaning as he felt your hips push against his pelvis. You little tease. He pushed his tongue against your, devouring every moan that left your lips, even the breaths you were taking were stolen by his mouth. He slid his hand underneath your shirt, he needed to feel your naked skin on him, he needed you more than ever. 

“ Dearest… If you keep sounding like that…” he panted, staring at your face with dilated pupils. He wanted to eat you alive, hearing you begging him for him in more ways than one.He was surprised when he saw you take off your shirt. 

“ I want my dear husband to claim me for himself.”

He took off his hunting jacket before unbuttoning his shirt slowly, never taking his eyes off of you. You were divine, you were mind breaking…

But he knew you were thinking about your books and how you should satisfy him. He didn’t really read these kinds of books, but fortunately he didn’t need to. He would just follow his needs, like he always did with you. He raised an eyebrow when he heard you moan as you saw his torso. Did you like what you were seeing ? Even though he had so many scars on his body, you looked at him like he was the most beautiful man on earth. He could feel a warm sensation in his belly.

He stared at your face as he saw you take off your pants. So he was right, you were trying to do like in your books, nothing you were doing seemed natural. He would have to reassure you.

Alastor’s hand stopped you from taking your panty off as he bent toward your thighs.

“ I’ve always wanted to take a bite of those sinfully thighs of yours.” 

He kissed your thighs, the one that would make him go crazy even when they were hidden by your long dress. Seeing them like this, naked, in his grasp was making him lightheaded. He bit your thigh, marking them multiple times, staring at you. You were moaning but he knew you were thinking about something else, which he wouldn’t accept.

“ I know you are thinking about your stupid books. I’ll stop if you think about anything else but us right now.” he bit your thighs harder, making you moan. 

“But…But how am I supposed to know how to please you..?” you sighed.

“ Like you always did. By being yourself.” he licked the marks he had made on your skin before tilting his head against your smooth thighs. “ What do you wish for ?”

You blushed and before you could hide your face, Alastor took your chin with his hand, forcing you to look at him. He hated when you were trying to hide your emotions from him. He wanted to see any kind of feeling you were experiencing because of him.

“ I want… to touch you…” you whispered. He smiled at you before moving above you.  He didn’t really understand why you always wanted to touch him but as the years passed, he understood that it was your way of showing your emotions to him.

Feeling you so close to him where he was as his worst was overwhelming.  You were accepting him as a killer. He still had blood on his face and yet, you were looking at him like he was the most precious person in your life. It was making him dizzy.

“ Is… is it okay..?” you asked but before you could once push yourself against him you felt him tugged you against his pelvis making you moan. He didn’t even notice he was hard. You looked at him like you thought he didn’t know anything about sex. Which was half true. He never was interested in that kind of experience, but with you? He wanted to try. He wanted to be your first and last. To feel you in a way nobody would ever have the chance to feel. He wanted to own you, be in the deepest of your body.

“ Dearest, you must think I don’t know anything about sex, but, trust me, I know what I want to do to you.” he kissed your lips then trailed down toward your panty. He wanted to taste you, that thought alone was enough to make him crazy.“ And as you know, I’m greedy with what I desire."He kissed your crotch through your panty, making you gasp. “ If you allow me…”

He thought he was going to faint as you spread your legs. You were showing him the most intimate part of your body. He licked you through your panty but he needed more, he needed to feel your bare sex against his tongue. He moaned as he felt your wet lips against his mouth. 

You were divine. Offering yourself to him like some kind of sacrifice the gods have decided to bless him, singing his name again and again. You have been by his side since his youngest years and you were still here. You accepted him as his weakness and here you were accepting him at his best. 

He blinked when he saw you arch your back, your body twitching.  He leaned back from his delicious meal, looking at you as he licked your juices from his lips. You were delicious.

“ How is my wife feeling?” he smirked as he stared at you.  You were beautiful , your legs spread for him, your beautiful chest moving up and down as your breathing wasn’t calming down. He had so much power over you.

Did you know the power you have over him too?

“I want you.” 

If he wasn’t on his knees, he would have fallen at your feet. You took off your bra and he couldn’t help but let his eyes wander on your chest. He never watched someone like he was watching you. If it was anybody else in front of you, he would have just seen a chest , nothing worth fussing about.

But it was you, you were baring yourself to him. 

You sat on him, pressing your naked chest on his torso, kissing him sensually. He was caressing your body, he wanted to dig his nails into you, leaving a permanent mark on you. He stared at you, you were breathtaking, a spirit who came down on earth to steal his sanity. He looked at your eyes, he could see you were thinking about something else.

“ You thought about your books.” 

“ N-no– Well, yes, but I want to.. if you want of course.. Do what you have done to me… I want to suck your… Well..” you blushed looking away. He took your face with his hand while the other was playing with your clit. If you thought you could hide yourself right now, you were more naive than he expected. He could listen to you moaning for hours, you were his best melody.

“ No. Maybe next time you will not think about your books.”

He smirked when he heard you begging for him. You begged. You begged for him. He was going to lose his mind if you were going to keep this up. You were moving against his palm, clinging at his shoulder. You looked so adorable and delicious like this. 

He felt your teeth digging into his shoulder. You were biting him just like he did with you. Were you feeling the same as him? Wanting to mark him as yours ? 

He pinned you underneath, you were going to make him lose his mind. Didn’t he already lose it? He watched as you hurryingly tried to take off his belt. You seemed so eager. He took his member in his hand. He knew that the first time could hurt, he could understand, thrusting something inside someone can always be painful. But he didn’t want you to feel pain, not right now.

“ Darling…” he whispered and he pressed himself against you. You kissed his lips multiple times, your arms around his shoulder. He could feel your body becoming more tense as he penetrated you fully, until his penis settled inside your warm walls.

It was a strange feeling but not an unwelcome one. He was one with you. You let him take your virginity just after killing his father and before your honeymoon. He bit your neck, smiling even more. You were going to be chained to him, body and soul.

But he needed to know you were still okay. No amount of pleasure could stop him from observing you, analyzing your reactions. He kissed your lips, asking if you were okay. He needed you to be okay in that special moment you both were sharing.

“ I’ve never felt better.” you whispered back against his lips. He smiled at you before kissing you languishly.  You were his, completely his, awarely his.

His

His

His

He could feel your nails scratching his back like a reward, you moan being a melody he deserved to hear. You let him taste you, devour you without fighting back. How crazy of you.

“ I want you to come inside me.”

You vile temptress.

Would you be so crazy that you wished for his child right now? It wasn’t the right time, he wanted to be selfish, keep your attention on him a little longer but imagining your body changing to accommodate his child was making him lightheaded. He couldn’t control his body as he came inside you.

He bit you, where your heart was beating. He would give you everything, even a child if that’s what you wished for. But he would always be a glutton for your attention, he hoped you were aware of it. 

His body relaxed as you caressed his back. He kept his head against your chest, listening to your beating heart. Your heart was beating this fast because of him. He was the reason your heart was beating so strongly.

“ I’m just happy..” you said, caressing the side of his face. He took your hand and kissed it, staring at you.

“ So am I.”

He helped you dress yourself, winking at you when he spotted some of his sperm sliding down your thighs. Seeing your flustered face was worth it. Now, he had things to do. He walked toward his dead father and crouched in front of him.

He asked you to go back home, even though he wanted to bask in your warmth, he needed to take care of this. He waited for you to go before going behind a tree and took the shovel he hid before bringing his father here.

He smirked as he began to dig a hole, bigger than necessary for his father but he wasn’t going to be alone. It took him almost all night to dig the hole and kill a deer. He threw his father in the hole after taking your necklace that you had forgotten. He shoved it into his pocket before going with his rifle out in the woods and killed a deer. He dragged it toward the hole, covered his father with dirt and he deemed it enough, he threw the deer inside it.  

The sun began to rise when he finished his task. Now he just needed to get home.

He walked home with the weapon, the knife and your necklace. It seemed like you were talking with his mother because once you were gone, his mother was congratulating him about his proposal but was also scolding him about not waiting for the honeymoon to eat you.

They both sat down in the living room, his mother staring at him with tears in his eyes. He must have bruises on his face, but he didn’t care.

“ He is gone.”

He watched as his mother sobbed. Was she crying because they were finally free? Or was she crying because of what he was going to become? He didn’t know, but what he did know was that when he came toward her to hug her, she embraced him harder than ever.

The next day, he left to go to work. What a splendid day it was!  He greeted the people who were talking to him, shushed Victor who was being noisy as always. As he broadcast his podcast he couldn’t wait to see you tonight. He knew you were at Alice’s, after an experience like yesterday you would need your..friend.

Alice has been a strange addition in your life. One day it was just the both of you and the next, you brought a blonde blue eyed girl. He didn’t feel threatened by Alice, oh no. He was just wondering why you liked her. She could be amusing when she was in deep trouble but that was it. But oh well.

As the night settled, he walked toward Alice’s house, the butler bringing him into the living where he wasn’t surprised to see Alyzée with you. You were drunk and so were Alice as she let her secret slip so easily. How stupid. Now, he really didn’t care who fancied who.  But it was interesting information.

 An information he could use.

And so as a thank you, he played the piano as you sang, your necklace back in place.

—-----

Finally.

He was doing a podcast for the radio. He was talking into a microphone, chatting with his colleague. He wondered if you were listening to him. Would you be surprised to hear his voice? Oh, he couldn’t wait to see you and ask if you listened to him, once he got back. 

He didn’t expect to see you sitting on a bench all alone with a somber expression. 

“ What is a breathtaking lady like yourself doing outside ? Shouldn’t you be home?”

He bent toward your face, waiting for his kisses. It seemed like you didn’t want to talk about it, it was okay, he could wait. He beamed as you said you heard him on the radio, making him prouder than he was.  He was showing himself off, he would be the perfect husband for you. He didn’t really react much when you walked inside your home and your friends congratulated you both. He was just pleased by your smile, you seemed happy and it was enough.

Your home has always been noisier than his. Everyone was speaking, laughing at your father for being sad of letting his ‘little girl’ go. Was that what was supposed to be a father? Huh.

When Alice began to talk about the cottage he couldn’t help but ask for the price. He wanted to buy this house, far away from people, where you both have been completely naked for each other for the first time. The place where you accepted to be his, as his wife, his partner in crime, his other-half.

He knew you were still nervous about being found out. This feeling only confirmed itself when your father talked to you, explaining his father was reported missing. His mother wasn’t showing anything but your eyes were telling other stories. He could almost taste the panic from you. But he and his mother controlled the situation easily, they were used to worse scenarios.

Your father left, promising he would find out what happened to his father. He almost laughed in his face, in front of your dad were the killers and he couldn’t even see it. It was comical, really.

But what was important was you. He forced you to sit on a chair once his mother and your father left the kitchen. Your hands were shaking and your pupils were dilated. He didn’t want you to faint just because someone reported his father missing.  

“ There is no worry. Trust me.” 

You looked into his eyes, calming yourself and then began to talk about what happened this afternoon.

John huh…

He wasn’t surprised at all, he expected it. But what surprised him was that you were ready to let him go just like that because of the words he had said against you and him. He smirked, he was surprised but also amused. He never doubted you but it was nice seeing his little finacée defending him like that.

“ Alastor, if there is someone who would disrespect you or your mother, even if they are friends of mine, you have to tell me. I don’t want such  people in my life.” he hummed with a smirk.

“ Even Alice?”

“ Alice doesn’t like you because you are you.” you smirked as he rolled his eyes. 

He went back with you to the living room where he watched you and your friends drinked wine. He was more of a whiskey guy. He liked the taste and unlike his father, he could hold his liquor. He watched as your father left to work, you didn’t even see him leave.  Were you drunk or relaxed enough to not care about your surroundings ?

He walked you to the bathroom, wiping your makeup. 

“ Have you done your voodoo’s spell?” 

He coughed against his fist, staring at you eyes wide open, his smile twitching.  What were you asking here, woman? 

“ It’s a spell that needs time… I need to carve runes and other things that your drunk brain would not be able to understand.”

You caged his head between your thighs with a big grin when you saw his pupils dilated. Gosh… You truly were a vile temptress, doing this kind of thing with his mother downstairs.  You were tempting him to carve his name into your skin, to mark you in a way only a mad man would. But what was making him lightheaded was that he knew you would accept his sadistic tendencies. 

You arched your back when you felt his nails dig into your skin. 

“ Darling… You’re playing a dangerous game.” he said, his voice dangerously low. He hasn't tasted you since your first time. You were eagering him on in a game he would love to play. Hunting you with a knife, catching you, watching you submit yourself to him while he had all power over you.

“ We’ll talk about it later, when you’re sober. For now, you need to rest.”

You almost pouted but accepted your fate as he carried you to bed. He knew you wanted to play longer but he didn’t want your mothers to faint because they heard your screams. Your screams were reserved to him.  He put you to bed, joining you soon after once he was dressed to go to bed. Even if you have seen all of himself, he still was used to undressed far from your eyes, something you never reproached him for.

“ Alastor, my father is going to work on the disappearance of your father.”

“ Mhn.”

“ Aren’t you scared?”

“ Is it going to make you leave me?” he tilted his head with a mocking smile, already knowing the answer.

“ No.”

“ Then I’m not. Let the show begin.” he smirked.

The stage was set, so were the actors, he couldn’t wait to see the play.

—-----

He tried to summon him. He really tried, but he didn't know why, nothing was happening. He looked at his book once more, making sure everything was perfect for the summoning. 

Papa Legba is the first called in a service, so that he can open the gates to the spirit world, enabling communication with other spirits. No spirits dares show itself without Legba's permission. He controls the crossing over from one world to the other. That meant he needed to communicate with this spirit so he could do the soul binding between the two of you. 

It was 3am, he didn’t have much time in the daytime to summon him so he tried at nights, when his mother was sleeping peacefully. He looked at the tissue with your blood on it, from years ago. He would make this curse, you would be bound in a way nobody ever has. He stared at the vévé, the symbol he made on the wall.

He inhaled before asking once more

“ Papa Legba.” 

He waited but nothing happened if not a slight breeze which probably came from the door. He didn’t really focus on that, he knew the wind could come in the basement because of that door. He frowned, his smile turning into a grimace. He sat on a chair, flipping through the book once more, wasn’t there another spirit that could help him?

He flinched when the book’s pages began to flip alone, before opening on a name that made the atmosphere colder.

“ Kalfu…?”

He jerked his head up when he saw all the candles go out. He didn’t move, looking around before looking at the symbol which seemed to change form. He stood up slowly, reading what this spirit was about.

Legba is paired with his opposite, Kalfu, who also controls the crossroads. He smirked when he read that information, it seemed like he finally found another way to get what he wanted.

Kalfu controls the in-between points of the crossroads, the off-center points. Legba controls the positive spirits of the day; Kalfu controls the malevolent spirits of the night. A respected spirit though he is not liked much, he is the grand master of charms and sorceries and is closely associated with black magic. He chuckled as he closed the book  staring at the vévé with a cunning smirk. He lit up all the candles once more, stood in the middle of the room before speaking, confidently.

“ Kalfu.”

“ Yes.”

He turned around, where he was sitting a second ago. There was an old black man with a menacing smile, a small pipe in his hand, a hat on his head and his foot tapping the floor calmly. His eyes were red and his smile seemed yellowish. 

“ I was waiting to finally meet you, Alastor.”

Alastor kept his smile on his face even if he was feeling a lot of emotion right now. Did he finally make it ? Was he talking with a spirit?  

“ So was I.”

The old man scoffed before standing up, he was ridiculously tall, looming over Alastor with a knowing smile. Alastor almost flinched when the man’s hand touched the cloth where was your blood.

“ I know what you want to do, boy, I can help you with that. But you’ll need more than just one sacrifice.” the spirit said, looking at the dead wild boar on the floor. “ Bounding a soul together… Even after death, you’ll need more than just me.”

Alastor kept his smile on his lips, still acting confident. What did he mean by saying he needed more spirits ? He could already feel tiredness seeping through his body and he just started to talk with the man.

“ Which spirits ?”

“  Ohoh, the one you didn’t manage to summon, my ‘twin’ and of course, our dear friend known as Le Baron Samedi.” he smirked at Alastor, moving around him, observing the man like he was inspecting him. “ He is to the underworld or afterlife what Legba is to life. He controls access. “

Alastor stared at the spirit before reaching to his book who was flipping pages to another spirit’s name, ‘ Ghede.’ 

“ What do you know?”

Kalfu smirked before sitting at a table, crossing his arms.

“ He is the keeper of the cemetery and the primary contact with the dead. Anyone who would seek contact with the dead must first solicit Le Baron Samedi in the same way that Legba is contacted to cross over to the spirit world. He is the spirit of death and resurrection. As keeper of the cemetery he has intimate contact with the dead. He knows what their plans were, what was going on in families, what the connections of things were, and is quite generous with his information. He is an interesting guy.” Kalfu looked at Alastor. “ But you must have seen him, no, boy? Another of Le Baron Samedi’s great powers is as the protector of children. He does not like to see children die. Lastly, since he is the lord of death, he is also the final last resort for healing since he must decide whether to accept the sick person into the dead or allow them to recover.”

Alastor freezed, keeping the book in his hands. He didn’t know if he could trust this spirit but he had to ask.

“ Did my mother work with him?”

“ She sure did. With other spirits too. Now, I think I gave you enough information worth this sacrifice, I shall go, unless you want to work with me?” he asked, his smile turning wicked.

Alastor looked at the man in front of him. He gave him really interesting information. If he could work with Le Baron Samedi, you would be together in death but there would also be a chance he could have the power to heal. What was problematic was that he hadn't met Papa Legba yet. He needed three great powerful spirits to work with him and he didn’t want you to be tangled into this.

“ It would be an honor to work with such a powerful spirit.” he smiled as Kalfu's smile grew wider. He stood up before walking toward Alastor.

“ A deal has to be made.”

Alastor smirked at the spirit, no man or spirit or god was above him. He would trap this spirit into his own conditions, and so would the other two.

“ Grant me the power I wish and I shall kill for you.”

“Mhn.. Kill what?”

Alastor's smile grew, looking almost the same as Kalfu’s.

“ Pigs.”

Kalfu laughed before shaking Alastor’s hands with glee. 

“ Oh, Alastor, we are going to have so much fun together. I shall give you one power, I’ll give you more if I have more… sacrifices.” he smiled before disappearing in front of his eyes, blowing the candles at the same time.

Alastor looked around him before staggered toward the stairs. He felt exhausted, like his body was, for once without you by his side, to fall asleep. He went into his bedroom, looking at Eamon before falling into his bed, falling asleep before being able to see his shadow smiling hideously at him.

He woke up three hours later, rested. He groaned as he sat up on his bed, disgusted when he saw he slept with his clothes on. He took off his top before freezing. He could feel eyes on him, someone was there with him. He slid his hand under his pillow where he could feel his blade, ready to be used.

He turned his head toward the strange feeling and scoffed when he saw Eamon, sitting on his desk as always. But what was unusual was the shadow moving behind the fawn, staring back at him with a wide grin.

Alastor stood up, calmly.

“ Show yourself.”

He stared as the shadow took Eamon with curiosity, holding the plushie above its head. Alastor crossed his arms on his chest, was it the spirit Kalfu had given him? He rolled his eyes before looking in the mirror and saw his eyes flashing red.

Huh, interesting.

He looked once more at the shadow, that looked just like his. He turned around and could see his shadow stretch to the thing holding your plushie. It seemed like the shadow could interact with a material object… Could he use it as a spy? Could he hear what the shadow was hearing, or watch what it was looking at? 

It was getting really interesting.

He tried to control the shadow, it was like an obedient pet sometimes. He just wanted to be amused, just like Alastor himself. Boredom was something they both didn’t want  to feel.

He smirked, he couldn’t wait to show you his new abilities. He looked as his shadow pointed at the mirror next to him, moving it so Alastor could see his own reflection.

Red eyes.

Mhn, was it because his shadow was being used? It would be troublesome to have different eye colors each time… He would have to be careful. He pointed to the floor, making the shadow go back to its normal form, his eyes losing their red color.

He went into the bathroom to prepare himself for today. He couldn’t wait to see you, he needed more time to tell you he finally knew how to bound your soul to his. Would you be overjoyed? Excited like him?

The day passed quickly, his popularity as an radio host was increasing each day, people would greet him in the street if they were to recognize his voice. He clocked off later but still walked toward your home. He climbed the fence, jumping into your little garden in the back of your house. He looked up and smirked when he saw you, once again, let your window open even though it was still winter. 

He looked around him and summoned his shadow which smiled wickedly at him. Was it as excited as him to see you?  Huh.  

He sended the shadow in your bedroom as he easily climbed the tree near your window. You seemed concentrating on what was going on downstairs. You were so cute. He walked quietly toward you before putting his hand on your mouth, loving your body panicking against his. 

“ You’re such an easy prey, dearest.”

You sighed in relief as you closed your eyes. He smirked, delighted that you relaxed as quickly when you heard his voice. 

“ How did you come here?”

“ Well, the window, dear.” 

You scoffed before forcing him to sit on your bed. You sat on his lap and took his hand with yours, playing with his fingers.

“ I have my wedding dress.”   you smirked when you felt his whole body tensed underneath you. “ And you won’t see it, because I left it at Alice’s.” Vile temptress…

“ Do you really need Alice in your life, dearest?” asked Alastor with an amused voice.

“ Yes! Come on Alastor, be honest with me, you enjoy Alice’s company?”

“ Hah ! I enjoy Alice’s contacts nothing more.” he rolled his eyes, pressing you against his body. “ She is useful and she can be amusing, when she is having problems.” he smirked at you, he didn’t care about Alice, if she was here or not, nothing would change in his life. She could be amusing and useful but nothing more.

You began to explain what was going on with his father’s case. He really was amused by this, he was sure no one would find the corpse. He listened to you carefully, pride blooming in his chest when he listened to your comeback to the policeman. You were as savage with your mouth than with a knife. Speaking of knives…

“ Have you felt it again?”

You tilted your head.

“ What?”

“ The need to kill.” he asked you, gripping your waist, pressing your body against his. He almost lost his mind when you confirmed it. You thought about killing John because this insect badmouthed him. He nipped at your neck, wanting to sink his teeth in your skin, carving himself in you. He put his chin against your round chest with an innocent smile.

“ Would you like to kill him?” He needed to know if you wanted to kill him.

“ Alastor, we can’t. There would be too much suspicion on us, we already have your father’s disappearance on us, if we kill John–” he kissed you feverishly making you sigh in the kiss. You were making him dizzy with just words, what a witch you were.

“ Do you hear yourself, darling?” he smiled against your lips. “ In your mind, you are already ready to kill him… ” he sighed against your skin. You were his perfect fiancée. No one could understand him like you did and no one would understand you like he did.

You kissed Alastor on the nose, with an excited smile.

“ Not now.”

He left your room after being sure that your body was marked by his teeth and nails. Before leaving, he took your camera with him. He knew you wanted to develop last Christmas’s photo and he would find a shop that would do it , even if it was night time.

He left by the window and began to walk before stopping near an alley. His smile grew bigger as he recognized Alice and Alyzée kissing each other, both of them drunk. Now, now, wasn’t that a perfect information? He took pictures of the scene,  both women not even aware of what he just did.

He did make enough noise on purpose so they would back away from each other. He was the only one who needed to have this kind of information, not anyone else and he knew you would be upset if Alice was in a scandal. He grinned as his shadow buzzed with excitement as he heard Alice whining about having a date with a Larry guy. 

You were a naive thing, thinking that Alice would never betray you. He trusted your friendship with the lady, but it wasn’t enough. You would stay in your naive world while he would make sure no one would hurt you. He left the alley, chuckling. Larry huh…  He looked down at his shadow who seemed to laugh maniacally.

“ Go fetch information on the man, once it’s done, come back, I’ll have a photo for you to put in his room.”

He walked toward the shop, shadowless with a big smile on his lips. How fun ! If he played his cards well, he would have a victimes to give to Kalfu and he would satisfy his urge to kill. He wondered if you would join him. He entered the shop and asked for the photos to be developed. He stayed in the shop until he had all the pictures. 

Once he went out, the sun wasn’t in the sky yet. A sleepless night, nothing new. He felt his shadow coming back to him, whispering information about his next victim. He nodded with a satisfied smile. Larry would be the perfect victim.

He felt tired once more. He looked at his shadow who was smiling mockingly at him. Using the shadow demanded more strength than he thought. He wanted to send it back to Larry’s mansion but he didn’t know what could happen if he were to faint or fall asleep.

He smirked at his shadow, well, if it wanted to play this game. He gave the photo to the shadow who rushed out once he had its mission. 

He sighed, now he needed to make a contract with Alice, so he could kill him for her, which would make her chain to him in a way. She would be a complicit to his crime, and even if she would never be in jail thanks to her parent’s name, he knew she didn’t want Alyzée to be ashamed because she was in love with another woman. 

And he knew Alyzée enough to know she would feel the same. He chuckled, if he played his cards well, the mayor’s daughter and the richest woman of New Orleans would be in the palm of his hands… And your hand too. He was doing this so your life would be perfect.

He walked toward his work place, the sun was beginning to raise and he needed to do his job right. 

When his shadow came back, he felt like he could faint at any moment. His body was sore, like he ran for hours outside. He gave his shadow a cold glare as it silently laughed at him before melting into its usual form. 

He knew Alice would be on her date in the afternoon, he would have wanted to send his shadow but right now he couldn’t. He didn’t think his body would take it. He needed to build more strength. 

He left his job, after hearing praises from his coworkers, going toward Alice’s place. He needed to know if everything happened like he wished it had happened. He stopped near the portal when he heard screams.

“ This man is just a filthy pig! Touching me like I’m some kind of harlot.”

“ Maybe that’s what you are, kissing the mayor’s daughter like this. What a scoop that would be, unless we come to an agreement of course. I think you would make a darling wife Miss Alice. I’ll let you think about it, and if you need more convincing, I have proof. Now, have a great night ladies.”

Alastor hid himself as Larry walked away, wiping the sweat from his forehead. 

Just as planned.

Everyone was so easy to manipulate, it was almost boring.

Everyone but you. 

You asked Alice if she wanted you to get rid of the pig. You were so… Hha, he wanted to crash into you and kiss you until he couldn’t breathe anymore. You wanted to murder someone, for better reason that he had but it was still thrilling hearing this.

“ Are you serious ?”

“ Seems like she is.”

You both turned around to find Alastor, standing in front of you, the door open.

“ My dear, we don’t talk about taking trash out at the entrance, I taught you better than that.”  he smiled widely at you. “ Is there a place we could talk about getting rid of the trash?” asked Alastor with a beaming grin.

Alice seemed to come back to herself, and she tugged you to her father’s office. He followed the both of you, still smiling. She locked the door behind Alastor, staring at you. 

“ Explanation ?”

“ Nothing too serious. You’ve been caught in a big scoop Alice, and you need us to clean the mess you’ve made!” you paled, asking Alastor how did he know, you looked adorable being so worried about Alice. You didn’t have to worry, he was the one who made the plan after all. “ Oh dear, no, but from Alice’s expression, the only things that could make her so upset would be you or her lovely Alyzée. I took a lucky guess.”

“ Alastor, you are… your father… oh… that explains so much.” Alice let herself drop on her father’s chair. “ So, that’s why you didn’t want me to help to look for his father, because he killed him?” asked Alice, looking at you, confused. Alastor looked at you with a fond gaze.

“ We killed him.”

 “ So, let me get this through, you both killed Alastor’s father and now you want to kill the man who knows I’m in love with Alyzée?”

“ Well, Alice, for once you made your brain work. I would almost be shedding a tear if I cared.” said Alastor as he sipped his drink. “ And furthermore, this man is a pig that needs to be slaughtered.” He already knew what the man was doing in his free time, which disgusted him more than he let on.

“ What are you winning from this?”

“ Nothing–”

“ Doll, I know you don’t want to manipulate me. I know. I’m talking about your murderous husband. He wouldn’t help me freely.”

“ Using your brain for the second time? What a day folks ! It’s simple really, you are at the head of one of the richest families in Louisiana. Having you on my side is a plus.”

“ I’m already at your side–!”

“ No Alice, you could be cutting yourself to prove your faith and I would still doubt you. But a crime, that is a win-win situation. The pig is slaughtered, you are free, my darling and myself are doing what we need and everything is back to normal!” exclaimed Alastor with his usual smile.

“ … Fine.” 

He smirked as he talked with Alice about the crime you were about to commit for her safety and your enjoyment. He was a little surprised she wasn’t crying about how one of her best friends was a murderer and would marry a killer. He looked at you, feeling warmth coming from you. Your eyes were closed, your body way too relaxed for someone who was supposed to be awake.

“ Darling?” 

You gasped as you felt Alastor hand on your shoulder. You seemed so lost, he was worried. What just happened?

“ I’m okay.. I just.. I’m okay.” you nodded, feeling extremely tired all of the sudden. “ Alastor… Where is your father's corpse?”

“ Six feet underground.”

“ I think.. I think we should check it out.”

“ Why dig up dirt from the past?” He tilted his head, staring at you.

“ Because I think someone is trying to dig him up.”

Interesting.

—---------

The next morning, he was walking next to you because you were too stubborn to stay at home and rest. You wanted to come with him and who was he to say no to his little brat of fiancée?

“ So, you couldn’t hear me or Alice, and then you heard footsteps and the noise of a shovel digging into the ground?” asked Alastor, keeping his rifle in his left hand, the other keeping yours. 

“ Yes… Do you think I’m crazy? Maybe I fainted for a moment..?” you turned your eyes toward Alastor, wishing to be reassured, he could see it in your eyes. You were scared of what happened.

He was intrigued. He didn’t know if the fact that he was using spirits could affect you. Did a spirit try to show him something but decided to use you instead ? He didn’t like the idea, he needed to have more answers.

“ No, dear. We can’t be both crazy, this town wouldn’t survive it. No, no, I’ll look into it, okay?” he smiled at you with a soft gaze. He kissed the back of your hand. “ Don’t think you can run away by pretending to be crazy, dearest.”

You both looked around to find a trail to follow, which you found. There were footprints but also… Was that dog's paws on the mud? He almost sighed, he didn’t like animals. He asked if a policeman could come here with his dog but you tried to reassure him by saying they needed an authorization, a warrant, to enter someone’s property. You were cute, thinking people followed the law.

“ Let’s follow the trail, we’ll make a conclusion when we see where it ends.” 

You walked, you seemed to have a headache. What was happening to you..?  You sighed in relief when you felt Alastor’s hand on your waist. You both stopped when you reached the place where you’ve killed for the first time.  You looked at Alastor as he gently tugged you toward a big tree and just as you expected, it seemed like someone had tried to dig up a hole.

“ Mhn… They didn’t dig up deep enough.” said Alastor with a mocking tone, they didn’t dig up enough to find the dead deer. He walked around the hole before pointing his gun toward a noise. You smiled when you saw a deer, staring at Alastor then near his feet. You began to walk toward him but Alastor stopped you with his hand. “ Don’t come any closer, there is a bear trap.”

Alastor stared at the animal, it wasn’t a coincidence. He met too many deer with an unusual behavior, this one was clearly warning him about the trap.

The deer stared at Alastor before leaving in the forest.

“ Well… That was odd. But more importantly, a bear trap? Seems like someone really wants to catch us.” he laughed as he crouched in front of the trap. “ Did they not dig deep enough on purpose so we would lower our guard and get caught by the bear trap..?”

“ Do you think they are still here?” you looked around.

“ No, darling. The forest is noisy and I don’t feel eyes upon us. We’re clean, for now. But what is amazing is that.. You saw it coming.  You knew that someone was trying to dig up my father.” It wasn’t something that could happen just like that… Did he create a connection with you when he decided to work with Kalfu to bound your souls together?

Alastor walked toward you.

“ Darling, is there anything strange that happened to you during this week?”  You blinked at him. “ No apparitions ?”

“ Alastor, what in the sweet hell are you talking about?”

“ Well, I’m trying the soul bounding spell. It can take several months to be able to bound a soul to another one, and I was worried that maybe I did something wrong which could have.. made you have that vision.”

You smiled at him, before kissing his lips. He stared at your eyes, you weren’t lying, whatever would come from your lips would not be a lie, he knew it from your eyes. Your eyes were never deceiving him.

“ No Alastor, I didn’t see anything worth mentioning. What should I be worried about?”

“ Nothing serious, if there is something anormal, you would feel it.” he touched your forehead with his own, staring into your eyes. “ So… Do you have an idea how to kill Alice’s future husband ?”

You laughed as you felt Alastar’s arms wrapped around you. You kissed him several times, savoring the moments.

“ Mhn.. What about this? This weekend, we will go to Alice’s cottage and spend the days together, just the two of us thinking about murder?” you teased him, sliding your hands on his torso as you bite your lips. “ You could show me some techniques…”

“ I could show you how to tie someone so they can’t escape.” he smirked as he loomed over you. He could already imagine you completely at his mercy because you chose to. “ But it is a great idea, darling.” He kissed you twice before walking toward the bear trap. “ Also, I’m taking this to your father.” you tilted your head. “ Of course, dear. Someone trespassed into my domain and even put on a weapon that almost wounded me! If this is a policeman who has done this, your father would know. “

“ But.. They would want to understand why it was near a hole, so they are going to investigate the forest.”

“ I’ve never said I found it there, dear.” he smirked at you and you couldn’t help but laugh.” The only person who knows where we found the bear trap are you, my darling , myself and the one we want to catch. I’m just going to provoqued them a little bit.”

He smiled at you, relaxing at your laughter. He looked at his watch, he needed to go to work. He walked you home and then went to work.  After an hour or two, Victor knocked at his door. He turned around as he walked in, seeming uneasy. 

“ Be quick.”

“ Your fiancée is at the hospital, it seems like she fainted in the park– Alastor!”

He was rushing out, he couldn’t hear anything but his heart. How odd, most of the time this organ wasn’t making itself feel. Like you used to tell him, everything that was coming from him was coming from his head, his thoughts, his mind. Feeling his heartbeat more than his thoughts was almost scary. He entered the hospital, his smile twitching. He didn’t know if he could hold himself if someone was trying to keep him away from you. Fortunately for the poor souls here, the nurse gave him your room without a fuss. He quickly walked toward the room, his heartbeat still clouding any other noises.

“ Darling, I’m here.”

He walked toward you, the only person he could see in this storm of emotion he was feeling. You were here, you were okay. He took your hands between his, he needed to feel you right now. You went into his arms, your body relaxing at the same time as him. Everything was okay…

“ You should take better care of your future wife. She is going insane, talking to herself on a bench.”

He tensed. It seemed like you weren’t alone. He turned his head toward John with his usual smile.  The man had his arms crossed over his torso, staring Alastor down. He almost scoffed, did John really think he was intimidating ?

“ From what I have seen, my fiancée is feeling bad when you are around, should I get rid of you?” he smiled with a beaming expression making your father chuckle.

“ The day I see Alastor being violent, is the day I stop working!” he laughed before standing up. “ But John, boy, let’s talk outside.” your father said with a cold expression.

You watched as the two men left your room before feeling Alastor’s hands on your cheeks, forcing you to look at him.

“ Darling, what happened ? Talking alone?” He was confused, he was used to you talking to yourself when you had a lot of things to do so you would do your checklist out loud, but why would you do such a thing in a park?

You shook your head slowly, caressing his cheeks.

“ No, I was with a new acquaintance of mine. I think you should meet, he is very interesting, he is very old though…But then my head started hurting so bad I had to close my eyes and hold my face to calm myself. He must have seen me when I was trying to smooth the pain.”

“ Yes, darling, I’ll meet everyone you want.” he sighed while stroking your hair. “ What is the name of the gentleman who stole my darling’s attention?” he teased you as you stuck your tongue at him.

“ Legba.”

…

No way.

No fucking way.

No fucking way you were talking with Papa Legba without trying to invoke him. You didn’t know anything about voodoo, how did this happen ? He needed to calm down, maybe there really was a gentleman with such a name. He needed more information as he could feel his shadow buzz.

“ Do you know him..?” you asked.

“ I… I know his name, yes. What do you talk about with him?” he sat next to you, his expression back to usual.

“ I’m the one mostly talking. And we share food! Now that I think about it, I didn’t have the time to give him something to eat today…” you gasped as Alastor helped you stand up.

You didn’t give an offering. You weren’t even aware you have been giving the spirit some offering. He needed to see if you were talking about a man of spirit. Papa Legba was a powerful spirit, why would he come toward you, it wasn’t making any sense.

“ Let’s see if he is still where you left him! I really want to meet him."He kissed your cheeks before taking your things. 

He walked toward the park, looking around, trying to find the mysterious man. 

“ It’s him, do you see him, Alastor?” you walked toward an empty bench. You sat and then closed your eyes before your head dropped. He sat next to you, quietly, staring at you as your lips would sometimes move to say words. 

He could feel the energy next to you. You really were talking with a spirit right now, but you weren't aware of it. How could he say that to you…? He looked at the sky, the night began to own the atmosphere. He looked at you as you gasped, stood up and looked at Alastor.

“ Why didn’t you speak to him? Didn’t you want to meet him?” you crossed your arms on your chest, raising an eyebrow.

“ I’m.. going to explain everything as soon as we get home.” he took your hands and made you walk quickly toward his home. He didn’t even stop for you to greet his mother, he needed to make sure you were okay, that you didn’t make a deal with a spirit without being aware of all the rules they were. He closed his bedroom’s door once you were both inside.

“ Alright darling. When did you meet this man?”

“ What are you playing at?” you asked, sitting on his bed.

“ Please, answer me.”

“ It hasn't even been a week yet.”

“ What does he look like?”

“ You saw him! He was sitting next to me!” you threw your arms in the air, feeling agitated. 

“ No, darling, you were sitting alone.”

He looked at you as you paled. He didn’t want you to panic, he needed you to be calm and tell him everything so he could get everything under control once more.

“ Alastor,” you laughed nervously. “ you saw me.. I was talking with him..”

He approached you and kneeled in front of you, taking your hands in his.

“ You sat on the bench and then closed your eyes. It seemed like you were asleep to me but you were whispering some sentences, I couldn’t hear everything unfortunately.”

He began to explain everything he knew about Papa Legba. You were overwhelmed but you were listening to him. Your hands were shaking but they were gripping on his. Your world was changing but your eyes were still on him, and him only. 

Once you were calm enough he told you who he was working with.  You seemed fascinated as his eyes turned red and the shadow revealed itself. He let it touch you as you petted its head. He explained to you how he needed to kill Alice’s blackmailer, Larry, to gain more power. 

He felt more excited than ever. If you were to work with Legba, he didn’t need to deal with him. He was already working with Kalfu. You only needed Le Baron Samedi and then you would be able to bound your soul.

He stared at you as you walked toward him and kissed him. Ahh, you were once again accepting him fully. How lucky he was to have you by his side. He wrapped his arms around you, you were his everything. How could you bewitch him like that with just your eyes?

He sended the shadow back and he stared at you as you fell asleep on the bed. You did seem very tired… He didn’t ask you to change into night clothes, you had enough emotion for today. He joined you and fell asleep with his arms wrapped possessively around you.

He woke up when he felt a warm energy in the room. His eyes flashed red as he stared at you, standing in front of the mirror, talking to your reflection. He left the bed, quietly, standing behind you, looking at your reflection.

You turned around and saw Alastor behind you.

“ Well, well, well.. Do my eyes deceive me ?”

“ What are you talking about?”

He smiled at you before hugging you from behind, nuzzling his head against your neck, staring at the mirror.

“ Red is really our color, right?”

His smile grew wider as he watched you look at your now red eyes, the same shade as his. He kissed your cheek as you told him you both needed to have a chat with his Mother. He nodded before letting you go and walked downstairs with you by his side.

He asked his mother to sit before explaining everything that had happened since he had found her book in the basement. She seemed more worried than surprised.  She pinched his ears once he told her he was working with Kalfu. He didn’t try to get away, he just smiled at his mother. 

“ Marie, are… are you still working with spirits?” you asked.

“ Why are you asking?”

“ He told me you used to work with a spirit called: Gran Bwa. And… We saw him when we went into the forest. He told me he was disguised as deer…”

So he was right, the deer with the unusual behavior was a spirit… He looked at his mother as she explained she started working with spirits because she wanted to protect him from his Father. He wanted to ask if she ever worked with Le Baron Samedi but he held his tongue, he didn’t need to tell his mother everything, not right now. He was so close to being bound to you and yet he couldn’t ask his mother this question. 

“ Mother, I am still not as experienced as you, but I’m safe in those woods now. Our biggest threat is gone.  Don’t tire yourself.” he smiled at her before standing up. “ Matter of fact, let me bring me something to eat.” 

You stayed at his house all morning. He listened to his mother’s teaching. It seemed like to maintain a connection, you needed to be calm… He looked at his shadow who was being calm, staying in its place. He looked at you as you tried to connect yourself to Papa Legba. His mother left, smiling at him, saying she needed an offering.

He stood up as he stared at you. He could feel the energy around you, always warm. He walked toward you as you opened your eyes, ten minutes after you'd close them. He smiled as he saw your red eyes looking at him.

“ You are beautiful.” 

You tilted your head against his hand, sighing in relief. You looked around, noticing that Marie wasn’t there anymore.

“ What happened ?”

“ Well, you stayed like this for 10 minutes.” he looked at his watch with an excited grin. “ I thought you were asleep but you said something and then you came back with beautiful red eyes.” 

You went toward a mirror and stared at your reflection.  You were breathtaking, were you aware of it?

“ I… He said I’ll have a spirit power but I don’t feel anything right now.” you looked back at Alastor who was looking at you with a big grin. “ What?”

“ I can’t admire you now?” he came toward you with a teasing expression. You smiled when you saw him lean toward you. You held your hand in front of him sticking your tongue at him but before you could do anything, Alastor’s hand hit an invisible surface in front of you. “ What..?”

What was that? He touched the invisible shield in front of him. You seemed as confused as him. Well, you were mostly confused while he was feeling…

Enraged.

He didn’t know what game the spirit were playing, but giving you the ability to dress a shield in front of you, keeping you away was making him feel like he was being punished. Was that on purpose? Was Papa Legba punishing him in some way?

He touched your shoulder when you rubbed your eyes. He almost sighed in relief. 

“ Oh, is she okay Alastor?” asked his mother.

“ Yes and I think you should come and see what she just did.” You looked at Marie as she had a dead rooster in her hand. She was looking at your eyes.

“ Rouge… C’est sa couleur après tout..”

He nodded, Papa Legba and Kalfu’s favorite colors were red and black. Even if they were like the Ying and the Yang, they weren’t that much different from each other… Now, he took a pillow and threw it at your face when he saw you hold your hand once more in front of you. He smirked when the pillow hitted your shield. If you wouldn’t use this power against him, this could be very useful.

He stared at you as you asked the spirit to leave after thanking it. He threw another pillow at you, making you yell at him.

“ I’m not sorry Darling, I just wanted to see if you were unshielded.” he smirked as you took the pillow from the ground.

“ You knew that! My eyes aren’t red anymore!”

“ I just wanted to make sure. And that’s your punishment, how could you create a barrier between the two of us?” he walked toward you, his smile twitching.

“ Alastor! And you call yourself a gentleman?” you crossed your arms in front of your chest, making a surprised face. He leaned toward your ear and whispered.

“ You know I can be worse.” he bit your ears making you flush and turn your eyes toward Marie but the woman was already busy somewhere else. “ But you’ll keep being at my side, right?”

You kissed his cheek before leaning toward his ears.

“ Death wouldn’t be able to tear us apart, Alastor.”

And yet you used a shield against him, you little liar. He didn’t care if it wasn’t on purpose, he knew you by heart. He knew you were going to use it against him.

“ Your eyes are red.”

“ What?” you turned your back to him to look at yourself in the mirror but your eyes were their usual color. “ You liar–!” you squealed when you felt Alastor’s teeth sinking into your neck, making you grip his hair. You felt him suck on your skin, making you moan lightly. You blushed when you saw your reflection staring back at you, you tried to turn your head but Alastor held your chin with his finger, forcing you to look at yourself.

“ Look at us.”

“ Alastor..” you whispered. “ your mother isn’t far..”

“ Look at us.” He said once more. He bit you, kissed your skin, licked it. He wanted you to know you were his, no matter what kind of power you would gain with working with Papa Legba, he was the one that was supposed to haunt your heart and mind.  “ Don’t ever… think about putting that shield of yours against us, do you hear me?”

“ What if I do it again..?” you whispered. You shivered when you heard him chuckling darkly. 

“ You’ll see it for yourself.”

—--

He paid the cab before joining you into Alice’s cottage. You seemed to be very happy, he knew you must have some kind of ideas behind this lovely head of yours. He taunted you, saying your father asked him to be a gentleman with you, you shouldn’t do anything before marriage…Right?

He smirked at you before sitting on the sofa, taking his note from his suitcases before you came back.  He looked up when he heard you coming and stared at your makeup, you were devilishly good looking. 

“ Well, we are going to talk about our next target, right? I want to know how we will kill him.”  he smirked at your words, he already had so many ideas to share with you. 

Unfortunately, like the little brat you used to be when you were younger, you always had to go off script. You decided you would be the bait at a soirée and Mimzy would be the one training you. He almost laughed  out loud. He wouldn’t be surprised if they happened to have more than one victim if someone tried to lay a finger on you.

But he couldn’t say no to you, even more when you were looking at him with blood lust. He would have to be more vigilant than usual, nothing would happen to you. He stood up to make you something to eat when he heard your stomach making more noise than his fans. He walked into the kitchen making you your disgustingly sweet hot chocolate with some pastries on a plate. 

He freezed when he felt once again this warm energy in the living room. What were you scheming..?  He walked back to you with your food and your drink.

“ Dear?”

“ I saw John, not too long ago.” you sighed. Alastor could feel his body tensed at the name. Once again, his name was on your lips.

“ Is that so… What did he want?”

“ Well, he wanted me to marry me and to bear his children.” 

Cutting a tongue wouldn’t kill someone but it could shut them up. 

He wasn’t feeling the cut because of his strength from breaking the mug, he didn't feel the hot chocolate burn his hand as he stared at you. If killing John was a problem, he would just tear his tongue and eyes out. Maybe cutting his hands so he couldn’t write anymore. Mhn… That seemed to be a great idea. 

“ What did you say?”

“ I said, the only man I would marry is you. I said I was going to be your wife and bear your children.”

He relaxed , staring into your red eyes. He walked toward you, but you decided to be a little pest. You put on your shield, which was stronger than last time because he took a couple steps back because of the strength.  He stared at you, smiling widely.

You little adorable pest.

“ Darling, I hope you are not doing what I think you are try to do.”

“ I did not finish talking, Alastor.” you walked toward the plate he brought you. “  I said, you were the only man for me.” you slide the blade against your legs, never cutting the skin. He wished to see you pretty legs red in blood. How delicious you would look, and you would look like this for him only.

“ I said I would be whatever you wanted me to be.” you moved the blade near your breast, watching as Alastor was staring at you, never blinking just like a predator ready to wait for his prey to make a bad move and then devour it. “ I would be the best whore in New Orleans if you desire it. Only for you.” You put some pressure on the blade, cutting you slightly making you bleed a little. He wanted to lick it. “And if he wanted to separate us, I would kill him myself.”

You only had the time to hold your hand once more in front of you, creating your shield around you as Alastor ran toward you. He punched your shield with his fist just one time, staring down at you with a manic expression.

“ Darling, drop the shield.” he panted. He was ready to bash his head against the shield but he knew better, he needed to make it seem like you had the upper hand and then he would drag you back toward him.

You ran away in the kitchen after seeing Alastor summoned his shadow.  He followed you easily, staring at the table that was the only obstacle between the two of you. He smiled at you, his hands twitching with the need to hold you against him.

“ Darling, light of my light, curse of my sanity. Come here.”

“ Why should I?” you grinned, tilting your head.

“ You used your shield even though I told you to never use it to separate myself from you.” he grinned, even though his gaze was menacing. Your attention was on him, perfect. He sended his shadow toward you from underneath the table which made you react, trying to keep it away from you.

With agility, he jumped over the table, shattering the cutlery on the floor and pinned you down on the table. He finally had you where he wanted. 

“ You were saying?” he mocked you, tilting his head.

“ You look beautiful like this.” he said before taking the knife from your hand. You gasped as he licked the sharp edge of the blade, still with your blood on it. “ Now that I caught you, I can do anything I want, right, dearest…”

 You just nodded, kissing the top of his head. You squealed as you felt the blade against your naked thigh. You moaned as Alastor licked the bleeding cut you made on yourself, right above your nipple. You squeezed his waist between your thighs as he bit your chest, before taking your nipple in his mouth.  The blade was caressing your throat, making you tremble with need. 

You were twisted like him.

He was loving every second of this moment. You were like a sacrifice made for him. You let him make you bleed, cut your precious skin, letting him devour you…

“ I want you to carve yourself in me.” you moaned.

Alastor tilted his head back, roaring with laughter and before you could ask him anything he was kissing you madly.  You were making him lose his sanity. You were taking away his ability to think.  

 He was smiling like crazy as he dug the blade against your skin. You arched your back, sighing in bliss. He wasn’t cutting very deep, just enough to make you bleed.

“ You are indescriptible, my dearest. You have me under your spell, robbing me of my thoughts and my sanity.” He was breathing as hard as you, his gaze wasn’t moving from you. “ How did I deserve such a beautiful fiancée?”

“ You deserve me. You deserve so much..” you breathed as you felt the blade dug once more on your skin. You moaned as he kissed your neck, biting into your skin hard enough to hurt but it was so pleasurable. “ Never leave me..”

He chuckled against your neck as he stepped back, staring at your flushed face and your teary eyes. He wasn’t going to leave you, what a funny thought. His eyes were staring at you and only you with affection, fondness, envy, obsession and oh so much insanity but he could see the same in your eyes.

He pressed the blade on your skin to finish his letter, between your chest would be an A that would always belong to Alastor. 

“ Darling, even if I were to die, I would haunt you.”

You both jumped on each other, it wasn’t like your first time. He remembered, even if he had taken your virginity in the forest, on the snow with his father’s corpses not too far away from you, he had tried to be a gentleman. Right now, it was completely different, he was biting you until he could feel the blood from the wound on his tongue. It was animalistic. 

He held your necklace like a leash, strangling you with it, staring at you. You never asked him to stop or slow down, you were giving yourself to him and enjoying it. Your eyes were rolling back while he was taking away your ability to breathe. You were beautiful. Oh, so beautiful, he didn’t know what to do with you. He didn’t know what to do with himself. 

Nothing could make him feel stronger than you.

In the end, he carried you in the bedroom before laying you down. He joined you, caressing your skin as you both talked about your murder and next victims. He closed his eyes with a fond smile, your future looked amazing for the both of you.

—-

“ You look… obscenely delicious my dear.”

Alastor looked at you, you both were in the hotel’s dressing room. He really didn’t want anyone to see you like this, he would rather tear their eyes off but he needed to play his part. He would be your manager and nothing more tonight. He was wearing a deer mask, which hid his face but not his mouth. He gave you a Doe’s mask with a smirk, making you remember you were his. 

You seemed worried about him not being able to contain himself which almost made him laugh. Control was his middle name.  You didn’t need to worry one bit.

You clinged to his arm as he walked toward the hall entrance. He talked with some people while you were playing your part perfectly, you didn’t bring much attention to yourself, which he was thankful for. He didn’t need to kill another man tonight. He didn’t need to go into a killing spree. It would be complicated to cover it up.

A butler came toward him and asked for you to follow him. You stared at Alastor’s eyes which made him smile before you put your hand on your own chest, where his mark was still carved in your skin. He felt his body relaxed before going into the room where everyone was sitting. He remained standing, his arms against his back, looking at the crowd in front of him.

They looked all unaware of danger. But then one face made him smile wider.

John.

He was wearing a suit but he could see his badge on his chest. What was he doing here? Playing the hero? John wasn’t watching the stage where the performance had begun, so why was he here? It seemed like he was looking for someone…

He looked at his shadow which began to move when it felt Alastor’s demand. He sended it toward John, demanding it to listen to the conversation the policeman was having. He was still aware of his surroundings but he could hear the conversation through his shadow.

“ I don’t know, I have less than three months to find out what happened but I can’t find anything.” sighed John. So he was talking about the case huh…

“ Just give up, who cares?”

“ I can’t give up yet. I have a feeling I’m close to finding out a clue, but I don’t know… “

“ Are you not doing this for this girl you love?” 

Alastor almost laughed out loud. Love? How cute.

“ Shut up.. It’s not your business.”

Alastor called back his shadow who had a pissed off expression. What? Was it angry because John was in love with you? Who cared. A dead man can not love, right?

“ And now, our last singer, the Hunter’s Doe!”

He turned his head toward the stage, and there you were, illuminated by the stage’s lights. You began to sing and his eyes were on the crowd once more. He could see those disgusting men looking at you with lust. He could feel his shadow buzzing with fury. He counted every man that stared at you for more than 10 seconds without breaking contact. Some men would just look at you and then drink something or talk with their guests.

45… 89…100… 124.

He sended his shadow toward you which made you play with him. You were dancing above his shadow, making him feel your touch. He knew you were telling him you were his, you were doing this for him, for the both of you. You were arching your back, spreading those delicious legs…He bit his lip, not even caring about the blood that was coming out from the cut his teeth had just made.

No, he couldn’t let others' eyes than himself see you in that state.

He stared at the lights making it flickering before shutting down. The shadow caged you on stage like a prey that needed to be brought back to its hunter. His smile widened as he could hear your heartbeat raising.  He was choking you with his shadow, pressing against your neck, stealing the air from your lungs. He walked toward the stage quietly, he couldn’t even hear the noise around him, people asking what was happening. He was on the stage, next to you but you couldn’t see him. No one could. He stared at your face with a satisfied expression before the lights were back on.

“ Well, well, it seemed like we had a problem, what a shame you couldn’t see my little doe’s performance. But oh well, I know a lucky man who will join her and will be able to see it for himself.” He took you back to the dressing room, not caring about the men’s shout for an encore.

You fell on your chair, looking at him as you took off your mask. He was locking the door, humming to himself while you were fanning yourself.

“ Did someone try to sabotage us ? Who cut the lights off ?”

“ The same person who caged you on stage.” he sang before walking toward you, taking off his mask showing his red eyes. 

“ Alastor, what if–”

“ Don’t.” he smiled widely at you, holding his hand in front of you. “ We are going to forget what happened today because if we don’t, I might kill every man that looked at you tonight.”

“ There are too many, Alastor.” you chuckled, jokingly. Did you really think this little of him?

“ 124.”

“ What..”

“ 124 men were looking at you. And guess what darling, I know more than 124 methods to kill someone. How lucky !” he smiled as he loomed toward you. He had many ideas, the number 23 would get beheaded. The number 56 would be burned alive. The number–

You caressed his cheeks, looking at him while standing up. His eyes were never leaving your figure. You kissed him softly, conveying all your emotions for him. 

“ You don’t need to worry, I’m not going anywhere.”

“ When did I say I was worried?” Alastor tilted his head with a menacing grin. He wasn’t worried, not at all, he just wanted those pathetic excuses of a man to drop dead because they looked at something they couldn’t have. And they looked at you with disgusting eyes…

He turned his eyes toward the door when he heard a knock. He put his mask on once more and then smiled charmingly at the man behind the door.

“ Yes ?”

“ Oh hello dear gentleman. I’m Sir Larry’s butler. The monsieur would like to rent your employee for the night, would it be okay for you? He is ready to pay a lot.” Alastor hummed, did he still want to continue this plan? No. But he looked at you and you nodded, you wanted to keep going… 

“ Well of course my dear fella! I shall take her to his room. I guess I’ll have the money there.” he held his arm for you to take. You slid your hands around it as you walked in the stairs, going to the top of the hotel. Once you were in front of the door, the butler knocked before entering the room, introducing you to the man.

“ Ah! The brightest star has blessed us with her presence.” Alastor looked at the overweight man who was sweating from doing so little.“ Now mister… Victor, was it ? Here is the money, I will take good care of your jewel.”

Hah ! He could kill him right now if needed, why did he have to let you alone with him? Well.. You didn't have to be left alone anymore. He let his shadow merging with yours and couldn’t help but relax when he saw you noticing it.

“ Please, enjoy this night as if it was your last.”

“ Oh, trust me, I will!” Laughed Larry. 

Alastor kissed the back of your hand before staring at your eyes. You nodded at him before watching him leave with the butler. 

He looked at the butler as he gave him a briefcase with money inside. Should he kill the butler too? Should he take the money? He took the briefcase, thanking the man before making it seem like he was leaving.  

He closed his eyes so he could see what was going on in the chamber. He almost snapped when he saw you underneath the pig, trying to invoke your shield. 

He didn’t know how he did it, but one second he was in the corridor, the next he was inside the pig’s room, walking from the shadows.

“ That’s not how you are supposed to treat a lady, you irrelevant prick.” he spat.

“ Victor ! What..? Just, take care of your woman ! She is crazy, look at what she has done!”

Alastor hummed as he walked toward the wounded man, his arms nicely settled behind his back. He took a look at the man's face who let him. You really did it ! With your heel, how fun. It seemed like the man was too shocked to react correctly to his presence.

“ Oh, it does seem terrible, you shall excuse my woman, she only has done it once. She will get better!” he smiled at the man before taking out a knife from his pocket and plunging it in the chest of the man.  He grimaced, the man was fatter than he expected, the blade didn’t touch any vital organs. Oh well, let’s find another way to kill the pig.

The man tried to tackle Alastor on the ground but he gracefully avoided it with an excited smile. You watched as his shadow came back to him with its hideous smile.

“ My bad, it’s also my second time. I’m still not used to killing pigs.” he laughed as he played the blade with his fingers. He kept making fun of the man as Larry tried to catched him . After a few seconds Larry fell near the sofa on all fours, breathing hard. You walked toward Alastor with a smile. Alastor pecked your lips, he was always feeling better when you were by his side.

“ Come on, we only die once, you should smile more!”

You freezed as Larry took a gun from under the sofa’s cushions and pointed it toward you. 

“ You son of bitches,”  Alastor flinched at the insults but he kept his smile. He would have to make the man’s death even more painful.” I’ll send you back to hell!”

He was so confident in you he didn’t move when the pig shot. He knew you would invoke your shield but you did more than that. The bullet stopped in front of you. It stayed in the air before you gave it back into the man’s thigh.

Did you just telekinesis an object?

The pig shot again and the same thing happened. He was feeling euphoric, you were gorgeous, a divine punishment sent on earth to work with him. 

“ Haha ! What a show, folks! That’s the show I wanted to see!” he laughed as he passed a hand in his hair, walking toward the man who was laying on his back, screaming agony as Alastor’s foot dug into the wound you made with the bullet. “ Isn’t it much more interesting that poor ladies who don't have the choice but to be here?” He nodded as the pig screamed once more. “ You are right ! I’m relieved you’ve finally reached the voice of reason.” he crouched above the man, holding his chin with his gloved hand.

“ Now, give me a big smile~!” he said before carving a smile into the man’s flesh. 

“ Alastor, did you see? Did you see what I did? Did you?” you beamed as he stopped working on his living canvas, staring fondly at you.

“ I did, dearest. You looked delicious.” he smirked as you leaned toward him, asking for a kiss which he gladly gave you.  “ Perfect, now, I just need to let out some steam.  Come on Larry, don’t die on me yet!”

He began to stab Larry multiple times as you laid on the sofa. He encouraged the pig to stay alive, wasn’t it why he was trying to struggle ? He kissed you each time you were asking for it. Of course, how could he refuse you? The kiss was bloody but just like you both liked it. He chuckled against your lips before going back to stabbing the pig. You would clapp with the same rhythm of Alastor’s stab, encouraging Larry to stay alive, that was so cute of you.

The pig died at the 87 stab but Alastor didn’t stop. Each stab was for each man that looked at you tonight, he couldn’t kill them so why not use a pig to let out his fury?

He threw his head back, his face all bloodied.

“ Aahh. I feel better!” he smiled at you, his eyes glinting with madness and fondness. You sat up, stretching yourself with a big grin. He stood up and tugged you toward him, kissing your cheeks. Feeling you against him after a murder was so relaxing.

“ What do we do with the body?”

“ We leave it.”

You looked at Alastor with wide eyes. He kissed your lips, chuckling at your expression. He needed to find a way for you to leave without being seen and as always you found a solution that would make him tear his hair if he wasn’t used to your antics.

“ I could pass through the windows and enter another room?”

“ We are in the highest part of the hotel, light of my life. What are you trying to do?” He raised an eyebrow with a mocking smile.

You winked at him before passing through the windows, putting your feet on the balcony. You would just have to jump on the other balcony and that would be it. You turned toward Alastor who threw you something.

You almost let it drop when you saw it was the pig’s eyes.

“ Alastor !” you seethed.

“ Put it in the other room. See you downstairs, dearest.” he winked at you before lighting a match and throwing it on the bed. With the pig dead, he could feel Kalfu in the room with him, asking him silently what he wanted. He stared at the fire, wishing for it to grow bigger. He changed his outfit as the fire was beginning to be warmer, bigger and more dangerous. He threw his deer’s mask in the fire before taking another one. He walked toward the pig, looking for the photo and smirked when he found it.

Now, no more clues.

He stepped in the shadow before appearing behind you and wrapped an arm around your waist. You were wearing a rabbit’s mask, how cute. He grinned at you before going toward the buffet and gave you a piece of cake. You needed to eat after using your spirit like this. He guided you outside when the policemen urged everyone to go out because a fire had begun upstairs. He chuckled when he saw John run toward the fire. Maybe, if he was lucky, he would die in his flames too?

Alastor and you walked to Alice’s home while chatting about what just had happened. You took off your mask,sighing in relief. You entered Alice’s mansion and sat on the sofa in the living room waiting for your friend to come, which she did, almost tripping on the armchair.

“ Are you okay? I heard there was a fire not too far from here? Does it mean the… the plan is delayed ?” she asked in her pajamas.

“ We know something you don’t know~.” you sang at her. She looked at you, confused. “ The pig is dead, trust us.” you smiled at her and beamed even more when she relaxed in her chair.

“ Thank God… But, the picture..? Is it destroyed?”

“ No worries, you ungrateful pest. I took care of it.” Alastor took a picture from his coat and threw it at Alice. “ This is the only one, I looked everywhere.”

“ What if he had others in his home?” Asked Alice.

“ I’ve looked everywhere,” said Alastor with a wicked grin. “ So, unless you want to worry about nothing, which would amuse me so please do it, there is nothing that can be used against you.”

Alice sighed in relief, thanking you and Alastor multiple times. He really was uninterested, looking at his nails before looking at you.

“ I can not wait to talk about it on my broadcast, tomorrow.” you laughed as he began to tell the tale of how a deer and a doe killed a pig because an annoying bird couldn’t do it itself.

“ Am I the bird?” asked Alice, frowning.

“ Of course, you are as noisy and useless as them.”

“ You–!”

What a good way to end the week, right dearest?

Tag List: @lukneetoonz @martinys-world @littlepoetnova @sirens-and-moonflowers @eris-norwega @tiredflame132 @mo-0-o @vvollerie @sodavizz @boogiemansbitch @tessemerick @slytherin4ever @kammsinn @alastorssimp @t0xic1vi @diamond-almond @fangirlbitch02 @saccharine-nectarine @thenorthnightingale @bibliophile-yomna @itzjustj-1000 @mothraantics @yourdoorisunlocked @phamtasic @karmakillz @holographicage @sarcastic-sourwolf @akuraluna2468 @everwolf-20 @thesunandmoons-blog @songbrita @noraunor @fandomsbookclub @hokkaido97 @catticora @gasiacos

[parad-ice-lostandfound]

Prompt:

Pairing: Mafia! Octavinelle and MC/Yuu/ Reader

Genre: Hurt/ Comfort ig? Slight crack

TW: Kidnapping, blood, minor character deaths, mc does get a little hurt, mentions of guns, usage of guns, violence (because mafia au), mc also curses at one point, talk of killing people, the prefect wears earrings and has hair (i saw someone use put this in warnings once). Let me know if I should add anything else!

AN: First request for TWST ^^ It's my first time writing for the Octavinelle trio, so please forgive me if they're ooc, I tried my best. This was very fun to work on! Send me asks if you wanna know more about my version of mafia!twst because I had so many thoughts about this entire au but I couldn't fit everything in one post lol. Not really happy with the ending (when am I ever) but I hope you enjoy!

"I'm telling you, you don't wanna do this," You warned your captors for the third time as they checked the cuffs holding you up by your arms. It was an uncomfortable position, kneeling with your arms restrained with metal chains above your head. Your shoulders felt sore, and with how every movement made the skin of your wrists rub against the harsh metal, you just knew that you were going to be sporting some pretty nasty bruises around them.

Vil was going to be furious about that.

You watched as the leader came into your range of vision, a self-satisfied smirk painting his face as he walked over to you. There was quite some distance for him to cross to reach you, and he took his sweet time as he leisurely walked over to you. Probably an intimidation tactic, just like how making you kneel was.

You looked at him, unperturbed. Your eyes roamed over the man, who for all his intimidation tactics, was nothing but a poor little boy way in over his head. A reckless little minnow who didn't know his place, as Floyd would say.

Speaking of Floyd. You grimaced at the monstrosity of an outfit the man was wearing. In all your time as a valued member of the mafia, you had seen many outlandish outfits, courtsey of the more openly unhinged Leech twin and the field of work you were in (power had a way of killing the fashion sense of people and letting it rot inside their head). But this... was on a whole another level.

You mentally lit a candle for everyone who had to witness the... very unique display.

A sharp slap snapped you out of your thoughts. 'Did this man, just backhand me? Well fuck you too bitch', You thought to yourself as you looked back at the still smirking man. You could feel a bit of wetness at the edge of your lip, a slight stinging also being felt at the same spot. Your tongue darted out, recognizing the metallic taste of blood as you gingerly licked at the small wound.

"So this is the little Prefect of Night Raven, hm? How... pathetic. Truly, the mafia organization has fallen if they allow the likes of you to hold any position higher than a discardable pawn," he huffed, and you resisted rolling your eyes. Here comes the villainous monologue, you thought to yourself.

As the man spoke, you took note of the people in the room. Apart from you and the man, there were five other men, all very familiar faces. All of them were earlier members of NRC, who left the organization 'honorably' before your appointment as the consigliere to Dire Crowley, the main boss.

There was nothing honorable about the way they were treating you right now though.

Very reluctantly, you listened to the man's speech about how he was basically aiming to cripple Night Raven Mafia by killing you. You forced back a yawn through the speech that was supposed to strike fear into your heart; unfortunately for him, you dealt with seven very unpredictable and occasionally difficult underbosses on a daily basis. Said underbosses must have already been informed of your forced absence.

Now it was just a matter of waiting and watching to see exactly who would come to your rescue...

The door slammed open as soon as you thought that, and the eyes of every person in the room turned to it. You smiled as a very familiar face entered the room, his mismatched eyes dark and foreboding.

"Hi Floyd," you chirped, unfazed by the frown on his face and the dangerous aura around him. Floyd's eyes met yours for a moment, brightening at seeing you, before turning even harsher when he saw the state you were in; clothes (gifted to you by Riddle) rumpled, carefully styled hair (courtesy of Vil) in a disarray, and a slight swelling on the side of your face you were struck at (which would send nearly everyone into a murderous frenzy).

"Who touched my Shrimpy?" Floyd growled out at the men. "Don'tcha know that I'm the only one allowed to rough them up? You're just begging to be squeezed to death."

At this point, the men, who were earlier frozen in fear, started to fumble with their guns. Before they could even get their weapons out, gunshots rang throughout the room, each man dropping to the floor one by one.

"Ah, pardon me, but I would prefer if you did not aim your weapons at my brother," a familiar voice spoke from behind Floyd to the now dead men in the room.

You grimaced at the blood now flowing out and seeping onto the floor, the puddle growing in size and inching closer to you.

"Jade, get me out of these things," you said, successfully getting his attention as you rattled the chains holding you up.

"Ah, of course dear Prefect," Jade hummed, and you did not need to look at his face to know that he was smiling. Jade walked over to you, stopping only to take the keys to your chains from the pocket of the leader. Placing the key into the lock and turning it released you from your uncomfortable position, and you yelped as you flopped onto the ground unceremoniously.

"Shrimpy~" Floyd's rapid changes in mood was one thing you did not believe you would ever get used to, "did you really get kidnapped by this sad little bunch of minnows?" He asked, pulling you to your feet and slightly spinning you.

"Shrimpy is so helpless~"

"Indeed," Jade smiled, and you felt a shiver run down your spine. You would never get used to the all too malicious upturn of Jade's lips either. He took you from Floyd's arms, ignoring his twin's grumbling as he dusted off your clothes. "Pray tell, how could such... insignificant little men capture you, dear Prefect?"

Before you could answer, a third voice rang through the room. "Jade! Floyd! I told you not to kill any of them!" Azul huffed as he entered your line of vision, glaring at the two men who sandwiched you.

"Ah, pardon me Azul, but they were going to aim their weapons at Floyd. Not to mention how terribly they were treating the Prefect," Jade hummed, not at all repentant of his actions. Azul huffed in frustration, glaring at his consigliere.

You gave him a little wave, and Azul's eyes softened as they met yours. He looked calm and collected as he walked over to you, but the trembling of his hands as he held yours gave his true feelings away. His eyes quickly scanned your body for wounds, narrowing in displeasure at the reddened skin around your wrists and the cut on the corner of your lip.

"Prefect."

"Azul," you said, not missing the way his eyes relaxed considerably as he saw you wearing the seashell earrings he had gifted you. "Ah, so that was how Idia-san found out you were kidnapped almost immediately," he hummed. You raised an eyebrow at his words.

"The earrings have trackers in them," Jade helpfully explained.

"Well, in any case, we must take you back to the Lounge. Everyone else must have assembled there by now."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because, Prefect, we were supposed to bring your kidnappers so that a joint decision could be taken for their punishment," Azul sighed as he pushed his glasses up his nose slightly.

You glanced at your kidnappers, wrinkling your nose as the blood puddle slowly crept closer to your shoes. "They're dead."

"A most unfortunate incident, yes. But, nevertheless, their identities will suffice for now. This just goes to show that we must never leave any loose ties," Azul said ominously. "Perhaps my dear colleagues will learn a lesson from this."

"... Sure. And how did you three manage to make them stay back at the Lounge while you carried out this rescue mission?"

"The heads found it best to send us three since we were most likely to bring your captors back alive," Azul said, glaring at Floyd who just roamed around the room disinterested in the conversation. "Well, that is what Crewel and Trein thought, at least."

You chuckled. "I don't think the outcome would've been any different with the others either so... let's just get to the Lounge."

Azul smiled. "As you wish, Prefect."

[wyn-n-tonic]

That's a Real Fucking Legacy: Legacy

Pairing: Joel x f!reader/former Tommy x f!reader Word Count: 2.6k+ Warnings: Talk of pregnancy, childbirth, child loss, grief, alcohol, drugs. Author's Note: I'm sorry.

Writing Blog: @wyn-writing. Sign up for my taglist HERE.

Empty.

The shelves of his belongings, sparse as they may be; the maps that hung tacked to the wall; the knife taped beneath the table; the life of his laughter drained from the walls.

And the guitar.

Of course the guitar was gone.

“I'm sorry,” his note read. “I had to go. I had to know if it was possible for us to have a safer, happier life outside of here. I’ll be back for you, I love you.” 

Nothing else, just gone in the night leaving nothing else but a note and a broken heart.

It always ends bloody—day after day, year after year.

But this didn’t end at all, it just never came back.

It left two things in its wake—you and a brother.

A brother who couldn’t look you in the eye after reading the tear stained note that mentioned him nowhere in it.

It didn’t say he’d come back for Joel.

It didn’t say he wanted better for Joel and it fed into Joel’s belief that he was no longer good enough for good things or good intentions. 

Somewhere along the line, you picked up on that feeling for yourself. It was easier to tell yourself that Tommy had forgotten about you and the promise he made in his letter. It was easier to assume that he no longer loved you because the only alternative was that he was no longer living.

Not Joel, though.

That callus nature ticked off Tommy’s life like a box in his goddamn head. Compartmentalized it away as one less person that made him vulnerable—weak. It was the illusion of strength that drove you to him; to showing up at his apartment with some poorly constructed moonshine and an ache you hadn’t felt satisfied since the night before everything changed.

You told him how Tommy had fucked you like you were the only thing in the world that mattered, knowing it was the last time, and that motherfucker didn’t even have the balls to say goodbye.

“I never meant fuck all to him, did I?” You had asked.

Shattered glass wasn’t the response you were looking for but it’s certainly the one you got, expletives crawling out of his mouth as he knelt down to pick up the shards. 

Only that and the silence that followed as he disposed of the crystalized remnants and paced the small room.

“My brother loved you,” he finally said. “You were the best goddamn thing my brother had going for him—he said you were the best thing he had ever done. His love for you is how I know he’s fucking dead, sweetheart, so you need to stop sitting here convincing yourself that what you had was fake—some fucked up way to protect yourself—and start grieving like the goddamn widow you are.”

That grief stood to meet his and both of you fell into bed shortly after.

It made sense, he’d promised you. You weren’t doing anything wrong.

You got the next best thing to Tommy Miller.

He got to protect the most important thing to Tommy Miller. 

It’s what he would’ve wanted.

But now he looks like he’s going to throw up.

The sex got more frequent, the small laughter and the stolen touches.

For a while, you’d kept separate dwellings—him sleeping alone, you sleeping with a ghost.

Then the apartment was ransacked one day while you were out, you came home to Firefly spray paint on the doors and half the floor boards torn up.

Joel barely let you out of his fucking sight after that.

He also fucked you blind most nights, giving over small glimpses of the man he used to be—the man he still wishes he was.

There’s half a glimpse of that now followed by fear followed by a set jaw and a mask he wears when it’s not just you beside him.

“Are you sure?” He asks, hands worrying into the edge of a book over and over again.

You shrug, “who can really be sure of anything these days? Especially this early on but… I don’t know.” Looking down at your nails, you start to pick at the bloodied skin already ravaged by your anxieties. “I’m fairly certain though,” you tell him. “Don’t feel obligated to anything.” 

“Shut up,” he snaps. He is harsh when he wants to be but he’s never been so with you. “Don’t sit there and tell me you’ve got my baby inside of you and then tell me not to feel obligated. You are the only person I feel that for anymore.” 

The chair kicks back and falls behind him when he stands, clattering down in a way that shakes you. You’re used to the loudness of his voice, the attack dog style way he turns on anybody who looks at you sideways.

"I'm sorry,” he says after a few beats from the other side of the room. He’s staring down the window but you’re not sure his eyes are anywhere, really. Not sure he’s here either.

You know where he goes on the nights he doesn’t exhaust himself enough between your legs after a long day. Hell, he goes there even then. Because no amount of sex or drugs or alcohol is going to scrub that memory out.

Tommy told you about that night; the subsequent nights and the years that followed where Joel turned into somebody completely different. Joel, who used to be goofy and happy, even if he was stressed. 

But he’s not that man anymore and, even if you catch the glimpses of him in fleeting moments, he never will be again.

“I'm sorry,” you tell him. Because it’s all you can say. You’d been as careful as you could. You’d drank the tea. You did the best you could.

He doesn’t turn until you stand, following the noise of your body with his good ear to bore his brown gaze into you. “Where are you going?” 

You shrug, “I think you need some time and uh”—you rub at your eye—“I heard a rumor a while ago about somebody who can help take care of it so—“

“So just like that”—he snaps his fingers for emphasis—“you’re gonna take it all away? Never happened, huh?”

“You don’t want this,” you tell him. You say it plainly like a fact because it is.

His features twist up, eyes squinting as he pulls back like you've slapped him. “It's not that I don’t want this,” he says, accent coming out thick. “It's that I don’t want this for you”—he starts counting on his fingers, taking steps toward the fallen chair and the door you stand at now—“I don’t want this life for you; I don’t want this life for that baby; I don’t want me for that baby, sweetheart. Don’t you understand? That should be my brother’s, you should be my brother’s—“

“Yeah, well he fucking left me, Joel!” The way you heighten your voice shoots pain right up into your head, the headache you’ve been nursing from nerves all day growing worse as your fists clench and unclench. “He fucking left you, he left us! This should be his baby, but it’s not, Joel. It doesn’t have to be yours either.” 

“Sweetheart,” his voice is so soft now. Another glimpse. He walks towards you slowly, hands out as if trying to pacify a wild animal. “Can we talk about this before you just go off and—“ 

But you’re already halfway out the door before he can finish the thought, letting it slam shut behind you on the man you never should’ve told.

——————

It’s always bloody—this life we’re forced to live now.

Starts in blood, ends in blood.

In the moment you hemorrhaged from childbirth, all you could think of was Tommy and how you hoped his end was the fast kind of blood and not the kind you were experiencing. 

It was the first time you saw Joel cry, stood back and shaking with clenched fists. In the end, it was how stern his voice got that brought you back from the blackened edges of your vision. 

That’s how he spoke to you, to the baby. Soft voices, yes. But stern, too. Like every statement was a warning shot not to leave him like the rest. 

Life in the QZ wasn’t exactly a good one but it was enough; safe enough. Joel took the risks he needed to, to get you and the baby what you needed. 

That was her name for the longest time, just Baby.

Baby, who fit in the palm of her father’s hand.

Baby, who made him laugh like he hadn’t in years.

Baby, who made his smile reach his eyes again.

Baby, who was told stories of how much like her big sister Sarah she already was with all her sass and all her charisma.

He was obsessed with her tiny hands, her little toes and the way she cooed up at him with big, dark eyes. 

He was obsessed with her little face, the curve of her lips and the way she latched on to feed.

“You're gonna hate me for saying this,” he started when he walked in the room one day, her tiny body nestled in the crook of his arm like a football. “But I think she kind of looks like Tommy.” 

You did hate him for that but he wasn’t wrong. It was some sick cosmic joke; the baby that should be his; the baby made out of grief for him.

Three weeks later, her papers were officially filed with FEDRA under the name Thomasin Miller; never imagining that, one year later, you’d be walking down the street to see her namesake stepping out of your old building like a bad dream.

Or the best dream.

If that’s where he went first, finding that the entire thing is cleared out, then he’d be going to Joel’s next. 

Unless he stuck with not ever wanting to see his brother’s goddamn face again.

You split left before he saw you, turned the corner and took the other way to Joel’s; to Thomi—home.

Fighting with your keys to get into the lock, the door pulled open and your muttering stopped as Joel stood easily at six feet with baby girl tucked up on his chest fast asleep. From the looks of it, he was too.

He barely came around to the pregnancy, trying hard to school his emotions through every milestone afraid that it was going to drop just like everything else. He carried that fear through the birth, told you that he was so afraid you were going, too. So afraid that you were leaving him with a baby to fend for so he could start this sick cycle of his life over again.

Except this time he wouldn’t even have Tommy and he knew the only outcome of that was him leaving the baby or her leaving him.

He said he wouldn’t have survived.

That’s the only way you know Joel Miller loved you—his version of it anyway.

Obligated.

“What's wrong?” He asks, worry covering every part of his face as his large hand covers yours. “What happened?”

“Tommy.” It’s all you can choke out.

He goes to hand you the baby, says she’s right here. Says she’s okay and asks again what happened. Asks if there was a baby on the trucks today.

“No,” you shake your head. “No, Joel, Tommy’s here.” 

He tells you you’re crazy, that it can’t be. Says the heat of the day and the smell of the infected dead must’ve gotten to you. That wasn’t even your job today; he stopped letting it be your job a long ass time ago. He didn’t want you seeing Thomi in every snuffed out life the way he saw Sarah.

“Listen to me, Joel!” Your yelling wakes the baby but only half a cry comes out before she realizes she’s in her daddy’s arms. “Tommy was coming out of our old building, he is here and I wasn’t there and you know where he’s gonna go next.” 

After two hours with no knock on the door, Joel starts to examine you; your eyes; your head; your neck. Any sign of trauma at all that can explain away the ghosts you saw in plain sight.

And then it comes. Just a couple of knocks at the door. Joel’s eyes rake down your face as all the color drains from it and crosses to the front door. “Who is it?”

“It's me,” a muffled voice on the other side comes through. “I-it’s Tommy.”

Joel opens the door enough to fit his broad body into it, one arm raised to lean against the deteriorating wood jamb. “Thought you were dead.”

“Why would you—“ 

“Maybe because you fucked off with a promise to come back and didn’t.”

“I—“ He stutters looking for the words. “I sent letters.”

From here, you can see Joel’s eyes squint and his face twist in near disgust. “We don’t exactly have a goddamn postal service, shitbird.” 

“Yeah, I fucking know that,” Tommy quips back and you can imagine just the face he’s making too. “I fucking radio’d, every fucking week, and I got nothing back. I just want to know she’s okay.”

You watch from the hallway, one arm hugged around your body for warmth. It’s not even cold.

“She’s—" He takes a deep breath. “I don’t know how to fucking answer that. I hope she’s fine now but I’m worried that knowing you're around might slide that progress back.”

“Progress?”

“Yeah, Tommy, she fucking grieved for you for a long ass time. That was after she waited for you until I told her to accept that you weren’t coming back.”

“But I radio’d…” 

“We didn’t get a goddamn radio from you, Tommy!” 

Thomasin screams at the sound of her father’s raised voice, howling out every thing she’s got in her tiny lungs as you move to pick her up.

Tommy’s asking what the fuck that is and you can see Joel’s fists clenching, tightening the grip he has on the door. He looks back at you, back at his daughter and his face betrays the parts of his heart that are breaking as Tommy asks whose goddamn baby is crying in his apartment.

“Mine,” Joel responds. 

Then he shuts down, jaw setting and unsetting as Tommy asks question after question. 

Where’d you get a baby?

What’s going on?

Why can’t I find her?

You know where she is, tell me where she is.

Joel can’t answer any of them, can’t make eye contact with his brother anymore but he doesn’t move from the door. He wants to, you can tell. He wants to shut it, go back to this morning when you and he and the baby were all still sound asleep in the early light of day.

“Can I just come in, Joel?” He finally asks. “Can we just talk about this? You can tell me where she is, I’ll set it right with her, I meant to come back for her a lot sooner.”

“Yeah,” Joel breathes out, “you really fucked up on that one.” 

He looks to you then, a silent question in his eyes.

Are you ready for this?

No. You aren’t. Three hours ago, you didn’t know this man was still breathing and the only solace you could hope for was that he was truly dead and not some fucking monster with a mushroom growing out of his gorgeous head.

Sitting, finally, with Thomasin in your aching arms to cover your aching heart, you nod and Joel lets the door open wider until Tommy's eyes are on you; your daughter.

“I'm sorry, Tommy,” Joel says. “I’m really fucking sorry.” 

[lekkkkz]

Can you do a sub Jack Howl with Male Reader? I mean, we all just want to play with his tibbies, right? Like bite, pinch, massage, pull, anything really. And maybe slide our dick in those tittes too? And he would let out the cutest whimpers. And when you call him out on it being the tsundere that he is will deny it, but his tail wagging say's otherwise. Bonus Points we fuck him to oblivion. The faces he would make would be so cute. Big blush with tears in his eyes, tongue out. Hell yeah.

JACK HOWL X MALE READER TOP

《 Fuck tits, feminization ¿? (mention of precious only once) nipple play and anal penetration》

‐minors DNI

Jack is very sensitive in his tits, and more if you play with them, you tend to bite them when you're stressed, you like to play a lot, but who can help it? They are so delicious to look at, you can't help but put your lips around those big milkers.

Like right now.

You have your lips around her left nipple, while your hand plays with the right one. His cheeks are red when he sees how you suck, as if you could get milk from him.

His moans are so heavenly, music to your hates, you really want to fuck him hard against the mattress, but first you'll fuck his tits.

Your lips released her swollen nipple with a little "plock", you could see your saliva around it, really appetizing.

—Well honey, you won't mind me using your pretty tits for a while, will you? — he could only let out a needy moan in response.

Jack watched as your pants fell slowly around your ankles. His mind was off, so he didn't notice when you were already straddling his chest.

— Alright honey, now squeeze those pretty titties for me — with cheeks burning red she did as you asked, holding her tits together.

The friction around your cock was good, urging you to move, slowly you started to move your hips, wanting to go slow.

Jack watched as your cock came out from between her tits, the pre-cum ran down his chest and neck, seeing this scene made him stick out his tongue, wanting to taste your cock in his mouth, have your semen on his tongue.

Your eyes saw this, causing the movement of your hips to increase, wanting to cum all over her pretty face, moans came out of your mouth, from the sensation of her tits around and her tongue caressing the head of your fat cock.

The knot in your stomach was about to burst.

— Keep it up beautiful, I'm about to paint your pretty face — a moan left your pink lips.

Jack upon hearing this squeezed his tits more, and continued caressing your tip with his tongue.

You couldn't take it anymore and you let go, cumming on his face as you promised, Jack felt your hot semen running over his face and chest, his tongue licked around his mouth, tasting you, you were sweet, maybe because you eat a lot of fruits, especially strawberries, your favourite.

A satisfied sigh left your lips, a goofy smile forming on your pretty face.

—That was really cool — you said slowly, barely coming off your high.

You slowly got off him, taking a breath, Jack cleaning his face with the wet wipes you left near him, watching as you searched for the lubricant to prepare it, his cheeks blushing more knowing that he already prepared himself beforehand, so you wouldn't lose time to prepare it.

With a trembling voice I speak to you — No preparation will be necessary — when he saw that you were looking at him, he quickly turned away — I did it before coming to your room —

With a soft smile you approached him and kissed his cheek.

—You're so cute, baby—

—I'm not —he answered in response to what was said.

—You're a fool Tsundere— you said caressing his ears.

—No, stop saying that— He denied it, but his rapidly wagging tail says otherwise.

You moved away from him, to settle between his muscular legs.

— Okay honey, are you ready to be fucked hard? — your words provoked a grunt on his part, you letting out a giggle in response to that.

He wraps his legs around you, eagerly waiting for you to slide your cock into his stretched hole.

You slowly start to get inside, feeling her walls flutter around you, clinging tightly to your weeping cock.

Jack lets out a breathy moan as you bottom out, your hips flush with his ass, your fertile cum-filled balls crashing into him.

He moves his hips, already eager for you to destroy him completely, leaving his hole full of thick and hot cum.

Your hips begin to move roughly, leaving your caring side behind, fucking him hard as he wanted, the sound of slapping fills the room, hinting that a lewd act is taking place inside it.

You lean your body against him more, holding his hips tighter, fucking him faster, harder, he squeezes his walls more in response to the movement.

— Get ready baby, because I will fuck you all night, until I leave you full of my semen.

JSJAJAGSHD An apology for answering until now, I was really busy, besides procanistar, but hey, here is your request honey, I hope you enjoy it.

An apology for the spelling and grammatical errors, apart from the lousy english, I spoke spanish xdd

[bonesxbows]

Act Naturally - Chapter 1 (Cooper Howard X Reader)

Masterlist

While exploring an old section of Hollywood, the two of you stumble upon an old advertisement for a cowboy movie. But the man on the poster looks suspiciously a lot like Cooper, even down to the same smile. But it couldn't possibly be him...right?

(WARNINGS) - anger issues - negative self talk (from Cooper not you)

I feel like I dragged this on for way longer than it needed to be BUT it's a done thing now and tbh I'm pretty happy with it. I fucking adore soft Cooper moments and idc if I have to write them all myself

Also! This idea came from @land-of-evergreens-and-dye so full credit to them for letting me stew on this prompt

Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Reblogs and comments much appreciated!

-

The two of you had found yourselves in an old section of Hollywood. It had been so long since Cooper had told you his reason for bringing you here that you’d forgotten what his motivation for this excursion was. Although it didn’t really matter to you, you’d follow him anywhere whether he wanted you to tag along or not. There was no separating you two. Not anymore. 

Most of the buildings had been boring to scavenge through, if you could even find a way inside at all. Not much was left of the boulevard besides dusty sidewalks and rusting billboards. But one building in particular piqued your interest. It had a larger facade than all the rest where small billboard-like signs hung above the wide double doors. Broken and busted bulb lights framed the signs and the rows of black lettering were missing far too many letters to be able to read it clearly. What letters you could make out only baffled you more than the strange-looking building did. 

‘Co - How - Starr - in - Th - M - Fr - Dea - Horse’

“Horse? What’s a horse?” you asked out loud, more to yourself than to him. He usually never listened to your mid-exploring ramblings, though he never did tell you to stop. You turned around to find him staring up at the old sign too, although his brow was creased and a scowl was stuck on his face. You placed a hand on his shoulder and he turned to you, his expression softening as his eyes shifted to looking at you instead. 

“You wanna check inside there, don’ you?” He asked. 

You nodded and gave him a small smile. “Can we? Please? I’ve never seen any place like it before.” 

“Hm. ‘Spose we can. But make it quick alright?” He checked his pistol’s ammunition levels and flipped the barrel back into place once he was satisfied. You led the way forward, pushing the swinging doors inward as Cooper was right behind you, pistol in hand and trigger finger ready. 

He was a little disappointed when the place appeared to be empty. But the feeling didn’t last, he couldn’t stay upset as he watched you scurry around the place, your eyes wide with fascination. The interior was even more astonishing to you than the exterior had been. Rows of folding booth-like chairs covered the majority of the floor, their fabric exterior faded and torn, and in the back of the building was a wooden stage. Ragged old curtains framed the blank wall behind the stage where its faded white paint chipped and peeled off the plaster. There wasn’t much hiding between the rows of chairs besides dust and sand but you still kept your hopes high that the rest of the building would hold something worthwhile. 

“What is this place? Some kind of shooting gallery?” you asked, your wasteland-born intelligence of pre-war places was lacking, but fortunately for you, Cooper liked you enough to fill you in on what knowledge you didn't have. 

He chuckled at your observation. He supposed a shooting gallery was just about the closest thing you could get to a theater these days. “Not ‘xactly, sweetheart. It was used for movies, picture shows, that kinda thing. A place where folks could feign ignorance ‘bout the end of the world fast approachin’ on their heels.” 

“Movies? Like the kind on those busted-up televisions?” you continued to explore around as you talked. He followed you, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary that could be dangerous while you focused on the useful and exciting things you could find. 

“Mmhm. Just like those. Never endin’ loops of fairytale stories kept alive by people long gone by now.” he explained, and you ended the conversation after that. His voice was strained and scruffy, meaning he was either remembering something he wanted to forget or he was getting agitated. Either way, you knew it was in your best interest to stop asking questions. 

Things got progressively more interesting when you discovered the back rooms of the building. The first one had been large, with dusty velvet ropes leading to a counter filled with food machines and nuka-cola dispensers, you’d come back here to scavenge all the food you could carry with you on your way out, but the hallways and storage rooms were what really piqued your attention. 

Posters lined the wooden walls of the hallways, the plaster that had once surrounded them now nothing more than dust on the ground. The paper was old, torn, and extremely faded, even with the lack of sunlight in the place. The color was all but gone from the paper, but you could still make out the words if you squinted hard enough. 

“Cooper Howard Starring in The Man From Dead Horse.” The letters matched up with the ones from outside but yet you were still baffled on what exactly a horse was. The poster had no other information to help clarify, although you found it interesting that the man on the paper supposedly shared your cowboy’s name. 

“Huh.” You exclaimed as you studied the pictures. 

“What?” Cooper called after you, pulling his attention only slightly away from the containers he was looting around the place, looking for spare ammo or anything else that was useful. 

“Nothing. Just something about these posters. Are these about those movies you were talking about?”  you asked, which had him turning around to examine the poster along with you. The only response he gave you was a short grunt, which you knew translated to a yes. You shifted your eyes back to the paper on the wall. Most of the color may have been gone but you could still make out a blue shirt on a man with a white cowboy hat on top of his head. He stood in a pose with his revolver in the air and his other hand on his hip. He wore a smirk on his face that felt familiar and something in the back of your mind itched like you had seen this all before…somewhere. But you couldn't pinpoint the memory. 

When you turned back around Cooper was already gone down the hallway so you hurried to follow him, tearing your eyes from the poster but keeping your mind on the nagging feeling it left you with. Maybe if you turned the picture over in your head enough times the memory you were looking for would click, or so you hoped. 

His attitude had significantly changed after you found that poster. He became more on edge and that gruff exterior he had when you had first met him was back. He rushed through the rest of the building, seemingly not caring if you were behind him or not. By the time you caught up with him, he was shoving his way back out through the swinging front doors. You could see the finger on his pistol’s trigger starting to twitch. You followed him outside and down the road a way until he stopped in front of the first billboard he saw. 

Like everything else in the wasteland, the colors were gone and the picture was faded, but you could clearly tell it had been an advertisement for Vault-Tec before the bombs. Cooper didn’t hesitate to unload every round in his revolver through the billboard. Pieces of wood and metal went flying and you instinctively covered your face, listening to the bullet casings and wood chips hit the concrete around you. He eventually ran out of bullets, although you could still hear him clicking the trigger. Once the gun sounded empty you lowered your arms again, examining the now hole-riddled Vault Boy on the billboard. Cooper’s face still held a nasty scowl. 

“You got a personal vendetta with Vault-Tec I don't know about or something? What just happened?” you asked. If you were anyone else he would have filled you with lead just for asking a question right then and there. He was currently too angry to deal with stupidity. But he would never purposefully hurt you, that was one line he refused to cross in his mind. But unknowingly to you your words only fueled his anger more. 

“Shut it. Let’s go. I’m sick of this place.” he snapped, his usual drawl and accent missing and replaced by venom in his words. He quickened his pace out of the block of streets and you followed him, but you kept your distance to a minimum of a few feet at least for the remainder of the trek. 

-

It had been a few hours since Cooper’s outburst and the two of you had set up camp for the night inside of an old diner. He had seemed to calm down a little but he had set himself up in the corner of a booth with his hat pulled down over his eyes and his feet kicked up on the table in front of him. Which left you alone with your thoughts in front of his makeshift campfire. You watched the sun sink below the horizon as you replayed the earlier events of the day over and over in your head, still trying to connect the dots. You stared at Cooper, his supposedly sleeping form leaning against the worn material of the diner booth, hoping that if you focused on him hard enough you could will the connection in your mind to click. 

And then the realization hit you like a lightning bolt, your eyes pulling all of the pieces together in front of you as you stared at his hat and the rough skin poking out from underneath it. 

You sprang up from your seat on the ground, sliding yourself into the booth on the other side of the table in front of him. He didn't seem to notice until you reached over and yanked his cowboy hat off of his head with one swift motion. His eyes shot open and immediately landed on you. 

“Can’t a ghoul get some shut-eye ‘round here without you botherin’ him?” he scoffed, pulling himself up into a sitting position and turning to face you across the table. You didn’t respond and instead placed his hat on the table in front of you, staring at him with full intent. He was unbothered underneath your intense gaze, either he was used to being stared at or knew you weren’t much of a threat to him. “I got somethin’ in my teeth or is this a new hobby of yours I don’ know about?” he asked, your silence was irking him more than your constant staring. 

You let your eyes do all the work and your imagination filled in the blanks, pulling both images in your head together; the man from the poster and the man sitting in front of you. His dirty blue shirt peaking out from underneath his duster confirmed your suspicion. 

“You’re him.” was all you said as the realization set in. 

“Pardon?”

“You're him! From the poster earlier! That's why he looked so familiar!” your excitement was getting hard to contain. You had known Cooper was from before the bombs but you hadn’t known he was THAT Cooper Howard. 

“Darlin’, I have no idea what you’re on about. You best forget ‘bout that whole theater ‘fore you go and stir up trouble.” he told you, folding his arms in front of him on the table as his brow darkened his eyes. 

“What’s the big deal, Coop? Why didn’t you tell me? Is that why you rushed out of there so quickly?” you spoke quickly, the questions flooding out of your mouth faster than you had intended. 

“Hmph. ‘What’s the big deal?’ The ‘big deal’ is that man is dead. Has been for over 200 years. I ain’t keen on bringin’ him back neither. His optimism and gullibility got him killed and that was the end of that. I’m done rememberin’ the sorry excuse I got for a past. Reminiscing don’ keep you alive for long.” his western accent was tangled together with poison as he spat out his words. But his scary looks didn’t work on you anymore. 

“Maybe, but you’re still him, Coop. You’ve adapted to the wasteland but you’re still you. Roughed up and scarred a little, sure, but who isn’t?” you told him, doing your best to keep your voice soft to combat his spitefulness. 

“A little? Sweetheart, I’m a damn monster, everyone out ‘ere thinks so. Whatever was left of good ol’ Cooper Howard died when this here skin started fallin’ off. I’m done bein’ nice in a world that does nothin’ but kicks you when you’re down.” 

“I don’t think you're a monster.” 

It was one sentence, just a few words, but it made him pause. His scowl vanished for a few seconds and was replaced by a look of confusion. There was a small smile tugging at his lips too, if you were quick enough to notice it before it was gone. He sighed and leaned back against the booth. 

“Well then that’s one hell of a lapse of judgment on your part sweetheart.” he hooked his hands together and put them behind his head, cradling the back of his neck as he closed his eyes again and leaned further into the booth. But you weren't done with the conversation just yet. 

You got up, grabbed his hat off of the table, and shifted yourself into the booth he was sitting in. You looked at him and then looked down at his hat in your hands. A relic from over two centuries ago, covered in sand and caked in dirt. But still a working and functioning cowboy hat. It protected its wearer from the harsh sun and there was a sense of safety woven somewhere in between the fibers. Broken and beaten and even dirtied beyond repair, it was still a hat. And Cooper was still a person. 

You climbed on top of the table, being careful not to accidentally kick him with your feet as you positioned yourself in front of him and placed a leg on either side of his body. You placed his hat in its rightful place on top of his head, making him open his eyes again when he felt your touch. He looked up at you curiously, fully not expecting you to be on the table in front of him. You reached down and grabbed both of the lapels of his duster, balling the fabric up in your fists as you pulled him forward and smashed your lips into his. You were quick with your movements, something you had learned from being around Cooper so much recently, which left little to no time for him to react or protest against your sudden affection. 

Although he didn't seem to mind. His hands found their way to your hips almost automatically and he slipped them under your shirt, grabbing at your soft skin roughly. Tomorrow morning you would have bruises all over your hips in the shape of his fingertips, but it happened so often now that the purples and blues were a permanent part of you. You had started this impromptu makeout session but he was determined to finish it. His tongue worked fervidly like he was mapping the constellations in the night sky across the inside of your mouth. He never once gave you the chance to take the lead and he was as quick as a viper to wrangle back control when you tried to take it yourself. At some point he had shifted his hands underneath you and scooped you off the table, sliding you right into his lap while still keeping a strong grip on you, never once slowing down with his tongue. Your legs were forced to wrap around him, your bodies now flush against each other in the booth. 

It wasn’t long after he had pulled you closer that you had to pull away, panting and taking gulps of air. You finally let go of his jacket as you leaned back against the table, feeling the metal edge digging into your back as you did so. 

“You know for a so-called ‘monster’ you sure know how to make someone feel breathless.” You told him as you admired the way he was smirking at you. Ironically it was the exact same smirk from that old poster of him, although you noticed he had shifted from that old-school charming look to now one that held an aura of danger around him. 

“Hm. Well, now I’ve never been the type to pass up an opportunity when it’s handed to me. ‘Specially if it ends with somethin’ pretty sittin’ in my lap.” his grip on your hips was still ironclad as his eyes raked over you. His stare felt similar to a hunter stalking its prey. You knew what he was doing, trying to convince himself he was right by acting like a predator, but you knew the truth underneath the facade. You had seen firsthand how he had cared for you and looked after you even when he stood to gain nothing in return. 

“Whether the old Cooper is dead or not doesn’t change the fact that I love this, right here, right now. Whatever led to you being my cowboy, I wouldn’t change a thing.” you ran your fingers up his chest as you spoke, fiddling your way underneath the collar of his cowboy costume to run your fingertips along the raised edges of his scarred skin. He sat back and let you touch him, not making any move to try and stop you. He’d let you do anything your little heart desired. He was your cowboy, he knew that, and yet two hundred years ago he would have never imagined meeting someone like you. He’d be damned if he would let anything happen to you, you were the only good thing he had left in this fucked up world. He refused to let anything else be taken from him. 

“Whatever you say, sweetheart,” he mumbled as he brushed a strand of your hair behind your ear, relishing in the way the soft cartilage felt against his marred fingertips. He ran the very tip of his finger against the edge of your ear, earning a tilt of your head as a response to the sensation. 

“Cooper?” you asked, making his eyes flick to yours. He noticed you had pulled your hand out from under his shirt and instead, you had placed it on top of his chest, mindlessly fumbling with the ancient fringe attached to the front. 

“Hm?” 

“I still have one question,” you told him, knitting your brows together in curiosity. 

“I’m listenin’.” he had been so enraptured by your affection that he had no idea what to anticipate, especially when your face had turned so serious. 

“What even is a horse, anyway?”

It took him a great deal of effort to stifle his laughter. 

[joohanisms]

who in xh do you think has a corruption kink?

OMG ........... they got shorter towards the least likely members but i hope you enjoy either way!!!!

xdh + corruption kinks 💭💫

cw: corruption kink, mention of religion, caught watching porn, penetrative sex, possessive tones, loss of virginity, training (what is that even called???)

most likely

gunil

i have NEVER!!!!! seen a church guy without a corruption kink. sex before marriage and all that – as le sserafim said, i wish for what's forbidden <3

he wants to ruin you AND have you ruin him. LET'S SAY you're both virgins.

fine your first time would be sickly sweet, all 🥺 and 🥰, the softest most vanilla making love missionary sex you've ever seen

but the next time – after the guilt of ""betraying god"" goes away – he fucks you, legs in the air and all.

and he gets off sooooo much to the idea that both of you have become tainted; that both of you took that step together, that you'll be forever bonded by this. that somehow, you'll always belong to each other. your souls were painted red at the same time and that's not something you can just forget. you were the one to bring him down from heaven but also give heaven to him, and vice-versa.

this thought is always on the back of his mind whenever you have sex, and it always turns him on.

jiseok

tell me he wouldn't get SO HARD at the idea of introducing you to kinky shit.

you guys have been having vanilla sex – which isn't wrong or bad or boring at all – until you catch him jerking off to a video on his phone.

he's obviously burning red with shame, thinking you'll jump to conclusions and think he's jerking off to kinky videos on twitter because you haven't been satisfying him (which is a lie. you very much satisfy him. he just came across a hot video and got lost in the moment).

but the only thing you can think about is how the girl on his phone screen is doing the NASTIEST shit to her partner.

"jiseok, what are you watching?" you sit beside him, and he starts pulling his underwear up to stall.

"i can explain, baby. i just saw this on my–"

"what are you watching. explain it to me." it sounds more like an order, and his dick twitches in his boxers.

"it's just, um, a kinky video." reluctantly, he turns the screen towards you, watching your shiny eyes scan the video. you look up at him, with genuine innocence in your expression, and his cock twitches again.

"have you done this before?" he nods. "how does it feel?"

he's done for. he'll have to tell you, to show you, how good it is to explore, to figure out what you like.

don't be surprised if his way of introducing you to kink is by doing everything with you (consensually and with a safeword, of course). making you less innocent, corrupted, by the day.

seungmin

we all know seungmin is freaky.

and that extends to corruption kinks.

they're not his favorite, but he does really like to feel how you're slowly becoming as freaky as him.

every time you do something new, something different, he's reminded that he is the one to introduce you to it. he is making you freakier, dirtier, kinkier, and it's alllll his fault. he loves it.

if you were a virgin by the time you started dating him, he would get a little hard when he was reminded that you're pure and innocent and he's going to take it all away.

same as gunil, your first time would be softer – he doesn't want to hurt you or scare you away – but the next time you fuck (which could very easily be the morning after LMAO) he's going rough on you. fucking all that purity away.

you're not a good girl anymore, and it's his task to make you worse by the second ❤️

also, i'm a firm believer that he loves lingerie and other visual aspects of sex soooo if he comes home and you're sitting on the bed, on your knees, with a white lingerie set – something angel themed, even – you better be aware that not only it stays on during sex, he's also going to ruin the lace by cumming all over it.

jungsu

now, jungsu goes a little bit insane when you're having sex for the first time and you look up to him from between his legs and goes "it's not going to fit."

first of all, a delicious stroke to his ego

second of all, he knows you don't have much experience – you're not a virgin, but you're not the ceo of sex either. which means–

"i've never had anyone this big before."

fuck. he wants to rearrange your guts. fuck you so hard you think you'll split in half. fuck you so deep with his big cock your walls will remember its shape forever.

he settles on a "it will fit, baby. if you can't take it today, we'll try again some other time." with a caress to your hair.

(spoiler: it didn't actually fit. even after two orgasms his mouth generously gave you.)

and that's how training came up.

so jungsu is 1) too fucking big for your pussy 2) working you up to take his size and 3) being the one to stretch you out nice and loose.

you're so angelic, such a good girl – and here he is, making you bounce on a dildo that's slightly smaller than him, praising you for "how good you're taking it", "his cock will be next", and "you'll be able to take it in no time".

he's literally making your cunt loose and sloppy, only for him – and he's the only one who ever had to train you to take his cock.

it kinda goes away after that, though. he'll always feel a little hot when he's reminded of your training era but he doesn't care/doesn't have much interest in any other aspect of the corruption kink

jooyeon

he doesn't mind it, most of the time. it doesn't do much for him, but if you get off to it he'll make an effort to whisper some nasty shit in your ear while you take him missionary style

(which is a surprising position; he ALWAYS favors having you on top)

"not as much of a good girl anymore, yeah? couldn't resist me?"

"it's okay. your innocence was never going to last anyway. i was always meant to take it away."

"this white lingerie makes you look so dainty, so pretty. innocent. too bad you can't be that as long as i'm with you."

hyeongjun

look, it's not that he Doesn't like it. he's more about the marking aspect, the possessive aspect.

he's not corrupting you. he's making you His.

in a way, you were already corrupted when you started dating him – he's just staking his claim.

something along the lines of "from now on, i'm the only one who's taking advantage of your corrupted state", if that even makes sense.

least likely

[luveternals]

paring: steven grant x male reader. cw: mentioned failed attempted ambush on the reader, blood, over-protective steven. a/n: hmm, not entirely satisfied with this but can't figure out why. help. ~ ~ ~

“You’re bleeding— why are you bleeding?”

This is not how you’ve pictured this meeting to go; not the best first impression.

Except, does it still count as such if it’s one sided?

It’s a strange thought but, as you’ve come to learn, if you force it not everything will make sense when Steven Grant is involved.

His hands are trembling, but they’re so gentle as he makes you sit on his bed and focuses on cleaning the wound on your arm, “what happened? Are you okay— I can see he’s bleeding, I’m helping him clean it off right now, aren’t I?”

It used to catch you off guard at first, when he’d start talking with soneone who, for you, wasn’t there. It took a while to stop squinting at him in confusion, trying to figure out how his words connected with the rest of the discussion he was having with you not a moment before. But now, you just look at him with curiosity as he mutters and huffs at someone you can’t see but know is there.

You came to his flat for a reason, actually. You were going to cook dinner together, eat, watch a movie maybe, and finally he would introduce the others to you. Steven had told you quite a bit about them since you’ve figured there was more than one soul sharing rent in his body. You remember the hesitation painted over his features as you asked to meet them.

You watch the frown deepen as he falls silent and cleans away the table. He glances at you for the shortest moment, before he’s back at pouting,

Whatever the others are telling him, he doesn’t appear happy about it.

You know what they are and what they do for a living, so it doesn’t take a genius to figure what the problem is. You lean forward, grab him by the hips and make him sit on your lap. “First of all,” you say, “if they’re trying to guilt trip you into making me walk away so you can keep me safe, they don't know what they're talking about. Because I might not have superpowers, darling, but I'm not totally useless.”

"You're not," Steven says, and you know the now turned-offended frown is directed at you personally now.

You laugh and pull him in for a quick, sweet kiss to the lips. “So precious. I meant that I know how to defend myself and how to steer clear of the fights I know I can't win.”

Still not looking convinced but feeling way less tense, he lets his attention fall to your injury and rests his hand on your arm, making sure not to go anywhere too near the wound. “Can you tell me what happened to you?” he says with the softest voice.

You pull him impossibly closer and rest your chin on top of his head. “They... found me in an alley on my way here,” he tenses again, and you give a reassuring squeeze to your grip around him until he relaxes again. “It’s okay, sweet thing, I’m here.”

-

The 'dinner, movie, meeting the moon family' night goes as planned. Though, the last one turns out more awkward than any of you was prepared for.

Your wound healed, and the accident isn’t brought up again. You can feel they haven’t forgotten about it, but no word is spoken regarding the topic, so you leave them be.

Steven doesn't get over it though, not completely. He just turns clingy, really. He does his best to check on you and make sure you're okay. He even gets Marc to join his little mission.

You can only sigh at his behavior, then smile amused because he gets so cute when he's worried about you.

“Steven,” you let out a laugh, though more in exasperation than anything else, “I really don’t need you to be a mother hen. Really.”

He stares at you, shocked. “I’m not being one!” he says, then, “it— No, I really am not, Marc. I just—”

You cup his face with your hands on his cheeks, plant a sloppy kiss square on his lips and pull back with a grin. “How about going to work before we’re both late, hmm?”

He does as he's told and goes. And you don't see him for the rest of the day. Not until later. When he finds you lying on the floor of his flat and you grimace at him when you catch his eyes.

“I swear, it's not that bad.”

It takes Steven way longer to clean off all the blood this time.

You lay on his bed, bandages tied neatly around your waist. “Sorry about the stain,” you say to the ceiling.

“Are you bloody seriouos right now?" Steven stomps his way to you and bend forward to stare down at you, his arms on his hips and gaze burning, ”you will tell me what happened or I'll tie you up and make you say it myself.”

“Kinky,” you say with a grin that you wipe off your face when you see his expression. “Not the moment, got it.”

This was a topic you'd planned to talk about during your first meeting with the other moon knights. One you haven't had the courage to bring up after seeing Steven's reaction when he saw you dripping blood at his door that first night. You've come to really cherish him, and didn't want to ruin the beautiful bond that had formed between the two of you. Still, you knew this discussion would have come to the surface eventually.

"I'll tell you," you say and turn your head to meet his eyes again. "But you have to promise me that you'll let me explain first."

He raises his eyebrows in surprise and confusion, "why wouldn't I? I mean, sorry, yes. I promise. Of course I do, but that was an odd way to put it."

You know his home, not quite as the back of your hand, but enough to make your way around it with ease. You've tried to study the place better but you could feel eyes studying you in turn, behind the gentle, loving gaze Steven always directed your way.

"I told you I'm not completely defenceless," you groan when move to stand, gently wavy Steven off as he tries to reach forward and shove you back into bed. "What I haven't told you is that I'm more familiar with fighting than a normal person is."

"What? Like a wrestler? Or did you take karate lesson—"

"I'm a mercenary, Steven," you turn to look at him and jerk to the side, blood darkens your bandages as the abrupt movement pulls at your wound. A blade whistles past your head and stabs into the wood of the library behind you.

"Are you mad?" Steven stops the next attack by taking control of the other arm. "what are you doing?"

It's a little ridiculous to witness a body fight itself, and you make sure not to comment on it while you watch them settle the argument.

Honestly, this was more like the reaction you expected and prepared for. Though, you did imagine it with you not bleeding onto the floor, especially not before the truth came out to begin with.

You don't like to be at a disadvantage so early in a fight and are beginning to regret your snap decision to come here after the ambush. But your attackers did catch you by surprise this time despite your experience, and Steven was the only person who you trust to help in such a dire moment of need.

The other moon knights are a whole another story, but you know steven is strong enough to keep them from adding another scar to your collection.

"Everyone, calm the ef down and let him explain!" steven shouts in exasperation. "If he wanted to hurt us he wouldn't have come here to bleed on our floor, come on."

Yes, thank you, you dare think, and tense the moment you find them staring at you, with their arms crossed over their chest. It's one body only, and still you can feel the intensity of their posture and gaze multiplied by three.

"Should I have started with 'I came to you because they put a bounty on my head and now I'm being hunted down by creatures no one else can see'?"

~ ~ ~ reblog, comment and/or follow if you like what I write. please and thank you. without feedback I don't have a reason for keeping this blog alive, since I created it so I can practice my writing.

[waayfo]

LET THE FEAR YOU HAVE FALL AWAY, I'VE GOT MY EYE ON YOU

ׄ     ׅ  ★̶̲ ITOSHI SAE X READER

ׄ     ׅ  ★̶̲ CONTAINS : ooc sae, pet names, hurt/comfort, fluff, soft!itoshi sae, angst, readers can draw

ׄ     ׅ  ★̶̲ A/N : this is inspired from Yes To Heaven - Lana Del Rey and please forgive me if there are mistakes. If there is, you can tell me so I can fix it.

A loud slap sounded and succeeded in making the room quiet. "Know your place! Sae is only dating you out of boredom." The words came out easily without thinking about your feelings at that time. You hold your cheek that was slapped. While your heart is filled with anger. but he didn't stop there, hurtful words kept coming out of her mouth, "You've never been good at anything, I wonder why Sae chose you over me. You can only draw. Can drawing really make your life happy? Success? This world doesn't need such talent. Which means, you are useless and so is your existence."

The woman left you speechless. She also closed the door with a bang. While you just sat limp in the chair. “Is this talent of mine useless… ? Am I really that useless?" No matter how hard you try, even if you give up your health, people will never be satisfied with the results you give. They keep making fun of your hard work without seeing and helping your struggle. "If so, do I deserve to be happy and have Sae?"

If I'm useless, then I don't deserve to be happy. Such thoughts keep running through your mind, until you don't realize that you are pushing yourself too much. And of course your actions are realized by Sae.

"Hey, what's wrong, babe? Are you okay?" You show a surprised expression. You notice me. "Of course I'm fine." Sae let out a sigh. "I don't like it when you lie to me. Honestly, are you in trouble?"

"No? Who dares to find trouble with me who is Itoshi Sae's lover?" You said proudly. "You're right. But your recent changes say otherwise. You always skip your meals and choose to continue with work. I also often see you staying up late or until the morning for work. And I also rarely see you draw, usually you always draw something that's around you. I won't be mad, maybe I can help you."

You just stay silent and stare at Sae without expression. "That means there really is a problem, huh?" Sae sat next to you. His hands cupped your face and played with your cheeks. "Tell me. Please?" "Promise you won't be angry?" "Uh.. yes?"

You took a deep breath before recounting the incident from the beginning. Without you realizing it, tears keep falling from your eyes as long as you tell it. Until finally forming a puddle on the floor. Your voice broke from holding back sobs. Sae's hand is now stroking your back to calm you down, and you know Sae very well. He couldn't calm anyone down and didn't know what to do. So when he does that, you feel touched and appreciate Sae's efforts.

"Sae, do I... deserve to be happy? I can do nothing but draw. I can't help you or anyone else either. All I do is mess up. And also... do you really love me and not kidding? This keeps haunting me when I'm going to sleep. I want to be the best for you and othe—" your words stopped because Sae kissed you suddenly.

"My love, I'm glad that you are willing to tell me all this when it is so excruciating. Let your fear go by telling me everything. you deserve to be happy And don't let that fear take away your happiness. It's okay even if your only talent is drawing. Every painting you make is meaningful to you and to me. Your talent makes many hearts move and gives peace to anyone who sees it. I am at this point because of your presence, your smile, and your paintings which always make me calm. I will always love you; anywhere, anytime, and even if it means giving up my life just to be able to meet you and be with you forever. And wherever I am, whether I'm in a crowd of people, my eyes will always be on you."

"You are a precious person for me. You are a star for my moon that is always together. If you want, I can give you many reasons why I love you so much." Your tears broke again. Now are not tears of sadness, but are tears of joy. You are truly grateful for having Sae. Every action and word he does to you always manages to make you fall in love with him again and again. Makes you even more reluctant to let other people take him from you.

"I love you," Your hug is getting tighter. "I love you more."

"By the way, my love. What's that person's name?"

"Why?"

"Just curious."

[beekeeperspicnic]

What I've been getting up to without my computer

Since I don't have any game updates at the moment I thought I'd give you a look at my very analogue Sherlock Holmes related project!

As you probably know, the Sherlock Holmes stories were mostly originally published in the Strand Magazine which came out as floppy monthly magazines with hardback collections every six months.

A while ago I spotted a really beaten up copy of the July to December 1893 book on eBay for £8. This book can sometimes go for £200 in good condition because it's the one with...

I immediately decided to make repairing it a Project!

You can see here that the text block has totally come away from the boards.

Along the spine I was really excited to see something a little familiar being used to give some structural support! My initial thought was that this had to be a slice of a cover of one of the floppy Strand magazines.

But when I got it loose and studied it, although the paper and ink colour is the same, it doesn't actually follow the layout format of the Strand covers. It's lots of little ads, and they run off the bottom like this is part of a larger document.

Scrap of paper on left, a Strand Magazine on the right:

So yeah, that's still a bit of a mystery, but it's cool to see this scrap of paper the printers had lying around. I had to remove it, but I'm going to keep it safe.

I did some gentle cleaning of the cover using a putty eraser, just gently pressing and rolling, never rubbing. It picked up a little of the grime.

The cover had got some paint splotches on at some point in the past, and I tried to gently remove these. Part of me wishes I'd left them as I think I was starting to effect the blue colour in the area.

(Original on the right, my attempt at cleaning on the left!)

I also reinforced some of the parts of the bookcloth around the spine that were very worn with Japanese tissue, which is very thin but very, very difficult to tear.

Now here's a fun part, with some help from my cat Miss Malkin!

The spine of the book had a few problems.

The fabric which wraps around it and helps attach it to the cover/boards which is called scrim (or mull, I've seen it called both!) had totally decayed and turned into gross dust, I knew I'd need to replace it.

Although the sewn binding was sound, I could tell that the glue wasn't doing its job anymore. It was old 'animal glue' that had turned hard and brittle. I knew I'd need to replace it with something else, like PVA.

I needed to get that glue off, so I tried out a trick I saw online. I made a paste/gel out of methycellulose, which is a substance that gets used as a thickener in lots of food products. Of course I keep mine in a fancy little jar:

The gel softens the old glue without getting it dangerously damp, allowing you to gently scrape it away. I have a really satisfying video of me doing it, but Tumblr only lets you upload one video per post, boo.

Look at all this gnarly gunk!

But look at how good the text block looks with its new scrim and glue!

I got the black paper from Shepherd's in London which is a specialist Art & Conservation Paper shop (they have a book bindery too but it's closed at the weekends.) Buying it was so fun, I got to look through lots of samples and pick something which matched the original paper.

I then had to get it home half way across the country on public transport. Yaaaaay.

I was trying to think what I was going to use to replace the Strand Magazine page on the spine. In the end I decided to leave a little note, for some future person who might take the binding apart someday!

So, here it is!

I have to admit that this whole project has been a real challenge, emotionally more than anything! It's required me to be brave about messing with an old book, and to acknowledge that even where I've made mistakes, at least it's better off then it was when It arrived at my house.

[hms-tardimpala]

Ficbinding: The Bone Eater by CluckU

(Listen, taking pics is not my talent. Just ignore the Wrestlemania tier list in the background.)

The fic: SPN, Castiel/Dean Winchester, E, 119.3k This fic is amazing. It's dark as I like and breathtaking, and it's a fantastic exploration of my favorite character, Dean Winchester. He's completely believable as CluckU writes him, there's not a doubt in my mind that that's how he would react if kidnapped and fed on by a minotaur, even at the times in the story when I wished he'd go against his instincts to protect himself. Also, the monster in this fic is so cool. He's well written, menacing, pathetic in a way, and so terrifying because of the way he feeds and how implacable he is. Special mention to the whole Misery vibe of this fic and especially chapter 15, that was so well done. Read the tags.

The bind: This is one of my most complex works to date, for several reasons. Let's start with the palette. White for te very bare cell Dean lives in and to contrast with other colors; red on the endbands and ribbon for blood (and there's a lot of it here); silver on the edges and endpapers for the medical instruments and table; black because I don't have grey cloth and I thought it'd contrast better with white to make the prison bars pattern.

The first difficulty was trimming and sanding the textblock. It was too thick for my ream cutter and as I said before, I'm losing my faith in it. So I trimmed each one of the 18 signatures by hand, then sanded the block with my new power sander. It took a long time and made a lot of noise, and the heat made it hard to work for long, but I'm loving this new tool. The smoothness of the edges was so satisfying.

Then I spray-painted edges for the first time. And it didn't go so well. It seemed okay, but for some reason paint still rubs off my fingers even though it's dry, so I have to be very careful when handling the book. I'm thinking of giving up acrylic paint in favor of laque spray next time.

Another thing I was apprehensive about was the straight spine. I'm a round spine guy, I have very little experience with straight ones, but it went alright! It's good! I don't think I'll make it a regular occurrence, though, I find it nerve-racking.

The last tricky thing was the cover pattern. (You can see it well in the sun if you click on the picture above.) It wasn't hard to think up or to figure out, mathematically speaking, but it was long, hard work in the July heat to cut the strips and glue them on the cover in a regular fashion. Took me hours. But it came out looking great! I did make a little mistake, though: I prepared the casing last night and I was so tired I glued the book in it by automatism, but I should have added the stripes before putting the book together.

Now, the typesetting!

I could have used a Greek theme throughout, but the minotaur myth is too modernized in this story for that, so I confined these references to the front page. A non-serif font because this is mostly Dean's POV and if you've read my previous ficbinding post, you know my feelings on that. And then bones! For the chapter headings, I used a pelvic bone that cradles the chapter number. The only chapter with a different heading is chapter 15, with the hand, for reasons obvious to those who have read the fic. And a nice femur as a divider. Really, the pelvis, hand and femur are the most important bones in The Bone Eater. The all look crisp, I'm happy with that.

Any reservations?

I wrestled with my printer a while and couldn't get it to print the right shade of red, I'll have to look into that next time.

Wow, I had a lot to say this time! It was a very interesting one, craft-wise.

Fonts: title and chapter numbers: Lethal Craze Demo, author name: Hey August, text: TT Fors Trial. All free on Dafont.

Materials: Black and white cloth from Schmedt, 2mm grey board, 70g/m² white copy paper, synthetic bookmark and headbands. Silver endpaper bought in store.

Feel free to ask me more about materials and fonts (or whatever), it won’t bother me at all to tell you what I used, I just can't think of anything else right now.