#e zig

[chussyracing]

starting a collection of interesting f1 related nose shapes

[ragazzoarcano]

“Essere abbattuti nella vita e un dato di fatto. Alzarsi e andare avanti è una scelta.”

— Zig Ziglar

[thoughtkick]

F-E-A-R has two meanings: ‘Forget Everything And Run’ or 'Face Everything And Rise.’ The choice is yours.

Zig Ziglar

[moonstruckme]

This is my first time requesting so ignore this if it doesn’t make sense but I was wondering if I could request a tired reader just wanting to be babied a bit and Remus just being the most gentle and loving with her ? (Just something super lovey dovey 🫠)

Thanks for requesting!

Remus Lupin x fem!reader ♡ 407 words

Once you’ve begun yawning, you can’t stop. Tears well in your eyes and squish out into your lashes. Remus pretends to be vexed with you for getting him started too, but really he’s only horrifically in love with you. 

“Alright, e…enough,” he says around a deep yawn. “Clearly it’s time for bed.” 

You make a low, unwilling sound as your eyes close and your head drops to the pillow propped up against the arm of the sofa. Remus smiles, brushing a finger under your lashes to collect the moisture there. 

“Come on, sweetheart. Let’s go.” 

You mumble something. 

“Hm?” 

“Carry me?” Your eyes open, pleading. 

Remus is sure he looks just as lovesick as he feels. He’s well aware that you’re likely doing this on purpose—dialing up your usual sweetness to eleven—but it’s working. He thinks you’re the most precious thing in the world. He wants to carry you everywhere you ask, to cuddle you and cosset you and snog you into oblivion. 

“I would,” he says, fondness heavy on his tongue, “but I can’t carry you and wash your face at the same time.” 

You make another small sound. Similar to the first, but more resigned. 

“I know,” Remus chuckles, getting an arm under your middle to help encourage you up. “I’m sorry.” 

You walk like you really are half asleep already, zig-zagging and leaning heavily against Remus’ side all the way to the bathroom. You groan and shut your eyes when he turns on the light. He sits you up on the counter to smooth product into your skin with soft, lulling touches. 

You make an appreciative humming sound when he wets a flannel to clean it off with rather than splashing your face the way you normally would. 

“Thank you,” you say, nearly slurring. 

Remus smiles to himself. “Of course.” 

You’re soft as butter in his hands. Your face is relaxed, cheek smushing to the side when he wipes with the cloth. He indulges himself in pressing a kiss to the corner of your lips when he’s done, and they curve in a somnolent smile. 

“Love you.” 

“Love you too.” 

“Rem?” 

“Hm?” 

“I really think you’re gonna have to carry me to bed.” You let yourself slump forward, face hiding in his neck. “I can’t walk.” 

Remus lets out a put upon sigh, though he’s sure you can hear the way his heart swells by the beating of his pulse. 

“Fine. Just this once.”

[stay-close]

F-E-A-R has two meanings: ‘Forget Everything And Run’ or 'Face Everything And Rise.’ The choice is yours.

Zig Ziglar

[stevesjockstrap]

(late) kinktober chapter 6: Steve/Eddie & predator/prey

ao3 is down so here’s something for you to read

Rated E • warnings: chasing kink, pet names, dom!eddie, come play • ao3 link

(Ghost in the Graveyard is a kid’s game that’s sorta opposite of hide and seek. The ‘ghost’ hides and everyone looks for them, but when someone finds them they yell “ghost in the graveyard” and the ghost has to try to tag one of the players before they get to base. Maybe an Old thing, maybe a Midwest thing?)

ETA: requested and cheerleaded by @lawrencebshoggoth 😘

Teaching the kids Ghost in the Graveyard had been all fun and games, literally, until Steve found himself being chased by Eddie towards Wheeler's front porch. He was sprinting all out but he could hear Eddie on his heels. He hadn’t been running for his life lately, while Eddie had been through a lot of physical therapy.

It sent a different kind of rush through his body and suddenly he thought maybe he would like to get caught.

Letting his instincts take over, he faked left then zigged right, Eddie flying past him as he changed directions. With an evil laugh, Eddie quickly tagged El who had stopped running to watch.

Steve grinned at him as he approached, El and the rest of the kids taking off to continue the game.

“Almost had you, my pretty,” Eddie said in a spooky voice.

“Almost let you, but I didn’t want the kids to see this,” he said lowly, finally pressing close as he met his boyfriend’s mouth.

Eddie was a bit shocked, taking a long moment to get his bearings before he took over the kiss, making Steve’s stomach swoop.

With a hum, he pulled back to look at Steve’s face. He must’ve finally gotten the picture, because he looked around quickly before pulling him to the side of the house.

Steve groaned when he was pressed bodily against the cold brick, an equal hardness pressing into his.

“Didn’t think the whole roleplaying thing was for you, Stevie,” Eddie teased.

“Maybe I don’t need the roleplaying part, just you desperate to catch me.”

Eddie bit into the meat of his jaw before moving his lips to his ear. “I’m always desperate for you, baby. I’ll ravage you anywhere any time.” He met his mouth in a filthy kiss, swallowing down his moan when he pressed his hips forward.

They broke apart as some called out in the yard behind them, “Ghost in the graveyard!’

Taking a second to breathe, Steve chuckled at the look he received. “We’ll continue this, later.”

“You bet we will,” Eddie grumbled.

As they approached the front of the house, Eddie shouted, “Last round, beastlings! Gotta get you all home.”

They all whined but finally Max ran off to hide.

By the time they’d gotten all the kids home safely, Steve was buzzing with anticipation of what he’d be met with at home.

All of the lights were out, which was strange as he always left a few on.

Unable to help himself, he called out into the darkness. “Eddie?”

The silence that met him was unnerving. His van was outside. He had to be there.

Shrugging out of his jacket, he saw his hook was stabbed through a piece of paper. Ripping it down quickly, coat now forgotten, he held the scrap up into the beam of moonlight through the window.

In Eddie’s jagged scrawl was written run.

Even though he had asked for this, uncertainty began coiling in his chest. Again he called out, “Eddie?”

But it echoed around his still house unanswered.

Adrenaline surged and he dropped his coat and the note and took off for the stairs. As soon as he reached them, he heard the thundering footsteps through the dining room. Eddie must’ve left his boots on.

Taking the steps two at a time, he half pulled himself up by the railing, while Eddie’s boots and unfamiliarity with his house slowed him down. Having gained some distance, he shot down the hall and quickly stepped into the hall bathroom.

Eddie hurried past the door and headed down towards the bedrooms. Steve held his breath and as quietly as he could slid the linen closet open and hid.

Trying to calm his racing heart, a different stirring in his belly had his cock filling.

“Oh Stevie,” Eddie called down the hall, having now checked all the bedrooms. “Want to make this hunt last, huh? We both know the little mouse wants to be caught.”

The bathroom light suddenly flicked on. He pulled his lips in between his teeth, trying to not breathe loudly as he stared out of the slats of the door. His heart was thundering loudly in his ears.

“Oh no, where could he be? I guess I just have to give up,” Eddie teased, ripping open the shower.

He pushed the heel of his hand against the bulge in his jeans. How was he so close already?

He blinked and his body reacted when the closet door was yanked open, he found himself jumping out and knocking a surprised Eddie back a few feet. His legs carried him towards the doorway, but he was caught around the middle and pushed face first towards the sink.

“Little mouse has teeth,” Eddie panted into his neck. “Let me show you mine, pretty.”

Steve cried out as teeth buried themselves into the muscle in his shoulder.

A hot tongue traced over the bite and up to his jaw, sending tingles down his spine. He just-

“So pretty like this, all writhing and caught,” Eddie murmured against his ear. One ringed hand found its way to his hair, pulling at the root as the other flicked across his chest.

An answering hardness pushed against his ass and the instinctual arch of his back made the head of his cock push just right against the edge of the counter.

Unable to find any words in his head, he tried frantically to make eye contact with Eddie in the mirror, but he was leaning in again to scrape sharp teeth down the tight line of his neck.

“Such a delicious little mouse I caught,” Eddie continued.

He sucked a mark into his neck, sliding his hand through the hair on his chest before coming to a stop with his palm flat.

“I can feel your heart going a mile a minute, baby.”

Steve could only pant while he received a filthy grin in the mirror. He felt helpless and caught, unable to move the tiniest bit to relieve the heavenly pressure on his cock. Stuck between the hard countertop and Eddie’s seemingly unmovable mass behind him. In his boots he was a few inches taller than him and that made him feel even more trapped.

But apparently none of that was a problem for his dick.

Eddie’s fingers pinched hard around a nipple and his body jolted with the sudden sting, quivering and shaking and making his hips push back and forth.

He tried to say something again, but the only thing that he managed was a whined, “Ohhh no, oh fuck!”

Steve’s hands clenched onto Eddie’s forearm as his orgasm ripped through him, his hips moving on their own accord as he emptied himself into his briefs.

“Did you…?”

Steve panted, clenching his eyes shut. He couldn’t believe it either.

“Oh my god, Stevie,” Eddie breathed.

“I’m sor-“

Eddie tugging him around to face him, stopping him with his own lips. When they finally broke apart, he received a wide grin. “Don’t you dare be sorry, sweetness. That is so fucking hot. You really liked this game, huh?”

Steve, still unsure, just nodded. He let go of Eddie’s arms and was immediately pulled close again, whining into the hard kiss as his sensitive cock came into contact with Eddie’s own hardness.

With a low hum, he pecked his bottom lip then his nose before pulling away again. “C’mon baby. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Finding himself sprawled on his back in his own bed still trying to calm his racing heart, Steve cried out as Eddie’s hot tongue swiped over his spent cock.

Catching his eye before he could form words, Eddie smirked up at him. “What? When the cat catches the mouse, he gets to play with it.”

After another long lick while holding eye contact, Steve watched as he crawled up his body to meet him in a messy kiss, sharing his come between them.

Eddie chuckled against his mouth and pulled back slightly to look at him. He realized he’d spread his legs, wrapping them around his hips. “You need more, baby? Still all wound up, huh?”

He nodded, and his belly swooped low again at the dark look he received for it. “Y-yes, Eds, need more. Need you.”

“Alright, little mouse. We can definitely do that.”

The nickname was killing him, as much as it was embarrassing and teasing, it made him want to give Eddie anything he wanted.

Instead of removing himself from Steve’s legs, he rolled them completely, Steve’s hands reaching for anything to hold on to. His weight settled on Eddie and he moaned.

Someone started rolling their hips and their mouths found each other’s again.

“Please. Please, Eddie,” Steve found himself begging into the space between their kisses.

Eddie shushed and cooed at him, sliding a hand between them. He then took the combination of their fluids and circled his fingers around his hole.

“More, c’mon,” he groaned.

“Bossy little thing, aren’t you? Here I thought I was getting to play with my treat.”

Steve clenched his fists into Eddie’s hair, arching his back at the perfect burn of just his come and Eddie’s spit opening him up.

His cock was trapped between them, rubbing against Eddie’s butter soft jeans.

Suddenly, he was looking up at the ceiling and Eddie wasn’t touching him anymore. Before he could complain, a tube landed on his chest.

Eddie was standing beside his bed, finally shrugging out of his layers and unbuckling his belt.

“Go ahead.”

The command itself almost had him coming again. He warmed up the lube in his hands, making sure to keep watching as the boots, belt, jeans and boxers were quickly removed. But then he lubed up his fingers and slid them inside of himself, allowing his eyes to unfocus.

“So fucking perfect for me, Stevie. God, look at you.”

Another rough finger slid alongside his own and immediately rubbed against his prostate.

“Nooo, Eds. Too close. Please! Need your cock!”

Eddie yanked his hand away by the wrist and settled between his legs.

The initial stretch stole the breath from him, his body relaxing completely as Eddie sunk in.

Steve wrapped his legs around him again and he kissed across his chest and neck, making him cry out with his slow deep rolls of his hips.

He’d never been so incredibly turned on, felt so incredibly needed and wanted. Every time with Eddie had, of course, been amazing, but now the adrenaline high coupled with him being so fucking sweet was magnifying every sensation.

“Gunna- fuuuck Eds,” he wailed as his second orgasm hit him like a freight train.

Eddie fucked him through it, groaning as his walls clenched around him. “That’s it, baby. Perfect little prey for me. Maybe I’ll suck my come from you. Make you come again until you’re screaming. What do you think? Huh? Cat got your tongue?”

Steve gasped as his mouth was overtaken again, his tongue sucked and bit as Eddie’s thrusts became irregular. They both cried out as he filled him up.

“Now what?”

Eddie looked over at him, raising a shoulder. “Order pizzas?”

He grinned. “Race you!”

dividers by @/puppy-stevee and @/fuctacles

[wynnyfryd]

Trailer park Steve AU part 31

part 1 | part 30 | ao3

updating the rating to E. cw: recreational drug use/marijuana, foreplay, mild-to-moderate spit kink

“I feel like a water bottle,” Steve slurs. At some point he wiggled his way between Eddie’s legs to get a better look at his tattoos — starting at his ankles and working his way up, pointing at each piece and asking, "What's this? And what's that?"

Eddie explained each one in turn: the quotes, the lyrics, the silly art. "This one's the Elvish word for friend. That one's from an Iron Maiden song. Oh, the asterisk? It's supposed to be an asshole. No, I'm serious! That's how Vonnegut drew them in his books."

Now Steve’s lying flat on his back between Eddie’s splayed thighs, eyelids heavy, body warm. 'Go Your Own Way' plays softly on the stereo, and Eddie continues his tattoo tour, the fingers of his free hand weaving patterns through Steve's hair — lazy, twirling zig-zags that send skitters of sensation across his scalp and down his spine.

Steve feels like he could die right now. Happy. Held. Content.

Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt.

“This is fucking awesome,” he hums.

“Good,” Eddie grins at him, “I’m glad.” He scratches lightly at his scalp. “What were you, uh— what were you saying about a water bottle?”

Oh, right. Steve lifts a hand; pantomimes tilting a bottle back and forth. “Like, uh….. Sssloshy.”

“Jesus Christ,” Eddie snorts. “You’re so high.”

“Mmmmhm.”

“And you look like you’re jerking off a ghost."

“I’ll jerk off your ghost,” Steve mutters petulantly.

"I’m sure my ghost would love that.”

Eddie reaches for the joint and takes another drag, and Steve tilts his neck, arching up to look at him. Bites his lip at the pretty picture Eddie makes: the sharp shadows and delicate lines, the shape of his full lips exhaling rings of smoke. Big for a guy's. He remembers thinking that a couple weeks ago. That they were big. That they looked soft.

And now he thinks: Kissable.

Steve licks his lips. “What about your, uh- not ghost?”

Eddie laughs like he’s watching a newborn puppy try to walk. “You want to touch my dick so bad.”

“S’probably a good dick,” Steve shrugs, unashamed.

He probably should be — ashamed. Guilty for the feelings stirring deep inside his chest; feelings weed brings to the surface, sends southbound, turns to need. He can imagine how the good, god-fearing Catholics who raised him would react if they could see him now, how they'd foam and froth and rage, red-faced and covered in spittle as they shouted that he's condemning himself to Hell.

But the thing is, he's already in Hell. He's been here since July.

And anyway, Hell's kinda nice. Gentle and warm, surprisingly kind. Hell smells like leather and tobacco, like weed and aftershave, and it sounds like Lindsey Buckingham, and it likes to braid Steve's hair.

Hell has endless, inky eyes and probably kisses him with tongue.

Heat spreads through him like molten honey at the thought, spilling hot over the edges, curling in his core, and Steve turns his head to the side and drags his mouth over a tattoo on Eddie’s inner thigh — a cartoon cloud over a curled-up snoozing fox. He noses at the edge of Eddie's shorts; pushes them up.

Goosebumps pebble under the warm press of his lips. "What's this one?" Steve whispers, nudging the fabric further up.

Eddie’s laugh is quiet and strained. "Something I don't want to discuss with your mouth this close to my dick. Stevie," he warns, but it's breathless, full of want. There's a wet spot on his shorts.

Steve pushes onto his belly, blows hot breath over the spot, liquid fire coursing through him at he stares at the bulge in Eddie’s shorts. Blistering heat, the sweetness dense, rich and thick on his tongue; in his veins. He mouths at the crease of Eddie's thigh. Eddie smells so good, like skin and sweat and boy, and Steve wants this. Wants it so badly he feels the ache inside his teeth. I dreamed the goddess poured ambrosia...

Steve feels it drip from head to toe.

"Steve." Eddie's voice is sharp this time, commanding and firm as he fists a hand in Steve's hair — not hurting him; not letting him move. Keeping him from putting his mouth just where he wants.

Steve makes a desperate sound and rocks his hips against the bed.

"Steve, stop," Eddie scolds. Pulls his hair a little harder, like he’s tugging on a leash.

"Eddie, please.” Steve’s eyes roll back, and he shifts his hips again. Just once; just a bit. Not nearly hard enough.

"No. Behave. Be good."

Steve freezes — tenses every muscle, holds himself so still, his face flushing with shame, because he didn’t mean to not be good. Didn’t mean to do anything bad. He blinks at Eddie with watery eyes and says he’s sorry, his voice cracking around the word.

"God," Eddie groans. His fist tightens in Steve’s hair, and his hips twitch off the bed, the curve of his cock brushing the tip of Steve's nose. Fuck. "Holy shit. Roll over."

"What?"

"On your back, like you were before." He’s panting when he says it, and Steve does as he's told; flips over onto his back, face bracketed by Eddie's thighs, the tent in his own shorts embarrassingly big. Obvious.

"Good,” Eddie exhales. “That’s- Jesus. Yeah, that’s good." He sinks back against the wall with a winded sigh.

And then he doesn't say anything else.

Doesn’t even move, just slouches down to catch his breath.

Steve kind of wants to cry; feels chastised and stupid, because of course Eddie doesn't want this. He already said he didn't, didn't he? Not tonight, anyway. And now Steve’s ruined things by being high and dumb and selfish, getting himself worked up over nothing and making it Eddie’s problem, and he'll probably spend the rest of this night miserable and blue-balled because he's a horny idiot, but that's—

It’s fine, if Eddie wants to cool things off; if he doesn't want to— he's allowed to not want—

"Here's what's about to happen.”

Steve snaps his head up to listen. Twists his neck around, sees Eddie lounging against the wall like a bored king on a throne, one ringed hand cupping himself loosely through his shorts. He squeezes once, takes another deep breath; lets it out long and controlled. Steve’s gonna fucking drool. "You’re gonna touch yourself for me.”

Steve moans. Guttural and loud, the sound punched out of his lungs, because Eddie’s voice comes out like gravel — husky, deep, the words authoritative and slow; like Steve needs to be punished; like Eddie’s merciful.

“You’re going to touch yourself exactly how I tell you to, and only how I tell you to. If I say stop, you stop. If I say faster, you speed up. If it's too much—" His hand moves to Steve’s cheek, slapping lightly against the bone. “—you tap out, or you tell me.”

Steve nods his head, entranced. Eddie’s thumb moves to his mouth. “And if you’re very, very good…” He tugs his bottom lip; presses in; lets him suck. “…then I’ll let you watch me come. How does that sound?”

Steve whines; hollows his cheeks, sucking harder, flicking his tongue. Eddie’s thighs clamp down around him, and when he pulls his hand away the spit clings to his thumb, a delicate string connecting them before it breaks. “Asked you a question, sweetheart.” He smears the spit over Steve’s chin. “Does that sound good?”

Steve nearly swallows his tongue.

—

part 32

tag list in separate reblogs under '#trailer park steve au taglist' if you'd like to filter that content. if you want to be added tomorrow please comment and let me know (must be over 21; please either verify in the comment or have your age visible on your blog)

[teenagedirtstache]

Pull collo alto a disegni jacquard, Rodrigo. Polo grigia a zig-zag colorati e camicia di cotone, New Boxer; calzettoni Malerba; stivali Moroni Gomma.

[creampie-capital]

║ꜰʀᴀɴᴋᴇɴ ꜱᴛᴇɪɴ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ║

↳「ʙᴀʙʏ ᴅᴀᴅᴅʏ」║ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ʙᴀʙʏᴏɴᴇꜱʜᴏᴛ ➠ 18+

ɴᴀᴍᴇ║Franken Stein

ᴀɴɪᴍᴇ/ᴍᴀɴɢᴀ║Soul Eater

ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ║7,083

꧁𓊈𒆜 ━━━━━━━━━ 𒆜𓊉꧂

"ɪ ᴡᴀꜱ ʀᴀᴛʜᴇʀ ᴘᴏᴇᴛɪᴄ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴛʜᴇɴ."

꧁𓊈𒆜 ━━━━━━━━━ 𒆜𓊉꧂

"You have to work with me, (Y/n)."

Refusing to even look at him, you set your gaze on your nails. Your legs were crossed over each other as you leaned back against the couch in the Patchwork Lab.

"If you want our relationship to grow stronge,r then you're going to have to let it go."

Disregarding Stein's words and not even giving him a glance, you stood to your feet and kicked your heels back on. "I'm going back to staying at Spirit's for a while. Send a message if you need me." You informed, tiredly reaching for your purse only for his hands to seize your wrist.

This ultimately gained your attention. Your (e/c) optics connected with his fern-hued ones. The stare-off was so intense that the air seemed thicker in the room.

"You're not going to leave just because you're a little upset. That's childish, (Y/n)." The man stated, smoke wafting from his lit cigarette.

"No." You blew out the cancer stick and yanked his hold off your wrist. "Us breaking up doesn't warrant you to go and sleep with Marie who you almost got pregnant! I mean-"

You slapped his chest with your purse, permitting a loud grunt to echo from his throat. "We broke up because you didn't want kids and I did!" You snapped before bearing a deep breath to calm yourself.

The exceedingly tall 6'10 (208 cm) male gazed down at you with an ardent stare. "You're becoming extremely emotional about this, you're not going to be able to think clearly."

"Stein." You called his last name in a warning tone. "I'm not even mad that you slept with her, we broke up, on a break. I'm mad because you don't understand how important having a family is to me, and how I want it to be with you. Almost getting her pregnant before we got back together reveals your blatant disregard for my feelings. It shows you rather put your test, questions, and experiments above everyone, above me."

It was difficult to be upset with him about these things. Stein is different than everybody else who saw anything in the world as an experiment.

He lacks the ability to understand complex emotions and most of his actions were shallow, only to benefit his dormant madness and twisted mind.

Knowing the scientist for as long as you have, you believed there was a bond the two of you shared. Something that was entirely real and something even Stein didn't understand but welcomed with great interest.

But nothing was ever enough for the mad scientist, apparently. You believed that after the death of Asura, when the madness subsided, so would his drastic lust for experimenting.

Sighing, you shook your head in defeat and strode to his zig-zag-styled doors. You halted once you arrived and flexed your fingers.

"Listen, I'm not giving up on this relationship unless that's what you want. But you have to start showing that you actually care. I know it's hard for you, but you have to work on understanding people deeper than just what's on the surface. When you're ready to show me that, come get me and I'll be happy to come home. Until then, I'll see you at work."

꧁𓊈𒆜 ━━━━━━━━━ 𒆜𓊉꧂

Yawning aloud and waving a hand in front of your face, the bell rang and dismissed your students. They dispersed like a rushing current, all dashing past each other to get to their lunch table first.

You weren't particularly hungry, maybe because there was still a lot on your mind that the thought of even eating made your stomach churn.

There was still quite a bit of time before your next class starts so maybe you'll use this opportunity to rest. Stepping down from your platform, your heels clicked softly as you reached for the light switch.

However, to your surprise, the door to your classroom was opened, and peeking in was none other than your boyfriend and childhood lover. He gave you a jovial smile.

"(Y/n)." He expressed your name in a quiet voice and fully stepped into your classroom. His hands found their way into the pocket of his doctor's lab coat as he quirked a grin at you.

Your lips pulled into a thin-lipped expression with arms crossing underneath your chest. "What do you want, Stein?" You asked, tone uncaring and agitated.

The silver-grey-haired male rose a hand to the large screw-in-bolt in his head and turned it a few times to collect his thoughts.

"Maybe I just wanted to see you." He inquired, a glimmer arising in his round glasses permitting you to raise an eyebrow and cock your head to the side.

"That's suspicious. That's weird." The man rolled his fern-colored orbs at your response.

"It's weird that I want to see my significant other?" He questioned, shutting the door behind him. You nodded your head immediately with no hesitation.

Stein's left eye twitched slightly. "I did just want to see you." He announced. "I also wanted to do something with you."

Your brows rose as you scratched at the back of your neck. "Can't be good. If you want to dissect me then you're gonna have to wait till I die."

The handsome man laughed in his throat and your shoulders couldn't help but deflate. You wondered if his effort were fake, just one of his automatic responses or a genuine reaction.

You weren't sure and you didn't know if you knew him as well as you thought anymore.

"No, I'll save that for later." You rolled your (e/c) eyes. "I wanted to try soul resonance."

A bit taken aback, you felt your mouth slip agape. "Why do you want to do something like that now? We're not even in combat?" You questioned.

Stein nodded his head before bearing slow almost intimidating steps to your frame. His long limbs left him no trouble arriving in front of you quickly.

"You know-" He let one of his fingers caress your lower jaw, his face tilting down closer to yours. "it's not only for combat. It's also a way two souls can bond and communicate telepathically."

It took you a second to understand where things were going but as soon as you realized you had to shake your head. It was a bit clever that Stein would like to convey his thoughts to you through his mind rather than his lips.

What you wanted was for him to work on himself, to be able to express his thoughts freely. But, you guess you'll humor him for now.

"Fine." You accepted and stepped back, holding out a hand for him to take. His lips quirked into a grin as he gladly accepted your hand.

His head dipped as his lips delicately touched the back of your hand, placing a smooch on it that you still could feel even when he pulled away.

He held them in a secure hold before drawing your body to his and placing his free hand on the small of his back. Your breath hitched as the warmth of his body wafted onto your skin through your clothes.

It had been a while since the two of you touched each other and you hope he works on himself soon. You miss his touch.

Gradually you let your eyes wander back up to his face and met his gaze. Ah, those beautiful fern eyes that you fell in love with when you were only kids and still manage to fall even more in love with as adults.

"Do you remember how to dance?" He teased lightly, referring to your absentmindedness.

His words shook you from your thoughts, you blinked a few times before quickly looking anywhere but his face. "Shut it, I'm the one that taught you to dance in the first place."

He hummed in response as you brought your hand up to his shoulder and held your clasped arms outwards. Something special the two of you shared was how the tempo of your beating hearts thumped rhythmically, matching each other.

It allowed the two of you to dance with no music, resonating with the sound of living hearts that corresponded concurrently.

The movement was muscle memory, striding off with a sharp, precise step before being spun around into the next corresponding move.

Heels clicked with the tiled ground as each connecting movement only lasted for a second as the next move commenced. Your heart swelled at the feeling, your mind dizzy from the swaying but also from the nostalgia.

Your eyes found their way up to his face again, connecting with his eyes and once again falling in love with his intense gaze. The sound of your heartbeats drummed in your ears, matching with every step.

The hate, the anger, it all washed away at that moment. You'll have to cuss Stein out later, he knew what he was doing. You hate how smart he is.

Humming, you let your eyes flutter shut and perform every dancing step with excellent precision until your body began to illuminate a white glow.

Your grip on each other's hands grew tight before you morphed into your weapon form. Unlike his previous demon weapon partners who were a scythe, a hammer, and a demon lamp, you were a reverse grip dagger.

The blades were silver, extending alongside his arms and stopping just below his elbow. The matching daggers were connected together by a gold chain at the hilt that grew when he needed it to.

Now that you were was transformed, the hypnotic intimate dance came to a halt as he stared down at your weapon in his hands.

"Ah." He crooned. "It's been a while since I've held you like this."

You snorted, shaking your head within your weapon form. "No, it's been a while since you've held me in human form."

Your childhood lover performed a few attacks at an invisible enemy before chuckling to himself. "How about you transform back and I'll make you remember how my touch in that human form? We still have... say thirty minutes left. Should be enough, right?" He mused.

"Franken Stein!" You hissed. "You're just trying to use cheap tricks to get me to come home!"

The handsome man shrugged his shoulders. "Worth a try."

"Idiot. Either soul resonates with me or get out of my classroom." You shot back.

He whispered 'fine' before inhaling a deep breath and readying his stance. You swallowed the saliva in your mouth before steadying your breathing.

Focus took over your minds as the connection between the two of you grew stronger. Your lips parted, ready to call out soul resonance until a loud commotion distracted you both.

The door to your classroom was slammed open, Spirit's figure sweeping inside as he shouted. "Hey Stein, Marie is asking for your help."

It became awfully still in the classroom as you heard the woman's name. Your heart lurched in your throat as a burning fury coursed through your veins.

It disrupted your melodic heartbeats and broke the rhythm the two of you were sharing.

You weren't even mad at Marie, no; it was just that hearing her name was a reminder of how she almost got what you wanted, how Stein's curiosity meant more to him than you.

These feelings—the hate, the pain—began to make your souls incompatible. The handle of your blades began to seethe with heat until it was like molten Lava.

The Meister had to release your form, dropping you down as you quickly shifted back to your original appearance. "Looks like you're busy." Your words were callous as you turned around to collect your jacket from the coat rack. "Turn off the lights when you leave."

You didn't wait to hear any responses, no excuse at all. Brushing past the Albarn male, your heels clicked down the hall, leaving the former partners in your old classroom.

"Spirit," Stein called.

The said male turned back to face the mad scientist only for his jaw to slacken. Stein's soul began to project forward, his strength infusing with the air and making sweat drip down the back of Spirit's neck.

"I'm going to dissect you fully now."

A loud scream echoed through the halls as the Death Scythe ran for his life with the Elite Meister following behind.

꧁𓊈𒆜 ━━━━━━━━━ 𒆜𓊉꧂

So, Plan A of 'Getting my future wife back' did not pan out how the mad scientist wanted.

But that's alright, he had another plan in mind in case Plan A didn't work out as he needed it to. With the power of persuasion, he managed to get you to agree to a date.

The first part consisted of dinner at a grandiloquent restaurant. Spirit and Marie decided to dress up in disguise so they could watch your date and assist Stein since he tended to lack common sense sometimes.

They sat a few tables down, peeking over their menus to observe your interactions. And it didn't look like things were going well.

Your arms were crossed under your chest, and you kept your gaze away from your significant other. This may have been petty, but it only fueled the growing turmoil inside.

When the waiter made his round to your table and asked what your meals would be, Stein confidently said a dish that had you gagging at even hearing the name.

How did he not remember you hated that? And how could he forget your favorite meal?

It was not looking good for the Elite Meister who could be seen visibly sweating. The date had just started and he was already f*cking up.

"So um, how has your class been doing?" He questioned, attempting small talk.

You glanced up from your phone before returning your gaze back to the cellular device. "Fine."

An awkward silence surrounded the two of you as Stein struggled to come up with the right words and you struggled to find any patience to stay.

The usually cool, level-headed man was at his wit's end at the moment. He didn't know how to give you what you wanted, he didn't know the correct words to say.

A genius, a prodigy, and he struggled to convey his emotions. You were the only one that could make him feel so weak. The only one that he couldn't stump or trick. The only one that had him so nervous, not even twisting the screw-in-bolt could help him focus.

This was going to be a long date.

꧁𓊈𒆜 ━━━━━━━━━ 𒆜𓊉꧂

Plan B ended horribly and made things considerably worse! He must be on his last life at this point with you.

There was only one more thing he could do, and there was no guarantee that it would work.

You let out a breath as you turned the key into the Patchwork Lab and unlocked the door. The first thing you saw was utter darkness.

"Stein, even if I am not here, I told you to keep the curtains open! My plants need what little light they can get!" You shouted down the hall before setting your purse on a stand and nearing the windows.

With exasperated movements, you slid open the dark curtains and tied them with ribbons to keep them open. By the time you finished, there was still no response, causing you to exhale audibly.

Your heels clicked on the floor as you made your way to the living room, hoping the male was by one of his computers.

However, once you entered, you saw nobody around. The only thing that indicated anybody was there was the small lamp turned on by the couch.

Stepping towards it, you noticed a small, worn-down book atop a folded blanket. It was one of your favorites, and the one the mad scientist had gotten you for your birthday a few years ago.

The sight before you was suspicious, it had you pucker your lips from the sketchiness. But it was obvious what this was for, he wanted you to read it.

Exhaling a breath, you scooted over the objects before taking their place and unraveled the blankets so they could cover your lower body.

Analyzing the outsides of the book, you could tell it was rather old, and whoever had it before had clearly used it a lot.

Its spine was creased all over, the once smooth leather now crinkled and ridged. What you assumed used to be creme white pages looked to have met water with how the bottom of the pages curved and some tinted a dimmer hue.

How odd.

Turning the book back to the front, you slowly opened the hardcover and saw long paragraphs.

This wasn't just a book, it was a journal. And it belonged to Franken Stein.

You did a quick skim, flipping through some pages to see that the dates started years ago, when the man was just a kid, newly enrolled in the DWMA, and continued until a few days ago.

꧁𓊈𒆜 ━━━━━━━━━ 𒆜𓊉꧂

↳𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐎𝐟 𝐀𝐧 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

◆𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.

𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘱 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 ��𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥.

𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵. 𝘌𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦.

𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.◆

꧁𓊈𒆜 ━━━━━━━━━ 𒆜𓊉꧂

A smile graced your lips at the memory of your childhood, back when the two of you were new students at the Death Weapon Meister Academy.

He was such an outcast, beating up other students and threatening to kill or dissect them. You even found him fascinating.

It was intriguing to read his thoughts and how he truly felt, and you couldn't help but want to read more. And so you did.

Every entry you read thoroughly, remember how the events happened for you, and you compared them to how Stein perceived them.

What you've come to realize is that the mad scientist wasn't void of intense human emotions; he was clearly experiencing them; he just didn't know how to explain them.

There was another journal entry from your teenage years that caught your attention because of its simple title.

꧁𓊈𒆜 ━━━━━━━━━ 𒆜𓊉꧂

↳𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

◆𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵, (𝘠/𝘯), 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 '𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘯𝘪𝘤'. (𝘠/𝘯) 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘵-𝘩𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘴.

𝘐 𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘐 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 (𝘠/𝘯) 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘬.

𝘈𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺. 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘶𝘱.

(𝘠/𝘯) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱. "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘴?" 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦.

𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 (𝘧/𝘤)," 𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥.

𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 (𝘧/𝘤) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴.

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 (𝘧/𝘤). 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵.

(𝘠/𝘯) 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. "𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘴!"

"𝘎𝘰 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥," 𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵.

𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦.

"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯!" 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘻𝘻𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘬𝘺. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘻𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦.

𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦.

(𝘠/𝘯)'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺.

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘶𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘐 ��𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

(𝘠/𝘯) 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘱 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘵.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘥.

𝘈 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦.

𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 (𝘠/𝘯)'𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘥𝘶𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳-𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥.

𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦. 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘴? 𝘖𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘤? 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦.

𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦... 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳.◆

꧁𓊈𒆜 ━━━━━━━━━ 𒆜𓊉꧂

Your face felt wet and it wasn't until a droplet of water spread across the pages did you notice you were crying.

Sniffling aloud, you dabbed the tears away with the sleeve of your top. You had to take a few deep breaths to stop a sob that wanted to arise.

This was something you never knew. He's never voiced his thoughts or emotions like this to you. It was just always assuming and guessing with him.

But this was everything you wanted to know. It made him appear so human, so real, capable of feeling complex emotions.

There were a bit more pages left, so you decided to finish the rest. Like the entry that you had just read, the observations leading up to you asking him to be in a relationship were similar to each other.

Feelings he didn't recognize, he wrote it all down and attempted to make sense of it, but failed. You never realized, well you couldn't tell how much you were on his mind.

He cared for you more than you ever thought and it only made the tears cascade down your face continuously.

There was one last written page in the journal, it was recent.

꧁𓊈𒆜 ━━━━━━━━━ 𒆜𓊉꧂

↳(𝐘/𝐧)

◆𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 ��𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦.

"𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶."

𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺. 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸.

𝘐 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮, 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸.

"𝘞𝘦'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘔𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘈 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦."

𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘸-𝘪𝘯-𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸.

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦? 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘞𝘔𝘈, 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘹 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘺.

𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰.

𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵,

𝘚𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

"𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘶𝘱. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘐'𝘮 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦."

𝘖𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘙𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘷𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥.

𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳. 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬-𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥.

𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥: "𝘎𝘰 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥."

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘺.

𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

(𝘠/𝘯) 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 ��𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺.

𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥. 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸.

𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 (𝘠/𝘯) 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳.

𝘐𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 (𝘠/𝘯), 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 (𝘠/𝘯), 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺. 𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦.◆

꧁𓊈𒆜 ━━━━━━━━━ 𒆜𓊉꧂

You didn't even realize your arms were shaking until someone grasped them to calm you down. The touch was familiar and so was the warmth.

Stein's hands slowly released yours, allowing you to close the book and place it on the stand next to the couch.

Taking a deep breath, you wiped your face free of tears and trained your gaze up to face the man. He wore an unreadable expression but you could see the strain in his fern-colored optics.

At the moment, you didn't know what to say. All the information you had absorbed was exhausting. You were feeling so much, and it was overwhelming to finally understand and see how he truly felt.

But you didn't realize how much you needed to know it.

"I struggle with a lot of things..." Stein's voice was quiet, just loud enough for you to hear. "I don't know how to express myself correctly, and my emotions are poorly developed, but I have never once doubted how much I care about you."

He kneeled down so his height was less intimidating and reached for your hands that you slowly clasped your fingers with.

"What I did was wrong, I know. I... am sorry."

It was rare to receive an apology from Stein, even rarer if he vocalized it. You knew he really meant it and it wasn't just to please you.

"Well, it looks like you're forgiven." You mused, sniffling at the end. The mad scientist shielded his fern orbs with his eyelids as he inhaled deeply.

"I don't know how much longer I could have gone without you." He breathed while leaning forward so his forehead could press against yours.

A grin etched its way to your face. "According to your journal, I was the air you needed to breathe and without me, you would suffocate."

He pulled back slightly and removed his round glasses. "Hey, that was young adult me. I was rather poetic back then." He stated.

You puckered your lips before releasing his hands so you could wrap them around his neck. "Then let's go more recent. You wrote that I was someone for whom you would commit a selfless act. Who you would put even above yourself."

Stein didn't say anything, instead, his large hands removed the blanket from your legs so he could wrap them around your waist and heave you up in the air.

You squeaked slightly from the surprise and tightened your hold around his neck. "Stein, what are you-"

"I've missed you." He interjected, stepping out of the living room and down the hall to his laboratory.

Humming softly, you leaned forward so your face hid in the crook of his neck. While blowing air against his throat, you felt him shiver and another one arise when you kissed his skin tenderly.

"(Y/n)."

You sighed dreamily at hearing your name leave his mouth breathlessly. "I've missed you so much."

Arriving at his lab, the male set you down on the examining table and pulled back to gaze upon your features. His hands squeezed and caressed your thighs while breathing softly.

"If you would allow-" He leaned forward, letting his lips graze the shell of your ear lightly. "-I'd like to show you how much I missed you."

The insinuating tone to his voice had your tummy tingle and your throat swallow thickly. "I'm all yours."

Stein never made empty promises or turned back on his words. If he said he was going to show you how much he missed, he was going to give it his all.

He had leaned down from his tall stature and captured your lips with his. He was impatient, almost needy as his lips moved against yours.

You could taste him, that unforgettable tang from his tongue. Coffee and most importantly tobacco. You hated smoking or anything to do with cigarettes but when the taste came from his own mouth you desired more.

Your fingers played with his silver-grey locks, lightly tugging before entangling your fingers in them. The man pushed himself against you, desiring to feel your warmth and to feel your body against his.

A hand left your thigh only to creep up to your stomach and snake underneath the clothing item. He caressed your bare skin, dragging his calloused fingertips along your tummy.

The man was touched starved, deprived of any sort of contact for far too long. The sensation of touching your own skin drove him to a hunger he never knew he had.

Wasting no time he pulled back only so your top could be removed but once the appeal no longer shielded your bare body from the man's view his lips were back on yours.

The moment was feverish but also intimate, the two of you felt closer than ever. The information of Stein's true thoughts and feelings made the moment so much more special.

And since you now know what he always kept hidden, he didn't feel like he needed to hold anything back.

His hands removed the bra that supported your breast and replaced the garments with the rough texture of his palms.

The mad man was growing madder. A hunger that formed in the pit of his stomach grew, the longing to be as close to you as can be was overtaking his hazy mind.

Your childhood lover pulled back, the two of you panting, desperate for air but frantic for more. Stein removed his lab coat which was quickly followed by his stitched shirt.

His pale chest was all there for you to view. You soaked in the sight of the firm abbs that flexed when he sucked in a breath deeply.

Lightly you traced the long stitched mark that was wrapping around his left shoulder, down across his pectoral and ribs before reaching down to waistline by crossing over his lower abdomen.

You could feel his body shudder and see his adam's apple bob as he swallowed thickly. No matter how many times the two of you have seen each other's bodies, it felt like you were seeing them for the first time.

Always the both of you found something new on each other, something that you made sure to engrave into your minds.

Stein leaned down to kiss the middle of your throat, trailing wet kisses as he carefully removed your bottom and undergarment.

There was no shame, nothing to hide. He's known your body, every nook, and cranny since you were teens.

His lips trailed from your neck, down the valley of your breast, following the middle of your tummy until he reached between your legs.

Franken Stein was a starving man and you were the never-ending buffet he kept coming back to. He ravished your body, devouring your taste, your smell in an absolute bid of madness.

His name echoed from your lips, reverberating off your chest and ringing in his ears. Your regular voice just calling his name was enough to make his knees buckle.

But when you moaned it, wailing it out in submissions of pleads made everything in him weak. More, he had to give you more.

His fingers aided his mouth in his desire to express his longing for you. The other hand gripped onto a thigh as if attempting to mold the two of you together.

Bruises formed underneath his fingers tips, decorating your skin in markings of his unhinged eros. His hair was being pulled and tugged as his name rasped from your throat.

One time wasn't enough, it didn't satisfy his point of making you see how much he missed you. He brought you to the edge multiple stints, hearing your cries grow louder when he had your entire lower body quivering beneath him.

By the time he was satisfied with the number of your climaxes, you were already a mumbling mess. Sweat coated your skin, shimmering in the laboratory light.

Your breathing was uneven, chest rising and falling unrhythmically. Oh, how he drank in the sight of his lover in such a state.

The feelings, the sensations, all of it has never been as strong as it is when he is with you. And he wanted you to feel that.

The Meister didn't waste any time removing the remainder of his clothing so he was just as bare as you, just as vulnerable.

He held your face in his large hands, meeting your swollen lips with his again, tasting yourself as well as him.

This time it was slower but just as profound. In between every kiss he whispered your name breathlessly and relayed every bit of information that he loved about you.

Your eyes, your smile, your scent, your warmth. The list went on until your eyes glazed with tears.

I love you—and I love you so much—was repeated from your mouth like a broken record. Just saying it didn't feel like enough. No matter how many times you sounded it, you wanted to express it more.

You wrapped your legs around his hips, pushing him closer to you and eagerly begging for him to finally connect his body with yours.

His response was licking the smooth skin of your throat and decorating it in contusions, creating colorful blemishes on display for anyone to see.

When he had his fill, his hands intimately held onto your waist, his face inching down to your tummy where he placed wet kisses along with it.

All the while he enters himself inside, he hears the ragged gasp of amazement and content leave your lips.

Your lover reached deep, grazing against sensitive areas that had you jolt and quiver beneath. Just as desperate as he was when he ravished your body was just as frantic as his longing to bring you to another climax.

He rolled himself out, letting you feel every inch fade only for you to greedily devour him when he entered back in.

Not only could you hear his grunts and groans, but you feel those exhales along your tummy. It tickled you lightly, adding to the stimulation of his already sensual thrust.

Pleads and cries for more seemed to be the only thing you could say. Even though he was already so deep, kissing your body intimately, you wanted more like you wanted to be a part of him completely.

Your love for him held no bounds, it only grew like a lush forest left untouched. And the same for you could be said about the man who was unraveling above you.

His strong grips formed bruises underneath just as his mouth did on your abdomen. He wanted to swallow your moans down his throat just as much as he wanted to hear them.

Your nails dug into the soft flesh of his shoulders, creating crescent-shaped blemishes the closer you came to breaking the skin.

His groans grew louder, throatier when you reached your high. Singing his name like a melodic hymn, praising him like a divine god.

When it came time for his own high, he usually pulled out if he wore no contraceptive. But this time he made no indication of doing so.

Instead, he wrapped his arms around your body, holding you so tightly you could hear his heartbeat. When ecstasy filled his veins, he released inside.

And one point even whispered some words into your ear that were quick to rejuvenate you of your exhaustion.

"We're not stopping until I know you're pregnant."

꧁𓊈𒆜 ━━━━━━━━━ 𒆜𓊉꧂

"Hey, Stein."

The male hummed as he kept his gaze on your leg, massaging your tense muscles and smoothing out any knots.

He was kneeling in front of your frame that rested on the couch, playing with the ends of a small envelope.

"I received this newsletter in the mail the other day. Want to hear it?"

"Sure."

You used your nail to undo the glue and pulled out a few sheets of paper. Quickly skimming over the paragraphs, you nodded your head. "Hmm, well it says here... Oh my!"

The male's gaze flew to your face only to see you give him an ecstatic smile. Turning the paper around to face him, you spoke in a dainty voice.

"You're going to be a father."

His heart skipped a beat.

Stein had accepted the idea of having a child with you, just thinking of it as another part of his life. But as soon as he heard those words his throat closed.

He felt it—that joy that only you could give him surged through his veins. He felt enlightened, as if the world had opened a door to the universe's secret and allowed him to retain information no one else had ever done.

You leaned forward to place a soft smooch on his nose to gain his attention that had clearly wandered off. "Are you going to write about this in your journal?" You sought.

The man observed your frame for a second before shaking his head of silver-grey hair. "No." He murmured under his breath.

His hands rose from your leg to your hip, pulling you closer to his body. He neared his face to yours and basked in the sight of your twinkling eyes.

"I don't need the journal to understand how much I love you. I know that I am thankful and that I am elated."

꧁𓊈𒆜 ━━━━━━━━━ 𒆜𓊉꧂

𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 @𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐞

Phew, I thought I knew Franken Stein but turns out he ended up being much different than I remembered.

It's been decided that softcore smut is the way to go now.

Please show some support by liking/commenting so I know if you're enjoying it.

If you'd like to make a request, please do so on the first page under the request arrow so I don't lose your request in the comments.

꧁𓊈𒆜 ━━━━━━━━━ 𒆜𓊉꧂

↳If you'd like to support me or read 5+ drafts of BD, or my other stories, please consider buying me Kofi. Thank you :)

꧁𓊈𒆜 ━━━━━━━━━ 𒆜𓊉꧂

𝐌𝐚𝐦𝐚 signing out

See ya later, 𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐬!

[artbyblastweave]

So, the thing about Ward's worldbuilding is, it's bad on purpose. This is something I didn't catch until a relisten of the earlier parts, but the disconnect between the actual literal apocalypse that occurred two years prior and the shockingly advanced levels of infrastructure and technology is very deliberate. The entire thing is slapdash and farcical. You have people out the door of a shitty concrete hovel lining up for bad coffee. You have cars built out of random scavenged parts, "dumpsters" that Victoria can't manhandle because they're made of clumsily-welded-together scrap metal. Victoria can't reliably navigate at night because power to the city below is intermittent (and her mother Carol happens to live in one of the parts that does have consistent power; that's unexamined, make of it what you will.) The mall cluster shitshow goes down in a "mall" that, IIRC, is called out later as having been basically a dead end economically, a doomed grasp at a sense of normalcy. The patrol block uses recycled PRT gear, Dot's interlude involves the machine army jumping a bunch of bog-standard apocalypse scavengers. What you're looking at isn't a new society built up shockingly quickly; you're looking at the previously-well-supplied-and-externally-supported outpost of the recently destroyed society, and after two years they're finally chewing through the last of the head start they got. The societal equivalent of Wile. E. Coyote hanging in the air above the cliff, or of the seemingly-untouched duelist seconds away from sliding in half. Unfortunately, due to choices made about the timeframe and focus of the story, the Coyote sprouts wings. The duelist whips out a staple gun. Or to come at this from another angle- in The Walking Dead, a comic I really like, I can sort of organize the arc of the apocalypse into three-ish big chunks. For the first eight or nine months in universe, about 48 issues, things are obviously bad, right, quite a few people have died, but there's a sense among Rick and company that they might be able to ride it out, that things are on the upswing. They've got crops going, they have new births, maybe help from the government proper isn't coming the way they thought it might towards the start, but things are looking up! Then, of course, the Great Fuckening of Volume Eight occurs, and you enter the middle phase of the comic, where they're down to like a third of their group, they're food-insecure, they're constantly on the move, they're under attack from rapists and cannibals who've descended into habitual atrocity because they're totally without hope. Children are having mental breaks and killing children, the first friendly guy Rick met in the whole comic is now an insane hermit feeding dead bodies to his undead son, on and on and on and on and on. Bad times, but a comparatively short middle in the grand scheme of things. Then they find Alexandria, and the back half of the comic is spent basically on an upward trajectory with some zig-zags, there are still periodic existential threats but they're clearly past the nadir.

Ward feels like it starts midway through that first part, the you-don't-know-how-much-worse-this-can-get part, with the emphasis on the social tensions, the encroaching winter, but then it just...doesn't get much worse. I mean they have a rough three months, but then they sort of speedrun right to the hopeful future ending as soon as the titans are dealt with. There were parts that I suspect were supposed to be the dark-night-of-the-soul I'm alluding to but they didn't land as such. I feel as though the superhero genre stuff kind of subordinated the apocalypse stuff, made it less visible by virtue of whose POV we were following, and sometimes I feel that as a remedy to this, Ward should have taken place over the course of years, and it should have Just Kept Getting Worse. For example Breakthrough should have had to kill and eat Rain to survive the winter

[itsalwaysteatimeinwonderland]

Finding Peace Pt.4: Waves (Spike x YN)

Request: Nope. Part 4 of the Multi Fic.

TW: Mentions of blood and phsyical harm.

Summary: Spike is worried for the cursed slayer. He wonders if she can manage in her own.

Word Count: 2.2k

Previous | Next

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Another night of hunting. Another night covered in blood. You walked half contorted body down the street, in pain after your battle. Your body was regenerating but it was still painful. How many more nights of this hell before you found peace. You would cry, like you did in the past, but there's no point. It brings no relief. So, you just hobbled home in the dead of night hoping no civilian would catch you. Cause what a horrifying sight you are.

Smoke litters the air as Spike exhales. Another night of helping the slayer. Another night of getting his ass handed to him for getting cocky around her. He wishes he wasn't infatuated with her, but life just happens. A quick thought interrupted his line of thought. The cursed slayer. He hasn't seen her in 3 days. He misses her. Now that she doesn't work at The Magic Shop it’s harder to see her. Maybe every other day he'll see her in the cemetery with Buffy or alone but never on a consistent schedule. He knows where she lives... he could visit her. He would blush if he had any blood to produce a blush. How silly is he being? Him, chasing after the cursed slayer. Ridiculous.

He trails off from the cemetery, still debating on whether to visit y/n or not. What reasons would he have for stopping by? The waltz! He offered her a dance! He stops in his tracks and shakes his head. He was being silly. No one that experienced and ancient would care to spend time with him. Even if they were friends. She was just being polite. He tried to reason with himself. He has never felt so much doubt over someone. With Buffy it was straight forward, stalk and wear her down. With y/n it’s so complicated. Like playing a game without rules.

His attention is caught by a trail of blood on the ground. He's on high alert. He follows the zig zag of blood down the street. This is the street to y/n's house. He walks faster, afraid for her safety. As he turns the corner he sees her, a macabre sight of body parts twisted and torn. He holds his breath as if he had any. He rushes to her side.

You become aware of a presence behind you. You're tired and badly hurt, but if a fight has to happen then you are ready.

"Y/n!" Spike yells after you.

The wave of relief that washes over you is insurmountable.

You barely turn as he runs up to you, worry etched on his face.

"Despite my current presentation, I'm fine." You interject before he can get a word out.

"You look like death."

"I'll survive." You try to hobble past him.

Without any warning he scoops you up into his arms, your face against his chest. You feel a blush coming on. He starts at a steady and careful pace back to your house.

"I can walk." You argue.

"Barely" he says.

You sigh. You would never admit it but you like how it feels to be taken care of. You breath in the scent of dirt and leather that clings to Spike. You stay quiet the rest of the way, contemplating how much different your life would be if you had Spike around. You wave the idea away. He belongs to Buffy and you belong to the curse, simple as that.

You reach your house, still in his arms. He gently puts you down on your feet. You're surprised by his gentle nature.

"Thank you." You smile, trying to steady yourself.

"What are friends for." He pauses for a second. "You owe me a dance." He felt like a putz bringing it up in her current state. Why did his brain short circuit around her?

You chuckle. "I haven't forgotten. Maybe next time." You turn away and walk inside your house.

As soon as the door closes, he hangs his head. What an idiot he's being! Asking for a dance when she can barely move. Might as well wear a sign that says touch starved. He walks back home, hands in his pocket, angry and embarrassed. He can still smell her blood on him, making him hungry.

The next day he was itching to see y/n again. He had to wait at the cemetery, maybe? Walk up her street? He didn't know where to locate her, simply that he had to make sure she was okay. After a while he gives up and starts to walking by y/n's street to find her sitting by the curve. She looks in pain.

He rushed to your side. You have a broken leg. You thought it would be a good idea to limp back home after your early but painful altercation with a demon. Spike crouches down to your level.

"What do we got here?" He says in a playful tone trying to hide his concern.

"You should see the other guy."

Spike frowned at seeing the damage. "Can you get up?"

"Yes. And no, you're not carrying me today. I've been taking care if myself for years and I can do it now."

"A bloody terrible job you've been doin’."

"Rude" you get up and start limping again.

Before you can get your footing Spike sweeps you up again. You protest but he hushes you. Again, incredulous. This man is sweet but is getting on your last nerve.

"Sorry love, can't let you waste away." He looks down at you. He notices how fragile you are in his arms, how good you feel so close to him, and how much power he has over you in this one moment.

He quickly looks up, trying to avoid your prodding gaze. "Tell me what happened."

"Simple. Demon had a club. I got cocky. He swung, broke my leg and I swung my sword and cut his head."

"Big fan of decapitation, I see."

"All in a night's work." You grinned.

"You say you’ve always taken care o’ yourself. Does every night end like this?"

"Most nights, yes. It’s just me and the big bad demons. I do get careless cause of the whole immortality bit."

He nods. You both reach your house. He gently puts you down on your feet. You sway and he catches you. You look up, your faces mere inches from each other. You take the time to admire his chiseled face, his sharp cheek bones and his blue eyes. All the while he enjoys getting reacquainted with the valley of your lips, and the deep hue of color in your eyes. He wonders how soft your lips really are. He pulls back at the thought and you almost stumble onto him. He steadies you, from a distance. You laugh at his reaction.

"Once again, thank you. You always seem to show up when I need you, and I appreciate that."

He nods, contemplating his next move. You turn to open, enter and close your door. However, Spike puts his foot on the door.

"I don't want you goin' out without me."

"Excuse me?" You're incredulous.

"Every time you're alone you get hurt. We can't have that now, can we? So, you're with me from now on."

You stand there speechless. Before you can retort he ends the conversation with "I'll pick you up at 9." And walks away.

The following night you wait for him, amused at how the night will turn out. A knock is heard in the distance. You open it to see Spike, your chaperone of the night.

"Good evening. Where to m'lady?"

You laugh at his antics. As you walk towards the woods you explain to Spike your goal for the night. To take down set of twin demons that have been trying to lure children to eat them. Spike is attentive and energized. He wanted to impress you. He wanted to prove to you that he was no sniveling child vampire. Just because there is an 800 year difference between the two of you, it doesn't mean that he's useless.

You both make it to an empty playground.

"Here?" Spike asks.

"Here." You confirm.

So, you sit and wait. Spike steals glances at you, hoping to catch your eye. He has never felt so small and shy. You turn to look at him and smile "nervous, baby boy?"

He is taken aback, speechless. Baby boy! You had some gal! He didn't know if to fight back or let you dominate him. Neither action came to fruition due to two big demons coming into view.

You stand ready, "show time, baby boy." You run up at the twin demons.

Spike needs a minute to rewire his thoughts and calm his feelings. Once reconnected he runs after you to back you up.

You both go on a head on collision with the demons. Spike is surprised at your direct approach. He can tell you're too focused on the win and not on your safety. He swoops in to play defense and keep you safe. While you work on slashing and punching, Spike works on blocking and moving you out of the way. You both work as a unit, fearless of what’s to come. Your bodies speak a language that only you two understand.

The demons are tired and bruised but you guys aren't done. Spike calls your name as he pushes one of the demons your way. Your sword is ready, and you stab into him with ease. Spike misses his cue as you call to him and the other demon attacks him, hurting him. You call to him one last time throwing your sword his way. He catches it with ease and stabs the demon multiple times. You're both triumphant.

You walk up to Spike to assess the damage.

"It's bleeding but not terrible" Spike states.

You nod and sling his arm around your shoulders. You both limp towards your house.

"Thank you. You were amazing." You compliment him.

He smirks, "You weren't half bad."

"If you hadn't been there those demons would've taken me out."

"I know" Spike smiles his shit eating grin.

You stop at your porch and Spike moves away from you. "Good night. I'll see you tomorrow night" and he starts walking away.

"Wait, I'm gonna patch you up." You stop him from moving farther away from you.

He freezes. "Love, I'd have to come in..." He trails off at the prospect of being in your home.

You chuckle. "I know." You stand inside your house. "Go ahead, ask."

He couldn't believe it. Dead heart be still. "Can I come in?"

"Nah."

Spike's jaw drops. Ridiculous. He feels like storming off until he hears you laugh which makes his blood boil.

"Wait! Don't leave. I’m sorry. Ask again. Please." You say trying to get your laughter under control.

He asks again, and you say yes. And he feels all the air, if any, leave his body. He was elated and giddy.

He saunters into your home as if it was his own. He takes in the space, the furniture.

"Take a seat, I'll be right back" you point to your couch.

You bring him a cup of water and a med kit. He is humbled at your gesture. So simple yet so loving.

"Take off your shirt." You say as you look through your med kit.

"Buy me a drink first, love" he chuckles and complies.

You make an annoyed face, but it’s quickly washed off at the sight at his body. He was breathtaking. Dips and valleys hidden under hard lines of muscles. You remind yourself to breathe. You refocus and go to tending his wound. You are careful, loving as your work on him.

He admires your gentle hands, So carefully caring for him. Buffy would never. Yet y/n will always. Always. He snaps back from his reverie as you apply the anti-septic to his wound. It stings.

"All new!" You state looking at your handy work.

"Thank you..." he mumbles as he pulls his shirt down.

"My pleasure. I mean, it was a pleasure to help. I mean not that I take pleasure in seeing your hurt. I mean - " Spike places his pointer and middle finger to your lips. A firm but gentle gesture.

"I know what you mean." He smiles, a genuine one. "I have to go now. The sun is rising."

As he turns away you pull at his duster. "Stay."

He turns slowly, in surprise of what he just heard.

"Stay" you repeat. "You can stay on the couch. It’s a pull out."

He makes eye contact. He steps closer, purposefully entering your personal space. One hand distracts itself by playing with your hair. The other ghosted over yours at your side.

He knew, in that moment, that you would look out for him no matter what. The woman he got to know before he knew her as the cursed slayer was still there. The attentive eyes, the smart mouth and the loving heart. All that he needed. He refuses to let himself drown in this feeling. Not yet. He needed time before he let himself swim in your waves of love. But there was no harm in taking a dip, just for tonight.

[xxelleswrittingxx]

A Curious Predator Part 2

Warnings: non-con, avatar x fem!human smut

Part 1

Hours had passed and the eclipse moved overhead out of sight. Soft light emerged through the leaves and cast warmth onto your cooled skin, the heavy humidity finally hit its precipice to fall as a soft mist. It woke you from your heavy slumber and weighty limbs moved you to an upright position.

Neytiri had not slept a wink. The heat inside of her developed into an exciting buzz that kept her on her toes, waiting for any movement from you. Her mind ran through possible scenarios to come: you willingly giving in, being scared but still doing as she says or even fighting back. None of these worried her because she knew that no matter what, she would have you.

Her upright ears twitched forward to follow your new movements and a small grin made its way to her lips. You had awoken.

Memories of the evening before slammed back into your mind and you immediately started checking yourself and the surroundings for any danger. Things seemed to be clear and nothing had gotten you in your sleep. Relief washed through your tense body and plans for finding your way back to the team formed.

You emerged from your grove of tree roots to begin the long walk back to where the team first landed, or at least until you were back in range of the other com-calls. Soft chirps and the drizzle of rain became music to your ears during the trek. Unknown to you Neytiri followed above, her movements less graceful than they were before. Now they were more aggressive...crouching and crawling her way through the trees. The hormones surging through her body transformed her into a different being. Years of training lost, she forgot how to move unnoticed.

You could hear it above you. Something had found you and decided that you were it's next meal. The heavy thumping of your combat boots picked up alongside your heart rate. You changed your course and zig-zagged through large shrubs, under massive leaves, and over moss covered rocks.

The development of your leisurely pace to a slight jog had only excited her more. Senses amplified, Neytiri could smell you through the rain. She could feel your heartbeat pumping in her ears. Your fear in her stomach.

You halted to a stop. Where were you going? You know you could never outrun any of Pandora's wildlife, your only hope was to find your team but you strayed far from the path a long time ago. Y/E/C orbs scanned the surrounding area, searching for something unknown. Maybe the path back? But more likely, the thing that was following you.

A blue figure was crouching on a branch high above the ground across from you. A new fear dawned through your body, and it moved you before your brain could tell it to. Your feet fled in the opposite direction and all you could think about was getting away.

A frenzy had started.

Neytiri lept up and ran across the tree limbs before her. She quickly gained on you and eventually ahead of you to where she could drop down to the wet grass.

~

The rain beat down across your face and your feet slipped through mud, but that never stopped you. The giant Na'vi that dropped down in front of you did.

A scream ripped out of your throat and you fell back.

The alien before you crouched down and glared hard into your eyes. You had never met a real native before, so to suddenly have the unique being before you had left you shocked.

The powerful and lean limbs stretched on and on... distinct stripes painted across them. Big yellow cat eyes stared.

Fear still burned deep inside you.

You slowly started to crawl backwards... and the woman mirrored the movement to cawl after you.

"Please, I mean no harm!"

Neytiri tisked at the first words you spoke to her.

"I'm only trying to find my way back." Your voice wavered out.

"I do not care..." Was spit out in return. Her scrutinizing gaze burned all over you, taking in every detail that stood out to her.

Your mind raced with any possible way to get out of this situation, but it kept short-circuiting, once an idea popped up it ran blank with the fear and danger hovering in front of you. "I'll do anything! Just, please, don't hurt me!" Begging is the only thing making sense to your rushed mind right now.

"Hm, I know you will," Neytiri said with a blank look. She only cared about the burning heat between her thighs, and the delicious scent you put off, like the sweetest fruit Pandora had to offer mixed with fear and tears. She couldn't get enough of it.

And this is what brought her closer to you, her bow now taken off of her back and pointed down to your throat. The tip of it tilted your chin up, your view of the Na'vi was wavered with tears, but you couldn't ignore the beauty in front of you. She slowly leaned down over you.

"You will not move, or I will kill you. Understand?"

"Yes!"

This answer seemed to satisfy her, for she paused in thought, staring at you as if to read your expression and see if you were lying or not.

She threw her bow aside into the damp flora. She had decided to believe you, besides if you did try anything she knew that you were no match for her. So she watched your small body lay in the mud and tried to decide what to do with you.

Neytiri dropped to her hands and knees above you, a small 'rah!' slipped her lips, her aggression getting the best of her. You flinched at the sudden movement and sound, your reaction seemed to satisfy her. She dipped her nose down to your neck and sniffed hard, taking in your intoxicating scent. It soothed her, but at the same time made the fire burn hotter.

She sat up above your body and tried to figure out what to do with your annoying clothing, pulling the knife from her hip, she grabbed the front of your T-shirt and sliced the cotton.

You gasped at the brutal action, "W-what are you doing?"

"Removing your clothing." She ripped your bra next.

"Stop!" Your hands covered your chest, trying to save your modesty.

But Neytiri did not like this, "What did I tell you!" She hissed in your face and brought both of your wrists above your head with her one hand. "You are MINE." How could you not understand this? You were really starting to frustrate her...

Your shorts and underwear were next. She crawled down the length of your body and pried your legs apart, kneeling between them she took a deep breath in of your heat, "Wait! Not there!" your pleas fell on deaf ears and she delved into you, drinking in anything you had to give her. She had to have a taste of you before starting.

You couldn't believe it, the way it felt, you were supposed to be yelling but only moans escaped your throat. Your face burned in shame. Your hips bucked in pleasure. The hands held by her grasp escaped and tried to push her head away. Show growled into you and held them down by your sides.

Bold licks lapped through your folds. Neytiri slurped every juice up. She loved the sounds you made, especially the pleas to stop. They were amusing, you both knew she wouldn't, and that deep down you didn't want her to.

Your clit throbbed against the wet heat of her mouth and your walls tightened around nothing. 'No, no, no. Don't cum...' your thoughts screamed out, but your body would do what it wanted. And it did. Hard.

Your cum squirted into Neytiris' mouth and she swallowed everything. Your body thrashed under her hold, but it didn't budge her, if anything it spurred her on. Her mouth stayed attached until you went limp in the mud.

She stood up and started to undo her top, letting it drop, her bottoms followed next.

Your body shook with the aftermath of her. The sight of Neytiri undressing brought a new bolt of fear through your body and you turned over to crawl away. To nobody's shock, she grabbed your ankle and dragged you back over to her.

"Now, now little one, we are not done." She finally smiled during the interaction. Her large hands grasped you around your waist, and she laid back to bring you above her, your legs scissoring between hers. Your weight pressed your wet heat against her own and you both gasped out at the contact.

Finally, Neytiri was getting what she needed. Her large hands covered the expanse of your torso and she used them to guide your body. Rutting your hips down onto her own, she used you to pleasure herself.

You could feel her wetness seeping between your thighs, sticking you two together with her need. Wet squelches came from you both and you looked down at the blue woman, her eyes squeezed shut, jaw dropped and ears pointed back... God, she was beautiful. Unknown to yourself, your hips started to move on their own accord, your hands pressed down onto Neytiris' hard stomach.

It felt too good, you couldn't help it, you might as well give in...

NO! You were supposed to be scared, disgusted, and revolted. But your mind kept getting caught up in the sight below you. Her mound was glistening with slick, your's and her's mixed together, you kept getting a peek of it every time she brought your hips back and forward. Dark blue folds molded with your own... and you loved it.

Neytiri could feel her orgasm coming up on her quick. Her little toy felt so good against her, it was exactly what she needed. Little 'ah ah ah's were slipping from her mouth and she couldn't bring herself to care. The lean muscles of her body tensed tight and the pleasure bowed her back. With a low whine, Neytiri came long and intense under you,

You thought it was coming to an end as her rutting slowed down but it never stopped. Of course it wasn't over! She was in heat and this meant that she wasn't stopping until she was satisfied, and from previous experience, she wasn't done until she just about passed out.

Your clit started to throb again. It was coming back and you had to try to hold it off. To distract your mind you stared down at Neytiri's tits, Her small buds shook with every thrust and your mouth watered...

Fuck it.

You leaned forward and took one into your mouth. Neytiri let out a strangled moan and brought a large hand to your head to push you closer to her.

You sucked, nipped, and bit at her until they were swollen and raw. Yet, this still only distracted you for a little while. Your pussy was clenching hard, and before you could pull away from her chest your orgasm washed over you. Your face scrunched up in pleasure and you pulled the woman below you closer. Hips bucking hard against her own.

God this felt so fucking good.

Neytiri chuckled at the little human lying on top of her. So you finally gave in to her? It was faster than she had anticipated, but she wasn't going to complain. She loved to watch you hump yourself above her. Maybe she would have to keep you around. Her own little toy she could play with whenever she wanted.

~

AN: Omg this took forever to write, I'm so sorry to anybody that wanted the second part. Anyways hope you liked it! feedback is always appreciated :)

[thoughtkick]

F-E-A-R has two meanings: ‘Forget Everything And Run’ or 'Face Everything And Rise.’ The choice is yours.

Zig Ziglar

[thlayli-ra]

Trick or treat is such a fun idea!

Could I request a Punkintyre ficlet with the shock collar prompt 🥺 (I would very much appreciate Drew being the one in the collar but I leave the details in your very capable hands)

Ok so, just, let me explain myself here! By the time this prompt came through I had already received the Cody Rhodes 'Shock Collar' prompt and I didn't want to essentially write the same fic so I tried to come up with something different and I couldn't stop thinking about this gifset from Bad Blood and @fantasticalleigh 's tags on it about Punk and Drew being like two beasts mating in captivity, and it made me think of the original Planet of the Apes movie and well... this is the final result. Hope it's kinda, sorta what you were hoping for (I'm sorry!)??? 😬

Trick - 'Shock Collar'

Characters - CM Punk, Drew McIntyre

Rating - Mature (18+)

Warning Tags - Alien Abduction, Drugging, Breeding, Non-Con, Dub-Con, Rough Sex

'Punk! Wake up! Wake up, ye stupid prick!'

A meaty palm slapped his cheek, stirring him from his deep sleep. 'Ow!' Punk grunted moodily. 'What the fuck's wrong with you?'

It was then that he saw the raw terror in Drew McIntyre's eyes. 'Everything is wrong! Everything is as fucking wrong as it can possibly be!'

His vision started juddering back into focus and Punk spied the metal above Drew's head. For a split second he thought they were both in the Cell, and that he'd taken a bad bump and passed out during their match but he soon realised that these were not the zig-zag mesh of Hell in a Cell.

These were bars!

They were both locked in some kind of cage!

Punk sat up like a shot to look around. The cage was large, more like an enclosure, and rich in foliage, wiry bushes, dirt and rocks. Punk was lying on a bed of hay in the top-most corner, under a bamboo canopy like some kind of animal in a zoo.

'Drew?' he stammered out. 'Where the hell are we?'

'I have no idea...'

The large Scot lumbered up to his feet and tentatively stepped out from under the canopy and into the make-shift forest. Behind him, Punk gawked when he noticed Drew's attire. Or lack of it! 'What are you wearing?'

Drew glanced down at the sparse shred of clothing to his name - a loin-cloth made from animal pelt draped around his waist and a metal collar around his neck. 'Same as you,' he shot back and Punk looked down and found to his horror that Drew was right. Letting out a curse, he shoved the front of his loin cloth down between his legs to give himself some decency then moved his fingers up to inspect the steel collar at his throat. It was bolted fast. The panic escalated into full-on alarm! 'What the fuck is going on?'

'Shh,' Drew hushed him, his ears pricked.

'You hear something?' Punk whispered.

'Shut up!'

Drew edged his way forward, reaching out his long arm to swipe through a clump of giant leaves and push them aside to reveal-

'JESUS CHRIST!' Drew toppled backwards with fright, landing hard on his lower back.

'FUCK!' Punk yelled, shuffling further back into his corner.

Quick as a flash Drew rushed up beside him, the two men shaking with terror. 'You saw that, right?' the Scot asked.

'Yeah,' Punk hushed out, trying to process what he had just seen. 'Yeah I saw it.'

Behind the leaves there had been a gap in the bars, filled with what looked like glass. A viewing gallery to peer into their enclosure. And there standing at the window were two figures crafted from their very nightmares. Impossibly tall and thin, something not of his world or the limits of his understanding, something that was completely...

...alien!

Suddenly a high-pitched shriek tore through Punk's head. He let out a wail as the pain screeched behind his eyes, covering his ears to try and stifle the blare.

'-creatures of P-0087453-E,' a tinny voice spoke inside Punk's very skull. 'We believe they refer to it as Earth-'

'W-what's happening?' Drew gritted out through his clenched teeth, tearing at his hair. He could hear it too!

'I don't know, I- GAH!'

'-simple creatures, not highly advanced. They can be prone to acts of violence and aggression, acting purely on their most basic urges-'

'I can hear a voice!' Punk yelled over the static in his skull. 'I think... I think it's them. Whatever they are!'

'I hear it too. How is that possible?'

'I have no idea! AAAGHHH!' The pain was growing, like somebody was blasting a badly tuned radio in his head.

'-but incredibly rare and valuable. Which is why our experts identified these two as a fertile pair and brought them here for our breeding programme-'

Punk froze. Had he really heard that right? Or did he just imagine it? Glancing up at Drew he was shocked to find the Scot looking deathly pale. He was afraid the larger man was about to keel over any second and shook him roughly by the shoulder to snap him out of his stupor. 'Hey, you ok?'

'This can't be happening! This is all some fucked up dream. This can't be-'

'-we will start our programme by activating the pheromones in the dominant male-'

Punk's stomach fell out from under him, wondering what on Earth that meant! Perhaps there was some kind of mechanism in the cage that would spray it into the enclosure? Anticipating it, he grabbed in a lungful of air and held it, waiting, listening, watching for anything to happen.

But nothing did.

He released his breath with a loud gasp, coughing oxygen back into his bloodstream. 'I think we're in the clear,' he told Drew, 'I didn't see or hear anything and I don't feel any different so-'

Drew let out a heavy grunt beside him, cutting him off and Punk turned to find the Scot shaking his head like he was trying to fend off an incoming sneeze.

'Drew? What's wrong?'

Drew's head shot up, his gaze finding Punk and fixing on him. His pupils were completely blown, erasing all the blue from his eyes. Making him resemble some kind of wild animal in the woods, a bear or wolf or... no, more like a shark circling the water, smelling fresh blood. Strong and dangerous. And hungry!

Guess he'd just found out who the so-called 'dominant male' was, and if that was Drew, then what exactly did that make Punk?

'Pheromones activated. Now all we have to do is wait and we'll hopefully see the mating rituals of this fascinating species.'

Shhhhhit! 'D-Drew?'

But the larger man wasn't listening! Settling onto his haunches like a crouched tiger, he began to stalk closer to his prey who scrabbled backwards with a yelp but where could Punk go? They were completely caged in and inevitably his spine collided with the metal bars of the cage, cutting off his retreat. Drew was on him now, mammoth arms boxing him in on either side and trapping him completely.

'Drew! Snap out of- urk!'

Punk's heart twisted with fear when Drew's bear paw found his chin, grasped it and lifted it up like he had done so many times before. The black, lifeless eyes looked him all over, Drew tilting his head slightly and giving that exact same elated smirk he'd worn back in the Cell at the first sight of Punk's blood. The hand at his chin then went for his throat, wrapping around Punk's collar and pushing him back until the base of his skull clattered against the bars.

Eyes clouded. No thoughts, only instinct.

'Drew! Hey McIntyre, listen to me!' Punk tried to break through the Scot's hysteria, tried to snap him out of this trance. 'You gotta fight it, you hear me? Fight it!'

But it was in vain. Punk's mouth was abruptly gagged by Drew's invading tongue, the larger man growling and snarling, rumbles vibrating down his throat and through their chests pressed together, while large, thick hands stroked all over Punk's shoulders and back and chest and nipples then trailed down his ribs and stomach and pelvis to-

'NO!' Punk wrenched his face to the side, freeing his mouth. His hand grabbed hold of Drew's wrist, stopping it in its tracks. 'GET OFF! STOP IT, DREW! THIS ISN'T YOU!'

And then the blue flickered back into Drew's eyes and for a brief moment, his humanity returned, only to be engulfed once again. 'No, no, no, no,' Drew pushed himself off of Punk, stumbling away. Punk, still packed tight against the bars of the cage, watched as the Scot roared in distress, grabbing fistfuls of his own hair, twisting his head from left-to-right and back again, a man trying to evade a swarm of invisible wasps.

'No,' he growled under his breath. 'No, not like this! Not this way!' Drew blinked the blue back into his eyes, holding onto himself again, however fleetingly. Then turned his attention towards the window of terror hidden away at the far end of the cage. 'No!' he spat at their captors, 'I won't!'

'-hmm, perhaps the first dose wasn't strong enough. Activating a second dosage-'

This time, Punk saw the powder puff up from Drew's metal collar, engulfing his face, and like before he struggled and writhed, trying to evade the poison but it was clinging to him, following him around the enclosure no matter how far he tried to run. His roars filled the air, Punk quaking with fear at its feral nature. Too scared to move, he watched as the huge Scotsman bent down and heaved a huge rock right up out of the ground.

'What the hell is he-?'

Drew rushed towards the observation window, the boulder raised high, meaning to throw it right through the glass and shatter it to smithereens.

'Immediate threat detected. Engaging collar!'

A loud crackle and Drew tossed his head back, screaming in agony. The boulder plunged from his arms and his body soon followed, both hitting the floor with a crash.

Punk leapt up to his feet, his heart in his throat.

'There, that should pacify him-'

But their captors grossly underestimated the fortitude of their prisoner. 'I'm no some beast in a cage,' he croaked, dragged his arms under him to push himself up, 'and you won't reduce me to one!'

'Shock him again!'

Another crackle and Drew fell onto his back, spine rigid and arched painfully off the filthy floor, howling through his gritted teeth, until the shockwave released him and all four limbs flopped, lifelessly. From his position by the bars, Punk held his breath, looking for any sign of life.

It all seemed hopeless. Until Drew rolled his hips back.

Unbelievably, he flipped up onto his feet in a perfect kip-up, just like he would in the ring and before they had a chance to shock him again, he grabbed up the boulder and launched it through the air with all his might.

'WATCH OUT! WATCH OUT!'

Drew went down with another terrible shockwave just as the boulder crashed against the glass, not shattering it but creating a crack that almost split the screen in two. Only this time, the gruelling torture didn't stop. The shocks continued, the Scot's body contorted horribly, flailing rigidly in the dirt. Punk rushed towards him, hearing the electricity running through his fellow wrestler, seeing the turmoil on his face. He looked towards that window of terror, and the creatures hidden behind the fractured spiderweb of broken glass.

'That's enough!' he yelled towards it, hoping that, by some miracle, if he could hear those things that they could hear him too. 'You'll kill him! Stop!'

But still the jolts continued, one after the other. And now Drew wasn't screaming anymore and Punk could see froth foaming at his mouth, his blue eyes rolling into the back of his head.

'I SAID THAT'S ENOUGH!'

Still nothing. Punk's head went blank with panic, desperation.

'WE'LL DO IT! WE'LL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT! JUST TURN OFF THE COLLAR FOR FUCK'S SAKE!'

And finally... the crackling stopped. Followed by dreadful silence, highlighting the heavy breathing of both men and the putrid smell of burning flesh in the air.

'Punk...'

Punk's eyes found Drew's weakly fluttering back at him, pain-filled and weak. Ringed by the tiniest sliver of blue. 'It's ok, Drew, it's alright.'

'No... don't...'

Looking around him, Punk found the perfect spot and shuffled over to a large, flat rock. Slumping down to his knees, he bent over and lay atop the cold surface, lifting his hips up into the air.

Nothing happened. He looked back to find Drew where he left him, refusing to move.

'Come on Drew, it's alright. Just do as they say.' The Scot shook his head stubbornly. 'One little fuck isn't worth killing yourself over. Anyway, isn't this what you've wanted this whole time?'

'Not like this,' Drew choked out with a sob.

'If they kill one of us, they'll kill both of us,' Punk protested. 'The only chance we have of getting out of this is by sticking together.'

But still, Drew refused to move.

Punk sighed with defeat. Turning his face away, he placed his cheek against the cold rock and whispered, 'hit him with the pheromones again.'

From behind him, he could hear Drew call 'what did you just- urgh!' Then he held his breath and waited.

It didn't take long for Drew to crawl over, sniffing like a curious beast at Punk's rear. The tattooed man flinched when his loin cloth was ripped up, exposing his open cheeks and Drew mounted him from behind, his hairy chest and stomach rubbing up against his bare back. Two huge fists wrapped around Punk's skinny wrists and held them down, keeping Punk securely pinned on his front to the rock face as Drew rubbed his sopping wet and rock hard dick between Punk's glutes, prodding his head around until it lined up against his puckered hole.

Then rammed himself in. Punk choked on a cry of pain, a terrible burning at his rectum as he was stretched wide and entered. The beast on his back hooking himself into his body, breaking through the seal and into his guts, tearing him open.

No thoughts, only instinct.

And Punk closed his eyes and tried to fight the growing ache between his own legs and Drew's hands shackling his wrists tightly, and his warm breath grunting against his ear and his sweat falling onto Punk's back and pooling in that small hollow at the base of his spine and his huge dick ravishing him again and again.

But soon the blood and the pre-cum lubricated his passage, and Drew began to move easier and the thrusts became long and powerful and struck that perfect little sweet spot deep inside of him and Punk began to hear the crackles in his own skull and see the explosions of electricity behind his own eyelids and in an instant, he forgot the cage, the window, their plight and he became lost in the throes of the delicious mix of pain and pleasure. Opening his thighs up wider to entice Drew in even further, his lips fell open and he moaned, a line of drool escaping the corner of his mouth and dripping onto the stone beneath him.

Drew began to pump in harder, scrubbing Punk's naked chest against the jagged rock and Punk was so helpless, caught in the larger man's strong grip and he couldn't help but love his helplessness, being held down and bred like a bitch in heat, all while being watched, being observed. A thought bubbled to the surface of his consciousness, wondering if he too had been hit with some kind of pheromone to muddle his senses but it fell away again when Drew hit his bundle of nerves head-on with the blunt tip of his dick. His own cock was full to bursting and it was too much to bear and when he let out a strangled cry, Drew obliged him by letting go of his wrist and grabbing him between the legs, pumping his shaft with a taut grip, the pad of his thumb teasing his slit.

'Fascinating! We always wondered how two males of this species mated and now we know it's through the-'

Punk went blind and deaf and even the blaring static in his head was drowned out as warm cum seeped into him and out of him, sopping from his wrecked hole and between his swollen cheeks and down his ragged thighs onto the dirt below. Drew collapsed onto him, nuzzling his face into the hollow between Punk's shoulder blades and kissed his flushed skin tenderly. 'S'you ok?' was all Punk's numb lips could form. Drew answered with a throaty purr.

Later, the pair were up on the hay under the canopy, Punk firmly snuggled in Drew's arms, both of them fast asleep. But something stirred the tattooed man slightly from his slumber, a tinny voice echoing around his skull.

'-a success. But this is only phase one of our breeding programme. Tomorrow we'll prep the submissive male for surgery and move into phase two-'

[eloquentcoconut]

☆The First Rule Of Book Club: You Do Not Talk About Book Club ☆

Synopsis: Thorn and Sebek, from enemies, to frenemies, back to enemies, right? One of the first of many of Thorn and Sebek's book club shenanigans.

Word Count: 1,982

Notes: I love Pride & Prejudice, could I make it any more obvious? I've teased some of the features in this fic way back in my twst baby names post.

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Grim entered Ramshackle’s lounge and ‘slammed’ an envelope sealed in dark green wax bearing Diasomnia’s crest onto the coffee table. “This has got to be from that loud mouthed guy - should I just burn it?” 

I chuckle at Grim’s sentiment - it's no secret that Sebek and I often butt heads, we often rub each other the wrong way, and on occasion argue, but I don’t think we’re enemies by any means.

Like that time in the library, where I got so fed up with him adding ‘for a human’ and the end of all his ‘compliments’ that I bit him and told him if he didn’t obey all my commands, by the next full moon he would become a magicless human. And for some reason he believed me and it snowballed into a crazy rumor, and became a huge mess where Diasomnia got involved… It was nuts.

Or that time at the stables where he tried to get back at me for telling him to fall off his horse, so he said, ‘perhaps it is YOU that should ‘eat manure and die’ and I responded, ‘eat shit and live Sebek.’

And most recently was gym class, we had to rotate between a few sports like volleyball, badminton, and basketball, and somehow, he always ‘accidentally’ managed to hit the back of my head with projectiles. I filled his gym bag with ice cubes and put my ice pack down the front of his pants.  

I squint my eyes at the memories. ‘Maybe we are…?’

“Let’s read it first to check who it's actually from.” I opened the pristine white envelope to reveal aged cardstock, written in non-too refined scrawl but the alternating green and silver sparkled ink was a nice touch. I think someone possessed Sebek though, all the little hearts floating around are just plain goofy and so unlike him.

{DEAR♡ST HUM♡N,}

{IT IS ♡NDER THE GUIDANC♡ OF MY M♡NTOR ♡ILIA THAT I CORDIALLY} {♡NVITE Y♡U TO THE DIASOMNIA LOUN♡E TO PA♡TAKE IN O♡R ♡OOK} {CLUB.}

{AWAITING YO♡R CO♡RESPONDENCE,}

{- ZIG♡OLT.}

Grim and I turn to one another. “This has got to be some sort of prank! No sane person writes like *that.*” Grim points his paw at the discarded letter. 

I shrug. “I guess I’ll find out after classes are over today.”

“Count me out of it!” Grim shouts.

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‘Since I can’t find my missing sock at the dorm, I probably dropped it here. It shouldn’t be too hard to spot.’ Searching by the riverbed, embedded behind the school, many of the trees are barren and the ground is blanketed in warm shades of browns and amber from the fallen leaves. 

As I examined the area, a few bunnies hop diagonally from me, I can’t help but to follow them with my head and spot a silver headed person resting against a stump. ‘Is that…?’

Squirrels, bunnies, and songbirds gravitate around Silver - some even nestled on and around him like a shield against the cold. I crouch down next to Silver and place a hand against his forehead to see if he’s alright. Slowly he stirs awake and looks up at me.

Instantly I’m mesmerized by his eye color. I’ve always thought Silver’s eyes were similar to a mellow violet, but up close, it's almost as if there’s waves of pink and blue. “Whoa your eyes… They really are like an aurora.” 

Silver remains silent for a while, until he gives a soft smile. “Your eyes are like starlight, comforting grey with flecks of gold.” 

Shyly smiling, I extend my hand to Silver to help him up. “I was just checking to see if you were alright, there’s frost in the air, it’ll snow soon. If you sleep out here, you may end up buried or sick.” 

“That’s very responsible of you…You’re Thorn Silvanus right?”

I nod. “And you must be Silver.” 

Silver yawns. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Sebek, whether I want to or not. I hope you don’t dislike Sebek or feel turned away from Diasomnia.”

I let out a hum as I walked with Silver. “I don’t dislike Sebek, I think him thinking my mere existence a scandal by calling me human is funnier more than anything. It's fun to tease someone so serious.”

Silver chuckles. “Oh yes, fa-Lilia and I often tease Sebek too.”

I rub my arms together to warm up. “I’m not sure what Sebek’s issue is with humans though. The way he separates himself from them… Constantly elevating anything related to fae and putting down human stuff it's like he’s projecting? I know he probably looks down on me as much as any other human, but I don’t feel envious of those with magic or jealous of fae… It’s like he has internalized racism?”

Silver’s eyes widen to the point he looks actually awake. “You got all of that from his thundering speeches?’ 

I lightly laugh. “I do read a lot, but that’s just speculation on my part, I could be entirely wrong.” 

Silver places his robe overtop of me. It's my turn to look caught off guard. “You looked cold. My animal friends have kept me warm, wear it until we reach Diasomnia. I’ve heard Sebek was expecting you.” 

“Did you have a choice not to?” Silver and I laugh as we walk to the mirror chamber. 

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The creek of the large oak doors alerted the occupants in the lounge. Sebek’s face twisted as he spotted Silver and I. “You know one another?! And you’re both so familiar already?!”

 I glance at Silver and smirk, “we’ve met before.”

“Once upon a dream.” Silver finishes. 

“Fufufufu! This is a classic exchange from one of my favorite soaps! Whereas the prince charms his way to the heart of the female lead by being himself.” Lilia giggles.  

Sebek squawks and says, “THERE’S NO WAY SILVER WOULD HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THAT HUMAN!” 

 I ignore the comment in favor of riling him up. 

I remove Silver’s coat and neatly fold it, handing it back to him. “Thanks Aurora.” 

“Thanks, Starlight.” Silver gives a polite bow and walks off. 

Lilia clutches his imaginary pearls. “Egad! The drama continues to unravel! What will unfold next?”

I shoot Lilia a grin while I hold out a book for Sebek. “After reading your favorite, I’d like to introduce you to mine: ‘Pride & Prejudice.’” 

Sebek scoffs and loudly criticizes the novel. “Of course you’d pick one of the lowest forms of literature, a romance, second worst to comedy!”

I bring the book back to my bag. “Take this in any way you like, SHUT UP Mr. Darcy!”

Many people in the lounge have paused in their activities to bear witness the infamous ‘Sebek and Thorn argument.’ Murmurs and whispers begin to clutter the space.  

Sebek was about to counter, finger raised, when Lilia reigned him in. “Might I suggest taking your qualms to your dorm room Sebek?” 

Sebek blushes in embarrassment. “Fine! The lounge is unsuitable for a quiet activity anyways.”

Sebek grabs my wrist and leads me to a winding staircase. 

“Unhand me you croc!” I attempt to remove my wrist, twisting and pulling, but that only leads to Sebek interlocking our fingers together.  

 “Be silent!” He spoke loudly.

 “BUY my silence!” I glare back. 

“Mind your steps, these stairs are steep!” Sebek yells back, taking the lead on the narrow staircase. 

“Thanks for the head’s up!” Shortly after, our quarrel resumes.

Our bickering fades the further we go, Lilia gasps, a scheme of his own brewing. “Spicy!”  

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‘Hmm. Sebek’s room is so ordinary and quite frankly boring. The dark academia aesthetic matches the rest of the castle… Dark velvet greens, books and weights, yeah bro works out at the library and studies the blade headass.’ Scanning the room, I spot a large portrait of Malleus hanging on the wall. Internally I sigh. ‘I’m not even going to ask. We know the answer.’  

Without much fanfare we start reading. Sebek sits on the edge of his bed while I sit at his study desk. After a while, I decided to ask Sebek some questions while he read. 

“Sebek, are you close to the second or third ball?”

Sebek let out a hum, “the second one I believe.”

Laughing to myself I tease him. “Go faster Sebek!”

Sebek frowns and goes to stand from his bed, not setting the book down. Unfortunately, Sebek is a bit of an airhead, and he trips over his weights, bumping into the furniture in the process and lets out a series of painful groans.

He quickly places himself back on the bed as if nothing had happened, his barley masked pained expression does nothing to ease my discomfort. I couldn’t help but exclaim, “OH MY GOD SEBEK! Are you okay?” 

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“Hey Grim, where’s Thorn?” Ace looked around the track field. 

Grim sat up. “What happened to ‘hello Grim’ or ‘how are you’? We’re not together all the time ya know!”

“Sheesh! I was only asking a question lint ball!” Ace countered. 

Deuce returned with Jack, where Grim and Ace were to rehydrate. Grim was attempting to break some Maginness World Records and had taken rest atop of their gym bags. 

Everyone silently looked at Grim expectantly. “Thorn’s with that green haired fae at Diasomnia for their book club.” 

Deuce tilted his head. “Really? They still have a club together? I didn’t think Thorn and Sebek got along that well.” 

Ace had a lightbulb moment. “I’ve heard of stuff like this from my older brother. Enemies sometimes get so heated they get personal and take things back to their room! They’re going to smash!”

Jack scowled. “I don’t think we should be jumping to conclusions.”  

“I knew that letter was suspect!” Grim crossed his arms.

“They’re going to smash? We gotta give Thorn back up!” Deuce’s delinquent side threatened to pop out.

Jack huffed. “I think we should mind our business and wait for Thorn or Sebek to tell us what’s going on.” 

“Let’s go rescue my hench-human!” Grim declared.

Jack watched as the trio rushed off, no doubt to cause more damage than if they left well enough alone. “...Idiots.”

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“Lilia-senpai! Have you seen Thorn and Sebek?” Ace asked.

“Yeah, it's kind of a big deal. We gotta stop them from smashing!” Deuce added.

Lilia, ever the prankster, went along with their little game. “Fufufu, as the saying goes ‘fighting cats are sure to have kittens.’ They’re in Sebek’s dorm room. Though I doubt there will be much brawling going on.”

“Sebek that dog!”

“Cat you mean, no offence Grim.” 

“None taken. BECAUSE I’M NOT A CAT!” 

Lilia guided the misinformed trio to the outside of Sebek’s dorm room and instructed them to wait. Curiouser and Curiouser, they pressed their ears against the door to see if they could hear anything of concern. 

“Sebek are you close?” Thorn questioned sweetly. 

‘Not so strange…’ The trio thought.

“Go faster Sebek!” Thorn urged.

‘A little weird but nothing out of the ordinary…?’ The trio thought.

Not long after, the shifting of furniture and groans rang out.

“OH MY GOD SEBEK!” Thorn cried out. 

‘!!! UHH!’ The trio thought in concern!

The door suddenly flies open! “Aha! Busted! You two are smashing!” Ace accuses. Deuce and Grim have fallen to the floor while Lilia cackles as he floats around. 

Sebek and I looked at one another confused for a moment. “We are? Sebek you should have told me; I would have put my book down.” 

Sebek makes a bewildered face, absolutely lost, with no signs of connecting shit.

[nightlyquotes]

F-E-A-R has two meanings: ‘Forget Everything And Run’ or 'Face Everything And Rise.’ The choice is yours.

Zig Ziglar