#everything matches the socks; the jacket; the gloves and the hair

[nicoscheer]

Put the honey in the honeymoon 🫠

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Not the ‘come on you bastard’ around like 0:58 🤣🤣😭

X

[autisticclownfromhell]

A New Look?

Alternative title: What I would give genshin guys to wear

Basically Reverse isekai but now you gotta make normal outfits for the characters so they don't stick out like a sore thumb. It can also be read as modern AU outfits if you prefer

Characters in order:

Heizou, Xiao, Albedo, Zhongli, Wanderer, Kaeya, Venti, Ayato, Diluc, Kazuha

Honestly heizou would be an easy pick. Old fashioned British detective style. Sherlock Holmes, trench coats, shades of brown, all that jazz. Also, give him access to true crime podcasts, he'll never be bored again. 

I'd give xiao the ol' hot topic skater fit. Black, band tees, lots of rings and jewelry, fake pieces, ripped jeans, yeaa. It matches his personality too. Not with fashion but if you do get band t shirts tell him alot about said band just incase one of those "name five members or your not a true fan" people talk to him. 

Albedo gets the light academia scholar outfits. Kinda chill, collared shirts, lighter colors, shades of brown and blue. Some gold every once in a while. Loose fitting stuff. Flowy sleeves. Lots of rings. Maybe one or two gold necklaces that he wears every once in a while. The type of outfits you see those aesthetic college student wearing. Maybe a bit of cottagecore. Lots of white shirts. 

Zhongli would look like that one professor that everybody has a crush on tbh. Not as formal as what he wears in game but still, collared shirts, suits once in a while, always wears a tie, owns one dark brown trench coat that he wears everywhere at all costs. Lots of darker browns with gold accents here and there. Not a necklace kinda guy but wears a good amount of rings. Totally has reading glasses. Has alot of custom hair pins for some reason? Idk I just feel like he does. Has 100 pairs of dress shoes, and like one pair of black boots. Nothing else. Also If you give him his own closet it's so organized. Spotless, everything fits in the closet right, its honestly impressive. 

Wanderer would be alot like Xiao. Hot topic's no. 1 customer. He'd have more of a blue and purple color scheme than black though. Actually listens to all the bands he has shirts of. Big punk fan. Wears this one black beanie with a skull on it basically every day. His shoe game is good, like really good. Had alot of platform shoes so he can look taller. Lots of cropped shirts that looked ripped. No long sleeves, short sleeves and sleeveless tees. An absolute MASTER at makeup, specifically eyeliner. Lotsssss of turtlenecks. 

Ooohoho now Kaeya would be f u n to style. Has a more simple style. Those pinterest dudes?? Yeah, think of that. Plain colored shirts, turtlenecks alot, almost never sleeveless. Lots of long sleeves stuff.

Give him one of those black corsets that I always see, since he wears one on his original outfit. Wears necklaces, but doesnt layer them or anything. One simple necklace at a time. A TON of silver rings. Hes got those pinterest guy hands. Wears sheer black gloves. Has this one cropped blue jacket but it's more of a sweater and he always wears it when layering clothing. 

Hanging earrings are necessary for him. Has a belt with a snowflake design on it that he uses alot. Almost never wears sweaters. Wears blue, grey, and black almost religiously. 

Ahhh venti :) Think similar to albedos but more Victorian than college student vibes. Again, long sleeves, flowy, lotssss of ruffles, has a generous amount of green accents. Has this one emerald necklace that resembles a vision somewhat and he adores it. Never takes it off. Not a giant ring person, but has around a thousand hats. Paper boy hats in green, might own a bucket hat or two? Hes got the whole hat-universe. Always wear white socks that go just below his knees with EVERYTHING. Has multiple pairs and some are a bit more sheer than the others. Has a pair or two of white fingerless gloves to wear with long sleeves, and full, white and sheer gloves he wears when he isnt wearing long sleeves. White button ups are his life. Usually doesnt tuck said button ups in.   (Totally not a walking mitski reference) 

Ayato isnt THAT complex. And he's got similar style to Zhongli, but complety different color schemes. Wears suits often, and they follow a pattern. White shirt, black tie, light blue suit jacket. The icon of white pants, he basically never wears anything else. For smaller accessories they're usually dark blue or black in color. Not a ring person either, but wears one or two black rings occasionally. Has earrings but not dangly ones. Just black studs. Has alot of dark blue hair pins to keep his hair back. Theres no way his hair naturally just stays that way ok?? Every single boba place within 40 miles knows his name and face by memory. Wears the same looking black shoes all the time. 

Diluc is probably another trench coat kinda guy. Less suits, more trench coats for him. In the fancy looking suit and tie gang with Ayato and Zhongli. Usually wears black button ups instead of white ones, with a crimson red tie and a brown trench coat, or a white tie and a darker red coat. Totally not an accessories guy. No necklaces, earrings, and maybe just one single gold rings he wears once every century. Another black shoes only person. I feel like the coats he wear have some fur on them in places. Just a thought. Always carries around like 3 extra hair ties in his pocket just in case he need one. 

Kazuha is a comfy clothing icon. Not one for a thousand things on his outfits for aesthetic purposes, just wears what he likes and adds accessories if he feels like it.  And absolute king of the fall outfit aesthetic. Outfits usually consists of slightly baggy autumn colored shirts, always short sleeves. Sweatpants or just light colored/bleached cuffed jeans. (Yes I said CUFFED) And occasionally has a darker colored orange and red knit sweater over him. Probably has one or two necklaces on at a time. Always wears this one necklace with a gold chain and a maple leaf charm on it. A gold colored accessories person. Most of the rings he has are gold. Has his ears pierced and usually wears black or gold studs. Sonetimes he wears dangly earrings but nothing to crazy. Ties his hair back a lot less. 

(I wrote this on the train lmao)

[hard-boiled-criminal]

A Witch Adrift

Chapter 6 - In Which You Get Guaranteed Free Healthcare

< Ch 5 | Ch 7 >

>Ch 1<

Masterlist

Ao3 Mirror

You were in much less pain than before, you noticed, as you followed the headmage up the stairs. Even though he couldn’t fully heal your burns, it seems that Dr. Amzy’s magic managed to heal all of your superficial wounds and bruises. All the soreness and fatigue your muscles had built up had disappeared, and you couldn’t be more grateful, especially now, seeing all the stairs you have to climb and hallways you’ll have to cross to reach the headmage’s office. 

It was in the hallway leading to what would be your third flight of stairs that you noticed Crowley kept glancing at you out of the corner of his eye. His footsteps stuttered for a second when his eyes met yours and quickly broke eye contact, focusing on what’s in front of him instead. You gave him a nervous look.

“Um, is something wrong?”

“What? Oh! Oh, no, of course not,” he assured you. “It’s only that I’ve noticed you’ve become much more…” he paused to think of the word he was looking for, “demure compared to yesterday. Is something the matter?”

Your face warmed with embarrassment. “Oh, I, uh, um… no, nothing’s wrong.” You started fiddling with your fingers, an old nervous habit you’ve had. “I am so sorry about yesterday; I’m not usually like that,” you took a deep breath. “It’s just that, with everything that had happened, and all so suddenly at that, I kinda just…” You quickly shrugged. “Broke.”

“Ah, I see,” he cleared his throat, feeling a bit awkward. “Well, I suppose I cannot fault you for your reaction to everything. Your apology is accepted.”

You smiled a bit; it seemed Crowley was starting to drop his walls a bit, if you could call it that. 

It was silent the rest of the way up, but it was comfortable. Crowley opened the door normally again; it seemed he either did not feel the need for dramatic entrances around you now, or he just didn’t want to accidentally damage the door to his office. He gestured you forward and followed in after you.

His office was large, spacious, and practically empty. The only furniture to be seen were seven floating picture frames, a desk with two candelabras, an ornate chair behind the desk, and four chairs in front of the desk, each of them different and none of their styles matching the aesthetic of the room. There were three adults standing in the center of the round room, all unfamiliar to you. Two of them were quite young, in their thirties at the latest, and the third looked to be in his sixties. 

“Allow me to introduce everyone to you,” Crowley gestured towards the three others with his arm. 

“This is Professor Mozus Trein, the head of the social studies department with a specialization in the history of magic.” He directed your gaze to the older man. He had sharp, angled features and had his gray hair slicked back. In his arms he held a tuxedo cat, more black than white, seemingly asleep.

“Next to him is Divus Crewel, the head Professor of our science curriculum.” Every part of this man was monochrome in color, including his hair, with the exception of blood red accents of his gloves, buttons, tie, socks, and the lining of his coat.

“And on the left we have Ashton Vargas, in charge of athletics.” Unlike the other two, this man was buff. You could see the outline of some of his muscles straining against his track jacket.

“They’ll be the witnesses for composing your contract.” Crowley then turned to you and spoke with a slightly quieter and sincere voice, “I hope having them here will help assuage your concerns.”

You nodded. “Yeah, thank you.”

“Now then, everyone, as you know, this is (y/n)-san, our, shall we say, foreign exchange student,” Crowley nudged you a step forward.

“…Hi…It’s nice to meet you,” you greeted the three of them quite shyly, now that there was no pain or panic to override your anxiety.

You got similar greetings back from them, Vargas’ much louder and more boisterous than the others.

Crowley clapped his hands once, “Let us write you that contract, shall we?”

You all headed over to the desk, Crowley taking the seat behind the desk while you and the professors sat in the chairs in front of it. 

After about an hour of discussion with Crowley and the three professors, who were helping to ensure that things were fair and you weren’t being taken advantage of, a basic draft was written up. You would have to take the professors at their word because there was no way you were going to be able to read Crowley’s messy writing, especially from upside-down. The gist of what was agreed upon was that the school would provide you with all needed living essentials, such as clothes, food, a safe shelter, medical care, and hygiene products until they were able to find a way to send you home. You would also be allowed access to the amenities of the school itself to help familiarize yourself with this new world and culture you’ve been thrown into. The final important point was that you would be permitted to work on campus so you could have an income you could actually spend on other amenities. You were essentially going to be treated as a full-ride scholarship student, but with some extra benefits.

“(Y/n)-san,” Mozus Trein addressed you as you stood up while Crowley put the contract draft away. “Please keep in mind that this is still a draft. In order for the contract to be finalized we will have to wait for a notary to come. Until that time comes, should anything come up, the contract can still be edited, so be at ease.”

You felt a lot of tension leave you after he told you that. You honestly hadn’t even considered that, too caught up in trying to assure you would have good living conditions. Knowing that if you suddenly remembered something you could just have it added to or removed from the contract was quite a relief.

“Thank you, Professor Trein.”

He nodded, petting his cat which lazily blinked up at you from its seat in his lap.

“Well, pup,” Crewel stood up from his seat, “It may take some time for a notary to come finalize this, but I will personally make sure to let you know once we have a confirmation.” He looked at you with a reassuring smile which turned into a scowl as he spoke under his breath, “It’s not like I can trust Dire to do so.”

You huffed out a small laugh at that. You had known Dire Crowley for less than a day, but even you could tell how true those words rung. “Thank you, too, Professor Crewel.”

“Don’t you worry!” Vargas, who you could now see was a little taller than you even when he was sitting down, said with a large smile to match his loud voice. “Just leave it to us!”

“Thank you as well, Professor Vargas.”

He laughed at that. “Naw, you don’t have to call me professor. Just call me Ashton or coach, whatever’s comfortable!”

“Oh, okay, um… coach?” You said, unsure of yourself.

He grinned brightly and nodded at you.

“Ah, (Y/n)-san, before I forget,” Crowley got your attention and pulled out a blank sheet of paper which he handed you along with a pen. “Could you please write down information about where you’re from? Mostly whatever important names of places you can remember. Seeing as I didn’t recognize the name of your planet, I believe perhaps the names and descriptions of other celestial bodies, including your ‘Earth’ may help in our investigation.”

You blinked at him, understandably surprised. Crowley seemed to actually be taking this seriously. You could briefly catch a glimpse of a person you would call ‘headmage’ instead of ‘ostentatious bird-man.’

You nodded and silently took the pen and paper from his hands. You didn’t bother to sit back down, opting to hunch over the desk to write instead. You wrote down what you could remember about your solar system, focusing on the characteristics of the planets you could see from space, like the dominant colors of blue and green of Earth or the rings of Saturn, and mentioned these were all part of the Milky Way Galaxy. You briefly mentioned Sirius as the brightest star in your night sky, but you didn’t know much else about it besides that. You handed the pen and paper back to Crowley, who began to silently read what you had written. Surprisingly, he didn’t say a word to you about anything you wrote.

“So, is there anything else we have to do?” You asked, looking at Crowley.

He stayed silent.

Crewel gave him a weird look before speaking up instead, “No, that should be everything for now. Do you remember the way back to your dorm?”

You didn’t give much thought to Crowley’s silence, maybe he was just waking up those critical thinking skills he must have had buried away for years. “Not exactly.”

“Alright, I’ll show you the way. We’ll have to pick up your things anyway, so we might as well do it now.”

“Pick up my things?” You questioned Crewel, your head slightly tilted.

“Of course! We can’t just leave you in that awful building,” he almost seemed to shiver at the thought of it. “Until it’s been repaired, you’ll be staying here in the main school building. There are a few personal rooms up here on the upper floors for when we have guest speakers or professors, so you’ll be living in one of those suites for now.”

“Th-thank you very much, Professor Crewel!”

He gently grinned at the way your face lit up at the prospect of not living in the hazard house.

“Come along now, I’ll show you around the building after you get settled in.”

You turned and followed Crewel out the door, missing the way Crowley’s face slowly changed to one of increasing disbelief and bewilderment.

Next Chapter >

[theadderproject]

Main Character Image Descriptions

In case anyone needs them

Teyka is 6’2” and muscular with light brown skin and three pink scars scratched down the left side of their face. Their left eye is cloudy, a faint blue-green compared to their vividly-colored right eye. Their hair is dark brown with a dyed-turqoise fringe at the front, styled in an undercut. They have a couple piercings on their ears as well as snack bites. Their right arm is a clunky metal prosthetic, mostly brass-colored with a couple parts either silver or rusty red. Usually, they wear a tight, black sleeveless shirt with a high neckline, loose cargo pants colored a dull green, and black steel-toed boots. Occasionally, they wear a worn, brown bomber jacket. 

Kiko is around 4’5” when human, young and lean, with mottled white and grey skin. They have bright yellow, slitted eyes and chin-length hair that’s black on the left and a goldish-yellow on the right. Their hands are clawed, teeth sharp and fanged, and they usually wear a dull pink shirt with holes in the shoulders, long plum-colored sweatpants, and a blood-red scarf tied around their neck. When they’re a cat, they’re calico with large patches of color that match the coloring of their human skin. They still wear the scarf.

Emis is 5’4” and chubby with dark brown skin and a soft, downy beard on their chin. They have deep, brown eyes, and thick black hair styled in dual braids falling over their shoulders and down past their collar bone. Usually, they wear a loose bluish-green shirt covered with a green, short-sleeved, plaid button down that’s left open at the front. Their pants are long and tan, cuffed at the bottom. 

X (pronounced /ʃe/ "shey" or /ʒe/ "jey") is 5’6” and lanky with dark black skin and three large, discolored scars on their left side abdomen. They have white eyes and black hair, styled in roughly shoulder-length locs that are tipped in white. Usually, they wear a cropped purple hoodie that exposes their stomach, worn black skinny jeans with holes in the knees, light purple fingerless gloves, and dark purple socks with their toes peaking out. They also wear a cloth mask with a pattern on it; there are four they have on rotation. The first is blue with five large eyes arranged on it. The second is dark red with rows of sharp teeth lining the top and bottom. The third is pastel pink with a smirking kitty mouth revealing two sharp fangs, white on their left, yellow on their right. The last is magenta picturing a monster/demon grinning open-mouthed with yellow eyes and its long pink tongue hanging out. X paints their nails to match the mask they’re wearing. 

Mouse is 5’8” and curvy with brown skin and, often, rouge-colored eyeshadow under a sharply winged eyeliner. They have black eyes and two piercings, one on their right brow and one in their septum. Usually, they wear a tan headscarf, styled simply; a long-sleeved, carmel-colored shirt; long, warm-grey pants that flare and drape at the bottom; and a thick, dark purple sash around their waist. When in virtual space, they often wear a dark brown peacoat over everything, left open at the front with a widely flared collar, and heeled, brown boots, giving them a few extra inches of height. When in real space, they wear gold-rimmed glasses and flat, brown slip-ons.

[whalemiraculousau]

OC: Robbin Goldenberg/Vitulina

Time for you all to meet Robbin Goldenberg, AKA Vitulina, wielder of the Seal Miraculous!

Description:

As Robbin: Robbin is very conventionally attractive; she has light blonde hair that goes to her mid-back, blue eyes, and is of average height with a curvy build. She has very striking naturally thick black eyelashes that give her a slightly innocent look; people tend to underestimate her, which she absolutely uses to her advantage. She’s a former gymnast and has taken up both rollerskating and parkour since, and as a result is far more athletic than she looks.

Robbin’s wardrobe, like her looks, sticks to pastels and ‘innocent’ motifs; she usually wears a lavender T-shirt with a picture of oil-painted cherubs on it over a matching baby blue mesh long-sleeved undershirt also printed with cherubs. She wears high-waisted denim shorts with pink-and-grey striped over-the-knee socks and baby blue high-top baseball boots. 

She likes a lot of chain jewellery, and wears a rose-gold chain necklace, a rose-gold chain belt, and rose-gold earrings shaped like padlocks. She’s Jewish, and one of her necklaces has a little Star of David on it. She also wears round rose-gold glasses because she’s near-sighted. Her Miraculous presents as a round rose-gold hoop-charm that she wears on a pink velvet choker.

As Vitulina: Vitulina’s colour-scheme sticks to blues, greys, and silvers. The Seal Miraculous turns silver and gains five sapphire stones in the shape of a seal balancing a beach ball on its nose, and her choker turns black. Her hair is worn in Dutch braids and gains light blue highlights.

She wears a sparkly blue jumpsuit with a grey hooded cape-jacket over it. The sleeves are elbow-length and split, draped to look like a seal’s flippers, and the cape also has a seal-flipper design. She wears grey finger-gloves, light blue knee-high boots with silver soles, and a light blue belt. Her mask is blue and very seal-like, with a round black seal-nose and silver whisker designs, and light blue eyelids. Her Miraculous corrects her vision too, so she doesn’t have to worry about her glasses falling off in a fight.

She fights with two light blue hand-held blades made to look like claws (think Wolverine or Cheshire); they are strapped to her thighs when not in use and look like they are simply part of her suit’s design, mimicking how a lot of people don’t realise that seals actually have very sharp claws on their flippers that they use to defend themselves from orcas. These can be used for hand-to-hand combat, but also can be used to help with climbing.

Personality:

Above everything else, Robbin is an adrenaline junkie. She lives for thrills. Her hobbies include gymnastics, parkour, rollerskating (retro four-wheeled skates, just to keep the day exciting), and painting the most stunning pictures in the most ridiculous-to-reach places - usually without permission. This makes her a bit of a wild ride to hang out with, but she’s one of those people who’s just impossible to dislike or be bored around. She’s a huge chatterbox, and could, frankly, make friends in an empty room.

She doesn’t suffer fools gladly, but likes to make her feelings known - Robbin simply doesn’t have time for BS. She thinks grudges, ‘the silent treatment’, and emotional chess are pointless - if she’s upset, she’ll tell you straight up. Her temper is explosive, but short-lived, and she makes a point to apologise to those who catch the brunt of it - but don’t think she’ll let you off the hook afterwards. You’d better be ready to apologise right back for whatever you did to make her lose her temper.

Robbin has the most wonderful smile and laugh that just makes you feel better about everything. She’s not the cuddle-and-comfort type; if you’re upset and turn to her for help, she’s most likely to take you out to do something fun together. Spontaneity is her middle name (well, actually it’s Sylvia, but shhhh). She sees beauty in everything - that old abandoned brick wall? It’s a perfect climbing frame and a blank canvas for paint and a monument to something that used to be but isn’t anymore all at once. She’s going to scale it, climb onto that roof, have a look around, then climb back down and paint a beautiful fairy forest on it.

Vitulina is one of the best heroes to team up with - she’s both friendly and capable, and always willing to lend a listening ear. “You need that thing up there to defeat the Akuma? Hold my claw-blades - wait, actually, I might need them for that tricky bit - hang on -” and instantly parkours up the building to get the thing you need. She’s great to work with; her only real problem is that sometimes she rushes headlong into danger without thinking it through and gets herself hurt. She does that a lot as a civilian too, funnily enough. The running joke is that the ER has a bed specially reserved for her.

Powers and Abilities:

As Robbin:

Robbin, as previously mentioned, is an accomplished gymnast, skilled at parkour, a fantastic rollerskater with an excellent inner ear, and pretty talented with a paintbrush. Her artwork tends to be mostly fantasy stuff - she loves painting places that feel like magic exists in them. Forests where fairies might live, a lake that looks like unicorns could canter along its banks, oceanscapes perfect for mermaids. She’s a good swimmer and diver, and loves somersaulting off the high dive at the pool. She’s also good at dancing - she’s not trained or anything, but Robbin could talk the most left-footed person in the world onto the dance floor and they would have just a great time dancing with her. She can even dance on her rollerskates!

As Vitulina:

Vitulina, like all the Miraculous holders, gains extra strength, durability, and flexibility while powered up. This allows her to be even more daring than usual; she can reach new heights, jump further, and doesn’t have to be as cautious.

Special Ability: “RIPPLE!”

The Seal Miraculous grants the power of Dedication. 'Ripple’ allows the wielder to track any quarry over massive distances, the same way a Harbour Seal can track a single fish for over one hundred kilometres. There could not be a more perfect power for Robbin Goldenberg to wield - she’s often called in to help fight stealthier Akumas, since she can track them all over the city. There is a limit to the power - the wielder must stay within 20 kilometres of their target to continue tracking them. ‘Ripple’ is summoned using the claw blades and appears as a ball of blue light that the wilder balances on their nose, before catching it and using the claw blades to throw it at the target - Vitulina is a great shot and rarely misses. Once the target has been hit, the wielder can sense their position relative to their own at all times - even if the timer runs out and they’re forced to detransform, Ripple remains accessible unless by some great misfortune the target manages to get more than 20 kilometres away in the time it takes Blorpp, the Seal Kwami, to recharge.

Seal Add-Ons:

Beyond the regular skill augments, the Seal Miraculous grants the holder extreme perceptiveness and agility. A Seal Wielder is by far the hardest Miraculous to sneak up on or surprise. Like all Ocean Miraculous Wielders, the holder may also find themselves craving fish and seafood more than usual.

Blorrp

Blorrp is the adorable Seal Kwami who inhabits Robbin’s choker pendant. Exceedingly lazy for a Kwami, Blorrp enjoys the pampered high life of cuddles, plenty of crab sticks, and sitting on Robbin’s head watching TV together. That said, Blorrp is a force to be reckoned with should his way of life be threatened - spoil his day (or that of his beloved Robbin), and prepare to lose your mind as the Seal Kwami tracking you constantly hovers just outwith your field of vision and does his best to make you lose your mind. All Robbin can say is, at least it doesn’t happen often, and at least this way he’s not barking at people and leaving her with very awkward explanations about her barking pocket plushie.

[graceverse]

31 Days of JonSa 2021

Ah! Here it is. And here is my first entry.

Day 1: Costumes

Her robes are muted in color: grey and silver, lined with white fur and dark threads, like black ink weaving in and out of the fabric. It matches her mood when she stands at the raised dais or sits on her throne. Shoulders thrown back, spine like a steel sword. The only two colors that stands out are her eyes (blue, like summer skies) and her autumn-colored hair. She used to have golden amber locks, like a flickering fire. Now it's the dark-red of weirdwood leaves.

But once her duties have ended, she would take off her crown – always carefully, always reverently, fingers brushing over the familiar ridges of the two direwolves, one holding up the other – she would shrug off her robes and she transforms into Sansa Stark, Lady of Winterfell.

She wears a less formal gown, made from sturdier material; a deep dark green velvet dress that hides mud stains at the hem. She would go around the castle, be amongst her people. Always ready with a comforting word; squeezing hands and arms in encouragement; asking if there was something she could do to help, to alleviate pain or discomfort, to make things better. And in this way, the people learned to love her, truly.

In the afternoon, she would change into her riding clothes: tanned leather, thick woolen jacket. She prefers darker colors during winter; in the spring she leans towards blues and lavenders; in summer, pastel shades, reminiscent of the dainty gowns she had worn back in King’s Landing. The time she had spent in the South has no hold over her, it is simply, just memories. In autumn though, she glows: yellows and oranges, like the fiery sunsets that washes over Winterfell.

At night, when everything has settled down and it is quiet and peaceful, like yesterday and the day before that, as it would be tomorrow and the next day and forever – as promised – she wears her hair in a simple plait; her night gown light and flimsy. Familiar to the touch. She is partial to lace and silk.

He asked her once if she didn’t get cold. She let out a hearty laugh that filled him with happiness and warmed him like nothing else, “But that is your job, husband, to keep me warm.”

Jon is never tired of watching her. All these costumes and how she wears them: elegantly, proudly. Always a reflection of her duties and her responsibilities.

He often wonders if Sansa ever realizes how each shedding of robe, dress, gown and crown, gloves and boots – all of that would lead to this: his nimble fingers untying knots, untangling her hair, rolling her socks down. He listens to her every sigh, the little moans she makes as he slowly, tenderly removes her clothes until she is bare. Naked and perfect and finally, he can warm her up and properly worship her.

His Queen. His wife. His Sansa.

[legendarywolf2022]

Chapter 1: Beyond Canada’s Gates

(This is where the story began in the city of Canada…)

⏰ 6th of July 2022, 04:55am ⏰

🌎 Heading to Toronto Pearson International Airport, Canada 🌎

Morning time was still night in Canada as the bus headed out into night so they could be at the airport. Inside the bus, there were 14 people including 2 young teenager girls who were best friends and they were heading to the new chapter in life with their three friends who were waiting for them at the airport so they could be someone in every story they read about; Dreaming of having those amazing adventures that were written in those magical books like…

1. Rooftoppers. By Katherine Rundell

2. The Wolf Wilder. By Katherine Rundell

3. The Wolf Princess. By Cathryn Constable

4. The Highland Falcon Thief. By M. G. Leonard & Sam Sedgman

5. Danger at Dead Man’s Pass. By M. G. Leonard & Sam Sedgman

6. The Last Firefox. By Lee Newbery

…While the two girls were finishing up their breakfast, one of them had doubts about running away from their hometown.

“This is a terrible idea mistake…” 12-year-old girl with fiery-red long hair that got two plaits behind her ears and a dark green bow with two matching hair-clip gems. Her eyes were green, even though it sparkles like emerald. She got pale skin with light brown freckles with deep red ear paint on her face under her eyes. She wore dark green skirt and fingerless gloves, rainbow friendship bracelet, white button-shirt, black leggings, white socks and brown boots with silver details, as well as a brown jacket with sliver details that got one golden badge with a picture of the sun and wore Aqua blue ribbon around her waist as a belt, deep red ribbon around her arm and golden leaf pendant necklace. Her name was Catalina ‘Cat’ Juliet McSchnitz.

“Don’t worry, everything will be fine.” 13-year-old girl with red short hair and her eyes were light brown. She wore silver glasses, a Aqua green barrette on the side of her hair and two Aqua blue barrettes on the left, silver star earrings, and a black choker with a small ruby heart-shaped gemstone. She wore a red cardigan with light and dark red lacy-like design with pink buttons and two badges (one was an Canada flag and one was a red panda), and even without the cardigan she wore a light pink polo shirt with two buttons on it. An violet skirt with pink leggings, light pink socks, and gray and pink sneakers, a red heart-shaped watch, and a rainbow friendship bracelet. Her name was Meilin ‘Mei’ Lee.

“But you know this is one-way ticket to never come back once we crossed the gates of Canada or Toronto or whatever it’s called. I don’t just know about this…” Catalina said to Meilin.

“Yeah, I know that.” Meilin said, nodded slowly. “But this is our chance! The plane only take us to 1 hour and 30 minutes, so we got plenty of time to take this opportunity to create a new story that we been planning for.”

“But everyone will notice that we’re gone for more weeks than days since we lied to them that we were going on a holiday school trip to Florida where your grandmother lives along with your four aunts.” Catalina said, while talking a bite into the breakfast burrito.

“What do you prefer, going to Los Angeles?” Meilin asked, taking her notebook and a pen so she could write down what Catalina needs to calm her worries.

“Maybe?” Catalina said, her eyes widened. “I mean, yeah. That would be our next adventure because it’s farther away from Canada/Toronto.”

“Then, we’ll stayed in New York City for 3 days and head to Los Angeles next.” Meilin wrote it down on her notebook.

“Thanks.” Catalina smiled, slowly relaxing as she gazed at the window where the stars twinkled and the moon still hold onto the night sky.

“Cat, we’ve been planning this for two weeks.” Meilin said, making Catalina looked at her. “We wanted to show everyone that we’re grown-up and responsible enough to travel than just being very intelligent all the time with maths and English at school. We wants to prove them that we can do this while it’s our new chapter in life.”

“Yeah,” Catalina said. “Doing homework’s with maths and English are one whole things that somehow easy for us, but travelling is a whole new level, Mei. Especially it’s someone’s birthday who she wanted to join us two as well as the other two who wanted to know other cities in America.”

Meilin looked at Catalina and sighed. “Yes, three girls are joining us to this adventures because they don’t want us to get into trouble already. Since America has been crazy this lately during…”

“Oh, please don’t.” Catalina said, holding her hands up as if she was surrendering something that she rather not want to discuss.

“Okay,” Meilin sighed and then looked at the window. After the silence passed, Meilin replied. “You do know what we’re going to do with her birthday we’re planning, right?” She smiled, and then she giggled once Catalina sigh in dramatic.

“We’ve got her presents, I think we’ve got decorations, but I don’t know about the cake though…” Catalina said while pulling out her phone to see the time; it was 05:15am, not long now.

Meilin’s mind suddenly got stuck on one thing only. Adventures were everyday’s life and birthdays only came around once a year. “Really?” She asked. “Who could never like cake?”

Catalina looked at her. “Now, I didn’t say she doesn’t like cake. It’s just we can’t bring food in the plane.”

“Okay, name one food better than cake if she doesn’t like them anymore.” Meilin said.

“Nachos,” Catalina replied, even though she thought about it. That was just something about their friend who just can’t help but to make sure that she had her healthy diet while having her favourite snack of all time, and Catalina knew her very well.

Meilin groaned as she dramatically collapsed back against her seat. “Come on, again with the nachos! Even though she had a great way to keep her healthy diet stays healthy, she can secretly blinds her parents to believe that she hates junk food.”

“Exactly,” Catalina sighed. “Her family are in the healthy zone because they rather have fruits and vegetables than meats, which is why they have vegetarian meat.”

“Vegetarian meat?” Meilin asked. That was kinda new to her to actually heard a meat made out of vegetable.

“Yup,” Catalina said.

“I don’t know,” Meilin said, drapping one arm up and over the back of her seat. “Nachos are just too flavouring for my taste when it’s too salty.”

“Which is why the company are making the nachos in different type of flavours; The original, the nacho cheese, the hot chilli ones, the guacamole ones, the barbecue, the light salted, and the lemon and lime.”

Meilin nodded slowly, then the thoughts came. “Sooo… Don’t you think they can do chocolate nachos? Because they would be tasty!”

Catalina rolled her eyes and smiled, “If they do the sweet nachos then the savoy nachos.”

Meilin looked excited about this new information, her red panda ears and tail appeared. She had red panda powers ever since she turned 13. She was freaked out and hated it at first until she realised that the red panda meant everything to her because it’s a part of her to show she’s more than a regular girl. “Can they do peanut butter nachos? Can they do cookie and cream nachos? Or can they even try to make one of our friend’s favourite treat, Biscoff? Oh, wait… Oreos! Or…”

Catalina giggled and leaned against her seat, waiting for her friend’s suggestion to sweet nachos. “Alright,” she said. “Alright, keep it coming. Go on, what’s next?” Just at the bus stop to the bus station. Catalina looked at the window and smiled. “We’re here! Now once we left this bus, our friendship will be living.” She then get her stuff to put it in her backpack.

Meilin laughed, then put her stuff in her backpack as well before having her red panda ears and tail to disappeared. She patted her seat, “Let’s bounce to the rhythm.” As they got out of the bus, Meilin took a great smell of summer breeze and sighed. “It smells like… like the new page is about to be written in gorgeous red. Before the green would come in the page.”

Catalina smiled. “Colour is a colour, we can use whatever we want.”

“True enough,” Meilin replied. “Black is off colour for the book in my opinion, but I don’t judge it.”

Both of the girls were walking towards the airport side by side as they crossed the road safely and few people watching them in surprise since they have never seen two young girls going on their own without their parents.

“Okay,” Meilin said once they were at the front doors of the airport. “Ready?” She asked Catalina who smiled.

“Let’s do this!”

🐺🐍🕷🦈🐟

As the girls entered the building, Catalina looked at the fourth wall; Oh, hello! You’re probably wondering what’s going on, am I correct? Yeah, of course you do. You might be like ‘Wow, two girls. Ready to take on the world.’ Well, it might be until later on, because we’re on the mission to show the families that life’s deserve to have an adventure without any guidance. When you just had one year left before you turned into a teenager, there’s only one rule in your family; Respect your parents when they’re willing to protect you from any harm in this world. They’re have a different ways of being human who would do anything to give you a life’s purpose, who would sacrificed to put a roof over your head when you’re thinking way ahead of you, and who would put perfect food on the plate that is healthy to keep you stay strong. The least you can do in return is everything they ask. Because I know, what the people would say ‘My dear child, please do be careful. You must give your family the proud deeds of your hard-working skills that would make them feel great, but if you take it too far… then you might forget to be proud of yourself in life.’ Luckily for us, we try not to let that happen. I’m Catalina McSchnitz. And ever since I turned 12, I’ve been doing my own thing all thanks to my four friends. Let’s say, I’ve been making a huge change for my life; I wear what I want, say what I want, and I’ll try my best to not hesitate to keep up with my… oh, right. You might not know about this, but I’ve got, uh, a wolf within me. I get that wolves are the villains in every story and I don’t want to be brag, but being a teenager with animal powers means we’re more grown-ups to keep it all under control. Nobody know about this except my four friends.’

“Wolves can be just like red pandas because both of them are well responsible to protect their kinds and knows where the dangers so they could do something about it.” Meilin said to the fourth wall. “And plus, she’s known as the Wolf Princess!”

“Yeah, I am. Everyone, meet Meilin Lee. A confident 13-year-old girl who doesn’t care about the others think about her because she believe that she was born to be a strong, fearless and independent girl and also she highly enjoys school because of her friends so she could be her true self while her home had changed since she was 11. Plus, she adore learning especially things like maths. She cares deeply about the environment because of her red panda powers that runs in the family for years since Sun Yee who was the ancestor that had been gifted by gods. Her intelligence with her powers got her to be a very fine ‘ruler’ with a free spirit within her and that we made her the Red Panda Princess’. She’s also my best friend!” Catalina said, hugging Meilin who smiled.

“Only because we have animal powers, girl.” Meilin chuckled.

“Yeah, she’s a sweetheart,” Catalina said while holding Meilin close to her. She then smiled at her friend and said it directly to her, “You’re a sweetheart.”

The two then spotted their three friends who were waiting for them; “Here’s the birthday girl!” Meilin said, before pointing at… “Miriam!”

Miriam Mendelsohn was Jewish-Canadian 14-year-old girl with light skin, curly and auburn hair tied in braids, and green eyes. She has green leaf earrings as well as silver braces, a green tuque. She wore a green cardigan with light and dark green leaf patterns with a black choker, with a light green stone in the middle with what seems to be a flower inside it, and white t-shirt that reads "Nature is a greater Mother Nature" in orange, along with light green pants and dark orange slip-on shoes that have a checkered pattern by the side. She has a rainbow friendship bracelet on the right arm, and a light and dark green slap bracelet on the left as well as three badges (one was a tiger in the jungle, one was a orange heart with LM in the middle, and one was the Element of Honestly from My Little Pony). She looked up at Meilin and Catalina before smiling at them, “Mei! Cat!” She ran towards them, and high-five Mei and hugged Catalina.

“Happy birthday, Miriam.” Catalina said, before talking to the fourth wall. “Miriam a fun loving and caring girl who looks out and supports us. She’s honest, loyal, a bit of a tomboy, and can make people laugh when they need it most.” She then pointed out that Miriam got a badge that got a orange apple. “She’s a fan of Applejack from My Little Pony since she’s just like her. But also she’s kind especially towards Mei, whose life has been turned upside down by her red panda powers. Miriam always lets Mei know she is loved, no matter what she looks like.”

“You got that right, girl.” Miriam hugged Catalina back.

The three walked towards the next girl; “Here comes our golden goth, Priya!” Meilin said, pointing at her who was reading a book.

Priya Mangal was an average height, Indian-Canadian 14-year-old teenage girl with brown fair skin, brown eyes, and curly dark brown hair. She wore navy blue glasses with mini gold hoop earrings and a gold nose piercing. Her clothing consists of a stripy yellow shirt with a small zipper on the top of it, baggy pants that feature pockets and grey sneakers that have navy blue lacings. She also wore a grayish-yellow watch on her right arm with one badge that was a black spider with white cobwebs, black nail polish and a rainbow friendship bracelet on the left. “Yo,” she replied before walking towards them, and high-five Meilin and Catalina.

“Priya is presented to be the most chill and mellow of us five girl while also being supportive of us and having our back. She interested in anything that's… complicated...” Catalina said nervously before Priya showed the fourth wall her book that she was reading. “Oh, right! She loves reading a vampire romance novel and once asks Mei if she's a werewolf after seeing her red panda form. She often makes vampire-like poses like crossing her arms when she's lying down and she also said that she always wanted a tail.”

“I’m a golden goth,” Priya replied with a smile.

Catalina smiled, there was one last person to pick up before heading to the counter which surprisedly was there. “Abby!” She replied, pointing at their last friend.

Abigail ‘Abby’ Park was a short and heavyset, Korean-Canadian 13-year-old teenage girl with fair skin, brown eyes with the bright sparkling purple eyeshadow, and long straight black hair that forms into a brown ombre. She wore a glittery purplish-pink headband, pink-heart earrings, a purplish-pink turtleneck sweater with purple overalls that feature different colored of dark pink and light pink flowers on it. She also wore white socks and auburn shoes, while she has a lavender watch on her right arm, two badges (one was a rainbow and one was a sparkling pink stars) and a rainbow friendship bracelet on her left. She was sitting down before looking at the girls who were walking towards her. With a big smile on her, she leapt up and ran towards them. “What’s up, girls?”

“She’s a fun loving, yet chaotic girl who is very supportive of us. She can also be quite aggressive, as shown when she confidently punches Mei when she requested for it. She can also be very angry at herself if she makes a mistake, like the date for the concert between Toronto and Toledo. However, she isn't the brightest in terms of intelligence, as she sometimes gives misinformation by remembering things wrongly, although she likes to help us. She loves to hug Mei whenever she is in red panda mode since she is very fluffy.” Catalina said, looking at Abby who was checking her money while looking at her phone. “Abby is constantly energized and can get mad more easily than Mei, which can sometimes distract her.”

Abby then looked at Catalina and replied, “This is the way I am and I love it!”

Catalina smiled and looked at the rest of her friends, she then thought about how lucky she had with them. “Yeah, they’re so much fun to hang out with. But I’m going to tell you; When you’re born with something that you thought you were good enough to be part of everyone’s life in this world, there are some parts that are missing and it’s up to you to find that part until you realise what means everything.”

“This is it, girls!” Meilin said, once they got their tickets for the plane that would take us to New York City.

“I am ready for this moment!” Miriam said, wrapping her arms around Priya and Abby.

“I was born to be ready for action in travelling.” Priya said.

“Let’s burn this airport to the ground!” Abby said so loud that everyone around them heated her before they went on their own business.

“Hope you guys enjoying this adventure,” Catalina said before putting her favourite sunglasses that was black with gold stars in front corner and small diamonds on the sides. “Because us girls… just wanna be bad.”

🐺🐍🕷🦈🐟

⭐️ RainbowMoonstone21 has brought a massive crossover tale to present you; ⭐️

🐺Sam Rockwell as Mr Wolf🐺

in The Bad Guys; The Black Diamond of the Legendary Wolf

Kevin Miller as Sly Cooper

🐺Ruby Jay as Catalina McSchnitz🐺

Rosalie Chiang as Meilin Lee

Marc Maron as Mr Snake

Awkwafina as Miss Tarantula

Craig Robinson as Mr Shark

Anthony Ramos as Mr Piranha

Bryan Cranston as Mr Hornet (original character of mine, kinda based on @aggimaginary)

Matt Olsen as Bentley

Chris Murphy as Murray

Marc Baylis as Drake Lupus (original character of ConnorDavidson)

Ben Price as Vick Dodge (original character of ConnorDavidson)

Sam Aston as Ned Grey (original character of ConnorDavidson)

Ava Morse as Miriam

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Priya

Hyein Park as Abby

Grey DeLisie as Carmelita Fox

Zazie Beetz as Diane Foxington / The Crimson Paw

Michelle Keegan as Sophie McDonald (original character of mine)

Lilly Singh as Tiffany Fluffit

Alex Borstein as Misty Luggins

Ginnifer Goodwill as Officer Susanna Barlow (original character of mine, which Disneyfriend adore her)

Ian McShane as Tai Lung

Idris Elba as Shere Khan

Richard Ayoade as Professor Marmalade

Dominic Power as Colonel Zahn (original character of ConnorDavidson)

And Kevin Blackton as Clockwork

(Based on Dreamwork and Disney’s fantastic tales that we all know and love)

(Song: I Wanna Be Bad by Willa Ford

And Mr Hornet is inspired by @aggimaginary)

[reikoackerman]

Happy Birthday, Rei

Characters: Levi x Rei (Me)

Genre: Modern!au

Warnings: Smut. Yes I've gone overboard and delusional. Soft birthday sex (I'm w e a k). Extremely extremely EXTREMELY self-indulgent and probably very cringy. Also this isn't following any specific time line. The four kids aren't here xD

Word count: 4.7k (yes I am that crazy, forgive me)

A/N: Yes you all it's my birthday so let me fantasise about having a soft session of making love with Levi okay????? Also @mrscommandersmith and @hashaneeee I only have you two to blame for making me write this extremely embarrassing and indulgent thing. Also, Levi's outfit is inspired by this amazing fanart <3

Also there's a few songs I listened on repeat while brewing this smut lmao so uhh; Versace on the Floor - Bruno Mars // Be Your Everything - Boys Like Girls // Baby Good Night - GD&TOP // I'll Make Love To You - Boyz II Men // A.D.T.O.Y.(하.니.뿐.) - 2PM // You're My - Taeyang // Lullaby - BEAST

Today was the third of March, and also my birthday. 

Levi booked a suite in a fancy five-star hotel for the occasion even though I told him not to. I wanted to scold him for splurging on unnecessary things, but Levi said he wanted to pamper me since it was my birthday. I relented and eventually, we packed our bags for a short staycation at the hotel. 

We had breakfast in the hotel and set off to our first destination. Levi brought me flower viewing at the botanic garden. It was springtime and the flowers were all in bloom. We took lots of amazing photos and also had people take photos for us. We also had our photos taken and developed by their souvenir stand, and Levi bought them at the counter. He bought a photo frame to place in our room, and another in the shape of a crystal ball for his desk. We had lunch at the nearby mall and caught a movie too. We also had dessert at the ice cream parlour where I wanted to have waffles and ice cream. I asked Levi where my birthday cake was and he kept saying ‘later’.

For my birthday dinner, Levi brought me out for steak. I wore a sapphire halter neck dress that accentuated my shoulders, bringing along a light grey scarf. I tied my hair into a low ponytail while he styled his fringe up. Levi wore a charcoal grey three-piece suit and he wore a black necktie too. Levi even wore a long black coat even though it wasn’t that cold outside. Who was he trying to look good for? I frowned. 

“Really, amour. Leather gloves?” I cocked my eyebrow as I finished applying my mascara. 

“It’s unsanitary outside,” Levi simply said as he styled his hair into a messy backcomb. As I put on my lipstick, Levi was already wearing his socks. “You should bring your leather jacket, you know. Then you can match me.” Levi told me as he slipped on his polished shoes. 

“Fine, fine.” I rolled my eyes and laughed as I went to find a jacket instead since Levi did say the restaurant was cold. When we reached the restaurant, Levi suddenly took out a stalk of red rose from nowhere and gave it to me. I bit my lip and smiled at Levi shyly, suddenly feeling weak in the knees. 

“Is that why you’re wearing that coat when you obviously don’t need it?” I chuckled as Levi pulled out the seat for me. Levi merely shrugged and told me to order my food. 

We had a splendid dinner, the view from the restaurant was astounding. We had a panoramic view of the city and the night lights were stunning. The food and ambience were fantastic too, Levi’s ribeye was cooked to perfection and my striploin was tender and fragrant. The wine that the sommelier picked for us complimented our meals as well. Tchaikovsky's Rêverie du soir in G minor played in the background by a live pianist. I caught Levi looking at me while I was having my food, and when he realised it, he winked at me instead. I felt my heart leap to my throat, feeling utterly surprised by Levi’s act.

My second surprise came in the form of a blackforest cake which was my absolute favourite. Levi then said he was saving the best for the last. Just as I thought the day couldn’t be more perfect, Levi brought me to the rooftop garden of the hotel to stargaze. From high up, the stars seemed so close and within our reach. The cloudless sky was littered with countless stars, and the absence of the moon made the stars sparkle brighter.

“So beautiful.” I muttered, unable to take my eyes off the scenic view. The more I look, the more stars I see. They seemed impossible to count. Levi was silent, his eyes were dazed. Hugging my waist, he looked at me with a smile on his face. 

“You’re more beautiful, mon cœur.” Levi softly said. I felt my heart throbbing and heat crept up my cheeks. It was a good thing the surrounding was dim because I know how bad of a blushing mess I have become.

“W-what?”

“Tch, you've been with me for so long. Can’t take a little praise?” Levi teased, placing his hand behind the small of my back. He guided me to the lift. Looks like we’re going back to our suite.

“N-no, it’s… unexpected.” The lift door opened and we stepped in, pressing the button for the 50th floor. Once we reached, we slowly walked back and Levi opened the door to our suite. 

“Then maybe I should praise you more.” Levi whispered into my ear and I felt my heart leap to my throat again. Why does he keep saying things like this? We removed our shoes and Levi handed over his coat to me and disappeared somewhere while I went to pour two glasses of water from the kettle. Returning back to our bedroom, I hung up his coat and my jacket, sat by the dressing table and removed my earrings. I wanted to unzip my dress but it got stuck with the hair on my nape. 

“Amour,” I called out. He was still nowhere in sight. Weird. He wasn’t in the bathroom either. “Amour? Levi?” I called his name again, walking to the bedroom door. 

“Happy birthday, Rei.” Levi appeared in front of me with a bouquet of sunflowers so huge it looked bigger than Levi himself. I was pleasantly stunned, unsure of how to react. They were my favourite flower. I gladly accepted the bouquet, looking up at Levi. He told me to stand by the window of the balcony so that he could take a photo of me with the bouquet. 

“How did you hide them? They’re so huge.” I had to hug the bouquet with both hands while I stood by the windows. Levi merely shrugged and told me to smile. 

“Come here, amour.” I urged him to come over and take some photos with me. It was hard capturing nice photos because the bouquet was too big and occupied most of the space in the photo. It was hilarious, seeing Levi and me looking so tiny next to the bouquet. Placing the bouquet down on a small sofa, Levi stood by the table looking like he had a lot to say. He took a remote control on the table and pressed some buttons. Just then, the curtains in the room closed, and the lights dimmed. 

“I-I didn’t know what to get you,” Levi stuttered, sticking one hand into his pocket and the other hand loosening his tie, “it feels like you already have everything and anything, and you’re lacking nothing in your life.” I closed the distance between us, staring deep into his steely grey eyes. 

“The reason why I have everything and anything is that I have you. You’re my everything, Levi, and I’m nothing without you.” I held his hand and gave him a smile. “You don’t have to get me anything, because you’re all I need.” It sounded cheesy, but it’s the truth. Levi completes me and he’s all that I can ever ask for. Levi took a step closer and now we’re standing almost face to face. Excitement bubbled deep inside me, anticipating what Levi would say and do next.

“Instead of giving you something tangible, I’ve decided to give you a memory instead,” Levi raised his hand and stroked my hair, using the same hand to softly cup my cheek, “a memory of us that you will never forget.” With that, Levi gently pulled me closer to give me a tender kiss on my lips. One hand remained on my cheek while Levi’s other hand wrapped around my waist to pull me closer to him. My hands snaked up Levi’s chest, interlocking behind his neck and pulling him even closer. Levi’s tongue prodded against my lip and I gladly welcomed him, our tongues dancing together in perfect harmony. The room was silent except for the sound of our wet kisses and heavy breathing. It was starting to get cold, but Levi felt so warm and too hot for comfort. Levi’s hand on my waist started going higher and higher up my back. He tugged on the elastic band on my hair, letting it cascade down my back. As he slowly pulled my zipper down, I removed Levi’s jacket, contemplating if I should drop it on the floor. 

“Leave it.” Levi muttered next to my ear. I dropped his jacket and started unbuttoning his vest to throw it on the floor as well.

“Why did you have to wear so many layers?” I complained as I removed Levi’s necktie, letting it join the pile of clothes on the floor. Levi pulled me in for another passionate kiss, prying my dress off my shoulders and letting it fall on the ground. 

“Hm, so that you can have fun undressing me.” Muttering against my lips, we briefly disconnected from our kiss to look at each other. 

Levi had red smudges on his lips from my lipstick, and his cheeks were flushed. We’ve only been kissing for what felt like five minutes but those kisses got me panting for breath. Stepping out of my dress, our eyes locked on each other as I unbuttoned Levi’s shirt slowly, tracing his muscles with my finger. Levi cupped my cheek and kissed me harder, moaning into the kiss as I locked my arms behind his neck and jumped on him, interlocking my ankles behind his back. Levi walked towards the mattress and put me down gently, throwing his shirt somewhere. 

“So beautiful,” Levi muttered as he trapped me with his body, his hands grabbing mine and keeping them above my head, “and all mine.” Leaning his forehead against mine, our lips met again in another urgent kiss. I rubbed my thighs together, squirming around to dissipate the wetness gathering around my core.

Levi broke the kiss and peppered kisses to my neck, nuzzling his head between my nape and shoulder. Pressing a kiss beneath my ear, I let out a soft moan as I tilted my head to give Levi more access. Levi released my hands and caressed my cheek while he nibbled on my neck and continued to kiss me slowly and sensually down my clothed chest. Levi bit and gently sucked on the skin above my left breast, leaving a hickey right where my heart would be. Crying out a small whine of delight, I squirmed again and my knee brushed against Levi’s crotch. 

“Arch your back for me, baby.” Levi coaxed as his hands reached to my back. I obediently listened and he swiftly removed my strapless bra, my bare chest in full glory. Kissing his way slowly down my chest, Levi took a hardened nipple in his mouth, teasing the little bud with his tongue. A mewl of pleasure escaped my lips as I gently stroked Levi’s hair, watching him have fun circling my nipple with his tongue. Levi rested his right cheek on my chest and looked up at me. He noticed I was watching him, and Levi stopped everything he was doing to smile at me instead. At that moment when our eyes connected, I felt heat creep up my cheeks again, a sudden wave of bashfulness causing me to bite my lower lip. Levi chucked and latched onto my nipple once more. 

“Ahh! Amour—” my breath got stuck in my throat as Levi sucked on my sensitive nipple, his tongue flicking and circling it non-stop. Levi took his time, using his tongue to slowly play with the nipple in his mouth while the other hand massaged my breast. His fingers gently pinched and tugged at the hardened bud while my fingers now threaded themselves in Levi’s soft ebony hair. Within seconds I became a whining mess, my wet pussy throbbing with want and need. Once he had his fun, Levi released my nipple with a soft ‘pop’ before slowly kissing his way to my other breast, each soft kiss eliciting a moan from my lips. Giving both breasts the attention they deserved, Levi continued to lick and suck on the perky nub, driving my senses up the wall and making me feel closer to my release. I covered my mouth to hide my gradually increasing voice. I didn’t want to ruin the mood with my nasty voice and weird pants. Levi however was thinking otherwise and pulled my hand away.

"Let me hear your voice, mon cœur, don’t hide it from me.” He chimed softly while looking at me. My face flushed red with embarrassment, Levi’s words igniting a burning want in me. I cupped his cheek and I meekly nodded. “I want to hear those beautiful moans coming from your pretty lips.” Levi kissed my palm before going back down on my breast again. 

As he finished lavishing on my chest, Levi kissed his way down my stomach, stopping on top of the waistband of my silk panties. Sitting on the carpeted floor, he eyed me as though he was asking for permission. I lifted my butt from the mattress and Levi swiftly pulled my panties down with his teeth without looking away from me. I swear he needs to stop doing this, for every moment he spends looking at me only makes me want and crave him even more. It left my mouth feeling dry and made my heart tremble. Levi placed both my legs on his shoulders and stroked my thigh, fingertips lightly tracing every mole and scar on my skin. 

Lying on the bed naked and strangely feeling very exposed, I clamped my thighs around Levi’s head as he bit on my inner thigh, feeling me squirm once more. I could feel how wet I was down south, and Levi could definitely see it too. I tried to close my legs out of embarrassment, yet Levi’s hold on my thighs kept them open. Levi sensually kissed my inner thighs from my knee all the way up, not forgetting to leave tiny purple hickeys along the way. As he kissed every inch of skin his lips could reach, I could only pant and moan and let Levi do whatever he wanted to me. I wanted to touch him too, to leave bite marks across his body, to him with my own hands. Yet, all Levi kept saying was that he will take care of me tonight.

“Mmm, I’ll make tonight the best night you can remember.” Levi smiled as he left a featherlight kiss on my clit. I let out a mewl of pleasure as Levi kept kissing my outer lips softly, taking his own sweet time to slowly lick my cunt from the bottom up. I couldn’t control myself any longer. I tried to sound demure to mask my moans. Yet with Levi’s touches and skillful tongue, there was no way I could hold it in. The coil in my belly started tightening and my toes started feeling ticklish. My chest heaved with every breath I took and my moans got louder as time passed. Levi knew how much I loved it when he went down on me like this, and he knew exactly what to do to push me over my limits. 

“That’s it, baby, I wanna hear you out loud.” Levi peeked at me while his lips were still on my cunt doing wonders. His skillful tongue was drawing circles on my clit while he interlocked his fingers with mine, his thumb stroking my knuckles. As Levi continued to suck on my clit, my fingers found their way back to Levi’s hair again. I gently scratched his scalp as he tickled my clit with his tongue, circling and playing with it using his hot muscle. Another dirty moan escaped my lips as Levi licked up and down my cunt once more. Levi hummed against my soaking entrance, pleased with what he felt was music to his ears. Levi’s hands were on my hips holding me down while his tongue began to circle my clit faster and faster. My moans became sloppier, my breathing became heavier. Likewise, the more incessant my moans were, the faster Levi licked and sucked on my cunt. I couldn’t take it any longer, the pleasure was too good to be true. 

“Amour, I-I’m… g-gonn—” the coil in my belly abruptly snapped and I clamped my thighs around Levi hard, my breathing haggard and eyes shut. Levi gave a satisfied groan as he rubbed his hands up and down my thigh and slowly went to cup my butt and lift my hip higher, drinking up all I had to offer. All that clouded my mind was how dizzy I felt, and how Levi made loud slurping noises as he lapped up my essence. As I slowly came down from my high, Levi lowered me back on the mattress and he climbed back up, his body hovering above mine again. We locked eyes and my hand went to cup his cheek. 

Levi’s hair was even messier than before, the remnants of him eating me out were evident on his mouth and chin as well. His face was red and sweaty and the dim lights in our room gently illuminated his features. His steely grey eyes which were usually cold and stoic looked at me with so much love and adoration. I stroked his nose bridge with my finger and swiped my thumb across his lips. I don’t know why I had a sudden urge to kiss him. I swiftly pulled Levi down and met him halfway, a moan escaping my mouth each time our tongues intertwined. All I could hear was the sound of our wet kisses, the loud beating of my heart, and the sound of Levi removing his belt. Pushing myself upwards, my hands went to Levi’s belt and I unbuckled it instead. 

“Let me.” I whispered as I removed his belt, unzipping his pants and pulling it off him. Levi removed them and kicked them off, clad in the boxers I bought him for his birthday. I opened my arms and pulled Levi back to the mattress. For some reason Levi started to tickle me before I could kiss him, his fingers kept attacking my waist and he nuzzled his head near my neck, letting out hot breaths on my skin. Levi tried to nibble my earlobe but I quickly pushed him away, rolling on the mattress to escape his clutches. 

“Stop it, amour! No!” I squealed as I jumped off the mattress, running around the bedroom. Levi was a lot faster than I was and he swiftly rugby tackled me on the mattress once more, trapping me beneath him and mercilessly tickling me all over. I laughed out loud, begging Levi to stop torturing me through my endless giggles. Levi seemed to be having fun because he decided to not only tickle my waist but also blow raspberries on my neck too. I was a laughing fit, unable to control my spasms and movements. While laughing, I accidentally kneed Levi loudly in the stomach and he collapsed on top of me with a loud grunt. 

“Levi!!! Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry amour, I-I didn’t do it on purpose—” I tried to push him up but his body was like a dead weight on me. “Amour…?” I tapped on his arm only for him to look up at me again with his chin in between my cleavage. “Are you okay?”

“You know, Rei, you have a really lovely smile and a beautiful laugh.” Levi scooted closer to me and his face was just inches away from mine. I was flabbergasted, why was Levi praising me out of nowhere again? Levi picked up a few strands of my hair and twirled it around his finger lazily, ignoring the confused look on my face. “You always try to hide your laughter because you told me you sound like a bird cawing but I beg to differ.” Levi pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead, the tip of my nose, and even under my jaw. That simple gesture made my lower lip quiver and my words got stuck in my throat as Levi sucked on the skin on my neck, whispering sweet nothings next to my ear while removing his boxers. 

“I love your eyes. They’re full of vigour and life, and I love staring into them,” Levi kissed my eyelids as he grabbed his shaft and tugged it up and down a few times. “I love your cheeks. They always turn into such a lovely shade of red whenever you’re embarrassed or flustered,” Levi stroked my cheek with his free hand while the other was busy prodding my entrance with his dick. I could feel tears welling up and threatening to spill the more Levi continued to praise me. Without breaking eye contact, Levi entered me slowly while pushing my knees to my chest. 

“But the biggest thing I love about you most is your heart, because of all the men in the world you could have chosen, you fell in love with me.” Levi captured my lips in another passionate kiss and I eagerly kissed him back, my hands cupping Levi’s cheeks as he continued to thrust into me at a slow, loving pace. Levi rolled his hip gracefully into me as I weaved my fingers through his hair again, feeling absolutely pampered and loved with his gentle movements. We continued kissing each other, Levi’s breath still had hints of the wine we had for dinner. Breaking the kiss to catch our breaths, I laced my hands behind Levi’s neck as he stared at me again. 

“Why do you keep looking at me tonight, amour?” I questioned him before I knew it. It’s not like I dislike it, but Levi has been staring at me a whole lot and I really wanted to know the reason why. Levi looked at me with a blank look before lowering his gaze, unable to control his laughter. 

“Why can’t I look at you? I’ll stare at you all day if you allow me to.” I can’t believe we’re actually having this conversation while Levi’s dick is still grinding into me, his rhythm comfortable and easy. I looked away pointedly, unable to hide my smile. No matter how long we’ve been together, Levi really never fails to surprise and fluster me. 

“Does that answer your question, you silly girl?” Levi playfully tapped my nose and kissed me once more. Levi’s pace on my cunt was slowly building up in me and fuelling my need. I reached my finger to my clit and circled it, moaning into our kiss. Levi broke the kiss and looked at me again. 

“Besides, I want to look at your beautiful face while we’re making love,” Levi pressed our foreheads together and cupped my cheeks, “let me look at your face while I stuff you full of my cum.” At that moment, Levi looked at me like I was the most precious thing in the world. His touches were so delicate and his movements were so graceful. Levi sucked on my nipple once more while I continued to finger myself, feeling my euphoria coming soon. I kept whining and panting, feeling nothing but pleasure and Levi’s dick softly thrusting in me. My toes started to curl, my body started to spasm. Levi sang praises next to my ear and there was only one thing on my mind: Love. 

From the day we met until now, Levi never stopped showing his love for me, be it a simple gesture like holding my hand while we were walking, or pampering me with hugs and kisses. Levi was never good at showing people his emotions. Yet with me, Levi always expressed his feelings whenever he could. Tears started forming in my eyes again when I think about how lucky I am to have someone like Levi in my life. 

“I love you, Levi.” I blurted out, sensing my orgasm approaching. I quickly blinked my tears away as Levi kissed my cheek. I didn’t want him to see me cry. My finger quickened its pace on my clit while Levi continued to thrust into me slowly, his dick brushing past my sweet spot. I bit my lip again, trying to muffle my moans. My other hand wrapped around Levi’s sturdy back, my fingernails leaving their mark all over his alabaster skin. Levi kissed me again and again, dragging his wet and swollen lips across my jaw. 

“Don’t hold back, baby. Let me hear you.” With that, I let out a loud cry and hugged Levi close to me, my hips involuntarily grinding Levi and my walls clenching tight around his dick. Levi continued to pant and grunt as he rolled his hips chasing after his own high. Moments later, Levi let out a gasp as he collapsed on me, panting loudly as I felt his dick throb inside me. I felt so warm inside out. We stayed like this for a while. No words exchanged, just Levi and I with our sweaty bodies and synchronised heartbeats. 

“I love you too, Rei,” Levi swept my fringe out of my eye and smiled at me, “more than you ever know.” I gazed at Levi lovingly while he cradled my body and held me up tightly, making sure not to let even a tiny drop of cum land on the sheets. Locking my ankles behind his back, I latched onto Levi like a koala bear hugging a tree. Levi walked us to the bathroom and set me down in the jacuzzi, filling it with water and switching it on. Levi lit a candle and told me he’ll be back after a while. I sank lower into the warm water as Levi wore a bathrobe and went out. 

I closed my eyes and was nearly dozing off when I heard Levi singing me a birthday song. When my eyes opened, Levi was holding on to another slice of black forest cake, two champagne flutes and a bottle of champagne. I quickly made a wish and blew out the candles. Levi threw the candle away and removed his bathrobe. Popping the bottle of champagne, Levi joined me in the jacuzzi as he filled both our flutes. Levi handed me one and offered me a toast. 

“Happy birthday, mon cœur,” our glasses clanged as we both took a sip, “I hope you like your present.” I beamed at Levi and cuddled close to him, laying down on his chest. 

“I love it, amour. Thank you. I’ll burn this memory into my brain and bring it to my grave.” Levi had an arm draped across my shoulder, fingers gently stroking my arm. Laying on Levi’s chest and listening to his strong heartbeat lulled me to sleep. 

“Hey, wake up. You still have your cake to eat.” Levi tapped me suddenly and I rubbed my eyes sleepily. 

“Can’t I have it for breakfast tomorrow?” I whined, snuggling closer to him. Levi chuckled and pushed me up again. 

“Your birthday cake is to be eaten on your birthday.” Levi took the plate and fed me a small slice of cake. I hummed in delight and urged Levi to have a few bites too. We finished the cake and our champagne, and it was time to get out of the jacuzzi to take a proper shower. We then brushed our teeth and took turns blow-drying each other’s hair. While I was doing my skincare routine, Levi went to wash the flutes and plates. Levi came back and fluffed the pillows, lying in bed while waiting for me. I joined him in bed when I was done, switching off all the lights and taking off my silk robe.

“What did you wish for?” Levi hugged me close, kissing my temple. I stuck out my tongue before realising that Levi probably can’t see what I was doing. 

“I'm not telling you, Levi. If I tell you what my wish was, then it won’t come true.”

“That’s a whole load of baloney.” Levi complained as he pulled the comforter higher. Pulling me close, my back was snug against his bare chest. Levi’s arms wrapped themselves around my waist while I interlock my fingers with his.

“Bonne nuit, mon cœur,” as Levi pressed a kiss to my shoulder. I hummed a soft “bonne nuit, mon amour” as we closed our eyes, letting the sleepiness take over. 

I wish that Levi and I will be happy together until forever ends. 

A/N: I am very sorry for the cringe and how disgusting this is omg. Thank you for reading till the end of this embarrassing writing >\\< just... let me enjoy my birthday fantasy lol kthxbye.

[extremelyblackandwhite]

handmaid - 11

PAIRING: mob!sebastian stan x ingenue!reader

WARNINGS: age gap, mentions of violence, gun mentioning

A/N: i watched endings, begginings again solely because of the scene we get a close up of seb making out with shailene and that scene will forever make me want him in unholy ways. hope you enjoy this chapter xxx

NEXT CHAPTER

    - What? - Y/N stared at him, not because she hadn’t heard what he had said but because her brain seemed to have stopped mid synapse. She wondered if this was the hopeless romantic in her mixed with the lack of sleep that were making her hear things. But no. That confirmation came to her through his actions as he stepped close enough to her she could feel his breathe on her cheekbone. His hand cradled her face, looking at her with the uttermost adoration, almost like a scene straight off Springtime by Pierre-Auguste Cot. 

   - I’m here, nothing and no one can harm you. I don’t think you understand the things I would do for you. - he traced her bottom lip with his calloused thumb causing her small hairs to raise up as a shiver rolled down her spine. 

   - I ... You shouldn’t. - she was too immobile to even try and step back, but in all honesty, even if her nerves weren’t stopping her from moving, she herself would’ve stopped herself from moving. It felt nice. - You make me very nervous, Mr. Stan.

She took a step forward, hearing the shift of the gravel as her sock covered feet moved so her toes touched the point of his shoes. She wasn’t entirely sure what to do but there was an overwhelming need to be close to him. As so, she stretched her arms to him, wrapping them around his neck and burying her head in his pyjama shirt. It was a very baggy shirt with the logo of Regis High School. She guessed it had probably been his during his high school years and the little holes and slight thin patches of fabric spread across the tee contributed to that guess of hers. Sebastian sighed at this motion, his hand coming to rest upon the small of her back while his lips pressed against the crown of her head, slightly inhaling the faint scent of her lavender shampoo.

They remained in that same position as the bird slowly awaked as the very first sun rays broke through the night sky, the sounds of nature making them both forget they had just escaped a crossfire. They continued in that embrace until his phone loudly rang from the backseat where he had thrown it before. 

With much regret, he broke the embrace, hand taking slightly longer to her waist as he grabbed his phone, angrily answering it. Y/N just stood there, hand hoovering over his like someone who really wanted to hold his hand but was too shy to do so. Of course she was to shy to do so, this was her friend’s future husband. The same future husband who she would have to kiss and some day give a child to and here she was fully considering the idea of entering some sort of Anna/Vronsky relationship minus the opium and suicide.

   - I’ll be there in a few. - his words as the phone beeped off took her off her thought pattern.

   - Is everything alright? - she questioned, worry laced into her sleepy sounding voice. It was 4 AM after all, Y/N guessed that all in all, she’d probably gotten about an hour or two of sleep. 

   - Yeah. - he sighed, rubbing the side of his neck out of tiredness. - We need to go. 

   - Where are we going? - what was she doing? she asked herself as she noticed she was already sat in the shotgun seat without getting an answer. Was she that enamoured that she would get in the car without any response? Maybe, yet he did let this particular sight of safety. 

  - Airport.

She watched as his eyes were kept on the brightening road. Y/N didn’t know exactly what to say, all she knew exactly was that he made her feel warm and nervous but not in the way that being next to a mob boss. You should fear contact with one not crave one. 

Things were rather silent until the crash of noise from the airport made her look at something rather than the side of his face, watching as various airplanes landed a bit closer than she’d ever seen them land. He just drove as if a plane couldn’t misdirect or mislead and hit them, he drove with that sort of confidence that made you want to throw your arms in the air in great Taylor Swift music video fashion. He drove with the confidence she wished she had. 

The car slowly yet surely came to halt and as she turned her face to the window she could see the airplane from a few days before. She guessed they were going home for safety and despite her love for Paris, right now she wanted to go somewhere familiar. 

   - Gwen’s already inside. - he put his hand on the glove compartment, picking the music box and handing it to her. - Make sure you don’t lose this one too.

   - Are you not coming? - she noticed his hand was still very much gripping the wheel of the car. 

   - After this, I think I have some matters that need resolving. 

   - Why won’t you come with us? Surely it is Mr. Williams’ job to look over the Paris affairs. 

   - He’s very useless, angel. If I leave him to do anything, I’ll have to fly back and fix it. Besides, I’m sending him to New York for a bit after his disastrous deal.

   - Oh ... - she cradled the music box closer to her chest. - Are you gonna be alright?

   - Are you worried about me, angel? - he smirked at her, immediately causing her cheeks to heat up. - I will be just fine, you need only worry about Gwen.

   - That’s not what I meant. - Y/N faintly smiled at him, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek which took Sebastian off guard. It was so sweet and so young that half the rage he had accumulated towards whoever shot at his hotel. She just stared at her lap, lightly tracing the golden details of the box. - I don’t exactly want to go to your funeral.

   - I think I’ll be fine, angel. 

He is a mob boss, he will be fine. One does not become notorious by being easy to wound or easy to kill. Nevertheless, so had been the man who raised her and Gwen and he had still gotten a pretty bad wound shot every once in a while. No one is invisible. Achilles had his heel and Odysseus, Perseus, Theseus all had a lot more and they were all heroes who were eventually defeated. Dynasties fall and Y/N had seen it plenty of times.

She opened the door of the car, her sock covered feet reminding her that she was about to walk into a private jet in her pyjamas and socks. Gwen surely had thrown her into some wild situations yet none seemed to quite match up to this one. 

Closing the door behind her, she walked to the stairs that led to the door of the plane, turning around to briefly wave at Sebastian before he took off. Maybe it was best they were separated for a bit, maybe it was just a little crush that would vanish with a bit of time. What she wasn’t expecting was to walk into Gwen having her neck peppered and sucked by one of the bodyguards, Christian. 

    - Morning, Y/N. - she pushed the man away, giving her an enthusiastic smile as Y/N sat in the leathered seat in front of her. - Where have you been? Elias said Sebastian took you during the crossfire.

    - Yeah, are you okay? Sebastian said you were, I’m really sorry I didn’t come to find you.

    -  You two are sure buddying up. - she opened one of the magazines that were on the stand as the plane prepared to take off. 

    -  Oh, it’s not that. - she bite her lip looking at her feet.

    - Of course it is. You better not tell him about any of the boys or Christian, the last thing I need is to have someone dead because my fiancée is jealous. 

    - I’ve told you I’ll never tell on you besides he’s not jealous, he’s just worried about you. 

   - Well ... - she smirked, lowering the magazine. - He does employ some very fine men, specially at the art of bedding.

   - See, this is why your dad didn’t want you to watch Sex and the City when you were younger. - Y/N laughed, remembering when a teenage Gwen would sneak in at night along with her to watch Sex and the City reruns on the TV which would constantly annoy Mr. Forrest. 

   - You can’t be such a prude, you must have someone on your radar. Seriously, has there never been a guy who made you want to take a cold shower just from looking at him?

   - Guys don’t tend to look at me Gwen, they look at you. 

   - Bullshit. I could just bet you have someone and you’re just not telling me. 

Y/N just laughed it off, leaning against her pillows and the sleep finally won her over, throwing her for a nice slumber. She was awoken by the faint sound of rain hitting glass and as she slowly opened her eyes, she came to see the airport of what she called home for now. 

Rather quickly and wearing one of the bodyguards jacket in order to not look like a public threat to society in her pyjamas and socks, both her and Gwen were hushed into the limo which drove them back to their penthouse. The building looked darker and the weather was even darker. She prepared to go inside the bed and sleep more, despite having slept for 9 hours on the plane from Paris to NY. 

   - You look terrible. - Y/N heard a familiar voice as the lift doors opened. A big smile stretched on her face as she saw Dan standing there. - Are you even wearing any shoes?

  - You’re here! - she jumped into his arms, wrapping hers around his neck before stepping away for a bit. - I wasn’t expecting you to be here this soon.

  - After the crossfire, I decided to spend some time with you and Gwen at least until Mr. Stan returns

  - Oh great. - Gwen rolled her eyes. - Another babysitter. 

  - It’s good to see you too, Gwen. - he turned his gaze back to Y/N. - You look unharmed. Survived your first crossfire

  - Yeah, it’s been a crazy few days. Enough about me, did you bring Sophie? 

  - No, she’s staying at her mum’s for a while but we can go and visit I’m sure she’ll love to see you. 

  - Just set the date. 

  - So ... - Daniel took a seat on the living room’s coach while Gwen returned to her room, Christian in her foot. Y/N guessed she would be better sat by Dan’s side than in her room where she would possibly hear sounds of things she didn’t really feel like hearing right now. - I heard from Gwen that Sebastian was the one who took you during the crossfire. 

  - Yeah, his room was closer to mine ... - it wasn’t, it was as further from hers as it was from Gwen’s but she didn’t exactly felt like telling Dan that she had kissed his sister’s fiancé. - He’s not as bad as you think, Dan. 

  - You always try and see the good in people, Y/N. It is remarkable but please be careful. Seriously, there are things in this whole world that you are not used to. 

  - I’m not exactly clueless, Dan. He hasn’t been rude to me, he’s treated me as well as he treats Gwen. Besides until he mistreats any of us, I refuse to have such a deep dislike for him. 

  - Y/N, c’mon. I know you don’t get to see it but his kill count? It’s high even when compared to my dad and grandfather’s count all together. You step out of the line, you get erased. 

  - That’s not true. Mr. Williams stepped out the line in France and he’s still not dead.

  - Mr. Williams? When have you even met Thompson Williams?

  - At Gwen’s engagement party. What I mean is, I’m safe here, Dan. I would love if you stopped treating me like I’m the most clueless thing ever.

  - But you are clueless, Y/N. We’ve sheltered you and Gwen for most of it, you don’t ...

  - Oh ... - Y/N interrupted, getting up. - Since I’m that clueless, I think our conversation is over.

  - Y/N, don’t take it personally. 

  - I’m going to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow, Daniel.

tag list: @lilya-petrichor @xoxohannahlee @irespostthingsiwanttoseelater @nikkipea @madisonpillstrom @cevans98 @thelostallycat @sideeffectsofyou @anxiousdreamersworld​ @sarge-barnes-sir​

[canary3d-obsessed]

Lost Tomb Lewks, Part 7

The Warehouse 11 Special

(Masterpost)

Warning: Spoilers for Season 1 of The Lost Tomb Reboot

Rather than intersperse an endless series of slightly-different Warehouse 11 outfits throughout the series, I’m going to cover them all in one long post. Wu Xie spends a LOT of time in various Warehouse 11 uniforms. but at least he doesn’t spend three episodes chained to a pillar; I’m looking at you, Shen Wei. 

Out of curiosity, I made a swatch of all of the colors used in these looks. It’s actually a pretty good range. They’re not very exciting colors, but the baseline blue-green color of most of the uniforms is flattering. 

Look 31 is the Transport Driver uniform.  This starts off being worn by future friend Li Jiale, who becomes a temporary enemy when Wu Xie tasers him into unconsciousness and steals his clothes and truck. Some people can’t take a joke. 

This uniform is a rich blue with maroon detailing on the chest pockets and a striped ribbon across the chest. It features a closely-fitted hat and a blue and white arm patch. 

The arm patch features a swirly design similar to traditional cloud, bat, and butterfly embroideries; perhaps it’s meant to represent one of the various bugs that will try to kill Wu Xie during his time in the caverns of Warehouse 11.

Look 32 belongs to Bai Haotian, aka Xiao Bai, who is such a delightful character she almost makes up for the other two major female characters in this thing.  Not only does she not suffer in order for a man to have feelings about her suffering, but when she is rescued from danger by the man she loves, it does not lead to making out or other intimate moments. So refreshing!

Her uniform is not particularly refreshing, but it is different from Wu Xie’s, and she looks cute in it. This look features fitted dark trousers (it’s hard to tell from the lighting if they are black, green, or blue), a jacket in Pantone 5473C with a collar and pocket flaps in 5477C. Sorry for busting out the Pantone refs but I can only type “green” so many times. 

Xiao Bai’s jacket has pleated box pockets over the boobs, which look fine on a person with small boobs. As long as they don’t try to actually put anything in the pockets.  The jacket is fitted through the shoulders with a reverse pleat in the center back. She wears it with a white shirt, suitable for writing on.

(More behind the cut!)

Xiao Bai accessorizes this look with pink underclothes that she hides as quickly as possible, while Wu Xie politely avoids looking quickly checks them out.  

Look 33 is Wu Xie’s Level 1 Uniform. It’s Pantone 5473C with pointed pocket flaps in 5477C and a white-and-5473C striped band across the chest and back. 

It features a close-fitted cap that matches the shirt, and dark cargo pants.

It’s got an inverted pleat in the back and military-style straps on the shoulders. Everything fastens with snaps with shiny black dome covers.

Like all Warehouse 11 indoor uniforms, this has a badge on the chest that’s somewhere between a yellow brass and a green bronze color, depending on how it catches the light. The drivers don’t seem to have these badges. 

I actually kind of like Wu Xie in a hat. 

Wu Xie wears this uniform with black lace-up work/hiking boots. I don’t know if these are part of everyone’s uniform or if it’s a BYOS kind of place. It’s mostly too dark to get a good look at anyone’s feet. 

Look 34 is Wu Xie’s Level 1 uniform with a black tee shirt and socks. 

This is a good look for kissing your own biceps and saying “welcome to the gun show, ladies!” lying down under the stars with a girl and talking about constellations, in a nice twist on a classic romance trope.  

I normally don’t project ideas about friendship onto strangers who work on or star in TV shows, but I really feel like this camera operator understands me. 

Wu Xie accessorizes this look with a water bottle with a picture of his boyfriend on it. 

Wu Xie: If you have one Wu baby and one Zhang baby that will provide a new generation for all three of our families. I promise you’ll like Xiao Ge. He’s...very talented.

This look goes well with having a beautiful face and a loving camera operator & director of photography. 

I could wish the lighting designer was less fond of green, but the plot demands it, alas.

Xiao Bai’s outfit also goes well with having a beautiful face. Her haircut does, too--it’s super cute and flattering. 

Look 35 is Wu Xie’s testing outfit for the first test. It’s his level one uniform, untucked, with dark glasses and fingerless gloves. 

And his tongue. 

OP did not speed up that gif on purpose; she captures everything at that speed, honest.

Look 36 is Wu Xie’s Level 8 Uniform. When they gave him this, did he think “oh, different uniforms for different levels, I wonder which level Xiao Bai’s uniform signifies? He did not. Neither did OP.  

This uniform features a jacket in the green/green color scheme, with two pleated boxy pockets at the waist and one on the right side of the chest. The collar is an open triangle lapel instead of the two-part suit collar featured on Xiao Bai’s jacket - his jacket is tailored more like a work shirt. It’s worn untucked and doesn’t have a waistband. The white-and-green striped ribbon that was over the chest on the level 1 uniform makes an appearance here as tiny tabs on the pocket flaps.  He wears a brown button-up shirt underneath.

I gotta say, the costume department really did a great job designing a whole range of uniforms that have repeating motifs, coloring, and detailing, while changing up how everything is put together.  

All the uniform variations take me back--WAY back--to when I was a girl scout in the 1970s. My troop mostly wore badge vests or sashes over normal clothes but we all liked to look at the glamorous uniforms in the catalogs.

Actually the girl on the floor looks really sharp. Which is probably why she’s keeping away from the nerds on the left. 

Look 37 is Wu Xie’s second test outfit. Yeah, we’re going out of order, to break up the sea of green with some smooth, glowing skin.

Zhu Yilong has nice arms, and whoever designed this sequence thinks so to. Particularly when considering the clothing item Wu Xie puts on over his undershirt.

This lil’ vest would be right at home at International Mister Leather Twill. What on earth is the purpose of a vest with pockets that you wear under an outer shirt with pockets? Other than to give you more time to show off your arms while dressing?

It features black panels on the upper chest and back; one flap pocket closure and one strap pocket closure, a...zipper? down the front? With black fabric on either side.

He wears it under his untucked level one shirt. There is no way anybody wears these vests under their shirts for normal wear - the pockets would keep anything over it from laying flat.

Look 38 is the Supervisor outfit worn by Jia Kezi.

It’s all one color--Pantone 5473C--and has rounded puffy pockets on the chest with rounded flaps, rather than the square ones featured on Xiao Bai’s uniform of the flat chest pockets of the level 1 uniform.

It has a covered placket and a high band collar, with the same close-fitted cap featured in the other uniforms.

He looks really good in this cap, which shows off his beautiful eyes and eyebrows better than his floppy hair, I think. He accessorizes this look with warm-toned skin, a cleft chin and sculpted cheekbones.

Look 39 is Wu Xie’s level 14 uniform, which shows that he’s a director now. 

 It looks exactly like Director Ding’s uniform. 

and, oh hey! It also looks exactly like Bai Haotian’s uniform. 

Her entire disguise was to change badges and remove her tie. 

Look 40 is the last Warehouse 11 uniform. It belongs to book author/screenwriter/producer Nan Pai San Shu, who gets to wear a brown vest and shirt instead of green & green, and whose badge says he’s Level 18. As befits the creator of this endlessly entertaining world and these delightful characters. 

More Lewks coming soon! Including several that are not green!

[mythgirlimagines]

Back with a brand new talentswap, you better keep your eyes peeled for the hybrid fashion consultant-fashion model-fashion critic, Myth Anon, the Former Ultimate Fashionista!

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BACKSTORY AND TALENT

Myth was born to two rather wealthy folks who both specialise in the fashion industry, with the father being a former male model turned seamster and the mother being a fashion designer and photographer. Even Myth’s sisters ended up getting careers in fashion, with her first eldest sister being an expert seamstress and her second eldest sister being a fashion designer. Considering her parentage, one would expect Myth to have quite the eye for fashion. Well, she does. But neither her parents nor her sisters knew just how impressive her skills at fashion-related matters are, ranging from modelling fashion, to fashion advice, to fashion trends, to even sewing, knitting and making fashion herself. Myth particularly specialises in the gyaru style. Eventually, Myth was accepting into Hope’s Peak under the umbrella title of “Ultimate Fashionista”, and her fashion skills are still going strong and even stronger, even as a young adult.

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RELATIONSHIPS

Wyre Anon, Former Ultimate Soldier

Considering their two completely different talents and their completely different personalities, you would be surprised to learn that they have been friends ever since they were little. Ever since Wyre was sent to fight in a massive war, Myth prayed that her best friend would be alright, and emotionally rejoiced when Wyre came back from the earth-shattering war in one piece. Myth regularly exercises with Wyre (How else do you think she keeps her slim figure?), and Myth helps make Wyre confident in their various body scars and muscular build. At some point in their friendship, Wyre was also employed as Myth’s bodyguard, in order to ward off weirdos who want to get handsy with the model.

Outfit: A sleeveless camo hoodie, over a black tanktop, dark grey shorts with a brown belt, green socks and brown boots, black painted nails and friendship bracelets on her arms.

Anon Scar, Ultimate Fanfiction Author

Famous for her angsty and grimdark, yet simultaneously wholesome fanfiction under the online psuedonym of “The Keeper of Tomes”, Scar always tries to act like the evil and dramatic characters of her fanfiction, but this facade breaks fairly easily to reveal her true personality: a kind and maternal young lady who regularly frets over the other conmates. Myth and Scar regularly confide in each other over fretting about their common-sense-deprived allies, even if Myth isn’t all that keen on Scar‘s shonen-protagonist-esque outfit. However, for once, Myth is willing to let this fashion faux-pas slide, considering that Scar’s cosplay game is surprisingly amazing.

Outfit: A grey headband with a black swirl in the center, a black overcoat over a red hoodie, black fingerless gloves, a red scabbard housing a plastic sword, multiple belts, black pants and black boots with silver soles, mask from the original design

Fusion Anon, Ultimate Baseball Player

As the ace of the Lions, his hometown‘s local high school baseball team, Fusion is renowned amongst sports fanatics for his pitching strength and his skill in catching the fastest of throws. Fusion is also known amongst his teammates for acting a lot like a father figure to them, and for that, Fusion gets along very well with Myth. But while Myth is all for Fusion’s bright and colorful baseball uniform, she hardly ever sees Fusion outside of that, and his outfit just reeks of sweat. That, and Myth wishes Fusion would just tame that wild rat’s nest that he calls a “fro”. Little does Myth know, Fusion’s outfit and positive attitude hides a rail-thin and heavily injured body.

Outfit: A red and blue long-sleeved baseball jersey and a matching visor, black fingerless gloves, blue jeans, white socks and black and white baseball shoes, glasses from his original design.

Fusion Anon II, Ultimate Gambler

Despite being underage, Fusion II is a name to be feared in the gambling circuit, and for good reasons. Starting out her career as a timid little street rat, she quickly grew more confident and smug the more money that she gained and her skills at gambling tables only grew even further. At this point, having Fusion II at the gambling table is an automatic way to lose all of your money. Because of Fusion II’s penchant for formal wear and their similar attitudes, Myth gets along with Fusion II very well, and the friendship is very easily reciprocated on the gambler’s side. Fusion II really looks up to Myth and appreciates her advice, despite what her regular snide comments would suggest.

Outfit: A green jacket with card suit-themed buttons over a white dress shirt and a red tie, pants that match her jacket and a roulette wheel-themed belt, white platform shoes, the sunglasses from her original design.

Just Anon, Ultimate Martial Artist

Despite his small height, adorable appearance, and his regular slacking off during times that are normally supposed to be spent sparring, any of Janon’s opponents can tell you that he is a true force to be reckoned with. Janon has a bit of a complex about being seen as cute and “baby”, which is part of the reason that he picked up martial arts in the first place, and adopted a vulgar and bitter attitude (that belies a massive protective streak to those that are younger than him). First of all, Myth thinks that if Janon wants to be intimidating he should drop the bunny hoodie to show off his hardened muscles. But Janon claims that his hoodie is comfortable and will pound anyone who tries to steal it.

Outfit: The bunny hoodie from his original design over a red and white martial arts robe and black flip-flops, hair tied out of his eyes in a small ponytail.

Sparkle Anon, Former Ultimate Swimmer

As the leading lady of an all-girls synchronized swimming performance troupe, known as the “Spectacular Sea Sprites”, Sparkle’s loud voice and her skill with dramatics, that is also backed up by her athletic skills to boot, makes her a perfect leader for the group, in spite of her “eccentricities”. Sparkle also idolizes Myth and her fashion statements, and was simply over the moon, when the swimmer first learned that she would be chaperoning the Kibo-Con trip alongside her hero in confidence and fashion. Needless to say, Myth was ultimately flattered at meeting another fan. The various displays of affection from the over-dramatic swimmer and Myth-brand fanatic are a bit too much though. 

Outfit: A sparkly blue one-piece, a sparkly transparent shawl and matching skirt, pink heels.

Egg Anon, Former Ultimate Affluent Progeny, and Wet Sock Anon, Former Ultimate Biker Gang Leader

As the heir to the throne of one of the most influential and largest corporations in the land, Egg knows everything there is to know about business and finances, despite what their general impulsive and cursed behavior would suggest. Wet Sock, on the other hand, ran out of and was disowned by their family years ago, and by their teen years, moved through the ranks, to become one of the greatest and most dangerous and vicious biker gang leaders in all of the land. Myth has no idea how such great fashion icons could also be so incredibly chaotic and cursed, and is only willing to put up with it, because the both of the twins look stunning and damn fine in both male and female outfits.

Egg’s Outfit: Combed-down hair, a silverish blue jacket over a bright orange button-up shirt, pants that match the jacket and brown loafers, glasses from the original design.

Wet Sock’s Outfit: Hair shaved completely on one side, a black leather jacket over the hoodie from their original design, torn jeans, and black boots.

Curious Anon, Jr. Ultimate Moral Compass

Oddly calm and level-headed for their age and with an unshakeable moral compass and a kindhearted and amiable attitude on top of that, Curious has been a part of their middle school’s public moral‘s committee ever, since they started attending middle school. Despite basically being a servant and waterperson to the other members, they ended up being far more popular and beloved compared to the other people of the middle school public morals committee, for their kind attitude is a refreshing change compared to the other cruel and tyrannical members. Myth finds Curious’s meticulous appearance nice, but she just can’t forgive the person who tried to dress code her clothes. 

Outfit: A pure white school uniform with a green armband and black thigh high boots.

Anon Nerd, Former Ultimate Programmer 

Nerd’s parents are the heads of one of the most prolific weapon-manufacturing companies in all of the world, and Nerd has been programming the technology in the weapons, ever since he was a preteen. He is worldly-renowned for being an absolute prodigy in the worlds of both high-tech weapon manufacturing and programming the fine details of the weapons, with the scouter he wears right now being a particular favorite of his. Myth has no idea how someone in a such a neatly-ironed and crisp suit could be such a vulgar jerk, who regularly harms her with his scouter and other technology on a daily basis. She’s lucky she has Wyre to fight back, because all the burns can’t be good for her skin or hair.

Outfit: A black suit with a green tie and assorted black machinery all over his body with a red scouter over his right eye.

Eldritch Anon, Ultimate Clairvoyant

One of the few supernatural talents in all of the Hope’s Peak’s roster, Eldritch was born with the supernatural ability to predict the future, which were usually negative and things that might as well start the apocalypse in his fanatical doomsayer eyes, which gave him a paranoid and pessimistic personality. Boasting a 1/3 accuracy rate on his fortunes, Eldritch is oddly confident in his abilities and always tries to warn others about events in the future that he claims will cause the apocalypse, usually to no avail. Myth thinks Eldritch has quite the odd fashion sense, and Eldritch isn’t willing to spill on why he dresses like a wizard. Eldritch also claims that people like Myth die first in horror movies.

Outfit: A tinfoil hat, long oversized green overcoat over a galaxy patterned sweater, yellow shorts and orange sandals.

Dream Anon, Ultimate Idol

Dream is the lead singer and main choreographer of the 9-girl pop idol group “JUMP*FLY”. She’s often regarded as the face of the group, due to her positive and cheery attitude on stage, backed up by her dancing and singing skills, and was the one elected by the other eight members to attend Hope’s Peak as the Ultimate Idol. Apart from Fusion II and Wyre, Myth gets along with Dream the most, for she reminds Myth of a younger her and she loves how she can just slay all of those sparkly and pretty dresses on stage. They regularly do dance exercises together, along with Fusion and Sparkle, and talk about their shared experiences as famous beauty icons, in spite of their age.

Outfit: Black and pink headphones, stars drawn on her cheeks, a pink and grey jacket over a black top with pink stripes with a white star in the center, a pink sparkly skirt over shorts that match her top, and boots that also match her top.

Iris Anon, Jr. Ultimate Novelist

In spite of being only a middle schooler, Iris is one of the most prolific and best-selling science fiction-romance hybrid novelists in recent memory, best known for such novels as “Star-Crossed Lovers”, a tale of two aliens trying to get to each other’s homeplanets, with the help of some eccentric side characters/wingaliens, and “Neptunes”, the tale of an astronaut finding their soulmate using a special alien song, which are both best remembered for their ultimately happy endings. Despite what many people think, Myth really enjoys reading romance novels, and novels by Iris are definitely no exception. Imagine Myth’s shock when it was revealed that one of Myth’s favorite novelist is several years her junior. 

Outfit: A black sweater, blue suspenders that hold up a matching skirt, blue and white striped stockings, purple boots, glasses and braids from her original design.

Purple Anon, Ultimate Detective

Purple comes from a long line of affluent and prolific detectives, and was naturally expected to follow in the family footsteps. She did follow the footsteps of the family lineage, and shocked and amazed her family, with her skill in solving crimes and cracking the toughest of cases. Just like every other family member before her, Purple was eventually accepted into Hope’s Peak and was christened the Ultimate Detective. Despite the gruesome cases that she cracks on a regular basis, Purple is often really timid and often hides behind large objects (and even Anons). Myth loves the demure detective‘s high-class threads, and wishes that Purple had the confidence to show it off more often.

Outfit: A dark grey overcoat over a white dress shirt and a purple tie with a lilac question mark on the front, a black skirt, grey stockings and black Mary Janes, the beret from her original design.

This series will center around a fashion icon scoping out only the most scorching of tea and fixing up the various fashion disasters in the Con!

——————————————————-

PERSONALITY

Fashionista!Myth is rather laid-back and cheerful, yet overly passionate about her one true passion: fashion, and is willing to ignore her haters and continue to do what she loves for a living. Fashionista!Myth has a shockingly kind heart underneath the judgmental and sassy exterior. It’s just that people with terrible fashion senses tend to aggravate her more judgmental side and causes her to make rather snide comments about their disaster fashion choices. People with better fashion senses tend to get more respect from her, and showing off her kind-hearted and hidden maternal side. Fashionista!Myth is particularly known on her blog for her wise and experienced fashion advice, but she’s also great at giving out life advice in general, which kind of gives her a reputation as a sort of “mom”, or at least a “wine aunt”. She also lives for drama (particularly of the romance kind), even if she has no idea what said drama actually is. 

——————————————————-

APPEARANCE

Fashionista!Myth wears her brown hair down with streaks of purple, pink, and blue, as well as a pink beret on top of her head. Fashionista!Myth wears a black off-the-shoulder sweater with fluffy white sleeves and  a small blue rose on the front over a red tank top, a red skirt with a black belt that matches her purse, and thigh-high black boots.

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I hope you like this talentswap! Consider this an exercise for me in drawing trendy clothes! Let me hear what you think of this AU!

[staticscreenwriting]

California Summer - B.H. Smut [two]

Synopsis: Kings Cove California is Billy Hargrove’s hometown. It’s also a popular summer vacation destination for rich couples and their spoiled kids. (Y/N) is one of those rich girls. Proper, sweet, innocent. Only that all bores her to death and Billy is just the adventure she’s been looking for. It’s all fun and games. A summer fling. Not strings attached. Right?

Inspired by the song “Young & Dumb” by Cigarettes After Sex.

Part 1

A/N: There is smut in this, babes. Please if that is not for you, don’t read it. Also do not interact if you’re under 18, that’s just not cool. Kay, thanks ♥

[additional note: I am German. Sometimes I get the tense wrong or make mistakes. I am useless when it comes to punctuation. Go easy on me, please.]

The air is hot and sweltering on Tuesday. A blue sky filled with thick grey clouds. There’s a sizzling in the air. A promise of rain. A promise of a storm. 

Billy steps out of his car and onto the white gravel driveway of the (Y/L/N)’s holiday estate. It’s a grand house. These people are rich and they want you to know it. Nothing is subtle or modest. It wants to be seen, to be stared at, to be wanted. This house demands your attention. Thinking about it, Billy thinks it’s fitting that (Y/N) lives here. She too, demands people’s attention. Undivided. 

He steps up to the door, his black polo shirt proudly displaying the “ Franklin and Company cleaning and maintenance service” logo in his right chest. Mr Franklin said company uniforms are a good way to increase the team spirit. Billy suspects it’s just another way for those rich assholes to further distance themselves from peasants like him. 

The doorbell chimes up in some melodic little tune. Even the god damn doorbell is over the top. A deep disdain settles inside Billy’s bones, takes residence in his heart. He wonders if those people truly know what suffering means. He wonders if financial stability and a luxurious lifestyle can soften the blow of a heartache. Wonder if he’d still be this bitter, if his heart would still feel this heavy, if he was the one living in a house like this.

When the door swings open, Billy is greeted by Mr. (Y/L/N) and his smile that’s just too big. There’s a certain size a smile should have and his smile exceeds that size. It’s unsettling. With his bright white teeth and the moustache, he looks like some kind of cheesy 60s Batman villain. 

“ Hi, Billy. Good to see you. So here’s the thing — “ he then starts to proceed a dramatic monologue about the broken filter system of their pool. Billy only half listens, his mind wandering through the halls of this mansion. He wonders if she’s home. Wonders what her room looks like. Wonders if she can still feel his lips on hers. Taste him. Feel him inside her.

As they walk through the main living room, Billy’s eyes fall onto a picture on the mantlepiece of their elaborate fireplace. (Y/N) smiles brightly back at him from the photograph, draped in a long white dress and long opera gloves. It almost looks like a wedding gown only she looks way too young in this picture and there’s no husband to be seen. She smiles so big, so radiant but there’s something in her eyes. The same riddle he’s tried to figure out that day he picked her up in the rain. A kind of sadness that is both so familiar, and so foreign to him. 

“ Joan and I are gonna be out all day but if you need anything, my daughter (Y/N) should be around. She’s a nice girl, I’m sure she’ll be pleased to lend you a hand. “ 

Billy has to stop himself from choking on his own spit. If only this man knew what his girl gets up to when dad’s not looking.

“ Alright, that’s fine. “ 

“ Good. Good. Now if you’ll excuse me. “ 

“ Sure, yeah. Have a good day.” 

Mr. (Y/L/N) walks back towards the entrance hall, this house has a goddamn entrance hall. A second later his wife steps up next to him, big floppy hat on her head, fancy-looking silk scarf around her neck. That one probably cost more than Billy pays in rent every month. 

The way the interact makes him feel uneasy. There’s no affection there, no kindness. It all is very stoic and structured and empty. He wonders if rich people are all this hollow, if it comes with the territory. If maybe there are certain expectations put on you when you’re loaded and to fulfil those you have to lose part of yourself in the process. 

“ Bunny, we’re off “ (Y/N)’s father yells up the stairs to be met with her voice calling down a disgruntled “okay” a few seconds later. 

Bunny. They call her bunny. This day is getting better and better. With a smirk on his face, Billy grabs his tools and drags himself out towards the pool into the hot California sun. 

The filter is fixed in a matter of minutes, then he cleans the pool, mows the lawn, scraps dirt out of the rain gutter. All while the hot sun is beating down on him, burning his skin and making him sweat. What he wouldn’t give for a bit of rain or a dip in the ocean. 

Just as he’s packing up his tools, a loud banging sound from the inside catches Billy’s attention, followed by a string of curses. There’s no doubt in his mind it’s her. Her voice still fresh on his mind as she whispers dirty words into his ears while he dreams.

Rounding the corner, he catches sight of her, sitting on the bottom step of the stairs, rubbing her knee and contorting her face in a display of pain.

“ Are you okay? “ 

“ Yeah, just tried taking two steps at once and uh — didn’t go so well, “ (Y/N) replies as she gets up and dusts herself off.

Whenever Billy thinks of her, his mind always wanders back to that first night he caught sight of her. Her flowy skirt, the flower in her hair, the too big denim jacket. Something about her then looked almost ethereal. Like she didn’t belong with anyone around her. Like she didn’t belong to this place. To this earth. 

Looking at her now, Billy almost can’t believe it’s the same person. She’s wearing cut off jeans shorts, socks with that frilly lace stuff stick out from her beat-up tennis shoes and the I ♥ New York shirt that’s draped over her body is at least two sizes too big and has no doubt seen a few years pass already.

“ Look at you, Mr. Polo shirt! “ 

“ Stop! “ 

“ It’s cute! “ 

“ It’s company policy.” 

“ Aw no, does it limit your freedom for self-expression? “

“ Why are you taking the piss? I saw the picture on the fireplace. Cute wedding dress. Prom? “ 

(Y/N) does that thing that’s neither a scoff nor a laugh and yet both at once. She walks up to the fireplace and takes the frame in her hands. There it is again, the sadness in her eyes. Even though she’s smirking there’s a fundamental sadness so deeply engrained in her beautiful eyes that Billy almost regrets having mentioned the photo.

“ Not prom, goof. My cotillion” 

“ Your what now? “ 

“ My debutante ball. It’s a formal presentation of young women to introduce them into society. “ 

“ Sounds like a cattle auction to me. “ 

This time she fully scoffs, no laughter or smirk anywhere in sight. “ You might have a point.” 

“ So what they like, offered you or — “ 

It’s such a strange concept, Billy isn’t even able to wrap his head around it. A formal presentation of young women already sounds wrong. Just thinking about her being paraded around leaves a sour taste on his tongue.

“ Kinda yeah. I mean it’s nothing sexual or anything but uh — well. There’s a bunch of girls in matching dresses who all get introduced individually. They put a real emphasis on who your parents are so people are immediately aware your family is loaded. Then the dad’s guide the girls across the stage and hand them over to the escort. Usually, an equally rich male around the same age who’d be a wonderful addition to the family. Then there’s this specific curtsy every debutante has to perform …” 

“ Are you fucking with me right now? “ 

“ Absolutely not. It’s a real big deal. They have a serious committee and everything.” 

“ Well you look miserable in that picture. “ 

“ Oh I was. I didn’t wanna do it in the first place and then my dad also told me that I couldn’t have my boyfriend at the time be my escort because apparently he wasn't good enough or his family wasn't prestigious enough. I really liked that boy too. I was so sad. “ 

“ Why’d you do it then? “ 

“ Well all my friends did it and then dad also pulled the mom card so — “ 

As those words fall from her lips, her eye glass over a little, as if she just started dreaming or let her mind wander someplace else. Billy always felt like it was weird, the way he observes people, the way he notices things. But when you grow up in a house that’s so loud and so angry, you start to notice the quiet things. It’s a survival instinct. Noticing the little things can save your life.

“ The mom card?” 

“ Yeah. Said my mom always wanted to see me as a debutante. Said I should do it to honor her memory. Even had her own cotillion dress shipped in from my grandparents place to use the fabric for mine. “ 

Dead mother. There it is. One little puzzle piece to slide into place. A step in the right direction in figuring out the riddle that’s her mind. Dead mother. It’s not a pain he knows but one he can imagine. His own mother was the best person he knew, an angel in his eyes. He loved her more than he ever loved another person. Then she left and ripped his heart straight from his chest. Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like losing your mother to death but he does know what it feels like having a mother one day and then not having one the next and feeling so terribly alone in the world.

“ So Joan’s not — “

“ She’s my mother too. Mom died when I was 6, dad and Joan married when I was 10. She’s been in my life not longer than my mother was. I love her so much but I also miss my actual mom. “ 

He doesn’t know what make the words fall from his mouth so easily, as if they don’t weight a million tons on his heart. But something tells him that he can be honest with her. Maybe it’s a certain comfort that two people can only find in shared pain. 

“ My mom fucked off when I was 9. Just up and left, to be with some guy she’d met at her job as a waitress. A fucking dentist of all people. Haven’t seen her since. “

“ Fuck, that sucks. “ 

“ Yeah it’s whatever.” Billy shrugs. It’s not whatever and they both know it but it’s one thing to tell her about his mother, it’s another to open up his entire chest and let her see all the cracks in his heart. That’s a vulnerability he’s not willing to show her. 

“ Well this is turning into a gloom-fest, huh. Do you wanna get outta here and do something? “

He really does. The heaviness on his heart feels suffocating. Like someone is squeezing his chest, breaking ribs in the process.

“ Sure. What’s your plan?” 

“ No plan. How about the beach? “

Billy smiles at her suggestion. “ Sounds good. “ 

“ Man, your car is clean. I didn’t even notice the first time. “ (Y/N) remarks as the drive along the sleepy town of Kings Cove. The windows are rolled down and a soft wind sweeps through them, making (Y/N) hair fly around her face. Her feet are kicked up on the dashboard and her red lips are pulled into a teasing smirk.

“ It’s my baby, I like it when she’s clean. “

“ She? “ 

“ Mmh.” 

“ Does she have a name? “

“ No. You wanna make a suggestion?” 

“ Hmmm how about — (Y/N) ?” 

“ That’s your name. “

“ It’s a good name !” 

“ Not naming my car after you.” Billy chuckles.

“ Okay. How about Lilly? “ 

Billy shrugs. Honestly, he has no interest in naming his car but if it makes her happy, he might as well entertain the thought. “Sure, fine with me.”

She’s quiet for a moment before she speaks up again. “ You wanna know what Lilly needs? “ 

“ No. “ 

“ Some decor. Some personality. Like some dice hanging from the mirror or — or a dashboard dancer. Like a hula girl. “ 

“ Absolutely not. “ 

(Y/N) gasps “ I know! A dancing Elvis. You know the ones! You need one of those. “ 

Billy has to wince at the thought of a cheap plastic figure vaguely resembling Elvis stuck to his front window so it can dance on the dashboard. 

“ Or I could not do that. I like my car the way it is. Thank you very much. “ 

(Y/N) just smiles and maybe that’s enough for right now. There are more secrets hidden in the corner of her lips, in the glint of her eyes, in the way the sun falls on her face. But those can stay there for right now. All that matter in that moment is the cheesy Don Henley song playing from the stereo and the red of her fingernails tapping along to the beat and the way life feels weightless then.

“ This is so beautiful. “ (Y/N)’s words are hardly louder than a whisper. Her voice is overtaken by a peaceful sense of awe and admiration. Her bare feet are buried into the still warm sand as the sky around them shines in hues of pinks and oranges. 

“ I can’t believe you get to see this every day of your life. You can just decide you want to watch the sunset over the ocean and do it. “ 

Billy shrugs as if it’s nothing when in reality he knows exactly how much this really means. Living in Hawkins, away from the ocean and his home and his heart, it made him realise how much he really loves this place. How his heart will forever be bound to the sea and the waves and the freedom it gives him. 

“ I guess it’s pretty cool. “ 

“ You guess? Billy this is — this is spectacular. Sitting here and just taking it all in makes me feel fearless and invincible and brave. Like the world is so big and vast and there’s so much still for me to discover and experience and I can actually do it. “ 

“ What’s stopping you ? You got all the money in the world. “ 

He wonders if she can hear the spark of resentment that his voice carries. Billy doesn’t put it there on purpose, it’s just something so deeply edged into his genetics it’s hard to get rid off. Life’s hard for everyone, he knows that. The logical part of his brain does. But being financially stable surely helps soften the blow.

“ Not if you ask my parents. They’re just waiting for me to find a suitable husband whos family is at least as rich as mine if not richer. Then settle down in a nice big house, pop out a few kids — be miserable forever. “ 

He doesn’t know what to say to that. There’s a certain familiarity in her words. Billy knows exactly what it feels like being stuck in a situation that makes you miserable and to feel like you will never get out of it. Even though both their situations couldn’t be more different, there’s a shared sense of captivity. 

“ I’m sorry, I’m being a huge whiny bitch about this. Poor rich girl with her rich girl problems. “

Though her words are meant to sound airy and light, they are all but that. There’s a heaviness to them. A sincerity. 

“ Don’t be stupid. This is your future. Your life. You get to bitch about it. If not about that then what about? “ 

Billy succeeds in making her crack a smile. A small success in the grand scheme of things, but a success nonetheless.

“ What would you wanna do? If your parents had no say in it ? “ 

Her sight settles on the setting sun, her chest heaves with big breaths. As if she’s trying to catch the moment in her lungs and keep it there forever.

 “ Last year I started studying photography in New York. My parents thought I was working an internship at a family friend’s firm. I wasn’t. When they found out they made me drop out and come back home. That’s why I wasn’t around last year. That’s what I wanna do. But my parents they are — my dad grew up during a time when art wasn’t a career that could really put food on the table. He’s a businessman, a hard worker. He sees numbers before anything else. And I don’t think he’s doing this to be mean or anything. It’s just what he knows. Dreams were not something he could chase and survive it. It was eat or dream. I think he wants to spare me that life. I just wish he would take the time to even as much as look at my pictures. They’re good. “ 

“ You should show me some. “ 

To be quite honest, it’s not about the pictures. Billy has never been a particularly artsy person nor does he care for photography. But this is important to her, this is where her heart is. No one has ever believe in him, he knows the empty feeling that comes with that realisation. If he can be the one person to show her that her dreams and her talent matter, then it’s worth it.

“ Yeah? “

“ Sure, why not? “ 

“ Alright, I will. Think I can mix in some naughty ones. “ 

Billy raises his eyebrow. “Oh really? “ 

“ Mmmh.” 

Her lips don’t taste like slurpee this time. They taste like summer heat and salt and warmth. A little like cigarette smoke and mint chewing gum.

Her fingers tangle in his locks, tugging deliciously as her tongue curls around his. It’s softer than the kisses in his kitchen, not fueled by lust but by a shared comfort in each other. 

“ What was that for? “ he asks as they pull away, far enough to talk to each other but close enough to breath in each other’s air. 

“ For listening. And for — caring.” 

Billy’s lips decent back on hers, then her cheek, her neck. Her skin feels soft and warm underneath him. He can feel her pulse quickening as he softly sucks at the delicate spot where her neck meets her shoulder.

“ You can’t leave hickeys!” 

“ Why not? “ he murmures against her.

“ Got this thing at the country club in a few days. My dress doesn’t have a turtleneck. Dad’s gonna kill me if he sees it. “

Of course her family frequents the country club the town over, it’s so fitting. Billy’s been there a few times, tending to their greenery and fixing stuff. It brings good money and he got to eat their for free which was nice. But looking at all the rich people in their fancy clothes drinking champagne by the pool was — strange. Johnny works there as a waiter part time and always has the most ridiculous but funny stories to tell.

“ Aw, daddy’s little girl not allowed to kiss boys? “ Billy mocks, not making any attempt at moving his lips away from her neck until she nudges him off and pushes him down onto the warm sand.

“ Oh I do more than just kiss them. “ (Y/N)’s voice is laced with lust and passion and sultriness.

Soft warm kisses wander down his neck, as her hands leave trails up and down his stomach underneath his shirt. In a swift motion she pushes the fabric up, to pepper gentle kisses on his chest, his stomach, down to the edge of his pants. 

Billy can feel the blood rushing through him, can feel the adrenaline flowing through his veins. A tingling sensation builds up. Is there anything better than a girl sucking you off with the sun setting over the ocean in the background? Not really, he’s fairly sure about that.

(Y/N) hands fumble with the zipper of his jeans before she pulls them down just enough for his dick to pop out. 

The way she looks up at him, eyes filled with a mixture of mischief and innocence. The way she bites her lip in anticipation — it kills him. This is his day of reckoning. This is the end and god does he love it.

Billy is fully aware of what's happening as she swirls her tongue around the head of his dick but his mind is swimming, his heart is pounding. Maybe it’s her or maybe it’s the moment, he doesn’t know. All he does know is that sometimes life can be real fucking sweet. Especially when your cock’s soft and warm in a pretty girl’s mouth.

She hollows her cheeks, goes fast then slow, moves her hand along her lips in a perfect rhythm of pure lust. It’s wet and warm and tight and perfect.

An alternating pattern of kitten licks and deep strokes drive him crazy. She swallows around him like the goddamn patron saint of sucking cock, takes him so deep he’s fairly sure they should grant her some award for it.

When he feels the tidal wave of passion crash onto him and pull him under, drown him in ecstasy, he buries his fingers into her hair, pulls her closer, moves his hip faster — fucks her mouth. And she moans, every once in a while looking up at him with those eyes — those damn beautiful eyes. And there’s a smirk playing on her lips, around his dick, every once in a while. She enjoys this too and that’s what sends him over the edge.

Billy cums just as the sun sets behind the horizon, that one moment when the world is pure gold. He doesn’t see that though, doesn’t realise. All he sees is her eyes and her smile and the way she wipes her lips and all the riddles he wants to solve that live in her heart and all the things he wants to explore with her.

“ You’re welcome.” she says and giggle as she crawls back up to lay beside him, propped up on her elbows, eyes set on the horizon.

“ Uh-huh. “ Billy’s mind is still hazy, words can hardly form least of all make sense.

“ I can’t believe you get this view every day. “ 

He’s not sure whether she’s talking to him or to herself, maybe a little of both. What he’s sure of though, is that his view is much nice right now. Her, free and wild and — beautiful, sitting and watching as the world turns pink and orange and gold for one last time before nightfall. 

It’s quiet for a moment as they catch their breath, as she takes it all in and Billy tries to shake off the fogginess in his brain. It’s quiet and peaceful and safe and comfortable. 

And then she speaks up again.

“ You should come to the country club thing. “ 

And his heart sinks because — absolutely fucking not. 

[seattlesea]

Lorien Legacies Characters + Styles of Dress

One- Surfer + Cute She always dresses like she’s about to go to the beach. She wears a lot of tank tops, shorts, sandals, flip-flops, wedges, Vans, ripped jeans, tie-dye t-shirts, flannel shirts, bikini tops, and cute tops and always accessories with sunglasses and a small crossbody bag. She also likes wearing silver jewelry and sun hats or baseball caps. Her outfits are always on-point and super cute. Her main colors are blue and white with tan and light orange accents. She also loves shorts with beach-type prints like waves and palm trees, thin jackets, and high-waisted shorts, and when it’s cold out she wears a jumper or knit sweater with a natural tone, and she’ll wear a button-up jean shirt from time-to-time. Her style is really laid-back and looks super nice even when she doesn’t really try as she doesn’t care too much about fashion but likes the style. Her favorite article of clothing is a white and blue gradient tank top she ‘borrowed’ from a store while with Wade. 

Maggie-  Autumn + Academia Her style is really cute and warm, she looks like the human personification of autumn. She likes wearing scarves, cardigans, knit sweaters, stockings, skinny jeans, parkas, short and ankle boots, and flannel, long-sleeved, and button-up shirts. She usually looks like she’s about to walk into a coffee shop to read. She always carries a brown bag to carry all her books and accessories with plain gold jewelry- especially rings and earrings- usually has some sort of overcoat on, likes wearing layers, and her outfits are always precise and perfect. She accessories perfectly and her main colors are brown, black, and maroon with dark orange and crimson accents. Sometimes she’ll wear an overall dress and floral patterns so long as it has that fall-color palette, and she’ll wear the autumn style no matter the season. She’ll wear the perfect fall outfit in the dead of July without hesitation. She also likes wearing hair accessories like hairclips, headbands, bandanas, hats (especially fedoras, she’s one of the few people who can actually look decent in them), bows, and clips and she usually styles her hair really nicely when she doesn’t just put it down. She also steals clothes from all of the guys- mostly Adam, John, and Nine- like she did with Conrad cause they’re so big and comfy, especially on her. Her favorite article of clothing is an oversized maroon sweater Conrad knit for her. 

Hannu- Trendy + Comfy He likes the classic, comfortable clothes most teenage boys wear. He wears a lot of sweatshirts and hoodies, brand-name shoes like Nikes and Adidas, sweats, jeans (most of which cuffed), zip-up sweaters, knee-shorts, khakis, and plain tees with the occasional turtleneck. Most- if not all- of his clothes are big and comfy and others love stealing them from him cause because of it. His main colors are brown and gray with black and white accents, and he owns most clothes everyone else own. He likes to keep it simple and straightforward and doesn’t care too much for fashion, but will experiment from time-to-time. He’ll occasionally wear a basic accessory like a woven bracelet, wristwatch, or chain necklace and a bolder color like yellow or blue every now and then but other than that he avoids anything too flashy or eye-catching. He also likes clothes fitting for long runs and playing basketball like tank tops, athletic shorts, and track pants. His favorite article of clothing is a black tank top with the Kenya flag on it he got while at the village. 

John- Prep + Plain He kind of dresses like a white suburban dad (and Nine loves making fun of him for it). He likes button-up, striped, and polo shirts, khakis, plain tees, zip-up sweaters, jeans, knee-shorts, sneakers, sandals, and the occasional sweatshirt or hoodie. He owns a million different belts and sometimes wears a watch but doesn’t really like to accessorize. The number one thing the others hate about his style is his tendency to wear socks with slip-ons (it’s an Ohio thing), and he does it just to piss them off. Overall, he has a very simple and plain style. He doesn’t care too much about fashion but does like looking presentable, so he and his clothes usually look pretty neat and clean but most of the time there’s that one thing that tips his outfit off like a color that doesn’t match with the rest or an accessory worn with the wrong outfit, but no one bothers to point it out cause they all know John will just shrug it off anyways. His main colors are white and blue with brown, orange, and dark blue accents. His favorite article of clothing is a pair of lightly ripped jeans that used to belong to Henri. 

Five- Emo + Grunge He’s the middle line between emo and grunge, really. He mostly wears skinny and/or ripped jeans, classic-rock band tees, Vans, Converse, leather or denim jackets, combat boots, faded clothes, parkas, distressed jeans, oversized shirts, black sneakers, and acid-washed jeans. He doesn’t really like accessories except a few pins and wristbands here and there, and when his hair has grown out too long and he doesn’t feel like combing it (which is most times) he wears a beanie to cover it. Overall he doesn’t really care about fashion (or his appearance at all) so he just throws on whatever he sees first and it may look bizarre at first but he somehow makes it work, even though he doesn’t really try. He also- to the others’ surprise- really likes floral-print, so he’ll be seen wearing a black and white floral-print t-shirt every now and then. His main colors are black and white with silver, dark gray, and dark green accents. His favorite article of clothing is a parka he got the first time he went to a non-tropical place during his run from the Mogs. 

Six- Androgynous/Tomboy + Punk She acts like a butch and dresses like one, too. She usually wears army-print jackets, ripped jeans, sweatshirts and hoodies, button-up shirts, jeans, sneakers, trucker hats, leather jackets, baggy tees, flannel shirts, combat boots, and denim or leather vests. She rarely accessories but the few times she does, she goes all out with studs, chains, wristbands, pins, fingerless leather gloves, black accessories, and studded belts, and sometimes she’ll wear eyeliner (with enough begging from Ella), and other times she’ll wear suspenders, women’s suits, or polo shirts. Her right ear is covered in piercings and she has a diamond nose stud on the left, and it may not seem like it, but she actually doesn’t care about style. She just throws on whatever she thinks will look somewhat decent and leave, but it usually looks really good, though sometimes she messes a few things up like mismatching the colors. When she’s feeling nostalgic or she misses Katarina more than usual, she’ll wear a bow in her hair like she used to, and her main colors are black and blue with white and brown accents. Her overall style is down-to-earth, simple, and tomboyish with some punk-rock highlights here and there, or she’ll go full punk and it looks pretty good on her. Her favorite article of clothing is a black leather jacket, which was the first thing she got after she escaped from the West Virginia Base.

Marina- Hipster + Simple Her style is simple, but pretty cute. Out of all the Garde besides Ella, she probably cares the most about fashion and often wears fedoras, flannel shirts, jean shorts, stockings, beanies, combat or ankle boots, denim jackets, baggy sweaters, graphic tees, and cardigans with the occasional leather jacket (usually one of Six’s). She loves tying flannel shirts around her waist or throwing it into any of her outfits, even if it doesn’t match. She usually accessories with a bunch of stacked rings, silver necklaces, and sometime a bracelet, mostly beaded ones, but rarely wears earrings. She also loves layering, it’s almost impossible for her to go out- even in the summer- without wearing something over her clothes. She likes looking nice so has a very neat and cute style but doesn’t go overboard. When it’s cold out, she’ll throw on a cute knit sweater or nice-fitting long-sleeved shirt and also likes wearing beanies (a lot). Her main colors are brown and cream with black and tawny accents and while she does care quite a bit about fashion and presentability, she’ll always choose comfort over fashion. If she had to choose between a cute cardigan that itched and a plain and baggy but comfy tee, she’ll choose the latter in a heartbeat, but she’ll choose flannel over everything, it’s basically her trademark style and she owns like a million flannel shirts in a hundred different colors. Her favorite article of clothing is a dark orange and black flannel shirt. 

Eight- Cozy + Eccentric His style will change every other day. One day he’ll be wearing basic, everyday clothes like hoodies, sweatshirts, jeans, sweats, baseball caps, sweaters, tank tops, baggy tees, and sneakers- the comfiest clothes almost everyone has just lying in their closet- and the next he’ll be wearing the weirdest array of bright, flashy colors and prints. He loves floral and animal-print shirts, silly graphic tees, skinny jeans, and bizarre accessories like fringe necklaces, friendship bracelets, woven bracelets and necklaces, and Silly Bandz (which are his trademark article of clothing). His right cartilage is pierced and he always has a small silver helix earring on, and he’ll wear the most offbeat and surreal colors together like a bright orange t-shirt with lime green skinny jeans and dark blue boots. They literally never look good but he doesn’t care (nor does he mind the staring from strangers) as he doesn’t care about fashion and just wears whatever he’s comfortable with, which just so happens to be the brightest, flashiest clothing and colors in existence. His main colors are basically every one with gold and silver accents. His favorite article of clothing is a bright yellow ‘Shut up, Karen’ t-shirt, a gift from Nine.

Nine- Athletic + Casual His style isn’t too bad when he actually wears clothes. He wears the basic workout clothes like track pants, zip-up sweaters, comfy t-shirts, workout shorts, athletic tops, gym shoes, and athletic tank tops that usually have a Chicago team logo on them (mostly the Bulls), but besides that he wears basic, everyday clothes as if he’s taking a quick trip to the grocery store like sweatshirts, large hoodies, plain tees, (ripped) jeans, sneakers, and knee shorts. Despite having the most money of all the Garde and living in a penthouse in Downtown Chicago, Nine doesn’t like flashy or expensive clothes and goes with the casual, daily clothes he’s seen the majority of people wear since he’s learned to adapt to and act like others around him while on the run from the Mogs. He also hates formal clothes like tuxedos cause they’re uncomfortable for him and he would never let Sandor make him wear one. His main colors are gray and blue with dark red and black accents and besides a basic watch and chain necklace here and there, he never accessories and usually throws on the first thing he sees when he wakes up. The others always steal his shirts and hoodies cause they’re so big, warm, and comfy. His favorite article of clothing is a gray sleeveless hoodie he had since he moved to Chicago. 

Ella- Retro + Feminine Her style is easily one of the cutest out of all of them. She loves feminine, retro, old-fashioned clothes like striped shirts, cute dresses, flowy skirts, 90s band tees, overalls, button-up shirts, suspenders, sweaters, cute tops, shorts, and colorful sweaters. She usually accessories with sunglasses, bows, scarves, belts, bandanas, earrings, and small rings and always looks like she came out of a 90s romance film. She cares the most about her clothes and fashion so usually looks the best-dressed out of all the Garde with an exception for her lazy days where she usually just throws on a sweater and leggings. Sometimes she’s the epitome of the ‘Soft Girl’ aesthetic- baggy sweaters, denim skirts, scrunchies, white shoes, and cute t-shirts. Her main colors are pink, pastel purple, and vivid red with jean blue and soft orange accents and her style really reflects on her young and bright personality. Her favorite article of clothing is a red, orange, yellow, and blue-striped t-shirt she got while out with Marina.

Sam- Nerdy + Vintage For someone who doesn’t really care about his looks, Sam’s outfits are pretty damn nice. He mixes ‘nerdy’ and ‘vintage’ styles so he usually wears button-up shirts, suspenders, collared shirts, flannel shirts, plain jeans, zip-up sweaters, striped shirts, sweaters, and sometimes a denim jacket. He basically looks like Peter Parker if he was from the 90s. His style pretty much reflects his personality- nerdy, cute, sophisticated, and smart- and he rarely accessories besides watches and friendship bracelets he made for him and John. He won’t be caught dead without a zip-up sweater on, too. He’s obsessed with the things and refuses to leave the house without one, and he occasionally wears ripped or cuffed jeans. Mostly he likes wearing a collared long-sleeved shirt under a sweater and also likes funny shirts with cheesy jokes and puns on them. He doesn’t really care too much about his appearance or fashion, but enough to make sure his outfit isn’t absolutely hideous before he goes out. He usually goes for the comfier clothes and will often steal John, Nine, and Hannu’s clothes. His main colors are light blue, gray, and brown with cream and dark orange accents. His favorite article of clothing is a slightly baggy, dark blue zip-up sweater that was Malcolm’s. 

Sarah- Fashionable + Girly She has the most feminine style, and it suits her well. She usually wears  dresses, skirts, halter tops, tank tops, high heels, sandals, silk jackets, ripped jeans, jean shorts, tube tops, denim jackets, and cute tops. She always accessories and does so perfectly with earrings, affirmation necklaces, bangle or charm bracelets, and plain rings, and every outfit is always on-point and perfect as she’s one of the only ones who actually cares about fashion, cares the most about her appearance, and always wants to look nice and presentable. She’ll occasionally wear comfier but still cute clothes like beanies or knit sweaters and always has a bag or purse with her to carry all her regular ‘human’ items, including her camera. She also usually wears light makeup like mascara, lip gloss, and a bit of blush and either has her hair down or nicely styled if she has the time. Her main colors are pink and white with light blue and gold accents and her overall style is very neat, cute, and feminine and shows what type of person she is. Her favorite article of clothing is a white off-shoulder top she likes to wear with a silk pink circle skirt when she’s feeling extra pretty.

Adam- Alternative + Dark He has that ‘dark but not emo’ style, on the border of e-boy. He typically wears black aviator, leather, or bomber jackets, long-sleeved shirts, band tees, ripped jeans, striped shirts, denim jackets, baggy tees, Vans, collared shirts, and dress pants. He likes wearing leather belts with chains but other than that usually skips accessorising besides the occasional earrings as he has quite a lot of ear piercings (and either a nose ring, snakebites, or eyebrow piercing). Sometimes he’ll even dress like a skater boy- Thrasher and/or baggy shirts, distressed jeans, checkered Vans, studded belts, flannel shirts, light studs, beanies, long socks, and graphic tees, and he loves black and white flannel shirts and pocket-grid pants and jackets. His main colors are black and white with dark blue and gray accents, and he adores pins. He owns about a million different vests and jackets (most of which leather or denim and either black or dark blue) and he loves decorating them with pins, stitches, and even safety pins on the sleeves of his vests. He has too many pins to count like the stereotypical alien head, a UFO, a pride flag, rock band logos, a skull, a smiley face, and other random things he sticks onto himself every morning. His style is overall a little messy but pretty nice as he doesn’t care that much about his appearance but likes the style. His favorite article of clothing is a black denim vest with a hundred pins and stiches on it Malcolm bought for him. 

[downwiththeficness]

In the Bond-Chapter 11

Summary: Lilah often wished she’d never said yes to working with the Gecko brothers—usually while dodging gunfire. At no time was she regretting that decision more than when she’s hanging upside down from the ceiling, staring down a group of hungry culebras and one (1) extremely powerful sun god.

Word Count: ~5,400

Warnings: Smut

A/N: This is an AU of my Story In the Blood, which can be read here. Basically, this fic explores what would have happened if Lilah had met up with Geckos before she met Brasa.

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Taglist: @symbiont13  

The bar was empty when Brasa and Lilah arrived, though that wasn’t surprising. The sun was not yet set, would not set, for several hours. Lilah followed Brasa to his room where she set down her bags. Her buzz had worn off over the hour drive and she was feeling more tired than she should have, given that it was still early afternoon. She attempted a soft smile when Brasa eyed her carefully, his mouth pulled down.

He touched her cheek with a gloved hand, “You should rest. Javier is waiting for me.”

Lilah held his gaze, “You’re insane if you think I’m not coming with you.”

He hesitated briefly, then nodded, taking her hand and leading her through to his public office where, as expected, Javier was waiting. Today, he was dressed in a deep crimson, accented with black and gold. The cane he periodically carried was hanging loosely from the crook of his thumb. When he spotted them, he stood and buttoned his jacket.

“My lord,” he said, with reverence.

Brasa acknowledged him, his expression serious, “Have you found them?”

“I have,” Javier answered, already moving towards a tablet. He tapped it awake and ran his finger over the screen to pull up the map, “They’ve dug into the old tunnel system. Here, and here.”

He handed the tablet to Brasa, who took it and scanned the places Javier had indicated on the map.

Brasa smiled in way that made Lilah’s eyes narrow. It was too satisfied, too confident, “Two groups?”

Javier ticked his head to the side, “Yes, and no. Two groups, same leader. Benny rotates between them—perhaps to keep us guessing.”

Brasa set the tablet aside and moved to sit down in his chair behind the desk. The languid movement, the stretch of muscle as he leaned back, made Lilah’s stomach twist in a way that she absolutely did not need in that moment.  They were supposed to be planning a coordinated manipulation of a dangerous group of predators. She couldn’t be mooning over him right now, a fact that didn’t stop her.

He was looking at Javier—a level, focused expression in his eyes. Brown eyes that not an hour ago were sparkling at her conspiratorially as they schemed. Like before, when they were just discussing finances and trade deals, he’d listened to her, assimilated her opinions and thoughts. Lilah had found herself fighting back a smile as she watched him think, her own mind circling back to the primary thing that occupied her attention.

The last two days had solidified things between them in a way that Lilah, three months ago, would have found utterly infuriating, if not terrifying. And, here she was, fine with it—maybe not fine. More fine than she had been. Which wasn’t saying a lot. Fuck, but she still felt the conflict within herself. Everything was going too fast, and yet she couldn’t seem to make herself slow down. She wanted it too much.

She had spend a lot of her life alone, without real, solid relationships. And then Seth had walked into that bar. And Lilah had learned to be friends and to trust. And then she’d fallen through that goddamned roof and right into Brasa’s arms.

The kind of trust she needed to have in Brasa far exceeded anything she’d ever experienced. Lilah congratulated Brasa for his patience, and he had been patient. She still had a long way to go, but progress was progress. Lilah might be moving at a glacial pace, but she was still moving, and that had to be enough for both of them.

“Do we know where he is now?”

Javier smiled unkindly, “We do.”

“Good,” Brasa announced, rising as he pushed his hand through his hair, “Then we meet him as he wakes, with the others.”

“Perhaps,” Javier edged, “We should just...eradicate them now, while they rest.”

Lilah felt that fuzzy feeling in her stomach drop. For all the diplomacy that she’d witnessed between them, all the political manipulation, the bargaining, the negotiation...underneath it all, this was exactly how they’d remained in power for so long.  Complete domination of their enemies. Utter genocide, if necessary. She acknowledged the effectiveness, but knew that the method would produce the results that Brasa wanted—he wanted the population to buy in to a new way of doing things, not merely give their compliance with directives in an attempt to keep from being slaughtered.

Brasa shifted on his feet, pushing hands into his pockets, “We discussed another option.”

Chuckling, Javier said, “Of course.”

Lilah didn’t like the way he said it, as if he were humoring his boss, as if he knew that the plan would fail. She was no expert on culebras, but Lilah knew people. The plan could work, if everyone stuck to it.

“I think we start with that, and then…” Brasa trailed off, indicating that simply killing them was always on the table.

She didn’t know how she felt about it, but Lilah was at least mollified that Brasa would look to the solution they’d discussed first. It would buy her time to work on back up plans, when the shit inevitably hit the fan.

Javier nodded deferentially, “Understood.”

“Good,” Brasa said, moving around the desk. “Its been a long trip home. I’m going to get cleaned up and I’ll meet you at the bar at sunset.”

Javier hesitated for a second too long, but eventually said, “Yes, my lord.”

Brasa once again took her hand, leading her back to his rooms. Inside, he pulled off his gloves and sat on the bed to untie his shoes. Lilah sat next to him, her weight leaning into his body comfortably.

“You should rest,” he reiterated as he shucked off his socks, “I’ll shower and get changed while you sleep.”

Lilah very nearly offered to shower with him, but the mattress beneath her was calling her name, the last few days catching up with her. She smiled at him as he stood and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead, watching as he headed for the en suite and shut the door behind him.

Lilah reached into her bag and pulled out her phone.  She had several new messages to answer, her thumbs sliding over the screen. Hitting send, she tapped open the clock app and set and alarm for ten minutes before sunset. Lilah had no intentions of sleeping through that meeting with Benny.

Sliding up towards the pillows, Lilah kicked off her sneakers and toed off her socks. Her sweatshirt went over the side of the bed and, after a moment of deliberation, so did her jeans. Rolling onto her side, she reached up and flicked off the light. Snuggled into the covers, she drifted off easily.

Lilah awoke an indeterminate time later, blinking groggily into a pitch black room. Even in the dark, she could tell that he was lying next to her. Feeling brave in her half conscious state, Lilah shuffled over to him and laid a hand on his chest. Saying nothing, Brasa lifted an arm and gathered her to him with a contented little sigh. She wondered how long he’d been resting near her, awake and listening to her breathe.

As she ran her hand over and down to his side, along the angular plane of his body, Lilah’s brows drew together in confusion, “Did you get fully dressed just to lay in bed?” She felt around a little more, “On top of the covers?”

“Sunset is in an hour,” he answered, the words coming out slow enough that she knew he was choosing them carefully. “I did not want to get too comfortable.”

It was the way that he said the last two words that cued her, an emphasis that did quite match his normal speech pattern. Lilah grabbed onto them, mentally, and felt herself smirk.

Rising to her elbow, Lilah rested her head on her palm and teased, “Do you think that if we got ‘too comfortable’, we’d miss the meeting?”

He drew in a breath, “That’s...possible.”

Fingers tracing up the line of buttons on his shirt, she lowered her voice a little, “I set an alarm. It would have woken us. And, I’m pretty sure you can tell where the sun is, being a sun god, and all.”

The last part was pure conjecture, but Lilah felt fairly confident in her analysis of his powers. Though, to be fair, she had probably only skimmed the surface of what he was capable of doing.

The arm around her waist tightened, “Yes, I suppose you are right.”

When she walked her fingertips up towards his neck, Lilah found that his face was turned towards her. Beneath the pad of her thumb, his Adam’s apple bobbed. He was warm, the kind of warm that told her he wanted something. She was inclined to give it to him.

“You barely slept last night, traveled across two countries over the last few days, you’re stressed, this is your bed—why would you not want to be comfortable, to sleep in your own bed?” The smirk that had been on her lips during the conversation widened, “Unless you thought we might not be sleeping.”

He flinched. Oh, this was too good not to dig into.

As warmth wafted from his body, Lilah felt an answering heat bubbling in her belly, “What did you think would happen?” Her voice dropped to the smallest whisper, “Did you think that if we got too comfortable, we’d end up fucking?”

The answer to that question was a sharp inhale and a low rumble. She was absolutely correct.

“You did!” She exclaimed in mock surprise.

He said her name, a warning in his tone as he moved to sit. Lilah chuckled as she put weight on him to hold him still, satisfied when he relented. She wondered why he hadn’t pressed his advantage the night before, and again on the plane. It left her with a question borne of insecurity.

“Do you...want to?”

He scoffed, “Of course I do. I would have taken you to bed that first night, if you were willing.”

He had a point. She had been desperate to get as far away as possible—not exactly receptive to seduction. Still…

“You had other opportunities.”

Like when she’d most recently thrown herself at him.

“Yes, and those opportunities have usually been after we’ve had an argument.”

Lilah wished she could see his face. His tone was so matter of fact that her confidence faltered. She quickly shored up her last bit of bravado.

“Point.” Then, “So, you have thoughts…”

In a smooth flex of muscle, Brasa had her rolled beneath him, his mouth hovering close enough that his lips brushed hers as he spoke, “Lilah, it would be fair to say that the multitude of ways I want to have you takes up a significant portion of my thoughts.”

She preened under those words, her hands coming up to rest on his shoulders, “Care to share with the class?”

He huffed out a laugh, and she felt him shake his head.

“I mean,” Lilah continued, allowing that teasing tone to seep back into her voice, “You already got to act on at least one of those thoughts last night—which reminds me, I think I left you hanging a bit.” When he made a sound of question, she added, “I got to come so hard I passed out and you didn’t get to.”

Brasa’s bare hands, which had been trailing over her skin, stilled, “I...did.”

Intrigued, and not a little bit titillated, Lilah urged, “Do tell.”

She didn’t have to be able to see him to know that he was about to balk, so she cut off the intention with a sound kiss. Swallowing his groan, she ran her hands down his chest and pushed so that he rolled to his back.

Lilah kicked out of the covers, stretching her body out beside him, “Please? You could start at the point where I lost consciousness.”

Brasa cleared his throat, fingers tangling with hers as they lay on his chest, “I carried you to bed and went back downstairs to sit on the couch. Your scent was everywhere, I could still taste your blood.”

Lilah licked her lips, “Then what happened?”

Breaths coming in faster, he said, “Your scent, it was on me. On clothes, my hands. I just wanted a taste, and…”

“And?”

He drew in another deep breath, the words coming out of him in rapid succession, “I licked my fingers, sucked them clean.” His hand squeezed reflexively, “It was so good, Lilah.”

Drawn by the desperation in his tone, she rose over him and kissed him deeply, her tongue dipping in to run along his lower lip. He grasped her by the back of her head, holding her steady so that he could nip at her with teeth that were now very sharp. He shifted, leveraging his greater weight to put her on her back once more. Lilah went willingly.

In between kisses, she prompted him, “What did you do next?”

“I,” he started, cutting himself off with a needy moan that melted into a series of panting breaths against the skin of her neck.

Once more, her hands caressed down his chest, continuing down to palm him through the fabric of his pants. Brasa’s body bowed as his hips tilted forward, a hiss sounding from between his teeth.

Lilah stroked him languidly, “Did you touch yourself?”

He nodded, hands grasping her wrists and pulling them away to pin them to the bed. Lilah writhed beneath him, working her tangled legs free and using her calves to pull him into the cradle of her hips. He let go of one of her wrists, tracing down her body to grip the back of one thigh. Lilah thought he might pull away, put some distance between them. Instead, he hitched her leg higher so that he could grind against her, a choked sound coming from the back of his throat.

Her breath stuttered as he slid against her clit, only the material of her underwear and his pants between them. She groaned his name loudly, earning another hard, steady grind. Even in complete darkness, she saw stars.

And then she had an idea, “Do you want another taste?”

His unequivocal ‘yes’ was out of his mouth so quickly that Lilah could only chuckle, her hand pushing beneath the waistband of her underwear. Brasa lifted up at bit to give her room, a pleased growl vibrating from deep in his chest.

The sound of her fingers sliding through her slick was almost embarrassingly loud. Lilah pushed her fingers inside one by one, rotating her wrist to coat them at thoroughly as possible. When she offered him her hand, she expected him feel his tongue running along her skin instantly. What he actually did was sit back on his heels to yank her into his lap. Only then did her suck the first two digits into his mouth.

He whimpered, and Lilah could feel his cock pulsing beneath her. She wrapped her free arm around his shoulders and tried to keep her mind focused enough so that she didn’t melt into a puddle in his arms. When he had licked her skin clean, Brasa dropped her hand and pulled her in for a kiss. It was messy, frantic, tainted with the taste of venom.

He held her tightly, forehead pressed against hers as he worked to catch his breath. Lilah tried to kiss him again, but he pulled away with an airy laugh. Lilah’s eyes narrowed in the dark. He was not going to tease her now.

Shoving one hand into his hair, she yanked his head back, sucking what she hoped would be a deep bruise onto his neck. He snarled, dislodging her hand and throwing her onto the mattress.

Following her down, Brasa let most of his weight fall against her as he hissed into her ear, “Don’t test me, querida.”

Stubborn, stubborn man.  Lilah would have to try something else.

Nudging along his jaw, she picked up where she’d left off before, whispering, “What did you think about when you were making yourself come?”

His answer was cut off by her alarm sounding. Brasa gave her a short kiss before levering himself up and over to the nightstand where he dismissed it. A moment later, he turned on the light. Lilah had no idea what she looked like, but if his appearance was anything to go by she was more than a little rumpled.

Black eyes wandered all over her, lingering on her exposed thighs. Clearly, he liked her a little rumpled.

Lilah took a breath, “You didn’t answer my question.”

Brasa’s head cocked to the side, his mouth tilting upwards in a smirk, “You’re right.”

He crawled over to her, all sinuous movement that should not have been possible with such a large frame. Arms bracketing her body, Brasa leaned down and fixed her with an intent gaze.

“I thought about you taking my bite as you come all over me,” he murmured, his hand cupping her cheek, “I thought about pumping you full of venom and making you come until you’re begging me to stop. Does that answer your question?”

Lilah blinked owlishly up at him, her mouth open in shock. She fully expected him to say something along those lines. But, actually hearing the words, seeing his face so full of conviction, it made her shiver.

Brasa leaned back and away, “I need to go. Javier is likely waiting for me.”

“You mean waiting for us.”

His jaw set and Lilah could hear the argument before he’d even started. With a frustrated sigh, she pushed from the bed and dug around in her suitcase for her work attire. Brasa busied himself with pulling on his gloves and pushing the tail of his shirt back into his pants.

As she pulled on her jeans, she asked, “Did you think I was kidding when I said you’d be insane to think I wasn’t coming with you?”

Brasa stood and ran his hands through his hair, raking it back and away from his face, “I had thought you might see the sense that there is a potential for a nasty fight.”

Lilah rolled her eyes, “Who helped you come up with this idea?”

That was a solid argument, and she could tell the Brasa knew it. He looked away, his arms crossing.

She shrugged on a sweatshirt and pulled her hair into a ponytail. He was silent while she strapped her knife and gun to her body, rolled on a pair of socks, and stepped into her sneakers. When she was finished, Lilah moved closer to him and dared him to argue further with a lifted brow.

Brasa sighed, relenting, “If you go with us, you must do something for me.”

“Okay,” she agreed readily, surprising herself.

Hands coming up to grasp her shoulders, Brasa looked her squarely in the eye, “I need you to let me in. Relax into the bond so that I can communicate with you, if necessary.”

She frowned, “How do I do that?”

“You’ve felt me before, just reach out to me.  Feel for me.”

Lilah’s frown held, but she closed her eyes and concentrated on that little tingle at the back of her brain that always went off whenever he was around. Shoulders dropping, she did exactly as she asked. She reached out to him.

Nearby, he inhaled sharply, “There. Just like that. Keep your mind open while we’re out there.”

She nodded.

A while later, Lilah was riding in the back of an SUV with Brasa next to her, Javier navigating effortlessly on roads that were nearly non-existent. As requested, she had left the bond open. Lilah could feel Brasa’s mental presence as surely as she could feel his hand resting on her thigh. It was warm, like him. She resisted feeling too happy about how easily he fit into the space.

Brasa was not exactly nervous. Lilah could feel an unrelenting calm from him, but there was a faint vibration underneath it. Curious, she touched on it, drawing back when he turned his head to look down at her.

“Sorry,” she said, embarrassed that she’d been caught.

Brasa took her hand, the leather of his gloves soft in her palm, “Don’t be. I welcome your curiosity.”

“You say that now,” Lilah murmured, “But when I’ve asked you the thousandth question of the day, you might think differently.”

Shifting a little in his seat, Brasa lifted his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, with his free hand, he twined his fingers in hers, “I would rather you ask questions than run away.”

Lowering her eyes, Lilah felt the censure for what it was. Her instinct was always to cut and run at the first sign of trouble. It had been what had saved her life many times before. Lately, it had not suited her purpose quite so much. She settled further into his body, idly watching the road.

Eventually, they came to what looked like a cave in the face of a cliff. Lilah eyed it as she ambled out of the car, her hand reaching down to pull open her holster. Brasa walked ahead of her, stopping just short of the entrance.

“You’re sure he’s here?”

Javier nodded, “I have a source from the inside.”

Brasa looked back at Lilah. In the moonlight, his body covered in shadow, he looked right at home. She took a breath and stepped up beside him, her eyes turning to the darkness ahead.

“You know where we’re going?”

“I do,” he replied easily, “I know the way.”

Lilah glanced at him sidelong, “Okay.”

Using her cell phone as a flashlight, Lilah followed Brasa, Javier behind her. The floor of the cave was smooth, too smooth to be natural. A few niches were cut into the sides of the path, rounded little pods. At the back of the cave was a door. Wooden, no lock. Brasa opened it and looked down—literally down. It was a hole that dropped about fifty feet or so. No ladder, no hand grips. Just smooth stone all around. The circumference was fairly large, the edges rounded in a way that told her it had been well used at one time.

Reaching back, Brasa pulled her into his body, “Hold onto me.”

Lilah slipped her phone into her pocket and wrapped her arms around his neck. His hands ran down her sides and under her ass, leverage that he used to pull her up and into his arms. Lilah didn’t have time to give him the laugh that threatened to jut out of her throat as she was suddenly falling, the wind pulling at her hair.

They landed audibly, dirt skittering around Brasa’s shoes. Lilah blinked in the dark as he helped her ease her legs down from around his waist.  He steadied her, his hand at the small of her back.  

Lilah left her arms where they were, her muscles having loosened from where she’d clenched them on the way down, “How many more of these are there going to be tonight?”

She could hear the smile in his voice when he answered, “This is the only one. At least, for tonight.”

“Good to know.”

Javier dropped down next to them, and Lilah wondered if he’d gotten dust all over his sharp suit, or he’d come out of this as crisp and clean and put together as he usually was. A light clink echoed, his walking stick tapping the ground.

“Through here,” Brasa directed.

Lilah grabbed for her phone, lighting the way so that she didn’t trip over her own feet. They moved to another door, same as the other. There was a faint light beneath it. Without preamble, Brasa opened it and strolled inside.

A hand at her elbow stopped her. Lilah looked back to Javier, who pulled her to a stop.

“Wait a moment. We didn’t announce ourselves. These kinds of surprises are usually unwelcome.”

He wasn’t wrong. Lilah heard voices rise, snarls and growls following. She craned her neck, peering into the room through the doorway. A body went flying across her line of sight, followed by more yelling. It took about two minutes for things to die down, Lilah fidgeting the whole time. Beside her, Javier rested both hands on his cane, his expression serene.

“This happen a lot?” she asked, her ears straining to hear.

Javier shrugged, “From time to time. Lord Brasa rarely makes personal visits. I imagine this is quite the shock.”

Lilah nodded, distracted by the shadows moving in the room.

In the next moment, Javier was moving forward, saying to her, “Please stay close to me. My lord would be unhappy if you were hurt.”

Face scrunching in confusion, Lilah followed him in. There had...clearly been a fight. A few angry, bleeding members of the group littered the room. Brasa stood near the middle, looking relaxed. He wasn’t even breathing hard. Lilah made an effort to control her face as she filed in behind him.

The group was pretty rough looking. Clothes that were torn, dirty faces and hands, hard stares, teeth bared. A few had their game faces on. Lilah’s hand hovered near her pistol.

At the far end of the room was another door, open. Voices could be heard filtering down the hall. They’d gone to get Benny. As expected, he appeared from the darkness. He looked much the same as he had in the bar. Kind of a douche. Lilah noted that his skin was clean, his clothes worn but not tattered. He looked well fed.

“The fuck are you doing here?” he spit at Brasa.

“Making an offer,” was the response—cool, calm, polite.

Lilah remembered when that tone of voice had grated on her nerves, made her grit her teeth in an effort to keep from lashing out.

Benny’s glare deepened, “We don’t want anything you’re offering.”

“Even if its food?”

That got a lot of the group’s attention. Lilah watched their eyes spark with interest. How many of them were hungry? And for how long?

Benny shook his head, “Yeah. Food. If we play by your rules, if we stop hunting.”

Brasa’s head cocked to the side, “Why would you need to hunt if you’re fed well?”

This was the argument that they’d agreed on. Lilah was glad he was sticking to the script. Benny wasn’t buying it, as she suspected would happen. His snarl was near constant, and one look at the others in the room told her that they were going to feed off his energy. Everything about this could get out of hand very quickly, if Brasa wasn’t careful.

“Look at you,” she cut in, letting just the tiniest bit of derision drip into her tone, “You’re living like animals. You’re not animals.” The last three words were enunciated, sharp, and clear.

Benny’s attention turned to her, and Lilah caught Javier moving subtly in her periphery. She did her best to remain relaxed, but her body’s natural reaction, the adrenaline, kept her heart beating harder than she wanted.

“Look at you,” Benny echoed. Then, sarcastically, “Did Lord Brasa bring us a snack along with his ridiculous new world?”

Lilah closed her eyes as Brasa’s growl sounded so loudly that her ears rang.

She took at step forward, making sure to look straight on at Benny, “You know that starting a fight is bad news for every one of your people here,” Lilah asserted, her hands waving to the faces that were watching the interaction intensely. “We’re only here to talk.”

Benny’s expression—half amused, half enraged—held, “We don’t talk with humans, we eat them.”

The challenge in his voice, in his expression, told her exactly what she would need to do. In this hierarchy, she was the more powerful, despite her species. Every single culebra in the room would need to know that, and to honor it.

“You’ll talk with me.”

“Why?”

Now or never, she thought.

Lilah drew herself up, “Because I am Lord Brasa’s bondmate, and because I am literally the only person in here that can ensure you’re still alive when we leave.”

Benny laughed, his fangs reaching out towards her from where they’d fallen past the seam of his lips. She grit her teeth and waited, knowing that this was delicate and that she needed to get through the rest of this as they’d agreed. From across the bond, she felt Brasa soothe the edges of her worry.

“You kill me, you’ll only make me a martyr,” Benny asserted, though Lilah could see the faint tremor in his mouth as he spoke.

“Not a matyr, not really. We’re here to talk, you start a fight, you’ll lose. Every one of your people will die.”

This was very fucking true. There were maybe fifteen of them, and they didn’t look well trained. Add the obvious hunger, and they didn’t stand a chance.

Another laugh, another sneer, “We’re ready to die to keep our way of life.”

She lifted a brow, “Running, hiding, starving. You’re willing to die for this?”

Benny drew back, his eyes narrow. He worked his jaw, and seemed to think. Ahead of her, Brasa shifted his weight. Lilah glanced at the back of his head, noting the relaxed stance. Her brows drew together as he turned in a slow circle, his eyes lifting to the ceiling of the room.

“Do any of you know where these tunnels came from? How they were made?”

Lilah felt her mouth tighten, tension rising in her arms and in her hips, her body readying to react. This wasn’t in their script. What the fuck was he doing?

Brasa looked back at the group, smiling, “We made them. A long time ago.”

“Bullshit,” Benny spat, “Just like everything else about you.”

Brasa chuckled, “No bullshit. There’s a hundred kilometers of tunnels that all lead back to a central room. In it is an altar.” He paused, fixing his attention on Benny, “And a door.”

Lilah watched the reactions of the others, catching a few look at each other, the details confirmed with involuntary micro-expressions. Meanwhile, she worked hard to contain her own misgivings. This wasn’t in the discussion—had this been what he’d been doing while she slept?

“I know what it is that you want,” Brasa continued, “You want to open the door between this world and Xibalba.” A coy smile, “What did they promise you?”

Benny flinched. Lilah felt herself involuntarily inhale. Brasa was right.

“It doesn’t matter,” Brasa said easily, “I know what will happen. You will try to open the door. If you’re successful, which I very much doubt, you’ll bring more Xibalbans into this place. They will take your people as sacrifice, and enslave the rest. You might live to see yourself speared by a pike and burned to ash on the next sunrise.”

That was...a pretty damn effective argument. Lilah felt herself kind of impressed by how cleanly he’d laid it out. From the back of her mind, she felt the warmth of his gratification, it drifted down over her neck and nestled in the space between her shoulder blades.

“He’s lying,” Benny spit as he looked around him. “That won’t happen.”

“So you do want to open the door?” Lilah asked.

The silence that followed was enough to convince everyone in the room that this was, at least, part of his plan.

Javier dropped his cane loudly on the stone floor, “We have a steady supply of blood. We have warm beds. We also have a need. Our operation is growing. Some of you have skills that would help us ensure that no one goes hungry, that we don’t draw the attention of hunters, that we coexist with humans for centuries to come.”

Here was the offer, as they’d discussed. All of these things were true. Brasa could only do so much, even with Javier at his side. There were logistics that needed to be carefully monitored to keep the supply running and to keep it off the radar of the authorities. In this world, the power of the hunt became the power of achievement, possibly a more potent lure for anyone unhappy with the status quo.

Lilah kept her attention on the group, looking for signs of breaking with the pack. A few looked promising.

Javier rested both hands on top of his cane, “Who’s in?”

To Lilah’s left, a woman with dark skin, hair, and eyes, raised her hand.

[digimonnetwork-project]

Episode I

The seeds are sown...

“Shidou...Shidou....Isamu Shidou pay attention!” There was a dull thud as Isamu was thrown out of his thoughts by the sudden acquaintance of his head and the teacher’s book. At his old school, the boy in question would never have gotten in trouble for daydreaming in class, let alone assaulted for it.

“Gah! I’m sorry, Ms. Mazawa! It won’t happen again!” Isamu exclaimed, bolting from his chair and bowing repeatedly while he rubbed the back of his skull, certain a bump would develop where he’d been struck with the teacher’s book. He pictured something large and swelling, hopefully enough to get him out of math next period, but would go down before soccer practice after school.

“Honestly!” She huffed, twirling her graying hair in exasperation, “Shidou, this is the third time this week. You know I hate doing this, but if you can’t be bothered to pay attention to the lesson I’m going to have to keep you after school.”

Aside from the streaks of grey in her hair, Ms. Mazawa didn’t look more than a few years passed thirty, but her barbaric teaching methods made her seem centuries older. Isamu suspected she might be one of the old monsters of folklore, maybe Arikura-no-baba or Osakabe, but Isamu really didn’t care enough to try to research which one she could be.

“Yeah right you don’t like doing it, you keep kids after school all the time.” A chill ran up Isamu’s spine as Ms Mazawa’s irritated scowl deepened into a glare, making him overly aware of the fact that he had said this out loud instead of keeping it in his head.

She swatted him upside the head with her book a second time. “Shidou, I was just going to keep you in class for thirty minutes to reread today’s lesson, but your smart mouth just earned you a detention spent setting up the cafeteria for the archery club’s fundraiser tonight!” She declared.

“Y-yes ma’am!” Isamu stuttered, getting a giggle out of his classmates, “I’m sorry ma’am!”

“I hope you are.” Ms. Mazawa replied and turned to go back to the front of the class.

Isamu sighed and returned to his seat, brushing brown bangs out of his face and looking at his desk. At his old school, his classmates would have been laughing with him, not at him, he thought reminiscing, again, about his former life. The bangs he just moved fell right back into his eyes. He really needed to find something to keep his hair in place.

“Psst! Isamu!” He turned around at the sound of his name and saw his classmate Masato Namura give him a thumbs up. Beside him, Aki Mikami pushed up his glasses and awkwardly waved at him.

Isamu gave a small nod of acknowledgment to the both of them before facing the front of the class. The two of them were nowhere near the top of the food chain in this school’s social hierarchy, but they were the only friends he had here. He turned his head back out the window, catching his phantom reflection in the glass. How was it that he only had two friends? At his old school he was the cool popular kid that was friends with everyone, how did he become so bad at connecting to people?

In the glass, Isamu noticed more than just his own blue-eyed reflection. Just outside the door way he could make out the faint image of someone standing just outside their classroom. He looked that way just to be sure it wasn’t a trick of the light. Yes, there was a girl standing there, waiting to be invited in.

“Now that that’s out of the way, class...” Ms. Mazawa said, turning to the door, “We have a new student transferring today. Please give her a warm welcome. You can come in now, dear.”

The girl stepped in front of the class with her head held high. The students all have short gasps of amazement at the fact that she dared come in without her uniform on. The transfer student was wearing casual clothes, ankle length beige pants with green trimming that matched her Chinese style shirt  and held her bag in front of her like a purse, rather than a backpack. Oddly, the thing that stood out about her wasn’t her lack of uniform, but the fact that she was wearing a white fingerless glove on her left hand with what appeared to be a strange digital watch over it.

“Hello.” She said to them, pulling a strand of her black hair behind her ear. “My name is Ju Ling, my family and I just moved here from Bejing. I don’t have my school uniform yet because of a mix up that gave me the wrong size.” She looked over at Ms. Mazawa who waved her hands for her to continue, “I'm an only child who likes computers, though I’m not necessarily very good with them. Thank you for having me, I look forward to joining your class.”

With a bow, she concluded her introduction and looked at Ms. Mazawa again who directed her to take the open seat next to Isamu. They whispered something to each other and Ju giggled as she came forward, Ms, Mazawa had probably instructed her to make sure he didn’t start daydreaming again. Isamu sighed and began scratching notes on the lecture.

This was going to be a long day...

When the last bell of the day rang, Isamu almost forgot about his detention and started out the door with Aki and Masato when Ms. Mazawa reminded him of his unwanted duties. Basically he was setting up chairs and tables for an hour and half, rather than the half hour lesson he would have gotten if he hadn’t mouthed off,  but still that was an hour and a half Isamu wasn’t spending at the park practicing with Aki and Masato.

Another defeated sigh escaped him, tryouts for the Soccer team were a few weeks away, Masato was the right midfielder and Isamu had been the striker for the team at his old school, but Aki had never played an official game. Isamu felt terrible that he had to miss out on training Aki, the blond haired boy wasn’t awful by any means but he needed as much support as possible.

The archery club supervisor met him outside the door where he saw another of his classmates, Kaiyo Nakano, lined up as a volunteer. Isamu knew she was a volunteer, number one because he knew she hadn’t gotten in trouble, secondly because Kaiyo seemed to volunteer to help out with every club, though she was only an active member of the chess club.

“Hey, Shidou, I’ve already signed us both in” Kaiyo greeted, taking the opportunity to partner up with him, “It’s easier for me to work when I’m not in a skirt, so I’m going to change out of my uniform before we start. You go ahead and change too, that way you can just leave right after we’re done.”

“Oh? Okay, thanks.” Isamu replied, he hadn’t even known they were supposed to sign in as volunteers, but with Ms. Mazawa nowhere in sight, he supposed there had to be some way for them to prove he’d actually done the detention work. Deciding not to waste time, Isamu went to his locker at a slight jog and grabbed his casual clothes to change in the nearby boys bathroom.

As he swapped clothes Isamu’s text alert beeped and he juggled his phone to check it as long as there was no one to scold him for texting when he should be working. The message was from Gorou, a friend from his old school. Isamu’s heart skipped a beat, he’d messaged Gorou about hanging out over the weekend three days ago, what had taken him so long to reply? To his disappointment, Isamu opened the text to find a simple “Sorry, can’t come ¯\_(ツ)_/¯” in response to his invitation.

Isamu dejectedly put his phone away without replying and finished changing so he could get to work. He stepped out of the stall sporting a pair of capris and white shirt with the word “REAL” printed in english lettering on the front, and a black track jacket with blue stripes running down the sleeves. He folded his uniform into his school bag and started back to the gym, running into Kaiyo again on the way.

Apparently she’d had the same idea to change in the girl’s bathroom. She was dressed in a pale pink shirt with the words ‘Be Kind” written under a graphic resembling a heart made out of an arrow, an army green jacket, light shorts, and long striped socks.

“Looking sharp. Leave your bag by the door and don’t forget to pick it up when you leave” She winked at him with a friendly, teasing tone and led the way back, and took him over to a supply closet once they dropped off their bags. She went on to explain “It's actually not a lot of work to get this all set up, but it takes two people to carry one table, sometimes more for the big ones. Mr. Kojima and Mrs. Arai will tell us where to put them, we just have to coordinate and do the heavy lifting.”

She wasn’t kidding about it being heavy, Isamu could hear her grunt as she pulled a table out from the closet and was soon grunting himself as he grabbed the other end and helped her lift it away. “And you volunteered to do this?” He blurted without thinking, he really needed to stop that, it usually got a laugh in his old town, but around here, it usually got him in trouble.

But to his surprise, Kaiyo did laugh, “What can I say? I like to keep busy. It sure beats going straight to my homework.” She said, they both paused for a moment while the supervisors instructed them on where to move the table to. Kaiyo showed him how to set it up, and they were quick to return to the supply closet to get another table.

For a little while, Isamu actually felt like he was finally connecting to people as Kaiyo introduced him to other students from around the school. He’d never needed anything but soccer in his life for a long time, but as he was socializing with the volunteers and other kids in detention, Isamu thought Kaiyo probably had the right idea by volunteering with other clubs outside of his personal interests.

It didn’t take long to get everything set up, and as much fun as this had surprisingly turned out to be,  Isamu was the first one out the door when everything was done- after just barely an hour rather than the hour and a half they’d thought it would take. What were the odds that Aki and Masato were still at the park? Isamu didn’t want to leave them hanging, and considered texting them when he found there was no need to.

They were waiting outside the school gates for him, already changed out of their uniforms. Masato had dark grey jeans with yellow stripes on the side, and a vest half zipped over an old graphic tee from the 80s. His dark brown hair was kept out of his bangs with a red bandana that, for some reason, Ms. Mazawa let him where in class.

“Man, they sure kept you in there long enough, did’ja have to clean the toilets with a toothbrush or something?” Masato griped as he picked his bag off the ground and stood back from the school gate.

“Ms. Mazawa told him to help set up for the archery club, I don’t think that’s what they do in detention.” Aki told him  and pushed up his glasses, his white jacket was zipped up all the way and had an orange stripe running horizontally across his chest and shoulders. He had dark green pants tucked into long boots, and his bag was strapped over his shoulder.

“What would you know about it? You’ve never gotten a detention!” Masato teased, lightly punching Aki’s shoulder, playfully, Aki stepped on his foot in response.

“He will if he keeps hanging out with you.” Isamu joked back and turned to Aki, “And yeah, I was totally scrubbing toilets with a toothbrush, all detention kids have to!”

The look on Aki’s face was priceless, it took all of his will power not to laugh, “Y-you’re kidding, right!?” His glasses slipped further down his nose and once more he had to push them back into place.

“About the toilets or about you getting in detention because of me?” Masato slinging his arms around each of their shoulders, at which point Isamu couldn’t help laughing, ruining the joke entirely.

“Well, never mind.” He said, freeing himself from Masato and  sticking his hands in the pockets of his jacket. “Sorry to have kept you guys waiting, you still free for practice or-”

“-Shidou!” All three of them turned to look, surprised to hear Kaiyo calling for Isamu.

She  was running toward them from the school entrance. She’d been a volunteer and was free to go whenever, but Isamu was under the impression that she was going to stick around to decorate too. His face flushed a little when he saw the reason she was running to catch up with him.

“What’s up Nakano, can’t you see we’re trying to escape from this place?” Masato trilled with a mischievous grin.

Kaiyo skidded to a stop and panted for a second before she looked at Isamu and smiled as she handed him the bag she was carrying with her. His bag, that he must have left at the fundraiser despite her warning not to. “You forgot this.” She winked at him, “Tanizaki wanted to hang it from the basketball hoop but I told him it was mine. You owe me big time.”

“Ah, th-thanks Nakano.” Isamu replied, taking his bag back and flipping it over his shoulders.

She waved her hand dismissively, “You can just call me Kaiyo if you want.” she said, hiking her own bag onto her shoulders and turned away, heading down another street, before shouting over her shoulder  “See you guys in class tomorrow! Don’t forget your homework again, Namura or Ms. Mazawa might actually make you eat lunch in the hall this time!”

Masato made a face while Isamu quirked his eyebrow at the bizarre sounding punishment, “It’s worse than it sounds,” Masato said, “Anyway, I guess I better get home and do that homework. You guys alright practicing without me?”

“Actually, I’d better do the homework too.” Aki said, pushing up his glasses and looking at the ground, “After all we have that math test coming up and it’s my worst subject.”

“You say that about every subject.” Isamu rolled his eyes slighting, very aware that he needed the practice for the math test more than he needed practice for the soccer try-outs, “Man, sorry about the detention guys, I hate to have you waiting for me and not have time to actually practice.”

Masato clapped his shoulder, “It’s alright, we can practice for a while and then do homework together at the park. I fail, you fail, what do you say? We can always practice more this weekend, you guys free?”

“I’m always free.” Aki replied with a shrug. “And studying together would probably be good for all of us, too” they both turned to Isamu, waiting to hear his answer.

His  fingers brushed his phone and thought about Gorou, but remembered that his friend claimed to be too busy to hang out this weekend- somethin he was never too busy for when they lived on the same side of the river. “Yeah, I’m free too. Who wants to race- huh?”

Isamu paused mid sentence, staring up at the building across the street where the air had seemed to distort for a second. Aki and Masato both looked the same way, but there was nothing to see. Isamu quickly dismissed it as a trick of the light, “Sorry, seeing things I guess.” He said, though he couldn’t shake the sudden feeling of being watched, “Anyway, I’ll race you guys to the park!” He pushed his way passed them and took off at a run, giving them no choice but to give chase.

Isamu laughed as he ran, Masato quickly started gaining on him with Aki no more than a few feet behind. The park was a few blocks away, and all three of them were exhausted from the run, “I’m.. so...slow…” Aki complained as they panted by the water fountain.

Masato checked the clock on his phone, “Actually... I think we... broke our record” He said.

Isamu clapped Aki’s shoulder, coughing slightly, “And you... kept up, just fine...I had guys on my team… At my old school...who were much slower…” He told him.

It took a few more minutes to convince Aki that he had done well, before they all agreed to sit at a picnic table and complete one page of homework before they started practice. Working together they actually managed to complete two pages before they remembered they wanted to practice some, too. Aki had a duffle bag which he kept his swimming trunks and towel in, as well as his uniform and clothes when he needed to change, and now it had become home to their soccer ball.

Between homework and practice, Isamu forgot about the strange distortion he’d seen outside the school, but while they were practicing the feeling of being watched started to creep up on him again. Not wanting to frighten Aki or Masato, he ignored the feeling and focused entirely on being the instructor, teaching both of them a trick he’d picked up at his old school to pass the ball between teammates while feigning a shot at the goal to confuse the other team.

At long last, they’d had enough practice and went back to their homework where it was harder to ignore the feeling of being watched. It was starting to alarm Isamu greatly, “Man, guys, I’m starting to get really tired” He sad, stretching to try to avoid suspicion of why he was suddenly backing out of the study group, “I think I’m finally getting this, so I’m going to head home for dinner and finish up tonight. I can text if I need extra help right?”

Masato nodded, “Yeah, it’s starting to get late, too” he said, “My aunt will get worried if I don’t at least call.” Aki agreed, and they all got up to leave the park- the feeling following Isamu, though neither Aki nor Masato seemed to be concerned. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to put them in danger so he tried to discreetly hurry them along.

However, the three of them spent a few extra minutes talking on the side of the road and finalizing plans for their weekend meet up before they finally parted ways. Aki and Masato lived three blocks away from each other, but Isamu lived in an apartment in the opposite direction.  

Having lived down here long enough to have learned a few short cuts, Isamu avoided the crowded main roads by taking less used alleyways, hoping to lose whatever was haunting him. This particular street was a back road behind a few convenience stores that occasionally company trucks used for deliveries, but Isamu rarely saw anyone actually using them.

His text alert beeped again, making him jump slightly, but he stopped to check it, this time the message was from another of his friends from his old school canceling their plans to hang out the next day. Isamu frowned and put his phone in his pocket without texting back. He’d only moved across the river for his father’s new job. Why was it so hard for everyone to meet him?

The boy became so lost in his thoughts that his sense of alertness started to fail. Isamu had his phone out again, looking up what assignments he had to for his classes and trying to decide what he needed to complete after dinner and what could be done during lunch tomorrow when he noticed movement. Isamu looked up, now absolutely certain that it was not just his imagination, or a trick of the light.

Where he had seen nothing but an odd ripple from the corner of his eye,  something melded into view. It looked like a giant chameleon wearing military gear. “Found a good one!” A raspy voice called out from the monster’s direction. Wait- that thing wasn’t the one speaking was it?

Faster than Isamu could make a run for it, a long slimy tongue lashed out of the creature’s mouth and wrapped around his body. He screamed and wiggled desperately, but was yanked closer to the chameleon’s open maw. Isamu closed his eyes, not wanting to see his upcoming doom, and wondering if the creature would kill him first or if it intended to swallow him whole and alive.

Neither option appeared to be the case, however as mere meters from the beast’s jaws, the tongue suddenly lifted him high. Isamu hardly dared to open his eyes again, but eventually had to when the raspy voice demanded he did, confirming that it was in fact the giant chameleon that was speaking.

Isamu struggled to breathe in the firm grip of the tongue, but did as commanded and opened his eyes to look at the creature, which was scrutinizing him the same way he might inspect the latest electronics while deciding what was better quality.

“Yes, yes. You’ll do.” The monster muttered,  Isamu whimpered as the tongue started to retract back toward the creature’s mouth, certain that this time he was going to be lizard chow, but to his relief, Isamu’s toes brushed the ground and he was released. Isamu toppled over, landing face first onto the pavement. “You’ll do just fine.”

Instinct told Isamu to get up and run, but logic reminded him that the creature would catch him with its tongue again if he tried...and maybe this time he would end up as dinner. “I...I’ll do just fine for what...?” Isamu asked, clearly food wasn’t what this monster was after, for now at least, but he had no idea what it really wanted from him.

The answer came with a massive foot being pressed onto his back, pinning him to the ground. “My Tamer!” The creature replied, “I am Chamelemon! And I need a leader like you to make me stronger!”

Chamelemon spoke as if Isamu should know what that meant, “You seem plenty strong to me!” He said, and wound up again regretting his tendency to say what was on his mind, when the pressure on his back increased as Chamelemon pushed him harder into the ground.

“Don’t be a fool! I barely scrapped through the war on my own! I need you to be my Tamer!” Chamelemon growled, “Now, make me stronger or I’ll kill you!”

Isamu wasn’t really in a position to say no, even if that’s all he wanted to do. Who did this thing think he was, what did he mean leader? Sure he had taken charge of Soccer practice but that hardly made him a leader. What could someone as powerless as Isamu do to make Chamelemon stronger? Two shapes appeared in Isamu’s peripheral vision, a black one and a white one. Female voices cried out strange words.

"Moon Surge!”

“Sun Bash!”

He managed to turn his head just enough to see the white shape, some kind of dog-like animal, shoot a small blast of light energy at Chamelemon. Though Isamu couldn’t see it, the black one on the other side of him was doing the same thing. The combined blast was powerful enough to knock Chamelemon back, allowing Isamu to scramble away.

With a good look at his rescuers now, Isamu realized that they were an almost identical pair. The canine features extended only to their faces and body shapes, their ears were long and tipped with tuffs of fur that were red on the black creature and blue on the other. They had long tails with spikes on the end.

“Ju! Get ready” The white one called, glancing behind her, passed Isamu forcing him to look as well.

He was surprised to see the girl that had transferred into class just that day. Ju looked equally surprised to see him, but didn’t dwell on it long as she focused on whatever it was that the white creature had told her to prepare for. Ju lifted her arm, pressing buttons on her digital watch.

The black one dodged a lashing from Chamelemon’s tongue, “Leptomon! Ju! We need to act now!”

“Don’t rush her, Cannismon!” the other replied, shooting another blast of energy from her mouth.

“All set!” Ju called, looking up from her glove, “Do it!”

The small dogs leaped between Isamu and Chamelemon, and their bodies began to glow. “Eclipse Snare!” they cried in unison and bounded forward, black and white energy trailed their every move.

Chamelemon attempted to squash them with both his tongue and his claws but Cannismon and Leptomon were much faster than him. The pair encircled him several times before their glow diminished and they sprinted away . The trail of energy they’d left behind tightened like a noose, trapping Chamelemon in its coil!

Ju took a few long strides forward, holding her gloved hand in front of her, “Initiate data conversion!” She shouted.

A computerized voice replied “Data conversion initiating.” A beam of light shot out of Ju’s watch and struck the giant lizard. Chamelemon started to pixelate, “Conversion in progress.”

“No!” Chamelemon struggled in his bonds, much like Isamu had while trapped by his tongue, and just as fruitlessly. Bits of his body broke off in small pixels and were dragged down the beam into the watch. The process was slow at first but picked up speed, and soon there wasn’t enough of Chamelemon left to struggle.

When he vanished entirely, the beam returned to Ju’s watch and the computer voice announced, “Conversion complete. Scanning new data....Scan complete. Digimon identified: Chamelemon. Would you like to view Chamelemon’s profile?”

“Not now.” Ju said and lowered her arm, pressing another button on her wristwatch.

The air around them pixelated in a similar manner to how Chamelemon had vanished, but aside from that, nothing seemed to change. “Digital Construct deactivated.” The computer said.

Ju then turned to Isamu, “You alright?” She asked.

Isamu’s mouth was hanging open in shock, “Wha- Did you kill it?” He asked.

Ju laughed, “What? No! No, I never kill Digimon. I just converted his data into something a little easier to carry.”

Isamu jumped when two small bodies suddenly pressed up against him, “If a Tamer converts a realized Digimon back into scan data, they can take them back to the Network, or even all the way back to the Digital World!” The one that had been called Leptomon said, bumping her head against Isamu’s hand like she wanted him to pet her.

“We always send the hostile ones back to the Digital World. If they attack humans in this world they’re not going to be welcome in the Network.” Cannismon added, wagging her tail, but keeping back from Isamu.

“Digimon? Network? Digital World?” Isamu looked at Ju for some kind of explanation, but the transfer student was busy giggling.

Finally she stepped over and offered him her hand to help him back to his feet. “That’s a little hard to explain, but Cannismon and Leptomon seem to like you, and they don’t usually warm up to strangers. Maybe Chamelemon was onto something, choosing you.”

“I don’t understand.” Isamu exclaimed, digging his hands into his pocket, “Choosing me for what?”

“To be a Digimon Tamer.” She replied, lifting her glove to him so that he could see that it was not a watch on her wrist. She lowered it and held her hand out again, this time in greeting. “I know I introduced myself this morning, but I think we should have a more proper one. I’m Ju Ling, I’ve been a Tamer for three years. These are my partners, Cannismon, and Leptomon.”

“Nice to meet you!” Leptomon said with a sing-song-voice, Cannismon gave the same response in a less enthusiastic tone.

“Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Isamu Shidou.” He replied, shaking Ju’s hand and looking at the creatures at their feet for a moment before turning his eyes back to Ju. “What’s a Tamer?”

Next episode

[lu-undy]

Hello again! I hope im not bothering you, Mundy was gone for how many years...he was still in a mannco, while Lucien is already retired for being a spy. Lu was totally miss sniper. He can't handle it already for being alone. He thought that his lover was already death. But soon, Mundy ( looks totally different he has a long beard, lots of scars in his arms) came back.

Hey, thank you for the request, I absolutely loved writing this! I hope you will like reading it! :D

“Bonjour”

[Hello.]

Lucien entered his usual bakery in Paris and didn't even have to say what he wanted. The baker knew him and his routine: one baguette and two croissants. 

"Ajoutez deux éclairs au chocolat, s'il vous plaît."

[Add two chocolate éclairs, please.]

The ex-Spy paid what he owed and returned to the solitude of his flat, poured some coffee in a cup, and sat on his table, reading the newspaper.

He had retired years ago now and it had been about the hardest decision to make. Although, in truth, it hadn't been his at all. He had been injured beyond what Medic could repair and it was a miracle that he didn't completely bust his kneecap. Ah, that shot from Team Vanguard's Sniper…. However, it was enough to put a stop to his contract with Mann Co. and to his entire career. 

But his damaged knee did not only put a sudden end to his career. Back when he was a Spy, Lucien shared his life with a friend who turned into a lover. More than that, Sniper turned out to understand him more and better than any previous romantic conquest ever before, and Lucien let himself fall in love as deeply as he could ever be. 

They shared their days, their meals and their nights together, becoming inseparable, yet remaining professional on the battlefield. They went by Spy and Sniper at work, and Lucien and Mundy when they were on their own. 

What a luxury for Spy, to have a lover who could know and did know that he was a Spy. There was very little left that Lucien could hide from him and so he trusted Mundy with everything, from his body to his thoughts. Even the darkest corners of his mind he shared with him. Not only he could, but he also felt safe enough in the strong arms of the man his heart beat for. 

It had never changed. Lucien still loved him. There wasn't a day where he didn't think about Mundy, there wasn't a moment where he didn't crave his presence. But it had been years now, and if he recalled correctly, it would have been their seventh anniversary on that very day. 

Lucien stared at the box containing the chocolate éclairs he had bought. It was on the table in front of him. Those were Mundy's favourite pastries and he loved them too. Anytime they needed to celebrate something, or if he just wanted to treat him, Lucien would buy some. He had kept the habit even though Mundy wasn't with him anymore. 

When he had left Mann Co., both of them decided that it would be better to not try and keep in touch. They loved each other too much to just write letters or phone each other. What they had shared was so much stronger than that. 

Often, Lucien wondered if Mundy too thought about him or if he just had forgotten and moved on. Maybe he had found someone else, maybe he had managed to turn the page. But not Lucien. He had gotten rid of most objects that reminded him of Mann Co., in an effort to try and forget, but of course it ended up doing the exact opposite. 

Each new day that God made, Lucien missed Mundy more. From the moment he would wake up, in a bed that was too large, empty and cold, to his meals that he would have with the sound of the clock, counting the ticks and tocks that separated him from his loved one. 

There were days where Lucien wouldn't exit his flat at all, and he wouldn't even open his blinds. The world asked too much of his energy and facing it alone was above him. That was on days where the weather wasn't too cold. When winter hit, it usually meant for Lucien that his knee would trouble him more than usual, and his cane wasn't enough to help him walk.

He sighed. Every year he would celebrate the anniversary alone. It reminded him of when he was a child. He would spend his birthdays more or less alone too, as Lucien had always been a man of very few friends. But celebrating it on his own did not mean that he should not do it properly. He went to his room and dressed up accordingly. 

Black socks, garters, Burgundy striped trousers, white shirt, dark red tie, Burgundy striped jacket, black gloves. Ah, and of course, the matching balaclava. 

He had got rid of almost all the objects that reminded him of Mundy, but not the suit. Non, it was the one that Mundy had touched, sometimes just lightly, a tap on the shoulder, other times fiercely, almost to the point of ripping it apart to get to Lucien's hot bare skin. 

His skin prickled as if he could feel it all again. Lucien raised his head to his mirror and looked at himself. He pushed the front grey lock of hair which, as usual, stuck out of the mask, and adjusted the balaclava, like a sad clown tired to put on a show; because that was exactly what it was, a show. A comedy for the cynical and a tragedy for Lucien himself.

He frowned at his reflection. That was it, he was him again. He was Spy. 

Spook.

His ears pricked up as if he could hear it for real, Mundy's voice calling him. Lucien took a deep breath and sighed.

And he proceeded to spend his entire day roleplaying as his past, happier self. He even faked a few grins, here and there. The first one hurt his lips, and the ones that followed asked almost too much of his energy. Pff… And to think he used to be a spy, paid to pretend and lie. Now, he couldn't even fake a smile. 

Spy took his cane and walked out of his flat. He needed to see it. He needed to see people's awkward looks at his mask, at the ridiculous uniform. He held his cane in his hand and walked without it for a few steps, pretending that he was Spy again. And people stared more at his physical appearance than his limp.

He walked, took step after step, feeling his entire right leg and thigh weigh a ton, his knee screaming in pain. But Lucien bit his cheek and frowned. No amount of physical pain compared to the emptiness in his heart. He wasn't doing it for himself alone, he was doing it for them, because the last time he wore that suit and it made sense, he didn't need his cane. Mundy was there to help him, holding him close, and the pain in his knee was drowned by the love he felt for the handsome Australian.

Eventually, Lucien found a bench and sat down. Like a reflex, his hand went to his breast pocket and he opened his cigarette case. He used his silver lighter and a flame sprang up. 

He stayed there, lazily watching people come and go, cars and buses passing by. He was used to the weird stares at his face wearing a mask. But somehow it felt different. He used to ignore them because he knew he was handsome. Lucien only had to look at how Mundy gazed at him to see his own beauty. And nothing would get to him, nothing at all. 

That was all gone now. 

Lucien lifted himself up from the bench and headed back home. He closed and locked his door. He didn't use to be the paranoid type and lock his door all the time, and he still wasn't. However, he needed to close the door, he needed to isolate himself from the rest of the world. The Earth had kept on spinning like a mad tip-top in space, but Lucien's life had stopped long ago. 

He rested his cane next to his chair as he sat down, and raised his eyes to the clock. It was the evening now and if he had still been working for Mann Co., he would have been with Mundy in his smoking room. Now would have been the right moment for it… 

Lucien put his gloved hands on the closed box containing the pastries and made it slide closer to him on the table. He removed his mask and carded his salt and pepper hair back with his fingers. Lucien gulped down hard as he slowly opened the box. Soon, he saw the two chocolate éclairs lying there and sighed. It was almost as if part of him expected to open the box and find Mundy there… Ridiculous… 

A knock on the door interrupted his train of thought. He grumbled and frowned as he said:

"Allez-vous-en!"

[Go away!]

The knocks started again and it got on his nerves. 

"J'ai dit: allez-vous-en! Allez vendre vos gadgets et vos balivernes à quelqu'un d'autre!"

[I said: go away! Go sell your gadgets and your lies to someone else!]

Silence fell for a second and Lucien sighed in relief… But the knocks started yet again. 

"Grand Dieu…"

[Good Lord…]

Lucien pulled his leg out from underneath the table and grabbed his cane. He stood up and walked to the door, determined to scare whoever was disturbing him. He would have still got angry if it was another day but today was special, sacred. No one and nothing should and could disturb him. 

The keys jingled as he unlocked the door and Lucien opened it aggressively. 

"Mon Dieu, vous ne pouvez pas me - ?"

[My God, can't you leave me - ?]

Lucien's sentence broke and his knees went to jelly, he started collapsing and the man in front of him caught him just in time. 

"Oh, careful, mate, eh… You used to stand better than that last time I saw you." 

"N-non…"

Lucien found some strength to stand on his own and put his hand on the man's cheek. There was a beard now there, dark brown by the looks of it, but impeccably trimmed. Lucien realised that his glove was in the way, he bit it and pulled it away before putting his hand on the man's cheek again, just to make sure it wasn't his head playing tricks on him.

"It can't be…" 

"Can we come in?" 

"O-oui, of course." 

Lucien shut the door and dragged his leg to sit on the sofa next to the man he would recognise anywhere. 

"Is that you?" He asked when they were both sitting next to each other. His eyes darted on every square millimetre of the man's face in utter shock.

"Did I change that much? Alright, the beard... I kept the glasses and the hat though… But you haven't changed a bit. You even still wear the suit! Such a Spook you are…" 

Lucien's breath cut short, his nose stinging all of a sudden and his eyes warmed up too fast to hold himself back. He burst out sobbing and pulled Mundy closer to himself, crying on his chest. 

"Hey now…? It's alright, I'm here, it's ok…"

Mundy wrapped his arms around Lucien and held him close while he sobbed and sobbed relentlessly. 

"I'm sorry, maybe I should have sent you a card, or called or somethin'. I just thought it'd be better to make it a surprise."

"I missed you… I missed you so much… I missed you so… much…" 

Lucien tried to speak between two sobs. Mundy let his fingers slide through his lover's hair and pulled his head against him even more. 

"I missed you too." He kissed his head. "I'm sorry to make you cry. I meant it to be a happy thing and now you're cryin'..."

Lucien pulled himself away from his lover's embrace and took a minute to calm himself down. He dried his tears and took a few deep breaths before looking up at the man he would have died to see again. He removed his other glove and cupped his face. 

"It's really you, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is. Took me ages to find you, you slitherin' Spook, but I finally did a few weeks ago. And uh… I don't know if you remember but it would have been seven years today." 

Lucien let his thumbs brush his lover's beard again.

"You think I would have forgotten? It is precisely why I dressed up like this!"

"Wait, what?" 

"Oh, and wait!" 

Lucien jumped on his left leg to stand up rapidly and awkwardly walked as fast as he could to the table. He closed the box that he had left there again, and came back to the sofa, almost collapsing on it. 

"Hey, take it easy! Don't want the handsome rogue to bust his other knee eh?"

Lucien landed in Mundy's arms and chuckled. He handed him the white laminated cardboard box. 

"What's that?" Mundy asked.

"It - it's for you and me." 

"Well in that case, here's for you too." 

Mundy handed him a plastic bag.

"But how did you buy somethin' for us, you didn't know I was coming?"

"I do it anyway. Every year I…" Lucien felt uncomfortable as he now realised how stupid and delusional it all was. 

Mundy put his hand on Lucien's shoulder. 

"Go ahead, tell me."

"It's… Ridiculous." 

"Well, not half as ridiculous as falling for a bloke you'd never seen the face of, eh? Or never stopping to love him for years until you go mad and just bang your fist on the table, leave your work and everything for him?" Mundy chuckled and Lucien smiled. "It's only me mate, go on." 

"Fine… Every year on this special day, I dress up as, well, as the Spy I was when I met you. I put the suit and tie on, even the mask, and I spend the entire day like that."

Mundy frowned. 

"Why?" 

"Because… Because it's the closest I could be to being with you for real. I also buy a similar box to the one you have in your hand. Open it, please." 

Mundy delicately lifted the lid and his eyebrows arched high up, his lips pursing in the sweetest smile. 

"You didn't forget about the lightnin' pastries, eh?" Mundy eyes went up to meet his lover's.

Lucien smiled.

"And you remember that éclair means lightning?"

"I can't really forget any French you taught me." 

"And I can't forget your tastes in pastries."

They stared in each other's eyes for a while, just rediscovering their colours, their shapes and their shine.

"But Lu', go ahead and open yours." 

Lucien's eyes snapped wide at the mention of his nickname. Mundy was the only one ever in his life to call him that. 

"Y'alright?" 

Lucien shook his head and cleared his throat. 

"Oui, oui sorry, I uh, I shall open this." He put the box that was in the plastic bag on his lap and slowly opened it. When his eyes met with its content, he bit his lip to hold himself back from tearing up again. 

"Yeah, I got the same thing too…" Mundy said. "I didn't think you'd buy some yerself. I thought that… Maybe you'd forgotten about it and uh, about me. Maybe you found someone else, you're as good-looking as when you left so…"

"Nonsense." Lucien answered. "Find someone else? Me? Non, of course not. You are the only person I want. I don't want anyone else, how could I? You are the only one I trust."

Mundy smiled and softened. 

"And you? Are you with someone else?" Lucien asked. 

"Nah. I did try, y'know, to get you out of my head… But you never really went away and I kept comparin' people to you. It never worked with anyone and in the end I just faced it: I love no one else but you. But we've got time to talk about this. First, we eat the lightnin' pastries before they flash away. I'll eat one from your box and you eat one from mine, ok?" 

Lucien nodded and took one of the éclairs in his hand. They both raised their pastries and tipped them as if they were pints of beer. 

"To us, luv'." 

Lucien's eyes glistened. 

"À nous…" He gulped down, his throat was dry, before he answered. "Mon amour."

[To us… My love…]

And they both bit in their éclairs at the same time, smiling into the soft pastry, the fresh chocolate cream meeting their tongues in the sweetest embrace.

Lucien could not believe that he was sitting here, on his sofa, with Mundy next to him eating their favourite sweet delicacy on the seventh year of their romantic adventure. Mundy couldn't help but lace his arm around Lucien and sit back, and Lucien used his lover's chest as a pillow. 

"How I've missed all this…" 

"Me too, luv', me too. It almost seems like a dream, or like we're doing something forbidden." 

"Oui, it is true. I… You will mock me but I can hardly believe I am not hallucinating this whole situation."

"Yeah, same here." Mundy licked his fingers. "So, uh, what have you been up to?"

"Missing you." Lucien answered as he closed his eyes, his head rising and falling to the rhythm of Mundy's breath. 

"Yeah, I meant apart from that. Anythin' new?"

"Hm…" Lucien tried thinking about anything remotely interesting but couldn't find anything. "Non, I'm afraid." 

"You haven't picked up somethin' over all those years, like a hobby or something?"

"Non." 

"You poor thing…" Mundy kissed his lover on his head again and Lucien clenched his fingers on his chest.

"What about you, mon amour?"

[My love]

"I uh… I'm a barber now." 

"What?!" Lucien raised his head off his lover's chest. "Really?" 

"Yeah, what do you think about my beard? I trimmed it myself. I had my hair cut by a friend though cause uh, well, you can't really do it on your own head. But yeah, what d'you think?" 

Lucien's eyes devoured Mundy. 

"I find you even more handsome than when I left. It makes you look older, and it is not a complaint at all, I like it very much." Lucien inspected the beard. "And that is some great job, I can hardly see any imperfections. Your beard is magnificent, it shines almost too much!"

"I put some oil to take care of it. If you ever want to grow one, I can help you, there's some good stuff out there to have it grow nice and shine bright." 

Lucien's eyelids fluttered under the surprise. 

"What? You don't want to grow a beard?" Mundy asked. 

"That is besides the point, I'm, I'm just speechless… I remember when you used to mock me because I use a hand cream! And listen to you now, using oil to take care of your beard and such…!"

Mundy laughed and Lucien's heart woke up almost violently in his chest. It had been years that he hadn't heard that rough laughter, from that special hoarse voice. 

"Speakin' of, gimme your hand." 

Mundy took Lucien's hand and put it under his nose.

"You old man, you never change, do you? Still usin' the same vanilla hand cream, eh?" 

Lucien chuckled. 

"Oui, I am. You know me, I don't like to change my habits."

Mundy slid his fingers between Lucien's. 

"Yeah." 

Silence fell in the room. Lucien laid his head on Mundy's chest again and listened to his heartbeat right below his ear, while Mundy played with Lucien's hair. It was all back as it had been years before, only it wasn't in Mann Co. but in Paris. 

"Mundy?" 

"Yeah?" 

Lucien opened his eyes and looked up. He only saw part of Mundy's masculine jaw from below.

"How long are you staying?"

"Well, I-I don't really know, luv'." 

"Oh…" 

Mundy heard the disappointment in Lucien's voice.

"It might be just a few days or longer." 

"Why are you so unsure? Do you have obligations elsewhere?"

"Not really."

"Why then?"

"Depends." 

"On what?" 

"On you." Mundy answered and Lucien's head jumped off his chest. 

"What do you mean 'it depends on me'?"

"Well, d'you want me to stay?" Mundy asked with a smirk. 

"Of course I do…! And you, do you want to stay?" Lucien asked back. 

"I just want to be with you. Here, elsewhere, on the bloody Moon if that's what you want. I just want to have you next to me all the time. It was too hard without you, I don't want that ever again."

Lucien melted on his lover's chest hearing those words. He laid his head on it again.

"Neither do I. Please, Mundy…?"

"Yeah, what?" 

"Stay with me." Lucien pleaded with his voice. 

"Yeah, I will. But first, look up here, luv'." 

Lucien did as he was told and saw the most beautiful lagoon blue eyes on his own. Mundy's hand slid from Lucien's hair to behind his neck and pulled him in closer. They rested their forehead against each other's. 

"I love you, Lu'." 

Lucien closed his eyes and bit his lip. 

"Je t'aime aussi."

[I love you too.]

Mundy bent forward and his lips brushed past Lucien's, just grazing them. He didn't know if it was too much or maybe he was going too fast. But no, Lucien cupped Mundy's face and pulled it even more. Their lips met. After years of yearning, longing, craving. Finally, their lips met again.

Mundy felt Lucien's lips trembling. He opened his eyes and backed off slightly. Tears were silently streaming down Lucien's face, his eyes were red and slightly swollen. 

"You poor thing, I'm never leaving you again." 

"Please don't." 

And those words were the last they exchanged on the sofa. More was said after Mundy stood up and carried Lucien in his arms. But those words shall remain in the secrecy of their room, under the duvet.