#guess who realized they could wear their hair in a side braid - it's me i realized

[pinkroseblooms]

Could you do a Mataka x reader x slight creepy Shindo. The reader is Arajins sister that just got discharged from the hospital and is cleared to go to school. (They are part of the reason their family moved back) They’ve had a childhood crush on Mataka, but they met Shindo in a book store. He thinks winning Arajin is through his sister, or threaten them.

This got my brain buzzing with ideas! Here's the first part, I'll probably break it down to 3 parts total!

A Chance Meeting and a Declaration of Protection?!

Summary: You've come back to your old hometown for a fresh start and a shot at a normal life; too bad being reunited with your childhood crush and attracting the attention of an unhinged gang leader is proving a detriment to your health in more ways than one! wc: 2.3 A/N: This takes place in an AU without honki people/magic, and tw for future chapters for Shindo being a creep/yandere coded because...I mean come on. Makatara/f!Reader/Shindo (mostly one sided though)

“Come on, just a little more…”

Standing on your tiptoes, you stretch your arm as high as you can, but the novel atop the highest shelf is still out of reach.

“Ugh, I should have asked Macchan to come and help me.”

“My, my, what do we have here?”

You feel a presence behind you before you hear their voice; at first you had assumed Arajin had returned to the bookstore to walk you home. Your mother had made him your personal escort of sorts and your brother had obeyed, walking you to and from the few places you felt well enough to explore. 

After spending so much time in a hospital bed, being outside was almost overwhelming, but you also felt restless. When you found out your favorite bookstore was still open after all these years, you could have cried. Now as you stand on somewhat wobbly legs, vision a touch fuzzy, the last thing you need is stress. Where was Arajin? And who was this strange man smirking at you like you were some amusing joke?

“You must realize the owner has a ladder for this exact reason.” 

“Huh?” 

He taps the spine of the book, easily reaching over your head. “This book, you want it, yes?”

“Oh, yes.” You nod, somewhat hesitantly; your eyes scan the aisle, but it would seem there’s no one else around.  Briefly, your eyes linger on his braided hair and light eyes; he wasn’t wearing a school uniform, just a plain, gray sweatshirt and matching pants. You were certain he was around your age though. 

“What are you staring at?”

“Oh sorry, I was thinking, um, did you want the book?” You smile apologetically, hoping your embarrassment wasn’t obvious. “I didn’t mean to be in the way.”

“No, no, I was amused by you hopping like a bunny.”

Your smile falls. “Uh, I guess I’ll just go on and ask for assistance then-”

But the stranger takes the book, holds it up over your head with a sickly sweet smile.

“I wouldn’t leave a lady struggling. Here, take it.”

“Oh, thank you.”

But before you can take the book, he holds it up even higher. You frown, confused; is he just messing with you?

“I thought you were giving me the book?”

“Isn’t it a bit rude to ask for favors from a stranger?” He asks innocently. “My name is Shindo  Akutaro; might I ask for your name?”

“Tomoshibi.” You say curtly. “May I please have that book, Shindo-san?”

“I suppose.” 

The book is unceremoniously dropped and you fail to catch it; the novel lands on the hard tiled floor and you slowly kneel to pick it up. Bending and stooping too quickly makes you light headed and your limbs feel like noodles at the least bit of sudden motion. 

“You don’t need to kneel before me for such a small favor.” 

Shindo’s smile widens until you see his canines; he looks down at you over the rim of his glasses, eyes shining with an odd sort of glee, as though you’re doing something very silly and he has to hold back laughter. You straighten up, standing up too quickly; for a second, you teeter on unsteady feet and your hand grabs the shelf for support. 

“You look very pale; are you sick? In that case, maybe you ought to be home, not hopping around.”

“I spent enough time cooped up.” You rub your forehead gently with your fingers, holding the book to your chest. “I should be able to manage shopping for a book.”

It’s more than your desire to purchase a new novel though; this book store is a place of comfort. You used to spend hours either browsing the selection or sitting in the cafe area to read the newest addition to your collection. It wasn’t like you could run around with Arajin and Matakara, as badly as you wanted to. Even now, you’ve only just begun to feel what you assume for others is something like “normal”. 

“It’s not funny.”

Shindo blinks, looking vaguely perturbed as you stare up at him defiantly; suddenly, you feel very irritated. Whether it’s due to his prior teasing or your own frustration, you’re not sure. 

“Thanks, I suppose, for getting the book.” You say quietly. “But I don’t appreciate a perfect stranger laughing at me. I never asked to be sick and I didn’t ask for your help. Excuse me, but my brother will be here soon to take me home and I need to go buy this.”

With a slight nod, you scurry away to the register on the other side of the store; as he hands you the receipt and your new book, a soft chime signals someone has entered the store. You turn around, met with the sight of a disgruntled Arajin and-

“Macchan?” You almost drop your bag and wallet. “What are you doing here?”

“I bumped into Ara-chan, so I thought I’d tag along.” Matakara waves with a sunny smile. “You’re doing okay? You haven’t had to go back to the hospital or anything?”

“I told you she was fine.” Arajin walks over to you and takes your hand. “Come on, let’s get going,”

“You’re in a hurry for someone who was late to get me.”

“Mom asked me to pick up a few things for dinner.” Arajin explains with a sigh, leading you to the sliding doors, Matakara following behind dutifully. “I figured you’d want more time anyway; you could have called.”

“You could have called if you were going to be gone later.” You grumble, slipping your hand from his grasp. “Arajin, slow down, I can’t walk that fast.”

“Do you want me to take that?” Matakara comes to your side. “Here, let me carry your bag. You look kinda pale.”

“So I’ve heard.” You sigh; of course he had to come and see you winded from the most menial task. “Thanks Macchan, but I got it.”

“Come on, we need to get home.” Arajin gives Matakara a look. “Don’t you have to get going too?”

“I can stay.” Matakara turns to you. “You don’t mind, do you? I feel like we haven’t had a chance to catch up since you moved back. It’s been too long.”

“No kidding; honestly I almost didn’t recognize you when you came to visit.” You chuckle and pat the top of Matakara’s head. “I used to be taller than you.”

“Um, yeah.”

Matakara’s face flushes a bit; it’s nice to see he hasn’t changed too much from the bashful sweetheart you remember. Now, if only you had changed as much; you both envy and admire your old friend’s strong build. 

“Don’t strain yourself too much tomorrow.” Arajin looks over his shoulder at you; he’s still looking a bit grumpy, but his eyes soften as they meet yours. “My class is basically across the hall from you and the teacher’s already know what to expect.”

“I know, I’ll be okay!”

You sound more confident than you feel; from what Arajin has said about his time attending the academy, the place sounds less like an institution of education and more a playground for delinquents. Still, you have limited options and if you have to attend a school in the area, you feel better knowing at least two people already. 

“I’m in the same class as Ara-chan; you can come to me if there’s a problem. If you want to.” Matakara says with an oddly serious expression. “I’ll be there, so you don’t have to worry about anything.”

“I’m not worried.” You lie, your smile feeling like a mask stretched over your face. “Thank you, Macchan. I don’t want to bother you though, you and Arajin have your own lives. I’m sure I’ll be totally fine. I’m so pitiful, even bullies don’t want to bug me.”

“No you’re not.” Matakara frowns. “You’re not pitiful, you're strong. I always thought so. You should too.”

You’re not sure how to respond; Arajin makes a choking sound deep from his throat and puts his hands over his ears.

“Ugh, I can not listen to this! You two walk back together, I’m going on ahead.”

“Huh?!”

“Arajin!” You gap as your brother stalks off down the sidewalk without a glance back at you. “That little shit! He’s lucky I can’t chase him down. Ugh, sorry Macchan, he’s being such a brat.”

“No, it’s okay.”

“It is not.” You huff, crossing your arms, glaring at the dot that’s now Arajin’s head. “He’s been on edge ever since we came back. I get him being angry with me, but you haven’t done anything.”

“Why would Ara-chan be angry with you?”

“Not me exactly, just,” You unfold your arms and they hang at your sides. “A big reason we came back was for my treatment. Mom’s settled in fine but Arajin…it’s not my place to speak for him, but I know being here is frustrating.”

“But it’s not your fault you’re sick.”

“Still, I think…he’d never say so, but I think he resents me. Arajin always has to deal with mom putting me first because of my poor health.”

Arajin never says it, but you can tell he gets frustrated; he never asked for a sister who constantly needed to be minded and tended to. Even now as you’ve gotten older, he’s still being pushed into the role of caretaker. You don’t want him to feel like he’s responsible for how you do when you go back to attending in person classes. 

“He brings a lot of it on himself, but I know he worries about me. Anyway, I don’t want to burden him or you.” You muster up a genuine smile. “I’m going to take it one day at a time, but I can do this. I have to at least try; I can’t let it all be for nothing.”

“You,” Matakara pauses, gazing at you with wide eyes and parted lips. “You haven’t changed at all.”

You can’t help snort. “Seriously? I know I said I wanted to toughen up and all, but-”

“You’ve gotten even cooler.”

Maybe it’s a good thing Arajin decided to leave the two of you in the dust; if he saw the way Matakara was staring at you, you might have had Arajin ready to drag you away. Before you can say anything, Matakara gently takes the bag from your loosened grip.

“For the record, I never thought looking after you was a burden. I want you to ask me for help. Matakara confesses shyly. “I’m stronger now.”

“I noticed.” Your eyes flicker to his arms; his muscles are basically straining against the thin cotton of his worn t-shirt. “Are you sure? I really don’t have trouble carrying something that small.”

“I want to!” Matakara insists; he almost whines and your heart skips a beat as he pouts down at you. “I could even carry you if you needed me to.”

“Okay, okay, I got it.” At this point the thought of your crush carrying you around in his absurdly strong arms is making you so lightheaded, you might end up needing to be hauled home anyway. On the bright side, you doubt you’re looking pallid; heat radiates from your face as Matakara walks with you. He walks in time with your steps; if you asked, he would probably take your hand to lead you home.

“I bet you’re really popular.” You nudge his shoulder. “Arajin told me you’re like, a class leader or something?”

“He did?”

“Uh huh. But don’t tell him I told you.” You put a finger to your lips. “If you do, I’ll tell him about how you cried after stealing one of my horror novels.”

“I didn’t know it was a scary book! I thought it was about a magic doll.”

“To be fair, it was brought to life with occult magic. I still can’t believe you threw out my baby doll.”

“...I thought it would come to life and haunt you.”

“That’s right, I was so mad!” You recall with a giggle. “Do dolls still freak you out?”

“No...”

“Aw,” You feel a bit guilty at the kicked puppy dog look on Matakara’s face. “I’m sorry for teasing you.”

Matakara remains silent for a few seconds and you feel anxious: was that too far? It had been a long time since the two of you were able to talk like this. Perhaps you were getting ahead of yourself, acting so familiar with him. 

“Matakara? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hassle you. I won’t actually tell Arajin about the doll thing.”

“It’s not that.” 

Matakara fidgets with the handle of the shopping bag; the sun is setting now. The soft golden light makes his eyes almost sparkle; as if getting enough oxygen wasn’t already a concern. Now you had to have your breath stolen by the warm gaze holding your attention captive. 

“It’s just…I don’t want you to think of me that way. I’m not that weak cry baby anymore.”

“I never thought you were.” You tell him earnestly. “I shouldn’t have teased you.”

“You really don’t get it.” Matakara’s voice lowers. “Even though you were so sick, you looked out for me. Now I want to do that for you. I want you to see me as someone strong you can depend on.”

“Macchan, you don’t have to look out for me: that’s not your responsibility.”

“Do I…look different to you?”

“What?”

Matakara inches a bit closer, as if he's afraid to startle you, before taking yours hands in his own. You can feel callouses on his warm palms are warm; his cheeks are pink and his stare is hard with determination. Abruptly, you're reminded of that tenderhearted boy who would rush to your side every time you so much as hinted at being fatigued.

"Do you trust me?"

"O-of course." You study his urgent gaze warily. "I always have."

“I could-no. I will protect you. If anyone tries to bother you tomorrow, you come straight to me. I’ll deal with them. I'll be there; as long as you can trust in that, I can only get stronger." Matakara squeezes your hands gently. "Believe in me and I'll protect you with that strength."

You’re taken aback; you’ve never heard Matakara speak this way to you or at all. Not that you don’t appreciate it; on the contrary, your tummy is doing somersaults. With that said, you can’t help wondering: just how much did your friend change these past few years? And what exactly is he expecting he’ll need to protect you from? 

[huffelpuff210]

Saving part 3 BikerBucky Barnes x Reader

Warning: Violence, Abuse, forced relationship, age gap, obsession, sexual behavior, 

You look at yourself in the mirror, James texted you early this morning, telling you to wear something pretty, God only knows how he got your number, 

You are wearing a black sundress with sunflowers on it, it was spaghetti strapped, You covered up the bruises as best you could with your foundation, hoping you did a well enough job, you also wore a jean jacket over the dress just in case, 

Your long brown hair was in a side braid, You wore flats you looked at yourself in the mirror turning from side to side, making sure there was no visible bruising, You let out a sigh, realizing you did a good job covering everything up, 

You hear the sound of a motorcycle outside, and you didn’t have to guess who that was, You grab your bag and make your way downstairs, Your father looking out the window with a beer in his hand, hearing you he turns around, his eyes looking you up and down, 

“You are not going with a biker.” He sneers, 

You scuff, 

“And what are you gonna stop me?” You ask sure it was out of character for you to talk back but knowing James was just outside gave you a bit of courage to stand up to your father, 

He sneered at you, 

“Get your ass back upstairs you are not leaving with him!” He yells 

“just try and stop me.” You say opening the door walking towards James who was  just getting off his bike, Your father standing in the door way glaring daggers at you, sure you knew you were going to pay for your attitude when you got home, But you didn’t care at the moment you were actually allowed to have some fun for once in your life. 

“Hey doll you look gorgeous.” He says smirking

“Thank you.” You say as he kisses you on the cheek, 

“Ready to go?” He asks handing you a helmet 

You were a little hesitant because you never in your life rode on a motorcycle but you nodded taking the helmet. You put the helmet on adjusting the strap under your chin James was smiling down at you then looked at your father who was still watching with daggers, 

“I swear he always has a beer in his hand when I see him.” James chuckles 

You chuckle lightly If only he knew 

James gets on the motorcycle and you get on behind him, 

“Hold on tight doll.” He says you wrap your arms around him as he takes off, 

Everything whipping by as he drove out of town,

He never did tell you where he was taking you but soon enough he stops the motorcycle, You get off first, 

“A biker bar?” You ask 

He chuckles 

“This place has the best food, besides I thought I would show you a bit of my world.” He says getting off the bike, You hand him the helmet, 

You arch your brow, 

“Come on doll you’ll love it, besides this is only our first stop.” He says slinging his arm over your shoulders, his arm landing on one of your bruises you wanted to wince but you held it in, 

When you entered the bar you were slightly intimidated big bikers everywhere, some were at the bar drinking, others playing pool, and others playing darts, everyone looked in your direction they all smiled when they seen James, 

You both sit at the end of the bar and order your food, you felt so out of place here sure you worked as a waitress at a strip club but big bikers are a different story, 

“So tell me why do you work at a strip club?” He asked 

“I’ve worked there since I was sixteen, it pays good,” You say 

“Really?” He asked 

“Why do you sound surprised?” You asked 

“Well because most teen girls are busy going to the mall and being stuck up.” He says with a chuckle 

“I wasn’t like most girls.” You say

“Clearly.” He chuckles 

To you it seemed easy to talk to him, you didn’t feel pressured into talking like you did most people he may be a big biker, But he seemed to care and want to know you as a person. 

“So what made you want to be a biker?” You ask

He chuckled 

“Well it wasn’t like that at all, When I got honorably discharged from the army I needed to find a hobby, I learned that I had a love for Motorcycles, so I guess it just sort of just popped out at me then.” He says with a chuckle 

you smile at his story, 

After you two ate your meal and he showed you how to play pool and he was convinced you hustled him he took you to your next stop a bowling ally, 

“You know how to bowl?” He asked 

“It’s been a long time.” You say 

“How long?” He asked 

“Since I was eight.” You say with a light laugh, 

He chuckles 

Bucky couldn’t place it but he got the feeling that you didn’t get to have much fun, He always saw you working, And when he saw you starting to lighten up a bit it warmed him up, He knew you were supporting your father, it’s a small town, all he had to do was ask the right people, He knew why you worked your ass off just to support your father, 

He didn’t exactly like your father for a few reasons one was because of last night, Bikers are many things, brutes violent, rough, But there are lines they never cross and that includes hitting a woman, 

Another reason he didn’t like your father is the menacing vibe he got from him maybe it was just because of his drinking or maybe Bucky was looking way to far into it but he just didn’t like the man, 

As you both were bowling when you reached for your bowling ball the sleeve of your jacket revealed your wrist where there was a massive bruise, 

James grabbed your forearm looking at the bruise, 

“This wasn’t there yesterday, What happened?” He asked in a dark voice, 

Your eyes widen not really sure how to answer his question, suddenly he was dragging you out of the bowling ally and he has you sat on the bench, 

“Don’t make me ask again.” He says in the same voice that sent chills down your spine

[pommpuriinn]

𖧧 ִ ࣪ ⋆ ٫٫ ACT: PROMISE US TOUR PART 2

┈─★synopsis- finally Joohyung gets to go back to the US which she has missed dearly.

౨౿ atlanta

౨౿ hair/makeup

౨౿ Joohyung was feeling a bit better since the whole houston concert which she reassure moa that she’s ok and to not worry about her, and enjoy the concert

౨౿ the members kept on playing with Joohyung’s braids causing her to yell ‘ya!’ into the mic making herself startled, and hitting Kai who at the time was the one of the ones messing with her braid

౨౿ “before we head to the next song I wanted to say that I love how you guys dress up for us.” Joohyung pointed at different moas. “I realized that when we go to the US moas like to follow the dress code or wear similar outfits from performances or mvs. They’re really pretty outfits and I love them, and you guys look really good.” She raised an eyebrow teasing the audience

౨౿ “how about noona finally teaches the maknaes the dance.” Yeonjun suggested, as then move to ‘the killa’ dance segment. “I guess I’ll teach them.” Joohyung playfully rolled her eyes, making the members laugh. “Make sure to use your face,” Joohyung pointed her’s. “Sexy like this.” She gave them a demo, but she didn’t get too far because Beomgyu and Kai blocked Joohyung. “Too sexy! Too sexy!” The two jokingly covered Joohyung’s face from everyone

౨౿ as they were performing ‘cat & dog’ as an encore song Joohyung took the time to read posters and followed what the poster was asking, along with dancing with moas and even the staff who Joohyung found hilarious because they were so hyped and dancing along with her

౨౿ send off

౨౿ “Joohyung you’re so pretty!”

“Woah! You really look AI! It’s crazy!”

“Honey are you even real right now?!” Moas were so infatuated with Joohyung’s visuals that they kept on complimenting her causing her to get embarrassed. “Thank you so much~ you guys are just as pretty too.” Joohyung sent them all hearts

౨౿ “Honey I just wanted to say thank you so much for saving me honestly, txt gives me so much motivation and happiness. It must be very tiring with everything you’re going through, but just know moas are always by your side defending and protecting you. We are also a shoulder you could always lean on and cry too. I love you so much, Honey.” Joohyung saw that the moa was starting to cry which made her start to cry as well. She wiped the tear that was coming out, “ah, moa~ don’t cry.” Joohyung playfully whined while trying not to cry further. “I should thank you for letting my dreams come true and for always supporting txt and letting us come and perform for you. I hope you never leave our side, and thank you moa~” Joohyung sniffled, as she lovely pat the moa’s head

౨౿ Joohyung ended up witnessing for first ever proposal and she was as shocked as Yeonjun. “Congratulations!” Joohyung clapped for the couple before taking a photo with them. Before moving on to the next moa she heard someone asked a question, “when is Beomgyu going to propose to you Honey?” Joohyung got so shy with the question her ears started turning red, which she quickly covered making everyone around her giggle. “I don’t know? You have to ask him when he comes around.”

౨౿ long story short the same moa questioned Beomgyu the same question and he got just as shy as Joohyung, and his ears ended up turning red too. He cutely started stumbling through his words trying to answer the question

౨౿ new york day 1

౨౿ hair/makeup

౨౿ another soundcheck moment to mention is the viral boyfriend Beomgyu look he was giving. “Do you like Beomgyu’s look?” Joohyung asked moas who responded quickly loving it. “Good because it was me who to put a little bit blush on him and did his hair. He looks soo cute~” Joohyung squealed, making the members coo at how cute she was explaining

౨౿ Joohyung’s glowy sparkly makeup was a hot topic in the makeup world along with all her makeup looks throughout the tour

౨౿ Joohyung was definitely in a playful mode, as she was spanking the members’ butts making moa laugh at her silly antics on stage

౨౿ in the previous stops some members have accidentally dropped their fan during ‘sugar rush ride’ and it was now Joohyung’s turn to experience the little embarrassment of dropping the fan right when the camera is on her. She laughed it off instead of beating herself up about it

౨౿ Joohyung saw many pride flags waving around which she pointed at the flag and sent hearts at the moas waving it, including seeing many hold up palestine flags which she also pointed at them sending big hearts at the moas with them

౨౿ Joohyung went so hard at the choreo for ‘no rules’ it’s another one of her favorite bsides. Both her and Yeonjun were going around jumping and dancing using all their last energy

౨౿ send off

౨౿ during send off Joohyung saw that the moa she was with was shaking and saying ‘sorry’ because she wasn’t being fast pulling up her camera app. Joohyung gently held the moa’s shaking hand, “it’s ok. Take your time, I’m not leaving you so soon.”

౨౿ “can i do a heart on your cheek while we pose?” The moa asked. “Yeah! It’s ok.” Joohyung even leaned in more so the moa’s hand was touching her cheek

౨౿ Joohyung did a little tiktok dance with a moa, but she couldn’t keep a straight face so the whole time she was holding in her laughter

౨౿ even though Yeonjun asked to keep the pride flag filled with moas’ signatures and the staff said ‘no’ Joohyung asked the moa if she could keep it. Of course the moa said ‘yes’ and Joohyung grabbed it and the staff member tried to say ‘no’ to Joohyung too, and even tried to take it out of her hands. “No it’s mine.” Joohyung pulled it away from the staff member’s reach

౨౿ new york day 2

౨౿ hair/makeup

౨౿ Joohyung made all the members have a blushy look during soundcheck which moas thanked her for her service

౨౿ “New York!” Joohyung yelled after the dance break for ‘deja vu’ while moa screamed with excitement. All the members chuckled hearing Joohyung yell

౨౿ Joohyung was mouthing “runaway, runaway with me” to a moa causing them to have tears in their eyes, making Joohyung pout not wanting to make the moa cry

౨౿ again Joohyung’s body was hurting and she was trying her hardest not to show it, but once it was time for ments everyone could tell Joohyung was having a hard time as she was trying to rub out the pain from certain points of her body

౨౿ members started to really worry when Joohyung was hanging her head low and trying to blink the dizziness away, sometimes Joohyung would clinch on a member’s shirt or sleeve trying to balance herself

౨౿ after ‘magic island’ Taehyun couldn’t take it no more and walked Joohyung backstage so the staff members could take care of Joohyung. “Noona needs to cool down a bit longer, so don’t worry moa.” Yeonjun tried to reassure everyone. “Mm, noona works too hard and just needs a bit more time.” Kai agreed before changing the topic

౨౿ the members even dragged on the ending ments because they didn’t want to perform without Joohyung, so as they kept on looking behind them seeing if Joohyung was walking back they would keep the conversation going. “Oh-our honey is back!” Soobin smiled at Joohyung, who was walking back while fixing her ear-in. “I’m back~” she sang

౨౿ moas noticed the healing patches they placed on places where Joohyung was experiencing pain along with giving her an updo instead of keeping her hair down. Many speculate that Joohyung was going through heat exhaustion

౨౿ send off

౨౿ Joohyung brought out Bibi to the send off making moas jealous of NY moa Joohyung even let moas pet Bibi let how she let houston moa pet Poki

౨౿ “honey please promise to rest lots when you get home.” Joohyung could tell moas were really worried about her which made her feel really bad. “I will try my best, thank you.” She smiled before moving on

౨౿ just like how Poki was trying on gifts Bibi did the same and she was very vocal about it, “I think she’s saying thank you.” Joohyung was laughing at how Bibi was meowing at everyone who was gifting her everything

౨౿ “oh my god! You painted this?” A moa handed Joohyung a beautiful painting of Joohyung during ‘black mamba’ era. “Yes!” Joohyung looked at the moa and back at the painting making everyone laugh. “You’re so talented moa!”

౨౿ rosemont day 1

౨౿ hair (black bow)/makeup

౨౿ moas thought that Joohyung looked like those female Tom and Jerry cat girls but goth version with her dark makeup + piercings

౨౿ after with somewhat rest and not performing for two days Joohyung felt a bit better not fully, but enough to perform well

౨౿ despite her dark makeup and cold stares Joohyung was being clingy towards any member for example; rubbing her cheek against Kai’s arm while he was talking, holding onto Taehyun’s shirt while following him around, playing with Beomgyu’s fingers during a ment, holding Yeonjun’s hand while watching the maknaes dance to ‘the killa’, and giving back hugs to Soobin while resting her cheek against his back

౨౿ “I know I mention this before but…I really love these outfits you guys wear for us.” Joohyung points towards the second level. “I hope you guys are all comfortable and able to dance with the tall heels.” She chuckled, seeing moas look at their feet

౨౿ Joohyung unleashed her boba eyes during ‘isytt’ making moas squeal every time she was shown on the big screen even the members looked at her with warm eyes

౨౿ send off

౨౿ despite all the hardships Joohyung is going through she still manages to have a smile on her face for the people who love and support txt

౨౿ during this send off many moas made it their mission to tell Joohyung how much they admire her and constantly giving her compliments, and how strong she is to keep performing no matter how tried she is. Hearing all this was so overwhelming for Joohyung, but in a good way. That she was getting teary eye just hearing everyone

౨౿ towards the end Joohyung was signing a page from the moa’s dairy that was gifted to them while the moa poured her heart out about how much she loves Joohyung and even naming a few reasons out of 100 on why she loves Joohyung. Her speech broke Joohyung, as she no longer could hold in her tears and a single diamond tear fell on the page creating a little tear drop stain

౨౿ Joohyung profusely was thanking moa for coming and for being there for her before officially leaving. It was definitely one of the more heartfelt moments from the whole send off part of tour

౨౿ rosemont day 2

౨౿ hair/makeup

౨౿ during soundcheck Joohyung brought out both Bibi and Poki to no knows surprise both cats loved the attention, as they were acting as if it was their show even meowing into the mic making the group burst out laughing kinda surprised at the cats actions

౨౿ Joohyung did dress both cats up with the gifts moas were giving them and they even had fansite photos taken of them causing twitter have their fun with the cute cat photos

౨౿ one of many funny moments created in this tour is when they had to kick their mic stands during ‘loser lover’ and Joohyung completely missing the aim of her mic stand. She stared at it in defeat before kicking it harder than she’s supposed to because she was a little mad at her aim

౨౿ while Joohyung was going hard at dancing her ear-in fell out of her ear and as the song got to the climax the confetti canons went off scaring the crap out of Joohyung and many moas. She yelped into her mic making the members startled at first, but then laughed it off seeing that Joohyung wasn’t in any danger

౨౿ as the group was performing ‘trust fund baby’ Joohyung was seen zoning out just nodding to the music luckily not forgetting to sing her lines

౨౿ to moas it was hard to view Joohyung as sexy with her cute hairstyle and makeup during ‘the killa’ nevertheless she still caused imaginary nose bleeds with her bold moves

౨౿ Taehyun accidentally tripped poor Joohyung while pulling her with him to run full speed to the main stage so they can dance to ‘happily ever after’ together

౨౿ singing ‘blue spring’ brought back all the memories from the previous tour along with lollapalooza. Joohyung was done showing her vulnerable side again so she tried her hardest to keep the tears from flowing

౨౿ send off

౨౿ “are these the freebies you guys hand around?” Joohyung pointed at the clear bag filled with freebies. “Yeah, want some?” The moa offered. “Yes please~” Joohyung held out both palms waiting. “Wahh, thank you!” Joohyung smiled, while looking into the bags of fanmade pcs with sticker

౨౿ Joohyung was surprised seeing little kids waiting to met her. “Hello there!” She leaned over the barricade, trying to reach them better. Joohyung playfully ruffled their hair before saying her ‘byes’

౨౿ “is that my cereal?” Joohyung snickered, while reaching for the cereal box to sign it. Joohyung’s box was coco puffs for the general mills collab 

౨౿ “the amount of Jooie egg pcs I have signed this whole tour is insane.” Joohyung was slightly regretting all the close up photos she takes for her pcs. “Please keep taking egg pcs Joohyung.” Moas begged, making Joohyung chuckled at how cute their begging is

౨౿ washington (last one!!)

౨౿ hair/makeup

౨౿ welcome back short hair Joohyung! She was missed by many including the members who have a habit with playing with their noona’s short hair

౨౿ “hi I’m Honey and I have short hair again! Do you like it?” Joohyung beamed, hearing all the ‘yes’ in the crowd. “That’s good. Let’s live it up since it’s sadly that last US stop of act: promise. But let’s not be sad because this isn’t a ‘goodbye’.” Joohyung brought everyone’s spirits up

౨౿ Joohyung gave it all she got making sure there wasn’t any regrets with her performance, especially because it was the last night

౨౿ Joohyung let out a tear during ‘deja vu’ like how she did in their Inkigayo performance making moa go crazy with her acting skills

౨౿ “our actress Joohyung!” Soobin clapped, as the group was doing their ment. “I save that move for the last show since it’s very special.” Joohyung mimicked her tear falling. “Noona you do it so easy~” Taehyun dragged out the word, making her laugh

౨౿ Beomgyu kept on messing with Joohyung’s hair causing her to spank his butt to try and discipline him. Clearly it didn’t work because he kept on doing it

౨౿ “Kai let’s fucking go!” Joohyung yelled, while Kai was getting his guitar to have his solo moment. It hyped up Kai and moa, making moa’s cheers louder and Kai gaining even more confidence

౨౿ it was the last ‘dreamer’ Joohyung zoom in which Joohyung slowly slid her hand up to her neck while giving a seductive look into the camera, giving moa a moment to remember

౨౿ “I think moa really liked noona’s short hair version of ‘the killa.” Yeonjun teased. “The killa~” Joohyung immediately sang while doing the hip movements, earning screams. “I agree too!” Beomgyu cutely raised his hand. “Let’s make noona perform it one last time for us.” Soobin added. “Yes, noona should be right in the center.” Kai guided Joohyung to the center. “Ok, one, two, three!” Taehyun counted down before singing. Joohyung tried to wash away the embarrassment before starting which somewhat worked, as she winked and blew a kiss towards the camera

౨౿ Joohyung was making sure to try and thank everyone from every section for coming since it was already the end of the concert. Joohyung made sure to take her time reading all the posters she could before heading to the center where the screens from above slowly came down ending the final US stop of the tour

౨౿ send off

౨౿ “did you cut your hair?!” A moa asked while admiring the new look. “No, I just had extensions in since it takes while for my hair to grow long.” Joohyung cleared the air

౨౿ “honey we’re going to miss Bibi and Poki too.” Joohyung sadly didn’t bring either of the cats to join them during send off. “They are definitely going to miss all the attention you guys gave them for sure.” Joohyung smiled at them while signing their pc

౨౿ Joohyung gave lots of girlfriend material poses for moa’s pictures

౨౿ during the send off moa got to see a clingy Joohyung up close, as she was hugging Beomgyu’s arm while waiting for her turn with moas, and they weren’t complaining because of how cute she looks

౨౿ Joohyung blew lots of kisses before making her way to the exit door officially done with this leg of the tour

[syndxlla]

best friends don’t look at each other the way we do

A low stakes, high reward, and self-indulgent Zelink fan fiction. Canon-compliant. takes place between BOTW and TOTK.

Unedited

chapter four: I’m better than ever

Read chapter three here

My masterlist

Song: Landscape with a Fairy by aspidistrafly

Summary: Link and Zelda start to get back on their feet, local problems in Hateno Village start to arise.

Warnings: PTSD, dealing with trauma

Word Count: 3.3k

Authors Note: sorry this took me so long to update! This is unedited so pls be kind haha. I love you all! Also I’m working on getting this uploaded to Ao3!

A few days go by, and Zelda finally starts to feel like herself again. After three days of laying in bed, drinking broth that Link makes for her, and falling into deep, dreary sleeps, she can finally get herself out of bed.

She walks downstairs, not feeling dizzy or nauseous, to find Link passed out against the table. His mouth is slack, and the smallest amount of drool dribbles out onto the cracked wood. His eyelashes are long and thick, and he has an old scar through one of his eyebrows, causing a clean-cut line of no hair. He looks so gentle when he sleeps, soft and peaceful. You would never guess he was the threat he was.

Zelda knew how badly he needed to sleep, he had spent days restless over her. She knew he got some rest here and there, but never enough to really help. She notices his shoulder shake, he isn’t wearing a shirt. She swears he never does at home. It was cold, despite it nearing summertime. Zelda goes to grab one of the wool blankets he keeps on a bench against the wall. Before she carefully drapes it around his shoulders, she examines the scars on his back. It’s littered with cuts and bruises. Some had healed well, and were only suggesting an injury. Others were a pale shade of tissue, some were still red and pink. One even still had his make-do stitches in it. She wondered who did them for him, and what battle caused the injury. Link still had bruises on his side and bicep from the fight with the calamity. They were starting to turn a jaundiced yellow and green, his body slowly healing them. Zelda’s stomach turns at the memories of the beast.

She shakes her head and sighs, placing the blanket over his bare skin and positioning it over his shoulders. Link stirs and his breathing shifts, he closes his mouth, swallowing before continuing his dreams. His hair is out of his hair tie, and it lies loose around his shoulders and face.

His face and look is so alluring, there's something about him that’s so comforting. She could sit with him all day, just with him as he slept, knowing that she’s safe.

She uses the washroom, taking her hair out of the old braid and letting the soft waves fall over her shoulders and cascade down her back. A pit churns in her stomach as she looks at her long hair. Her hair was always a part of her identity. Something she never cut, never damaged. It was beautiful, even after the years of divine wear and tear on it. She never had a choice with her hair. She didn’t get to make hardly any choices for herself. He runs her hands through her hair, sometimes she wished she could just rip it all out. Have a fresh slate.

She changes her clothes after searching for something fresh to wear, she would eventually need some of her own clothes. Zelda does all of this being as quiet as she can be. She doesn’t want to wake the sleeping hero at any cost. She finds an old pair of green pants that hit her at the knees, they’re comfortable, but tight to her skin. She finds the matching blue tank top that goes with it, and pulls it over her head. It feels nice to have some clean clothes on. When Link wakes up, she’ll ask if there’s a clothing store nearby.

The princess starts on breakfast, pulling some bird eggs from the cool inventory and a bit of goat butter. She has no idea what she’s doing, and very quickly realizes that she’s burning the eggs. In a panic, Zelda attempts to fix her mess, but somehow makes it worse. She quietly swears and before she knows it, Link is standing behind her, wrapping his arms around her body and replacing her grip on the skillet with his own calloused hands.

He engulfs himself around her, resting his chin on her shoulder as he pulls the burnt egg away from her. Her heart flutters, skipping a beat. She wonders how he was able to do an act that was so simple, so domestic. Did he think about it the same way she did? She felt safer and warmer in his embrace, wanting to linger there forever, feeling his bare chest against her back, but it's over all too soon. He steps away and fixes her mistake.

“I-I’m so sorry.” Zelda sighs. “I’m not sure what’s wrong with me.”

“Nothings wrong with you.” Link assures, “Open the windows.” He nods to the glass. Zelda goes to push them open, and they must not have been opened in years because they creak open with a tired groan and dust falls from the frames. Her breaths are quickly followed by coughs after the fact, and she scrunches her nose.

Almost immediately, Link is making a perfect omelet, and it smells wonderful.

“How do you do that?”

“Years of practice.” He smiles. “Grab some plates.” She follows his request again, his voice is still gruff and gravely from his sleep. Zelda places the plates on the table, facing across from each other. Link carries the pan over to the plates, cutting the omelet in half with his spoon and then placing each half on the plates, being sure to give Zelda the bigger piece. Zelda sits after thanking him, and instead of Link sitting across from her, he drags the plate for himself across the table to be next to hers, taking his place right next to her on the bench, legs pressing up against one another. Zelda begs her thoughts not to be too ambitious.

They eat mostly in silence.

“Is there a clothing store nearby?”

Link nods, “Yup, two of ‘em actually.” He looks at her, his eyes still sleepy, “I can go get you some if you like.”

“I would like to go with you, if that’s alright.” Zelda nods.

“Are you feeling well enough?” He asks.

“Mhm,” She hums, “I would really like to get out of this house.”

“What, you don’t like my house?” Link asks, pretending to be hurt.

Zelda giggles, chiding him, “I love your house.” She sighs, those words came so easily. The word ‘love’ lingers in her mind. “Will you teach me how to cook?”

Link laughs, “Oh no you can’t fix that.” He teases her in reference to her antics this morning. She frowns, unamused, and he sighs, “I’ll teach you, but in return I want you to teach me something, too.”

“Anything.” Zelda smiles.

“Teach me how to be brave. Like you.” He asks after a beat.

“What?”

“I’ve been thinking a lot about it… and I’m terrified. All the time I am.” He swallows, scared to open up like this, proving his own point. He glances at the princess who stares at him with her beautiful, green eyes which inspires him to keep going, “I know I’m the courage guy and everything, and don’t get me wrong, I’m not afraid of things, like I’m not afraid to beat up monsters or jump headfirst into a well, but I’m filled with this… this dread. Like something bad is going to happen and no matter what I do, I can’t stop it.” He explains, never being this vulnerable with anyone anymore. He used to be with Mipha back in the day, but she was gone because of something Link couldn’t stop.

“Link… courage and bravery are two different things.” Zelda states, taking a risk and placing a dainty hand on his, the touch is electric, they both feel it. “Bravery is the ability to walk into an enemy camp with a decayed weapon and two apples. Courage is the strength to keep fighting when it feels impossible to.” She explains.

Link looks at her, and he realizes how easy it would be to just lean over and kiss her. Her lips are so soft, so pink, so inviting. He glances at them a few times. He decides not to.

“I just… I just don’t want to lose you again.” He pulls his hand away, looking down at the empty plate dejectedly.

“Hey.” She pulls his gaze again, their eyes meeting once more. “You got me. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.” She reassures him, and then rests her head on his shoulder. They needed one another.

He’s worried sick about her the entire time they’re in town. He can’t quit watching her, and she’s enthralled by the stimulation of the world around her. She almost gets plowed over by a kid running through the street, and she just laughs when it happens, the brightest smile on her face.

She takes a deep breath, feeling the sun on her face. The warmth of early summertime makes her cheeks a soft pink and eyelashes flutter.

“Did you have to bring that with you?” She asks, referencing the legendary sword that was strapped to his back. “It’s safe now, remember?”

Link frowns, “You can never be too-safe.” He just nods and she shrugs.

Zelda takes a hop-like step to the bulletin board posted in town to read the notices. One read that there would be a sale on milk up at the farm the next week, another was basic town hubbub, but one stood out to her. It was written by the hands of someone who isn’t very skilled with penmanship. It was a note asking for books, probably by a child. The note asked that someone would kindly donate a few new books for this young reader, leaving them on the bench outside of the mayor's home. She smiled, this was the type of kid she was.

A completely different note catches Link’s eye.

New monster spotted north-east of town. Killed two cattle. Please be cautious.

Link hums, turning the paper over to see if there’s any more information, but that was it.

“What is it?” Zelda asks.

“A monster. I would guess it's just a Moblin, but the note says it's new.” LInk frowns, perplexed. “I’ve fought every monster in Hyrule ten times over, there are only Moblins and Bokoblins in these parts.”

“Should we be worried?” She asks, her eyes blown-wide. She’s in constant fear of having to go through anything traumatic again.

Link shrugs, “I saw a destroyed fence the other day up there, I should probably go speak with the rancher.” He shoves the note in his back pocket, “Come on, let’s get you some clothes.” He holds his arm out for her to take, something he hasn’t done in a long time. He almost pulls it away in embarrassment but she gladly takes it, smiling at him as she does.

Both of their hearts threatened to burst out of their chests, but they each calmly forced themselves to stay composed.

Link leads her into one of the clothing stores, the door ringing from a bell as they enter. The shop was small, but had plenty of things in stock. Zelda pulls away from his arm sooner than either of them would have liked to start browsing. Link follows three steps behind, where he usually was.

“Link!” A woman smiles from the back of the shop. Ivee walks towards him, cheerful. “You’ve been gone for so long! I thought I heard you were back in town.” She says before wrapping her arms around him and hugging him. Link is a little surprised by it and doesn’t really hug her back.

Link nods with a smile. “I’ll be in town for a while.” He states, being friendly but not too friendly. He and Ivee have some history.

“You? Never.” She giggled, stepping closer to him, she was a bit shorter than him, and had cute brown eyes that sparkled up at him. “You can’t stay put in one place for too long, you'll get bored!” Her body language was flirty, handsy, she thought Link was as handsome as everyone else did.

Zelda is made aware of the situation and tries to keep her cool. There’s no reason to get jealous. “Well you all better give me some work to keep myself busy.” He smiles, scratching the back of his head.

“Oh I would love to.” She sighs and Link awkwardly laughs.

Zelda steps in at that moment, “I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name.” She stands a little closer to Link than she normally does, not quite touching him, but close enough.

“Ivee.” She says to Zelda. “And who are you…”

Zelda takes a harrowing breath, “Who am I?” She asks, her tone increasingly offended, “Who am I?” She asks again laughing at Link, “Well I am the Pri-“ She starts to say and Link interrupts her grabbing her shoulder.

“This is Zelda, she’s from the west. She’ll be staying with me for a while.”

“Oh.” Ivee looks visibly hurt. She then looks at Zelda with a frown, “You know, it’s bad luck to be named Zelda. That’s what the Princess who killed herself a hundred years ago was named.” She sighs, glaring at Zelda. Her gaze softens when she returns to speaking with Link, “If you need any assistance, I’ll just be up here.” She smiles and turns around, “It’s great to have you back in town, Linky. I would love to walk up to the waterfall at Nirvata lake with you again. It was so fun last time.” She winks at him before returning back to her perch.

Links cheeks burn red.

“Rude.” Zelda mutters under her breath. “What in the name of Hylia does she mean by that?…Linky?” Zelda teases, scoffing at him. Link swallows, embarrassed.

He then signs to Zelda, ‘Ivee makes up stories’.

Zelda lifts an eyebrow, not believing it, ‘She’s not very polite’.

Link shakes his head, ‘She’s young. Times are different’. He pulls Zelda into a more secluded corner of the store, not wanting to embarrass anyone, ‘You can’t tell people you’re the Princess’.

‘Why Not?’ Zelda signs back, her expression frustrated and confused, ‘I am, aren’t I? I didn’t kill myself. Do they really believe that?’

Link nods, ‘Some people don’t even believe the Calamity happened’.

“What?” Zelda verbally exclaims.

Link holds his pointer-finger to his lips, hushing her, Conspiracy theorists or something.’ He signs, ‘besides, people won’t believe you if you tell them you’re The Princess’.

‘That’s absurd!’ Zelda angrily signs at him.

Link tries to calm her down, looking at her with his understanding eyes, ‘Until we can get the Zora to confirm for the Hylians that you are The Princess, It’s best to just lay low’.

Zelda frowns, wrapping her arms across her chest. ‘Fine’. She signs back.

Link nods, “Let’s get you some clothes.”

They leave the store with a good collection of items, some shirts and trousers, a hooded cloak, socks and a pair of boots for her. She was still wandering around in her goddess sandals. “Most ladies wear skirts these days, when you’re in town, you should too.” He explains as they walk next door to a nicer, more prestigious shop. Zelda was acutely aware that he did not offer her his arm when they left Ivee’s shop.

“So they’ve regressed?” Zelda asks, back in her day, it was becoming quite popular for women to sport trousers, even in formal situations.

“Very much, yes.” Link nods. “The calamity threw the world back, technology has been put on a complete hold, there have been little-to-no scientific breakthroughs since.” Link explains. It makes Zelda sad.

“That’s a real tragedy.” She frowns, “We were making so much progress.”

“I know.” Link says, “but now everyone just fends for themselves. If there's a famine or illness in a town, it's up to that town to solve it. There was a village in West Hyrule, before the canyon that had survived the Calamity. They were doing pretty well for the first fifty or so years. But then they had a bad plague, and were completely wiped out. There's nothing but a ruin there now.”

Zelda’s heart hurts, “It’s my fault.” She stops in her tracks. Link turns around, looking at her dejected composure. He walks back to her, taking her hand with his.

“Look at me.” He says, but she keeps her gaze set on the dirt road. Link takes his hand and gently lifts her chin to make eye-contact with him. “It’s not your fault. This is not on one person's shoulders.”

“I know but-“

“Zelda.” He stops her, “We can’t change the past. It happened. But we are both still here.” He takes both her hands now, “We survived, so let's look into the future. There’s only up from here.” He reassures her.

Zelda cracks a smile, and she desperately wants to lean in and give him a quick, gentle kiss on his lips. But she doesn’t, because she can’t guarantee he would kiss her back, and she would rather suffer in silence over her desires for him, but stay close, than jeopardize their friendship at all.

“Come on.” He leads her into the store, not letting go of one of her hands until they’re inside.

Zelda leaves with two dresses now, a soft, cotton dress that’s blue, and a white one with green and yellow details on the hem of the fabrics. “Thank you, Link.” She says as they begin their walk back home. “How do you have so much money?”

“Talus.” Link nods, not giving anymore context. Zelda shrugs, catching up with him.

They spent that evening cleaning, Link finally took care of all the junk he stored there, discarding old weapons and starting a burn pile outback to get rid of scraps and wooden bows. Zelda takes a big broom and dusts out all of the cobwebs, sweeping out piles of dirt, and taking care of the sand pile that had accumulated from his treasures found in the desert. She noticed how her heart twinged at the idea of the desert, the idea of Urbosa. She shakes the thought away, focusing on the task.

Dusk falls on them, and Zelda is wiping down the walls with an old rag while Link is sitting up in the rafters, dusting the wooden beams the roof is built on and trying to reach a bird's nest that had been built up there. He straddles a beam, shirtless, barefoot, and dusty.

As he sits up there, he peers down at the girl who kneels twenty feet below him, her long hair tied back into a bun and secured with a stick shoved through the center of it. Her feet bare and dirty, toes poking out from under her bottom as she sat on them. She couldn’t see him looking at her, couldn’t hear how his heart beat twice as fast when he thought about her, wasn’t aware of how his pupils grew at the sight of her.

She hummed, and he could hear it. Humming a song he didn’t know, but felt vaguely familiar, like he knew it in a past life. Link wondered if the past incarnations of the Goddess and the Hero ever loved each other. Surely they did, to some degree. Maybe platonic, or the type of love you have for someone you work alongside and deeply respect. He wondered if any of them ever loved each other the way he wanted to love his Zelda. Did it ever work? Had he been a king in a past life? Did their past selves ever have children? His stomach flutters at the idea of having a family with her.

She must have sensed his gaze because as soon as he begins to fantasize about Zelda having a baby with him, she looks up at him, and smiles. He’s so shocked by her sudden gaze, terrified that she could read his mind and almost loses his balance on the beam, falling his chest onto it and holding on. He smiles back and laughs. Zelda giggles at him.

“How’s the view? Up there?” She stands up and does a silly little dance around herself.

He sighs, and laughs, “the view is perfect!” He shouts down, “A little dusty.” Coughing a bit.

She asks, “Are you alright up there?”

Link smiles, “I’m better than ever.”

—

Chapter five

[ricardian-werewolf]

Take Me to War - Chapter II: Humbly beg the death upon my knee

Part I

Summary:

Cecily-Anne awakes in Ser Gwayne's tent and must come to terms with where she is in this new world. It is within it that she will come to form a new friendship and realize the depths of her grief.

TWs: Suicidial idealization, grief, child death, incest mention, abelism, mention of rape (though not committed)

Tag list: @lordbettany @fauxraven @rmelster

Cecily awoke to the clanking of chains. 

Chains, which by all accounts snaked around her wrists. Jangling them did nothing except force her to realise how tightly she was bound. In short, she was not a noblewoman kept here for her safety, but a prisoner. The thought and realisation filled her with fear. As a highborn woman, she was protected by a social code of purity - had she come through that cut wearing a serving woman’s gown, the horrors would be inconceivable. But seemingly on part of her fine dress of black velvets and wolf fur, she had been spared such horrors - for now. Raising her head, Cecily found her snood that held her hair back to have been torn off. Her braided coiffure tumbled down her shoulders. She had been tied to some sort of central tentpost and rested upon a woven rug bearing the image of a tower with green flames bursting from its roof.

Studying it, Cecily felt confusion rise in her. Not once at any point had she seen someone’s family heraldry bear such a symbol. As an avid studier of heraldry herself (Her own being the white stag of Richard II on an emerald green backing with ivy leaves at its feet). Lifting her head, she could hear the sounds of men carousing and making merry. Evidently the battle must have gone in their favour, perhaps?

As Cecily looked about once more, she noted the candles flickering in their sconces, settles upon which furs and rugs had been thrown to make a more comfortable space. A mirror and washbasin with a finely carved jug sat nearby. The mirror was a cut of fine glass backed (she assumed) in silver, and bore gold detailing. Whomever’s tent she was in was certainly wealthy. As she shuffled in a circle around the pole, Cecily noted the bed and its posters laid with yet more imagery of the same tower below her feet. She could only guess at the kind of fabric the bed-curtains were, though she assumed either satin or velvet. Cocking her head to one side once more, she heard the sound of two men arguing in what sounded like English, though it was certainly more heavily accented. A Northern twinge to it. Hope stirred in her chest, which she frantically squashed. No good Yorkshireman would ever have the daughter of the Lord of the North tied up like some common ne'er do-well. The tent flaps (made of stiffened oilcloth dyed deep green and edged in silver with goldwork thread made out to be tiny flames) parted and two men stepped in. One was more weary than the other, with dark hair and eyes. He carried a bottle of wine or spirits, which he uncorked and took a generous swig of. The other man spoke little, and as his shadow of a valet stepped into the room followed by squires of the body, Cecily watched. 

“What do we do with her, then, Ser Hightower?” The man hissed as he drank. The other - Ser Hightower, shrugged. Cecily froze as his eyes flitted to her, and she noted his age. Young, he was. Perhaps about ten-and-seven if not a year older. A knight, then? Of which order? She saw no familiar garter-belt about him or mantle-chain of office. He certainly wore spurs, yet not of gold but of burnished silver. Across his front of his chestplate was that same tower, and the name stuck.

Hightower. His name was of a noble family. Unlike Cecily-Anne who held no legal last name, she could say she was of House Plantagenet. Through both sets of her family, thanks to her parents being first cousins and ensuring a papal dispensation was needed to wed. Shaking her head silently, Cecily turned back to half-watching as the body-squires and barbers tended to this Ser Hightower.

Was he a poor knight then? No, his tent could not have been so lavishly furnished as such. Perhaps he was someone who preferred his material comforts over his godly ones. She wondered if he prayed as much as he ought to. What surprised her was no signs of crucifixes or depiction of the mother Mary or Holy Host. In fact, no priest had come to take Compline with the men or offer the Host in mass. Perhaps it was not yet Sunday. She did note however seven small figures in an alcove of the tent over which a glass image hung of a star with seven points.

“Have you no priest?” She spoke at last, coughing it out. Both men wheeled to look at her.

“W-what?” The first man asked. Cecily ignored him, holding Ser Hightower’s gaze.

“No, no Septons have been on this expedition, My lady.” 

Well at least he is not calling me a wench. Delightful. I wonder how this other man is faring, seeing as he is deep enough in his cups to call about a guard. 

“Septons?” She replied. “Of what order of clergy is a ‘Septon?’ “ Cocking her head again, Cecily sniffed. “One of the friars?”

“Nay, My lady.” Ser Hightower spoke again. “They are of our priestly order and raise poor boys to follow the faith.”

“So they do be priests.” She raised a brow. “Have you nuns?”

“Septas.” The other man coughed. “My lady.” He added after a long, cold pause. Cecily hungered to ignore such a slight, and settled herself back against the pole. “Tell me your conditions of capture, please.” She raised her head to glare at both men. 

“C-conditions of capture?” The other man murmured.

“We have no reason to view you as a prisoner, M’lady.” Ser Hightower spoke. “These ropes were to keep you from getting up and further injuring yourself.” He signalled to a squire who slashed through the ropes holding Cecily in place, and stepped back. Cecily rose to her feet unsteadily and gripped the tent-pole for support. Somehow, this did not feel right to her eyes and ears. Women such as herself in positions of little to no power when left with monstrous men, were often raped openly and if not that, brutally wounded, sold into slavery or worse evils. While she was Highborn as she had reminisced on earlier, her household did not exist in this place. She could not simply claim to be of some family either, seeing as she knew none of them.

“Leave us, Ser Cole. I have reason to speak to the lady alone.” Ser Hightower spoke to the other knight, who nodded. As he passed her, he turned his head and spat at her feet. Cecily’s hands balled into fists and she nearly moved to punch him. However, barely it seemed, she stayed her hand. 

As soon as Cole was gone - Cecily would have to watch her back - she found herself faced with Ser Hightower. The knight took a seat upon a settle piled high with furs and leaned one of his elbows on his portable writing desk. His emerald green eyes stared at her, and Cecily sat herself on a cushioned pouffe. Glancing down, she found her skirts to be torn and the velvet edging frayed.

“Once we reach King’s landing, I shall have my steward fetch you new clothes. There is a place near the port that sells very fine fabrics.” Hightower turned to his letter and Cecily shifted forward. She did not watch him per-se, but she was curious to see the writings of his hand in this foreign place. It seemed as though the people spoke English, but there was an accent to it that she had noted earlier.

“Oh..” She paused. “Thank you.” She inclined her head. Where was he going with this? She was only ten-and-five, he was ten-and-seven years. A proclamation of marriage had not been offered, at least not yet. Knights of noble households did not take strange women into their care. Perhaps he meant to replace her wardrobe before having her packed off to… a nunnery? She shuddered at the thought. Although there was none of her family left, she hoped to God that her grandmother would at least be going a little mad on her behalf.

The idea of Gran-mére Cecily tearing apart that nunnery for her brought Cecily-Anne the first relief she’d felt in days. She half expected the old woman to come charging through the tear she had stumbled through and rescue her. 

Sadly, that would not be the case. As soon as the letter had been dispatched to a place known as Oldtown, Cecily was re-shackled (for her safety according to Ser Hightower) and “gently” escorted from the tent by him to a waiting carriage on four wheels that looked nothing like any litter Cecily had ever sat in. Long, grand and consisting of no windows - which made her wonder what the blasted thing was like in summer - Cecily was put inside at once, her chains unshackled and dumped onto a soft bed of satin in that same deep green as everything else. The wood inside was dark oak with pearl inlay and heavy curtains were kept apart by splendid cords of gold.

Seated across from her was a woman, with white-blonde eyebrows and arresting violet eyes. Drenched in the same green as the curtains and bedspread, she almost seemed to disappear into the fabric. The door opened again and Ser Hightower stuck his head in. 

“Apologies, Your Grace. This is the lady I wrote to you of. Her name is…”

Cecily swore under her breath. The bastard had not asked her name!

“Cecily-Anne, Duchess of Gloucester.” Cecily rubbed her hands together. And princess royal, lady of Middleham, etc. She added silently to herself. 

“Lady Cecily-Anne.” The woman spoke, inclining her head. She had a nervous air to her, but one not unfriendly or unkind. Cecily noted her hair tucked into a heart-shaped hennin adorned with a crown of gold and emerald stones. 

“I am Queen Helaena Targaryen. Ser Gwayne; my uncle, has elected you to be my lady in waiting…. As my family believes I am no longer able to care for myself and require more proper… feminine company.” 

Her slow way of speech would have concluded to Cecily that this woman was slow or stupid, had she not been much the same. Cecily gave a gentle smile in return and inclined her head. 

“I thank you for this acceptance, your Grace.”

Reaching across the expanse of space, Helaena squeezed Cecily’s hands tight in her own and gave the other woman a beaming smile. “You are the first light of life I have felt since my son was killed. Please, call me any name you so wish.” Helaena giggled, the grief in her eyes fading a little with each passing moment. 

At that second, the wheels of the litter jerked into motion and they were off. From the patterned lattice screens surrounding the litter - or wheelhouse as Cecily learned it was called - she began to see Westeros in all of its late summer glory. Gwayne and his retinue of knights accompanied the carriage on its slow procession from the battle of Rook's Rest back towards the capital. To pass the time, Cecily found herself falling into the role of ladies maid as Véronique de Crécy had been to her mother, with ease. Helaena was an easy soul to charm and adored nothing more than kindness and attention. Her fascination with bugs and propensity to say the most hilarious things off the cuff had Cecily relaxed within moments. Cecily delighted in showing off her new gowns that were going to be sent, and listening to Helaena speak all about her children and her dragon, Dreamfyre.

“Do Targareyens really place a dragon egg in the cradle of their babies?” Cecily breathed as she and Helaena sampled a picnic lunch packed by one of the cooks. She simply couldn’t believe that dragons existed, and that the lady she was now serving had one as her steed!

“Indeed.” Helaena replied with shocked cheerfulness. “Do you not have dragons where you are from?”

“Nay, they’re just stories.” Cecily answered as she bit into a hard-boiled egg smeared with summer mustard. She examined the grapes on her platter, dark purple ones with a seductively sweet bite when chewed. “Are these not for wine?” She examined them in turn.

“Yes, but they’re my favourites. Aegon says I have a confuddled taste and concedes it is due to something happening before I was born.”

“And Aegon is…?” Cecily paused in sipping her wine.

“My brother.” Helaena responded as she smeared more preserves onto her bread slice. “And my husband.” She added as Cecily bit into her selection of preserved salted pork. Cecily coughed, half bent over as she struggled to process the words she was hearing. 

“By the saints!” She breathed. “I-is that not violation of some rule of incest your…” She paused. “My parents were first cousins, but the idea of my father marrying my aunt…” She shook her head. “How does your church not think it sinful?”

“The Seven turned a blind eye to it.” Helaena explained. “It is… strange. He is my brother and I have born him three children and lost one. Yet, I know naught else. My mother who you shall meet as soon as we reach the Red Keep married the king. Her father was the king’s right hand and she was only ten and five at the youngest!” She bit down on a pickle as she spoke and winced at the sour taste. “Eugh. Aegon says these are good for my health. I detest them.”

“May I?” Cecily asked, holding out her hand. The jar of pickles was passed to her and in reciprocity, Cecily handed Helaena the stewed plums. She hated plums with a passion and gobbled up the pickles. All of this was washed down with sweet wine sweetened with strawberry syrup. For afters were sugared violets and little balls of fried dough filled with flavoured preserves. 

It seemed like no time at all before they were back on the road and rolling over more of the dirt-packed and stone-riddled expanse of Westeros. “What reason is there for such large carriages?” Cecily asked as she watched the candle-lamp swing from side to side. A darkening sky heralded a storm with the crack of lightning. The sight of it flashing across the heavens reminded Cecily of an earlier time, another place where she had sat in her bedroom window up in the western tower of Middleham Castle. Rubbing against her arm then had been Ned, her dark haired, freckled twin. He had clutched her hand tight in his and the two of them had held their breaths. 

Their father had said that if one counted the time between the flash and bang of thunder, they could determine the location and direction of a storm. Then, there had been the waiting period and the yelps of joy both of them had let out when the proverbial bang did come. The flash of lighting across the night sky that one summer where Ned hadn’t been as sickly had made his dark eyes turn milk-white. It was as if the stars they had loved to create constellations of their own had taken her brother’s soul for a single, shining moment. 

Then those stars had faded, gone out like candles in the night. He was up there now, dancing amongst those beautiful, alien lights. Him and Maman and Papa. And Cecily was down here, stuck somewhere between Heaven and Hell. She pressed her hands to her forehead and began to weep. 

“Oh..” Helaena breathed. She had settled down for the night with her pet snake, which she now replaced in its basket and crept over to Cecily. “What is it? Did the lightning frighten you?” She asked, her voice so maternal and soft that Cecily only wept harder. Fetching a blanket from the bed, Helaena drew the material around Cecily’s shoulders and pulled it tight, then leaned against her.

“I noticed you do not like to be touched. Neither do I. I think this should help.” She explained. Cecily sniffled, and reached her hand hesitantly towards Helaena, who after a moment, gave it a bone-crushing squeeze. “My mother, father and twin brother are all dead.” She confessed in a whisper. “I was reminded of them with the lightning storm.” She hiccuped. “My father died only ‘ere this morn, and my mother went this past April. My brother went in the winter. He was only ten.” 

“You said you are ten-and-five, yes?” 

“Yes.” Cecily coughed. 

“I am truly sorry for your loss, sweet girl. W-when women like us know loss such as this at such young ages, it can be difficult to bear. My son Maelor was murdered in his cradle by assassins. I was forced to choose between him and his older brother.” She squeezed Cecily’s hand again. “I wonder often if the Seven do wish to test my faith and my love for my children with such horrors. I have wondered also why I do not go mad. You must be too.” She looked into Cecily’s eyes and the other woman recoiled in understanding.

“Y-yes.” Indeed, Cecily did wonder why she had not gone mad. Some days it felt like a good, merciful thing to do. Allowing herself to go mad would have meant her father could put her away somewhere. It would allow her a quiet death at her hands or the ones of her guard. Yet the church said to take one’s own life was sin. Did God not look upon her and Helaena and understand their pains? Was this just one test in many they were set to face?

Another flash of lightning, another boom of thunder. The door to the wheel-house opened and Gwayne poked his head in. In the low candlelight with the two women wrapped in blankets, he swore they looked like witches come to cast some spell upon him and this country.

“Your Grace.” He inclined his head. “My lady. We will be stopping for the night on account of the weather. The wheelhouse will keep you dry.” He nodded at Cecily. “If you need anything, please use the bell cord and I shall have a maid sent.”

“How big is this carriage?” Cecily asked after Gwayne had left. Helaena had turned to lighting the candles, which cast a warm golden glow over the room, and turned to face her. “It is large enough to carry us, a retinue of servants, luggage, a garde-robe and kitchens. In short, it is a moving palace.”

“Remarkable.” Cecily was amazed. “Where I hail from our wheel-houses are able to only carry perhaps one noble lady and her children. It is closed by wooden slats and drawn by horses.”

“Draft-horses?”

“Nay, we use others. At least I believe so.” Cecily replied as she rang the bell-cord. A maid came in, richly dressed and curtsied. ‘M’lady.” She had the comforting accent of a northern English woman, and Cecily started. It seemed that her homeland was seeping into this place in more ways than she expected.

“I would like to be readied for bed, please.”

“If ‘er ladyship wishes to follow ‘me, ‘ll ‘ave ‘er ready in no time.” The maid paused. “‘beggin your pardon, m’lady.” The maid curtsied. “‘Er Grace allows us to be much more open about our appearance and mannerisms as ‘he ‘mall folk.”

“Smallfolk?” Cecily inquired. “Ah. Common-people.” She surmised, and rubbed her hands together. “Well, As Her Grace’s lady in waiting, I am inclined to ‘gree.” Her voice was slipping back into its older more rough-and-tumble northern accent with the French roots and Latin pronouncements.

 It felt like home. 

Helaena gave her a warm smile, and for the first time since arriving into this strange land of dragons and politics, Cecily smiled back. No malice or pain shone in her eyes, and she found herself beginning to feel at home more than perhaps she had ever been since her brother and mother had died. 

As she crossed herself and knelt before her bed, the rosary-chain in her hand, she prayed silently to her mother once more.

Maman, Thank you for bringing me to a place as close to home as I can be. I hope that you and Ned and Papa are happy, wherever you are. She opened her eyes and glanced at Helaena who was talking to her snake. And keep a little Targaryen boy in your sights. I feel as though he and Ned would make wonderful playmates. 

Cecily crossed herself again and rose to her feet. She returned the crucifix and rosary to her pocket, then clambered into the turned down bed. She watched as the maids reached for tapers to extinguish the candles, and in the darkness, mused on one thing that had been made apparent by a mere day’s travel.

Ser Gwayne Hightower had been the lever and servant to her whims and had accepted them wholeheartedly. She had him to thank for her position. In the morn, perhaps she would ask the cook in this carriage to make him something sweet. Until then, she would sleep, and dream of boys with brown hair and freckles like stars, and somewhere out there, a mother who held her close. 

Somewhere out there also was a father who had died in a battle to keep his throne, and one who deserved to know she was at peace.

[felixcloud6288]

Dungeon Meshi Chapter 8

After the wild events involving Living Armor, we're getting something fairly normal this chapter.

This isn't an RPG. Fighting monsters doesn't give EXP to level up. It just wears you out. So it's worth avoiding any fights you can, especially against monsters you can't eat.

Throughout this chapter, I kept feeling like something was off about Marcille's appearance. Then I realized she changed her hair style. Now I don't know hair styles so I'm making a wild guess at some of these. I think the braid we can see from the front is a French Braid. She used to have two of these, but now she only has one on her right shoulder. Meanwhile, I think the braid behind her ear is called a Dutch Braid. She only has one on her left side. She also used to have a small bun above where she wrapped the rest of her hair into a ponytail, but she doesn't have that now. She also seems to discard the French braid partway through the chapter.

We've got some Senshi lore. He's been living in the dungeon long enough to have campsites on the third floor. He mentioned he hunts on the second and fourth floors. The second floor was a forest area with plants and wild game to hunt. I'm going to guess the fourth floor is that water level I mentioned seeing in chapter 2.

This is another chapter like chapter 5. We're not focusing on how to hunt and cook monsters. Instead we're focusing on how to use the mechanisms of the dungeon for cooking.

Personally, I think making your farm field into a golem is unnecessary if you have a normal above-ground field to work, but this situation is more of a "Take advantage of what you can" situation. Since the golems are made of dirt, why not try using them to grow vegetables.

Any magic researcher who would get upset about how Senshi is using the dirt golems needs to seriously broaden their horizons. Sometimes, Marcille's comments on the magic research field makes everyone in it come off as highly closed off from reality and fairly narrow-minded about the applications of magic.

Magic so far seems to be only a thing useful to adventurers. The average person probably doesn't care for magic at all because it doesn't actually benefit them in any way. Maybe if magic researchers learned about Senshi's antics, they might start to consider magic as a tool to benefit everyone.

How did Senshi put on that hat? Are the horns on his helmet removable?

Those golems attacked Senshi. So they probably don't recognize him as their master. I guess whoever actually builds the cores is the master, not whoever plants it.

It's the first instance of the legendary Senshi FLASH!!

Maybe if magical creatures were designed to do something other than attack people, it wouldn't be a crime to activate them. Marcille was willing to call Senshi out on how he's doing something illegal, but she didn't care to argue the point. And then he only reactivated the golems when she wasn't there so it's not like she actually witnessed Senshi illegally activate the golems.

This panel is annoying me. Get the water ready for what? And why do we need to plug the drain?

Did Senshi name the golems?

On that conversation about convenient vs easy. Let's look at the Merriam-Webster definitions for them.

Convenient: suited to personal comfort or to easy performance; suited to a particular situation; affording accommodation or advantage

Easy: causing or involving little difficulty or discomfort; requiring or indicating little effort, thought, or reflection

So I guess I could sum easy as "Not hard" while convenient is "helpful".

The golems being around is convenient because it gives Senshi an option to grow vegetables he otherwise wouldn't have. He doesn't need the golems, but it's convenient to have them since it lets him do things he otherwise couldn't.

Meanwhile, he thinks using magic for everything is easy because it doesn't take physical effort to cast a fire spell compared to actually starting a fire by hand.

His comparison is that its easier to buy vegetables from the store because you don't have to endure the work that's needed to actually grow the vegetables. Granted, I don't know how much work actually goes into learning magic or casting it so it could be possible he's ignoring the effort that goes into actually casting a fire spell.

I get where Senshi is coming from to a degree. We live in a world where technology makes things very easy for us and we tend to neglect useful skills because of that. Some people aren't competent with basic math because using a calculator is easier. And we have map applications on our phones to help guide us, but most of us probably couldn't read a map if we had to.

I get the feeling that Senshi does not plan on staying with the party beyond this adventure. Marcille's magic would be highly convenient for him but he wants to make sure he has and keeps the skills necessary to work without them.

I'd argue that Marcille is the true protagonist of this story. She's the only member of the team who is not ready for the difficult life the party is living. I don't know yet why she chose to be an adventurer, but I feel like she was enamored by the romance of adventure you'd read about in a story.

Her initial hostility to eating monsters included a shot of her reading the paper and calling people eating monsters fools. And she thinks eating monsters is what criminals with no other options do. If it were up to her, she'd get a meal at the tavern and stock up on travel rations instead of doing all this.

She's still insecure about her utility to the party. And Senshi pointing out how she's doing things because they're easy rather than convenient is getting to her a bit. She's good at magic, yes. And her magic can definitely help everyone out. But she doesn't actually have any practical skills that can help out on a regular adventure outside of fighting. And if she should ever not be able to cast magic, she won't be able to do anything on her own.

Marcille's face tells me we're better off not knowing what that last bit of a golem is. I'm gonna guess some sort of blood magic is involved.

The chapter ends on a nice note about the ecology of the dungeon. Everything plays a role in the environmental balance and over-hunting will disrupt that balance. It explains why he got on Marcille's case in chapter 2 when she planned on killing the whole field of man-eating plants. Destroying them would negatively impact whatever eats them and allow whatever the plants to feed on to grow out of control.

Despite what some people would argue, humans are part of nature as well and we have the power to help keep the environment stable. Senshi's closing remarks on the golems gives an example about how people in this world have helped keep the dungeon environment stable even if by accident.

The golems don't just serve as a hindrance to adventurers trying to get to the lower levels of the dungeon. They also serve as a hindrance to monsters trying to get to the upper levels of the dungeon. They are an artificial creation, but nature adapted around them and they have become a cornerstone creature in how the dungeon environment lives and thrives.

And Senshi himself has chosen to become part of the dungeon environment as well.

back

[deathmetalunicorn1]

Good evening, if possible, I have a request for Hades, Poseidon and Thor (each separately). With a wife he always wears her long hair in a braid.

What would be the reaction of each god upon witnessing how his beloved woman's throat was nearly slit?

This is the context, they were both having a nice walk when Göll saw y/n and they were talking calmly, having her husband watching from a little distance so as not to bother the little valkyrie.

And let's say that for some reason they were distracted one second and the next they saw his wife throw herself to the ground, covering the Valkyrie and saving both of them from being sliced by an object or cutting attack at high speed.

And then... in front of y/n and Göll lands a large piece of braided hair belonging to the older woman, something like:

Göll: I'm so sorry miss y/n! For saving me her pretty hair ended up in pieces!

y/n: little sparrow, it's just hair, it could have been my neck, but it would still have been worth the risk to save you.

Well whoever caused the attack did it by accident... but I guess the husband wouldn't say the same. And surely Aphrodite will want to rip off the ears of the guy who destroyed the hair of her favorite client at her beauty salon.

(well I'm leaving... it was a pleasure to send this, you can add another deity if you want, this idea is all yours)

-Y/N, a goddess of beauty and elegance, known for her long flowing hair, that was always kept in the most intricate braids adorned with fresh flowers.

-Undone, your hair was more than eight feet long, which was quite long, compared to your petite, 5’2 body.

-Your husband adored your long hair, finding it soothing to help you brush out your hair after a long day, much like stroking a cat, it was simple but soothing.

-You had been walking with your darling husband, enjoying the nice weather before the rainy season was going to start, when you heard out a cheerful voice calling out your name and the two of your turned to see Goll, the youngest valkyrie, running towards you.

-You greeted her warmly and your husband gave her at least a nod before he stepped away, to give the two of you a bit of privacy as Goll asked for your advice, woman to woman, which you were happy to provide.

-You spoke for a few minutes, giggling with each other before a loud snapping sound was heard before a voice shouted out, “Look out!!”

-Before Goll could even blink, you had her in your arms, tackling her to the ground, landing hard, but she was unharmed.

-You both quickly sat up and Goll shouts out, “You’re bleeding!” you lift a hand to your cheek, wincing as you felt a cut, one that was bleeding before Goll gasped, eyes wide and you look over to see the majority of your braid laying nearby, sliced clean from your head.

-Hades- Hades, seeing you go down, protecting Goll, seeing your hair falling to the ground, unattached. He froze, seeing this before he felt his rage swell, seeing your bleeding cheek. He immediately was by your side, “Y/N!” your free hand, as the other was holding your bleeding cheek, gripped his arm as he looked at your face, “I’m fine, I’m okay!” you could sense your husband’s anger who instantly turned on the pair of younger gods who had been playing with a bow while Goll was crying, “I’m sorry! Your pretty hair!!” you couldn’t help but smile, rubbing her tears away, “It’s just hair Goll, it’ll grow back. I’m just glad you’re not hurt.” The two gods had sprinted over, seeing that you had gotten hurt before seeing Hades there, realizing who you were and they were both quickly crying, begging for forgiveness. Hades was glaring down at them as Goll helped you stand and she grabbed your braid; your hand met your husband’s arm, “Dear, it was an accident. Please don’t be too harsh on them.” The two gods looked at you as if you were a saint and he inhaled deeply, his eyes closing before he told them to get out of his sight. He turned to you before turning to Goll, “Take us to the med-bay.” She quickly nodded and led the way to get your cheek looked at. You had to stroke the back of his hand with your thumb the whole way, to calm him down, smiling up at him.

-Poseidon- He instantly had the two young gods who had been playing with a bow on their knees before him, like he was going to execute them, once he saw you go down. He didn’t see your injury right away, all he saw was you leaping in front of the child to protect her, which you wouldn’t have needed to do, if these two hadn’t been playing around with weapons. When he heard Goll shout out that you were bleeding, he turned in what felt like slow motion, his eyes instantly widening, seeing your beautiful braid laying nearby, and you holding a bleeding cut on your cheek. He felt so hot, like he was about to burst into flames, he was going to turn back to the two gods before he saw you comforting Goll, brushing her tears away, “My hair will grow back Goll, it was a small price to pay to keep you safe. And I know the valkyries will help with this cut.” Goll helped you stand and you turned to your husband, a soft look in your eye, he was froze in place, he felt like he wanted to give these two idiots behind him even worse. His eyes were locked on your hand that was dripping blood, and you could see the anger, but your other hand came to his cheek, cupping it and pulling him out of his shock, “My love, it was an accident. I think you’ve scared them enough. Will you escort me and Goll to the med-bay?” he turned and glanced at the gods, giving them a glare that made them nearly leap out of their skin, before he growled out, “Get out of my sight.” He picked you up princess style, surprising you and Goll picked up your braid and led the two of you off.

-Thor- His hand was on your cheek before you could blink, cupping your face carefully, seeing the cut and the blood, his face stoic but his eyes full of worry. You were quick to cup one of his cheeks and one of Goll’s, working on calming them both down, “I’m okay- I’m okay, deep breaths.” They should have been the ones calming you down, but you were shushing Goll as she was crying, “It’s just hair Goll, it will grow back.” Thor stroked the back of your neck, just above where your hair had been sliced off. The two young gods quickly ran over, bowing deeply and begging for forgiveness. I could feel the pressure around Thor, as he was furious as they explained they were trying to use a bow that required more strength than what they had and underestimated it. I shocked everyone by smiling at them, “It was an accident, so I’m not upset. Take your time with your training so something like this doesn’t happen again.” Thor was glaring darkly at them, but did nothing as you forgave them and they ran off, not wanting to enrage Thor anymore than they had. Thor swept you into his arms after you stood, your knees a bit shaky and Goll grabbed the braid, “Follow me, I’ll take you to the med-bay.” He nodded, squeezing you to him, slowly calming down, feeling you safe and sound in his arms.

-Aphrodite- While you were fine to lose your hair, the shriek that left Aphrodite and the other ladies of her beauty salon could be heard at even the furthest pantheons. You held the braid over your arm, bandage over your cheek, your hair uneven where it had been cut, and your pissed off husband behind you. Aphrodite was quick to fall back onto her chase lounge, fanning herself as she demanded to know what happened while you were ushered to a chair so you could get immediate help. You couldn’t help but hide your smile behind your hand, seeing them mourning over your gorgeous hair while your new cut was evened out. Your husband did like your new haircut when you came out of the salon about an hour later, most of your time spent consoling Aphrodite. You gave a little twirl, rubbing your neck, “It’s so light now~ I kind of like it! But I want my long hair back soon, I like it when you play with my hair.” Your husband just chuckled, bending to peck your uninjured cheek, a small smile on his lips.

[lisasmind]

Why Apple Cider by Beabadoobee is a hiccstrid anthem!!

Pre-dating hiccstrid specifically.

So essentially the song is about having a crush and wanting to give the relationship a try.

The way i view it, first verse is astrid and second verse is hiccup.

now let's break down the lyrics:

"We both like apple cider

But your hair be smelling like fruit punch

And I don't even like you that much

Wait, I do, fuck"

The first verse is rather short (literally two lines) but like this is so Astrid.

Bea, the singer, is pointing out their differences and then later realizing she actually has a crush on this person.

Not really gonna add anything more to this cause it's pretty straight forward.

(side note: this is making me realize we never had a proper moment where astrid realized she has a crush on hiccup. I mean I guess you can count the first movie when she kissed him on the cheek, but whatever. ITS FINE ITS FINE).

Skipping the chorus cause it's basically just "let's get together and see how this goes."

NOW! This is where the REAL dots connect!

It's actually crazy how on the nose verse two is like wow.

anyway let's break this down:

"You said you liked my hair

So go ahead and touch it"

Now this is Hiccup. As we all know, Astrid likes to make little braids on Hiccup's hair.

also WE WERE ROBBED!!! Hiccup has had those braids since RTTE! The only person in this entire franchise who makes those braids IS ASTRID! And it wasn't Hiccup cause he apparently doesn't like them but keeps them on anyway cause ASTRID MADE THEM (I don't remember the source of where this came from but trust, it exists!)

I wanted to see a moment so bad of astrid asking to braid his hair for the first time or at least a little mention. That would've been so cute.

But ANYWAY sorry I got off track. These lines are Hiccup talking about how Astrid likes his hair and is giving her permission to touch it.

"You said you liked the jumper I wore

So I always wore it"

This wasn't really confirmed by anyone who worked on the franchise (at least to my knowledge) but it was more of a little gag in the fandom back when dawn of the dragon racers and rtte were released.

In dotdr, Astrid made a comment about red being Hiccup's color only for her to reveal she was actually talking to toothless.

(just wanted to add this photo cause of his little pout HICCUP NOOO 😭)

Nonetheless, Hiccup still went on to change his wardrobe from green to red and the fandom's little gag was that Hiccup started wearing red cause of Astrid.

Again, ITS NOT OFFICIALLY CONFIRMED, it's just funny.

Hiccup wasn't wearing red yet but yk it still matches the lyrics. "You said you like this color on me so I always wore it"

The rest of the song speaks for itself with having lyrics like:

"It's really nice to talk to you

It's really nice to hold your hand"

"And even if we're just friends

We could be more than that"

They both enjoy each other's company and even though they're just friends, they both have feelings for each other and want to be in a romantic relationship with the other.

besides the lyrics matching up to their relationship, the song itself is really cute! it was really popular on tik tok and the editing community so I hope it isn't too overplayed for y'all.

Just a cute, fun, energetic song about having a crush.

I actually told my friends a while back that I am going to make it my mission to have apple cider be hiccstrid's song so I really hope this post helped y'all see what I see 🥹

[saintsir4n]

2

WARNINGS: MENTIONS OF MATURE CONTENT AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE

"CALI and I have always been friends. Her mum knew mine through modelling, then our dads realized they had a passion for shooting pheasants and watering plants." Felix relayed everything to his new friend Oliver. After the night at the Kings Arms, they had gotten close, extremely close. Oliver practically clung to his shadow. "People think she's this outgoing person, she is, but she's very kind, sometimes too much but she doesn't let it show."

"Is she scared of letting people in?" Oliver awkwardly shifted in his chair, surveying Felix's excitement whenever he talked about Calypso.

Felix shrugged, "Isn't everyone?"

"Not you," Felix chuckled at his retort. "But are you really friends? You act very close, India and Annabel shoot daggers at her whenever she walks into a room."

"They're possessive. But I don't really date."

"Wouldn't have guessed that. But you and Cali —" Felix's briefly hardening face made Oliver realize how true Farleigh's statement about her was. "Calypso," he corrected, "do you like her?"

"How could you not, look at her."

His tone was so enthusiastic, it was almost like she was in the room.

"I would but you'd have my eyes if I did for too long," Oliver joked, putting a warm smile on Felix's face.

After taking a long drag Felix replied, "She's not mine."

"But you want her to be?" Oliver subtly leaned in.

"Do I want to fuck her?" Felix laughed.

"Do you want to love her?" Oliver gingerly asked.

Felix already started, from when he noticed the scent of the shower gel she used to when she changed it to mango, he could've sworn that was his favoured flavour. The times her hair curls grew tighter with water and dripped with oil that her scalp absorbed. The giggle she let out at the show she was watching, Sex and the City, had a special place in her heart which Felix was forced to watch. All the instances she pushed up her glasses when they slid down her nose, pulled up her jeans that hung around her curves and flipped through pages of books she ranted to him about drew him closer, like Icarcus to the sea that caught him in the end.

Felix loved Calypso, possessively so.

___

Calypso danced like she and the music were one, the beat didn't move her, she controlled it, pulling at the drums, swaying to the symphonies and lip-syncing to the lyrics, putting on a show for all to see.

The strobe lights jumped around the room as she nodded her head, gossiping in the corner with Farleigh as he stared ahead, narrowing his eyes at how Felix catered to Oliver, shielding him from the cold eyes of their upperclassmen.

It was pathetic to him, seeing someone leach off his family.

"Come on Farls, dance with me," Calypso pulled him from the side, careful that his party hats didn't drop and twirled around him.

"Nice to see you in your fuck me pumps."

"They feel great," she teased, making him genuinely laugh as they pranced around, "It's never over, all my blood for the sweetness of her laughter."

Farleigh dropped his dismay as he danced with the girl, "it's never over," they belted out the nineties hit.

"She's the tear that hangs inside my soul forever!" Calypso's eyes scanned the room, landing on Felix when she finished the lyric.

He had been staring the whole time, beaming at her until his attention was stolen again. Oliver whispered in his ear and suddenly his eyes were on him and so she decided to stroll over, leaving Farleigh to the bodies who surrounded him.

Her braided hair was decorated with golden Jewelry, the first thing that Oliver caught when she appeared in front of them.

"What are you two nonses yapping about?"

"You," Felix shamelessly admitted, wearing a police hat.

He put zero thought into his costume, unlike Calypso, who was dressed like a cowgirl, donning boots that touched her knees, thrilly brown shorts that left little to the imagination, just like her shirt that exposed her midriff and chest. Her hat and whip were lost the moment she started drinking, not that she minded.

Felix's heated gaze drifted to her necklace that she sported every single day.

She squatted in front of them, leaning against Felix's stretched legs, fueling his lust, making him pluck off his hat and place it on his lap.

Calypso instantly smirked.

"You did something to your hair," Oliver snapped out of the trance and pointed out.

"Well, at least someone noticed," Calypso jabbed, playfully glaring up at Felix who pouted.

"I told you that this morning Cali," he said, sitting up slightly.

"But not this hour. Anyway, I'll soon be off to find MJ. Let's hope she isn't getting molested by your freaky friends."

Felix scrunched up his face, "She doesn't swing that way."

"She does and if she didn't it wouldn't stop them," she pointed out, expanding her hand on his leg, drawing a sigh from him.

"You told me she was shagging Colton," he said breathily.

"No, it was Cade, apparently they met last month when the twins dropped by. But Caspian the little git fell in love."

Oliver interrupted them, "Do we go to school with them?"

Their moments made his palms sweat, he often didn't know where to look, so he shared his focus between them.

Calypso snorted, "Fuck no. I mean that in the most loving way. They're my brothers. All complete dopes."

"Three brothers?" Oliver questioned, intrigued.

"Six," the friends corrected, stunning the boy. Calypso further added, "All beginning with C, just like me. Do you have any siblings?"

Oliver quickly replied, "No."

"Lucky you. Cherish that gift. Promise me," Calypso jutted her bottom lip.

Felix slyly smirked, shooting a glance at meek Oliver.

Calypso knew her impact on people, especially men, it was overwhelming, sickly to unexpected victims but alluring and interesting to the right ones.

"I promise." Oliver nodded quickly, as her gaze returned to Felix.

"Annabel clearly wants you," she stated, drawing him to clench his jaw. "She's in need of a quick shag."

Oliver, who was shocked at how the pair were acting as if they didn't need the other, was quick to pawn him off to her competitors. Or he came to learn she wasn't in the running. She had already won.

Felix sarcastically smiled and gently pushed her off, letting her take her place on the sofa next to Oliver.

The two now watched him save Annabel from Jake on the opposite couch, smacking her arse on the way out.

"Well, what the fuck, mate? I've been chirsping her for about an hour. I wanted at least a handjob," Jake exclaimed, groaning into his hands.

Harry scoffed, "I know. We all want a fucking handjob, mate. Get yourself a title and a massive fuck off castle."

Oliver didn't expect to see a smirk on Calypso's face, that met her sanguine eyes.

"Are you – you're not mad?"

He didn't understand and grew more uneasy when she faced him, crossing her legs, causing his stare to drop to them.

"Because I know he fucks them to the thought of me," she revealed, finding pleasure in the whole ordeal.

"And that's something you like?"  he leaned closer, breathing in her mango scent, momentarily closing his big blue eyes, making her chuckle.

Calypso innocently told him, "Well... I do the same thing."

She laughed at his comically large gaze and quite frankly Oliver didn't know what to do.

"With them?" he squeaked.

"Why not? The pool for good shags around here is like a pond," Calypso gestured to their fellow students who she wasn't attracted to in the slightest. She then smacked a kiss to his cheek, staining the flushed skin as she rose from the couch, "Good night Oliver and make sure to tell Felix that for loyalty points, I know you need them."

She didn't spare him a glance when she strutted away, immediately being welcomed into Farleigh's circle who were dancing to Madonna's Vogue as Monika screamed her name.

"Cal!"

"Coming MJ!"

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

a/n:

what do you think? keep commenting, i wanna know people's theories about the story.

https://pin.it/6CRef3fSp (vaguely how i imagine her costume) https://pin.it/3MHHGdJBm (how i imagine her hair for the night)

[saph-writes]

A Crumpled Red String Laced Around Our Throats - Chapter 4

ao3 link:

Words: 6755

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6

Age: 13

“I’ve never seen you with your hair down.”

“Hm?” 

Chigiri looked up. The two were in the clearing like always, with Chigiri sat on the tree stump and Kunigami laid down on the grass right next to him. This time, though, Chigiri had a bag of sweets with him that he was eating by himself, despite his insistence for Kunigami to try some. 

Kunigami had been watching the clouds drift in the morning sky when he peeked over to Chigiri and noticed that the left side was not braided like usual. 

Not only that, but Chigiri was not wearing any fancy clothes. He wore a modest blouse and pants that nearly covered his feet. 

Chigiri brushed his hands through his hair. 

“I forgot to style it this morning.” Chigiri sighed loudly and collapsed on the stump. 

“It’s such a pain. The servants always have to barge in and do it for me even though I like doing it myself! They got so upset when they found out that I knew how to.”

“They didn’t teach you?” Kunigami asked. 

“No, I picked it up from watching the servant kids. They don’t like me interacting with them, but that doesn’t mean I can’t watch them. I saw the girls doing weird things with their hair so I decided to learn it too. Then I realized it is what the servants always did for me, so I was happy I could do it on my own. But they got upset and asked where I learned it. Not that I told them, obviously.” Chigiri picked up a strand of his hair and raised it against the sunlight. He stared at it quietly.

“I’m just sick of everyone doing stuff for me.” 

Kunigami squirmed at the sudden unease in the air, so he sat up. He paused but ultimately opened his mouth. “But-”

“Maybe that’s why I get so jealous of you, Kunigami. You can do whatever you want and everything for yourself. No servants, no guards, no annoying sister…” Chigiri said. “It sounds nice.”

A tightness enveloped around Kunigami’s chest. He tightened his hands into a fist, suddenly feeling sweaty. The chirping of birds sung into the sky. Its voice raised itself high into the hair. Kunigami opened his mouth and closed it, then watched the ants scurry across the dirt beneath him. 

“Kunigami?”

“Huh?”

“Are you okay? You weren’t saying anything…”

“Oh! I’m fine…” 

Chigiri stared at him for a bit. Then, he smiled and faced back up at the sky. 

That’s right, I worry him, Kunigami thought. He looked up and saw a leaf entangled in Chigiri’s hair. Before he knew what he was doing, Kunigami reached up and removed it. Chigiri didn’t say anything; he just hummed peacefully. 

His hair is so soft. Kunigami’s hand lingered as he spun a cluster of hair between his fingers. But when he looked up, he saw Chigiri looking at him. Kunigami got startled and mumbled an apology. 

Chigiri shook his head. “I like to play with it too.” He stopped for a moment as his face took on a thoughtful expression. “Do you want to help me braid it?”

“Huh-?”

“Since I forgot and I need to get it done before later today. I like doing it, but it’s hard when I can’t look at a mirror to do it myself.” 

“I don’t think I shou-”

“Oh, come on! Just this one time! Please?” 

Unfortunately for Kunigami, he was not immune to Chigiri’s pleas. He looked to where he was holding the chunk of Chigiri’s hair and stood up. He stood behind him and hovered his hands over the back of his head. However, before Chigiri could move to show him how to braid, Kunigami had already started interweaving the pieces of hair together. Chigiri blinked.

“You know how to?”

“Hm?”

“The braid.” 

Kunigami looked down where his hands were just moving a second ago. “Oh, I guess I do…”

“Haha, what kind of answer is that?” Chigiri laughed. He grew quiet after that and tilted his head back slightly, just enough so that it did not bother Kunigami. “Who taught you?”

Tension prickled Kunigami’s skin. He continued braiding Chigiri’s hair to try to distract himself from it. 

“My sisters.”

“Oh…Really? You have sisters too? Older or younger?”

“One’s older and one’s younger.”

“That sounds nice. What were they like?” Chigiri asked softly.

“They were…fun. They taught me a lot of things and I played with them a lot. We used to run around the forest while our parents yelled at us.”

“Hehe, that makes sense. So they taught you how to braid?”

“Yeah… a lot of the girls in our neighborhood did it, but some of the younger ones struggled. I wanted to help them, so my older sister showed me how.

“Of course you did.”

“But not everyone agreed. The older boys made fun of me for braiding my sister’s hair. They made fun of me for other things too. How I talked, how I walked… It was always a group of the same boys. They hit me sometimes too. But I didn’t do anything because my parents told me to not hit others.”

“So you let them hit you?”

“Yeah, until my older sister found out. She found them beating me up one time and confronted them. She yelled and stood in front of me, even though they were much stronger than her. But she didn’t want to see me hurt. She protected me…and asked me why I let them do that… She got angry and told me to not let myself get hurt. That I am important enough to not let others treat me however they like…”

Kunigami stopped braiding his hair as his vision started to get blurry. He wiped his eyes and realized they were tears. Thick tears engulfing his eyes and streaking down his cheeks.

“That was just a day before…” His voice caught in his throat. 

Chigiri didn’t say anything. Instead, Kunigami stayed silent behind him while Chigiri stared at the grass in front of them. Unsure of how to respond but unable to stand by without doing anything, he raised his hand up to where Kunigami was still holding his hair. He grabbed his hand and leaned against it. His hand was hot against his. 

“I’m sure your family misses you too,” he finally mumbled. From behind him, he finally heard Kunigami’s tears plopping on the grass. 

~

Chigiri ended up returning back to the castle just a few hours after Kunigami braided his hair. But before he left, Chigiri had told him to return back to the clearing just before sundown. Kunigami asked why but didn’t get an answer. Instead, Chigiri responded with a cheeky grin and a finger raised in front of his mouth.

“Just come. And don’t tell anyone.”

Not that Kunigami would have anyone to tell in the first place. 

As he waited for the sun to lower itself closer to the horizon, he sat in the clearing of his and Tei’s. In his hands, he played with the ball given to him by Chigiri after he finally won one of their games. It was a dark brown but the pink outline from his spell was still faintly present whenever he touched it. 

It made Kunigami smile. As if Chigiri’s presence was constantly with him. 

When sundown finally hit, Kunigami arrived at the clearing of their meeting. To his surprise, Chigiri was not there, despite his own insistence to be there on time. But as he sat down to wait for him, Chigiri came bursting from the forest line, sweaty and out of breath. 

“You ran all the way over here?” Kunigami asked.

“Yeah…that dumb head guard…Sir Ladum or Laton or whatever the hell…kept pestering… and…” Chigiri said, bent over between gasps for air. He stood up straight and rubbed his face with his hands. “But I didn’t want to make you wait so I ran as fast as I could.” 

I wouldn’t have minded waiting…, Kunigami thought to himself, but he decided to keep his mouth shut. 

Chigiri raised his arms up and clapped his hands. 

“So! Now that we’re here, let’s get going.”

“To where?”

“It’s a secret.”

“I’m not really fond of secrets…”

“Well, that’s too bad, but if you follow me, then you will see what it is~”

“Sure…”

“By the way, what town did you live in?”

“Diventu, why?”

“...”

As the two walked in Chigiri’s silence, the realization hit Kunigami hard in his stomach. 

“We’re not…”

Kunigami looked up and saw Chigiri crossing over a line of thorny bushes. Dread settled as a bitter taste in his mouth. Kunigami stopped just before it. 

“Chigiri…”

“Hm?”

“We’re not… going there, are we?”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

“I don’t- I didn’t agree to this…”

Chigiri stopped and turned around. Kunigami could feel his stare on his pale face. “I want us to go see your family,” he finally said.

“N-No!”

“Why not?”

“Because…” Kunigami looked down. It was like he could feel the world’s weight on his shoulders. “Because they would not want to see me…”

“They’re not going to. We’re just going to see them from a distance. It’s not like we’re going to go up to them or anything.”

“But what if they catch us-?”

“I’ll put an invisibility spell over the two of us. I’ve saved up my energy all day so it should be able to last us the night.” Chigiri looked down at the floor. “Besides, there is no reason why they wouldn’t be happy to see you.”

“..Yes, there is.”

“Which is?”

Kunigami didn’t say anything. He veered his gaze away from Chigiri. Chigiri tightened his fist and spoke in a low voice. “I don’t want this to be a burden on you. That you constantly think your family hates you when you’re not even sure.” He looked up at Kunigami and how his body was slightly trembling. 

Seeing it made his heart ache.

“But I understand if you don’t want to. For what it’s worth, I think this will be good for you. But if you don’t want to, we can head back now, okay?”

Kunigami looked up and noticed how Chigiri’s brows were scrunched up together as he stared at the ground. Like there was an unspoken “I’m sorry” left hanging in the air. In all honesty, Kunigami’s family served as a trauma to him now, a reminder of the life he lost. But when he’d go to sleep at night, he’d dream of them again, of him playing with his sisters and his mother and father hugging him tight. 

Living was hell for him. But these dreams kept him moving. He didn’t know what to do with himself if he lost that as well, if he came face to face with the reality that he was nothing more than a trauma to them as well. A trauma they would rather forget. 

“What if they’re happier now… now that I’m not there…” Kunigami whispered. He spoke it calmly, but the world drew away from him at those words. It still felt like a nightmare he didn’t believe was real. 

“Then they’re pretty bad people,” Chigiri said. “But at least that unknown won’t haunt you anymore. We’ll figure out what to do together.” He held his hand out towards Kunigami. Behind him, the moon peeked over the top of the forest, and had started to shine its moonlight on the ground, and the bushes that separated the two of them. 

Kunigami hesitated and finally raised his hand up. 

The thought of seeing his family scared him. It frightened him to no end. But even if it all comes crumbling down, he’ll still be feeling the warmth of Chigiri’s hand.

He jumped over the line of thorny bushes. Chigiri smiled and squeezed his hand. 

“Are you sure?”

“...If you’re there, I think it’ll be okay.”

“Okay. But if you want to stop, we’ll stop. I’d never want to do anything that upsets you,” Chigiri said. His words were nothing but sincere. Kunigami nodded, and the two began walking. 

“So, where is Diventu?”

“...Huh?”

“Well, I’ve never left the castle, so I don’t know where most of the towns are. That’s why I thought I’d have you lead the way.”

“Oh I don’t… know the path either..” 

“What?!”

However, It didn’t take long for the two to realize that neither of them knew the direction of the town. 

The two eventually agreed to keep walking until they found a nearby town, then Chigiri would disguise himself to ask around for directions. Kunigami worried about being caught, but Chigiri assured him that it’ll be fine since he’ll cast an invisibility spell on him. 

“But wouldn’t that take too much energy to have both spells active at the same time?”

“Not really. Besides, I’ve been practicing a whole lot, so nothing should be a challenge for me.” 

“Uh-huh…”

The two aimed to return by the end of the night but in case they didn’t, Chigiri said that he told his sister to cover for him.

“Wow. And your sister didn’t ask any questions?”

“No she did, I just ignored her.”

“...I’m starting to think this was a lot less planned out than I thought it was…”

As they traveled through the forest, Kunigami noticed the subtle shifts of the landscape. The clusters of trees became sparse and the tall grass became shorter until it was hardly there at all. But most importantly, he noticed X’s on the tree trunks, something he had never seen before. Occasionally, he’ll pass by one with an arrow hit in the middle, and he’ll avert his gaze quickly while clutching the side of his torso. 

Kunigami also noticed the lack of animal sounds along the way. 

Eventually they stumbled upon a dirt path. An arrow was engraved on it pointing ahead. Chigiri, excited to have finally found a hint, tugged Kunigami along as he tried to run forward. However, Kunigami held him back, warning him that they have to be careful. 

“If the path here leads to a town, then we are close to it. They’ll see us if we run. Maybe you should cast that invisibility spell-”

“It’s fine! You can’t even hear anything, so we’re still far away.”

“But if they catch us…” 

“You worry too much, let’s go!” 

Kunigami sighed but allowed himself to be tugged along anyways. Luckily they didn’t run for very long as they quickly became tired, but during that time Kunigami was able to convince Chigiri to cast the invisibility spell. As he did, he grabbed Kunigami's hand.

“That way you can still see me.” 

And he did so just in time because after walking for just a few moments afterwards, they started to hear the sounds of life on the other side of the forest line. The smell of food and smoke drenched the air and laughter rang out. The steps of people walking tapped the ground. 

To Kunigami, it felt all too familiar. 

“Finally, we made it,” Chigiri exclaimed. “Okay, I’ll quickly go in to ask for instructions, then after we can…Kunigami?”

“Huh?”

“You look like you just saw a ghost. Are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine..”

“Okay… how about let’s just watch from the side for now? Maybe we’ll get lucky and there will be a map around here or something.” 

They walked closer to the town until they were right at the forest line, looking out from the space between two houses. The houses were tall and made of wood. Polished wood at that. Kunigami had only ever seen those in the rich neighborhoods of his hometown. 

As they walked around the edge, they eventually found the town’s center. Crowds of townspeople were gathered together, each holding a candle in their hands. Lights decorated the space and food vendors were lined up on the side. Kids ran around, chasing each other between people’s legs. A few couples cuddled up against each other. Every person was dressed in fancy clothes, like those that Kunigami saw Chigiri wear. 

“I forgot it was time already.”

“What time?”

“The Soul hour.” He pointed up at the moon, where it was placed directly overhead them. 

Kunigami vaguely remembered the tradition. Every town had it. Every single night, at the same hour, everyone in the town who was going to turn 18 gathered in the same spot. They awaited the moment the moon would move to the center of the sky. The moment their soulmate would be revealed. 

Kunigami had only attended a few times, for friends of his family. He remembered eating the good food that they gave out for free and playing with his sisters around the water fountain until his mother scolded them. He had watched the people turning 18 gain their soulmate, and excitedly awaited for when his moment would come. However, they suddenly stopped going one year and ever since then, it was a memory that he knew was there but could never recall fully. He had forgotten it completely since then. 

“It’s starting.”

Chigiri was right. The movement of the townspeople suddenly stopped. In unison, they all looked up at the sky and held the candles close to their hearts. Murmurs of prayers whispered settled in the air. Kunigami stepped a bit closer as he saw the first glimpses of a soulmark’s glow. Then several more followed. 

In a heartbeat, all of the candles were blown out, as well as the lights hung up. The only thing lighting up the area was the moon and the soulmarks glowing in the dark. 

Kunigami looked at Chigiri next to him. While Kunigami had watched the spectacle in awe, Chigiri had little to no impression. In fact, he watched the display with his eyebrows wrinkled together, and his mouth incredibly small. 

If he noticed Kunigami’s gaze on him, then Chigiri paid it no mind. 

Among the townspeople, cheers erupted. People yelled over each other, moving and running around to search for others with the same mark as theirs. When they did, excitement appeared on their faces and the people around them celebrated as the soulmates embraced each other. 

Happiness flared like fire in the air. Not only for the soulmates finding each other, but for the kids excitedly imagining for when their own day will come. 

Kunigami wondered what would have happened if he didn’t get lost in the forest. If he had lived like a normal boy. Maybe he would have also felt that same excitement. That same hope that his future held someone who was connected to him by soul and would love him unconditionally. That maybe he wouldn’t be alone forever. 

At that thought, Kunigami looked back at Chigiri and at their hands interlaced together. Even this is just temporary-

“Come on, let’s find another place.” Chigiri clicked his tongue and turned away. “They don’t look like they'll listen to anyone right now.”

Kunigami looked at the town center once again and nodded absent-mindedly. “Sure..”

Compared to the town center, everywhere else was fairly quiet. The paths looked empty except for the occasional pair of soulmates walking by, hand in hand. As Kunigami allowed himself to be tugged along, he noticed the lack of soldiers in the area. Unlike his hometown, there was not one stationed at every intersection. However, as if right on cue, he spotted a lone soldier smoking while leaning against a transportation station. 

While Kunigami moved further away, Chigiri went closer to it. 

“Look, a guard. He probably knows the way.”

“I don’t think we should talk to him..”

“But it is the best chance we got. Look, just wait here for me and I’ll be right back.”

“Chigiri-!” Kunigami loudly whispered but it was too late. 

Before he could grab him, Chigiri had let go of his hand and covered himself in a spell. His long pink hair was cut short and turned brown. His height rose significantly. His clothes shifted from bedtime clothes to the same fancy clothes the townspeople were wearing. He wore a bright smile on his face.

“Hello, mister! Awfully nice night we are having, are we not?”

Despite Kunigami’s fear and anxiety, he couldn’t help but hold in a giggle at Chigiri’s impression of an adult man. Even with his appearance, he still spoke like a kid. The soldier seemingly had the same impression because he looked up and down at Chigiri’s disguise. He blew out the smoke from his pipe and set it next to him. 

“Where is your soulmark, sir?”

“Oh, right, of course.” Chigiri lifted up his shirt to reveal a fake soulmark on the side of his torso. It had a line drawn up his back. He then lifted his collar to reveal another fake soulmark where his collarbone is. The soldier raised an eyebrow.

“You’re not from around here, are you?”

“Ah, no.” He laughed. “I’m from…Centrubi. Yeah, Centrubi.”

“That’s quite far. You don’t see many of that descent come down here, not with the mess this area has become. Which town?”

“Um..Sora.”

“Ah, Sora. My father is from that town, too. But he was stationed down here many years ago to help with the clean-up and look where I’m at now. Maybe one day I’ll get that promotion to move up there… sure beats surveilling this pesky kingdom with nothing but monster bait, am I right?” The soldier laughed. 

Kunigami immediately grew tense. He remembered hearing similar statements from soldiers stationed at his town. But no matter how much he’d try to ignore them, he could never forget the looks of disdain they held for him and his family. If he is glad with one thing about living in the forest in the monster is that he no longer lived under the scrutiny of these people. 

He looked over at Chigiri. He was not laughing like the soldier, but he still held a smile on his face.

“Well, anyways, you don’t happen to know the area around here, do ya?”

“I only know these parts pretty well, but the outskirts I’m not too familiar with. Are you heading somewhere?”

“Well I need to get over there to.. Ah what is it called, Diventu? Yes, I believe that’s the name.”

The soldier made a face. “That’s pretty far. I reckon it’ll take you days to reach there. Hm.. Here, I don’t normally do this for anyone, but since you’re a pretty civilized fellow, I’ll help you out here. I can let you into these here transportation station. It won’t take you straight to Diventu, but it’ll take you pretty damn close to it. It isn’t normally used for anyone outside of the royal family or security personnel, but I can make an exception for you.”

Chigiri shook his head. “Oh, no, it’s fine, I really would be fine traveling there on my own.”

“Are you sure? The only path there is through the forest, and those are just filled to the brim with monsters nowadays. Centrubi is not like these parts. One mistake and you’re attacked-” He snapped his fingers. “-and dead just like that.”

“I appreciate the concern, but believe me, I’ve been here for a while so I’m not exactly a newcomer. I have my own precautions.”

“Suit yourself.” The soldier shrugged. He searched around his pockets and took out a small device. It was small and rectangular, barely the size of his palm. “In that case, this will help you. Just pour some magic energy into this and it will show you the way. Still won’t be an easy journey, though.”

Chigiri reached out to grab it but the soldier quickly retracted it. “Damn, I forgot. This is just protocol, but I need to check your soulmark before I do anything more. Don’t take this personally.”

The soldier pulled out a device. It was tall and slender and the very end was carved flat, with a turquoise-colored ball implanted in it. He moved to raise up Chigiri’s shirt. Chigiri jolted back. When he looked up, he laughed nervously. 

“Sorry, I’m just sensitive there. Can you do it on my shoulder instead?”

The soldier looked at him suspiciously, but he ultimately shrugged and did what he said. The device blinked twice and he handed him the rectangular device. 

“Here you go. Feel free to shout a greeting if you visit again. People like you are a breath of fresh air around here. If the migration plan goes smoothly, then I’m sure there will be more coming around here soon.”

Chigiri nodded quickly and waved. “I appreciate it, see you around.” 

With that, he walked calmly away until the soldier could no longer see him, then he quickly ran up to Kunigami, who was watching the whole scene from behind a tree.

He waved a finger in his air. His hair turned back to long and pink and his body shrunk. His clothes turned back to normal. As he got rid of the disguise spell, Kunigami noticed how out of breath Chigiri was. 

Chigiri held up the device. “Finally…we have a direction…but he said it will take days.”

“You’re running out of energy. Maybe we should take a break first,” Kunigami said. Chigiri shook his head.

“I’m fine. If we stay in the forest and away from the towns, then I won’t have to do any more spells. Let’s just…” Chigiri trailed off and took in another deep breath. He snapped his fingers and Kunigami felt the invisibility spell wear off on him. Chigiri leaned against a tree.

“Damn it…I thought I had more stamina than this…”

“Let’s just rest for a few hours, away from the town.”

“...Fine.”

Chigiri got up to walk on his own, but he was quickly stopped by Kunigami’s arm. “Let me carry you.”

Chigiri shook his head. “You don’t have to do that.”

“But I want to.”

“I’ll just slow you down.”

“Fine by me.”

The two stared at each other. 

Chigiri let out a big sigh and leaned against a tree. “Whatever.”

Kunigami picked him up on his back, holding Chigiri’s arms around his neck so that he didn’t have to put too much energy to hold on to him. He was surprised at how light Chigiri was, even though he was technically older than him by just a few months. 

After walking for a while, they found a lake the size of a family’s home. Several logs were scattered around as seating areas.

“Do you think people will show up here?”

“The lake doesn’t exactly look clean, so probably not,” Chigiri muttered.

Kunigami set Chigiri down on one of the logs. Almost immediately, he laid down, placing an arm on his forehead. Concern bubbled in Kunigami’s chest.

“If you were that tired, why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

“It’s not that bad… I’ve felt worse during practice…”

“That’s not a good thing either.”

As Chigiri laid on the log, staring up at the sky, Kunigami sat next to him on the ground. Peaceful silence settled around them. 

“The man said the trip will last for days,” Kunigami finally said.

“Yeah…”

“Are you sure you want to keep going? What about your duties at the castle?”

“Heh, what do you think I do? Sign paperwork and attend meetings? They barely remember I’m there. It’s not like I have any duties yet. Hiumi can cover for me just a bit longer.”

“...” Kunigami tightened his fists together. The familiar feeling of guilt casted over him. “Why are you doing this?”

“Hm?”

“Taking me to visit my family. It is not yours. You’re not getting anything from it. So why?”

“...It’s embarrassing.”

“You say embarrassing things all the time.”

“That’s mean. I don't know, I just… want to know about you. You always look so sad about your family whenever you bring it up. I hate it. I want to see you smile. Maybe I’m just being a little bit selfish here,” Chigiri laughed softly. 

Kunigami looked at him, at his smile and laugh. He remembered the looks of the townspeople from the soul hour as they found their soulmate. The innocence that coated them both. 

“Haven’t you ever thought…why I’m not with them? Why I don’t go back? You’re so sure I’m a good person.” Kunigami leaned over, until he was just a few inches away from his face. He put his hand on the log. Looking at Chigiri beneath him, it hit Kunigami how vulnerable he looked. That familiar self-hatred bubbled in his throat. “How are you sure I won’t hurt you?”

Chigiri’s eyes were wide, a stark contrast from the sleepy half-closed look of just a few seconds ago. Up close, Kunigami noticed how long his eyelashes were. How elegantly they fluttered over his eyes. 

However, where Kunigami was expecting fear, he saw resolve in his face. Chigiri smiled and closed his eyes. “I wouldn’t mind if you hurt me. Only if it’s you.”

Kunigami’s heart stopped. The moonlight that was shining on both of them faded into the cloudy night and the water stood deadly still. Chigiri’s breathing slowed then entered into a light snore.

Kunigami sat back up, then laid his head on the log. 

“You idiot. That isn’t how I wanted you to react…”

~

When Kunigami woke up, the sun appeared in the sky.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

Kunigami jolted up. But when he looked around, he was reminded of where he was and cursed himself for falling asleep. He rubbed his eyes while Chigiri laughed at his frustration. 

“Don’t worry, I didn’t wake up too early before you. But I did grab some food.”

He held a piece of parchment of paper and in it was a piece of bread covered in cheese. Chigiri held it out but Kunigami shook his head.

“I don’t need to. You can eat it.”

“You can’t go all day without eating and I don’t know the next time I can snatch more food. So eat.” In his hands, Kunigami noticed Chigiri eating his own piece of bread. Reluctantly, he grabbed Chigiri’s offer and bit off a piece. 

After they finished eating, they set off on the journey once again. 

The device the man gave them used magic that only Chigiri could see, which meant that Kunigami relied on him to lead the way. Luckily most of the path was through the forest, so they did not need to enter a town. However, that also meant that it was more difficult to get food and water.

The next lake they stumbled upon was much cleaner and larger than the last one, so they decided to take a break there midday. Chigiri used the little magic he had the energy for to get blobs of water out, clean it, and drink from the palm of his hand. He could also use it to spear some fishes that were swimming in the water. Kunigami made a fire with wood from the forest to cook it over. 

Halfway through their resting period, Chigiri looked longingly at the water.

“I could really go for a bath right now.”

“Then go for a bath.”

“But I don’t want to take a bath in a lake. It’s gross, isn’t it?”

“I don’t think so.”

“You don’t?”

Kunigami shook his head. He bit off a piece of the fish on his stick. 

Chigiri set his down, already finished, and walked closer to the water. He put a foot into the water. “It’s cold.” He peered over and saw the fishes swimming about. Then, he hesitantly stepped further in. 

Kunigami watched from the grass as Chigiri slowly but surely gained more confidence in the lake. He briefly wondered why Chigiri was so fine with the lake near the castle but not this one. Maybe he just doesn’t want to take his clothes off? Kunigami thought. He then realized that he had never seen Chigiri take his clothes off, not even his shirt when he was wet. 

Are royals worried about that kind of stuff?

He looked up again at Chigiri swimming in the lake rather than bathing, with a smile on his face. He gestured over to Kunigami. “Come in! It feels super nice!” he yelled.

“No, I don’t want to…”

“What?!” Chigiri laughed and splashed into the water. But Kunigami moved further away from the lake, shaking his head. He smiled at Chigiri’s joy but a sense of dread crept on him.

He looked down at his hands and the realization hit him. He quickly hid his hands behind his back. 

He looked back up and waited for Chigiri to get distracted. Then, he scrambled behind a tree. It was just in time for the ends of his fingers to turn mushy and green. 

“Kunigami?!”

Damn it. Kunigami balled his hand in a fist, then came out to shout back, “I’m going to go pee!”

“Oh, okay!! Don’t take too long!”

Without a second glance, he ran into the forest as fast as could, just barely dodging the thick trees. His breath quickly grew shallow, but he kept running anyway, until he could no longer hear the sounds of Chigiri swimming or of the birds chirping. 

He collapsed on the ground, breathless, and without a second thought, transformed into the form he detested so much. His torso grew larger and his limbs grew long and thick. His skin turned a disgusting green color and started falling off his skin, until there was nothing left but sludge underneath. He felt his vision grow hazy and the world’s sounds disappeared around him. He was no longer a human, but a ferocious beast.

I thought I could hold out for a bit longer…, Kunigami thought to himself. But it’s growing even more tiring…

Kunigami looked around. In this form, there was no color. Everything was desaturated and lifeless around him. His voice was nothing but a hoarse growl and every sound was amplified by a hundred times. His body hurt. Just the pain alone was enough to drive him insane.

“I wouldn’t mind if you hurt me. Only if it’s you.”

Chigiri was waiting back for him at the lake. He was doing so much for his sake. 

Kunigami grit his teeth. He settled down on the grass in the beastly form and laid his head down. In this position, the pain died down slightly. 

If for no other reason, Kunigami did not want to be the reason Chigiri got hurt. Not when he trusted him so much. 

Just five minutes. I just need five minutes. 

After an eternity passed, the ache had started to subside and Kunigami finally felt the energy to transform back again. He breathed out in relief at feeling his skin beneath his fingertips again. 

When he returned, Chigiri was already out of the water and lying on the grass, his hair wet.

“That was a long pee.”

“...I’ve been holding it in.”

The two began walking once again. Just like the sun had risen in the morning, it wasn’t long before it started to set again. Kunigami thought about Tei. He had not told her about this trip so she was probably worried. A part of him felt guilty, but he remembered how she would also disappear without telling him. I’m keeping some secrets too…, he thought to himself. 

When night fell, they kept walking, with Chigiri using a light spell to guide the way. 

At some point during the night, Chigiri grazed his hands on one of the bushes and stopped. Kunigami looked over. 

“What?”

“There’s a berry here.” He grabbed it and plucked it out of its stem. He held it up to his nose.

“I don’t think berries are supposed to smell like anything?”

“Shh, I’m hungry okay?” 

Chigiri brought it up to his mouth, but hesitated at the last moment. He looked over at Kunigami in fear. “What if it’s poisoned?”

“You mean poisonous? I don’t think-” Kunigami pondered but he raised his eyebrows in realization. “Actually, it probably is.” He remembered how his sister warned him of poisonous berries in the forest, but he had forgotten what she said about choosing the ones that were safe. 

Chigiri looked sadly at the berry. “I don’t want to die because of a poisoned berry.”

“Don’t eat it then.”

“But I’m hungry…” 

Kunigami looked around. “Maybe we can find another lake to fish?”

“I want to eat berries though. I’ve been craving these ever since this morning.” 

Chigiri crossed his arms and closed his eyes in thought. After a few seconds he opened his eyes and snapped his fingers. “A detection spell.”

“Huh?”

��My teacher showed me this one, way back then. Apparently, you can detect poison in food with a spell that turns it into a certain color if it is toxic. I think the one she showed me turned it red. If I can just remember how to cast it…” Chigiri closed his eyes. His eyebrows wrinkled together in concentration as he hovered his hand over the berry. Kunigami watched the attempt intensely. 

Then, he suddenly opened his eyes, and grabbed the berry in his hand. It started to glow faintly. Kunigami and Chigiri looked at each other in excitement. 

However, when Chigiri opened his hand back up, the berry was not red, nor the original color. It had turned completely black and hard. Chigiri stared at it in dismay. Kunigami curiously poked at it.

It crumbled at his touch. 

“Oops.”

Kunigami looked over at the bush, but there were no more berries he could see. Chigiri stared at his hand with his head down.

“My berry…”

Kunigami patted Chigiri’s back. “Um, let’s just keep going.”

They walked for the rest of the night, rarely taking a rest. When Chigiri started to slow down or grow tired, Kunigami picked him up and carried him on his back for the path, allowing Chigiri to fall asleep for a few hours. 

When Chigiri woke up, the sun was barely rising and Kunigami was trying to navigate the thick roots of the forest floor. Kunigami looked up after noticing his movement.

“Good morning.”

Chigiri just sleepily groaned. He hopped off Kunigami’s back and onto his feet. 

He turned on the device. “How long have we been walking straight?”

“Um, 4 hours maybe?”

“Hm…” Chigiri looked at the device while rubbing his eyes. But when he did, he stopped and then stared straight up ahead. 

“We’re close. No, we’re practically there.” 

Kunigami felt a lump form in his throat and a heaviness fill in his chest. “Already?”

“No doubt. If we follow where this river goes-” Chigiri pointed at the river that was right next to them, which veered off slightly to the right. “-Then we should be there in just an hour.” 

“Oh, that’s…” Soon. Too soon. In just a few hours, Kunigam was going to see his family again. His mother, father, his two sisters. For the first time since that day…

Kunigami could feel his breath grow shallow. But he grabbed the sides of his shirt before the panic could set in. It’s fine, he thought to himself. He looked up at Chigiri in front of him who was closely looking at the device. I’m not alone this time. It’ll be okay. Kunigami took a deep breath in. 

They walked further on the path and it only took a few minutes before the sounds of walking could be heard. The sounds of metal grinding against each other at a blacksmith’s workshop and the chatter of people muffled together. When they heard it, Chigiri grabbed Kunigami’s hand and casted an invisibility spell on them both, but he also squeezed Kunigami’s hand. On his face was a reassured expression. 

Kunigami nodded and squeezed back. 

They went over back to where the trees were, away from the river, and walked towards the sound. Until they eventually saw the slabs of wood clumsily built that made up a house’s wall line the entire edge of the forest. 

As reality set in, Kunigami only tightened his grip on Chigiri’s hand. Although he felt fear, for some reason, he also felt faint traces of excitement. 

Just a few more steps. 

Just a little bit more. 

Then, he can-

“Stop!”

Kunigami's heart dropped.

Cold sweat engulfed his body. 

In an instant, he was no longer a 13-year old boy but a 7-year old child, watching the scene play out in front of him. 

Because behind them, in the depths of the forest with a sword in hand, was a soldier, staring directly at him. 

[anemia-rp]

"Well I am glad you don't really give in to them. It's easier to sink into it than having to face it, though we do have to face that void sometimes... even when we don't want to. It's how we have made it this far." she said honestly. "You will? That's really nice! I'm so scared of clowns that I even sometimes might cry if I see them or am around them too long." She admitted, feeling a bit embarrassed by it.

"I bet you have a cute pout." She blushed some when she realized she said her thought out loud instead of keeping it to herself. "I admire that you want to feel your emotions more. A lot of people want to suppress them, I'm even guilty of not wanting to feel mine so strongly at times." She said with an honest and genuine smile

"I can never be arrested, I'm too sneaky." she nodded while trying to keep a serious face, though she was failing badly. "I do have a lot of boots, and I think with how long it fits me I think some chunky style boots would look cool with it."

"Umm... Oh I'm not good at swimming! I can swim well enough to not die and that's it." She answered in a surprisingly serious way before letting out a little laugh. She was enjoying the way their conversation just naturally flowed between topics and tones. "Yeah." she nodded. "It can quickly become super damaged and dry if you don't take care of it properly. Luckily I've been bleaching it long enough to know lots of tips for keeping it healthy. Oh you're the braiding expert? How could I turn down having my hair braided then? I have to warn you though that you will probably hear happy little noises coming from me if you do. I really like having my hair played with."

"I admit, I'm glad you were able to keep your softer side too. I don't know if I would be able to talk with you so easily if you were a truly scary Mr Scary. I think I would still be drawn to you but I would probably be much more guarded." She admitted before smiling and copying his actions. "Your secret is safe with me." she gave a playful wink. "And that is perfectly okay! Scary and cute is one of the best combinations."

"It's a lot more enjoyable when both people are having fun. I don't understand how other's can enjoy themselves when the other person isn't feeling good as well" She nodded as she listened to him "That makes sense, the people I lost myself to were abusive in other way as well." The way he touched her neck caused a shiver to go down her back as she looked up at him again.

"Wise words", he responded with a smile, definitely impressed. "Well, I'm someone who self-reflects a lot. It would be too easy to just blame everyone else for your misery. But entirely blaming yourself isn't the way either." He shrugged. "Yeah, guess if one of my friends was afraid of clowns I would lock them into a room full of clowns and laugh about his fear…sounds rough, but the guys know how I can be and still they stick with me, so." A smirk appeared on his face that softened right away again though. "But seeing innocent and vulnerable persons cry and afraid breaks my heart."

"I can't imagine how my pout could be cute, but guess I'm not the right one to judge", he said and chortled amusedly. "When I suppress my emotions they'll turn into anger. However, don't think I'm not fucking afraid of the intensity of my own emotions." With a serious face he played with the rings on his fingers.

A cocky glint appeared in his eyes. "You're sure about that? Okay, guess you just need to shrink yourself and are free, huh?" He gave her a swat on the nose. "Boots really fit to everything, you never can get wrong with some chunky ones. Though I didn't wear my extremely sturdy New Rock boots with steel caps in them since a long time since they're so fucking heavy my feet start to hurt after ten minutes. But they look so damn cool." He chuckled.

"I don't like swimming either", he claimed and scrunched his nose. "I only like to watch how others do it." His fingers kept combing through her hair. "Wow, what a threat. Happy noises, now I'm fucking afraid." A short laughter erupted him. "You wanna have one pigtail or two?"

"Yeah, dunno, I'm just not full-blown evil, sometimes this would make things easier though, while it would make other things more difficult, you're right." He nodded before he heard something that made him blink. "Drawn to me, huh? Now you admitted something." It elicited him a wide smirk.

"Another thing that distinguishes me from a full-blown evil guy", he conceded. "Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. If someone's a controlling psychopath in the bedroom then they're mostly one in every day life, too." He snorted. "But back to bedroom activities where only one party enjoys themselves. I'd hate it if I wouldn't feel their admiration and desire but only them enduring what I do. Yeah, there might be the thrill of being in full control, and I've got my moments where I like it when someone gets a lil' afraid of me, but I certainly prefer it to drive others crazy from how much they want me." He nodded in a very content manner and let his hand wander downwards, over her arm, his fingers featherly hovering over her left breast. "What doesn't mean I don't like to play games sometimes."

[wishful-seeker]

You know I found it really difficult growing up as a little girl in the South of United states. There were only 2 types of people I encountered my whole time growing up. People who despised femininity and me for being a little girl, and people who forced me to be feminine and refused to allow me to explore any other options. This led to me absolutely hating being a girl, I hated pink, I hated dresses, I was taught girls were weak and I knew I wasn't weak so I denied everything feminine. I cried when my parents made me where dresses to dinner when the boys could where shorts and t-shirts, I learned to hate pretty girls because they gave girls like me "a bad name". It was shoved down my throat to not only hate these girls but also to 𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. It was so confusing and traumatizing for me. I'd cover every inch of my body because I hated my feminine parts, and I didn't want to conform, I didn't want for the assholes who raised me to think they won. My hair got shorter and shorter until I had a buzz cut for 3 years. And although I wasn't lying to myself, I LOVED dressing this way, it was ME, I also often wondered what it'd be like to wear a dress I liked. A necklace that sparkled, braids in my hair.

It wasn't until I turned 20 when I very slowly started to realize that me exploring my feminine side did not equal people "winning" or being "right" about me. It didn't mean I wasn't the same buzzed head tomboy that likes playing in the dirt and wearing my grandpa's army jacket. It didn't mean I was weak, or bad, or stupid. I slowly started to learn that not every article of clothing has to be apocalypse ready and 100% practical.

I've started playing around with fashion now, I've ended up really liking cottagecore, whimsiagoth, and Goth clothing on the feminine side. Dresses, skirts, lace shawls, ect. And I feel a lot better. I'm not betraying my identity and my fellow women by wearing dresses. I never was.

The next milestone I'm working on is trying to get the courage to own and wear a pink dress. The girliest thing one could own. I've discovered I really like satin in the dusty pink color. Just working up to wearing that slowly.

I guess my point is: your identity is your own, no one else's. No one can tell you you are feminine or masculine, something in between, or neither but yourself. No one can tell you what's right for you. And if you feel like you'll never be comfortable with femininity, Or even masculinity, that's perfectly OK. And if you feel like you really resonated with one of these things but now you feel that you can resonate with both, or you've completely changed and don't like the first one you connected with anymore, that doesn't mean you're betraying your old self. It means you're liberating them.

[absolutelyfizzing]

little dove

loki x reader

description - Loki acted so caring around you, more so than anyone else in his life. He loved to take care of you, especially when you had a long day, and he got teased by some of the team for it.

warnings - fem reader, cute loki and pet names, implications of gender fluid loki?, reader gets picked up, slight implications of a nsfw theme the night before

word count - 1900

A/N - this is a pretty plotless blurb but i just love this man, i have been obsessed with the new series and just wanted to write anything about him. i will inevitably be writing for him more so please end me now. there are no spoilers for the new series and it takes place in an AU after new york but pretty much otherwise out of timeline. all the avengers live at the compound together, endgame didnt happen and no i wont talk about it.

MASTERLIST

Loki was not someone who was overly friendly. To most of the people in the compound, he was courteous at best. That rule, however, was bent occasionally. The only exceptions were you and his brother (some of the time). He had been smitten with you the moment he saw you though he would never admit it. You were bubbly and light and the exact opposite of him. You were so friendly and kind that it almost made him want to be the same.

You were kind to him, which he was shocked by. Most of the people in the compound tolerated him but they were never caught being too nice. You, on the other hand, were friendly to him the day you met him.

You weren't an Avenger, you weren't really even a fighter. You were a genius in the medical field as well as the unofficial caretaker of everyone on the team. You made sure that they all ate, they didn't overwork themselves, that they were getting enough sleep every night because they were your closest friends. Everyone listened to you. You had this power over them all that they just wanted to make sure you were happy and that meant they wanted to do what you asked of them. They tried their best to take care of you as well.

When you met Loki and were very nice to him, he expected some ulterior motive. He assumed that there was something you wanted or that you would gain his trust and then humiliate him later. So he kept his guard up. This was proved wrong over the months to come. He noticed that you were that kind to everyone and you were just happy to be around other people. He let you in over time.

You became the only person who he opened up to, even more than his brother. You would keep him company even when he lashed out at others and when he was filled with guilt. You forgave him for his past without question and opened up to him as well. It took probably 3 months for Loki to realize that he was in love with you.

He couldn't believe himself. In love with a midgardian? What was he thinking?

But it was undeniable and uncontrollable. He just couldn't help himself. You would read to him and watch movies with him. You would braid his hair when he was stressed and would teach him how to cook when he asked. You were just everything to him. It took him a long time to confess. He was terrified that you would reject him. You could have had anyone you wanted, why would you choose him?

When he did confess, you were thrilled and he couldn't believe it. You kissed him and he thought he could die happy right then and there. He had never felt this much love for anyone besides his mother.

You continued to break his walls down and he fell deeper in love with you every day. He didn't, however, change his behavior towards others very much. He had grown closer to the team, having regained some trust from them all. He was no longer aggressive and he tried very hard not to lash out. Most of that was out of his own desire to be trusted. He realized that he was going to have to make his life work to remain with you and he slowly learned that most of the people in the compound weren't actually as awful as he might have originally guessed. That didn't mean that his personality changed toward them though. He was still slightly cold and short. He wouldn't smile too much and he was what some might call grumpy most of the time.

That only changed around you and everyone noticed. Loki got teased for it constantly and he couldn't care less. He just wanted to make you happy and he had no regard for what anyone thought of your relationship.

He was waiting patiently in the common area of the compound on the couch. Steve and Rhodey were sat on the couch watching something that Loki didn't recognize or care for, it was some kind of reality TV. When he heard the elevator door open he looked toward the door and you were walking towards him. A grin spread over his face and his posture relaxed. He could hear the men on the couch scoff at his sudden change in demeanor. When you got close to him he picked you up and pulled you to straddle his hips on his lap and immediately began kissing all over you. You buried your face in his chest and he kissed your hair.

"How are you, my love?" He mumbled sweetly and you hummed. "Long day?" he questioned and you nodded in affirmation. "Lets go get you some food then, yes?" He asked lightly and you hummed happily. He picked you up and you clung to him, arms and legs wrapping around him. He carried you with ease toward the kitchen. It shocked you sometimes how much he could lift and how easily he lifted you but you had to remind yourself that he was indeed a god.

"How come you never treat us that way?" Rhodey called from the couch and Loki grumbled a bit.

"Oh I'm sorry did you want me to pick you up and make you some tea?" He asked sarcastically and you giggled from where your face was pressed into his chest. He smiled at the fact that he had gotten you to laugh and he set you on the countertop. He tried to pull away to make you some food but you did not let him leave you, still holding on to the front of the shirt that he was wearing. "Do you want to talk about your day?" He asked sweetly, kissing your forehead lightly. You gazed up at him lovingly and his heart skipped a beat.

"I'm just tired. People are annoying and I didn't exactly sleep much last night." You winked at the last part. He smirked at your comment.

"I'm sorry, my love. I was under the impression that you enjoyed what we did last night but I would be happy to give you plenty of time to sleep tonight if that's what you would prefer." he teased and you punched him lightly in the chest.

"Okay fine you're right, I like getting kept up." You confessed. You paused for a moment and his eyes remained on you as he waited patiently for you to continue. "I was mistaken for an intern again today. You would think that after over a year of working here that people would recognize my name and my work but today there were some new investors walking through the facility. When they came to look at my work they started to talk to one of my coworkers and then turned to me to ask me to get them a coffee order while they waited for the doctor to arrive." You grumbled, your mood now sour at the memory. Loki frowned and he felt his anger begin to take shape inside of him. His eyes flashed green for a moment.

"Would you like me to go and teach them a lesson? Perhaps just to mildly terrify them?" he asked, fully serious. That cheered you up plenty and you chuckled. Loki knew that you were laughing because of the absurdity of his statement and the fact that he was dead serious but he was just happy to see you smile again. "I will never understand the midgardian obsession with gender roles. Though I suppose my own identity is more fluid than most asgardians as well." He confessed and you brought your hand to rest on the side of his face. He leaned his head into your hand as he beamed at you. You loved when he compared his home to yours. It reminded you just how powerful he was and that he still chose to spend his days with you. There was suddenly a flash of green before he held his hand out to you, now holding a bouquet of your favorite flowers. When you gasped and moved to grab them he slipped from your grasp to move towards the refrigerator.

"Hey that's not fair, you tricked me." You pouted at him, now grumbling that you couldn't hold him anymore.

"Little dove, I cannot make you food when you hold onto me. When I am finished cooking then you can stay with me for as long as you would like." He promised and you nodded solemnly. He quickly pressed another kiss to your cheek before moving around the kitchen to prepare you waffles as he often did when you were having a long day. You observed the beautiful flowers in your hand and watched him as he moved around the kitchen, a million times more comfortable than he had been when he first moved into the compound. You talked contentedly with the people passing by as well as the man who was diligently trying to improve your mood. Occasionally one of the other team members would walk by and laugh a bit at how caring he was acting toward you, all of them just happy you were content though. Eventually Thor stopped by while Loki put some batter into the waffle iron and sliced some fruit.

"You know, this is the happiest I have ever seen him." He stated simply, a smile in is voice.

"It's the happiest I've been too." You responded with a small grin.

"The last time I saw him open up to someone the way that he opens up to you was on Asgard with our mother. She would be happy to see him being so vulnerable again." He patted your back and walked away as tears started to come to your eyes. The brothers would talk of their mother sometimes and Loki often mention the fact that he believed she would have loved you, if not for your own personality then for what you did for her son. You wished that you could meet her.

You were suddenly taken out of your thoughts by someone handing you a plate of waffles and sliced up fruit with a little container of syrup on the side. You looked up at Loki and nearly cried right there. You put the plate aside for a moment to reach out and pull him into a crushing hug. He was a bit startled but responded quickly, a hand going to the back of your head and his fingers brushing through your hair soothingly.

"Did something happen, my love?" He asked softly and you sniffled a bit.

"Just love you and I'm very thankful for everything you do for me." You got out and he affirmed to himself that he would die for you in an instant.

"I love you too, darling, but I slaved away at those waffles and now they are getting cold." He teased and he kissed your hair gently. You took a deep breath before pulling away, looking up at him with love. You smiled and then hopped off of the counter. He walked with you over to the dining table where he sat next to you and serenely waited as you ate, the food lifting your spirits a bit and easing your anxiety of the day. You planned on spending the rest of it with the man next to you as well as every day after that.

[storiesforallfandoms]

she’s a baddie ~ machine gun kelly

word count: 1846

request?: yes!

“Hi! I have a request for mgk (if your requests are open still) but I was thinking maybe something like colson’s girlfriend is a total badass and like has a bunch of tattoos and maybe is a rapper herself and he is kind of just gushing over her and tells everyone he can about how cool she is? <3″

description: in which he loves to gush about his badass rapper girlfriend at every opportunity

pairing: machine gun kelly x female!reader

warnings: swearing

masterlist (one, two)

The minute he walked into the studio and saw her, Colson was in love.

Dom had asked Colson to be on a song with him and a long time friend of his, a fellow rapper named (Y/N). Colson agreed - he always loved to work with Dom and he loved to meet new people to collaborate with.

He wasn’t sure what he expected of (Y/N), but it definitely was not what he actually got.

(Y/N) was in the booth recording her verse. Already, her rapping abilities were for beyond even Colson’s. He was extremely impressed with her lyrics. As for her appearance: she was wearing a pair of tight, ripped jeans, a white button up dress shirt that was completely open with the sleeves rolled up, revealing the sports bra she was wearing underneath.

With all that skin exposed, Colson could see that she was nearly completely covered in tattoos. Her arms were covered in tattoo sleeves, all the way down to her hands and even fingers. There was an undercarriage tattoo poking out from under her sports bra, and another poking out from her waistband around her hip. She even had one on her neck!

She radiated badass energy, and Colson was drawn to her.

Dom looked up from where he was sat and got up to hug Colson. “Hey mate! Just in time, (Y/N) is finished her verse!”

(Y/N) had stopped rapping when she noticed the commotion outside. She was looking at Dom and Colson, as if waiting for them to tell her what to do.

“(Y/N), come meet Kells!” Dom called.

She walked out from the booth and smiled at Colson. “Nice to meet you. Dom talks so highly of you, and I’m a bit of a fan.”

Colson smiled and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, too. Dom’s talked you up to me a lot, too. You definitely live up to the hype.”

(Y/N) tried to hide her smile to keep her cool status, but Colson could see the corners of her mouth tilting upwards. She put her hands in her pockets and shrugged modestly. “I’m okay I guess. Thanks though.”

“Her verse is amazing,” Dom said, bringing the attention back to him. “Just wait till you hear it when it’s finished.”

Colson sat with Dom to go over the verse he had written. (Y/N) sat behind them, distracting herself on her phone while the men worked. Every so often he would glance over his shoulder at her, hoping to catch her attention for even just a moment.

“She’s single mate, go for it,” Dom said in a low voice, but certainly not low enough that (Y/N) didn’t hear it.

Colson’s eyes widened and he quickly looked over his shoulder at her again. Her attention was still on her phone, but there was a knowing smile on her face.

When the three had finished in the studio and were preparing to go, Colson finally decided to talk to (Y/N). She was heading out the door when Colson approached her, falling into step beside her.

“Your tattoos are cool,” he said, immediately cringing at how lame the compliment was.

(Y/N) smiled brightly at him. “Thanks! They better be for how long they took and how much they cost. Yours are pretty sick too.”

“Thanks. A few of them are kind of old and I regret a little but that happens.”

“When you have as many as we do, you eventually regret one or two.”

There was an awkward silence as the two continued into the parking lot. Colson tried to wrack his brain for some way to save the conversation, but everything he came up with felt dumb or lame. He felt his heart fall to his stomach when (Y/N) pulled keys from her pocket and unlocked a car in front of them. He knew he’d eventually see her again, but he didn’t want their time to end just yet.

Before getting into her car, (Y/N) turned to Colson and put her hand out. “Give me your phone.”

He was taken back by such a direct request that his mind couldn’t comprehend what she had asked at first. “What?”

“Phone, unlock, give.”

Colson took his phone from his pocket and did as she asked. (Y/N) opened the contacts app on his phone and added her name and number, and even took a selfie of herself to set as the contact photo. She sent herself a text so she could have Colson’s number before passing the phone back to him.

“Let’s get drinks some time,” she told him before climbing into her car and starting it up. The roaring of the engine made Colson realize that even her car was badass.

He never would’ve guessed that that one encounter would’ve led to such a strong relationship between the two of them. Colson took (Y/N) up on her offer to go get drinks and, next thing he knew, he was waking up the next morning with her in his bed after deciding to be in a real relationship.

When the news hit the media, both of their fanbases exploded with excitement, saying how (Y/N) and Colson were perfect for one another. Even the tabloids couldn’t find a bad thing to say about the relationship. In fact, they constantly praised the two and complimented them whenever they were saw out together. As much as Colson hated the vultures that were paparazzi, it was hard to be as angry when they were actually saying nice things about him and the woman he loved.

And Colson couldn’t get enough of hyping his girl up. Even when she wasn’t there, all he did was talk about how cool and badass she was. It eventually got to a point that his friends would have to tell Colson that every time he mentioned (Y/N)’s name when she wasn’t around, they were going to hit him.

On the night of Dom’s album release, which featured the song that had brought Colson and (Y/N) together, Dom decided to throw a massive party to celebrate. Colson showed up with his friends, fashionably late as always. It didn’t take him long to navigate the large crowd to find his stunning girlfriend, who was wearing a skin tight black dress that hugged her body and came down to her thighs, paired with a pair of black stiletto heels and her hair pulled back in a braid. Colson couldn’t help but let his eyes wander over her body as he walked up behind her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her cheek, bringing her attention away from her conversation to him for just a moment.

“Sorry to steal her away,” Colson said to her conversation partner, “but I just had to tell my girlfriend how fucking stunning she looks tonight.”

A bright smile spread on (Y/N)’s face as the person she was talking to made a fake vomiting sound, but was smiling none the less.

“You don’t look too bad yourself, hot stuff,” she said with a wink. “Wanna grab a drink and I’ll be over in a minute?”

“Sounds good, baby.”

Colson kissed her head as his hand trailed from her waist to her ass, giving it a quick squeeze before walking away. (Y/N) turned and watched him go with wide eyes, but also with an amused smile on his face. He smirked to himself as he made his way to the bar.

Slim and Rook were already stood there, two empty glasses in hand but too distracted by their conversation to get refills. Colson ordered two drinks, one for himself and one for (Y/N), before looking back across the crowded room at her. An involuntary smile stretched across his face as he looked at the familiar tattoos that were peaking out from her dress.

“Bro, if you say one thing about (Y/N) I am going to punch you in the fact,” Slim said, snapping Colson out of his trance.

“What?” he said. “Dude I wasn’t going to say anything about her.”

“You have that look on your face man,” Rook pointed out. “The look that says the next thing out of your mouth is gonna be something about how badass (Y/N) is.”

The bartender passed Colson his drink and he immediately swallowed half of it. “I’m sorry for thinking my girlfriend is the coolest shit since sliced bread, but that’s how relationships are supposed to work.”

“That’s not how they’ve worked with you before,” Slim said.

“Yeah, before it was a lot of sex and PDA and eventual fighting,” Rook added.

“What I have with (Y/N) ain’t like that, guys,” Colson said. “I know I move way too fast in relationships and they all end the same way, but when I say that it was love at first sight for me with (Y/N), I mean it. I mean, look at her, how can you not love her? She’s not just another girl who wants to be all over me and gets jealous or upset when I’m gone for long because she actually understands that this is how my job works. And she likes to drink and smoke weed and party, so she’s actually fun to hang out with. On top of all that...well...just look at her! She’s smoking hot and badass as fuck. I’m sorry that I tend to talk too much about her and all, but I can’t help it. I’m really happy.”

During his speech, Colson hadn’t noticed that (Y/N) had finished with her conversation and approached the three of them. She joined the group just in time to hear how happy he was to be with her, which had managed to bring happy tears to her eyes. She tried to blink them away as to not ruin her makeup, but it was hard when Colson’s kind words were replaying in her head.

“You mean that?” she asked, causing the three men to jump and to look at her.

“Damn, you move quick girl,” Slim commented.

“How much did you hear?” Colson asked.

“Enough of it,” she responded.

Slim and Rook exchanged a glance before excusing themselves from the conversation. Colson held out (Y/N)’s drink to her and she gladly took it. She leaned into his side as he wrapped his arm around her again, fitting perfectly against him like two puzzle pieces.

“I meant every word I said,” he told her. “I think you’re the coolest chick I’ve ever met and then some. Way too good to be dating a dork like me.”

“You’re anything but a dork,” she said. “And even if you were, you’re my dork, and I can’t imagine having anyone else by my side.”

Colson smiled that adorable, goofy smile that (Y/N) loved so much. She mirrored it before leaning up to kiss his lips. His grip around her waist tightened as he held her close, never wanting to let her go.

[fvrxdrm]

5 Times

Pairing: Damnation!Leon Kennedy x Reader

Warning(s): None

*****

4 times Leon didn't confess his love and 1 time he did.

One

It was the giggles that sailed upon your boat, the laughter, the smiles. You both saw the funny in everything and that was your bond. You could be serious too; you loved deeply of others more than what was generally accepted. So you guessed the humor was how you let out the tension that kind of love brings. In those silly moments you were perfect, and they were the sweetness you needed in rough times. That's what friends do, right? It's the love that makes doors in emotional brick walls, the love that makes everything possible.

That's what Leon always thought. It was so cordial and unique in a way that he felt like what he valued so much was somehow outlandish and alien. He couldn't distinguish what comes out of him whenever you were with him and every tingle that raises hills on his skin was a puzzle he was unable to solve.

"I'll see you around," you mumbled against his chest.

"Yep." Leon unwrapped his arms around you albeit slowly, reluctant for some reason, and smiled through his pursed lips. "I'll see you around."

He watched as you wended your way from his house and into your home, a teasing tug pulling his lips at the ghost of your own against his cheek.

Two

Under the dim lights and the colorful ornamentations, your raiment sparkled against the gleam, catching the eye of many guests, predominantly Leon. You looked like a princess wearing a headband that imitated a crown, a top and a pair of pants embellished with a winking glint that could be mistaken as diamonds from afar, and heeled leather boots that comically made you look tall. Your hair was in a loose and messy braid with a few strands hanging just beside your face and a light chain that twisted along your H/L H/C locks.

Leon was in awe, no doubt. His focus was glued to your appearance. Even when his friends were making random conversations with him, he found it unbearably hard to keep his icy blues away from you.

"You should just ask her out, you know. You've been staring at her with heart eyes the entire night," Chris spoke as he followed the trail of Leon's gaze towards you.

Leon broke away from his stupor and shook his head at the man's voice, his blood rushing towards his neck and face.

"What? No, no. You're mistaken. I-I don't like her like that."

"You sure? Last time we were drunk you were yelling about how much you love her right into my ear."

"We were drunk, Chris."

"And? What's that saying again? A drunk man's words are a sober man's thoughts?" Chris simpered as Leon's eyes widened in surprise.

"What? Th-that's not true!" He denied.

"Mhm, sure. Anyway, my girlfriend's probably looking for me now," the taller and bulkier man said. "At least ask her to dance."

As Chris' footsteps faded away into the beat of the music, Leon thought about what he had said.

Did he actually like her, or was it just something he was confusing himself with? Either way, you were still a treasured dear to him and whether or not his heart was romantically beating for you, he would still value you the same, although he would probably be a bit clingier if you did end up together.

For now, he'll just ask you for a dance, go with the flow, and see what happens.

Three

The night rode in on a horse of pure midnight velvet, beckoned by the stars under the glow of a full moon. As the colors of the day rested, perhaps dreamt of the morrow, the forest became its monochrome beauty, darkened greens and golds that made an ever-changing, ever-present puzzle, question and answer united.

Fire danced beside you as you and Leon laid against under the constellation of stars and talked the night away, smiling and laughing at every jest that was told.

It felt pleasant to be in his arms and he felt warmth as a wild heart beat in his bars.

"This one," you began, leading his fingers towards a raised and silvery part of your skin, "I got this when I was younger. I got stabbed by a pencil."

"A pencil?"

"Yeah. My friend and I got into a fight and it was buried, like, 3-fucking-inches inside of me. And holy shit, my teacher didn't fucking notice it while I was bleeding profusely. I was leaking hamburger helper!"

Leon busted a gut and pulled you towards him even more as he shook in laughter.

You went on and on about the most absurd things that had happen during your childhood until you lost all energy and eventually fell asleep in Leon's arms.

You looked peaceful, he thought. Your face was so serene as if nothing had really affected you in any way. The world was cruel, but you only sought for the brighter side and stood along it with your back turned to the hell it truly bore. Your lips were parted lightly, and hair just a tad bit messy from all the exaggerated movements you'd done while telling your stories and tossing your head back while laughing. A part of your skin was showing as your top rode up, and he couldn't the blush that crawled up to his face when realized his hand was rested on that patch of skin.

He smiled.

Maybe he did like you, or love you. If his admiration wasn't enough, then his heart reassured him.

Four

"Oh, fuck!"

You swam away from Leon as fast as your arms and legs could fight against the water as he chased you, muscles and quads aiding him. Compared to you, he was more skilled in this type of stuff while you had chicken legs with barely anything of assistance. So it was no surprise when he caught up to you with spider hands and wrapped his arms around your waist. He tickled your stomach, the bareness of it making the stimulation all the more patent and making you guffaw while squirming in his arms.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" You cried in between laughter. You turned around to face him when you felt his hands making a stop against the side of torso and looked at the wonders of his eyes steadily and intensely.

You didn't notice it, but Leon's breath hitched at the proximity of your faces, the hot air that flew out of your nose hitting the droplets on his face. You were in a daze. Both of you. It felt so intimate and bona fide that for a second that was your only reality.

Your fingers trailed up his chest, neck, and finally his cheek, and for a moment, your hand was still on his face with only your thumb moving to stroke the scar that was stripped away from his hair. Leon furrowed his brows. The inside of your lip was lightly bitten as you thought about your next action for a moment. But decided that fuck it, life is short. If he felt the same way than congrats! But if he didn't, well, it's either he'll pull away or kiss back with no purpose. And hey, what's the matter with making out with your best friend?

And so, you drew a bit closer, albeit rather slowly in case Leon wanted to pull away. But seeing as he was copying your motions, you saw his intention and pressed your lips against his in a shy lip-lock.

Five

Leon tugged on his tie as he looked at the people dancing around inside of the venue, his heart doing a little dance of its own when he saw you smiling with the crowd.

He blew a sigh, the breeze intertwining with the air. He could see the party from the balcony: flashes of different color schemes, the swaying of dresses as the women moved, the chattering of people as they drank the glasses of champagne. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe this was all about you and him; two souls entwined by love.

"I see you didn't invite me," a sultry and velvety voice said from beside him. He knew who it was and it didn't faze him anymore to see her appearing uninvited as she always did.

"What are you doing here, Ada?"

"What, I can't go see two of my favorite people anymore?"

"Well, it always ended in a mess, anyway, so what's the point." Ada chuckled in response and leaned back against the railing, the smile her giggling left still ghosting on her face. It was all jokes, fun, and games to her for a moment until she turned serious and gazed at you from a distance where you couldn't notice.

"Take care of each other, Leon. You both are worth more than what you give yourselves credit for," she muttered. "I wish I could've given her the life you're giving to her now. But I can't, and I'll remain like this until I die."

In the depths of her mind, Ada reminisced on the time when she was in Leon's position. She gave the love you needed and wanted, and cared for you in so many ways. But she was a mercenary, a wanted one at that, and she knew that one day, everything would be thrown into a void or burned until it turned to ashes. So, she broke what you had off and handed you to Leon where he could give you a better life.

Leon couldn't say anything. It seemed rude and odd but he remembered when you knocked on his door, drenched in rain water and sobbing everything from your chest. It hurt to see you like that. And so, he promised. He promised to be the best husband he could ever be and shower you with everything he could give you.

"Leon!" Your voice rang out as you ran towards him with a wide smile on your face, startling the both of them.

Leon turned towards where Ada stood but saw that she was gone as if she was nothing but an apparition that was made by his mind.

He was befuddled for a moment, pondering about his encounter with the woman, but found his heart racing as you came closer to him.

What transpired was long forgotten and all the world could see how Leon mimicked the smile that defined the joy you brought to him. He was just happy to share such a beautiful moment with you and he optimistically wondered about what was ahead of you.

He pulled you towards him and spun you around as he battered your face with kisses, whispering 'I love you's and so many more sweet nothings against your cheeks while you laughed in his arms.

Hidden within the shadows was the raven-haired woman, imitating their smiles as she watched the intimacy from afar. She felt like her mission was done and although it hurt, she was thankful for what she'd done. Leon was going to give you the life you deserved and he was going to fill the holes she'd left.

*****

This was rushed. Lol. And I'm using my phone. How was it tho?

This was the outfit I had in mind. Feel free to change it though.

[thetravelerwrites]

Errol (Naga) Lemon

Rating: Explicit Relationship: Female Human/Male Naga Additional Tags: Cheating, Infidelity, Break-ups, Hurt/Comfort, Pining, Secretly In Love, Angst, Sex, Breeding, Pregnancy Kink, Dom/Sub, Ovipositor, Oviposition, Pregnancy, Babies, Eggs, Egg Laying Words: 7887

A commission for @anjhope1​​! After catching her fiance cheating, the reader breaks up with him and goes home miserable. The ex-fiance's brother, Errol, arrives on his brother's order to get his things from her apartment, but Errol is more interested in taking care of the reader and making sure she's okay. It leads to some confusing feelings and a confession. Please reblog leave feedback!

The Traveler’s Masterlist

You’d had your suspicions for a while, but it wasn’t until you got the message on social media from a girl he’d dated and dumped who had photographic proof of it that you finally had to face the truth.

Your fiance was cheating on you.

Eric was a naga and had been with you for more than five years. He had asked you to marry him, ring and all, on New Years Eve with his family. He had made a big show of it, too. And now, you were going to have to confront him about being a cheating bastard.

The woman who had been dumped told you that he was now dating her friend, and she had gotten the room number where they were supposed to meet. You got to the hotel with your heart in your throat and knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” That was definitely Eric’s voice. He had told you that his friend needed help moving and that he’d be staying over to help him. What a good friend he was.

You deepened your voice in an effort to mask it. “Room service.”

“Oh, good, I was wondering if you were ever going to come,” Eric said, and the door swung open. As soon as he saw you, the blood drained out of his already pale face.

“No, wait--”

“Hey, babe, did they bring the right wine this time?” A female voice said from inside.

You took off your ring and threw it in his face and called inside the room, “You can have the bastard.” And walked away.

“Wait, please, this isn’t what you think,” Eric said, slithering quickly down the hall to catch you. He grabbed your arm and you wrenched it violently out of his grasp.

“Babe, who’s this?” The woman said. She was human and pretty, you guessed.

“I’m his fiance,” You retorted. “Oh, sorry, ex-fiance. Don’t worry, he’s all yours.”

“What the fuck, Eric?!” She shouted at him. “Are you kidding me?”

“Rachel, it’s not…” He stuttered. “It isn’t…”

Rachel slapped him and pushed past you toward the elevator, not looking back.

“Babe--” He started, turning back toward you.

“Don’t you dare call me ‘babe,’ you son of a bitch. Why? Why would you do this to me? Why would you waste five fucking years of my life?”

“I didn’t mean to hurt you--”

“I don’t give a shit what you meant to do! I want an explanation. Was the sex bad? Do you not love me anymore? Are you just the type of person who has to have a side-chick? What? What about this is good for you? What about all this made destroying our relationship worth it?”

He groaned and scratched his head with both hands. “I… It… I can be anything I want to be with those girls, you know? If I say I’m rich, then I’m rich. If I say I’m successful, then I’m successful, and they don’t know better. They don’t know I have a shitty job that I hate. They don’t know that my girlfriend makes twice as much money as me, that she’s popular with people and everyone likes her better than me, even my own fucking family. They don’t know what a fucking loser I am.”

“And that’s my fucking fault?!” You screamed at him. “You know what you could have done instead of ruining a five year relationship? Gotten fucking therapy! Or, better yet, talked to me about it! I have been nothing but supportive of you. I have encouraged you to leave your job and find a better one. I told you I would support you until you found something that made you happy. You could have gone back to school or done and apprenticeship or vocational work, whatever, and I’d have been there! You could do whatever you wanted, and I would have helped you, and you know that!”

“Right, because you so fucking perfect, huh?” He yelled back. “It’s not enough that you rub your perfect job in my face every day and go around spending whatever you want because you don’t have to worry about money, but you also have to be perfectly supportive and perfectly giving and perfectly loving, too, right? How am I supposed to feel good about myself when you’re always better than me at everything?”

“So, it’s my fault you’re cheating on me because I’m a good girlfriend? Is that what you’re saying to me? I’m too fucking nice, so you had to put your dick in random women to feel better about yourself?” You raised your hands as if surrendering and shook your head in disbelief. “You know what? Fucking forget me. Forget our relationship, forget getting married, forget you ever knew me, forget my fucking face, don’t ever come to my house, don’t ever message me again, delete my number from your phone. As far as you’re concerned, I don’t exist to you, because you sure as shit don’t exist to me anymore.” You turned to leave.

“What about my stuff?” He protested.

“Send your brother to come get your shit,” You said without turning. “If you set foot on my property, I’ll have you arrested for trespassing. I’m not fucking around. I’m so fucking glad you never moved in when I offered. ”

“So that’s it?” He said as you waited for the elevator to come back up. “You’re not even willing to work this out? It’s just over?”

“Get fucked, Eric,” You said, stepping into the elevator. “Oh wait, you already did. Do yourself a favor and sell that ring to pay for a therapist.” And the door closed on him.

As soon as the elevator started to move, you hit the floor and sobbed. Why? Why was he like this? You thought everything was perfect up until a few months ago, and you hadn’t know he felt like this. He always seemed happy. How were you supposed to know otherwise if he never said anything?

How you got back home, you didn’t know, because you didn’t remember it. You grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the freezer and didn’t even bother with a glass. For about an hour, you just sat there disheveled on your couch, crying and drinking.

Sometime later, there was a sheepish knock on your door. You hoped to God that it wasn’t Eric, but when you opened the door, Errol was there. Errol, Eric, and their sister Enya, were all from the same clutch of eggs, so he looked a lot like his brother in that they all had white, black, gold scales, golden eyes, cream colored skin, and blond hair. Errol was a bit larger that Eric, and where Eric wore his hair short, Errol kept his long and braided back. You always thought that it made him look elegant, despite his size. He was still wearing his work clothes, as if he’d just come from his construction job.

You and Errol hadn’t spent much time together alone, since Eric was a little jealous of other men. He’d always been very nice to you, though, and liked you just as well as the rest of his family. He’d even given you advice a few times in the past when you and Eric were fighting.

“Can I come in?” He asked, wincing.

“Did you know?” You asked him, your throat raw and hoarse from crying.

“No, I didn’t know,” He said solemnly.

“Don’t bullshit me, Errol,” You replied harshly.

“I swear I didn’t know. I would have told you, I promise. My brother can be an asshole, but I never thought he would do something like this.” Errol grimaced. “Are you okay?”

“Do I fucking look okay?” You retorted, your voice shaking as the tears returned. “If you’ve come to get his stuff, just get it and leave.”

“I couldn’t give less of a shit about his stuff, I’m here for you,” Errol said. He held up a couple of plastic bags. “I brought take out and ice cream.”

“I’m not hungry,” You said vaguely, but you moved aside to let him in.

“I got alcohol, too,” He said as he slithered inside. “I could make you a Bailey’s float.”

You sighed and sniffled. “Okay.”

You sat at your table as he bustled around making the drink, laying your tear-flushed face on the cool surface of the wood.

“What did I do wrong?” You asked weepily with your cheek pressed against the table.

“Nothing,” Errol said as he lay the glass in front of you, moving a chair so that he could coil up next to the table. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Then why did he do it?” You asked, sitting up and taking a watery bite of the ice cream. “Why wasn’t I enough? He said ‘girls,’ which means there’s probably more than the two I know about. How long has he been doing this? Our whole relationship?”

“When he called me to come over here and get his stuff for him, I asked. I’m not sure if he was telling me the truth, but he said it’s only been the last year.” Errol snorted derisively. “Only.”

“How many girls?” You asked.

He shook his head. “He wouldn’t tell me. He kept trying to get me to side with him, but…” Errol rolled his eyes. “I’m not buying anything he says right now.”

“Did he do this to his other girlfriends?”

“Well, you were his first serious girlfriend,” Errol said. “Before you, he only dated casually, so it was never a problem. When he said he really loved you, I thought he meant it.”

“Yeah.” Your lip quivered and you stabbed the spoon into your float. “Me too.”

Errol reached out and pulled you into a tight hug, which you sank into and let loose again, soaking his shirt in tears.

“I’m so sorry,” Errol whispered into your hair.

At some point, Errol put you to bed. You were exhausted and drunk and just wanted to sleep, so he lay you down and left you to it.

When the morning came, you felt like your head had been run over with a truck. You decided to get some coffee going before taking a shower, but to your surprise, Errol was still there. He was in the kitchen on the phone, his hair out of it’s usual braid and tumbling down his shoulders.

“What the hell is wrong with you, dude?” Errol said. You immediately realized he was talking to his brother. “No, I’m not picking up your shit. I don’t care if she burns it all.” He was silent for a moment, and you could hear Eric speaking. “No… No, you’re full of shit. Do you know what a good thing you had? Do you have any idea what I would give to have what you just shit on? …fuck no, I’m not going to talk her into taking you back, are you insane?! Get over yourself… No… No, it’s not happening, you can go fuck yourself right now… Look, I don’t have time for your bullshit right now.”

Errol hung up and turned, startled to realize you were standing there. “Oh, hey,” He said. “How are you feeling?”

“Not great,” You replied honestly. “I didn’t know you were still here.”

“Yeah, you were in bad shape last night and I didn’t want to leave you alone. I slept on the couch, if that’s okay.”

“Yeah, no, that’s fine,” You said. “I was just going to make coffee.”

“Oh, I already made some,” He said, going to the coffee pot and pouring you a mugful. “I figured you could use it. I’ve got breakfast coming too, something greasy to absorb all that alcohol.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” You said, sipping the coffee. It was really good, but not your normal brand, though it tasted very familiar. Actually, now that you thought about it, you always drank the gross coffee Eric liked. This was a nice change. “I’m going to take a shower and wash last night off of me. Are you okay here?”

“Yeah, yeah, take your time,” He said, turning to pull down plates and prepare for breakfast.

You were about to turn to the bathroom but stopped. “Errol.”

He looked back up at you. “Yeah?”

“Thanks for… thanks.”

He smiled at you. “It’s no problem at all.”

You took your shower with your head pressed against the tile. Why couldn’t you just forget? Why couldn’t you put all of it out of your mind and stop thinking about it? What would it take to make the pain stop?

The water was cold by the time you got out, and when you went back into the kitchen, the food had arrived and Errol had everything set out on the table. He looked up anxiously when you came in.

“You okay?” He said, concerned. “You were in there for a worryingly long time. I was thinking about going in there if you hadn’t come out in five minutes.”

“I’m fine. Well, not fine, but you know.”

“Yeah,” He said sympathetically. “Try to eat. All you had last night were two bites of ice cream and a lot of alcohol.”

You picked up your fork and speared a sausage. “I must look horrible.”

“Nope, not possible,” He said, tucking into his own plate of food. “A person can look tired and cute at the same time, you know.”

You snorted, prodding your puffy face gently. “You’re too nice. Maybe I should have dated you instead.”

He laughed. “You know, it’s actually kinda funny, I was going to ask you out back in college before you started dating Eric.”

“Really?” You asked, surprised.

“Yeah, he kind of sniped you, if I’m being honest.”

“I never knew that,” You said. “Did he know you wanted to ask me out?”

“Oh, yeah, I told him,” He said, shoveling eggs into his mouth. “I told him there was a girl at my college who always went to this one coffee shop near campus, and I told him I was going buy you your favorite coffee and cookies as an icebreaker.”

Your head rocked back. “That’s exactly what he did when he asked me out.”

Errol tsked sardonically. “Yeah. I know.”

You scoffed. “Wow, what an absolute asshole.”

Errol shrugged and smiled. “Ancient history now. Do you want some more coffee?”

“Yeah, thanks,” You said as he filled your cup. “This is really good, what is it?”

“Orange and almond mocha.”

You cocked your head. “Wait… isn’t that the blend I drank at the coffee shop? It used to be my favorite.”

“I know,” He said. “I ordered some. I thought it might be a nice pick-me-up. The shit that Eric drinks is revolting.”

“That’s definitely true,” You said, looking at Errol closely. “You remembered what my favorite coffee blend was from five years ago?”

Errol looked up at you. His face seemed carefully blank.

“Yeah, but I mean, it’s no big deal.” He wiped his mouth and sat back. “I should get going, I have work in a few hours. Are you going to be okay here on your own?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I think I’m going to take some personal days.”

Errol nodded.”That’s a good idea. I’ll call later to check on you, okay? If you need anything, just text me.”

“Okay,” You said, feeling a little off-balance.

Errol smiled and let himself out, and you were left standing there, staring after him as an overwhelming sense of realization hit you like a freight train.

…did I date the wrong brother all this time?

Later in the day, Eric called. You almost weren’t going to pick up, but you decided to see what he had to say for himself now that the heat of the moment had passed.

“What do you want?” You said brusquely.

“Why did my brother spend the night at your house last night?” Eric said immediately.

“...excuse me?” You replied, incredulous.

“You heard me. What the fuck was he doing there?”

“I don’t see how that is any of your business.”

“What do you mean, it’s not my business? He’s my brother and you’re my fiance!”

“Ex-fiance,” You corrected him. “First of all, you are the one who told him to come over in the first place. Secondly, I was not obviously doing well last night and he stayed to make sure I didn’t do anything stupid or die in my sleep of alcohol poisoning. And third, and I cannot stress this enough, it’s none of your fucking business.”

“Don’t bullshit me, you know he’s in love with you.”

Your head snapped back in agitation. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Oh, you really don’t know? Ms. Perfect doesn’t know that my asshole brother has had a crush on you for years?”

“You’re full of shit, Eric,” You retorted. “Don’t drag Errol into this.”

“Did you just decide to fuck my brother to get back at me, is that it?”

“Fuck you, Eric!” You hung up the phone and hit the floor, a wave of anguish washing you again. What the hell was wrong with him? Why did he have to make everything worse?

The phone rang again, and it was Eric. You decided to block him and be done with it. You got a notification from Facebook, and then Twitter, and then Instagram, all from Eric. Every new notification made your anxiety rise higher and higher until you were balled up on the floor, sobbing again. In desperation, she dialed Errol’s number.

“Hello?”

“Please help,” She begged, weeping. “He won’t leave me alone. He keeps messaging me and calling me. I can’t… I can’t do it…”

“I’ll take care of it, don’t worry,” Errol said. He sounded angry.

“Can you come over? Please?”

“Of course, I’ll be right there.”

“Okay. I’m going to turn off my phone.”

“That’s a good idea,” He said. “If I need to, I can message you on your gaming console.”

“Okay,” You said. “Bye.”

He hung up with you and you turned your phone off, sitting on the floor of your kitchen in the blissful silence, unable to get up.

Was that true? Could it be possible that Errol had been in love with you the whole time you’d been dating Eric? He said he’d wanted to ask you out. He remembered tiny details, like what your favorite coffee had been. He made you your favorite dessert when you were miserable without even having to ask what it was. He stayed overnight to make sure you didn’t get hurt or hurt yourself. He bought breakfast and defended you. He didn’t have to do any of that. He was just your fiance’s brother. Ex-fiance.

He arrived shortly after you called him. As soon as he entered the house, before he had a chance to say anything, you reached up, took his face in your hands, and kissed him. For a second or two, there was no reaction, but then he leaned into the kiss, deepening it, savoring it, before abruptly putting his hands on your shoulders and pushing you back, forcing you to look him in the eye.

“...why did you do that?” He asked you, his face grim.

“Eric told me,” You said. “He said you’ve been in love with me the entire time I was dating him. Is that true?”

Errol looked down and away. “Look--”

“You told Eric on the phone that you’d have given anything to have what he had. You meant me, right?”

“Please don’t do this.”

“Errol, look at me!” You shouted.

It seemed to take a lot of will, but Errol’s eyes flicked back up to meet yours. They were pleading with you.

“Do you love me?”

His face scrunched as if he were in pain and he swallowed hard, shaking his head slightly. “I don’t…

“Don’t…lie to me,” You said in a tense whisper, tears spilling from your eyes. “Do you?”

Tears began to gather in his own eyes. His response was barely audible.

“…yes.”

“For how long?”

“Since I first saw you in the coffee shop.”

You tried to press forward to kiss him again, but he held you firm, sniffing. A tear rolled down his cheek.

“But I don’t want to be used to get revenge on my brother,” He whispered back, his voice strangled and uneven. “It’s not good for you and it’s not fair to me. You know that.”

Your face crumpled. He was right.

“I’m sorry,” You sobbed, unable to look at him anymore. “I just don’t want to think about him anymore. I don’t want him in my head.”

Finally, Errol pulled you into a hug.

“I know,” He said. His body was tense, as if he were restraining himself. “We can revisit this later. Much later.”

“When?” You asked piteously.

“Not now. Not soon. You need time to heal and I… need to think.”

“I’m sorry, Errol,” You cried into his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I never saw it.”

He laughed slightly. “It’s not your fault. I got really good at hiding it. And Eric always kept you at arms length from me. I think he was afraid I’d steal you away or something.”

He let you go and you stepped away, looking at the ground in shame.

“I’m sorry if I made you feel like I was using you,” You said. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

He put his hand under his chin and made you look up at him, his thumb stroking your cheek. “For what it’s worth, I’m relieved the secret is out now. Tiptoeing around you and Eric was exhausting. The engagement was my worst nightmare, because it meant I’d have to just suffer in silence forever.”

“Well, I’m glad that’s over for both our sakes, then,” You said, attempting to smile.

He smiled too, but it was very soft. Gentle. “I don’t… think it’s a good idea for us to hang out together much from now on, at least for a while,” He said, letting go. “But… we can text. We can call. If you need anything, I’m always here for you. That’s always been true.”

You nodded. “I know.” You sighed and took another step back. “I’m going to miss you.”

His smile widened sadly. “I’m not far, but… I know what you mean.”

With the both of you in tears, he turned, opened the door, and was gone. Thirty seconds after he left, however, you got a text.

>Are you okay?

You smiled through your tears, feeling glad and grateful that he was still communicating with you. >No. But I think I will be.

>Good.

>Are you okay? You asked in return.

>Honestly, I don’t know what I’m feeling right now. This was a lot at once.

>Yeah, no kidding. I think I may see a therapist to help me out.

>That’s a really good idea. Maybe I should too.

>I think everyone should at least once.

>Yeah. Do you need anything?

>No, I’m okay. Thank you for everything, Errol.

>It’s my pleasure.

Some time passed. You and Errol talked and texted every single day. Neither of you brought up dating each other and carefully avoided affectionate language. He wanted you to heal and you wanted to give him a fair chance without the cloud of his brother hanging over you.

Talking to him was effortless, like talking to yourself. You each had your own tastes and dislikes, but you both loved a lot of the same things and had similar desires. You both loved your jobs, enjoyed the same music, gushed over books you’d read, and liked playing board games. One of your favorite things to do was watch movies remotely over Zoom. It was almost like being on a date, even if you couldn’t be together.

As hard as you tried not to, you compared everything Errol did to Eric. Even still, it was obvious that Errol had always been better suited to you than Eric ever was. It was abundantly clear that you had indeed been dating the wrong brother the entire time.

On what was supposed to be your anniversary with Eric, Errol sent you a link to play a horror game with him. Errol hated anything horror, so instead of spending the day crying and drinking and cursing Eric for being alive, you got to laugh the whole day at how loud Errol screamed when he was startled. It ended up being a wonderful day.

You did see a therapist, as did Errol, and the two of you would talk about your sessions with each other, sharing the advice the counselors had given you. He also sent you gifts through delivery, like the coffee you loved and your favorite treats. Whenever you’d had a bad day or had to deal with Eric due to post-breakup business, a treat would arrive the next day, and it always put a smile on your face.

You were worried that all the time apart might change how Errol felt, but he never wavered. You woke up every day to a text saying good morning, and went to bed after talking to him for at least an hour about your day. After a month, you realized that a day or two would go by when you wouldn’t think of Eric at all. You hadn’t thought that would be possible when you first broke up with Eric, and he did still haunt your thoughts most of the time, but the respite from the emotional distress of thinking of him, even for a short time, was wonderful.

Three months after the breakup and his confession, you, Errol, and your therapists all decided that you were ready to date again. That same day, Errol showed up on your doorstep with flowers. The sight of him was like breathing fresh air after being underwater.

“Hi,” He said, smiling brightly.

“Hi,” You replied, stepping forward to pull him into a hug. He reciprocated without hesitation.

“So…” He said, not letting go. “Do you want to go out with me tonight?”

“Yes,” You said, cuddling him closer.

He pulled back and kissed you for a very long time, tasting your lips and teasing his tongue just inside your mouth. When he pulled away, he pressed his forehead against yours and just looked at your face, touching your cheeks with his fingertips. Eventually he stepped back.

“Let’s go.”

Dating him was amazing. He knew everything there was to know about you, so he took you to places you loved, to all your favorite restaurants, to concerts he knew you’d enjoy. It was like you’d been dating for years already, even though it was just a few weeks. You made out like teenagers, hot and heavy, but he was careful about being intimate too quickly, though, still fearful about being a rebound. You respected that.

You were already talking about the future, though. You both wanted to get married eventually and to be parents before you turned thirty. Before breaking up, you had been talking about having kids with Eric, which was something he had expressed interest in during the start of your relationship, but recently he had been making excuses, like he didn’t have enough in savings or he didn’t feel ready. You guessed you knew why now.

You were worried that his family would be angry with you for ending your relationship with Eric and dating Errol, but they seemed completely understanding. It was likely they were also aware that Errol had been in love with you forever, and the fact that Eric cheated on you wasn’t something they were proud of. You were still warmly invited to all the family gatherings with Errol, and while having Eric there was a little awkward, his seething anger at seeing you happy with Errol was the best revenge you could have asked for.

“They let everyone in the office have the day off. Do you want to hang out today?” You asked Errol one night after about a month and a half of dating.

“Ordinarily I’d love to, but I’m feeling kinda weird today. Squishy. I think I’m going to have my period soon.”

He wasn’t being hyperbolic; nagas with male sex organs both created the eggs and fertilized them, but they didn’t have a womb or cavity in their bodies where the eggs could incubate, which is why they needed people with uteruses to propagate the species. It took a month for the eggs to develop inside them, but after that, they could implant them into another person’s body at any time they chose. However, after a year, the eggs died naturally and were expelled from their bodies, therefore, male nagas experienced periods once a year. Eric usually went to a specialized facility where the eggs would be humanely disposed of.

“Are you sure? Isn’t it rather soon for that.”

“I went into heat last week. The eggs usually die quickly after that.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize,” You said. “Why did you go into heat? That typically only happens when nagas in a sexual relationship with someone, right?”

“That, and if you’re experiencing extreme sexual needs that aren’t being met.”

“Oh. Ohhh…” You hissed in a breath. “Is it because of me?”

“It’s nothing you need to worry about,” He reassured you. “It’s my problem. I’ll take care of it.”

You were silent for a moment of deep contemplation. He seemed to sense you were thinking about something.

“What’s the matter?” He asked.

“Do you think the eggs are still viable?”

It was his turn to be silent. “Um… maybe. Probably. I think it’ll be another week before I need to go in to evacuate them. Why do you ask?”

“I was just thinking…” You said slowly. “We both said we wanted kids. And I know we’re just starting out, and this is super sudden, and it probably doesn’t even make sense to do this now, and we haven’t even had sex yet, but… oh, god, I’m rambling…” You sighed heavily. “If you’d like, we can wait until next year when we’ve been together for longer, but… it just seems like this is a good opportunity. It… feels right, you know what I mean? If that’s what you want.”

He took another moment of silence to think really hard about what you were saying. “Are you sure about this, honey?” He asked you finally.

“Yeah. Yeah, I am,” You said resolutely. “I love you, and I’m in a good place, both emotionally and financially. I’m ready to be a mom. I have been for years.” You fidgeted with the hem of your shirt anxiously. “Is this something you want? I mean… I totally understand if it isn’t. If you want to wait, that’s fine with me. I just… I want to do this.”

His voice turned sultry. “You really want my eggs?”

You grinned and bit your lip. You’d learned through hints in conversations you had with him that he had a little bit of a breeding and pregnancy kink.

“Yeah. But we should act fast if we want them to take.”

“I’ll be right over,” He said, and the phone clicked.

You immediately went into the bathroom to get ready, feeling nervous. There was a weight of expectation on you, not just because you were talking about getting pregnant, but also because of how long Errol had wanted to be with you. You were scared that you wouldn’t live up to his expectation.

He arrived shortly after, looking excited and nervous. You pulled him into your arms and kissed him. He was shaking.

“Are you okay?” You asked.

“Yeah,” He said, touching your face reverently. “I’ve just… I’ve been dreaming of this for so long. I can’t believe it’s actually happening.”

You smiled softly at him. “Come on.” You took him by the hand and pulled him toward the bedroom. He took a deep, shaky breath and followed.

Once in the room, he pulled you in and kissed you again, deeper this time, more probing, his body pressed flush against yours.

“I’m not sure how to… begin…” He said. “I don’t know what you like and don’t like yet.”

“We can learn as we go,” You said. “We don’t have to rush.”

“Well, what do you like? Do you have any kinks I should know about?”

You laughed. “I have a few, I guess.”

“Tell me about one,” He said.

Instead of telling, you knelt down and sat on your knees with your butt resting on your feet, perched forward on your hands, and looked up at him through your lashes.

“What would you like me to do for you?” You asked, biting your lip.

His eyebrows rose and a startled smile spread across his face. “Oh,” He said. Slowly, he took off his long shirt, exposing his torso and the slit on his lower abdomen, usually closed and imperceptible from his scales, but now swollen and puckered slightly. He ran his fingers through your hair where you were crouched on the floor and came close, so that his slit was near your face.

“Touch it for me, sweetie,” He said.

Gently, you circled one finger around the slit, feeling it pulse under your touch. He exhaled sharply and his head fell back, his braid swinging. With your forefinger and middle finger, you stroked it up and down, watching it open slowly. You leaned forward and kissed it, and he spasmed, groaning.

Gradually, two dicks emerged from his slit, a long, thin one with a spear-like head, and a shorter, thick one with a bulbous head. You knew each had a different purpose. Normally, the thin one would be retracted so that nagas could just enjoy sex, but the thin one was an ovipositor. It’s what implanted the eggs. You knew not to touch it, since it secreted a numbing agent that made implanting the eggs easier.

“Now?” You asked.

“Not yet,” He said. “You’re not ready yet. Stand up.”

You obeyed, and he began to undress you. You started to help, but he said, “No, no, let me do it.”

You put your arms back down and let him peel your clothes off. And then he just looked at you.

“Stand still,” He said. “Stay quiet.”

You nodded, obeying.

“Good girl,” He whispered. “That’s my good girl.”

He started with your shoulders, letting his fingers run over your skin, down your arms, up your sides, caressing your breasts, down your belly, and reached one hand between your legs. You gasped.

“Shh,” He said. “Stay silent.”

It was a hard order to follow, as he touched your pearl and massaged it slowly, running a finger inside your slit as he did. Your breathing was uneven and you had to bite a finger, but you managed to be quiet.

“You can make all the noise you want soon,” He promised seductively. “I just want to test how good you can be for me.”

You nodded again, your body shivering at his touch.

He brought his face very close to yours, so that your lips were mere millimeters apart, but stopped short of actually kissing you. You could feel his cool breath on your neck and chest, and it made your heart race.

“You’re getting there,” He said, pushing a finger inside your entrance. You inhaled, but bit down on your cheek to stay silent.

“Good girl,” He said, pulling his finger out. "Lay face down on the bed and lift your ass up. Spread your legs open.”

You nodded again and followed his orders, doing exactly what he asked of you. He slithered up behind you and went back to touching between your legs with one hand, the other sliding up and down your spine. You felt him sink down and kiss your thighs.

“You can moan for me, darling,” He said.

You were happy to obey, and whimpered against your pillow as he licked a long stripe from behind, kneading your buttocks as he did. He moaned as he sucked on you, your legs shaking. He pressed his thumb into you as he sucked, and you thought you were going to cum. He stopped just before that happened, leaving you feeling desperate.

“Good,” He said. “You’re perfect.” He crawled over you from the back so that his face was next to yours and he kissed you. “Are you still sure about this? We can just have sex, I don’t have to breed you.”

“You want to, don’t you?”

“Don’t worry about what I want right now, are you sure you’re ready for this?”

“Yes,” You simpered. “I want it. Give them to me. Please. I want them.”

He bit his lip, looked at you like you were something he wanted to eat, and grinned. “Good girl.” He went out of view then, and you felt his hands on your hips.

“Be still,” He said. “Let me in.”

You nodded, and felt the slim tube enter your body. The anesthetic began working immediately, so you only had a vague sensation of it pushing all the way in, penetrating your womb, and fixing itself there.

“Are you hurting, love?” He asked as he lay over you, putting his arm under your head so that you could lay on it and resting his body on top of you. Your hips were still in the air and your stomach wasn’t touching the bed.

“No, I’m okay,” You replied.

“Good,” He said, sounding a bit strained, his body tensing. His stuttering breath blew through your hair. “It’s starting.”

He grunted, but you couldn’t tell if it was in pleasure or pain. His breathing was sharp and punctuated as the egg moved down through the ovipositor and into you. You could feel a small swell in your stomach, but it wasn’t painful. He pressed his forehead against your shoulder and relaxed and shuddered, gasping.

“Did it hurt?” You asked.

“Not exactly,” He replied a little breathlessly. “It feels good, but it’s also a bit of work to push it out. Sorry this isn’t as sexy as you might have hoped.”

“Who said it wasn’t?” You replied, nuzzling him. “It’s like a special kind of foreplay. Besides, I’m really enjoying all the sounds that are coming out of you.”

“I can feel that,” He said, laughing. “You keep squeezing me.” He tensed again and started grunting, hugging you tightly.

“You’re doing great,” You told him.

“This is… harder than I thought it would be,” He said stiltedly. You could feel the sweat from his brow dripping on your skin.

“You can do it,” You said, kissing his arm as it gripped you and biting his thumb. “How many do you think there are?”

“I think three,” He said. He exhaled forcefully, and you felt another swell slip into you as he panted.

“One more, honey,” You said. “Deep breaths.”

He snickered, and then groaned. “Okay…” He said. He gripped you hard as the last one came and passed through. You were beginning to feel a full sensation in your belly and felt glad this was the last one.

Once it was out, the ovipositor retracted and he flopped onto the bed, gasping like a fish.

“Whoa,” He said. “Laying them in a person is way different than disposing of them.”

“How so?” You asked, moving to lie on your side so that you could touch him. He was clammy and cold.

“That felt great,” He said, looking over at you and smiling. “Like, it hurt a bit, but it felt like a small orgasm every time.”

“Probably a biological incentive to procreate,” You said, kissing his chest and neck.

He snorted. “Probably.” He looked at you with his eyes half lidded. “It’s going to be a few minutes until you get the feeling back down there. Why don’t you spend some time and play with me?”

“Is that an order?” You asked.

“Do you want me to punish you?” He asked.

“Maybe I’ll like it,” You said with a smirk.

He took you by the chin and made you look down at the second, larger cock, which was still erect and bobbing. “Touch me.”

You went down and sat astride his tail so that he could watch you take his cock in your hand, and begin to slowly pump it up and down.

“Hmm, that’s good,” He said with a satisfied sigh. “Let me know when your feeling comes back. We don’t want to waste time.”

“I will,” You said, stroking him. Your stomach felt tight, so you rubbed it as you touched him, drawing his eye. He watched you hungrily.

“I can’t believe you did that,” He said, smiling at you.

“We’re only half-way there,” You told him. “Don’t get too excited.”

He bucked his tail and nearly knocked you over onto the bed, making you shriek and laugh.

After a few minutes of teasing and touching and good-natured laughter, the feeling began to return. You started rocking on his tail to be sure, and realized that you were extremely sensitive.

“It’s back?” He asked

You nodded, pleasuring yourself against his body.

“Good. Lay down.”

You obeyed, and he moved to lay on top of you, his tail between your legs and his slit lining up with yours, kissing you deeply and rolling your nipples in his fingers. He pushed himself inside you as he kissed you, careful not to go too deep, as the ovipositor had made you a little sore. You rolled your body against his in time with his thrusts. You were so sensitive that you could already feel the crest of ecstasy beginning to wash over you.

“I love you so much,” He whispered against your skin. “I’m so happy.”

“I love you,” You replied, your hands in his hair as he moved inside you with purpose, precision. “I’m close. I’m so close.”

He stopped immediately, and you groaned shrilly, the sensation of denial sending a shiver up your back.

“Not yet,” He said, biting your lower lip. “Not until I say. Be a good girl.”

You nodded, panting and trembling, but your body was betraying you, writhing desperately against him, trying to regain the friction.

“Be still,” He said. “I’m not going to move again until you be still.”

You squealed in need, but you did your best to make your body stop clutching at him. It took a minute, but you managed to settle down.

“Good,” He said, slowly moving inside you again. “Good girl.”

“Cum inside me,” You begged. “Please.”

“I will,” He said, kissing you. “When I want to. Be patient and I’ll reward you.”

Your body was wound so tightly that you thought you were going to explode, practically vibrating underneath him. The sight of it made him grin.

“You’re so beautiful,” He said, licking your earlobe, still keeping the maddeningly slow pace. “Do you want it that bad?”

“Yes!” You groaned. “Yes, please. Errol, please.”

He thrust sharply, but not hard, and you nearly came undone. You cried out, about to snap like a string.

“Are you always going to be a good girl for me?” He whispered sinfully.

“Yes!”

“Do you promise me?”

“Yes!”

“Say it. Say ‘I promise.’”

“I promise, I promise, please!”

His thrusts became targeted again. “Beg me some more.”

“Errol, please! Please let me cum, please!” You cried. Every muscle, every nerve in your body was screaming for release.

“You can cum when I tell you to,” He said, though his movements were extremely efficient now. He was very good at drawing this out.

“I can’t take it, please!” You begged.

“One more time, say you love me, and I’ll give you what you want.”

“I love you! I love you so much! Please!”

From there, he wasted no time, slamming himself into you with speed. In no time at all, you were a screaming, shaking mess underneath him, thanking him over and over. The tension in his body and the sudden shout and moaning from him told you that he had reached his peak too.

“Not yet,” He gasped, rearing up. “I’m not done yet.”

He had leaned up so that he could look down at you and put his hand on your stomach, feeling the new hardness there. He kept going, pistoning against your body, snapping his hips against you, and rode the wave for a second time, all focus and concentration.

The both of you came one final time before he collapsed on the bed beside you, sucking in air as hard as you were. For a few minutes, all you could do was breathe.

After some time, he left the bed and went into the bathroom, and you heard the water in the tub running. You were barely conscious when he came back and lifted you out of the bed, taking you into the bathroom, and lay you down in the warm water of the bath. You were so tired and boneless that you could hardly raise your head, so he carefully, lovingly washed your body, paying special attention to your belly.

“Are you alive?” He asked after some time of sitting next to the tub, watching you drift in and out.

“I think so,” You replied, opening your eyes to smile sleepily at him. “Do you think they took?”

“We won’t know for a while. You should take it easy until then.” He smoothed the hair away from your face and stroked your cheek. “You’re going to have my babies,” He said, laughing a little.

“I hope so,” You said, taking his hand and kissing the palm.

“Eric is going to be pissed,” Errol said, snickering.

You snorted. “Honestly, I haven’t thought about him once today. This isn’t about him.”

Errol kissed you. “You’re right. It isn’t. It’s about us.” He lay his hand on your stomach and smiled gently. “All of us.”

Only one of the eggs took, but that was okay. Errol’s parents were overjoyed to learn they’d be getting a grandchild. Both you and Errol decided Eric could learn it on Facebook, like all the other strangers and acquaintances in your lives.

You took maternity leave so that you could pass your gestational time in relative peace. Errol fussed over you, making sure you ate properly and went with you to all your appointments. You made the decision to lay the egg at home instead of the hospital, and Errol’s sister acted as the midwife. It was the toughest work you’d ever done, and Errol was the best cheerleader you could have asked for.

Errol took paternity leave, like you had done, since he couldn’t leave the egg, anyway. He incubated the egg for the rest of the gestation period, curled up around it day and night. Errol’s son, Ewan, was born six months after being conceived, and within another year, you and Errol were married.

You often wondered if things had been different, if you had dated Errol from the beginning instead of Eric, if you’d be as overjoyed as you were at the moment. But then you figured that wondering about what ifs was a waste of time. You had a happy family to look after now, after all, and another clutch on the way. There was no time to worry about the past. The future was right in front of you.

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