#even vaguely finishing this was a sigh of relief like i didn't COMPLETELY forget how to draw. wahoo!

[myers-meadow]

Aftermath of the Amulet of Bhaal: Halsin x tav

Title: Aftermath of the Amulet of Bhaal

Pairing: Halsin x tav/reader.

Summary: After killing the hollyphant and impressing the Murder Tribunal, you've gained the Amulet of Bhaal. Perhaps you should've taken a different path to getting to Orin and getting Lae'zel back, but you didn't. Now you're at camp, bloodied and disgusting, and you only want Halsin.

Based on my playthrough and my tav, who is a tiefling. I describe that they have long hair and horns. The smut is vague enough that no descriptors or anatomy is described. Established Astarion and Halsin romance.

Warnings: 18 +, mild smut at the end. Tav is not a good person.

Wordcount: 1800

Divider by Saradika-graphics

You return to camp covered in blood. The jitters of fear still have you feeling jumpy, and all your companions show their disapproval at the most recent completed quest. The amulet of Bhaal hangs heavy wrapped around your wrist. It would take nights upon nights to forget their expressions, their words. Astarion, who was with you as you bathed in the Murder Tribunal's pool of blood, seems less shaken. Somehow, despite sharing so much with him, you keep away that night. You yearn for another's comforting words. The only one you can stand right now is Halsin.

"I hope aquiring that amulet was the lesser of two evils," is all he says, and his tone holds the faith he has in you. It's more than you deserve.

You sigh heavily, feeling his eternally kind gaze on you, his desire to want to assume the best case scenario. "I'm- I need a bath. Will you join me? If you don't mind, I'd like to have your company."

When he silently agreed, a great relief washed over you. Not feeling up for soiling the waters of a bath house with the amount of flaking blood that dried on your skin and in your hair, you opt for the river, quite a ways outside of the city. It was a secluded spot, just over the hill, the part of nature you camped nearby before reaching the outskirts of Baldur's Gate. Halsin senses your desire for quiet, and he doesn't break the silence between the two of you. Wading in the river is almost a shock to your system with the cold of the water. Halsin stays behind on the river bed to undress properly, but you don't bother. Only after you got the worst of the blood from the armour did you take each piece off. The blood's seeped into every small crevice it seems. What you don't take off, is the amulet. Taking care not to wet your hair, you scrub thoroughly. Your mood improves as the water around you tints pink.

Halsin looks at you curiously, and you raise your eyebrows at him. You lean down to splash your face with water.

"Is it better now?" you ask, wiping the water from your eyes and rubbing behind your ears.

"Well..." he says, trying to find a kind way to say it, "your hair is still red."

"Oh." is all you manage. "Of course."

Then you laugh, and he joins you. You wade to the riverbed to undo the ribbon and the pins and let your hair down, untying the long braid.

"Have the others told you what happened?" you ask, with your head upside down, scrubbing at your scalp.

"Only the basics." He's letting you tell your side of things. A pang goes through you as you realise his consideration for you, his trust.

"We found Sarevok, who is... frightening. I don't even remember the conversation, I was too distracted by how to get through it. Maybe he got me wrong, perhaps the Emperor interfered for Bhaal to have deemed me worthy, or perhaps I have indeed killed as many as they deemed enough." You flip your hair back and look your lover in the eye. "Gods know I've killed more than my share."

You finish up washing your hair, wringing it out as you step onto the grass. Halsin is waiting for you, sitting up, leaning on his elbows. Usually, you'd be eager to drape yourself atop of him, skin to skin, but not now. There was more to be said.

"Somehow I convinced Sarevok of something evil, and he said I was worthy of becoming an 'Unholy Assasin'. As amusing as the title is, long story short, I killed the hollyphant and he had me bathe in a pool of blood."

Your love nodded. He reached out to pull you to him, and you gladly fell into his arms.

"We weren't even looking for the murder tribunal, we were just looking to get Lae'zel back... None of us were prepared to fight, but that doesn't even matter." Finally you force yourself to look at him. Take his head in your hands. "You expected better of me. Better, like we did in the Shadow-cursed Lands, in Moonrise. I've disappointed you, and many of the others."

He presses his palm to your hand, leaning into your touch like a dog eager for praise. "You don't have to explain yourself to me. You were there, we weren't, we have little right to judge."

You recoil at his words, his understanding tone. "No! Halsin- no. By all rights, you should break up with me. I killed a holy being! This is not the person you admire. You and your big heart... You like me because I didn't take the easy way out back then, you liked my courage, my determination to do what was right. Truthfully, this is who I am. I knew it was wrong, and I knew I should have pushed through, no matter how scared I was of Sarevok, but I didn't. We've fought worse foes, with worse odds. Yet I took the easy way out, just because it was the path of the least resistance."

He remains silent after your tirade.

You scoff (recognising the same tone that Astarion uses when you're kind to him, he's rubbing off on you). "Your heart is too big."

"If it's so big, there certainly is space for you." He seems unperperturbed.

Somehow, through the anger, falsely directed outward, a sob shakes your shoulders.

"I'm not a good person." You wipe at your eyes. Halsin's thick arm encircles you as he pulls you to his warm chest. Skin on skin.

"You always tell me I should be more selfish in what I want," His voice is light. Then, just a murmur right by your ear; "you should trust me more, in my judgement, in my loyalty."

You smile bitterly. "If you know me so well, you know I'll let you do anything. Even though you deserve better, I'll forever be the selfish one."

With a big hand on the back of your head, he holds you steady as he kisses you deeply. He keeps it up until he's completely stolen your breath away, heaving chests pressed against each other, lips to a forehead, silence and the moon and the trees reflected in the river besides you.

As soon as you open your mouth to say something else, to object to his kindness, he kisses you again, deeper, until you're clutching your arms around his neck tightly. With his free hand, he pulls at your skin, kneading lovehandles, waist, thighs, breast, shoulderblade. You feel mallable when you're with him, but in a good way. Like clay that can be so beautiful if it's treated right, if someone were to look past the grey shapelessness, to see your potential. Not like with Astarion, you can't help but think, as Halsin sucks on your tongue. Halsin growls softly. With Astarion, you feel like a puppet, a doll for him to dress up, to have you positioned on a shelf all nice and sweet, waiting for him to come by and take you down and play with you.

Halsin allows you to pull back, you're panting hard.

"Halsin..."

"Say you'll have me. Say you'll be mine," he says, breathless. "Allow me this selfishness, if nothing else."

You smile and nip at his lip. With how tightly you're pressed against him, you feel the jut of elbows, and are surprised to realise that that limb is yours. "Anything for you."

He laughs deeply now, his joy juts at your belly. You're warmed by the realisation that perhaps his words are true. His affections and arousal certainly feel as true as anything. The kiss turns hungrier, it grows teeth. You tug at his hair, and let him consume you. He's fond of your horns too, using them to guide you to him again and again. With a hand wrenched in between your bodies, you touch his weeping cock. Are you in his lap? It feels like it, but the world is spinning. You'd only have to lift your hips and sink down on him...

"Fuck, I don't deserve you," you curse, brows knitted together, Halsin bites at the tender flesh of your neck. It feels like completement. Like a reward for something good you must've done in a past life. Everything but him fades. His hot breath on the shell of your ear makes you whine. He's so beautiful.

"I'll have you forever, if you let me," he says. He tastes you again, deeply, deeply. You're not exactly setting a pace, as both of you are too concerned with being close, but somehow it feels better than anything in the world. You moan instead of answer.

"More, more..."

"It's never enough for you, is it?" He laughs. Perhaps there is a mean streak in him yet.

He fulfills all your wishes. His fingers dig into your hips painfully, adding edge to the pleasure. You need him to be your rhythm, your heartbeat. After another wet, messy kiss, he blinks up at you and the gold shows through. It drives you wild to see how much he's still holding back, even as he's leaving bruises in his wake. The pleasure grows and grows, stretching thin like a worn down thread - until it snaps. It happens so suddenly it makes your head swim. He follows not long after, chests bumping into one another. Sweat sticks to your shared skin, like two slugs who've temporarely become one, fluid dissolving the barrier between you.

Halsin lets himself fall backward, taking you down with him, and you laugh. Still, he holds you close, arms wrapped around you. The soreness sets in immediately after, as the glow fades. When you move your head to look up at your lover, you feel the love bites he left behind. Nothing ever disgusts him, you think, not the sweat, nor the drool, nor the blood. With a finger, you trace the features of his face. Sweat cools in the night air. He smiles under your attentions. You wonder if he loves you. You wonder if he knows just how fond you are of him.

His voice is a rumble as he speaks again. "Do you see now, my heart?"

You hum something that doesn't mean anything, but somehow that is enough for him.

"Kiss me," he says, voice but a whisper. Hazy, you lean up and kiss him properly. He lets you take the lead this time. After, you rest your head on his chest, his chest hair soft against your cheek. He plays with your hair, traces your horns. Sleepiness overcomes you, and your love shushes you until you've slipped away entirely.

[jimmyunsolved]

one mr vinny mauro because im obsessed with the lighting in this image

[pretty-setter-bois]

elephant in the banquet hall

request; please do a continuation of this!! i love it!! 😭

summary; the long-awaited prequel to elephant in the room — how a small interaction in hong kong led to an awkward tension, which might even lead to something more.

word count; 3343™

warnings; none, just a bit suggestive, an almost-car accident.

sequel

     “I’M BACK NOW.” haru announces, subconsciously tugging at his collar. 

“welcome back.” kamei greets, barely looking up from his screen.

“welcome back! how was hong kong? you ate a lot of yummy food, right?” saeki interrogates. 

he pauses for a second, blushing a little. “n-not so much...” he hands over a bag of mooncakes. “here's a gift for you guys.”

“wow! these mooncakes look so tasty! let's all have some!” saeki beams, taking them out of the bag. “huh? it's already open.

“sorry, i ate one as my share.” he apologizes, his tone anything but.

“you're so greedy. you ate a ton of delicious food, and on top of that you snacked on our gift?” kamei looks up to glare at him.

“i'm telling you, i didn't get to eat any good food.” haru sighs.

“but wasn't there a party at some fancy hotel after the symposium?”

“yeah, there was a party, but...”

     KATO WALKS UP to you and daisuke, a plate in his hands. “i'm starving... i finally managed to get two slices of the roast beef... i usually don't get to eat expensive cuts like this.” he eyes his food, earning a small chuckle from you as you eye your own plate. “huh? aren't you going to eat?” he turns to daisuke.

“no.” daisuke deadpans.

“what's wrong with you? here, i'll give you a slice. i waited in line for 10 minutes for this, so eat it with care.” he puts a piece on daisuke’s plate.

the black-haired man is reluctant, but takes a bite nonetheless. he immediately places his fork down, patting his mouth down with a napkin.

“this is so tough it's inedible. the quality of the meat is bad, and it's overcooked.” he begins to complain.

“what? stop complaining and eat.” haru furrows his eyebrows, something he did a lot around the millionaire. “someday, you're going to get what you deserve.”

“i'm heading over to a different restaurant now. do you want to come?” he asks, standing up.

“i’m fine, thank you.” you smile.

“this is plenty good for me, see you later.” haru says, cutting his food.

he walks off, leaving you and haru alone.

“sheesh, he's such a jerk... how do you raise someone to be such a picky eater?” haru rambles, and you laugh again.

“don’t get mad at him. why didn’t you go with him, anyway?” you ask.

he turns his head towards you, taking in your appearance. you look stunning — not that you usually don’t — and he forgets that you’ve asked him a question.

“kato?” you ask again.

“oh, uh, i didn’t want this food to go to waste.”

i want to stay with you.

you finish your food, drying your hands on the warm towels the banquet had gifted you with and popping the peppermints they gave you in your mouth. you excuse yourself to the bathroom.

on the other hand, haru is stopped by a man on his way out. “hello? are you from japan?”

“huh? oh...” kato switches languages. “i'm japanese.”

“i would like to ask about the police box system in japan.” the man states.

“in japan...?” haru tilts his head, confused.

"yes, about the police box system.”

"s-sorry...” the taupe-haired man apologizes, unable to comprehend ‘police box system’.

he hears a voice behind him, turning his head to find you.

“oh, the police box system?” you answer in flawless english. “it’s a box-like phone-station, created so that we’re able to reach the police at anytime.”

“ah, really?” answers the man. “i’m from the united states, here’s my card.” he hands you a card. “i’m here on business to research ways to better the police system in america.” (as he should).

“any more questions?” you ask, looking down at his card.

“oh, no. i just wanted to get a vague idea of what they did. thank you.” he grins, and you could’ve sworn he winked, “don’t worry, the number is international.”

“alright, goodbye.” you wave with a smile.

“actually, i do have one question-” the man begins.

“sorry, we have to go.” haru tries to get to the point with the little english he knew.

the man nods warily, leaving to find someone else to speak to. “see you around.”

haru turns around to you, his face solemn. “come on, we have to go.”

     “SO THAT’S WHY i didn't get a chance to eat.” haru explains, leaving out the last part.

“i can see why that happened. after all, it was an after party for an international symposium.” saeki nods.

“my english score was like 70 points out of 200 back when i took the national center test for university admissions.” he continues.

“how were you able to even join the metropolitan police department?” kamei squints. “anyways, you're like the most japanese person i know. you’re lucky (L/N) was there to save you.”

“oh yeah!” saeki says. “where is (L/N)-chan anyways?”

“ah...” haru’s mind trails to last night, and he shakes his head. “she called in sick today, said she caught a cold out of nowhere.”

“hm, strange...” kamei places his chin in his hand. “(L/N) usually doesn’t call in sick, even if she does have a cold.”

“maybe she’d really sick, we shouldn’t bother her.” haru tries to redirect the conversation.

“what could get (L/N)-san so sick to the point where she’d have to call in sick?” saeki ponders, and haru coughs to avoid gulping.

“so, did you end up missing your chance to eat?” kamei finally changes the topic.

“no, i didn't have a choice, so i tagged along with kambe to go eat.” haru exhales a sigh of relief.

“oh, so you were able to eat something delicious after all.” kamei nods.

“actually, that’s not really the case...”

“wait, i'm not sure if i understand. you got to eat, or you didn't?”

“i guess you can say i ate something...” he thinks of the mooncake, then trailing off to the thought of you. he lightly shakes his head again.

"the fact that you went to eat with kambe means that you went to a super high-end restaurant, right? how much was it? how was the meal?”

“500,000 yen.”

“you're kidding me!” saeki exclaims. “500,000?! that's way more than my monthly salary!”

“it's more than my salary, too. but... expensive doesn't necessarily mean good...” haru rubs the back of his neck.

     THE THREE OF you arrive at a high-end restaurant, one which daisuke seems to be familiar with. you and haru awe at the place, thinking of how expensive it must be.

"what's up with this place... it's so extravagant... but it's empty.” haru notes.

“i reserved the entire restaurant. i eat here often when i'm in hong kong.” daisuke explains.

“i see...” haru nods.

"menu, please.” the waiter greats in cantonese.

although you were better than haru at english, you were considerably clueless when it came to cantonese. he seems to pick up on this.

"thank you.” he thanks the waiter.

he turns to you, giving a brief explanation of the items on the menu and letting you pick.

“i'm starving... i missed out on that roast beef, so i'm craving meat...” he mutters.

“and i missed out on my desert because of you.” you tease jokingly, receiving a sheepish smile from the taupe-haired man.

“there's so many different kinds... meat... meat... meat... here it is. this must be where the meat section starts... let's see... 'pear, piece, with, steam, fruit, small, raccoon dog'... what is this?” he reads the menu aloud to you.

"pear slices with steamed civet.” daisuke answers.

“i can accept the pears... but civets? aren't they similar to raccoon dogs?”

"raccoon dogs are canines, civets are part of the viverridae family. they are completely different species.”

"you're missing the point.” haru says. “fine, i'll pick something else... have you decided, (L/N)?”

“no... i’ve never heard of these food before.” you admit.

"what's this? 'steamed, camel, peak'...” haru reads.

"that's steamed camel hump.” daisuke says.

"pass. let's see... 'boar, brain, temporary, leopard, fetus...”

"that one? you might think that it's stewed leopard fetus, but it's actually pig brains...”

“what the hell do these rich people eat...” you mutter.

"hey! isn't there any normal food here?!” haru yells, seeming to have read your thoughts.

"you sure complain a lot.” daisuke says nonchalantly.

“i'm not complaining! i just want to eat some normal chinese food!”

"this is normal chinese food for me. what do you mean by normal?”

"that would be...” he pauses to think. “for instance, fried rice, potstickers, or congee, you know? like stuff they sell at street food stalls. you don't have to be eating civets or camel humps to have good food!”

daisuke pauses. “a street food stall... i've never been to one...”

“then let's get some street food. the food stalls are cheap and rowdy, and you can always get a taste of the local culture.” haru looks around the restaurant. “what about you, (L/N)?”

“only if you pick what i eat.” you chuckle, earning an eager grin.

“HEUSC, find the best food stall we can get to in one hour.” daisuke presses on his earring.

"understood. balance: unlimited.” HEUSC answers.

the sounds of a helicopter approaching can be heard, waiting for the three detectives to get in. 

“so, where are we?” haru asks.

"a food stall.” deadpans daisuke.

"i know that! you just shoved us on to a chopper and took us to an unknown place, so i'm asking you where the hell we are!”

“this is macau. according to HEUSC, the best food stall within an hour's travel was this one located in sam chan dang, macau-”

"so we came to hong kong for nothing!”

"you sure complain a lot.”

haru sighs, cradling his head in his hands. “why can't we just have an ordinary meal...”

you pat his back reassuringly, a bit excited to see what daisuke has in store for the three of you.

“here you go. sorry to make you wait.” the man says in cantonese, serving you your food.

“well... it does look really tasty...” haru admits.

“yeah.” daisuke nods.

"well, we might as well dig in. i'm absolutely starving.” haru picks up his chopsticks.

“hold on!” daisuke interrupts.

“what now?”

“HEUSC mentioned the possibility of a food safety issue at this stall.”

“don't worry about details like that. this is a food stall, so not everything's gonna be perfect-”

"i can't allow that. HEUSC checked the surrounding radius of 10 meters, and found 7 rats and 48 cockroaches-”

"hey! i just lost my appetite!”

“can we go home?” you ask, already tired.

“oh no...” daisuke says, disregarding what you said.

"hey... what is it this time?” haru sighs.

"we're going back to hong kong.” he states

"huh? why?” you ask.

"the store that i was planning to buy souvenirs at closes in 30 minutes.” daisuke says.

"souvenirs? just buy something from a store that's open!” haru states.

"i can't do that.”

“actually, kambe, me and kato won’t bother you. we’ll look for a food stand, and you get your souvenirs. we’ll tell you when find one.”

haru’s a bit surprised by your words, but would rather spend time with you than hopping restaurants with daisuke.

daisuke nods, waving goodbye and hopping in his helicopter. you wave back, deciding to begin your search for a place to eat, haru close behind, of course.

“look! that place looks good!” you point, light on your feet.

you’re so excited that you don’t notice the truck driving on the road until the horn is almost by your ear.

haru grabs you back by the arm, holding you close as your mind tries to register what happened.

“i’m not letting you out of my sight.” he says, just loud enough for you to hear, bur firm.

you nod, quiet. what if haru hadn’t been there? what would’ve happened then?

a soft squeeze to the hand he’s been holding is all you need for reassurance. you wonder when he began to hold it.

he leads the two of you across to the restaurant that you saw, and you reread the sign.

“motel.” you squint. you take a quick glance of the stores open around you, and this one seems to be the only one. “i think everything else is closed. let’s check if they have food.”

the bell by the door jingles at your entrance, and the secretary at the desk turns to face you.

“hello, we were wondering if there was anywhere we could eat?” you ask.

“the buffet is open for about an hour, but only for the people who have rooms registered.” she answers.

you nod, and watch haru look down at his phone.

“kambe isn’t gonna be here for a while.” he informs you.

“we’ll get a room.” you nod.

she turns around to get the paperwork ready, and haru’s eyes widen.

“what do you mean? we have to leave tomorrow!” he whispers.

“don’t worry,” you assure him. “we’ll sign out early in the morning.”

the secretary turns around and hands you a piece of paper to fill out, to which you finish quickly and hand back to her.

“here’s your bill.” she states.

you’re relieved that it isn’t expensive, as you haven’t brought much money with you in the first place.

“um, excuse me?” you call.

“yeah?” she answers.

“this says single, we asked for a double.” you point to the paper.

haru has to gulp to avoid showing his embarrassment.

“sorry, but we only have one-bed rooms available.” she explains. “it doesn’t seem to be a problem between the two of you, though.”

your faces get red, and you quickly pay. the two of you awkwardly scurry off to the buffet, which you have previously been told is free.

you eat your meals in silence, ‘itadkimasu’ and occasional questions with one-word answers asked, but nothing else.

a ringing phone is what finally snaps the two of you out of it, and you look up to see that it’s haru’s.

“huh?! what do you mean you followed him home?! you don’t have enough space for us?! another flight?!” haru almost yells into his phone, before the other line beeps. “ugh.”

“what happened?” you ask.

“ah...” he nervously rubs at his neck. “daisuke bought too many souvenirs, and there was no place for us to fit.”

“the flight is supposed to be...” you look down at your watch. “right now!”

“yeah, he got us another.”

“when?”

“tomorrow...”

you nod, realizing that you would actually need to stay at the motel.

“it’s a good thing we made early reservations then...”

“yeah...”

     THE TWO OF you enter the reserved room, deciding to might as well get comfortable.

“hey, kato?” you ask. “i’m going to shower, can you look for a futon or something like that?”

he nods, leaving you to the bathroom and him to his thoughts.

the bathroom didn’t have any shampoo or conditioner, just a soap dispenser that serves as a reminder as to why you don’t like hotels.

you dry yourself off, placing on your previous clothes and cursing your past self for wearing something to uncomfortable.

you step out of the bathroom, a towel around your neck as you dry your hair. he notices you and instantly gets up, looking at you in worry.

“i... couldn’t find a futon...”

“it’s fine.” you sigh, placing the towel on a rack. “we’re adults, right?”

he nods, trying to make his gulp unnoticeable.

both your shoes had been placed by the door, and your jacket hung by his on a chair. his tie was on the bedside table, and only then had you noticed that the first few buttons of his shirt were open.

your backs were against each other, trying to get comfortable on the bed with a small pillow in-between you as a divider.

“hey, kato?” you call out. “sorry for getting you into this mess. we could’ve stuck with daisuke instead, but...”

“it’s fine.” he answers. “though, i don’t think i’ll be able to get any sleep tonight.”

“me either.”

the two of you turn to face each other, moving the pillow out of the way. you haven’t noticed the close proximity between you until his hot breath meets yours.

until you look at how his eyes darken, how good his hair looks messy, and confirm that his top buttons are indeed open.

it starts with a small kiss, really. are his lips as soft as they look? that’s all you want to confirm, and confirm you do.

you don’t remember how his shirt ends up on the floor, or how your dress is unzipped. what you do remember, is that it is the best night’s sleep you’ve gotten in a long time.

     YOU WOKE UP the next morning with a headache and a few hours of sleep, his phone buzzing on the table beside you.

he reaches to grab it, answering the call with a deep tone. “yeah, we’ll be there.” the call ends soon after. “it’s time to go.”

“i want to sleep.” you mumble.

“you can sleep on the plane.” he helps you up. “come on.”

the two of you get ready for your flight back to japan, and sign out at the front desk of the motel. you make sure to zip up your jacket all the way.

you arrive at the airport, and shortly board the plane after. you try to fall asleep, but the turbulence and noise make it hard to do so.

your headache has gotten worse, and you make a mental note to never shower before bed again.

daisuke greets you both in japan, dropping you off at haru’s home after one look at your condition. you’re far too tired to argue, and head to bed the moment you make it there.

   “THE FACT THAT we have mooncakes here means that he really made the chef make some...” saeki notes.

"yeah, he got ahold of the chef just as he got home. apparently, he made the chef return to the shop immediately to make some mooncakes right in front of his eyes.” haru explains.

“what do you mean? weren’t you there?” kamei asks.

“ah, i went to grab... dinner with (L/N).” haru sweats.

“that must have annoyed the chef,” kamei thinks. “bringing him back to the restaurant to cook, i mean.”

"but actually... you can't quite say that.”

"why? no matter how you look at it, what he did was out of line.”

“kambe bought the mooncakes for 5 million yen per box.”

"how many boxes did he buy?” saeki questions.

"this one, and the one box for his grandmother.” kato sighs.

“in other words, 10 million yen for two boxes of mooncakes... let's see, so there's 10 pieces in each box. so each piece is 500,000 yen...” kamei concludes.

"oh! so that means your dinner last night was...” saeki thinks.

"besides the food i ate with (L/N), it was this mooncake. i ate one on the flight back.” haru stands up. “i have to get her her mooncake, i was just stopping by to make sure everyone had one.”

“give her our best wishes!” waves saeki.

haru nods, wrapping your mooncake in a cloth and leaving the building. he is tired, but the fatigue he was feeling was nothing compared to yours.

he remembers that daisuke had dropped you off at his home, since neither knew your address and the black-haired man needed to get to work.

he opens the door to his apartment, hanging his jacket by the door and placing the mooncake on the table. he brings it to your sleeping form with a few headache tablets and a glass of water, leaving it on the bedside table.

he grabs a few of his clothes and heads in the the shower, drying off and deciding to take a short nap on the couch afterwards.

he falls asleep shortly, forgetting about the elephant in the room which waited to greet the two of you once you’ve woken up.

NOTES ♕❣⁂ღ

long awaited part two! i thought a prequel would be the best way to write a second part, and they can be read in any order :)

this story also takes place betweem episode two and episode four, during the flight to hong kong.

[sector-i-closed]

Daddy Material

Kang Yeosang x Choi San x Kim Hongjoong x Park Seonghwa x Fem!Reader, Roommate AU

Warning: Smut, degradation, cum play, oral sex (male receiving), vaginal penetration, hair pulling, bondage (handcuffs), daddy kink and I don't remember oh and 4k plus words

Tagging: shoutout to @atiny-piratequeen and @youneedapiratekink for helping me with this and also tagging @delicatewerewolfsoul @mirror-juliet @beankeeper37 @youneedapiratekink @atiny-piratequeen again

It was interesting to you to say the least, interesting to be living under the same roof as three males who were not related to you in any way and today your forth roommate was added to the household.

You were quite annoyed by the new company but you didn't mind it that much since it helped you to forget how lonely you would feel at times.

This evening however you were standing in the hallway, placing distance between yourself and Park Seonghwa, the newest roommate and you were talking on your phone with your best friend who had a tendency of speaking anything that was on their mind.

Choi San had abruptly passed you by while on his way to the restroom, scaring you midway through your conversation with your friend.

You inhaled a breath and resumed speaking about the days events over the phone.

"What's your newest roommate's name?" Your friend enquired, looking for any information that they could gain from you.

"Oh it's Seonghwa..." You trailed off, trying to block the mental image of his face from your mind because you didn't want to be reminded of his attractive face which added to the three that already gave you impure thoughts and misery that you couldn't satisfy with only your hands.

"Oh Seonghwa! I know of him! He's such a daddy I hear!" Your friend's enthusiasm prompted you to grit your teeth, not finding the situation very exciting since there were four attractive men under your roof and you were only their roommate, and you wondered why you cared.

"None of them in this house is daddddy material..." You purposely emphasized the word daddy in a whiny voice to agitate your friend, though you were not ready for someone to speak up right behind your back.

Quickly you ended the call so that you could face your roommate, though you felt too mortified to actually face him now, this was going to be extremely awkward you decided with a disheartened sigh.

"Interesting direction your conversation has taken, especially when you're speaking about your roommates being daddy material. I wonder what you may have been thinking the entire time we've been living with you. Surely someone as sweet as you haven't been dreaming of getting laid by us." Hongjoong chuckled teasingly, a gleam in his eyes glittering which successfully unnerved you and made you wonder if perhaps you had stared at the male too long at one time.

Your face was burning up with fire, the anxiety of what you couldn't take back was weighing heavy on you and all you could do was stare at the male wordlessly.

A wicked smirk graced his lips as he stepped closer and your pulse quickened in response to his action.

"I'll bet that you've thought about that, which one of us was it?" Hongjoong asked with faux curiosity, he took another step closer to you and the sensation of your heart feeling as if it would explode any moment was painful.

"...." You opened your mouth, unable to say anything in your defense and your roommate seemed amused by your action.

"All of us? Surely you're too innocent to even have had that thought."

"Yes..." You spoke, uncertain as to what you were agreeing to but you were hoping for the latter.

"Yes, all of us?" Hongjoong looked down at you from where he stood, making you feel quite small and you hated it with a passion.

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" San's voice broke the tension that was becoming unbearable for your heart. Your face lit up with relief and you were thinking that San had suffused the situation, that was until Hongjoong opened his mouth and squashed your hopes.

"Y/N and I were talking about how none of us are daddy material in her mind." Hongjoong chuckled at San's darkened expression, ignoring the daggers that you were glaring at the shorter male.

"Just wait until Yeosang hears this." San maintained the breath stealing gaze that he held on you.

"I don't think you should be making assumptions like that, I'm ready to prove you wrong right now if you want me to." He growled, a darkness overtaking his eyes and overshadowing the sweet man you had come to know.

"I'm pretty certain she wants us all to prove that we are indeed daddy material." Hongjoong's eyes danced with glee as you looked away, now having a feeling that the others were going to find out and what scared you the most was the knowledge that you would be unable to refuse their offer to prove themselves.

"Let's go find Hwa and Yeosang." San grabbed you by the arm, dragging your helpless body along as you dreaded what the others would do. Still you walked along with San pulling you while Hongjoong walked alongside your body.

Finally after what seemed like an hour the three of you were standing in the living room where Yeosang was playing videogames.

"Hey, Sang! Guess what Hongjoong heard Y/N say!" San grinned as he looked at your frowning face, the urge to hide was overwhelming and you felt as if you would cry from the humiliation, though you really wanted to see what would happen.

"Don't bother me I'm winning..." Kang Yeosang kept his eyes trained on the television screen as his fingers aggressively pressed the controls of his gaming console.

You silently prayed that he would react in a nonchalant manner if he was told what San seemed so invested in telling him.

"Y/N said that none of us here are daddy material!" San bursted out in giggles, holding your arm fast in his grip.

"Oh?" Yeosang peeled his eyes away from the television to peer at you in confusion.

"Is that the case? She could be right." Yeosang shrugged while brushing his hair from his face.

"Why must you say that?" San pouted, his hold on your arm loosening and in contrast relief was beginning to wash over you when Yeosang spoke up again.

"Because there should be no reason for me to say why." He glanced at Hongjoong with a questioning look in his eyes, who in turn gave a vague nod with a knowing look in his eyes.

"Does Y/N want to find out if we really are daddy material? I will make sure she finds out when she can't fucking walk tomorrow." Yeosang smirked darkly.

"Bring it on, I'll be able to walk easily even after a few rounds with each one of you." You scowled, tired of the way things were being dragged out.

"Are you sure about that, sweetheart? Have you had enough time to think about what you're getting into?" Seonghwa smoothly inserted himself into the conversation as if he belonged.

"I'm fucking sure!" You snapped, jerking your arm away from San's lax grip.

"Do anything it takes to prove yourselves because so far I'm not impressed." You spat, marching off into the direction of your bedroom.

"Oh babygirl. You have such low standards, we will surpass those easily and you will never forget it. Maybe your friend would like to hear you describe your experience with us when your voice returns." Hongjoong's mocking tone filled your ears, prompting them to burn in embarrassment.

"Shut up!" You retorted, only for laughter to ensue afterwards.

"The neighbors will remind her." San piped up in a cocky tone.

"So are you guys gonna do something or not?!" You huffed out in exasperation.

"Stop making her wait." Yeosang spoke up firmly, allowing his input to be heard.

He stepped towards you first, his pupils dark with an emotion within them that made you quite nervous and your body trembled beneath the fingertips that reached out to you and touched your arm.

Tingles resulted from the male's touch as he boldly closed the distance between your face and his.

"We will make it worth your time." Yeosang promised in a low voice, immediately melding his lips to yours and possessing them.

His straightforward manner took your breath away and puzzled you greatly since you had thought of him as the most reserved one in the house.

The sensation of soft lips pressed against your neck added to the otherworldly feeling of being kissed deeply by Yeosang, thus your body reacting by shuddering violently and relaxing into the chest of the male who stood behind you.

"Is this like you've wanted?" Seonghwa purred against your ear, biting your earlobe and encouraging even more tingles to rush throughout your bloodstream.

You whimpered into Yeosang's mouth.

"Already so excited by us, Y/N?" Hongjoong's singsong voice murmured against your other ear, a soft kiss being pressed against it and combining with the sensations of Yeosang's kisses and exploratory hand movements while Seonghwa kissed your neck with hot, openmouthed kisses that drowned you in heated sensuality.

You whined at the loss of Seonghwa's lips kissing your neck but instead Hongjoong leaned in and bit down on your neck, judging the vicinity of your sweet spot perfectly.

A pleasured cry tore through your throat, which paused the dance for dominance that your tongue was having with Yeosang's organ.

Hongjoong chuckled at your reaction and his hands slithered to your waist, slowly caressing your curves all while Yeosang traced your jawline with his fingertips.

"You sound impressed and we haven't even fucked you yet, babygirl. You're going to be completely amazed by the time we're finished." Hongjoong teased, biting your neck again with more force this time, leaving behind a bright red marking that would join the bites that he knew were yet to come tonight.

Reflexively you broke the kiss with Yeosang and tilted your head back, crying out vulnerably, the pitiful cry inciting restlessness to come over the males who were waiting for their turn with you and the thought was enough for your thighs to become slick with your arousal.

Unconsciously your hips grinded into Hongjoong's crotch, rubbing against him and coaxing a low groan from his throat.

"Oh!" Your movements were forcefully paused by Hongjoong grappling your hips and stopping you in your tracks.

"Daddy did not give you permission to do that." A sharp smack interrupted your labored pants and a small yelp followed the spank to your ass.

"Remember to ask daddy what you want." Hongjoong growled, "Or we will punish you."

He added, feeling you stiffen beneath his grip on your body.

"I thought you were supposed to impress me?" You laughed out, only for him to tangle his hands in your hair and turn you to face him.

"Believe me doll, we will. Now strip for us." He ordered, pushing you towards the doorway and watching you enter your bedroom and purposely take your time in removing your clothes from your body.

"When do I get a turn?" San whined after returning from somewhere with something shiny in his hands. You squinted your eyes to check closer and you found that he was holding a pair of handcuffs...

"No one is keeping you from having a turn." Seonghwa replied boredly, ignoring the younger males insistent whining as he began to strip down.

Your knees began to tremble beneath your weight as you watched Yeosang pull his shirt up and over his head, exposing his smooth skin which you found yourself desperately wanting to touch.

"So beautiful. Lie down, little girl." Seonghwa commanded, although you felt stubborn you went along with following his order.

"Horizontally." San chimed in.

You rolled your eyes and lied down upon your bed horizontally, allowing the youngest to click the cuffs and bind your hands together.

You sighed and felt a surge of adrenaline surge through your blood after realizing that four sets of eyes were drinking in your naked body and another trickle of arousal moistened your thighs.

"So obedient for us." San smiled down at you, his dark eyes drinking in every inch of your exposed skin.

"What do you want, babygirl? Tell daddy what you want him to do to you." Seonghwa ran his hand across your thigh, the tremors of your muscles prevalent beneath his touch.

Through the corner of your eye you could see Hongjoong undressing and you could make out that San had completely undressed in a mind bogglingly short period of time. Your heart felt as if it was lodged in your throat, preventing you from speaking at first.

"Use your words, little one." Yeosang broke through the haze of your muddled thoughts.

"Uh... I want... I want daddy's cock," You gestured towards Seonghwa with your head while you rested your cuffed hands against your stomach."

"And daddy I w-want your cock..." You stammered out while looking up at Yeosang pleadingly, feeling exposed and vulnerable on every level possible.

"At the same time?" Seonghwa interjected in a tone that made you want to laugh at how incredulous and surprised he sounded.

"Y-yes... please..." You moaned, opening your legs wide for Seonghwa to access your throbbing sex, mewling at the feel of his hands teasing your wet inner thighs with painfully delicate touches.

You tilted your head back until it was almost hanging off of the bed, staring at Yeosang as his naked body stood over you.

"Open your mouth for me, greedy whore." Yeosang ordered in a chilling tone.

Automatically your lips parted, another soft plea emanating from your lips as you gazed up at Yeosang. He took your cue and pressed the dripping tip of his cock against your lips, eventually sliding his length into the blissful warm wetness of your mouth.

"Ngh..." You hummed as you deep throated him, accommodating his hard cock in your mouth.

Tears stung your eyes when the tip of his cock touched the back of your throat and slid on down into your throat.

"Mmm!" You flinched when the tip of Seonghwa's cock pressed up against your entrance, sliding on inside of you as your hole readily accepted the intrusion.

"Your mouth is so fucking hot around my cock..." Yeosang groaned, snapping his hips forward and watching your Adam's apple bob in synchronicity with his thrusts. You moaned around his cock and tugged at your restraints as he continued to fuck your mouth.

Meanwhile your legs were shaking violently, the result of Seonghwa vigorously ramming his cock inside of your heat, him hovering above your body as he repetitively moved his hips in sinful movements that pleasured you deeply.

Pitiful whimpers exited your throat, seeing stars with every stroke of Seonghwa's dick penetrating your sensitive heat.

"Mmm mm..." You moaned, trembling and taking the harsh abuse of their cocks penetrating your holes and thrusting deep into you.

The urge to gag periodically coming and going as the tears flowed from your eyes, tears of enjoyment that you could not stop even as the burn of his cock stretching your throat was almost unbearable.

"You're taking my cock so well, babygirl." Yeosang grunted, continuing to fuck your throat until it began to feel raw from the constant friction of his length.

A shaky breath was breathed through your nose, your body quivering vulnerably from the deep penetration of Seonghwa's cock.

Briefly you wondered what San and Hongjoong were doing, a strangled moan coming from one of the males and snapping you back to remembering that you weren't alone with Yeosang and Seonghwa, which caused you to wonder if someone was jerking off while watching you get fucked at both ends.

Yeosang's constant spearing of your mouth prevented you from seeing what the other two men were doing but you could hear one of them whining and moaning pathetically while another sexual moan joined the cacophony of sounds that included your occasional gagging with each motion of Yeosang roughly shoving his cock down your throat, those sounds combined with Seonghwa's skin slapping harshly against your ass cheeks.

Your hole clenched tightly around Seonghwa's length, your muscles tightening from the glorious feelings that you accepted without a second thought, even your anal entrance was clenching from the pleasurable contact of his balls slapping against your puckered flesh.

"Don't come until daddy says you can." Seonghwa warned, reminding you subtly that he wasn't going to make it easy on you.

"I'm gonna cum on your face and tits, babygirl... Fuck I'm gonna make you daddy's cum bucket!" Yeosang barked out urgently, extracting his twitching length from your mouth.

You felt a spasm rip through your body but it was only a precursor to your climax as you tried to hold yourself together, the abuse that your pussy was receiving becoming too much for you to handle as Yeosang added to your predicament, in front of your own eyes he worked his hand up and down his shaft, releasing himself and shooting ribbons of translucent juices across your neck and chest.

"Ahh~" You arched your back and moaned out loud while simultaneously turning your head to the side and catching sight of what Hongjoong and San were doing.

Your eyes widened as you took in the sight of Hongjoong and San standing together, naked and kissing each other fervently.

Heavy pants exited your mouth as you watched, feeling Seonghwa's thrusts become harder and more pronounced.

San's hands were wandering down the small of Hongjoong's back in hungry touches that fascinated you greatly, the elder males hands slowly moving downwards themselves, rubbing across the vee of San's pelvis and teasingly moving his fingers closer to his erect cock.

While you watched his fingers wrap around San's cock you felt Seonghwa hit your weak spot, shattering the bubble of pleasure and you could not grasp any control to keep your orgasm from happening.

"OH!! AH DADD-...“ You screamed and writhed wildly beneath Seonghwa, who held you in place with a strong grip.

"Babygirl couldn't resist coming while watching us, could she?" Hongjoong chuckled, placing a chaste kiss against a pouting San's lips.

You could scarcely hear what he was saying, your sex was becoming overstimulated by the unrelenting thrusts of Seonghwa and the sensitivity of your flesh was overwhelming.

"You came without permission, babygirl... and you had better clean up after we're finished with you." The male growled, reminding you while withdrawing his cock from your body and proceeding to paint your stomach, pelvis and thighs with his sticky, hot cum.

Electricity rushed through every cell and nerve ending that you were aware of that you had in your body. Even though you were still reeling from your climax, a tightening of your heat informed you that you were still very turned on.

"On your knees, now." San's voice penetrated the blissful haze that you were experiencing, rudely interrupting the enjoyment of your afterglow.

You struggled to turn over and balance your body's weight onto your knees, lifting your ass in the air while the rest your upper body weight was placed onto your forearms.

The handcuffs restricted the use of your arms and hands, leaving them only to be useful for not teetering off of the bed.

A loud smack broke the silence as you winced from the sting of your ass being struck roughly.

"Tell me, babygirl. Do you enjoy your punishment for coming without permission?" San asked with an amused chuckle, using the palm of his hand to smooth over the reddened area, only to smack your ass yet again.

You flinched and moaned out weakly, your voice still hoarse from your mouth being fucked by Yeosang earlier.

"I'm... I'm sorry, daddy!" You whined, the now harsh burning sensation of your ass was motivating you to speak and the other males in the room thought that you were adorable the way you pitifully spoke up after only a few taps to your rear.

"So sweet the way you are so willing to call me daddy now. I'll think about lessening your punishment." San purred, positioning the head of his cock at your hole before purposely lowering his length and rubbing it teasingly up and down your slick slit.

You shuddered at his touch, anticipating to be filled yet again although you still felt extremely sensitive.

"Ah!!" You squealed at the top of your voice, being unprepared for him to have actually pushed himself inside of you so soon.

Hyperventilating breaths replaced the brief silence of the moment that had settled over the atmosphere in the room and you dared to raise your eyes, finding Yeosang on his knees in front of Seonghwa, sucking off the older male who had his hand fisted in Yeosang's hair and was guiding his movements briskly as he hollowed his cheeks around Seonghwa's length.

San was not letting up on how hard he fucked you from behind and a constant string of moans was uttered from your lips, intensifying as he grabbed a handful of your hair and pulled your head back, leaving you with no choice except to watch Yeosang orally clean your essence off of Seonghwa's cock.

"You enjoy that don't you?" A seductive purr sounded nearby your ear and you saw that Hongjoong was kneeling near you.

"You like getting fucked while someone else is licking your cum from another someone's cock huh?" Hongjoong grasped beneath your chin, turning you to face him in spite of the restrictions that San placed on your movements.

The pull at your scalp worsened and you felt as if you would collapse from the sensitivity of enduring the repetitive movements of San's cock wrecking your throbbing heat.

Pathetic cries spilled from your lips as you unconsciously held your mouth open, drooling from your mouth and dripping saliva onto your arms.

"You sound so pretty when you're being ruined." San spat out harshly, his fingernails digging into your hips as he snapped his hips forward and leaving you senseless from the painful pleasure that you were receiving.

"AHHHH D-D...!!!" You screamed, coming hard on San's cock and contracting violently around his length.

At the last moment he pulled out, peppering curses between groans while cumming on your ass cheeks, leaving his release dripping down your skin in pale, glistening streaks that accented your skin color.

You panted heavily, resting your head against your forearms and for now you were oblivious to what anyone else may have been doing.

"It seems our babygirl forgot what to call us." Hongjoong's humored tone filled your ears and prompted your ears to heat up in embarrassment.

"Count." A sudden smack was added to your ass, encouraging your flesh to jiggle from the contact of his hand and the knowledge of him touching San's cum made you dizzy with lust.

"Ah!" You yelped after another stinging slap was administered to your ass.

"Mmm..." You moaned out after the third spank to your ass cheek.

"You are forgetting to count, did you forget how?" Hongjoong growled, watching your body tremble from the attention that he gave.

"N-no!" You squeaked desperately, feeling something deep inside of you throb yet again.

"Are you so senseless that you can't even gather your own wits?" Hongjoong pushed you onto your back, hovering over your body and staring into your eyes with a dark intensity that made your stomach have butterflies.

"Uh..." You whined, spreading your legs farther apart and instinctively grinding your heat against his erect.

"Not so fast, I know you're a hungry cockslut but you're not getting it until you at least answer my question." His eyes narrowed, penetrating the mixed feelings that circulated in your body.

"P-please..." You begged, your lips trembling as you gazed at him pleadingly.

"I haven't heard you answer my question." Hongjoong tsked, leaning forward and bit your neck, moving down across your chest and leaving reddened spots littered across your chest and breasts.

Your eyes rolled back as his lips sucked at your skin, exciting your heat to the point of clenching tightly around air.

"Please..." You squeezed your eyes shut, unable to fight the fire that built again inside of your veins.

"How about no?" He chuckled, removing himself from between your legs and smiling at you devilishly, taking in the way your jaw dropped in shock.

You cried out and bucked your hips in frustration, watching him walk around your body and stand behind your head.

To your surprise Yeosang inserted his body between your legs, looking down at you from where you lied.

"You thought that you weren't going to be punished for forgetting who makes you feel good, huh?" Yeosang grinned at you evilly, taking the signal in your eyes as a go ahead to slide his hard member inside of your soaked heat.

"Daddy..." You mewled softly.

"Open your mouth for daddy." Hongjoong ordered, to which you obeyed and parted your lips for him, expecting him to slide his dick inside of your mouth but instead he began to jerk off in front of your face.

A soft moan came from the direction of where San had went and you wondered what he was doing with Seonghwa but you couldn't tear your eyes away from Hongjoong.

You had no idea how you could maintain keeping your mouth open without closing it reflexively, the constant moans that you were vocalizing while Yeosang fucked your heat effectively.

"I c-can't do it!" You arched your back and tugged at your handcuffs to no avail.

The excessive sensitivity of your sex encouraging hot tears to stream down your cheeks.

"You can do it, babygirl. Just one more time." Hongjoong spoke up softly to your surprise, acting differently from the way he had earlier when he had denied you and it puzzled you greatly.

You held your mouth open between choked sounds that came from your throat. Already you were feeling sore between your legs and Yeosang wasn't even finished with you yet.

"Ah! I can't! I oh...~!" You groaned, your walls fluttering to their own accord.

"Yes you can, cum for daddy babygirl." Hongjoong commanded, sensing that you were about to fall apart any second.

"Gonna fuck you until you come around my cock, babygirl!" Yeosang hissed, thrusting even deeper inside of your pussy as his hands went to your clit, rubbing it briskly and sending sparks to your head.

You began to convulse beneath him, screaming out and crying as Hongjoong came undone on your face and lips, saturating you thoroughly with the scent of sex.

Yeosang pulled out and pumped himself until he came on your sex, splattering his seed onto your aching folds.

You closed your eyes and breathed deeply, feeling too weak to hold your eyelids open.

"Time to clean up, everybody." Seonghwa huffed, dashing your hopes at having a chance to rest.

"We are daddy material, aren't we?" San spoke up cockily, raising the level of your annoyance again.

[fanficsandmoregalore]

Dog Days - Chapter 3

Summary: Strange phone calls in the middle of the night, talking dogs, can this situation get any worse?!

You took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Please don't speak, please don't speak, please don't speak."

You repeated, slowly opening the door. Waiting outside were the 3 dogs, patient and looking anxious. You looked around to verify that there were no other humans in your apartment. You gulped and looked at the dogs.

"Um....h-hi guys."

They looked amongst themselves and then back to you but no reply. You let out a sigh of relief and fully exited the room, walking by the dogs, and into the kitchen. Hopefully a cup of coffee would calm your nerves.

"Do you think she heard us earlier?"

You stopped dead in your tracks and turned around to the dogs, who all looked at you with an equally shocked expression.

"Shit." Kylo let out. You felt dizzy and rushed over to the couch, falling onto it. The dogs rushed over to you.

"Oh my god, this can't be happening! I'm going insane!"

You panicked and rolled yourself up into a blanket on the couch, hoping this was some weird dream.

"(Y/n), please calm down. We didn't mean to scare you." You heard one of them say. They all sounded similar so it was a little hard to distinguish which dog was talking.

You lifted the blanket off of you. You stared at the dogs and gulped again.

"Um.....i...i don't know....what's going on..."

You had trouble saying anything. You were very much speechless.

Matt jumped onto the couch beside you.

"Maybe i can explain."

You looked at each of the dogs, and then back to Matt.

"Uh...yeah...please."

Matt told you about how they had a huge argument one night and the next morning woke up having transformed into dogs and in a strange city they didn't recognize. You listened and paid close attention, this all sounded fake but if it wasn't for the talking dogs in front of you, you wouldn't believe it was a real story.

"We had been wandering the streets trying to come up with an answer and then we gave up. And that's when we met you."

Matt finished catching you up and you slapped your face.

'This has to be a dream or a practical joke. There is no way this is really happening!'.

You looked at the dogs as they waited for you to regain your composure. You stood, wrapped in the blanket. You didn't say a word, just walked over to the window of your apartment, opened it...and screamed until your lungs hurt. You let out a breath and turned to the dogs.

"Now that i got that out of my system... i have questions."

"Hopefully we have answers." Matt responded.

You slumped into the recliner.

"So....you guys have been able to understand me this WHOLE time?"

"Yes."

"Yep."

"Unfortunately." Kylo huffed out.

You were glad you hadn't said anything you would regret.

"And you have no idea how you could've been turned into dogs?"

"No idea. Not even a guess as to what happened."

You sat there and thought for a moment, just remembering the strange phone call you received lastnight. You sat up and snapped your fingers.

"You guys are the brothers!?!?"

The three looked at you, obviously confused.

"Lastnight, when i got that phone call. There was a lady who said that three brothers needed my help. They were beasts in mind and in appearance. But i dont know how im supposed to help you. Ugh this is so confusing!"

The phone rang. The sudden noise made you and the dogs jump. You hesitated but answered.

"(Y/n), you got your wish. I hope understanding the brothers will help you to UNDERSTAND the brothers."

Then the call ended. Another vague phone call. You had no idea what to do, how to ask for help. You were on your own.

"Well?" Asked Ben. You looked at him and shook your head.

"I....I dont know. She said that now that i can understand you....i need to understand you.."

"What the hell does that even mean?!"

You looked at Kylo blankly. He was right. What the hell does that mean? You're stuck with three dogs that used to be 3 human brothers, and you had no idea why or how they turned into dogs and you had now idea how to help them. You felt so lost.

"I need time to think. I just...i have so much to process." You got up and walked to your room, leaving the boys outside your door.

"I feel so bad. Like we're asking too much from a girl we just met."

Matt sank to the floor and started to whine. Ben put his paw on Matt's back.

"No, i think we met her for a reason. She said the lady on the phone told her that she needed to help up. I think is some kind of fate or destiny."

"Well, i think this is bullshit."

Matt and Ben looked at Kylo. He was glaring at the door to your bedroom.

"If she isn't going to help us, then we're wasting our time here." He turned and went to the window, which you had left open. He looked back to his brothers.

"Im going to go find out how to change back. You can either join me or wait here for panic attack Patty."

Matt and Ben didn't budge. Kylo scoffed and took the fire exit down.

You finally emerged from your room, eyes red and puffy and you had changed clothes. You hugged the 2 dogs who had waited patiently by your door.

"I promise i will do everything i can to help you. I have no idea where to start but i won't stop until you're human again."

"Thank you, (Y/n)."

Ben nuzzled you and licked your cheek a little to make you smile. You chuckled a bit and then looked around the room.

"Where's Kylo?"

"Ummmm, yeah. About that...." Matt weasled out.

You ran down the street as fast as you could, bumping into people and trying to hurdle any obstacles.

"KYLO! KYLO!"

You panted and slowly went from running to jogging until your legs completely gave out and you fell to your knees. You were completely out of breath and exhausted. You felt lightheaded and sore, like your body was on fire while you laid on a bed of rocks.

"The middle of the street is a terrible place to be sitting."

You looked up at the sound of the familiar voice. It was Kylo. You were so relieve he was safe, you hugged him tightly and kissed his snout.

"Come on, let's get back and try to figure this mess out."

Kylo grumbled an agreement and you walked home. You and the dogs sat in a circle on the floor with a notebook in hand. You had written some information on it to help you get ideas.

• Ben, Kylo, and Matt - people turned into dogs

• Had a huge argument at family event and woke up next day as dogs, no idea how

• Ben oldest, Kylo middle, Matt youngest, triplets

• Sons of Han and Leia

You tapped your pencil on you chin.

"Hmm...what was the argument about?"

You heard growling and looked to see Ben and Kylo glaring at each other. Matt shook his head.

"I was hoping they'd forgotten."

"How could i forget Ben purposely ruing my painting for mom!?"

"I was doing her a favor."

The 2 brothers began to brawl and Matt let out an irritated sigh.

"Here we go again..."

[morphedphaseblog]

The starless sea by Erin Morgenstern

Goodreads version

The introduction

This is just to warn everyone that I'm not a literature student, an English major nor a native English speaker, so I'm sorry in advance if this is a jumbled mess. I tend to ramble a lot but I've really tried to keep this as short as possible. (Short meaning a little bit over two thousand words for one review, I've never written a review this long.) I wrote this for self indulgence and for my lovely book club @readerbookclub

The first impression

This book pleasantly surprised me, it was like a very long dream that you don't want to wake up from. The moment I finished it I wished that I hadn't because I couldn't part from it just yet. It would feel almost like cheating, I wanted the intertwined stories to continue and for me to remain in its trance, lost in the beautiful writing and bizarre world.

I will be the first to admit that when someone says the story is written almost poem-like, in prose, and similar, I will immediately think of meaningless quotes that are there just to look pretty. Characters saying things just to sound deep, frilly writing that leads nowhere, and dragged on descriptions that had no place being that long and boring. Those are the first things I think of when I'm confronted with someone explaining those kinds of books to me, and that's completely my fault. This book was none of that, it was captivating from the first page to the last.

"There is a pirate in the basement. (The pirate is a metaphor but also still a person.) "

I can tell you, when I first read this, on the first goddamn page, I was hooked. This book has a strong bizzare sort of setting, one that almost reminds me of Neil Gaiman, distinctively Neverwhere with its underground society and twisted perceptions of reality, and yet this book stands out on its own as an individual. It's definitely a unique book, one that I'm still hesitant to part from.

The writing

This book has a very unique writing style, one that is extremely consistent throughout the book. There's nothing I hate more than an inconsistent writing style that changes without a reason. The author plays around with words and describes things simply yet poetically. There were only maybe two instances where I thought the writing was a bit pretentious, but ultimately the good outweighs the bad.

I don't know what exactly it is, but I will try and explain through the next few quotes:

"The book is mis-shelved in the fiction section, even though the majority of it is true and the rest is true enough"

(This really gives you the sense of vague foreshadowing in the book, where even though the description tells you sweet sorrows is mostly true you don't realise how true it actually is. I never saw the fact that the characters in that book would be actual people that interact with our main characters. Plus the writing is really pretty)

"It's binding has been cracked a handful of times, once a professor even perused the first few pages and intended to come back to it but forgot about it instead."

(Is it just me but these small detailed descriptions really give you a sense of real world happenings and that the story is really set in the real world. You can imagine people passing their fingers over the spine of the book before glancing around and getting distracted with something else. The professor taking it into his hands and skimming it but ultimately forgetting all about it later, and finally Zachary reading the whole book from top to bottom.)

"His dark hair is grading at the temples, framing a face that would be called handsome if the word rugged or unconventionally were attached to it."

(Now I'm in love with this kind of mental visual, it's fun and it almost plays with your expectations. I just really like small things like these, they immediately make my reading extremely entertaining.)

"Someone in the corner is dressed as a highly recognizable author or, Zachary thinks as he gets a closer look, it might be that highly recognizable author."

(Again as before, this is the kind of writing I like. It plays with your imaginary visuals of what's happening and making them ten times more fun, especially when we confirm a bit later that that had indeed been that highly recognizable author.)

"He walks over bones he mistakes for dust and nothingness he mistakes for bones."

(Yet another example of those fun visuals, I didn't even realise how many of these I had marked until I had to go through them for this review. I just adore this writing style.)

I have so many more of these so here are just a few more to really make this review even longer:

"A portrait of a young man in a coat with a great many buttons but the buttons are all tiny clocks, from the collar to the cuffs, each reading different times."

"His face is so much more than hair and eye colour, she wonders why books do not describe the curves of noses or the length of the eyelashes. She studies the shape of his lips. Perhaps a face is too complicated to capture in words."

"There are dozens of giant statues. Some figures have animal heads and others have list their heads entirely. They are listed throughout the space in a way that looks so organic that Zachary would not be surprised if they moved, or perhaps they are moving, very, very slowly."

"The figure in the chair is carved from snow and ice. As her gown cascades down around the chair the ripples in the fabric become waves, and within waves there are ships and sailors and sea monsters and then the sea within her gown is lost in the drifting snow."

"Allegra watches him with studied interest from the other end of the table, the way one watches a tiger in a zoo or possibly the way the tiger watches the tourists."

"It sounds strange and empty now, in her head. Rhyme can hear the hum of the past stories though they are low and quiet, the stories always calm once they have been written down whether they are past stories or present stories or future stories.

It is the absence of the high-pitched stories of the future that is the most strange. There is the thrum of what will pass in the next few minutes buzzing in her ears- so faint compared to the tales layered upon tales that she once heard- and then nothing. Then this place will have no more tales to tell." .

(Probably one of my favourites, it really highlights everything I like about this style of writing.)

Another kind of writing style I noticed in the book was an abundance of making things literally feel alive, giving human emotions to objects, personification. I don't come across this too often in other books, and when it happens it isn't repeated as often in that same book,since it tends to get old, but as we have already learned Erin Morgenstern never makes this boring. She plays around with this and never seems to stop, adding another layer to her writing cake. I love how she gives these characteristics to even the smallest of crevices hidden in shadows, something just people wouldn't even think of.

"He takes his torch and explores the shadows, away from the doors and the tent, among jagged crystals and forgotten architecture. He carries the light into places long unfamiliar with illumination that accept it like a half-remembered dream."

"Outside the inn the wind howls, confused by this turn of events. (The wind does not like to be confused. Confusion ruins it's sense of direction and direction is everything to the wind.)"

"The wind howls after him as he leaves in fear of what is to come, but a mortal cannot understand the wishes of the wind no matter how loud it cries and so these final warnings go unheeded."

"If the sword could sigh with relief as it is taken from its scabbard it would, for it has been lost and found so many times before and it knows this time will be the last."

One more thing that caught my eye in the writing was also the composition, where we technically start with in medias Res. We find out by the end of the book that everything that has happened was one big ass story wrapped in stories and overlapped with other stories. So Zachary literally comes in not even in the middle of the story, but at the very end that has been overdue for quite some time. This makes for a very interesting storyline as all the other storylines intertwine into eachother, it makes for an even more interesting read as our MC comes in only when the plot is at its end, tipping over the very edge.

(I also got the feeling that the entire book is almost told through the perspective of the story, if that makes any sense whatsoever. It's almost like the story, that is bound together like the most complicated twister game, is alive and is smiling over our characters smugly waiting for everything to run its course. Like an omnipresent god, that's at least the vibe I got reading the book. )

The world building

Now in my opinion the world building goes hand in hand with the writing in this book. Every detail I mentioned before builds the atmosphere and the base of all the world building in this book. The way the plot is written is written also contributes to the world building, as all the stories overlap and meet at the very end. The looping plot line is actually my number one favourite thing in the entire book.

There isn't that much to say except 'what the hell is going on?' in the best way possible, to the world building, because as confusing as it can be it's amazing to read and I think that it's one of my favourite aspects of the book.

The Characters

Now is time for the weakest part of the book, its characters, who even though I think are amazing, are definitely flatter than everything else in the book.

In my opinion most characters personalities I just can't pinpoint, and even though this personally doesn't take away from my enjoyment too much, I know a lot of people love well defined character personalities.

For some characters I can understand the constant change in character, like Mirabel, whose multiple lifetimes make it so it makes sense why her personalities overlap and make little sense. She constantly felt a bit inconsistent to me, but again I personally didn't think it ruined the book.

The most well developed personalities I could feel were Kat and the keeper, and at times Dorian. Zachary is a weird gray area for me, because even though I loved his character, I can't really tell who he is besides the son of the fortuneteller. I think that most of the character building was sacrificed to make the plot and the world feel alive. As I said before, it feels like the omnipresent god and the world is more developed than any of the characters personalities.

I usually love marking all 'character moments' where I feel like I can understand what kind of person the character is, their sense of humour, friendship, socializing, thinking and so on. But I found myself marking basically nothing of that kind in this book, just the beautiful descriptions of the world. The story was just more alive than the characters in it.

I liked all the romances even though they all lacked some depth, but the fairytale style writing of the romance definitely made them extremely enjoyable. If it weren't for the fairytale vibe all the romance would have been just flat, and I  wouldn’t be invested at all.

The Conclusion

I wouldn't reccomend this book for everyone, as I think great many people wouldn't be fans of the writing, and so the lack of character depth wouldn't help either and there would be no good to outweigh the bad. I truly think this book is a perfect 4 starts but to me personally it is 5 stars. I am just such a big fan of the looping storyline, I still haven't gotten over that. To finish it all off here are a few extra quotes that I liked:

"No one takes responsibility. Everyone assumes someone else will do it, so no one does."

"It is critical to steep the tests in ignorance to result in uncorrupted responses."

"They all have similar elements, though. All stories do, no matter what form they take. Something was, and then something changed. Change is what a story is, after all."