#fairies truth or dare

[barananduen-blog]

Masks in Ancient CDramas

A screencap collection from:

An Ancient Love Song, The Blue Whisper, Heart of Ice and Flame, In Blossom, The Journey of Chong Zi, The Killer is Also Romantic, The Last Immortal, Lost You Forever, Love and Redemption, Love Between Fairy and Devil, Love You Seven Times, Mysterious Lotus Casebook, Princess Silver, Song of the Moon, A Tale of Love and Loyalty, Till the End of the Moon, Truth or Dare, Wonderland of Love

Bonus!

Please check the Alt Text to see which image corresponds to which drama.

To see all themed screencap sets, click here: [# cdrama themed screencap set]

[dragongodryss]

Truth or Dare

Characters: Sting Eucliffe, Rogue Cheney, Gajeel Redfox, Wendy Marvell, Natsu Dragneel

The Dragon slayers made a point of meeting at least once a month, typically on the 20th. It didn't matter if one or two couldn't make it or what they did together, what mattered was that they met. Sometimes they (Usually Natsu and Gajeel, occasionally Laxus) sparred, sometimes they played trained together, other times, they talked about their dragons and draconic culture in general.

Erik and Laxus were the most typical drop-outs, and Natsu and Wendy usually dropped out together. Sometimes, Sting had to skip out due to his master duties, but Rogue would make an effort to show up anyway.

They usually met in a clearing in the forest between Magnolia and Gazania when they weren't expecting downpour, but on days where rain was expected, one of them would host (Usually Sting and Rogue or Natsu).

Today was scheduled to be rainy, and as Natsu had hosted them last time and hadn't yet volunteered to do so this time, Sting had decided that he and Rogue would host their meeting this week. He ran down to the closest shops for enough snacks to placate seven hungry Dragon slayers while Rogue let the others know.

Rogue called Gajeel, the only one that could consistently be relied upon to answer his lacrima, first.

"Hey kid, what's up? Need me to arrest someone for you?" Gajeel picked up on the first try. He continued his cop bit on occasion, despite not having worked with the council for a while. At least he'd stopped threatening to arrest Sting, among many others.

"No, not right now. I'm calling to tell you we're hosting our meet-up today. Could you let the others know? Oh, and tell Kinana to tell Erik. I'll tell Sorano as well, so maybe he'll hear about it." Erik and Wendy didn't have communication lacrimas yet, so they needed to be told verbally.

"Alright, well, thunder-thighs is out on a job, so he ain't coming. But Salamander and little blue are in town. I'll let Kinana know. We doing this tonight?" Gajeel asked.

"Sting didn't say. He's out buying snacks. Be there at five, I guess." Rogue told him.

They showed up at six, they being Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel.

"Alright, what do we do?" Gajeel asked. Fighting was out of the question.

"Well, I was thinking," Sting started, never a good sign, "We could play truth or dare."

"Sounds good." Natsu agreed. Wendy tacked on an 'Okay'. Rogue supposed he'd be outvoted no matter what, so he shrugged.

"Let's go alphabetically." Sting suggested.

"By first or last name?" Wendy asked.

"You choose, I don't really care."

"Last." Wendy said, for obvious reasons. Which would be fine, if not for the fact that that meant Rogue was going first. "Rogue, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Boring." Natsu commented.

"When is the last time you apologized, and for what?" Wendy asked. Rogue thought for a moment.

"Yesterday evening. I bumped into the table and I was tired, so I apologized to it." Rogue admitted. Gajeel snorted. "Natsu, truth or dare."

"Dare." He had better, after his comment.

"Switch clothes with Sting for the rest of the game." Rogue said without wasting a moment.

"Fine. Let's do this." Natsu had not anticipated that this would be the day he wore thigh-high boots and a crop-top, but he had done far worse dares, courtesy of Erza. "Sting, you're next, right? Truth or dare?"

"Dare!" Sting said. Natsu chuckled evilly.

"Go to Minerva's place, ask for the spiciest thing she has in her house, bring it back here and chug it." Natsu ordered. Sting grumbled but got up.

"I'd be scared, but I can't take you seriously in those clothes." Wendy told Natsu, quite unnecessarily, he thought.

"Yeah, imagine running a guild like that." Gajeel quipped, laughing when Rogue glared at him.

Sting returned with a small jar of a red-brown powder.

"Minerva says I have to bring this back, it's expensive." He told Natsu.

"So you're going to chicken out? How are you going to take care of Rogue if you can't even keep you word?" Gajeel asked.

"He can't take care of anyone if Minerva kills him!" Rogue protested.

"Rogue takes care of Sting!" Frosch, who was apparently in the next room, called out.

Sting chugged the spices. He was surprised by how little he felt it. Then:

"ARGGHHHH, CRAP THIs hurtsss. Ow. Ow. Water- Please..."

"Sting!" Lector, Rogue and Wendy all shouted. Gajeel tried to hold in his laughter at the sheer stupidity.

"Lector, we have milk in the fridge. Just grab the whole bottle and bring it here. Hurry!" Rogue ordered. Lector, who had entered the room when he'd heard Sting scream, flew off to get milk.

Once Sting was in slightly less pain, Lector and Frosch were sent to Yukino, who was supervising the Guild in Sting and Rogue's absence.

"Aright, next. Wendy. Truth or Dare?" Sting rasped.

"Truth. Please go easy on me."

"Last time you snitched on a guildmate and what for."

"That's not going easy!" Wendy protested.

"What gave you the impression I was in the mood to go easy on anyone?" Sting asked.

"Fine. I- I never told on anyone." Wendy hoped she would get away with the lie. From the doubt on everyone's faces, she hadn't. "Fine, I told Erza about Natsu and Gray smoking Bixlow's weed."

"That was you? I thought she smelled it!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Okay. Moving on. Gajeel, truth or dare?" Wendy panicked.

"Dare."

"Hold a plank until it's your turn again." Wendy said. Gajeel got up into a plank.

"Rogue, truth or dare?"

"Dare." Rogue hoped he wouldn't regret it.

"Keep your eyes closed for the next two turns." Gajeel told him. Well there was absolutely no way that would ever go wrong. Rogue shut his eyes.

"Okay, Natsu. Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to let Sting write or draw whatever he wants, wherever he wants, with whatever he wants, taking as much time as he needs, on you." Rogue said. Sting deserved the chance to avenge himself.

"Ooh. Nice! Give me a minute." Sting scrambled off to get whatever it was he was getting. He came back a couple of minutes later. "Alright. Don't move, Natsu!"

"Why do you have glitter glue? Sting!" Natsu questioned. "Sting, you know I'm giving you a dare next. Sting!"

Rogue had no idea what the hell Sting was doing, since he couldn't see, but Gajeel sounded like he was trouble keeping up his plank while laughing and Wendy seemed concerned.

"Hurry up, lightbulb! I've been holding this damn plank for five minutes now." Gajeel complained.

"What is he doing?" Rogue asked Gajeel and Wendy.

"Writing 'I'm a jerk', 'Erza sucks' and, uhm... 'Please kick me uwu' in permanent markers and, uhh... Bluebird, go see what he's drawing, I can't move. He's using glitter glue for that anyway." Gajeel explained.

"I'm drawing dicks!" Sting happily called out before Wendy could get up.

"You're paying for this, Sting! Truth or dare?" Natsu growled.

"Truth." Sting said with what Rogue imagined to be the most unbearably smug look on his face.

"What is your most ridiculous fear?" Natsu grinned sadistically, planning on using the information against him next turn. By the look on his face, Sting knew it too. Served him right. Sting thought for a while.

"I don't know. They're all serious to me." Sting thought aloud. "Oh! Minerva said my fear of hospitals is ridiculous. So, that, I guess."

"That's normal though." Natsu said. "They smell like sickness and death and stuff."

"Well, Minerva doesn't think so, and she's going to send me there for the spice incident. So yeah. Wendy, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Of all of us here, who is your favorite?" Sting asked.

"Not you." Everyone, even his boyfriend, said in unison.

"Rogue?" He whined.

"Did you really think you were her favorite? After your last question?"

"Fine. I'm yours anyway. So who is it, Wendy?" Sting asked again, the matching looks of expectation on Gajeel and Natsu's faces erasing some of the hurt he felt. This was going to be fun.

"Uhm... Let me think." Wendy panicked again. Sting entertained himself with watching Gajeel suffer in his plank, so close to relief, yet so far.

"Come on, it's clearly me!" Natsu insisted. "You already said it's not Sting, and it's definitely not Rogue."

"What about me, you jerk? You wanna go?" Gajeel shouted.

"Why wouldn't it be Rogue anyway?" Sting threw in for good measure.

"If you wanna fail your dare, I'll fight you!" Natsu answered the challenge.

"Coward!" Gajeel insulted him.

"What do I do if I don't want to answer?" Wendy asked sheepishly.

"Then Gajeel has to stay in his plank forever." Rogue said evenly, ignoring the chaos. That gave Sting an idea.

"Nah. Then I give you a dare instead and we reverse the questioning order so you don't give anyone a dare this turn." Sting suggested, pretending to be merciful.

"Yeah, I like that." Natsu said.

"Sounds fair." The oblivious Gajeel agreed, Rogue's comment making him desperate for a resolution. Rogue and Wendy nodded,

"Alright Wendy, dare it is. Take this lacrima, call anyone you want outside this room and tell them that they are sexy and you are hopelessly in love with them. Then hang up before they answer." Sting dared her.

"That's mean." Wendy complained.

"Then answer the question." Sting suggested. Wendy gulped and called.

"ErzayouaresexyandIloveyoubye!" Wendy rattled off in one breath.

"Close enough. Alright, since we're reversing the order; Natsu! Truth or Dare?" Sting asked.

"Wait! What?" Gajeel roared.

"You agreed to it, plank boy." Sting dismissed him.

"Dare?" Natsu said, a little more hesitantly this time.

"Give Rogue and Wendy your wallet and let them go shopping unsupervised." Sting ordered.

"With my eyes closed?" Rogue asked, worrying about the many stairs.

"Wendy will take care of you."

"After the stuff you put her through, I wouldn't blame her for pushing me down the stairs to get back at you." Rogue told him.

The trip down the stairs went better than expected, thanks to Rogue's shadow travel. But now, the trouble was finding a shop while guiding a blinded Rogue in the pouring rain, which would give him trouble finding his way around.

"We really should have brought our coats." Wendy mused as she guided Rogue by the arm. She looked around. They walked the streets in silence, looking for a shop that looked interesting. She picked a jewelry shop, hoping to get a gift for Sherria. She looked in Natsu's wallet. Wow, did he have a lot of money. Something caught her eye.

"Hey, Rogue? Since you can't see, can I choose what we get? I want it to be a surprise." She asked innocently. Rogue agreed.

Meanwhile, in Sting and Rogue's apartment, Sting was stuffing himself with sweets. Natsu was doing the same, while wondering if he should have told Wendy that he had been holding on to the reward for their last job and that she could be spending Lucy's rent money. Gajeel, meanwhile, had been in his plank for half an hour at this point and was sick and tired of this game.

Cheerfully, Wendy guided Rogue back home.

"We're back!" She called out, soaking wet but smiling. Beside her, Rogue looked like a wet cat.

"What did you get?" Natsu asked.

"I don't know." Rogue answered.

"Give me a second. First, I got matching bracelets for me and Sherria!" She proclaimed, holding up two silver bracelets, one with a sapphire and tiger's eye heart and one with rose-quartz and sapphire. Expensive, but there would still be enough to make Lucy's rent and some money for the rest of the team to split. "And I bought this for Rogue!"

"It's beautiful! Put it on him." Sting exclaimed. Natsu couldn't see it yet, but he didn't need to be Carla to know this was not going to go well. "Oh, man. I wish he could open his eyes. It matches them so well."

Rogue felt some sort of circlet being placed on his head. It felt cold, like metal. From Stings awed commentary, he could guess some of it was red.

Natsu couldn't deny it suited Rogue, but the circlet killed any hopes of bringing back any money. His team would never trust him with the rewards ever again.

"Rogue. Truth or dare?" He asked numbly.

"Truth." Earlier, he had mocked Rogue's decision, but now, he saw the wisdom in his fellow Dragon slayers choices. He remembered something a drunk Sting had thought up while at a party.

"Have you ever had sex in a tree?" Natsu asked. Sting suddenly looked awfully sheepish.

"I have tried. Do you remember when I had that concussion?" Rogue answered honestly.

"Sting, you moron. What part of that is looking out for him?" Gajeel scolded.

"It was romantic until he fell!"

"Alright Gajeel. Truth or dare?" Rogue asked. Gajeel sighed in relief and collapsed in a heap on the floor.

"...Truth."

"Where do you think you'll be in five years time?"

"What is this, shadow princess, a job interview?" Gajeel asked.

"It's a question, and what's with the nickname?" Rogue fire back.

"Ya look like a princess. Tiara'n all. But I guess I'll be in a meeting with you losers again. But I sure as hell won't be playing this stupid game." Gajeel answered.

"Okay, my turn! I pick dare!" Wendy said.

"Lick your elbow."

Wendy tried to reach, but her tongue would not stretch quite far enough. Scowling from the effort, she kept trying. Eventually, Rogue piped up.

"Shouldn't the dare be physically possible?"

"Fine. New dare. Hit Sting on the head." Gajeel agreed. Wendy obliged, carefully. "Ya had a free hit, and ya let him off easy. The jerk would've had it coming."

"Okay Sting, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Do you have vinegar?" Wendy asked. Sting liked where this was going.

"Yeah. Brand new bottle."

"Drink it. All of it."

"Good kid." Gajeel said.

"We have a new bottle for a reason." Rogue complained.

"I'm sorry, what?" Gajeel asked.

"We have a new bottle for a reason." Rogue repeated. "And that reason is that Sting likes sour things."

"I'm not surprised. Bloody Freak."

"Chug! Chug! Chug!" Natsu was probably chanting loudly enough to rouse the downstairs neighbours. Sting opened the bottle and gave it a swirl, putting it to his lips and drinking the whole thing in about 30 seconds.

"Alrighty, now! Natsu, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Have you ever said something you regret about someone in this room?" Sting asked mischievously.

"Yes."

"Well?"

"No. Rogue, truth or dare?"

"Truth!" Rogue opened his eyes as he spoke, blinking them a few times to get used to the light.

"What to you think about the circlet?" Natsu asked. Rogue went to look at a mirror. He came back shortly after.

"It's beautiful, but it must have cost a fortune."

The game fizzled out after that. Everyone crashed at Sting and Rogue's place for the night.

The Fairy Tail Dragon slayers returned to Magnolia to find Erza waiting for them.

"Wendy, I got your message. Are you alright?" She asked, concerned.

"Yeah. We played truth or dare."

"That explains... things." Erza said, her gaze sweeping the trio before her. Gajeel was rubbing his arms with numb fingers, looking absolutely miserable. Natsu, wearing what looked like Stings clothes, with marked skin and a deeply guilty expression on his face. Wendy, all things considered, looked the best out of the three. "Do the other two look worse?"

"No. We all agree that lightbulb is the worst though." Gajeel growled.

Back in Gazania, Rogue was surprised at how little clean-up was necessary. Looking at Sting's smug face as they had their morning coffee, Rogue knew he had been right.

When Sting had an idea, it was never a good thing.

[rwac96]

Prompt

Crossover RWBY and Fairy Tail

Ren is dared by Neptune and Sun to slap Cana's ass. He is ready for a slap or kick or something physical. Instead the girl takes it that he wants her and she is all for it. Face shoved into tits.

Nora: Renny? RENNY!! *turns to the SN duo* Sun, Neptune, you guys seen Ren?

Neptune: *gulps* Um...

Sun: He went off to meditate!

Nora: *squints* You two are hiding-- *eyes widen, gasping* REN?!

*Lie Ren is in a tight hug, thanks to Cana Alberona; who has shoved his face into her bosom*

Cana: *chuckles* Since you love to slap asses, how about you get a face full of tits~.

Ren: *muffled shouting, blushing*

Nora: *enraged, pulling out Magnichild* LET GO OF MY RENNY, YOU BOOZE HUSSY!! *lunges at the Wizard and attacks her*

*Ren is free as the two women get into an intense catfight*

Neptune: *turns to Sun, whispers* She's gonna find out that we dared him to slap that bar hottie's butt.

Sun: *clasps his hand onto his teammate's mouth* Keep that on the down low!

[sanemistar]

DANGEROUS MAN

contents ★ clan leader!gojo x fem!reader, enemies to lovers, fluff, suggestive (17+), making out, slight mention of biting/marking, reader gets called princess, 1.6k+ wc. ﾉ requested for my milestone event.

event m.list ★ jjk m.list

your parents had warned you several times about satoru gojo, the leader of the gojo clan. one of the strongest clans to exist, along with your own clan. they had forbidden you from speaking him, let alone being in the same room as him. due to the long history and the rivalry between your clan and the gojos, your clans had considered each other enemies for as long as one could remember. you had been familiar with their warnings like the back of your hand, and you had abided by them for so long. though you personally had no ill intentions towards him, nor even understood the hatred against the gojos.

that was, until you had met him in person at one of those boring higher up gatherings that you were forced to attend when you two coincidently went outside to get a breath of fresh air, away from all the tension and awkwardness inside.

the first thought that had come across your mind when you first saw satoru was that he was charming, like one of those charming princes you read about in fairy tales. you’d seen him in pictures before, but never this close. truth be told, pictures could’ve never fully captured how ethereal he looked in real life. you’d never seen anyone like him before, and you probably never would. he was simply out of this world, like a work of art—a one in a million man. enchanted by his beauty, you couldn’t help but stare at him in admiration. your eyes never dared to look away from him, as if they were glued onto him.

“well well. if it isn’t you, the princess from that clan.” satoru’s voice pierced through your ears, waking you up from your dazed state. “you’ve been staring at me for so long, like i’m a statue in a museum or something.” you were unaware of how long you’d been staring at satoru until you saw the confusion on his face as he pointed out. you felt your face redden in embarrassment and you immediately looked down in an attempt to hide your flushed face.

“s-sorry about that, gojo-san. i didn’t mean to do that, i just…” you trailed off mid sentence, unsure of what to say in order to justify your actions earlier. your head was in and your thoughts were all over the place.

you heard a pair of footsteps coming closer to you and before you was none other than satoru. the one man you shouldn’t be standing so close to. your mind was telling you to run away and leave, but your body refused to move an inch. his thumb quickly glazed over your chin, swiftly lifting it up and your eyes got caught in his alluring gaze like a mouse in a cheese trap that was unable to escape before he let go of your chin. you could swear that the spot where he touched you earlier was tingling, as if his touch was electric.

“oh c’mon, no need for these formalities. they mean nothing to me. my name is satoru, so just call me satoru.” he spoke and you were slightly taken aback, you two had just met and he already wanted you to act on a first name basis.

“but..” he cut you mid sentence.

“no buts, it’s pretty easy. just repeat after me, satoru.” he said his name again slowly, waiting for you to say it back. he was pretty insistent on it so it looked like you had no choice.

“satoru.” his name finally rolled off your tongue, and a proud smirk made its way onto his face upon hearing you say his name. the way it came off your lips got him a little excited.

just then an idea popped up in satoru’s head, a reckless one at that.

“why don’t we go somewhere else where it’s just us two? away from all this.” he grabbed your hand gently yet firmly, like he had no intention of leaving you alone.

you knew best that it was never good ignoring what your parents had told you and involving yourself with him. but at that moment, you agreed to go with him. completely forgetting about everything, the rivalry, the hatred, everything. you weren’t sure if that was a rebellion phase or what, all you knew was that it felt right leaving with him.

satoru seemed surprised for a moment by how quickly you agreed to follow him, but grinned and took your hand before dragging the two of you away as you disappeared from the main entrance and into a quieter place where it was just you and him.

you had no idea how you ended up being pinned against the wall with satoru’s tall, lean figure hovering over you. completely blocking your view and blocking you from sight.

“why did you follow me so easily, hm? what if i had a malicious intention of some sort. didn’t your parents warn you about how dangerous the gojos were? especially their leader.” your chest moved up and down as your heart began racing rapidly.

“if you had any malicious intentions like you said, you would’ve taken me somewhere outside the territory. but since we didn’t really go that far away, it’d be useless for you to be doing anything dangerous here.” you began explaining. and satoru seemed so impressed by your smart response.

“you’re indeed very amusing.” he chuckled softly. he rested his hands on the wall, forcing you to look at nothing else around but him.

tension between the two of you began rising, and you found yourself subconsciously looking at his lips.

and satoru was so quick to notice how you were eyeing his lips for a while now.

“you could’ve simply asked me for a kiss if you want it so badly instead of just staring at my lips, princess.” he leaned in as he whispered into your ear and you could feel it heat up a bit in embarrassment.

and before you could get the chance to say anything you felt satoru’s lips smacking onto yours. you gasped into the kiss in surprise, your mind screamed at you to break away and push him off of you. but this time not only your body, but also your heart, refused to. you wrapped your arms around his neck, getting in the mood as you pulled him even closer to you. your fingers ran through the back of his soft hair.

meanwhile, satoru’s hands delicately trailed all over your back, slowly exploring every part and every bit of your skin. he was taking his sweet time touching you all while having your lips against his own, tongue exploring every corner of your mouth.

as the two of you further got in the mood, your kisses had become sloppier and hungrier. teeth clashing against each other as tongues swirled around one another in sync. what started off as a soft, gentle kiss had become a series of deep, passionate kisses that held so much lust and desire in them.

you felt so good that you could almost see stars.

“mhmm..” careful not to make any loud noises in order to avoid getting caught by anyone, you hummed against his lips. and you never knew you had the ability to hum like that ever so sweetly.

you couldn’t believe that you were doing such things with the one man you were never supposed to be doing all of that with.

satoru gojo was indeed dangerous, he was too dangerous for your heart.

the two of you had been making out for almost ten minutes straight. if it wasn’t for your desperate need for air to breathe, you wouldn’t have broken away. but due to the lack of oxygen, you had to break away from the kiss and catch your breath. eyes were only half open, your head was still light and dizzy after that makeout session as you were heavily panting, your lips which were now swollen were still slightly parted as a small trail of drool trickled down your chin.

“you look so beautiful right now, i think i’m in love.” satoru glazed his thumb over the corner of your lips, wiping the drool off. he leaned in once more and began nibbling on the crook of your slender neck and you winced a little as you felt him biting a bit too hard which would have probably left a mark that you would have to hide.

“maybe we should leave all this behind and run away together. it’s a great idea, don’t you think?” he suggested as he looked up at you, his blue eyes glowed slightly in the dark.

you suddenly came back to your senses upon hearing the words he said and slightly pushed him off of you.

“satoru we..” you began speaking, trying to form a coherent sentence. “we can’t do that. we’re supposed to be enemies, remember?” it was more of a reminder to yourself than it was to him that you and satoru would never be anything more than enemies.

“but enemies don’t kiss each other like that.” he whispered as he continued kissing your neck and up to your cheeks, then your nose, then back to your lips. he gave you quick, light pecks before pulling away.

“guess i’ll have to talk to those annoying higher ups of ours and end that nonsense rivalry, cause no way i’m gonna let you be with anyone else that’s not me.”

and the next thing you knew, you were being dragged by satoru into the main hall where all the higher ups were as both of you made a dramatic entrance when he announced that he’d be marrying you before kissing you in front of all of them. leaving everyone in the room, you included, in great shock.

satoru gojo was a dangerous, very dangerous man.

𝜗𝜚 taglist: @unriding @lxnarphase @sylusdoll @itachiiwrites @itoshivy @17020 @creamflix @luv-lies

[mahgyu]

Thinking about Nanami, who always warned her not to be upset if he didn't cry during their wedding ceremony.

Yes, it's obvious that he loves her more than anything in the world. He would face anyone to keep her safe above all else, but Nanami doesn't consider herself the type to express her emotions through the crying, whether they are good or bad.

So, as the wedding date approaches, Nanami begins to prevent any possible disappointment, trying to reassure her that, even if he doesn't cry at their wedding, he will be more than happy and fulfilled with the occasion. You clearly wouldn't expect anything like that from him, but Nanami started to fear that you might find him a bit rude for not getting emotional during the most important day of your lives. But, you and Nanami have been together long enough for you to know every aspect of him, knowing him from the first strand of hair to the last toe. You would never find him rude for dealing with his emotions in his own way.

However, we truly only know how to deal with situations when they are happening before our eyes. Holding the wedding ceremony on the beach was of both decision, just for close family and friends. Nanami stood beneath the altar, trying to cope with the growing anxiety as he heard the wedding march begin to play. In the distance, you appeared, resembling a princess from a fairy tale, the one and only and exclusive princess of Kento Nanami.

Time stood still, the entire journey of you two together flashed through Nanami's mind. He never believed he would live this, always dedicating his life solely to work and refraining from relationships. He doesn't even dare to think what would become of him if you had never accidentally bumped into him at the bakery Nanami frequented. The icing from your cake that ended up staining Nanami's suit also marked the beginning of your conjugal life.

All Nanami had in mind now was to build a family with you, to move to a peaceful environment in a big enough house to comfortably accommodate all the children he dreams of having, to come home from work and be greeted by the people he loves most and lives for. And as he grows older, to carefully enjoy what remains of life alongside the family he built, next to the woman he loved the most and with whom he could share every dream fulfilled.

And after all, Nanami was mistaken, tears trickled slowly down his face, clouding your smiling image that was coming towards him.

When you joined him at the altar, with the sunset kissing your face, your eyes shining with tears that also flooded them, and your smile that would be able to bring Nanami back to life, Kento could swear that this would be the image that he would carry with him forever and ever.

"I thought you said you wouldn't cry," you break the silence jokingly while holding one of Nanami's slightly trembling hands and, with your other hand, wiping the glistening drops off the man's cheeks. "You can't blame me for loving too much," he responds, smiling genuinely, while briefly kissing your forehead.

The truth is Gojo would be sitting in the front row, crying even louder and more dramatically than the bride and groom themselves while blowing his nose with a handkerchief ( ˃ ᵕ ˂ )

Let me know what you think of it. Comments and reblogs are appreciated! <3

[daisymbin]

wake up call - kwon soonyoung

warnings: alcohol, let me know if I missed anything

pairings: soonyoung x reader

genre: slight angst, mostly fluff, drunken confessions

wc: 2k

drunken confession masterlist

main masterlist! // soonyoung’s m.list

as the clock strikes 3am, the sound of laughter and music has finally faded from the living room. your small group of your friends have all passed out, some on the floor, others hanging off the couch, leaving just you and soonyoung sitting on the floor right beside the couch in the dim glow of the fairy lights strung around the room. the reminiscent scent of pizza lingers in the air, mixing with the coziness of the room, making everything feel warm and safe.

tonight had started like any other get-together: pizza, drinks, and endless jokes from the boys. soonyoung had been in a rather good mood, his laughter brightening the atmosphere as he cracked jokes and danced around but somewhere between the games, laughter and late-night snacks, soonyoung had hit the bottle harder than usual. now, he sits beside you, a little swaying, with a half-empty cup in his hand, his eyes glossy, a clear sign that this lightweight boy is now…drunk or at the very least, tipsy.

you glance over at him, the way his fingers absentmindedly trace the rim of his cup. you’ve known him long enough to sense when he’s holding something back, and tonight, he feels more vulnerable than usual.

“hey,” you say softly, nudging him gently. “you good, buddy?”

he looks up at you, his boyish smile spreading across his face. “y-yeah! just… enjoying the moment, you know?” he slurs, his words slightly jumbled but filled with an undeniable cheerfulness.

“enjoying the moment? or enjoying the drinks?” you tease lightly, trying to bring back his usual playful spirit that had died down earlier.

“both!” he exclaims, raising his cup like it’s a trophy.

you laugh, feeling warmth flood your chest. it’s nice to see him like this, carefree and happy, but there’s still a part of you that worries. “maybe you should slow down a bit. I don’t want you to regret anything tomorrow when you wake up with a pounding headache.” you say gently.

he shakes his head dismissively. “regret? pshhh, no way! tonight is all about having fun and… and feeling our feelings!” he exclaims, his voice rising slightly as he gestures dramatically.

“feelings?” you echo, raising an eyebrow. “what kind of feelings are we talking about here?”

he leans in closer, his breath smelling faintly of soju, and whispers conspiratorially, “i’ve got some deep feelings.” he admits jokingly as he wiggles his eyebrows, though you could sense the truth in his joke.

you chuckle, feeling the energy shift slightly. “oh really? what kind of deep feelings?”

he pauses for a moment; not expecting you to question him further, his eyes searching yours. “you know… feelings…. like how amazing you are. how funny and beautiful and smart and pretty you are!” his words tumble out, slightly slurred but sincere. “you make me so happy.”

your heart races at his unexpected compliments, but you can’t help but tease him a bit. “is that the soju talking? or do you really mean that?”

he leans back dramatically, clutching his chest as if wounded. “how dare you question my feelings! they’re real! they’re deep!” he shouts, laughter bubbling in your chest.

“okay, okay, I believe you!” you say, giggling. “but really, soonyoung, you should tone it down a notch.”

“no!” he insists, his eyes brightening with mischief. “i want to say more! like… like how i’ve been in love with you for so long!”

the laughter that once bubbled its way up from your chest, now dies in your throat, replaced by a heavy silence as his words sink in. you blink at him, trying to process what he just said. “what?”

“yeah! you heard me!” he says, his voice louder now, filled with both excitement and a hint of panic. “i’ve loved you, y/n! like, since forever! but i was too scared to say it!”

your heart pounds in your chest, the atmosphere thick with the weight of his confession. “soonyoung, are you drunk right now?” you already knew he was, but you asked anyway.

“maybe a little,” he admits with a sheepish grin. “but that doesn’t change anything! i’m tired of hiding it! you’re my best friend, and it’s killing me!”

you swallow hard, your mind racing. you’ve always had feelings for him, too, but hearing him say it out loud especially in this reckless, drunken state leaves you momentarily speechless. “i… i didn’t know you felt that way. why didn’t you tell me?”

“because it’s complicated!” he snaps suddenly, frustration bubbling over. “you have no idea how hard it is to watch you date other people and act like you're fine when you’re not! it’s exhausting!”

“what do you mean, ‘act like im fine’?” you retort, hurt flashing through you. “i’ve been waiting for you to say something! it’s not like i wanted to go out with anyone else! i thought you didn’t care!”

“of course i care!” he shouts, the tension in the room escalating as he stands up, swaying slightly. “but you make it impossible! you’re always so caught up in your own world that you don’t even see how much i’ve been hurting!”

“you think this is easy for me?” you fire back, your heart racing. “i’ve been scared to say anything because i thought you’d never feel the same! i didn’t want to ruin what we had!”

“well, maybe you should have just taken a chance!” he yells, frustration etched on his face. “because now it feels like everything is falling apart, and i can’t keep pretending anymore!”

his words hit hard, and you feel tears prick your eyes. “you’re right! it is falling apart because we never talked about it! we’ve been dancing around each other for too long!”

he looks at you, the fire in his eyes wavering for a moment, replaced by something softer. “i don’t want to lose you, y/n. that’s the truth. i just- i don’t know how to make this work.”

“then let’s figure it out,” you plead, desperate for him to understand. “we can do that, right?”

“and what if we try and it doesn’t work? what if it ruins everything?” he asks, his voice wavering as he runs a hand through his hair.

“i’d rather risk that than keep feeling like this.” you say, your heart aching as you watch him.

he falls silent, his expression a mix of anger and anguish. you can see the conflict raging within him, but he shakes his head, as if trying to clear his thoughts. “i can’t believe this is happening right now,” he murmurs, his voice barely above a whisper.

the silence stretches between you, heavy and suffocating. finally, after what feels like an eternity, he takes a deep breath and leans forward, resting his forehead against yours. “i don’t know how to do this,” he admits, his voice trembling.

“we’ll figure it out together,” you whisper, your heart aching with the weight of the moment. “we’ve always been a team, right?”

“right,” he replies, but there’s a sadness in his voice that lingers.

then, in a moment of reckless abandon fueled by the alcohol coursing through him, he suddenly pulls back and looks deep into your eyes. “i can’t hold back anymore. i’m in love with you, y/n. drunk or sober, that’s the truth.”

your breath catches in your throat, “you… you-?”

“yeah,” he says, answering your unspoken question. his gaze steady despite the tears in his eyes. “i’ve loved you for so long, but i was scared of ruining our friendship. i thought if i said something, it would push you away.”

you swallow hard, the rush of emotion overwhelming you. “i’ve felt the same way, soonyoung. i just didn’t know how to tell you. i was afraid it would change everything.”

he closes his eyes, as if trying to block out the truth of your words. “i don’t want to lose you,” he whispers again, his voice breaking.

“you won’t lose me,” you promise, tears slipping down your cheeks as you reach out to touch his arm. “i’m not going anywhere.”

he looks torn, his expression a mixture of longing and fear. “i just wish we didn’t have to have this stupid argument.”

“neither do i,” you say, your voice softening. “but maybe this is what we needed. a wake-up call.”

“a wake-up call,” he echoes, his voice shaky. “i just don’t want to ruin everything we’ve built together.”

“you won’t ruin it,” you insist, your heart racing as you draw closer. “we can make it stronger if we both want it.”

“i want it,” he admits, his eyes shining with vulnerability. “i’ve always wanted it.”

“then let’s just…try,” you urge, your heart pounding as you lean in closer. “let’s be brave for once.”

he nods slowly, his breath hitching as he searches your eyes. “can i- can i kiss you?”

you nod, your heart pounding in your chest as he leans in closer. the world outside fades away as he brushes his lips against yours, tentative at first, then deepening as you both lose yourselves in the moment. it feels electric, a rush of warmth flooding through you as you kiss him back, your feelings pouring out into that single moment.

when you finally pull apart, both of you breathless, he searches your eyes as if trying to gauge your reaction. “are you okay?” he asks, his voice shaky.

“yeah, as long as you are.” you say with a small smile.

his face softens as he takes your hand in his. the warmth of his touch sends a thrill through you. “i was so afraid of losing you that I didn’t know how to tell you. but now… i just want to hold on.”

“then let’s promise each other that we’ll be honest, no matter what.”

he nods, determination etched on his face. “i promise.”

just as the tension starts to ease, you hear the door creak open, and jihoon stumbles in. “hey, i thought everyone passed out…. but i heard voices. is everything okay? what’s going on in here?” he asks, his brow furrowing in confusion as he takes in the scene of 2 longing (ex) best friends.

you and soonyoung exchange a quick glance, both of you aware of the moment you’re sharing. “uh, just talking,” you say, your heart racing as you realize how exposed you feel now.

jihoon raises an eyebrow, clearly not convinced. “talking? or finally talking talking?”

you feel soonyoung squeeze your hand reassuringly. “finally talking talking,” he admits, his voice steady despite the embarrassment coloring his cheeks.

jihoon’s eyes widen in surprise. “oh. finally. well in that case…. he grins, clearly pleased but also awkward. “i didn’t mean to interrupt. i’ll just... uh, let you two have your moment.”

“wait, jihoon,” you call, stopping him before he leaves. “you can stay. we’re just…figuring things out.”

soonyoung nods, his face flushed but determined. “yeah, we’re still best friends. just… with more feelings now.”

jihoon chuckles, clearly amused. “this is going to be a lot to unpack. just so you know, I’ve always thought you two were meant to be.”

“really?” you ask, surprised.

“yeah! everyone could see it but you two blind fools,” he says, shaking his head. “but it’s good you finally talked it out.”

you share a look with soonyoung, feeling the weight of your earlier argument dissipate as you laugh together. It’s comforting to know your friends support you both.

“just keep me updated. I want all the juicy details. also, I hope you know, you’re both going to be the main subject of conversation for a while.” jihoon informs with a smirk before he heads back into the kitchen.

once he’s gone, soonyoung speaks up again, “I can’t believe we waited so long, but better late than never,” he shrugs, pulling you in for a hug. “let’s make sure we don’t take too long next time.” you joked back.

[dunnerlars]

truth or dare - mat barzal

pairing: mat barzal x fem!reader summary: summers are your favorite, but what comes after summer? word count: 2.7k warnings: alcohol mention a/n: and we're pinch hitting! this is for the lovely @writingonleaves for the #the summer fic exchange 2k24 hosted by the absolute kick ass @wyattjohnston! cobbled this together the last couple of days so i hope it's okay!

—

You coveted summers.

Summers were the only time of the year that you got uninterrupted moments with your best friend. Every summer it felt like he became more and more busy, with less time to spend at home so, summer was what you looked forward to and the little time he did manage to carve out and visit.

You’d grown up living just a few streets down from where Mat did, tucked away in a sleepy suburb, moving to the area when you were 10. It’d been hard moving to a new country, even if Canada wasn’t all that far from the States, things were just different. Making new friends and trying to fit in had been overwhelming, most girls already forming their friend groups and shunning outsiders, but when you’d met the boy down the street just a couple of years younger than you, when he came by your house one hazy afternoon asking if you wanted to play street hockey, well- that’d been it.

Despite the small gap in age, you two were inseparable and his friends became yours and it made the move easier- settling in seem inevitable instead of never ending. When he left only a handful of years later for Seattle to play hockey, it felt like everything was falling apart again. The infrequent texts and calls, trying to keep in touch through things like Facebook or Snapchat, was rough. You were 17 and sure Seattle wasn’t all that far but it’s not like you could explain to your parents why you suddenly needed to cross the border to see your best friend who’d helped you keep everything together.

Eventually things got easier. Mat’s friends were still yours, but you made your own. Went off to University, made more friends, moved to Vancouver, and got a big girl job but still summers were spent at home. With Mat.

And so: summers. 

You didn’t actually get the whole summer off, normal jobs were like that, but you saved all of your vacation to make sure you were home for most of it. But, well- you'd quit your job just before the beginning of summer. And you were set to start the new one in early September so now the entire summer was yours.

There’s been something about this summer that’s felt different. Maybe it was the fact that you’ve been hiding something you’re nervous to share with the important people around you or that you were nearing a new decade in life soon, time changing, even if you felt like you were the same. Summer’s spent in the same childhood room with posters covering the wallpaper, fairy lights strung around the ceiling, polaroids tacked on your closet door full of memories and friends.

Mat had come home earlier than planned this summer, knocked out of the playoffs in the 1st round. You’d let him sulk for a week before you dragged him out into the sunshine with promises of ice cream and letting him beat you at tennis and then he’d left again- for Italy and weddings, relaxing far away from responsibilities and you. And then he was back. Back to soak up the last bits of summer before he flew across the country, and back to hockey.

—

It was one of the last days of summer and you were determined to make the most of it.

So, you packed a bag full of towels, sunscreen, books, and a million other ‘just in case’ items, and made the short trek over to Mat’s childhood home.

The front door was slow to open once you knocked, Mat appearing sleep rumpled and hungover.

“I thought you went home early last night,” you frown in greeting, pushing past him and into the house you were just as familiar with as your own.

“I did,” he groans, making his way to the kitchen and starting coffee, “Just tired. Are we really going to the beach this early?”

“It’s noon.”

Mat bangs his head against the cabinets at that and you snort, setting your bags down and hopping onto the counter next to him.

“You leave tomorrow. I leave next week. We don’t have to go, but I thought it would be nice. Everyone’s already down there. Charlotte’s made those sandwiches you like and Justin got you a whole case of only mango White Claws. And Hannah might kill me if we don’t show up and I’ll blame you.” You nudge his thigh with your foot, trying to get his attention as he watches the coffee pour. “Come on. Please.”

Once his gaze catches yours, he stares for a second and nods reluctantly. “Fine. Give me five?”

“Perfect. I’ll finish the coffee. You get dressed.”

You hop down as Mat shuffles out of the kitchen, doctoring his coffee into a to-go cup and putting the rest of the pot in a thermos you dig out of the back of the cabinet. 

As you tuck the milk back onto the shelf of the refrigerator, the sight of the photos littering the doors as you close them has you smiling. You’re in a handful of them, Mat tucked under your arm in a couple of them until he hit a growth spurt a couple of years later. One of you both playing street hockey the first year you’d moved to Coquitlam. Your favorite, though, is stuck under an Islanders magnet on the top corner from Mat’s draft day where he’s giving you a piggyback ride down the hallway of the hotel after a long day of shaking hands, phone calls, and endless press. 

Mat breaks the moment as he comes back to the kitchen, dressed in swim shorts and a long sleeve button down on, buttons completely undone leaving him bare chested. You have to take a deep breath, willing yourself not to say something stupid as he presses up behind you and hooks his chin over your shoulder. “Coffee good?” he asks, peering at the pictures on the fridge too. 

“Yep, uh huh.”

Leaning over you, Mat presses his finger to the picture of you both playing street hockey and taps it with an airy laugh. “Who knew, huh?”

You barely manage to swallow and nod before he’s peeling himself away and grabbing the thermos and to-go cup of coffee, tucking them into his own bag and waiting. 

“I don’t know what you’re waiting for, you’re driving. Let’s go.”

—

The drive to the beach is a short 20 minutes, Mat filling the time with his obnoxious singing. Normally it was something you’d give him shit about, but you were thankful he didn’t notice anything off about the lack of ribbing he wasn’t getting, lost in your own thoughts. 

Since you were both late, it was easy to spot everyone down near the shoreline set up near a haphazard volleyball net. Cheers of your names were mixed as you both approached the group, like they hadn’t seen you both in years, not hours since you’d all gone out last night too. 

Mat’s quick to pop open one of his mango White Claws once you reach everyone and you roll your eyes, setting up your towel and undressing down to your swimsuit. You were determined to make the most of the sun, knowing you weren’t going to see it too often soon. Hannah, one of your best friends who you’d met in college, lays out next to you and pulls out her book. 

“Are you excited for the move next week?” She asks curiously, turning to face you.

Hannah was the only one who knew your news, confiding in her when you’d gotten the job offer a couple of months ago. 

“I think so? I’m still so nervous and being so far away from everyone,” you sigh, “But it’s not like I won’t have anyone. And I still haven’t told Mat.”

Hannah’s expression turns funny and you realize why when Mat plops down near you both, “Haven’t told Mat what?” he wonders.

You scramble, looking around and catching Charlotte playing cornhole with Jordan and remember, “Charlotte forgot the sandwiches. She texted me on the drive over. Sorry.”

Groaning, Mat dramatically lays down and feigns upset. “Can’t believe you lied to me. What kind of best friend are you? Have the last 20 years meant nothing?”

“I still can’t believe you two have been friends for that long. I can’t remember the last time I could stand someone longer than a couple hours,” Hannah chimes in and you pinch her thigh with a scowl.

“Best 20 years of my life,” Mat says proudly and you glance up at him through your sunglasses, catching the grin spread wide across his face. 

“Okay ya big sap,” you tease.

The afternoon wears on. You finally finish the book you’re reading and switch with Hannah, reapplying sunscreen and choosing to drink water over alcohol. Mat never strays too far from you, choosing to lay out and play on his phone while you read or fetch new water bottles as yours deplete. It’s sweet and Hannah makes sure to make a big deal of it when he leaves, poking you in the side with a sly grin. 

Eventually you need to cool off and sure enough, Mat’s right behind you and volunteering you both for a game of chicken. It’s best out of 3 and you lose in the last round, Mat losing his footing and you both topple into the water, giggling. You can’t remember the last time you felt so carefree, at ease and not wanting or wishing for anything else. There’s no hurry for either of you to get out, so you both float around, chatting nonsense until Mat catches your ankle as you float past him.

“So,” he starts, and suddenly you know it’s kind of serious. “I know Charlotte brought the sandwiches, the jig is up. What uh- what haven’t you told me? If you don’t wanna tell me that’s fine, I just. Is it something bad? Should I be worried?”

You let yourself fall out of your floating position, trying to find footing in the bottom of the lake but come up empty, not realizing you’re so far out you can’t touch the bottom. Mat’s the nearest thing so you hold onto his shoulder, kicking your feet to stay afloat until he grabs you around the waist to hold you close.

“I, uh. I got a new job,” you tell him, nerves filling you up. 

He’s puzzled and you can tell. “Okay? Why wouldn’t you wanna tell me that? That’s awesome. What is it?”

“It’s at a publishing house in Manhattan,” you take a deep breath, starting the spiel you’d been practicing for when you finally told him. “And I don’t know, I’ve been feeling a little weird about it? I didn’t want you to think I was following you or something but like, obviously it’s benn my dream job and I know you know that but-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You got a job in New York? That’s amazing, holy shit!” Mat pulls you to his front, squeezing you tight and relief floods you as wrap your arms around his neck. 

For whatever reason, this was not how you pictured this going. You knew Mat- he didn’t like feeling stifled and that’s what you thought this decision felt like it might be to him, like you were encroaching on something that was his. 

“Really?”

Mat pulls away, searching your face in confusion. “Yeah, of course. This is gonna fucking sick. I can’t believe you didn’t say anything.”

“Well, I-”

You’re interrupted as Hannah yells at the two of you from the shore, “Hey, we’re gonna start grilling. Justin says you need to help, Mat!”

“Ugh. Fine!”

You both swim to shore and before you part, Mat grabs your wrist. “Don’t think I’m done with this. I have questions,” he tells you, waiting for you to nod before letting go.

Settling back on your towel, you turn towards Hannah who you can feel burning holes into your side. 

“Spit it out.”

“What was that all about? You two looked pretty cozy out there,” she teases. 

You shrug, still not sure how you’re feeling. “I told him about the job, moving, all of it. He was excited but then I think he realized I’d been keeping it from him and he might be upset? I can’t tell.”

Hannah glances over at the grill and you follow her gaze, both of you watching Mat and Justin goof off and she shrugs at you. “Maybe he’s forgotten,” she offers and you can’t help the laugh that passes your lips.

“Fat chance.”

—

Everyone gathers together to eat and discuss plans for after the summer and you’re pointedly quiet, still not quite ready to share your news with everyone. Hannah’s known and now Mat knew and that felt like enough. You still had a week, it would be fine. They all give Mat shit for going back all the way across the country and you’re thankful he doesn’t say anything, just gives it right back and tells everybody they’re welcome to visit. 

Once the weather starts to cool, everyone begins packing up. You’re still sat on your towel, wrapped in an old hoodie of Mat’s he’d grabbed you from the car earlier and Hannah comes to sit beside you, placing her head on your shoulder.

“Gonna miss you, ya know,” she tells you quietly. 

It’s hard, trying to hold the tears that are threatening to fall and you sniffle. “I know. God, we have a week left. Stop making me emotional and go home,” you tell her, voice wet and you push her away lightly. 

She clambers up, dusting the sand off her ass and wipes at her eyes. “Dinner tomorrow?”

“Obviously.”

She salutes you and you watch her make the trek back to the parking lot behind the beach before turning to find Mat. You find him easily enough, hugging a couple of friends goodbye and slapping them on the back. It’s easy for your mind to wander to when the time will come and you’ll all be doing different things, too busy to come together for the summers. Time filled with new families and friends.

Eventually, Mat makes his way back down to the beach and packs up what little is left: the rest of his White Claws and the couple of chairs you’d eventually brought down later in the day. He packs up the car but you’re not quite ready to leave, waiting for the sun to set. 

Mat’s quiet when he sits beside you, picking at the corner of the towel, and you nudge his arm with yours. “I’m sorry for not saying something sooner about moving, I-”

He cuts you off, shaking his head. “No, you don’t need to apologize.”

There’s a pause, and you can see him trying to gather the thoughts he’s been holding onto since you told him the news a few hours ago. 

“I think I just wish you’d felt like you could’ve told me,” he starts. “I didn’t even know you were looking at jobs out there. Like, we’d talked about it before years ago- you moving out there, but it always kind of seemed like a joke? And I guess it was, for a while anyway. But at some point I thought maybe you’d actually come out there and we could, I don’t know.” Mat shakes his head and you sigh, glancing towards the horizon of the setting sun and wonder if you’ve gotten something wrong here. 

He continues, cutting his gaze towards you. “I guess I just thought at some point you’d actually make the move for real and we could finally try something.”

And oh.

Mat looks serious and you suddenly feel warm all over despite the chill taking over, the breeze from the water rushing over you and giving you goosebumps.

“Mat…”

“Was I crazy to think that?” He asks, earnest.

You shake your head quickly, hands sliding out from the sweater sleeves and you reach for him, intertwining your fingers. “No. Not crazy.”

Sitting there, you both watch the sun finally set in the sky, the beach awash in a hazy blue glow and Mat turns to you.

“Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” you answer without hesitation. 

“Kiss me.”

The dare catches you off guard but Mat’s grinning, his smile stretched wide across his face and you lunge forward and press a kiss to his smiling lips.

[most-datable-datable-bracket]

ROUND 5 MATCH 6

Claude propaganda:

"To say Claude has trust issues is an understatement—you have to spend half the game earning his. (Claude isn't even his real name!) Once you have it, though, he's absolutely ride or die for you until the stars go out. He is so full of heart and ambition: He wants both sides of his heritage to get along, he wants to open borders and eliminate xenophobia and promote equality between commonfolk, and deep down, I think he craves a partner to stand with him at that new dawn, or an equal who sees his vision for the future and will fight for it just as hard. Nobody believed in him when he was a kid, but if you put your faith in him, he'll return it tenfold. Some people don't like that he's calculating, or has to leave the player character at the end of the game to go back to his homeland, but both are necessary elements for his goals to change things. He will always come back, and everyone who bets against him and his love for his companions is wrong with a big fat W. #KhalidForMostDatablePrez"

"Claude is a fun little onion of facades. He calls himself the embodiment of distrust, he acts like he's carefree and without worries, an unscrupulous schemer--and so many in universe buy into that hook line and sinker. He's used to others viewing him with suspicion and uses it as armor to obscure his not-so-dark truth: that he cares immensely, that he values minimizing the loss of life, and that above all he has so much hope that people will fundamentally choose to do better given the choice.

His front guards a center that his conflict filled world would be happy to tear apart. As the child of people from two nations in constant conflict--one of which is explicitly isolationist and dehumanizes those outside its church's reach--he hasn't really had a place where he can be without his facade. As a child he thought he could run, but when confronted with the fact that this hatred existed no matter where he ran, he chose to instead try to create a more just and kind world.

His inability to let others in beyond his facade at first may lead to a sense of distance, but isn't it then all the more satisfying when you're allowed in? All he wants is a little trust, a little faith, and--like what he wants to give everyone--a chance to be better.

And like that you got a charming young lad with a fun personality that your grandma would be thrilled to have stay forever."

Josephine propaganda:

“you get to have a full Disney princess style romance with her, she is the most precious, the most sweet, I love her so much 🥺”

“Josephine's one of the "behind the scenes" companion for the protagonist and she advises them on diplomacy-related matters.

Her personal quest and romance is fairy-tale worthy: she gets threatened with assassination, you help her restore her family's fortune, you get threatened by her best friend to not break her heart, she doesn't dare to hope you mean anything serious when flirting until you spell it out for her, after which Josie agrees to a deeper relationship... And immediately after that she finds out her family has engaged her to a random noble without her knowledge!! You publicly challenge the suitor to a one-on-one duel to win her hand, she finds out and interrupts the duel because she's worried of the Inquisitor throwing literally the entire plot away and risk life in combat for her... To which of course you can confess that they're doing it because they love Josephine, and they get the cutest cutscene with Josie jumping in the Inquisitor's arms and them spinning her around before kissing each other <3 The betrothed steps away because he sees true love between the two. She and the Inquisitor stay together through the end game and after it, gaining a "second home" with her and her family.

She really believes in the Inquisitor's cause and from the very first conversations with her, she asks questions about your background and tries to make you feel welcomed (especially appreciated if the Inquisitor isn't human since people are less trusting of them). She's politically smart but dislikes violence, overall very sweet but still strong... Josie tends to overwork herself (she's a perfectionist) and at first she tries to keep a professional air at all times but if you encourage her, she will rant to you and spill all the tea about nobles lol.”

[enigmaticxbee]

Tropes & More - Fic Recs

All the tropey-goodness!

Body-Swap:

Underneath Your Skin by crescentmoon222 - Dreamland AU, NSFW

What if Feels Like for a Girl by @mldrgrl - Dreamland AU, NSFW

Dreamland III by @admiralty-xfd - Dreamland sequel

Flea Market Economy by Punk

I’ll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours by Tv_Saved_The_Teenage_Girl

Masters of Time by @sisterspooky1013 - time travel to 1960s Masters of Sex, NSFW

Times Colliding by onlytheinevitable- time travel 1998/2018 body swap, NSFW, WIP

Cubed by Louise Marin - Scully wakes up as an alternate version of herself, NSFW.

Parallel by @sisterspooky1013 - Scully wakes up as an alternate version of herself, NSFW.

Fake-Dating:

Never by Allison Kinney - Undercover, NSFW

Diversion by @sisterspooky1013 - Stakeout, NSFW

Just Another Dinner Party by @somekindofseizure - Undercover at a swingers party during Arcadia

Amish Country by Lolabeegood - Undercover with the Amish, NSFW

We’re Married Now by @skinfull - Undercover in a cult, NSFW

Hallowed by onlytheinevitable - Undercover in a cult, NSFW

More Than a Feeling by @sisterspooky1013 - Undercover at a carnival, NSFW

Undercover Swing by 2momsmakearight - Undercover at a sex party, NSFW

It’s Just Pretend by @storybycorey - Undercover in a motel, fake sex turning into real sex, NSFW

The Marriage Spectacular by @cecilysass - Lost FBI agents. Stormy weather. A marriage retreat in a mountainside inn with one room available.

The Newlywed Game by onlytheinevitable - While going out for dinner, Scully runs into an ex and Mulder valliantly pretends to be her husband. However, that little lie traps them into having to play the Newlywed Game in front of a bunch of strangers and they have to navigate admitting feelings they haven't even admitted to themselves.

Baseball Metaphors by @leiascully - Scully runs into an ex and they pretend to be dating, NSFW

Just Go With It by @skinfull - Mulder runs into old high school classmates and they pretend to be married, NSFW

The Annapolis Grant by @slippinmickeys - AU, Scully pays Mulder to play the role of her boyfriend, NSFW

Wedding/FBI Ball Date:

Plus One by @alienqueequeg - Mulder convinces Scully to let him be her plus one at an old friend's wedding, NSFW

Hardball by Missy Pennington - Scully gets a sexy red dress to wear to the FBI ball when she finds out Phoebe Green will be attending

Five Ballrooms by @admiralty-xfd - Five Christmas parties. Five separate POVs.

The Twelve Tropes of Christmas by @mangokiwitropicalswirl - Christmas ball and all the tropes

Holidays:

far away and to the west by @audries - Thanksgiving with the Gunmen

at the close of the day by @audries - Thanksgiving on the road

Fairies, Skip Hence by @slippinmickeys - Christmas at the Scullys, NSFW

Shades of Winter by @piecesofscully - Christmas at the Scullys, NSFW

Marshmallow World by @agoodwoman - Christmas 1998, set Season 6, our beloved agents are working under AD Kersh. Mulder and Scully get into the holiday spirit. NSFW

Regular People by @chimerical1975 - Thwarted Christmas plans, impulsive decisions, and unexpected visitors make two extraordinary FBI agents into regular people. NSFW

Chicken Dinner by @cecilysass - Dinner at Mrs. Scully’s. Mulder overhears Maggie speaking to her friends about her daughter’s relationship with her partner. What he hears floors him.

Gingersnap by @cecilysass - Holiday baking, NSFW

if the fates allow by @all-these-ghosts - Christmas with Mulder and Scully, 1993-2016

Birthdays by @syntax6 - seasons 1 through 7

One Bed (see Faking Dating above too):

Let’s Play a Game by @danasculllie - Motel room Truth or Dare, NSFW

Truth or Dare by Adrienne - Mulder and Scully have a wicked game of Truth or Dare while sharing that hotel room in Rain King. NSFW

Twenty-Questions and a Winter Storm by @danascully77 - NSFW

Designated Mulder by onlytheinevitable - Mulder had always wanted to see what Scully would be like drunk, but he didn't anticipate it would finally happen on the one night they had to share a bed. NSFW

Sexy Snowed-In by @peacenik0 - Mulder and Scully are snowed-in together, will they find a way to escape their boredom? NSFW

Hot and Sticky by Megan Reilly - One hotel room, two FBI Agents...and it's a hell of a hot night besides. NSFW

One room. One bed. by spooky66 - NSFW

Free Merlot at the Cool View Motor Court by @sarie-fairy - post The Rain King, NSFW

Turn that damned thing off by @sunflowerseedsandscience - The Rain King missing scene.

Time Enough At Last by bayloriffic - The Rain King missing scene.

Conversation in the Dark by Cass - The Rain King missing scene.

Stop Me by Gina Rain - post The Rain King, NSFW

Unbidden by @phillippadgettwrites - NSFW

Bunkmates by @leiascully - There's only one hotel room, and it's got a special surprise.

Expense Report by 13th_blackbird - The Bureau conducts an audit, and Scully considers the costs.

Scully/Other:

Universal Invariants by @syntax6 - set over the course of a canon-parallel version of season 1 and early season 2 where Scully’s boyfriend Ethan who was cut from the pilot sticks around. NSFW

Early On by @sunflowerseedsandscience - Mulder and Scully are drawn to each other from the start but Scully is still with Ethan. NSFW

Homicidal Tendencies by Swikstr - Casefile crossover that pairs Scully with the detective from Homicide: Life on the Street. NSFW

You He Did Not Fail by extraordinarily_ordinary - After Scully leaves the X-Files for a position in LA a case brings them back together. Starts Scully/Other but ultimately MSR. NSFW

Original Sin by @syntax6 - post FTF Scully moves to Utah. Scully/Other but great MSR. NSFW

Arizona Highways by Fialka - Visions of Melissa lead Our Heroes on a case confirming the existence of a series of Emilys. But does Melissa really have a message, or is it all in Scully’s head? Scully/Other but ultimately MSR. NSFW

No Regrets by MystPhile - During Arcadia Scully reconnects with Detective John Kresge. Ultimately MSR but not until the very end. NSFW

Promises to Keep by Prufrock’s Love - post Requiem Scully/Skinner, I really struggled with this one, but still an interesting read. NSFW

Heart’s Desire by @malibusunset - post Two Fathers/One Son Scully reconnects with an old boyfriend during a case. My favorite Scully/Other fic - ends in MSR, but it’s probably the only fic where I’ve thought that Mulder might be the wrong choice. NSFW

La Lacuna by @aloysiavirgata - Scully explores her feelings after Milagro while investigating a murder. Scully/Other but ultimately MSR. NSFW

Mulder/Other:

The Waters of Babylon by @aloysiavirgata - As they prepare to become Rob and Laura Petrie, Mulder thinks back on his life and the paths not taken.

Seventeen by @scapegrace74-blog - Explores how Mulder's sexual relationships shaped (and mis-shaped) him as a man. Each chapter represents a different partner. Mulder/Other, ultimately MSR, NSFW

Triptych by @iconicscullyoutfits - married to Diana AU, ultimately MSR

To Love Somebody by Tess and Jacquie LaVa - In the midst of attempting to have a normal romance, Mulder's escalating feelings for Scully, and her deteriorating health due to her advancing cancer, make it impossible for him to commit... Mulder/Other but ultimately MSR. NSFW

The Guts by @wtfmulder - How would Scully react if Mulder dropped an open condom wrapper in front of her? MSR but dealing with Diana.

Dr. Scully's School for Exceptional Boys by Prufrock’s Love - post series, Mulder/Other and MSR, NSFW

One for the Road by @phillippadgettwrites - post breakup, Mulder has a girlfriend but mostly MSR, NSFW

Pregnancy/Baby/Family:

The Family G-Man by Neoxphile and FelineFemme - A double tragedy strikes Mulder the week before Christmas of 2003. What if he could go back and change things, save the son one lost and give the other the family she wanted? Could it keep them safe? NSFW

Five Years and a Lifetime by @monikafilefan @slippinmickeys - One night stand AU. Five years later, Scully and Mulder work at the same pediatric hospital, and Scully's four year old daughter bears a striking resemblance to the picture of a dark haired girl that sits on Mulder's desk... NSFW

In the Best Interest of the Child by @mldrgrl - AU When tragedy strikes, Mulder is forced to take guardianship of his young niece, but the matter is complicated by the arrival of a sister-in-law he's never met.

The Way Things Are by Sukie Tawdry - One night and their whole lives were changed forever. Season 1 AU. NSFW

Right Hand Return by humphreywrites - Scully is returned from her abduction with a baby, no memories of anything prior to her captivity and some PTSD.

All That Is Dark and Bright by @malibusunset - Emily lives AU. NSFW

Five Years and One Night by Shalimar - Scully leaves the X-Files post-Emily but gets drawn back in when Mulder discovers Emily wasn’t the only child created. NSFW

Intimacy Deux by Mojo - The one in five billion happens. NSFW

40 Weeks by @malibusunset - What if the IVF attempt in Per Manum had been successful? NSFW

A Boy and His Fox by 6hoursgirl - What happens when two FBI agents have a platonic relationship based on trust and mutual respect...and an exchange of genetic material. NSFW

The 13th Sign and 7 Days in May by Prufrock’s Love - Post-Deadalive. Mulder saw no reason for life, death, sex, Armageddon, or emotional dysfunction to stand in the way of true love.

Hurricane Season by rah and beduini - Post-Existence week at the beach with the Scully family and baby Wim. NSFW

Terra Firma series by @malibusunset - Post-Existence domestic family drama, a classic comfort read for me. NSFW

Misc:

Partners With Benefits by onlytheinevitable - Friends with benefits, NSFW

Truncated by Lysandra31 - Scully and Mulder find themselves in a tight spot. Spooning ensues.

You Send Me by @spooky-nerd - Portals keep popping up around Mulder. It's rather inconvenient until he realizes it's possible the universe is trying to tell him something.

[kiryoutann]

𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐃! 𝐀𝐔 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝���𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬 ::: 𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐀

LOST AT SEA MASTERLIST (COMING SOON). GENSHIN IMPACT MASTERLIST.

Reincarnation should be a good thing, right? A new chance in life, to become yet another soul chosen to navigate the world once again. Until it isn't.

In the first life, mermaid! reader meets a prince charming. They call him "Ajax" - you learn this after eavesdropping on the mortals' conversation from behind a rock.

Of course, your siblings have warned you about those two-legged landlubbers - that they are cruel, they are merciless and greedy.

"By Poseidon, sister – don't you dare go to shore again. They'll catch you like they did Ariana! They'll descale your fins and take your heart for who knows what!"

When one of your sisters said that, you just nodded pretending to understand. But, well, someone's gotta be the Ariel of the family.

Because it was impossible that Ajax could be the same as those cruel humans.

I mean, don't your brothers and sisters see how he treats animals? That slobbering furry thingy that always follows him every time he wants to go sailing? Mortals call him "Boris". That Boris creature.

Somehow, fate brought you two together. Even the sea and land cannot separate the two of you.

"He promised to marry me, sister!" you said to one of your sisters.

"And you believe him? How will you make sure he will keep his promise, sister? Oh, don't tell me… you've given him that?"

For mermaids, love is not a luxury, but a precious resource. They are said to have just one chance at love in their lifetimes.

When they foolishly give their hearts to a renegade, fate decrees that they shall forever dwell in a state of limbo, torn between the land and the sea. This means that they cannot survive for long on dry land, nor can they venture too far into the depths of the ocean. Instead, they are forced to live on the edge, forever caught between two worlds, no longer able to fully commit to land or sea.

But, Ajax wouldn't do that, right? He is too good, and loves you too much to betray you.

Wrong. Because the night before your wedding, Ajax betrayed you. With another woman.

Every land has a history. The modern era Blue Lagoon is no exception.

In each wave that washes upon its shores holds within it tales of the past, a silent whisper of the countless stories that have shaped the present.

Someone said, before becoming an island exclusively for old money and celebrities, the land once saw the great fury of mother nature.

The storm was so cruel that an entire kingdom was wiped out without a trace. On the other hand, people full of fairy tales say that it was the work of a broken-hearted mermaid.

And when actor! Ajax moved to the said island after breaking up with his cheating girlfriend, he almost laughed from how stupid it sounded. In fact, local people here believe it enough that some people in his circle constantly discuss the existence of a mermaid amidst the champagne and celebrations.

"I think the people here are quite creative. Should submit a script, maybe a director will accept it for a movie." he says. His way of making conversation in his first meeting with the highest paid model of the century - you.

But, when this is Ajax's second life, it is not yours. These cruel centuries have destroyed many but your grudges - your memories.

People are talking about lost kingdoms? About mermaids? As you sipped your champagne and smiled fakely at Ajax, in your heart you knew the truth.

That, indeed, there was an empire before it crumbled. There was love before betrayal. There were mermaids before humans.

And now, caught between land and seas - as a supermodel, you stand before the very vessel that once belonged to your former treacherous lover.

SUPPORT ME THROUGH KO-FI! CHECK MY WRITING COMMISSION.

[kqutie]

THE PRINCESS' SEVEN MERCENARIES

CHAPTER SIX : THE FOOLISH GENIUS

relations. : cevans various/reader -- steve rogers/reader ; curtis everett/reader ; ari levinson/reader ; lloyd hansen/reader ; andy barber/reader ; jake jensen/reader ; ransom drysdale/reader

chpt. sum. : Ari urges Jake to stay home with you and the team realises you know more than they thought about their own mission.

tags. : snow white and the seven dwarves au ; fairy tale au ; fluff ; domestic fluff ; angst if you squint ; a/b/o universe but it's not the central point ; disney princess reader and her seven sexy mercenaries hehe~ ; jake jensen centric chapter ; jake being a lovable dork again ; world building ; reader proving ; misunderstandings ; confrontation ; everyone feels a little betrayed ; Lloyd gets confrontational ; the truth will soon come out

length. : 7.8k

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Steve starts his day the same way, always, before and after you’ve made yourself a place in their lives. Each morning, he wakes up early, makes himself a cup of coffee and reads the paper while sipping at his morning joe — it’s the only time he can feel an ounce of normalcy and savours every peaceful second. Ever since you’ve willed yourself to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner for him and his team, Steve has been there to see your efforts from the table. Sometimes it’s hard watching you milling about the kitchen from over his morning paper and the lip of his mug but it was also very heartwarming, knowing that he and his team were being taken care of for once. You dance about the area as if you’ve always lived there, and as if it’s completely natural for you to cook such a large breakfast each morning. The first day, you were happy to express your love for cooking if only to comfort his self-reproach.

“I love cooking and your kitchen is so beautiful; it’s a joy to cook in it!” Steve remembers your upturned lips and smiling eyes vividly, “I’ve always been familiar with kitchens, and I love to cook because it's such a comfort for me; please don’t look so troubled,” your soft words eased his nerves effortlessly, a rare occurrence for the Captain. Usually, he was kept highly strung from the responsibilities of keeping his teammates safe and their missions on track. Your calming presence was something he dared not complain about. Even your delicately hummed tunes were appreciated. Steve can’t remember the last time he’s had such a calm morning. For the first time in a long time, he was allowed to sip on a delicious cup of coffee and read his paper in peaceful silence without having to remain alert for when he urgently needed to rush somewhere with his men.

Judging by how you’re still preparing the breakfast ingredients, Steve expects he still has plenty of time before the rest of the men wake up and make their way downstairs; he plans on savouring every second of it. But he was mistaken at the sound of footsteps walking down the first-floor hallway and eventually down the stairs. From the general area where the footsteps originate, Steve reckons it’ll be Ransom.

The captain was soon proven right when his charming mercenary teammate emerged from the stairway and made a beeline straight for you. Steve smiles into his mug as he watches your morning exchange.

“Good morning, sweets,” Ransom softly whispers into your hair as he pulls you close by the waist. You happily return his embrace and kindly offer him a cup of coffee but Ransom declines with a shake of his head, “I’ll help you with breakfast,”

“Oh Ran, that’s so kind of you,” the merc glows at your praise and leans into your touch when you reach up to comb your fingers through his sleep-mused hair. Steve raises a brow. Peculiar. Ransom barely leaves his room without making sure he looks a little presentable, he’s particular like that. The only other person with a similar habit was Lloyd, however, the assassin was much more diligent. It was peculiar that Ransom, someone who often obsessed over his appearance, was coming to you with his hair barely combed, face unclean and still in his wrinkled pyjamas. The fact that he offered to help you prepare breakfast was even more astounding.

“So…may I?” Ransom asks against the skin of your knuckles after bringing your small hand down from his hair to kiss.

“I’d really appreciate that, thank you!” you chirp happily and Steve fondly watches as his Beta makes himself useful in an environment he doesn’t usually associate himself with. It was amusing to see him trailing behind you and obediently complying to your instructions, a similar image to the night before but Steve still can’t believe his eyes. The captain doesn’t know what you’ve done but he appreciates the positive change it’s had on the usually arrogant Beta.

With Ransom’s help, you were already setting up the table long before the others came down for breakfast and joined Steve in appreciating a mug of coffee while sat together. Today’s morning spread was an assortment of freshly cut fruits, buttered toast with a side of jams, egg, ham and cheese breakfast muffins, crispy bacon, tomato and cream cheese bagels, and coffee and tea. Everyone was free to assemble their own plates for breakfast and you were open to any suggestions they may have for future spreads. You liked offering a consistent breakfast but also enjoyed switching some items every now and then, today you added the egg, ham and cheese breakfast muffins. Steve thought they smelled amazing and eagerly awaited the others’ arrival so he could finally have a piece.

“I’ve been meaning to ask but are your newspapers tele-delivered, Steve?” you ask after placing the teapot at the table for everyone’s reach. You make a mental note of knitting a tea cosy for it later.

“Yes, it makes life much easier,” he answers, careful not to show his shock at your casual question. There’s a rumbling of footfalls travelling down the staircase and he finally sets aside his paper. He prepares to finally eat with everyone despite his distracted mind.

You greet everyone a good morning as they take their usual seats before returning to your conversation with Steve, “It really is convenient. And I appreciate that you have groceries tele-delivered straight to your cool storage too. Magic is so helpful, it’s as if you never run out,” you giggle and smile at Jake who eagerly starts chatting about the magi-tech such conveniences require. You speak of the technology with Jake easily, adding to the tech genius’ excitement more. Jake has never had anyone other than Ari to speak to about his tech before and even Ari doesn’t indulge him as much as you do. Even now, the breaded man smirks at the way Jake interacts with you – he’s happy their Beta finally has someone to talk extensively with; he’s always felt quite guilty for not accommodating his comrade’s interests more in the past.

You converse with Jake easily on the topic and even bring up magi-tech knowledge that the average person typically doesn’t know about. It was all well and good but it was very… suspicious.

Andy makes eye contact with Steve as they reach for a breakfast muffin together. In their periphery, everyone else seems to have picked up on the notion too. There’s a touch of conjecture in everyone’s eyes except Jake’s, who happily kept rambling on with you. Curtis is as stoic as ever despite his inner turmoil and Ari hardens his features. Only Ransom seems to be in denial and conflicted at the implications of your knowledge. He remembers your level of expertise the day before and struggles with himself as the rest of the team silently continues eating.

You shouldn’t know about topics like this. Tele-delivery is a privilege exclusive to noble families and highly decorated merchants who sell the service.

Steve doesn’t want to be suspicious of you but you weren’t giving him much of a choice. You look like an ordinary girl, although much lovelier and sweeter than the ones he’s met so far, that didn’t mean you came from a noble or merchant family, right? Women born to those families are usually married off by your age… but how old were you? Slowly, Steve was beginning to realise just how little they know of you and it seems everyone was coming to the same realisation also.

Looking about the table, there’s a silent agreement that this topic not be brought up in front of you to keep you blissfully unaware. Steve doesn’t want to believe you’re an unsavoury character, nobody else does but they’re all conflicted. If you were going to harm them, you would have already done so by now, you’ve had plenty of chances already. You could have attacked them in their sleep or one by one when Curtis was escorting you and while Ransom was home alone with you the day before.

“Jake, why don’t you stay home today?” Ari cuts in, catching everyone’s attention and Steve’s alarmed stare. Ari will always be a deviating factor. He’s a team player but when it comes to the topic of you, he’s shown clear favouritism and a determination to keep you close. Although this was going against their plans the night before, Steve still trusts Ari. He needs to trust Ari. They’ve all been together for several years now and the trust they have for each other is impossible to break. Steve has never been led astray by trusting in his comrades’ intuition so, despite the growing suspicions surrounding you, he doesn’t protest and succumbs to observing what may happen.

What was Ari planning?

“Me? How come?” Jake asks, oblivious to what had just transpired within the team. Instinctively, he meets eyes with Steve, their Captain, asking for silent approval of the change. Steve gives an accepting nod.

“I need you to feedback on information from your library of books,” Jake immediately lights up and nods so eagerly that his teammates worried his head would detach from his neck.

“Oh! Sure! That’s a really good plan, Ari,” the broad-shouldered alpha smiles beneath his heavy beard, always an appreciator of his Beta’s laid-back approach. He claps the tech genius on the shoulder and shares a meaningful look with him, both already understanding their plans.

“I’ll be counting on you then,”

“What’s this about, Ari?” Steve searches the lumbering man’s eyes for a clue but is met with a soft, relaxed assurance translated into a lazy stare.

“Jake has an extensive library on magi-tech and artefacts that would be useful to have while I’m in the field. It’ll be easy to narrow down our search if he has access to the info here. Maybe we can find what we’re looking for much quicker if we do,”

After a long pause, Steve nods, “Very well, if you believe that’s what’s best,” Ari grins but doesn’t escape Steve’s suddenly sharp, narrowed eyes, “I’m trusting you, Ari,”

“Of course, Captain,” Ari nods, voice firm and expression suddenly more serious. That was confirmation enough for Steve to ignore Lloyd’s grumblings. It also seemed to be the perfect assurance for Curtis and Ransom, who had, undoubtedly, become entranced by you from the time you’ve spent together.

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

As always, Steve is the first out with his packed lunch and you deliver his kiss on the cheek as sweetly as ever. In that brief moment, Steve allows himself to forget his suspicions of you, reasoning that acting normal was the best step forward to keep you oblivious to their growing wariness. It was worrying, however, how little he cared for the deep affection he was fostering for you.

“Have a good day, Steve. Please stay safe,” You’re too irresistibly precious that, although Steve knows it’s in his best interest to maintain his guard, he’s desperately hoping that you aren’t guilty of willfully deceiving them.

“And you as well,” the captain utters ever so softly, only for you to hear. His soft blue eyes linger on you for a moment before briefly glancing back at his team’s tech genius. “Look after Jake while we’re gone, okay?”

With a giggle, you nod, “Aye-Aye Captain!” it was a playful saying but you made it look and sound so adorable. You even teasingly saluted him. It wasn’t Steve’s fault that he couldn’t resist kissing your forehead as he left through the door.

Next up was Andy, who’s grown the habit of kissing your knuckles first before leaning in to savour his kiss on the cheek. “Take care, Andy,”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” there’s an emotion that flashes in the neat man’s azure eyes, one that you can’t quite place as he allows his stare to delicately float over you. He regrettably ignores your adorable and curious head tilt to finally head out whilst adjusting his cuffs. Try as he might, Andy can’t feel anything suspicious about you. In his many interrogations of guilty targets, he has never seen such incorrupt eyes. You have secrets but that didn’t mean you meant them any harm – that was his conclusion.

Ransom is the third up, pushing past Curtis, Ari and Lloyd, leaving the latter openly grumbling to himself whilst glaring at the group’s machiavellian Beta. Rather than lean down for a kiss, Ransom holds your face in both of his hands and searches your innocuously bewildered expression.

“Ran–?” you voice but he presses your cheeks together, puffing out your lips in a way that makes your spoken words incoherent. His eyes are narrowed into a judging expression but there’s no malice in his stare. In all of his work as the group’s covert agent, he’s never been more perplexed by a person. You’re too unguarded and virtuous to deal any real harm to them and he can tell you don’t have ill intentions just by the look in your eyes so…why does the mystery surrounding your identity irk him so much?

“Sorry…” Ransom frivolously bats away the grumbling complaints of his teammates as they grow impatient behind him. You’ve brought your hands up to hold onto his wrists as he slowly eases the pressure mushing your cheeks together.

“I’ll see you soon, Ran, please be safe,”

No…There’s no way you’re dangerous — not when you’re smiling up at him like that.

Ransom is tempted to kiss your sweet lips but refrains at the last moment, your lips brushing against each other as he swiftly moves to kiss your cheek instead. He silently leaves your flustered state with a hidden smirk. Aghast by the display, Ari rushes forward and guides your eyes to meet his by tilting your chin up with his fingers.

“You’re not kissing him before me, are you, beautiful girl?” Ari almost growls in annoyance. He loves his teammates but he’s grown a slight possessiveness over you and the idea of being the first to embrace your pretty lips. It’s unhealthy, he knows it, especially when he’s been aiming to form an official pack so he forces himself to calm down. He controls his breathing and tempers his gaze but keeps your chin tilted toward him.

“Don’t be silly Ari…” you look to the side in embarrassment, “everyone gets a kiss,” the implications of your innocent words aren’t lost on him and, although his mind starts racing with flashing images, Ari chuckles lightheartedly at the prospect.

“You’re always so fair, darlin’...” he begins to lean down and aims straight for your lip as his words become a whisper, “I love that so much about you,”

“Oi!” Ari gets shoved aside just as his lips brush against yours but is too slow in securing the embrace. In his place, Lloyd stands, huffing and puffing.

“This isn’t some fairy tale princess kissing her prince type shit. We need to fuck off to work so stop holding up the line!” Lloyd glares as Ari simply laughs at him, not a trace of annoyance on his features despite the rude interruption.

“Lloyd–” Your sweet call of his name immediately steals Lloyd’s attention and everyone watches his figure bend down to accommodate your short height. He does it too quickly to backtrack from remembering breakfast and the uncertainty surrounding your character. He didn’t plan on accepting your kiss but now he had no choice; his body had him doing the opposite.

“Gimme my kiss then, I don’t have all day,” with a smile, thoroughly enjoying the grumpy man’s crabby facade, you rise to your toes and kiss him on the cheek. You know he wants to pull away quickly but you trap him by holding his cheek in place. Somehow, you wanted to affectionately dote on this grumpy man and it amused you to see his reactions each time — his ears always become such a bright pink. “H-hurry up, woman! I don’t have all day for this!” you smile into his cheek and prolong it a little more before finally pulling away.

As Lloyd grouches to himself with your lunchbox tightly clutched in his hand, Ari tries to make his way back to you for another kiss on the cheek. The bearded man is already puckering his lips in a mock kiss, clearly trying to push Lloyd’s buttons and succeeds when he barely makes it to you thanks to Lloyd yanking him away by the collar. Ari laughs and teases Lloyd as you giggle at the display.

Curtis silently comes up to you while distracted and hugs your waist so that when he stands to his full height, he lifts you with him. Smiling down at the mercenary, you hug him around the shoulders and allow him to press his face into your neck where he’s reminded of your intimate moment at the village square and savours the calming effects your fragrance has on him.

“Please take care, Curt,” you whisper into his ear and he grunts, stoic as ever when you pull away. You take a moment to caress his cheek with your hand and look into his steel-grey eyes before sweetly kissing his cheek. You then kiss his forehead and utter your wishes (“I hope you have a good day,”) against his skin.

“We’ll be home soon…” Curtis utters gently in his rough voice after finally setting you down. He walks out to join the rest of the mercenaries and you wave at them with a bright smile as they leave. You don’t stop waving until they can no longer be seen through the trees. When you finally turn back into the cottage, however, you’re met with Jake, who has his arms wide open for you to run into if you please.

“E-even though I’m not going out today…Can I still get a kiss too? Please?” he asks with a pout but grins brightly when you nod and run over to fall into his arms. Easily, you press a kiss to his cheek and move to pull away when— “Can I have another one?” he wasn’t satisfied with just one cheek being kissed and, thankfully, you were willing to appease him. “Can I get two more?” you give him a look but when he utters the magic word ‘please’, you can’t possibly say no. “A-and just one more?--”

“Oh Jake!” he giggles freely and mischievously, relishing in the idea that he’s the first person to see you so adorably faux-frustrated. You give him one final kiss anyway and leave him feeling like he’s walking on air. Never before had such a beautiful lady indulged in his antics the way you did. There’s no animosity coming from you, only acceptance and affection.

Life can’t get better than this~

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Jake had a self-collated library all about magic, artefacts and modern tech in his room. It was a personal collection he was rather proud of and eager to finally store on physical shelves and admire freely. He always felt rather pleased with himself when he looked upon the collection, many of his editions were special, annotated with auxiliary details by the original authors themselves. He’s even personally written several of the observation journals within the collection. They were never officially published and purely stemmed from his interests. So proud he was of his collection that he couldn’t resist bringing down the books to show you. He would have happily brought down more but limited himself only to the relevant material needed for his coordinated search with Ari. He’s confident you’ll be able to keep up with his musings the same way you did during breakfast.

He’s so excited!

Getting to talk to such a beautiful and intelligent lady with a honey-esque voice and kind warmth was heaven on earth for a loser Beta like him. Jake knows that, compared to his other teammates, he barely stacks up but you treat him fairly and with the same sweetness. He never feels left out around you. In his eyes, you glow like the sun. Even more so now that he knows you’re just as interested in magi-tech as him. Have the gods made a more perfect woman than you?...

You promised to look over his books with him after you cleaned up the kitchen and did some of the laundry, which was perfect considering Ari was on call with him that morning. Jake expertly coordinated the search with the lumbering man who took on-site images of any potential artefacts and swiftly copied any paper trails that could prove useful to their mission. Thanks to Ari’s suggestion that Jake stay home for the day, it was much easier to reference certain aspects of the artefacts they were looking for and focus their search efforts.

The morning was a fruitful and busy one. As the grandfather clock’s face gradually reached noon, Ari called off the search and promised to feedback to Jake when he finally returned to base and had lunch to refuel him. Jake was then reminded of his carefully prepared lunch and the growling of his stomach. He finds it far too easy to get caught up in their operations, especially when it concerns a topic he was so passionate about.

“Don’t worry about me and eat your lunch, Jake,” you assure, stepping into the kitchen with your apron on, “I’ll make something simple but yummy for my lunch today and I’ll join you in a bit,”

“Okay,” Jake concedes, no longer feeling as guilty for starting his lunch first but still expecting a call from Ari —if not during lunch then after. While your back is turned, he goofily smiles at the note you had written and suppresses the urge to fall back and kick his legs in the air. "Just a small reminder: you make the world a better place."

Despite the wariness fostered by your seemingly innocuous exchange with Jake that morning, the mercenaries still made the time to regroup at their city-centre base to eat your lunch together. It’s become a silent ritual now. Nobody spoke a word in a collective attempt to evade their propagating scepticism of you. For now, all they wanted to do was guiltlessly savour your palatable cooking again, maybe even for the last time – that was a thought they all shared but one that didn’t comfort them, not even Lloyd, who silently opened his boxed lunch first.

“I hope this lunch helps you conquer your day…” Lloyd mutters to himself. Rather than store away your note as he had always done, he crumples it in his hand, motivated by the lingering bitterness of unwarranted betrayal in his chest. Nothing about you is confirmed but that didn’t mean your words and actions weren’t dubious – Lloyd knew he shouldn’t have allowed himself to get soft like this, that was his mistake. He beats himself up mentally for being unable to resist you that morning and dreads the notion that it may be too late for him despite his denials. The merc no longer felt hungry but ate your lovingly prepared lunch anyway. It would be a waste otherwise.

“A tasty pick-me-up for my favourite person,” Ransom smiles down at your sweet note and carefully savours his lunch. He doesn’t want to be stubborn about you, he knows that you’re a good person; his doubts can’t be easily shaken now.

“Today’s special ingredient: all my love,” Ari bites down on his lower lip hard. The squeal of joy he was tempted to let out at that moment would be too embarrassing, especially for an over 6-foot, heavily bearded alpha like him. He eagerly digs into his lunch and happily awaits his call with Jake. Maybe if he hurries, he can put in his call for feedback before the mid-day debrief and everyone leaves to resume their missions.

Andy enjoys reading his notes from you in his head, only whispering it to himself aloud when he reads it the first time. He likes to read your note a few more times before finally relenting to his aching stomach, “Every bite is proof of how much I care,” It’s hard not to smile while eating your delicious food. It tastes better when he ignores all the sour uncertainties about you.

Curtis rarely smiles but the mercs are treated to his rare, chaste grins every time he reads your lunch note. The stoic guard resists the urge to look up and face his smiling teammates whenever he does — he cares deeply for you but you getting him to smile is quite flustering, "Lunch made with love for someone who’s truly special." Curtis doesn’t believe he will ever grow accustomed to your sweet gestures but he doesn’t mind.

Steve tries to ignore your note this time, knowing that it’ll make him smile and his heart flood with warmth. He knows that he must avoid your affection at all costs, he needs to remain the most level-headed amongst his team. However, just as he’s finishing up his last few bites, the guilt has already weighed down his stomach significantly and he can’t resist reading your elegant handwritten note for the day, "I thought of you while making this—hopefully it’s as wonderful as you are!" Steve would be a monster if he didn’t smile at your sweet words and, thankfully, he isn’t one.

In his periphery, Ari sees the team diligently packing up their lunches to sit around the main table with Steve. Their mid-day debrief was drawing near and he rushed to call Jake. He turns his voice up to be heard aloud by everyone else.

Lunch finished later than usual for you but quickly got back to sewing beside Jake as soon as possible. While you sew, Jake takes diligent notes on a spare pad of paper, drawing from the open books piled up around him. His gaze remains focused, silent and studious, it was a side you rarely saw in the goofy, excitable Beta but was one you appreciated seeing in him. Smiling to yourself, you return your attention to your sewing just as Jake’s small shell-shaped magi-tech device rings atop the coffee table. He reaches out to answer it and Ari’s voice filters into the empty air.

“Afternoon Ari! How’s work?” Jake begins with an unfaltering grin.

“Afternoon Jake, it’s all good,” Ari happily greets over the specialised device, “How’s the weather at the cottage?” Report on current affairs.

“We have some clouds,” There’s company who can hear. The mercenaries tense up knowing that you’re near enough to pick up on their conversation. Ari and Jake will have to keep their dialogue highly censored so as not to reveal anything. Andy can easily hop on the call and take over as he was the better speaker but only Ari and Jake had adequate knowledge of the magical artefacts so they were better suited to conversing.

“I see, it’s been cloudy here too,” Everyone can hear. “At least there’s no rain,” the two lightly chuckle, “Did you get a chance to water the peonies as I asked?” Speak cautiously.

“Not yet, but I will in a bit,” Jake carefully eyes you in his periphery and almost sags in relief when you’re too engrossed with mending Steve’s torn-up shirt. “The peonies will be watered generously but I could never do a better job than you,” It’s safe. I’ll keep you informed. Hearing Jake’s assurance, the mercenaries relax ever so slightly. Due to their limited codes, it’s hard to pinpoint how safe it was to speak openly but they trust their Beta. They’ve all survived off of their trust in each other, if Jake says it’s safe, then it’s safe.

“Just don’t overdo it,” Ari replies, slightly worried for his carefully grown peonies. To ensure you don’t grow suspicious, Jake will have to water his peonies at the front of the cottage later on but their tech genius doesn’t have the greenest of thumbs — whatever, this was for the team. He can always grow more peonies but he can’t sabotage everyone’s final mission to secure retirement.

After some time passes, Jake suddenly groans in frustration and momentarily distracts you from the sewing, “⏤Replicas have been made and it’s making things very difficult,” your attention is immediately stolen, quickly prompting Jake to snap his head towards you and smile with his teeth.

“Sorry about that, princess. I didn’t mean to worry you, just a little stressed out about work,” Jake apologises, making it obvious to the rest of the team that you were actively listening now and they silently thanked him for it. Especially Ari; the alpha didn’t want his pack to turn their backs on you, not when they’ve barely given you a chance. You may still be a total mystery but that didn’t eliminate the knowing feeling in his chest and the instinctual pull he had towards you.

“Replicas?” you ask before you can stop yourself. At the slightly uncomfortable look on Jake’s face, you bite your lip guiltily, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop like that.”

“It’s alright,” Jake rubs the back of his head bashfully. “H-How much did you hear?”

“Only the end bit, about the replicas. Are you doing some sort of investigation on replica artefacts and tech?” you ask with an adorable head tilt that made Jake’s heart pound like crazy.

“I-I guess you could say that,”

“Wow, that sounds very important. You must work on a lot of forgery cases from all the notes you’ve made,” you nod towards his tireless notations and heavy books.

“Haha! Guilty. The winner deserves a prize~” he teases to which you playfully bat at his shoulder. You’re smiling as if you’re not bothered at all by that deduction so he runs with it and makes sure the team is well-informed of this: follow along. Jake has to remind himself to school his features first. He can’t bring himself to meet your eyes normally anymore. He felt like an utter criminal for lying to your face like this. So he focuses his attention back on his messy array of notes and books.

“What artefacts or tech are you looking into? Maybe I can help?” From breakfast, Jake can tell you have an expansive knowledge of magi-tech and artefacts. He knows he should think the decision over more but his words are spilling past his lips before he can think to stop himself.

“That would be great! Thanks!” Jake’s brow suddenly becomes sweaty as he reaches for a worn book with aged pages left open at a particular spread. The movement draws your eyes to the illustration displayed on the two-page spread.

“Oh…” Jake raises a brow at your shocked expression, “For such an ancient artefact to have replicas is astounding…” you utter to yourself, loud enough for your voice to reach Ari and the rest of the team, who were anxiously listening in on you and Jake. They opted for staying quiet so that you divulge as much information as possible. Knowledge is power, no matter the source.

“You know this artefact?”

“It has such a rich history, I’m surprised not many more people know of it,”

Jake chuckles in slight embarrassment, “I only have these old artefacts books on it. And modern tech books aren’t much help; I left those upstairs,”

“It’s alright,” you assure with kind understanding, “It’s one of the oldest artefacts but back then information on it was scarce since the owners didn’t want to divulge too much,”

“How do you know all this?”

You shrug your shoulders and look away shyly, “You’d be surprised at what kind of information you’ll find on the same thing but from a different genre. History books are better at knowing the origins of these artefacts more than these magic books, they are more for showcasing its mechanisms and specifications,” Jake nods along, leaning towards you ever so slightly.

“That makes sense,”

“It’s a beautiful piece of magical technology, one of the first of its kind – hence the ‘artefact’ classification. And, despite its dark past, it led to a massive turning point in history,” You begin to retell your teachings from the generous staff who had taught you behind the Queen’s back. Ernest and Abigail kept your mind sharp and well-learned from the many books the royal library held. Abraham, the palace mage also helped educate you, specifically on your magic capabilities and especially on this history of magic, artefacts and modern magi-tech. He thought for sure that he would no longer be needed at the palace; with no King to aid in magic and a Queen with no desire to support the true heir, he was ready to pack his bags. However, the Queen regularly appeared before him with questions on magic so he could stay. Grateful for the mercenaries’ generosity in letting you stay, you happily provided Jake with the same teachings of Abraham.

An incredible amount of years ago, many people detested those with magical abilities and for good reason. The ability to control and use magic freely came at a heavy price, soul corruption. Over time, an individual with magical abilities would become selfish, greedy, violent and unloving towards others — the human heart and soul can be easily degraded by magic, but not certain metals and other materials. Once that was learned, powerful sorcerers imbued their magic into ordinary objects which would then become magical artefacts.

Jake eagerly listened, as did his teammates on the connecting side of the magi-tech device they were using.

However, there was a small group of people who didn’t get corrupted by the magic ability they were gifted with. The modern-day royal family are the descendants of those same people. It seemed that these individuals were gifted with a high affinity and tolerance for magic, granting them power to rule over the kingdoms. They proved themselves worthy rulers by creating artefacts that protected an entire city of people. Those same artefacts stand to this day, all located at the central point of each kingdom’s capital. The rulers’ natural talents were never challenged nor their rule, thus starting the monarchy.

However, anomalies with magical power did occur within and outside the royal bloodline. And without an explanation, many wrongdoings were committed.

“Because magical prowess became an exclusive trait to the royal family, those who had magical powers but were not born into royalty were treated poorly and executed. But, if you remember, before the monarchy was ever established, others were also gifted with magical affinities. Now that it’s exclusive only to royals, those who weren’t were punished.” you and Jake shared a sad look, “The reasoning was so that the magic user doesn’t get corrupted by their magic but it can’t be denied that magic had become such an exclusive privilege of the royal families that pride was also a factor,” Jake shakes his head in disappointment. His love for magic, artefacts and magi-tech made the history you were telling him hard to swallow. He can understand why this wasn’t common knowledge, although…such rich historical books were also hard to come by…

“It also didn’t help that we, as humans, have a bad habit of gossiping about strange events in search of an explanation. The ‘anomaly’ of a ‘commoner’ having magical abilities was so taboo that it warranted execution, especially when rumours began to spread that those high-magic-affinity people were the illegitimate children of the royal family. Nowadays, it’s no longer stigmatised as it’s been extrapolated that some individuals are just more magically inclined than others. But this was only after King Kloros.”

“What about him?”

“King Kloros was found to be infertile later in life when his five-year-old son, Prince Leto, was found to have no magical powers. Usually, royal children display magic as young as a month old but five years is the benchmark. Since Prince Leto wasn’t magically inclined even at five years of age, the King confronted the mirror of Aleth, named after the Sorceress and Queen Alethea who created the mirror to tell only truths when asked a question. It was found that Prince Leto was not his true son at all but was born out of his Queen consort’s affair. Outraged, King Kloros banished his Queen Consort, he could no longer look into Queen Consort Anwir’s eyes. To the surprise of many, he kept Prince Leto as his heir; he had grown to see the boy as his true son already. He also knew wouldn’t be able to have a son of his own anyway but wanted an heir regardless. Years later, however, Prince Leto, at 7 years of age, developed magical abilities regardless of his heritage and that was when King Kloros decided to banish prejudice against all magic users, vowing to find ways to prevent his son from being corrupted by the magic. It was found that as long as magic users practised the flow of magic within them and released them into objects regularly, they were less likely to be corrupted, which is why most sorcerers help create magi-tech products or participate in healing the sick,”

“Thank goodness for that,” Jake voiced playfully after thanking you and you both giggled. With scrutiny, Jake focused on the ancient pages showcasing the Mirror of Aleth, “But I do wonder… why don’t more people know about the mirror despite its influence on King Kloros and, therefore, the world as they knew it,” Jake mumbles to himself.

“It’s probably because it only did one thing. Yes, it generated a huge wave of influence but that ‘huge wave’ completely masked its original impact.” Jake nods beside you, “I also read somewhere that it only responded to true descendants, as in, the royal family so it’s been kept securely at the Okisha Kingdom’s Palace vault. As honourable people, they like the use the artefact’s abilities sparingly — they understand how damaging it is to know all truths, hence why Queen Alethea made sure the mirror only responded to descendants of the royal family,” All mercenaries tensed at the mention of their client but only for a millisecond; you were only reciting your knowledge. The intel they were given by the Okisha Kingdom’s mage was very lacking compared to your intelligence. However, that only made them more curious and cautious of you.

You move to continue your sewing but Jake, hypnotised by your voice and knowledgable insight, hurries to keep you talking, “Would you know how to identify the real one from a replica?”

His words make you think in silence as all of the listening men await your words with bated breath. Steve, Andy, Jake and Ari anticipate what your valuable intelligence may provide them in their mission, preferring to disregard their suspicions for the time being. Curtis and Ransom look at each other momentarily and keep their ears perked as well. Lloyd, however, tries to tune out your voice as much as possible; he feels a pang of sickening betrayal every time you innocently add to their suspicions because how could you possibly know all this bullshit?!

“I would first consider why replicas are being made — potentially to throw off whoever’s wanting to snatch the original, a decoy perhaps?” that’s a line of thinking you would rather return to at a later time for its many possibilities, “And then I would think about what the most telling signs would be of a fake…” you gesture to Jake’s open book and politely ask if you could touch it; you only do so after he gives a nod of permission. With that simple but considerate gesture, Jake thinks you’re even more of an angel now — he’s head over heels! He doesn’t allow just anyone to touch his prized possessions lightly but he trusts your delicate hands. “Notice how the mirror is made of only precious materials?” Jake nods eagerly, ecstatic to know you were just as vigilant as him in that observation. He hopes you can give him some sort of explanation as to why that is; he has his personal theories but they’re only that, theories. Another’s insight, especially from one who’s as knowledgable as you is very valuable. “Do you know why most ancient artefacts are only made with precious metals?”

“Not a clue,”

“It’s because magic can corrode materials as much as it can a person’s heart and soul. Precious metals are precious because they corrode very very very slowly, to the point that it’s barely noticeable. Nowadays, all magi-tech products only need to be installed with imbued magic crystals to work,” Jake has a eureka moment in his head and restrains himself from jumping on you with a scream of joy. That’s a better explanation than anything he’s come up with before. And is one he can use when training or creating his own magi-tech devices after his retirement with the boys.

“That’s amazing! All we have to do is see if the materials are made of precious metals or not!”

“Exactly!”

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Jake and Ari were able to make progress with their specific mission thanks to your precious intel. Ari stiffly worded his gratitude over the device and swiftly ended the call, leaving Jake to bite at his already short nails. Unphased, you returned to sewing Steve’s shirt. Glancing at the grandfather clock, it was still early afternoon so keep with your sewing but regularly glance at the clockface so that you don’t start on dinner too late. While you did that, Jake was drowning Ari’s peonies from anxiety. The tech genius can only imagine what his team would do as soon as they arrived home for dinner that night. He tends to lose track of many things when magic, artefacts and magi-tech are involved so he could hardly restrain himself when you talked overtly about the ancient artefact with Ari and the boys on the other end. As you revealed everything you knew to him, you also revealed it all to his teammates. It’s safe to say that he was expecting the worst-ever reaction from them.

He’ll protect you with his life! Even against his own! He loved the team but he’s never felt such a strong connection to someone else before. You’re the first lady to ever turn his way without a judgemental look in your eyes; you’re not dissuaded by his dorkiness and zealous interest in magic, you lean into it and happily discuss the topic with him. You’re a rare jewel he would rather sacrifice his life for than ever part with.

Jake slowly loses himself in thoughts of you and your wonderfulness. He was just beginning to smile goofily when he was subtly alerted by a breach in the barrier. They were home early! Rushing inside, Jake beelines it to you.

“Jake?” you ask with a slight tilt of your head as if to say, ‘What’s wrong?’. Jake knows what’s wrong but he’s not going to tell you anything. You stand when Jake keeps striding towards you without a word. You don’t know what to expect but it’s not to be lifted from the ground and into his arms as if you weighed nothing.

“There’s no time, Princess!” Jake turns on his heel and steps towards the back of the house but freezes up when the front door slams open. You gasp and jump ever so slightly in his arms from freight but smile over his shoulder at the sight of the mercenaries arriving in the living room with their shoes still on.

“You’re home early, today,” you beam from over Jake’s shoulder, “how was work? I’m afraid I don’t have dinner ready yet–”

“Quiet!” Steve commands firmly and in a volume that shakes the cottage walls. His eyes are like dull, blue stones, cold and hard as they drill into you. It sends a chill down your spine, “Turn around and put her down, Jake,” Jake turns but doesn’t let you go, only holding you closer.

“Sorry Cap,” Jake apologises without any meaning, “I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Ari smiles at the gesture and nods in approval from his place beside Ransom.

“Put. Her. Down. Now!”

“No!”

“Wh-what’s going on?” you whisper, blinking back tears from the frightening visage of Steve. He was always so kind and warm to be around; this is the first time you’ve ever seen him so loud and cold.

“She’s not a bad person, Captain!”

“Then who is she?!” Lloyd barks from Steve’s right, stepping forward to sneer at you with much more animosity than you’re used to. His confrontational step forward makes you reel back and turn away from him in fear, “Tell us your real name!” Your obvious fright makes Lloyd stutter ever so slightly but protecting him and his mismatched pack will always be his top priority, not you.

“I-I have told you my real name!” you defend, wrapping your arms around Jake’s neck and leaning into him for comfort.

“You’re scaring her, Lloyd!” Ransom counters, stepping out of the group to stand closer to you and Jake. Curtis does the same but silently, his tall, broad stature as imposing and dangerous as ever. The two have been able to see your true character in the time they’ve spent with you — even though you have secrets, that doesn’t mean you were untrustworthy; everyone has secrets.

“It doesn’t matter if she’s the thief!” Lloyd points an accusing finger at you.

“She’s not the thief!”

“You don’t know that!”

“And what makes you think you do?!”

“ENOUGH!” Lloyd and Ransom looked ready to shout at each other until the sun rose again if it weren’t for Ari cutting in. “Screaming and arguing with each other isn’t going to sort anything out! Plus our angel isn’t any less frightened!” Ari steps up to stand beside your curled-up form in Jake’s arms. “If she meant any harm, she would have done something by now. She deserves to have a say,” Ari gives a pointed look at Andy who smiles at the bittersweet notion that the heavily bearded alpha chose now to recite his personal philosophy.

Everyone turns to Steve, who contemplates the situation. A long pause draws out for what feels like an eternity before their Captain finally turns to their negotiator.

“Andy?” Steve asks. He truly can see things going two ways. He was ready to kick you out for the betterment of his pack but seeing Jake, Ari, Ransom and Curtis firmly standing at your side made him second-guess himself. Trust in the team. Lloyd was too heated. Andy was the only other level-headed Alpha he could fully rely on.

“...Let her speak for herself, Captain,” Andy can’t shake Ari’s reminder of his personal values. With a bit of work, his teammate could make for a great negotiator, “She deserves to have a say,”

Steve nods and meets your eyes with a hard but warmer stare, “Tell us the truth,”

Not seeing a way out, you nod and bite your lip with some insecurity. “Alright…”

navi. | series masterlist | seven. the lumbering repairman →

a/n : this is a pretty long chapter, primarily because of the world-building lore I wove into it. I hope you enjoyed it and the read. The series is slowly getting more interesting so things will pick up from here. Look forward to future updates hehe~ In the meantime, Happy holidays, my darlings!

If you're interested, here's a little note on the names involved in the lore drop:

Chloe, the name, means 'fertility' and is derived from the Greek name Khlóros - I took the ‘h’ out to sort of take away from that meaning somehow and better fit the infertile king.

Leto, the name, means 'hidden' and has Greek and Latin origins

Alethea, the name, means 'truth' and has Greek roots

Anwir, the name, is Welsh, meaning 'liar'

taglist : @imyourbratzdoll @lovinglimerence @saturdayrj @baw1066 @whereismymindnow @urmomw4ntsme @oneandonlybbygrl

[enemiestolovershoe]

Unexpected Firsts

Matt Sturniolo x bsf!reader

Summary: A night of truth or dare leads to a moment that changes everything between two best friends.

Words: 6k

Warnings: SMUT. Loosing virginity. Truth or dare. Use of y/n. Pet names like sweetheart, princess and good girl. Crying

A/N: It‘s not a dare to lose readers virginity. Reader choose Truth and that following question leads to Matt offering Reader to „help out“

The hum of laughter and music filled the cozy living room as the group of friends lounged in various corners of the space. It was one of those laid-back nights where no one was trying too hard, just a close-knit group of friends gathering for a few hours of fun. The fairy lights strung across the ceiling added a warm glow to the room, and the faint scent of popcorn lingered from an earlier snack raid.

You were nestled comfortably on the carpet next to Matt Sturniolo, your best friend since high school. His presence was a constant in your life—someone you could always count on. Tonight was no different. He leaned back on one arm, sipping his soda while grinning at something Nick had just said.

“Okay, okay,” Nick announced loudly, clapping his hands together for attention. “It’s officially truth-or-dare time. Everyone, circle up.”

You groaned, shooting Matt a look. “Do we have to?”

“Don’t fight it,” Matt replied with a smirk. “This is gonna get interesting.”

You rolled your eyes but shifted to join the forming circle, squeezing between Matt and another friend. Matt nudged you playfully with his knee, a silent promise that he’d stick by you if things got out of hand.

The game started innocently enough: a few truths about embarrassing childhood moments, dares to chug soda, or text something stupid to someone’s ex. The mood was lighthearted and fun, and you found yourself relaxing into the atmosphere.

“Your turn, Y/N,” Nick declared, the devilish glint in his eye making you tense. “Truth or dare?”

“Truth,” you said quickly, earning a chorus of boos.

“Lame!” Nick teased. “Alright, fine. Let’s see… hmm…” His face lit up as an idea struck him. “Who was your best sex partner?”

The room erupted in oohs and laughter, and you felt your face instantly heat up. Your throat tightened as all eyes turned toward you, waiting for an answer. Even Matt’s gaze was on you now, though he didn’t laugh like the others. Instead, he studied you curiously, his brow slightly furrowed.

“Uh…” You hesitated, your hands fidgeting with the hem of your sweater. “Well, um…”

“C’mon, Y/N,” Nick urged, leaning forward with exaggerated anticipation. “Don’t leave us hanging!”

Your cheeks burned, and you could barely meet anyone’s eyes. “I, uh…”

Matt noticed your discomfort and spoke up, his tone protective. “Hey, maybe she doesn’t wanna answer that one. Chill.”

“No, it’s fine,” you said quickly, giving Matt a small, grateful smile before looking down at your hands. You took a deep breath. “I don’t really have an answer. I’m, um… still a virgin.”

The room went silent for a beat, the playful atmosphere replaced with stunned quiet. Your heart pounded in your chest as you waited for someone to say something, feeling your blush deepen.

“You’re joking,” one of the guys finally said, breaking the tension.

“Nope,” you replied, forcing a small laugh. “That’s the truth.”

Matt’s voice cut through the murmurs, steady and confident. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

You glanced at him, his expression soft and sincere. His reassurance made you feel a little less self-conscious, though the tension in the room lingered. Someone tried to make a joke to lighten the mood, but you could tell the admission had caught everyone off guard.

Matt leaned in close, his voice low enough for only you to hear. “You okay?”

You nodded, offering a weak smile. “Yeah, just… wasn’t expecting that question.”

He gave your shoulder a gentle squeeze. “You handled it like a champ.”

The game continued, but you couldn’t shake the lingering tension—or the way Matt’s gaze seemed to linger on you longer than usual.

“Next round!” Chris shouted, his voice cutting through the tension. He pointed at one of the guys sitting cross-legged on the floor. “Alright, dude, truth or dare?”

“Dare,” the guy said confidently, and the group erupted into laughter as Chris gave him some absurd challenge about singing a love ballad to the nearest object. The game carried on, the awkwardness from earlier dissolving into jokes and teasing. But you weren’t really paying attention.

Your gaze was fixed on the floor, your mind spinning with thoughts you couldn’t quite pin down. The weight of the earlier question still hung heavy in your chest, and no amount of laughter around you seemed to lighten it.

“Y/N?” Matt’s voice cut through the noise. When you didn’t respond, he reached out and lightly grabbed your forearm, his touch warm and grounding. “Hey. You okay?”

You blinked, finally looking at him. His dark eyes were soft with concern, his brows slightly furrowed as he leaned closer to you. The chatter of the group faded into the background for a moment.

“Yeah,” you said quickly, giving a faint smile you hoped would reassure him. “I’m fine.”

Matt didn’t look convinced. “You sure? You seem… off.”

You shook your head and pulled your arm gently from his grip, trying to avoid making a scene. “No, yeah. I’m just tired.” Standing up, you brushed off your jeans and glanced at the rest of the group, who were now mid-laugh about the current dare.

“Where are you going?” Nick called out, his voice carrying over the noise.

You hesitated for a second, feeling the heat of everyone’s attention again. “I think I’m gonna head to bed,” you said, forcing a small smile. “I’ll be in your room, Nick.”

“Boo!” Chris called with a teasing grin. “It’s barely midnight!”

“Yeah, you’re ditching us already?” someone else added, but their teasing was half-hearted, more amused than critical.

“Sorry,” you said softly, backing toward the door. “I’m just not feeling it anymore. Have fun, though.”

Matt’s eyes lingered on you as you turned and walked away. He didn’t say anything, but you could feel his gaze on your back as you slipped out of the room and climbed the stairs, grateful to finally be alone.

The second you stepped into Nick’s room, the weight of the night hit you like a freight train. You barely had the energy to cross the room, so you didn’t. Instead, you closed the door softly behind you and slid down to the floor, resting your back against the cool wood.

You pulled your knees up to your chest and buried your face in them, trying to take slow, deep breaths to steady yourself. But it didn’t work. The lump in your throat grew heavier, and before you even realized it, tears started to spill down your cheeks.

You didn’t even know why. It had never bothered you before that you were still a virgin. You’d never felt embarrassed about it. In fact, you were proud of not rushing into something so important. But tonight, something about having to admit it in front of all your friends, with all those eyes on you, had shaken you. It wasn’t just the question—it was the vulnerability of it all.

You pressed your palms into your eyes, willing yourself to stop, but the tears kept falling. The quiet room amplified every shaky breath, every sniffle. The isolation was both a comfort and a weight, pressing down on you as you sat there, feeling small.

Ten minutes passed like this. The muffled sounds of laughter and music from downstairs reached you faintly, reminding you of the world you’d just walked away from. You started to pull yourself together, wiping at your damp cheeks and sniffling quietly, when a soft knock at the door broke the silence.

Your heart jumped, and you froze, staring at the door like it might disappear.

“Who’s there?” you called, your voice shaky and uneven.

“It’s me,” Matt said from the other side, his voice quiet but firm. “Can I come in?”

For a moment, you hesitated. You glanced down at yourself, realizing you probably looked like a mess—tear-streaked face, red eyes, and all. But this was Matt. If anyone could see you like this, it was him.

“Yeah,” you said softly, your voice barely carrying.

You stood up slowly, your knees stiff from sitting on the floor for so long. Wiping at your cheeks one last time, you turned the handle and pulled the door open.

Matt stood there, his expression shifting the moment he saw your face. His easy, teasing demeanor from earlier was gone, replaced by quiet concern. His eyes softened, scanning your tear-streaked cheeks and red-rimmed eyes.

“Y/N,” he said gently, stepping closer but stopping just short of touching you. “What’s wrong? You know you can tell me anything.”

His words were so simple, so sincere, that they hit you harder than you expected. You looked down, fiddling with the hem of your sweater, trying to find the right words. Your throat felt tight again, but this time it wasn’t embarrassment—it was the overwhelming comfort of having someone who cared enough to notice.

“I don’t know,” you admitted finally, your voice cracking. “I just… I don’t know why I’m crying.”

Matt didn’t say a word at first. Instead, he stepped forward and pulled you into a tight hug, his arms wrapping around you as if they could shield you from everything that was weighing you down. You stiffened for a brief moment before melting into his embrace, burying your face in his chest. His hand rested on the back of your head, and you felt him gently rub small circles into your back, his steady breathing calming your racing thoughts.

“Is it because of earlier?” he asked softly, his voice low but steady.

You hesitated, your fingers clutching the fabric of his hoodie. “I don’t know,” you said at first, your voice muffled against him. Then, after a pause, you added, “I mean… maybe? It never really bothered me before. I’ve always been fine with waiting.” You pulled back slightly, just enough to meet his eyes. “But now, if I really think about it, it’s kind of embarrassing to be a virgin at nearly 22.”

Matt broke the hug immediately, his hands resting firmly on your shoulders as he looked at you, his expression serious but gentle. “No. Y/N, no,” he said, his tone leaving no room for argument. “There is nothing wrong with that. Never, ever tell yourself something like that again. Do you hear me?”

You bit your lip, your eyes darting to the floor. His intensity startled you, but it also stirred a flicker of comfort deep in your chest. You nodded slowly, still not able to meet his gaze. “Okay,” you murmured quietly.

Matt released your shoulders and stepped back slightly, but his eyes didn’t leave your face. He was quiet for a moment, clearly debating something in his mind. You could tell by the way his jaw tensed and how he shifted his weight slightly, something he always did when he was overthinking.

When he finally spoke, his voice was softer, almost hesitant. “You know…” he began, clearing his throat awkwardly. “If you really want to lose it… I mean, if it’s something you’re ready for and it’s bothering you…” He paused, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “I could be the one who takes it. I mean, if you’re comfortable with that.”

Your eyes snapped up to his, wide with surprise. “What?”

Matt’s cheeks flushed instantly, and he cursed under his breath, looking away for a moment. “Forget it. That was stupid. I shouldn’t have said anything—”

“No, wait,” you interrupted, your voice barely above a whisper. “You would… do that for me?”

His gaze softened as he looked back at you, still visibly embarrassed but holding your gaze. “Yeah,” he said simply. “If that’s what you want. But only under one condition.”

You tilted your head slightly, your heart racing. “What condition?”

He scratched the back of his neck, his lips quirking into a small, nervous smile. “We don’t make this awkward afterward. Like, we’re still us. No weirdness, no ruining what we have.”

You nodded slowly, your voice shy as you asked, “You’d really do that for me, Matt?”

His gaze held yours, steady and sincere, as he nodded again. “Of course. You mean everything to me, Y/N. I’d never let anyone make you feel like you’re less than amazing. Not even yourself.”

A soft, shy smile spread across your face as you looked at Matt. His words, so genuine and tender, lingered in the air between you. Without thinking, you leaned in, closing the distance between you. Your lips met his, soft and hesitant at first. The kiss was slow, almost uncertain, but the warmth and connection behind it were undeniable.

Matt kissed you back just as gently, his hands carefully resting on your waist. It was like testing the waters, feeling out the newness of something you’d both probably imagined but never dared to explore. Your lips moved in sync, and within moments, the initial hesitancy gave way to something deeper, more urgent. His hand moved to cradle your face, tilting it slightly to deepen the kiss, and your fingers instinctively found the fabric of his hoodie, clutching it tightly.

Your breaths grew heavier as the kiss intensified, and for a moment, it felt like the rest of the world melted away. But then Matt pulled back, his forehead resting gently against yours as he caught his breath. His dark eyes searched yours, a mix of excitement and nervousness shining in them.

“Let’s… let’s take this to my room, yeah?” he murmured, his voice low and slightly breathless. “I don’t know how long Nick is gonna be downstairs.”

You nodded silently, your heart racing as he took your hand and led you out of Nick’s room. The walk to his room felt like it took both a second and an eternity. The quiet hallway only amplified the anticipation building between you.

Once you were inside, Matt shut the door behind you, leaning against it for a moment before his gaze found yours again. He stepped toward you, his confidence returning as he reached for you, his hands resting gently on your waist. Without another word, his lips were on yours again, this time with more urgency.

The kiss grew deeper, and you found yourself walking backward until your knees hit the edge of his bed. You gasped softly as you fell onto it, your back meeting the mattress, and Matt quickly followed, his body hovering over yours. For a moment, he didn’t do anything. He just looked at you, his eyes tracing every feature of your face like he was committing it to memory.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, his voice filled with awe. His fingers brushed a strand of hair away from your face, and you felt your cheeks flush under his gaze.

You reached up, your fingers brushing against his cheek as you whispered, “Matt…”

He leaned down, kissing you again, his weight pressing into you just enough to feel grounded but not overwhelming. His lips moved to your jaw, then down to your neck, leaving soft, lingering kisses that made your skin tingle. As his hands slowly explored, finding the hem of your shirt, he paused and pulled back slightly.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice soft and full of concern.

You nodded, your voice steady but quiet. “Yeah. I’m okay.”

Matt’s eyes searched yours, needing the reassurance. “Are you sure? We don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for. Just say the word, and we’ll stop.”

Your heart swelled at his care, and you nodded again, more firmly this time. “I’m sure, Matt. I want this… with you.”

A small smile tugged at his lips, and he leaned down to kiss you again, his hands carefully lifting your shirt. You let him, your breaths quickening as you slid your hands under his hoodie, helping him pull it off. His toned chest was warm under your fingertips, and you felt his muscles tense slightly under your touch.

Piece by piece, you began to undress each other, every movement slow and deliberate, filled with quiet questions and soft reassurances. Each time he touched you, Matt paused to check your expression, asking, “Still okay?”

And each time, you whispered, “Yes,” your voice full of trust.

When he finally settled over you again, his bare skin against yours, he cupped your face gently in his hands. “If anything feels wrong or uncomfortable, tell me, okay?” he murmured.

You nodded, feeling a wave of warmth and safety wash over you. “I will. I promise.”

His lips found yours again, tender and unhurried

As your clothes fell away, piece by piece, you felt the cool air brush against your skin, sending a shiver down your spine. Matt hovered above you, his gaze sweeping over your body with an expression you couldn’t quite read—part awe, part tenderness, part something deeper. His fingers trailed along your collarbone and down your arms, making your skin tingle under his touch.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered again, his voice low and filled with reverence. He leaned down to kiss you, slow and lingering, as his hands began to explore.

His lips moved down your neck, trailing soft kisses across your collarbone and down to your chest. You gasped when his warm hands cupped your breasts, his thumbs brushing over your sensitive nipples. His touch was gentle but purposeful, and the way he was so focused on you made your heart race.

Matt’s lips followed the path of his hands, his kisses growing firmer as he pressed them against the swell of your breasts. His hands massaged softly, his thumbs continuing their slow circles, sending waves of pleasure through you. Your breathing grew heavier, and you arched slightly into his touch, your body responding instinctively.

“Matt…” you whispered his name, barely audible, but he heard it. He glanced up at you, his dark eyes meeting yours with an intensity that made your stomach flutter.

“Tell me if it’s too much,” he said softly, his voice warm and steady, though you could see the desire simmering just beneath the surface.

“It’s not,” you reassured him, your voice trembling slightly with anticipation. “It’s perfect.”

He smiled softly before leaning back down, continuing his slow descent. His kisses moved lower, brushing over your stomach, his hands following as they trailed over your hips. You gasped softly when his hand moved between your thighs, his fingers gently parting them.

“You’re amazing,” he murmured against your skin, his lips pressing to your hipbone before his hand slid higher.

You felt a jolt of pleasure as his fingers found your clit, stroking it in slow, deliberate circles. A soft moan escaped your lips, your hips instinctively tilting toward him. The feeling was intense but not overwhelming, his movements careful as he learned what made you gasp and shudder beneath him.

“You’re so wet, Y/N,” Matt whispered, his breath warm against your neck where he rested his head for a moment, his voice filled with wonder and a hint of teasing. His free hand moved to cradle your side, holding you steady as his fingers continued their exploration.

You bit your lip, your hands gripping the sheets beneath you as his finger slipped lower, circling your entrance. When he slowly pushed one finger inside, you let out a soft, breathy moan, your body tensing slightly at the new sensation.

“Does that feel okay?” he asked, his voice low and soothing, his head lifting to meet your gaze.

“Yes,” you breathed, your voice shaky but certain. “It feels… really good.”

Matt smiled again, his thumb brushing over your clit in time with the slow movements of his finger. “You’re incredible,” he murmured, his lips brushing against your collarbone as he continued to work you with a gentle but growing rhythm, his focus entirely on your pleasure.

Matt’s finger moved slowly inside you, the new sensation making you gasp and grip his shoulder. He peppered kisses along your neck and whispered softly, his breath warm against your skin. “You’re doing so well, Y/N. Does this feel good?”

You nodded, unable to form words, your body trembling slightly under his careful touch.

“Relax for me,” he murmured, his lips brushing against your ear. “Just let me take care of you.”

When he added a second finger, you felt a stretch that was unfamiliar but not unpleasant. A louder moan slipped out before you could stop it, the sound echoing in the quiet of the room. Matt froze for a moment, pulling his head back to look at you, his lips quirking into a gentle, teasing smile.

“Shh,” he said softly, pressing a kiss to the corner of your mouth. “I know, I know, but we’ve gotta be quiet, baby. They’re still downstairs.”

You nodded quickly, your cheeks heating with embarrassment, but Matt’s voice softened even further. “Hey,” he said, tilting your chin up to meet his eyes. “Can you do that for me? Can you be my good girl and keep it down?”

His words sent a shiver through you, and you nodded again, this time more eagerly. “I’ll try,” you whispered.

“That’s my girl,” he murmured, leaning in to kiss you deeply. Your lips moved against his, and the kiss was an anchor, helping you focus on him as his fingers continued their slow rhythm. He plunged them in and out of you carefully, curling them just right, and the pleasure began to build steadily in your core.

You gripped the back of his neck, your kisses growing more urgent as you tried to stay quiet, but it was almost impossible. Each movement of his fingers sent sparks shooting through you, the tension in your stomach tightening with every pass of his thumb over your clit.

“Matt…” you whispered against his lips, your voice trembling as the heat inside you began to peak.

“I know,” he said softly, his forehead pressing against yours. “You’re close, aren’t you?”

You nodded frantically, your breathing uneven as your body tensed beneath him.

But just as you felt the edge of your orgasm within reach, Matt suddenly stopped, pulling his fingers away. Your eyes snapped open, a mix of confusion and desperation written across your face.

“What—why did you stop?” you asked breathlessly, your voice barely above a whisper.

Matt’s lips curved into a small, knowing smile as he brushed his thumb over your cheek. “Because,” he said softly, his voice low and full of intent, “I want to be inside you when you cum, pretty girl.”

His words sent a wave of heat through your entire body, and you could only stare at him, your chest rising and falling as you tried to catch your breath. “You do?” you asked shyly, your voice trembling with both excitement and nervousness.

Matt nodded, leaning down to kiss you again, his lips slow and reassuring. “Yeah,” he murmured against your mouth. “But only if you’re ready. I won’t do anything you don’t want.”

“I’m ready,” you whispered, your voice steady despite the rapid beating of your heart. “I want this… I want you.”

The tenderness in his eyes deepened as he kissed you again, his hands gently cradling your face as he whispered, “I’ll take care of you, Y/N. Always.”

Matt leaned over, opening the drawer of his nightstand with a quiet slide. His hand searched for a moment before pulling out a small, foil packet. He looked at you, holding it up for a moment as if giving you one last chance to stop. When you didn’t say anything, just watching him with wide, trusting eyes, he tore it open and rolled the condom on with practiced ease.

You couldn’t look away from him. The way he moved, the care in every action—it only reassured you that you’d made the right decision. He settled back over you, bracing himself with one hand on the bed while the other cupped your face gently. He leaned down to kiss you again, slow and tender, as though he had all the time in the world.

When he pulled back, his forehead pressed against yours, his dark eyes searched your face with a mixture of seriousness and concern. “You’re sure?” he asked softly. “There’s no going back after this, pretty girl.”

You nodded firmly, your heart racing but your resolve unwavering. “I’m 100% sure, Matt. I want this. I want you.”

His lips quirked into a soft smile, and he kissed you again, murmuring against your lips, “I’ll make it good for you, I promise.”

Matt shifted slightly, positioning himself between your legs. His hand moved to guide himself, and you felt the tip of him press against your entrance. Your breath hitched, anticipation and nerves twisting together in your chest.

“Just relax,” he said gently, his free hand brushing soothing circles over your hip. “If it’s too much, tell me, okay?”

You nodded, exhaling shakily. “Okay.”

Slowly, he pushed in, just the tip at first, giving you a moment to adjust. The stretch was unlike anything you’d ever felt—foreign and intense, but not unbearable. You whimpered softly, your hands instinctively clutching at his shoulders.

“Shhh,” Matt whispered, his lips brushing against your temple. “I know, I know. You’re doing so well, Y/N. Just breathe for me.”

He pushed in a little further, and the sensation grew sharper. Your body tensed, a mix of discomfort and pleasure coursing through you. A small tear slipped down your cheek, and Matt immediately noticed, freezing in place.

“Y/N,” he said softly, concern lacing his voice. He wiped the tear away with his thumb, his brows knitting together. “We can stop if it hurts too much. Just say the word.”

“No,” you said quickly, shaking your head. “No, I’m fine. I promise. It’s just… a lot.”

Matt hesitated, his eyes searching yours for any sign of uncertainty. “How much are you in?” you asked, your voice barely above a whisper.

He exhaled slowly, his voice low and steady. “A little more than half, princess.”

You nodded, swallowing hard as you tried to relax. “Okay. Keep going,” you said softly, your voice trembling but determined.

“Are you sure?” he asked again, his thumb brushing over your cheek reassuringly.

“I’m sure,” you whispered, giving him a small smile despite the tension in your body.

Matt leaned down to kiss you, his lips warm and soft against yours. The kiss was meant to distract you, and it worked. Your focus shifted to the way his lips moved with yours, how his hand cradled your face so tenderly.

As the kiss deepened, he slowly pushed in the rest of the way, and before you knew it, he was fully inside you. You gasped softly, your body adjusting to the feeling of fullness. Matt stilled immediately, his forehead resting against yours as he whispered, “Take your time, Y/N. Tell me when you’re ready.”

You took a few deep breaths, letting yourself adjust to the sensation. The initial discomfort was fading, replaced by a growing warmth that spread through you.

After a moment, you nodded, your voice steady as you said, “You can move now, Matt.”

He kissed you again, murmuring, “Okay, baby. I’ll go slow.”

Matt began to move slowly, pulling out just a little before easing back in. The sensation was intense but steady, giving you time to adjust with each gentle thrust. He kissed you tenderly, his lips brushing against yours in a way that sent warmth through your entire body.

“You okay?” he murmured, his voice breathless but still full of concern as his eyes locked on yours.

“Yes,” you whispered, your hands gripping his shoulders for support. “It’s… good.”

He smiled softly, leaning down to kiss you again. “Tell me if you want me to stop, alright?”

“I will,” you assured him, your voice trembling slightly but filled with trust.

He continued his slow rhythm, his hips moving against yours with precision. The sensation began to shift, the initial discomfort melting into something deeper, something that sent sparks of pleasure through you. Your breathing grew heavier, and you let out a soft whimper as your body started to relax into his movements.

“Faster,” you whispered, barely audible at first. When he didn’t respond immediately, you repeated it, louder this time. “Faster, please.”

Matt froze for just a second, searching your face for confirmation. When he saw the need in your eyes, he nodded, his lips curving into a small smile. “Okay, baby,” he said, his voice low and full of warmth.

He shifted slightly, his pace increasing as he thrust into you more firmly. The new rhythm sent waves of pleasure through your body, and you couldn’t help but moan softly, your hands clinging to him as if he were your anchor.

“You feel so good,” he whispered, his forehead pressing against yours as his breath came in short pants. “So perfect.”

You whimpered in response, the pleasure building with every thrust. Your bodies moved in sync, his movements growing quicker and more confident as the tension in the air thickened. The room filled with the sound of skin meeting skin, a steady rhythm that echoed around you.

Matt leaned down to kiss you, his lips capturing yours in a heated, desperate kiss. The intensity of the moment deepened, your tongues tangling as you melted into each other. The kiss was messy, filled with passion, but it grounded you in the intimacy of the moment.

As his pace quickened, one of his hands slid between your bodies, his fingers finding your clit with practiced ease. The moment he touched you there, your entire body tensed, a loud moan slipping from your lips before you could stop it.

Matt’s hand quickly moved to cover your mouth, his own breathing ragged as he whispered, “Shhh, baby. I know it’s hard, but you’ve gotta keep quiet.”

You nodded against his hand, your eyes wide as you tried to stifle the sounds spilling from you. The pressure in your core grew unbearable, the pleasure building to a point where it felt like you might burst.

“Come on,” Matt panted, his voice thick with desire as he leaned down to kiss your jaw, your neck, and then your shoulder. “Cum for me, Y/N. Be my good girl.”

His words sent you over the edge. Your body tightened around him as the orgasm crashed over you, waves of pleasure radiating from your core. You cried out into his hand, your muffled moans filling the room as your body trembled beneath him.

Matt’s pace grew erratic, his movements more desperate as your body clenched around him. He groaned low in his throat, the sound sending a shiver through you. His hands gripped your hips, and with one final thrust, he stilled, his face buried in the crook of your neck as he came.

You never thought you’d hear your best friend moan like that, his breath hot against your skin as his body trembled above you. But here you were, in Matt’s bed, tangled together and completely out of breath as the haze of pleasure began to fade. Your body felt heavy, your limbs relaxed, and the room was silent except for the sound of your shared breathing.

Matt lifted his head slightly, his dark eyes meeting yours. There was something in his gaze—softness, maybe even vulnerability—that made your chest ache in the best way. He shifted to the side, pulling out slowly and discarding the condom in the trash next to his bed before lying beside you.

You stared at the ceiling for a moment, still trying to process what had just happened. It felt surreal, like a fever dream you didn’t want to wake up from.

Finally, you broke the silence, turning your head to look at him. “That was… amazing,” you said softly, your voice still a little breathless. “Thank you so much, Matt.”

A slow, sweet smile spread across his face as he propped himself up on one elbow, leaning closer to you. He reached out, gently brushing a strand of hair from your face and tucking it behind your ear. “Of course, princess,” he said softly, his voice warm and full of affection.

The nickname sent a flutter through your chest, and you couldn’t help but smile back at him. His hand lingered on your cheek for a moment before he let it fall back to his side, his eyes never leaving yours.

“You okay?” he asked, his tone careful and sincere.

“Yeah,” you replied, nodding as you shifted onto your side to face him fully. “Better than okay.”

“Good,” he said with a small grin, his fingers tracing absent patterns on the sheet between you. “I’m glad. I wanted it to be good for you.”

“It was,” you reassured him, your smile widening. “More than good.”

He chuckled softly, his expression turning a little shy as he looked down briefly before meeting your gaze again. “I, uh… I never thought this would happen,” he admitted. “But I’m glad it did.”

“Me too,” you said quietly, feeling your cheeks heat again. For a moment, neither of you spoke, the silence between you comfortable and filled with unspoken understanding. You reached out, your fingers brushing against his on the sheet. He laced them together without hesitation, giving your hand a gentle squeeze.

As the silence between you stretched, you couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh, the sound breaking through the quiet of the room.

Matt tilted his head, his brows furrowing in confusion as a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “What’s so funny?” he asked, shifting slightly to prop himself up on one elbow, looking down at you with a mix of curiosity and amusement.

You covered your face with your hands for a moment, trying to stifle the giggles bubbling up. “I don’t know,” you managed between breaths, your laughter spilling out uncontrollably. “This whole situation—it’s just… surreal.”

Matt smiled, watching you fondly as your laughter filled the room. “Surreal how?” he asked, gently pulling your hands away from your face so he could see you fully.

You turned your head to look at him, your cheeks still warm from both laughter and the afterglow of what had just happened. “I mean, I never thought my first time would be with my best friend,” you admitted, your voice tinged with humor. “But here we are, and it was… perfect. Like, weirdly perfect.”

Matt chuckled softly, his fingers brushing over the back of your hand. “Weirdly perfect, huh? I’ll take it.”

You grinned at him, the corners of your eyes crinkling. “It was. Really. But,” you paused, your laughter bubbling up again as you turned onto your side to face him, “I think we should definitely do this again.”

Matt’s eyes widened for a split second, but then he burst into laughter alongside you, his deep, warm laugh filling the space between you. “Oh, we definitely will, princess,” he said, his voice low and full of promise, the nickname rolling off his tongue with a confidence that made your stomach flutter.

The two of you lay there for a while longer, your laughter fading into quiet smiles as the reality of the moment sank in. Matt pulled you closer, his arms wrapping around you securely as you rested your head against his chest.

Neither of you needed to say anything else. In that moment, everything felt easy, natural, like this was exactly where you were meant to be. And with Matt’s steady heartbeat beneath your ear and his warm breath ruffling your hair, you couldn’t help but think that this was the start of something completely unexpected

[dragongodryss]

Truth or Dare, Sabertooth edition

Sting thought he had gotten away with his shenanigans the previous night. Yeah, Rogue was shooting him the occasional glare, but this was Rogue we were talking about. He'd forgive him after they had finished their coffee. Probably.

Maybe showcasing his responsible side might hurry things along.

"Right, I'm gonna get started on some of the paperwork. Could you stay in until Yukino drops the cats off?" Sting asked as he got up.

"Dressed like that?" Rogue hummed into his coffee. His face was neutral, but his eyes glittered with amusement. Stunned, Sting looked down to find he was wearing Natsu's clothes, minus the scarf. Realizing that that meant that Natsu had gone home to Magnolia in Sting's clothes caused him to burst into laughter.

"Yeah, you're right. I should get changed." Sting answered when he was done laughing. While rifling through his closet, he decided that he might as well just take a shower.

"~I stay up too late~

~Got nothing in my brain~" Sting sang.

"Goddamn right." He heard Rogue mutter from the kitchen.

"I heard that!" He protested. The doorbell rang, and he heard Rogue get up to answer.

"Good morning, Yukino! How were the cats?" Rogue asked, opening his arms for Frosch to fly into.

"Lector was worried about Sting. Is he alright?" Yukino asked, a little concerned.

"He lives to mess around another day." Rogue answered.

"Hope he doesn't have to find out." Yukino joked. Rogue heard Sting protest from the bathroom. What he also heard was the clicking of heels approaching down the hall, in the distinct gait of Minerva Orland.

"I think you jinxed it." He muttered, remembering last night's spice incident. Yukino's smile grew strained, shrugging anxiously. Lector hopped over to Minerva.

"Princess! How are you on this fine day?" Lector asked woodenly. Rogue heard Minerva exhale through her teeth, producing a hissing sound.

"What has our beloved Guildmaster done with my spices?" Minerva queried dangerously. Rogue handed Frosch to Yukino, signaling for her to get Sting out of there before stepping through the front door.

"...he's suffered enough." Lector tried to appease her. Minerva's eyebrow arched.

"What did he do?" She repeated, losing patience. Rogue walked up to them. Minerva wondered what he would do. Honestly, it all depended on how upset he was at whatever Sting did and how upset he though Minerva would be about it. If he was upset and thought she would be less upset than him, he would tell her, otherwise, he would deflect blame away from Sting, sometimes onto himself, or keep his silence.

"Natsu dared him to chug them and Gajeel pressured him into following through. You could probably catch up to them if you left now." Rogue told her flatly. He knew that given Wendy's call, Erza would likely pick them up, and Minerva wouldn't fight her over this. But Minerva didn't know Erza would be there, so...

"What led to this?" Minerva sighed, letting it go. If Rogue was going to go out of his way to defend Sting, then she wouldn't push it.

"We were playing Truth or Dare." Rogue admitted. Minerva felt her eyes sparkle.

"Tell you what," she said, putting on a facade of generosity, "You get Sting to put together another game today, and I'll forgive him."

"Wait, really?" Sting's head popped around the doorway.

"Yes." "Consider it done!"

-

Rufus tried to contain his grin when he thought about all the fascinating instances he would be able to memorize. This guild had become so much more fun since Jiemma had been dethroned. Orga had turned on the music, which wasn't his cup of tea, but well...

The phrase 'cup of tea' brought his attention to something he had been struggling to ignore. While waiting for Sting to convince Dobengal to watch the cats, Yukino had brought out the ice tea. Now, ice tea wasn't exactly Rufus' thing, but the way she and Rogue consumed it was an insult to tea across the board. He threw a quick glare at the duo, who were muttering about something, likely regretting the life decisions that led them there.

"Do you want some tea, Rufus? We have extra mugs." Rogue offered, noticing Rufus' gaze. Yukino smiled widely, the influence of the Princess rubbing off on her. Rufus knew she knew. And she knew he knew. She knew damn well that one does not drink ice tea from the teapot. She was mocking him. But vengeance would be his.

"I'm fine, thanks Rogue." Rufus politely declined. He was pretty sure that Rogue thought that regular tea was just boiled ice tea, and the entire guild had agreed not to tell him otherwise, and had sworn Rufus to secrecy.

Orga was pumped to finally be playing truth or dare. It was a staple of the high school dramas he so enjoyed, despite never having gone to high school. This would be so much fun.

While he waited for the game to start, he watched Yukino. The silver-haired beauty was talking to Rogue, grimacing and chuckling at words Orga couldn't hear. They were good friends now, at least he thought so, but he wanted to be more. But he remembered the person he had been, back when they had first met, and how he had acted when she had been expelled from the guild she had worked so hard to join. The fact that they had managed to become friends, that Yukino had forgiven everyone and moved past it, was already nothing short of a miracle.

His eye caught Minerva's, who was also watching her, and Orga's heart sank. Yet another reason he couldn't bring himself to make a move on Yukino. He never stood a chance, not when his competition was Sabertooth's strongest mage. Did that mean he would give up without trying? Hell no! Orga was no coward. He was just a realist.

Finally, Sting came running down the stairs with an armful of snacks.

"Okay, I'm ready! Is everyone here?" Sting asked. Everyone was. "We doing this by last name again?"

At least he wouldn't be first this time. Opposite him, Yukino shifted.

"I mean, sure." She agreed, worried as to what she was getting into.

"Truth or dare?" Sting asked.

"Truth?"

"Truth it is. Did you eat my sandwich last Monday?" Sting asked.

"What? No!" Yukino protested. "Why would you think that?"

"No reason. It just had to be someone." Sting shrugged.

"Dude, it's just a sandwich!" Orga complained.

"Rogue made it!"

"He makes, like, half of the food you eat!" Orga pointed out.

"Rogue, truth or dare?" Yukino asked hurriedly, before things could escalate further

"Truth."

"Boring." Minerva booed.

"Tell me that again in two rounds, without picking truth." Rogue dared her, knowing who would be giving her the dares.

"What would you say was the biggest mistake made during yesterday's truth or dare game?" Yukino asked.

"Wendy wasted her free hit on Sting." Rogue said. Sting squawked in protest.

"Are you saying she should have hit me harder?"

"I'm saying that I would have, in her position."

"You little...! Just you wait!" Sting threatened, not sure what he was planning to do.

"Truth or dare, honey?" Rogue asked smugly.

"Dare."

"Call Gajeel and tell him Wendy forgot Sherria's and her bracelets at our place." Rogue said.

"What kind of weak-ass dare is that?" Orga protested.

"Saves me from doing it." Rogue said, not wanting to be the first person to give a mean dare. Sting was already dialing.

"Gajeel! Just wanted to let you know that Wendy forgot something at our place.

Oh, I'm the one calling because Rogue didn't want to. Think he's getting spoiled. Tiara got to his head.

I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Bye!" Sting hung up, looking like Gajeel had threatened to kick his ass. Minerva chuckled.

"Rufus, truth or dare?" Sting asked. Rufus thought for a moment.

"Truth, if you will."

"Did you eat my sandwich?" Sting asked. Orga groaned.

"I'll make you another one if you let this go." Rogue pleaded. Sting smirked.

"If you ask nicely, I'll consider it."

"You want me to beg you to let me make you a sandwich?" Rogue asked, his voice getting dangerously low.

"This is a major slight against the master of the second strongest guild in Fiore. It would take a lot to convince me to stop investigating." Sting explained, worried his teasing had gone too far. Rogue didn't respond, pouring himself another mug of ice tea. "Okay, I'm sorry. I should have just said no."

"Orga, truth or dare?" Rufus decided to hurry the game along while things were still going alright.

"Dare, I'm no pussy." Orga said, glancing at Rufus, Rogue and Yukino.

"Get him good, Rufus." Yukino said grimly. Shit. Crap. He was supposed to be wooing her. Rufus glared at her.

"Make out with the two hottest people in the room for one minute each." Rufus said snidely.

"Score!" Orga said, though dying inside. He had a choice to make. Kiss Yukino or don't kiss Yukino.

"I'm not kissing you." A certain Guildmaster said.

"Yeah, cause you look like shit." Orga snapped. He though he was attractive. "Give me a sec, I need to think about this."

To him, Yukino was the most beautiful, no question. Second and third were Rogue and Minerva, respectively. So his options were his crush, his boss' boyfriend and his romantic rival. Fucking stellar.

"Fine. Yukino and Rogue then." Orga sighed. Minerva might just kill him if he picked her, and that way he was doing the dare properly.

"Sting?" Rogue asked.

"He's right, you're hot. But we're making out after that." Sting said. Rogue shrugged.

Okay. Cool. Co-co-co-cool. He was just going to make out with his crush and former crush (What could he say? Kindhearted people were his type, whether they showed it or not.) No big deal. He was cool. He was suave. He had his shit together. It wasn't as if he'd never kissed anyone before, he'd done it quite often.

Rogue cocked his head, inviting him to go for it. Okay. He wasn't going to die from doing this. Orga leaned in, cupping Rogue's face. He could feel Sting's eyes piercing his skull. Shit. He was so dead.

Well. This was awkward. Thank goodness he was going to be kissing Sting afterwards. He could hear every second on the timer. Orga's tongue moved around in his mouth, but for some reason, it wasn't the same as with Sting. Still, Rogue made an effort to kiss him back, not wanting to make this more awkward. Finally, the timer went off. Rogue got up and went to Sting, who grinned at him.

"How was it?" Sting asked in Dravic, their native language. Unlike Rogue, he had some experience with other people. Rogue had never felt attracted to anyone but Sting. Seemed like that still held true.

"Wasn't feeling it. Can we make out now?" Rogue asked, more bluntly than he usually would.

"Hell yeah we can." Sting said, switching back to Fiori.

He leaned in to kiss Rogue, and soon they weren't paying attention to the game.

Yukino and Orga, meanwhile, looked at each other. Yukino gave Minerva, who was watching her avidly, and Rogue, who wasn't, a quick look. Well then. She turned back to Orga, leaning in to kiss him gently. He kissed back, passionately, a bit more than she had expected him to. After the minute was up, they broke apart.

"Minerva, truth or dare?" Orga asked.

"Dare." After trash talking Rogue, she had no other choice. Not that Rogue would know, being otherwise occupied.

Orga thanked his ancestors for picking a surname that began with N, narrowly beating out his rival's O.

"I dare you to stick chewed gum halfway down your hair. Then stay still for one minute." Orga said.

"What the fuck." Minerva asked. "Give me another one."

"Chicken. Do you want everyone her to think you're a coward?" Orga taunted her.

"Orga, that's disgusting!"

"Chicken."

"Ooooooh! Is someone chickening out? Who is it? Is it Rufus?" Sting broke away from Rogue to jump on the chaos train. The only train he'd touch.

"Minerva's a chicken." Orga said.

"Fuck you! I'm doing it!" Minerva looked irate.

"What's the dare?" Rogue asked.

"Orga told her to stick gum halfway up her hair." Yukino informed him.

"Ew. That's awful. You can't get that out." Rogue cringed, remembering the time some kids had stuck gum in his hair, near his scalp, before he had learned to shadow travel. He ran his fingers through his hair, still able to feel it. Sting grabbed his hand and ruffled his hair before turning to Minerva.

"This whole thing was your idea. But go do it in another room. Orga can go with you to check you're doing it." She had coerced him into this game, and now she could reject the dare in front of everyone.

"Can't we use the rule you made up for Wendy?" Rogue asked, running his hands through his hair again.

Minerva resigned herself. She wouldn't have Rogue begging for her to be let off after mocking him for playing it safe. Her ego wouldn't take it. Before Sting could answer, she got up.

"Where's the gum?" Orga handed it to her, and she popped it in her mouth. Farewell to her gorgeous midnight locks, she thought, moving to the next room. Orga followed her. "You'd better not let me catch you alone before my hair grows back."

"I won't. Sorry. I figured you'd chicken out." Orga fumbled. Minerva took a deep breath and stuck the gum into her hair. Maybe having short hair would be nice. Yukino had short hair. Perhaps she could ask Yukino for tips on taking care of it. That would be a nice bonding experience.

"After all this time, you think me a coward, Orga Nanagear?" Minerva asked, waiting for the time to tick away.

"Nah. Hoped you'd be though. Would give me a better shot with Yukino." He admitted. Minerva huffed.

"Because you think dickheads are her type?"

"Pretty sure she had a crush on Sting back in the day." Orga deflected.

"She doesn't anymore, does she? Pretty sure she likes Rogue." Minerva said sadly. Orga chortled.

"Yeah, well, pretty sure most of the guild has had a crush on him at some point." He said.

That was certainly a conversation. Not one he particularly wanted to be overhearing, mind you. Rogue tried to focus on other sounds, but they all blurred together, overwhelming him. Shit. Turn it off. Ah. He was stuck like that. Oh well. At least he couldn't hear that conversation as clearly.

Minerva rushed to the bathroom to scrape out the gum as soon as the minute was up, hoping to dislodge it with water. After a few minutes, she accepted that she was just making it worse and decided to bite the bullet. Taking a pair of scissors, she hacked it off, trying to keep it straight but failing completely. Sighing, she made her way back to the group.

"Yukino, truth or dare?" Minerva asked tiredly.

"Truth?" She said hesitantly, eyeing Minerva's choppy hair with guilt. She should have protested on Minerva's behalf. "No, Dare!"

"You sure? Okay. Dare it is." Minerva said, thinking for a moment. "Eat an entire box of cereal. Any cereal, but it has to be a whole box."

Sting offered her one of his many boxes, which he appeared to be stockpiling. She would ask Rogue about it later.

About halfway through the box, she was already sick of fruit loops. But Yukino Aguria wasn't a quitter. She soldiered on, braving the sickly sweetness of the cereal.

"Chug Chug Chug!" Sting encouraged her. Emboldened, she tipped the box back and forced down the last few mouthfuls. "You did it! Good job!"

"...Rogue. Truth or dare?" Yukino asked, knowing the answer.

"Truth."

"So, you know those zombie movies? Who do you think would be the first to die and last to survive, and why?" She asked after a while.

"With magic?"

"No. No magic."

Rogue had to think about it. Honestly, the only person he had faith might survive for even a month without any of their magic was Sting, owing to his superior strength and constitution. But the first?

"Rufus and Sting, respectively." He said bluntly. Rufus tried not to be offended. "Sting, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"...uh. Hop around the room on one leg?" Rogue said after pausing for way too long.

"I think we should switch the order up. I know Sting is dying to ask people about his sandwich." Rufus suggested.

"Good idea!" Sting exclaimed, hopping around the room. He came across an obstacle in the form of a stool, which he jumped on top of instead of hopping around it.

"I could live with that." Minerva said, throwing Orga a dirty look. The other three shrugged neutrally.

"Reverse order?" Yukino suggested.

"Nope. Not happening." Orga vetoed.

"Not taking a dare from Orga." Rufus agreed.

"Age?" Minerva suggested, eyeing Orga slyly.

"Works for me." Rogue said. The others agrees.

"Oldies first." Minerva said smugly. "Orga, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Kiss, Marry, Kill. Rogue, Laxus and Yukino." Minerva said, giving a list of Orga's most recent crushes.

"Kiss Rogue, Marry Yukino, Kill Laxus." Orga gritted out, death glaring his rival.

"Minerva, you're next, right?" Sting asked, knowing she was only two years younger than Orga, which made her two years older than him, the next person in line. She nodded. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare." How bad could it be?

"Try to fit as many ice cubes as possible in your mouth and keep them there until they melt -No chewing!" Sting's eyes shone sadistically. Minerva complied, successfully cramming 8 ice cubes into her mouth and silently communicating to Rufus to give Sting hell. The cold seeped into her tongue, to the point where it was painful, but Minerva would pull through.

"Sting, truth or dare?" Rufus asked.

"Dare."

"Grab one person here and help them with their love lives." Rufus dared.

"Okay. Yukino, come with me." Sting lead Yukino to the rooftop, where not even Rogue would hear. "Spill the tea."

"Um... Okay... I like Minerva, like, a lot, but I've started noticing Orga too and that just makes it so much more complicated because I know he likes me, and I kinda like him, but I really, really like Minerva but I don't know if she likes me back and I don't know what to do." Yukino rambled, letting it all off her chest.

"Wow. Sounds complicated. Look, Minerva definitely likes you. Huuuge crush. Would totally let you step on her. Don't worry about that part. I don't know what to tell you about Orga though. Maybe talk to them, or have Rogue talk to them. Tell them how you feel. Tell Orga that you like him, but you feel more attracted to Minerva. Tell Minerva that you do have feelings for Orga, but you really like her. That she's the one you're more interested in. Just let them know. I'm worried that they've already started fighting over you." Sting said, hoping he wasn't spewing bullshit.

"You know...I think you're right. I should talk to them. Thanks."

"No worries. What else are friends for?"

"I'll keep that in mind in case Rogue ever picks dare." Yukino promised.

"Rufus, truth or dare?" Rogue asked.

"Truth."

"Why didn't you answer Sting's question when he asked about his sandwich?" Rogue had only just realized that in the chaos, Rufus had managed to evade the question.

"I forgot." The memory mage answered.

"YOU! You ate my sandwich! My poor sandwich!" Sting jumped up from where he had just sat down.

"Look, it was a tasty looking sandwich, and I had just pulled an all-nighter! I'm sorry, but what's a man supposed to do?" Rufus defended himself.

"Was it worth it?" Sting said coldly.

"Yes." "Right answer. We're cool."

"Just like that?!" Orga exclaimed.

"Yeah." Sting said.

"Rogue, truth or dare?" Yukino asked.

"Truth."

"Would it kill you to pick something else?" Minerva asked.

"No."

Yukino needed to convince Rogue to pick dare next time. What could she ask him. While she thought, Sting got up to get some snacks.

"Who have you thought about having sex with, other than Sting? Name all of them." She asked. This would work.

"No one." Rogue responded immediately.

"I call bullshit!" Orga interjected.

"Yeah, same." Rufus said.

"Come on, Rogue, tell us." Minerva insisted. "You'll have to do a punishment otherwise."

"But I'm telling the truth!" Rogue defended himself.

"There's nothing wrong with thinking about other people that way, Rogue." Yukino reassured him.

"I never said there was. I just said I didn't."

"Bullshit, everyone does." Orga retorted, getting annoyed.

"Why is it so hard to believe that Sting is the only person I want to do anything with?!" Rogue raised his voice despite himself. Why didn't they believe him?

"Because that's not how that works. Rogue, you have nothing to be ashamed of." Rufus said gently. Rogue must have been feeling guilty about his attraction to other people and buried it.

"Except for lying when you picked truth." Minerva said.

"I'm not lying." Rogue snapped.

"Rogue, who is it? Is it Gajeel?" Yukino asked, trying to get to the bottom of what was stopping Rogue from telling them.

"What's wrong with you people? I've never wanted to do anything with anyone else, deal with it!" Rogue said heatedly, trying to get his volume back under control.

"You don't have to tell us. You can just do the punishment instead. Just let it go." Rufus said evenly, trying to calm the upset Dragonslayer down.

"You guys let it go!" Rogue retorted. The door burst open, revealing Sting, without the snacks he'd gone to get. He'd dropped everything when he'd heard Rogue shouting.

"What happened?" Sting snarled.

"Rogue got caught lying on his truth and keeps denying it." Orga said.

"I'm not lying! Why is that so hard to understand?" Rogue's voice cracked under the strain of his emotions.

"We told you, Rogue, it's nothing to be ashamed of." Yukino said gently.

"I never said it was! Why can't any of you listen?"

"Then tell a more believable lie. Come on. We can skip the punishment if you're going to be that upset about it, just admit that you were lying." Rufus said, unable to understand Rogue's insistence on this one lie.

Sting shot his guildmates a withering look, pulling Rogue behind him.

"Yukino. What was the question?" The Guildmaster asked coldly.

"Watch your tone." Minerva warned him.

"I asked him to name all the people he thought about having sex with, other than you, and he said-" Yukino started.

"Thank you." Sting interrupted her, seeing where this was going. Gently, he turned to Rogue. "What did you tell them, sweetie?" Sting rarely used nicknames. He only really used them ironically (Darling, Honey, sometimes Dimples) or when comforting him (Sweetie). He took Rogue's hand and squeezed it.

"I told them that I never though of anyone but you that way. They didn't believe me." Rogue said, still not understanding the issue here.

"See, he's clearly lying. You've thought about other people too, right? We all have. We're trying to find out why he's feeling so guilty about it." Orga explained, concerned for his friend.

"Well yeah, I have. Rogue knows that. But I'd have been more surprised if he said he had been attracted to someone else. I believe him, so mind your business." Sting said, keeping his hold on Rogue, who leaned into him. Sting adjusted his grip so that they would be more comfortable.

"But that's not how it work though? So why do you believe him?" Orga didn't seem to have gotten the message. Sting turned to Rogue.

"Sweetie, do you mind if I try to explain?" He asked. Rogue shrugged. "I need a yes or a no."

"You can try to tell them. Don't think they'll believe you." Rogue said. Yukino's heart broke at his defeated tone. They'd overstepped. She was sure of it.

"...Rogue-" Yukino started, unsure of what to say, what to do with his broken trust. Rogue's eyes flickered over to look at her for a moment before looking away. Sting settled the two of them onto the couch, running his fingers through Rogue's hair.

"For a long time, we both thought that Rogue didn't like people that way. Sexually. After we got rid of Jiemma, he realized that he was in love with me and we started going out. He wasn't particularly averse to sleeping with me, or kissing or anything, but he wasn't big on it either. He just liked being close to me, and he didn't mind what form that took. Then a couple of months ago, he told me that he was starting to feel these new feelings towards me, and that's where we are now. So honestly, I strongly doubt he would think about having sex with anyone else for a few years, if ever. So yeah, I believe him." Sting glared at them, daring them to refute him. He'd left out so much, like Rogue's fears that Sting wouldn't want him if Rogue wasn't interested in sleeping with him, or Sting's pining back when he believed that his love for Rogue could never be returned. It had been hard to get to the point they had reached, and Sting didn't appreciate how carelessly their friends had reopened those wounds.

Rogue leaned into Sting, amazed at how concisely his beloved had managed to explain what he had felt, or in some cases not felt. He could see the guilt on his friends faces.

"I'm so sorry, Rogue." Yukino apologized, trembling.

"You didn't know..." Rogue said. Maybe he should have told them. He hadn't thought it necessary. As though reading his mind, Sting leaned closer.

"It's not your fault. It's your business." He whispered. Rogue smiled softly at him, making Sting's eyes brighten.

"My bad, Rogue." Orga said. "I shouldn't have been so aggressive. I just didn't think."

"I apologize too. I had heard of people in similar situations, but they had slipped my mind." Rufus apologized.

"I'm sorry." Minerva said.

Silence fell over the friend group, as they waited for someone to say something. Finally, Orga broke the silence.

"Yukino. Truth or dare?"

"Dare." And so the game continued.

"Go outside the guildhall and try to summon rain." Orga said. Yukino got up, and Rufus went with her to make sure she followed through.

How does one go about summoning rain? Yukino wasn't sure. She stood there, trying to think of a ritual.

"Rain, Rain, come this way! For today is the promised day!" She chanted, crouching down and standing up again. She repeated the chant a couple of times, until suddenly: Fwoosh. The rain came pouring down, drenching her, Rufus, and everyone else in the area.

"Holy moly macaroni, it actually worked!" Yukino gasped in amazement. Rufus looked stunned, trying to soak this moment into his memory.

As quickly as it had come, the rain cleared, revealing Gajeel and Juvia from Fairy Tail.

"Juvia has never heard someone praying for rain." Juvia said, smiling.

"What're you twerps doing?" Gajeel asked.

"Playing truth or dare." Yukino explained.

"So Lightbulb found more victims. Lucky him." Gajeel grumbles, massaging his arms.

"Juvia would like to have a word with your Guildmaster and Gajeel came to pick up the belongings Wendy left behind." Juvia said, a little menacingly.

"I wouldn't right now if I were you..." Yukino warned her. "Some of us have made some... bad decisions recently."

She and Rufus led Gajeel and Juvia back to Sting and Rogue's apartment.

"We saw the rain! How did you- Oh. Hi Juvia, Gajeel." Orga started excitedly, but trailed off as his question answered itself.

"Juvia wishes to talk to Sting about the 'plank incident'." Juvia said.

"Hey Rogue, where are the bracelets? And why aren't ya wearing your tiara?" Gajeel teased.

"The bracelets are on the counter and I put the circlet in a box so that it wouldn't get damaged." Rogue said, not moving from his position curled up at the Glowstick's side. He looked tired, no, more than that, he looked weary. Gajeel would have to call later to ask what was wrong. Or maybe not. Maybe he'd drop by in a few days.

"Look, the plank was Wendy's idea. Talk to her." Sting defended himself to the angry water mage.

"So it was Wendy's idea to double the amount of turns Gajeel had to wait?" Juvia asked.

"She dodged her truth so I gave her a break. I didn't realize what that meant for Gajeel until later." Sting lied. Juvia didn't seem happy with the response, but Gajeel stepped between them.

"It's all good, 'Via. Let's get these back to Little Blue before she realizes they're missing." Letting his friend beat up Rogue's boyfriend would not make matters better, in Gajeel's mind. "See you around!"

"Bye!" Sting said, while Rogue waved.

"Orga. Truth or dare?" Minerva asked.

"Dare."

"Act like a dog until Rufus' turn."

"Woof." Orga dropped to the floor.

"Minerva, truth or dare?" Sting said, fighting to keep a straight face.

"...Truth."

"What is the sexiest thing about each person here?"

"Wowowoof." Orga struggled to make his laugh sound like a bark.

"Very well. Rufus' is his hair. It's very well taken care of. Sting's is his abs. Orga's is his...um...his. Give me a minute." Minerva struggled. Unable to tell her off, Orga growled at her. She chuckled. "His commitment to the bit. Rogue, um, hard to say. His eyes or his scar. The one on his nose. Yukino..." Minerva steeled herself. "Everything."

Yukino blushed scarlet and covered her face.

"Sting, truth or dare?" Rufus asked.

"Truth."

"If this was a story, what would everyone's role be and what kind of story is it?" Oh. This was a good one, actually. Option one was a romcom, with Yukino, Orga and Minerva in a love triangle and the other three as side characters. Option two was that Sting was the main character in a sitcom and Rogue was his love interest. He could see it now: 'The Guild'.

"Well, obviously, this would be a sitcom about a guild. I'm the main character, Rogue is my love interest and a fan favorite, Orga is the office prankster that fans write two hour academic dissertations about, going into depth about whether of not he went too far, Minerva is the office Karen, Rufus is the know it all and Yukino is the new recruit I have to show around." Sting declared confidently.

"I may need to speak to your manager about that one." Minerva joked.

"Guess what, bestie? I am the manager!" Sting declared.

"Bow Wow Bitches! It's Rufus' turn." Orga thundered.

"Rufus, truth or dare?" A now largely recovered Rogue asked.

"Dare, for a change."

"Call Gray and tell him you knocked up Orga's girlfriend and you're freaking out because he thinks it's his." Sting suggested.

"No. Why would I dare him to do that?" Rogue asked.

"Because you're cute when you're mean." Sting grinned. He'd decided to subtly implement compliments like that when it had become apparent that Rogue had been bottling up anything that could be perceived as negative even more after the dragon attack on Crocus, led by his future self. As far as Sting could tell, it had helped, and Rogue hadn't noticed him doing it. Besides, it was true. Rogue blushed as red as his eyes, but tried to hide it behind his bangs. Cute.

"Do a handstand." Rogue ordered.

"I don't think I can."

"Try. If you can't, have someone assist you."

Rufus sighed and tried, not even getting close. "Orga! Help me, please." Rufus panicked as Orga guided his legs up until he was upright, standing on his hands. The blood started to rush to his head, causing him to collapse, but Orga caught him. "Thanks."

"Alright Rogue, truth or dare?" Yukino asked.

"Dare."

"Don't stop touching Sting for the rest of the game." She said.

"Can do." Rogue hummed. Sting put his arm around Rogue, promising to make sure of it.

"Yukino! Truth or dare?" Orga asked.

"Dare."

"Call someone outside of this group, pretend it's their birthday and sing them 'Happy Birthday'." Orga said. On the one hand, she could call Lucy, and they could laugh it off. On the other, Queen Hisui also had a communication lacrima and it would be way funnier.

"This is Hisui. Is that you, Yukino?" Hisui asked.

"~Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you~

~Happy Birthday, dear Hisui, Happy Birthday to you~" Yukino sang awkwardly before hurriedly hanging up.

"You know, when I said call someone, I didn't mean the Queen of Fiore, right?" Orga asked, concerned.

"You didn't tell her not to." Minerva retorted. "Now, will it be truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Scare one person, other than me, in the next ten minutes. Make it a surprise." Minerva said.

"As good as done."

"Minerva, truth or dare?" Sting asked.

"Dare."

"Let Yukino cut and style your hair." Sting said. Both women's faces lit up before turning bright red.

Yukino led Minerva too the bathroom and reached for the scissors that Minerva had left on the sink. She had Minerva sit on the edge of the bathtub as she brushed out the uneven hair.

"I think this would be easier if your hair was wet. Do you mind?" Yukino asked. Minerva didn't, and wet her hair. Yukino got to work, noting that the back was considerably shorter than the front. "Do you want it to be even or do you want the front to be longer, like, with a gradient?" Yukino asked. She thought that the sharper cut would suit Minerva better, but it was pretty bold and she didn't want to do it without permission.

"Do what you think will look nicer. I trust you." Minerva smiled at that, and Yukino felt like her heart would explode as she looked into those deep green eyes. Emboldened, she went for the sharper cut.

Minerva looked in the bathroom mirror, barely recognizing herself. Her hair looked sharp, elegant and so... her. She could feel the tears welling in her eyes at how well Yukino had understood her, had captured her heart, in more ways than one. "It's beautiful, Yukino."

"Not as beautiful as you." The words just slipped out. Yukino felt her face heat up with embarrassment. "Sorry." She looked up to find Minerva's lip trembling, her cheeks flushed red and her eyes welling with tears.

"You're the best!" Minerva choked out. Uncertain, Yukino opened her arms a bit, inviting Minerva into a hug. It took her a moment to process the invitation, but when the though finally registered, she all but collapsed into Yukino's arms, letting the celestial mage hold her close. She was warm, as much as Minerva had known her to be.

They sat for a while, Minerva clinging to Yukino as she cried. Yukino traced patterns on her back, in the shape of the constellations she wielded.

"I-I don't know if this is the right time, but... I like you. Romantically. I've liked you for a while, but well, I like Orga too, and I didn't know what to do. But when I was talking to Sting, and he told me you liked me back, I realized that it's you. I want to go out with you. Will you go out with me?" Yukino asked, hoping that this wasn't wildly inappropriate. Minerva huddled closer to her.

"I'd like that. When do you want to go?" Minerva couldn't quite believe what was happening. Yukino liked her back, and more importantly, Yukino Aguria had asked her out. This was the best day of her life, possibly tied with the day her father had died and Sting and Rogue had invited her back to Sabertooth. It was a good day, to be sure.

"As soon as I've cleared the air with Orga. He's my friend, after all. I owe him that much."

They left a few moments later, and Sting gave them a discreet thumbs up, while Rogue smiled proudly at them. Shit. They had forgotten about the Dragonslayers' heightened senses. Oh well. It couldn't be helped.

"Sting, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Make us some pancakes. I'm hungry." Rufus demanded. Sting smiled goodnaturedly. It would be hard to be annoyed when he had Rogue clinging to him. Sting took his hand and got up to make the pancakes.

"Right, I need both my hands, so hold on to me, okay Rogue?" Sting asked, making sure Rogue wouldn't fail his dare. Rogue smiled and hugged him from behind, using the one inch of height he had on Sting to peer over his shoulder to watch him work.

With the pancakes done, they sat back down to enjoy the food.

"Rufus, truth or dare?"

"Truth, after last time."

"Sorry." Rogue said, with minimal regret. "What would you have done if I had gone with Sting's suggested dare?"

"I would have killed you and forced him to spend the rest of his life mourning you." Rufus said.

"Glad that didn't happen. Wouldn't wanna lose you." Sting said. "But, like, really?"

"No, I would have done it and then avoided Gray for the rest of eternity." Rufus amended.

"Don't you already do that?" Sting asked. Rufus wished his Guildmaster hadn't noticed. Due to an unresolved incident involving Gray's house-key, Rufus had been avoiding him, but no one knew about that and Rufus intended to keep it that way.

"Rogue, truth or dare?" Yukino asked.

"Dare."

"Let Sting carry you everywhere until tomorrow night."

"Why would you make him do that? What could he possibly have done to upset you like that?" Rogue protested, embarrassed at the idea of making Sting do yet more things for him.

"Oh, trust me, I don't mind at all." Sting saw the dare for what it was, an excuse to spend a whole day holding Rogue. What was there to complain about?

"Let's just say I owe him one. Or a bunch." Yukino smiled, looking at Minerva. Rogue accepted that. If Sting didn't mind, who was Rogue to complain? He could live with spending a day being held. "I'll watch the cats for you."

"Yukino, truth or dare?" Orga was pretty sure it would be the last turn for today, it was pushing 5pm. He could tell that something had changed between Yukino and Minerva, he wasn't stupid.

"Dare."

"Two truths, one lie. Have us guess the lie."

"I love baking. I like to sing. I want to see a meteor shower."

"Three." Orga, Rufus and Sting said.

"Two." Rogue and Minerva said.

"It's two." Yukino revealed.

They game ended, and Sting carried Rogue to his office to do some paperwork. Meanwhile, Orga and Yukino went to the top of the Guildhall.

"I need to talk to you." Yukino said with determination.

"About my feelings for you?" Orga guessed. Yukino smiled.

"Yeah. I do like you, but I like Minerva more. I think I might love her. I'm sorry."

"Well, it happens. You can't really control who you like. But now that that's been said; Let's party!" Orga suggested?

"Come again?"

"Yeah! Two of my friends just got together, and you think I'm not gonna celebrate? It's party time."

"I'm not sure Minerva would want to have a party like that right now, not if it's explicitly about that. I think she would come to a normal party though." Yukino compromised.

"Good enough for me! I'm gonna get it sorted."

Orga couldn't deny that the rejection stung a bit, of course it did. But he hadn't been lying when he had said he was happy for them. To cheer himself up, he would do what he enjoyed most: Plan a party. Maybe he could still use some company. Rufus liked planning. Maybe he'd enjoy helping him with this. Orga would be fine. He developed crushes quickly, though those crushes had the uncanny ability to get into loving relationships as soon as he acknowledged his feelings for them. But he wasn't worried. He was only in his twenties, after all. He had ages. Eventually, one of the loving relationships his crushes found would be with him. Until then, he would party it up!

Rogue looked at the predicted expenses Rufus had submitted for Orga's impromptu party. It was cheaper than the typical guild parties, thanks to the careful budgeting that had been done. Rufus and Orga worked well together.

"Do you want to go to the party?" He asked Sting, who was working on the paperwork.

"'Course! If you don't mind me carrying you in front of everyone, that is." Sting responded, glad to have a distraction from the paperwork.

[wangxianficrecs]

The Price of Forever by Witch_Nova221

The Price of Forever

by Witch_Nova221 (@witchnova221)

T, 22k, Wangxian

Part of the Summer Solstice

Summary: 'It is the nature of men to claim a prize rather than earn one,' said Lan Wangji, blinking past the tears in his eyes, 'Now, to capture a unicorn and to become an immortal means you can claim so much more. Had I...I would have been able to claim a wife, land, fortunes. My own brother, older than me, would have had to bow when I passed. I would have been held amongst the greats but...' 'But you would be cursed,' said Wei Ying, 'That's what they've never learned.' When Lan Wangji injures a unicorn, he learns the truth about the age-old traditions that his clan and the world have undertaken for generations. With a new friend to protect and the pressure of the world upon him, he knows he must pay a price, the cost of which is high on either side. Kay's comments: This story has the loveliest fairytale vibes and I really loved seeing Wei Wuxian as an otherwordly unicorn and the journey Lan Wangji went through in this story and of course, their relationship progression! Very sweet. Excerpt: Short, panicked breaths echoed back at him through the darkness and he conjured a light, letting it hang in the air until it illuminated the narrow cave. The blood glittered darkly on the floor, the trail a little thinner than it had been. 'Get back hunter or I'll kill you where you stand.' A voice. A human voice, hissing at him in anger. Did the unicorn have a protector? One of Lan Wangji's own kind, turned against the practices of old and dedicated to the protection of the creatures the rest of the world hunted? 'I mean no harm,' said Lan Wangji, daring another step further, 'I injured a... an animal and followed it here. I wanted...' 'I know what you did and I know what you want, hunter. Leave now and you may do so with your life.' Lan Wangji took another step forward, the light falling on a bare foot, a long strong leg marred with a bloody gash from knee to hip. The left leg. The same leg Lan Wangji had hit on the unicorn. He took one final step, the light fully illuminating the man curled as close to the cave wall as he could be, only his injured leg outstretched. He was almost naked, caring little for his own modesty in ragged clothes that looked as though he had worn them as a child then torn them as he sprouted into adulthood. He glared at Lan Wangji with eyes that looked too old for his face. Grey eyes that knew everything of the world and still saw wonder in it even if they were now filled with fear.

pov lan wangji, canon era, unicorn wei wuxian, unicorns, fairy tale elements, romance, action/adventure, adventure & romance, blood and injury, angst with a happy ending, hurt/comfort, mythical beings & creatures, families of choice, strangers to lovers, enemies to friends to lovers, falling in love

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)

[stonecoldholly]

Worldwalker

Summary - After witnessing a ritual at a pagan festival in her hometown, Sam suddenly finds herself in a world where magic exists and dangers far worse than everyday crime lurk around every corner. Accepting her unfortunate situation is one challenge; trusting these otherworldly beings to help her is another. As she uncovers the truth, she often finds that it leads to more trouble than it’s worth. Sam must navigate this new world, find her way back home, and restart her life.

With each passing day, they get closer to sending her back and while Sam dedicates herself to finding answers, Azriel finds himself drawn to her. Together, they search for the solution, but with the multiple rifts appearing across Prythian, rising tensions between courts, and the threat of a possible invasion looming, they are working on borrowed time.

With the weight of the world on her shoulders, Sam embarks on an adventure that only happens in fairy tales, but even the most exciting fairy tales have to end.

Warnings - None as of right now, this will change.

Word Count - 6,738

A/N - I meant to get this out before Halloween but time got away from me. This is officially my return to writing fanfiction and I am beyond excited. I hope you enjoy the story and feel free to comment, message, and critique as it makes me a better writer. Thank you for taking the time to read this as it means more to me than you will ever know. Please bear with me as I continue to refresh my memory on how everything works and what it is supposed to look like behind the scenes of posting, you'll notice I still have yet to figure out how to page break on here. Without further ado!

Part 2

AO3 Link

“Run boy, run! This world is not made for you. Run boy, run! They’re trying to catch you. Run boy, run! Running is a victory. Run boy, run! Beauty lies behind the hills.” Run boy run – Woodkid

Savannah, Georgia, USA October 2024

Savannah, a relatively small city nestled along the coastline of Georgia, had begun to awaken from the deep slumber taken during the hot summer months. With the ushering in of the cooler weather, more and more tourists returned to their hometowns and left the coastal city in the hands of the residents. When the latter half of the year finally came around, specifically September and October, Savannah seemed to come alive. The entire city shifted into a completely different energy. Gone were the dog days of summer, the half-naked people (both drunk and sober) stumbling along the old cobblestone streets, and the poor, unfortunate souls who dared to brave the original stone steps that connected Bay Street to River Street. In their stead, a welcoming scent of freshly baked goods and rich cinnamon danced on the cool breeze between the buildings, coffee shops overflowed with customers seeking a hot beverage, and the storefronts already pushing Christmas decorations out in hopes of being the first to rake in profits.

The very city seemed to have a heartbeat around this time of year. The Old Towne trolley tours that normally showed tourists the more historical locations downtown turned into hearse rides and ghost hunting tours. The magical and haunting energy of the old city pulsed as the sun went down, the oak trees drooping in Spanish moss reached over every street and park square, and the shadows that climbed along the historic cemetery gates only added a layer of mystery and intrigue.

They say Savannah was built upon graveyards. Everywhere a person steps in the downtown area, they would likely be stepping upon bones of those long since passed, having been relocated from their original resting place due to floods, hurricanes, and other disasters. Legend says that almost every house, business, and square in the city has a ghost story of its own, unique to the former residents who lived there and continuously embellished as the years passed on.

Perhaps that’s what draws people to this city. Savannah was dripping rich in history and had a way of accepting those who were just looking for something more. It had southern charm, incredible food, amazing people from all walks of life, and always something happening to entertain you. That’s not without saying it did not have its ugly parts but the way Savannah just seemed to call out to those who wanted something different in life was unlike anything that could be described, at least not accurately. However, it was the last quarter of the year when the city gave its mightiest call, reaching out to those who had questions in their minds. It caressed that small part of the soul of those who questioned life and who needed to seek out the answers.

Was there more to life than this?

Where is my place in the world?

Am I destined for more?

What was I put here for?

“It’s Savannah during Halloween season! We have to go. Do you know how hard it probably was to convince the churches to allow a pagan festival to happen?” A female voice yelled out excitedly from the front end of the small ‘Mom & Pop’ restaurant.

“They probably had a couple thousand reasons to look the other way, Mel.” Another female voice answered from the back end, her deep red hair coming into view through the serving window. “However, it’s not me that you have to convince, I’m down, it’s your fiancee over there who looks like he’s about five seconds away from completely crashing out.”

Melissa turned her head to take in her fiancee, who indeed was looking a little worse for wear, having the early morning shift for the Savannah Police Department. She sighed and turned back towards the serving window, “Poor guy has had it rough this past week. There’s been a lot of crazy things happening around town lately.”

A hum in acknowledgment met Mel’s ear, along with the appearance of food plates on the landing. “Doesn’t help that you won’t stop jumping his bones every chance you can. Maybe the guy can actually get some decent sleep if you and I go out.” Sam grinned while motioning to the three plates of food she made for dinner for her and her friends.

Mel let out a deep belly laugh, a smile stretching across her beautiful face as she took in the chicken parmesan and garlic knots, “Oh fuck you, Sam, I can’t help it if my man just oozes sex appeal.”

Sam made a gagging noise before disappearing behind the wall. Mel walked over to her fiancee, Josh, and relayed the plans for the evening while setting a plate of food in front of him. For a brief second, relief crossed his expression and Sam, who had just emerged from the kitchen, caught the look and snickered, causing Mel to roll her eyes. Josh cracked a smile, pressing a kiss to Mel’s cheek and brushing a strand of hair away from her face. “You two have fun and be safe; I’m going home and relaxing, I only ask that you don’t call me from the jail again.” Josh nodded in thanks for the food to Sam, who nodded back.

Mel whipped around to glare and point at Sam, who threw her hands up in mock innocence, her eyes wide and mouth agape to portray said innocence. “She’s the one who got into the fight, not me!”

“Hey, I was defending you! Ain’t no way I was gonna allow that guy talk to you that way. Ain’t no way.”

“And the firearm charge?”

“It was simply on my person.” Sam defended herself with a halfhearted shrug, grabbing her plate and joining the table. “I’m legal; I have a concealed carry and that charge was dismissed because of my paperwork. You gave me grief enough when you picked me up from the county jail.”

“Anyhow,” Mel interrupted before that particular conversation could go any further, sitting down at the table across from her man. “Maybe tomorrow we can go to the pumpkin patch? I heard there was gonna be hayrides and a corn maze.”

“The big one outside the city limits?” Josh asked while leaning back in his chair, chewing. He pulled out his phone as he did, tapping the screen to find what he was looking for. “If it’s the one I’m thinking of then it has a huge corn maze, it’s a lot of farmland out there.”

“I haven’t been to a pumpkin patch in ages.” Sam sighed, tearing into a garlic knot. “I think the last time I went was when I was like, thirteen? My mom took me the year before she passed.”

Mel grinned and grabbed her hand causing Sam to pull her garlic knot out of the way, thinking Mel was trying to swipe it. “We have to go, relive the good parts of our childhood for like, two hours.”

“As long as I get a candy apple, I’m golden,” Josh said looking down at his phone and waving his hand in dismissal. “Yeah, it was the one I was thinking of. It’s about an hour and a half away, so if we leave tomorrow afternoon at 3ish we’ll get there as the sun goes down. I just have to go to the station and finish some paperwork in the morning.”

“Being mindful of Savannah traffic, we’ll get there at the perfect time!” Mel exclaimed nearly bouncing in her seat. “God, I love fall!”

Sam smiled at her best friend as she watched the excitement spill out of her, Josh succumbing to the pure happiness that Melissa seemed to exude as well. It had been a long time for all of them to look forward to something. Having adult friendships was a delicate act of balancing your personal life and work life and still, somehow, making time for your relationships. In the midst of life’s chaos, going nearly three months and then a year without spending time with those you love sometimes felt like it passed in a blink of an eye. Life has a funny way of either pulling you together or tearing you apart.

Samantha and Melissa had met at a previous job, working in retail brought people together through combined suffering, after all. There was no other way to describe the beautiful friendship that blossomed between the two polar opposites. Melissa was a high-energy, outgoing, and excitable woman who always seemed to breathe new, unfiltered life into any situation she found herself in. She was the person you could count on to lift your spirits up whenever you were feeling down and to offer sound advice in the midst of turmoil. She had this childlike energy to her, a precious and beautiful soul that radiated happiness to those around her. She was the life of any party, loved being around other people, and couldn’t stand to see someone upset thus making it her personal mission to enhance their mood before parting ways. With her golden waves and bright, stunning crystal blue eyes, it was hard not to feel as if you were in the presence of the summer sun personified.

Meanwhile, Sam was her opposite. She was more fiery, headstrong, and opinionated, preferring to “strike first, ask questions later”. While she didn’t mind being around others, she liked the company of herself, having been alone for over half of her life. Her temper sometimes ran a bit too hot, always willing to defend those she cared about even if they were wrong, and took risks that were better left...not taken. She sometimes came off as sarcastic and rude but wasn’t intentionally vicious. With her darker clothes, sleeves of tattoos, and combat boots coupled with her attitude problem, she didn’t have many people rushing up to her to be in her presence. A loyal friend who would go to the ends of the Earth to ensure they knew how much they were worth it. Where Melissa was a summer day, Samantha was a stormy night; two sides of the same coin.

Josh was the perfect match for Melissa. She had met him at a party on the beach four summers ago back when the world was on the verge of going to hell. It was an instant whirlwind, the connection so deep and real that it even took Sam’s breath away. Josh and Melissa fell so hard in love with each other that even God himself wouldn’t be able to pull them apart. Sam could see the difference in her, could see the good it was doing for Melissa, and it warmed her heart to know her best friend was being treated the way she deserved after all the hardship Mel had gone through. Josh worked for the Savannah police as a detective for over six years. Meaning, that he didn’t have a lot of free time but every spare moment he had, he spent with Mel, and Sam by proxy. Josh was level-headed and calm, preferring to get all the information before making a decision. He was sure of himself, knowing his strengths and weaknesses better than the average 30-year-old would. Josh became the equivalent of the brother she never had as Melissa was the sister she was not blessed to grow up with. As Sam’s family was gone, they became the next best thing.

“Well, if we’re gonna go, let’s head out. It’s almost 9 o’clock and I’m missing the Packers game for you.” Sam said, standing up and walking to the drink cooler to grab a Sprite to go.

“Ah, you do love me.” Melissa teased.

“What? Don’t want to see the Eagles make cheese whiz out of your Cheeseheads?” Josh smirked, settling back in his chair and crossing his arms.

Sam raised an eyebrow, turning to face him as she threw two dollars on the table for her soda. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you over our four Superbowl rings. How many do y’all have?” She tilted her head to look at him. “Oh, right, ever since y’all finally won one, you think you made it up here with the big boys.”

“Now, y’all please don’t sta-”

“At least we didn’t buy our championships.”

“Bret Favre wasn’t poppin’ percocets on the sidelines for all those years for you to say we bought our championships and Aaron Rodgers didn’t lead the Packers to the Superbowl within the first two years there. Get outta my face.” Sam said, waving him off. “While you’re wondering if we bought our championships, you should figure out why you go through quarterbacks as quickly as you do.”

“We fought hard for that ring, like Kelce said, hungry dogs run faster.”

“So hard in fact, you had nothing left to give and choked when facing the Chiefs.” She shook her head and gave him a mock pout, her voice dropping to a faux whisper. “I’ll be sure to contact the Eagles and confirm if they are available to be your pallbearers...just so they can let you down one last time.”

Josh, pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, releasing a stressed breath of air from his lungs, muttering under his breath. “I swear to everything that is holy…”

Sam pointed towards the front of the restaurant while Melissa stood there with her hands on her hips, clearly over this argument. “Would that be ‘in vain’ or is that a form of ‘blasphemy’? There’s a church right there, we can go ask.” She took a sip of her soda before adding, “I don’t know why you’re so defensive, you started it.”

“And that’ll do it!” Josh threw his hands up and started to push the two women toward the door. “Y’all have a good time, don’t drink too much, keep your wits about you, and for the love of Christ, Sam, do not get into any fights. I’ll lock up the restaurant.”

Sam stepped down onto the sidewalk turning to face Josh and Mel following her lead, stumbling a little bit as she chuckled at her love. “I don’t go lookin’ for them, ya know.”

“Yes, but they do seem to seek you out.” Josh cracked a grin in her direction, handing his credit card to his girlfriend who took it and slid it into her wallet. Sam patted her holster on her hip, double-checking that her weapon was secured and silently letting Josh know that they would be okay. “Be safe. I’ll be at the house, bring me back some candy!”

Mel kissed him with a whispered ‘I love you’ before the two women bounded off down the street. Josh’s chanting of ‘Fly, Eagles, Fly!’ could be heard before the door of the restaurant closed behind him. Sam resisted the urge to throw her drink back at him.

______________________________________________

River Street was bustling with tents, vendors, music, food trucks, and performances by the time they made it the few city blocks. The cobblestone street was swarmed with people chatting excitedly about the upcoming holiday while snacking on the never-ending choices of food, desserts, and drinks. Vendors lined up alongside each other, the Savannah River a beautiful, glistening backdrop to the practitioners doing their workings, teachings, and demonstrations for the surrounding groups.

Of course, there were the faux pagan vendors who were there to simply sell Halloween-related objects and decorations. Harry Potter merchandise littered the tables and tents, gemstones both real and fake were scattered in dishes and bowls, and apparel tables had rock bands on their graphic shirts. It was clear which vendors saw this event as a quick get-rich scheme and who saw it as their livelihood. It was the latter that drew Sam and Melissa to events like these.

Magic had always intrigued Sam. Mythology, tarot, and astrology held a special place in her heart and soul as she was introduced to them at a young age by her mother. She remembers walking into her mother's bedroom and seeing a strange-looking mirror propped up on a table with purple candles on either side of it. Her mother had ushered her over, wrapping an arm around her small shoulders and letting her have a look, saying something she couldn’t understand in her ear. Sam would never forget that night as that was the night that allowed her to fall in love with magic and something other.

Perhaps that’s what brought them to the vendor down by the river.

A middle-aged man, who looked as ordinary and unremarkable as any stranger, was talking animatedly with his hands, gesturing back and forth between the crowd, clearly in the middle of his presentation. “The Wild Hunt! In mythology and at its basic explanation, is a chase. These figures would be hunted by the souls of the dead and they would need to escape and get to safety or hide.” The man explained, pointing to paintings and imagery to make his tale easier for the group to follow along. “It’s a well-known folk myth across Northern Europe; a ghostly leader and his group of hunters and hounds fly through the cold night sky and anyone found outdoors at the time would be swept up into the hunting party involuntarily.

“Most often in the tales,” He went on as he pointed to a painting that looked like the Norse god, Odin, and a hunting party behind him as he led the charge through a forest. “The Hunt was not seen – only heard- typically by the barking of Odin’s dogs or the forest growing deathly silent as a warning of their arrival as seeing the Wild Hunt was thought to forebode some catastrophe such as war or plague, or at least, the death of the person who saw it.”

Sam took a closer look at the paintings as the man motioned to a painting depicting what looked like a warrior woman running through woods, a gang of ghostly figures behind her, lunging forward to grab her but not quite being fast enough. The paintings, she could have sworn, seemed to move. “It is said that if the Wild Hunt catches you, you will be taken to the underworld or the fairy kingdoms,” A few teenage boys snickered. “In some instances, some people's spirits could be taken during their sleep if they had witnessed the Hunt.”

“So, you mean to tell me,” One of the teenage boys started, “If I see a ghost, they’re going to grab me and take me to a fairy kingdom?” He scoffed and Sam fought the urge to roll her eyes. Mel just sighed and shook her head. “Will I be a King if they do?”

The man, ever patient, shook his head with a smile. “No, that’s not what I am telling you. Back then, when people had no other sources of information but their legends, stories, and upbringing, they believed in multiple gods, worlds, and creatures both good and bad. If their crops didn’t fare well that year, they sometimes believed they were cursed by a god or a creature from their lands who had sabotaged them. They needed explanations for what they saw, witnessed. Folklore sought to bring understanding to what was unexplainable at the time. Who's to say that it didn’t happen? Who's to say that it doesn’t still happen?”

The boy looked ready to retort, but the stranger carried on without giving him time to form a response. “Just because you do not believe it, does not mean that others do not believe it. Where do you think the stories of the Bible come from? Old wives' tales? Traditions? All these stories, these legends, came from people who believed what they saw and retold them for generations and generations. Yes, the details do change a bit but they all come from some facet of truth.”

The boy snapped his mouth shut and seemed to reflect on what he had said. He was right in a sense and while the boy probably had multiple arguments against it; he didn’t voice them because he knew there was something in the way the man held himself, how he said it, that told him it was true.

“Some mythologies believe the Wild Hunt falls around the same time as our Samhain, or Halloween, others believe it to be around the Winter Solstice, or near Christmas.” He continued on as if the brief disagreement didn’t happen and handed out a little booklet. “You don’t want to be outside when the ghostly procession of the Wild Hunt surges past. You may be sucked into their dark frenzy, with or without your body along for the ride.”

Sam smiled and took one of the booklets, thanking him in response. Mel did the same and started to leaf through the pamphlet detailing more about The Wild Hunt. Sam couldn’t help but look at the paintings again, the winged beings striking against the sky above with what looked like a human army below them, weapons drawn and aiming for the ghostly host. It was incredible to look at, the paintings seemingly coming to life the longer she stared. A shiver ran down her spine and a metallic taste coated her tongue.

“A ritual….over...right there.”

Sam turned around at the voice she heard, catching the couple down the sidewalk who were having a conversation. She nudged Mel, who looked up confused. “Huh?”

“There’s a ritual happening, that couple said it’s happening over there.” Sam nodded her head in the direction the couple had indicated.

Mel furrowed her brows, looking at the couple and then back at her friend. “You heard them from all the way down there? They’re like...30 yards away.”

Sam shrugged, not thinking much of it. “I only heard snippets and filled in the rest with body language.”

Mel shook her head but nevertheless dragged her in the direction she indicated. “You and your weird hearing.”

Whatever it was that Sam had expected to see when getting to the ritual, did not even come close. The second she crossed into the cluster of people, she felt an energy in the air, and the metallic taste got stronger. Her whole body seemed to respond, vibrating in response, warmth settling in her belly and chills breaking out along her skin. One glance at Mel told her that she, too, felt the shift and her body was at a loss as to what to do.

The moon was vaulted in the sky, shining brightly above the Talmadge Bridge; the light pollution blocked a lot of the stars from being visible. A heaviness seemed to settle along the river and the air was getting thicker. The flickering heat of the small fires scattered around in a circle attempted to chase away the goosebumps rising on the surface of her skin. There was an uneasy shifting of the crowd, some dispersing altogether to try and outrun the energy their bodies clearly were not comfortable with. Sam couldn’t blame them, it was intense. It was one of those moments that you knew you were witnessing something real, without a shadow of a doubt. The very air told your bones to sing, to rise, and join in. The flames beckoned you closer, ensnaring your senses and holding you and your attention hostage and Sam was no different.

It was mesmerizing to watch the participants. The way the fire danced in the center of the circle and seemed to reach out towards the torches in their hands. Their steps were effortless, so graceful it almost hurt to watch how they glided around each other, seamlessly weaving in and out from between the other and flowing towards that centerfire. They went around and around, spinning in a fluid dance, almost willing the fire to rise higher and dance with them.

An older woman, dressed in a long, tweed skirt and simple white tunic, spoke in an old language that Sam couldn’t begin to decipher. Her voice was steady and soothing, reciting the ritual's dialogue as if it was secondhand nature to her, and perhaps it was. The smooth tone of her words completely enraptured witnesses who had stopped to watch, a lot of them clutching their chests and staring wide-eyed as if their god would come down and strike them where they stood for just witnessing this act.

But Sam was spellbound, completely at the mercy of these women spinning around the fire and singing in a language that clearly no one else understood. Whatever the words were, it was awakening something buried deep inside Sam’s bones, something long forgotten or hidden. She stepped closer to the ritual, her eyes unblinking as she lost herself. The women in the twirling circles were blurs around her, the older woman’s voice turning into a murmuring the longer she stared, daring another step towards the ritual.

Come. Come. Come.

She would. She would answer the calling that seemed to tug her closer to the dancing, the music, the voice. It held such promise, such hope that Sam felt the urge to barrel forward into the dance. Such a longing ached so furiously in her chest that it caused a sliver of fear to drop into her stomach.

Come. Come. Come.

It was a whisper, a soft plead. It grabbed hold of her gut and tugged her along, closer, closer, closer. She couldn’t resist the call, not even if her life depended on it. It was like her body wasn’t her own anymore; that it was moving on its own accord and every signal sent from her brain was being intercepted by the energy in the air, diverting it to the ether.

Come and find what you are looking for.

She didn’t even realize she had stepped out of the crowd, almost falling into place with the women who had stopped dancing around the fire and had their hands lifted up towards the night sky. The woman was still speaking but if Sam didn’t know any better, she would have sworn the woman was speaking directly to her; that the language she didn’t understand just a minute ago, were words spoken as clear as day.

It’s waiting for you. A blessing from the Mother.

A burst of color exploded behind her eyes and she stumbled back into the crowd, clutching her head as ringing echoed in her ears. The fire in the center of the dancers flared higher and brighter and a collective gasp was released by participants and witnesses alike but Sam was trying to get her vision back, to shake the underwater feeling that seemed to swim in her ears.

Mel rushed forward and grabbed her arm, spinning her around to face her in alarm, “Are you okay? What the hell was that? You could have gotten hurt!”

Sam rubbed her eyes to clear the kaleidoscope of colors racing through her sight, “I-I don-”

“You almost walked righ’ into the performance! What’s gotten into you?” Mel asked as the southern accent she tried so hard to mask slipped through. Her eyes narrowed as she took in her friend's bewildered expression. “Are you alrigh’?”

Sam reassured, rubbing her eyes and running a hand through dark burgundy hair, the firelight enhancing the deep purple hues. “Ye-yeah, I’m good. Fine.”

Mel stared at her for a few seconds longer, assessing the lie for what it was but nodded along. “Let’s grab those mini pumpkins we saw and head home. I know damn well Josh doesn’t expect me to carry three fully grown pumpkins back home at nearly midnight.” She said in a huff before stalking off towards the pumpkin vendor’s tent down the river.

Sam had enough time to force a chuckle at her and once she was down the sidewalk, she looked up at the woman who had been speaking during the ritual. Their eyes connected, old and wise blue eyes seemed to convey a message to Sam’s own bright green ones. A knowing gaze that made Sam bristle uncomfortably and rush after her friend toward the vendors still selling their wares.

Three mini pumpkins, a caramel apple, and an overabundance of candy were stashed into the bag that Mel toted down the cobblestone streets. Sam was uncharacteristically quiet, her mind still reeling with the events that took place but Mel was trying her best to distract her, chatting aimlessly about whatever vendor she had gotten the pumpkins from. She could feel the beginnings of a headache creeping along her skull and she longed for a couple Advil and some caffeine to help chase it away.

“Sammi, are you sure you don’t wanna stay the night? You know Josh and I don’t mind.” Mel looked at her again, concern gracing her features and Sam felt her heart tug at the emotion there. “You’re more than welcome to the guest room.”

She nodded, nudging her shoulder against Mel’s with a small smile. “I’m sure. Trust me, all I need is my bed and the upstairs neighbors stomping on the floor to lull me to sleep.”

“Oh, you mean the herd of elephants?” She smiled, a little of that concern easing from her face. “I’m worried about you, Sam, something just didn’t seem right with you today.”

“I wish I knew,” Sam started, turning the corner towards Mel’s apartment. “I’m just as lost as you are.”

The night got a little cooler by the time Sam walked Mel to her door, Josh’s soft snoring wafting out from what Sam knew was the living room. She nodded goodnight, telling her she would text when she woke up and made sure she got inside and locked the door before she began her own trek home.

Sam didn’t live far from Mel, just down three blocks and a turn to the left, where a small (and outrageously overpriced) apartment is what she called home. Living in downtown Savannah, you had nearly everything at your fingertips and it was more of a hindrance to own a car than it was to walk. More likely to have it broken into, stolen, or clipped by a passing car as on-street parking was almost the only option, back alleys the second. No, Sam was fine with walking home no matter the time of day or night, having her own assurance of her protection secured to the waistband of her jeans or strapped to her thigh.

Her mind drifted back to the events of the night and what she felt afterward, her thoughts running near rampant with questions as she sidestepped a break in the cobblestones. She was doing her best to filter the questions and find logical solutions to them, knowing her own limitations of knowledge. While she was staring at the ground just ahead of her, she wasn’t exactly paying a lick of attention.

Did I really witness a ritual, a real ritual? What was it for? Sam definitely believed that what she saw was the real deal and not what movies try so hard to replicate. The air itself had felt different as if it had come to life, not to mention the effects that it had on her body and those around her. She also didn’t know what it was for, having missed any possible explanation by staring at the flames.

The strange colors? She ruled out a brain tumor or aneurysm a while ago. Perhaps it was a migraine, her head did hurt.

Why did I hear a voice? Perhaps it was just her mind filling in the missing information? Provide a reason why for stepping forward and entering the sacred ritual circle? She talked to herself all the time so she knew what that sounded like in her head, but that voice was different.

But why did I enter the circle? Why did I listen to the voice? She felt called to step forward and she did. She answered the call that her body was singing. She had completely lost control over her motor functions.

It doesn’t make sense, something isn’t right. No, she knew something wasn’t right. Why else would she suddenly have what felt like an out-of-body experience?

Something isn’t right. Yes, she already covered that and was aware that something wasn’t right. She wouldn’t pretend that the entire event didn’t scare her, or make her nervous. As of right now, she felt like she was going to jump out of her skin simply by running through what happened. Memories of the ritual flashed through her mind's eye and she suppressed a shudder, the cold sliver of fear settling down in her gut again.

Something is wrong.

Sam stopped walking and looked up from the cobblestones, instantly alert. The street was silent, eerily still, not even a rustle of leaves or a squirrel running along the branches. The breeze stopped and the trees seemed to rear back, pulling themselves away from their natural tilt towards the street. The silence became deafening and Sam turned around to look down the block. Only the lights from the lampposts and shadows met her.

Even though she was alone, something was indeed wrong.

Sam discreetly patted her hip, finding comfort in the heavy weight of metal that consisted of her Ruger. She took a deep breath and continued her journey, never changing her pace as she made her way home. Sam looked at every reflective surface as she passed, trying to get a look behind her while keeping calm. Store fronts, car windows and mirrors, even the shiny gloss layer on the street signs; anything that could aid her in figuring out what was going on as she tried to keep her head.

Clearly, she was either being watched or followed, or both. It made her as uneasy as she had ever been, even with her surefire protection on her. Every intake of breath felt like it was being stolen from her. Her mind wanted to run rampant with anxiety but she willed herself to remain as calm as she could. She needed to stay calm and aware.

It wasn’t until she hit the corner of the square that she felt the immediate urge to run. The intensity of it nearly sent her heart into a wild gallop and her hands started to tremble with the building adrenaline. The sudden feeling lit a fire under her skin, she couldn’t recall making the conscious decision to run but within a split second, she bolted into the square. Dodging trash cans and benches, weaving around trees, and out onto the other side where she took off like a bullet down the cobblestone street.

The intense fear slammed into her body, her legs carrying her as fast as they could and her lungs squeezing every ounce of air out and greedily sucking it back in to fuel her mad dash. She needed a place to hide. She couldn’t go back to her apartment and she wouldn’t go to Mel’s house either. She needed a neutral spot to take cover and wait out this unseen being. She needed to hide.

She heard the footsteps behind her as she ran down the road, skidding to a halt almost a half second too late to swing herself around a lamppost and accelerate herself down the street. The cobblestones made it difficult to run, bits and pieces of stone jutting up or the sand filling in between being nonexistent and creating holes. She did her best to keep her pace, her boot getting caught up twice, in the attempt to lose her pursuer. She was being chased by something she couldn’t see, but she could hear it. She looked down the alleyways and side streets as she passed, trying to find somewhere, anywhere, to hide.

She scrambled around a turn onto a side street and darted down the dirt-covered road. She could feel whoever or whatever was chasing her getting closer, almost like a sixth sense. She could feel the change in the air and knew they were almost on her. All they had to do was reach out and grab her, and if they did, she would go down fighting.

“I need a place to hide.” She breathed out, over and over again as she ran.

Her lungs were on fire and her side cramped but she continued to push herself to her limits. She cut across another main road and down into another side street, spinning herself into a turn towards an alley. Her legs kept pushing and burning while carrying her weight. Her arms pumping as fast as they could and her heart beating so wildly it was about to come out of her chest. She didn’t have anywhere to go, she wasn’t losing her tail, and she couldn’t run anymore. Her body was on the brink of giving out.

She didn’t have time to slow herself down or stop when she realized she was reaching a dead end in the alley. It was already too late. She braced her arms out in front of her, intending to take the brutal impact of her speed coming to a halt at the wall, but the surface rippled.

Sam didn’t have time to think about the shimmering boundary before she fell straight through it and into a void of emptiness.

_________________________________________

A ripple shuddered through Prythian. Feyre’s brow furrowed as she looked up from her canvas and Rhysand turned his attention to the windows overlooking Velaris. Azriel walked to the edge of the balcony, taking note of anything out of place along the Sidra, his shadows scattering away from him at his command.

Cassian set down his training sword as another ripple caressed the wards standing strong around the Night Court, scanning the skies; Amren and Nesta emerged from the House of Wind, glancing around as if something was waiting to attack them.

“What was that?” Nesta asked as Cassian stepped closer to the ledge of the balcony. His eyes searched the sky and the rooftops of the buildings below as Nesta came to stand beside him. “Are we under att-”

Another ripple trembled through the wards, and eerie stillness settled around the city. The birds from the cluster of trees down below took flight and headed north towards the mountain range.

“No, I don’t believe we are being attacked,” Rhysand answered as he joined his family outside on the landing, his eyes still overlooking the city. “But something is definitely wrong.”

“Az, anything?” Feyre called out to the Shadowsinger who had started to walk towards them.

Azriel took another look towards the Sidra as a shadow curled around his ear. “Nothing definitive yet, but whatever it is, it’s coming from the south.” He looked to the High Lord, his face settling into a cool mask as he awaited his inevitable orders.

Rhys hummed in agreement, nodding in the southern direction. “Take Cass with you, scout the territory lines to the southeast, Feyre and I will take the southwest section. Mor, send a message to Helion making him aware that we will be crossing into the Day Court. Thesan as well, just in case this takes us further south into Dawn than we anticipate.”

“Should we be alerting them to what we’re doing? Perhaps we should keep it among ourselves.” Mor responded as she rose from the bench.

“If we all felt that, I’m sure we are not the only ones.” Rhys replied, “Besides, it is common courtesy to inform them when crossing into their lands. I doubt Helion would mind, but until we know what we are dealing with, we do it by the book.”

Mor nodded and set off inside the House to write the messages to the High Lords as Azriel and Cassian tapped their center siphons to don their fighting leathers.

“Amren, monitor Velaris. Nesta, guard the House and keep Elain inside until further notice.” Rhys delegated as Feyre also disappeared inside the House. “All of you, stay on your guard, report back here by no later than tomorrow evening. Do not take chances until we know what we are up against.”

With that, he turned on his heel to follow his mate back inside the House. Azriel and Cassian immediately took flight. Cassian threw a wink in Nesta’s direction and disappeared through the clouds with Azriel, their figures fading in the distance as they headed south.

[myeagleexpert]

Intriguing news

I like to think that in the future Malleus and Yuu will continue in the role of "friends forever until death do them part" so…

Some time after NRC…

Context and warnings: Sebek can transform into a raven with Malleus's magic,who is currently the king, so that he can serve him better. Yuu lives in an exclusive area at nrc, but works as a diplomat in some kingdoms, including Briar Valley and Sunset Savanah.

Hearing the familiar sound of flapping wings, Malleus waited as Sebek, his faithful knight, landed behind him. He quacked.

-What it was? - he asked. Malleus turned his hand and a small spark of green magic projected, transforming Sebek into a human.

Malleus raised an eyebrow. The man looked terrified. Normally he was already nervous and a little agitated - ever since he had known him as a child and even in NRC, his confident posture and the shrill volume of his voice. But now his agitated posture didn't smell of confidence, it smelled of fear and anxiety. Which is unusual.

-WAKASAMA….. - he began -… I, um, bring news. - He stopped and took a few deep breaths. - But, before I tell you this news, my lord needs to promise that will not… execute me.

Malleus smiled sarcastically, revealing perfectly white teeth and the pair of small fangs that made even his most pleasant smile seem menacing.

He knew that many in the lands of Briar Valley believed that he had softened by carrying on a genuine friendship with a simple human without magic, even more so since he had carried this very poetic friendship since the days of NRC. But most knew very well that the truth was different. They knew that even though Malleus loved Yuu, he was still a dark fairy. And no one doubted the damage that Malleus could - and would - inflict on the fools who dared try to threaten her.

-Tell me - he said, losing patience with Sebek - or you will prefer execution.

Swallowing hard, Zigvolt continued:

-It's n-nothing important, my lord, in fact, no reason to overreact. - He paused, realizing that his voice sounded as shaky as he felt, hetried to raise his voice as usual, but failed miserably. He had known Malleus for such a long time. There was no chance he wouldn't react explosively to what he was about to tell. - It's just that Prince Leona just…

Malleus intervened hopefully.

-Contract leprosy? - -No, my lord - said Sebek, shaking his head. He tried again: - Leona has just…

-Contracting the black plague? Yellow fever? - Malleus asked.

-Wakasama - continued Sebek, increasingly exasperated. His next words are hurried: - Prince Leona asked Yuu!… and here is the part where I will remind your majesty not to kill me… he asked if she would become his…

Malleus' face somehow became even paler. There was something that could come between him and Yuu: Leona, the prince of Sunset Savannah. When Malleus raised his head, his green eyes pierced Sebek.

-Don't ruin my morning - he warned. Around them, the wind rose slowly at first, but then faster and faster. The air crackled with electricity. The sky grew darker as Malleus spread his wings. A storm was brewing. Then, without saying anything else, he took flight.

Sebek Zigvolt shuddered as he watched him leave. Perhaps out of fear, perhaps out of admiration, he himself accepted the mix of emotions.

-YOU ARE DEALING WITH THIS INCREDIBLY WELL WAKASAMAAA- he shouted. A moment later, there was a flash of green as he transformed back into a bird and followed it into the sky.