#cat's fanfiction

[coolcattime]

Waves Lapping Where the Children Grew: Chapter Three

Relationships: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefoxx, Captain Capsize & Skipper Redbeard

Characters: Skipper Redbeard, Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefoxx, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tom Syndicate, Lady Ianite, Rupert the Grey, Earl Bluebeard

1 - 2 - > 3 < - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10

In the throes of the coldest winter he can remember facing, Redbeard has been dealing with repeated attempts from an entitled suitor to abduct his ever-sleeping sister. Though assured by Lady Ianite that she has dealt with the man, creeping paranoia and isolation wreck his mind to the point of illness.

When two more visitors arrive to the island, he doubts his ability to face them. But, alone as ever, he has little choice but to push forward.

AO3 Link

Afterwards: Winter

Winter had come on far stronger than the year previous. Even thinking back to his childhood, Redbeard could not remember a winter that had been so bone numbing. One that had left the ocean on the coast of the island frozen. However, that was the cold he currently found himself in.

A somehow even quieter landscape than the abandoned island previously was, leaving him dwelling on his isolation all the more.

The cold had left his head feeling thick. At least, that was what he was blaming his illness on despite knowing it was not the true cause. Yes, of course, it likely wasn’t helping, but he knew the main cause of his apparent illness was exhaustion.

He knew he should stop pushing himself and just sleep. He was alone on the island, so if he collapsed, he’d be in trouble. He couldn’t afford to be in distress when he was meant to be the protector here.

But he hadn’t managed to wrench the paranoia from his mind since the prince.

He had come at the beginning of the season. A prince, somehow more entitled as any he had ever met, had arrived to try and wake Capsize. He was not an unusual type of visitor. Nor was the look of disgust that he received despite barring the same title as the man anything less than typical.

However, when Red had started his typical questions to see if he would allow the man inside, the encounter had taken a worrying turn.

The prince had begun talking about some old alliance between his kingdom and Ianerea – as if that meant anything when he stood in its ruins. Still, that by itself wouldn’t have been any worse than anything else he’d experienced. But the things the bastard had confessed to wanting to do with Capsize… Banishing him with the blade had been nothing short of a relief.

For any other visitor, that would’ve been the end of it, but not this one.

He’d sent others to the island. Soldiers or mercenaries, Redbeard had no idea which, but all had come barring the bastard’s crest and all had come with the sole goal of attempting to abduct his sister.

All it had taken was one unlucky day. One had managed to slip past him and…

They’d laid their hands on Capsize and been thrown back by an incredibly pissed off goddess.

That particular soldier had been turned to ash as they failed to give Lady Ianite an adequate explanation for why they had been trying to take Capsize. She had taken quite a while to look over his sister after that. He couldn’t blame her. Despite how Capsize was quite unable to die, he too was concerned that the kidnapper could’ve done damage to her.

Thankfully she found nothing, she had reassured him of that fact several times over as she checked over him. Just repeated over and over as if she had gotten caught in the throes of madness.

“Capsize hasn’t been harmed. I’m going to make sure no one working for that prince ever steps foot here again.”

Given the tone of her voice and the fact that her words had held true, Red was half convinced that the prince’s kingdom was just as much ash as his soldier was. However, the other half of his mind was incapable of taking any reassurance.

He wished that he could just take Lady Ianite’s word. After all, he knew that she wouldn’t make any false statements that would place Capsize in danger. She had done so much to ensure her safety while she was stuck in this vulnerable state.

Yet, all his mind could focus on was that his own incompetence had nearly caused his sister to be lost. No amount of reassurance was going to shift the paranoia that such an experience left.

Hence, he had barely left Capsize’s room since.

Dreadfully unhealthy, he knew, but being able to physically see Capsize had been the only thing that had shifted even the smallest amount of the fear he held of just finding her missing. But it did not shift nearly enough of it to actually allow him to sleep.

Hence now, a good couple weeks later, his head felt thick as he’d barely managed a couple of hours of sleep each night. Even the knowledge that he would wake if anyone were to arrive did nothing to allow his mind to rest. He remained restless to the point of sickness, sitting by the fire but somehow still cold as he watched his ever-unmoving sister.

It was as if the cold had taken what little hope he’d had left and smashed it apart with as little care as a child playing with ice.

The loneliness only made it worse. The silence that came with snow just made the lack of replies when he spoke with Capsize all the worse. Before this curse, he couldn’t recall a time that he had been completely alone. Even now, after over a year of the state, he still wasn’t used to it.

He was beginning to look back on his arguments with Jordan with fondness.

The champion had actually stayed away in the months since his birthday. Redbeard had no notion that the man might be looking for Dianite’s champion. He doubted he’d ever see him again. But he couldn’t exactly take his words back now, nor would he if the champion actually made an appearance.

The hopelessness that came with isolation though made it hard to not regret.

His rose-tinted recollections were interrupted by the all too familiar prodding in his head that alerted him that someone was on the island.

He sighed deeply.

In his current state, anyone showing up was worrying. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was in no position to fight. If they were here for the same reason as the last, then… Oh gods, he didn’t stand a chance.

The sinking feeling only got worse as he felt a second presence join the first.

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to prevent his quickening breath before it took a hold of him.

He shouldn’t be presuming that he would need to fight whoever these two were. There had been so many visitors that he hadn’t needed to – just not within the last few months. Though, given that he wasn’t even sure he was able to walk, the worry that he may need to do anything more was beyond worrying.

He looked towards his sister.

If their positions were switched, she would not allow anything to get in the way of defending him. How could he allow his exhaustion to overwhelm him?

He forced himself to his feet, hating how his body shook.

He could give the appearance of strength. He was sure he could. If it proved necessary, he would fight them off. If he couldn’t then he’d just be failing her again.

As he made his way outside, he was still biting back paranoia. He trusted Lady Ianite, if she said no one else working for the prince would step foot on the island, then she meant it. Even if he for some reason wanted to doubt his only ally, the soldiers had all been incredibly quick to move towards the castle. Whoever these two were, they hadn’t even left the docks by the time he actually stepped foot outside.

Then he was biting back against the cold. His boots crunched against the snow as he walked through the otherwise silent landscape. On the horizon, anchored just beyond the ice currently surrounding the island, he could see the visitor’s ship.

The sight gave him a pang of homesickness, despite how ridiculous such a statement was. After all, he was technically home.

But this island wasn’t home. This ruin wasn’t where he had grown up, even if it literally was by geography. This island was now only two things: his sister’s resting place and a horrible reminder of a life they’d left behind but hadn’t been able to escape.

His home had been the ship that Capsize had stolen all those years ago. The ship where they had become pirates and he’d seen his sister actually grow happy in life. He hadn’t seen it since the night the curse had struck, since Lady Ianite had brought him here and he’d found Capsize…

A lump formed in his throat as he remembered that he had never told the crew about what was going on.

Capsize had been so certain that she’d found a way to break the curse. She’d been sure months before and, unlike every other attempt, her faith in the method hadn’t faded. She seemed convinced that she’d found her true love, so sharing her secret when she had been so confident hadn’t even crossed his mind.

By the time it had become clear that her confidence had either been misplaced or just faked, it had been far too late for him to give any explanations.

Seeing such a similar ship on the horizon to the one he’d left behind gave him a bittersweet longing that he could not afford to linger on.

It couldn’t be the same ship, he knew. The lack of sleep was just getting to him. Yet he still found his eyes flickering back to it as he walked ever closer to the docks where the visitors still were. More than ever, he longed for the days on that ship back.

But, again, he could not afford to linger on such thoughts.

He heard the visitors before he saw them, their voices muffled by the snow. It was a usual occurrence as few expected this place to have any sort of guard.

However, today such a simple thing as overhearing made him freeze.

“What if we’re wrong, if it isn’t them?”

“Then hopefully the rumours of Lady Ianite protecting this place aren’t false and she can tell us what happened to them.”

He heard them talking to each other. Again, utterly normal, except he recognised those voices.

It wasn’t possible. None of the crew had any reason to come here. But it was also undeniable that those were the voices of Earl Bluebeard and Rupert the Grey.

Red stood frozen wondering if he had finally lost it. Maybe the loneliness and the lack of sleep and the cold had all compounded and now he was hearing things. Maybe there were no visitors at all, and he was even imagining the magical prodding in his mind.

Despite knowing that the far more logical and far less worrying situation was that the two were just here, that was not precisely the comforting idea that it perhaps should be.

Because how was he supposed to explain any of this?

Not a soul among the crew knew about his and Capsize’s life prior to running away.

Capsize had been so happy to escape her life as a cursed princess who was only ever looked at with pity. She’d held nothing but fear at the idea of the crew finding out about her royal title or her curse and suddenly treating her differently.

Though Red had had less misgivings about his old life, he would be lying if he said that he missed his life as crown prince of Ianerea. The weight of a thousand expectations placed on his shoulders for the misfortune of being born a few minutes earlier than his sister. The scornful looks from his parents as he knew they forever wished he had been cursed instead of Capsize.

Needless to say, they had kept their titles well hidden from the crew. Never had to explain why two royals had run away from home if no one found out they were royalty in the first place.

They barely mentioned their lives prior to the ship theft at all if they could avoid it. When pushed they’d simply said they’d run away from home at a young age and now there was no home left for them to return to.

How was he meant to explain all that they had kept hidden?

His breath started to catch in his throat as he could not bring himself to either move forward or retreat.

He couldn’t leave, if he was wrong about who was here, if he was hearing things and more attackers had come, then he’d be leaving them too much of an opening,

But if he was in his right mind, if it was Rupert and Earl, he couldn’t face them. He just couldn’t.

He stood frozen, breaths beginning to sting his throat just as the cold stung his exposed skin. He couldn’t bring himself to do anything.

In the end, the decision was made for him as the two finally left the docks and came towards him.

Within moments Red could see them. And it was them: Rupert the Grey and Earl Bluebeard. Two men that he had not seen in over a year stood before him, having somehow found him despite the odds.

Most would’ve found it a joyous event. But Red was already beyond overwhelmed. He could feel nothing but ever rising panic.

Just as he saw them, they saw him.

Briefly, Red saw their expressions change, their eyes widening. Perhaps they turned to excitement or joy, or they merely remained shocked, but he would not learn. His panic got the better of him.

He turned on his heel and began to run.

Behind him he heard his name being called in panic, but he daren’t look back. He couldn’t face them, he just couldn’t.

However, in this moment, with so many fears swirling through his head, was when his lack of sleep finally caught up to him.

Red couldn’t tell the cause, be it his sickness or ice underfoot. He just knew that he was sent tumbling into the cold icy ground.

But whether he had tripped and fell, or he was simply so exhausted that he had passed out, the result was the same. His consciousness faded and, much like the one he self-charged to protect, he was forced into slumber.

🌊 🌊 🌊

Redbeard did not awaken on the cold ground as he expected to. Nor did he awaken on the slightly warmer floor of Capsize’s bedroom where he had been sleeping for the past few weeks.

Rather he awoke in comfort on a soft, warm bed where he wished he could remain forever. He relaxed further into the warmth, everything about it feeling joyous.

Then it clicked.

He shot up, looking around his surroundings in blind panic.

He was in his bedroom. A perfectly normal place to awake yet it filled him with a horrible panic as he saw the darkness outside and realised that he had no idea how long he had been asleep. Anything could’ve happened to Capsize in the meantime.

What if he had been sleeping and she’d been taken?! How could he even dream about relaxing when she was defenceless?

He rushed out of his room, having no thoughts in his mind aside from checking on his sister. He just needed to see her then he could relax.

However, the moment he was through the door, he was caught.

A strong pair of arms held him in their grip. He struggled fruitlessly against them, thrashing and trying to reach for his sword only to realise it was no longer on his belt.

If he had been able to remember why he had been so panicked prior to falling asleep, he wouldn’t have been trying so hard to grab his weapon. However, he was far too consumed by panic to properly process those memories or consider that the person holding him may not be an enemy.

“Calm down, Red,” The man holding him said as he struggled to keep him from running off.

The voice, gruff but concerned, slowed Red’s struggles. He began to remember who had arrived here. Though he still feared that reality more than he likely should, now his thoughts were not completely soaked with exhaustion, he no longer believed that he was hallucinating.

Somehow, Rupert and Earl had found them. And for some reason that he couldn’t fully process, that left his breathing quickening to the point that it was burning his chest.

Rupert, though himself quite fearful for what might happen as he did, loosened his hold on Redbeard. He did his best to keep in mind the words of the exceptionally panicked goddess that had appeared after the lad had collapsed.

Even if they had been vague and not made much sense, she had made clear that Red had been facing threats alone for quite some time now. Such would drive anyone to paranoia and exhaustion.

He stepped back, hoping that showing that the only people here were himself and Earl would calm him. “We’re not gonna hurt you lad. It’s just us.”

“It’s just…” It was difficult for Red to wheeze the words out. He knew, of course, that it was just them. That he and Capsize were in no danger, but even with his mind screaming that his body just wouldn’t accept it.

Every worst-case scenario was stuck swirling through his mind, each one choking him as his breaths got ever faster trying to combat the tightness in his throat they caused. His eyes stung as he became sure that he would collapse again.

He lent against the doorway to try and steady himself. “How did you find…”

He tried to ask the one question that he couldn’t get past. The question that, despite how plain reality was before him, made all of this feel like a trick.

How could they have found him? What could’ve possibly possessed them to come to this ruin of a kingdom where, seeing that they had no idea of his past, he should have no reason to be?

The two pirates looked between themselves. This was not precisely the reaction they had been expecting, but that didn’t matter.

They had finally found him. They’d do what it took to calm him down.

“We’ve been looking for you and the Captain since you both disappeared last year,” Earl began, trying to keep the explanation as concise as possible.

Admittedly, shortening the beginning did make it sound like a far more immediate thing than it had been. It had taken longer than he cared to admit to realise anything had been out of the ordinary.

The Captain had never much liked her birthday, so her disappearing during the day hadn’t exactly been cause for concern. But the way Red had been acting… He should’ve realised that when he’d disappeared too it hadn’t just been to check on his sister.

But he hadn’t. None of the crew had. Until it was the next day and neither had returned – not exactly unlike Red but it was certainly out of character for the Captain.

Suddenly they’d been faced with the possibility that the two had walked off into danger and not one of them had done a thing to stop it.

The idea that he had been missed was enough to start breaking Red’s panic. His breathing ever so slightly calmed at the notion that anyone cared enough to still be looking for him and Capsize.

His surroundings less blurred, he properly looked at the two before him. By the gods, they looked worried.

“We honestly hadn’t had any luck. You two really know how to make yourselves disappear. No wonder you managed to steal a whole ship as kids,” Earl laughed, trying to hide his own shame at how long they had gone without any leads. “But then we heard a rumour about this place. Didn’t really sound like you two, talk of a cursed princess and a loyal guard. But they said the princess was protected by Lady Ianite… Ain’t a soul that fits that description except Capsize.”

“I’m sorry, we should’ve told you what was going on… Capsize thought that she’d found a way to stop all this. We would’ve warned you all that we were leaving back in spring if not,” Red apologised, his frazzled thoughts attempting to explain a situation not yet explained.

It had always been the plan. Tell the crew about the curse half a year before it was due to strike. Give everyone time to figure themselves out. But then that spring had come and Capsize had been so sure that she’d found a way to break the curse. And, Red, fool that he was, hadn’t pushed to give the crew a warning for the worst case scenario. He’d been just as ready as her to cling to any escape from this future he was now stuck in.

“Lad, what did happen to you both?” Rupert asked carefully. “We’ve heard the rumours that led us here, and when you collapsed, Lady Ianite appeared and told us… Well honestly not much. Just that she’d been protecting you both.”

The goddess had been vague. It seemed that she was unwilling to say anything that Red and Capsize hadn’t shared themselves, which was next to nothing. And while Rupert could obviously respect that, now it left the undead man beyond concerned as he’d never seen Red in a worse state and, despite how they’d been here for hours now, Capsize had yet to make any sort of appearance.

Red swallowed. He could trust them, he reminded himself. Even if he didn’t believe that, he owed them an explanation after how long they’d been searching.

“Capsize is cursed. She has been for as long as either of us can remember. Always this looming threat that we knew would trigger on that birthday... We’d planned to warn all you lot, let you figure out a livelihood for yourselves for when she’d no longer be around. But then the time had come and… and she’d said she’d found a way to break the curse,” He couldn’t look at them as he explained. He was so scared that any emotion they may wear would cause him to break and never finish.

“And you know Capsize, she can’t lie for the life of her. The way her face lit up, the excitement in her voice, I was so sure that she had actually found a way. But then our birthday came. Lady Ianite… She must’ve felt what had happened because she was so panicked. She brought me here and… And we found Capsize…”

He choked back a sob as he remembered seeing her laying still in a pool of blood.

He should’ve been with her that day. Maybe he could’ve stopped all this.

A hand touched his shoulder. A comforting touch that coaxed him into actually looking up at his friends.

As Rupert struggled for any words that could comfort a man that had told such a tale, he had never wished more that they had found him earlier.

“It’s alright, lad. It’s alright,” It wasn’t, but what else could he say? “Where’s Capsize now? Is she…”

He could not bring himself to finish the question. He knew from seeing the state that Redbeard was in and the fact that they had not encountered even a trace of her presence that it was unlikely that she was in any way okay. However, he could not bring himself to ask if she was dead.

“She’s in her bedroom… I can show you,” He knew that there were a dozen ways he could simply explain her curse and condition, but he did not know if his soul could take it at this moment.

Neither man had any objection. How could they? They had already come this far.

The walk to her bedroom was quiet.

It was oddly nerve-racking for Red. Even with all those who had come to try and wake Capsize, he could still count on his hands the number of people who had actually seen her. So few he had trusted to lead through these corridors to his sister. So few he believed had even the slightest chance of waking her.

Even when he knew he could trust the men following him, he still could not stop hearing his heart thumping in his throat. Still he hesitated for a moment at her door, the protective instincts of the past year eating away at his mind.

He forced himself to push forward.

He could trust them. They wouldn’t hurt Capsize.

He opened the door.

Rupert and Earl froze as they saw the state of her.

Even from the doorway, they could see Capsize’s completely still form. They could see their Captain, the woman they had been looking for for over a year looking so close to death that even her chest rising and falling did not fully convince them that she lived.

Red walked over, a mix of numbness and relief that she remained in the same state as she had been prior to his own forced slumber. He stood before his sister’s bed and looked down at her.

“All the more magically inclined people we’d gotten to try and break it called it ‘a living death’. She’s alive, but she’s stuck in time. She can’t die, can’t even age, but she can’t wake up. Not unless she receives true love’s kiss,” He said, basically just reciting words he’d heard before because trying to explain in his own would just end in broken sobs. Even the borrowed words he had to force out, still feeling far too much like he was explaining her cause of death.

It was impossible for the men in the doorway to miss the grief in his voice.

“Have you been alone with her all this time?” Earl asked, though he was sure of the answer the moment the words passed his lips.

“Ianite comes by to check on her quite often… Her champion used to as well, but I ended up having to chase him off. I can’t leave her, though. The people who come to try and wake her… I can’t just let them come and leave her defenceless,” He couldn’t rid himself of the thoughts of what that prince had threatened and the soldiers he’d sent once he’d been banished.

No matter how maddening this self-implemented isolation was, he would manage. It was a far better curse than hers. He would face this alone for as long as necessary.

But, for the first time in over a year, Redbeard was not facing this prospect alone.

Rupert walked across the room, once again placing a hand on his shoulder.

He knew he needed to say something, though he struggled with what precisely that should be as he looked down at the Captain. Despite all the time that had passed, all the growing she had done, he could still see the mouthy kid with a stolen ship he had met a near decade ago.

She should not look deader than he did.

“We’re here with you now, lad. Until we can wake her, we’ll take this task with you,” He assured. Now that they’d found the two of them, they weren’t leaving.

For the first time in a great many months, the hopelessness left Red’s bones. Even if he was stuck guarding her for the rest of time, at least he wouldn’t be alone any longer.

As snow once more begun to fall outside, the island was no longer silent and the light that came from the ruin of a kingdom held some life.

[whysoblue2]

The Last Bishop, the First to Fall

Here we are with the official cover art for my fic! Lots of blood has been spilt on this illustration (you can tell it's all over the place), and I really hope you all like it! I thought the 12-panel comic was ambitious, but hell this damn light and shading drove me crazy more times I want to admit! Let me know what you think! 💙 Lineart version And again, thanks to everyone who read and supported my story.

Close-ups and no writes version under the cut!

Hell, that's a lot of blood...

[raileurta]

I was reading some transformers fanfiction and it's a solely underutilized idea to have humans and Cybertronians be in a symbiotic relationship. In nature all the time big animals will rely on smaller animals' help.

For example humans could give repairs, clean them, and help them reach smaller places. Cybertronians can give transportation and protection of course. They're emotional benefits too; humans are really nice soft things to touch and humans like having big robot friends :3.

So I'm imagining transformers realize how useful it is to have a human partner around so they start going around trying to get one. Anyways this leads to shenanigans of course and a lot of cracky moments.

Suspiciously nice looking car in a driveway with its door opened: ....

The random human who owns the driveway: ...

Human: *turns around* Screw that! I'm not becoming part of the human distribution system today, no sir I am not.

Cybertronian: *sad beeping noises*

[corinthianrm0]

the cyberpunk Gale no one asked for (G4l3?)

BLAME MARU (lexindre on bsky)

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Danny covered his mouth to prevent them from hearing him. This was the third year in a row that Danny was pranking the waynes by hiding christmas gifts all over the mansion. This year, Batman himself had come out to play and Danny was doing everything in his power to troll the guy.

Each day, he would hide the next round of presents, and the batman would have elaborate traps that Danny would have to either evade or escape from before the big bad bat came and snatched him up.

He looked pretty livid, which would be fair if Danny's theory about Brucie Wayne being Batman's Sugar daddy/secret boyfriend were true. He's been trolling Bruce the hardest the last 3 years, what with all the annoying toys and indoor glitter bombs. The grand finally gifts from last year was everyone in the Wayne household getting kazoos and a packet of the most annoying songs you can play on one. That year was torture for the billionaire playboy. He even got to see Brucie cover his ears with couch pillows!

For now, though, he just needed to stay invisible and hide Damians present in his room... now only if this little tuxedo cat would stop following him around and meowing at him. Go away, kitty! I don't have your food, and you're going to give me away!

[jazzmasternot]

He’s a red flag but red means good fortune and love in my culture 😘

[paintedcrows]

There you are, hiding from your friend Bill, are we?

Or, why you should never let your demon near your brother pet cat. Fan art for the wonderful fic 'How to Cat Burglar a Family' by @dark-lord-of-awesomeness! It's now complete! And (despite how this looks) very sweet!!

[catbolt]

sylus x reader late night swim

"Well, well... aren't you a sight for sore eyes." Sylus murmurs softly, his muscular arms hanging casually off the edge of the pool as he reclines back in the water. You feel his eyes rake over you painfully slowly, his gaze lazy and sated as he takes in all your assets framed beautifully by a little black bikini— one of the gifts he'd gotten you for your birthday a few months prior. "I was wondering when I'd finally get to see you wear that thing. I was starting to think you didn't like it."

"'Course I liked it, just didn't have the occasion for it...." You trail off, noticing the way the pool water's glowing blue reflection sends shivering, shimmering shadows across the surface of his chest. Your inadvertent glance there isn't lost on Sylus, and the corner of his mouth tweaks upward into a catlike smirk. "Join me." He raises a hand to beckon you closer.

Not needing to be told twice, you sink into the warm water, wading towards him. His hands pull you closer instantly, greedily, slotting against your hips like puzzle pieces as he teasingly tugs at the strings of your bikini bottoms. His lips find your ear, pressing a kiss to its shell as he pulls you against him. The only sound other than your soft mingled breaths is the gentle hum of the pool lights that illuminate you both from below. "This is nice, isn't it?"

"Breaking news, Sylus Qin discovers tropical vacations are nice," you tease, nipping softly at his shoulder with a playful bite. You grimace slightly as you taste chlorine on his skin, and his eyes crinkle at the corners as he smiles at the sight.

"What if we just... stayed here forever?" He murmurs softly into your hair, one of his hands coming up to wrap protectively around your shoulders. He rests his chin on her head, looking up at a dark night sky patterned with a quilt of stars that wink down at him. He can't recall the last time he saw so many stars— certainly not in back home in the N109 Zone.

"What if indeed," you chuckle, leaning your head on his shoulder. "Maybe after thirty years of this you'd finally learn to decompress."

He ruffles your hair. "You're saying I don't know how to relax," he smirks. "Fine. Just watch me. The rest of this vacation I'll relax so hard."

"You can't 'relax hard'. That's the whole point of relaxing." You press a chaste kiss against his jaw, which elicits a pleased purr from him that rumbles deep in his chest. His deep red eyes twinkle with a mischievous mirth as he looks down at you.

"Alright then, pretty girl. Show me how to relax softly."

[m1smatched-starsigns]

At some point over the years, Hawkfrost has been cemented as the "spare" for me. You only need one son for an heir; the second son is just the spare. He's not important until something goes wrong.

In my headcanons, Tigerstar wants Brambleclaw to be his successor. He needs Hawkfrost to lure Brambleclaw in and disarm him, but Hawkfrost is just a pawn. Hawkfrost knows this and it burns him, he wants to be the important son, he wants to be the one his father wants. He'll do anything to earn Tigerstar's approval.

[a-scary-lack-of-common-sense]

More of Stanley's sketchbook because he makes me sick /pos

(Just imagine he was looking in a mirror at the subway to draw this anshfhwj. The london bus ticket is unrelated, it's just a random knick knack he had lying around<3)

People weren't the only ones Stan met on the streets.

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+ this is an absolute fucking batshit WILD oneshot I initially wrote for these drawings that got WAY out of hand, if you feel like reading that.

The oneshot below is a stand-alone now, and in no way is related to the drawings above, but I just wanted to show you guys because Jesus Christ

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Winter of 1981, at a subway station Stan doesn't remember the name of-

The sorry excuse of a transport system that this hellhole of a city called a functioning subway was hardly anyone's first choice of a warm place to stay the night. And yet, here Stanley was; standing like an idiot in the middle of a small bustling stairwell that led down to the full screeching chaos of a train stop on a Tuesday evening. A rowdy crowd of exhausted office workers streamed out like a tidal wave from the entrance of the station, the bustle of their footsteps all too eager to go home and relax after a long day of work.

The faint, stuffy stench of old piss and sweat followed the crowd to the surface from the deep depths of a less than sanitary and overcrowded train station. The pungent smell intermingled with the crisp stinging winter air in a cocktail of shitty city gloom often associated with this time of the year; when the holidays were too far away and the sun seemed to come and go with practically the same 9 to 5 schedule as the workers had, leaving them going to work in the pitch dark and coming back out in the inky black as well.

He might have looked like he belonged there, depending on how one would want to look at it. He stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the sea of prim, pressed suits and neart uniforms. His ratty old jacket and generally unwashed appearance certainly didn’t help his case, but he also knew that stations like these also tended to shelter quite a number of homeless wanderers like him, especially during the winter. So, it wasn't exactly uncommon to see other sore thumbs seeking reprieve from the biting cold and the dangerous likelihood of frostbite from within the enclosed walls of the subway station.

Heck, if most of these underground kingdoms didn't also happen to be a breeding ground for several illicit activities, he might even have followed their lead. But, believe it or not, Stanley's already had enough experience with illegal activities to last him a last time, and he isn't looking for a new fill. He was satisfied with what meager shelter his trusty car offered him, as little a difference it might make in terms of safety.

Stanley's obstruction of the already narrow stairs with his loitering went unappreciated, as shoulders roughly shoved past him and swinging briefcases repeatedly bumped into his sides, usually coupled with a nasty glare and a snide comment or two. He paid them no mind, however. He wasn't here to start a fight with some random bum with a dead end job, as much as he thought it would probably do them both some good to duke their stresses out on one another.

The hours ticked by with wave after wave of new crowds being dropped off by a train and left to pour out of the station into the streets. By the time the streetlights turned on and the pale pink in the sky slowly faded to make way for the stark glittery black of the night sky, the tide of people had slowed to a trickle and rush hour was long since over. He was now the stairs’ sole occupier, with a few occasional stragglers stumbling up the steps and hurrying past him without a second glance.

Stanley did not move from his spot, however. He stood resolutely in the middle of the stairway, fervently rubbing his arms and stamping his feet in a futile attempt to try and regain feeling in his extremities as he waited. Rocking on his heels, he titled his head backwards to let his eyes roam the constellations that carpeted the endless expanse of the sky stretched out above his head, almost losing himself in the scintillating canvas of stars.

It reminded him of old times; of the sparkling beach sand twinkling in the dim moonlight, and the soft sound of lilting waves hovering in the background as he lay back on the cold wooden deck of his ship and watched the stars dance.

He still remembered every name his brother had once recited to him time and time again as he pointed out each star and galaxy from the night sky.

Then, like clockwork, he was broken out of his reveries by a telltale meow coming from below. The sound was a familiar blanket that immediately melted away the tension that had begun to build in his chest as he practically sagged with relief.

His body moved almost automatically as he leaned down to detach the frail tabby cat that was attempting to literally fuse with his legs, purring up a storm and rubbing her head against his pants as though her life depended on it. The cat gave a soft chirrup of dissatisfaction at being manhandled, which Stanley absentmindedly replied with a chiding click of his tongue as he lifted her up his chest and gently tucked her into his jacket in a practiced motion.

She thankfully remained blissfully limp in his grasp as he shifted around some more so that she was nestled comfortably inside the dark pocket of warmth inside his ratty jacket. The tiny warm lump that rumbled contently against his front radiated with heat, and his fingers finally began to feel like actual fingers rather than useless stiff frigid lumps of meat and bone attached to his palms.

A pointed cough startled him from his clumsy wriggling to get the cat to settle down. An oddly familiar security guard stood at the entrance of the station at the bottom of the stairs, leveling Stanley an unimpressed look with the metal gate in his grip already halfway closed, ready to seal the subway for the night. He must have been a comical sight; caught awkwardly bent over while trying to get his newly acquired cat to stop kneading biscuits on his stomach, with said cat peeking out from the gap between his collars.

Stanley faintly recognized the guard. He was a much older man, with a shock of thinning white hair neatly tucked underneath a dark blue cap and a strange depth in his eyes that reminded Stanley of the sea; with countless unspoken truths lurking far beneath the surface, but no less grand and knowing of all that the universe had to offer, as though he had already lived a thousand lives before this one.

He had seen the man around before, at another station, doing the opposite of his job by ushering stray buskers and homeless stragglers from the streets and into the (relatively) safe walls of the subway, instead of doing what any other law-abiding security guard would do and kick them out into the elements. He wasn't sure what the older man was doing here, of all places, since all the previous stations he'd seen the man at had been several states over, practically on the other side of the country.

A brief spark of panic shot through his spine at the thought that this man could be following him, but he quickly discarded the ridiculous notion as soon as it entered his mind. He had never even seen him before, and hardly ever even interacted with him; there was no reason for there to be any sort of bad blood between them. Unless he happened to be related to one of Stanley's many, many enemies, then perhaps his fear was a little warranted.

However, the old guard made no move to attack or do anything other than stare judgmentally, almost expectantly. For the first time in a long time, Stanley felt like a child being caught doing something he wasn't supposed to do. He tried his best to keep his uncomfortable squirming to a minimum under the unrelenting gaze, stubbornly returning the man's gaze with his own wary glare. His cat’s muffled whining came from inside his jacket. The traitor, she was leaving him to deal with the old man on his own.

With an exasperated jerk of his head, the security guard gestured towards the inside of the station. For a moment, Stanley stared dumbly, uncomprehending of what the old man could possibly want from him. Rolling his eyes, this time the man gestured more insistently at the small gap that still remained between the metal gate and the entrance, his arm sweeping the air in a low arc as he dramatically urged Stanley inside. Suddenly, it clicked, and Stanley shook his head.

“I have a car,” he said plainly, his voice echoing loudly in the desolate silence of the winter night that surrounded the unlikely pair.

He wasn't sure why he was so nervous, it wasn't as though he was lying. He did have a car, his trusty Stanley-mobile was parked safely away in the corner of an unassuming alley that wasn't often frequented by anyone. There was no way he was reaching it tonight, though; it was practically on the other side of the city, much too far away for him to arrive at a reasonable time. His nightly excursions to meet his small friend unfortunately left him with no other choice than to leave his car behind, the hunk of metal far too unwieldy and noticeable to drive around openly on the streets. He never knew who could be watching, after all.

He had simply been hoping to find himself a dark corner to tuck himself into with his cat, just for the night, but it seemed as though the universe had other plans. Or rather, this strange old man had other plans.

Although, if Stanley thought about it, the subway wasn't such a bad suggestion. This was one of the safer stations in the city; and with the rich neighborhoods being so close by, no rogue criminal or dealers dared to come near this area unless they wanted to be slapped with a hefty fine or face a higher potential to be arrested. And of course, there was the obvious shelter from the unrelenting cold that now seemed to permeate his bones, even with the purring warmth that was nestled inside his jacket.

So, that was how he found himself hunkering down for the night inside a shabby old subway station, with a satisfied cat still rumbling away against his chest and a strange old security guard locking down the gates behind him. The man said nothing as he hooked his keys back onto his belt and gave a firm pat on Stanley's shoulders as he walked past him, pausing to scratch his cat behind her ears before moving away. His footsteps bounced off of the grimy tiled walls with an odd reverb as he turned a corner.

“You'll be safe in here,” the man said, voice sage and gravelly. The words had a weight to them, and seemed to hang in the air with such a presence it was as though the old man had never even left his side.

The subway was empty, quiet. It was such a stark contrast to the loud rowdiness of the rush hour crowd these halls once held. Stanley hadn't yet registered the utter silence of the station as he aimlessly made his way down the winding, deserted halls of the ancient station. He mindlessly walked past the aged and peeling advertising posters plastered on the walls, his nose becoming accustomed to the stinging stench of the subway. The quiet seemed to swallow the sound of his steps as he explored the branching paths and endless tunnels. They were almost kaleidoscopic, dizzying, nonsensical. There were doors where there shouldn't be, and deadends where it didn't make sense.

The silence only began to truly settle in his bones the more he walked. He suddenly wished that he would head the telltale footsteps of the old security guard again, just to hear another sign of life in this underground hellscape other than himself. The ghostly memories of screeching trains and bustling crowds haunted the halls; now, only nothingness reigned supreme. He glanced down at his small feline companion, who slumbered away against his chest, blissfully unaware of his jackrabbiting heartbeat threatening to burst out of his ribs. The silence seemed to permeate every inch of space and crush the air out of his lungs. He couldn't breathe.

Stanley’s steps grew faster, more frantic as the walls and ceilings seemed to close in on him. They grew smaller, tighter; squeezing, trapping. He hardly even registered his cat's complaints as she was jostled around in his grasp, breaking into a full out run. His breathing sounded loud, too loud, and the world was collapsing around him.

When he finally broke out into a large, open platform, he could finally breathe again. He had arrived at the tracks, the empty tunnel where the trains would pass an empty, gaping maw in the wall that seemed to swallow all light around it and beckon him closer. He felt his cat wriggle out from within his jacket and hop out with a displeasured yowl, scampering away and disappearing behind a corner much like the old man had. True silence pierced his ears and thrummed like a deafening pressure in his temples. He was alone.

Stanley was stuck in that subway station for years.

[sstan-hoe]

𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐄𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧

𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 — demon!bucky barnes × fem!reader

𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 — your boyfriend bought the perfect house, he said. The house in question beeing a ruin. You hated it but loved him. However, finding an old book and a cocky demon was not what you expected. He proposes a deal, will you accept? What if you don't keep your end of the bargain?

𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 — SMUT, light degration and dumbification, oral (both f/m receiving), p in v without protection, reader has short sex with bf and then later with bucky, filthy sex, a little rough and dirty talk — I'm a little rusty so please don't hate it too much lol

𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆 — do you remember me? I sure hope so! I'm not saying I'm back, but I'm slowly coming back...for how long? idk. Anyway, I adore demon!bucky, and I love beetlejuice, so I kinda mixed it up. Please don't forget to give feedback!! Yeah also this has 7.8k words.

With a sigh you heaved a box out of the car, not believing you actually trusted your boyfriend when he said, he found the ‘perfect house’. Aside from the fact that he made questionable choices in the past, you should have checked it beforehand.

Now here you were, in front of a ruin almost and nothing about this house made you feel at ease. It looked like it would fall into itself at any moment, shabby windows and a broken roof.

Shaking your head, you walked inside with a spark of hope that inside looked better than outside. Spoiler, it did not.

“How could he buy something like this?” you whispered to yourself while putting the box down. He probably bought because it was cheap, and it was cheap because no one wanted it…wonder why?

Furthermore, there were two of you and this house was big enough for a family of four with a dog. Meaning it was too big and hadn’t even talked about children – not that you were ready anyway.

You decided to walk up the stairs, look a bit around as a sign of good will. Maybe it looked better in the higher parts.

Everything looked as if it would collapse every second, the wood crunching beneath your feet. The awful smell of moulding floor and plaster falling off the walls, made you roll your eyes. How could anyone want to live here?

At last, you found the stairs leading up to the attic, perhaps anything, really anything interesting was up there. You tried opening the door, but it seemed locked, again you forced your whole body against it and with a cracking sound it opened. You tried opening the door, but it seemed locked, again you forced your whole body against it and with a cracking sound it opened.

You stepped inside, looking around you saw furniture and a long table covered with white sheets. Curiosity got the best of you, taking the edges of the sheet and ripping it off.

Beneath it was a model of this town, the town you were in right now. It made you wonder how old this house was – or wait no, it was decades old, you didn’t need to wonder.

“Awesome, good job Andy,” you muttered to yourself as you let yourself fall onto a covered armchair. Your eyes wandered around the room, fixing on a box filled with paper. Pulling it closer, you lifted it on your lap.

Whoever lived here before forgot it apparently, inside were just pictures, some letters, and a book. “God, how old is this thing?” you asked yourself looking at the book.

It was covered in dust, wiping it away you noticed a different kind of writing, it almost seemed like runes. It probably was not the right decision to open the book, but there was nothing more interesting in this house.

 To your surprise, inside the book were letters you could actually ready, and you could pinpoint what Kind of language it was; Latin.

“Could not have become any weirder, found a real gem there Andy,” you muttered to yourself. No wonder the house was this cheap, crazy people lived here. “Honestly, as if they called upon some demons every Sunday, and probably truly believed some creature with four legs and horns would appear.” Shaking your head, you stood up and threw the book aside.

“Now you wounded me honey,” a voice behind you said, and it did not belong to Andy. With a scream you jumped up, turning around to face a man...,“Who are you?” you stuttered, not believing this was really happening.

He was tall, had broad shoulders, his brown hair was long but still a short, framing his face well. Then there were his dark eyes and his arrogant smirk...was he wearing a suit?

“Oh, do you not recognize me because I only have two legs and no horns?” he chuckled, taking a step closer to you. His whole being seemed dark, like only bad things followed him.

Something inside your brain snapped, as if it was overstimulated with the situation, “funny, this is so fucking funny, Andy!” you shouted through the attic. The man in front of you only chuckled, “listen I’m all for hearing a woman scream, but do you mind keeping it down?” His voice slightly hardening at the end.

You wanted to roll your eyes, now you we’re convinced he was a man – at least. “I’m leaving now, and once I’m gone you won’t exist anymore because you’re just part of my imagination,” you told him, hoping that you we’re right and you would wake up any minute.

He walked around you, coming to stand in front of the entrance. His frame almost as broad as the door, it made him even more intimidating. Face dark and calm, with no sign of humanity.

“You would like that would you not? But you can’t, can’t leave this house behind because of sweet Andy...,” he taunted you, and he was right, you couldn’t get out of this house...but you didn’t tell him that.

“Wondering how I know that? You should be a lot more careful with the books you’re Reading,” his grin spread across his face, taking a step closer to you.

“How bad do you want to leave this house?” he whispered, not stopping until he was right in front of you. His warm breath against your lips. You didn’t know what to say, if you should answer honestly...after all you we’re standing in the attic with a strange man.

“Fuck you,” was what you decided on and shoved him to the side. Bucky laughed, but as soon as he saw you glaring at him stopped although he couldn’t stop smirking,  “we’ll see about that.” You ignored his words and opened the door to leave this bloody attic.

Downstairs you found Andy who looked like a little kid on Christmas morning, he loved this house and you. Most of all he loved the future you two would be able to start here.

It broke your heart, not knowing if you would ever love this house like he did, if you could see the future, he did…for now you shook that thought away, thinking you would just work through all the weird occurrences. Maybe you’re just catching a cold, and there is no man upstairs. – And you would definitely send Andy up there to check if he could see that man too.

“And what do you think?” he stood in front of you, a wide grin stretched across his lips, “I know we have a lot to do, but it’s ours,” he wrapped his arm around your waist. A lot might be an understatement, and where would all the money come from?

“Yeah…ours,” you muttered, looking into his bright eyes. “We can grow old hear together,” he added, pressing a soft kiss to your cheek. You tried your best to smile at him.

---

Two weeks went by, construction workers came in and out of the house, working on the roof and façade. Shortly after your conversation with Andy, you showed him the attic, the book and nothing happen. Nothing happened in the last two weeks, so it had to be imagination.

Right at this moment, you stood in the kitchen – well it wasn’t much of a kitchen yet. You were crouched on the floor, trying to get those tiles clean and see if anything was still usable of that wood.

You opened a cardboard door and were met with something big and hairy, you tilted your head to get a better look when it suddenly moved, looking straight at you.

A loud scream came from your mouth, making the animal start running out of the kitchen. You wanted to cry.

Andy quickly came into the kitchen, “sweetheart what happened?” coming to a stop next to you. “There was a rat, a fucking rat Andy. There are animals everywhere,” you complained.

“It’s not that bad, we’ll have them out in no time,” he promised you, just as a loud crash came from the roof. Just then a constructer came in, “sorry guys, but there is mold on your roof, think it might get a little more expensive.”

You looked at Andy, watching his reaction intensely but he didn’t seem fazed at all. “Seriously? This is money we don’t have, you’re a lawyer not a trust fund baby! This house is a ruin, everyday there is a new problem, how can you not care?”

Andys eyes widened in shock, he didn’t expect you to have such an outburst. But it was understandable, after all everything was a little stressing at the moment. Gently he touched your shoulder, a soft smile on his lips, “don’t worry sweetheart, we will find a solution, I already thought of this.”

Quickly you stood up, “you already thought there was fucking mold on that roof? Then why buy this house, why spend this much money?” he could not be serious, this money could be used for so much more.

“No, not really, but I knew it wouldn’t be easy, that’s why I put some extra money aside,” he told you, coming to stand up next to you. You didn’t understand how he could be so calm, like everything was alright.

“Just ask, leave this house behind, live a nice life,” a voice whispered into your hear, dark and rough. A faint wave of warm breath flowed around your ear, “what?” you asked out loud, this wasn’t real?

“What?” your boyfriend repeated, looking a little confused, taking a quick look around. “Did you say something?” you asked him, it had to be Andy talking.

“I have everything under control, don’t worry,” he caressed your cheek and kissed your lips, you didn’t immediately react. Andy tilted his head a little, searching for something in your eyes, “hey, anyone there?” he questioned.

“Yeah, yeah I’m here,” you lifted your head to meet his gaze, “just need a breather,” you said, trying your best to smile at him. The man next to you nodded, just wanting you to be happy, he didn’t see how unhappy you actually were, how close you were to breaking.

As soon as you stepped out of that house, it felt like a weight being lifted of your shoulders. How could Andy stay this positive? There were rats, racoons and mold inside, doors that broke with a light touch and it was probably haunted. There was nothing in this house that would lift your mood.

“Still don’t wanna make a deal?” the same voice as before said, you swiftly turned around, now face to face with a familiar man. Every word on the tip of your tongue was gone, you were speechless.

“Oh, come on…you really thought I wasn’t real?” he grinned, face so close his nose was almost touching yours. You took a step back, glaring at him and hoping he would vanish into fin air.

“Fine, you’re real. What do you want? My soul?” you asked, you’ve heard stories about demons before and all of them included people losing their souls. However, none of them had the demon persistently asking for a deal, almost as if he was desperate.

“Normally, yes. But you my darling are too pretty for that…I want you, just for one night,” he didn’t move closer to you, still it felt like something was pulling you in.

“You want to sleep with me?” you asked astounded, this sounded like some the beginning of a bad porn video. What could he possibly have of this? You would never cheat on Andy, but could that be all? “Yes, I do and trust me once you had a taste, you will never get enough,” he grinned, showing his perfect teeth with slight fangs.

“I would never do that to Andy, and you can’t force besides I can’t even trust you to that there is nothing else,” you stated, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Darling, it is not all and I can’t force you, goes against my rules…and the rules in general,” the demon revealed, slightly shrugging his shoulders as he began circling you. “You just said that’s all, you’re already lying!”

Your words caused him to chuckle, “no, I said I want to fuck you. For the deal to seal you have to say my name three times, three times in a row it must be spoken unbroken.” He held his chin eye, closely watching your every move.

You scoffed, this was fucking stupid. “Who are you Beetlejuice? I don’t know your name, want me to guess it?” you spat at him, why were you even talking to him still?

“Who do think inspired them to make that character?” he promptly asked, voice laced with smugness, “but no, you don’t need to guess, it’s written in the book, or I can tell you and once you know it, you can scream it.”

“This is stupid and let me guess when I say your name you will be free?” you shook your head, not believing yourself. Maybe the mold in the house caused you to be high?

“Don’t be ridiculous, I can do whatever I want. You will say my name and sign a contract, saying my name will make you mine,” he rolled his eyes, you were going to be a hard one, but he already enjoyed it. Yes, maybe the name thing was a little stupid, but it was too funny seeing people do it.

“Whatever, I won’t make a deal with you. I’m not a cheater and I lived through worse, I will survive this bloody house, I love Andy,” you snapped at him before stomping away, back towards the house.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night darlin’, the name is James, for future references!” the demon called after you, he wouldn’t pass on a chance to make you his and if he had to worsen the state of the house, then so be it. There was no chance he would let you go.

---

The following few weeks went by without any sight of the demon and thankfully no part of the house collapsing. Still to many animals lived there, and the roof wasn’t completely finished and the rooms needed renovations.

And today no good news awaited you, you were tired and just wanted to lay on the couch. But as you stepped through the apartment door there stood Andy with a frown, making your stomach churn.

“Sweetheart, the house is going to take a little longer than expected but our lease is ending…meaning we will have to move into-,” “we have to move into that fucking construction site, are you kidding me?” to Andy your outburst was unexpected.

“I know it’s unfortunate but remember it’s our new home,” he took your hands in his, eyes full of hope. Completely oblivious to the fact how much you hated the idea.

“No, no it is a ruin, nothing is going according to plan and everything is horrible, I will not move into that wreck. I gave you a chance, and everything is going wrong!” you scoffed at him, shaking your head before leaving right out of the door again. This could not be happening, you were holding it together, trying to stay on the right path – then it did.

You took a deep breath and headed towards the park near your apartment. In order to clear your mind, you sat down on a bench near a lake.

Suddenly you felt a dark presence next to you, already knowing who it was. “You’ve been absent the past few weeks, were you waiting for everything to go to shit?” you asked in exhaustion.

“No, that would be very mean,” James chuckled, letting his arm rest behind you on the bench, fingers dangerously close to your shoulder. You dared to take a look at him, it knocked almost your breath out of your chest.

There is sat, thighs wide apart in a black tailored suit with a matching tie. His long hair combed back, matching his beard perfectly – wait since when did he have a beard? And why did it look so devilishly handsome?

“Liar, you’re waiting for me to agree,” you sighed, not being able to keep your eyes of him. “You’re sitting here talking to me…I know you want to,” he moved closer to you, fingertips ghosting over your shoulder which made you shiver. You closed your eyes, reminding yourself that this was a bad idea.

“I said no, I’m not cheating on him,” you told him confidently, crossing your arms over your chest. The bad thing however was, that you couldn’t move into any direction, on one side was his warm, beautiful body and on the other his hand waiting for you to move. He was ready to draw you into his aura.

“But would it be really cheating? He doesn’t even know I exist, little Andy would forget about the house, you would get the best sex of your life and live happily in that cute apartment,” the demon shrugged, foot nudging yours and slightly moving your leg to the side.

Taking a deep breath, you tried to resist every fibre in your body that wanted to give into him. “Just say yes,” he whispered inching closer to your face, lips almost grazing yours.

His words caused an idea to pop into your head, maybe you could use that to your advantage…, “fine, let’s make a deal. You get me out of that freaky house and then we will…,” your voice becoming a whisper at the end, lips close to his ear.

A smirk stretched across his lips, finally he got what he wanted. His hand came up to cup your cheek, “then say my name, say it,” James whispered. “It’s humiliating,” you argued, whining a little to which he only kept smirking – his face had to stay frozen at some point.

“No, it’s funny and we have to practise, don’t we?” the demon tilted his head to the side, eyes roaming over your lips with a hint of hunger.

James had lived for centuries, no millennia and had at least millions of souls in his possession, yet he had never crossed path with someone as beautiful as you. Never did he have the intention on sleeping with them – okay, he did sleep with some of them, but after taking their soul.

You, however? All he wanted was one night, one night to show you everything he had to offer and convince you to never leave his side again.

“Fine, James…,” you started, having to stop yourself from rolling your eyes, “…James,” you continued. Meanwhile the demons eyes glinted with pure excitement, “just one more time darlin’,” he whispered. “James,” you finished, making him laugh in a manner that perfectly fitted who he was.

“Good girl,” he said and snapped his fingers. You expected something to happen, like a change of scenery or a flash of light, “that’s it?” you questioned him, raising an eyebrow at him.

“I’m sorry darling, am I to boring for you? Should I put on fireworks?” James scoffed, this also never happened to him before. Everyone else shuddered, scrabbled to get away but there you sat, with a bored expression.

“Call Andy, ask how the renovations at the house are going,” he told you, lightly rolling his eyes at your suspicious glance. But you did what he said, Andy picking up after the third ring, “hey honey, how is it going with the house?” you lowly asked, expecting to be disappointed.

“What house? You mean the apartment? I guess everything is fine, nothing’s changed…are you coming home soon?” he questioned you thoroughly, confusion evident in his voice.

A huge smile crawled onto your lips, finally the nightmare was over. “Yeah, yeah, I will be home in no time!” you said with happiness before hanging up. “Now where is my thank you?” James pulled you from your thoughts, licking his lips.

“Oh, yeah we will think of a date later,” you answered standing up, pushing his leg aside. The demons face fell, he wanted you now. “You have to keep your end of the bargain,” he reminded you, standing up too with a glare.

He towered over you, flexing his broad shoulders while the air around you all of a sudden became thick. “I know but you never said when and you told me that you won’t do anything without my consent, so…,” for the first time you could grin at him in triumph. Patting his shoulder, you left him there at the park, letting him brood to himself.

James had never regretted not making a contract, he always made a contract to ensure he would not get screwed over and the one time he didn’t do one? He gets screwed over. Not to mention everyone was scared of him, begging him to let them live and they were desperate enough to do anything.

As he growled dark clouds began roaming the sky, his eyes took on their usual blood red colour and black horns emerged from his forehead. He was boiling with anger, no he would not touch you or hurt you, but he would also not leave you alone.

Coming home felt like a relieve for the first time in months, no house to worry about, no finances and just you with Andy. For the past few weeks your sex life had been awful, but today you felt like jumping his bones – Andy surely wouldn’t mind.

You opened the door, instantly seeing Andy on the couch. While walking towards him you started taking of your clothes, only keeping your lingerie on as you sat down in his lap.

“Oh, welcome home sweetheart,” he mused, wrapping his hands around your waist, “look at you pretty girl,” his eyes staring right at your tits. God, he loved the sight of them, how cruel of you to leave them in your bra.

“My eyes are up here cowboy,” you smirked, tilting his chin up with your index finger before capturing his lips in a heated kiss. Andy groaned in satisfaction, devouring you with hunger, tongue slipping into your mouth.

Meanwhile, you started grinding you clothed core onto his hardened erection. Moaned into his mouth as he gripped your waist tight, “mhm, let me taste your cock daddy please,” you whined as you pulled on his belt and who was Andy to decline your wish?

“Get on your knees,” he ordered, breathing heavily as he unbuckled his belt. Without hesitation you kneeled down, grasping his hard length.

Andy’s hand fisted your hair, holding you steady while you wrapped your lips around his cock. “Don’t you wish it was my cock you were tasting?” the voice didn’t belong to Andy, no it was James.

Your eyes widened, squeezing Andy’s dick harder unintentionally and choking on him. “yes sweetheart, choke on it,” he moaned, pushing your head deeper down. Thank god did he not notice. You continued your work, trying to ignore the weird feeling spreading in your stomache.

“I need to be inside you,” Andy gasped, hosting you up on his lap and pushing your panties aside. You held onto his shoulders for support, needing to concentrate on him for now. He helped you ease down on his cock, “Andy, please,” you whined, wanting him to just stretch you open.

“Can he even fully satisfy you darling? I doubt he can make you come as hard as I would,” his voice sounded taunting, he was probably having the time of his life and a cheshire grin across his lips.

“Shut up,” you whispered out loud without even realising it. Andy opened his eyes, looking at you with a hint of confusion, “what?” he asked.

“Nothing, just fuck me,” you begged and hoped he would listen before James ruined the mood for you completely. Your boyfriend didn’t need to be told twice, sitting you down on his member. The sound of your wet cunt motivating him to grip your hips and move you like he wanted.

“Really? That’s what turns you on, not what I expected,” it was as if he was lounging right next to you, but his voice sounded so distant at the same time. Fucking demon.

You started moving at a quicker pace in order to reach your high, gripping him like a vice. “Sweetheart just like that, I love you,” Andy breathed out, letting his head rest on your shoulder and biting gently into your skin.

“Aw, he loves you! How sweet of him, isn’t he just the best?” okay, yeah, now your mood and a chance of an orgasm were ruined. At least you could make Andy come.

You sped up, whispering how good he makes you feel, how bad you needed him and his big, strong cock. It didn’t take long for him to fill you up with his load and with that he groaned loudly inside your neck.

“Feel good honey?” you asked him sweetly, stroking his hair. “With you always,” he countered kissing you softly and full of love. Gently he lifted you of himself, telling you he will come back with a wet towel after wrapping you inside a blanket.

“Wow darling, couldn’t even make you come? Quite a show you put on,” now James was there, sitting next to you in all his might.

“Go away,” you snapped at him, hating how he could just show up at any point, anywhere and take up your mind just like that. “Yeah, I’m pretty down at the moment you know? Made this deal and the woman is not keeping her end,” he shrugged.

“Maybe you need to be clearer on your terms,” you simply told him, not giving him any glance, “you should go before Andy comes back,” you added with light annoyence.

“Don’t worry, he won’t see me unless I allow him to,” he shrugged, turning his head towards you. His hand came up to edge of the blanket, slightly moving it to the side to get a glimpse of your underwear but you slapped his hand away with a death glare, “don’t you dare.”

“I don’t take it kindly someone screwing me over, normally I would kill you…slice your throat open or make you suffer through endless days of torture…,” he whispered in your ear making you close your eyes as his finger trailed down the side of your cheek. James grinned, showing his sharpened teeth.

For the first time in a while you actually felt fear, you feared what he would do to you. Goosebumps erupted on your skin, couldn’t Andy hurry up?

“I won’t do that to you, no need to be so scared darling…however I will make sure you will never forget our deal until you do what you promised,” gently he kissed your cheek, it would be sweet and nice, if there wasn’t a threatening meaning behind his words.

Just then you felt a cold wind of air around you, and when you opened your eyes, he was gone. Andy came back, smiling happily at you while handing a towel over to you. He opened his mouth saying something you didn’t hear, your mind was couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

What would Bucky do? Would he hurt Andy instead? Would he harass you into sleeping with him? No, that couldn’t be, he told you, you had to say yes…right?

“Hey, hey? Anyone home?” he waved his hand infront of your face, a hand on your shoulder. You shook your head, mumbling a yes as you took the towel from him to clean yourself up, “I’m going to bed,” you said, standing up to leave your boyfriend in the living room.

Andy watched you leave, confusion written over his features, did he do something wrong? “Of course you did, you didn’t satisfy her enough,” a voice whispered in his mind. It sounded like his own, yet it had a dark touch to it.

He let his head fall down, sighing to himself before following you to the bedroom. Meanwhile, you took of all of your clothes off and put one of Andys shirts on, then curling under the covers. You weren’t sure how to handle the situation, but you knew it would cost you a lot of sleep.

The next day rolled around, Andy was gone before sunrise to work. You stayed in bed, called in sick for the day and researched if anything could help you right now.

You didn’t dare to leave the bedroom, not if it wasn’t completely necessary. Of course, if James wanted to, he could just appear here too, however you told yourself this was a safe space.

At one point you had to leave the room, carefully walking to the kitchen to find something to eat. In the end it became a sandwich, as you turned around with the plate in hand it almost fell right out of it again.

The kitchen gave a perfect view into the living room and therefore right on the couch. There he was, James, who you had been dreading to see, hoping for one day you would have peace. But no, instead he sat right in front of you and worse of all with no fucking shirt.

“Why are you half naked?” you pressed through gritted teeth, setting the plate down. James only shrugged, standing up to walk towards you, “does it bother you?” he knew it did, and he knew how handsome he looked.

“Yes, now go,” rolling your eyes, hoping it would actually work – probably not but it was worth a try. “You don’t mean that darling,” he whispered, walking closer to you with an intense expression until he stood right in front of you.

You took a deep breath before looking up at him, why did he have to be so tall? Most likely even taller than Andy…, “be careful, don’t want you hurting your neck,” James chuckled, hand coming up to cares your cheek. The act was so gentle you almost forgot who you were talking to.

“Reading minds now, huh?” you asked, trying your best to keep the glare on your face. “I could, but I just know how short your little boyfriend is,” he countered, oh how he enjoyed talking Andy down.

“What do you want demon? You threatened me and now make me look around every corner,” you said honestly. You hated how vulnerable you were right now.

“I wouldn’t have to if you had kept your end of the bargain…,” James tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. His touch felt good, and you hated it because it meant whatever he was trying to do was working.

“I couldn’t, I love him so much…I couldn’t do that to him,” even the thought of doing something like that, hurt you and most importantly made you angry about yourself, because why couldn’t you love Andy enough to accept the house?

“Can you look me in the eyes and tell me you see yourself spending forever with him?” James knew the question would hit a sensitive spot, it was part of his plan after all.

“That’s not fair,” you snapped, there was no way you would crumble under him. “Is it not? You wanted to make the deal, you wanted out of that house,” for once he tried not to smirk, knowing he was right.

“The house was a ruin!” you raised your voice, stepping away in order to leave the situation.

“Sweetheart? Who are you talking to?” What? Why was Andy home this early? One look from the door back to James made you realise he was already gone. Andy stepped inside the kitchen, again a little confused.

“No one, sorry, what are you doing home?” you asked instead, coming around the isle to kiss his cheek. “Have you looked at the clock? It’s five pm,” he chuckled, wrapping his arm around his waist.

“Oh, yeah right, I’m just a little tired,” you tried smiling it off, but Andy didn’t seem to buy your words entirely. Before he was able to ask questions you left for the bedroom again.

“See that? She is not happy with you anymore. She looks sad just being here with you,” that voice sounded in his mind again. For the whole day these thoughts had been haunting him, now he had enough.

With quick steps he followed you, “are you happy?” he called after you, making you still in your movements. “What?” “Are you happy? Do you still love me?” he questioned further.

“Why would you even ask me that?” you were utterly confused by his actions, by his words. “You’ve been acting weird, always closed up and when we have sex-“ “seriously? I sucked your dick off only days ago and let you fuck me like you wanted, I would hardly call that being weird.”

Andy looked at you with an unreadable expression, “wow, now that you say it! I just have to be wrong then,” he scoffed. Shaking his head, putting one hand on his hip.

“Andrew stop whining, I’m fine and you have no idea how much I love you,” you bit back, rolling your eyes at his stupid thoughts. Where does all of this come from? Of course, you had fights with Andy, but they all ended as soon as they started. Add to that, why was he so insecure?

You have known him for five years by now and he had always been confident in his being as well as your relationship.

“If you love me so much, why won’t you show me? I’m tired of this shit,” with that he turned around and headed towards the front door, “you’re acting like a child!” you shouted after him.

You took a deep breath, did this really just happen? “Wow, how sad, poor Andy,” great, James was just what you needed right now. “Told you it won’t last,” he leaned against the wall oppisite of you. “Did you plant these ideas in his head?” you questioned him, fury present in your tone.

“What if I did?” pushing himself off the wall, “it’s the truth, he doesn’t deserve you darling,” again his found their way to your cheeks. Why did he always have to be so close? Oh, right, because he knew it made you weak.

“You just want to sleep with me, you don’t like that I screwed you over and now you’re destroying my life!” you were close to tears, you thought after getting rid of the house everything would be better.

“No, no, I’m not but you could have such a better life with me, I knew it from the moment I first saw you,” James looked like he really meant it, as if you could just believe him.

“So, what, it was all a trap?” you asked, slowly beginning to get more angry than sad. “Well, I didn’t expect you to lie to me,” he admitted. A part of him, however, was proud of you, not everyone had the guts to lie to a demon.

Honestly you were fed up with him, with the whole situation. He destroyed your relationship with Andy and made you rethink your whole life. Then again, he was a demon, a creature you never thought would exist and yet here you were talking to him.

“You said you wouldn’t force me, but here you are,” you argued, wanting to break free of his hold. “Then step away, I’m not holding you. I know you’re fighting with yourself, take a step back if you really think you don’t want this.”

You did not step back, you didn’t move an inch. Biting the inside of your cheek, you didn’t dare to meet his gaze.

He moved his hand under your chin, lifting your head up, “it is time you keep your end of the deal,” with that he placed his lips on yours. At first, he didn’t move, waiting for you to change your mind.

Then you slightly opened your mouth, inviting him in – an invitation he gladly took. His tongue explored your mouth, consuming you with pure hunger. You tasted just like he imagined, like sweet honey and he doubted he would ever want to stop tasting you.

You snaked your arms around his neck, pulling him closer while he moved to tightly grip your waist. Suddenly he began pushing you towards the bedroom, without breaking the kiss.

Once you were through the door, you turned to push him away in order to breath, “you forget I’m human,” you said breathlessly.

Suddenly you were thrown on the bed, “James,” you shrieked, caught off guard. “Bucky, call me Bucky,” he said, undressing you with his eyes. You didn’t have time to question the change of name as he ripped Andys shirt of your body, “you can give him the shreds back.”

Bucky licked his lips, slowly kneeling down on the bed, his fingers skimmed along your naked skin causing you to lightly twitch. Hooking his fingers under your thong, slipping it down your legs.

Your breath hitched, everything about him screamed dominance but between your legs it was an unexplainable aura. Not even Andy was able to make you feel this way.

Throwing your underwear on the floor he wrapped your legs around his neck, “has he ever tasted you? Really, tasted you?” You just shook your head, flabbergasted with wide eyes, “no, he…just used his fingers,” you confessed, blood pressure rising.

Bucky only gave you one of his signiture smirks before lowering his head to your dripping cunt. He let his tongue glide through, before closing his mouth around your clit and harshly sucking on it. His hands kept your hips in place, he knew this was something you’ve never felt before.

A loud moan left your lips at this new sensation, hand coming down to tightly grip his hair. “Fuck,” you breathed, other hand holding onto the sheets.

Bucky lapped at your cunt like a starved man, “fucking delicious darling,” he groaned against you. Rocking your hips up against his mouth, you whined as it didn’t feel like enough, “more, please.” It made him chuckle, “I didn’t know you had manners, want my fingers so bad?”

You nodded franticly, bucking your hips up again as an invitation. He coated his two digits with your slick, then pushing them inside you. He already felt so much better than anyone else before.

“Gripping me like a vice, I can already imagine how tight you will feel around my cock,” he gloated, curling his fingers against your velvet walls. You just agreed with everything he was saying, enjoying the way he ate you up.

“Oh, shit,” you moaned as you felt a knot tighten in your stomach, the feeling of pleasure consuming your body and Bucky’s sinful words filling your thoughts. Bucky saw you crunching your eyes together and slightly lifting your hips. It was all it took for him to realise how close you were to coming.

The demon curled his finger against your g-spot, tongue circling your clit, “come for me darling,” his beard was scratching against your sensitive skin. A pornographic moan slipped from your lips as a rush of ecstasy crashed into you, it was all it took for you to have one of the best orgasms you ever had.

“Beautiful, my good girl,” Bucky kissed along your stomache, still keeping his fingers inside you to slowly work your through your orgasm. “Don’t lie to me, did little Andy satisfy you like you needed?” he hovered above you, letting his forehead rest on yours.

“No, no, he was always gentle and-,” “you want it rough huh?” he cut you off with a wicked glint in his eyes. You wouldn’t say it like that, but it never mattered what you did, Andy was always nice and took great care of you. Which of course is good to a certain point, however sometimes when you tried to initiate a rougher approach, it didn’t work. At all.

“Yeah, I mean, I’ve never…,” you mumbled, not knowing what to say to him. Without knowing him for long, you could’ve already guessed Bucky was gentle but had no fears of being rough and pushing you as far as he could.

A slap on your drenched cunt had you gasping, head falling back. “Are you already too fucked out to form logical sentences? One orgasm and you’re gone, what will my thick cock do to your little brain?” he cooed.

Yeah, you could die right on the spot. “Now, say it again,” he whispered, continuing to rub your clit in slow circles. Your brain began working overtime, trying to form a complete sentence to please him, “Yes, I want it-,” you had to take a deep breath as he pressed onto nub as he watched you with anticipation, “rough,” you finished.

It was as if something snapped in Bucky, like a coin dropping. Bucky ripped your bra in two before undressing himself. The sight of him made your mouth water, he may be a demon, but he looked divine.

Your eyes trailed down to his large member, standing proud and the tip hitting his lower stomache. Once he was completely naked, he came back to you, gently taking your ankles.

Thinking he would draw you closer to him, you lifted your hips but instead he roughly flipped you on your stomache. Then let his hands glide to your waist, pulling you against his chest. His body radiated with warmth and his hard cock pressing against your lower back.

“I’ll fill you up so good darling, you will feel me for days,” he promised, fingers pushing in your glistening pussy. “You’re so wet for me,” he pulled his fingers from, holding them up to your mouth, “open,” he commanded, instantly, without thinking you listened.

“Suck, darling,” he added, you followed his order and sucked his fingers clean of your slick. “Tastes good, doesn’t it?” a moan slipped from your lips at his words, you would’ve never thought something like that would turn you on this much.

“Now imagine how good we would taste together,” those were the last words you were able to comprehend before his pushed his leaking tip into your cunt.

A loud gasp sounded through the room, being slightly muffled by Bucky’s fingers. He continued to push further inside you, splitting you open. “Bucky,” you whimpered, holding tightly onto his arm.

“Mhm, I was right, you’re so fucking tight. Feel my thick cock splitting you open?” he growled against the shell of your ear. He continued pushing in, the way he stretched you made you feel a kind of pain you welcomed. Bucky began moving his hips at a slow pace.

You tried focusing on forming words, but your head felt empty, he filled you up too good. A deep chuckle sounded through the room, “can’t believe I already fucked you dumb,” he could believe it. “Fuck, see? This is what happens when you finally get properly fucked.”

“Please, faster,” finally you managed to say something, and it didn’t surprise Bucky, but who was he to deny your wish? His pace became rougher. You never thought a cock was able to make you feel this good, you never came from Andy’s before.

With every thrust he hit your spot, god how much he loved the feeling of you clenching your walls together. When he added his thumb into the play you moaned louder. He loved the sounds he could drive from you.

“Such a dumb little slut, this what you were made for,” lacing his hand around your throat and squeezing it made your walls clench resulting in Bucky groaning deeply.

You felt the need to have Bucky closer, his body flush against your, cock stretching you in ways you never dreamed of and yet he was still so far away. You took his free hand to wrap around your waist, a silent order to press you closer to himself.

“Darling am I not close enough for you?” in a teasing tone, he began pressing small kisses to your neck. His cock hitting deep inside you, watching a belly bulge becoming visible. Why did you try to prevent this moment from happening?

“Fuck best cunt I’ve ever had, I’m gonna come and let you milk my cock till the last drop,” Bucky was close to the edge, it had been too long since last had his cock buried inside anyone. He had masturbated to this thought countless times, but it was better than he could ever imagine.

“Come for me, come for the demon you deem he destroyed your life,” you tightened around him, head falling on his shoulder, “I need more,” you begged, you enjoyed his skilled hands.

The demon smirked, letting go of your neck to rub your clit, then shoved his pointer finger in beside his throbbing cock. In response you moaned loudly, a fully new sensation. “That way we can make sure I won’t slip out,” he chuckled, he wouldn’t have slipped out either way, but he enjoyed seeing your reaction.

“Fucking come for me, I said,” his tone became harsher, more controlling. Bucky curled his finger in rhythm with his hard thrusts. That was it the curling finger, the thumb circling your clit, the way he split you open with his cock.

A pathetic whine left you as you came all over Bucky’s cock, bliss shooting through your veins. “Bucky,” you sighed over and over again, the name music in his ears.

“Good girl, told you, you’d be chanting my name” he praised, his pace becoming uneven as his high neared, “milk every last drop of me or I will paint your pretty face with it and let you walk in front of Andy like that.”

He reached his high head falling in the nape of your neck. You accepted every drop of him like you were told, your hand snaking into his hair to ensure he stayed like this.

As the last drop came from him, he stilled in your cunt. Endorphins jumping through the air, you’ve never been happier and this because of a demon who had threatened to ruin your life, who stole millions of souls.

You didn’t know how to act, all your feeling were over the place. Everything felt right, for just a moment you were able to forget everything that happened.

Softly Bucky moved out of you, drawing a whimper from you, “I know you’re missing me already, but we gotta be careful,” why did we need to be careful? You wanted to questioned him, but then he was gone while you laid on the fluffy covers. It only took a second, then he was back with a wet towel to clean you up. You silently observed him, maybe he was right, maybe you couldn’t see a future with Andy and maybe this was more what you wanted.

yall know I love my andy, but he's just perfect for this role, and so there he went.... If you liked it, give a reblog and/or feedback!

[coolcattime]

Fortune's Fate: Part One [Mianite Mortal Deity Swap]

Characters: Captain Capsize, Jordan Captainsparklez

Relationship: Captain Capsize & Skipper Redbeard

Additional Tags: Major Character Death, Grief/Mourning, Suicidal Thoughts, Imprisonment

> Part One < 🎇 Part Two

AO3 Link

Full AU Tag

In this world, there are four gods who rule over the plains and tides of fate that control the lives of mortals:

Lord Tucker - God of the Overworld and Order

Lord Tom - God of the Nether and Chaos

Lord Jordan - God of the End and Balance

and Lady Sonja - Goddess of the Deep Dark and Secrets

However, though mostly forgotten to mortals, only a few short centuries ago another pair of gods ruled with the rest: Lady Capsize, Goddess of Fortune and Lord Redbeard, God of Misfortune. The twin deities disappeared without a trace - a tragedy grieved by their fellow gods as years begun to pass without any hint of their reappearances.

However, their disappearance was not quite as much of a mystery to all their fellow gods as they would let on to the world.

Part One: Fortune

It was, by all accounts, a completely ordinary day.

The world was, as it had been for many a year, completely at peace. The gods were in harmony with each other for the most part, their quarrels being merely that, rather than true fights extending to and affecting the lives of mortals.

The Goddess of Fortune was particularly fond of and found herself thriving in the peace. She always found her head far clearer when she was not receiving prayers for her favour from every soldier in a soon to be bloody battle. In times like these exactly how she chose to focus her domain had far less grizzly effects on the state of the world.

Thus, she liked these peaceful times where her own interests could be her focus. On days like these, she could grant her favour to whichever mortals that happened to catch her eye. To those she believed had the potential to become legends.

Though, Capsize did acknowledge the need to consider the balance. Fortune was meaningless if it was all someone experienced, after all. So, she kept herself in line with the misfortune that her brother was doling out. It was easy enough as the tides of fortune were second nature to her. Even if she couldn’t, she trusted her brother to do his job, just as he trusted her.

The siblings were not always in time, did not always react to what the other doled out immediately, but the understanding of how to balance the other was a part of their very beings. No matter how long one seemed to be in control of the fates of the world, the other’s domain would always rise back and return in kind.

Hence, Capsize saw little reason that having favourites among mortals was any sort of trouble. If she gave any one more fortune than could rightly be justified, then her brother would set them up with a fall.

And she saw no problem with that. It made their tales just that bit more interesting. Though she understood that setting up the mortals on purpose for such a stroke of misfortune merely for her own entertainment was, admittedly, selfish. So, she tried to keep her blessings balanced and let her brother dole out his domain as he willed - just as she did.

Today her interest had been caught once more. A mortal praying for fortune as so many often did, but this one had the makings of a legend. She could just taste it.

They were not a follower of either her or her brother. Few were as the twins were seen as minor deities that rather just assisted with keeping the world functioning. No, this particular mortal was a follower of Tom, Lord of Chaos. Just as most of those that happened to catch her attention were.

That was not to say that she never found interest in followers of the others. It was just… Well… Sonja had as few followers as herself and her brother, so it was quite expected for them to so rarely catch her interest. Meanwhile Tucker and Jordan’s followers just tended to be more strait-laced. Sure, she’d find potential among them occasionally, but it was just a little more difficult when few were ever as bold as Tom's followers.

Like this one that she was currently watching through the eyes of a bat as they ventured ever deeper into a cave network. She could taste the potential, the dreams and ambitions just dripping off them. It was delicious.

They were praying for her favour as they intended to find a lost city in the depths of the Nether. She could not remember herself if such a city had ever existed, but the journey itself she was sure would be worth a watch.

This was one that deserved her favour, she was sure. However, before she could actually bless them with enough fortune to guarantee the beginning of their journey, she was quite rudely interrupted.

“Capsize!” Lord Jordan’s voice cut through her observation, immediately dragging her back to her temple in the End. Thankfully she was used to such jarring transitions, it barely took a moment for her to adjust to her regular form. Though, while she was not jarred, she was certainly annoyed.

Jordan stood before her with his eyes piercing into her, annoyance written across his features as was typical of him when it was just the two of them. Yes, she had grown quite used to the expression and cared little about seeing it once again. His approval meant little to her, as did his petulance. She may aid with keeping the world’s balance, but she was not his to control as he seemed to believe.

His expression did not change as she frowned at him.

She supposed his glare would pierce right through a mortal. It carried the intensity of the unending void, his irises looking like purple stars that could burn just as easily as they could guide. She supposed most of his features were similarly quite intimidating.

So many of them were dragon-like. His skin bore scales, his head horns, his mouth fangs, and his back wings. When he was particularly angry – so most of the times she saw him – he would breathe the poisonous fog that his dragon did. His eyes would glow even more intensely too, which was perhaps why she thought of them as being like stars.

Truly he was the End incarnate. A guardian and a beast – the Lord of Balance, a symbol of his own domain.

She could comparatively be called more human, though only a fool would actually mistake her for one in her true form. Golden glowing freckles covered her copper skin that shone beautifully in the light of sea lanterns that decorated the pillars of her temple. She was human as a statue. The features were right, but she was more a representation than anything else.

And what a representation she was. Looking at the Goddess of Fortune was like looking at one’s greatest victory. It was an aura that most mortals could not fully comprehend, so the tales on the less poetic end of the spectrum tended to just call her beautiful.

However, despite the descriptions given in the tales that mortals spun, her glare was no less intense than Jordan’s.

“Is this important? I was quite busy,” She said with a relatively calm tone, not rising from her throne. She had quite the desire to snap at him. After all, how dare he drag her away from bestowing fortune when someone interesting had come along once more. The words were practically stinging her tongue, begging to be said. However, she did not currently feel like bickering.

“Oh, I know you’ve been busy,” He replied with venom on his tongue, clearly not sharing her mindset. She supposed he never really did. If she was forced to describe him in the nicest way she could, she’d call him ‘particular’. Particular in what he thought balance was. Particular in how he thought she should act.

She would prefer to call him condescending, possessive, or simply just annoying. Again, though, she really was not looking to bicker. She simply wished for him to stop attempting to control the way she influenced her domain and granted her favour.

But clearly, that wish was not going to be granted today. “How much fortune have you granted to Tom’s followers today without regard for anyone else?!”

“Oh? Have I completely destroyed the balance of the world?” She asked with an innocent tilt of her head. She hoped that asking the direct question when she quite well knew the answer to be in the negative would get him to back off. The balance of fortune and misfortune was utterly fine. Not completely perfect, but she and Red kept each other in check.

Yet, as always, the Lord of Balance wanted to act as though she needed lecturing. So why not act oblivious? At least this way she would get back some of the entertainment that he had robbed from her. “Well, I can’t exactly take back the fortune I’ve already granted. Why don’t you bother Red about making them all trip over their own feet for a few days?”

She knew that the smile she asked with was bound to annoy him. Frankly, he deserved such a smile.

He would never annoy her brother in the way that he annoyed her. Nor did he ever go to him after these conversations to try and correct her apparent favouritism despite how that would be the way to correct it if it was actually a real issue. No, of course, he just liked bothering her.

It was as frustrating as it was obviously biassed. Yet she did quite enjoy prodding him into anger.

“Can you take the damage you’re causing seriously for once?!” He was already misting the air, purple fog leaking out his mouth. Why was he so upset about this today? She hadn’t even granted her new interest any favour yet - so what could it possibly be?

Yet clearly something had ticked him off since he was positively fuming. She was shocked that he wasn’t pointing an arrow at her throat with how close he seemed to be to physically lashing out. But Capsize supposed he did not want to bicker either. It just happened that his definition of arguing was quite different than hers. “You’ve gifted Tom a bottle of pure fortune!”

She tilted her head in confusion.

That was what had him this worked up? Her gift to Tom?

Why was he so damn boring?

The longer she remained quiet, the more intense his glare grew. She couldn’t just wait this out, she knew. His eyes were starting to get so bright that he was getting hard for her to look at. But what could she possibly say to satisfy him?

“You think that a gift that Tom is never going to use is causing damage to the balance?” She asked, raising her eyebrows as she lent on the armrest of her throne. She saw little point in taking this seriously when he was making such a big deal over nothing.

Her nonchalance only annoyed him more.

“It’s the potential of it, Cap!” He said, leaving her wrinkling her nose. He always lived in such silly what ifs and maybes, worrying about things that may never come to pass.

It was beyond unlikely that Tom would ever use the bottle that she gave him. He’d hide it alongside his other various treasures and occasionally bring it out to lord over his fellow gods. He liked being able to show off how she ‘liked him more than the rest of them’, using the bottle would rid himself of that possibility.

Besides, if he did use it, Red could negate its effects in an instant.

Yet, for some reason beyond her, here was Jordan causing her a headache over it. Fine, she could do the ‘rebalancing’ that he insisted.

“Very well,” She said, standing up. She approached the god, slowly and purposefully.

Jordan should not have been intimidated. He knew that she was not about to attack him. She was not so foolish. But seeing such a serious look always did send a chill down his spine.

With her shining skin and freckles, alongside the shards of diamonds, prismarine, and amethyst that adorned her curls and toga, she did not give the impression of a warrior. However, she was the Lady of Fortune. Her favour dictated the results of battles and wars. It was impossible to forget that when she approached.

But she did not strike.

Of course she did not. She was not attempting to start a war. She just wanted to get her point across.

So, she merely smiled at him. “I’ll go give a bottle to Tucker. That’ll keep the balance, right?”

She was taunting him, forcing him to admit that he did not want her to do such a thing.

Jordan glared with a barely controlled seethe. She seemed so damn proud of herself.

Still, Capsize merely smiled.

“Can we drink, Jordan?” It was as much a question as a command. He had rudely come into her temple and acted as if he had any rights over her domain. He should be glad she was willing to talk to him at all.

He looked quite like he was considering biting her head off.

However, that did not stop him from summoning two goblets of wine. He handed her one with a glare and scowl she found laughable.

She took a sip before speaking. It was sweeter than she expected, oddly floral considering what she knew of his tastes, but also far nicer than anything she expected him to conjure when he was in such a mood. “Why do you not trust me to manage my own domain?”

“Because you have never once acted with thought, and continuously favour Tom over myself and Tucker,” He said, in no way elaborating on the same tired points he always made. The same points that did nothing but annoy her as she knew without a doubt that he would have nothing to elaborate on.

He was at full strength. Balance was fine. He just seemed to resent her enjoying herself and not doting on his every whim. “If you could have any amount of care then we wouldn’t need to keep having this conversation.”

“I am careful. Though you would never deign to give me credit, my decisions are in fact made with great thought for how they affect the balance of fortune,” She said, the closest she had come to snapping throughout this whole conversation. He refused to acknowledge her as a deity just as he was. As a goddess that had a purpose and choice behind her decisions. He treated her as acting based only on whims and caring little if they lead to disaster.

She caught him rolling his eyes.

He was a self-centred fool. “If you wish to believe me the impulsive idiot that you continuously imagine, I will not remain here to be belittled.”

She downed her drink, shoving the empty goblet into his chest and caring little as it clattered to the ground. She would not be belittled in one of her own temples.

Maybe it was time to find her brother and discuss if it was time for a shift in the balance of their domains. She would remind Jordan what unbalanced fortune truly looked like.

However, she barely took a few steps before she felt so utterly wrong. Like a newborn fawn on ice as control of her body slipped away.

“I don’t think, I know you act completely on impulse,” Jordan said. His voice was dark in a way that it never had been before. He was approaching her as she stumbled and weakened, ready to take her where she would not be discovered. “But don’t worry. I’m sure we can figure that out in a more private setting.”

As he all but confessed to intentionally doing this to her, Capsize finally tasted the sickly flower. Pure wither rose essence, covered by the sweet wine. A deadly toxin to mortals, but it should be a mere intoxicant to a deity. With her powers of fortune, it should not have had any effect on her whatsoever.

However, Jordan had accounted for her domain. From the beginning of their conversation, he had been inflicting his own on her. Balance dictated that no one should have such a lucky life as her, that she was due a terrible event of misfortune.

She would be asleep soon, though she fought with all her might to remain awake. She did little but delay the inevitable.

She collapsed onto the floor of her own temple, left completely at the mercy of the Lord of Balance.

He stared down at her shining form. The Goddess of Fortune, a prize that had been sought by every warlord across the ages and she was his. Though he attempted to remind himself that this was just to teach her about the damage she was doing and correct the blatant favouritism she had been showing to Tom. However, he could not rid himself of the joy that he gained from having proven the legends wrong.

She was not an undefeatable goddess that controlled the fates of all. She was a fickle minor deity that cared little for the important role that she held.

So, he was going to make her learn. Even if his method was extreme. Even if he needed to do his job as well as hers. The protection of the balance was just too important to allow her to keep acting so selfishly.

⚖ ⚖ ⚖

Capsize awoke with foggy thoughts that were only made thicker by confusion. She had not been so weakened in many ages and the haziness that the poison had forced lingered even though she awoke with a fair amount of her strength returned.

Her eyes fought to stay closed. She was so damn tired.

However, she forced herself to resist, to force her own eyes open. When she finally did. The sight before her was enough to shock the exhaustion out of her bones.

“What…?!” She questioned as she found herself in a cage. A far too small cage on a tiny platform floating in the sky somewhere in the overworld. It was cramped, barely enough room to contain her as while she could sit or stand, she was barely able to do either and it certainly wasn’t comfortable.

Her confusion lasted only as long as it took for her head to clear. Longer than she might like, but her memories of the poisoning ran back into her mind, clear memories of Jordan’s betrayal. The memory itself was horrible enough on its own. One of her fellow gods imprisoning her was a terrible act that she had never so much as fathomed happening.

However, reality was only getting worse as the cage around her began to change. The iron bars glowed with a golden light – her golden light.

A draining sickness ran through her whole body, not painful but lingering. As this horrible feeling spread through her, she could sense fortune being granted to a number of cities of Jordan and Tucker’s followers. Far too much fortune for the current state of things.

As the glow faded, the draining numbness did not subside. Though it was such a horrible weakness, she should’ve been able to recover from it in mere seconds. Instead, it remained, drilling down to her very core. Surely, she couldn’t still be so weakened by the poison, but why else would she feel so empty?

That particular feeling, the wrongful emptiness, put an even starker fear into her.

No. He couldn’t have dared. It would be an act beyond just imprisoning her and using her domain. An act that even with all their arguments she never would’ve believed him capable of committing.

Yet, what little belief she had in him was dashed as she pulled down the top of her toga and revealed a gold fissure in her chest.

“No…” She kept staring in disbelief. He had actually taken it.

Her heart had been stolen.

She had been reduced to little more than a power source for whatever Jordan desired to do with fortune.

She had never been so consumed by anger. She slammed her fists into the bars.

It hurt, despite how the bars seemed to be simply made of iron. She should’ve been able to break them even in this weakened state. Instead, another wave of draining sickness flooded her body.

She forced herself to ignore it as she kept attempting to break the bars. Her desperation to escape overruled her exhaustion. She could not remain here, no matter what toll it took on her in this moment.

Yet, she did no damage to the cage. Not even a mere crack in the bars had been created as she collapsed to her knees, with her energy gone.

She was reduced to kneeling with her head leaning on the bars, shaking as reality descended upon her. What hell had she been placed in?

“Oh, you’re awake,” Jordan’s voice came into her ears with a far too casual tone as he appeared in front of her. Anger bubbled from within her, spewing forth as she looked up to see him smiling as if they were in a regular conversation.

“That’s all you have to say, you bastard?!” She shot back to her feet, launching an arm out towards the god.

She wanted to grab him, to choke the life out of him, to make him suffer the feelings he was inflicting on her. She struggled fruitlessly, attempting to grasp any part of him to gain even the slightest amount of leverage over him. But he stood out of her reach as one would a violent caged animal.

She pulled her arm back, keeping her glare fixed on him. He had the nerve to look shocked.

“I’m just correcting the damage you’ve done to the balance. I didn’t expect you to awaken so quickly, but now that you have, I’m happy to discuss the learning experience I’ve set up for you,” He spoke, ignoring her glare. She never liked listening to him. That is why he had had to resort to this extreme method.

Still, it would be but a moment in their godly lives. A mere uncomfortable moment, and he would be able to inspire her to finally take the importance of her domain seriously.

“Learning experience?! That’s what you call poisoning me?! Stealing my heart, my domain! And using me as a damn battery!” She spat at him, again slamming her fists into the bars. This was nothing short of an act of war. Even imprisoning a champion or messenger like this would be an unthinkable act except for the most hideous crime.

Yet, here he stood casually acting as though he was doing her a favour. As if she was an unruly child that he was justified in putting in time out.

It was infuriating. At least if he was acting like a warmongering bastard then she could be satisfied with the knowledge that the others would quickly realise what had happened to her.

But he seemingly wasn’t going to be making moves against the others. He just wanted to control her.

How long would it take for any of them to notice her absence?

Red would notice, she reassured herself. Her brother would know that it wasn’t her granting fortune in such an extreme way. And he, in turn, would alert the others.

That should’ve been a comforting thought, but she could not bring it to actually be so.

“If you ever listened to me, I wouldn’t have had to do something so extreme,” He said sternly. He had given her more than enough chances to consider her impact on the balance. She had chosen her own whims and fancies time and time again. This was a necessary lesson. Though, he did know how it would look.

This could very easily turn to war if the others found her like this when she was still so angry. None of them understood what it was like to have their domain so dependent on the other gods. They had no idea the sort of damage her fickle interests did to him. “But now you are going to listen.”

“No! You can listen!” She snapped. So many times, she'd been forced to listen to him witter on about the harm she was apparently causing the balance. Never had he ever had an example of harm that she had actually caused, but he wanted her to listen?! He’d taken this situation far beyond the point of just talking. “There is nothing wrong with the balance of fortune! Red and I can feel it! It’s part of us! If it was unbalanced, you’d see the physical effects on us!”

She had no better point to make - there was no other point that she should have to make. It was the same for all the gods, their appearance changed based on the current strength of their domains.

Even when she and Red were in a wave of purposely skewing the balance, they made sure not to weaken the other significantly. She wouldn’t weaken her brother for simple fancies as Jordan was clearly implying.

And her words did cause the smallest amount of hesitation in the Lord of Balance. Admittedly, he could not say that he had noticed either of the siblings looking stronger or weaker than the other. It only stayed for a moment though. After all, he was sure that Capsize’s skin shone brighter than her brother’s.

Clearly, then, something was unbalanced.

She was still just looking to be difficult. He was better off leaving her until she worked her spite out of her system.

“I’ll be back when you’re calm enough to discuss things civilly.”

“No! Don’t you dare leave me here!” She again tried to grab him. The action was just as pointless as it had been previously, but her anger returned thoroughly as he disappeared.

When she got out of here, she would kill him. Damn the consequences, he deserved it.

But he would never let her free willingly. Not when he genuinely thought she posed a risk to the balance.

So, despite knowing how it would drain her, she again flung herself into breaking the bars. She would not be trapped and contained into having to agree with his insanity. She would escape and he would suffer for this.

Her attempts once again proved fruitless, though she did not stop even when exhaustion began tugging. Only when sleep forcefully took over did she finally stop, entering a restless slumber with her forehead pressed against the bars that held her.

⚖ ⚖ ⚖

The shattering awoke her.

The exhaustion, frustration, and anger that had been completely consuming her were vaporised in an instant, replaced by sheer panic. She shot to her feet.

Immediately, she attempted to break the bars again.

She knew that she was attempting an impossible task. If she had been unable to break them earlier when she was at relative strength, what chance did she have now? This cage had been designed just for her. Every thrash was draining. With her heart stolen, she stood no chance at all.

But none of that mattered.

Her thoughts were all consumed by a singular panic. Someone was killing her brother, and she needed to reach him no matter the cost.

It was as if another part of herself was being ruthlessly ripped away. Herself and Redbeard were as much one as they were separate, their domains linked just as they themselves were. Even with all that had been stripped from her, she had still been able to feel him. In her slumber she had felt him trying to nullify Jordan’s actions.

It had always been the two of them. It needed to be the two of them. Misfortune and fortune both needed the other to exist. She was simply not meant to exist without her brother.

But he was dying. Their bond was being haphazardly smashed apart as she could only thrash and scream, unable to reach him.

“Red please!” She begged as if anyone could hear her. As if, if she asked with enough desperation, that if she just kept trying to reach him, he might fight that tiniest bit harder to live. Maybe somehow if she gave every drop of energy she had left to this action, she would be able to break free and reach him.

Had this been any other moment of her life, that is how reality would’ve bent. But with her powers stolen away, fortune no longer acted in her favour.

Far away and out of her control, her connection with her brother shattered. In the same instant, a wave of misfortune billowed out across the lands. A coming terror that none could see but her.

Capsize completely collapsed. Her cries of anguish carried through the night, heard by none but the animals in the plains far below her, but felt by all that had ever been touched by fortune. A haunting wail carried through the night until her exhaustion caught up to her and she was forced once more into slumber.

It could’ve been weeks, days, or merely hours before she awoke again. Once more, Jordan stood before her. Drained and exhausted, she looked up at her captor unable to muster the bite he was rightly owed.

Instead, with quiet numbness, she made the only request she could that would stop the oncoming plague.

“You need to kill me.”

If she was gone, fortune too would be released. The forces would be up to the universe, likely unbalanced and wild, but without a vessel for misfortune, it was the closest she would be able to get to balance. Carrying on her existence with her brother gone would have no point besides pain.

Jordan looked down at her, not having processed her words. He had never seen the Lady of Fortune look so weak.

Her shine was completely gone, her freckles looking more akin to blackstone than gold. Her copper skin had weathered, great patches of it now covered in a blue rust. Even the gems that adorned her seemed somehow faded.

He looked down at her with a building dread. Despite how he was still attempting to deny it, all his thoughts were screaming that her condition was his fault. If even he could not deny it, what would the others think if they discovered her now?

It would look as though he had done everything with the worst of intentions. They would believe that he had wanted to imprison Capsize to merely steal her power. They wouldn’t see the nuance, the necessity. And they would almost certainly believe he killed Redbeard.

Everything had gone wrong all at once. He had to fix this somehow.

“Please. Kill me,” Capsize repeated. This time Jordan heard her, and the request only startled him more.

“No!” He said, horrified at the notion. He would not drop to the level of killing his fellow gods. Even if they had had their quarrels, he did not want to even consider a world where she was just gone.

Capsize did not manage to hold back her sobs. Did he truly want her to beg? Or did he just enjoy seeing her in pain?!

“I shouldn’t exist like this! Without Redbeard, I’ll be forever weakened, and fortune will never be balanced! There isn’t another choice… So please,” She was not above begging if that was what he wanted. There was no pride left in her. She would twist her request into words he would have the highest chance of listening to, make a request that would make him feel justified and heroic.

Anything to escape this grief.

“No,” Jordan said again. His tone was softer now, considering. “There has to be another way.”

He was sure that there would be another way to restore the balance of fortune without having to kill her.

Perhaps the universe was mocking him. After all, he had wished endlessly that Capsize would take the balance seriously. Now here she was willing to make an impossible choice for the sake of balance, but she was requesting something he certainly could not do.

Even though he knew she was correct. Without a vessel for misfortune, balance couldn’t be restored…

Without a vessel…

“I could combine your domains. Make you the singular deity of fortune and misfortune,” He said as the idea cemented in his head. It was perfect. Balance would be restored and Capsize could remain alive.

Capsize, however, was horrified.

“No! No, it’ll take too long! Everyone will suffer in misfortune for centuries! You’ll weaken too! Please, just—”

“It’s okay. Losing some of my strength is a fine enough sacrifice for my part in this,” He assured her, not realising that his words were anything but.

Capsize did not want to survive. She did not want to take her brother’s domain and continue living alone. But she was entirely at Jordan’s mercy. If he was decided on this, there would be no talking him out of it.

But that did not mean Capsize would surrender herself to this horrible plan. She may not be able to escape by force, but she could build up her strength over time.

She would have at least a century before Jordan would be able to do such a thing. That would be more than enough time to gain herself eyes and perhaps a voice outside this cage.

She would escape this imprisonment, avenge her brother, and then restore the balance of fortune. She was content to wait as long as it took. Just as her captor’s, her mind was set.

[kacchanot-fucking-deal-with-this]

Bakugou secretly loving it when Deku calls him Kacchan is one of my top five favorite tropes of all time and it will never not be good. it's literally canon. and even if it wasn't you can't change my mind.

[obsessedwithceleste]

The Cat Chronicles

(Or five times Theodore Nott *accidentally* stole your cat)

Theodore Nott x reader

word count: 5.9k

©️ obsessedwithceleste. all works posted here belong to me and should not be reposted or copied in any way or form.

1

The first time your cat went missing, you didn’t think entirely too much of it. You knew many of the Hogwarts cats liked to gather behind the herbology greenhouse where a particularly plentiful patch of catnip grew. However, Gladys was never one to miss meal time, and when the time came to 30 minutes after her usual feeding time, you knew something was amiss. With a sigh, you made your way out to your common room where you saw Cho sitting by the fireplace with several other of your class mates.

“Has anyone seen Gladys wandering about? She missed feeding time and I haven’t seen her much today,” you say as you approach the group.

“I haven’t, sorry y/n. We’ll keep a look out for her though,” Cho tells you.

You let out a small sigh of disappointment.

“Thanks Cho,” you say before heading out to wander the halls of the castle, hoping to find your elusive, black cat.

You start out by the greenhouse where you see a whole gaggle of cats, but none with the sleek black coat that identified your furry friend. You then walked around the grounds a bit more with no luck, before moving on to the kitchens where several of the house elves promised to keep an eye out for the small black cat. You even checked several empty class rooms before coming to a stop outside the library. It wouldn’t hurt to check. Twenty minutes later, you were still completely out of luck. Tired and frustrated, you were about to call it a night when a loud chorus of voices turn down the hall. You look to see who it was and find a hoard of Slytherin boys making their way towards you. You recognized them of course, but didn’t exactly know them. What you did know however, was the mop of black fur one of the taller boys in the back of the group was holding.

“Gladys!” You exclaim, rushing towards the group of boys.

Their eyes all turn towards you and at the sound of her name, the fiesty black cat springs from the arms of the boy and runs towards you.

With a large grin of relief, you scoop the cat up into your arms, feeling her light purr as you scratch behind her ears. Feeling several pairs of eyes on you, you look up to see the group of boys still staring at you and your cat.

“Um, thanks, for finding my cat,” you say awkwardly, squeezing the cat to your chest lightly. The tall, brunette boy who had just been holding your cat only nods silently before turning and walking off, the rest of the group following, except one.

“Hey, sorry about Theo. He means well, really. Man really likes cats, but doesn’t have one of his own, so he sometimes makes friends with cats wandering the halls. We’ve all told him that he should probably stop, ah, borrowing, people’s cats, but he can’t seem to resist. Names Enzo by the way,” the boy says with a friendly smile, extending his hand out.

You take his hand, shaking it cautiously before a smile creeps it’s way onto your face.

“Thank you, Enzo.” You say, hesitating a moment before adding, “You know, Gladys is a picky bitch. Theo must be a pretty okay person if she let him carry her around.” You tell him before disappearing with your cat.

2

The second time your cat went missing, you honestly didn't realize she was missing at all. Theo had found his way down to the kitchens about a week after the original cat incident. That's how he thought of it anyway. The kitchens were one of his favorite places to lurk as not many students knew of the secret entrance behind one particular painting of a fruit bowl. The real attraction that often drew the brunette boy to the hidden sanctuary however, was the constant stream of cats that often visited the house elves who happily offered up dishes of cream and other treats. Plopping himself down on the floor next to a particularly populated bowl of milk, Theo's eyes were immediately drawn to a familiar set of glowing yellow orbs.

"Hello there, Gladys," he said hesitantly, decently sure that was the name called out by the pretty Ravenclaw girl who had stolen the cat from him a few nights ago.

Well, stolen in this case was rather relative, as the cat was technically hers, he supposed. Hearing her name however, the little black cat pranced over, nuzzling her head affectionately against his leg with a soft purr. Picking the sweet creature up into his arms, Theo stroked her soft fur, thinking back to his encounter with her owner, a grimace reaching his face.

He had been a downright bloody idiot. That was for certain. Theo was not usually one to be rendered incompetent by the mere presence of a pretty girl. No. That was meant more for Enzo. Or even Draco sometimes. But never Theodore. In fact, Theo had quite the reputation for his tendency to sleep around which made the idea of his mind completely blanking at the sight of this cat's owner all the more embarrassing. Matteo had made fun of him ruthlessly later that night. What had he said again? Right. Absolutely nothing. Just nodded like a right dunce.

The only solace Theo had gotten from that night was when Enzo pulled him aside quietly and told him what the pretty girl from earlier had said about him. "He must be pretty okay." It was hardly a compliment, but after the fool he'd made of himself, it really was the best Theo could hope for. Shaking the thoughts from his mind, Theo once again focused on the little beast snuggling contentedly in his arms, carefully scratching behind the ears, a spot he'd found the cat quite liked.

The sound of the entrance painting swinging open startled Theo; and he honestly wasn't sure if he was elated, or absolutely mortified that the very girl who had been previously plaguing his thoughts was stepping through into the kitchens.

You honestly weren't entirely surprised to see the boy from a few nights ago sitting on the floor, cradling your cat, when you entered the kitchens. After Enzo had admitted to you that the handsome brunette had a soft spot for the castle's feline population, you figured it was only a matter of time until you bumped into him here considering it was a hot spot for the four legged beasts.

"Hello. See you've managed to find my cat again," you say, offering a small smile to the boy in front of you. After your encounter with that particular group of Slytherins, you did a bit of asking around, finding that Theodore Nott, while a bit known for his escapades with the female population, was actually one of the more talented wizards of your year. And one of the more level headed. (But in comparison to Draco and Matteo, you weren't exactly sure how much credit to give him there.)

The boy blinks up at you once before seeming to find his voice.

"She's a sweet little thing," he says finally, clearing his throat and looking anywhere but you.

You cautiously move forward, more worried about spooking the boy in front of you than the cats. Sitting down, you allow a pretty little Siamese kitten to wander into your lap. Gladys hisses with jealousy, but remains snuggled in the arms of the boy.

"She really seems to like you. Bit surprising. She's really not much of a people person," you tell him.

Theo nods at you, an action you found yourself growing familiar with.

"Enzo told me." He replies curtly.

You open your mouth to respond, but don't quite know how, so you let an awkward silence roll over the two of you.

"Well, I find that Gladys is a very good judge of character," you say finally.

Theo lets out a small smile at this, continuing to stroke your cat's soft fur. After that, the two of you fall into a comfortable silence with Theodore continuing to shower your cat with affection while you distract the many other felines, crowding the kitchen floor.

"Theo?" you wonder finally, the question burning away at you. The boy looks up, and you find yourself getting lost in the surprisingly soft brown eyes staring back at you. Breaking from the trance with a small shiver, you ask, "If you like cats so much, why don't you have one of your own?"

Theo's eyes immediately fall, and his hand freezes mid pet, much to Gladys' dismay. A pang of guilt washes through you.

"My father isn't much of an animal person," He replies stiffly.

You give him a small nod in response before rising from the floor.

"It's getting pretty late, I should get going," you say softly. "Gladys can find her way back to the tower on her own just fine," you add when you see Theo make no move to release the cat.

Without another word, you move to open the portrait door. You enter the hall with a small smile gracing your lips as you hear his voice quietly as the door closes.

"Thank you, y/n."

He knew your name.

3

The next time Theo met Gladys was much sooner than he expected. He had left the kitchens several hours ago and was now laying in bed. The clock sitting on his bed side now read 1am. The deafening silence was about to finally lull him to sleep when an insistent scratching at the door caused his eyes to fly open. Sitting up, Theo glanced at the door warily before finally deciding to cross the room to find out what was causing the noise.

As soon as the door opened, a black shadow darted through, making a beeline for his bed. How it seemed to know exactly where it was going, Theo had no clue. Making his way silently back to his bed, careful not to wake either of his roommates, Theo was finally able to make out the dark shape of an ever familiar black cat.

"Hi there, principessa," he whispered, gently stroking the cat's ears before crawling into the bed next to it. Gladys seemed to take this as an invitation to curl up in the nook of his arm, and Theo wasn't about to object. The last thought he remembered before drifting off was how nice it would be if Gladys' pretty owner was there too.

"Theo, what the fuck."

Theo woke with a start, to the loud voice of Lorenzo Berkshire ringing out above him. His eyes opened to see the other boy hovering over his bed, a look of shocked confusion apparent on his face.

"Is that y/n's cat?" he asks, leaning down as if to get a closer look at the fluff ball still snuggled in Theo's arms.

"No way," Matteo laughs from the other side of the room. "You stole her cat again? What, is this some sick and twisted new way for you to lure girls into your bed?"

Theo launches a pillow at Matteo's head. He doesn't miss.

"You better go return that thing before y/n starts to worry," Enzo advises, going back to his own side of the room. "And maybe just ask her out while you're at it hmm?" He adds, quickly ducking behind his fourposter before Theo has the chance to send another pillow flying his way.

With a heavy sigh, Theo comes to a stop outside of what he's pretty sure is the Ravenclaw common room. He's about to raise his hand to knock, when the golden eagle head mounted to the door springs to life.

"What gets broken, without being held?" The eagle asks, blinking at him slowly.

Right. Theo knew about this. The most annoying of the common room doors because instead of a password, the bloody door required you to answer a riddle. Theo was about to turn on his heel to leave when he felt a light presence behind him.

"Hello Theo. Hello Gladys." The platinum blonde haired girl said, giving the two of them an airy nod, before turning her attention to the door. "Would it perhaps be, a promise?" she asks.

The door swings open and Theo quickly hurries after the girl, making his way up the staircase. He'd never actually been inside the Ravenclaw common room, and his breath hitched when they reached the top of the stairs. The main room really was magnificent, nothing like the dark, eerie dungeons of the Slytherin common room. Theo eyed the shelves of books lining the wall longingly.

"Her room is just there, up and to the left," the blonde girl he'd followed in says, breaking him from his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Y/n? Her room is just there," the girl repeats, gesturing to a door at the top of another small flight of stairs.

"Oh. thanks," Theo makes out, giving the girl a nod of gratitude.

"Name's Luna by the way. Luna Lovegood." She says whimsically before floating off.

With a deep inhale to calm his nerves, Theo makes his way up the stairs and knocks gently on the door. Gladys lets out a meow of protest. Absolutely nothing could have prepared Theo for what was on the other side of the door. He felt his throat go completely dry as the door swung open and you stood in front of him in what was probably the shortest, skimpiest set of clothing that could possibly be considered pajamas. Theo tried not to stare, he really did, but he was only a man. A very weak and smitten man.

"Oh! There you are Gladys. I wondered where you wandered off to last night!" you say looking at your cat and then back up at Theo, and then again at your cat before looking back up at Theo expectantly. "Um. May I have my cat back?"

Theo jolts back to life, realizing he'd been staring and looks at you sheepishly.

"Sorry, don't know how this little one found me. Snuck her way into the Slytherin common room and then into my dorm. Didn't want to leave her in the halls alone, so I let her stay the night," he tells you.

You stare at the boy in shock, realizing that was the longest string of words you'd ever heard out of him.

"Wow Theodore, I'm impressed. I think that's the most I've ever heard you talk. And here I was thinking you were secretly illiterate," you say with a playful grin.

"Please," the boy scoffs. "I'm the picture of eloquence."

Interested in where this sudden burst of confidence that you didn't normally see from him had come from, you take a step back, inviting him into your room. He hesitantly accepts your invitation, bringing Gladys along with him.

"No roommates?" he asks, perching on the edge of your bed as Gladys purrs softly on his lap. At the moment, you found nothing more attractive than this man absolutely pampering your beloved pet.

"Not many Ravenclaw girls in our year, we had the option to share, but most of us opted for solo rooms. Wanted the extra privacy, I suppose," you tell him, leaning on one of the posts at the end of your bed.

Theo nods his head at this.

"I have two roommates," he shares.

"One of them happen to be Enzo Berkshire?"

Theo nods again. "And Matteo. Riddle" he adds.

You cock your head at that with a grin.

"Interesting pairing," you comment, imagining the chaos those two must bring with them.

"It never gets boring," Theo responds.

A moment of silence passes.

"I was wondering if you wanted to study together sometime. I hear you're exceptionally talented at potions. And Charms. And everything really." Theo lets out finally.

You raise an eyebrow at the boy, internally screaming.

Trying to keep your cool, you tilt your head, "I hear you are too."

It's like a switch flips inside Theo.

"Well, we're obviously perfect for each other than," He replies easily, a cocky grin beginning to spread across his face. "Meet you in the library tomorrow at 7? And bring the cat."

You let out a laugh as Theo rises from the bed, gently placing Gladys down on the pillow, before going to make his way out of your dorm.

"You only like me for my cat," you joke, shifting to watch as he crosses the room to the door.

"Not just for your cat," he assures you, "I love the outfit, wear it for me more often, hmm?" he says slyly before the door thuds shut behind him.

You look down at your outfit, jaw dropping open and heat rushing to your cheeks.

4

Theo's head was pounding. Music pumped through the Slytherin common room and Theo could barely see through the crowds of people around him as he pushed his way to the circle of sofas occupied by his friends. Collapsing into a spot next to Matteo, the boy offered him another shot of who-knew-what which he quickly knocked back.

"When's that pretty little thing that's been occupying all your time gonna join us at one of our little gathering?" Matteo slurs out, gesturing to the large crowd around them.

Over the past several weeks, you and Theo had grown significantly closer; your first study date quickly becoming a daily occurrence as you found that you each were able to easily keep up with one another. Something about having a partner who was actually able to challenge you was exhilarating. From there, you found yourselves often seeking each other out simply for the sake of good company, Gladys largely increasing the number of these meetings.

"Don't know that Gladys would like it. Cat's aren't supposed to ingest alcohol," Theo responded, not quite drunk enough to fall for his friend's taunting.

Enzo places another shot in his hand, and Theo raises a brow at him, before knocking that one back as well.

"Did you ever ask y/n why in Salazar's name, she choose to name her cat Gladys?" Matteo asks. "If my name were Gladys, I'd being running off constantly too."

Theo thumps Matteo on the back of the head.

"You leave our cat out of this, she ain't do nothin wrong," he says, glaring at his friend.

"So now she's our cat is she?" Enzo asks, a smirk growing on his face. "Didn't know you and y/n were so serious."

"It's our cat damnit! If marrying y/n is what it takes to finally have a cat of my own, so be it," Theo says decidedly.

Enzo snorts at his clearly, very drunk friend. "Careful, or one might think you're only into her for her cat. And not the cunty kind."

Theo scowls at this. "Y/n says that all the time, but have you seen that ass? And the way she mopped the floor with Draco in potions the other day? She's perfect."

"Yeah? Why don't you go tell her that then?" Matteo says, wanting nothing more than to see a drunk Theo try to make his way to Ravenclaw Tower.

"You know what? I will. And I'll pet Gladys too." Theo states. A look of pure, intoxicated determination set on his face.

Lorenzo eyes his friend warily. While not exactly sober himself, he didn’t particularly like the look his friend was giving them.

“Aw c’mon Enz, don’t you try and be the voice of reason now,” Matteo drawls, sensing the hesitation coming from his friend. “Don’t you want to meet the lil thing our beloved Theodore has been obsessing over for weeks now?”

“I’m not obsessing,” Theo snaps, taking a sip straight out of a random bottle he’d picked up from the table.

“Let’s go. I’m gonna steal her cat. For real this time.”

With a wide grin, Matteo jumps up, ready to follow his friend wherever the night took him. With a low groan, Enzo followed suit, knowing that his pair of roommates would need some sort of guidance to prevent them from walking themselves straight of the edge of the astronomy tower.

You didn’t have a lot of expectations for the quiet Friday night that you were spending curled up with a book and your cat. It was late, and after a long and stressful week, the time alone with Gladys was just what you needed to really recharge. You had spent most of your day lounging out on the lawn next to the Black Lake with Theodore, studying with and harassing the boy. A small smile crept onto your face, remembering the way his brown curls had floated about in the soft breeze.

You really hadn’t expected for the two of you to become so close, so quickly, but you weren’t complaining. You’d grown quite fond of the boy, especially once he started opening up a bit more. You’d initially thought that he was a man of very few words, but quickly learned he was in fact very sharp witted and even a bit snarky at times. Time spent with him had easily become your favorite part of the day and was something you were constantly looking forward to.

A sharp knock jolted you from your thoughts, causing you to jump a bit where you were sitting, Gladys letting out a yowl of protest.

You quickly cross the room and open the door to find a very miffed looking Cho, a frown imbedded on her face.

“Sorry to bother, but could you please come get your boy under control? He’s upsetting the portraits.” She says.

You blink once. Then again.

“Sorry?”

“Your Slytherin fellow? He’s out in the corridor with two of his friends harassing the door,” she explains, turning to lead you down the spiral staircase.

You’re not even halfway down when you begin to hear the voices.

“Who in the bloody hell would want to be in Ravenclaw with this blast-ended skewt ass looking-“

“Matteo you can’t curse out the door.”

“I’ll curse at the bloody door if I want to bloody curse at it.”

You grimace, looking at Cho who looks back with a similarly displeased facial expression.

“Sorry bout them. I’ll take it from here,” you tell her when you reach the bottom.

With a slight nod, she turns to retreat back up the stairs. With a sigh, you push the door open, almost taking out Matteo who had been leaning on it for support.

“Hi amore, fancy seeing you here,” Theo slurs, a grin taking over his face at the sight of you.

Enzo leans against a pillar, face in hands, looking like he wanted to disappear. You could smell the alcohol on all of them.

“Hi Theodore. Are you sober?” You ask, already knowing the answer.

“I’m moderately functional,” he replies with a lopsided smile.

“I’m taking that as a no,” you say, glancing worriedly at Matteo who was currently laying spread eagle on the floor. “Let’s get you boys back to your common room.”

“I wouldn’t. Party’s not gonna end any time soon. They’ll just get more hammered and start wandering off again,” Enzo advises, head still in hands. “Like herding hippogriffs with those two.”

“And Theo hasn’t proclaimed his undying love for y/n yet!” Matteo adds.

You feel heat rise to your cheeks and Theo glowers at his friend.

“It’s okay Theo, I know he’s drunk,” you say, not certain if you were saying it more to comfort him or yourself.

Theo ignores you however, turning his attention back to the door.

“Let us in, I just want to pet the cat,” he tells the door, swaying ever so slightly.

For Salazar’s sake. Man gets absolutely wasted and just wants to pet your cat. You go to grab onto Theo to steady him, but he has other plans. Immediately, he wraps his arms around you, nuzzling his face into your hair.

“Hi,” he mumbles, picking you up just enough that your toes barely touch the ground. “I missed you. Can we see the cat now?”

Not knowing what else to do, you glance helplessly at Enzo.

“Would you be able to get Matteo up the stairs?” You ask.

“I can try. He’s a stubborn bastard though.”

You turn back to the door, knocking once. The eagle once again moves to life, glaring at the scene in front of it.

“If the day before yesterday was the 23rd, what is the day after tomorrow?” It asks crankily.

“We’re too fucking wasted for this bloody bullshit,” Matteo moans from the floor.

You try to ignore Theo’s tight grasp on your waist and Enzo prodding at Matteo with his foot before answering. “The 27th.”

The door swings open and you try your best to haul Theo through, Enzo following closely behind with a very disgruntled Matteo. Dragging the boys up the staircase feels like the most difficult task of your life as you constantly tell Matteo to lower his voice and mind his mouth while also trying to ignore the very minimal distance between yourself and Theodore. When you finally make it to the top, you rush to herd the boys into your room before slamming the door shut behind you with relief. Theo immediately stumbles over to your bed, collapsing face first in the middle and snatching Gladys into his arms.

“No roommates?” Enzo asks, looking around the room and seeing the single empty bed that you had pushed into the corner at the beginning of the year.

“No, thank Rowena. I would not want to have to explain whatever this is.” You reply, motioning to Theo and Matteo who was now wandering about the room.

“Room’s a mess. Coulda at least cleaned up a bit,” he says, poking at the various books and blank scrolls lying about.

“Had I known I would be having guests at,” you glance at the clock, “almost 2 in the morning, I’m sure I would have.” You say dryly.

Retrieving your wand from your desk, you point it at the spare bed. “Engorgio.” The wooden frame creaks as it expands until it can comfortably fit 2 people. You look at Enzo.

“Good luck with that one,” you say, almost feeling sorry for the boy as Matteo flops onto the bed with a groan.

“Looks like you’re gonna need it more than me,” he replies, gesturing to Theo who was out cold, Gladys trapped and bug eyed in his grasp. With a sigh you and Enzo each resign yourselves to your respective charge.

“Theodore,” you whisper, giving the boy a light shove. No sign of life. You give him a slightly harder shove, allowing Gladys is wriggle out of her prison. Frowning, you sit down on the edge of the bed, using most of your body weight to shove Theo to one side of the bed before sliding under the covers. Now deeming it safe, Gladys hops back into the bed, nestling into your arms happily. You’re about to close your eyes when you feel arms snaking around your waste, pulling you into the very warm chest of Theodore Nott. You freeze, holding your breath, not sure if the boy is asleep or not.

“Goodnight mi amore,” he whispers into your neck, causing the hairs to prickle.

Definitely not asleep.

“Goodnight Theodore.”

You hadn’t had any expectations for the night really, but you definitely had not expected to have multiple overnight guests who were trying to steal your cat. And you most certainly did not expect to drift off in the arms of Theodore Nott.

5

The next morning you wake up missing the usual lump of fur weighing down on your chest. Immediately you bolt upright, eyes shooting around for any sign of your furry companion before the events of last night wash over you. Enzo and Matteo are both still out cold and when you look down, your jaw drops open. Theo is fast asleep, back facing you, Gladys snoozing contentedly while cradled in his arms. Even in his sleep this absolute tosser had managed to steal your damn cat.

Careful not to wake the boys, or Gladys, you silently sneak across the room and disappear out the door. Once you’re safely out of hearing distance, you make your way quickly down the kitchens. A little known fact about the Hogwarts house elves was that many had once served in the homes of different wizarding families at one time or another. This meant that many of the elves were all too familiar with the valuable hangover potion that you sought.

Ducking in through the portrait hole, it wasn’t difficult to persuade the elves into handing over 3 glistening blue vials. You had always been kind to them, often chatting with them during your visits with the cats.

Your task complete, you made your way back to Ravenclaw tower, taking your time as you didn’t expect the boys to be up any time soon. They really had been plastered. Not even Enzo had been completely sober you recalled.

You’re just passing the entrance to the dungeons when a voice calls out.

“Hey! You!”

You’re ready to continue on your way before noticing that there was no one else in the corridor they could be referring to. You turn to see two girls you recognized as the Greengrass sisters hurrying towards you.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” the shorter blonde girl says when they get closer. You’re pretty sure that one is Astoria. “You’re the girl Theo has been seeing right?”

You nod your head cautiously. You knew Theo had a reputation for getting around, so if that’s what this was about, things were about to become quite awkward.

“You haven’t happened to see him or Matteo or Lorenzo, have you?” The other girl, Daphne, asks.

“Draco said he saw the three of them leave the party together last night, but no one saw them come back,” Astoria explains.

You feel yourself immediately relax. Good. At least this was something you could help with.

“You two are lucky you found me then I suppose,” you tell them, gesturing for them to follow. “The three of them tried breaking into Ravenclaw tower last night, so I let them crash in my dorm.”

“Oh Salazar. Were they trying to steal your cat? I’m so sorry. When Matteo gets drunk he has a tendency to try and egg Theo on,” Astoria frets.

You give the girls a strange look. “You know about my cat?” You ask, surprised.

“Oh sure,” Daphne replies. “Whole group does really. Boys came back one night going on about how Theo was just smitten with some Ravenclaw with a cute cat. And I can see why. You’re gorgeous by the way.”

You blush at her statement, diverting the subject away.

“The boys should probably still be asleep. I just ran down to the kitchens to get these,” you tell them, brandishing the potions you had gathered. “Once they’ve downed these, they’re all yours.”

Astoria eyes the potions with jealousy and you realize the two girls were probably decently hung over as well.

“Oh you can keep Theo, we were really just looking to collect Enzo and Matt,” Daphne laughs, giving you a sly look. You open your mouth to reply, but stop realizing you had reached your common room door.

After a few attempts, you’re finally able to solve the blasted riddle and the door swings open.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had this many Slytherins in our common room before,” you joke, leading the girls up to your room.

Pushing the door open, you’re unsurprised to see the boys still passed out.

“This must be the infamous Gladys,” Daphne whispers, quietly approaching Theo who was still clutching onto Gladys as if his life depended on it. Again you’re surprised that these girls apparently even knew the name of your cat.

The two coo at the sight of your cat, coming to the conclusion that she was indeed worthy of warranting cat theft before Astoria finally decided it was time for them to get the boys out of your hair. They migrated over to the other side of the room where Enzo and Matteo were sound asleep, leaving you to deal with Theo.

You decide the easiest route, may just be to lure Gladys away, so you fetch her food dish before accio-ing her kibble container. At the sound of her food, Gladys was up and running, darting over for her morning feast. At the sudden loss of fluffy heat, Theo groaned, rolling over, face down into the pillows. After giving Gladys her food, you move back to Theo, giving him a rough shake.

“Come back to bed principessa,” he grumbles, reaching out and flailing his arm in your general direction.

“It’s time to get up Theodore. Come on, I got you three hangover potions,” you say, waving one over his head.

“Did someone say hangover potion? Give,” Matteo demands from the other side of the room. You look over to see Daphne and Astoria sitting on the side of the bed while Matteo and Enzo were groggily waking up.

Pulling out her wand, Daphne gestured for you to toss her the potions which her magic catches easily, levitating the vials over to the other two boys. Matteo snatches one out of the air, quickly downing half before offering the other half to Astoria. Enzo does the same, giving the second half to Daphne who graciously accepts. After a moment, the four of them are looking much more awake.

“Thanks for making sure these three didn’t drown themselves in the lake,” Astoria says, once the potion had really kicked. “And sorry you’re not having more luck with that one. He’s always been a late riser.”

“You’ll be lucky to get him up in the next hour,” Enzo agrees, rising from the bed. “Thanks again y/n.”

The four of them shuffle out of your dorm, a chorus is thanks and apologies strung along until they reached the door. Even Matteo gave you a nod of gratitude. Once they were all gone, you collapse once more onto your bed.

“They finally gone?” You hear Theo ask, as he rolls over to look at you. You nod, faces so close that your noses are practically touching and you can feel small puffs of air as he exhales. “Thanks for last night. I’m sorry for trying to steal your cat.”

You let out a snort at that. “Did you know when I woke up this morning, you had turned away from me completely, and stolen my cat away from me in your sleep?” You ask with a laugh.

Theo at least has the decency to look embarrassed as Gladys joins the two of you once more.

“I should do this more often,” Theo says finally, reaching out to stroke Gladys’s fur.

“What? Get downright plastered and break into my room, or steal my cat?” You scoff.

“Sleep in your bed with you.”

You freeze, looking up to see if the boy was being serious. His eyes blink back at you unwavering.

“You can come back any time,” you tell him, snuggling your way into his chest, ready to fall back asleep in the boy’s arms.

“Will Gladys be here?”

“Oh my god, yes she will be here,” you say dramatically throwing your head back.

Theo grins down at you, leaning in and pressing his lips softly against yours.

“I’m only joking amore,” he says, pressing another kiss to the top of your nose.

“Of course Gladys would be here, she adores me.”

“Get out of my bed.”

A/N

My biggest regret in life, is being highly allergic to cats </3

[shades-o-grey]

"Hello~"

*said like a waiter at a fancy bar* "If you like soft Crowley with a cat, this piece pairs beautifully with this adorable fic by the one and only @itsscottiesstark."

》"Come Rain Or Come Shine"《

@Happy birthday @itchiefeet

I hope you had a great day ♡♡♡

[mactavishsgfandwife]

Simon "Ghost" Riley and Your New Cat 🌷

simon having beef with a stray cat you brought home silly little idea i had no content warnings, just cute fluff, female reader :3 not proofread!

i just realised the cat’s name changes half way through 😭 i’ve fixed it now - 04/11/2024

"What the hell is tha’?" he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck as he stared in disbelief at the little black kitten in your lap.

"I found him. He’s called Lettuce," you grin, cuddling the cat to your chest. You’re well aware that lettuce is a stupid name for a cat, but it just seemed right at the time. The kitten was tiny, and had seemed very weak when you’d discovered him shivering in a box outside your apartment block. Now, he seemed a lot more comfortable, making a little home for himself on your sweater. He was so small - he literally fit in the palm of your hand - but his frizzy black hair stuck out at every angle so that he looked less like a kitten and more like a wiry pompom.

"Love," Simon laughed, rubbing his face with a sigh, "Lettuce looks like a flea. Where the hell di’you find ‘im?"

"Oi, he does not! Well, maybe a bit. I found him in a box. He was meowing at me, he looked so cold…" you stroke the kitten’s cheek with your thumb as you he meows up at you.

"You can’t keep him, he might have diseases. You should give him to a pet shelter." Your boyfriend wasn’t being harsh, he was just worried about you - he didn’t want your little heart breaking because you’d got all attached to a poorly little kitten who might not last the week. But it didn’t come off like that.

"Wh… what..?" you frown, cupping the kitty in your hands to protect it.

"I’ll drive you to the shelter tomorrow, okay?"

"What? Si, no!"

"Baby…" he sighs, trying not to upset you "you can’t just find a scruffy animal on the street and take it home."

"S’what I did with you ," you pout, pulling the same face at him as Lettuce pulls at your sweater sleeve as he paws at it.

"Look," he crosses his arms, about to explain to you the reasons why you two don’t have the space for a cat, nor the prior knowledge. What if the cat walks in on the two of you in bed? What if it bites you and his pretty girl gets hurt? What if you end up loving the cat more than Simon and it steals you away? But your pleading eyes and the tiny, stupid looking kitten chirping in your laps convinces him. If you really wanted anything, you know he’d get it for you, so he’ll let you have your silly kitten.

"Alright, fine. For now." He laughs, ruffling his hair.

"I love you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I love you!" you squeal, gently placing the cat down before jumping up with and wrapping your arms around your boyfriend. He rubs your back softly, watching the stupid fluffy ball on the sofa chirp for your attention. Just because he’s letting you have the cat doesn’t mean he won’t see it as his mortal enemy.

The next morning, after having gone out to buy cat food for you, Simon is sitting on the sofa, softly kissing your neck from behind. You’re sitting in his lap… completely ignoring his affection in favour of the kitty.

"Si, look! He can walk!" you grin, holding the kitten up so it looks like it’s standing on two feet.

"Mhm… cute…" Simon mumbles into the nape of your next, a strong hand wrapping around your waist to pull you into his chest. He is not watching the cat, he’s busy with you.

"I know right!" you ignore his advances still, gazing at your new pet with adoration, "I should make him a little hat, he’d look so sweet."

"Yeah, fuck, you’re so sweet…" Si keeps kissing you, moving between your neck and your shoulders, which are hidden inside his old tshirt.

"He’s so cute," you grin, stroking the back of the kitten’s head until it purrs, "I love him so much… he’s my baby."

That catches Simon off guard. He would never admit it to anyone, but he loves it when you call him your baby. He’s the only one you should be calling baby. This cat is stealing his girl. [gasp]

Si shoots the kitten a death stare.

"Oh yeah, he’s your baby?"

"Yeah, he’s the cutest…"

"Mhm. I’m sure," he pouts. When you’re not looking, he glares at the cat and points from his grey eyes to its little beady ones, like he’s trying to intimidate it.

A few days later, the two of you fall asleep together, with Simon spooning you and holding you close. But you forgot to shut the door. So your boyfriend is rudely awakened by a very small, scruffy kitten stomping on his chest.

"No, oi, get off of me," you can hear him grumbling sleepily as you start to stir, alongside the cute chirping of your kitty.

"Listen, Lettu- cat. Stupid name anyways. We can’t have you disturbing the Mrs, alright?"

You can hear him pause until he hears the kitten meow softly in response.

"Tha’s right, soldier. She’s my Mrs, not yours, and if you so much as try to change that, I will never let you see her again. My girl. Mine," he pouts.

The kitten meows again, as if he’s responding to Simon’s orders. You have to try your hardest not to giggle, biting your lip in the dark as you listen to your big, tough boyfriend have an argument with a little kitten.

"Alright, now leave the lady alone." You almost think you can hear him plant a kiss on the cat’s head before he sets it down at the side of the bed.

You’re away for the weekend, visiting family, without your boys (Simon and the kitten). :(

Simon’s fine, he’s a tough guy, he has no issue being alone - that is, until he’s poorly and he needs you to cuddle him and make him tea. But you’re not there, and talking to you over the phone only makes him feel worse.

So he resorts to laying in bed, in the shade, trying to nap. Poor boy feels too ill to do anything else (he has the man flu).

With the back of his hand over his forehead, one leg over the covers and one leg under, not quite sure whether he’s awake or asleep, he closes his eyes and frowns. A little black ball hops up onto his bed, waking him up a little.

It plods around in a little circle, looking around and exploring its new environment. When the fuzz creature spots Simon, he waddles over curiously, his little feet sinking into the soft duvet cover.

"Hey, cat," Simon smiles softly, watching the fluffy baby wander and get closer to his face. It looks up into his eyes, chirping, and brushes its fur against his cheek before settling into the crook of his neck.

He chuckles, closing his eyes as the tiny guy curls into a ball against him. The rivalry isn’t quite over for Simon, but that funny looking kitty is a little piece of you, and he’s happy to have its affection.

When you come home, it’s to the two of them, cuddled up on your bed. Silently, you change into a t-shirt and slip into bed behind Simon, planting a little kiss on his cheek.

"Told you he was cute."

how i imagine your kitten 💗

i spent way longer on this than i thought i would but it’s so cute and i loved writing it! hope you enjoy lovieeees