#i need a frog and a glass table

[abluedolphin]

Chonk

[blockedbykei]

HIHIHIHIHIHIHHIIHIHIIIII IT'S ME AGAINNNNN AND I'M HERE TO PROVIDE MORE DAD TSUKKI BRAINROT 😈😈

Imagine how absolutely concerned, protective, worried, caring, loving (probably feeling every single emotion LMAO) Tsukki is when he's taking care of Hoshi who has a common cold but he's acting like she's about to die

ALSO I LOVE YOU PLEASE DON'T DIE, TAKE CARE AND NO NEED TO RUSH THIS, TAKE UR TIME‼️‼️

I LOVE YOU TOO! thank u for this request 🙏

—

you have never seen kei this frantic since the first time he was almost late to his first sendai frogs practice.

he runs back and forth between the kitchen and hoshi's bedroom, picking up a bowl of soup, fever syrup, a cold rag, a glass of water, a jar of honey, chamomile tea—

everything to assure hoshi's cold.

she'd gotten it yesterday, you assume. it was flu season, but you had all made an unconscious mistake of not wearing a mask. but you and kei had strong immune systems; it's just that little hoshi was still developing her weak lungs.

you follow kei, except walking behind him as he strides five steps to her bedroom. you rest your shoulder on the doorframe, arms crossed, smiling at the sight of your worried husband sitting beside hoshi—who sat with a thick comforter around her arms and a rag on her forehead.

it was only a fever, but kei's treating it like she was about to die at any second.

"eat it, baby," he holds a spoonful of honey, floating just above her tiny pale lips. "for papa, please?"

she shakes her head petulantly. to be fair, this was her third spoon.

kei sighs forlornly. "please, hoshi."

"kei," you walk towards him, placing your hand on top of the one that holds the spoon. "let her rest. you've been all over her since this morning. you're going to get sick."

"we can't leave her alone here–"

"the door's open. and you're not even wearing your mask," you take the spoon, placing it on the empty bowl on hoshi's bedside table. you're glad that she had at least finished the okayu you made. you bend down to let hoshi lay on her bed. "take a nap, sweetie."

she whines, wrapping her blanket around her. "i wanna watch tv."

"she wants to watch tv," kei echoes. "okay baby. i'll take you to the couch."

and before you could protest, he'd already scooped her into his arms, walking rapidly to the living room and laying her down on the couch. kei barely takes his eyes off her, blindly reaching for the remote. and when he has it, it's only when he looks away to look for her favorite show.

his adamancy at being present at her side when hoshi's sick was something you had always admired but had grown to find just the tiniest bit incredulous. you see how hoshi, while she enjoyed his pampering, seemed to not know how to tell her dad that she was (at the moment) content and fine. but whenever she was sick, even at the slighest cough or the tiniest sniffle, kei was on her like a fly on an open meal.

it seems as though she was still enjoying this extra ounce of attention.

"papa," she croaks, nose stuffed. "can i have tonkatsu for dinner?"

"of course, baby," he smooths her hair down, kneeling beside her. "you can have anything you want for dinner."

you sigh. "hoshi, you need to take a nap."

"but i don't wanna."

"hoshi."

"love," kei looks up at you. "she's had a rough day. let her watch. she hasn't caught up with her show for a week." then he pushes himself up, taking the alcohol with him and spraying his palm, before touching your face. "i'll take care of her honey, yeah? it's okay."

you give him a tired gaze, but you can see his worry through the glaze of his eyes, looking down at you with pinched eyebrows. with a huff, you kiss his cheek. "i'll cook the tonkatsu. but i want you to wear a mask, okay? we can't get sick."

after dinner, kei's cuddled with hoshi in the living room, a mask on his face. he's not supposed to cuddle her, but his stubborness had blossomed when hoshi came, especially when he sided with her wants. you take a note of buying adult medicine the next day.

because just as you predicted, he had began to sneeze the moment hoshi had her normal temperature back. kei greets you with a pout, knowing an "i told you so" would be his good morning.

[milswrites]

A thousand roses

~ Cassian X Fem!Reader

Summary: Every day you curse the books that gave you unrealistically high expectations of men. Sure you were going to be single forever until you meet Cassian. Adamant he wants to take you on a date, Cassian does his best to impress.

Warning: ⚠️ Reading this may give you unrealistically high expectations of men ⚠️

Actual warnings: Lots of sex talk and inferences to sex but no actual smut!

“And then he made her orgasm three times! Three! The last guy I was with didn’t even manage to squeeze one out of me!”

Upon finishing your latest read, you just couldn’t help but give a very detailed review of exactly what you thought about it to your co-worker. A packed cafe in Velaris during the middle of the day was probably not the most appropriate location to shout about your sex life, but you just had to share how the smut filled pages had left you more satisfied than any man had ever done.

Jadis snorted into the steaming hot tea she was drinking, liquid spilling everywhere, “I’m telling you girl, you just need to get out there, kiss a few frogs to find your prince. I don’t know how many more of your smut reviews I can take. It’s not natural to be this turned on at work.”

You hummed in response, fingers absentmindedly brushing over the pages of your book, “But that’s the problem. I’m too picky to go for a frog!” You blame the hundreds of books in your library at home for that, millions of perfect fictional men literally at your fingertips. “Real men just don’t do it for me anymore.”

This statement was confirmed as you miserably scanned your eyes over the customers in the cafe, none of the males present seeming to stick out to you meet any of your self-imposed standards. You only had yourself and your books to blame for your lack of a relationship.

“I’m just never going to find anyone! Forever reading in my house wishing I was at the mercy of one of my book boyfriends” you sighed, not wanting to seem downhearted but you just couldn’t help it. Velaris just so happened to be a haven for beautiful relationships, everywhere you turned you’d see interlocked hands, affectionate hugs and the occasional heated exchange of kisses. You could only wish that one day you’d be in the same boat as them, overwhelmingly in love with someone who you could call your own. There’s a reason the night court was so affectionately called the court of dreams.

Jadis reeled in your wandering mind, “Well darling, I hope you enjoy forever fantasising about sex rather than having it. I for one can’t wait to take Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome for a spin.”

She was referring to the moderately attractive male who had asked her out the other day during the preparation of his morning coffee. In your opinion, it wasn’t the most romantic scene. Though Jadis hadn’t been on a date in a long while and so in her own words she was going to implode if she didn’t get a good fuck in soon. So who were you to judge.

The bell above the cafe door twinkled, ending the conversation about your book and pathetic love life. Your eyes travelled to the cafe entrance and stopped when they landed on the biggest male you had ever seen. The Illyrian walked through the door, having to duck his head and draw his wings in to fit through the much smaller frame. His presence in the cafe was enough for you to lift your head from where it was sat in your palm, interest peaked.

There was no doubt that this Illyrian was one of the most attractive males you have ever seen. His long brown hair was pulled back messily into a bun. You didn’t normally like the rough, slightly barbarian-esque type, typically preferring your males to be more clean-cut. It was clear this man didn’t look like most males. No, he looked as if he had just stepped out of one of your deliciously sinful smut books.

He began to approach the counter, his body taking up so much space that he bumped into tables, displacing the drinks of customers who were grasping at the mugs and glasses to try and prevent them from spilling at the earthquake caused by this ginormous man. He apologised to each of them as he moved but kept his eyes locked ahead. Locked on you.

Your friend, noticing the effect this man had on you, spun around and immediately started acting as if she was busy with another job, leaving you to serve him in your hypnotised state.

“Just a coffee please love” he said, pulling you from your stupor as he finally came to a stop at the counter. Mother, even his voice was hot. It was resonant and also bore the twinge of gruffness which left goosebumps on your arms in its wake. There was no doubt everything about this man oozed pure sex appeal. You were too mesmerised to move, brain not registering that he had asked you to do your job. Instead, like a besotted fool, you stayed stood behind your counter, feet rooted to the ground.

“You alright there gorgeous?” The unbelievably good looking male asked, roguishly handsome smile growing on his face, clearly aware of the effect he has on you. This spurred you to move, the stacked cups surrounding you rattling at your sudden movement. “Coffee! Right. Yes, of course!” Managing to squeak a few words out, you turned around to busy yourself with making the coffee, hatred in your eyes as you glared at Jadis who left you stranded making coffee for this very handsome man who’s looks alone were doing very strange things to you and making you think very indecent things. Jadis, undeterred by your glare, wiggled her eyebrows at you, grin stretched across her face, beaming from ear to ear.

With shaky hands, you finish up with making his coffee and without turning around, afraid you’d accidentally start professing your undying love to him if you did, you ask, “any sugar?”

His honey coated voice replies, “No thanks, I’ve already got my eye on something sweeter.” You ignored the sight of your friend’s head snapping speedily to look at you in glee. Heat burning across your cheeks, you turn back to face him, avoiding the man’s eyes.

Hands still shaking, you place the coffee in front of him and wait for him to pay. The sooner he leaves the sooner you can gossip with your Jadis about him and moan about your inability to act normal in front of incredibly attractive men. He pulls out the money from his pocket and places it on the counter, pushing it towards you, but before you can take it from him he drags it back in his direction, finger holding it in place. “How about you and I go out together sometime sweetheart? You’re obviously desperate to.”

At this, the lovesick fog that had been swimming in front of your eyes since this man had entered the cafe dissipated. Rose-tinted glasses off you noticed that the smile that adorned his face was more of a cocky smirk. His confidence and tone of voice told you that he asks this question a lot and most likely always gets the answer he desires. It was clear this man wasn’t the personification of one of your book males come to life. He was just another playboy.

Not wanting to just be another name on the list for this man, you slid the money out from under his hand, sickly sarcastic smile on your face, and said, “I think I’ll pass thanks sweetheart.”

The males smirk promptly fell from his face in shock, clearly not expecting, nor used to rejection. He sputtered out a few buts and whats, flirty demeanour forgotten, a slightly pathetic butt-hurt one taking its place. This was definitely a man not used to losing.

“Have a nice day!” You enthusiastically, and very satirically, finished this interaction before walking away to busy yourself with clearing some now empty tables in the cafe. Wings hung low in defeat, the man at the counter left the cafe, bell ringing as he exited. This surprised you, having expected him to put up a little more of a fight, but nonetheless you were glad that it was over with. Cursing yourself for falling for just another pretty face, standards forgotten.

“What?!” Your friend screamed running over to you, grabbing your shoulders and shaking you vigorously as if you had lost all senses. Unafraid of scaring off the customers who still sat in the cafe, some clearly entertained by the whole event which had transpired. “Do you know who that was? Oh Y/N he was totally into you! Why did you say no?”

“Because he was looking at me as if I was a piece of meat! And no, I have no idea who he was and unlike you I don’t go jumping on every stranger who asks me out at work” You brushed Jadis off of you and started taking the dirty glasses back behind the counter to be washed, your friend hot on your heels not wanting to finish this conversation just yet.

“That was Cassian!” She continued, expression as if it should have been obvious to you who the Illyrian male was. “Good for him” you replied, no idea why it should matter to you who he was, clearly if Jadis and the few interested by standers in the cafe knew who he was he had quite the reputation in Velaris. Surely that mustn’t be a good thing.

“Cassian? Lord of bloodshed? General and Commander of the Night Court’s army?” She continued, seriously not convinced you could have absolutely no idea about him.

You snorted, “I’m sorry, no one actually has that many titles unless they’re from a book… or if they just have a very large ego”.

Jadis groaned, hands fisting her hair in exasperation, “Y/N he’s like totally hot and totally loaded and super important! And he was so checking you out!” You could tell all this was upsetting your friend who was most definitely hoping you were about to get some much needed action, but all you could do was shrug, “I’m sorry babe but I’m a romantic, it’s going to take more than pet names and a stupidly attractive face to gain my interest.”

Giving up, Jadis dropped her hands from her head in acceptance, disappointment clear on her face, “I know, but don’t come running back to me to complain how unsatisfied you are when that Illyrian god was basically throwing himself at you.”

After the topic of the male was dropped, your day continued as normal, whilst Jadis had promised not to bring it up again but you couldn’t help but notice the angry glances your friend kept throwing your way during the last few hours of your shift, distressed that you had let a man go who had seemed perfectly acceptable in her opinion.

At the end of your shift, in an attempt to get her to understand where you were coming from, you slid your book towards her, “Here. Read it and then maybe you’ll understand what I mean.” She picked it up, looking at the cover eyes bulging at the title, “Bound in chains? Really?”

“Trust me, sit down with a large glass of wine and read it. You’re going to love it!”

With that the two of you locked up the cafe, book secure in Jadis’s bag. You said your goodbyes at the door and headed your seperate ways, all thoughts of the handsome man from earlier in the day long gone. Upon your arrival at home, you wandered to your favourite room in the house, your library, wanting to select a new read to cosy up with for the evening.

Approaching your shelf that you reserved exclusively for books you had bought but had yet to read, you pulled one out by its spine, eyes glancing over the cover. The cover which bore the image of a large, well-muscled man, whose long brown hair flowed freely over his shoulders. Eyes blowing wide and blush returning to your cheeks you shoved the book back onto the shelf. Thoughts drifting back to the Illyrian with the same looks who had been flirting with you earlier. Maybe you’d be better off reading a safe fantasy book tonight. Or better yet a book that had no man in at all, although that would be a rare find in your library.

~~~~~

“I am a changed women”

Returning to work the next day, you were greeted by Jadis smiling, bouncing up and down on her feet, and holding your book in her hands.

“I take it you liked it then?”

“Liked it?”Jadis squealed, “it was like reading pure porn. I loved it”

You laughed along side her, of course Jadis would read an entire book and focus on the porn rather than the actual plot of it.

“Truly I did,” she continued, rushing about and gathering her things, “and I would love to stay behind now my shift has finished to talk about it but I have to go home and get ready for Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome, maybe tonight I can try out some of those moves I read about!” She winked at you, handing over your book before rushing out of the cafe with an excitable “Wish me luck!”

Work had been very quiet today, allowing you time to sit and read your newest book. After finishing a simple fantasy last night you were left unsatisfied by the lack of enjoyment it provided when it came to the physical romance. Needing more, you had selected one of the filthiest books you could find.

Engrossed in the pages, plot thickening by the minute, you were absorbed into the book. Only to be broken from its spell when the familiar chime rang of the bell rang out, signalling a customer had arrived. Rushing to finish the page before they reached the counter, your eyes flew over the words before you finally reached the end of the page. Enabling you to look up from behind your book only to see Cassian standing before you, lips formed into a cautious smile. As if unsure of how you’d react to his presence after yesterday.

“Coffee?” You ask, eyebrows raised, placing your book down before standing up from the stool you were sat on behind the counter.

“Please if you don’t mind, but don’t let me stop you from finishing ‘Fated Frenzy’… cauldron do women really read books like this?” Cassian exclaimed, picking up your book and flicking through the pages, holding it out of reach so you couldn’t snatch it back.

Clenching your fists together as you glared at him you replied, “well if only men knew how to actually please a woman then we wouldn’t have to.”

“Maybe you just haven’t found the right man then,” Cassian mumbled, focus still on the book that was dwarfed in his large hands. He must have reached a particularly risqué part as his eyes widened slightly, tongue peaking out from between his lips. Now as he spoke, reading from your book, he wore a large grin, “I mean not every man has a cock that looks as if it was sculpted by the gods themselves.”

You scowled, now managing to take hold of the book grasped in one of his large hands and snatched it back. “I’ve certainly never met a man like that” you replied as you slammed your book back onto the counter and moved off to make his coffee so he could leave you to read in peace.

“Don’t want to check sweetheart?” He teased from behind your back, clearly trying to get you as flustered as he had managed to yesterday. Pleased at your banter. Not wanting to give him what he wants, and definitely not wanting to turn around to see his stupidly handsome smirking face looking back at you, you replied from over your shoulder while you were busy finishing his drink, “it doesn’t take a fool to know the spymaster has a larger wingspan. Now his I’d like to see.”

You heard the catch of his breath, causing him to choke on air at what you had said, clearly not expecting your confident retort, and not saying anything at the discovery you do indeed know who he is all thanks to Jadis. Cheeks stretching into a grin of your own at his embarrassment, you turn and place his drink in front of him. Unlike yesterday, Cassian didn’t even attempt to reach for his money before asking, “Please, let me take you out somewhere nice”.

Your smile dropped, head shaking slowly, “What classes as nice in your books? Other than a quick fuck behind the back of the building.” This comment made Cassian’s eyebrows knit together, not happy with the impression you had of him. “What will it take for you to understand I’m serious? That I want to take you on a date to get to know you.” He sounded earnest you’d give him that.

“I don’t know ok! I just know that I’m not going to say yes to a man I don’t even know who asked me out while I was just doing my job.”

He stretched out his hand, trying to meet yours which was resting on the counter but you pulled away before any contact could be made. “I want to get to know you, if you’ll let me. Likes, dislikes, good bits, bad bits, everything.”

“I- I don’t know Cassian, I just don’t think this is going to work.”

“What will it take?” He begged, eyes desperate.

“For you to be like one of them” you said, nodding your head towards your book.

“An overly sexual alpha male?” He said, confused as to what you were actually referring to. This made a small laugh escape from your lips, “No that’s just a bonus. I’m sorry Cassian, I just dream about being swept of my feet by a man that acts like one of them. Romantic, sweet, not asking out every other woman they see.”

“I can be romantic” Cassian said defensively, “I can be incredibly romantic”

Wanting to get this interaction over with you decided just to agree with him. “I’m sure you can Cassian, no doubt there’s a very lucky woman waiting for you somewhere”.

You weren’t sure it was possible for his brows to furrow any more than they already were, “I’ll prove it to you. Prove that I’m all in on this. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on and I’m not going to let you go that easily.” Determined look plastered on his face Cassian grabbed his coffee and walked towards the door pulling the it open, bell chiming, and before he stepped outside he called back to you, “I’ll see you soon gorgeous, you better be ready for me” and with that Cassian left, the cafe silent apart from the bell still ringing, the sound helping you realise that Cassian was real and that interaction did actually happen.

It was only five minutes later, when your wild thoughts were tamed by another customer entering did you realise that Cassian never even paid for his drink.

~~~~~

“Y/N!” Cassian shouted bustling through the tables to reach you as he entered your work once more. Shock flooded your system, he had learnt your name from when you last spoke to him two days ago. After causing a ruckus, and spilling many drinks onto poor unsuspecting customers laps, he reached the counter where you were stood waiting for him.

“What are you-“ you started angrily, worried he would scare away valued customers. Though you were interrupted by Cassian whose arm, which was hiding behind his back, shot out revealing the largest bouquet of flowers you’ve ever seen.

He held them out expectantly, waiting for you to take them but your suprise had you rooted to the spot. Familiar with your freezing by now, Cassian impatiently shook the bouquet in your face, movement bringing your thoughts back to the present. Still not taking them, not quite believing something so beautiful could be gifted to you, you spoke, “They’re lovely Cassian but you just cut right in front of Matilda who was here first!” Cassian’s features faltered as he dropped the bouquet in disappointment.

Matilda , the lovely little old fae who frequented your cafe, leaned around Cassian’s broad figure so she could see you, “it’s alright Y/N! Take the damn flowers and talk to the man!”

Cassian thanked the older women and stuck out the flowers once more. “For you,” he said encouragingly, willing you to accept the gift, “I told you I’d prove myself to you. I’m here for a date.” By this point you had been stood there for a ridiculous time causing your Jadis to stretch her arm past you and grab the flowers smirking as she says, “Thank you Cassian, they’re beautiful, Y/N loves them. Lillies are her favourite, how did you know?” Winking as she walked off with the bouquet it was clear Cassian has been getting some insider information from the mouth of your best friend.

The Illyrian nodded his head at your friend gratefully and you finally rediscovered the ability to speak, “Thank you, but if you’re here for a date I’m sorry I can’t help you, this is my work Cas, I have to do my job.”

“Pfft bit presumptuous I’m here for a date with you”

At that your face fell slightly before you quickly returned you expression to normal, not wanting Cassian to know his words had an effect on you. Surely he wouldn’t bring you flowers just to have a date with another woman in your workplace. Was this some twisted way to try and make you jealous?

Flirty expression on his face Cassian adjusted where he was stood and flung his arm around Matilda who began to blush, “Have to find out everything I can about you from my beautiful date Matilda here! One coffee for me and one of whatever my darling date would like” he said, making Matilda giggle before asking for her usual. Relief flooding you body, your lips twitched and you began to make their order, “my, my, Matilda. I have to say I expected better in your taste of men”.

“Woah woah no need to tell her,” Cassian joked, “don’t want this hot commodity to leave me for something better” he finished, winking at Morgana who looked as happy as if it was Solstice morning. Grabbing the finished drinks you had placed before him, he headed to a table, coming back once the drinks were down to walk Matilda to her chair, but not before placing his money on the counter, saying, “Moneys there for the other day by the way, I’ll speak to you later.”

Cassian must have sat talking with Matilda for hours, watched closely by you from the corner of your eye as you worked, customer after customer coming and going. Finally when the rush had died down and your shift was coming to an end, the two who had been huddled together gossiping over more than a few coffees, hot chocolates and cakes stood to take their leave. Or more accurately, Matilda was taking her leave. Cassian had said his goodbyes bending down to give Matilda a big hug and then scooped their empty plates and cups into his arms before walking towards you.

There wasn’t enough time for him to place the items down on the counter before you watched as Matilda lay a firm smack to his backside before giggling, “I’ll see you later hot stuff.” Lucky not to break any cups, Cassian jumped, flying forwards and dropping them all onto the counter before you, eyes terrified.

You couldn’t help but chuckle, placing the cups the right way up before checking on the male, “you alright there hot stuff?”

“Oh don’t even start. That woman’s got one strong slap” he whined, hand rubbing his ass to relieve some of the pain.

“Don’t act like that’s not how all your dates end” you goaded, cheeks twinging at the effort to stop yourself from bursting out laughing.

“Trust me gorgeous, if any of my actual dates ended like that I wouldn’t be complaining” he winked at you, all the while pulling a napkin out of its holder to help you clean his mess from the counter.

As you watched him clean, you couldn’t help but admire the way his brows slightly furrow when he’s concentration, noting the way his focused mouth tilts to once side, tongue slightly poking from between his lips. He was handsome there was no denying it.

“Will you walk me home?” You blurted, snapping your mouth shut and internally cursing yourself for asking such a ridiculous thing, digging yourself into an even deeper hole you continued, “it’s only that the flowers you got me are so big… and I have all my other things…and…uh..”

“Y/N, I would love to walk you home”

“Great! I’ll just um, go and grab my stuff”

You turned, heading towards the cloakroom, only to be met by Jadis, bag and bouquet in hand. She shoved them eagerly into your arms squealing, “go get him girl!” Hands pressed against your back, she forced you to move forwards until you were in front of Cassian, “don’t have too much fun you two” she said now guiding you both from the cafe, tripping and stumbling over each others feet as Jadis’s excitement led to some very firm shoving.

~~~~~

Once outside in one piece, no thanks to Jadis, Cassian plucked the flowers from your arms allowing you to swing the strap of your book-filled bag over your shoulders. Timidness now overcame you, what were you supposed to say to him now? Had asking him to walk you home seemed too desperate?

“So what are you reading now? Not another book about a poor sexually frustrated female?” He asked, breaking your panicked thoughts as he walked side by side with you.

“No sex this time,” you giggled lightly, “this one’s about a man who sacrificed his kingdom for his true love”

“You really like that stuff huh?” Cassian spoke softly to you, he sounded like he was truly interested in finding out exactly how your brain worked, “that true love and romantic gestures shit?”

“It’s not shit” you defended, “sometimes it helps me not feel so alone. Reading about all these grand gestures and things people do for the ones they love.”

Cassian cleared his throat awkardly, his hand which was not holding the flowers moving up to scratch at his head, “and you’re into that? Romantic gestures?”

“It’s hard not to be. Pretty sure it’s every girls dream to be swept of their feet and fall as deeply as characters do in books.” Cassian was nodding along to what you were saying but his eyes showed he was lost in thought. It was your turn to draw him from his head, “you never done anything romantic for your ladies Cas?”

His name on your lips seemed to work, the clouds of thought in his eyes fading as he turned his gaze from the road ahead to you, “I guess I’ve normally always thought that just me is enough”. He didn’t say this to be cocky or narcissistic, you could tell. You didn’t mean to make him feel shame over the situation, you had been genuinely curious. Perhaps a little jealous at the thought of Cassian putting in just as much work into chasing other women as he has been with you.

“That’s ok. I think romance is more reserved for the pages of books these days than in actual reality”

Not a fan of where this conversation had turned to Cassian did his best to lift the mood, “I’m not surprised you think that if all your books were like that one I caught you reading. Heck where are you meant to find a overprotective god of war with who hates everyone but the lowly daughter of an inventor and they go on to have insane - and totally not physically possible by the way- sex!”

You scrunched your face, “Cassian there’s no way you were able to get all that from one page…Oh cauldron! You read the book! You read Fatal Frenzy!”

As if only now realising what he said to you, a flustered Cassian tried to provide you with lame excuses as to how he knew that information until it was clear you weren’t going to let it go. After about five minutes of listening to your constant prodding, poking and teasing as you walked, Cassian caved, “Fine! Fine, I read it ok. I was curious as to how he was going to put his god level cock to use!”

By this point you were full on cackling, having to stop your walking to put a hand on your stomach at the thought of this mountain of a man sitting down to read a devilishly smutty book. “I have to say”, you gasped out in-between giggles, “I’m surprised you can even read”.

Cassian acted out the most overdramatic reaction to your words, his hands flew to his heart, bouquet still in his grasp, and released loud, exaggerated noises of pain and cries of just how horrible you were. People had began to stop in the street, wondering why the Lord of Bloodshed was acting as though he had just been shot. Rolling your eyes and wanting the attention off the two of you, you elbowed his side prompting him to stop, “careful you’ll crush my flowers if you die any wilder.”

Charming grin of his face, Cassian looked down at you, “we wouldn’t want that would we? Not when a super hot guy went through the effort of finding out your favourite flowers for you.”

“You’re crazy” you said in dismissal, continuing to walk in the direction of your home.

“Your kind of crazy?” A hopeful tone in Cassian’s voice.

“I haven’t quite decided yet” you said honestly. You couldn’t deny that Cassian was already proving himself to you more than any man has. No one had ever bought you flowers before and no male had ever attempted to read a book you were reading for your attention.

“Well you just let me know when you do” Even the way Cassian looked at you made you melt.

“You’ll be the first” gentle smile on your face. Nerves building in you once more as you thought about what going further with the man next you you would entail.

Content to let you walk lost in your thoughts, Cassian didn’t try to force any conversation. A natural peace fell between the two of you, the silence not an awkward one. It wasn’t until you neared the outside of your house that you broke the silence, “Well, this is me”.

Nodding Cassian passed you the bouquet. For the first time you looked at the flowers and really admired them, admired the fact this man had gone out his way to go to your friend and make sure he got your favourite ones.

“Thank you Cassian,” you said, laying a kiss onto his stubbled cheek, “they’re beautiful.”

Cassian’s usual confidence gone, it was his turn to blush. Shyly, he tried his luck again, “so about that date?”

You walked over to your door, pulling out your key, turning back to Cassian, twinkle in your eyes, you said, “ask me again tomorrow”.

“That wasn’t a no!” He said, confidence rushing back into him. As you entered your house and peaked through the window behind your curtains you couldn’t help but watch Cassian, beam on his face, as he jumped on the spot. A small celebration that you hadn’t fully rejected him once more. A matching grin on your face as you observed him, you stayed watching until he took off from the ground, large angelic wings spread, wondering what in Prythian was this man doing to you and what sinful things you’d like to do with those wings.

~~~~~

You were sorely disappointed over the course of the next week. Since that evening Cassian had walked you home to the cafe he had not returned. Jadis tried to keep your thoughts positive, saying he was probably away on important Night Court business, being the General of its army and all. After being the one to speak to Cassian about you she was adamant that he was undoubtedly in love with you and he wouldn’t leave you hanging.

It was hard though, when the eighth day of his absence rolled round, not to think that he had found someone more interesting to pursue. Someone who didn’t make him work as hard for their affections. Your mood was so glum that you didn’t even have the heart to read. Why read about love when you’re not sure you believe in it anymore?

You had spent days wondering what you had done wrong. Had you been too forward? Or did he find your obsession with males that weren’t real a little too bizarre? You did your best not to dwell on it but it was so hard not to, the flowers you had placed in a vase on the side table in your library, right next to your reading chair, still flourished beautifully, a constant reminder of the man who crashed into your life only to leave it in shambles.

So here you were, sat on the stool in the cafe, your thoughts being the only thing to keep you busy due to your sudden lack of interest in reading. It had been another quiet day, but it wasn’t long now until Jadis would arrive, you had opened the cafe for her after she asked for a favour so she could spend the night at Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome’s, who’s name you had learnt was Arthur. Happy that even if your love life was crumbling, at least Jadis’s was blooming. However, you were thankful you weren’t actually supposed to be working today, not sure if you could survive another shift listening to her unintentionally boast about how perfect Arthur was and how good he is at sex.

So you sat there and waited for her arrival, desperate to go home and crawl into your bed. Without your typical reading to do, you found yourself spending most of your free time sleeping, wasting away the hours you didn’t know what to do with yourself in.

It was finally an hour after the time she had promised to be in for, when Jadis flew into the cafe, bell ringing aggressively at her sudden entrance. Running to where you were at the counter, coat and bags in hand, she was profusely apologising over and over for her tardiness.

“You must have had a good night with Mr Handsome” you teased, trying not to let your slight annoyance at you still being here show. Confusion flashed across her face before she quickly corrected it in realisation, “Oh yeah! Totally great sex, every woman’s dream. Hugeeee dick.”

Opening your mouth, ready to ask her about her odd behaviour, she pulled you from your stool before you could talk. Dragging you out from behind the work area, saying “Come on Y/N it’s your day off, don’t want to be here any longer than you have to be!”

Now you defiantly knew something was off, Jadis typically keeping you an hour in-between shifts to catch you up on everything that has happened since the day before. “Jadis, what’s going on?” You asked cautiously, had something happened between her and Arthur? No. Jadis would definitely tell you if that was the case, or maybe she just didn’t want to make you any more depressed than you already were. Still in that strange tone of voice, Jadis kept pushing you to leave, “Nothings wrong! I’m fine. Now leave, you still have the whole day to do something, go read one of your smut books!”

This confirmed she was definitely hiding something, knowing that you haven’t picked up a book for the past week after listening to your incessant complaining about the matter. If you weren’t so desperate to leave and go rot in bed for the rest of the day you would have stayed and forced whatever it is she was hiding out of her. You decided that was tomorrow’s job, when you had a nice six hour shift together where she couldn’t avoid your pestering.

Shrugging on your coat and promising to yourself you’d find out what she was dodging tomorrow, you left the cafe. Turning your head around to look back through the windows only to be met with Jadis and her crazed eyes watching, as if making sure you were walking in the direction of your house. Unsettled, you followed the streets leading home, praying to the Mother that your friend was alright and you weren’t about to have to kill a man for upsetting her.

Finally, you arrived at your door, turning the key in the lock you were startled to discover the door was already unlocked. You were exhausted when you left that morning but you could have sworn you weren’t so tired that you’d risk your property and your safety like that.

Fear now coursing through your veins, you quietly pushed your door open, scared you would alert anyone in your house that you were there and something bad would ensue. The fae lights in your hallway were all lit, softly casting a warm glow over your home. You stepped inside, and instead of your foot meeting the usual plush of your carpet it was met with a slight crunch.

Casting your eyes to the ground you gasped. There were hundreds of rose petals scattered across your floor, leading towards each of your rooms. Following the trail, you made it through to the entrance of your living room, if your jaw dropped any lower you were sure it’d hit the floor.

The entire room looked as if it had been covered in a red blanket, a sea of roses covering the entirety of your room to the point where you couldn’t actually see anything that wasn’t a deep shade of red.

By this point your heart was pounding in your chest and you were sure you could feel your eyes watering, the hundreds of roses placed around you getting blurrier and blurrier. But there was no sign of the man you were sure had placed them.

Turning around you sped into each of your rooms, wanting nothing more than to find Cassian and throw your arms around him. Each room the same as the last, filled to the brim with the most beautiful roses. Lillies may once have been your favourite flowers but you think the kind-hearted man, who had wormed his way into your heart, may have just changed your mind. Roses were perfect.

Still no Illyrian insight you flung open the door to your library. Room decorated just as over the top as the others. And there in the centre of it all, sat waiting for you to return home, is Cassian. He stood quickly, treading on some of the flowers placed by his feet.

“How?” You asked, voice cracking as you tried to hold the tears at bay.

“It wasn’t easy, Jadis let me in.” Cassian said lightheartedly from where he stood across the room, too far from you for your liking, “I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long. I wanted to do this the day after we last spoke but I guess I didn’t actually think about the logistics of getting thousands of roses delivered.”

You stayed silent, heart overwhelmingly filled with love for the man before you, the man who had spent the past week getting a thousand roses just to ask you on a date. Taking your silence for something bad, Cassian began to ramble, “My brother Azriel - the spymaster - he helped too…I wanted to make sure it’d be done in time. It’s a mess I get it, I’m sorry, I’ll clear it all out for you I just-“

You cut him off, tears now flowing freely down your red hot cheeks, hands trembling, “it’s perfect Cassian. Nobody…nobody has ever done anything like this for me” At the sign of your tears Cassian made to make his way towards you but was stopped by the fact he just didn’t know where to place his foot without ruining all his hard work.

“Clearly I didn’t think this through very well” he mumbled, arms out to keep him balanced and preventing him from falling. Not wanting to spend a minute more away from him after having to suffer through a whole week, you ran, roses be damned right into his arms. Throwing yourself at his muscled body as he caught you, pulling you close to his chest in midair.

“You’re crazy!” you exclaimed, head tucked into his neck as you rested it on his shoulder.

Cassian placed you down gently, arms still wrapped tightly around your waist but he wanted to look into your eyes for this, “your kind of crazy?” His eyes held that same hopeful desperation that they had when he last asked you out.

“Hell yeah” and with that you grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and connected his lips to yours.

The kiss was like nothing you had ever read before in one of your books. It was everything and more. A fire ignited within you, burning hotter and hotter and you just kept needing more. Cassian the fuel to your fire and you were sure that as long as you had him with you it was a flame that would never die out.

It was a messy clash of teeth and tongues, both of you uncaring of how sloppily and uncoordinated were kissing. All you knew was you needed each other like the pages of a book needed ink. You kissed and you kissed, hands wandering until you weren’t sure which parts belonged to Cassian and which to yourself.

The need to breathe forgotten, you continued. Hands running over his back which was rippled in muscles before reaching around his neck, holding onto him tightly as he picked you up once more.

It was only when the need for air was so overwhelming that you had no other option to pull away that you did. Heads pressed together, lips still slightly touching, a trail of saliva linking the two of you together. Cassian continued to hold you in his arms as if you were nothing but a feather, catching his breath he finally began to speak, “So about that date then?”

You giggled, pulling him even closer to you by his neck and laying a soft peck on his lips before drawing away to give your answer, Cassian’s mouth chasing after yours, “If this is how you ask me, I can’t wait to see what you have planned for our first date. Hopefully you don’t ignore me for a month whilst you prepare.”

Barking out a laugh Cassian placed you on the floor of roses, holding your hands to ensure you didn’t stumble. He looked around the room, proud smile adorning his face, he first took in the roses which he had took so long in prepping, screaming at Azriel when he hadn’t placed them down as he had pictured in his head. His gaze then swept your shelves, hundreds of books upon them.

“Ever read about this in one of your books?”

“Nope this is definitely a first”

His eyes landed on the book resting on your table, right next to the vase full of lilies he had originally given you, title in gold lettering along the front of the cover. Fated Frenzy. The book he had read because of you. You laughed as you spotted what he was staring at, his eyes travelling back to you, running up your body with hunger before finally settling on your eyes.

“You into roleplay gorgeous?”

With those words he smashed his lips back onto yours. The promise of an exciting night ahead.

Here, standing in your library entwined with the Illyrian you decided all those characters you have read about were lacking in one thing you never even knew you needed.

They weren’t Cassian.

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

Notes: You have no idea how much I wanted to finish this fic with “And so Cassian did” lol

Happy Valentines <3

[mountainsandmayhem]

hey hun!! for your 500 followers celebration could you do 📝, of a scenario in which joel comes home to find you all cramped up and in pain since you began your period and he decides to be the comforting little man and cuddles you to death??

(no pressure!! 🥰🤗)

-vii💗💗

Joel: Period Master

18+, but mostly fluff

Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

AN: Thank you sweet Viv for this ask. This is based in the Little Dove universe, but Sarah and Ellie are teenagers and living at home. 💋 also, I 100% did not edit or proof read this. Sorry!

Joel has had a long ass day. A joke of a day really. First the concrete was late, then someone broke the powered wheelbarrow so they were moving gravel by hand. Then it started raining and they scrambled to cover everything, the job site soon became a muddy mess. He’s desperately looking forward to a hot shower and a glass of whiskey.

He pulls into the garage to see your vehicle already parked, which is strange since you had plans with a friend for after work drinks.

He trudges from the truck to the back door, mud still breaking off his work boots along the shiny concrete floor of the garage. He toes them off before heading into the back entry. Your heels are tossed on the floor, work bag and jacket haphazardly placed on the bench.

“Babe?” He calls from the back door, walking around to the family room to find his two daughters curled up on the couches.

“Hi girls. Where’s your mom?”

They both shoot daggers from their eyes, Ellie clutching the blanket tighter around herself and Sarah flipping the ice pack that’s draped across the back of her neck.

Shit, already that time.

The joys of living with all women….they’ve synced up. His usually sweet teenagers daughters turn extra moody, but Joel is the supporter of this family in every way, so he is always prepared for this time each month. Sarah, usually the sweet tooth, needs salt and chocolate milk. Ellie, usually the salty one, needs Diet Coke and green gummy frogs. All things Joel keeps tucked up in a cupboard, or in the back of the beer fridge in the garage.

He sneaks quietly back into the living room, putting the emergency supplies for the girls down on the coffee table as they watch Dirty Dancing.

Ellie looks up at him with sad eyes, tears welling in the corners. “Thanks, dad.”

He crouches down beside her and rubs her lower back through the big fuzzy blanket she’s cocooned in. “You’re welcome, kiddo. Do you need anything else?”

Sarah’s head pops up from her couch, “Mom’s not doing well. You should go be with her.”

He kisses both his daughters on the foreheads, taking a big breath before walking down the hall to your bedroom. Nothing in this world breaks his heart more than seeing you in pain. He knows some months can be worse than others, he knows about the bloating and the large clots you deal with. He knows that you can be insatiably hungry one minute and throwing up the next. He knows that your cramps can have you on the floor in the matter of seconds most of the time.

He opens the door as quietly as possible, finding you curled in a tight ball under the down filled duvet, just your hair peaking out the top. The room is stifling hot, the air almost thick, it feels like being in Phoenix in July as he pads over to the bed.

“Baby?” He whispers, carefully climbing up beside you, trying not to disturb you. A lesson he learned a few years ago when you had finally gotten comfortable, only to be brought to big crocodile tears when he moved a pillow that was tucked against your back.

A sad groaning whine leaves your throat as his large palm dips under the blanket to cup your forehead. “Sweetie, you’re burning up.”

“I’m freezing,” you whine, pulling the big blanket tighter around you.

“Ok, baby girl. I’m here now,” he says, standing and stripping down to his boxers briefs. You peek your eyes over the blanket, watching the way his strong body flexes and relaxes, the muscles ripping as he moves. The summer sun has tanned his arms a beautiful golden brown.

He wanders around to lay behind you. “Let me in, honey.”

You let go of the blanket so he can slip under, his warmth immediately sinking into you, heating your sore and achy body all the way to the bone. “You’re practically naked under here, Little Dove.”

You sink back into his heat. “Don’t look, I’m wearing the worst granny panties and one of those super pads.”

His hands trail around your slides, a large palm resting on the very bottom of your belly where the cramps are, hand sliding under the band of your incredibly unattractive panties. “You’re sexy to me no matter what you wear.”

Joel begins kneading the muscles of your lower abdomen, simulating the contracting of your uterus and the pain begins to ease. You moan and relax more into your perfect man.

“That feel good?” He says in a deep, gravel filled whisper.

“Mm-hmmm,” you hum, closing your eyes and finally feeling relief from the debilitating cramps.

Joel pulls you in tighter and kisses your shoulder. “I’m sorry you’re suffering, baby. I’m going to take care of you. Anything you need, I’ll do it or get it.”

“DAAAAAAD!!” Sarah and Ellie call in unison from the couch. “PIZZAAAA!!!”

You snort a little laugh. Poor Joel, having to deal with all these uterus’s.

“Pizza party?” You ask.

“Anything for my girls.” He hums, stubble grazing the shell of your ear.

“Anything?” You say mischievously.

“You’re not painting my toe nails again”

“Damn. I have this new hot pink that I think would really suit you,” you tease.

Joel’s quiet for a moment, still kneading the muscles absentmindedly, but with incredible care and precision. “I’ll lend you my favourite sweats and t shirt if you stay away from my toes.”

“Deal,” you say with a wince.

“What’s wrong?” Joel says, pulling you onto your back so he can look you over. Concern etching his eyebrows.

You reach up and rub the creases spot with your thumb, his eyes meeting yours. “Butt hole cramp,” you say flatly.

Joel smirks down at you, at this angle your swollen, heavy breasts are on display for him. “Want me to kiss it better?”

“You’re a menace, Joel Miller. And our daughters will riot if we don’t get them pizza soon.”

Joel lends you his clothes and helps you get dressed before sliding on his jeans and t shirt. He kisses your forehead and helps you to the lazy boy chair, brining your king sized duvet with him to wrap you up.

“I’ll be back with pizza,” he says to the group.

As soon as he’s out of ear shot Ellie pipes up, “do you think if we play this up we can get him to let us paint his toe nails again?”

[t1red-twilight]

through the ages

part 1

content/warnings: gn!reader, fluff, doesn’t follow cannon super closely (i’m stupid), cursing, mentions of spencelle (bc i said so)

notes: lmao finally got this out

word count: 2.0k

masterlist series masterlist

hotch opened the door and brought you in. spencer took note of everything; the curve of your lips, the way you walked. he had never been so enamored with a single person before. sure, he’d had crushes. but never once had he immediately needed to know someone.

aaron’s introduction of you was wordless; the world lagged as spencer gazed upon you but desperately tried to avoid eye contact. every spot of your face, every imperfection had him speechless.

you had just graduated, masters in criminal justice and a minor in sociology from princeton. full ride scholarship, spencer later found out. (your writing was exquisite; very insightful. he looked it up in the hotel later that evening.)

it had been a normal day in the office, as normal as it could be. then, his world stopped when he saw you. after elle had left something in him felt sort of numb; maybe, you could give him a spark.

you sat in the chair directly to his left on the opposite side of the table. one elbow leaned on the desk, and you wordlessly mouthed words he couldn’t make out as the case was described. your eyes flicked over to him, and he quickly looked back at hotch. had you caught him staring, or had you wanted to catch a glimpse of him? he knew that this could maybe mean that you were trying to look at him from the same motivations that he was, enamorment, or maybe you had just sensed him staring like a frog at a fly: quickly, insignificantly.

the only issue was that it seemed you liked morgan.

las vegas, nevada was where the team was headed. being here reminded spencer of things, memories he didn’t care to recall. he noticed how you were hesitant to speak up, a feeling he had been familiar with a few years ago when he first joined the team.

the police station was incredibly stuffy, typical for the las vegas summertime. if you looked out into the road, you could see mirages. the police station had ac, but it was not helpful by any means at all.

spencer looked over at you. your hands were in your lap, and you were intently focused on something that morgan was saying. morgan was sitting on the table in the centers of the conference room, and you were looking up at him.

the stretch of morgan’s muscles underneath his shirt made spencer’s chest pang with envy. what did you think about morgan? was morgan your type? oh, god. maybe spencer didn’t even have a chance.

he didn’t see hotch approaching. “you find anything on the geographical profile, reid?” spencer blinked rapidly in an effort to clear his mind. he turned around to face the map that he had been leaning on. “distracted?” hotch’s eyebrows raised in what spencer knew to be amusement, though he was never hyper-expressive.

“uh- no. i’m alright. all the murders were in the same police jurisdiction, and all within a mile of each other. the focal point of these suggest that the unsub might live-“

-

you couldn’t stop your hands from shaking. this introduction could make or break your relationship with the bau team. it didn’t help that you were so young and inexperienced. hell, you were still working on your phd.

aaron hotchner guided you into the room and recited your name and qualifications. however, your eyes were glued to the wall right above the shoulder of a tall man, who had a goatee.

when you peeled your eyes away from the wall, you saw him. he had light brown hair, and starry eyes that were behind thick-rimmed glasses. one of his plump lips was tucked between his teeth.

once hotchner finished, you sat down paid attention as much as you could to the case that you were being sent on. baptism by fire, you guessed.

every now and then, you’d look out of the corner of your eye to look at the man in glasses. hopefully he wouldn’t catch you trying to memorize every freckle and line on his face.

you stayed mostly silent on the jet. you figured that you could mostly shadow the other people on the team before you got the hang of things. the chairs on the jet were not super comfortable; or maybe, you were just ridiculously tense.

you had only been to las vegas one or two times, and one of those times was just driving through. the police station was crowded and full of typical police assholes. that, you were more than used to. a bead of sweat dripped down your back.

when you sat down to look at the police reports one more time, you heard the table creak as someone sat upon it. looking up, you saw the man with the goatee from earlier. “so, where’d you work before you landed this gig?”

you exhaled a breath you didn’t know you were holding. at least he was being casual. still, you dropped your hands to your lap to fiddle with your fingers. “i was an assistant at a firm up in jersey,” you said, pausing briefly. “remind me what your name was again?”

“i’m morgan.” you followed by telling him your name. he must’ve seen you glancing over at the man in glasses repeatedly. he was raptly describing the geographical profile to agent hotchner. “that’s reid, if you didn’t already know.”

“that’s good to know. this morning was a little rushed.” your eyes trailed over agent reid. the way his fingers moved across the map with intense dexterity was enticing.

morgan chuckled and rolled his eyes playfully (even though you couldn’t see it, your gaze still locked on reid). “he’s single,” morgan purred, jumping off the table to return to his previous task.

you felt like a deer caught in the headlights, but morgan was gone before you could protest to what he was alluding to.

-

the case had gone by smoothly. but spencer could hardly even focus when you were within fifty feet of him. he was inexplicably drawn to you.

the jet was much cooler than vegas had been, and the entire team felt relieved. you were the last on, spencer quickly sat upright. were you walking towards him?

you spoke in a soft tone, “can i sit here? all the other seats are taken.” you clasped your hands together, likely out of nerves.

spencer nodded vigorously before he answered. he almost forgot to respond verbally. “yeah!” he said loudly. shit. he didn’t want to seem too eager, he might embarrass himself. “yes, of course you can.” this time, he spoke as quietly and calmly as he could muster while simultaneously scooting over to make room for you on the couch.

he tried to avoid eye contact. luckily, you weren’t even looking in his direction. if you had been, you might see the red creeping up his neck. you had a light floral scent about you, one that reminded him of simpler times when life was less hectic.

“agent reid, right?” you murmured. even though it was just his last name, he loved the way you said it, rolling off your tongue so smoothly and delicately.

he shrugged and leaned back on the couch slightly, trying to relax his shoulders. “doctor, actually, but you can just call me spencer.”

your tongue swiped your bottom lip before you spoke. “spencer. that suits you.” oh god, it did sound great when you said it. it sounded downright angelic; almost as if you were the only person meant to say it.

a silence followed. while being slightly awkward, spencer wasn’t too concerned about it. at least you were sitting next to him and not derek. “did you have a job before this one?”

“yeah, i was a lawyer’s assistant.” your voice was more soft than it had been. spencer looked over at you for the first time since you sat next to him.

“you like the bau so far?”

“how long have you worked for the bau?” you both spoke over each other; you turned and met his gaze. your eyes were beautiful, the lighting of the jet illuminating your face in a perfect way. spencer gestured for you to speak first.

“yeah, it’s alright.” a small smile adorned your lips. spencer wondered what they tasted like, before shutting that thought down completely. he couldn’t be thinking that about his coworker, let alone one he met less than forty eight hours ago.

you mirrored his gesture. “i’ve worked at the bau for a couple of years now.” what a dumb response. why couldn’t he think or speak properly?

his mind kept wandering. “you like it so far?” he whispered.

“yeah, it’s pretty cool.” pretty cool? who even says that? “just let me know if you need anything.” you gave him a warm smile and nodded. the way you smiled made him giddy and filled his stomach with butterflies.

-

being last on the jet didn’t work out well for you. every seat was taken, and the few that weren’t had feet propped up on them. in the back, you could see the couch still had space. perhaps spencer wouldn’t mind?

you walked over hesitantly to the couch. he didn’t notice you right away. “can i sit here? all the other seats are taken,” you noted, rocking on your heels.

he looked up at you, responding brightly. “yeah!” he moved over and spoke more quietly. “yes, of course you can.” there was a good six inches between the two of you, but it was as if you were brushing up against him with how your nerves were treating you.

small talk sucked, but you figured it would probably benefit you in getting to know your coworkers. “agent reid, right?” you recalled morgan’s anecdote from earlier, at the police station. it would really suck if you had somehow managed to forget his name in the time it took to solve the case and fly back to quantico.

“doctor, actually but you can just call me spencer.” shit, you totally just disrespected him. if only agent hotchner had properly introduced everyone when you were introduced.

trying to hide your increasing embarrassment, you tried, again, to be casual. “spencer. that suits you.” you should have apologized. not knowing what to say, you sat in the silence that consumed the rest of the jet. your knee bobbed up and down, you pulled at your fingers, and breathed deeply.

“did you have a job before this one?” he cleared his throat. did everything he did have to be attractive?

“yeah, i was a lawyer’s assistant.”

he had been looking at you, you realized. how long had he been looking at you and you were too skittish to look at him? how could you, with his gorgeous starry eyes.

in another circumstance his ‘interrogation’ would have intimidated you but, you only felt anxious from trying to impress him. “you like the bau so far?”

“how long have you worked for the bau?” the two of you interrupted each other. a laugh was shared and you relaxed for once, your posture looking a little less like you were constipated.

the chill of the jet was setting in; that, or spencer was just giving you goosebumps. he waved his hand in a motion saying that you should respond first. “yeah, it’s alright.” you actually really liked it (despite the morbidity, but that you were used to). but, you had to seem cool. chill, not like you were analyzing every thing he did and said to see if he liked you.

copying what he did, you silently urged that he was good to respond. “i’ve worked at the bau for a couple of years now,” he nodded as he spoke.

small talk did suck, a lot, but at least you were talking to spencer and not alone with your worried thoughts. “you like it so far?” you asked.

“yeah, it’s pretty cool.” his adam’s apple bobbed. “just let me know if you need anything.” you smiled at this, his comfort proving successful. the tension in your spine finally dissipated. it was good that you were at least on good terms with the bau member closest in age with you.

[s-4pphics]

its christmas morning! (e.w)

omg y’all it’s fucking 4/20 aka my thanksgiving christmas and valentine’s day😳 

wanted to write for my fav pothead for my fav holiday :O ellie ripping bongs has been imprinted on my brain since that scene in the game yall know which one i’m talking about i don't even gotta say it🙄 i am very high rn so if there’s a typo or mistake no!! there’s!! not!! love y’all bye 

wc;cw: 2.7k, oc n ellie r both in college, WEED!!! WEED WEED WEED!!!, 21 savage :p catch it, sexual tension y’all know how i get down, descriptions of sex MDNIIII, dubcon(they’re very high), ellie’s so cute but also a lil mean, hair pulling ;D

“c’moooon dude, just one hit!” ellie said with a wide grin while softly nudging your shoulder with hers, her packed and filled miniature glass bong and lighter sitting on the coffee table in front of the two of you. 

ellie had sent you a text message after you got out of your last class saying it was her favorite fucking holiday so get ur ass over here! you knew she would hate it if you—her main smoking buddy—missed out on the new bud she got from someone on campus, so you packed an overnight bag with four of your own blunts that you rolled for her(you learned that tropical breeze was her favorite flavored wrap during one of your seshes!), and made your way over to her off-campus apartment complex. you knew there was no way you were going to be able to walk home tonight since you planned to get as fried as humanly possible. 

you’d arrived inside her building and scaled the stairs to the third floor before you banged on her door. fuck, you were winded! what’s up with the elevators not working—

a muffled what’s the password?! had come from the other side of the door as you gasped for air. 

“stop playing games, i’m tired!” 

you’d heard her laugh as the door swung open, revealing an already high, smiling ellie: you were immediately hit with the smell of the weed she’d apparently already smoked. she looked so cozy, her black hoodie and gray sweatpants littered her body, her hair in a loose ponytail. you looked down at her giant frog slippers before she broke the silence between you two. 

“it’s christmas morning! welcome to my trap house!” she’d excitedly squealed out, gesturing for you to come in. 

she guided you to her and her roommate’s living room couch as she lit one of the blunts you rolled (and then another one) for you both to share. you felt relaxed after smoking them down, but you told her you needed more, and she was more than willing to give you that. she’d ran to her bedroom and grabbed her trusted friend, as she called the smoking utensil. 

“i’ve never used one of those before.” 

“…are you fuckin’ serious?” ellie asked with wide, red tinted eyes. 

“um, yeah. why would i lie?” you asked blankly.

“that’s not what i meant, you smoke pretty often so i assumed. my bad.” she put her hands up in defense at your tone. 

“you don’t need to apologize,” you said before pausing to look at the bong. it was pretty: it was clear, but there were hints of blue further down the base. it reminds you of the ocean. you stared at it before breaking the silence. 

“what does it feel like?” 

“what? hitting it?” she asked as she nodded towards the bong on the table. 

you nodded at her, and she shrugged before sarcastically answering. 

“it feels like you're smoking,” she said with dramatic jazz hands. 

you pushed her as she laughed, “obviously, bitch! i mean when you're high. people always talk about it hitting way harder than any other pipe.” 

“because it does! you choke hard as fuck if the rip is big but it feels good afterwards. you smoke, you know what i’m talking about. it’s… the peak is just more… intense with bongs? i guess, i don’t know. i can only take like…three or four good hits, not gonna lie.”

you nodded as you listened to her rambles. ellie’s tolerance was definitely higher than yours, but you could hang—which was one of the main reasons she liked to smoke with you. you always felt nervous to hit from a bong because of all of your friends' horror stories. you heard so many variations of how hard they greened out the first couple of times they did it, and though you’d never admit it to anyone, their experiences freaked you out. you always smoked weed to relax and sleep, not see god. 

“…hm.” 

“what?” ellie smirked at you when she heard your acknowledgement. 

you were looking at the bong intensely as you imagined what your high would be like if you were to smoke out of one: you’d be so embarrassed if ellie was forced to talk you down from a bad trip because you didn’t know your limits. but the mention of its intensity intrigued you. how intense would it be? would you be able to move? think? 

“you wanna hit it and see what happens?” 

her quiet voice caught your attention. you looked to your right and… oh. she was really close to you. when did she get so close? 

“…yeah.” 

you were now sitting criss crossed on the couch as ellie faced you, packed, water-filled bong and lighter in hand. 

“hitting is pretty easy, but your throat burns like crazy. this is my smallest one, but… yeah, it might choke you.” 

“‘s fine.” 

she hummed in acknowledgment before she said, “i’ll go first just so you can see.” 

you nodded as you watched her put her lips at the opening of the tube. she lit her lighter and circled her flame around the bud-stocked bowl, igniting the flower as smoke slowly began to fill the base of the bong. 

when she was satisfied with the rip, she detached the bowl from the stem and sucked in the smoke, exhaling a large cloud away from your face. she cleared her throat as she passed it to you, “see? easy.” 

you took the bong and lighter from her hands and inspected it. you heard her snort from in front of you, meeting her eyes as you looked up. “it’s not gonna bite you, dude.” 

“i fucking know that,” you said with a soft glare, making her laugh harder. 

she reached over towards the coffee table and grabbed the small baggie of your rolled blunts. she took one out and grabbed another lighter out of her hoodie pocket, lighting the end and puffed on it to ignite the weed. she hadn’t noticed that you’d been watching her the whole time with an intense gaze. 

she finally looked up at you and nodded at your occupied hands. “you gonna hit it?” 

fuck. yeah, you were. you were. you nodded hard. she mumbled out a soft you don’t have to, but you shook your head at her, yes, you do! 

you brought the opening towards your lips and looked at her for approval, earning a small nod as she exhaled her own smoke and smiling, “carry on, young pupil.” 

you lightly kicked your knee against hers, earning a soft laugh. you took a deep breath before igniting the bowl and watched smoke fill the base. you weren’t sure how long you should wait before you took a rip, so you met her eyes again, awaiting instruction. 

“you don’t need to smoke all of that. ‘s a lot.” she advised, slurring slightly, smoke pooling out of her nose as she spoke. you didn’t listen, though. 

you removed the bowl as she did, and sucked in all of it. you breathed out and instantly started coughing up both of your lungs as she laughed, grabbing you a water from the table, opening it, and passing it to you. you dropped the lighter and exchanged the large pipe for the water in her hand. “fuckin’ idiot, i told you not to.” 

you choked harder as tears flooded your eyes, but even in your time of weakness, you flipped her off. she giggled before pretending to bite it off. 

as your coughing eased, you slowly sipped from your bottle and wiped the tears off your cheeks. “bro, what the fuck.” you said dryly, sipping more water. 

she laughed hard at you as she lit and ripped from the bong again. 

some time passed and you were starting to feel… something different as you came up. you knew you were going to peak soon, but the lift was coming in much harder. much faster. it was making you a bit antsy. 

ellie must’ve noticed your unfocused looks around her living room because she aligned her eyes with yours and whispered out a hey. 

“hi… i think i feel… feel it,” you whispered back, a slight shakiness to your voice. 

“okay. want me to turn some music on?” and you nodded before she could even finish her gentle proposal. you watched her every move as she got up and swiftly made her way over to the kitchen, turning on her speaker. “what you wanna listen to?” 

“g-glock in my lap.” 

“everywhere i’m strapped,” she said as she mimed jerking off with her tongue out. she's so gross… why was it getting you hot? 

she busted out laughing at her own joke before she played it, queueing her own list of songs before returning back to the couch to get in her previous position. 

“what’s your craziest weed story?” you asked the minute she sat down, cutting mumbling of the lyrics off. 

“craziest weed story?” she asked softly as she reignited her stubbed out blunt. 

“bong story. craziest bong story,” you corrected yourself slurrily. oh, this shit was hitting. 

she huffed out a laugh before talking. “…i don’t know if you wanna hear that right now.” 

“why? was it that bad?” 

“it was the exact opposite actually.” she corrected softly. had she leaned a bit closer to you? you couldn’t tell. 

“one of the best highs of my life, to be honest. wish i could go back to that day and just to feel it again.” 

“what happened?” 

she was silent for a moment, looking into your eyes with an intense gaze. 

“i… i met this girl on hinge— don’t fucking laugh!” she said as she smiled. 

it made you laugh harder. “i’m not—i’m not trying to, i promise!” 

she rolled her eyes as she continued. “anyway, we linked up after talking for a bit, and she told me she wanted to match. i drove hours to see her, she was so fuckin’ hot.” 

you hummed as she continued, giggles completely forgotten as your vision tunneled in on her. “so, we meet and we go up to her room. i think… her roommate had company over or something, it was really noisy when i walked in. anyway, we spark up, we’re smoking, and she’s just like hit my bong with me!, and i said sure.” 

you’d been watching her lips move the entire time she was talking. she’d been biting and licking them as she reminisced while hitting the blunt, and it was making your body hot. 

“she hit it first and passed it to me, and i’m like… what the fuck do i do with this contraption? like, you have to understand that it wasn’t a bong like mine. it was wide and long as fuck and the rips were huge. anyway, she showed me but… she was so close to me. like this.”

she leaned closer to you, your noses almost touching. your breathing picked up. “she was just talking me through the first hit, light this, pull that, y’know.” 

to be frank, you didn’t give a shit about this story at all, but you would listen to it over and over again if it meant she’d be this close to your face—

“and sex while high feels so fucking good—“

“huh?” 

“what?” 

“who had sex while high?” 

“… me‘n my hinge date.” 

she squinted her eyes at you before she grinned. “were you listening?” 

“yup.” 

“right.” she said as she cheesed. 

there was silence as you both looked at each other, but she inched a little closer to you and whispered. “wanna know a secret?” 

you nodded instantly. anything anything—

“she made me cum really hard after i hit her bong, like i went completely brain dead.” 

and you sucked in a sharp breath at her little secret before saying, “i’m sure…” 

“you’re sure?” 

“yeah.” 

she nodded at you, passing you the blunt she'd been nursing before she scooted back to reach for her bong and lighter off the table. she hit it again and you watched. you watched her so closely. 

“what’d she do?” you asked as you took a bold hit before stubbing it out on the ashtray on the table.

“who? m’date?” she asked as she blew another cloud away from you. 

you nodded much harder than you should’ve, but you were so curious. 

she smiled at you before elaborating, “so… i hit it, i’m choking hard as fuck, but she’s handing me water and rubbing my back and all of that shit.” 

“i finally calmed down, and we both laid down on her bed, we’re like… facing each other,” she explained, trying to demonstrate their movements through her occupied hands. 

remember when you said you didn’t give a shit about this story? you did. you really did. 

“she just starts… rubbing on my arm and stuff. like barely, but i feel it, and i start relaxing. like… it feels like i’m sinking into her bed. she starts telling me how cute i am and whatever and then… she just kisses me. it’s real cute at first,” she said with a gentle grin. 

“but she… she grabs my hips and pulls me closer… i can’t even remember what happened but i end up on my back and she’s eating me out and fingering me,” she’d been looking off into the distance throughout the whole story, but reconnects her eyes with yours, and they slowly drift down to your lips and you want to kiss her so fucking bad—

“when i came, i kinda just… blacked out, i felt like my brain was gonna come out my ears…like, in a puddle or somethin’ crazy,” she had the audacity to giggle at her statement. she didn’t even care about how wet her story just made you, how rude! 

“…but yeah,” she mumbled and nodded, suddenly averting her gaze from your mouth. she leaned towards the bong in her hand, lighting and ripping from it again.

instead of politely blowing the smoke away from your face like she’d been doing, she held eye contact and blew the cloud towards you, and you breathed it in like you wished to breathe her in. she reached to the side to place the pipe and lighter back on her table and looked down at your twitching hands before she asked, “you okay?” 

you nodded slowly and dazed, slowly blinking at her, and she smirked as she leaned closer to you again. this was the closest she’s been to your face, and all you could do was study her. memorize every detail on her face. she's so, so pretty. 

“ellie.” 

“yeah?” she breathed out and you barely heard it. 

“kiss me.” you replied just as quietly. 

she licked her lips again as she looked down at yours. you were nearly panting like a dog and you could tell she was getting off to your desperation by the smirk on her face. 

you leaned closer to her in attempts to close the distance, but ellie moved away before you could. 

so you tried again. 

and she moved away again. and then she leaned back onto her propped elbows, one of her knees bent up. 

“c’mere.” 

you moved before you could think, shifting onto your wobbly knees to crawl on top of her, your hands on either side of her head as she straightened her legs out so you could straddle her waist.

you felt her warm hands grab your hips to squeeze them. you placed your weight on both your elbows and leaned down so you could finally kiss her. you want a kiss! you want a kiss now! 

your head was yanked back before you could connect your lips to hers, and you let out a shocked, wet gasp as you grinded down on her impulsively. you want more more more—

she snorted at your reaction before bringing her mouth up to your ear to whisper, “i want another hit.” 

her hand loosened in your hair as you watched her laugh at you with her head thrown back, a shocked expression on your face. no way she just played you like that!

“fuck you,” you said with an embarrassed pout as you sat up and moved off her lap, sitting the farthest away from her as you could. 

“i know you want to, hand me that lighter,” she said, nodding her head towards the table while giggling. 

you grabbed and threw it at her chest, making her laugh louder. 

hahaaaa i gotchu yall thought they were gonna fuck? SIKE but omg yall make sure to get high byeee

[mcdonaldsnumberone]

DELICIOUS!

with a certain biscuit-themed day settling upon him, kaiser wants to use it as an excuse to win a kiss from you. will pocky day end with your very own happy ending, or does kaiser need to prove himself further?

gender neutral reader

if you enjoyed reading this fic, please consider donating to providing aid in palestine!

Kaiser found life in Japan fascinating. This was one of the many perks of being a globally recognized soccer star like him: he got to travel the world and take in the different cultures it had to offer all while doing the very thing that got him onto this stage in the first place.

And boy, was he enjoying the time in Blue Lock. On the rare occasion that he got to go outside of the facility and spend some free time doing whatever he pleased, Kaiser made sure he got the full quintessential tourist experience. He ate a great deal of Japanese cuisine, tried out some hobbyist things, even somehow wound up in a maid cafe with the Bastard Munchen team, and reminisced on the everyday lives of the locals.

But one thing he found himself especially entranced by was all the different things he could exploit in order to get closer to you. If there was one thing Kaiser was, it was persistent in making sure he got what he wanted, and if that meant using every little weapon in his arsenal, then he was sure to play all of his cards out onto the figurative table.

You could only imagine his delight when he learned that a very special day in November was quickly approaching and soon to be upon him.

“Darling!” An all-too-familiar sickly sweet voice rang out against your eardrums, and a sharp wave of thorny annoyance shot down your spine. You had half a mind to bolt for the nearest exit, but the next few words stopped you dead in your tracks. “Don’t run away from me! I have something fun for us!”

Fun? That definitely couldn’t mean anything good. 

You mentally steeled yourself for another very irritating interaction with the smitten striker, equal parts exasperated by his over-the-top courtship and flattered that someone like him would try so hard to endear himself to you. Was his interest in you one of genuine romantic intent? Or did he want you as a plaything to toy with and then cast aside when he was done?

You had discern carefully whether or not Kaiser was a frog in the well or a true fairytale prince.

“What is it now, Kaiser?” You grumble unimpressed. His eager footsteps halted right next to you, and the blond took a quick second to catch his breath before shoving a box into your face.

“Ta-daaa!!” He announced, shaking it in front of you. “I learned about something interesting the other day, and I just had to do it with you. Surely you wouldn’t mind! Noa was always so insistent that I learn about Japanese culture while in Blue Lock, and boy, am I glad that I did my research!”

You practically swatted his hand his hand away, and you squinted your eyes to take a better look at the small box in front of you. The bright colors, vibrantly decorated biscuits on the box, the large decorative letters spelling out the words ‘POCKY’ in white old-fashioned text…

The realization hit you like a truck.

“Let’s play the pocky game together, darling,” Kaiser cooed, and he batted his eyelashes at you charmingly. “Isn’t that what you guys do for Pocky Day? The nice clerk at the convenience store told me all about it, and for the full immersion effect, I just have to try it with you!”

You’re less than impressed. You can see right through Kaiser’s little game as if it were made of glass. He wants a kiss from you, and playing the pocky game is the perfect opportunity to do so. 

You straighten your lips, making sure to give the boy the most stone-faced expression you could muster up. “What makes you think that I’d want to play the game with you? Ask someone else in the program. It’s not like I’m the only person around.”

Kaiser made a downtrodden face. “It’s not the same! The point of the game is to play it with someone you want to kiss! Do you really think I’d want to get a kiss from someone like Yoichi? Eugh, just thinking about it makes me want to brush my teeth-”

You bit back the temptation to tell him that the thought of kissing him makes you want to vomit too. It would be easy to turn him down and leave him standing in the dust, but you know all too well how persistent Kaiser could be. Knowing him, he’d probably tail after you like a magnet 24/7, begging and begging you with the biggest puppy eyes he can conjure up for you to just give in and kiss him let him have the proper cultural immersion he deserves! 

Or worse, he complains to Noa, who then tells Ego, and you end up in trouble for not catering to every whim the players might have.

“...Fine. Just once though. And if you mess up and break the pocky, I’m not letting you try again,” you resolved. In all honesty, it could be a lot worse. Despite Kaiser’s shithole of a personality, it wasn’t like he was outwardly mean to you nor would worming your way to his massive paycheck hurt your prospects in any way.

Kaiser lit up as if it were his birthday, and he grabbed your wrist. “To my room then! Oh, I promise I won’t let you down!”

You barely had time to regain your bearings before Kaiser basically throws you on top of his bed. His eyes sparkled with so much life that you would have thought that he had won the World Cup instead of playing the pocky game. You pushed yourself to the edge of his bed, swinging your feet over the mattress and sitting down placidly as the blond ripped the box open and procured a single piece of pocky.

“Ah, I’m so nervous…,” Kaiser admitted as he sat himself down right next to you. “I always daydreamed about what it would be like to kiss you, and to think that the answer would be right here all along! You have no clue the effect you have on me.”

“Uh- In technicality, you haven’t earned the kiss yet-,” you corrected him. 

“Whatever. We both know how this is going to end.” The blond expertly placed the biscuit end of the pocky in his mouth, carefully balancing it in between his pretty lips. He glanced up at you expectantly, and you let out a deep breath before moving your head so that your teeth caught on the chocolate end of the pocky.

‘Here goes nothing,’ you resigned internally.

Making sure not to break the delicate stick, you inched your mouth forward. Your teeth broke cleanly into a bit more of the pocky, and the sugary-sweet taste of pocky coated the inside of your cheeks. You’d forgotten how good little treats like this were; in between your responsibilities and being chased around by Kaiser, it wasn’t like you had much down time for yourself.

The German, on the other hand, was fully engrossed in the task at hand. You had fully expected him to get impatient and break the pocky prematurely, but just like how you were inching bit-by-bit forward on the pocky, he was making good progress as well. His handsome face was scrunched up slightly in concentration, focusing everything he had on the game so that he wouldn’t squander his precious chance to kiss his crush.

You had to give credit where credit was due. Kaiser was, in fact, a hard worker and a skilled athlete. When he put his mind on something, he was going to get it. As much of a pain in the butt as it was for you, you did have to respect that tough tenacity. 

Your lips closed around the next little bit of the biscuit. It tasted really good, enough to almost distract you from your situation. Kaiser’s face was so close to yours, and for the first time, you couldn’t help but notice all of the finer details on his face. He was always so horrendously vain, taking great pride in his hand-drawn red eyeliner, his two-toned hair, even his signature blue rose tattoo. But apart from all of his vanity, he was straight up a handsome man.

The tension between the two of you was at an all-time high, with both of you concentrating fully on the task at hand. You swore that he was stealing your breath away with every bite he took, and your heart fluttered. He was too good—was he actually going to win a kiss from you? It wasn’t like you had any complaints about giving him one silly kiss, but when he was this close, enough to make your cheeks heat up and your breath shake, it felt like your own mind was betraying you.

Another crunch only furthered the flustered thoughts in your brain. He was just a bite or two away, and when he glanced his azure eyes towards you, your head nearly went blank. He was a piece of shit, sure, but he was still pretty, and the intrusive thoughts practically yelling at you to simply take another bite and give in were almost deafening.

Kaiser took another bite, and that closed the distance between the two of you. You only had enough time to gasp and flicker your eyes up to his face, and before you knew it, the feeling of his plush lips on yours and his hands cupping your face was all you could register.

He kissed you.

A surprised, strangled cry bubbled up from the back of your throat before it died out. His cool fingers held your face in place, and you couldn’t help but melt into the touch a little. How could it be that his touches were so sweet when he was so prickly? The sugary taste of chocolate and biscuits lingered on the tip of your tongue, and when Kaiser sighed happily against your lips, all you wanted was for him to keep kissing you. 

His thumbs brushed across the apples of your cheeks. Mouths moving together, your heart hammered inside your chest. You knew that this wasn’t the first time that Kaiser somehow managed to stubbornly wiggle his way into your heart, and if the soft way he was kissing you was telling anything, it was that this wouldn’t be the last time either. He was kissing you like lovers would, so could you fault yourself for swooning and falling for him a little?

He pulled away before you could lean anymore forward, leaving you dazed and staring breathlessly into his eyes. The corners of his lips curled upwards into a snooty smirk. “...Looks like I did manage to win a kiss from you, darling. What do you think?”

“You’re insufferable, Kaiser,” you manage to eke out, wanting to turn away to hide your embarrassed face. Damn him and his charismatic ways! You wished he would disintegrate into nothingness right then and there. That would definitely solve so many of your problems.

He laughed heartily at your mousy comment. “What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?”

Heat flooded your face, but you couldn’t bring yourself to answer him. It was way too easy for him to play games with your heart, and it didn’t help knowing that he was so sincere about winning you over too. You were determined to make him prove that he was worth your time, but with every little interaction like this, you had to admit that your determination was crumbling bit by bit.

You cursed both your internal weakness and him for being the smooth talker he was. He was simply waiting for the right moment to pounce, to make you his and put an end to this back-and-forth, to make you his beloved partner, someone for him to dote on endlessly and to be doted on in return. 

“Well, if you aren’t sure…,,” Kaiser grinned at you like a smug cat, his deft fingers diving into the box to bring out another piece of unbroken pocky, “...How about another round of the pocky game then?”

Surely, that was an offer you couldn’t bring yourself to refuse.

x

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[tvgals]

stay at home dad! eren x black! wife! reader 🫶🏾

- i love powerful women 🤩

cw- eren has a daughter and a son, eren trying to manage his kids’ hair, modern au + carla never died, glasses! wearing eren, black! reader, enjoy !

what was eren doing? well, currently, he was trying to add beads to the bottom of his daughters twists, his large calloused fingers constantly slipping from the beader, beads falling onto the floor. “just call mama!” nevaeh — you two’s daughter — called from her spot in front the couch. her blush pink fold out chair in between eren’s legs while he sat on the couch.

“i can do this. your mom said i need to learn how to do it myself.” and with that, eren pushes his glasses up with his wrist and gets back to work, his tongue poking out his plump lips in concentration. “daddy look!” his daughter calls out, pointing at the tv in awe. when eren looks up he sees the clear imagine of tiana and naveen having their bayou wedding. “it’s pretty, right? your mom said she wanted a wedding just like that.” eren says, a dopey smile on his face - reminiscing on his beautiful wedding day. the day he became practically conjoined forever with the love of his life.

“what’d it look like daddy? was it pretty? did you do pink?” nevaeh beamed, turning around in her chair. “of course it was! i only had to have the best for your mom,” eren replied, “i have a bunch of pictures. i’ll be back.” eren stands up and rummages through the storage closet, finding a white photo book, labeled ‘wedding day <3’ eren grins and walks to his son’s room, knocking on the door before walking in. “jay, wanna look at pictures with me and ‘veah?” eren asks, showing him the photo book. “yay!” his stubby three year old legs waddling his way to eren. eren picks him up and walks back to the living room, plopping onto the couch. “cmere ‘veah.” eren says, patting the spot next to him. she sits down and peers over eren’s arm, the photo book in his lap.

eren opens up the photo book and is presented with a picture of you and him at your bride and groom table, whispering and laughing about something. “see, your moms wearing blue flowers around her wrist. you can see her big dress from under the table.” eren chuckles, he can only remember when you insisted carla didn’t have to go all out for your dress, but she shook her head and made one anyways, she wanted only the best for her daughter in law. nevaeh giggles. “where was i at?” looking up at eren with wide eyes. “well just after this we made…you! then your brother two years later!” eren smiles. just before his sentence started once more, all three of them heard the door unlock. nevaeh and jay jumped up and ran to the door. you open it and are greeted with a pleasant surprise. “momma!” nevaeh said, hugging your legs, jay following her.

“hi ‘veah, hi jay! did y’all have fun with your dad?” you smile, picking them up in each arm. “had alotta fun! daddy showed us pretty pictures of you at your wedding!” nevaeh said, pointing at eren and the photo book. “did he?” you giggle, walking over to eren.

“hey baby. how was work?” eren coos, kissing your pretty lips. “tiring as usual. i can see you’re watching princess and the frog again today.” you snicker. “princess frog!” jay blabbers, playing with eren’s fingers. eren smiles. the princess and the frog credits started playing, so he went to turn on another movie. “again, daddy!! again! pleaseeee!” nevaeh pleads, trying to do her best puppy dog eyes. “pleaaseeee!” jay echos, giggling. “fine. but just this last time, then we have to eat dinner.” eren gives in, pulling jay into his lap and nevaeh to his right side, giving you two space to cuddle on the side. the movie started once again and you look to eren.

“sooooo,,,what’s up with ‘veah’s hair?” you whisper.

eren sighs,“i tried.”

[seijorhi]

Etched in Red: Rust (Part One)

Event Masterlist

Vash the Stampede x female reader

Part Two

w.c 1.4k

tw: yandere themes, canon-typical violence and death, kidnapping

There’s an old earth saying about the best way to boil a frog.

If the water’s already boiling and you drop the frog right in, it hops right out. The key, or so the story says, is to start with tepid water, then turn the heat up slowly, little by little. The poor frog, relaxed by the warming water, won’t make a fuss when the temperature starts to rise, won’t leap from the water.

Blind to the danger, that frog will sit calm and placid, letting itself steadily be boiled alive. 

Has the water always been this warm?

You stare, empty eyed at the wreckage of the homestead before you. The broken bodies Wolfwood’s diligently dragging off god knows where to perform whatever rites he thinks are necessary. Smoke and the scent of gunpowder and blood linger in the air you breathe, you can taste it on your tongue.

But it’s white noise in the background. You keep thinking of the man you saw.

Well, maybe ‘man’ isn’t the right word. Half his face was cybernetic, his body twisted and warped into a weapon that mercilessly ripped through that family. You don’t doubt his humanity because of his body, you doubt it because there was nothing in his eyes. Not anger or rage, not glee or regret. 

He was nothing but a tool, mindless to all but his master’s whims.

“I’m sorry.”

The words wash over you, but the blond’s touch is warm, solid as he pulls you into his chest, rests his cheek against the crown of your head and holds you, his own cybernetic arm rubbing soothingly at your back.

Why he’s apologising, you’re not entirely sure. For not getting there in time to stop it? Because it happened at all?

This isn’t his fault. 

Either way, you let your arms curl loosely around his waist and bury yourself in him, eyes welling up with tears you’re sick of shedding. “I have to get her back, Vash,” you mumble.

For weeks now, you’ve imagined it. All the terrible fates that might’ve met your sister at the hands of Knives Millions. Dead. Locked in some dungeon somewhere, rotting away. Tortured. Ripped apart. Forced into servitude, humiliated, broken, beaten–

Your stomach clenches, threatening to upheave.

Experimented on. 

“I need her back.”

The broad palm stroking along your spine falters, and Vash pulls back enough to meet your watery gaze. Behind his glasses, pools of impossible blue shine with concern, a flicker of something else – guilt, maybe? – bleeding through, even as he paints a small, thin smile across his face, “Hey, you promised me you weren’t gonna think like that anymore. Your sister… he won’t hurt her.”

“Stop saying that!”

Snapping at him won’t solve anything, you can’t help it though. Whatever this spiral is that you’re caught in, it has its claws in you, dragging you down into a pit of hysteria. Your breath comes quick, choppy, and all of a sudden you can’t bear his hands on you – you shove at him, stumbling back with a shuddering gasp.

“He hates us, Vash! He hates humans. I watched him kill our parents, he cut them to pieces, like they were nothing, less than dirt, and for what? Why?! And that– that thing!” you gesture wildly in the direction the gunman disappeared off to. “Do you think whoever he was, he signed up for that? Is that the best I can hope for? That if my sister hasn’t already been eviscerated, maybe he’ll lay her down on a table, slice away at her until nothing’s left but metal and blind obedience to a madman, until she’s just another tool for him to–”

You don’t get to finish the thought, Vash quick to close the distance between you, seizing your violently trembling hands in his, holding them up between you. “He won’t,” he vows. “I need you to believe me, Nai isn’t hurting her. He wouldn’t.”

But you’re too far gone for soft platitudes. You shake your head, only half aware that you’re moving at all, “You don’t know that, you can’t–” your voice cracks, another sob threatening to burst. 

You hate that you’re doing this here, now; crying for your stolen sister on the site of another bloody, brutal massacre. The only mercy in this is that Wolfwood’s still off dealing with the bodies. Vash bearing witness is bad enough, you don’t think you can handle anyone else seeing you this brittle.

With a wounded noise, he lets one of your hands slip from his to brush at your tears with a gentleness that steals your breath. “Don’t cry, angel. I promise you, she’s not being hurt. Nai won’t let anything happen to her.”

A promise.

Vash promised weeks ago, earnesty dripping from every word, that he’d help you find and free your sister. At the time, you could’ve kissed him, bowed at his feet, given him anything in your power to give. No else was offering. No one else cared about some stupid girl from a nowhere town, kidnapped by a vicious egomaniac bent on eradicating humanity. 

(You swore to yourself, too, that you wouldn’t hold it against him that he called that monster brother).

You trusted him then, the weight of that promise settling into your soul like a brand. Vash would help bring her home, he promised.

Vash, cradling your tear-stained cheek, peers down at you with that same striking intensity, like he’s willing you to believe they’re not throw-away words to comfort you, he means them. Your sister hasn’t been harmed. She won’t be.

Which makes you wonder, a cold thread of unease slithering down your spine, how he can promise something like that. 

“… Vash, how could you possibly know that for sure?” you whisper, the sound carrying in the too quiet stillness of the homestead.

The hand you squeeze isn’t made of flesh, blood and bone – you barely notice, searching Vash’s face in turn, praying to yourself that just this once, his words are empty.

The soft, pink flush that paints his cheeks quickly turns those hopes to ash and dust.

And perhaps he senses that too, because the moment you try to step back, put a little distance between you so you can breathe, that grip of his becomes iron. 

Vash wets his lips and swallows, a shallow bobbing of his throat, “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not. I’d never–” he breaks off with a strangled sounding huff, his fingers flexing around your wrist. He’s always been bright, excitable. Sunshine on a summer’s day.

Now he just looks manic. Eyes too bright, too wide. A jitteriness that sets you on edge. 

“The plan was to get her out, like I promised. It’d be quicker if it was just me, I didn’t want– I couldn’t risk anything happening to you if I brought you with me. It’d kill me. Kill me. But Nai, he– she’s important to him, I think. He needs her.” Vash frowns, “I swear I was gonna bring her back to you like I promised, that’s the only reason I went, and I would’ve, you know I would’ve if I thought for a moment she was in any danger, but…”

“You saw her?”

With those sad, puppy-dog eyes fixed on you, he nods. 

Something painful wrenches in your chest at the admission, and with a sharp tug to your wrist, Vash is there, his forehead pressed against yours, murmuring near frantic reassurances – excuses – as though there won’t be bruises left in his wake.

He saw her.

Vash was there, he saw her and he left her. 

Bitterness cleaves at you. Betrayal. Heartbreak. Agony.

You’re a fool. 

“Let go of me.” Your voice is robotic, a cold contrast to the roaring mess of emotions in your head.

If Vash hears you, he gives no indication. There’s not enough air in the room, every inch of it tainted by Vash clutching you closer, holding you tighter. Like he senses that if he loosens his grip, even for a second, you’ll disappear altogether. 

“Let go of me… Vash, let me go! LET ME GO!”

You’re shrieking, pushing and shoving at him, beating your fists against his chest, and Vash looks halfway to distraught as, for a split second, his eyes flicker to focus on something just behind you. “I’m sorry, angel. I’ll make it up to you.”

The sudden, blinding burst of pain at the back of your skull comes out of nowhere. Drops you cold to the ground, and as the darkness swallows you up whole, you hear him speak again, that broken, mournful tone that tears at your heartstrings. 

“I’m sorry.”

Close your eyes, little frog. Drift off. The water’s nice and toasty.

[fieldofdaisiies]

elain x lucien | warnings: more sad talk | masterlist | ao3

As they sit down to eat dinner after returning to the manor and changing into more comfortable clothes, the tension between Elain  and Lucien has not faded and is still very palpable in the air around them, the memory of the almost-kiss lingering like a ghost at the dinner table.

Elain can barely stand to look at Lucien, her cheeks still warm, the way Lucien looked at her, at her lips, the desire in his eyes and the hint of hunger, is imprinted on her mind and makes her heart race whenever she thinks about it.

No one has ever looked at her like that either. And then — then he pulled away. She has no idea why he did so, but she is glad he did. She can’t imagine what would have happened otherwise. Well, she can. They would have kissed, and she knows that she is not ready, not ready for this yet. 

It has only been a short time with him, not even two full weeks, not enough time, there is still so much to learn about him. So much to find out about him. So much to discover.

"You have been out in the snow for a long time today. What have you been up to." Jurian interrupts the silence, loading three spoonfuls of roasted potatoes onto his plate. He looks at Lucien first, then at Elain, his eyes gaining a curious glint when no one answers immediately. "Well, I was alone all day."

Across the table, Lucien‘s and Elain‘s eyes meet briefly before they both quickly look away, pretending to be fully focused on the meal on their plates that Vassa has cooked this evening.

Lucien cuts through his meat, deer he guesses, then places his knife down. "We went for a walk," he answers matter-of-factly before stuffing the piece of meat he cut off into his mouth. "To the village nearby."

Elain glances at him, watching how another piece of meat disappears behind his beautiful lips, and how his fingers curl around the fork and—

She quickly looks down onto her own plate, knowing he has caught her looking, but before it gets embarrassing Vassa comes to her rescue. The mortal queen hums silently when she turns to Elain who is sitting next to her. "Did you have a good time? You seem a lot happier today."

"It was nice," Elain answers quickly, her throat a hint too dry. "Really nice." She needs to drink. But when she reaches for her glass her hand accidentally brushes against Lucien’s who in the very same moment reaches for the roasted carrots. They both freeze for a moment before they rapidly pull their hands back and continue eating as if nothing has happened.

"I think I haven’t enjoyed being in the snow like I did today for a very long time,” Elain eventually says after having reached for her glass a second time, this time without touching Lucien, and taking a big sip.

"Often the people we are with have a great impact on how much we enjoy doing certain things," Vassa hums happily. 

"That‘s true," Elain answers silently. She fiddles with her fork, avoiding Lucien's gaze, but then peeks at him from under her lashes. There is a smirk on his lips. Obviously there would be. He enjoys being the reason why she enjoyed the day so much. Males and their silly arrogance, Elain thinks, but is confused why it doesn’t bother her. Why she finds his arrogance a tiny bit attractive. Why she finds Lucien Vanserra so damn attractive…

continue on ao3

general Elucien tag list  @shadowhunter2003 @my-inner-crisis @ladyelain @acourtofthought @itwasalwaysaboutthetea @multifictional @moonlightazriel @brekkershadowsinger @sunshinebingo @gracie-rosee @a-frog-with-a-laptop @aayo-whatt @honeysuckle-daydreams13 @thelovelymadone @berryzxx @jules-writes-stories @bookishbroadwaybish @the-darkestminds @goldenmagnolias @isnotwhatyourethinking

[cafulur]

(Boyf riends) First Meet/College AU

I have been writing up this au for a while and decided to finally share a few bits, please let me know if you’d like to hear more!! ♡

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

- Jeremy and Michael have never met before and are attending the same university for their freshman year.

- Michael had come to terms with his queer sexuality during high school, but Jeremy hasn’t thought too hard about it, always considering himself mostly straight with the occasional fictional male crush.

- Jeremy didn’t deal with the SQUIP situation in high school, but he definitely had a massive falling out drama with all the popular theatre kids. Christine has been a constant best friend for him through it all. He’s had his ups and downs, but came out of the drama more comfortable with himself and the world around him. He doesn’t know anyone at this university but is excited to maybe make some new friends.

- Jeremy gets invited to a house party by his roommate who is friendly, so friendly, wants everyone to join in and shotgun a beer together, like a Rich energy. Omg. Rich is Jeremy’s roommate. 😭💛

- They go to this party and there’s probably 12-13 people there, one of which includes Michael who got dragged along by his roommate— WAIT what if Rich is Michael’s roommate instead and Jake is Jeremy’s?

- After some serious contemplation, Rich is Michael’s roommate and Jake is Jeremy’s. Jeremy doesn’t need much convincing to go to a party, so Jake energy is enough. Michael needs the convincing. All the convincing. He needs Rich for these additional friendships to thrive lmao.

- Jake ends up introducing all of them while hanging in the kitchen with Rich. Michael thinks Jeremy is cute but Jeremy at first isn’t quite sure what he feels for Michael. He just knows he’s super cool and finds himself strangely thinking about him even after they part.

- Maybe the week after the party while in class or something Michael’s face or laugh pops up in Jeremy’s head, and he just thinks man I’d wanna be near that dude again and maybe be actual friends. Casually mentions to Jake that he had fun and they should do a smaller, more casual get together. It’s really sweet, they all get takeout/fast food and watch some fucked up underfunded film. Michael and Jeremy sit side by side, and while Jer is engrossed, Michael finds himself sneaking glances throughout the movie to catch Jeremy’s expressive reaction.

- Rich, Jake, Jeremy and Michael stop by a 7/11 for gas and snacks one night. On the way out, Michael holds the door open for Jeremy who lagged behind the group while trying to open a blind box he just bought. Michael asks him what figure he got and revels in Jeremy’s excitement when he shows him a tiny frog with a bicycle helmet on.

- { Prior to their little moment, an attentive Michael waves Rich on ahead, simply saying “Jeremy’s still in line.” as his reason for staying behind. Rich watches from the gas pump he parked next to as Michael leans against a faded poster covered glass window and waits for Jeremy. He watches him proceed to hold the door open for a completely oblivious Jeremy, far too absorbed in the secrets he’s about to unfold with his blind box. Rich thinks hm. Hm. interesting. }

- Jeremy gushes about his prize later at the table of the Waffle House: “I got a skater frog!”

Rich squints, skeptical. “Where’s his skateboard?”

Jeremy looks around the table for a worthy substitution, going for a spoon from the silverware pile and perching the figure on top. “Currently M.I.A. but he’s got a helmet on so I assume some skating is happening.”

Rich laughs as Jeremy scoots the little amphibian across the table atop his silly new ship. “Skaters don’t wear helmets bro, he’s probably a cyclist or something.”

Jeremy protests, making the frog do a sick spoon flip. “Nah you don’t get it, he’s just a skater that cares about his life!”

Rich supports his cheek with his fist and sips his milkshake, watching Jeremy scoot the little dude across the table. “Laaaame!”

… Michael falls a little.

[mymiraclealigner]

Teatime | Remus Lupin x reader

summary: Y/n struggles to take her tea.

tw: suggestive content, angst, difficult relationship with food.

word count: 1.3k

a/n: hi, i've been thinking a lot about sad Remus this fall so I wrote this small sad thing, hope you like it! Italics are flashbacks btw hehe.

The cold yellow liquid stares back at the sad looking witch threateningly, she has to take a sip to be able to chug it all in. But it’s hard. The smell reminds her of warm afternoons and big hands under the covers. Now it’s the middle of November, the wind throws the rain against the window violently, and the big empty table Sirius’ bought for Christmas makes her shiver. You could see the tiredness in her face, her long eyelashes have been dropping uncontrollably since it started getting dark at 16.00, and the only thing that would cure her fatigue is theine. She is sure of that. It had worked before, that same spring in fact. ‘The taste must be shit’, she thought; she had never had to prepare her own tea. 

“One or two spoons of sugar for the lady?” Remus yells from the kitchen.

“Whatever, I don’t mind” she can hear him chuckle from the distance.

She rubs her feet back and forth against the coach under the blanket Remus covered her naked body with, trying to keep his heat. The smell of lemon and ginger lingers in the air creating a path from the kitchen to the living room. He appears with two mismatched mugs on each hand giving off a thin line of fume. He offers one to her and reaches the lamp to bring some light into the opaque room. She takes a sip of the tea while making space for Remus to seat.

“How is it then?” 

“Perfect,” they look at each other with knowing smiles.

A bang on the window brings her back, a branch hit the damaged wooden end of the louvre. Her shaky hand takes a hold of the discolored mug and brings it to her lips. The contact of the cold glass against her pale lips makes her stomach drop, he would have never let her drink cold tea.

“Oh, you are here!” Molly’s voice startles the witch. “I’m so happy you decided to come out, love. We have missed you in dinner time.”

Y/n turns around to gift her a painful smile of gratitude; Molly is always calm and patient with her. They all secretly know she isn’t ok; they know something happened, but they don’t know exactly what. 

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I’ve been reading a lot, it’s hard to stop once you start,” she chuckles.

“I see,” Molly approaches to the chair next to hers and sits, “you know that if you want to talk, I’m all ears. I’m here for you if you need me.”

“I’m fine,” she replies with her best smile, ignoring Molly’s implication.

“Well, that’s good,” she pats her shoulder twice and squeezes the skin once. “I’m happy to see you drink your tea.”

Molly takes out a chocolate frog from her pocket and puts it in front of her in the dark mahogany table. She pinches her arm lovingly before leaving the dining room, signaling Y/n to eat. She stares at the chocolate frog and with a big sigh takes it out of the envelope. She stares at the funny looking sweet, the frog decides not to move or try to escape from her hold, like it knows she needs it more than it needs freedom from being eaten. Even though her hands are not warm, the chocolate starts to melt in her fingertips.

“Come here,” Y/n starts moving her hand rapidly avoiding Remus’ grasp. 

“Why?” she laughs at his serious expression.

“You have chocolate in your hand,” he finally takes a hold of her wrist.

“No, I don’t!”

“Yes, look, here,” he points to a brown stain on the side of her hand. Her laugh rumbles against the walls of the coffee room while he tries to lick the chocolate off.

“It’s a beauty spot, Remus!” she says between laughs. Surprised, Remus checks the mole again only to encounter it there, still as it was before.

“It’s delicious anyway,” he brings her hand to his mouth once again, sucking on the soft flesh.

She puts the whole frog in her mouth and chews it just the necessary number of times not to choke. She licks her stained fingers rapidly and cleans the saliva off on her jeans. Tears threaten to escape her eyes and she starts to feel angry. Angry towards her weakness and vulnerability; just the thought of him still makes her want to crawl out of her skin and find solace in his. But she can’t, not anymore. He made sure of leaving that pretty clear. 

The door opens again, but she doesn’t turn around to see who it is. She can hear the steps directing towards the kitchen, and as soon as a soft scent of books and whisky envelops her, she knows it’s him. ‘He didn’t even say hello’. The big red ball of rage shoots up to her throat and she wishes to be dead. 

Looking up to the fancy chandelier, she makes the tears disappear and grabs the mug with determination; she chugs the liquid as fast as she can, knowing through her peripheral vision that he is looking from the side. The aftertaste hits her a million times on the cheek with memories of the man in the kitchen, before he became a painful and scary thought. She can’t avoid a grunt escaping her throat when she puts the mug down; it was a disgusting flavor that filled her mouth. The tea was not sweet, just bitter, a bit watery and way too concentrated for her likeness. She wanted to puke.

“Come on. All out, love” Remus rubs her back soothingly trying to encourage the witch to empty her stomach. 

“I’m never drinking again.”

“Yeah, we all say that” he takes a hold of her hair just in case it falls over the rim of the seat.

“I mean it.” She takes her head out of the toilet and looks at him with a runny nose and puppy eyes, “From now on, it’s only your tea and nothing else.”

“Really? Nothing else at all?” he looks at her cheeky while cleaning the side of her mouth with some toilet paper.

“Well, maybe if you cum on my mouth I'll drink that too, but that’s it.” She sniffs before laughing at his fake scandalized expression while he helps her get up to finally take her home.

Two big hands rest on her shoulders and she knows is her turn to say something. She hid in her room for more than a month and a half and didn’t open the door to anyone, only Sirius. They hadn’t discussed the fight, but she knows there is nothing left to say, he doesn’t want her anymore and he has a right to make that woeful decision. It was a matter of time: he is older, wiser, and emotionally unavailable, and she is just a young woman discovering love. It was never going to work.

“Don’t touch me, please” he removes his hands from her shoulders slowly. 

She stands from her seat and grabs the empty mug. Without turning around to see him, she goes straight to the sink in the kitchen and turns on the hot water. She washes the glass manually, shushing her frustration under the sweltering water. He supports his weight in the counter next to the sink, watching her suffer without showing any expression. He knows she is hurting, he wants to force her hands out of the steaming water, but she asked him not to touch her.

“You are never going to talk to me? Is that how it’s going to be now?” he looks for her eyes, she doesn’t indulge.

“No, I need to know how much sugar you used to put in my tea” she closes the faucet and turns to look at him.

“Two spoons.”

“Thanks.”

She turns her body to the left, a sign to leave this excruciating encounter. He raises his hand in the air, to make her stop, almost touching her hip. She sighs and pushes his arm with delicacy. There is no other exchange of looks or words; she leaves, and he stays. They both feel like their stomachs are being kicked by the most horrible, naughty goblin. She will never drink tea and he will never receive her love and affection again. Teatime and love have been ruined, forever. 

[ladygreenwithenvy]

Taste-Testing for the Merchant of the Depths

𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆝 ‧̍̊˙· 𓆝.° ｡˚𓆛˚｡ °.𓆞 ·˙‧̍̊ ‧̍̊˙· 𓆝.° ｡｡˚°.𓆞 ·˙‧̍̊⋆.˚｡ 𓇼

Category: General, Slight Fluff

Characters included: Azul Ashengrotto, Prefect (Gender Neutral)

Oneshot Prompt: Azul wins a game and has the Prefect taste a variety of new drinks for the Mostro Lounge’s new menu for this upcoming fall season. No drink tastes like the next, but at least you get to spend some time with a certain merman…

In honor of: @quartzztwst

𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆝 ‧̍̊˙· 𓆝.° ｡˚𓆛˚｡ °.𓆞 ·˙‧̍̊ ‧̍̊˙· 𓆝.° ｡｡˚°.𓆞 ·˙‧̍̊⋆.˚｡ 𓇼

“Now, now Prefect” Tutted Azul, his gloved hand gently pushing that suspiciously beautiful glass of a drink with a color you didn’t think was possible you could find in liquid form.

“It’s simply a taste test, we had our fun back in the Board Game Club, and last I recalled, I won our little bet; lest you wish for me to remind you the purpose of this evening’s rendezvous?”

You shook your head in a surrendered manner, knowing full well why you were sitting at an empty table within the walls of Mostro Lounge.

During a Board Game Club, you and Azul played a simple strategy game with an added stake for some won, where the winner has to do a simple favor for the other. Unsurprisingly, Azul won. It was probably not your smartest move to suggest a strategy game, you regret not suggesting a game revolved around luck, especially when you know how much this particular Housewarden detested them.

“You don’t need to remind me just…. Why does it look so….. Neon Green?” You’re half convinced that Azul just had Floyd mix up every green chemical available in the academy’s Laboratory.

“We’re making new drinks for the halloween season. I proposed that this year’s limited time drinks should be based on different common potions in popular fiction and monsters. This notable one is based on a potion ingredient” Azul replies, his tone audibly relaxed

“Oh, you’re having me drink Frog’s Breath. Stellar, man.” You hum. "The last time I saw a guy drink that, he didn't wake up, but sure. Let's repeat that particular cycle."

“I’m sorry, Frog’s Breath?”

“Don’t worry, it’s not a reference from your world…”

“Fucking bitter. Throw it out.”

“How honest” Remarks Azul gently, however his body language exhibited the complete opposite. He was surprised by the Prefect’s truthfulness. He was well aware of the sharp tongue you had, but to see you be so blunt had even shocked him. Not that he minded, of course. There’s a reason he confided in you for it.

“It’s like all you did was blend limes and every sour candy ever. Chill it out a bit, damn” The Prefect grumbles.

“Is it truly that sour? Goodness, I had created this one with Floyd and was hoping for a more bittersweet aftertaste. I was under the impression that we had balanced it well enough.” Azul looked down at his notebook and took quick notes, pushing the end of his quill. Truthfully, he had tasted it beforehand when trying to fix the bitterness. He just wanted to see your reaction to the taste. Afterall, there's a group that panders to these types of drinks- but they're not worth making and selling if they only pander to the minority.

“Is the sweetness in bittersweet in the room with us right now?” Asks the Prefect sarcastically, to which Azul only rolled his eyes. That of course following a scoff. “This might have given Riddle’s famous oyster tart a run for its money for uniqueness.”

Azul knew for a fact that your last line was by no means a compliment, but then again, none of what you said fell under praise. “Alright, alright. You’ve made your point. Next drink”

You were handed water to wash the first one down. You leaned back against the smooth leather seating of the cafe, allowing the cool atmosphere to relax before you heard the sound of a plate pressed against the marble table. You opened your eyes, and watched as Jade set down your second mystery drink and bowed- leaving to return to the kitchen.

It was so cute and pink. And the frosting was white and frothy. Upon closer inspection, it looks like there’s strawberries too. They’re even cut up to look like hearts. It’s positively adorable. You guessed in your head that it was most likely based on a love potion.

You didn’t think twice before sipping it. Enticement was on the playing field and Azul took instant note of that.

He also took notice of your reaction, trying to ascertain your final statement to the beverage before you could say it. You swallowed it swiftly and smacked your lips. Once again the drink left you nothing short but surprised.

“Cocaine might be easier to consume than this, but fuck was it delightful”

“Goodness,” Azul smiled from disbelief. At this point, he found your colorful honesty to be nothing short of entertaining. He found himself more eager to hear your reactions than to your critiques. Uhm- not that he was avoiding them, of course.

“Too sweet?” He asks, though it was obviously in a rhetoric sense.

“Far too sweet, but there’s a charm to it” You’re saying this genuine. You loved sweet drinks, and this was no exception. As cloying as it was, you couldn’t seem to stop yourself from taking more and more sips. You smiled. Delighted by it.

“Sort of tastes like these super sweet bobas back at home, they had lots of caramel and whipped cream.. But this one is just as good…”

Azul’s eyes would perk up at that little detail. You did not speak much of your home, and the merman knew better than to pry anyone’s past like that. Surely, even he had some limits when it came to prying into your business (Not like it would be easy anyway). But there was this care in your voice as you reminisce about something so small. To him, it was actually quite sweet.

Maybe even sweeter than that drink you were being so giddy about.

“... Let’s head on to the next drink, okay?”

It was the last drink, the fifth one you noted.

Thank goodness it was too. After that pink drink, you really only took necessary sips. They were pretty good after that, but you were getting full just by looking at them.

But this last one was… something.

It was nothing like the others. It stood out, but not for the most positive of reasons.. It was so plain looking that your first instinct was to question if the Octa-Trio was pulling your leg here.

It was dark green, but that was it. No gummies in the drink to make it look a bit more presentable. No . The liquid looked thick enough to perhaps be a simple smoothie. Not that you would complain if it was just a smoothie, of course. But it was curious. What an anticlimactic end.

“This is a separate one from the menu. Jade insisted that we make these healthy shakes directed for the student body, on account of how hard working they’re being during the making of their stations for this year’s Halloween. We’re also making fruit smoothies” Explains the second year with a relaxed hum, fixing his silver frames before glancing back at you

You were aware that Azul was part of the Halloween Committee this year, along with Jade. That explains this suspiciously red flaggy token of benevolence.

Not wanting to waste time, you once more picked up the glass

You lifted up the glass, and took a very light sip from the straw.

You perked up.

“Oh!” You took another sip.

“Okay, wait, this isn’t so bad” You comment, your expression relaxed. “Spinach with banana, those are the main ingredients with this one… and other fruits too? It’s better than I thought it’d be” You hum, taking another.

“Though, I’m curious, there’s this one thing that- Ah?!” You yelped, and quickly pushed the drink away from you.

Concerned, Azul stops taking notes immediately. He had his own serving of the same drinks you were having this whole time, and while he quietly jotted down his own opinions, he had been listening to yours. When he drank from this one, he found nothing wrong in particular.

He took another sip from his own to try and discern it. “Spinach, oats, banana, milk, apples…. Wait a minute, something’s in here that’s not in the- Hm?!”

It was then that he understood why Yuu yelped in such a way and struggled to speak. His tongue was paralyzed. Azul didn’t even need to put two and two together.

This was the work of a mushroom. And there's only one audacious eel in this dorm to have enough gall to mess with any of Azul's recipes for the sake of "Bringing his findings in the limelight."

In less than a minute, he found himself pushing that glass of water to you as a way to motion to wash it down. Right after that he stood from his seat-

"JAAAAAADE!!"

Note to self, never do taste testing for the Octa-trio, even if your life depends on it.

At least the pink drink was good.

Author's Note

𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆝 ‧̍̊˙· 𓆝.° ｡˚𓆛˚｡ °.𓆞 ·˙‧̍̊ ‧̍̊˙· 𓆝.° ｡｡˚°.𓆞 ·˙‧̍̊⋆.˚｡ 𓇼

Hope you liked my first actual oneshot thingy here.

This was a present for Miss @quartzztwst , I hope you liked it! I wanted to make something simple, but lighthearted as an easy read ^-^

I hope to improve better and faster as I learn how to write here on Tumblr. I'm quite new when it comes to uploading this sort of stuff like this... Still, there will be longer and more fluffier fics.

Thank you! Buenas noches 💜

[radioactive-dazey]

The Kiss

A scene from one of my fics that I may end up scrapping, it was a Prince and the Frog au inspired by the original story. Janus was supposed to be the main character with the twins, logan, and virgil having their own side stories going on. And I think we can all guess who the frog was going to be. (I just have no idea how to fully tackle this idea, but I had this chapter written out for ages and don't want to let it go to waste.)

Important context: Prince Logan is visiting a neighboring kingdom for his older brother Virgil's marriage to Prince Janus. Logan has beef with Prince Janus's younger siblings, Princes Roman and Remus.

To celebrate the marriage, the kingdom is hosting a masquerade ball. Logan attends but stays mostly in the background, and a mysterious stranger grabs his attention.

Pairings: Logince, implied Dukexiety.

CW: Uh technically underaged drinking?? I guess?? Mild swearing? I dont know what counts anymore, if I miss anything major let me know!

Logan watched as Virgil and Janus waltzed across the dancefloor, momentarily adjusting his mask. Roman wasn't anywhere in sight, a fact that Logan was grateful for. He grabbed a glass from the buffet table and took a sip. The drink was bitter in his mouth and he had to choke it down. 

Someone chuckled. "Should you be drinking that?" 

Logan turned. A boy stood on the other side of the buffet table, his arms resting behind his back. Logan didn't need his glasses to know the stranger was handsome. It took him a moment to recognise the blobs of red that leaped off the boy's dress were actually sparkling butterflies. A large silver butterfly wing popped off his mask, red costume diamonds and painted shapes detailing it. Logan was star struck, swirling his glass in his hand before suddenly realizing he was staring. 

"The drinking age is nineteen here, isn't it?" 

"No, it's twenty-one. You're a foreigner?" The stranger's voice was melodic. It made Logan feel warm inside, an unfamiliar sensation filling his chest. He stuttered out a few syllables, suddenly overwhelmed with the way his body was reacting and he tried to smother the feeling. 

"I- Yes, I am. I'm Pr-" 

"Don't tell me your name," the stranger interrupted, waving his hands out as if to stop Logan. "I don't want to know." 

Logan's eyebrow quirked up. "Can I know yours?" 

"No!" He blurted out, and the man's face flushed. "It would be better for the both of us, trust me."

Logan nodded in vague understanding. "I will," he stated, deciding at that moment it wasn't worth trying to pretend he enjoyed his drink. He placed it on a passing servant's tray, his full attention back onto the man in front of him. 

"Are you enjoying the party?" 

"No," he sighed, gently brushing away the strands of hair that had fallen in front of his eyes. "I was… Encouraged to be present, but frankly I'm trying to avoid someone. There's a million other places I would rather hide at than in a crowded ballroom."

Logan nodded. "I know the feeling. I'm trying to avoid someone as well. I've never been very fond of parties, there's far too many people present and pretending to enjoy their company is exhausting. Not that I don't enjoy yours!" He added the last part quickly, smiling sheepishly. "You may be one of the few pleasant people I've met in this kingdom."

The stranger smiled, and Logan's heart did backflips. 

"Thank you, that's kind of you to say." 

They grew quiet. Logan resisted the urge to ask the stranger to dance. He was a terrible dancer. But still, he didn't want the conversation to die out. 

"Do you want to leave?" 

Logan's head shot up. "Excuse me?" 

"Do you want to leave? The party? I know of an exit that will take us to the gardens." 

Logan smiled and walked around the table, offering his arm for the stranger to take. "Lead the way." 

They stepped out of the ballroom together, Logan struggling to keep pace with the boy as he guided him through the halls. The stranger's heels clicked loudly on the tile and Logan wondered how he could be so quick. He swallowed nervously and fiddled with the buttons on his coat. 

"So, tell me," the stranger began, and Logan was once again entranced by his voice. "Who were you trying to avoid?" 

Logan sighed. "Some boy. He is the most infuriating person I have ever met." 

"How so?" 

"He's very arrogant," Logan started, stumbling slightly. "I've only just met him, but he behaves like I've done something horrible to him." 

"Well, have you?" 

Logan scoffed. "If I did, I wouldn't have the slightest idea what it would be. From the moment I arrived he's behaved as if I spit on him. Unfortunate, really. I had hoped we could have gotten along." 

"He's not worth your time, my dear. Someone as handsome as yourself shouldn't dote after foolish men."

Logan chuckled and stood slightly taller, the mask feeling oddly cool against his warming face. "Handsome?" 

"Truely, has no one told you that before?" The beautiful stranger stepped in front of him, and wow was Logan entranced again. Despite the dim halls, Logan could make out the finer features; freckles peppering over the stranger's shoulders and chest, the green- or maybe hazel- hues in his eyes. The stranger was close enough for Logan to smell his cologne, a smell that instantly sobered him.

He cleared his throat. "The gardens?" 

The boy nodded and resumed his position, half-guiding-half-pulling Logan along. Moments later, they were outside, and the scent of dewy grass and roses overcame the boy's cologne. Logan adjusted his mask as he tried to make out the flora around him. 

"This way," the stranger called, and Logan was suddenly pulled further into the gardens. 

“Wait,” Logan said, suddenly apprehensive about the notion of (quite literally) blindly following the stranger. “Where are we going?” 

The stranger glanced back at him, a soft smile playing on his lips. “Trust me, just a little further. I promise it’ll be worth it.” 

Logan’s nerves were instantly soothed, and he let the stranger pull him further. They rounded a corner, and suddenly, the stranger pulled him through a gap in the hedges into a secluded alcove. The stranger released Logan’s hand, and they sat together on a stone bench, the full moon gently illuminating the stranger’s face.  

“If I may, my dear?” the stranger asked, a subtle urgency and desire hidden in his voice. Logan nodded.

The stranger gently cupped his face, and as they leaned closer, the lingering scent of roses and cologne engulfed Logan. They locked eyes for a single moment, and then the stranger’s lips were firmly pressed against Logan's. He squeaked, the taste of strawberry lipstick exploding on his mouth, and he melted into the kiss, eagerly reciprocating. 

The stranger pulled away, and hesitantly, he reached out and gently removed Logan's mask. Logan didn't stop him. He was distracted, finally being able to see the gold flecks in the stranger's hazel eyes. 

Suddenly, the stranger gasped, dropping the mask and screwing his face in shock and horror. "Prince Logan?!" He whisper-shouted, covering his mouth and standing from the bench. 

"Yes…? Is there something-" 

The stranger ripped off his mask and threw it onto the ground. Logan paused, eyes squinting and he reached into his pocket and threw on his glasses. The realization hit him like a brick. He stood, covering his own mouth and stepping back. 

"Oh my god," Roman nearly yelled, forcing out a laugh. "You couldn't recognize me. Are you serious?" 

"I wasn't wearing my glasses and you were wearing a mask, what's your excuse?!" Logan spat out. Sudden panic set in and Logan thought he may throw up. 

Roman opened his mouth and gapped at him. He struggled to form words. "You were wearing a mask too!" 

"You can still see far better than I can!" 

Roman scoffed. "Forgive me for getting wrapped up in a beautiful moment! A masquerade ball and a handsome stranger who was brooding in the background the whole night steps out to drink champagne meant for the adults? It was sexy! Sue me!" 

Logan didn't have a moment to point out that they were both technically adults. His fists were shaking violently, rage filling his mind as he began to spat, "You're a dumbass! You should have let me introduce myself, then none of this would have happened." 

"You shouldn't have been flirting with me!" 

"You flirted with me too!" 

"I didn't know it was you!" 

Their argument escalated to yelling. 

"I can't believe you! You've been nothing but antisocial since the moment you set foot into the kingdom. I tried being friendly and charismatic but you've shut me down every time, and you have the gall to call me infuriating? What did I even do to you?" 

"Let's review, you insulted my brother Virgil to my face, mocked me with Prince Remus, and when I tried to be courdal and respectfully tell you to leave me alone, you decided to engage in childish petty pranks and destroy my property." 

"Are you still talking about your stupid book?!" 

Logan thought he may blow a fuse. "Yes!" 

"I already apologized for that. Just get over it!”

His blood boiling, Logan stormed over to Roman and forcefully grabbed his face, crashing his mouth onto his and instantly silencing Roman. Roman moaned and shuddered, and Logan wanted to roll his eyes. 

There was a whistling sound, and Roman shoved Logan away and wiped his mouth, cursing under his breath. His head shot to the hedges. "Remus?!" He whispered-shouted. 

"Hey, don't stop just because I'm here! When clothes started flying I would have left on my own." 

"Gross," Logan and Roman spat out. 

"You guys are the ones with your tongues down each other's throat!" Remus exclaimed. He stepped out of the hedges and jabbed Roman's chest with his elbow. "I'm glad you're seeing now Ro-bro!" 

"Seeing what exactly?" 

"That this family? Hot! Sexy people!" 

"Oh shut UP Remus!" He shoved him away. "He kissed me!" 

Logan's face burned. "You kissed me first!" 

"I REFUSE to repeat this argument again." 

"You guys kissed twice?! Damn it! I need to catch up." Remus looked at Logan, stepping forward slightly. "Heeeey Lolo, do you think Virgil would be interested in a little one-on-one time with me?!" 

"Ask him yourself! He already doesn't want to marry Janus!" 

Logan wanted to smack himself. A look of shock grew on the twins faces as they stared at each other, mouths wide in absolute bewilderment. Virgil was going to kill him. 

"FUCK!" Logan yelled, turning away from Roman and Remus as he processed what he had just revealed. He tugged at his hair, spinning back around on his heels. "You can't tell Janus- OR Virgil for that matter. Pretend I said nothing!" 

"No, no! This is good!" Remus squealed, bouncing on his toes and yanking on Romans arm. "This is the best news I've heard since- ever!" 

"How is this the best news ever?! It's an economic disaster! Your kingdom is struggling and this was supposed to help! Not to mention, if Virgil finds out-" 

"Janus doesn't want to marry Virgil either!" 

Logan snapped his mouth shut. 

Remus squealed, his bouncing turning into full on jumping. "Roman, do you think this means I have a chance with Virgil?! Do you think he and I can start courting?! We'll get married and I'll move kingdoms and-

"You don't even know if he likes you, Remus." 

"We could get that love potion again!" Remus raised his eyebrows and his face screwed up in an unpleasant grin. Logan grumbled and quickly glanced at Roman, who was rolling his eyes at Remus. "Is that meant to be some sort of a joke?" 

"Of course it is. Love potions aren't real, and it didn't work the first time anyway, Remus." 

"Didn't you hear?! Remy and Emile are fucking!" 

Logan sputtered and Roman gasped. 

"Language! Why can't you be mature and say 'having sex?!' Oh what am I talking about- you're lying! I know you are!" 

"Hmm nope! They've done a lot of sneaking around tonight. All the castle staff are talking about it too." 

"You gave my advisor a love potion?!" 

Remus nodded. "Yup! And it worked." 

"That's- preposterous!" 

"Magic doesn't lie." 

"Yeah, but older twin brothers do!" 

Remus shoved Roman, and Roman shoved him back. 

"I swear to whatever fucked up God you believe in, Remus, if you mess up my dress-" 

Remus ignored him and shoved Roman again. Before Roman could return the favor, Remus held him back with an outstretched hand. "Don't worry about it Logan, whether it's real or not, I would never force Virgil to drink it!" 

"Where did you get it?" Logan demanded. 

"Why, planning on giving it to Roman? You already kissed twice, seems a bit unnecessary." 

Logan flushed noticeably. "I want to know where you're getting your information from!" 

"Oh, nowhere in particular. I've just been dabbling in some potion making."  

Roman finally shoved away Remus's hand, and gasped exasperatedly. "He bought it from some crackpot old woman in town. I read the label, it's like some healing crystal, star sign-aligning guru shit. What a waste of money!" 

Remus stuck his tongue out at Roman. "One man's waste of money is another man's love potion. And who are you to say it doesn't really work? Maybe I slipped some in one of your drinks, and THAT'S how I found you guys out here." 

"Oh shut UP Remus!" 

"No thanks, I'm good." 

Remus turned on his heel and parted through the edges with ease. 

“Where are you going Remus?” 

“Back to the party of course! I heard some nasty rumor about one of the princes sneaking off with a stranger. That, and I gotta go find Janus to share what you two disasters were doing.”

“Don't you dare!” 

But there was no response. Roman angrily shook the air in front of him. “Ugh! I cannot stand him sometimes!” 

He took a long drawn out breath, and suddenly his attention was on Logan again. Logan swallowed harshly. 

“We can't tell anyone. It's bad enough that Remus knows. I'll keep my mouth shut, you'll keep yours shut, and we never mention this again.”

“Agreed.”

Logan was about to step out of the hedges when he was suddenly yanked back. His body was spun around and he was face to face with Roman. Logan sighed, and relaxed his muscles slightly.

"Was there something else?" 

"I want to apologize. You're right, I have been behaving rather 'infuriatingly,' as you put it." 

"It's… fine," Logan said after a moment. Wow, Roman was really close to him. "I expect a replacement of my book though, if you don't mind." 

"I think I can make that happen," Roman replied. Just then, he glanced down at Logan's lips, and Logan swallowed harshly. 

"Are you going to kiss me again, or are you teasing me on purpose?" 

"Do you want me to kiss you again?" 

"I wouldn't be opposed to it…" 

Roman leaned in, and Logan closed the gap between them. He inhaled deeply, mildly enjoying how airy and light his chest was feeling. He fought down a smile and leaned into Roman more. 

Then Roman pulled away, and the spell was partially broken. Logan fumbled with his cuffs as he stared into Roman's eyes.

"Two for one," Roman said, booping Logan's nose. "Better catch up, Lolo." 

"Is that a challenge?" 

"It might be," Roman mumbled. He gently shoved past Logan and through the opening in the hedges. "Till tomorrow, and all that." 

He stopped, and turned around. "If I find out you told anyone, I'll gut you like a fish.”

"As if I was going to anyway." 

[reallyromealone]

DAY 4

DIRTY TALK 🎃 NIPPLE PLAY

WARNINGS:nipple play, male reader, nsfw, dirty talk, I did my best

TSUKISHIMA KEI (HAIKYUU) X MALE READER

Kinktober masterlist

(Name) grinned almost evilly as Tsukishima rested against him, glasses off as he let the other do as he pleased "you have such pretty nipples" (name) said into his ear "such a slut, you could cum with your nipples touched alone huh?"

(Name) barely wasted time as Kei walked into the door, having gone out of town for a few days for a big game and (name) managed to show up in full Sendai frogs merch for one of the games.

(Name) was reminded every time how hot his boyfriend was.

Tugging at Tsukishimas perky nipple with one hand he gropped the other roughly "what if you're team found you like this? Coming undone with just your chest being fondled? Seeing you so slutty" (name) said in his ear and with a particularly harsh tug to the nipple Tsukishima came in his boxers "huh, didn't even need to put my cock in you to make you cum" (name) said with a sick fascination "wonder how many times I can make you cum with only your chest"

Tsukishima was a babbling mess, red faced and hiding in embarrasment as he let (name) manhandle him into a laying position "did you know apparently folding chest stimulates growth" (name) said passively "who knows by the end of this you might have a cute pair of A-cups"

"S-shut up..."

"You're right, I like Kei with his pretty chest now, so perfect and fuckable" he said lowly as he sat/hovered over Kei's chest and copped another feel "especially when my cocks between them"

Kei cried out as (name) began thrusting his cock between his non existent chest, tugging and pulling at his nipples excitedly as he watched kei suckle on the tip of his cock everytime it came close "I have an idea" (name) said suddenly and reached to the bedside table...to their special box.

"I wonder how these feel on your chest" (name) said holding two egg vibrators with a sick grin and watched Tsukishima cum when he put the vibrating eggs against his chest on full force "so pretty..."

"P-please..."

"Full sentences baby"

"F-fuck me"

How could (name) deny that?

"Whatever you want baby"

[elizabethrobertajones]

FFXIV Write 2024

4. Reticent

There was nothing that helped reflect on different ways recent history could have gone as watching Lamaty’i sizing up to throw Thancred into the rafters of Frog’s inn room, to fetch her axe which was, for reasons entirely Thancred’s fault and Lamaty’i’s doing, now wedged up there.

Raha and Alisaie were yelling over each other to offer advice or alternative means of fetching it.

“Well, I think it’s safe to say you’ve hosted a memorable party,” Y’shtola purred, suddenly leaning over Frog’s shoulder.

She tried and failed not to preen and lean into that sudden closeness, her previous attempt to pretend to be the sensible adult in the room completely obliterated.

“If the Vow of Resolve breaks anything, I won’t be responsible for the bill, I hope.”

“Oh, I’m sure we can wrangle a little political corruption to smooth this all over,” Y’shtola giggled. She sounded like the glasses of wine she’d been carefully sipping had started to go to her head, as the long evening wore on. Frog had scooped up her friends from the street party and moved them to a more select location, but the Orchestrion was playing loudly and mixing with music floating across the water from Tullioyal’s thoroughfares, and copious drinks had followed them into the room as well.

Lamaty’i hefted Thancred incredibly poorly and he flew in a short arc and crashed into the table with gales of laughter from them both and an alarmed shout from Alphinaud, who had truly been paying no attention, wrapped up in some sort of discussion with Koana that no one else had been interested enough in to interrupt.

“We have a dragoon in the room who’d make that jump in his sleep,” Frog laughed quietly, basking in her private judgemental gossip Y’shtola had trusted her with.

“Thinking of unlikely pairings, I think he’s made a friend… Don’t look too obviously.”

Frog glanced around to watch the twins trying to tidy up the spilled fruit and plates, and then back around with a casual scan of the room, and saw Estinien lurking against the wall, watching with a quiet smirk. About two yalms away, sitting on a low chest and holding a drink, was Erenville, who had a furrowed brow and seemed quiet. She quickly looked away before it became staring and turned to pull Y’shtola to sit on the arm of the sofa. “Are they… hanging out?”

“I’m not sure. They’ve been there for at least half a bell without moving though. Or speaking.”

“I’d noticed the capybaras here sit quietly alongside much larger creatures like hammerhead alligators without any care. Perhaps Erenville is like one of those.”

Y’shtola coughed to cover a loud laugh. “Oh dear. A comparison I’m sure neither would appreciate you repeating.”

“I do hope they’re alright, though. Erenville went through a lot, and I know Estinien hates parties and being the centre of attention, but I didn’t want to not invite them, especially after Koana got invited along too. I’m worried I’m only making it worse for Erenville, though.”

Y’shtola tapped her chin thoughtfully, then twisted, and beckoned. Krile came stumbling over at once, beaming and pink-faced from the fancy cocktails she’d been sampling that evening.

“Do you think Bounding Frog can reach it?” she asked at once.

“Hmm? Oh, the axe. Don’t worry about that nonsense, I trust the great minds at work on the task. Shh, shh. I need your Echo,” Y’shtola said, pulling Krile into the conspiracy.

Her eyes widened. “What? What’s wrong?” she stage-whispered.

“Nothing!” Frog said hurriedly, also making soothing motions. She nodded her head to the corner. “Are they, um. Having fun?”

Krile wobbled around and looked a little less subtly, and gave a strange wonky grin as Estinien met her eye and narrowed his in turn. She waved awkwardly and returned to the huddle. “They are both perfectly content and in fact radiating with a sense of kinship. Fancy that!”

“Everyone parties differently,” Y’shtola said wisely. “For some, perhaps that involves no partying at all…”

“Mine apologies for interrupting…” Urianger manifested beside them, and bowed. “I must needs beg thy sorcery, Y’shtola. And, perchance, Bounding’s long arm?”

They laughed, and Y’shtola jumped up, thrilled at the challenge. Frog made another glance to the corner, where Erenville imperceptibly shook his head at her with deep disapproval. She grinned, and turned to see what Urianger and Raha had drunkenly cooked up.