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haologram · 3 months ago

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araneae 🕸️ k.sy

🕸️ synopsis: when you realize your friend (with benefits) actually has feelings for you, a tangled web of lies and avoidance ensues.

🕸️ genre: friends with benefits au ; big dummy dumb idiots to lovers because it's the only trope ever ; ta x student dynamics ; fluff, angst & smut (surprise?)

🕸️ pairing: zoology ta!kwon soonyoung x marine biology major!reader | side pairings: joshua hong x sana minatozaki ; vernon chwe x roh jisun (fromis_9) ; lee chan x jung haerim (weki meki) | mentions of: reader x yuta nakamoto (nct) ; reader x lee sangyeon (the boyz); hoshi x lee luda (wsjn) ; hoshi x choi yujin (kep1er/clc)

🕸️ word count: 18.9k (WE GOT IT UNDER 20K LETS GOOOOOO!)

🕸️ rating: 18+. minors do not interact i beg.

🕸️ warnings: this definitely more of their dynamic/relationship than him being her ta… ; mentions of knife play (none involved), alcohol, pink whitney gets its own warning as does everclear, mentions of un/protected sex (dw it'll get freaky later), mentions of cum, loss of virginity talk, mentions of marijuana (stoner!hoshi be off the honeypacks!!), mentions of STD testing (GET TESTED YOU FREAKS!) [smut warnings: multiple scenes ; mostly hoshi using sex as an apology ; oral (f. receiving) ; unprotected sex (hoshi x reader only) ; face sitting ; hoshi is a hopeless romantic and loves missionary ; they fuck mostly in their respective homes (read: he eats her out in a closet)] i think that’s it! lmk if i missed anything!

🕸️ what to listen to: good kisser - usher ; magic stick - lil' kim ; lie - bts ; spider - hoshi ; home - seventeen.

🕸️ author’s note: just an fyi, the smut is AWFUL and i'm not entirely happy with this🤩 but anyway, it’s finally here, the final installment of the seventeen ta collab!! special thanks to @camandemstudios for allowing me to be a part of this wonderful success, and i hope to be involved in more collabs in the future (also thank you so much for your patience, i know waiting for me to be able to post was infuriating.) enjoy stoner!hoshi…loser!hoshi? loverboy!hoshi…also somewhat bitchless!hoshi.

LAST YEAR – Sunday, October 23.

You were never opposed to a nice Halloween party. Lots of thematic drinks, stupid boys dressed as Ghostface trying to explore knife kinks, and girls going all out with their glitter make-up and tinsel in their hair for the optimal fairy costume.

You loved a good Halloween party, music blasting out of the speakers that were stolen from the AV Club by the softer version of the Beta Tau Omega brothers. Dancing with strangers in sweat-soaked facades, and waking up with smeared face paint all over your neck and shoulders from whatever disguised hook-up you'd taken home that night.

Last night's rager had to have been one for the books, because you have no idea how you ended up in this absolute mess of a bedroom – owned by none other than your close friend, Kwon Soonyoung. The same Kwon Soonyoung who also happens to TA the class you've put off taking for the last two years, and are set to start taking the upcoming spring semester.

The same Kwon Soonyoung that was related to the wife of the Dean, and the same Kwon Soonyoung that showed up everywhere stoned or ready to get stoned. The very same Kwon Soonyoung that made infused pre-rolls and edibles for nearly the entire campus…for free. Even you could see that was a horrible business call, and you were a Science major.

Soonyoung who helped people sneak kittens into their dorm rooms and make homes for them under lofted beds. Soonyoung, who taught a dance class and self-defense class back to back, so he was never free until after nine at night. Soonyoung who made hanging out seem like he was trying to get into your pants because he was just naturally flirtatious (and somehow, still absolutely bitchless.)

He keeps his circle small, of friends that is. You were added to the mix sometime after your first Halloween party (and first kiss together) your freshman year, when he slammed into you in the middle of the economics hallway, breaking your laptop in the process. He'd felt so bad he took you to Best Buy that same night and shelled out two grand for a new one and even invited you out to lunch the next day.

He did not remember making out at all. To be fair, neither did you until the digital photos came back and he texted you a picture of the two of you kissing against the Beta Tau Omega insignia on the wall. You were so embarrassed you avoided him for a week after, but he quickly forced you out of your dorm for a movie night. The two of you became fast friends, bonding over silly little things and enjoying each other's company – but it didn't stop the rumors from flying that you were a freshman stealing a guy from the sophomores.

You remember that he adamantly denied any and every dating rumor flung your way, and even went as far as distancing himself from you for a bit – but when you tried to pull the same move he had earlier that year, he said maybe it was best for the two of you to remain friends from a distance. You didn't speak to him for the rest of the year, choosing to spend your time with friends your age and even dating a transfer student named Yuta Nakamoto, who was also in Soonyoung's year.

When word got around, Soonyoung was pissed – but didn't attempt to rekindle your friendship. He still followed you on Instagram, and still felt a bit of anger puddle in his stomach as he liked photo after photo of the two of you together, biting his tongue at the empty smile you held by his side.

This continued well into summer, and he saw the two of you take a trip to Jeju Island together, before breaking up the following week. Soonyoung heard from your friend, Nagyung, that he was transferring back and neither of you wanted to try long-distance.

The following school year, he watched as you got recruited by sorority after sorority – eventually joining his frat's sister sorority, Alpha Sigma Delta. You hardly had to rush, the girls actively pushing you to pledge and you were far too nice to say no.

You saw him again for the first time at the Halloween party planning, when you and your fellow pledges were tasked with helping the frat pledges in hauling in liquor. You weren't very happy about it, but Soonyoung whisked you away without a word from you, telling everyone that he needed your help with a certain task.

That task?

"Can we talk?"

And you did. You talked, and talked, and talked. He even left at one point to get drinks for the two of you, returning to you fishing through his bag of pre-rolls for the ones infused with lemon balm. He smiled, telling you they were in his car, and you rolled your eyes at it.

You kissed at that party, too. It went further this time – the two of you on Seungcheol's balcony. The idea had been to go up to the roof and get crossed, but it seems a rather tipsy Soonyoung had other ideas. You didn't mind it, in fact you encouraged it – you slipped his hand up your latex dress, you let him slip your panties down your legs.

"Hey, Hoshi! Do you have any pre-rolls?!"

Just as he'd started undoing his pants.

"Fuck, I'm sorry baby."

"It's fine."

You passed out in his bedroom that time, too tired to go back to the sorority house with your sisters. You got out of clean-up, and Soonyoung left you a kimbap roll and an electrolyte drink on his nightstand, with a note asking how you got there 'haha.'

It hadn't been fine. Again, neither of you remembered this happening until digitals were printed. And it was freshman year all over again – except this time, Soonyoung stuck around. Soonyoung defended you tooth and nail, and even dropped a few of his friends that bad-mouthed you. When you asked him about it, he shrugged, "Nothing wrong with kissing your friends every once in a while."

So, here you are. Again.

The third year in a row you and your stupid friend have made out, and somehow, you're in his bed. There's no other explanation as for why your underwear is across the room, hanging off his lamp and why his head is gently laying on your chest. There's literally no other explanation.

"Soonyoung." You rasp, patting his cheek. He doesn't stir, but pouts into your bare breast. "Soonyoung." You speak louder, shaking him slightly as he peels open one of his eyes.

"Yeah?"

It takes him a moment to realize that it's you, sprinkled with glitter from his eye look last night and practically doused in his saliva.

His painted fingernails point at the discarded condom atop his dresser, flung hastily in a half-asleep attempt, most likely. You sigh, letting your head fall back on your pillow with a hmph. He does the same, his fingers only reaching up slightly to close the blinds with a jerk of the liftcord.

"You think it was good?" You ask with a small smile, and he snorts. "It was with you, I doubt it would've been bad."

"Thanks, I got it on Jeju Island."

"When you and Yuta went?"

"Yup."

"Cool."

He sits up, peering down at you with tired eyes. "What'd you see in that guy, anyway?"

"Hm?"

"Yuta."

"Oh. You want the truth?"

It's like being nude in front of each other isn't a big deal. It's like having slept together after years of being in limbo means nothing. It's all so normal, the way you allow him to practically eye fuck you.

"I was sad you stopped being my friend."

He blinks at you, watching the way you carefully pick at a thread loose in his comforter. You pull it out, discarding it behind you with a soft smile. "Does that answer your question?"

"You fucked another guy because I stopped being your friend?" He asks incredulously, and you shrug. "Not just, but it was a large reason."

"You lost your virginity to him." His eyes are wide, and you shrug once more, nodding your head.

"Yup."

"Did he make you cum?"

"Soonyoung-"

"Did he?"

You sigh, patting his comforter. "Not the first couple of times, no. He got better at it, though. It was decent."

Nodding, he clears his throat.

"Do you think I-"

"Maybe. I don't know. I don't remember much, just the Pink Whitney Mingyu gave me."

"Mingyu does love his Pink Whitney."

You flip onto your back again, staring at the glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling. Tucking your hands behind your head, you speak again. "Do you think I went down on you?"

"There's lipstick on my tip."

"What color?"

"Uhh…wine red."

You wipe a finger across your bottom lip, the small amount of residue a bloody, Cabernet red.

"Hm. Checks out."

The air feels…comfortable.

"Wanna shower?"

"Yeah."

"Can I shower with you?"

"Yeah, Soonie."

The two of you stretch simultaneously, before rolling to the side of the bed and standing up. He grabs the discarded condom off the dresser, holding it like a used tissue and taking it to the bin. You dig through his dresser for a towel, and he fishes out something for you to wear.

"Boxers okay?"

"Hm, I prefer briefs."

"On me or on you?"

"Your underwear choices are your business."

He holds up a pair of Spiderman briefs. You bite back your laugh and nod silently, extending your hand for them.

He disappears into his bathroom, flickering lights on and turning the shower head on. "Hot?"

"Boiling."

"Got it."

"You should've asked me." He mumbles, reaching for the shampoo in the caddy behind you. Peeling your eyes open, you look up at him with a confused stare. "Asked you for what?"

He shrugs, holding the shampoo bottle upside down over his hand and squirting some out. "I would've made you cum the first time."

You snort, shoving his chest lightly. "Yeah, well…you didn't. It's fine."

"This isn't weird to you?"

"What? Showering together?"

"After fucking, yeah."

"Could be worse."

"How?"

"I could be that girl you've been flirting with since last year, wondering when you're going to text her back."

"Who? Yujin?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not flirting with her, what made you think that?"

"Stolen glances, flirty touches, you give her pre-rolls all the time."

He rolls his eyes as he cards his fingers through your hair, his dull nails scrubbing your scalp gently. Your eyes flutter shut, and he huffs. "I give everyone pre-rolls."

"Because you're a horrible business magnate."

"No, because I'm nice."

You smile without opening your eyes, your hands reaching out to touch his chest. His body feels good under your fingertips, you realize. "Are you mad you don't remember any of it?"

"Furious." He mutters, gently tilting your head back to wash the soap out. You can't see the way he's looking at the sweet slope of your neck, just barely making out small nips of his teeth across your throat. Your necklace hangs nicely.

The rest of the shower remains silent, as he carefully washes you before himself. His attention to detail is insane, the way his fingers hold the washcloth taut so he can feel every inch of you. He has to commit this to memory.

"Let me change my bedsheets."

"Don't wanna lay in the sin of fucking your friend, do ya?"

The navy blue sheets are quickly replaced by ones with light grey ditsy floral print, and his comforter is shoved off and replaced by a few throw blankets. He watches as you change his pillowcases, only looking away when he hears his phone ping.

Msg From: Cheol

[9:32am] hosh

[9:32am] who is the girl in ur room and is she missing a pair of cat ears

"What was your costume last night?" He asks, and you snort. "I was a sexy witch."

He smiles to himself as he picks up his phone.

Msg To: Cheol

[9:33am] not missing a pair of cat ears

[9:34am] and it's y/n

Your head snaps up when you hear a pair of feet thundering up the stairs, followed by silence. You give him an odd look, only to hear excited giggles down the hall and the pitter-patter of two adult men coming towards Soonyoung's room. You cross your arms as you hear the door creak open, an expectant look on your face as Jeonghan and Seungcheol's noses appear through the crack.

"Hey, Y/N. Fancy seeing you here." Jeonghan remarks sweetly, and you just roll your eyes.

Jeonghan gives you a wry look. "Can I say something and you don't get upset?"

"If it's about sex, I will punch you in that pretty face of yours." You say pointedly, fluffing the pillow in your hand before throwing it onto his bed. Jeonghan purses his lips, nodding before sliding out from under Seungcheol. He nods his head, a satisfied look on his face. "Have a good…don't fuck too loud, okay?"

Soonyoung barely misses Seungcheol's face with the charger he throws across the room, his giggle being heard in the hallway as he barrels down the stairs.

"Idiots." He huffs, running a hand through his damp hair as you flop onto the bed. "You don't mind if I stay here a bit? My head's killing me."

He lays down next to you, a sigh escaping his lips.

"You okay, Soonie?"

Turning only his head, he scans your face. Tired eyes lined with thick lashes, plump lips covered by the Aquaphor in his bathroom. Slightly unkempt brows and your shoulder tattoo peeking out from the collar of his shirt on your frame.

"Kitty?"

You grimace at the pet name, one he christened you with when the two of you met. He'd been dressed up as a cowboy, and dancing with a skeleton that was stolen from the comparative anatomy students (with the help of Junhui, of course.) He also had a lit joint between his fingers, one that sprinkled ash over your newly healed shoulder tattoo and made you yelp in pain.

"Shit, I'm sorry, kitty." He quickly put it out in a nearby ashtray, dusting your shoulder of any ash residue. "It's fine, it's fine. Just…can I get a hit?"

"Yeah?"

He sits up, leaning against his bed frame before looking down at you.

"Would it be weird if I asked to try again?"

You glance up at him, an amused smile playing on your lips. "Try what again, exactly?"

He clears his throat, a beet red blush coating his cheeks. "You said Yuta didn't make you cum. And we don't know if I made you cum. So…can I have a redemption round?"

You've sat up at this point, a small laugh falling from your lips as you push your hair back, "You want to fuck me?"

"I can just go down on you, if, uh…if that's what you'd prefer." He stutters, mentally cursing himself. You glance at him, eyes scanning his face. "And we're still friends after this? You won't dump me?"

"I won't. I promise. Cross my heart, kitty." He holds his pinky finger out, insinuating you link yours. Sighing, you do just that. "Fine. Hop to, I want breakfast."

He moves to kiss you, but you give him yet another amused look. "What are you doing, Soonie?"

"...Kissing you?" He gives you a confused look, and you scoff out a laugh. "You said nothing about kissing, Kwon."

He gapes at you, "How am I supposed to connect our auras if we don't kiss? I can't get hard if I don't get kissed, you know. I can't properly engage with… her, if you don't let me kiss you." He sits back on his haunches, explaining each point to you. You bite back your laughter, nodding along.

"Sculptors start from scratch, Soonyoung. I am art, awaiting your expert touch." You shrug as he finishes his spiel, and he furrows his brows. "Fine."

Sinking down to his stomach in front of you, ringed fingers palming at your thighs. You sigh, sucking your teeth as he noses at your skin, placing kisses on your stomach.

You scoot back slightly, resting your back against his headboard. He looks up at you as you roll your eyes, beckoning him forward with your hand as you shimmy out of the stupid Spiderman briefs. "Make it fast."

"Won't take me that long, anyway." He mumbles, pushing his hair out of his face before placing a chaste kiss on your exposed slit. "How do you like it? Just tongue? Messy?"

"Whatever you want, though I'm not super into fingering at the same time." You shrug, your own carding through his shaggy locks and holding him in place. He smirks against your skin, "Don't need them."

His tongue swirls carefully around your clit, the motion far too practiced to be out of the ordinary for him. He leans into your soft gasp, the gentle buck of your hips enough to help him bury his face into your wet heat. "Spit on it." You whisper, and he does just as you ask.

The taste is tart and heady, spreading around his tongue and chin as he expertly sucks on your swollen bundle of nerves. His eyes are closed as he sloppily collects your arousal, your whines growing frustrated as he holds your hips down. "F-Faster, Soonie."

He rolls his eyes, annoyed at your inability to relax as he obnoxiously moans against you, the vibrations making you squirm. "You're so mean." You pout, feeling him smile into you. He shrugs, closing his eyes before returning to his ministrations.

He feels you shift, peeling open an eye to see your hand under your shirt, rolling your nipple through your fingers with your lip tucked between your teeth. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, using your ankle to pull you down to his level. Your eyes shoot open the moment his hands are on the hem of your (his) shirt, tugging it over your head. You're pliant, agreeing with whatever he wants to do when you feel him grab your face gently, "Can I kiss you?"

You can't bite back your smile, making him roll his eyes as he leans in, capturing your lips in a searing kiss. You feel your stomach buzz a bit, feeling his half-hard cock through his boxers pressed against you. You cant your hips up softly, earning a hiss as he nips at your bottom lip.

"Thought you said you can't get hard without kissing, Soonie. Tsk, tsk." You mock him, before your fingers reach for the waistband of his boxers, snapping the elastic against his skin.

"Take them off."

He snaps his head up to look at you, eyes wide as your hand dips below the waistband, gently wrapping around his length. He sighs at your touch, before pushing the underwear down his legs with his free hand. He reaches for the nightstand, digging out the box of condoms – empty.

"Fuck." He mutters, and you turn to see the empty box being flicked across the room. "Are you clean?" You ask with a click of your tongue, and he reaches in the same drawer and pulls out a folded piece of paper, handing it to you with a blush across his cheeks.

"A week ago." He whispers, and you shrug, tossing the results – all of which were negative – to the floor and smiling up at him. "Well, go on. You have a task to complete, Kwon."

"Are you sure?" He's talking to himself, dragging the tip of his cock through your wet folds, a soft whine from your lips as he circles your clit with his thumb. "Hurry up before I change my mind and tell everyone you can't make a girl cum."

Your threat is empty, he knows – but you see the way he rolls his eyes, easing the head of his cock into your aching hole. He buries his face in the crook of your neck, your fingernails digging into his back as he slowly bottoms out.

"Fuck." He mutters into your shoulder, before sinking his teeth into your skin and giving a slow thrust. A choked moan from your lips is his reward, as he sets a slow pace and drags his teeth across your chest. Your nails drag down his back gently as his tongue swirls around your nipple, making you whimper.

"Soonie.." Your whine is cut off by his hand across your mouth. "Don't, I'll cum." He admits against your chest, making you snort slightly. Your hand wraps around his wrist, pulling it off your mouth as you lean up to capture his lips in yours. It's sloppy but you don't care, feeling him roll his hips into yours slowly as your tongue slips into his mouth.

His whine into your mouth is nothing if not pitiful (read: hot.) Your laugh slips out as he readjusts his hold on you, folding your legs to your chest and fucking into you deeper. The new angle makes you let out a choked moan, his lips dragging along your jawline as he bullies his cock into you.

It's almost like you can feel pride seeping through his pores as you whine into his skin, feeling his lips curl into a smile against your shoulder as he bites down softly. You're sure he's determined to ruin you for anyone else, his hand slipping between the two of you to toy with your clit. The mix of sounds in his bedroom is obscene, but nothing is more embarrassing than the two of you jumping simultaneously when someone bangs on his door. Your hand flies over your mouth as they shout for you two to keep it down, making Soonyoung laugh, the tips of his ears turning pink as you clench around him. Your tummy starts to fill with warmth, the band threatening to snap as he peels your hand off your mouth for a searing kiss.

It's enough for the two of you to whimper, your fingers moving to curl into his hair, feeling the white-hot heat of your orgasm coursing through your body. He groans into your lips, and you can feel him fighting himself as he pulls out, his cum painting the stupid kitty tattoo on your hip.

The two of you are silent as you regain your composure, the room filled with soft pants as you brush your hair off your face. He clears his throat, and you almost instinctively roll your eyes as his question breaks the tension.

"On a scale of one to ten–" "I am not rating your stroke game, this is not RateMyDick.com."

His face buries into your neck, his breath warm against your skin as he scoffs out a laugh. Your fingernails trail lightly along his neck, his lips pressing soft kisses to your shoulders before he pushes off you.

"Pancakes?" He tilts his head, making you snort. "Are you paying?" "Fuck no, we can make Cheol buy." He scoffs, and you laugh fully this time. "Do you think Cheol feels like buying me the greasiest patty melt he can find?" "Whatever you want, kitty." He kisses the tip of your nose, making you scrunch it while pushing his head away. "That tickles, stop. Now get off me, I feel the need to spend Cheol's trustfund on food that will knock me out." He just smiles as he lifts himself off you, sliding off the bed in the direction of his bathroom. You can't help but feel a bit of anxiety pool in your lower belly, hearing the faucet running slowly before he reappears. You quickly smile, "You okay?" "Are you?" He echoes, his hand reaches for your thigh as he wipes you down gently with a damp washcloth. "Yeah, m'fine." He doesn't look convinced, giving you a raise of his brows as he tosses the washcloth to the side, offering his hand to help you sit up. When you do, he grabs the shirt you'd been wearing and carefully pulls it over your head – and if he feels the willful stare of your eyes on him, he says nothing about it.

"Are you having regrets?" He murmurs, reaching for the underwear he let you borrow. You sigh inwardly, shaking your head. "No. Just…it's silly."

"It's not silly, whatever it is you're feeling. We're friends, kitty. You can tell me." He shrugs, helping you up off the bed and leading you to the bathroom. "You're not gonna watch me pee, are you?" You tease, and he snorts.

"Do you want me to?" "Get out." He does. He shuts the door behind him, leaving the briefs on the sink. You sigh quietly, willing the negative thoughts away. You don't regret it, no – but it feels like your slight game of cat-and-mouse has ended. He's caught you, sunk his teeth into you and now you're dead.

You reach for the briefs, pulling them over your ankles and up to your knees while you sit. You hear him rustling around, before hearing the door to his room open and shut. A wave of sadness flows over you, and you wonder if he really meant it. That he wouldn't leave this time – he hadn't last year, after he took your underwear off in Seungcheol's room (and stuffed the pair of pink panties in his pocket – something you never heard the end of when Jeonghan found out they were yours.) Sighing once more, you finish your business, tossing the toilet paper in the can and amp yourself up as you wash your hands. "No big deal, Y/N. Friends fuck all the time. Right?" You hear the door to his room open again, and you turn the water off, shaking the excess water off your hands as you open the bathroom door. He glances up at you, holding a tray with a pitcher of water and electrolyte packets.

"You like watermelon, right? It's the only flavor we have left." He says, and you nod quietly. "Yeah, that's fine."

Flopping back onto his bed, you cover your bottom half with one of the throw blankets as he portions out the electrolytes. You reach over and open his nightstand drawer, fishing through for his Advil.

"Bottoms up." He hands you your glass, and you pop open the cap. "Yum, ibuprofen electrolyte cocktail." You mutter, shoving two in his hand before popping your own in your mouth.

The two of you clink glasses before chugging, mirroring each other's grimaces as you finish the liquid. He scrunches his nose, sliding the glass on the nightstand before laying back and moving like a worm to slide in next to you.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asks, grabbing his phone from in between the blankets and opening the Doordash app. You don't respond, opting to pull the blanket a little higher as you rest your head on his shoulder. He scrolls through mindlessly, before finding your favorite breakfast spot. The two of you found it during the summer, when neither of you went home and decided to take summer classes. You wound up taking Seungcheol's room while he went home with his girlfriend.

You don't like the wave of sadness you feel suddenly.

He's your friend. One could even say he's one of your best friends. What if this was a mistake?

You feel tears prick at your eyes.

"Can you hold me?" You murmur, and he doesn't even stop to think as he shuts his phone off and pulls you into him, his hand curling into the nape of your neck. His fingernails are lightly scratching at your scalp as he wraps himself around you, allowing you to snuggle into his chest. "I'm scared, Hosh."

You can't hold back the sniffle at that, but you can feel him tuck you further into his embrace. "I won't leave. I promise, I promise you I won't leave." He whispers, and you can hear the waver in his voice. He tries to mask it, pressing soft kisses to your hairline.

"What if this ruins our friendship?" You ask thickly, and you can feel him shake his head above you. "It won't. I won't let it. We can't let it."

He pulls back, his thumb coming to wipe under your eyes carefully. "I don't think I ever told you what I did when we stopped talking that year." "No," You laugh softly, reaching up to wipe his own face. "You didn't." "I slept with like six people that year." He scrunches his nose, before his eyes go wide. "No, five and a half."

"Half?" You question, and he nods. "Does it count? Like, if she went down on me but then her roommate walked in on us and she was too embarrassed to keep going?" "I think so?" "Okay, so six." "You're a slut." "Sue me, I was filling a void." He scoffs, and you just shake your head at him. "You could've just talked to me."

If he’s aware of your hypocrisy, he says nothing. "I am a flawed man, kitty. I have too much pride to admit my mistakes." He sighs, pushing your hair out of your face. "Yet here we are." You say pointedly, making him roll his eyes.

"Anyway, I don't regret this��us." He gestures between the two of you, before clearing his throat. "But, we don't have to speak about it, like, ever again if you do. It'll be like it never happened." Sighing, you roll onto your back, still pressed tightly against his torso. "That never works. I mean, Cheol and Hannie know, now, too." You scrunch your nose a bit at the idea of your friends' relentless teasing awaiting, but he shrugs.

"Cheol owes me for that time I helped him replace his bed frame after Sowon broke it. I still can't believe they're dating, but it makes their chaos like, ten times worse." He groans, and you snicker. "Are we sure it wasn't Seungcheol who broke it? Last I heard, he's a freak." "He probably did, he had a bit of bruising around his wrists and there were cuffs attached to the bedposts." He says pointedly, before the two of you glance at each other quickly.

"No." He tongues his cheek to stop himself from smiling. "I didn't say anything." "You're thinking about it, Soonyoung. Stop it." "You literally let me cum on you."

You grimace up at him, and he snorts. “Sorry.”

“Just order the food, my stomach is about to start eating itself.” You roll your eyes, smacking him when you both feel his phone buzz. He grabs it, and you once more feel your stomach sink.

Msg From: choi yujin [10:49am] hey hoshi…r u busy? can i come over?

“Yikes.” He mutters, and you push the covers off. “I can go—”

“Shut up. Lay down.” He yanks your arm, making you fall back onto the pillows as he messages her back with one hand.

Msg From: choi yujin [10:50am] i am yeah [10:51am] let’s set a date to talk

“What if she wants to dump you?” You ponder aloud, watching as he reopens the Doordash app and adds your food to the cart. He shrugs, selecting an order of french toast. “Then she dumps me. I should care, right?”

You just snort, making him smile inwardly as he wraps his arm around you.

The two of you let your eyes eat, ordering little things and ignoring messages from Yujin. You feel bad, really, because Yujin is a sweet girl and your friend is a bit of an airhead at times.

“I’ll go get it when it’s here.” He yawns, stretching slightly and rebounding to wrap himself around you. “Or, we can bribe Mingyu with that order of eggs benedict we did not need to order.”

“Ha, true.” He nods, shooting a text to the man before tossing his phone behind him. “And kitty?”

“Yes, Soonie?”

“Thank you for trusting me.”

You glance down at him, noting the way his eyes are slightly heavy. You hold in your sigh — carding your fingers through blond locks. “Any time, Soonie.”

PRESENT DAY — November 4th.

Unfortunately (for your achey, breaky heart) — Soonyoung took ‘any time’ literally.

You’d gone home later that afternoon, reluctantly prying yourself from Soonyoung’s arms and wiping a bit of syrup from his french toast off your lip. Not at all put there from him kissing you.

No way.

The two of you had fallen into a bit of a lockstep — he’d decided to add another semester to his schedule, admitting he felt overwhelmed by his classes. You were just happy you’d have your friend around for a bit longer, and most of the other frat brothers felt the same.

However, with great sacrifice comes great responsibility — Soonyoung had a lot of free time, and you were only taking four classes a semester as it was. He would come over to your room at the sorority house, bring you dinner and help you study, and somehow the two of you would end up on your bed with his tongue between your legs. Or with his dick in your throat. Or, a fancier third option — turning the stereo on and fucking like rabbits.

Your housemates learned to hate Novacane by Frank Ocean.

But without fail, this happened at least once a week. Neither of you mentioned it after, with him leaving the next morning with a chaste kiss to your lips and a murmured have a good day, kitty.

Your sorority sisters grew curious, and you admitted to them that the two of you were just fucking around. When word of this got around — because humans love to gossip — Soonyoung came over and the two of you sat down to discuss the dynamics of your…situationship.

And nothing changed.

The two of you admitted to each other that it was odd to behave like this. You were the first to confess that it helped you get your mind off things when you were stressed, to which he agreed. It ended with the two of you agreeing to resort to these meetups once or twice a week — and with him fucking his dick into you so slowly, you cried.

Granted, these meetups did not stop over the summer. Neither of you went home, once more opting to stay on campus for summer courses. This time, though — most of the brothers had gone home, and the two of you could not keep your hands off each other. You reminded yourself to still have to apologize to Chan for fucking in his room.

Not that Soonyoung didn’t already take the brunt of Chan’s wrath, but it was beyond you now.

This being said, your tradition of fucking around on Halloween had been upheld this year — but to the point where when you arrived, Mingyu did not offer you his bottle of Pink Whitney because Soonyoung had gotten you your own. You’d laughed, and Mingyu pouted as the two of you drank together.

Soonyoung found you a little after midnight, and you were barely tipsy when he whispered in your ear, asking if you wanted to go up to the roof. You nodded, putting your cowgirl hat on a rather mopey Mingyu — linking your pinkies with Soonyoung’s as he pulled you upstairs.

The two of you hadn’t seen each other much that week, because you had midterms. He offered you a hit of his joint before grabbing your jaw gently and using it as leverage to kiss you.

That night felt different — he took a bit longer to take your clothes off, he kissed you all over. Not that he didn’t normally do that, but it seemed as though he was trying to absorb you fully. You blamed it on the weed, but let him worship you on the roof of his frat house.

You’d been on top for most of it — he doesn’t usually prefer it that way, Soonyoung was a missionary man through and through. You had noticed his glassy eyes as he ran his hands all over your body, and you asked him twice if he was okay. He nodded, kissing you both times before flipping you onto your back. He’d carried you back down to his room after you finished, locking his door behind him and running a shower for the two of you.

It gave you déjà vu.

That was a week ago. You hadn’t seen Soonyoung since, but a part of you didn’t mind the space. You’d felt a bit more that night, but you just blamed it on the Pink Whitney.

“Hey, pretty.” You look up, seeing Minghao walking towards you with a bag in his hand. The two of you had this study session in the back corner of the library every few days, but neither of you cared to admit that it was just an excuse to gossip together and watch America’s Next Top Model.

“Hey, Hao. How’re you?” You ask coolly, before making a show of opening your laptop and opening Hulu, pressing on ANTM and lowering the volume to mute. He snorts, opening the bag and sliding your portion on the table. “I’m good, pretty. However, I do have some intel from a little bird.”

He looks at you pointedly, and you scoff as you open your food. Inhaling deeply, you sigh before stabbing your fork into the pasta. You shrug, “Okay. What’s your intel?”

“That you and Hoshi fucked on the roof, and there’s photos of you making out.” He bites into a breadstick, and you roll your eyes. “There have been photos of us making out every year. This is nothing new.”

“I’m just saying. None of the photos in years past have had his hands under your shirt so shamelessly.” He shrugs, and you furrow your brow. “Hands under my shirt??”

You had worn a latex halter top. You’d never taken it off, and he’d only moved it aside when the two of you were on the roof to get a full view. “Yeah, you were a sexy cop, right? It’s all over the stupid underground site.”

You glance at him, wiping cream sauce off your lip. “I was a cowgirl, Minghao. I even put my hat on Mingyu.”

His eyes are wide as he chews, before his brows furrow and he gestures at the laptop.

You pause the muted show, shoving your fork into your plate before typing in the website. BetaTOU.com had been a domain purchased by the frat president from twelve years ago so they could share photos without being bitched at by the university. It was also a forum for complaints and suggestions. Everything was neatly kept and tagged with dates to stay organized, and if you wanted any photos taken down they were removed within the hour.

You scroll carefully, eyeing every photo of the frat brothers posted from last week. Mingyu wearing your hat is amongst the first few, and a back shot of you and Soonyoung with your pinkies linked walking up the stairs is right after it. You know it’s you, you can see the bracelet he gave you for your birthday dangling on your wrist.

You keep scrolling — Minghao doing a keg stand, Chan and Seokmin playing beer pong (and Chan getting Iced by Jihoon), and Vernon making out with two girls at once. Slut.

You begin to nibble on your fingernails as you scroll further, finally landing on a photo of Soonyoung and Yujin making out in front of one of the bathrooms at the Beta Tau house. You scoff out a laugh, her hat on his head and his hands, yup, under her shirt.

“Sexy cop, meet a big, fat liar.” You scowl, closing the laptop and jerking back in your chair, pulling your knees up to balance your takeout plate on. Minghao peers at you, watching as you angrily shovel pasta into your mouth. “Slow down, pretty. You’ll choke and I don’t know first aid.”

Shaking your head, “We literally fucked that night, Hao. That had to have happened before, because I literally showered and spent the night in his room.”

If he notes the hurt in your voice, he doesn’t mention it. He sighs instead, shaking his head before his hand finds your limp one in your lap. “Are you guys exclusive?”

“No.” You answer quickly, trying to shrug it off as he squeezes your hand lightly. “Don’t do that, obviously you have feelings for him, Y/N.”

“I do not.” You refute. “And even if I did, there are too many negative factors to being in a relationship with him.”

“Like what?” Minghao rolls his eyes, making you scoff.

“Like the fact that he hasn’t spoken to me all week? Like the fact that he’s a whore?” You say all of this like it’s common knowledge, and Minghao gives you an amused look.

“Not as much as Vernon.”

“Not relevant, Hao.”

Minghao shrugs, sitting back as he tears another piece of his breadstick off. You pout, letting go of his hand the moment you hear your phone buzz on the table. Reaching for it, you hand it to Minghao without a second glance.

“It’s Hoshi.”

“Read it and let me know if I should answer.”

Msg From: Soonyoung 🐯🩷

[4:32pm] kitty [4:34pm] please don’t be upset [4:35pm] can we talk? i can swing by the house tonight?

You roll your eyes, hating the way your nose burns as tears gather in your eyes.

Okay. You weren’t dumb.

You knew you’d catch feelings eventually. It was inevitable — Soonyoung was a good fuck, of course, but…something was different. He was sweet, he was doting and attentive. He soon learned your favorite flavor of electrolytes were never ones the frat kept in stock because Mingyu finished them all, so he bought you your own stash for his bedroom. He invited you to the dance class he taught, urging you to go and watch him dance to Fergalicious with the older women who lived in your college town.

Grimacing at your inner monologue, you reach for your phone from Minghao.

Msg To: Soonyoung 🐯🩷 [4:38pm] why would i be upset [4:39pm] and no, i’ve got things i need to do tonight. sorry.

“The guy is definitely gonna agonize over this tonight.” Minghao mentions, making a smoking motion with his fingers. It makes you crack a smile, and you turn your phone on silent before opening the laptop again, switching back to your show and pressing play.

The two of you avoid your Advanced Calculus work on the table, watching as students file in and out of the library — most of them eyeing your plates of takeout before finding a seat.

You can’t help but think about the photo of Soonyoung and Yujin. You’d never had anything against Yujin, and you never would — it made no sense to resent her when Soonyoung is the one who owed you loyalty.

Not that he actually did, anyway — the two of you were not exclusive. You’d been the one to bring it up. He simply set that in place, sending you his STD panel results every few weeks.

You didn’t have to do the same. You didn’t fuck anyone but him.

Minghao walks you home, the two of you filling the air with chatter of missing Seungcheol, Jeonghan and Joshua. The three had graduated, but had come to the Beta Tau Halloween party to visit. All in tow with their girlfriends, of which Joshua’s was still a student at the University and a part of your sorority — Sana Minatozaki.

“Can we do Thai next week? I know your birthday is on Thursday, and I’m sure you don’t wanna spend it with me.” You snort as you reach the front of the house, seeing Momo and Yerin sitting on the steps with ice cream in their hands. They wave at Minghao, who waves back.

“Nonsense, pretty. It’s a Thursday and I’m tired of parties.” He yawns, stretching slightly. You snicker, giving him a one-armed hug as you bid your goodbye. He doesn’t leave as you trek up the stairs, greeting your sorority sisters as you yank open the front door.

Sighing, you let a bit of emotion take over as a few tears trickle down your face. You jog up the stairs, slipping your sweater off and hanging it on the coat rack by the handrail on the third floor. You wipe at your face, annoyed at the sinking feeling of your heart as you toe your shoes off, shoving them on the shelf by the coat rack.

“Shower. That’s what I need.” You murmur, heading down the hallway to your room. Your door is slightly ajar, but you figure one of your sisters must’ve gone in to borrow something. You get closer, flinging the door open when you reach it and seeing Soonyoung sitting at the foot of your bed with a bag in his hands.

You blink at him, noting the redness in his ears as he takes you in. Neither of you speak, and he watches as you slide your bag into your desk chair, unpacking your belongings onto your desk where they usually go. He stares as you take a sip from your water bottle, before leaning against your desk, arms crossed.

“I can explain.” He starts, and you tongue your cheek. “Explain what? Maybe why you’re in my bedroom? I did say I was busy, Soonyoung.”

“Don’t do that, don’t be mad.” He whines at the sound of his name, and you furrow your brows. “I’m not mad, dude. What are you on?”

“It was a mistake, okay? I was looking for you and she—” You cut him off with a hand in the air, the words you know he hates to hear slipping from your lips.

“We’re not exclusive, Soonyoung. You can kiss whoever you want, you can fuck whoever you want. As long as you keep getting tested and it comes back clean, I don’t care.” You lie through your teeth, and he stands, putting the bag on your desk. You see his hands clench slightly around nothing as they reach his sides.

“I’m still sorry.” He murmurs, and you roll your eyes. Shaking your head, you begin to slip your shirt over your head. “I’m gonna shower. Feel free to stay, or go. I don’t care.”

“Okay.” He flops back on your bed, and you walk into your bathroom silently. Turning the water on, you strip and step inside, basking in the heat of the steam.

What were the two of you really doing? He was going to be the teacher’s assistant in your Zoology class next semester. You couldn’t really risk people thinking you were fucking him for your grades — it would put both of you at risk.

Professor Kwon was also a notoriously absent teacher, with her TAs from the past saying she was rarely in class. However, complaints resulted in simply receiving a large sum of money from her at the end of the year — and you found out through Soonyoung that Professor Kwon was married to the Dean.

And how does Soonyoung know that?

Professor Kwon is his aunt. She trusted that Soonyoung would be able to take over the class because he wasn’t particularly squeamish, and she knew all about his bad habit of sneaking stray kittens into dorm rooms. And his bad habit of being high as fuck — not that she was any better, though her vice was vacations, not weed.

He was smart, Soonyoung. You knew he was — his transcript was full of advanced math and science classes, and you saw one B in the extensive packet. Yes, a packet.

He took Zoology last year, even if it wasn’t part of his major. When you think of it, you don’t even really know what his major is — he just does whatever for the sake of it. It’s like he’s only really here to be entertained — and you don’t blame him.

Your passion for animals is also something that brought you and Soonyoung together. While he cared about the ones in the more vegetative biodomes — savannahs, tropical rainforests…the like. You, on the other hand, were one with the water — you loved fish, cephalopods, crustaceans. You had a small angelfish tattoo on your ankle, one Soonyoung constantly kissed if you were in missionary.

The two of you bonded over documentaries, even if the night ended with the two of you fooling around. You remember the night you watched Aliens of The Deep — you tied him to your radiator because he wouldn’t stop grinding his dick against your ass. You fucked him after, sure, but James Cameron deserved to have his documentary cherished.

Wringing your hair out of excess water, you step out of the shower, grabbing your towel off the rack and wrapping it around yourself. Opening the door, you see Soonyoung lying on your bed with his eyes closed, earphones plugged into his phone. As you lean closer, you hear a song reminiscent of Fergie’s Big Girls Don’t Cry.

Snorting, you nudge his leg with your foot, making him peel his eyes open. He pulls out one of the earphones, “Yes?”

“What are you doing? Why are you listening to Fergie?” You ask, moving past him to rummage your dresser for underwear. He sighs, “Because I feel bad.”

“Soonyoung, you kissed Yujin. It’s not the end of the world.” You say pointedly, feeling him get up and crowd your space. You feel his lips press to your damp shoulder, “You say that, but I feel like I betrayed you or something.”

Scoffing, you turn, tucking the corner of your towel under your armpit. “You fuck plenty of other girls. Why is kissing Yujin any different?”

“I only kiss you.” He says, making you roll your eyes. “I’m supposed to believe you?”

“Yes. I only kiss you when we fuck. I only kiss you in general. I don’t kiss the other girls, not that there have been many since this started.” He states matter-of-factly, and you struggle not to roll your eyes again. “You send me your STD results every few weeks, Soonyoung. That means there are other girls.”

“There hasn’t been for a few months. I just get tested regularly because it’s a habit. And they give me free condoms and lube so I save money.” He shrugs, making you scoff out a laugh.

“Soonyoung—”

“Stop, I don’t like it when you call me that.”

You eye him, “That’s your name.”

He shakes his head, “Not to you, it’s not. You only call me that when you’re mad.” His fingers push your hair off your face, and it takes all your willpower not to lean into his touch. He notices your internal struggle, curling his fingers around the shell of your ear, playing with your piercings carefully.

“I don’t want you to see other people.” He blurts, making your eyes go wide before you furrow your brows. Crossing your arms across your chest, you frown. “You see other people.”

“Then punish me for it. I’ll even let you tie me to the radiator again.” He’s flushing beet red, his hand now toying with a loose thread on your towel. It’s oddly reminiscent of your first (or…second) time together. “I’ll even leave you alone for a few weeks, if you want. I won’t fuck anyone else, either.”

You feel a bit taken aback at his offers, knowing that Soonyoung wouldn’t bring any of it up if he didn’t truly feel as though he’d wronged you. “Soonyoung, I really mean it. I’m not upset.”

You’re lying, but you also know his form of apologizing is just way too sincere. You can’t, in good faith, let him simmer in the guilt any longer. Probably why he didn’t speak to you for a week.

He doesn’t reply, opting to glance at the corner of your towel. He reaches for it, his eyes meeting yours as if asking for permission. You blink in response, untucking the towel on your own accord. He hesitates as his knuckles brush the skin of your hips, making you shiver. The towel drops as he leans in to kiss you, and you notice you don’t mind the slightly chapped lips.

He kisses you deeply, like he wants you to know his innermost feelings. His arm circles around your waist, pulling you flush to him as his other hand holds your face gingerly. “I’m sorry, kitty.” He murmurs against your lips, not bothering to allow you to respond as he reconnects your lips, walking backwards towards your bed.

His knees hit the edge of the bed, and he sits, pulling you onto his lap. The soft material of his sweatpants tented up around his cock, brushing against your center as you lean the two of you back, his back hitting your comforter. He maneuvers the two of you fully onto the bed, his head resting against your pillows as you lick into his mouth. His fingers circle your upper thighs, urging you to lift yourself up.

“What’s wrong?” You scan his eyes, feeling him push you further, your hands now on either side of his head. “I wanna show you how sorry I am. Sit on my face, suffocate me.”

You hadn’t done this yet. He’d asked in sessions past, but you’d been a bit hesitant. “What about you, though? I don’t—”

“Don’t worry about me.” He kisses you softly again, fingers tapping the backs of your thighs to urge you higher. “Are you sure?”

“If I die, I die happy.” He shrugs, and you sigh as you inch up, before grabbing your headboard for moral support. You sink down slowly, feeling his nose bump your clit slightly. You hover for a moment, hearing him sigh before pulling you down the rest of the way.

His tongue is flat against your pussy, making you shiver and clench around nothing. He licks at you with precision, gathering your arousal before wrapping his lips around your clit with a soft suck. You bite back a whine, your hips grinding against his face involuntarily. He moans against you, digging his dull nails into your hips.

You continue rocking against him, soft moans from your lips as he eagerly takes whatever you give him. Your fingers card through his hair, tugging gently as you feel the heat start to pool in your belly. His hand wanders up, skilled fingers rolling your nipple between them at the same pace of your clit being swirled by his tongue.

“Soonie—” You whimper, canting your hips a little faster as he runs his hands all over your body, groaning against your pussy. Your thighs clench around his head as you cum, feeling slightly overstimulated as his tongue fucks into you slowly. You try to get up, but your shaky legs betray you as Soonyoung pulls you back down, the slurping sound from his mouth obscene as you twitch in his hold. “S’too much…”

Pushing his head back, you pry yourself out of his hold, shakily settling yourself next to him. You take a glance at him, his eyes closed as the back of his hand wipes his mouth. “Am I forgiven?”

“You were never in trouble, Soonie.” You roll your eyes, flopping your head against his shoulder. He scoffs, “You’re my best friend. I’m pretty sure I can tell when you’re upset with me.”

Hearing you huff, he knows he’s right. He smiles, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “You don’t need to finish?” You murmur, eyeing the strain of his cock against his sweatpants.

He shakes his head, “I don’t deserve it right now. I hurt you, and that was shitty of me.”

You sigh. “So what does this mean?”

“It means I want to be exclusive. You’re the only girl I hang out with, anyway.” He shrugs, a pained look on his face as adjusts himself in his pants. You feel some guilt settle in your stomach at this, and you shake your head. “I don’t think we should keep doing this, actually.”

He glances down at you, before you sit up and slide off your bed. You move back to your dresser, digging out random clothes and pulling them on as he stares.

“What?”

“I want to focus on school.” You wince as the sentence slips past your lips. It wasn’t a lie, you did want to — but it was also because he’d be your TA next semester. Better to cut the cord now than continue to put yourselves at risk of being found out.

“So you’re…what? Are we still friends?”

You look over at him, an obviously hurt expression on his face as he brings his knees to his chest. “Of course we’re still friends, Soonie.”

He nods, tonguing his cheek as he stands up. “Sure thing. I’m sorry if my expectations made you uncomfortable.” His smile doesn’t reach his eyes as he grabs his shoes at the door, and you blink at him.

“You’re not…You’re leaving?” You gape, and he gives you a quizzical look. “What, did you want to cuddle?”

It doesn’t have any malice behind it. His tone is level, it’s friendly. But you can’t help and feel a bit small at his words. He gives you a curt nod. “I’ll see you later, Y/N.”

And he closes the door behind him. You scoff out a breath, feeling a tear spill down your cheek as you run your hands through your hair. It’s still damp at the roots, and you just shake your head to yourself as you remember the bag he set on your desk.

You click your tongue at it, before ripping it open. It’s a Jellycat octopus in blue and a handmade card. It has doodles of fish all over it in colored pencil, and an angelfish holding a badly drawn tiger in the corner. You open it to see his handwriting messily scrawled across the cardstock.

Hi, Kitty.

I assume by this point you’ve seen the photos on BTOU, and I’m sorry that I’ve been avoiding you all week. I saw them on Wednesday morning right when I was going to leave to ask if you wanted to get breakfast with me, so I made the dumbass decision to just ghost entirely. It was an asshole move and I’m sorry.

I did want to talk to you, though. And it’s totally fine if you don’t agree, I just figured I’d give it a shot?

The two of us are…relatively close. I mean, I can’t think of anyone I trust more than you…you’ve seen me in various stages of my life. Uhm, I’m not ready for a relationship but I’m also unsure if we’re on the same page about that, so I wanted to ask if we could, for the rest of the year, make this an exclusive…situation? I don’t see other people and neither do you?

I guess that’s like dating. We can talk about it more in person, if you want. Maybe we can come to a consensus and I don’t know. But you get me, right? You always get me.

Anyway. I’m sorry. And I hope you’ll accept this card and the little octopus guy as a token of my sincere appreciation for you. I named him Inky Minaj, but feel free to change it.

Yours (hopefully),

Hoshi ♡🐯

You don’t realize you’re crying until you see a tear drop right onto his doodle of a tiger next to his name. The octopus stares back at you, and you sniffle as you put it on your bed.

This is for the best. It has to be. Kwon Soonyoung cannot like you and you cannot like him.

January 13th.

“Hello, everyone! I am Professor Kwon, and this is Zoology!”

The dreaded class was finally here.

You and Soonyoung were a bit awkward at first — sure, the initial sting of rejection made him distance himself a bit, but he got over it pretty quickly. He came over to the house often, bringing takeout with him and new documentaries he’d rented from the university’s library. He always stayed at least a foot away from you — in early December, he’d accidentally kissed you in greeting, leading the rest of the hangout to be full of unresolved tension.

So much so that he left early.

Aside from that incident, it was like the two of you had never seen each other naked. You both scrunched your noses at your friends’ jabs, leaving them with confused looks. Minghao was the one to tell the frat brothers the news that the two of you were no longer sleeping together.

Minghao also knew that you had a raging heart boner for Soonyoung. He was all you’d talked about in the passing weeks — Minghao even subjected his family to your babble about Soonyoung when he answered your FaceTime calls over winter break. He sighed as you droned on about the man, but allowed it anyway.

“This is my Teacher’s Assistant, Kwon Soonyoung. You will be seeing more of him than of me this year, I have a very crammed schedule. This being said, Soonyoung will go through the syllabus with you and the first lesson of the semester. I will be here on Wednesday, so don’t fret! You still get to have one-on-one time with me.” Professor Kwon smiles, and you glance at Soonyoung, who is already looking at you. You raise your brows, and he shrugs, making a smoking motion.

He’s stoned.

Professor Kwon bids her goodbyes, leaving a very stoned Soonyoung to take over her class. A few girls in the front (that you don’t recognize) are giggling as he passes out the paper syllabus.

“Kitty.” He murmurs with a soft smirk as he slides your paper on your desk, and you scowl. “Shut up.”

He just smiles as he starts walking around and talking about the syllabus — how you can only miss six classes this semester but if you’re nice, he’ll count you present anyway. How his favorite lesson is the one about the three-spined stickleback fish, and how it’s refreshed at least three or four times throughout the course. He talks about how he fully believes that the Bubonic Plague was an experiment made by the government to kill innocent rodents and that his office hours are generally whenever, just shoot me an email.

The class wraps up rather quickly, with Soonyoung assigning reading based on the ethology of geese. You snort at it, hiking your bag over your shoulder as everyone starts to file out. He grabs your elbow as you walk past him, earning a few looks from the girls who had been giggling earlier — and drapes his arm over your shoulders as the two of you saunter out together.

“What the fuck was that for?” You ask as he walks the both of you towards your place, and he shrugs. “They were staring a little hard.”

“What, so I’m your saving grace?” You roll your eyes, but don’t push him away as he tucks you further into his chest. Soonyoung had always been touchy, so you didn’t care. “Of course. I don’t want to deal with a bunch of sophomores hitting on me.”

“Oh, because Kwon Soonyoung, frat boy and resident weed dealer is sooo desirable.” You mock, and he snorts. “I mean, you fucked me for a year, I would hope I’m desirable.”

You elbow him right in the ribs, making him let out a pained noise as he smacks your arm lightly. “What’d you do that for?! I’m not wrong!”

“Whatever! Anyway, are you going to the stoplight party this weekend? We’re hosting.” You ask, fishing your phone out of your pocket to send him the invite. “Oh, I’m not sure. I'm gonna take Seungkwan out for dinner on Thursday, and I’m probably hanging out with Luda on Saturday.”

He stretches, and you feel your stomach sink.

Lee Luda was what the campus referred to as a frat sweetheart. Her family had a huge legacy of going to SNU, and her father actually owned the property where the Alpha Psi Delta fraternity house was built. She was very close with the entire fraternity and had been involved in their charity and party planning since she was a freshman, her ex-boyfriend being a junior and her brother a senior when she was elected.

She was very sweet, very smart and extremely pretty. You'd gotten to know her a bit last year, she was a Biology major and you shared a lot of the same courses.

“Oh. They’re throwing a birthday party for Juyeon, right?” You nod as he does the same, before looping your arms together. “Come on, I’ll treat you to lunch and you can tell me how good I did on my first day as your TA.”

“What is it with you and ratings?”

He just laughs, pulling you closer again. You pretend your cheeks don’t burn at the proximity and the soft scent of his cologne.

January 18th.

It seemed the first week back from holidays really did a number on the student body — nearly everyone who came to the stoplight party hosted by your sorority was white-girl wasted. Seungkwan profusely cried over the little cupcake you presented him, apologizing for his birthday being on a Thursday. He took it and you later found him with strawberry frosting all over his chin and mouth.

It was well past two in the morning, and the party was still going pretty strong. You, Momo and Yerin were running around topping off drinks and manning stations, and you had sent Chan and Minghao to get more liquor from the store down the road. They were the only sober ones amongst the Beta Tau brothers, and Mingyu was dancing on the coffee table with Wonwoo and Jun — all of them wasted off Pink Whitney.

That damn Pink Whitney.

You roll your eyes as you clean up, humming along to Kid Cudi when you sense a disturbance in the force.

“Hey!” You hear someone shout over the music, and you turn to see Soonyoung, Luda and Juyeon next to you. Soonyoung and Luda have grabbed yellow cups, and Juyeon has a red one. You see a few more of the Delta brothers stroll in behind them, helping themselves to the alcohol on your table.

“Hey! What’re you guys doing here? I thought you were celebrating Juyeon!” You shout back, and Luda shrugs. “Yeah, well Sangyeon and Hyunjae said you guys were having a stoplight! You don’t mind, right? Hyunjae said you were cool!”

You shake your head, gesturing to the bottles. “Not at all! Help yourselves, but Minghao and Chan should be back soon with more Malibu and Svedka.”

Luda gives you a cheery smile and grabs for the Everclear, and you bid the men behind her a quick goodbye as you continue into the kitchen to clean up. You grimace at the sight of vomit in the corner by your pantry, and you open your fridge to get out some baking soda when you see Soonyoung’s feet in front of you.

You glance up at him, seeing a quizzical look as you grab the baking soda. “What’s up, Hosh?” You ask, before squatting by the vomit to sprinkle the baking soda on it.

“You’re wearing red!” He says, gesturing to your red dress. You look down at the dress you were wearing — you’d bought it last year, and wore it to his birthday dinner. He’d stared at you the entire evening before dragging you out to his car and fucking you in the parking lot.

Safe to say that neither of you went back into the restaurant.

“Oh, this? I just don’t feel like flirting tonight.” You shrug, and he leans against the counter when you speak again. “You have a yellow cup! Why?”

“Seeing someone here and there.” He shrugs, and you nod, choosing to swallow your questions. When the fuck did he even find the time?

“Nice!” You exclaim, putting the wet sign over the vomit and deciding to deal with it later. You stand, tugging your dress down your legs a bit more before giving him a curt nod and exiting the kitchen.

Minghao and Chan had arrived and helped Yerin and Momo haul in the liquor, stacking it across the table in the dining area. Hyunjae and Sangyeon had joined Vernon, Jihoon and Seokmin in playing beer pong on the second floor, and you hauled ass up the stairs to join in. Vernon is holding a lit joint between his fingers as he makes the bitch cup, a scowl on his face as Sangyeon chuckles.

“Hey, Vern. Can I take a hit?” You tap his shoulder, and he hands it to you before ruffling your hair. “Hey, pretty. Why’re you here? Not having fun downstairs?”

“Shut up and drink your bitch cup.” You roll your eyes, and he smirks as he downs the cup. He rearranges his cups into a different shape, and Sangyeon sinks a few as you finish off Vernon’s spliff.

“Damn, what’s got you so stressed out?” He asks, taking what's left and popping it between his lips. “Ugh, nothing. I’m just annoyed.” You roll your eyes as their game ends, and you grab a few beer cans to start a new one.

“I didn’t know you were dating someone, Y/N!” You hear Hyunjae call from the end of the table, and you just smile and shake your head. “I’m not! I just don’t feel like dry humping a stranger tonight.”

“I’m not a stranger.” Sangyeon says, and you look up at him. He’s peering at you over his cup, the green reflecting off his silver watch. “You’re right.” You shrug, and finish pouring the cups.

“Way to be subtle.” Vernon rolls his eyes, and you smirk. “Don’t worry, Nonnie. You’ll find someone tonight.” Pinching his cheek, you shove him with your hip and settle between him and Jihoon, who steadies you with his hand ghosting over your back. Seokmin makes the first shot for the other team, the ball bouncing into the first cup.

You play for a bit, grimacing every time you down the cups of beer. Eventually, you decide it’s time to just chill in the lounge, and Sangyeon, Jihoon and Hyunjae agree. Seokmin and Vernon admit they’re probably going to raid the fridge for snacks, and you give them a go-ahead as the other men follow you up to the lounge on the third floor.

You see a few of your sisters there, including Jennie and one of the graduated Beta Tau Sigma brothers, Taehyung. They’re canoodling on one of the beanbags, and she glances up at you as you flop onto the couch on the other side of the room.

“Hey, Y/N.” She calls gently, and you look up to see her holding her thumb up, moving it down to see how you’re feeling. You hold a thumbs up, and she nods, returning to her boyfriend. The guys that came with you are sprawled across the floor, with Sangyeon being the only one on the couch with you.

“The room is spinning.” Hyunjae pouts, and you let out a laugh when you hear the door open, looking up to see Vernon and Seokmin with their hands full of snacks, and Soonyoung in after them. He holds up a bag of pre-rolls, and you hold your hand out.

“Is that how you ask, kitty?” Soonyoung rolls his eyes, fishing one out as you kneel on the couch, pushing the window behind you open. He tugs your skirt down a bit, and you turn back around to see him lighting the joint for you. “It’s lemon balm. I know you like those the best.”

“Thanks, Kwon.” You nod, taking it between your fingers as he sits on the floor, moving his head to be cradled by your knees. Your heels dig into his chest, and he peels off your shoes and tossed them to the side. Jennie and Taehyung slip out, with Jennie giving you a thumbs up once more. Once you mirror it, she’s out.

The group is quiet, seemingly trying to come down from their drunkenness when Sangyeon speaks. “Why kitty?”

“Huh?” Soonyoung looks up, and Sangyeon takes a sip from his cup. “You called Y/N kitty. Why?”

“Oh. I was a cat at the Halloween party we met at.” You shrug, and you notice Soonyoung’s brows furrow a bit. “That, and she has a kitty tattooed on her hip.”

You swat his shoulder, making him giggle when Sangyeon nods with wide eyes. “And how do you know that?”

“They used to fuck.” Vernon speaks up, popping a cheese curl into his mouth with the utmost nonchalant shrug. You gape at him, and he shoots you a wink. “Thanks, Hansol. Air out my business, why don’t you?”

“Okay. She also-”

Jihoon claps his hand over Vernon’s mouth, and you roll your eyes as you offer the joint around the group. Hyunjae declines, handing it to Sangyeon. He gives you a glance, seeing you’re already looking at him.

"Isn't Hoshi the Zoology TA? Can't you guys get in some kind of trouble for that?" Hyunjae calls from the floor, making Soonyoung roll his eyes and Sangyeon clears his throat next to you. You glance at him, a stoney look on your face as you gesture to the lit joint in his hand. You're sure they want an answer – but if Soonyoung doesn't say anything, you sure as shit won't.

Taking the hit, Sangyeon passes it back to you and blows the smoke up and out. “That’s really smooth. Do you make these yourself, Hosh?”

“Yeah. It’s just a hobby.” He shrugs, lighting his own up and holding it between his lips. You roll your eyes, “This is also the same guy who rescues kittens for freshmen, teaches a dance class from seven to eight and a self-defense class from eight to nine every Tuesday and Thursday.”

“Oh, that’s actually pretty cool. How much do you sell for?” Sangyeon asks, his eyes a little lower as he looks at you instead of Soonyoung, who is glaring. “I don’t, it’s free.”

“I tell him that he’s a horrible business magnate, Mr. President.” You tilt your own joint at him, and he smiles. “Mr. President?”

“Yeah! Aren’t you the Alpha Psi Delta President? I thought I heard about that from Luda last year.” You rest your head on the couch cushion, and notice the way he bites his lip as his eyes trail your body, before he meets your eyes with a nod.

You’re not the only one who notices.

Clearing his throat, Vernon tries to cut the weird tension in the air. “How about we play a game? Truth or dare, or something?”

“I’m the only girl up here, you better not make me do weird shit or your ass is grass.” You threaten, making him smile widely. “Why, I’d never—”

“Shut up, you were the same one who dared her to streak last year.” Seokmin shoves Vernon, and the group hears the door open — Luda, Minghao and Chan trail in with Yerin and Momo in tow.

“Hey, guys!” Luda greets, and you feel Soonyoung nearly rip himself away from you to greet her. “Hey, Lu.”

“What’re we doing up here?” She asks, taking a seat next to Soonyoung. You grimace inwardly, before feeling Sangyeon’s hand on your knee. He gives you a look that says fix your face, and you inch closer to him now that Soonyoung is literally feet away from you.

“We were gonna do a round of truth or dare.” Jihoon pipes up from the floor, and you smile as the guy covers his eyes. Luda grins, “I’m in! Who’s gonna start?”

You wait until everyone settles, but you catch Minghao’s eyes. He gives you a confused look, his gaze darting to Sangyeon’s hand on your lap. You give him a hard look, and he just shakes his head as Hyunjae sits up to start the game.

“Okay, Luda.” He clears his throat, and she sits up at the sound of her name. “Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“Boring!” Momo pipes up, and a soft giggle spreads through the group. Sangyeon inches a little closer to you, his thigh now touching yours as he rests his hand a little higher on your leg. It’s subtle enough. “What’s your body count?”

She snorts. “Four. Isn’t yours in the double digits?” She teases Hyunjae, who scoffs. “Uh, not that it’s any of your business, but my body count is three.”

The group laughs again, and you find yourself leaning your head against Sangyeon, who props his arm behind you. “Okay, uhm…Y/N!”

You hear Luda call your name, and you give her a wiggle of your brows. “Hit me.”

“Truth or dare?”

“Let’s go…truth. I’ll play it safe.” You shrug, and she smiles. Almost like a cheshire cat, like she knows all your secrets. “Would you sleep with anyone in this room?”

You look around, getting a suggestive brow wiggle from Seokmin and bursting into laughter. “Yeah. I mean, I have. It wouldn’t be weird, I think.”

“Oh, really? Who?” She probes, and you shake your finger at her. “It’s Truth or Dare, not Truth and Explain Yourself.”

She laughs, and you look around the room for your target. “Vernon, truth or dare?”

“I’ll bite, give me a dare.” He pops another cheese curl in his mouth, and you feel your lips tug up at the corners. “I dare you to text Jisun and tell her your feelings for her.”

“Is this payback for last year? It was either that or skinny dipping.” He says pointedly, and you only shrug. “Text her or you’re a wimp.”

“It’s like, twenty degrees outside, Y/N. What if I just streak and risk getting pneumonia?” He feigns distress, and you feel Sangyeon’s fingers gently caressing your shoulder. Is this foreplay?

“Alright, we can do a dare for a dare. Give me something to do, and if I chicken out, you don’t have to text her.” You take a hit of your joint, leaning forward and feeling Sangyeon’s arm fall down your back, fingers now holding your hip lightly. Vernon sees this, clicking his tongue. “Fine. I dare you to makeout with Sangyeon.”

You blink at Vernon, hearing the group collectively ooooh. You scoff, “That’s it? That’s tame as hell, Hansol.”

“You can’t fuck him.” He states, and you smile. “I’m only a woman, Vernon. I have needs.”

“Is anyone going to ask Sangyeon if he’s okay with that?” Luda interjects, and you can sense a bit of a bite in her tone. Sangyeon shrugs, “If Y/N’s cool then I’m cool.”

“How will we even know if they made out? They could lie.” She tries, and you smile at her. “I’m not shy, if you want to watch or something.” You tease, watching her cheeks turn beet red. She shakes her head, and Vernon gives you a pointed look.

“So? What do you say, pipsqueak?”

“Prepare to admit your feelings to the love of your life, Chwe.”

You get up, tugging Sangyeon up with you. You feel a pair of eyes on you, but when you glance over your shoulder, you see Soonyoung glaring at the two of you as you open the door. “We’ll be back.”

You lead him to your bedroom down the hall, hearing him clear his throat as you push the door open and are met with darkness. You fumble with the lamp on your desk for mood lighting, and he smiles down at you.

“We don’t have to.” He murmurs, tucking a lock of your hair behind your ear. His fingers aren’t as soft as Soonyoung’s. You shake your head, “If you’re down, I’m down. It’s been a while.”

He just smiles, tilting your head to meet your lips halfway. His lips are softer…you kind of miss the chapped feeling. You sigh into the kiss, your hands moving to his waist as he moves the two of you towards your bed. His hands trail down your waist, cupping your ass as he falls back onto your bed, pulling you on top of him. He groans softly as you adjust in his lap, and you feel his hips cant up.

"Sorry, sorry." He mumbles, making you laugh. "Eagerness is never a bad thing." The kissing is fine. It's a little desperate, a little messy as you grind down on him, but it's not Soonyoung. You pull away, a pout on your lips as the heady feeling of him against your core fills your head. "Not into it, huh?" He asks, and a part of you thinks he's admitting to it, too.

"You like Luda, don't you?" You ask pointedly, and his eyes go wide. "How the fuck–" "Kind of hard not to notice when she's jumping the gun to save you from my grasp." You laugh, rolling off him to stare at your ceiling. Your arm brushes something soft, and you glance up to see the Jellycat octopus from Soonyoung, Inky Minaj.

"How long did you and Hoshi sleep together?" He asks, and you sigh. "About a year. We were playing some stupid game of cat and mouse for my first three years as a student here, then we fucked at the Halloween rager the frat holds every year. Neither of us remembered it, so we fucked the next morning and the rest is history."

He looks at you, and you peer at him through low eyes. "What?" "Nothing. Just kind of sounds like you like him." He says matter-of-factly, and you snort. "Yeah. Yeah, I do. I kind of lied to myself for a while. I guess…I think once I realized that maybe he was starting to like me, I stopped it. I don't know. And him being my TA for Zoology definitely made me want to tread lightly."

He nods, shifting uncomfortably. "Luda slept with him a few weeks ago. Around my birthday, I think." You shoot up almost immediately, turning to face him. "Luda and Soonyoung slept together? When? When is your birthday?" His face contorts into one that speaks I fucked up. "You didn't know? I thought you guys were like, best friends?"

"When, Sangyeon?" You probe, slapping his knee as he grimaces. "I don't know, like the eighth of November? I was out of town." "That son of a bitch." You scoff, and stand up. "Well. Let's go. I need Vernon to hop off my dick about his feelings and hop on Jisun's about them." "Maybe we should wait until you're not upset, Y/N." He says gently, and you groan. "I'm not upset, Soonyoung can fuck whoever he wants, whenever he wants. I'm not his keeper." "But you want to be, don't you?" He says pointedly, and you huff in response. "Come on, Mr. President. I've got a point to prove, and it's that I don't need Kwon Soonyoung to get laid." "We all already know that, pretty." He rolls his eyes, allowing you to lead him out. He shuts your door, and makes it a big show of fixing your skirt and wiping his lips of your gloss as you open the door to the lounge. Soonyoung and Luda are draped across the couch, and you lock eyes with him the moment you step inside the room. Minghao, unable to read the room for the first time, turns and cheers.

"Woo! How was it?" He asks, taking a swig from the bottle of Pink Whitney that somehow made its way upstairs. "Pretty good." You admit shyly, feeling Sangyeon sit on the ground with you. He pulls you onto his lap, and you give Vernon a knowing look.

"You gotta do it, Chwe." "Oh, come on! You hate me!" "I don't hate you, but I sure am tired of hearing you mope about Jisun." "How are you even coherent right now? You had two spliffs and a shitload of beer." You smile, wiggling your fingers for his phone. "Give it here, Chwe." He groans, handing it over to you. You unlock it, not unable to shake Soonyoung's eyes off you. You know he's eyeing the man holding you, because he shifts under you and even brushes the hem of your dress. You smirk to yourself as you scroll to Vernon's conversation with Jisun, seeing a pre-drafted message sitting in the text box.

Msg To: Roh Jisun (the loml who doesn't know she's the loml yet)

[4:31am] hi jisun. i just wanted to say that uhh i've liked you for a while and i know it's late (or early….wtv you prefer) and i do not expect you to answer this at all (because i'm a wimp) but if it's not a bother, i'd like to take you out. to dinner, maybe, or whatever you'd like to do. i know you like making jewelry, though, i know this cool jeweler in the city who does like,,,classes. maybe? sorry this is so awkward i'm nervous.

You read over it, and look at Vernon. He's blushing deeply, and you smile softly. "Just send it, Nonnie." "What if she says no?" "What if she says yes?" Momo speaks up, and you see her also taking a sip from the bottle of Pink Whitney. The group echoes her, and Vernon sighs. "Okay, fine. Fine! I'll send it and if she says no I'll just…act normal." He turns the screen to face everyone, pressing send with his ring finger and fully launching the phone across the room. "Well! That's that!" He smiles, reaching for the bottle of Pink Whitney and taking a long drink.

"Who's next?"

February 7th.

Zoology with Soonyoung was not nearly as bad as you thought it was going to be. He stayed true to his word – if you were cool, he marked you present. If you were a douche, he marked you absent. His office hours were erratic, and you found it increasingly difficult to get a hold of him for the first few classes. He was always helping another classmate, or busy with his classes at the dance studio.

In other news, Sangyeon was avoiding you like the fucking plague. You'd waved at him a few days after the party, when you noticed a bruise blooming on his cheekbone. He greeted you quickly, before leaving you practically in the dust. Luda was also increasingly cold to you, but you just assumed it was over one of the boys – whether it was Soonyoung or Sangyeon was beyond you.

Vernon actually managed to woo Jisun. She was charmed by his general awkwardness, and when she texted you about it, you laughed and told her that it was the most outward emotion you'd seen him exude since you'd known the guy. She laughed and said he was sweet, and that she'd let you know how the date went. Vernon screamed in your messages about it and stated "I hope you get the best head in the world."

Speaking of getting the best head in the world, you finally caught Soonyoung in the hallway today, asking him if you could have an impromptu study session in the library later. He sighed, checking his watch and agreeing rather reluctantly. You grimaced, and told him you didn't have to ask him, you could very well just join the Zoology study group that met twice a week.

He apologized and said he'd book the study room for five, and that he'd meet you there.

Well, it's now six and the two of you have done nothing but bicker. You'd asked about Lorenz and what he meant about the transposibility of key stimuli, to which he'd just scoffed and said that you'd know all about key stimuli.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" You spit, and he just shook his head. "Whatever. Key stimuli is just something that can trigger specific sensory information in an animal's brain. So certain shapes, colors, sounds, even gestures and behaviors can trigger an animal to act in a certain manner." You sucked your teeth, jotting down his words before speaking. "Do you know what happened to Sangyeon?" He almost snaps his neck looking up at you, brows furrowed as he shakes his head. "No? Why does that even matter, aren't we supposed to be studying?" You raise a brow at him, "Why are you so defensive, dude? I'm just asking you if you know what happened. He and Luda have been avoiding me like I have lice." "Get a monkey." He shrugs, looking back down at his phone. He's scrolling mindlessly, and you huff as you put down your pen. "Alright. What's the problem, Soonyoung?" He winces slightly, before shaking his head. "Don't know what you mean. Do you understand now? Or do you still need to understand the difference between key stimuli and releasers? People have been asking all week about that." You frown, feeling your throat a bit tight as you sit up. "Why are you acting like this?" You murmur, and he must hear something in your voice that makes him look up. "Acting like what?" "Like you can't stand to be in the same room as me." "That's not true." He rolls his eyes, and you scoff. "It sure seems like it. I ask you a question about class, you're rude. I mention Sangyeon and Luda, you're annoyed and irritated. Did I do something? Are you upset with me?" It seems your prodding has been more of you poking the bear, because he sucks his teeth and slides his phone onto the table. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I am upset with you. And you did do something." "Okay? So tell me what it is so we can fix it." You state, and he laughs dryly. "We? There is no we in you and Sangyeon making out like a pair of lovesick idiots at the stoplight party. He was practically eye fucking you the entire time you were together."

"I don't see what the hell that has to do with you, Soonyoung." You retort, and he shakes his head. "I just don't understand why you'd make me feel like there was something between us and then go and make out with some other guy. He likes Luda, you know, so it's not like it would have gone anywhere." His tone is bitter, and you can recognize he's saying all of this to hurt your feelings. Maybe because he's hurt, and he feels disappointed in his own choices. Nonetheless, it gets under your skin and hits just the right bullseye for you to explode.

"Where the fuck do you get off telling me what I can and can't do with my life, Soonyoung? You and I both agreed that this wasn't mutually exclusive, and Sangyeon and I just made out! You and I haven’t even fucked since we stopped last year, so I don't understand why your panties are in a twist!" You exclaim, and he scoffs out a breath of disbelief.

"You know what, maybe this entire thing was a fucking mistake. I should've never asked for there to even be an 'us', because if I knew I was going to feel this way knowing that you can just do whatever or whoever you want–" You cut him off before he can finish. "Is that what you think I'm doing? I've literally rejected so many people in just the past year because you were acting like you couldn't live without me! So what if I kissed Sangyeon? So what if I did? Forgive me for thinking that maybe you changed your mind about me and how you felt about me after you slept with Luda! You're not the only one who felt led on, you know?!" Your breathing is heavy as you finish yelling, with Soonyoung blinking at you, ears red. "You know about that?" His voice is almost ashamed. Almost.

"If you didn't want to make this an exclusive thing, or make the people around us think we were together, you should've stopped pulling me into random bedrooms to fuck and kissing me in the kitchen of the frat. Maybe don't buy me a Jellycat Octopus and say you want to be exclusive with me if you're just going to pull this sort of shit." You feel tears sting your eyes as you rip your bag off the chair in front of you, feeling your throat tighten as you grab your remaining things off the table. "Y/N-" "You know, it may be taking you five years to finish your degree, but I want to finish mine on time. Have a good life, Soonyoung. Don't call me." You spit, watching his jaw drop slightly before tightening. "I won't." "Good." "Great." "Fine."

He watches as you slam the door behind you, feeling his stomach sink damn near into the ground as he sees the sweater you were wearing still hanging across the back of your chair. "Fine."

February 14th.

It'd been a week since your fight with Soonyoung.

He'd unfollowed you on Instagram, and seemingly decided to pretend as though you didn't exist. He didn't acknowledge you if you were over at the frat for Minghao, and he certainly didn't speak to you. You'd asked him to pass you the salt when you'd gone over yesterday for a Valentine's dinner party with the brothers, and he just left the table without a word. It was embarrassing enough that you asked Minghao to walk you home.

What you didn't know was that the fellow girlfriends of his frat brothers spoke to him about his behavior. Sana and Jisun called Sowon over FaceTime and even had Seungcheol talk to him, and he stood there and took the scolding like a puppy with his tail between his legs. Seungcheol told him that his behavior towards you wasn't going to get you to forgive him, much less be with him and that he understood that Soonyoung felt negatively about your actions – but that Soonyoung cannot be upset about it because he had his chance and he blew it by making out with Yujin at the Halloween party.

Talk about key stimuli. Bad behavior does not get rewarded.

He'd been left with his own thoughts after that, and he stared at all the little trinkets he had that reminded him of you. The sweater you left in the library was hung over his desk chair, and it still smelled of your citrusy perfume. The piggy bank you got him for his birthday was sitting on his bookshelf, still stuffed full with new bills you put in before giving it to him. You'd also given him a few items of clothing that reminded you of him, one of which being an oversized black sweater with your initials embroidered in the sleeve. He frequently wore it unless he was sure he'd be seeing you.

He didn't know why. It just felt nice to…feel like he belonged to you.

"Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!" He's standing in front of the class, and the sophomore girls in the front of the room coo at his cheerfulness. You're sitting behind them, a sour expression on your face as he dims the lights, a baggy navy cardigan draped over your shoulders. You didn't like that one as much as the one you'd left in the library.

"In honor of this pseudo holiday, we're going to go over the most romantic of animals. Consider this a free class, because this is definitely not on the syllabus or in the curriculum, I just like to talk about it." He smiles, and the group of girls aww again, and you make a face as he turns the projector to the next slide.

"Naturally, you have the ones you've heard of the most. Penguins, seahorses, swans, and doves. Shit, even elephants are said to mate for life, and become extremely depressed if their lover suddenly passes or, in some cases, just up and leaves. But my favorite?"

He changes the slide, seeing your eyes widen as your favorite fish fills the screen.

"The French Angelfish mate for life. Monogamy isn't usually practiced amongst observed populations of fish, though. So much so that there is an analogy called the Fish Love Analogy. This is when your partner can meet all your needs, both emotional and physical, but ultimately only turns into an object of desire." You frown at this, but he changes the slide.

"French Angelfish are rarely seen alone, as once they've mated, they're inseparable. It's really quite beautiful and it proves that animals are sentient beings." He smiles slightly, looking around to see everyone jotting down notes.

"What about you, Soonyoung? Do you believe in that stuff?" One of the sophomore girls speaks up, and he shrugs. "I do, yes. I think it's a beautiful thing, to fall in love and have that person forever. I think as humans, though, we forget to cherish what we have. That's why the rate of divorce is so high." You roll your eyes.

"Do you think you've found your forever, Soonyoung?" Another one of the girls asks, and he sighs. "You know, I have. I have found her, but I'm also a human that doesn't know how to cherish good parts of life. Animals are just wired to operate in a certain way, but giving humans free will has truly affected us as a society." He scoffs, earning a laugh from the class.

You're not smiling, but he sees your lips twitch slightly.

"What if she's not your Angelfish, though?" Someone from behind you speaks up, and he purses his lips. His eyes find yours, and he can practically feel them pierce through him.

"I doubt that she's not."

He turns back to the slides, proceeding to talk about how humans have romanticized doves and swans to be representative of love. He finishes the slides quickly, bidding everyone a happy Valentine's day once more and earning echoes of the girls telling him they hope he and his Angelfish figure it out. He thanked them, hitching his backpack over his shoulder as he held the door open for them.

He looks over them, spotting you still gathering your materials. You glance up at him, a silent communication of please wait for me from your eyes. He does, he waits as you walk down the steps and tug your cardigan around you tightly. He remembers when you bought it, he was with you and you were actually wearing the same dress you have on now, the long skirt now paired with platform boots so it doesn't drag on the floor. You slip out in front of him, and wait a few feet away as he locks the door. You stare at the floor as he falls into pace next to you, albeit a few feet behind. You're leading the way to somewhere, he notes, because you're not headed towards the frat or your place. He follows silently, never closing the gap between you as you turn into the veterinary hallway.

The graduating class last year had raised enough money to install an aquarium for viewing pleasure. It had all sorts of fish – including angelfish. You stopped in front of it, with him lingering a few feet behind and watching from afar. You point silently, the fish swimming past your hand and joining another.

"Which one are you?" You mumble, and he steps closer to you, but not enough to touch you. "Probably the male one." You snort, backing up slightly, your knuckles brushing as you clasp your hands behind your back.

"I'm sorry." You whisper, and he shakes his head. "No, I'm sorry." "Let's just agree we're both sorry." You shrug, and he sighs. "You shouldn't have to be sorry, though. I've always come off so strong, and I'm sorry if you felt like I was projecting my feelings onto you. You don't ever have to reciprocate if you don't want to." "Do you want me to?" You ask gently, watching the fish swim in circles. He hesitates, before nodding. "I don't think there is anything I want more." He murmurs, and you look at him out of the corner of your eye.

"Careful, I won't get you a gift for your birthday this year." You joke, but you see him sink slightly, before he's kneeling on the floor. "Soonyoung?" "I'm sorry I've been such an asshole, I know I don't deserve to be with you in any form." He hugs your knees, and you feel your cheeks flame as someone walks by you. "Soonyoung, get up." "Not until you forgive me." He squeezes your legs tighter, and a couple of girls walk by, gaping at the sight. "I forgive you! Just get up!" You grit, tugging his arm up and hurrying away from the hallway.

His eyes are teary as you pull him into a janitor's closet, making you scoff out a laugh as you wipe his eyes. "Oh, don't cry. I don't like seeing you cry." You say gently, stroking his cheeks with your thumbs. His lips jut out in a pout as his hands come up to your wrists.

"Can I kiss you?" He asks, and you roll your eyes. "Really?"

“Is that a no?” “I should make you grovel, honestly.” “I’m not above begging, you should know this.” “Just kiss me, you idiot.”

He does.

He does, and it's the warmest you'd felt in a long time. His lips are just as chapped as the last time he'd kissed you, his fingers just as soft as they held your face gently. You feel him press himself against you as his tongue slowly licks into your mouth. You play along, your fingers curling into his hair and tugging softly. He whines against your lips, making you smirk as you pull him away.

"Still wanna get on your knees?" You murmur, and he nods quickly as he sinks to his knees in front of you, and you clear your throat as he pulls your leg over his shoulder, pushing your skirt up to your hips. His breath is warm against your skin as he gasps, peering up at you from behind the bunched fabric. "You're not–" "You're about to yap yourself out of some ass, shut up." You roll your eyes, making him frown as his eyes disappear under your skirt, feeling his teeth nip at your thigh. You flinch, no longer used to his biting habits. "Be gentle." "Yeah, yeah. I don't tell you how to kiss other guys, don't tell me how to eat your pussy." He grumbles, and you go to argue before you feel his tongue circle your clit slowly. You sigh, feeling his free hand snake up to lace his fingers with yours. You hold his fingers tightly as he buries his face into your cunt, eagerly soaking up whatever you'll give him.

You cover your mouth with your free hand, feeling a bit of anxiety pool in your stomach as you hear students walk past the closet. He pulls you even closer, slurping obscenely when you hear someone stop in front of the door, murmured whispers and soft kissing sounds when the doorknob jiggles. You see Soonyoung's hand shoot to grab it, attempting to hold the door tightly shut as they pull.

He doesn't pull away when they yank the door open, leaving you to nearly topple as you yank your skirt down, hiding him beneath it. You're faced with Lee Chan and his girlfriend,Jung Haerim, lipstick smeared all over his face and neck as your own burns in embarrassment. His jaw drops, and you find yourself squirming away from Soonyoung's tongue as you shove him away.

Soonyoung pouts as he exits your skirt, a deep frown on his glistening lips as he looks at Chan. "Really, man?" "You're the one stealing my closet! You know this is my spot!" Chan argues as Soonyoung stands, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, your orgasm ruined and humiliation levels on 10. "You know, getting fucked in a mop closet shouldn't be something you're proud of." Soonyoung scoffs as he grabs your hand once more, tugging you out as Chan and Haerim blink at the two of you. She opens her mouth, holding up her finger before closing it, pressing her lips together. "Can't we just go to my place?"

"Should've thought of that earlier!" Soonyoung yells over his shoulder, picking up his pace as he hears Chan start after the two of you. You feel the awkward tension start to dissipate as you both bolt down the hallway, and you feel him take a sharp turn towards the fraternity. You hear Chan start yelling curse words before his footsteps stop, and the two of you just giggle to yourselves as you keep running towards the house.

Seeing the house come into view, the two of you quickly make your way up the steps and nearly slam into Seungcheol, who had come to visit (without anyone's knowledge.) He barely moves out of the way as you and Soonyoung barrel up the stairs, not even acknowledging a rather stoned Vernon and Jisun on the second floor landing before sliding into his room. It seemed both of you were on the same page about finishing what was started.

The room is full of clattering as you both undress, and your books are thrown to the side as his hands pull you to him before you both topple onto his bed. His lips are instantly on yours, but it's too chaste – and you hear him murmur something before he presses his lips to yours again.

"I love you." You scoff out a laugh, before you see the seriousness in his eyes. Blinking, you sit up a bit, your fingers trembling as you gently stroke his cheek. He nibbles his lip, and you can feel another laugh bubble in your throat. His ears tinge pink as you laugh, pulling him back down to your level, nuzzling your nose against his softly.

"I love you, too."

His eyes widen, and you swear he stops breathing before you tap him gently. "Hosh? You there?" He blinks, his hand tightens reflexively around your hip. "Yeah…I'm here."

You smile at him, tilting your head as you run your fingers through his hair. "You mean it, right? Do you love me?" "Let me be struck by Zeus himself if I'm lying."

The two of you laugh after a moment, and he swallows carefully. Neither of you make a move to get down to business, instead staring at each other like this was the last time you'd ever see each other. "You okay?" You murmur, and he shakes his head. "You love me." "You know, I figured it would be pretty obvious that I'd liked you well before we ever slept together." You say pointedly. "I'm still not forgiving you, though. You'll have to work for that." He quirks his brow at you, before pushing off you and flopping onto his back. You look at him, and he clears his throat. "M'lady, your throne awaits." "You're an idiot." "Your idiot, now come on. I've got to prove myself to you."

May 9th.

"Y/L/N Y/N."

Cheers are heard around the auditorium as your name is called, but not even your parents are as loud as your boyfriend amongst your graduating class. "THAT'S MY BABY!"

You feel your cheeks heat as everyone aw's and ooh's, hearing his fraternity brothers blow kazoos like idiots in the stands. The ceremony quickly came to an end as the last few names were called, the security attempting to diffuse crowds of people exiting. You found yourself looking for your boyfriend, finding him being embraced by Seungcheol, Jeonghan and Joshua as his eyes searched for you.

Your relationship with Soonyoung was not perfect by any means. You nearly failed Zoology because he kept interrupting your studying to kiss you, often leading to other things before you would crawl out of his bed to your laptop on the desk, before being lured back in by your siren of a boyfriend. The two of you kept it under wraps best as you could, seeing if Professor Kwon found out (or anyone else, really) you could both get in trouble.

But, everyone seemed to finally be satisfied with the outcome. You and Soonyoung were set to go to grad school together, and everyone congratulated the two of you as you made your relationship official – posting each other freely on social media almost everyday. Coffee dates photographed on your story turned into study (and sex) sessions, his Instagram story was full of you in cute workout sets as you finally let him drag you to his Tuesday dance class. Your dashboard was full of him posting you as much as he could, captions of "my girlfriend!!!" and "me n u…get it? menu…#lovestagram" under a photo of the two of you at a diner.

Your sorority and his fraternity came together to host a graduation party for all the graduates, and you and Soonyoung were going to arrive together. You stare at him from your position near the doors, waiting for him to spot you. You'd both worn a soft pink under your white gowns, and his eyes scan the entire area before finally landing on you. He fights his way out of his friends' arms, and you hear him exclaim to them that he needs to find his girlfriend.

As he approaches you, you think of the tangled web that had been your relationship. A bit of jealousy wrapped in emotional unavailability and insecurities from the both of you, like a cricket held down by a spider's thread. You think about the chase, the game of cat and mouse that the two of you played as you kissed eagerly, a mess of tongues and spit before he'd have to slip away. You think about the first time he smoked you out, and how he'd laughed and held you tightly when you told him you felt like you were about to fall off the Earth.

You think about his growth as a person, about his growth as a man and his growth as your person. The person you found yourself drawn to since you'd stepped foot in Beta Tau Omega four years ago. The same person who bought you a new laptop and then took you out to dinner, the same person who immediately glued himself to you once he found out how much you had in common.

The same person who left when he felt like everything was too much by your side, only to admit his wrongs a year later and beg for your forgiveness on a roof in the middle of autumn. The same person who then slowly lured you into his sticky and tangled web of emotions and unspoken confessions, of kisses full of I love you and embraces screaming I missed you. The same person who said you're his angelfish, his person, his forever. The same person who realizes his mistakes and pushes his pride aside to apologize, even if it means the two of you end up a mess of spit and cum and tears. The same person who tells you now, every night, that he loves you and has done everything he can to prove it day by day.

"Hey, kitty." His smile is warm and full of mischief as his hand gently brushes your hair away from your face, revealing the earrings he gave you a few weeks ago. He thumbs at them softly, before pulling you in closely for a chaste kiss. You smile at him, knowing that this tangled mess is only the beginning of your forever with him. "Let's get out of here."

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slushycoookie · 3 months ago

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Kinktober Day 11 ~ Bondage

Miguel O'Hara x Fem! Reader

Summary: Miguel needs to let out some frustrations due to work.

A/N: Dominant Miguel is back for a limited time only! Hope you all enjoy!

Prev *✧･ﾟ: Next Kinktober '24 Masterlist

“Can you believe we've been trying to catch this single anomaly for this entire week?”

Miguel’s ranting in your ear, his voice laced with stress from dealing with Spider Society.

“Has it really been a whole week?”

“Yes. And it’s like no one can do anything right around here.”

You hum, “Just give it time, love. Don't work yourself up over one person.”

Miguel growls through the phone, and you remain quiet to let him cool down. At least he wasn't throwing things around out of anger. He was resorting to other outlets to calm down, like calling you.

“I need you tonight.”

“Okay. You know I'm here.”

“No, I mean, I need you.”

“Oh.” Your back straightens up, and you try not to sound flustered throughout the call. “Okay.”

“Get ready for me.”

Once the call disconnected, you immediately got up. Eating dinner, taking a thorough shower, and slipping on something sexy that Miguel liked.

The first time you two started doing this, you recalled your heartbeat in your ears whenever you got nervous. Now, it was just a regular night—where your boyfriend took out his pent-up feelings on you.

Your stomach fluttered when Miguel came to your apartment. It was late. You two always did this late. Heavy footsteps filled the hall when he entered your room, seeing you waiting just like he asked.

Miguel’s breath hitched seeing your outfit. A sheer, red baby doll lingerie. How well it will compliment when you're bound to his webs.

“You know the drill.”

You turn around, hands behind your back. His webs keep them tied. As a test, you try to pull them to make sure they are tight enough, and with restraint, you are satisfied.

Miguel facing you now, cradling your chin and inspecting your face. Your full lashes and pretty lips. “Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?”

“You said it to me this morning…”

He gives a soft chuckle before capturing your lips in a short kiss. One that, even though it was brief, left you wanting more, sending heat to your core.

“You know the safe word.”

You nod, and the simple pleasantries are over.

In a blink, you're on the ceiling. Webs sticking onto your back and ankles. Legs spread apart for your boyfriend. Miguel climbs up to the ceiling on all fours, doing his best not to damage the walls more than he already has. You were the prey, unable to move as the giant spider was ready to devour his meal.

Carefully he maneuvered over you, sniffing to take in your arousal. Miguel observes the way your breasts are pushed up against the lingerie. Your attire hardly left anything to the imagination, the fabric draping across you like a fairy.

“Muñeca bonita (Pretty doll)…”

He roughly kissed you, dominating your mouth and taking over anything that tried to escape your lips. His hot hands go under the sheer to feel your bare skin. Caressing your sides. His lips felt like fire, making an imprint on you as he kissed your neck and then the tops of your breasts, before licking between them as if he was starved.

You whined when Miguel pulled down the cups to your baby doll and latched on to your breasts—sucking on them while he grinds his erection right along your clothed sex. You wish your hands weren't tied so you could run your fingers across those gorgeous locks. Have a firm grip and pull on his hair the way he likes. The most you could do was moan and tell him how good it felt.

“Ohhh I like that…” You gasp when he latches on to your other breast. Cool air breezes against your sex, and you know you've become embarrassingly wet. Between the increased anticipation of waiting for your superhero boyfriend to get home and his actions, you were already ready for him.

With a talon, he tears your panties in half. Miguel’s dick is hard against your thigh as he cups your ass with his hand.

“You better hold still.”

“I will-ooh!”

He enters you swiftly, not even giving you room to adjust. Your body quivers as he’s fucking you, sliding in and out of your cunt with no issues. A palm on the fat of your thigh, talons peeking out and going against your skin.

God, you wished he would break the rules and let you out just once. So you could hold on to him as he makes love to you on the ceiling of your apartment. Probably disturb the next-door neighbors.

“Mm you're so good…” He grunts, burying his face in your neck, taking in your scent. “You listen to me. You don't talk back…”

You shake your head, tugging on your restraints as his cock is sliding along your walls. Miguel continues that same relentless pace as his balls smack against the curve of your ass.

“You'd do anything for me, won't you? Since I have you all tied up like this.”

“I will. Oh yeah I will…”

Your climax starts rising, and you try creating more friction by squeezing your thighs together. Miguel didn’t let you, breaking the restraints on your legs and spreading you wider, tying your ankles back down with his webbing. His pinch to your clit was the last straw, your entire body jolting against him and his webs.

Even as you orgasmed, Miguel held you down, working through your climax and building up to his. Eyes laser-focused on your chest jiggling during each thrust, your face dazed as you revel in bliss. His sounds of pleasure fill your ears.

“S-Shock, you're so-”

With a strangled groan, he came, muscles tense as he filled you up with cum. His thrusts are slower now as he kissed your forehead, fixing your lingerie as much as he could.

You nuzzled along his neck, covering it in small kisses.

“You feel better now?”

Miguel simply nods, “Thank you.”

Tags (let me know if you wanna be added/dropped):

@fandomfics @freythecrazyfae @maddyperezzzsstuff

@mynamesstevenwithav @eyes-ofhell @maxad99

@howlingco @cherrypieyourface @snails-doodles22

@siren-141 @nega-omega @sweetimpurity

@hehekittyhawk @spencerswh0r3 @saintdiior

@maliaofthevalley @wolverigrl @pigeonmama

@shybluebirdninja @tomie-it-girl @antishadow2021

@honey-and-olives @hyjionie

#kinktober #kinktober 2024 #miguel o'hara x reader #miguel o’hara x reader #miguel x reader #miguel o'hara x you #miguel o hara x reader #spiderman 2099 x reader #miguel o'hara x black reader #x reader #x black reader #miguel o'hara smut #miguel o'hara #spiderman 2099 #cookie's kinktober 2024

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itsswritten · 10 months ago

Text

“To the stars who listen and the dreams that are answered”

ＡＺＲＩＥＬ

⁂ Share your pain

In the wake of a heated argument, you and Azriel find yourselves adrift, the once unbreakable bond strained. Faced with the questions of whether love can endure the shadows of past traumas, can you work through this?

⁂Threads of Hazel

A mating bond can connect those who have not even met, but can it save them too?

⁂ Gone

Sometimes it take's heartbreak to move on...or to realise what you've always had.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Final Part

⁂ Cauldron-born

When an unexplainable energy pulls the Inner Circle to barge into the Day court, they're all shocked at what they find. But it's Azriel who can't help wonder if his dreams have finally been answered.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 - wip

⁂ Wings Universe Masterlist

The world of Prythian’s loveliest couple. (Fairy x Azriel)

ＡＺＲＩＳ

(Azriel x Reader x Eris)

༄ When the sea calls for three

In the aftermath of war, peace reigns over the realms of Prythian, but the delicate balance hangs in the hands of two unlikely mediators—You and Lucien. As the newly appointed Emissaries of Peace, your duty is clear: maintain alliances, foster understanding between courts, and navigate the intricate webs of fae politics.

But when fate deals an unexpected twist, revealing that you possess not one, but two mates, the tranquillity you've worked so hard to uphold is suddenly threatened. Caught between two males who refuse to share, you find yourself thrust into a precarious position, torn between duty and desire.

What will you do and who will you choose?

Intro | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 - coming soon! i will try get to this asap

ＥＲＩＳ

~pending~

ＣＡＳＳＩＡＮ

~pending~

ＬＵＣＩＥＮ

~pending~

#acotar #azriel x you #azriel x reader #azriel fanfic #acotar masterlist #eris x azriel #eris x reader x azriel #eris x y/n #eris x reader #eris x you

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dangermousie · 5 months ago

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Middle (sort of) of 2024 list - cdrama edition.

Yeah I realize it's neither the end of the year, nor half a year, but what's the point of being predictable? It's also gonna make my end of year post easier. This is only going to cover cdramas that aired in 2024; if I watched it but it was made in a different year, it’s not on the list.

DRAMAS WATCHED

(In order of liking from least to most as opposed to pure quality; I am including if I’ve seen enough to make up my mind; yes I realize that’s inaccurate, but that’s my list)

42 My Divine Emissary - it's actually a pretty good drama year when the worst cdrama I've checked out this year is merely utterly shrill and brain dead but not horrifyingly offensive to good taste.

41 Fight for Love - they had wonderful actors and a great premise and utterly wasted it. There might someday be a good drama about a female general torn between a royal and an enemy general but this ain't it.

40 Peacock in Wonderland - I am a few decades too old for this brain dead fest but I am glad Zhou Jun Wei is not canceled at least.

39 Her Fantastic Adventures - honestly, this, MDE and Revenger are all the same type of subgenre - they aren't offensive they are just as empty as air. This also suffers from casting an utter dud as ML and a charisma boat as SML. Why?

38 Lady Revenger Returns from the Fire - the main thing I remember from this is that Miles Wei must have stolen the wig maker's parking spot. That wig is the one that should have gone into the fire.

37 Your Trap/Imprisoned Love - the plot of this mini made no sense but the softcore vibes of sanitized 1990s cinemax were on point!

36 Fox Matchmaker: The Red Moon Pact - it's so pretty, so full of gorgeous costumes and actors and I enjoyed the first few eps, but ultimately it was like watching colorful paint dry. It was so dull, I couldn't even hate watch it, and that is more damning than anything.

35 The Unexpected Marriage - cutesy dumb period romcom. Could be worse, not that this is much of a praise.

34 Love’s Rebellion - so twee, so precious, so full of cutesy awful CGI and actors who aren't bothering. I am not sure why Zhang Linghe and Jing Tian are in this mess that looks like rainbow vomited on a xianxia set.

33 My Wife's Double Life - her life may be double but her brain is only half.

32 Jade's Fateful Love - I lost some braincells trying this one, but (a) it's gorgeous and (b) no transmigration say you? Multiple transmigration in first ep alone! Good for you, makers!

31 Follow My Heart - how do you have Luo Yunxi, Song Yi and Cheng Lei and waste them so utterly? First few eps were nice and then it's like exercise in how much you can tolerate before you call it quits.

30 Sword and Fairy 4 - it's kinda a mess but I loved the actors and some of the plots and you can do worse.

29 Blossoms in Adversity - dumb as a set of particularly dumb bricks and ML I don't think could act if his life depended on it, but it was strangely addictive and I watched it often before better dramas. It's just a genuinely good time somehow!

28 Judge Dee - it's not you it's me in action. It's smart and gorgeous and well acted, I just don't do procedurals.

27 The Substitute Princess’ Love - it's like some of those trashy web novels I enjoy. It was clearly cut, its budget was equivalent to loose change found in the pockets of makes of Fox Spirit Matchmaker, but it was a surprisingly fun watch, though I enjoyed the first half better than the second. Also as a drama old, it was a fun blast from the past seeing Dylan Kuo (if you have never watched the old twdrama The Outsiders, what are you even doing with your life?)

26 Rise from the Ashes - a wacky as hell mini where reborn FL wreaks revenge with help of her fake uncle as they carry on as some sort of Borgia/Phillip II of Spain fame hybrid. If you don't need to use your brain, you could have a worse time.

25 The Legend of Heroes - it suffered from me seeing other versions of this tale before that I liked more and not loving how dark looking it is but that cast is A+ and Wang Hongyi was a revelation as Yang Kang.

24 Beauty Strategy - a mini of what a few years ago would have been a proper angsty drama of palace scheming enemies while lovers, powerless emperor etc etc. Honestly, I loved it.

23 Lovesickness - this year's gender-reversed Ancient Love Song, not as artistic or good but still a good time about a woman traveling back in time and falling for a powerful but doomed duke.

22 Fragments of Kylin - demon slayer falls for a demon; this one came out of nowhere and didn't have much of a budget but is surprisingly lovely.

21 Enslaved by Love - the only reason it's not the most fucked up drama on this list is because Shadow Sect, Palace Shadows and Burning Flames exist. The ML is toxic enough to be banned by the Geneva convention but FL does get some of her own back and also if you ever wanted to see blindness curing sex, boy do I have a drama for you!

20 Secrets of the Shadow Sect - head of sect lady and her very very subby bodyguard. What's not to love?

19 Palace Shadows: Between Two Princes - ML pretends to be his own twin, bdsm and sluttiness ensues. I cannot even explain how wild this drama is but the acting is on point and way way fun!

18 Dashing Youth - I had no expectations of this drama (either indifferent to or dislike everyone in the cast, wuxia and wuxia-adjacent is rarely my genre, the number of characters is huge) but I loved how under its bright colors, it eventually gets very dark (it's quite old school that way) and somehow I am invested in everyone in the huge cast. This being a prequel to The Blood of Youth makes us know the fates of many of the characters and this adds the air of tragic inevitability to it all.)

17 The Last Immortal - a surprisingly sweet and touching xianxia that works largely because Zhao Lusi and Wang Anyu are so so so so solid separately and together.

16 Burning Flames - the most gonzo drama on this list. I love it for committing to insanity as it should (if you pick insane source material, commit.) Humans taking on the worst Gods since Olympus, fur and chains, sentient crystal FL, ML who goes from Crown Prince to mine slave to rebel leader, bare chests and fur, demon elves, a villain that leaches color from the world - this drama has everything and I loved its unhinged glory.

15 Lost You Forever 2 - it would have been higher except it fell apart in the last third so badly I am still wondering how the makers could misunderstand their own characters and their own narratives so badly. The first season was a masterpiece. This is a hot mess.

14 The Princess Royal/The Grand Princess - I am in the minority of finding this drama very mid. The acting was fine (except for former eunuch dude), the writing was fine, but I never really got invested alas. I don't even know why. I think it's just not my type of narrative; there was no intensity.

13 Different Princess - a ridiculous amount of fun and ship about an author falling through to her own novel and falling for the villain.

12 Sword and Fairy 6 - I love this tale; the young OTP (a whale weapon and a clone of her trigger? More wholesome than you think) who are so ride or die for each other, the other amazing characters (sect leader who has to live as a man and her "twin" who is an ancient trapped spirit, a wolf demon, etc...) It's just genuinely good and proof that targeted to younger audience doesn't have to be bad.

11 In Blossom - sure, we all know JJY can't act, but the narrative was so fun and the visuals were so gorgeous and Liu Xueyi so gorgeous and magnetic in his first proper Male Lead role, it was all worth it. I liked the first half when they were still cautious of each other more than the second but this is just a good time!

10 Hard to Find - my second favorite mini on the list, this is an aesthetic feast. The doomed couple from enemy kingdoms, the vengeance, the twists - if ever a mini deserved to be a proper drama, this would be it. But alas, if it was they'd probably not let it.

9 The Double - unhinged web novel vibe done so perfectly in the inimitable Yu Zheng style. The leads were so good even the amazing villains didn't truly steal the show. Like with a lot of cdramas, it lost a lot of steam in second half for me, but still a great watch.

8 Fortune Writer - the best mini this year and better than most "proper" cdramas (Douban raters agree), this tale of villains in love fighting the narrative has a lot to say about writing cliches and writing conventions. I love how clever it is and how it actually made me care for the characters.

7 Tender Light - except for that ending, this was in the running for my favorite 2024 cdrama. The writers' lack of ability to commit and carry through pushed it lower but otherwise it's a genuine masterpiece. The acting, the chemistry, the looping narrative, what it has to say about abuse and complicity of society and blazing your own moral path is something else.

6 Derailment - who knew a little quasi scifi modern would be this high but this one is amazing. If you watch one modern this year, make it this one. Our FL is a rich girl a little in the future who somehow wakes up in a different timeline a few years back in the body of that universe's version of her (who is poor and has been missing) and her one connection is a young man who was in love with that universe's version of her. I don't want to say more so as not to spoil because the twists are twisty but this is EVERYTHING and also addresses transmigration, what it means to love, what is ethical etc etc. And that OTP!

5 Snowfall - a fever dream of a vampire narrative set in an alternate universe of the Republican era, it's gorgeous, passionate, hella queer and just like watching the most amazing fanfic come to life.

4 Heroes - a complete masterpiece about three men about to be on the scrapheap of history in the Qing Dynasty about to fall (a constable devoted to obsolete norms, who spent his whole life studying for the imperial exam which got canceled, the world's best swordsman in the era of guns, and a former imperial guard who emerges from prison into a different world) whose stories intersect as they search for treasure and the women and other people in their lives. This is smart, impeccably acted, filmed in a stunning way, bleak and funny at once and - I don't use the term masterpiece often but I will use it here.

3 The Legend of Shen Li - I am often indifferent to xianxia that suffers from too much CGI, hella immaturity and not enough stakes. Shen Li is everything. It's gorgeously filmed, it's adult, it gives the story time to breathe and centers it on characters and relationships. And the OTP is everything you can ever dream of - it reunites Zhao Liying and Lin Gengxin, totally healing those Princess Agents wounds - their chemistry is still utter fire but the narrative supports them every step of the way.

2 Eternal Brotherhood - if JoL2 did not come out this year, this would be my favorite cdrama of the year. It's clearly a passion project with a small budget but this complex and grim tale of three rather different sworn brothers in a world at war is gorgeous, smart, well acted, dark and inspiring at once. There are shots that take my breath away, the love stories are amazing, the pace is perfect, and ohhh our complex mainsssssss.

1 Joy of Life 2 - nothing can beat this masterpiece. The first season was perfect and somehow the second is even more perfect. It's smart, it's funny, it's heartbreaking, the cast is still impeccable and Zhang Ruoyun still gives a completely jawdropping performance as the focus of all the madness Fan Xian. If you watch only one cdrama this year, make it this one.

FAVORITE DRAMA

Joy of Life 2 - there is not one second I forwarded, not one unnecessary scene, not one weak link character. It's a smart, fierce masterpiece.

Eternal Brotherhood is a runner up - it came out of nowhere and owned my whole heart. It's the sole other cdrama this year where I did not ff a second.

WORST DRAMA

My Divine Emissary - honestly, this is a decent year because even this drama was just "forget it" not burning hate.

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER

Fan Xian (Zhang Ruoyun), Joy of Life 2 - how could it ever be anyone but smart, irreverent, fierce, broken, idealistic, funny Fan Xian. The man who fights against the horrors of the universe, who remains human while being so larger than life. This character is everything.

Runner up: Zhou Luo (Zhang Xincheng), Tender Light - idealistic loner who refuses to compromise his principles even as it would be easier to, even as it destroys his life, ZXC has always been a solid actor but here he is beyond.

Alternatively, Zichuan Xiu (Yang Xuwen), Eternal Brotherhood - only way to describe Xiu is "trauma sunshine." He's funny, he's irrevocably fucked up, he is magnetic and intense and he fights for his hopeless ideals and he breaks and he keeps going.

or Xing Zhi (Lin Gengxin), the lonely ancient god discovering the pleasure of life for the first time in aeons.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER

Shen Li (Zhao Liying), The Legend of Shen Li - so fierce, so certain, so alive. She is a goddess but ZLY made her feel so real.

Runner up: Nan Ya (Tong Yao), Tender Light - an abuse victim who keeps trying to find a way out, she's strong and damaged and complex and honestly, one of the best performances this year.

Alternatively, Jiang Xiao Yuan (Liu Haocun), Derailment - she makes a character that in other hands would be boring or trite, someone I want to reach through to the screen and protect and love.

NEEDS TO BE MURDERED

99% of the denizens of the town in Tender Light - selfish every day denizens monstrous because of their very everydayness - they watch abuse and choose to blame the victim and gossip and enjoy the view. I hated them all.

FAVORITE SHIP

Shen Li x Xing Zhi, The Legend of Shen Li - the chemistry, the yearning, the slow inevitable collapse into admittance, the way he protects the world and she protects him, the way they dance around each other, her being the aggressor, his surrender to forbidden emotion, their utter mutual belief in each other's competence. They are everything to me.

Runner up: the OTP in Derailment. Those two went through some mind and soul breaking stuff and made it out.

FAVORITE SECONDARY OTP

Amusingly enough, Fu Xin Bo is the male actor in both - the crossdressing sect leader x wolf demon OTP in Sword and Fairy 6, and First Prince x Eldest Princess in Joy of Life 2. What can I say, man knows how to pick them. Those OTPs are both utterly adorable!

If we are talking about an OTP where it's not that it's not the main but it's not a ship-centric drama so they don't get much time, then we have either Fan Xian x Lin Wan'er from Joy of Life 2 - she is his peace and sanity

and Si Yilin x Ka Dan, Eternal Brotherhood - they are both such desperately good people in a mad world, tender with each other despite surrounding cruelty.

NOTP

The couple in Fox Spirit Matchmaker - such pretty people, and so bland and boring and pointless together. It was kinda amazing.

FAVORITE SCENE

God, so many good scenes this year so far - Fan Xian watching the death of the old censor and the aftermath, in JoL2; his confrontation with Wan'er after she finds out about the truth behind her brother's death, the scene where he poisons Second Prince, his scene with the registrar. Xiu giving up his future to protect the surrendered soldiers only to come back and find Di Lin executed them all in EB, the scene in Ning's bedroom when he tells her how he really feels because she can't hear, the very end of that season and Di Lin striding into the light, Ka Dan and SYL's night. The last scene of LYN and his girl in Heroes, the way Heroes always intercuts the golden past of the guard and princess and the dreary present (especially when we see her bicycle spin out of control back when and her husband lose it in the present and this time there is nobody to catch her), the big reveal in Derailment and the hairwashing scene, Mi Lan touching Vamp Daddy's face as their thing in Snowfall, and the cage stuff etc etc.

BIGGEST CRUSH

Shen Zhiheng (Gao Weiguang), Snowfall - Vamp Daddy made me hormonal in a way I haven't felt for a cdrama lead since the heady days of Darren Wang in The Wolf. Those outfits, that hair, that height, that restraint, that lack of restraint. THE CHAINS

BEST SCENE STEALER CHARACTER

Liu Duan Duan as Second Prince in Joy of Life 2 - what a performance! Unhinged, magnetic, pitiable, terrifying and always mesmerizing. The Second Prince is Fan Xian's foil and a worthy one. LDD is always a great actor, and with a role that actually gives him something to sink his teeth into - wow!

MVP OF THE YEAR

Liu Yuning (Heroes, Eternal Brotherhood) - there is only one actor who somehow managed to be a main character in two of my five top 2024 dramas. His ruthless, driven Di Lin in EB, who knows he's doomed as the ruler's executioner but has no other way forward, and the man out of time (best swordsman in a gun era) in Heroes are both unforgettable characters in amazing dramas.

ACTING SURPRISE

Ouyang Nana - Li Muge performs miracles. He made Yang Chaoye be good in Heroes (2022) and now Nana, who was always as wooden as a post, is a revelation as blind abused girl who becomes a vampire in Snowfall.

NEEDS A SEQUEL

Joy of Life 2 of course - I need to see the looming confrontation between Fan Xian and the emperor, though not sure how that will pass censorship.

NEEDS SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

FF button has cured me of finding contenders for this category, but perhaps cutting out a lot of terrible acting and lack of stage presence of "not yet a eunuch" dude in The Princess Royal, would have improved it.

TOO MANY SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

Lost You Forever 2 - there were other issues with it, but all the cuts couldn't have helped with coherency.

TROPE THAT NEEDS TO DIE

Same as last year - the emperor cannot be irredeemable. WTF, China, you are a communist country! Though they are nibbling at the edges this year.

FAVORITE TROPE WE’VE SEEN A LOT OF

Men (and women) knowingly fighting for a doomed cause because otherwise they'd cease to be who they are.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Lost Your Forever 2 - the first season was my favorite drama of 2023 but LYF2 just fell apart so so so badly, it was almost fascinating. It totally eviscerated the characters and the meanings of the story.

BIGGEST GOOD SURPRISE

Three out of the top 5 dramas on my list are not dramas that were on my radar at all before airing - Heroes, Eternal Brotherhood and Snowfall were not anything I anticipated, let alone I realized how much I'd love them. Same for Derailment and Tender Light. This has been a year of surprises.

2024 DRAMAS I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT I MOST WANT TO WATCH

I have honestly watched almost everything I wanted. Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty 2 will be the one I will list since I still need to finish s1.

BEST NON-2024 DRAMA I’VE WATCHED IN 2024

Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty - I, a procedural and mystery hater (especially when there is close to no romance) somehow fell like a ton of bricks for this gorgeous, smart, impeccably acted show.

MOST ANTICIPATED

This is always a bad idea and kinda a curse but I really really want The Story of Pearl Girl, with Zhao Lusi and Liu Yuning because I love them separately and together and the thought of them reuniting is a dream come true. Also Eternal Brotherhood 2 (it's filmed but they can't air it until a year from EB1), Love of Nirvana with Ren Jialun and Li Landi, and Snowy Night: Timeless Love with Li Qin and Zheng Shunxi.

#cdrama #2024 list #derailment #the legend of shen li #heroes (2024)#heroes #snowfall #tender light #eternal brotherhood #joy of life 2 #the double #the princess royal #hard to find #fortune writer #in blossom #sword and fairy 6

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princess-ibri · 2 months ago

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So @rainyearthquakestudent asked if I had any ideas for a backstory for The Other Mother from Coraline for the spooky season...

I don't have a whole story, sorry, but I have had one little thought floating around my head for a while, and figured it would work to share it now.

So longtime fans of Coraline will likely know that a big inspiration for the book was a short story published in 1882 by Lucy Clifford called "The New Mother"

(Also retold in the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series as "The Drum")

In the tale of two sisters who meet a strange young girl who plays an instrument called a pear drum, that creates wonderful and strange music. The girl says she will give the pear drum to the sisters--but only if they are very very naughty.

The mother of the sisters warns them that if they continue to misbehave she will have to leave, and a New Mother will come and live in the house, one with glass eyes and a wooden tail.

The sisters visit the pear drum girl three times, and each time tells them they haven't been naughty enough. At last they push too far and their mother leaves. The strange girl laughs at them, says they'll never earn the drum and that their New Mother is waiting for them.

The sisters return home to find that the New Mother with her glass eyes and wooden tail is indeed there, and though they try to keep her out she manages to push in. The girls flee into the woods, forced to live on what they can scavenge, while the New Mother takes up residence in their old home...

So my thought for the backstory of the Other Mother we meet in Coraline, is that she is the strange girl with the pear drum in the story--and daughter of the New Mother.

We know from the Coraline book that the Beldam canonically once had a mother:

"How do I know you'll keep your word?" asked Coraline. "I swear it," said the other mother. "I swear it on my own mother's grave." "Does she have a grave?" asked Coraline. "Oh yes," said the other mother. "I put her in there myself. And when I found her trying to crawl out, I put her back."

I wouldn't want to explain everything, I think that the mysteries of Coraline are part of the fun, but my thought is that these Beldams are a type of malignant fairy type being. They prey on children, getting them to make deals with them in order to draw them into their web and eat up their lives, using various modus operandi. But they always have something about the eyes that give them away, and they're always looking to replace someone in the human world.

The house that the New Mother gained from the two sisters is the house that Coraline would eventually move into. By then of course the Other Mother has usurped her own mother, and been somehow locked away into that pocket dimension attached to the house, so she can't move in the human world as she once did, having to rely on her rat spies. (Possibly, her imprisonment is due to her having eaten a fairy child in the book, I could see magical repercussions coming down for that). But she's still doing her best to push on with the Beldam life cycle.

#asks #my art #coraline #the other mother #the new mother #the beldam #spooky season #Halloween #(please ignore the fact I drew too many strings on the pear drum it should only have 3)#lucy crawford #Victorian weird fiction #Victorian stories #scary stories to tell in the dark #non disney #laika

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hannahhook7744 · 7 months ago

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Canon & Semi-Canon Character List!;

For @askauradonprep .

LMK if you want me to add kids from other disney media like non-descendants books, sequels, and shows.

This list only includes the next gen kids from descendants (as well as Uliana).

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Descendants (Mobile Game):

Scarlet.

Carter (Maybe a gender bent version of Scarlet who is dependent on your character's gender or could be a completely separate character).

Note: Diego de Vil was also in this game, if you want a visual on him.

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Twitter-confirmed:

Elle, daughter of Eric and Ariel.

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Evie's Wicked Runway:

Mia.

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Scrapped Characters:

Aziz, son of Aladdin and Jasmine (mentioned in ‘the isle of the lost’ and the d1 script).

Anxelin, daughter of Rapunzel and Eugene Fitzherbert (mentioned somewhere unknown as of now).

Hadie, son of Hades (mentioned in ‘Return to the Isle of the Lost’).

Gigi, daughter of Mother Gothel (Mentioned in an early draft of a d2 script).

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Concept Art Characters:

Lil Yaz, son of Yzma.

Quinlynn, daughter of the Queen of Hearts (can be seen in 'Good to be Bad'.)

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Escape from the Isle of the Lost (Book):

Ariana Rose, niece of Aurora and Prince Phillip

Bobby Hood, the son of Robin Hood and Maid Marian.

Derek, the son of Dopey.

Shy, the son of Bashful.

Crabby, the son of Grumpy.

Hap and Cheerful, the sons of Happy.

Snoozy, the son of Sleepy.

Doc II, the son of Doc.

Gesundheit, the son of Sneezy. Nicknamed Gus.

Note: I also remember there being a Sneezy Jr but I can't find proof, so for now I'll just have them here.

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Players Mentioned on the Tourney Wiki:

Brendan.

Miguel (#44).

Tyrone (#32).

Akio (#42).

William (#12).

Li (#85).

Emir (#26).

Note: Aziz was also mentioned here on the wiki.

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Kids Named Only in the Movie:

Taylor (Coach Jenkins called for him during one of the tourney scenes).

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School of Secrets (Book Series):

Opal, the daughter of Mama Odie.

The Tweedledum and Tweedledee cousins, the sons of Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

Yi-min, the daughter of Yao.

Carina Potts, the daughter of Mrs. Potts.

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School of Secrets (Web Series):

Unnamed Kid/Best Bro who's Great Uncle is Smee.

Dianne Doan (narration) and Andrea Savo (screen appearances) as Secret Blogger–the unidentified girl filming Auradon Prep's students who may or may not be Lonnie.

Mark Daugherty as School Reporter.

Blake Rosier as Sleepy Jr, son of Sleepy.

Bashful Jr, son of Bashful.

Ben Stillwell as Happy student.

Maxwell Chase as Jock.

Miles Tagtmeyer as Reasonable Student.

Maybe Sarah? (As shown in Chad's phone).

Unnamed Girl as Ariel's niece.

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Carlos‘s Scavenger hunt (Book):

Henry (White haired little boy who is Carlos's biggest fan).

Unnamed Seven Year Old Son of John Darling.

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Beyond the isle of the lost (Book):

Ace.

Chester, son of the Cheshire Cat.

Katy/Katy, daughter of the smoking caterpillar.

Twee and Dee, twin daughters of Tweedledee.

Dora, daughter of the Dormouse.

Bill, the former cook of the Duchess's nephew.

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Descendants 1 (Movie):

Mal, the daughter of Maleficent and Hades.

Evie, the daughter of Evil Queen.

Jay, the son of Jafar.

Carlos De Vil, the son of Cruella De Vil.

Ben, the son of Belle and Beast.

Audrey, the daughter of Aurora and Prince Phillip.

Lonnie, the daughter of Fa Mulan and Li Shang.

Chad Charming, the son of Cinderella and Prince Charming.

Jane, the daughter of the Fairy Godmother.

Doug, the son of Dopey and Doug's mother.

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Rise of Red (Movie):

Red, daughter of the Queen of Hearts.

Chloe Charming, daughter of Cinderella and Prince Charming.

Maddox Hatter, the Mad Hatter's son.

Morgie, the son of Morgana le Fay.

Uliana/Ulyana, the younger sister of Ursula, and the aunt of Uma.

Unnamed Jasladdin/Jaladdin kid who can't be Aziz because the timeline doesn't work.

Zellie/Meadow, daughter of Rapunzel who may actually be Rapunzel (EDITED TO ADD NOTE: rumor has it that the actress who played Zellie/Meadow does not want her photos used, so if you do write Zellie or plan to use her character you may want to fancast/use a background character from the movies as her or avoid using photos all together. Unless it's proven otherwise).

Note: I’ve only included characters who didn’t exist before the movie. So no teenage versions of the adults. No Merlin, , and no Jack of Diamonds (since we see him as an adult only).

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The Isle of the Lost (Book):

Anthony Tremaine, the son of Anastasia Tremaine.

Beelzebub, the daughter of Lucifer.

Claudine Frollo, the daughter of Claude Frollo.

Clay Clayton, the son of Clayton.

Diego De Vil, the nephew of Cruella De Vil.

Gaston Jr. and Gaston the Third, the twin sons of Gaston.

Ginny Gothel, the daughter of Mother Gothel.

Harry Badun, the son of Horace.

Jace Badun, the son of Jasper.

Jade, the niece of Jafar.

Harriet Hook, the daughter of Captain Hook.

Lagan and Derelict, the children of Flotsam and Jetsam.

LeFou Deux, the son of LeFou.

Madam Mim's granddaughters.

Othello, the son of Iago.

Sammy Smee, the son of Mr. Smee.

The Evil Step-Granddaughters, six or seven unnamed daughters of Drizella Tremaine.

The Sea Witches who may or may not be related to Ursula.

Spotted Hyenas, the children of Shenzi, Benzai, and Ed.

Reza, the son of a former Royal Astronomer of Agrabah.

Yzla, the daughter of Yzma.

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Descendants Wicked World (Show):

Freddie Facilier, the daughter of Dr. Facilier.

CJ Hook, the daughter of Captain Hook.

Zevon, the son of Yzma.

Jordan, the daughter of the Genie.

Ally, the daughter of Alice.

Ruby, the daughter of Rapunzel and Eugene Fitzherbert.

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Return to the Isle of the Lost (Book):

Hadie, the son of Hades.

Mad Maddy, the granddaughter of Madam Mim.

Rick Ratcliffe, the son of Governor Ratcliffe.

Hermie Bing, the daughter of The Ringmaster.

Crocodile Descendants, the children of Tick Tock.

Herkie, the son of Hercules and Megara.

Tiger Peony, the daughter of Tiger Lily.

Artie, the son of King Arthur.

Gordon, the son of Grumpy.

Pin, the son of Pinocchio.

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Rise of the Isle of the Lost (Book):

Stabbington cousins, the children of the Stabbington brothers.

Arabella, the niece of Ariel and Eric

Li Shang Jr., the son of Fa Mulan and Li Shang.

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Descendants 2 (Movie):

Kristie Sita plays an unnamed blonde pirate girl amputee in purple seen in Uma’s Crew.

Uma, the daughter of Ursula.

Harry Hook, the son of Captain Hook.

Gil, the son of Gaston.

Dizzy Tremaine, the daughter of Drizella Tremaine.

Note: characters of Uma’s crew have been named in her book, but not all of them and there were plenty of other background kids from the movies and stuff that weren't named.

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Uma’s Wicked Book:

Jonas, member of Uma’s crew.

Gonzo, member of Uma’s crew.

Bonny, member of Uma’s crew.

Desiree, member of Uma’s crew.

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Descendants 3 (Movie):

Celia Facilier, the daughter of Dr. Facilier.

Squeaky Smee, one of the twin sons of Mr. Smee.

Squirmy Smee, one of the twin sons of Mr. Smee.

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Characters Who Were Mentioned That I Have Zero Clue Where They Were Mentioned:

Pirate named Maria/Marya.

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Application Kids:

A kid who's name starts with Do or Da. Might be named Dawn. May be the child of a witch/someone selling something & a builder.

Cozzy/Coco, child of a writer named 'William' and a doctor named 'Martha'.

Hector/Sticks, child of an entertaynor/entertainer named Vivian and Lotso.

Bug, child of a bug eater (mom) and the implied child of Oogie Boogie.

Seen in this post by @leftbehindtorot :

If I missed anyone, let me know. Thank you for the help, @casinotrio1965 .

#descendants #disney descendants #melissa de la cruz #disney #wicked world #descendants au #disney descendants au #descendants lists #etc

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pascallftv · 1 year ago

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Girl Next Door— Part 5

Previous Part Series Masterlist

Summary: Joel sets up a date in the bed of his truck and he makes love to you.

Word count: 4.4k

Content: 18+ MDNI, unprotected sex, oral (m and f receiving), truck sex ?!

AN: :’) I think there might just be one more part to this series folks

The next couple of weeks consisted of stolen kisses between your work schedules, and head in positions you hadn’t even imagined. With Joel’s age came wisdom in many areas, with sex being one of them. Many nights you spent curling your toes under Joel as his tongue worked its magic in ways you’d never experienced with your past lover. Although you felt like you had both explored each other’s bodies in every way possible, you still had not had sex. You’d become so comfortable in your sexuality with Joel, and you knew it was just a matter of time before you took it to the next level with him.

Sex would be the point of realization for you. You were a moth drawn to a flame; you were completely and utterly infatuated with him. You thought about him constantly, your mind a tangled web of him: his body, every touch, the way his eyes crinkled when he laughed at a line in a movie you were watching. The four letter word had crossed your mind, but you couldn’t be sure if that was possible yet. You hadn’t been in love for years, but you couldn’t remember a time when someone gave you intense butterflies and overtook every ounce of your being like Joel had.

It was a Friday night, and Joel told you he and a surprise for you. Being proactive, underneath your comfy clothes was your sexiest matching set of underwear. You were wearing a lace black thong with a matching black bra, and you lathered up with your vanilla body butter and perfume after your shower.

When you pulled into Joel’s driveway, you were puzzled to find that his truck was nowhere to be seen. Joel's front door was unlocked as you stepped inside. His house was dark except for the dim lighting of his lamp in the living room.

“Joel?” You called out, walking towards the living room.

Silence.

You wandered passed the living room to the kitchen, and still no sign of Joel. You peered out of the window above the kitchen sink, and you caught a glimpse of Joel tending to the bed of his truck, the area being lit up by an array of fairy lights strung across the cab. Curious, you made your way out the back door and latched it behind you, the sound making Joel’s head whip around, his brown eyes landing on you. A smile toyed at his lips, and he turned around to lean against the hood of his truck, his hands resting behind him.

“Hi.” You said, smiling at him as you walked closer to him, your eyes scanning his truck to figure out what was going on.

“Hi.” Joel repeated, reaching his arms out to place his hands on either side of your face, leaning down to plant a slow, gentle kiss to your lips. You smiled into the kiss, pulling away to gawk up at him.

“What’s all this?” You asked, leaning to the side to investigate what was happening with his truck.

“Well, I may or may not have set us up a little date night in the bed of my truck.” Joel said almost shyly, and if your eyes weren’t deceiving you, you saw a trace of a blush on the apples of his cheeks.

“Oh my god, did you?” You gushed as Joel grabbed your hand and led you to the back of his truck.

Your jaw fell as the bed of his truck came into view. Joel had set up fairy lights all around the cab of his truck, with what appeared to be a mattress pad and a cocoon of blankets and pillows neatly laid across the bed. Placed on the metal toolbox at the head of the bed of his truck was an assortment of snacks and a bottle of wine. In the middle of the blanket was a pack of playing cards and a stargazing guide book.

“Joel, holy shit.” You muttered. “This is.. wow.”

“You like it?” Joel said, his hand reaching up to the back of his neck to scratch a nonexistent itch.

“Of course I do, this is so cute.” You said in awe, squeezing his hand.

“Here.” He said, grabbing you by the hips and lifting you up onto the bed of the truck, the mattress soft under you. He climbed up beside you, your eyes traveling to take in his outfit. He was wearing those sweatpants you loved so much. You loved his usual outfits, but he looked extra good in those goddamn sweatpants and those plain t-shirts. You slid off your shoes, tossing them onto the ground below. Joel mimicked your actions, throwing his in the same general area as yours.

“This might actually be the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me.” You said as Joel sat next to you, his hand falling to rest on the warm skin of your thigh.

“You deserve nothing but the best.” Joel said, gently cupping your jaw with his fingertips, kissing you softly. His woodsy scent enveloped your senses, and you felt your stomach do a flip as his lips moved against yours. No matter how many times you kissed and touched, you still felt the frenzy of butterflies in your belly.

You pulled away, running your tongue over your bottom lip to taste him. “We better stop or this date will end early.” You teased, reaching down to grab the playing cards.

“Ever played king’s corner?” You asked, taking out the carts to shuffle in your lap.

“I think you forget that I’m old and decrepit.” Joel joked, watching you in amusement as you failed miserably at shuffling the cards. “I’ve played every card game you’ve ever heard of.”

“Gin rummy?” He nodded.

“Bullshit?” He nodded.

“Strip poker?” He gave you a funny look and sighed.

“Many times.” He said, dealing cards to both of you, and starting the game in front of you. He placed four cards around the remaining deck, letting you start the game.

“Loser gives the other head.” You said bluntly, putting down three cards in their respective places.

Joel gazed down at you in shock at your words and nonchalant behavior.

“You sure you want to bet that?” Joel asked, squeezing your thigh, before placing his own cards down, finishing off one of the corners. With the cards you put down.

“Wouldn’t have offered it if I did want to.” You said, looking up at him with a playful expression.

The game dragged on, the both of you nearing the end of your hand before having to draw from the deck.

“You’re edgin’ me, darlin’.” Joel said as you almost won but were forced to draw from the deck. You had two cards left, Joel with three. With two rows left, the game was bound to end very soon.

“Fuck.” You said with nowhere to place your cards. “Your turn.”

Joel kisses you on the cheek, then places down his remaining cards on the remaining rows.

“Uh oh, looks like I won.” Joel teased, reaching behind you to grab the bottle of white wine and his corkscrew. He popped the cork open, taking a swig straight from the bottle. He held the bottle out for you, you taking it and rolling your eyes, taking a sip.

“Seems fishy to me.” You said, handing the bottle back to him. Joel laughed, shaking his head at you.

“Was a win either way for me, baby.” Joel smirked, taking another drink of wine before placing it back on the toolbox.

The sun had set on the horizon, the shades of pink and orange in the sky fading into a black with the glistening array of stars glimmering overhead. The night air had settled into a crisp, gentle breeze. Your hair blew gently away from your face, your complexion glowing as Joel admired your beauty.

“Before I give you your reward, I want to figure out what these stars are.” You said, grabbing the stargazing guide and opening it up. You tilted your head up and observed the different stars above you, the brightest ones standing out to you.

Joel watched you attentively while you bit your lip as you tried to distinguish what star was what. You always did that when you were focused— you bit your bottom lip and your brows always taught together when you were deep in thought.

“Wait, that’s Polaris.” You said, pointing up towards the brightest star in the sky. “Which means that’s the Little Dipper.”

Joel followed your finger, spotting the constellation and smiling softly at your excitement. He looked back over at you, your eyes radiating in joy. Your eyes flickered back to him, his stare locked on you.

“What?” You said with a smile.

“You’re so beautiful.” Joel said softly, memorizing every inch of your face. He never wanted this moment to end.

His heart sank when he realized your father was going to be home soon. The past couple weeks had been the happiest of his life, but good things like you weren’t meant for him. He knew he didn’t deserve to keep you, and it was only a matter of time before you moved on for someone your age. It was also impossible to keep this from your father. As soon as he got home, he knew the dynamic would have to change. The realization broke him internally, but in this moment, he wanted to focus on you and memorize every moment just in case he had to let you go.

You felt your lip quiver at his words. He looked at you like you were the most precious thing in existence. Like Joel, you were just as much memorizing every wrinkle of his complexion, as well as the way his beard faded from a salty gray to a peppery brunette.

“What did I do to deserve you?” You said, closing the stargazing book and placing it behind you onto the toolbox next to the wine and playing cards. You sat up and shifted over to Joel on your knees, placing your hand on his chest, directing him to lay flat. He obeyed, laying his head down on the pillows, his body flat against the soft foam mattress pad. You carefully straddled him, leaning down to press your lips to his.

Joel pulled away briefly, grabbing your face in his hands, his eyes dancing between your eyes, taking in the moment. “I should be askin’ you the same thing.”

He kissed you again, your lips moving perfectly in sync, your tempo gentle and slow. His hands trailed down your back, his fingertips dragging along the back of your shirt. His hands stopped at your ass, squeezing the supple skin underneath your thin, cotton shorts. You moaned into his mouth, your center coming down onto his hardening erection. He grunted in response, the friction making him throb underneath you.

You pulled your mouth away from his, trying to catch your breath. “I think I owe you something, Mr. Miller.” Said whispered, rolling your hips against his before snaking back down his thighs, opening his legs with your knee. You settled on your knees between his legs.

“You’re a little vixen, you know that?” Joel mumbled as he watched you loop your fingers into the waistband of his sweatpants and boxers. “Drive me absolutely fucking crazy.”

You smiled up at him through your eyelashes as you pulled his cock out of his pants, catching his erection in your hand. You squeezed him gently, stroking him in the skin of your soft palm, before removing it to pull his pants all the way off. Joel’s brows taught inwards at the friction, his jaw going slack. Your touch felt like some sort of black magic, making him melt underneath you.

“Fuck, baby.” Joel groaned as you lowered your mouth onto his tip. He moaned when he felt himself nudge the back of your throat. You stayed there, bobbing your head up and down, your hand stroking rhythmically on his leftover length. His hand flew down to your hair and you took him entirely in your mouth, taking him down your throat to the hilt.

You moaned with him in your mouth, the vibration sending shocks of pleasure down his length and into his abdomen. Joel bucked his hips up, the pleasure driving him insane. You could feel his shaft throbbing in your mouth, it twitching at each bob of your head. You knew he wasn’t going to last much longer if you kept up the pace. You felt your center beginning to throb beneath you. You squeezed your thighs shut for some sort of relief, but you needed more.

“God, fuck.” Joel’s eyes squeezed shut, as you began stroking him again, pulling your mouth away from him to catch your breath.

“Joel.” You rasped, your voice raw from his length. “I want you.”

He opened his eyes, looking down at you with an expression as if he was trying to understand what you meant by those three words. You slowed your pace with your hand, leaning forward to kiss him gently.

You pulled away, your eyes searching his. Joel’s hand found your face, the pad of his thumb rubbing the supple skin of your cheek.

“Are you sure that’s what you want?” Joel asked, his gaze not leaving yours. He needed reassurance that that’s what you truly wanted.

“I’m sure.” You confirmed, lowering your hips down against his erection and grinding against it gently, the sensation making him groan immediately.

“I don’t have a condom.” He said, brushing your hair behind your ear.

“I’m on birth control, I have the implant.” You assured him, grabbing his finger and bringing it up to your arm, letting him feel the rod underneath your skin. He looked from your arm back to your eyes. “It’s okay, I promise.”

Joel nodded, pulling you down to kiss you harder. In a swift motion, Joel flipped you over, him now hovering over you with your back flat against the blankets. His hands began exploring you, trailing from your thighs, up your belly, to your breasts where he paid extra attention. He pulled up your shirt, pulling your breasts out over your bra and kneading them one by one as his lips moved against yours. You pulled away from the kiss momentarily, helping him pull your shirt over your head.

“Need to feel you.” Joel muttered against your lips, his hand leaving your chest to venture to the waistband of your shorts. You lifted your hips off the blanket to allow him to pull the shorts down your legs, leaving your black thong on display for him.

“So breathtakin’, baby.” He murmured, trailing kisses down your belly to the waistband of your panties, pulling the fabric back with two fingers, letting it gently snap back against your skin. Not wanting to tease you any longer, his finger traced your heat over the thin fabric of the thong. The moisture from your arousal was pooling at the material under your core, Joel ghosting soft circles over your bundle of nerves. You let out a quiet wine underneath him, bucking your hips up into his fingers. He exhaled deeply at the feeling of your arousal soaking through the lace of your thong. He pushed the damp fabric aside, revealing your glistening slick to him. He ran a finger up your folds, collecting the arousal to rub against your clit.

“Fuck.” You said breathily, your hands fisting the blanket for leverage. Joel pressed a kiss to your inner thigh, looking up at you through his eyelashes. The sight of him between your legs made your core throb. You were so wound up already, you knew you weren’t going to last long under his touch.

You inhaled sharply as Joel licked a stripe up your soaking folds, his finger still playing with your clit haphazardly. He stuck his tongue inside your opening, fucking you with his tongue. Your eyes rolled back in your head as you whimpered at the feeling. You exhaled deeply when he pulled his mouth away from your heat.

“Just needed a taste of you.” Joel said, kissing up the expanse of your pubic bone to your tummy.

Joel’s tongue was soon replaced with his middle finger. You gasped quietly as he pumped his finger in and out of you, curling it up perfectly to put pressure against your g spot. He always knew just where to touch you to make you go crazy. Between his finger inside of you and his opposite thumb toying with you clit, you already felt sex drunk. Joel added his ring finger, stretching you perfectly to prepare you for his cock.

“Can’t wait to feel all of you.” Joel said, planting another kiss to your public bone, his beard tickling your supple skin.

“N-need you.” You whined, your legs jolting when he bent down to suck softly on your bundle of nerves. At your words, Joel removed his fingers from you, making eye contact as he sucked your juices off his fingers. He then slid your panties down your legs, tossing them aimlessly behind him. Joel lifted his shirt over his head, exposing the soft skin of his stomach. He wasn’t buff, but he was perfect to you.

“Lift up, sweetheart.” Joel coaxed you, tapping your sides by your ribs, reaching behind you to unclasp your bra, sliding it off your shoulders. You were completely bare to each other now, feeling wildly exposed in the night air. Your skin was glowing under the dim lighting of the fairy lights, the twinkle in your eye illuminating.

“I could look at you forever.” You whispered, pulling Joel down to kiss you. You kissed him with everything in you. You weren’t the best with expressing your feelings through words, so every ounce of emotion within you you fueled into the kiss. Your soft lips tasted of white wine as your lips danced against each other, Joel settling between your legs. You whined into his mouth as his crotch grinded against yours, his erection warm against your glistening core.

Joel’s lips moved from your to your neck, his kisses gentle and warm against your skin. Your jaw went slack as you felt Joel’s tip rubbing against the slick of your folds. You were soaked with arousal, him moving against you with ease.

“So pretty, baby.” Joel reiterated as he slowly pushed his tip against your opening, the pressure driving you mad.

“Fuck, Joel.” You muttered, your forehead resting against his, your breath rolling over his.

He pushed slowly into you, inching his length to stretch your walls around him. You grabbed his biceps, squeezing his muscles as he settled into you, his hips touching yours as he filled you completely to the hilt. Your walls were tight around him, conforming to his girth.

“Fuck, you feel amazin’.” Joel groaned, sliding his cock out of you to the ridge of his tip, before slowly pushing it back inside. “Like your body was made for me.”

His words electrified your core, your lower belly feeling coiled tight with heat. His strokes were rhythmic, and you were completely and utterly fucked. He filled you so perfectly, and after this moment, you realized you never wanted to fuck anyone else ever again. It was almost as if his cock was molded just for you, his length hitting nerves deep inside of you that you hadn’t known existed.

Joel lifted one of your legs over his shoulder, his thrusts hitting even deeper within you. You whimpered as he hit your cervix, the sensation making your walls throb around him. His free hand fell to your pubic bone, his hand pressing down against you to push your g spot against his length, while lowering his thumb to rub circles against your clit.

“Oh my god.” You mewled. Your core was clamping and that familiar electrifying heat was rushing through your abdomen and through your limbs. You’d hardly realized when Joel leaned down to take your breast his mouth, lightly sucking on your pebbled nipple. He toyed with your other nipple, his fingers pinching it gently.

“You drive me absolutely fucking crazy.” Joel panted as he quickened his pace, the sound of your skin slapping together becoming more prominent. “You know just how to make this old man feel young again.”

Your vision went fuzzy as he lowered his hand to squeeze the supple flesh of your ass, his rough fingertips digging into your skin for more leverage.

“I can feel you clenchin’ around me, sweetheart.” Joel mumbled, his forehead damp with perspiration. “Let go for me, it’s okay.”

“F-fuck.” You let out a strangled moan, your eyes clamping shut as you felt your high drawing near. Your core was wound tight, and you knew the coils were going to unravel at any second with his relentless pace. Joel wasn’t far behind you, his cock twitching inside of you.

“God, baby. I’m close.” Joel whined, his thrusts becoming sloppier.

Your breaking point was when Joel’s thumb found its way to your clit again, working circles into your nerves. You saw stars and your ears began to ring as your orgasm overcame you, sending shocks through the nerves of your body. Every inch of your body was on fire, and you felt like your soul had left your body and was now among the stars overhead. While you were blissfully coming down from your high, Joel came, his release coating your walls in hot spurts, a strangled moan falling from his lips. Still inside you, he laid over you, but was sure to not crush you under his weight. You were both panting, your foreheads damp with sweat.

You laid like that for a while, basking in the aftermath of your highs. Your body felt way more weightless and relaxed than any of the orgasms Joel and gave you over the course of the last couple weeks. Not only was your body physically drained, but the explosion of emotions you were feeling in that moment for the man laying on you had completely taken over your mind.

He was perfect in every way. He was kind to you, had a sense of humor (despite being dry at times), and more than anything he made you feel happy. For the past few years you had felt incredibly discouraged at ever being able to find love again. It took years to finally love yourself and your body after being convinced by your ex that it was something wrong with you, not him. It’s hard to comprehend how one person can ruin every ounce of self love you’ve ever had for yourself in a singular moment, leaving you with years of healing to do. But in that moment with Joel, you felt content. How long this bliss would last was unsure to you, but in that moment, you knew he was your person.

“Get under the blanket, sweetheart.” Joel said, coaxing you to sit up to help you slither under the covers, the blanket soft against your bare skin. Joel laid flat, letting you cuddle up into his side, your cheek pressed against his chest.

The sound of his heartbeat was soothing to you, the thumps almost hypnotic. Joel’s fingers played with the end of your hair, twirling around strands here and there.

“What are you thinking about?” You asked Joel, glancing up to see his forehead creased in deep thought. He sighed and kissed the top of your head, breathing in the sweet scent of your shampoo.

“You.” Joel said simply, his other hand coming down to lace his fingers with yours on his chest. He kissed your forehead this time, brushing the flyaways that had gotten stuck on the damp skin.

“What about me?” You whispered, closing your eyes at his relaxing touch.

“Thinkin’ about you and me.” He began. “Our future.”

Joel frowned, giving your hand a gentle squeeze. You bit the inside of your cheek at his words, feeling your stomach do a flip. As amazing as things were between you for the time being, you couldn’t help but wonder what things would be like moving forward. Soon your dad would be home and you’d have to hide your relationship, or whatever the situation you had going on was. Neither of you had discussed labels, you were simply just enjoying your time with each other and relishing in your feelings.

“Your dad will be home soon.” Joel said quietly, his hand moving from your hair to your back, tracing small circles on your skin.

“I know.” You whispered, your tone defeated.

“I care about you a lot.” Joel muttered, inhaling a deep breath before exhaling. “And I want nothin’ more than to spend all of my time with you. I haven’t felt this happy in years, and I just don’t know what to do about your father. I care about him too, and I can’t stand the thought of hurting him.”

You felt tears brewing in your eyes, and you quickly blinked them away. As much as his words stung, it was the hard truth. The odds of your father being accepting of this relationship were slim to none, and you knew it wasn’t going to be easy for either of you trying to sneak around. While it was easy to maintain the dynamic you had with no one around, it was going to be taxing going from acting like you were together when your father was gone, to acting distant once he returned home from work.

“Don’t think for a second that I’ll give up on you, sweetheart.” Joel said, tilting your head up with his finger under your chin before pressing a kiss to your lips. Your cheeks were flushed and your eyes were glossy. The sight of tears in your eyes shattered Joel.

“It’s going to be hard but we’ll figure somethin’ out.” Joel said, but it was almost as if he was trying to convince himself, not you.

“I want you more than anything, Joel.” You said, softly kissing his jawline.

“Maybe my dad won’t be as opposed as we think?” You offered with hope laced in your tone, tracing your finger against his chest, watching goosebumps rise beneath your touch. Joel sighed, squeezing your hand again.

“It’s hard tellin’.” Joel murmured. “I do know one thing. What matters is how two people make each other feel, not how their relationship makes other people feel.”

You took a deep breath at his words, closing your eyes as you tried to relax.

“It’ll all be okay, I promise.”

taglist— @ghostwritesthings, @magpiepills, @laurrrra, @brittmb115, @kaislashes, @smccul

#din djarin #joel miller #pedro pascal #pedro pascal smut #pedro x reader #tlou fanfiction #joel tlou #the mandalorian #dbf!joel #joel miller smut

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wayfayrr · 6 months ago

Note

Here is the menace with your chosen word Farewell. So gather 'round, sit back, relax and please stay in your seat. Kick your feet up and grab some popcorn. Oh, and of course, lest we not forget, enjoy the show.

Now here is a Reader, that one of the boys is looking for, what seems like for millennias. This is Navi!Reader.

Instead of Navi, Time called them Reader.

They have blue wings and they change colour depending on their emotions.

Their glow also changes it's colour depending on their emotion.

Red is anger/ worried.

Yellow is focused/ determined.

Green is happy/ sick (like when you spin to often).

White is fear.

Blue is calm.

Pink is embarrassed/ flustered.

With that they are one of the very few fairies that doesn't have white wings and glow pink. And now the only one.

Beneath the light Reader wears a blue toga with green ends and a Sakura petal pattern, that petals 🌸, with golden a vein-like belt and pair of shoes, which looks more like an accessory than shoes.

They are the last fairy of the Kokiri and knows what happened to them.

They also saw how the Kroks came to life.

They hide inside the Deku Tree since they left Time as a child.

Sage found them as he slept inside the Deku Tree, since then he always has them around.

They call him "my little Zonai".

He knows that they went through something horrible and they told him about the time travels, the Kokiri, the Kroks. But they left Time out, as he maybe wanted to keep his privacy.

They feel incredibly guilty for leaving Time behind, but they had to.

If they wouldn't come back to the Deku Tree after their purpose was fulfilled they would've died in Time's hands.

I'd like to believe that Reader is Time's first love. He only got along with Saria for as long as he can remember, but then there comes Reader. His very own Fairy the very thing that caused him of being an outcast as he didn't had one.

Since then Reader was with him, nevermind if it was underwater or in a volcano. Reader was by his side and is the only one who REALLY knows how Time feels as they also got kicked back in time before Ganondorf attacked.

Reader was his partner, friend and guide. They teached him how to hold the sword and shield properly. They told him about the monsters around him and how to kill them easily or their weaknesses or helped him focus by flying around the monster's weak points. So he can kill them easier or that his shot is more accurate.

As a fairy they are immortal as long as they have a purpose they don't die beyond the borders of the Lost Woods, if their purpose allows them to cross it.

They love sweets and kinda act like a hummingbird as they normally ate/ drank(?) sweet nectar from the forest flowers.

They are scared of Skulltulas and they got stuck in their webs a few times in the Forest Temple and the old Deku Tree.

Time was their very first friend and so they always hope that he lives a good life.

If anyone would've told them that he went into the Lost Woods to look for them. They would be happy and disappointed as they don't want him to hold onto them.

They were his mouth for the first instances as he was too overwhelmed with everything, from being destined to purge the evil to stepping outside of the forest. He was just shy at first as he never met adults so they talked for him until he got the courage to do it himself!

They call him "my Kokiri".

Their Song is "Airplanes" from BOB feat Hayley Williams and Eminem.

How they met/reunited.

Reader's PoV:

I flew around searching that idiot who put me in a bottle! I flew around and saw him, Link. I was seeing red and completely disregarded the group that was talking to him.

„YOU IDIOT LINK! I APPRECIATE YOUR CONCERN BUT DON'T PUT ME IN A BOTTLE!! I ALMOST DIED AS IT SHATTERED!! I AM IMMORTAL BUT THAT ONLY MEANS THAT I CAN'T DIE OF AGE NOT INJURIES!! YOU IDIOT! MORON!! FOOL!!!“ I stomped with my foot the air in anger and he looked at me surprised and shocked.

„Sorry? But how should I protect you?! You are a frail and tiny fairy!! I thought you are safe in there!!“

„I WAS WITH ONE HERO ALREADY!! I WAS WITH HIM THROUGH HIS WHOLE JOURNEY!!! I KNOW, HOW TO DODGE ATTACKS AND AVOID MONSTERS!!! I DID IT MULTIPLE TIMES!! YES, I'M SMALL BUT DOESN'T MEAN I'M HELPLESS, LINK!!!“ I screamed at him but he didn't budge.

„But you don't know how the monsters here are you hid inside the Deku Tree for millennias! You saw more of the changes of Hyrule than all of Hyrule together! And You where only inside the Lost Woods! In your little house!!“

„Uhm... Excuse me?“ Our heads snap to the interrupting Hylian and screamed unison.

„WHAT?! DON'T JUST INTERRUPT OUR CONVERSATION!!“ but the Hylian just looked at me.

„Reader, is that you?“ he came nearer to us.

„That's my name how do you know... Wait a minute...“ I flew around him and his eyes looked so hopeful and scared at the same time.

But this sparkles in his eyes as he looked at me. I immediately knew who it was and hugged his cheek.

„Link?! The little Link!? My Kokiri!!“ he held his hands carefully around me, in fear to hurt me or that I will disappear any second.

„Reader it's really you! I thought, I will never see you again!“

„Me neither. As my purpose was fulfilled, I had to go back to the Woods or I would've died in your little hands and I didn't want that! So how have you been? You look so tall compared from the last time I saw you and I see you have sons! Many of them.“ one of the hero's children spit out his water or whatever he was drinking and was coughing roughly.

„They are not my children, Reader! Twilight is my descendant but the others aren't mine.“

„Twilight? You were never good with name giving were you?“ I shook my head disapprovingly.

„It's not like that! We all are called Link and Twilight is the Hero of Twilight that's why he has that nickname!“

„Ohhh... Sorry, just thought as they look a bit like you, especially the young one, his eyes promise that he is a gremlin like you.“ the man before me began to blush.

„Stop that!“

„Wait! You were with Time as he was child?“ asked one of the boys, he had a white cape with the Master Sword on his back.

„Well, kind of. I heard much about him from other fairies but also witnessed it myself. I was with that little Kokiri since the beginning of his journey and travelled through time with him.“ I looked at my now hero who looked shocked at me.

„You never told me, you were the guide of the Hero of Time!“ I tilted my head.

„Well, I wanted to respect Link's privacy and I was confused as I didn't know if you knew him as the Hero of Time or not. As we got send back in time and it was before Ganondorf tried to get the Triforce. So I didn't know how to explain that part very well. I'm really sorry, my little Zonai!“ I flew towards the young man with difficulty as my Kokiri didn't want to let me go but he just hugged me.

„I'm not mad and never would be. You've been through so much so I forgive now come we have to go. Hyrule doesn't save itself.“ he smiled something he did very rarely nowadays but it seem off like their was something sinister and possessive behind it. But my purpose was to travel with him and help him open his heart!

„Okay... See you again my Kokiri. I'm sure of it and it was a pleasure to met the other heroes and your descendant!“ I waved with a green yellow glow before following my Zonai who walked away but I didn't see his smug smirk or the glare that Kokiri gave the Zonai.

After the Zonai defeated the Demon Dragon I was about to fly back to the Deku Tree as my purpose was fulfilled but Link put me into a bottle again.

„Link! Let Me Out!!“

„I can't do that you will leave me again!!“

„Please! I have to go back to the Woods! You can visit me but please let me go!!!“ I sounded desperate as I felt my strength dwindling.

„NO! I WANT YOU WITH ME!! YOU WERE WITH ME!!!“

„This time you don't pack up and leave like back then Reader! I should have put you in a bottle back then.“ My Kokiri... His voice sounded so stern...

My consciousness disappeared more and more that I would wake up and fall back in the black every now and then.

„Reader...?“ I didn't know who spoke but it was like I could hear the bottle opening but I already lied there on the bottom of the bottle I was to weak.

I only felt how I fell out of the bottle into a hand. „Woods... I... Need... To... The... Woods...“ I whispered and suddenly I hear the two which normally fought the most running for their or my life.

Then I got snatched into the hand of another hero he gave me sugar water but that only kept me alive for a little while longer. Then he took of running again. He was definitely faster than the other two. But I didn't know if we could make it to the Lost Woods in time. Then I felt the familiar fog around me and I got my strength back.

„Ah... You came back, my child of the past.“ I sat up in the hands and looked at the Great Deku Tree.

„Sorry... For the delay... Had some... Challenges to conquer...“ I breathed in and out before turning to my hero, which was the Hero of Legends.

I kissed his cheek before circling around him. „Thank you! You are my hero!! If you wouldn't got me here, I would have died!!“

He got little red in embarrassment as the heroes didn't get much gratitude and appreciation but he nodded. So I flew to the Deku Tree.

„Purpose fulfilled, Great Deku Tree. The evil was purged and the hero is save and sound with the princess! So mission was successfully accomplished!!“ I said cheerfully.

„Can I ask something?“ said the hero.

„Of course, young hero. What can I do for you?“

„Is it possible that Reader can come with us? They know more about the shadow than any of us. They just have to see him and know as what he is hiding. We really need that help.“

„I understand. Reader get the light.“

„Really but Deku Tree that should be kept hidden until the world needs it again!“ I called out to him.

„I know young one, but you are the only being here old enough to use it and move. So your new task is to help this heroes with the light.“

„Understood, Deku Tree! I will go and get it!“ I disappeared into the Deku Tree and up to the crown, where I found the Minish hiding like me.

I didn't have to say anything. The little creatures gave me the Force. It may be not as strong as the Triforce but its for use for the heroes. I hoped, that these two calmed down by now. The light disappeared into my body and my body lighten up as I grew. My wings were bigger same with my body. It was strange but my shine was now dimmer, that means they would be able to see my toga I HAVE NO UNDERWEAR!! Good, flying is now forbidden Reader!! I stepped out of the Deku Tree and only saw the heroes standing on the resting place of the Master Sword with their jaws dropped, wide eyes and red.

„Seems like you still have a guide my dear heroes. I'm Reader, your fairy guide! If you have any questions just ask away!“ I said with a wink and a mock salute.

That's how they got Navi!Reader in their group until they fulfilled their task. But the Chain will find a way to keep them with the group until then. That's also the only Chain where Sage kinda listens to Time. Well, mostly because of Reader as Time was their partner in the past and they wouldn't be happy if they would fight. But as soon as all of them fall in love they will also notice that Reader doesn't fly as much as usual. Well as soon they find out the why, they are red with a nosebleed while Reader is screeching in embarrassment and explain that as a fairy they never needed things like underwear. Well, Wild hopes for a try again for his camera, Sage too. Wind wants them as his guide like Time, maybe with a little puppy crush. But at the end they try to solve the issue with the Triforce that Reader doesn't die when they leave the border of the Lost Woods. But Reader doesn't understand courting traditions from the Hylian as they are a Fairy. But Hyrule as a half Fae so he has more modern versions of Fairy courtship. So he is the only one who gets Reader to understand that they are being courted. But the others will see that and do the same, which confuses them dearly as it's a very sudden change in their opinion.

Navi!reader is an interesting concept, seeing as there is going to be one hero with a giant attachment to them first and foremost.

Time, if he gets the chance is never going to let them go ever. especially now that they have a more hylian form and can

#sorry I didn't respond for ages #I have been busyyyyyyy #using my queue till it emptied #cause I was on holiday lmao (got this when I was on the train but didn't have time to respond)#also I know it's only a couple lines here but as a gentle reminder #please don't include sage in asks #that's my only request #if I get any asks with sage in from this point onward I will be deleting them with no hesitation.#because I have both warned you and put it in my rules now.#and the fact that you still referring to totk link as sage despite my very clear stance is starting to bother me.#it's also why this response was short.#moss✦answers #yandere linked universe #yandere linked universe x reader #yandere link

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kitten4sannie · 2 years ago

Text

𝐀 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭’𝐬 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞

pairing: dragon shifter! seonghwa x knight! reader (fem) x fem! oc feat. king! hongjoong

genre: fantasy au, slight angst, romance, smut (so, so much i promise <3)

summary: a knight is ordered by the king to save the princess from a fearsome dragon. this, of course, is a common fairy tale with a predictable ending — but what happens when there’s more to the story than meets the eye?

w.c: 11.3k

warnings: multiple mentions of branding, violence/injury/blood (hwa and reader fist fight jsjshs), service top! seonghwa, switch! reader, switch! oc, f/f, threesome dynamics, pet names (reader gets called love, darling, pup/puppy), big cock alertttt, blood kink…, praise, kissing, marking, long tongue kink, use of a tail (ykw i’m sayinggg), fingering (f/f receiving), oral (f/f/m receiving), deep throating, unprotected sex, masturbation, exhibitionism/voyeurism, breeding kink, creampie, cum swap, dumbification

a/n: this was originally just going to be about dragon hwa but then i started thinking about a pretty princess and a knight and i just – also this is dedicated to my friend haru aka @stardragongalaxy as a late bday present also thank you for giving me creative (🏳️‍🌈) freedom with this fic hehe,, i hope you enjoy lovely <3 also i rewrote this thing a thousand times and i just don’t really know how i feel about it but i wanted to share it regardless so if you liked it please consider leaving some feedback <3

song recs: angel by finneas, all around me by flyleaf, kingslayer by bring me the horizon feat. babymetal, blood in the water by catch your breath, crossing over by elysion, constance by spirit box, desert rose by lolo zouaï

Masterlist

➽───────────────❥

As the daughter of the most feared knight of the round table, and your king’s most trusted confidant, you were thrown into the complicated web of the royal family, forced to navigate their endless strings of high expectations and saccharine lies. Instead of a sweet silver spoon in your mouth, you got used to one that tasted of iron and rust. To make matters more difficult, you were born without the perks of being a man. Expected to be quiet and prone to sewing doilies in the comfort of your bedroom, you instead doubled down on learning to sword fight, deciding to follow in the footsteps of your father. You learned early on that you were handed certain cards in life, expected to never trade them in. But you wanted more. You knew in order to receive the respect of those around you, it was imperative that you rose up to the same rank as your late father after he passed.

And so, you became a protector of the royal family, ordered to watch over the king, as well as the eldest princess. She treated you like you were just another person, one without a collar around their neck, unlike her father who sought to treat you how he saw fit. With forceful words and orders just as intense. With sweet promises, gazes full of lust, and late night visits to his bedchamber, followed with shameful walks back to your own. You didn’t truly realize your place in the cogwheels of royalty until you were caught giving the princess a gentle cheek kiss. It was then that he would discipline you. Brand you. Forever remind you of your role as the royal family’s guard dog.

Despite this fate, you wanted to prove that you could be more than a simple pet. You could be a lot more. You had something to offer. Something you could offer to the one that would receive it with a gentle smile and a heart full of warmth.

༻✧༺

Bending at the knee for the king, you didn’t stand until he ordered you to, resting your hand on the hilt of your sword, your heavy armor feeling a bit stifling from the intense stare he was giving you.

“My eldest daughter, Rosanna, as you know, has been missing and we’ve just gotten word that she’s been spotted at the abandoned castle near Crescent Falls.” Grimacing, Hongjoong closed his hands into tight fists, unable to handle that he was powerless, despite having the highest form of power any individual could possess. “But, she’s being held hostage by a filthy dragon,” he growled out of anger, his loud, impassioned voice echoing throughout the throne room.

You stood still for a moment, a pivotal memory of the princess standing near her favorite patch of roses still fresh inside your mind.

“I’m going to be leaving tonight,” Rosanna said softly, twirling a rose she was holding and admiring the soft red hue, careful not to prick herself on the thorns. “My friend said he can take me away from here.” Wanting to be careful of her words out of fear that you wouldn’t understand, she continued vaguely, “He figured out a way to protect us.”

“How?” you questioned softly, about to speak more when she shook her head, making your mouth close up.

“You know I trust you, but out of precaution, I can’t go into detail…” Rosanna gazed down at the family crest etched into the hilt of your sword, the same one that had been burned into your skin many years ago. “You know why.”

You nodded your head, knowing she could see the invisible leash her father had you tethered by, feeling shame burn into the skin of your cheeks.

Fading back into her overjoyed headspace, she angled her head down and smiled to herself, the rose petals blurring into a mess of crimson, her eyes wet with tears. “No more forced marriage proposals. No more slaving away for my father. N-no more…father…” Her thumb grazed a thorn, but didn’t let it slice into her skin. “I’m going to be free from this prison…”

Your body twitched at the sight of Rosanna’s bittersweet expression, wanting to hold her, but remaining still, knowing your place. “Is the friend…Is it Seonghwa? That apothecary apprentice you’re always talking about?” you whispered near her, glancing around your surroundings to make sure no one was listening, before leaning in. “Princess, are you sure you can trust h–”

“I’m sure.” She turned to you, pulling you further into the gazebo you were both under to completely conceal yourselves from any wandering eyes. “Y/N…” Her features softened, her eyelids lowering slightly so that she looked at you through her wispy lashes. “Won’t you come with us? We can both…” Her voice trailed off, a light blush forming on her cheeks, her fingers drifting over one of your gloved hands. “We can…be ourselves.”

You were chained to the castle, to its king, to its people. If you were to abandon your post, you knew you would be putting yourself at great risk, but…there was something very familiar tugging at your heart.

“Y/N,” Rosanna whispered, now inches away from your conflicted face, giving you a soft smile. “Don’t you want to see where this goes?”

You slowly relaxed with her unspoken permission, squeezing her fingers ever so slightly when she entwined them with yours. “I…I do, but…”

When you couldn’t form the proper words, Rosanna pressed a gentle kiss to your cheek, rendering you speechless. The princess pulled away after a few seconds, rubbing her lipstick off of your face with her silk glove, her sad eyes meeting yours. “I know I’m asking a lot, but just think about it. I’m sure my father will want someone to come look for me, so I give you permission to find me.”

You nodded weakly, your cheeks feeling hot to the touch, standing eerily still like one of the marble statues that were littered throughout the garden. You were unable to react to the hug she gave you besides a small squeeze back, and only produced a small ‘goodbye, princess’ as she bid you farewell, leaving you to gaze at the sea of roses by yourself.

Before Rosanna disappeared that night, she left the rose on your bed inside your sleeping quarters. You closed your eyes and pressed it to your chest, letting the thorns prick at your skin, succumbing to the painful sting of unspoken love once again.

“Y/N,” Hongjoong snapped, making you fade out of your bittersweet memory and ignore the tightness inside your chest. “You will come back to me with my daughter safe and sound.”

Were you willing to betray the king? The one who had his tendrils wrapped tightly around you, barely allowing you to breathe? The one who would burn entire kingdoms down for his daughter? Was going against him worth the destruction he would leave behind?

“I…I will defeat the beast and rescue the princess, my Lord,” you said softly, bending at the waist the best you could to bow to him, unable to look him in the eyes.

At that moment, Hongjoong got up from his throne and walked down the steps to stand at your level. With one finger underneath your chin, he tilted it upwards until you were forced to meet his fiery gaze. With the scent of ale on his breath, he leaned in close, pressing his lips against your earlobe, murmuring pointedly, “And if you don’t come back with my daughter...” Hongjoong grasped your jaw, his thumb pressing into your bottom lip, studying your eyes for any deception. “Don’t bother crawling back to my bedchambers. You’ll be dead to me just like your poor father sitting in that cracked urn you keep in your room. Do you hear me, pet?”

Swallowing harshly, keeping your emotions at bay, your hand slowly formed a fist over your heart, feeling the prying eyes of the king’s staff burning holes into the back of your head, afraid that they all knew about your secrets, about what you were planning to do next, about everything you were about to risk. “Understood, my Lord. I will return only with the princess by my side.”

༻✧༺

Sitting on your knees in front of a nearby stream to take a drink and cool your body down, you went stiff upon hearing the sound of your horse nervously trotting back and forth over the forest foliage, causing you to instinctively grab the hilt of your blade. You looked around the general vicinity, trying to spot any movement around the bushes and trees that surrounded you, unsure of who or what was watching you.

“What is a knight doing so far away from home?” a deep, sultry voice came out from behind you, causing you to spin around, almost dumbfounded that you couldn’t hear him sneaking up on you, despite your careful hearing. You saw a man standing before you, one that had a dark hood on, only allowing you to see the point of his nose, the sharpness of his jaw, and his smirking lips.

“I’m…here with the orders of the king,” you responded carefully, your fingers squeezing around your cold blade handle, but not pulling it out just yet. “The princess is being held hostage by a beast inside the castle many miles from here. I’m here to save her.”

The man took a small step forward, his smirk growing ever so slightly, tapping his fingers against the small black crystal hanging from his neck by a silver chain. “A beast, you say? Do you think it has piercing eyes that’ll petrify you?” He took another small step. “Or how about large, ghastly talons that’ll tear you to pieces?” He took one more step, just a few feet away from you now, his smirk turning into a grin, his canine teeth a lot sharper than you cared to admit to yourself. “Do you think he’ll try to swallow you whole? Or will he play with you instead? What do you think, knight?” When he tried to take another step, he stopped in his tracks, the razor-sharp tip of your blade pressing into his chest and drawing a bit of blood.

Your eyes narrowed at the stranger, standing your ground, having a very good idea of who he was, but choosing not to voice it. He didn’t have a weapon on hand. Taking him out while he was in a vulnerable state would be going against your code. “Everything I have. Everything I am. I will give. Nothing will stop me from protecting my kingdom’s princess, except death Himself.”

“So the king really does have you on a tight leash. What a loyal little puppy you are,” he replied disdainfully, leaning back slightly to relieve the pressure of the blade cutting into his skin. “Or are you doing this for the princess?” Seeing your eyes widen slightly, he chuckled softly. “Oh, I see. Will you free her from the tower and share a true love’s kiss?”

“Do not mock me, stranger,” you growled back, ignoring his question, the tips of your fingers turning white from how tightly you were holding your weapon. “You don’t know my motivations or my story, so kindly fuck off.”

“Got a bit of a temper there.” The man fiddled with his necklace some more, still grinning, finding delight in your reaction. Figuring he was done testing you, he bowed his head to you, his raven hair falling into his eyes. “I wish you the best of luck.” He angled his head up, giving you an intense stare, his forked tongue just barely slipping out of his mouth to lick at his lips. “Let’s see if the pretty little knight slays the dragon before he slays her.”

༻✧༺

You arrived at the abandoned castle by sundown, having to use an old torch to light your path through the dark, empty hallways and rooms, searching for any sign of life. Opening the next pair of doors you saw, you ended up in the library. You froze, your gloved hand still resting on the metal handle, suddenly caught off guard by the beautifully familiar woman sitting on an old velvet couch with a candle and an open book in her hand.

“Princess Rosanna…?” you called out, making her jump and turn her head to the familiar voice she wasn’t expecting to hear so soon. Upon seeing your distinct features, the princess ran up to you once you stepped foot into the room, the cold metal of your armor and chainmail causing her to let out small noises of protest. “Princess, I’m so happy to see you alive and well.”

“You came for me,” she said as though it were a revelation, slowly pulling away to get a good look at you, licking her thumb and wiping a bit of soot away from your cheek. “I’ve missed you greatly…”

“Likewise, Princess. You’ve been in my thoughts all this time. Night and day…” You stood still, looking into her gentle eyes, her thumb still pressed to your warm cheek, feeling it slowly drag downwards to your lips, her thumb moving across your bottom one. “Do I…have something on my face…?” you whispered, not even noticing when your fingers clutched her lower back.

“Mm-hmm,” she murmured back, clutching your chin, bringing it towards hers. “Should I get it for you?”

It took everything in you not to lose yourself in this fantasy you’ve created for yourselves, as much as you wanted to. It was simple, really. You were a knight under the command of the king, and she was the princess, and if Hongjoong got his way, was destined to court with a prince that was up to her standards. Regardless of the situation, she was still pure gold — untouchable and timeless. You, however, were plain ivory, doomed to crack and crumble to pieces when the time came. Would she be satisfied?

You pressed your forehead to hers, closing your tired eyes, your heart still pounding away inside your tightening chest. “We…we shouldn’t…”

“Why shouldn’t we?” she questioned as fiercely as she could, caressing both of your cheeks, her thumbs rubbing tentatively along your jaw, encouraging you to open your eyes back up to look into her focused ones. “My father isn’t here. We’re miles and miles away from the castle. Who’s going to know?”

Despite the incredible complications present in the game of chess you were apart of, you felt your once idle piece beginning to move forward across the board.

“Princess…” you whispered carefully, your eyelids lowering slightly, closing your grasp around her waist, bringing her against you. Ignoring your dizzying heartbeat, you lowered your gaze to her parted lips, ready to risk everything for the woman looking back at you like you were her…well, her knight in shining armor. “May I…?”

“You may…” she returned, waiting for you to close the space in between the two of you, your lips meeting in the middle. Instead of fireworks, you both felt like you had been submerged into a warm pool of honey, slowly enveloping your bodies in its comfort, eventually drowning you in its adherent serenity.

As one desperate, though purposeful kiss led to another, the princess slowly led you backwards to the couch, sitting you down and lowering herself down onto your lap, her lips still connected to yours. The heavy sensation of arousal buzzing throughout your mind and body clouded your thought process. All you could think about were her plush lips moving against yours like you were her only source of oxygen, her warm hands moving down your jaw and up the back of your neck to slip into your tangled hair.

Rosanna broke the kiss for a moment to whisper breathlessly, “Touch me, Y/N. You have my permission.”

Your head was spinning, but you sought to keep it screwed on tight, carefully removing your gloves to touch her body directly, though delicately, slowly moving your hands up to her waist, being drawn in towards her neck, leaving lingering kisses and licks along the warm expanse of her skin.

The princess slowly ran her hands over the rough branding that had been stamped onto the backs of your own hands years prior, her fingers hot to the touch as they drifted up your forearms.

“Princess, your skin is so hot…Are you feeling unwell?” you murmured against her glistening neck, hearing her breath hitch from your teasing words.

“Quite unwell…” Rosanna sighed softly, playing along, pulling at the strings near her chest, loosening up her dress so that it began to slip off her shoulders. “Take care of me, knight.”

Greatly encouraged by her demand, you reached out to grip her shoulders, sliding her dress down little by little, gazing at her lovely, exquisitely soft body, the one you could only picture inside your head during the late hours of the night year after year. And now she was right here in front of you. You must’ve fallen asleep at the pond and been caught inside a dream you never wanted to wake up from.

Rosanna caressed your heated face, watching you with a loving gaze, letting you take your time, despite wanting to rip her clothes off along with every single piece of your armor. Slowly, but surely, you were brought out of your cloudy headspace when you noticed a deep bite mark imprinted in her skin just above one of her partially exposed breasts — one that was fresh and bruising. “Did…Did Seonghwa do this?”

She brushed a few loose strands of hair out of your flushed face and pushed them behind your pierced ear, nodding her head knowingly. “Yes, but–”

“Princess,” you interrupted Rosanna, gently taking her wrist and giving it a small kiss, motioning to the door with a soft smile. You believed in your heart that you could take better care of her than any man could, especially one that just did as he pleased. “Let me take you away from here. We can–”

“No!” the princess cried, overwhelmed by the thought of leaving, feeling your hand loosen around her arm, allowing her to pull away from you and stand up. She pulled her dress back up and began tying it up diligently, glancing down at it instead of your concerned eyes. “I don’t want to leave, Y/N. I’m happy here.”

“Happy?” you questioned, your voice losing its volume towards the end. “You’re happy staying here in a crumbling castle alone with a shapeshifter? I know he’s your friend, but are you not afraid of what he could do to you? After he’s already done that to you?”

Rosanna held her hands up to her head and gripped her braided hair, turning around to gather herself, appearing to be incredibly frustrated. “He’s more than that to me…”

Choosing not to face the possibilities of her words, you stood up to your feet, taking a step towards her in order to turn her around, taking her hand to hold it. “Princess, you know I just have your best interest at heart.”

Rosanna squeezed your fingers tightly, desperately wanting you to see her side. “Y/N, he’s not what you think! He’s actually incredibly sweet and takes care of me.” She looked down and smiled to herself, her eyes lighting up underneath her long, wispy eyelashes. “He loves me.”

“He does?” you mumbled, your eyebrows joining together in confusion, jealousy pricking into your heart like a thorn.

“Yes, and he can take care of you too, Y/N. He has more than enough love to give.”

“H-huh…?” You didn’t understand the context of her words, but it made your throat go dry.

She grasped your chin with her manicured fingers and leaned closer, suggesting, “Why don’t you stay here? You can spend some time with him and maybe you’ll end up falling for him like I–”

A loud, ear-piercing roar rumbled throughout the castle, making you jolt, your hand settling on your sword, until another screech replaced the silence after the first, this one so powerful that it made the large bookshelves nearby tremble and shed century-old dust into the air around you.

As if she was used to this happening, Rosanna walked over to the door to lock it, sending a glare your way when you stepped in front of the door, your back against it. “What are you doing?” she questioned sharply, pushing on your chest to move you, but not being able to. “You can’t bother him when he shifts, Y/N. He doesn’t have much control over it and he’ll…”

You gave Rosanna a stern look, putting a hand on her shoulder, proclaiming, “I’ll protect you, Princess. Don’t worry.”

And with that, you turned around and ran out of the room, unable to register the many protests behind you, heading towards the sound of yet another roar, everyone’s words echoing throughout the labyrinth of your mind. Your father’s, the king’s, the princess’, Seonghwa’s, your own. You didn't know what you were doing, but you were going to follow through. The unrelenting pounding inside your chest told you to.

༻✧༺

You followed the sounds of growling and deep bellows, the carpeted floor below you trembling every now and then, the old frames on the walls ready to fall off of their hinges, figuring that the beast must’ve been enormous for it to affect the castle in such a way. Eventually making your way to two heavy, opulent doors, you pushed past them and entered the vast empty garden area filled with dirt and crumbled stone just in time for you to come face to face with the dragon.

It was just as big as you imagined, taking up a sizable portion of the outside area despite it being spacious enough to hold at least a quarter of the kingdom that used to reside there centuries ago. The dragon’s scales were pitch black like the night sky, but shimmered with a holographic sheen under the light of the moon that shone down from above. Its tail had to be at least ten feet long, as thick and long as one of the countless oak trees sitting inside the forest nearby, its movement reminiscent of a snake slinking around in the grass. You noticed its talons next. They could probably shred you to ribbons if it caught you in its grasp. Lastly, you were drawn to its eyes, large and piercing, striking you with instinctive fear, reminding you that you were prey. Though you wanted to continue studying its immense presence, the dragon seemed to notice you standing there challenging it with your sudden intrusion.

“You’ve finally arrived, little human,” the creature bellowed in the deepest voice you ever heard, his words coming out serpent-like and seductive. He opened his mouth, baring his elongated, oversized teeth that would most likely tear you into pieces if given the chance, his hot breath hitting the cold air. “Come here and show me what you got.”

Pissed off by his arrogance, you unsheathed your sword and began heading in its direction, circling the dragon carefully when it began doing the same thing, a low chuckle erupting from its large throat.

“What makes you think you can defeat me?” Seonghwa questioned, slamming one of his large claws down onto the ground near you, making the ground shake. “I could turn you into nothing but ash and bone. Why are you doing this?”

“To prove a point, goddamn it!” you growled back, swinging your sword at the dragon and slicing into his large black leg, watching as blood began to drip out from the wound. Seonghwa didn’t like that very much. Emitting a harsh exhale, you barrel-rolled out of the way of his large claws when he attempted to stomp on you, having to run in the opposite direction, the dragon hot on your tail.

“And what point is that, you little pest?” Seonghwa growled, swiping at you, but missing due to your fast reflexes, your sword already making contact with the center of his claw, making him groan out in pain.

“That I’m much more suited to take care of Rosanna,” you grunted, ducking out of the way of its large talons, unable to take a breath before his tail swung in your direction, forcing you to jump over it before it made contact with your body. You let out a laugh that sounded just as arrogant as you wanted it to, giving the dragon a crooked grin. “You seem to be struggling to take out a ‘pest’ like me, so I think I came at the right time. She needs me. Not an egotistical beast like you.”

A large amount of smoke suddenly began emitting from the dragon’s nostrils, a strange glowing light slowly becoming visible from the center of its stomach. “Now you’ve done it, knight. No more playtime.”

You backed up a bit, observing your surroundings for the best escape route before it was too late. Seeing a large crumbling staircase behind you, you turned around to head up the steps, a few strands of your hair starting to float up into the air as though there was an electrical charge in the air. “Oh, fuck!” you exclaimed, as a large zap of lightning with a purple hue hit the steps in front of you, turning them to dust.

“Run away, little puppy. Let’s see how far you make it,” Seonghwa challenged in a guttural manner, watching as you continued your way up the stairs and headed down the opposite side of it. He lifted himself up into the air with his expansive wings and sent another burst of lightning in your direction, finding it amusing how the old concrete wall he hit far above you started falling around you in large chunks, causing you to leap out of the way of them and tumble down the rest of the stairs.

“Shit…” you whispered to yourself, feeling a bit dizzy, but forcing yourself to get up and grab your sword, before starting to run away as fast as you could, the large flaps of the dragon’s wings behind you sending fear into your thumping heart. Before you knew it, you were back inside the forest you had navigated earlier, the vines and foliage crunching underneath your worn down boots. A few trees near you suddenly erupted into flames once the violet lightning struck them, slowly falling in your direction, the roots preventing them from dropping completely.

“Poor puppy isn’t fast enough,” Seonghwa commented gruffly, inhaling, little sparks of lightning exiting his mouth, before a large amount of it shot out past his fangs, heading quickly in your direction.

Glancing back out of the corner of your eyes, you ducked underneath the trees and continued running, diving into a nearby river at the last second when the zaps of electricity touched your back through your chainmail, feeling it shoot up your spine. Cringing from the pain, you forced yourself to stay underneath the dark surface of the water, despite it being freezing enough to shock your body, your limbs starting to grow numb with each passing moment.

Landing back onto the ground with a thud, Seonghwa began to stalk around the river in a calculated manner, keeping his head low to gaze down into the water, watching carefully for movement. “Come out and face me, knight,” he commanded fiercely, annoyance laced into his words. “So that you may submit to me.”

Unable to hold your breath any longer, you forced yourself out of the water and grabbed onto the dragon, holding onto of his large twisted horns as he lifted you up into the air. “Submit…to me, beast!” Using the adrenaline in your system to your advantage, you grunted and swung your sword upwards, slicing off a portion of his other horn, hearing him growl deeply in response. Just as you had made your decision to attack him, Seonghwa had sent one of his claws up in your direction, slicing your forearm and chainmail up the middle, then cutting into the side of your jaw and up to your cheek in one clean swipe.

Watching you wince and shut your eyes from the pain, Seonghwa feigned concern, “Aww, poor little puppy has a cut. Will you crawl into a corner and lick at your wounds?”

The sweat from your hand caused you to let go of his horn, eventually falling back down into the freezing water below, your blood leaking out into the murkiness around you. “Fight me as yourself, Seonghwa!” you called out once you got your head above the surface, coughing and sputtering to get the water out of your lungs, ignoring the pain pulsing from your wounds. “Don’t be such a fucking coward!”

Angered by your words, Seonghwa pressed one talon into the small black jewel that was lodged into his large chest, causing a misty puff of smoke to appear around him.

Too busy swimming to the edge of the river, you didn’t notice Seonghwa’s disappearance as you climbed out of the water, your chainmail falling off of your body, exposing your thin top underneath. You stood up and stumbled a bit, feeling your armor start to grow loose on your body from how soaked you were, opting to just rip them off out of frustration with your current state, gazing down at the droplets of blood hitting the ground below. Suddenly sensing a different presence, you turned around just in time for a naked Seonghwa to send a punch in your direction, hitting you square in the jaw where you were bleeding from, sending you back into a nearby tree. “Augh…” you groaned, glaring at Seonghwa through your hazy eyesight, able to catch his next fist with your hand now that you were ready for him.

“Just give up and submit to me already,” Seonghwa spat, grabbing you by the collar of your top and getting up in your personal space, growling into your face. “Get down on your knees and admit I’m better.”

Now that Seonghwa was this close, you couldn’t look away from him. He was annoyingly handsome, despite looking disheveled as all hell. Pretty black hair, a few locks of it falling into his striking face. High, pointed cheekbones. Plush lips. Definitely kissable. What were you even thinking? It must’ve been the blood loss that had you acting like this.

“Did you hear me, knight?” Seonghwa leaned in closer, staring you down with an intensity that frightened you, amongst other things.

“Uh-huh…” You couldn’t really think. You were too distracted by his eyes. They were as blue as the ocean you’ve only seen in pictures. Entrancing, like the waves had crashed into you and swept you under, pinning you in between currents.

“On your knees!” He slammed his hand against the oak beside your head, bringing you out of your headspace. He waited for you to finally give up, but grew unceremoniously stunned when you answered him by sending the blood that had pooled inside your mouth straight into his face.

“You get on your knees and suck my proverbial cock, dragon shifter,” you returned aggressively, sending your fist up into his chin, causing him to bite onto his tongue and stumble backwards, almost tripping on his own tail. You pursued him, temporarily distracted by the man’s actual cock swinging in between his thighs. It was big. Way bigger than what you were used to seeing amongst the knight’s guild. Well, he was a beast after all. This distraction proved to be too powerful, allowing Seonghwa to sweep his tail underneath your feet, sending you down onto the rough ground in order to pin you underneath him.

“I didn’t think you had all of that in you,” Seonghwa huffed out, his heart racing from the adrenaline pumping through him, his pupils resembling marbles.

“Yeah, well, I did…” you mumbled, trying to breathe properly with his weight pushing down onto you, your own heart threatening to beat out of your chest.

Blood dripped out of his open mouth and landed on your face and neck, dribbling down the center of your chest, your soaked top glued to your skin. “Y/N…”

Thrown off by the use of your name, you tried to pull your wrists away from his tight grip, gently biting into your cut lip. “Wh-what?”

“I can smell your arousal…” he admitted under his breath, leaning his face down closer to yours, happily devouring the sight of your uncharacteristically flustered expression. “Why are you wet, knight?”

“Because I fell into a fucking river!” you snapped, trying to ignore the heat emanating from your face and the pulsing from in between your legs. Seonghwa moved one of his knees into between your legs so that you couldn’t close them, pressing it up into your mound and causing some friction, leaving you breathless.

“Don’t deny it, pup. We’re both adults, after all. You can admit that you want me. It’s okay.” Seonghwa pressed his lips onto your jaw, licking at the congealed blood that was left there, making you shiver.

“It’s just the adrenaline rush, okay? That’s the only reason I want this…” you mumbled to yourself, not wanting to admit to yourself that you’ve wanted Seonghwa since you came across him at the pond earlier that morning. And you definitely didn’t want to admit that you needed him after seeing what he was capable of doing. Needed him to treat you like a little play thing that he could simply swallow up. Perhaps you were a hypocrite for questioning Rosanna earlier.

“Take your trousers off. Panties too. I want to see how soaked you are for me,” he commanded gruffly, letting go of your wrists and sitting up, his tail slowly moving around in a snake-like motion around him, the ribbed tip of it flicking at one of your ankles. Seonghwa was looking down at you like you were his next meal. His next target to claim. To mark. You were going to be his just like Rosanna.

You sat up and pressed your back against the rough bark of the tree behind you, forcing your shame down into your throat and pulling your wet trousers off, tossing them onto the grass next to you. You swallowed harshly, hooking your fingers into the sides of your see-through panties, blushing deeply at the sight of the man in front of you. He was drooling, for starters. Breathing hard and heavy like he had just got done running. Burning holes into your skin with the intensity of his gaze, waiting to see you bare for him. You wondered just how much shifting into the headspace of a beast affected his normal thought process. Would he fuck you like a beast too?

“You look like you’re about to eat me,” you commented, pouting a bit.

“Not yet, puppy,” he replied in a low, calculated tone, his eyelids lowering slightly, the look in his eyes sending a jolt of fear down your spine. “I’ll save that for later.”

You saw a flash of black when you blinked. “Oh–” you barely got out, not even able to respond to his words, looking down at your bare cunt glistening with your slick, your panties split down the middle and falling into a pile on the grass. “Really?”

“You were taking too long.” Seonghwa moved closer to you so that he could get a good look at you. “Mm, you're a soaking wet mess just like I thought.” The tip of his tail slithered up and over your mound, making you gasp, eventually moving up and underneath your tank top, ripping it off of you.

“Does this thing have a mind of its own?” you asked with concern, watching as his tail wiggled in between your tits, fighting the urge to give into him completely, wanting him to continue leading you.

“No, this is all intentional, my love.” Noticing your gaze trailing his tail and the way it coiled around one of your tits, he licked at his lips, moving it up towards your mouth. “Get it wet for me.”

“G-get it wet?” you squeaked, your heart skipping a beat at his choice of words from before, not appreciating how soft it made you feel. “For what?”

Seonghwa shook his head slightly, blowing a bit of air out of his nose, amused by your reaction. He adored watching you submit to him little by little. He couldn’t wait to see what you looked and acted like when you were like putty in his claws. “So that I can fuck you properly,” he replied calmly, reaching out to grab your jaw, coaxing it open. “Don’t you want to be filled, knight? I can guarantee you’ll feel pleasure you didn’t even know existed.”

How did you get here? You were there to save Rosanna and be by her side and what were you doing? About to let her dragon shifter lover enter you with his tail? Now why on earth would you–

༻✧༺

“Just like that, pup. Just like that,” Seonghwa praised in between pants, watching as his tail slipped in and out of your open mouth, the tip of it hitting the back of your throat with each sloppy thrust, knowing he could stop at any second but not wanting to. His cock was too hard. Twitching. Shiny and red, and drooling just like he was. He was completely unable to take his eyes off of your watery ones and the way your throat contracted every time you choked on him. “You’re–fuck–doing so well. I…promise I’ll reward you. Don’t worry.”

You blinked your tears away, doing your best to relax your throat and breathe through your nose, trying to make sense of what was going on. Trying to understand why this was the most pleasurable moment of your life. Realizing that his tail must’ve been some kind of erogenous zone. Wondering what it’d feel like to get stretched out by it. Tempted to demand for him to fuck you with it. If only you could use your voice.

Sensing your desperation, Seonghwa slid his wet appendage out of your throat, letting it slide down your body, leaving a trail of spit behind. “You look like you want to say something, my sweet,” he mused, reaching towards your glistening chin to wipe some of the spit away.

“Inside…” you mumbled under your breath. “I want it inside.”

Seonghwa smirked, tilting his head to the side. “Want what?”

“Your…tail…” Your cheeks burned incessantly, making sure to swallow down the saliva that persistently filled your mouth. “I want it inside, Seonghwa. Give it to me.”

Taking in your delightfully submissive gaze, Seonghwa brought your chin in his direction and pressed a kiss beside your swollen lips. “Now that wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

“Give it to me before I chop it off and see if it regrows,” you returned snidely, feeling his grip tighten around your chin, his smirk growing wider.

With his thick tail coiled once around one of your thighs, Seonghwa used the tip of it to thrust steadily into your squelching hole, not completely sure how long he had been going at it for. It felt too good to think. “You haven’t felt pleasure like this for ages, have you, knight? You’re so wet…like it’s the first time you’ve been fucked by something other than your fingers,” he sighed out, running his own fingers up to your hips and holding them, feeling them jolt routinely against his touch.

“I’ve never…felt this before…” you replied in between breathless moans, trying to hold onto his shoulders for support, your hands starting to slip off of them from the sweat that had been coating the both of your heated bodies. “It shouldn’t feel this good…”

Seonghwa leaned in closer to lick at the cut on your lax jaw, tasting the remnants of blood, studying your feverish expression, figuring you were getting close again. “Just wait till you have my cock inside you instead.”

You squeezed around his tail again, making him groan, grabbing at his horns instead to keep from falling backwards, feeling the jagged edge of the one you sliced off earlier with your calloused fingers. “Seonghwa...shit…I don’t know if I can…nnngh…” You were already making such a mess on the dragon hybrid’s lap, your clear arousal spilt all over your joined thighs and lower abdomens, some even coating his already dripping cock.

“Shh, my love. You can let go now…Just let go and feel…” Seonghwa whispered into your ear with such gentleness it sent you over the edge once again, launching you into an endless abyss of pleasure, one that you weren’t even sure if you could crawl your way out of. What happened to your mission? Where was Rosanna? What would she think if she found you like this, being fucked beyond comprehension by the very individual that you swore to protect her from?

“Seonghwa, please, I can’t,” you begged near the man’s ear, your vision starting to fade in and out, your thighs shaking uncontrollably, unable to believe that his tail was still pistoning in and out of your tightening hole at a rapid speed.

“You can and you will,” he suddenly demanded raspily, burying his face into your neck and sinking his teeth into it, marking you just like he wanted to.

You came again, this time so hard, your ears began to ring and your vision faded out completely, passing out from exhaustion and not being able to witness as Seonghwa came all over himself, not even having to touch himself to do so.

༻✧༺

Rosanna stood in her bedroom with her arms folded across her chest, observing her lover holding you in his arms and gingerly walking up to her. You were sleeping soundly, your naked body limp, covered in bruises and cuts. “What did you do to her, Hwa?”

“We fought. She wanted to prove herself. She got me good too.” He walked up to their shared bed and laid your body down, pointing up to his sliced horn, not able to see the bruises left on his face.

Rosanna reached up to it, concern etched into her face, then looked down at you, running her fingers near the deepest cut on your arm. “You took things too far, Hwa. You were supposed to convince her to stay, not this.”

“She’s not as fragile as you think she is, my love…but, yes, you’re right. I’m trying to control myself in that state. It’s proving to be a bit more difficult.” Seonghwa turned around and walked to the other side of the room, gathering up a few jars of herbs and potions so that they could heal your wounds.

“How does it make you feel?” Rosanna asked, taking some of the jars from Seonghwa and opening a few of them, in order to prepare a mixture.

“The thoughts are taking a longer time to leave my head when I return to my normal state.” He handed Rosanna a mortar bowl and watched as she began crushing up the mixture inside.

“What kind of thoughts are you having?”

“Earlier, in the forest…I wanted…” he started, his blue eyes trailing your naked body, watching as your chest rose and fell, studying your closed legs, wanting to be in between them. “I wanted to own Y/N. Breed her. Until she couldn’t move. It was such a visceral feeling too, but I…I held myself back for the most part.”

“You’re waiting for my permission, hm?” Rosanna asked, turning the herbs into a fine paste underneath the pestle she was using. She chuckled at Seonghwa’s obedient nod, reaching over with her free hand to stroke his hair. “You can have her, darling. Whatever you want, as long as she wants it too, you can give it to her.”

Seonghwa wiped his mouth to prevent any drool from falling from it, watching as Rosanna began placing the paste onto your wounds with a soft hum. “Do you think she’ll stay if we show her how much we want her?”

“I would like to think so.” Hopeful, Rosanna sat down on the edge of the bed and began petting your hair. She rested her hand on your cheek, smiling softly as you turned your head towards her palm, but didn’t wake up. “Though it has to be her decision.”

༻✧༺

You woke up to the feeling of a warm washcloth gliding across your abdomen, as well as two fingers running over the scar tissue of your brand, the trickles of water making you shiver. “Mm…” Once you opened your eyes, you blinked a few times to get used to the golden light pouring inside the room through the open window, eventually focusing on Rosanna, who sat in a chair beside the clawfoot tub you were laying in. “Princess…”

“Y/N….I know my father…he…” she started in a weak voice, gently tracing the insignia that was etched into your skin. “He’s a monster for doing this to you. I wish I could’ve done something to protect you. I…should’ve been by your side. I just didn’t know if he had control over you…if you were close to him like your father was. That’s why I kept to myself for so long, but that was…so selfish of me.” She closed her eyes, a tear falling from them once she looked at you, clearly struck by grief. “I’m so sorry…”

Hesitating only for a moment, you lifted your hand out of the heated water and caressed her cheek, rubbing her tears away with your thumb. “Don’t be sorry. You did what you had to for your own protection.” When Rosanna placed her hand over yours and leaned down further, you gave her a soft smile. “We’re two sides of the same coin, Rosanna. We both wanted to protect and take care of each other, but there was always something caught in the way.”

“And now…?” she whispered, dropping the washcloth in favor of holding your face, watching as you sat up.

Sighing softly, you pressed your forehead to hers. “Now, there’s nothing left to stop us. I see that now.”

She sighed as well, exhaling out all the worries, rage, grief, and despair she had felt for so long, instead drawing in everything that you were when she pressed her lips to yours. You kissed her back, sharing a gentle exchange of love and warmth, until it grew more desperate, more passionate, wishing it could somehow allow you to convey the myriad of things you felt inside that you simply couldn’t verbalize.

Breaking the kiss, Rosanna slipped out of her silk robe and climbed into the tub onto your lap, pressing kiss after kiss wherever she could, focusing on your neck once she heard the small breathless sounds you couldn’t help but let out. “What’s wrong, Y/N? Hmm?”

“Feels good…”

“Yeah? Do you want more?”

Smiling at your quick nod, her hand slid down in between your wet bodies, groping gently at your breasts, before slipping one, then two fingers inside you, chuckling softly at your surprised gasp.

“Rosanna,” you moaned, heat consuming your body and soul, tossing your head back just as she began to pump them in and out of you, her thumb pushing into your clit every time she filled you.

“What is it, Y/N? Tell me.”

Swallowing saliva down your throat, you gripped her thigh, pleading with your eyes. “Let me fill you too.”

Rosanna nodded her head at your request, emitting a choked gasp as you pushed two digits into her entrance as well and tried to match her thrusts, the both of you eagerly trying to bring one another to the same peak of pleasure. “That’s it, Y/N. Just like that…”

You leaned forward to bring Rosanna into an open-mouthed kiss, thumbing her clit with your other hand with as much quickness and pressure as she was offering you, moaning and gasping into her mouth, your bodies beginning to shake and tremble against one another’s. “Rosanna, please, please cum for me…”

“I’m cumming, Y/N,” she cried out, resting his head in the crook of your neck, her cunt spasming around your fingers, until they were slick with her release. Rosanna felt how tight you became around her own fingers, squeezing and rubbing your clit until you let out a silent cry and squeezed her shoulders for comfort.

Trying to catch your breath, you gazed at her until the bathroom door opened behind the both of you. “Rosanna…I…”

“Seems like you two are getting along quite well,” Seonghwa interrupted cheekily, striding across the cracked tile floor and reaching down to pet both of your heads, his fingers slipping through your hair.

Rosanna nuzzled Seonghwa’s hand, smiling to herself. “My love, won’t you take us to bed?”

“T-to bed…” you murmured to yourself, your cheeks hotter than the surface of the sun upon thinking about what had occurred the night before.

Seonghwa gave Rosanna’s forehead a kiss, before turning to you, grabbing you by the waist and hoisting you up over his shoulder, finding the squeaks you let out to be insanely adorable. Turning around to walk out of the bathroom with Rosanna at his side, he licked his lips, already drooling. “Let’s go, pup. I think it’s about time I eat you.”

“E-eat me?” you gasped, trying to bring your head up to look at Rosanna with pleading eyes, blushing even harder when she smacked your bare ass and chomped her teeth down in a teasing manner.

༻✧༺

“What’s wrong, pup?” Seonghwa asked huskily in between long, drawn-out licks to your reddened, puffy folds, his long tongue reaching from your clit to your tighter entrance each time, admiring the distant, glazed-over look in your dilated eyes. “Aww, already fucked dumb and I haven’t even bred you yet, hm? Tell me how good it feels.”

“It feels so good, Seonghwa,” you slurred out, unable to react to the feverish expression etched into the dragon shifter's face besides biting into your bottom lip, idly grasping at the princess' wrist for support.

“I bet it does. Hwa’s really good with his tongue,” Rosanna mused, suddenly blocking Seonghwa’s view of your face when she placed her knees near either side of your head, craning her own head back to give him a perverse smile, much to his enjoyment. She pulled back slightly to gaze down at you, carding her fingers through your sweaty hair. “Want to show me what you’re capable of, my knight?”

Dumbfounded, you stared up in between her thighs, swearing you were witnessing heaven itself. “I…wow…Yes, Princess, please let me show you,” you answered her, having to swallow saliva down before you choked on it.

Chuckling softly from how endearing you were, she positioned her cunt down onto your mouth before you could say anything else, your eyes rolling back slightly as soon as you tasted her sweet warmth on your tongue. “Mmmn…”

You instinctively wrapped your arms around her thighs, lapping at her folds up to her clit like an obedient pet, encouraging the princess to stroke your hair lovingly and rub herself on your open mouth out of pure desperation. “Yeah, just like that, pretty girl. Keep it up.”

Fueled by Rosanna’s praise, you let go of one of her thighs to play with her clit, your moans sending pleasurable vibrations through her, unable to register the rest of her breathless praise from how distracting Seonghwa’s tongue was due to the way he kept shoving it in and out of your pulsing hole.

Seonghwa spread your lips apart with two fingers in a V formation, using his thumb from his other hand to rub and swipe at your swollen clit, not giving you a chance to instinctively buck your hips away from him, using his tail to wrap around you and hold you down. “Uh-uh-uh,” he teased in a muffled voice, pushing his slick appendage so far inside you, your vision started to fade out.

You kept licking and licking, flicking and flicking your tongue up the princess’ throbbing pussy, opting to shove your tongue into her hole just like Seonghwa kept doing to you, losing yourself completely in the white hot pleasure that was pulsing through your entire body. There was no knight. No princess. No dragon. Just endless pleasure at your disposal. It was only when a hot gush of liquid spilled out into your mouth and went down your throat that you came to, squeezing and kneading Rosanna’s trembling thighs with your weak hands, drinking it down until there was no more.

Panting heavily, Rosanna climbed off of you and encouraged you to sit up, leaning her flushed face towards yours, dragging her tongue up past your bottom lip and into your mouth, tilting her head to bring you into a deep kiss, lowering one of her hands down to squish and pull at one of your tits. She opened her eyes up slightly to gaze into your barely open ones, her tongue coiling around yours, swapping spit and warm arousal with one another.

Once Seonghwa slurped your abundant arousal up into his mouth and licked his lips clean, he sat up as well, before standing up on the mattress in front of the both of you, idly grabbing your other tit, rubbing your nipple around with his thumb. “Do you like being filthy with your lovely princess, Y/N?” he questioned you in a gravelly voice, gripping the back of your head, as well as Rosanna’s as soon as you made a muffled sound of approval, alternating the position of your heads, deepening the kiss between the two of you, making the both of you moan into each other’s mouths. As soon as spit began to drip down your chins, Seonghwa emitted a low growl from the back of his throat, slowly slipping his cockhead in between your open mouths, groaning as you both began sucking on opposite sides, your tongues and lips working in tandem to slurp on his twitching length.

Knowing Seonghwa had been waiting for his chance to mate you, Rosanna slowly pulled away, wrapping her fingers around his cock and guiding it to your mouth, watching as you gingerly allowed it inside, the corners of your lips stinging from his size. “That’s a good girl, Y/N. You can take it all, right?”

You nodded your head quickly, sitting up on your knees to suck him off properly, holding onto his hips for support, trying not to gag when Seonghwa suddenly bucked his hips forward, forcing his cock down your throat, stretching it out.

“Mmmm, look at the pretty little knight with the dragon’s cock stuffed inside her pretty little throat. Isn’t it a beautiful sight, my love?” Once Rosanna nodded in approval and moved some of your hair out of your face, Seonghwa zoned in on you with glowing eyes, hunger visible on his arousal-stained face, the tip of his forked tongue swiping at one of his elongated fangs as he began to fuck your throat, thrusting steadily and enjoying all the gurgled noises you made. “Yeah, that's right. Get it nice and wet for me so I can breed that pretty pussy of yours, pup.”

You kept your mouth open as wide as possible for as long as you could, almost feeling lightheaded from the way his hot, heavy length kept pushing past your throat, gasping as soon as he pulled out and used your spit to slick up his cock, along with the abundant pre-cum that dripped from it. Seonghwa was breathing too heavily to speak his mind so you looked to Rosanna for guidance.

She kissed your cheek and hugged you lightly, rubbing your lower back in small circles. “Are you ready to take him, Y/N? He’s been waiting to become one with you, but only if you’re ready for it.”

You looked back at Rosanna, smiling softly, your body and heart full of warmth for her. Once you pressed a kiss onto her cheek as well, gingerly lacing your fingers with hers. “I’m ready.” Rosanna nuzzled you with her cheek, before looking up at Seonghwa, reaching up to pat his hip, causing him to spring into action.

In a head-down, ass-up position on the stiff mattress, you made sure to keep your eyes on the large, throne-like chair that was positioned at the foot of the bed, zoned in on Rosanna’s sweaty, shuddering body laid back against the seat, her fingers pushed deep inside her. “Oh, Princess…” you sighed out, overcome by the sight of her, but also taken by Seonghwa’s heavy body pressing down into your back, his cock ramming you forward with each powerful thrust. She gave you a lustful look back, breathing heavily and emitting soft moans of pleasure, pleased with the sight of her dutiful knight being fucked to hell and back by her precious dragon shifter.

Seonghwa chuckled darkly into your ear, hardly out of breath, despite how hard he was ramming into you. “Do you like the way Rosanna is looking at you? At us?”

“Yes,” you admitted shakily, a few beads of sweat dripping down along your neck and lower back, making you shiver, your throat hurting from how dry it was after breathing and moaning so heavily. “It feels so good…having her watching me…”

His tongue slithered out to lap up the sweat that dripped down your neck before it trickled onto the bed, eyeing the fading mark on your neck and sinking his teeth into it to make a fresh one, pleased with the strained moan that reverberated out of your throat. Seonghwa picked up the pace, his claws closing around your hips, hunching over and fucking into you like a ravenous animal, asking into your ear, “Tell me, do you want my kin inside you, Y/N? Do you want me to breed you like a proper mate?”

Locked into a delirious state of pleasure, barely able to focus on Rosanna’s increasingly blurry body jolting and sinking down into the chair as she met her climax, you found yourself nodding as quickly as you could. “Yes, yes, yes,” you chanted each time Seonghwa pounded himself into you, overcome by a delirious amount of pleasure once you felt his tail slide underneath your body to swipe and rub along your swollen clit, the rough scales sending almost painful strikes of pleasure into your core. “Breed me, Seonghwa. Breed me and make me yours.”

Seonghwa met Rosanna’s gaze, his lips curling into a blissful smile once he saw hers, knowing both of their wishes were coming true. You were his, and she was yours — the three of you allowed to mingle inside a space of your own, without any threats, able to join each other at a pinnacle of love for as long as your hearts desired. “As you wish, my love,” Seonghwa replied breathlessly, flipping your body around and facing you, using the tip of his tail to press into your clit in just the right way to make you let out a choked sob, your arousal coating his throbbing cock. “I’m going to fill you now. It’s coming, beloved.”

You tossed your head back onto the sheets below your head, about to fade away completely when Rosanna sat on her knees near the edge of the bed, beginning to run her fingers through your hair and leaving kisses on your cheek and earlobe, whispering sweet nothings and encouragement into your ear. Seonghwa’s relentless thrusts and the sudden intrusion of his cum flowing into your womb and filling you up to the brim sent you over the edge once again. You yelled out for them, reaching out your hands as well, feeling like you would drown in ecstasy without a way to come back to the shore. Seonghwa took your hand in his and held it tightly, leaning down against your body, still sheathed inside you, keeping you full of his love. Rosanna held your other hand just as tightly, pressing her cheek against yours, neither of them letting go of you.

༻✧༺

Turning your sore, bruise-riddled body in the velvet sheets, you faced the two slumbering individuals beside you, studying their features bathed in the moonlight that was peeking through the stained-glass window. Your dear Rosanna was wrapped up in Seonghwa’s arms, being held protectively from anyone or anything that wanted to do her harm. She held him back, her fingers clutching at the ends of his raven hair, her face displaying complete and utter peace. When you first arrived, you remembered the serenity etched into her features, her eyes diligently studying the book she was reading in the library. You remembered how Seonghwa looked at her anytime he was near her. With sparkling eyes full of love and longing.

Perhaps they didn’t need you.

You suddenly sat up and moved to the edge of the bed, holding two fingers over your heart, feeling it hammering inside your ribcage, your chest tightening up uncomfortably. Without thinking, you stood up and walked over to your clothes to begin putting your trousers on.

“I know things are complicated for you, but you shouldn’t go back to that monster of a king,” Seonghwa said in a hushed voice, already sitting up against the headboard, brushing his fingers over Rosanna’s hair as she slept soundly.

You craned your neck back to look at the man, swallowing hard, the warmth inside your heart telling you that everything you felt before wasn’t a fluke.

He ran a hand through his bed hair to smooth it out, leaning his head against the wood behind him. Sensing your apprehension, he sought to quell your fears. “I’m truly sorry I gave you such a hard time before. I was acting out of selfishness. I couldn’t accept that you offered her something I couldn’t…”

Your grip loosened from the material that was hanging from your hips, letting it pool around your feet below. Seonghwa reached out for your hand, prompting you to take it. He squeezed your fingers, his eyebrows upturned with regret. “Please forgive me, Y/N.”

You squeezed his fingers back, sliding back down onto the bed to leave a peck on his cheek. “I forgive you, Seonghwa. It’s okay. I…couldn’t accept that either, actually. I wanted to be the one that saved her. That took all her pain away. I wanted to be…her prince.” You laughed weakly at your own words, shaking your head, but Seonghwa looked at you with deep understanding. “I’m just a knight with some rusted chain-mail. But…I’m happy being whatever she wants me to be.”

Seonghwa gave you a genuine smile, one that filled you with comfort. “She wants you to be you, darling. She fell in love with you…not the knight of the round table…” His voice drifted off as he pressed his lips to your cheek, closing his eyes. “Not the loyal guard of the king…” Another kiss, this one just beside your lips. “But you, Y/N, the softhearted, tenacious woman that’s underneath all the heavy armor you wear. That’s who she fell in love with.”

“So…I’m enough?” you asked under your breath, as though you were ready to crack and crumble underneath the weight of your words.

“More than enough.” As Seonghwa encased your cheeks with his slender fingers, he brought you into a real kiss, letting you whisper a broken ‘thank you’ in between kisses. He brought you into his arms, giving you another gentle reminder, “You have a place here. With us. With her. I promise you.”

Once he let you go, you leaned your head in the crook of his neck, gazing down at Rosanna who was still sleeping soundly in his arms, tears threatening to leave your eyes. “I’ll stay...” Seonghwa nodded to himself in silence, rubbing your shoulder with his hand and pressing a small kiss to your cheek. You held your hand out above Rosanna’s head, wanting to touch her hair like Seonghwa had done earlier, but hesitating out of habit like you had done for many years prior.

Seonghwa took your trembling hand and guided it down to the princess’ head. “It’s okay, Y/N. You’re safe here. You don’t have to hide anymore.” He looked at you with his soft sapphire gaze, studying your softened expression for a moment, before looking down at Rosanna. “She wanted you to stay the most, you know. She’d stand at the windowsill right over there day after day, waiting for you to come. All this time.”

You didn’t realize you were crying until you saw your teardrops land onto Rosanna’s cheek and slide down onto the sheets in small splotches. Seonghwa sighed to himself, wondering if you had finally removed the last piece of armor you had on.

Rosanna’s eyes fluttered open when a tear landed on her eyelid, concerned by the sight of your immense display of emotion. She reached up to touch your tear-stained face, immediately asking, “Y/N, are you okay?”

You nodded, taking her cheeks into your warm hands and leaning down to press a gentle kiss onto her lips. Once you pulled away, you heard her make a small noise of protest at the loss of your warmth, causing you to let out a chuckle. “I’m more than okay…”

She wiped a few of your tears away with her thumbs, gazing up at you. “Then why are you crying, my love?”

Taking in a deep breath, you pressed your forehead onto hers, whispering, “I love you, Rosanna…since the very beginning, I’ve loved you with all my heart.”

Rosanna blushed heavily, suddenly wrapping her arms around you and pulling your body flush to hers, burying her face into your neck so that you couldn’t see how much you had affected her. “I love you too, Y/N. More than you know.”

“Once more,” you requested against her ear, eventually meeting her uncharacteristically shy, but passionate gaze.

“I love you, Y/N,” she answered with all the passion she could conjure up, relieved that you looked just as flustered as she did.

Your thumb pressed into her bottom lip, wanting to feel it move under your skin when she recited the spell that she now had you under. “One more time…”

Rosanna clutched the back of your head with two hands, her heart still skipping a beat when she said, “I love you…”

“As do I, Rosanna. Always and forever,” you returned, encouraging Rosanna to press her lips onto yours, your bodies melding to one another, making you forget about everything else entirely. You had finally made your last move on the chest board. It was entirely worth it.

Seonghwa reached down to pet the tops of your heads, thankful he could witness a happy ending being written right in front of his eyes, the ink still wet to the touch. Though the books ahead were still full of blank pages, the first was finally complete, ready to be put back onto the shelf in favor of a new one.

➽───────────────❥

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emilykaldwen · 9 months ago

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The Maiden and the Drowning Boy | Aegon x OC | Chapter One

Rating: Explicit Ships: Aegon II Targaryen x Abrogail Strong (Lyonel Strong's Daughter), Jacaerys Velaryon x Helaena Targaryen Summary: As the kingdom teeters on the edge of chaos, Alicent Hightower swaps the pieces on the board: Aegon will marry Abrogail Strong, Larys’ younger sister and heir to Harrenhal. Caught in the web of intrigue and political machinations, the pair must figure out where their loyalties lie, and what they mean to one another.

Tropes: Childhood Sweethearts/Friends to Lovers, Generational Trauma and Cycles of Abuse, It's All About the Character Development, Unreliable Narrators, Multi-POV, Canon Divergent, Bisexual Aegon II Targaryen, Book/Show Mash Up, Fix-It Of Sorts, Stopping the Cycle of Abuse before it gets us all killed, Team Neutral, fairy tale vibes meets victorian medievalism meets grrm

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Author's Note: After a lot of encouragement, I will be posting chapters in their entirety here and on AO3. Many many huge thanks to @acrossthesestars for being my co-pilot, and for holding my hand through writing this story. Thank you to everyone who has reblogged and commented. Your words mean the world to me.

CHAPTER ONE - THE WEIGHT THAT BROUGHT US HERE

Alicent watched the lords of the council settle into their seats, placing their markers in the proper place. Lord Tyland Lannister took his seat at the opposite end of the magnificent table, Lord Lyman Beesbury to his right. Maester Mellos and then Lord Larys at her own left hand. Jasper Wylde sat beside her father’s usual place at the right hand. The power of the realm all concentrated right in this room. They prayed to the Crone for guidance and wisdom at the beginning of every meeting, a practice that had thankfully not reached the ears of the king, as he’d been cloistered in his rooms since his illness had taken more of his body. It was one thing to allow her Faith to grace their dinner table. It was a whole other to have the Faith find its place at the Small Council. While his signature still graced the decrees, and his decisions still paramount for he was the King, Viserys had left the dealings of the realm to them. It was for the best - Viserys’ mind was giving way to his illness and the less seen, the better. Alicent didn’t know what she preferred: her husband demeaning her and neglecting her children, or him calling her Aemma when she came to care for him at night.

She grazed her fingers over the polished black marble ball in front of her as Maester Mellos began rattling off the never ending fighting between the Brackens and Blackwoods that not even the Father bearing down from the heavens himself could stop. They continued to tear themselves apart as if they would win all the gold in Casterly Rock for the longest, most ridiculous spat that the Tullys were no longer capable of handling. Sometimes she wished she could just drag charcoal lines along the map, piece off the floodplains to the north and the west and the mountains, let the other kingdoms take their pieces.

“Begs the question if perhaps it isn’t time to elect a new Lord Paramount to bring them to heel,” Lord Wylde harrumphed in his self-important way. The man was well and agreeable enough, Alicent thought, but every time he spoke, she missed Lyonel Strong. None of his proposals contained this ‘begging the question’ sort of nonsense, and none of Wylde’s attempts had any of the late Lord Strong’s well thought out solutions and easy friendliness.

“Unless grievous injustice is done, we cannot normally strip the title of Lord Paramount, but their inability to bring either house to heel since given the title is threatening the stability of the realm. Blackwoods own more land than the Tullys, and now we have reports they’ve gone undermining one another’s orchards, and putting others at risk.” Jasper turned his gaze to Larys, who had not spoken since the prayer. “Strong, your holding is Harrenhal. What do you have to say about this matter?”

Larys’ manner did not fool Alicent, but it worked wonders, as always, on Jasper. “This quarrel of theirs has lasted as long as the dynasty and longer still. King Jaehaerys brokered peace, and we cannot ascertain what sparked it again.” From the nervous licking of his lips to the fidgeting of his hands, he was a master at seeming far less dangerous than he truly was. “You might seek instead the opinion of my dearest uncle Simon. He is the castellan and knows both it and the Riverlands far better than I do, as I’ve been here during most of this recent infighting. ”

Wylde humphed, twitching his nose in such a way that his bushy mustache reminded Alicent of a walrus she’d seen at Driftmark. She dug her nails into her palm to hold back her laugh. “Should we offer the Tullys more incentive?” Wylde blustered, reaching for a solution that he could take credit for.

“Incentive for not letting their bannerman destroy harvests?” Tyland Lannister snorted, reclined in his chair as if he were the one running the meeting. “That’s their duty. If they can’t do it, then there’s a bigger issue to deal with.”

“Perhaps a betrothal,” Lord Beesbury spoke up, his eyes darting from Larys’ to hers. Alicent straightened, watching the man try to figure out how to present his own suggestion. “The Tullys are proud, and the Riverlands command a great host when they come together. Lord Tully’s great-grandson is around Princess Helaena’s age. It would be a show of friendship and goodwill.”

“A show of a dragon is what you mean, isn’t it?” Her father’s voice cut in smoothly, but she could see the annoyance in his eyes at the prospect of Helaena being sent to the Riverlands. She did not want her sweet girl sent so far away either, but his words hurt in their easy protectiveness of her daughter, when they had never done for herself.

“Dragons are a statement, my Lord Hand. If not the princess, perhaps… Lord Strong, your youngest sister is not yet married,” Beesbury continued, flush with ideas. Was Rhaenyra feeding them to him?

“If Grover Tully, or whomever is handling their seat, cannot bring them to heel, we should have the Lords Bracken and Blackwood come and explain themselves to the crown,” she cut in before Beesbury could really get his momentum going. Heads turned to look at her, and Alicent looked to the Grand Maester. “Send ravens today. By the moon’s turn, I want them before the Iron Throne explaining themselves.” There was a curl of satisfaction on her lips as the aging Mellos gestured to his assistant. “We should also have Lord Tully, or his son, also come to answer. I know Lord Grover has been recently ill,” she continued. Authority and compassion were the balance she must always strike, so that her decisions could not be questioned, her judgment nothing but sound. She was the Mother of the Realm after all.

“Well said, your Grace,” Larys said softly, that shadow blink of a smile on his face. Lord Beesbury’s suggestions were easily dismissed.

Tension knotted between her shoulder blades, and she shifted in her chair to relieve the pain. She drummed her fingers on the armrest of the chair as her father’s warning spun dizzily through her thoughts.

Either you prepare Aegon to rule, or you cleave to Rhaenyra and pray for her mercy.

That morning, Ser Criston found the boy who might be king passed out in the stables with his cock in hand; at least her father hadn’t found out. Alicent felt nauseated at the idea of sacrificing a girl barely younger than she’d been in an attempt to corral her son into leadership.

The doors of the chamber opened. Ser Harrold Westerling entered the room with the head dragonkeeper, Arryx, following behind. Her father rose not in a show of respect for the Kingsguard Commander, but some show of power - the unyielding stone and height of the tower that would not bow to neither wind nor storm.

“Forgive my tardiness, your Grace, my lords.”

Her father waved a hand and sat back down. “We were told that you were attending to an urgent matter, Lord Commander.”

Ser Harrold clasped his arm across his chest and bowed to her. “This morning, I was alerted to events that transpired last night inside of the dragonpit. Keeper Arryx wanted to speak of the matter to you personally.” Ser Harrold stepped back to allow the aging keeper to take the floor. Alicent gave her own nod to the man as he rose from his prostration.

“Dreamfyre has laid another clutch of eggs. Only three, your Grace, and she will let no one near them. Vhagar has been circling,” Arryx said.

Alicent frowned. Dreamfyre had not laid a clutch in several years now, and Vhagar rarely came to the pit. She was too old, too large, with little desire to be kept with her smaller brethren. The horrific beast preferred a rocky outcropping far out into the bay.

Aemond had given her a quizzical look when she’d brought it up once, when he was still bedridden and recovering from his mutilation. Her sweet boy was now strung through with a confidence that she’d never seen ignite within him when he had both eyes. The dangerous glint that confidence took as he’d grown older was also new.

She’s protecting what is hers, mother. We both are, he’d said.

“I have spoken with the Commander of the City Watch, your Grace, to ensure that those in the areas closest to the pit keep their distance unless absolutely necessary. It has allowed us to take stock of the current state of those neighborhoods.” Ser Harrold turned to look at Ser Otto. “A full report will be on your desk.”

Her father nodded, and Ser Harrold looked once more to the keeper.

Arryx shifted on his feet, and Alicent watched his eyes flick to the Grand Maester with an expression that she could not discern. The Citadel and the Hightowers have always stood side by side for the betterment of the realm, Alicent, and you’ll continue to foster that friendship, won’t you?

“Five of the kitlings have also died, your Grace. They were unbonded, brought from Dragonstone before…”

Before Daemon had come back.

“How many dragons does this put us at?” Her father’s deceptively mild tone was the opposite of his glee when Aemond had claimed Vhagar. The numbers requested were ones he’d calculated in his head, monthly, since he’d come back.

“Claimed, my lord?” Arryx asked, pausing momentarily. “Eleven, throughout the family. Lady Rhaena’s dragon hatched, but it was born twisted and sickly and did not last. I have not received word otherwise of any intention for Lady Rhaena to come and try to claim another dragon.”

Half of the dragons were claimed. Alicent watched her father drum his fingers along the table. Identifying the pattern took only a moment. He was counting.

Specifically, the dragons that were on their side.

“I want reports of the necropsies upon their completion,” her father said with a narrowed and assessing look, disturbed by the news. “The last thing we need is some strange illness to rip through all of them.”

Alicent chewed on the inside of her lip and watched the shining outline of the seven-pointed star beaming down on the table.

“Syrax is almost big enough for two riders now. Will you come touch the clouds with me, Alicent? Please?” Rhaenyra had always begged, mouth close to her ear, hands stroking her arms, her wounded and bloody fingers.

The joyful look that Aegon once gave her now reserved for a beast: “I’ve never known love until Sunfyre, mother. It’s like the world has color now that we’re together.”

“Dreamfyre keeps me tethered to the ground even as I fly in my dreams. She’s the only anchor I have,” said Helaena, who would withdraw from her touch as if it were a sting from a bee.

Little Daeron and his dragon clutched in his arms: “I can’t leave Tessarion behind, mother! I won’t know how to be happy without her!”

Dragons had robbed Alicent of everything.

“Thank you, Arryx. I will speak to the children and see what Prince Aemond might do about Vhagar.” The idea of her sweet, once immaculate and tender-hearted child being near that twisted, hoary thing still terrified her, no matter how gently reassuring Aemond could be.

Arryx did not move to leave just yet. “Forgive me, your Grace, but Vhagar is no Vermithor or Sunfyre: she is old and willful, and although she is bonded with our prince, I would suggest caution. He is… young, and Vhagar was forged in the fires of battle.”

He bowed once more before taking his leave.

Even in indescribable pain, in the face of his own father’s disregard and disdain, Aemond sought to soothe her. “Do not mourn me, mother. It was a fair exchange. I may have lost an eye, but I gained a dragon.”

What else would her father do to get more dragons on their side?

Nervous tension pulsed in the silence left when the doors closed behind the dragonkeeper, filled only by the soft creak of the Kingsguard’s mail and the gentle clink of the chain around Grand Maester Mellos’ neck as he shifted in his chair, barely audible. The enduring mystery and curiosity of dragons was a specter of The Stranger above them all. Alicent had heard her kingly husband remind Rhaenyra repeatedly: Dragons were not pets. The bond with them should not blind their riders to the power that thrummed ancient and thick in their veins.

She breathed slowly, letting the quiet ease, refusing to meet anyone else’s eyes as the tumult of feelings inside of her crashed upon the jagged edges of her broken ribs. This was the right choice. Her babies were only half-Targaryen, and Rhaenyra’s bastards were the same, whether she’d ever admit to it or not.

Everyone in the room had grown up with the stories that the Conquerors spread when they forged the throne: The Valyrian blood magic that had made them dragonriders was only to be found in their Targaryen blood. That bloodline needed to remain pure. Yet, Rhaena’s pure Valyrian blood did not save her first dragon from being born sickly and dying quickly, while Aemond - Targaryen only by half - bonded with Vhagar, the most powerful beast in the world.

There were no further reasons to believe the Targaryens were gods after all, and above the realm they had conquered.

The great chair of the King creaked as she slowly rose, taking in the council before her. There were no Targaryens in this room, even if she had birthed her own clutch of half-dragons. Alicent bore this task without joy or fanfare. It was a duty to be endured for the good of her family, for the good of her realm.

She stood with her hands folded in front of her, the image of the Mother of the Realm. Alicent had done this once before, when she had declared that she was standing in an official capacity for her husband.

“My lords of the council,” She hedged a glance at her father before moving her gaze to each man at the table. Ladies of the realm should be on the council. “It is with great joy and love that the King and myself, with Lord Larys Strong, announce to the small council that we have arranged the betrothal of our son, Prince Aegon Targaryen, and Lady Abrogail Strong.”

Each of the lords straightened in their chairs. Lord Beesbury frowned and glanced away from her. The uncertain and uncomfortable shifting in his chair belied the embarrassment he was attempting to hide. Alicent felt no need to point it out. It was a fine idea that he’d presented and not his fault he did not know what had already been decided. Even if he was Rhaenyra’s lapdog, Alicent would be the better person, and not rub his face in it.

The congratulations buzzed in her ears as she sat back down in her chair, and beneath the table, she tore at the skin along her left thumbnail. The pain was as dull as the congratulations in her ears. Her father’s voice was distant, jovial even.

They hadn’t even told Aegon and Abrogail yet. She remembered standing in the same position, knowing what was coming, knowing what it would destroy and desperately hoping that it might not.

I have decided to take a new wife. I intend to marry Lady Alicent Hightower before Spring’s end.

I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Rhaenyra forgive me forgivemeforgiveme.

“A feast is in order to announce Prince Aegon and Lady Abrogail’s betrothal,” Tyland’s jovial tone broke the silence. His suggestion—or statement, depending on how Alicent took it—was not one that she’d expected when she sat down in Viserys’ chair, but welcomed the confirmation of his support.

Meanwhile, Larys’s expression gave nothing away. He simply inclined his head in agreement.

Her son — her trueborn son — for all his faults, deserved to be celebrated. She was happy she didn’t have to fight for this. It was Mellos who spoke next: “Given the last wedding that was celebrated within these halls, it would be a reassuring gesture to the Lords of the Realm if they were given the opportunity, and for us to show unity within House Targaryen. With the Prince’s nameday in a few moons, perhaps we can celebrate with a tournament.”

Alicent’s eyes cut to her father, who smiled lightly, nodding in agreement but careful not to say a word, allowing the Maester to be responsible for the idea.

“Even better,” Tyland raised his goblet in agreement. “We haven’t had a proper celebration in years. What better occasion? Lord Rickard Reyne will be overjoyed to hear the honor bestowed on his granddaughter.” He looked over at her father. “I take it you’ll be writing to him, Lord Hand?”

The last time Alicent had seen her uncle Lord Rickard had been at her mother’s funeral: now no longer the worst day of her life, but the memory that was still seared into her mind. She recalled Lord Reyne as a stoic man, but he’d been kind to her in her grief. Alicent hoped the years had not taken that away from him, but they likely had.

Time always stole away kindness.

Lord Beesbury looked pensive. Alicent could practically hear the man pushing house markers along the map in his head as the conversation continued. “Was Princess Rhaenyra involved in such a discussion?”

“The Princess Rhaenyra has continued to seclude herself and,” he paused, his gaze heavy and considering as he took in those around the table. “Her second husband, Daemon Targaryen, at Dragonstone. Neither has she come to the small council as her status allows, nor has she engaged with matters of the realm that her being heir gives her right to,” her father said smoothly, and he was right. “The king still grieves his daughter’s choices, and she has yet to amend with him. I agree with Lord Lannister and our Grand Maester. This would show the strength and unity and willingness of House Targaryen to bond and celebrate with the realm.”

Beesbury gave a humorless chuckle. “And nothing to do with presenting Prince Aegon formally.” As a contender. As a choice - that was left unsaid.

Alicent felt a surge of anger inside of her, instinct compelling her to protect her children and pull the wool Viserys and Rhaenyra spun from Beesbury’s eyes so he could see the truths they refused to acknowledge.

Not long after Aemond had been born, Lord Lyonel had enlisted her in trying to get Viserys to hold another declaration to follow Rhaenyra, if she was truly his desired heir even with two healthy boys of his blood. The King had originally chosen Rhaenyra because of the loss of Baelon and Aemma. Everyone wanted to keep Daemon off the throne, lest he became another Maegor the Cruel… and now, he was to be Rhaenyra’s consort, and Viserys still would do nothing. Alicent refused to believe that Rhaenyra would kill her half-siblings, that she would kill Alicent’s children for whatever love had been there. Every dark, curly haired little boy caused her to fear not what Rhaenyra would decide, but what others would encourage her to do. Her father had not been wrong - her sons would be beacons of rebellion, damned by the man who had so desperately craved a son, yet now ignored. How bitter a pill.

Daemon terrified her. They should all be terrified of him. Daemon now had Rhaenyra’s ear and her heart and her body. Daemon was not one to hesitate if something stood in his way.

Did you fuck Daemon Targaryen in a pleasure house? Targaryens have such queer customs.

“Prince Aegon is eight and ten, an accomplished dragonrider, ah…” Mellos trailed off, and the uncertainty on his face clawed at Alicent’s insides. Failure was acid in her throat.

Either you prepare Aegon…

That boy who would be king had groped six serving girls at the last feast before drinking and whoring his way through the Street of Silk.

“My sister and heir is of unimpeachable character,” Larys’ quiet voice carried within the room. “As a child, Abrogail was a playmate of Prince Aegon and his siblings, and she has become a beloved ward of Queen Alicent, who has done a remarkable job of raising her after the deaths of our parents. I would consider her to be a prime example of all our realm offers to a family that has, if I may be candid, gone to great lengths to keep to their own since the conquest. Wouldn’t you agree, Grand Maester?”

That poor girl she’d now chained to him was a picture of the Maiden. It had taken everything to ensure that her father waited for it. She would not have another bride offered to the throne before she was of age, while her father wanted nothing more than for Aegon to grow up.

Tension crept back into the room at Larys’ words. Nobody would think to utter these thoughts had Viserys been sitting there. Mellos cleared his throat and avoided her father’s gaze to adjust the heavy chain around his neck. The title of Grand Maester had been his even before Viserys’ reign, and he was possibly the closest representative that was not her to speak to Viserys’ mind.

“I would agree, Lord Strong. Perhaps even exploring the eventuality of wedding Prince Aegon’s children to Prince Jacaerys’ would… reassure Princess Rhaenyra. She once suggested a betrothal between Princess Helaena and-”

“We already have other candidates in mind for my daughter,” Alicent cut in immediately. She wouldn’t say anything about Jace’s children and future grandchildren. She refused to entertain the idea that Helaena would marry Rhaneyra’s son to cover her indignity and insult to everything that she had been given and born into. “We have time before the wedding,” she said with a gentler tone. “A year should be more than enough to introduce them to the realm and start introducing Prince Aegon to newer responsibilities befitting his station.”

That was time enough to beat her son into someone who could be King.

Morning light streamed through the gauzy, sage curtains of the princess’ room. Abrogail licked the honey clinging to her fingers as she moved towards the washbasin, abandoning half-eaten bread and cold cuts of meat at the table. Helaena also ignored their meal as she lingered at the only window that could give her a good view of the Dragonpit. Vhagar had been on the prowl that morning, unusually territorial, and the change in the dragon’s temperament had entranced the friend whom she called sister. She jumped when Abby ventured near her, eyes wide and body tense as a startled cat, so the redhead pivoted in the opposite direction in order to retrieve Helaena’s bodice. Normally, she did not wear one unless the Queen noticed, but on days when her mind drifted, the structure of the garment seemed to keep Helaena focused on the moment instead of her dreams. The princess was somewhere else in her thoughts, mechanically holding up her arms to have the bodice slipped over her shift.

“I’m going to tighten the laces now, alright, Helaena?” Abrogail told the princess as she always did, walking through the process so she wasn’t surprised by anything.

Helaena gave no verbal indication that she was listening, but Abby noticed her pale blonde head bob in acceptance. Slowly, she began straightening the garment, mindful of keeping her touch on the lacing and the chemise from pulling and pinching uncomfortably and defeating the purpose.

“Pink and red, he might be dead. Blue and black, no coming back,” Helaena murmured. Her gaze drifted to Myrella Penrose, who approached with a yellow, diamond patterned dress for inspection. “I don’t want my scales to be so bright.” Helaena’s voice did not rise from her quiet tone, and her gaze flitted away.

“How about the new one from Sevenmas?” Abby offered brightly before Myrella’s face could twist into the uncertain and disturbed look it took whenever Helaena drifted. “The ocean blue one with the beading. That’ll be nice to feel, right, Helaena?”

The princess tilted her head about, humming. “Yes, that would be.” She threaded her fingers together, pressing in so the knuckles would crack. Myrella visibly winced at the sound, but Abby just shook her head and carefully tucked the laces into the bodice. “The perfect hug,” came the breathless statement, before Helaena’s bright lavender eyes finally focused away from whatever she was tracking to turn around and look towards her. Abby took the dress from Myrella and offered her cousin a smile as she held it up. She was used to Helaena’s inquisitive gazes, as if she was a bug under the pretty Maester’s glass Aemond had gifted his sister. “Do you need them, too?”

“A hug?” Abby frowned.

“Scales - armor to protect you,” she clarified. Helaena held her arms up to slide the dress over her head, and Abby left her to do the little buttons down the front herself. “Or would you prefer a pretty carapace? Silver and reds, greens and blue. Pinks and black and gold.”

Abby laughed at the idea of being covered in so many colors, and Helaena even returned the smile as she finished her buttons. It was a good sign, and the tingle of worry that had been crawling up and down along her spine immediately eased. “To be decorated in so many colors? That would make for lovely armor.”

Helaena’s mood was improving, which meant that when the Queen finally came in, she wouldn’t immediately launch into fretting and worrying about the princess being in ‘one of her episodes.’ Abby knew the Queen did not mean it badly, but it still made her uncomfortable. Were her mother still there, she would say something if Abby expressed her concern. She was alone here now, and things were as different as the day and night.

The door creaked open, but it wasn’t Alicent who entered. Helaena’s little smile turned bright and beaming: “Aemond!”

At four and ten, the boy was steadily growing with each passing turn of the moon. While bypassing Abrogail in height was no difficult feat, he now stood as tall as his sister and mother. Prince Aegon was the next family member he was bound to outgrow, and the Queen had already tasked her with ordering clothes to be made ready for when Aemond shot up again. Lord Otto towered over most, and he japed that Aemond might make it where Aegon had failed to surpass him.

Hearing Helaena’s joyous declaration, Abby caught a spray of pink blooming on his pale cheeks, and Aemond reached up to adjust the soft leather strap of his eyepatch. The scar no longer looked angry, but it was prominent; a ridge of thick skin that was only just smoothing out with time. The prince held a jar carefully in his hands. He took several steps before Abby clucked her tongue at him the way she would at her own cat, though Theraxis had not joined her that morning in Helaena’s room. Earlier, a maid brought along with their meals news that the cat was gallivanting in the discarded feathers while the scullery maids plucked chickens.

“Your mother will be up any minute. She said she doesn’t want to catch you in here anymore,” Abby warned with an arched brow. There was no censure in her teasing tone. Aemond was nearly her own little brother, although much was changing as they left their childhoods behind.

“She won’t be here for him,” Helaena said in a voice far more present than it had been before, Aemond’s very presence pulling her back down to earth and away from the clouds. “What did you bring me?” Even though her buttons were only half-done, Helaena rushed across the room to Aemond with her arms outstretched and fingers wiggling. “Oh! It’s beautiful! Abby! Look!” She held up the jar filled with little sticks and leaves – a fat blue and yellow cocoon precariously hanging from one forked stick inside. “I wonder if it belongs to the ones I released last year.”

“You’ll be the mother of all the moths and butterflies in the Red Keep,” Aemond said softly, so softly that Abby could hardly hear him despite standing close by.

Abrogail moved away from the siblings, smiling at Myrella and leading the woman to the opened door. “Thank you for your help this morning. I believe the Queen will need you more today. Let her know we’ll be going to the gardens later, if you please.” Lately, the Queen had been sending the Penrose woman to help Abby tend to the princess’ needs. It had made her nervous. When she asked the Queen if she was being replaced, the words stuck to her throat. Her Grace had been adamant that it was not the case at all, that it was only so Abrogail could learn from her in preparation for her own running of a household, and give Helaena time to get used to someone else helping her.

Another part of Abby wondered if the Queen knew Aemond was still coming to visit in the morning. Or worse, that Uncle Otto was spying. Abby was protective of her friends, her kin. They were siblings bonded through the years of fights in the mud and pranks and stories in the nursery. Bonds such as theirs were not so easily broken; they only changed as time passed, as things happened, like Aemond losing an eye.

Myrella Penrose gave her a tight smile and left down the hall. Abby watched her go, lingering in the door as Aemond and Helaena whispered in the room. Her friend’s quiet giggles were a rare sound, and Abby would do anything to protect those moments for her, for them both. She tugged at the embroidered cuffs of her dark blue-gray dress, thumbs brushing the little weirwood leaves sewn in delicate scarlet thread. Little golden dragons danced through them as a symbol of her ties with the family. Aegon had picked the golden thread, predictable as ever, when she’d asked his opinion.

She thought of the embroidered knot Helaena had been making – silver and green, tangling with red and black and gold. There were so many twists, but Helaena assured her that there was a rhyme to it, a dance with complicated steps. Aemond’s soft laugh cracked a bit, and Abby bit her lower lip to hide her giggle at the sound. She turned her head, and while she couldn’t quite make them out, she could see their shadows along the stone floor. They stood close together, heads bowed over something - maybe the jar, she couldn’t tell.

Heavy and purposeful footsteps echoed down the hall. Abby’s head snapped up from where she stood within the doorway, not immediately visible. She strained to identify the cadence, and her stomach twisted when she did.

“It’s him,” she hissed, glancing wide-eyed over her shoulder. Aemond’s head was close to Helaena’s with her hands resting on his shoulders. At Abby’s raised alarm, her fingers twisted in his dark green doublet and yanked him towards the partition, shoving him behind it. Abby snatched the jar with the precious cocoon inside and tucked it on the bookshelf behind the embroidered manticore Helaena had just finished. Otto Hightower’s footsteps were not alone, although the Hightower guards did not enter the Princess’ room when he swept in. Abby immediately dropped into a curtsy, a murmur of, “Lord Uncle.” Helaena bobbed slightly, twisting back and forth a bit. “Good morning, grandfather,” she said, bounding up to press a kiss on his cheek. If Otto had any weakness, it would be his unparalleled love and favoritism of his granddaughter. It was hard to tell how much Helaena enjoyed her grandfather’s attention and how much was one of her games, but whatever it was, it worked.

“Good morning, sweet girl. You look lovely today.” Otto’s voice was fond, his smile more gentle than he seemed capable of. He was an intimidating man. Abby had received nothing but kindness and vague disinterest, but he still made her nervous. “I hope you don’t mind, but I need to borrow your cousin.” She felt her cheeks color as Otto’s gaze moved to her. Her mouth dried as her nerves returned to where they’d been when standing before the Queen, wondering if she was being replaced. Perhaps Larys was sending her back to Harrenhal or her sister was demanding she go to her in Casterly Rock.

Helaena smiled at her, though, with her hands folded across her stomach. “I’ll help you with your carapace later,” she reassured her. “You won’t be without armor.”

Closing the door behind them, the Hightower guards followed a few paces behind as Abby fell in step with him.

“Is everything alright?” she asked as they went left instead of right, towards the Hand’s tower. It had been years since she’d walked this path that had been as familiar to her as the gardens of the Red Keep. Her eyes glanced for the loose stone at the corner of the step, where she’d stow secret messages in the little hollow behind it. Had she left a note there? Was there perhaps a mystery one waiting for her?

“It is. And I hope you have been well yourself.” Lord Otto looked down at her gently, and she nodded. “The Queen says you pray often in the Sept?”

A prompt. A strange one, but a prompt all the same. She swallowed past her dry mouth and put a smile on her face. “Yes, I enjoy the quiet, and it helps me feel closer to my parents.” And brother, but she was careful not to mention Harwin around anyone but a handful. “It’s especially nice when her Grace joins me. It’s almost like I have my mother back.” No one could replace her mother, but the Queen had been there for as long as she could remember, and sometimes, when she tilted her head a certain way and the light caught in Queen Alicent’s auburn curls, she could pretend her mother was there once more.

“Her Grace speaks highly of you – how good you are with Princess Helaena, well behaved and polite. She said that you and the princess have made things for the poor children of the city. A very kind and admirable pursuit for you both. Your father would be very proud.”

“Thank you.” Abby wasn’t sure what else to say or what he was getting at as they began climbing the winding staircase. The familiarity of it hit her like a scent memory - one sudden and revealing of long-forgotten feelings. “I do my best to follow the Queen’s guidance and reflect well on my position within the family and her example.”

“Good. Very good.” She wasn’t sure if it was something she was supposed to reply to, so she hedged her bets and remained quiet. Her palms were sweating, and she discreetly wiped them on her skirt as she held the fabric. “I’ve noticed that you and Prince Aegon do not spend as much time together as you used to.”

Aegon? Why was she being asked about Aegon? Her stomach twisted, and she felt a prickle of heat along the back of her neck. It was true: they didn’t spend as much time together, but they hadn’t for years now, not since she spent more of her time with Helaena and… Aegon? Well, Aegon had been withdrawing slowly but surely for so long, like fraying threads at the seams. She’d be lying if she claimed to not miss him, because she did. She missed the happier boy he’d been, who did not constantly ply himself with drink and was more mercurial than a wild dragon.

Abrogail would also be lying if she claimed they saw little of one another, or spent no time at all because that was untrue as well. Until the past few moons, she’d gather lunch for the two of them when he finally rose well past noon, and he’d take her flying wherever he and Sunfyre desired to go. It had been something quiet and cherished, simply the three of them away from everything. Until Aegon had gotten in the tavern brawl all that time ago. Until Aegon started avoiding her. Until he barely acknowledged her at meals that he decided to join, even when he sat beside her. There was no way that Otto Hightower would not be aware of that, and she would not hedge around it. It wasn’t like anything untoward was happening.

“Not as much, but that is a natural casualty of leaving behind childhood. He found me earlier this week because it seemed there was a lack of honey cakes in the kitchen and I was the first to be interrogated.” There was a note of amusement in her voice, and Abby smiled in memory of his indignation and how silly he looked when she shoved honey cake into his mouth to stop his ranting. “He occasionally accompanies me in the Sept to pray. It’s incredibly kind of him to do so.”

She mounted a few more steps before realizing that Lord Hightower had paused. She turned to look at him. Morning light streaked through the narrow, delicate paned windows, casting shadow and illuminating dust in the air. He stared up at her, and with a few steps between them, she stood at his height. It was the first time she’d ever met her uncle’s eyes. Unlike her own unreadable brother, Otto’s face was not so impassive. He looked intrigued by her admission. Abby’s hands wound into her skirt so as not to fidget.

“He was not inappropriate, if that is your concern, my lord. Prince Aegon behaved with due respect.” To defend Aegon was second nature to her, and she would do so towards arguably the most powerful man in the realm if it meant to spare Aegon more shame and ire when, for once, he’d done nothing wrong. Which was true. Aegon hadn’t said a single thing. He knelt beside her, lighting candles, and simply stayed with her while she prayed for her family. He hadn’t even put a hand of comfort on her shoulder. She felt that was worth mentioning, given his current proclivities. She would not deny his vices, but she would not break confidence, and she would let no one, especially Lord Otto, think any worse of him if she could help it.

“Very good.” It took everything in her to keep the bewilderment off her face as she tried to understand what exactly he was trying to figure out. Otto resumed their progress, although now he rested a heavy hand between her shoulder blades like a father guiding a child. “So, you have no current complications with him?”

Complications? Did he think she’d lifted her skirts for Aegon? It wasn’t like she’d never thought of kissing him on those lazy afternoons when they’d lay in the grass and stare at the sky somewhere in the Kingswood with Sunfyre sunning himself like a cat. Of course she’d thought about kissing him, especially when he was at his most melancholy, with tears pooling in his eyes, making them pinker than normal. A kiss beyond the games children play, a kiss to comfort an angry prince in the firelight’s glow, his tears coursing down his cheeks with each snip of her embroidery scissors that sent locks of moonlight hair to the ground.

He’d never touched her more than a handhold, and far less than she touched him in her casual affections.

“No. No complications,” she confirmed.

They reached the landing, and Abby ran her hand over the stone dragon curled up in eternal sleep at the top of the stairs. Her fingers scratched along the smooth curve of its head the way she’d done every morning when she visited her father. She felt her uncle’s gaze on her, and she drew her hand away, hurrying to follow him into his office with her cheeks burning beneath her freckles, relieved only just by his vaguely amused expression.

The room was darker than it had been before. Gone were the stacks of books with various slips of paper sticking out haphazardly, or Theraxis lounging lazily along the cool stone floor by the door with his fluffy tail, sending motes of dust into the air. She instinctively clutched her skirt on the right to pull them away, so used to a giant paw the size of her hand grabbing at the fluttering fabric. But Theraxis was not there. The crumbling tome about the Andal invasion was absent from where it once rested on the side table. Instead, Larys stood by the fire with his back to her, as did the Queen, her lovely green dress covering her from neck to wrist with a golden pattern woven in the fabric that caught the firelight. Her face pinched in the way it did when she was uncertain and trying not to pick at her nails.

Abby noticed, of course. It usually meant that someone was about to get yelled at or she would send them away with the other ladies.

The figure in the chair slouched so far down that his silver head nearly vanished behind the back of it. At the clearing of Lord Otto’s throat, Aegon jerked up. His whole body held so much tension that it made Abby’s own hurt just by looking at him. He peered over his shoulder at them with glossy, red-rimmed eyes that give him a strange, ethereal sort of gaze, skin pale enough to prominently display the flushed pink mottling of a strike against his right cheek. He looked stuffy and uncomfortable in his dark green doublet, his fingers absently tugging at the buttons and collar. As his gaze focused, his eyes widened and darted from the uncertainty she knew was on her own face to his grandfather behind her.

The thud as Otto shut the door reverberated through her, and she and Aegon both flinched at the sound. Out of the corner of her eye, Abby could see the Queen flinch as well. Larys, as always, looked unphased. The heavy hand on her back pushed her towards the empty chair closer to the fire, and she had no time to bob a curtsy; courtesies stuck like toffee in her mouth.

The chairs once held the delicately embroidered pillows her mother made. She would curl up with them and read aloud from the books scattered around while her papa worked. He would-

“Queen Alicent and Lord Larys have received several letters expressing interest in you, Abrogail,” Otto said, walking behind his desk. She dug her thumbnail into the pad of her middle finger, and she saw Aegon’s booted foot twitch on the flagstone – a rocking motion from the ball of his foot to his heel before slapping it back down beneath the desk. Wood crackled in the fireplace. “Lord Farman is looking for a wife for his eldest, and Faircastle would be close to your sister.”

He plucked a scroll from the basket as he spoke, and Abby felt her stomach churn with nerves as a red heat clawed along her throat. She did not venture a look at Aegon, save for the foot he kept rocking back, the heel he repeatedly ground into the floor. He’d not gone back to slouching. He could be indolent and rude when he wanted, but not even Aegon dared to in his grandfather’s presence. Abby didn’t understand what this was about, or why Aegon was here.

“Edmund Vance, the heir to House Vance, recently lost his wife. A good man, and part of the Riverlands although a small seat. Or, if you married Jesper Celtigar, the heir of Crackclaw, you’d be able to remain in King’s Landing.”

Otto Hightower produced scroll after scroll and Abrogail felt the flush of embarrassment in her cheeks, confusion keeping her words locked away. How was she supposed to react to all of this? What was he trying to say? Were all these marriage proposals meant to make her feel better about herself? No, that was too odd to contemplate.

Why was Aegon here?

“Lord Grover has also written of his interest in you for his grandson. A Paramount seat would let you be close to your home at Harrenhal, and he already has an heir. He would take good care of you, and your children would have every opportunity.” Another scroll plucked from the basket. “It would bring Harrenhal into their holdings. Is that not correct, Lord Larys?”

Right. Harrenhal.

A woman’s lot is to only be worth what she could bring to the table.

Her brother was a man of few words, and he inclined his head with a shadow of a smile flickering across his face. Abby looked at the queen to find that her face was pinching harder. In the interim, Queen Alicent stepped away from the fire and moved instead to the desk with the gentle swoosh of her skirts gliding across the stone. She cleared her throat, a smile fighting its way on her face.

“All the offers were wonderful for you, my sweet girl, but none seemed right.” The Queen reached out to tuck a copper curl behind her ear, and Abby could not tell if this was supposed to be comforting to her or if the Queen sought comfort in the action for herself. Her lungs felt constricted, and it finally dawned on her.

Oh.

The sole of Aegon’s boot continued to drag across the stone in both a nervous fidget and to keep himself from slouching down even further into the chair. The only reason she could hear it was because of how focused she’d been on it, but now blood rushed into her head and Abby broke eye contact with her cousin to look down in her lap.

“What does seem right is for you and Aegon to be married, after your nameday. You’ll be eight and ten, and the pair of you will go to live at Harrenhal, and make your home there.”

Oh.

“Are you fucking serious?” Aegon’s voice was a hoarse, disused rasp from a night with endless drink. When she looked at him again, she noticed that his hair was still damp, and that beads of water from the wet ends had soaked little spots into the collar of his shirt. He wasn’t looking at her, but up at his mother, and then, incredulously, across the desk at his grandfather.

Otto’s face remained impassive following his grandson’s outburst. Abby wanted to grab Aegon and drag him out of the way of whatever was about to come out of the Hand’s mouth, as if the words would physically harm him.

The silence lengthened. Another log popped in the fireplace.

“He speaks.” The amusement in Otto’s voice caused Aegon to draw back further into his chair before he finally turned to look at her. His eyes were so red-rimmed, and his sullen face was so terribly pale that the pink-lilac of his eyes stood out ethereally, inhumanly like the drawing of a fae folk from a book she had as a child - wild and cornered. He’d bitten his pouty, chapped lips bloody.

Aegon searched her face for an answer to a question that she did not know. The only thing Abrogail could do was give him the gentle, reassuring smile she’d given him countless times before. It was what she did in this world: comfort her loved ones in any way possible, even as she needed to bury her own feelings on the matter. Feelings that, in this particular case, she couldn’t even begin untangling in the moment.

“Well, that makes us luckier than most, doesn’t it?” Abby cleared her throat and turned the smile onto the others in the room. She reached up to grasp the Queen’s hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze before she burst into a million pieces. Whether it was her, or the Queen, that might burst, she could not say. “We are fortunate to know one another so well and to be of an age. I thank you Lord Hightower, your Grace.” She looked at Larys, who remained silent in his observations, as always – an owl in a tree, eyes taking in everything. “Thank you, brother, for looking out for me.”

She felt Aegon’s eyes continue to pin on her. She looked back at him.

The wild and anxious expression was still on his face, and instinct compelled her, as it often did, to reach out her hand to take his - but he surprised her by beating her to it. His skin felt like fire engulfing her frigid hand and his fingers tangled with hers with easy familiarity. Before she could register what was happening, Aegon’s chair was already scraping across the floor and he pulled her from her chair with the momentum of jumping from his own. There was no pause in his movement as he dragged her to the door.

“How very fortunate we are.” A laugh bubbled from Aegon’s chest. It was a joyless sound when he laughed in the presence of his mother and grandsire. It was edged with the familiar mania; Aegon laughed when he was afraid, when he was anxious, when he was trying not to scream as his world was coming apart, or the laughter and joy on the back of Sunfyre. He tilted his head to stare up at the ceiling before throwing a look over his shoulder at the three across the room. “How very lucky we are.”

Aegon’s hand was clammy around hers, his grip bordering on painful. He yanked the door open with a protesting whine of the latch. Abby heard the Queen calling after him, but Aegon’s strides were purposeful as they ate up the ground to get away. Only the grip of their hands kept her from being left behind in the claustrophobic room where their future was being decided for them.

It might have been the second bravest thing she’d ever witnessed from him.

[Chapter Two]

#house of the dragon #house of the dragon fanfic #hotd fanfic #hotd fic #aegon ii targaryen #aegon ii targaryen x oc #aegon ii targaryen fanfic #aegon targaryen fic #aegon ii targaryen fic #aegon x abby #fic: the maiden and the drowning boy #my fics

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artstar1997 · 19 days ago

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Here’s the poster for @georgi-girl’s Trolls Elemental AU fanfic, Winged Reign, which coincidentally is a crossover between Trolls and Neopets. It follows the story of Princess Poppy, Branch, and the Snack Pack as butterfly fairies as they grew up with the dragonfly fairies alongside their childhood friend, Princess Rosetta a.k.a Princess Rose after they were scattered from their court during the escape, which is “orchestrated” by the Darkest Faerie. Together, they’d spend the day playing hide-and-seek and flying without a care at day and wishing upon stars at night.

When Princess Rose made a wish, she gets a more direct answer than she bargained for when she got an unexpected call from her ancestors to reunite the seven fairy courts and take down the Darkest Faerie together. As they travel throughout their home, the Isle of the Fay and all over Neopia, they met humans, neopets, and other mythical creatures as they learn the key to making their dreams come true and the connection between stars, wishes, and the soul.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The trolls characters in this AU are mythical beings and I wanna start about the trolls characters as fairies. The fairies are a subspecies of fae who are the more colorful cousins of the faeries. They have longer, pointed ears, colorful skin, hair, and eyes, insectoid wings that vary in shapes and size, and matching antennae. There are seven fairy courts that rule over fairykind, the earth court (its fairies have beigetone coloration, cricket-like antennae, and their wings are shaped like fruit slices, flower petals, and leaves), the water court (the fairies have neon colors but lacked antennae, have webbed-like ears, and fish fin wings for both swimming and flying), the fire court (the fairies that belong to the fire court are muddy-colored, with beetle-like clubbed antennae, beetle-like wings, and beetle shells as armor), the air court (they’re mostly yellow skinned but have bee antennae and wings with a light plaster of glitter), the mind court (the fairies there are colorful have moth-like antennae (the men have thick feathery antennae while the women have refined and threadlike antennae) and wings, are African-coded, and they’re powerful empaths), the energy court (the fairies are very colorful, possess butterfly wings and antennae, and some can have glittery details on their wings, which makes them emit fairy dust in flight), and the light court (the fairies of the dominant tribe have a variety of colored skin, hair, and eyes but some have some have luminous, chrome, metallic, pastel or vibrant hair and eyes, straight antennae, and dragonfly wings). The subtribes are the noble houses that were the nobility of the light court, with spring, summer, autumn, and winter houses leading them.

As for the Bergens, they’re giants in Neopia, the Party Crashers are drakes, the vacaytioners are merfolk, and the rageons are elves while the known neopets, both heroes and villains, are mostly humans but the others being pixies, centaurs, satyrs, minotaurs, ogres, and other mythical beings and creatures.

Enjoy the fanfic that me and @georgi-girl made.

#dreamworks trolls #trolls the beat goes on #trolls world tour #trolls trollstopia #trolls band together #neopets #trolls oc #trollsona #queen poppy #queen rose #trolls branch #branch trolls #the darkest faerie #neopia

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haologram · 3 months ago

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araneae 🕸️ k.sy (teaser)

🕸️ synopsis: when you realize your friend (with benefits) actually has feelings for you, a tangled web of lies and avoidance ensues. 🕸️ genre: friends with benefits au ; big dummy dumb idiots to lovers because it's the only trope ever ; ta x student dynamics ; fluff, angst & eventual smut (surprise?) 🕸️ pairing: zoology ta!kwon soonyoung x marine biology major!reader | side pairings: joshua hong x sana minatozaki ; vernon chwe x roh jisun (fromis_9) ; mentions of reader x yuta nakamoto (nct) 🕸️ word count: 2.8k | full fic: i don't fuckin' know but hopefully under 20k. 🕸️ rating: 18+. minors do not interact i beg. 🕸️ warnings: mentions of knife play (none involved), alcohol, mentions of protected sex (dw it'll get freaky later), mentions of cum, loss of virginity talk, mentions of marijuana (stoner!hoshi be off the honeypacks!!), they're naked for most of this snippet. a lot of parties later in the fic, just wait LOL. 🕸️ what to listen to: good kisser - usher ; magic stick - lil' kim ; more to come.

LAST YEAR – Sunday, October 23.

Soonyoung who you've kissed twice since meeting him two years ago, both times at Halloween parties hosted by his stupid fraternity. Soonyoung, who has had his hand up your skirt twice before someone interrupts you by asking if he has any weed at hand. He always does, and it's always in his car or his bedroom. He always goes, and a part of you, no matter how into it you may be, knows it's for the best. He keeps his circle small, of friends that is. You were added to the mix sometime after your first Halloween party (and first kiss together) your freshman year, when he slammed into you in the middle of the economics hallway, breaking your laptop in the process. He'd felt so bad he took you to Best Buy that same night and shelled out two grand for a new one and even invited you out to lunch the next day.

He did not remember making out at all. To be fair, neither did you until the digital photos came back and he texted you a picture of the two of you kissing against the Beta Tau insignia on the wall. You were so embarrassed you avoided him for a week after, but he quickly forced you out of your dorm for a movie night. The two of you became fast friends, bonding over silly little things and enjoying each other's company – but it didn't stop the rumors from flying that you were a freshman stealing a guy from the sophomores.

That task? "Can we talk?"

Just as he'd started undoing his pants.

"Fuck, I'm sorry baby."

"It's fine."

"Soonyoung." You rasp, patting his cheek. He doesn't stir, but pouts into your bare breast. "Soonyoung." You speak louder, shaking him slightly as he peels open one of his eyes.

"Yeah?" It takes him a moment to realize that it's you, sprinkled with glitter from his eye look last night and practically doused in his saliva.

"Oh, fuck." He just furrows his brows, rolling off your chest with a groan. He sits up at the edge of the bed, surveying the room before realizing he's got no pants on. "Son of a bitch. Did we…Yup. Yup, it's right there." His painted fingernails point at the discarded condom atop his dresser, flung hastily in a half-asleep attempt, most likely. You sigh, letting your head fall back on your pillow with a hmph. He does the same, his fingers only reaching up slightly to close the blinds with a jerk of the liftcord.

"You think it was good?" You ask with a small smile, and he snorts. "It was with you, I doubt it would've been bad."

Silence permeates the air again, before he sees your bare bottom half also covered in glitter. You have a tattoo on your hip that you didn't have when you first met. It's a stick-and-poke kitten. "Nice tattoo." "Thanks, I got it on Jeju Island." "When you and Yuta went?" "Yup." "Cool." He sits up, peering down at you with tired eyes. "What'd you see in that guy, anyway?"

"Hm?" "Yuta." "Oh. You want the truth?" It's like being nude in front of each other isn't a big deal. It's like having slept together after years of being in limbo means nothing. It's all so normal, the way you allow him to practically eye fuck you.

"I was sad you stopped being my friend." He blinks at you, watching the way you carefully pick at a thread loose in his comforter. You pull it out, discarding it behind you with a soft smile. "Does that answer your question?" "You fucked another guy because I stopped being your friend?" He asks incredulously, and you shrug. "Not just, but it was a large reason."

"You lost your virginity to him." His eyes are wide, and you shrug once more, nodding your head. "Yup." "Did he make you cum?" "Soonyoung-" "Did he?"

You sigh, patting his comforter. "Not the first couple of times, no. He got better at it, though. It was decent."

Nodding, he clears his throat.

"Do you think I-" "Maybe. I don't know. I don't remember much, just the Pink Whitney Mingyu gave me." "Mingyu does love his Pink Whitney." You flip onto your back again, staring at the glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling. Tucking your hands behind your head, you speak again. "Do you think I went down on you?" "There's lipstick on my tip." "What color?" "Uhh…wine red." You wipe a finger across your bottom lip, the small amount of residue a bloody, Cabernet red. "Hm. Checks out."

The air feels…comfortable.

"Wanna shower?" "Yeah." "Can I shower with you?" "Yeah, Soonie."

"Boxers okay?" "Hm, I prefer briefs." "On me or on you?" "Your underwear choices are your business." He holds up a pair of Spiderman briefs. You bite back your laugh and nod silently, extending your hand for them.

He disappears into his bathroom, flickering lights on and turning the shower head on. "Hot?" "Boiling." "Got it."

The both of you get in, and you close your eyes as the water pelts your back. Soonyoung says nothing as he moves your hair off your shoulders and away from your face, pressing a kiss to your forehead. "You should've asked me." He mumbles, reaching for the shampoo in the caddy behind you. Peeling your eyes open, you look up at him with a confused stare. "Asked you for what?" He shrugs, holding the shampoo bottle upside down over his hand and squirting some out. "I would've made you cum the first time." You snort, shoving his chest lightly. "Yeah, well…you didn't. It's fine." "This isn't weird to you?" "What? Showering together?" "After fucking, yeah." "Could be worse." "How?" "I could be that girl you've been flirting with since last year, wondering when you're going to text her back." "Who? Yujin?" "Yeah." "I'm not flirting with her, what made you think that?" "Stolen glances, flirty touches, you give her pre-rolls all the time." He rolls his eyes as he cards his fingers through your hair, his dull nails scrubbing your scalp gently. Your eyes flutter shut, and he huffs. "I give everyone pre-rolls." "Because you're a horrible business magnate."

"No, because I'm nice." You smile without opening your eyes, your hands reaching out to touch his chest. His body feels good under your fingertips, you realize. "Are you mad you don't remember any of it?" "Furious." He mutters, gently tilting your head back to wash the soap out. You can't see the way he's looking at the sweet slope of your neck, just barely making out small nips of his teeth across your throat. Your necklace hangs nicely. The rest of the shower remains silent, as he carefully washes you before himself. His attention to detail is insane, the way his fingers hold the washcloth taut so he can feel every inch of you. He has to commit this to memory.

After, you're drying your hair with a random t-shirt he gave you. He remembers you told him that towels can be too rough for your hair texture sometimes. It's only when you're brushing your teeth with a brand new toothbrush he pulled from his cabinets that he speaks. "Let me change my bedsheets." "Don't wanna lay in the sin of fucking your friend, do ya?" The navy blue sheets are quickly replaced by ones with light grey ditsy floral print, and his comforter is shoved off and replaced by a few throw blankets. He watches as you change his pillowcases, only looking away when he hears his phone ping.

Msg From: Cheol [9:32am] hosh [9:32am] who is the girl in ur room and is she missing a pair of cat ears

"What was your costume last night?" He asks, and you snort. "I was a sexy witch." He smiles to himself as he picks up his phone.

Msg To: Cheol [9:33am] not missing a pair of cat ears [9:34am] and it's y/n

"He wasn't bluffing." He whispers to Seungcheol, receiving an annoyed huff from Soonyoung. "If you're done intruding on my personal business, I'd appreciate it if you left. The pledges still need to clean up last night's mess." Jeonghan gives you a wry look. "Can I say something and you don't get upset?" "If it's about sex, I will punch you in that pretty face of yours." You say pointedly, fluffing the pillow in your hand before throwing it onto his bed. Jeonghan purses his lips, nodding before sliding out from under Seungcheol. He nods his head, a satisfied look on his face. "Have a good…don't fuck too loud, okay?" Soonyoung barely misses Seungcheol's face with the charger he throws across the room, his giggle being heard in the hallway as he barrels down the stairs.

"Idiots." He huffs, running a hand through his damp hair as you flop onto the bed. "You don't mind if I stay here a bit? My head's killing me."

He lays down next to you, a sigh escaping his lips.

"You okay, Soonie?" Turning only his head, he scans your face. Tired eyes lined with thick lashes, plump lips covered by the Aquaphor in his bathroom. Slightly unkempt brows and your shoulder tattoo peeking out from the collar of his shirt on your frame.

"Kitty?" You grimace at the pet name, one he christened you with when the two of you met. He'd been dressed up as a cowboy, and dancing with a skeleton that was stolen from the comparative anatomy students (with the help of Junhui, of course.) He also had a lit joint between his fingers, one that sprinkled ash over your newly healed shoulder tattoo and made you yelp in pain.

"Shit, I'm sorry, kitty." He quickly put it out in a nearby ashtray, dusting your shoulder of any ash residue. "It's fine, it's fine. Just…can I get a hit?"

"Yeah?" He sits up, leaning against his bed frame before looking down at you. "Would it be weird if I asked to try again?"

You glance up at him, an amused smile playing on your lips. "Try what again, exactly?"

He clears his throat, a beet red blush coating his cheeks. "You said Yuta didn't make you cum. And we don't know if I made you cum. So…can I have a redemption round?"

You've sat up at this point, a small laugh falling from your lips as you push your hair back, "You want to fuck me?"

"I won't. I promise. Cross my heart, kitty." He holds his pinky finger out, insinuating you link yours. Sighing, you do just that. "Fine. Hop to, I want breakfast."

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tagsecretsanta · 3 days ago

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From @littleoldrachel

From @littleoldrachel to @sofasurf

Let your heart be light

“I just don’t understand why you leave it to the last minute every year, Allie.”

Alan’s bedroom is an explosion of wrapping paper in a garish glitter snowman print. Every attempt to manoeuvre it has only cascaded silver glitter into every crevice of the fluffy carpet—or worse, burrowed into Alan’s palms, no matter how many times he’s scrubbed them. Strings of gold ribbon, webs of sticky tape, and an assortment of gifts lie tangled at the centre of the mess, with at least four pairs of open scissors perfectly positioned to do some damage.

The paper he’d thought was so cute when he ordered it online is now haunting him—most disturbing were the trails of glitter that swilled around his shower water earlier. (He also doubts that it fills his rescuees with reassurance when he leaves sparkly handprints on them as he lifts them out of whatever horrifying situation they’ve found themselves in. Although… the little girl who’d asked him very earnestly if he was a fairy since he was leaving such a shimmery trail made the whole thing rather more cute than annoying.)

Still, curse Gordon for encouraging Alan's poor wrapping paper decisions.

“Please, Scott,” Alan wheedles. He hesitates, then pulls out the big guns and widens his eyes to pouting proportions. “I'll never get this done in time without you.”

Scott rolls his eyes, but he does inch forward from where he's leaned against the door jamb, his crossed arms loosening slightly.

“It's ten to midnight. Christmas Day is literally minutes away, Allie,” Scott says, and Alan can tell he's trying to channel Commander Tracy—if only he could contain his fond smirk.

“It'll be faster if we work together!” Alan blinks slowly and deliberately, puppy-dog eyes unwavering.

“Quit trying to be cute.”

“It's a lost cause!” Gordon's voice calls out from the hallway, and Alan is so intent on flinging himself across the room to hide the squid's present from view that he doesn't even have the time to be indignant.

Scott frowns and turns. “Why aren't you in bed?”

Gordon's unruly mop of golden curls appears in the gap. “The mother-henning again, Scotty? Really?”

Scott ignores this. “You're usually first in bed on Christmas. I remember this because you were always the first one to come bounding into my room at four in the morning, shrieking about what Satan had brought you.”

“Satan?” Alan yelps.

“Hey, dyslexia is a cruel mistress!” Gordon scowls. “I liked it better when we were making fun of Allie-”

“I didn't-”

“But if you must know, I was checking on Virg.”

Scott straightens at once, every bit the soldier he once was. (Alan sort of hates it, if he's honest; it feels painful how easily the Commander comes out, even in the one place they are supposed to get to be soft and safe.)

“What's wrong with Virgil?”

“Stand down, soldier.” Gordon yawns so hard his jaw crackles. “Virg is fine. He took a few knocks on this afternoon's rescue, and I just wanted to check he wasn't doing his usual stoic thing.”

Scott frowns. “He didn't mention that in the debrief-”

“Virg hiding injuries? Gee, I wonder where he learned that,” Gordon says dryly, and Alan snorts. “He's fine, Scott. Just bruised and cranky.”

“I'll check in on him in a bit,” Scott says, more to himself than anyone else, and Gordon shoots Alan an exasperated eye roll that has him grinning. Then, Gordon's eyes rove over the disaster site that is Alan's room, and his eyes widen. It's a mark of how tired he must be that he doesn't even quip, just slowly backs away from the mess. “On that note, g’night!”

Alan waits till Gordon's door has closed before he clambers up off Gordon's gift: a truly hideous Christmas jumper decorated with a Santa Claus riding a flamingo float.

Alan's gifts to his brothers are always the most heinous jumpers he can find - after all, what on earth do you give a family made up of billionaires? - and the public loves the annual auction of the jumpers as part of the Tracy family charity drive. He's pretty proud of himself for this year's effort.

“The sooner you help me, the sooner you can go and bother Virg,” Alan says sweetly, holding up the scissors to Scott.

Scott lets out a put-upon sigh, but he's never been able to resist his littlest brother – as Alan well knows – and he takes the scissors reluctantly.

“Fine, but I'm tagging you in on helping Grandma with the lunch tomorrow.”

Alan pulls a face. He adores his grandmother with his whole heart and soul, and yet her incompetency in the kitchen is nothing short of deadly. Still, if it means an end to the scratchiness of glitter on his skin, he'll go for it.

“Deal.”

Twenty minutes later and faced with a wrapped jumper that looks more like a piece of crumpled trash than a gift, Alan is regretting his recruitment choices. They’d massively underestimated the size of the paper they would need and had been forced to attach another sheet at a strange angle to cover the gift, leaving the snowmen oddly distorted.

“I thought you'd be good at this,” he says despairingly, poking at where the wrapping paper has bunched and torn. “Isn't the army big on neatness?”

Scott slaps his hand away. “You're making it worse! I'm just out of practice.” He has glitter smeared in his eyebrows from his constant head-in-hands-exasperation, and it's the kind of ridiculousness that pours warmth into his chest; they may all be public figures, and they may have had their grief made an aching, public thing, but only Alan and his brothers get to witness Scott Tracy being silly.

“Scotty, you have five siblings; how can you possibly be out of practice?”

There's an awkward pause as Alan tries – to no avail – to fold down the corners of the lumpy package. When it finally clicks that Scott hasn't come back with a witty retort (and Alan's tired, okay? Three back-to-back rescues and his brain has turned to soup), Alan looks up sharply.

“I usually get Virg to do mine,” Scott admits grudgingly, and Alan gapes. “He likes it!” Scott adds defensively, shuffling his stance in a very un-Scott-like move. “Says he finds it ‘mindful’ or whatever.”

“Great! Then I'll ask him to do mine!” Alan scoops up an armful of crumpled wrapping paper and tangled ribbon, making to stand.

Scott laughs. “Not so fast, kiddo. Virg may or may not be injured—and even if he weren't, he has a strict deadline for wrapping applications.”

Alan's mouth moves silently, trying to catch up. “How long has this been going on?”

“About… five years?” Scott scrunches his nose. “Maybe longer?”

“And why am I only hearing about it now?”

Scott shrugs. “It didn’t start as a whole thing; I was getting more and more stressed about not being ready for Christmas with all the Tracy Industry stuff, and it was when he was following me around like a shadow because he was worried, and then he just helped… and kept helping.” Scott shifts his weight again and places the next jumper – John’s – in the centre of a fresh sheet of paper. “And then Gordon cottoned on, and–"

“What?!” Alan’s outrage is like the sharp sting of a torn-off scab. “Gordon knows and he didn’t tell me?”

Scott blinks at him. “We all know, Allie. John found out… somehow, because he’s John. Kayo walked in on Virg wrapping all her birthday presents. Didn't you always wonder why the presents we give Virg are wrapped like shit, and ours belong in a gallery?”

“I can't believe there's been an underground present-wrapping operation this whole time.”

Scott grins and shakes his head. “I can’t believe you didn’t figure it out, Mr Built-A-Damn-Rocket-At-Twenty-Years-Old.” He’s folding the paper around the jumper more carefully this time, creasing sharp folds instead of simply rolling it. “Hold,” he says, and Alan obediently presses his hand over where the paper meets. Scott places a tiny square of tape over the join, and Alan frowns.

“We’re going to need more than that, Scotty. You know we can afford more tape if we run out?”

“Do you want my help or not?” Scott says, elbowing him. He does grudgingly place another piece alongside it, though.

There’s a brief lull between them as they focus their efforts on the present, which is looking considerably less Frankenstein’s monster-like than their first attempt, even if they have reams of paper left over.

“You’re right, though, I did use to be better at this,” Scott says quietly. “Someone had to be after mom—well… let’s just say that dad wasn’t exactly great at being there to pick up this kind of thing.”

Alan’s heart clenches, the familiar wounded creature that it is. Scott rarely talks about the time after mom’s death—and usually, only in relation to the impact it had on Virgil (an all-consuming, terrifying depression) and John (vicious intrusive thoughts and anxiety). He and Gordon had been too young to remember things being any different, but with the benefit of hindsight, Alan can recognise how tough it must have been. It’s uncommon for Scott to talk about what that was like for him: the lynchpin to bind them together with too young hands for such a burden. Alan feels a little like he’s handling a frightened animal in the face of Scott’s pain, but he makes an interested noise in his throat, allowing Scott to shift his hands wherever he’s needed.

“It was rough, sometimes,” Scott allows. His voice is soft and his expression distant. “I didn’t want you and Gords and Johnnie to miss out on any of the Christmas build-up stuff – and Grandma tried to be there – but I was only a teenager. Sometimes, even now when I’m wrapping gifts, I can feel that stressed boy, juggling nativity plays and gifts for teachers and Christmas jumper days–" He cuts himself off sharply. “Sorry, you don’t want to hear all this.”

“I do,” Alan says, and the desperation bleeds into his tone more than he wishes. “I do want to hear it—I’m… I’m sorry we didn’t realise how much it was for you to manage.”

“You were four, Allie, I didn’t want you to realise.”

“Still.” His arms tingle with the urge to fling them around his oldest brother, to brush his thumbs under the eyebag-crevices he’s too young to have, to smooth the crinkle of his brow. Instead, he stares down at the paper beneath his hands and swallows. “I wish you talked about it more.”

Scott pauses, fingers hovering over where he’s poised to place the final strip of tape. “I’m trying to. Virg tells me I shouldn’t keep it all bottled up.”

“Yeah well. He’s pretty smart, you know?”

Scott laughs, and the movement softens his forehead and creases the lines around his mouth. It’s lovely. It’s as it should be. “I know.” He sits back on his haunches and the two of them survey their handiwork.

It’s a great improvement on their first attempt, even if all the extra paper ended up bunched and bulky around the edges. Scott ties a ribbon around it lengthways, and Alan slaps on a sparkly bow.

“I think we nailed it,” Scott says, eyes twinkling.

The bow promptly falls off the parcel.

Alan scowls, reattaching it more forcefully—enough that he feels the centre of it click and then a horrid, tinny version of Jingle Bells starts playing. Alan and Scott stare at it in horror as a children’s choir begins yowling over the top of the music, and Alan reaches out to try and stop the caterwauling.

“No!” Scott seizes his wrist, eyes wide. “Don’t make it start again!”

As the final line rings out, the bow plops off the parcel again and Scott’s eyes narrow. “It’s fucking with us.”

“Language!” Alan says gleefully, and Scott nudges him.

“It’s cursed, Allie, I’m telling you—”

“Don’t be silly.” He applies featherlight pressure to the bow this time, but as his hand moves away, the song starts up again. “I didn’t even press it!”

The music plays through once… and then immediately starts up again.

Scott and Alan exchange a look, and then the corner of Scott’s mouth twitches and it’s enough. Alan bursts out laughing – loud, hysterical sounds that frankly improve the awful music – with Scott close behind him. The music chunters on cheerfully in the background, but Alan is warm with sheer delight at the expression on Scott’s face, the way he’s bent double with the force of his laughter, how light he seems for the first time in months.

“You’re right – it’s haunted,” Alan manages, which only sets Scott off again. In the background, the song stutters on way-ay-ay-ay-ay, like some crazy club remix.

“Why – did you get – singing ones?” Scott wheezes through laughter, and all Alan can do is shake his head.

Eventually, as the music grows tinnier and tinnier, Scott staggers up and flings the cursed decoration through Alan’s balcony doors, until it lands with a plop in the pool. He turns back to Alan, grinning so wide and wild that Alan feels giddy all over again.

Seeing his brothers happy fills his heart to the brim, but seeing Scott happy—it’s molten gold flowing into every last crack and chip in his chest, leaving him warm and light and whole. He wants to capture this moment in a glass jar and hold it close on his darkest nights. He wants to lock away this memory and protect it against the future versions of Scott who will be stern and burnt out and beaten down. He just wants Scott to be happy.

It’s an impossible dream. Or at least, an impossible consistent dream; after all, Scott has surely the most stressful job in the world and sends his brothers out into the field every single day without being able to know for sure that they will return. He plays both mother and father, presents the perfect CEO, offers the ideal PR needed—it’s too much for anyone to hold and be happy. Scott is the first to admit that there are always people they can’t save, always situations they can’t control, and always moments that are missed (even if his hypocritical arse won’t accept that itself).

But Alan can start with this—with Christmas. With family and presents and ridiculous wrapping paper. And maybe – maybe – it will be enough for now.

BANG!

Alan jolts awake so fast that black spots burst in his vision as he sits up. Scott is already on his feet beside him, ever the soldier, tiredness cast off like a cloak.

“Whoops.” Their grandma’s voice floats up to them, and the brothers exchange a look before Scott offers a hand to Alan.

“My money’s on a cooking disaster,” Scott says conspiratorially, and Alan sort of hates him for being so awake at this moment.

Alan groans as he accepts the proffered hand, his own free hand rubbing at his aching neck. The two of them had finally fallen asleep around two in the morning, slumping into a messy pile surrounded by wrapping paper and decorations. Alan feels considerably worse for wear as he rubs glitter from his eyelashes, but he allows Scott to pull him from the room in the direction of their grandma’s mumbled cursing.

“What time is it?” he yawns, wincing as his thumb hits a particularly sore knot in his neck.

Scott casts him a pitying look. “You’re too young to be aching like this, Allie.”

“Yeah, Allie. Spare a thought for the old man over here,” Gordon’s voice is gleeful as he slings an arm over Alan’s shoulder and nods at Scott. “And it’s just gone eight.”

Scott flips Gordon off over his shoulder, which only makes Gordon grin wider still. He’s just in swimming trunks and still drips pool water across the corridor, skin cool against Alan’s sleep-sensitive arms.

Their smiles fade as they round the corner to the kitchen, where they see Grandma staring helplessly at the oven – a scary enough prospect on its own – from which black smoke is pouring. The glass has shattered inwards, and a thick, acrid stench fills the air. The three boys freeze for a fraction of a second before Scott and Gordon leap into action, flinging open the oven door and yanking out a charred and blackened unidentifiable mess.

Grandma blinks in confusion. “I was just preheating the oven for the turkey,” she says. “What’s my Christmas cake doing in there?”

Gordon widens his eyes at Alan from behind Grandma’s back, his message clear: DO NOT SPILL THE BEANS. Alan does his best to blink innocently back at Grandma—to pretend that he and Gordon didn’t hide it in the oven earlier this week to avoid having to eat any and risk their stomach linings.

“Well?” Grandma turns to look at Gordon, who quickly schools his features into something bewildered. “Care to explain?”

Thankfully, Virgil chooses that moment to stumble into the kitchen, beelining for the coffee machine. He stabs blearily at the buttons before Scott takes pity and sorts his espresso. Virgil blinks dopily at Scott in response, patting his head tiredly and slinking over to the island stools.

“Morning, Virg,” Gordon says brightly, and Virg grunts something in response.

“I’m very well, thank you so much for asking. And a merry Christmas to you, too!” Gordon continues, and Alan sees Scott bite back a smile.

“What happened to the oven?!” John joins them, pale and sleepy-looking but far more awake than his older brother.

“Someone ruined my Christmas cake—and now the oven is broken!” Grandma says, and her gaze flits to the turkey sitting on the side, ready to be roasted.

Alan frowns. “But how will we roast the turkey now?”

There’s an awkward pause. “Are you sure it’s broken?” Scott asks, crouching to examine the nobs and dials. He twists a few experimentally, and the oven belches out an almighty groan of more black smoke. “Okay! Message received!”

Scott stands and glances over at Virgil. “Virg, can you take a look at it?”

Virgil shoots Scott a look over the rim of his mug. “You want me to glass-blow a new oven door?” Alan had forgotten how sarky early morning Virgil can be and he loves it.

“Virg.”

Virgil downs the remainder of his piping hot coffee and stands. It takes him all of two seconds to declare the oven out of action: “It needs at least three replacement parts, even if the door were reparable,” he tells them, the wonders of coffee returning a sharp precision to his tone. “I can make a version of those parts, but it’ll take too long for today.”

“What are we going to do?!” Alan yelps, flushing as everyone turns to look at him.

“We could… have a barbecue?” Gordon suggests, squinting at the prepared turkey. “We could slice it into strips, set up on the beach…”

Scott snaps his fingers at Gordon, smiling wide. “Yes! Great plan—”

“What can I say? Here to save Christmas,” Gordon smirks, grin only widening when his brothers roll their eyes in unison.

Several hours later, they have hauled the barbecue down onto a quiet strip of beach, with Brains and Virgil talking quietly as they man the barbecue and bicker about the most effective use of space on the grill. Almost everyone else, bar M.A.X and Grandma (who are lounging on blankets on the sand), has been recruited for a game of chicken fight, with the added challenge of battling the current of the tide as it sweeps in and out.

From atop Kayo’s shoulders, Alan takes out John with ease, grinning as his brother falls off Scott like a puppet with its strings cut.

“Grub’s up!” Virgil yells, and the four of them scatter, hurrying towards the shore. Alan can’t help the bubble of laughter that escapes him as Kayo and Scott become entangled and flop together in the foamy edge of the water.

By the time the two of them are back on dry land, everyone else is tucking into their Christmas lunch, appreciative hums echoing across the group.

“There’s sand in my turkey,” John says with a frown, and Scott laughs.

“Better that than Grandma’s special stuffing recipe. Nearly cracked my tooth with that a while ago.”

John rolls his eyes, but obediently chomps down on the sandy turkey sandwich. He’s a little paler and thinner than his brothers like him to be, but his smile is bright and lovely even through a mouthful of chewed bread and meat.

By nine, the sun has begun to creep towards its bedtime, pouring pink and gold across the sky in a beautiful cascade of colours. The smell of barbecued meat blends with the salty sea air, undercut with the coconutty scent of John’s suncream.

The Tracy family shows no such sign of calling their celebration to an end—Gordon and Scott have roped Kayo and M.A.X into a game of volleyball, with the little robot strangely nimble across the loose sand, whilst John, Brains and Grandma alternate between roasting marshmallows and playing increasingly competitive card games.

It’s nothing like the Christmases Alan grew up watching in movies and on TV, nor is it like the ones his schoolfriends used to wax lyrical about.

Somehow, it’s even better.

(Alan thinks that has a lot to do with how loud Gordon’s laughter booms across the beach, how bright Scott’s smile is, and John’s playful smirk that only ever comes out around those he’s truly comfortable with.)

And yet, despite how pleasantly full he feels and how much happiness sings in the air, there’s a weight on his chest that he cannot shift. It prickles with wrongness in the face of so much joy, and Alan feels like he’s dragging their celebrations towards misery as he sits by himself and gazes out at the ocean.

At that moment, as if he can sense Alan’s rising distress (and perhaps he can; Virg has always been weirdly perceptive about these things), Virgil plops down beside Alan and offers him a soft smile. “You good, Allie?”

Alan nods, then leans his head against Virgil’s shoulder, allowing his older brother to tuck him tighter into his side. All his brothers hug differently, but none of them truly envelop him as Virgil does. “Just thinking.”

“Warned you about that,” Virgil murmurs and Alan can hear the smile in his voice even though he can’t see it. His hand comes up to the back of Alan’s neck, and he begins massaging out the knotty tension in Alan’s neck. The relief trickles warm and grateful down Alan’s spine and he sags further into his brother, trusting and knowing that he will be held.

“I wish it could always be like this,” Alan says after a beat or two.

Virgil pauses. “Like this?”

“Like…” Alan waves a hand. “I wish Scott could always be this relaxed. And John could always be here. And we could always be this happy.” A sharp longing ache lodges in his throat, and he has to fight to get the next words out without it catching. “I wish we didn’t have to give up so much to have these moments.”

Virgil is silent for a long time, his grip tighter around Alan. “Me too,” he says at last, and it’s so un-Virgil-like to admit something even vaguely selfish that Alan would pull away to stare at him if he weren’t so damned comfortable. “But Allie—I think that’s also what makes these moments so, so precious. That we know what it is not to have them. That we know what they cost.”

“That doesn’t feel fair,” Alan says, hating the petulance in his own voice.

If Virgil were replaced by Gordon, there would be a quip about life’s not fair and a joke to distract him from the ache of it. Scott would be frantic to try and fix it, and John’s analytical mind would identify all the illogical and untrue aspects of that statement.

Virgil just holds him impossibly tighter still and meets him with an empathy Alan didn’t know he needed. “I know.”

Virgil holds him together as the aching grief of all that has been lost – all that continues to be sacrificed, and all the moments to be missed in the future – spreads and crashes over Alan—

Then all at once, the grief ebbs away like the tide retreating.

Virgil presses a kiss to Alan’s crown. “You good. Allie?” His voice is soft and warm, and Alan knows that he’ll stay as long as Alan needs him to—that he doesn’t even have to ask.

This is what makes it easier for him to nod and mean it this time.

“Want a marshmallow?”

Alan hesitates and nods, allowing Virgil to pull him up and tug him back towards the makeshift campfire. Scott, Kayo, Gordon and M.A.X have abandoned their game at last, and have squished themselves around the fire too, though they shuffle over to allow room for Virgil and Alan to squeeze in beside Scott.

“Alright?” Scott murmurs to Alan, and Alan nods. The prickling fades, tucked between his two oldest brothers, across from the jokey antics and quiet intelligence of his other two brothers, beneath the protective gaze of his sister and grandmother—and under the twinkling light of his mom’s star. He’s so damned lucky, despite it all, to be so loved like this.

“Happy Christmas,” he says softly, and Scott smiles.

“Happy Christmas, Allie.” He ruffles Alan’s hair and Alan laughs.

Christmas may not look the way he thought it would be growing up, and it may be a long time before they get to be together like this again. Another Christmas may be full of injuries or loss, and it may feel harder still to rise above the weight of their collective grief.

But Alan vows that he will do everything in his power to keep giving them Christmases like this, full of light and laughter and love.

For this Christmas is theirs and Alan will hold it tight and precious against his heart.

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #tag team secret santa #tag team secret santa 2024

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ticklishshenanigansau · 2 months ago

Text

LaughterLand - Chapter 14: Fairies

(story by Mod Secret, art by Mod Kitty)

The forest below them seemed to go on and on forever. Although they were grateful to be drifting over it rather than trudging through it, it felt like nearly an hour had passed before the trees had finally started to clear. They floated over a multitude of flowerbeds, gardens, and bushes. Over various other strange-looking animals — all of which they were careful not to make a sound over — and various other bodies of water.

Once they had passed over a waterfall, they began drifting over what appeared to be a jungle. Much like the forest, the crazy colors of pink, purple, and lime green were practically radiating off of the strange palm trees. They began to wonder just how long this was going to take to drift past them before they were close to being out of this place.

Throughout the journey, both brothers were quiet. At first it was to just catch their breath and enjoy the peace after such a perilous adventure, but they could both sense that there was still some tension between the two of them.

Sans let his arms dangle as the web tied his hip to Papyrus's. Thankfully the web itself was so soft that it didn't strain either of them to be pulled by a long thread tethered to a speeding cloud. Sans couldn't help but feel like the tail end of a very strange kite. He glanced over at Papyrus who was resting his hands on his elbows as they floated along.

Papyrus looked so exhausted, he seemed to just barely be able to keep his sockets open as he stared at the ground passing by below them. But at the same time, Sans could sense more than just strain in his brother’s tired eyes. There was a tense focus in them, something was deeply troubling him, and Sans knew he was the cause of it. Again, he tried to lighten the mood with his own special kind of humor.

“Hey, Pap,” he started, getting his brother to glance at him. “You know our new buddy, Sky, back there … he’s a Sky-Spider right?” Papyrus nodded wearily. “Well, I’ll betcha anything that his full name is … Skyder!”

Sans beamed the cheesiest grin at his brother, and just like before, Papyrus completely ignored him by turning away. Not even sparing him a typical deadpanned expression.

“Aw come on Pap,” Sans continued. “I know you hate it when I … string you along like this!”

Papyrus didn’t respond, through his brows narrowed slightly as a clear sign of annoyance. Sans sighed as he flopped his hands back down to dangle. It wasn’t the reaction he was hoping for. Still, he tried one more time.

“I guess this is what you would call ‘surfing the web,’ huh bro?”

“Sans!” Papyrus had started to sound aggravated, but paused to take in a deep sigh before pinching the bridge of his nasal cavity. “Please, Brother. I’m not in the mood right now.”

“Heh, you’re never in the mood for a good joke,” Sans dryly chuckled. His grin faded, however, when he noticed Papyrus’s expression.

He looked so worn-out, so done with it all. Like even the tiniest breeze would irritate him, but he was too tired to do anything about it. They were out of trouble for the moment, sure. But the truth of the matter was neither of them knew what was going to come after them next, or if they would even be able to make it out of the next trap, and it was terrifying.

What made it worse was their dynamic as a team had been horribly strained. Both were aggravated by how the other one had handled the situation so far, and both were hurt by what the other one thought of them. Sans could see that now. How, just like himself, Papyrus thought he was doing the right thing to get them through every obstacle they faced. How it felt so degrading to have a plan just utterly blow up in their faces, making things worse for the other one. As angered as Sans knew Papyrus was with him, he also understood that Papyrus was also feeling guilty for the trouble he had also caused them.

“Hey Pap…,” Sans offered, attempting to lay a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “You know I’m not mad at you for what happened, right?”

Papyrus didn’t look at him, but instead kept his arms crossed as he continued staring at the ground. Sans sighed deeply, trying a different approach.

“It really sucks … when you try to do the right thing, just to have it completely backfire on you,” he said gently. Papyrus finally turned to look at his brother. Sans kept going, seeing that he was finally getting through to him.

“You know … with each and every crazy plan I try to come up with, I don’t really stop to think about consequences or … how it could go wrong.” He offered Papyrus a gentle glance. “All I can think about in the moment is how I’m supposed to save you.”

Papyrus’s expression softened, it was the first time since the argument that Sans could see his brother really starting to soak in what he was saying.

“So when something does inevitably go wrong, and it just puts us both in a worse situation … it hurts.” Sans himself turned away to look down at the ground, for the first time he was coming to grips with his own feelings on the situation. “I don’t know … it feels like I failed you. I failed in my job as a big brother. I’m supposed to protect you from the big bad monsters that would scare you or hurt you. But I can’t even muster up the strength to summon a Blaster. I can’t even protect you against … a big fluffy TICKLE MONSTER of all things!”

Sans looked back at Papyrus. His brother was silent, but listening intently. Without there being any distractions from monsters, plants, or tickling, he was finally able to listen to what Sans had to say, and to truly process it. Sans could see it in his face, and he was brave enough to bring up Papyrus’s side of the blame as well.

“Look,” he said softly. “I was upset because it felt like I wasn’t being listened to … when you were trying to make friends with everyone you saw I mean.” Thankfully, Papyrus was still listening, and didn’t immediately jump to defend himself, as Sans feared he would. “I was right not to trust anything here, but that doesn’t mean you were wrong for trying to find us an ally or two.”

Sans placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder to really look him in the eye.

“I don’t think you're delusional,” he said adamantly. “Sometimes I just forget that you have your own way of dealing with these kinds of things, and … instead of shutting you down, I should have just talked to you about the danger that I was worried about in the first place.” Sans sighed deeply, almost forgetting about one more confession. “And yes … the potion back at the mansion was my fault, I forgot that you tend to take things literally.”

“No…. I…,” Papyrus finally spoke, but trailed off. An expression of shame falling across his face. “It was my fault, I know I should have paid more attention.”

“It’s okay, bro.” Sans offered him a subtle smile. “The point of this is … I don’t want us to fight. Especially not in this kind of place. So before anything else, I just wanna say that I’m….”

Sans trailed off, something in the distance caught his attention. It looked like a trail of glimmering lights. They were multicolored and flickering brightly. Even in broad daylight Sans could see them clearly. Papyrus noticed Sans looking off in the distance and followed suit, also catching the sight of the strange lights.

“What in the world…?” he wondered out loud.

“I…. I don’t know,” Sans replied worriedly.

He noticed that the glimmering lights were starting to move closer to the pair. Despite their cloud moving at a fair speed, the strange floating lights were obviously faster. Sans heard Papyrus’s breath hitch in his throat, he turned to see his brother looking at him. An old, familiar expression of terror drawn across his face.

“S-Sans…,” Papyrus stammered quietly. “What if they want to…,” he trailed off, but Sans knew exactly what he was about to say.

“I know, I know,” he intensely whispered back. “Just stay still Papyrus, try not to move.”

While Sans appreciated Papyrus finally recognizing the danger of this place and not immediately reaching out to befriend the strange lights, he swallowed hard, knowing there was little he could do to protect him if these glowing creatures turned out to be another threat. With them floating high above the ground with no clear landing point, there was nowhere to run to. Whatever small spark of their magic remained would take too much time and energy to properly conjure up, and they both knew all too well that they weren’t very good at holding in their laughter, especially with their energy already so depleted.

As the glowing light drew closer, the skeletons could hear a strange sound. It was high-pitched, practically squeaky. It sounded like tiny giggling; high-pitched squeaky giggling that grew louder and louder the closer the glimmering lights got to them. A familiar feeling of dread coursed through the two of them as they watched the potential threat get closer. They felt each other tense up, as they silently prayed for whatever these strange creatures were to just ignore them and fly on.

To their dismay, they felt the warm glow of the shimmering lights radiating off these creatures, as they stopped to float right in front of their faces. Blinking through the strange sparkling light, the skeletons could see that these odd creatures were shaped like the tiniest of humans. Each one was maybe half an inch tall, and their bodies gave off such a distinctly colored glow that neither of them could see any particular features on their faces or frames. Each of the tiny humanoid creatures sported a pair of large wings on their backs that were almost translucent against the glow of their bodies. Their laughter was high-pitched, much like their speaking voices, each one sounding more feminine than the last.

“Ooh! Look at you guys!” chirped one in the front of the group. Though neither brother could tell which one of them was talking.

“What are you guys supposed to be?” squeaked another one.

“Why are you riding a cloud like that, sillies?” asked another.

“S-Sans…?” Papyrus whispered to his brother as quietly as he could.

“Yeah, bro?” Sans whispered back, although it felt useless seeing as how the creatures were hovering directly in front of their faces.

“Are these … humans? I’m not sure how I’m meant to capture humans that are so tiny.”

The creatures obviously thought Papyrus’s confusion was as endearing as Sans did. For upon hearing this, they all started giggling amongst themselves.

“No, Pap,” Sans chuckled despite himself. He knew this was absolutely the wrong time to be lighthearted about anything, but he almost couldn’t help it. “Humans aren’t that small, and … they don’t usually have wings.”

One by one the strange little creatures spread out to get a look at the skeletons from a different angle. A different voice speaking, one right after the other.

“Nope, we’re not humans!”

“We’re fairies!”

“What are you guys?”

“Are you from around here?”

“Can you fly?”

“Where are you going?

“What are your names?”

Papyrus initially opened his mouth to start introducing himself, but immediately stopped. Looking back at Sans he remembered all of the failed attempts at him trying to make friends, and instead decided to keep his mouth shut. Sans watched Papyrus sink in on himself, having finally gotten the tough lesson through his skull.

As strange as it was, Sans couldn’t help but feel a sense of sadness seeing his brother refuse to be his usual friendly self. He looked back at the glittering fairies, noticing that they weren’t immediately attacking them. Unlike the previous monsters the pair had encountered, these creatures weren’t on top of them seeking a quick snack. But instead, they were striking up a conversation and acting friendly.

Against his better judgment, Sans thought back to Sky. How he had mentioned that there was, in fact, a small group of creatures who didn’t feed on laughter. He was beginning to hope that these were the kind of creatures that he had talked about. It was risky, and as much as he was afraid of taking chances in this place, they both were in too vulnerable of a position to fight. So instead, he was going to try Papyrus’s approach. He took in a deep breath.

“So … we’re actually skeletons,” Sans began, trying to speak with a big friendly grin on his face. Papyrus physically paused to stare at Sans with the most confused of expressions.

“I’m Sans … the skeleton, and this is my brother, Papyrus.”

One of the little blue fairies zipped right up to Sans’s sockets. If he squinted hard enough, he was sure that he could make out a face. An orange-colored fairy gently floated up to get a closer look at Papyrus.

“Hello, Sans the skeleton,” squeaked the blue fairy.

“Hello, Brother Papyrus,” chirped the orange fairy.

“H-Hello…?” Papyrus replied warily, looking at Sans with an expression that said ‘Where are you going with this’?

“We’re um … just trying to find our way home,” Sans explained. He was not used to talking with strangers in such an overtly friendly manner, and was hoping it didn’t sound too forced. “Maybe you can help us?” he offered. “We need to steer this … cloud carriage WAY past the outskirts of this place.”

The brothers heard one of the fairies let out a shrill and excited gasp. Again, the sparkling group crowded around the brothers, each one talking right after the other, nearly overlapping in conversation.

“So you're from somewhere far away?!”

“From out of LaughterLand?”

“Where are you from”

“Are there more of you?”

“How did you get here?

“Why are you trying to leave?”

“Are you guys ticklish?”

That word, that dreaded word. It made both brothers freeze up in terror. Sans immediately knew that he had blown it. These creatures were just the same as everything else that was after them, and now he had just given them the meal ticket they were looking for. Although he couldn’t make out their faces, he knew exactly how each and every fairy was looking at them right now. With that same manic hungry expression that the skeletons had known would happen right before they would be thrown into hysterics … again.

Sans spared Papyrus a desperate look. Terror filled the older skeleton’s sockets, but Papyrus could also see pangs of regret and sorrow. He had failed them again. Sans tried so hard to protect him and his brother from facing anymore attackers, but nothing he did worked. Now they were stuck floating through the air facing what felt like a hundred little fairies and their tiny tickling fingers, and it was all his fault!

Both brothers jolted in fear as the group of fairies started breaking apart, each one going off to get a closer look at the skeletons. Sans and Papyrus could feel the glow of their lights and the fluttering of their wings as they hovered around their feet. The fairies explored around their hips, lifting up their shirts to get a closer look at their spines and ribcages, and fluttered around their necks.

The invasive procedure made both skeletons squirm uncomfortably, they tried to move their bodies away from where the fairies wanted to explore. But there were way too many to count, and the hesitation only made the little creatures all the more curious. The exploration and the fluttering of their wings caused a light ticklish sensation that made the brothers extremely nervous. Light warm blushes started appearing on their faces as they fought the overwhelming urge to smile. All around them they could hear the fairies chattering one by one.

“Ooh! I bet they are ticklish!”

“Look how exposed they are!”

“All those bones!”

“Look! I made him twitch over here!”

“I’ll bet this one is really ticklish!”

“Look at all those ribs!”

“Hey! They’re blushing!”

“Look how cute!”

“They must want us to tickle them!”

“I can’t wait!”

“I bet their laughter tastes delicious!”

Papyrus tried to cover his face to hide his blush as he glanced over at Sans. As terrified as he was for what was about to happen, he was more saddened by the look of utter defeat on his brother’s face. Sans almost looked like he was about to burst into tears from the cruel anticipation, but Papyrus knew it was more than that.

Despite his attempt to make friends having failed, Papyrus felt grateful towards Sans for making an attempt to do this his way. He had really shown that he was willing to try things from his point of view, now it was time for Papyrus to do the same. Thinking fast, he tried to come up with some kind of solution, something that might possibly turn the fairies away from feeding on them.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Papyrus began. “We’ve been told that our laughter isn’t very filling.” The fairies paused, staring up at him in confusion. Even Sans took a moment to process what Papyrus had said.

“I mean … you really want to feast on laughter that’s only … mediocre at best?” Papyrus giggled nervously, hoping that he was selling it. “I mean, I’m not too proud of it myself. Honestly, I had hoped that we would make at least a semi-decent meal in this place.”

He wore a disappointed expression, turning to Sans as if he were truly dismayed. Sans didn’t know whether to laugh at this bizarre plan of Papyrus’s or cry because it was too hokey to actually be working. Nevertheless, the fairies had paused to listen. Although it was hard to tell if they really believed him or if they were just humoring him for their own amusement. Papyrus’s thoughts turned back to Sky, thinking that there was a possibility that he could turn them towards the diet of a Sky Spider.

“Now, I’m not saying that you ladies go hungry,” he explained. “That would be rude. I’m just saying that you deserve so much better than the poor lowly meal that my brother and I have to offer.”

Sans had to admit, although he was laying it on thick, Papyrus knew how to put a charming spin on his words.

“Perhaps you could partake in….”

Papyrus desperately looked around, hoping to find something that could pass as food. But there was nothing around them but clouds. He reached out his hand towards a cloud that was speeding past them, half expecting to completely faze through it. But to his surprise a big chunk of the fluffy cloud had caught right into his palm, sticking to it like cotton candy. Papyrus quickly shoved a large bite of the airy substance into his mouth, chewing it convincingly.

“Mmmm! Tasty … fluffy … cloud!”

The cloud was fluffy alright, and bitterly cold. As he chewed the cotton-like pieces between his teeth, he tasted icy rainwater that leaked from the heavily saturated fluff. The liquid was so cold and so unexpectedly abundant that within seconds it filled up his mouth causing drool to seep from his shaking teeth. He swallowed it down, trying his best to look as satisfied as possible.

It didn’t take long for the fairies to swarm them. They flew down to their feet, tickling at their soles and brushing their feathery wings over their toes. A few found places to dance around and behind their knees, their delicate little feet tickling them up and down. Many of them flew directly under the brother’s clothes, they could feel the fairies strumming along their ribs like they were playing musical instruments. They fluttered along their spines, their tiny fingers able to wiggle within the smallest of crevasses. Those that were playing on the inside of their ribcages flew upwards towards their underarms to play with them there. The fairies that could be seen were swirling around the brother’s necks and cheekbones.

Sans and Papyrus were immediately thrown into another fit of hysterical laughter. They screamed and thrashed about, trying to swat at the fluttering fairies, but these glowing creatures seemed to be dodging experts. As hard as the brothers flailed, they couldn’t land a hit on a single one of them. Even when they were trying to squish the ones that were inside of their shirts, they somehow managed to fly out of the way before a blow could be struck, only to return right back to the same tickle spot completely unfazed.

“NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! AHAHAHA!! NOHOHOHOHO STAHAHAHAP!!” Papyrus begged, as he threw his arms back, trying to shoo the fairies away from his hips.

“AHAHAHAHA!! P-PLEHEHEHEASE!! MEHEHERCY!! AHAHAHAHA!!” Sans wasn’t doing any better. He tried swatting at his ribcage, but the fairies continued to dodge his hands, finding new sweet spots along his unprotected ribs.

“Uh oh! Looks like we were right!” The excited fairies started talking one by one again.

“Looks like you guys ARE ticklish!”

“And we just LOVE your laughter!”

“It’s SO filling!”

“Mmm! Tasty!”

“Get him over here, girls!”

“This one makes him squeal!”

“You like being tickled along here?”

“How about here?”

“Tickle! Tickle!

“NYAHAHAHA!! S-S-SAHAHAHANS!! HAHAHAA…!! S-SAHAHANS I-I’M SORRY-HEEHEEHEEHEE!! NYAHAHAHAHA!!” Papyrus squealed as he tried kicking the fairies off of his legs.

Sans looked at Papyrus, confusion flooding his mind despite going berserk from the tickling fairies.

“YOHOHOHOU—AHAHAHAHA!! Y-YOHOHOHOU’RE SOHOHORRY…?! HAHAHAHAHAHA!! W-WHY-HEEHEEHEEHEE…! WHY ARE YOHOHOU SORRY?! AAAIYYEEHEEHEEHEE!!” Sans let out a squeal as he felt a couple of fairies fluttering their wings against his underarms.

“NYAHAHAHAHAHA!! I-I-I TRIHEEHEEHEEHEED!! HAHAHAHA!! I TRIED TO—AAAAH!! AHAHAHAHAHA!!”

Despite Papyrus struggling to get the sentence out, Sans knew exactly what he was trying to say. Even with everything that was happening to them, Papyrus still tried to do what he could to save them, fairly similar to how Sans would have gone about it. In that moment, Sans desperately wanted the tickling to stop, just so he could tell Papyrus that he was proud of him.

“IHIHIHIHIT—AHAAHAHA!! IT-IT’S OKAHAHAHAY PAP!! AHAHAHHAHA!! IT’S OKAHAHAHAHAY!! I-I-I-HEEHEEM SORRY TOOHOOHOOHOO!! AHAHAHA!!”

Although neither one of them could relay their messages clearly, they both understood exactly what the other was trying to say. With an understanding met, they both focused their energy on swatting away at the merciless fairies.

One of the fairies ended up placing herself directly on top of Papyrus’s head and leaned down to where his ear canal was located.

“Tickle tickle tiiiiickle!” she sang in her squeaky voice. “Do you like being tickle-teased too? Huh? Does it make you feel even more ticklish?”

“EEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!! NOHOHOHOHO!! STAHAHAP!! STAHAHAHAHAP!!”

Papyrus outright squealed as he wrapped his arms around himself, trembling violently. Verbal teasing was almost as effective as physical teasing for him. In fact, at times like this, it was worse. The words being delicately whispered into his ear seemed to enhance the tickling done to his body tenfold. Reminding him over and over again of just how sensitive he was.

“Aww! Does that tickle? I’ll bet you’re really ticklish under the arms? Yeah? Well what about the knees? Ooh! Ticklish there too? Well you’re just ticklish everywhere, aren’t you?” The more the little fairy pointed out Papyrus’s tickle spots, the more sensitive they became. He squeaked and shrieked, nearly falling into silent laughter, it was too much!

“PLEHEHEHEA…!” Papyrus trailed off into a silent squeal. “PLEHEHEASE NO MOHOHOHOHORE!! NYAHAHAHA!! IT TIHIHIHICKLES!! IT TIHIHIHICKLES SO BAHAHAHAD!!”

“AAGHAHAHA!! H-HEHEHEY!! HEY!! LEHEHEAVE HIM ALOHOHOHONE!!”

Sans swatted at the fairy on his head after seeing all that she was doing to Papyrus. He missed, accidentally striking his brother in the back of the head.

“OWW!” Papyrus yelled in pain before immediately being thrown back into hysterical cackling.

“S-SOHOHORRY!!” Sans laughed, shaking his hand out. He immediately regretted leaving his underarm exposed as he could feel several fairies brushing their way in.

“AHAHAHA!! STAHAHAP!! HAHAHAHA!! NOHOHOHO!! NO!! GET OUTTA THEHEHERE!! AHAHAHAHA!!”

Upon hearing his plea for mercy, the fairies going after his underarms amped up their game. The ones stuck on the inside of his ribs fluttered their wings at extra speed, while those on the outside scratched and swirled their fingers around, tickling him like mad.

“AAAAAGHHAHAHAAA…!”

Sans choked out a harsh cackle before falling into silent laughter. His body shook and spasmed as he clutched his arms to his sides for dear life. Unfortunately for him, that did nothing to stop the fairies on the inside of the ribcage, or the fairies that were tickling everywhere else.

“STAHAHA…!! AHAHAHAHA!! PLEHEEHEEHEEHEEASE!!” tears streamed down Sans’s bright blue cheeks, nearly knocking into the fairies directly below them. But to his dismay, they stealthily managed to avoid being bombed by teardrops as well.

“Ooh! He loves being tickled around here!” the fairies teased.

“Cootchie cootchie cootchie coo!!”

“Don’t forget about these ticklish piggies down here!”

“Or these playful ribbies!”

Each new tease by a different fairy sent Sans into a shrieking fit. He didn’t want to admit it, but verbal teasing affected him just as badly as they affected Papyrus.

“Hey, do you think he’s ticklish around the shoulder blades?” one fairy suggested.

“Yeah! Let’s go get him!”

Sans’s Soul thumped wildly in terror as he felt them starting to climb up his back. He knew what was coming, they were about to glide along his precious sweet spot.

“No…No…Nonononononono-AAAAAAAAAGHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!”

An anguished howl of laughter tore from the older skeleton, followed by silent wail, only muffled by the fact that he was terribly out of breath. Suddenly the other spots on his body that were still being ruthlessly tickled didn’t matter anymore. All he could feel were the feathery wings and delicate toes creeping against the grooves of his back. It sent electrifying shockwaves of ticklishness down his entire system, causing laughter to come pounding out of him in bursts and fits. It was absolute agony.

“NAHAHAHAHAHA…!! AGHHHH…! HAHAHA…!! STA…!!” was all Sans could choke out.

His mind went hazy with dizziness, tears burned through his sockets, falling down like two unstoppable streams. The tickling was all consuming and unbearable. He couldn’t think, he couldn’t breathe. He didn’t even realize that Papyrus had started aggressively slapping at his back, having figured out what was going on.

“GET—GEHEHEHET OUT OF THEHEHERE!!” Papyrus screamed as he wailed on Sans’s grooves. The movement of his hand left his underarm wide open for attacks, but he didn’t care. As badly as he wanted to curl in and protect himself, he knew firsthand just how much his brother was suffering.

“L-LEHEHEAVE HIM ALOHOHOHONE!! NYAHAHA!! GET AAAAAFF!! HAHA!!”

Sans couldn’t even feel his brother slapping against him, it didn’t even hurt. All he could feel were thirty, maybe even forty, tiny little fingers and toes dancing between his ultra sensitive grooves. He couldn’t tell if the fingers were doing the most damage or the fluttering wings that were paired with them. It all tickled, it was all driving him past the brink of insanity.

Neither of them could figure out how they were dodging Papyrus’s blows, especially since they were hidden underneath Sans’s shirt. It was like they could predict the brother’s every move and defense and avoid it perfectly. They managed to move out of the way of Papyrus’s hand, but the instant the hand lifted away, they went right back to the same exact spot to resume their attack.

Papyrus finally had enough, using both hands he grabbed the end of Sans’s shirt and lifted it over his back. In one quick swoop he grabbed every single fairy and tore them away from Sans’s grooves, squeezing them tightly.

“TH-THEHEHEHERE!!” Papyrus cried, still laughing harshly from the rest of his body being tickled.

Sans gasped for air, his rapid breaths trailing off into subtle sobbing. The attack left him so breathless, so exhausted. But he still had to take in sharp inhales that led out into hiccupping giggles as the sensation of the other fairies returned to him.

“Oh! Did you want us to tickle you there too?” one of the fairies in Papyrus’s grip squeaked.

“Hey everyone! Get the back of the tall one!” chirped another.

Before Papyrus knew it, he could feel a large group of fairies invading up his battle body and zooming towards the grooves of his back.

Papyrus shrieked and let out a fit of airy giggles as he felt the feathery wings gliding so rapidly up his spine. The grooves of his back were not NEARLY as ticklish as Sans’s. In fact, it was safe to say that it wasn’t a very sensitive tickle spot on him at all. Nothing like the spot where his hips and spine met, a secret spot that he prayed the fairies weren’t going to find out about.

“NYEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!! STAHAHAHAP IT!! AHAHAHA!! STAHAHAP TIHIHIHICKLING!! HAHA!!”

Truthfully, Papyrus’s loud laughter was directed towards places like his feet, ribs, and underarms. Places that were way more sensitive. If he hadn’t felt the fairies traveling up towards his shoulder blades, he doubted that he would have paid them any mind as they worked on his grooves.

He was more worried about Sans as he looked down at his exhausted brother. Sans was starting to lose the energy to fight, he just barely twitched as the other fairies continued tickling at his feet and ribs. All he could do was lay there and take it. He tried so hard to catch his breath in between airy chuckles, but the attacking fairies made it horribly difficult.

“Hey!” Papyrus could hear the squeaky fairies calling from under his battle body. “He’s not even that ticklish around here!”

“Should we get somewhere else?”

“No, let's MAKE him as ticklish as the other one!”

Papyrus jolted at their suggestion. What were they talking about? They couldn’t make his grooves be as ticklish as Sans’s … could they?

“Bring us the Tickle Dust!” a few of them cried.

Sans wearily opened his sore sockets, he looked up to see a little yellow fairy holding a large sack. It looked heavy as she flew it over towards Papyrus. Sans was stunned that she could carry it that far, it almost looked bigger than all of them. The yellow fairy held it up towards the collar of Papyrus’s battle body.

“I got the Dust!” Papyrus heard her squeak.

He then felt one of the fairies climbing up his back towards his shoulder. He giggled as she reached his neck and popped out of his collar. Sans could see her reaching into the sack to pull out something shiny. From what he could tell it looked like a pile of pink glitter, something that could be found in a child’s art project. Sans knew this meant trouble. If the fairies needed it for Papyrus, he knew it wasn’t going to be good.

The fairy that grabbed the strange dust took it back down to where the other fairies were playing with the grooves. Papyrus could hear her squeaky voice as she cried out.

“Let’s see how you feel after this!” She tossed the sparkling dust onto Papyrus’s grooves as the other fairies vigorously rubbed it in.

Papyrus twitched uncomfortably, the dust felt grainy and slightly warm from being surrounded by the fairies’ glow. But within a moment or two he started to feel an intense tingling spreading across his back. It was more intense than the Laughing Discord Potion, and started to affect him much quicker than he had expected. Within moments, Papyrus let out a harsh, strained cackle that spasmed his body out of control.

“NYAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! NOHOHO!! OHOHO MY GAHAHAHAHAD!!! IT TIHIHIHICKLES!! NOHOHOHO!! IT TIHIHICKLES!! STAHAHAHAHAP!!”

Papyrus couldn’t believe it, he had never thought the grooves of his back could elicit anything more than a simple giggle out of him. It wasn’t just ticklish, it was DEATHLY ticklish, and the fairies hadn’t even touched him yet.

“Does it tickle?” They teased directly into his ear.

“Well guess what?”

“It’s about to get so much worse than that!”

“Let’s get him!”

The instant they touched him, Papyrus had lost all breath to make a sound. His chest heaved as he fell forward onto himself. Tears flew in every direction as a wide-open smile froze helplessly on his face. This was the worst tickling he had ever experienced, and it wasn’t even on what he considered to be a bad spot. Just like Sans, everything in his mind blanked out, apart from the unbearable ticklish sensation that completely overtook his body.

It wasn’t hard for Sans to connect the dots. Somehow that strange glittering dust had made Papyrus’s grooves just as ticklish as his own … maybe even worse from the way his brother was reacting. Panic began to set in for the older skeleton. He was too weak to slap the fairies away, not that he could successfully hit them anyway. He couldn’t pull up Papyrus’s battle body the same way Papyrus had done for his shirt. Papyrus’s top could only be unbuttoned from the back since the opening for his spine to come through was too narrow to go over his ribs. Sans silently cursed himself for that design flaw.

“Yeah! Get him!” he could hear the fairies cheer.

“Tickle him! His laughter is so good!”

“He’s so ticklish now!”

“Tickle Dust works every time!”

“Hey, let’s get the little one!”

“Yeah! Imagine what he would sound like if we put this on his back too!”

Sans’s breath caught in his throat, utter fear surging through him like an electric current. If that dust made its victims more ticklish, and they put it on his worst spot … it was too awful to think about. He couldn’t let it happen.

With newfound strength and determination, Sans reached for the yellow fairy holding onto the sack of Tickle Dust. To his surprise, he managed to grab it and yanked it hard, pulling the yellow fairy along towards him.

“Hey!�� cried the fairy holding tight to the sack. “Give that back, it’s ours!”

It was so hard for Sans to keep both hands gripping onto the tiny sack, the fairies immediately swarmed him like an angry hornet’s nest. Tickling with even more precision at his ribs, feet and underarms. It tickled horribly, but despite his exhaustion he clamped his fingers tightly onto the sack refusing to release it. Papyrus’s whimpering cries became the source of his resolve. He would not let them have it; if it was the last thing he did, he would do his job as a big brother and protect him.

The little fairy’s strength was impressive, but Sans still managed to pull her down several inches more. He knew it wouldn’t take long before he could rip the sack away from her.

“Girls!” she squealed. “Help me out here! He’s trying to take the Dust!”

Several more fairies came to her rescue and started pulling with her. Sans grunted and strained as he felt the sack being tugged away from him by the strength of the other fairies. Still, he refused to give up. Forcibly laughing through the unwavering tickle attacks, he focused all of his energy into his hands and arms, tugging with all of his might.

Papyrus blinked his sore and teary eyes open to see the commotion unfolding in front of him. His breath was wheezy and strained from laughing so hard. Several fairies had zipped out of his shirt to join in the impromptu tug of war, but it did nothing to soothe the lingering tingles on his back.

It came to a point where the sack wasn’t being pulled more towards either direction, the pulling contest was at a stalemate with so many fairies rallying around to get it back.

Even through his hysterical laughter, Papyrus could see that anything could tip the scale and Sans was clearly at the disadvantage. It would take one, maybe two more fairies at most for them to pull the sack of the deadly dust back. Although his body was weakened and sore, Papyrus lifted a single hand over to pull at his brother’s hand.

In a split second, the dust slipped out of the fairies grasp and zoomed into the direction of the skeletons. It hit against Sans’s face with a painful WHACK!

Suddenly, everything came to an abrupt standstill. The fairies simultaneously gasped and halted their tickling, flying out of the brothers’ clothes to hover around them in anticipation. The skeletons gasped for air, both nearly choking on it, but for Sans that sharp inhale immediately turned to regret.

Part of the dust had spilled out onto his face and was already intensely tickling at his sensitive cheekbones. But he coughed and sputtered as he felt the sharp tingles of the dust’s effects start traveling down his nasal cavity at what felt like warp speed. His eyes watered, he started giggling at the sensations on his cheekbones, and all at once he felt an unbearable urge to sneeze.

“Heeheeheeheehahaha—Ah-AHH-CHOO!!”

He sneezed so hard, he blew a gust of wind that scattered the fairies around with a sound of high-pitched shrieking. Still, that wasn’t the end of it, the tickling was embedded deep into his nasal cavity. So deep that one sneeze wasn’t enough to relieve it.

“Ahahaha-HA-CHOOHOOHOO!!” Another sneeze exploded from Sans scattering more fairies through the air.

He wasn’t sure which sensation was worse, the tickling of his cheekbones that he couldn’t brush away, or the unyielding tingles in his nose that caused him to sneeze through his laughter.

“Aaaiiiyeeheehee-CHOOHOO!! Ahahaha-CHOOO!! Stahahahap!! M-Mahahahake-HAA-CHOO!! Mahahake it stahahahap!! HAHAHA-CHOO!!”

Sans shook and scratched and brushed at his face not even sure which one he was trying to relieve more. He was caught between a deadly cycle of laughter and sneezes that made him grow dizzy and weary. Tears flew everywhere as he sneezed and laughed and squirmed and guffawed and shrieked.

So caught in a blind panic, he didn’t even realize that his sneezes were catapulting them through the air. Each time he let out an unavoidable sneeze the force of the air pushing out of him propelled their cloud carriage further and further away from the crowd of fairies.

Papyrus was still giggling from the effects of the Tickle Dust, his clothes rubbing against the grooves of his back were still causing a ticklish sensation. But by the time he had gained enough sanity to realize that he wasn’t being actively tickled anymore, he noticed that the twinkling group of fairies were now miles away, thanks to his brother’s sneezing fit.

As tears continued to fall from his brother’s cheeks, Papyrus tried to help him brush the sparkling dust from his face as the two continued to float through the air, still being catapulted by leftover sneezes. Papyrus wasn’t sure how long the effects of the dust were going to last, but for his poor brother’s sake, he hoped it would end soon.

***

“Ah…. Ah … choo!” Sans sneezed still in his unconscious state.

“Oh come on,” groaned Gaster as he pressed an ice pack to his aching skull. “Don’t tell me you can actually sleep through a series of sneeze attacks!”

The older skeleton was meticulously sprinkling black pepper over Sans’s nasal cavity, causing his older son to repeatedly sneeze.

“Ah…choo!” Despite his nose growing more and more irritated, the unconscious skeleton still did not budge from his trance. Gaster sighed as he put away the pepper to wipe a tear from his eyes.

“What am I saying, it’s Sans … of course he can sleep through anything.”

Tending to his sore skull, Gaster retreated back into the lab to search for another cure to snap his sons out of their hypnosis.

#Tickletober #Tickletober2024 #Undertale #LaughterLand Story #Sans #Papyrus #Gaster

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