#her mouth is to small to keep her fed properly with her huge body

[a-tired-human-draws-junk]

Dunmeshi themes of consumption on the brain

[personasintro]

bellissima | knj

SYNOPSIS; once your husband finds the meaning behind your rejection, he’s having none of it

GENRE: fluff, smut, parents!au

PAIRING: namjoon x reader

WORD COUNT: 8.1k

WARNINGS: cunnilingus, unprotected sex, lactation kink, strong language, dirty talk, multiple orgasms

⏤> m.list

buy me a coffee?♡

You've never thought seeing a small baby, your baby, could melt your heart at the simplest things.

You remember when some of your friends got pregnant and had babies, the urge to have one of your own was never stronger. You were constantly surrounded by the tiny humans and even their loud and unstoppable crying wasn't enough to change your mind that it may've for some women. But all the feelings from the cuteness you've seen are million times stronger right now. Because this is not just some baby, this is your baby that you're seeing.

You watch your daughter laying on her tummy, trying to push up on her chubby arms. She groans, struggling a little bit as she drools onto her fluffy pink blanket that she lays on. She kicks her legs rather harshly, getting more active each day.

Just three months ago, you were carrying her inside your womb and it's almost miracle, how fast she grows. All those nine months filled with throwing up, morning sickness that lasted way more than just morning to your moody and bratty attitude that your husband had to put up with. An incredible husband who never seemed to be annoyed by you, fulfilling your demand or wish.  

“She's impatient,” he comments, his eyes shining at the sight of his daughter who seems to be angry. “I wonder who she got it from.” he adds teasingly, laughing when he sees you glaring at him but with amused grin on your lips.

You both sit on the floor next to each other, admiring your little angel that seems to be showing her personality much more these days. He pulls you closer, his arms draped against your shoulders as he softly places a kiss into your hair. You watch her for another few minutes, laughing at the cute grimaces she makes or when she shows you her gums, laughing at the both of you. She loves the sound of Namjoon's laugh. It always makes her smile and laugh along with you, without her even knowing what exactly it means. It feels magical to get to see her way of thinking, or simply just observe her while she's on her own. She yawns and starts to whine, her legs kicking even more as you sigh.

“Okay, missy. It's time for your nap.” you tell her, picking her up as she keeps whining before a sob escapes her small pouty lips.

“I can take her,” Namjoon says, already standing up dusting off his butt as he smiles at you. “Come on. Go rest.” he tells you, observing your tired eyes and the tiny bags under them.

It's been awhile since you got to properly relax. It makes him sad to see you that way, despite of seeing you happy and smiling whenever you're with your daughter. You're usually the one who wakes up in the middle of the night whenever she cries. It's not like he doesn't want to, but with you being on maternity leave, he's the only one who provides money for your family. He gets up early in the morning and comes later in the evening, so there's barely any time for you to be together. Weekends are exception, luckily. And as much as Namjoon lets you know how awful he feels about you taking care of your daughter alone, he's not right. You've spent an hour talking about it with him, persuading him that he's taking care of her as well. He makes sure you've a place to live and food on the table, that's as much important. Nobody said having a kid is easy, you both knew that.

Namjoon's natural caring personality isn't helping as you see him struggling over those things. There's nothing you can do that can change his mind of his way of thinking. He tries to help whenever he's around and today isn't exception.

He was the one who went to her crib when she started to cry in the morning. He let you sleep and fed her with the bottled milk you prepared, in case it's needed. You still breastfeed her, but it's convenient to have some milk in the fridge just in case.

You don't protest, Sunhi reaching towards her father as she stops crying. He takes her, cuddling her to his chest as he walks out of the living room. You take that time to lay down your exhausted body, putting on the latest episode of Riverdale. You're not really paying attention to the actual plot, your mind drifting elsewhere but you enjoy the silence. As much as you love your babygirl Sunhi, it's nice not to be on watch every second and just relax.

You hear Namjoon's humming and the sound of hanging toy that's placed on her crib, the sweet lullaby resounding behind your bedroom's door.

The track of time is lost, until you hear the bedroom door creaking as Namjoon silently tries to tiptoe not to wake his sleeping angel up.

“She won't wake up.” you chuckle, finding the image of him tiptoeing to the couch very amusing.

“Just in case.” he reasons, grinning as he hovers over your body before he slouches next to you.

The couch is not that big, but big enough to fit you both even though it's not as comfortable and he's close to actually falling down. “Thank you for taking care of her.” he says, pulling you closer to his chest as you happily cuddle to him.

Ever since Sunhi was born, you've barely had any time to enjoy your time alone with him. It's only natural for it to happen, with Namjoon's job and a newborn in your family. She's older now, but she still needs your whole attention and care.

“Of course.” you smile against his shirt, his scent comforts your senses and makes you close your eyes in delight.

Namjoon's hands rubs soothing circles into your back, kissing the top of your head every now and then before he tucks a finger under your chin to have a better look at you. You blush, even all those years of marriage underneath his warm eyes as he smiles, a deep dimple popping out of his cheek. His head dips down, the angle is awkward and probably uncomfortable for his neck but he still presses his lips to yours. What seemed like an innocent peck, he deepens the kiss as he starts kissing you slowly. His hands move against your hips and he moves you onto his body, taking your space with his tall and huge one. You giggle, surprised by the sudden movement as he does the same before he continues with kissing you. But this time, his hands move down to your ass before he grips it with a slight groan to your lips. It makes you flustered, the single sound muffled by your lips makes you squirm in your spot. The thin material of his black sweatpants makes it easier for you to feel his hardening length against your abdomen. The sound of your mouths colliding with each other is the only sound you can hear, the TV show is long forgotten.

“Fuck, baby.” he murmurs against your lips, his breath shuddered against your mouth.

You see the glint in his eyes, the way his lips are already swollen and red from all the kissing and his breathing is quickened. He wants you. You see desire in his eyes mimicking yours as well. Your foreheads bump into each other once you're met with your lips against, his tongue moving smoothly in your mind as he makes sure to bite onto your lower lip and slightly tug it which only makes you moan. You're so distracted that you barely feel his hand sleeping down your leggings and panties, his fingers brushing past your ass cheeks before you feel him on your slit. Gasping into his mouth, you shake against him from the familiar but almost forgotten feeling.

It's been awhile since he has touched you this way, but you know it's been all your doing. Ever since your gynecologist gave you the green light for sex, you barely mentioned it to Namjoon. You were – and still are – craving for his touch but your dumb self-consciousness and the lack of confidence is the huge barrier that prevents you to truly feel connected with your husband.

But Namjoon isn't dumb. He knows he can touch you now and was initiating his need for you couple of times. But you've always brushed it off and chickened out which left you embarrassed, curled in your sheets to hide the guilt from your face. The great husband he is, he never pressured you into anything and haven't talk to you about it. He sensed something's not right and if you wanted to talk about it, you would. He gave you space, barely touching you this way. Your times together were filled with occasional kisses and innocent brush of his hands, but other than that it was nothing.

You desired him like you always have, even during your pregnancy. That was the time you had sex almost every day, blaming it on the hormones that made you feel extra horny for your husband. More than usual, of course. Even back then, you were pretty self-consciousness about your weight which isn't that much of a surprise, not when your stomach is bloated as if you swallowed a huge balloon. It surprised you how your husband was barely affected by the huge barricade between you two. Sex became more tough with each day and there was only small amount of positions you could try and even more less that actually worked. Namjoon didn't mind it. He told you that you look more than attractive with his baby inside of you.

But now there's no baby inside of you and you're left with all the fat that still remained from the pregnancy.

“Fuck,” Namjoon gasps, your mouth falls open in shock as he slips his finger past your folds and inside of you, your walls wrap around him immediately. “How are you even tighter?” he thinks out loud, not really waiting for any real answer when he starts pumping his finger in and out of you, your head falling to his chest.

A shaky breathes leaves your mouth as he pulls out, circling his finger around your slit.

“Tell me,” he breathes out. “Tell me you want me.”

He won't continue unless you fulfill his wish, but still pinches your clit as you groan into his chest that vibrates with low chuckle. “Say it, Y/N.”

He's impatient, hazily reminding you of your daughter that he so thought she got her impatience from you. You almost want to mention it but stop, when he does it again but this time with much more pressure leaving you breathless.

“Fuck, yes, yes. Touch me. I want you.” you chant, your face hidden against his shirt that you almost drool on.

You fulfill his wish, so he gently tries to pry you off his chest as he clumsily stands up. You lay on your back, watching him stare at you before he hooks his fingers underneath the hem of your leggings. There's no time to protest, he's too quick and impatient to get that piece of clothing off you. He throws it somewhere behind him, his eyes purely focused on you while he watches you like you're the piece of art. He admires you but all you see are his eyes on you, without thinking you're ready to reach for a blanket that's lazily sprawled against the couch's back but Namjoon is too quick. Spreading your legs, he places himself between them as he tries to make himself as much comfortable as he can.

“Joon,” you softly speak, shifting on the couch. Not from desire that's between your legs but from the lack of confidence of your current state.

You're exposed in the daylight, sun blazing your skin through the window directed to you. All those thoughts and marks that are craved into your skin are long forgotten, especially when he places a kiss on your clothed center. You gasp, your fingers already in his hair as he starts to lick the material.

“Mhm, I can smell you.” he says, digging his nose against your clit, the pressure makes you see stars and he barely touched you.

It's been a long fucking time and you're aware it's your fault. He could've touched you like this days ago, but you always refused him. Maybe he's needy because you haven't touched him for three months. It was weird to propose a blowjob to him, especially when you turned him down for sex. The guilt and the hurt on his face was too much, you wouldn't be able to focus on anything.

“Joon,” you whine, embarrassingly covering your reddened face, away from your chuckling and amused husband who reaches for the hem of your cotton panties. If you knew today would turn out like this, you'd at least wear something nicer. Ever since you were pregnant and pretty sensitive down there, the tongs and all the sexy lingerie hidden in your drawers were long forgotten.

“What? You do smell nice.” he says, making you even more embarrassed but that was his plane and he cheekily grins when he sees he succeed.

Once again, you're distracted by your husband that glows in the daylight, even after spending the most of your night carrying Sunhi so you could sleep. He managed to drink two cups of coffee this morning but you're the one who makes him awake. The sight of you, the sight he hasn't seen for so long, is enough to push all the tiredness away.

Distracted as you can be, he already takes off your panties as they smoothly slides from your legs that you luckily shaved last night. Not having sex had its perks, and shaving was one of them. It's not like you weren't shaving, that wasn't one of the perks, especially when Namjoon touched you all the time. The last thing you want for him is to feel repulsed by your haired legs. You just didn't do it as often as you used to, knowing there wouldn't be anything more than just innocent touches.

His lips are coated with more shine, his tongue licking his plump lips at the sight in front of him. He's ready to dive in, looking like an hungry man that's about to have his feast, before you clasp your legs so tight and fast that you almost crash his head.

“Woah!” he exclaims, looking like a deer at you as you sheepishly grin.

It's just defense mechanism to hide your embarrassment and nervousness. But you expose yourself when you can't meet his doe eyes and innocent, but mostly shocked look.

“Baby,” he says, his hand gently places over your thighs as he massages all those marks that are engraved into your skin. It makes you feel even awful, wondering if he can feel the slight bumpiness that those stretch-marks have. “What's wrong?”

He's quick to catch on that something's not right. Maybe this is just another time that you close on him, simply telling him that you're too tired for sex. But you two got already so far and you panicked all of a sudden. He's been your husband for six years, he knows there's something not right with his wife when she can barely meet his eyes. You were never this distant as those past few months. He even wondered if it's because you weren't ready for a baby. You both planned it, but the whole thing is completely new to the both of you. Maybe you regret having his baby. Even those kind of thoughts occurred his mind during night or even his breaks at work.

“If you don't want me to touch you, just say it. I won't be mad.”

The warmth that spreads in your heart is calming, but not enough as you cringe at his words. He thinks you don't want him to touch you. He's completely wrong about that. You do want him to touch you, devour you like he used to for all these years. There is no secret that sex life with him is hell of a drive. Even your friends know that, especially Seokjin that walked on you during one of the camping trips you attended. It was pretty embarrassing for the both of you, but you don't care. It was worth it, despite of all the jokes that your friend keeps bringing to till this day.

Sighing, he slightly pulls away leaving your skin cold and shuttering when the cold air hits your exposed skin. You panic, his name falling out of your lips automatically. Other husband would be probably mad, or at least annoyed by another rejection but you're just met with soft smile telling you that it's okay. You know he means it, just by a simple smile without telling the actual words.

But it's not okay. You're not okay for pushing your husband because of your insecurity.

“It's just--It's me, not you,” you start, cringing again at those cheesy words that you just let out from your mouth. He watches you and although, he gave you a reassuring smile a few seconds ago, he focuses on you. And you know, that he wants to hear what you have to say. He doesn't push you, he doesn't say anything but you can see it in his eyes. “Ever since I gave birth, I uh,” you breathe out, slowly sitting up as you hastily reach for the blanket and cover up yourself. “I don't feel beautiful enough.” you finish slowly, looking up at him as he silently watches you.

There's hurt crossing over his features as he eyes the blanket and for a moment, you think this is it. He's going to be mad, or finally show some other emotion instead of kindness.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” His voice booms out the living room causing you to flinch at the explicit language he just used. You're opening your mouth, your fingers slightly trembling that are grabbing the blanket more tightly. You're not sure what to say, but apology is the first thing that crosses your mind but before you can say it out loud, Namjoon is ahead of you. “You don't feel beautiful enough? What kind of bullshit it that?” he frowns, suddenly showing you not so positive reaction.

You're embarrassed, especially because you're his main focus right now. But he deserves to know. He has to know what's been going on in your mind. He's your husband, the love of your life, after all. You already feel awful enough to hide it from him.

“Joon, look at me.” you mumble, glancing at the pictures that hangs on the wall.

There a lot of memories of you two, from the time you dated to till this day. There are a few pictures that Namjoon has taken himself, your favorite one is a set of cherry blossom tress that Namjoon adores. He captured it on your first trip to Italy.

“I am looking,” he says, denseness laced with his suddenly low and raspy voice. “But I'm not sure what you mean.”

He's smart and you just wish he'd actually see it without you talking or showing it to him. Maybe he's doing this purposely, trying to voice your concerns but when you look at him, all you see is that same denseness that's in his voice. He doesn't know.

“My body is not what it used to be. I've stretch-marks all over my stomach that won't probably go away or even fade. They're on my thighs,” you fish out your one thigh under the blanket to point at the proof. “My stomach is fat and I can't seem to loose it. My face is still chubby and fuck, I don't even know how it looks down there!” your voice raises, all the irritation that's been bubbled up inside of you is finally free.

But you still feel the same weight on you, despite of you speaking loudly about your concerns.

“Baby,” Namjoon murmurs, his voice soft and realization hits his face as he looks at you with emotion that you despite right now. Pity. “You're the most beautiful woman I've ever laid my eyes on. Before and after birth.” he says, your immediate reaction is a scoff.

“Yeah, right.” you roll your eyes, but still fumble with your fingers nervously.

“Y/N,” his tone changes, his voice stern as he makes you to look at him. “You gave me the most beautiful daughter I could ever ask for. A daughter that's beautiful because of you. You really think I fucking care about some stretch-marks? Or your stomach fat? I love you just the way you are. Is this the reason why you pushed me away?”

You don't have time to blush from his words, your mind still racing on your own as you can't bring yourself to believe him that easily. Namjoon is one of the kindest and most caring people you've ever known. He's been always there to assure you whenever you had doubts about something, or were just sad. If it wasn't for him, you would never get over some things like you did with his help. But maybe, just maybe, this is one of the same scenarios. He's just trying to be kind and tell you that you're beautiful. No man surely thinks a woman who used to be more beautiful, is not beautiful with all those imperfections covering her body.

Still, you shamelessly nod not meeting his eyes again. “I'm sorry.” you bite into your lip, not wanting to cry right now.

“No,” he shakes his head, scooting closer to you and almost crushing your legs in the process which he quickly apologizes for. You can't even muster a smile and he's quick to see it. “I'm sorry that I haven't realized that you feel this way.”

Your head snaps to his direction, your eyes wide as you shake your head. “It's not your fault, I wasn't very vocal about it. I was mostly embarrassed and didn't know how to tell you.” you tell him, your heart pounding against your chest.

“There's no need for you to be embarrassed. It's me, your Joonie,” he reminds you, using a nickname you often call him. It's enough to curve the corners of your lips up, touched by it. “You can tell me anything and let me tell you, you're so fucking hot.”

“Joon!” you gasp with widened eyes, surprised by the sudden confession.

“No, I'm serious,” he quickly says. “You gained some weight while pregnant and you managed to loose some of it, but you still have it in the right places. You're so fucking hot, you drive me crazy and you don't even realize it. Do you have any idea how many times I beat my meat in the shower?”

You laugh, thinking he's joking but once you're met with his determined eyes and look of confusion why you're laughing, your laugh dies down. “What? You did?”

It's hard to believe he did such thing. You'd surely heard him, right?

“I did,” he admits almost proudly. “Many, many times. You've no idea, do you? You've no idea what you do to me.”

You slowly shake your head, confusingly staring at your husband that reaches to cup your cheek. You place your hand over his, leaning into his touch as your fingers trace the ring around his finger. He slowly takes your hand, shamelessly placing it over his hardened bulge that's covered and tucked in his sweatpants. You gasp, surprised that he's even this hard after the whole conversation.

“You did this to me.” he says, your tongue automatically comes out of your mouth to moisturize your dry lips.

You cup him, feeling him twitch against your touch and he shakily breathes out. He's trying to control himself, the simple sight and sound he just made is enough to make you squirm in your spot. You're already wet, but the feeling of his clothed cock makes you even more wetter as you feel a trace of wetness staining your panties.

The sudden urge to touch him, taste him, floods your mind and you're already straightening yourself. “I've to take care of it then.” you lowly say, looking up at him through your lashes as he curses under his breath.

Ah, fuck. How he wishes for you to touch him, to take him into your mouth so he can feel the warmth of it. But this is not about him.

“Later,” he says, slowly hovering over you as he gently pushes you down, your back meeting the cushions again before he kisses you. “I need to take care of you.”

Reaching for the blanket, he takes it off throwing it to the side while throwing off the tv remoter. It hits the floor, the loud bang resounding around the living room making the both of you pause. “Sorry.” he sheepishly apologizes, making you silently giggle at his clumsiness.

“Oh, no, no, Mrs. Kim. Now is not the time to laugh,” he chuckles, spreading your legs as he suddenly straightens up, taking off his shirt.

You're gawking at the sight of his caramel skin and toned body, your mouth salivating immediately at your husband. Your husband. How did you get so lucky?

He lays down onto his stomach, between your legs, to your disappointment hiding his wonderful body from you making you pout. He doesn't see it, his eyes focused in front of him. “Fuck, you're so wet. Were you this wet every time I touched you?” he looks up, your breath hitching at his stern look.

You're amazed how many different personas he has, especially this one when he's ready to devour you. It's almost shame to think that the last time you've seen him this way was a few weeks before you gave birth.

His question brings you back to all those times you were sexually frustrated, just from the single smell of his aftershave and warm coming from his body when he innocently cuddled you, was enough to drive you crazy. Some women says that once you give birth, you're not so sexually crazed as while being pregnant. Well, it was the complete opposite for you. You were ready to jump his bones just a few weeks after you gave birth, still when it wasn't safe enough to actually have sex. You still felt the ache between your legs every now and then, but it doesn't mean you didn't get wet. How can you not when your husband is the definition of God?

“Yes.” you shamelessly admit, watching the way his lips curls into a cocky smirk, proud of your confession.

“You should've told me. I would take care of my wife so well.” he says lowly, his breath fanning against your core as you whimper.

“Joon,” you call out to him, his eyes flickering to yours. “I-I'm not sure how it looks down there.” you embarrassingly admit. You just have to be more open with him and you know he'd never laugh at you for your concerns and thoughts.

You gave a natural birth to Sunhi, an actual human came out of your vagina. There's no way it looks the same, considering the stitches you had.

“Well I can tell you, that it looks fucking amazing.” he says, biting his lower lip as his eyes are already set between your legs.

“Namjoon!” you exclaim, hiding your face and flushed cheeks with your palms.

He chuckles, kissing one of the stretch-marks on your left thigh. “You really look fucking amazing.” he says with honesty, enough to calm down your nerves.

It's not like you grabbed a mirror and observed how you look down there. You were too scared of the result you'd see.

“Will you let me to make you feel good? To show you how fucking beautiful and sexy woman you are?” he says, nibbling on the skin of your thigh while he's looking up at you through hooded eyes.

“Y-yeah.” you tell him, nodding. All the insecurity and negative thoughts are washed away, all of a sudden that you can't believe that it miraculously went away. But that's because Namjoon is a miracle. Your miracle.

He doesn't waste time, but doesn't rush to taste you either as he makes sure you feel his every touch. He starts with kissing your thighs, slowly moving to your abdomen and stomach, peppering kisses and nudging the material of your t-shirt with his nose.

“Hmm, this should've been already off.” he hums against your skin and you're quick to obey, helping him to take it off.

He successfully, with your help, manages not to rip another piece of your or his clothing, and he's right back in his previous spot. He hovers over you, eyeing your naked breasts with already perked nipples.

“I love how bigger they got.” he says, sending you a glance before he dives down to take your nipple into his warm mouth.

“Ah, mhm,” you moan out at his tongue that flickers over your sensitive nipple. “They'll get saggy.” you still point out, already feeling and seeing the difference from your previous perky breasts.

“I'll love them either way.” he says, moving to the other nipple to repeat the same process as he suddenly sucks.

You yelp with a surprise, your milk coming out of your breast as Namjoon tastes it with a followed moan. “Mhm, so fucking good.” he groans, his fingers slowly coming down to your clit as he circles it with slow and steady movement.

You're moaning, gripping his hair that got long at the back, while he tastes your milk. It's not the first time he has done it. He tasted it couple of times while you were still pregnant. The first time it was by a curiosity that quickly turn to a pleasure for the both of you. It felt fucking amazing to feel his lips against your nipple, sucking it. It brought a relief and your breasts didn't feel that full and tense anymore.

“Fuck, you're dripping.” he comments, collecting some of your wetness that leaked out of your tight hole before he pushes his finger in.

He goes back to your breasts, your back arching as his whole face is pressed against your chest. “Joon, leave something for Sunhi.” you remind your obviously distracted husband who pulls out with a pop, his lips coated with your milk.

“Daddy needs his fill too.” he simple says, but still listens to you as he attaches his lips to your neck instead.

He adds another finger, your walls wrapping tight around him as you mewl at the feel of his long and slim fingers. He moves down, nipping at the valley of your breasts slowly coming down your stomach. Pulling out his fingers, you whine in protest which he simply reacts with amused chuckle before he parts your legs wider to fit his body more properly. Kissing your clit is all enough for you to arch your back at the feeling, as he places his palm against your abdomen to keep you down. It doesn't take him long after he starts licking a long stripe against your slit, repeating the movement for a few times before he pushes his muscle inside of you. He tastes you, lapping at juices that manages to drip down like some hungered man.

“Fuck, I missed this.” he makes sure to say it, before he's back to fucking you with his tongue.

You really missed this. You're squirming, the same familiar feeling that used to be almost unfamiliar is back, and you're reminded of all those times Namjoon went down on you. He groans against you, the vibrations making you even more sensitive and closer to your end as you grip his hair even tighter. Namjoon moans into your cunt in praise, loving how rough you get when he goes down on you. You can't manage to buckle your hips up as you usually would, his movements are so fast that you're frozen and simply enjoying how it feels. You start uncontrollably clenching knowing you're nearing your end, much more faster than you used to, but it's just because it's been a long time and you're sensitive. It almost feels as if you were a virgin again, having a first intercourse ever.

“Namjoon!” It's his name that leaves your mouth and the first thing you can think of, instead of any curse, as you're cumming.

He makes sure to lap at everything you just gave him, your grip around his hair slowly loosening as you're coming down your high. Your eyes are closed, but you can feel him shift and hover over you as he kisses you. You can taste yourself on his tongue, but you don't mind it.

“That was fucking amazing.” he says against your lips, kissing down your neck again as you try to calm down your breathing.

“Shouldn't I be the one who says it?” you chuckle, your body hot against his warm one as you wrap your arms around his frame.

“Mhm, you could. To boost my ego, of course.” he jokingly says, his hardened length brushing against your exposed core.

Biting your lip, you open your mouth to praise your husband and thank him for making you feel so perfectly free, when soft cries echoes throughout the room. You sigh, obviously down that you can't continue or at least return your favor. Namjoon stands up, brushing his hair up as he doesn't bother to throw on his shirt.

“I'll be right back.” he simply says, walking to your bedroom and crying daughter that's been most likely waken up by your loud moans.

You feel awful for not trying to be quiet. It completely slipped out of your mind that there's Sunhi sleeping in the next room.

The familiar hum is muffled, but you smile at the sound despite of Namjoon's awful singing skills. You lay there, waiting for him to come back but once your body is met with cold and shiver running down your spine, you stand up looking around the room. There is a mess, your clothes along with Namjoon's shirt is scattered all over the living room. For a second, you forgot how messy he gets when he's horny.

You're about to pick up your t-shirt that's thrown on the floor, when you hear door opening and Namjoon's low voice. “What are you doing?”

“Umm, dressing up?” you ask confusingly, watching his brows furrow as he shows his disapproval.

He probably expected a blowjob or something, the realization hits your features. You wanted to dress up and leave him hanging again. It's not like you've done it purposely or was about to do it. As you're about to propose him a blowjob in return, he beats you to it.

“I'm not done with you.”

A blood rushes through your body, heating it up again just from the single tone and words that makes you shiver in excitement. “Yeah?” you ask him quietly, with a little bit of hope as he grins.

“Of course.” he nods, slowly walking towards you before he grips your hips and squeezes them to prove his point.

“But what about Sunhi?” you ask quietly, this time fully focused on the toddler sleeping in the next room.

“She's sleeping,” he says, slowly leading you to a couch with your back as you only seem to manage to stare into his sparkling eyes full of mischief. “Besides, she's not stopping me tonight.”

And with that, you yelp as your back meets the couch and Namjoon is hovering over you again, showing you that he has no plans about stopping. You're kissing each other with such need and passion that's been collected through all those months before properly touching each other like this. His lips are sweetly intoxicating, needy for your own as he doesn't miss any spot of your already swollen lips. Your hands are on his bare back, touching and gripping his firm muscles there as he keeps kissing you like your lives depend on it.

“What do you want me to do?” he asks breathlessly, pulling away from your reddened lips that were attacked with his own just a second ago.

“Fuck me, Joon.” you tell him with the same lack of breath, that he managed to knock out of you as he always does.

You don't wait for him to make a first move, your fingers already pulling off his sweatpants. He's not wearing anything underneath, his firm cock springs out of the single material with easiness as you look down at him. His tip is read and swollen, needy for any attention and touch, while your lips curls in guilt. You left your husband hanging, not giving him the attention he deserves and for that, you're going to make it up to him. If your stupid insecurity wasn't in the way, you'd never had to have that conversation with him. But even despite of it, you're glad you had it. He made you feel and still makes you feel beautiful, you needed that.

You tug onto his cock, his head dropping down as he sharply inhales of your hand wrapped around him.

“I'm sorry, Joonie. I won't ever leave you like this again.” you tell him, watching the way his face scowls at every tug and movement you make with your fist.

“Stop.” he gasps, pulling off you all of a sudden and you slightly begin to panic from his demand.

Does he not want to continue?

“I already...” he tries to explain, the back of his neck getting red as he looks away from your already knowing eyes. “I want to feel you wrapped around me.”

The grin is gone, swapped with darkened gaze as you gulp quickly nodding, agreeing with him. You can't wait any longer. The burn inside of you is getting too strong, the throbbing in the pit of your stomach makes you feel like you're suffocating.

“How do you want me?” he asks, caring as always even during this situation that only makes your heart warm.

How did you get so lucky?

“I want to ride you,” you answer, his eyes widening as he stumbles over his words.

“Fuck, yeah, yeah, okay. Let's do that.” he says, already pushing himself back as he sits and leans against the couch back.

You watch him get rid off his sweatpants, throwing them on the coffee table without care. All he cares about is you. His woman and wife that slowly goes to sit down on his lap, his cock hitting his stomach as you finally sit down onto his thighs.

This way, you're able to control your movements more than in any other position and although, you know Namjoon would never purposely hurt you, it's been awhile since you had sex. Your cunt was burning just from his two fingers, how are you able to take his huge cock?

“Are you ready to go?”

His fingers gets down between your legs, pulling them away completely coated with your sleek as you sheepishly grin at him. That's the answer he needed, before you're positioning him between your legs. Namjoon helps you guide himself into your thigh hole but he doesn't push, simply letting those actions up to you.

Gasping, when you feel his head poking your entrance and deciding that you can't wait longer, you slowly drop down. Not fully though, the stretch of his head is burning even though you're dripping down his length.

“Take your time.” he reminds you, holding your hips for more support. His chest heaves as he tries to control his own body, not buckling his hips into yours.

The burn is mixed with pain and pleasure, and you're not able to wait anymore. Slowly, you fully drop onto him while his length is deeply seated inside of you. Your walls clench around him so tightly, that you don't think this will work.

“Relax,” he breathes out, massaging circles into your lower back with his hands. “You need to relax, baby.” he guides you, your forehead dropping against his as you shakily inhale.

He repeats it, caressing your skin as if you were the most fragile thing in the world, until he feels you relax around him.

“Whenever you're ready.” he reminds you softly before you shakily nod.

Using his broad shoulders, you push up with only his shaft inside of you before you drop down, creating a perfect rhythm for the both of you. The feeling of his length stretching your walls makes you gasp and moan into his mouth, that he desperately attaches to yours to keep you quiet.

Your knees are digging into the soft cushions on your sofa, that unpleasantly rubs against your skin but you ignore it. Namjoon's hands are holding your hips, helping you with the pace once he notices your already tired state. You're both panting, the skin to skin sounds echoes around the apartment, but you're too focused on chasing your pleasure to even feel embarrassed by it. It's been so fucking long since you felt him this way and you miss it.

“I won't be able to last long.” Namjoon pants, grunting once you circle your hips, your walls clenching around his throbbing cock.

“Me neither.” you tell him, halting your movements as you stare into his hooded eyes.

You're both so fucked up and you only started. That thought should make you laugh, because it's quite funny. But your eyes are filled nothing with love and warmth as you stare at your husband who seems to be confused by your sudden stop, before he softly kisses you.

“I love you so much.” he tells you for the hundredth time today and you can't help but happily giggle.

It never gets old – hearing him saying those words of love to you.

“I love you so fucking much.” you tell him, his smile stretching as his dimple pops out while his eyes sparkle.

“Switch?” he asks, noticing your heavy breathing and with no hesitation you nod.

You're being pushed down, causing you to squeak in surprise through the grin that matches to the one that Namjoon has. He hover over you, kissing your nose, lips and neck before he slowly guides himself back to your warmth. He makes sure his mouth is on yours as he does this, muting your moans mixed with his with his mouth.

“I really wanna go slow and make a love to you. But I--”

“No, fuck me. I need you, Joonie. Fuck me.” you desperately tell him with rushed tone.

You really want him to fuck you, plus, you don't have that much time to go slow and all sensitive. You waited long enough for this, there's no time.

“As you wish,” Is all he says before he starts pulling out and smashing his hips into yours.

Your whole body shifts causing you to gasp at the impact, but most importantly from how deep his cock is. You can almost feel him in your stomach and for a moment, you're not sure if you're going to survive this. But why shouldn't you? You fucking pushed a baby out of you.

When Namjoon indicated he wants to fuck you, he wasn't lying. He goes merciless on you, his hands gripping your waist so tight that your skin hurts but you don't mind. It drives you even more crazy and makes you clench around him so tight, that tears prickle your eyes.

“Fuck, how are you still so tight?” Namjoon grunts as you watch him through hooded eyes harshly biting his bottom lip.

His hair is attached to his forehead with sweat, your bodies getting sweaty as they collide with each other. Your pelvic bone smashes against his, but you wrap your legs around his waist even more while your nails find their way to his back. He groans at the feeling of them digging into his back, his cock twitching inside of you.

“Fuck, baby,” he chokes out, your pants hitting his face as you can't bring yourself to say something.

“You're so fucking beautiful,” he continues through his heavy breathing, not caring how he barely can breathe.

It's like telling you all those stuff is much more important than breathing. And with Namjoon, you know that's the case.

“I love these hips,” he grunts, leaning down to kiss and grab your hips even tighter to emphasize his words.

Gasping into his mouth, the tears flow down your cheeks at the love and pleasure you're receiving while he keeps repeating how beautiful you and your body are. It makes you feel overwhelmed with so much love and before you can think about holding your orgasm, the knot in your stomach snaps and you're cumming around him.

“Fuck, that's it, baby. That's it.” he says, having a hard time to fuck you through your orgasm when you're clenching so tight.

He chases his own orgasm which follows seconds after you, his movements sloppy and not so swift anymore as he quickly pulls out and cums all over your stomach.

It's painted white as he squeezes the last remains of his orgasm on your skin. Your stomach moves heavily up and down alongside with your breathing, wide Namjoon smudges his cum with his cock. You watch him in awe, chuckling at his concentrated face while his chin moves forward.

“All I said is true,” His tone is soft, joining to the sounds of your panting.

He reaches towards his shirt that's thrown on the floor and wipes his cum off your skin as you smile at him. “You really are beautiful.”

You sit up, pulling him closer to you as you kiss him to show him your gratitude. “As our favorite picture?” you tease him, looking back at the picture that's hanging on the floor.

He knows what you're hinting at. He stands in front of it almost every day, admiring the picture he took on your Italy trip.

“Bellissima,” he suddenly says, causing your brows to scrunch in confusion. “It's the name of the picture.”

“Really?” You don't hide a shock from the new information. “I didn't know that.”

“It's written in my handwriting on the back.” he sheepishly grins and you can't hide your grin.

You stare at the picture, admiring it as if you're seeing it for the first time – which you're not.

“It's named after you, y'know,” he says with softer smile this time, chuckling when he sees your widened eyes. You look back at him, his soft warm eyes focused on you. “You're in the picture.”

“What? No.” you exclaim, walking towards the picture completely naked but it's not like you care. And you're sure Namjoon appreciates the view because when you turn around to glance at him, he's ogling you from head to toe.

He coughs, ears red that he just got caught and quickly walks to you. “You can barely see yourself, but you kept walking admiring the trees when I took it.” he explains, pointing to the middle of the picture.

Squinting your eyes, you stare at the distant figure before you gasp in realization. You've seen that picture thousand times but you never noticed it, nor thought you are in it. “And you named it bellissima because...?” you trail off.

“Because you're the most beautiful woman, in and out.” he sheepishly says.

It's so cheesy but you can't bring yourself to cringe at it, not when your husband is so freaking love with you and never fails to remind you. You were stupid to never talked to him about your insecurities.

“But why bellissima though?” you ask, intertwining your fingers as you kiss him knuckles.

“It's in Italian. And we were in Italy so..” he trails off while you nod at him in understatement. “It's not romantic, but it was the only thing I could think of.”

“No, it's amazing. Thank you.” you say with smile, looking up at his confused features.

“For what?”

“Just for being you.” you tell him, causing him to bite his lip as he tries to prevent the boyish grin making its appearance on his plump lips.

He leans down, ready to kiss you but before he could, soft cries resounds from the room making the both of you sigh.

“I got it,” he tells you, already putting some clothes with quick movements. Since his shirt is stained, he stays topless.

You're ready to argue and as if he could sense that, he turns around just when his hand is wrapped around the door knob. And before his broad naked back disappears behind door, he makes sure to tell you one thing with a sly smirk on his lips.

“Go lay down, bellissima. I'm not done with you.”

[colossal-fallout]

Historia x fem!reader where historia has a secret sex dungeon and when the reader comes back from a risky expedition with the scouts, historia takes her there and fucks the reader silly (bonus historia like to be called mommy😏)

I love anons minds. Truly, I do.

Service to your Queen 👑

Warnings: 18+ NSFW. Dom Historia X Fem reader. Mommy kink.

"Your majesty. The survey corps have returned."

Queen Historia stood gazing out of the window, longingly. She belonged here in the palace; to keep the law and order of the land.

But god's, did her heart belong out there...

Out there fighting for freedom. Out there where returning home is not a guarantee but glory awaits you either way. Out there where you were, opposing the immense oppression of not only the titans, but of the fellow human beings across the ocean. The ocean that was almost mythical to her at this point - she still hadn't witnessed the wonder of the edge of her world.

"Is that so?" She replies, turning her head slightly; her rose tinted lips parting.

The meeting went well.

Historia had all of her old comrades around a huge polished table, one in which the strong scent of varnish would sting your nostrils. Whenever her old team would come to the palace to report and strategize their next move it warmed her heart. She kept them under her roof in the luxurious rooms and made sure they were fed well and pampered. After all, they weren't only fighting for the future of her Kingdom, but they were her friends.

Then there was you.

"Y/N." She pulls you aside after dinner, the room relaxed, satisfied and grateful; chatting in sporadic areas of the large dining hall leasuirely.

"Yes, your majesty?" You bow your head slightly, hiding the lustful glint in your eye.

Your lover didn't have to be queen for you to see her as royalty.

"Come with me." She orders simply.

You nod and you both slip out of the room, your shoes padding on the soft velvet carpet that centres the marble floor as you follow her down the hallway.

"I hear that you've just returned from a particularly dangerous expedition."

"Yes." You nod, keeping formalities - for now.

"I see."

She turns down a more narrow hallway one that looked slightly misplaced in the lavish royal palace.

"... Historia?" You ask, dropping the act now there was no chance of anyone hearing you. "Where are we going?"

"My new playroom."

Playroom?

You imagined her, this grown woman sitting with her crown on her head playing with dolls and combing their hair. You sure hoped she wasn't going to make you have a fucking tea party.

You reach a door when she stops and pulls out a key, unlocking it and heading inside. When you follow her into what looks like an abandoned library, she locks the door behind you.

Oh? Does she mean a playroom where she's renovating?

Her heels that are hidden by her flowing gown click across the floorboards, when she stops in a seemingly random area near the back wall.

"Did you miss me?" She asks, her large eyes gazing at you.

"Of course..."

Without replying she stomps her foot down and a trapdoor swings open seemingly out of nowhere.

"Uh..." You begin.

"Shut up. Follow me."

Grabbing a torch off the wall she begins to decend the stone stairs beneath the floor, you following meekly behind.

"You're... Not going to kill me, are you?" You frown as you sink into the inky darkeness.

A soft laugh escapes her throat. "No."

As you walk, you wonder if the royal treatment has gone to her head and she was about to show you some secret torture chamber with some Marleyan's inside. Your mind wanders into weird territory as it usually did, musing how it would feel if she had somehow got Reiner down there or Annie.

You weren't too far off with the torture chamber.

When she opened the door at the bottom there was a table in the centre of a well lit room and the wall was lined with strap ons, dildos, chains, whips... You name it.

Your eyes widen at the sight.

Oh. A playroom.

"Remove your clothes " she orders, casually undoing her royal cape and hanging it on a shabby looking coat rack.

"Um -"

"Now."

You happily oblige, your fingers not being able to move quick enough as she stands in front of you and removes her dress, her gorgeous body in all of its glory bare before you.

"Fuck..." You sigh, walking over, ready to devour her.

"No. You can't touch me." She steps back. "Lie on the table."

Your hands hesitate, wanting nothing more than to grope those beautiful tits and slide your fingers down her slit.

But she pushes you over anyway laying you down harshly before tying your hands above your head.

"Historia?" You frown but you're excited, dying to feel her soft skin against yours.

"Address me properly." She replies as she's fastening your bonds, not even looking at you.

"Your majesty?"

"No."

"My queen?"

She grabs your face and straddles you her warm pussy on your lower stomach.

"Try again."

"...Mommy?"

She bites her bottom lip devishly before rewarding you by sliding her tongue into your mouth, slowly and deeply swirling it around your cave.

"Good girl." She breathes as she pulls away, leaving you yearning for more.

She leans up and raises her arms above her head, fiddling with the grips that held in her elegant plaited bun. The shape of her body this way drove you wild; her hips snaking into her slim waist up to her breasts... You wanted nothing more but to touch her. And when that clip came out and her blonde hair spilled down around her...

"Holy shit, you're gorgeous..." You breathe, having missed her far too much.

She looks down and smirks, those small yet puffy lips being ran over by her tongue. "Theres so much I want you to do to me, y/n..." She begins, slowly moving herself up your body on her knees. "But there's a lot more that I want to do to you."

You hum with arousal as she lowers her small pink pussy onto your face, her legs by your head and her fingers gripping at your hair as she slowly rocks her hips back and forth on your tongue.

"Ah~" she makes a sound like she'd just sank into a warm bath, her eyes closing in bliss having missed your warm tongue lapping at her clit. Her hips gyrate and rock, her sweet scent filling your nose and her even sweeter taste soaking into your mouth. Her fingers flex in your strands, humming and sighing like she'd just returned home from a hard days work.

She begins to rock faster, her body been empty from you for too long, her climax already quickly approaching. Her thighs squeeze against your head, her skin muffling the sounds of her gasps which are getting more desperate.

"Y-you're not going any- ah, anywhere." She breathes, her face begining to turn pink. "Y- you're staying in here forever. Haa~ ah ~!"

Her legs squeeze you tighter as her cum begins to dribble out of her tight hole, splashing around your lips, your vibrating moan only making her feel even more in the arms of bliss. Her back straightens the view from beneath her something only a god could carve.

With a satisfied hum, she climbs off you; your face flushed and wet, your body aching for her. She stalks around to between your legs, your pussy quivering with arousal and dripping - as if crying for her to ruin you.

Her tongue laps up the bead of wetness and up your folds to your clit, circling it while caressing you thighs with her soft hands, grazing her nails softly on the insides of your legs, teasingly.

"Oh, Historia..." You pur, eyes rolling at the touch of her warm muscle.

She pulls her mouth away. "What did I tell you, gorgeous?" Her own asphyxiating lust clouding her sky blues.

"Mommy..." You moan as her slender, feminine finger circles your bundle of nerves.

"You're such a good girl." She grins before returning her mouth to your cunt, sliding her delicate fingers inside your clenching tunnel.

"Yes..." You sigh. "God I missed you. You make me feel so... Ah! So fucking good."

Curling her fingers she relishes in how good you taste, better than any meal the grand palace could ever provide.

"Yes! Mommy... Please. Let me touch you!"

Hearing that word on your own accord made something inside of her snap, a tightness in her lower stomach that had to be addressed immediately.

Removing herself she straddles you again, this time on your pubic bone, leaning forward and freeing your hands that instantly glue themself to her hips as she begins to rock and grind between your legs; the warm thick slick reducing friction but intensifying pleasure.

"y/n... Ah, yes! My brave soldier... Oh... God!" She calls out riding you, her hips rolling again and again, her tits jiggling as she pulls your nipples with her fingers.

"Yes! Fuck! Mommy! Fuck me!" You cry, your orgasm threatening the boundaries of your reality.

Hearing you say that again makes her cum instantly, her clenching cunt pushing you over your edge, rocking her harder by her waist as you leave your body and ascend into the heavens.

Your eyes flicker open once you calm down, your legs shivering, lower stomach covered in the queen's cum.

She runs her tongue up your entire body, collecting your mixture of arousal and sliding it into your mouth with a groan.

"You serve your queen well."

[love-and-monsters]

Harpy Rescue

M monster X F reader, 7,143 words

You wash up on an island after a shipwreck. The harpy natives take you in and you find companionship with a certain healer who’s been caring for you. 

I stared blankly at the sky above me. I was lying back on a beach. The tide was coming in underneath me. The salt water stung at the raw scrapes on my back.

It was struggle to breathe. My lungs spasmed and heaved with every breath. All my energy went into keeping my lungs heaving.

It was ironic. The only person who survived the shipwreck was the one who would die anyway.

None of my limbs would move. I knew I wasn’t paralyzed, if only because that would have dulled sensation and I could feel every scrape and bruise over the surface of my body. I just couldn’t move under my own power.

 It took all my energy to keep breathing. It hurt just to breathe. My lungs stuttered over the air, threatening to stop altogether every time. Even with all my effort going into it, I still felt faintly dizzy from lack of air.

There were birds, enormous birds, circling overhead. Carrion birds, probably. They could see me lying on the beach and probably assumed they were getting a nice lunch.

The water was getting higher. It was a race, I thought morbidly. Would the water drown me before the birds managed to eat my entrails?

They were coming down more rapidly now. They were huge. Perhaps I would get lucky and they would fight one another for long enough that the waves would come in. I would take drowning over being torn apart hungry birds.

The tide was coming in faster. I could feel it lapping around my ears. A particularly strong wave made me sputter and I spent nearly a minute coughing and gasping. It was harder than ever to breathe. Perhaps drowning wouldn’t be substantially more pleasant than being eaten alive.

One of the birds plunged into a dive, spurring the others to follow. They drifted out of my sight and no matter how far I rolled my eyes back, I couldn’t see them. Great. I just had to wait in anticipation.

There was a crunching behind me, the sound of something approaching. Another wave struck me and I choked, coughing on the water. Black spots popped in front of my eyes and I felt my entire body heave, water trickling from my mouth.

A hand caught my shoulder. With a heave, I was dragged out of the shallow water and up onto the firmer beach. Tilting my head back, I managed to catch sight of my rescuers.

They hadn’t been birds, I realized. They had just looked like birds from a distance. My rescuers were a group of concerned-looking harpies.

If I had any sense of dramatic timing, I likely would have passed out then. It would have made the situation much less awkward, at least. But I remained stubbornly awake, staring up at the small throng of harpies.

Their heads and torsos were humanoid, but they seemed to have a combination between arms and wings. Their arms were feathered and there was a split at the wrists between hands and the final joint of the wing. Their legs were scaled and ended in large, heavy talons. All of them had deeply tanned skin and dark brown hair and feathers.

They spoke to one another for a moment, in a language I couldn’t understand. Then, the one that had dragged me up the beach bent over and hauled me into his arms.

The group headed off the beach and into the tropical jungle beyond. It was getting harder and harder to remain conscious. I faded in and out, struggling to keep my consciousness together. The blackouts grew longer and longer and the tightening pain in my chest was growing sharper. Breathing was almost painfully difficult.

Another bit of irony for me. I had been saved from drowning only for my condition to kill me right away.

The last thing I was aware of was the man carrying me speaking rapidly before I was deposited on solid ground with a jolt.

When I opened my eyes again, there was a ceiling above me. It was thatched, and there were several bundles of herbs hanging from the rafters. The pain of my body had eased, and though my chest burned, it had loosened significantly. After a few breaths, I had gained enough energy to sit up.

“Here.” Someone to my right pushed a bowl into my hands. It was full of a strong-smelling liquid that made my nose run and my sinuses clear almost instantly. “It’ll help with your breathing.”

The person next to me was the same man who had carried me off the beach. I hadn’t gotten the best look at him, but he had the same golden-brown feathers and his long, braided hair was done up in the same style. I dipped my head and took a few swallows from the bowl.

It burned worse than any whiskey I’d ever tried. I sputtered, eyes watering, but the tension in my chest did fade. The bands that had always restricted my breathing loosened ever so slightly and I gulped air gratefully.

The man outstretched his hands and took the bowl back. I sputtered a few more times before my breathing calmed. “What is that?”

“An old remedy for chest trouble. It’s steeped out of different herbs.” As he set the bowl on a nearby table, I realized something.

“You speak English?” I asked.

“Some. My aunt met with travelers many years ago. She taught me. Just in case.” He leaned back in his seat, stretching his legs out in front of him. Something behind him shifted and I noticed his tail, made of the same brown feathers as his wings. “You must have inhaled a lot of salt water. Your breathing was bad.” He tapped his chest demonstratively. “You were wheezing.”

“It does that anyway. But the almost drowning didn’t help.” I pushed yourself up in bed. “Where am I?”

“Healer’s house,” he said. “In Namori Village. You were brought here by the storm, yes?”

“Not on purpose,” I said. “I was sailing to Larmark. They have a good hospital there. I was going for an examination.” I rubbed at my chest. “I don’t suppose you have any ships heading in that direction?”

“We are not a sailing people,” the man said with an apologetic smile. I slouched back into the bed. I wasn’t as upset about it as I should have been. The treatment was supposed to find a way to cure my condition. Without it, I could be beset by a sudden bought of chest tightness that could kill me at any moment. It had nearly done so several times in my childhood. But I had lived my life with it so far. I was just back where I’d started.

“She’s up!” I looked up to see an older woman harpy leaning over me. “Thought I told you to call for me, boy.” The male harpy ducked his head, looking properly ashamed. “Took quite a beating from that storm. Lucky you made it to shore.” She flicked her wings. “We saw the ship go down last night. Didn’t expect anyone would survive. You’re lucky we noticed you.”

“There’s something wrong with her chest,” the male harpy said. “She wheezes.”

“Noticed that.” The woman looked me over. Her eyes were a piercing yellow. “Thought it was from the seawater. It’s usually like that?”

“Yes. Since I was a child. I had some sort of illness that damaged it. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I’ve never allowed it to bother me.” I’m sure my voice would have been much more reassuring, but my chest contracted in a cough and I heaved a few times.

“Perhaps you should let it bother you more. Give her more of that infusion, Nor. And recheck her ribs, just to be safe.”

“Yes, Aunt Aerath,” Nor said. She turned on her heels and strode off. We were in a back room, I noticed, small and full of warm light. Nor turned back to me. “Sit up. Drink.” I sipped more of the brew he’d given me while he prodded at my ribs. It was a little ticklish and I had to work not to squirm.

“Your ribs are fine,” Nor said eventually. “But your chest is weak.”

“Well, nothing I didn’t already know.” I rolled over, ignoring the sharp pains that came to me. “Can I move around?”

Nor nodded and I got up. He hovered close by as I shuffled around. I’d been stripped down to my shift, which would have been embarrassing if both of them hadn’t been wearing something similar. They both seemed to be wearing something like togas, though Nor’s skirt was long enough to trail on the ground. Both their outfits were a deep navy blue.

There was a partially ajar door and I stepped through it, onto the forest floor outside. The trees were enormous, towering over everything. Up in the branches, harpies darted back and forth, flitting between the branches. I could see nest-like houses nestled in the crooks of the trees.

“We’re on the ground,” I said. Nor nodded.

“Healers live on the ground. In case flightless ones come to us,” he explained.

 “Ah. That’s sensible.” I stared up, looking into the trees with some interest. At least if I was going to be staying there for a while, it was a beautiful, fascinating place.

Nor took me back inside and fed me a chunk of meat along with a few fruits. I needed to heat the meat over the fire for a little longer- apparently harpies liked their meat fairly rare. Aerath returned after that and forced a few more herbal brews down my throat, which she said would help with the pain.

“I expect I’ll be here for a while,” I said as I handed one of her cups back to her. My mouth tasted like I’d licked the underside of a stone. The brews were unpleasant at best, though I could already feel a numbness creeping into my injuries.

“Humans come by only rarely,” Aerath said. “And there isn’t much of a pattern. Our species is not water faring and we can’t fly to the next mainland. Ocean flight is not easy.”

“Which is a taciturn way of saying I am stuck here.”

“No more than us,” Nor said.

“Be kind. She has lost her home,” Aerath said sternly. I shrugged, leaning back in bed.

“It’s not as awful as you may think. I was sailing to a hospital, you see. It was likely I would spend the rest of my life there, which, even with all that care, may not have been very long.” I shrugged. “At least this place is better for the soul.”

Nor turned his head and spoke to his aunt rapidly in his own language. She frowned, but responded in the same way. I ignored the pair of them and moved back to bed. Despite not having been awake for very long, I was already exhausted. My chest stuttered as I tried to lie flat on my back and I paused for a moment, wheezing.

Nor darted over and adjusted my pillow behind me. “Better?”

“Yes, thank you.” Nor nodded, then slipped out of the room. Aerath lingered for a moment, looking at me.

“We’ll be upstairs if you require us. If you can’t walk, knock heavy things over until we come for you.” With that, she exited the room. The door closed behind her and I slumped back into the pillow, eyes closing.

I slept fitfully, especially after the pain medication wore off. By the time Nor brought breakfast, I was already up and walking around. There were several journals with detailed drawings of plants in them. I couldn’t read the writing, but I could see what the plants were and I spent some time matching them to the herbs hanging around the room.

“Quite an interesting journal,” I told Nor as he sat down to eat with me. “Did your aunt write it?”

He shook his head. “She is…” He struggled with the word for a moment. “Practical? A… practice? She remembers by senses, not words. But I need reminders.”

“You’re quite good at drawing,” I said. “I kept similar journals, though they sank with the ship.” He looked at me with clear surprise. “I had little else to do. I could rarely go out, so I spent much time in the gardens, drawing and remarking upon the plants. These remind me of my own journals.”

“When I am collecting herbs, I enjoy drawing them. Seeing nature. It is soothing.” He seemed to grow more excited, then composed himself. “I could show you garden, if you’d like?”

“I would,” I said. He grinned, then hopped to his taloned feet as his aunt entered the room.

I did not end up seeing the garden that day, principally because I spent much of it in bed. Nor stopped by every now and then, sometimes with food, more often with a new bundle of plants to tie up and hang from the ceiling. He seemed to go into a sort of trance when he was sorting the herbs, a sort of peaceful state.

It took a few days before I was approved to walk into town. “Don’t stress yourself too much. You’re still recovering,” Aerath said.

“I’ll keep an eye on her,” Nor said. He fluttered his wings at his aunt, shooing her away. “We’ll be fine.”

Being without wings earned me a great deal of stares. I was viewed with some general suspicion, as far as I could tell. I was allowed to stay because there seemed to be a consensus that throwing me into the wilderness would absolutely kill me, and they had decided not to be that cruel. Not wanting me to die, however, did not necessarily mean that I was accepted by the community. Having Nor with me seemed to help, at least somewhat. He was at least well respected, and being in his presence absorbed you into his aura of decency.

The village seemed to have been built into the enormous trees of the forest. Several houses had been formed out of several trees carefully grown together through cultivation, and the living pavilion, formed out of ten trees carefully coaxed into growing around each other, was the great centerpiece of the town.

Getting to see the town as a group also drew your eye to the cultural similarities between them. A majority of adults had short hair, while children seemed to exclusively have long hair. There didn’t seem to be a clear age delineation between them. Based on appearances, Nor was older than a few of those with short hair, though no one under a certain age had their hair cut.

“Is there a reason for the hair styling?” I asked. “You wear your hair long, but most adults seem to keep theirs short.”

“Oh,” Nor said, with a tiny, dismissive flick of his feathers. “They are… erm. I am not certain of the word. Paired?”

“Married,” I guessed, and Nor’s expression brightened.

“Yes. Married. Part of the ceremony includes cutting hair. Most couples keep their hair short, to show they are with someone. Long hair can be difficult to fly with. To keep your hair short means you have someone who makes it easy to fly.” He frowned for a moment. “It is a pun in my language. It does not work as well in yours.”

“I think I get it,” I said. “But your aunt is unmarried and her hair is short.”

“She is…” There was a long pause. Nor seemed to be struggling to think of the proper words. “Bound to work? Committed to healing? Something along those lines, I believe. She is joined to her job as one is bound to a lover.”

I frowned. “Healers are like nuns, then?”

Nor frowned too. “Like… nones? Healers are not nothing.”

“No, like nuns. It’s spelled differently.” Nor looked entirely blank. I suspected he couldn’t write English. “Nuns are people who take vows not to marry so they can become closer to God, as I understand it. Healers do something similar.”

Nor still seemed confused. “Not all healers. Only Aunt Aerath.” He reached up and touched the long braid that was coiled on the back of his head. “I have… not decided.”

“Well, you’ve got time.” We were quite close to the healing house again, but I paused and leaned against a tree. My chest was squeezing again and I needed a break. “I never planned on marrying, really.”

“Why not?” Nor asked.

“I didn’t expect to live terribly long,” I said frankly. “I have spent much of my life expecting to die from a sudden attack. And then my parents suggested that I go to a hospital for treatment, and it’s rare to marry once you end up in those sort of places.” I smoothed my new robes idly. “I never expected to have a husband  who would be okay with his wife dropping dead at any moment.”

Nor fluttered his wings. “You are not going to die,” he said. 

“It’s all right. I’m content with it. I have been this way all my life. I value every moment now. It’s nothing new to me.” Nor still looked discomfited, so I patted his shoulder reassuringly. “Truly, I’m fine. We should head back now.”

Nor plied me with the strange, spicy concoction for my chest when we returned home. I drank the lot of it, at his insistence. It did seem to help. There was something about the warmth of it that relaxed my lungs and brought air in easier.

As my recovery finalized, I began to look for ways to serve my new community. It was not something terribly easy. I could not fly, or truly do any sort of intense physical activity, which limited my options. Sewing and weaving, actions that had often been suggested to me, held no more interest for me in the village than they had in my own home. Trying to manipulate tiny threads that tangled at the slightest glance was infuriating, and my frustration often ended in chest-heaving coughing fits. I tried to go back to writing my journals, examining nature and writing about it, but there seemed to be little actual use for it.

Eventually, I began tagging along with Nor when he went to collect herbs in the forest. He’d been going out more and more often, looking for new plants and writing furiously in his notebooks. I could read them more easily now, having spent a few weeks immersed in a crash course of his language.

“Just make sure you watch out for snakes,” Nor said as we trekked through the thick foliage.

“Look out for what?” I said. I was at the awkward stage of learning a language where I knew most common words, but words that were used infrequently were still lost.

“Snakes? Er. <Snakes!>” Nor said in English.

“Snakes,” I repeated. “Are there a lot of them?” I looked cautiously at the ground.

“No. Not a lot. But there are some venomous ones that bite if you step on them.” Unsettled, I lifted up the hem of my robe, peering cautiously at the leaf litter. The clothes harpies wore were not well-designed for people without tails or wings. I had needed to do some rudimentary tailoring to fix it into something I could walk around in. Shoes had been another problem entirely, mostly because harpies had tough, scaled feet and wore no shoes. I had eventually just decided to layer several thick fabrics together and essentially tied them to my feet. They were neither comfortable nor easy to wear, but they were practical and had stopped your soles from being shredded.

We made our way slowly through the woods. I ended up holding onto Nor’s arm wing for much of it. Never having worked out for long periods of time had left me fairly uncoordinated and leaning on Nor made it much easier for me to move about.

“Look. Norell,” he said, picking up a bunch of sharp-smelling, pink flowered herbs from the ground. “My namesake.”

“What are they used for?” I asked.

“Chest conditions, actually. They’re a big part of the infusion I’ve been giving you.” Nor had been giving me a regular doses of that infusion. Taking some in the morning seemed to loosen my chest for the rest of the day. “I’ve been trying to make a stronger infusion, so we’ll need a lot of it.”

“Are you predicting a spike in chest conditions?” I asked. Winter was on its way, and apparently, due to their large, powerful lungs, harpies were quite susceptible to issues like pneumonia and bronchitis. But that seemed to be counterbalanced by the fact that winter was mild on the island, more of a tepidly cool wet season than a proper snowy winter.

Nor shifted on the ground. His wings twitched a little. It was hard to tell, thanks to his deeply brown skin, but I thought I could see a hint of red creeping into his cheeks. “It’s for you, actually.”

I lifted my brows. “For me?”

“It’s been helping you recently,” Nor said, a little defensively. “I thought that a stronger infusion would help even more.” He frowned critically at the plants. “I want to get it as concentrated as possible. But there’s not enough in the gardens right now, so I need more.” He straightened up, tucking a bundle of plants away into his bag. “Also, infusions will keep a little better than the herbs themselves, so I can keep them for longer. You’ll need some when the growing season ends.”

“You’ll need some for others as well,” I said. “Keep some in reserve.”

“If you need it, you need it,” Nor said. “I’d rather give herbs to someone who definitely needs them than reserve some in case someone else might need them.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to fully heal someone who can be fully healed than to keep giving supplements to someone who will always be sick?” I said. Nor’s feathers bristled, shifting in agitation.

“All people deserve healing. Whether or not their condition is curable. I want you to be well.” His tone was so severe that I could do nothing but stare at him. After a moment, he seemed to realize what he’d said and he broke eye contact, staring at the ground. “We should, ah. Head back.”

He started trekking through the woods rapidly. Harpies were notably better at balance on uneven terrain, thanks to their long, gripping talons. I struggled to keep up with him.

We were getting quite close to the village when I felt the unfortunately familiar seizing sensation in my chest. I stopped dead, enormously regretting my walking speed that had left me a little breathless. It was growing harder by the moment to inhale.

Nor paused, realized I was no longer with him, and hurried back to my side. “Are you okay?” he asked. One of his hands moved along my back, kneading my tightening muscles. “Breathe. Breathe!” If I had the air for it, I would have informed him I was trying, and was well aware that I needed to be breathing. Unfortunately, all my energy was going into not allowing my body to suffocate me.

Nor abruptly decided that simply telling me to breathe was ineffective and changed tact. “Hold on!” This turned out to be quite literal because he seized me around the waist and hefted me against his chest.

It was impossible for a harpy to fly while carrying something, because their arms and wings were one and the same, but I could have been fooled considering how fast Nor was moving. He plunged through the forest as fast as the wind. I would have been more impressed if I wasn’t struggling to breathe at the moment. As it was, I was aware that we were moving at quite a speed.

Nor was back in the healing house within minutes. I was unceremoniously dumped on the bed and Nor darted off, rummaging through a cabinet with a noise of wood rattling and glass clinking.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he said. He knelt next to me, turning my head toward him. “You just need to drink this. Okay?”

I tried to inhale enough to speak and it stuck in my chest, sparking a coughing fit. Nor looked panicked and thrust the little bottle he was holding into my mouth. I sputtered, but some of the liquid spilled down my throat. There was a mild tingling and my chest loosened.

With my breathing abruptly eased, I could keep taking small sips from the bottle. The tightness loosened with every swallow. Nor slumped next to the bed, wings sagging with relief. I put down the bottle, still coughing, but breathing easier.

“Are you okay?” Nor asked. I nodded.

“You can move quick,” I said. My voice was raspy and a little strangled. I swallowed, trying to fully clear my throat.

“I was worried,” he said. “You should try carrying a bottle of this with you from now on.” He walked over to the cabinet and fetched a small bottle full of the infusion. “If you’re going to be going out more often, you’ll want something to prevent more attacks.”

I took the bottle. “That’s a good idea.” I set it down onto the table next to the bed. “Are you inviting me on more herb gathering missions, then?”

A slightly shy smile crept up Nor’s face. “If you’d like to come. You’ve been pretty good at spotting plants. And you’ve been pretty good in the gardens lately.”

“I was never really able to do a lot of gardening before,” I said. “So, I tended to overfocus on the little minute details, like soil quality and the amount of water you give the plants.”

“You’ve improved the garden a lot,” Nor said. “Oh, which reminds me. Hold on.”

He stood up and trotted over to the cabinet again. After looking through it for a few moments, he pulled out a small notebook and walked back over. “Here,” he said, presenting it to me. It looked like the notebooks he used for his own notes, a smooth black cover and soft, slightly off-white pages. “I haven’t taken many notes on the gardening aspects of herbs. I just… haven’t been very good at it. But I thought you could start taking notes on how you care for the plants. It might be useful.”

I took the notebook from his hands. Our fingers brushed as I did so. His skin was warm and calloused, the sort of skin that only came around after long, hard work. The notebook was heavy in my hands, strangely dense for such a small item. “Thank you,” I said. “I would love to do that.”

Nor stood, shifting on his talons. “Good. Um. You should probably get some rest. I’ll be back in a bit.” He hurried out of the room. I watched him go until his tail had completely vanished around the doorway.

Working in the garden only brought me closer to Nor. We spent time together every day, either going out to gather herbs or helping him with the garden. He was enthusiastic to learn and good company even when we weren’t talking about plants.

His ease with me spread to the rest of the village. By the time winter was over, I had been completely accepted as a part of the community. To them, I was not as much an outsider human as a strange, wingless harpy. Even Aerath trusted me enough to allow me to learn how to make herbal remedies, while Nor took on more of her duties, like diagnosing illnesses and dressing wounds.

During early spring, when the rains began to ease, a change set in around the village. There was a new current of excitement, the younger adults spending more time showing off and engaging in stunts. Even Nor, who had been fairly even tempered in the time I’d known him, seemed to get caught up in the excitement.

It was during my usual work in the garden that I noticed the changes were not confined to emotional. There was a physical change too. Nor’s tail feathers, usually a deep golden-brown, had taken on a rusty color. The color only brightened over the next week, going from a dull, sort of reddish orange to a bright crimson. The colors showed up on the male population of the rest of the village as well, to varying degrees. Some, especially the younger males, never got past a reddish orange, while others got to the same brilliant crimson hue as Nor’s.

While it garnered some sort of notice and people seemed pleased about it, no one was talking about what it actually meant. It clearly meant something, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why it was so important.

Eventually, after some time of trying to figure out what it meant on my own, I broke down and decided to ask Nor. “Your tail changed color,” I said as we headed back into the house from the garden.

“You noticed,” Nor said. His tone was utterly unreadable.

“Well, it’s a bit hard to miss. It’s a very bright color.” Nor’s unreadable expression shifted into one of clear embarrassment. “Is it something I shouldn’t mention? It seems to signal something, but I wasn’t sure what it was-”

“No, no. I mean, I guess I should have expected you to ask about it. You’re not a harpy, so you never would have been told.” He set the herbs he’d collected down on the table and turned to me, giving me his full attention. “It’s almost spring, which means that we’re approaching our mating season.”

I felt sort of stupid for not hitting upon that idea earlier. Of course. The red was to attract a mate. Was commenting on it some kind of social faux pas? As I tried to come up with that to say next, Nor continued. “We’ll have a mating ceremony soon, with the other local villages. It’s a big event, so everyone’s getting rather excited about it.”

“A… mating ceremony?” I repeated. How carnal were we talking? Was I going to have to make myself scarce for… how long did the mating ceremony last, anyway?

“It’s not as bad as you’re thinking,” Nor added hurriedly. “It’s more of a competition? Or a show, really. It lasts about a week, and the first six days are more of a festival than anything. Lots of feasting, games, shows. It’s more about getting to know the other villages and the people from them. It’s quite fun. The festival ends with the mating ceremony. It used to be a more literal interpretation of that, a long time ago. But now it’s really more of a show. Men fly around and show off, but it’s less to attract a mate and more to show off to someone you already have an attraction to. Or to get someone to ask you out, sometimes. It’s more for the fun of it and the tradition.”

“It sounds interesting,” I said.

“It should start in a couple of weeks. That’s the peak of the season,” Nor said. “I can show you around a bit, if you’d like.”

“Sure. If you’re not going to be too busy trying to find a soulmate,” I said, nudging him playfully in the side. He shrugged, glancing away.

“I’ve never actually participated all that much in it,” he said. “I’ve been kind of focused on my studies with my aunt. I spent most of my time at the last few festivals working with the other healers.”

“You should get out more, then. I can help your aunt out, if you want. Then you can go off and see the sights.”

“I already told you I’d show you around,” Nor protested. “And it’ll be your first festival.”

“Look, at least get a little time to yourself,” I said. “I can help out, you know.”

“We’ll see,” Nor said, which was as close to agreeing as I thought he was going to get.

The weeks passed slowly, with excitement ramping up as the festival got closer. I could almost feel the tension buzzing in the air, getting ready to overflow. By the time it had arrived, I was almost swept up in the rising excitement.

The fairground for the festival was a large clearing in the center of the island. It had an impressive view of the sky, and the ground was almost entirely covered in tents and attractions. Nor and I were toward the edge of the grounds, in a sort of makeshift medical tent. “We probably won’t be called on for a little bit,” he said once we’d finished setting everything up. “I can show you around.”

“Sure,” I agreed. Nor trotted off, and I followed after, looking around the festival with interest.

Most of it seemed like the sort of festivals I’d seen once or twice when I’d been young. Ever since my chest troubles had set in fully, I’d rarely gone far from my house. It looked mostly like a very fancy market. People showed off their most interesting wares, their most brightly colored or intricately designed trinkets. There were several people slightly younger than Nor picking up things that I assumed were for potential sweethearts. There were also several games, most of them for children, but a few clearly styled for adults. The food was the usual hearty fare that I’d seen at other festivals, enormously delicious and decadent.

“And this all lasts a whole week?” I asked as we made our way back to the healer’s tent. We had gotten sidetracked a few times- there were several musical performances and talent shows, and even a few classes that I’d been interested in taking.

“Well, the first and last days are the biggest ones. But yes, the whole week. For the most part.”

“Then you can take a day or two off and enjoy all this, can’t you?” I said. Nor hesitated for a moment. “I can handle things at the tent. Why don’t you take tomorrow off? It’ll be good for you to get a break.”

Nor hesitated. “I’ll have to ask my aunt.”

“I’ll make sure she says yes,” I said. “You deserve it. Especially after having to take care of me for so long.”

Nor shrugged and mumbled something about it not being a big deal. I laughed clapping him on the shoulder.

“Just take some time off. Okay?”

He agreed, finally, and we returned to the tent. There were a few injuries, of course, mostly young people trying to show off for their potential lovers, but nothing we were overwhelmed with. It took only a bit of persuading for Aerath to give Nor the next day off.

Nor went out only after making sure I kept my infusion on me. “Just be careful,” he said.

“I’m always careful,” I told him. “Now, go. And stop worrying so much.” He made a face, but left for the rest of the fairgrounds, leaving me with Aerath and the other healers.

I only spotted him a few times during the day. He seemed to have attracted a small group of friends by noon. It seemed he could get along well with others, as long as he managed to get out. Well, I reflected, he was a sweetheart. It wasn’t hard to believe that he was able to get along with others.

I’d been breathing relatively easy for so long that I hadn’t really been expecting another attack. So, when the bout of tightness came on with no warning, I was so shocked I couldn’t think of what to do for several panicked moments.

My wheezing attracted Aerath’s attention. She grabbed my shoulder and shoved me down onto a cot. I fumbled for the infusion, and Aerath helped me unstopper it and press it to my lips.

The infusion helped, but my chest still felt tight. I could draw in air, but it wasn’t enough. Black spots started to pop in front of my vision. My chest screamed with pain. I was dying. That thought sat clear and calm in my brain, rising above all the panic like foam over a tide. I’d known it was going to happen. I’d hoped it would take longer. But at least… at least the last few months of my life had been nice. My mind drifted to Nor. Hopefully he wouldn’t blame himself. He didn’t deserve that. He’d been wonderful.

Nor’s face was suddenly over mine. I blinked up at him. Ha. A nice hallucination before everything ended.

“Breathe!” Distantly, I could feel a hand on my chest, another at my mouth. Something sharp and bitter flowed past my lips and I choked, sputtering. My chest loosened abruptly and I sucked in a great breath, coughing and choking.

Nor, who I was gradually realizing was actually there and not just a hallucination, rolled me onto my side. Some of the solution drained from my mouth as I coughed it up. Nor rubbed my back vigorously, prompting another round of coughing.

Gradually, the tightness eased to just a faint raspiness and a raw pain. I sat up as Nor sank into a seat, weak with relief. “I thought you were going to die,” he said faintly.

“I did too.” My voice was gravely and everything felt raw. “The infusion wasn’t working. What did you use?”

“It was experimental,” Nor said a little sheepishly. “I’ve been trying to make it stronger, something that works better.”

“Thank goodness it did,” I said. I got slowly off the cot where I’d collapsed. Nor stood as well, staying close by like he was preparing to catch me.

“Maybe we should fine somewhere to rest,” Nor said. “The attack probably took it out of you.”

Despite your protests, Nor followed you back home and insisted on staying with you. “Just in case,” he kept repeating.

Nor kept near my side for the next few days, even when I tried to gently push him to spend time elsewhere and enjoy the event. The only times he seemed willing to leave was when I was going with him, at which point he took great enthusiasm in showing me around the various games and events that were being held. Being near him allowed even me to make some new friends- those who would have been unsettled by the sight of some strange, wingless creature seemed reassured enough by Nor’s friendly presence to approach.

Despite his insistence on sticking with me, I did convince him to take another day off for the last day of the festival. It was the day of the mating ceremony, and, given that Nor was of proper age, possibly even a little old, to participate in it, I wanted to give him time to do so.

The showing started at noon sharp, when the sun was at its zenith. Most of the people flying were male, though a few women had painted their tails red and were flying as well. A few would take off at a time and move in carefully coordinated dances. Some were conservative and simple, others were aggressive and risk-taking. Eventually, they would land back in the throng of people staring at the sky. Some of them landed and slipped off with a single partner. Others landed and seemed to attract a group, each of the admirers vying for attention.

After about an hour, I meandered off to the bank of a nearby river. Watching harpies fly was interesting, but it did get old after a while and I was getting a crick in my neck from looking up.

I had only been soaking my feet in the river for a few minutes when Nor walked up to me and sat down next to me. “Wondered where you’d gone,” he said. “Doing all right?”

“Fine. You don’t need to be so worried.”

Nor dipped his talons into the water. “Mm. I guess. But I do anyway.”

“I wish you wouldn’t,” I said. “You spent half of the festival trailing after me like I would collapse the instant you took your eyes off me. And now you’re missing out on the flight ceremony.”

It was hard to tell with his deeply tanned skin, but I thought Nor went a little pink. “I wasn’t really planning to fly anyway,” he said.

“No one caught your eye?” I asked. There was a long pause. “Nor?”

“Not as such,” he said. “I mean… Sort of.”

“And you’ve been spending all your time trying to look after me instead of enjoying the festival with her,” I said. “You know, I don’t need you to hover around me. You don’t need to feel guilty if anything happens to me. I’ve known I’m probably not going to live that long.”

Nor’s expression twisted a little bit. “I’ve been trying to fix that. I think I’ve got a concoction right. If you take it daily, it should help you-”

“Okay, okay,” I said. “Hey. You don’t need to spend all your time on me, you know? You can have a life. You’re not responsible for me.”

“It’s not about that,” Nor said. “I wasn’t worried about you. Well, not just that. I…” He stopped for a moment. “I wanted to spend time with you.”

Oh. That created a runny sensation in my chest, like my heart flipped over. “You wanted to-”

“Don’t be that surprised. I haven’t really been subtle about it,” Nor said. “Yes. I like being around you. Why did you think I kept inviting you to do stuff with me and stayed with you instead of going to the festival?”

“I thought you just wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to suffocate in your absence,” I said.

“A little bit. But mostly because I like you,” he said. He peered into my face, a tentative smile on his lips. “You don’t seem upset?”

“I’m not,” I said. “I’m pleased, actually.”

“Really?” Nor’s face was quite close to mine. His lips were parted. I could feel the soft warmth of his breath.

“Really.” Our lips were quite close to touching. Just before making contact, Nor seemed to stall, hesitation overcoming desire. I smiled and leaned in, pressing our lips together in a gentle moment of contact.

Neither of us had much experience kissing, so it was a bit clumsy and we clacked teeth more than once. Still, when we broke apart, I felt breathless in the most positive way I’d ever experienced.

“We should go back,” Nor said, still staring at me. “I… I think I want to participate in the ceremony after all.”

I smiled. “I’ll be watching.”

[one-boring-person]

Fair Game.

T-800 x reader (Terminator: Judgement Day version)

Warnings: sexual themes mentioned, gun use

Context: The T-800 wants to learn to be more human.

A/N: I absolutely love the terminator films, so I will try and write more for them, even though it's not very popular amongst you guys 😅 this is just some idea I've had rattling around in my head, so enjoy!

P.S. To the people who have requested things, I have not forgotten or ignored you! I'm just in the process of writing them out, so I should have one out by tomorrow.💛

Masterlist

The temperature has slowly gotten cooler over the last few hours or so, the sky beginning to darken a little until the last light comes from the rays of sun just cresting over the horizon, casting the landscape in an orange tint. Annoyingly, it also means I can't see what I'm doing, the shape of each separate part of the assault rifle in my hands nearly indistinguishable as they start blurring into each other. A sigh of irritation leaves me as I put them down again, stretching my back as I stand up from the picnic bench again, shaking the stiffness from my joints, my body cramping from sitting in the same position for hours. My hands ache, too, my palms and fingers coated in a layer of gun oil, a result of the rigourous cleaning I've put the weapons through, something which wasn't necessarily required, but I felt like doing anyway, to take my mind off the more gruesome details of the past day or so, still trying to process what exactly is happening.

Just yesterday, John and I were messing around in the arcade, using his hacking skills to our advantage as he stole some money, the two of us having a great time with his friend, who we had to leave behind, for his own safety. A cop went around asking others about John, making the mistake of questioning our friend, who then let us know of the possible danger of being caught, prompting us to run, trying to escape another warning from the feds. From that point onwards, everything went pear shaped: another man appeared from nowhere and shot the cop, who had pulled a gun on us, saving us from certain death as he then gave us time to escape, letting us both get back to our motorcycles, which we promptly used to get away, speeding as quickly as possible down into the aquaducts, where we know our way round pretty well. Leading the cop on a long chase, we soon became very knowledgeable of the fact that our bikes are nowhere near as fast as the truck the cop was chasing us in, meaning we very nearly got hit by it. Long story short, the man from before saved the two of us, before explaining to us what exactly is happening.

Having been in John's close friend circle for most of our time together, the information I learnt was not too surprising; a cyborg (the cop) has been sent back in time from the future to kill him, so he can't lead the resistance against a future mechanized army, a T-1000 made of liquid metal, though another cyborg, a T-800 this time, has been sent back to save him. Having established this, we quickly found that our foster parents had been murdered by the T-1000, leaving the two of us mostly parentless, though John still has his mother, who we broke out of a mental institute last night. And now here we are, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, sheltering with a friend of her's called Enrique.

The sound of steady footsteps draws me from my reverie, my head snapping round as I notice the T-800 walking towards me, it's expressionless face mostly in shadow now because of the setting sun. Turning to face him, I pick up the gun components once more and start methodically putting them back together again, trying to ignore him as he comes up to me, annoyed that my mind has formed an attachment to the handsome cyborg already within two days of knowing him.

"You have experience in the use of firearms." It's not a question, but rather a statement, the cyborg's deep, accented voice resonating in my ears.

"My parents, my real parents that is, were fugitives. They showed me how to use weapons from as young as I could hold them. They thought I needed to be ready to protect myself." I laugh dryly, "I never thought they'd actually be right about something."

"This will be useful in the war." He states tonelessly, watching as I slot the magazine back into the stock, loading it ready for immediate use.

"If I make it that far." I murmur, putting the assembled gun back down on the table, turning my body to properly face him, "Did you need something?"

"No. I am trying to learn "small talk". John Connor has told me to be more human, and that is what he recommends." He reveals, standing beside me, his body towering over mine.

"Oh, right, well that's fair game, I guess." I smile, knowing that the bond between my foster brother and the cyborg has grown quickly, which is unsurprising given the willingness to learn on both of their behalf.

"What is "fair game"?" The T-800 looks over at me, brow furrowed slightly.

Stuck for words, I try to figure out how to explain it, only to be distracted by the sight of two of the younger members of the group already living here making out a little way away. Clenching my jaw, I look down at my feet, a pang of jealousy making itself known.

"Its a figure of speech. I use it to clarify whether I think something is a relatively good idea or not." I finally answer him, unable to resist another look at the couple, which he catches and follows.

"Why do you kiss?" He inquires again, watching unashamedly as the couple make out passionately.

"You mean people? People kiss when they are romantically involved with each other, or if they want to reassure each other. It's a sign of love. Not that I'd know." I say the last part quietly, hoping he won't hear it, "Get it?"

"No."

I smile sadly at this, not really expecting him to understand it, given that it is an extension of human affection, something which he does not really know how to do.

"Maybe one day." I say to him wistfully, leaning back against the table behind me.

"Affirmative. I will understand when I have a concept of human behaviour." He states, turning back to face me, standing much closer than before, "What is wrong?"

I look up as he asks this, having been staring at the floor dejectedly, trying to think up whether there will be a "one day" or not. I've always been a pessimist, but situations like this do not help.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just a little...down, I guess." I explain to him, sighing.

He frowns, clearly confused by the terminology.

"Down meaning sad in this context." I inform the T-800, clarifying what I mean.

A look of understanding dawns on his face, before a look of deep concentration replaces it. Suddenly, he steps forwards, caging me into the table, his hands coming to rest on my hips, pulling me into his hard body. Instinctually, my hands move to lay themselves on his chest, feeling the firm muscle beneath them move as he picks me up and places me onto the table behind me, pressing closer. Before I can say a word, I feel his lips smooth themselves against mine, their cool, dry surfaces moulding with mine as I reciprocate out of instinct, enjoying the feeling of him kissing me as he wraps his hands around my body. Somehow, he manages to draw my mouth open, slipping his tongue into it to lick at the interior of my mouth, swallowing my moans and grunts of air, his hands slipping under my shirt and onto my bare skin. Arching into him, I card my fingers through his hair, pulling gently as he presses even closer, his abnormal strength pushing me down onto the table beneath me, his muscular arms caging me in underneath his huge body. Propping myself up on my elbows, I try to keep up with him, only to fall back as he pulls away and starts kissing down my neck, easily finding my sweet spot. Licking and sucking at it, he allows his hands to roam over my body to my ass, gripping it gently as he holds me close to his chest.

"What in the hell are you doing?!" John's voice suddenly cuts through the haze of pleasure, drawing my attention away from the T-800, who stops what he is doing to look at the boy, helping me upright again as he answers.

"I am reassuring (Y/n). She told me that kissing is a form of reassurance to people." He recites, looking over at me again, his eyes slightly less dead than normal.

"Generally those kisses don't look like that." John points out, looking slightly disgusted as I try to adjust myself again, embarrassed and flustered as hell.

"What do they look like, then? My files show that that is normal."

"Normal for people who are in love! For other people, it tends to be a quick kiss on the forehead, or cheek!" The boy continues to argue.

"If it makes you feel any better, John, then I feel a lot more relaxed now. It worked really well." I interject, shyly, looking down with my cheeks flushing red.

"Then it is a successful method." The T-800 says, clearly confused.

John goes to reply again, only to be cut off by the sound of a car door slamming. Turning, we see Sarah suddenly climb into the corresponding car, the engine starting as she puts it into drive, not looking back as she leaves the camp, John racing after her, screaming for her.

"Don't try kissing him to reassure him. I don't think it will work for him." I inform the cyborg beside me, smiling up at him as he gives me his own version of one, though it looks much more like a grimace than a smile.

"That is fair game."

[guessimwritingficsagain]

Not-a-Jedi (1/?)

Pairing : Din Djarin x reader

Summary : Since Grogu kept having nightmares about his father, you were sent to reunite them both. But nothing goes according to plan.

Warning : violence, sexy thoughts and yearnings.

Author's note : This was supposed to be a one shot but it's not.

When Master Luke had come to you with Grogu, you hadn’t thought much of it. The kid had been restless, he’d explained, visions of his father plaguing his mind every night.

‘I think he is meant to see him. His father might be in danger. Grogu won’t rest until he can help.’

You were no Jedi, but you could fly a ship, fire a blaster, kill, even, and Luke knew you and trusted you so he’d given you Grogu, and the name Nevarro to start with. Lured by the idea of leaving the little shop you worked at, after years of trying to settle down, live a quiet life, and knowing that grumpy boss of yours would take you back when your mission was over, you’d agreed to take Grogu to his father.

Now, though, with a blaster pointed at your head and a Mandalorian at the other end of it, you weren’t so sure. Screw Luke Skywalker and his sweet smiles.

‘Where did you get the kid ?’

You swallowed, your heartbeat picking up. As you were struggling for an answer, Grogu just cooed and his hands shot up towards the Mandalorian.

Luke hadn’t updated the very Mandalorian father about the whereabouts of his kid, you were slowly understanding. And now there was a blaster, pointed directly to your head - that deserved to be emphasized.

You tried to explain, hating how you were struggling, stumbling on your words like a new-born babe on an uneven sidewalk. When you were done, the Mandalorian stood so still you blessed whatever god you didn’t believe in because death was sure to be quick and painless. But it never came.

Instead, you felt Grogu’s weight being lifted from your arms as you heard the Mandalorian whisper :

‘Miss me, kid ?’

The baby cooed, while a lady you hadn’t noticed at first lowered her rifle, tapped the baby on the forehead.

‘Nice to meet you, Jedi. I’m Cara Dune.’

You shook her offered hand and corrected her :

‘Not a Jedi.’

You gave her your name, but she playfully smiled and answered :

‘Nice to meet you, Not-a-Jedi.’

The Mandalorian had turned away, already walking back into town. Cara motioned you to follow. You looked around as you walked. So much sand. You could feel it slipping in your boots, too. Not a fan of that, you decided. It was hot, and your weapon of choice was heavy against your back. Cara was talking to the Mandalorian, though you couldn’t make up her words. You’d rather trail behind, unsure of what to do next. Luke’s words hadn’t been specific. Stay with them or don’t, but if you don’t, know that a time will come when you need to get Grogu back here. When, though, I don’t know.

You liked Luke, really, but the cryptic wizard bullshit was getting old. You briefly wondered how you had been so fascinated by the whole thing in the first place.

Once you were sat at a table in the local cantina, a drink in front of you, Cara casually asked :

‘So, Not-a-Jedi, how come the Jedi trusted you with the kid ?’

She was leaned back on her chair, legs spears apart, but somehow you could tell she was ready to break you in half. And maybe, she could. You might have had five whole teenage, foolish years of something akin to street-fighting behind you, but she was huge and clearly military-trained. And there was a Mandalorian sitting next to her. You weren’t about to take that chance, not after many years of keeping to yourself, the hard muscles softening with a bit of fat here and there, not with the slight softening of your belly. The street-fighting had been about adrenaline. You’d been too young, too cocooned by parents scared of the world, and you’d wanted out. You’d liked the danger of it, back then, the very idea that one wrong move could leave you with a broken spine turning you on, but never scary enough to dwell on it. You’d felt invincible, back then. Fights had been foreplay to encounters in a dark street, quiet fucks to release a tension you shouldn’t have felt. You’d had a family, a roof. You were privileged, but it was boring. A spoiled brat. You still were, in a way. Spoiled brats don’t fight military-trained huge lady, and they surely don’t fight Mandalorians.

‘The Temple needs supplies. Luke gets them from me - from us. I work at a small shop in a town not far from the Temple.’

She nodded, while the Mandalorian kept quiet, visor trained on the kid who was happily downing his food like you hadn’t fed him since you’d departed.

‘Slow down, kid.’ You muttered without thinking and raised a hand to stop him. The stare of the Mandalorian stilled your movement, though, and you brought your hand back to your own cup.

‘You must be tired’, Cara continued. ‘Long journey ?’

Your hands gripped the cup harder at that, the words out of your mouth before you thought better of it.

‘Can’t tell you that.’

She leaned in.

‘Why not ?’

You swallowed, and met her stare.

‘The Temple’s location is secret. If I tell you how long we’ve been travelling for, that’s a piece of information. I can’t do that.’

‘Not even to the kid’s dad ?’ She quipped back, gesturing the unmoving warrior. There was a slight simmer of tension in the air. They don’t know you, they have every right to be suspicious, you reminded yourself. But you didn’t know them either.

‘He’s not the one asking. I don’t know who you are. This is the kind of information I could give to him, but not with you here.’

‘Yes, you can.’ A modulated voice interrupted. ‘I trust Cara with my life. She was there when the Jedi took the Child.’

It wasn’t so much the sentence itself that moved you, but the way Cara’s body slightly turned towards the kid and his father, the way her face grew grave.

‘A week or so.’ You quietly admitted, after a beat.

The Mandalorian hummed in answer and silence fell over you all. You were starting to feel uncomfortable when he spoke again, his voice harsh and cold as the Beskar he was wearing :

‘You’re gonna spend the day and the night here, but tomorrow morning, you’re both gone. It’s too dangerous.’

That, you hadn’t expected.

‘That’s- That’s not what Luke said-‘

‘If I’m in danger, then you both need to leave as soon as possible.’

———

The kid was screaming. You’d figured it would go down that way, with the Mandalorian intent on having you go back to the Temple. Then, a three-fingered hand landed on your cheek and everything went elsewhere.

The Mandalorian was on the floor of a ship you didn’t recognize, chest heaving up and down, and blood everywhere.

‘Stay with me’, you heard yourself say. ‘Come on, stay with me. I’m here, I’m gonna patch you uo. It’s going to be okay. Grogu- Grogu can do it too.’

When you came to, you were on the floor of your own ship, and Grogu was softly crying in the arms of the Mandalorian.

‘We can’t leave’ you choked, as Cara was helping you up. ‘We can’t leave.’

You took a few steps, and you threw up.

When you woke up, you were in a bed and a doctor was checking your vitals. She probed, and asked too many questions, but couldn’t find a single thing wrong with you. You weren’t about to tell her that a fifty-year-old kid had shown you a vision of yourself trying to save his father, so you let it be.

Instead, you used your best bed-ridden voice to convince the Mandalorian that you both should stay with him because you might just die if the kid pulled that kind of stunt again - and maybe you were right, because Grogu meant well but you felt like that time you’d had one week of sexy times with a nice Zeltron lady. You couldn’t walk properly, and your mind was elsewhere, though this time, the elsewhere was definitely not as nice as it had been back then.

Which is how you ended up on Mando’s ship, the Galactica, strapping up for a journey through memory lane. Apparently, since he was stuck with the two of you, Mando wanted to take the kid back to people who mattered to him.

Next stop : Tatooine.

And the welcome on that planet was something else. You liked Peli the moment you met her, with the way she gave shit to Mando just because she could. She took to you, too, and when, your nerves vibrating with excitement, you asked her where you could see a good fight, she pointed right where you needed to be and added, for good mesure :

‘Keeping the kid will cost you extra, but I can take care of him if you want.’

This was the Mandalorian’s money you were playing with, but you figured that if you bet some and won some, that wouldn’t be an issue. You agreed, and went on your merry way while Mando was out shopping for rations.

Except, when you got there, the thrill of it all got to you. Your skin itched to go up there, on the ring. To knock somebody out. You hadn’t felt that way in years. Maybe it was the thrill of the adventure. Maybe it was the Mandalorian, and his cold front. Maybe it was the Mandalorian, but for other reasons : you were supposed to save his life, you’d seen it. Maybe you could prevent this from ever happening if you went back in there.

No matter the reason, you did it. You watched the winner, raised your hand, and got up.

———

It had been easy. Easier than when you were younger. You’d been stuck on the Galactica for a while, and you’d needed release.

You won, fair and square, and went back to the ship, covered in blood but the weight of the ten thousand credits comforting at your side. You went to pay Peli but her answer surprised you :

‘Did you win ?’

‘Yes.’

‘So you ended that idiot ? The blond one ? I can never remember his name but he’s a pain. So smug.’

‘Yes, I did.’

Peli looked at you, and smiled.

‘Free of charge, then. I hope Mando is smart enough to keep you around.’

Mando himself said nothing about the bruises and the cuts on your body, but he let you heal yourself. You figured, then, he knew you could take care of yourself.

You spent a while with Peli, time passing like a blur, the days almost all the same. Mando didn’t seem in a hurry to see you leave anymore, indulging in the selfish feeling of joy to have the kid back. You kept going back to the cantina to fight. Kept winning, and the grin you wore every time you got back must have intrigued Mando because he came to see you fight, one night.

The moment you spotted him in the crowd both threw you off and cleared your mind to a point of concentration you’d never reached before. You didn’t stop to try and understand the feeling, not with the way you could hear every cheer, not with that visor looking right at you, not with that beast suddenly clawing at your belly with new ferocity. You didn’t stop and understand the feeling, because suddenly you were fighting him. Your faceless opponent became Mando in your mind, and as you threw punches with renewed ferocity, images - fantasies - spilled in your mind, of him taking you in a dark alley, both of you still sweaty and dirty from the fight. Even better was the fact that you knew you could never beat him. Would you yield, though ? Would you get on your knees and beg for mercy ? Or would your pride take over your lust and lead you to fight until he had you pinned down and unable to breathe ?

It was amazing, you’d reflect later, how one’s body could move on pure instinct, before for the rest of that fight, your mind was elsewhere but you were moving with a deadly precision, ready to strike, ready to hurt, ready to win. And win, you did.

He wasn’t in the cantina anymore when you came back in after collecting your winnings. The fire in your belly went out suddenly at that, an empty feeling replacing that burning sensation, your fingers no longer tingling but heavy with ache. Your opponent - you still hadn’t caught his name - offered you a drink you accepted, but drank too fast for it to lead to anything more. The urge to get out of there was only made stronger when the man in front of you asked, innocently enough :

‘You travellin’ with the Mandalorian ? You guys showed up here at the same time and he only ever shows up when you fight.’

So he’d come here before, was your first thought. The second, though, was much more unpleasant : the kid.

You were drawing too much attention to yourself. You left the cantina eager to get to the Battlestar, only to be stopped by an iron grip on your arm. Your reflexes kicked in and you landed a hard punch on - something very hard. The pain was so intense it travelled through your whole body and made you shiver, tears prickling at the corner of your eyes as your body curled onto itself.

‘It’s me.’ You heard, the modulated voice now familiar. And then, as an afterthought : ‘Sorry.’

‘A little warning, next time. That’d be nice.’ You all but wheezed, the pain in your hand burning you whole.

‘Sorry.’ The helmet repeated, even though the hand on you was not easing its grip.

You had some bruises on you, the morning after. A split lip, too, and an almost nasty wound on your left eyebrow. The biggest bruise of all, though, was the one on the hand that had struck the Mandalorian, a huge ugly shape, purple and green and blue. You couldn’t flex your left hand without tears coming to your eyes. You wondered how sick you were, because you couldn’t look at it without being turned on. It was a good thing that you were right-handed, too : you weren’t that incapacitated, and you could also keep touching yourself in a very capable way. Small blessings.

———

That grip thing, Mando squeezing your arm to lead you wherever, that iron grip to stabilize you, became a thing. And you were quickly getting that what he represented, that sense of danger about him, turned you on almost all the fucking time. The rest of the time, well, he was being a very good dad and that-

Fuck.

Let’s just say you had it bad.

You left for Mos Pelgo a week later, after Mando asked you why you didn’t go fighting anymore and you revealed your worries about being too much in the spotlight, and how afraid you were that it could affect the safety of the kid. After that conversation, he set course immediately for your next destination, leaving you just enough time to say goodbye to Peli.

‘Thanks for teaching that boy a lesson.’

You thought back on your first fight and answered, your grin predatory :

‘Oh, him ? He was too cocky, but not that good of a fighter, really.’

Peli laughed.

‘Not that boy. The other one. The one with a bucket on his head. Stubborn ass who won’t think for a second about what is good for him. You got him to relax, enjoy his time with the kid and remember people who care about them.’

You could tell it was a lot for her to admit that she cared about the Mandalorian himself so you just shrugged. You watched as she bid her goodbyes to the kid and his father, before she turned to you and added :

‘Hope I’ll see you again, Korra.’

‘Korra ?’ You asked.

It was her turn to shrug as she explained :

‘A silly story my parents used to tell me. In a galaxy far far away, there was a woman who could manipulate fire, earth, air, and water. But she was also very strong. Kicked everybody’s ass. You remind me of that story.’

It wasn’t until later, on the speeder, that Mando said : ‘Korra, I like that.’ With the wind blowing, you thought you’d imagined it. But then, he started calling you that.

Cobb was friendly, funny, a bit too cocky. A few years back, you would have gone for a man like him. The thought that you could, still, and that he might not be opposed to it was nice but not enticing enough for you to act on it. Still, the two of you fell into a rhythm of harmless banter, and flirting. What could have been fun became a game of pushing and pulling : the Marshal would make you laugh and Mando would just grab your arm, the feeling of his grip now familiar to you, something to ground you, even. You entertained the fantasy, for a moment, that he wanted you the way you wanted him.

And maybe, maybe, you were not wrong.

Here you were, a few days after landing, joking with the Marshal as you felt Mando’s hand grab your arm. Tight, like that time after the fight. That shouldn’t have made you restless but it dit, your knees bouncing with excitement at the idea to take on the Mandalorian himself. So when everybody started to go to bed, he grabbed your arm, again, and led you to the Battlestar. Once you were alone, the kid asleep, he dropped all the Beskar except for the helmet, and whispered, a challenge :

‘Come on, Korra, come at me.’

You did as you were asked, a nice obedient girl even though you were feral. He won, though. Of course he did. Your back was hurting against the floor as one of his hands kept you there, easily. He was looking at you, you felt, above you as one hand tied yours together, and the other on your ribs, right below your heart.

‘Din.’ He said.

Din, you understood, as your mind went back to that fight, that fantasy.

Din, you thought after he let you laying there, chest heaving, while he entered new coordinates.

------

If you want to be tagged just say the word.

[justafewsmallsteps]

Happy InuKag Week 2020, Day 6! It’s been literal years, but here’s finally Part 2 of The Problem With Thinking, my Inuyasha High School AU. Lots of love going out to @coquinespike for all the encouragement. Thanks for your patience! It’d probably be better to reread Part 1 (no big edits, but because it’s been SO LONG) but honestly it’s not a huge deal if you don’t. Lots of fluff.  I’m sorry I can only offer the same bland AU over and over. Please forgive me and leave comments in the notes anyways? 

So the fight was officially over and now they stood there holding each other. It was so intimate that it made the tips of his ears feel hot with embarrassment. Hard to believe that just this morning he was still avoiding her, yet now she was practically molded up against him, and there wasn’t a single part of him that wanted her to move away.

He was hyper aware that Kagome was so very close—closer than she’d ever been before.  It was new territory. With their reconciliation, the bridge he thought he’d burn reassembled itself anew, and they’d crossed a line somewhere. What line, he couldn’t be sure.

A new burning filled Inuyasha’s chest, a fire that wanted to engulf her entirely. He’d missed her so much, and being away from her had drained him like a dying battery. He’d felt so tired, so void of any energy or drive, so… lonely. Now she was here, right here, and his whole body was thrumming with the desire to grab her tightly and hold on, to bask in her warm presence like a spring field finally coming out of winter’s harsh cold.

He saw the same look of longing reflected in her eyes. They were magnets kept apart until now.

He forced himself to speak, though his heavy tongue and heart protested the words as he spoke, “I should get you home.”

The sky was getting darker by the second. Her house was just down the street, but he’d worry too much if he let her go by herself. Besides, it was an excuse to stay by her side for a while longer.

“Are you trying to get rid of me?”she asked with a hurt tone.

“What? No!” Inuyasha yelped. The opposite! He coughed and looked off to the side. There was no decent way to explain how he was afraid that the more she stayed by him, the harder it would become to let her go even though they only lived a block apart. He’d cut her off so thoroughly from his life, and now he realized it was like denying himself oxygen. How had he survived?

“Inuyasha?” She gripped his hands again to pull him from his thoughts.

“Huh?” he noised dumbly.

“C-can I…” Kagome wracked her short-circuiting brain for an excuse, any excuse to stay longer. “I don’t want to go home looking like this.”

“What?” You look fine, he thought.

She bit her lip. “Since my face is all puffy and my eyes are red. I don’t want Mama or Jii-chan to worry.”

“O-oh. You… Do you want to come up?” His eyes suddenly opened wide. “Not if you’re uncomfortable with that! I could get you a… wet towel or something.”

“It's okay. I’m fine with going up.” Kagome fought a blush.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded firmly, if only to keep from jumping up and down in glee. Success! How obvious would that be?

He replied with a stiff nod back. He swiftly turned around, dropping one hand from her grip but holding on with the other to lead her into the building. Their palms and fingers felt as if they’d fused together like hot glass. It was weird to imagine they’d have to come apart anytime soon.

As they walked past the metal gate and into the complex, Kagome’s eyes wandered to drink in the unfamiliar territory, but also to keep occupied. There was a tension in the air—some shy but persistent heat that sealed their mouths shut. Inuyasha was looking straight ahead avoiding looking at her, but she couldn’t bring herself to do much differently than him. The fact loomed upon them: they were going to be in his apartment… alone. It was very new for them, and they’d only just gotten their problems solved. Her heart raced. She’d just found out she was in love with him. Maybe asking to come up was a bad idea.

Before she could think else of it, Inuyasha finished turning the key to his door. It opened with a small push, sending her stomach to do a cartwheel. The darkness inside fed her curiosity despite her nerves. She followed him in as the lights flickered on. Humble. Quiet.

It’s not like he has anyone to greet, she remembered. There weren’t decorations or frills—just the basic necessities.

Kagome removed her shoes, noticing how awkward it felt to do so with one free hand. Still, she had no intention of letting go.

“Uh, the… bathroom is over there.” Inuyasha gave a directional head gesture that had his ears twitch. “Is there anything you need?”

Her eyes dropped down to their locked hands. With a strange sense of concentration, she loosened her grip—at least she thought she did. It didn’t budge.

“Oh.” Inuyasha noticed the problem.

A voice yelled in his head. You’re an idiot. You can’t follow her in there! Let go!

With the care and hesitation of unwrapping a bandage, he moved his fingers to uncurl from hers. It felt like pulling apart linked chains. Their palms slid past each other, fingers sweeping to the tips. He would have let it go, but the slightest hint of uncertain, lingering pressure from Kagome had him stop in his tracks.

They froze. His eyes flickered to her blushing face, and he felt her fingertips squeeze his.

“In—“

The next second he yanked her close—his earlier desire to do so finally sated. He grasped the back of her head while his other hand wrapped around her wrist. Her contact against him felt like finally gulping air after drowning.

“Inuyasha?” the girl gasped.

Shit. He’d acted on instinct when he grabbed her. He had no idea what to say, and he felt the embarrassment bubble fast to the surface. She felt nice though, and he couldn’t deny that.  

Kagome’s face pressed against Inuyasha’s chest, her mind drawing blanks as her cheek felt the heat of his skin beneath his T-shirt. His heart was racing, just like hers. It was reassuring.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. He shifted the hand in her hair, letting the smell of lavender shampoo and Kagome’s natural scent fill his home.

Kagome’s free hand came up to hold him back gently, and she realized she’d been aching to do this since she laid eyes on him: to hold him in her arms, to pour out her affection, to be close.

“It’s fine,” she whispered, running her palm soothingly up and down a short length.

Inuyasha reflexively pushed her closer in an attempt to keep from shivering at her touch.

Her heart was still beating rapidly. How else was she supposed to feel when the boy she loved was hugging her so sweetly? It took a while, but after a few moments of silence, Kagome relaxed enough to speak.

“Inuyasha?” She squeezed him a little, somehow already comfortable with touching him so intimately. Funny, but it just felt right being close to him.

“Hm?”

She allowed herself to sink against his body, letting him hold up more of her weight. “Have you been doing all your homework?” It was a familiar question, bringing a sense of normalcy back to their dynamic.

“Uh…” he hesitated.

“Inuyasha…”

“I’ve been doing enough,” he responded vaguely. It was the truth, but he knew she wouldn’t like the answer.

Kagome clicked her tongue in disapproval. “That sounds like you’ve been slacking…”

“I got lazy without your naggin’.” Lazy. Frustrated. Uninspired. Angry. Depressed. Who was he kidding? When he wasn’t moping around he was trying his best not to punch walls.  

The girl sighed. “I’ve been distracted too, so I’m not one to talk… Though I’m going to blame that on you.”

He scoffed, but the sound was soft. “You gettin’ all worked up over me…” Never mind that he’d been the same.

She poked him in the shoulder blade and dug her finger into it as a small jab. “Don’t be a jerk. I missed you a lot, dummy. I wouldn’t be here otherwise, looking like a total mess.”

In seriousness, he apologized. “I’m sorry.”

The sincerity of it brought tears rushing to her eyes so quickly she was defenseless against them. She was completely caught off guard, but if he was going to be that honest then she’d follow suit.

“Don’t do that to me again,” she had to whisper in a rush to keep her voice from faltering. If it sounded like a plea instead of a reprimand, there was nothing she could do about it.

“I won’t,” he swore. “I… please don’t cry Kagome. I can’t stand it. You know that. I don’t know what to do.”

“Just don’t be an idiot again.”

He held his tongue and let her calm down. His hand kept rubbing soothing circles against her back.

“Were you eating properly?” She finally sniffled with a frown.  

“I ate. Not what you’d call ‘properly’ though.”

“You can’t just have three packs of ramen when you get home from school.”

“I can and definitely did.”

Again, she sighed. “We should go to the grocery store together. And I need to teach you how to actually cook.”

“I can fend for myself fine,” he retorted. After a beat he added, “But if you want to come over and make food, I’m not going to stop you.”

“I’d cook for you everyday if only to keep you from high blood pressure.” She pulled away in time to catch the shock on his face, and realized then that her words sounded like a proposal, like she could commit to taking care of him for the rest of her life. She felt mortified. It was too close to a confession!

“You would?” Inuyasha felt embarrassment splash him in the face like cold water.

“No! I mean, yes, but I didn’t mean that I…  you… you know? I just want you to eat balanced meals! That’s all I meant, okay?”

Normally he would retort her sweet sentiment with something brash. He was marvelously good at ruining the moment. Instead he was frozen, looking at the girl in front of him with affection seizing his whole being like lightning, strong and inescapable. He was helpless as it coursed through every nerve in his body.

His silence had Kagome fidgeting.

“Inuyasha?”  

He couldn’t move. He opened his mouth and closed it repeatedly, no words forming whatsoever like a dumb fish gaping for food. The idea of Kagome cooking him a meal… of her setting down plates, of her coming home to him… every day for the rest of his life…

The girl’s cheeks flared indignantly at his lack of response; heart thrumming nervously because it wasn’t a true confession, but it had the tone of something so much more—something akin to promising forever. She couldn’t take his surprised expression locked onto her so intensely, so she shoved her face into his shirt to avoid his gaze. Her hands gripped at his sleeves. She shook his arms hoping for a reaction and cried out, “Don’t just stand there staring at me! You have to say something, you dummy!”

He really should say something, he knew, but nothing was coming to his head. Nothing except Kagome, over and over again. Her in his kitchen, her walking down the road by his side, her eating meals with him everyday… When she told him to let her stay by his side, Inuyasha didn’t consider the actual depth of it. He’d simply taken it at face value. If she wanted to be around him, she’d decide that. The thought of her being there for him daily triggered something heavy to lock itself into place. It felt like she’d smacked an old machine and the gears finally fit themselves together. The realization came to him then.

He was in love with her.

Kagome felt his hold on her slacken. “Inuyasha?” she tried again, with a miserable tone to her voice. She was still mortified.  

He released his steady hold on her wrist. Then he pried her hand gently away from his shirt, slowly easing his fingers between hers. The action was enough to get her to pull herself back. He’d never been very tender before.

His gaze was molten hot against hers, burning maybe, but she was caught in it like sweet, sticky honey. Her chest panged with how much she loved him. Couldn’t she just… reach up and show him? She tightened her fingers entwined with his. God, that felt so right. Her hand belonged in his.

“Kagome…” Her name was meant for his mouth.

Oh, he was so attractive, and she’d missed him so much. If she could somehow wrap herself up in him she would. His tentative grip firmed, lifting her hand closer. Her eyelids lowered while the rest of her body tilted up, up, and towards him.

Inuyasha was enamored. His entire world was swirling around Kagome as if she was the center of the universe. She very well might be, with him caught in her gravitational pull. He closed his eyes and saw black—and then he saw a star; faint and twinkling behind his eyelids, like the uncertain pressure lingering sweetly against his lips.

Then it was gone.

Slightly dazed, he opened his eyes to a blushing Kagome shying back from her kiss. Damn if he didn’t want to pull her to him again. A ‘wait, come back,’ on the edge of his tongue.

As if asking for permission, Kagome tugged at his sleeve and steadied her gaze on his mouth. He wanted to smile at her obvious signals, but a prick of paranoia had him stop her from moving towards him.

“Wait…” He watched as her courage was drained from her face and tried quickly to assure her. “It’s not that I don’t want to, I… I didn’t mean for this to happen when I asked you up, you know.”

“I know that,” she responded earnestly.

“Right…” he turned to look at the floor, trying to sift through his clouding thoughts gathering and darkening like a storm.

“So what’s the problem?”

“I mean, you know. That stuff,”

“The ‘stuff’ that people who don’t know anything say?” she asked.

“Well they ain’t that off if we keep at it,” he replied dryly, but there was a blush on his face. He’s just been kissed by Kagome Higurashi, the most beautiful, wonderful girl in the world. She would’ve done it again if he hadn’t held her back.

“Look, I don’t care. This is what I want. Do you…” she bit her lip unsurely and his knees almost buckled in, “Do you want this?”

Do you want me? Her eyes, clear and bright as a mid-summer day, seemed to ask him.

“Of course I do…” he confessed. There was more he wanted to say on the matter, or rather, more doubts that wouldn’t stop surfacing, but in the next moment Kagome had her mouth back on his, pushing his thoughts down to drown. He let them die there. Instead he let his world become so full of her that nothing else fit, and he’d never felt more put together than he was now, overflowing with her.

Kissing Inuyasha was something she’d dreamt about a lot lately, but not a fantasy she’d thought would come to fruition. It was different than she’d imagined, her body awkwardly stiff yet her heart soaring.

Attached, was the first word that came to Kagome’s mind.

That was how people described how Kagome felt about Inuyasha. She was fond of him. She had a soft spot for him. She was irrevocably and inexplicably attached to him. Now that they were kissing, she uncovered a new sense of meaning to that word. She’d been so attached to him that his absence felt like pulling her seams apart. Kissing him now was sewing them back together, but she still wanted to be closer. She stretched up on her feet higher, pressing her lips harder against his. Her goal was more, but of what, she wasn’t sure. More Inuyasha, somehow, in any and every capacity seemed to be the only answer. Her hands moved up his arms, slowly feeling the worn fabric of his shirt beneath her palms. Her cheeks flared with a new blush feeling the muscles beneath. She wasn’t just attached; she was attracted; she was in love. She loved him so much that it burned from her lungs to her lips.

Their mouths parted, and he huffed her name into the hot air between them. It was a match that set her ablaze. She intended to engulf him, so she kissed him harder. She wrapped her arms around the boy’s neck and drew him in close to her, wobbling between standing on her toes and back onto her heels.  

Sensing her imbalance, Inuyasha tugged her by the waist to steady them both, but it had searing consequences as her body pressed into his. He heard her react with a sharp inhale and he hissed in response to her. So this is what happened when you got close to the sun, huh? He wasn’t melting, but he was burning everywhere they touched, and she scorched her way through him like a wildfire. They were moving so quickly his mind was whirling.

Kagome tilted her head, and Inuyasha felt the foreign sensation of her wet tongue swiping against his lip.

“Holy shit,” he cursed, and Kagome immediately pulled back startled.

“Sorry! I don’t—”

“No, it’s fine,” he muttered with winded effort. He took a moment to breathe, noticing Kagome’s chest similarly took deep rises and falls. The reality of what had just occurred between them settled in his mind. He wasn’t sure what to do next, but he wanted to continue.

“Was I… Did I go too fast or do something wrong?” She sounded so out of breath that his head spun.

“’Course you did nothing wrong,” he whined, putting his face in his hand and closing his eyes. He was more turned on than he’d ever imagined possible, and it was making him dizzy. “Just surprised me there.”

“Oh,” Kagome finally squeaked in response. She self-consciously folded in one herself.

He peaked through his fingers at the girl only to see her looking shyly down at the ground. Her kissed lips were set in a puffy little pout and her cheeks were a warm pink. Inuyasha groaned. She was beautiful and he was such a sap for her.

He was devastatingly in love with her. And he kissed her! And she kissed him back! And more!

He was having a hard time believing this was real.

“Maybe we did go kinda fast,” he admitted. He just couldn’t wrap his head around this whole thing. When did his life make a 180? Was he dreaming? When did his dreams ever get this good?

“Sorry,” Kagome mumbled.

Inuyasha sighed and lowered his hand. “Quit apologizing.” He tucked his finger under her chin to get him to look at her,  but found the vulnerability behind her eyes almost too much to bear. He swallowed to fight the blush staining his face. “Just… gimme a sec, okay?”

Kagome nodded into his hand. He moved his face forward and pressed his forehead against hers, feeling her heat radiate against his skin. She was too much for him, he knew. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down—mind and body. He felt Kagome do the same, slowly relaxing into regular breaths.

This is real…

Delicately shifting, he pressed his lips to hers again, feeling her seize and then press into him. The awkwardness set back in, but they pushed through it and felt it out until it slowly melted away. He felt her exhales as sweet, warm puffs of air. They stayed like that for a while until Inuyasha took his hand and slid it to hold her cheek. He opened his mouth slightly and tilted his head to deepen their kiss. Kagome followed suit, letting him set the pace. They kept going, pushing lips together, adjusting, readjusting, and getting comfortable.

He felt her adorable eager little jump as he pulled her face closer, her hand coming up to grasp his shirt in a steadying motion. It was a swift pump to his ego to know she wanted this and was probably holding back.

He was getting turned on all over again, but it wasn’t as sudden as before. He took his time adjusting to each step forward, but Kagome didn’t make it all that easy with little gasps and the sweetest taste he’d ever experienced.

He’d always thought kissing was a gross concept. He wasn’t keen on saliva or using tongues, but the instant he felt hers on his lips he was convinced it was more than okay. Sure, it shocked him, but it felt good. Too good, at that moment, but now… Now he enjoyed the slight pressure of her sucking on his bottom lip, and the tease of her teeth as she did so. He enjoyed doing the same, shocking sensations prickling his spine with each new discovery. She was infinitely patient and understanding, letting him set their pace, and following suit.

Tentatively, Inuyasha sucked in a breath and dared to sweep his tongue against Kagome’s lips. He felt her eagerly part her mouth, inviting him to try again. This time he had taken the lead, but tremors still passed through his body as he tasted her, yet he was determined for more. She moved her arms up to wrap around his neck and pull him down. She must have been standing on her toes for a long time, he remembered. Kagome was petite, and he was over a foot taller if he stood up straight.

Ideas flash in his mind—making out on the floor, on a couch, him lifting her up to the counter… Oh damn. So much for calming down.

He grabbed her hips and moved her back just a bit, away from his lower body. It was achingly difficult to do so, since every part of him was screaming for contact with her.

She broke their kiss with a gasp.

“I should maybe think about getting home soon.”

A little more than dazed, Inuyasha did his best to recalibrate his brain. He felt the blood slowly making its way back there, but for now all his thoughts were hazy. Kagome. Home. Her house.

“Right…”

“And I should also still wash up my face.”

“Right…”

She giggled then, likely because he was still in a hormone-induced stupor. “I’ll be right back,” she assured him with a quick kiss to his cheek that left him feeling tingly. Then she was off to his bathroom.

As the door clicked shut and the buzzing sound of the restroom light came on, Inuyasha blinked himself back to reality. And it hit him hard enough that he had to sit down. He replayed the whole night in his head, wondering how the hell he’d gotten to this point. It was another miserable Friday punctuating a shitty week of dodging her at school. He got home feeling like garbage, only appreciating the weekend as a reprieve from having Kagome’s scent peppered in the air of the hallways and classrooms. His apartment was the one place he could lock himself away and not be haunted by her. But then the buzz came from the gate, and then her broken voice pleaded through the phone.

He came down just to end it once and for all. No more texts. He’d just have to scare her off and be done with it, but she was stubborn. She’d never let him push her around, so why did he expect her to let him push her away without a fight? She clung to him, dug into him, broke his resolve with her sad and angry tears. She’d missed him too. What did he do to deserve her?

A whine pushed its way past his throat, just in time for Kagome to walk out of the bathroom and shoot him a concerned look.

“You okay?”

It was weird, seeing her in his apartment like this, so casually as if she belonged there. She did, as far as he was concerned.

Filled with a new sense of determination and longing, he stood up resolutely and made his way to her. Before she could ask another question, he scooped her up in his arms and kissed her fully on the mouth. She gave an initial squeak of shock, but quickly accepted the new position, once again putting her arms around him.

“I missed you,” he admitted quickly before his unfounded resolve melted away.

“I just washed my face,” she teased as he lowered her back to her feet.

Incredulous he stammered, “That’s not what I—!”

“I know,” she interrupted. Kagome smiled, and Inuyasha’s annoyance vanished. “You don’t have to miss me anymore.”

[sachigram]

I know Halloween has long passed (*sob*) but what do you think of Izaya as a Witch? 🤔 (maybe with a side order of Shizuo being his beastly but also angry familiar? 😂😂😂)

((Okay so I went rogue on this one. It’s funny because @lateniteslacker and I have an rp going where Izaya is a witch right now so I wanted this one to be darker and wanted Shizuo to be a beast for real.))

The thing about humans is, they really do have more in common with wild animals than they'd like to believe. Izaya has always studied human behavior extensively, obsessively, and he's always excited when a completely civilized person gives into their instincts, usually in a moment of complete desperation. The four f's really are a universal truth, and while Izaya is captivated by humanity as a whole, he can't deny he feels a certain...thrill in knowing society could topple at any moment, with only the slightest push, and then people would show their true colors and what lengths they would go to in order to survive.

Thinking this over, Izaya lifts his eyes to the beast pacing around his apartment. It's late at night, obscenely early morning, actually, but neither of the occupants in the apartment have slept yet. It's close to sunrise, Izaya realizes, and Shizuo has still yet to kill him.

“You're letting me live again? How generous of you, Shizu-chan,” Izaya says, and when Shizuo growls at him in answer, Izaya's lips curl into a small smile. Shizuo can't reply at length, of course. No werewolf in existence can speak when they're transformed.

Shizuo's body could be considered grotesque, but Izaya's never been squeamish, and he doesn't mind watching the huge monster walk in circles, his features lit only by the city lights streaming into the windows. His skin is dark and leathery, only some of it covered in thick, wiry fur. Shizuo's mouth is gaping and filled with sharp, jagged teeth, so many that it seems to be hard for Shizuo properly close it, thus making him leave drops of saliva in his wake. His eyes are the same color as normal, so dark they're practically a mirror for anyone who looks into them, but they're filled with bloodlust and hunger, instincts Shizuo would be acting on if not for Izaya's potion keeping him in his own mind.

“You could sleep, you know,” Izaya continues, watching with glee as Shizuo's ears perk towards Izaya, hearing him whether Shizuo wants to or not. “I'm not going to do anything to you. We seem to be in a truce, don't we? Unwilling companions.”

Shizuo snarls openly at that and makes his way over to the desk, looming over it and salivating onto Izaya's papers. Izaya merely looks up at him pleasantly, knowing Shizuo won't actually kill him. Shizuo is too afraid of being left alone to do so.

“Is it some kind of atonement? You think keeping yourself sleep deprived will help you feel better about what you are? It's actually only making it worse.” Izaya listens to Shizuo's deep, rumbling growl, and hears it for the question it really is. “I'm not awake because I want to be, Shizu-chan! It's not the same. You know I have insomnia. At the very least, I'm grateful for your company.”

Shizuo huffs and turns away from him then, going back to pacing. Izaya knows how cruel it is of him to act as if Shizuo has any choice to be here, but it hardly matters to Izaya why Shizuo is here. He's here. That's all Izaya needs.

It was months ago, another full moon. Izaya was fed up with Shizuo, wanted him gone for good. Shizuo wasn't rising to Izaya's challenges anymore, would actually ignore Izaya if they crossed paths on the street. More and more of Shizuo's time was spent with that woman, that doe-eyed assassin, and Izaya decided he was done playing around. He hired some men, some higher-ups in the Yakuza, actually, and Shizuo fought as he always does, but he couldn't avoid the sharp teeth when they broke his skin and infected him with something that could never be cured.

It took two weeks for Shizuo to come to Izaya. Shizuo was pale, haggard, looked as if he hadn't slept in days. He stormed into Izaya's apartment and demanded to know what was wrong with him, why he wanted to bite and tear, why his dreams were filled with blood and viscera— “guts” is what Shizuo actually said, but that's besides the point.

“Why did you come to me?” Izaya had asked. “What makes you think I know?”

The answer was more than Shizuo could put into words. All monsters make their way to Izaya sooner or later, all of them knowing Izaya can help if he chooses to. It's why Shinichi made contact with him, why the more beastly members of the Yakuza put up with him. Izaya is stronger than he looks, smarter than is good for him, and filled with a constant boredom that makes him dangerous. To top it all off, he's one of the only witches in Japan, and an incredibly powerful one at that.

Izaya explained that Shizuo was bitten by a werewolf, and he would succumb to his desires during the next full moon unless he relented to trusting Izaya to help, and at first, Shizuo stormed out, cursing, threatening to bash Izaya's head in. A week later, one week before the next full moon, Shizuo was back, looking worse than before, and he had a tired sort of acceptance about him that let Izaya know the monster had already worked through all the other stages of grief.

Now, they can be around each other for extended periods of time, but never without underlying malice and contempt in their words and actions. Shizuo refuses to take the potion home and be alone in this, and Izaya hardly minds being subjected to Shizuo's transformation, despite the fact that Shizuo keeps promising to kill him before sunrise. They're at an impasse, and like all shaky alliances, they're waiting for the other one to break it first.

The next time Izaya looks up from his computer, Shizuo is back to normal, curled into a ball in the floor, panting at the strain of his return to humanity. Izaya stands and goes to his side, offering him a blanket to cover his trembling, naked body, and Shizuo swats him away, sending Izaya toppling to the floor. Izaya only laughs, pleased Shizuo still has some fight in him. It's so much more fun this way.

“Fuck,” Shizuo hisses, lifting his head to glare openly at Izaya. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” Izaya asks earnestly.

“Like you love this.”

Izaya opens his mouth to respond, but he decides Shizuo has suffered enough for one night. He stands and goes back to his desk, leaving Shizuo to his own devices. Normally Shizuo will dress and leave immediately, but he lingers this time, hovering almost uncertainly by Izaya.

“Your mind is a mess,” Izaya says, hating that he can hear the majority of Shizuo's thoughts. Izaya tries not to read minds very often, feels like it's an unfair advantage in his line of work, and he so loves an actual challenge. But Shizuo's mind is different; it's loud and demanding, wanting more than anything to be heard.

“Why are you helping me?” Shizuo asks.

“I help many members of this world and the next, Shizu-chan,” Izaya replies without looking up. “It's part of my job.”

“Why wouldn't you want me to lose my mind and kill someone? Everyone would know then, wouldn't they? That I'm a monster. Isn't that what you want?”

Izaya looks up at him at last, a bored expression on his face. “It's enough that I know it.”

“Bullshit,” Shizuo snaps. “I keep waiting for you to sell me out, to tell everyone what I am. Why the fuck haven't you? I wouldn't help you if the tables were turned.”

“I know that,” Izaya says, shrugging. “I guess you could say I've been touched by how pitiful you are. How helpless.” Izaya's smile stretches into a leer, and he can see the way it makes Shizuo's skin crawl. “You need me.”

“I could find someone else,” Shizuo says. “Celty could know another...magic person.”

“By all means, go find them,” Izaya says. “Go explore the country and beyond on your measly second rate bodyguard salary. Better yet, go to Kasuka and tell him what you are and beg him for help in finding someone else to give you the same potion I give you for free every month.”

Shizuo flinches at that. He's obviously terrified of Kasuka finding out, which is hilarious in itself, as Kasuka is dating Ruri, another of Izaya's clients. It's true she doesn't have much vampire blood in her veins, but she has enough to feel the bloodlust. Izaya hasn't told Shizuo any of that, though. If nothing else, Izaya is loyal to his clients until they give him reason not to be, even if those reasons are nothing more than being more interesting once they find out Izaya betrayed them.

“You could go to Celty, see if Shinra and his crazy father can help you look for a cure. You could do a lot of things, but you come to me every month.” Izaya rests his chin on his hand and watches Shizuo carefully. “Is it because you already hate me, so you don't mind me seeing you at your lowest?”

“Fuck you,” Shizuo says, and he marches towards the door. Izaya rolls his eyes and goes back to typing, but he looks up again when he realizes Shizuo hasn't left yet.

“Say whatever the hell you have to and then leave me alone,” Izaya huffs. He needs to finish this assignment soon, and he'd like to do it within the next few hours so he can sleep afterwards.

“I know how rare it is. What you are,” Shizuo says, his back still to Izaya. “Celty told me.”

“I'm surprised you spoke to her about any of it.”

“I didn't tell her what I am. I know she wouldn't judge me for it, but still, I just...” Shizuo trails off, and he turns to face Izaya. “But she knows what you are, and she told me. That's why I came to you.”

“And what did she say about me?” Izaya asks, amused. He knows the courier despises him, but he doesn't care much for her either aside what she can do for him.

“She said there's a reason witches are so rare, and it's because most of them have been killed off.” Shizuo moves closer. “She said the majority of them abused their powers, the same way you do, and that's why they're targeted so often.”

“She neglected to mention the part where it was everyone else who came to us first,” Izaya says sharply, remembering the first time he saw members of the other world. Ghosts, demons, monsters of every kind flocking to him, asking for help. He was a child then, a neglected one at that. He was on his own with no one to help him, and that was when he realized how unfair the world could really be. “You're always barking about how you can't control your strength, well I can't control this. I didn't ask for this either.”

“You did this to me,” Shizuo accuses. It's not the first time he's said it, but Izaya has never admitted to it.

“And if I did?” Izaya asks, annoyed by this entire exchange. “What are you going to do about it?”

Shizuo roars with rage and lurches towards Izaya, lifting him up and slamming him against the wall. He breathes into Izaya's face, his sharp teeth bared.

“Why can't you just leave me the fuck alone?!” Shizuo shouts, and suddenly it seems as if he's being deflated, like all the strength is leaving him. He drops Izaya's feet to the floor, but he doesn't step away from Izaya's space. “Why can't you leave me alone?” he asks again, defeated.

“Because you're interesting,” Izaya says, and when he lifts his fingers to Shizuo's face, Shizuo only flinches slightly at the touch. “Because you're right, I'm alone in this, and you were alone, too. You were surrounded by people, but you were alone. No one knows better than me how that feels.”

“You ruined my life,” Shizuo says, no ire to it.

“You ruined mine first,” Izaya says, not bothering to elaborate. Shizuo doesn't seem confused, just tired, and when Izaya tucks his face into Shizuo's neck, the beast only growls softly before allowing it.

The thing about wolves is, they always protect their necks. It's one of their most vulnerable areas. Shizuo is allowing this, and that speaks volumes in itself. Izaya smiles and wraps his arms around Shizuo, clenching his fingers in the fabric of Shizuo's shirt.

“It'd be easier for you, wouldn't it? If you actually hated me,” Izaya murmurs. He presses his lips to Shizuo's neck, and he can feel the tremble of Shizuo's body before Shizuo's arms wrap around him in return.

“You won't die, right? You can't,” Shizuo says, his voice muffled in Izaya's hair.

“Wouldn't it be better for you if I did?” Izaya asks.

“Yes. No. Fuck.” Shizuo kisses the top of Izaya's head, and he makes a disgruntled noise when Izaya pulls away, growling until he realizes what it is Izaya wants. Their lips brush together gently, a complete contrast to all their harsh words and usual actions. “Izaya,” Shizuo breathes, clinging tight enough to Izaya to hurt.

“You won't be alone, Shizu-chan,” Izaya says, sighing sweetly when Shizuo kisses him again. They wind up on Izaya's couch, their clothes scattered around them as they give into their basic instincts, showing each other just how beastly they can be.

[lopithecusfanfiction]

Dissension

Author: Lopithecus Pairing: Kaidan Alenko/Male Shepard Rating: General Audience Word Count: 1670 Alternate: AO3 Summary: Shepard and Kaidan argue over how a mission went Warnings: N/A Author's Note: This is for Day 4 of Mass Effect Trilogy Appreciation Week! Please enjoy! Prompt: Day 4 - Argument

Kaidan watches silently as Doctor Chakwas slaps some medi-gel onto a deep cut that is on Shepard’s side, arms crossed and leaning against the opposite bed to the Commander. Shepard hisses at the sting, flinching away and then regretting the movement immediately as his entire side shoots fiery pain through his body. There’s a huge black and blue that spreads all the way past his naval and up into his chest. Broken ribs, Doctor Chakwas had supplied and then lectured Shepard on the ideals of not falling off high places. Shepard had sat there and taken it, feeling the tension coming off of Kaidan in waves.

“There,” Doctor Chakwas pulls away, inspecting her handiwork of wrapping Shepard’s abdomen up. “It’ll hurt to move and breathe for a while but you should be fine.” There’s a hint of flabbergasted amusement in her voice, as if she doesn’t expect anything different from Shepard. Shepard has the feeling Kaidan wouldn’t appreciate the tone, however, so he’s grateful the Doctor keeps it mostly hidden. “And because I know there’s no way I’ll be able to keep you on bed rest for six week, I will give you some potent painkillers. Just don’t overdo it, Commander. Your ribs do need to heal properly.”

Shepard grunts and then hops off the table. He eyes Kaidan, who still hasn’t spoken a single word, and gestures with his head to follow him. Shepard might as well bite the bullet and confront whatever is bothering Kaidan now instead of waiting for it later. So, he leads the way to the elevator and half expects Kaidan to start in on him while they are alone in there but the biotic waits until the door is completely shut to Shepard’s quarters before he speaks.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Kaidan’s voice is low instead of raised like Shepard had expected.

“There was no other choice, Kaidan,” Shepard says, as if that’s the final word on it and if he was half the Commander he should be with Kaidan, it would have been.

But Kaidan doesn’t like that answer and he knows he gets more leeway with Shepard because Shepard cares about him in a different way than the rest of the crew. “There were plenty of other options,” his voice is starting to rise now, his muscles tense. “I even suggested another option but you chose to ignore it.”

“That’s because the last I knew, I was the Commander and you’re supposed to listen to me.” The words are out of Shepard’s mouth before he can even give it some thought and Kaidan’s jaw clenches shut, eyebrows furrowing dangerously. The silence between them drags on for a long time, neither of them wanting to admit defeat. Both of them have always been stubborn.

Soon, Kaidan gives a small shake of his head, as if he is fed up or maybe disappointed that Shepard isn’t the first one to break. “Well… sorry I overstepped, Commander .” He leaves then, turning on his heels and exiting the room with a straight back and stiff strides.

Shepard sighs and carefully sits down on the edge of his bed, one hand holding onto his side where his broken ribs are. He probably shouldn’t have said that to Kaidan, especially not to him and especially not when all Kaidan was trying to do was keep him safe. He can’t blame Kaidan for that. Still, it would probably be best to let the biotic cool off some before confronting him.

Shepard begins busying himself with going over mission reports, filling one out for their latest mission in which he got injured on, and trying to nurse his aching ribs. Eventually, he gets impatient, however, and he can’t help but go searching for Kaidan once the last report is filed away. He doesn’t like Kaidan being mad at him, never has, and he doesn’t want another argument to last as long as the Horizon one did ever again.

He finds Kaidan in the Mess Hall with Liara, Garrus, Tali, and James. They are all eating, James laughing loudly about something. Shepard doesn’t even bother greeting the others and instead strides up to Kaidan. “Kaidan.”

Kaidan doesn’t even look his way. “Something you need, Commander?”

So, he’s definitely still angry. “Can we talk?”

“I don’t know, is this about work?” He finally looks up at Shepard, eyes hard and unreadable. “Anything else would be inappropriate for a Commander and a subordinate to talk about.”

Shepard winces at Kaidan calling himself a subordinate since he really isn’t anymore. Shepard eyes Liara, Garrus, Tali, and James, all of whom have fallen silent and are watching closely. Well, if Kaidan wants to play that game, then fine. “Starboard. Now.” He walks away before Kaidan can respond to him but Shepard doesn’t miss the audible sigh the biotic lets out.

Kaidan follows him into the Starboard Lounge quietly, not even speaking when the door shuts behind them. Shepard turns to face Kaidan, surprised to see just how defeated the man looks. He crosses his arms, allowing the silence to drag out between him and Kaidan until Shepard thinks it’s been long enough.

“Are you done being passive aggressive?” he asks, because he really doesn’t want to do this if all Kaidan is going to be is stubborn.

Kaidan sighs again and his shoulders relax. He takes a step forward and doesn’t stop until he is walking past Shepard and to the window. “I’m sorry, Shepard, it’s just… what you said…”

Shepard bites his lip and joins him at the window. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I know,” Kaidan says. He’s still looking out the window, not meeting Shepard’s eyes. “It made me feel like that though.”

“I’m sorry.” Kaidan glances at him, maybe trying to gauge whether Shepard actually means the apology or maybe it’s as simple as the biotic coming around. “Look, I know what I did on that mission was reckless and I know it scared you-”

“You don’t get it,” Kaidan interrupts, turning back towards the window.

“Then make me get it, Kaidan, because I don’t know what you want me to say here.”

Kaidan shakes his head, bowing it to now look at the floor, and for a second, Shepard is afraid he won’t and they’ll be back to square one. Then Kaidan takes a deep breath, to steady himself Shepard supposes, and starts talking quietly as if he doesn’t actually want to think about what he’s about to say. “It was terrible the first time you… when you died, Shepard. Everyone was… we all grieved for you, we didn’t know what to do with ourselves except sit there on a frozen planet waiting for rescue.”

“I thought you found out after you all got rescued,” Shepard says, confused.

Kaidan shakes his head again. “No. Joker, he…” Kaidan sighs, the memory obviously painful to think about. “He told us what happened through the comms. It wasn’t that hard to guess what happened next.”

“I didn’t know.”

“That’s the thing, Shepard.” Kaidan now turns, full body and looks into Shepard’s eyes. “You don’t know. You don’t know what it was like for the crew, for Joker, for me. I-” He swallows, takes a breath. “I loved you, even back then, and I know we weren’t together then and you didn’t know how I felt, but you dying, Shepard… I wasn’t joking when I said back on Horizon that it felt like losing an arm and a leg. It tore me up, I couldn’t do my job properly for months , and then when Hackett finally let me back on duty, it was just like going through the motions. It took me a long time to get past that and I can’t… I can’t do that again, Shepard. I can’t lose you again, especially now that we are together.” Kaidan takes a deep breath, realizing just now how much he actually said. “I don’t think I’d be able to survive it this time, Shepard, so… yeah, you taking unnecessary risks is going to worry me and piss me off. I’m sorry, that’s just… that’s just who I am now.”

Shepard moves, feels the ache in his ribs, and sighs. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you like that. I can’t guarantee I’ll get out of every mission unscathed, though, Kaidan, you know that.”

“I know, I’m not naive, I’ve been doing this almost as long as you have but… if there’s an alternative, a safer , more practical alternative, then I don’t see a reason to not try that first,” Kaidan states, turning back to the window.

Shepard watches him, the frown that is set on his face, the grey hair that has started showing up at his temples, the new wrinkles that weren’t there when Shepard had died the first time. He reaches out, runs his fingers through that black hair, feeling how soft it is, and pulls Kaidan’s head towards him just in time for Kaidan to eye him suspiciously. Shepard kisses him, just above the temple and then rests his own forehead there

“I’ll try to listen to you more.”

“That’s not what I-”

“I know what you meant but… your idea on the last mission was a good one and I should have listened.” Shepard pulls back to make eye contact with Kaidan. He gives the biotic a small, reassuring smile. “I’m sorry I didn’t.”

Kaidan doesn’t say anything and he doesn’t have to. It’s all written in his eyes; how terrified he is, how much he worries, and just how much he loves Shepard. Kaidan steps closer, wrapping his arms around Shepard’s middle carefully, making sure not to squeeze. He then rests his chin on Shepard’s shoulder, holding him, and Shepard mimics the stance, holding Kaidan back.

Shepard doesn’t know how long they stay there, just hugging each other, but he doesn’t mind. As long as he and Kaidan are okay and the biotic is back in his arm, nothing else matters.

—————————————————————————————————

A/N: Thanks for reading!

[saiilorstars]

Metamorphosis

Ch. 5: A Companion’s Guide

Current Masterlist // Previous Story // Renata’s Masterlist

Fandom: Doctor Who // Pairing: 11th Doctor x OFC

Taglist: @ocfairygodmother​ @anotherunreadblog​ @maaaaarveeeeel​​ @stareyedplanet​ @perfectlystiles​ @natalie-the-whovian​

[If you would like to be added to this specific OC’s taglist, let me know!]

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Chapter summary: The time travelers have to figure out who's behind the creature snatching people up while working with Liz 10 and in the end, Gabby has to urge Amy to look past the Time Lords’ anger to see what they’re truly all about.

The entire group had fallen into the chute and were thrown out only to land in a splash somewhere full of oddly colored liquid. The Doctor jumped back on his feet soon as he got his bearings, though he noted the flooring underneath was a bit odd. He flashed the sonic around to see where exactly the chute had brought them to.

"High-speed air cannon. Lousy way to travel!"

Renata thrashed the water before getting up. "You have got to stop throwing us down things when you've no idea where they lead!" She made a show by splashing some water to the side.

Despite knowing she was properly upset, the Doctor found it much too funny to be serious. She was covered in whatever liquid they'd landed in - he suspected a food refuse judging by the smell - and so all of her hair was sticking to her face. Her dress was pressed against her body again, something he'd begun to accept would be his downfall one day. She was trying to be angry but she kept scrunching her face and yelling about the horrible stench around them. Her kicking the food refuse was just a plus!

Yup. Completely, adorably, funny.

"Doctor, where are we?" Gabby was close to gagging with the odor around them.

"600 feet down, 20 miles laterally - puts us at the heart of the ship. I'd say... Lancashire. What's this, then - a cave? Can't be a cave. Looks like a cave!"

"WHO CARES WHAT IT IS! GET US OUT!" Renata shivered excessively. She might just throw up there and then.

Amy was still on her knees beside them. She kept touching the ground. "It's a rubbish dump, and it's minging!"

"Yes, but only food refuse!" the Doctor Doctor confirmed, not that it would make it better. "Organic, coming through feeder tubes from all over the ship."

"You are so dead," Renata threw him a murderous glare he chose to ignore.

"The floor's all squidgy, like a water bed," Amy pointed out. She'd been trying to figure out how best to describe what she felt and that was as close as it would get.

"But feeding what, though?" the Doctor asked while he took another read off the sonic.

"It's sort of rubbery, feel it. Wet and slimy!"

"Uh, Amy, let's not keep touching that," Gabby helped the woman stand up. "You never know what it could actually be."

And a moment later, the Doctor heard a distant moaning. He froze, letting his eyes dart to the dark 'walls' of the so-called cave. "Er...it's not a floor, it's a…" he put his screwdriver away and prepared the best way to explain his discovery. "So…"

Renata narrowed her eyes on him. With all her thrashing, she missed the moaning. The Doctor was grateful for it because now he had a few minutes to come up with a way that wouldn't get him killed.

"What is it?" she demanded a dangerously low tone.

"The next word is kind of a scary word." And it was a pretty scary moment for him right now. He moved closer to her, taking her sticky hands into his. "Take a moment. Get yourself in a calm place. Go 'omm'. Everybody! Omm!"

Gabby and Amy had no idea what he was doing but they would go along with it and see where it led. "Omm!" they collectively said.

"...it's a tongue," the Doctor had swallowed very hard, almost making it so that Renata couldn't understand him. Almost.

Her dark eyebrows arched up as her eyes widened. "A...tongue?"

"Aha...a great big tongue!" He couldn't help the excitement that crossed his face for a moment. It was a tongue! They were standing on an actual tongue! When could that ever happen!?

It was that same excitement that drove Renata mad. "I'm gonna kill you!" she pushed him away. "I hope you've enjoyed your small time in that incarnation because it's about to end!" She actually lunged on him, knocking them both to the ground. Her hands may have curled around his neck but she got a taste of the food refuse from their splash and nearly gagged on the side.

The Doctor was stunned that Renata had actually lunged on him, but he was close to laughing too. This new incarnation of hers was truly going to be an adventure. Perhaps it was a sign that things were going to change for the better now.

"Renata!" Gabby burst into laughter. Amy perhaps would've laughed if she wasn't still stuck on the fact they were inside a mouth.

Renata still narrowed her eyes on the Doctor under her. "You are so lucky there's witnesses!"

"I'm going to love you even more after this," he said before laughing. A blush bloomed across Renata's face, even more so when she realized their position.

Make a fool out of yourself why don't you? She quickly got off him and tried pulling her hair off her face. "How do we get out of here?" She reached for her pocket and took out her own sonic.

"What, you have one too?" Amy blinked at the golden-white sonic in Renata's hand. It even made the same sound as the Doctor's.

Renata gave a dismissive nod while she took a look at the readings. "This place is huge! Doctor, of all the places…"

"It's gorgeous!" the man exclaimed. She rolled her eyes in response. "Blimey! if this is just the mouth, I'd love to see the stomach." Of course soon as he heard the grunts in the back he regretted his words. "Though not right now."

"Doctor, how do we get out?" Gabby called to him. She would like if he didn't keep saying words that could get him killed by the mouth or Renata.

"OK, it's being fed through surgically implanted feeder tubes, so the normal entrance is…" the Doctor made a turn towards the white set of teeth properly shut. "...closed for business."

"We can try, though!" Amy said determinedly. She left Gabby's side only to take two steps and hear another grunt. "Or...not…"

"Oh, great, it's started," Renata lowered her sonic to her side.

Amy swallowed hard. Whatever was starting was her fault. "What has?"

"Swallow reflex." The Doctor said just before they were thrown back into the refuse. Renata yelled as soon as her entire body was covered in the refuse again. In a quick second the Doctor used the sonic on the walls to get another process started, one that he was sure Renata would thoroughly scream at him for.

"What are you doing?" Amy sat upright, too afraid to stand until somebody else did too.

"I'm vibrating the chemo-receptors!"

"Chemo-what?"

"The eject button!"

"How does a mouth have an eject button?"

As expected, Renata loudly screamed. "I really hate you! I hate this entire place and this entire ship!"

Gabby was about to ask for another explanation when they heard the creature growling and a wave of vile coming towards them. Oh, she might scream too.

The Doctor helped Renata stand up but she looked so close to murdering him he almost thought of letting her go. He winced at himself for that thought. "Sorry Renée. Only way out."

She would've indeed yelled at him had it not been for the terribly huge wave coming for them. "O-o-oh no…" Her hands suddenly clung to him.

"Right, then, this isn't going to be big on dignity," he tweaked his bowtie, not that it would matter in a couple minutes. "Geronimo!" He wrapped his arms around Renata's body to shield her from as much bile as he could.

Gabby and Amy tried cowarding behind one another, ushering the other one ahead before they would force each other to switch places. In the end, they all screamed as the bile collected them in its way.

~0~

When Gabby and Amy came to, everything was a bit distorted. They could see each other a few inches away but things were blurry. They could hear warbled voices in the background, going fast. It took a few minutes for them to realize they were lying on a hard, cold metal ground and that the voices they heard were actually Renata and the Doctor going back and forth in some conversation...or argument. Gabby wasn't sure.

"You really had to bring us there, huh? I always thought there was a wire in your head that's plugged into some box with the words 'act stupid' on the front!" Renata was watching the Doctor sonic the metal door that wouldn't open for them.

He looked over her shoulder at her, his expression a cross between wanting to laugh or be properly annoyed. "A box…?" The laughing was winning.

She huffed and folded her arms. "Being clean is something I love. I adore it. You know what I don't like? Being covered in sick! I was just thrown up like...like…" she groaned when no comparison came to mind. "It's just so terrible that I can't come up with the right word!"

"Ren?" Gabby called, alerting the pair she and Amy had woken up.

Renata turned around to help the girls stand up. "Don't worry. There's nothing broken, there's no sign of concussion and yes, unfortunately we're all covered in sick."

"And where are we?" Amy asked once she realized they were in a narrow room with, unsurprisingly, two Smilers.

"Overspill pipe, at a guess." Renata glanced back to see if the Doctor was anywhere closer to opening that door. He wasn't.

Amy crinkled her nose at the stench that seemed to be stuck on her. "Oh, God, it stinks!"

"Yeah, that's not the pipe," the Doctor paused scanning to shoot her an apologetic smile.

"Ugh! Doctor!" Gabby kept her arms away from her body. "This is by far the most disgusting thing that's happened to us!"

"Can we get out?" Amy wanted nothing more than to see a shower.

"One door, one door switch, one condition," Renata sourly said as she made her way up to the Smilers. She tilted her head at the smiling clown face. "It wants us to forget everything we saw. The audacity."

"Forget that we were inside the mouth of a creature? Honestly tempting," Gabby admitted after smelling a strand of her hair.

"Don't say that Gabbs," the Doctor gave up on the door for the moment. "There's a creature living in the heart of this ship and I'd like to know what it's doing there."

The Smilers knew the question was directed at it and, as a response, they turned around to show their angry faces.

"No, that's not going to work on us, so come on," the Doctor made a motion with his fingers for it to give the answer. "Big old beast below decks, and everyone who protests gets shoved down its throat. That how it works?"

Once again, the Smilers turned their faces, revealing an even angrier faces than the last.

Renata was exasperated with the Smilers by this point. "Would you just answer!?" She slammed her hands against the walls of their booths, at the same time expelling golden butterflies. With widened eyes, she backed away. "Oops…" she stared at her palms much like Gabby had earlier. "How does that work exactly?"

"At a first glance, seems like its connected to your current distressed state," the Doctor said, reaching for her closest hand. He examined it as much as he could with the naked eye, but there seemed to be no excess and it didn't seem to harm Renata like it had in her last incarnation.

"I got mad at the door that wouldn't open!" Gabby exclaimed, absolutely believing the Doctor's theory. "It must be when we're mad!"

"But not always, right?" asked Amy who had remembered the butterfly trick Renata showed her when the Doctor was examining the crack in her bedroom wall.

Renata seemed to read her thoughts and nodded with a smile. "Yes! But-" she dropped her smile as her eyes landed on the Smilers again, "-right now I'm beyond angry! I'm covered in sick because of a creature that's no doubt being tortured in the middle of this ship and some stupid clowns are holding back on us! So you better-" she threatened the booth with a pointed, glowing finger, "-start answering before you become Vortex dust!"

The booths opened up to let the two Smilers come out.

The Doctor quickly pulled Renata back, prompting Gabby and Amy to do the same. "May I just say, good response but terrible outcome?" he told Renata who agreed with a quick nod of her.

"Okay, what do we do now!?" Amy urgently asked them as the Smilers approached them. They were looking as terrified as she was and she took that as a bad sign.

Suddenly, the red cloaked woman had the door opened behind them and shot at the Smilers. They were momentarily stunned.

The Doctor whirled around, happy as ever. "Look who it is!? You look a lot better without your mask!"

The woman was showing her smiling face at them. Her eyes flickered past Renata to the humans. "You must be Gabby and Amy. Liz. Liz 10."

Neither girl could understand when this woman became their friend but would gladly take it!

"Bit late, aren't you?" Renata smirked at the woman.

"A thank you is in order!" the woman laughed. "Right. You know Mandy, yeah?" she moved slightly to let the others see the girl behind in the hallway. "She's very brave."

"How did you find us?" the Doctor asked her after realizing there was no the woman had been casually around the area.

"Stuck my gizmo on you!" the woman chucked a small device at him. "Been listening in."

"Let me see!" Renata took the device from the Doctor to study. "Oh this is great! It could come in handy to keep an eye on him!"

"HEY!" the Doctor was utterly offended. It didn't help that the others, including little Mandy, started laughing. "Seriously!?"

"Sorry, sorry," Renata apologized but she was still struggling to stop laughing. She held the device back to him, not even noticing when he swiped it from her hand with irritation.

"Anyways, you want to tell us what's a creature doing in the middle of the ship?" the Doctor looked directly at the cloaked-woman. "Oh, my bad, you also voted to forget."

The woman took the sarcastic jab calmly. She shrugged her shoulders and refuted the statement. "Never forgot, never voted. Not technically a British subject."

"Then who and what are you, and how do you know us?"

The woman tilted her head at him, giving him a smile asking him if he really needed to ask her that. "You're a bit hard to miss, love. Mysterious stranger, MO consistent with higher alien intelligence, hair of an idiot…"

"Oh, another insult? Seriously!" the Doctor was reaching his limit with all these sarcastic jabs. Why was it always him!?

Renata felt guilty for taking her own jabs. She always did them and poor Doctor always had to take it. It was their dynamic, sure, but sometimes she needed to reel it back. She reached up to move some of his wet strands of hair off his forehead. She felt his body stiffen but soon relaxed under her touch.

"Sorry my dear. You do have the hair of an idiot but I love it," she said with a soft smile.

Well, that made everything better for the Doctor. He wouldn't mind if he stroked his hair all day. Actually, he might ask her if she could do that later. With any luck, she would say yes and they could have one calm day together.

When Renata was sure their little disagreement was resolved, she drew her hand away - an action the Doctor almost pouted at - and turned her attention back to the woman. "So, you were explaining how you know him?"

"Both of you, actually," the woman said. "Did I not make that clear?"

"Right, except that doesn't make sense. We haven't met you."

"No, I've been brought up on the stories. My whole family was." The woman noticed the Smilers beginning to twitch behind them. "They're repairing." The group looked back to see the Smilers and quickly took a few steps away. "Doesn't take them long. Let's move." She took the lead down the hallway and continued explaining herself to the pair. "The Doctor. Old drinking buddy of Henry XII. Tea and scones with Liz II. Vicky was a bit on the fence about you, wasn't she?"

"What did you do, Doctor?" Gabby threw the man a curious glance.

The Doctor preferred not to explain considering it really was his fault. "Torchwood," he left it at that and hoped she and Renata would get the jist.

"Knighted and exiled you on the same day!" the woman laughed. The Doctor scowled at her back. So much for keeping it a secret!

"That sounds like you alright," Renata mumbled to him as she rubbed his arm comfortingly.

"And how could I forget Marchioness Renata? Good friends with Anne of Cleves, bit rocky with dear old Henry VII - I'd be too, don't worry - but nobody more rocky than Liz I, huh? Goes for you too Doctor!"

"I haven't even met her! Doctor, what did you do!?" Renata glared at the man in question.

"How do you know I did something!?"

"Because it had to be! Notice how she didn't say drinking buddies of Henry VII, right?"

"Well, but…but you were the reason we couldn't go back to any Henry VII era!"

"Hey that was both of us!" Renata snapped loudly and jabbed her finger into his chest.

Gabby couldn't help snicker at the reminder of that precise trip. Amy heard the laugh and raised an eyebrow at Gabby, asking her what she knew.

"Long story short..." Gabby pulled Amy a bit closer to speak quietly without being heard. Of course with Renata and the Doctor arguing, she didn't have to try so hard. "We met Anne of Cleves and her then-husband, Henry VII, who wanted Renata as his wife. The Doctor got jealous, made a whole thing about it and we had to run for it in the end."

Amy hid her laugh behind her mouth and turned her head at the Time Lords. They were still going at it strongly.

"I didn't do anything!" the Doctor was shouting.

"Don't lie to me! Martha also told me this Queen was particularly upset with you! And now she hates me too!?"

"I didn't!" the Doctor insisted but Renata wouldn't listen. Gabby and Amy both shared equally confused but curious glances with each other.

"Good story to come, I hope," Gabby snickered with the ginger.

It wasn't until the woman introduced herself as Liz 10 - Elizabeth X - that the Time Lords stopped arguing.

"And down!" Liz shot at the pair of Smilers behind them. "I'm the bloody Queen, mate. Basically, I rule." She led them into another corridor that would bring them to the base of a vator shaft. "There's a high-speed Vator through there."

The Doctor noticed two tentacles sticking out of a caged area, much like the one Gabby and Amy saw earlier. "There's these things. Any ideas?"

"Oh, we saw one of those up top," Gabby said as soon as she saw the caged area. "Right, Amy?"

"Yeah!" the ginger nodded. "There was a hole in the road, like it had burst through, like a root."

"It's all one creature," Renata said and shuddered. "The same one we were inside minutes ago, but now it's reaching out. It must be growing through the mechanisms of the entire ship."

Liz eyed the cage with newfound horror. "What? Like an infestation?"

"Someone's helping it. Feeding it…" the Doctor tried getting nearer to it but Renata yanked him back.

"Feeding my subjects to it," Liz muttered and stormed off. "Come on. We've got to keep moving." Mandy followed in a hurry and just as Amy and Gabby were going to do the same, they noticed the Time Lords staring at the tentacles with odd expressions.

"Guys?" Gabby called to them while Amy gestured that they needed to be following Liz.

"We should have never come here," the Doctor resolved with a sigh. The creature banged against the bars keeping it inside. He should have just ran those exams on Renata and maybe, just maybe, they wouldn't have caught sight of this ship.

Amy remembered the video she left for herself, warning her to get off the ship. Could it be related to the creature? And if so, why was it so urgent!?

~ 0 ~

Liz's bedroom was covered with a maze of glasses of water. It was a certain challenge getting around it but Liz was a master as she swiftly crossed the room to reach her bed. Sometime later would see the travelers cleaned up from showers, though Renata swore she would take a proper, long bath when they went home.

"What are these glasses for?" Gabby asked in a slight frustration after nearly knocking one over.

"To remind me every single day that my government is up to something, and it's my duty to find out what," Liz said in what sounded like a recital.

"Lovely mask," Renata eyed the porcelain mask sitting at the foot of the woman's bed. She knew the Doctor had already taken a quick study of it while she was in the shower, but she wanted to see it with her own eyes. "Guess you would need it if you're a queen going undercover to investigate her own kingdom."

Liz was dead serious as she watched Renata turn her mask over. "Secrets are being kept from me. I don't have a choice. Ten years I've been at this - my entire reign - and you've achieved more in one afternoon."

"That's him alright," Renata said without even gazing up from the mask. The Doctor stopped pacing behind her, his amused expression asking her how she knew that line had been directed at him. She glanced at him with a wink.

"So Liz, how old were you when you came to the throne?" he asked afterwards.

"40. Why?"

Amy's mouth nearly dropped when she heard that. She turned away from the mirror after putting her hair up. "What, you're 50 now? No way!"

"Don't let physical appearances fool you," Gabby said before throwing a thumb at Renata and the Doctor. "Ask them how old they are."

"Ask and it's the last thing you'll do," Renata calmly said while she studied the mask, though under her calm words there was a clear warning.

Amy chuckled and went to sit on the chaise with Mandy.

"Yeah, they slowed my body clock. Keeps me looking like the stamps," Liz added for humor.

"Do you always wear this in public?" Renata waved the mask at Liz. The woman nodded her head.

"Undercover's not easy when you're me. The autographs, the bunting."

Renata had on a strained smile before she glanced at the Doctor. He already knew.

"Air-balanced porcelain. Stays on by itself, cos it's perfectly sculpted to your face," he said quietly. Liz missed the knowing looks the pair were sharing.

"Yeah. So what?"

Renata met the woman's gaze a few seconds later with her strained smile stronger than ever. "Oh, Liz. So everything."

If they had been about to share what they knew worth Liz, they never got the chance. Four hooded men burst into the room, startling Liz out of her bed.

"What are you doing? How dare you come in here?" she rushed up to them in outrage.

"Ma'am, you have expressed interest in the interior workings of Starship UK. You will come with us now," one of the men dutifully announced.

"Why would I do that?"

The man's head then spun to show the face of an angry Smiler.

"Mm, that's why!" Gabby exclaimed in horror.

Liz was appalled as she stumbled away from the men. "How can they be Smilers?"

"Half Smiler, half human," the Doctor said, rather disgusted.

Liz didn't seem to share the same sentiment. She was beyond furious and anyone who was responsible would feel it. "Whatever you creatures are, I am still your queen. On whose authority is this done?"

"The highest authority, Ma'am," the Smiler, to his credit, did obediently answer.

"I am the highest authority!"

And that should be your first clue, Renata almost rolled her eyes. The human was too angry to even notice it.

The Smiler agreed with Liz, yet another clue that the woman missed, and announced that he would led her and the rest to the Tower of London. They were brought to a large stone room full of machinery. Only a few feet inside, Amy and Gabby noticed more of the creature's body was sticking out of grates.

"Where the hell are we?" Gabby wearily looked at the Time Lords.

"The lowest point of Starship UK," the Doctor said, giving the room a little spin. "The dungeon."

"Hawthorne!" Liz barked a gray-haired man who'd approached the group. "So this is where you hid yourself away. I think you've got some explaining to do."

"Excuse me," Renata called with a similar authoritative tone. "Why are there children down here?" Her question made Amy and Gabby realize there was a line of children doing hard labor around the room. "It seems hardly safe for them. Where are their parents?"

"Protesters and citizens of limited value are fed to the beast," Hawthorne replied with the most casual tone, easily enraging Renata in a second. "For some reason, it won't eat the children. You're the first adults it's spared. You're very lucky."

"You tried feeding children to the creature!? How dare you!?" She looked ready to lunge on him and it didn't seem like the Doctor would try to stop her.

The only reason he wouldn't join her was because his eyes had gone to the type of equipment around the room. One Time Lord for each problem.

"And you agreed to this!" Renata turned on Liz, startling the woman with the sudden change of direction her rage took.

"I did not!"

Renata's loud scoff made everyone around her flinch. "Yes, you did!"

Gabby pulled Renata back a few steps. "How could she? She's investigating her own kingdom, remember?"

"I remember, but she doesn't! This isn't even a dungeon room, it's a bloody torture chamber!"

"Ren, what are you talking about?" Gabby happened to look in Amy's way and saw the finger's mild fear. If she was in Amy's place, Gabby would agree the sight of angry Time Lady was fear-worthy. "Doctor?" she called to the man for some help.

"She's right," the Doctor agreed, speaking in a low tone.

Gabby recognized that immediately even if was in a new incarnation's voice. Oh great, they're both angry.

"Torture chamber of the Tower of London, except it's not a torture chamber, for this lot," the Doctor sourly went on as he strolled by the equipment. "I suppose it just depends on your angle." He came for Liz and, despite the woman's reluctance, he led her to an open well which was reply just a view into the engine.

Liz peered over the railing to see something huge and it was moving. "What's that?"

"It's your engine," Renata muttered, ignoring Gabby's please beside her to explain why she was so upset.

"Well, like I say, depends on the angle. It's either the exposed pain center of big fella's brain, being tortured relentlessly…" the Doctor trailed off.

"Or?"

"Or it's the gas pedal, the accelerator - Starship UK's go-faster button."

"I don't understand…"

The Doctor was getting frustrated with the lack of brains around him. The answer was right in front of Liz and she wasn't getting it! "The spaceship that could never fly, no vibration on deck. This creature - this poor, trapped, terrified creature. It's not infesting you, it's not invading - it's what you have instead of an engine. And this place down here is where you hurt it, where you torture it, day after day, just to keep it moving."

As if to help prove his point, an intermittent electrical beam shot down into the well, directly hitting the creature's exposed brain. Liz was stunned and she dared not look over the tails again.

"Tell you what," the Doctor hastily made his way up to another well to lift its grate. "Normally, it's above the range of human hearing. This is the sound none of you wanted to hear." He used the sonic on an extension that had come undone in the grate. A loud, piercing sound filled the air until the Doctor stopped it.

Gabby felt tears come to her face when she realized that the sound was like a cry, a cry of the creature. "It's being tortured nonstop?" Renata nodded at her and finally Gabby realized why the two were so angry.

Amy hadn't yet reached that level and she was suddenly wondering if she wanted to.

"Who did this?" Liz demanded to know from the workers. She was furious, just like Renata and the Doctor.

"We act on instructions from the highest authority," Hawthorne said, but Liz still didn't understand.

"I am the highest authority!" she snapped. "The creature will be released, now." But even with all her anger, nobody moved from their spot. "I said now! Is anyone listening to me?"

The Doctor slowly returned to her side and took out her mask from his pockets. "Liz. Your mask. Look at it. It's old. At least 200 years old, I'd say."

Liz could not understand what was so damn important about that mask. She recalled how long Renata had kept it under her eye. "Yeah, it's an antique, so?"

"Yeah, an antique made by craftsmen over 200 years ago and perfectly sculpted to your face. They slowed your body clock, all right, but you're not 50. Nearer 300. And it's been a long old reign."

Liz almost laughed at the absurdity. "Nah, it's ten years. I've been on this throne ten years."

"It's been the same ten years," Renata clarified as she started heading for a small table set not too far from where they entered.

The Doctor led Liz by the hand and since the woman was utterly confused, she let it happen. "The same ten years over and over again, always leading you... here."

Liz swallowed rough when she saw a screen with a two buttons in front of it, reading "forget" and "abdicate". She turned a hard glance on Hawthorne. "What have you done?"

"Well it wasn't him," Renata corrected. "He's only following your orders."

Hawthorne nodded in agreement. "We work for you, Ma'am. The Winders, the Smilers, all of us." He reached over to the turn on the screen and as soon as it came to life, a recording of Liz herself appeared. It was what brought Liz to sit down and truly listen.

"If you are watching this...If I am watching this, then I have found my way to the Tower Of London. The creature you are looking at is called a Star Whale. Once, there were millions of them. They lived in the depths of space and, according to legend, guided the early space travelers through the asteroid belts. This one, as far as we are aware, is the last of its kind. 'And what we have done to it 'breaks my heart. The Earth was burning. Our sun had turned on us, and every other nation had fled to the skies. Our children screamed as the skies grew hotter. And then it came, like a miracle. The last of the star whales. We trapped it, we built our ship around it, and we rode on its back to safety. If you wish our voyage to continue, then you must press the "forget" button. Be again the heart of this nation, untainted. If not, press the other button. Your reign will end, the Star Whale will be released, and our ship will disintegrate. I hope I keep the strength to make the right decision."

Amy felt sick to her stomach. "I voted for this?" She asked the Doctor and Renata despite already knowing the answer. Their grim faces just confirmed what she already knew. "Why would I do that?"

"Because you knew if we stayed here, we'd be faced with an impossible choice," the Doctor muttered with a growing sense of anger at the woman. "Humanity or the alien. You took it upon yourself to save us from that. And that was wrong." He turned completely to her and once Amy saw his face she backed a step. "You don't ever decide what we need to know."

Gabby sent Renata a look asking her to step in, but Renata did not move. She was just as upset but her method of expressing anger had always been to seal it away. Gabby really dreaded the idea of that trait following Renata into her new incarnation. Seeing that Renata wasn't going to help, Gabby moved to stand between the Doctor and Amy.

"Hey! She doesn't even remember doing it!"

Having Gabby in front of him didn't make his anger any less. "But she did it. That's what counts!"

"I'm... I'm sorry," Amy said, at a loss for other words.

"Oh, I don't care," he turned away, storming towards the equipment. "When I'm done here, you're going home."

Amy gasped. "Why!?"

"Doctor, that's being unfair!" Gabby called but he didn't stop for either of them.

"I made one mistake!" Amy argued as she moved to stand beside Gabby. She appreciated the girl's help but she didn't need anyone to fight her own battles. "One mistake that I don't even remember doing it!"

There was no telling if the Doctor was truly examining the equipment he would need for his new plan or if he was just distracting himself from looking at either girl. "Yeah. I know. You're only human."

Gabby's eyes widened. That one might have just hurt her heart. "Is that supposed to be an insult?" the Doctor said nothing more so Gabby turned expectantly at Renata.

The Time Lady had watched the entire argument unfold with no clear expression of which side she was leaning to. "We get it, we do, but Amy you shouldn't have chosen to forget on our behalf. You don't get to make that choice for us."

"I'm sorry," Amy insisted, hoping that at least Renata would be able to know she was being honest. All Renata did was nod though.

"What are you doing?" Liz asked the Doctor, taking a few steps towards the man but stopping when she got a better look at his darkened expression.

"The worst thing I'll ever do. I'm going to pass a massive electrical charge through the Star Whale's brain. Should knock out all its higher functions, leave it a vegetable. The ship will still fly, but the whale won't feel it."

"But that'll be like killing it!" Amy exclaimed. She didn't remember pressing any buttons but she knew, she knew for sure, that she had pushed the 'forget' button to spare them pain. She only failed to think about the creature.

The Doctor's hands slammed down on the machinery and glared up at the group. "Look, three options. One: I let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years. Two: I kill everyone on this ship. Three: I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can. And then I find a new name, cos I won't be the Doctor any more!"

"But there must be something we can do, some other way," Liz said but that was the Doctor's patience had finally snapped from the thread it'd been hanging on.

"Nobody talk to me!" he roared, startling everyone into silence. "Nobody human has anything to say to me today!" After that, nobody tried to stop him anymore.

All except for one person.

'I think you may have hurt Gabriella's feelings back there…'

Nobody would notice the one second the Doctor momentarily stopped working. This was the first time Renata had spoken telepathically to him since he regenerated.

'You're that upset my dear that you've unintentionally lowered your mental shields,' Renata came up to stand on the other side of the equipment he worked on. 'Never really talked about connecting telepathically but since your door is open, I'm going to step in for a moment.'

'Are you not upset?' the Doctor raised his gaze to meet Renata's eyes.

'Oh no I am very upset. Amy did something terrible but...she did it with good intentions. I can relate to that. I'm sure you can too.'

The Doctor wouldn't give in so easily despite the kind face he had in front of him. 'They have been torturing this kind creature for centuries, Renata. How am I supposed to react!? Not everyone has your ability to bottle things in!' As soon as he thought - or said - those words, the Doctor closed his eyes with regret. His hands stopped working over the controls and drew back. 'I'm sorry. I didn't...I shouldn't have-'

Renata smiled lightly at his guilty self. 'No, no, that's completely fair. I did that a lot. But just to be clear, I'm not saying that you shouldn't be upset. I'm only saying, from personal experience, that you shouldn't push people away. When they do things like these, with good intentions, it's best to go back and see things from their perspective. I know it's hard, especially because of the circumstances but it does help.'

The Doctor smiled to himself, almost shaking his head. He always wondered how she could be so wise, even when they were younger. She always had the right words to ease something that could seem so impossible. 'I love you, you know. I'm glad I have you around...in this way.'

Renata reached over the equipment to grab his hand. 'Me too. And know that whatever you do, whatever you decide...I'm here.'

The Doctor swallowed hard as his eyes roamed over the equipment. The choice had already been made. He just needed to get through it.

~ 0 ~

Gabby and Amy sat on the ground together against the wall. They could do nothing to stop what was going to happen to the creature. All they could do was simply wait for it. Amy, however, felt like she was waiting for more than Gabby...because she was.

"I messed it up," she said quietly, bringing her hands up to her temples. "I messed it all up…"

Gabby could feel Amy's genuine guilt and put a comforting hand on the ginger's arm. "It was an honest mistake. Don't worry, you're not going home."

Amy scoffed quietly. "Oh please, you heard the man."

"You don't know him like I do. I mean...I don't know him like Renata does but I know him enough to know that he says a lot of things when he's angry. He's heartbroken."

Amy wasn't convinced. She had felt the Doctor's rage with one simple glare and she was not interested in being on the receiving end again. "If I make mistakes like that, maybe I shouldn't be around."

"We make mistakes, trust me. I did too," Gabby shrugged. Her eyes flickered to Renata who had drifted away from the Doctor to stop more children coming in from working.

Amy dropped her hands to her lap and questionably looked at Gabby. "You did?"

"Yeah, on my very first trip just like you. I pissed off Renata when I overstepped about something I heard about her. It was about her past and Renata is a very reclusive woman. I made the wrong choice by asking her, pestering her, until she snapped and threatened to drop me back on Earth."

Amy's eyes widened as she quickly glanced at Renata. The Time Lady was clearing off some soot of a child's face, trying her best to make the boy smile. She even bopped his nose with a glowing golden finger to enchant the boy. Amy couldn't see Renata acting the same as the Doctor when she was angry. Hell, she couldn't even picture Renata getting angry.

"She can get angry," Gabby said as if she read Amy's mind. Amy looked away from Renata with a light smile. "The Doctor's right, Amy, we're only human but that's not an insult. It does hurt a bit when he says it angrily," she sighed. "He's actually very fascinated with our kind. We're that good." She bumped shoulders with Amy, eliciting a smile from the ginger. "But you have to understand that even though they look young...the Doctor and Renata are actually very old. They've seen so many things that sometimes they snap. And our job as companions is to help them come back from it. We can't make them come back but we can try our best."

"So what can we do right now?" Amy helplessly asked as she cast another look at the Doctor. He was fervently working and had been for time now which meant the creature would be dying soon.

"I don't know. We better start thinking."

Amy blew a raspberry at their hopeless situation. "Great."

"Just look at the butterflies," Renata's voice carried over to the girls' spot.

Amy craned her head in time to see a few of the children 'awwwing' at a few golden butterflies fluttering in the air. A light smile spread across Amy's face as she recalled the same trick being used on her all those years ago. It had truly made her feel much less afraid of the crack. Renata gave the allusion of what a mother was.

Mandy had joined the group without neither Amy nor Gabby noticing when, but Amy did spot one of the creature's tentacles creeping out of a grate towards Mandy. Amy panicked and scrambled to get up but just as she straightened up, the tentacle only tapped Mandy's shoulder and then allowed the girl to pet it.

"Amy?" Gabby gently called to her but Amy was thinking suddenly.

"It won't eat the children…"

"The children screamed, then it came. It's the last of its kind."

Amy watched Mandy and a few other children pet the tentacle and it almost looked like the creature was trying to play with them.

"No, it's okay," Renata was soothing one of the younger children crying at the tentacle. "It won't hurt you. I'm here."

"There were, but there aren't...just us now."

Amy's eyes flickered to the Doctor after watching Renata conjure up a few more butterflies for the scared child. There was no doubt in her mind he would be trying to pull off some crazy stunt to make the scared child laugh too.

"Doctor says he never interferes in the affairs of other peoples or planets but then he does when there's children crying?"

"Oh, if there's a child crying he'd stop everything."

Amy then looked down at Gabby who was still trying to decide if Amy was alright. She'd stopped calling Amy's name but she was keeping a close eye on the ginger. Something was going on inside her head.

And indeed there was.

Amy felt like slapping herself for being so clueless! The Doctor was right, she had to have kept her eyes open! She should've noticed everything! "Doctor, stop!" she yelled and rushed towards Liz. Everyone, including the Doctor and Renata, stopped to see her taking Liz's hand and racing for the voting buttons.

The Doctor was quick to panic once he realized what Amy wanted to do. "Amy, no!" he went after them but he didn't make it in time. Amy had brought Liz's hand down on the 'abdicate' button. "AMY!"

The creature bellowed underneath them, rocking the entire ship.

The Doctor nearly fell back if he hadn't caught onto pillar. Renata's arms flailed trying to keep the children around her from falling back.

"AMY!" she yelled as upset as the Doctor.

Gabby had managed not to smack face-first to the ground, but she wasn't the same as the Time Lords. "No, let her! She's figured it out!" She had no doubt that Amy realized something none of them had. She would never put them all in danger like this. She didn't seem the type.

Amy laughed as if agreeing with Gabby. The ship slowly stopped shaking and actually returned to normal...with a few differences.

"We've increased speed," Hawthorne was stunned as he looked over their readings.

"Yeah, well, you've stopped torturing the pilot! Gotta help!" Amy dramatically flapped her hands around the room.

"It's still here? I don't understand," Liz moved over to Hawthorne's side to see the readings herself.

"The Star Whale didn't come like a miracle all those years ago. It volunteered!" Amy began to explain, growing more excited by the second. "You didn't have to trap it or torture it - that was all just you. It came because it couldn't stand to watch your children cry. What if you were really old, and really kind and alone? Your whole race was dead, no future. What couldn't you do then?" Amy started making her way towards the Doctor, her smile softening as she took in his guilty face for not realizing it before. "If you were that old, and that kind, and the very last of your kind...you couldn't just stand there and watch children cry." And just to really make her point, she purposely nodded at Renata who was surrounded by the children.

"Oh, she's good," Gabby smiled proudly at Amy.

~ 0 ~

Once everything was settled on the ship, Renata and the Doctor found it easy to slip away from the crowd. They'd wandered to the observation deck where they found such a beautiful sight of a starry space.

"It's funny how times change," Renata's soft voice broke their mutual silent wacth. "Last time I saw stars...we were fighting the Master. And we were hiding in a Vinvocci ship. Oh, and the world was ending." She let silence pass between them again when it truly donned on her where they were a short while ago, and what they were doing. "That was two days ago."

The Doctor said nothing at first as he reached for Renata's hand. "Two days ago seems like a very long time ago."

Renata side-glanced him with a small smile across her lips. "Doesn't it? Now we're here," she squeezed her hand around his and faced the stars again. "Looking at some stars, on a ship with a creature driving it…"

"Flying it, technically," the Doctor couldn't help make the correction but instead of getting annoyed, Renata chuckled.

"Flying it," she amended.

The Doctor gripped her hand again, licking his lips nervously as he turned to her and gently using their interlocked hands to turn her as well. "Renée, I don't know why I forgot about it but...would you consider connecting telepathically?" Renata's eyebrows slowly raised, her expression giving him the impression she would refuse. "I-I know we did it temporarily twice but this time, if you'd like, we-we could...officially do it. I would understand if you think it's too early, but...if I may give my opinion?"

Renata chuckled. "When don't you?"

He agreed with a sideways tilt. "Right. We've only just started a relationship but the truth is we've known each other far longer. What happened between us...it's been a long story. I've known you for my entire life even if I've only seen you in three of my incarnations. Most of my thoughts you know anyways, but I'd like it if you could see every part of me. Who knows, maybe if you see what really goes through my head you might realize I'm no good. But at least you'll have known who I really am."

"I know you," Renata said matter-of-factly. She slipped her hand out of his to bring it up to his cheek. "I've always known who you are. Of course I know I don't know all of your thoughts, or every you, but I know you. I know who you are." She stepped closer to him, leaving barely any space between them. "I would love to finally connect our minds. Who knows, you might see the real me…"

"I know you," the Doctor clarified just like she had. "My Gala."

Renata let out a small gasp at his brief Gallifreyan use. The last time she heard him say her true name in their language was centuries ago, too many centuries ago. "My Theta." The Gallifreyan just tumbled out but before the Doctor could fully process it, she'd pulled him to her for a kiss.

Their minds slowly opened to one another, inciting a slow, passionate kiss that they hadn't really shared yet. Memories from each other flooded their minds, ones that they knew - that they were both a part of - and others that were new. No secrets would be left uncovered because that was a thing of the past, something they promised each other going forwards.

~0~

By the time Gabby and Amy realized they were missing their drivers, Renata and the Doctor were already waiting for them by the TARDIS.

Amy nervously carried Liz's porcelain mask in her hands and held it out for the pair to take. "From Her Majesty. She says there will be no more secrets on Starship UK."

"My type of monarchy," Renata gingerly took the mask into her hands. "And leadership in general."

Amy smiled but anyone could tell she was bursting with questions about her stay.

"Amy, you could have killed everyone on this ship," the Doctor was the one to break the terse silence.

"You could have killed a Star Whale," she countered.

"And you saved it. I know, I know."

Renata curled her arm around the Doctor's arm and smiled at Any that kind, warm smile she'd gotten as a child. It was the one that told Amy things would be okay. "We're sorry. We may have rudely snapped. That happens sometimes."

At this familiar words, Amy glanced at Gabby and shared a knowing smile together.

"Why do I feel like we're missing something?" the Doctor asked Renata as he watched the two humans.

"Because you always do."

"Oi!"

"Don't worry, Doctor," Gabby put an arm around Amy's shoulders. "I've just been giving Amy some insight into the life in the TARDIS."

"You would," Renata gave her companion a proud smile.

"I wanted to be like Donna when I first came aboard," Gabby admitted and for a moment she, Renata and the Doctor dedicated a moment of silence to their missing friend, Donna Noble. She would forever leave a scar in their hearts.

"Thanks Gabby," Amy genuinely thanked her new friend because otherwise she may not have made it this first trip.

"Gabbs, I am sorry if I hurt your feelings," the Doctor said once he remembered the terrible look in Gabby's eyes after making his human remark.

Gabby shook her head with a chuckle as she came to give him a hug. "I like to think that I know you enough for these types of situations!"

"Still," he dropped a kiss to her head. "You're family. We don't fight."

Renata barely controlled the urge to scoff when she thought about her family. "We should go. I think we could all use nice baths."

"Mhm!" Gabby pulled away from the Doctor. "I've got some nice bath bombs, Amy! Bet you've never seen a bath bomb that shoots images into the air!"

"What?" Amy's eyes widened, making the others laugh.

"I bet you'll like the one with stars! My favorite is the butterfly one!" Gabby motioned to be followed in as she hurried into the TARDIS.

"Don't forget we need to run tests on you!" Renata called after the girl but it didn't seem like Gabby had heard.

Amy chuckled. "Do you always act like a Mum?"

Renata blinked at her and for a moment it looked like she would be saying something but instead she looked at the Doctor. "Why do they all say that?"

Now the Doctor laughed. "You really haven't figured it out?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh forget it." She turned around and disappeared into the TARDIS.

"Come along, Pond! Big day tomorrow!" the Doctor nodded at the TARDIS and missed Amy's wide eyed expression.

"Sorry, what?"

"It's always a big day tomorrow. We've got a time machine. I skip the little ones."

Amy found her breath once she realized he wasn't talking about her wedding. Her wedding. She shook her head and followed the Doctor inside. Renata and Gabby had no doubt disappeared into the corridors which gave Amy a motivation to ask, "You know what I said about getting back for tomorrow morning...have you ever run away from something because you were scared, or not ready, or just...just because you could?"

"Once...a long time ago," the Doctor came straight to the console. He started the TARDIS up and brought them into the Vortex.

"What happened?"

He turned with a smile. "Hello!"

Amy laughed. "Is that how Renata left too? Because I really can't picture that, you know."

The Doctor's smile faltered but it returned just as quick when he remembered how it was that she came aboard the TARDIS. That might make a good story for Amy. "Actually, I kidnapped Renata, stole her right off 1969."

Amy's eyes bugged out but there was a clear doubt on her face, only further confirmed by her scoff. "No way!"

"Yeah, I did! Nicked her off the ground and threw her over my shoulder!"

"Please, don't sound so regretful," Renata appeared by the corridor threshold, arms crossed and with a mock glare on the culprit. "I should've had the Shadow Proclamation on you when I had the chance!"

The Doctor just smirked proudly as he gave a little spin.

It was then that Amy realized he had not been kidding. "Wait, this actually happened!?"

"Oh yeah!" the Doctor said, once again spinning as he made a round on the console.

"Seriously, at least try to look a little sorry!" Renata walked up the glass steps to the console.

"Why would I be?" the Doctor stopped to smirk at her.

Renata mock-glared again and shook her head. "Amy, go on. Gabriella found the bath bombs." Amy nodded and hurried towards the corridor. "Not even going to apologize then?" she continued with the Doctor, but judging by his proud smile the answer was a no.

"I used to want to but now I changed my mind!"

"You're evil!"

"Smart!"

Amy laughed. "Okay, that's seriously funny!" And kind of romantic. She wouldn't mind if the same thing happened to her.

[hisan-miren]

Redacted File

The First Date Pt 2 

             Raios made attempts at small talk as he led them to a room overlooking the garden.  His attempts were awful though, in her opinion.  It was obvious that he was trying to avoid mentioning what he’d overheard because his speech was unusually rigid and his while body twitched whenever she so much as brushed his hand.  She felt a bit bad, but not really.  He’d sent all that time making himself calm only for her to rile him back up again.  She couldn’t help but be happy about it.

              “Y’know, if you reeeeaaaallly want to change the subject, and succeed, you can tell me what lie you told your parents that got you grounded,” Mina urged.

              “Not happening.”  The answer was out of his mouth almost before she finished the sentence. Mina clicked her tongue again. She was now determined to get the answer out of him before she left today.  He slid open a painted door and led her into a small room with a table and four cushions.  He finished sliding the door open while she took a seat, this time sitting on her legs in a semi-proper seiza. Almost immediately, the door on the inner-side opened and Raios’ mother appeared with a tray of tea and sweets. “Haha-ue, it’s awfully boorish of you to interrupt your son’s alone-time with his girlfriend,” Raios said.

              “I’m so sorry, Mina-chan, that this ungrateful son of mine still seems to have no manners,” Mrs. Minori said, casually deflecting her son’s well-worded judgement.  “I think it’d be far more inconsiderate of me not to offer some tea and snacks when the woman your courting is visiting.”  Raios made a sound in the back of his throat that made it clear he’d lost.  “You still have a long way to go before you can beat any of us,” she added, leaving the tray and standing to leave.  “Mina-chan, is there anything you’d like to eat for lunch?”  Her voice was as soft and sweet as ever, and it only made Raios stare at her dubiously.  His mother was the perfect picture of a kind and demure woman, but underneath she was even more calculating than his father and twice as relentless.  His mother had always adored Mina, and was almost as eager as Raios was to try and make her part of the family.

              “I would gladly accept anything you had to offer me, Minori-sama,” Mina replied, actively using the formal speech she’d completely forgone before.

              “Really, I wonder what Kaya fed you to make you such a good child,” Mrs. Minori sighed.  “Meanwhile mine are belligerent and rude at every opportunity.”  Mina carefully kept her mouth shut.  She’d heard stories of what the Chief was like as a kid.  She was 100% sure that was where Raios and his sister got their rowdiness.  “I’ll be back later with some lunch for you kids then.” And then she finally turned and walked away, ever the elegant chieftain’s wife.

              “… I reeeaaaally hope no one expects me to live up to her.  Your mom is way too capable a woman,” Mina groaned when she was gone.  Raios moved the tea tray over to the table and sat opposite her.

              “If you start acting like my mother, we’re going to have a problem,” he said, pouring the tea.  “I prefer you the way you are, thanks.”  Mina had every mind to try and say something back to tease him about the bold sentence he’d just casually said, but her face was too hot to let her focus.  Suddenly, a sly grin came across his face that had her blushing all the way down her neck.  “Looks like I was able to get you back just fine.”  Mina faceplanted into the table and started slamming her fist into the floor with vigor.

              “That smile is soooo illegal!  That’s super unfair!” she whined.

              “Mina, if you break the tatami, the old hag’ll get pretty pissed.”

              “Then stop provoking me!  But seriously, you’re not allowed to smile in front of anyone else! They’ll definitely fall in love with you immediately.”

              “Mina, that’s impossible.  I’m honestly surprised even you can put up with me,” Raios said flatly.  “Besides, you definitely have your pick.  The only reason no one actually asks you out is because everyone thought we were dating.”

              “And whose fault is it that we weren’t?!” Mina cried.  Raios very quickly turned away, his brow quivering only in that way it did when he was hiding something and didn’t want her to know.  It was one of the few tells he actually had.  “Raios,” she said threateningly.  “Why did everyone think we were dating?”  She could almost see him starting to sweat and made the executive decision to crawl over to him and shove her face directly in his.  “Raios…  Raios Minori, you better answer me,” she growled.  “I invoke my authority as your girlfriend.”  Raios made a reluctant growl in the back of his throat and turned to look the other way, the angry façade quickly slipping away to reveal the nervousness underneath.  She put her hands on his legs and crawled across his lap to stick her pouting face in his field of vision once more.  Backing up wasn’t an option.  He was cornered.  

              “Alright alright!  Fine!  I’ll tell you just get off me!!” he yelled finally.  Mina took a seat in the cushion next to his looking as prim and proper as any fine lady would and looking not at all like she had just climbed all over her boyfriend to interrogate him.  “A couple years ago, the old man started talking about arranging a marriage. I was firmly against it.  There was no way on Earth anyone he set me up with would put up with me or put me in my place like you do.  I’d already pretty much decided I wanted it to be you.”  She wanted to call him out for how cheesy he sounded, but his face and ears were already turning red.  “So he told me he’d stop talks on the condition I did my part and courted you properly.  I agreed.”

              “And then you didn’t.”

              “And then I didn’t,” Raios parroted.  “I realized my behavior had a long way to go in order to be ‘husband material’, so I decided I’d ask you out only after I got my temper under control.  I didn’t want you to get tired of me.”  He glanced over at her only to see that Mina’s eyes were staring up at him with that same gleeful adoration they’d had when he was asking her out, and it pissed him off a little.  “Anyways! Your little stunt got me found out. I’d had them convinced we were dating, so aneki probably spread it across the whole island just to make sure it stuck, but then she heard about the love letter and saw my reaction. Didn’t take long for her to put two and two together and make me have an outburst about it during dinner.”

              “So the fight with your dad-?”

              “Yup.  Was because I lied about asking you out and had them thinking we were getting ready to marry.  Not sure why, but the old man seems to think we’re not gonna waste any time on that,” Raios replied, his words gradually tapering off to a low mumble.”

              “And so the grounding is-”

              “Because I lied to them for two years and made a huge mess that got half the island involved.”  Okay, now Mina was less angry about his punishment.  He deserved it a little.  However-

              “But aren’t they punishing me with this too?! It’s so unfair!  I can’t even have a nice date!”

              “My parents definitely took that into account,” Raios replied.

              “Ugh!”  Mina groaned loudly and flopped backwards onto the floor.

              “Mina, if you keep moving around like that, your yukata is going to get messed up.”

              “I’ll deal with it later,” she pouted.  Raios sighed and moved himself to the opposite side of the table where she’d been sitting originally.  “Why’d you move over there?” Mina asked, lifting only her head off the ground as she questioned him.

              “This is the appropriate distance we should keep,” he replied.

              “I’m about 5 seconds from strangling you.”

              “Try it if you can, but I’ve always been stronger than you,” Raios said, taking a sip of the tea he had originally poured for her (she hadn’t touched it yet, at least as far as he was aware.)  She sat up, now properly angry, and slammed her hands on the table.

              “Come on!  Are you serious?!  We hang out alone together all the time?  What gives?”

              “Mina, we may call this ‘dating’ but, as far as our parents are concerned, this is an engagement.  Two fiancés alone in a room together already doesn’t look very good for your reputation.”

              “Huh?!  Since when do I care about that crap?!  Reputation? What reputation?!   As far as I’m concerned, we’re basically getting married, and eeeevvveryone knows I’m obsessed with you, so whatever people start saying about us doesn’t matter to me at all!”  Mina was now leaning halfway across the table looking like she was about ready to get up and climb over it, obi and yukata be damned.  Raios leaned back, his cheeks a bit darker than they were before and his eyes doing their best to avoid hers.  “If they want something to talk about, I’m more than happy to give them something.  Take me to your room and then they can say whatever they want!”

              “Not happening,” Raios growled, his gaze finally meeting hers again.  “Please think before you speak.”

              “Also not happening,” Mina huffed.  The two had a glaring contest for several moments before Mina appeared to concede… only she hadn’t.  Instead, she took the tea originally meant for him and shuffled around to the cushion next to him.  “As far as I’m concerned, this distance is plenty.  I don’t care about my reputation or what anyone thinks we’re getting up to. I know you, and you won’t do that kind of thing without permission.  As outrageous as you can behave, when it comes down to what matters, you take things very seriously.  It’s one of the parts of you I like best and the side of you that tell me you’ll be an excellent Chieftain.”  She looked up to see that his ears had turned red again.  His face looked like he was sulking, but the color of his ears told her all she needed to know.  That and how hard he was gripping the teacup.  She finally took a sip from her new cup, satisfied with the outcome of this particular argument.  

              Not too much later, Mrs. Minori was back with anther tray, this time with an assortment of lunch foods.  Raios’ sister also peeked her head in to laugh and snicker at them and Raios tried to shoo her away with little to show for it.

              “I take it things are going well in here? My son isn’t behaving too untowardly towards you, is he, Mina-chan?” Mrs. Minori asked.

              “Not at all,” Mina replied gracefully.  “As always, Raios is treating me very well.”

              “Oh that’s such a relief,” Raios’ sister sighed, sounding almost disappointed.  “I mean, my brother’s such a brute, I was worried he’d just suddenly snap.”  Mina could see the glint in her eyes and could feel Raios getting ready to lunge at her.  Mina put a hand gently on his leg, more than happy to try and handle his sister in his place.

              “Oh, there’s really no reason for concern,” Mina replied, bringing a hand to her cheek.  “If anything, I think you’re the ones who should be worrying about me.” Raios’ mother just stared at her, incredulous, while his sister fell over in the hallway, bursting with laughter.

              “Oh man!  She got us good!” she howled.

              “Please try not to provoke her,” Raios sighed, exasperated, directing his scolding at his two family members.  Mrs. Minori gave a small chuckle before standing and leaving the tray in front of the door.

              “I trust you two not to get up to anything you oughtn’t,” she said with a smile, “but I’ll keep what you said in mind, dear.” She reached over to pick Raios’ still laughing sister up off the floor saying “Up you go now, let’s give them their space.”  Raios’ sister complained about the unfairness between abating chuckles, but ultimately followed their mother knowing she wouldn’t win if she tried to fight it.

              “Those two just can’t leave it alone, can they?” Raios muttered as he went to get the tray of food.  This time he closed the sliding door behind him to avoid more interruptions.  “No more dates at my house.  They’ll drive me insane.”

              “I agree, but please let the record state that it’s reluctant,” Mina replied.  “And temporary.”

              “But you just said this is awful,” Raios chided.

              “Well… I don’t mind having another date where I can watch you practice.  And we will eventually be having dates in our rooms, so…”

              “You are so dead set on this…  If I come home from helping the old man one day and you’re sitting in my room, I’m just going to pick you up by your collar and throw you out the window into the garden.”  Now it was Mina’s turn to burst into a fit of laughter.

              “Geez, I’m your girlfriend,” she laughed, trying to work in a teasing tone and failing miserably, “shouldn’t you treat me more delicately?”

              “I guess that just shows how awful your taste in men is,” he replied, grabbing her by the nose with a chuckle of his own. Mina cried out in surprise, and Raios was quick to let go, chuckling to himself.  He stopped though when he felt something bump into his shoulder. Looking over, Mina had leaned into him, resting her head against his shoulder.  His ears started to burn and his pulse quickened, and he felt like he had to do something with his hand but didn’t want to accidentally give her the impression that he wanted her to stop.

“I like that nothing has changed,” she said quietly.  His hand finally settled on covering hers and she felt his rough fingers, calloused from his kyuudo practice, work their way in between hers.

“Hasn’t it?  This is pretty different…”  She could tell he was doing his best not to let that irritated tone work its way into his voice.  He was trying to be quiet and soft, which she knew was hard for him, and she loved him for it.

“I don’t really think so,” she replied.  “It’s not really all that different.  It’s just more. It’s just more of the same.”             

 “How?”

“This sort of thing is something we both wanted to do but felt that we couldn’t because of the restriction of ‘friendship’ right? But we always had moments like this. They’re just… stronger.  We’re not as restricted now, so it’s just ‘more’ not ‘different’.”

“… I wanted it to change though…”

“Well I didn’t,” Mina replied matter-of-factly.

“I wanted to be able to treat you more gently…”

“The way you treat me is fine.  I’m not someone who’ll break or get hurt just because you get a bit too rough.”

“I want to cherish you properly…”

“You’re doing an excellent job.”  His hand squeezed hers, his silent way of showing his affection, before quietly separating from her and setting her food in front of her.

“We should eat before it gets cold,” he said quietly, handing her a pair of chopsticks.

“It would be a waste to eat it cold,” she admitted, trying to sneak a glance and see what kind of face he was making, but he kept his head turned so she couldn’t even see his ears.  

““Itadakimasu.””  The two teens gave thanks for their meal and both started to dig in. It wasn’t long though before Mina got a fun idea.

“Hey Raios, we should do that.”

“‘That’?”  He finally turned to look at her, face covered in skepticism.

“Y’know ‘that’,” she replied, a mischievous grin on her face. “The ‘Say ahhhh’ thing.”

“Na-?!” Raios recoiled, nearly choking on the rice that fell into the back of his throat.

“C’mon, it’s a staple of being on a date,” Mina replied happily, grabbing a piece of her tempura and lifting it up.  Once he stopped coughing, he stared at the piece of fried sweet potato like it had personally offended him and his entire family.

“Why do we have to do something that ridiculous?” he growled.

“Because it’s fun,” Mina replied, a sparkle in her eye.  She wasn’t about to give up on this.  She had her heart set on it now, and Raios saw that very clearly. “Come on, it’s not like anyone’s watching.”  Raios continued to stare angrily at the food she was holding in front of his face.  He wasn’t outright rejecting it, but he probably wasn’t really sure how to.  “Just one bite~”  She held it a little closer, trying to tempt him.  He growled in the back of his throat, but ultimately ended up conceding, biting the slice of sweet potato out of her grip and burying his face in the table while he chewed.  “Geez, you could at least try to be cute about it.”

“I haven’t been cute since the day I was born, don’t push your luck.”  His response made Mina laugh, and she returned to eating her food, content with the fruits of her endeavor.  It wasn’t long before Raios regained his composure though because before long, she found a piece of onion tempura in her face.  “If I gotta do something that embarrassing, you have to do it too,” he chuckled darkly.  Clearly he’d thought she’d get embarrassed, but, if anything, she was elated.

“Well, if you insist~” she giggled, opening her mouth. “Ahhhh~”

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Of course I’m doing as you asked,” she replied, keeping her mouth relatively wide open.  “You’re feeding me right?  So ‘ahhhh’.” She watched with delight as he seemed to hesitate, but, knowing he couldn’t back down now and risk the further damage to his pride, he followed through.  Once it was close enough, Mina happily bit down, savoring the sweet taste of the onion (and accidentally/on purpose catching the end of his chopsticks too.)   She quietly watched, pretending not to notice as he held an internal debate over whether it was still okay to eat with them or if he should risk the venture to the kitchen for a new pair.  Eventually he had no choice but to give up and keep using them.  There was no way he’d risk running into his sister right now. He continued eating his food, pretending that he wasn’t at all thinking about how they’d touched her mouth.  Nope.  Not a single bit.  In Mina’s opinion though, the blush on his face completely gave him away.  Well… that was a side of him that she found pretty cute, so it was fine.  She was just going to have to live with that fact that she wasn’t going to get a kiss this time around.

[talesfromlissom]

okami!hanzo... where his s/o... pet his fluffy wolves and do not pay attention to hanzo.. 😔 damn... sad day for hanzo.. wrong! hanzo eats out his s/o and demands their attention!☺️☺️ very sfw *wink wink, nudge nudge* 😳

!A/N! Lol, so basically I kinda switched everything in this ask :o. All my readers use he/him pronouns, (unless it's Tracer that’s the only time I’ll write a reader that uses she/her pronouns). And my readers are HARD TOPS SO UH YEAH YEEHAW

Basic Info:

 » You live in a small hut outside of the village, you mainly own lots of farm animals, and spend most of your time gardening

 » You’re a sorcerer, so you’re very in tune with nature and such, as well as emotions, not just your own 

 » Animals love you

(okay that’s it lol)

                                                 ──•~❉+❉~•──

Rules

Overwatch Masterlist 

Ninjago Masterlist

The Arcana Masterlist (WIP)

Ask Box (Requests are CLOSED!)

!WARNING! NSFW contents ahead!

Patting the two wolves who were currently lounged in your lap was one of the most peaceful things you had done today. 

Most of it had been chaotic, first of all, the Okami you had been romantically involved with had come stumbling into your grounds all bloody, and an arrow sticking out of his side.

Second of all, he was being chased by hunters, which you easily fought off. 

And third of all, he was acting like a huge brat because you weren’t paying ‘enough attention to him’. 

You hear the door swing open, and aren’t surprised to see white fill the corner of your eyes. 

“Shouldn’t you be resting?” You ask, scratching the back of Tomo’s ears. 

Hanzo huffs. “I’m fine.”

“You had an arrow lodged through your side.” 

“So?”

You sigh, counting to pet the wolves. Hanzo huffs again. 

You don’t reply this time, but chuckle as he blows against your ear.

“Go to bed Han, you’re overworking yourself.”

“I am doing no such thing.” 

You pet the wolves even more, but feel his arms wrap around your waist. 

You raise an eyebrow and look at him for a moment, but don’t say anything otherwise.

“Are you going to fall asleep on me again?” You ask, and he places his face on your shoulder, muttering something into it. 

Again you don’t reply. 

His hands venture lower, that’s when you stop petting the wolves. 

“Han, you’re injured.”

“It’s almost finished healing.” He mutters into your shoulder. 

You shake your head. “It may heal quickly, but it will take a lot of your strength,” You reply. “Healing magic uses more stamina than any kind of magic. You and I both know that.”

You grin. 

“Oh, so that’s why you're so needy?” You chuckle, as huffs. 

“I’ve missed you,” He pauses. “Dearly.”

Your hand finds its way to intertwine into his long white hair. “Have you now?”

“Yes, the minute I leave your forest...I find myself longing for you.” 

“Then why do you leave?” You ask. “If you miss me that much.”

Hanzo frowns. “You know why I must leave.”

You shake your head, pulling your hand from his hair and back to the wolves. One of them rolled onto her belly, and you pet it with pride. 

He whines. 

“No.” 

Hanzo nuzzles your neck.

“No. You need rest, Han. You know damn well what happens when we fuck, you literally can’t walk for two days straight.”

“That’s because you don’t know when to stop.”

“Doesn’t help that having you underneath me making all those noises is the most intoxicating thing.” 

You can feel his grin spread across his lips when his hands are on your waist again. 

You lean your head onto his shoulder, mouthing at his neck. 

“You’re trying to rile me up, aren’t you?” 

Hanzo says nothing.

“Or are you jealous that I’m paying more attention to Kenji and Tomo than you?” 

A whine. 

“Aw, you poor thing.” You preen at him. “We should fix that, shouldn’t we?” 

You practically feel the excitement that goes through him, it doesn't help that you’re soul bound to each other, forever ‘doomed’ to feel what the other feels when their emotions are at their strongest. 

You spin around, his hands rising from your waist and onto your shoulders, as you place a hand on his lower back, he’s wearing a shit-eating grin, and it vaguely reminds you of Genji, but you don’t really want to think about Genji while you’re fucking his brother. 

You chuckle. 

“Don’t you have to meet with Genji tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“If he finds any marks he’ll kill us both.” 

“No, he’ll kill you, and lock me in a tower for the rest of my life.” 

He tugs at your shirt, your onyx gem necklace falling onto Hanzo’s chest. 

You shake your head, as your hands drift down to his belt. 

“What are you doing?”

“You’re still injured,” You reply. “Not only that, but you have to meet your brother tomorrow, and I’d rather not suffer the wrath of a wolf god.”

“You’ve fought against more formidable foes, and come out victorious.”

“He’s your brother, Hon.” The belt falls to the sides of his body.

“That doesn’t mean you’re forbidden from fucking me properly.”

“I am if that means your brother has to find out you’ve been in bed with a witch.” You say as he kicks his boots off to god knows where inside of the small barn house. “And I’d like to keep my face the way it is, heard plenty of stories of gods who cursed witches to look like hags.”

“I would kill my brother again if that were the case.” He mutters as you put kitten licks on his inner thighs. 

“Is that so?” 

“Hn.” 

He hears a ‘moo’ behind him and looks up. 

“Your animals are watching us.” He says. 

You roll your eyes, and snap your fingers, with that the animals go about their business, turning the other direction entirely. 

“Is that better?”

“I would’ve preferred-”

“Nope, we’re doing this here, we’re in the middle of the woods, nobody can hear us.”

“Unless I was followed.”

“I highly doubt you were.” You say, taking off the linen underwear he wears. 

You grin at him. 

“Damn you really did miss me huh?” You mutter, dragging a finger up his slit. He shivers, and you bring the slick to your lips, making a damn show of it as well. 

He glares. “Get on with it.” He growls. 

You roll your eyes. “Patience, dear, patience.”

“That is the last thing,” He pauses as you pull him closer to you, and you lay down on the floor in front of him. “I want you to do.” 

“Then this won’t be very enjoyable, now will it?” You laugh, as a finger just lightly grazes his dick. 

He curses under his breath.

“You never just-”

Another graze, a tad bit harsher. 

He fidgets. 

“Hm?” 

This time, your thumb comes into this game, and you press down on his dick, hard. 

He flinches, as your thumb begins to rub it in a circular motion. 

He leans into it, and you don’t blame him either. 

Four months without seeing each other, and waking up with morning hood more than once, hell, you woke up with it more than once since you’ve met him. 

You hear his whimpers begin to get more frantic, his hands gripping the side of your face, beginning to place your hair between his fingers. His other hand pulls at the brown shirt he’s still wearing, his knuckles almost white.

Your fingers pull away, just as you think he’s getting too loud. He scoffs, as you just shake your head at him, grabbing his lower back and legs, before hoisting him up and carrying him. 

“Where are you taking me?”

“Table.”

“Why?”

“Why do you think?” 

He smiles. “You know me so well.” 

“No, I just know how to treat a man properly.” You respond, placing him on the table. 

Normally, this bench was used to place items, like books, ingredients, food, but now it lays empty, as most of the animals have already been fed, and it's barely even time for supper.

The cows and goats have already been milked, and the chickens haven’t laid any eggs yet either. 

He falls onto the table so softly, and you roll your sleeves up, leaning down and placing both of your hands on his thighs, practically wrapping your arms around them like an eel. You know fairly well he’ll move a lot during this, you’d rather not get kicked in the face. 

The first lick makes him jump, as he isn’t looking at you anymore, but as his head on the bench and rolled to the side. As much as you would love to just pull your damn dick out, and make him kick and scream your name at the top of his lungs till the whole damn kingdom could hear, it could further infect the wound, and you didn’t want to particularly piss Hanzo off right now. It was so rare that he’d try to initiate this sort of thing, so you weren’t going to do something stupid to ruin it. 

The second lick to his slit has him keening, clearly eager. 

The third time he groans, muttering to get on with it, as his hand grips your hair. 

You shake your head and dive in now, and he arches his back, finally happy he gets what he wants. 

He’s shaking, clenching around your tongue, and you move your hand so your thumb can play with his cock yet again. 

He kicks and fidgets under your touch, panting rapidly, which soon turns to breathy, yet soft moans. 

Your tongue laps at his juices and the hand in your hair becomes tighter, just a smidge below painful. 

You would chuckle right now, tease him about how desperate he looks, but you know that you shouldn’t keep this up for long, you still have to get him to bed again after this. 

If you tease him it will just rile him up some more, and he won’t stop asking for more until you’re inside of him with something other than your tongue.

His grip becomes tighter, practically pulling your hair from your head.

He’s swearing-in a mixture of Japanese, English, and most likely celestial, as your lapping and circles become faster, and more pressure is applied. 

His breath becomes more rapid, his moans higher pitches, before he lifts off of the table, and both hands to grip the top of your head, practically screaming your name into your ears. 

He twitches, despite your tongue and hands still toying with him. 

After the adrenaline dies down, and the overstimulation hurts, you let go, hands grasping his inner thighs as he twitches you see a faint line of drool drip from the corner of his partially open mouth. 

He hums softly. 

“Satisfied?”

“Of course not.” He says, and you wonder how exactly he’s still able to muster such attitude in his voice. Then again, he’s practically a god, he could probably go on for days if given the reason too.

You usually last for about two hours compared to him. 

(You vaguely remember one time where he had this itch he couldn’t seem to get rid of, and he just rode you until you fell asleep that night. It was funny when you woke up in the morning, and you couldn’t feel your dick.). 

You sigh happily. 

“Aren’t you going to take care of that?” He asks, gesturing to your crotch.

You shake your head.

“Once you’ve rested, we can worry about that.”

You grab his clothing as he pulls it onto himself, you help him as well.

His belt is slung over your shoulder, and he climbs into your arms.

The door to the barn is shut with your leg, as you make your way to the small cabin. His forehead coming to rest on your shoulder, and before you even make inside the house, you hear his soft snores. 

[letsbenditlikebennett]

New Moon Rising || Ariana & Sammy (Ace)

TIMING: Before Ariana lost her name PARTIES: @inspirationdivine & @letsbenditlikebennett SUMMARY: Ariana tells Sammy her idea to save him from eventually dying in Lydia’s custody.  CONTENT: Some emotional/domestic abuse mentions

It had been weeks since she’d last seen Ace, but Ariana still came out to their spot in the woods every night with Luna by her side. Between staying out entirely too late and keeping up with kids at camp all day, she was growing both tired and weary. Had she been too late in saving him? She hoped she hadn’t, but she’d give it a few more days before she went to check on him again. With how tired she was growing, she opted to take a seat on the ground and lean against the tree she’d previously left a note at for him with Luna curling into her side. She softly pet the dog until they both heard footsteps coming. Luna was the first to jump up and sniff the air while letting out a soft bark as footsteps approached. “Shh, it’s okay, girl. It’s a friend,” she assured as a small smile formed on her face. The familiar smell of clay was getting closer and she stood up, ready to tackle Ace with a hug after she let Luna sniff him down. “Ace,” she greeted giddily as he approached. She gestured to Luna. “This is Luna, I adopted her a few weeks ago.” The dogs paws did a little dance of tip taps as she excitedly waited to attack Ace with kisses. 

“Ah!” Sammy yelped as something barked at him. The evening was so dark  and still that it startled him right out of his thoughts. Luckily, Ariana’s voice was right behind it. He startled a little as Luna came to sniff at him, very cautiously offering his hand for the dog to smell. “Ari! Shit, sorry, it’s been a while. Things are a bit… uh, well. Anyway! It’s so good to see you and…. Luna?”

Ariana couldn’t help but giggle at Ace being startled by the dog. Something in her immediately felt lighter upon seeing him, as if a giant weight had been lifted. The sense of dread that something worse happened to him was hard to shake, but seeing him helped. She wasn’t too late. She watched with a small smile as Luna sniffed Ace’s hand before finally giving him doggie kisses. At the lack of explanation, she frowned slightly, “I understand. I know you can’t say. I’m just happy to see you.” She looked him over. He looked as alive as he normally did though she wasn’t sure what signs to look for when it came to being a leanan-sidhe’s meal. “How are you feeling,” she asked. 

Sammy exhaled as Luna started licking her hand, kneeling down to ruffle her fur, his nerves melting into a wide smile. Her tongue rasped along his skin, pressing tiny little kisses all the way up his arm. “Oh hey girl,” he greeted softly, enraptured by how soft her fur was. His sister had had one, a blood hound called Spots that loved to be tickled on the belly. He saw her and Spots once a year before… now, hell, how would he know - nope. Standing up abruptly, he grinned at Ariana, burying that thought in a pit as deep as the Devil’s gullet. “Better for seeing you,” he answered, pulling her into a tight hug. 

With how worried she had been, Ariana eagerly hugged him tightly and held on for longer than she normally would have. Ever since she learned what Lydia was and just how she fed, it left her with this constant sinking feeling of wondering how much longer Ace had left. When she finally pulled away, she said, “I feel much better seeing you, too.” Everything she discovered seemed to be hanging in the air, especially after how upset he’d been during their last meeting together. “I know what Lydia is and I know you’ll eventually die if I don’t do anything,” she blurted out. 

Sammy held her just as tightly, so long that he could imagine Luna getting jealous beside them. Times like this, he didn’t want to let go. But he did, and she did, and almost immediately it was all ruined. His throat tightened up like someone had wrapped a cord around it, his smile fixed in place, his hands curling into fists. He looked away from her, staring into the dark of the forest and the trees. “Oh,” he said lightheartedly, trying to sound for all the world like she’d just told him she knew he was planning a surprise birthday party. “Huh. Google’s really coming through for you.” He tugged at his collar, his throat tightening as he voice pitched higher by the word. “Cool cool cool.” Sammy sat down abruptly, reaching for Luna to distract himself with.

Somehow, Ace was managing to keep himself together even though the words hit Ariana like daggers. The thought of him dying set something off in her and she knew she couldn’t let that happen. She reached out to him, even though he was trying to act calm, she could hear the strain in his voice and Luna seemed to pick up on it too. She set a hand on his arm and assured, “I wouldn’t call it Google. A friend of mine found the old scribe library.” It wasn’t a lie, but she decided to not mention the part where she also consulted a hunter. It’s not like she pointed them in Lydia’s direction, she was just better equipping herself. “I know Lydia can be dangerous, but I think I may have a way to save you without hurting her.” 

“I thought the scribes didn’t exist anymore,” Sammy said weakly, still staring into the woods, even as he ran his fingers through Luna’s fur, taking comfort in her warmth. He didn’t know how to tell Ariana in a way that she would listen to that he didn’t want her digging. He couldn’t tell her that he still had ages to live. Not as long as her, sure, but Anneliese had lived for seven years with Lydia. Sammy was barely through his first! By the time he died, they probably wouldn’t be in White Crest anymore. ”Wait. Wait,” Sammy jumped to his feet, looking down at her. Chloe. Shit, Chloe. Lydia never ever let her forget. She sneered it every time Lydia was irritated at her. You chose this. You walked in here willingly. Chloe sometimes said it was the only way she could remember her family these days, by Lydia’s reminders. Chloe was only here because she’d chosen to save her brother. That was the only way to do it, he knew. “Ariana, no. You can’t do that. I’m not going to let you do that!” 

“I don’t think they do. My friends just happened to stumble on their archives or whatever. They’re digitizing it. It’s like a whole thing, but uh, don’t tell anyone about it? They don’t want powerful information getting in the wrong hands,” Ariana explained though she supposed it wasn’t entirely necessary. It wasn’t like Ace could talk about seeing her. She doubted Lydia would be fond of that. Her features scrunched up as she realized Ace was telling her she couldn’t go through with a plan she hadn’t even suggested yet. Her head tilt mirrored Luna’s and she placed a hand on his shoulder, “Woah, woah, woah-- I haven’t even told you what I was thinking yet. I mean, there was one option I came across that I don’t really feel good about that I think you might be assuming, but I found another way. I could… well, if you wanted to, I could make you like me. From what I’ve gathered, leanan-sidhe typically feed from humans.”

“No, there’s only one wa-” Seeing Ariana recently was not doing great things for his heart, Sammy decided, snapping his mouth shut to actually listen to her, wringing his hands. “Like you? You mean, dye my hair? OH! You mean, like - argh!” He bared his teeth and raised his hands like claws. “Oh, wow. Like, really? I-” She was right. Sammy rubbed his face, slack jawed. Lydia didn’t feed on other supernatural beings. She didn’t feed on people. She thought it was fucked up. So fucked up, in fact, that she was feuding with some old ass vampire instead of just ignoring him.  Holy shit. This could work. Not that he was complaining about how Lydia treated him! She was doing what she had to, and she was so kind in giving them a bedroom with a view, and she came to play with his hair in the evenings no matter what mood she was in. But it was true, they weren’t equals. He wasn’t good enough for her. But Ari could make him good enough. He could be like Remmy, someone Lydia considered family, that she was as devoted to as he was to her. Was that being greedy? Probably, but shit, he really wanted it now. He wanted it with every inch of him, so much he could hardly breath. “Holy shit Ari.”

As serious as the subject was, Ariana could not help the small smile that was on her face when it took Ace a minute to realize just what she had meant. Initially, she shook her head before confirming, “No, not the hair. Yes, the grr thing. I could bite you and you’d be a werewolf like me. You could spend the full moons with me, I’d make sure you were okay and away from the town. I can help you get used to all the new senses and stuff, too. I know it’s like a huge change, but it’s the only thing I can think of to save you that doesn’t involve killing Lydia or giving her someone else in your place.” She pet Luna softly to try and comfort herself. She knew it was a big and very life changing thing to suggest. It wasn’t even something she’d normally consider doing, but she couldn’t just let him die. She’d grown to care too much for Ace to simply let him fade away and lose him forever. “You can take some time to think about it if you need to. I know it’s a lot.” She looked down at Luna, feeling somewhat nervous about how he may take her suggestion. 

“Holy shit,” Sammy said again, staring at her with wide eyes as she explained. Being bitten gave him whole body skin crawling. He wasn’t a slayer, but he had been raised by them. His whole family was just a collection of bite scars and what have you. Being bitten was Bad. But if he could be with Lydia? Properly, without the whole being eaten and dying? Sammy would do anything for her, to prove to her how grateful he was, without ever having to say thank you. He’d finally earn her respect, prove his devotion to her in every way. Plus, Ari was a werewolf and cool, so being a werewolf was cool “I don’t need to think about it,” Sammy said in a rush. “Or, uh, wait, let me try being sensible here. What- what is being a wolf like? Like, what changes? I know the moon and awooo thing, and the loss of control thing, but the rest of it? Kind of a mystery. Very batman of you, really.”

It came as somewhat of a surprise to Ariana that Ace didn’t want to think this over. Becoming an entirely new species was a huge life change. While it was a relief she didn’t have to convince him, it still left her feeling confused to say the least. She absent-mindedly pet the dog who was now leaning against her and answered, “Sensible is good. I mean, of course I want you to do this so you can be safe, but it is a big change. I may not be the best at answering that question since I’ve always been this way, but what I’ve gathered from other bitten wolves is the color-blindness and heightened hearing and sense of smell can be overwhelming at first. You won’t remember the full moon for a while and it can be painful. I vaguely remember it hurting as a kid, but I guess my body is used to it? It’s not painful now. Oh, and like, if you ever feel threatened, like partially transforming can be more likely which always kinda hurts like a bitch, even for me. I’ve noticed I also have to stay a little more focused on keeping control in those instances. You’ll probably crave meat… like a lot. Although my best friend Layla is a werewolf who was bitten and she’s vegan outside the full moon.” She tried to think if she had gotten everything and added, “On the full moon, I usually go super deep in the woods with Layla and Ulfric. Usually kill a lot of deer-- occasionally like a rabbit or something. You end up eating shit that humans consider weird, too. But yeah, I think that’s the gist of it. And hey, you’re the batman of mystery here, Ace.” 

Sammy bounced his hands against his thighs as she explained, nervous energy rattling through him like a rickety train. It was a big change, a huge change, she was right, but it could mean anything. For the first time since Lydia had dropped her act and Anneliese had gently guided him into his new reality with soft words to hide the horror, Sammy felt… what, hope? Yeah. He rubbed his face, staring at her with wide eyes. He didn’t have to die. He could be with Lydia, and not have to wither away like Anneliese had or like Chloe was. He was more tired every single time he saw Ariana, that could go away. So, really, he didn’t care about whatever change in his eyesight, or feeling overwhelmed by his senses, or even about the hunters he knew existed. Ari would guide him through it. “Better bambi than humans or people, right?” And once he’d changed, Lydia would forgive him. She’d be angry, betrayed, maybe, but wasn’t this better? Lydia was so forgiving. She got in fights with people all the time, and forgave them too. “Okay. When’s the full moon?”

For what a huge thing she was suggesting, Ace was taking it surprisingly well. Ariana hadn’t expected this to go over so well, especially after their last conversation. As much as it was relieving, it meant she actually had to go through with it which was nerve-wracking in itself. She’d never bit anyone before. That had to require a lot of control and the last thing she ever wanted to do was hurt Ace. She looked at him earnestly. He seemed to really want this and she couldn’t quite place her finger on how that made her feel though as much was true with most of their interactions. That was something she could navigate once she knew he was safe. “Definitely better Bambi than Bob,” she agreed. “So we change on the full moon and the two nights surrounding. So September 1st is the next one. I’d want to bite you at least a few days before. Control and the full moon don’t really go hand and hand. The last thing I’d want to do is accidentally hurt you.” 

“Right, right right,” Sammy nodded, agreeing. Better Bambi than Bob. “September first? Wow, that’s… that’s close. I mean, I guess it is once a month. Okay,” He bounced on his heels, reached forward to pet Luna, and then began pacing again. He stopped, looked at her. “It kinda has to be a bit close, though. We… Well, I want to surprise Lydia.” She’d understand, after. Once he was a wolf, she’d get it. Before? Maybe not. His stomach turned at the thought of keeping secrets from her, but he wasn’t keeping them forever. It was okay! She’d get it, once he- right, right. Focus on Ariana. “Big fan of minimal hurting right here. What about, like, the 25th? Would that work? We’d meet out here and you’d, you know, wolf, and then quick bite, and it would be fine. And I’d come find you on September 1st, here, while it’s still daylight, and then you could take me to kill Bambi and shit. Holy shit, a werewolf!” Sammy gasped, clasping his hands. “Would I be an omega? Do you have a pack? Do you have an alpha? Are you the alpha?”

While Ariana knew the 25th would be cutting it close, she trusted she knew Ace’s scent well enough that she’d be able to keep the wolf at bay. She’d have to see if any of the other wolves had done this before and if they had any advice to offer. He was pacing and she wanted to reach out, but she opted to pet Luna instead. “We could do the 25th,” she started and nearly choked on her words when he spoke of surprising Lydia, “I don’t know if that’s the best idea. I know she’s amazing and all… but like, not to be mean, you’re like literally her dinner. I don’t know if she’ll appreciate me turning you into a wolf.” There was also the small chance she may have already made a promise to Lydia, too, but Ace didn’t need to worry about that. She wasn’t entirely sure about that, but Kaden had said it was a possibility. At the mention of alphas and omegas, she gave Ace a dumbfounded looked. She placed a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye, “Ace, what the hell? Where did you even-- It’s definitely not like that. It’s more kind of like… a family I guess? I do kind of have a pack though I wouldn’t call it like a formal thing. We just stick together and look out for each other. None of that weird alpha and omega shit either. Also, definitely nothing like Twilight. No creepy imprinting shit.” 

Sammy’s chest sank. He knew Ari didn’t understand. Truth be told, he didn’t fully understand either, but he couldn’t imagine not ever telling her. She’d let him go, he knew, but god, he still wanted to be in her life, he wanted to protect her, and take care of her. Ari just didn’t get that, so he nodded and didn’t say anything. He finally stopped moving and fidgeting when she put her hand on him. “Oh. I uh….” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, “Oh, I’ve heard Lydia’s rants about Twilight, I knew that, I just…. Teen wolf. Sorry. And, uh, Ari?” He said softly, “Thank you.”

Ariana felt instantly bad for assuming he should have just known this stuff. There was a reason she hadn’t personally watched Teen Wolf and it was usually because werewolf depictions left her annoyed more often than not. She gave his shoulder a reassuring pat. “Sorry,” she started, “I guess that’s not all totally obvious seeing as most people don’t even know about werewolves. I’ve never watched Teen Wolf, but it sounds pretty ridiculous.” She couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Ace wasn’t doing this for the right reasons. It was hard to be too upset about it when it meant she could save him. She just only hoped he didn’t resent her for this later. Her features still softened as he thanked her. “Of course,” she responded, “And you can ask me whatever. I’m here to be your guru to all things wolfy.”

“Hey, I shouldn’t have been making assumptions,” Sammy replied, raising up his hands as if admitting his guilt. “It’s so ridiculous, it’s so bad, Ari.” He laughed softly. “No, I- I don’t think you understand how much this means. I know I can’t… tell you how much it means, exactly, but, seriously, Ari. I know that puts you at more risk, and it’s a lot of work, and responsibility, and you don’t really know me because, well, everything. And…” Sammy leant back against the tree behind him, gesturing widely with his hands. “I guess…. My reality is my reality, you know. You, this thing we do? It scares the shit out of me. But I’m really, really glad we do it.” He grinned. “I’ll stop with the sappy shit now.”

“Nah, you’re all good,” Ariana assured and gave him a pat on the back. “I’ve seen the commercials for it back in the day. Definitely looks ridiculous. Glad I never got into it.” She remembered seeing one commercial and the wolves looked more like overly hairy men than actual wolves. It definitely wasn’t a vibe. Her wolf was way cooler. “You’re my friend,” she said simply, “I look out for my friends. Plus, I’m more than capable of taking care of myself.” Even if Kaden insisted she needed to back off from this whole situation, it wasn’t something she could do. Especially not seeing Ace now, still as kind as ever. Their meetings had to be few and far between, but each one was near and dear to her. “I know you well enough to know you deserve better than the hand you’ve been dealt,” she remarked as she looked to him earnestly, “I’m glad we do, too. And hey, being a little sappy is okay.” She smiled at him though it wasn’t long before Luna nudged her snout into Ariana’s hand. “Now that we have a plan, I may have brought entirely too many snacks for us. How’s a midnight picnic sound?” 

“The commercials weren’t anywhere near as bad as the actual show. Kinda glad I’ve only been watching quality movies recently,” Sammy said with a smile, leaning into her touch. She said they were friends, and maybe that was true - maybe she was even his first real friend since leaving to college. He’d never really made good ties. Sure, there were people in his arts classes, but he’d been too shy, and the whole growing up a not-hunter in a hunter family? Hard to relate to, and there was the whole chip on his shoulder deal. But Ariana didn’t exactly know him well, did she? She knew only what she’d dug up from snooping around Lydia, and their brief meetings. What if she turned him, and then found out once all was said and done that she didn’t like him? That she liked his mystery and the need to save someone more than she liked him? Of course, Lydia would never do that, and he didn’t want to think badly of Ariana, not when she was offering him a lifeline but, well, he was kinda used to disappointing people. It was a him issue, not a her issue. Sammy swallowed, and pulled Ariana into a tight hug. “A midnight picnic sounds amazing. I’m getting real tired of Lydia’s mime food, let me tell you…”

It was good to see him smiling again. To have him leaning into her touch. Their last meeting had left Ariana feeling so at a loss, but now she had a plan. He was ready to go through with this and do something that would save him though she had to somehow hope Lydia didn’t connect the dots. Kaden’s and Athena’s warnings were both still present in her mind, but they meant little to her now as she looked to Ace. Letting anything worse happen to him was not an option. For now, she decided to relish in this small victory though her face scrunched up at the mention of mime food. Oh no. It was at that moment she noticed the stripes on his tongue. Guess she was going to have to cancel that subscription. “This is definitely better than mime food,” she assured and tried to suppress the pang of guilt that he’d been stuck eating that. She pulled a blanket and a few sandwiches out of her bag. “Make yourself comfortable. You get first pick of sandwiches and snacks.”

[nejitenforlife]

NejiTen Month 2020

Day 11 - Pirate AU (Part 2)

Please read part 1 if you haven’t already, before reading this part of the story. The final part will (hopefully) be out tomorrow. I hope you enjoy this part of the story! 

Word Count: 2,612

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Tenten instantly felt the change of temperature upon awakening. Where she was warm in the storeroom, she could not stop shivering in this new location. After opening her eyes, she realized she had been moved to the brig, a revelation that angered Tenten more than frightened her.

How dare the captain put her behind bars! She was a lady—a woman of station—and he had no right to show such disrespect to her person. Of course, she knew she didn’t look like a woman at the moment. No, she looked more like a homeless person from the streets, not the wealthy young lady she was.

Which was for the best. Tenten refused to give her real identity away to this man—even if he decided to torture her for it. Telling him would equal death—not just her own, but his and his crew’s as well. Not that Tenten should care one bit about what might happen to him or his crew members, but she didn’t want to be caught up in more of her father’s—and his—mess than necessary.

Tenten wondered if the captain would be willing to let her go once he reached his destination in exchange for her working on board. It would be preferable than being kept in this cold, damp cell. But even if she must remain here, if he promised to let her go once they reached land, she wouldn’t complain. Hell, she even contemplated warming his bed for the duration of their journey if that was what persuade him to let her leave without harm. For surely by now her fiancé knew of her absence and was rallying his men to find her.

Tenten would take her chances with these pirates over being handed back to that man.

So no, she would not tell the captain who she was, and she would do everything in her power to leave this ship and make a new life on some unremarkable small town, somewhere her fiancé would never find her.

“Are you awake?”

The voice startled Tenten and she jumped, her head whipping around to find the speaker. A man stepped into the dingy lamp light, holding a tray in his hands.

“The captain asked me to make sure you had enough water, since you seemed dehydrated,” he said, letting himself into the cell and placing the tray in front of her with a kind smile. “He also told me to get you some food. I’m sorry it is only basic. The captain would flog me if he found out I fed you anything other than what he told me to.”

Tenten didn’t care. The piece of crusty bread and watered down soup looked like heaven compared to the raw vegetables she had been eating every day. She would have loved some stew, or something with chunks of meat in it, but she wouldn’t complain. This was more than she had expected to receive from the pirate captain, and she would be an idiot to be ungrateful for it.

“Thank you.” Tenten smiled at the kind pirate, wondering how such a man found this sort living.

“My name is Rock Lee, but you may just call me Lee. I am the first mate to captain Neji Hyuga of the Crimson Night. What is your name?”

Tenten had heard of the Crimson Night. The crew weren’t as vicious as other pirates, but they were still ruthless, and they revelled in looting other ships, pirate or otherwise. Tenten supposed she was fortunate to have found herself onto a ship that took captives instead of killing all their enemies, and she had never heard of stories of the crew of the Crimson Night raping people. But just because she hadn’t heard of it, did not mean it didn’t happen…

“Your name, miss?” the first officer asked again, watching her with shrewd, guarded eyes. Tenten got the feeling that although he was kind to her, he wasn’t one to be trifled with.

“I’m nobody,” she replied. She grabbed the jug of water off the tray and took a huge gulp, not wanting to keep eye contact with the pirate. Although the water tasted slightly stale, she felt as though she could cry as it ran down her throat to settle in her belly. Nothing had ever tasted so nice.

“Even so, you must have a name.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to say.”

“If you are unwilling to say, I can only assume that you are a lady of means and you are afraid we will recognise the name and hold you for ransom. That, or you are running from someone and do not wish for us to spill your secrets to them.” He spoke in an amused tone, as though he was just making it up, but Tenten knew he meant the words, and she had to stop herself from panicking at just how close to the truth he had come—on both counts.

“Does it matter what my name is?” she snapped, using anger to hide her fear. “You can only be planning to either kill me or let me go, and I don’t see why my name is relevant in either case. If you want to kill me for stowing away on your ship, just do it. I’d rather not have my imminent death dragged out. And if you’re planning on letting me go, then we won’t see each other again so what’s so important about knowing it?”

Lee held her gaze and Tenten had to fight not to squirm under his perusal. There was no way she was going to back down from this. As soon as they knew who she was they would attempt to benefit from that fact. And yes, she realized she could have lied, but this man seemed smart—smarter than perhaps he let on to others—and she wasn’t a very good liar to begin with. It was best for her to just keep her mouth shut so as not to incriminate herself any further.

“Very well then.” He stood up, gave her another long look, then nodded. “I must go. Maybe you will feel like telling the captain.”

Tenten didn’t think a sentence so innocuous could be said in such a threatening way, and she decided to re-evaluate the nice-guy image she had in her head of him. Of course he wasn’t a nice guy. He was a pirate for goodness sake! There was nothing good about pirates.

The first mate locked the cell behind him, taking with him the only lamp and leaving her in complete and utter darkness.

.

.

.

“Captain,” the female captive said from her place on the floor. She was still wearing men’s clothes, and it allowed her to move freely inside the cell, instead of being encumbered by so many layers. Still, Neji wouldn’t mind seeing her in her usual attire—clothes that would hug her body instead of sitting like a shapeless rag.

“Lady,” he nodded in reply, coming to stand at the outside of her cell door.

It had been two days since she was taken to the brig, and Neji had to admit that she was looking better. Not a lot cleaner—he had only allowed her some water and a rag to wash her face and hands, and was still yet to see a bath—but her face held colour once more and she seemed brighter, more alert than when he had found her.

“Is it lunch time yet?” she asked, eyes darting behind him in case Lee was following with a tray of food.

Neji wanted to snort at the gall of her. She was his prisoner; she would be fed when he deemed it appropriate. Hell, he had every right to withhold food from her since she was withholding information from him.

“Lee will bring something shortly,” he replied instead, unable to deny her.

Neji had been visiting his prisoner since the first day she had been transferred to the brig, and each day he found himself looking forward to seeing her. She was a breath of fresh air on this testosterone filled ship, and she didn’t seem intimidated by him. More than once he found himself butting heads with her, but he found her wit and intelligence attractive.

His captive smiled, and not for the first time Neji wondered what those lips would feel like against his. “And a bath too?”

Her eyes were twinkling as she asked, but he detected the hopeful note in her voice. A smirk tugged at his lips. “You get a bath when you tell me who you are.”

She pouted, her shoulders slumping under the blanket he had provided for her on her first day in the brig, after he had noticed how her body shivered in the dark room.

“I’m kind of hoping you get so sick of the stench of me that you have no choice but to order me to take a bath,” she admitted with a grin.

Neji raised an eyebrow at her. “I was not aware that I had the ability to order you to do anything.”

She laughed at his words, the noise feminine and utterly enchanting. “True. Not many people can get away with telling me what to do.”

Not for the first time, Neji had to tell himself why it would be a bad idea to enter the cell with her. He wasn’t worried she would attack him, but he was worried about his own reaction to being so close to her, seeing as though he already felt attracted to the mysterious woman. He pulled up a chair and sat by the door, knowing he would be there a while despite his mind telling him he had more important things to do.

“Captain,” Lee appeared at his side, too early for lunch to be served.

“What is it, Lee?” Neji didn’t want to be annoyed at his first mate, but he also didn’t like being disturbed when he was speaking with his captive.

“Kiba has spotted a ship in the distance, travelling in our direction. It could be nothing, but he wanted to make sure you knew either way.”

“Pirates?” If they were, Neji would be more than happy to fight them head on. Otherwise, he would rather continue undisturbed, not only because their arrival at their destination was time sensitive, but now because he didn’t want to risk any harm coming to his captive if a fight broke out.

“Nay, Captain. It’s a navy ship.”

“Keep an eye on them but let them be. We are too busy to have a skirmish with the navy right now.”

“Aye, Captain. I will inform you if anything changes.”

Neji nodded, satisfied that his men would do their jobs properly. He didn’t believe the navy ship would bother them, but he wasn’t going to be caught off guard either. “Good. You may go.”

Turning back to look at his pretty captive, Neji was startled to see the colour had drained from her face and she was shaking even more than on her first day in the hold, when she had been freezing. He frowned, worried that she had suddenly become ill.

“Are you well?” he asked her, trying to keep the concern from his tone. It wouldn’t do him any good if his captive found out he had taken a shine to her.

Her eyes met his, wild and… frightened? What did she have to be frightened about?

“Don’t engage with them,” she said with an unsteady voice. “Please. If they came after you, don’t fight them.”

Was she worried about a battle? No doubt, if this was her first time on a ship, of course she would be a little apprehensive.

Neji tried to give her a comforting smile, though he wasn’t sure it worked. “You do not need to be afraid. My men are skilled fighters, and I will not let harm come to you.”

But his captive was shaking her head, her body shaking uncontrollably. “No, no, no, no. You can’t. Please!”

He wasn’t sure why this was upsetting her, and Neji didn’t know how to comfort her, so he tried to change the topic. “I am getting tired of calling you ‘lady’. Will you tell me your name so I can call you appropriately?”

Her head snapped up to his, as though it was the first time he had asked her the question. She paled further, making Neji more concerned that something was ailing her. “No, I won’t tell you. Maybe…” she paused, thinking, and then met his gaze. “If you flee from them, I will tell you.”

What made her so certain that the navy ship would attack them? Lee had said they were a distance away, and naval ships rarely tried to fight pirates if they did not have backup—they knew pirates had a reputation of fighting dirty. Neji wasn’t worried, but his captive seemed to think it inevitable that a fight would ensue.

“I am afraid that I cannot make such a promise,” he told her. “I am a pirate; if someone wishes to go against me then they will regret it.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could do so Neji heard feet pounding down the stairs to the brig.

“Captain! They are turning astaboard and readying their cannons!” Lee’s voice was loud and urgent in the quiet of the room, but Neji was still able to make out the sharp intake of breath from inside the cell.

“Ready the cannons, then. If a fight is what they want, then a fight is what they shall have.” He stood, knowing his men needed direction, though he didn’t want to leave his captive alone in her cell. A part of him wanted to stay with her and reassure her but he knew he couldn’t. He was the captain of his ship, and it was his duty to make sure they came out victorious from this fight—he needed to be with his crew.

“Wait!” His captive scrambled to her feet and clutched at the cell doors, just inches from where he was standing. Her eyes held fear like he had never seen before. “At least give me a knife or a dagger to defend myself. I’ll die otherwise!”

Neji frowned, not only because she wanted a weapon to defend herself against the navy—people she should be overjoyed to see at that moment—but also because of the finality of her voice. Did she truly believe she would be killed in this skirmish?

“I will not let you die. You will be safe here.” Neji longed to do something more, to prove he would keep his word. But what would it look like to his first mate if he reached through the bars to caress her face? No, that would not be a good idea.

“I will keep you safe,” he promised, his voice low. He fixed his eyes on hers, willing her to believe him, but she shook her head and stepped away from the grates, a look of defeat on her face. She didn’t believe him. Neji was surprised at how much that hurt, but he couldn’t fault her for not trusting him. They may have formed a rapport over the last few days, but she was still his prisoner.

He turned his back on her and made his way up the stairs, his first mate hot on his heels. He would take care of this problem, but he wouldn’t stay away from his captive for long.

It was about time they got to know each other better.

[wild3flow3r]

Holidays 2023

December 21st, 2023

When Lorelai and Harry spoke about their Christmas trip to Hawaii this holiday season, most of their relatives started off jealous that they would be able to celebrate in warmer weather. But then each time they would see the jealousy fade as they realized the couple was going to put themselves through it by bringing a seven month old baby along for those long flight times. Including the layover in Los Angeles, the trip would take well over twenty hours, and they’d have to do it twice in a matter of two weeks.

Yes, when they got off the plane in Hawaii, the parents were well exhausted while their son, Wyatt, looked like he was prepared to keep them awake for as long as possible. But the joke didn’t feel like it was on them, because they were still in Hawaii, were going to spend the next two weeks together as a small happy family on the beaches while their families had to suffer through the miserable cold. Oh no, they won big time.

“This is it,” Harry mumbles with half lidded eyes. He’s carrying most of their luggage on his back and rolling three suitcases around them. He dips the hotel key card into the slot on the door and opens it after the beep. He gestures Lorelai to head in before him with a sleepy smile.

Lorelai carries one of their carry on bags on her shoulder and Wyatt against her chest. The baby’s taken to pulling her hair lately and currently he has a huge chunk of her hair grasped in his little fingers. She steps into the room first and flicks the lights on. The first room was a living room, equipped with a sofa, chairs, a coffee table, a television, and a fireplace. A balcony was attached to this room with a small sitting area so they could look over the beach in front of the hotel. They walk into the bedroom, which was filled with a king-sized bed, a baby crib as per requested, a closet, dresser, the typical hotel room things.

Harry pushes their suitcases to the side for now until they can find the energy to unpack later. He sticks his arms out towards Lorelai after she tries, and fails miserably, to hide another painful gasp. “Come on bugger, come to daddy. Mumma likes her hair on her head.”

Wyatt only lets go of the hair after a little coaxing, and then joyfully falls into his father’s arms. Lorelai collapses on their bed with a soft thud. She lets her eyes shut momentarily, feeling the bed dip under Harry’s weight right next to her. She opens her eyes to him bouncing Wyatt on his knee, the baby falling into a fit of giggles at the bumping motion.

“He needs to be fed, and then a bath,” Harry murmurs while brushing back that boys short curls. “You sleep, I’ll take care of him.”

Lorelai starts to sit up, ready to refuse, but Harry places a hand on her thigh.

“It’s okay. You entertained him for most of the plane ride, I can take over for now.”

“I’ll just take a quick nap,” she relents.

But a quick nap turned into nearly four hours. She honestly would have slept longer, would have never woken up, if the last time she’d eaten was on the plane, and even that she barely touched what the flight attendants had given her. She rubs her hand over her face, slightly miffed that Harry never bothered to wake her so he could take time for himself to rest, but as she padded into the living room any negative feelings she had melted away.

Harry sat on the sofa shirtless, his nose stuck in a book he had  tried reading on the plane, but thanks to Wyatt, never had a moment to open it. He peeked up over the pages when he heard the door open, and his mouth twitched up in the smallest smile at the sight of his wife. Wyatt laid on a small rug not far from Harry on his stomach, playing with a few of his toys that were set in front of him. Both of his parents know he’s going to be a menace as soon as he learns how to crawl, and although he hasn’t succeeded to do so yet, he tries to every day. He screams in delight at the sight of his mother and shakes a chubby fist at her before focusing back on his rattle.

Lorelai sits next to Harry, stretching her legs out on the couch so that her toes poke against his thigh. He grabs one of her ankles and squeezes, going back to reading his book.

“I’ve ordered room service. It should be here soon.”

“You’re a true gift from God, Harry Styles.”

He smirks, but says nothing more. His thumb and forefinger begin to knead into her ankle. Lorelai sighs in content, leaning further back into the couch. Even before all of the traveling, they really needed this vacation. They haven’t been on one since their honeymoon two years ago, and ever since the two of them have been working non-stop. First with their respective jobs, and then Lorelai got pregnant so they put all of their energy towards that, and then even more energy towards Wyatt once he was born. They had meant to wait until the summer to travel somewhere, when Wyatt was over a year old, but they had been wearing themselves too thin.

The only reason they were here now was because Harry demanded they do it. The couple had started snapping at one another more often than they used to before. But unlike before when it would end at snapping and the two would makeup, heated arguments would start instead. With all of the stress from their jobs and keeping Wyatt happy and healthy, they forgot to take a second for themselves, for each other. Harry sprung the idea of Hawaii out of nowhere, at least for Lorelai, because he’d already booked the plane tickets and hotel when he told her. At first Lorelai tried to refuse, she was even a little annoyed with him, that is until he gave his reasoning.

“We’re going to fall apart if we don’t go. And I don’t mean that in any funny sort of way like an exaggeration that our bodies are going to give up on us. I mean our relationship. I have no idea what projects you’re doing at work anymore, you don’t know that I’m thinking of opening another office for my firm somewhere else in London. We need to regroup somewhere not here, because I can’t lose you Lorelai. Not now, not ever, and you can throw a fit all the way to the beaches, because you and Wyatt are coming and that’s final.”

His bottom lip had wobbled, his eyes red from frustrated unshed tears. Lorelai hugged him then and started crying herself against his chest. They talked that night, talked about anything and everything. It’d been the most they talked to each other in months about something other than Wyatt.

Lorelai’s eyes were drooping again by the time the food arrived. Harry went to answer the door and Lorelai picked Wyatt up so he didn’t get in the way. He, of course, grasps onto her hair.

“I should cut it again,” Lorelai mutters while Wyatt plays around, acting like he’s going to tug and then doesn’t.

Harry tips the service and shuts the door. He looks over them with fondness. “You’d have to go bald then. He’ll like the challenge of shorter hair.”

Lorelai huffs, agreeing. When Wyatt lets go of her hair, distracted by his father’s tickling fingers, Lorelai ties it back and out of reach. She wraps her arms around Wyatt and pulls him closer to her chest. “Let me nurse him and put him down to sleep, and then I’ll be ready to eat.”

Harry nods and moves around to get the meals ready. Wyatt latches on Lorelai’s chest, and she massages the back of his head with soft fingers. He falls asleep within no time, and when Lorelai deems he’s had enough milk, she carefully moves him to the other room and into his crib. She shuts the door halfway as she leaves him. Harry had the food set up on a small table now. Lorelai sits next to him.

“We’ve got that couples spa thing that you wanted booked for tomorrow. The hotel reassured me again that their hotel daycare is the best around.” Harry murmurs before he starts eating.

“Are you still going to be taking those surfing lessons?”

“The day after next,” he confirms. “You can still join me if you’d like.”

Lorelai snorts and shakes her head. “It’ll be more fun on the beach with Wyatt watching you fall over.”

Harry pouts. “What do you mean. I’m a pro.”

“Not if you’re getting lessons babe.”

“They’re just to remind myself how to do it properly. I used to surf a lot on family vacations when I was younger.”

“Yeah, when you were fifteen and didn’t have any back problems.”

Harry shifts in his seat, as if just the mention of it caused a flare up of pain. “Oi, just shut it and eat your food.”

Lorelai grins, trying and failing terribly to hold back a laugh. They eat in a comfortable silence for the rest of the meal, taking their time scanning over each other and then the view from their balcony, and then back to each other. Harry’s left hand is holding onto Lorelai’s right one over the table, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. He nudges his foot against hers and she nudges his right back.

“It’s been a while,” Lorelai mumbles, not outright saying what it is, but knowing full well that Harry will understand what she is talking about.

“Have we at all since Wyatt was born?” His eyes look up, trying to calculate how much time has passed since they last had sex.

“We’ve done little things, but nothing much since I was pregnant. My whole body hurt for weeks after the birth, and we’ve been too tired to even think about it.”

“I’ll plan something special then,” Harry says, lifting her hand to kiss the back of her hand.

Lorelai rolls her eyes playfully. “It doesn’t have to be anything special.”

“For you, I want everything to be special.”

Lorelai grins and eventually nods. They finish eating and Harry stands to put the dishes outside of the door to be picked up. Lorelai moves back to the couch and picks up Harry’s book. It’s one she’s read before and bothered Harry for weeks to read himself so they could talk about it. She scans over the page, and nearly turns to the next one before it’s plucked out of her hand.

“Hey,” Lorelai pouts, looking up at Harry.

“You’re gonna lose my spot,” he fake moans. He sits next to her and wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

Lorelai places her hand against his bare chest and thrums her fingers against the skin. She nuzzles her head against the crook where his arm meets his shoulder. Harry leaned his cheek against the top of her head and holds the book open.

“You’re at a good part,” she whispers.

“Shhh, don’t spoil it.”

“I would never.”

Lorelai looks up so she’s watching him. His eyes flick down to hers momentarily before back to the book. He’s smiling. “You’re distracting me.”

“Well I want to see your reaction.”

Harry lets out an amused breath. She watches as he mouths the words silently to himself and his eyes flick over the page. She kisses his chest once and goes back to reading with him when she hears him turn the page. They stay like this for a while, Lorelai reading the pages faster than Harry and then turns to see how he reacts. When Harry finishes the chapter he realizes Lorelai’s soft breathing and that at some point she had fallen asleep.

He presses her nose against her hairline. “I love you,” he mumbled. He sets the book aside and then carried her off to bed.

December 25th, 2023

“Merry Christmas, baby.” Lorelai picks Wyatt up and out of his crib, talking in a hushed tone to make sure she doesn’t wake Harry up yet. Wyatt grabs onto Lorelai’s teapot charm necklace and stares at her with wide green eyes. “Let’s wake up daddy, and then we can see what presents Santa brought you, yeah?”

Lorelai maneuvers them so she’s kneeling on the bed beside Harry. He’s lying on his stomach, his head facing them, and his breathing slow. Wyatt had decided he wanted to stay up and see Santa Claus arrive himself,  at least that’s what the two of them joke to each other. Either way, Harry was on night duty, and Wyatt kept Harry awake until the early hours of the morning. Now the baby was well rested, and Harry probably felt like he’s only been asleep for only five minutes. Lorelai knows the feeling well.

She places the chubby baby on the back of Harry’s neck. Wyatt practically screams with glee and loses his hands in his father’s curls. “Da!” He squeals, something that made Lorelai only a teensy bit jealous. Wyatt only knew two words so far, Da and Waf, as in Waffle for their dog.

Harry groans momentarily and slowly blinks his eyes open. At first he can only see the red and green stripes of Wyatt’s pajama bottoms, but as the baby kicks his legs Harry can spot Lorelai’s amused grin in the background.

“Da. Da. Da. Da. Da.” Wyatt repeats over and over again, wriggling around so he’s practically jumping on Harry’s head.

“Hey mate,” Harry mumbled, holding onto his son’s legs so he doesn’t tip over. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas,” Lorelai replies, scratching a hand over Harry’s back. Harry hums in delight.

“Think it’s time to open presents, hm?”

Lorelai picks Wyatt back up, but immediately he wants back to his father. Harry holds him upright before twirling the both of them around the room. Wyatt laughs and hits his father’s bare chest.

Harry had ordered a small, pre decorated tree from the hotel services the day before. Now, it was filled with presents underneath that the parents had set up the night before. Wyatt marvels at the shiny wrapping paper. It’s a slow morning and they take their time letting Wyatt open his presents and inspect them. He’s pretty pleased with all of them, but he loved playing with the wrapping paper even more. Eventually, they started getting ready for the day.

By the time Lorelai emerged from the shower, Harry had himself and Wyatt ready. They were in the living area, Harry kneeling behind Wyatt and holding him so he could play with his new blocks. They were in the new shirts Lorelai had picked out for them a few weeks ago. It was a shirt Harry would never pick for himself, usually preferring simple shades to wear, but Lorelai demanded he wear some ‘tropical’ clothing for their trip.He was donning a yellow button up she bought with a black undershirt underneath.

“Remember what we’ve been practicing, hm?” Harry says to Wyatt, unaware to Lorelai’s presence.

“And what have you been practicing?”

Harry jumps and his eyes flick to Lorelai’s immediately. “Oh, nothing.”

Lorelai raises an eyebrow. “Nothing?”

“Nope.”

“You sure?”

“Yes I’m sure.” He stands and picks Wyatt up. “Come on now Skipper, let’s get to the beach.”

Lorelai eyes him suspiciously but follows Harry out of the room with their towel bag over her shoulder. On the elevator, she starts spreading the sun cream on Wyatt’s skin, much to his dismay. After another wriggle and more missed skin, Lorelai sighs.

“Look Wyatt. Daddy’s getting it too,” Lorelai hums.

“Wha-”

Lorelai presses the sun cream against Harry’s cheek. Wyatt burst out in giggles at his father’s shocked face. While distracted, Lorelai was able to finish rubbing all of it into the baby’s skin. Then she rubs in the white streak on Harry’s cheek. Harry playfully glares at her, but says nothing.

The beaches here are beautiful. The one they’ve been going to has been pretty exclusive to the hotel guests only. They set up in the spot they’ve claimed at their own over the last few days. They take out their towels and settle down onto them. Lorelai holds Wyatt while Harry sets up their beach umbrella. He strips out of his shirt and then he takes out the first pair of sunglasses he sees, Lorelai’s, and puts them on. And then he hands Wyatt a shovel and a small pail. He didn’t really know how to use it yet, but he enjoyed knocking over whatever towers Harry was successful in making.

“I’d say today’s been a hit so far,” Harry starts after a while of comfortable silence. He builds another castle for Wyatt to knock down.

“I would agree,” Lorelai hums and pushes some of the curls out of the baby’s face.

Harry leans over and presses a kiss against Lorelai’s knee. “I love you.”

Lorelai grins. “I love you too.”

“So me and Wyatt have been practicing something,” Harry finally admits.

Lorelai laughs. “And what is it?”

“Sort of like an extra Christmas present.”

“Well you two have already gotten me so much.” Lorelai nearly burst out crying from all of the presents that were labeled to her this morning from Wyatt. She got about a dozen different things telling her she was the number one mum in the world. Harry himself let a tear drop when he opened similar presents ‘from’ Wyatt.

“Well this is kind of different.”

Alright. I’m ready.”

Harry sits back now and brings Wyatt up into his lap. Harry leans down towards Wyatt’s ear and starts humming a ‘m’ sound. It takes about a minute, but finally Wyatt claps his hands together and screams, “Ma!”

This time Lorelai does cry. Wyatt falls into her arms easily, giggling against her chest. “Good job baby,” she whispers in fear that if she were to talk any louder than her voice would crack.

“Merry Christmas.” Harry rubs his hand against Lorelai’s leg. “To the best one I’ve had yet, and to many more just like it.

December 31st, 2023

Lorelai and Harry weren’t drunk, but they were certainly tipsy. Wyatt’s been asleep for a while now, and one of the best things about Wyatt at this age was that once he fell asleep he usually stayed asleep until morning. Harry had started the fire about an hour before. Lorelai had laid out some blankets and pillows in front of it. They dedicated this night to themselves, something they haven’t done in so long.

They were both naked under the blankets, breathing heavy as they both come down from their highs. Harry was to her side now, but still hovering over her. He’s got a hand wrapped around one side of her neck as his mouth nibbles at the other.

Lorelai scratches down his back. “At least you haven’t lost your touch.”

“Never lose it for you, Skipper,” he mumbles against her skin.

She grins, a dopey look on her face. “We should go on more vacations.”

Harry hums and nods. “I agree. Although maybe next time it should be just you and me that way we can do this all the time.”

“We should let my parents babysit more often. They always let us know that they can. We could take a weekend trip around Valentine’s Day.”

Harry lifts his head far up enough just so she can catch his grin. He presses his lips against hers in a soft kiss. “That sounds good to me.”

“We should also see a counselor, I think. Just in case.”

Harry squeezes her hip. “I’ll set up an appointment as soon as we get back.” A few years ago Lorelai knows Harry probably would have never agreed to that term, but after a few years of going to therapy himself and seeing how it’s helped him it’s easier for him to agree to it now.

Lorelai loses one of her hands in his curls and pushes him back towards her neck. He chuckles and obliges, nibbling on the skin again. But then he kisses lower to her shoulder, and then her chest until he disappears underneath the blankets. Lorelai shifts in anticipation, but Harry holds her body down with his hands as best he can.

“Harry,” Lorelai whines and reaches down to hold him. He intertwines her hands with his own.

“Happy New Year Skipper,” He mutters against her thigh.

After a bit more fun, and quite a bit more drinking, the couple fell asleep on the floor. This was probably a huge mistake for Harry’s back problems, but when Lorelai opened her eyes the next morning she knew she was in the absolute best place in the world. They are facing each other, and Harry’s arms are wrapped tight around her. His nose is pressed against her hairline and he’s snoring softly. It takes a moment for Lorelai to realize what had woken her up. Wyatt is moaning for his parents from the bedroom.

“What’re you doing?” Harry mumbles when Lorelai shifts in his grip.

“Wyatt,” Lorelai responds simply. She sits up too fast and then has to take a moment to gather her bearings. She and Harry haven’t drunk like that in a long time. A pre Wyatt time. It was hitting both of them hard.

Harry hums in response. He presses his palms against his eyeballs before slowly sitting up himself. “Are we going to try the bottle today?”

They’ve been trying to wean Wyatt off of breastfeeding recently because they knew if they waited until he was older it would be harder to do so. Lorelai nods.

“Alright. You get the bugger and I’ll warm up a bottle.”

Lorelai puts Harry’s t-shirt on before walking to the bedroom. “Welcome to the New Year darling,” Lorelai says while picking up her son. Wyatt still cries, but they lessen when he’s in his mother’s arms. “Should we go see what Daddy’s making for you?”

“Da?” The baby whimpers.

“Mhmm. Dada is making you an extra special treat.”

After Wyatt’s diaper has been changed, Lorelai takes him out into the living area. Harry’s already sitting on a chair with a bottle in hand. He’s wearing pajamas Lorelai had bought him for Christmas, a yellow t-shirt and a pair of pants that she thought would look funny on him. They do, but also he somehow makes them work that that makes her furious to some extent. He’s also wearing his pair of white sunglasses. His hair is sticking out all over the place.

Wyatt practically bursts out of Lorelai’s arms to Harry’s. Harry adjusts him in his lap before pressing to bottle to his lips. For a few minutes he refuses, but eventually Harry can coax him into drinking from it.

“Don’t know how you do it. I would have given up by now and just let him latch on.”

Harry smiles at her, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. An oncoming headache, she presumes. Harry has never been good with those. She goes to grab him some aspirin.

“Thank you Skipper,” he mutters before taking the pills. He shifts Wyatt over to one leg and then pats the other. Tentatively, Lorelai sits. Harry presses a kiss against the back of her shoulder.

Lorelai knows Harry can feel it too, the happiness, the peace, the calm, the love. The love the couple held for each other, that they held for their baby boy, and the love the baby boy shared right back with them. 

“Happy New Years.”

Harry kisses her shoulder again. “To many more happy years with the two of you. And maybe some more of us.”

“Don’t get cheeky. I told you, not for a while.”

“I can wait. I’ll wait forever for you.”

“Oh, don’t be such a sap,” Lorelai hits his shoulders playfully. Wyatt watches up at them with wide green eyes.

“There’s no other way I can be, Skipper, not around you. I love you too much.”

[diyunho]

The Joker x Reader - “From Above”

She fell from the sky. Literally. The Joker has no idea who Y/N is, but one thing's for sure: after the encounter his life will never be the same.

The loud splashing sound makes The Joker open his eyes only to see the pool water flooding the terrace, almost reaching the lounge chair he dozed off on.

“What the hell?...” he gets on his elbow, confused after being abruptly woken up.

The waves are starting to calm down a bit and J finally gets up from his spot, curious and intrigued about the shape he’s discerning on the bottom of the pool: there’s actually someone curled up in a ball, most likely a woman.

The protective, translucent barrier surrounding your body is already disintegrated by the time The Joker dives under the water to get you out. In a few seconds you are placed on the same chair he rested earlier, The King of Gotham increasingly pissed that the security downstairs didn’t do their job properly.

“Hey, hey!” he taps your shoulder, puzzled by the white, skin tight outfit you’re dressed with: every time he touches it there are small electrical charges following the complicated pattern of your outfit.

You faintly moan, slowly coming to your senses.

“Hey, wake up!” J insists while wondering if you’re one of the “fliers”, a term used for people thrown from planes: either they know too much or have to disappear for good. Mobsters would frequently use aircrafts in order to get rid of unwanted cargo; a little push at high altitude and the corpse would be found splattered all over the ground and often unidentifiable. Did that happened to you? Were you maybe lucky enough to have escape death by landing in his pool?...

The Joker grabs his cell from the tiny table by his deckchair, instantly yelling as soon as Frost picks up:

“Are you guys napping??? What am I paying you for, huh?? How did she sneak in?!!”

“Who sir?” the henchman replies, totally alert now that the boss seems in a very bad mood.

“The woman in the white outfit! How did she pass by unnoticed?! Or did you just let her in The Penthouse to see if I’m amused by your stunt?”

“Sir,” the goon defends himself and the team. “We patrolled the perimeter and I can tell without a doubt that we didn’t see a soul. We would contact you before sending someone to The Penthouse; we know the rules.”

“Do ya’???!!” J yells so loud you open your eyes. “Never mind!” he shrieks seeing the woman’s reaction. “I’ll take care of it!” he hangs up and throws the phone back on the table.

“You!” he pokes your waist, annoyed. “How did you get in here, hm? Who sent you?” the interrogation continues. “Where did you come from?”

He watches you direct your arm towards the night sky, your index finger pointing at the stars.

“Were you thrown from a jet?” he slams you against the cushions when you try to lift your head. “Answer me!” The Joker violently yanks at your hand.

You just glare at him, analyzing the strange man shouting things you don’t care about and it makes you happy.

“Oh!” you exclaim and he doesn’t have time to dodge when your arms go around his neck; the embrace is so unexpected it takes moments to recollect.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” J snaps out of it and shoves you away. “Don’t touch me!”

You frown and pout, upset he didn’t recognize you: how could he anyway? It’s been so many years and it appears life hasn’t been kind to him to begin with. The logic realization makes you smile and The Clown lets you touch his face simply because he plans to break your fingers for the transgression. You keep caressing his face and your fingers are still intact, but he’s going to snap them soon. Probably…

“Who are you?” The Joker growls, mad at himself for showing weakness: he didn’t hurt you yet and he sure feels the urge to shred you to pieces.

“Who’s that Mister J?!” Kira sulks and walks outside on the patio, jealous the man she spent the evening with has somebody else over. She heard the commotion from the master bedroom and since her partner wasn’t in bed she went searching for him. Only to find The Joker with another girl, apparently engaged in some kind of foreplay. Or at least that’s what she believes.

“I have no clue,” he snarls while distancing himself from the weird creature that landed in his life out of nowhere.

“Don’t lie Mister J,” Kira speculates on The Clown’s capability of twisting the truth all the time. “Is she your new toy?” the envious woman inquires.

“No,” and the simple reply is not even taken into consideration.

“It’s fine, I can work with that…You could have us both in the same time…” she seductively bites her lip since this is the only solution separating her from being chased out of the premises. “Just let me stay…yes?”

“Stop talking and go to sleep!!!” he lashes out because he’s fed up with the blabbermouth: J has more important matters to attend than a resentful, casual escapade.

“Is she a dominatrix or something? I could get a latex suit for you also if you’re into that,” she continues to gamble on his patience when in fact he definitely had enough.

“GET. YOUR.ASS. inside,” he mutters through his clenched jaw, “or I’ll make you!”

He is definitely angry and Kira halts her tirade, aware she’s walking on pins and needles.

“Hey, where are you going?!” The King of Gotham inquires when you suddenly jump of the seat before he can pin you down. You run by Kira and barge in, your wet hair dripping all over the expensive rugs in the Penthouse.

“What is she doing?” the lady asks a worked up Joker rushing after you.  

You keep on running around the huge living room, touching and marveling at all the extravagant decorations scattered around the place.

“Oh!!!” you keep on exclaiming and the odd behavior makes The Joker forget his temper and watch the scene with a painful grimace.

Out of the blue, a deafening noise shakes the Penthouse; a few windows crack and car alarms start blaring on the streets nearby.

Already? you think and stomp towards The Joker, grab his hand and drag him outdoors again.

“Let go!” he slaps your arm when your white outfit glows with such intensity he has to squint his eyes: your free hand reaches for the sky and he instinctively looks up; there’s something enormous shining above Gotham with lights rhythmically pulsating each time you take another step.

“Mister J, w-what is that?” Kira gestures at the eerie apparition and shrugs in fear when the pool water is ascending towards the invisible force acting like a magnet for the strong beam of incandescence illuminating the atmosphere.

Although it’s not necessary, you cling to the man you came for because he must be paralyzed by now: the flash always has this effect on first timers.

“Don’t be scared!” you reassure J, “I’m here to save you!” it’s the last sentence he discerns as both bodies float in the air towards the ship meant to get you out of there before it’s too late. “Don’t faint!” you try to keep him conscious but The Joker blacks out immediately, not used to the advanced technology he is privileged to experience.

**************

He groans in his dream, continuing to gaze at the transparent panels depicting stars and darkness steadily moving in the vast space. Maybe if he closes his eyes really tight and reopens them, he’ll be able to wake up from the bizarre hallucination.

Nope, it didn’t work.

“I’m in a padded cell at Arkham…I’m in a padded cell at Arkham…” he deeply inhales, repeating the words meant to aid him recover from the sluggish state he’s in. J manages to bring his fingers close to his face, not even noticing the tattoos on his hand are gone: the shimmering white attire he’s dressed with sticks out, adding to his astonishment. “Shit,” The Joker reprises his words, believing his brain is playing tricks on him: “I’m in a padded cell at Arkham…”

“You’re not in a padded cell at Arkham,” the woman’s firm yet calming tone informs and he turns his head instead of just looking up at the translucent ceiling: the sluggish state he’s in is starting to diminish, panic taking over.

“Where am I?” J mutters, his erratic breathing escalating the more he remembers about what occurred yesterday, unaware it was six days ago.

“Please calm down,” you smile and he attempts to stand up without success. “I know how it feels, I’ve been there before. Just take deep breaths and exhale, OK? You were in The Inc.Ubator for days but the process finally ended.”

“The…the what?” The Joker pants and you have to distract him otherwise he will hyperventilate shortly and it won’t help the situation.

“The Inc.Ubator fixes everything that’s wrong with someone at molecular level,” you press on his chest to assess his irregular heartbeat. “Do you sense a certain clarity in your thoughts? Like, they are not scrambled and distorted?”

J has no idea about the involved circumstances that lead to his redemption, but he’s about to find out.  

“I’m not sure,” he justly concludes. “I think I completely lost my mind and I’m delirious.”

You chuckle at his affirmation since that’s what you thought also when you were saved by THEM 23 years ago.

“You didn’t lose your mind, I can assure you of the opposite: it’s fixed now. I’m sorry about the tattoos, teeth and hair though.The Inc.Ubator reads them as anomalies that shouldn’t be there: it follows biological imprints stored in its memory for each species, removing and repairing stuff that shouldn’t be there. Wanna see?” you offer to help him up and once on his feet you guide the dumbfounded Joker to one of the panels that reflects back as a mirror as soon as you draw a circle on its surface.

“Oh my God!” he covers his mouth in disbelief at the unusual sight: he has no more green hair, pale skin or tattoos; he looks exactly how he is supposed to look like without the Ace Chemicals incident. NORMAL.

“What did you do to me?” he fakely grins only to see white teeth instead of his silver ones.

“Not me, The Inc.Ubator; it’s an honor to be chosen as survivor of a dying world,” you draw the circle and the screen transforms back into the clear panel granting the two humans a visual of what is going outside the interstellar vessel.

“That’s Earth,” you point at a humongous cloud of debris in the distance. “What’s left of it…” Y/N’s voice dims at the visual. “The core had a surge in temperature and the globe imploded right before I took you. No warning for the people, nothing to stop it.  But THEY saved us from that…”

The Joker has a hard time comprehending the insane concepts thrown at him, yet he finds the strength to utter:

“Who’s THEY?”

“Enhanced beings traveling around the Universe and collecting mementos of extinct planets. THEY can’t intervene, their laws forbid it,” you pause to sniffle. “THEY predict when catastrophe will strike and  rescue a few samples before annihilation.”

J nervously digs his nails in your suit, unsettled by the news:

“So you’re one of them?”

“No,” you shake your head. “I’m from Earth, part of the First Wave they saved several years ago.”

“Why was I selected?” the former Clown Prince of Crime demands an explanation and he’s enlightened with the answer.

“Now that your mind was gifted back to you, do you recall the orphanage?”

His sudden silence confirms he does.

“Do you remember the mute little girl you used to play with?”

His eyes get big and you continue:

“You never made fun of me and my disability like so many other kids did,” you sadly recollect. “You always shared the sweets you stole from the kitchen and protected me from the boys that used to tease me. You didn’t know sign language but we understood each other, didn’t we?” your eyes get teary at the emotional past.

“… … Y/N?... “ J articulates the name he didn’t say since he was a child.

You nod a yes and provide more details to the stunned man standing next to you:

“I’m sure you also remember I disappeared. I didn’t. I was simply taken by THEM and brought here where The Inc.Ubator mended my handicap: that’s why I can talk. When THEY decided to save a few more before the disaster, I was urged to pick someone: the young boy that was so kind to me was the only one that stood out from my old existence. Thanks to their technology I was able to track you down and come get you,” you start sobbing and intertwine his fingers with yours. “I’m glad I had the chance to return the favor my dear friend,” you bury your face in his shoulder, incapable of letting go.

And the changed Joker squeezes you closer to him, shocked at the craziness that followed the first encounter with the lost and forgotten childhood friend. He doesn’t know what the future holds, but one thing’s for sure: his life will never be the same.

Also read: Masterlist

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