#her third fashion doll with earrings!

[tanglednlove]

[mags-writes]

Sunlight || Part IV

Summary: frank gives you a call

Series Warnings: canon typical violence, canon typical swearing, first time writing x reader, no use of y/n, no beta readers we die like ray nadeem

Pairing: frank castle x fem!reader

Authors Note: lotta violence in this one ladies

PROLOGUE/MASTERLIST || PART I || PART II || PART III || PART IV || PART V

Frank knew your number by heart. Call him old-fashioned but he couldn't shake the habit of learning numbers by heart instead of just saving them to his contacts and forgetting about them.

He was trying his hardest to control his breathing as he typed in the numbers on his phone's keypad. Trying to stop the shaking in his hands as he brought it up to his ear. He listened, for what felt like forever as it rang.

Were you taking too long to answer? Or did it just feel like thousands of years passed instead of seconds?

The ringing stopped

"Hey, Frankie."

"Hey." He cleared his throat, his voice scratchy and rough from worry. "Hey, sweetheart. You goin' grocery shoppin' today, right?"

There was a seconds pause.

"Uh, yeah, yeah. I just left the apartment. Why? You want something specific for dinner?"

"I need you to stop." He said, his voice low and he hoped to god that you'd hear how serious he was being. "Don't go back to the apartment. Somethin's happened and it's not safe. You remember that support group I told you about?"

"Uh... The one with Curtis, right? Your friend from the military?"

"Yeah, yeah that one. Go there. Right now. You hear me? No stops." He ordered, and if that didn't work he was more than happy to resort to begging.

"I'm going to pick something up on the way."

"No. Listen to me, doll, you come straight here."

"You listen to me. I know how serious the situation is, okay? I'm going to make one stop and then I'll head over. It's on the way and I'll be twenty minutes tops. I'm not arguing with you, baby, twenty minutes. I'll be there."

Before he could reply the dial tone rang out. Shocked, he pulled the phone back to check that, yeah, you had absolutely just hung up on him.

"Uh," Laughed Amy, drawing his attention from his phone to the girl. "You didn't say she was your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend." He defended, walking back over to the large group.

"Yet." Commented Dinah, raising her eyebrows.

"Well," Matt spoke up with a hint of a smirk. "She just called him 'baby' so, the finish line's in sight."

40 MINUTES EARLIER

What Matt had said to you before he left put you on edge and you were lucky for it. In the months that you had been doing his grocery runs, you'd felt completely at ease out in public. Well, as at ease one could feel in Hell's Kitchen that is.

If he didn't have that talk with you then you wouldn't have been checking your surroundings like you were used to before coming to this dimension. You wouldn't have noticed someone following you.

You decide to take this guy on a journey. Walking to the poorer parts of the city that don't have security cameras on or in the old buildings and walking into one that, upon prior research, you knew had hardly anyone in there. The second you were in the lobby you ran for the old elevator, hoping and praying to a god you no longer believed in that you'd get in before your tail caught up to you. That you would make it up to whatever floor you decide to click on to lose him.

Luck was not on your side.

He walked in just as the doors opened for you and you both stepped into the elevator.

You clicked the button for the third floor.

He did nothing.

You both sat in silence for a second or two when he turned to face you. Adrenaline shot straight through you at the dead look in his eyes. And as per usual, when faced with these situations, you couldn't help but open your mouth to let the nerves out.

"Are we about to fuck?" You asked, throwing him completely off guard, tilting his head with a frown and staring at you for another second. "No? I'm the only one getting those vibes?"

When he pulled his arm back, taking his jacket with him you got a glimpse of the gun at his waist that he was reaching for. Without hesitation and before he could get a hold of it, you stepped back and put all your driving force into a practiced front kick to his stomach. He doubled over, groaning in pain and surprise as you straightened back up again. You didn't give him time to recover, bringing your fists up into a boxing stance and quickly striking out at his eye socket in a hit that would have made Jack Murdock whoop with pride. When his head went flying back with the force of your hit you struck out again at his exposed neck making him let out a gargled groan.

The door dinged to signal it was about to open and you gave one more swift kick to his ribs before bolting out the doors. Running as fast as you could down the hall and turning the corner. You went into a squat, fumbling for the bag at your side to try and grab a hold of your phone that always sunk to the bottom when you needed it most. You didn't hear your tail walk down the hall, your blood pumping in your ears and adrenaline making your hands shake. Or was it the blossoming bruises on your knuckles making them shake?

Right as you felt your phone, your head was yanked to the side by your hair making you yell out in pain. He brought you up to stand intending to hold his gun to your head but instead, you used a move that you learned from those women's self-defense classes you and other Karen had attended last year. Taking hold of the gun, moving it to the side so he couldn't hit you, hand underneath his wrist to take advantage of the joint, and then apply pressure, yanking the gun from his grasp within a second of him pulling it on you. You used the butt of it to hit him across the face before throwing it out the window, going back to your boxing stance Jack Murdock taught you back when you were six.

This time you let him recover. If this mother fucker was going to try and kill you then you'd let him have a fair fight. Let him get a taste of you.

He struck out, hitting you square in the front teeth and you felt your lip split from a ring he was wearing. You barely flinched. Letting the adrenaline really take over and shake off the hit. You hit him this time, a few times and quicker than lightning, quicker than him. You got in a few kicks, one of which he caught, bringing his elbow down onto your thigh making you grunt out in pain. Bringing you in close was a mistake though, now you had free reign on his face and you didn't stop until he let you go and pushed you away. If someone were to walk in on this fight right at this moment then they'd say the stumbling man bleeding from his face was losing, not the woman perked up and light on her feet.

He hit again and you easily blocked, taking on the hit and striking his ribs again before backing off. He wasn't ready for a fight today, and you could tell by how tired he was already. When you went to hit again, getting in close he got there first. Hitting your cheekbone felt like it sent a shockwave through your head. It left a ringing noise going through your head and you backed off, letting him have that. You felt blood drip down your face and you suddenly got angry. You decided the fight was over now. Whether he liked it or not.

You checked your surroundings, seeing that you had him backed up to the window you threw his gun from. You went to make it seem like you were pulling your arm back for an exaggerated punch that Jack Murdock told you to never do and when he hunched over to dodge it you instead shifted your weight and did another powerful front kick to his exposed chest. He teetered back, hitting the window, and went straight through the thin, non-regulated planed glass.

You took a breath. Letting your arms hang loose.

Then you remembered.

You were on the third floor.

And you just kicked a man out the window.

You scrambled for the elevator, running again as fast as you could down the hall and hitting the button so hard you were surprised it didn't break. When you made it outside, you rounded the corner to a shadowed alleyway, checking all angles for a lone security camera that might be around and finding nothing. You came to a stop in front of the heaped pile of man that was previously intent on killing you a few minutes prior. Realising he must've landed right on his head.

You're brought out of your staring when your phone rings.

"Hey, Frankie." You're still lightly panting from the adrenaline, the fight, and the running and you hope to god he can't hear it.

"Hey," He clears his throat. "Hey, sweetheart. You goin' grocery shoppin' today, right?"

There was a seconds pause.

Right.

Yeah.

That's what you were doing today.

"Uh, yeah, yeah. I just left the apartment." You lied, looking around in case someone walked by. "Why? You want something specific for dinner?"

"I need you to stop." You frown, going back to looking at the man and panicking that Frank somehow knew this had happened. "Don't go back to the apartment. Somethin's happened and it's not safe. You remember that support group I told you about?"

"Uh..." Oh, thank god. You take a second to get your thoughts together. "The one with Curtis, right? Your friend from the military?"

"Yeah, yeah that one. Go there. Right now. You hear me? No stops."

"I'm going to pick something up on the way." You decide out loud, completely disregarding what he just said.

"No. Listen to me, doll, you come straight here."

"You listen to me." You emphasised, not taking his overprotective bullshit. "I know how serious the situation is, okay? I'm going to make one stop and then I'll head over. It's on the way and I'll be twenty minutes tops. I'm not arguing with you, baby, twenty minutes. I'll be there."

Then you hung up on him.

Nope. Not taking his overprotective bullshit. Not even a little bit.

[switch]

well it’s my birthday so i got the big netflix horse after all even though i briefly felt a bit silly about it.

really, she doesn’t disappoint compared to stock photos at all. if anything, my biggest hangup from the stock photos, which were the visible molding lines inside her hooves, appear much thinner and less noticeable in person. otherwise, this is… sort of exactly the kind of toy i’ve been complaining hasn’t been gotten right in decades. the stylistic blend of neither being too cartoony while neither being too hyper-realistically anatomically horse is spot on.

she’s huge, which is a knock on storage space and the price (though she’s certainly not collector doll priced), and i’d say these could probably even afford to get knocked down to dream beauty or fsf scale for practicality without taking a detail hit, but i understand they want them to scale with the fashion dolls, and i’ll take that over the prevalence of blindbag scale horses with plastic hair.

her eyes are about on the level of detail of a my little pony, her paintjob is nice and a bit shimmery. her horn is super long, reminds me of a classical unicorn, and she’s got proper horsey shaped ears. the molding on her fetlocks could maybe be a bit cleaner but it’s alright.

my one concern is her hair. it does look kind of suspiciously shiny in some areas. i did feel the small scale unicorns’ hair and was surprised at how soft it felt despite how it looks, but i haven’t felt hers and i don’t know yet if it’s nylon or polypropylene or some secret third thing. i’m going back and forth on leaving her in her box. really i do quite like the box besides the netflix render, it’d be super clean without that, and she’s about as big as it is so it doesn’t change the space requirements that much. but i am also a bit concerned if that saddle has long term potential for staining her.

anyway i am happy i got her in the wake of mlp going bellyup. colorful plastic horse toys are so back.

[idontunderstandchemistry]

Indecent Proposal (An academic rivals to lovers fanfic) - Tim Drake x Latina!Fem!Reader.

Sinopsis: Being a scholarship student at Gotham's most expensive school is not easy, especially when your academic rival, your nemesis, who coincidentally is the owner's son, decides to make you a rather usual proposition.

Tropes: Academic rivals-to-lovers, contract/bet, he loved her all this time, everyone else sees it except them, opposites attract, etc.

A/N: I refuse to believe that Tim Drake isn't a sucker for lingerie. This man would love undressing you when you're all dolled up for him. I firmily believe that he would steal your panties as a souvenir. Also, this chapter's song was chosen bc I simply cannot take Gisele on the 2006 VS fashion show rocking the runaway.

For those of you that want to read some chapters ahead, feel free to acess my AO3 account here.

Warnings: Some suggestive talk, nothing extreme. Also SugarDaddy!Tim behaviour.

Wordcount: 2179.

Chapter fourteen

Chapter Fifteen: Crowns and Cream

You never regretted anything so badly in your life like you regretted letting Tim plan your “next date”, as he liked to call it. After the incident with Alysanne on Monday you guys had to be more careful around them. So for the rest of the week, there were no unplanned meetings in the third floor’s bathroom and no meetings in each other’s houses too. But today he wanted to see you and you were afraid that if you said no he would appear at your house with a big bouquet of roses for your mother. So you said you would go out with him. It was weird, you have had him inside you but you were afraid of going out with him.

He quickly stopped in front of your house and you got inside his car. He wanted to kiss you, but you told him to drive. Your nosy neighbours probably were dying to discover who was sending all those flowers to your house, you weren’t going to give them a car plate for them to look up on the internet.

— Can I have a kiss now? — He asked, pouting, after he parked the car in the mall parking lot.

You rolled your eyes and pulled him towards you by the neckline of his Blue Beatle themed shirt. He held your face gently and caressed your cheeks with his thumbs while you kissed, and you were terrified because you could feel him smiling between the kisses. You pulled yourself away and he leaned towards the glove compartment and took his cap and sunglasses out of it. You had to stop him before he enjoyed it too much.

— So… why are we in the mall? — You asked while he put on his disguise. At least it wasn’t glasses and a fake moustache.

— I’m pampering you today — He said, putting a mask on. You opened your mouth and started to talk but he continued — Actually it’s more like buying myself a gift, but you’re the one that’s going to be using it, anyway. Don’t fight back, please.

You looked at him confused.

— Where are we going, exactly? 

— Victoria Secrets — He smiled, getting out of the car. You stood in shock while he opened the door for you. He planned on spending the afternoon buying lingerie for you?

— I’m not good in choosing lingerie, Tim — You said, accepting the arm he offered to you as you walked together to the entrance of the store

— Don’t worry, darling, I know what I like — He said before getting inside. You laughed.

— Red ribbons — You said, when you started to look around the displayed pieces, your hand holding his bicep.

— I sure do — He said, and you knew he was smiling under his mask — And you look breathtaking in them. I can’t wait to see you all wrapped in red ribbons. One on each thigh, one on your pretty waist, one in this pretty neck of yours…

— Tim, stop, someone might hear — You said, looking around, your cheeks already flustered. 

He leaned closer to your ear.

— Why? Are your panties already soaked? — He asked in a mocking tone — Don’t worry, darling, we are in a lingerie store, I can buy you new ones if you already ruined them. 

— You better shut up… — You said in a lower tone, not so worried anymore.

— Hi! My name is Therese! How can I help the young couple today? — The attendant materialised literally out of nothing, which made you almost jump from the scare. Tim quickly set his hands on your waist, pulling you closer.

— Hello, Therese — Tim said, his head tucked in the space between your neck and your shoulder — We are just looking for some lingerie for our honeymoon.

— Oh, how romantic! — The girl exclaimed with a sweet smile — Most women want it to be a surprise. But I guess it helps to build up the mood for the big night, so congratulations for the bold move. You guys seem too young to be engaged, though…

— Hm… we are religious — You said rapidly, taking your necklace from under your shirt — You know how it is. Big boy here can’t keep his hands away from me for long.

Tim simply nodded and Therese guided you through the store. She showed everything to you and then left you free to choose and advised you to call if assistance was needed. The minute you and Tim were alone, you slapped his arm.

— This isn’t a nice way to treat your future husband — He said, laughing while he massaged his bíceps.

— Oh, I’m sorry, but I missed the part where you asked for my hand — You said, grabbing a whip that was on display and hitting him with it. 

— Be careful with that — He said, getting closer — I love being hit by pretty women. 

— You are a lost cause, Timothy — You said, trying not to smile — Now go pick up some pretty and expensive fabric that will be in my body for 20 minutes before you tear it all apart.

— Darling, if you think I’m spending 400 dollars in a lingerie set to tear it you are completely crazy — He said — I plan to fuck you in those, just pushing the fabric aside before getting inside of you.

— Enough of the dirty talk.

— Want to jump for the action? I could tease you all day long, babygirl.

— And don’t call me babygirl — You hit him with the whip again — This is creepy old man shit. Now go get the damn sets before I storm out of the store.

He laughed.

— Yes, ma’am.

You looked around and your eyes got caught in a pretty white laced set. A pretty balconette style bra with thin stripes and the lace pattern were small flowers and leaves connected to boning structures, like a corset, framing the body of the mannequin beautifully; the panties followed the same scheme, pretty lace with thin stripes on the sides. Simple, no bows, no pearls, no glitter, and, still, the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen.

— You like it? — Therese asked, appearing out of nothing again. 

— Yes… — You answered, mesmerised — It’s very pretty.

— Do you already have your bridal set? — She asked — It would look very pretty on you. I’ll get you one of these in your size, honey. The testing room is there. Don’t worry, I’ll take your fiance there too.

Therese pushed you to the testing room and closed the curtain, leaving you alone with the mirror. Nervous, you started undressing to your underwear. Then the curtain opened slightly and Tim’s face appeared through the gap, the rest of his body in the way so nobody would see your nakedness. You appreciated the act, even though the store was practically empty anyways and the Testing Room area was quite private.

— Started without me? — He asked, smiling with his mask pulled down to his chin. You rolled your eyes to him, trying to disguise your embarrassment — You look so fucking pretty.

— Hand me the sets you chose — You asked.

— What if I fuck you against the mirror, like you proposed the other day? — He wondered and you felt your insides clench. 

— Tim… — You said — We are in a store. I wanted you to fuck me in my bed and you denied me. Don’t do this to me now.

— I’m just teasing, darling — He said, smiling at you sweetly — Now, why don’t you give me a kiss before changing into the pretty and expensive sets I chose for you, huh?

You stepped closer to him and your hand reached his face, cupping it tenderly. Your thumb caressed his cheeks before your lips touched his. In a tender kind of hunger, his tongue slid to your mouth. He kissed you like a man that needed you so much he couldn’t understand. The fabric of the curtain rubbed against your bodies, separating you in a teasing way. One of his hands reached to your wais and gripped it through the fabric. At this point, you honestly didn’t care that you were practically in public, you wanted him closer. The grip of your fingers on his face became tighter and you pulled him closer, towards the inside of the testing room.

— Here it is, sweetie… — Therese said, getting closer, which pulled you guys awkwardly apart. 

Your lips were a cherry red and glossy because of the kiss and your heart beated faster, slamming your ribcage like you’ve been caught with your pants on your hands. Half of you damned her approach, and the other half was thankful for it. There was no self control in your body to avoid him fucking you against the mirror if the kiss lasted a bit longer.

— Thank you, Therese — You said, smiling at her, reaching out for the set.

— White? — He asked as the woman left you guys, closing the other curtain that separated this testing room from the hall — My pretty bride.

— Shut up, Drake — You smiled at him, closing the curtain.

The first set you tried was, obviously, a red one. 

Very much alike in this fantasy, this one was pretty complicated and had many ribbons. The corseted bra pushes your boobs up beautifully, the black ribbons on the sides bring a nice spice. The panties were pretty simple, despite the cut out heart on the upper part of the back. The garter belt and the stockings were made of the same black lace that embellish the cups of the bra. Your cross pendant resting on the top of your breasts was a special touch.

You yourself were surprised. This playboy had an incredibly good taste.

— Do you need help, love? — He asked, bored, and then you opened the curtain, revealing yourself. His eyes widened and he glitched on his seat — Wow. It’s like christmas. 

— I thought you were an atheist — You said, approaching him slowly and seductively — You’re not supposed to celebrate christmas.

— Darling, Christmas is more likely a commercial holiday these days — Tim said, his hands itching to touch you — Turn around.

— Turn around, what?

— Please. 

You smiled and turned around, slightly bending to give him a better view of your ass.

He whistled and his hands shyly cupped your butt cheeks. 

— Did you like this one? — He asked.

— You’re the one supposed to like it. 

You felt his soft lips pressed against your lower back.

— I sure like it — He said, his thumbs caressing the sides of your hips. He kissed you on the heart shaped cut. Damn it was hot — But I would like you even if you were dressing a potato bag. I want to know what you think about it.

— It’s different — You said, standing straight again —  I never wore something like this. But I like what it does to you. Your eyes are shining, playboy.

— You are shining, love — He said, manhandling you to look at him — We are buying this one, then. Go on and try the next.

He quickly kissed your stomach and, smiling, you got back to the testing room.

The afternoon was quite pleasurable. Despite the sexy ambience, you guys actually laughed a lot and had much fun. You showed almost every set for him, only keeping the white one to your eyes only, and after paying for everything, you  decided that you needed a more discreet bag to take the sets to your house. Tim had the amazing idea of buying you a Superhero merch sweatshirt to match with him. Surprising no one, he chose a Red Robin themed one. You stared at him seriously, but a smile showed on your face not long after he showed the matching mask to you. He was such a tease. 

— I hate you.

— Nah, you don’t — He said, putting the sweater over your dress. He admired you for some seconds before he slipped the sets into the Oficial Justice League’s bag and handed it to you — Hungry?

— Starving! — You exclaimed laughing while you adjusted your mask on your face.

— Hm… what do you want to eat?

— You’re not paying for it — You said as you started to walk towards the food court — You’ve already spent too much with me today. 

— I told you, these sets were a self gift — He said, laughing, and you noticed he was giving shy looks at your free hand — Of course, you’re the one using, but I’m the one enjoying.

— Yeah, but it feels like I’m taking advantage of you — You said, walking closer to him. 

Your hand brushed shyly on his.

— Oh, if there’s anyone here taking advantage, it is me — He said in a lower voice — What if we buy all the french fries on Burger King, get two crowns and then go order MacDonald’s Milkshake?

You laughed. He was pure chaos embodied in a horny teenager.

— Seems fun to me — You said and grabbed his hand.

You knew this was much more like a date than you would feel comfortable to, but for some reason, you didn’t mind. Nothing could convince you to not order MacDonald’s Ice cream wearing Burger Kings’ paper crown with Timothy Jackson Drake Wayne.

[thelovelymissbigbadwolf]

Silly little Kingdom Hearts HC

SeaSalt Trio Edition:

They're roommates, but only Axel pays the rent cuz he wanna be the big brother in this. Yes, Saix has to help.

Roxas spent hours playing Tony Hawk games and swears THAT'S how he learned how to skate.

Axel is the one to know the truth and even has photo evidence this claim is in fact false.

Xion likes dolls and is often scrolling through the OOAK tag.

Axel is terrified of going into Xion's room because he's terrified of dolls and her room is filled with some that he finds specially creepy.

Roxas isn't scared of dolls, but hates live sized dolls because they're too close to uncanny valley to him.

Xion is currently making a life size doll from scratch.

No, Rox and Axel are not pleased, but definitely support their friend.

Roxas has fake tattoo sleeves.

Axel has a few tattoos he quite likes it, but his favorite is of a fiery axolotl.

The one he hates and go to great lengths in hiding is a small crooked star with "u dood it" written inside. It was all shits in gigs when he did it, but now he hates it.

Xion has a heart tattooed near her left eye because of Draculaura.

She has vampire fang piercings on her upper lips, Vanitas was the one to pierce it.

Axel has a ton of piercings, bridge on his nose, quite a few ear piercings since it's the area he least feels pain and recently made dimple piercings he loves it and Saix constantly makes fun of saying it's "bread crumb piercing".

Roxas has regularly pierced ears plus one upper helix piercing on his left ear.

Roxas is a bottle blonde.

Axel is a bottle redhead.

Xion is a bottle brunette.

Yes, they let their roots grow to make dye nights and paint each other's hair.

Saix is a bottle... "Bluette"? No, he does not take dye nights, he prefers going to an actual hair salon to dye his hair professionally.

Someone uses blue lenses, but they don't know if it's Roxas or Xion, or even if it's from a third person.

Axel says he has a pretty eclectic music taste but actually he only hears to ex-Disney Channel star's music. His favorite is Selena Gomez and he stans Rare Beauty.

Roxas is the actual eclectic one, he actually knows how to play drums even.

Xion is a metalhead. Low-key, she hears on a basis Metallica, Slipknot, Iron Maiden and System of a Down, but in true she adores Tenacious D.

Axel is the only one that dates, yes it's Saix, how did you know?

Saix is the mom and Axel tries to be the responsible dad, but he's as irresponsible as Rox and Xion.

Xion loves goth and lolita fashion.

Roxas will not admit, but loves 2000's emo fashion.

Axel likes hipster fashion. Yes, even the mustaches.

Xion overdresses, Axel is Adam Sandler and Roxas is the middle term.

Xion loves Phantom of the Opera and even has a rose with a black ribbon tattooed.

Roxas wants to do a tattoo, but doesn't know what his first tattoo should be.

[phantomphangphucker]

Phic Phight - Tailored Hijinks

For: @thejustdancerodent @mymadmedleyw @lexosaurus @q-gorgeous

Even just simply amusing his friend by playing dress-up doll can’t go normally.

Danny stretches out his fingers a little, flexing them to get the slight cramping out. This stupid gash in literally the bottom of his foot was being a bitch to stitch up, and was surely going to be even more of a bitch to have to walk around on. And then, lucky him, his phone goes off.

“Danny? Goddamn finally, could kinda use your help…", and she trails off a  little.

Danny sits up stiffly before realising that she doesn't exactly sound very urgent; and after all not even ‘I need your help’ call needed to be urgent, all his friendships would be pretty fucked if that was the case. Sagging a little and sticking the phone between his ear and shoulder, continuing to work on his stupid foot. He knows that by the time he gets to wherever she is, his foot will still be sore as fuck, but at least it won't be a giant, bone deep hole. "Where are you? What’s happening? It better not be goddamn Boxy”.

"That little shallow bitch and her groupies are here, I so don’t want to deal with this, so care to join me at the mall?".

She says it in a way that Danny honestly can't refuse in good consciousness. Sighing slightly as he finishes up the stitching, giving his foot a little pat, "…Fine."

"Oh thank fuck, get your ass down here already", and she hangs up on him, making him roll his eyes. Whelp, there's no backing out of this shit now.

Normally finding one lone person in a mall, even in a small town, would be a bitch to do but Sam was a goth. So massive crowd or no, why the fuck is there so many people?, he finds her at the food court very easily, her rocking her combat boots, purple Trenchcoat, grey/black plaid skirt, purple fishnets, and some underground punk band tee; at least this meant he wouldn’t have to spend potentially hours chasing her scent through a million stores or something…

Waltzing over to her with ease before gently tapping her on the shoulder, her eyes snapping up to him before a large grin stretches across her face. She jabs him with a finger, "finally! I got us food, salad lettuce wraps, don’t you dare complain".

Danny shrugs, snatching up his wrap, he’s down to eat and get off his currently throbbing foot; absently rubbing it slightly with a wince.

She glares at him, “you better not be injured, Danny”; she wanted a shopping buddy/popular girl shield, but not that badly.

“Skulker was being an ass again, but I’m fine”. That was a lie, on both counts. Danny stepped on a grenade with no clue where said grenade came from; and said foot was not actually fine but it would be in time.

Sam hums a bit disbelievingly but unwraps her food and chomps down, giving him a pointed look the entire time.

Danny coughs, biting into his own food, “so-”, swallowing a bite or two, “-what kind of shopping are you dragging me into here?”.

She swallows the last bite of her sandwich with a grin, standing up immediately, “Glad you asked. I was thinking about hitting the new higher-end alt store in hopes of finding these huge platform shoes that I saw online. And I can also get you a new wardrobe too”, and smirks meanly.

Ah. Once again, Danny’s the dress up toy. His body ready to be used and abused for whatever she wanted to do with it. Thankfully, he’s not that picky about his clothes and doesn’t really mind people dressing him up for fun; whether it's in a dress, a skirt, heels, a leather jacket or eyeliner. But his own fashion will always be one part lazy and one part durable/able to hide blood stains. So he shrugs, “I mean, I guess? I won’t consistently wear any of it, you know”. And then glares murderously in the distance at Paulina who had eyes Sam a little; little Miss Popular scampers off.

Sam rolls her eyes, “we’ll see about that one”, grabbing his wrist and dragging him off; barely giving him a chance to throw out the garbage… only, like, a third of the thrown garbage managed to actually make into the trash.

-

With in minutes Danny’s stuck sitting near a dressing room twiddling his fingers and vaguely playing with his phone; looks like ol’ Boxy had taken his daughter out to the playground, the pictures are legit adorable. There's a large pile of clothes sitting next to him, it was a little absurd honestly, some of it was frilly? He didn’t really do frilly, way too easy to get snagged on or by something.

Sam makes shooing motions at him towards the dressing rooms, “well, dummy. Try it”.

Danny rolls his eyes but obliges, making a damn point of trying on the most horrifically mismatched shit he could; it was also freakishly oversized. A particular sad banana dress shirt, green polka-dot cargo pants with an absolute ton of straps, a bright orange chest harness that is surprisingly thick, and a hot pink choker. As soon as he stepped out she chucked practically twelve shirts at him, “that is horrific! My poor eyes”.

Danny snickers and slips back into the dressing room, next he’s totally wearing one of the sweaters from the women's section that he could absolutely rock if it wasn't several sizes too small and if he hadn’t paired it with a silly pumpkin spice themed scarf and newsboy hat.

She actually assesses this one, “if that sweater came in bigger sizes…”.

Danny grins a little, “tell me about it”, flexing in a bit of a ridiculous pose, sweater absolutely ridding up over both his stomach and arms, “I mean really? This is not giving it”.

She nods with a cringe, pointing at him, “and if you ever wear a skinny scarf again, I’ll smack you”. Then getting up herself and going in.

… She comes out in a neon blue clear cyber skirt, one of those ones made out of plastic, paired with shiny red shorts, and a long sleeved paint splattered black sweater, “too bright?”.

Danny covers his eyes comically, “ah! I’m being blinded! The light! The LIGHT!”, and starts laughing when she smacks him a bunch. Him wheezing after a bit, “okay okay, I’m serious now”. She huffs at him, as he continues, “but really, if the light hits the shiny shorts right the clear skirt will reflect it back and you might actually blind a bitch”.

“So the shininess is the problem”.

Danny nods curtly. Danny did actually know his shit with clothing, his high dressers have stuffed him into a million things that he had to get used to wearing; when you get used to dressing like a mother fucking royal you also learn how to dress that way.

She nods right back before shoving another set of clothes into his hands, "I demand more, dance for me, my mannequin”.

Danny gives a slightly nervous, “okay”, but sticks his tongue out while he heads into the dressing room again. Honestly? dealing with dressing rooms and shit was half the reason why he just repeat bought the same shit over and over again. He obliterated his clothing so damn often, so he was always having to replace his clothing. Heck, just the sheer amount of shoes he went through? Fuck he went through a pair every month at minimum.

Some of the shit Sam had grabbed was shit he blatantly would never wear, like, ever; which she damn well definitely knew. A masculine crop top. A fishnet over top. Another fishnet top. A third fishnet top. Ancients. A shirt with a v-neck lined with spikes that was so low it wasn’t really a shirt… more like a unfinished jacket. The corset was a massive fuck no. Why did she even put an Emo version of a lion king themed varsity jacket in here? The shiny red pants would have been a maybe if they didn’t look like they’d take ten minutes just to get on. But there is some okay things. A nice maroon t-shirt with a tiny devil decal in the bottom left corner. A soft black vest over top with filigree detailing. Black trousers with a subtle houndstooth design and a nice leather belt. There was at least eleven different collars, most with either spikes or oversized crosses. The amount of times he got choked seriously put him off from having anything that tight around his neck; the thick dog chain wasn’t bad though. At least she didn’t hand him any Tripp pants, he’s rejected those things so many times, they were just way too hard to run in and the noise of the chains smacking around was annoying.

He’s picking that dog chain, the houndstooth pants, and a shirt that says ‘I eat babies in my spare time’. Strutting out and trying to exude ‘I own the world’ with every step, “this is mildly tolerable”.

Sam rolls her eyes at his antics, “oh I’ll take it”.

“Now are you going to let me get away with only getting one outfit?”.

She gives him a mean look, “absolutely not, suffer”, and chucks some more stuff at him.

Unfortunately, one of the things she threw definitely had a spike on it and said spike goes right into his eye with a wet swick. Danny just stands there, all the clothing falling to the ground except the vest that’s currently more or less attached to his eye socket. She goes wide-eyed and just stares at him, so he kind of just slowly grabs the vest and yanks out the spike. Holding the vest at arms length, “whelp, now I have to buy this”.

“It… it will look good on you”.

Danny smirks at that, “I always look good covered in my own blood”, and blinks the gored eye socket; this is probably the first time he’s ever messed up his clothing before he even bought it, goddamn. He hands it off to her and drags the rest of the stuff into the dressing room, shouting at her, “I’m just going to sit in here till I have an eye again!”.

Sam shakes her head with a slight apologetic wince before moving to clean off the vest she just bloodied with his face.

It doesn’t take too long for his eye to not be a mangled mess, and for it to be possible for him to pull the tattered sweater with the grim reader drinking a martini on over his head without smearing it with blood/ectoplasm. The fall themed harem pants are something that he absolutely will not ever wear though, he can just feel how easily they will get caught and snagged on things; he likes baggy pants but this was a little ridiculous. He’ll still let her see it though, meaning he walks back out, she immediately throws the spiked vest at him again… at least it doesn’t impale him anywhere again. And when he slips it on it does actually go pretty well with the sweater, Danny looking down, “I look like a beat up hippie”.

He can hear the cringe in Sam’s voice, “yeah harem pants are definitely meant for someone skinnier than you. Anyway, last things”.

Danny looks up at her and sighs, grabbing the last bit of clothing she’s holding out. He gets that she has money but this all feels kinda like a waste to him, “you know this is all gonna get destroyed right?”.

She huffs at him and makes shooing motions, “just ‘cause you put clothing through hell doesn’t mean you should dress like you crawled out of a dumpster”.

“Hey I like my dumpster-chic”. She glares, he goes back into the changing room.

It’s one of those black sweaters with a hole in the chest that is absolutely skin tight… Tucker would make comments about her trying to turn Danny into eye candy. The black pocket covered pants though? Are fucking Kevlar which might actually be super good for him. Honestly he was a bit more used to the stores she’d occasionally drag him to to try and goth/punk him up only having cheaper or basic grade clothing. The ghost necklace is pretty cute too, dainty and will be destroyed in a week at best, but cute. He adds on the leather belt from earlier and goes back out. Quirking an eyebrow at her and gesturing a bit ridiculously at the shit, “happy?”.

She snaps a photo immediately with a smirk, “very much so, yes”, pointing a finger down to the pants, “think those might survive a while?”.

“I’m honestly surprised you found Kevlar anything, worth a shot. So yes, definitely buying”.

She cheers a little and motions him over. Spreading some of the clothing out on the bench. “Okay so I know I’m getting these for sure”. From the looks of it she’s got a black sweater with a bunch of glitching teeth all over it, two more plaid skirts, a pair of tights that give the illusion of doll legs, a pack of black socks, the neon blue clear cyber skirt, a sweater with a bunch of stiff fabric cut outs of knives dangling off it, and a Lurking Class ‘trust no suits’ shirt. “And you’re definitely getting these, and the pants you’re wearing”. There’s the vest that stabbed him, the maroon shirt with the devil on it, the houndstooth trousers, leather belt, dog chain, dainty ghost necklace, the sad banana dress shirt (which yes, is because it will piss Vlad off the next time he drags Danny to a gala), and the ‘I eat babies in my spare time’ shirt. Sam nods at the spread and then smirks at Danny, “you’re getting that sweater too”.

Danny rolls his eyes, “absolutely not, I’m not this kind of whore”. She doesn’t drop the smirk and Danny finds out why when he goes back into the dressing room to get back into his normal clothing… she put fucking glue all over it and it was now stuck on him and he can’t actually change back into his actual clothing; he couldn’t even phase it off meaning it was ghost grade glue, because of fucking course. That mother fucker. “SAM!”. She starts laughing menacingly at him immediately before her arm snakes under the door and snags his jacket… meaning he can’t cover this up either. Goddamnit. At least the fucking pants come off.

As soon as he gets his actual pants on he’s out and basically chasing after Sam, who managed to not only pay but also leave the store in record time. Danny shouting, “I’M WITH THE GOTH!”, as he leaves himself.

“She already paid for what you’re wearing! Please don’t throw money at me!”.

Danny gives a thumbs up behind him as he goes, he is mildly annoyed he can’t just fly at her as he follows after her all the way back to the food court. Which then turns into a game of ‘hide around the tables’ with her running around and behind tables, bobbing and weaving, with him trying to snag her. She ducks under a table and pantses him… Danny just stops and blinks at her, pants around his ankles, “really?”. She smirks and books it; fleeing the food court.

And then Dash of all people turns away from the New York Fries stand and blinks at Sam running away, then at Danny, “what did she do to you?”, blinking again and walking over some, “and I knew you had muscle these days but damn”, and offers him the fries.

Danny flips him off, but does take a fry while staring after Sam a bit murderously.

“Are you going to pull your pants up, or…”.

Danny gives him a flat look, “are you going to do it for me?”. Dash immediately smacks him in the head, which turns into a mild slap flight; the fucking fries get destroyed and some wind up in both of their hair.

Sam’s just watching from a distance with her hands sticking out to the sides disbelievingly and a ‘you’ve got to be fucking kidding me’ look on her face. She facepalms when Vlad comes around a corner, stops dead in his tracks, at mutters, “Daniel, what the fuck”.

Which instantly resulted in both boys instantly stopping and turning to look at the mayor well know for only swearing with food stuff. Danny squeaks, “did you just swear?”.

Vlad blinks before going a little wide-eyed, turning on his heel and speed walking away. Danny sputtering, moving to go after the man, “oh no you don’t! You get back her-”, and his fucking ankle pants catches on a chair resulting in him flipping over the courtyard railing and flinging the chair with him which flies through the air and nearly brains someone. Danny gives up and lays on the ground; he’s pretty sure he ripped his pants even.

Sam walks back over and looks down at him, “how are you this stupid”.

“Hey! You’re the one who glued a shirt to me”.

Dash blinks, “she glued that on you?”. Sam glares at the jock murderously, so he takes a step back and grumbles, “I’m going to get more goddamn fries, you freaks are menaces”.

After a few seconds Danny speaks back up, “you are forgiven, Vlad said fuck”.

Sam goes wide-eyed and then digs in his pants pocket, doesn’t bother pulling them up for him though, and grins at the device; when she shows the screen to him he can’t help smiling too. Somehow, some way, he accidentally had the voice recorder on; he had audio proof of Vlad swearing like a proper mother fucker. He texts it to Vlad immediately.

Vlad sent back: 👁️👁️. Which was absolutely a death threat. Followed by ‘put your pants on, Daniel’, Danny takes them off fully and throws them in the trash, walking home in underwear, a glued on titty hole sweater, and fries in his hair. All with promises of Sam-focused revenge.

End

Prompts: Sam tried getting Danny into the ‘goth stuff’ she likes and What did she do with his body? and Well, shit. He can’t change back! and "Danny stopped at once, his mind pausing for a second. Did he... did he hear it well? Did Vlad just curse like... like a normal human being?" A.k.a. the one time Vlad had a legitimate reason to drop his sweet-related swears and surprisingly over a mundane situation.

[styleofdiamandis]

        LOVE + FEAR TOUR: NADYA DZYAK & OTHER

We have finally arrived at the third and final chapter of our “Love + Fear” world tour fashion breakdown! After we looked at the designs of Maggie Barry and Olima, it’s time to tackle down all the looks created by the other designers who were involved in this epic tour.

This week I'm introducing you to Ukrainian emerging fashion designer Nadya Dzyak whose designs were adored by Marina and stylist Mercedes Natalia for her tour.

First up, we got the Spring/Summer 2019 long ruffled nude tulle dress with matching round belt ($822.00).

M also wears the Versace’s heart-shaped Love gold ring with Medusa icon and meander pattern...

...and her beloved Nike Huarache sneakers in full white!

Nadya Dzyak’s Resort 2020 lookbook showed the designer experimenting with unusual color combinations and new shapes. Here, our girl wore the nude tulle mini dress with multicolored dots, ruffles and silk trim.

Her jewelry here included a pair of Alison Lou’s green neon Jelly hoops from her iconic “Loucite” collection...

…and a vintage Chanel gold sunburst logo chain necklace.

Next, Marina looked dazzling on stage in another Nadya Dzyak Resort 2020 confection: a blue dotted tulle tiered mini dress with silk trim. Check out that circular pleat at the front!

This look was crowned with a pair of ZARA gold hammered earrings with three flat faux pearls...

...plus her Hermina Athens Amalthea gold-plated sterling silver statement necklace.

At her Dublin date, the Greek-Welsh singer chose this crimson red tulle mini dress with dots, matching belt and silk trim from Nadya Dzyak’s Fall/Winter 2019 collection.

Manchester-based label The Dolls House was founded in 2012 by Rebecca Henry. Marina debuted the sparkly Cindy silver sequin dress which features a square neck and ruched sash detail. HOT!

A pair of Steve Madden’s Carissa metallic silver sneakers with silver-tone rhinestones all over perfectly tied the look together.

We’re almost at the end! Marina wore two colorful looks from the Resort 2020 collection of Maisie Wilen, the young emerging designer who was discovered by Kanye West back in 2019! 

First up is this orange & blue psychedelic abstract print long-sleeve mini bodycon dress with asymmetrical hem.

The other look is the Body Shop psychedelic printed green & blue long-sleeve top and matching leggings.

All of her jewelry is Sylvia Toledano. She wore the Petite Candy hoops in gold brass with turquoise, turquoise verte, cornaline, yellow onyx, amethyst, died ruby and moonstone…

…the Fall/Winter 2019 Lee long necklace with multicolored stones which she wrapped twice around her neck…

…and the Byzantine cuff with green turquoise, dried ruby, turquoise, amethyst, cornaline, green onyx, tiger eye, yellow onyx, black onyx and calcedoine.

[breitzbachbea]

Drabble #82

You know Arthur is a hopeless case when the other two thirds of the "I will keep all my feelings right here and then one day I'll die" squad attempt partner therapy.

Drabble Collection on Ao3 Ship: Railey (+ Arthur)

"Damn," Robert said. "I get the whole 'You wearing the suit and not the suit wearing You' now."

Tahir had stopped adjusting his earring when Robert had spoken up. Clip-on of course, his mother would kill him and he himself had no interest in the permanence. They were courtesy of Ala, who had used them when she was younger.

He smirked over his shoulder. "If you can't fill out a suit, you can't fill out the role you're wearing it for."

"Oh, you're filling it out, handsome." Robert's eyes did not meet his. 

The smile dropped off his face. "You're staring at my arse, aren't you?"

Robert did indeed and grinned, while Tahir rolled his eyes and turned back to the mirror. "But the rest also looks lovely, handsome."

Tahir made no further comment other than straightening his back and vest. Due to the mirror, he was fully that Robert was walking up to him.

He didn't protest the hands at his hips and  stopped his motions when Robert leant around to softly kiss the already adjusted earlobe. "I really like this touch, too."

Tahir snorted and chuckled quietly to himself.

"Thank you," he said and turned to face him, their noses touching. "I talked with Ala about whether you'd want some as well." Robert blinked, as his eyes widened in surprise. Tahir grinned. "She said you'd google which ear is the gay one."

Now it was Robert's turn to roll his eyes before he pecked him on the lips and turned away. Tahir still smiled to himself when he attached the other. "Are you sure about your outfit though?"

"Course I am." Tahir looked him once up and down. Robert noticed and stopped in his tracks. "It's just the French. Désirées probably going to show up with her tie backwards or triple layered dress and is gonna call it a fashion statement, so untwist your knickers, Tahir." Tahir sighed. "And I look well fit with the leather jacket."

"At least tuck your shirt in."

"With the leather jacket? Forget it, I'm not square. Won't catch me walking around like my own father."

"Fine! You're right." He looked back into the mirror. "We're gonna look like quite the pair, with me all dolled up and you all butch." Tahir could see in the mirror that Robert seemed to enjoy the notion. "You would google which ear the gay one is," he said, but before Robert could muster an answer, someone knocked at the door. 

Robert walked over and asked: "Who's there?"

"It's me," Arthur said. "Can I come in?"

Robert looked to Tahir for a brief moment, who nodded, and then opened the door.

"Sure, come in." Robert stepped aside a little as Arthur did just that. "The Lady over there's still putting her lippy on."

Arthur adjusted his lapel when Robert hadn't even closed the door and his hands didn't leave his suit when he strode into the room.

"I see," Tahir said after he had turned around to face him. "You chose not to wear the suit he bought you."

Arthur looked up from his cufflinks, but did not cease his messing with them. "Yes, because I'm perfectly capable of dressing myself, thank you very much. And I don't see what's wrong with this suit I bought in Oxford. Certainly, our tailors aren't any less talented than theirs." 

"And you're not Froglegs' dress up doll," Robert said as he ambled over to the bed and Arthur nodded.

"That as well. I'd appreciate the loving intent, if it didn't end up warping back into utter self-centered egotism."

Tahir simply watched him tighten his tie. "I won't argue with that angle. However, since I would not date François under any circumstances in the first places, while you do ... maybe meeting him halfway would be a nice gesture between lovers?"

Arthur re-buttoned his suit jacket while he glared at him. "How I handle this relationship, of whatever nature it may be, you may leave to me, Tahir."

Tahir smiled faintly but knowingly. "Of course, Sir. Apologies."

"I mean, there's always other options," Robert said. He had sat down on the bed. "Who really wants to ride the horse they learnt riding on? No one."

Arthur's face had turned at least a shade redder and his head snapped to Robert. "Excuse me?!"

"Did you have to phrase it like that?" Tahir asked. "Let me retract that - Did you have to say that at all?"

"What, I can't give a piece of advice as well?"

"Advice is solicited, something I clearly did not do with your opinions!" Arthur said. "Aren't you going to end up with your own relationship squabbles tonight, as always? Do you need to concern yourself with mine as well?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Robert asked.

"If you are going to be like that for the rest of the evening, I can see where he's coming from," Tahir told him.

"Didn't I tell you to untwist your knickers?"

"If you aren't going to back me up, but instead backstab me from two different directions, I won't put a single good word in with Arielle." He shoved his hands into his pockets and raised both his eyebrows for a moment, gaze turning to the side. "Or, well, rather try and distract her from whatever's going on."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Robert said with a grin on his face. "For all I care, she can fume all evening about not getting her way. Let her do it together with François."

Arthur looked at him, then his gaze unfocused. All the while, Tahir squinted slightly at Robert.

Arthur smiled. "Well, as much as I like the thought, I wouldn't want anyone to encourage him in his wailing. Guess I'll have to be a gentleman about all of this."

"Someone has to be," Tahir said, with a his eyes still on Robert, who seemed unaffected by the stern look and joyless mouth.

"You can only be a gentleman to a lady." He got to his feet and put one arm around Tahir's waist. "Ready to go, handsome?"

Tahir grabbed his suitjacket and adjusted it in front of the mirror.

"That's a marvelous shade of green," Arthur said about the suit and Tahir smiled for a second.

"Thank you, Arthur." He turned around. "I like the contrast of yours, is it bespoken?"

"Of course it is! Be a shame not to wear it, isn't that right?"

"Do you wanna take bets on what Désirée is going to wear?" Robert asked and Arthur laughed. He reigned himself in.

"I'm sure she'll wear something appropriate."

"Fuck off. If it's not at least a weird shirt, then she knocked her head real hard."

"Robert, were you earlier implying that Miss Halévy is not a real lady?" Tahir asked.

Robert poked his earring, which had Tahir catch him by the wrist. "You're more of a lady than her tonight. I'll tell you outright that she's a bitch."

"Robert!" it came in unison from Tahir and Arthur. The door fell shut behind them and soon, their conversation was carried away from the hotel room, through the lobby and into the Parisian spring night. 

[princess-of-purple-prose]

[ID copied from alt:

A digital illustration depicting a prehistoric creature from the precambrian period called a pikaia. It is an aquatic animal with a long slender body and pronged head with two protrusions at the end, resembling a slug. It floats gently in an ocean void, with a few small bubbles framing it. There is a small text bubble at the bottom corner of the illustration which reads "I love you."

A digital illustration of a table setting viewed from above. There is a plate being set out in front of the viewer by someone with dark skin and reddish arm hair. The plate contains two eggs and a few slices of fruit, placed in such a way that resembles a smiling face. There are two cups on the table, one with water, and another with coffee. There is an ash tray full of cigarette butts, a pair of glasses, three multicolored hair elastics and several notes and papers strewn across the table. The plate is being set on top of a children's illustration, drawn in crayon. It seems to depict a crude sketch of a saber toothed cat. There is text in the corner of the illustration which reads "I love you."

A digital illustration depicting an Albertaceretops and its young walking together in a grassy field. The larger animal is a darker brown with gradiants of cream on its underbelly, and striping on its back, face and tail. It has some facial scarring and is missing the end of one of its horns. It's young is about a third of its size, with a paler taupe color palette and less pronounced facial tusks and horns. There is a speech bubble at the bottom corner which reads "I love you."

A digital illustration depicting a little brown haired boy snugged up in bed with his grandmother. They are reading the children's book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" together, while the dim light from an old fashioned lamp illuminates the corner of a bedroom. The little boy is holding a barbie doll in one hand as he looks down at the pages. His grandmother is a round-faced woman with golden hoop earrings, pink nailpolish and a distinct blueish facial tattoo on her lips and chin. (This is called a moko kauae, a traditional Māori tattoo for women) Both characters have a medium brown skin tone. There is text on the bottom corner of the image that reads "I love you."

A digital illustration of a beach scene. The sky is a sickly color of blue, tinged with smog. There is a blue orb in the sky which obscures the natural light. In the foreground there is a character from the locked tomb series - a six legged white dog named noodle. He is looking at the viewer playfully. There is text on the image which reads "I love you."

A digital illustration set in a dark glittering cave. There are strings of glow worm egg trails that glow an eerie turquoise. The foreground of the image depicts a lazily outstretched hand with a tiny glow worm on the end of the persons finger. The figure has a medium skin tone, chipped fingernails, and a rosary of bones wrapped around their wrist. They are wearing a sparkling white cloak that hangs off their forearm. There is text on the bottom corner of the illustration that reads "I love you."

A digital illustration depicting three jellyfish, floating in a blue void. The jellyfish are a combination of blues and pinks, surrounded by bubbles. There is text on the image which reads "I love you."

A digital illustration featuring a character from The Locked Tomb Series. Paul stands with their naked back to the viewer. Their eyes are obscured, and their body is smoking. There is text on the image which reads "I love you."

A digital illustration depicting a creature from the early Eocene called Archicebus achilles. It is a small primate with a hunched back, large round eyes and distinct, long digits on its hands and feet. It is coiled on a treebranch, shaded from a rainstorm. There is text on the image which reads "I love you."

A digital illustration depicting a scene described in The Locked Tomb Series. A little girl in skull facepaint looks down toward the viewer with an expression of shock. She is wearing a black robe adorned with fragments of bone. She is leaning over a stone slab, looking down. The image is framed as if the viewer is looking up from a resting position below her. There is blood under the little girls fingernails. There is a speech bubble in the corner of the drawing which reads "I love you."

A black image with the text "I..."

A digital illustration depicting two characters from The Locked Tomb Series. Kiriona, covered in blood, looks desperately at Ianthe who is feircly focused and looking down at the viewer. The image is distorted, as though the viewer is dizzy and unable to focus. There is text which reads the word "still"

A digital illustration depicting a hand reaching out to stroke the face of a woman. The hand is battered and bloody, and the thumb leaves a smear of blood on the woman lips. The woman's eyes are obscured, her face is pale and cracked, with ice dusting her features. She is haloed by a large swath of blonde hair. Her neck is manacled. The image is distorted like the one above it, as though the viewer can't focus well. There is text on the bottom corner which reads "love y-"

A black image.

A digital illustration depicting Nona from The Locked Tomb Series. She is standing against a background of pale pinks and oranges, illuminated by yellow light. She is turned toward the viewer with her braids billowing in the breeze. She is saying, "I love you." End ID]

"It’s finished, it’s done. You can’t take loved away.”

- Tamsyn Muir, Nona the Ninth

💝 Thank you for 1k. Special thanks to my lovely friend @sessjudoodles for helping sketch the line work for the Albertaceretops :)

[thesugarclubs-blog]

The Bartender - AU Bucky Barnes x OC

warnings: smut, minors DNI

word count: 2.1k

WP: https://www.wattpad.com/1230547860-the-bartender-eva

Masterlist

If Eva pictured her life ten years ago, she didn't think she'd be sitting alone at a dingy bar after getting ghosted on a blind date. The bartender swirled a rag through an empty glass, watching her sigh every few minutes. Eva caught his eye as she emptied her third glass of vodka cranberry, holding it out to him for another.

"Rough night?" He asks, his voice velvety and smooth as he takes the glass from her.

"Something like that" Eva says, with a forced smile as she got flashbacks from last night's event.

She can still smell the rusty scent of blood clear as day like it's been ingrained into her nostrils. She looked over at the ruggedly handsome man as he poured her yet another shot; a shot she knew she hadn't ordered.

As she graciously accepted the shot, Eva wondered if the man behind the bar could be the answer to all her problems.

"I don't think I've seen you around here before," the bartender remarks as he continues making drinks for the other patrons

"I usually stay away from those kinds of bars." She took a sip from her vodka cranberry the handsome bartender handed her.

"And why would that be?" He leaned over the wooden bar with a smirk. His eyes were illuminated by the overhanging lights just enough for her to see the intense blue of his iris'

"Cause you boys are all trouble." Eva smirked slyly back at him, extending her shot glass to him "Another one, please."

Rolling his eyes, he took it and handed her a full glass of old-fashioned. She eyed the amber liquid before looking back at him questioningly.

"Figured you needed something a lil' stronger, sweetheart." He answered her silent question before turning to serve another patron. Eva shrugged and started drinking, the drink going down her throat with a satisfying burn.

Shaking her head slightly, she caught his eye for a second, feeling the tightness in her stomach when he licked his lower lip slowly. She was going to need another stiff drink if she planned to sit in this bar with the God-like man a few feet away. How did she always end up in these types of situations? Flinching when another image from the night before flashed through her mind. "Are you okay Doll?"

Doll? Sweetheart? Was this guy for real?

Feeling the effects of the booze hitting her system, she wondered. Her gaze traveled to this man's tanned hands. They were a good size. He wore a couple of rings on his right hand, the silver metal glistening in the moody lighting of this bar. "I wonder what they would look like around my throat..." She murmured to herself.

 "I'm sorry I didn't catch that, doll? You want what around your throat ?" He asked. 

Fuck. Had she really just said that out loud?

Eva began to stammer and the bartender smirked as he leaned over, resting his chin on his hand as he drummed the fingers of the other hand on the bar top and whispered, "Did you mean you wanted these around your throat?"

Eva felt herself flush as she felt a rush of heat and wetness flow through her, biting her lip to stifle a moan, but she nodded anyway, stuck in his gaze, gasping, "Yes Daddy."

She watched as the blue in his eyes turned black with lust, his tongue flicking over that perfectly plump bottom lip into a smirk that could kill. "We'll work up to that, doll. Just Bucky for now."

As he turned back to grab some bottles from the counter, her eyes slowly drifted up his legs to his ass as she pictured how he would feel on top of her.

He turned back to her again, her eyes met his before he leaned down to brush his lips against her ear, whispering sultry, " I think it's time for you to tell daddy what you really want tonight, sweetie."

Eva felt her face go hot. His husky voice made her whole body feel like it was on fire, and she'd be lying if she said she didn't want that fire, and Bucky, to consume her entirely.

"I want..." She felt her breath quicken as she closed her eyes for just a second. "I need you ..." Eva turned her head, making their foreheads rest together, "make me forget everything".

"Do I get to know the name of the pretty little thing I'm helping to forget?" Bucky whispered as he backed up a little and cradled Eva's face in his hands.

His thumb brushed against her bottom lip and Eva's mouth became a desert as she stared at him with desperation in her eyes as she whispered, "Does it really matter so long as I moan yours?"

Bucky's lips curl into a sexy smile, chuckling at her words, "No, I guess it doesn't." And he leaves her breathless against the bar top to close up behind the last customer, only the two of them are left now. Eva's heart begins to race as he stalks back towards her, caging her against the bar and his warm, solid body.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, her eyes dropped to his lips, hoping she would come to find out how they feel against the inside of her thighs.

Bucky gripped his hands around her hips and with ease lifted her to the bar top. His hands skated across her hips delicately, tickling her skin before digging into the soft inners of her thighs, pushing her legs open to make room for him.

Eva moaned as Bucky's mouth crashed against hers in a searing kiss, and she heard him grunt, "This is what you wanted, isn't it, sweets? To forget everything?"

She crushed herself to him, pulling him so that his hips were flush against hers, saying, "It's a good start."

He hummed, his lips tracing along her jawline before sliding down to the soft sweet spot on her neck causing goosebumps to rise along her skin.

He traced a finger along her chest, down to under her skirt to teasingly circle a finger around her entrance, making her whimper beneath his touch. " So needy, aren't you sweet thing? "

She bit back a moan as she felt herself already dripping, clenching around air eager to feel him inside of her, claiming her.

Her breath begins to quicken, but keeping her voice as calm as she can, Eva leans over to him, nips at his ear, and says, " yes...oh, Bucky, please...I need...I need you. " while hastily grabbing at his belt buckle, undoing it clumsily.

Bucky let out what sounded like a mix between a growl and a laugh, and grabbed Eva's wrists, gently placing them on the bar behind her. "You don't move those until I tell you. I'm supposed to be helping you forget... So just sit back and let daddy make everything feel better"

"Yes...Daddy..." she breathed without thinking. "Fuck..." feeling his forefinger rub her clit over her panties.

Bucky hummed against her mouth and slid his fingers beneath her panties, and Eva felt herself moan as his name like a song as he pushed two fingers inside of her and groaned, "Barely touched you and you're dripping for me, aren't you, kitten?"

Eva shuddered, head falling forwards on his shoulder as she curled inwards, hands still firmly planted on the bar, moaning "All for you Daddy."

Bucky began pumping at a pace that matched the breathless moans falling from her lips while his own attached to her earlobe, sucking gently before curling his fingers within her.

His fingers pumped deep inside her, hitting her g spot which made her cry out loud, his lips attached to hers to swallow her cries. " You like my fingers? I bet your sweet little pussy would like me to fuck you dumb with my tongue, huh? "

At his words, she clenched around his fingers. "I asked you a question kitten." He growled- his free hand sliding to the back of her neck.

Eva could barely think, much less form a sentence as Bucky fucked her with his fingers - deep and slow - and then she heard his deep rumbling baritone that forced a ragged groan from her throat as he whispered, "I'll take that as a yes."

Bucky gently pushed Eva up til she was sitting, pulling his fingers out as he slid down her panties, leaning down and inhaling deeply, groaning, "Fuck can't wait to taste you, sweetheart."

"Jesus Christ..."She whimpered watching as he dropped to his knees, large hands grasping her thighs, spreading them apart and revealing her aching core to him, another low satisfied growl falling from his lips.

With her panties thrown to the floor, he devoured her sweet little pussy in one go, lapping and swirling his warm tongue on her clit, before fucking her with it. Large hands gripped her waist as she felt herself falling backward from the overstimulation. " Oh...fuck daddy...I-I'm close! "

Bucky hummed into her pussy and slid his fingers inside of her, curling them one more time to send her right over the edge - along with a sharp jolt of electricity shooting down her spine.

"Daddy!" she cried, gushing into his waiting mouth, his fingers stroking her spot, prolonging her orgasm till she was shaking, tears in her eyes from the overstimulation.

Eva collapsed against the cool bartop, a welcome feeling from her burning skin, her chest heaving, "That'll make a girl forget," she breathes, words struggling against the small aftershocks of her orgasm.

Bucky chuckled, grabbing her wrists to sit her up again before giving a kiss to her temple, whispering softly while stroking her waist, " You were so good for me, sweet little doll. "

"Bucky ?" She asked him while he was drawing lazy circles on her arm. "Yes, doll ?" I want your cock. I want you to fuck me. Hard." She whispered, her hand delving into the waistband of his pants to emphasize her request.

Bucky smiled and leaned over as Eva stroked him, whispering, "Well, that's good to hear, because I never said I was finished with you, angel."

Bucky undid his jeans, freeing his hard cock, lining up at her entrance, and slowly filling her, pressing deep enough that she felt him in her throat.

The sounds of skin slapping and moans filled the silence of the empty bar, her hands grasping onto the edges of the bar top to keep herself steady as he begins his relentless thrusts. "Wanna feel you come all over me, darlin', like the good girl I know you are."

" Yes...I am...for you! " From her words, Bucky pulled his cock out to take her down from the bar, turning her around before grabbing her neck to push her face down onto the countertop. He leaned down to whisper in her ear, " Now, I'm going to make you squirt so hard you won't even be able to remember your name, kitten. "

He proceeded to ram into her so hard that her upper body slid over the counter, her nipples hard against the cool glass top of the bar. That earned him a delicious scream from her open mouth. "Shhh, kitten. There are people living above the bar," he said while he stilled in her, reaching over the counter to grab a fresh rag. "Here, bite down on this." He gently placed the rag into her mouth. "Such a good girl. Daddy is pleased."

Eva moaned into the rag and then felt Bucky's hand smack her ass while he fucked her hard and fast, the tip of his cock gliding against her g-spot as decadent and dark moans spilled from his lips.

"Fuckin' tight as sin doll," Bucky groaned, thrusts growing in force as her whimpers grew more frequent, torn from her with each pump of his hips.

Eva could feel a pressure building within her, one she had never felt before, and with every thrust her legs began to feel like jelly, her teeth digging into the terrycloth of the towel that was currently soaking up every sound she involuntarily made.

With a loud and shaky moan, Eva felt that searched tingling feeling from her clit, spreading through her whole body as she released on Bucky's thick cock, "fuuuck, such a fucking good girl, I'm so close..."

He thrust forward, his cock glistening from her juice as he tensed, his balls tightening as he came. His muscles contracted visibly. Trying so hard to not groan so loud the neighbors would hear them, he bit down on the soft flesh of her shoulder, sending another wave of release into her body. "Fuck." he whispered

"This might be kind of awkward now, but would you wanna have dinner with me?" Bucky asked, panting into her ear. Eva turned her head and grinned, staring into his bright blue eyes. "Dinner would be great."

[oceanicpride]

@garrett_sander: Part 1: Happy Halloween Every Monster! Hope everyone is having a fangtastic day! 10 people didn’t want to see this, but the 3K votes for yes won out! Lol! To help celebrate Halloween and the UUHHHMazing release of the Greta Gremlin Skullector doll, I wanted to post some unearthed Monster High history! Some fans may know that the Classroom line from 2011 that Included Home Ick Frankie, Mad Science Lagoona and Physical Deaducation Ghoulia was also meant to include a Drama Class Draculaura! But what no one knows is it was originally going to be 5 dolls and was to include New Student Operetta in Marching Band! Operetta originally began her unlife as the “villain”, before it was Cleo, Operetta was the HBIC (head BEAST in charge) of Monster High. But she was replaced with our beloved Mummy Ghoul. So we were looking for places for Operetta to be introduced in the line. We thought it would be fun to have her be into performing both theater and music and she would fit perfectly in the Monster High Marching Band! So here are the sketches for her and her band accessories, fashions and prototype doll and fashions/accessories. The initial idea was that Operetta was going to be the steampunk one and loved to build and create her instruments from parts she found in the catacombs. I also found pics of the model we had built! She used Ghoulia’s head for the prototype while we were working on her head, as we wanted her to have the half scarred look to match her famous monster parent, the Phantom of the Opera!

Part 2:

The prototype is wearing a dress that’s not part of the initial concept, she also has some existing accessories like Operetta’s actual bracelet, so i think this was taken later, after the actual Operetta came out, but i can’t remember why lol! (Maybe a third try at putting her in the line before her actual debut?) But you can see she was going to have a lace-y steampunk inspired look with a gray top w/ pink lace print and trim, yellow and black shorts and black and yellow boots w/ gear buttons! She has her Chandelier earrings and since she was going to be extra dramatic, she had a microphone she took everywhere just in case the opportunity to perform arose! Freaky Fun Fact: the microphone was modeled after a karaoke microphone Radica was making (but it never came out either). You can also see the drawing for her steampunk key-tar, Band Class uniform and she would have come with a locker like the other ghouls did! Operetta kept her purple skin in her re-design to rockabilly and while this one was fun to design and I was excited for her to be part of the Classroom line, I think it worked out that we waited to introduce her in the core line and she became our rockabilly phantom! I just love her look that Natalie designed and it felt right for the character! And the steampunk look works so perfectly on our resident Robot Ghoul Rebecca! But its nice to look back on how Operetta went from part of the initial ghoul group, almost getting a spot for in the line in Classroom, to Phenomenal Phantom doll we all know and love! Sometimes the initial idea of a character, or even the second and third versions of them, may not work out, but you find a spot for them where they were meant to be!

[shorkbrian]

💖💘my heart’s dizzy and I my dose of serotonin whenever I read your prose🤟🏽😩 was wondering if you could do reader with an erratic future-vision!quirk so when they first meet yandere!Hawks they’re suddenly plagued by erotic, sensual, 365days-level of disturbing visions of them, so reader actively avoids them (it’s like those Tik Tok future-seeing videos playing to “Play Date”)

Prelude - Hawks isn’t a famous pro-hero in this, but he still has his quirk. It’s not really mentioned a bunch tho lol.  This is rlly long, but I decided not to put it into two parts because the smut is so slight lol. Hope this meets your expectations anon, thank you for reading!

Pairing -  Keigo Takami X Reader

Warnings - NSFW mentions, dubcon, noncon. No out-and-out explicit smut, just a really long story. Hawks is manipulative and gets what he wants

Music - https://open.spotify.com/track/5ukAQcKEIJuzIbP55xp07x?si=iz6I-RoDSdCNYhT2Du8etg

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He was a friend of a friend, someone you had only met once or twice.

Your friend kept bringing him to hangouts, he kept showing up on her instagram feed,  getting mentioned in her twitterbio, and eventually it came out that they had started dating. It didn’t catch anyone by surprise.

What did catch you by surprise, was how infatuated with him your friend was.

“He’s just sooooo hot, isn’t he?” She squealed, shoving her phone in your face to show off a shirtless pic he had just sent her.

You nodded in agreement, quickly appraising the pic before turning your head. Yeah, her boyfriend was attractive, but you weren’t one to ruin relationships. Plus, you and Keigo had never really talked past the brief “Hey” and “Wassup?” said in greeting when introduced the first time.

“Can he come to the mall with us on Friday? I promise there will be no third wheeling.” Your friend begged, clasping her hands together. You thought about it for a second - this had been a fun shopping trip the two of you had planned a few weeks ago, meant as a girls date on a day the mall wouldn’t be crowded. But would it really hurt anything if her boyfriend came along? Probably not.

“Yeah, I don’t mind.” You shrugged, watching your friends face erupt into a wide grin. “But don’t ditch me to go makeout in a bathroom or something, got it?”

“Sir yes sir!” Your friend faux saluted, before patting you on the shoulder. “Thanks girlie!”

You jerked back, head suddenly swarming with visions, your quirk activating. Your quirk was helpful in some ways, but you mainly tried not to use it - headaches resulted, and you hated getting glimpses of the future. Sometimes they’d be good, but they were often bad - you had gotten a screenshot glimpse of your brothers death, his face marred and bleeding out onto the pavement.

It still made you sick to think about it.

Touch wasn’t something you could always avoid, but you tried, seeing as how it activated your quirk, giving you visions of your future with whomever you touched, or whoever touched you.

You saw your friends face, eyes puffy with tears, shouting something. Then another scene flashed, your friend on TV, talking to a reporter.

Thankfully, the visions ended, this episode relatively quick due to how short of a time she touched you.

“Oh shit, I forgot, I’m so sorry.” She rushed to apologize, holding her hands up and backing away from you.

“It’s-it’s fine.” You wheezed, waving your hand in the air to signal that it wasn’t a big deal. The vision just probably meant the two of you would get into a fight soon, which wasn’t uncommon.  It was fine, you were fine.

——

The mall wasn’t too crowded, which made the day pleasant. Your friend was talking to her boyfriend, hand tangled with his as the three of you walked in.

“So (Y/N), what do you think about that new Victoria’s Secret launch?” Your friend bumped you with her hip, drawing your attention as she pulled you into the conversation between her and her boyfriend.

“Oh, um… what?” To be fair, you had zoned out when the couple started being gross and mushy, which was like, the second your friend met Keigo at the door.

The blonde man laughed. “Victoria’s Secret just launched a new line of lingerie, have any thoughts about it?”

Turning red, you smiled sheepishly. “Ah, well…. From what I’ve seen of their stuff it’s… nice? So I’m sure it’s good.”

Your friend mock-gasped, almost slapping you on the arm before quickly remembering your quirk, drawing her hand back. You gave a quick nod of thanks.

“(Y/N)! Don’t tell me you didn’t even know about it?! I practically live, eat, and sleep Victoria’s Secret, it’s impossible to miss their product drops when you’re one of my friends.”

Unsure how to respond, you floundered, opening and closing your mouth like a lost fish.

“Babe, leave her be, she’s probably just shy.” Keigo stepped in, giving his girlfriend a chuckle as he steered you both towards a shop.

“Fineeee.” Your friend whined, turning to focus on the task ahead. “They have a VS shop here though, you’re not getting out of here without going in with me!”

----

The VS store was huge, smelling sweetly of flowers, bright colors assaulting your vision, soft pop music filling your ears.

It was hard not to cringe at all the fancy lingerie, you were honestly a bit embarrassed to be strolling through the store with your friend, let alone her boyfriend by her side.

“Does-does Keigo mind?” You quietly asked your friend, out of earshot of her boyfriend, who was looking at perfumes, last time you checked.

“Not at all birdie, I’m used to clothes, any form, any shape.”

You whirled around, squeaking in surprise at Keigo, who had apparently finished with browsing the perfume. He was flashing you a 1000 watt grin, continuing with what he was saying. “I’m a model, practically every girl I’ve ever met I’ve seen in less than full underwear, it’s no big deal.”

“Oh…. Cool.” You offered, cheeks turning red again. You felt like such a blushing schoolgirl, turning red when faced with looking at bras and panties, flushing when a man got too close.

It was the nature of the store, you told yourself, that was making you so embarrassed.

“Oo! What do you think of this one?” Your friend was holding up a babydoll, pink, with light fabric and zero coverage.

Keigo wolf whistled. “Man, that’d be a good look for you. Lets buy it.” The couple moved on, pointing at different clothes, your friend occasionally picking one from the rack to hold up against her body, looking for Keigo’s opinion.

They were cute together, laughing over the cheesy names on the tags of the lingerie, holding hands as the browsed, your friend occasionally stopping to plant a kiss on her boyfriend’s cheek.

“I think that’s everything that I like…. (Y/N), your turn!” Pulled out of your casual observance, you back pedaled. “Me? No, I’m not really the type to wear this kind of stuff - I don’t even think most of it would fit, I have weird proportions.“

“Nonsense!” Keigo looked around for a moment, going to the nearest rack to quickly sift through bras, before pulling one out. “This one would make all the boys drool over you honey.”

He held it out towards you, shaking it slightly when you hesitated to take it. Was your friend okay with him talking to you like that, pushing underwear at you to buy? A quick glance sideways showed she was more than okay with it, clasping her hands excitedly as she watched you.

The bra was sheer, soft lavender fabric forming the cups, an intricate embroidered detail of flowers dotted haphazardly over the bra. It was pretty, but you weren’t exactly partial to it. When would you wear it? Who would you wear it for? You weren’t sure it was your style. Plus, it probably wasn’t even your size.

“My arm’s gettin’ real tired.” Keigo joked, before you finally took the garment from him. Checking the size, you paused for a second, blinking towards the man.

“How did you-?”

“You spend enough time in the fashion industry, you learn to tell a girl’s size just by looking at her.”  He seemed to puff up, as if he was proud of his bra-sizing skills.

“Let me help her pick out some things too!” Your friend cried, rushing past you to head over to the next rack, ushering you to follow with a wave of her hand.

You ended up with an armful of lingerie - bras, panties,  an odd bustier or two, and some other flowy items, like a sheer robe and a lacy chemise. The choices weren’t exactly made by you, more so made by a combination of your friend and Keigo together. They had alternated holding up items towards your body, comparing color and garment cuts, lost in their own mushy-gushy world, and it was almost like you didn’t exist for a few moments, nothing more than a barbie doll to dress up.

But now the three of you stood in line to checkout, and you felt included again, your friend cracking jokes that were making you snort, Keigo watching the two of you interact.

Until your friend accidentally brushed against your arm as she shifted forward in line.

Again, you saw her tearful face, heard her sobbing, before the other scene flashed, of her on TV, talking to the reporter. She still looked upset, eyes rimmed red, nose running, hair a mess.

With a gasp, your vision returned to the present, and you were wobbling on your feet, almost falling.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry (Y/N), I’m so so sorry. Here, let me take that, go sit down by the entrance.” She fussed over you, face concerned as she carefully took the stack of clothes from your arms, making sure to not make contact.

“Oh fuck, is she alright?” You heard Keigo ask, your friend stepping in front of you as he moved forward to check on you.

“Yeah, she’s just feeling a little dizzy. Can you make sure she doesn’t fall and crack her head open? Just wait by the entrance please.”

“Okay. Oh, here-“ You were a bit dazed, but you saw Keigo fish his wallet out of his pocket, thrusting the entire thing into his girlfriends hands before patting her on the shoulder “Whichever card is fine.”

And then you were stumbling towards the entrance, towards the bench right outside.

You hated seeing the future. Why was your friend crying? What had happened to elicit such a reaction? The unknowns killed you, kept you up at night as you tried to puzzle out the events that could lead up to the scenes from your visions.

Not looking where you were going, you tripped on air, unable to catch yourself as you plummeted towards the ground.

But then you were seeing Keigo.

He was above you, face flushed and sweaty, hair tousled, his chest bare. The room was dark, barely lit, and he was so close. The man leaned down to kiss you, then the scene changed.

You were bent over a table, only able to see the solid wood your face was smushed against. There was a heat in your belly, a tingling between your thighs, and pressure. Someone was talking - Keigo, muttering behind you angrily. You head was pulled up, a hand fisted in your hair, and then one of your knees was pushed up onto the table, and the pressure inside exploded into pure pleasure.

You felt yourself screaming, bucking your hips as you suffered through whatever the feeling was.

The scene changed again.

Hands tied above your head, you were pressed against a wall, sitting on some kind of…. Saddle? Your legs couldn’t touch the ground, and you squirmed, before gasping loudly.

There was a nub in the seat, ribbed and textured, slick with some kind of liquid… From you? Then you saw Keigo, standing in front of you, smirking at you with hardened eyes.

He had something in his hand, arms crossed over his chest while he fiddled with the object, muscles flexing. He was shirtless again, and-and his cock was hanging out of his sweatpants, pressed against his belly, smearing precum over his skin.

You tried to say something, anything - the visions never lasted this long, it was too intense, there was so much sensation. But your mouth wouldn’t move, choked up.

Keigo’s hand was on his length, rubbing slowly, saying something that didn’t reach your ears.

The scene changed.

Something was shoved down your throat, warm and twitching. You were sobbing, choking, clawing at whatever was in front of you. A dark laugh filled your ears, and you opened your eyes, met with the clenching abs of a strong stomach.

Keigo was brushing your tears, no, smudging them over your face. Were you wearing makeup? His cock was sitting in your throat, his hips moving in tiny jerks, stabbing your esophagus, making you gag.

Then you were back in the present.

A hand was holding your arm, keeping you from falling and making contact with the hard floor.

“-N)? (Y/N)? Are you okay? Talk to me birdie”

You made a panicked noise, pulling yourself out of Keigo’s grip so fast that you fell flat on the floor, scrambling backwards away from the man.

He almost looked scared, confused as he followed after you, holding out his hands. “(Y/N), you gotta calm down, you’re gonna make yourself sick.”

The man reached for your arm again and you pressed yourself against the floor, screeching out a loud “No!!” before he could touch you. Keigo paused, looking at his hand, then at you. “Hey, hey, I’m not gonna touch you. It’s okay little birdie, you’re alright.” He cooed, sinking to his knees in front of you.

You were hyperventilating, wide eyes trained on Keigo. Your thoughts were swirling in your head, you couldn’t focus, the sensations of the future still echoing through your body.

Keigo crouched there while you steadied your breathing, talking to you the entire time, trying to help you relax and calm down. You weren’t sure what he was saying, something about the weather? Or a dog? But you could feel your breathing evening out, head clearing.

“Hey, she fall?” You friend was carrying two bags, crouching down beside Keigo, cocking her head at you.

Her boyfriend nodded, turning to her and taking one of the bags. “I caught her, but then she freaked out and fell for real.”

Your friend nodded. “I should’ve told you earlier, she has a touch-based quirk. Every time someone touches her, she sees snippets of her future with that person.”

Keigo cocked his own head, gazing at you curiously. “I guess her future with me isn’t too positive then?”

Your friend shrugged. “Eh, she just hates seeing parts of the future. She doesn’t want to know what’s going to happen, makes her worry or something like that. Don’t take it too personally, she’s like that with everyone.”

“It-it-“ you rasped out, causing both sets of eyes to swivel towards you. “-I hate it... because-‘cause I can’t ever cha-change it.” You shivered.

Keigo nodded in understanding, before rising to his feet. “Think you can walk to my car? I’ll drive you two home, I think you’d benefit from some rest.”

He dropped you off at your apartment, and you wearily waved at the couple as they drove off, before heading inside.

----

A week passed, then two.

The visions you had concerning Keigo were plaguing your mind, filling your body with anxiety. There had been a distinctive feel of fear during each one, and despite all the other various sensations felt, the most overwhelming had been distress.

Whatever was going to happen, you weren’t going to like it.

You were holing up in your apartment, ignoring your roommates when they knocked on your door, only leaving your room to eat or grab water. You couldn’t sleep, too scared you’d have dreams, or more accurately, nightmares of what you had seen.

Curse your quirk.

Trying to pass time, desperate to keep your mind off of the future, you threw yourself into any activity you could find.

First you tried coloring - it was supposed to be relaxing, but it gave you too much time to think.

Then you tried gaming, spending hours in front of your computer mashing the keys. That worked for a bit, but your eyes and head soon protested.

You listened to music at full volume, tried several workout videos, even resorted to cleaning your space with fervent energy.

None of it took your mind off the inevitable.

“(Y/N), someone’s at the door asking for you.” You jerked awake, slumped over uncomfortably on the floor, the half finished card tower in front of you promptly knocked over at your erratic movements.

“(Y/N)?” Your roommate called again.

“Yeah! Coming, sorry.” You mumbled, scrubbing sleep from your eyes. You guess your body would give out sometime and force you to fall asleep, but as you moved to stand, you sorely wished your body had chosen a more comfortable place to pass out.

Opening the front door, you immediately took a cautious step back, sleepy demeanor vanishing.

Keigo smiled at you, one hand in the pocket of his jeans, the other holding a bouquet of flowers.

Flowers?

“Hey birdie, mind if I come in?”

You stared at him for a second, immediately on guard. Why did he have flowers? Why did he want to come in? Wasn’t he dating your friend? She didn’t live here, what was he doing here?

The man cleared his throat, raising an eyebrow at you. You moved to the side, holding open the door for Keigo to come inside.

Your roommates were home. If anything happened, they would be within earshot.

Keigo shot you a smile and a thanks, before immediately moving into the small living room, taking a seat on the couch. When he saw you still hovering by the open door, he patted the cushion beside him.

“Come sit, I promise I don’t bite.” He thought for a moment, before grinning. “Well, not unless you want me to.”

Hesitantly, you shut the front door, going to sit in a ratty armchair further away from the winged man. If this bothered him, the man didn’t let it show other than a short pause before he spoke.

“So, I know it probably seems like, super weird for me to show up at your apartment, but hear me out.”

Flowers were shoved in your lap, Keigo taking great care to avoid touching you.  “I felt bad about the other day, and my girl and I decided that we should get you some flowers. She picked ‘em out, it even says so on the note.”  The man laughed, running a hand through his hair.

“She’s so uptight about this kinda stuff. Anyways, just wanted to say that I’m sorry for grabbing you like that. If I had known, I would’ve let you fall flat on your ass. But I know now, so I’ll be better, cool with you?”

Finishing his little speech, Keigo held out his hands, wings stretching behind him to mimic the gesture.

Looking at the flowers in your lap, you felt your hands shaking. Picking up the little note attached to the bouquet, you found that your friend had indeed picked out the flowers, which made sense. They were your favorites, and in a nice color too.  Keigo had left a messy, scrawled “Sorry!” in one corner, before signing by his girlfriends name.

“Um, thank you Keigo, you didn’t have to apologize.” You murmured, rubbing one of the flower petals between your fingers. You were so glad your quirk extended solely to humans - if you were shown glimpses of the future of everything you touched, you would most likely go mad.

“Nah, I wanted to. Also wanted to swing by, check how you’re doing. You been taking care of yourself?” He relaxed on the couch, legs spread, arms resting behind his head. This wasn’t his home, yet you totally could believe that it was by the ease with which he owned the space with his presence.

“Oh, well… I’m still here, so…” You shrugged.

Keigo frowned. “That’s not a fun answer. How much sleep you been gettin’ each night? Eight hours?”

You shook your head, huffing out a breath in place of a laugh.

Keigo clicked his tongue. “No sleep? That’s bad for you y’know. Have you at least been drinking water? Eatin’?”

You nodded quickly, looking up to meet the man’s gaze. “I’m not a kid. I appreciate your concern, but it’s not necessary.”

At this point, you think the best thing for your health would be for the man to leave.

The blonde man stared at you for a moment, before sighing. “Alright, I get it. But I don’t want to hear that you’ve passed out or something, got it? Your friend would kill me.”

He rose to his feet, and so did you, walking him to the door. “Thanks Keigo, and thank you again for the flowers. That was very sweet of you both.”

Keigo beamed, giving a two fingered salute. “You deserve it birdie. Well, have a good rest of your day, yeah? Eat something.”

You smiled, at Keigo as he turned away, beginning to whistle as he strolled down the hall.

Once the door was shut, you found a vase for the flowers, filling it with water and setting it on the table. Your roommates would think it was pretty, and it was, a nice little centerpiece.

That really was nice of your friend and Keigo to offer you flowers.

——

“Welcome to Gold Nile Jewelers, how can I-“ You blinked at the man entering the shop. “-Keigo.”

“Birdie? You work here?” He looked just as confused as you felt, cocking his head to the side as he approached the counter.

You looked around the small display room, nodding your head. “Yep… You looking for anything specific today?”

“Ah, right!” He clasped his hands together, bending over to lean on the display counter as he looked up at you. “So professional (Y/N), it’s just me.” The man chuckled.

“Actually, I thought I’d get my girl a cute little bracelet or something like that, you think she’d like that?”

Knowing your friend, she’d be ecstactic. “Oh, absolutely. Any particular occasion, or just an “I love you gift”?” You asked, already running through the list of bracelets in stock.

“It’s our two month anniversary in another week, thought I’d get her a little sumn’ sumn’, y’know?”

Gold Nile Jewelers was an expensive store. You patted yourself on the back for not dropping your jaw when he said “two month anniversary”. People came here for wedding rings and special occasion jewelry, not monthly anniversaries like some high schoolers.

Well, unless they were rich.

You showed Keigo the selection of bracelets currently available, the man listening quietly to your product descriptions and recommendations, asking questions about the fit and feel, and if you think your friend would like a particular one.

“Honestly Keigo, I could choose one I think she’d like, but it’d be more special if you chose for her.” You finally told him.  He wasn’t annoying you, but you felt frustrated with his apparent lack of knowledge about his girlfriend. How did he not know what her favorite color was? “I’d suggest coming back in a few days. Go home, see what kind of jewelry she wears, pay attention to the colors she gravitates towards, if she’s allergic to any metals.”

Keigo tapped his chin. “Hmm, you have a good point. I guess I should pay more attention to those kinds of things.”

You nodded as you began to pack the expensive bracelets back into their display cases. “Gifts for a significant other can be hard. Honestly, it means a lot if they pick it out themselves and surprise you with it. Makes it special.”

“Oh, you have a partner?” Keigo asked, bright eyes watching your hands work.

A frown almost crossed your features, but you stopped it before it could show. “Ah, sorry, that’s not really a work-appropriate question.”

“Awh, c’mon! It’s just me, we’re friends, can’t you tell me?” Keigo pouted, batting his eyelashes at you in an exaggerated, dramatic fashion. The display made you laugh, so you indulged him. After all, he was a friend. No harm in telling him something he was bond to know sooner or later.

“I’m actually single right now. But as a jeweler sale associate, I know how much it means to a person when their partner picks out a gift for them, especially if it’s a surprise.”

Keigo nodded his head solemnly.  “That makes sense. I better follow your advice then eh? Find out what she likes-“ he mused “-I can do that.”

“Good luck Keigo!” You called after him as he strolled through the door, waving when he smiled at you, giving that same, goofy two fingered salute that he always did when saying goodbye.

The man unnerved you, the visions you had experienced concerning him making you worry. But as long as he was dating your friend, you felt that you’d be fine.

-----

Keigo showed up again two days later.

“Back so soon?”

“You know me-“ He shook out his umbrella, placing it in the drip-bin by the door, wiping his shoes on the mat. “I always try to be speedy with my work.”

It was grey outside, drizzling slightly. You loved these kinds of days, where you could sit near a window and watch it rain while sipping tea. It was so peaceful and calm, and always soothed your stress.

“Find out anything useful?” Whatever he could tell you would make it easier to refine the jewelry selection for his particular needs.

“So, she doesn’t have any bracelets, and I asked her about why and she said they annoy her. She likes necklaces.” He clarified,. You could tell by the way he puffed up that he felt proud of his detective skills. “I even made a note of the lengths - she likes ones that dip low, which-“ He wolf whistled, and your stomach turned. But it was fine, just awkward.

“Alright, I think we have quite a few like that. Let me collect them for you and lay them out.”

Keigo strolled around the display room while you bustled about, looking in each case at the shiny metals and stones  

You laid out the necklaces, calling Keigo over. The man smiled brightly at you as you showed him the selection, noticing he was gravitating towards the more simply, elegant choices.

“I’m sure she would be thrilled with any of these.” You offered, Keigo silent as he tried to decide between two necklaces.

Still, the man shook his head, quirking his lips. “I just…. I need to see them on, y’know?” Then he brightened, as if he had just thought of something. “Hey, can you try them on? Model one for me? Just to see what it’d look like.”

You laughed nervously. “Sorry Keigo, but I’m not allowed to do that, it’s against company policy. Only customers get to try on the jewelry, and that’s if they’re supervised.”

“Awh, c’mon! No one else is here, and I won’t tell.” The man leaned forward, shooting you a quick wink before he snatched up one of the necklaces, holding it out towards you. “Please? I just need to see it. I promise I’ll buy it.”

He was so insistent, and no matter how loud the alarm bells were wringing in your head, you felt cowed by his confidence.

“Um, still… I don’t think it’s allowed-“

“Fuck what’s allowed-“ He cut you off, snorting. “-I want to see what it looks like. It’s just me (Y/N), I’m not gonna snitch.”

A heavy sigh, and you finally agreed, taking the necklace from his nimble fingers.  You slung it around your neck, not fastening the back as you held it in place. Hopefully that would be enough to sate Keigo’s curiosity.

His eyes immediately followed the curve of the necklace, how it dipped low towards your cleavage (curse you for wearing a lower-cut shirt today). You tried to ignore the leering.

“Here, let me help you fasten it, doesn’t look right otherwise.”

Before you could protest, he was sliding behind you, deft hands reaching for the necklace your had in your grasp.

“Keigo no-!”

But it was too late.

You were pressed up against a wall, face-first, your hands gathered into the small of your back and held there with a vice-like grip. There was pressure between your legs, something hammering into you, in and out, in and out, in and out.

Keigo was talking to you, you could tell it was the man by his voice. What was he saying? You were too overwhelmed with the sensation between your legs to focus on the words falling from his lips.

Sweat dripped from your temples, Keigo’s chest pressed up against your back was slick with perspiration, his nipples hard and pressing into your skin. It was an uncomfortable situation-

And then it changed.

You were tied up now, tight enough that you couldn’t move no matter how you thrashed. Knees bound in such a way so your ass was up in the air, arms stretched out in front of you, anchored to the headboard of the bed.

Keigo was behind you again - nothing to indicate that the tongue running through your core was his, but somehow, you knew.

You were begging and pleading, withing in your restraints against his tongue, but he wouldn’t let up, he wouldn’t let you crest the mountain that had built up inside. He kept chuckling, the vibrations running through you and making you buck your hips. You felt disgusting.

Then the bed was gone, and Keigo was in front of you. He was sitting in an office chair, your legs straddling his lap. Hands on your hips were dragging you back and forth, grinding you on the hard member protruding from Keigo’s lap. He was flushed, letting out little moans as he kept eye contact with you, smiling and praising you.

Then you were back.

Gasping, you shot away from Keigo, the expensive necklace clattering to the ground as it fell from your hands.

The man froze, confusion etched across his features as he watched you bend over, trying to catch your breath, to calm down, to ignore the lingering sensations from the futuristic visions.

“(Y/N)…”

“I think-I think you should leave.” You heaved, tears building. That had been awful, everything had felt good but you hadn’t. You felt uncomfortable and disrespected and stupid. That couldn’t be your future with Keigo, you wouldn’t be able to handle that. He was your friend’s boyfriend, for goodness sake!

Keigo opened his mouth to say something, but you snapped at him “Leave.”, making the man click his jaw shut.

He walked out the door, shooting you concerned glances the entire way.

You felt better as soon as he was gone, the door clicking shut after him. Thankfully, you were the only employee out front at the moment, and no other customers were present, so no one but you and Keigo had experienced your outburst.

Bending down to pick up the necklace, you inspected it carefully, horrified that you had dropped such an expensive item. It was alright though, so you brought it back to the others, shakily beginning to gather them up to put away.

You didn’t want to see Keigo again.

——-

“I just don’t understand!”

Your friend sobbed, surrounded by tissues on your bed, eyes red and blotchy.  You wished you could rub her back, our give her a hug, but you knew what would happen. So you stayed on the floor, passing up tissues and offering wordless sympathy.

“Why would he break up with me? Why?”

You shrugged, looking for words. “I don’t know… I’m sorry that this happened, but if he can’t see how awesome you are, then he’s an idiot.”

She sniffed, blowing her nose. You could tell she wasn’t convinced, but she didn’t say anything further, instead choosing to wipe her eyes.

She had called an hour or so ago, tearful, asking if she could come over. Refused to tell you what was wrong, but the second you let her in, she had burst into tears, explaining everything.

Keigo had broken up with her via text, that asshole.

“I just…. I thought we were good. Did I do something wrong? I just don’t get it.”

“Neither do I. You said he just texted you out of the blue?”

She nodded her head, going to blow her nose again. “We were supposed to go out for dinner tomorrow, it’s our two month anniversary.”

You cringed. Did your encounter with Keigo in the jewelry store have something to do with this? Had you driven your friend’s boyfriend away? Had you weirded him out? Oh god, what if this was all your fault?

Your friend broke down into a sob again, slumping onto your bed. You passed her another tissue. “It’ll be okay. I think he’s a stupid fucker that just wanted to play with your heart.  He isn’t worth shit. You deserve so much better than him.”

She nodded, blotchy eyes seeking out your own. In the back of your mind, you cringed, seeing the exact same scene from your vision. Well, at least the two of you hadn’t gotten in a fight.

——-

A few weeks later, Keigo was at your door.

“You need to leave. Now.”

“Aw, c’mon (Y/N), at least hear me out?”

You huffed, crossing your arms. Maybe he had a dumb explanation for why he had dumped your friend. You were wary of him accidentally touching you again though. “Fine, but make it quick.”

“No promises.” He grinned, breezing past you and into your apartment. He beelined for the chair you had sat in last time he was here, leaving you to take a seat on the couch.

“Alright-“ He settled in, fixing you with a gleeful eye. “How do you feel about your quirk?”

Caught off guard, you blinked. Wasn’t he going to explain why he had broken your friend’s heart? “Um, what?”

“Your quirk, y’know, the one that makes you see the future?” He leaned forward, rubbing his hands together with a smile. He seemed far too pleased, and it made you nervous.

“I hate it. If I could get rid of it, I would.” You stated, ready to move onto a different topic. But just as you were about to ask him about your friend, he rose to his feet, fishing in his pockets.

He drew out a bracelet, black and red, thin. “Well then, lookie what I have.” The man walked over, sitting down quickly on the couch next to you, causing you to immediately scoot to the end. You didn’t want him touching you.

“Oh, sorry.” He apologized upon noticing your unease. Instead of scooting closer, he simply tossed the bracelet onto your lap, leaning back as he watched you look at it curiously. “Put it on, see how it fits.”

“I don’t need jewelry Keigo, and I think we should be spending our time discussing why you bro-“

“Just put it on (Y/N), please? I promise you won’t regret it.”

Huffing, you did as he asked, clasping the bracelet around your wrist. It fit snug, almost too tight, but it hugged your wrist comfortingly. It was pretty, but you didn’t see what this had to do with your quirk, or with your friend, or anything that held any relevancy.

Bracelet now on, you fixed Keigo with a blank stare. “Happy?”

“I don’t know.” Keigo grinned. “Are you?” And then he was hugging you, arms wrapped around your shoulders, face buried in your neck.

You shrieked, already panicking as you tried to ready yourself for the onslaught of  visions that accompanied physical touch.

They never came.

Choking back a surprised gasp, you drew back from his hug to find Keigo’s eyes, the man smiling down at you as he watched your reaction.

“Kei-Keigo…” You stuttered, shocked, surprised, euphoric, confused - so many emotions, all at once. You couldn’t even think to brush off the hands still around your shoulders, thumbs brushing at the tops of your exposed collarbones by the neck of your shirt.

You weren’t able to think rationally, couldn’t focus on anything but the awe you felt at being touched without being slammed with visions of the future.

You forgot about the terrifying visions you had gotten when Keigo touched you.

You forgot about how he had hurt your friend, broke her heart with no explanation.

You forgot about his hands refusing to leave your body.

“Keigo, this is…. Amazing” You breathed, wide eyes snapping up, catching his smiling face, eyes crinkly and twinkly.

“I had my team modify some quirk-cancelling cuffs! You seemed so upset whenever someone touched you, I couldn’t leave you with such a burden.”

Nodding, you returned your gaze to the bracelet, turning your wrist this way and that to look at the bracelet from different angles.

“I mean, I know how much I like being touched, and touching. I think I’d totally die if I couldn’t.” Keigo chuckled, but you weren’t listening.

The rest of his time sitting next to you on the couch was spent explaining the colors he had spent so long picking (“They’re my personal favorite, aren’t they nice?”) and why he had decided on a bracelet (“It could’ve been a necklace, but I think it looks better in it’s original cuff design, looks cooler that way.”).

By the time he had to leave, you were completely sidetracked, so distracted with your shiny new jewelry that you didn’t even remember to ask what his deal was with being a jerk to your friend, his now ex-girlfriend.

-----

“-and then he gave me the bracelet. I wasn’t thinking much after that, I just… I can hug you, isn’t that incredible?”

You gave your friend another squeeze, feeling a smile dance across your face. But then you sobered, pulling back from her with your hands on her shoulders, quickly becoming serious.

“But he’s really starting to kind of weird me out. Why won’t he explain why he broke up with you? He’s being a little bitch. I tried asking him a couple times, but he kept cutting me off, and I feel like the bracelet was a distraction to stop me from busting his chops about his behavior towards you.”

Your friend looked sad for a second, before shrugging. “I dunno, he just said things weren’t working out, and that while he liked me, he’s not ready for a relationship right now ‘cause of where he’s at in his life.”

“Psh-“ You scoffed, going in for another comforting squeeze for your friend. “-that’s code for “I’m a fuckboy and want to sleep around”.”

“I know….. But it still hurts.” You friend sighed, wrapping her arms around your neck. “But at least he gave you that quirk thing. I’ve never seen you so happy.”

“I just wish he was a mildly decent person.” You grumbled, detaching from the hug to sit back, glaring at the ceiling. “He gives me the fucking creeps.”

“How so?” You friend locked her head to the side, throwing her arm over the back of the couch. You had called her over the second Keigo had left, finally gathering your wits about you.

“I dunno…” You shrugged, not quite ready to tell her about the disturbing visions containing him. Did that have something to do with their breakup? Was it your fault? What was going to happen with Keigo? It honestly scared you, the residual feelings and sensations you could remember from the visions.

Your friend nodded understandingly. “Some people just give off those vibes. Well, at least we don’t ever have to see him again. Good riddance I say.”

You agreed.

——-

Knocking on the door, you shuffled your feet as you took in the house.

It was one of those rich places - nice neighborhood, fancy street filled with lavish houses, expensive cars. You felt slightly out of place, shifting from foot to foot in your clearance-rack clothes.

The door swung open, revealing a sleepy Keigo, shirtless, clad in nothing but sweatpants.

“Oh, um-“ You quickly turned, averting your eyes, trying to give the man privacy in case he hadn’t realized he was shirtless. It looked like he had just woken up from a nap, eyes blinking owlishly, hair mussed.

“Hey (Y/N), come on in.”

Still keeping your eyes turned away, you stepped inside the opulent house, trying not to gape too much at the decor inside. You didn’t want to look like a complete peasant in front of Keigo, but he’d already been to your house, so you could imagine that he knew of your poor-ness.

“Something wrong? You can look at me y’know, I’m not gonna turn you to stone or something.” Keigo joked, voice entirely too close for comfort.

Head whipping around, you found that he was too close, practically almost touching you as he stood beside you, head cocked as he watched you.

“No… nothings wrong, you’re just…” You gestured to his torso, and Keigo looked down in confusion, before looking back at you, a grin on his face.

“Ah, just woke up.” He shrugged, before reaching out to touch your arm. “Bracelet still keeping that quirk at bay?”

You nodding, following the blonde as he turned and walked further into his house, towards the kitchen.

“Glad to hear! I just wanted to look at it a bit, make sure nothing’s worn or torn, y’know? Hate for you to have to deal with the no-touching thing again.” He said over his shoulder, gesturing for you to sit down at the island, on one of the barstools.

You did so, watching the man open his fridge, take out a carton of milk, uncap it. “Is it too tight?”

“Nope.”

He drank right out of the bottle, and you watched some dribble out of the corner of his mouth, down his chin. The man finished gulping down the milk, taking the bottle away from his lips to swipe at the white trail of liquid rolling down his chin.

Eyes dark, he made contact with your own eyes as he cleaned his chin with a finger, stuffing it in his mouth to suck it clean.

That was gross.

The next second, he was back to normal, cheerfully putting the milk back into the fridge. “Good, good. Now, mind if I take a look at it? You should keep it on though.”

You nodded, and Keigo straightened, walking around the island to sit next to you, shuffling his stool closer.

He grabbed your wrist, laying it out on the island, before beginning to poke at the bracelet, running his fingers over it, fiddling with it, squeezing the tendons in your hand, smoothing his hand up your arm.

It felt a bit intrusive.

“So the visions are all blocked?”

“Yep.”

“And you can touch and be touched?”

“Yeah.”

“How’s your appetite? Sometimes complete quirk suppression can make you lose your appetite.”

“It’s been normal, I guess I’m a little hungrier than normal, but I’ve been getting out more too, not as afraid of crowds.”

“Nice! And how about your libido?”

You spluttered, choking on your own spit, snatching your hand away from Keigo’s wandering touches.

“Excuse me? That’s a bit personal, thanks.”

Keigo shrugged, bright eyes hooded and lazy. “It’s just a question.”

“Are you done making sure it’s all good? No broken parts?” You changed the subject, narrowing your eyes. You can’t believe your friend had ever dated him, that you had ever thought he was anything but a playboy.

You wouldn’t even be here, in his house, but he had come into the jewelers a while back (both you and your friend had blocked his number), spouting something about your bracelet needing constant checks and maintenance in order to keep suppressing your quirk. (“Wouldn’t want it to stop working, right? Just stop by sometimes, here’s my address.”).

So here you were.

Keigo leaned back a little, raising an eyebrow at your irritated tone of voice. “Woah there, don’t get snippy. I’m doing you a favor, right? I’m not trying to hurt you or something.”

Technically, you guess he was right. But he had played your friend, had fucked with her feelings. He was a fuckboy, liked messing with each and every girl he could find, and you didn’t care to be one of them.

“And I appreciate that Keigo. But I like to keep my private life private.”

Keigo was silent, simply holding out a hand for you to place your arm in, so he could fiddle more with the bracelet.

Several moments of awkward silence passed before he spoke again. “You’re being awfully ungrateful. It makes me think you don’t even want this little gift. If I were you, I’d be doing everything I could to show the person kind enough to do such a thing for me how thankful I was.”

Lost for words, you stared at the man. Was he expecting some sort of award? Some sort of prize? It’s not like you had anything to give him.

“I don’t have anything to give you in thanks. Just my words, which I’ve said plenty of. I didn’t ask you to make this for me.” You pointed out.

“Sure, but you use it, don’t you? You wouldn’t like it if I took it away, right? Think about how miserable your life was before I gave you this.”

Your life had been miserable. Afraid to go out in crowds, afraid to leave the house, Nervous about grocery shopping, about paying and having the cashier touch your hand as they handed over the change.

Scared of public transportation, of coffeeshops and bookstores, of public parks, even your own home. What if one of your roommates forgot and touched you? Or accidentally bumped into you?

Plus, you could hug now, and shake hands, and slap your friends back when she told a horrible joke, or tap her when you wanted her attention.

You didn’t want to go back to before. “I’m sorry Keigo… I really do think it’s lovely, and I can never thank you enough for doing this for me.”

Keigo let go of your arm, and it swung back to your side. You could feel the man looking at you.

“You know what would let me know that you mean it?”

God, it better not be something sexual.

“You could buy me coffee. Or maybe a cookie from that bakery on 1st Avenue, you know the one? With the little bunny pastries?”

That surprised you.

“You go there? That’s my favorite place.” You mused, looking at Keigo in surprise. He didn’t seem the kind of guy who’d like a place like that. But appearances could be deceiving.

“Of course! I really like their stuff.”

“Alright,” You conceded, rising to your feet. “I’ll get you some stuff from there. Want it today?”

Keigo rose to his feet as well, crossing his arms over his bare chest. “Yeah! Let me get dressed real quick, and then I’ll go with you. Don’t go anywhere birdie.” He shot you a wink, before sauntering past you, out of the kitchen.  You raised a brow, surprised. He meant to go with you?

“Make yourself at home while you wait, don’t be afraid to kick up your feet!”  

——-

The bakery smelled as lovely as usual.

A warm atmosphere, good food, friendly employees. It was your favorite place for a reason.

“Alright, what do you want?” You asked Keigo, the two of you staring up at the menu.

“Hmm, I don’t know. What are you going to get?”

“Probably a muffin, those are my favorite.”

“What!?! That’s my favorite too! How crazy.” Keigo smiled at you, dimples showing. You got the feeling that he was brown-nosing you, but you kept the thought to yourself, striding up to the counter to order.

Muffins purchased, you approached Keigo, who was lounging by one of the display cases, admiring the delicate, mouthwatering masterpieces held within.

“All good to go?” His smile was so charming, so friendly, you almost caught yourself wanting to see it more. Huffing in irritation at yourself, you pushed past him, shoving the bag with his muffin into his chest.

“Here’s your stuff. I’m going home now, see you around.”

“Wait!” Keigo turned, jogging a little to catch up as you exited the bakery. “We gotta eat these before they get cold - hey, birdie, are you listening to me?“

You weren’t, stoically keeping your head turned forward, walking with determination. There was only so much of Keigo that you could tolerate, and you had reached your limit. He was starting to really annoy you, didn’t he get that you wanted to go home? You’ll just eat your muffin on the subway, it’s not that hard.

“(Y/N)-“ His sudden growl was punctuated by an arm on your shoulder, spinning you around and pulling you towards the man.

“Hey-!” The sudden collision of your face with his chest knocked your breath away, almost causing you to drop your own muffin in the process.

When you managed to gather yourself, you shot a glare up at Keigo’s face, only to find the blonde smirking down at you, a fierce glint in his eyes.

“I expect you to listen when I’m talking, got it? I don’t like being ignored.”

That’s evident.

You tried to back away, but he still had a hand on your shoulder, squeezing you tight to him. “Keigo! Let me go, you stupid idiot-“

“Stop it, I’m not doing anything to you, ya big baby.” He cooed down at you, before taking his hand away, letting you stumble backwards.

He was just messing with you, teasing you. It was obvious, yet still you allowed him to be around you.

“Alright, I’m sorry, I know all the touching’s gotta be new still. Wanna go eat these in the park? I’ll buy you some ice cream if you want.”

“I don’t want ice cream, I want to go home.”

Keigo frowned, walking after you when you turned on your heel, heading for the subway. “Why do you dislike me so much? I’ve done so much to help you, and yet you spit in my face. Your parents ever teach you how to be grateful? Or even respectful?”

You gasped at his accusation, stopping in your tracks to whirl around, only to find the man far closer than what you had expected. Still, you tried to hide your surprise at his proximity, jabbing a finger in his direction.

“You are a playboy, you broke my friend’s heart, and you want to sleep with every single person you come across just to mess with their feelings. I don’t want to be around you. I won’t get dragged into that.”

The man watched you, face solemn and contemplative. “Is that really how you see me?”

“Why would I say any of that unless it was true?”

He ran a hand through his hair, looking up and around, as if gathering his bearings, before back down at you.

“Have you ever considered that I’m the one getting my heart broken?”

“Yeah right-“ You scoffed, only for Keigo to cut you off.

“People want to sleep with me because they think it’ll get them something that they want. Fifteen second fame, a piece in a tabloid about my “new lover”…. Think it’ll help them further their career, or that I’ll give them money. I can’t find anyone real.

“And my friend wasn’t real enough for you?” You spat, not believing him for a second.

“Nope.  You think she liked me for who I am?”

“Uh, yeah? She gushed to me all the damn time about how good you were, how she felt about you. That girl held nothing but love and affection for you.”

The man snorted, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, sure, love for my wallet.”

“She’s not like that.” You argued, brows furrowing.

“Really? Cause she was sucking me dry, and not even in a sexy way.”

You crinkled your nose at what he was implying. Your friend wasn’t like that, she truly had felt for Keigo, had liked him as her boyfriend. She wasn’t just a leech.

“I’m done talking about my failed love life.” Keigo said lowly, nudging your shoulder. “I just thought two friends could hangout, but it seems like you think all I do is try and fuck people.”

“No, Kiego…. That’s not what I meant.” Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t, but right now…. You almost felt a twinge of sympathy for him.

Some of what he was saying made sense, how people would try and use him for various reasons. But that still didn’t explain his sudden and harsh breakup with your friend. And over text no less, a complete douche move!

But you felt bad about his words, about how he seemed to actually want to hangout, and yet you were accusing him of trying to sleep with you. But what about those visions you had had? Was that even how they went? Or were you remembering falsely based on your bias towards the man?

And what about his suggestive touches, his leering gaze? Was that maybe just how he always was, and it wasn’t exclusive to you? Were you inflating your place in his life, thinking that he wanted you?

It was confusing, and you didn’t want to think about it, try and untangle the lies from the truth. Right now, you just wanted to eat your muffin.

“If you really didn’t mean it, then can we go eat these in the park? I just want to chill with someone that isn’t trying to gain something from me. I want to spend time with someone that’s real.”

With a half-irritated sigh, you nodded, hoping you wouldn’t regret hanging out with the obnoxious man.

-----

He kept calling you, texting you. You’d had to unblock his number at some point, in order for him to text you about the bracelet and when he needed to look at it.

“Come overrrrr, I’m bored!”

“Birdie, are you hungry? The delivery place gave me extra Torikatsu and I don’t want it to go bad. Can I come drop it off?”

He’d swing by the jewelers, leaning over the counter to talk to you about a recent shoot he’d booked, or something he saw recently.

Keigo seemed to slowly insert himself into every facet of your live, against your will, ignoring every subtle, irritated attempt of yours to turn him away. Every single time you saw him, your mind would inevitably think of the visions, but you felt like you couldn’t trust yourself with those anymore.

The man assured you at every step, he had no romantic feelings for you, he just wanted a friend, someone to put him in his place, be honest with him.

You definitely were honest.

Snapping at him when he showed up at your apartment uninvited, coming up behind you on the street and grabbing your sides, laughing when you shrieked and tried to hit your attacker, only to realize it was Keigo.

Tearing into him when he tried to talk badly about your friend - she had been having less and less contact with you, and you couldn’t figure out why. Now your relationship with her was reduced to curt text messages. Maybe she was just going through a hard time, and wanted alone time? Still, you let her know you were there for her, whenever she needed.

You were honest when Keigo asked your opinion on food, TV shows, clothes, movies. It was almost satisfying saying something sucked, just to see Keigo’s face fall slightly, before he shook his head, whining.

“Then help me pick something out! I can’t do it without you-“

He totally could, he was just being a baby.

The more he inserted himself into your life, the more you realized that he was akin to a petulant child, just with muscles and a penchant for inappropriate touching.

Whenever he saw you, he’d try to draw you into a hug, letting his hands drop far down your back, way too low for you to feel comfortable. You’d slap them away, and Keigo would laugh, before ruffling your hair.

He’d have you come over so he could check your quirk suppressor, except he was in the middle of a show, and it was getting to the best part. (“Sit down, shhh, it’s just getting good!”) You’d have to sit through the entire thing, enduring Kiego’s hand lazily drawing shapes over your pants on your thigh, simply putting it back whenever you shoved it off.

He was insufferable, irritating to no end, but you could tell he was a lonely man, bitter about his love life and with his friendships.

So you tolerated his presence.

After all, he wasn’t trying to hurt you. That’s something he reiterated every single time you shied away from his touch. He made you feel like a fool for thinking the man was hitting on you, when he made it so clear that he wasn’t, only interested in friendship.

Until you fell asleep at his house.

Another one of those days were he needed to look at your quirk suppressor (which you were 99% sure was fine, it seemed like he just enjoyed seeing it on your wrist). He had been rummaging around in his room before he had to run and open the front door for you, talking as he walked back to return to his previous task.

Apparently he was trying to find a good shirt, seeing as how he had pants on, but his chest was bare. Keigo instructed you to sit on the bed for a second while he retreated into his massive closet, trying to find a good shirt  to go with the rest of his outfit.

His bedroom was pretty large, a full California King taking up the majority of the space, neatly made. The sheets and blankets felt soft beneath your fingers as you sat on it’s edge, prepared to wait for Keigo for a bit.

The man always took his fashion very seriously - one time he’d even spent two hours trying on clothes until he’d decided on an appropriate outfit to go to the park.

So you followed your tired eyes, exhausted from work and dealing with Keigo, worrying about your friend, daily life stressors and the like.  Keigo wouldn’t mind if you laid back, right? Your feet wouldn’t be on the bed, so it’d be fine.

And it was fine, pleasant, the room the perfect temperature.

You were roughly jerked out of sleep by pressure. Pressure on your hips, pressure on your lips.

Eyes jolting open, you tried to inhale, only to find yourself unsuccessful.

Keigo was on top of you.

Panicking, your hands came to push at him, a muffled sound of protest being squeaked out from where his lips pressed against yours.

Noticing you were awake, Keigo pulled back, smiling the whole while.

“I’m not willing to wait anymore, I just gotta have you.”

His eyes were glinting, hair tousled, still shirtless. You felt goosebumps arise as you remembered the vision you had so long ago, of this exact moment.

“Wai-mmph!” His lips were on yours again, passionate and warm, moving eagerly. A wet tongue pressed at the seam of your mouth, surprising you and making you blanch, which allowed the man access.

Kiego’s tongue explored the inside of your mouth, playfully tapping your own wet muscle, encouraging you to lift it and wrestle with him.

This was too weird, this wasn’t happening, you couldn’t do this-

Biting down hard, you snapped your teeth shut on his tongue, and Keigo yelped, drawing back immediately.

“Ouch, what the fuck!?! Chill out (Y/N), geez.” His hand was dabbing at his mouth, wincing when it came in contact with his bleeding tongue. You had bitten him deep, but you weren’t focused on that right now.

“What are-what are you doing?” Your voice was breathless, disoriented. The room felt…. Dark, and suffocating, as if it was closing in on the two of you, trapping you.

Keigo looked down at you, and it was only then that you realized you had been moved to lie on the bed fully, shoes off, legs splayed. The man rested on his stomach between them, his weight pressed against your body, keeping you still.

“I told you, I can’t wait anymore. I’ve been as nice as I can, but it’s time you started paying me back for everything I’ve done for you.”

What? Paying him back-was he talking about the quirk suppressor he had gifted you? Had he been lying about his true intentions this whole time?

“That’s not right, it was a gift, you-you don’t have to pay back a gift.” You spluttered, feeling as if your chest was collapsing.

Keigo shook his head, swooping down to leave a bloody kiss on your forehead, which you cringed at, before pulling back to speak.

“Nah, it wasn’t a gift. You know how expensive it was? You were always gonna have to compensate me. Now shush, I wanna feel you-“

One of his hands grabbed your jaw, keeping your face turned towards his, pressing down until tears formed in your eyes. His lips were bloody from the bite on his tongue, tasting unmistakably like iron.

You didn’t want this.

Trying to bite him again left you with a slap to your thigh, making you cry out. Keigo huffed out a laugh against your mouth.

He detached from your lips, just to start nibbling at your jawline, elating streaks of red where his lips touched.

“God, you are so sexy. I was trying to chill, but then I came out and you were sleepin’ all cute, and I couldn’t fucking stop myself from touching.”

“Stop doing this, I can pay you with something different. I don’t wanna do this Keigo.” You whispered, on the verge of crying.

“No, I get to decide what you’ll be doing for me, it’s my bracelet-“

“It’s not, you gave it to me, please stop-“

“Shut up.” He growled sinking his teeth into the side of your neck, nipping at the skin hard enough to have you screaming. “You’re so ungrateful, where’s my thanks? I’ve done so much for you.”

“Thank you, thank you Keigo, I appreciate it all-“ You hurried out, hoping it was what he wanted to hear “But I can’t do this, please don’t make me. I wanna go home.”

“There we go, I like the sound of you thanking me. You’re going to thank me for each and every time you cum tonight, got it?”

“No, no, we can’t do this, I can’t! Get off of me, please-“

“You’ll do it, or else I’ll whip you until your flesh hangs off of you in strings.” He hissed, squeezing your jaw cruelly.

The tears in your eyes overflowed as you fell silent.

“Aw, birdie, don’t cry. I’m not gonna hurt you, I never have, right?” He waited for a second, watching your face before he pressed harder, eyes hardening “Right?“

You nodded jerkily, and Keigo came to kiss your tears away, savoring their salty taste as they rolled down your cheeks.

“Keigo, this isn’t right though, please get off me. I don’t want this-“

“You want me to take this away?” A hand caught your shaking wrist, the one that had the quirk suppressor fastened snugly around it, wrenching it up so both of you could see it. “Huh? Put you back where you were in your miserable little life? Running away from everyone, holing up in your apartment, not willing to touch or be touched…”

The very thought made your insides churn, and a fresh round of tears rolled down your face as you shook your head no, lips wobbling as you whined. You felt so pathetic, so small and dumb underneath Keigo.

“That’s what I thought. You’re going to relax now, right? No more begging unless it’s for more.”

He didn’t wait for an answer, beginning to shuffle around until he could slide his hands under your shirt, pressing against your tummy as you flinched away.

“Don’t worry birdie, you’re gonna like every single thing we’re gonna do. You’ve had sex now, yeah? Since I gave you the bracelet?”

You shook your head “no”, it’s not like you were eager for sex before you got it, and all the touching-without-terrifying-visions thing was still new to you, the dating world was being eased into. Somehow though, every single date seemed to be crashed by the man on top of you.

Keigo lit up like a Christmas tree, licking his lips gleefully. “Okay, okay, I can-whew, that’s hot-I can be gentle.” It sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince you, his hands skirting up your ribs, shucking up your shirt as the traveled higher and higher.

“Keigo please-“

“Don’t you dare say stop, I’m not gonna. You’re the first person that doesn’t want anything from me, you’re real, and I’m not stopping.”

His admission made you cringe, recoiling from his touch. He followed you, palms finally smoothing over your breasts, over your bra.

“You’re going to do what I say, or else this-“ Your wrist was wrenched into view, red-and-black bracelet glittering. “-gets removed. And I’ll still do whatever the fuck I want, but you’ll be off in your mind having visions of who-knows-what while I have my way. Got it?”

Your blood chilled, body suddenly feeling ice cold. His tone was dead serious, spitting out the words with a sense of finality.

“So, just lay there and take it birdie, I’ll be good to you.”

[blouisparadise]

Upon request, here is a rec list of bottom Louis fics where Louis cries during sex. If you enjoy our rec lists, please take the time to like this post and especially to reblog it to help spread the word. Happy reading!

1) I Could Be Your China Doll | Explicit | 2138 words

"This is my punishment for you, my slut." Harry kisses Louis' inner thighs and Louis shivers at his boyfriend's touch. Harry moves out of the bed again but Louis can hear shuffling and he knows that Harry is getting something not so good. The noise stops as the footsteps of the older guy suddenly become too loud for his ears.

2) Lips Are Like The Galaxy’s Edge | Mature | 2360 words

Harry licks over Louis’ hole slowly, deliberately, and his tongue is like velvet and Louis’ skin is burning at every junction where Harry touches him and it’s all so good he thinks he might cry. He licks a few more times, moaning softly like he’s relishing the taste of Louis and that’s just, well, fuck.

3) Louder Louder | Explicit | 2931 words

There's really only one way to get Louis out of a mood this terrible, and Harry is prepared to sacrifice his entire evening if necessary.

4) Heaven In These Sheets | Explicit | 3557 words

Bunny Hybrid Louis has it out for his boyfriend’s phone.

5) As Clean As A Sinner Can Be | Not Rated | 3394 words

If you asked Harry, he would tell you it’s not his fault they were in this predicament. It’s not his fault that his hair is getting too long (it is, he’s too lazy and too stubborn to let Lou cut it). It’s not his fault that because said hair is too long he had to find some way of keeping it out of his eyes (gelling it back wasn’t his style and snapbacks more times than not bugged him). It’s not his fault that Zayn had ripped his shirt sleeve off of his favourite button down shirt and he couldn’t part with it (plus he had far too much time on his hands in between shows) so he fashioned a headband, or as others would call it a head scarf, and found that it really helped keep the hair out of his eyes. Nor is he at fault for the fact that he looked like a sex god every time he wore the damn thing and really it was all his fault at how turned on it made Louis.

6) When I Hear Your Cries, Praying For Life. (I Will Be There) | Explicit | 5623 words

Well, I figured we needed Larry birthday sex, soooo.....

7) Singing Your Praises | Explicit | 6226 words

Prompt 86: Louis rides Harry while wearing his packer’s jersey/sweater and gets his ass ate.

8) Sugar, With Just The Right Amount Of Spice. | Explicit | 6314 words

Harry’s old fashioned when it comes to sex, he loves being face to face with his partner, watching their reactions to everything Harry gives them. He never does anything else then fuck in missionary position. Louis loves his sex life with Harry - but he’s getting a bit bored with doing the same position, all he really wants is for Harry to be rough with him, take control and dominate him for once.

9) Give It Up To Me | Explicit | 8134 words

"You're going to end up making me come with all the boys in our lounge," he finished, his tone softening the longer he spoke.

"And?" Harry murmured, placing his palm over the crevice of Louis' arse, keeping the plug nice and tight inside of him. "What if I wanted you to?"

10) Making A Splash | Explicit | 9557 words

“You want this?” Harry muses, fisting his cock as he drags his hand lazily up his thick length. Louis eyes the motion and nods his head absentmindedly. “You want to show everyone at this beach how much of a slut you are for Daddy’s cock?”

“M‘your slut,” Louis immediately replies, inching closer, inching closer with his eyes glued on Harry’s glistening cock, precome shining under the sun as it dribbles out his slit.

Harry grins widely and stops the movement of his hand to grip himself at the base again, pushing Louis’ head down. “Show everyone how much of a slut you are.”

11) Place Your Head On My Beating Heart | Explicit | 10860 words

The AU where porn sensation Harry Styles takes his newbie to his place and gets him to come untouched twice before even fingering him and they may or may not fall in love at some point between second and third orgasms.

12) Know You Got That Thing (That I Like) | Explicit | 15798 words

In all the ways he thought about their reunion going, watching Louis finger himself open was not on the list.

13) Baby, Let Me Love You Goodbye | Explicit | 20249 words

Louis almost calls Harry daddy. Cue denial, feelings, and way too much dirty talk.

14) Middle Ground | Explicit | 23561 words

Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

Harry moves to a new town for work where he meets the enigma that is Louis Tomlinson.

15) Give So Much (Not Enough) | Explicit | 24610 words

“For my little lion,” Louis slid the smoothie bowl in front of Oscar, letting him dig in with his little hands. “And for daddy.”

He didn’t process the bowl in front of him, the push across the table causing a raspberry to roll off and fall on his lap, because Louis calling himself mummy may make him feel all sorts of mushy emotions, but Louis addressing Harry as daddy was suddenly having a very different effect on him. Since when did Louis saying daddy out loud render him speechless?

“Daddy’s still sleepy, but we’re up bright and early right Ossie?” Louis’ cooing shook him out of his daze. The man coughed, picking the raspberry off his lap and swallowing it with unintentional, and very unnecessary, eye contact with Louis. “Well, is it better than your protein smoothies and why?”

 Harry chuckled, spooning another heap of the strawberry banana goodness into his mouth, “Way better sweetheart.”

16) Put In Them Hours | Explicit | 25009 words

Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

AU where Louis makes the poor decision of hiring an unfairly attractive assistant. Inspired by Rachel and Tag from Friends.

17) Honey, Make This Easy | Explicit | 25483 words

Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

AU; Harry’s sister recently passed away, leaving him with temporary custody of her daughter. Needing help, he hires Louis as a nanny and the boy turns out to be help in more ways than he expected.

18) What's Mine Is Yours To Make Your Own | Explicit | 39919 words | Sequel

Sometimes, the closest Harry ever feels to home is Louis. It's their shared hotel rooms on tour, their shoes toed off in the doorway next to each other, jackets hung on the same post.

19) Worth Dying For | Explicit | 44906 words

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Louis says, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. In the center of the table, a set of three glossy photos stares up at him, mocking him.

“A security detail is non-negotiable, Louis, you know this,” his mum reminds him, tapping the middle photo with two fingers.

Louis doesn’t look back down at the pictures, gesturing towards them wildly, over-dramatically. “This is not a security detail!” he protests. “This is a lanky college student. In what world do you hire someone like this kid to protect me?”

20) No Easy Choice, But You’re Mine | Explicit | 45601 words

Louis is an omega hitman with one last job that goes a little sideways. Harry is the alpha bartender that looks a little too closely and cares a little too much.

21) Sedative Duty. | Explicit | 46588 words

Pop-star of the moment Louis Tomlinson is on his third-world tour. He decides to hire renowned professional dominant Harry Styles to unwind while on the road. In an effort not to raise suspicion by the crew, fans, and press,  Harry pretends to be his bodyguard. He ends up being far more than that.It's everything he doesn't notice until it's been taken away from him.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

[c0rpsedemon]

the thing about that one popular post about earring magic ken (the gay one) is that it's wrong. like. incredibly wrong. first of all, mattel sending researchers to raves and accidentally picking up gay men's fashion of the time was just a theory. it's a popular theory that would make sense, but still just a theory. second of all, there's the claim that there is no matching barbie even though there are three AND a midge.

(photo from flickr)

see that? that's a black barbie, a brunette barbie, midge, and classic barbie, as well as ken. midge and her three weed-smoking girlfriends, if you will (and ken).

third of all, he's not the best selling mattel doll of all time, that's totally hair barbie, he's just the best selling ken. fourth of all, mattel selling dolls and then discontinuing them for seemingly no reason isn't exactly a new or notable thing, they do this all the time.

(also the reason he has a cock ring is to hang the earrings from)

[tchallasbabymama]

Troubled Waters Chapter Three

Hello, my lovelies, I’m back 🥰 Recovery is going well, so I started working on this chapter a few days ago, and voilà, c’est fini! I hope y’all enjoy the chapter but know I’m still working on some requests so these probably won’t be weekly updates. I’m shooting for every other week with requests in between, but we’ll see how it goes. Let me know if you want to be tagged in anything, and check out my masterlist to read my other stories and oneshots. There’s plenty of content for y’all to enjoy! As always, likes are appreciated, but your comments and reblogs really make my day.😘

Word count: 5,759

Sego watched with concern from across the garden as yawns replaced Nia’s usual morning ballads. After the third yawn stretched over her usually cheery face, he set his magazine down on the metal bistro table and interrupted her daze, “You didn’t sleep well last night?”

“No,” Nia pouted as she turned to face her friend. “I kept waking up every couple of hours and then when I finally got to sleep, I kept hearing a voice talking about ‘the thinning’ over and over. I don’t even know what that means.”

“Sounds ominous. Did you ask Celeste?”

“Of course I did,” she snapped and immediately regretted it. “Sorry, I’m tired.”

“Clearly,” he rolled his eyes and she narrowed hers before spraying him with the water hose. “Hey!”

Nia giggled and went back to her plants as she pondered the message from her dream. Sego picked his fashion magazine back up and flipped through the colorful pages. He wasn’t one for clothing around the house, but when he was in public in his human form, he liked to keep up with the trends.

A comfortable silence fell over the two of them, and minutes passed before an idea came to Nia as she stroked a large monstera leaf. “You know, mama wasn’t much help, but someone else might be.”

Sego set down his magazine again and his face turned serious.

“Plan B?”

“Plan B,” she nodded.

Sego cracked his knuckles and stood up, “I’ll get the drum.”

Nia finished up outside and washed her hands before piling a plate full of the excess sausage and grits she had cooked with Sego in mind. He wasn’t hungry that morning, so it seemed her leftovers weren’t meant for him in the first place. Nia opened the ritual by placing the plate in the center of the altar and lighting her frankincense resin. She wafted the smoke around their bodies and Sego’s drum, opening them to the spirit world as she hummed the unnamed tune that always came to her during rituals. Once Nia set the small clay pot of burning resin back on the altar, they were ready to begin.

The two friends got into position with Sego placing the drum between his legs and rubbing his hand lightly over the head to set his intentions while Nia stood tall with her head and shoulders back as she waited for him to begin. A few moments later, Nia came alive at the first strike of the drum. She let go and allowed herself to get lost in the sacred sounds, stepping in rhythm. Her feet carried her counterclockwise as her upper body snaked forward and back, being pushed and pulled by unseen forces. When her head began to tingle, she fell to her knees, triggering Sego to pick up the pace as she swayed from side to side with her eyes closed and head tilted back. Nia’s ears began to ring with a high-pitched tone that grew louder and louder until her body grew warm and her eyes flew open. She saw a swirling aura above her, and even though she had hoped to contact Bast, she welcomed unknown spirit. She figured it had something important to say since they usually just communicate through the veil. However, this one felt the need to deliver it’s message in person. Nia’s irises turned white as she parted her lips, allowing the being to enter her body. Goosebumps appeared all over her skin as the high of possession took over her, and the spirit settled into her flesh. The room went quiet as Sego carefully observed his friend. She showed no signs of danger, but he held tight to his drum, ready to banish the strange spirit if necessary.

“Who are you?” he asked, and Nia’s head quickly shot to his direction.

“I am Oma,” she spoke in a gravelly voice that unnerved Sego. Despite the chill that went down his spine, he recognized the name as one of Nia’s distant ancestors, and his apprehension waned. However, his curiosity grew as he wondered how she was able to travel to them so easily.

“What do you want?”

“To warn you.”

“Of what?”

“The realms, they are moving.”

“Moving how?”

“Closer. Space between getting smaller and smaller,” she droned.

“What do you mean?”

“The dead will walk among the living, and the humans among your people.”

“But how is that possible?”

“Bast. Her magic weakens.”

Sego’s heart dropped into his stomach.

“Well, how-”

“You cannot stop them. Worlds collide.”

“Who is ‘them’?”

Nia’s head rolled back, and her body began to convulse as the spirit prepared to leave her host.

“No, not yet!” Sego tried to stop her, “Who is doing this!?”

“Be careful. She is precious.”

“Who?!”

Nia’s mouth flew open, and Oma exited her body before disappearing back into the realm of the dead. Sego rushed to his friend and caught her head before it hit the floor, laying it softly on her altar pillow. He grabbed the blanket Nia’s ugogo had woven for her only grandchild and laid it over her shivering body. Confused by what he just witnessed, Sego returned to his drum and closed the ritual with his skilled hands striking the instrument in rhythm. The sound cleared the air, and the vibrations traveled to Nia’s passed-out form, waking her from her state. He played softer as her chest heaved, and she reoriented herself with the world. Nia sat up slowly when her breathing returned to normal, her chilled fingers clinging to the blanket as she looked to her friend. Sego nodded and laid his palms flat on the drum.

“It was...scared,” Nia spoke softly as she ruminated on the spirit’s emotions. “Who was that?”

Sego pointed to the photo of her great-great-great grandma and her sisters. His finger landed just above the shortest one, all the way on the left. Her smile was the brightest of all her sisters, and her wings the biggest.

“Oma?” Nia asked through her brain fog as she tried to piece together what had just happened. As usual, she could only remember how the spirit felt in her body. This one felt anxious and in a hurry. “She’s never spoken to me before. What did she want?”

She attempted to stand, but Sego picked her up and carried her to her bed.

“I will tell you later. Right now, you need to rest.”

Before she could even protest, Nia’s body betrayed her, and she fell into a deep slumber. She slept the day away and woke up to fragrant smells wafting from the kitchen. Sego knew she would need to refuel after what she had just experienced, so he had prepared a hearty dinner to build her strength back up. Nia dragged herself into the kitchen right as he scooped the stewed meat and vegetables over a large bowl of rice. No words were spoken as she slid into the chair and dug into her food as though she hadn’t eaten in days. Sego took a seat on the other side of the table and waited for her to finish. It didn’t take long at all, and when Nia’s body finally felt full, she leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath.

“So, what did she say?”

Sego’s face contorted into a grimace as he spoke, “She, uh...she said the human realm and the realm of the dead are moving closer to ours.”

Confusion clouded Nia’s face as she tried to wrap her mind around Sego’s words.

“But how? Bast-”

“Is weak. Oma didn’t say how or why, but her magic is failing.”

Nia’s breath caught in her throat, and she looked down at her hands, testing her powers and making them glow a vibrant purple.

“I don’t feel any different, though.”

“Maybe because your magic was gifted to you, she doesn’t have to maintain it like the veils?”

“I didn’t think they required upkeep.”

“I didn’t either, but they’re thinning somehow.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes as Nia thought about Oma’s message before another question entered her mind.

“Why her?”

“She didn’t say,” Sego shrugged, “but she said to be careful and that ‘she is precious.’”

“Who?”

He shrugged again, and Nia stood from the table with conviction, “We should go see my dad. Maybe he’ll know more about her.”

“It’s worth a shot,” he lisped as his forked tongue flickered out and his body melted to the floor. His spotted skin turned to brown and black scales as his arms absorbed into his torso. Nia left to grab her bag, and she returned as his legs melded together. Sego slithered up her body and draped himself over her shoulders. When he got settled, Nia closed her eyes and felt the atmosphere thicken as she transported them to the magic realm. It was much easier than it was the last time she visited over a week ago. Usually, traveling through the veil felt like swimming through water, but it felt more like walking through a downpour this time.

“Did you feel that?” she asked Sego, and he nodded lazily.

Nia walked out her front door and warded it up tight before turning around and facing her other world. She smiled at the vibrant blue sky and breathed in the fragrant floral air before taking the first step into the magical realm. Her stomach twisted with anxiety as Sego’s words echoed through her head, but she was quickly pulled from her trance when a little voice called out on her right.

“Sawubona, Nia!” Adana waved excitedly, and Nia couldn’t help but grin at her young neighbor as she played with her doll on her front porch.

“Sawubona, Adana. How are you feeling today?” she asked as the girl glided over and hugged her waist. Sego slid down Nia’s shoulder a little, and his tongue tickled Adana’s cheeks, making her giggle.

“Good!” she said proudly as her wings flapped behind her.

“Let’s keep it that way,” Nia chuckled as she booped the little girl on her round nose. “I see you’ve been practicing flying.”

“Mhm. Umama said I’m not allowed to fly higher than this yet,” Adana said as she motioned to the few inches between her feet and the ground.

“That’s probably best. You remember what happened last time.”

Adana nodded, thinking back to when her mother had to carry her to Nia’s late one night with a broken wing.

“Umama says she’s gonna teach me how to go higher when I get bigger, and-”

“Adana, dinner!” Zita called from her kitchen, and the little aziza’s wings fluttered even faster at the thought of whatever her mother had prepared for her. Everyone in the neighborhood knew Zita was a fantastic cook, and despite having just eaten, Nia’s stomach grumbled at the thought of another meal. Especially one prepared by Zita.

“Tell her ‘hi’ for me,” Nia called out as Adana quickly waved goodbye and flew indoors. Sego shook his head fondly at the little girl as the door closed behind her, and Nia was thankful for the brief interaction calming her nerves.

As a known healer to all, Nia was very popular among the residents of Birnin Umlingo, the Magic City. She returned waves and short greetings as she made her way to her father’s place, which wasn’t too far from her own. When Nia and Sego arrived at the baobab tree Amare had fashioned into a cozy home for himself, she found him lounging on a limb with a book in his hand. Amare looked up from the page when he felt someone near, and joy spread across his face at seeing his greatest creation. Both of them started to glow faintly as they laid eyes on each other, and his large orange wings spread out as he flew down from his resting spot. Amare enveloped Nia and Sego in a warm hug and kissed her cheek before rubbing the python’s head.

“What are you doing here?”

“What? I can’t come visit my old man?”

“Who are you calling old?” he playfully scolded her as he held the intricately carved door open for her to come inside. She looked around at all the human gadgets that filled his home and smiled warmly at his treasures. Nia had always loved his collection, but the books and records were her favorite. Sometimes, they were all she had during the lonely days of her childhood.

“Oh, nobody,” she played coy as she removed Sego from her shoulders and set him on the ground. “How are you, ubaba?”

“I can’t complain, especially today,” he winked.

“Because your favorite daughter is here?”

“Of course! And I have a date in an hour.”

“A date?!”

“Yes, he’s taking me to a restaurant opening in the town square.”

“Sounds fancy. Who is this mystery man?”

“I’m sure you’ll still be here when he arrives. You can meet him then,” Amare said excitedly before another thought crossed his mind. “Oh, and I forgot to tell you! I popped over to the human realm and got these.”

He held out his arm, and Nia marveled at his brand new kimoyo beads, “Ooooh, those are nice.”

“Aren’t they? Top of the line,” he bragged as he examined the new bracelet that he had almost no use for in the magic realm. “Enough about me, though. Is something up? You never drop by unannounced.”

Nia sighed and plopped down in her favorite high-backed leather chair.

“Something’s wrong, ubaba.”

Amare’s eyebrows furrowed, and his wings sank a little as he sat across from his daughter.

“What is it?”

Nia explained her dream and the ritual to him and watched as his face contorted in confusion and disbelief.

“-and then she was gone.”

Amare leaned back in his chair and ran a hand over his face.

“Oma, huh?” he asked, and Nia nodded. “She was a powerful medium when she was alive. I guess if she can communicate with the dead from this realm, then she can easily communicate with the living from the realm of the dead.”

Nia nodded and continued, “I was trying to reach Bast when she cut in.”

“Hm...maybe she didn’t ‘cut in.’ If Bast’s magic is failing, she might not be able to hear you wherever she is.”

“Maybe you should ask T’Challa,” Sego quipped from the other side of the room as he changed back into his human form. Nia shot him a look to be quiet, and he smirked.

“The king?”

Nia sighed, “Yeah, I forgot to tell you I saw him again.”

“Sure, ‘forgot’ to tell him,” the shapeshifter mumbled.

“Sego!”

He put his hands up in defense, “Ok, I’m done.”

“So what happened this time? Did he recognize you? I hope you gave him a piece of your mind. King or no king, nobody hurts my baby and-”

“Ubaba.”

“What? I’m just saying. So what happened?”

“A bad man tried to hurt me, but before I could do anything, he showed up. He insisted on cleaning my wounds, so I let him, and…”

“And?”

“And he saw Zita and Adana, so I had to tell him about us.”

“You what?!”

“He had questions! What was I supposed to do?”

Amare sighed. “Ok, well, what did he say?”

“He was shocked, but I think he responded well. He didn’t treat me like a freak or anything.”

“That’s good. He seems like a decent, level-headed man.”

“I don’t think he’ll tell anyone. He was-” Nia was cut off by a ringing in her head as the protective wards around her home warned her of a visitor. She could tell by the low pitch that they were coming from the human realm. “I have to go, ubaba. Someone’s at my door.”

Amare and Nia stood while Sego sank back down into his python form and slithered over. The father and daughter hugged each other tightly and said their goodbyes before Nia and Sego were out the door and on their way home.

--------

Earlier that same day, T’Challa sat on his throne and halfway listened as the council argued over trade agreements between the tribes. His attention waned somewhere between the third and fourth attempt to compromise, and his mind wandered to the conversation he had with Nia almost a month ago. He hadn’t been able to get her off his mind lately. Not just her, but what he learned that night, too. He could barely wrap his mind around magical species existing in the first place, much less within his borders.

He was jolted back into the present by a nudge on his left arm and frowned at his cousin.

“What?” he whispered under his breath, knowing N’Jadaka could hear him. The prince also had the heart-shaped herb pumping through his veins from his coup attempt a year ago, so his senses were just as enhanced as T’Challa’s.

“Quit daydreaming,” he responded, equally as low so as not to give their conversation away to prying ears.

T’Challa fought an eye roll and straightened up in his throne.

“Let’s table this discussion for next week,” he cut the conversation short. “Now, is there anything else on the agenda for today?”

“No, my king, but I have one more thing I’d like to bring up,” said the Merchant tribe elder tentatively.

T’Challa nodded for her to continue.

“There have been some strange happenings among my people,” she began. “Just yesterday, a woman wandered into the market yelling about creatures nobody had ever seen before, then she collapsed and started seizing.”

“You’re concerned about a psychotic or epileptic episode?”

“It’s not so much the episode as what came after, your highness.”

“Ok…”

“She died before the doctor could get to her...and then she disappeared before the coroner could examine her body.”

“What do you mean ‘disappeared’?” T’Challa’s eyebrows furrowed as he leaned in closer.

“The men who transported the body were found knocked out cold...and when they woke up, she was gone.”

“Sounds like there’s a sick motherfucker around here somewhere,” N’Jadaka muttered with his signature scowl on his face. “Bodies don’t just disappear for no reason.”

The king ignored his cousin and focused on the Merchant elder. “You said she mentioned strange creatures?”

“Yes, my king. She looked deranged, and she spoke of creatures with dripping claws and visible skulls...She seemed terrified.”

T’Challa leaned back in his throne, and his mind wandered to Nia again, but this time with purpose. That didn’t sound like any creature he had ever heard of before, but he wondered if she had. His thoughts were interrupted by the Mining tribe elder.

“Also, if I may?”

T’Challa motioned for her to continue.

“There have been multiple sightings of abnormally large hyenas around our province.”

“There were some sniffing around the entrance to the lab this morning, but the Dora scared them off,” Princess Shuri added. “They didn’t look like any hyena I’ve ever seen. They were huge!”

M’Baku’s breathing faltered for a moment; he had heard of creatures like that before. When he met Nia a year prior, he began to worry about the existence of other, more dangerous magical species, and now his fears seemed to be coming true. He couldn’t just come out and say it, though, especially since several of the council members already considered the Jabari to be a backward people. He didn’t need “superstitious” added to the list of reasons not to like them. However, he felt that T’Challa might be a little more open to what he had to say. M’Baku decided a private audience with the king would probably be best.

“Hm...has anyone else noticed anything strange or unusual?” T’Challa asked the room, and two more hands went up. He nodded to the Border tribe elder, and the older man cleared his throat before speaking.

“We took a man into custody yesterday for killing his wife. He claimed she was alive when he left for work, but when he came home, all that was left was her bones. Of course, he’s claiming innocence, but the neighbors say they didn’t see her at all that day, which was unusual. But, um, we’re not sure how he was able to remove the flesh so easily. There looked to be bite marks.”

T’Challa looked to his little sister, who had a horrified look on her face, and grabbed her hand in his. He turned to his other side and saw N’Jadaka’s face scrunched up in disgust.

“What the fuck kind of sick shit y’all got going on over here?” he mumbled so only the king could hear.

“I’m not sure,” he whispered back. The king turned back to the council and gestured at the River tribe elder. “And you?”

“Sightings of strange fish in the river, your highness. Human-sized, much larger than what we are used to.”

T’Challa’s eyes shifted to his right and he noticed the Jabari chief’s nervousness, despite his best efforts to mask his feelings.

“Anything else?” T’Challa asked the council, and they all shook their heads. “N’Jadaka and I will investigate these claims further and have a report for next week. Meeting adjourned.”

The council members saluted him and took their leave—all except one.

“My king, may I have a word privately?”

T’Challa looked at M’Baku knowingly and motioned for the chief to follow him. The two of them, along with the prince and princess, retired to T’Challa’s office to continue their conversation.

“What can I do for you, my friend?” the king asked as everyone filed into the room. Shuri sat by the window and looked out at the country nervously, obviously spooked by what she just heard. N’Jadaka plopped down next to her and tried to seem unbothered, but he couldn’t stop fidgeting with his lucky knife, repeatedly flicking it open and closed in his left hand. M’Baku sat across from T’Challa at his desk, and his leg began to bounce involuntarily as he waited for the king to sit down.

M’Baku cleared his throat anxiously before he began, “We Jabari have many...beliefs that the rest of Wakanda seems to have let fall by the wayside. I only bring this up because of what I’ve seen with my own two eyes, but I believe the elders’ reports. Call me superstitious, but there are forces out there that you would not believe. Even I haven’t seen everything, but there is someone who might know what to do-”

“You’re saying you believe the crazy lady?” N’Jadaka scoffed.

“I do not believe she is ‘crazy’. I believe she saw something none of us could ever imagine.”

“Ok, and her body?” The prince challenged him as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

“I do not know...but I know who might.”

“Who?” Shuri chimed in as she tore her eyes from the scenery.

“She lives with the Border tribe. Her name is Nia-”

“Olu?” T’Challa’s eyes lit up in recognition, and M’Baku couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“You know her?!”

“She was the woman who was almost abducted a month ago. How do you know her?” the king asked curiously.

M’Baku wasn’t sure how much he could say without outing her as a non-human.

“She wandered into our territory once when we were still separate from the rest of you. She was very...odd,” M’Baku looked to the king, who seemed to understand his meaning. He wondered just how much he knew of her identity. “She might be able to help.”

“Odd how?” the prince interjected.

“It’s hard to explain,” the king brushed him off to avoid further prying, making M’Baku nod along. The chief still couldn’t tell how much T’Challa knew, but he kept his mouth shut nonetheless. “I will go talk to her.”

Shuri and N’Jadaka shared a look. They both felt like they were purposely being left in the dark, and neither appreciated it.

--------

Nia snuck back into her home in the magic realm and quickly threw on a headwrap before taking a deep breath and opening her door to the human realm. Her stomach twisted up again as she laid her eyes on the king and his guards standing on her doorstep.

“T’Challa, hey,” she greeted him nervously as she leaned against the doorframe with Sego still draped over her shoulders. Nia noticed the two fierce-looking women on either side of him look at her questioningly for her informality, but they said nothing.

“Hello, Nia,” he smiled before noticing Sego. “How are you today?”

“I’m alright. I, uh, actually just got back in from visiting my ubaba.”

“With that?” T’Challa motioned to Sego, and the python stuck out his tongue.

“Sego? Yeah, he likes to get out sometimes,” she said as she stroked her companion’s head. Nia backed up a little and opened the door wider for him, “Anyways, come on in.”

The king ordered the two guards to stay on the front porch, and they stood at attention, looking out at the village. Several of Nia’s neighbors had noticed their arrival and were trying their best to seem inconspicuous as they spied on her to see what was going on. It wasn’t often that the king came around, so the rumor mill started turning almost immediately.

Once T’Challa stepped into the familiar home, keeping a wide berth from Sego, Nia closed and locked the door behind him. They made their way over to the kitchen, and the king sat down in the same hand-carved chair he sat in the last time he was there.

“Can I get you anything?” Nia offered politely as she made her way over to the stovetop and started warming up a kettle she had filled up the night before. “I made a tea blend that helps calm the mind. I’m about to have some myself if you want in.”

“Sure, I’ll take a cup,” he responded with a smile. He watched her scoop the prepared herbs out of a jar and into two reusable cotton tea bags and place one each at the bottom of a mug. She worked in silence as she tried to calm the anxious feeling that had crept back into her bones after leaving Amare’s. Sego could feel her shaking and squeezed her just a little bit to get her to calm down. She relaxed at his hug and poured the hot water into the mugs before carrying them back over to the table. Nia sat down across from T’Challa and blew on her hot tea before taking a small sip. He did the same and smiled at the flavor. “This is delicious, Nia.”

“Thanks,” she gave a small smile back as her stomach fluttered at his compliment. “So...what brings you here?”

The king sighed and leaned back in his chair, watching intently as Sego slithered down from his perch and curled up in the corner. “There have been some strange activities around the kingdom, and I was wondering if you might know anything about it.”

“Strange how?” Nia’s head cocked to the side, and she placed her elbows on the table as she leaned in closer.

“First, there was a woman who was found dead in her home. Her neighbors saw her the day before, and her husband claims she was alive when he left for work, but all that was left was her bones,” he spoke carefully and observed as fearful recognition clouded her face. Nia couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but she easily put two and two together. The thinning had begun.

“W-what else?” she asked as she leaned in even closer.

“Another woman’s dead body disappeared. She wandered into the market screaming about horrifying creatures, then she seized and collapsed...but her body never made it to the coroner,” he paused to make sure she was still with him. She motioned for him to continue, and he spoke again, “There have also been reports of abnormally large hyenas and fish, but that is less concerning than the other two.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Nia mumbled as she got up and hurried to the bookshelf. She pulled out a large leather-bound book and opened it to a page near the middle before flipping a few pages forward. When she landed on what she was looking for, she set the heavy book down in front of the king. His eyes traveled to the page and widened in fright at the image of a childlike being with a mouth as wide as its face and sharp teeth on display.

“W-what is this?”

“Eloko,” Nia answered as she sat back down. “Long ago, our queen banished them to their own part of the forest. They’re harmless if you ignore them, but if you take pity on them and let them into your home...they’ll eat your flesh in minutes.”

T’Challa scanned the page, taking in every horrifying detail he could as he attempted to calm his heart rate. Not many things frightened the unshakable king, but he was completely out of his element. His mouth went dry as he attempted to speak, “And the other woman?”

“I’m not sure, but…”

He tore his eyes from the book and looked up at her. “But what?”

“I don’t want to jump to conclusions because it’s not a common occurrence, but when bodies disappear like that, there’s usually dark magic involved.”

“Dark magic?”

“Yeah...like I said, it’s not common, but over the years, there have been a few aziza who use their gifts in ways the rest of us do not approve of.”

“Like…?”

“Like creating zombi.”

“Those are real?”

“Very,” Nia shuddered and downed her tea. T’Challa’s eyes fell back to her book, and he began flipping through the well-worn pages. It felt old like it had been passed down for generations, and he surmised it probably belonged to her family for decades, centuries even. He flipped towards the front of the book, landing on the page about aziza. He couldn’t help but smile at the much more welcoming illustration. T’Challa got lost in the description as Nia stood and went to wash out her mug, needing something to do with her hands to calm her mind. He finished reading and looked up to ask her a question, but it slipped his mind when he noticed strange markings on her back in the shape of wings. He started to ask her about the scars when he realized he had seen them once before.

“It was you…”

“What was?” she asked without turning around, scrubbing her mug unnecessarily hard. Nia heard him stand and walk closer, but kept her focus on her task.

He removed the mug from her hand and rinsed it out. Before she could protest, he spoke softly, “I said they looked like wings.”

Nia stilled as she remembered her tube top left her back exposed.

“Yeah…I remember,” she murmured without looking up at him despite their closeness.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged, “I just didn’t think it was important.”

T’Challa smiled, “Of course it’s important! I never forgot that day…now I know how you appeared out of nowhere.”

“Heh, yeah,” Nia responded as she pushed past him to grab her tea kettle. She filled it up again, but still wouldn’t make eye contact. T’Challa looked at her, confused by her change in attitude when it clicked for him...

“You know, I wanted to see you again-“

“Then why didn’t you come back?” She snapped and he realized why she didn’t seem to like him that much.

“I did. My baba took me on a trip with him that night. We were gone for two weeks, but I came back looking for you.”

Nia paused again before setting the kettle back on the stove. She turned to face him, and he could see the confusion all over her face.

“You did?” She asked apprehensively, and he nodded in response. “I went back every day for a week before ubaba made me stop. He didn’t like seeing me so sad.”

T’Challa’s face fell and he took a step forward, “Nia, I-“

“No, it’s fine.” Nia moved away from him and his heart sank as he watched her go over to her herb pantry. She rummaged around for a while before she came back with yet another tea blend.

“So, I’ve been meaning to ask you,” she began to change the subject, “have you spoken to Bast recently?”

T’Challa didn’t want to upset her more by pushing the conversation, so he went along with her train of thought.

“Uh, no. It’s been a while. Why?” he asked as he leaned against the counter, eyes tracking her as she moved to sit back at the table. Nia noticed he had been reading about aziza and smiled internally.

“The veil is thinning. That’s how the eloko got through…and who knows what else.”

“The veil?”

“Yeah, it’s like the border between realms.”

“How is that possible?”

Nia shrugged, “Only Bast knows.”

“And she’s not answering you,” he mused as he sat next to her. She wanted to move away, but forced herself to stay still.

“Nope. I tried this morning, but one of my ancestors came through and told us about the veil.”

“Us?”

“Me and Sego.”

“The snake?”

“Python,” Nia chuckled and shot Sego a look to warn him to behave.

“My apologies. So what did they say?”

“The realms of the living and dead, and the human and magical realms are colliding…they might overlap soon. That and ‘she is precious.’”

“Who is?”

Nia shrugged, “Bast, I guess.”

“But you think she’s disappeared…” T’Challa thought aloud.

“Yebo. I don’t know what can make a god disappear, though. Another god maybe?”

T’Challa’s mind wandered to his Avengers colleague, Thor, but he had no way to contact the god while he was off-planet.

“Perhaps.”

“I could try contacting some.”

T’Challa nodded as the wheels turned in his mind. “There are smaller cults around the country that worship other gods. We might be able to-“

“We?”

“Well, yes, I was hoping you would come with me. I’ll need someone with your expertise. I know nothing about all this, but you do…I need your help.”

“I don’t know, I-“

“Please, Nia,” he begged as he grabbed her hand in his. The silence was thick as they looked at each other, but neither was able to look away. “I need you.”

Nia stopped breathing for a moment as he trapped her in his puppy dog eyes. She wanted to say no, she really did…but she just couldn’t.

“Ok, I’ll do it.”

Next Chapter

Taglist: @maddeningmayhem, @theblulife, @motheroffae, @love-mesome-me, @toni9, @bribrisback, @dersha89, @impremenior, @ljstraightnochaser, @love—life—passion, @yourstrulybrii

[madame-mozart]

I used to play a little site called “Meez”! Looking back, it was totally shady af but man, was it nostalgic! I met a lot of interesting people, to say the least, on this site, but I enjoyed dressing and buying clothes for my avatar and looking up tutorials on how to earn extra money (”coinz”, I think they were called) and finding secret rooms for cute avatar animations.

I could go on and on about my misadventures on Meez, but this post would probably be way too long. Instead, how ‘bout I show you all the items that used to be available in the “MeezMaker”, or store where you got all your clothing items?

I should mention that I’ve never actually gotten screenshots of my avatar when the site was still open (yeah yeah, I sometimes beat myself up over it because it’s a wasted opportunity smh), so I guess you’ll just have to take my word for everything. I should also note that I got all these screenshots from random YouTube videos and Google Images, so all credit goes to the original sources/creators.

Let’s start with the avatar I chose when I first joined the site. Meez gave you a bunch of preset avatars you could pick from (which you could customize later), which came with plenty of free items.

This is the avatar I chose when making my main account, xkirsten_kittyx. I’m not sure if this was the same avatar I chose when I made my second account, rainbow_kitty77 (I’m pretty sure it was two 7′s).

I remember picking one of these two avatars when I made my third account, princess_cairo (the ONLY account with my actual age, believe it or not - not even my main account!); although I’m more certain it was the blond pixie cut one with the choker.

And now some approximations of what my avatar looked like...

I remember really wanting gothic/lolita items and even getting some myself! I had that little fan animation.

This is kind of what rainbow_kitty77 looked like: a wild, hot, neon mess. Though I didn’t have those exact rainbow contacts and I also had rainbow hair, a blue sweater with a rainbow on it, a rainbow fuzzy/grassy skirt, rainbow fairy wings, a rainbow candy necklace, rainbow socks, and different rainbow shoes. I might’ve had other rainbow items though I’m not completely sure.

Had that phase where I made a pregnant avatar. Yeaaaaahhhhhh... 😳

Had a wedding phase too. Criiiiiiiiiiiinge.

I also had a thing for clockwork/steampunk items - they paired really well with my gothic/lolita stuff! I think I actually had those exact same boots... I remember that the site held a Halloween contest one year and we were able to dress up our avatars and enter them in it for votes, though I’m not sure if there was an actual prize involved. I dressed up as a cute little steampunk gothic doll and actually got quite a bit of votes! There was another year (maybe the same year??) where a holiday/Christmas contest was held, and though I entered it, I didn’t get as much votes as my doll costume did.

Definitely remember having those cat ears and that scarf. I also really liked arm warmers for some reason.

Definitely had that huge hair bow and slip-on shoes that the one on the left is wearing. The one on the right was probably what my dark, angsty, cutesy, mall goth-loving heart could only dream to dress her avatar as.

I don’t know how I was supposed to be even remotely cute or popular when everyone and their mother would dress like this with a bunch of glitched items and all.

And now for some actual items I (or might have) had!

That dress. Yeah, I had bad fashion taste, sue me.

I really thought I was a cutesy princess buying all these huge dresses and tiaras, huh.

Okay, didn’t actually have this item, but I really wanted it.

This was literally xkirsten_kittyx’s signature hairstyle - wore this one all the time!

Loved me some lip gloss! Mostly because they were free and I needed all the handouts I could get my hands on. Reminds me of how one day, I literally went through ALL the categories in the MeezMaker and snagged all the free items I could find.

Some select eyeliners/eyeshadows I had. Yup, there’s that rainbow item again.

Some select items I had for my gothic steampunk doll costume.

When I tried to make a Corpse Bride avatar. No, I actually didn’t buy these items, it was more of just trying on items to see what I could put together.

I was particularly obsessed with this lipstick - I believe it was called “Burlesque Lipstick”. No, I don’t actually know why, I guess I just thought it looked cute.

I don’t remember if I actually owned this lipstick, but I do remember wanting it.

Yeah, this rainbow hairstyle again.

Another item I don’t actually know if I owned or not, but I did want this.

I think this was princess_cairo’s signature hairstyle.

I remember getting a friend of mine into Meez and they were OBSESSED with this hairstyle. I think they even made their username “rapunzel6″ or something 😂

Definitely don’t remember owning this item. I REALLY WANTED it though.

Pretty sure this was xkirsten_kittyx’s signature shirt - she wore this one all the time, same with the bobby pin hair and the huge hair bow.

I think I used this shirt in my steampunk doll costume.

Yet some more rainbow items. I did own the Heart Camisole, though I don’t think I actually owned the Bright Rainbow Dress (but I wanted it).

Didn’t actually owned this skirt, but I wanted it.

There’s that rainbow fuzzy skirt I was talking about earlier.

Blah blah blah, some more rainbow items, nothing to see here.

This choker was literally part of xkirsten_kittyx’s signature outfit.

The Stitched Up Neck Tattoo, Wind Up Key, and Gauge Contacts were all part of my gothic doll costume.

Probably xkirsten_kittyx’s signature animation - literally a simple walking and posing animation, I think.

And now some last few things!

The body types you could choose for your avatar. I stuck with the Slender Scarlett type, though I remember finding some insane clothing glitches with the Pregnant Polly type (and by that, I mean pairing that body type with an item that had like a pregnant belly or something). I remember lots of people would glitch the Curvy Carla and Booty Betty types to make like, the sexiest avatar ever, I guess.

And the face types! I have a newfound appreciation for the Almond Eyes/Full Lips type (because Asian represent), though I clearly remember everyone and their mother AND their grandmother would use the anime face - granted, I would use it too, but god DANG was that probably one of the most overused items on Meez.

Lastly, on the topic of the glitched body types and clothing items: I think this is pretty representative of what plenty of Meez girls looked like - don’t get me started on the amount of people that used the X over the lips.