#cherry blossom tree lamp

[nicdoesntexist]

19.04.24

[archiveof22048]

02:09 - asakura shin

sfw | fem!reader, hc that shin could see dreams if he concentrates hard enough lol, mentions of sex

how peaceful.

it was a blissful night, one full of young love and inexperienced hands. only the soft light of the lamp on his nightstand remained alive. yours and shin's clothes were strewn about the floor, and the two of you laid naked under his thin blanket. your combined body heat was enough to warm the both of you.

you were fast asleep, tired from your first time with shin. your head rested on his bare chest, an arm wrapped around him. your breathing was steady, a sign you'd been asleep for long.

shin, however, was wide awake.

there was no way he could sleep; after pining for you for so long, he finally had you. all those years of waiting paid off. it was worth it if he got to see you pinned underneath him on his bed, a shy smile gracing your face and silly laughter that shook about the room along with euphoric moans– not to mention the occasional "shh, we can't have sakamoto hearing us," followed by a "he already has, he just doesn't want to barge in on us."

thinking about that got shin blushing.

he began blushing even more when he heard your thoughts that whispered in his ear. you were indeed asleep, but when the world was as quiet as now and all he could hear was your steady breathing, something as innermost as your dreams could come to life as clear as a movie.

though he met you in a setting far from the typical high school, your dream took place in such. the details were murky, but it was as reminiscent and nostalgic as a memory and it was as cliché as a romance manga.

flower petals flew all around you, clutching onto your book bag, as you glanced at the cherry blossom trees in full bloom. eager students walked past you, paying you no mind. you were clad in your own school uniform as well. it was a beautiful first day of school.

shin could feel your excitement starting school, with your beating heart and evident smile on your face. like any shoujo manga female lead, you were in your own world as you twirled around in your skirt, getting a good look at all the trees around you.

it was, however, by your own clumsiness and faults that you accidentally bumped into a student walking by. he grabbed your shoulder, holding you steady, and he uttered a "woah, are you alright?"

you looked at whom you could have bumped into, and it's none other than shin himself. he was flustered at how handsome you had imagined him to be in your dream. much like the male lead of a young girl's comic, he had bright, shining eyes and a sparkling aura that surrounded him. even rosiness adorned his cheeks.

shin chuckled to himself. how cliché could this dream get? it reminded him of the shojo manga and manhwa heisuke and lu, respectfully, have lent him from time to time.

he let go of your shoulder, and you took a step away from him, albeit reluctantly. you turned around to look at him once more, and he found that the distance between you and him grew nearly three meters in a matter of seconds.

he guessed that in your dreams, people didn't walk, they tended to hover to their destination.

"wait..!" you called out in your dream. "before you go, what was your name again...?"

cherry blossom petals blew past you.

"i'm shin," he called back. "what's your name?"

[asmo-d3us]

Marauders Era Characters and telling them you have boy/girl problems

(Parent and Child perspective)

You and the person you have problems with are above 16!!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

James Potter:

He’s cooking in the kitchen for dinner, and you come in, looking very sad and upset. He gets concerned and asks you if you’re okay. You sit down at the counter and don’t reply, he continues cooking and tells you to talk to him when you’re ready.

“___ cheated on me.”

He immediately freezes and stops cooking, his hand fists around the spatula he’s holding. He breathes in deeply and turns around, “The boy/girlfriend that used to come over?” When you nod your head, he hums and returns back to cooking.

Little do you know, he’s about to make you your comfort food and he just texted Regulus about it and now your other dad’s Barty and Evan are going to go solve the issue!

Sirius Lupin:

He’s laying in bed, cuddling with Remus and you come into their room while they’re watching a movie. He notices you and asks you what’s wrong, and you tell him you want to speak with him, so he steps out of the room reluctantly.

“What’s wrong darling?” “I didn’t want papa (Remus) to hear this but I wanted to tell you.” He’s worried, “What’s wrong, love?” “___ cheated on me..”

He just stares at you for a bit, face motionless, but you can see his fists clench together. He clears his throat, smiling softly, and places a hand on your shoulder. “How about I call uncle James and Evan, and you three have a nice movie night, eh?”

You run off and he calls James. Not only does he mention a movie night, but he also tells him the problem. Let’s just say James and Evan aren’t back home for the next couple hours after the movie night with you.

Remus Lupin:

Sitting in his office, on his comfortable rocking chair, reading a book with a lamp on in the dark room. You step in hesitantly, knowing that he doesn’t like when anyone interrupts him while reading. He doesn’t look at you, too invested in his book, so you clear your throat, fiddling with your fingers. He looks at you above his glasses and he hums.

“Hm?” “Sorry, papa, I just wanted to talk to you about something.” He can tell you’re upset so he places the bookmark in his book and closes it, “What’s wrong?” “Sorry, it’s stupid-” You’re tearing up and he immediately stands up, walking towards you and placing a comforting hand in your hair, “Darling, what happened?” “___ cheated on me..”

He continues petting your hair and comforting you, kissing the top of your head as you explain how it all went down. “How about you go to your dad (Sirius) and he’ll comfort you, hm? I promise it’ll be okay.”

When you leave he immediately sits back down at his chair and stares at the wall for a bit. He grabs his phone and messages the group chat with him, Regulus, and Lily. He later comes into the room where you and Sirius are, with a tub of ice cream as he consoles you, and he says that he’s going to the market and he’ll be back soon. Sirius immediately understands and nods his head.

Lily Macdonald:

She’s writing in her journal, sitting outside on the porch underneath the big cherry blossom tree. You come and sit beside her, and she turns her head towards you. She notices you’re upset and her smile falls. “Love, are you alright?” 

“Yeah, it’s just mom (Mary) wasn’t home so I decided to come to you.” “Yeah, what’s wrong deary?” She asks, her hand holding yours. “___ cheated on me..”

She sighs and hugs you, comforting you as you confide in her. Her arms are around you and she’s both listening to you, and coming up with a plan.

Afterwards, she tells you to go inside and get all the snacks out because you both will be having a girls night. Mary comes home, Lily tells her everything and after you fall asleep, they both leave the house and handle the problem themselves.

Mary Macdonald:

She’s doing her makeup for her evening job, and you step into the room. She looks at you from the mirror and frowns, “What’s wrong love?”

You sigh and get straight to the point, “__ cheated on me.”

Her eyebrows fly up and her jaw drops slightly. She turns around and holds out her arms. You run to her and she wraps her arms around you and she tells you to explain everything to her. You both sit down on her bed and she listens to everything you say.

Later on, she tells you that she’ll figure something out for the weekend for you and Lily to do so you feel better. After you walk off, she calls Lily and tells her the plan for tonight. You never hear from that ex ever again.

Marlene Meadowes:

She’s playing soccer outside with Barty and James, and they’re reminiscing about their childhood when they were childhood best friends. They’re trying to get back to how they used to be, and you know that, but you really need someone there for you right now.

“Uh, mama?” you call, and she stops the ball with her foot and three heads turn to you (the parental instinct goes crazy) “What’s wrong, hun?” she asks, and you clear your throat while rocking back and forth on your toes and heels. “Can I talk to you? I’m sorry, it’s just important.” You notice that James and Barty are also concerned but Marlene tells them that she’ll be right back.

“What’s wrong?” She asks right when she steps inside and you sigh, crossing your arms and looking down at your feet. “__ cheated on me.”

She’s quiet and when you look up, her eyes are wide open and angry, her fist clenched around the ball so hard it pops. You jump back and she apologizes before stepping back outside. It makes you upset because you start thinking that she doesn’t care, so you go to your room. In reality though, she’s talking to James and Barty about it and they make a plan to go and torment that child. Afterwards, she comes back home, her fists bruised (you don’t notice), comes into your room, and sleeps with you for the night. (Dorcas doesn’t mind, and might join).

Dorcas Meadowes:

She’s in the garage, sharpening her knives. She had been gone for the past 3 days and you don’t know why, so you don’t want to bother her, but mama Marlene is busy with Barty (who was also gone for 3 days??) and James. When you walk into the garage, she looks up at you and smiles, “Hey hon, I missed you.” she opens her arms for a hug and you gratefully wrap yourself in her arms. “I can tell something’s bothering you. What is it?”

You sigh and pull her away at arm length. “___ cheated on me.”

Her brows furrow and her eyes slightly squint. She inspects your face and slowly picks up the knife, twirling the tip around her finger. “And this upsets you, yes?” you nod and she hums, kissing your cheek and escorting you out of the garage. “Barty’s here right? Tell him to come here and call uncle Evan and Regulus.”

You notify him of the news and he sighs, “Not again, we just finished the job and got back home!” “It’s fine, babe. Just go.” James sighs, knowing that this means Regulus will also have to leave again, hopefully not for 3 days like last time. Barty calls both Evan and Reg, and when they arrive, they speak to Dorcas about it. At first, they’re a bit hesitant because that’s a teenager, but the look in Dorcas’ eyes lets them know that there’s no changing her mind.

Regulus Potter-Black:

He’s in his room, on his bed, reading a book while listening to white noise. Dad James is busy in the kitchen while dads Barty and Evan are playing video games in the game room. You don’t want to disturb James because he takes his cooking seriously, and you know if you bothered Barty and Evan they’d lose the game and they’d be pretty upset. So, you go to Regulus.

His eyes immediately dart up to you and he scrutinizes your face, right away noticing something isn’t right. He waits for you to speak, and since he’s your dad, you understand from his eyes that he’s allowing you to continue speaking. “Papa,” you inhale deeply, knowing what he’s going to do and how he’ll react. “___ cheated on me.”

He slams his book closed–you flinch–and he stands up abruptly. As he approaches you and places a comforting hand on your cheek, he asks, “Did she/he yell at you? Hurt you? What did she/he do?” He listens to what you have to say, and depending on what she/he did, the punishment would vary.

He places the book softly in your arms and tells you to read for a bit, and that it will relax your mind. Being his child, you agree, and begin reading. He storms out of the room and slams the gaming room door open. He stands in front of the TV while Barty and Evan groan and complain. He says, “Shut up, Y/N got cheated on by that fucking piece of shit.” The three men then go get ready, and James notices them. “Where are you guys going? Dinner’s almost ready!” “We’re not hungry. You can have dinner with Y/N, right?” Barty asks, and James nods hesitantly. “Are you guys?...” he asks, and the three men nod. James merely sighs and ushers them out the door, making sure they aren’t cold or forgot anything.

And of course they don’t leave before giving you and James a kiss on the cheek.

Barty Potter-Crouch Junior:

He’s playing video games in the gaming room, and either Evan, Regulus, and/or James are/is with him, or he’s alone. Either way, you decide to go to him about this because he’s always been the type of dad that you know will always protect you and solve the problem. Granted, none of your dads have told you how they ‘solve the problem’ but you have a pretty good idea on how, now that you’re older.

“Dad?” You mutter, playing with the hem of your shirt. “Hm?” He hums, eyes on the screen while his fingers dash over the controller. “I need to tell you something..” You whisper and he sighs, pausing the game and facing you. “What happened? Did you break something?” He asked, concern written into his face. “No, it’s just..__ cheated on me.” you mumble, tearing up slightly but trying to keep yourself strong.

He places the controller down immediately, approaching you slowly and lifting your chin up, “Darling, don’t be upset, it happens to everyone.” He hugs you for a bit, and lets you talk to him, even though you really don’t have to, he’s going to kill that son of a bitch anyway.

He puts on your favorite game and allows you to play, knowing it comforts you and excites you. He leaves the room and walks over to Evan, who’s making tea for himself. “What’s wrong Bee?” He asks when he sees the angry look on his face. After explaining, they both approach Regulus who’s reading his book, and he also immediately agrees to the plan. James tries to calm them down and tell them no, and that’s a child! But he can’t seem to convince them. So he just goes over to you and spends time with you, secretly worried about his three husbands at the moment.

Evan Potter:

He’s also either reading a book, playing games with Barty, or making tea. Let’s say in this scenario, he’s brushing his teeth, about to go to bed, and you storm into the bathroom, expecting to be alone. You’re sobbing, clutching your mouth so ‘no one hears’, not knowing that your dad Evan has immediately whipped around in concern, toothbrush long forgotten. “Darling?” He mutters, and you jump, quickly covering your cries. “Oh, h-hi dad!”

He demands you tell him what happened as he wraps you in his arms. He barely manages to get it out of you, but when he does, he allows you to cry yourself to sleep on his shoulder. He picks you up from the bathroom floor and carries you all the way to your (or their bedroom), and either places you in your bed, or with James since he’s also sleeping and you aren’t alone.

He zooms into the gaming room, and with his sixth sense, Barty pauses the game, turns towards Evan, looks into his eyes, and knows somehow what happened. They both put on their jackets, about to step out of the house before Regulus approaches them and asks them what the problem is and where they’re going.

They both tell him that they’ll be back soon, and something came up. Reg is worried and concerned but they assured him that nothing happened, and that Reggie should instead go to your room/their room and comfort/sleep with you (and James if you’re in their room). Reggie also catches on quite quickly and allows them to leave the house, grabbing his bitter black coffee and coming into your room or wherever you’re sleeping, cuddling in on the other side of you/where you’re facing, snuggling in, and wrapping his arms around you, making sure to comfort you because he understands how you feel.

Pandora Lovegood:

She’s watering her plants and speaking to them, so you don’t want to interrupt, but you need someone to speak to about this and both dad and Luna are busy. She turns towards you with a tiny frown, her senses telling her there’s a problem before she even looks at your face. “Darling, something’s wrong.”

You sigh and tell her how you got cheated on, which causes her to frown deeper and glide over to you, wrapping you in her arms. “Don’t worry darling, karma will bite them in the arse.” That makes you laugh, and she smiles at the fact that she managed to make you giggle.

When night comes and you go to sleep, she goes into her study and begins making a potion. A potion that will make sure that ex never sees the light of day again, or feels torture for the rest of their life. It depends on what they did to you, and how hurt you were.

[wanderersbell]

If requests are still open , how about the reader inviting Scara to their teapot (could be traveling companion reader who also owns a teapot, but do whatever you want, i love your ideas!!!) and the reader furnished an entire room for him? it's suited to his likes too :o tysm!!

a realm for him

wanderer x gn! reader

genre: fluff

warnings: none

word count: 2528

a/n: okay listen i may have gotten a bit carried away with this and made it way longer and sappier than i was intending, but i spent forever decking out my whole teapot for him so i loved this idea sooo much (❁´◡`❁) tysm for the wonderful request, enjoy!

getting the state of your teapot to be as lively as it is now was no small feat. 

day by day for weeks on end, you’ve slowly worked at filling each empty corner with little towns and lush scenery, all of which are based off of your traveling companions favorite spots in sumeru. one island is reminiscent of a small fishing village, fenced off and framed by local shrubbery and flora, as well as some small crop gardens already growing with tiny seedlings. the second island is decorated as a beautiful scenic forest, with trees and plants and gazebos and fountains all connected by a subtle stone path that lead through to the third island. 

and the third island, after much contemplation, is decorated as a tiny inazuman shrine, bordered with towering cherry blossom trees and eye catching blue glowing flowers that create an almost mystical ambiance. you weren’t sure if reminding him of the place where he came from was a good idea, but figured having a small piece of home away from home might be the one way he can actually enjoy the view of inazuma. the sights here are much different from what he saw in tatarasuna, much more welcoming, so you figured it was worth a shot and swore to yourself that you would take it down immediately if he doesn’t like it. 

and, your personal favorite part is the main building decorated as a tea shop on the inside, with a tasteful mix of interior inspiration from every region you’ve visited thus far, all mushed together to create an eclectic little space for him to come and enjoy the different teas you’ve started collecting in secret. 

in fact, all of this was a secret. the wanderer had yet to catch on to the actual reason behind your insistence to collect extra materials while you travel together, and the time you spent in your teapot was time he spent off running errands and assisting lesser lord kusanali, so nothing was out of the ordinary as far as he was concerned. 

but, after a few finishing touches like street lamps and wildlife to make everything feel less lonely, you were finally done. it was finished. every square inch of your teapot fully furnished with things you couldn’t wait to show the one you had in mind when doing it all. 

when the time comes for you to finally bring him there, you’re way more nervous than you were expecting to be. what if he doesn’t like? hates it, even? what if your design choices are wrong and the vibes are off and-

“well,” the wanderer’s voice drags you out if your thoughts, smooth and grounding. “are we going in or what? how does this thing even work?”

right, it’s too late to turn back anyways. the golden teapot hovers in the air between you from where you stand on a riverbank together, and the man next to you has his arms crossed with an unimpressed frown as he waits for you to respond. it’s cloudier than usual today, the sky a soft shade of gray in the background, and you shiver a bit both because of nerves and the lack of sunlight before clearing your throat. 

“it uh- transports me in as soon as i open the lid. just…” you trail off, contemplating whether or not you want to say anything before you bring him in. “just grab onto my hand so we’ll both go together.” you blurt out instead. it would take you both in regardless, but this was the first excuse out of your mouth, and you want to curl up and become invisible at the odd look he gives you. he can tell you’re up to something, but hasn’t figured out what quite yet. 

“okay.” he agrees easily, slotting his hand against yours. his skin is cool to the touch and his grip firm, and you’re reaching out to rip the lid off of the teapot before you can start thinking too much about the way it makes your heart jump into your throat. the both of you are transported to the inside of the device in the blink of an eye, arriving right before the main building where tubby dozes away inside of her own pot. 

his first thought it that it’s… big. bigger than he was expecting. his eyes automatically go to the structure behind him and he wordlessly goes to grab the handle of the door but you’re quick to tug the back of his shirt to stop him, shaking your head softly when he turns to give you a questioning look. 

“we’ll do this last, let’s go take a walk first.” 

his eyes follow yours in the direction of the other islands that are just visible in the distance. he can’t make out any details yet, much to your relief. 

“what’s out there?” he asks with poorly concealed interest while following you down the steps of the building and towards the first island. you give him a sly smile that you hope masks the way you’re freaking out on the inside. 

“you’ll see.”

he raises a brow at this but stays silent. this island is the small fishing village, based off of the one you both visit regularly, the one where you first met the mysterious wanderer and your journey with him began. he feels a sense of familiarity as you lead him over to the straw hut in the middle, noticing the crop gardens off to the side and giving an approving hum at the sight. 

you watch him closely the entire time, zeroing in on every minuscule change in his expression and feeling your chest swell with pride at the way his eyes soften. he can’t help but to remember the day he met you, the way you would flat out ignore him every time he tried making a dig at you then turn around and be as sweet as ever to the local kids at the village, and he has to bite back a fond smile at the memories. 

“well?” you peer up at him hesitantly. it’s more than obvious that he likes it as he looks around like he’s already trying to familiarize himself with where everything is, but still, you want to hear him say it. 

“well?” he parrots, meeting your expectant eyes. he pretends to think for a moment, just to leave you hanging for a bit longer, and then, “it’s nice, but there’s no fish.”

you instinctively frown and open your mouth to tell him to stop being so picky but pause just as the first word dies on your lips. with a sinking feeling of realization, you look around you and confirm that yes, there is indeed no body of water, therefore no fish. 

“oh.” you say dumbly, and the stumped look on your face has a laugh bubbling up in his chest. you can’t fight back the smile that creeps up on you even though he’s laughing at your expense and give him a lighthearted shove before leading him away to the next island. 

“how did you manage to forget the most crucial part of a fishing village?” the wanderer teases, catching up to you in a few long strides. 

“i didn’t forget, that’s just not a furnishing option in here.” you explain. 

when you reach the second island, you remain quiet again and wait for him to take it all in and make a comment himself. his eyes widen a fraction in awe as you both step underneath the canopy of trees and wildlife, the bright colors of flora and fauna and the blue accents on the towering gazebos on each side all working together to make a botanical haven that he can’t tear his attention away from. 

within only moments of being in there he’s already spotted a handful of his favorite plants and flowers, ones with meanings that stuck with him throughout his life, ones that you held onto and remembered and planted here. 

you watch with baited breath as he absentmindedly reaches a hand out to brush his fingers against the low hanging leaves beside him, eyes flitting from place to place and noticing something different each time. there’s a look akin to childlike wonder on his face, and when his attention finally falls back to you there’s a tiny genuine smile playing at his lips that makes you ache to reach out and hold him. 

he’s so, so beautiful standing underneath of the lush trees and flowers, and unbeknownst to you, as he holds your gaze, he’s thinking the same thing in return. your excitement to bring him here and show him this leaves him with a warm feeling blooming in his chest, an appreciation for you that he fears he’ll never be able to properly express. 

“ready to keep going?” you ask softly, as if speaking too loudly will ruin the peaceful atmosphere. 

“there’s more?” the look of surprise on his face has you chuckling breathlessly while you continue the path forward. 

this is the part you’ve been looking forward to and anticipating the most, and as the final island comes into view, you can feel him stiffen beside you. the giant cherry blossom trees are visible even from the distance, but his step doesn’t falter and he keeps up next to you so you take it as a sign to keep going. 

his presence beside you stays strong as you approach the shrine and step into the field of glowing flowers, and you watch out of the corner of your eye as he takes in the familiar pink trees and red painted wood with a complicated emotion swirling around in his irises. he doesn’t look angry though, so you finally feel your shoulders relax and allow yourself to enjoy the scenery as you walk along the path. 

in his own head, the wanderer is… puzzled. this island is so out of place inside of your sumeru themed teapot, and yet, the care and effort you put into it makes the other ones small in comparison. the shrine is grand, sleek, and high quality. the trees are placed perfectly so that the breeze carries soft pink petals down with it, dancing around you two in a beautiful airborne waltz. 

the flowers, the same ones that grow in chinju forest, cast everything in a gentle azure glow, one that when he looks at you is reflecting an ethereal light over your features. somewhere deep down inside of him, he feels a bit of sorrow clinging onto him, bringing with it the memories of a place he left behind long ago. 

but next to that is the all consuming feeling of happiness that he tries so hard to convince himself he doesn’t feel when he’s with you. in this special place of yours, filled with your hard work and thoughtfulness, he can no longer deny himself the truth of how wholeheartedly he cares for you. you, who’s staring back at him with a kindness he’s never known as you give him new memories to associate with the sights of his homeland.  

you still can’t decipher the emotions on his face, but you can tell they’re good ones and that he’s contemplating something deeply, so you let the silence hang comfortably in the air as you walk side by side all the way back to the entrance and to the main building, the part you’ve been saving for last. he says nothing the whole way back, granting you the chance to appreciate the comfort something as simple as walking with him brings you. 

when you finally make it to the main island and ascend the steps of the building, he snaps out of his reverie and raises a brow at you questioningly. “what’s inside?”

“it’s nothing much,” you lie with a mischievous smile adorning your face. when you open the door and let him in he realizes he really, truly has fallen hopelessly for you. 

it’s a tea shop. for him.

there’s no denying it, there’s no other explanation he can give himself because he knows you don’t care much for tea. that means-

this whole teapot, every single island, was for him.

you watch with a huge grin on your face as the wanderer splutters and blushes when it all finally hits him. nobody has ever done this much for him, not without a price at least, but you never ask for anything in return from him so he’s almost literally short circuiting while trying to figure out the proper response. 

“why did you- what…” he takes a grounding breath before trying again. “why do all of this?”

you smile softly and shrug. “because i wanted to.”

he opens his mouth to say something else, likely to prod you for a legitimate reason as to why, but you cut him off before he gets the chance. “look around first, i want to know what you think.”

he wants to argue, but bites his tongue at the clear eagerness on your face and clicks his tongue in fake annoyance as he takes in the contents of the room. he walks around for a few minutes, observing the things on the walls and shelves, scrutinizing the chinaware, poking the souvenirs you’ve collected from other regions, until finally he stops at the cabinet that houses the tea collection. 

“open it.” you say hurriedly. he gives you a fake suspicious raise of his brow but complies and tugs the door of the cabinet open, a sharp intake of air following immediately afterwards as he instantly recognizes the labels. 

“this is…” he trails off in disbelief. 

“the tea from the shop you keep staring after longingly in sumeru city? yep, sure is.” you confirm mirthfully, skipping over to stand next to him and watch him take a container down to turn around in his hands. he’s struggling to process this, to accept this much kindness from you when he knows he doesn’t deserve it, not in the slightest, but the proud gleam in your eyes doesn’t get lost to him and he knows you’re anxiously awaiting his response. 

“i don’t know why you would bother with this, and go through all of this effort,” he starts tentatively, placing the tea back in the cupboard so he can turn to fully look at you. “but i can acknowledge the work you put in and promise i will put it to good use.”

your expression falls slightly at his formal tone of speech. “and?”

he frowns hesitantly and averts his eyes. “and… i like it. or whatever. it’s really nice.”

your triumphant grin is almost blinding when he meets your gaze again and he shakes his head in silent exasperation. though he doesn’t know how, or when it’ll happen, he swears to himself that somehow, someway, he’ll repay you for this. he’ll find a way to show you how much it really means to him, how much you really mean to him. 

but for now, sitting together in your shared realm with some freshly steeped tea, for the first time in centuries, he feels at home. 

[tiedyeflannels]

Adventure of a Lifetime

Kim Taehyung x reader

Epilogue | Masterlist

I sighed as I poked my key into the doorknob and unlocked the door to my apartment before stepping inside and turning on the light.

“Congratulations!”

I jumped at the loud pops of the confetti canons before my eyes fully adjusted and finally realized who was standing in the living room.

Taehyung and the other members were standing around the living room with small gift bags and a banner that read ‘Congrats’ on it. Tae placed the cake he was holding on the coffee table. I looked around, confused.

“What are you guys doing here and how did you get inside my apartment?” 

Tae smiled brightly and flashed the spare key I had given him the first day I moved to Korea.

“We’re here to congratulate you on the getting the job,” Jimin said happily. I placed my stuff down on the kitchen island and chuckled.

“How do you know I got the job? I just did an interview earlier today,” I said as they gathered around, setting the cake in front of me. 

“Well… when you work in the building someone’s applying to, word gets around quickly,” Namjoon said.

“Plus, Taehyung asked the department manager that you had the interview with, if you got the job,” Yoongi shrugged, making me look at Tae with a deadpan expression.

“You’re kidding, right,” I asked.

He just chuckled and put his arms around me from behind, leaning on me, “Well, I wanted to know if I should throw you a party.”

I sarcastically smiled, “Thanks… but next time, let’s wait on the party until after I know.” The guys chuckled as I remembered the cake on the table.

“Oh! We can have cake if you want. You’ll just need to grab the stuff,” I said, directing them to where the knives, plates, and silverware were so we could eat the cake.

After serving ourselves, we sat around the living room talking about what new things they were working on and fun stories that had happened throughout the week. As the night went on, the members started to slowly leave because of the things they had to do the next day until it was just me, Tae and Jimin. 

“I should probably get going,” Jimin said while standing up and stretching.

I got up and walked over to him, giving him a hug. “Thank you for coming!”

He happily gave one back. “Of course! Oh, and that one’s from me,” he said, pointing to a little yellow gift bag with white tissue paper, sitting on the coffee table.

I nodded and turned back to him just in time to catch the small wink he sent to Tae.

“Thank you,” I said as he opened the door and walked out.

I closed the door behind him before turning to Tae while crossing my arms.

“What was that about,” I asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

He responded with a slightly nervous chuckle then lightly clearing his throat.

“Let’s go for a walk.”

~

We walked over to a nearby lake that was lined with cherry blossom trees and street lamps casting them in a calming glow. I pulled my jacket a little closer when the cold breeze swept in.

“It’s cold! Why did you want to go on a walk anyway?” 

He stopped walking which made me stop and turn to him as he brought out a small box from his pocket.

My eyes widened, “Please tell me you’re not proposing. We haven’t even discussed marriage yet and I don’t think I’m ready-” His chuckle made me stop rambling enough so that he could talk. 

“Calm down, Y/n/n. I’m not proposing yet,” he said, opening the small box to reveal a beautiful rose gold ring with three small pink flowers on the band.

Definitely, the furthest thing from an engagement ring, but still special nonetheless.

“I know you’ve been eyeing this for a while, so I’ve been saving this for the right occasion. This is my gift to you for getting the job and…”

He drawed out as he carefully took the ring out of the box before putting it back in his pocket and gently taking hold of my right hand.

“Kind of like… a promise ring. From me to you,” he said as he slipped it onto my ring finger. 

“We don’t have to get married in the near future or in ten years, but the time we’ve spent together has been the happiest of my life and I just know that I want to be with you for as long as you’ll let me.”

A smile graced my lips as I just stared at him in adoration before I nodded, “I would love that.” 

He smiled before leaning in and placing a chaste kiss on my lips. He took my hand in his as we started to walk back to the apartment.

“You know… now that we’re basically stuck together, we should talk about getting married,” Tae said, happily swinging our joined hands.

I snorted out a laugh, “Slow down, let’s get some sleep first. We can talk about this another time, hmm?”

“I can’t wait,” he said with a loving smile.

Taglist:

@maple-leaves-in-the-wind | @eli-xar | @amaroho | @oliwiasworlds

[lizzibennet]

i’ve always lived among people who had much more money than my family because my mom worked for rich people and my brother and i always got scholarships because of good grades. and so one of the things that always kind of bothered me was that my friends always had much cooler, cleaner, tidier houses than i did. we’d go to their places after school for homework or just to hang and there wouldn’t be a hair out of place. one of my friends had a mezzanine with comics and a nintendo wii especially for her to hang out with friends. the other lived in a corner house with a tennis court which i always admired when passing in front of and i literally freaked out when i realized he lived there. one of them had a barbie house taller than us, one had a pool, one had a rooftop pool and cherry trees that were blossoming when i was over, etc. and i would tell them wow your house is so cool. mine is so messy and always dirty, and if i want it clean i usually am the one who ends up cleaning it, and i do my own laundry whereas you even have maids everyday! and they’d shrug and be like it’s cool i guess. but it’s not my house, it’s my parents’.

and that would always give me pause.

i’d think about the completely out of place shell dish that lives on top of the living room rack for the sole reason that my mom puts the earrings she steals from me there so i can retrieve them if i leave before she’s woken up. i think about my dad’s “mess closet” which is precisely what it sounds like but it’s where he goes when i ask him for the shoemaker’s glue to fix my jelly shoes and for the mini electric saw he used to saw through one of my dolls’ neck (long story) and where he goes when my brother asks him for specific sized screwdrivers to open up his childhood remote controlled toys. i’d think about the laundry closet divided in two because my mom owns a lot of delicate work shirts and swears i wash them better than her (it’s the same washing machine at the same cycle). i’d think about the four little giraffes besides the tv - according to my mom, tallest to shortest representing my brother, me, my dad and my mom, which my dad has never loved because Obviously He Is Taller Than Me but encourages the cat to curl up next to them to sleep so he can take a picture and send our family whatsapp group named “grimy family”. i’d think about my brother’s car’s engine laying open in the garage because he couldn’t finish it in time before returning to uni and my dad carefully picking it all up and tidying before he returns except my dad really is kind of shit at tidying so it’s all just kinda. laying there. i’d think about my mom washing my clothes on the weekend and laying them at the foot of the stairs because i don’t like when she just shoves my stuff into my room even though clothing in the stairs obviously makes the living room look even worse. i’d think about the medicine books lining the living room table because my mom saw them at an auction and picked them up for me even though i’m not in med school yet and i’d think about the socks my dad leaves besides the cat besides the giraffes besides the tv because my mom often falls asleep watching the novela and gets cold feet and i’d think about the hideous rio de janeiro postal my brother brought me one day when he was on break that hangs in the kitchen and i’d think about the air fryer and the juicer my dad never fucking puts away and permanently now live atop the cooktop which has been broken since 2015 and i’d think about my jelly shoes under the chair where the cat likes to sleep with my smell near and my hair clip that broke the first time i went out with my girlfriend which my mom kept, you guessed it, on top of my representative giraffe because she thinks she wears it better than i do, even if it’s broken, that’s fine, doesn’t it still look so pretty? and i’d look around at the pristine white pillars and granite and impeccably kept real wood and the techy dishwashers and color changing lamps and king sized beds of my friends’ and i’d finally cave in and text grimy family and be like can any of u guys come get me. and 5 mins later my mom would say “your dad and i are on our way”. and i’d breathe a sigh of relief. and come back to the messy house in front of the square. it was either this one or the one between the family that owns the range rover and the police chief that owns the old reformed cadillac and i wanted this one and my dad immediately agreed even though he loves both cadillacs and jeeps and campaigned for the other house before. and i’d lay down in my silly little square front house in my bed with my cat and my parents next door and my brother’s empty room full of his correspondence next to my bathroom full of hair masks atop the cabinet. and i wouldn’t have it any other fucking way

[ddoxhan]

another life

I know I would love to just do laundry, take a walk in the park with you. in another life, I promise, we will.

word count : 0.5k words

genre : angst, fluff(?); two people who were each others' world and fate was against them; squint real real hard for that miniscule fluff; minji x gn! reader

t/w : none :)

a/n : newjeans world domination, and they've dominated me. SUMMERJEANS COMING SOON I'M EXCITED TO HYPERVENTILATE AND GAY PANIC OVER WHATEVER THEY'RE GONNA DROP.

to my dearest, I finally have the courage to tell you whatever I'm feeling for you. yet, I never had the chance to tell you in person. maybe I should have just sent you that text at midnight, maybe I should have told you about my feelings when we walked side by side at the park. maybe, but I didn't. was I a fool? I don't know, but I wasn't too sure about what I felt was right, was appropriate.

I didn't deserve you, who brightened up my life with her shine. the one who picked me up from my bottomless pit, showing me that there was no such thing as endless agony. the one who stuck by me even when I was closed off and hurt you multiple times, too many times, which I still regret till this day.

I was selfish, for wanting both your attention only on me, yet wanting you away from me because I was poison. you would do just fine without me, but I'd struggle to the ends of earth without you. I want you to be happy, but it didn't seem like you would be when I'm around.

if you were to be with me, I would be nothing but a burden, someone who couldn't make you smile. I live to see that bright smile of yours, for sure I don't have the right to take it away. but at that time, I didn't know you reciprocated my feelings, and I admit that I was dense to notice it. it's not every day that I receive affection and love, I wasn't raised in an environment like that.

receiving affection, made life so much better. receiving affection from you, made my life the best it could ever be. and I feel really grateful that I had someone like you in my life, someone who didn't mind my scars, my pain, just embracing me for who I am, what I am, and what I would be no matter what. I'd give anything to have you back. it didn't matter what it would take, because I have nothing further more to lose. wishing that I could turn back time every midnight, I know we are past that point of our lives, our time.

I know I would love to just do laundry, take a walk in the park with you. hold hands as we stroll in the night, share kisses under the lamp post, cuddle in bed on a sunday morning. it may have not been this life, but in another life, I promise, we will. there will always be a day where we'd be in each other's arms, whispering I love you's. a day where I open my eyes from my slumber and I have all the time to admire those features of yours, falling in love again and again with you.

tell me you're waiting, tell me you still like me, still love me. when I find you again, look at me with that same gummy smile you gave me when we first met. and say,

'I've waited for you, my love.'

because when I see you again, there will be nothing between us, just you and I. under that cherry blossom tree, where I first fell for you.

I love you, minji, more than you think.

[iseos]

: CHERRY BLOSSOM

wc. 584 archive. pairing. kim chaewon x gn!r synopsis. late night walks under cherry blossom trees genre. fluff now playing. vanilla by kai. a/n. repost bc i’m not continuing ‘four seasons’

LONGER DAYS AND NEWLY BLOOMED FLOWERS are the key signs that spring has rolled around once again. seasonal depression starts to fade as the world becomes lively again and more people being going outside more often to enjoy the warming weather.

the pink cherry blossom trees start to bloom again in the new season, attracting all sorts of people out of their homes to witness their beauty for themselves.

"would it be too cliche if we matched clothes a little?" y/n wondered aloud. they had seen that chaewon was wearing a white colored sweater with black detailing in the selfie she sent telling y/n that was on her way over.

after hurriedly getting dressed, a knock at the door alerts y/n of chaewon's arrival. opening the door, they were greeted by their girlfriend's bright smile.

  "ready?" she asks to which y/n nodded enthusiastically, so they began their late-night walk.

they eventually reach their desired location, a long sidewalk lined with large blooming cherry blossom trees. due to the late hour, there was no one else out leaving the street empty for the two. street lamps were spotted every so often down the walkway that acted as the only source of lighting, making the scene feel even more romantic.

  "you look really cute in that sweater," chaewon comments, noticing that the black and white sweater y/n wore perfectly compliment her own outfit, "we almost look like a couple."

  y/n scoffs playfully, "almost."

  chills rippled across the two's exposed skin as the late night was now devoid of the sun's warmth. loose cherry blossom petals were sent dancing in the breeze that blew around the couple; one even landing on y/n's hair, which went unnoticed by them.

"you have something in your hair, umm... want me to get it out?" chaewon hesitantly asks, eyeing the small petal atop y/n's head. they nod and stop walking, allowing the girl to reach up and grab it. once the petal was removed, the two remained standing there, gazing into each other's eyes.

"you're the most beautiful person i've ever encountered, can i get your number by chance?" y/n suddenly blurts out with a teasing smirk on their face.

chaewon furrowed her eyebrows at them in confusion so they continued, "what? you implied we were dating earlier, so i'm trying to ask you out!"

she could only laugh and pushed y/n away to hide her blush, and kept walking.

  y/n is sent stumbling to the opposite side of the pavement, away from chaewon where they spot a fully intact cherry blossom laying in the grass.

with the flower in hand, y/n quickly walks up behind chaewon and taps her on the shoulder. before she can say anything, y/n tucks the flower behind her ear with a wide smile.

"god, you always make me blush so damn much." chaewon mutters, holding her hands to her face to cover her, once again, warming cheeks.

"aw, you're the same color as the flower!" y/n teases noticing her sudden resemblance to the cherry blossom.

the blushing girl couldn't say anything to deny so she just quickly starts walking again, her hands still on her face while y/n is left to chase after her in uncontrollable laughter.

the couple continues their walk down the walkway lit by street lamps and the pale moonlight; joyous laughter and falling cherry blossom petals left behind them like a trail of their love.

“even the air is sweet when i’m with you it’s like time just stopped, it’s like a dream”

© iseos

[animalcrossingshowdown]

Furniture items and sets round 1 results:

Items:

Froggy chair 90.6% / Leo sculpture 9.4%

Mush lamp 83.9% / Cancer table 16.1%

Mom's homemade cake 77.9% / Skull rug 22.1%

Afternoon-tea set 76.4% / My Melody clock 23.6%

Star clock 75.2% / Anatomical model 24.8%

Lily record player 74.7% / Scattered papers 25.3%

Dried-flower garland 72.6% / Rose bed 27.4%

Virgo harp 70.2% / Rescue mannequin 29.8%

Wooden music box 70.1% / Bathtub with yuzu 29.9%

Snail clock 69.1% / Imperial dining table 30.9%

Spooky cookies 67.8% / ACNH Nintendo Switch 32.2%

Plain party-lights arch 67% / Cinnamoroll sofa 33%

Moon 67% / Hyacinth lamp 33%

Greenhouse box 66.4% / Soft-serve lamp 33.6%

Dreamy rabbit toy 66% / Elephant slide 34%

Crescent-moon chair 65.2% / Retro stereo 34.8%

Toy duck 65% / Lovely phone 35%

Dreamy wall rack 61.7% / Throwback skull radio 38.3%

Lucky cat 59.2% / Decayed tree 40.8%

Tiny library 59.2% / Kerokerokeroppi bridge 40.8%

Fortune-telling set 59.2% / Cucumber horse 40.8%

Resetti model 58.5% / Titan arum 41.5%

Wheat field 55.1% / Zodiac dragon figurine

Paper tiger 54.5% / Colorful juice 45.5%

Cherry-blossom pond stone 54.4% / Rocket lamp 45.6%

Hamster cage 53.5% / Monster statue 46.5%

Starry garland 53.3% / Bonsai shelf 46.7%

Balloon-dog lamp 52.2% / Eggplant cow 47.8%

Creepy skeleton 52.2% / Elaborate kimono stand 47.8%

Mom's plushie 52% / Pergola 48%

Peach chair 51.1% / Dessert case 48.9%

Rattan towel basket 50.9% / Cherry-blossom branches 49.1%

1 ) I can't believe you guys voted out lovely phone, the entire reason I'm adding functions to these posts, in round 1

2 ) I can't believe you guys voted out cherry-blossom branches, the item that was positioned as second most likely to win based on number of submissions, in round 1

Sets:

Spooky 89.1% / Throwback 10.9%

Motherly 84.9% / Kiddie 15.1%

Shell 83.1% / Chess 16.9%

Sloppy (classic) 83.1% / Sloppy (ACNH) 16.9%

Rococo 81.6% / Elegant 18.4%

Insect 81.4% / Mario 18.6%

Glowing moss 78.2% / Ruined 21.8%

Mermaid 77.6% / Harvest 22.4%

Cute 76.3% / Lovely 23.7%

Modern 71.9% / Construction 28.1%

Ironwood 71.5% / Hello Kitty 28.5%

Fish 71.5% / Plaza 28.5%

Sweets 70.6% / My Melody 29.4%

Alpine 70.2% / Nordic 29.8%

Stars 69.6% / Gorgeous 30.4%

Cherry blossoms 68.5% / Blue 31.5%

Rattan 67.1% / Astro 32.9%

Flower 66.7% / Diner 33.3%

Fruit (ACNH) 66.7% / Fruit (classic) 33.3%

Antique 65.6% / Classic 34.4%

Modern wood 62.7% / Green 37.3%

Log 62.6% / Cabin 37.4%

Princess 62.6% / Card 37.4%

House plants 61.5% / Kerokerokeroppi 38.5%

Ranch (ACNH) 60.7% / Ranch (classic) 39.3%

Dreamy 58.3% / Wedding 41.7%

Mush (classic) 55.1% / Mush (ACNH) 44.9%

Patchwork (classic) 54.6% / Patchwork (ACNH) 45.4%

Kiki & Lala 53.9% / Moroccan 46.1%

Regal 51.2% / Cinnamoroll 48.8%

Robo 51% / Cardboard 49%

Gracie 50.6% / Imperial 49.4%

As you can see I've colour coded the sets by game. NL is pink, NH is blue, and sets that didn't really change between games are purple.

For the redesign matches, it was an even split between NH and NL. out of 10 redesign matches, they each won 5.

It's easier for me if all the new polls post in a row with no gaps between, so round 2 will start in a few days to give the hourly tournament a chance to catch up! This should be the only round where I have to do that.

[bylrlve]

i lay my heart down with the rest at his feet (bloody and raw, but i swear it is sweet) - an adult byler playlist

Fever - fever when you kiss me, fever when you hold me tight

False God - i know heaven’s a thing, i go there when you touch me honey, hell is when i fight with you… religion’s in your lips… the altar is my hips

High Infidelity - do you really want to know where i was april 29th? do i really have to tell you how he brought me back to life?

Movement - when you move i could never define all that you are to me

Would That I - i’m set alight, and i blink inside your blinding light… in awe there, i stood, as you licked off the grain, though i’ve handled the wood, i still worship the flame…

Medicine - the boys and the girls are in, i mess around with him, and i’m okay with it… i’m coming down, I figured out i kinda like it, when i’m all out i’ll think about the way you… (ride it)

Angst in My Pants - it’s just a passing phase, it’ll go away… give it a thousand years, it won’t go away

Just What I Needed - i don't mind you comin' here, and wastin' all my time, ‘cause when you're standin' oh so near, i kinda lose my mind…

Moment’s Silence (Common Tongue) - a moment’s silence when my baby puts the mouth on me… when reason comes on the common tongue of you loving me

Bedroom Hymns - this is his body, this is his love, such selfish prayer and i can’t get enough

Dinner & Diatribes - (our) friends are a fate that befell me, hell is a talking tide, scarcely can speak for my thinking what you’ll do to me tonight… honey, i laugh when it sinks in, a pillar i am upright… let there be damage ensued and tabloid news… that’s the kind of love i’ve been dreaming of….

Talk - the voice that urged Orpheus when his body was found… so i try to talk refined for fear that you’ll find out how i’m imagining you

Like Real People Do - honey, just put your sweet lips on my lips, we should just kiss like real people do

NFWMB - if i was born as a blackthorn tree, i’d wanna be felled by you, held by you, fuel the pier of your enemies

To Be Alone - honey, when you kill the lights and kiss my eyes, i feel like a person for a moment of my life… god, it feels good to be alone with you… i know that you hate this place; not a trace of me would argue, “honey, we should run away,” “oh, someday,”

Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene - freshly disowned in some frozen devotion, no more alone or myself could i be… i lay my heart down with the rest at his feet… bloody and raw, but i swear it is sweet… jarring of judgement and reason’s defeat, the sweet heat of his breath in my mouth; i’m alive

It Will Come Back - i know who i am when i’m alone, i’m something else when i see you… can’t be unlearned, i’ve known the warmth of your doorways, through the cold i’ll find my way back to you… i warn you, babe, each night, as sure as you’re born… you’ll hear me howling outside your door. can you hear me howling, babe?

My Love Will Never Die - you’ve done me wrong for a long, long time, but after all you’ve done i never changed my mind (my love will never die)… pick a blossom and hold it, hold it, to your breast, and you’ll know that’s my love bursting loud from inside (my love will never die)

Work Song (Live) - i’d never want once from the cherry tree… when i was kissing on my baby, and he put his love down soft and sweet, in the low lamp light i was free; heaven and hell were words to me

Take Me to Church (Live from London) - should’ve worshipped him sooner… he tells me “worship in the bedroom,”… the only heaven i’ll be sent to is when i’m alone with you… my lover’s the sunlight… something meaty for the main course.., that looks tasty, that looks plenty, this is hungry work… when the ritual begins, there is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin… only then i am human, only then i am clean, amen, amen, amen.

[sanjoongie]

In a Past Life

🌸Submission for Meet Me Under the Cherry Tree Event hosted by @cultofdionysusnet 🌸Pairing: Park Seonghwa x Reader (f) 🌸Genre: right person wrong time, cute meet, historical au, soulmate au 🌸Word Count: 3,224 🌸Warnings: heartbreak, slight suggestive kissing 🌸Rated: 18+ MDNI 🌸Summary: In a past life... you were Seonghwa's first love 🌸Dedication: @mejuii & @downtoamagicalland i'm sorry you had to suffer through this angst first but you know seonghwa is my go-to for this stuff 💞

"Oh, is it you?" 

"Excuse me?"

"We met in Paris."

"I've never been to Paris."

His smile was wide and eager, his eyes patiently waiting for you to recognize him. When you didn't, he frowned but only slightly. Nothing could wipe the glee from his face from seeing you.

"That's weird. I already got my memories back." He took a step towards you and you took one step back.

"Listen, I'm sorry, but I'm not who you think I am."

The smell of cherry blossoms permeated the air, a rush of a breeze blowing through your hair and making you reach up to keep your hair from going everywhere but this man with his bright pink hair took another step and pushed it behind your ear. His eyes scanned your face and you felt like your heart was in your throat. 

"Long hair did always suit you," He smiled sadly and then stepped back.

Your mouth moved but you didn't speak the words. "Merci."

The unfamiliar man cocked his head in curiosity, eyes wide, and replied, "De rien."

"I always did love your French."

You slapped a hand over your mouth, still not understanding what was going on. “I’ve gotta go.”

“Please, wait, Star!” The man reached out for you but you dodged his grasp. “Please, let me explain. I’m Seonghwa--I’m your soul--”

You shook off the encounter as just some random person with some severe issues, or someone trying to prank you. But you couldn't deny that you had spoken without meaning to. What had come over you and what would provoke a strange man to speak to you?

That night you dreamt~...

Dream Flashback to your previous life, during the 1920's

You always enjoyed the night life but when you went to Paris, it only made you fall in love with it more. The quiet way the streets lived, only lit up with softly glowing lamps, made it feel romantic. Perhaps that’s why you had fallen so hard for Park Seonghwa.

He was a high class citizen, his family sending him off to Paris on some international banking exchange. You were a working class gal, having scrapped up all your savings in order to view Paris and its history. The fact that the two of you had bumped into each other, alone, was unheard of but you almost felt like it was fate. 

“Bonsoir,” You had murmured when the dark haired man had peek-a-boo-ed past the steel beam of the bridge you had been crossing. 

“Ah, B-bon-soir,” He stuttered back. You instantly knew he was a foreigner like yourself and relaxed.

“I speak English, it’s okay,” You reassured him.

The man let out a sigh of relief. “Thank god. I’m still getting used to it.”

You giggled at how silly he sounded. You bent your neck and continued to walk when the man ran to catch up with you. “Can I walk with you? A lady as beautiful as yourself should not be walking at night alone.”

You smiled slightly. “I haven’t needed a man to protect me for quite some time.”

“I’m Seonghwa, Park Seonghwa,” He introduced himself, “Where is your father? Your brother?”

You shook your head. You pulled your shawl tighter. “I’m alone here. I’ve come to study architecture. I’ve got a job at a firm, you see. I’m only a secretary but I love the flow of buildings.”

Seonghwa nodded as if he understood. “Still, I’d like to accompany you. If you don’t mind.”

“Well, you’re not terrible company,” You teased.

Seonghwa ducked his head, laughing to himself. “That’s a relief.”

Something about Seonghwa pulled at you. Watching the way the lights flashed over his skin, the way his eyes lit up as he listened to you talk about the history you had learned since you’d been here, you felt yourself falling in love with a man you had only met. It was hard not to. He was handsome but his heart was also so kind. 

“Monsieur,” You paused after your walk. “It is the hour in which I should adjourn to my rooms I’ve rented. You’ve certainly made this evening memorable.”

Seonghwa twisted his fingers, staring at the ground. “May I call upon you again, Miss?”

You couldn't help but audibly gasp. “Call on me? Again?”

Seonghwa’s eyes were wide with worry. “I can come back during the day perhaps! I don’t wish to be so forward but I don’t think my heart could take not seeing you again.”

You began to shake your head. You did not want to be one of those ninnies that came back from a vacation with a husband. You had worked hard for your independence. “No, Sir, I don’t think--”

Seonghwa grabbed your hands and held them tightly. “Please. Don’t break my heart, Star.”

You stared at him with a gob-smacked expression. “Break your heart? Star?"

“I mean--yes--you--you’re beautiful and your mind is wonderful--did I mention you’re kind? So wonderful--and I wish to speak further with you--I’m in Paris for the whole week--won’t you allow me one more visit?” Seonghwa stuttered and cut himself off and the most precious blush imaginable bloomed across his face. You found that you couldn't say no to that.

“Okay,” You agreed, “You may call upon me again, Monsieur Park. But please, come again during the night. I’m free then and I do so enjoy the walk.”

When you met Seonghwa that evening as the sun set, he was holding a picnic basket. His eyes lit up when he saw you walk down the stairs to meet him on the street. “I hope you don’t mind. Perhaps we could go to Parc du Champ-de-Mars? The cherry blossoms are lovely this time of year.”

You nodded, “That sounds wonderful.”

A lovely pink blush colored Seonghwa’s cheeks. “I hope it also isn’t presumptuous of me to have packed some wine. I bought cheese and then bread and I thought--”

You put a hand on Seonghwa’s arm to stop his rambling. “That’s awfully thoughtful of you.”

The two of you walked arm in arm and enjoyed each other's company. You told him of your day when he shook his head at your own polite question of his day. "It's boring bank stuff. They just get me to sign in my father's stead. It's nothing worth mentioning."

You pursed your lip to the side in unease. "But Seonghwa, you know everything about me and I know nothing about you."

Seonghwa's mouth opened and closed. "You're right. My apologies. I just--"

"Seonghwa, you let me prattle for hours about my job," You reminded him.

He ducked his head, laughing at himself. "Alright, alright."

You helped Seonghwa spread the blanket he had brought on the grass when you reached your destination. Once Seonghwa poured himself a glass of wine in fine crystalware, he became more relaxed. He told you of his hobbies of building tiny ships in bottles and you made him promise to show you how he did it. He spoke of his family, how they were well off and he wanted for naught. It was quite different from your upbringing. He had an older brother who he did not talk to while you were a middle child. The two of you couldn't have been more different except for your interest in building things, and of course, a newfound love for Paris.

Perhaps you had too many glasses in your enjoyment of the time spent with Seonghwa. You had never met a man like him. He didn't want to talk about himself, he didn't want to brag about his life, he didn't want to do anything but listen to you, and that was rare. So now you were babbling. About how you were the only working girl of your friends, who had all gotten married. How you wanted more than just to stay at home and cook and take care of the children. 

Once your brain caught up with your mouth, you covered it. "Seonghwa, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…I'm sorry," You finished lamely.

Seonghwa looked at you with such delight in his eyes that you could have sworn you had offered him a cream puff. "I love you," he said simply.

Your eyes widened and his mirrored yours and then Seonghwa was covering his face and you were cleaning out of anxiety. He stood up when you did and you both bonked heads. 

"Seonghwa--"

"Star--"

You pressed your lips together as Seonghwa met your eyes while looking up through his brow. "You first."

"I think I should go," You said, rubbing your hands over your arms.

"Please, take my jacket at least." Seonghwa removed his tweet jacket with the leather elbows.

You took a step back. What were you doing? This was supposed to be a trip to learn first hand some of the most beautiful architecture in the world and instead you were drinking wine and eating cheese with a man who wasn't even attainable for you. His family had money and you had to work for every penny. This was inconceivable!

"I can't, Seonghwa. I shouldn't have even come tonight. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Wait, don't do that. I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable but don't close me out like that," Seonghwa pleaded with you.

"Seonghwa, please." You shook your head and took another step back. You tripped on the back of your skirt and began to fall backwards. 

Seonghwa's long legs were quick to bring himself to your side and caught you with his hand on the back of your head and the small of your back. His eyes softened as they moved over your face. "I really do love you."

"We've known each other for barely a day," You scoffed at him.

"I feel like I've known you for a lifetime," He admitted.

"What is this?" You asked, more to yourself than to Seonghwa.

"I'm not questioning," Seonghwa smiled widely.

"You know we can't do this," You tried one more time to find the voice of reason.

"I don't care," Seonghwa murmured and then he tipped his head to kiss you.

It was a soft kiss but it was sure. Seonghwa knew he loved you and wanted to communicate it to you through his lips. You couldn't help but reach up and cup his face, feeling the warmth from his emotions traveling through him to you. You were falling hard and you were falling fast and you were sure once you hit the ground, it was going to hurt, but at this moment, you were starting to feel like Seonghwa: you didn't care.

The next day, Seonghwa didn't meet you in the evening, but in the morning. You two ate croissants and drank lattés on iron chairs at a corner cafe and walked along the Seine. In the afternoon, you strolled through the Louvre, admiring the paintings of old. It didn't matter what you did, truly, because all you wanted was to be in Seonghwa's presence. You clung to his arm, as much as proprietary would allow you, exchanging loving glances all the while. 

It wasn't until the evening where everything became dangerous. Suddenly, there were nooks and crannies where you could dip to steal a kiss. And a kiss became a touch and a touch became a blush.

"Seonghwa," You said his name, eyes swirling with stars. 

"I know, I'm sorry, but I'm greedy for you." Seonghwa bit down on his lower lip, "Please, let me kiss you again."

He tilted his head to kiss you again but you put a finger in between his and your lips. "I have to go home before you ruin me, Park Seonghwa."

Seonghwa's eyes darkened but then he coughed. "I have to get you home before I am no longer a gentleman."

The night of Paris was alive but you two only had eyes for each other. Seonghwa could not stop himself from bringing your hand to his lips and kissing the back of your hand. He couldn't stop staring at you like you were the only other human on this earth. And you were pretty sure he was an angel that didn't belong here.

Seonghwa's hair fell into his eyes as he stared down at you, your back now against the door to the building where you were renting a room. "Don't invite me inside."

"Seonghwa!" You giggled.

He now sported a crooked smile that could barely contain his glee. "Don't take my hand and pull me to your bed."

You felt your cheeks heat up. "Park Seonghwa, you're in dangerous water."

Seonghwa brought your hand to his lips again, placing a soft kiss there like he had countlessly tonight, but this time seemed more sensuous and you had a hard time breathing now. He undid the tiny button that held your glove in place and slowly pulled the material off. He then took your hand and placed a kiss on your palm instead. His tongue came out, sneakily so, and you gasped.

"Monsieur, you have to stop," You insisted halfheartedly.

"Mademoiselle, I cannot," Seonghwa admitted, teasing in his tone.

You slowly extracted your hand from Seonghwa, somehow, and held it to your heart with your other. "I have to go, Seonghwa."

"Marry me."

The silence was palpable. 

"Star?"

"I don't want to get married, Seonghwa, I told you that," You informed him coolly.

Seonghwa's eyebrows furrowed. "I know, but--"

You shook your head. "I told myself this was a bad idea. Why didn't I listen?"

Seonghwa looked worried now. "No--Star--don't! Don't say that!"

"I have a job to go back to, or did you forget that's why I'm here!" You shouted at him.

"I--I didn't forget! I just want to be with you forever! Why is that a bad thing?" Seonghwa shouted back.

A window opened above you two and someone shouted and you had to part on bad terms. Seonghwa only had one full more day until he was destined to leave on a luxury ship to home. And still he showed up at your building the next day, with a bouquet of cherry blossoms. 

You crossed your arms under your chest. "Monsieur," You acknowledged him.

Seonghwa winced at the distance in your voice. "Star, please!"

"Pretty flowers are not going to make me forget what you said last night, Park Seonghwa."

Seonghwa took an eager step forward. "I know that! But I want you to know how sorry I am. I wasn't thinking, I just--"

You held up a hand and Seonghwa wilted. "You wanted it, last night, I saw it in your face."

Seonghwa's head hung low. "I did."

"I can't, Seonghwa."

The next time Seonghwa looked at you, his eyes were brimming with tears. "It'll be different with me, I promise! I won't make you do anything. You can still work, we can travel, I--"

You felt your throat constricting with emotions. "No. No, Seonghwa, what happens when I get pregnant? No, I don't want that life!"

A sole tear traveled down the apple of Seonghwa's cheekbone. "Please, Star, don't do this. I love you."

"What happens when we get back home, Seonghwa? When your parents find out I'm a working class girl, that I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth? What if they decide that they won't allow us to marry, what then?"

Seonghwa shook his head, more tears falling down his cheeks. "I won't let them. They can't keep us apart. I love you."

"And I love you too, you idiot, but that doesn't matter!" You wailed.

Seonghwa bit down on his lip. "You love me too?"

You rolled your eyes and threw up your hands. "Oh for goodness sake, Seonghwa, it doesn't matter!"

Seonghwa put the flowers on the stoop and took you in his arms. "That's all that matters," He hiccuped quietly. 

"Let go of me, Seonghwa. You know we can't do this." Great, now you were crying.

Seonghwa cupped your face and used both his thumbs to wipe away your tears. "Star, will you marry me?"

You shook your head but your lower lip was pulling downwards, trembling. "I can't, don't ask this of me, please."

"Marry me," Seonghwa said again, eyes on your lips now, watching as your tears mingled there.

"Please," You whispered. 

"I love you," Seonghwa said simply, and he bent down to kiss you.

You started to sob into his lips, shoulders shaking, and still he kissed you like he was trying to portray his love of you through his lips. When he seperated, he smiled at you and you felt your resistance fade. "I love you too."

"Marry me," Seonghwa pushed, his forehead touching yours, "Be mine forever."

"Yes."

The rest of the day was a whirlwind. Seonghwa purchased a beautiful but simple white dress for you. A blue ribbon was wrapped around the cherry blossom bouquet. Seonghwa had a beautiful old comb hair piece that was his grandmothers that he kept as a piece of her to travel with him. The final piece was to meet at a small chapel where you would get married.

You bid Seonghwa goodnight, a simple, final kiss before your lives began together. 

Except you never made it to the chapel.

All your anxieties built up through the night. You screamed and cried and broke your own heart a thousand times over. You convinced yourself that Seonghwa would resent you as life continued. Or you would resent him. You didn't want to taint this beautiful love you had found in Paris. So you booked a ship early that morning, left Paris and never saw Seonghwa again.

Dream Flashback Complete

When you woke up the next day, your pillow was wet with tears and you knew what you had to do. You rushed to the cherry tree that you had met current-day Seonghwa at the other day. 

Your heart beated in relief to see the flash of pink hair and he turned towards you, almost like he could feel your approach.

“Seonghwa!” You said his name, feeling your heart break into a million tiny pieces because of your past life.

He opened his arms wide and you threw your body at him. He squeezed you and told you that everything was going to be okay while you sobbed into his chest. He spoke some French to you, which soothed your soul as well. As much as it hurt to know that you were never together in your past life, despite how much you loved each other, there was now a chance. 

“I love you,” You declared to him, lips tipping downwards and sobs still wracking your shoulders.

“I know,” Seonghwa smiled softly down at you. His thumbs brushed your tears away as he cupped your face.

“I don’t care what it takes, I’m never leaving your side,” You promised.

"I was stupid to let you walk away yesterday. I was stupid to let you walk away back then too," Seonghwa admitted.

"Let's do everything all over again," You declared.

"Back to Paris?" Seonghwa confirmed with an eager smile.

The breeze rushed past you both, the smell of cherry blossoms wafting past, carrying the pink petals in the air. It felt like fate and destiny were trying to push you back together again.

"Oui," You lifted yourself to your tiptoes and were the one to try to kiss Seonghwa to show him just how much you love him.

"Je t'aime," Seonghwa murmured against your lips.

Tag list:  @hijirikaww  @flowerboykun  @stardragongalaxy  @starillusion13  @flurrys-creativity  @kitten4sannie  @a-soft-hornytiny @mingsolo

[separatist-apologist]

The Death Of Peace Of Mind

When the curtains call the time, will we both go home alive?

Summary: Eris Vanserra is a man who is used to feeling nothing.

All that is about to change.

For day 5 of romance week (but maybe we're not gonna tag this one): Feelings Realization

Read on AO3

CW: He is a murderer, I can NOT be more upfront about that.

The first time Eris Vanserra saw Arina Novak was with a broken nose. 

A bruised eye.

Ripped leggings.

Mascara ran down her cheeks, dried from tears long since shed. He didn’t know her name then—he’d been on his way home from a run when she appeared beneath an orange street lamp. The very first thing he noticed was her legs—long and toned. 

The next was her hair, tangled and blonde against the warm brown of her skin. She turned her head, green eyes nervous like a gazelle, as if she expected to be followed. Not by him, though she wasn’t wrong. Eris didn’t have his mask or his gloves with him, which meant he had to take more care not to be seen. 

But he did change course to see where this woman was going. He wanted to know who had beaten her which was a new feeling for Eris. He didn’t care about other people and never had. There had always been something broken in him—while his brothers felt deeply, fell in love and made friends, Eris had never felt anything at all. 

He had to seek it out, had to create a circumstance that might make him feel fear, feel excitement, feel passion. It was always fleeting, always faded. It was artificial but this? This was organic. There was something about the blood on her face or the shape of her body that kept Eris’s feet moving. 

His heart raced as they made their way into a denser part of the city—nicer, safer. Not for her, this pretty little mouse. He merely blended in far easier. She turned at a cross walk as if she realized he’d been behind her for blocks, though those jade eyes slid right over him.

Eris looked liked he belonged. Haughty, handsome, and dressed well even in his work out clothes, he was merely more of the same type of man she likely saw at her local coffee shop every morning. 

No one looked at her, and for some reason, that made Eris angry. Did no one see the violence on her? Or did it merely not register? He followed behind her through the busy intersection, unable to get the sight of that bloodied nose from his mind. He wanted to touch it. Wanted to set it for her and put a knife in her hand.

Eris wanted to show her exactly where to press to inflict the most amount of pain without killing someone. Wanted to show her how to exact her revenge, to take whatever it was she wanted so the next time someone put their hands on her, she could remove every finger from their body and shove it in their throat.

The thought excited him. Eris shook his head, drinking in the last dregs of the summer air. Autumn would be upon them soon. High rises gave way to one of the trendier neighbors filled with brownstones and cupcake shops, all of which were lined with breezy cherry blossom trees and patches of meticulously maintained grass. He had no reason to be here, though she did. She made her way up the three steps of one of those old, expensive homes toward a door painted a pretty hunter green. Eris hung back in the shadows, unseen when she looked over her shoulder and dug for keys. 

He memorized the street and the number before creeping closer. This woman, whoever she was, kept all her windows open. Foolish for her, lucky for him. Creeping around the side, wholly unseen by anyone on the street or the neighbors on the other side of her, Eris made his way to the back where he found her stripping off her clothes angrily.

She was crying.

Rage was an emotion he was more familiar with, though it was, like all the others, usually a flicker and little more. Fascinated, Eris crept closer to the window where the now naked woman stood. Inside, he could see a large bed, unmade from when she’d woken up that morning. Rosy sheets and a white duvet with patterned pink and blue flowers lay haphazardly, half draped against the floor. Her pillows were rumpled and on the floor was a week's worth of worn clothes. 

To the immaculate Eris, it was offensive to see how casual and messy she was. He itched to crawl inside her window and pick it all up and, again, put a knife in her hands. One thing at a time, he decided before turning back to the bare expanse of her body. She was stunning, all lush curves and lean muscle. The tangled blonde waves of her hair fell halfway down her back, the blood stained ends teasing over her spine. 

She turned, letting him see perky breasts and a strip of hair teasing her pussy. Eris wanted her—it was a revelation. He wanted to touch her, not because he needed release and, objectively, she was beautiful. There was some draw to her, as if he’d been waiting his entire life specifically for her.

She wiped her face, turning helplessly in a half circle. Her window was cracked and he could hear the stifled scream as she pressed her palm to her mouth. 

She’d looked at herself in the mirror and realized she needed to go to the hospital. That was lucky—for him. 

Don’t shower, sunshine. 

Eris pulled out his phone and shot a quick text into the emergency room—he was only on call one day a month these days, though they were always desperate for help. He’d come in to see her, though. And as she pulled on a clean pair of jeans and tied her hair up in a bun, Eris was already slipping off.

Waiting.

ARINA:

Arina sat in the exam room with shaking hands. She never knew if she was supposed to lay on the bed or sit in the nearby chair. Insead, she sat in that hard, plastic chair and listened to the sounds of the emergency room around her. Children wailed and someone in another room was shouting indiscernible nonsense. 

She wanted to go back home. Wanted to crawl up in bed and sleep until her face didn’t ache, until her heart wasn’t so bruised. Three dates. That’s what she’d given Jack and tonight, she’d intended to sleep with him. Had shaved every inch of her body, had scrubbed her skin and made her hair and face look nice.

And he’d decided to try and take it anyway. He and his roommates he’d let hold her down while Arina screamed and kicked and thrashed. She’d escaped thanks to a neighbor who’d heard the commotion and began banging on the front door, but not before Jack had fucked up her face, her ribs, her peace of mind. 

The nurses had looked at her with nothing but sympathetic pity when she walked in, like they knew exactly what she’d been through without needing her whispered confession. She just wanted someone to set her nose, to tell her if her ribs were broken, and maybe send her home with some extra strength tylenol.

The green curtain separating her room from the rest of the hall pulled open and a man stepped in. She wished it had been a woman, and certainly not a young man—he couldn’t have been older than early thirties, and was handsome. 

Beautiful.

“I’m Doctor Vanserra,” he said, offering her a half-smile. 

Amber eyes fixed on her for a moment, troubled by whatever he saw. He didn’t look like any of the people she’d seen so far, though he had a white coat over his navy button-up tucked into his charcoal slacks. His short, auburn hair was pushed casually off his elegant face, neatly styled. She might have appreciated who well groomed he was if she hadn’t wanted to never see another man ever again.

He held a clipboard in one his large, broad hands. She hated that she was noticing that about him—lean, tall, well muscled and when he came fully into the room, brought a crisp, spicy scent with him. 

“Arina Novak?” he asked, brows pulled together. “Mind telling me your date of  birth?”

She rattled it off numbly as he patted the paper covered bed she’d avoided. She wanted to ask him for another doctor, but when their eyes met, some of her fear settled and she couldn’t explain why. 

She hopped up and he took the swiveling stool in front of a computer, though he was looking wholly at her.

“Says you came in for a broken nose and possibly fractured ribs. Want to tell me what happened?”

She swallowed. “I, uh…”

A tear slipped down her cheek, wiped quickly on the back of her hand. “Bad date,” she finally managed. She couldn’t look at him, and so instead chose to look at her wrists, purpling from the force with which she’d been held down. 

“We have nurses who are trained to—”

“It—” she cut him off quickly, wiping the corner of her eye on her sleeve. “I um—what I mean is—they…I got away before…”

“Okay,” he said, his voice rough. “I understand what you’re saying. You don’t need to tell me what happened unless you want to. I’m going to touch your face.”

She looked up at him, blurry from the tears she was trying so hard not to shed. Not in front of this man, not over fucking Jack. 

“I said no,” she told the doctor, because it felt important. It hadn’t mattered, but still she’d said it. 

His fingers were gentle as they reached for the bridge of her nose. Pain lanced through her despite how careful he was, and with a soft crunch, Arina could breathe again. Her eyes watered, tears slipping unbidden down her cheeks, and yet it was done. 

“Can I wipe your face?” he asked. 

Arina appreciated how careful he was being—how he told her everything that was happening. “Yes,” she whispered. 

Doctor Vanserra, wiped the blood and mascara, and salt from her skin before bandaging the bridge of her nose. 

“You’ll be swollen for a couple days, but still just as pretty,” he said with what she assumed was meant to be a reassuring smile. There was a tightness to his eyes that betrayed him. “Lift up your shirt for me.”

Arina’s fingers shook, and yet she did as he asked. Vanserra’s fingers were gentle, probing her bruised flesh against her ribs and her spine, looking for damage. He listened to her lungs and heart before pulling away. She noted his hand, flexed at his side and wondered what he would have done if he’d been jumped by three men.

“I’m going to send you for an x-ray before I let you leave,” he told her, turning toward his computer. His fingers flew across the keys, his mouth pulled in an unforgiving frown. He’d pulled out a laminated badge that told Arina his first name.

Eris Vanserra. 

He didn’t smile in his picture. 

Arina took a breath, ignoring the way it burned, as her phone chimed. She fished it out of her pocket, hoping it was Elain who was out of town with her boyfriend. Arina wanted to crash at Elain’s place for a couple days while she got herself together. She was afraid Jack might figure out where she lived and come back for her.

It was Jack.

Can we talk about tonight? 

Eris was standing over her, eyes on the phone cupped in her hands. 

“Hang tight, alright?” he told her, dragging his gaze back up to her face. “I’ll get you out of here in no time.”

He started to turn and Arina, unable to say why she did it, reached for his wrist. He turned, fingers brushing her own.

“Thank you,” she murmured, wanting to throw herself into the doctor and sob. 

Thank you for taking care of me.

It was his job, and the bar was in hell if a man just doing the requirements of his profession. He took a breath.

“Tell me their names.”

Arina blinked. She didn’t even know the roommates, let alone why he wanted to know. Unless he wanted to tell the police, which Arina was certain would only fall back on her. She dropped his hand like he’d burned her, settling them in her lap.

“Think about it,” he murmured, his voice dark and dripping with heat. He vanished behind the curtain. Arina curled her knees into her chest even though it made it harder to breathe, thinking she’d be alone for a while.

Eris returned a moment later with a blanket draped over his arm. He said nothing as he wrapped it around her shoulders. She was surprised to find it was heated.

“These things can take some time,” he murmured. “You should try and rest while you wait.”

“Doctors orders?” she asked, surprised she’d managed to make some semblance of a joke.

He rewarded her with a heart-stopping smile. “Exactly.”

Eris left again, though she half wished he wouldn’t. It was selfish and absurd—she wasn’t in an episode of Grey’s Anatomy and Eris Vanserra had other people to see. Arina opened her phone again and sent Elain another text.

Silver lining? The doctor is hot.

Elain finally responded. 

I just saw your message. Are you okay? What happened?? You can crash at my place but my little sister is there too, so you might have to share space. 

That sounded like a nightmare. Arina settled on the bed, careful not to put too much weight on her ribs, and began texting Elain back. She was light on the details because she knew her best friend. Elain would absolutely blow up her romantic weekend with this boyfriend Arina knew very little about. 

Lucien. 

She assured her friend she was fine, that it was just a little scrape and a misunderstanding. She could explain it all later, when Elain was home and not focused on her own life, her own fun. Though, Arina wished Elain was there with her. That she wasn’t so alone.

She dozed, waking to a warm hand on her cheek and the amber eyes of Eris Vanserra peering down at her.

“We’re in,” he said casually, stuffing his hand in his pocket. “Only took me three hours, but we managed it. Come on, I’ll wheel you down and a nurse will bring you back.”

He helped her to the ground and to the wheelchair waiting at the edge of the small, sanitized room. Arina groaned when she sat, exhausted and aching in the aftermath of her night. Eris merely waited patiently before releasing the breaks. 

Touching her pocket, Arina twisted as Eris led her into a quiet triage hall. “I forgot my phone.”

“It’ll be waiting when you get back,” he said in a tone that told her he did not care about her phone at all. 

“What time is it?” 

“Two in the morning,” he offered without any cheer. She’d come in around eleven thirty.

“You weren’t lying about waiting,” she said as Eris used his badge to open a set of swinging double doors. 

“We had to wait a little, but it’ll be worth it,” he promised. “I don’t want to send you home suffering.”

God, she liked him. That thought slid through her unbidden and in an effort to keep herself from doing something embarrassing, Arina shut her mouth while Eris wheeled her through the hospital. 

“What do you do for a living?” he asked, a slight edge to his voice. It was almost banter.

“I teach high school English,” she said with a faint smile. “And on the weekend, I teach ballet to toddlers.”

“Oh?”

“I’d do it full-time if it paid better,” she said, unsure why she was telling him this at all. Maybe it was the absence of Elain and her desperate need for connection. For proof the world was still good and there wasn’t anything fundamentally broken in her. 

“You like…kids?”

“You don’t?” 

“There’s a reason I work with adults,” he finally told her, turning a corner carefully. There was not around, just them, and for some reason it made their conversation feel heavier. “I don’t understand children very well.”

“At least you know that about yourself,” she said, hands still twisting in her lap. Why were they talking about children? “I don’t know if I ever want any of my own, but I like being around them.

They see such goodness in the world and I…” a lump was building in her throat. She didn’t want to cry in front of the hot doctor again.

“Makes sense,” he murmured. 

There was no more chat—about children or otherwise—as he took her into the dark room where her ribs and spine would be pictures. Eris helped her up before leaving, promising he’d see her just as soon as he had the results. 

And maybe it was wrong.

But she wanted to see him again.

ERIS:

“Long night for you, Vanserra,” came the flirty voice of a nurse whose name he didn’t remember—didn’t care about. He glanced up from his spot in front of the computer, borrowed in a cubicle that wasn’t really his. He was typing up his notes on Arina because that was a requirement to ensure her insurance covered her visit, though he needed to remember this shit, too. 

He intended to direct her straight to his office in the aftermath so he could do the follow-up. 

The nurse was objectively pretty, but Eris didn’t shit where he ate, and he certainly didn’t fuck people he worked with. His eyes flickered up, well aware he did not look pleasant. Her smile faded.

“Uh…Doctor Moreno said he’d take over if you wanted to head out.”

“I’ll finish this case,” he said crisply. 

“Tragic, huh,” she said sympathetically. Eris’s fingers ached and still he kept typing. He wasn’t going to gossip about Arina. “Was she raped?”

Eris looked back up at her. “Do you need something?”

Her cheeks flushed. 

Get the fuck out of here.

Eris didn’t hurt women or children. Never had, never would. He didn’t consider himself honorable because he didn’t—he merely had no appetite to harm creatures who held less power than him the way children did, and killing women felt too much like a cliche. His cock worked just fine, thank you very much. Eris was too busy killing men like his father. 

Cruel for cruelty's sake. Powerful and largely untouchable. After all, how often had his mother had that same bruised eye, that cut lip, those fractured ribs? How often had she packed him and his brother up for a shelter and called the police, filed a restraining order.

And how often was she dragged back home by the cops, denied that order of protection by judges, and threatened with him and his brother if she didn’t comply? Those sorts of men thought they were untouchable.

Eris very much liked cutting them apart piece by piece before disposing of them somewhere inconvenient. Somewhere embarrassing. 

And while his mother was so proud of her eldest son for becoming a doctor, Eris had done it out of practicality. He couldn’t get caught because he didn’t know how to sever an artery, for Christ’s sake. He was a good doctor. A great doctor, even. His patients liked him, his staff respected him.

But he was a better killer. The police didn’t even realize they had a killer. 

He drummed his fingers on the gray laminate of the desk before submitting his note and turning to the phone in his pocket. He’d swiped it from her before he’d woken her up. Eris didn’t know what was wrong with him, but when it came to her, he felt strangely tight—possessive. 

He opened it and, without an ounce of remorse, began downloading an app that would send him every text she sent, every call she made, and most importantly, her location. 

He couldn’t help himself as he pilfered through her texts. 

Silver lining? The doctor is hot. 

That made him smile. It excited him. He couldn’t read her at all, had no idea what she was thinking. And that wasn’t too unusual—he’d never been terribly good at that, though he’d also never cared what anyone else was thinking or feeling. All her stuttering stops, her fidgeting hands and inability to look him in the eye made sense. 

He’d work on that later, both in and out of the mask. Eris was going to fuck her hard, and raw, and stupid, and afterwards he was going to lock her up in his apartment where no one could touch her ever again.

But before all that, Eris needed names and to get that, all he needed was her phone. Setting his vanity aside, Eris found the name he was looking for. 

It was, perhaps, the most common name in the city. Jack Anderson.

Still, that name came with a dating profile picture of a generic man with brown hair—was that her type—and a phone number. Eris could work with that. He saved that for later, for when he was well-rested and clear. 

Eris found it odd, when he was giving those pictures of her bones, how relieved he felt. He’d been fairly certain it was just bruising, but seeing the swelling without the tell-tale fractures filled Eris with pulse-rattling relief. More emotions he was unaccustomed to, that she pulled from him simply by breathing.

He wrote her a script for the pain he knew she felt and then made his way back to her. Arina was curled up on her side, her blonde hair spilling over her beautiful face. He understood wanting her. Eris had never wanted anything in his life until he’d seen her earlier that evening.

He wanted her now. Wanted her enough that he brushed those strands of hair back, furious all over again. 

“Arina?”

She woke with a start, frightened at first before she realized where she was and who she was looking at. It was almost uncomfortable to realize she didn’t fear him. Why should she? He was nothing more than her physician and he’d done a good job.

“I’ve your x-rays,” he said, holding up his envelope. 

“Good news or bad news?” she asked, wincing as she tried to sit.

“Good,” he assured her. “Your ribs are just bruised. Nothing is broken. A nurse is working on your discharge paperwork—I’ve written you something for the pain and I’d like you to follow up with me in a week just to make sure we didn’t miss anything.”

“I have a doctor,” she mumbled, her cheeks burning. She’d come, Eris knew it. It was what made him shrug his shoulders casually.

“Follow up with your personal physician, if you prefer. I can have everything sent over.”

Over his dead body. 

“I can follow up with you,” she murmured, shaking out her hands. Eris only then remembered he still had her phone. He pulled it from his coat pocket. 

“Nurse found this,” he added, his face betraying nothing. She offered him an exhausted smile and he wondered if she’d find it inappropriate if he offered to drive her home. “Do you need your parking validated?”

She hesitated. “I walked.”

Of fucking course she did. He intended to teach her there were predators roaming the streets—like himself, though she was safe from him. No one else could boast that, but Arina could. 

“I’m leaving after I wrap up. Let me drive you home.”

Those cheeks flushed again. “Yeah, uh…if you don’t mind, I think I’d feel safer.”

He offered her a nod before heading out to get his things. Eris cracked his neck as he walked, thinking it was absurd she felt safer around him. That she should have felt horrified, given the things he intended to do in order to have her. The way he’d lie, cheat, and utterly manipulate her until she wanted him as badly as he wanted her. 

And still, it pleased him greatly that she trusted him all the same.

Foolish, and still, Eris was a man reborn when he returned for Arina, tucked tight in another wheelchair. Eris rather enjoyed pushing her around—taking care of her, he realized as they walked. Arina was too tired for polite conversation and the bruises on her pretty, golden skin were far more pronounced. 

“On your feet,” he murmured when they reached the garage. He hadn’t parked close enough—and thought carrying her was a little too much for one day. Eris, too, needed some distance to get his shit together. 

Still, Arina took his hand and Eris just…didn’t let go. He kept it in his hand as he led her to his car, dropping it only when he pulled open her door. He didn’t think she noticed at all. Arina pressed her head against the glass, which would leave a smudge—something that ordinarily would have bothered him. 

“Tell me your address,” he murmured, only because he wasn’t supposed to know. Arina whispered it, the only words she said until he pulled up, back at her door. Eris was panicking at the thought of sending her alone inside, and had no excuse to go in with her.

“Make sure you eat something,” he urged, reaching for her thigh. Arina looked over at him and he thought she looked sad. 

Vulnerable. 

“Water, too,” he said before digging in his back pocket for his car. “Call me if you need something, okay?”

He knew she wouldn’t. Still, she took the car and said, “Thank you. For everything, I mean. This was…thank you.”

“Don’t thank me just yet,” he replied.”

He wasn’t done with her.

ARINA: 

She must have slept the whole day. Arina woke confused–it was night again. Her phone was dead, and her head throbbed. She sat up in bed, rubbing at her eyes before looking around her bedroom. Something was…off. Arina couldn’t place what, exactly, was out of place, only that it looked different than before. 

Maybe that was just the aftermath of her night talking. She reached for a glass of water on the nightstand—one she didn’t remember pouring—and gulped until it was empty before she slid the charging cable into her phone.

What did she remember?

She remembered Jack, and his friends. The punishing throb in her face wouldn’t let her forget what he’d tried to do to her, how he’d planned it with his friends.

How stupid she’d been. Arina shook her head. She didn’t have it in her to cry again. Instead, she stood and made her way to the bathroom, trying to think of anything else.

Like Eris Vanserra, the doctor who had driven her home. Who’d given her his card with those burning eyes—who looked so angry on her behalf. The doctor was proof the world wasn’t so bad, that she’d get over this. And when she saw him again, Arina hoped she was less bruised, less sad. 

More charming. 

Though, maybe it was fucked up to want the first man who’d been nice to her in the wake of trauma. Arina shook that thought from her mind and stepped into the shower. Her sleep schedule was going to be wrecked for the next week if she couldn’t make herself sleep through the night. 

Feeling slightly more human in the wake of floral scented soap and scalding water, Arina wrapped a towel around her body and padded back into her bedroom. 

She slid on a pair of plaid sleep shorts and a tank top before wringing out her hair and reaching for her phone. A cheerful message from Elain and two from Jack populated a lock screen she’d never seen before.

Before it had been a picture of her and Elain grinning. Arina was sure she hadn’t changed it—and certainly not to the ghost mask from Scream. She stared for a minute, trying to make sense of this new image which she was sure hadn’t been there when she’d gotten out of Eris’s car. She remembered looking at the time.

She would have seen it. 

It was angled like a selfie…like someone had taken it with her phone and then set it as her background. Arina opened her phone, going to pictures first where, sure enough, the image sat among her usual memes and selfies as though it belonged. 

Arina exhaled.

Her phone chimed. 

Come to the kitchen

Arina’s heart pounded. The number was saved to her phone with that same picture of the mask—named Ghost. Self-aware.

Still terrifying. 

Arina should have called 911. She knew she was every stupid protagonist in a horror movie, the opposite of a final girl as she stepped out of her bedroom with nothing but her phone in her hand. Whoever this person was had been in her house, was still there. 

It only occurred to Arina that it was very possible that this Jack or one of his friends, come to seek their vengeance when she reached the end of the hall. It was too late—whoever was behind that mask was standing in her kitchen holding a large, curved knife.

Arina dropped her phone to the floor. 

It was a man, dressed in well tailored, black slacks and a matching black shirt with a vest over his chest. His large hands were clad in gloves and his face hidden behind that white ghost mask. Muscular, tall, built well enough he could easily over power her.

Arina couldn’t breathe as he cocked her head.

She was going to die. 

He crooked a finger, beckoning her forward. On her kitchen table, he’d spread three pictures.

“Put down the knife,” she whispered, stunned when he not only set it to the table, but it slid it across the wood in her direction. She was certain his eyes were on her as she lunged for it, gripping the cool, steel hilt in her hand. 

A dark chuckle filled the room, as if she’d done exactly what he wanted. 

“A gift, little mouse,” he murmured before crooking that finger again. Nostrils flaring in an attempt to suck down more oxygen, Arina crept closer despite every instinct that demanded she run.

Dragging her eyes from the mask, Arina looked at the trio of pictures on her table. Her stomach lurched—it was Jack and his roommates, headshots taken from their linked in, if she had to guess. Gloved fingers gripped her chin, tilting her face to the man who was far too close.

Dangerous!

He ran that leather thumb over her bruised eye socket.

“Which. One?” came that dark, cold voice. 

“What are you going to do?” she asked him. He merely ran his finger over the ache before nodding his face at the pictures. He’d brought her a massive knife—he’d broken into her apartment.

“Who are you?”

There was a beat of silence. “Your salvation,” he finally said. She tried to pick out that voice, sure she must have met him somewhere, must recognize it deep in the caverns of her mind.

He was modulating it, she realized. It was too deep, slightly mechanical. 

“Which one, little mouse?” he all but whispered. 

Arina turned back to her pictures before pointing at the sandy blonde grinning cheerfully. He’d hit her with the back of his hand, taking her by surprise. 

“What are you going to do?”

His fingers left her face, trailing down the side of her neck to grip her throat ever so slightly. “You know what I’m going to do,” he said, head cocked again. 

Arina swallowed. “Don’t—just let it go.”

Another dark chuckle. “I can’t do that.”

“This is…this is—”

His grip tightened ever so slightly. “You belong to me,” he said, his voice low and rough. Arina was going to be sick. She was shaking so hard she wasn’t sure how she stood before this man, who’d so casually declared he felt he had some sort of ownership on her.

“I’ll call the police.”

He laughed again. “You won’t. If you want to stop me, take my gift and plunge it in my heart.”

She looked at the knife in her hands before looking back up at him. He took the opportunity to run the hand holding her throat back up her face, pushing his thumb between her lips. The weight of him settled rough against her tongue, not gagging her but close. 

She wondered what he saw when he looked at her. Arina pulled back only to have that same hand fisting in her hair. “How badly did he scare you?” She closed her eyes, trying so hard not to remember. 

Think of the doctor—think of how nice he was, how he cared—

“Tell. Me.”

“He put his knee on my throat,” she said, because he had—it was how she’d managed to twist away. His most sensitive parts had been within grabbing range. She’d reached and twisted until he fell backward and then rushed up while Jack’s pants were around his waist. His friend ripped her by the hair and Arina had begun screaming, which drew the neighbor, even if she’d earned that brutal kick to the ribs.

Ghost loosened his hold on her hair. “I’ll bring you his head.”

“Please don’t,” she whispered, setting the knife on the table between them. “Whatever you think you need to avenge I…”

“You’re scared.”

It wasn’t a question, but an observation. As if he didn’t understand her emotions, couldn’t figure out why she’d wrapped her arms around her body to keep herself from falling apart. 

Fingers grazed her bruises. “They would not have been so forgiving of you.”

“I got out.”

“But you’re still scared.”

Arina felt like she was talking to an alien. She took a deep breath and forced herself to be calm. “Yes—because you broke into my house. And my phone.”

“So I could give you this,” he said, gesturing at the knife. “And so I could talk to you.”

As if it were utterly reasonable to just walk into her locked home in the first place. When Arina just stared him down, forcing him to hear himself admit that yes, he’d broken into her place so he could talk to her, he tried again. “You’re alone—unprotected. And you’re scared.”

He kept repeating it, waiting for her to acknowledge it specifically.

“Yes,” she finally agreed. “I’m scared.”

There was a pause before he snatched up those pictures. “I’m not.”

“Wait!” she called, grabbing his bicep as he turned for the door. He looked over those broad shoulders, leaner than she’d first thought, but still well-muscled. 

Powerful.

“The police will think—”

“They’ll think what I want them to think, little mouse,” he replied. Arina dropped him even as the scent of him slammed into her senses. Achingly familiar. Crisp and spicy. She’d smelled that cologne before, though she couldn’t place where.

“I’m not your little mouse,” she told him, resentful of the nickname.

The mask hid his face, but Arina swore she heard him smile. “No, I think not. You’re more like sunshine, aren’t you?”

“I’m not asking you to do this. I’m not going to thank you if you do.”

“Sure you will,” he disagreed. “When this is all over, I think you’ll be standing right beside me. Knife in hand. Dripping in blood.”

“Sounds like a nice little fantasy,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. Arina was terrified of this man, of what he was telling her, because some small part of her wanted it to be true. She wanted to know who he was. 

That dark chuckle made her shiver. “My fantasies of you are a different sort. You’ll find out soon enough. After I’ve earned it.” And as he slipped back out into the waiting night, Arina wasn’t sure she wanted to know what rituals he imagined he needed to complete in order to have her. 

ERIS:

Eris needed a drink. 

He needed a gallon of liquor, to be precise, though he’d settle for caffeine. His night had been a mess—two since he’d stood in Arina’s living room and watched her shake before him, unable to figure out what it was about him that frightened her so much. 

One since he’d tracked down Dylan Grady and slowly suffocated him. Arina had said he’d put his knee on her neck and Eris had been all too happy to replicate that experience, edging Dylan for hours, holding him between life and death before he finally ended it. 

Disposing of him hadn’t been terribly hard given Eris had done it in Dylan’s very bedroom. The other two were out doing God knew what, and Eris would have paid good money for the other two losers to step inside and realize death was waiting for them.

Assuming they even realized what was waiting for them. Eris rolled his shoulders, thinking he only had to work half a day before he could go home and sleep. Arina would be at her school, which meant there was no chance of running into her before the evening. He was tempted to walk straight to her place and sleep in her sheets.

He refrained. He was too tired, which meant she might catch him before he’d built the same obsession with her that he felt. She’d tell someone, and Eris go to jail because he’d finally caught feelings and became careless and stupid.

He kept waiting for his interest in her to fade. He waited as he saw his usual patients and as he wrote up his paperwork. He waited on the drive home and again when he made it home where he showed, jerked himself off to the thought of her, and fell face first into satin pillows so he could dream about her. 

He woke to the sound of pounding on his door. Eris sighed, throwing on a pair of black sweatpants before padding to the door.

Lucien was on the other end, tanner than Eris remembered. Lucien looked like a fucking hippie with his hair half braided off his face and the golden brown skin of his face lightly burned from his time in the sun.

“Yes?”

“You busy tonight?”

Eris had fully intended to go see Arina. He didn’t respond, though it didn’t matter. What Eris lacked in being friendly, Lucien made up for it in spades. It had always been that way between them, and Eris supposed, begrudgingly, he did have some affection for Lucien. Love, even—if someone had hurt his little brother, he would have wiped them off the map.

Lucien pushed into the house, too casual in his khaki shorts and that salmon-colored shirt. “Elain wants to know if you’ll double with one of her friends tonight.”

“No.” The idea was abhorrent.

“It’s not like that. She’s had a rough couple day and she’s scared to be home by herself,” Lucien cajoled as Eris made his way into the open kitchen for a drink.

“The last time you tried this, I couldn’t shake her for a month,” Eris reminded Lucien with irritation.

“She’s not going to want you. I swear. It’s…it’s just so she’s not a third wheel.”

“Why don’t you stay home?” Eris suggested, pouring himself a glass of water. “Let them go out without you.”

“Eris,” Lucien said, bracing his hands against the marble countertop. “All you do is work.”

“I like working.”

Lucien looked up at the ceiling like he always did when he was trying not to wrap his hands around Eris’s neck and squeeze. Eris knew he was going to give in, even if it meant putting off seeing Arina another night.

“Fine, I’ll go. What’s she scared of?”

“She went on a real bad date. Don’t look too hard at her face, alright?”

Eris’s heart sped up. “What’s her name?”

“Arina. She’s very nice,” Lucien added, as if Eris needed to be reminded. Eris felt stupid—he’d seen her lockscreen, had read the messages between Elain and Arina. He’d been too distracted by his rage over what had happened to her and his own planning to realize Arina’s Elain and Lucien’s Elain were the same. 

“Let me get dressed.”

Lucien rewarded Eris with a smile that wasn’t entirely deserved. Still, Eris relished this chance to run into Arina outside of her apartment or the emergency room. A chance to be the hot doctor in real life—where he could be charming and witty when he wanted to be. 

Eris dressed himself as casually as he could, picking a marigold shirt he rolled the sleeves to the elbows of, and tucked into navy pants. He was careful with his hair before spritzing cologne to his neck and following Lucien out. They were going to his brother's place, conveniently located three floors down, which Eris appreciated. He’d been Lucien’s reference with the co-op board, afterall. Everyone liked Dr. Vanserra.

Even when they shouldn’t. 

Still, visiting his younger brother made their mother happy and Eris cared if his mother was happy. He cared, he supposed, if Lucien was, too. And he was happy Lucien had Elain, who Eris could admit wasn’t awful. Was cheerful and funny and someone he might also care if she was harmed.

Eris was uncomfortable by the time he stepped out of the elevator and into the sanitized hall that smelled faintly like vanilla. Elain was baking and the scent carried. Lucien’s shoulders straightened as he reached for the door, allowing them both in.

And there she was. Glee burned in his chest at the sight of her. She was wearing yellow, too which only convinced Eris on some level, she was thinking about him, too. He’d certainly been envisioning her gold hair when he’d dressed, which now cascaded in glossy waves down her bare back. Her sundress was dotted with little white daisies, capped sleeved and just low cut enough he could see the swell of her breasts beneath. Her long legs—the legs he’d first seen out on the street—gleamed bronze in the waning sunlight filtering into Lucien’s living room.

But it was her face that Eris couldn’t drag his eyes away from. She’d worked some kind of magic with the bruise, hiding the worst of her attack from Elain and Lucien. Eris could see her as she ought to be—glowing, beautiful, bright. Only her lip was still cut, still a little swollen beneath whatever shade of pink gloss she’d coated them in. 

Arina was studying him, too. Lucien and Elain were speaking, but Eris didn’t hear them. He wanted to hold her face so he could see how she was healing—wanted to ask her if she was still scared. 

If she’d seen the video he’d sent her that morning. 

“...my brother,” Lucien finished with a smile, pulling Eris back to reality. 

“Hello,” Eris said. He wasn’t about to break HIPPA or embarrass her by telling his brother that he’d been the doctor she’d see the night of her attack. 

Arina’s eyes were wide. “Eris,” she said, rising from the chair she’d been sitting in. Eris could have died at the sight of her, was breathing hard, and fuck what was he supposed to do with his hands— “We’ve met.”

“Oh, good!” Elain said, clearly apprehensive. She remembered how he’d treated her last friend, then. “It went…well?”

“Very well,” Arina agreed, offering him a smile of straight, white teeth. Did she know she had him on his knees? That he would have done anything for her? Eris merely inclined his head. He wasn’t in a mask and couldn’t just tell her what he wanted. 

Both Lucien and Elain exhaled a breath. Lucien was eyeing Eris, a silent question hanging between them.

What happened between you two?

Eris offered Lucien nothing that might betray him.

Mind your own business. 

Elain handed Eris a beer and he went to a black two-seater and plopped himself among the cushions. Arina hesitated for a moment, looking at the chair she’d been perched in.

“I don’t bite,” he lied. He very much did, and intended to just as soon as he had her beneath him. She might like it, then. 

She might bite him back, even.

Eris had to cross his leg in order to keep anyone from seeing what his line of thought was doing to his cock. 

Arina sat beside him, stiffening for a moment before relaxing into the softness. There was still an ocean of distance between them, too far for him to even press his thigh to her own. It was better than nothing, though. Here, he could drink in the scent of her, warm like vanilla and salted lime. He could see the thrum of her pulse in her throat, the flush on her cheeks. 

Across the room, Elain and Lucien exchange a covert look, though said nothing. Elain wanted to play a board game and Eris wanted to be within touching distance of Arina. She wrapped her own bottle around her lips and Eris was momentarily wrecked, so unfocused he wasn’t sure he was even breathing. 

Lucien pulled out Cards Against Humanity and a bottle of tequila. Eris wondered if he could get Arina up the elevator and into his bed before the night ended. Not for sex—though he wanted that, too. 

He wanted Arina not to be afraid. Not of him.

Not of anything. 

The game quickly devolved, and Eris was happy to be there so long as Arina loosened up. The more time passed, she seemed to relax, the once tense muscles in her body loosening with each passing laugh. And Arina did laugh. Her laugh was like nothing he’d ever heard, settling in his chest like his very heart. Eris knew he was well out of his depth and suspected Elain was aware, given how she kept looking at Eris with those knowing eyes of hers. 

Arina had her head on the back of the couch, so close he could have scooted and propped her cheek on his shoulder. With the night winding down, Eris needed a reason to get her alone. He found it in the kitchen, when Elain and Lucien conveniently vanished down the hall. Arina was separating bottles into the recycling when Eris finally made his way toward her.

“How are your ribs?” he asked, because he couldn’t think of anything better to say. 

She looked over at him with those big, mossy eyes. “Still hurt, but I’m drinking water and resting like you said.”

“Good girl,” he murmured, hooking a finger beneath her chin to tilt her face toward him. “And your face?”

Her breath was warm against his skin. He could still feel her tongue pressed to his gloved finger and the heat of her mouth. Her lashes fluttered. “Better.”

“I heard you’re not sleeping,” he added, his mind racing. “Do you ne—”

“I don’t need anything,” Arina said firmly, misunderstanding what he’d been offering. Maybe that was for the best. He nodded and took a step away from her.

“How about a ride home?”

She hesitated before glancing down the hall. The apartment was suspiciously quiet. “Probably, actually. Do you mind?”

“Not at all,” Eris agreed with relief. He’d have this little time with her before he returned. His things were already in the trunk, easily changed into if he was careful in his backseat.

“My keys are upstairs,” he old her, nodding toward the door. 

“You live in the same building as your brother?”

He couldn’t help his smile. It was so easy around her. “Who do you think got that degenerate through the door? Lucien could have been a doctor if he’d wanted.”

“Isn’t he a lawyer?” Arina asked, slipping into the hall beside him.

“Exactly,” Eris agreed. 

“If that’s your definition of disappointment, I’d hate to see how I rank,” she said lightly, though her eyes were tight. Eris didn’t know how to navigate this—did he tell her he liked her, or did he agree her career was worth very little? He couldn’t remember anything from high school other than he’d liked cutting up animals and he was terrified someone would see the bruises on Lucien’s body and separate them. 

“Tell me about your dance studio,” he said instead. Her cheeks flushed, telling Eris he’d said the right thing. 

“It’s not my studio. I work for the studio,” she clarified. “I want my own, though. Maybe someday, if…” she bit her bottom lip. 

If you’re married to a doctor with an obscene trust fund? 

That also seemed like the wrong thing to say, though it was the truth. Eris did fuck all with that money. It would be nice, he thought, to see his father’s hard earned wealth spent on teaching children to dance. Or making his wife, who Beron Vanserra would have found entirely unsuitable, happy. 

The elevator doors opened and Eris ushered her up, his mind racing. She wanted to go home, and he wanted to be with her. These weren’t opposing ideas, at least to him. Probably to her. 

“Someday,” Eris agreed, stuffing his hand in his pocket to keep from touching her. “How did you meet Elain?”

“College. We were roommates.”

Eris stepped out of the elevator and into the penthouse he owned, only slightly pleased by her wide, impressed eyes. 

“I can’t imagine rooming with Elain. She’s so…well behaved,” he finally managed, snatching his keys from the side table right outside the elevator. Arina was peeking around the corner, which prompted him to add, “Would you like a tour? You can stay, if you like.” In his bed. With his cock buried in her body, preferably. He wondered if fucking her would be enough to cure him of his fascination, or if knowing what it felt like to have her beneath him would only make things worse. Eris was starting  to suspect the latter and even hoping for it. Not that life was meaningless before her, but he’d had to chase down the feelings now roiling through him constantly. He had to create them for himself, had to manufacture the perfect conditions in order to feel the anxiety, the excitement, the lust that he was always feeling just by thinking of her. 

Arina’s cheeks burned. “Oh…no, I couldn’t. I shouldn’t.”

Eris let her see a fraction of his disappointment. “Why shouldn’t you?”

“I just…” Because she was attracted to him. Eris could work with that. He rounded on her, hands at his sides.

“A date, then? Would you do that?”

He’d forgotten the right order of things. It was date, sex, and then the knife. He was all backwards. Take her on a date, let her see how charming and interesting he was before he put his face between her legs and his cock in her throat. 

She could keep the knife. Eris had plenty more, could turn her house in a small armory if she wanted. 

“A date?” Arina pulled him from his thoughts of stripping her naked.

“Yes,” he agreed, flashing her a smile. “This weekend? After I see you and you’re no longer my patient?”

She bit her bottom lip and for a terrible moment he thought she might tell him no. He kept forgetting how they’d met—a date gone terribly wrong. And though she was in his apartment, not attacking her was an incredibly low bar.

“Where?”

“I’ll plan it,” he swore, trying not to seem too desperate. “Somewhere public—open. Dinner and something else?” he offered. 

She relaxed and Eris could have kissed her. “Saturday?”

“Eight o’clock,” he agreed with another easy smile. “I’ll handle everything and I’ll pick you up.”

She nodded. “That would be nice.”

“Perfect. And you already have my number,” he reminded her, forgetting that he was technically Ghost in her phone. He would need to get another or she was going to piece things together too quickly before she had a reason to care about him.

“On your card,” she agreed with a smile. 

“That’s for work,” he said with a frown. “Why don’t you give me yours and I’ll text you.”

And with that, Eris was given Arina’s phone number with a smile. He already had it, to be fair, but it was nice to get things from her he didn’t have to steal. Eris took her to his car where the light scent of her filled his nose, and managed to drive her home without sliding his hand beneath her dress.

She thanked him, though, with a kiss on his cheek. Leaning over just outside her dark apartment, Arina pressed her mouth just above his jaw.

“Thank you,” she murmured, her eyes bright and hopeful. He couldn’t help himself. He just needed to know—was she forbidden and therefore exciting, or was this something real? Sliding his fingers under her chin, Eris turned his own face toward hers slowly. He gave her enough time to pull back, to tell him to stop because the lord knew there was no way he was going to.

He closed the distance between them, restrained by his seat belt. Lips pressed to hers, eyes closed. 

His whole body ignited like nothing he’d ever felt before. She was soft, her mouth inviting, and she kissed exactly the way Eris liked. Not too wet, not too breathy. Just the right amount of pressure and somehow she placed her own lips against his own in exactly the right way. Eris knew he was fussy and overly particular and maybe some of his attraction was how well Arina navigated around his own issues without any awareness. 

Eris was burning. Blood racing, body taut. Every inch of him was wholly aware of her. Her fingertips grazing his cheek, the way she still tasted sweet despite the beer she’d been drinking. Eris wanted to drag her into his lap. Instead, he let himself deepen the kiss, his fingers tightening on her face. 

His tongue traced the seam of her lips, drawing the softest gasp from her. Arina sank her teeth against his bottom lip, nipping ever so slightly and Eris was wrecked. Utterly ruined, unable to stop himself from grasping her face and really kissing her like he wanted. Like the man he was and not the man he was trying to be. Messy and rough, like he wanted to devour her.

Because he did. Eris pushed his tongue into her mouth, groaning when her own met him, looking for the taste of him. He didn’t mean to take it too far in his car, given how badly he wanted to keep kissing her. Eris wanted to push the seat back, to let her straddle his lap, and kiss until they were both exhausted.

He bit her bottom lip harder than he’d meant to, reopening the cut on her delicate skin. Blood flooded their mouths and Arina yanked back, fingers rushing to the wound.

“Sorry,” he panted, though he wasn’t sorry at all. Her lips were glossy and red and he could taste the metallic salt on his tongue. “I—fuck. Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she panted, her eyes big and dilated. “I should go, I think. Before…”

“Yeah,” he agreed, well aware of what she’d been about to say.

“Saturday, still?” she asked timidly, as if she’d given him too much and now he might change his mind. Eris still meant to wine and dine her. He was starting to think he could have his cake and eat it, too. That he could have her without a mask at all, that she could see him as he was and like him just as much as he liked her.

That he could make her obsessed with him.

“Saturday,” he agreed. Arina offered him a smile and slipped out into the night.

He wasn’t going far. 

ARINA:

Arina was having a horrible nightmare. She knew it was a nightmare and yet she couldn’t get out of it. Arina was tied up, forced to wait on Jack and his horribly dead blue eyes as he made his way toward her. How had she never noticed how utterly soulless he seemed? How had she not realized there was no light in his face?

Kissing Eris in her car had made her realize there was a difference. Where Jack had always been cold, even in his pleasure and delight, Eris radiated heat. His eyes were full of passion.

He was alive.

He was there, too, in this nightmare. Crumpled on the ground as blood seeped from a wound in his head. He’d come to help her, the valiant doctor who inexplicably liked her. And Jack had bashed him over he head while Arina was forced to watch, screaming and begging him to stop. 

I’ll do anything. I’ll do anything.

He’d turned, then, holding a curved knife in his hand.

What will you do for me, little mouse?

Arina jerked awake in the dark, gasping for air. She was coated in a thin sheen of sweat and yet cold. She’d kicked off the blanket sometime in the night. Arina pressed a hand to her forehead, blinking as sleep threatened to claim her again. She was so tired and knew if she flopped back to the bed, she’d fall right back into the nightmare.

Beside her, something—someone—shifted. She turned her head, certain she was going to see Jack there.

“Oh,” she whispered when she found the outline of that familiar white and black mask. “You.”

“You were having a nightmare,” he said, as if that explained his presence.

 Arina tried to force her heart to slow, to remind herself whoever this man was, he was trying in some fucked up way to help her. 

“Why are you back?”

He leaned his lean, masculine body against her headboard. “You’re scared.”

He said it like he didn’t understand why. “Yes.”

“You didn’t respond to my video.”

Arina had only watched a few seconds of the video he’d sent her. His muscular knee pressed to the throat of one of her assailants had given her far too much satisfaction and she’d quickly closed out, afraid of what that said about her. 

She meant to say something rude to him, but the only thing that came out was a whispered, “Thank you.”

He went still. “Thank you? I thought you weren't going to thank me?" They’d both expected fear or fire. Not gratitude. But she was. Arina felt better knowing that, regardless of what it would mean for her once he was finished doling out retribution, none of those men would ever hurt someone again. She would be the last. 

Arina forced herself to ask, instead, “When you’re finished, are you going to kill me, too?”

“No,” he said with what she swore was a soft laugh. “Not you. Never you.”

“What do you want from me?”

“I thought that was obvious,” he murmured.

“Spell it out for me,” Arina replied. She needed to hear this man say it.

“You, little mouse. I want you.”

“I suppose this is the part where you say I owe you?” she asked, waiting for him to agree. Surely a man who could so easily kill another person had no qualms about taking anything else he wanted. He was stretched out in her bed, dressed in all black with his ankles crossed, boots dangling just off the edge as though he couldn’t stand the thought of messing up her bed sheets. 

“I’ll wait,” he replied with a shrug of broad shoulders. 

“That stalker will wait?” she scoffed.

She could feel his eyes boring holes in her skin, could practically hear the smile that cracked his face. “I have rope and a blindfold in my bag. If you find it so offensive, I could show you exactly what I want from you right now.”

Arina had a date with Eris in a week. Eris, the hot doctor who’d kissed her in her car, who smelled otherworldly and looked at her like—

Like he’d burn the whole world down to have her. Like he fucking cared. Arina took a breath of air, eyes fluttering shut. That scent—she hadn’t recognized it the first night Ghost had stepped into her apartment, too wild with terror. 

What were the odds the stalker and the doctor had the same cologne? 

“If I let you tie me up, do you promise to stop if I tell you to?” she whispered, pretty sure this was a monumentally bad idea. She could be wrong. It could be a coincidence, or just her desire to project her own interest in one man onto another. Ghost could be little more than a truly deranged man that she should try harder to dissuade. 

“I’ll do you one better,” he murmured, reaching across the bed to slide his gloved hand up her bare leg. “Everything we do tonight will be just for you.”

“And…and I can’t see your face?” she asked, wondering what she’d do if it was Eris beneath. She barely knew him.

All of this was wrong. 

“Not yet.”

“But you will?”

“When you’re ready,” he agreed. “When you aren’t so scared of me…when you’re ready to use that knife under your pillow.”

“I’ll never—”

“You will,” he interrupted firmly. “Now. Lay back for me.”

Arina swallowed hard. This was her moment to say no, to start screaming or call nine one one, even.

Not lay against the pillows. 

“Good girl,” he whispered, brushing those gloved knuckles over her cheek. “Don’t move, I’ll be right back.”

And then the bastard swung his legs off her bed and instead of going out through the door, went to the window, opened it and slipped into the night. She’d wondered how he’d managed to get in and she supposed know she knew.

It was fixable with a block of wood. Arina suspected he’d find another way in, but how amusing for him to roll up one night thinking he’d slip in her window only to find it locked.

Maybe even alarmed. 

Still, Arina didn’t move. She stayed among the pillows, her heart racing when he very easily slid back in through the window. He hadn’t been lying when he said he had rope and a blindfold, the purpose of which ought to have frightened her. She did sit up when she saw him circle it around his hands.

“Relax, little—”

“I told you not to call me that,” she snapped. 

“Ah, yes, sunshine. Relax. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Arina believed that. “Not too tight,” she whispered.

“I wouldn’t tie you up at all if I thought you wouldn’t try and see me,” he murmured. 

He came toward her, slipping the surprisingly soft blindfold over her eyes. Wholly lost to the dark, Arina didn’t feel as scared. Not when fingers clad in leather carefully reached for her wrists and bound her in rope—not so tight it hurt, but enough that once he had her secured to the headboard, she wasn’t going to get out unless he wanted her too.

She swallowed.

“How much do you value your clothes?” he murmured, sliding something cool over her skin. Arina shivered. Was that a knife?

“I don’t care,” she whispered. The knife dragged over her collarbone, just sharp enough to make her heart race without actually hurting her. The sound of fabric ripping filled the silence. He cut the straps of her top first before moving clean down the center. A little tug and then Arina was wholly topless. 

There was silence, and then the brush of bare fingers against the swell of her breasts. “Pretty, baby,” he murmured, still in that fucking mask. She just needed him to take off the mask so she could hear his voice. Arina swore she had Eris’s committed to memory. 

He slid those same fingers into the waistband of her shorts, allowing Arina to lift her hips so he could slowly pull them off her body. 

There was another moment of silence where she assumed he was appraising her. Arina would have given anything to know that he thought of her. 

“I’m regretting my promise,” he finally managed, his voice half strangled. “Look at you…”

The mattress dipped beneath his weight, fingers trailing up and down her inner thigh. “I want to devour you.”

“You’ll have to take off the mask,” she whispered, jerking when she heard something thud to the floor. He’d stay silent now if he was Eris, and he’d keep talking if he wasn’t. Arina curled her fingers to fists, tugging every so slightly. 

“What are you—” she choked on her words when his tongue slid over one of her nipples, teeth grazing the sensitive skin. Arina could only exhale, well aware one of his hands was still lazily making passes up and down her leg. 

It was the car all over again. He’d started unhurried, like he’d had all the time in the world. At first, Arina had thought he was trying not to scare her. When he’d tilted her face toward him, she’d had the same feeling she had right now.

Eris Vanserra wanted to devour her. 

He wasn’t rushed, switching between breasts while licking the valley of skin between like a man with nothing but time, but there was an urgency to him that she’d felt before. How long, she wondered, before her mouth was filled with blood.

She’d thought that was an accident.

Now she thought he’d done it because he liked it. Assuming, of course, Arina’s gamble was right. That the man currently touching her was the doctor and not someone else. She exhaled a breath, yelping when the finger on her leg slid up the middle of her pussy.

He groaned against her skin, too soft to truly know for certain. Arina arched, delighted when teeth snagged on the sensitive flesh, tugging just hard enough to edge pleasure with pain. Arina wasn’t so proud to admit that this was how she liked it.

She could forget what this man was as he licked down her body, fingers teasing her flesh. He spread her wide open, bending her knees so he could really get a look at her. It was strange, given Arina’s experience with pussy eating was usually over enthusiastic men who didn’t have the skill but dove right in, or men who had no interest at all and tried their hardest not to even look.

She suspected he had the skill and the interest. Anticipation skittered along Arina’s spine, her arousal heightened by the loss of her vision. She couldn’t see what he was doing or if he even liked what he saw.

Cool metal replaced his finger and Arina jerked.

“Shhh,” he murmured, teasing her clit with the smooth handle. Over and over, until Arina relaxed, her fear slipping away. While he toyed with her, he kissed and licked up her thigh, let his breath fan over her aching flesh, and then switched to her other leg. Arina was wound up, wiggling her hips to try and convince him to put his mouth on her. 

The blade of his knife left her clit and Arina was rewarded for her patience with his tongue. She’d forgotten he even had it, moaning softly as pleasured washed gently over her. This was what she needed, she told herself. It didn’t matter who was giving it to her. He’d chased away the nightmare that Arina had all but forgotten it right until the handle of the knife pushed into her body.

She clenched around it, crying out at the cool intrusion.

“Take it,” he whispered roughly. Was that Eris? Or did she just want it to be him? “Look at how fucking wet you are.”

And she was. She could feel the easy glide of the handle, of her want coating over her skin to make each pass of his tongue smoother, softer. The minute he realized she wasn’t going to fight her, Ghost unleashed himself.

Arina felt bad for the people she shared walls with. She couldn’t help herself. His mouth was something else and combined with the pump of the blade, she was lost. Rolling her hips against his face, body clenched tight around the handle, Arina was begging.

“Please,” she heard herself pant, unsure what she even wanted. Maybe for this to go on forever. His tongue was everything, licking broad strokes before pulling back to tease and suck and nip.

Every time Arina came just a little too close, he’d pull back, fucking her slower while offering languid, unhurried swipes of his tongue. She knew what he was doing. Each time she was denied, Arina built harder, edged hotter. When he finally let her go, Arina was going to scream.

She was going to beg him for his cock, was what she was going to do. 

Arina needed to come. When he pulled back again she all but sobbed in frustration. He chuckled and she didn’t even care who he was. Maybe he wasn’t Eris. Maybe he was some dark avenger who had his sights set on her. She didn’t care. 

“Please,” she begged again, rolling her hips into his face. He groaned, back to licking and fucking with single minded focus. Heat danced along her skin, her nerves electrified. She chased that rolling pleasure up, up, up, and this time, when she hung over the precipice, he let her fall. She’d been right about screaming—Arina was almost embarrassed by the noise that escaped her throat. She tried to clamp her thighs around his face but he shoved her back open, using his body to keep her from pushing him away.

He didn’t stop. Not when she begged or thrashed or pulled at her restraints. Now that he’d made her come, he was bound and determined to do it again.

And again.

And again.

Arina begged, her body shaking around him. She was exhausted, and maybe that was the point. By the time he pulled up and slammed his mouth against her own, Arina didn’t want to ask him to fuck her anymore. She wanted to go to sleep. She wondered if he’d guessed her intentions—or if he was merely greedy.

She knew one thing, though.

The moment his teeth sank vicious against her bottom lip, splitting open the wound from before so her mouth filled with blood, she knew exactly who was pressed against her. 

He groaned at the taste of copper and salt, mingled with the musky sweetness of her own body.

Eris Vanserra had come to finish what he’d started.

[visit-new-york]

The Mall

Here are a few attractions and activities associated with the Central Park Mall:

Horse-Drawn Carriages: Visitors can often spot horse-drawn carriages offering rides along The Mall and other parts of Central Park. It's a charming and nostalgic way to explore the park while taking in the scenic beauty.

Public Art Installations: Central Park frequently hosts temporary art installations, and The Mall is no exception. These installations can include sculptures, art exhibitions, and interactive displays, adding an artistic dimension to the natural surroundings.

Cherry Blossom Season: In the spring, The Mall is a popular spot to admire the blooming cherry blossoms that line the pathway. The delicate pink and white blossoms create a stunning contrast against the green canopy of elm trees.

Wedding Photography: The Mall is a favorite location for wedding photography. Couples often choose this spot for its romantic ambiance and picturesque setting, with the tree-lined path providing a dreamy backdrop for their wedding photos.

Historical Lamp Posts: The Mall features distinctive cast-iron lamp posts with decorative scrollwork. These historic lamp posts contribute to the park's old-world charm and are especially enchanting when illuminated at night.

Birdwatching: Central Park is a haven for birdwatchers, and The Mall is no exception. The combination of trees and open space attracts a variety of bird species, making it an excellent spot for birdwatching.

Summer Performances: During the summer months, The Mall often hosts outdoor performances, including concerts, theater productions, and dance recitals. These events are a delightful way to enjoy culture in a natural setting.

Community and Social Gatherings: The Mall is a gathering place for various community and social activities. From picnics to group yoga sessions, it's a space where people come together to enjoy the outdoors and connect with one another.

Fall Foliage: In the fall, The Mall transforms into a canvas of vibrant autumn colors as the elm trees change their leaves. The sight of golden, orange, and red foliage makes it a must-visit destination for leaf peepers.

Quiet Reflection: Amidst the activities and events, The Mall also offers moments of quiet reflection. Many visitors come here to find solitude, read a book, or simply enjoy a peaceful pause from the demands of city life.

Accessibility: The Mall is wheelchair and stroller accessible, making it a welcoming space for visitors of all mobility levels. Its wide, paved pathway allows for easy navigation.

Winter Village: During the holiday season, Central Park often sets up a Winter Village near The Mall. This festive area includes an ice-skating rink, holiday market, and seasonal decorations, adding to the charm and festivity of the park during wintertime.

Educational Opportunities: The Mall's natural setting and historical significance provide opportunities for educational programs and guided tours. Visitors can learn about the park's history, ecology, and the significance of its design.

A Venue for Proposals: The Mall's romantic atmosphere and beautiful surroundings make it a popular spot for marriage proposals. Many couples choose this location to pop the question, creating lasting memories amid the natural beauty.

Historical Preservation: The Central Park Conservancy and other organizations are dedicated to the preservation and maintenance of The Mall and its surroundings. Their efforts ensure that this iconic feature remains a captivating destination for generations to come.

Artistic Inspiration: Artists and writers have long been drawn to The Mall for its inspirational setting. Many have found creative inspiration while sketching, painting, or writing beneath the canopy of trees.

Cross-Cultural Appeal: The Mall's design and ambiance transcend cultural boundaries, making it a beloved place for people from diverse backgrounds to appreciate nature and find solace in a bustling city.

Central Park Tours: Various guided tours of Central Park include stops at The Mall, providing participants with insights into the park's history, design, and natural elements.

Iconic Views: As you stroll down The Mall, you'll encounter several vantage points that offer stunning views of Central Park's landscapes, including the picturesque Bethesda Terrace and the Central Park Lake.

Recreation Opportunities: Beyond leisurely strolls, The Mall provides space for activities such as frisbee, yoga, and picnicking. It's a versatile location where visitors can engage in a wide range of recreational pursuits.

The Mall in Central Park continues to be a beloved and ever-evolving destination within this iconic urban park. Its ability to offer a unique experience in each season and its appeal to a broad range of interests make it a cherished and enduring part of the Central Park experience. Whether you're seeking natural beauty, cultural enrichment, or a tranquil escape, The Mall delivers an enchanting experience in the heart of New York City.

In conclusion, The Mall in Central Park is a multifaceted destination that caters to a wide range of interests and experiences. Its natural beauty, cultural significance, and seasonal transformations make it a beloved and enduring part of Central Park's charm, providing both New Yorkers and visitors with a tranquil and enchanting urban escape.

[eunchancorner]

The much-anticipated (to my delighted surprise) part 3

“And here we are.”

Carmen motioned to the giant gate in front of her, which led to a grand yard, complete with a fountain in the center and what Dexter could best describe as a mansion on the other side.

“Jesus fucking Christ” he mumbled under his breath, speaking louder and more directly towards Carmen as he noted, “You said you had ‘decent’ income, not that you were fucking rich.”

“I suppose I should have mentioned that me and my family are upper class. But I didn’t want to scare you off.” She opened the gate, stepping through and motioning for him to follow her along a pristine walkway. “Come, come.”

He followed after her, the gate swinging shut behind him. He felt so out of place here. He felt small, scruffy, like a raccoon in a fancy restaurant. They were walking towards a mansion and he lived out of his truck!

They got to the mansion soon enough, Carmen opening the door and allowing Dexter to step inside. He immediately noticed how large the house was from the inside, which seemed somehow bigger than the outside. The second thing he noticed, however, was someone coming up to greet the two.

“Hello, darling,” the stranger said, taking Carmen by the hand. Dexter noticed how she kissed his cheek, bringing a soft blush to his face. He grew a bit anxious as the stranger turned to him.

“And you must be Dexter. Carmen has told me a lot about you,” the stranger said, offering a handshake, which Dexter accepted.

“Oh- yeah- uhm, you must be her husband. Richard, right?” Dexter asked, a little uncertain.

“Yes, that would be me. I trust you’ve been treating her right, judging by the way she speaks about you. Seems you’ve found a way right next to me in her heart.”

Dexter was a little shocked by the news. Sure, he figured Carmen loved him at least a little, but not nearly as much as her actual husband!

“I-I have?”

“Of course you have. After all, it only took a few weeks for Richard to end up so dear to me. Even if you aren’t as well off as we are, I know you’re trying. You remember that little bird decoration you gave me a few days ago?” she asked. He did, shamefully so. It was from a convenience store near where he’d been parked, he’d bought it with what was left of his money after taking her to a nearby restaurant that was having a special deal on an overstocked meal. It was only a few dollars, but it was still something he’d wanted to give her.

“Uhh, yeah?”

“Oh, yes, I remember that, as well. Didn’t you clip that to the lamp in our room?” Richard pointed out.

She did?

“Oh, how could I not? It had the perfect little branch for him!” She seemed so proud of herself, and of the little bird as well.

“Him?” Dexter couldn’t help but ask.

“She named it-”

“Him.”

Richard rolled his eyes with a smile.

“She named him Goldie and put him on the lamp in our room that’s shaped like a cherry blossom tree. I have to admit he does sparkle quite nicely there…”

Dexter felt… a little honored. He didn’t expect a cheap plastic bird he bought with the last few dollars he had would end up being a decoration in such an already luxurious house, let alone end up with a name as well. It felt kinda nice that it was so well-received, not just by Carmen, but her husband as well.

He noticed Carmen whispering in Richard’s ear and grew curious, but before he could ask, she pulled away from her husband and walked over to her boyfriend with a small smirk. He felt himself blushing as she took his hand in hers, pulled him close and gave him a soft, affectionate kiss on the cheek. He still wasn’t used to how affectionate she was in private, it was a sharp contrast to how she acted in public, where they usually spent their time.

“See? Just like you!” she practically sang, turning back to Richard, who seemed to grow a bit embarrassed.

“Do I do that?” he asked, blushing a little, bringing his hand up to his cheek as though covering it, prompting a small giggle from Carmen.

“Honey, you’re doing it right now.”

He blushed a bit more as it was pointed out.

“What do you mean, just like him?” Dex asked, wondering if he should be upset or pleased. Or perhaps just embarrassed.

“Oh, Richard has always been the most easily flustered thing when it comes to affection, especially if it’s sudden. I simply had to show him how similar you two are like that!” she pointed out, only leading the two to blush even more. Embarrassment it was then.

“Ah, well, that might change if we spend more time together alone, I’ll probably start getting used to it…” Dexter trailed off, looking away, and Carmen put a hand on his cheek, turning him back towards her.

“And I’ll still love showing you, even in the smallest increments, how much I love you. This goes for both of you. I don’t care if you react, nor if your reactions change. As long as my message is getting across, I’m happy.”

Dexter couldn’t help but chuckle slightly, smiling as he said, “God, how do you always know what to say?”

“She has a way with words, doesn’t she?” Richard remarked, coming to stand beside him.

She couldn’t help but smile as she reached out and took Richard’s cheek in her other hand, kissing both of them in turn, laughing softly to herself as they both reddened.

“Well, to the living room then? We all have a lot to discuss.”

[warcrimesimulator]

The amount of dust on my cherry blossom tree lamp wtf

[scopostims]

mujin, kingdom of cherry blossoms, stimboard for me :•]

[ID: A 3x3 stimboard of 8 GIFs surrounding a central image.

GIF 1: A branch with cherry blossoms drifting in the wind on a sunny day.

GIF 2: A puddle by a fence with many cherry blossoms littering the ground, rain gently falling and rippling the puddle.

GIF 3: A pan over of a tree covered in cherry blossoms during the day time, many blossoms falling and gently drifting along.

GIF 4: A paper lamp resting among a cherry blossom tree at night, illuminating the blossoms in a warm light, while a train goes by in the background.

Image: Mujin from the kpop boy group "Kingdom".

GIF 5: A view of a mostly-empty canal at night, covered over the top by cherry blossom trees, rippling water visible under a warm pink light.

GIF 6: A branch with cherry blossoms lightly swaying back and forth while loose blossoms fall by, sun shining brightly on the flowers.

GIF 7: A branch with cherry blossoms as seen at night, gently swaying while blurred, silhouetted people walk by in the background.

GIF 8: A pan over of a cherry blossom tree during the day time.

End ID]