#i disagree on the singing bit

[thisiskatsblog]

Harry Styles gives Werchter audience a new home

"Harry Styles needed neither lasers, fireworks nor confetti to pack up Werchter's festival park: his charm was enough.

Pink T-shirts, boas and trousers flooded the Haachtsesteenweg on Saturday - we also spotted two jet-black Slipknot shirts on the way to the festival park, but they hurriedly legged it in the other direction. A parade of bright colours was the dress code that accompanied Harry Styles' 'Love on tour' concert series, which was due for its 161st stop in Werchter. That means more than 3 million people already saw the show - Werchter added another 60,000.

It makes the 29-year-old Brit an exceptional pop star. In 2010, he first found fame in The X-factor and ended up in the boy band One Direction. Those are rarely harbingers of a lasting career and sold-out Wembley stadiums (unless your name is Robbie Williams), and yet Styles managed to pull it off. He owes that mainly to his charm and irresistible personality - there were better singers in One Direction*, but that didn't stop Styles from gracing the most bedroom walls.

At Werchter, Styles did not show exceptional voice either: during songs like 'Adore you', the endless tour seemed to hang in his throat. But in the festival park, the Brit proved that few are his equal in entertaining. Styles incessantly handed out thumbs-ups, waves and winks, as if he were not on a pop stage but at a reception with old school friends. He adorned himself in boas, rainbow flags and cowboy hats from the audience, asked if everyone was feeling emotionally stable ('no' was the convincing answer) and congratulated the birthday and pregnant people in the audience. At times, Styles seemed more talk show host than pop singer: he inserted a chatting quarter in which he had a girl tell a joke about an apple playing the trumpet and asked another audience member about her summer plans. A third girl got the grand prize: she had written 'help me tell my girlfriend I love her' on a sign and Styles had the entire festival park declare love in her name.

Not the star shines, but the audience

That frequent chatting, musing and thanking sometimes took the pace out of the show, but picking up speed never seemed to be the intention. Styles is not a whirlwind that overwhelms the venue and leaves it dazed. He left the big, banging pop choruses needed for that with One Direction. Now he prefers to opt for nuance, as in the stunning ballad 'Fine line', the long-spun rock song 'She' or the frequent soul jams of his latest album Harry's house. In it, he left plenty of room for his ten-piece band to shine: drummer Sarah Jones played a starring role in 'Satellite', a wind quartet made 'Cinema' doubly catchy.

And Styles himself? Who focused mainly on his mission. 'The idea that we are separate, solitary beings is a hallucination,' he bellowed from the speakers before the show, a message he underscored by regularly bringing the audience into the picture. At their core, after all, mass concerts are not about the star on stage - who often seems smaller to many audience members than the beer glass in their hand - but about the connection in the audience.

Styles' songs that touch the most also allude to that search for a place to belong. In 'Matilda', the main character finds that place when she allows herself to break away from a toxic home situation. In the dreamy, romantic 'Keep driving', that place lies at the side of a lover, with all the world's problems in the rear-view mirror. On stage, Styles found that new home for 161 nights in the arms of a loving audience - and they in his. For a brief moment on Saturday night, Werchter's meadow was "a place to feel good, where we can treat people with kindness"."

(automatic translation by DeepL - it's not great but I'm too lazy to correct it)

*there is a hyperlink under "better singers" to an article about Niall being the third One Direction guy making number one, after Harry and Louis. It says nothing about the quality of anyone's singing so it's a bit of a weird auto-reference.

[asinglesock]

they got me again and they probably can always get me again

[marinehero]

Thinking thoughts ab this messed up family again and thinking again about Garp wanting for Ace and Luffy to become strong - strongest - marines as form of protection because to him that's their best shot at staying alive.

While Dragon on the other hand was significantly different, I do think he was unexpected, because frankly Garp was and is not fit to be a parent ( having had no parental figure growing up ) nor do I think he would've really wanted a child. But he still loved his son and tried his best with what support he had from his peers and friends. He still wanted Dragon to be a marine, of course, but without the same kind of pressuring need as there'd been with Ace or Luffy, he'd be far more inclined towards letting things progress at a more natural pace.

He was still strict, more knowledged on being a soldier than father, but more lienient and more present in Dragon's early life. Present enough to complain and rant about restrictions and his anger towards the government and celestial dragons to or where his son could hear.

[trolagygirl2022]

Your future spouse's favourite thing about you! PAC reading

pick your image!

Pile 1: King of Pentacles, 5 of Swords, 4 of Pentacles, Page of Wands rev.

Ok so your future spouse is really going to like your bold and strong personality. The song that popped up in my head was "Boss B*tch" by Doja Cat. I see you having this cool aura and not letting people walk over you. You can come off as intimidating or strong but you do have a soft side to you :) I see your future spouse being really intrigued by your vibe. I'm also seeing money here, perhaps some of you have good jobs. You might have gone through some issues where you used to get walked over and people would treat you in a negative way. Now you're healing and you don't let negative people in your life. You're not arrogant or rude but you're willing to set boundaries for yourself. I see you guys having quite some confidence! What also popped up in my mind is a powerful lady wearing dark red. Like those vibes are heavily coming out in this reading!! A lot of powerful woman vibes! (You don't have to be a woman but I hope you're getting the vision that's popping up in my mind hehe).

Pile 2: The Magician, 6 of Cups, 9 of Swords, 8 of Pentacles, 7 of Swords, 2 of Wands.

Okay Pile two, I see your future spouse really liking your creative side! It seems that we have a lot of creatives here! From tarot to arts and craft, to singing and crocheting!! There's some activity that you're either really skilled at or just enjoy that your future spouse will find cute about you. It seems to be something you're quite passionate about and enjoy doing it. (Some of you guys might have even taken it as far as to do a little side hustle with it!). Your future spouse doesn't only see your craft but they also see your hardworking side and the amount of effort and precision that's put into this. I'll interpret the 7 of Swords as some of you that might have thought that you're not as good at whatever you do. I see some of you guys having little to no confidence. This doesn't have to do with your art work but also your self esteem in general, I see your future spouse heavily disagreeing with this because they'll love your personality and whatever you do!

Pile 3: 8 of Swords, Death rev, The Empress, The Devil, Ace of Swords, 6 of Swords.

Sooo pile 3, I see your future spouse being very interested in your appearance, especially your body 👀. It's not like in a creepy way that they're objectifying you or anything but I see them just really like your appearance and your features. Your energy reminds me of the The Empress card (I'm using the modern witch deck). She's confident in herself and her body. I see you guys having this sort of aura that pulls your future spouse in. They might find themselves feeling very drawn to you, almost like a spell ahahaha. Your future spouses might at first be attracted to this and this might lead them to want to know more about you and find themselves being a bit intimidated? Like when you're a bit intimidated around someone but you still want to get with them. Some of you guys might have partners from a different ethnicity/race/nationality. I see your partner really liking your culture and would try to learn a lot about it. Like they might try to learn your language and travel to your home place. For this pile your future spouse will put in a lot of effort to understand you 🥺.

Pile 4: The Tower, The Hermit, Page of Wands, 4 of Pentacles, 10 of Swords, Death.

This pile seems to be the shyiest of them all! Some of y'all might be naturally shy while the other side might have been sort of "bullied" into being introverted. There's a lot of heavy energy in this pile, a lot of you guys have a lot of heavy baggage that you're still suffering the effects of. The hermit tells me that a lot of you guys like to keep to yourselves and stay alone. You might not go out of wanting to connect with people because you're worried and scared about new connections. You close yourself out so you'll probably be quite hesitant when it comes to starting a new connection with your future spouse. I see them trying though even though you'll be a bit stubborn. They'll like it though, I see them wanting to chase you and do their best to get with you. They'll be intrigued by your mysterious presence and will want to know more about you! Not like they're trying to be nosey but they're just very curious about you!

[cuntvonkrolock]

is there a word for when you actually dislike your traits that get the most compliments

[bbokicidal]

Marriage? Marriage. | Maknae Line! SKZ [OT8]

Genre : Fluff Warnings : None Pairing : Maknae Line SKZ x Fem!Reader

Notes : Ever wondered what your wedding would be like with SKZ? How they would propose? What their tux/outfit would look like? Your ring? The venue? Well I've got it all right here! (Completely w/ photo references!)

Other Notes : This is just how i picture things going down/looking. If you disagree or have other opinions, that's totally fine! But please don't go in the comments complaining it isn't how you pictured it. If you don't like it, scroll past. Thank you!

Jisung

The Proposal : Jisung is the one to make a big spectacle of it, creating an entire song to ask you to marry him in front of the guys. He does it at the venue for their concert during soundcheck so it's a little more personal, wanting you to be there for what he's calling 'practice' so you can hear and critique his new song. Or that's what he says - it's really just a massive proposal. He even gets Chan and Minho to run down the stage throwing flower petals in the air while he sings.

The Venue : Nothing too fancy. He wants it to be personal between just your families (and the guys, of course.) So he chooses a smaller venue with plenty of floral decorations to satisfy the both of you. He lets you pick out the colors however, agreeing that a nice muted purple would be a good mix between casual and elegant.

First Look : Oh, he bawls. He's on his knees the moment he turns around, tears streaking down round cheeks and hands covering his mouth in admiration. You have to cup his face and pull him up - but the photographer gets a perfect picture of you two kissing while Jisung bawls his eyeballs out at how beautiful you look.

His Best Man : Minho. (We all saw that coming.)

Felix

The Proposal : Felix takes you to his childhood home to do it. It's bigger than expected (because he came from a pretty well off family,) and still as wonderful as he remembers growing up. His family tags along to witness it all, but they aren't even aware of the proposal and his sisters are screaming before you are when they see him get down on one knee. Very romantic, very wholesome - biggest ring you've ever seen.

The Venue : Massive venue, very fairytale-esque. He wants it to be grand, as perfect as you are. He falls in love with the ballroom feel of the venue and his mind is made up the moment he steps inside to check it out for the first time. "It's perfect," He'll nod, later admiring how it looks with all of the decorations the two of you had picked out. The theme comes out to a soft pale blue and white.

First Look : He doesn't want to do a first look, but he lets the guys go and see you. His heart slams in his chest the moment Chris comes back with rosy cheeks, exclaiming how beautiful you looked and how Felix had gotten oh-so lucky to be with you. Of course, he tears up a bit and maybe bawls a little when he sees you walking down the aisle.

His Best Man : Jisung.

Seungmin

The Proposal : He's the one to do it on stage. Unexpected, right? He wants to make it memorable for everyone - especially you. He'll ask you to come out, take your hand the moment you enter the stage and then walk with you to the middle to give the most heartwarming and sincere speak you've heard since their Maniac tour. "I said once that I didn't believe in the word 'forever,' but... in this moment, I want to believe I'll be with you for eternity."

The Venue : Also something bigger. Plenty of room to hold many guests but not as grand of a venue as Felix's pick. It's outdoors, for one, the theme of the wedding a warm green with pale pinks and roses speckled in for accent. He lets you do most of the decorating because he trusts you with it, but he will give you his input if you ask for it. However, his favorite thing about the venue has to be the archway he'll marry you under.

First Look : Oh he's getting a first look. He's a bit impatient the day of and asks to see you as soon as possible, only to be met with your arms wrapping around him from behind. He'll sink into your embrace before turning to look at you, backing away only so he can take in the full view. He'll even ask you to do a little spin, holding your hand with care and smiling at how beautiful you are.

His Best Man : Jeongin.

Jeongin

The Proposal : It just sort of... falls out of his mouth. You're having dinner with the group out at a nicer restaurant and he's sitting at your side, seeming a bit distracted and distant. Lost in thought, he snaps back into his own mind before murmuring a soft, "Do you want to get married?" as he looks over. It catches you by surprise, especially when he pulls a velvet box from his pocket, opening it to reveal a gorgeous diamond ring. He couldn't find the perfect way to do it, and he grew impatient with himself - so he just asked.

The Venue : He lets you pick it out, with you settling on a smaller church that gave the most basic, traditional wedding possible - which is how he preferred it, if he were honest. He liked how it felt normal, like he was just another person existing in the universe. Nothing too special, nothing too grand. Just... normal and perfect for you two.

First Look : His first look is during pictures, and as he sees you coming up to him he's all full of giggles and bouncy excitement. He turns away to whisper to Seungmin how he's not sure how he bagged such a baddie, before turning back to gather himself and hold your hands while telling you how beautiful you are. Absolute menace even during his own wedding but he's doing his best.

His Best Man : Technically? Seungmin. But he gives each member of the group a special Boutonniere because in his mind, they're all the best. He wants all of his hyungs involved in his wedding.

[pshenyasstuff]

Headcanons for relationships with Billy Kid

This is my purely subjective opinion, you may disagree with me. I don't have enough content on this guy (i obsessed with him), so I decided to make it myself.

He's definitely the type of guy who is always ready to support his girlfriend like some kind of cheerleader like "THIS IS MY GIRLFRIEND!! TEAR THEM ALL UP, BEAUTY!"

Expect a lot of talk about his favorite show, he will show you absolutely every poster and figurine, tell you how he acquired it and the like

And of course he will call himself your Starlight Knight

His gifts are often like this.. random. You never expect what he can give. One time it's some kind of cute trinket, and the next time it's a weapon 😨 (of course so that his beloved can stand up for herself)

But he doesn't really mind if you're a pacifist or just don't want to hurt someone. He is always happy to protect you, while of course showing off in all sorts of ways. "Babe, are you watching? I did a great job on them, didn't I??"

He's as clingy as possible, I'm serious. He loves hugging so much that hugging at every meeting with him will be something ordinary for you. It's just one of his ways of expressing sympathy

I'm 100% sure he's styling his hair. Or they are always like that. In any case, they are as soft as possible.

I'm not sure if he feels the touch. Let's assume that he feels it quite a bit

Despite this, he always tries to count the power to touch you

Oh yes, he definitely likes to carry his beloved on his arms, back and shoulders. He especially likes to walk around the city like this or run away from enemies with you, because he is an cyborg, much faster than your human legs, just let him treat you like his lady :D

The poor guy is sometimes so upset because he doesn't have lips. I mean, how can he then give his beloved more love?? In any case, he finds a way out of the situation and just rests his faceplate on the place where he wants to kiss you. Too cute

He definitely giggles stupidly when you initiate all this romantic stuff. Did you kiss him yourself? I swear, he lifts one leg like a girl and can't stop giggling in love

His nicknames are so sweet to you, sometimes banal, but it's cute. (Lady, sweetheart, princess, love of my life, beloved)

Each of your mornings together will begin with his speech. He will absolutely always wake up earlier, if he is sleeping at all, of course. Let's say it goes into sleep mode for a set time. "Yo, yo, yo, wake up, sleepyhead!"

Cooking? No, and again no, bro does not know how to cook, he buys you ready-made food, because he does not need it himself

He always likes to make you laugh, he is infinitely glad to see you happy :)

He definitely likes the idea of paired things. Even the bracelet you gave him will always be worn (until he loses it)

You rarely quarrel, I think, but if it happens, he always apologizes first

Don't give him a plant or a pet, they'll just die 😭

He likes to sing for you, even if it's not quite perfect and the ears of others wither from his singing

He will immediately ask to exchange numbers or social networks. What for? To send you his photos and silly messages if you are not around, of course. He definitely uses a lot of emojis

He likes to arrange a movie night with you. Of course, you'll be watching mostly his favorite show. He watches it so often that at one point he will just say lines along with the characters

He likes to lie on your lap at such moments or just hold hands, because it's romantic in his understanding

Thanks for reading <3

[harunayuuka2060]

Azul: Idia, do you find MC to be somewhat mysterious?

Idia: H-Huh? Wh-Why do you ask?

Azul: *sigh* Well, he can be quite honest, that's for sure. Though I wonder how he could be so skillful in almost everything.

Azul: Teachers sing praises to him. My, even Riddle feels a bit jealous sometimes.

Idia: That's just you being competitive.

Azul: I beg to disagree. It's merely a curiosity of mine. So, do you happen to know anything about him?

Idia: No. We're not that close. And stop trying to get information from me.

Azul: I see. How unfortunate.

Azul: Jade, how is our target?

Jade: Completely clueless.

Floyd: What are we doing~? This is getting booooriiiing~.

Azul: Quiet, Floyd. I'm trying to gather intel on him.

Octavinelle student: *chatting with MC*

Octavinelle student: How's your relationship with other Savanaclaw students?

F!MC: They're all good to me.

Octavinelle student: Wow... And they like to put hairpins on your hair?

F!MC: Yes. Housewarden Leona gave one to me first. Then the others went along. Some of them said that the hairpins were bought by their girlfriends.

Octavinelle student: Oof. Anyway, do you have weaknesses? You know, in case of emergency?

F!MC: ...

F!MC: Do you accept a fake answer?

Octavinelle student: Huh?

F!MC: I'm aware that I'm being spied on.

Octavinelle student: ...

Azul, Jade, and Floyd: ...

Azul: *clicks his tongue*

Jade: My, that's quite impressive.

Floyd: Hehe~ Damselfish~.

[munson-blurbs]

Single Dad!Eddie x Fem!ReaderSeries

Summary: Eddie gets a not-so-sweet surprise when Hendrix takes some song lyrics a bit too literally.

TW: the briefest allusion to smut (referencing chapter 1), minor spousal conflict

WC: 1.5k

A/N: Based on an idea given to me by none other than @corroded-hellfire 💚 y'all wanted more of Hendrix, so here he is!

April 2003

The sedan rattles along the winding road to Forest Hills Trailer Park, pebbles crunching beneath the tires. Sunday nights meant dinner at Wayne’s, a tradition that you and Eddie both vowed to keep as long as possible.

A familiar intro trills over the car’s radio. Eddie’s eyes leave the road for a brief second to meet yours. 

Step inside  Walk this way You and me babe  Hey hey!

“Our song, Sweetheart.” Your husband grins, right hand slipping from the steering wheel to crank the volume louder. He sings along, just as animated as he was that first night at The Hideout. 

Love is like a bomb, baby, c'mon get it on Livin' like a lover with a radar phone Lookin' like a tramp, like a video vamp Demolition woman, can I be your man?

“Dad, what the heck?” Harris grumbles from the backseat. At eleven years old, he flips between adoration and annoyance with astounding speed. 

“Yeah, what the heck?” Hendrix echoes his brother, though his smile is a far cry from Harris’s exasperated eye roll. 

Eddie relents, twisting the knob just enough to be heard over Joe Elliott’s vocals. 

“This is the song I sang that had Mom falling in love with me.” There’s a teasing glimmer in his eyes, daring you to disagree with him. 

You eagerly take the bait. 

“Love is a strong word,” you counter. The night you and Eddie met was steeped in memories of longing and lust, of giving into your desires in what was supposed to be a fling. 

A fling that’s been happening for nearly seven years and counting. 

Eddie sits forward suddenly, snapping the volume knob so Def Leppard once again reverberates through the car. “Wait…this is the best part!” He yells back to his sons, taking an extended pause at a stop sign to headbang. 

Pour some sugar on me Ooh, in the name of love Pour some sugar on me C'mon, fire me up Pour your sugar on me I can't get enough

He leans in, smushing his lips against your cheek, as he sings along. 

I’m hot, sticky sweet From my head to my feet, yeah!

You playfully shove him away, giggles betraying the irritated exterior you’re trying to uphold. 

From the backseat, Hendrix pipes up. “What does that mean?”

Without missing a beat, Harris instigates further. “Yeah, Dad. What does this song mean?”

Damn pre-teens. If there’s no trouble to be found, they’ll make some. 

Eddie swears under his breath, cheeks flushing red as he tries to find a response suitable for his three-year-old. “Well, um, he’s just…” he falters, any and all explanations fleeing his head. He improvises song lyrics on the fly when he forgets the real ones on stage, but now his brain short-circuits? Convenient.

Luckily, you’re used to fielding questions from little kids; one of the benefits of teaching preschool. “He wants to be extra sweet so a girl loves him.”

“So he pours sugar on himself?” Hendrix’s nose wrinkles in adorable confusion.

“Yup.” Easier to confirm your son’s own ideas than to come up with an alternative. Leaning back against the headrest, you force out a giggle. “Pretty silly, huh?”

The subject is swiftly dropped as Eddie pulls the car in front of his uncle’s trailer, Wayne already standing at the door and announcing that the pizza was on the table and ready to be eaten. “Delivered hot to the door, just like they promised,” he said, repeating the Surfer Boy slogan. 

It isn’t until dinner has been eaten, the conversation naturally dwindling, that trouble begins to arise. 

“Har, I wanna look over your homework when we get back,” you say, crumpling up your sauce-stained napkin and placing it on your empty plate. Your eyes narrow when you clock the uneasy glance that your oldest son shares with his father. “You did finish your homework, right?”

Harris tries and fails to hide behind his messy mop of curls. “Not exactly,” he mutters. His uneaten crust is suddenly of incredible interest. “I was gonna do it today, but, um…”

“But what?” Your impatience is directed both at him and Eddie, the other alleged adult in the house, who was home with Harris while you took Hendrix to a playdate. 

“Well, okay, the plan was for him to do his homework,” Eddie begins, choosing his words carefully. Too carefully, like he’s trying to hide something. “But then Jeff called and told me about this tournament at the arcade; like, all of the old-school stuff we played as kids. I told Harris he could go if he promised to finish his work after, but then time got away from me—”

You grit your teeth, all-too aware of your audience present. The last thing you need is for your temper to unravel in front of Wayne and the boys. “So Harris’s homework isn’t done because…” You take a deep breath before continuing. “…because you wanted to go to the arcade?”

Wayne mumbles a barely audible “hoo, boy” as he clears the snack table. 

“I’m sorry, all right?” Eddie shakes his head. “I lost track of time, but he’s gonna get it done. It’s just, what, some math and science stuff?”

“And social studies,” Harris admits. 

Eddie’s face blanches. “Okay, so…just three things.”

Except it’s not that simple. Harris needs to take breaks to keep himself motivated and prevent frustration. He needs to reread and revise because he has trouble attending to all of the details at once. And now that he’s older, his know-it-all approach only makes homework time more challenging—for him and for you and Eddie. 

“Looks like he’ll be up until God-knows what time, then,” you shoot back. “And you can be the one up with him.”

“I said I’m s—what the hell?” Eddie leaps up, nearly falling over his feet in the process. A mountain of grainy white substance falls from his lap, into the futon’s crevices and onto the floor. 

Hendrix stands beside him, an upside-down—and now empty—bag of granulated sugar in his pudgy hands. His big eyes dart between you and Eddie, anticipating your reactions. 

“Hendrix,” Eddie says through a deep breath, channeling every ounce of remaining patience. Harris cackling doesn’t help, either. “Why did you do that?”

Your youngest son shakes the bag a few extra times for good measure. “Putting sugar on you so Mommy likes you. Like in the song.”

Shocked into stillness, Wayne speaks up. “What song made you dump all of my sugar on your dad?”

Hendrix beams as he belts out, “POUR SOME SUGAR ON MEEEEEE! STICKY SWEET!” He turns to you triumphantly. “Do you like Daddy now?”

You tuck your lips into your mouth to keep from bursting into laughter. Logically, you know that you can’t reinforce this behavior, even if it was done with good intentions. 

But it’s also really funny. 

“I like Daddy even when he’s not covered in sugar,” you say. “I love him a lot, and us having a little argument doesn’t change that.”

“But the song…” Hendrix furrows his brows. 

You breathe out a sigh. “Sometimes, people say things in songs that we don’t do in real life. Like when people beat each other up on TV or in movies. It’s fun to watch, but we aren’t actually going to do it.”

The boy pouts. “So do I gotta say sorry?”

“Yes,” you tell him, “to Daddy for pouring the sugar on him, and to Grampa Wayne for wasting his sugar.”

“Sorry, Daddy. Sorry, Grampa Wayne,” he says softly. “I didn’t know the song wasn’t for real.”

Wayne grins. “S’okay, kiddo. I’ll just drink my coffee black for a while.”

Eddie’s positioned over the kitchen sink as he brushes the rest of the granules off of his shirt. “I think we need a hard-and-fast rule that we don’t copy any of the things we hear in songs.”

“Agreed.” You start towards the tiny closet where Wayne keeps the vacuum, adjusting the hose so it can suck up the sugar embedded into the futon’s mattress. When that’s done, you grab the broom. “Now, Hen, you’re gonna hold the dustpan while I sweep the floor.”

“But—” he starts to argue, but a raise of your eyebrows silences him. “Okay…”

Eddie takes the broom from you, a tight smile on his face. “Guess I kinda deserved that, huh?” He murmured. 

“Didn’t wanna say it out loud, but…yeah.”

“I really am sorry.” He sweeps the sugar into Hendrix’s waiting pan. “It was a real dumb move on my part.”

You kiss his cheek. “I know you’re sorry. And I forgive you, you stupid, stupid man.”

“Good.” He grins wickedly. “I’d hate to have to pour more sugar on myself to win back your affections.”

You roll your eyes. “Just keep sweeping, and then we can talk about my affections.”

“Yes, dear.”

--

[pitchsidestories]

know that you're not alone II Leah Williamson x Reader

Masterlist I word count: 2279

“You know, you can always tell me what’s going on in your mind…“ Leahs words made you look up in surprise. You hadn’t even noticed that you were lost in your own thoughts. With a sigh, you sat up a bit straighter on your team mates couch; “It’s just…“

“It’s what?“, Leah prompted you to continue. She was sitting on the opposite side of her living room on a piano stool. You also didn’t notice that she had stopped practicing.

“I’m not where I thought I would be with 26… and it seems like everyone else has got it all figured out with with marriage and kids…“, you explained truthfully. Leah smiled empathetically at you; “Trust me, no one’s got it all figured out yet.“

“Well, you do.“, you shrugged in response, taking in her perfectly tied pony tail. “I do? I have nothing figured out.“, the defender laughed. You pointed at the piano; “Your career is flying and I don’t know how you manage all the things you do at the moment.“

She was currently learning to play the piano for a performance with the BBC Concert Orchestra and you couldn’t help but be impressed by her eagerness. “I don’t have it either. I don’t manage all these things by myself.“, Leah replied, shaking her head.

A moment of silence passed between you two. “I’m so sick of it, Lee.“, you complained. “Okay, wait.“, Leah started, turning back to her piano but you interrupted her; “No, why don’t those things matter too? That we play for a great club? Have amazing friendships?“ “It does matter. We might not get measured by that but it does.“, Leah replied, before you could continue your rant.

As she played the first notes on her piano, you looked at her in confusion; “What are you doing?“ Your team mate remained silent and carried on playing. You recognized the song quickly and groaned; “Oh no. Not Cat Burns.“

“Hey, don’t complain about her music. She’s great.“, Leah scolded you with a laugh. “You’re obsessed with her.“, you rolled your eyes, amused. The defender gave you a death stare with a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth; “Shut up and listen to this song.“

Thankfully, instead of singing the song for you, she turned it on and continued playing along. “Okay, fine.“, you gave in and had to admit that the lyrics of the song really resonated with you.

Still, you had to make a comment about the song text; “Wait, why is she singing about the troubles of being 26 when she’s just 23?“ Leah rolled her eyes at you; “It doesn’t matter what age. The twenties are always confusing and I have a feeling the thirties won’t be any better.“

“Kim and Jen seem pretty comfortable.”, you disagreed winking. The blonde gave you an amused look:” Yeah but I can tell you, they still don’t have a clue what they’re doing?” “Yes, I guess you’re right with that.”, you admitted chuckling.  

The softness in the defender’s features disappeared again and the usual stern expression returned when she demanded:” I am. Now listen to the rest of this song.”

With closed eyes you let the lyrics comfort you like a warm hug from a friend, by the end of the song you had to swallow hard: “Okay, I might still not like her music that much but the song hits right there it should be.” “You just have no taste.”, Leah shrugged.

As usual you couldn’t help but to tease your teammate a little bit: “Rude coming from someone who’s music taste is stuck in the 70s.” “Not my fault that they don’t make music like that anymore.”, the blonde responded with a dramatic sigh.

That didn’t stop you from adding:” But you’re not from the seventies, you’re a nineties girl.” “And? I can still appreciate that music.”, Leah replied unimpressed.

To appease her you took the place next to her, already placing your fingers on the keyboard:” Let’s play another song together.” “Which one?”, she curiously turned her head to face you directly.

Sheepishly you grinned at her starting to play the opening of North London forever:” What about this one?” “My favourite one.”, she answered laughing. You loved making your normally serious friend break out of her shell and hear her laughter fill the room.

Later that day Leah offered you to stay overnight, as usual you were sleeping in the same bed side by side but when you woke up the next morning you couldn’t believe your eyes. “Lee stop stealing my sweaters.”, you scolded her not quite as serious as you liked it to be.

In a sassy tone the defender remarked: Too late.”  “Also, it’s winter break you don’t even need to go to the gym.”, you told your teammate.

Stubbornly she packed the final things into her sports bag: ”And? I still have to get up at some point.” “But your bed is so cozy.”, you countered, wearing an innocent smile on your lips.

For a moment Leah paused in her movements: “You can stay in my bed if you want.”  “Thanks. When are we supposed to meet the girls again? So, I know when I have to get ready?”, you asked her as you were closing your eyes.  Promptly the defender reassured you before heading out of her home: “You have a few more hours.”

With a sigh, you snuggled back into the warm blankets, snoozing for a bit longer. Leah, on the other hand, was trying to focus on her exercises in the gym instead of Keiras video call. “Lee, you have to tell her how you really feel about her…“, Barcelonas midfielder was telling her.

“It’s not that easy, Kei.“, Leah replied between two sets of lunges. Keira sighed; “Why not? I think it’s pretty simple. Honestly, didn’t your self-help books teach you anything about that?“ “Actually, no. They don’t tell me how to tell my team mate that I might have a crush on her.“, the defender rolled her eyes.

“You’re lucky that football is my love language and I only have experience from dating other players, so here’s my advice. Are you listening?“ Instead of Leah, Keiras girlfriend Laura replied to her question; “Yeah, I’m listening.“ “She wasn’t talking to you!“, Leah laughed.

Laura grinned into the camera at the Arsenal player; “I know but I’m still curious.“ “You two need to shut up to hear my advice though.“, Keira reminded the two. Leah took her phone to see her friend better and patiently sat down on her mat; “Enlighten us.“ “Stop being afraid and go for it.“, Keira advised her.

The defender frowned; “Just a short question about that statement.“ “Sure, go on.“ “How many girls did you ask out again? And how many times were you asked?“ Keiras cheeks immediately turned red while Laura hysterically laughed in the background.

The Barcelona player grimaced and admitted; “They always ask me.“ “And now tell me why I should listen to you again?“, Leah asked with a smug smile. “Because I’m your best mate and I want you and her to be happy.“, Keira replied, making big innocent eyes at her friend.

Leah let a few seconds pass before she shrugged; “We’ll see.“ “Can’t wait to see you guys later.“, Keira smiled happily. “Me neither.“, Leah answered before resuming her strengthening and mobility exercises.

When Leah came back from the gym, you were wide awake, having showered and dressed yourself. When your guests showed up in the evening, Leah and you were just in the process of preparing dinner.

You left your team mate alone with the pizza dough and opened the door; “Kei and Lau, hi. You’re lucky we already prepared everything to do the pizzas!“ “And we’re starving!“, Leah yelled from the kitchen. “Same here.“, Keira laughed back and you stepped aside to let the couple into Leahs kitchen.

The Arsenal defender couldn’t help but to smirk at her comment: “I knew you would say that.” “Stop only talking and let’s start doing the pizzas.”, you reminded them why you four were in the kitchen. The mentioning of food made Lauras stomach growl:” Please.”

“Did Lee already told you?”, curiously the Barcelona midfielder turned to you. In confusion you lifted your eyebrows:” What do you mean with she told me.” “Keira shut up.”, Leah demanded while hitting her playfully on her arm.

With a soft chuckle Keira lifted her spoon so the Arsenal defender could see it: “Be careful I’m having the tomato sauce in my hands!” “I don’t care.”, the blonde replied cheerful. Clearing your throat, you intervened: “But I care about the pizzas.”  

“We have enough sauce, don’t worry.”, Leah reassured you. You could feel your muscles relaxing as she softly touched your shoulder. Optimistic the Roma player added:” Yes, they will turn out great.” “Ours yes.”, Leah grinned cheekily putting her free arm around your waist just as to underline who she meant with ours.

Eyerolling Keira countered: “Excuse me I have a Roma player in my team.” “Yeah, but she’s Austrian. Laura doesn’t know how to make a pizza.”, the defender interjected feisty.

Not too impressed by the blonde’s teasing Laura asked her interested:” So it’s a competition of who will make the better pizzas.” “Yes.”, you nodded.  Your teammate confirmed: “It’s now.” “The game is on.”, Keira answered, while throwing flower into your direction.

Surprised you looked down at your clothes who were covered in white now:“Keira what the hell?”  “Barca isn’t good for her. She would have never done that a few years ago.”, Leah sighed out loud. Laughing you continued:” Yeah, she’s getting too confident now.”

After you four put the pizzas into the oven you told them:” I’ll go to the bathroom now and get myself cleaned.”

While you were away the Barcelona midfielder whispered into her close friend’s ear:” Go after her Leah.” “To the bathroom?!”, the defender exclaimed. Winking Keira cheered on her: “Uhm you’re usually in the locker room with her, so there’s nothing you have not seen yet.”  

“There’s a difference between a locker and a bathroom, Keira.”, Leah shook her head. “Don’t be a coward, Leah.” “I’m not.”, she pouted.

A few minutes later you nearly walked into your teammate as you opened the door from the bathroom: Oh sorry, Lee.” “Oh, don’t worry.”, the blonde waved it off. You could sense that something was off with her, so you wanted to know:” Are you okay?” “Uh sure.”, Leah licked nervously her lips.

“You looked like you were about to say something…“, you prompted your team mate to speak. “I… uhm…“ Leah was never lost for words, you knew that.

You cocked your head, watching her closely, before trying to encourage her; “Remember the ‚You know you can always tell me what’s going on in your mind‘? That counts for you too.“

Finally, Leah sighed in defeat; “Are you sure you want to hear it?“ “Yes.“, you nodded determinedly. Another few seconds passed. “I like you.. not just like team mates or friends. You get me like no one else does.“, Leah revealed.

For a moment your breath stopped; “You mean…“ “Yes. But you don’t have to say anything right now. We can just continue the evening like nothing ever happened.“, Leah explained.

She was about to turn away from you and go back into the kitchen but you held her back; “No, I don’t want to forget it.“

With hopeful eyes, Leah looked back at you as you started to quietly sing live more & love more by Cat Burns under your breath; “'Cause if there's something you wanna do, just do it. Don’t let your head stop your heart from moving.If there's someone you wanna talk to, talk to ‘em. Who knows who we'd be if we just live more and love more.“

Biting her lip, the defender listened attentively. When you stopped, she lifted her eyebrow; “I thought you didn’t like her music!“

“Oh, I think our pizza is ready.“, you changed the topic, innocently blinking. Leah suppressed a laugh while you went back to the kitchen, where Keira and Laura had placed the pizzas on the table.

“Ours looks prettier“, Keira declared pointing at big smiley face on their pizza. “No, it doesn’t!“, Leah protested. “Yeah, it does!“ “Children!“, Laura interrupted them with a laugh. You sat down, taking a slice of your and Leahs pizza and happily biting into it; “As long as it tastes good. That’s how you actually recognize a good pizza.“

“Yours definitely looks like it was made with love.“, Laura commented, winking at the two of you. “Laura!“, Leah exclaimed but her face had turned a slightly pinkish colour. The Roma player shrugged; “Just saying.“

“You’re right though, Laura.“, you smiled and reached over the table for Leahs hand. Laura returned the smile; “I know.“ Leah shook her head about the girls on her kitchen table; “I hate you all.“

“No, you don’t.“, Keira countered. “Sadly. But I could need a kiss right now for all the bravery it took to say those things.“, Leah explained, looking at you with a slight pout. You raised your eyebrow, laughing; “From a team mate and friend?“

“Coming!“, Keira answered and stood up from her chair. “I didn’t mean you, Kei!“, Leah grimaced before leaning towards you and kissing you for the first time.

You were so caught up in the kiss that you didn’t even register Keira saying; “Rude. Do you have it on film, Laura.“ “Yes, I got it.“ When you two pulled apart, you saw the other couple happily looking down to the photos on Lauras camera.

[written-in-flowers]

Her Mate: Demon!Seonghwa x Fem!Reader

Pairing: Incubi!Seonghwa x Fem!Reader

Genre: smut, fluff, angst, MINORS DNI

Word Count: 9k

Summary: Seonghwa's "unconventional" upbringing gave him a strong sense of self-control. Yet, whenever he is near you, he finds himself weakening at the sight of his "mate".

Tags: polyamorous relationship, open relationship, m/m/m/f relationship, light dom/dub themes, implied childhood trauma, implied underage sex, mentions of bisexual sex, incest, office sex, oral sex (m. and f. receiving/giving), anal fingering, rimming, rimjob, vaginal fingering, rough oral sex, window sex, mind games (not on reader), implied dub-con (not with reader), foreplay, nipple play, breast play, tongue fucking (vaginal and anal), messy cum stuff, spitting, light spanking, self-lubrication, cum swallowing. Also, if you happen to know who Marquis de Sade is...um, yeah, he's mentioned too.

Pretty Lady Masterlist

Previously on Pretty Lady

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***

“And if I only could, I’d make a deal with God and I’d get him to swap our places. Be running up that road, be running up that hill, be running up that building with no problems…”

He found the song suitable for your voice. Seonghwa often thought you had the soprano range of the singer, which befit the genre and eras you loved so much. Of course, you could sing a bit higher but not by much. Yeosang begrudgingly admitted you had a nice singing voice, though could use improvement. Seonghwa disagreed. He enjoyed listening to you sing while you tended to your plants or danced around your room or dressed or undressed or any other time he caught you. You often became shy or awkward when you knew someone watched you, like the beautiful singing birds on the branches. So, whenever he caught wind of your voice, he quietly approached. 

Seonghwa found you in your bedroom, headphones on and head nodding to the music while you worked. He noticed small bags of dirt and fertilizer beside your desk and on the other side bags of various seeds. He knew you sometimes grew plants in your bedroom, turning it into a smaller version of a greenhouse, but they’re usually stuck to the walls or floors. This one sat in a small pot. Seonghwa leaned against your bedpost, brushing his fingers over the peonies on the footboard, while he enjoyed your singing. It was similar to watching an animal in its natural habitat. You looked at ease, unguarded and peaceful. He liked you this way. The slave he’d known always remained quiet, obedient in doing what she was told. The Lady of Eden spoke her mind often and even bit back. Seonghwa wondered if that was the real you. He imagined the ambitious, clever woman who managed to break the glass ceiling into power with her looks alone. Just because you didn’t go to college didn’t mean you weren’t intelligent. A woman owning her own scamming company needed a brain. 

“Oh come on, baby. Oh, come on, darling. Let me steal this moment from you now. Oh, come on angel. Come on, come on, darling. Let’s exchange the experience.”

“What are you up to, Kitten?” he asked, unable to call you anything else now. 

You jumped at his voice, laughing softly from the small rush. “Gaia showed me how to make hybrid plants,” you told him, removing the headphones. “I’ve been giving it a shot.”

Ever since your family decided to train you themselves, your powers have grown exponentially. Your mother told him you’d taken to your training like a fish to water. She said you had a talent for regrowing and strengthening your “children”. He did note how the greenhouse plants thrived underneath your care, much more than they did with him. Rhea mentioned your stable control. Whenever she purposefully ticked a nerve, no doors blew open or plants shooting to strangle anyone. Seonghwa was glad for this. He’d worried he’d be replacing broken doors for all eternity. 

“Come look,” you beckoned him over to your desk. When he reached you, he saw a tiny sprout in the plant. About the height of a pencil, it had arrowhead petals the color of opals with a center a blood red. The flower moved to “look” at him, and he heard it give the softest of coos. “I thought of making flowers that have gemstone colors,” you said. “I think they’d look beautiful. This one is supposed to be opals. I hope when it gets bigger, the petals shine like them too.”

“It’s gorgeous,” he said, putting an arm around your waist. “Is this the first one?”

“No,” you frowned. “The first two didn’t take or die right away. This one has lasted overnight, so I have high hopes for her.” 

You cupped the top of the flower, running your thumb over a petal. He saw how lovingly you looked at your creations. 

“Sometimes, I wish I was a plant,” he said without thinking. 

“What?” you looked over at him, amused.

“Then perhaps you’d look at me the way you look at them,” he said, gazing over your face. 

“I do,” you admitted, turning to him. “You’re just not looking at me when I do it. It kind of ruins the whole ‘looking-when-they’re-not-looking’ if you knew.” 

You slid your hands up his chest to his shoulders. Briefly, he thought back to the first time he’d seen you. The glowing firelight behind you illuminated your features, and caught itself in your hair. You shook with fear, but that quickly dissipated when he licked your center. Not because you’d fallen in love with him, but because you saw you weren’t going to “die”. You understood the benefits of being a duke’s pet. Being a slave to one of Asmodeus’s heirs came with more pros than cons. However, as time went on, he hoped your feelings might have changed. Perhaps you no longer see him as your ‘Master’, whom you must obey and fear, but as a partner. A lover. A ‘mate’, as his mother had said. Gently, he caressed your cheek as he studied your face. 

“Which you’re doing right now,” you giggled, breaking him free of his thoughts. 

“Forgive me,” he said. “I…I get caught up in my thoughts, sometimes.”

“Well, what were you thinking about?”

“How my mother called you my ‘mate’ the other day.”

“She’d said that?”

“You weren’t in the room. She’d said, ‘I heard you have a mate. What’s it like biting from the same apple as your brothers, Seonghwa?’”

“Ugh, she’s the worst. What did you say?”

“That you’re more of a peach than an apple,” he smirked, pecking your lips, “And that sharing you with people I love doesn’t bother me at all.”

“It doesn’t?”

“No,” he shook his head. “I love my brothers. I love them more than what is considered appropriate,” he huffed a laugh, “So sharing you with them doesn’t bother me. I take it that it doesn’t bother you either?”

“Not one bit,” you grinned, arms around his middle. “I’m a lucky girl.”

“Very,” he said, hands going up and down your back. The sweet honeyed scent he loved threatened to overpower his senses. “Would you want to be?”

“Be lucky? Yeah.”

“No,” he chuckled, “Be my…Be my mate.”

“Like a girlfriend?”

“Sure.” 

“I thought I was?” you looked up at him. “Did you think we weren’t?”

“I didn’t know what to think, if I am honest,” he admitted. “This all happened quite suddenly, and I haven’t had a moment to really think about it.” 

“You? Mr. Brooding didn’t have time to mull over something for hours?” you teased, making him smile rather than scowl. 

“I’ve been concerned with more important things lately,” he said. “Also, I…”

“Was scared that I wouldn’t feel the same way,” you finished for him. 

“Yes,” he breathed bashfully. 

“I do,” you said. “I can’t believe I do, but nobody has ever made me feel how you and the others do.” You played with the serpent stick pin on his tie. “The guys I dated before felt so shallow and meaningless. They left just as fast as they’d appeared. Most of them had wives or girlfriends too, whom they always chose over me, their ‘mistress’. I…” you stared at the golden pin, not wanting to meet his eyes as you spoke, “I meant nothing to them. I want to say they meant nothing to me, but that wasn’t always true. I did like some of them. But, I always knew it wouldn’t last. I had goals, and sometimes I gave up nice things for them. My life seems so hollow now that I look back at it. I had no one. Nobody stayed or wanted to stay.” He spotted tears glistening in your eyes and you turned away. 

“You have me,” he said, gently lifting your chin. “I want to stay, and I want you to stay. I feared you might decide to live in Eden after all, and leave me. Thoughts of never seeing your face or hearing your singing made me feel empty.” 

You smiled softly, tracing his sharp jaw down to his neck. “And I thought San was the romantic one.”

“I can be too,” he said, taking your hand to kiss your knuckles, “When the mood strikes me.” 

“You remind me of those guys in those sappy dime-store novels,” you said.

“Dime-store novels?”

“You know, the little books they sell in the magazine section that have those dramatic, idealized covers? You remind me of them. There’s always these long love confessions and romance scenes that lead into steamy sex right afterwards. She’ll be a woman running away from something or have a traumatizing past; he’ll always be the small town farmer or the shopkeeper or a lumberjack with a stern face but heart of gold. They find each other through various circumstances-it changes all the time- and end up falling in love despite the odds.”

He chuckled at your description, supposing it might be true. “You mean bodice-ripper romances?”

“Yeah, I guess,” you shrugged. “The girl is always swooning and the guy has his shirt open, and he’s super muscular. You remind me of them a little bit.”

“That I’m muscular and always have my shirt open? Sounds more like San to be fair.”

You giggled, “Because you’re the sexy bookish guy who pretends he’s not interested in the protagonist when really he is.” He let your fingers hook around his lapel to bring him in for a kiss. 

“Except I make my interest in you very known.”

He gave you a few brief kisses, wanting desperately to go further. Seonghwa knew the result of kissing you too deeply, and the temptation reached inside him the longer he stood in front of you.

“Don’t go,” you said, your lips against his. “Stay with me.”

“I have work to do.”

“Is it really that important?” you asked, hands going into his black curls. You gave him a few pecks, then said, “So important you’d leave me behind?” You placed his hand on your chest, urging him to fondle you. “I thought you loved me.”

“I do,” he said, giving it a gentle squeeze, “But unfortunately I do one of the most important jobs in Hell.” He gave you another kiss, controlling his lust for you. “You know I come back at lunch time.” He tugged at the bra strap exposed by your off-the-shoulder shirt, pulling it as far as it’d go. Seonghwa started a trail of kisses from your neck to where the strap stopped. “I never pass on a good dessert,” he said, pressing his lips to the top of your breast.

“I suppose waiting makes it better,” you huffed. “Should I wear your favorite when you come home?”

Seonghwa groaned softly, kissing up your neck. An image of you in his study, wearing a short pleated skirt, cropped top, and knee high socks filled his thoughts. But, responsibility came before pleasure.

“Yes,” he breathed, tempted to tug down your shirt and bra to kiss your nipples. “I’d love that.”

“I can put it on for you now,” you told him in his ear. “Would you like to watch me put it on?”

“I would if I could, Kitten,” he said, forcing himself away from temptation.

“Fine,” you frowned, fixing your shirt. “I’ll stay and wait for you to come back.”

Seonghwa, not wanting to leave you frowning, kissed you one more time as he slid his hand into your shorts. You weren’t wet, but he groaned at the heat on his fingers. You clutched his arm suddenly, stiffening at the hand slowly rubbing circles against your panties. Even if you’d started going around without them, you wore them for him. He liked it because pulling them off you felt more like unwrapping a present, your sweet sex being the gift.

“Jongho,” he called out, watching you slowly uncoil at his touch. He heard Jongho appear from nowhere.

“Yes, Master?”

Seonghwa knew the butler did everything he could not to notice what was happening. He smirked over at him, “Your mistress needs some attention, but sadly I must head to the office. Why don’t you lend her a hand?” He gently pulled down your shorts to reveal the soft, cotton panties underneath. “Where do you want it?”

“I want you right here,” you brought him to you, sitting on the desk while you pulled him between your legs. “Just a few licks at least? Your tongue is so much better.”

“You’ll have my tongue later,” he said, knuckles running up and down your slit. “For now, you can enjoy Jongho’s tongue. Don’t you like getting eaten out by him?”

“I love it,” you said, “But I want you, Master.”

“And you will have it,” he said more firmly, “Later.” He kissed your lips, then turned back around. “Jongho, come here.”

Jongho took his place in front of you. Seonghwa stood and watched as your most loyal servant kissed and fondled you. He knew he was a goner when you passionately kissed him, both your tongues sliding over lips and teeth like eels. Leaning against your bedpost once more, he observed as Jongho started sucking and kissing your nipples. His low groans matched yours as you withdrew him from his trousers. Only half hard, Seonghwa knew with a few more kisses and the right strokes, his cock would be throbbing madly. Soon, Jongho sank to his knees to kiss your center. You held onto the edge of your desk as he deepened it, sliding his tongue over your clothed sex and hands gripping your thighs. Your face scrunched up from pleasure, body shifting to grind to his face, you looked too good to pass up. He knew with a bit of persuasion, his brothers would’ve jumped at the chance, but Seonghwa didn’t.

“Would you like me to take them off, Mistress?” Jongho asked you, “Or simply move them aside?”

“Take them off,” you said, looking over at Seonghwa, “So our master can see your tongue on my clit.”

So he did. You lifted one leg onto the desk to give him a perfect view of your naked pussy. Seonghwa bit his inner cheek, knowing you’re doing everything in your power to bring him back over to you. Jongho stuck out his tongue and flicked it against your clitoris, languidly rolling it counter-clockwise. Seonghwa intently watched the servant tease your folds, wetting them with his tongue and your stickiness. He moved back over to you, but only to remove your shirt and tug down your bra. Seonghwa groped at one of them, pinching and teasing your nipple as Jongho licked your cunt.

“I don’t want him to put anything in you,” he instructed, licking his thumb to rub on your hard nipple. “He can only rub and lick your holes. He can touch and lick any of them, but his dick goes nowhere near them,” he said, looking down to see Jongho sucking your throbbing clit. “Do you know why, Kitten?”

“Because they’re your holes, Master,” you smiled, loving the dynamic between you, “And nobody fucks them but you.”

“That’s right. You’re such a good girl,” he said, moving to grope the other side, “I want you to come to my office at exactly eleven o’clock. There, you’re going to sit on my desk facing the windows, legs open, and patiently wait for me. If you’re not there and/or my holes aren’t presented for me when I get there, I’m going to punish you in my favorite way. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Repeat my order back to me.”

“You want me-me at your office at eleven o’clock, sitting on your desk facing the windows, and presenting your holes patiently. If I’m not there or your holes aren’t ready, you’ll punish me in your favorite way.”

“Good girl,” he gave you a soft kiss. “And, yes, wear my favorite outfit today. No panties. No bra. Just the top, the skirt and those knee-high socks I like.”

“May I-I cu-cum, sir?”

He considered it for a moment. It will be a while before he sees you, and it’d be wrong of him to leave it for so long. “Since you thought to ask, yes,” he nodded, “You may only cum twice. Any more and I punish you.” 

Perhaps he was one of your bodice-ripper characters after all. Jongho sped up his lapping tongue, having you tense in his grasp. He’d kill a slew of men to stay by your side, admiring you as Jongho pleasured you over and over again. Suddenly, he reminded himself of another man he’d grown up with. He’d prefer not to think about him.

He kissed you one last time, a promise of ‘later’ on his lips before he left. The walk from your bedroom to the front door gave him a minute to shake you off him. The warm air outside blew your scent off his clothes, and dried the kisses left on his skin. Everything in him told him to go back inside and ravage you the way you deserved, but he’d learned a long time ago that promises and time make it much better.

‘You make your prey wait. You let them dangle by their wrists, keep the blindfold over their eyes, and let the fear stew inside. By the time you return, the sound of your footsteps amplifies all the senses. If you break them well enough, they’ll grow hard or wet at the thought of you.’

Seonghwa stepped into his carriage, hearing the driver crack a whip to get it moving. Unlike San and Hongjoong, Seonghwa did not grow up in the mountains and hills of southern Korea. He’d been born in a small hanok in a village before being taken away to be raised elsewhere. His mother’s “children'' did not only serve her from her homeland. They served in all corners of the world and came from all walks of life. From the beggar on the streets of London to an advisor to an Egyptian pharaoh, his mother had many followers. She decreed Seonghwa would be raised as nobility, considering he’d be a Duke of Lust when he came of age. She first sent him to the French countryside to live with a witch who’d served her well. Amaline was a Duchess by marriage, having gained her position through black magic and love potions. She told his mother she’d train and educate the boy but only until she birthed a child of her own. Judging by her husband’s crazed obsession with her and their nightly passions, this did not take very long.

At five-years-old, Seonghwa then stayed with a peasant couple in Paris. Dominique and Fabien Bacque owned a very popular bakery in the city, where they forced Seonghwa to work. They believed since his mother never came around, they could get away with treating him like scum. They forced him to go by a “proper” name that was easier to pronounce. 

‘Announcing his lordship, Jean Baptiste Bacque, the filthiest, loathsome rat this side of France!’ Fabien often proclaimed in his dingy bakery, ale in his hand as he and his friends laughed. 

Fabien did not laugh for long, however. When his mother arrived to see him, her fury flared at his condition. Her son, a child of the great demon prince Asmodeus, wore rags and was filthier than a street rat. Her son, a Lord of Hell and Duke of Lust, could not read or write. He recalled the vicious hounds his mother set upon the couple. Seonghwa still remembered their screams as the demonic hellhounds tore them to pieces before his eyes.

Seonghwa, twelve-years-old and still growing, went to live in Paris with a nobleman his mother knew well. While Donatien didn’t serve his mother, the Marquis de Sade served his father faithfully since his late teens. Donatien was not only a nobleman, Seonghwa learned, but a writer, political activist and libertine. If anyone was fit to care and educate her son, it was Donatien. This is when his name changed again.

‘Baptiste is such a common name. From now on, you are Jean Hercule Francois, the new Viscount de Sade.’

Still young and new to the world, Seonghwa took to his new position much faster than Hongjoong did later on. Donatien saw his eagerness to learn, his passion for poetry and music, and let him indulge in things like sword fighting, horse riding, croquet, astrology, botany and science. Seonghwa grew up alongside Donatien’s other children, forging close bonds through their lifetimes. It was when Seonghwa turned fourteen that Donatien took him away to the countryside. In a lavish retreat outside of Paris, Donatien told his protege that he’d be taking over his education from then on. Seonghwa thought he meant language, philosophy, literature, swordplay and etiquette. While he’d been half-way right, Donatien taught him more than just that. 

“We’re here, my lord,” the driver said. 

“Thank you.” 

Seonghwa stepped out of the carriage and walked towards a tall building in the middle of a bustling intersection. On the fringes of the main gates, crowds of lost souls wandered in through the stone entrance, crossed a wide bridge, and right into the bowels of the tower. There, they’d be funneled into the long, winding halls of the lower cells where they’d be taken into rooms to be assessed. Seonghwa led a team of demons who had the same mind digging ability as him. Seonghwa reached the glass doors, withdrew his employee ID and swiped to gain entry. He bypassed coworkers on their way into work, making idle chatter in the elevators just to keep up appearances. But, his mind kept going back to his old mentor and guardian, Donatien. 

He started with simple drawings and sharing the pornography he wrote. Donatien taught Seonghwa all about the human anatomy from erogenous zones to the various acts people can do to achieve pleasure. He often brought prostitutes to the estate to perform demonstrations. Donatien would lie with them while Seonghwa watched through a hole in the wall. He explained all the new thoughts, curiosities and sensations his adolescent brain took in. Soon, Seonghwa was sitting beside the bed as Donatien engaged in sexual acts with both men and women. Then, Seonghwa moved to the bed, where his teacher taught him how to pleasure his partners. Donatien hosted full on orgies in his home just for his “son” to experiment and indulge in all sorts of acts. If it weren’t for his demon blood, Seonghwa is sure he would’ve contracted a disease.

When Seonghwa was sixteen, Donatien showed him what he’d done with the servant girls he’d hired to attend to his son.

“Good morrow, Seonghwa,” an elderly demon said as he walked by the elevator. “A fine day for digging, huh? Lots of fresh prisoners down in the dungeons today!”

“As there are every minute of every day, Lord Byron,” said Seonghwa good naturedly. “How are things in your section?”

“Wonderful,” he smiled. “Absolutely wonderful. Our numbers have gone up since that terrible war ended. I forget which one, but it’s one of the larger ones. Yours?”

“We’ve kept good numbers. Nothing to boast of by all means, but my team does their best with what we’ve gotten.”

“You’ll come up soon, son. You’re very talented for such a young demon.”

Seonghwa and Lord Byron talked on their way to sections four and six of the office floors. The pair split up, and Seonghwa walked through a door into a long hallway. 

Bondage. Sadism. Masochism. Using ropes, whips, chains, and canes to bring pain and pleasure to his partners became the primary focus of his teenage studies. They did not have the advanced sex toys of the modern age, but they had the basics. Seonghwa didn’t like the bloody, violent extremes Donatien took his partners to, but he enjoyed breaking them. Not only in body, but in the mind. He learned how to turn a servant girl from reluctant to desperate with more than slaps to the ass. He learned about his talent for mind digging during this time. It was easy to persuade and trick others when he knew their deepest, darkest desires. He often used it for personal gain or to have an advantage over a rival, but he enjoyed it most in his dungeon.

“Morning, Mr. Park,” said a young woman sitting at a desk beside his office door.

Seonghwa noticed how Mya’s tight button blouse and pencil skirt made her scarlet skin pop. Thin stockings covered her long legs, ending just beneath the hem of the skirt. Behind her thin rimmed glasses, bright orange eyes twinkled at him flirtatiously. A look to tantalize him. Seonghwa didn’t particularly care. Mya looked like every other succubus he’d met throughout his life. He honestly had trouble telling them apart sometimes. 

“Morning,” he said. “Mya, I have an important meeting at eleven o’clock, and I don’t want to be disturbed.”

“Of course, sir,” she typed out the order in her computer, “The person’s name?”

“YN,” he told her. “You’ll know her when you see her, trust me.”

“Shall I cancel your appointment with your brother then?”

“Yes, go ahead. Hongjoong will understand.”

Hongjoong would do the same thing if it were him, and he’d understand. 

He remembered the day he’d come to get his little brother from his village in Korea. A scruffy boy with crimson hair hanging over defiant eyes, Hongjoong didn’t like the posh life Seonghwa lived for so long. He didn’t share the French people’s catholic views, he scowled at their abundance and wealth, and spat at their feet when they criticized him. Seonghwa did his best to educate and train his brother to be a gentleman, but Hongjoong was far from it. At fifteen, he was getting drunk and gambling with the scum of the city. He bedded whores of all kinds, and engrossed himself in depravity. Donatien took a liking to him right away and so did Seonghwa. He’d never known a boy to be so bold and brash; he’d never met someone who scowled at priests, spat at city guards, and laughed in the face of authority figures. It intrigued him. He’d started sharing his partners with Hongjoong, but it seemed his brother only desired one person.

“Put it in me, Hwa. I want us to be one,” he’d said, whining and squirming as Seonghwa jerked him off during a hunting trip. 

When Donatien went to prison for his lewd, lascivious behavior, which was illegal at the time, it became only them. Seonghwa and Hongjoong disappeared into their own world in that retreat. They were two demons who’d found each other in an ever-changing world. Neither of them had ever met another demon before, but everything they felt came so naturally. Him admiring Hongjoong’s narrow, upturned nose and soft lips as he slept felt as natural as watching the clouds drift by. They didn’t hide their love. They didn’t care if the church and the law spoke against it. Hongjoong and him shared a bond that nobody else understood. 

Seonghwa logged into his computer, where a photo came up on the screen. San. Sweet San who loved freely and often. In the picture, he sat lounging by a window laughing at a joke Hongjoong told. His smile lit up his face and squinted his eyes, a look that made people swoon. San came along much later with slicked back hair and a fancy suit. Unlike Hongjoong and Seonghwa who arrived in Hell when they came of age, San had died in the living world. He didn’t like mulling over the details, and he never pushed for details. All he knew was his brother died young and brutally. Fifteen, skinnier than a twig with lost puppy eyes, the pair brought him into their ancient home right away. Seonghwa trained him to be the proper gentleman Hongjoong refused to be. He’d decided while they might be Asmodeus’s sons, they would not be scoundrels. They would uphold the family name and image. Hongjoong struggled with that most days. 

San, on the other hand, was a golden boy. Not only physically attractive, and kind-hearted, he proved to be an athlete as well. His skill with weaponry remained unmatched in Seonghwa’s eyes. He’d seen sixteen-year-old San take down a full grown demon with quick, fluid movements. Some people found it hard to believe San was Asmodeus’s son with his skills. The skinny boy who’d come to his doorstep bloody and weeping turned into a golden god. Seonghwa and Hongjoong found it harder and harder to ignore his physical beauty as he grew. They’d taken to watching him bathe through peepholes or finding excuses to get him naked in front of them. Seonghwa never admitted he’d bought the hot tub as another way to admire his sweet brother’s body. 

“If you wanted to watch me jerk off, you could’ve just asked,” he’d said when he confronted them in the lounge one night. 

The three of them became inseparable. 

“Seonghwa,” the call came after three knocks on the door. An older demon with stark white hair and olive green skin stood in a tweed suit in the doorway. “How are you, old boy?”

“Wishing I’d stayed home,” he snorted with a laugh that the man joined. 

“After seeing that lovely mate of yours, I don’t blame you,” he said. “Urik’s called a department meeting. He says it’s urgent.”

“I’ll be there.”

The man disappeared, and Seonghwa thought about what he’d said. ‘Mate’. He’d heard many people refer to you with the primitive term. He thought about what you’d both talked about, and it made him fonder of you. 

He wished he’d given in to you. 

****

“Minos dares to say we have been misplacing prisoners.” 

“What does he mean by that? We are the ones who see into their misdeeds and only give suggestions.”

The meeting would never end. Seonghwa leaned back in the leather chair, eyes constantly glancing over to the clock on the wall. It’d be eleven in fifteen minutes. In fifteen minutes, he’d have you in his arms. In fifteen minutes, he’d be entirely consumed by you. But first, he must suffer the most boring part of his job: manager meetings. 

This could’ve been an email. 

“He believes we’re being too careless with our suggestions. He says a person who should’ve been sentenced to Wrath was instead sentenced to Pride.”

“Yes, because the prisoners carried out their misdeeds through their pride.”

He wondered if you’d cum at all. You must have. It’s been three hours since he left home. You’ve likely already used up your two free orgasms by now. Seonghwa liked imagining Jongho, drunk on your lips, pleasuring you as long as he physically could. He already knew you could go for hours with your heightened sexual appetite and stamina. Seonghwa thought of every time he laid with you and his brothers. With the natural lust of demons and the constant burning desire combined with your special kisses, the four of you made love almost nonstop. Once Seonghwa tasted one of you, he found it hard to stop. 

“But he claims the wrath outweighs the pride.”

He couldn’t wait to taste you. He might take off the entire day just to have you to himself. 

“Seonghwa, what do you make of these claims?”

He snapped out of his thoughts and looked up. At a long table in a conference room, Seonghwa sat with the heads of departments and his boss, a demon named Urik. The whole table turned when Urik addressed him. He must have appeared too in thought. 

“That Minos is being his usual stubborn, complicated self,” he answered, grasping at an answer. “For thousands of years, he’s made claims that we’re not working to his standards. He sits in his chair, passes judgment, and acts as if it’s our fault if the prisoner is sent back. The man takes no responsibility for his own faults.”

“As I have said,” claimed another demon, Lucinda. “We cannot take him so seriously, Urik. His mind is going and his judgment wanes.” 

Urik, broad and red, nodded with his hands clasped on the desk. “Regardless, Prince Belphegor has commanded all of us to undergo training courses-”

“-Training courses?” exclaimed Bazil, green and horned. “Uh-uh, I will not retake a bunch of baby courses because Minos has convinced the Prince of Sloth that we do not take our jobs seriously. I am extremely thorough with my digs, and give the most sensible, honest suggestions I can make.” 

“Regardless, it is The Prince’s command and we must abide by it,” said Urik. He picked up a stack of binders that he handed to Lucinda. Seonghwa watched them be passed around the table. “These are the recommended courses. It details everything from basic training to advanced digging techniques. I want you to relay this order to your teams, and make sure they are done by the weekend.”

“You’re not serious?” asked an elderly, pot-bellied demon named Arthur. “My team has been working all week on a new batch of prisoners. They can’t be expected to put that aside to work on this.”

“They will have to find the time,” said Urik.

Seonghwa opened the binder to study the different courses. It’d be like Minos, Judge of Souls, to lay blame on the sin seers. He wondered who’d placed you. Personally, he would’ve sent you to Greed rather than Lust. A good chunk of your actions were fueled by a desire for more: more money, more power, and more respect. It could be argued that you enjoyed the feeling of triumph and superiority over the actual material rewards. 

“Urik, you know how ridiculous this is,” said Lucinda.

He then thought of your behavior this morning. You’d ensnared him with your charms and pouting, and he almost gave into it. You loved how sex made you feel, and not only the physical reactions either. It makes you feel desirable. It gave you the power others tried having over you. He knew he was powerless against your charms. Seonghwa could still smell your essence in his nose, driving him back into those desires again. If you’d lived in his time, he’d never want anyone but you and Hongjoong ever again. 

“I understand your frustration, but we cannot ignore a royal command,” said Urik. “I want all courses finished by Friday. You're dismissed.”

The group groaned and left the table. Seonghwa knew his own team wouldn't like the extra workload. They worked exclusively in the 4th and 5th sectors of Limbo, where souls are determined before being sent to Minos for final judgment. Seonghwa heard his department only existed because of Minos's constant deaths and rebirths. He pictured the aged god sitting upon a golden throne, nearly blind and half-mad. Members of his team already complained that he sent too many people back, and that he didn't know one day from the next. When Seonghwa tells them about Belphegor's command, they'll be upset for sure. 

Walking through the busy office, Seonghwa went to the elevator and punched in his floor number. His mind floated back to you, and wondering what you might be doing. He liked the idea of Jongho still in your bed, the both of you pleasuring one another every way possible. However, realistically, you would’ve stopped by now. He hoped Jongho hadn’t tired you out too much. Seonghwa didn’t want you to perform if you didn’t feel up to doing it. 

“The nerve of him, huh?” Lucinda entered the elevator after him, irritated. “I can't wait until the bastard croakes. Then Urik takes over while he’s gone.”

“It can't be long now,” said Seonghwa. His body buzzed with anticipation. In several minutes, he’ll be finding you on his desk wet and needy. He hoped, at least. “He already can't stand up.” Your pussy is so pretty when in the light, especially when wet.  

“Too bad he doesn't have the cane yet. I'd have a laugh knocking it out from under him.” The two shared a half-hearted laugh, then she said, “I saw your mate the other day.”

“Huh?”

“Your mate,” she repeated. “The Princess Lilith’s granddaughter. She's an absolute gem. I ran into her at the hardware place buying more gardening supplies. She's such a delight. You must bring her to the office party this year.”

“I wouldn't dream of taking anyone else.”

There was that word again: ‘Mate’. It had him thinking about it again. 

“But, I suppose you call her your ‘girlfriend’. All you young people use that word now.”

“It means the same thing,” they got off on the floor together. “They're interchangeable.”

“Barely,” she replied. “Girlfriend sounds so informal and distant. Mate,” she grinned fondly, “That one sounds much deeper.” 

“I suppose.”

Lucinda had a point. He thought about it as they parted ways. The word ‘girlfriend’ implied some kind of distance between the both of you. ‘Mate’ carried a sense of closeness: it meant a deep connection that others couldn’t explain. He liked the idea of you possibly being “The One”. His father never expected him to marry, and his mother's opinion didn't matter at all. Yet, the idea of you with his last name did not sound so bad. 

The tortured cries and pleas of the prisoners pulled him from his thoughts. Walking into a long hallway, he could hear his coworkers and their prisoners behind the doors. It became white noise at this point. He knew behind the steel doors, dozens of sinners fresh from the gates laid strapped to tables as a demon burrowed into their minds. Piece by piece, the demon pulled back the layers to see right into their soul. Seonghwa understood it to be an excruciating process to undergo. He’d seen it in the faces of those in his chair; he took in how they screamed and begged for mercy. He only laughed. Mercy? In Hell? Ridiculous.

The excitement fueled the arousal slowly rising inside him. Behind the door, he assumed, you’d be sitting on his desk with your legs apart for him. He turned the knob slowly and looked inside.

As he hoped, you sat propped up on your hands with your back to the door. By the way your feet were placed on the edge, he knew anyone who might be looking out the windows will see you splay out for them. You’d put on the outfit he requested, kindling his hardon. He closed and locked the door and walked over to you.

“There’s my sweet kitten,” he said, moving around the desk to you. “Oh, don’t you make a delicious sight?”

No panties, as requested, your smooth sex glistened in the sunlight coming from the wide windows. Without your bra, the shirt accentuated the natural curves of your breasts and the peaks of your nipples. You bit back your lip when he slid his hand from your knee to your inner thigh. He gave it a small squeeze as he stood in front of you. Seonghwa took a moment to caress and massage them in their bent position. You trembled each time his thumbs pressed to the sides of your sex before pulling back. His hands left your thighs for your sides, running up the dips of your waist to the bottoms of your breasts. He couldn’t stop himself from grazing your nipples through the shirt. He looked at your reactions while he lightly teased them. 

Eyes heavy with need and lust, you bit your lower lip to keep your moans from coming out. He saw the way your body slightly twitched whenever he touched your lower stomach, moving dangerously close to the bent position of your body. He sailed up your arms, moving up your shoulders to your neck where he pulled you in for a gentle kiss. There, he licked and tugged at your bottom lip with great risk to his own stability. He unfolded you from your position, letting your legs hang from the desk as his arms went around you. Being this close to you, surrounded by your sweet scent and feeling your soft skin made him understand what Lucinda meant. A mate is a partner for life. A mate is someone who's just as much a part of you as you are of them. Seonghwa slid a hand up the nape of your neck, touching your scalp and giving the roots a tender tug to keep you in place. As much as he loved his brothers, he found himself falling deeper in love with you.

Neither of you said anything as he removed your top, putting it to the side and giving him access to your naked chest.

“Undress me,” he said between kisses. “I want to feel your skin on mine.”

You started with his tie, removing the expensive gold pin and putting it on the desk. Heat flared in the middle of your passionate kisses. Seonghwa wanted to throw you onto the desk and pound you into the wood. Yet, he controlled himself. Donatien taught him all about self-control and restraint. He learned never to hasten the act. Drawing it out and letting it slowly simmer over time added to the bliss of the orgasm later. Seonghwa exhaled deeply once you unbuttoned his shirt, pushing it off his shoulders as you explored his torso. Your hands ignited him. Your delicate fingers traced the lines of his abdomen, sliding up them to his broad chest where your thumbs brushed his nipples. He shut his eyes to savor your lips dotting his neck and chest. He took in the softness sucking on the base of his neck; it was enough to bring a bit of pain before licking. The center of his pants grew tighter and more restrictive as his cock hardened. The feeling of your bodies brushing his stoked that further. He groaned when you nipped your teeth at his nipple, causing him to bring you to kiss him again. This didn’t stop you from pinching it instead. 

“How long?” he asked in a raspy breath, unable to stop kissing you.

“Not too long,” you answered.

“Did you cum at all?”

“Once. I wanted to save the other ones for you.”

He groaned after hearing this. Making a trail of kisses to your breasts, he took one nipple in his mouth. You started undoing his belt and the fly of his pants, whining at the slightest suggestion of his cock close to your hands. Your nipple hardly moved as his tongue flicked and rolled around it. The wrinkled areola tightened up to the pert tips, which he suckled softly before giving it a tender nibble. A low hum left him once you tugged down his pants, leaving his underwear on for the moment. 

“What else did you two do?” he asked, switching sides to repeat the action.

“I licked and stroked him back,” you said, grabbing him through his underwear. “I used my strap on him.”

“You did?” the picture he created pushed his hand between your thighs. 

“You said he couldn’t fuck my holes. You didn’t say I couldn’t fuck his.”

He chuckled through his teeth, giving your nipple another bite that made you jump. “Clever,” he groaned with one more suckle before gently laying you on the desk. “I bet he loved every second of it.”

“He did,” you said, straightening yourself on it. “Since he asked me to fuck him a few more times. I wish you’d been there too. Then you could’ve fucked me while I fucked him.”

“There’s always time for that,” he said, kissing down to the waistband of your skirt. “Right now, I want you to myself.”

He took a seat at the desk, and raised your skirt up to your stomach. Being close to your sex this way made him salivate. Your velvety folds showed small glimmers of your arousal, while your clit remained hard underneath its hood. Pulling at the top, Seonghwa stretched it upwards before giving it a gentle lick. You gripped at the bunched fabric of your skirt, ready for the waves of pleasure you’d soon be feeling. He loved knowing you anticipated it. He loved knowing how his tongue and fingers drove you over the edge over and over. It was like the prostitutes who used to come through his home: he’d be relentless and merciless when it came to that special place inside them. It made him feel powerful. It gave him control over them. 

He kept your pussy in this position as he lapped at it at a measured pace. You whimpered and cried out each time he swirled his tongue around your clit, jerking when he zigzagged over it right after. He licked down to your entrance, where more fluids leaked out when he dipped his tongue into it. The rim of your entrance opened easily at the tip sticking inside, your bumpy ridged walls nearly pulling at it each time he pushed inwards. He couldn’t get enough of your sweet taste. He’d choose your pussy over the finest meal Cook could make for him anytime.

You cried out when his fingers replaced his tongue. He’d seen loads of pussy in his life, but none as nice as yours. Perhaps it’s because he loved you, so he admired yours the most. Maybe your pussy really is the best he’s ever seen. Either way, he lazily traced the swollen lips with his tongue, barely grazing the aching clit and entrance. He dipped his fingers to the second knuckle to hear you mutter a curse under your breath. Seonghwa grew harder the longer he played with your sex. He rolled his fingers side to side over the nub of your clit; he drooled onto it to slicken the soaked puffy lips. You started playing with your breasts, needing more pleasure on top of what he’d given you, and he didn’t stop you. 

“You’re always so tight for me, Kitten,” he groaned when he slipped two fingers in sideways, watching your hole stretch to accommodate them. “Do you keep it that way for me?”

You nodded, “I don’t use toys or fingers when I touch myself. I only rub it so I keep your holes stay extra tight for you.”

He moaned internally when you said ‘your holes’ instead of ‘my holes’. The thought of owning you even without your collar made him harder. He fingered you slowly, watching his long fingers gleam with your juices. “How thoughtful,” he said, spitting on your clit again to spread it around. “All of my holes?” he asked, standing to push his wet fingers into your mouth. “Even your ass?” you only nodded while you sucked your juices from his fingers. “Let me see it then. Roll over for me.”

You stopped sucking fingers and shifted around until you were on your stomach. The anticipation made you grind into the edge of his desk, legs automatically spreading to give him more access to you. He dragged his hand up the backs of your thighs to then squeeze the bottom curves of your ass. When he gave one side a light tap, you twitched. Seonghwa continued doing this, keeping the slaps light and tender. He groped one cheek, seeing the fatty flesh knead like dough to his hand. Lifting and spreading them apart, he groaned seeing both entrances exposed to him now.  Your ass hole, clenched closed and hairless, fluttered when he slipped his tongue from perineum to the crack of your bottom. You trembled, but forced yourself to remain still. His tongue circling the rim of your ass, the other went back to caressing your dripping sex. You moaned when both digits stroked against your taut walls.

“Did Jongho lick you here, Kitten?” he asked, sliding over the rim of your hole while pushing two fingers deep inside you.

“Ye-yes,” you whimpered.

“Did he fuck you here?”

“No.”

“Good girl,” he praised, flicking at it the way you enjoyed. He knew just the vulgarity of the act aroused you. “I’m putting a plug in you the next time I take you out,” he promised, stopping to watch your pussy stretch around his fingers. “Just so I can watch you squirm from it being up inside you while you sit. Would you like that?”

“Yes,” you said, “Yes, so much.”

He chuckled, “Dirty slut. You’d do just about anything, huh? There’s nothing off limits for you, is there?”

“Hardly.”

He gave your ass a light tap before sticking his tongue into your ass in time with his fingers. It was then he noticed it. Your ass grew just as wet as your pussy. He knew his servants’ backsides self-lubricated when stimulated, but yours never had. Perhaps it did and he didn’t notice with the lubricant and saliva applied beforehand. It tasted just as good. Seonghwa’s cock twitched against his stomach realizing that your body truly was made for fucking. You were a beautiful half-succubus with a gorgeous body that carried the endurance and stamina to keep up with the appetite of a full-blooded demon. It made him want you more.

“Master,” you breathed, clutching the edge of the desk as his fingers continued penetrating and circling your insides, “Please don’t stop. That feels so good.”

“I know it does,” he pushed both fingers in deep, watching your legs kick up as he wriggled his fingers in your pussy. “There’s nothing my kitten loves more than having both holes filled at the same time.” He kept pulling them in and out, listening to you become a whimpering mess in front of him. “It’s a shame I wasn’t blessed with two cocks,” he said, withdrawing them to go back to rubbing. “Then I can fuck these at the same time.” Still fingering your sex, he bent down to flick his tongue on your ass hole. “Wouldn’t that be wonderful, Kitten?” he asked, listening to you moan at his warm tongue. “Wouldn’t you like me having two dicks for you to play with?”

“God, yes. Oh fuck, that’d be a dream.” 

“I happen to know people who do,” he sneered, standing up from his chair. “They’d love to meet you,” he slapped your ass again before finally pulling his dick out. He let it rest on your ass, groaning at the contact and how large he looked in comparison. “You’d have no problem taking both if you can take mine,” he said, spitting on his tip to rub it over your leaking hole. 

The sudden touch made you twitch and kick a leg up. Sensitive too. He loved that about you. The image of you taking more than one always excited him. He slid his head down to your pussy, rubbing his throbbing tip on it in slow circles.

“Master,” you whined, “Put it inside me, please. I need it so bad, please.”

“Is that right?”

In all honesty, he tortured himself as much as he did you. As he sunk up to the head, he hissed through his teeth. Your heat tried pulling him further, with your hips pushing back into his before he held you in place.

“I asked you a question, Kitten,” he said, “Is that right?”

“Yes, it is.”

“How badly do you need it?” he withdrew to rub himself against your clit.

“Really, really, really bad.”

“Show me,” he said, removing his hands from your waist and lining himself up with you. He brushed the very tip of himself to you, “Show me how bad you’ve been wanting it.”

Your lack of hesitation amused him. Instant satisfaction came when you sunk your aching cunt onto his cock. His dick sliding in and out, filling and stretching you while you bounced against his hips became a mesmerizing sight. You kept your hands flat on the desk, legs further apart as you backed up against him as much as you could. Each time his tip reached your g-spot, he felt you grip him tighter. The tight sensation started in his balls, threatening to rise up to the base of his cock where his dick suddenly became sensitive. Pulling your buttocks apart, he spat onto your ass and started rubbing it. Slick, clear fluid lubricated your hole enough for him to slide two fingers inside. Neither pushing or pulling, he kept his fingers knuckle deep as a toy might. This had you grinding and rocking up to his balls, enjoying the whirl of sensations he created for you.

Soon enough, Seonghwa saw you clawing his desk and shuddering as your orgasm approached. This urged him to hold you by the hip and start thrusting with the same speed as before. The sound of his balls slapping your throbbing clit and your ass hitting his hips brought you right to the brink.

“May I cum, Ma-M-Master?” you whined.

“Yes, you may, Kitten.”

With a few more thrusts, your entire body stiffened at the climax. Thighs shaking, hips desperately meeting his own, your back arched as you moaned freely. He felt your pussy thickly coat him in your cum, making a sticky mess over his balls in the process. Seonghwa kept going even when your orgasm started subsiding.

“On your knees,” he ordered, taking in deep breaths as he pulled out. “I’m going to cum down your pretty throat.”

Immediately, you got into position and opened your mouth. Hands holding you by the hair, Seonghwa shoved himself inside your mouth. The back of your throat squeezed and hummed around his tip, causing him to hold you there for several seconds at a time. His orgasm finally arrived when you cupped and rubbed his ballsack. Your warm hand smearing your cum over each sensitive side had Seonghwa burying his dick deep. Spurts of thick cum squirted into your mouth, and you did your best to swallow them quickly. His dick became incredibly tender to your soft lips and tongue, twitching as each stroke brought out more cum for you to taste. When he pulled out, you spat what remained in your mouth back onto his tip to stroke him with it. He watched in amazement, panting as his body relaxed, as you licked and sucked every drop you could.

“I want you to keep sucking it,” he said, slapping his dick onto your tongue. “I’m not done with you yet.”

He sat back in his chair as you continued sucking his cock. Seonghwa’s first orgasm didn’t soften him at all. It would take a bit more than that to satisfy him. Since you barely took him out of your mouth, the combination of spit, cum and precum created a creamy substance that leaked around your lips. You used it to jerk him off in tandem with your mouth. He could tell you wanted him to give you more. He noticed the hand you’d put between your legs and it excited him.

“Does sucking me off turn you on, baby?” he asked, stuffing himself into your throat before you could answer. He chuckled softly when you nodded, bobbing your head up and down but never taking him out completely. “Enough to cum while you’re doing it?” he smiled at your eager moans, and realized how you lightly and rapidly brushed your clit. “I want you to do that for me,” he said, starting to guide your head on his dick, “I want my slut to cum while I’m fucking her mouth. I’d love that more than anything.”

Your obedience astounded him. He loved your duality. With Jongho, you’re a dominating mistress who keeps him on edge for hours. With him, you’re a submissive eager to serve. Seonghwa’s jaw fell, realizing you’d kept yourself on the edge of another orgasm the entire time. He saw it in quaking shoulders and high muffled moans. He held you in place again as he took control, eager to make you cum from oral alone. In a few more thrusts, you began trembling and moaning around his girth. Even through the gagging and choking, he knew your orgasm when he saw it. You wriggled around on the floor, unable to get a hold on yourself as you came on your hand. When you finished, Seonghwa pulled out and brought you onto his lap. By your hips, he started pushing into your tight walls once more.

“God, you’re so fucking perfect,” he groaned, hearing the slick sounds of your cum mixing with his own inside you. “You’re such a good whore,” he said, not holding back with his thrusts. “A good whore that’s going to keep making me cum until I say so.” 

“Because your dick is so good, Master,” you said in his ear, holding onto his shoulders until your nails dug into his skin. “It’s big and thick and-a-and you fuck me so good and for so long. Please, keep fucking me. Make my pussy your cocksleeve to-to use whene-ever you want.”

“Don’t tempt me,” he growled, getting closer to another orgasm, the oversensitivity starting to hit him down to his toes. “I will.”

“Do it. Do it, please.” 

He wrapped his arms around you, smacking and grabbing your ass as you rode him in his chair. He teased and fingered your ass to his heart’s content before he felt his next climax approaching. You kept riding, not breaking or faltering, and moaned when more hot cum sprayed over your insides. Seonghwa’s head fell back as his body arched to the overwhelming sensations taking over. Every part of him became sensitive to the touch, adding and pushing his orgasm to a boiling point. Even as he started coming down, you kept going. It seemed neither of you could stop. Your bodies became too accustomed to the pleasure, and you found yourselves addicted to it.

But all good things must come to an end. After bringing each other to a third and final orgasm on the floor, Seonghwa pulled out and fell onto the carpet beside you. Neither of you spoke for a long while. Every muscle in his body softened into jelly, and he knew he’d be laying there far past his lunch time. Strangely enough, this was his favorite part. The content, euphoric feeling in a post-orgasm glow was better than any wine or drug he could take. It felt better when it happened to be with someone he loved.

“Come home with me,” you said hoarsely under a whisper. Too much talking often aggravates your itchy throat. “Please?”

“Will you be my mate?” he asked, ignoring your plea. 

You didn’t answer right away, which brought on a pang of dread. He thought of what you said, and feared it might’ve been to lure him into sex with you. But then he felt your fingers slide between his as you spoke. 

“Yes.”

The two of you wiped each other’s mouth with your discarded clothes, and shared a soft kiss. He’d found another mate to join his brothers, and he’d never let you go now. 

***

A/N: awww some fluffy stuff after all the sad stuff <3 I really appreciate all the love you guys are giving this fic. It's really great. Like and reblog as always <3

[tonberry-yoda]

A Nice Girl - Zuko

Pairing - Zuko x f!reader

Warnings - none!!

Word Count - 3,211

Notes - I have been pumping out these really long fics lately lmaoooo. i dont mean to i just simply get carried away. i need to stop before i get a block tho lmao. AND IM ALMOST AT 400 FOLLOWERS OMG!!! im like so excited about it tbh. maybe ill open my request when we get there. thank you all and i hope you're all well. stay hydrated!!

You yawned and stretched, the silk from your nightgown tickling you. That had to have been the best sleep you have gotten these past couple of weeks. As the oldest in the “gaang” at 17 years old, you had to act as the mother of the group and felt this awful need to protect everyone all the time, thus granting you several sleepless nights.

Sure, Ba Sing Se didn't feel like home and it didn't feel 100% safe either, but you got to sleep in a comfy bed and wear some really nice clothes. You had to admit that it was nice to be working with the Avatar sometimes.

You pushed your tangled hair out of your face and looked into the full length mirror next to your bed. Yeah, you definitely slept well, that was no question. You could tell by the rat’s nest created on your head and the sleep lines across your arms and face. You definitely needed to wash up before you started your day.

You got out of bed, stretching as the sun kissed your warm cheeks. You were going to make the best out of today. Lots of planning, but lots of downtime too, so that was nice.

As you finally walked out of your room, you were welcomed to cackling laughter from Sokka, his finger pointed at you.

“Ha, ha,” you said sarcastically, Katara handing you a brush. “Very funny, Sokka.”

“Not just funny,” he said through laughter. “It’s hilarious, y/n! You look so stupid!!!”

You rolled your eyes, hiding a smile, and tamed the rat’s nest on your head, looking a little more yourself.

Aang walked in the house holding a bowl of snacks with a smile on his face. “Oh, good morning, y/n! You sure slept in this morning!”

“Slept in?” You tilted your head. “What time is it?”

Katara took the brush from you and set it down on a nearby drawer. “Almost 10 am.”

“What?!” You were shocked. You were usually the first one up always and if not, you never slept past 8.

Katara giggled. “Listen, y/n. I think it's great that you finally got some sleep. We never really see you rest well, so none of us had the heart to wake you up.”

You beamed. “You guys are the best. Well,” you stretched. “I'm gonna get washed up so I don't look like a sleepy monster all day.” Something about Ba Sing Se gave you the creeps, but at the same time, it was nice to be back in a place where you could bathe in warm water and not fear Zuko coming after you. It's not like you had anything against the Fire Nation prince… it's more like… he was an inconvenience to you and the rest of the gaang. Since you and Zuko were about the same age, you understood him. Well, kinda. You escaped the Fire Nation when you were younger, disagreeing with all of their ideals and overall how they treated the world. You did see the prince as Fire Nation scum, but at the same time, you saw him as a kid, just like you. He was banished for god knows what and he just wanted to go home. You didn't hate Zuko. Not one bit. You understood that he may just be in some sort of hidden pain. But you had to admit that it was kinda nice to not have him around to bother you.

You got out of the shower refreshed and ready for the day. It was nice to have a day off, so you were probably going to get some tea and write in your journal about how the past couple of weeks have been. You figured it would be nice to log everything that has ever happened on this little journey just in case you all wanted a refresher in the next twenty years or so. You slipped on some Earth Nation attire and smiled at yourself in the mirror as you braided your hair. Today is going to be a good day, you thought. Nothing better than tea and some late breakfast.

“I'm going out for the day,” you said, placing your bag on your shoulder. “Stay out of trouble today, got it?”

You looked at Aang and he laughed. “I will, I will! Have a nice day, okay, y/n? You deserve it.”

“You’re all too kind to me. Thank you.”

“And let me know if you find Appa!”

“I will, don't worry.”

You smiled and walked out of the house, smelling the fresh Earth Nation air. Luckily, the walls didn't cover the fresh air, so you could still get the almost afternoon breath.

You spent the beginning of the day walking around shops, buying some supplies and new clothes for yourself and the others. The markets were busy, but it was nice to get some of the things you needed without Aang begging for some stupid trinket that you always ended up buying him because you thought it was cool too. That was always your impulse, stupid things that Aang showed you. Those could be the death of you.

As you finally finished your browsing journey, you overheard a conversation while looking over a map.

“I swear their tea has gotten better.”

“Really? I dunno.”

“I'm serious. It has to be the best tea shop in Ba Sing Se.”

“Fine, we can go try it later.”

You turned to the two men a little embarrassed that you were eavesdropping. “S-Sorry, but I was kinda listening to your conversation… uh… where’s that tea shop you were talking about? I've been trying to find a nice place to get some tea all morning.”

The man hyping up the shop smiled at you. “Don't worry about eavesdropping, kiddo. It's right here.” He pointed to the map you were looking at and you were satisfied that it wasn't too far from where you currently were.

You thanked the man and began your journey to the shop. It was a little closer to afternoon and you could feel your stomach rumbling, so you just decided to skip right to lunch.

You walked into the tea shop and saw people smiling and laughing together, the heavenly scent of tea filling your senses. You were quickly seated at a lone booth and given a menu. Everything looked so good, you could swear that you were about to drool just thinking about food.

You decided to order something that the waitress recommended and as she walked away, you flipped through your journal, going over everything that you and the gaang had been through. You quietly laughed to yourself as you passed a page that said: note to self - slap Zuko’s bald head at least once. Imagine the sound that would make.

It’s definitely been a long trip of both laughter and struggle, and honestly, you were really happy. You don't remember the last time you had laughed so hard before you met Aang and the others. It was nice. Really nice.

“Here’s your tea. Is there anything else you need?” Your tea was set in front of you along with your lunch and you tilted your head at the familiar voice that wasn't your waitress from earlier. It was on the tip of your tongue.

“I think I'm alright, thank-” You looked up and the smile you had suddenly dropped. No way. “Zu-”

Before you could say his full name, Zuko covered your mouth and quickly let go, hoping no one saw or heard any of that. “P-Please don't.”

“But you’re-”

“I know,” Zuko’s voice was low. “Just… can we talk… in the back?”

You looked around the restaurant at all of the other people and back at Zuko. He looked so different. Barely recognizable. His face didn't look so pissed off and he had a short head of hair now that looked healthy. The only reason you recognized him was the scar, but honestly, if he covered it up somehow, you wouldn't have a clue that he was the prince of the Fire Nation.

You nodded and stood up, collecting your things. You followed Zuko to the back, almost a little scared. You had no means of defending yourself. You were a non bender, so if he wanted to pick a fight, you were screwed. You didn't even have a simple weapon on you. Maybe you were getting too cozy.

Zuko brushed off a small table and pulled out a chair for you, which you sat in with slight hesitation.

“How did you get into Ba Sing Se?” You didn't mean to sound so defensive. Well, you did, but you weren't expecting to. Especially not on such a good day like this.

“It's… a long story.”

“Why are you here?”

“Listen… It’s not for the Avatar.”

“Huh? Is that so?” You crossed your arms and looked him dead in the eye. “Then explain to me how you always end up where we just so happen to be. That’s suspicious, isn't it?”

“I-”

“If you hurt Aang, I swear to-”

“I don't care about Aang right now!”

The whole room went quiet. You had never heard Zuko say Aang’s name before, let alone not care about what the Avatar is doing.

“Then why…”

“I have my own stuff to deal with. It's none of your business, okay? I do have a life outside of the Avatar, you know.”

You nodded and looked down at your tea. “I'm… assuming your uncle made this?” You giggled softly.

“Yeah. He did.” Zuko’s voice was small and way less frustrated.

“So that’s why this tea shop has hype all of a sudden.” You wondered aloud, your eyes wandering to the ceiling.

Zuko cleared his throat and shuffled in his spot. “So… uh… what now?”

“Promise not to hurt Aang and I won't say a word about you being here. I believe that you have your own stuff to deal with, so prove it to me.”

“I promise.”

Your eyes locked with his and you smiled, shocking Zuko a bit. You smiled at him, the guy that’s been trying to hurt you and your friends this whole time. The guy who would’ve done anything for the Avatar to be in his hands.

“You probably hate me, don't you?” Zuko spat out, rubbing the back of his neck.

You tilted your head. “Hate’s a strong word, don't you think?”

Zuko looked at you, appalled. “I mean, I would understand if you did.”

“It's been a long road for you, hasn't it, Zuko?”

He nodded at you and you pointed to the other side of the table, just realizing that he was standing that entire time. “Let’s share some tea.”

“I-I don't know if that’s a good idea.” Zuko took a step back.

“Ah, I see,” you stood up, scooting your chair back in. “You’re a busy man with a job now.”

He just nodded at you.

“Well, I'll let you get to it then, but I expect to see you at 6 tonight ready to hang out, okay?”

“Wh-What?! Won't your friends notice that you’re gone?”

You just smiled, collecting your things. “Zuko, I do have a life outside of the Avatar, you know.”

Zuko’s face went bright red as you walked out of the room with a smirk on your face. It was actually kinda cute to see Zuko not being some evil kid with his heart set on hurting anyone.

“You’re leaving?” Sokka whined, watching you grab your bag.

“Yes Sokka,” you said for what seemed like the hundredth time. “I'm leaving. I just want to go get dinner out by myself tonight. Maybe go for a nice walk.”

“Aww man,” Sokka pouted, crossing his arms. “Who’s gonna make dinner now?”

You rolled your eyes, trying to hide the smile creeping on your lips. “Sokka, I left some money on the table. You guys should go out and get something to eat tonight.”

“Why aren't you coming with us?” Sokka tilted his head, counting the money on the table.

“I just want to go out by myself tonight, that’s all.”

“So you’re just gonna have a lonely dinner all by yourself?” Sokka questioned, looking skeptical.

“Yes!”

“She’s lying.” Everyone turned to Toph and your face went bright red. You forgot she could tell if you were lying or not, and it definitely didn't help that you were outside on the concrete so Toph could really feel right through you.

Sokka turned back to you quickly. “You’re going to dinner with someone?”

“Fine, yes, I am, so what?”

“Who is it?”

You rolled your eyes, already late. “Just somebody.”

“Is it a boy?” Sokka gave you a mocking look and you pushed his face away.

“Fine, whatever! It's a boy! So what?! Now let me leave before I'm late. Have a nice dinner everyone.” You waved at the group and ran to the tea shop, hoping that Zuko didn't leave yet.

The bell rang as you opened the shop door. “Sorry, we’re not serving tea anymore, we’re closing at the moment,” a familiar voice said. Iroh peeked his head out, surprised to see you. “y/n?”

You smiled, “hi Iroh.”

“How are you?” Iroh set down the broom he was holding and pulled you into a soft embrace. You never told the others, but you spent quite a bit of time talking to Zuko’s uncle when you got the chance. He was a wise man and kind as well. Maybe that's why you understood Zuko so well, you had someone to give you some insight on the boy.

“I'm good, Iroh. How are you?”

“Oh I'm fine,” he beamed at you, pulling away from the hug. “I'm getting to live my lifelong dream of making tea for the people of Ba Sing Se, so that feels pretty nice.”

“Well, you are the best at making tea, Iroh.”

“Oh, stop. You’re so full of flattery, y/n.” Iroh blushed with a smile. “Is there a reason you’re here?”

“Is your nephew here?”

“You’re looking for Zuko?” Iroh cocked an eyebrow at you and you chuckled, surprised that you were even here.

“I am.”

Iroh gave you a skeptical look, but honestly didn't care much. He thought it was nice that someone wanted to visit Zuko. “He is here. Let me go grab him. Would you like some tea in the meantime?”

“Tea sounds great,” you admitted, sitting at a table.

As you got comfortable, Zuko ran into the room, completely surprised. “You’re here?”

You laughed. “Of course I am! I said I’d be here at 6 didn't I?”

“I thought you were bluffing.”

“Well now you know I'm serious. Wanna hang out?”

Zuko gave you a side eye and thought for a moment. “I think I know what you’re trying to do.”

“And what might that be?” Iroh entered the room, placing two teacups and a kettle on your table. You thanked Iroh as he left with a smile.

“You’re trying to get info out of me. About the Fire Nation… aren't you?”

You shook your head. “You’re so defensive all the time, Zuko.”

“Can you blame me?” Zuko shut all of the blinds in the shop and sat across from you, taking a sip of tea.

“I guess not.”

“I'm surprised you’re not a little more on edge.”

“Why’s that?” You took a sip of tea as well, humming at how delightful it tasted.

“I'm a firebender. You don't bend right? I could literally take you down at any moment. And it doesn't seem like you have any weapons either.”

“I trust that you won't do anything. Your uncle would probably be pissed about the mess to be honest.”

For the first time in all of your time knowing Zuko, you heard him laugh. He laughed so hard that he snorted a bit, which made him laugh harder. Because of all of his laughter, he made you laugh too, sending you both into a laughing fit. It felt good. You haven't laughed this hard since you first met Sokka, all covered in Appa’s snot.

Zuko literally had tears in his eyes by the time he stopped laughing. Seeing him happy made you feel… good. Really good. It was almost a relief. It made Zuko more human. You didn't know if you could even remotely call him your enemy anymore.

You two ended up talking all night, Iroh occasionally bringing more tea or just little treats every now and then. You literally couldn't stop talking to Zuko. To hear about what it was like to grow up in the Fire Nation as a prince was interesting. To hear what Ozai was really like in person sent chills down your spine. To hear where that scar on his face came from almost brought you to tears. Zuko didn't even know why he told you all of this, but he could say one thing. It felt nice. It felt this giant weight on his chest had been lifted.

After a few hours, you looked at the clock in the shop and frowned. “Bad news, Zuko. I gotta go.”

“Already?” He turned to face the clock and pouted his bottom lip. “Alright then.”

You stood up and collected your things. “Thanks for the tea, Iroh!” You shouted, which was responded with a big smile and a thumbs up from Iroh.

“Thanks for stopping by.”

“Anytime,” you said, opening the door of the shop. “I'll be back.”

“You will?” You turned to Zuko, who almost looked excited that you said that.

“Of course I will. Goodnight guys.”

“Wait,” Zuko ran up to you, holding the door open. “Let me walk you home, it’s late.”

“Zuko, I don't know if that’s a good idea.”

Zuko frowned, but you were probably right. If Aang spotted him for even a second, both of you would be done for. “R-Right. Well… thanks.”

“For what?”

“Hanging out. That was fun.”

You smiled. “That was fun. Thank you for not killing me, Zuko.”

“Anytime.” He giggled, immediately taken aback when you pulled him in for a hug after dropping everything.

He was so… warm. I mean, duh. He was a firebender. But even so, his hug felt so genuine, so nice, and you didn't want to leave. “Goodnight, Zuko,” you said as you pulled away from the hug.

“Goodnight, y/n.” This time, he shocked you by pulling you in for another hug and pulling away only to pull you in again, but this time, your lips were inches apart.

“Can I kiss you?” His voice was in a whisper, his warm breath dusting over your lips.

You just nodded and closed your eyes as his soft lips brushed against yours. You wrapped your arms around the back of his neck pulling him closer. He smiled into the kiss, wrapping his arms around your waist.

When you pulled away from the kiss, both of you said a quick goodbye, your cheeks dusted pink.

Zuko quickly walked back into the tea shop to help Iroh close and put his back on the door.

“I'm glad you found a nice girl, Zuko.” Zuko jumped hearing his uncle’s voice, his face turning a dark shade of crimson.

Though if he was being honest, he was glad he found a nice girl too.

~~~~~

atla masterlist --- pinned post

@tonberry-yoda

TAG LIST: @ede1faecam

[hotdaemondtargaryen]

OLIVIA COOKE IN THE INTERVIEW FOR ELLE MAGAZINE.

TALKING ABOUT ALICENT'S RELATIONSHIP WITH HER CHILDREN IN S2.

She must handle her sons “as the power goes to their head and they see her as irrelevant.”

“She’s terrified of Aemond and what he’s become, and she can’t access Helaena.”

As Alicent slowly becomes invisible, it’s also strangely liberating, “because all of a sudden eyes aren’t on her and she can sort of do whatever she wants.”

ABOUT FILMING THE SEX SCENES IN S2.

When it came to sex scenes, Cooke worked closely with House of the Dragon’s intimacy coordinator, Vanessa Coffey. Given Game of Thrones’ reputation for nudity, she had originally braced herself.

“I thought there’d be way more, and so I’m relieved that when it has been used for me, it’s showing Alicent being pleasured, which is amazing and doesn’t feel gratuitous.”

“It feels like we’re telling a story.”

She recalls one bedroom scene she filmed that was cut: “It was messy as fuck. It wasn’t beautiful, and that was really fun to do.”

It was “carnal” and even “animalistic.”

“I think Ryan [Condal, the showrunner] said we weren’t learning any more about the characters, which I disagree with slightly, but it’s okay. It’s his show,” she adds, with no hard feelings."

"Maybe we’ll see it in the bloopers, she says, laughing."

ABOUT THE CAST OF HOTD.

OLIVIA COOKE:

“They’re like my family, and we adore each other.”

TOM GLYNN-CARNEY:

“We put the wigs on and the costumes on, and all hell breaks loose.”

TEAM GREEN TALKING ABOUT OLIVIA COOKE.

FABIEN FRANKEL:

“She’s a dear friend and a great giggler.”

PHIA SABAN:

Who shared many scenes with Cooke this season as Alicent’s daughter Helaena, remembers their antics while filming an otherwise somber procession scene.

“We just got really hyper, and it became a little bit of a chamber of music actually.”

“Lots of singing.”

EWAN MITCHELL:

“I think Liv’s performance this year is one for the gods.”

TALKING ABOUT RHAENICENT.

“They practiced proper adult relationships on each other” Cooke says of the severed friendship.

“When you break up with a friend, it’s so much more heartbreaking than breaking up with a lover a lot of the time, because they know every single part of you and it’s so much more vulnerable.”

And of course, parts of the fandom ship Rhaenicent, a.k.a. Rhaenyra and Alicent as a couple.

“Don’t they ship everyone together, though?” Cooke asks when I bring up the imagined romance.

A fair point, but wouldn’t things be better if the old pals just made up and ruled the kingdom together?

Cooke humors me. “Absolutely. Matriarchy now, please.”

EMMA D'ARCY TALKING ABOUT HER FRIENDSHIP WITH OLIVIA COOKE.

“It’s funny to talk about a friendship that is so fundamental in your life.”

“The thing I find strange is to realize that I suppose we haven’t known each other that long in broad terms, but she’s a pillar in my life."

"I would have found this a challenging experience if Liv was not on it.”

[2tcs]

Danny’s Journal or A Countdown to the Beginning

Summary: A look into the year leading up to the accident from the perspective of a forgotten journal.

February 9, 2002

Dear journal. Mom and Dad said they had a surprise for me and Jazz when we get home from school. Please God don't let it be another ghost gun or something. My hair is still singed from the last one.

Update. It was, in fact, a gun. Jazz now has a mild burn on her arm and is screaming how they need therapy. Not disagreeing but I don't think it's going to happen.

February 12, 2002

Dear journal. Happy birthday. A year ago Jazz gave you to me for my birthday. How my parents haven't accidentally destroyed you I don't know.

Me Tucker, Sam, and Jazz went out to eat for my birthday. Sam even had her family driver take us a town over to try that new restaurant. Well, that's what their excuse was.  I think they were trying to get me out of the house for a little bit since Mom and Dad are going on a rampage through the house disassembling all the appliances. It's 10 pm and I can still hear noise coming from the basement.

March 26, 2002

I have the best idea for an April Fools prank. It involves chez whiz and glitter.

April 1, 2002

The prank worked like a charm. The jocks are going to smell like cheese for weeks. And they ain't ever getting the glitter out.

On the downside. Dash broke my arm and Mom and Dad put a “Fenton Anti-ghost Cast” on me. It kinda glows and makes my arm feel weird.

April 23, 2002

Sam’s birthday party was a glorious disaster this year. Her mom decided to do a princess-themed party. We have been preparing for this day since Sam found one of her mom’s work journals. We managed to sneak paint and glitter bombs into the venue before anyone got there. We even managed to get one on each of the chandeliers. It was awesome. Everyone got covered in black paint and red glitter. 

What we didn’t account for was Grandma Ida hiring professional snake handlers to bring in a bunch of snakes for Sam. The snakes were non-venomous and luckily were all caught after one of the rich people bumped into the table that the snake cage was on. And the paint was non-toxic so it was easy to clean off the snakes too without them getting sick. Still kinda feel bad that the snakes got caught in the crossfire though.

May 20, 2002

🎵Schools out for the summer!🎵 Lol this is going to be so exciting. Our last summer as middle schoolers. Nothing but the big leagues after this!

June 13, 2002

Dad wants to go camping for Father's Day so we're going to head out tomorrow morning. Think I heard them mention Lake Arrowhead. That'll be cool. Haven't fished there before.

June 15, 2002

I don't know how but we're in Gotham. Apparently, there's some stupid ghost conversation going on so we're going to be stuck here for the next week. On the pulse side though I found a really cool cafe not too far from the hotel. And they don’t seem to care if you just hang out as long as their not busy and you buy something. Me and Jazz will probably be spending a lot of time here or at their library. It’s huge and has an entire section of space!

June 16, 2002

Turns out I'm allergic to something called Blood Blossoms. Mom and Dad ended up having some guy try to cleanse me of “the evil spook” after I accidentally brushed up against the flowers he had on his table. Jazz had to convince them to get me to the hospital. Luckily one of the guys walking around had an epi pen. So that helped. Still sucks and now I'm stuck at the hotel while Jazz frets like a mother hen. I don't think she's even realized that she has a rash on her hand from when she threw the flowers away from me.

June 19, 2002

So… Batman is real… wtf? He apparently has some questions for Mom and Dad but they haven't come back yet. He apologized to me and Jazz for waking us up and gave us suckers? Which. Weird. And Jazz threw them away when he left because “stranger danger is still a thing even if they are a hero”. RIP little Root Beer flavored DumDum. You will be missed.

And on the other hand, Robin was pretty cool. He's snarky and brave and hilarious and he is just so cool. 10/10 New favorite Robin. He even gave me a book recommendation for the report I'm supposed to turn in at the start of freshman year.

June 22, 2002

We were supposed to leave Gotham today. We were supposed to finally head to one of the lakes on the way home to do some camping and fishing. We were supposed to have a relaxing time. So please journal. Can you tell me why the giant wannabe scaly just threw the GAV? Now we are going to be stuck in this stupid city for another week while Mom and Dad fix it.

June 24, 2002

I made a new friend! Do you remember that cafe I talked about a few days ago? Well, I met a guy there. His name is Jason. He’s an absolute lit nerd but is way cool. The guy’s got muscles underneath his school uniform too. The guy looks like he could snap me like a twig yet isn’t at all like Dash. Hopefully, we can keep in contact after we head back to Amity. For now, we are planning on meeting up at the cafe tomorrow with our favorite books. I found “Star Stories”at the library so I’m bringing it with me. I don’t know if he likes stars but I hope he likes some of the stories about them.

July 9, 2002

Finally back at home. Dad had smuggled fireworks into the GAV (how they didn’t explode when KC threw it in Gotham idk) so we spent the 4th of July shooting them off at the lake. We ended up going to Lake Erie for the camping trip because Mom heard something at the convention about a ghost hanging out around there. Didn’t see any ghosts but the fishing was good. I even caught a bass the size of my head! All around it was really fun! Oh and the stars were so clear! The Summer Triangle was so clear you could point out Vega, Deneb, and Altair! It was so cool! Did you know that Vega is in the Lyra constellation? Or Deneb is in the Cygnus Constellation. And Altair is a part of the Aquila constellation!

Maybe I should ask if Mom and Dad could get me another journal for charting the stars. I’ll need the practice if I want to become an astronaut.

July 29, 2002

It’s a good thing that I got two of everything when me, Sam, and Tucker went shopping for school supplies. I got a lot of new space-themed stuff but the moment I got home Dad insisted on ghost-proofing my new backpack… It melted. I don’t even know how he managed to melt a canvas bag. It didn’t even catch fire first. Just started melting the moment Dad started spraying his new “Fenten Ecto-Rejecto Spray” on it. Wtf Dad.

On the plus side, Sam found a new coffin backpack and Tucker was able to get a new bag that had a pouch that he can put the walkman he got yesterday for his birthday. He is so hyped about it. 

August 6, 2002

School starts next week and I am so hyped. Finally going to be a high schooler. Cool Kids Club here we go!

August 15, 2002

Kill me now. May the Gods strike me down and end my suffering. May the Faits find me lacking and cut my string. May the Crone tear me from the tapestry, the mother rejects my thread from the loom and the maiden take the wool of my youth and set it aside.

Sam has just informed me that that isn’t quite what the Mother, Maiden, and Crone do but whatever. Just know that everything sucks because apparently someone called the house phone and told Mom and Dad that there was a ghost in the school. The A-listers are blaming me for ruining their high school debut.

August 30, 2002

Mom and Dad have started making more noise in the lab than normal. It’s gotten to the point that Jazz has been spending more time at the library to study. Speaking of Jazz, she has been obsessing over self-help and psychology books lately. I mean. Jazz has always talked up therapy but now she’s kinda getting snooty about it. Sam suggested we start hanging out at that gazebo thingy at the park so we can get our work done on the nicer days. We’ll have to hang at Tucker's place though on the rainy days. Sam’s parents have decided that it’s time to put their foot down and get Sam to “socialize with your actual peers Sammy-kins so that you can make better connections and start networking” or whatever. So basically Sam’s mom doesn’t want her to be associated with us plebs I guess.

September 8, 2002

Mom and Dad repurposed the fridge so they could put samples in it. Apparently, the one in the lab broke. The green stuff in the tubes kinda creeps me out. Jazz is yelling at them about it. I kinda agree. Cross-contamination anyone? Think I’m gonna eat out at Nasty more often.

September 28, 2002

Either I’m going crazy or the leftover chicken and noodle soup in the fridge was moving. Like the noodles were wiggling around like worms or something. Jazz ordered pizza.

October 5, 2002

There are new wires in the house now and they glow? Mom said that they had some sort of breakthrough and are using the samples that they have to coat some of the tech in the house to “ecto-proof” it. Apparently, the ectoplasm doesn’t like electronics so they weren’t really able to mix it with tech too well. Some of Mom’s blueprints look like Star Wars blasters. Dad’s are less impressive.

October 29, 2002

Mom and Dad have locked me and Jazz in our rooms because of the “Ghost Menaces”. Me and Jazz have both taped warning signs on our windows so some brave trick-or-treaters don’t accidentally get hurt.

November 1, 2002

The signs worked but I saw Mom and Dad taking off in the GAV around midnight. Whatever. Me and Tucker did manage to reach a new level in DOOM last night so that was cool. And it’s World Vegan Day today so Sam is going to take us out to eat at a vegan place for dinner. I have no clue what Tucker’s going to eat. Well probably get it to-go so he can get something.

I found out where Mom and Dad went last night. The cops showed up and gave Mom and Dad a ticket for destroying a part of the park's water fixture. Someone had organised a haunted forest thing in the park and my parents went absolute ape.

November 2, 2002

Who told Mom and Dad about Dia de Los Muertos? Or that there was a little remembrance celebration/party thing going on today because of it? I’ve decided to make deviled eggs in protest of their chaos and have also bought candy skulls to eat.

November 18, 2002

Apparently, there is an Occult Day(?) and Sam insists we spend the day researching cults. Tucker has found a tech cult online that says there is “Techno Magic” and he is now trying to learn it. Sam has found a book of curses and has been giggling since she found it. Sam giggling is terrifying. I am concerned.

November 28, 2002

The turkey came to life and attacked us. Mom and Dad are blaming ghosts but me and Jazz agree that this is totally their fault for putting the stupid ecto in the fridge. At least the rest of the food was edible. I mean. It had a kinda glowing but I haven’t gotten sick yet. So yay?

November 29, 2002

So the food wasn’t good and I ended up getting sick this morning. fml Jazz is mad that I ate some of it. I am fully aware of what food safety is Jazz. But I was hungry and after the turkey, I was just tired and hangry. I had no clue you had ordered pizza so :p

December 5, 2002

On the 5th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me! Nothing because my family is insane. Mom and Dad are already starting their yearly Santa argument. Sam and Tuck are both out of town to visit family for the holidays, Jazz is avoiding the house because it’s “disruptive to my mental development” and I’m grounded for yelling at Dad when he burst into my room and accidentally made my little Rover fall off the shelf and brake.

December 9, 2002

Mom and Dad’s insanity is ramping up. They almost never leave the lab now and whenever I try to bring food down to them they either just mumble and keep working or start arguing again. The whole in the wall has a frame now too.

December 24, 2002

I made a mistake when I brought Mom and Dad their dinner today. In my defense, I was just tired of them yelling about Santa. So I asked why they had hazmat suits but me and Jazz didn’t if ecto was so dangerous. Because if it’s that dangerous then the fact we have ecto in the fridge means that we should all have suits. Jazz is furious with me cause now our parents are making us try on our new suits tomorrow. I am terrified of whatever monstrosity they create no matter how “fashionable” Dad claims they will be.

December 25, 2002

It’s worse than I thought. Mine’s white.

January 15, 2003

Gods, I hate this. I’ve been sick for the past week and Jazz says we’re almost out of soup. I keep going back and forth between being hungry and puking up whatever Jazz feeds me. Mom says that she has some tea that may help but when Dad brought it up it tasted funny. It did make me feel a little better but it just had a really weird taste. Dad said it’s just because I’m sick so everything tastes funny right now.

January 19, 2003

Is it weird that I want to lick the ecto in the fridge? I’m pretty sure it is but it still kinda looks lickable to me. Like how you know that D batteries are not edible but almost everyone has licked one at some point?

Jazz just gave me a lecture about putting things in my mouth that I shouldn’t… Again…

January 27, 2003

Jazz scared me this morning. I walked into the kitchen this morning and just saw glowing eyes. Like a cat’s eyes in the dark. Jazz thinks I’m hallucinating from lack of sleep because of the all-nighter I pulled with Tuck trying to pass the next level on DOOM but I swear that her eyes were glowing.

February 9, 2003

I’m starting to worry. I know they're obsessed with their dumb portal but they haven’t eaten in 2 days. Jazz is planning on going down there and persuading (yelling at them) them to eat if they don’t come up for dinner tonight.

February 12, 2003

Happy Birthday to me. I am now 14 years old. Mom and Dad forgot it was my birthday again. They ran into the kitchen this morning because they completed their portal. They even dragged me and Jazz down into the lab to see them turn it on before we went to school. It didn’t work and now Mom and Dad are going to take a drive around town to clear their heads. They probably won’t be back until dinner time. Sam and Tucker are coming over after school though so at least it will be quiet while they are over. And I think Jazz is going to make a cake if the box of mix I saw her trying to hide from me yesterday is any indication. 

[moonbaby26]

Title: New Day

(Chapter 15 of Doflamingo’s Marine Series)

*Crossposted to AO3 Here*

Chapter Pairings: Doflamingo x Reader

Chapter Warnings: language, non con, dubious consent, fingering, vaginal sex, anal sex, angst, references to past chapters’ physical abuse, toxic relationship

Chapter Synopsis: The day after your near fatal incident instigated by Sir Crocodile, the rumor mill is churning both within and outside the palace walls as everyone now tries to understand what you really are to Doflamingo. Everyone including the demon at the center of it all himself.

Chapters: 1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10,  11,  12, 13, 14, 15, 16

——————————

—————————— 

It was a brand new morning. A beautiful day with the sun shining as the dark haired woman strode through the outdoor market. Even this early, music was already drifting from nearby, guitar strings were strumming as vendors finished setting up for their day.

Despite the rising tempo of that musician’s fingers over those strings, no one Viola saw was yet in a hurry. No one seemed nervous. She could hear laughter as people greeted one another, passing in the street. She could see their smiles.

This was her island and her people, briefly feeling to her as they always should have. 

The Donquixote soldiers that were meant to be acting as her guards, she’d ordered to stay as far back from her as possible.

They would not be ruining this rare taste of freedom for her as she did come upon an older man seated on a stool with a guitar. The origin of the sound she’d been hearing for several minutes on her morning walk as she nodded down to him.

“Good morning, Señor. That song you were playing, it’s a favorite of mine. I was hoping to meet you.” She complimented him.

“Ah, you’re too young to know it.” He paused, a little surprised at her attention. But smiling gently at her all the same. “My wife taught it to me years ago. She sang and I played back then.”

And the way he said this, with that brief look in his eyes as he did, she knew what he really meant. 

A wife that was no longer here. Someone that had been taken from him. But Viola still smiled softly. Because that sadness wasn’t an emotion she would want to truly lose. It was the shadow that love left behind. It was all they had left.

“My sister and I would attempt to sing that song.” She shared with him in return. “But she was the far better singer than me. She passed two years ago.”

This was the polite way people in Dressrosa referenced that tumultuous time, when hell had first opened its gates within their country.

And that devil’s sycophants were now the ones lingering, growing further impatient a few food stalls away.

But Doflamingo’s guards could wait. They could wait forever for all she cared.

“I suppose I haven’t tried much since then…to sing I mean. So would you play that song one more time please, Señor? It’s been so long. But today seems a bit special I think. I’d like to try to sing it again.” She told him.

And he laughed. “You young people and your romantic hearts! I’m sure you’ll be at the colosseum with all of the others today then? It seems quite fast doesn’t it? But I suppose no man wants to be alone forever. Even a king!” Yet he didn’t leave her time to agree or disagree, amused at her as he began strumming those opening chords once more.

A surprise announcement had come from the palace last night. Spreading quickly across the island all before midnight curfew.

This afternoon all were invited, or rather expected at the Corrida Colosseum. And the king himself would be in attendance. Unusual as of late, as he’d been devoting so much time to his growing underworld alone.

Those secret dealings seemingly his only focus all until that trip he’d taken to Mariejois, to the kingdom some called heaven. Something about a war on a distant island that he didn’t want the marines interceding in. Long enough ago now that Viola had gotten to bear witness to the accumulating changes in him every day since.

“In the heavens I would have power…” Viola’s voice began carefully, not fully out of tune. But certainly out of practice as she began the first verse in time with the man’s guitar.

And you, the marine woman that the officers’ whispers and minds had said Doflamingo had actually coveted for years, the one he’d first consummated with there at the home of the gods, would also be his official guest at the colosseum this evening.

Speculation was running wild through the citizens now of what this could all mean.

In the beginning Viola had not cared, except to pity you. She knew that all Doflamingo was was the thin skin of a man pulled tightly over the bones of a demon.

Yet an incident had occurred at the palace yesterday, enough to shake even her cynical heart.

“This night like the darkness within a well. With a knife made of moonlight I would cut the bars of your jail...” Her words kept on.

Doflamingo had kept her hidden away ever since your arrival. Yet more evidence that something may really be different here.

He didn’t want her to know his real plans for you. He didn’t want the two of you to meet.

Not yet.

“If I were the queen of the daylight, of the wind, and the sea, I would tie my own slave ropes in exchange for your freedom…”

The man who had never once hesitated to punish her by showing her the most grotesque and violent thoughts of what he’d like to do to new prey had suddenly been keeping everything to himself.

Why should it matter for her to know exactly how he wanted to break you? Rape you and defile you. Grind your will to dust, and then discard you once bored as he had to so many other men and women that had briefly caught his eye.

“Ay sorrow, little sorrow, sorrow of my heart…”

Doflamingo was a passionate man, even a romantic one in truth. But just at that most carnal level she had thought.

“I don’t wan’t flowers, money, or adulation.”

Violence, seduction, and jealousy were the only notes he excelled at within that complicated dance.

But yesterday there had been a culmination of tensions. Viola had been astonished to hear that panic going through the castle, to see it in so many anxious minds.

You had fought Trebol. You had fought Doflamingo himself.

And suicide is what that choice was, no matter the circumstances. Because it had never mattered to Doflamingo before whether or not someone was innocent. To go against the executives in any way, even in self defense, was absolute suicide. It was an attack on Doflamingo himself.

But maybe you weren’t the coward that she felt she was to hide amongst them. Maybe you had already refused her fate and chosen your own exit instead.

She would not have blamed you. 

Yet all evening she had stressed. Wondering how Doflamingo would cover up your death. But every moment that she still even remembered who you were had been equally confusing. 

Why hadn’t he at least brought you to Sugar?

But finally, late that night, something in her had insisted she show a bit of her own remnants of a spine. She had dared to use her sight to scan the palace for the king or yourself and learn the truth. She’d expected the worst. Your body torn apart, and new horrific tortures she’d never be able to unsee.

Yet that was not what she had found.

“I want you to let me cry for your sorrows, and to be at your side my dear, drinking the tears of your loneliness…”

Doflamingo was with you, yes. But not in one of the dungeons. Not with you screaming or begging for him to stop and to release you with death at last.

The Heavenly Demon had been curled around you in his own bed, clinging to you with a seeming level of anxiety she’d never witnessed in that creature before.

He had been watching you as you slept, a stricken look on his face.

“My eyes hurt because I look without seeing you…”

And this was the real reason Viola now spun, unable to stop from finally dancing a bit as well in the continued rhythm of that man’s guitar.

“Sorrow of my heart that flows within my veins, with the strength of a hurricane…”

Doflamingo was afraid.

“Sorrow, the same as a cloud of darkness and flint. A runaway colt that knows not where it goes…” 

Doflamingo had a weakness at last.

“It’s a desert of sand, sorrow, it’s my glory in a jail. Ay, jail! Ay sorrow! Little sorrow…”

And it was a woman.

Viola had decided that she would do everything in her power to further your influence now.

She would force herself to live long enough to see if this little crack in him could spread.

A new opening in his blackened heart that may one day be big enough to force her dagger through.

——————————— 

Last night Doflamingo had remained strange. Mostly silent as his focus stayed split between his real body and what you assumed was the string clone still working for him somewhere else in the castle.

After making you eat, there had been that brief feel of tenderness though as you’d both undressed and he’d brought you into his shower.

The same powder of glass that’d still been in your hair from the fight, he’d then helped you to wash clean. 

That and Trebol’s remaining mucus too. The warlord had kept you from losing your balance on your still weak legs, standing in the water’s spray with you as you’d scrubbed off the last of that residue.

You’d felt his cock against you too, half hard again without either of you even speaking to one another. But he hadn’t fucked you. 

After drying back off, drinking, and eating more of the food his servants brought, you’d then fallen asleep nude in his bed even before the sun had set.

At times last night you’d felt his movements beside you. But he still didn’t talk. He didn’t make you open your eyes and interact with him.

And you were fine with that.

He’d already hurt you enough for one day. You’d had nothing else you wanted to give him as you’d kept up the imitation of sleep while he’d held you tightly.

The same as he still was now as you finally did look to the ceiling again. Just the faintest bit of new sunlight was escaping the edges of his closed curtains.

It remained dim here within his bedroom, cave like really as you felt his steady breathing against your skin. His face buried against your neck, his arms wrapped around your torso, and his legs curled up to trap your own.

But your body still ached. Now with those newest additions of a severely bruised sternum and ribs to match from you taking his hits nearly full on yesterday without armament.

He’d never given any further apology either. And the more you’d thought of even that briefest one, you’d realized it was only a-

Sorry I misread that situation.

Sorry their mistakes made me do that. 

Not actual self-accountability. Not even a hint that he wouldn’t do it all again if fed bad information once more.

And you were stuck still reliving it. Hearing the door rip apart, and the glass break as he came for you, The pain when he threw you down and the pressure when you couldn’t breathe.

But that would fade as the bruises did. You knew in time you’d move on from that. Just like anytime you’d been hurt in the field, anytime you’d been knocked down before.

The thing you couldn’t shake as cleanly was how much it hurt inside as well this time. Because it wasn’t just physical pain any longer.

It’d hurt to look up at the man you still wanted as they’d started to crush your chest in.

That was a torture that should never happen to anyone.

But something touched your face and you startled from your spiraling thoughts.

Your head turned and you saw a crimson eye narrowed at you. The milky white one beside it still mostly closed against your shoulder as the pad of his finger wiped your newly wet cheek.

“Are you ever going to stop crying?” Doflamingo’s voice asked so abruptly then. Deep, but quiet in its continued proximity to you.

“I didn’t know that I was.” You answered honestly, caught off guard and letting the heel of your hand wipe the rest of that dampness away as you looked back to the ceiling.

He made a noise in response. Dismissive, but you could still feel his gaze on you.

“What’s done is done. It’s over.” He said next, making the easy assumption of what still had you rattled. And that bit of irritation was resuming in him already because of it.

But he didn’t know the real extent. You were sure that he didn’t.

“Sorry.” You were the one to say that useless word then. But you were just trying to end the subject. Trying to make him stop.

“You’re not.” He contended. 

And your eyes did look back to him then. Fresh concern in your expression no doubt.

But you felt him just stretching his legs back out. His cock was soft, but it grazed you as he adjusted his hips. He was laying on his side with his body pressed to you so firmly still.

“What more do you want from me?” He spoke against your ear now. As if you were the one still being unreasonable. “I didn’t even maim you. What do you think I would have done to any other person on this island that took matters into their own hands as you did? Regardless of why.” He said next. His hand was sliding across your stomach now.

But his fingers just kept moving lower before you could answer. The longest finger, his middle one, parted your slit in one smooth movement to begin rubbing your clit.

And just like that it was all about what your body could give him again. 

Whether you were ready for this or not.

And apparently you were not. Not as you heard your own voice so suddenly, firing back at him. “Well…did you fuck me yesterday morning too? Because that didn’t help! I woke up with strangers in the room, and then had that running down my leg. It could have been anyone!” 

You’d taken that disgust out on Trebol too you were sure. Everything was connected in this continued trauma. 

The movement of Doflamingo’s finger paused at your outburst. 

That red eye stared at you, sharp and narrowed as he lifted his head again.

“Watch your tone with me, woman.”

Two of his fingers pushed right into your entrance then with that warning. He hooked those fingers actually, the pressure making your expression change.

“Doffy,” You grunted because it hurt.

It was meant to hurt.

“Of course I fucked you. And I don’t care if you could feel it or not. If you could remember it or not. I need you, you stupid bitch.” He answered though, with that tone of hatefulness reemerging all over again. 

But you were watching his face. 

You saw when he swallowed. When the contempt began to change to a more general upset the more aroused he became. “I can’t stop. Not when you’re the only thing that feels right.”

And there was the additional cruelty of his own inconsistent feelings. 

He’d berate you. He’d hurt you, and in the very next breath he’d practically infer that he couldn’t exist without you.

His lips were on your jaw then too. You felt his tongue ghost against your skin.

His teeth nipped that same skin. “So quit acting like you don’t understand. Like you don’t want me too…you need this. You need me.”

The two fingers inside of you were now beginning to slide in and out. They pumped into you as his tongue stretched out further this time, leaving a long wet streak across the side of your face.

“But if you really are so offended…then do something about it. Punish me. Make me feel it. Fuck me back.” He taunted next.

“What?” You breathed, at a frustrating loss for his exact meaning while his fingers continued mercilessly. The way he’d said this gave away that it was now something different he was asking for.

“I’ll let you. I’d do that for you.” He grunted, his hips shifting suddenly as you now felt the tip of that awakened cock rubbing against you.

“I don’t…I don’t know what you’re talking about.” And the words were already getting harder to say. 

Harder to think of as you felt yourself getting wetter for him regardless. His fingers moving in and out so much easier now.

“Your cunt wants a break doesn’t it?” His crudeness continued. “Your ass too after what I did to you, right? I fucked you so hard when I was in there the other night, didn’t I?”

And you were feeling more heat inside of you with every insulting word. 

But he was starting to smile again. He looked so hungry actually. “Then do it to me. I’ll show you how.”

His thumb was back over your clit, working it in tandem to his fingers now quickening their already rough pace inside.

“Cum for me, and then I’ll let you fuck me. We’re both going to feel good today after the shit we got put through. We deserve this.”

Oh, so now you were a team all of the sudden? As if the power imbalance here wasn’t still so extreme.

But it didn’t matter.

Not when Doflamingo’s tongue was now forcing its way past your teeth.

You heard and felt him moan into your mouth. It was so dirty. So unrestrained really as your thighs opened up even more for him.

You were both disgustingly pathetic. 

And the wet sound of his fingers in and out of you only made everything that much worse as you started clenching around his fingers.

That tension was building in your belly.

“Cum for me…let go. You’re so close already aren’t you, love?” He broke the kiss enough to say this against your mouth. Right before he nipped your bottom lip.

The sharp little pain was almost simultaneous to that whip like feel. Like a tightening rope finally snapping inside as you felt your body tremble and hot fluid wash over his fingers.

Doflamingo inhaled sharply, looking down at the unexpected mess that had made.

The humiliation you felt was instant, but the remnants of the full body orgasm he’d just given you weren’t easily dismissed either.

You were panting.

And you heard him laugh. He laughed before his face was then nuzzling back into yours.

“I guess I should have let you take a piss before we started, huh?”

It wasn’t excessive. But it was well enough for you both to know that couldn’t all be female ejaculate. Enough to make a wet spot you could now feel beneath you on the bed.

“Asshole.” You muttered, even with his face still warmly against yours.

“It means I fucking rocked that sweet spot, didn’t I, marine?” He sounded all too smug in response. And even more flirty too as he kissed the side of your face. “Don’t be embarrassed, lover…even though you’re goddamn cute when you are. We’re not done yet anyway. Now it’s my turn.”

His grin widened too then as his fingers finally slid back out of you. He just wiped that hand on the dryer portion of the bedsheets before he flung the blankets fully away to better expose himself to you.

Doflamingo let go of you to move onto his back, propping himself into the pillows and looking so comfortable then before he motioned to the nightstand.

“Be a good, wet girl for me then, and crawl over there to get the biggest one so we can play some more. It’s all or nothing for me.” And he sounded like he was goddamn bragging. Bragging and commanding you all at once as your mind had yet to fully accept what was now happening here.

You were still trying to process the orgasm that had made your legs feel like jelly all over again.

What in the fuck was your actual life in this moment as you did crawl across the mattress eventually, then on your knees at its edge before you could reach the drawer of his nightstand and pull it open.

Which was a sight that really should not have been meant for your naive eyes. There were toys in there that you didn’t even know the use of. Intimidating things you were afraid to even goddamn touch as you peered down into that private stash. 

Packs of condoms were there too, different kinds of lubes, and more…pills? They weren’t the same shape or color as the ones you’d taken before. They were in a clear bag, beside another bag with some kind of white powder inside of it.

The fuck was that?

You did not want to reach your hand in.

“Just grab a dildo, woman. This doesn’t have to be complicated.” Doflamingo chided. A little louder then, getting more impatient.

And you did have to force yourself. Pushing the unknown things out of the way to sort through some of the more familiar looking style of toys.

You pulled one out that seemed to be the largest like he’d requested, and it looked entirely painful by your personal standards. Bigger than any of those he’d used on you the other night. But honestly, very close to his own physical size once you glanced back at him with the toy in your hand.

“That’ll do.” He smirked. “I couldn’t remember how many I still had in there.” 

And he settled back even further into the pillows, putting his arms briefly behind his head as he began spreading his legs.

“Don’t worry about lube, beautiful…let me see you use that mouth of yours instead.”

“What?” You stared. 

His always impressive cock was flushed with blood by this point, hard for this long already without any relief. Rising up from that fine blond pubic hair and pointing firmly towards the ceiling as he held his thighs open shamelessly to show you it all. 

One of his hands did move back down, lifting his own sack off of the mattress as he began to palm it.

“Suck the toy, marine. Deep throat that if you can. I want it good and wet before I show you how to really take it.”

But you didn’t want to. Your hesitation clearly said as much.

And his reactions were becoming that much sharper in response.

“Oh goddamn it, don’t be so high maintenance. Anything in that drawer was already washed. It’s clean.”

Your eyebrows still lowered. Yes, even you knew how arbitrary it seemed on the things you would finally resist him on. 

But the way he was leering at you, the way his legs were spread eagle and waiting like you owed him this. This wasn’t even an experience you had had before.

And something about it made you feel more like a whore than ever.

“What is wrong with you?” Came his exasperated tone next when you still hadn’t put that dildo in your mouth.

And your shoulders sank. He was on that edge of getting angry all over again. 

“If you fucking cry one more time…” He still fussed as your posture had changed however. That blood vessel starting to show in his forehead. “I already said I was sorry, (Y/N)!”

That damn word again. But it sounded so petulant this time.

So desperate.

“Just give me that, you idiot.” And a string had jerked the dildo from your hand. Pulling it away from you and into his grip instead as his tongue angrily ran out to run the length of it.

He put the whole thing in his own mouth soon after even as he glared at you.

Spit edged from his lips as he began to suck it. 

You were of course stunned once more. Discomfort still there for you too as you watched this inexplicable scene while Doflamingo’s cheeks hollowed out with that purposeful sucking. And he didn’t choke at all, nearly the full length of the toy then within his mouth as he pumped it in and out briefly while watching you spitefully.

When he did pull it all the way out again, spit was fully down his chin and soaked across that toy.

He did not care.

“That’s how it’s fucking done.” He growled, but still not looking away from your face. “Get over here. Now.”

And you did comply again then. But with that unwillingness still in your expression as you crawled back to him on the bed.

As soon as you were close enough though, his hand that was not holding the toy shot up to catch you by your throat.

You made a defensive sound and he smirked as he felt the resistance of your armament already beneath his squeezing hand.

“Why does everything have to be this difficult lately? I thought we were having fun.” He lamented, actually unable to make you choke that easily in how strongly your armament was then shielding you. You weren’t as weak as you’d been yesterday.

And he sighed when you still wouldn’t submit to this even rougher play. But he smiled again as he let you go just as abruptly. He finally used the back of his hand to wipe his chin then.

“I just want you to fuck me, lover…I don’t take rejection well you know. You’re hesitating too much. You’re hurting my feelings.”

The last words were said mockingly. But he was still goddamn insane, as usual. Just jumping from one emotion to the next. Had either of you even been awake long enough yet to already be going through all of this?

You took a deep breath. “I’m not rejecting you, Doffy. I’m just-“ Overwhelmed? Depressed? Traumatized?

“I just want things not to hurt. I don’t want anything else to hurt right now.” You managed, but still feeling at a complete loss of how to make someone like him understand any of this if even for a moment. 

And the responding coldness in his eyes was far from comforting as he grabbed your wrist this time, bringing you onto his lap to straddle him.

“But life is pain. So why ask me for the impossible?” His tone was still short, but his volume did quiet as he held you there. 

With you there between his legs, he brought that still wet dildo down between you both. He inhaled, letting your wrist go as he reached to grab himself again. He was then holding his own balls up and out of the way as he moved that toy beneath them.

He still spoke to you as he did, his eyes on yours as he angled it against his own opening that you could not see. “The important thing is that we can now hurt together. You have me. And I’m showing you my pain too, aren’t I? I’m letting you in.”

And he groaned a little, you getting to see that true discomfort move across his face as the tip first entered him.

You were silent as Doflamingo breathed deeper, him pausing as if to adjust to even that much of it inside of him.

“Damn. It really has been a while...” He said, like he was a bit taken aback himself at the new feeling.

But with it now started, his large hand moved back over your wrist.

His grip was warm, and far more gentle this time as he guided your hand to the base of that toy.

“I want it to be you.” He breathed again. There was no mask of a smile any longer. Just this man looking up at you needfully, anxiously even as he made your hand close around the toy. “Push it in, love. Fast or slow…whatever feels right to you. I trust your judgement…please.”

And even if you were sure that every new word of his was fully intended to make you have the exact reaction that you now were, this still wasn’t something you could control.

You felt the new heat in your chest as his tone had changed. You were embarrassed again. It felt like you’d never even had sex before all of the sudden.

And of course you hadn’t like this. Not with the roles reversed this way.

You knew what it felt like for you though, to have that pressure just edging your entrance. The longer you made him wait, the less kind that would be, wouldn’t it?

Oh, you were so in over your head though. Yourself flustered and him still never looking away from you as you finally did start to push it in him.

Doflamingo gasped quietly, his lips parting in a way that immediately had you feeling some kind of way between your own legs again.

Your body was fully confused in this moment actually. 

But his wasn’t. You saw his abdominal muscles tense and even his cock twitch as you still slid that thick toy gradually deeper inside of this man.

The resistance was weird, but you could tell he was relaxing as much as he could. You were being so mindful of his expressions too. Even pausing to let him adjust again whenever you’d see that brief flit of pain reenter his eyes.

And something about that level of care from you did bring a rare softer look across his attractive face. “I knew it…” He chuckled despite himself. “If you had a dick, you’d be so gentle with it at first. Wouldn’t you, my love? So responsible with your weapons.”

He was smiling again then, a fully pleasured one before he let out a small moan when you did continue pressing in again.

“Almost flush…come on.” He said next. His eyes were going half lidded too. A near look of adoration in them now for you. “It feels so good, woman…don’t stop.”

It was hard to look away from those rare emotions either, you not wanting to miss out on any of what he was now offering you in return.

But you also found yourself uneasy to finally realize that all of that toy but the bit you were still holding onto had now disappeared.

It was all the way in. He’d really taken it so well.

And he was still laying on his back beneath you, thighs spread wantonly with his head and shoulders just barely propped up in the pillows as a new urge overcame you.

You left the toy fully in him as you moved back up that long torso of his just enough to kiss him again.

And this surprised him. Likely so much of his focus already just on that sensation of being filled, waiting for you to start thrusting before your mouth was abruptly over his.

But he certainly didn’t stop you. Far from it as his mouth opened in return, wanting to taste you again immediately as you felt his hips roll. His hand grabbed into your hair to hold you to him long enough to deepen that kiss as well.

“Oh, fuck,” Doflamingo breathed against your lips in between kisses, nipping them briefly again when he didn’t want to let go of you. “You don’t know what you do to me…no one…they didn’t do it like this.”

And he wasn’t even making sense now. 

But he was trying to.

So you did pull back a little, your hand then stroking down his chest as you listened to him.

And even that additional soft touch set him off too. His hips rolled hard again as he looked at you desperately. “Why…why are you like this? Why are you so good to me?” He managed, finally articulating what he really meant with the last words. “Why are you so kind to me?”

Of course that question stunned you all over again. But not just for hearing it from his mouth. Because you weren’t sure how he’d even come to that conclusion, and right now of all times.

“I…what did I do?” You asked genuinely, letting him begin kissing your jawline again when you hadn’t yet moved back fully away yet.

“This. Goddamnit all of this.” His frustration was palpable. But he didn’t want to stop. “You…you don’t just fuck me. You kiss me…you hold me. You pet me…it drives me fucking crazy.”

Really? Just because of those simple things?

Your own surprise was surely evident. In all the bodies he must have partaken of through the years, you were somehow a standout?

And for what?

Just for being intimate with him? For giving instead of just taking or cowering?

“Doffy…don’t you get it?” You asked him suddenly then. Your hand was still warm over his chest. You had paused your palm there as you could feel his heartbeat beneath his muscles. That beat was growing faster. “I give you what I would want. I mean…why wouldn’t I do that?”

And his hand moved over yours against his chest. He squeezed your hand, very tightly but not quite painful.

He smirked darkly. “You…are either the best or the worst thing that has ever happened to me in this hellhole.” But his hips moved again as that laugh of his emanated out. “So fuck me like you love me. Finish me properly.“

Almost gently he pushed you back then, back down to sit near his open legs again as he put your hand back on the end of that toy.

It was clear what he wanted most now, rolling his hips again as he watched you needfully. 

And so you did it. No more stalling as you gave your monster what he wanted. Thrusting that toy at whatever speed he would take.

First slow, and then faster as you got to watch the king of Dressrosa begin to fully unravel for you. 

But you felt no guilt. Nor did he want you to. Doflamingo’s approval was clear in the way he threw his head back and even arched against the mattress the more you pressed.

“Fuck…yes, it’s been too long…yes, just like that…” He moaned as those claws of his began fisting into the bedsheet. 

And before long it was your own name repeatedly leaving his panting chest.

You would have been lying to say it wasn’t making new slick between your own legs to hear his normally prideful voice start to break for you that way too.

But you were still more focused on what you were doing to him. Not what it was causing in you as his eyes met yours again.

“Harder…I know you can. Please, (Y/N).” He was already speaking in gasps now. But you still obliged, feeling like you were holding a damn dagger by this point.

Being told to stab it into him over and over, working your wrist and your arm to do so.

His poor cock looked to be painful by now as well as it bobbed in the air with the continued movement of his hips, nothing to thrust into as it leaked precum all over the head.

And in all of his panting and the increasing volume of your name across his lips like some kind of prayer, the thought did finally cross your mind to do something with that neglected cock.

He didn’t deserve it of course. Not after all he’d already done to you. You’d just told him how messed up it’d been that he’d still fucked you when you were blacked out too. You’d told him you wanted a break from hurting. 

But his moans kept on. This shameless motherfucker who could abuse you so thoroughly, and then turn around the very next day and gladly put on a vulnerable display like this.

Your own renewed slick was now thick enough to actually begin edging out. Gravity bringing a hint of it onto your thigh in the way you were currently positioned as your hand still moved to keep fucking Doflamingo.

You didn’t want to get pounded by him yet. You really didn’t as your body was still very unhappy in all the damage it had accumulated recently.

But just being filled yourself for a moment? You could tolerate that couldn’t you? He wasn’t going to be lasting much longer anyway. The changing rhythm of his panting always gave him away when he was already this near climax.

What would his face be if you did this though? Would that expression be worth any additional price you were about to pay?

His eyes were closed now, he was living for those sensations you were rocking through his body as his hips moved in time with your non stop thrusting of that toy. 

Which made it trickier. Keeping your hand and arm movement going, thankfully with some marine stamina to help you out there as you raised up onto your spread knees.

Just open enough to fit him between your thighs of course.

And the mattress movement as you shifted wasn’t enough to warn him. Even if it was, he likely thought you were only trying to find a more comfortable way to sit.

He couldn’t know anything was actually different until he’d felt the first touch of something against the tip of his weeping cock.

But by the time his eyes had opened, your slick had made that initial push all too easy. Just that brief spike of pressure to clear the head, and that small gasp of pain from you before you had slid down onto as much of his length as you could take.

Your channel squeezed around him immediately as his girth stretched you painfully as always, tight to the point of almost being too much to withstand.

And the absolutely awestruck look on Doflamingo’s face as he fully realized what you’d just done, without even being asked to, was an expression you doubted you’d ever see from him again. He nearly came right then and there with that surprise you were sure.

Only you stopping your thrusting of the toy briefly then as you’d tried to adjust to him inside of you had allowed him that extra time to process this.

You were still having to hold yourself up a little as well, not wanting to put too much pressure against your cervix as you watched the man beneath you try to remember his own voice. 

You had rendered the Heavenly Demon speechless. Though his hands wasted no time finding your hips, helping you steady yourself on his length.

Reflexively you tightened on him again and you felt his cock twitch inside of you in response.

He took another shaky breath, still staring at you like you weren’t even human any longer. Like you had materialized straight from the heavens to anoint him with this dual pleasure.

“Let go of the toy,” his voice was practically a rasp when it finally did reemerge. “I’ll move it. You just sit there and stay tight on me…god, gods I can’t…I…fuck I love you. I love you so fucking much.”

And he sounded like he was pleading, or dying. Like you were actually killing part of this man.

But you saw his fingers move. You were getting better at seeing his strings too. The tiny glimmers they made even here in the shadows of those still closed curtains.

His strings were now hooked to the toy. He was going to fuck himself while you took care of his cock in the way only you could.

And once that did restart, with the toy moving in and out with his strings and you rocking your hips and squeezing around his attention starved shaft simultaneously, Doflamingo let out a euphoric moan louder than any before it. One they had to have heard all the way downstairs.

And it was your name he was calling out to the world. 

Like a curse and a salvation for him all at once. It was a fucking scream as he finally came.

He was shuddering, thrusting up into you as you felt his cock pulse again and again. Each pump a shot full of his seed, hot and purposeful.

“Yes…goddamn yes,” he was still panting, still trembling as he pulled you down onto his body. His cock continuing to empty itself inside of you as he held you to him.

And you let him do it. You breathed with him, the heat of that fire between you both so apparent again.

It had become make up sex with a king. Reconciliation with your warlord as one of his hands moved back into your hair and the other went protectively across your back.

He was caging you to him as his chest rose and fell. And you closed your eyes in that warmth, silent again just to hear him breathing. 

You did love this part of it. You really did.

If only it was enough to ever outweigh every other fault in you both.

—————————

He’d let the servants open the curtains at last while they’d delivered breakfast at his command. This new sunlight filling the dining area not being something he’d normally ask for. He usually liked it cooler, darker in here within his chambers. A less stimulating environment when he needed that to withdraw to.

But he wanted to see you better this morning. He wanted to appreciate what was still fully novel to him as you sat near him. Just the two of you sharing a quiet breakfast at the long table in his suite.

He’d only pulled on a pair of pants. Shirtless and barefoot, blond hair not even combed yet as he ate while watching you.

Sex always made him hungry. And he knew you were still working from a caloric deficit anyway. He’d figured out already that you ate less and less the more stressed you were.

Like bringing home an exotic pet, he had to learn your environmental quirks. He had to force you to stay healthy enough to survive after all of his personal investment already in you.

And he’d known there’d be an adjustment period. Some violence surely if you were pushed too far, too fast.

But Crocodile had thrown fuel on that fire. And it’d nearly worked. Just like everything that reptile did. The plan was almost good enough, but fell short in the final leg. A stumble right at the finish line.

He hadn’t even called Crocodile yet either. Though Doflamingo’s mind had churned with so many thoughts of revenge and how close he’d really come to losing you. Painfully angry even long into last night as he’d lain awake holding you while thinking of how to fix this.

That sandy fucker had no right to toy with him now. And just like in Scylla, when Doflamingo had had to abruptly pivot, deciding to bring you home then and there after Crocodile’s attack, he’d felt his hand being forced yet again now.

He had to let his enemies know there was no indecisiveness in him. You weren’t just a new distraction they may be able to harm and thereby simply annoy him or force him to negotiate for. 

This wasn’t him just taking a new mistress for fun. This was him setting up the future that he wanted. You were his family now.

And he was going to let the world know. Then if anyone still dared to come for you, they’d have to do so in full knowledge of the scorched earth that would bring them.

No one harmed his family.

“After we eat, I do have some more things to take care of this morning. But I need you dressed in your best marine garb for this afternoon. I’m taking you to the colosseum then. And I’m expecting practically every seat to be filled there. Diamante is quite the promoter for special events like this.”

The piece of potato omelette still on your fork held there for a moment as you glanced over to him. You so casual yourself in some faded marine training shirt, the material thinned enough that he had been enjoying you clearly being braless beneath it.

“To fight?” You asked surprisingly serious.

Enough so that he scoffed, rolling his uncovered eyes at you. You were still an idiot at times. Still a human after all. “To spectate, darling.” Not that the idea of you fully healed, running around the arena breaking jaws with your kicks and slitting throats with that rope dart of yours wasn’t a very strong turn on in its own right.

There weren’t many female gladiators. The public would eat that shit up if you could be flashy enough about it. You were a bit serious when you fought right now.

Maybe after the child came. You’d probably be itching by then for some postpartum violence and a return to form.

You were a warrior after all.

“We’ve fallen off of the front page again in the papers if you hadn’t noticed. I think it’s time for another public appearance.”

“Why would I want to be in the newspaper? Fuck that.” And you did start eating your omelette again then.

It was obvious the drugs were back out of your system at least. Those pills had dulled you so much yesterday. Your attitude was back in full force today.

But he was in a good mood now. Getting to penetrate you while you penetrated him was an itch he had not expected to be so thoroughly scratched this morning. That had been fucking paradise actually. “Because you want to help our dear mother, don’t you?” Doflamingo taunted, smirking in full knowledge of how much this was going to push your buttons.

And you stilled again, giving him a colder look immediately there. “Tsuru?” You still had to ask.

“Obviously.” He confirmed. “I mean, you’re not fully stupid I know.” He was just being a dick for the sake of it now. He was enjoying every additional interaction with you actually. “Haven’t you wondered why she’s been stationed on the same pitiful island chain for weeks upon weeks now? A strategist like her should have had that rebellion extinguished in days.”

“Have you had your hand in it?” You accused abruptly then.

And he was honestly a little surprised at that. But you were still learning him too. He could forgive it for now. He had obviously benefited by her being away there for so long too. Those circumstances alone had practically dropped you into his lap.

“I don’t interfere with Tsuru-san. Not as Joker, not as me. No, I cut all ties with Lyra as soon as she got assigned there. I’m not the one delaying her.” He said honestly, even through the remaining skepticism in your eyes.

“It’s the world government that decided to bury that place, long and slow with blockades she’s been ordered to maintain. And Big News Morgans has started snooping around about it. So many have died. He’ll drag Tsuru’s name through the mud too if he doesn’t have a better story to sell papers with soon. So you and I can be that story and save her the defamation.”

“How many have died?” You were starting to look more bothered. You were realizing you may actually believe him.

As you should, because he was telling the goddamn truth for once. “Probably a good thirty percent of the total population. But nearer fifty, even sixty percent in certain towns. Because the government is also using that rebellion as the perfect testing ground for some new lab grown diseases of theirs. With Tsuru maintaining their blockade, there’s no medical assistance in or out either. No one to tell on them of how unnatural that contagion really is.”

“Then how would you know?” You were still trying to hope he could be wrong.

And there he did grin again, smugly as his legs spread a little once more beneath the table.

“Lover, have you already forgotten what exactly it is I do for a living? I’m not just your personal cock toy…though I am enjoying the benefits of that new role.”

“Then is Tsuru okay…is my crew okay?”

Oh how sad. Like a puppy missing its littermates. “Of course she’s fine. The government didn’t allow the marines to enter any of the diseased towns either. They’ve got Cipher Pol quarantining those. Your little troop has been spending all their time stopping blockade runners and sniping the surviving rebels in the mountains.”

But he saw the way you still didn’t look satisfied. “Why didn’t she tell me…she never said it was that bad.”

“You know how she is. She probably thought you had enough on your plate. Namely…me.” He smiled again.

“I should be with them.” And it was like you were talking to yourself then. The new guilt in your expression was obvious.

But finally here, he did feel that bit of irritation trying to start in him again. Yes, he knew how attached you must still be to your crew. Tsuru had saved you. No different than him pulling Baby 5, Monet, and Sugar from poverty and what would have only been a life of sexual abuse mixed with the constant threat of starvation for those girls otherwise.

And had never touched them. He would never dream of it in that context. They were family.

He could do these things to you though, because he’d seen you as a potential mate even from first sight.

They were like little sisters to him. But you were not. Even if he may tease you as such, with Tsuru as the common maternal thread between you.

“They’re fine without you.” He said carefully. Actually trying not to let his jealousy fully burst out. He didn’t want this good mood ended already. “I need you here.”

And it was intentional, the way he moved with his long arm easily reaching out for his hand to close over yours on top of the table.

“Like I said, we can help Tsuru-san here by being a good distraction. So she doesn’t have to deal with public accusations of mass murder that she has zero control over. I know she’s still been letting some medicine and food get through in secret anyway. She’s doing the best she can while still playing by the government’s rules on the surface. That woman is incorruptible. As always.”

And you still looked sad. Annoying to him really when he was right here in front of you, giving you his full attention this way. He wanted your mind on this feeling between the two of you instead, thinking of him alone. 

“(Y/N).” He said, relaxing his eyes as best he could. Emoting as best he could to regain your focus. “I need you.” He reiterated, even more intentional this time. Even more heartfelt he supposed it would be called. A skill that could be practiced and honed like any other tool in his manipulations of course. “This is your home now. With me.”

——————————

Your hands were in the pockets of your marine coat, intentionally so he could not hold either of them as your boot heels clicked on the stone streets.

What were you supposed to do? Doflamingo would have pulled you out here on his strings anyway if you hadn’t come willingly.

He wouldn’t have allowed their group to be humiliated by a no show when Diamante had already promised the public an appearance from you both this afternoon.

But you still didn’t buy any of his shit about this being a performance for Tsuru’s sake. Though you were now worrying for her and your crew still as you did your best to keep a neutral expression.

The Donquixote foot soldiers were keeping the curious onlookers at bay as you walked with Doflamingo towards the Corrida Colosseum.

Reporters had remained on the island, hoping for this very thing as cameras now flashed again and questions were yelled out to you both here and there.

For now the warlord was ignoring them though. Those red sunglasses rarely looked away from you.

“You know it’s a bit insulting for you to still be wearing that weapon when we’re out together.” Doflamingo said then, but that amusement so clear in his tone. “I’m all the weapon you need you know…”

Unless the civilians were excellent lip readers, they wouldn’t know what kind of small talk was really occurring here in the other noise of the crowd. And you were still so cognizant of everything you did with your own body language as you kept your eyes on the street ahead and where you were walking.

“If I’d had my weapon on in Scylla I wouldn’t have to still be dealing with this failed amputation.” You replied dryly. That swordsman never would have been so lucky if you just could have disarmed him with a haki infused rope and strangled him until he confessed who he was really working for.

“You left my side that night, darling. That was your own fault.” Doflamingo still chided though. Followed with a taunting, “But you’re barely limping today. Perhaps they won’t even notice with your legs covered this way. Does it still ache?”

You had chosen to wear leggings beneath your skirt this time. Covering the wound and all those bruises. “It hurts like fuck, you ass.” You said lowly.

And he almost cackled at the abruptness of that. 

So much so that you finally did look up at him in mild surprise.

“Didn’t Tsuru ever try to wash out that filthy mouth?” He practically cooed afterward.

Only then as you saw some young women giggling and blushing in your peripheral vision did you realize that to everyone else’s eyes this must look like real flirting, like familiarity already.

His attention was so clearly on you, the tall man walking fully at your side to better interact. Not even in front of you this time to lead. And him then laughing and smiling as if you’d said something endearing. 

Prince charming is who they somehow still thought he was, a fairytale come to life right before their eyes. They had no understanding of what lay behind it at all.

But you couldn’t judge their ignorance. Not when you knew so much more and were still right here beside him.

This very same man that had shown you the edge of death yesterday. And the same man you’d willingly climbed on top of this morning to briefly ride the cock of as he screamed out your name.

What a cursed pair the two of you were.

And he actually looked happy about it, proud even.

This bastard was out here living his best life while you were trying not to have another breakdown. 

Yes, what a complete shitshow this really was.

———————————

There had been lines all the way down the street just for admittance today. And it was even more of a madhouse once they’d gotten inside. This former gladiator knew the corridors well here however, holding the young girl’s hand firmly as he hopped at her side.

“Please stay close. Keep your face covered.” He reminded her yet again as he saw her getting distracted in all the spectacle.

“It’s hot, and I don’t like this on my face.” She still complained though, looking back down at him with her small voice almost lost in all the boisterous conversations around them.

“We’re only staying long enough to see what all this fuss is about. Then we’ll be going home.” Home being only the latest abandoned hovel that no one would search for her in. He hadn’t been able to convince Rebecca to stay there today while he made this rarer trip to the city.

But, it also hadn’t taken much of her arguing with him either really. The little tin soldier was still afraid to leave his young daughter alone out there in the countryside for long.

The girl who didn’t even know she had a father any longer while he kept tightly with her on their way to the public seating.

The sheer number of people here made her being recognized rather unlikely. But it was always a risk. So he’d made her tie a scarf around her face. Just below her wide and anxious eyes as inconsiderate adults bumped her this way and that in the crowd.

Kyros had to restrain himself not to say anything on her behalf. Knowing a normal toy would never make such a spectacle against humans.

He needed to remain focused as well. All the top members of the Donquixote family were now in attendance. 

His contact from the Tontattas had confirmed this. Even as the dwarves had been equally excitable with the fact that they had indeed still seen you alive this morning.

Details of yesterday had been rather spotty with the dwarves intense fear of Doflamingo making them rather unwilling to visit the palace for long. And certainly never letting themselves become trapped in the same room with him.

But Kyros understood there had been some sort of fight yesterday. That you had stood up to Trebol to break his nose even. A wound that executive still had bandaged today in fact.

It was truly unheard of.

So of course the dwarves and their optimistic hearts were already whispering of miracles.

They said Doflamingo had spared you out of affection.

Everything was always face value to them until brutally proven otherwise.

But Kyros had been in the throne room that first night of the invasion. He’d seen the truly pleasured smile on that animal’s face as King Riku had kneeled broken before him. While the former king had begged before that monster for mercy that Dressrosa would never see.

The little tin soldier could not fathom any love ever existing within such a wicked man.

Doflamingo was but a conqueror thirsting for more every moment, every second. More power, more control, more blood, and more suffering.

He was a beast that must be slayed for any of them to ever know freedom again.

So Kyros had come to witness this new lie with his own metal eyes. Because the Tontattas were surely misconstruing it somehow.

They thought you must have some special power over even Doflamingo’s missing heart. They wanted to believe in you so badly.

They hoped that a kind queen may soon rise to free them.

But Kyros had begged them to wait, to not make contact with you yet. 

Even if you had wished to help them, it didn’t mean that you could. It could be only another elaborate trap, you but another puppet on that demon’s strings. 

And the Tontattas weren’t alone in their immediate emotional investment in you either. That was clear in the excitement of the crowd as the tin soldier and Rebecca finally found an empty space they could cram into between other spectators. 

Like every other toy now in this stadium though, the war for this country had never ended for Kyros. His anguish and hatred were still the only real feelings he could muster as the humans beside him cheered when their king did finally appear. A blond devil grinning wide within the royal viewing box.

The very root of all that was wrong with their home. Their captor and tormentor, now with you at his side.

————————— 

Diamante had truly outdone himself today. It was perfect really. Only even furthering Doflamingo’s excellent mood as he heard the crowd now cheering his name.

He reached out, his fingers catching briefly over your hip as he guided you to sit beside him in the open air box.

You tensed at even that small of a touch though. You were still wishing to remain so proper in public. 

That time was about to be ending though. And he already was broadcasting that to anyone paying attention. Which was everyone of course as he extended his long arm over the stone seat back just behind you once you had sat at his side.

Gatz’s voice was already loud over the stadium’s speakers, welcoming the crowd to this afternoon of special exhibition matches put on by request of his majesty who was now gracing them with his rare presence.

Because it really had been a while since he’d been to the colosseum in person. He’d been too busy with his responsibilities as Joker, too busy with chasing you.

But now you were here and so was he. And you’d just noticed the large projection screen. Normally meant to showcase the highlights of the battles below to the crowd. But those visual transponder snails were focused on the royal booth in this moment to the people’s further delight as you quickly looked away.

“Don’t be so cold.” Doflamingo spoke to you with that continued amusement. “You’re still representing your precious marines here too you know. Don’t you care about this island’s citizens? They’re dying to get a chance to catch your eye…”

Quite literally perhaps.

On Doflamingo’s orders, Diamante had already let his prisoner gladiators know of today’s special rules. 

With you as his official guest, whichever fighter was judged as performing the best in the matches to come would earn the unheard of right of a full pardon. Not that unattainable thousand match bullshit that Diamante normally tortured them with.

But that pardon would come from none other than you. Just for today, Doflamingo would be granting you that authority, though you didn’t know it yet.

He wanted them to love you. He couldn’t show much mercy, even when used as a tactic with ulterior motives. Because he had to maintain full control here. But you could. You could be the facade of the softer hand when he needed one.

Doflamingo could have you secure the trust of even the ones that already knew enough to fear him. And you could help him weed out more of the traitors then when they’d inevitably come to you for help.

He was smiling, you making his life better in every way in this moment as he got comfortable. Legs spread again, his knee against yours as one of the servants brought the first tray of drinks by.

And he knew there was a diamond ring in his pocket as well. The one he’d picked out from the jeweler’s tray Monet and Sugar had presented him with earlier today when he’d told you he had a few things to take care of before getting ready to come here.

By this time tomorrow every piece of trash that had ever tried to cross him would be seeing a picture of that ring on your hand in the newspaper.

It was a fucking beautiful day to be king. A beautiful day to have everything back under his control, including you.

———————————

    T⨂  BE 

CONTINUED

———————————

Thanks for reading!

Author’s note: The song that Viola sings in the beginning is just my own English bastardization/loose translation for story purposes of the Spanish song “¡Ay Pena, Penita, Pena!”. Please go listen to the real thing.

[heroesriseandfall]

Jason Todd & Chronic Pain

I scrounged for the panels I know from Rebirth about Jason still having lingering pain and injuries from when the Joker killed him. We know Jason had substantial injuries and brain damage when he was resurrected, and Talia healed that with the Lazarus pit. But here’s some I know of being mentioned even after Talia healed him with the Lazarus pit.

The first I know of is when evil future Batman Tim targeted Jason’s hip because of a Joker-related injury that he claimed would eventually become debilitating for Jason. This move does take Jason out of the fight so it definitely seems like evil Tim successfully aggravated the injury.

Detective Comics #968 (Jan 2018) — earlier in #966 Batman Tim also mentioned future Jason would eventually lose an eye and a leg while fighting assassins.

More recently, regular, not-evil Tim referenced it while evaluating how to fight a Clayface Jason mimic:

Tim Drake: Robin #3 (Jan 2023) — Tim says the pit brought Jason back, which has sometimes been a thing. Originally Jason was only healed by the pit after he’d already been resurrected by something else.

This next one was black label, so it may or may not be canon (the creative team claims “it’s up to reader interpretation” and disagree on whether they personally think it is canon). I’m not a fan of the comic but it did pretty clearly indicate Jason had chronic pain from the Joker:

Batman: Three Jokers #2 (Nov 2020)

(There might be more than these—my reading of post flashpoint comics is kinda random and incomplete compared to my reading of post-Crisis. In post-Crisis though I think they mainly put emphasis on Jason’s destabilized mental health and didn’t really bring up physical aspects IIRC. His brain damage seemed healed and yet he seemed more affected after the pit than other one-time-in-the-pit characters like Dinah Lance or Cass Cain were.)

They haven’t bothered explaining how the pit didn’t heal them so far as I know (the pits kinda work to authorial convenience anyway). My route is usually to blame any weird Jason stuff on the strange, multiversal circumstances of his resurrection, but versions of his origin where he’s only brought back by the pit might not jive with that (which includes some Rebirth IIRC).

In any case, I do hope more writers pick up on this more and I love to see when it’s expanded upon a bit in fandom. I would already consider Jason’s mental health to be a disabling issue for him but it’s neat sometimes to have writers recognize chronic pain-related issues among DC characters. (I’d love to also see more expansion of Bruce mentioning he experienced chronic pain…it pops up every so often but rarely if ever in depth.)

Alt text is copied and expanded upon under read more below.

ID 1: Two panels from Detective Comics #968 showing Jason Todd as Red Hood leaping to fight evil future Batman Tim Drake. Jason says, “Sorry, Timmy, I don’t believe in Santa Claus.” Batman Tim slams his staff directly into Jason’s right hip joint, sending him flying back, and says, “Jason. In a few years you were going to learn that one of your bones never set right after the Joker killed you. There’s a growing debilitating bone spur in your hip joint. There, I found it for you you’re welcome.” They’re both in the batcave.

ID 2: A cropped panel from Tim Drake: Robin #3 showing a red narration box for Tim Drake which says: “The Lazarus Pit may have brought Jason back from the dead, but he’s still sensitive where The Joker killed him.”

ID 3: A comic page from Batman: Three Jokers #2. A Joker leans in Jason Todd’s face, looking intense and serious. The Joker says, “Who is the Joker, really? We’re going to find out.” The word “out” is written in an extended sing-songy way. The Jokers put Jason’s Red Hood helmet over his head but they’ve decorated it with a wide Joker-style grin. The two Jokers laugh, then one says, “We’ve spent considerable time trying to best answer that question: who is the Joker? We found that judge. A serial killer. A surgeon. All rather predictable and uninspiring. And then there’s you. Tell me something. Why would you put on that helmet and call yourself Red Hood after what we did?” Jason, who is sitting naked tied to the wooden chair, says, “Come on. Is every one of you copycats gonna ask me the same thing? It’s a joke.” One of the Jokers holds up a crowbar as the other says, “A joke? We left you with brain damage and permanent nerve pain. Physical and emotional trauma so severe that the only relief you ever find is when you inflict pain on others.” The Joker holds the crowbar by Jason’s head. “You and me, boy…..We’re more alike than you’d care to admit.”

ID 4: A comic page from Batman: Three Jokers #2 showing Jason Todd with no shirt on and small bandages on various parts of his arms and face. He looks at a calendar on a wall and reads the crossed out days that have physical therapy sessions written on them. He sees a stack of various healing and exercise books. The top book is titled Chronic Pain Management by Dr. D. Kresan. He picks it up. Barbara Gordon as Batgirl enters a different, dark room through a window.

ID 5: A comic page from Batman: Three Jokers #2 showing Barbara Gordon as Batgirl entering her own bedroom. She says, “Jason?” She sees a book on her bed titled “Chronic Pain Management” by Dr. D. Kresan. Jason says, “Barbara?” and walks out of the attached bathroom with only a towel around his waist. Babs says, “I figured you’d left.” Jason says, “I hope it’s okay I used the shower and I…I didn’t mean to go through your things. The closet door was open and that book looked…useful.” Babs says, “It was. Are you okay?” Jason has small bandages and bruises on his face as he says, “I don’t think I’ve ever been okay.” Babs looks concerned. Jason continues saying, “What the Joker said…about how I’ve been on the path to being like them for years…they’re not wrong. I don’t want to be like them though. I really don’t. You believe that, right?” Babs says, “I’m willing to.” Then Jason says, “Can I ask you something?”