#i’m so excited to go to one in like… two ish months!! but i miss this one Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[crepusculum-rattus]

thinking abt these photos from october again… man o(-(

[reverie-starlight]

{need you now- hawks}

y’all remember need you now by lady antebellum?

gn!reader, no physical descriptions. angst-ish? kinda fluffy. I’ll be doing a part two of this from keigo’s perspective eventually.

you can’t sleep.

this has been happening more and more lately, and you wonder how much more you can take without starting to hallucinate.

he’s back home from a mission now, which you only found out because of one of his fan accounts. well- “home”. he’s been staying in the luxurious house the commission kept aside for him. nothing homely about it according to keigo, but it’s not like he has much of a choice.

not after you got caught up in the argument and told him you wanted nothing to do with him.

you had shrugged it off when you saw the post, not knowing if it’s been too long to try and reconcile, but now you’re going down memory lane, holding back tears as you flip through the photo album he made you.

you fight yourself to stay off your phone, but you get to a photo of him kissing your cheek and you can’t stop yourself any longer. the loneliness you’ve been feeling all this time finally wins out.

the clock reads 1:15 AM.

is he even awake right now?

it’s been a month… and he’s always so busy, do you even cross his mind anymore? he always seems to be on yours.

you call anyway, against your better judgement and your heart lurches into your throat when he actually answers.

after two rings, at that.

“hello?” his voice both soothes you and chills you to your bones at the same time.

“hi keigo,” you whisper.

“hi, ba-“ you think he’s about to call you baby out of habit and you wish he hadn’t stopped himself. “did you need something?”

he sounds… somber. solemn. sad.

not at all like the keigo you love.

guilt pools in your stomach at the mere idea of you hurting him this badly.

“I…” you bite your lip. “I miss you.”

you hear his breath hitch. “really?”

you wish you could see his expression and figure out what he’s feeling. he’s always been so good at keeping his voice free of emotion.

granted, he always tried to turn that skill off around you, so you gather that he must be feeling guarded.

you keep going. “I’m so sorry for that night, keigo. I said things that I didn’t mean and I regret it so much… I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

he’s quiet on the line for a few beats and then and exhaled “I’m sorry too, baby. we both said some pretty awful things, didn’t we?”

you laugh, but it sounds a bit more like a sob to you. “yeah,” your voice breaks. “keigo, I… I need you here with me. can you please come over so we can talk about this?”

he clears his throat, likely working overtime to continue to keep the growing emotion out of his voice, but it sounds thick when it breaks anyway. “y-eah. yeah, I can come over. I need you too. I’ll be there soon, okay? unlock the window for me, sweetheart.”

he hangs up and you quickly move to do as he asked.

five minutes later, he’s on your balcony, sliding the glass and slipping into your room.

he immediately wraps you in his arms and your body, once cold and empty, fills with a warmth only he could provide.

he’s whispering words into your scalp. “I love you, y’know that? I love you too much to ever want to break up.”

you nod against his chest, letting the tears flow freely. “I love you too. I’m sorry,” these words are repeated between the two of you- they shoot out of your mouth and hit his chest, sinking into his skin and bubbling up his throat only for them to hit your scalp and absorb into your brain, then fall out of your mouth again like a well oiled machine working overtime.

but there’s nothing habitual about these phrases- as is the case for any time you say them, they’re promises.

promises that will never be broken again.

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

I’ve had this idea for a while and I finally wrote it :3

AND I’m gonna work on this from his POV, which I’m almost more excited abt than this one 👀

@emmyrosee sum angst (ish)

[amakumos]

MEET ME IN MONTE CARLO. — jake sim. (teaser)

SYNOPSIS. As a Formula 1 driver, being competitive is just in Ferrari driver Jake Sim's blood. Perhaps Jake cares about winning too much though, because during his conquest for the world title, he loses you. It isn't until 2 years later when you show up at the Monaco Grand Prix with his main rival, Red Bull driver Park Sunghoon, when Jake finds himself determined to not only fight for the championship, but also to fight for you.

GENRE. fluff, angst, exes to enemies (one-sided ish) to lovers

PAIRING. formula 1 driver! jake x fem! reader

WARNINGS. none in the teaser. in the fic, cursing, mentions of car crashes and accidents

ESTIMATED RELEASE DATE. late march, early april

WORD COUNT. 20k ish, teaser is 883 words

AUTHOR'S NOTE. well... this will be my second to last fic for the meantime! i'm excited to drop this one. i've been working on it for quite a while now. here's a formula 1 fic starring our very own jake sim :) i hope you enjoy this little teaser, and the taglist is open so just pop in an ask if you'd like to be tagged when i post this <3

TAGLIST IS OPEN, send in an ask if you’d like to be added!

You were the first person that Jake Sim ever loved. You were there at his first Formula 1 race, you were there at his first race win, and you were there for his first world title win. A series of firsts. 

But, Jake Sim has first breakup on the list as well. 

He always regrets how things ended between you two – it was messy, it was awful, and it left him crying at 3 in the morning in his apartment. 

Jake isn’t certain about many things in his life. But what Jake is 100% certain of, is that the breakup was all his fault.

You had screamed at him, and he knew that he deserved it. You were slowly slipping away from his grasp, and Jake allowed that to happen as he chased another world title so desperately. So desperately to the point that he would end up neglecting you. 

Forgotten dates, forgotten anniversaries, and forgotten birthdays. Text messages would be left unread for days when he was in some other unfamiliar city, as you walked to your lectures with a heavy heart and the stream of his race playing in the back of your phone as you waited for a response. You wore red every time he had a race, for Ferrari, for him, even as your relationship was crumbling. 

“I’m sorry,” he had choked out. “It is difficult.” 

You looked at him with bloodshot eyes and shaking fists. “It is. And you’re chasing your dreams, but… I can’t be with you if it’s like this. The past few months have been like we weren’t even dating in the first place.” 

Jake gulps. “I know. I’m sorry.” 

“I want to try,” you had said with an exasperated sigh, and Jake knows that you’re tired. He’s going at maximum speed, and you’re left trailing behind him. He’s so far ahead, and you know you’ve lost all hope of catching up. But you say those words anyway. “Please tell me you’ll try.” 

Jake doesn’t say a word. Because he knows that he won’t be able to. He wants to say yes, so badly. He wants to hug you, he wants to kiss you, and he wants to commit. Just as he commits to his races, to the championship, to Ferrari. 

But he can’t. Not a single word leaves his lips, and his silence is enough of an answer for you. “Oh,” you say, and Jake doesn’t miss the way your voice quivers, and your lower lip trembles. You’re dressed in red, Ferrari’s colour – his colour. “Okay.” 

“I’m sorry.” he told you. 

“It’s important to you.” you pressed your lips together in a thin line. “I understand.”

You say that, but Jake knows that you don’t. He knows nobody would ever be able to understand choosing to win over choosing someone you love. But Jake is committed to racing. He is committed to win. 

Yet, he’s not committed to you. The one who’s been with him through thick and thin, the one who’d catch red-eye flights to find him in some unfamiliar city to watch him win, the one who’d go through hell and back for him if it meant that he’d be happy. 

He can’t do the same for you, and he hates that. 

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, and you simply shook your head. You don’t have anything more to say to him, so you quietly pack your things. “I’m sorry.” 

Before you opened the door to leave, you took one last look at Jake. “I hope you figure out whatever’s going on in your life.” You don’t say anything more, and that is the last time Jake Sim ever sees you again. 

He doesn’t know what you’re doing either, because you’d deleted your Instagram account, starting a new one where none of his fans could keep up to date with you. The only way he knows how you’re doing is updates from Heeseung's girlfriend Yoona, who goes on trips with you often. He sees his fans constantly wondering if you’re doing well, and Jake finds it funny how he’s got the same exact question.

He drowns himself further in training, in racing, in wanting to become the best after the split. He wins, he wins, and he wins again – and that feeling of euphoria when he stands on the podium never leaves. It fills him with a joy like no other, and it reminds Jake why he does this. He wants to win. He wants to be the best – no, he is the best. 

Winning means the world to Jake Sim. Racing is in his blood – he does it to hear the crowds scream his name, he does it to lift that trophy on the top step of the podium, and he does it to feel the overwhelming pride in his chest when he crosses that chequered flag first. 

But he’s been so focused on winning, and he’s lost his everything. 

His everything is the girl who went to his first race. His everything is the girl who would tire herself by studying during the day, and catching long flights to the cities where he’d race in to support him. 

And his everything had left him 2 years ago in his apartment in Monte Carlo, Monaco, with teary eyes and a red dress. 

[joocomics]

ಬ different kind of normal

pairing: idol!taehyun x fem!reader

genre: angst, smut — mdni! wc: 1.7k

contains: situationship, reunion sex, sub!reader, slight hint of dumbification, slight dacryphilia, unprotected sex, dirty talk, pet names, reader is emotional and cries during sex, not a happy ending (?)

a/n: this has been sitting in the drafts since august and it’s finally seeing the light of day. cannot believe such angsty smut is happening on joocomics, tbh i don’t think i’ll be writing anything similar anytime soon phew it was tricky and i realised that i need my happy endings. but i wanted to try smth new, i really hope you enjoy it </3 sometimes you just need a kim taehyun to numb your emotions

[ txt masterlist | general masterlist ]

You go down the familiar stairs and walk into the bar. It’s loud, lit by the usual dim yellow-ish lights, the scent of alcohol and skin is covering every corner, wrapping around your silhouette.

Your eyes observe the place to search for him and it doesn’t take long to find him - he’s sitting on your usual spot which is distanced from every other table; it feels intimate and secluded.

None of the people who visit this bar know who he is, nor do they know you, and sitting on this specific table every time you see each other only enhances the feeling you get in these moments - like you and him are the only people existing in this place and time.

“Taehyun,” you greet him at once.

You haven’t said his name out loud in so long. You’re not allowed to talk about him to anyone; not that you want to anyway, you want to keep him to yourself though it feels nice to be able to roll it off your tongue again. It feels freeing, especially in his presence.

Maybe he missed hearing his name in your voice, because his eyes smile at the sound before he even turns to face you. The letters ring nicely, like his name is something he can feel caressing his skin when you’re the one saying it.

“You’re here.” He automatically leans forward after you sit down next to him; the usual gravitational force that always pulls you together is another thing he was anticipating to experience again.

His one arm goes over your shoulders and the sudden warmth enveloping you makes your knees weak. The truth is, they were already weak from the steps you had to take to reach your table, but now they feel like they’re about to melt.

Being so close to him months later feels like it’s your first date all over again. You hate it and love it all at the same time.

“I just ordered your favorite,” he says and you can hear the slight note of pride in his smooth voice.

His hair is covered from a black cap which he eventually takes off before running a hand through his hair; it grabs your attention with a new color that you haven’t seen him with in person before.

You point out the obvious fact about how he still remembers your order as you take a minute to observe the attractive features that make up the face you learned to love.

“Of course I do,” he simply replies, leaning in for a kiss.

The first kiss after three and a half months.

It feels so exciting and electrifying, just like the very first one you had a year ago, but at the same time it feels familiar too - like you’re reminiscing on a comforting memory you haven’t looked back on for a while.

His hand slides up your thigh, then travels up your hip only to sneak in discreetly beneath your shirt, sending you pleasant shockwaves. Soon enough he breaks the kiss though, careful not to bring any unnecessary attention on you.

“Next month I’m gonna have a week off.” Taehyun speaks up after a moment of silence between the two of you. After a sip of his beer, he continues: “I was thinking that you can come visit me if you want.”

Yes… Yes. You do. You want to scream it out loud. But the only thing you do is breathe in, staring inside the cup of your cocktail; trying to force yourself to speak before your mind turns blank.

“You don’t need to worry about money,” he adds as he shifts his gaze to you, hopeful and anticipating of your response. “It’s all on me, baby.”

There it is - the reminder you needed before giving any answers. His money, his fame. His life that’s so unfitting to yours. The pink balloon you found yourself in for a moment as he shared about his plan, tempting you to naively build dreams about your one week together, it pops, and brings you back to the harsh reality.

“Tae…” You shake head, “no matter what we do or tell each other we can’t be normal.”

Taehyun’s brows furrow at your choice of word.

Normal.

“This has to end at some point, I don’t think we should complicate things any further… as we’ve already discussed before.” You exhale deeply after blurting out the things you’ve been practicing on your way here. He didn’t hear the sound that escaped your lips because of the music mixed with the chatter, but if he did, he’d have known that saying all of this cost you an immense amount of energy.

You don’t glance at him even once, but Taehyun on the other hand, can’t stop staring at you like he’s in some sort of a bad dream that’ll end soon if he’s patient enough.

“Right, right…” He nods, finally able to force his eyes somewhere else. He peers down at his hands on the table that begin to tap nervously at the wooden surface, sharing almost the same rhythm as his heartbeat. “You’re right, that’s the wisest thing to do.”

You know it is, but hearing him agree turns out to be more painful than you expect.

For the best, this has to end soon, you remind yourself. Maybe not tonight, but tomorrow.

“I missed you,” Taehyun rises your body temperature through raspy whispers and open mouthed kisses which he scatters onto your skin almost in a rush; as if you’re going to disappear from his hands if he dares to slow down. “Missed you so fuckin’ much...”

His soft lips trace a path from your neck down to your cleavage and soon enough he’s even lower, running his tongue against your stomach before kissing that area sensually too. The slight moisture slipping from the corners of his mouth in addition to the delicate sucks makes you shudder as he simultaneously tugs on your underwear.

“Missed this sweet pussy too,” he invites his fingers into your walls effortlessly. His gaze focuses upon your lips and how they open for a silent gasp as he glides through with ease because of your already collected arousal. “Did she miss me?”

While anticipating an answer, Taehyun swirls his tongue inside his mouth before letting a string of saliva fall right onto your clit; he smears it all over your folds, provoking your thighs to open even wider for him.

“Tae—“ You arch spine, emphasising your need for something more than this lingering rush that’s growing in a pace that’s not quite enough for how much you ache for his touch right now. “Please…”

“I think she did.” A lustful spark shimmers in his eyes as his hand maintains its delicate motions. The movements make you moan every time his fingertips reach your sensitive bundle of nerves before slipping back down again. “Say it.”

At once he meets your eyes as his frame eventually hovers over your naked flushed body.

Your hands relax on his broad shoulders as your focus fixates on his face. Hopefully there’s not as much pain into your eyes as there is in your heart in this moment. You don’t want him to know how much exactly you’re actually hurting.

“I missed you every day,” you whisper softly as your noses touch; your mouths search for each other, thirsty for the other’s taste even more now. When you feel his hand guiding his cock to your entrance your breathing catches, but you still manage to repeat it. “Of course, I missed you.”

The second he hears your words, Taehyun crashes his lips against your mouth. Because he cannot bare hearing this one more time or because he enjoys the sound of it too much - he’s unable to tell.

As he leads the kiss swiftly your legs wrap loosely around his hips and your warm walls immediately squeeze onto him as he quickens the pace, eager to make up for all the time you were away from each other.

“Fuck—“ He grunts at the growing pleasure that he reminisced about night after night before breathing out against your neck, “finally… I swear to god nobody else can make me feel this way.”

His voice, husky and domineering despite his on going confessions, echoes in your fuzzy mind. Although you shouldn’t, you put in all the effort you can into memorising each word he says; you hold onto it tightly as the continuous thrusts gradually turn more rigid and sharp causing your nails to sink into his shoulder blades.

However, as amazing the buzzing sweet wave inside you feels, you cannot suppress the sadness that’s about to overpower you first.

You swallow another failed attempt to fight back the bitter emotion, but you can feel it lingering everywhere - in your heart, inside your stomach, on your tongue once he slows down his hips to grip your face, and inside your throat that feels like it’s closing up.

“Why are you crying?”

Taehyun peers into your eyes that are sparkling at him with a bittersweet emotion which he hasn’t gotten used to seeing inside them. His gaze lowers to your puffy lips, trembling as they separate with hesitation.

“I… I don’t know what’s gotten to me, s-sorry,” your arms wrap tighter to pull him closer. His thumb caressing your wet cheek only makes it worse for you. “Please, k-keep going.”

“Sweetheart,” he whispers under his breath as he fulfills your wish by resuming his thrusts - more forcefully though to distract you from the sorrow, “I’ll make it go away now, okay? Focus on me, baby.”

You grasp his shoulders while the delight starts to numb your mind with each intense push of his cock. The hits against your sweet spot are fast and strong enough to weaken your memory right away.

“There you go,” Taehyun’s pants blend with your whimpers ringing beneath him as the tears on your skin begin to dry. “Such pretty eyes, look at me, love.”

Something about seeing you cry for the first time made his heart clench, and now his mind fogs up, leaving him with only one goal - to make you cum as many times as possible so you can’t think of anything for the rest of the night.

Right now, he’d erase every single thought from your brain if he knows he’s capable of doing so.

The moment he feels you’re tightening up Taehyun’s eyes open so he doesn’t miss out on one flinch of yours.

“Yeah, I’m here, baby,” he murmus, trying to keep moving forward while your peak lasts, causing you to quiver beneath his frame. “Let go, baby, I’m right here.”

Yes, he’s here, and tomorrow morning he’s still going to be here, but you’ll be gone, because this time if he tries to stop you like all the previous times, you’re not going to look back.

But for now, you and Taehyun are close as you’ve never been before.

! please do not repost, copy or translate my works

! please keep in mind that english is not my first language. i apologise for any mistakes i’ve might missed

[ysljoon]

Love Maze-Chapter 1

pairing: single dad!simon 'ghost' riley x live-nanny!reader wc: 1.8k warnings: slow burn-ish, unexpected pregnancy, abandonement, swearing, afab!reader a/n: trying to do a chaptered fic after so long my god pray for me yall but im really excited i hope yall enjoy this as much as i enjoyed writing it MINORS DNI (have your age in your bio or you're getting blocked) >next chpt.

Simon stared down at his baby girl with unreadable emotions swimming around his pupils. He loves his daughter with every fiber of his being and would do anything for her. Although she came into this world unexpectedly at a time when Simon was unprepared to be a dad and the mother left as soon as he was born into this world he stepped up for her. All Simon wanted that night was a night to relieve some tension after a particularly hard mission with any broad that was willing to look past the mask and just make him feel good. He didn’t expect her to be at his doorstep two months later with mascara-tinted tears rolling down her cheeks with a pregnancy test in her hands. She was blubbering about a missed period, not being ready for a baby, and cursing her birth control for not being more reliable, but Simon’s ears were ringing and his chest felt tight just from the sight of the pregnancy test. He had to brace himself against the frame of the door to keep himself steady. He needed to stay composed for this poor girl.

He invited her in and they sat over a cup of tea to devise a game plan on how to go about this pregnancy. Simon had half a mind to just tell her to get rid of it and as those words almost rolled off his tongue he heard her utter the words of wanting to keep it as she was already attached, Simon scoffed at that notion, but at the end of the day, he couldn’t tell her what she can and cannot do with her body. Simon’s heart was racing when she started to get ahead of herself talking about the color of the nursery how they should go about the gender reveal and if it should be a big party or a private affair. Simon felt like that was enough for one day and politely ushered her out gave her his phone number and told her they would be in contact.

Simon did try to keep in contact, but two weeks after that meeting he got called on a mission that would send him abroad for over three months. He had a strict rule that he left his phone behind while he went on operations to not be tracked. He knew it was shitty to do after being aware of the knowledge that he has a child on the way, but he favored the thought that the girl would just leave him alone and he would be free of all responsibility for the child.

That was not the case when he came back, to say the least. When he turned his phone back on after his arrival back home he saw 50 missed calls and hundreds of texts from his fling. At first, they started with concern as to why he was not answering and the texts slowly descended into angry texts filled with swears about how awful he is for abandoning a pregnant woman and the child. The last text made his blood run cold.

Since you want to abandon me I can do the same to you.

He stared at it trying to figure out the full meaning behind the cryptic sentence and there were many ways it could be spun. He frantically called her and bounced his leg trying to steel his nerves as the call rang out. On the second to last ring, she finally picked up.

“Nice of you to finally get around to answering my calls.” Simon gritted his teeth.

“I need to know what that last text meant.” She scoffed hearing his words. “It meant exactly what it meant Simon,” The venom in her voice seeped through the speaker of the phone and it was palpable. “Once I have this baby it’s all yours I’m not dealing with an absent baby daddy. I’ve done all the hard work anyways while you were out fucking off to go do whatever it is. Oh right, I don’t even know what it is you do because it’s all classified.” Simon had to roll her eyes at the tantrum she was expressing over his absence. “Can you be fuckin’ rational? We’re not doing that shit.” He was losing his patience as the call went on, but the girl just laughed at his response. “You don’t get to decide when you pick and choose to be a father so I’m deciding for you. I’m done with all of it! You’ve left me here with no support and I’m not going to live like that for the rest of the kid’s life. Oh, and it’s a girl by the way.” And with that, the call ended without Simon being able to get a final word in. In a fit of anger, he threw his phone down on his hardwood floor causing the glass screen to crack, but it was still usable.

The day he was there at the hospital for her baby girl’s birth was a day that will forever be ingrained into his memory. The feeling of holding such a fragile and small human overwhelmed him to no end. When signing the birth certificate he decided to name her Ella. He felt like it matched her perfectly. When he got home and placed her sleeping form into her crib he sat on the couch and took in everything that had taken place. It was now just Simon and Ella and he wasn’t mad about that, but he also realized he couldn’t do this alone and that’s what terrified him. He wasn’t ready to let the task force know about his daughter.

Simon spent the whole night occupied with making a job listing for a live-in nanny. He felt like that was the best option for him to go about his life as normal without worrying about his child at all hours of the day. Once it was posted he rolled on his side and just stared at Ella sleeping peacefully in her crib. He rolled it closer to the bed and closed his eyes hoping to get an hour or two of rest.

You were up late at night straining your eyes against the bright screen of your laptop busy searching for a new job. You had been out of a job for almost three weeks now and your savings were depleting faster than you expected. You had loved being in childcare, but the last daycare center you had worked at was just not the right fit for you. The coworkers were toxic and you could tell management wasn’t in the best interest of the children, but to ensure that administration had their pockets lined with cash. It had burnt you out to be in an environment and you needed a change of scenery. You refreshed the job listing website you browsed hoping a new job listing would miraculously pop up. Your prayers were answered when you saw the new listing pop up of being a live-in nanny for a newborn. You fervently submitted your resume and went to bed wishing you would get a fast response because this job sounded like everything you needed such as a great wage and a place to live. After all, the rent at your current was unsustainable for the salary you were receiving for your past job, and living paycheck to paycheck was draining.

You woke up at noon and were delighted to see a notification from the poster of the job listing wanting to arrange an interview for the position. He gave you his availability and you realized he was available today for an interview. You hastily agreed to meet with him at 3 p.m. to discuss. You frantically searched your closet for your best professional attire and you printed out a copy of your resume just in case. As you got ready nerves started to build up in your stomach. You needed this position and you didn’t need any unfavorable first impressions to ruin this opportunity for you.

The GPS leads you to quite a large and cozy home. You triple-checked the address to make sure you were at the right home before knocking on the door. You rapped your hand thrice against the door and occupied observing your surroundings so as to not look too nervous. The door creaked on its hinges as it opened and you were greeted by a burly man that towered over your frame and had half of his face covered by a mask. You didn’t expect it but still greeted him with a bright smile and a handshake. He stood to the side to allow you in and you followed him into his living room which had a large black leather couch, a fireplace, and a wall-mounted TV. The home was very minimally decorated, but you could still tell that this man was in a different tax bracket from you. He grunted as he sat down and you tried not to make too intense eye contact as you waited for him to begin the interview.

“To preface, my name is Simon and my daughter’s name is Ella. I work in the military and the line of work that I’m in specifically requires me to be gone for weeks to months at a time and that’s why I need a live-in nanny. I already looked over your resume and you seem to be very experienced in childcare which is a great sign. You would be given the wage that was listed in the job description as well as a weekly grocery allowance. You are allowed to pretty much do whatever you want around here to make yourself feel at home. The one thing I will not allow is strangers to be over. I prioritize my daughter’s safety over anything in this world and if you do anything to jeopardize that I will deal with that and that’s one thing you don’t want me to do.”

You took in all his words and this wasn’t even an interview it had already sounded like you had the job. “Do you understand? If you agree to this position we can get to signing your employment contract and you can start Monday so you have the weekend to pack up your belongings.”. “I understand fully sir.” “Drop the sir, we're not doing that here. You can call me Simon or Mr. Riley.” You nodded at that and he stood up from the couch and went over to the dining table where a thin stack of papers was. He brought them over a pen and slid them across the coffee table for you to look over. They essentially reiterated all the rules and expectations of the job and you signed and initialed wherever it was necessary. You handed him back the papers and he gave them a quick glance to ensure it was completed. He nodded and then stood up to help escort you out of his home. You gave him a quick handshake as your goodbye and went along your way. You could practically be skipping to your car with how excited you are to be starting this new chapter in your life and career.

[waltermis]

The Oscars

MASTERLIST ↠ SINGER!READER UNIVERSE

Summary: It’s time for the Oscars

Warnings: swearing, most likely inaccurate stuff about the Oscars… I tried to collect as much information as possible, but it is entirely likely that I messed the whole thing up.

Pairings: Scarlett Johansson x fem!reader (romantic), Scarlett x Lorelai Philips (platonic), Scarlett x Quinn Jones (platonic).

A/N: Happy birthday, Scarlett ❤️❤️

↠↠↠

Scarlett sighed nervously as she watched the people around her bustle and hustle in her hotel room, attempting to get her ready for the Oscars. She silently hoped that she would be nominated for at least one award but never voiced her thoughts out loud, not wanting to be disappointed if she didn’t get nominated. Looking around her busy room, she really wished that you could’ve been here. 

You’ve been on tour for over a year now and the last time she was able to physically see and feel you in person was 7 months ago when you performed for 3 nights in Atlanta. She had a couple of reshoots for Black Widow there, and when you had told her that you would be having a concert there, she instantly bought tickets to see you perform. She bought tickets for all 3 nights, singing/screaming the words to the songs until her voice was raspy and on the verge of going away. She bought tickets for your brothers, your dad, and the rest of her family to go with her, to support you. She had so much fun watching you sing and dance; seeing you have fun with your dancers and backup singers on stage had her so mesmerized. And watching the way you interacted with your fans, she really understood why you loved them so much.

She gasped lightly, getting pulled away from her thoughts when her hairstylist accidentally tugged too hard on her hair. “I’m so sorry, Ms. Johansson.” Quinn apologized quickly.

“It’s okay,” she reassured. “And how long have you been my hairstylist?”

“6 years-ish, give or take,”

“And how many times have I told you to call me Scarlett?”

“Too many to count,” they said, sheepishly. 

“Exactly, so are you going to start calling me Scarlett?”

“It’s very unlikely,” the two of them laughed at that. “Are you excited for tonight?” they asked.

“Yeah,” Scarlett replied, “I think it’ll be really fun,” she smiled while they added the finishing touches to her hair.

“And done.” they said, showing her hair in the mirror.

“I love it, thank you.”

“You’re welcome, now go get your dress on. ‘Cause I’m pretty sure Lorelai’s head is gonna explode.”

Scarlett looked over at her manager, who was standing in the corner talking on her phone, and Quinn was right, Lorelai looked beyond stressed. “She looks like a headless chicken.” she said, grinning. 

Quinn burst out laughing, which caught Lorelai’s attention. “Shit shit shit, go to the bedroom now!!” They pushed her off the makeup chair. She quickly ran into the bedroom and put on her dress. Looking at herself, she smiled softly. God did she wish that you were here right now. 

She decided to pull out her phone and give you a call. The phone rang for a couple seconds before your voicemail came on. “Hi, this is Y/N; I am currently not available at the moment. Please leave a message after the beep and I’ll try to get back to you as soon as I can.” Scarlett smiled at the sound of your bubbly voice. 

Beeeeeep

“Hi baby, I was just calling because I missed you. I’m just about ready to leave for the awards tonight and I wanted to hear your voice. Call me back tonight when you’re free? I love you.” She hung up.

“Scarlett!! Are you ready?” Lorelai asked, a little panicked, knocking excessively on the door.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

In the car, Scarlett pulled out her phone and began to watch reels of you singing during your tour on Instagram. She honestly couldn’t be more proud of you, she knew you always wanted to be a singer, but that dream didn’t solidify until you first sang in the first Pitch Perfect movie. She saw how hard you worked for this, and knew that you deserved every single round of applause you got after each song you’d sing.

↠↠↠

Scarlett stepped out of her car, putting on a practiced smile for the cameras. She looked at the paparazzi and her fans who were screaming and crying out her name. She got her picture taken and was led to the section where interviews were taking place. She did a couple of them, she even had one with her co-star and friend, Florence Pugh. 

Soon, Lorelai was ushering her off to the next part. Scarlett smiled as she greeted Cole Walliser; he was the one in charge of the GlamBOTs; the camera that moves extremely quickly but the footage taken is in slow motion. After he instructed her on what she should be doing, Scarlett did her iconic over the shoulder pose into the camera and smiled happily. The speed of the camera startled her for a moment, but she was quick to regain her bearings. She thanked him again, and then joined her manager in one of the more secluded areas as an usher led them into the building.

Scarlett smiled softly in thanks at the attendant who led her and Lorelai to their seats. Getting inside the building took quite a bit of time; with the amount of celebrities showing up in it was bound to get crazy. She sighed, gently wiping her hands on her dress. “You nervous?” Lorelai whispered quietly.

“Little bit,”

“Don’t be,”

“I kinda wish Y/N was here…”

“I know,”

“Not that I don’t love your company.” Scarlett amended quickly, “I just– I just miss her. I mean, I haven’t seen the woman in 7 months!”

“I know that too,”

“And I know that she’d be able to calm me down in a second if she were here. I know that she wouldn’t care if she won an award tonight, cause she’d think that all the other nominees deserved it better.”

“That sounds like Y/N,” Lorelai laughed. “Now before you can go into a spiral right now, do you think you’re gonna win tonight?”

“Maybe…? I mean there’s so many other people to consider before me,”

“Hey, don’t sell yourself short. I know you, and knowing you, I know you’ll get a nomination, I’m sure of it.”

Scarlett smiled a genuine smile at Lorelai, “Thank you,”. Lorelai winked at her, before the night began. 

Scarlett smiled brightly as each nomination was announced. She had to admit, even if you weren’t here, she was having a nice time. Her heart had skipped a beat when she heard Taika Waitit’s name get called when ‘Jojo Rabbit’ won Best Adapted Screenplay. She quickly stood him and congratulated him, sharing a moment of joy before he went on stage. “He deserves this,” Lorelai said, watching as Taika started his speech.

“He really does, this was one of the best scripts I’ve ever read.”

“I know…. I saw the movie.” 

Scarlett scrunched her eyebrows together. “Hey, do you know why you have an empty seat beside you?”

“I don’t know, maybe someone wasn’t able to show up?” Lorelai guessed.

“Probably, I wonder who couldn’t make it.”

↠↠↠

“How’re you feeling?” Lorelai asked, a little bit later. They were now watching the little clips put together for the award of Best Documentary Feature.

“The nerves are still there but I’m good.”

“Good,” Lorelai smirked, she had a strange look in her eyes as they began clapping as the winner was announced. Scarlett gave her a suspicious look but paid her no mind as she listened to the speeches.

Soon enough, Mahershala Ali came out to present the award for Best Supporting Actress. Scarlett held her breath, squeezing Lorelai’s hand lightly as her heart beat out of her chest. 

Mahershala began his speech. “Most every actress and actor I know wants to build a lasting body of work choosing roles that do more than just speak to them personally, but with the hope of their performance will resonate with others. The five women nominated Best Supporting Actress have done just that.” 

The short clips of multiple different movies began, starting with Laura Dern in Marriage Story. Then she saw herself as Rosie Betzler in ‘Jojo Rabbit’ play on the screen. She sighed happily, feeling exhilarated that she was nominated. She smiled even harder when she saw Florence was also nominated. “Here are the nominees for performance by an actress in the supporting role.” He paused, “Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell. Laura Dern, Marriage Story. Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit. Florence Pugh, Little Women. Margot Robbie, Bombshell.” 

“And, the Oscar goes to……. Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit.” Everyone in the crowd cheered as Scarlett stayed frozen in her seat. It wasn’t until Lorelai nudged her lightly did she realize that she had really won. Hugging a couple of friends quickly, Scarlett headed up onto the stage, smiling bashfully as everyone continued to clap. “Congratulations,” Mahershala said, giving her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. 

“Thank you,” she smiled, taking the award as he handed it to her. She walked up to the microphone set up in the middle of the stage, standing in front of everyone beaming proudly when the crowd began to clap even harder. 

Suddenly, Scarlett felt two arms wrap around her waist from behind. She spun around quickly, alarmed. She was fully prepared to scream out when she stared into a pair of eyes she’s longed to see in person for the past 7 months. “Oh my god,” she whispered, her words barely audible. Scarlett let go of her award as she wrapped her arms around your neck, hugging you tightly. With your quick reflexes, you manage to catch the award before it hits the ground and you hand it off to Lorelai who was waiting to receive it at the bottom of the stage. 

You returned Scarlett’s hug just as tightly, cupping your right hand over her neck and wrapping your other arm around her waist, pulling her into you. “Hi baby,” you whispered into her hair, kissing her temple. You closed your eyes for a moment, cherishing the feeling of her finally being in your arms again. You didn’t realize how much you really missed her until just now.

You felt her body shake and gently you removed her from your body, keeping her at a nice distance. Scarlett had tears streaming down her face as she reached for you. “No,” she whimpered, her hands coming up to clench at your clothes. “Too far,” she clarified, tugging you closer still.

“Okay, I won’t go too far, but why’re you crying?” you asked, gently turning her body so her back faced the stage. Delicately, you brushed away her tears while you tried not to ruin her makeup. Thank god for waterproof makeup.

“I just missed you so fucking much,”

“I missed you too,” you kissed her head again, relishing the fact that she was with you for real and that it wasn’t a sick dream.

“What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were still in Rome!” 

“I was… but I thought I’d stop by before my next show in a couple of days.” you replied, smiling warmly at her. 

“What’re you wearing?” Scarlett asked, once she’s got a good look at you.

“What? You don’t like it? I think I’m dressed very nicely for the Oscars,” you teased, tugging at your hoodie and sweatpants, and then scrunching your face up, showing your face without any makeup.

“I think you look great.”

“I know… I was supposed to be at the house before you came here to actually be there for you but my flight got delayed because of the weather,”

Scarlett gasped, “That’s why you didn’t take my call!”

“Didn’t see it, had my phone on airplane mode. Anyways by the time I landed, the event had already started. And when I actually got here, they were presenting your award. I didn’t have time to change, if you can’t tell.”

“You look beautiful,” she said. “And I love you very much,” she murmured into your neck as she buried herself back into you. “And I appreciate you being here for me,”

“I love you too,” you mumbled. “Now, I think there’s an entire room full of celebrities waiting for your speech.” you quickly pulled away, making sure that you didn’t smear any of her makeup. Hastily, you reassured Scarlett that you would still be there when she was done with her speech but she wasn’t convinced. Instead, she clasped your hands together behind her as Lorelai handed her back her Oscar and headed back to her seat.

What the two of you didn’t realize was that during your reunion, the microphone had picked up everything you’ve both said and there wasn't a dry eye in the audience. Anyone who knew you and Scarlett knew that you were perfect for each other. And anyone who’s heard of you knew that you were the power couple that dominated every industry. You were the ‘it’ couple. One of the only couples the world knew that clicked as well as the two of you did.

You stood behind her, beaming with pride as Scarlett started her speech, her hand still grasped tightly in yours behind her back. “I’m so sorry about that, um, I haven’t seen her in 7 months and yeah,” she chuckled lightly, “I just wanted to thank everybody who got me here. I want to thank…” the rest of her speech faded away from your ears as you admired your girlfriend. You knew without a doubt that this would be the person that you’d spend the rest of your life with. “I also want to thank my partner in crime, Y/N,” you snapped back to reality at the sound of your name. “Without you, then none of this would’ve been possible, you helped me remember my lines and perfect my German accent, which was not easy, by the way, and yet, you never wavered. You never doubted for a second that I couldn’t do this, and I am so grateful to have you in my life. I love you more than words can ever express.” You smiled, kissing her cheek before you led Scarlett down the stairs to get her name engraved into her award. You stood beside her the entire time, holding her hand tightly, squeezing it periodically to reassure her that you were still there. And then again, when she went to get her picture taken. The media had a field day at the sight of you with Scarlett, dressed in old baggy clothes. However, you didn’t care at all. The only thing important to you was Scarlett.

The only time you let go of her hand was when an attendant needed her to return to her seat. You smiled at her comfortingly, “I’ll be back in a bit, love. I need to change into more appropriate clothes for tonight. I’ll meet you back at the seats.” Scarlett nodded before walking away, finally understanding the empty seat next to Lorelai when she saw she had moved down one spot. 

“You sly bitch,” Scarlett whispered to her. Lorelai simply smiled before turning back to Cinematography clips. 

Soon, Scarlett grew restless wondering where you were. As if you knew about her worries, you immediately appeared beside her, taking a seat next to her, dressed up like everyone else. You were wearing a black mermaid dress with no straps and shimmers decorated the fabric of the dress. Your hair was released from its messy bun and lay to rest on your shoulders. Your makeup around your eyes was dark but simple, just a bit more eyeliner on your waterline.

Scarlett’s incessant staring started to make you nervous and self conscious. “What? Do I look weird?”

“How is it possible that in only a couple minutes you can look so gorgeous while it takes me hours to look like this.” she gestured at herself.

“You look absolutely amazing,”

“You really think so?”

“Definitely,” 

“Even if I probably had snot and tears running down my face earlier?”

“To me, you looked like an angel.”

↠↠↠

Everyone began clapping again as Rami Malik walked up onto the stage. “It is truly an honor and privilege to be here celebrating the transformative performances as displayed by these five nominees; they're powerful, profound, and indelibly etched in our history and in our hearts.” You smiled excitedly at Scarlett when you saw her picture from Marriage Story show up on the big screen. Your jaw dropped when you saw your performance for ‘Palm Springs’ appear on stage. “Here are the nominees for performance by an actress in a leading role. Cynthia Erivo, Harriet. Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story.” You cheered loudly. “Saoirse Ronan, Little Women. Charlize Theron, Bombshell. Y/N L/N, Palm Springs.” This time, it was Scarlett who was cheering loudly for you, as you smiled shyly.

“And the Oscar goes to…… Y/N L/N.” Standing up, you had tears in your eyes as you gave everyone a hug. Scarlett gave you a quick kiss before you walked up onto the stage. “Congratulations,” Rami said, when he hugged you.

“Thank you,” you smiled as he handed you your award. Walking up to the microphone, you looked out into the crowd. 

“I don’t know if any of you saw it earlier but I literally just arrived…” you laughed lightly, “Um wow… I did not know that I would be winning an Oscar tonight, or else I would’ve been more prepared. Truth be told, I was only really here to support my girlfriend, Scarlett Johansson. I had no idea that I would be winning something too. So, I’ll make this quick, I just want to thank Max Barbakow who even gave me the chance to audition for the part of Sarah. I also want to thank the amazing cast and crew, without you here then there wouldn’t be a movie to make and I am so grateful for all of you. And finally, I want to thank my incredible girlfriend, Scarlett Johansson. If it weren’t for you then I would’ve never even thought about taking this role. You have guided me and supported me through this entire project and I can’t thank you enough. I love you so much more than you’ll ever know. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have about 7 hours left here before I have to fly off to the next destination on my tour. Congrats to all the nominees and the winners tonight!” 

Speedily, you walked across the stage and out the back to get your name engraved. You stopped for a couple pictures before you returned back inside. You came back in just as they announced the last winner for Best Motion Picture. The event soon came to a close.

You grinned along with Scarlett as everyone around you congratulated the two of you. Florence even came to tackle you into a hug. After arranging a date to hang out together again, you and Scarlett headed through the back where Lorelai and her driver were already waiting for you inside the car. 

You opened the door for her, letting her in first. On the way back to the hotel, the two of you were sitting as close as you could with your seatbelts on. Your arm over Scarlett’s shoulder while she kept her face buried in your neck, trying to memorize your smell. The two of you spent the rest of the night talking about nothing and everything.

THE END

↠↠↠

3292 words

[aboutcustardcreams]

For the prompt thingy how about Missy x reader and ♡ "I think I'm in love with you and I'm terrified"

I was so excited to wrap this up that I didn’t reread so I’m sorry if there are any mistakes. Hope it lives up your expectations. Soft Missy here cuz I love me a soft Missy ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ who doesn’t, lies!

Hold on to something beautiful

Word count: 3600 ish

Your place hadn’t felt like home in a long time if you’re honest. You felt misplaced, wherever you turned. It almost disgusted you to be confined there. It was lonely and dull. You hated it, but you had nowhere else to go. Your place had been the TARDIS for five years, traveling side by side with the woman who day by day grew on you. She showed you the most amazing views, stars and galaxies. The sun itself. To live a stationary life on Earth after having gotten a taste of all those wonders seemed wrong. 

How much time has it been? You wished you lost count. But there was a clock ticking in your head, reminding you of every second spent without her. It’s one of her routine visits to Gallifrey, she told you. In two days she promised to be back. You knew she hadn’t been completely acquitted— every now and then she had to show up, proving she had changed. And she did. You were so so proud of her. 

It’s been months, despite her having promised you to be away only a couple of days. Told you to rest, meet up with your family and friends, before leaving again for another adventure. When you attempted the request to go with her, of course she said no, that it wasn’t necessary, and you had dropped it, truly thinking that a couple of days wouldn’t have been so bad after all. Except that days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. And Gods, if you missed her. 

Not a message, nor an hologram of hers. Completely abandoned in your apartment, with no explanation, no note whatsoever. People say time helps numb the pain, but you can’t bring yourself to agree with them. You can’t remember a single moment you felt an ounce of relief since she left you. It hurt so much, sometimes you feel like you can’t breathe. Time Lords lie. You had been warned before, yet you had hoped foolishly that she wouldn’t lie to you. 

You hated how she saved you and then ruined you. A part of you wished she had erased your memories, if her intention was to leave you like that. 

What hurt the most was the look on her face when she told you she would come back. You still remembered that. She made a promise she knew she was going to break and she looked absolutely fine with it. You wondered if she found another human to travel with. You scoff bitterly at the thought. More like, a new toy to play with. That’s what you had been for her after all. 

Turning your hands into fists, you bite your bottom lip so hard to prevent screaming. You were mad. It was one of those days where the line between sadness and anger was so thin, it blurred. You tried to bring yourself to hate her, yet all you could do was hate yourself for having been foolish enough to allow your feelings to bloom. 

That was your life now; part of your days spent in bed, rarely eating anything. When was the last time you left your house for a breath of fresh air? You didn’t remember. Once a week you had your groceries delivered at home, with the bare minimum to survive. Living was a privilege you did not possess. She would laugh at you, wouldn’t she? Reminding you how weak and fragile human lives truly are. And she would be right.

Your head hurts. It’s not a novel to you. It’s probably dehydration too. But you couldn’t bring yourself to care. 

You let out a humorless, dry chuckle, when you believe you’re hearing the familiar whoosh of the TARDIS echoing in your rooms. You cover your eyes with your palms, before rubbing them angrily with your fingers. The whirring of the blue box used to give you a thrill now all it gives you is a sense of nausea and heartache. “Ugh stop this. Just stop playing games—“, you mutter to yourself. 

A timid squeak follows, but you try to ignore it. You had no idea there was actually a TARDIS inside your room, in its usual spot, by the window. You even started to believe it all happened in your head, Missy, the Universe, the stars and all the galaxies she showed you. 

“What a spectacular landing, I must admit,” the woman in purple gently taps the TARDIS’ door with a pleased grin, before stepping out, rather excited to see you. 

She parts her lips to cheerfully chirp your name, but when she spots you curled up in bed, under a pile of sheets, she stalls, freezes.

“Poppet?” Her hearts shatter in her chest at the sight of your glazed cheeks, tired eyes and ruffled hair. She nervously clears her throat, taking in your unexpected sadness. “Hiya, hot stuff. It’s me, Missy.” 

You think you’ve imagined it. You had to. A bitter chuckle escapes your mouth in fact, “I’m going crazy,” you mutter incredulously. 

Missy’s frown can’t help but deepen. She lightly shakes her head, bemused, horrified by the blank look on your face. 

“Why can’t you just–” you don’t finish your thought and gwan at your bottom lip as if you were pondering on those words. An exhale, “why can’t I just forget you?” 

Missy swallowed, hard. “Is this some kind of joke?” Her throat bobbled. “Because if so, it kinda hurts my feelings, so knock it off,” she could feel her own voice struggling to come out as fluently as she would like. 

You hum. When something or rather someone sit to the side of the mattress, you can’t help but see and feel her presence around you, above you. You can’t imagine it. Her hand reaches out to you, finds your leg and gives an hesitant squeeze, as if she is suddenly unsure whether it’s okay or not to touch you. 

It’s your turn to feel your throat tighten. Chest suddenly to small to contain your heart. 

“Look at me, poppet,” she pleads softly. 

You’re shaking, but it’s not cold what you feel. “Is it really you?”, your voice barely above a whisper. 

A watery smile curves her lips. “Of course!” Her hand moves from your leg to your face, gently cupping it. It feels so cold. You’re cold. Yet you’re under the bedsheets. You exhale shakingly. “Who else could it be?” 

You take a moment to realize everything. You dart your eyes from her to the TARDIS. You couldn’t believe it. Along with the excitement to have all of it back, came a pinch of anger and frustration. So you sit up rather abruptly, and Missy’s hand falls from your face. You let yourself dive into those blue eyes of hers. You could very well let yourself drown without second thoughts, despite everything. 

A pause, before taking action. “Where the bloody hell have you been?”, you push her, taken by anger and frustration. 

Missy looks at you in disbelief. She has never seen you so angry before, not at her at least, “Excuse me?” She stutters out. “Have you gone mad?” 

Your face turns red. “The truth? Maybe,” you nod bitterly. “Possibly. No, wait. Most certainly,” you’re filled with so many questions, you don’t even know where to start. Why was she looking at you as if you had grown a second head was beyond your knowledge though. “You’re the one who left me, I shouldn’t be doing the explanations.” 

Missy swallowed again, nervously. “Okay, so it’s about that,” she reasoned carefully. You flash her a glare and she lifts her hands up defensively. “Alright, fair enough, I’m aware it’s been a little more than a couple of days, but if you could just let me explain—“ you flap a hand at her again, not too hard, but enough to make her squeal, “Oi! Will you stop it?” 

You ignore that. “Do you think I’m stupid? How long do you think it’s been?” 

There’s such a fresh, raw suffering veiling your eyes that causes Missy to act. She cups your face, and when you try to jerk from her grasp, she fights and keeps you there. 

“I mean it. Stop it—“ she pleads, her voice both soft and concerned. “You’re going to make yourself sick.” 

You feel a bit dizzy if you’re honest. But you’re upset, so it’s quite normal, isn’t it? 

“What happened to you?” She urged.

“You really don’t know?” 

“No,” she deadpans. “Anyway, I must tell you you’re lucky my old ways are past me. I used to kill for much less,” she tries to lighten the mood, hoping to finally see you smile. She missed it. 

You’re tempted to hit her again, because how could she not know? She’s a Time Lady for heaven’s sake.

“Don’t make me tie your hands,” she warns you, however there’s no harshness in her voice. She sighs, when you avert your eyes from her, grumbling under your breath. “Just tell me how long it’s been. Ten days? Two weeks?” 

A pause that feels like an eternity follows, before you mutter out, “Six months, Missy.” Her face paled, and your features hardened a bit. “Six fucking months during which you just… disappeared.” 

Slightly shaking her head, Missy winced at that. “No.. that can’t be right. I left for merely six days, not six months.” When you meet her eyes again, she feels completely powerless. “I- I don’t understand. I settled the right coordinates. The TARDIS-“

“I wish you were right,” you sniffled. 

She let out a shaky breath and with the free hand, she lifts your chin towards her. Next thing you feel are her soft, plump lips pressed against your forehead.  

“I’m sorry, poppet. It was a mistake…”

You slightly pull away. A wave of conflicting emotions battle against each other. “I thought I was never going to see you again.” When she shakes shakes her head, you ask. “What happened?” 

“I was in Gallifrey like I told you,” there is no lie within her words. “All boring stuff and then, on my way back I spotted some Lupari ships in my trajectory, well they spotted me,” she clarifies with an eye roll. “I had to throw them off so that they wouldn’t follow me on Earth.” 

You frowned. “I didn’t think Lupari were dangerous. Don’t they consider humans their best friends?” Your question raises a little smile upon Missy’s face. 

Such a clever girl, you are. 

“They do,” when she pulls you closer, you nuzzle in her shoulder. She feels so warm towards you. It’s like she is reviving your aching body just by being close. Missy can’t help but graze her fingers up and down your forearm, as she holds you. “I attacked them once. I wasn’t… merciful,” she admits with a sad chuckle you don’t reciprocate. “I wasn’t scared for me but for you.” 

You bit your inner cheek. Was it her way to say it was your fault she left for six months? 

“Say something…” she uttered, breaking the silence. 

You pull away slowly. “I can’t be doing this again, Missy. I can’t live with the constant fear that one of these days you’ll leave me because you’re trying to protect me.” 

Missy felt like her whole world came crushing down upon her shoulders. “I won’t leave you again. I told you it was a mistake—“ 

You wince, slightly pulling away. “Mistakes can happen again, though”, you bow your head and fix your gaze upon your trembling fingers. 

Missy clenched her jaw. A solitary tear slid down her cheek. “You’re right,” she concedes, sadly. When you look up, she performs the best reassuring smile she can give you. “But I can promise you to always do my best not to make any. Or at least, not many of them.” 

You let out a watery chuckle as you nod. Finally that sound she missed so much comes back to her ears. 

“I missed you. I .. missed you so much.” 

“I know. I can see that,” she coos, stroking your cheeks and brushing some hair from your face. “Quite an effect I have on people, right?”

You laugh again, finally feeling yourself relax. She beams down at you, opens her arms wide in the silent request to snuggle again in her embrace. You didn’t need to be told twice. You squeeze her so tight, you become one with her. 

“Missed you too by the way,” she pipes up. 

“Oh, I know.” You mimic her tone, grinning. 

“I could go back in time. Rearrange the coordinates. Show up the day after I dropped you on Earth and prevent all this…”

But you shake your head. “It’s okay, it’s done now. We are allowed to be sad about it and start from here.” 

You can tell she isn’t convinced by your words, “are you sure?” 

You nod your head, before giving her another squeeze. She racks her fingertips through your hair so gently, you let out a pleasant hum. 

“What else happened?” Your next question came unexpected, in fact she rather abruptly stopped her cuddle. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I know you told the truth. However, you’re omitting something too.” 

It shocks her how easily you can read her like an open book. It’s like a superpower you have which more often than not leaves her stalling, unprepared. 

“I’m not,” she objects, her voice sounding  almost childishly. “I was trying to keep you safe, that’s all.”

You hummed, unimpressed. “From the only species that clearly would never harm humans?” 

Her lips twitched in an amused smile, despite everything. You were too clever for your own good. 

“I knew it wasn’t safe for me to keep a poppet with a brain…”

You chuckled, pulling on her clothes. “Come on! Tell me.” 

“Fine,” she mouthed feigning annoyance, “I was running from the Lupari at first, yes. But then… I guess, they got me thinking. All my life,” she trails off. “The decisions— questionable decisions I made throughout each regeneration of mine came haunting me like… living nightmares.”

There’s genuine interest in your gaze, fondness, more than anything, and it drives the Time Lady absolutely crazy. No judgment whatsoever. 

“Turns out, I may be good now but it doesn’t change who I was and who I will always be to those I caused pain. And the Lupari are just one of the many creatures I tried to bend to my will,” you reached out to touch her hand. She smiled at the gesture and continued. “I thought of you,” a fleeting smile caught her lips. You grin back, and when she finally meets your gaze, you blush. “Of the annoying yet brilliant ray of sunshine you are, always so nice, always so kind. You’re everything I am not and if you keep following me, my past will haunt you too. And if it comes to that, I’m not sure I could bear the thought of your light being shut down because of it.”  

Slightly shaking your head, your eyebrows knit in a frown. “Do you think I don’t know?” You argue, fondly. “Do you really think I’m clueless about your past?” She falls quiet, lips pressed in a thin line. You lean against her, your head resting right above her collarbone. She immediately wrapped an arm around your waist and you took one of her hands in yours, deciding to play with her fingers as you spoke. “I always knew what I was getting myself into when I decided to travel with you. Hell, it wasn’t for a pointless girly book club I signed for. I knew the risks of our life together. One spent in the stars is… everything but ordinary and devoid of risks.”

She tilted her head to the side. Her lips so close to your ear, “See? Since meeting me, you’re already cussing more,” she muttered matter of factly. 

“Shut it!” You nudge at her with a chuckle. “I did that before meeting you too.”

She grinned, remembering the time you stepped inside the TARDIS for the first time. Maybe you were right.

“I just don’t want to hurt you.” 

“Then don’t,” you made it sound so simple, for a moment she really considered it. You turn around, so that you could be looking at each other more easily. “Don’t shut me out. I’m here to stay for as long as you’ll have me.” 

“I left you for six months,” she grumbled, rather angry with herself. “Anything could have happened in six months…” 

“But it didn’t,” you insist, “I’m fine.” You wanted to add now, but you kept that to yourself. 

“Except that you’re not! And I caused this. The only person I never wanted to hurt,” her lip twitched in a guilty grimace as tears started wetting her cheeks like rivers of guilt. 

You looked like someone whose life had been sucked away by force. And that had been because you’re not great at dealing with sudden changes. Plus you had been worried sick about her. Missing her was only one of the many thoughts that kept you struggling. 

“Then stop wallowing in your own self pity and do something about it,” you scolded lightly. “I want to be with you, Missy. Why all of the sudden it feels like you don’t want me anymore?” 

“It’s not that!” She exclaimed, indignant. 

“Then help me understand.” 

“How can I not want you with me if you’re literally everywhere I turn? Even when I close my eyes, I see your face, I hear your voice. I couldn’t leave you behind if I wanted to!” She fought against the trembling of her voice as she spoke. 

You nodded quietly. “Feels like I’m a terrible burden.”

“Stop it-“ she warns you. You look at her confusedly and she groans. “Don’t you dare. You’re not. Never. Do not turn this around.” Her voice is firm, though her eyes are red and puffy as if she is about to cry. 

“All I’m saying is, we were fine. We had fun together, didn’t we? Have I imagined that?” 

A grimace. “No, of course not.” 

Frowning, you make another attempt. “Then what changed?” 

“Nothing,” she is quick to clarify. Too quick. “I’m just—I’m scared.” 

“Of what?” You pressed, gentler now. When she darts her eyes from you to the TARDIS, you place your hand upon her knee. “Missy, what scares you?” 

“You.” If it’s a question, a statement, a possibility, you’re not sure. You have no time to ask that she continues. “Me,” she adds. “You and I. Us. This.” 

“Are you speaking in codes?” Your attempt at being funny kind of works because she smiles, even if just for a bit. You do too, tongue peeking through your teeth. Something Missy cannot resist. 

“Just tell me what’s going on in that big head of yours,” you tease gently. She lets out a watery chuckle that you wish you could record and keep with you forever to listen anytime. 

“Okay,” she bows her head and exhales. Her eyes fall shut to keep a new trail of fresh, hot, annoying tears from clouding her vision. When it doesn’t work, she rubs her fingertips to the corner of her eyes, if possible, only making things worse. 

“Hey,” you take her hands in yours, giving her an encouraging smile.

“The truth is I think I’m in love with you and I’m terrified,” she says in one breath. 

Your eyes open wide. “Wha—?” She doesn’t see the huge grin that’s rising on your face, nor the wave of joy that just lit up your eyes. Too embarrassed, she is focusing elsewhere. 

“You heard,” she grumbled. 

“Look at me.” 

A wave of her hand. “And being laughed at. I pass.” 

You roll your eyes and poke at her arm. “Please,” your voice sounds delightful, relieved even. 

“You don’t have to say anything, really. Even less that thing, either pity or compassion, can’t tell the difference honestly— don’t use it. It’s.. eek. The sole thought makes me want to throw up.”

You snorted at her rambling. It was so cute. She was… so damn cute. “I love you too, you stupid woman.” 

Eyebrows shot up. Face turned as fast as a missile thrown in the sky. “You, w-what?” 

“You heard me,” you crossed your arms over your chest, cocking an eyebrow at her. 

What happens next feels like a shot of pure adrenaline for both. Missy grabbed your face with both delicacy and a pinch of urgency, and kissed you. How stupid had she been to run from the only thing that had been able to make her feel real emotions. 

She loved you. And you loved her. 

The kiss was slow and soft. Unpretentious. During which Missy realized your lips were like nectar to her. While her fingers grazed over your heated cheeks, your hands moved to cling onto her blouse. You feel her smirk against your mouth. Three hearts beating in pure harmony. 

When your eyes fluttered open, you were met with hers, looking at you with nothing but pure glee. You beamed, her hands clasping in your hair and sending you goosebumps over the nape of your neck. She leaned further again, eyes darkening a bit as your tongue swept over your lips. When she kissed you again, the kiss was deeper, needier, sloppier, it made you cackle in her mouth. 

“What’s so funny?” Her voice never sounded lighter. 

You scrunch up your nose adorably. “Not funny, but silly. Both you and I.”

Missy looked at you, bemused. Your lips twitched in a fleeting smile, as you propped up and kissed the crease between her brows. 

She melted. Quite literally.

“I love you, Missy,” you say in a whisper. “I’ll love you unconditionally for as long as your hearts desire.”

Her polished fingers delicately spider over your abdomen, before pushing you with a gentle push against the mattress behind you. Another chuckle. She could honestly feast on that sound, among many other things. “How does forever sound?” 

You hummed. “A reasonable amount of time.” 

She smiled and you smiled back. 

[sassenach77yle]

||COUNTDOWN || SEASON 5 EPISODE 03  || FREE WILL ||

#83daysofoutlander☆

The sound came again from the back of the house, somewhat louder; a noise midway between a squeal and a growl.[...] His eyebrows also rose in surprise, and I leaned over his arm to see.

A woman peered out from between two hillocks of goods, looking round suspiciously, like a rat peering out of a garbage dump. She was not particularly ratlike in appearance, being wavy-haired and quite stout, but she blinked at us in the calculating way of vermin, reckoning the threat. “Go away,” she said, evidently concluding that we were not the vanguard of an invading army. “Good morning to ye, ma’am,” Jamie began, “I am James Fraser, of—” “I don’t care who you are,” she replied. “Go away.” “Indeed I will not,” he said firmly. “I must speak with the man o’ the house.” An extraordinary expression crossed her plump face; concern, calculation, and what might have been amusement.

“Must you?” she said. She had a slight lisp; it came out as mutht you? “And who says that you must?” Jamie’s ears were beginning to redden slightly, but he answered calmly enough. “The Governor, madam. I am Colonel James Fraser,” he said, with emphasis, “charged with the raising of militia. All able-bodied men between the ages of sixteen and sixty are called to muster. Will ye fetch Mr. Beardsley, please?” “Mili-ish-ia, is it?” she said, handling the word with care. “Why, who will you be fighting, then?” “With luck, no one. But the call to muster is sent out; I must answer, and so must all able-bodied men within the Treaty Line.” Jamie’s hand tightened on the crosspiece of the inner frame and rattled it experimentally. It was made of flimsy pine sticks, the wood shrunken and badly weathered; he could plainly rip it out of the wall and step through the opening, if he chose to do so. He met her eyes straight on, and smiled pleasantly. She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips, thinking. “Able-bodied men,” she said at last. “Hmp. Well, we’ve none of those. The bond lad’s run off again, but even if he were here, he’s not able; deaf as that doorpotht, and quite as dumb.” She nodded toward the door in illustration. “If you care to hunt him down, you’re welcome to keep him, though.” It didn’t look as though there would be any hue and cry after Keziah, then. I took a deep breath, in a sigh of relief, but let it out again, swiftly. Jamie wasn’t giving up easily. “Is Mr. Beardsley in the house?” he asked. “I wish to see him.” He gave an experimental tug on the frame, and the dry wood cracked with a sound like a pistol shot. “He’s thcarce fit for company,” she said, and the odd note was back in her voice; wary, but at the same time, filled with something like excitement. “Is he ill?” I asked, leaning over Jamie’s shoulder. “I might be able to help; I’m a doctor.” She shuffled forward a step or two, and peered at me, frowning under a heavy mass of wavy brown hair. She was younger than I’d thought; seen in better light, the heavy face showed no cobweb of age or slackening of flesh. “A doctor?” “My wife’s well-kent as a healer,” Jamie said. “The Indian folk call her White Raven.” “The conjure woman?” Her eyes flew wide in alarm, and she took a step back. Something struck me odd about the woman, and looking at her, I realized what it was. Despite the reek in the house, both the woman’s person and her dress were clean, and her hair was soft and fluffy—not at all the norm at this time of year, when people generally didn’t bathe for several months in the cold weather. “Who are you?” I asked bluntly. “Are you Mrs. Beardsley? Or perhaps Miss Beardsley?” No more than twenty-five, I thought, in spite of the bulk of her swaddled figure. Her shoulders swelled fatly under her shawl, and the width of her hips brushed the barrels she stood between. Evidently trade with the Cherokee was sufficiently profitable to keep Beardsley’s family in adequate food, if not his bond servants. I eyed her with some dislike, but she met my gaze coolly enough. “I am Mrs. Beardthley.”

~ The Fiery Cross

[cloudlessly-light]

From boys to men (Chapter 2/3)

A/N: This is a continuation of my fic From boys to men that was supposed to be a one-shot, but since I’m me and I love age-gap Hotchniss more than I should, this will now be a three-parter. Chapter one can be read here! Title: From boys to men (Chapter 2/3) Summary: From the moment Emily meets Aaron she knows that she has to have him, she doesn’t care that he’s older than her, doesn’t care that he’s Dave’s best friend. She wants him. Word count: 3,9k Rating: Explicit   Warnings: Smut, oral sex, dirty talk, teasing, praise kink, jealousy, feelings, age difference, (Emily is 22, Aaron is 40-ish)

They had been doing this, whatever they were calling it, for almost three months now. It was fun, sneaking around, having a secret nobody else knew about. Ever since that first afternoon with him, Emily had realized just how better an older man did… well everything. It wasn’t just the sex, but the conversation, the small gestures, the way he could make her feel like the only woman in the world. He always made time for her, something she knew was something he didn’t have much off. And she appreciated every second of it.

It wasn’t dating, she knew that, had to remind herself that a man so much older than her only saw her as something fun, as a way to blow off steam. He used her and she used him too, a twisted game that she found herself loving every second off. It was exciting, the allure in him drawing her in just as easily now as it had the first time they met. But that didn’t stop her from thinking about him more than she should. And she knew that it was dangerous.

Her eyes drift to the clock on her wall as she flips the page of the book she’s paying absolutely no attention to. He was coming over, had texted her before getting on the plane after closing a case and as time dragged on, she felt her excitement only increase. They hadn’t seen each other in almost two weeks, but when her phone had dinged with the incoming message she didn’t even pretend to hesitate before agreeing.

When he knocks on her door she quickly gets up from the couch and looks over her appearance quickly, a smile on her face at her own reflection. She opens the door and is immediately greeted by dark eyes and furrowed brows as he takes in her lack of clothes.

Aaron’s eyes sweep over her form, mouth going dry by the sight of her in dark red underwear and garters, black stockings on her legs. She was a beautiful woman. He found her just as stunning in sweats as he did in lingerie, but the fact that she had taken the time to dress in something she knew he would love, made something in his chest warm while the dull ache of arousal settled low in his stomach. He grips the doorframe tighter, has to force himself to keep his composure but knows that she catches the way his jaw clenches at the sight of her. He had missed her, a feeling he knew he shouldn’t feel.

“Hi.” She breathes as she shivers from the intensity of his gaze. When he walks inside she backs up, barely even noticing the way the door slams behind him as he pushes her up against a wall and her hands grip the lapels of his suit jacket.

“This new?” He hooks a finger under the strap of her bra, voice already dropped low in that way she loves. His eyes follow his finger as he slowly trails it lower, over the cup of her bra and further down until he’s toying with the hem of her thong. When she nods he smiles, his breath mixing with hers as he stands pressed against her, forcing her to feel the power of him.

“Yeah.” She manages, already falling under his spell, she always did. She tries to kiss him but he keeps her trapped against the wall, his lips only grazing hers when he speaks and it’s driving her insane.

“Pretty.” He dips his fingers further down her underwear and is unsurprised to find her wet already. “Too bad you won’t be wearing it for long.”

At that she smirks, dark eyes gleaming up at him.

“That was always the point.”

“Is that so?” He hums, the sound vibrating against her chest as he slowly circles her clit and when she sucks in a breath he chuckles. “I see someone’s already excited.”

“You’ve been making me wait hours.” The slight irritation in her voice does not go unnoticed by him, but before he can say anything he feels her hand cupping him through his slacks. “Besides, I’m not the only one.” She squeezes his hard cock and when he swallows harshly she feels like that’s a win in itself.

He always wanted to be in control, and she relished the few occasions when she caught him off guard. For a moment she thinks she’s winning whatever battle of wills they’re playing but then it’s like he shakes himself out of whatever trance she was still under and he claims her lips in a bruising kiss.

His tongue sweeps over her bottom lip as he swallows down her surprised moan, his fingers dipping inside of her quickly and gathering her wetness on them before breaking the kiss and pushing his fingers between her lips.

“Don’t play games with me, sweet thing.” He mumbled and watched as she sucked her slick of his fingers, a low groan sounding in his throat at the feel of her tongue against the pads of his fingers. “Now, be the good girl I know you are and bend over the couch for me.”

Her mind is still reeling when he steps away from her, body buzzing with arousal. She feels his eyes on her the entire time as she walks the short distance to the couch and slowly bends over it until she’s leaning on her forearms on the seat and her hips are perched high over the back of it. The warmth of his body against her causes her to suck in a breath, his large hands caressing the outside of her thighs and up her hips slowly.

“Fuck I missed this.” He muses as he takes in pale skin and soft curves. “Been too long.” Slowly he kneels behind her, his tongue licking over one of her ass cheeks as he does.

“Then maybe you should do something about it.” She challenges, but her words pack little punch when her voice comes out breathy and bordering on shaking. Still, he snickers behind her, and she feels the soft puffs of air against her clothed center.

“I really should.” He agrees as he pulls her thong to the side to expose her fully to him. “Stay like this.” His words are mumbled, and he isn’t sure she even hears him, but he doesn’t care and instead licks through her slowly.

The moan that erupts from her is needy and she can feel his smug smirk against her folds as his arms wrap around her thighs to keep her open and still for him. She feels his tongue dip inside of her, feels the groan vibrate against her as he tastes her and she arches higher, giving herself fully to him. He had spent many nights taking her apart like this, had memorized exactly what got her off quickly and what would keep her right at the edge.

Tonight he wanted her to come fast and hard.

His lips wrapped around her clit, his tongue flicking it and Emily whimpered his name. With her eyes squeezed shut and hands gripping the fabric of her couch she stayed still as he pushed his tongue inside of her. His fingers were gripping so hard she knew she’d have bruises on her thighs, marks that she’d press on in the morning with nothing but fondness. There was something about having his marks on her body, something about the depravity of it all, that made her crave him again.

“Fuck!” She hissed through clenched teeth when he sucked her clit again, this time not stopping even when her thighs started to tremble and she was biting down on her bottom lip to keep from screaming.

Aaron felt his cock jerk at the breathy sounds coming from her, had been feeling the dark pull of want ever since he got on the plane. He knew how wrong it was, having Emily this way, but he also knew that it was part of the attraction, part of why it seemed impossible to stay away from her. She was like a drug, ever since that first time meeting her months ago, he had been falling victim to her. He should stop, but even when he’s tried he can’t seem to stop thinking about her, and not only the sex. She was funny, incredibly intelligent and strong-willed, having spent evenings arguing with him about the smallest things, and he found himself enjoying their time outside of the bedroom just as much as time spent in it. He wanted more, had wanted more for a long time but he hadn’t dared to voice it because all the reasons why they shouldn’t work kept ringing in his ears.

But he forces those thoughts away, because right now he had her like this, and for now that would have to be enough. Her moans are getting louder, and the sound brings him back to now. He kept his hold on her, kept sucking on her clit and when her legs started to tremble and her hips moved back against his face he knew she was close.

When she comes it’s hard and intense and her knees buckle from the pleasure. She knows he’ll catch her, his hold not lessening even as she shakes and buckles as she muffles her cries into the couch. He doesn’t stop even when she jerks away, in fact his grip only tightens as he sucks her clit harshly.

“T-too much.” She whimpers and she feels him shake his head behind her.

“You can take it.” He tells her simply before licking her clit again, his tongue flicking it quickly and she sucks in a breath.

It doesn’t surprise her that he makes her come again in less than a few minutes. Her body had responded to him from the moment she met him, and he had taken his time learning just how much she could take. She knew he enjoyed taking her apart, that he loved the power of it.

She’s panting, body sweaty and still trembling when he finally stands up. The sound of his zipper is loud as she pants in the otherwise quiet room and when he slaps the tip of his cock against her folds she blushes from the obscene sound of her slick.

“Do you want it?” His hand is soft as he caresses her back, fingers warm as they trail random patterns along her skin.

“Yes.” She gasps, back already arching and pushing back against him, desperately needing to feel him inside of her.

“What do we say?” His fingers grip her hair and tugs warningly. The pain in her hairline shoots straight to her clit.

“Yes, please.” She wants to hate how quickly she gives in to him, but she finds that she can’t. Especially not when he pushes inside of her, giving her what she wants.

“Mm, that’s my good girl.” He hums, satisfaction dripping from his words. He lets go of her hair only to hold her waist, his touch softer now as he enjoys the way her tight walls flutter around his shaft.

She starts to move back against him, and he gasps behind her. She throws him a smile over her shoulder, for all his boasting, he’s just as affected by her. He lets her move back and forth, creating friction for them as he watches the way her body takes him, feels her clenching and listens to her breathless moans. He gives her a few minutes of control, but he takes it back just as easily.

“Aaron!” She whines when he suddenly pushes her back against the backrest of the couch, his hands tight and his hips moving with fast, rough strokes. He’s strong, she’s always impressed by how strong he is, how easily he flips her or carries her, and tonight was no different.

The sound of skin against skin and breathless panting and low groans fill the apartment and Emily knows that her neighbors must be able to hear them. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“You want to come again?” He gets out through gritted teeth. The spasming around his shaft is getting him close but he refused to give in until he felt Emily coming around him.

“Yes, yes, yes.” She hisses at way he forced pleasure from her, hand between her legs and rubbing her clit and cock hitting deep inside of her. She’s moving back against him the best she can, fucking him back just as eagerly as he’s fucking her and when he pinches her clit he sends her crashing into another orgasm. She comes with a strangled cry, her vision blurring from the power of it and somewhere through the blood rushing through her ears she can hear him behind her, swearing, calling her name like a prayer.

He comes with a grunt, low and breathy as he holds her tight against him as he lets himself enjoy his release. They’re still panting, barely down from their respective highs when he pulls out only to gently tug her up and turns her to face him.

She smiles up at him, happy and sated and when he presses a kiss to her lips she hums.

“I missed you.” He tells her and she knows that the flutter in her belly is something she should ignore.

“I missed you too.” She sees him smiling before kissing her again and she takes his hand and leads him towards the bedroom. “Can you stay a while?” She asks as they lay down.

“Yes. I’ll stay all night.”

When she meets his eye there’s something more there, something different.

*

It’s a week later and ever since that night Emily had found herself thinking about him even more. She caught herself smiling at her phone when he texted her and every time it rang she hoped that it was him. It was ridiculous, up until their last night together she had been fine, but that night he had stayed and when he left early the next morning it felt like something had changed. They had talked, loosely, about what they were, about the unspoken rule between them that they shouldn’t get in too deep. And yet, there they were stuck somewhere between admitting that they both wanted more and knowing that they shouldn’t.

She was going to see him today, she knew. Because it was Dave’s birthday and he had invited her over for dinner. So she picked a dress she knew made her breast look good and hugged her body. They weren’t together, but she knew what she wanted and she wasn’t going to make it easy for him to not think about her if he had decided to stop seeing her.

Somewhere in the back of her mind all the reasons why she shouldn’t do this kept ringing. He’s Dave’s best friend, he’s almost twice her age, they’re in completely different phases of life. But she ignored all of them, because those had still been the reasons why not to go there when they started this thing, nothing had really changed. Except, apparently, the way she felt.

“Happy birthday Dave!” She smiles at the older man and lets him pull her into a tight hug. He smelled safe, the same cologne he had worn her whole life enveloping her like an old friend.

“Thank you, Bella.” He kisses her cheek and when she hands him the bottle of scotch he raises an eyebrow. He knew exactly how expensive that bottle was.

“What? You’re more of a parent to me than either of my parents, and it’s your birthday!” She pushes the bottle into his hands and walks inside, quickly heading towards the kitchen. “Do you need help with anything?”

“No, go get yourself a drink. Everybody’s already here so we’ll eat in a little bit.” He ushers her out of the kitchen, intent to keep Emily away from the oven at all costs.

“I’m sorry my parents couldn’t come.” She says and she means it, they usually always spent Dave’s birthday with him. But the older man only shrugs, he knew her parents probably better than anyone, he knew that their work was the most important thing to them.

“They’re still in Paris.” He gives her a flute of champagne and winks. “Besides, my favorite Prentiss is here.”

She laughs, but the sound catches in her throat when she notices Aaron coming towards them along with a woman that’s laughing at something he says. The jealousy was instant, made no better by the fact that the woman was beautiful and kind of similar to herself. They stop right in front of her and she’s never been happier for the political training she received as a child as she schools her features.

“Ah, Aaron perfect.” Dave says as he hands both of them glasses of champagne as well. “You remember Emily?”

“Yes, of course. It’s nice to see you again.” He nods curtly and her eyebrow arches just slightly.

“You too. Thanks for helping me with my AC.” She catches the way he tenses a little and that feels like a win. “And you are?” She turns to the dark-haired woman who’s smiling kindly at her.

“I’m Beth.” She extends her hand and Emily shakes it. “I’m Dave’s publicist.”

“I’m the happy matchmaker and I have to say a good one too.” Dave laughs at the slightly embarrassed chuckle that leaves Beth while Aaron just shakes his head at his best friend. And Emily wants to kill him.

“Nice to meet you.” She forces a smile and then takes a step back. “Excuse me, I have to use the restroom before dinner, we all know how pedantic Dave can be when it comes to his cooking.” She barely hears the laughs before she turns and hurries through the house, she feels her cheeks flush and the jealousy burn like iron in her stomach. It’s jealousy she shouldn’t feel, but it’s too late. She wets some paper with cold water and presses it to her neck.

“Get it together Emily.” She tells her reflection.

By the time she comes back it’s already time for dinner and she thanks whatever lucky star she has that she’s seated between Dave and another old friend of his, Jason Gideon. It gives her more time to calm, to come up with a plan that didn’t end with her being a mess.

In the end it’s simple, if he’s going to make her jealous, she wasn’t going to make it easy for him to ignore her. 

So she spent the night making sure that she got his attention, pushed close against him when walking past or bending over as she helped clear glasses from the table. It was working, his dark eyes on her, his jaw clenching and she couldn’t help the smug smile on her face.

As the night carries on, she finds herself being one of the last people to leave. Only Aaron, Beth and Dave’s girlfriend Erin still left. She had barely spoken to Aaron, but she knew she had his attention, his dark gaze rarely leaving her.

Aaron walks into the kitchen in search of another bottle of red when he sees her. She’s leaning over the counter, her cleavage showing as she licks chocolate sauce from a spoon. Her eyes find him and she smirks at the way his eyes zero in on her when she licks her bottom lip.

“Having a good time?” She asks casually and he feels the urge to touch her, had wanted to grab on to her and not let go all night.

“It’s a dinner, much like many else I’ve been to.” He takes a couple of steps closer to her and looks around to make sure they’re alone. “Stop that.”

“Stop what?” She feigns dumb and licks more chocolate sauce from her spoon. He follows her pink tongue with his eyes, he knew exactly what she could do with that tongue and it was driving him insane.

Ever since their last night together he had wanted to be with her again. Something was different, or maybe it was just the fact that he had stopped trying to ignore that his feelings towards her were more than primal. But he wanted her, and then she showed up looking like a goddess and he could feel his brain malfunction.

“You know exactly what.” He wraps his hand around her wrist to keep her from dipping the spoon into the bowl for a third time.

“What’s your problem?” She twists out of his hold and turns to him.

“My problem is that when you do that all I can think about is how badly I want to kiss you.” He tells her lowly and she chuckles, the sound bordering on sarcastic.

“Is that right? Is that why you brought a date?” She says the words without thinking but the second she does she can see the way his mind is reeling. He’s a profiler, of course he would have caught on.

“Is that why you’ve been behaving like this? You’re jealous?” He laughs and the sound makes her furious. Her eyes narrow but she doesn’t say anything, she didn’t want to cause a scene in Dave’s home, so instead she walks away. “Emily, wait!”

“We’re done here.” She mutters as she hurries towards the patio where she knew she’d be alone. He follows her, his steps long and determined but she doesn’t stop until she’s outside breathing some fresh air. She continues further away from the house, to where they couldn’t be seen from inside with Aaron still following her closely.

“Leave me alone.” She tells him, her voice surprisingly steady even as anger flows through her veins.

“It’s not like that.” He tries to take her hand but she pulls away.

“It’s not what?” She huffs, her arms crossing over her chest. “This isn’t you using me for whatever ego boost you’re getting until someone like her comes along?”

“What? No!” His eyebrows furrow, feeling sad that she’d think he’d ever think of her that way. “I didn’t know that she would be here. Dave set me up.”

At that she faulters.

“What?” Suddenly she feels mortified, cheeks flushing in embarrassment and she looks down at the ground.

“I have no interest in her.” He gently grabs her chin and makes her look back at him. “I don’t want her, Emily.” He takes a step closer to her and smiles when she relaxes enough to uncross her arms.

“Then what do you want?” She can feel herself holding her breath as she waits for his reply. Suddenly everything felt real in a way it never had before.

“I want you.” He takes her hand and when she doesn’t pull away this time he squeezes it.

“Really?” She takes a step closer to him, breathes in his familiar scent and enjoys the heat of him as he wraps his arms around her.

“Yeah. I’m not saying it’ll be easy. We have some… obstacles.”

“Like the fact that you’re old?” She laughs when he narrows his eyes at her and he pinches her side.

“Brat.” He mutters and she smiles at him before they turn serious again. “Do you want to do this? With me?” He asks quietly.

“I do. I want you.” She pulls him into a kiss, and even though they had kissed probably 100 times before, this one felt different. It felt like a promise.

[missmaywemeetagain]

Broken Glass (Elvis/Austin!Elvis x OC Reader)

Character/Fandom: Elvis Presley - Elvis (2022)

Read More Here - Broken Glass Masterlist! (Coming Soon)

Prompt: You are Dolores Cannava, a young Italian-American nurse desperate to make her own way in the world and break free of her dysfunctional mafia-connected family and traumatic past. Elvis Presley is just returning home from his two-year stint in the Army, looking more handsome than ever, but feeling the pressure to successfully find his way back to the stratospheric career he was forced to leave behind. In a twisted turn of fate, Elvis finds himself in the hospital where your paths cross. Forced to harbor his potentially career-ending secret and needing to escape a terrifying future in New York, you are pulled into his unusual world and must endure a begrudging fake relationship with Elvis in order to protect his reputation (and his life). 

TW: Hospitals, illness, allusions to abuse. Some historical inaccuracies.

Tags: Fake relationship. Slow burn. Angst. (Sort of) enemies to lovers.

Rating: PG (ish?) (but this story will eventually be Mature/NSFW, 18+, so minors Do NOT Interact)   ||     Word Count: 4.6k

A/N: It’s good to be back, my lil’ darlin’s! I’ve missed y’all! Broken Glass has a decidedly different feel than Pink Scarf, and I really hope that you enjoy it. This will be more of a slow burn and not quite as smut heavy as PS, but we’ll get there eventually! The original character of Dolores can also be read as Reader, but her back story needed to be pretty specific so I decided to go the OC route. I’m excited to dive into some of my favorite tropes with this one, and hopefully I can do them justice.

Delicious 1960 Post-Army E has me in almost as much of a chokehold as ’69 E, so it was only right that I give him the attention he deserves! 

As always, I love and live for your reactions, comments, asks, and reblogs, so thank you in advance for both reading and giving another one of my stories a chance! 

I imagined it with Elvis in mind, but Austin!Elvis works here, too, whatever floats your boat.

Apologies in advance if there are any grammatical errors or TW that I didn't catch.

I’ve used the tag list from Pink Scarf, so please let me know if you’d like to be added or removed!

Story is cross-posted to my Wattpad and AO3, if you prefer those reading experiences! 

Bellevue Hospital

New York City, New York

March 1960

“Nurse Cannava!”

The shrill call of Charge Nurse Irma Hunt grates on your nerves like nails on a chalkboard, but you don’t dare show it on your face. Instead, you take a deep breath through your nose and hurry over to the severe woman.

“Yes, Nurse Hunt?” you say as evenly as possible. You’ve only been an official Registered Nurse for a few months and cannot afford to make a wrong step with this drill sergeant of a woman. You’d rather be extra deferential and placating than looking for a new job, no matter how much you want to run in the opposite direction any time she calls your name.

She looks at you critically, peering down over her glasses with her sharp stare. “Nurse Calhoun was pulled away to surgery before she was able to finish her other duties. I need you to change the sheets for our VIP patient while he’s upstairs for x-rays. I need you to be quick. In and out, no funny business, you understand me?”

“Of course, Nurse Hunt,” you nod frantically. It’s the middle of the night, so it is strange for the patient to be doing tests at this hour. Though if they are trying to keep his identity under wraps, it makes sense that they would choose an hour where less people were involved.

“And absolutely no telling anyone about our patient. We must uphold the strictest confidentiality, now more than ever,” she adds with a glare.

The threat is clear:

Don’t mess this up.

“I understand.” Curiosity of who it could be itches at the edge of your mind, wondering about this VIP that has the woman in more of a harsh mood than usual.

Maybe it’s Ricky Nelson or Mario Lanza or Marlon Brando, your mind titters, but it’s probably just some stuffy politician. You figure it’s better to have low expectations and be pleasantly surprised than to have high ones and be disappointed.

Ever the realist.

Regardless of who might be, you don’t have time for silly schoolgirl fantasies. There is a job to do, and you best be getting to it before getting into trouble.

You scurry away to gather fresh linens, then make your way back to one of the few private rooms on the floor. Most patients are relegated to the open wards here in Manhattan’s biggest hospital, but there are special cases, such as this, it seems, where a more private setting is needed.

There’s a large man at the door, keeping watch, and he looks you up and down with narrowed eyes longer than you’d like, sending a chill into your gut. But this is nothing new. You hold your ground, straightening your spine and lifting your chin.

“Nurse Hunt asked me to change the sheets,” you say, clipped. He smiles, as if in on a joke you’re not privy to, then opens the door.

At 20, you are the youngest nurse on the ward. People, especially men, tend to underestimate you, but you have something to prove and no time for nonsense. Graduating high school early, you were thrilled to be accepted to Bellevue School of Nursing, one of the best programs in the country. The four-year experience had been grueling, but since you had to live in the dormitory, it got you out of the house and away from your damned father and his cronies.

In the process, you discovered that helping people truly is your calling. So, while young, you are good at your job and take it seriously.

This is why you hurry in and start stripping the bed as quickly as possible. As curious as you are as to who this mysterious man might be, getting the job done is much more important than snooping around the room.

You tug and pull the sheets as taut as possible, perfect hospital corners making the bed crisp and neat. Your attention to detail and cleanliness are a sense of pride, so spending a little more time than necessary making sure the bed is perfect is worth it. The intention isn’t to linger, but if this VIP is as important as everyone is making him out to be, you want to make sure everything is done right.

Finally, after inspection, you gather up the dirty sheets and make your way around the bed, just as the door opens to the room.

Damn. You weren’t fast enough.

Your gaze cannot help but drop to the man in the wheelchair. A bandage is stuck at the edge of his thick chestnut locks. Although he is obviously ill, his sapphire eyes rimmed with dark circles and his pallor pale, there is absolutely no mistaking who the VIP is.

America’s biggest rebel-turned-G.I., the one and only Elvis Presley.

You are not a fan, but your heart unwillingly kerthunks against your ribcage anyway because he’s still one of the most famous men on the planet, and you are shocked at how pictures barely do the man justice.

Dear lord, even sick, he is wildly gorgeous in person, you catch yourself thinking. His essence seems to fill the room, pushing all the oxygen out, because suddenly you can’t catch your breath. Suddenly, you understand why millions of ladies fall faint at his feet.

Surprised to see someone in his room, his eyes rake up your body from your toes to your little white nurse’s cap. You hold back a shiver as those famous bedroom eyes finally land on yours.

“Well, hello there, little bird.”

Little bird? You know you shouldn’t let it bother you, but the pet name rankles you in its familiarity. You’ve been called all manner of things by all manner of men, both in and out of this hospital, but this is a new one, and though certainly not the worst, it bothers you all the same. Perhaps it’s because he acts as though he is owed this familiarity and expects you to be grateful for it.

His lilting Southern drawl is creaky and hoarse from illness, making him a little less mystical, which allows you to quickly recover your wits. Trying not to show annoyance on your face, you straighten your posture while moving aside to let the orderly push Elvis into the room and help him onto the bed.

“Goodnight, sir,” you say politely, as pissing off this VIP will do you no favors, but your eyes harden at the way his gaze openly lingers on you. You attempt to skirt around him as quickly as possible, but the room, though private, is not large, and the wheelchair and the two men take up much of the space.

“Hey, little bird, wait!” he calls out before you even reach the door.

Stopping in your tracks, your infernal heart continues to pound in your ears. All you want is to get out of this suffocating room, but you inhale and turn around instead. The orderly gives a wink before sliding out of the room behind you. You resist the urge to huff.

“It’s Nurse Cannava, sir,” you say firmly, trying to take the edge out of your voice, albeit unsuccessfully. “Is there something I can help you with?”

That sly, signature grin spreads almost bashfully across his face and if you weren’t so perturbed by the suggestiveness of it, you might keel over from its brilliance filling the small space.

“Call me Elvis, little birdy,” he drawls, blatantly ignoring using your given name, as requested. “Could ya be so kind as to get me some water? Please?” he asks kindly, which is far more than you expect.

“Yes, certainly, sir,” you reply, equally ignoring his request to call him Elvis. You turn on your heel and escape as quickly as possible before he can ask any more of you.

A breath shudders through you once you’re out in the hallway. You hadn’t realized you were holding it. You are as bothered by this reaction as by the fact that you must get this man water and go back in there without showing him that you are in any way affected by the fact that he’s Elvis Presley or that his behavior has you decidedly on edge.

He’s a patient, you remind myself silently, and this is part of my job. A job I desperately need to keep if I want to get out of that nightmare of a house...

This thought steadies you more than anything. You’ll do almost anything to be in a position to permanently leave home and to do so without having to marry that mook Gianni. And hell, you’ve dealt with much worse in terms of patient behavior. Getting Elvis water is objectively the easiest thing you’ve had to do all shift.

You can’t seem to help straightening your starched white apron before taking a deep breath and marching back into the room, pitcher of water and a glass in hand.

“Here you are, sir,” you say, trying not to sound terse, trying not to look directly at him. It’s almost like the feeling that you shouldn’t be looking at the sun, yet your eyes want to do it anyway. Even without looking at him, you can sense his heavy gaze lingering over you. You blush involuntarily, the blooming warmth a betrayal of your modesty. In response, you place the pitcher and water down on the table near him and turn to flee as quickly as possible without making it seem like that’s what you are doing.

“Hey, now, little bird,” Elvis says, catching the hem of your skirt, halting your exit. “Why ya tryin’ to fly away so fast?”

“Oh Madone,” you mumble under your breath, your Italian heritage making an appearance as you roll your eyes to the heavens before turning back around and pulling the fabric from his long fingers. Heat washes over you in an angry wave, turning your blush a deeper shade of red.

“I have other patients to tend to, sir.” It’s not a lie but sure feels like one with the strained way it falls off your tongue. Your lips press into a thin line of a smile, desperately trying not to glare at him but catching his eyes with your unamused ones all the same.

“Elvis,” he corrects me, maddingly, that smirk playing on his lips, a playfulness in his glassy, feverish eyes. “And I was just wonderin’ if ya could pour me a cup, since it’s all the way over d’ere?”

The water is on the table right next to the bed, and he certainly looks able to pour it himself, and you both know it, but he just smiles, playing this infuriating game, wasting your time.

Finally, you sigh and relent. It’ll be faster to just do it than to try an argue about it. He’s a patient, after all.

You still feel his eyes on you as you turn sideways and dutifully pour the water out. His presence, especially when focused on you alone, feels incredibly overwhelming, mixing a healthy dose of trepidation in with your irritation. You keep your face as neutral as possible and hand over the glass.

What you don’t expect is for him to touch you, his fingers circling over yours, blazing hot from the fever he looks to have. You loathe the way your heart flips in your chest when he looks up at you through impossibly long, feathering lashes, those gemstone eyes of his expressive beyond imagining and conveying more than just playfulness.

“Thank you, little bird,” he whispers. The sound swirls up your spine, breaking through your annoyance just enough to see the blithe, handsome boyishness of him. It promises an unfamiliar temptation, one you’ve seen only in movies and never willingly and truthfully experienced for yourself. Your mouth goes bone dry.

He is dangerous, you think, but not because you are afraid of him in a physical sense (and lord knows you’ve feared too many men already in your short lifetime). No, his is a danger of an entirely different sort. He makes you want to trust him, and in your experience, men are never, ever to be trusted.

“Nurse Cannava! What are you doing in here?” Nurse Hunt’s shrill admonishment startles you out of the hypnotizing stare of the teen idol, causing you to jump back as though he was on fire. You let go of the glass, slipping your hands out of his, but he does the same, and the glass spills water all over the newly changed sheets before tumbling to the floor where it shatters with a crash.

The tinkling of the glass explodes in your head, and a latent and all-too-familiar fear associated with the sound freezes you to the spot. Try as you might, you cannot stop the involuntary trembling that rushes through your limbs. Air attempts to fill your lungs, but the breaths are too short and shallow to do any good. The wave of panic threatens to undo you, right here, in front of both your superior and the most famous man in the world.

It's just broken glass. I’m safe. I’m at work. He can’t hurt me here. The mantra plays in your head over and over as you clasp your shaking hands in front of you, trying to pull yourself together before anyone notices anything amiss.

“I told you to be quick and quiet, not go around cavorting with our patient!” Hunt hisses harshly, glowering, but it snaps you out of the trance-like state that has overtaken you.

Now, instead of fearing things that cannot hurt you here, you are suddenly afraid for your job. Nurse Hunt is a terrifying and formidable leader and being on her bad side means a world of hurt going forward. Your heart feels like a hummingbird’s, fueled by anger, embarrassment, and lingering panic. You resist the urge to give Elvis a scathing look, knowing it will likely just result in more trouble. Instead, you quickly raise your eyes and catch a strangely curious yet concerned look from the man.

“I-I’m s-so sorry, Head Nurse,” you finally stammer out, realizing she is waiting for you to say something. “I’ll clean that up right away.” You start for the bed but are stopped by the crunching glass beneath your practical white nurse’s shoes.

“Ma’am?” Elvis croaks out suddenly, gently, capturing the older woman’s attention. “I’m sorry ma’am, I don’t mean to be a bother, but it wasn’t the young lady’s fault at all. I asked her for the water. She was just doin’ her job, and I distracted her. It’s my fault.” His bedroom eyes widen with an almost childlike deference as he looks at her through those long lashes.

Elvis oozes an effusive charm that makes the formidable woman’s hardened veneer crack. It might not be obvious to one who doesn’t know her, but her gaze softens ever so slightly.

You almost want to roll your eyes and scoff, but the strange thing is that it doesn’t feel at all like a put-on. It first strikes you as some sort of malevolent manipulation, like he wants to impress you somehow by getting you out of the mess he got you into, but he seems nothing but honest. He looks truly sorry.

You stand stock still, hands still clasped in front of your apron, needing to know your fate before moving. Nurse Hunt finally sighs, having weighed her options of denying her VIP’s puppy dog eyes or making your life miserable.

“Alright, Mr. Presley. Nurse Cannava will help you move to that chair there so she can change your sheets again and clean up this mess,” she says through pursed lips. “And you let her be and do her job, you hear? You’re not the only patient on the ward, young man.”

“Of course, ma’am. I really am sorry about the mess,” he says softly, seriously, nodding.

“Quickly, Nurse!” Nurse Hunt barks. Picking your jaw off the ground, you hustle to the other side of the bed, still amazed he was able to soften the old goat in any way.

It’s not until your arm is around his waist while the other steadies him in a well-practiced and trained move that you realize that you are holding a barely clothed Elvis Presley. A brief but decidedly improper and embarrassing thought flirts in the back of your mind as you help him into the chair in the corner. His skin is hot with fever, easily felt where your skin touches his and it radiates through his thin hospital gown. It burns into you, through you, melding with the unnerving, angry fire that already consumes you. You can feel his eyes on you but don’t dare to look at him, not with Hunt watching, making sure you don’t drop the prize patient.

You suppose you are glad for the fact that your cheeks were already on fire from humiliation, so neither can see just how uncomfortable and ashamed you feel right now. The way emotions flash rapidly through you, you’re amazed you can concentrate at all, but you manage to deposit the singer in the chair, unscathed.

Nurse Hunt huffs a little, but seems satisfied, and takes her leave, on to the next crisis.

A relieved but shuddering breath releases from you and without looking at the man in the chair that has caused so much trouble tonight, you jump to removing the sheets you made so perfectly not minutes ago.

“Hey, little b—Nurse Cannava,” Elvis catches himself, “I-I-I meant what I said—I really am sorry I made things harder on ya.”

You refuse to look at him. Instead, you grit your teeth and yank the sheets off, furious. Storming out of the room, you quickly retrieve a new set of sheets and a broom and dustpan for the glass on the floor.

“Aw, don’t be like that,” he mutters as you stomp back in the room, dutifully ignoring his presence. You busy yourself with the glass first, sweeping it into a pile, then bending over to sweep it into the dustpan. You realize too late that you’ve just effectively but unwittingly shown Elvis your rear end. You can practically hear the smirk on his face, which is confirmed once you flit your eyes over to him.

A new wave of heat flushes over your cheeks, but you pretend you don’t notice his leering. Nothing good has come tonight from you paying any sort of mind to what Elvis is doing. You go about your business as swiftly as possible, counting the seconds before you can remove yourself from his suffocating presence.

“You just gonna ignore me now, honey? Come on, I-I-I said I-I was sorry,” he stutters petulantly after another minute of silence.

Your response is to tug the sheets as tight as you can. You move around the other side, hating that your behind will be in his face while you finish the bed, but it can’t be helped. You grit your teeth and focus on smoothing the sheets instead of the hole Elvis is burning through your backside.

“Well, at least I got a nice view in the room…of the city, I mean,” he chuckles. The innuendo is crystal clear.

You whirl around and want to slap that stupid grin right off his pretty face. You’ve never felt so unprofessional or off the rails as you do with this man.

He’s a patient, he’s a patient, he’s a VIP patient, you remind yourself, trying to take calming breaths. But try as you might, you can’t seem to keep your damn mouth shut, that Italian temper flaring, boiling your blood.

“Eyes up!” you snap your fingers at him. “I have work to do and a job to keep, and talking with you only gets me in trouble, so leave me be!” Blood throbs in your ears as you attempt unsuccessfully to keep your fury at bay.

“Ooh, I heard New York cherries were feisty, but I hadn’t the occasion to see it for m’self,” he muses, thinking he’s just about the funniest thing since Lenny Bruce.

“Oh, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet,” you mutter under your breath, fuming, turning around to finish the bed. Once it’s done, you breathe a sigh of relief and make to leave.

“Hey, little bird, you want an autograph or somethin’?” Elvis asks, still vying for your attention for whatever reason.

God, the ego on this one. “I don’t want anything from you.” You can’t help but turn towards him, even though you know you should leave as fast as your legs will carry you.

“Not a fan, huh? Bet I can change your mind,” he says, his left eyebrow quirking up suggestively. The man is as gorgeous as he is infuriating.

“I prefer Ricky Nelson, so no thanks,” you shoot back at him.

He fully laughs at that, a big, hiccupping, musical sound that under any other circumstance might be attractive and endearing, but now it just seeks to make you angrier. Your seething seems to amuse him all the more, however, as he erupts into more peals of laughter.

“You’re somethin’ else, lil’ bird,” he wheezes, wiping tears from his eyes. But his face suddenly turns alarmed as he can’t seem to catch his breath, the laughter turning into gasps.

“Elvis, enough of that. Let’s get you into bed.” Your training immediately overrides whatever negative feelings you might have towards the man. “Try to take slow, deep breaths,” you say calmly, crossing the room quickly.

His face turns red and panic starts to bloom in his darkening, churning eyes as he wheezes. You help him up and out of the chair, and he shudders, leaning all his weight on you. His breathing is too labored and he’s burning up, and you’re not sure he’ll make it the short way to the bed.

Indeed, the two of you only make it a single step before his long legs give way, and it’s all you can do to brace his tall, lean body and keep him from hitting the tile floor hard. Instead, you slide down together, and you make sure to cradle his head as he collapses.

You don’t panic. In fact, you are the calmest you’ve been since meeting the superstar because this you know you can handle. This is what you were born to do.

“We need some help in here!” you shout out to the ward before turning your attention back to Elvis, now sprawled on his back on the floor. You quickly grab the oxygen mask from his bedside and turn the nozzle to get the air flowing.

“Elvis, you’re going to be okay. I need you to try and breathe deep for me, as deep as you can,” you say, fitting the mask over his mouth. He coughs, struggling to get the air in his lungs. He seems in and out of consciousness, those panicked eyes of his now a stormy, glassy gray as they try to focus on you.

“That’s it, just breathe now,” you coo at him, taking his vitals. His pulse is too fast and thready. You give him a small smile, trying to keep him calm.

An orderly, a doctor, and another nurse rush in. You quickly rattle off numbers and facts regarding his respiratory distress.

“Let’s get him on the bed,” the doctor orders, and the four of you lift him on a count of three.

Elvis flails his hand, gripping your arm. It’s certainly not the first time a patient has grabbed you out of fear, but it is the first time you’ve ever felt a jolt of electricity running through you from it. Looking in his eyes, the terror you see there gives you pause.

He’s just a man, you think. A very frightened young man.

And he wants comfort. Care. So, despite wanting to throttle him earlier, you hold his hand. He clings to you as the team tries to stabilize him. Your touch seems to settle him a little, despite the way his eyes flutter and he still gasps for breath.  

You all manage to get him breathing better, but he won’t let go of you. He starts to panic again every time you try to move away, throwing his vitals into a tailspin. As weak as he may be, that strong guitar-playing hand of his has you in a vise-like grip. The doctor looks at you judgmentally, and you make it clear that you have no idea why this is happening, that you’d rather not be relegated to hand-holding duty. But since his vitals are better holding your hand, the doctor nods his okay.

Give the VIP patient what he needs, is the clear message.

Elvis stabilizes. The room clears, and you stand at his bedside, waiting for him to fall asleep, to relax, to release you—anything that will allow you to leave and get back to work and forget the last half an hour ever happened. His eyes are closed, but every time you try to slip away, he just pulls you back. You try not to sigh audibly, to let your frustration show. You are usually much more compassionate and professional, rarely letting patients get under your skin. But Elvis…well, he seems to bring out an unwanted side of your normally mild and shy self.

He’s not consciously trying to be bothersome like he was earlier; he’s much too scared and out of it for that, you reason.

And at least this is better than cleaning bedpans, you chuckle, finally deciding to sit on the edge of the bed and make yourself a little more comfortable. You take this somewhat surreal moment to really look at him.

He is truly beautiful. There is an almost angelic innocence about him with his pale skin and high cheekbones, the way his cheeks are somehow both full and soft, but his jaw chiseled at the same time. His lips are pillowy and full, though nearly colorless now due to the lack of oxygen. His hair gleams, a deep, golden chestnut—a far cry from the rebellious black locks he was known for at the height of his fame a few years ago. With his straight nose and fanning, long lashes, it seems as though he was carved in stone by the masters and brought to life somehow.

Your heart skips, quite involuntarily.

Of course, there are imperfections. He’s got a day’s worth of dark stubble growing and you can see places where his skin is mottled from what was probably youthful acne. The circles around his eyes are too dark and…

I am really reaching here, you think. No, you are quite at a loss because even his “imperfections” add to his beauty.

Okay, so objectively, he’s pretty—when he’s quiet and sleeping. It’s just when he opens his big mouth that he becomes less attractive. This reminder makes you feel better and less like a fawning teenager.

Finally, his hand relaxes, and you slip out of his grasp without him reaching for you. As if trying not to wake a sleeping baby, you very slowly and quietly raise yourself off the bed. But curiosity gets the better of you, halting your leave, and you quietly open his chart at the end of the bed.

Your eyes scan the pages quickly, widening, hardly containing your disbelief. They glance up at the unrealistically beautiful young man in the hospital bed. Though you barely know him, and what you do know of him has already driven you mad, you can’t help but feel a sense of sadness and dread.

It’s the thing all his bravado and beauty distracted you from.

Elvis Presley is a very, very ill man.

*

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[bisexual-horror-fan]

"Ready Up." Freddy Krueger X Amber Cottrell X GN! Reader.

Hey! It's Multi-May! How exciting! It's been a whole year! I know I haven't written a lot this year, but to be honest, it's been quite a lot. I hope to write a lot this month and try to make up for some lost time! I figured why not start with a good Freddy, Amber and YOU fic! Last May we got an aftercare fic, this time, we get one of you getting ready for a date! Not super filthy, but very fun! Let's go!

---

Rating. NSFW-Ish. Length. 2.4K. Freddy Krueger X Amber Cottrell X GN! Reader. No Pronouns Or Parts Specified. Warnings: Some Sexual Content And Banter. Alcohol Consumption.

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It was Friday night. 

To most people, Friday night just meant the end of the work week, the start of the weekend, the end of stress and the beginnings of fun, and it meant that to you too, sure, but it also meant much, much more to you. Why? Well because Friday night was date night. 

You were so lucky you had more than one partner, you had two. 

The dates you had on Friday had more than one part to them as well. It stared as it always does, with a text, you get it on lunch, a simple, “Sidebar. Six P.M., see you there?”

You grin and text back quickly, “Can’t wait!” 

You get three heart emotes in a neat little row in response almost immediately, and so the plan is set. You finish up work and head home, you had packed your Friday night bag that morning, you get changed out of your work clothes, and into the outfit you already laid out. You had been counting on this and knew time was off the essence, the time you get with her isn’t as much as you’d like, you don’t want to waste a second of it. Once you were changed, you headed back out, knowing you might not be potentially back until over twenty-four hours from now. 

You’d been to this bar once, after a concert with some friends, but never with her. Once inside, you get a table, sit down, and you wait. You were early, she is right on time, six o’clock on the dot, the door opens, and she strolls in, she’s still dressed from work, must have come right from there, which is the usual for her. She looks amazing as always in a stylish blouse, tight pencil skirt that hugs her thighs, tall and polished heels, her hair is down and purse slung over her shoulder, she glances around, catches sight of you and holds up a hand, she waves with a warm smile. She starts to come over, as soon as she’s close enough she says, “Hey sweetheart, thanks for meeting me here.” 

“Of course! Date night with you? I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” She is right beside you now, her bag is put over the back of the chair, she leans over and kisses you. 

You melt into it. 

It’s been a whole week since you’d last gotten to see her, the week was too hectic, far too much going on to get to meet up, so this was needed. You return her affection, you kiss her back, and she pulls away with a light laugh, “Mmm, miss me that much?”

“Endlessly.” You sigh dreamily, and she takes her seat, she picks up the cocktail menu and opens it, “What are you in the mood for? I’m thinking something with gin.”

You tease her about branching out from scotch and bourbon and whisky, and she laughs, rolls her eyes, but it’s fond. “Am I not allowed to try something new?”

“Course not, M’ glad to see the change.” You pick out a gin based cocktail and so does she and you both share them evenly, you think the one she picked out was better, funnily enough, she thought the one you did was, weird how that works out. 

You both have two drinks and get caught up on each other’s weeks, vent frustration, tell funny stories, laugh and commiserate and of course, you express how much you missed each other, holding hands over the table-top.

“Love the new manicure, by the way, great colour.” You compliment and she preens, “Thank you! Seasonal change up, spring is coming in so the pallet must reflect that, you know?” She shows off her nails, and you look closer, the pale pink reminds you of peony flowers, it’s classy, glossy and impeccable. You make a note to yourself to get her some flowers soon rather than later.

You pick up the tab while she is in the bathroom, and she playfully scolds you over it, she pays much more often than you ever do because she makes much more than you and loves to spoil you stupid, but you try to hit her back whenever the opportunity presents itself. 

After leaving the bar, both hand in hand, you suggest the restaurant, and she grins, excitedly asking you to lead the way. Amber was big into food, she loved cooking, adored going out to eat and eating well, she’d opened your eyes in a lot of ways to different food, took you to some amazing places, so in return you’ve gotten very into looking up and researching places so you could suggest some from time to time. 

When she told you Sidebar, you had a look through the extra bookmark tab you kept, find a restaurant you looked into previously that was within walking distance, and luckily you had one that fit the bill exactly. It wasn’t a super well known place, but you’d seen it recommended in a local foodie forum, the kind of place that if you gave it another two months it was gonna have articles about it and explode and getting a reservation would become next to impossible. It was Friday, but you got in with a less than five minute wait. 

You both sit down at this quiet table for two near the window that looks out onto the street, but you don’t give a shit about the view, you are just looking at her. She had unbuttoned her blouse a few buttons, her freckled cheeks were rosy, blue eyes alight, she was looking over the wine menu and debating between two different bottles, asking which you thought sounded better. 

Dinner was good, you shared the wine, she got a pasta dish and fed you some from her fork, it was divine, you should have ordered what she did instead of the burger you’d decided on. After dinner, you forgo dessert, she tells you she hit the bakery last night, bought something so you could have something sweet back at her place. She gushes over how good the restaurant choice you made was while on your way home, you feel warm and happy. 

Her heels click on the well polished floors of the lobby of her apartment building as you walk alongside her. Her arm is looped with yours, and you can feel the anticipation, the excitement building, you were very much looking forward to the next part. You ride the elevator up to her floor, your mood rising with the altitude, after getting out and down the hall, she gets her keys out, unlocks the door and in you both go, first you, then her. 

You end up in the kitchen, she got this cute little cake, it’s fruit and cream, soft amd moist sponge cake, it's sweet but not overly so, she served you both a nightcap, you sit on stools at the kitchen island and ask, “So we having a shower after this?”

She smiles in that knowing way only she can, “What do you think?”

You know for a fact that you both would, playing the game is cute all the same. 

Drinks and dessert finished, you follow behind her to the bathroom, you close the door, she turns on the water, lets it start to heat up as she begins to strip down. She steps out of her heels as nimble fingers start to unbutton the rest of her blouse, the skirt is unzipped and shimmied out of, it pools around bare feet, she shrugs the fabric to the floor and is in just her underwear. Your own hands are lingering, stopped midway through taking your own clothes off, just looking at her. She catches you and laughs, “Come on, strip, before we take up all the hot water in the damn building.” 

You shake your head and concede, “Sorry, sorry, just never gonna get used to that view…”

Your voice trails off, you are taking off your own shirt as she is unhooking her bra, your eyes not leaving her for a second.

Under the warm spray of the shower, with her firm but gentle touch, you truly feel the last bits of the week's stress melt off of you. She loves to help you clean up, and she loves to let you do the same, she lathers and scrubs, washes and rinses, treats you very well. When you go to return the favour you linger, you take your time. Foreplay between you both feels like it starts as soon as you are in the same physical space, but now is when it truly ramps up. How can it not? As you touch ample curves and hands wander over every single inch of skin, as you kiss her and she presses nearer, touching you in return.

Her hair is up, and she is being careful not to get it wet, the long mess of curls she has takes forever to wash, forget about drying it, you express further care, tilt her head away from the water as you kiss her neck. Eventually you manage to pull yourselves apart and get out. 

Soon enough, you are wearing a silk robe that she bought you and keeps in her walk-in closet. You are sprawled on the crisp white bedspread, watching her get ready for your other partner. She is getting dressed in some new lingerie, she told you over dinner she’d picked it up on her lunch break, some boutique downtown collabing with a designer she liked to put out a new line for spring, she saw the samples online and put in an order as soon as she was able. Amber doesn’t own a lot of white lingerie, but it looks startlingly good on her, the embroidery is delicate and intricate, you love it, but you mourn how it will probably be wrecked by him before the night is out. She’s got money to burn, she loves buying new things just for him to ruin, pieces she loves too much are never worn for him, ones that only you have gotten to see her in, you focus on how fun it is to be a part of him destroying the ones she lets him and let go of the fact this particular set will never be the same again when the morning light creeps in. 

You enjoy it as you watch her fix and adjust straps, smooth out lines and make it all look just right. She strolls back in from the haven that is her closet, you reach out and touch her as she passes by, fingertips graze the exposed strip of skin between her thigh high stocking and the matching panties, she smiles and bats your hand away, “Soon, just be a little more patient.”

“Tease.” You huff out as you watch her sit down at her vanity. She is doing her evening routine now, you watch her begin, opening up a tub to start her skin care, “How am I a tease exactly?”

“Cuz you’d let him do whatever he wants whenever he wants.”

“And you want the same privilege?” She asks, meeting your gaze in the mirror, and you raise  your eyebrows, “I have eyes, a brain and a heartbeat Amber, of course I’d love to have you the way he does.” 

The conversation is light, joking, you are saying it with a smile, and she is returning it, before she clucks her tongue in mock sympathy, an overexaggerated pout, “Poor baby, so hard done by.” 

It’s quiet for a moment. 

You don’t feel any jealousy. You have more than he does in some respects, you and her hang-out in public, you get to sleep in her bed, you have the chance to see her for random lunches and so much more than he does. Your relationship works, you are secure. 

You feel soft, intimate, true she has a ton of love for him, and he gets her all prettied up, the perfect slut, happy and at the start of her weekend, but you get her all the time. He gets her on the Friday nights, you get her on the Saturday mornings, wake up to her with messy hair, help tend to the wounds he leaves, have breakfast in her balcony garden, you wouldn’t trade that for anything.

“What’s got that sweet fucking look painted all over your face?” She asked and you sighed, “You.”

She glanced over her shoulder, “Me?”

“Yeah. You, just thinking about you and about us.”

“All good things, I hope.” She muses and you confirm, “Obviously. I’m just happy. Really happy with you.” 

She looks pleased to hear that, she flicks off the lights that surround her vanity mirror, she gets up and comes over to you, “What are you doing to me?” She sighs, leaning down, she kisses your forehead, “You are getting me in the totally wrong headspace to go see that crispy fucker. I’m going to get in there all gooey and shit.” 

“Awe, heaven forbid you go in there any less than your sluttiest.” You laugh and she says, “Exactly! How am I meant to go in there mouth first when you get to my heart the way you do?” 

She nudged you, taking the hint you scoot, you get into bed after taking off your robe, and she turns off the bedside lamp, getting in next to you. She curls into you immediately, your arms open, accepting her closer, tugging her near, she cuddles into you and presses a kiss to the underside of your jaw. You say it more often than she does, she shows it more than she would ever say it, quiet and into the dark, “I love you.”

Amber hums and nuzzles her nose into your neck, there is a humming, not explicitly musical, just a rise and fall the tune of which could be read as mirroring what you said. 

Sleep doesn’t take long to claim either of you, and soon enough you wake up to the feel of different bedsheets on bare skin, a softer mattress under you and that voice cutting in from above, “Took you long enough.” 

Your eyes remain closed, but you can feel her shifting, excited voice pouring out from the woman still in your arms, “Hi Freddy, sorry to keep you waiting.”

The second part of date night starts now. 

[stevetonyweekly]

SteveTony Weekly - June 18th

I read so much this week!!! And so much was delightful I’m super excited about this list! I did re-read Bulletpoints this week which is 100% reflected in my fic reading as well. Enjoy that.  

Check out this week’s reads and be sure to leave your author a comment/kudos! 

~*~ 

Time, Space, Flesh by veryvincible 

“I’ve got a hotel room,” Tony said.

“And if we’re seen?”

Tony’s response came quick, too confident. He’d given the same spiel many times before. “Oh, you know. Good friends. Had a bit to drink. Maybe we’re French— you know how it is. Besides, we’ve been here for how long, now? If anyone was going to notice you, you’d think they’d have done it by now.”

The Day Before Tomorrow by lastdream

Less than twenty-four hours before the Iron Man's last fight, Steve Rogers gets an evening to himself.

Icebreaker by Sineala

Months after Tony is murdered on a strange, starless world, a world almost no one remembers, Steve plummets from a drone plane into the cold waters of the North Atlantic. He's fully expecting not to survive -- but instead he wakes up on another new world, where he meets a very familiar stranger. And it turns out the two of them have a lot in common.

Not Your Reality (The Time-Out Remix) by Veldeia

An unlikely visitor crash-lands at Natasha Stark and Steve Rogers' doorstep on the eve of their wedding. Just who is this alternate universe Iron Man?

Marriage and Mate Chases by NotEvenCloseToStraight

A Regency-ish AU:

Strict, stern Alpha Captain Steve Rogers is firmly in control of himself, his army, and his life and intends to marry an Omega who shares the same ideals while wild, flighty Omega!Tony loves to flaunt Howard's rules, society's expectations and has no intention of settling down.

An arranged marriage forces Alpha and Omega together, but Steve's constant disapproval and Tony's refusal to compromise leads to anger and arguments, missed heats, harsh ruts and a lack of bonding bites. Vicious rumours fly about the Omega's fidelity and the Alpha's ability to control his mate and when Steve runs away to war to distance himself from his unpredictable husband, Tony turns to new friends and illicit activities to hide his hurting heart.

Steve returns from war a changed man ready to be a good husband, dedicating every minute of every day to winning Tony's heart back, but Tony is tired of being ignored, busy with his own projects and unwilling to give the Alpha another chance.

With outside forces plotting to ruin what little happiness they have, are Steve and Tony doomed to be unbonded husbands, married but never truly mates?

Some Dragons Are Famous Dragons by Eudoxia 

Bucky's not surprised when Steve beings home stray cats, dogs, and even a raccoon once, but a dragon?

Really, Steve? A dragon?

A dragon that likes to steal tools and watch the news about missing persons, too.

Anthony and Natasha by TheCityLightShow

On Steve's sixteenth birthday, as was the norm, he woke up with a name on his wrist, etched beautifully into his skin. In blocky, scruffy handwriting now sat “Natasha Stark” on his left wrist.

It was elegant handwriting, but not in a way that anyone other than Steve would share the notion.

Now, he's out of the ice, and he lifts his wrist to his face as his vision swims for a second. Oh thank god, he thinks at the sight of the black blur that mars his wrist, and then his thought processes stutter and screech to halt because it's changed.

The handwriting is still the blocky scruffy script that he loves, that holds comfort for him in the cross of the t and the arc of the r, but it's not Natasha. It doesn't say Natasha Stark any more.

No, the name on his wrist is Anthony Stark.

This time – this new time, Director Fury explains to him, this time sixty seven years in the future – this time he will find him. Whether they're ninety like he should be, or closer to his actual age, Steve won't make the same mistake twice.

 He doesn't tell SHIELD that the name in their file is now wrong.

Emergency Protocol by navaan 

In New Avengers V1 era, Tony and Steve discuss the Avengers Protocol for Bang or Die situations. It's awkward. It gets hot - and then it gets out of hand but maybe they're getting to the heart of something that they should have discussed a long time ago.

You could have my heart, and I would break it for you by Missy_dee811

The mission they’d been on had been an abject failure. Even if the rest of the Avengers had been able to stay on task, it wouldn’t matter. Two of their own were missing: Iron Man and Captain America.

Sacrifice the Gift by hollyandvice (hiasobi_writes) 

When a biological agent nearly takes the life of Captain America, Iron Man risks everything to keep his friend alive. Now Tony Stark needs to deal with the fallout.

Sleepwalking by NotEvenCloseToStraight

Every year on Tony Stark's birthday, his soulmate Steven Grant Rogers crosses time and distance to spend the day with him...until the day the Valkyrie goes into the water in 1943.

Fifty years in the future, Tony starts a desperate search to find Steve beneath the ice, racing against time and fate to bring his soulmate into the newest century so they can finally be together.

like daylight by ohjustpeachy

Because through all of it, the slammed fists and the miscommunications, the people he invited into his bed and kicked out in the morning, he never thought that it would be Steve Rogers in the end.

Or, Tony thinks back on past relationships and why they never worked out.

Nothing Else but Miracles (An Ancient Secrets and New-born Dreams Remix) by Muccamukk

In the rough and tumble of the Lower East Side, the only constants in Steve's life are the solid black letters of the name on his wrist. Because even with the law and society against them, his world falling apart piece by piece, and his search for his soulmate taking him to stranger and wilder places, Steve has faith that finding Tony Stark is only a matter of time.

my one and only by meidui (orphan_account)

Tony has been self-conscious about his laugh lines lately, but Steve always takes his hands and kisses his face, telling him he loves them. It’s the truth. Tony looks so beautiful with them, and they remind Steve of what a privilege it is to grow old with him.

A bullet to mend our hearts by tonymystark

Tony is stuck in a time loop; he keeps getting thrown back to their fight in the quinjet before the whole invasion. He finally figures out how to end the loop.

Safe Haven by gottalovev, zappedbysnow

It's been three months since the Battle of New York. Four since Steve woke up in the future. Everything is still too fast, too bright, too glib. And then, as if it wasn't enough, Steve is dragged through a portal into an alternate universe. Other Him is happy, though, and that feels like hope.

No Good Deed by raeldaza for merelydovely 

Steve’s not happy in the future. Tony gets it in his head that he’ll be a good friend and create a time machine to send Steve back to the 40s.

But as time ticks on, and Steve and Tony grow closer, do either of them actually want Steve to use it?

I (created from fantasies) exist solely for you by Mizzy

Six years ago, without the Avengers Initiative there to save the day, scientist Dr. Eric Selvig sacrificed himself to save the world, the almighty demi-god Thor was lost to a terrible storm, and vigilante Iron Man – spotted with a nuclear weapon trying to take advantage of the situation – was forever labelled an enemy of SHIELD.

This is a comic book office AU, where Steve is defrosted a year too late, Thor has forgotten who he is, and no one knows Tony is Iron Man.

Also includes: office pranks, inappropriate post-it notes, and superheroes who like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.

Bright Things and Fair by sheron 

The course of true love never did run smooth — and neither did time-travel to retrieve the Tesseract. When circumstances outside their control force Steve and Tony to spend more time together in the 1970, they do what two people with their history do under the circumstances: work together and try to get through it without unnecessary feelings getting in the way. Falling for each other is definitely a bad idea, isn't it?

[honeybadgercomeback]

Hello! Wishing you all the best! I was the anon that sent in the ask back on May 3 about the Lance/Popstar and Nando. I know and understand that you’re busy and have other commitments (I absolutely love Danny and Em, that’s how I found you to submit the og request) but I was just wondering if you had any idea about a time frame? I know I sent in an ask about 3ish months ago asking the same question (sorry to be a bother) but I’m not sure if tumblr ate it or if I just missed a reply. If you don’t mind just letting me know how you’re feeling about it, and no hard feelings if this is now something that you don’t have the time or interest in. Thanks again!

I’ve had this in my drafts for like a week trying to work out how to answer it and I’m just going to be super blunt.

I have around 1900 words written in a draft on my laptop. I really like them! But the problem with this kind of request is that the only way I can write it is switching POVs and messing around that way, and I can’t make it work.

I’ve tried different plots, different moments, different everything. And it all comes down to the way I write x reader. I don’t use y/n, I don’t use anything like that. I try not to use she and her in most cases because wherever possible I write it as gender neutral. But for this I need at least two segments to be Lance’s POV and that’s where it falls apart.

I’m really sorry. I love this idea and I’ve tried so hard to make it work - harder than I have on any fic for any fandom. But it won’t come. I’ve thrown the first 800-ish words that I’ve edited under the cut so you can have them. Everything after this is a bit of a mess and I’m not comfortable with it being public, but this I am.

“You’ve been invited to the Formula One race in Miami on Sunday, do you want to go? It’s Aston Martin so those rumours might keep going but it’s been good publicity.” You stopped checking your lipstick at your publicists words, turning your head slowly. The rumours had been hilarious at the start, but were turning terrible and cruel. You were apparently dating Fernando Alonso, which just made you laugh. He was cute but older than you and not your type. You were, however, a racing fan and the chance to actually attend a race was too good to pass up.

“Yeah, I do. It’ll be fun. Is it just Sunday?”

“They offered the full weekend if you wanted, but if your schedule’s too full you can just do the race.”

“The full weekend. Tell them I don’t need a chaperone or someone to show me around, just let me know what I can and can’t do.” A rare weekend off from shows meant that you should probably spend it at home resting after the Met Gala but this would be a lot more fun.

Friday morning you wore an Aston Martin hat that they’d sent across along with your paddock pass. You were excited for the practices, but even more to get to see the cars in real life. 2016 had been a long time ago when you played the Austin Grand Prix.

People tended to ignore you as you went in which was a relief, security flanking you but staying discrete. A couple of fans recognised you but it was a lot more lowkey than you’d expected. Low-key wasn’t something your life involved anymore, and you actually were able to relax as you wandered in the Miami humidity.

“Are you following me or something?” The voice made you turn and smile, Daniel Ricciardo holding out a hand. You’d half jumped him on the red carpet on Monday to introduce yourself as a fan, something you were mildly embarrassed about now you’d seen the gifs. But he grinned and reached for a hug that you returned.

“What can I say, it’s how you get the boy, right?” You winked and continued. “Aston Martin invited me as a guest. It’s my second time at a race.”

“So you and Nando?”

“Are not a thing. The internet’s the Wild West. Speaking of, I should probably go over and introduce myself.”

“Here, take my number.” He held out his hand for your phone and you gave it over, watching as he tapped in his number for you. “If you’ve a spare hour and I’m not doing media let me know. It’d be nice to chat.”

He turned to the navy Red Bull building while you went to Aston Martin. There was a green shirted crowd at the front, but someone immediately came over to introduce herself.

“Hey, I’m Pamela from Guest Relations. Welcome to the chaos! It’s so nice to meet you. We haven’t publicised you’re here and if you don’t want it to be public we’re completely fine with keeping it private. We just thought you might want to see a race with all the media buzz, that’s all.” You put your guard down around her and gave an actual smile.

“Thanks. I don’t mind little bits or getting caught on camera but I’d rather not have anything huge? I don’t want to be in the way.”

“You won’t be, don’t worry. Lance and Fernando are just finished a briefing, do you want to meet them?”

“Please, yeah. It’d be great.”

You were led past the main hospitality and into some offices where four men were sitting chatting. Pamela knocked on the door and introduced you before stepping back slightly for you to enter. An awkward wave was all you could muster but the slight tension was quickly resolved by the bearded man.

“Lawrence Stroll, it’s good to meet you! This is Flavio, Fernando’s manager. And our drivers, Lance and Fernando who I’m sure you’ve been asked enough questions about recently.”

“Just a few. It’s lovely to meet you all.” You shook hands and smiled at them, taking in Lance in particular. You knew he was handsome, but he was better looking in person. His hair was reacting the same way yours did to the Florida humidity to make you smile.

“How’re your wrists doing? Are they fully healed?” You asked Lance, ignoring the slight look of surprise on his face.

“Mostly, yeah. I don’t need bandages or supports anymore but there’s a lot of icing them after driving. Thanks for asking. What about your hand, I saw you hurt it during a show?”

It was your turn to be surprised, showing the healing pink skin on the palm of your hand to him. “Getting there. I didn’t need stitches at least but I’ll end up with a scar I think.”

[umichenginabroad]

Madrid Week 11: Basque-ing in Nature

Hola a todxs! Niko here, back again with week 11 (writing this during week 12 oops [I had a huge databases project that I grinded on all of last week, expect a double blog week soon]) of studying abroad in Madrid!! I’ve got a little over a month and a half left in Madrid. Near the beginning of the semester, I mentioned a VSauce video about time that I enjoyed a lot. Recently in my culture class, we discussed the same concepts. Upon reflection, I think that I’m experiencing time in an incredibly ideal way.

What do I mean? Time flies by fast. It feels like weeks go by in the blink of an eye. Last week, what seems like yesterday, it was March, and now we’re already halfway through April. Time flies when you’re having fun, and I think that much is true. I’m having a blast, experiencing a new world every week, and as a consequence, I’m not thinking about time as it passes. It doesn’t drag; It goes by quickly. 

But I’m still in lecture every week. And two of my classes (the engineering ones) are oftentimes unbearably boring. I feel time pass when I’m sitting in those chairs waiting for the time to go home. My life during the week is simple: go to class, cook meals, go to cafes to study. But on the weekends, I’m traveling across Spain and Europe, meeting new people, partying, the list goes on. So it’s kind of like a long-short time sandwich. I get to experience time dragging on in the moment, and I also get to experience it flying by. And, because the exciting experiences happen regularly and frequently, weekends fill up huge blocks in my memories that make it feel like I’ve been here for years. I would say that “it feels like just yesterday that I stepped foot off the plane” but no, it really doesn’t. It feels like an eternity ago, truly. 

So, I’m kind of milking time for nearly all that it’s worth, which I think is a W. We’ve only got so much of it in this life. Anyways, there goes my bi-monthly rant on time. Hopefully it didn’t drag on too much. Or hopefully it did. Or both. 🙂

Anyways, last weekend, I learned a very important lesson. Two of my roommates (Eli, Max) and a close friend (Jack) rented a car (#JeepTrailhawk) and took a trip up to Northern Spain (Please don't mind the terribly cheesy title), splitting our time between Basque cities and Spain’s best national park. The lesson? As much as I love cities — incredible amalgamations of culture, humanity and energy — I’ll never experience the same type of awe and amazement looking out over a skyline as I do gazing upon a range of staggeringly huge snow capped mountains. Let’s talk about the trip:

Gatzetelugatxwho?

We set out from Madrid late Thursday evening. After a short-lived yet intense fiasco with google maps sending us in a couple of loops around Madrid after someone (the driver) (Max) missed a couple of turns, we were on the highway headed North. We had about 4 hours of driving until we reached Bilbao, where we had rented an Airbnb for the night. It was a pretty drive — Madrid is surrounded by a beautiful Sierra not even 30 minutes outside of the center. We arrived at our Airbnb (which was situated in a weird liminal space-ish neighborhood) and crashed, ready to tackle the morning task: Gatztelugatxe.

Huh? Yes, I was as confused as you probably are the first time I read that word. Especially the tx, which is pronounced as ch in Euskera, the mysterious language of the Basque people that has no known origin or connection to any modern tongue. It looks and sounds weird, and in the Basque country you’ll see it everywhere. It almost feels like it could have been spoken in some far off kingdom in Game of Thrones. 

Speaking of, we went to Dragonstone, AKA Gatztelugatxe. Shout out whoever the location scout was for those scenes, because they absolutely killed it. The site was beautiful, and I think the pictures will speak for themselves.

After that, we drove a few more hours to San Sebastian and explored. The energy was incredible. Sunny weather, beautiful city side beach, Burnt Basque cheesecake, calming sunset and delicious food (pintxos = tapas in Euskera!). There’s not much more that I can say other than the fact that simply walking around and taking it all in was an absolute joy. 

We proceeded to drive 4 hours west that evening to our second stop of the weekend: Picos de Europa national park (driving quickly through Bilbao, which has a really cool modern architectural style). We arrived at our Airbnb in the pitch black around 12 am, stumbled our way inside, cooked a comically oversized dinner (1.5 kg of pasta is too much for 4 people btw) and prepared for our big hike the next day.

The Hike

We woke up bright and early (it was like 10am) Saturday morning, ready for the 7.5 mile, 3000 foot climb ahead of us. I’d done a 13 miler with a similar increase in elevation once before in the Texan desert (Marufo Vega trail in Big Bend, highly recommend), so I wasn’t too concerned with the difficulty — only with whether we picked a worthwhile trail. I was silly for underestimating “Lon - Río Burón - Peña de Mañimoco”.

We started by driving into a tiny town in the national park, parking on the side of the road and setting off into a dirt trail that winded shallowly up the mountain. At this point, I was unimpressed. Most of our view of the mountain ahead of us was blocked by trees, and the path felt too well kept to be the basis of the true rugged backcountry experience I desired. Jokingly, we pointed to the top of the mountain we were hiking towards when we got to a clearing, asking damn, wouldn’t it be crazy if we went up there.

Yeah, it would have been crazy, but I guess 3000 feet is not to be underestimated, especially if you start at 1000. The paved trail split off into a smaller one once we broke through the treeline, which split off into a gravel shoot winding up the ridge of the mountain we had joked about a mile or two earlier. The wind started picking up, threatening to throw us off the mountain at any second as we climbed higher and higher (it was seriously intense wind. Jumping up, we actually caught a little extra airtime).

Each switchback revealed a view of the mountain and the valley below that was more stunning than the last. We passed through a huge diversity of different terrains, each so distinct they felt like Minecraft biomes stitched together. We even happened upon a herd of domesticated cows (which we were terrified of passing out of fear that they would attempt to butt us off the face of the mountain... we thought they were wild at first). At one point, we came across a meadow that looked like it came straight out of a studio Ghibli movie. We quite literally frolicked in the grass as another hiker (the only other person we saw on the trail) watched us from behind a tree, hiding from the wind. We talked to that guy later, we called him the Wind Wizard.

On this hike, I felt something reminiscent of the feeling I got as a 6 year old playing imagination games in the basement of my childhood home — unashamedly wide-eyed excitement. Looking out over the Picos de Europa (literally, the peaks of Europe) I couldn’t help but smile. This is the feeling I mentioned at the beginning of this blog that I think I can only experience whilst totally immersed in nature. At its core, it’s rooted in mindfulness and gratitude for the present moment -- something that I try to practice as much as possible in my everyday life. 

However, the reason this trip ended up being one of my favorites I’ve taken so far wasn’t just for the things that I saw — it was for the people that I spent it with. As much as I enjoy the independence and exploration of solo-traveling, I think that experiencing new things with trusted friends will almost always be more enjoyable. Being rooted in that feeling of wonder with others makes it feel more exciting, more significant, more real — both while it’s happening, and in the memories that stay with us forever. 

We finished the hike with a steep decline down the mountain and ended up back at the car, where we drove into the larger town and got some drinks at a local cafe (where they had original craft beers on tap, and where I tasted the best Vermouth I've ever had). We left our airbnb early the next morning, but not before buying a block of cheese from the local Queseria (which was also absolutely fire). En fin, this was one of the most beautiful and rewarding hikes I've ever done, rivaled only by the aforementioned Marufo Vega. I think we chose well!

So, my key takeaways from this trip? Nature is awesome, and so is experiencing it (and life in general) with other people. At the end of the day, we’re just really smart animals who evolved (in nature) to be biased towards social behavior, so I guess that makes sense (#evolutionarypsychology?). I’ll be in the Bay Area this summer for an internship, and I’m really excited to go backpacking over the weekends in all of the epic nature that surrounds the area, meeting new people along the way.

Here's the itinerary list for this week's trip:

Basque Country Google Maps List

That’s all for this week’s blog! As always, check out the picture descriptions for a little more info. Thank you all very much for reading, and I’ll see y’all next week 🙂

Adios,

Niko Economos

Aerospace Engineering

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Madrid, Spain

economos@umich.edu 

[angst-in-space]

july ‘23 writing progress

words written: 18.3k

most words written in a day: 1.8k

least words written in a day: 26

current yearly total: 103.8k

projects worked on:

- ya sci-fi book revisions - sylvix pacific rim au - matchablossom bed-sharing fic - altea rising ch 15 edits (AND I POSTED IT....AT LONG LAST...) - posted ch 9 of sylvix dreamscape fic - short story planning

works published in july:

you’re a dream (i’m never waking up) - chapter 9 (fe3h/sylvix) altea rising - chapter 15 (vld/klance)

july goals:

- write 30k for camp nano - rewrite 4-5 chapters of ya sci-fi book (up to ch 20-ish?) - post ch 9 of sylvix dreamscape fic - start editing ch 10 of dreamscape fic - start editing chs 3-4 of renga fic? - continue first draft of arctic monster book - work on various fics (sylvix pacrim, kazurei post-canon, matchablossom, red skies ch 8, etc.)

august goals:

- continue ya sci-fi book rewrites... erm... i’m way behind schedule but maybe will try to aim for like chapter 25 or so - edit/post another chapter of altea rising - finish sylvix dreamscape ch 10 edits and send to betas - continue editing renga fic if i have time??  - work on other misc fics  - maybe... work a bit on arctic monster book?? - write and submit short story

notes:

well.... this was an interesting month! because technically, in terms of word count, this was my most productive month of the year so far—but in terms of what i actually wanted to get done... well, not quite as successful LOL. but uhhh progress is progress, amiright?

i had hoped to write 30k this month and got to almost 19k so, missed my goal by about 11k lol (but still!! most words i’ve written in a month so far this year!).

i’d been hoping mainly to focus on book rewrites and get to chapter 20 or so but uhh... that did not happen either! i got Very Stuck on chapter 16 in particular so that took me most of the month. but i at least go through that and have almost finished chapter 17 as well! buuut i’ll have to rewrite... a lot more chapters this month if i want to stay on track to reach my self-appointed deadline. plus i’m having a lot of crises about my book in general lmao but guess that is all part of the process haha *gives a thumbs-up while tears roll down my face* ANYWAY. aiming for chapter 25 by the end of this month (and i’m trying to kick my own ass into rewriting like 1k words a day) so uhhh yeah. chuckles nervously.

in more positive news, i updated two whole fics in july after months of posting nothing so WOOOO!!! chapter 9 of sylvix dreamscape fic is finally posted after like 9 months, and chapter 15 of altea rising is posted after uhhh like 4.5 years lmao. with the latter, it’s been especially touching to see people so excited for it and that you were happy to see it update! honestly i had a LOT of anxiety about continuing to post it because i worried no one would care anymore, so it means a lot. :’) i definitely hope to keep working on both those fics and aim to update at least one of them by end of august!

i also planned out a short story that i’m hoping to write and submit to an anthology this month so *sweats* pray for me....i have not written a short story in ages, much less submitted short fiction anywhere lol but it’s something i’ve meant to try for a while!! 

otherwise, i’m not sure i’ll have time for much else because this month is going to be pretty busy for me on top of all the writing-related stuff i need to do. but hoping to maybe squeeze in some progress on other fics when i can (or when i’m feeling burned out on my book). sooo yeah i think that’s all for now!! 

[hallowedmuses]

discord chat: friendly feast

SUMMARY: Nadia, Murmur, and Honesty meet and befriend a hungry new entity native to the Empty. TRIGGERS: Mentions of torture, depression, PTSD, and trauma WRITTEN WITH: @offallenfeathers (Seir, Murmur, Honesty), @ofbrokenhalos (Courage, Zophiel, Devour), @hallowedmuses (Tenacity, Nadia)

SEIR & HONESTY: Seir was having a good time at this party. After Dagon's speech, more than a few people had congratulated him and Tenacity for their new-ish roles as the right hands to Dagon's kingdom. For Seir, he'd been a right hand before a long time ago, and even this role, he and Tenacity had been doing it for months before it had been celebrated. They didn't mind. He still enjoyed the party regardless. They drank and had conversations with a few different groups before they made their way over to the tables where Honesty, Courage, and Zophiel were waiting for them. "What's on the menu for today?" he asked as he looked over the table's massive array of food.

Honesty had gotten up already to greet her brother. She slipped around Seir and beelined for Tenacity. "Ten!" she said excitedly before throwing her arms around him. "Congratulations on the new position. I missed you."

TENACITY: "I don't know but I know I'm on the menu for tonight," Tenacity giggled. He was still delightfully buzzed which is how he liked to be. He beamed as his sister threw her arms around him in greeting. He hugged her tightly and didn't let go for a while. He'd been to the Empty a handful of times now and he was hoping the more times he was here, he'd remember hugging her like this instead of cradling her dead body on the battlefield. It was getting easier to push those images away and remember the newer ones in their place. "Thank you," he smiled and finally let her go. He'd been a Right Hand before but working for Dagon's kingdom was a different experience than working for Levi's had been. He had good teachers though. "I missed you too. Are you guys enjoying the party? We planning on doing a little dancing later?" He asked the troop as he did a little shimmy.

COURAGE & ZOPHIEL: Up until this point, Zophiel had largely dominated the conversation with a discussion about his latest artifacts search. Courage tried to keep up but he got lost somewhere in the words. Zoph seemed excited to talk about it so Courage nodded along thoughtfully like he understood what was going on. He was a little relieved when Tenacity and Seir showed up at their table. Courage was already overstimulated so he didn’t get up to hug his brother, but he did offer a wave in greeting. “Hey, man, congrats,” he smiled. He wasn’t really sure what Tenacity’s new position entailed, but his brother seemed happy so Courage was happy for him. Dagon seemed like a fair person to work for even though Courage didn’t really know what her job was either outside of the help that she provided in the Empty. “Dancing?” He looked out onto the dancefloor. There were a lot of people there and they were all standing pretty close together. Too close. “No, I don’t think it’s for me.”

Zoph raised a brow when Courage remarked dancing wasn’t for him. He remembered Courage used to love that sort of thing and he was pretty good at it. But a lot about Courage was different these days. Everything about him seemed more reserved so Zoph didn’t question it. “I might bust a move or two with enough drinks,” the young angel grinned.

SEIR & HONESTY: Seir smirked when Tenacity said he was on the menu. "You absolutely are." Seir kissed his cheek and squeezed his ass for good measure. He watched carefully as Honesty got up to hug him, making sure it wasn't too much for his lover.

Honesty held the hug for as long as she could. She hadn't been having a bad time exactly. Seeing Zoohiel had been nice since this was the first time she really got to see him since the war. She didn't know half of what he was talking about, but she asked a lot of questions to try to educate herself on his interests. He seemed more than happy to answer. If Tenacity hadn't shown up, she was sure he wouldn't ever stop talking. She shrugged when Tenacity asked if they were enjoying the party. It was a little overwhelming, but she liked not being alone. She glanced at the dance floor along with Courage. She knew what his concerns were. Even sitting here made her feel a little on edge, but she was managing. If someone she knew was there it'd be a little easier. "Maybe?" She answered. "I don't think I really remember how to dance though, but I could try to relearn it."

TENACITY: Ten smirked at Seir's friskiness. He had a lot to look forward to tonight but until then he was going to do his darndest to make the best of this party. "Thanks, brother," he smiled at Courage. "It feels good to be doing stuff again." Tenacity hadn't experienced the same torture as his siblings but he definitely experienced stagnation while life moved on around him. All three of them were now trying to figure out how to integrate themselves.

He noticed Courage's hesitation about dancing and it pulled a bit on his heart strings. Courage had been always been sort of a spitfire. Ten remembered how his brother used to eat, drink, and be merry with the others in his unit. By the end of the night he usually had everyone on the dancefloor and was leading them in festive circle dances. Tenacity didn't push the matter onto his brother any further though. Tonight wasn't the time or place to push anyone out of their comfort zone. They were out of their zones just by being here. "That's fair," he smiled. "My dance moves are a little outdated, but Seir here is a trailblazer from what I hear. He taught me the Cupid shuffle. Have you guys seen that one?"

COURAGE & ZOPHIEL: Courage nodded when Tenacity remarked that it felt good to be doing something. "Yeah, I get what you mean." He was still struggling with what his purpose was now or if he even had one but it was nice to be doing something that wasn't an endless battle sequence or drowning. He was still trying to figure out what he even liked doing these days and he supposed learning who he was again was a good enough purpose for now. "Cupid has a dance?"

"Oh! The Cupid Shuffle!" Zophiel perked up. "That's advanced stuff." Zoph had a touch of the ADHD so following songs with instructions was advanced for him. "Definitely one of those work your way up to it songs. The macarena though?" He gave a chef's kiss. "That's a nice one."

"Macaroni? I thought that was a food. It's a dance too?" Courage questioned. Too many words looked the same but meant different things. It was like learning about cream pies all over again.

SEIR & HONESTY: Honesty nodded along with Tenacity and Courage. Having things to do helped. It also just helped to have people around. She had to be particular about which people they were, but she felt like there was less chance to be hurt if someone else was around to help her keep the darkness away. The darkness wasn't always about a lack of light either. Belphegor had given her a home where she was allowed to keep the lights on at all times, but even then there could be so many shadows, and more lights only created more shadows. Sometimes, she would just sit in the corner and shine a flashlight in every direction to make sure the Void wasn't in there.

Seir gave a nonchalant smile when Tenacity said that he was a trailblazer. "I've made some moves in my time, but we'll hold off on some of the advanced moves for later on. The Cupid Shuffle is a great dance to start with."

"Cupid Shuffle?" Honesty repeated. She tried to imagine what that entailed. She pictured in her head the way that Cupid used to follow Belphegor around before the war. She still did follow them around, but it was different back then. She seemed to move more in unison with them like they were a unit now that Belphegor understood their feelings for her. Honesty felt a little more nervous about the dance when Zoph said how hard it was. She might've still been willing to try it, but not with so many people around. If they were all doing the same dance and she messed up, it might throw everyone off.

Seir saw the look on Honesty's face and shook his head. "Zoph, don't go scaring them off of a dance just because you can't pay attention. It's actually really easy, Honesty. They have children do it in schools. The song itself tells you how to dance to it. I'm sure Zoph can do it too if he tries. Maybe helping Honesty with it will help you do it," he suggested. Zoph was a good kid, and he tried to help where he could despite his hyperactive nature. Seir hoped his helpful nature might get him to focus for some time. "Or maybe you'll hear the song, and you'll be able to help Zoph with it." He shrugged. There was no telling with these kids.

"I think I wouldn't mind it then if it's not too hard. I can follow instructions pretty well." She was sure she could follow the group in doing it too if it was as easy as Seir made it out to be.

Seir nodded. "Then we'll try it at least once. If it's not for you, we don't have to worry about it. We'll find something for you to groove to." He chuckled when Courage called the macarena macaroni. "Macaroni is a food. It's a noodle in a U shape. It's also an old term we used to use for being fancy and stylish, though I don't recommend using it like that anymore. It's mainly just for the food now. What Zoph mentioned was the Maw-caw-ray-nah. It's also a simple dance. Dummed down it's basically just moving your hands to different parts of your body to a beat and then shaking your ass. The song Macarena doesn't come with instructions. It's actually a song about a girl who cheats on her boyfriend when he got drafted to the army, but the meaning isn't as important as the fun beat of the song and the dance that's easy enough for anyone to pick up. In most cases, you can actually dance the macarena to any song. With some practice, you could even dance the macarena while you're doing the cupid shuffle. The Cupid Shuffle is all feet, and the Macarena is all hands and hips."

Honesty shook her head. "I think just one of them at a time would be better for now."

TENACITY: "Hmmm, that you did," Ten grinned as he remembered dancing with Seir at Vamiel's wedding and then again at Cuphegors. He certainly could move. He chuckled when Zoph remarked that the dance was hard. "If Lucifer can focus enough to learn a few dances, you can do it too," he promised the crew. He nodded with his head toward the dancefloor where Lucifer and Mazikeen were absolutely showing everyone up. It appeared that Lucifer's pride trumped his ADHD. He sighed pleasantly when Courage brought up macaroni. "Seir's also great at making that," he nodded. It was a good comfort food. "We can have some the next time we spend the night here." He wouldn't have minded trying either of the two dances at their disposal. Seir's hips didn't lie and his feet glided on the floor like butter so Tenacity was sure he'd have a great time watching and participating no matter what. "If I had to put money on it, I'd say the Cupid shuffle. Might as well do something named after a friend."

COURAGE & ZOPHIEL: Courage glanced between Seir and Tenacity. He’d forgotten quite a bit. Mostly, he couldn’t figure out if they’d started dating before the war, during the war, or if this was an after thing. He supposed in the end it didn’t matter. The way they looked at each other told him enough. He chuckled when Tenacity remarked that if Lucifer could do it, so could they. Courage glanced at what he now recognized as Lucifer on the dancefloor. His form was much different than what Courage remembered, but the personality was very much the same. Lucifer tended to be all over the place unless he was passionate about something. When Courage knew him, that something happened to be rebelling. Now, it appeared that something was dance. “Macaroni sounds nice,” he nodded. “But that dance…the macarena…sounds like a strange thing to make up a dance to. I’d rather see this shuffle.”

Zophiel rolled his eyes when Seir told him not to scare everyone off. He’d given them a fair warning that he wasn’t good at dance so if he stepped on Seir’s toes he wasn’t going to feel too bad about it. He was mostly just glad to see that his friends were willing to try something. So much about the dead was different these days but they seemed eager to learn and Zoph liked eager learners. “Cupid shuffle it is then,” he concluded. “Should we see if some of the other Virtues want in on this?”

SEIR & HONESTY: Honesty watched as Lucifer and Mazikeen danced. She didn't really know much about Mazikeen. As much as people tried to keep her up to date on what she missed, it was still hard to keep track of it all and who everyone was. Even Lucifer himself looked different now, and it wasn't always easy to recognize him in a crowd without someone pointing him out or him doing something to make himself stand out. The biggest difference right now though was how his face didn't seem to carry the weight of the war while he was dancing. She didn't know if it was the person he was dancing with or if dancing was just fun for him. Probably both. He looked like he was having a good time at least. She wondered if she'd ever get to that point of ease. She felt a little jealous of them for a multitude of reasons between the ease and joy they seemed to have and also just the comfort they seemed to bring to each other. It made her sad and guilty to think of Gabriel and how she'd pushed him away. Maybe if she had just pushed past her fears, she could've had what they were having too, but she knew that wasn't a possibility. Like relentless weeds, memories of torture overgrew thoughts of potential happiness. Dancing turned into the back and forth of battle, and someone was on the ground bleeding. She stared at the mental illusion silently until a question was presented to her. She didn't entirely hear it, but she looked up to try to figure out how to respond. "Hmm? Yeah." She nodded. "What?"

Seir had been a little more aware of the conversation, but he'd also been keeping an eye on the three virtues he was with to stay aware of if any of them needed help distancing themselves from certain triggers. He'd noticed Honesty getting quieter and her eyes losing focus during the conversation, but he hadn't wanted to startle her by drawing attention to it. There was no need to make her feel bad for getting a little lost in her own head. "We were just talking about inviting some of the other virtues to join our dance training."

"Oh," Honesty refocused herself. Dancing with family wouldn't be so bad. At least she hoped so. "That's a good idea. Maybe they can help teach us too?"

Seir shrugged. "Sure." It wouldn't hurt anything whether they were dancing with them or helping him teach the class. "Maybe we can call Beel over too to help Zoph learn the steps." He wondered if the boys focus would be better or worse with Beel teaching him, but it would've been entertaining to watch. He would've suggested Dagon too, but he imagined she'd be pretty occupied tonight.

TENACITY: Tenacity noticed when Honesty's eyes glazed over. Or rather, a more accurate thing to say would be that he could feel the numbness wash over her. That was the strange thing about being a depression demon; he could feel those things in others now. If he was going to be cursed with feeling, he would've preferred being cursed with feeling the whole spectrum of emotion like Dagon. At least then he would know and feel other's happiness too. There would be balance.

He was glad when Seir disrupted her thoughts and brought her back to the present. When she zoned out like that, she looked more...dead. It reminded him of the way he'd found her body after the initial blast following Belgirel's death...so many bodies. He blinked the image away as he grabbed a glass of champagne and discretely knocked back a mystery pill (well, a mystery to everyone but him) with his drink. "I hear Humility is a phenomenal dancer, but she won't admit it." He leaned in conspiratorially. "Between you and me, my goal is to get her to own it by the end of the night." He chuckled when Seir mentioned looping Beel in on the dancing too for Zophiel's sake. "That's not a half bad idea," he agreed. He looked around to see if he could spot any of his siblings or Beel. They all appeared to be scattered around the ballroom. "I see Milly and Prue over there," he replied as he stood up. "It looks like Charity's talking to Beel so Seir you can probably grab the two of them. That leaves Nessie, Patience, Abby, Dil, and Chastity. Does anyone see them?"

COURAGE: Courage nodded his agreement that their siblings could probably teach them. If they made it out onto the dance floor tonight his family was big enough that he wouldn't feel like he was surrounded by strangers the whole time. It was less suffocating that way. He grinned when Ten mentioned getting Milly to admit she was a good dancer. In the time that Courage had been dead, his siblings leaned very deeply into their Virtues. This left them pretty stagnant and unable to really live. They'd been untethered from their virtue thanks to Gabriel's help but they still needed some prodding at times to step out of their comfort zones. He needed some help doing that too. Maybe they could brave their fears together tonight. "I'll help," he agreed. He looked around to see if he could spot any of his siblings. "I see Dil and Patience. Dil might take some convincing but I think I can get him. I'll meet you guys back here." Courage got up from the table and started crossing the room to go talk to his brother.

ZOPHIEL: Either Seir was out to get him or out to make his night. Zoph wasn't sure anymore, but he didn't object to bring Beel aboard. He'd never object to that. "Milly could probably outdance Lucifer if she wasn't too bashful. And the funny thing is Lucifer would probably be immensely proud of her for doing it." That was probably half the reason she didn't. He looked around the crowd. "I see Abby. She's going to take some work to convince too." Abstinence didn't just abstain from sex or drinking or what have you. Sometimes she abstained from fun. But Zoph was sure he could convince her to join. He finished off the rest of his drink before excusing himself from the table to talk to Abby.

SEIR, HONESTY, & MURMUR: Seir paid attention to the way Tenacity tensed. It looked like he was managing okay so far, albeit with drugs and alcohol, but he wasn't overdoing it yet. Seir let him be, though he gave his side a squeeze to let his partner know he was there for him, and he could always come up with some excuse to get him out of there if he needed him to. Thankfully, both Honesty and Tenacity seemed to come out of their harsh disassociations. "You're going to need all the luck you can get if you're hoping to get Humility to admit that," he chuckled. "Maybe try baby steps, and just get her to not look down on her own dancing at first." It was a lot to expect her to be as proud of herself as they all were. He started looking around the room for the other virtues along with Tenacity. Tenacity was right that Charity was talking to Beel. They were eating at another table. It was a shame that Zophiel didn't have to invite them himself. That would've brought it's own humor, but they would've been waiting ages for Zoph to be able to get his words out. "Alright, I'll be right back." He tilted Tenacity's chin up to give him a kiss and a gentle ass squeeze before making his way over to Beel and Charity.

Honesty kept a lookout for her other siblings too. "I think I saw Chastity going towards one of the private rooms with her boyfriend." Given that her sister was the representation of chastity, it was hard to imagine they were getting up to anything inappropriate to witness, even with her tie to her virtue being broken from what it was, but Honesty didn't want to risk being wrong about that. She also just didn't want to disturb their private time together. "I don't see Nessie, but I'll walk around and see if I can find her. Maybe she's outside in the garden." Despite having a plan of what she was going to do, she stayed in place while everyone went their separate ways. It was only once the last person had walked away that she got up. It felt darker somehow when she wasn't with people she knew. The crowds around her felt like waves she had to wade through. She shivered from a cold that didn't exist and wrapped her arms around herself while she looked for her sister. Nessie turned out to be hard to find in the crowds. She kept walking until there was a twinkle of light in the darkness, a pair of voices that had only recently become familiar to her, but their sound guided her outside through the garden. There was a path of straw that led straight to Murmur and Nadia. Honesty felt relief, forgetting her quest to find her sister, when they seemed to brighten up the space around her, even as they argued.

"I told you it wasn't going to fit under that branch," Murmur huffed as he picked up the decapitated head of the straw goat. The goat looked more like a giant table now.

NADIA: The demon grimaced as Murmur picked up the head of the straw goat. "That branch was stronger than I thought it would be." She glared at the tree for having the audacity to decapitate her goat. As her eyes focused away from the gnarly branches, she spotted Honesty approaching them. A witness to their bumbling attempts. Now, that was embarrassing. "Hey Honesty," she waved. "This isn't what it looks like. Normally, we're experts at goat relocation," she explained. "I think Cupid just put in a few more trees to spruce up the place for the event," she snorted at her own joke and turned to look at Murmur. "But, there are silver linings..." She pulled at her satchel where she kept her snacks and some other important items. This time, she pulled out a paper-mache snake crown and a sash that read 'Kingdom of Sloth' in the Kingdom's colors. She handed the sash over to Murmur before placing the satchel next to the nearest, non-offending tree. "It's easier to get the accessories on now."

MURMUR & HONESTY: Murmur rolled his eyes when Nadia glared at the tree. It wasn't the tree's fault they'd run into it. He turned the goat's head around and lifted it up over himself to put on his own head. The goat head was massive, and he disappeared in the straw. He couldn't see Honesty as she approached, but he could hear Nadia. He giggled within the goat head. "Hehe, hay." His hand peaked out from the side of the goat's head, just below the ears, so he could wave at Honesty too.

"I . . . don't really know what this is supposed to look like," said Honesty. She remembered Nadia had told her about the goat tradition they had in the land of the living. They apparently had a tradition of burning the goat, but she thought they'd decided against destroying it. "Maybe the problem isn't that you're not experts at goat relocation, and more just a problem of you two working together."

The goat head moved up and down as Murmur shrugged. "I think I work well with her. She just doesn't work well with me." Despite that claim, His hand that was outside of the goat caught the sash Nadia put in his hand. He climbed out of the goat. He looked back at it with a little disappointment. "It's too bad we don't have a reason to use it as a Trojan Goat."  Honesty looked at Nadia for help understanding what he was talking about while Murmur transformed into a raccoon. He carried the sash in his mouth while he climbed up the goat. He put the sash over the goat's neck. "Okay, but how do we get the head to stay on again."

NADIA: She was the picture of offended when Murmur claimed that the issue was with her. "I'm sorry only one of us is a stubborn old goat and it's not me or straw boy over here." She patted the goat's straw leg. "We're too young." She recognized the confusion on Honesty's face when Murmur brought up the Trojan Goat. “It’s a reference to an old battle story,” Nadia explained. “The Greeks were trying and failing to enter this one city called Troy for the better part of ten years. In a last ditch effort they constructed a huge wooden horse, hid some soldiers in it, and left it at the front gates of the city. They acted like they were retreating so the Trojans pulled the horse into their city as a victory trophy. That night, the Greek soldiers crept out of the horse and opened the gates for the rest of the Greek army. It's a solid battle strategy but honestly if the goat was made of wood and hollow inside, I think I'd just put snacks in it." She grinned up at the goat. "I bet it would hold a lot of snacks."

She was a little jealous when Murmur transformed into a critter and scurried up the goat. She always wished she had that ability but she wasn't a full blooded fallen angel like he was. She glanced at the goat head and then back up to where Murmur was seated. "I know a few spells to mend it but I'm going to need you and Honesty to hold the goat's head in position and preferably straight because I need both my hands."

MURMUR & HONESTY: "All I'm hearing is that I'm very mature for my age." He shot a wink in Honesty's direction, but she didn't seem all that enthused about it. "And you wish this guy was more stubborn." He patted the goat's side. "Maybe if he was a little more stubborn about holding himself together, his head wouldn't have fallen off." He knew it wasn't really the goat's fault. They shouldn't have kept pushing it when it's head got caught on the branch, but neither of them were really taking the blame here.

Honesty felt curious about the story Nadia was telling. There were so many minute details that just sounded like they had to be exaggerations. After ten years, an army's best strategy was to construct a horse and hide in it, and that idea somehow worked. She felt like she would've cared more about how dishonest of a tactic it was in the past, but she didn't have that tie to her virtue anymore. Sometimes she forgot that wasn't there anymore. She knew that Gabriel had done something related to disconnecting the virtues, but she also felt like her virtue had been ripped out of her sometime during her torture. Her virtue had been both a blessing and a curse, but it was also both of those things to have it gone. "And the Trojans didn't find anything suspicious about the fact that the Greeks just . . . stopped fighting to build a horse?"

"I think they had a bit of a pride thing going on," Murmur cut in. "They were so sure that nothing could get to them behind their impenetrable wall, it probably just didn't seem like the Greeks could really do anything to them with a horse, and they thought they were deserving of a prize or something like that. It's kinda like how the Titanic was supposed to be unsinkable. You could probably ask Athena for more about the Trojan war though. She knew the guy who had the idea for making the horse."

"What's a Titanic?" She felt like she was constantly out of the loop, but the only way to get in the loop was to ask a ton of questions.

"It was a ship. A really big one. They thought it was unsinkable and then drove it through cold waters, and it got sunk by an ice burg that it ran into. There's a whole movie about it. The main guy looks like Lucifer used to when I was a kid. The Trojan War has books and movies about it too if you want to get into those."

 Honesty nodded. She'd have to remember to look into those things later. "Okay, I can help with that," Honesty agreed. She picked up the goat head and started lifting it towards its neck. Murmur reached down to help pull it up and they shifted it into place. "Is that right?"

NADIA: "Oh, yes, very mature. Like moldy cheese," she remarked in the driest tone that she could muster. She patted the straw goat. "You take that back! He's perfectly fine. We just need to bring him in for a little surgery. It's fiiiiine." She turned to the goat. "You're going to look great." They'd get this goat fixed up as good as new for his photo ops.

"I think I'd be a little cocky too if after ten years you still couldn't get through the walls I built. But yeah, it wasn't their smartest move and it cost them their city." She nodded when Murmur mentioned that Athena would be a good firsthand resource. The nice thing about all of them being immortal was that you could always find someone who was actually there to give you the story. "Oh, I love the Titanic. We should watch that one the next time we're here. We can invite Cupid and the other virtues too because they'll be mad if they missed a rewatch of that one."

Nadia moved a good distance away to get a far away perspective of the goat. "A little more to the left..." She gave them a thumbs up as they shifted the head into position. "Perfect. Hold it right there." She hiked up her dress and shimmied up one of the massive goat legs where she positioned herself at the point where the neck met the rest of the body. "I missed the last few leg days..." she breathed as she did her best to anchor her legs and free up one of her hands. She recited a spell that sounded entirely made up but surprisingly it worked. The hay around the neck spread upward until it was interlaced and intertwined with the hay from the neck. It looked almost like the hay was crocheting itself back together.

Once the work was done, Nadia jumped back down and landed safely on her feet. "There," she grinned. "Good as new." She brushed her hands on her dress to smooth out the skirt and get rid of some of the hay stuck to it. "We just need to put the crown on and move it the goat to that clearing over there," she pointed to the patch of cobblestone near the entry to the party. "And he'll be ready for pictures." Thankfully, there were no more trees for the goat to lose its head on between their current location and the cobblestone patch.

MURMUR & HONESTY: "So I'm a blue cheese then. You just don't have the class to enjoy me," he said proudly, holding his head up high. Honesty didn't really understand what cheese had to do with a class, but the interactions between the pair were entertaining. Everything after death tended to feel so dreary, but Nadia and Murmur were so full of life and energy. It made her feel like she had a little more of that too. She held back laughter as they continued to argue. "He's not perfectly fine," Murmur countered, "but you don't have to sound so offended by it. He can have flaws." He turned to address Honesty. "If you're going to be around Nadia, you'll find she does that a lot where she gets overdefensive if you say something negative about someone or something she likes, especially if it's about Beel." He looked back at Nadia to make sure she didn't take that as him being harsh. "Not that defending people you care about is bad, but assuming the people you care about are perfect and have to be seen as perfect might end up hurting you and them." He just didn't want Honesty to get caught in a situation where she might offend Nadia by being too honest about how she felt and hurt her new friendship. He knew that the virtues were no longer bound to their virtues like they used to be, but he didn't know how much of that still stuck with Honesty regardless. And more importantly, saying all of that made him feel like he'd sound smarter and more mature in front of Honesty too, thereby adding to the evidence of his maturity to prove Nadia wrong. It wasn't like that stuff came from his own head. He'd just heard other people say things like that, but Nadia didn't need to know that.

Honesty hadn't really thought that deep into Nadia's defensiveness despite what Murmur thought. "But the goat can't speak for itself. It might not be alive, but I think it was nice of you to defend it when it can't. It seemed like Nadia wasn't implying that it was perfect because it had no flaws. I think she felt like your words had a negative connotation, and she can correct me if I'm wrong to assume that she was only defending that the goat is perfectly fine even with its flaws. She just doesn't want you to look down on its flaws, especially when it can be fixed." She looked back at Nadia. "But I'll try to be aware of what I'm saying about the people you care about. Courage always tried to get me to be more aware of how my honesty can hurt people." She didn't so much as remember having talks with him about that as much as she remembered a sort of feeling about it, a desire to live up to his expectations about not being confined to her virtue. She wasn't anymore, but the cost had been far greater than she imagined.

Murmur saw the distant look in her eyes. He fidgeted and looked uncomfortable with situation, so he tried to force the conversation onwards. "Yeah, I guess you have a point. Sorry. Maybe we could have a massive movie watch like at a movie theater. We could invite anyone who's comfortable with the themes of the movie. Just give out a list of potential triggers before they come in. The Titanic might have more than a few considering it was a tragedy of a ship sinking. A lot of people died, and there was a lot of panic of the passengers. It might not be safe for viewing."

Honesty had to be aware of her own triggers, and she could think of how scenes of a ship sinking might terrify her. "Maybe it'd be okay as long as there are people there with us." She wanted to see the film, and she didn't want to be held back from being a part of things just because they might scare her. She couldn't just avoid her triggers all the time. She shifted the goat's head into place as Nadia instructed and with Murmur's help. Once Nadia was done, Honesty took a step back to admire the work. Murmur held his hand out for the crown, so he could put it on top.

NADIA: "You're right. You are like blue cheese...an acquired taste," she replied as she stuck her tongue out at him. "Lucky for you, I have a refined palate." She raised a brow when Murmur felt compelled to warn Honesty of her defensiveness. She hardly thought any of her comments thus far warranted that kind of warning. She was aware that the people she cared about were flawed. But despite their flaws, they were trying their best. Did she agree with the way her dad handled the secret about Belphegor? No. Did she understand why he did what he did? Yes. Her dad's choices always held some kind of logic to them. She was just sure if others took the time to understand that logic, they wouldn't be so rude. Of course, she didn't go out of her way to pick fights about it. Most people understood that it wasn’t exactly polite to air your grievances about the Prince of Gluttony to his daughter. The only time she really pushed back was when someone else deliberately started pushing first. "Murmur, darling," she began drily. "Social etiquette says that if feel compelled to warn someone about my sensitive feelings, you should do it in private." How the public perceived her was none of her business. She didn't want to be a part of this conversation. "Thank you, Honesty," she smiled as the Virtue tried to salvage the massive bag that Murmur just fumbled. "That's exactly it."

She nodded her agreement that some of the thematic elements of the Titanic might be triggering. Most of the movie was just the love story between the two main characters, but the last quarter of the movie was pretty graphic. “We can post a list of triggers so people can decide if it’s for them. Declan, I think, was already working on something like that. He’s got them posted to the inside covers of books and DVDs.” He might’ve already compiled the list for the Titanic which would save her and Murmur some time. “We can also come up with a list of alternatives. The movie isn't really as important as hang out with friends is. I think the theater is booked out for the next few days though.” There was an approval process for larger watch parties. “The Lost Boys are watching the Fast and the Furious franchise.” She remembered because she’d been trying to convince Lette to come. “But I think they’ll be done by the end of the week.”

Nadia handed Murmur the crown so that he could place it on the goat’s head. The smaller straw goat that Belphegor made for Nadia was currently seated beside her satchel and it was wearing the same costume. “Perfect,” she beamed. “I’ll take front if one of you wants to take the back. We can move him into position and then get something to eat. All of this exercise has made me very hungry.”

MURMUR & HONESTY: "So you admit you like me then?" Murmur grinned. He knew most of the time that his relationship with Nadia was complicated. They weren't related, not even in the sense that Beel and Nadia were related, but they had similar experiences. Murmur hadn't been that much older than her when she was born relatively speaking, so they'd grown up together. They were like siblings to an extent, and they had all the arguments that siblings tended to have, leaving outside people questioning whether they actually liked each other or not. Sometimes he himself questioned it too when the teasing and arguing got especially out of hand. "Sorry," he apologized.

Honesty felt a little uncomfortable getting caught in the middle of their argument. It wasn't just because of their fighting but the topic of it. Again, it felt like a reiteration of what she'd been told before about how she needed to be careful about how her honesty affected people. Murmur seemed to have trouble with that too, but being a creation of honesty, she could understand why he would feel the need to say what he did without going behind Nadia's back to say it. It made her feel nauseous thinking about it. She wished she didn't have that connection to the virtue, but it was her name. She didn't know how to not be her name, even if that name hurt her. She didn't even know what else she could be called. Maybe she could ask Lucifer about it. He'd changed his name after all.

"I think that's a good idea," Honesty agreed as she came out of her own head. A ship sinking sounded like it would involve drowning, and she knew a lot of people in the Empty had trouble with that, herself included. Having lighter alternatives would be good for them.

As Murmur took the crown and put it on the goat's head, Honesty picked up the back half of the goat. "It might be better if I carry it, so you two don't argue over it. Maybe Murmur can just keep an eye out for any obstacles.

"Aye aye, Captain," Murmur said with a salute still in the form of a raccoon on top of the goat. It was a good lookout spot.

NADIA: "Hmmm, yes, but probably not as much as Ruby does," she winked. Did she think Ruby and Murmur had a crush on each other? No. Maybe. The behind my father’s back friendship was very Romeo and Juliet of them, and Nadia was a thousand precent sure Cupid would agree with her. Just like she was a thousand precent sure Dagon would tell her to leave it alone. Still, after Murmur had just dragged her personal business up, Nadia didn’t feel too bad bringing his personal business up. She nodded and waved a hand at his apology. They were even.

Nadia worked with Honesty to get the goat into position. It was much easier now that there were fewer obstacles. Once the goat was settled, Nadia stood back to admire the work. “Alright, gang.” She pulled out her phone and motioned for Honesty and Murmur to come stand beside her. “Selfie time. We did the hard work. We should be the ones to take the first photo with the goat.” Nadia would tag it on her socials and that would be all the invitation that the others inside the party would need to come out and take a photo.

MURMUR & HONESTY: "A win's a win," Murmur grinned. He could tell that Nadia was trying to insinuate that something more intimate was going on between him and Ruby, but he wasn't really bothered with it. Her dad never really liked him, and Murmur hoped that rumor would spread if only to make him a little more annoyed. Even if he wasn't annoyed, that would show growth on his part, and Murmur felt like that would make Ruby happy too. It was a win win situation, so he let Nadia roll with it. "But yeah, of course Ruby likes me more than you do. She has better taste." He stuck his tongue out at her.

Honesty relaxed a little more as their arguing became less uncomfortable and more sibling-like. It made it easier to work with the two of them to get the goat in place. "Selfie?" Honesty asked as she moved forward in the direction Nadia indicated. She knew what photos were now, but she didn't know all the terminology associated with it. She wasn't sure how a selfie was related to photos.

"They're just pictures you take of yourself," Murmur explained.

Honesty nodded. "So if you take pictures of others, they're otheries?"

Murmur giggled. "They are now." He reached down to her hand and made her hold up two fingers. "That's a good pose for the selfie."

Honesty frowned at the hand gesture. She didn't understand it, but she tried to fit it to her interpretation of it. There were three of them, so she held up three fingers and smiled for the picture.

NADIA: "Oh, is that what you tell yourself? Okay, honey." She grinned. She enjoyed teasing him about partners. Nadia had plenty of siblings, but Murmur was the closest thing she had to a near sibling relationship as far as she'd seen. Of course, her observations were based on how her uncles and the Spiritus family behaved.

"Otheries, I like that," Nadia agreed. She got the camera ready as Murmur helped Honesty come up with a pose. Honesty held three fingers, Murmur had his original pose of two, and Nadia opted for the middle finger so now they were posing as 1, 2, and 3. Nadia snapped the photo before relaxing into a more natural state. She showed the photo to Murmur and Honesty for approval before positing it to all her social media platforms. "There. That should be enough advertisement for our friend here." She patted one of the goats legs. As she did so, her tummy grumbled. She really was hungry.

"I've got some snacks in my satchel back at the tree base," she replied as they started walking back that way. "We can finish those off and then we can head down to the kitchen for more. I can show you guys the escape tunnels in and out of there." They weren't really escape tunnels. They were just utility corridors for the staff to use, but thinking of them as escape tunnel was cooler.

DEVOUR: For countless millennia, he had been bound by the chains of his tyrant sibling, the Void. But now, finally, he was free. Several months had passed since the Void’s death. Sadly, the Empty didn’t transition to one of his kin after that. Instead, the power passed to his sibling’s killer, Belphegor. He had no idea what a Belphegor was so instead of introducing himself to them, he stayed on the fringes of their society, watching from afar as they went about their daily lives. It was a strange and foreign world to him, but he found himself fascinated by it nonetheless. He wasn’t sure what to make of them yet. They seemed to care for their people, but it was hard to say whether that benevolence extended to those who were not the Children of God.

His plan was to observe from the shadows until he had figured them out, until he had a better understanding of their customs and their ways. But fate had other plans once he learned there was to be a celebration tonight. It had been so long since he had participated in anything remotely resembling a celebration. And there was the promise of food, something he had not tasted in what felt like an eternity. He was always starving. He could feed and feed and feed and still that hunger was never satiated. He’d been made with the inability to taste which wouldn’t have been so bad if he wasn’t keenly aware of what he was missing. Once, long ago, before he was locked away, he’d been introduced to the concept of taste. It was only one instance when he actually tasted something, but he’d been craving that high ever since. Perhaps he’d find it again at this party tonight.

At first, he observed the party from the treetops, taking in the festivities from a safe distance. This was fairly easy for him because, you see, he was nothing but inky shadows. He had no form and blended perfectly with the darkness. As the night wore on and the partygoers grew increasingly raucous, he found himself drawn closer and closer. He watched as the speeches were given, the music played, and the people danced. And then, finally, the moment he had been waiting for: the announcement that it was time for food. He crept closer to the door, his shadowy form blending seamlessly with the darkness. He watched as the people walked past him, their arms loaded with plates and bowls of steaming food. He was almost drooling at the sight of it all. But he dared not venture too close. He knew the risks of being seen, of being caught. And so, he remained in the shadows, stealing bits of food whenever he could. He retreated out the door as soon as he thought someone noticed him. Thankfully, no one followed but it was too close of a call. He’d been too bold for his own good.

He was just about to retreat into the forest when he noticed a group of children moving some kind of object across the garden. They weren’t doing a very good job of it. He debated just leaving them to it but then one of the children mentioned having food in her bag. And then, miracle of miracles, said child actually left her bag unattended. It was an open invitation, and he could not resist. As the children slipped away, he dropped from the tree and made a beeline for the bag. He rummaged through it frantically, his hunger driving him to madness. And then he found it: the snacks the little girl had mentioned. He tore into them, devouring the contents of the bag with reckless abandon. So reckless it seemed because he did not notice nor hear their little footsteps as they made their way back to his tree.

MURMUR & HONESTY: "I tell myself the truth," Murmur confirmed with a nod. He was pleased as they all had different poses. If someone looked at the picture, they probably wouldn't understand what it meant, mainly because it didn't really mean anything. He looked up at the goat once they finished the picture. "I hope the people here join in the game." It would've been nice to see them getting into an event like this, but even if they didn't, everyone coming to see the goat would be nice too. Belgirel had put in a lot of work on this too. "What kind of snacks did you bring?" he asked Nadia as they started walking back. She was lucky that he hadn't stolen any of her snacks already. Luckily for her, he'd been distracted by the goat.

Unluckily for her, something else had gotten to those snacks first. Honesty was the first to notice. She was hypervigilant, and half the time after her death, she was always scared of the shadows and kept thinking she saw something in them. Only this time there was something really there. She didn't scream, scared of drawing its attention towards them while also just being frozen with fear. Instead her hand reached out to grab the person nearest to her, which happened to be Murmur. Her hand tightened around his, nails digging in. It looked so much like the Void. She didn't know what to do or how to react.

Murmur felt Honesty's reaction before actually seeing the creature. He sucked in a breath from the pain of her nails. "Ow." He grimaced. He tried to pull his hand away, but she was locked on tight. She wouldn't even look at him, and she looked like a deer in the headlights. He waved a hand in front of her face, but she was still staring straight ahead like her life depended on it. He followed her gaze, and at first he didn't see anything. He thought the tree was just casting a dark shadow until he saw how much the shadow moved. "What is that?" he asked. He took a step forward, but Honesty wouldn't let him get out of her arms' reach.

NADIA: She was certain that at the very least people would want to take pictures with the goat as they left the party for the night. It would take a few parties for this trend to take off fully, but eventually the goat’s attendance at parties would be almost mandatory and expected. She patted it one last time as a farewell before they started walking back toward the tree. “I got all kinds,” she grinned in response to the question. Her bag was spelled to go deeper than expected. “I could probably put a candy factory to shame. But I’ve also got savory treats in there if you’re in the mood for something salty. And I’ve even got a bunch of stuff for the dead to eat in there.” Nadia couldn’t eat those, but she always came prepared. She managed to cool off a few meltdowns in Dagon’s kingdom just by giving the person snacks. She figured the same could apply here so she always made sure to carry snacks for the dead too. Food was always a good comfort tool.

Unfortunately, it appeared someone was already helping themselves to a good dose of comfort. Nadia didn’t really stop to think before she reacted. This was mostly because she assumed the big ol’ blob stealing her snacks was Belphegor. She’d seen them phase through the Empty and there were rumors that they could do other things with their form so it wasn’t an outlandish assumption. “Belphegor, you thieving banshee!” She made a beeline for them. “There better be some snacks still left in there for us! It was hard work curating all of that!” She stopped abruptly as soon as she was close enough to register their energy and realize her mistake. The massive shadow of darkness eating her food wasn’t Belphegor. It was…it was…actually she didn’t know who or what it was. Her breath caught in her chest as she stared at it and it stared at her. “You, uh…I…um…hi?”

DEVOUR: He looked up from his precious horde of food only when the shouting started. One of the children was heading right for him. He recognized her. She was a frequent visitor of the Belphegor. It looked like she thought he might’ve been the Belphegor. She realized she was mistaken fairly quickly given how much her strides had slowed down. She looked at him and he looked at her. There was terror in her eyes, and he did not like it. Just behind her, he could see the two other children that had been with her. They also looked terrified of him. His form sagged a little at the thought. He’d spent most of his life in fear of one thing or another. Mostly, he feared his brother’s temper. The Void was gone now, but some of his other siblings were just as testy. He found it hard to be around them. But he was also too afraid to be here with these strangers.

He still remained as inky blackness but the darkness that was his form shrunk little by little until it was not so intimidating. He pulled his shadowy hands out of the satchel and gingerly held out a turkey leg to the child. It was the only offering he could make. He’d eaten everything else in the bag. Perhaps if he gave her this last bit, she would let him go free. He didn’t want to harm them, but he also didn’t want to be taken prisoner either. Not again. Never again.

MURMUR & HONESTY: Murmur was a little scared. Honesty's reaction to this thing was really what scared him more though. He knew that she'd been through a lot. He'd never seen the Void, but he'd seen some of the powers Belphegor got after killing it. What this thing was doing was pretty similar to those powers. He didn't think it was the Void, at least not at its full power. He was pretty sure it would've already tried to kill them if it was, but it was clearly something similar to the Void. That didn't mean it was as bad as the Void though. Since it wasn't attacking them, Murmur felt like it must've thought that attacking wasn't its best course of action. Murmur pulled his hand away from Honesty's so he could step towards it with Nadia. At the very least, it wouldn't have been right of him to let Nadia go towards it alone.

Honesty wasn't as open to believing this thing might not have bad intentions, and she didn't have Murmur's level of curiosity. There had never been anything good that came from the Empty before Belphegor saved them. She couldn't stop Murmur from moving forward, but she hid behind him as he approached the being.

As the creature shrunk down, it furthered Murmur's belief that the being meant them no harm. If it lived here, he guessed that it had probably been hurt by the Void too. Maybe it was one of God's or the archangel's creations that got sent in here like the other dead. It seemed almost as scared as Honesty was, and the offering it gave was most likely an attempt at self preservation. "It's okay," Murmur assured it. "We're not gonna hurt you."

NADIA: Nadia’s heart pound in her chest as she observed the being. It was like looking into the being that she could only describe as intangible night. There was a saying out there that if you gaze into the abyss long enough, it gazes right back at you. Nadia could feel it’s gaze upon her but it did not make her feel cold or scared. It made her feel sad. Darkness couldn’t posture but everything about the way this darkness held itself suggested that it was more afraid of her than she was of them. She tore her eyes away from it only for a moment once she felt the warmth of her friend at her side. He seemed to understand that this creature did not mean them harm.

Her features softened as the darkness shrunk to something that was more human sized. After a brief moment of contemplation, it offered her a turkey leg as a boon. Nadia nodded to her friends, indicating that she was okay. She extended her hand to take the offering. Sure, this creature could be playing a trick on her, but she didn’t think it was and she was going to trust her gut on that. If she was wrong…well, it was a big mistake to harm a Duchess of Hell. To her relief, the darkness did not pull her in or harm her as she got closer and took the offering.

“T-thank you,” she stammered and took a respectful step back toward her friends. She stared at the turkey leg for a moment before biting into it. “Hmmm, it’s still good,” she smiled and gave the creature a thumbs up. “I…are you still hungry? My friends and I…we were just about to go down to the kitchens to eat.”

DEVOUR: The hesitation was clear on all of their faces. They did not know what to make of him. Truthfully, he didn’t know what to make of them either. He was relieved when the little raccoon boy said they weren’t going to hurt him, but could they be trusted? It looked like they were trying to determine the same of him. The smaller of the three beings seemed to indicate with her head that she believed him. Still, he fought the urge to jump backward as she stepped forward. Their fingers brushed together as she took the turkey from his hands and they both stepped back in unison, giving each other space and distance. He observed her as she tasted the meat. Would its flavor determine his life or death? He certainly hoped not. He hadn’t even gotten a chance to taste the meat. It smelled divine though. But the food in the bag was tricky. He’d been able to taste some of it, but not others. He had similar experiences at the party too while he was loitering in the shadows. Anything meant for the dead had no flavor to him. But the stuff of the living? Now that…that was blissful.

He was pulled out of his reminiscing when the youth made a strange gesture with her hands. He didn’t really understand it. Was she signaling an attack sign to the other two? They made no move to come after him. Still, he’d taken too many risks today. He was about to make a run for it when she asked him if he was hungry. He was always hungry for more, it seemed. He’d been down by the kitchens before. Mostly late at night when no one was around. There was a lot of food there but much of it was in its raw form, and he had yet to learn how to get it from its raw form to its final delectable and truly complete form. But he imagined with a party this big, the kitchen was overflowing with complete, intricately made meals. He supposed one more risk wouldn’t hurt.

With some effort, he willed his form to shift into something that resembled a child of God. He borrowed a lot of features that he’d seen on the beings that called themselves Lucifer and Asmodeus. The darkness that was him took on the shape of a tall and strikingly handsome man. His chiseled jawline was framed by a neatly groomed beard that added to his rugged yet sophisticated appearance. His hair became a light blonde color, worn in a tousled style that gives him an air of effortless cool. He spent a lot of time observing and practicing this transformation just in case he ever needed to blend in. All of that practice paid off because the transition was very smooth.

What he failed to practice was speaking in their tongue. He opened his mouth to form the words that he wanted to say, but they came out as nonsense at first. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I…I don’t want to impose…” he spoke. The words were accented strangely. He’d have to keep practicing to sound more like them. “But food is always appreciated. I haven’t tasted anything like this in many millennia.” He paused to look at the satchel in his hands. It was completely bare now. He held it out to her. “I’m sorry…” he apologized in a voice that sounded both ancient and young at the same time. “I’ve eaten everything here.”

HONESTY & MURMUR: What the hell was wrong with these two? Both Nadia and Murmur were so close to this thing, and Honesty couldn't make sense of it. They didn't know what it was. It came from the Empty, so she would've thought they wouldn't be so ready to trust it. It could've been an act to lure them in. She shook her head back at Nadia in contrast of her nodding. No, this was not okay. She tried to will her into seeing that, but it didn't seem to have any use. She waved her hand across her neck when Nadia invited the thing to come eat with them. Even if she wasn't terrified of this thing, she was sure plenty of the other guests here would be.

Murmur wasn't so unhinged where he couldn't see the dangers of what they were doing. This . . . creature was something from before Belphegor. They didn't really know if it was a danger or not, but it didn't really seem like it wanted to harm them. He tried to give Honesty a look to reassure her that they were being complete idiots about this, but she didn't look reassured. "We don't have to take you down there," Murmur added, to both reassure the creature and Honesty. He didn't think it wanted to go near big crowds the way it was lurking in the shadows. "We can just grab some more food and bring it back up."

As the being began to shift into something else, Honesty took another step back while Murmur stared in amazement. So it wasn't just some sort of mindless creature then. Realistically, it wasn't like this was what their natural forms looked like, aside from Nadia. It wasn't that unlikely that this thing could look like a person too. He was kind of hot, at least in Murmur's eyes. Honesty was still terrified of him. It didn't matter that he'd changed his form. It made it feel more like a trick to her, and like he was using that to get closer to them. His words scared her more. They sounded wrong and not entirely real. "Are you going to eat us?" she asked, scared that he might actually be willing to eat everything and everyone if they didn't get him more food.

"I mean only if you want to," Murmur added with a smirk, unable to help himself. Honesty smacked him on the side of his head.

"He doesn't mean that."

NADIA: Nadia could see the nervousness written on Honesty’s face. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous too, but she knew hunger. She lived in a kingdom devoted to it. If this creature was going to eat them, it would have done it already. It was hard to convey that through looks alone though so Nadia placed her hands behind her back and opened her palm. She pushed down on her open palm with her thumb and a sigil that was previously invisible lit up. That same sigil appeared on Honesty and Murmur’s palm. It connected them mind-to-mind like a magic walky talky. It’s all right, she spoke mind-to-mind. If anything goes wrong, we’re only a few paces away from the party and there are a few hundred ways I can contact my dad. It’ll be a million against one in a manner of seconds if this thing tries something. Besides, it wasn’t like Nadia was going to allow herself to be lured into the woods. She wasn’t Gretal. They’d stick to their home territory, at least for now. If things went well and she made a new friend here today, she wouldn’t rule out exploring his home later.

He kind of reminds me of a spider, She observed as the creature became confused and scared of her thumbs up gesture. You know, one of those ‘they’re more afraid of you then you are of them’ situations. Her eyebrows rose as the being began to change its form to look more palatable to them. Man, that’s not fair. Even he can shapeshift. He’s kinda hot though so I’ll forgive it. Apparently speaking didn’t come as easily for him. It sounded like he had cobwebs in his throat. It sounded like he hadn’t spoken in a while. She wondered if he was the only one of his kind or if there were more. “I’m told that’s a common experience here,” she replied apologetically when he said that it had been a while since he’d tasted anything like this. “But we’re hoping to change that.” She took her satchel from him. He truly did seem sorry for eating all of it. She believed him.

She tried to keep the conversation light and pleasant. If you treated people kindly, they usually returned the favor. “It’s all right. I’m glad you got some joy out of it. Food’s always been a comfort of mine. Like Murmur said, we can bring some up here if you don’t want to go down to the kitchen.” Being in the kitchen would bring them closer to the party, which would be safer for the trio but perhaps this being wouldn’t feel as safe. She gave Murmur an exasperated sort of look when he began flirting with the being, but her features turned more jovial when Honesty smacked him. You deserved that, she told him. Also, you’re like a twig with two berries. A snack more than a meal.

DEVOUR: This form was strange to him, but it would appear that at least two out of the three found comfort in it. Perhaps the third would warm up to it. He certainly was. It would take some getting used to, but he needed the practice. He pondered the offers presented to him. "I would like to go with if that is okay," he replied in his strangely accented voice. “I have been to the kitchen before. I..." he shook his head. "I do not understand it. I have watched but..." he shook his head. He did not understand the process whatsoever. "Will you show me?" He wanted to learn their strange methods. Perhaps he could replicate them so that he'd no longer have to steal. Of course, he'd still have to make these delectables in private. There were more than a few of his siblings who would shun him for trying to be like these three. He did not know what they would do to him, but some of them were as harsh as the Void.

His eyebrows bunched in confusion when one of the children asked if he was going to eat them. “No, you don’t taste like anything,” he replied to the dead one. Much like food made for the dead, the dead themselves tasted like nothing. The Void had fed the souls to him once and out of desperation, he took them. But he had no desire to do so again. The act of eating them was too tedious and there was no pay off for him in the end. He hadn’t tried the living, but why would he when there were so many other things he could try and so many other things that they could show him? “You…” he cleared his throat, taking long pauses between words. “Have shown me great kindness. I…” He hadn’t experienced kindness in a very long time, and it made him emotional. “I do not wish to offend you.” Confusion shown on his face when one of the children replied that he could eat him if he wished. He did not understand the offer. “If eating one another is a custom in your culture…you may eat me.”

HONESTY & MURMUR: Honesty appreciated it as Nadia performed a spell to let them speak in each other's minds. She didn't really feel comfortable talking in front of this creature as they were. She hadn't known how much it could understand, and she was scared to say too much in front of it. She still didn't really feel like it was all right like Nadia was saying. Things can go wrong so fast though. When she'd died, there hadn't been enough time to save everyone, including herself. All it took was the right injury, and people could die in seconds. And we don't know what this thing is capable of. What if it's as strong as the Void was? What if we die before anyone gets here? I know you guys will just end up here again, but me? I'll just disappear. I'll be in the dark again.

Murmur could tell that Honesty was really scared. He put a hand on her back and started rubbing it comfortably the way his moms used to do when he was scared as a kid. Like Honesty had said his moms had been one of the ones who died after death. They were gone now forever. He didn't plan on letting that happen to Honesty too. Well, we'll just make sure that doesn't happen then. Like you said, if we die, we'll just end up here, so I'll protect you. Knight's honor. He would've saluted, but he didn't want Honesty to feel like he was giving too much of their conversation up to the creature. And besides, if you're worried about it's power, Belphegor shouldn't be too far away either. If it takes something of a similar power to defeat him, they should be able to. And they can hear us everywhere, so they should be able to get to us quickest.

Honesty relaxed a little. She was still nervous about all of this, but Nadia and Murmur were right that all of the strongest people they knew were not that far away, and she'd experienced a few times just how much Belphegor could hear. She wondered if they already knew about these creatures, but at least for now, she trusted Nadia and Murmur to keep her safe. She still planned to keep a safe distance from the creature. "You can come with us," Honesty agreed, deciding that it would be better to have the creature closer to where help could come for them if they needed it.

"Yeah, we can show you. Nadia's an expert on it. She's been working with Belphegor to help the dead be able to eat things they can taste again." He could cook too, but he was average at it, and he hadn't tried to cook the food for the dead, so he wasn't experienced with it like Nadia was.

Honesty was more relieved by the fact that she wouldn't taste like anything to this creature. It still didn't mean this thing wouldn't try to kill her, or her friends. It also could've been lying. Since death, she couldn't tell as easily when people were lying, and this thing felt even more like a mystery. Her fear and paranoia over this thing also clouded her judgement. She was overly cautious no matter how she tried to look at things.

Murmur was the opposite. He grinned as the creature offered to let him eat it. "We do eat each other a lot in our . . . culture, but you're not going to offend me if you don't let me. It's more of a . . . reciprocated thing. We only do it if both of us want to do it to each other."

NADIA: She gave Honesty an empathetic look. She could understand why the Virtue was hesitant. She had more to lose here than they did. She nodded her agreement when Murmur reassured Honesty that they wouldn’t let anything happen to her. If anything happens, the two of us will fight and you run toward the party and alert the others. Sure, people would be upset with her and Murmur if they died but they’d both just end up here in the end and that wasn’t so bad. She was glad when Honesty eased a little. Nadia couldn’t read emotions, but something about the being before them and the way it held itself felt genuine to her.

“You’ve been to the kitchens before?” Nadia hadn’t noticed this being there before. It must have been pretty stealthy or perhaps it just showed up when she wasn’t around. Either way, he was kind of growing on her because he had a lot in common with the people of her own kingdom. They, too, were also stealthy in manners of food theft. She nodded her agreement when Murmur called her the expert. “It’s my day, night, and weekend job,” she grinned. She was going to be running a few cooking classes here and she wanted to invite Honesty, but she didn’t want to do it in front of this creature. It felt rude and like she’d be excluding him. If he wanted to, she could probably teach him how to cook too, but it would have to be off the clock. If Honesty was afraid of him, other people would be too so she couldn’t have him come directly to her class. She’d figure something out eventually. “Come on,” she gestured with her head for everyone to follow her. “I’ll take you guys down the staff entrance so we can avoid the crowd.” She began walking toward the side entrance.

She snorted as Murmur continued to flirt with the being. “He means that in a non-violent way. It’s a pleasurable feasting. But before we get too deep into the customs of our culture, perhaps we should know your name. I’m Nadia, Duchess of Gluttony, and these are my friends Sir Murmur and Lady Honesty. What do we call you?”

DEVOUR: The child who was dead seemed to be the one that was most afraid of him. He did not blame her. If the Void was willing to torture its own siblings, he could only imagine what it did to strangers. He shifted on his feet. Perhaps he should’ve given the turkey leg to her. Maybe if he learned to cook, he could make something for her too. He didn’t know why he felt compelled to apologize for the Void, but he did. “I—only a handful of times,” he lied. He went to the kitchen almost every night. But he didn’t know if it was wise to admit that. He wasn’t sure what a job was but from the glowing recommendation that the young male child was giving on behalf of the smaller blonde child suggested that food was her specialty. She had the air and confidence of an expert.

“Thank you,” he remarked as they agreed to let him join their expedition. He was nervous and excited all at once, but he minded his position and kept his distance from the dead child of God. He did not wish to cause her further distress. He listened to the beings describe their customs. “A pleasurable feasting?” He wasn’t sure he understood. “Is it because you regenerate?” He’d seen some of them get injured before and the wounds closed up fairly quickly. Still, he wasn’t sure that was too pleasant. He nodded when the young girl, Nadia, introduced herself. “Nadia, Duchess of Gluttony.” He tested the name on his lips. “Sir Murmur.” A nod at the gentleman. “Lady Honesty.” He nodded but did not meet her eyes for he did not want to see the fear in them. He tilted his head to the side in an expression of confusion when he was asked what he preferred to be called. “I am the absence of taste. Or, perhaps, I was once.” It was what some of his siblings wished he would remain. But he’d tasted from the fruits of their trees and he could not go back. “I’m not sure what I am anymore. You may call me as you see fit.”

HONESTY & MURMUR: Honesty still wasn't fond of the idea of just abandoning Nadia and Murmur to their fates. She didn't want them to die for her, but she also didn't want to experience what would happen if she died again. She didn't think she could talk Nadia and Murmur out of this though, so going with them seemed like the best option.

"And you didn't get caught?" Murmur asked, impressed. He was usually pretty stealthy himself when he tried to be, and it was a quality he admired. It was actually pretty surprising to him that Belphegor hadn't caught onto him. He wondered if Belphegor even knew he existed. He knew that Belphegor could hear just about everything in the Empty, so it was hard to imagine that they wouldn't know about him, but he'd never heard them mention this guy. Of course, maybe they were worried about reactions like Honesty's. It was probably best not to worry anyone about it if they could. "We do regenerate, but that's not what it's about." He could tell that this guy wasn't going to understand them if they were too subtle about it. He was kind of like how Belphegor used to be. "We don't so much eat each other as we do . . . taste each other. There's certain parts of our bodies that feel good when you touch them in the right spots in the right way. You can use your hands to do it, but using your mouth, and more specifically your tongue, on someone lets you taste them while you're making them feel good. If you do it right and make them feel good enough, they'll make a fluid that you can either swallow down or spit out at your discretion. If you want to try it out sometime, I'd be happy to try it with you and show you how it works. I could bring some food, and we could try-"

"Okay, that's enough of the sex education," Honesty snapped, glaring at Murmur. She already didn't want to be around this thing. She could only take so much of hearing Murmur flirting. She didn't really care about him explaining what sex was, but making her hear about him with something that seemed so much like the Void made her nauseous. She wanted to get this over with, and she could do without Murmur being so horny. He just shrugged and bowed when the creature addressed him, tossing a wink in his direction. Honesty still looked frozen as she was addressed. The creature avoided eye contact with her, but she couldn't take her eyes off of him. She was looking for any sign of deceit or harm. There wasn't any, but she was too scared to stop looking.

"The absence of taste?" Murmur asked. That had to be a strange experience, and it looked like he was tasting now, or he had been before they took food away from him. "But if you care a lot about food, maybe your name could be eating related." He liked the idea of getting to name someone. "Her dad's already Gluttony. But there's not many similar ones I feel like you could make names out of. Gorge? I don't think I like that one for you. It just feels like I'm calling you George with an accent. That's boring."

NADIA: She got the vibe that he’d been to the kitchen more than a handful of times but she didn’t say anything. If he really did manage to go undetected that was pretty impressive. As long as he remained harmless, she didn’t plan to snitch on him. Now that she knew he made visits to the kitchen, she’d leave some stuff for him when she could. “Murmur for the love of Hell…” she sighed and rubbed at her temples. He wasn’t just flirting anymore. He was straight up propositioning the man. Thankfully, Honesty cut him off before he could go any further though Nadia wasn’t sure how much further one could go without offering a demonstration right then and there. “At least you offered him food beforehand.” That was the nice thing to do when you wanted to eat someone out. You had to make sure they ate first.

She smiled and nodded at the man encouragingly as he repeated their names back to them. It was interesting that he had no name himself. He was a construct. But then again what was a name if not a construct to begin with. “Murmur already thinks you’re a snack, so Snack is a good one. But it sounds a little too close to snake and that’s my mom’s mascot.” Dagon wasn’t her mom, but it felt too complicated to get into that right now. She paused for a moment at the door to the staff entrance. “What about Devour?” she asked as she swiped her card to unlock the door. She entered the well-lit corridor and motioned for the others to follow her in. The sounds of the party could be heard one floor above them, and she found that to be soothing in its own way. It was like being part of the crowd without being overwhelmed by it. “That’s how we found you and it’s a pretty badass name too.”

DEVOUR: He was quiet for a moment as he debated what he ought to say. Some of his siblings would've demanded he say nothing. They very well could cut his tongue out for just talking to these three. But these children were disclosing information about their families so perhaps it was safe to tell them about his own. If he bothered to look deeper within himself, he might've allowed himself to see that he was also telling them this information because he wanted to keep them safe. There was an innocence to these Children of God that he had not seen in a very long time here in the Empty. Innocence did not last long here. If he did not tell them what lurked in the shadows, it was possible that the shadows would find them unguarded. "It's possible my siblings know where I disappear to, but if they do they haven't said anything," he allowed.

He listened intently as the young male, Murmur, described this pleasurably feasting. To taste one another but not eat each other sounded like quite the test of wills. "Ah, I see. So the goal is to get to this fluid? That is the meal?" Fascinating. It sounded like both the feaster and the feasted received some kind of reward in the end. All of their food so far tasted phenomenal so what must their fluids taste like? "Yes," he grinned. "I think I'd like to try."

He kept up his pace with the children as they walked toward an entry point he hadn't seen before. He wasn't sure what a snack was but it sounded like a kind of food he wanted to try. He wasn’t sure what a snake was either. “So, you are not a Child of God?” he asked when Nadia mentioned a mother. The Children of God had no mother, and she radiated an energy that was different from the two beings before her. What was she?

As she door opened, he could hear the sounds of the party above them. Walking down the corridor was an experience he knew he’d struggle to put into words for Echo later. It was like being a part of the party…a part of their mysterious world. Their music was so beautiful even when it was muffled. And based on the fragrant smell of food just up ahead he knew she was leading them down the right path. “Devour…” he repeated the name. “Devour.” He nodded after a moment. “You may call me Devour.”

MURMUR & HONESTY: When Murmur had asked him about not getting caught, he'd meant that he hadn't been caught by the staff here or by Cuphegor themselves. Honesty had understood what Murmur was asking too, but the creature's response made it seem like getting caught was more of a concern with their siblings than with the rulers of this realm. "You have siblings?" Honesty asked. She'd known that he gave off similar energy to the Void, but she hadn't considered the idea of them being siblings. That would've made her more scared if it didn't sound like he was concerned about his siblings doing something to him. "They aren't . . . around, are they?" She glanced around, but if they blended into shadows so easily, she was scared she wouldn't be able to see them easily.

"What are they like?" asked Murmur. "You said you were the absence of taste, right? So what are they? What was the Void?" Murmur had a lot of questions, and so did Honesty. Thankfully, they didn't throw out every single one they had all at once. They both knew too many questions could be overwhelming, but Murmur was more than a little excited by his answers. He wasn't perturbed by Honesty or Nadia's reaction to his explanation of eating out. He personally felt like he was being helpful by explaining it to they guy. It sounded like he experienced so little of life, and as much as Murmur wanted to hook up with him, he didn't want to feel like he was tricking him or trying to push him into something he didn't understand. He was like a virgin. He probably was a virgin if he didn't understand eating out. "The goal is mainly to make each other feel good, but the fluid, cum, is the signifier that you are doing that." Murmur grinned as he agreed to his offer. "Great! I'll show you a great time after we get some real food in you."

Honesty had to hide her face in her hands from the embarrassment of being around Murmur when he was like this. At least for now, it distracted her from her fear of the creature they were traveling with. "How are you just like Andras?"

"I learn from the best?" He answered with a grin. "He'd be proud of me." Honesty didn't feel like that was really a good thing here. "Technically, neither of us are children of God," he said as he indicated at himself and Nadia. "Her mom and dad are at that party, and my moms are . . . well one's basically dead, and the other one is double dead, but we're basically like . . . children of the community. There's more than a few people who look after us as if we were their children." He smiled when Devour seemed to like then name they'd picked out for him. "And how do we call you, Devour?" he asked, though he wasn't asking about his name. "You don't have a phone, right? Is there a way we can get in contact with you when we want to see you again?"

NADIA: She stiffened slightly when he mentioned his siblings. The way he spoke about them sounded a little bit like the way Ruby spoke about her father. Her sister also did things in secret with the hopes that her dad wouldn’t find out because she was afraid of what he might do if he did. It sounded like Devour held the same fear in regard to his siblings. She held onto her questions as Honesty and Murmur asked their own. Devour already seemed a bit skittish. If they went into interrogation mode, they might scare him.

She bit back her laughter when she saw Honesty’s secondhand embarrassment for Murmur. It was kind of sweet. At this point in her life, Nadia had witnessed Murmur embarrass himself so much that she hardly felt embarrassed on his behalf anymore. If you think this is bad, you should see him hit on the wood nymphs, she giggled through their mind connection. “If you’re still feeling a little hungry afterwards, just let me know,” she grinned innocently. She could feed him any which way he’d like. Maybe one day they’d show him the buffet that was an orgy.

She nodded her agreement when Murmur explained that neither of them were Children of God. “We’re more like…the Grandchildren of God though I wouldn’t even claim that title.” They were asking Devour a lot about his history, so it was only fair to exchange some of their own. “I’m from a subspecies called Lilim. We’re the children of fallen angels who mated with a being called Lilith. Depending on the strength of our angelic linage, some of us end up here in the Empty when we die so you might see a few of them walking around. Like Murmur’s mom, my biological dad’s is frozen in a state between life and death. And my biological mother hasn’t been seen in centuries. But my adoptive parents are here. The party we’re having is for the person that I, really we, choose to consider mom.” She knew she wasn’t the only one who considered Dagon in that way. Honesty had mentioned that she’d felt that way about Dagon too when she was alive. And Dagon cared for Murmur pretty similarly too. “Her name is Dagon. She’s got the snakes in her hair. She took over Belphegor’s position as the Demon Princess of Sloth. And the person that I choose to consider as my dad, his name is Beelzebub. He’s the Demon Prince of Gluttony. They’re very nice. I’ll introduce you sometime.” Nadia had enough sense to know that none of her family members would be too thrilled with the risk that she and the the others took on today but once they got to know a little bit about Devour she was sure they'd like him.

DEVOUR: “I have seven, but they are not here currently. Most of them do not venture into your territory.” Though there was talk of changing that. The dead were not native to this land even if their God placed them here. And after being under one oppressive being who kept them locked up, some of his siblings weren’t too keen on sharing land. They wanted their home and land back from the perceived colonizers. He hoped they wouldn’t do anything. They were vastly outnumbered. And having observed some of the older Children of God and the power they held, Devour could already tell that the fight would be bloody. He didn’t have it in him to fight after centuries of torment. He just wanted to eat. “They, too, are the absence of things such as sound, light, smell, touch, form, happiness, and thought. The Void…” his voice flattened as he tried to control his fear. “It was a pit of cruelty and the absence of empathy.” And I’m glad that it’s gone. He was afraid to say it out loud for fear that even in death the Void might hurt him. But his eyes showed enough.

He nodded when Murmur elaborated on the goal of the activity. “I look forward to trying your cum and I will repay the favor.” He was surprised when Nadia offered him seconds. He did not know why these beings were so generous to him, but he appreciated their kindness. It had been such a long time since anymore cared to be kind to him. “Thank you,” he replied with genuine gratitude. “I will.”

As they moved forward down the corridor he listened to the Children—Grandchildren—of God explain their origins. Fascinating. One was the offspring of two Children of God and the other was the offspring of a Child of God and another being. “Lilim. Yes, I believe I have seen a few.” He tilted his head to one side as she described how she’d chosen her other family. Community children. That was a new concept to him. He didn’t know it was even possible to designate familial roles to someone who wasn’t your family. Granted, for most of his life he didn’t have anyone except his siblings, but that was changing now that the Empty was free from the Void. He glanced up to where the party was still ongoing. So, this was for their chosen mother. And their chosen mother was someone who was taking over the Belphegors previous position. Things were making sense now. He’d seen the snake haired woman in the Empty a lot and she did appear to be close to the Belphegor. “Dagon. I’ve seen her too. She and the tall blonde one…they are prescriptive.” He thought they might’ve seen him more than a few times, but he always fled before he or they could confirm anything. He considered her offer as they stopped at the entrance to the kitchen. “If they are like you then yes, I would like to meet them someday.”

His brows knitted in confusion. “Phone?” He wasn’t sure what that was. There were no easy ways to reach one another here. The only people Devour really had to talk to were a handful of his siblings. “The Void cut off most ways of communicating here though The Empty can get you to me. But before I tell you how, I need you to promise me one thing.” He looked at them with upmost seriousness. “I’ve seen the wardings at the edge of your land. You must promise to stay within them. You cannot seek me in the forest. Do you understand?”

HONESTY & MURMUR: "Seven?" Honesty asked with horror. One of the Void was enough, but the idea of seven of his kind sounded terrifying. She was a little relieved to hear that they didn't venture into their territory, but it didn't make her any less scared of them. Devour had come all the way out here after all. What if the others did too?

Murmur found himself more intrigued by the list of Devour's siblings. "You and the absence of sound seem like you'd make up Nadia's dad together. He's always hungry, but he's so quiet when he moves that he scares her mom all the time without even trying." It was hard to imagine how some of the absences worked though. The absence of form sounded a little like the demons of hell who didn't fall from heaven and weren't born from Lilith. They didn't have full forms outside of Hell and could only go to earth if they possessed someone. "The absence of happiness sounds like Dagon's whole kingdom. They're all severely depressed too." He didn't think they couldn't experience happiness, but they were deprived of a lot of it. "And the absence of touch sounds like Valefar. She's not exactly my mom, but she took me in after I lost my moms. Whenever she touches someone or something she cares about, it turns to gold, so she tries not to touch anyone." It didn't stop some people, like his mom or Nadia's dad, from getting turned to gold though.

"And we already have the absence of thought right here," said Honesty as she patted Murmur's head. "Are you sure this isn't your sibling?" She felt like it had to be with how much he kept opening his mouth to say the worst things. It felt like a bad idea for him to be talking about Dagon's kingdom like that. He didn't seem to learn anything from how he'd talked about Nadia just a few minutes ago. Both Honesty and Murmur got a little quieter when Devour mentioned the Void. Murmur knew the Void was a sensitive subject for Honesty, and he watched her to make sure she was okay. For Honesty, her empathy outweighed her fear of Devour. She could tell by the way he talked that he must have had a horrible time with the Void too, even though it was his sibling. "But the Void's gone now, and it can't be cruel to us anymore," she said reassuringly to both Devour and herself.

She felt like she was going to be sick as Nadia also offered herself up as a meal for Devour. "Nadia, not you too. . ." she sighed.

Murmur couldn't help giggling as Nadia joined in with him on the offer. "I look forward to tasting yours too."

"If you want to kill me now, ceasing to exist doesn't sound that bad at the moment."

"She doesn't mean that." Murmur put his hand over her mouth, worried that Devour might take her seriously. He didn't think Devour wanted Honesty to die, but he could tell that the creature struggled to understand them and might take her words as a genuine request that would make her happy. Devour seemed to be doing most things that he thought would appease them.

Murmur could tell they were getting close to the kitchen now. The smells of cooked food were so strong. He'd eaten already, but his tummy still rumbled. "Asmo?" he asked, assuming that's who the tall blonde person was that Devour was talking about.  "Or maybe Raphael. Or Ramiel?"

"Not if it's someone perceptive," Honesty muttered. She didn't remember a lot of what he'd been like before the war, but he didn't seem all that perceptive now. She mainly just heard him whining about how his best friend wouldn't come see him. "But I doubt he's going to know which one it is by their name anyways." How was Devour supposed to know who was who.

"Oh right," Murmur nodded. "Does he look like this?" He changed his form to look like Asmo, "or like this?" and then he looked like Raphael, though only for a moment before he was back to himself. It felt unnatural being in those forms. "Yeah, they look like this." He held up his phone. "I could give you mine and then-"

Honesty snatched his phone out of his hand before he could hand it off. "It's honestly too complicated to explain right now." It wasn't her only reason for stopping the hand off, but it really was complicated. She practically had to take a whole class on how to use those things, and she still didn't really understand them.

Murmur frowned. He tried to grab his phone back, but Honesty kept it away from him. He planned to steal it back when she wasn't paying attention, but he was perplexed by Devour's demand that they make a promise about not going into the forest. "No, not really. Why can't we go in the forest?" They would've already struggled to get through Belphegor's wardings keeping them in, but he wanted to know what they were supposed to be avoiding.

NADIA: She raised her brow at the mention of seven other siblings. That was definitely a lot more than expected. She wondered if Belphegor knew about them. They had to given how connected to the Empty they were. She didn’t know how much they knew but she knew this was an opportunity to gather more information for them. Perhaps if they collected enough history, the consequences of their actions tonight wouldn’t be so bad. “Are there anymore creatures out there like your siblings and you?” she asked.

She smiled and nodded her agreement when Murmur remarked that Devour and the sibling that was the absence of sound were similar to her dad. “It’s pretty funny,” she grinned when he brought up how that combination of things often led to her dad scaring the shit out of Dagon. She gave a look that conveyed I mean, he’s not wrong when he remarked that Dagon’s kingdom sounded like the sad guy. “They’re on the mend though,” she threw in. Perhaps his sad sibling would find something to bring him joy too. Maybe they could help him. “That’s how our parents got stuck in that state between life and death. They’re frozen in gold,” she added for context.

She bit back a laugh when Honesty remarked that they had the absence of thought here with Murmur. “You beat me to the joke by like half a second,” she giggled. Her smile faultered when he brought up the Void. She got the sense that despite being the Void’s sibling, he did not have a good time under the Void’s rule. “I’m sorry. If it’s any consolation, Belphegor isn’t anything like that. They struggle to understand some things about emotion from time to time, but they are not cruel.”

Her smile returned when Honesty started complaining about the flirting. “I’m being hospitable,” she grinned. She nearly choked on how sincere Devour’s promise was that he looked forward to the activity. It reminded her a lot of Belphegor before they had Asmo’s grace. She was pretty sure if she could just get Devour to meet with Bells, they’d get on swimmingly. But for now she at least got him to agree to meet with her parents. “They’re very much like us,” she grinned. “I’ll let them know and maybe we can set up lunch one day. My dad loves any ol’ reason to cook.” He might not be pleased with this one but he’d understand.

She wasn’t surprised Devour had seen Dagon around. She spent a lot of time in the Empty with Belphegor and their twin. Nadia couldn’t help the pang of jealousy as Murmur began to change his forms to try to pinpoint who the other person was. That was a talent Nadia did not possess as a half breed. But that wasn’t Murmur’s fault so she pushed the feeling away. “Preceptive sounds like Raphael. They’re an Archangel. They along with my mom have an ability to read emotions. Sort of like the opposite of the Void. I imagine my mom must’ve felt your hunger and thought you were my dad.” If he kept hiding in the shadows while he was hungry, he probably ran the risk of Dagon’s snakes coming at him because they thought Beel was messing around. Or Dagon might bring it up to Beel that he was being weird hiding in the shadows. Nadia smiled at the confusion that might cause.

Nadia gave a tiny applause at the quick speed at which Honesty snatched the phone from Murmur. Death had not dulled that reflex at least. Phones were a hard concept to pick up and there were still a lot of security risks. They’d have to go with some of the older methods of communicating. “We can leave you food with hidden messages at a designated drop off spot. One of my Knights did that with his sister after the war and it worked out for them.” She raised a brow when he remarked that they had to promise to stay away from the forest. Nadia wasn’t going to lie. She’d gone down to where the wardings were. They were pretty impenetrable. “I’ve heard my parents talking about what’s beyond the wardings. They said something about God’s wasteland. Creatures that he scrapped. Is that what we should be avoiding?”

DEVOUR: “There are all manners of creatures here, but none quite like my siblings,” he replied. He had yet to meet any that were more than beasts. He listened as Murmur related his siblings to things that were similar in his own world. It would appear their lands were not all that different. “The intangible is known to do similar things,” he remarked when they brought up the quiet footed sneaker. “But I do not feel his energy here tonight,” he assured them. It saddened him to hear about an entire kingdom that lacked a certain degree of happiness like his own sibling. He hadn’t seen that particular sibling in a very long time actually. He wondered if perhaps the Numbness was dead. “I’m glad to hear they are healing from their troubles.” If the Numbness was alive, perhaps they would heal too one day. His brows furrowed in concern when they brought up the Child of God known as Valefar. “And what of her favorite food? Does that turn to gold too?” That sounded heartbreaking.

He chuckled when the small one joked about Murmur possibly being one of his siblings. “He still has too much forethought to truly be the thoughtless,” he replied though he did not meet her eyes as he spoke. “The thoughtless would not remember they even met with you once you are no longer in his presence. He’s harmless as long as you keep your wits about you. Though, I don’t think you’ll see him much. He will likely never be able to follow the path here without getting distracted.” His eyes finally met the small ones when she remarked that the Void could no longer be cruel to them. He nodded softly before averting his gaze once again. His attention turned to Nadia as she began her defense of the Belphegor. He wasn’t sure what to think. “The Void seemed to believe they were kindred spirits…” he remarked. His sibling had been obsessed with the Belphegor, but if they truly were Kindred then the Belphegor would’ve have just continued the Void’s torture cycle. They hadn’t…at least not yet.

His brows rose when Honesty asked to be killed. Up until this point, she seemed very frightened of that possibility. He nodded in confused understanding when Murmur remarked that she did not actually mean it. That was a relief. He had the stomach for a lot of things, but violence was not one of them these days. “Will you get in trouble?” he asked when Nadia remarked that she would set up lunch and let her parents know. He did not want any of them to be brutalized for his transgressions.

He observed Murmur attentively as he changed from form to form. He knew most of these individuals could manipulate their forms, but he rarely saw it occurring. Most seemed to stay in one stable, comfortable form. “Raphael,” he nodded in confirmation. “They were the other.” He was utterly fascinated when Nadia explained why it felt like those two were staring right at him when they looked into the shadows. “Empaths,” he marveled. “I did not know such creatures existed. And they are close with the Belphegor?” To have something be the antithesis of everything his brother was and to have those people be the closest to the Belphegor. Perhaps there was merit in what Nadia was saying about the Belphegor. Still, he couldn’t shake all of his fear. Meeting the Grandchildren of God was one thing. He could downplay the encounter to his siblings if they found out but meeting the Belphegor was both frightening and hard to downplay.

He glanced briefly at the thing called the phone. He was going to examine it when Honesty took it away. Apparently, there was a learning curve to it. He trusted her judgement on that front. He nodded in agreement with Nadia’s idea about hidden messages in the food. “There is a small creek near the edge where our lands meet yours. It’s still within your boundaries. You may leave food there and I will come to collect it and meet you appropriately. Should you need me more urgently, you may place your wishes and manifestations in the pebbles near the creek and toss them into the waters. The Empty will carry the message to me,” he instructed. “Your parents are right. There are creatures in there that are dangerous, but none more than some of my siblings. I do not wish to frighten you. Not all of us are like the Void, but there are some among my ranks who do not like the noise. You must promise me you will never go into the woods,” he urged again. It was clear that their promise was perhaps more important to him than any food they might have to offer.

HONESTY & MURMUR: Devour's response was both a relief and a concern for Honesty. She was glad that there weren't too many things out there like the Void, but that didn't mean the other creatures were any less dangerous. At least the others didn't seem to be here either.

"Dagon will be glad for that." Murmur didn't think Dagon would've been happy about someone else sneaking up on her, so he hoped the intangible kept their distance. "Yeah, it's a slow progress, but the same goes for most of the people here. We're trying to get them all help, but you can't expect progress that fast." It was possible some of them wouldn't actually improve at all. Some of them had to be kept asleep for the fact that they just couldn't handle being awake. "It's a little complicated." Murmur rubbed the back of his neck and frowned as he thought about how to best explain it. "She can eat, and a lot of the food she eats is really delicious, but the way her curse works matters more on how much she values something or cares about it. She likes a lot of foods, but she doesn't really . . . care that much about them. I know you haven't had a lot of food you could taste, but back where we're from, we have these things called comfort foods. They're not necessarily our favorite foods, but they're foods that usually make us feel good, and, well, comforted. They might be different foods at different times too depending on your mood, so for Valefar, she tends to be careful about what she eats. I don't think she really has favorite foods anymore. Once it becomes a value to her, it does turn to gold, and she can't eat it anymore. She usually eats something different every day, so she can't form attachments to the food." It didn't stop that from happening sometimes though. He'd seen her get halfway through a meal before it turned to gold. She didn't feel like eating for a while after that. "Luckily, it's not like she has to eat. If she doesn't eat, it doesn't hurt her, and she can find other things to comfort her, like shopping. Or she'll just spend some time with her siblings. She can't touch them, but it keeps her from feeling to lonely just to be around them."

Honesty felt sympathetic to Valefar as Murmur explained her condition. She had heard about Valefar's curse, but while it had sounded sad originally, she hadn't really thought that deeply about it. To not be able to be touched by anyone you cared about did sound lonely. She couldn't recall what Valefar had been like before she died, but she imagined the change to not being able to touch anyone you loved was a hard one. She hadn't considered the fact that it didn't just extend to people either. You couldn't get comfort even from food from how Murmur described it. Honesty had been picking on Murmur a lot, but this also made her aware of the fact that he could never have gotten so much as a hug from her either. She wasn't going to give him a hug herself, but she felt bad for him, at least until Devour said he had too much forethought to be the thoughtless, and Murmur gave the most prideful grin. "Maybe a distant cousin then," she allowed.

While Honesty was uncomfortable when Belphegor was around, it wasn't because she thought they were personally like the Void. It was just because they carried its energy. "From someone who has been around them both, they're nothing alike. When I was alive, Belphegor was a healer. They still are. All the Void knows how to do is hurt people. Belphegor might not have understood a lot of their own emotions or others, but they always tried to understand. They've been spending so much time trying to help everyone here in the Empty, and if you want to see how loving they are, just watch them with Cupid."

Murmur thought about it for a moment. Would they get in trouble? Probably. Valefar tended to get more upset about those kinds of things than Dagon and Beel did. She'd probably give him a stern talking to, but it wasn't anything too bad. "They might give us a lecture about talking to strangers from the Empty, but it's not like we aren't adults. We can make our own decisions. We used our best judgement to figure out you don't mean any harm, and we didn't get hurt, so no harm no foul, right?" he shrugged. If they had gotten hurt, that might've been a different story. "We'll be okay. Even if they do get mad at us, they're just looking out for us because they love us."

Honesty nodded when Devour asked about Belphegor being close to Dagon and Raphael. A lot of her memories weren't entirely there anymore, but there were some things she remembered. Because of how close she'd been to Dagon, it was easier to remember the other two. "Yeah, a lot of the healers are empaths. Belphegor was kinda the odd one out on that, but it didn't stop them from being one of the best healers. Raphael's one of their older siblings, and Dagon's their best friend."

Honesty recalled the creek he was talking about. She didn't usually get that close to it. Something about the water was off-putting to her. It had a similar energy to the Void, and sometimes she felt like it was watching her. It didn't help that it was at the edge of the boundaries Belphegor had made, which made it feel even spookier. She wasn't sure she'd be too keen about going there again, but if Dagon and Beel were there, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. She would've felt a little safer that way. She was getting a little more used to being around Devour too. He was starting to feel less like a monster and more like a person. It seemed like he did care, and he didn't want them doing anything dangerous either.

Murmur was curious how the water would get the message to Devour, but he thought he might just get to witness how it worked when they'd go to do it. He wondered what kind of creatures were out there. Surely if Devour was so nice, maybe some of those creatures would be just as nice too. He was excited by the idea that he might get to meet some of Devour's nicer siblings too. If they looked as good as Devour did, he didn't think he'd mind too much if some of the meaner ones roughed him up a little either. It sucked that he wasn't supposed to go into those woods. Being told not to only made him want to do it more.

"We won't," Honesty promised, and she meant it. She had no reason to ever want to go out of the safety she had now. "After today, they'll probably treat us more like Zoph and have someone keeping an eye on us at all times, so we don't do something like that."

NADIA: She nodded, grateful that there weren’t too many beings out there like him. The last thing the Empty needed was more things that could hurt the people here. Granted, seven siblings was a hefty number. That was the same amount as the Demon Princes of Hell. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that. If Belphegor let them meet with Devour a few more times, maybe they could get a grasp on the level of power of these beings.

She smiled when he voiced concerns about Valefar’s ability to eat her favorite foods. He’d fit in very well with the Kingdom of Gluttony because they, too, were concerned about that. Her smile faded a little bit when Murmur began to describe the limitations that Valefar’s curse placed upon her. “We’re working on finding a cure for her curse, but we haven’t had much luck. In the meantime, my Uncle Asmo gave us these,” she pulled out a plastic skeleton hand from her satchel. “It’s not much, but we use them to give Valefar assurance and high fives.” She demonstrated by patting Murmur’s shoulder with the skeleton hand. “And sometimes to annoy her.” She used the pointer finger of the skeleton hand to give Murmur a wet willy. “It’s the least we can do,” she giggled.

“Too much forethought to be the Thoughtless. Amazing. Well, at least you still have object permanence, dear,” she grinned at Murmur. She nodded her agreement to Honesty’s defense of Belphegor. “I’ve never met the Void, but I grew up with Belphegor, Bells—that’s what we call them. They’re genuine. A little cranky at times, but I think that’s cause I overwhelm them. Still, I know they love me. Our family fucked up and kept a lot from them about the Void. For a while, I didn’t think Bells or my mom would forgive any of them, but they did because family is important to them. The wellbeing of this place is important to them. Keep watching and you’ll see,” she promised.

She took his question into consideration. There was a likelihood that they would get in trouble, but she didn’t think it would be terrible. Belphegor could ban them from the Empty, but she would wear them down in time. Being banned might be a fitting punishment for her and Murmur but it wasn’t really fair to Honesty to lose her friends after having lost so much. It wouldn’t take too much work to get Belphegor to see that and relent. “Yeah, I’m sure there will be consequences, but they’ll be mild. We were stupid but we were smart about it,” she reasoned. “I don’t really like keeping secrets from my dad. It’s better if we come clean to them than if they find out by another means.”

She smiled as he marveled at the ideas of empaths. She could see that it appealed to him that there were beings out there that were the opposite of the Void. “They’re Belphegor’s top advisors,” Nadia said proudly. It was proof that Belphegor and the Void couldn’t be Kindred. The Void would never surround itself with empaths. “And Belphegor’s wife, Cupid, she’s the angel of love. Her existence makes love of all kinds possible.” She didn’t think the Void was capable of love, but Belphegor was not only capable of it, they were married to it.

Nadia tried to visualize the creek. It took her a moment, but she was able to recall its placement. She nodded at Devour’s instructions. Pebble messages in case of emergency and food for all other messages. They could do that. She wasn’t surprised that not all of Devour’s siblings liked the new arrangements. In a way, the dead did not belong here, but they hadn’t chosen this as their final resting place. God had. However, in Nadia’s opinion, if they weren’t meant to be here, the power of the Empty would’ve gone back to the next in line in the Void’s family, not to Belphegor. “We’ll keep our distance from the woods,” she promised. “Are there any particular siblings of yours we should absolutely steer clear of?”

DEVOUR: He listened to Murmur describe Valefar’s affliction. It sounded terrible and extended far beyond the reach of just not being able to eat her favorite meals. It sounded like a truly awful existence, like one of the Void’s designs. “I do not understand,” he replied. “Why would their Father God make them like that?” Devour’s knowledge of God was limited. The Void had ensured they had very little information about God or his children. All that Devour knew was that the Children of God existed and at some point they started appearing in this realm in droves. It was not long after that that all of them became enslaved by the Void. He observed the plastic hand as Nadia pulled it out of her satchel and explained the sentimental value behind it. “I’m sorry, I ate the other.” He seemed to get smaller, as if he was afraid he would be punished for his transgression. The hand which he’d eaten had no flavor and he really had no way of making up for what he’d done. Thankfully it appeared that his transgression did not seem to sour her mood.

He tilted his head as he observed the two teasing the young male. Their words could be construed as harsh, but their delivery wasn’t. He did not really understand their bond for he did not have a similar relationship with his siblings. His siblings words and their delivery of those words were always matched in cruelty. He listened quietly as the two provided their testimonials about the Belphegor. Perhaps they were right. The Void’s judgment couldn’t be trusted. The way it saw things was always twisted. Perhaps it saw more of itself in the Belphegor than was actually there. The Void was no healer nor was it capable of forgiveness when you wronged it. He nodded his agreement. He would have to keep watching and see for himself.

He appeared relieved when they remarked that their punishments would be mild. He had a hard time imagining that, but they seemed confident in their answers. It would appear that they were raised to be honest despite knowing that there were consequences to that. Someone out there either made them feel safe enough to be honest or scared enough to never lie. He hoped it was the former rather than the latter. “I apologize for any trouble, mild or otherwise,” he offered.

He was surprised when Nadia brought up that the Belphegor was married to an angel that represented love. He had a hard time wrapping his head around that one. The Void would never marry a love entity. He was pretty sure the Void had no idea what love—platonic, familial, or romantic—even was. It seemed obsessed with the Belphegor, but Devour did not think that was love so much as it was a claim of ownership. “My sibling would have never been capable of such a thing. You’ve given me much to sort out,” he agreed. “You can tell them I mean no harm. If, after this, they wish me to stay off their lands I will do so.” He wasn’t ready to swear fealty to this new ruler, but he wouldn’t disobey their wishes.

He nodded, satisfied with their promise to keep away from the woods. He thought about her question carefully. He had conflicted feelings when it came to many of his siblings, but it still felt wrong to talk ill of them. Instead, he decided to just provide information. “The darkness does not like all of the light and color you’ve brought with you. The odorless finds the smell of this place overwhelming. The incorporeal longs to have substance, but I don’t think there’s anything in your lands that can give him what he wants so he’s likely to stay away. They are not always terrible, but your world is overwhelming to them,” he explained as gently as he could.

HONESTY & MURMUR: Murmur squirmed when Nadia put the skeleton hand in his ear. He snatched it away from her before smacking her on the back of the head with it. Honesty took it away from both of them. "He didn't originally make them like that. Val used to be able to touch people just fine. She actually was very touchy. She loved physical affection." Honesty wasn't there when Valefar's curse first started though, she didn't exactly see what happened, and Dagon didn't tell her all of the details.

Murmur didn't know all of the details of the curses either. He was just a child when he started, but in the midst of the trio, he was the only one alive when Valefar's curse started. His mom was one of the first of Valefar's knights to rush to her aid when she'd turned the first person to gold. They hadn't actually known what was going on or the fact that simply touching her would condemn them to a life as a golden statue. They'd simply thought their prince was under attack. For a while, they still didn't understand what happened. A lot of them thought it might've been a delayed result of the fall. Some of them thought that one of Valefar's enemies put a curse on her. Being a child who'd lost his last remaining parent, he was confused during a lot of that time, and it wasn't until Lucifer's curse came to light that Murmur really started understanding it. "God's a lot more like the Void. He didn't care about them. He just wanted to punish them for disobeying him. They went against him, and he made them suffer for it. He's not a good guy, but I guess he's gone now at least."

Honesty still had some reservations about Devour. She wasn't going to say she trusted him completely, but she was more relaxed around him now. "It's okay," she nodded. She wasn't really scared of whatever kind of discipline they might receive from Dagon and the others, though she was worried about how her siblings might feel. She had kind of disappeared after walking away from the group. "I'm sure they'll appreciate that." Like herself, she didn't think Belphegor would necessarily believe that statement on its own, but Devour's actions would speak louder than words. "I think as long as you don't scare the residents, you should be okay." Honesty frowned at Devour's description. She felt almost bad for them. They didn't choose for anyone to be here, and she knew what it was like to feel so overwhelmed, but the Empty was a big place. there was plenty of room for everyone.

NADIA: She gave Murmur her most offended scowl when he smacked her with the plastic hand. She was about to go rummaging for the other plastic hand so she could do battle when Devour remarked that he ate it. "It's alright," she assured him. "We have a reserve back home." She'd find one that Val already turned to gold and enact her vengeance upon Murmur with that one.

She nodded along when Honesty explained what Valefar was like before the curse. Nadia didn't know that Valefar because her aunt had been afflicted with the curse since before Nadia's existence. She did hear stories though that suggested Aunt Val was very affectionate before everything. "He's an awful being." Her voice shook with emotion, not just for the curses God had dealt out but also for the unforgivable things he'd done to her dad too. "If there's anyone that's Kindred to the Void it would be Him."

Her features softened once again when Devour apologized for the trouble he felt he was causing them. He apologized quite a lot for things that weren't his fault. "Don't worry about us. We'll be okay. Are you going to be okay when you leave here?" The Void was gone but he still seemed like he was afraid of something out there. He was choosing his words carefully when it came to talking about his siblings which was fair. Nadia was also choosing her words carefully when deciding what to reveal about her family.

She nodded when he remarked that his siblings were overwhelmed by their world. "My mom gets like that too sometimes. She picks up more than she wants to with her abilities and it can hurt her or others." Nadia had been instructed to not tell anyone under any circumstances just how Dagon's depression manifestation was being kept in check nor how she was able to get in and out of the Empty freely. But she could reveal other things. "We have wardings designed to create safe spaces and quiet zones for people like her." Nadia touched the door frame to the kitchen and activated the warding in question. "Maybe my family can find something that can help damper the effects of our existence on your kin." That way maybe Devour's family would be less cranky and he wouldn't be so scared. "You don't have to decide now though." He'd only just met them. She was sure there was a lot of trust building that still needed to happen before he fully believed in their benevolence. "It's just food for thought, I guess," she grinned. "And speaking of food..." she pushed the doors to the kitchen open. "I'm starving. Come on, let's see what we can find." / END