#he's a bit younger in the face now so adjustments may have to be made but he's handsome af and i adore him

[boggleoflight]

I'd be remiss to not also show off big brother Ystran.

[idkwhatever580]

Embarrassed

Pairings: Natasha Romanoff x enhanced!reader (Reader has powers like Wanda's but pink because I'm the author and I can do what I want, and my fav color is pink)

Prompt: Reader's best friend Wanda informs reader about this new thing she learned with Agatha that amped up their sex life. Reader decides to try it out with Nat, and the outcome is better than expected.

Warnings: SMUT, enchanted strap, bondage, slapping, daddy kink (daddy is not a reflection of your gender just a term I used i swear!) cumming without permission?/warning?, swearing, tmi? (Is there such thing as tmi between best friends?), teasing. Top!Reader (semi soft)

A/N: I already had this in my drafts partially finished but then I got a rq and I thought I could incorporate it into this so yeah :) thanks for the request @keirannoa420 <3 (I made reader afab but I think I made them gn for everything else I hope that isn't a problem!)

Today is a simple day for the Avengers. Almost nobody is on a mission today, so everyone is doing their own thing to decompress and rest. Especially since last week was horrible. It was just mission after mission for you and the others.

From what you know, Tony and Bruce are in their lab, Steve and Buck went on a date after visiting Peggy's grave to give her the monthly flowers, Clint went back with his family, Thor and Loki are back at Asgard until needed, Nat is reading in her library, Agatha is in a therapy session (she is still healing from her witchy trauma, good on her!), Vision is probably floating around somewhere, Peter is with Aunt May, the rest of the younger ones are out and about, while you and Wanda are catching up on a much-needed yapping session.

"Omg did you hear what happened on Sam and Tony's mission yesterday?"

You sit up being intrigued, "No, what happened?"

She giggles at the thought of what happened, and says, "He- he"

She can't even tell you what happened without bursting into laughter. "He what! Oh my gosh stop laughing and tell me what happened!"

Your need to hear what happened overpowering your patience, but Wanda eventually can control her laughs into a soft snicker every now and then, "He had to run into the building instead of his usual flying, and he ended up slipping and falling on his back and rolling around because it was raining! Sam got the whole thing recorded thanks to redwing!"

You burst into laughter at the thought of Tony slipping, this surely hurt his ego more than anything. You gasp and say, "Wait... can I see the video? Do you have it?"

She laughs and grabs her phone, "Of course I have the video! I would say I'm surprised you don't have it, but I forgot your phone broke."

You roll your eyes at the reminder of not having a phone to do your daily social media things, but Nat says you need a break from your phone. Joke's on her, you're just bothering her more. (She secretly likes it)

You're drawn away from your thoughts when Wanda holds her phone to your face, the video of Tony slipping funnier than you pictured.

(volume is not necessary for this one)

You both started laughing so hard that tears fell from your eyes, but you both eventually calmed down and were able to change the subject. "So, how's Aggie? I feel like I haven't seen her in months even though I've only been on a mission for a week."

She smiles softly and says, "She's good. Her twice-a-week therapy sessions are really impacting her in a good way. I think she might be having a bit of a hard time adjusting to the Avengers though. She still gets overwhelmed sometimes. Which is what I was scared about. I didn't want to bring her into this space after nine whole months of secretly dating just for her to regress on her progress, but I think she is getting there. Her communication skills are definitely getting better which is helping me accommodate to her needs you know?"

You smile and nod knowingly, "Yeah, I remember coming here for the first time from being a S.H.E.I.L.D. agent, it was terrifying, but my relationship with Nat only grew from where we were. Something is bound to blossom from her too. Anything else interesting with you two?"

Wanda sends me a small smirk and says, "I've been trying out new spells and tricks to cast and I happened to fall upon an interesting spell."

You raise an eyebrow with a tentative voice, "Interesting how?"

She giggles and says, "Okay, so obviously we talk about our sex lives a lot together, but this spell just made bedroom time way better. It's a spell to make an inanimate object basically a part of you. You can feel it and everything that happens to it. So, I tested this spell out on a certain strap-on that we use and let me just say I've never felt so good before. I think you should really try it on Nat, the first time I did it to Aggie, she literally cried because she felt so good."

You raise your eyebrows suggestively and say, "That is quite the interesting find Wands. I'm impressed. You'll have to show me the spell. I think I might try it out on Natty tonight if I can do it right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a few tries of this new spell with Wanda, you're able to feel everything that happens to the tv remote in your leg. You smirk at Wanda and go to exit the room just as Agatha comes back. You send your goodbyes and almost sprint to Natasha's library, making sure to stop by your room to get a certain backpack.

The joys of having your own floor with Natasha means that the things on that floor are only used by the both of you, unless otherwise provoked. So, you know nobody is going to be walking into this space. This also means that you guys can literally fuck anywhere on that floor, but you are so excited to try this spell on her.

You slow down right before you enter and you saunter in, even though Nat has her noise cancelling headphones on, so you know she won't hear you. You come up behind her and softly rest your arms on her shoulders slowly creeping down to kiss her cheek.

She pulls off her headphones and says, "Hello detka. Do you need anything?"

You simply nod your head and give her a soft kiss on the lips to distract her before carefully snatching the current book she is invested in. She lets go of it but not without a pout, "Baby, I was reading that."

You carefully set the book down after putting a bookmark in. Then you walk around and pull her headphones off her ears which makes her even more confused. Until you sit in her lap and snuggle up to her neck. She softly smiles and starts rubbing patterns on your back. "Aww baby, did you want cuddles?"

You nod your head innocently and she says, "Well I can do that while also reading my book so can I have it back?"

You shake your head, and she realizes there's something else you want. She raises an eyebrow, and skeptically says, "What else is it? Did you do something?"

You pull away from her neck and shake your head, "No, I didn't do nothin', but I'm 'bout to."

She furrows her beautiful brows in confusion but notices the glint in your eyes. She knows this look; she has seen it a million times before. How could she miss it? So, she pouts and says, "Aww is my detka a bit horny?"

You nod your head and whisper, "I want to try something new today."

She smirks and nods, always willing to try everything once, well, almost everything. "Of course, detka, what is it you were wanting to try?"

You smile and say, "You're gonna have to wait and find out."

She rolls her eyes at your antics, but you kiss her on the lips and the words that were on the tip of her tongue fade away quickly.

You both start making out softly, a tenderness infiltrates your hearts that only you two can replicate with each other. The kiss quickly turns aggressive though. Her hands falling to your hips to steady them when they start to move on their own, while yours go to her hair to softly tug on the luscious, fiery locks.

Moans start to spill out of you when your core starts to rub on her thigh, and she starts to unbutton your pants trying to get directly to the source, but you push her away. Before she can question your antics, you reach behind her lounge chair to grab the backpack and wave it in front of her face. She smiles and you both stand up to undress yourselves, not bothering to do it for the other, instead choosing efficiency.

Once she has the strap securely tightened around her hips, you push her back down and sit just before the silicon cock, butt resting on her thighs. "I need you to hold still and be quiet for a moment, okay?"

She furrows her brows and says, "Wait, what are you doing?"

You smile at her and say, "I just need you to trust me so I can work my magic." You kiss her doubts away and whisper, "I think you're going to quite like this."

You cast the spell silently and when it is done, you look in her eyes and there is nothing, but confusion written all over her face. "What did you do?"

You smirk and spit on your hand before softly rubbing the tip of the dildo making her hips jerk. "Woah."

You smirk and say, "Woah indeed. Did that feel good?"

She nods her head and says, "Seriously Y/n, what did you do to me?"

You giggle and say, "I made you be able to feel everything like it is your own."

You shimmy your body down to be eye level with the pink sparkly attachment, and you look up into her eyes with yours being doe like from this angle and you slowly take her length into your mouth.

This new sensation causing Nat to moan helplessly and thread her fingers through your hair. You softly start to play with yourself and stretch yourself out, while making sure to not give her too much stimulation. Once you deem yourself ready to take her, you pull away and Nat glares at you. "Why'd you pull away?"

You smile and kiss her worries away, "So I can do this..."

You grab the attachment and slowly slide yourself onto her. Moaning at the size. She always seems to be so big even when you take her all the time. She moans extra loud when you take her to the hilt, and suddenly her hips jerk and her eyes roll to the back of her head.

You force her to look into your eyes and then you start to bounce up and down while grinding onto her.

Although you are feeling very good, your sole intention is to make Nat feel good today. "How does it feel baby?"

She opens her mouth to say something, but only a measly gasp is heard. After a while, she finally is able to conjure a sentence, "Fuck... it feels- so good."

You smirk and say, "Yeah? You like feeling this pussy clench around you?"

She whimpers and nods her head biting her lip to stifle her sounds. Usually you wouldn't let that slide, but since it is her first time feeling this, you'll give her some grace.

You start to bounce up and down on her cock more aggressively and her hands tighten around your hips. She is completely still excepting the few involuntary thrusts her hips make, which make you moan at the spot she hits when she does this.

Nat's head is thrown back and she finally lets go of her lip, allowing all the beautiful sounds to tumble out of her throat. Her pathetic noises are so hot to you and even hotter when she tries to speak, "Y/n I- it feels, I-"

All of a sudden, her words are cut off with an almost pornographic moan, which makes you so wet because you never hear her be this vocal. Her hips start thrusting into you uncontrollably and her hands are scratching into your hips, not that you care.

You furrow your eyebrows as hers raise in surprise and embarrassment. You slow down and say, "Did you... did you just cum?"

Natasha lets out an exhausted breath and looks at anything but you, until you move her by her chin to look into your eyes. When she sees your eyes, she tears up a bit, "I'm sorry I don't know what's wrong with me! I usually last way longer than that! I wasn't even prepared for it; it just sprang up on me."

She starts to ramble, so you shut her up with a kiss and when you pull away you chuckle softly, "Natty baby, I don't know why you came so fast, but I'll bet you it has something to do with the fact that this spell makes you feel things you've never felt before huh?"

She nods her head, and you smile, "Do you want to keep going or do you want to stop?"

She frowns and says, "I want you to cum."

You smile and shake your head, "That's not what I asked darling, I asked about you."

She thinks about it, and then a nasty thought pops into her brain, and she says, "I wanna keep going."

So, you nod your head, and keep moving and grinding on her, this time she makes it about five minutes before the same thing happens.

You become beyond confused as it looks like she just came again. Once she calms down, you tentatively ask, "Did you just... again?"

Her eyes widen and her face turns redder than her hair. She tears up a bit and tries to shove you off of her to inevitably run off and hide from her embarrassment, but you push on her hips, and she moans again. She still tries to get away, so you cut her thoughts off with soft tone saying, "Darling, don't worry, it's okay if you did, you know? It is a new sensation, and it is normal to have a crazy reaction to it."

She previously covered her red face with her hands to hide, so you carefully pull her hands down and smile at her small frame. "Tasha, why are you hiding from me?"

She finally cracks and says, "Because! That was so embarrassing! I've never finished that fast! So, I am embarrassed because I didn't even get to last long enough to have fun, and don't even mention the fact that you didn't get anything out of it!"

You pout at her with fake pity, "Oh darling," You brush her already sweaty hair out of her face and clench your pussy on her strap making her moan at the feeling, "You don't have to worry about that, trust me, we are going to have fun all night. You'll be begging me to stop."

She timidly nods her head, and you say, "Is that okay?"

She nods and says, "I really want to keep going."

You smile and nod your head, but before you can start riding her again, she pulls you off of her swiftly and flips you over on your hands and knees, slipping right back into your wet cunt.

She leans over to whisper in your ear, "I'm gonna fuck this pussy so hard."

You can only moan in response because she's already thrusting deep and hard into your insides. You consider giving in to her and letting her take over, but you already made your mind up ahead of time and she is not getting in your way. So, with a flick of your wrist, she is flipped over, and ropes appear and tie themselves around her wrists.

You crawl up to her as the pink glimmers fade from your eyes, and shake your head, "Thought you could get away with it huh?"

She doesn't answer and you slap her breast making her jerk and yelp out, "I asked you a question, didn't I?"

She meekly nods her head, and you say, "Then I expect you to answer it."

She nods her head again and you say, "Don't make me ask again."

"Yes! I thought I could get away with it! Please daddy!"

You bite your lip at the power trip you're getting from this, but you make sure to soften up and check on Nat knowing she only uses 'daddy' when she's extra sensitive, "I want you to use the color system just like always, okay? Can you tell me a color?"

She doesn't even hesitate before saying, "Yes! Green, please daddy!"

A sigh falls from your lips at hearing that and you nod your head. "Okay baby, you know I'm not gonna be nice to you right?"

She whimpers and nods her head closing her eyes to center herself. You smirk and flip her over, making the dildo hit the bed when you push her hips down on the bed.

She moans out and you lean forward, your lips brushing softly over the shell of her ear, and you whisper, "Do not cum."

Her eyes widen and she shakes her head knowing she's already sensitive from previous orgasms, and she whines out, "No! Please daddy!"

You chuckle at her desperation and say, "If you're good tonight, I'll find a spell to make it so that you can cum in me too."

She shudders at the thought of being able to "breed" you and both of you feel it, so regardless of how much she already wants to cum, she nods her head and takes a breath to prepare herself.

Right before you are about to start, she yelps out, "Wait!"

You freeze in worry that she doesn't want this anymore, so you pause and look to her and let her speak. Her words come out the first time a quiet jumbled mess so you say, "What was that babe?"

She looks over her shoulder and says a little louder this time, "Can I hold a pillow?"

You think about it for a moment, and ultimately decide that if you're not going to comfort her until after, she might as well have something else to find comfort in, so you nod your head and she grabs a pillow. Once she is situated you wait for her queue and when she nods her head you begin to massage her ass a bit before pulling back and landing a harsh slap on her butt.

Natasha's hips jerk away from your hand, and in turn makes her strap rut against the bed stimulating her. She lets out a mix between a moan and a groan because she feels good, but she also knows you put limitations on her.

You continue your assault on her now red and pink ass, and the lewd sounds that are emitting from Nat's throat are making you more wet than you'd like to admit.

You slap her ass again, and she starts to uncontrollably hump the mattress, and you won't allow her to cum without asking so you grab her hips and lift them from the bed before she can stimulate herself any further. She groans and pleads, "Please. ugh please I need it!"

You simply chuckle and shake your head, "Need it so bad you're willing to give up cumming for a week?"

Her eyes widen at that threat and she whimpers knowing she might not be able to hold back since the last two came out of nowhere, but you lay her back down and say, "two more, then you can cum again."

She nods her head, crossing her fingers that she makes it, and out of nowhere the second to last slap is let out on her skin. It is way harder than all the others, so in turn, it makes Nat almost forget about what you said. Almost.

You hum and rub her ass tenderly, not letting her know when the last one is coming, and the second she whimpers again you pull back and hit her ass so hard it has her shoving her hips back into you.

She catches her breath and rolls around. You tell her to hold still as you are about to disenchant the strap, but Nat says, "Wait, baby, what are you doing?"

You furrow your brows and say, "I thought you said you were done after this orgasm?"

She nods and says, "I held it, I wanna cum with you on my cock."

Her eyes are so sweet and soft you simply can't refuse, so you let her win this time, riding her cock until the both of you come, and then you end up just laying together in a moment of tenderness.

"I love you detka."

"I love you too Natty, I'm glad you liked the surprise."

"Oh, I loved it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Masterlist

Taglist

@ilovesnat @ihartnat @marvelnatasha12346 @moistblobfish @justarandomreaderxoxo @lovelyy-moonlight @symp4nat @ale-estrabao

Comment to be added to the taglist!!! I have a list of prompts coming out after this :)))

A/N: I hope y'all liked it!!! (Did you catch my Love and Death reference???) Also, I apologize for the rushed ending, I really needed to get this out.

[punkshort]

Chapter warnings: explicit smut (MDNI), perhaps some slight dubcon, language

Chapter Fifteen

Pairing: Joel x F!Reader, pre-outbreak and post outbreak

AU (the only thing I kept was the outbreak, Joel, and Tommy's characters. Joel's backstory is different, and the way he finds Jackson is different. I may include Ellie one day, I just haven't planned that far)

Fic Summary: You worked for Joel and Tommy a few months before the outbreak. The outbreak happens, and you and Joel get stuck traveling the country and keeping each other safe. Neither of you spoke about the feelings you had for one another pre-outbreak, and in a post-apocalyptic world, it seems like survival should be your only focus. But feelings can't be ignored forever.

Fic tags: Explicit Smut (18+ MDNI), Smut, Language, Canon-Typical Violence, Alcohol Use, Age Difference (Reader is 10 years younger than Joel), slow burn, mutual pining, angst, trauma, SA referencing later but I will put a big warning on those chapters

May 2004

You jumped and snapped your eyes open when you felt his fingers brush against your cheek. The moon was completely covered by clouds, making it difficult to see your own hand in front of your face. You looked around in the darkness, hearing the crickets and bullfrogs sing from a nearby pond. You sat up in your sleeping bag, rubbing your eyes and yawning.

"Hey," Joel whispered to you, stroking your cheek again. "Your turn." You nodded, even though you were fairly certain he couldn't see you, and unzipped your sleeping bag so you could stand. He put his hand inside yours to help pull you off the forest floor, his eyes more adjusted to the darkness than your own. He handed you the rifle as you rolled your shoulders, trying to wake your body up.

"You good?" he asked, whispering again.

"Yeah," you replied softly, "just more tired than I thought. Go get some sleep." You turned to head a few feet away to the edge of the trees, finding a broken stump to perch on and observe your surroundings as your eyes became more focused. You heard Joel rustling in his sleeping bag as he got comfortable, and then it was silent, except for the soft hum of wildlife around you.

You've been walking for a few weeks, making camp only in the density of the woods, not yet having found any place suitable enough to spend a few nights and recuperate. You were both exhausted from only getting a few hours of sleep each night, not nearly enough for either of you considering how many miles you walked in any given day. The forests were hilly, the was terrain soft and uneven, requiring more effort than usual from your bodies, slowing you down quite a bit. Joel figured you were headed in the direction of Omaha, but he wanted to steer clear of the city proper, so you were trying to keep a path that was further south, closer to the Missouri border.

After the cruel invasion of your little paradise, Joel had speculated that the men who came that day were part of a larger group, likely connected to the men you killed in the parking ramp. He told you at the time he found it odd that all of the sudden some people stumbled upon your little neighborhood when you had been there for several weeks, completely untouched. That the only thing that made sense was they tracked you back to your home, looking for revenge. It scared you to think someone out there had a vendetta against you, that it could cost your lives, but Joel assured you being so far removed from civilization now kept you safe. However, he still insisted on taking turns keeping watch at night, so you wondered just how truthful he was being.

You sighed as you listened to the crickets chirp in the darkness. Joel had left behind the two car batteries he wanted to use for the CB radio, and he mentioned once you found another small town or highway that he wanted to go looking for another one. You knew he was right, that you couldn't continue to live off the land forever, just the two of you. That the chances of finding Tommy were slim to none. And Joel was adamant about staying far away from any QZ. So, the only option left was to find another group of people who you could trust, and he was hoping to find that with his radio.

You patrolled the tree line every 10 minutes or so, not because it was necessary, but because it helped keep you awake You always glanced down at Joel's sleeping face when you passed by him. You were so close to having everything you wanted: the safety of a secluded home with the man you loved. You weren't sure when you realized it, but once you did, it was like you always knew. You kept it to yourself for now. It was the wrong time to bring it up. Maybe once you found someplace safe, someplace semi-permanent, you would tell him how you felt. He didn’t need the distraction right now.

You sat back down on the stump and watched as the sky slowly brightened through the lush tree trunks, then over the tops of the trees before the sun finally peeked through and birds began to sing, making you squint and readjust yourself so you weren't facing the light head-on. You looked back at Joel, still asleep based on the slow rise and fall of his shoulder. Knowing that the extra rest would do him good, you quietly got to work taking out the small kettle and can of coffee, gently removing two mugs from your backpack so they didn't clatter and make noise. There was a small stream nearby where you filled the kettle, as well as your canteens. Resting them next to you on the ground, you got to work starting a fire. It wasn't until Joel smelled the scent of coffee in your mugs that he stirred and turned over, glancing up at the sun in the sky before looking at you, his brows furrowed.

"Shoulda woke me sooner," he mumbled, his voice thick with sleep. You reached a mug out in his direction, and he took it from you gratefully, cradling it in both his hands before bringing it to his lips. You took a sip from your own mug before leaning back against a tree.

"You needed the sleep," you told him as he took another sip. "We've been hiking so much, you need to take care of yourself." He met your eyes over the rim of his mug, giving you a smirk before taking a big swig of coffee.

"What?" you asked him, raising an eyebrow. You put your mug on the ground to fish out some granola and a can of fruit. You tossed the items to Joel and leaned back to rest against your tree. He shook his head at you before ripping into the granola package.

"Nothin'," he said, keeping his eyes down on the food, "I was just thinkin', I prefer the way you take care of me..." you smiled, thinking it was such a sweet thing to say before he added, "in more ways than one."

Joel's eyes shot up to yours now, the surprise apparent on your face. The past few weeks have shifted you both into survival mode. Neither of you had attempted to be physical with one another, except for a quick kiss here or a squeeze of a hand there, an unspoken agreement that being out in the woods was dangerous and you needed to be alert. You blushed and looked down at your mug, feeling shy and taken off guard.

When he saw your reaction, he got up from his sleeping bag to come sit next to you, then tilted your chin up with his finger.

"You havin' second thoughts about us?" he asked, wanting it to come off as a joke, but as soon as he said the words, he realized he needed to know the answer.

You gave him a confused frown. Instead of answering, you put your mug down and flipped your leg over his so you were straddling him. Putting your hands on his shoulders, you leaned down and pressed your lips against his mouth, wrapping one hand around his neck to pull him in deeper. He groaned and you took advantage, sliding your tongue alongside his while his hands gripped your waist. He let his head fall back gently against the tree trunk, running his hands up and down your back before resting them on your hips, pushing you down to grind against his cock, still hard from waking up.

You moaned, flipping your head in the other direction and swirling your tongue around his, tasting the crystallized black coffee in his mouth, and tightening the grip you had on his shoulder. Joel began lightly lifting his hips from the ground to rub against you while his kisses became messier. You had to force yourself back to break the contact before things escalated. He whined, trying to chase your mouth with his, but you dodged him, gently pushing his chest so he rested against the tree trunk again.

He looked up at you, his gaze dark and needy, panting softly as he tried to catch his breath.

“Why would you ask me that?” you said, refusing to respond to his hips still grinding into you.

“I don’t know, sweetheart. Guess it’s been a while and it got me wonderin’ if you came to your senses.” He said, his eyes raking down your body and watching the slow roll of his hips against yours.

“What do you mean?” you asked, trying your hardest to stay focused and not let him distract you.

“Y’know,” he shrugged, still looking down at your hips, “that you realized you deserve better.”

He said it so casually, so matter-of-factly, like anyone in the world would understand, that it made your chest ache. You pushed your hips down firmly, pinning him to the ground so he couldn’t continue rubbing himself against your core, and gripped his chin firmly in your fingers, pulling his surprised gaze up to yours.

“Do you really believe that?” you asked, and all he could do was nod, still staring deep into your eyes. You let go of his chin and placed your hands on his shoulders.

“Listen to me,” you began, making sure he was paying attention. “You are all that I want. You are all that I ever wanted. You’ve consumed my every waking thought for the past year, and you think I ‘deserve better’?” You leaned down to press a firm kiss on his lips before murmuring against his mouth. “There is no better than you. You’re perfect.” He shook his head, averting his gaze.

“I’m far from perfect. I fuck everything up, I piss everyone off, and –“ you cut him off, refusing to hear any more.

“I love you, Joel.”

His eyes shot up to yours. All you could hear was the buzzing of insects surrounding you in the woods and the occasional squirrel bouncing in the treetops. You held your breath, waiting for a reaction as he stared at you, his face giving nothing away. You shifted on his lap a little, beginning to feel exposed.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to tell you that now, I don’t want to distract you, but –“ Suddenly, Joel sprung forward and pushed you back into the sharp bed of pine needles on the forest floor and covered you with his body as he plunged his tongue into your mouth with a greater sense of urgency than before, his hand tangling in your hair. You were having trouble keeping pace with the unexpected response, so you resigned yourself to laying there with your hands on his jaw and waist while he feasted on your mouth in a frenzy. He broke the kiss, leaning back and swiped mindlessly at your shirt, trying to unbutton it but his fingers wouldn’t cooperate. You moved his hands away so he wouldn’t tear the buttons off and ruin the flannel, undoing them quickly and leaving the shirt open but still covering your breasts while he yanked at the zipper on your jeans, pulling them over your hips desperately.

“Joel,” you gasped, looking around the forest as he pulled your jeans all the way off. “We should wait, we should find a safe place, we can’t – oh!” your back arched off the ground when you felt his tongue lick a stripe all the way from your folds to your clit. He focused his mouth on your bundle of nerves, sucking it into his mouth before traveling back down to your center and darting his tongue inside you, moaning when you clenched around him. The vibrations made your jaw hang open, a silent scream on your lips as you rocked yourself up and down to the rhythm he set, the scruff of his beard making the sensation on your cunt so intense it was making you see stars. He brought his mouth back up as he inserted one finger inside you, then two, while his tongue swirled around your clit. He must have noticed your reaction to the vibrations from his voice because he moaned against you over and over until you grabbed at his hair and pulled, stifling a scream as you came, still hyper aware you were exposed in the middle of the woods.

Joel slowed his pace as you came down, removing his fingers from your pussy and popping them in his glistening mouth with a smirk. You gasped for air as you watched him, still unsure how he managed to get you in this position so quickly. You glanced at the trees around you again, making sure no infected or people were nearby, before your gaze landed back on Joel right as he was pushing his jeans down past his knees, freeing his cock and fisting himself as he looked at you.

“This is too risky,” you whispered to him, but he shook his head.

“Don’t care,” he replied, bending down to push his lips against your mouth, tasting yourself as he ran his tongue alongside yours. You whined as he pulled back so he could line himself up with your entrance, applying the slightest bit of pressure before he let go and fell back on his arms to hover above you. He flicked your flannel open, revealing your breasts to him, and he brought a hand up to gently caress one in his palm, rolling a nipple between his fingers. You squirmed below him, desperate now to feel him inside.

“Say it again,” he commanded, giving you a look you had only seen given to colleagues in meetings, a look that meant he was not fucking around.

“I-I love you,” you stammered, unable to look away from his heated gaze. His eyes fluttered shut and he groaned, then in one swift motion, pushed his throbbing cock into you, making you squeeze your eyes shut and bite back a cry as your cunt fluttered around him, trying to adjust to his size. He hardly gave you any time to acclimate before his hips were thrusting into you steadily. Not too fast, but not the slow, languid thrusts he gifted you the first time you slept together. You gripped his back, your nails digging into his muscle as his pace increased, his gasps and groans absorbed by your throat where his mouth rested. He brought his hand down to grab your knee and pulled it up to your chest like before, causing a small cry to escape your lips as the angle changed to where he could hit that spot deep inside.

“J-Joel,” you stuttered, tears forming in your eyes. “I’m close, I’m gonna – oh, god, fuck -  I’m gonna,” you shut your eyes, unable to finish your sentence as you felt the wave of euphoria begin to rise.

“Say it one more time,” he grunted, his jaw clenched as he slammed into you, watching your face closely. “Say it again when you come on my cock.”

“I love you,” you whimpered softly as you felt that familiar wave wash over you and you stilled under him, tilting your head back with your eyes squeezed shut and mouth agape as you tried your best to be quiet. Joel’s movements became unsteady as he watched you come undone. The sight, combined with your admission, made him so lost in the moment that he almost forgot to pull out, spilling himself with a harsh grunt all over your thighs and the pine needles underneath you at the last second.

“Fuck,” he whispered, gasping for breath as he looked down at his seed painting your legs before tipping his head backwards towards the sky, trying to get ahold of himself.

You gripped at the edges of your flannel, pulling it shut as he kneeled between your legs, head still tilted back. You took another cursory glance around you before settling back on him, his eyes closed, and his head now slumped forward. You didn’t mean for the words to slip out, but you sensed in that moment of insecurity he needed the confirmation. You knew it was too soon, that you shouldn’t expect a response, but you were still embarrassed. You closed your eyes, regret invading your mind, as you waited for him to get up so you could clean yourself. Then you felt a cloth gently sweeping across your thighs, and you looked down to see he had fished a rag out of his jeans. He tossed it to the side and then looked at you, your eyes finally meeting once again. You grew uncomfortable under his gaze and began shifting your eyes around, hoping he would stand so you could pull your pants back up, feeling way too open.

“I love you, too,” he said softly, like he was reading your mind, and your eyes darted back to his immediately. You bit your lip to hold back a smile, but he saw it, and a grin spread over his face. He reached down to pull your underwear and jeans back up, and you lifted your hips so you could zip your pants before getting to work on buttoning your flannel.

You sat up and reached for your coffee, now cold in your mug, but you didn't care. You both sat in a comfortable silence sipping from your mugs, his arm draped around your shoulders. If you closed your eyes and focused, you could pretend you were sitting on the front porch of the white house with blue shutters, enjoying your morning coffee together in peace.

You were standing watch on a small highway that curved through the forest while Joel rummaged through a cluster of abandoned cars, checking under the hoods for a useable battery. You looked up and down the road, seeing nothing but a few squirrels and birds swooping down to peck at the ground. You turned back to check on him, smiling as Joel's face scrunched in concentration, twisting the knobs on the transceiver before holding the microphone up to his ear. He smirked, his features relaxing, before looking up at you.

"I got static," he told you, twisting the knobs again before cupping the receiver around his ear. He looked at the terrain around you before shutting the radio off and shoving both items in his pack, handing you a few of his things so he could make room. He zipped his backpack up and slung it around his shoulders, squinting at the trees again.

"We gotta get out of these hills, won't get much of a signal up here, too much blocking it," he explained, spreading his arm out to indicate the thick forest around you. He looked back down at you now, your brows furrowed with worry. He bent down to capture his lips over yours, massaging them gently before pulling away and using his thumb to smooth the frown from your forehead.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. I'm gonna find us somewhere safe. Maybe even find us a house one day," he murmured, running his thumb over your lower lip before letting his hand fall to his side, dropping his head down to give you a reassuring look. You smiled back at him as you followed him down the road, leading you out of the hills and through the trees. You knew he was trying his best, but you were still worried about being around other people. So far, your interactions have not been very positive, and your trust in strangers was quickly waning. But you trusted Joel, and you knew he wouldn't lead you anywhere that was unsafe, so you carried on and followed him down the road. After a few hours, you found yourselves overlooking the edge of a huge cliff, leaning up against the guardrail to admire the tall pine trees below.

"Wow," you muttered, glancing down before taking a tentative step backwards. "We're higher up than I thought."

Joel was digging in his pack to pull the battery and radio out, tuning the dials to see if he could pick anything up. All you heard was static. You turned around to face the road, kicking a small stone and watching it skip across the pavement. You noticed the shadow of a bird fly over the road, and you glanced up to see a big hawk circling overhead, no doubt hunting for some lunch. You shrugged your pack from your shoulders and rummaged around for some beef jerky and dried fruit, listening to Joel mutter to himself as he turned the dials. Perching on a big rock, you took a bite of food and swiveled your head around, making sure the coast was still clear. You nearly choked on your dried peach when you heard a broken voice come through on the radio, your eyes shooting up to meet each other in shock.

You jumped down from the rock, your meal forgotten, as you jogged over to where he was crouched and bent down to try to make out the message. After a few minutes with no success, only able to make out a word or two, Joel turned the radio off and repacked it, sliding the backpack over his shoulders.

"We gotta keep moving, maybe the further down we go, we can pick up a better signal. C'mon," he said excitedly, turning to walk down the road as you ran back to snatch up your bow, pack and your bag of food, pushing the anxiety from your mind.

He kept pulling the radio back out every half hour or so, trying to see if the signal was clearer before continuing forward. It was getting late, you could see the sun glowing orange as it dipped below the trees. You were tired. Your feet and back hurt, and you weren't far enough into the forest to make a safe campsite.

"Joel?" You called out to him, ten feet ahead, mind still focused on the radio call. "Joel?" You tried again, louder this time. He swiveled around to you, his forehead creased.

"We gotta stop soon, find a place to set up camp," you said, peering through the forest which was quickly becoming dark.

"Just a little further, I think if we make it past this next bend in the road, I might be able to hear it," he said, turning back around before you stopped him, saying his name more firmly now, becoming frustrated.

"We can try tomorrow, c'mon, I'm tired," you said, your eyes pleading. He sighed and looked around for the first time, realizing how quickly it was becoming dark.

"Ok, let's go," he huffed, leading you into the woods. It was worrying you how fixated he was becoming on this radio call, like it was the answer to his prayers. Joel was quiet and lost in thought as he set up camp, hardly sparing a glance your way until he volunteered to take first watch. He picked up his rifle and headed a few yards out, clutching his flashlight in his hand and anxiously tapping his foot on the ground.

"Joel?" you said quietly, walking up behind him. He turned briefly to look at you before turning his attention back to the trees. "Can we talk about this?" you questioned hesitantly.

"What about it?" he replied gruffly, still turned away.

"I just want to manage your expectations; it might not be what you think it is. It could be a trap, or it could be the military. We don't know -" Joel cut you off, turning around to face you, his gaze dark.

"You don't wanna do this." He meant it to sound like a question, but it was more of a statement, like he already knew the answer. "I get it. We've had some bad run-ins, but we gotta try. We can't keep wanderin' around forever, and I ain't gettin' stuck in a QZ." His jaw ticked in frustration, wishing you would get on board with this plan.

"Remind me again why we don't want to go to a QZ," you retorted, narrowing your eyes at him. He sighed and rolled his eyes, your point proven. People are capable of terrible things.

"Yeah, I know, but we gotta believe there's some good out there. We need a community, people to help build a life again," he pleaded, reaching an arm out to you. You paused before reluctantly placing your hand in his palm, but you still refused to step towards him. He gave your hand a gentle tug and brought you forward to wrap his arms around you, kissing the crown of your head.

"Do you trust me?" he asked you, his lips pressed against the top of your head. You nodded before pushing away from him to head back to your sleeping bag, but not before calling over your shoulder, "You better be right, Miller."

He smirked and turned back towards the dense forest as you buried yourself inside your sleeping bag, the sounds of crickets lulling you to sleep.

The next day was rainy as you made your way further down the hill. Joel took mercy on you and waited until he had found a spot that was covered with some trees so you weren't standing in the pouring rain while he tested the radio. He knew you were concerned about what this next phase could bring, that you missed the little neighborhood you were forced to leave so suddenly. He didn't share with you his real reason for his obsession with finding a safe haven. Ever since you had to leave the house in a rush a few weeks ago, his anxiety has been borderline unmanageable. All he could focus on was what would have happened if it wasn't storming, if he didn't come back to the house exactly when he did. There had been too many close calls in the past few months, and he was realizing his ability to keep you safe would only get worse with age. The thought of putting you in harm’s way was eating him alive and keeping him up at night. Sometimes, he could feel his anxiety creeping up so badly that his chest began to ache, and his breathing became irregular. He didn't want to worry you and he knew you would just argue that you could defend yourself, so he kept these thoughts to himself and just focused on finding someplace permanent to live.

He got the radio to the right frequency when he finally heard the message clearer than he had the day before. You turned your head to stare at the radio as you heard the recording of a woman's voice say there was safety to be found at the Kansas City University dormitories, that there was a small group of survivors there welcoming all others. It gave directions on which dorm they were residing in before the recording stopped, then the message started over after about 20 seconds of silence.

He listened to it twice before turning it off, avoiding your stare as he packed the radio back in his bag. You remained silent. You expressed your concerns yesterday, there wasn't much point in repeating it. Joel took his map out to double check the route before continuing down the road to hook up with I-29. You walked in silence in the heavy rain for hours until you found an overpass to hide under and eat.

You kept your gaze focused on your food, fuming silently to yourself. Of course the message said exactly what he wanted to hear. You felt like you were the only one thinking logically, that maybe these people were already dead, or they were trying to lure you into a trap to steal your weapons and food. It was unlike Joel to be so willing to walk into a potentially dangerous situation like this, and you were starting to get angry.

"Alright, out with it," he said, feeling the tension and clearly annoyed.

"I don't know what you're talking about," you replied flatly, your eyes still fixed on your food.

"Don't play games with me," he said, his voice raising a bit. Why couldn't you see this was the best option? Why couldn't you just understand?

Pissed, you flicked your empty bag of food on the ground and stood up to glare at him, nostrils flaring.

"I already told you, Joel. I'm scared this isn't what you think it is. Why would they broadcast their location like that? Anybody could run up on them and steal their shit, kill them all. That doesn't cross your mind as strange?" you said through clenched teeth. He stood up now, his anger setting in. "What the hell's going on with you? Weren't you the one who told me not to be naive? Not everyone's telling the truth?"

"'What the hell's goin' on with me?'" He repeated, his fist clenched at his side. "I'll tell you what's goin' on with me. I'm fuckin' scared! I hardly know what I'm doin' out here, and I'm scared to death I'm gonna get you killed. Is that what you want to hear?" he yelled. He could feel his chest begin to tighten again but he ignored it. "And don't go tellin' me you can take care of yourself, I know you can, but there's too much at stake. If I lose you, it'll fuckin' kill me, do you get that?!" He grabbed your arms and gave you a shake, his outburst surprising you.

You stared at each other as his words settled over you. You could see in his eyes that he really was scared, that he was desperate, pleading with you to go through with this. You sighed as you felt the anger begin to dissipate. Maybe there was a compromise. You wriggled out from his grasp and took a step back, his arms falling to his sides.

Joel continued to stare at you, his eyes wide and panicky, determined to convince you. Over his shoulder you picked up some sluggish movement. Your eyes flicked from him to the runner lumbering towards you, his back still turned. You whipped the bow from behind you and grabbed an arrow sticking out of your backpack.

"Move," you muttered as you drew the arrow back. He shifted to the side and turned to see the infected ambling towards him, picking up speed. You lodged an arrow right between its eyes, your arms falling heavy to your side. You hung your head before bringing your chin up to look at him.

"Fine," you succumbed. "On one condition."

"Name it," he said eagerly, his chest relaxing.

"We watch them for a few days, or however long it takes for me to be good with this. We don't just go walking up and knocking on their door." You slung the bow across your back and walked a few feet to pull your arrow from the runner's skull.

"Done," he said, unable to hide the relief in his voice. "If anything feels off, we keep goin'. I promise."

You rolled your eyes, mostly teasing, but still annoyed with him.

"Come on, let's get going. We have to find somewhere to set up camp soon." You turned on your heel and left the cover of the overpass, Joel following shortly behind after a quick glance at his map. The thruway led you both through a massive nature preserve until you had found a small shelter that appeared to be a welcome center for the park. If it weren't for the thruway narrowly carving its way through the dense forest, you would be in the middle of nowhere. You were soaked to the bone and thrilled to find a place with a roof for the night. Joel didn't want to start a fire til the morning, so you had to make do with draping your wet clothes over the counters, hoping they would dry, and putting on layers before tucking yourself into your sleeping bag. Since you weren't as exposed now, Joel didn't think it was necessary to take watch. It would be the first time either of you got to sleep through the night in weeks. You buried your face and turned on your side, but right before you fell asleep, you felt Joel's arm snake around your waist and pull you closer to him across the floor, spooning you through your sleeping bags.

Kansas City, MO

You looked through the rifle scope at the Oak Street dormitory from your perch in a park across Brush Creek. The trees kept you mostly hidden, but you couldn’t get very high to get a good look at the place. Joel was hesitant to venture closer into the city, and you agreed that you felt safer in the confines of a park, surrounded by nature like you had become accustomed. It was your fourth day observing the dorms. You could see some movement through the windows from time to time, but they were smart: they kept their movements to a minimum and kept as many windows as possible covered. You had seen a couple men come outside with assault rifles doing what looked like regular perimeter checks, but aside from that, you hardly saw anyone. You had a pit in your stomach about this. You really hoped that when you got here, something would have convinced you that it was a good decision, that these people were trustworthy, but so far all you could tell was they were very good at staying quiet.

You sighed and leaned back, giving Joel the rifle and rolling your shoulder, tense from hovering over the gun all morning. He peered through the scope but saw the same thing as you, which wasn’t much. He had been patient and didn’t push you, he wanted this to work out so desperately, but he knew you had to come around on your own. You picked at your fingernails as you stared straight ahead past the creek to the building, trying to rationalize why this would be a good idea.

“I don’t know about this, Joel,” you admitted, chewing your lip and still staring at the building. “On one hand, they keep a low profile, but on the other, I can’t get an idea of what we would be dealing with.”

He nodded, his gaze falling to the ground, and he rubbed his chest. He wasn’t sure if you would find another community for a long time, and he was terrified of what could happen by then. You studied his face as he stared at the ground, feeling guilty for being doubtful. You understood his concerns, and you trusted him, but your gut was telling you something was off. You reached your hand out to take his, and he lifted his eyes to look at you questioningly.

“If you think it’s a good idea, I’ll do it,” you told him, stifling the nagging feeling in the back of your mind. His eyes crinkled as his face broke out into a smile, grabbing you and pulling you into a deep kiss, trying to express his gratitude.  You pulled away and held his hand again.

“You can’t leave me alone, though. Not until I feel comfortable. It’s still us or them, right?” you told him, gazing urgently into his eyes, your grip on his hand tightening. He nodded aggressively.

“I won’t leave you, sweetheart. We’re in this together.” He leaned forward and planted another kiss before pulling back and gripping your face in his hands. “This’ll be good, I know it.”

You walked up to the building, unarmed with your hands raised. The area was quiet, you didn’t hear any sounds of infected, gunshots, or people, which put your mind at ease a bit. The door swung open and three men came out, aiming their rifles in your direction.

“Freeze!” one with dark black hair and thick eyebrows shouted. You did as you were told, raising your hands even higher as they approached you. When they got closer, the dark-haired man spoke up.

“What’s your business here?” he asked, eyeing your weapons but not making a move to take them.

“We heard your call over the radio, we’re lookin' for a community, just a couple of survivors.” Joel told them. You continued to stare straight ahead into the dark-haired man’s eyes. He turned his mouth to his shoulder where a walkie talkie was fastened, and he let whoever was on the other end know they had two survivors looking for asylum. He listened to his earpiece and nodded, lowering his weapons.

“You need to hand over your guns, then you can come with us. Meet the leadership. When they deem it acceptable, they’ll give you rooms.” He told you both, reaching his hand out expectantly for your weapons. You glanced at Joel nervously but did as the man said and tossed your knives, bow and handgun on the ground in between you as the two other men scooped them up. You lowered your hands as they ushered you into the building, one skinny man with reddish hair in front of you, leading the way, and the other two behind you, keeping a close eye on your movements.

The man knocked on a door on the second floor, only entering when he heard the acknowledgement from within. The door pushed open and you followed Joel into the room, standing beside him as the two men remained stationed at the door, their eyes still trained on the both of you. The redhead spoke up to a small group of people who were huddled around a desk examining a map.

“These are the two we saw approaching the doors,” he said, stepping aside so the leaders could survey you. You felt Joel stiffen beside you, but you weren’t sure why. There were four older men and one younger blonde woman, who immediately fixed her gaze onto Joel and the corner of her mouth pulled into a smirk. You turned your head to look at Joel, his jaw locked and he was frowning, staring daggers into the blonde woman.

“Joel!” she exclaimed softly, looking back in her direction as you heard him swallow roughly next to you.

“Amy,” he replied coldly, and you felt your stomach drop.

Chapter Sixteen

Tag list: @chiogarza, @sparklejumpropequeen-777, @shotgun-shelby

[omaano]

SW Hades AU August Update

Links and previous updates: May - June - July, everything else in this AU

In contrast to the July update, I didn't make as much progress in August as I'd intended, but all the same I'm quite happy with what I get to share with you here:

In the previous poll I only promised to get Echo and Fives to lines and flat colours by this (more than a bit belated) update, but thanks to @lesquatrechevrons keeping me company while I was working on them I managed to get the Domino Twins character art to a state of "almost finished". (I had posted them as "finished" but that was before I realized that I'd forgotten to add the little specks of neon colour to them, but oh well, I hate that stage anyway XD)

I also did some brainstorming with the amazing @elwinged about all the characters, as well as the various weapons and their aspects for this AU. They had some great theories and ideas, and also made me actively think about these things, which was real fun!

Before I go into some ramblings about what went into Echo and Fives' art and design (gotta pad this update with something, and some of you seemed to enjoy it with Omega last time), let's have another poll for next month! I've looked over my table of characters and plans, and I came to the delightful realization that I've made far better progress than how it feels on a day-to-day basis. So maybe it's time to work a bit on the boon-giver characters for a change:

Also would anyone be interested in a taglist for these updates, or are you all fine with me just putting these out whenever and let tumblr do its thing in getting them to you? (send me an ask or reply here if yes, I know my tumblr is a mess XD)

Now on to some thoughts on Echo and Fives:

Depicted but not illustrated in its fullest is that Rex has been a constant presence next to Echo and Fives (and to Cody, too, previous to that). It bears repeating that I really wanted to make sure that the clones are the same in size, and share as many colours as possible (so Cody also stood around as moral support when it came to Fives' hair). So you can also see how the shading on their faces are very similar in their shapes, except for the shadows in that part where nose, cheek and mouth meet, because I wanted to make the Dominoes look a bit younger.

Same with how Rex still has that wrinkle in his forehead that I oddly fixate on so much (don't ask), but Echo and Fives very clerly don't. I'll claim that it had been a completely conscious decision, and not just time passing between the two designs - well over half a year - during which I got it into my head that I should depict the clones during wartime as close to their barely-20-ish age as possible.

One thing I didn't commit to enough though (because I chickened out) was to make Fives look a bit more "dead" and ghostly before I put the blue-green soft light adjustment layer on him was the deeper and darker circles under his eyes, and I fully intended to leave out the light reflection from his eyes... but in the end I went back and added a duller shine to them because I'm weak, it's barely visible and he looked too grumpy and mean already T^T I also didn't want to make his cheeks more hollow or anything, because then I would just feel bad and weird about taking away the roundness from their shapes that I've worked so hard to put on them.

As I was working on this piece I've also thought a lot on the style that I've been trying to mimic through this project.

The thing that gave me pause is that I see more and more of my own style slipping into these pieces, I allow my lines to round out more... and I can claim that it is mostly because that's the compromise I can make with the clones, but I open up and look at Hades references less and less, and I just go freely with what's stuck in my brain while I'd tried to wrap my mind around the style when I first went at it.

I've also always had trouble with grouping my shadows and shapes, and this is exactly what I should be pushing more from now on forward. I keep letting myself get distracted by all the tiny details that I so enjoy to put into my work (case in point all that scarring on Echo, and even Fives' hair - as well as Cody's previously, but I didn't know how else to convey the texture of their hair in less and larger shapes). Hades character designs always feel so rich with detail, but at the same time they are a lot more streamlined than what I'd do if i let my own instincts and desires run wild. I'll try to work with that in the future!

Last but not least a few words on Echo's armor:

I'm slowly but surely stretching my artistic muscles a little and going a bit off-model for the characters, so I wanted Echo to wear armor that is a mix of his ARC and Bad Batch commando armor. So he's got the old plates on his arms (where he still has one LOL), all the straps and pouches (and both blasters!) and old kama hanging from his belt, as well as the hand print paint (because that is personally very very important to me that he has it). Then, beause I desperately needed some other colour in my characters that's not blue or black or grey, he's got elements of the red and orange paint he wears later in TBB (I really wanted him to have that orange stripe down the middle of his chest piece too, but I couldn't make it work with the handprint :() I'm real happy with this balance, and particularly with the shades of blue in his worn paint ^^

I also really wanted to give him a hand (I'll never not be frustrated at how Echo was kept literally handicapped with only his left hand to shoot and grab things (and people) with. It's good that he'd been an ARC and trained in dual wielding, but in a world where people keep losing their appendages (and sometimes half of their bodies) as if it was np big deal at all, it couldn't have been too difficult to get him a hand!! ANYWAYS. I'd first learned how to draw mechanical prosthetic hands/arms during my time in the Overwatch fandom, and I don't think I could draw them any other way (especially the fingers and the lights showing through in their joints) than how I'd done for Cole Cassidy way back when he still had a different name XD

I know there is a relatively limited way in how and what parts you can use to build up a hand/forearm, but I just cannot unsee it, and I thought I'd share this tidbit fun fact as well XD

I hope you enjoyed these ramblings, and I promise to try and keep to the normal mid-month-ish schedule for September!

[grimm-writings]

May I request a Holm x reader where his sister introduces you to him as an apprentice for spirit care?

where the heart is

…ft! holm x gn! reader

…tags! fluff, meet-cute, mentioned kabru wrecking homes (/lh)

…wc! 930

…notes! i’ve seen your acc around my friend you’re like the head of the holm fanclub in my brain. i have so much respect for ya. i hope i do your man justice!!! 

Knowing your friend as well as you do, you didn’t doubt she would eventually introduce you to her younger brother in due time.  All three of you are elemental spirit researchers, and though the siblings are rather estranged, you hear a thing or two about this ‘Holm’ individual whenever a certain pretty-faced tall-man comes by.

“Who’s Holm?” You one day ask.  Your gnomish friend shrivels up slightly at the question.  She doesn’t normally talk about her family, a bit too estranged from them to really care too much for them.

“My brother.  You heard Kabru, I’m sure,” she answers.

You shake your head.  “Yeah, but who is he?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“I’m curious.”  You smile in a way that sends a shiver up your friend’s spine.  “You know me!”

Since she’d rather not deal with your questioning, she instead arranges through Kabru to introduce you both.  Your incessant ramblings of how he must be a talented researcher if he makes use of spirits in adventuring, and how you’d like to study under him made her blood boil.  This is the only way she’ll find respite.

You’d spot Holm instantly in a tavern – he looks similar enough to his sister after all – and put on your best, brightest smile.  Beside you, your friend adjusts her glasses to deadpan you.

“Don’t get your hopes up about this apprenticeship thing,” she advises.

You reach out to pat her cheek, tutting.  “Oh, don’t worry your pretty little head!  I’ll only be an hour, and so much can happen in that time!”

Leaving your friend to scrunch up her face in disgust at your delight at getting your way, you’d skip away to introduce yourself to Holm.

Names are exchanged, and you and the gnome shake hands.  Gosh, now that you’re here, you can feel your nerves start to catch up to you.  Holm seems easy–going enough, a little less prickly than his sister, but still witty enough to catch you out with jokes you wouldn’t expect.

“You study elemental spirits, and utilise them in dungeons, right?”  You call upon previous knowledge of the gnome across from you.  “That sounds fascinating!  How do you do it so easily?”

Holm lazily grins at you, endearment crossing his expression at how interested you seem to be.  Whether it’s interest in him or his study, he seems flattered.  “Spirit care comes easy.  It’s like raising a pet.  I had Marillier, an undine, in my care since she’s just a little droplet.  With time and trust, calling upon an elemental spirit’s help comes easy.”

“Ooh, how wise!”  You clasp your hands together.  “You’d make a great teacher, Holm.  Ever thought of taking in an apprentice?”

Holm tilts his head.  “Ah, interested, are you?”

Knowing you’d been caught, you simply smile at Holm with a bit of sheepishness.  “Is that so bad?  Your sister hardly mentioned you, but you seem so intelligent!  I should thank that Kabru man for letting me know of your existence!”

At the mention of his sister and party leader meeting, Holm frowns.  “They’re still meeting, eh?  Nothing too suggestive going on between them, I hope?”

Even when filled with a slight sense of disgust, you can’t help but find him cute.  Haaahhh, this will be the death of you!

“Don’t worry,” you reassure, “he merely comes over for tea sometimes.”

You neglect to leave out the type of letters she’d be writing to him.  That’s a bit much for what you consider a first date.

Holm heaves a sigh of relief, reaching up to twirl his hair.  “Thank goodness for that…”

The conversation continues, the two of you getting along like a house on fire, until Holm’s sister comes by to pick you up an hour later.

Just before you say your goodbyes, you perk up.  “Oh!”  Turning to Holm one final time you smile.  “Sorry, but I didn’t get your answer on that apprenticeship idea?”

Holm ponders on this for a few seconds, almost freezing in place at your sudden question.  A long few moments pass, and your friend was just about to speak up when Holm shyly interrupts.

“I don’t think I can take you on as an apprentice… I think I’d prefer a more personal relationship with you, if that’s alright…”

The answer, even if it wasn’t the outcome you predicted, fills you with happiness unlike any other nevertheless.  You graciously thank Holm, turning to your friend with a wicked grin, reacting in shock at the fact you’re just inviting yourself into her family.

“Ah–” Holm says.  “Before you go…”

“Yes?”  You face the gnome again, blinking curiously.

He takes a few moments to gather himself, before asking, “would you like to join me for dinner tomorrow evening?  I’m free, so…”

“I’d be honoured!”  You don’t even hesitate to reply.  You can sense your friend’s disgust even without looking at her.

Holm smiles with relief.  “Thank you.  I’ll meet you outside this tavern again…?”

“Yes!”  You nod eagerly.  “I’d even bring along some of my own notes if you’d like to compare!”

“Ah, a study date?”  Holm perks up slightly.  “Yes, I’d like that a lot…”

“I’m still here, you know,” Holm’s sister dryly butts in.  With some apologies, she finally drags you away from her brother, grumbling that this must be how he feels about her flame…

You giggle at her reaction once you walk outside.  “Oh, don’t be like that!”  You whine.  “Aren’t you happy to have me be a part of your home?”

“You better not!”

You blissfully ignore her scolding.  Yes, a successful venture indeed.

[asteriastarr]

Could you do a deuce x human reader where her family is kinda chaotic. It can go anyway you want ily

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THANK-YOU FOR THE REQUEST ANON!!!! So like idk how good this one is but it's like kinda long and uh I may do a part 2 because omg this request gave me sm ideas. Also the only reason I gave reader 8 siblings is because big families are usually the most chaotic. Anyways I hope you enjoy! Ly! (Also i did a dif thing here where I made the tense 2nd person to try it out cus thats what a lot of people on here use, tell me what you guys think!)

POV: Deuce meeting his Human!girlfriends family.

“Before you meet my family, you should probably know that they’re a bit… chaotic…”

That is what you had warned him of before he came to have dinner with your family, while he wasn’t completely sure what you had meant by that he was sure he could handle whatever it was (Like- what could possibly be more chaotic than the fact he was a gorgon that literally went to a boarding school for monsters). Besides- he was determined to make a good impression on your parents, while you knew and were… mostly, okay with the… scaled situation, your family didn’t. He had to make this good impression now because he knew he couldn’t exactly hide it forever and he’d rather your family liked him when they do find out.

You didn’t talk much about your family, the only thing he really knew was the fact you had eight siblings, most of them twins and that you were the middle child and the only one who wasn’t a twin (hence why you were the only one with your own room). Deuce knocked on the door and after hearing what sounded like arguing was greeted by your smiling face.

“Hey, Deuce!” You greet, gently reaching up to adjust his beanie to ensure the snakes were covered “Come in!” You grab his hand and guide him inside. “You’re a bit early but we can just like- hang out in my room for a bit until dinn-” You began before being cut off by your younger brother running in front of you.

“Who’s this?” He asked “Is he your boyfriend”

“No, he’s my long-lost twin brother.” You said sarcastically trying to move past him.

“No, he’s not! You don’t have a twin! And besides his hair is green, you don’t have green hair!” Your brother exclaimed, “Wait, why is his hair green?”

“Because he’s secretly the Joker.” You stated, finally managing to move past your younger brother “Now, leave us alone you little brat.”

“I’m telling mom you said that!” He exclaimed.

“Go ahead! I’ll just tell her that you got suspended for a week for punching a kid and didn’t even tell her.” You retort pulling Deuce up the stairs before being stopped again by two of your younger sisters Valentina and Valeria.

“Y/n have you seen Jinx?” Valentina asked.

“No, and if Mom finds out you let that snake out of its terrarium again, you’re going to be in huge trouble.” You warned.

“What about Cookie? Have you seen Cookie?” Valeria asked teary-eyed.

“No, I haven’t but if I see it in my room again, I swear- I’m going to squish it.” You threatened.

“But Y/nnn-” Valeria whined before apparently finally noticing Deuce “Does Mom know you have your boyfriend over?”

“Yes, she does actually, now leave us alone please.” You hissed, trying to manoeuvre past them.

“His hair is weird,” Valentina commented.

“So is yours and you don’t see him commenting on it.” You snapped, pushing past them and finally entering your room.

You sigh as both you and Deuce sit on your bed.

“Your siblings seem nice,” Deuce commented as you scoffed.

“You don’t have to lie Deuce, they’re annoying.” You spoke.

“No, they uh- seem, sweet.” He said as you moved your head to lay it in his lap.

“Awe, aren’t you naïve.” You said, lifting your head to press a kiss on his lips.

[visndcaitswhore]

Amavi || Ch.2

That day Gabrielle conveniently lost her cigarettes, and she acted like the entire time she was supposed to be studying, she wasn't throwing glances at the closed window across from her every 2 minutes while tapping her leg nervously. To the point where her mom had to shout at her from downstairs because they could hear her heel thumbing on the wooden floor through the ceiling to the living room.

Her mind was racing about how to approach this when she just decided to wing it and go with the flow. She locked her door, buttoned up her shirt, which she usually had a bit too open when in the comfort of her room, and grabbed a matchbox on one hand and a tiny rock on the other before making her way to the window.

Gabrielle noticed the lights were on. Then again, she would wake him up even if they weren't. When the peddle hit the window, it made a sound. Not too loud, not too quiet to go unnoticed by the boy inside the room. Still, he took his sweet time to answer, and Gabrielle was left glaring at his curtains, head propped up on her fist, till he finally opened them.

He must have been sleeping or was simply tired. Those were her first thoughts and the first thing she noticed about him. Aside from the white patch over his left eye, It wasn't that bad, but it was different. Kind of made her sad. Not that it changed his face that much; it could've been worse.

"Finally. I thought you died," she remarked, opting to ignore the subject for now. There is no need to be soft and make things weird.

He flipped her off, and she smiled, knowing her decision was the correct one. "Toss a few."

He fished a few out of his pocket. "Two?"

"Four." He paused and gave her a look, making her shrug. "I run out."

"You never give me more than three," he pointed out, still focused on the cigaretes in his hand. Gabrielle watched him, remembering that her father used to have a friend who had lost his eye, and he couldn't really focus on objects for a while. He would try to grab something, but he could only grab air. It was something he got used to after adjusting.

"Next time, I'll give you five." She looked at the matchbox in her hand, reading the words she had written on it: "Plus, I have a gift for you."

She was aware it wouldn't do Michele any good, but something about him not being confident, even when he is being an asshole, and locking himself in his room made her uncomfortable. Maybe because he was never meant to be quiet, even when they were younger, he was full of life. It may not seem like it at first, but he was one of the few people she knew who was unafraid to live the way he wanted. Maybe she admired him for it, or maybe she craved that quality of his to stay in her life.

His quietness unnerved her. She was the quiet one; her quiet was familiar. That's why they had been friends, she thinks. She was quiet, and he never misunderstood that. He didn't misunderstand her loudness, either. She returned the favor, knowing that's just how Joseph was—he could bite.

Biting was something they both knew how to do. Heck, she was worse than him, blowing up and lashing out like a second language. Bruised knuckles and bloody noses brought her comfort, in a way.

So, late-night smoke breaks were needed. For both of them. And for him to go back to how he was, he didn't need just a gift or one of those magazines boys liked so much. Gabrielle was going to make him remember how to be spiteful.

He tied four cigarettes together, as she had requested, and threw them at her. They were a bit off the mark, yet Gabrielle caught them and made a show of counting them, checking to see if they were unsmoked, and one of them was a bit burned at the end of it. The girl held it up, showing him "Cheap."

He smirked unapologetically, resting his arms on the stone service of the window sill. "Still waiting for my gift." His words trailed off as he watched her place that one cigarette he had tried to smoke about an hour ago but decided against it between her lips, which made him unconsciously lick his.

"My mom is going to bring you cake one of these days."

Gabrielle lit it, taking a drag and letting the sounds around them fill the quiet. Just from the floor below she could hear her sisters laughing, talmking  and running around. A few houses away there was a store, that sold the best pastries Gabrielle had ever tasted. even now, she could smell the croquembouche in the air.

He scoffed, "That's not your gift."

"I can't bake."

"I know, Cheri," he joked.

Gabrille laughed, remembering how she had created chaos in her kitchen a few years ago, to which the boy was a witness and was never planning on letting her live it down. Finally, she showed him the matchbox; he squinted at it in confusion, then looked back at her face.

Joseph didn't see how a matchbox was a gift, which made him curious in a way only Gabrielle could make him, but before he could question her, the matchbox landed on his chest, and he looked at it, pushing his hair back. He had been in the process of growing it out just at the beginning of summer, maybe because British girls liked it or because he had heard Gabrielle say she liked longer hair.

Whichever it was, the admission would only be heard by the wind alone in the privacy of his room as he lay awake in the middle of the night, his thoughts eating at him, wondering if the light in her room would shine and if he would seem too pathetically obvious if he went out to smoke.

There were words on the matchbox, written in black.

"You didn't find out from me." And he nodded, for his tongue was covered in something bitter as he remembered the older Magnan sibling. At the same time, an almost warm feeling spread through him as he looked at her. His missing eye made it harder for him to adjust to any distance or change in light for a while; therefore, this was the first time since they started their conversation that he could take her in.

Her dark curls, her olive skin tone, and her brown eyes with hints of green and flecks of gold. Her relaxed posture, leaning her cheek on her hand, the cigarette hanging from her lips—fuck, her lips—lazily .And he remembered the last time they hung out, and the bitterness spread from his tongue to the rest of his body.

Could the bitterness drown her away? Cover him completely so he can be free.

She smiled and said, "It looks good, by the way." motion towards her own eye.

No, probably not.

"I look like a pirate."

"Poor, pretty Joseph. Your handsome face scarred. How will you get through with all the girls checking you out?"

At least she did not mention Vincent Auriol.

The blonde laughed; his face was scarred; his head was a mess; his mom was distraught; and he had the audacity to laugh.

Gabrielle could never have guessed that the laugh wasn't because he was looking forward to all the girls being interested in him. But because he was cursing his luck for the one he wanted, he wouldn't be one of them.

The next day, when Gabrielle saw him walk on the school grounds, she gave Michele a look, and since Michele did not know any better, she thought it was simply because the brunette felt for her situation. It didn't even cross her mind; the look was an apologizing one.

At the end of the day, he lost an eye; it's permanent damage. Her consolation thoughts made her push away all guilt as she chatted with Simone.

Simone was definitely the easiest person to have a casual conversation with, though sometimes she took Gabrielle by surprise with her words. In her defense, being asked if you are a runaway princess from some dynasty would probably take anyone by surprise. "Since you are wearing pants so much, I thought it was because of horse riding." Simone explained, her cheeks heating up when the tall girl threw her head back with a loud laugh.

"And your first thought was that I was a princess?"

"Well, you wear them a lot." The Algerian made a motion towards her pants, with a smile that turned shy when Gabrielle leaned forward, whispering a secret:

"They make my ass look good."

The short-haired girl put a hand in front of her face, certainly not expecting her to say something like that. She had heard many boys comment on her ass, that's for sure, but it did not cross her mind that she cared about that. Gabrielle adding that 'it's not like my boobs on the big side' made her hit her shoulder, laughing.

After a while, she remembered she had to go put her gym attire on, which she was not going to do in the boys toilet, so she had Annick stand guard in case Giraud passed by. The blonde took her role seriously, insisting Gabrielle go change first so they could avoid any suspicion if she was spotted out of the girls toilets.

"We match." Gabrielle noted with a big smile as she put her hair in a high ponytail when Annick took notice of the muscles in her arms. Her mom had muscles too, but they were the type of muscles one got from working a lot, which were nothing like Gabrielle's.

"Do you work out?"

"My dad teaches me savate," she explained, walking next to her with a shrug. "I like it."

"That's kinda cool." Annick said, looking around, avoiding her gaze even when she could tell from her peripheral vision that Gabrielle had turned her head to get a look at her. She let her, mostly because a part of her was used to being starred at; she had faced worse gazes. Keeping her cool, her eyes landed on her, only to find the girl looking at her much differently than when men or spiteful girls looked at her.

Gabrielle threw her hand around Annick's shoulders; it seemed foreign for someone to do so, but her body refused to pull away. "I'll teach you if you want."

"I'll just have you do the dirty work for me."

The fact that Gabrielle nodded with clear self-assurance and no hesitation made it seem that she would in fact do something like that for her. Maybe she would do it for fun, even.

Walking inside the gym with Gabrielle holding her close gave them a strange sense of deja vu when all eyes landed on them.

"I think they are jealous of me." Gabrielle whispered in the blonde's ear, "I got the best girl in France."

"France?" Annick found it excessive to make her out to be the best out of every girl in the entire country, even when the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.

"Definitely."

Well, the gym turned out to be a disappointment since the boys were clearly having fun while they were stuck climbing a fucking rope, which can only be fun when you are 10 years old and don't know how to do so. Some stuff is fun till you find out how to do it; then they are just chores, a way for a teacher to give them something to do so he won't have to think about them too much.

Gabrielle was just keeping herself occupied by zoning out or listening to Simone's insane scenarios about Annick being some secret Hollywood star child. Though she had to admit she had thought about that one herself, she came to the realization that kids born to famous, rich, and accomplished parents probably wouldn't be good at anything; in fact, she doubted they would even care to try. The only time she felt like butting in was when Simone complained about a bruise that had formed on her thigh by absentmindedly adding:

"The love of your life won't give a shit about a bruise or a scar, Simone."

"What if he does?" She sounded absolutely horrified by the idea.

"Then he is not the love of your life."

At some point, the four girls had gotten tired of doing the same thing over and over again, so they just sat side by side on the blue mat, with Simone and Gabriele usually starting a conversation. Which didn't go great since Annick was her usual closed-off self and Michele looked like she was sitting on hot coals the entire time, clearly anxious.

Gabrielle kept an eye on her the entire time, mostly because she was used to it from keeping her younger sisters in line when her parents told her to. Well, and even if they didn't, it was her job to help them out with anything. It could get frustrating at times; that was the role of the oldest, though her elders would say. It was a role, and everyone has roles in their families, friend groups, and society in general.

Then Michele decided to start climbing the rope again to keep herself busy, and all that was left to do was watch the boys play. Gabrielle narrowed her eyes, wrinkling her nose as if a foul smell had entered her nostrils, knowing full well she could do much better than any of them. Applebaum proved her point when a ball hit him on the side of his head, which made her scoff and look to the side.

Coincidentally to her right, where her gaze diverted, was Descamps, whom she noticed had a smirk on his face and a certain, familiar spark lighting up his face. Nothing good, she knew. But at the end of the day, none of her business exists. Still, she watched him make a sign to Dupin, his partner in crime, and they snickered together.

A thought passed through her mind at that moment. Leaning her weight to her left, she whispered to Annick. "Is Dupin pretty, or am I crazy?" Who, mostly because this was the second weirdest comment she received in the past 15 minutes, rolled her eyes. "It was just a comment. Not like I would give him the role of class president in a silver platter!" Gabrielle exclaimed, offended.

Maybe it was also a dig at the fact she thought that Annick had every right to keep the date to herself, become class president and put Giraud in her place. She deserved to be at that position, she studied the hardest, got the best scores but Annick decided that keeping a low profile would be better.

"I don't know about Dupin, but his friend has been checking you out the entire time. Maybe keep your focus there."

A beat of silence. Annick looked at her straight in the eyes, while Gabrielle wondered if she could get away with getting physical with her like she did with her younger sisters. 

Annick might be a proper lady but she was sure she would bite her if she even tried.

Gabrielle raised her hands in surrender with a laugh "Okay, I'm shutting up." 

[honeylemonteaasblog]

Honey Lavender

summary: Writer OC and barista Taehyung falling in love

pairing: Taehyung x reader

genre: fluff

word count: 3.3 k

warnings: a couple brief mentions of anxiety, too much fluff (is that a thing because I think it may be a thing???), SOPE <3 (aka sunshine Hobi and grumpy Yoongi)

Each morning you were greeted by a smiling Hoseok and a scowling Yoongi. It was always funny to you that Yoongi and Hoseok opened the cafe when Yoongi could hardly keep his eyes open, every single morning. But you guess that he really only did it for Hoseok, who was a smiling angel with coffee for you each morning. He would chat with you and ask you about whatever novel you were working on at the moment while Yoongi pretended like he wasn’t about to fall asleep standing up. But you could feel his eyes on you because despite how tired he always was, Yoongi still cared about you in a way that was completely him. Honestly, that mostly meant silently watching, but in your experience quiet acts of love often have meant the most.

You had started going to the cafe because it was a block away from your apartment. It was just far enough away that you felt like you had gone somewhere, but wasn’t so far that you couldn’t run home if you needed to. That was important because as someone who had frequent panic attacks you always wanted the ability to get home fast. You also always double knotted your laces, just in case.

Over time you found that you had fallen into a routine of sorts where you would go to the cafe in the morning, pretty close to when they opened so you could get your favorite seat, then you would work for a while. Around noon you would leave because the cafe got too busy with college students trying to eat lunch between classes or grab a breakfast because they had only just woken up.

The two baristas had become constants in your life, so it was a little bit of shock when you walked in one morning to find a new man standing behind the counter. He had this boyish look about him that made him look really adorable. His apron was tied slightly askew, but he made no move to adjust it. There was also a light dusting of powdered sugar across his face and some in his hair, but you could really only see it because his hair was a dark brown.

When you walked in he sent you the most adorable smile you’d ever seen and you think that your heart skipped a beat. It was this boxy smile that you aren’t sure you’ll ever truly forget.

A little voice in your head wondered if you could take a picture of him, but you quickly realized that would be weird. Besides you had been standing in front of the register looking at him with a dopey smile on your lips for far longer than is socially acceptable. If you were to take your phone out of your pocket you would have to stand there for even longer— not that you would have minded staring at him more. But again, it was already getting awkward because he was also just standing there smiling at you.

You physically shook your head in an effort to remove the thoughts. He seemed to smile wider at your obvious staring.

“Hi, what can I get for you?” His voice was deeper than you thought it would be. You briefly wonder what his voice would sound like in the morning after he has just woken up— No. You stop yourself right there. You don’t know this man and yet here you are picturing him just waking up. You want to hit your head against the counter. If you are lucky you might even knock some sense into yourself. At this point, you may have more rational thoughts if you had a concussion.

“Um h-hi” You stutter for the first time in a while. You used to stutter a lot when you were younger because of anxiety, but you’d been working with a therapist for a little bit now so it’d gotten better in the past year. “What would you recommend?” Anyone else in the cafe would think it was your first time because who asks for a recommendation when they already have a go to order that the normal baristas know by heart after you’ve ordered it so many times? The answer is a girl talking to a handsome stranger.

They always make the oddest choices. Even when it seems illogical to outsides, they can always find a way to rationalize it.

He tilts his head to look at you better as if he’ll be able to see into your coffee addicted heart for the perfect recommendation. “Maybe a honey lavender latte.” “Perfect. A 16 oz please.” “For here?” You nodded in response, deciding that the less you talk the less likely you are to embarrass yourself further.

When he holds your gaze a moment too long you feel yourself blush. Needless to say, you look away first.

Your favorite spot is a small booth towards the back of the cafe. If you sit on the far side your up against the window, but can still see the whole cafe. Normally it’s great in reducing your anxiety while you write. Today however, you find yourself watching the new barista more than writing and wonder if you should have sat facing the wall if only to be more productive.

You decide to call it a day because you simply aren’t going to get anything done here and the college students have started talking too energetically for having just woken up. You look up, again, to see the new barista’s eyes on you already. When he realizes your looking he shoots you that smile and it, again, makes your heart skip a beat. You turn away quickly to hide the blush that is now dusting your cheeks, but you swear that you can hear his laughter ring out from across the room. You don’t turn to make sure; you’re too afraid of what seeing his laugh would do to you. Just hearing it makes you turn to mush.

You can feel his eyes on your back as you scurry out of the cafe.

You wouldn’t want to admit to anyone that you hesitated at your door the next morning, double checking your reflection in the glass. You also wouldn’t want to admit that you might have been a little disappointed if the new guy wasn’t there again in the morning.

“My favorite customer” Hoseok’s cheerful voice rang out as soon as you opened the door. He was all smiles and greeted you like you hadn’t seen each other in months. In reality, it had only been a day. You sent him a smile because you missed him too. Hoseok has this way of making everyone a little happier and it’s intoxicating. He’s like a little dopamine hit every morning. You got addicted fast. Really, it’s no wonder that Yoongi manages to get up every morning, if only just to see Hoseok’s smile.

You glance around, but don’t see Yoongi. Hoseok must notice you look because his smile widens, if that’s even possible. “Yoongi’s gone. He went to see his family.” Hoseok’s dimming eyes makes you think that there is more to that, but it’s not your place to say anything so you send him a reassuring look instead. “So… you meet Taehyung right? Normally he works the closing shifts, but since we were gone yesterday he covered for us.” The way that Hoseok talks about Taehyung makes you think that they’re close.

Taehyung must have heard his name because the young man from yesterday comes out of the backroom. He once again has a light dusting of powdered sugar across his face which makes you wonder how one manages to do the same thing twice in a row, but really who are you to judge when you don’t even remember the last time you baked anything.

“Honey Lavender” He says as a greeting and it makes you blush, again. He must realize what he does to you, right? The little smirk that you catch on his face makes you think he knows exactly what he’s doing.

Hoseok’s eyes bounce between the two of you, curiosity and excitement shinning in them. Mercifully, he keeps his mouth shut and doesn’t say anything. He just moves towards the side to clean a coffee machine and let Taehyung take your order instead.

“What can I get for you?” He sounds a little amused and you glance away to remind yourself that he is only a man. He may be handsome and make you feel all gooey inside like a freshly baked brownie, but at the end of the day he is just a man. Your eyes flick to the man before you, pointedly ignoring Hoseok who is shamelessly staring at you from behind the machine that he is fake cleaning. He’s not even trying to make it look believable as he leans against the counter with a smirk.

“H-honey Lavender Latte” Your voice is quiet and shook a little, but when you see a boxy smile break out across his face you can’t help but smile too. You feel a little bit of confidence bubble up inside yourself at being able to make him smile like that. “So you liked it?” His voice doesn’t actually sound like he’s asking you about coffee and it makes your cheeks even heat further. His smile widened. You simply nod and look down as if the ground might swallow you whole just to provide you a little bit of relief from his heated gaze.

Finally, after slightly too long, but that might have been your own imagination, he moves on with punching your order in and making your coffee. When you go up to get it from the counter he slides you a lemon bar too. The lemon bar is covered in powdered sugar and it makes you glance up at his powdered sugar dusted face. “On the house.” His eyes watch you as you practically run to your table, murmuring a thank you that is too quiet for him to hear well. When you look over after holding off for as long as you possibly can he and Hoseok are huddled together whispering to each other. Hoseok tosses a look over his shoulder and you quickly look back down to the practically empty word doc.

You got very little writing done. However, you did spend longer than you normally do in the cafe.

You linger outside the cafe for a while trying to calm your nerves. You’re not following your normal routine and it’s throwing you off. You had gone to get some writing done in the morning, but Taehyung wasn’t there. Hoseok and Yoongi had teased you relentlessly for a while about it, until there was a blush covering your cheeks and you practically ran away to hide behind your computer screen. They both laughed but promised that they would stop if you wanted them to. And they had said it with such seriousness that you believed them.

But a little part of you liked that they were encouraging your obvious crush. You like to think that if they didn’t support it they would not be egging you on. They are obviously friends with your new favorite barista.

That’s how you found yourself standing outside the cafe that evening. You wanted to see Taehyung again. You didn’t want to admit that, but you are also finding it harder and harder to ignore it. Instead of peaking around the corner again like an absolute creep you force yourself inside.

When he looks up he immediately smiles and you feel butterflies in your stomach. You aren’t sure when the last time was that someone had easily showed that they cared for you. That they were happy to see you. He turns his attention to you and he’s looking at you with this deliberate look, like he is trying to see into your very soul. He’s looking at you like he wants to know you. And not just at the surface level but like he wants to know about all the little pieces that are tucked away in the shadowed crevices of your heart. Honestly, that alone terrifies you.

“Hi.” His voice is softer than normal like he sees just how nervous you really are and doesn’t want to spook you.

“Hi.” Your voice is really quiet and people in the cafe are talking so you aren’t sure if Taehyung could hear you. But you think he does because he smiles again. “What can I get for you, Honey Lavender?”

“Something without caffeine. It makes me jumpy at night.” You briefly wonder why you are telling him this, but you find that you trust him. You find that you want to tell him about yourself. That should scare you, but you realize that it doesn’t scare you as much as you thought that it would. Instead, you feel this relief and you aren’t sure anyone has ever made you feel like that before.

“Hot chocolate?” In response, you nod eagerly, wondering when you last had hot chocolate. Your too busy in your own head to realize how Taehyung eagerly takes you in. Your smile always makes him smile back. He wonders if you realize how adorable you are or if you go through life with a sort of ignorance.

Taehyung however could never not notice your smile. You draw him in so effortlessly that it makes him giddy. With you all he wants to do is laugh, make you laugh, and listen to your laugh. You make him feel carefree again and as a man that often feels like the weight of the world is on his shoulders that is the most precious thing anyone could offer him. So making you smile makes him feel like his day was successful.

This time you didn’t have a novel to run to which made the wait for your hot chocolate more awkward. So instead you watched Taehyung make your hot chocolate. You saw him carefully make the drink with a smile on his face. It was like he genuinely loved working at the cafe. But a little part of you also hoped that he was smiling because he liked making you a drink. And that he liked it when you came into the cafe.

That part of you also hoped that you got stuck in his head just as much as he was stuck in yours. It was only fair, right?

Weeks later you finished the draft of your novel and as you skimmed through some of the scenes, you realized that Wyn, your MMC was oddly familiar.

Now that you think about it, his floppy brown hair and stunning smile does somewhat resemble your new favorite barista. He’s got this adorable charm about him that captivates the other characters. Instead of making coffee and free-powdered-sugar-dusted lemon bars, he’s a florist. However, that doesn’t stop him from drinking coffee all the time and he harbors a love for baking chocolate chip cookies in the evenings as a way to destress.

When Wyn and Naomi started living together he would make her hot chocolate in the evenings. They would be a little different depending on the season. It had started because Naomi was a pumpkin spice latte kind of girl despite having a strong dislike for chain coffee shops and exclusively frequented small independently owned cafes around town. Then Wyn couldn’t not make peppermint hot chocolate in the winter, but soon it became their thing.

And it oddly reminded you of Taehyung and the night that he made you a hot chocolate. Then, the subsequent nights that Taehyung made you flavored hot chocolates, claiming that he needed to test flavor combinations. Specifically Taehyung had wanted to know if honey would be a good sweetener for hot chocolate. Taehyung was adamant that it was perfect. You hadn’t been sure so you demanded that he make another one with this look that made him laugh. Little did you know that he would make anything you asked for.

You hadn’t realized that Taehyung had wormed his way into your heart. And you definitely hadn’t realized that you’re thankful for it. Normally when people get close to you, you freak out a little bit and distance yourself because most of the time it is so much easier to be alone then let someone hurt you. Looking at Taehyung now, you realize that he might just be worth any pain in the future.

The man patiently listening to an older woman at the counter while she goes on about something irritating her because he can tell that she has no one else to complain to, might be worth it. And the man who started slipping you different desserts and claiming that he needed taste testers, might be worth it. And certainly the Taehyung that looks at you with heart eyes, like you might just be the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen in his life, is worth it.

He might just be worth all the pain that could come. You find that you might welcome that pain if it allows you to be with this man even if it’s for a limited time.

You must have been staring off into space when he slipped into the seat in front of you; thankfully you weren’t looking in Taehyung’s direction without realizing. That would have been awkward.

“Hi.” He watches you like you are the most important thing to him. He watches you with such intensity that you really want to look away, but at the same time his gaze just ensnares you and you aren’t sure if you are physically able to look away.

Later you’ll learn that you really are the most precious thing to him. And he’ll admit that he looks at you with so much intensity to remind himself that you really are here. You aren’t a part of his imagination or a dream that he doesn’t want to wake up from. Rather he wants to wake up from all his dreams just to get back to the real world all because you’re in the real world. This is also why he’ll always want to be holding your hand, which is another physical reminded that you’re real.

“Hi.” You are really happy that your voice comes out at least a little strong. You watch his eyes flicker to your lips as you speak. You swear he might be able to hear your heart thudding in your chest.

“I’ve really liked getting to know you these past weeks.” His voice comes out a little wobbly and it makes your heart melt. You feel your eyes soften as you watch him. “Are you free to get dinner sometime next week?”

“Like a date?” You want to cringe at your only response, but when Taehyung bares his heart to you like this you find yourself dumbstruck. He smiles in response and his own eyes soften at whatever emotion he must see on your face.

“Like a date.” His voice is so much stronger than it was a few moments ago. His smile is widening by the second and he looks like he is about to leap out of his seat and across the table just to be able to sit next to you. It is like any distance between the two of you physically hurts him.

“I’d love that.” You smile at him and decide that despite whatever happens next you will never regret this decision. You will never regret opening your heart up to him with the hope that he will hold is carefully. You promise yourself that despite any pain that may come, you will not hate yourself for wanting to believe the best from a man that has only showed you kindness.You never want to regret exploring the possibility of happiness.

So you take the leap of faith and lean into the love that Taehyung is offering you. You think that you knew deep down that he would catch you. You just hope that he’ll never let you go because you don’t want to learn how to live without him again.

[mrdixon]

A Rugged Muse | Chapter 3

pairing: eventual daryl dixon x f!reader

wc: 3.5k

warnings: merle being merle, nothing so far…? little bit of walker, itty bitty bit of romancing if you read between the lines

summary: reader and the dixons find a camp.

A/N: sorry i didnt mean for this to take so long again, i hope i havent completely lost the people following this series. i also just recently finished twd and despite knowing half the deaths i still cried like a little baby. anyways enjoy this chapter its pretty chill besides merle but thats a given

a rugged muse masterlist | regular masterlist

It had been about five hours since you three had started walking again. Your feet were sore and you felt lightheaded from the hot Georgia heat. You felt gross, you had taken off your jacket but it didn’t stop you from feeling overheated. Your shirt was damp and if this was still the old world you would have felt embarrassed, but all you could focus on was dragging your feet through the dirt.

“Pick up yer feet,” Daryl snapped, turning his head to you and glaring daggers into you. Mumbling a quick apology, you ducked your head and reluctantly picked up your feet.

You were starting to regret coming with these guys. First of all, you had one man who was uncomfortably close to you, to the point you could smell the cigarettes on his breath. Meanwhile the other was unapproachable. He wasn’t as bad as the elder, but he was quite irritable. You felt yourself feeling annoyed by him just as much as he was by you. He may have saved your ass a few hours ago but due to how things were going, you kind of wish he didn’t.

As you walked on behind Daryl, you felt a heavy presence behind you. Your hand reached for your daggers and wrapped your fingers around one, swinging it up and turning.

“Woah! Woah girlie, jus’ checkin’ you out.” Merle let out a raspy chuckle, your heart rate slowed and you rolled your eyes and you put your dagger back in its place. His hand slid towards your waist which you immediately flicked away, crossing your arms protectively as you walked. “Playin’ hard ta get huh?”

“Leave ‘er alone Merle,” Daryl glanced over his shoulder, silently blinking to you. You picked up the hint and walked ahead while Merle groaned quite heavily.

“C’mon Darlina, let your big bro get some. ‘s been a while.” Merle nudged Daryl on the shoulder while the younger glared at the nickname.

“Surprised you got any,” you mumbled under your breath, but to your misfortune. Merle heard. He narrowed his eyes, holding Daryl back to stop you three before slowly walking up to you.

“Ya think yer funny, woman?” His cigarette breath almost made you gag in his face, uncomfortably looking to the side. “You jus’ keep yer mouth shut and keep pretty, or else.”

Daryl stepped in and shoved Merle away from you, keeping his body between you two almost protectively. You looked down away from his face while he spat profanity at his brother, the two Dixon’s bickering while you stood awkwardly to the side.

“’m not gonna watch ya harass this woman, bad enough we let ‘er come.” Daryl growled, nudging you in front of him. “Keep walkin’.”

You ignored Merle’s protests, continuing to walk ahead of both the brothers. Every time you took a step a wave a soreness shot through your thighs, getting tired of this seemingly never-ending hike. You huffed as you adjusted your bag straps over your shoulders, the muscles tense and you felt as if they would burst. The three of you walked quietly now, the only sounds were of the distant groans of the undead and the occasional drag of your feet.

You could feel Daryl looming behind you, his eyes boring into your back to keep an eye on you. It felt nice having someone look out for you, especially with his creep of a brother preying on you.

You looked up from the corner of your eye as you saw the marker that stated you were on the interstate 85, you sighed in relief and turned to face the Dixons.

“We made it,” you smiled breathlessly, Daryl stared at you unimpressed.

“Ya think we’re done?” He raised a brow almost mockingly, “ya found a marker, ain’ nothin’ special abou’ tha’.” Your shoulders slumped, frowning as he walked past you and bumped your shoulder with his. Merle gave you a look and you audibly groaned at being stuck with him again.

“Daryl ‘ere wan’s ta find a camp, so we can ya know… rob ‘em of their supplies and get goin’.” Merle chuckled while Daryl turned fiercely.

“It was actually yer idea, dun’ go puttin’ this shit on me. ‘m jus’ a better tracker than you are.” Daryl huffed before Merle stepped up to him and glared back.

“’m the one who taught ya all tha’!” The two continued to argue again, and nothing taking any more of their bullshit, you walked ahead. Soon you heard their low grumbled and footsteps following behind.

You ignored them and pushed on, the both of them quietly bickering as siblings do. Eventually, Daryl spoke up and beckoned you and Merle over. You walked over to where he was, which was on the highway. It was the clearest you'd ever seen it, no sign of life anywhere. Eerie. Merle whistled, throwing an arm over your shoulder as he squeezed.

“Well damn, haven’ seen the road this clear before.” Merle rasped your thoughts into your ear, you just nodded and pushed him away. Daryl was headed to an abandoned car off the side of the road. It looked somewhat useable.

Daryl poked his head around the car, peeking through the windows. The both of you jumped back when one of the dead slammed against the window at the sound of humans. He reached for his knife and opened the door just a crack, plunging his knife into the head. The squelch of flesh made you wince though Daryl didn’t seem bothered at all. He turned to check on you and shrugged at your expression before dragging its body out of the car.

“Wha’ was tha’?” Merle called from the shade.

“Jus’ a walker,” Daryl responded and waved Merle over. A walker? You guessed that was the word for them, seemed reasonable. “I’ll go ahead and get this started, then we can drive the rest of the way.” Your shoulders slumped in relief at the idea of being able to sit in a car again. Merle nodded and moved to the trunk, rummaging around for something useful.

Meanwhile Daryl went into the driver’s seat and fumbled around with some wires, trying to get the car to start. You made a mental note to ask him to teach you how to start a car like that one day. While both brothers did their share of work you decided to hop into the back seats, finding a few bags of chips and tossing them to the middle console. You shut the door and made yourself comfy, you assumed the Dixons would be in the front so you kicked your feet up and lay flat in the back.

“Ya ain’ gonna help?” You heard Daryl grumble from the front.

“What would I help with? Seems you two got it down,” you sat up and poked your head through the two front seats. His eyes met yours from under the steering wheel, handing you a flashlight.

“Can ya jus’ hold this so I can cut the right wires?” You shrugged and took the flashlight, pointing the light at the jumble of wires his thick fingers were playing with. “Nah,” he mumbled and grabbed your hand gently, guiding the light properly. His large hand completely engulfed yours, providing warmth which quickly left as it came. You swallowed and held the light steady where he wanted, his eyes squinting as he did his thing.

The position you were in was uncomfortable, you were leaning over the central armrest and your body was turned to see where you were pointing the light. Naturally you shifted yourself, moving up on the armrest so your hip rested on it. The movement caused the light to go off to the side, Daryl’s intense gaze meeting yours again.

“Sorry,” you sighed and moved the flashlight back, but instead your elbow slipped and made you slide towards where he was under the wheel. Luckily, he caught you by the shoulder and scoffed, helping you back up.

“Careful,” he muttered and fumbled a bit more with the wire before the car started up. You pushed yourself up and handed him the flashlight. He nodded to you and got out from under the wheel. “Merle, car’s ready.”

Merle came from the side of the car, opening the door to the passenger’s side and getting in with a smirk. He handed Daryl a bag of half eaten beef jerky which Daryl accepted gratefully.

You remained seated on the central armrest as Daryl got into seat, watching him grab a piece of jerky and ripping it in half, only to offer it to you. You looked down at him and smiled, taking the piece from him before slithering into the back.

Daryl moved his crossbow into the back with you before quickly getting the car going, the three of you setting off down the highway. You moved yourself to sit across the backseats with your back leaned against the door, pulling your knees up to your chest before reaching for your bag. You placed the piece of jerky into your mouth, holding it between your teeth as you grabbed your sketchbook and a pencil.

While the two brothers talked amongst themselves, though it was really just Merle talking to Daryl, you decided to just draw and see where the pencil took you.

You chewed on the piece of jerky, savouring the salty taste of it while aimlessly sketching lines onto the paper. After a moment you focused on your drawing, cold eyes stared back at you. Ruffled short hair and an all too familiar irritated expression made your breath hitch, you just drew Daryl.

You looked to the side at the rearview mirror, noticing his eyes meet yours before they moved back to the road. You shoved the rest of the jerky into your mouth as you looked back down at the drawing, closing the sketchbook and tossing it back into your bag along with the pencil. It was quite odd how the first thing you decided to draw after months of artblock was a man you met no longer than three days ago. You didn't dwell on it though, after all he was attractive man. And you enjoyed drawing attractive things.

You shook your head and let your legs straighten out. The car was silent, Merle was chewing on the jerky and Daryl kept his eyes on the road driving with one hand. Daryl’s other hand was by his face, nibbling on the side of his thumb as he drove. Your eyelids started to feel heavy, and the drowsiness was catching up to you.

“Go ahead and get some sleep,” Daryl’s voice brought you back to your senses. Your eyes met his again in the rearview mirror, and he nodded to you. “’s gon’ be a while, get some rest.”

Merle snorted, and you watched him throw a glance with Daryl. The younger rolled his eyes and shook his head at the older Dixon. Just the usual siblings teasing each other, you and Glenn used to do that.

You sunk down into the seats. Thinking of your older brother made you feel hopeless, the thought of Glenn being blown up by the military made you feel miserable. But it also made you mad. The fact the military would kill off that many people to stop this disease was bizarre to you, but all you could do was hope Glenn made it out. You hoped he did.

You decided to listen to Daryl and curl up on the back seats, taking off your glasses and closing your eyes as you let the sleep take over your body.

That was probably the best sleep you’ve had since the shit hit the fan, even if you were sleeping in an uncomfortable position. You were still asleep, but you were aware of your surroundings. You could feel the car drive slowly over gravel, the sunset rays warming up your cheeks. Someone was humming, and judging by the way the voice sounded you assumed it was Daryl. It was really quiet, the humming.

You let your senses settle on the humming. You couldn't tell what song he was humming but it soothed the pit in your stomach.

“(Y/N),” a gruff voice called out gently. You stirred a little before a rough hand tapped your thigh, you instinctively sat up. Merle laughed and watched you rub your eyes.

“Wakey wakey,” he taunted. “We made it.”

You looked outside the window, noticing the tall trees around you as the car pulled up to a small clearing. A man stood atop an RV and a much younger man came walking up to the car suspiciously. You moved yourself onto the central armrest to look closer at the area, a little boy looked at you guys curiously before being hugged from behind by a woman with long brown hair — which you could only assume was his mother. Another woman with shorter hair sat near them, a little girl next to her. This was a camp.

The suspicious man came up to Daryl's side of the car, waiting for the window to roll down. Daryl sighed but obliged, the window rolling down. The man looked into the car, eyeing the three of you.

“What do you three want?” He asked with such authority that you just knew he was in charge here.

Daryl rubbed his chin before replying, “came from Atlanta. Shit’s bombed an’ figured there’d be some people aroun’.” The man nodded at Daryl’s response, placing his hands on his hips.

“Mind if I take a look inside?” Daryl snorted, narrowing his eyes.

“Wha’ are ya, a cop?” Daryl joked and Merle snickered. The man stood unimpressed outside the car, now crossing his arms.

“Sheriff, actually.” He paced to the side of the car, “may I?”

Daryl swallowed and nodded, unlocking the car. The man opened the door and you slid back into the seats, he looked at you and smiled slightly. You watched as the man investigated the interior of the car, looking at the Daryl’s crossbow and Merle’ gun at your feet. He glanced at your hand to which your gaze followed. Your finger was still bandaged from when you cut it back at your apartment. He raised a brow at you.

“Cut it on a box cutter,” you mumbled and held your breath in fear that you’d be turned away, but he nodded and stepped back.

“Any of you bit?” He gestured for all of you to come out. You didn't step out of the car until Daryl did, standing next to him as the man walked around you three. You all responded “no” to his question and he nodded again. “Okay, well then welcome to the Atlanta survivor camp. I’m Shane,” Shane introduced himself and held out his hand to Daryl who shook it reluctantly. You shook his next, then Merle.

You stood by idly with your hands clasped in front of you as other survivors started to emerge from the trees, some getting out of their tents. There were quite a lot of children here and the slight hope that Glenn was here hung heavy in your heart. New faces came out, two blonde women emerged with fresh catches of fish, another man poked his head out from the RV. You watched the little boy speak to his mother, clinging to her arm.

“We have an extra tent if y’all need it, you can set it up where ever you want.” Shane said as he led you three towards the RV. “Old man on the top here is Dale, our lookout. And this here is Jim who is kind of our mechanic.” Shane introduced the two men by the RV. You glanced at Daryl who averted his gaze from you, taking the tent from Shane before gesturing to Merle.

“I’ma go an’ set this up wit’ Merle,” Daryl mumbled to you. “Ya can go mingle with the others or somethin’.” You tried to protest and ask to go with them but they both stalked off before you could say anything. You looked around at the camp anxiously, people weren't really your thing.

Your eyes darted around nervously, eventually setting down on the ground. Your fingers fumbled together and eventually, the little boy came into your line of vision.

“My mom wants to talk to you,” he said and tugged on your sleeve. You raised a brow and looked up, the brown haired woman smiling and waving you over. The little boy then dragged you over, and you followed reluctantly.

“Hey, nice to meet you,” the brown haired woman said, patting the empty space on the log next to her. You sat down and smiled politely, keeping your hands on your lap. “My name's Lori, that's my son Carl.” The little boy who you now know as Carl just waved at you before joining the little girl by a makeshift table.

“(Y/N),” you replied, letting out a gentle breath as you settled. The woman with shorter hair sat across from you, letting out a small chuckle.

“Don't be so nervous, we don't bite.” The woman smiled comfortingly, “I’m Carol, the girl with Carl is Sophia, my daughter.” You looked towards the two kids who were doing what you guessed was math, nodding at Carol.

“I’m guessing you don't have kids yourself? You look pretty young,” Lori murmured as she reached over to help Carol fold some clothes.

You shook your head in response to her question, smiling slightly. “No, no kids. Just finished college actually…” You looked back down at your lap and thought how different life was gonna be from now on.

You saw Lori nod in your peripheral while she silently folded the clothing. You let out a breath and looked around at the others doing their little tasks. It seemed so normal, you hadn't seen a walker in a good few hours so it felt as if you were camping. Would it be like this forever?

“Is this everyone…?” You asked in hopes that maybe there were more people — as in Glenn. Lori smiled, shaking her head.

“Well no, a lot of us were stranded after the Atlanta incident. So Shane, thank god for him, rounded up all the survivors and we found this area. Walkers don't typically come up these mountains,” Lori explained but you were still confused where the others she mentioned were.

“And the others?” You raised your head at the sound of a truck pulling up, and Dale called out from the top of the RV:

“Supply runners are back!”

“Right there,” Lori smiled and stood up, wiping sweat off her brow. You looked towards the truck, seeing people start to come out.

Daryl and Merle returned, and you watched Daryl squint in curiosity, his hands placed on his hips. Shane chuckled and walked over to the supply runners, pointing to you and the Dixons, presumably explaining your presence.

A head perked up from behind the trunk, your brows knitted together as you somehow recognized that baseball cap. It looked like one worn by the person you so wished to meet again, that familiar face finally coming into view.

“(Y/N)?”

Your heart jumped at the sound of his voice, your feet moving involuntarily. You watched Glenn gulp, moving away from the truck and towards you. Your eyes immediately teared up as your speed increased, completely running towards your older brother. He smiled, his own eyes shining with tears as he engulfed you into his arms. You tucked your face into his shoulder, tears of relief wetting his shirt.

The rest of the camp watched the sweet reunion happily, and you could hear a few people clap distantly. You weren’t paying attention. All you thought of was the fact Glenn was here, alive, and you found him.

Glenn was the first to pull back, he wiped his eyes before cupping your face in his hands and checking over you frantically.

“You're okay? No bites? No problems?” He mumbled, practically to himself as you laughed softly and grabbed his hands.

“I'm fine, no bites or problems.” You looked up at him beaming, “I thought I lost you.”

Glenn smiled slightly, scratching the back of his neck. “Thought I lost you too, god after the whole Atlanta incident I couldn't stop thinking about where you'd go.”

You both sighed simultaneously, mostly in relief before hugging each other again. You both turned when you heard Shane clear his throat, the former sheriff grinning expectantly. Your eyes met Daryl’s and he squinted again, wiping the side of his nose as he eyed you and Glenn.

“Right. (Y/N), let me introduce you to everyone.” Glenn took your hand and led you to the center of the clearing, he looked down at you and ruffled your hair.

With Glenn by your side, you felt a glimmer of hope for the first time in days. He was the one who always encouraged you when you struggled in art school, he was your biggest supporter. Now, with his presence, you can continue on in this hell.

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

Galileo Galilei Main Story

Translations may not always capture the exact nuances or tone of the original text. Expect grammatical errors and inaccuracies.

I want to see Galileo's past with my own eyes and understand his feelings.

I want to face the real him.

With these thoughts, I continued walking down the hallway.

Soon, I was enveloped in a white light.

When I opened my eyes again after closing them against the brightness, the scenery had completely changed.

(Where's this? It doesn't look like the streets of Paris, and the era seems a bit old.)

(Is Galileo somewhere in this town?)

As I wandered the streets, adjusting my eyes to the darkness, I bumped into a man.

Mitsuki: "I'm sorry."

I looked up, and my eyes met amethyst ones.

(Galileo!?)

Galileo: "No, I'm the one who should apologize."

Even in the dark, his beautiful eyes, illuminated by a faint light, were unmistakable.

However, there was one significant difference from the Galileo I knew.

(He has blond hair.)

His golden hair was faintly shining in the light.

(This is Galileo from the past.)

I was relieved that I had successfully traveled back in time, but I was also captivated by his unexpected appearance.

Galileo: "Are you alone?"

Mitsuki: "Huh? Ah, yes."

My voice slightly wavered as he suddenly talked to me.

Galileo: "It's dangerous for a woman to walk alone at this time of night."

Galileo: "I'll walk you home."

Mitsuki: "Um, I'm traveling."

Galileo: "Then, I'll take you to your inn."

(He's not that intimidating, but his calm tone is unmistakably him.)

Though he looked confused, there was no sign of annoyance—just pure kindness.

As I internally panicked, trying to figure out how to handle the situation, he extended his hand toward me.

Galileo: "It's dark. You might get lost, so hold my hand."

Mitsuki: "Okay."

Before I could think, I took his hand.

He gently squeezed my hand in return, and my heart skipped a beat.

(Even now, his hands are cold.)

I felt a ticklish sensation from encountering an unknown side of him that I still recognized.

As he gently led me along the path like a gentleman, I boldly spoke to him.

Mitsuki: "Um, do you live in this town?"

Galileo: "Yeah, with my family. It's a nice town, but I don't approve of women walking alone at night."

Mitsuki: "I'm sorry, but there's something I really wanted to see."

Galileo: "Something you wanted to see?"

His tone carried a question as he glanced slightly toward me.

Mitsuki: "I can't explain in detail, but I wanted to see it with my own eyes."

Mitsuki: "I've come this far to uncover the truth about someone."

(Across time, to reach you.)

Galileo: "I see."

Without probing further, Galileo returned his gaze forward.

As we approached a crossroads, I told him this was far enough and reluctantly let go of his hand.

Mitsuki: "Thank you."

Galileo: "Yeah."

(He probably doesn't remember meeting me here.)

I wondered if this unexpected encounter might have any impact, but it was so dark that he probably didn't see my face. 

He turned back slightly, returning a nod.

Galileo: "I hope you find your truth."

(.........)

He said, "Excuse me," and headed towards the line of houses.

(I'm sorry for doing something so sneaky.)

I followed him until he reached a small house. After he went inside, I quietly peeked through the window.

Galileo: "I'm home. Virginia, Livia, Michelangelo."

Michelangelo: "Welcome back, big bro!"

Livia: "You're late!"

Galileo: "Sorry, the lecture ran longer than expected."

The children ran to him as if they had been eagerly waiting for his return.

(Galileo has a younger brother and sisters.)

Virginia: "Hurry, brother. It's Livia's birthday today!"

Galileo: "I know. Happy birthday, Livia."

He narrowed his eyes and patted his little sister's head.

His eyes showed a deep, genuine affection.

(He looks so happy.)

His unclouded smile made my heart warm and beat faster.

Their parents appeared, and the family spent time celebrating Livia's birthday.

Later, they went out to a flower field as a family.

While his mother held his younger siblings' hands and looked up at the starry sky in excitement, Galileo sat down beside his father.

Galileo's father: "Galileo, has anyone noticed your secret?"

Galileo: "It's fine, Dad."

Galileo's father: "Good. I'm worried because, unlike those kids, you're a dhampir."

Galileo: "I'm worried, too. After all, you are a pureblood."

From their conversation, it seemed that, unlike him, his siblings were human.

(Are his siblings not related to him by blood? Is Galileo the only dhampir?)

His father sighed softly, looking at his son with gentle eyes.

Galileo's father: "Galileo, there are three races in this world."

Galileo: "It's the story you've told me many times. One of the three races created by God is humans."

Galileo: "Another group is the vampires, who inherit the miracle of eternal life from the founder."

Galileo: "And the last one is the dhampirs, who inherit the blood of both races and are born rarely."

Galileo's Father: "Yeah, that's right."

Galileo's Father: "Vampires sustain themselves on blood. Because of this, they often find themselves in conflict with humans."

Galileo's father: "I believe that someday we can coexist peacefully. I believe in a peaceful future where hearts transcend the differences in our races."

Galileo: "Father..."

Galileo's father: "Hearts can connect across racial divides, just like our family."

Galileo's father: "As a dhampir, you can be a bridge between humans and vampires."

Galileo: "A bridge, huh? I hope I can live up to that."

Taking in his father's words, Galileo gazed up at the sky.

Galileo: "To achieve that, I'll acquire knowledge and contribute to earning people's recognition. Someday, I want to reveal the truth."

Galileo: "I want to change the world where people hold hands and live together. That's what I believe."

Galileo's father: "It's our dream as father and son."

They share their dreams under the twinkling stars above.

Smiling, his father picked up a stringed instrument he had set aside.

Galileo's father: "I'm in a good mood. Let's play a tune."

Galileo: "I'd like that. I always liked the sound of you playing the lute."

Galileo's father: "Then, let's dedicate it to Livia's birthday and our dreams."

Plucking the strings, his father created delicate and melodious tones that filled the air.

The tone caressed the petals, spreading through the air and wrenching at my heart with a bittersweet ache.

(He dreamed of vampires and humans coexisting.)

Galileo's family was warm and close-knit. They wished that the world could be filled with the same scene everywhere.

(But he abandoned that dream.)

Now, he has a goal that is the opposite of his dream: the destruction of the world.

(He seemed so happy.)

(I'm scared to think about what might happen to him in the future, but I have to witness it with my own eyes.)

With determination, I pressed my hand against my chest and looked again, only to see his younger sister running up to him.

Livia: "Big brother, I can't make the flower crown properly."

Galileo: "Let me see."

He skillfully weaved the flowers into a crown and tied the white ribbon that Livia held.

Galileo: "Here you go. Happy birthday, Livia."

Livia: "Wow, it's so cute! Thank you, big brother!"

Livia happily put on the flower crown, her eyes sparkling like stars.

Livia: "Hey, big brother. Can you tell me a story about the stars?"

Galileo: "Sure. Come here. Which story should I tell tonight?"

Galileo lifted Livia onto his lap.

Their mother and siblings listened as he weaved his tale, accompanied by the melody of the lute, spreading out into the starry sky.

Previous Part ╎ Masterlist ╎ Next Part

[mong---mong]

Double Posting! So Look out~!

I will be posting Chan's one shot on how you met him! But for now, SKZ React to you not being able to get pregnant~! Jisung and Jeongin ONLY for the purpose of my SKZ Family story~!

Jisung:

After having your first-born daughter, Jisung and you were excited to give your little girl a sibling, she was almost 3, and she had been talking about having a sibling since she was introduced to the topic.

The two of you have been trying for months now, and while Jisung dropped off Ji-yoon at daycare, and went to work, you went to the fertility clinic to get tested.

At dinner that night you sighed at the negative pregnancy test again, as you headed out. Ji-yoon squealed at you, as you patted her head down. You started dinner and while you were eating, you got a text.

While you had a strict forks up, phones down policy, you turned over your phone, to see who the message was from. Jisung was cleaning up Ji-yoon so you opened the text real quick.

Reading the message, “Infertile” made your heart stop. You choked on your food a little, as you set your phone down taking a drink of water. Jisung checked on you “All good!” You lied, you were trying not to seem upset, especially in front of you daughter.

After dinner you clean up your daughter, and take her to bed, after telling her favorite bed time story, you kissed the forehead. She had just started sleeping in the room next to you and it always made you nervous.

You get in your room, walking in, you don’t see Jisung and your a bit confused. Soon you felt arms wrap around waist, and lips on your neck. “Hi honey~!” Jisung says. “Hi Sung..” you say trying not to sound upset.

Jisung noticed you gloomy behavior and before anything else happened, he picked you up, and threw you on the bed. You giggled and Jisung jumped right next to you. “My wife is upset, and I don’t like it” he said.

He cuddled into you, “So are you going to tell me, we’ve been married for 4 years, I will know eventually!” He declared. You loved your husbands silliness and attempts to cheer you up.

“It’s complicated…” you said, not wanting Jisung to change the topic, but not wanting to explain it either. “Well..I know I am a stupid squirrel, but I will try and understand for you.” Just like that, tears filled your eyes and spilled down your face.

“Honey..” Jisung said, as he sits up pulling you into his lap. “What’s wrong, did you get another negative test…” this was similar to how you reacted when the test wasn’t positive, but there was something different about your pained cry.

“Jisung..I..I am infertile..” You said, Jisung’s eyes widen. He understood why you were upset now. “I know this isn’t your concern..but I still love you so much, and in the future if you want to adopt or foster I am willing to look into that together”

The two of you decided not to adopt, but your commonly helped with babysitting, and you were happy watching your little grow up. Ji-yoon was upset for a while, and it would break your heart when she complained.

But as she got older, she realized her mothers situation and supported her in the tiniest ways that made your feel less insecure about yourself.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Jeongin:

After Jeongin was the first to give his parents a grandchild, his sibiling soon followed after. The two of you waited for a while, to watch your little daughter grow, and adjust to parenting. You could tell that your daughter, Woo-Lin, was ready for a friend, other than her cousins, she was 4 years and a shy toddler and introducing her to another child may help her blossom a little.

It also was like a competition between Jeongin and his younger brother Yoon, because Yoon and his wife were about to have their 3rd child any day now. It made Jeongin want for another child grow even more.

When you were pregnant for a second time, there was a major complication, that made your lose tiny son at 6 months pregnants.

Luckily you recovered well from it, and we’re ready to try again, but part of you also didn’t forgive yourself for losing your son. Jeongin did his best to make your feel better, and he helped a lot.

But after visiting the doctor to find out why you couldn’t get pregnant, you were terrified to find out, when you had your miscarriage you had lost almost all your eggs but 3, and it made your infertile, since if you successfully got pregnant your body wouldn’t be prepared, and most likely not accept the tiny life.

You never had the heart to Jeongin, but you wanted to, when you saw Jeongin’s pouty face at the pregnancy test, or his face when he held his tiny niece. You cried to yourself feeling horrible that you couldn’t provide a bigger family for Jeongin.

When you failed to get pregnant again, you finally told Jeongin. At first he was upset you didn’t tell him, but he understood the pain you were going through. You cried in his arms almost everyday. But you got by, Woo-Lin made plenty of friends, and you went to therapy, and adjusted to this unwanted change. The two of your were happy with the family you had, and you watch your little girl grow up.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Writing this was tough to be honest, me my wife relate to the miscarriage part, but I'm trying to write new things and how I like it, these weren't my number one :(

-x-x-x-x-x-

The length of my stories are no biased, some ideas just require more details~!

Don't Copy without giving me credit!!

[lobsessed-fanl]

Turn Signals

I am adding my one shots here as well!

Or read here on A03: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54131074

Summary:

Ingo was allowed to return home, now he just needs to find out where that is. Aka: Ingo and Emmet reunion. There is never too many.

ENJOY!

It’s dark.

Why is it so dark ?

He was told that he would be brought home, not to an extremely dark cave.

… or tunnel ?

He needs to move, his eyes will adjust. 

How are these walls so smooth?

… that looked like a dangerous pokemon, luckily he hid quick enough. If the pokemon found him he would be breakfast. Why did it have axes on it’s face? 

They’re are a lot more pokemon now. They look like they're looking for something.

He’s glad he packed extra berries. He was getting hungry.

The pokemon all seemed to leave at once. Someone -a familiar voice- said something, then all the pokemon left.

He found a solid place to rest. It’s not the best but it will work. He didn’t sleep for long, he needed to escape before the pokemon come back.

Some people in green uniforms are now walking through the tunnel. (Should he talk to them? Maybe they’re nice?)

He took off his coat and tied it around his waist. A pokemon could easily grab it, it would be dangerous. 

A pokemon with purple flames is now flying through the tunnels. He is glad he hid in a small crack. His uniform almost matches the tunnel walls, so that’s good.

He was almost found. Luckily before the strange, rainbow star-raptor found him he threw a berry to the side. He made sure to throw it from an angle to make sure it thought he was on the other side and not where he was.

He is running low on berries. He needs to get out soon. He regrets not talking to one of the people in uniform. 

The pokemon with flames came back. It rushed down the tunnels. It looked worried. Perhaps he could help it? 

The pokemon left again, so did the people in uniform. 

He decided to search the tunnels a bit more.

He found a strange… shrine ? It looked like it was for a younger version of him. Did these people and pokemon know him?

He found a place to rest for the night. He didn’t know how long he rested. 

The people were back. They had lanterns again. He didn’t know if he should risk going up to them.

… one of them found him first. They had poofy red hair like Captain Zizu. 

“… Hey? Who are you? We have been looking for someone in the tunnels for a couple days now. How have you been avoiding us?” The woman said.

“I- I apologise. It seemed dangerous. The pokemon seemed extremely powerful and I didn’t know who to trust. There was a lot going on before I got here. I was told though, before arriving here, that I would be sent home. Do you know how to get out of these tunnels, ma’am?” Ingo asked the Woman in uniform.

“Well, that is an… interesting story. But I can help you out. You sound…a-lot like our missing subway boss. You even kinda look like him, minus the beard, and strange hoodie. Let me get my boss to tell him that I found ya. Come with me.” The woman said, then gestured for him to follow her down the tunnel.

“… What is your name, ma’am?” Ingo asked, following her.

“Oh! I forgot to introduce myself! I am depot agent Cloud! At your service! What is your name, sir?” Cloud asked.

“Oh… I am Warden Ingo of th-” 

“INGO! Holy dragons! Y- you’re back! Boss Ingo, your actually back! Wh-where were you?” Cloud said, turning around and grabbing his shoulders.

“Uhm, it is a long story… I may have lost most of my memories unfortunately.” Ingo said nervously.

“… What?!? Okay, okay, what do you remember?” Cloud asked, shocked, then taking a couple deep breaths.

“Well, I remember a man in white who I would talk to about pokemon and battle with. A pokemon that wielded flames with mastery. And the words ‘I like winning more than anything else’. But that’s it.” Ingo answered.

“… So basically Boss Emmet and your partner, Chandelure? Emmet is your twin, by the way. I- I won’t force you to tell me too much though. I am guessing you hardly remember me, or the other Depot Agents. But I will tell you. You were, and kinda are, a Subway boss here with Emmet. You founded the Battle Subway with him, you did single battles and he did doubles. Then you both worked together on the multi-battles. I was one of the first Depot agents on the Battle Subway, by the way! You, you did a lot for the Subway, before you and Emmet got in charge, it was in shambles. You were the main designer for the battle subway cars. Emmet was in charge of most of the paperwork and hires. It was funny, you wouldn’t hire anyone for the Battle Subway unless they could defeat you or Emmet in a 1v1 or a 2v2. You made sure to respect your workers, so did Emmet. You both made us all love our job the same, if not more, than being at home.” Cloud reminisced, and continued guiding Ingo towards the door. Suddenly the pokemon with flames started charging at them. Cloud stepped to the side but gave Ingo a gentle smile, seeming to be calm that this pokemon was chasing him. 

“Channnn!” The pokemon chimed as it ran into Ingo. Picking him off the ground with its arm-like wires. The flames weren’t hot, they were actually cool, and gentle. He, he recognized this pokemon. It was his pokemon. 

“Well! I was going to suggest looking for Lavender, your Chandelure, but it looks like she found us first! Anyways, Ingo, this is your first partner, Lavender. She is very protective of you, she nearly went insane with you gone.” Cloud said with a small laugh. 

“Lavender… yes. My Lavender. I- I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to disappear. I hope you can forgive me, dear.” Ingo said, still in the air, gently patting the pokemons glass globe. 

“Chan! Lur de!” Lavender cried out, spinning Ingo around before gently placing him on the ground. Then she gave him a concerned look.

“I- I will explain myself later, Lavender, I promise. But, a lot of things happened.” Ingo said, rubbing near the top of her crown. 

“… chan. Lure lure…” Lavender chimed worriedly, nudging into Ingo’s chest. He remembered that she could sense souls and bonds, perhaps that is what she was concerned about. 

“Well, I am going to bring you to yours and Emmet’s office, then I will tell Emmet to go there. Come with me.” Cloud said, heading towards the door. 

He followed Cloud, eventually they reached a room that said ‘Subway Bosses Office’ on it. Cloud opened the door and gestured for him to follow her inside.

“Go and sit down on the couch right there. I will get you something to eat, what do you want? I think we have some pizza in the break room.” Cloud asked. Ingo sat down on the couch. It was surprisingly soft, much softer than the ones in Hisui. 

“Oh, sure, I can’t really remember pizza completely but it sounds good.” Ingo answered.

“You have been without pizza this whole time? You have been deprived of life, I am so sorry for you. I will be going to grab a slice for you. One moment.” Cloud said in an oddly concerned voice as she left the room for a moment to go grab the pizza. She came back quickly though, with a plate of triangular slices of what he assumed was ‘pizza’. She quickly handed it to him. 

“Okay! This, is Unova’s greatest accomplishment, Pizza! It is just a cheese pizza because we were all out of the others. Enjoy!” Cloud said. Ushering him to eat it. Ingo tried it, it was better than he could have ever imagined. It was soft but crunchy at the same time. It was amazing , for lack of better words. 

“Wow… this, this is amazing. Super Bravo, Cloud. Super Bravo!” Ingo praised, his usual frown curling up at the ends to form a cat-like smile. 

“Good! Glad you still like it! Now, I am going to go get Emmet to tell the other Depot Agents and pokemon that we found you and to tell Emmet that he had something in his office. Emmet should be here soon! Stay safe, don’t disappear again. Lavender, keep an eye on him, okay?” Cloud directed before she headed off, closing the door behind her. Lavender kept above Ingo’s shoulders, making sure never to leave his side. Ingo continued to eat his pizza, finishing it off. It was amazingly good. Was this what Jubilife thought of Beni’s potato mochi? Because he could eat this all day, every day. After he finished, he used the napkins that Cloud had supplied him with on his hands. He then put his jacket back on, it was a bit more chilly in the office.

He heard a jostle at the door. He looked at it expectantly, he wondered if it would be Emmet, the presumed ‘Man in white’. Soon, the door opened and he came in. He looked just like Ingo, but without a beard and with an intact coat and hat. As well as a nice, collared shirt with a tie. 

“I am Emmet, I was told that you were the person in the Tunnels, what is your na- me” Emmet said, staring at Ingo as he pushed the door gently, barely closing it. Emmet looked shocked. He stared at Ingo intensely, seeming scared to blink or look away. 

Ingo opened his arms as if to offer a hug. “I- I am back, little brother. I am home.” Ingo said. That seemed to be what Emmet needed as he rushed to hug tightly to Ingo. As Emmet rushed over his hat fell off. Emmet cried a bit on Ingo, but he wouldn’t mention it.

“I-if this is a dream, I swear on Reshiram's flame that I will kill something.” Emmet said, holding tightly to Ingo like a Sneasel would a Sneaseler. 

“Emmet, please don’t kill anyone, or anything, unless they do something to deserve it.” Ingo said, patting his brother’s back.

“Wh- Ingo, where were you? Wh- what happened?” Emmet asked, pulling back a little to look at him, still clutching tightly to him however. 

“I- It’s a long story, Emmet. I promise I will explain it to you soon however. But I, I lost most of my memories. I had glimpses, but Agent Cloud reminded me recently of most of it now.” Ingo said, nervous it would ruin their reunion.

“… what? Wh- why? How? What. I- I am Emmet and I wish to know what you did remember.” Emmet asked, seemingly upset upon hearing this news.

“Well… I remembered a man in white, a pokemon that wielded flames with mastery, and the words ‘I like winning more than anything else’. But now I know that those are both you, and Lavender.” Ingo said, ruffling Emmet’s hair at that last part. 

“H-hey! I am Emmet. At least you had small glimpses, I suppose. But I will need you to tell me about where you were. I looked everywhere for you. I couldn’t find a single hint at where you went. We can talk about it at home. I suppose while we go, you should take off your coat and hat. We are verrrry recognizable! Also, what is that strange hoodie?” Emmet said, standing up and pointing to his tunic.

“Hoodie? Oh, this isn’t a hoodie, this is the pearl clans tunic. It’s like a uniform.” Ingo replied, taking off his coat. Emmet took Ingo’s hat and placed it in a bag, then grabbed his own hat off the floor and dusted it off before placing it on his head. 

“I am Emmet, we don’t have a car but one of our agents lives nearby. He can drive us there. I am going to call out for the day as well.” Emmet said, walking next to Ingo before guiding him down the halls towards what Ingo recognized as the break room. The depot agents looked shocked. 

“I am Emmet! Please do not over crowd Ingo! I will be taking leave for a few weeks, I have the vacation days! Also, Isadore, we would like it if you could give us a ride back! Also, the battle subway can be called off for the rest of the day, you may all go home early, unless you wish to stay to work on the regular trains.” Emmet said, pointing to the more serious looking Depot agent. Emmet still held Ingo’s hand, making sure not to loose all physical contact with him. Most of the depot agents just talked amongst themselves for a moment before heading out in different ways. 

“Uh- yes! Yes sirs! I will gladly drive you over to your housing!” Isadore responded quickly. Heading over to a nearby exit. Emmet followed, gently pulling Ingo along as well. 

They soon got into a strange, metal vehicle that Emmet said was a car. Isadore got in a seat behind a wheel, Ingo and Emmet sat in the back, next to each other.

The car started to move. It was strange, it felt very weird. He held onto Emmet’s hand a little tighter. Emmet’s thumb rubbed the back of Ingo’s hand in a circular motion.

“Okay! Here is your apartment building. Enjoy your time off!” Isadore said, stopping outside of a tall building.

“I am Emmet! Thank you verrrry much Isadore! I owe you one!” Emmet said. Getting out of the vehicle, then helping Ingo out.

“No need, it was on the way. Plus, I already owed you one from before, so this was me repaying you. Now, take a break, please.” Isadore said, sighing but then giving them both a small smile before driving off. 

They headed inside of the building and walked up quite a few stairs before reaching what Ingo assumed was their apartment. Emmet had a key that opened the door and gestured for Ingo to head inside. 

“I am Emmet, this is our home. Please sit down and tell me what happened.” Emmet said, sitting down on a couch and pulling Ingo down with him.

“Alright, alright. Well. I woke up in a place called Hisui, soon the pearl clan found me —” Ingo said, starting the story.

“I am Emmet. That was a verrrry long story. I feel bad for that kid. Far too much pressure for someone their age. But! At least your back! Also, that sounds a lot like ancient Sinnoh. Weird. Well… I think we should get something to eat for dinner and sleep. What do you want?” Emmet asked, his face still a bit shocked by the story.

“Hmm… I am not sure. What do you think we should have, Emmet?” Ingo asked.

“… Fine, then I’m going to surprise you.” Emmet said with a huff, getting up and heading toward the kitchen. 

They ended up ordering some sushi. They then proceeded to go to bed. They could handle reunions with their other friends tomorrow. They could handle the other pokemon tomorrow. But right now it was just them. Two brothers, finally reunited.

[pabtsblueliving]

His Parliament's on Fire, and His Hands are Up

He's older, you're younger, the public may even say ignorant; Hollywood's new harlot they're calling you, but you don't care. The press is in turmoil over the new relationship between a young actress, and Norman Reedus.

WC 1K

Warnings: 18+, fingering, thigh riding, ridiculous amount of praise sorry my kinks are showing, older man w/ younger woman, smoking, drinking

Thank you to the anon who requested Norman, I feel like it's always Daryl (which I love) but I can never find just Norman fanfic. Enjoy this saucy sexy piece, nonnie. The ending was really rushed, so Im sorry.

xoxo, pabtsblueliving 💋

pabtsblueliving © 2023

What a sight to see, you thought

Norman’s sitting in his bed, the comforter covering his bottom half as he leans against the headboard. Camera lifted to his eyes, and a cigarette hanging from his mouth. You’re leaning against then doorway of the bathroom of his apartment bedroom, dressed in only a white tank top and black, lacy panties, enjoying the view of the man

You lit your cigarette and fixed your hair, posing for the photo.

Click

“Atta girl, that’s a good one” He smiled, ashing the cigarette on the table next to the bed.

You smiled and giggled, walking over to join him in the bed. You hopped in, kneeling in the tangle of sheets, taking another drag and letting it out. You both reached over to the champagne glasses Norman ordered and took a sip.

You had just turned 30 not too long ago, Norman was 54. 

He was staring, “And what are you looking at, sir…” You pointed out.

“Just enjoying my private view,” His pointer finger ran up your bare leg, “for once I have you all to myself, no paps, no press, no news. Just you.” He inhaled the smoke, putting his cigarette in the ashtray.

“I feel like its just been…a whirlwind…” You spoke quietly, walking to sit in the window, blowing the smoke outside. You turned to look at him.

“Doesn’t matter, though,” You ran your hands through your hair, following Norman’s actions and stomping out the stick. 

“I'm with you now…” You began to slowly walk towards the bed again.

Norman adjusted himself in bed. He looked great, long hair, tattoos, broad shoulders, everything you could want in a man. He sat up a little more, and made room for you on his lap. You moved the covers off his lap, revealing his black boxers and you landed on his lap. Legs on either side of his hips. 

“Hi” you batted your eyes at him, “Hey, pretty girl.” He gave you a small smile, bringing his large hand up to cup your jaw bringing you in for a kiss.

You sighed into the kiss, your hands finding their way around his neck, and your hips looking for friction already. One hand moved to the back of your neck, and his other hand snaked around your waist. You felt him urge you to move to his thigh. You buzzed at the thought, heart beating with excitement. You landed on his strong leg, panties beginning to shift and ride up.

You let out a breathy moan as his hand on your waist pushed you towards him, then back, then forward. You tucked your head into his neck, biting your lip and tugging on his hair.

“That feel good, baby? I knew you’d like it…wanna keep going for me?” He pulled your face up as your hair fell in front of your face. 

You nodded, “Yeah, Norm…it-ngh, feels good. So good to me always, baby” You leaned back, so he can look between your bodies. He looks down to see your pussy shifting back and forth on his thigh, as you look at him with hooded, tired eyes.

“You’re a little trouble-maker aren't you? Huh?” He grumbled, and he grabbed you anf flipped you onto your back as you squealed. His fingers went under the sides ofyour panties, teasing you. His touch was electrifying.

“Hey, you should talk” You bit your lip and smiled, pushing his shoulder.

“Me? You’re the pretty little thing in bed with me, and sending the media in a frenzy just cause you know what you want. And who’s tha you want?” He said quietly, space closing between your faces as his fingers descended under your panties. 

“You…” You said shakely, as his fingers played with your clit slowly.

“Sorry…I-I didn't hear you clearly, say it again?” He smirked, pushing his fingers into you.

“Y-you, Norman, Jesus christ.” Your head fell back into the pillow as two, thick fingers were now curling deep inside you. 

“Uh huh, thats what you said, baby. Look at you, takin’ my fingers so well.” His free hand came up behind your head and neck, picking your head up to make you look at him and you moaned out loud. 

“Sh-shit Norman,” You breathed out “Keep going like that, please Norm” You squirmed. 

You were toast now, him supporting and holding your head up as he continued his relentless attack with his fingers inside of you. 

“I got you, you know that baby.” He said while he pushed deeper, and he met your lips letting out a groan as you moaned into his mouth.

“J-just keep…keep doing…fuck, Norm. Im gonna…” You felt the build up of heat deep inside you, you felt as if you were in heaven. 

“Keep going, I got you, atta girl. Gonna come for me? Hm?” His thumb landed on your clit.

Snap

At that moment, he sent you over the edge, and your hand went flying to his wrist where his fingers remained inside you. You clamped around him as you came. 

He breathed heavily, watching you come down from your high, like he saw the whites of your eyes. He placed your head gently back on the pillow, and removed his fingers. His fingers then began to trail to your mouth. Specifically his thumb. You opened your mouth willingly, and he let his thumb slip between your lips. 

“Jeeesus, sweet girl, look at that.” His voice was hoarse. He removed his finger and kissed you one last time. 

You pulled your panties back on and Norman sat on the edge of the bed, fishing in the drawer for his pack of cigarettes. You came behind him, kneeling on the bed, arms wrapping around his broad frame. 

“You’re fuckin’ great baby.” You whispered in his ear, and he shivered. You plucked the cigarette from him and put it between your lips. 

He kissed your knuckles and turned to you, “Stay the night again…please” He looked up at you. His baby blues glimmering. 

You couldn't say no, so your escapades continued for a third night. 

[tparker48]

Request for Footslave-macro

This week has been the greatest time I've ever had with my boyfriend. He may be a shortstack compared to me, but he certainly can be a handful. First hand, we’re trying to try out new things when it comes to sex. I like to top, a lot. But I can't exactly have sex normally with him, he’d be a hot dog in 5 minutes. But..one day we both happened to have found a solution to that.

 I was just sitting my ass down upon the couch, when I started to feel some wiggling. Getting up, I've come to find Ricky, shoulder deep against my backside. Pulling him out, I expected him to panic, but instead he wanted more. Granted, I said no at first, but he had a way with words. something' changed that day, and as time went by so did I. I don’t know how far the two of us will go but -

"Mph Mph!"

*Omali paused his typing as he scooted back from the chair, moving the covers from his lap as he sat nude. Tilting to one side, he parted a cheek as Ricky rested inside, his shoulders against his crack as the glutes hid his head from sight.. Placing a hand upon his shoulder, he scooped him out as he gasped.*

"How many times I gotta tell you? Don't wait until you’re quakin' to let me know you want up" Omali said.

"Sorry hun, but I couldn't help it. Your ass is too good!" Ricky huffed.

 he moved in for another whiff, but Omali's fingers plucked at his head. "Hey, focus on breathing first. I don't want ya passing out like ya did on memorial day." He said relaxing his fingers as Ricky’s head bounced against his ass.

"Fine, I'll do that." he said softly, tilting his head sideways to breathe fresh air, but Omali’s  ass as he felt the breeze from his nostrils across his flesh.

Omali rolled his eyes as he typed at his computers. Eager to let his fans know the predicament his younger boyfriend was in. But his words wouldn't register, finally sending the post into the save draft before he got up. "Damn, dun lost my train of thought."

"Perhaps I can help out?" Ricky asked, his head swaying between the surface of Omali's asscrack.

"You're not exactly a blogger hun. But I'll give ya pointers for some later. For now, I can't get myself walkin' with your head dangling behind me." Omali dug his hands into his beefy cheeks, ringing them just enough to pry the flesh apart. He felt the cool air take to the inside, warmth escaping as his musk filled the air. But it wasn't the only thing that filled it, as sniffs came from behind him. “Of course you are.” He rolled eyes playfully “go on, get in there.”

he pinched at his head, escorting him back inside as he pressed him against his pucker, the cheeks chomping down as they jiggled together. "Finally." Ricky muffled.

"Ai.." He firmly pressed as Ricky's head hugged into the crater of his crack. He could still feel his breath brush inside his hole, bypassing through the orifice as they climbed up his rectum. "Ay, quit blowing bubbles up my ass, I'm not some balloon you know." He clenched as he sent the bubbles back out. It's exit was messy,  fluttering out from his ass in bursts before it simmered. Ricky's moans followed along with them, but muffled as Omali flexed his ass together. He shuttered over the vibrations over his glutes, moving over to his shorts as he pulled them over his rear. "Alright Ricky, we got grocery's to get. You want to take a break and get something, or do you just want to eat ass all day?"

He paused as he widened his legs, observing the outline of toes stretching into his shorts. A muffle soon responded, movement stirring as he felt Ricky's face nuzzle into his hole, his nose sticking between them as he felt the bits of flesh sink into his nostrils. 

"Ass it is, who would have guessed." Omali smiled. With another squeeze, he made his way out the door, but left the keys to his car on the dresser. Why waste time driving, he couldn't risk smothering Ricky again. No, he was going to walk this time. At least then it'd make his ass more slicker to adjust him accordingly.

—------------------------------------------------

over the course of the week, Omali and Ricky's intercourse slowly evolved. From minutes of him sitting on turned to hours, morphing from when they're alone to when they had a chance. The following week, Omali prepared for guests that were coming to visit for the football game this evening. Prepping the drinks, he sat them down before resting on the couch. "The preparations are almost complete Just gotta get the food set and-"

He stopped when movement lingered below him, tilting on his side as he felt Ricky's head wiggle to the surface of his ass. Lowering his pants, he exposed his ass to the open air, Ricky slowly popping out from the mounds as he looked around. "I suppose it's a better time than any to get your break in, Ricky."

"Gotcha, I was meaning to get something to drink before the game started. But I couldn't resist keeping my seat warm." He nuzzled Omali's ass, rubbing in a circular motion as the asshairs along them brushed between his fingers. 

"Mmm, that feels good." Omali huffed, leaning his backside closer to his smaller boyfriend. He felt his hand sink deeper, massaging over his pucker as the folds nipped at his finger tips.

"Don't tell me a little finger play has got you excited hun, I barely moved."

"Hah, you of all people should know that won't get me hard." he reached over for a water bottle, handing it to Ricky. 

"Yes yes, I know. You like it deep and intimate."

"You got that right."

A knock on the door interrupted them as Omali looked toward the shaded window, shadows dancing around as they awaited to be let in. "Looks like they're here." He reached back as he grabbed the bottle from Ricky. "I'll be taking that."

"Hey! Come on, I wasn't finished yet."

"You want to finish your drink?" Omali smirked. He pinned the tip of the bottle before he lowered it behind himself. parting his cheek part with his free hand, he nudged his thumb into his hole, pushing the bottled water between the meaty orifice. With a squeeze, the fluid inside rushed into his rectum, the last drop slipping inside before it slipped out of its grasp. "Go and get it."

"You sly dog, i figured you would try that."

"Its like you said, babe, I like it deeply. So.." He parted his cheeks against, water seepimg from his pucker as drenched his shoulder. "Get to diggin'"

"Oh ho, I'll so get you back for this." He simply said. With that, he leaned forward as he nudged his face into the hole. blocked by water, it spilled into his hair as the ring quivered. But Omali helped him out, pushing into him with a finger as the ring climbed up to his neck. It was only until his pucker touched his shoulder, did he stop.

"Well, I await to see what you can do." he clenched his ass to bring Ricky closer, hoisting his pants back up as he got up from the couch. "For now, I've got guests to greet."

He went toward the door and greeted the guests, escorting them all to the living room before he went for the food. An hour had finally passed as he sat in his lounging chair, the folks around gossiping on who would win the cup. But that wasn't what Omali was focusing on, his attention drawing to his waist as his boyfriend stirred inside. With all the sloshing he felt against his walls, he'd almost thought he had a fish in there. But it seemed lesser than before, more flatter as the wall molded around Ricky's head. "Heh, he managed to drink almost all of it. Good for him."

He looked around the room to observe his guests' gaze, each glued to the screen as they chattered. Without them looking, he grabbed one of his sheets hanging off the corner table, covering himself before he reached a palm into his pants. He cupped at Ricky's back, fondling at his backside before he pinched at one of his cheeks. 

A moan escaped from inside him, the vibrations along the walls making him flex before he shifted around. "That's it..just like that." He thought deeply to himself. He placed his full weight into the sofa as he added more firm pushes. He always enjoyed the power trip he had over him, using his head like a plunger as he flushed his own ass. Pushing harder, he felt Ricky collide against his prostate, huffing deeply as his shaft poked out from his pants. He was quick to tend to it, forcing himself to adjust to hide his erection from the group.

But just as he flipped, he felt something small gloss against his walls, lips clamping around the bulb. "Cheeky bastard, he's sucking on it." Omali thought. He gave a clench to detour Ricky from doing it, but the rhythmic vibrations inside told him that wasn't going to happen. He felt Ricky's shoulder's cushion into his ass, his lips wrapping around the bulb as it clamped before a suction heaved it upward.

Omali felt himself start to leak, rushing to his shaft clog its ascent. But another clamp ushered his hand away as a grunt escaped from him, others looking at him as he pounded his chest. "Everything good Omali?" One of them said.

"Yeah, Yeah. Just sat on something is all." He pulled down the legs of the chair before he got up. "You guys continue watching, I'm gonna hit the john." He moved sideways to point his erection to the kitchen, making his way into the hallway as he closed the door to the bathrooms.

Taking off his pants, he grabbed Ricky's torso and heaved him away, feeling the lips around his prostate slide off before his hole expanded. With a pop, Ricky was back outside, his head coated with sweat and slime as Omali held him upside down. "Hmph." He laughed lightly.

"Told you I'd get you back for that." Ricky smirked, wiping away the slime climbing over his nose.

"Yeah yeah, I guess you did ya dare daredevil." Omali admitted. "But now you got me riled up, and I can't go back out there with my shaft as pointed as an arrow." He climbed his hands up Ricky's body, grabbing his ankle before he brought him closer, his head rested against his sac. "So use that sucker of yours and put it to good use."

"Oh come on, babe," Ricky said. "If you're afraid of being caught, all you have to do is say so." Ricky rolled his eyes playfully, taking to his boyfriend's shaft. Omali stood there as he got into position, feeling his warm palms slip into his inner thigh as he scooped his rod into his hands. With a switch, he felt the head slip into his mouth, its suction sending it across his tongue before he felt the throat muscles grip around it.

He huffed as Ricky worked on his cock, his slick tongue twisting around the base. But Omali wanted more, it wasn't enough to satisfy him just yet. Switching arms, he moved his free hand to the back of Ricky's head, nudging it closer as he felt his nose cushion against his balls. "There it is" Omali huffed, his boyfriend's tenderizing its length as it burrowed deeper. "That's the stuff."

He moved his hips slowly, pullimg his cock halfway before he plunged it back inside his mouth. Speeding up, he felt fluid race through him, exiting from his balls as they raced through the tube. As the cock stiffened, he cupped at the back of his head once more, pulling him close as seed expunged from his cock. Squelches muffled from Ricky's throat, his adam's apple bouncing as he gulped upon the shaft. When the last drop left his slit, he exhaled as he pulled Ricky off. Satisfied as he hoisted him up to his face. 

"Did I mention how much I love it when suck." He smiled.

"Hah, almost every time I do it." Ricky smiled back.

Omali chuckled to himself, bringing Ricky closer as he kissed against his lips. But a knock on the door soon interrupted them. "Hey Omali, you finished in there? Halftime's almost over." A vlice said.

"Yeah, i'm just about finished." He replied. When steps lingered away from the door, he looked at Ricky, the younger boyfriend smiling as the two locked eyes.

"Well?" Ricky smirked.

Omali rolled his eyes. "What am I gonna do with you?" He tucked him back against his thighs, tucking his body beneath his cock before his head rested at his cheeks. Prying his cheek apart, he slowly pushed Ricky in.

"Be sure to sit harder next time, otherwise I'll go and suck your prostate mor-" Omali shoved his head between his glutes, swirling him around until his hole rested at face.

"Spoken like a true seat, just keep that tongue of yours coming and we'll see." he heaved his thighs as his cheeks engulfed Ricky's head. Pulling his hand out, he grabbed his pants and hoisted them up, turning towards the mirror. "God you make me look fat like this." He huffed, making his way out to the others as he closed the door.

[imagine-silk]

Pre itsv platonic yandere PB in ur most recent post hits different... sorry for rambling, but im like obssesed with this idea.

• maybe his object of affection is a friend's kid, who he helped raise. He's the coolest person ever in their eyes! He'd be there whenever he could when they were younger, and he still tries now that they're college age.

• but he slowly becomes more jaded and depressed from the stress of being spiderman, and then him and mj divorce.

•he's depressed, he can barely get out of bed nost days ... and his object of affection, worried about their family friend, starts to visit him nearly daily. It's little things, like helping him clean, or taking him out to get coffee, or just... talking. And Peter clings onto that kindness. This kid (they're college age, but they'll always be a kid to him) saves him in a way.

• its only fair that peter looks out for them all the same-- When he patrols, he follows the kid from a distance and makes sure to lead villians away from their part of town. And for a while, it's enough to just keep them safe as Spiderman, and peter is happy for the first time in so long.

•...and then the kid says they're moving out of state for college, and peter can't bear it. He's started to see this kid as his own, and all he can feel is betrayed. How could this kid leave like everyone else in his life? He wouldn't let that happen. Whether it be hiding their letter of acceptance or straight-up just locking them away in his apartment, he'd be keeping them close by. He's delusional enough that guilt evades him-# his kid loves him, right? They'll adjust eventually.

This is a little ooc but like ^^^ platonic yanderes r my passion + im a sucker for depressed yanderes who become obsessed over people who made their lives light up for the first time in ages.

》 That may be so but your OOC is welcomed. Honestly I love prompts like this cause I can get a different angle from what I typically imagine so this was real nice. So yeah, ramble all you like.

In high school he was your dad's best friend. And he had you at the age of sixteen. Shortly after Peter got bit. To say they were stressed was the biggest understatement in the world. They got through high school intact and went off to college while you were with your mother who was and is a fucking legend.

It took a few years to find out he wasn't actually related to you but he laughed and told you no one would ever want to drink blood so water wasn't bad. He always had a quip, was super strong, and he always seemed to know what to do. Having that thought consistently throughout your life had a big impact. You wanted him to be proud of you, you wanted to be him, and your dad laughed while he encouraged you. You would chase him across the world and further.

Looking back on it you realized he had his moments though. Sometimes he would get iffy and leave for a while only to come back like he didn't leave. When you were thirteen you visited him during one of his iffs. He told you to go home. When you were fourteen you did again. He told you to leave again. When you were sixteen he straight closed the door on your face after you said your piece.

Normally his episodes didn't last long, two weeks, maybe three if it was bad. You went over when it lasted a month. When he opened the door you shoved yourself in and said hi. That only took five years. He didn't force you to leave, he didn't have the energy to, but he told you to million times.

You looked around and then at him. He'd never been the cleanest person but the mess he had was almost impressive. But you weren't going to turn around, this was your moment to finally prove yourself as an adult. So you started picking things up and throwing it away while talking about nothing.

Watching you cleaning his mess and talk was the most horrible thing to see. It proved to him he was in such chaos you felt you needed to pick up after him. This shouldn't be happening, he should have handled it better. That was a bad thought and he knew it; no one would brush off people dying because you were too slow, no one should. But you didn't know that so he let you clean a bit and leave.

Having you shove yourself in the next day with a bag under your arm was also horrible, it was cleaning supplies. You still didn't go away when he said. You went around cleaning, you asked if he remembered when he taught you how to clean to get yourself out of trouble, to use bleach and made sure you didn't accidentally make mustard gas. He wondered if he was in hell, that he was to live a pitiful life with no way to fight it.

The next time he didn't open the door. You threatened to break down it down and he said have at it, and to not cry when you hurt yourself. You didn't cry when you hurt yourself, you came back the next day with a lockpick instead. At that point he accepted the idea he wasn't in hell. Then you saw his dishes weren't piling new ones. He didn't know if he was going insane while you cooked and cleaned or if he actually died while he wasn't looking.

You pushed him into the bathroom to get him to shower, when he couldn't get up you stayed and made him laugh with varying success, washed his clothes. He hated every second of it, hated that he was so useless you felt like you needed to do any of this.

Every new thing you found you stitched. It hurt but it made him better. He let you cook new things in his kitchen and take him out to coffee, all under the guise that he was doing you a favor of course. Before he knew it he let you in without a fight, his house was spotless in a way it never had been and you were visiting daily with a smile, he was smiling.

So he tried to return the favor. He stocked up on thing you wanted and liked, things to mess around with in the kitchen, those weird imported snacks you always got, even domestic things for the rare occasions you stayed over. And Spiderman did the same. Made sure you were unbothered when you were out and about, at the time he didn't realize he was punching harder. If a villain was in town he took the party elsewhere. He got used to this life.

His brain malfunctioned when he heard you applied for colleges out of state. Why would you go to Harvard? That was in Boston. California is just as bad if not worse than New York you know. There's nothing for you in Connecticut so there was no reason to apply for New Haven. He's lost a lot, aunt May is gone, his wife left him, he sees the people he can't save up close, Gwen. Now you were so close to slipping away.

You knew he'd be taken aback so you tried to reassure him by saying you weren't leaving them, him, and you'd come back every chance you got. He wanted to take that answer and leave but so many people have said that to him it was hard to. You brought him to tears and broke them with a hug and a key phrase, "I love you." How was he supposed to just let you leave?

The more he thought about it the more his mind swelled with looming regret. But then he visited you when you were opening your letter. Denied. You were frustrated and groaned it was the second letter you got, both denied. Under the excuse he was visiting to keep updated and the help of Spiderman your letters seemed to stop coming all together. No one knew where they went. He saw it as a job well done. You would get too upset to keep applying. Then you applied by email and explained to the recruiters what was happening. He couldn't stop that. A pile of letters in his closet for nothing.

There was so many things he could but he knew they would only go half way or not work at all. He couldn't just tell you no for so many reasons and threatening the recruiters would work but it would also be out in the open. However there was a way to keep you in Queens for sure and he had the energy to do it. Did it feel morally wrong? Yes, but the ends justify the means.

The next few days while he was getting everything ready he reminisced about your life. He asked if you remember how you would always ask him if he liked you're hair when it was obvious you did it by yourself, with too much gel or unnecessary accessories. Did you know he tried to take care of you by himself while you were just a few months old and you got sick, but you didn't really do anything other than sleep and spit to medicine out as much medicine as possible. You might not have remembered the time you were twelve and got lost so you called him to get you because you forgot your parent's number. And you took the stories. It was proof that he always paid attention to you and that's what you wanted, his approval, his pride.

You couldn't remember what you were doing, how far you got in the college process or if you were getting there but you remember having a drink with Peter. Something was wrong and you asked him to help you because you couldn't keep yourself up. When you woke up you were in his bed. Not very weird, it was a one bedroom apartment, what was was the restraint on your ankle connected to the bedpost. You called out for him and tried to get out of bed only to fall hard on the ground. The light from the hallway offended you and he was next to in a second.

You realized a few things; you were in pajamas, you were very weak and you throat was dry, but the worst thing was Peter not helping you the way he should. And his answers to your questions didn't nothing but tell you this was real. Never in a million lifetimes would you say he would be capable of doing this, or rather going through with it. You asked to leave and he said no.

You wanted to be there. You did anything you could to get in. You always said you'd be there for him so do it now. You love him don't you? You've never lied to him so you meant it. You love him. You don't need to leave ever. If he had to force it to happen he will.

[gore-emporium]

Extremum Vitae Spiritum Edere - Immortan Joe/ Female OC - Part 1

Trigger warning: Objectification, violence against men, and physical restraints.

A bit of a preface—this is going to be a relaxed story. Nothing fully creepy yet, just a lot of character build-up. As things come out, I'll put trigger warnings and all that jazz. I'm also taking a lot of creative liberties, because I have so many wonderful references cooking in my brain.

We're also going by Furiosa's depiction of immortan Joe. The older actor was such a sweetheart and I want to keep it that way.

So let me know what you think! And I'll try to keep writing for those that care to read!

-

The muzzled and chained woman knelt next to the pool as she watched the gentle ripple of the water. Everyone avoided her like a rabid, diseased dog—at least the younger women did. She didn’t help, of course, she was quick to anger and beyond hostile to anyone that came too close. But the other women found a tinge of pity for her. This was the first time they've experienced a woman that fought the mortal god every step of the way. Especially one that beat everyone short of him for presumed recent slights. Mrs. Giddy and the female mechanic were the first to reassure that the feral woman just needed time to adjust. That in due time, she would come to see them as sister.

Nonetheless, they all watched from a distance as she gently let her fingers touch the surface of the water. Yet despite her weak attention on the body, she ignored her captor and his entourage entering the vault. She hardly reacted when she was called for as she used her locked hair to obscure their view of her. That didn’t stop the leader from stepping in by approaching her first. Many of the men in his group seemed petrified to see and be around her.

“Get up…” the mortal god said coldly as he pulled the woman up by her arm. Earning an immediate vocal retaliation as she pulled herself low to resist. But he was clearly much more refined in his strength. His hand clearly hurt her, but she gave no reaction as he easily yanked her up and took her to the mechanic.

“Stop touching people with your fucking hands!” she growled gruffly as she nearly freed herself from his iron grip. Nevertheless he did as he pleased with her as he had the foresight to hold her by the back of her collar. Although this was quite an unusual sight, this was the first time they heard the woman speak. She was clearly older than the younger wives, but her voice may have also been due to her lack of communication. Or the yelling she had clearly been doing towards these men.

“Look at you— a wolf among fillies,” the mechanic mocked as he moved to us the key to unlock her steel muzzle. “Don’t go attacking the flock when you get upset now,” he continued as he removed it with a careful but quick movement. He clearly didn’t trust that she capable of self-control. Even Rictus flinched when she gave the two a guttural scream.

That was clearly the reason for her voice.

Either way, the women found her to be rather easy on the eyes despite the rage and hatred warping her face. They especially didn’t mind the indented lines on her face that the mask made resting against her for so long. She was very much a wastelander and one with facial jewelry—a pierced nose and lip. Joe wasn’t one to allow them such things. It was an “unnecessary addition” in his eyes, and weakened the assumed beauty of their faces. Maybe it didn’t apply yet or it wasn’t worth the trouble from the look of her sharp canine teeth, or her similar size to the men around her.

“Now-now, behave and you’ll get a nice treat later…” That only pushed her to knee the mechanic between the legs as she looked coldly at him. Despite Joe's controlling the situation, he only watched as the younger man crumpled over. She further assaulted him by giving a sharp kick to the face. Clearly bringing some much needed satisfaction to the feral woman's sweet face.

“…Are you done?” The mortal god kept his voice short and even as he wrangled her back in with ease. Although it didn’t stop her from lunging at the scared giant, who held a new leather muzzle in his hand.

“…I—I told you we needed to chain her to a bed…the little bitch gets off on terrorizing us…” the crumpled man breathed as she smiled briefly.

Nonetheless, the far older man turned his back to the mechanic and ignored his further comments as usual. “Bathe her,” he ordered while shoving away the feral woman towards the elder of the group who waited with concern. Despite her hostile reaction she went to the woman quietly and glared over her shoulder at the man eyeing her as she was undressed.

“…Haven’t you seen enough naked women?…or do you get off on public displays?” she growled as she stepped out of the fabric pooled around her feet. She was a lovely sight, her dark body was well maintained and even a bit muscular and polite in her upper body. Mrs. Giddy did make it clear to the women that she came from the black thumbs and warboys. The object of their current attention, strangely enough, was only discovered recently.

She even had another piercing on her belly button, and small, thick scars here and there. The main one that stuck out was a deep thick scar that rested above her upper right rib cage. Slicing in half, what appeared to be, a tattoo in an unfamiliar language to most of them. Nonetheless despite her previous behavior, she articulated herself well and spoke with precision and disgust when she addressed the man. She even lacked the accent most wasterlanders had—it felt foreign yet not too dissimilar to theirs.

“…Leave him be, dear,” the history woman took her arm and led her to the water. Her chains jingled with each step until he stopped them in their tracks

“…what is on your back?” he said, almost intrigued despite his usual coldness as he took short strides to move her hair from her back. For some of the wives, revealing an intricate tattoo of a large cat. Some knew it in passing, but only that this creature had long been gone.

“…A lizard…What does it look like to you?” The object of his attention sarcastically shot back despite the older woman trying to hush her. With ease he turned her around to look at the rest of her. With little concern, he held her hair from his view. Leaving his hand more than too close for comfort to her face. After a moment of carefully searching she finally asked, “are you done? There’s nothing different about my body than everyone else here…personal advice—check before people get this far. You might not see what you like…then again, all tyrants like anything they can play with as long as they can break it…” Despite her constant disrespect, he did little to curb her behavior. Almost like one accepting that their cat does as it pleases most of the time—a "free-spirit". Only an issue when she attacked him physically.

Finally letting her go, he watched as she was taken to pool as a wife came with the brushes and combs. The lightly brown water proved that her hair hadn’t been fully tended to prior to her entrance. The preparer’s negligence could have resulted in the wives becoming ill. Especially with the material that sticks to the black thumbs after hundreds of days working on bikes, cars, and war rigs. Thankfully, he was able to assume that the other wives steered clear of her—and she steered clear of them. Even her elder was only able to aid her a little as the far taller woman scrubbed and brushed at her own hair until the water ran clear from her hair. He assumed this may have been due to the texture of her hair, or distrust of even the woman before her.

“There we go,” the history woman softly said after she checked her roots and ends. The younger woman however did allow her to wring the water from her locks before gently brushing her hair off of any loose curls and lint.

“Well…” the mortal asked once he became impatient with the process. Even after they shifted focus on her skin and private matters.

“She’s ready to join the other wives,” the woman answered respectfully, as she took a sheet and helped the woman dry off. The long chains that linked her collar and cuffs impacted her mobility. Unlike the other ferals, he preferred to keep the women uninjured and healthy. She would be useless to him if she couldn't feed or stop herself from being injured from a simple fall.

“…The chains stay…any missteps and the muzzle will stay one for the foreseeable future.”

He didn’t bother sticking around to watch her be dressed and tended to further. Leaving Rictus to glance at the muzzle before following suit with the others.

“He won’t let you speak like that for much longer, dear,” the historian warned her as she wrapped the simple dress above her breasts.

The woman seemed more enraptured by the disgusting situation but she managed to hold her tongue. “…I’m not going to pretend like I can help myself…” She grumbled as managed to keep her hair wrapped in the sheet despite the limits of her chains. “…Me and tyrants just don’t have a good track record…I certainly don’t like the ones who need this kind of company.” The older woman gently patted her arm as she quickly became agitated again. “Sorry, I wasn’t more courteous earlier…you never know if this is just an extension of his cult…the last thing I need is to be told that ‘life’s great and we’re just doing our part.’ I’m not exactly interested in making a old-worlder happy for the rest of my days…”

The younger wives were enraptured by the way she articulated herself. She was such a hard woman—they figured she was another senseless killer. They were pleasantly surprised to find a woman more well poised than the tyrant. Although, like Mrs. Giddy, they worried what would happen if she failed not to play along.

“Well, I have good news for you, sweetheart. He only keeps you until you give him a messed up pup or two.” the rusty redhead said as she leaned over the upper wall of the balcony. She was slim and average height. She was the only ginger with freckles and brown eyes. She was clearly one of the older wives, and she was a wasterlander. One of the only women in this room to have an undeniable tattoo of a dagger between her breasts. Possibly an old gang tattoo by looks of it—the lines were still thick but the colors were faded.

Nonetheless her input hardly surprised the group of women outside of the newcomer. She was the one to break bad news in such a straightforward and humiliating way. The latter depending on who was on the receiving end.

“Obviously, he has no sense of danger. He sees a woman like you and still thinks he can get what he want like the pretty little things here…I’ll give him this, you might be able to actually give him a normal little runt…shame he can barely knock anyone up like he goes through warboys.”

They expected the woman to get annoyed or enraged again by the news, yet she seemed beyond amused. “Here I thought he needed a change of pace, turns out he’s just another man obsessed with multiplying…I’m surprised he hasn’t had a heart attack yet.”

“You should see the junk the mechanic gives him to keep it up… You might as well count how many women here had to hear his disgusting voice. All that man is good for is adding to the amount of women that want to shove his rotten dick down his throat. He practically lives off of our bitterness—he’ll die when someone rips his face off for just looking at ‘em sideways.”

…

A few days passed and the dark-skinned woman was slowly acclimating—although not many people spoke to her fully. She wasn’t surprised, she had no tenacity for kindness in the previous days. As much as she adored the warboys that helped her work on one of the war rigs, they’re feverish dedication to the tyrant made her skin crawl. She was never allowed to criticize a man most of them hadn’t seen. And she certainly wasn’t allowed to criticize their strange religion.

Sighing to herself, she sat against the wall as she wondered what she would even do here. She was practically in a safety zone fighting against even a speck of dust. The place was so unbearably clean and hardly scented that she felt like the world was turning in reverse. The constant baths and grooming drove her crazy. Why waste precious water when people out there are dying of thirst? Especially the people that dedicate their lives to throwing themselves at this man’s feet for not even scraps. The “wretched”, she presumed, only turned to him because he was the only thing in this useless wasteland that didn’t throw them into the fire or riddle them with bullets. It was probably the fact that most of them were too crippled to leave this place. But she had the luxury of saying those things—she hadn’t been to the wasteland in years. She lived on the coast where things were still salvageable. There were so many options to live functioning lives, but the gas and water wars made it impossible to do anything. There was still saltwater, but the time it took to purify it was borderline useless. They were just lucky that nature was healing itself slowly to the point of it being a luxury to have meat—albeit fish—again. Either way, It was her home. So many people must be worried about her. She was only supposed to be gone, at most, 365 days and it was already likely well over that. She worried so much for her son—he was more than old enough to fend for himself, but he was still his little boy. She worried every which way about him even when life was good and reasonable.

“…hi…” one of the younger wives greeted despite her using her hair to obscure her face. The older woman neither wanted to be gawked at or constantly approached when the young ones got too invested in her. “...How are you?”

“I’m alright,” she answered, straightening out and allowing her hair to slip away from her eyes, “How are you?”

“…I’m doing good,” the teen with tan skin and long dark hair was clearly gearing up to ask a question, “um…why don’t you like Joe? He does everything to keep us safe. And he makes sure we’re happy and well taken care of. I’m sure if you're nice to him, he’ll be nice to you.” She tried to be helpful, and it was appreciated. However, she was certain of the blond sandy haired woman, that was lingering nearby, expected nothing good from this exchange.

“…Hmm, I’ll keep that in mind…but I can’t make any promises. I’m not very good with authority…” the elder woman answered with a soft smile. She figured that this had been her life since—she didn’t know better yet.

This immediately put the younger woman at ease, earning a nervous smile in return. “What’s your name? I’m Cheedo.”

“…Vicious, but Vee is shorter,” the dark skinned woman answered with slight amusement.

“Is that your mother's name?” She was clearly asking if that was her real name or nickname. The wastelander never expected the younger wives to know what that meant or that it was a common distinction in your identity. These girls weren’t exactly well tuned to the outside world.

“No,” she chuckled, “my mother’s name is very special to me, so I prefer to use my nickname.“

“…Can I sit with you?” The young wife asked with a hopeful, shy smile.

“Whatever makes you happy,” she returned the smile as she sat down. The slim blond followed suit by watching them from a seat on the stairs.