#hopefully I can get chapter 2 up for his actual birthday day

[shirohige-pirates]

Hey Doll

CisFem Reader x Thatch

CW: toxic parents, manipulation, The Plan™, smut, mdni, I'll add as we go I'm kind of fly by the seat of my pants on this one.

Summary: For as long as you can remember, there has always been The Plan™. Every part of your life is controlled by it, and you do your best to fill the role set upon your shoulders. When you finally receive your Matchbook, and your parents' joy, you feel relief.

But as The Plan™ continues, you struggle with staying the perfect little doll.

Note: This story takes place in the same AU as Some Direction, where the new world government has implemented a match program in response to declining marriage and birth rates.

Chapter 1: Dolled Up

There was nothing.

No, that was wrong, there was everything. The world moved around you, and you moved within it, but there wasn’t a connection. You stood a part from the world around you, comprehending it as a separate space, and reacting to it only when moved to do so.

Maybe it was more correct to say the world moved you. A prompt from your mother, a word from your father, a smile from a stranger. The world carried variables along the lines of time and place and when those items collided with you, you’d react.

You were. Weren’t. No, even less than that.

You were nothing.

No, that was wrong too. You were everything, at least as far as The Plan was concerned. You were the primary piece of it. The keystone in a manner of speaking. No matter how well everything else was done, if you didn’t play your part flawlessly it would all crumble to dust.

Your only struggle, brief and weak and worthless as it was, was whether or not you wanted The Plan to fail. Sometimes you felt you did. If The Plan failed you would be free from it. Free from it, but would you be free?

An unanswerable question. By fate or will, you lacked the knowledge to figure that part out. Would you be free in jail? You’d be free of your parents, free of your part to play in The Plan, certainly, but you wouldn’t be free to live as you pleased.

How did you please to live?

If you couldn’t sort that much out, then there was no reason to fight against the external wills that compelled you. Moved you. Motioned for you. The will of your mother and father who sought to thread you effortlessly through the steps of their decades long plan.

The Plan.

The two words trickled more emotion through your face than anything else, and the slight twitch in your features was unnoticed by those around you. Your mother spoke to you and you smiled, catching up on the conversation and responding with all the words she approved of. Your father called you over and you spoke well-practiced verses and emotions to the people around him about your hopes and dreams.

Your face moved into the smiles you knew they liked, the ones that left everyone at ease, even if there was no easiness in your own heart.

Everything was for The Plan. Your hobbies, your grades, your manners, your clothes. The way your hair was cut and styled, the kind of makeup you applied in the morning, it was all decided by someone else. Ever under the pretense of wanting to make sure you were paired with the best possible match when the time came.

Years ago the world changed. The details didn’t matter to you, it was irrelevant to The Plan. The important part was that the world needed more people in it, and to that end the World Government had enacted the Match Program.

The Match Program was a comprehensive review of the populace and citizens, on an island by island, and sea by sea basis. Not only was it meant to help recover the population, but it was intended to do so as kindly as possible for everyone involved. Matches were based on a staggering number of criteria, and then Match Books were hand delivered to people who had been matched by the program and its overseers.

There were other aspects to the program, like the Early Match Program, and Rematching in certain cases. The overall success rate was surprisingly high, and Rematches were rare, both in how often they were requested, and how often they were approved.

It hadn’t taken long for the population to adjust to the entire concept, with some people finding relief in the process. What fear or worry was there to be had in being provided the love of your life? How much easier was the very concept of marriage and family when there was a comprehensive and objectively successful process already in place?

At one point in your life you had wondered if you would’ve been raised differently if not for the Match Program.

You don’t doubt that you would’ve been pulled into some role or another based on your parents whims, but maybe more of who you were would’ve survived. Or at least dared to exist in the first place. Would you have enjoyed dancing if you had learned it differently? Would you find solace in art if your strokes and paints hadn’t been decided for you?

Maybe you would know more than just what you enjoyed. Maybe you would know how to start a conversation, instead of simply being invited into one. Maybe you would know how to speak about yourself because you’d know the parts of you that were important to you.

Maybe you would know how to smile your own smile.

How to choose your own clothes.

The pastel colors matched perfectly, the hues shifting and accenting based on the most popular trends. There was lace, but not so much as to seem over stated, there was silk, or the shift of it. No expense was spared in curating the smallest detail of your outfits, even how the folds would settle against your legs when you sat down.

You never wondered what to do with your hands, because their location was as predetermined and controlled as anything else about you. Folded neatly, holding your clutch when needed, by your sides with your elbows bent just so, or shyly behind your hips, just a little. Not enough to push your chest into the forefront, at least not too much.

You must be a sight to see, and not unsightly.

Everything on the proper side of civility and femininity. Not a grain of coarseness in your voice, a laugh made of notes and bells, but nothing loud or out of control. Your voice must be much the same, clear and firm but not commanding or demanding. You are to be pleasant and deferential. Debate is not for a good and proper young lady.

You are a trophy to be awarded. A great gift to be won. A flawless saint upon which any good - read, wealthy - man would be completely delighted by.

Knowledge and skills enough to be engaging and useful, but opinions muted enough to not ruffle the feathers of your suitors, and suitors you had.

The World Government Match program was not fully and completely objective. There were certain tiers of quality within the program itself. Whether they existed in truth, or were simply avenues of manipulation available to your parents, you couldn’t honestly say, but unlike most ladies your age, you did indeed have suitors.

Not that your mother or father intended to see you hand in hand with any of them. Well enough to do to be worth the time and kindness of your family, but not in a position to satisfy their desires and hopes for you.

That was where your father’s friend came into play. You knew nothing about him, save his importance in The Plan. So long as you played your part well, he could play his part to greater effect. If you were good enough, flawless enough, gentle and kind and wise and demure and malleable enough - if there was nothing left of whoever you were meant to be, then it would be a success.

You played your part so well that when your Match Book showed up, the man delivering it handed it to your father.

[johnwickb1tsch]

bittersweet ~ a yandere!John Wick x fem!reader sunshine/grump coffee shop AU... Part 8 all chapters

-Your birthday falls on a beautiful spring day, and of course, you have to work. When a new customer growls into the parking lot on a shiny black motorcycle everyone crowds behind the counter to see who it could be.

It takes so little to entertain all of you, sometimes.

The boys titter excitedly about the sweet bike and torque and ccs, whatever that means.   

When the rider takes off his helmet there’s a fall of fabulous dark hair, and something inside you utterly purrs at the sight.

It’s Mr. Wick.

Maybe you should have known. His padded motorcycle jacket makes his shoulders seem impossibly broad, and as he crosses the parking lot on long legs you hear Cassie sigh behind you.

Same, girl, same.

Cassie had made you a little birthday crown to wear out of a to go cup, a la Princess Peach. You forget about the silly adornment clipped to your head, until Mr. Wick approaches the counter to make his order.

“One coffee…your Highness?” He lifts one of those dark brows with a small smirk, and fuck if it doesn't make you blush. 

“It's my birthday,” you sheepishly tell him. His expression actually softens.

“Happy Birthday, then.” 

“Thanks.” 

“Not fair you have to work today.”

You shrug. “No rest for the wicked.”

This makes him smile a little wider, and you feel that’s a good present for today.

“Hopefully you have something fun planned for later?” 

Is he fishing, or just making conversation? You can never tell with this man. 

“Not really,” you admit with a shrug.

Your parents are divorced and remarried, living far away from you in their new lives, with their new families. You know they’ll call you later, when they remember you. You’ll have an awkward little conversation that will only serve to grind up your heart into smaller pieces, rather than lift your spirits like its meant to.

Your friends are busy too. One, with her new baby who never has time for you anymore, and you totally understand (and endorse) her priorities, even if it still hurts. The other’s work schedule is exactly the opposite of yours, and you never manage to hang out anymore.

Maybe you’ll go to the thrift store after you get off work, or treat yourself to an ice cream. Nothing too extravagant. You’re saving every penny you can for your upcoming trip.

“Well, maybe something will come up.”

It’s a nice thought.

You make him his usual coffee order, and don’t think much about it the rest of the day. This warm spring day has everyone out and about, stir crazy after the thaw, and you were running full speed from open to the end of your shift. For some incongruous reason, people were extra rude too, and as the clock strikes 2 you are at the end of your rope, your smile more closely resembling a baring of teeth.

Your whole body hurts, and you think you are too exhausted to do anything fun for yourself, until you go to your car in the lot behind the brick building to find Mr. Wick—and his motorcycle—parked next to your old Rav4. He looks utterly scrumptious, if you’re being honest, those legs going on forever as he leans against the seat of his bike. His hair is waving down around his face as he browses something on his phone to pass the time.

Good on you, for only pausing for a moment to ogle him.  

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

You look between him and the bike with your lip between your teeth, wondering what he’s doing, your treacherous heart fluttering in your chest.

“I thought…it might be fun to go for a ride? If you want.”

You cannot suppress a wide smile, touched to the marrow that he thought of you on your special day. “That does sound like fun,” you admit, and not just because the thought of sitting behind him on a bike makes you a little weak in the knees. The sunshine that day truly feels like a gift from the gods after such a harsh winter. “But…”

He tilts his head inquisitively.

“Don’t you have better things to do?”

He shakes his head, a lock of his dark hair falling over his eyes, and your fingers physically ache to brush it away. “There’s nothing I’d rather do,” he assures you, and damn if that isn’t enough to convince you.

“Full disclosure: I’ve never actually been on a bike before?”

His smile is nothing less than gentle, and he could have pushed you over with a feather.

“All you have to do is hold on to me,” he assures you, and you think you lose your mind a little at that.

There is slightly more to it, he instructs you as you put on a helmet and he helps you clamber on behind him. He tells you to lean slightly with him into the turns, but not too much.  The bike grumbles like a fire-breathing beast beneath you as he starts it up.

The feeling of his slim hips and taut backside between your thighs crosses some wires in your brain.

He takes you to the winding backroads of the countryside and up the mountain. You feel like you’re flying, snaking through the curves on this powerful machine, with a man you find you trust implicitly at the controls.

You laugh out loud more than once.   

At a straightaway he asks through the helmet mic, “Want to see what she can do?”

“Sure,” you answer, even though you can’t imagine what more this beautiful bike could offer.

“Lean into me, and hold on.” You obey, looping arms around his trim waist, plastered to his backside as he hunkers down for aerodynamics. You were already going fast, but when he shifts a gear you take off like a shot.

A sane person would have screamed, but all you can do is laugh.

This is the purest joy you’ve felt in longer than you can remember.

John pulls over at a scenic overlook, parking the bike so you can have a little break. You sit together on a picnic table, looking over the valley below. A stream snakes through it like a silver ribbon, shimmering in the sunlight. You sigh and lean back on your arms, lifting your face to the sun.

This has turned out to be a perfect day. John smiles a little as he looks over at you, but says nothing, just lets you soak it in.

“Thank you for this,” you finally say. “I was having such a shitty day.”

“You’re welcome.”

You sit up and rub at your neck. You have an unrelenting ache in the muscle over your left shoulder blade. It never really goes away, but its definitely worse after a long day on your feet bending over coffee.

John looks worried, bless him. “Did I hurt you?”

“Not at all. I just…have this thing. I think there’s a demon living in my shoulder.”  

After a pensive moment he lifts his hands in offering, moving very slowly as though he might spook you. His hands are…beautiful. Large, long fingered, calloused too. You wonder what he does, when he’s not sitting in the coffee shop or binding books. The thought of them on your body gives you a forbidden little thrill.

You do not even consider the missing digit, until he looks at his left hand and frowns, closing it to hide it at his side. “Sorry. I still forget…”

But you take his hand in yours, inspecting it closely for the first time. He allows it, though there is something vulnerable in his eyes as you do. The healed skin almost looks jagged, like it wasn’t severed with a clean cut or a surgical blade. You feel the urge to press your lips to it, as though you could kiss it better, but you just rub your thumb over the fine dark hairs there.

“What happened?”

“Someone…” He cuts himself off with a frustrated sound. “I had an accident.”

You sense there’s much more to the story, but you don’t press him yet.

“Does it still hurt?”

“Sometimes, I get the phantom aches. Mostly it’s fine though.”

You nod and angle your back to him, placing his hand on your shoulder as you shoot him a pointed look, granting him permission to touch you. His sigh is almost imperceptible, but you sit up a little straighter as he squeezes your shoulder lightly. You get the slightest taste of the strength in those hands, yet you know he could rip you to pieces if he chose to.

He slays you in a different way, knowing exactly how to use them on your sore muscles, and you can’t help but moan as he squeezes the kinks out of your shoulders. For a second he freezes at the sound, before continuing to work his magic.

“God…that feels so good.” You’ve been in pain for so long that it’s damn near better than sex.

Maybe it’s been too long for that too, though.

“You are a mess.” You know him well enough now to know he’s frowning as he says this. He kills a knot with the well-placed blade of his thumb. You feel it release and you jump a little. Though it doesn’t really hurt you, you’re not sure why there is suddenly moisture in your eyes.

It’s been a long time since anyone’s taken care of you like this, you suppose.

“Job hazard,” you sigh.

“Do you ever do yoga?”

You laugh a little at that for some reason. “I used to practice, when I was younger.” It kind of fell by the wayside. You’re always so tired when you get home.  

“Well, stretching is good for you, as you age. Take it from an old man. It helps.”

“You’re not old,” you immediately protest.

“Nice to know I still have some curb appeal.” His words are laden with sarcasm, and yet you can tell he is pleased.

He finishes the massage with a lighter touch, to stimulate blood flow, that gives you delicious chills all over. Your shoulders are your kryptonite, and you are putty in his hands. You look back at him from beneath your lashes, curious what exactly it is the two of you are doing here. Does he like you, or is he just being impossibly nice?

He doesn’t avoid your gaze, but you find you can’t read him, not one bit.

“Want to get something to eat?” he asks.

It is almost dinner time. “Okay.”

You’re a little sad as you ride back down the mountain towards town. But he pulls up to the local diner, and you have sinfully greasy cheeseburgers and shakes. Despite your protests he pays, because: “No one should have to pay for their birthday dinner.”

You know he’s fucking loaded, so you let him have his way.

“This is the best birthday I’ve had in a long time,” you admit, munching on a fry. “Thank you, Mr. Wick.”

You know he’s told you to call him John before, but fuck if you haven’t noticed how his eyes darken just a little when you call him Mr. Wick, or even just Sir at the coffeeshop. You feel like you stumbled onto something you don’t entirely understand, but it fills you with a forbidden warmth all the same.

He gives you a hooded look from across the table, and you fancy he knows that you know what you’re doing.

“My pleasure, y/n.”

He doesn’t insist that you call him John again.

[forjongseong]

enchule // jay (ENHYPEN)

pairing: secretary!jay x CEO!fem!reader (part 11.5 of the series)

genre: office!au, fluff, smut (minors dni) // warning: older reader; Jay calls reader “Boss”; profanity; oral sex (m. receiving); fingering; unprotected sex; rough handling; Jay got too carried away :( // wc: ~8.5k (I also got carried away)

previous chapters:

part 1 - carmesí part 2 - mi reina part 3 - millones part 3.5 - hasta los dientes part 4 - vente conmigo part 5 - tusa part 5.5 - apaga y vámonos part 6 - versos de placer minisode part 1 - cuando nadie ve part 6.5 - yo te quiero más minisode part 2 - la niña de mis ojos part 7 - aeropuerto minisode part 3 - falling autumn minisode part 4 - night night part 8 - ambulancia minisode part 5 - subtítulos part 9 - al caer la noche minisode part 6 - after last night part 9.5 - the way you look tonight part 10 - mon soleil minisode part 7 - daylight minisode part 8 - subside minisode part 9 - your princess, my queen part 11 - qué bonito

next chapters:

click here for the masterlist

summary: Jay had taken you to Greece for your birthday, so you decided to take him to Australia for his.

author’s notes: welcome to part 11.5! this one is 3k words longer than the original half episodes. (oops)

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, JAY! my one and only, my sun and stars, the moon of my life, the air that I breathe, and my reason to wake up every morning... initially I planned on releasing this special .5 part right on his birthday, but a lot of things happened, and I kept getting creatively cockblocked for some reason, so here we are 5 or 6 days later with a half episode that, hopefully, with its length, can quench the thirst for you readers (my dear carmesimps) out there.

after the love I received in part 11, I hope this part also suffices! warning: don't forget to regulate your breathing and stay hydrated because the smut scenes here are hot...ter than usual, if I can say so myself...

behold! the song title for this part:

will you just look at the lyrics???

I don't know what happened that my mouth liked it when I stole a kiss from you it was just a game that got out of control, the rules were broken now your name doesn't leave my mind if you want to repeat it, I remember where Baby, I show up even if it's far I feel despair if I don't see you

tell me that's not Jay?????? literally???

taglist: @jaylaxies @thots4hee @jayked @end-hyphen @nyanggk @yoursjaeyun @maggstar @bucketofhiros @dimplejaehyuncutie @excusememissiloveyou @shinkenprincess-oh @mochimchimo @jongseonglogy

(send an ask if you want to be added)

From the corner of your eye, you spotted a figure walking towards you steadily, and when he arrived right in front of you, you recognized the pair of shoes and immediately looked up.

“Remind me again why Jake is tagging along for our honeymoon?” Jay asked as he held a cardboard cup holder filled with three different drinks.

“Oh, thanks, mate,” Jake said, reaching out for his iced americano. The force of his hands almost tipped the whole cup holder, so you calmly held it in place by supporting the bottom with one hand.

“Sorry, Noona,” Jake continued. It seemed like he did not hear Jay’s complaint and was merely happy that his beverage order had arrived.

Jay sighed as he took his seat beside you, letting you hold both his drink and yours. He melted to your side and rested his head on your shoulder, to which you softly chuckled and patted his cheek with your free hand.

“This isn’t our honeymoon, it’s your birthday trip,” you explained. “We’re only gone for six days, and I want our actual honeymoon to last at least two weeks.”

“Sounds like a dream,” Jay muttered. “Do you think the company will be fine without the both of us? For fourteen business days?”

You shrugged and it made Jay’s head shake in place. “We probably need several meetings before we leave and during the honeymoon, I’ll have to check in once in a while.”

“That seems unfair. I don’t want you distracted during our honeymoon,” Jay said, pouting.

“Then I shouldn’t have married my secretary, don’t you think?” You brought your hand up and squished Jay’s cheeks, forcing him to pout his lips even more.

“If you need help and if you have a vacant position, you can hire me, Noona,” Jake chimed in, nudging your left elbow.

“You say that, yet you’re here with us,” Jay commented. “It’s because the destination is Brisbane, isn’t it?”

“Bingo,” Jake replied.

“Exactly,” you said at the same time.

Then both you and Jake snorted at the same time, and it made Jay wonder if the two of you were actually siblings.

When Jake told you a couple of weeks ago that he was going to visit his brother’s family in Brisbane, you immediately asked him a thousand questions about his plan—when he’s leaving, how long he’s staying, whether you should go and visit Brisbane with him, all the sorts. It took you a minute to realize Jay was staring at you the whole time, with a disapproving look, almost like he was hurt that you had forgotten his existence.

You found a less packed week that overlapped with Jay’s birthday, so without even asking if he approved, you cleared out both your schedules and planned your trip ahead, only notifying him three days before your flight so he would have enough time to pack. On the one hand, he was happy that you surprised him this time with a trip. On the other hand, he wished you had told him at least a week before, so he could participate in planning too.

“Just to be clear,” Jay began, clearing his throat. “You’re not tagging along for the whole time, right? Like we’re not gonna see you every day?”

“Of course not,” Jake answered. “But I’ll be on standby whenever Y/N Noona needs a tour guide. I can ask my brother for recommendations.”

“If it’s a city she grew up in, I bet she’ll be a good enough tour guide, but thanks anyways,” Jay said as he took a sip of his iced tea.

“You two speak as if I’m not sitting in between.” You shook your shoulder once and Jay immediately straightened up. “I think we’re boarding soon.”

The two guys redirected their attention to the gate, and as the staff made the announcement, the three of you stood up at the same time, gathering your belongings.

“Noona,” Jake leaned into you. “Thanks for the upgrade to business class.”

“Thank me too, the fuck,” Jay groaned, stretching his arms to the side. “It’s my birthday trip, remember?”

“Can you two stop bickering so I don’t feel like a nanny on duty?” You complained, staring at Jake and then Jay.

“Yes, Ma’am,” the two said in unison.

---

You had made the mistake of posting your trip on your private Instagram stories, and around the same time, your auntie—who was not really your aunt, just an old friend of your parents—replied to your post and demanded you come to see her. She even sent her husband to pick you up at your hotel, and you were too flustered and too polite to refuse.

Luckily, Jay is a natural at initiating conversations with new people. He offered to sit beside the driver, which was your auntie’s husband, Tim, and they began talking about the most random things regarding living in Australia, particularly Gold Coast. As the car drove along the more crowded streets, Tim explained a lot about the important places like he was a paid tour guide. It gave you enough time to respond to your family group chat, updating them about your trip.

“Are the boys not here, Auntie Nina?” You asked, looking around the room and noticing how quiet it felt.

Jay sat beside you at the dining table while you watched Tim and Nina prepare drinks and snacks. Jay leaned to whisper to you.

“Auntie Nina only has sons?”

“Three.”

“They’re all busy with work and college. My youngest is getting his master’s,” Nina smiled, walking towards the table, and placing a pitcher of iced tea and four clear glasses in the center.

“That’s wonderful,” Jay responded. “I bet he’s good in school too, huh?”

And just like that the conversation flowed naturally again. You updated them about your parents and told them a little bit about your work, and once they learned that Jay works for you, they both asked how you two met. You eyed Jay, who then tilted his chin to let you tell your version of the story, so of course, you did and had to censor some parts. Particularly the kiss in your office.

“He was just paying so much attention to me that I couldn’t help but notice him too,” you finished, tracing your finger on the outline of your glass. “I think I got lucky.”

“You’re gonna make me cry right here,” Jay said, stifling a sob.

Tim and Nina laughed at Jay, who literally had his lips quivering, and you brought your hands up to cup his face and comfort him, pouting at his cuteness. The rest of the night went by in a flash, with a delicious dinner prepared by Nina and a safe ride back to the hotel with Tim.

---

“I had a lot of fun today,” Jay said, making himself comfortable on the sofa, lying behind you.

You changed the channel on the TV, searching for a good movie. You felt like watching cable in hotels was somewhat a nostalgic activity, and you also found it quite therapeutic to just have the TV on while you keep yourself busy.

“I’m glad you did,” you replied as you placed your hand over his arm, which was now wrapped around your waist. “Jake is going to take us to the beach tomorrow.”

“I love that,” Jay muttered, kissing your shoulder. “Thank you for planning everything, babe.”

“It’s about time I return the favor.” You closed your eyes for a minute before turning your head slightly to your right, inhaling his scent. “You smell good.”

“Must be because I showered,” Jay replied nonchalantly. “You smell good too,” he said, kissing your cheek.

“Well, I haven’t showered yet, so I don’t know what you’re on.”

“I love the way you smell when you’re sweaty,” he said, tracing his finger along your shoulder and down your arm. “Reminds me of something in particular.”

You sighed heavily before you chuckled, feeling Jay’s fingers tickling your waist. “We’re not going to watch this movie, are we?” You asked.

Jay shrugged. “We can try.”

You exhaled in defeat and Jay chuckled lowly, placing his lips on the back of your shoulder, and staying there for a while. Your eyes focused on the TV and your fingers started stroking his arm that was wrapped around your chest. After a while, Jay settled into a more comfortable position, resting his head on a stack of pillows higher than yours so he could watch the movie too.

“Jay,” you called. He hummed and squeezed your waist. “After we go to the beach tomorrow, will you come with me to—”

“Yes,” he interrupted.

“You didn’t let me finish.”

“You don’t have to. ‘With me’ was all I needed to hear. I’ll go with you anywhere.”

Jay’s voice was close to your ear, and when he finished speaking you felt like you were covered in a soft and warm blanket. You smiled to yourself before bringing his hand up for you to kiss. You then carefully turned around to face him, still lying down on the sofa, and he pulled you closer to him to keep you from falling off.

“I’m so lucky,” you whispered, tracing your fingers along his jawline.

He smiled widely and your mouth mimicked his expression.

“I’m glad the feeling’s mutual,” he said, before leaving a chaste kiss on your lips.

---

Jake’s eyes widened in wonder as he observed you and Jay belting notes to Yuuri’s Shutter, which was on the playlist that you chose for the drive. Jay insisted on driving, since Jake’s brother was kind enough to lend you all his car and because Jake was not confident enough to be the man behind the wheel. Naturally, you rode shotgun and did your best to navigate the map and handle the choice of songs.

The song reached its bridge and climax, and Jake giggled at the way you and Jay both inhaled dramatically before hitting the final chorus which had a key change. The whole performance became even more dramatic with the wind blowing through the open windows, and you had to push your sunglasses up to wear as a headband to keep your hair from flying all over the place.

You heard the sound of Jake clapping from the backseat, and you turned around and looked at him in confusion. Jake grinned at you.

“Was that a sad song? It sounded sad,” Jake spoke, eyeing the screen that showed the playlist. “You both sound devastated.”

You snorted and Jay shook his head. “It’s Yuuri! What do you expect?” He protested, carefully bringing the car to a stop.

Several people crossed the street, and you quietly observed them. Jay tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and adjusted the volume of the speakers.

“And since when do you speak Japanese, Noona?” Jake asked, poking his head through the gap between you and Jay at the same time the light turned green.

“I don’t?” You said, slightly confused.

“She just has the lyrics memorized,” Jay explained. You nodded in agreement.

You proceeded to play more of Yuuri’s songs and Jake happily bobbed his head while listening to them until you all arrived at Surfer’s Paradise. It took a while to find a close enough parking spot, but when you did, you and Jake instantly turned into kids.

“Oh my God,” you gasped, watching the soft waves coming up the sand. “I’ve been wanting to come back here for ages.”

Jake jogged towards you and his hair moved up and down. “Noona! Race you to the water.”

“Aaaaaah!!!”

Jay was startled at the way you and Jake both shrieked and laughed uncontrollably as you made your way to the shore. Jake almost tripped and lost balance, and you had to stop and squat to laugh properly. You then crawled your way on the sand, only to stand up and catch up to Jake as soon as his feet hit the water.

When you turned around, you saw Jay holding up his phone, recording everything. There were wrinkles on the corners of his eyes from the way he was smiling, and it seemed like he was trying not to laugh to prevent the phone from shaking too much. Jake caught your attention by slightly splashing you with the salt water, and you flinched before you chased him down.

“I won! I won!” Jake shouted, flapping his hands around to counter your attacks. You were flinging your arms in hopes that it would hit him.

“Okay, that’s enough!” Jay raised his voice, putting his phone back in his pocket before walking towards you. “Don’t tire her.”

Jake furrowed but at the same time you started coughing, and in between coughs you explained to him that laughing and running, or talking and walking up the stairs at the same time, was one of your asthma triggers. He immediately felt bad, and he hesitantly patted your back gently as you tried to control your breathing.

“Sorry, Noona,” Jake said before eyeing Jay cautiously. “We can just sit down and chill now.”

Jay was about to nudge Jake, but you stopped him by grabbing his arm.

“I’m fine!” You insisted as you watched Jay unfold a picnic mat. The two of them waited for you to sit before taking their places beside you.

“How do you like Brisbane and Gold Coast so far, mate?” Jake asked, peering over you to look at Jay.

You smiled and lay down completely, and Jay looked at you for a split second before answering.

“I get why you two are attached to this city,” Jay replied. “It’s the perfect balance between quiet and crowded.”

“Exactly,” you chimed in, squinting your eyes to avoid the sun.

Jake continued the conversation while Jay took out cans of soda and packs of sandwiches to munch on. Whenever you started to giggle, Jay was quick to pull you up back to your sitting position, and Jake also put his hand on your back out of reflex. The three of you ended up talking about a lot of things even long after you finished your snacks, and if it weren’t for Jake checking the time, you all would have stayed even longer.

“I need to take my hyung’s car back, but before that, I can drive you guys to the hotel?” Jake offered, dusting his pants from the sand as he stood up first.

Jay looked at you and you looked back at Jake. “I actually need to drop by a friend’s home and then the pharmacy. It’s fine, we can take the train.”

“Are you sure?” Jake asked, more towards Jay than to you.

Jay nodded. “Say hi to your brother for us,” he said.

“Alright then,” Jake responded. “I’ll text you again later.”

On the train ride to your friend’s house, you fell asleep on Jay’s shoulder, and he was determined to stay awake and alert, taking over the navigating duty that was supposed to be yours. Initially, you did not want to stay for longer than an hour at your friend’s, but she and her husband insisted, and Jay was more than happy to chat more with the new people he just befriended. Before going back to the hotel, you made a stop at the local drugstore and went through a list of products that your mother had asked for.

You both arrived at the hotel later than planned and by then you were exhausted. As you were taking off your makeup, Jay leaned back on the wall beside the bathroom door, looking at you.

“Can I help you?” You asked as you realized he wasn’t going to stop staring.

Jay chuckled before putting his hands in his pockets. “Just waiting for the bathtub to fill up. What? I’m not allowed to stare at my wife?”

You smiled softly and held a cotton pad over your eyelids. “So for tomorrow, I don’t have anything grand planned. We’re just gonna stay here and go for a walk if you’d like. But then the day after that is your birthday, so you get to choose whatever you want to do.”

“Really?” Jay replied, his eyes lighting up. “Great, then I can use some time tomorrow to look up stuff to do.”

“Mm-hm.” You wiped off the residue on your face before stretching out your arms. “Are you going to take a bath now?”

“Do you wanna join me?” Jay asked as he took a couple steps towards you.

“I’m…” you paused to look at your reflection, “I’m really tired, actually.”

Jay placed his hands on your shoulders and started rubbing you gently. “That’s my point. I’ll give you a massage. Come on.”

“You know I should be the one pampering you, right?” You looked at Jay through the reflection.

He brought his hands to cup your chin and tilted your head upwards before planting a kiss on your forehead.

“It’s not my birthday yet. Just come relax with me, okay?”

There was no way you could refuse your husband, especially when he was asking so politely.

“Just a bath,” you demanded as you stood up. “Nothing more.”

Jay chuckled, but then you gave him a sharp stare and he nodded. “Nothing more,” he said, clearing his throat. He then took one step back. “After you, my love.”

---

You slowly opened your eyes and found yourself staring at the dark. When you turned your head to the right, you noticed the faint light from the sun rising outside, and you guessed that it was still way too early in the morning to be doing anything. A second later, you remembered that you had a horrible dream where you got lost in a maze, and you called for Jay, but he never appeared.

To your relief, when you turned to Jay’s side you found him there, still fast asleep. You took a deep breath before bringing your hand up to caress his face, also brushing his hair back in the process. His breath was steady, despite his eyebrows forming a frown, and you stroked his cheek before you leaned in to kiss him.

Your kiss woke him up. He stirred before he opened his eyes, and you melted right beside him, grabbing both his hands and holding them tight between yours.

“Hey,” he greeted you, his voice croaked. “Good morning.”

“Morning, baby,” you whispered, placing his palm under your cheek, and resting your head back on the pillow.

He moved his thumb across your cheek before clearing his throat. “Is everything okay?”

You nodded, and Jay shot you a tired smile. You snuggled closer to him, caging yourself in his arms and moving close enough until you could touch your lips to his neck. His arms wrapped around your waist naturally, and when you kissed his chin he chuckled, squeezing you gently.

You moved your hand to his arm and squeezed him there, and with that, he looked down at you with his eyes only half open. You tilted your head slightly, bumping your nose to his chin before you carefully grazed your lips over his. You felt his lips slowly part, and that’s when you dived in for a passionate kiss.

Holding his face close to yours and letting him press your body onto his, you kissed him deeply. You felt his tongue swipe across your bottom lip, and as you opened your mouth you moaned when you felt his tongue tug against yours. You stopped for a split second only to catch your breath before you kissed him again, your leg thrown over his waist, latching your hip onto his.

Jay’s hands traveled underneath your camisole, bunching up the fabric until his palms were the only thing keeping your back warm. He stroked your back softly and ran his fingers down your waist and to your hips as he continued to lock lips with you. For a moment, the sound of your lips smacking was the only thing you could hear, aside from the soft sound of the clock on the wall ticking.

“I want to try something,” you confessed, pulling away only to find a strand of saliva connecting your lips and his.

Jay leaned in for one last kiss before he replied. “What is it?”

As much as you wanted to stay in his arms, to feel his hands run through your hair and along your back, you wanted to pamper him. You wanted him to feel more pleasure, so you had to fight yourself from staying in place.

“Just a second,” you whispered before pushing yourself away from him. His arms stayed there for a while as he watched you take off your top and sit straight, leaning against the headboard. “Come sit between my legs,” you demanded.

Jay’s eyes squinted in confusion, but his body was quick to react. He shuffled out of the covers to go to you, but before he could settle, you clicked your tongue.

“I want you naked, though.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

His tone of enthusiasm, in contrast with his messy bed hair, made you chuckle. He got undressed in seconds, and you reached out your arms when he made his way between your legs, resting his back against your chest.

“Oh,” he sighed, “this feels good.”

“I haven’t even started.”

“No, I know,” Jay rested his head on your right shoulder. “I just know it’s gonna be good.”

You had to hold yourself back from rolling your eyes, so you grabbed his chin and pressed your lips roughly against his, earning a light chuckle from him.

“Just relax, okay?” You mumbled against his lips.

“Are you comfortable? I don’t want to be leaning or pressing too hard on you,” Jay said, his eyes flickered from your lips to your chest.

Unbelievable, you thought. On the verge of receiving pleasure, he was still thinking of you.

“I’m fine, baby, thank you,” you replied, kissing his temple. Jay then relaxed and placed his hands on your thighs.

You began caressing his chest, trailing your fingers from his nipples, down to his abs and the v-line that always drives you crazy. You noticed his breath hitched once he saw your hands moving downwards, and you had to press your lips to his ear to give him reassurance.

“Relax,” you whispered.

You reached for his penis with your left hand, bringing your right hand back up to his nipple to pinch and play with it in hopes that it will get him hard fast. He flinched before he relaxed in your touch, occasionally whimpering when he felt that you were pinching too hard. Your hand moved up and down his shaft, continuing the motion until you felt him gradually harden in between your fingers.

“There he is,” you chuckled softly, lips grazing his earlobe. “A good morning to you, Sir.”

At this point, Jay was moaning at your every touch, and he even shifted in his seat once he felt your lips pressed against his neck. You began sucking softly, determined to make him feel enough pleasure but without leaving a noticeable mark. You continued kissing him down his shoulder while stroking his cock, which was now fully erect.

“Show me how you like it,” you requested. “Use your hands and show me.”

“What?” Jay asked, confused. He didn’t realize that his breath had become heavier. “But I’ve barely touched myself since we started—”

“I know,” you responded. You kissed his neck again for reassurance and he sighed contentedly. “I just want to see how you used to pleasure yourself.”

You had moved your hands up to his biceps and you were stroking him there. With one squeeze, he began palming himself with one hand as he adjusted his position between your legs. You observed quietly as you paid close attention to the motion of his hands—the way he took long strokes from top to bottom, the way he ends each stroke with a slight squeeze towards the tip, the way his head fell back when he increased the speed. You noticed how he was almost panting like it was too much and he was trying to hold back.

“I don’t… Do you… Should I do this until I cum?”

The uncertainty in his voice and the submissive nature of it made you fall for him more, as if that was even possible. You nodded and gently nudged the side of his head with yours.

“You can cum if you want, baby.”

“But,” Jay paused before he opened his eyes and looked at you. “I want you to make me cum.”

And how could you refuse?

“Okay,” you whispered, kissing his lips. “Do you want my hands?” You kissed him again. “Or my mouth?” You kissed his jawline. “Or do you want my pussy?” You kissed his earlobe.

You could basically feel Jay shiver under your touch before he answered you, only after taking a considerable amount of time to decide.

“Your… mouth,” Jay muttered. “Can I?”

“Of course.”

You stretched out your legs and moved from behind Jay, making him rest his back against the headboard. He leaned comfortably after you placed a couple of pillows behind his back, and once he was set you crawled your way downwards, taking your position this time between his legs.

The sight of you on all fours with your ass up and your head over his crotch made him groan. You saw his cock twitch and decided to put him out of his misery. He had been a good boy, after all, listening to your requests and delivering, so you kissed the tip of his cock before putting it into your mouth.

You almost gagged from the way his length quickly filled up your mouth, and you could hear him shudder from the single move. You began bobbing your head up and down, coating his shaft with your saliva, and you felt his fingers very carefully brush your hair away from your face before bunching them up into a ponytail. He kept holding your hair as you continued your ministrations, and every whimper or moan that you heard from him served as your sole motivation.

You tried taking his whole length in, and you felt your jaw stretch a little too wide. The pause in your movements made him concerned, so he tried his best to comfort you by reaching out for your hand. You took his hand in yours, and you continued to suck him, alternating between kisses and kitten licks too.

“I’m c-close,” Jay whimpered. His body was shaking involuntarily, and you were secretly proud of yourself that you were able to make him feel this way.

You pulled your lips away from his cock with a pop, and you wiped your mouth with the back of your hand before you spoke. “You can cum in my mouth, baby.”

“Are you sure?” He asked.

You hummed and quickly put his length in between your lips again. You heard him mutter several curse words as you continued, and when you felt his hips start to thrust upwards, you held him in place by gripping his waist. The grip of his hand that was holding your hair up began to loosen, and after one last suck, you felt him release in your mouth. You were lucky you braced yourself, otherwise it would have ended in a choking mess.

You couldn’t take all of his cum, so when you pulled away some of it was dripping down your chin. You swallowed the rest, though, and when you looked at him, he was looking back at you in awe.

“It’s not my birthday yet, is it?” He asked, breathless.

You wiped your bottom lip with your thumb as you chuckled, and you shook your head as you made your way up to him, straddling him in the process.

“Fuck. Thank you for that,” Jay said as soon as your face was level with his. “Kiss me.”

“You sure?” You halted, hovering over his body before he pulled you in by the neck, licking your lips clean and kissing you feverishly.

“Wait,” he said all of a sudden, pulling back. You frowned. “Your turn.”

He placed his hands on your hips and slammed you down on his crotch, earning a surprised yelp from you. You then chuckled and he did the same, kissing you only after you relaxed on top of him.

“If you keep kissing me like this, I think I can cum,” you whispered against his lips.

“Is that a challenge?” Jay taunted, his fingers moving down to push your panties to the side. “If it is, get ready.”

You moaned into his mouth as soon as you felt his fingers graze your folds. With just one touch, you were already shaking from pleasure, and it didn’t help that he was nibbling your lips and kissing you like oxygen was only coming out of your mouth. He inserted one finger, and then two, and when he put in his third finger you gasped for air, unlatching your mouth from his.

“Jay,” you panted. “It’s too much.”

You felt his fingers curl inside of you and you whimpered, your body shaking as your head fell to his shoulder. You rested your forehead there as support, and you were grabbing his arms for dear life.

“Jay,” you whined helplessly.

“Oh, come on, baby,” Jay spoke right into your ear. Somehow you could hear him smirk. “You always take my dick so well. Surely, three fingers are nothing?”

You moaned again as he began moving his fingers in and out of you faster, and although you had already lost track of time, you knew that it took you less time to cum compared to him. Within a minute you were already a shaking, moaning mess on his lap, and you couldn’t even complain when you heard him chuckle proudly, his chest moving against yours during the process.

Jay’s fingers slipped out of you and as he brought them up to his face, you could see the way they were coated with your cum. But then he swiped his index finger over your lips, as if applying lip balm, before taking all three fingers into his mouth and sucking them clean.

“You’re fucking crazy,” you sighed, one hand latched onto his shoulder and your head resting against the crook of his neck.

He chuckled and your body moved with his.

“You’re welcome, baby.”

---

You walked out of the bedroom and into the living room all dressed up and covered in a light coat, and when Jay noticed you, he had to do a double take, completely abandoning his attention over his phone.

“Where are you going?” He asked, quickly eyeing your outfit from head to toe.

“I just need to pick up something from the lobby,” you said, waving your hand to emphasize that it wasn’t something of his concern.

“You’ll be back soon, right?” Jay asked again, sounding slightly worried.

You nodded. “Of course, I will, baby.”

You blew Jay a flying kiss and he made smooching faces back at you before you headed out the door. Jay then picked up his phone and continued his search for must-do activities that might fit into your schedule tomorrow. He must have been completely immersed because the next thing he knew you were already back, while he felt like you left only two minutes ago. You were holding a suspicious box, and you smiled as you made your way to the coffee table in front of the sofa Jay was sitting on.

“Now I know your birthday is tomorrow, but I figured we could get the cake a day early and eat it when the clock strikes midnight or something,” you explained without waiting for him to ask. “That is, of course, if you want to.”

Jay had never heard you sound so unsure, or were you being nervous? Either way, he found you absolutely adorable, and he smiled widely as he put away his phone and leaned in.

“What cake is it?” He asked.

“Chocolate,” you replied. You saw him raise an eyebrow. “Your favorite. The expensive kind.”

Jay chuckled lightly and shook his head. You excused yourself to put the cake in the fridge and you trotted back to your original spot, standing in front of the TV. Jay looked up at you in question, tilting his head, while you took a deep breath.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” you muttered to yourself while at the same time checking that it was two hours left until Jay’s big day.

“What is happening?” Jay said, his tone curious.

You sighed, taking your phone out and setting the volume to the max before choosing a song that definitely sounded seductive. You placed your phone on the table and began undoing the belt of your coat.

“Mr. Park Jongseong,” you spoke. “This dance is for you.”

You began moving your hips to the beat of the song and Jay’s jaw dropped. As you pulled the belt off and tugged the coat down, it pooled to the floor and revealed the tightest dress you have ever worn wrapped around your body.

“Oh my God,” Jay said under his breath.

The dress, colored in Jay’s favorite shade of green, hugged your curves in all the right places. The spaghetti straps were barely holding it over your chest, and you were fully aware that Jay was already looking at your protruding nipples. You lifted your leg to take off your shoes, and the tight skirt of the dress rode up your thigh. Jay licked his lips and leaned back on the sofa, amused and obviously ready for whatever you had prepared for him.

You continued to sway slowly, trying your best to keep your moves subtle and in sync with the music. You made a gesture of hugging yourself, and in the process, one of the straps slid down your shoulder. You heard Jay take a deep breath, and you looked at him as you pulled the other strap down before taking a step closer to him.

“Y/N,” Jay muttered, adjusting his position on the sofa. It was clear that your little dance was making him hot and bothered, exactly how you wanted him to be.

Very carefully, you kneeled on the floor, feeling the softness of the rug brush against your knees. You reached for Jay’s hand, which was resting on top of his thigh, and tugged on it slightly just to kiss the back of it, like he was a king that you worshipped. You then moved back and sat on the balls of your feet, stretching your arms to the side and up before bringing them back down like it was one of the most important moves of your rehearsed choreography.

Then, you sat and faced the side, bringing your knees up to your chest, which obviously made the dress ride up even further. You could feel Jay’s eyes glued on you, and you rested the palms of your hands to your side, pushing them to your back as you slowly lay back down, keeping only your ass on the floor and your back arched.

Jay scoffed before he palmed his erection over his jeans, and you smiled as you sat back up and began crawling your way to him. You put both hands on his knees and he immediately grabbed them, pulling you up and onto his lap. You whimpered when you felt his clothed hard-on rub against your bare cunt, and he realized you were not wearing underwear only after he slid his hands on your thighs and under your dress.

“Fuck, baby,” Jay hissed. “You really came prepared.”

You hummed and he smiled, strengthening his grip on your thighs. You took one of his hands off and brought them up to your chest, tugging on your dress. He immediately pulled it down, revealing your tits and erect nipples.

“God,” he whispered. “Thank you for this meal.”

Jay latched his lips on your tit and you giggled, welcoming him in your embrace and resting your hand on the back of his head. He licked, sucked, and kissed your boobs so hungrily yet also so tenderly, and there was no way you could keep your eyes open throughout the whole process. His other hand pulled your dress down completely, making it bunch around your waist. His hips began thrusting upwards, and you winced as you felt the rough fabric cause friction between your folds.

“You know,” you began, breathless, “this would be better if we took it to the bedroom.

Jay did not stop kissing you. In fact, he moved his mouth upwards and started sucking your neck while his hands traveled down to your thighs, gripping them tightly before he stood up with a grunt. He bit down on your neck, and you stifled back a moan, and as he maneuvered the both of you to the bedroom, you had to be his eyes and his ears.

“Don’t drop me,” you warned. “Don’t bump me into a wall either.”

Jay smiled and moved to kiss your chin, and before you knew it he had thrown you on the bed, gently, if that was even possible. He wasted no time in undressing, pulling the top of his white shirt over his head and unbuttoning his jeans. When he started unzipping, though, he paused to look at you.

“Wait, babe,” he began, “you were done with your dance, right?”

You chuckled. “The goal was to get you to carry me to bed, so yes, mission accomplished.”

Jay smirked as he pulled his jeans down with his boxers. He then tugged on your dress around your waist, and you lifted up your hips so he could take it off completely.

“Did you just buy that dress for me to take off?” He asked.

You nodded innocently, and Jay let out a breathy chuckle before he hovered over you.

“Thank you for the little show, baby,” he said, caressing your face. “You’re so fucking sexy.” He kissed your lips. “I mean, fuck.”

You couldn’t help but giggle, and he smiled so wide that the corner of his eyes crinkled. “Practicing that was so embarrassing for me.”

Jay frowned. “You practiced?”

“In my mind,” you clarified. “It almost took a toll on me. Could you tell that I was nervous?”

Jay was kissing your neck as you spoke, and he laughed onto your skin. His finger then trailed down your waist and quickly reached your core, and he drew a line along your folds which instantly made your breath hitch.

“From this, I can tell you were just aroused as I was,” he whispered, sucking softly on your neck. “Am I right, baby?”

You whimpered before nodding slowly. “Yes,” you whispered back.

Jay then grabbed you by the waist and flipped you over, making you sit on his toned abs as he relaxed and placed his hands under his head.

“Ride me, baby,” he requested. “Give me an encore.”

You placed your hands on his shoulder and scooted downwards until you felt his shaft press against your core. Jay groaned and moved his hips up, and you had to palm his chest to keep him from moving.

“Go on,” he continued. His position was relaxed, seemingly determined to just watch you do your thing.

You began slowly rubbing your folds along his shaft, from the bottom up and then back again. With every stroke, you moaned softly, and your eyes were closed but Jay was observing your face closely. It drove him crazy how you practically looked intoxicated, and he was motivated to watch you keep going.

“That’s it, baby,” he commented. “Just grind on me like that.”

Your movements became faster, and your moans gradually became louder too.

“Keep going,” Jay whispered. “You look so beautiful, baby.”

You whined as you continued rubbing against him, and you were desperate for more.

“I don’t want to cum yet,” you muttered. “Not now.”

“Put it in, baby,” Jay said, bringing one hand to your thigh to stroke it. “We can take it slow.”

You lifted your hips and reached for his cock, aligning his tip to your entrance. You then sank slowly on him as your eyes rolled back, and you heard Jay letting out a shaky breath as he completely filled you up.

“Oh my God, Jay,” you whined. “You’re stretching me out so good. You’re so big.”

Normally you would leave the words of affirmation in the form of desperate whines and moans, but for tonight, you wanted him to hear exactly what you were thinking of, and from the way his Adam’s apple bobbed you knew it was something he liked.

“Tell me how it feels, baby,” he said, squeezing your hips.

“So good,” you whimpered, feeling him twitch inside of you. “You feel so… so good.”

Seeing how you, a woman who is usually good with words, repeat the same thing three times already boosted Jay’s ego. His hands moved to your ass, and he squeezed you there, earning another lewd moan from you.

“J-Jay…”

“Mmhm, baby,” Jay replied as he began thrusting. “Tell me more.”

Jay pushed himself up with his elbows and you rested your arms on his shoulder until he sat all the way up, staying inside of you. Your chest was now pressed against his, and he moved his face closer to yours, only close enough for your noses to brush against each other.

“I…” you began after licking your lips, “I want you to fill me up all night.”

Jay smiled before giving your lips a peck. “Do you think you can handle that, baby?”

His hands squeezed your ass harder, pushing them towards him and guiding the way you grinded your hips. Your breath gradually became heavier.

“I want to,” you continued. “I want you inside me. I want your lips on me. On my lips, on my neck, on my—”

You moaned when you felt him lick and suck on the skin beneath your jaw. Your grip on his shoulder tightened.

“On my pussy, too,” you finished your sentence with great effort.

“Hmm?” Jay hummed in response. “Do you want me to switch and put my lips down there now?”

“No!” You replied without missing a beat and sounding way too pathetic. “Not now, you’re still filling me up so good.”

Jay chuckled. Again with ‘so good’, as if those were the only words you could use to describe the feeling.

“Tell me what you want me to do right now.”

“Your hand on the back of my head,” you said. Jay did so. “Pull my hair and make me tilt my head so you can—”

You breathed shakily when you felt him suck on your skin, bruising your neck even further. You were sure you would be left with hickeys all over, but you didn’t care.

“What else, baby?” Jay mumbled against your skin.

“Stop asking me and just be rough,” you answered. “Please?”

Jay kissed you passionately and slid his tongue along your lips before pulling away. He held your ass up and slid out of you, only to hold you by your hips and turn you around. You immediately got on all fours and pushed your ass up, and when you felt his cock align with your cunt again you bunched up the sheets in your hands.

You moaned with every thrust Jay made, and his grip was strong on your hips. Your ass slapped against his pelvis, and the lewd sound echoed throughout the room along with your whimpers and his grunts. He heard you whisper ‘harder’, and he was more than happy to do so, hearing your moans go even louder.

You felt Jay’s hand move down from your hips to your thighs, and it took you a while to realize he was maneuvering you both to lie down on your sides. He pulled you towards him until your back was pressed against his chest, and with one hand he lifted up your leg before entering you again. The position allowed him to hit you on the right spot, and you screamed his name almost a little too loud. He continued to thrust into you, his skin slapping against yours, his grip firm against your thigh, and his teeth sinking into your skin like you were his prey.

“Jay…” you called, running out of breath.

Jay maintained the same pace but exerted more strength, pushing your leg even further up.

“Jay,” you called again, feeling tears beginning to pool in your eyes from the mixture of pleasure and pain.

You heard him grunt against your ear and you felt his other hand squeezing your boob a little too hard.

“Jay,” you tried again. “You’re hurting me.”

His movements stopped in an instant. His grip on your thigh loosened and you slowly felt him sliding out of you.

“No,” you reached to grab his hand in yours. “Stay inside.”

“Baby,” he called, his voice hoarse.

You rested your leg and brought your hand to your nape. Jay immediately put his hand over yours as he slid out of you completely. You were about to protest, but you were met with his eyes full of worry.

“I’m sorry,” he said as he hovered over you. “I’m so sorry, baby.”

You licked your lips before bringing your hand up to caress his face. “Just give me a minute, okay?”

Jay nodded and you closed your eyes. You then felt him kissing your forehead ever so softly, making a soft smacking sound. He then kissed you down your nose, to your left cheek, and your right, before moving down to kiss your jawline. He kissed your neck next, lingering on the parts where your skin started to turn purple. You caressed the back of his head, almost encouraging him to continue. You felt his lips against yours and you pouted, reciprocating the kiss.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled against your lips.

“It’s okay,” you reassured him despite the single tear trickling down your left eye.

“We can stop if you want—”

You shook your head quickly and palmed his cheek. He placed one hand over yours as he held himself up with his other arm.

“I want to finish with you,” you begged. “Please?”

You felt Jay’s breath hot against your face when he nodded. He brought himself down on his elbows and kissed your cheek once again before he entered you, causing you to wrap your legs around his waist.

“I promise I’ll be gentle,” he whispered before brushing your hair back.

You nodded. “Please keep kissing me.”

Jay kept his word and his lips latched onto yours as he resumed his strokes, going a lot slower and deeper compared to before. Your hands caressed his shoulders and moved down to his biceps, and you tried your best to reciprocate all his kisses while touching every part of his body that you could reach. Your hands rested on his back as his hips began to stutter, and when your walls clenched around him during your release, he groaned into your neck and came soon after.

Usually after a long session, Jay would collapse on top of you and relax as you brushed his hair, but for now, he was quick to move to your side, relieving you of his weight. His eyes concentrated on your face as he started to stroke your waist softly with his hands.

“Y/N?” He called. “Baby…”

You licked your lips before rolling to your side to face him.

“Forgive me, love,” he whispered. “I really wasn’t thinking—”

“It’s okay, Jay,” you chuckled weakly. “If anything, I feel sorry for killing the mood.”

“You did not kill the mood.”

“For being too weak then.”

Jay frowned and immediately propped himself up with one elbow. “You are not weak.”

“Fine,” you smiled, closing your eyes. “Maybe I’m just a little too old.”

You didn’t hear a response, so you opened your eyes, and you found Jay staring at you with teary eyes.

“Please don’t say that,” he muttered. “I feel horrible for hurting you. I swear I’m never going to be rough—”

“Now hold on,” you stopped him. You then chuckled lightly before tugging on his arm gently, making him lie down again. “I liked it. When you were being rough. Maybe we just need a safe word, that’s all. I think I called you three times to get you to pause.”

“Fuck,” Jay groaned. “I’m going to punish myself.”

“Look at me.”

The switch in your tone immediately made Jay comply, and only then you noticed how his face was covered in sweat, and maybe some tears mixed with it too.

“I don’t want this to change anything,” you said. “Promise me?”

Jay shook his head, and it made you frown.

“You need to understand that hurting you is the last thing I want to do. Actually, it’s not even on my list. So next time you want me to go rough, I’ll do so but very carefully.”

You snorted. “So, not rough then?”

“My beautiful, beautiful wife,” Jay whispered, scooting closer to you. “Please forgive me for now and we’ll use this as a learning point for future sessions.”

Jay pulled you into him and began leaving kisses all over your face, not the gentle feathery kind but the wet and aggressive type, making you chuckle and close your eyes as a precaution.

“Okay, okay,” you finally said, placing a palm over his chest. “By the way,” you continued after taking a quick peek at the clock, “Happy birthday, my love.”

Jay turned to find that it was three minutes past midnight and when he looked back at you, you were smiling at him and looking at him with full adoration.

“I can’t believe I ruined my own birthday present,” Jay said. “Your dance was so good and I had to go and ruin it.”

You grew tired of him feeling bad, so you exhaled and pushed yourself away from him, and he frantically tried to keep you in his embrace.

“Okay, okay! I’ll stop apologizing. Just stay in my arms.”

“I said happy birthday,” you mumbled against his chest.

Jay began running his fingers through your hair gently. “Thank you, baby. I’m lucky I get to spend it with you for the rest of my life.”

You couldn’t help but smile so wide. Jay then cleared his throat.

“You’re smiling, aren’t you?”

You smacked his arm, and he winced out of surprise. After a short session of soft slapping and tickling, he began caressing your thigh that was now thrown over his waist.

“Do you like your birthday trip so far?” You asked, resting your palm on his cheek and caressing him there with your thumb.

Jay nodded. “It’s been lovely.”

“Good. Then you need to outdo it later when it’s my birthday again,” you demanded, gently slapping his cheek repeatedly with your hand.

“Ma’am, yes, Ma’am,” Jay said, saluting you.

You giggled and pinched his cheek. “Kiss me, you dork.”

“Yes, Boss,” Jay whispered before sealing your lips with a kiss.

As you felt his plush lips against your lips and his tongue dancing with yours, you were reminded once again about how much, and how deeply your husband loves you.

"Should we have some of that chocolate cake now?"

Jay's voice broke your train of thought, but even if he could break every part of your body, you would still love him just as much.

-END-

© forjongseong 2023, all rights reserved

read the next part: meet cute

[tb5-heavenward]

Hello!!!!! Just read your fic 'Talented Amateurs' and its soooo totally awesome and the writing is AMAZINGGGG!!!

I completely understand if you're not planning on finishing it but was wondering if you had any ideas about the ending you'd thought of? Was super curious as to how the rest would pan out!!!

Thank you <333333

oh man, I am sorry for how absent I have been lately! I have actually spent the past few years moving home to Canada from the USA, and getting settled at home again with my family. I've been split between semi-single parenthood, immigrating my husband from his home country back to mine, and then three or four different jobs across two different countries, depending upon how one counts that, and the rigamarole of generally getting life back into a manageable state. I've been through so many big changes over the past few years that I more or less have to conceptualize just the whole first half of my thirties as having been about just Getting Settled.

As to TA and writing in general, I would love to get back to it someday, the nature of writing for me is that I do end up taking long breaks in order to Live Life for periods of a few years at a time, but I always do mean to come back. I don't want to promise anything, but theoretically things will start to settle back into a real and actual routine in the latter half of 2024, as I whittle my days back down to just working one job, taking care of one household, and having my kid back in school for the bulk of the day.

It's not the only big project or big property I squared myself up against, but it is one that has a very clear roadmap of a plot in my head, so no fear there. As far as Heavenward having been kind of a jumping off point for what I thought the most interesting aspects of TAG Season 1 were, talented amateurs was really the same as far as what I thought about where Season 2 left things, and where I would have gone with what I thought was the other most interesting aspect of the show as a whole, that is to say Penny/Gordon, and the notion of the whole cast as adults with relationships.

The most terrifying thing about TA as it exists right now is that it's maybe only about 30% of the story I ever intended to tell, which speaks to just how awful it is to have my brain. Basically, the intent was always for it to be three parts long, each about 200k words, one for each trimester of the pregnancy it centers around, and for that to unfold in ways that I thought would be entertaining. As a story it is genuinely never far from my head or my heart (I reread it myself with embarrassing frequency) and the broad strokes of the answer to that question of where it goes next actually hinge on whether or not Jeff Tracy is alive or dead in TA's version of the TAG universe, and I never quite settled that question for myself. After how long it's been though, I think I at least have enough perspective to know which way I'm leaning.

I'm very much due for a rewatch of the series, and hopefully I can carve out time sometime soon to make that happen.

As far as something that may or may not resemble a glimmer of hope for a future where I get my ass back in gear, here's a cut and the first half of the chapter I left off in the middle of writing, for whatever that's worth!

61 - knit and purl

Grandma Tracy hasn't had much to knit in a while, and her fingers ache slightly, her muscle memory for the task having gone somewhat to rust. There's no great call for hats and scarves in the South Pacific, no one particularly in need of cableknit when there's Gore-tex and nanofleece to be had. Still, it had all come back quickly enough, and the bag she'd brought with her is no longer full of knitting needles and yarn, but of a gift for her grandson.

Not, crucially, the one whose birthday it actually is, though she'd caught Alan's sideways glances and nods of approval during the flight over, so it's not as though she thinks he minds.

Alan is presently in the process of very carefully putting TB2 down in an empty patch of farmland alongside a dirt road stretching between two fields. The windbreak around the farmhouse is in sight, as is the hulking green pickup truck rumbling along the road towards their appointed landing coordinates. From over her shoulder, Grandma Tracy can feel the intensity of Virgil's silent attention where he leans forward in one of the passenger seats, not wanting to backseat drive, but equally not wanting Alan to fudge the landing. John's still down in the cargo bay, hopefully buckled in.

Grandma isn't worried, though she can see her youngest grandson's tongue caught between his teeth and poking out between his lips as he concentrates. When the Thunderbird finally settles gently to the earth below, she watches him let out a great big breath and grin to himself, and when he glances across the cockpit towards her, she can tell he's after reassurance, and she's only too happy to oblige. "Nicely done, kiddo."

"Not too bad," Alan agrees, though his smile widens at the praise. He pushes his seat back, unbuckling his harness and stretching before hoisting himself upright and clambering back into the cabin proper. "I'm gonna get changed. You okay, Virg?"

Virgil's slept most of the flight through, and could probably do to get up and move around himself, but with his leg still in a cast and TB2's interior not exactly friendly to those in a state of reduced mobility, he's going to need help getting up and out of the ship. "Fine, Al. Good job. Give Grandma a hand before you go."

Grandma Tracy waves Alan away as he turns around, already extending a hand in her direction. "No, no, I'll sit a minute. Go get in your civvies, sweetheart. We're not in a hurry."

Alan shrugs and reverses course, giving Virgil's shoulder a light punch as he passes by, heading for the lockers and showers tucked back behind the cockpit. Virgil looks mildly disgruntled to have been overruled, but his expression softens slightly when Grandma turns in her seat to give him a gently knowing smile. "Hard to be back in your bird and not be the one flying, hm?"

"It sucks."

There's a blunt, uncharacteristic bitterness there that's hard to miss, the past few weeks have been hard on Virgil, in no small measure because they've been hard on his brothers. The pressure release of Gordon's circumstances seems to have done little to improve Virgil's mood, and it's hard to tell if he wants attention drawn to his attitude. She suspects not, and doesn't comment, only nods sympathetically. "Well, we're all on the ground now, and you can take it easy for a while."

This gets no better answer than an non-committal grunt, and the fact that Virgil's been taking it easy for weeks now hangs in the air, obvious but unstated, and then dissipates into nothingness as the cargo lift hums from behind them, and John returns from the lower cargo bay, with the little plexiglass sphere that houses his AI companion held loosely in one hand. "Al getting changed?" he asks, stooping slightly as he moves through the cockpit, coming to the front just in time to offer his grandmother a hand to her feet.

"Showering first," Grandma informs him, and accepts his help to stand and stretch. "Help an old lady back down to terra firma, won't you, dear?"

"Of course," John answers immediately, and offers his arm in a solicitous and genteel fashion, at odds with the way he's often written off as cold and distant. There's a rarely seen streak of gentility in John, most often only seen by his grandmother, who has the fortune of being one of the few recipients of his softer affections. Her hand on his arm is steadied when his palm closes lightly over her fingers, and he contrives to help her aboard the cargo lift in a way that doesn't make her feel doddering and weak. "I'll be back for you in a minute, Virgil, unless Alan gets you first," John attempts to tell his younger brother, but the only response is another dismissive grunt, and this is lost in the hydraulic hum of the cargo lift.

"Never mind about him," Grandma says, tipping her head lightly against her grandson's shoulder when he sighs aloud. "Gordon will cheer him up one way or the other, mark my words."

[wrestlersownmyheart]

Closer Than You Think Chapter 2 (Dean Ambrose X OC)

Title: Closer Than You Think Pairing: Dean Ambrose X OC: Shannon Brock Summary: When a serial killer claims a number of victims including NXT wrestler, Shannon Brock's cousin, she vows to find the killer after she is bumped to RAW from NXT. Her cousin's lover, AJ Styles, appoints himself and the Shield—Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns—as her bodyguards.

Dean takes the task very seriously and doesn't let Shannon out of his sight, despite the game of cat and mouse they play with the killer. Can he keep her safe, or will the killer claim his ultimate victim?

Disclaimers: I own nothing or anyone associated or affiliated with WWE. I own only the original characters. This is just a fictional story that came from my imagination. Content/Trigger Warnings: Extreme Violence against women; murder

Chapter Two

Shannon Brock switched her cell phone to her other ear and grabbed a fruit salad out of the hotel room's mini refrigerator while she spoke with her cousin, Larissa Anderson.

The two women were actually more like sisters than cousins. Not only did they share the same physical attributes: long black hair, pale skin and identical gray eyes, they also had grown up living next door to each other, went to school together, spent weekends at each other's houses and watched their beloved wrestling together. They were virtually inseparable. They even planned for their careers to be in the same industry. Larissa wanted to write for World Wrestling Entertainment, while Shannon wanted to wrestle for them.

Then came Shannon's unforgettable eighteenth birthday—the day she'd been waiting for her whole life.

Shannon had applied for entrance to Funking Conservatory Wrestling School a couple weeks prior, and almost as if fate was giving her a birthday present, she received a letter of acceptance that very day. She'd ripped into the envelope with a vengeance and then cried tears of joy when she saw the printed words informing her of her acceptance.

"Mom! Daddy! They accepted me," she'd squealed happily, jumping up and down. "I'm moving to Ocala!"

She was lucky in finding an apartment near her school within the week and was soon on her way to living her dream. Excitement filled her heart, but so did sadness. She had never been away from her family for more than a week. How will I handle being away from them permanently, she wondered. I know I'll be able to visit them, but still… I'm living on my own now. I'm starting my life.

The day came when she left for Ocala. She hugged and kissed her parents goodbye, and then latched onto Larissa. "I'm going to miss you all so much," she cried. "I didn't realize how hard this would be."

"You'll be fine, Shannon," Larissa whispered, hugging her cousin tightly. "In fact, you're going to be amazing! I can't wait to see you on TV," she encouraged.

"You're going to make me cry," Shannon smiled through her tears. "I love you."

"Love you too. Now go get to school and show the veterans how it's done," Larissa teased. "I'll see you at WWE Headquarters in a few years."

Larissa sounded light-hearted for Shannon's benefit, but for a long time, she felt alone. However, she knew Shannon was doing what she loved. And so was Larissa. She had entered college a year before to major in English and minor in Journalism. Three years of very hard work later, she graduated and within a month had secured her dream job. Writing on the creative team for World Wrestling Entertainment.

Four years later, she worked up to both writing and producing—which was how she met her boyfriend, Jim Walker.

"Work is going great." Shannon answered her cousin, as she mentally returned from her reverie of the past. "As you know, I'm sure, I've been NXT Women's Champion for about six months now. Hopefully, I'll get to keep it a while longer. I get afraid every time I get my script that I could learn I'm about to lose the title to someone." She took a bite of pineapple then, "So how is everything with you? How are you and Jim doing?"

"Work is also going great for me. Very busy," Larissa chuckled. "All these storylines and the deadlines that go with them are about to wipe me out, but I'd not have it any other way."

"Well, I'm so glad you are enjoying it. We were both so blessed to get the exact jobs we were wanting," Shannon smiled, genuinely happy for her cousin. "So, how about Jim? Are you still having problems?"

"Not anymore," Larissa answered. "But that is probably because we broke up about two weeks ago. He just became too controlling and jealous for me to deal with."

Shannon felt terrible for her cousin. She knew how crazy about Jim she had once been. "I'm so sorry, Larissa," she said. "I wish there was something I could do."

"Don't worry, Shannon," Larissa told her. "I'm doing much better without him. The ordeal just taught me that being single isn't nearly as bad as being with a jerk."

"That's true," Shannon agreed whole-heartedly. "Well, I really hate to make this a short phone conversation, but I have got to get to bed early so I can work out in the morning and get ready for tomorrow night's show."

"No worries. I understand completely," Larissa told her. "I just wish our schedules would calm down a little so we could get together. Or even if all the brands had a week of being in the same state."

"I know, I miss you so much," Shannon said softly. "I hate that we never get to see each other."

"Maybe soon we can," Larissa said, hope in her voice. "I'll let you get to bed now. Goodnight, Shannon. Love you."

"Goodnight. I love you too."

With that, the two women disconnected the call and got back to the tasks of their everyday lives.

0o0o0

That Night In Philadelphia…

"Dana," Jarold, the night manager of Denny's called out. "Table nine needs more coffee!"

The restaurant was swamped and buzzing with excitement. The building was full of wrestlers and wrestling fans from the live event that had occurred only three blocks away.

"Okay, I'm on it," Dana called back over the dull roar of adoring WWE fans. She grabbed the non-decaffeinated coffee pot and headed to the table that a man was seated at.

"I assume you want regular and not decaf," she flashed him her charming smile, trying to get as good a tip as possible, and brushed her dark ponytail back over her shoulder flirtatiously.

"Yeah, that'll be great," he smiled back at her. "I guess you're staying pretty busy tonight, huh," he conversed as she filled his cup up.

Dana enjoyed the sexy rasp in the handsome man's voice and immediately became nervous. I must look awful after being around this greasy atmosphere all night, she fretted. "Well, I wasn't super busy till about a half hour ago," she chuckled. "But hey, I'm in a large room full of gorgeous wrestlers. So it's worth it," she joked.

"Well, I'm sure you have every male eye in the room locked on you, flashing that smile of yours," the man said, just the slightest hint of disdain entering his demeanor.

Did I imagine that, Dana wondered. Or maybe I'm just really tired and reading too much into his behavior. He seemed friendly enough, but there was some thing dark, sinister in his eyes. Like Dracula, hot and sexy, yet evil and cold-blooded.

He's handsome, I'll give him that, Dana thought. But then again, so was Ted Bundy.

"Well, enjoy your coffee, sir," she said, suddenly growing uncomfortable. "And if you need anything else, just let me know." She smiled kindly this time, with no flirting whatsoever, and headed back to the waitress station.

The young woman stayed busy for the next two hours re-filling coffee, soft drinks, serving desert, collecting dishes and wiping tables. Her only comfort was that she'd made about two hundred dollars in tips, which she'd poked very securely into her waitress apron.

Finally, at about midnight the diner was close to empty so Dana began performing her end-of-shift duties, to prepare for the next waitress' shift. She wiped down all tables and booths, cleaned the coffee machines and soft drink machines, took all dirty dishes to the back to be washed, then prepared to take out the garbage.

Minutes later, she was hauling two large trash bags along with her as she hurried out the backdoor and to the huge dumpsters in the dark alley.

"Why can't these dumpsters be closer to the building," she grumbled under her breath, as she hefted the bags up into one of the large receptacles.

And then suddenly, the hair on her neck stood on end. A cold chill ran down her spine and she visibly shuddered.

"You should have had someone else take the trash out…"

Dana had no time to react, a knife was at her throat instantly.

A hand clamped over her mouth, "Don't scream…" The raspy voice told her, "Or this will hurt more than it has too."

Oh my God, Dana panicked. Please somebody come out here…She prayed silently, Somebody come check on me…

But there was no one nearby. Nobody to hear her whimpering cries. Nobody to see as the serrated edge of the blade viciously tore into her pale throat.

And nobody noticed for a long while that she never re-entered the building…

0o0o0

Shannon reached over to the nightstand and picked up the receiver of the in-room phone which was ringing incessantly. "Hello," she uttered, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Miss Brock in room 509," came a pleasant female voice.

"Yes, this is she," Shannon said, fighting off a yawn.

"I'm just delivering your 7 A.M. wake up call ma'am. Would you like me to make a follow-up call in five minutes?"

"No, thank you," she replied. "I'm awake enough, so that's not necessary."

"Okay, Miss Brock. Help yourself to a complimentary breakfast in our cafe. Have a nice day."

"Thank you. You have a nice day too." She hung up the phone and stretched with a soft groan. "Ugh…seven o'clock already…."

She stood to her feet then and turned on the television to get the morning news while she prepared for her day. Listening to the weather forecast, she discarded the black satin nightgown she'd slept in and grabbed some workout clothes out of her suitcase. After pulling on a pair of pink yoga pants, a black sports bra, and layered an off-the shoulder black t-shirt over a pink tank top she stepped into a pair of running shoes. Within minutes her teeth were brushed and she began pulling her hair up into a messy bun when the words "brutal murder" shot her attention to the television. Her gaze froze on the TV screen as she listened in.

"…In Philadelphia late last night a brutal murder has the city in turmoil. Live in Philadelphia, Jack Cooper has the story."

"Philadelphia…" Shannon whispered, worriedly. That's where Larissa was last night.

The feed cut to an area at the back of a restaurant taped off with police tape, with Jack Cooper facing the camera.

"The body of thirty year old, Dana Marshall was found outside in this very alley of Denny's restaurant at approximately 12:20 this morning. When the murder was first called in by the late shift's manager, Jarold Carver, the police's first impression was robbery due to the fact that the manager had reported that they'd had a very busy night and that the young woman had made a large amount of money in tips. However, when they arrived at the scene it was a different story. Dana was found lying on her back with her throat and entire body slashed.

A photograph then popped on the television screen of a woman who was apparently Dana Marshall.

"My God…" Shannon whispered.

The woman looked so much like Larissa and herself it was uncanny. The only major difference is that Shannon and Larissa were a few years younger and had longer hair.

Suddenly unnerved, Shannon turned the television off and tried to get herself mentally ready for the day's events. But the images of what she had seen and heard were engraved her mind.

"Denny's…" she thought out loud as she rubbed some tension out of her neck. Grabbing her phone off the night table, she pulled up Google and typed out "Denny's restaurants in Philadelphia", then picked the first link offered. She scanned the page for the street address of the establishment and was distressed to find the address was merely three blocks away from the Thompson Stadium-where SmackDown had been taped.

"Why is this creeping me out so bad," she asked herself. Then shook her head to clear it. "Ugh...I'm just being paranoid. Get a grip, Shannon."

Making sure she had her room's key card in her wallet, she grabbed her gym bag and stuffed a change of clothes into it and then she hurried out the door intent on grabbing some coffee on her way to the gym. And then she was going to work the strange new tension out of her body, even if it killed her.

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[dragons-and-dwarves-are-nice]

To the Shadows that Cry Witch /// Chapter 21

RAAAAHHHHHHHH WE'RE BACK AND ONLY ONE CHAPTER LEFT AND I CAN FINALLY MOVE ONTO PART 3. The Easter holidays have just started for me so I now have three full weeks to put into the last chapter. This one could be classed as a filler chapter but there's a lot they gain that links to the future so stuff doesn't just appear 'for the plot' - the girls need their hardcore character development before the journey. Enjoy! <3

Summary: Magic was real, but it came at a price. So when two girls end up in the one place they never thought they could reach, strange things began to happen. Good or bad? That's up to them to find out.

Tags: Kili x oc/reader - Fili x oc (POV to be written soon) - Thorin's company × ocs/reader (platonic) - fluff - angst - EXTREME slow burn - crack - Bagginshield

Word Count: 8527

Warnings: Nothing I can think of.

Taglist - comment or message to be added!

Want some background music? Check out my Soundtrack Playlist!

Now available on Wattpad and AO3 (please let me know if links aren't working)

< Chapter 20 // Chapter 21 // Chapter 22 >

Part 2: Chapter 21 -

Interesting Concept. Poor Execution.

Brontide (Definition): The low rumble of distant thunder. (Noun / Origin: Greek /ˈbrän‧ˌtīd)

Bag End, Hobbiton, The Shire – T.A. Monday, 27th March 2940 of the Third Age (Monday, 5th Astron, 1340 in Shire-reckoning)

4 MONTHS LATER

“I’m so happy you allowed me to accompany you three! It’s not every day I’m able to spare time for trip like this.” Gladiola smiled gratefully at the three of us.

--

After begging Bilbo to let us travel to Bree for a good month, he finally let up, but only agreed if we went in the spring, strongly insisting we wouldn’t survive the night if we had travelled in the deep winter.

“Bree is a hundred and thirty-five mile trip, meaning it would take a minimum of four days to get there. Meaning that we would have to camp in the freezing cold, because the only proper shelters are at least three detours from the path!”

We had instantly agreed, when we had realised the actual distance, deciding to wait until late March when the weather would be warmer.

Aa couple days before we left, Mrs Greenfoot had walked in on us packing when she was dropping off some spare socks she had knitted. After telling her where we were going, she instantly pleaded to let her go with us, saying how she heard Bree had some fabrics that she was dying to get her hands on, and how her husband was going to be at home full time for the next two weeks, so it would be a perfect opportunity for her to go. We said yes after persuading a reluctant Bilbo, and she shot off to pack, which led to now – on our fourth day of walking.

“Oh I really do hope the markets have what I want. I promised Menegilda I would make her a new dress for her birthday.” Gladiola rambled on as she took in the fields and forests ahead of us, her pace picking up with eagerness.

“I’m sure they will.” Replied Kay, grimacing at the feeling of her aching legs. “It’ll ruin the reputation they’ve built of they don’t.”

“Hopefully.” She sighed. “What are you all hoping of finding?”

“Every dangerous object under the sun apparently.” Bilbo spoke up before us. Stuffing his hand into his pocket, he pulled out a small piece of paper and handed it over.

Taking it, Gladiola quickly scanned the list, her face morphing into surprise and shock at the same time. “Swords?? Why would you need swords?” she queried, handing it back.

“To scare off half the town, in my opinion.” Bilbo grumbled, clearly not happy with the reason we had dragged him so far. “If I didn’t want to go for some of that wine they make, I would’ve said no on the spot.”

“Well, we would’ve gone ourselves if that was the case.” I jived back.

“We just want to know that we can protect ourselves if we ever decide to try and find our way home.” Kay explained.

Bilbo slowed his pace for a moment, as something seemed to dawn on him. “Oh.” He said quietly, a tiny quiver of dejection on his face. “Yes, home. I forgot about uh.. that.” Though he quickly shook that mood off, jogging slightly to catch up.

“Plus,” I added in an attempt to alleviate the mood. “we wouldn’t be looking to own one if we didn’t think it looked insanely cool.”

And with that Bilbo sighed, back to his usual exasperated mood.

--

The wall surrounding Bree stretched high above us as we neared the wooden gate, its intimidating nature emphasised by the two-storey stone turrets that flanked either side like a pair of unmovable sentries.

Gravel and dried mud crunching underfoot, we took the last few steps, before shuffling to a stop in front of one of the towering doors. Taking a couple steps forward, Bilbo reached up and gave the surface a few hard raps, before coming back to stand beside us.

A moment passed, and only the birds and the rustling of leaves from the nearby trees could be heard, when a muffled rattling sounded from behind the door. A small hatch near my eye level swung open, revealing the wrinkled face of a man, who, at the sight of us, morphed it into a sour scowl, a stark contrast compared to the warm sun that was beating down on our backs.

“Who’re you?” he barked, his croaky and adenoidal voice matching his unpleasant demeanour perfectly.

When neither me or Kay began to speak, Bilbo quickly piped up, stretching up on his toes to try and see the gatekeeper. “Um, hello?” he called out.

The gatekeeper, quickly stepped back and slammed the hatch shut, before a creak resounded from further down, opening another hatch that was the perfect level to speak with the hobbit, giving me a very strong sense of déjà vu.

The hobbit stepped forward towards the open hatch. “We’re here to stay at the Prancing Pony, for a week.” He explained politely. “To visit the market.”

“Oh?” croaked the gatekeeper with half a smirk. “And what are you here to buy, exactly?”

Bilbo didn’t hesitate to flap the list in front of the old man’s face. “Whatever we need.” He said sternly, before stuffing the paper back in his pocket. “I have visited before, you know.”

Looking between me and Kay, then at the hobbits, his eyes narrowed. “Two hobbits and a pair of human girls, together. That’s not something you see every day.” He muttered, reminding me a lot of a certain Hogwarts caretaker, and I half-expected to see a dupe of Mrs Norris jump out of nowhere. “Tell me, how do you know each other?”

“They’re his daughters!” A voice called out, and the three of us spun around in surprise to face a nervous looking Mrs Greenfoot. “Adopted, of course. And I’m a family friend.” She added with a sheepish smile.

The gatekeeper took his time to eye us all up slowly, his bloodshot eyes scouring whatever he could. Seemingly unable to spot anything he counted as suspicious, he quickly disappeared again with a grumble, the hatch shutting with a snap. Seconds later there was a loud groan, and the door he used to speak through slowly began to open. When the gap was wide enough, the gatekeeper stepped out from behind it, revealing his mousy grey hair and tattered brown tunic and trousers. Raising a wrinkly hand, he impatiently beckoned us forward, quickly scouring the area outside as we stumbled in, before he pushed the gate shut.

Bilbo diligently led the way as we trekked down the main street, dragging Mrs Greenfoot to walk beside him.

“What in Yavanna’s name are you doing??” The two of us heard him cry in a whisper. “People are going to ask even more questions if we call them my daughters! How am I supposed to come up with a story about that???”

“Well go with the story you already have! Because it’s the one you’re going to have to run with for now, Mr Baggins.” She hissed back with a smirk.

Deciding to pointedly ignore the storm brewing in front of us, I turned to the view of the building in front of us. “Very Tudor-like.” I mentioned, admiring the dark beams that contrasted against the cream walls, along with the jettying of the upper floors that stuck out, and the metal grid panes that decorated the windows all around.

Kay hummed in agreement as she walked beside me, the both of us in awe of the once-fictional town that spanned across our view.

“It’s nice to see it not pouring with rain and caked in mud like the movies.” She whispered. I eagerly agreed, very happy about not having to fight my way through several inches of horse-trodden mud.

Grasping our skirts, we twisted between people and horse-drawn carriages, finally stopping in front of a relatively large building, the carved wooden sign hanging above us revealing itself to be the one and only Prancing Pony, and the two of us craned our necks to look up and admire the famous building Reaching an arm out, Mrs Greenfoot hauled the hefty wooden door open, and the four of us took our first steps into the inn.

Approaching the bar near the door, I watched Bilbo wipe the thunderous look on his face, turning away from where he was scowling at Gladiola to face the bartender approaching us.

“Good afternoon!” The man called, leaning his round body over the counter to take us all in with a hearty smile. “The name’s Mr Butterbur, but you lot can call me Barney. What can I do for the four of you?”

“Two rooms, if you please.” Answered Bilbo, reaching into his pocket for the right amount of coins. “Preferably split one and three.”

“Ah, you got lucky!” said Mr Butterbur, sticking his hand under the counter to bring out two keys. “You came at the right time – travelling’s picking up again now that winter’s over.” He handed the keys to Bilbo. “Rooms 5 and 6. Say, will you lot be coming down for dinner? I have a feeling it’ll be quiet this evening and we’re serving roast beef and potatoes.”

“Yes, that’ll be lovely.” Replied Gladiola with a warm smile.

Thanking the bartender once again, we set off, crossing the sparsely populated room of tables, considering it was only late afternoon, and up the narrow, creaking stairs on the other side. It didn’t take long to walk down the upper hallway to find the matching rooms, Bilbo handing us our key before he unlocked the door of his own room, insisting the separation was basic courtesy.

Evening came round quickly, our time spent downstairs in the tavern. Bilbo, Kay and Gladiola were currently sat at a table by one of the windows, and I was up by the bar, sipping a steaming tankard of tea on a rickety stool as I waited for Mr Butterbur to refill Bilbo’s wine.

“Say, I don’t suppose you know a place that could sell weapons?” I asked.

He was quiet for a moment, only raising a bushy brow as he peered down at me. Slowly, he set the refilled cup of wine down, before taking a rag out to wipe the surface. “Depends, what kind of weapons are you looking for?” he said lowly.

“Oh, nothing too dramatic.” I waved dismissably. “My friend and I are looking to venture out by ourselves at some point, you see. And we’re looking for something that’s durable and efficient, but easy to get used to, that beginners can handle.”

He seemed to lighten up again, throwing the cloth down as he braced both of his arms on the bar, eyes darting around in thought.

“Are you sure you two want to do that?” he asked with a stern but gentle look. “I’ve never been, but I’ve heard the Shire is one of the safest places you can live, the world outside? Not so much. Besides, you wouldn’t want to leave your dad alone, now would you?”

I blinked. “My – ?” I spun on my chair, looking at our table when my eyes made contact with Bilbo’s, who already seemed to be staring over with light concern on his face. “Oh! He’s no – yea, he’s uh, only been our.. ‘dad’ for a few months though.”

“Even more reason to stay!” Mr Butterbur said, reaching over to poke my shoulder slightly. “You don’t want to go breaking his poor heart right after he opened it up to let you both in!”

I turned back towards the bar, a solemn look falling upon my face as I stared at the tankard in my hands. “I know it’s just…” I heaved a long sigh. “I had a family,” My voice quavered as I looked up at him with wide eyes. “No, I have a family. I wasn’t brought here by choice, I –” I pressed my palms over my teary eyes as the events from the last six months hit me all at once. “I don’t know how we got here and I can’t get us back.” I cried.

“Hey, hey,” he murmured gently, laying a hand on my shoulder. “I don’t know what the two of you have gone through, but it seems that you’re distressed about the sudden change and you don’t even realise it.”

Blinking through the blur of tears, I looked up at him. “I have a bit. Bilbo’s found me crying at night over it more than once, but I’ve been telling him it’s nightmares of the night he found us.”

“A bad night?” he asked, smiling gently under his moustache.

“Very.” I replied with a wobbly grin. “I don’t think I’ve ever been that terrified before.”

He looked me up and down concerned, eyeing the large pink scar on my hand as I stared at it. He went to open his mouth, when he was interrupted.

“Oi Barney!” A man called from one of the tables nearby. “Don’t suppose we could get another round of mead?”

“I’ll bring ‘em round in a minute!” he called back, before turning to me once more. “Well you two have certainly had an experience, from what I can put together. But,” he lowered his voice again. “coming from a stranger, the best thing you can do, until you can find a way to get back, is to just carry on, and keep your hobbit dad company. Or, you know, find him a spouse – depends on whether he’s the bachelor type or not.”

I choked on my drink at the last statement, looking over at the hobbit with a grin. “Well whoever manages to charm him is gonna need a very strong metaphorical hammer.” I laughed. “Cuz that hobbit has enough stubbornness and resilience to rival the walls of Helm’s Deep.”

Mr Butterbur let out sharp laugh, almost spilling the tankard of beer he was filling. “Helm’s Deep! Blimey, you two must’ve done something insane to persuade him to take you in.” He chortled as he began lining up mugs of mead. “Anyway, you were asking about weapons, and I know of a guy that has a stall in the market square, name it and he’ll probably sell it.”

I perked up at the new subject. “Okay, what area of the square?”

“North-east corner, the blacksmiths.” He replied. “Ask for a man named Seathan Marshsteel. Tall, burly guy with a long dark beard and wavy hair, normally tied in a bun or something. Could be mistaken for a dwarf if it weren’t for the fact he’s over six foot.” He described with a chortle. “He’ll know what to give you, but best you go in the early hours, so the good stuff doesn’t get snagged first.”

“That’s great, thank you so much!” I exclaimed, finally getting up from the stool. Turning to face him fully, I gave him the sincerest smile I could. “And thanks for the advice, too.”

He waved a large hand in dismissal. “Don’t mention it. I prefer conversations with the emotional sober, than the emotional drunk.”

Giving him a laugh and a wave, I returned to the table with Bilbo’s refilled drink and my own, relaying the information Mr Butterbur had given me to Kay. The rest of that evening was spent in that corner, eating roast beef, potatoes and vegetables along with the rest of the taverns patrons, before retiring to bed for the night, ready for the next morning.

--

The murmurs of people and trotting of hooves were yet to be heard when I woke the next morning, only the chirping of the early birds, the occasional pair of footsteps scuffling beneath our window along with the crackle and pops of the dying fire across the room could be made out as I blinked the sleep away from my eyes.

I laid there for a while, staring up at the ceiling cast in dark shadows by the glowing embers as Kay and Mrs Greenfoot slept on. It still felt a little strange not having my phone on the bedside table, the calm piano of my alarm floating through my ears. The battery died on the fourth night after arriving at Bilbo’s, and I had cried endlessly, reality setting in as a realised that the only potential way of contacting my family was gone, unless we found a way back. I was mostly terrified of not being able to see their faces, but managed to calm myself slightly when I went through my small collection of polaroids and found a couple family portraits. I had stored them in the envelope stuck on the back page of my grimoire, for safe keeping but also as a way of keeping them near me for good luck. Going back through the polaroids, another stroke of luck hit me as I had found a polaroid of Kay and her mum, along with her dog Barkley, that I had taken on one of her birthdays, the two of them smiling at their dining table next to a cake glowing with candles, and the large dog laid by their feet. I had slid it under her door that night, deciding to give her some time alone with it. She had come to breakfast that next morning not saying much, only quietly thanking me before settling into her meal.

Coming back to the present, I decided it was time for me to get up. I took my clothes to the bathroom, slipping on a set of light briefs and a vest top over my underwear, an extra layer to battle the early spring chill, then sliding on my shift and finally my pale green summer kirtle.

Kay and Gladiola had roused from their sleep by the time I was sat on my bed sliding my socks on. I gave them a quick ‘Good morning’, before lacing up my trusty modern walking boots, and walking out the door to go knock on Bilbo’s.

The hobbit was already up, calling through the door that he would meet us downstairs for breakfast. I returned to my room to wait for the other two, before taking the stairs down.

We got lucky that the tavern served an early breakfast, the four of us able to down the meal and get out the door when there was still only a few people wandering the streets. The sun hadn’t fully risen either, the rays only managing to shine through the gaps of buildings and alleyways, highlighted by the fading mist as the jettying upper floors kept parts of the street within the dark blue shadows of the early hours.

“– well I would like to see if they have any rolls of lace as well.” Chirped Gladiola, chattering away about the fabrics and lace she wants to try and find, and that if she got commissioned to create some more outfits with the new fabrics, she might be able to afford a new sewing desk. “I’ll be refusing any requests from your relative Lobelia, Mr Baggins. You know what she said the other day? Marched right up to poor Melba and asked her why she was wearing dishrags right in front of her friends!” she exclaimed.

“She did what?!?!” Kay shrieked in outrage.

“I know! I’m surprised you Bilbo haven’t done something to sever her from the family tree!” Gladiola said as she turned to him.

“Believe me, it’s the one thing I want.” He grumbled. “I’ve had far too many of my possessions vanish only to appear in her parlour.”

After listening to the two of them slag off Bilbo’s relative, we had finally arrived at the market. People were still sparse, only a few meandering the stalls whilst some sellers were still setting up shop.

Using the east-rising sun as a reference, Kay and I headed towards the north-east corner, with Bilbo hot on our heels. We waved goodbye to Gladiola, who ventured off with her coin purse towards the colourful fabric stalls on the other side. Walking up the path past stalls selling everything from arrays of meat to bed linens, the smells of metallic blood, spices and cloth filled our senses as our eyes set on a grey canopy propped up by wooden posts attached to a building with a blacksmiths sign hanging from it. Underneath was a counter that was part of the wall, the stall actually being part of the building itself. Approaching the counter, we peered into the shop. Weapons of all kinds lined the walls, even more hung on the racks stuck in the middle of the room like aisles, or on the ceiling like stalactites. The fire in the corner was burning bright, along with the torches lining the walls, filling our nostrils with the strong smell of smoke and the warmth of hot steel, so we figured someone was in.

Kay leant over the counter to try and look around, before calling out.

“Hello?”

A bang resonated through the air, followed by a string of hissed curses. It wasn’t long until a figure appeared hunched from behind one of the tables, clutching and rubbing to back of his head as he muttered under his breath. He gave it one last rub, before standing straight and stretching his back. Placing down the small hammer in his hand, he turned to face us with a frown, though it quickly turned to one of slight surprise. He matched the description Mr Butterbur had given me: Quite tall, about 6’3, well built and muscular, with thick wavy almost black hair, half tied up in a loose bun, with a beard reaching halfway down his chest. He was wearing a pair of loose trousers tied with a thick belt and a baggy tunic rolled up at the sleeves, and covered in patches of soot and grime, his time in the forge on clear display.

Eyeing us up and down, he took his time wandering over, using a cloth to wipe his calloused hands down whilst his face held an expression of poorly concealed confusion. The look increased tenfold as Bilbo peeked over the edge, resting his forearms on the wooden surface to prop himself up. Reaching us, he plopped the rag down, bracing his arms on the counter as his pale blue eyes took the three of us in.

“Can I… help you?” he queried, an accent similar to an Irish one strong on his tongue as he squinted at us, looking as if he couldn’t wrap his head around what was in front of him. I tried not to cough when the smell of smoke increased tenfold, rolling off him in waves.

Nodding, I slapped the list I had taken from Bilbo earlier on the counter. “Yes,” I affirmed eagerly. “We were hoping if you had anything on the list in stock.”

Taking a moment to look between me and the piece of paper, he slowly reached out, pulling the list towards him and picking it up, before grasping the spectacles that hung from his neck by some string, and sliding them on.

He spent about twenty seconds flitting his eyes between us and the list, covering it in black fingerprints until he lowered it a looked down at us over his glasses.

“You three aren’t from around here, are you?” he remarked, his deep, throaty voice resonating through the chill, morning air. “I don’t advertise outside the town unless I speak to you personally, so who told you about me?”

Slightly taken aback by the man’s cautious demeanour, I stepped in the explain. “Uh – we were recommended to visit you by Mr Butterbur?” I managed out, gesturing in the direction of the inn. “from the, uh, Pr-”

“- The Prancing Pony, I know. We’re well acquainted.” He said with a small smile though quickly returned to eyeing us up. “Tell me, what do two young girls and a hobbit want within the weapons trade. You don’t look experienced to me.”

“Which is exactly the problem.” I stated firmly. “We aren’t. And therefore we want to learn how.”

He slowly regarded the three of us with a look, and I prepared for the disappointment of his potential refusal. “Ok,” he sighed, tapping his soot-covered fingernails rhythmically on the wood. “How long are you here for?”

At our silent confusion, he raised a brow expectantly.

“Uh?” Kay vocalised, her eyes dazed in confusion. “A week? We’ve got six days left.”

“And why?” I added. “Do you need time to make them?”

He shook his head. “No.” He stated, baffling us further. Sighing, he began explaining. “None of you look like you’ve seen combat during any day of your lives, so, my proposal is in exchange for six days of dinners at the inn, I give you six days’ worth of basic training.”

Surprised, I slowly turned towards Kay, eyes wide and eyebrows raised. She eyed me back, and grins began to slowly grow on our faces. We turned to confirm the deal, when the hobbit I had forgotten was between us spoke up.

“H-hold on!” he cried, pointing a finger to emphasise his point. “You don’t know any of us. How do we know we can trust what you’re saying?”

Seathan rested on his elbows so he could lean over the counter to face the grumpy hobbit. “Do you trust Mr Butterbur?”

“Mr-” Bilbo sputtered. “We barely had one conversation with him!”

“He did seem nice though.” Kay butted in, and Bilbo whipped his head at her in outrage.

“And it’s a fair deal.” I added, watching in amusement as Bilbo comically flips his head between us, shock evident on his face. “I’ll make you Victoria cakes weekly in return.” I quickly added.

Grumbling under his breath, he eventually gave in. “Fine, they,” he emphasised, pointing to the both of us. “trust the bartender.”

“Then you can trust me.” Seathan replied warmly with a deep rumble of a laugh. “You won’t learn quickly on your own – so meet me outside the inn at 7 o'clock each morning and I’ll give you a rundown of everything. We’ll have breaks at lunch, and finish in time for dinner.”

“Woah, are you sure?” Kay held up a hand to slow him down, brows furrowed in confusion. “Why are you offering this to us so quickly? We’ve only just met you.”

Seathan pushed himself up from his elbows with a grunt, towering over us as he stood to his full height. “My daughters.” He revealed bluntly. “My wife’s not big on me sharing this but they asked the same thing you did. I said no, and they were injured in a small goblin ambush during one of our travels.” A sombre look fell over his eyes. “They have since recovered, but that guilt has weighed on me ever since, therefore I’ve wanted to offer training to girls and women when they’ve been given no opportunity to do so before.”

Kay nodded slowly, happy with the explanation. “I’m sorry to hear that – I’m glad they’re ok now. So we’ll meet you tomorrow?”

“Come round sometime after luncheon today if you can.” Seathan requested. “The sooner I can get swords in your hands the better.”

Thanking him, we wandered back into the depths of the market, it’s scents dominating our senses once again as we scanned for our other hobbit companion.

---

That morning whizzed by as fast as we would allow it, our nervous excitement for the afternoon sending a slightly uncomfortable buzz through our stomachs, the thought of what was to come prominent on our minds as we scarfed our ham and lettuce sandwiches down. We had changed outfits as well – I now sat in my cream blouse and baggy brown corduroy dungarees, and Kay in her black tank top with some loose, pale brown trousers that closely resembled cargos, and a knitted cardigan slung on top. Sure, it looked a little modern, but we hoped the earthy colours would keep people’s interest away

When we had finished, we wandered outside, only to find Seathan waiting beside the door, instead of where he said he would be by the blacksmiths. Pushing himself off the wall he slowly strode over, no longer donned in his apron, choosing to only remain in his slightly sooty shirt and dungarees.

“You girls ready?” he questioned as he pulled his curls back to tie them with a piece of cloth. Shifting a little, he looked behind us. “Where’s your hobbit friend?”

Still a bit hesitant about his forwardness, I gave him a simple reply. “He doesn’t want to come – said he had planned this week for relaxing and wine tasting.”

He gave a nod as he chuckled. “Fair enough.” He remarked, and beckoned us along as he began trapsing down the now bustling street, the two of us following not long after.

Leading us down a wide alley just before we hit the market, he led us through some of the residential housing, that slowly turned from the fusty smelling, overhanging town houses that were packed together like sardines, to detached cottages with front gardens lined with crudely woven branches to act as fences, goats, donkeys and the odd cat mulling about the small patches of crops in each one. The town was fully alive now, the sun passing midday as everyone got on with their jobs and chores, voices and shouting echoing from down each passage as we trekked past. We were thankful that the early spring weather had allowed the sun to dry out the large mud patches that would’ve otherwise sucked up our poor shoes, watching the solid cracks and chunks grow in size the closer we got to the more rural neighbourhoods.

Rounding one last cottage, we came face to face with the open countryside, the grass long and swaying in the gentle breeze, with the occasional oak tree sheltering a few livestock from the 12 o’clock sun. Climbing over a rickety fence, Seathan brought us to our destination. A large patch of grass had been shortened – about half the size of a football field, and somewhat recently if the loose grass piles and faint smell of freshly cut grass mixed with the usual stink of livestock said anything. Down one of the edges were several wooden posts that had been hammered into the ground, branches and planks nailed on to make them look like human dummies, covered in chips and gashes where they had been practiced on previously. Down another side were some makeshift archery targets; wooden circles cut from tree trunks with white and red paint hastily slapped on in rings.

Eyeing up the equipment, I blindly followed the sound of Seathan’s footsteps. When they stopped, I turned my head to face him, about to ask what was to happen, only to flail my arms out in an attempt to catch the wooden sword that was flung at my face. Managing to grab it at the very edge of the hilt, I darted my wide eyes to the towering man to watch him chuck another at Kay, who had watched my floundering and was prepared enough to catch it with ease.

Picking up a slightly larger wooden sword, he weighed and swung it around as he approached us. “Ok. We’re going to start out with some wooden swords.” He held up a hand as Kay opened her mouth. “And before you protest, I would much rather you get bruises from these rather than deal with a mutilated limb from an actual sharpened sword.”

Pouting, Kay snapped her jaw shut, and we both trailed after him into the centre of the field.

“Now,” he began, turning to us, signalling for us to place our swords down as he did the same. “I know you two won’t gain the arm strength for swinging swords overnight, so we’ll start with some footwork so you don’t twist the wrong way and fall on your own weapon.”

The next couple hours were spent with us practicing out foot spacing and placement, Seathan reaching down to twist our ankles slightly every once in a while, shouting which way to put our feet when spinning around to face potential enemies as we spun and twisted to each end of the field. It oddly felt like I was back in my ballet classes, learning how to walk on the tip of my toes for the very first time again.

Eventually we were able to pick up the swords, learning how to use our arms alongside our feet as we twisted and turned to block his mock attacks that got stronger and stronger each hour, the man insisting that defence was the first and most important thing to learn when it came to combat.

Sweat was running down both of our backs by the time Seathan had called it a day, the sun now nearing the treeline in the distance as the breeze began to cool the moisture on our skin, sending chills down our backs.

“Ughhhhh I feel so muckyyyy.” Kay groaned as she chucked her sword back in the makeshift chest under one of the nearby trees, holding her arms out in front of her as she tried to pick her cardigan up with the tips of her now mud-stained fingers.

“Tell me about it.” I grumbled, exhausted as I reached down to grab the half-filled water tankard, given to us by a lovely woman who had seen us being worked to death by Seathan, who had actually introduced herself as his aforementioned wife. When she had suspiciously asked what we had used to pay him, she had sighed knowingly when we revealed it was several dinners.

“He only asks for that because I don’t let him.” She had muttered amusedly to us as she refilled one of the animal troughs for us to wash our hands in. “He’d be down there every other night stuffing his face otherwise – says Barney’s steak is a god-send. I told him throwing up on customers after eating it all would have an enormous impact on his business’s reputation.”

After chatting to the friendly woman for a few minutes, we were soon ushered up by Seathan, who had hardly broken a sweat at all that day – ‘the pros of working with a kiln every day, you build a resilience to heat’ he had remarked proudly.

Trudging back through the now-calmer town, we wearily made our way back to the Prancing Pony.

---

“By Yavanna, look at the state of you two!!” Bilbo had cried when we walked in, the hobbit gawping at our less-than acceptable appearances. “Yuv’got – mud. Everywhere!” he sputtered, gesturing at our clothes. “Go change, now.”

Snorting at his antics, the two of us dashed up the stairs of the inn, disappearing before we could watch the seething hobbit turn on our slightly nervous teacher.

When we returned having changed into our original clothes from this morning, we joined the two hobbits and Seathan at the table, who we’re all currently waiting for us to arrive before eating the fresh plates of dinner placed in front of them. We sat down and began eating whilst Seathan was recounting what he had taught us as he scarfed down his well-earned meal.

“– yea, they’re getting the hang of it quite quickly!” he stated with a proud grin. “Could say we’ve got a couple of naturals on our hands.”

I smiled back. “I’m just glad we weren’t thrown under the bus straight away, otherwise I would’ve given up.” I joked, but my joking was immediately stopped at the feeling of my throat jamming up, and I clenched my teeth, digging my nails into my palm as I tried not to make it obvious.

Seathan paused, his fork halfway to his mouth as he glanced at me with a bewildered look. “What’s a bus?”

Staring at him, I remained silent waiting for the invisible hands to stop choking me, and he began frowning as he noticed my cheeks turn a slight pink. I flinched slightly as I felt Kay’s foot kick my shin, and my airway opened once again, and it took me a lot of strength to not heave on the spot. I quickly darted my eyes over to see Kay staring at me, silently staring at me as she realised what was going on. Facing the other three, who were looking at me with curious looks, I racked my brain for an excuse.

“Oh! It’s uh.. just a saying where we’re from.” I laughed nervously, still trying to hide my excessive breathing. “We have different names for transport there. Like, um, a carriage is, obviously, known as a carriage, ha ha, but we have nicknames for it, like bus, or.. or car for short?”

A few moments of silence of passed as they processed my rambling.

“Bus is a strange word to call a carriage.” Muttered Seathan, furrowing his brows. “But, if that’s what your lot have named it, then I won’t be one to judge.” He shrugged before returning to stuffing his mouth with potatoes. Bilbo and Gladiola were already back to eating, used to our strange words and sayings by this point.

I glanced at Kay, only to see her glaring at me with raised eyebrows. I narrowed my own back at her mockingly, raising my tankard of tea to my face. “It’s not my fault we’re stuck with medieval people.” I muttered from behind it.

All I got was mashed potato flicked at my forehead in return.

---

The following five days flew by, Seathan putting us through intense training that was far more gruelling than we thought. I mean, c’mon, doing ten laps around the field is a tad bit excessive, plus, arms wield swords, not legs.

I regrettably voiced those thoughts to our teacher, who then proceeded to have us do push-ups and lifting heavy tools he brought from his shop every hour, much to our frustration. He also asked if there was anything else we wanted to learn the basics in – I had said archery, after enjoying it a few times at festivals and residential trips with school or the girl-guiding groups I was in. Kay had excitedly said she wanted to learn throwing axes. And then proceeded the extra push-ups and benching, Seathan insisting that if we wanted to learn a practice that required a hell of a lot of arm strength, then it will have to be a daily task of exercise for as long as possible before we got to our full strength. I collapsed in protest at that.

By the time Monday rolled around, the two of us could barely pick up a fork to eat, and Gladiola fretted over us as she helped shovel food onto our forks, whilst Bilbo glared daggers over the table at an amused Seathan, muttering under his breath about the ways he was going to set the man’s giant beard on fire.

---

“Oh, you two are going to have to show me what you’ve learnt on the way back!” exclaimed Gladiola as she folded our belongings into our packs, due to our arms and legs still unfortunately incapacitated. “And make sure you give that man the biggest thank you for what he’s done – not just anyone is willing to give up their time for strangers.”

“Yes mum.” Was all Kay groaned, voice muffled from where she was face-planted on her pillow. Slowly rolling over with a prolonged whine, she faced to where I was splayed out like a starfish on the next bed over. “We’re gonna die before we even reach the evening.” She mumbled, face half scrunched by the pillow.

“Now don’t say that.” Lectured Gladiola, whipping Kay’s ankle with a sock as she pattered by with the copious amounts of fabrics and ribbons she had bought, only receiving a short grunt in response. “We’ve got a four-day travel ahead of us, and with that mood, I’ll be forcing you both to carry mine and Bilbo’s packs.”

Slowly pushing herself up, copper strands still stuck to her face, Kay swung her legs over the bed. “Fine.” She mumbled. “We’re up.”

“Good.” Gladiola replied with a smile. “We should have left ten minutes ago, so Kate if you don’t get up we’re leaving you behind.” She half joked as she hauled our packs out the doorway.

“Girlie, c’mon.” Added Kay as she shook my ankle.

Reluctantly, I pushed myself up the best I could, trying to ignore the agonising aches all over my body as I laced up my boots and followed the two out the door.

---

“Now remember, you have to do the exercises I’ve given you at least an hour every day, and memorise the tips I’ve given you for hitting enemy’s weak spots.” Seathan lectured, handing us two sheets of parchment. “I’ve written them down here, and I’ve also thrown in some blunt steel swords so you can upgrade when you both feel ready to.”

Accepting the objects gratefully, we pushed some coins into the man’s hands so he could reward himself with some extra meals, thanked him profusely as we stood by the entrance gate to Bree, trying our best to ignore the lingering stare of the gatekeeper as he peered suspiciously at us.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” said Seathan, marching hurriedly over to a long leather pack that was propped against the wall surrounding the town. Returning to us, he loosened the strings of the pack and pulled the contents out.

“Here’s a set of throwing axes for Kay, and a bow and arrows for you, Kate. I also threw in some polish, oil, and tools for sharpening the blades of the axes and arrows, along with replacement strings for the bow and whatnot.”

“What?!?!” we both said consecutively.

“We can’t accept that –” “It’s too much! – ”

“I paid for it.”

Freezing, the two of us slowly turned until we faced Bilbo, who stared back, before sighing.

“You two can’t be taught all that and expect to leave with hardly anything.” He explained almost nonchalantly, pulling out the crumpled list we had written. “You wouldn’t have gotten anything on your list.”

A beat passed, before I flew down and scooped him up into my arms.

“WHAT THE – ” he sputtered.

“Father.” I said. He froze.

“Father.” Kay repeated, reaching over to continuously pat the curls on his head.

He whipped his head between us with panicked eyes. “WH- I’M NOT YOUR DAD – PUT ME DOWN!”

“Told you he adopted them.” We heard Gladiola mutter to Seathan.

Eventually placing him down, the two of us knelt down to drag him into a hug, despite his grumbling.

“Thank you.” Kay whispered. “For everything.”

With a sigh, he settled, reaching up to wrap his arms around us both. “You’re welcome, but for the love of Yavanna don’t make me regret any of it.”

With matching cheshire grins, we assured him we wouldn’t, before clambering up excitedly to receive the pack of shiny new weapons from Seathan. And within a few minutes, we were waving a hearty farewell to the blacksmith, yelling our goodbyes and thanks until he disappeared behind the closing gate.

Walking through the trees, we chattered away endlessly about the events of the past week, failing to see the two pairs of glowing blue eyes, watching us from the treeline.

---

2 MONTHS LATER

A couple months had passed since we had arrived back in the Shire, and a lot had happened since then.

We had shown Gladiola the techniques we were taught during the evenings when we were on our return trip, and she had pleaded that we taught her kids, saying how they had always wanted to play knights when they were younger. A couple weeks in, Kay and I had stumbled across a clearing on the outskirts of Hobbiton, surrounded by trees and seasonal wildflowers with a scenic view of the town from where it was further up one of the hills. It was a perfect spot; close enough to Bag End where Bilbo could sit on the bench by his front door and watch us, but the trees made it private enough for us to set up targets to practice both our weapons training, along with our magic, without the risk of someone stumbling upon us.

The most exciting part, however, was meeting Bertin Grubb, who owned the pony stables across town. After seeing the lean muscle we had begun to develop on our arms from the training, he had offered us a job assisting him with caring for the ponies, figuring we were tall and strong enough to handle the animals when they were being stubborn. It took a while getting used to, having to bend down excessively to use the small hobbit-sized wheelbarrow, or the rake with a handle too short for two girls at least twice the height of the average hobbit. But he eventually managed to get us some suitable enough, and we thoroughly loved every second, excited to finally be able to pay Bilbo back for everything he had done, especially when doing a job as fun as ours.

 Except for shovelling the horse crap.

It stank.

---

Bag End, Hobbiton, The Shire – T.A. Friday, 5th May 2940 of the Third Age (Highday, 15th Thrimidge, 1340 in Shire-reckoning)

The sun was barely rising when Kay and I got up, readying ourselves for an early shift when we received a letter that Bertie had received two new animals and needed the extra hands earlier than normal.

Trudging down the path as the birds sang their morning song, we munched on the poached eggs buns Bilbo had shoved into our hands as we were about to step out the door, before he had promptly marched back to bed for a well-earned lie in.

Blinking away the sleep from my eyes, I mumbled a conversation with Kay as we walked between the hedges lining the path. Soon enough, we neared the stables, only to see a frantic looking Bertie, who seemed to be nervously waiting for us whilst tightly clutching his cap between his short fingers by the wooden archway leading in. When his wide brown eyes landed on us as we rounded the corner, he cried out in relief.

“Oh thank Yavanna you’re here!” he cried, jogging over to us. “A friend of mine found them wandering the outskirts looking all muddy and he begged me to take them cause they were eating his crops but they’re so large I don’t know what to do with them! I –”

“Woah, woah! Hey!” I raised my voice slightly to cut off his rambling. “What do you mean large? What are they?”

“Horses!” he wailed, dragging his hands down his face. “Giant! Horses!”

Kay perked up, trying to look through the archway. “Really? Can we see them?”

Bertie looked up at her with a sweaty forehead and hopeful eyes. “That’s the thing.” He laughed meekly. “I was hoping you two could take charge of them? I’m afraid I might get stepped on if I go near them again.”

Following Bertie into the stables, he led us to the end stalls, to where there were two of possibly the tallest horses I had ever seen in my life.

One was patterned like a cow, black and white patches covering it’s body, the other pitch black, with only small, pure white socks colouring the ends its fluffy hooves, and a singular white star-like stripe running down its head.

Feeling like one of those girls in those magical horse novels, I slowly approached the black one, its features resembling those of a Shire horse – fitting, considering where we were. Kay’s looked like a Clydesdale, and I watched from the corner of my eye as she neared it, wonder glinting in her eyes as she offered her hand. I followed with my own, looking up at the beast that towered over me, the top of my head barely reaching its snout despite my tall height, as it’s black eyes peered back down to meet my own dark brown ones.

“Now you know why I can’t look after them myself.” Bertie half-laughed, flitting his eyes between the two animals, keeping his distance from the two animals as he watched, scuffing his heel against the floor like he wanted to bolt. “They’re girls, so hopefully won’t be territorial or anything that could cause issues with the ponies.”

I snorted. “I’m pretty sure you’ve just given the ponies two empresses to worship – they’ll probably follow them around the pasture like loyal minions whenever they’re together.” I grinned as I faced the poor hobbit, who looked on the verge of trembling.

He took a shaky breath. “Ok, well, you can do what you like with them, just make sure they don’t go mental and destroy half the place. Please.”

“I doubt they’ll do that.” Piped up Kay, who had now managed to start stroking the snout of her horse. “If you managed to get them here without a fuss, then they should remain docile.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “Hopefully.”

After that, Bertie quickly wrapped up the conversation, clearly desperate to get elsewhere so he didn’t have to face the two powerhouses bunking in the stables next to each other. He had mumbled about finding saddles and equipment large enough for them, before quickly scurrying off.

Turning back to face the horse in front of me, I reached up to gently place my hand on its sloping snout. “What’re you naming yours?” I asked, turning to her.

Looking up at the pink snout that was trying to nibble at her hand, she pondered for a moment. “Mmm, something like Calhourn maybe.”

“Nice.” I complimented. “I thought you would’ve gone for something like Moo Moo.”

She snorted. “That’s something you would go for.” She paused. “But it is a strong contender. Perhaps I’ll have it as a nickname.” She turned to me. “What’re you gonna choose?”

“Spleens.”

“No.”

“Ok, how about Felony?”

“Better, cooler, sounds like a name, but maybe choose something more… socially acceptable.”

I grunted in annoyance. “I want a name that disturbs people when they hear it – it’ll be a good conversation starter.”

“It’ll also be a good way to start the conversation of creating Middle Earth’s first mental asylum.” Kay deadpanned. “You can name something like your first pet cat Spleens, but not a horse that you could be riding into battle and potentially have written down in history.”

“But it’ll be the most remembered.” I pouted.

“And the most judged. Now, save the poor horse her dignity and give her a nice name.” she demanded.

“Doo Doo Daggins.”

“I swear to god.”

“Ok! Ok!” I giggled, petting the horse’s snout as she nudged at my hand. “Something fancy then.”

She nodded. “Yea, maybe something that relates to something you do? I don’t know – your witch stuff has a lot of fancy words in it.”

My eyes lit up. “Ohh! What about Hecate!? It links to my practice, and could be some type of dedication to her as a deity!”

Kay raised her brows. “That’s actually not bad. You gonna give her a nickname?”

I pondered for a moment. “Yea. Spleens.”

Kay just sighed.

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

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[teememdee]

2023 ART SUMMARY!!!

2023 was uhhhhhhh a year! And I made art! And I’m going to talk for a long time about everything I did month by month! Yippee!!!

original individual posts can be found in my #tanner art tag!

JANUARY

Started off the year with my favorite skrunklies sleepy and snuggling. Then sleeping together while holding one another is so incredibly important to me, they’re so cute and I needed to draw it. Struggled with Kai’Sa’s face but I particularly like the drapery of the pillow behind them.

FEBRUARY

First off, just a simple Kai’Sa piece for the Vibes(TM) and background practice. I was also fairly miserable and when I get miserable I draw Kai’Sa being miserable as well. I love my favorite character of all time <3

Then a quick Valentine’s Day piece, soft gradient map stuff. Love my skrunklies, hopefully this year I can make something for the day that isn’t rushed

MARCH

In March I FINALLY finished my Star Guardian Kahri fic, be the light to carry me, and drew Kiko and Ina being adorable together to go along with it. They’re SO cute and people LOVE that fic. Chapter 3 ended up being a whole 20k words and every time I re-read I’m amazed that I wrote it.

A kiss for Kai’Sa’s birthday! This was actually two sketches mashed together because I had a good Kai’Sa and a good Ahri on separate attempts. Love Kai’Sa’s smile on this one.

NOW. Strong contender for my favorite piece of the year. Captioned “please don’t lose yourself,” my K/DA-verse Kassadin’s very dead wife’s ghost weighs on him, begging him to not get lost in his grief and lose sight of their daughter. Kassadin feels lost and broken without her. I love the emotions in this one, and I think the idea comes across even without knowledge of my headcanons. Love it so much.

APRIL

Full-body piece that took me all month. I just love this one so much. It’s just pure Kahri, pure love, pure joy. Pose inspired by Blake Belladonna from RWBY’s leg pop during the long-awaited Bumblby kiss. This piece just makes me so happy.

MAY

Oops! No art! Was too busy being on a (student) film set every weekend as well as dealing with classes and multiple other stressors. I did START a piece though, but wouldn’t finish it until the middle of June.

JUNE

I actually did the first sketch of the Evelynn piece in February, but I decided to revamp it in May, and then when school finally set me free I finished it, and it turned out exactly how I wanted it to. Her hair was a labor to render but I'm so so pleased with how it looks, as well as the blood. The first time I've finished a fully rendered Evelynn piece!

Naafiri is so fucking cool. Upon her reveal, I was seeing so much incredible fanart and I just needed to get in on it. The shapes and points are just so good. I used to draw dogs all the time as a kid, and my younger self would absolutely flip out at seeing this. I did this piece in one day, and I have no idea how I pulled that background off but hopefully I can do it again some day lol

JULY

Two drastically different vibes here. Realized it had been forever since I had drawn Kahri so I just wanted to make a cute summertime piece. Their hands should be bigger and it bugs me but this is still really cute, I missed my girls dearly.

And then my very very sad man Kassadin being very very sad about his very very dead wife. This is what I call his phase 2 design, when he's at the peak of his grief (spiraling, as emphasized by the background) and feels just so sad and alone. In my head this and the March piece are part of a series that I hope to continue.

AUGUST

Just one piece that took me all month because I was quite busy in August, and Runeterra Kahri pieces take forever, but as I always say, it's always worth it. This pose comes from mellon_soup on instagram, who makes a lot of really great pose references for artists to use, highly recommend checking them out. This piece is just so soft to me. Captioned "'you're beautiful, you know that?'" they're saying it to each other, two people that struggle with their self image finding love and confidence in the other. Also I'm so very happy with the background. I love these two so so so so much, they're my world.

SEPTEMBER

One of my goals for this year was to branch out in the fanart I made. Baldur's Gate 3 came along and I love watching my best friend play it, we love Shadowheart and I just wanted to draw her. This came after a lot of sketches of both her and our favorite Tav that ended up changing how I draw eyes. The rendering of her face here is also something I'm proud of, her nose looks great. And again, the background! This piece didn't get a lot of attention at all but that's okay, I made it for me and I'm very happy with it.

OCTOBER

STAR WARS TOXIC YURI WENT CRAZY THIS YEAR!!! Wolfwren (Sabine Wren x Shin Hati, from the Ahsoka TV series) had me by the THROAT for a solid two months or so, I haven't been that feral and deranged over a ship in a hot minute. They had me frothing at the mouth every episode even though I did not like the show overall. Anyways. First piece is a redraw of the part in episode 4 where they just have the most charged eye contact of all time, and I decided to take that in stride with inspiration from Horimiya, a favorite anime of mine, during particularly emotionally charged moments, the background changes and there's a particular color silhouette behind them. It really fits that moment of the show and I am SO proud of these faces, especially Sabine's. Drawing from a real human face reference was kinda new to me but it's taught me a lot. The file size also ended up enormous somehow idk lol

Then, my most popular piece of the year, on both tumblr and twitter. I LOVE hand imagery, I love subtle hand touches, I churned this out in I think exactly one day, it's so soft it's so cute and I totally understand the overwhelming positivity it received.

NOVEMBER

I was not doing well at this time in the year. The state of the world just had me in a horrible mental state, I wasn't taking care of myself well at all, I couldn't get myself to make art, especially something happy or cute, it just felt wrong. But then sometimes you feel something so strong and specific there's no other way to process it than to make art. To make a long story short, earlier in the year I thought a girl liked me, I liked her back, but it turned out she did indeed have a boyfriend the whole time. We didn't see or talk to each other for a few months but in November we (and the bf, lol) met up again. When she saw me at the door she smiled at me so sweetly and it was just the worst feeling ever and I just had to hide it behind a smile and a wave. Oversharing aside, this is a style I'd wanted to execute for a while and I'm really pleased with how it turned out, would love to make more like this.

DECEMBER

All of this was done / finished in the first two weeks of the month because then I got sick + was visiting family + jet lag took me out. Kinda sad I didn't get something done for Ahri's birthday or a traditional Kahri Winter piece but that's what January is for. Anyway.

Sometimes you just want to draw girls kissing and sometimes you wanna make it a little suggestive. Not much to say. Proud of the drapery on Kai'Sa's sleeve and you can always tell I love drawing hands.

Now it's time for classwork. Here I just have two pages but I've posted the whole comic on its own, this was for my "Art and Text" class, I have it printed in a booklet and my classmates + friends have responded to it so sweetly I'm really proud, I really really want to make more comics. This project was a culmination of so many inspirations from other artists and I'm really happy with the execution even if it was really rough for me to manage my time well for that class.

Then for my "Fiction and Allegory" class, two of my friends and I made a storyboard film (which I don't want to share publicly, but if I know you you can ask for a link) and during the all-nighter two of us pulled to get it done on time, I decided one scene needed music instead of diegetic sound, so I churned this out on garageband in about an hour. Would definitely love to try my hand at making more music in the future. Wish my classmates / teacher liked / understood the film more but oh well. I learned a lot and for the thousandth time, I'm proud of what I did.

IN CONCLUSION:

I ended up with less full pieces than 2022 but what I did create in 2023 are big, detailed, emotional pieces, and I'm more than satisfied. I think my skills in rendering, backgrounds, and colors really improved and I'm looking forward to how I continue to improve in 2024. This upcoming year has a lot of scary stuff ahead (namely graduating college) but I will come out the other side regardless, hopefully with just as much art I'm proud of.

If you read all of this, thank you!! If you've liked, shared, or commented on any of my art, thank you!!!!!! It means the world, always.

[taromolktea]

▀▄▀▄▀▄ ｏ𝐏ｅ𝓡άｔⒾ𝔬Ｎ: 🄵🄾🅄🄽🄳 🄵🄰🄼🄸🄻🅈 ▄▀▄▀▄▀ (a Spy X Family AU), Chapter 1: Operation Strix

Xiao X Reader (2nd person)

word count: 5k

content: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY BELOVED MEOW MEOW- been loving spy x family sooo much lately and i couldn’t NOT turn it into an au ehe i don’t read the manga (yet?) so it’ll be an episode-by-episode kind of thing at best (and i didn’t think it would take so long to turn an episode into a chapter but alas, here we are) i think even if you haven’t seen the anime (i recommend you do and then talk to sophie and i about it owo), you’ll still really like this series of work :D you the reader don’t actually appear until the next chapter but hopefully the fluff will tide you over

chapter 2: secure a wife

regular tag list (message to be added/removed) 🏷 @icedthoma @citrussaurus @danibby

｡🌠 🎀 𝓇𝑒𝒷𝓁🌞𝑔𝓈 & 𝒸😍𝓂𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒽𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓁𝓎 𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓇𝑒𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹❢ 𝓌𝑒'𝒹 𝓁❤𝓋𝑒 𝓉💙 𝓀𝓃🍑𝓌 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎🌺𝓊 𝓁🍩𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝒷💍𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈❣❣ 🎀 🌠｡

Alatus. It is a mountainous task to phase him, always keeping a cold expression even among his boss, Morax,  and other agents known as Adepti, fellow “coworkers” one could say. Thus, Morax himself was highly amused when he managed to crack that composed look on his face.

“Your mission is to get close to the target and probe any seditious activities. In order to achieve this, you will get married and have a child.”

A spray of tea tarnished the newspaper containing his mission parameters. Alatus quickly apologized to the concerned bystanders in his midst. Although Morax was as powerful as he was wise, even he had a sense of humor. A peculiar one at that. Often, his Adepti were the subjects of these social experiments.

Alatus cleared his throat of his surprise. To infiltrate the target’s life and discover their secrets, he was now tasked with procuring not only a spouse, but also producing a child to infiltrate an illustrious academy… all within seven days?

Surely you could’ve assigned Ganyu to this? He grimaced. Or even Yanfei. They are much better at… missions that require interpersonal skills.

Alas, here he was. Securing a modest single-family apartment with adequate escape routes.

“I’ll take it.” 

“Excellent, Gui Xiansheng. Now then, if you’ll sign these documents.”

Gui Xiao. Occupation: psychiatrist. A devoted father and loving husband who has moved his dear family to the robust city of Liyue. Absolutely preposterous. 

With accommodations squared away, he arrives at a nearby (and rather shady looking, he might add) orphanage. Perhaps Morax’s strange sense of humor had rubbed off on him. The realtor- what was her name? Verr Goldet? Seemed rather confused when she asked about his darling child.

“Do you have a son? Or a daughter?”

“I’ll be deciding on that shortly.”

“...Eh?”

It was true, after all. And the shadier the establishment, the more likely it is that one will find a child with a complicated past. It would make integrating them into his mission easier. Now if he could just find a six-year-old that could read and write…

“Ah, Qiqi. Why don’t’cha introduce yerself?”

Xiao’s attention followed the owner to a little girl with lavender hair and vivid cerise eyes. She looked at him blankly.

The owner continued, “She doesn’t talk much. But she’s a good kid, and pretty bright.” She’s a creepy brat that I’d be all too thrilled to have out of my hair.

Xiao knelt down to Qiqi level and introduced himself, “Hello. My name is Xiao.”

If I recall Morax correctly, the earliest age students can enter Sumeru Academia is six… She definitely looks no older than four or five.

“Six.” Qiqi murmurs, “Qiqi is six, Xiansheng.”

“So you are.” But… she looks rather small.

Qiqi scrunched her neutral face and stood up on her tippy toes before running to the nearby table and picking up the daily paper. Xiao tilted his head in confusion upon being shown the crossword puzzle on the back. Surely that was too difficult for a child like Qiqi.

She beckoned him over to her and wielded a mighty purple crayon as her eyes scanned over the prompts. Xiao looked them over as well. It was easy for him of course, given his intellect.

Let’s see… one down is “homeostasis”, one across is “casual closer”, then the one below that is “symplectomorphism”-

Xiao’s gold eyes went wide. Qiqi showed him her handiwork with a straight face having completed the crossword puzzle, all 100% correct. 

Interesting… with such a high intellect, it would be an easy task to pass the entrance exam. That’s another part of the mission groundwork complete. Admittedly, it all feels a little too simple.

“I’ll take her.” Xiao tells the owner before extending his hand to Qiqi, “Is that alright with you?”

A spy mission. Qiqi gazes at him with doe-eyes, takes his hand in both of hers and nods, How exciting…!

.

.

.

Unbeknownst to Qiqi, his endearing new daughter happened to be a telepath. One that was often kept in solitary confinement for research purposes. Had he known, he might have recalled Morax’s research on Visions that granted beholders a kind of supernatural ability. Of course, such people are very rare. Surely Qiqi was not among them.

“Alright, Qiqi. Starting today, you and I will be father and daughter.” Xiao said at the foot of their apartment, “But if anyone asks, you’ve always been my daughter. Do you understand?”

Qiqi bobs her head, “Yes.”

“Also, make sure you address me as ‘Father’, okay?”

Qiqi bobs her head again, “Okay, Papa.”

Xiao’s brows twitch, “Acceptable. Let’s go inside.”

One of his neighbors greet them in the hallway, “Aiya, hello there! Welcome to the complex.” She crouches down to Qiqi’s level, “Aren’t you a cutie? My name’s Hu Tao.”

“Thank you for the welcome, Hu Tao.”

Xiao glances at Qiqi, who seems to… not like this Hu Tao very much, but begrudgingly she replies, “Qiqi’s name is… Qiqi. Qiqi has been Papa’s daughter for a very long time.” She holds out both her hands, the left palm open and the right having only her only index finger up, “For six years.”

Hu Tao laughs, “How adorable! Yes, six years being your daddy’s little cutie is a very long time.”

Xiao can’t help but find child speech a little odd but makes no comment on it otherwise. He is all too glad that Hu Tao is so unperturbed.

“Why don’t we go inside. Say goodbye to Hu Tao.”

Qiqi only waves at her silently and Xiao sighs with relief as her curiosity leads her all over the apartment’s living room, stopping at the TV, which he turns on for her. She seems especially drawn to the show “Spy Wars” which… is unexpected for many reasons, her fascination with pistols with silencers being one of them.

“Is this really Qiqi’s house?”

“Yes, make yourself at home.”

Since she’s occupied, Xiao begins planning the next phase of having Qiqi infiltrate the academy. An ID card for starters, and a few other things. As soon as he heads for the door however, announcing that he’ll only be running some errands, Qiqi bounds up to him and jumps onto his leg.

“Adventure, Papa.”

“It’s not an adventure, Qiqi. Just shopping.”

“Qiqi wants a pistol with a silencer like the one from Spy Wars.”

“Sure. Maybe if one is on sale.”

Xiao’s neutral expression was on par with Qiqi’s out of pocket request. It was in his mission’s best interests that the two of them behave like a normal family. Not under any circumstances should they draw unnecessary attention to themse-

“Papa, save Qiqi.”

Archons.

His attention snapped up to Qiqi caught in a whirlwind of passengers boarding a bus. He hurried to her side as an older woman lifted her out of the crowd and reunited them. 

“There you are. You need to make sure you hold the little one’s hand.” The woman chided gently before boarding her bus.

And so, Xiao relinquished use of one of his hands to hold Qiqi’s as they continued down the street. It was a costly thing, really. Under most circumstances, he wouldn’t have made the trade off. Fine. The damned will sooner die again than lay a hand on us.

Qiqi’s indifferent eyes widened some as Xiao’s inner thoughts resounded in her mind as clearly as if he had said them aloud. With a little pull, she freed her hand from his and looked around nervously before ducking in between a cafe signboard.

“Qiqi? Now what’re you doing?”

���Hiding.”

Did I do something to make her want to hide from me? Perhaps I held her hand too early… does she hate me? Tch. This isn’t good. I need to maintain a good relationship with her in order for my mission to be successful. I must research this… creature. And bond with her. According to Morax, basic diplomacy and understanding the other party is the first… and hardest step to peace, be it of world peace or one-to-one interpersonal relationships. 

Qiqi looked fixedly at him, “Understanding Qiqi… will bring lead to world peace?”

“Huh?”

Qiqi came out from under the signboard and took his hand in hers, “Qiqi likes cocogoat milk. And finches… but not to eat. They are just very pretty.”

Xiao nodded, taking her words as valuable notes.

“Qiqi also doesn’t like bacon from baconries.” 

She points at the sign of the bakery behind him and Qiqi frowns slightly, “You mean… a bakery? They don’t even sell bacon.”

Qiqi tilts her head in confusion but gets distracted by a street vendor selling posters. The one of Spy Wars was calling her name.

“Qiqi would like… this one, please.”

The small coin she holds out to him is certainly not enough for a poster but Xiao gives the seller the proper amount shortly afterwards. Something wasn’t adding up, and it wasn’t just the money…

Strange, that’s twice now. Is she… actually stupid? Perhaps the crossword puzzle was a fluke. Maybe it isn’t too late to go back and get another child-

For the first time today since not liking that Hu Tao girl, Qiqi’s purple braided hair went stick straight with fright. Her eyes immediately turned glassy as she grabbed Xiao leg and sobbed louder than he thought was even remotely possible for a human.

“Pwease don’t get rid of Qiqi, Papa!”

Xiao choked on air at the sudden commotion that was once again drawing attention to the two of them, “W-What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

The disapproving whispers of passersby made goosebumps erupt on his skin as Qiqi continued to cry, “Pwease love Qiqi! Qiqi is a good bargain!”

What do I do, what do I do?

Xiao blinked, “U-Uh, I’ll get you cocogoat milk! And a pet finch! Just stop crying please!”

Qiqi immediately stopped, her face resuming its indifferent look, “Yay.”

He sighed. The ability to cry and stop crying in an instant… children are… awful. It took a second to discern that “cocogoat milk” is actually coconut milk. Xiao recalled Morax’s musings on oolong tea, which supposedly, was lovely in combination with coconut milk over ice. He wasn’t sure if a child would appreciate such a drink but-

“Qiqi is… sleepy, Papa.” She hugs his arm from her seat in the cart that he pushes around the store, “Take Qiqi home, please… Can’walk’ny’more…”

You’re not even walking in the first place. 

If Qiqi was tired, imagine Xiao’s exhaustion. He scooped her up along with the groceries and began walking to the apartment. Such irrational behavior… I don’t understand it. I’ll need to consult manuals for a better grasp on of all this. His arms were a tad sore when he finally arrived home with groceries, Qiqi, and many books on parenting from the library. After tucking her in, Xiao began pouring over the readings at a breakneck pace.

“The key to raising a child is trust. Rather than scolding them, try to understand things their perspective. Children are not very good at putting their thoughts and feelings into words, so be very patient in understanding them.” 

Tch… so interrogation isn’t an option. Parenting in and of itself is a taxing mission. How do actual parents do this?

“Nurture their self esteem to give them a better future and outlook on life. By giving them the ability to think for themselves, their future…”

Xiao stopped and glanced at what little he could see of Qiqi sleeping soundly in her bedroom. 

Her future… our future. 

He sighed. 

As soon as I’m done with this mission, I’m sending her back to the orphanage. The extent of our relationship is… is merely transactional.

.

.

.

The next morning was… a raucous one. Considering Qiqi’s usual temperament. 

“Qiqi doesn’t wanna study.”

“I need to assess how smart you truly are for the Sumeru Academia entrance exam.” Explained Xiao with his arms crossed.

Qiqi shook her head, “Qiqi doesn’t need to study to do any exam. If I just read other kids’…” minds.

Xiao frowned, “‘If you just read other kids’ answers’? Is that your plan- cheating? Listen Qiqi, if you don’t pass this exam…” my mission fails. He huffs an exasperated huff, “Fine then. I’m going out, and you’re not coming with me! Not under any circumstances.” There has to be another way… 

The ability of a six-year old to get into places they’re not supposed to was… unexpected for Xiao. It took Qiqi four attempts at following after him before he resulted to… less orthodox methods of telling her ‘no’. True, barricading Qiqi inside the apartment and sealing the door with a heavy crate was perhaps questionable at best. But it worked! 

After finding Qiqi in the vents, Xiao couldn’t help but feel a twinge of satisfaction at his success.

Hah! Try getting out of that.

“I pray you don’t get reported for child abuse.” Yanfei, a fellow Adeptus, sighed.

Xiao sighed too, “Children are… difficult. Their method of crying to get their way is truly a troublesome one.”

Yanfei laughed this time, “Hate to break it to you but that’s what kids do. Little Qiqi seems to be quite the natural. Speaking of little Qiqi, here are the records I found on her that the orphanage didn’t have. And the questions for Sumeru Academy’s entrance exam too. I must say, they were quite tricky to procure.”

Her minty green eyes and read over Xiao’s shoulder as he examined Qiqi’s records. There was very little to be examined however. Nothing about her birth or age, not even her real parents. The only information to be noted was from last year.

“She’s been adopted four times and returned each time.” Said Yanfei solemnly, “She’s also been to two other orphanages.”

“Bai Qiqi. Zhu Qiqi. Song Qiqi.” Read Xiao.

“And now ‘Gui Qiqi’. She changes names as much as you do- you two are perfect for each other.”

Xiao stares at her coldly.

“Please, I’m only kidding. Everything for the sake of your mission.” Yanfei shrugged with a seemingly all too carefree and uninvested air, “You know nothing good will come out of getting attached to Qiqi, right?”

The hidden question was meant to egg him on but Xiao merely replied, “Thank you for your concern.”

Yanfei watched him go and smiled. Not very often someone wiggles their way into Alatus’ heart. That little Qiqi must be quite the charmer.

.

.

.

Qiqi gazed up at the ceiling aimlessly. Qiqi is… bored. When is Papa coming back? She lolled her head to the side and spotted the door leading to the Xiao’s bedroom containing his equipment. Earlier this morning, she recalled him reciting the code in his head.

A pistol with a silencer…

And that’s how all of Xiao’s equipment ended up on the floor, including but not limited to a jade winged spear that Qiqi couldn’t help but wonder how it even fit in the closet. Pointy… pretty… but not a pistol with a silencer.

Upon opening up one of the briefcases, Qiqi’s curiosity fell on the communicator. A suitable, but unbeknownst to her, highly dangerous and compromising form of entertainment. She spent the rest of the day touching buttons and flipping switches, leaving monotone messages to who knows who until the realization struck her. The room was now a mess.

“Now that you’ve found out I’m a spy, I’ll have you disappear!”

Qiqi shook her head free of the impression of a furious Xiao and quickly began putting things away.

If Papa finds out Qiqi is a telepath… Qiqi will have to leave…

Old memories of a man in a lab coat with green hair and a white snake resurfaced in Qiqi’s head. Studying over drawing. Research over her feelings. There was no time to bother with childish games, not when her exploitation could further studies on immortality and perhaps even bring about “world peace”. 

Qiqi sighed after putting everything away and curled up on Xiao’s bed. It smelled like him- comforting and safe. Her eyes began to droop shut just before a harsh and abrupt movement resounded from the front door.

Papa?

Xiao arrived in the apartment lobby that afternoon just as Hu Tao happened to be leaving, “Hi again, neighbor!” She chirped, “Say, about that heavy crate you blocked your front door with…”

He stiffened, “I-It’s uh… because our lock was faulty. It’s just a temporary fix-”

Hu Tao tilted her head, “Oya? I was jus saying it must’ve been as tough to move it there as it was to move it out of the way all by yourself. It took like three guys earlier.”

His gold eyes went wide for a fraction of a second, “Three?”

After bidding a quick goodbye to Hu Tao, Xiao hurried upstairs to the front door where he found the crate moved ever so slightly from its original spot. Inside the apartment was dark and quiet. Xiao’s eyes narrowed as his ears pricked from the sound of footsteps. Too large and heavy to be Qiqi’s light and little ones.

Like a crack of lightning, he flipped his assailant onto his back and narrowly dodged the bullets fired from the two behind the couch. Xiao made quick work of  them. Once they were all disarmed and unconscious, he searched the apartment for Qiqi. Her bedroom was empty. It wasn’t until he got to his bedroom that he found his equipment a mess on the floor alongside the finch plush he had gotten Qiqi yesterday.

She’s been compromised, and so have I by the looks of it. Who were those thugs? Did they take her? Where could they have gone? …Calm down. Calm down.

He picked up the finch plush from off the floor. Qiqi had placed a heart-shaped sticker on its back and even wrote the characters for her name on it with a marker. “七七”. Except the first 七 was backwards. He couldn’t help but crack a smile. It was her first ever possession that was entirely hers. Xiao recalled her nearly imperceptible look of excitement when he gifted it to her. He shook his head and stuffed the finch in his pocket.

…I should get to safety. As for Qiqi… there- there are other children out there. I’ll start over from square one and-

.

.

.

When Qiqi came to, she found her hands tied behind her back and a gag in her mouth. Her heartbeat thrashed in her chest, suffocated by the evil thoughts brewing in the room full of thugs and their leader, who wielded a pistol with a silencer. 

A bad guy!

“Who is this kid anyway? Does she belong to Alatus?”

“No clue. She was in the room where the signal for his location was found. Must be Alatus’- there’s no other explanation.”

“Fine. She’ll be our hostage to lure him out. It’s a rare opportunity to dispose of one of Morax’s Adepti anyway. One less to worry about.”

“Yes sir. Especially Alatus, the fiercest of them all.”

The engine of a car roared to a stop outside and two more thugs joined the dimly lit room, one of them hauling in a thrashing body whose head was covered by a bag and unceremoniously dropping him on the ground. Qiqi’s eyes widened. Papa?

It all happened so fast, Qiqi could barely process it. When they unveiled the body, from the shoulders down, she was so sure it was Xiao. But from the shoulders up, she never saw who it was. Based on the surprise from the thugs and their leader, and the lights going out in the warehouse immediately afterwards, she could only shut her eyes and curl up in fright. Papa! Please save Qiqi!

As if someone heard her wish, Qiqi felt her body get scooped off the ground and tucked under someone’s arm. Their thoughts were frantic but the voice behind them was… familiar.

Tch. Reduced to waltzing right into enemy territory- how absurd.

Papa?

“Papa!” Qiqi cried, throwing her arms around him even though she couldn’t see his face. 

She knew it was him. She would recognize his voice anywhere, and she knew he would come to save her. Xiao’s eyes softened behind his Yaksha mask for a brief moment but kept his gaze on the exit, holding Qiqi tight against him. 

“Look, you’re okay.” He insisted as she continued to cry, “Nothing’s gonna happen to you as long as I’m here, got it? You don’t have to be scared.”

Xiao admitted to himself that he was hardly any good at comforting children, but as Qiqi’s sobs grew louder, he remembered why he hated the sound so much. This is exactly why children suck. They remind me of… me. When I was powerless under that person. When I was exploited and forced to do unspeakable things on his behalf before Morax saved me. 

Just before the light of the outside world, Xiao knelt down and let Qiqi stand on her own two feet. Normally, he was certain his Yaksha mask would frighten small children, even grown adults. But Qiqi stared fondly at him even with her glassy eyes. She reached out her hand to touch his cheek but he backed away.

“Listen up… little one.”

“Qiqi.” She said.

“Listen up, Qiqi. Take this and run around the corner to the right of here. You’ll find a police station. Give this note to one of the police officers and they’ll take care of everything, okay?”

Xiao handed over her finch plush plus a folded talisman with Morax’s insignia inside. One of the Adepti agents planted in various organizations would be able to meet Qiqi at the police station. And bring her to a better orphanage. Give her a better future than one with me in her life. I’m not going to involve a kid in this mission.

Qiqi’s eyes widened as Xiao directed her down the street with the throw of his arm. He barked at her to go and she found her legs taking her away, but her focus remained on his thoughts.

I’ll figure something else out. Rework the plan. I can’t… bring myself to put Qiqi in danger ever again. Not when I swore my life to Morax in order to create a world where kids like don’t have to be afraid or cry.

Qiqi swore she saw a glimpse of Xiao’s face under his mask just before he returned to the darkness of the warehouse. The sound of gunshots and screaming urged to keep running but she told her legs to stop just behind a telephone booth. She crouched down to catch her breath before looking over her beloved finch plush. Unharmed and not a thread out of place. Underneath it was the folded note Xiao told her to give to a police officer. She stared at the two objects before stuffing the note in her pocket and clutching her finch tightly against her chest. 

“Do I make myself clear?” The malice in Xiao’s voice was clear, though it hung in the air like vapor.

The edge of his winged spear just barely brushed against neck of the leader of the band of thugs. His henchman lay in unconscious heaps around them, and his hands were raised in defeat. Even one centimeter closer would’ve drawn streams of blood from his throat. The blade glowed faintly in the dark, barely illuminating the ornate jet black mask covering Xiao’s face. The leader managed to nod without hurting himself any further. 

Xiao remembered the man from various dossiers on corrupt political figures. He wasn’t of particular note, but he was a caring father. In that sense, perhaps they had one thing in common.

“Despite your sordid reputation, even you have it in your heart to love your daughter. I’ll make this easy for you: if you want her to have any semblance of a normal life, you’ll leave me the hell alone.”

His pole arm cut through the gun in the man’s hand like a hot knife through butter. Only when he cleared out did Xiao return outside. Exhaustion clung tightly to his bones as he removed his mask. The warmth from the setting felt… nice. He wondered if Qiqi made it to the police station safel-

Xiao’s eyes widened when he spotted her just behind the telephone booth, “Qiqi?”

“Papa!” Qiqi gasped and ran over to him, finch plush in her arms that she then wrapped around his leg.

“W-What’re you doing he- I mean… what’re you doing outside the house?”

Qiqi looked up at him blankly.

Xiao cleared his throat, “I was… just in the area to… shop? Shop. Yeah. But it looks like the store here is actually out of business.”

Qiqi smiled fondly. 爸爸不善于撒谎的人。(Papa is not a good liar.)

“Qiqi missed Papa. So… Qiqi went to go find Papa but… Qiqi got lost. Qiqi was scared.”

Xiao knelt down and held her shoulders gently, “I’m sorry you were scared. I’ll do better so that doesn’t happen again.”

She leaned into the crook of his neck and sighed, “Qiqi wants to go home. To our home, Papa.”

“Are… you sure?”

“If Papa leaves Qiqi behind… Qiqi will cry.”

She’s been adopted four times and returned each time. Bai Qiqi. Zhu Qiqi. Song Qiqi. And now Gui Qiqi.

Xiao nods and pats her head, “Let’s go home then.” Qiqi wraps her arms around his neck as he lifts her up and stands, “But that apartment is far too dangerous, so let’s move. I spotted a poisonous snake there yesterday.”

“Qiqi doesn’t like snakes.” 爸爸不善于撒谎的人。但是他是个好人。。。(Papa is not a good liar. But he is a good guy…) 

The train ride to their new neighborhood is full of scenery that keeps her looking out the window, “Qiqi wants to live in a castle.”

Xiao glances at her and smiles, “We’ll see if one is listed. But once we move into our new home, you have to study, okay?”

“Hn...”

“This time, you just have to memorize all the answers. It’ll be easy. And I’ll get you another finch if you pass.”

“Qiqi will… do her best.”

.

.

.

The stressed thoughts of other six-year-old students were difficult to not tune into as Qiqi began her exam. At first, she thought she could simply read their minds for the correct answers. But as it turns out, they didn’t know anything. They were all suffering together for the next allotted hour and a half.

You can do it, Qiqi. I’m counting on you. Just like we practiced.

Xiao’s comforting and encouraging thoughts spurred her on as she tightened her shaky grip on her pencil. Slowly but surely, the confusing material became more and more familiar. Just like we practiced… just like we practiced…

When the results were released, parents and their children crowded around the scoreboard searching for their ID number. Qiqi couldn’t remember hers but thankfully Xiao did. It was hard to tell who was more nervous between the two of them. The moment he found Qiqi’s ID on the scoreboard however, he felt… pride? Fill his heart up to the brim and overflow with happiness. It was very strange, but at the same time, it felt very good. 

He lifted Qiqi so she could see her ID, “It’s there, see? You passed!”

Qiqi smiled brightly as Xiao spun her around, it felt like she was flying! “Did Qiqi do a good job?”

“Yes, a very good job, Qiqi. I’m proud of y…”

In the moment he had relaxed, the wear and tear of fighting all came crashing down on him, which then made Xiao come crashing down on the grass.

“Eh? Papa? Papa!”

 I need… to get a grip. I relaxed and everything hit me at onc- wait. I relaxed?

The last noise he heard before promptly passing out from sheer exhaustion was Qiqi’s distressed bawling, “Papa! Don’t leave Qiqi! Papa! Papa! You’re going to make Qiqi cry! Qiqi promises to be a good girl if you come back! Please come back, Papa!”

Eventually though, the two of them made it back home where Xiao managed to flop down on the couch and lay motionless once more. Qiqi hung her head low and prayed over him. Papa died… When the doorbell rang, she wiped her nose and went to see who it was. It was the mailman.

“Is this the Gui residence?”

“Qiqi’s name is… Gui Qiqi.”

“Wonderful! Can you give this to your mommy or daddy for me, little Qiqi?”

“Qiqi will give it to Papa because Qiqi’s mama doesn’t exist.”

“O-Oh, really? I’m very sorry!”

Sending the sympathetic mailman on his way, Qiqi scurried back to Xiao’s still dead-as-a-doornail body, “Papa, the mail is here!”

No response, even after patting his cheek with the letter. Qiqi hummed before putting the letter on the coffee table and, with a mighty effort, lifted up Xiao’s limp arm so she could crawl underneath it and curl up beside him. Xiao never let himself sleep for long so within a few minutes, he was up again. To his horror, he found Qiqi snuggled against his heart and nearly shoved her off the couch in surprise. 

“W-What do you think you’re doing?” He demanded, “Are you trying to kill me?”

To think I actually fell asleep in front of someone… incomprehensible. 

Qiqi rubbed her eyes and slowly got up to get the letter on the coffee table, “Mail.”

It was a congratulatory letter from Sumeru Academia, as well as a description of the second phase of the admission process: a family interview. 

“It is absolutely mandatory that the applicant attend with both parents, no exceptions.” Grimaced Xiao.

Qiqi frowned, “But… Mama doesn’t exist.”

Xiao sighed. Tch. I guess my mission is moving on to the second phase too.

｡🌠 🎀 𝓇𝑒𝒷𝓁🌞𝑔𝓈 & 𝒸😍𝓂𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒽𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓁𝓎 𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓇𝑒𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹❢ 𝓌𝑒'𝒹 𝓁❤𝓋𝑒 𝓉💙 𝓀𝓃🍑𝓌 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎🌺𝓊 𝓁🍩𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝒷💍𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈❣❣ 🎀 🌠｡

[yuyuntianyu]

[2HA analysis blog] To love you is torment but leave you I cannot

I wanted to write this (hopefully not-too-long) blog to give 2HA fandom a different perspective of the events in the past timeline. I noticed that there are many little things that could not be carried over to the English language. These little things can give more explanations to our characters’ actions so I hope sharing this would help the novel make more sense. This blog focuses on Taxian-jun and Chu Fei.

Warning: Spoilers ! ! ! Taxian-jun and Chu Fei are their own trigger warnings ! ! !

Despite the novel having 350 chapters, we really know little about what happened between Taxian-jun and Chu Fei besides the abuse and mistreatment and that little is relayed to us by the Most Unreliable Narrator of the Cultivation World - Mo Ran Mo Weiyu. If we only take Mo Ran for his words then a lot of his and Chu Wanning’s decisions told later on would seem irrational and almost silly. So let’s dive deep in the past so we can understand how the great cultivator Beidou Xian-zun could raise such a dumb husky since the events in the past would explain the more irrational decisions made by both main characters.

Given Mo Ran’s narrator is about as reliable as his character in the first 120 chapters, we have to look at other more subtle clues and some of them are due to cultural and linguistic differences.

1. I used to like you a lot

At his coronation day, Taxian-jun stated that he once greatly looked up to Chu Wanning and that he used to love and respect him dearly. Maybe I am reading into this too much but this is my theory: The flower could erase the memory itself but cannot erase the feelings associated with the memory. He had his memories of the good deeds Chu Wanning did for him erased but still remembered that he used to love and respect him. It doesn’t make sense unless it is indeed that the flower could not erase its host’s feelings. So throughout the novel, Mo Ran’s complicated emotions are complicated possibly because he could not remember how he came to have these feelings. Similarly, Hua Binan could mess with the undead Taxian-jun’s memory to a great extent but could not erase his obsession with Chu Wanning.

2. I gave you a new title

Chu Fei. 楚妃. In the Imperial Chinese harem hierarchy, “Fei” means consort and not concubine (嬪 “Pín"). Consorts were highly respected positions in the palace weidling much political power and were only seconds to the Empress Consort. Another major difference is a consort would be married to the emperor while a concubine would not. So if Taxian-jun had truly wanted to only humiliate Chu Wanning and keep him for the carnal pleasures (I am intentionally ignoring his breeding kink completely), he would keep him as a concubine but he gave Chu Wanning the Consort title and hid him from the world. At this point, Taxian-jun had almost lost Chu Wanning once and had spent a lot of effort to bring him back from the verge of death after hearing Chu Wanning’s apology so his anger might have softened a bit. Also, given that Chu Wanning is a man, having a legitimate offspring ( (I am still intentionally ignoring Mo Ran's breeding kink completely) is not an issue so although this is not clearly stated, I believe Taxian-jun wanted to force a relationship and somewhat proper marriage on Chu Wanning. Another hint of this is in an Extra chapter where Taxian-jun tried to get Chu Wanning a birthday gift. He recalled that in his past timeline, he had wanted Chu Wanning to give him something on his birthday as well and that he had wanted Chu Wanning’s heart.

3. Shizun likes to write letters and poems

On Book 3 Chapter 247, Chu Wanning sat down and wrote a few unsent letters to the people he used to know. He also wrote a few lines of poetry. In the first few lines taken from different literature works, he expressed his sense of helplessness and his wish to remain untainted despite the circumstances. The more important two lines are from a poem written by a real poet named Fàn Chéngdà ( 范成大) who lived in the 12th century Southern-Song dynasty. The two lines read:

“May I be like the stars, may you* be as the moon. Night after night, may we shine together side by side.” **

*In the original work, the character used instead of you is “jun” 君 (as in 踏仙君 Taxian-jun). 君 could mean king, emperor, lord, or gentleman ** This is my rough translation - I haven’t found an English version of this poem

These two lines are commonly used in romantic novels as a way to express one’s unchanging love and loyalty to another person despite the circumstances. He compared himself as the stars and wanted to remain by Taxian-jun whom he viewed as the moon. Chu Wanning wrote this to express his willingness to stay but he would never voice this out loud. In the next timeline, he did the same thing by quietly loving and caring for Mo Ran 1.0 despite the mistreatment and was content with never expressing his feelings vocally. Mo Ran was rather uneducated and thus could not fully comprehend these two lines and misunderstood that Chu Wanning was missing Xue Meng.

4. You are all I have left

In chapter 252, after Chu Wanning returned to The Red Lotus Pavilion, he found Taxian-jun already waiting for him. Taxian-jun told Chu Wanning about a dream he had and said:

“I am afraid I don’t resent you… I want to resent you… Otherwise, I…” “In the end, it’s just you and I”.

This is not the first time he expressed that Chu Wanning was all he had left or they only had each other. I believe that at this point, Taxian-jun might have somewhat believed Chu Wanning and recognized that his memories were missing. His words and behaviors seemed a lot more gentle and he mentioned they did have periods of time where their marriage was easier. I believe it was after this point. He told us about the numerous times he attempted to spoil his consort or expressed his affection through gifts, a trip outside the palace, goods, jewels, and even teaching Chu Wanning how to cook or personally taking care of Chu Wanning when he was sick. At one point, Taxian-jun expressed his wish for a more peaceful marriage with Chu Wanning through his breeding kink by saying that if they had children, perhaps they would be more civil towards each other.

Edit: I really wanted to go about this blog without having to refer to their particular taste in bed

5. Are you still mad?

This is a smaller detail but in the original text and the Vietnamese official translation, the way they talked to each other had a bit more of the “husband-wife” dynamic. Especially Chu Wanning ( l┐(︶▽︶)┌ ), the comment section said he sounded like when your wife is mad that you didn’t take out the trash but still says: “I’m not mad” and Taxian-jun, the husband, would come around and ask “Are you still mad at me?” after every fight.

6. I did not think you would really leave me.

On Chapter 99, Mo Ran recalled the fight between him and Chu Wanning after an assassination attempt. In order to convince Mo Ran to not go to Taxue Palace, Chu Wanning said:

“If you destroy Taxue palace, if you kill Xue Meng, I will die before you”.

Now the line “I will die before you” in my language is less of a suicidal ideation but more of a threat. It's used when a person already knows that they are important to the other person and is using their own death as a threat to make the other person do something. This line is thrown around a lot during heated arguments between people close to each other but they almost never mean it. (Even my mom said it numerous times before T_T . I personally think it’s manipulative). Therefore, it is understandable Taxian-jun did not take this line seriously and replied almost mockingly. After all, they had been married for almost a decade at that point, Taxian-jun probably felt somewhat comfortable that Chu Wanning would not do anything reckless. He could not foresee that Chu Wanning meant what he said and actually followed through with his words. I believe that if Taxian-jun had known that Chu Wanning was serious, Taxian-jun would not have gone to Taxue Palace. 7. Don't leave me, ok?

Then Chu Wanning died and Mo Ran spent two years alone. In those two years, we know he basically went insane because of grief, talked to a corpse everyday, and deep fried his Empress Consort. But strangely enough, Mo Ran 1.0 did not immediately mention this after being reborn although it was the main reason he committed suicide. And at that point, it had been well over a decade since Shi Mei faked his death in the past timeline, yet Mo Ran 1.0 seemed to still hold a lot of resentment towards Chu Wanning. Also, he said he could accept Shi Mei’s death but would never accept Chu Wanning’s. So honestly, it did not make sense to me the first time I read the novel and I believed Mo Ran resented Chu Wanning for a different reason.

The answer was first hinted at in chapter 9 when Mo Ran scolded the sleeping Chu Wanning. He called Chu Wanning a donkey hoof (lol) and this is actually an idiom to scold someone who is disloyal and unfaithful in love. The puzzles came together when the undead Taxian-jun showed up and immediately went after Chu Wanning (and not Shi Mei). He believed Chu Wanning used his death to hurt him and was angry at Chu Wanning for leaving him. This is the resentment Mo Ran 1.0 carried over to the next timeline. He hated Chu Wanning for abandoning him. This is solidified in chapter 262 by the undead Taxian-jun pleading to Chu Wanning:

“Don’t betray me” “Don’t leave me the second time. The first time you left, I could choose death as a relief. This time, even death is not an option any more… I won’t be able to bear it…”

So there it is! I hope this blog brings some new information and feel free to discuss! Let me know if you have any questions for me ＼(￣▽￣)／

Disclaimer: Plenty of this is my conclusion drawn from the already ambiguous original text and various translations. Unless Meatbun says it, it’s not canon. I am looking at the novel in three different languages so I might have made some mistakes. Pls forgive. Also, I am not making excuses for Mo Ran 0.5’s actions nor am I justifying the abuse in any way. Chu Wanning never said Mo Ran 0.5 was innocent of these crimes nor will I.

[enfrigginfuego]

2022 Fic in Review

I found this while I was looking for something else and decided to revive it for this year!

Tagging: @maryellencarter, @ysalamiri-queen, @called-kept, @tabbiewolfreblogs, @mistr3ssquickly, @dukeswonderousmenagerie, and @sempaiko! (Hi, SW friends, this is still @hixystix/@x-wing-junkie!)

So, for 2022, I have:

Total Number of Fics: 10 posted, 1 that will be posted, 1 I plan to write, 1 that might not get posted until the new year.

Total Wordcount: 158,099 (so far)

Fandoms: Lupin III & Star Wars: Rebels

Most Popular Fic (by bookmarks): At Sea (41 bookmarks)

Most Popular Fic (by kudos): Also At Sea (170 kudos)

Favourite Fic: Little Thefts, published 11/09

And below the cut, a month-by-month recap!

January

Nothing this month!

February

Morning Coffee: a short little Kalluzeb office AU ficlet! Pretty cute and fun to write, it was inspired by some @sempaiko art.

Ties That Bind: my first foray into multichapter Lupin fic, this is a soulmate fic that tries not to be a typical soulmate fic. After all, just cause you have a bond doesn't mean you don't have to work on your relationships, right?

Gimme Shelter: This was supposed to end up being LuZeni porn but just became a sorta sweet, sorta silly survival fic. Got to draw on my Wilderness EMT training, so that was fun.

March

The Last Prince: Part of my SPN/Rebels fusion series I wrote with Sempaiko! I wrote plot, she wrote porn, it worked well. :D

At Sea: Started in March, completed in May. This was my follow-up to Gimme Shelter and turned out to be a hell of a lot of fun to write. Because of course Lupin would tag along on Zenigata's vacation!

April

Resistance: So this wasn't intended to serve as a goodbye to the Rebels fandom, but it kind of did that anyway. I still love it, but I burned out a bit after 2 years, 58 stories, and almost a million words.

May & June

I was in a medicinal haze these months and got NO writing done. I was just glad I finished At Sea in time.

July

Smother Your Sorrows: This one is ALL @maryellencarter's fault for giving me an angsty prompt. It was an adventure to write because I was both thrilled to be writing again and challenged with characterizations and emotions I hadn't written before. Pretty proud of this one.

August, September, & October

I was working on Smother all these months!

November

Little Thefts: written for my friend @lots-o-doodles, who wanted something JigLup involving Jigen's purple shirt. It went more places than that, but it's cute and it's sweet and I have fun re-reading it!

Thief of Time: Still in progress! I actually wrote the first three chapters of this back in Jan/Feb, but it took me until November to figure out how to continue. If I can pull off this next chapter, I'll be as proud as I am of Smother.

Birthday Presents: Dashed off in a couple days for Jigen's birthday, this actually was the only smut I wrote so far this year!

December

Still to come: my Lupin holiday exchange fic, a LuZeni smut fic for Christmas (hopefully) and hopefully the end of Thief of Time!

[bandgeek4life8]

Guardians - chapter two the lost city of atlantis

Chapter 1

WC: 3, 453

Season 1, Episode 2: The Lost City of Atlantis

Previously on Guardian in Jim's POV "The Nightmares have emerged once more." Pabbie told everyone.

"GREAT GRONKA MORKA!!" Blinky exclaimed.

"And they attend to assimilate an army. They already have the witch Gothel, the bogeyman Pitch Black, the dragon tamer Drago Bludvist with his mother of dragons Red Death, the prince Hans of Southern Isles and Duke of Weselton, the cursed bear Mor'du, the Pirate "Captain Hook" Killian James, and the Boggan Mandrake. And I have a list of who they want. From my visions. But only two people I wish to say it to: Vendel and... James Lake Jr. Because she wishes it."

"Who wishes for me to know?" I asked him.

"Starling."

Some people are chosen for this life and have no choice but to accept its transgressions. Others spend their life completely in the dark about this life we lead. Some, like me, choose to live this life. It is a lot of work for anybody. Not just anybody can get into this life and survive its trials and tribulations. But we were born for this. To become guardians. But I'm not a guardian yet. I'm just an apprentice.

|{[INSERT_OPENING_SEQUENCE]}|

"Welcome to the first meeting of the Druidia Order." I announced.

"Did you have to name us after a planet in your favorite Star Wars movie?" asked the raven-haired time-traveller Wilbur Robinson.

"Spaceballs is not a Star Wars movie, Wilbur." Currently undercover spy, Walter Beckett told him.

Wilbur rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"Did your dad teach you anything about Star Wars?" asked blonde enpath/ hockey-player from Wisconsin, Riley Anderson.

"Only that he hated the sequels, he loves the originals, and respects what the prequels tried to do." Wilbur said.

"Can we please get to the topic at hand please?" I asked everyone.

Everyone in the room grumbled out a yes and we continued with the precedings. Wow. That sounds way too formal for me.

"Well what can we do? We already made allies with the Arendelle trolls via Elsa and Anna. We had Grand Pabbie alert the Trollhunter of the Nightmares." said Ted Wiggins.

"Which means a group of you have to go find the essence stones." Megamind appeared with a plate of, "who wants cookies?"

"Are you growing soft on us, Meg?" Megamind basically growled at Wilbur for the nickname he used.

"I am trying to babysit Gru's oldest daughter and her friends." Megamind told him looking the kid dead in the eye.

"What do you know of the essence stones?" I asked him, ignoring the intense staredown happening between the two makes.

Megamind turned his attention away from Wilbur only for the time-traveller to blow a raspberry at him and Megamind to turn back and glare at him I rolled my eyes. The same old stupid antics. "I know where you can find the essence stone of the ocean."

"If you tell me we have to befriend Poseidon or-."

"It's in Atlantis." Megamind said.

"Or that." I facepalmed. "And how would you know that?"

"Because I have an evil underwater lair in the city of Atlantis." Cue another facepalm from me.

"And why...? You know what? I don't want to know. So how are we getting there?" I asked.

"It's not a matter of how we, but rather how who is getting there." Megamind said.

"That makes no sense whatsoever, dude." Hiro said as he walked into the room followed by Lucy Tuchi.

"Some of us will go on the mission while the rest research the rest of the essence stones." Megamind suggested.

"You know... your ideas are normally terrible. But this one is actually a good idea." Wilbur told him.

The alien growled. "Easy now, Megamind. When we heading out? And who is coming along for the ride?"

"You, Rayla, Ezran, Callum, Sisu, Hiccup, Jack, Light Furry, Walter, and Toothless." Megamind told us. "And you will leave tomorrow. After school."

"Alright. Before we do anymore planning, I need pizza." I walked over to where Hiro plopped the pizza on.

|{[INSERT_COMMERCIAL HERE]}| "

I cannot believe he has the audacity for this! He knows we're not on the best of terms, and yet he does this." I sighed.

"I'm sure he has a reason." said Hiro.

"It's Megamind. It's a stupid-ass reason." I told him.

Hiro sighed. "But you miss hanging out with Toby and Jim. And you-."

"Don't even finish that sentence. I know what you were going to say." Hiro gapped at me. "I know what you were going to say. Only three people know it. And one betrayed me."

My phone vibrated in my hoodie's pocket and I opened it up to see a text from my grandmother, Margaret. "Is that Marge? What she said?"

"She's wondering about the you-know-what with the you-know-who." I told him. She wants to know about James Lake Jr being the Trollhunter. Grandpa would not be pleased with this anyway. But he's dead. And he doesn't matter.

"You have gym next block right?" I groaned. Of course I forgot. And why of all days did we have to do the Pacer test today!

"And we're doing the pacer test today too!" I would have banged my head on a locker if we weren't coming from History. "Kill me now! Woe is me!"

"Stop being overdramatic. And I'm off my way to Robotics." Hiro said once we got to the hall where we would part ways.

"Don't take over the world of robotics without your team first." I called out to gim.

"Yeah, yeah. Just focus on making chemistry after gym, but preferably during." the smart-ass called back.

I'm gonna kill him one of these days. Just you wait, Hiro Hamada. I grumbled and continued on my way to the ends of the earth. Also known as gym. Because I lack the athletic ability of a worm. My arms are basically noodles before submerged in H20. I got dressed in my PE clothes and walked outside to the bleachers where I plopped myself down on. Gym. The one class I don't have my safety net to catch me. The one block where I feel alone. Completely and helplessly alone.

"Hey, [Y/N]. Mind if we sit here?" asked Toby.

It was just him and Jim. What on Earth are they up to? I scooted some ways away from my spot and patted the spot beside me. Jim took the spot beside me while Toby took the bench in front of us.

"We haven't hung out just the three of us in awhile, huh?" Toby remarked.

"You both seem busy since the semester started. I can't blame you for that one."  I told them. The pair shrugged at me, but it was a lying shrug. I would know. I do the same ones. "Anyway, what are we doing for our History Project, Jamie?" I looked over at him.

"I don't know. Wanna brainstorm some ideas after school?" Jim asked me.

"Can't. I have a family thing." Lying to them has gotten harder since I found out. Hopefully they don't catch. But they're idiots. They won't catch on... I hope. "I can come over tomorrow after school if you want."

"That... Th-th-th-that'll be gr-gr-gr-great." What's with the stammer? It's weird. "Oh, don't forget about Pig Zombies on Saturday."

"Don't worry. I have it all set in my calendar. So, what time is the movie?" I asked them.

Toby and Jim shared a look. Oh that is never good. "We don't actually know."

"Then, what are we going to do about Saturday?" I asked them.

"We're more of idea men." Like they're any close to being men. "Creating a plan is someone else's problem." Of course.

"You two haven't changed at all, have you? I'll get to work on that sometime this evening. You guys still have email, righr?" I asked them.

"Who still uses e-mail anymore?" Toby inquired.

"Good point. I'll just have Lucy drive us to the theater anyway." I replied. "So, how are you and Claire going, Jamie?"

"O-o-o-oh, m-m-me and Claire?" stammered Jim. That's strange.

"Yes, you and Claire. You two are dating, aren't you?" I asked him.

"Oh, y-y-yeah. We're g-g-g-good." Hmm. Peculiar. But Jim's always been like this when pertaining to Claire. Nothing suspicious about that.

I hope.

|{[INSERT_COMMERCIAL_HERE]}|

Jim

"So, you have a study date with [Y/N] tomorrow huh?" Claire teased me while we walked to Blinky's library.

"What-. Wait! You told her!" I exclaimed to Toby who was on my left side.

"Of course, I did. Dude, you've been hopelessly obliviously in love with this girl since she stole your first kiss on the monkey bars when we were nine. And she-."

"She clearly has feelings for you, but she's not gonna act upon them since you know we're fake dating and all that jazz." Claire said.

I sighed. "You're the smart one. Couldn't you have come up with something... um... better?"

"What? Because a wuss like you was going to ask her out if I didn't say we were dating?" Claire asked him, raising an eyebrow at her friend.

I sighed once more. She clearly had a point. And Tobes seemed to catch it too. "He tried to ask her if she wanted to go see Pig Zombie 6 for her sixteenth birthday, but dragged me along with them because he wussed out of calling it a date."

Claire tapped her chin in thought. I do not understand girls. Then, she did the thing where you smack your fist against your hand in an aha! idea moment. Which is what transpired next. "I have a perfect idea for your movie date on Saturday."

"Am I going to regret this?" I asked her.

"I hope not. I'm helping you whether you want me to or not." Yea me! Internal frown.

We made it Blinky's library in which the four arm troll was talking animatedly to Vendell. About Essence Stones? What the fuzz buckets are those?

"Um, what are the Essence Stones?" I piped up.

"The Essence Stones are the only thing that can combat the Oncoming Storm." Vendel explained.

"Which is why we should be looking for them! We already know where one is! The Sea Stone!" Blinky told him.

"I already told you the Starling has this under control. This is her fight. Not ours. We shouldn't-."

"But then why have Pabbie tell us about the resurgence anyways?!" Blinky cut him off. I don't think Blinky has ever interrupted Vendel before. This is a first.

"Because to warn us of an even greater danger, Blinkous!! One that we have to face on our own! As Trolls!" the elder roared.

I never saw a look of fear as intense as the look that crossed Blinky's face when Vendel told him that. A greater danger? Even Aaarrrggghh! and Draal had the same look as Blinky. What did it all mean? Vendel left the library.

"I don't care what the goat says. We're getting the Sea Stone." Blinky told us.

"And how do we acquire it?" asked Claire.

"Hate Gyre." Aaarrrgghh! cried. Oh.

"And where would we find the Sea Stone?" Toby asked. "It's underwater right? And we can't breathe in water? So is it in an aquarium? Washed up on a beach?"

"I'll tell you where when we get to the Gyre." Claire, Toby, and I shared a look before shrugging our shoulders and following Blinky to the Gyre.

When we got there, we reached the Gyre and hopped in. "So, where are we going?"

"Under the sea. In an underwater palace where there is no water inside located in what you humans refer to as The Bermuda Triangle. Get ready for Atlantis." And before the three of us could protest, Blinky put in the coordinates and we zipped off towards... did he really say Atlantis? And the Bermuda Triangle?

But I didn't have time to question it as we arrived in a palace? And our clothes were soaking wet. But we never submerged in water? You know what? I shouldn't question it. Me and my friends huddled for warmth. It'll be awhile before we're dry. But why isn't- you know what? Never mind. I don't care.

"Okay, so where do we go first?" asked Toby.

"We head for the treasure room. The Jewel of Atlantis is the Sea Stone." Blinky told us.

"Why are we wet, but you aren't?" asked Claire.

"No clue." Blinky shrugged his shoulders.

The three of us grumbled but followed after Blinky with Aaarrrgghh! and Draal taking the rear. This is going to be a long evening. Our little group trudged, our squeaky footprints giving our location to anyone who would be here. And I think someone was here. Because a familiar ball of silver and blue was charging at us. Not us. Me. Followed by a march larger greenish-blue dragon.

"Hi, Azymondias." I said to the baby dragon when he jumped into my arms.

"I see you humans have already met the Prince. Starling's Zym seems to like you Mr Lake." the green-ish blue dragon said. Um... do dragons normally...

"YOU TALK?!?!" Thanks for that, Tobes.

"Of course, I do. I'm Sisu. Starling sent me after Little Azymondias to make sure he stayed out of trouble." Why aren't Blinky, Aarrrgghh!, and Draal freaking out about there being another dragon? And the elf being here?

"You six, now-seven, looking for the Treasure Room?" asked Sisu.

I shivered as a breeze went by. Why was there a breeze? We're in a dry castle underwater! This is just too weird.

"We were headed that way right now!" Blinky told the dragon.

Azymondias coughed. Or sneezed? I don't know. But he zapped me and I yelped and I'm... dry? Well alot dryer than before. Uh, thank you. Living dryer thay could kill me at any given moment. But you're still cute. So you're forgiven if you do.

"Well I wouldn't go that way! That's where Meg put his evil lair at." Sisu told us.

"Lair?" "Meg?"

"Meg is what the time-traveler calls Megamind. And he placed a lair here when he was going through his 'evil' phase." I did not know Dragons did air quotes.

"Time Traveler? Like the Doctor? Or Loki?" askes Toby.

"Looks like a mix of Matt Smith and Loki as a tween with too much hair gel. Alright, kids follow me." Sisu told us.

Zym appeared on my shoulder, wrapping his small body around on my shoulder and we followed the hopping dragon towards the treasure room. We had reached the treasure room, avoiding all the traps (that was on the ceiling for some strange reason). We arrived there. And Sisu peered inside before letting us enter. Strange.

But I couldn't help peering over Sisu's sboulder "Are you really angry that the Trollhunter keeps unknowingly stealing your pet?" That sounded like... no it can't be.

"Azymondias is not my pet. My pet sounds like I chose to take care of him. The bundle of zappy madness chose me to take care of him. So if anything, I'm his pet." Please tell me that's not who I think it is. But the-I'm guessing- Startouch Elf looks nothing like her. Not one bit. Well maybe except for the nose. And the eyes.

"You make absolutely no sense. And yet you love him anyway." the other voice said. A male with slick-back hair. This must be the time-traveler Wow. Sisu was spot on.

"Kids, easy now. We wouldn't want this to get into the wrong hands. Not this close to the Cotillion." A brunette male that appeared to be the oldest of the group. Why does he look so familiar to me?

"I have a question for you, pig snout. Meg said you wouldn't be here. Why the hell are you here? And why are you even here?" the elf asked.

"I stowed away because none of you are smart." the time-traveller said.

"Says the royal dumbass." the female elf sighed. "I'm so young and yet I feel so old." she emphasized. I was half expecting her to do a dramatic fall like they always seem to do in soap operas notthatIwatchsoapoperasinthefirstplacethat'sabsurd.

"I already knew that, dumbass." time-traveler said.

"Go on, Trollhunter." Sisu used her tail to push me toward the elf's group to retrieve the essence stone. "Introduce yourself."

And suddenly I stumbled upon the room making the group's attention turn to me. "Um...hi." Cue the awkward wave. "I'm... James Lake Jr? I'm the... Trollhunter." I held out the Amulet of Merlin. I could practically sense Toby and Claire facepalming at this.

"Starling, I think this one is for you to handle." I now noticed the brunette boy that stood beside the other elf. Is that... Callum Schlott?? Um... I hope if that is him, he doesn't tell [Y/N] about this.

"I am the one they refer to as Starling as you must know. And we don't need you here. To help us." The girl's hand were running up and down a strand of her waist length periwinkle hair. [Y/N] did the same thing when she had long hair. Not the time Jim.

"I think we do. Because the Seastone is missing if you've forgotten." the other elf said. She sounds like Rayla. And sort of looks like her too.

"THE SEASTONE IS GONE!?!?!?" Blinky exclaimed.

"Unfortunately so. Now, one advantage turns out to be a setback." I didn't notice the other brunette who had a black dragon that was acting like a cat by his feet.

"Do you have any leads?" asked Claire as she stepped forward.

"Just a Roman Penny. No clue from where though." Starling told us. "Now, I think it's time you kids return to California. Don'tyouthink."

|{[INSERT_COMMERCIAL_HERE]}|

"So Atlantis was a flopp?" I had already told Draal about the whole atlantis situation.

Luckily mom had another night shift at the hospital, so Draal could walk around freely while I made dinner for myself. Elbow Pasta and Meat Sauce it appears to be.

"Yes, it was, Draal." I turned the TV on and started flipping through the channels to find the one I wanted. "At least, I met Starling. She was not what I was expecting."

"Most elves aren't. You humans expect them to be small and cute because of the Claus, but they aren't." Draal told me.

"Actually, I think," I found what I was looking for. The French food competition show the World's Greatest Chef Competiton. "she was the exact opposite of what all of you were saying. Sure she was a tad harsh to us, but I think she didn't want to involve us in the Essence Stones. Like she didn't want anymore added help. I don't know." A knock sounded on the door.

"Were you expecting anyone?" asked Draal.

"Not that I know. Toby and Claire wouldn't knock. They'll just barge on in." I told him.

And before I got to the door, the door opened to reveal a boy with white hair, incredibly pale skin wearing a blue sweatshirt and brown trousers. "Don't be such a pussy, Hiccup." That was Sisu.

"Yeah, we're only here since Zym wants the trollhunter to be his dragon rider and to train him how to combat magic." white hair said.

"Um... what are you doing at my house?" I asked them as I held my wooden spoon in my hand, ready to strike them if necessary.

"You and Punzie would be great friends, squirt." The platinum blonde ruffled my brown hair to make it messy. My hair now looks like the dragon boy's hair.

"We're here to train you. I'm Hiccup. And this is Jack. Jack Frost." Wait. What? I'm lost. "I live over in Berk Manor. And you have wandered in a den where you cannot get out of." the brunnette introduced.

"Which is why Starling didn't want you to get involved. By trying to help us with the Seastone, you and your friends have put a target on your back. Starling didn't want that. But now we have to help you. To train you. Hiccup here is a Dragon Rider. And even though Azymondias isn't big enough to be ridden. He will be. I suspect sooner than you think, so he's going to train you to ride him. And I and many others are going come here to help you train against magic. Since the people who will come after you to kill you will have magic." Jack Frost told me. Now I'm really lost.

"So let's begin."

@trollhuntersfanatic

[arthurconanstark]

A STUDY IN LONDON

Summary: Alexandra Stark is trying to make a new life for herself in London, she's trying to move on. This new life takes a turn when she crosses path with the only consulting Detective in the world.

Warnings: Foul language , mentions of PTSD , character death, violence.

CHAPTER-2

Today has been a good day so far. She woke up on time, had an almost decent breakfast, and is now on her way to work with two warm coffees in her hands and plenty of time to spare.

As she entered the building and started walking towards Anderson's office she was stopped by Inspector Lestrade.

"Oh - good morning Detective Inspector."

"Morning Miss Stark. Listen , you'll be under my supervision from now on , not Anderson."

Whoa! Am I hearing it correctly?

"I'm sorry, what? Why? I mean I'm not complaining. But why ?" She asked excitedly. She couldn't believe this was actually happening. It didn't make much sense,unless of course, Anderson had refused to mentor her. She scoffed internally.

"Well, I just felt that you'd learn better this way...........alright,  Sherlock suggested it , but don't tell Anderson. You can meet me in my office in 10 and we'll discuss how this will go." And with that he disappeared in the morning office rush leaving her stunned and extremely giddy.

THE Sherlock Holmes got her out of Anderson's boring coffee job. It was hard to believe but Lestrade won't lie about this. She decided to say thank you to the brunette Detective the first chance she gets. Well this day just got a whole lot better.

--------------

"Come in!" Yelled the gravelly voice owned by the Detective Inspector. "Ah. Miss Stark. How are you doing today?"

"I'm good , sir , thanks for asking." Alex said, "and you can call me Alex. Or Alexandra, whatever you prefer."

"Alright Alex, well lemme just tell you first that I took a glimpse at your files and .....well....I'd like to ask a few questions if you don't mind. You don't have to answer them of course."

Uh oh.

If there was one good thing about being in the supervision of Mister Anderson was that he never asked questions , he just wasn't interested. And that was comfortable.

"Uh.......yeah sure." Alex said, feeling extremely unsure.

"You've had a good education. You're somewhat of a prodigy. Your father is the richest man in America. What are you doing in Scotland Yard?"

There it is.

"If you're asking me why I chose this field it's because I genuinely love it. I guess........ I just needed to get out of my dad's shadow. It's important...I think....to grow." She said , only half lying.

"Okay but why London?" Lestrade pressed .

"I wanted to live in a monarchy ?" She laughed , clearly trying to change the subject.

Getting the hint , Lestrade gets up from his chair extending a hand towards the girl, "Well , I hope London's treating you well then."

"So far so good."

"Good.", he said smiling , "well Miss Star- Alex , I look forward to seeing you here on time everyday, and hopefully teaching you a few good things , certainly more than Anderson." He laughs at his own joke , "don't tell him I said that."

"I don't snitch, sir" , Alex laughed.

"Alright well. I've got a half day today. My wife wants me home for her birthday shopping. You can go ahead and take the rest of the day off. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Thank you, sir" She says, "um.....I need a tiny little favor from you sir."

"Yes ?"

"Can I get Mr. Holmes's phone number ? Or an address maybe ? I just wanna say thank you."

"Well he doesn't really .....you know what .....why the hell not ? I'll text you the address and phone number. Thank him all you want."

".........thanks? Bye Inspector Lestrade."

"Goodbye. And call me Greg." Said the Detective  inspector as he left his office.

---------

"Sherlock Holmes , 221B Baker Street

+44*******"

She received the text a while ago and decided to stop by on her way home....well..... if you can call it home.

---------

Maybe she was a little bit nervous when she knocked on that black door , but it wasn't too surprising. You don't knock on Sherlock Holmes's door everyday. Was she fangirling? Big time. Did she care? Absolutely not.

The door was answered by an old lady dressed in a purple blouse and matching skirt. Her short blonde hair with a considerable amount of Greys peaking through gave her a welcoming appearance.

"Hello, I'm here to see Mr.Holmes."

"Oh, you'll find him upstairs dear."

"Alright thanks."

She jogged up the stairs to be faced by a door and took a deep breath before knocking.

It took a while and a little bit of commotion inside for the door to be opened by John Watson.

"Hi! I'm Alexandra......from the station ......maybe you don't remember me, I - "

"Oh no I remember you. Would you like to come in?"

"Yes. Thank you."

She walked in behind him.

To say the inside of that apartment was a mess would be an understatement. She had always been observant, eyes scanning every room as soon as she entered it and boy did this one have things to observe. The green walls, brown wallpaper, an old red carpet , some papers stabbed to the table with a knife on the mantle , a music stand holding some sheet music, a skull and a blue eyed Detective.......who she just realized she's been observing a little too long.

"How can I help you ?" The deep voice snapped her out of her 'observation'.

"Hi...sorry I- ..you don't remember me but ..."

"Oh I remember you. I just asked you why you're here."

Wow okay.

'Yes sorry. I just ....I found out that you asked Inspector Lestrade to replace Mr. Anderson as my supervisor , and I just wanted to say-"

"Thank you? Yes. That's appropriate."

"Okay ....um.....thanks", she said , not knowing how to take the conversation forward.

"Why don't you take a seat Miss Stark?", John asked.

"Oh ....alright"

I've never been this awkward.

"So..... how long have you been in London ?"

"Umm.....abo-"

"A month and a half, obviously" spoke sherlock, cutting her off.

"Did Mr.Lestrade tell you that ?"

"No Ms. Stark, I'm a detective."

Cocky asshole.

"Yes. Of course."

John speaks up again breaking the uncomfortable silence, "So where are you from?"

"Born in California, my family then moved to New York when I was 7....but I lived with my mother in India till she was....um.....yeah.......I did middle and high school there and then went back to New york for college."

Oh my god shut up. He didn't ask for your life story.

"Well you've been around." John laughed. "How's London so far?"

"Good! Really good. Maybe a little bit lonely." Shut up. "Plus my apartment is kinda far from the station so it's like a 20 minute drive everyday. Cabs are EXPENSIVE and trains are confusing." SHUT THE FUCK UP! "But no.... yeah everything else is good. And these are trivial problems. It'll get better with time." She stops talking, cursing herself for having said that much.

The two men weren't surprised by the display of vulnerability from the stranger, if they were, they didn't show it. But Alex was silently convincing herself otherwise. In her mind, she has already established herself as a weirdo in front of the Detective and his friend. Embarrassed, she stood up with a sigh.

"Well I should get going. Thank you for your time. And for the recommendation Mr Holmes, I'm so so grateful."

Alex didn't want to leave. A sadness always came over her at the thought of returning to the apartment. She had never been an extrovert, never had a problem with being alone, Infact she thrived in solitude. Even back in New York, she'd only ever hang out with her best friend. But here, she had no one. No one she could talk to over lunch after a tedious week. For the entire time she had been in London, Alex hadn't really spent time with anyone outside of work.....until now. But now that she'd ruined it, she couldn't stay.

She was halfway out the door when the Detective spoke up.

"The apartment upstairs is empty, if that's more convenient for you."

What?

"What?"

"It's closer to the station than westminster. And considerably smaller than your current apartment." said Holmes. At that John speaks up "Oh that's a brilliant idea! Mrs Hudson would love that. She'd been complaining for quite a while about having it empty."

Alex was still trying to wrap her head around the conversation as it carried on. Is that really possible? She did just move in a month ago and half her stuff is still unpacked. And it is convenient, plus she already knows two of her neighbors....well sort of.

"I'D LOVE THAT!" she said, louder than she'd meant to.

"Well in that case, you should talk to Mrs Hudson, soon as you can. She'd be delighted." John said.

"I....I will.....thank you so much Mr watson, Mr Holmes." She said with the widest smile she'd worn for months.

"You know if we're gonna be neighbors, I think John and Sherlock should be fine." John said with his usual warmth.

Alexandra left shortly after that. Choosing to walk a little before getting a cab, she looked around at the roads, the people,  the buildings, all very similar and very different to New York all at once. Having made her mind about the move, she no longer felt bad about going back to her place. This truly felt like the new beginning she came looking for. As she finally sat in a cab , she remembered.....she didn't tell Sherlock about living in Westminster or that her apartment is big.

She laughed to herself.

Brilliant Cocky asshole .

-------------------------------------------------------

Chapter-1

[sunset-curve-fantom]

Unsaid Emily- Luke x Reader

Luke Patterson was one of the most genuine, funny, musical people you had ever met, except he was a ghost. His buddies and him were killed by tainted hotdogs in the ‘90s and now, now they were making their comeback in 2020 with the help of Julie and yourself.

When Luke left this world, he left his parents behind with an uncertainty of how their child lived in his final moments. They had been fighting at the time, so there had not been much communication between them for some time. They hated the direction their 17-year-old was heading, and instead of being understanding, they made Luke was feel trapped, like they were trying to change his greatest love in life, his band and more importantly his music.

You had been blissfully unaware of how much Luke was truly hurting until his birthday, which happened to be today because there he was sitting on his parent’s counter, hot tears running down his face. Your heart broke seeing him so upset, you never realized how much Luke was really hiding behind his façade. He was trying to make up for the life he never got to live, they never saw him play or get married, to grow old. He lived a life that was cut abruptly short, and he would never forgive himself for walking out that night.

The more Reggie and Alex talked about the past, the more you realized that Luke spent a lot of time at their house. Like he was trying to make new memories with his parents who could never see him in the way you do. In their eyes, he was gone but in yours he could never be more alive.

So here you were, waiting for Luke to return to garage. You asked Julie and the boys to let you talk to him alone, the bond you had was something special and you felt he would open up to you more. Focusing on the book in front of you, it felt like you had been waiting forever. You knew he it was his birthday so he would be gone for most of it, so you just had to play the waiting game.

No sooner did you finish the last page of your chapter, did Luke poof into the chair next to you. You could see that his eyes were puffy, and his face was red from all the crying. You knew he was hurting but you did not know how to even approach him. He seemed shocked to see you sitting there by yourself, usually you were off with Julie or the boys.

He shifted in his seat trying to hide his sniffles, “Hey Y/n, I wasn’t expecting you to be here”

“Well… I thought we could talk. I just noticed you’ve been kind of distant and I wanted to make sure you were okay” you said honestly, you truly just wanted to make sure he was okay, or more so check to make sure he would be okay eventually.

He just sighed at me, trying to avoid my statement, it was clear he didn’t want me to be involved with his pain. He would rather keep it to himself than burden someone else with his problems from beyond the grave.

“Luke, please. I just want to help…” you said again, trying to get him to open up. He couldn’t get this all pinned up inside of him, eventually he was going to explode, and it was going to be fatal for everyone involved.

He was avoiding your eyes, afraid of opening the flood gates and not being able to close them again, he had been crying for days and he didn’t want to cry in front of you.

“I really just don’t want to talk about it, please just drop it”

“Luke… I know… I know it is your birthday, I know where you have been all day… so please don’t lie to me” you said, sitting on the coffee table in front of his chair, you could see his eyes rolling.

“Seriously. You and Julie preach about boundaries and you stalked me. Really y/n?” He said, the anger clear in his voice, so you did the one thing you could think of. You reached out to him, and surprisingly your hand rested on his knee instead of going through him.

The look of shock mirroring on his face as he placed his large hand onto yours. It was a sense of comfort, something he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

“Luke… I know I didn’t… I mean I know I shouldn’t have spied on you. But I am worried about you, I know it’s your birthday and you spent most of your day at yours parents. I can’t even begin to imagine how you are feeling, but I am here for you, every step of the way. I know it doesn’t mean much but- “Luke cut you off.

“It actually means more than you could ever know. I never talked to the boys about my parents, so it is nice to have someone who knows. My parents… when I left this world I left on bad terms. I was doing something that they didn’t want me to do. They wanted me to finish school, get married, basically have a life worth living. But I was so focused on my music and the band, that I walked out. I walked out and that is the last memory they have of me. I walked out that door and I never came home…” He was choking back his tears; you only gripped his hand tighter. You just wanted to take away this pain, so you just stood up wrapping your arms around him.

You could feel his tears on your shirt, you pulled back wiping more of them away with your thumbs. He caught your gaze, “Please… don’t tell the boys. I don’t need any more pity”

You felt a frown appear on your face, “Luke, I don’t pity you. I know how hard it is to lose someone, and I just want to be here for you. Did you ever show your parents your music, or write anything for them?”

He pulled away from you, so you just sat back down on the coffee table. “Whatever I wrote for them, it would never matter. My music was nothing to them, it was always the one thing that drove me away. They regretted buying me that guitar the moment I started playing. They lost me, and they will never forgive themselves no matter what.”

You couldn’t help but feel tears pool in your eyes as well, you wanted nothing more than to take back the past, to give your life for his, for a moment to make up with his parents.

“I wrote one song; it was for my mom. It was right after I ran away, and it was everything I didn’t know how to say to her. But now, she will never hear everything I wanted to say, she was so important, and I just left her there”

You processed his words, you knew exactly what song it was and tomorrow you were going to give that piece of art to his mom, and hopefully it would heal some of the open wounds in her heart. You hand already made up your mind about that.

*Next day*

You woke up early, before heading across town. You knew if you waited later in the day, that you would change your mind about this. You knew Luke would be mad, but you felt he needed this to heal, and so did his mom.

You quietly pulled into the Patterson’s driveway, trying to keep your nerves under wraps. You shut the car door and made your way up the drive. You were almost to the front door when Luke poofed in front of you. The look he gave you was not exactly good…

“What- why are you here??” he questioned; you could barely look into his eyes. You knew he would be angry when he found out your reasoning.

“I wanted to help- so I brought Unsaid Emily with me for your mom. I think she deserves to hear everything you couldn’t say to her. You can be mad at me, but I need to do this for you and for her” You said with confidence before rigging the doorbell, Luke just scowled at you. He was going to give you an earful later.

Moments later the door opened, and there stood a man. He was older from some of the pictures you had seen, but he was Luke’s dad, and you knew that.

“Hi, may I help you?” He spoke softly

“Yes, Hi. My name is Y/n, Y/n Y/l/n. My friend lives in the house where Sunset Curve used to practice, and I found something that you might want.” You said, feeling the hot tears pool in your eyes as you saw him suck in a deep breath.

He stepped aside letting you in, Luke followed in behind you.

You picked up a photo on the table, “Is this your son? Luke, right?”

He nodded before talking, “He was about 2-years-old in that photo. He was definitely a light in our life” A small smile fell onto your lips; he was the light of your life now. Even in death, he was the most perfect, and incredible person you had ever met.

Before you could speak again, you saw Luke’s mom come into the room, “Hi honey, did I hear the bell ring” she just offered you a small smile.

“Yes, this is Y/n and her friend lives in the house where the band used to rehearse. She brought something for us” He said to his wife, who looked at you with wide eyes.

“I assume you must be Emily?” You asked, sending Luke a look across the room. You could tell he was holding in a breath.

She nodded, before you continued, “I was cleaning out the garage and I found this song. It is called “Unsaid Emily”, I could happily sing it for you… if that’s okay?”

“Uh- could you maybe wait a moment, I have something you’ll need” Luke’s dad said, before retreating out of the room. He quickly returned with a guitar in hand.

“it was a birthday present for Luke, we never got to give it to him. It would be wonderful if you could play it for us… if you can play?” His dad said, handing you the fresh guitar. You caught Luke’s gaze across the room, he was in shock. He always thought they hated his music.

Taking a deep breath, you sat down in front of them with Luke’s lyrics in front of you. It took you a few minutes to tune the guitar before you began singing,

First things first

We start the scene in reverse

All of the lines rehearsed

Disappeared from my mind

When things got loud

One of us running out

I should have turned around

But I had too much pride

It was like as soon as the song started, it had come to an end. You could swear you could hear Luke still singing the song, like he wouldn’t be able to stop.

“You have no idea what you have given us…” Luke’s mom said, playing her hand on yours. You just grabbed it tightly.

“I can say, I write my music in the same place he did. It is a beautiful place full of happiness. I just thought you would want to know that. He lived doing the one thing he loved the most, and that inspires me everyday” You said, pushing the guitar back in their direction.

His dad just shook his head, “Keep it, I think Luke would want you to have it. And please, come back. It is great to hear his music inspired someone, especially someone so gifted”

You were shocked, this was an incredible gift, especially from Luke’s parents of all people.

“I could not thank you enough, I promise I will be back soon… I will try to find more things of Luke’s” you said, gently hugging his parents before heading out the door. You gripped the guitar close to your heart, it was an incredible gift.

You got in your car, and there was Luke. You could see the tear stains on his cheek, you intertwined your hand with his.

“I cannot thank you enough for what you just did… You gave them back a hope, a happiness in their life…” He said, choking back more tears.

“Luke, I did this for you… Don’t thank me. I just needed to do something… I wanted to bring you closure as well. You don’t know how much I care about you Luke.” You said, rubbing your thumb on the back of his hand.

His head whipped in your direction, “Of course I do, your dork. I know how much you care because I feel the same way about you. This is definitely something interesting we have. And I may be dead, but I am not dumb.”

You just laughed at his remark, Luke was always going to be the one who held your heart. He was the one who made your world spin in ways no one has. Luke was your one in a million, and he was going to be that until the end of time.

[cockatrice-writers-guild]

anyway I wrote a bonus chapter for LOVESTORY because why not. This one takes place somewhere between chapters 10 and 11. hope you enjoy it!

Chp 10.5ish - cake pain

warnings: swearing

I was jerked violently out of what I could only imagine was an absolutely amazing dream (I forgot it the moment my eyelids were dragged open) as my alarm started screeching. After trying (and failing) to slow my heart, I reluctantly sat up and reached for my phone to turn the alarm off, glancing out the window as I did so. I was greeted by the beautiful view of the infinite, all consuming darkness of night.

Confused by this, I checked the time on my phone. 1 am. This cleared up absolutely nothing and I was fully prepared to go back to bed when the date caught my attention. Because today was I day I’d been preparing for for weeks. Thad’s birthday. And I’d subjected myself to waking at this horrible hour because I wanted to do something special for him.

Like, sure I’d already bought him a gift (a simple velki sized black cord necklace I thought would suite him. Picking it out was the easy part. It was the Getting Home part that was the problem. But hey, it’s like the old saying goes: You can never truly appreciate the size of your giant best friend unless you’ve had to carry a dang firehose of a necklace on public transport for them) but I wanted to do something more.

See, I wanted to bake him a cake.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. He’s a million times my size. How on earth could I possibly bake him a cookie, much less a whole cake? But worry not; about 2 weeks ago, while daydreaming in class, I found the perfect solution: I’d bake him a cupcake instead. A velki sized cupcake. In my human sized kitchen. It was fool proof!

I slowly crept downstairs and into the empty kitchen, inspecting my new domain (taking in the quiet atmosphere, the empty surfaces and all the clean plates. …yup, this was going to be a mistake) before I started setting up. I picked out the largest baking vessel we had (an extra large pizza pan) and set it to the side before preparing the ingredients I’d been stockpiling (using my allowance) in preparation for the Big Day.

My plan was simple. I’d just bake a bunch of thin cakes in the pizza pan (Thad probably wouldn’t notice a little extra baking powder) and then stack them on top of each other, icing each layer so the cake wouldn’t collapse during assembly (hopefully). I’d continue doing this until the height of the cake at least matched the width and then continue if I had some spare time (and leftover ingredients). I chose a simple chocolate cake (his favourite) recipe so I could successfully recreate it as many times as needed.

I pulled up the recipes on my phone, washed my hands and mentally prepared myself for what was to come.

Then I dove in.

1:15 – First batch of batter done. Oven preheated. I might actually be able to pull this off somehow

2:00 – Things are going well so far! 3 cakes are already cooling with a fourth in the oven and thanks to the extra baking soda, they’re rising a bit more than I expected (luckily they still taste good). If I finish this quickly, I might even get some time to nap before Thad gets here

2:30 – 5 cakes done. I’ve pretty much memorized the recipe by now. Wish I had some music or something to pass the time but I don’t want to wake my parents

3:00 – 8 cakes done. Nice

3:30 – 10. Man its quiet around here

3:32 – Aaaand I just heard a noise. Great. Its fine. Everything’s fine. It’s probably just the house settling or something

3:37 – The hallway is very dark

3:38 – I’m going to go turn on more lights now

4:00 – 14. Well, I’m not dead yet at least. I’m starting to lose steam though

5:00 – 20. Tired.

5:30 – 23. Both Mom and Dad woke up and tried to go about their day as if chocolate cakes weren’t cooling on nearly every available surface

6:00 – 25. After saying their goodbyes (and good lucks), my parents left for work, leaving me alone with my cakes and my thoughts

6:14 – I never thought eating chocolate cake would be this painful

6:30 – 28. Very tired. Almost done though. I think. I hope

7:00 – 31. I think I’m done with the cakes. Now, the icing

7:26 – Icing’s done. I just had to multiply the recipe by like 15. I had to put bags of icing sugar into it though. Bags. I’m glad Thad’s a velki cuz if he wasn’t, the sugar intake would have killed him.

7:41 – It’s done. I had to climb on the counter to ice the last few layers but its done! YES! YES! I’M NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN!

I dumped the rest of the icing on top of the cake to complete the look before climbing off the counter and admiring my handywork. To put it lightly, the cake was huge. A dang monolith, really. Hopefully it would be enough.

I grabbed my phone (after washing my hands) and wished Thad a happy birthday before asking if he could pick me up. Then I went back to the cake to add some finishing touches while waiting.

By the time I felt Thad shaking the ground, I’d finished carving the top of the cake to make it look more…cupcakey. I sprinkled the cake shavings on top of the icing mountain just as Thad stopped in front of the house. I let out a breath. It was done.

My phone buzzed.

Thaddeus: you ready?

Syren: Yeah. Give me a sec

Thaddeus: sure

I was about to go open the door for him when something stopped me in my tracks. Thad couldn’t get in here. Which meant I had to carry the cake out to him. With my bare hands. WHY HADN’T THIS OCCURRED TO ME BEFORE?

Trying not to panic, I looked around. The cake was too tall to fit out the kitchen window so that only left the front door. Okay, I had 2 options here. Ditch the cake and just give Thad the necklace or try to deadlift the Wedding Sized And Then Some cake by myself.

…I grabbed the edges of the pan and experimentally tried to lift it. It didn’t budge. I pulled some more, trying to recall whether you were supposed to lift with your back or your knees. The cake slammed back onto the table and I doubled over, panting. It definitely wasn’t the back.

Thad’s muffled voice came from outside. “You okay in there?”

I winced and pulled out my phone.

Syren: Yeah

Syren: Everything’s cool

Syren: Don’t worry

So lifting the cake wasn’t impossible. I just had to really want it. I tried to assess the distance I’d have to endure when I ran into yet another issue. Assuming I even managed to make it to the door, there was still the matter of walking down the steps. No can do.

Syren: Actually could you help me with something?

“Sure,” he replied. “What do you need?” If anyone passed us right now, they were probably going to think Thad was engaged in a one way conversation with an empty house but hey, he didn’t tell me how to live my life.

Syren: Could you hold your hand outside the door?

“…okay?” he replied, sounding confused. I couldn’t blame him.

I walked over to the door, counting the number of steps I had to take to reach it, and pulled it open. Thad sat in front of the house and smiled when he saw me, though I swore I saw confusion flash through his eyes for just a second. Maybe the lack of sleep was starting to get to me.

“…so how do you want to do this?”

After a few awkward, confusing and somewhat embarrassing failed attempts, Thad just let me drag his hand to where I wanted it to be and I pulled it as far into the house as it would go. The less work I had to do, the better. After signalling at Thad to wait there, I walked back over to my Archnemesis, took in a deep breath, let it out slowly and grabbed the tray.

…so deadlifting hurt. Who knew?

But finally, drenched in sweat, beyond depleted and having completely recited my will internally, I felt Thad’s fingers bump into my legs and slowly set the cake down, barely managing to push it far enough to prevent myself from face planting directly into it when I collapsed.

“Sy, holy shit,” Thad said upon seeing my defeated form. Turns out running on 2 hours of sleep and leftover cake shavings for several hours was actually a bad idea.

I felt Thad grab my sides and gently pull me the rest of the way onto his hand before lifting me into the air.

“You good?”

It took me a full minute to gather enough strength to even flip myself over (though finally managing to do so rewarded me with a full view of Thad’s concerned face). I brought up one of my aching arms and held up an index finger like, ‘Give me a second’ before turning to look at the cupcake.

And my heart sunk a little.

Because now that I had Thad for scale, I could see how miniscule the cake actually was. The thing wasn’t even half the size of a regular velki sized cupcake.

…why did I even bother?

Nevertheless, I turned back to Thad and pointed at the cake before letting my arm fall back to the ground.

Thad turned to look at the cake and I expected him to starting laughing at how small it was or something but instead he just stared at it.

Several moments passed in complete silence.

Then tears started to form in his eyes.

As you can imagine, I was a little distraught by this.

WHY WAS THAD CRYING? WAS IT BECAUSE OF HOW PATHETIC THE CAKE WAS? WAS THIS MY FAULT? WHAT HAD I DONE? I KNEW THIS WAS A BAD IDEA. I SHOULD HAVE JUST GIVEN HIM THE NECKLACE. HE WOULD HAVE BEEN HAPPY WITH JUST THE NECKLACE. UGH. AND THE CAKE LOOKED SO SMALL COMPARED TO HIM. IT WAS TINY. WHY’D I THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA? I COULD HAVE JUST BOUGHT HIM SOME CAKE FROM A CAFÉ OR SOMETHING AFTER SCHOOL. WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ME? WHY COULDN’T I GET ANYTHING RIGHT?

Thad finally turned to face me, causing my stomach to summersault. “Sy…you made this?” His voice was quiet.

I gulped. Looked away. Nodded.

“For me?”

I nodded again.

“…this is…I…,” he trailed off. Looked at the cake again. His lip quivered and then he let out a laugh. Then, to add to my growing distress, the tears started falling from his eyes. He sniffed. Laughed again. “Shit, my makeup,” he mumbled and started fanning his eyes with his free hand, giggling every now and then. Shaking his head. Perhaps I wasn’t the only one who needed more sleep.

He took a few seconds to compose himself before grinning at me again, his eyes sparkling now.

“Sy, I mean this with love, but look out.”

The word ‘love’ caught me so off guard that before I could even begin to process the rest of the sentence, Thad’s free hand had already completely engulfed me.

So, Thad had a grim reaper printed on his shirt today. I found this detail significant because the next thing I knew, I was dang near making out with it. I’m glad I had so much time to catch my breath earlier because Thad accidently knocked it out of me again. It took me a few seconds to even register that he was hugging me, one handed no less (nothing was supporting my feet). Still, I did my best to reciprocate the gesture.

After a few seconds of pretending I wasn’t melting into his embrace, Thad’s hand wrapped around me once more and soon I was seated next to the cake again. Thad lifted me up to his face and gave me a soft smile.

“Sy, thank you. Like, seriously thank you. This was…insanely sweet of you. Like,” he glanced at the cake again, “how long did this even take you?”

Syren: Like 7 hours

“Damn, really? I kinda don’t want to eat it now.”

Syren: Please do

Syren: I’m literally begging you

Syren: If I never saw a chocolate cake again for the rest of my life it would be too soon

Thad laughed. “Well, if you insist.”

And just like that, several hours of work (and weeks of preparation) were gone in a single bite.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

He set the empty pan down next to me and grinned, his eyeliner running quite freely now. I smiled back before typing out my next message.

Syren: Wait could you put me down for a second

Syren: I need to get something

“Oh, yeah. Sure.”

He lowered his hand to the ground and, after picking up the pizza pan, I climbed off his hand and headed back into the house as Thad started to redo his makeup. I put the pan in the sink (I’d clean it…and the rest of the kitchen after school) before running back upstairs and into my room. I located the necklace and hoisted it over my shoulder (it was a little heavy but not nearly as heavy as the cake had been) before making my way back down the stairs carefully.

I walked out the door and presented the necklace to Thad, who took it after a moment. He uncoiled it and held it up, beaming.

“I’ll admit, you know me well.” He slipped the necklace over his head before turning back to me. “How does it look?”

I gave him a thumbs up.

“Good. Cuz I’m never taking it off.”

His smile was contagious and before I knew it, I was smiling too.

“…we should get going,” he said after a few seconds, breaking the silence and the start of yet another staring contest. “Don’t want to be late and all.”

I waited for him to offer his hand or pick me up or something but instead he just continued staring at me blankly, as if waiting for something. I stared back and a few seconds later, that confused look of his came back in full force. He pursed his lips before one corner of his mouth went up in a half smile.

“…Sy, are you really going to school in your pyjamas?”

[pterodactylterrace]

Guys Like You Chapter 16

Title: Guys Like You

Chapter: 16

Chapter Summary: Meet the family

Rating: 18+

Warnings: None for this chapter

{Prologue} {Chapter 1} {Chapter 2} {Chapter 3} {Chapter 4} {Chapter 5} {Chapter 6} {Chapter 7} {Chapter 8} {Chapter 9} {Chapter 10} {Chapter 11} {Chapter 12} {Chapter 13} {Chapter 14} {Chapter 15}

"How well does she do on flights?" Henry asked quietly, nodding for Faye to slide in first to take the window seat.

"She gets sick on longer flights." Faye explained as he sat down in the aisle seat, resting the snoozing child in his lap, her chubby cheek pressed against his chest as a small bit of drool tumbled from her lower lip.

"It's a little under an hour, do you think she'll be ok?"

"She didn't get sick until after the third hour when we came to England."

"Hopefully she'll just sleep the whole time." Henry sighed, smiling fondly at the child snoozing on him. To say he was excited to introduce his girls to his family was an understatement. He had been practically vibrating with giddiness for the last two days. That in turn wound up Kal and Briar, which meant no one wanted to go to bed. Faye had counted herself lucky to get the child tucked into bed and finally asleep before 11pm the night before. Certainly not enough time for any sort of decent rest before their 6am flight. She could also tell Henry hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before, the dark circles under his eyes a dead giveaway, no matter how many times he insisted he was fine.

Maybe they could all catch a nap during the flight. That sounded incredible, though Faye wasn't sure if her nerves would allow her to actually sleep. Henry had assured her over and over that his family would love her, but she had a nagging voice in the back of her mind that kept asking her 'but what if they don't?' Would Henry leave her if his family didn't like her? What if they didn't like Briar? She could be a bit much at times. Maybe they would think she was an awful mother who couldn't control her child. She just had to keep reminding herself that Henry wasn't like that. He wasn't a controlling abuser. He wanted to see her happy. He actually loved her and she was slowly learning how to be loved in return.

Henry reluctantly slid the child from his lap and into her seat before take off, buckling the now grumpy toddler in while Faye gave Briar her stuffed bunny in an attempt to pacify her for the time being. That only resulted in the rather amusing image of an incredibly angry looking toddler hugging a very well loved stuffed bunny, glaring daggers at the seat back in front of her. The second the fasten seatbelt sign went off, Briar was back in Henry's lap, smugly snuggling back into his chest with her bunny tucked under her arm.

"I swear, she likes you more than she likes me." Faye sighed, shaking her head at her daughter.

"I never tell her no." Henry shrugged, giving the child a small squeeze.

"I've noticed." Faye grumbled.

"How do you expect me to say no to that face?" Henry challenged, nodding down to where Briar was already sleeping on him, her cheek squished up against his chest, more drool slowly soaking into his shirt.

"What if she wants to do something dangerous?"

"That's why I have her wonderful, strong, beautiful mother nearby." Henry smiled at her, chuckling at her annoyed look.

"So what are you gonna do with any future children?" Faye shot back, not missing the way Henry's entire demeanor lit up.

"I'll just have to follow your lead." He offered, trying to tame the smile from his face. This was the first time she had mentioned any more children since their scare, and just the thought was enough to make him dizzy with excitement.

"Breastfed that kid for a year and a half, and this is the thanks I get." Faye grumbled to herself, moving over to the middle seat to use Henry's bulky shoulder as a pillow.

"As much as I'd like to say I'll help you every step of the way, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be useless when it comes to that."

"Such a shame, your tits are bigger than mine."

"They are not." Henry scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Mmhmm. Mine only look nice when I roll them up into a bra so you can't see how deflated they are."

"They're the perfect size for my hands."

"And your tits are still bigger."

"Fine, but I still don't think I can breastfeed a baby." Henry relented, his face heating up when he realized the flight attendant had made it to their row with the drink cart. Her look of confused horror was one Faye would remember for years to come.

"I think we're good." Faye half laughed, Henry dropping his head in embarrassment. Sometimes people just walk up at the wrong time in a conversation.

Faye was apprehensive at first when Henry told her his brother would be picking them up from the airport. What if he instantly didn't like her? Would he just leave her there or something? It would make for a very uncomfortable car ride to say the least. Thankfully Niki and his wife turned out to be just as nice and accommodating as Henry kept assuring her they would be. Naturally, Niki stuffed his younger brother into the back seat, allowing his wife to stay up front in spite of her half hearted protest. Faye had the feeling this was an ongoing thing between them.

The sight of a toddler seat in the back, hooked in and ready to go made a strange happiness swell in her chest. Faye was grateful they had taken steps to keep her daughter safe, while Henry was slightly annoyed that he was now crushed even more. With a simple look from Niki's wife, Faye understood that this was just how the brother's were, antagonizing each other whenever possible. Niki wasted no time filling Faye in on a few stories from Henry's childhood, telling her about the time he brought a turtle home and tried to keep it in the bathtub to hide it from his parents. Then he moved on to the time he split his pants at his cousin's wedding when he was fifteen and spent the entire reception trying to talk to the bridesmaids with his underwear showing. The last one he squeezed in before his wife stopped him was when they were all younger and buried him in the snow, having convinced him that's how an igloo was built.

No one hesitated to get out and start unpacking the car once it was parked in front of a rather quaint looking house, Niki tossing Henry's bag at him, Henry 'accidentally' shoulder checking him into the back of the car good natured retaliation. Niki's wife had already gone inside to announce their arrival, giving Faye a chance to talk with her daughter before meeting everyone.

"Now remember sweetie, we need to be on our best behavior for Papa's family today, ok?" She reminded, crouching down and straightening out her daughter's jacket.

"I a good girl." Briar stated firmly, nodding her head in self assurance as she grabbed her mother's hand with her mitten covered fist.

"Yes, you've been a very good girl, even though I can tell you're really tired. I'm very proud of you, sweetheart." Faye praised, giving the child her stuffed bunny before leading her after everyone else.

"And then-" Simon wheezed, pausing to catch his breath through his laughter. "And then Henry comes back inside, covered in mud, sticks in his hair, and he's just like "well, he's not under THAT bush!'." Faye wiped a tear from her eye, holding her aching stomach. She had lost count of the stories that had been retold, everyone seeming to take a turn at ribbing each other. Henry even told the story of Faye accidentally gluing her hand to a makeup brush when she was trying to apply prosthetics. It felt almost too easy settling into his family. He had been completely honest, they were very accepting.

His mother was warm and inviting, pulling her in for a hug and whisking Faye off to the kitchen, putting a glass of wine in her hand before she had even said hello to anyone else. It felt so good to be around a family again. Faye had been close with her parents and her siblings, especially her twin sister, and it was times like this that reminded her of what she had given up to chase her dreams. She had promised to try and be home for Christmas, but life got in the way of her going back the year before. Now it was coming up, and she was wondering if Henry would be alright with going all the way across the ocean just to meet her family. Were they really that serious? She knew they were pretty serious, having moved in together, but she didn't have any prior experience to compare her current relationship to.  Would he want to spend Christmas with his family? They were all really nice and probably always spent the holidays together. Would she be interfering with a tradition by asking him to spend Christmas with her family?

"So how did you two meet?" Marianne interjected, everyone suddenly shifting their attention to the couple.

"Uhh... met at work?" Faye offered up, turning to look up at Henry to see if he had anything else to add. Always the eloquent half of the pair, Henry had plenty to tack on, telling them about how this sassy little makeup artist wouldn't give him the time of day no matter what he did to get her attention. He'd tried talking about her tattoo's: nothing. He'd tried talking about the show: nothing. He'd tried to ask her about her life: nothing.

"It wasn't until Briar's birthday that I got anywhere. I swear, if you weren't such an awful baker, you would have never even looked my way. Poor Briar made sure everyone knew you were no good at it too. Briar!" Henry called, smiling when the little girl came running in the room, a dinosaur in one hand and the other covered in a sock. "Briar, how's mummy's baking?"

"Yucky." Briar informed flatly, the adults roaring in laughter while she rushed off to go play with the other children again.

"She's actually managed to simultaneously burn and completely undercook a tray of brownies once. It was amazing."

"Wasn't that also the time I mixed up the salt and the sugar?"

"It was." Henry confirmed, pressing an adoring kiss to her temple.

"That reminds me of the time you accidentally used garlic powder instead of nutmeg in the apple pie one year." Piers turned toward his wife, laughing at her loving glare.

"Alright, alright. Enough." Simon jumped in. "We all know what needs to be discussed. Who is stronger, Superman or the Incredible Hulk?" The entire family seemed to groan in unison; this must be an age old debate.

"Superman, obviously." Henry scoffed.

"No way, the Hulk is indestructible!" Niki threw back.

"So is Superman." Charlie pointed out.

"A little bit of kryptonite and Superman is useless." Simon intervened.

"What are the odds of having kryptonite on hand, though? If we're going to be using weaknesses, when Banner couldn't shift into the Hulk during Infinity War should definitely be brought up." Faye countered.

"But we're not talking about Banner, we're talking about the Hulk, as in he already shifted." Niki complained.

"Didn't the Black Widow have some lullaby thing that turned him back?" Charlie mused.

"Come on, Faye. We all know you're just siding with Superman because you're sleeping with him." Simon teased, Faye rolling her eyes in response. She had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

By the time they returned home just two days later, Faye was utterly exhausted but filled with joy. His family was so warm and inviting. They actually liked her. They didn't look down on her. They didn't question why Henry was with someone like her. They just accepted her and her daughter as one of their own. Two more to add to the Cavill Clan.

Now that they were back at home, it felt almost empty compared to the jam packed house they had just been in. Kal was all too happy to meet everyone at the door, his food bowl still full from the last visit from the dog sitter while their mail was stacked neatly on the kitchen table waiting for them.

Henry left the bags by the bottom of the stairs to take up later, sorting the letters into two separate piles. A large envelope addressed for Faye caught his eye, curiosity prompting him to bring it straight to her.

"What's that?" Faye asked, tossing the clothing from the bags into a laundry basket.

"I don't know. Looks important. Maybe it's informing you that you just became Queen a small unknown country."

"I've always wanted my own country." Faye chuckled, ripping the envelope open and pulling out the papers inside, her face falling more and more with each passing second. Her blood ran cold as teardrops stained the paper.

"What? What's wrong? Faye, you're starting to worry me. What does it say? Is something wrong?"

"My ex... my ex is trying to sue me for custody of Briar."

@weallhaveadestiny @lunedelorient @summersong69 @mis-lil-red @lharrietg @amberangel112 @mansaaay  @nostalgicb-txh

[emilyplaysotome]

The Queen Makes Her Choice: Part 6

This is the final chapter to a multi-part smutty fic with the MLQC boys. This might be the filthiest thing I've ever written 😂

This whole series is for those 18+ only.

Catch up:

part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5

Miracle finder makes it impossible to see anyone, and even if it hadn’t, it wouldn’t matter.

Gavin is on a mission, Victor is on a trip, Kiro is on tour, and Lucien…

…well, Lucien isn’t replying, or posting, or commenting.

No surprise there.

I have no idea if he’ll show on Saturday even though the rest of them will be there. I’ve booked us a private room in one of Loveland’s hottest “sky clubs” - a lounge located at the top of a high rise with nothing but large glass windows and views for days to accompany the drinks and people.

It was a splurge on my salary, but I have to do this right.

If I do this right well...

...maybe there's hope of keeping them all by my side.

There’s still no reply from Lucien as I get ready an hour before everyone is supposed to meet. I decide to tell him that I need him there, and let that be the end of it.

I don’t have much in my closet for this event, but buried in the back I find an old clubbing outfit from my birthday two years ago. The top is an iridescent blueish-purple with spaghetti straps, a revealing back, and cropped to show my midriff. I pair it with a flowy dark skirt that balances out its sex appeal, tying my hair back, and putting on a simple necklace to show off my neckline.

I feel pretty and knowing that I’m about to meet four (well, hopefully four) men who have all confessed to me, I feel confident that they will too.

—

I arrive early and finish my drink too quickly in the hopes of calming my nerves. The waitstaff gets me another and I tell myself to cool it for fear of getting too drunk before they all arrive.

The room I’ve reserved is bigger than I expected, with seating that could easily accommodate 25 people. There are standing cocktail tables and ink blue couches that have a soft, velvet fabric accompanied by tables for drinks.

I’ve settled into the center of one of the couches and I’m distracting myself on my phone, hoping that my nerves will fade when I hear the door open.

I’m surprised that its Lucien who I see first.

“I didn’t think you were coming?!” I say.

He kisses me before sitting next to me, looking around the room.

“I wasn’t sure if I would.”

“But why?”

He sighs and shakes his head, smiling.

“Too much thinking. Too much worrying.”

I have more questions, but I won’t get to ask them as Victor enters next. Upon seeing Lucien I can see his defenses go up. He puffs out his chest, tilts up his chin sneering at him, making no attempt to hide what can only be described as a very sour expression.

I get up and stand between them, gently taking Victor’s hand and guiding him to sit beside me on the couch. Sandwiched between him and Lucien, I thank him for coming. The mood only grows more tense with each addition.

Gavin is next.

Kiro is last.

It’s clear that they all thought I had planned something for them and them alone based on the disappointment I see on their faces when they register their competition in the room. Once they’re all assembled, Lucien and Victor on either side of me, Gavin pouting with his arms crossed and standing by one of the cocktail tables and Kiro who paces like a wild animal in a cage, I begin.

“I know you’re all eager to understand what this is about,” I say. “And I first want to thank you all for being in my life.”

There are gruff acknowledgments all around, but no real words or statements from anyone. I can tell by the way they’re drinking and refilling their glasses that they’re just as nervous as I am, and not wanting to drag things out I continue.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want in my partner, and I keep coming back to daily life. Waking up next to someone I love each morning, making breakfast, hearing about their day…”

It’s then I look at each of them, one by one.

“…and I’ve come to the conclusion that none of you can do that for me.”

“Now wait a minute,” Gavin starts to say and I cut him off.

“You’re always gone on some mission for God knows how long.”

I turn to look at Lucien, “You disappear on me at the drop of a hat…”

Then Victor, “…you spend 50% of your time doing business outside of Loveland City….”

And finally Kiro, “…and you’re on tour for the foreseeable future.”

They all seem bashful because they know I’m right.

They all know they couldn’t be 'the one' unless they all made major concessions for me.

“So I think for now, until things change, I will commit to none of you and all of you.”

There’s shock from Gavin.

Laughter from Victor.

Annoyance from Kiro.

Anger from Lucien.

Gavin quickly spits out “That’s…” but Victor cuts him off.

“Only fair. None of us can really run to her side when she needs us, but between the four of us we can take care of her.”

I’m stunned that he actually agrees, not just understands.

I thought that out of the four he might be the most difficult to convince, but suddenly I’m watching as he argues with Kiro about what it means to love me. Lucien is silent, along with Gavin. They listen as they wrestle with what they already know about our world to their ability to accept being a part time boyfriend.

There’s silence when Victor reminds them aloud of the danger I face.

Being with me is not just being there for the good times, though I’m grateful that lately there’s been many. This time of peace may disappear just as easily as it arrived and they all know it, even if they don't want to admit it.

I’m surprised when Gavin is the second to agree to keeping things as they are, with the caveat that I not think about anyone but him when we’re together. I find myself feeling shy and can feel the heat creep into my cheeks as I nod back at him, knowing that his request is easily fulfilled.

Satisfied by my reply he smirks before making it known that he doesn’t want to discuss things further and will invite me on a date soon, leaving me with the others.

I can tell that Kiro is close to compromising, but Lucien beats him to the punch.

“Alright,” he says with that smile of his. “This just gives you more time to decide that you love me most.”

The comment makes Kiro look as if he’s going to rip Lucien’s head off, and he charges towards him. Victor puts his hand out and holds Kiro back, reminding him that this is not about how they feel about each other but how they feel about me.

Lucien quietly laughs and whispers in my ear, “I will try sticking around in the future in order to prove to you that I’m all you need, if that’s truly what you’re looking for.”

“It is,” I say.

I’m not lying, but for now I’m relieved to have found a loophole.

I’m relieved that it seems I will not have to choose after all.

“While I don’t like the idea of leaving you with these two, I must be off to a prior commitment. I only meant to stop by because you were insistent. And because I will always be there for you, despite what you may think.”

He’s being mysterious but I can tell whenever we’re together he can’t help but be pulled back to me as much as he tries to run away.

I can tell that he looks for excuses to be with me, even when he's busy.

“Thank you Lucien,” I say and mean it.

I’m grateful that I don’t have to say goodbye, especially to him.

I’m surprised when he kisses me, deeply, in front of the others and I can feel that his eyes are on them as he does it, almost as if he’s challenging them.

When he pulls away I watch as Victor rolls his eyes as Kiro grows incensed again. Lucien pretends not to care and leaves, ignoring the string of obscenities that flows out of Kiro.

“Enough,” Victor eventually says, sighing and returning to the couch next to me.

“I understand why we’re doing what we’re doing,” Kiro says, still standing. “But doesn’t it bother you seeing that?”

“No,” Victor says coolly. “It only motivates me to please her more.”

I feel his hand wrap around my midriff and he kisses me, passionately, in front of Kiro. I let out a surprised moan and after a moment he pulls away with a smirk.

“See?”

I’m embarrassed and I quietly scold him for kissing me like that in front of Kiro. Not to be outdone, Kiro comes over and kisses me too. I can taste the cocktail on him and the wine on Victor and between the alcohol and their touch I realize that I feel a bit light headed.

As Kiro kisses me, I feel Victor’s hand travel under my skirt and up my thigh. He starts rubbing me and I moan, prompting Kiro to deepen his kiss, moving his hands from my face to my neck and then chest. When he pulls away, Victor capitalizes on the opportunity and kisses my neck as he slides one of his fingers into me.

I can tell they’re both more intoxicated than they’d ever admit, and to be honest, so am I.

Sober me would have stopped this but drunk me is flying high on everything that is happening. It feels too good to worry about the waitstaff walking through that door, and I close my eyes knowing that Kiro is watching Victor play with me, eagerly awaiting his turn.

He’s impatient though, and my top comes off leaving me fully exposed to both the men and the city beyond the large glass windows. I feel myself reaching for both of them, to make them feel as good as they’re making me feel and I feel Victor’s other hand unbutton his pants.

--

What happens next is a bit of a blur.

It’s almost as if I come back to myself, stripped bare and breathing heavily on a couch that isn’t mine and in a lounge where anyone could have walked in at any moment. I see the two men next to me, panting and satisfied on either side, tucking their shirts back in as they return to a disheveled version of the men that appeared earlier in the night.

I will pretend that I don’t remember bouncing on top of Victor as I sucked on Kiro. I will pretend that I won’t remember finishing both of them on my knees, with my hands and my mouth before letting Victor finish me with his mouth while Kiro watches on, all the while stimulating my other sensitive spots.

I will pretend I don’t remember Victor playing with time to drag out my pleasure when it finally comes, and that I do not giggle when Kiro whines, “Oh come on, that’s just cheating…”

When the waitstaff finally do enter, we are all fully clothed and in the process of sobering up with cold glasses of water. I worry that the room reeks of sex and that they know what happened, but it would appear that they are none the wiser.

Victor grabs the tab that I was supposed to pick up and pays for everything, leaving just as much in tip before saying to us, “Let’s get out of here.”

On the street we are silent - the cold air sobering us to the reality that lies beyond.

“Do you mind if I take her home?” Victor asks Kiro politely, and I’m surprised when Kiro shakes his head.

“I have to catch an early flight for our next leg of the tour.”

“You’ll keep in touch, right?” I ask, almost scared that the greediness of my actions will catch up with me, but Kiro just smiles his bright, pop star smile.

“Of course Miss Chips. Until we meet again.”

He kisses me sweetly, and neither he nor Victor seem to care that the other is present for this moment.

He leaves and Victor takes my hand, slowly walking me back home.

We’re silent for a few blocks before he starts chuckling out of seemingly nowhere.

“What?!” I demand.

“You continue to surprise me.”

I look at him, puzzled as to what he’s talking about and he continues.

“I’ll have to come up with a new contract to ensure I get at least one fourth of your time.”

He’s teasing me, but I know him well enough to know that he’s actually impressed at how I’ve managed to get what I want despite how things are usually done. He’s known from the start that I haven’t wanted to say goodbye.

That I’m not ready to.

There’s kindness in what he’s saying, and it’s not lost on me. As much as I know he wants me for himself, he won’t rush me.

He loves me too much to do that.

They all do.

The topic changes quite naturally and before I know it we’re chatting as if our salacious night never happened. He’s mocking me for being a glutton and I’m pretending to be outraged that he’d call me such.

I invite him in because I’m back faster than I expected and to my disappointment, he refuses me.

“LFG calls,” he says, and I can tell he’s disappointed too.

“Ok. Thanks for walking me home.”

He smiles and kisses me and just as I turn to open the door to my building and head inside, he grabs my arm.

“But now that I know what you want, soon enough you won’t have this excuse to keep the others around…”

He lets go and turns on his heel, not glancing back and walking away with the kind of confidence and swagger I know only he posses. My heart races as I watch him turn the corner and out of my sight before turning in.

—

I shower the night off of me and change into cozy pajamas, crawling into bed. I have four messages, one from each of them, all wishing me good night and reminding me that this is for now.

“One day work won't consume my life,” Victor repeats.

“One day I will prove to you that I can stay,” Lucien says.

“One day my mission will be complete,” Gavin promises.

“One day it will only be us,” Kiro muses.

One day.

But until that day, I will savor having all them in my life.

And I will love them all as much as they love me, for as long as I’m allowed.

--

This was fun to write and *very* out of my comfort zone. As always, if you’ve enjoyed the story, please show your support by sharing it with a friend, liking it, commenting to say that you enjoyed it/what you liked, or buying me a coffee!

While this is most likely the last installment of this short series, if you like my writing I hope you'll follow me for more in the future.

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