#i���m never going to recover i’m screaming at the moon

[starryhyuck]

falling star (m) | prince!hyuck

pairing: donghyuck x reader

words: 7k+

summary: you’re betrothed to the handsome prince donghyuck, but when your life is put in danger, you’re unsure if you can trust him.

genre: fluff, angst, smut

warnings: prince!donghyuck, princess!reader, soulmate!au, mentions of death, unprotected sex, public sex, sex in prison lmao, impregnation, little bit of voyeurism

basically i rewatched moon lovers and i turned this fic into a kdrama,,, thank you for 1k followers!!

terms to know:

gongju - princess

jeonha - king

seja-jeonha - crown prince (next in line for the throne)

wangja - son of a king and a concubine

daegun - prince, but not made to be king

You first experience heartbreak when you are only three years old.

You watched as your mother faded before you, her life escaping her body as she consumed the dark poison hidden in her tea. You remember all of the servants rushing to her aid, screaming for someone to fetch the physician. It wasn’t until minutes later that someone realized you were still in the room, carrying you away as you cried for your mother.

Since that day, you’ve carried yourself with a heavy heart.

There were numerous whispers roaming around the castle — most of them talking about how you were a witness to your mother’s death, and how you never recovered. They weren’t wrong.

Your mother’s killer was never clearly identified. All of the servants in the palace had been thoroughly questioned but many false accusations were made and your father, who was in the depths of his grief, decided to kill the wrongly accused. He never launched a full investigation and instead, attended to you and your siblings to prolong the mourning period.

Your father became a more gentle king after his wife’s death. Wars ceased and the plantation in the kingdom became more fruitful after your father diverted the kingdom’s expenses. He did not take on any more lovers and focused on his palace and his children.

You, however, became cautious as you grew up in the palace, afraid that your mother’s killer still walks before you.

“Gongju, shouldn’t you be carrying out your duties?”

You blink when Mark rounds the corner, taking a seat beside you. The both of you rest peacefully underneath one of the blossoming trees, but you should know that your brother cannot keep silent for long.

“Donghyuck arrives today.”

“Good for him.”

Mark sighs. “I know you do not wish to be married, but-“

“But nothing,” you hiss, standing up and brushing off the dust on your skirt. Chaeyoung, your attending lady, rushes to your side once she sees your movement. She bows deeply in recognition of your brother’s presence. “If Taeyong wants to marry me off so carelessly, then so be it.”

“You know that’s not true-“

You don’t allow him to finish his sentence, walking off with Chaeyoung in step behind you. She says nothing but you can tell she wants to interfere.

Chaeyoung has been your best friend since you were younger, assigned to be your personal lady when you both were only eight years old. Chaeyoung knew you better than anyone else, and she understood your hatred towards your upcoming marriage.

It was only days ago when Taeyong, your oldest brother and crown prince, decided to persuade your father into finding you a suitable marriage. You were of age to be married and if you did not find a suitable partner in time, the palace would begin to murmur.

Donghyuck was a prince from a neighboring kingdom, sent by his brother, Moon Taeil, to arrange a marriage between you. Since Donghyuck was a result of one of his father’s affairs, he had no chance of becoming the king of his own palace. Taeil still loved his brother dearly and wanted to find him a good match.

Unluckily, that match was you.

You run into Taeyong on your way back to your quarters, and you offer him a bow.

“Seja-jeonha, nice to see you.”

He smiles tightly at Chaeyoung and asks her to excuse himself as he pulls you aside.

“You are supposed to be on the palace steps to greet Prince Donghyuck. He traveled five days just to meet you, you know.”

“Such a long time for something so disappointing.”

It’s clear Taeyong is distressed by your blatant disobedience. It’s not often a princess rejects a marriage offer, but you can’t help but be displeased. You’ve never wanted a conventional marriage and you hoped your father would never set you up for one.

“You’re lucky that Donghyuck accepted the offer. You know that most of father’s advisors wished to send you off like we did with Naeun. I’m grateful for Donghyuck so we could still have you in the palace.”

You know deep down that Taeyong means the best. He hates when his family is separated, and all of you were particularly saddened when Naeun was married off a year ago, leaving the palace to be with her husband. Because of the long travel and royal duties, you haven’t been able to see her since she left.

You understand why he wants you to get married so quickly. If you don’t marry Donghyuck now, your father’s advisors would convince him to marry you to another prince from a far kingdom.

You sigh. Although you don’t want to get married anytime soon, you’d rather stay in the palace than be forced to leave. “I understand, Taeyong. I’ll play my part if I need to. Is he at least good-looking?”

Taeyong laughs. “Yes, he’s quite handsome.”

“Excuse me, seja-jeonha.” Eunuch Kim bows deeply as he stands in front of you two.

“You can just call me Taeyong, Doyoung. We’ve been over this.”

You know, however, that no matter how many times Taeyong says it, Doyoung could never go against the honorifics.

“Gongju’s presence is requested at the front of the palace. Prince Donghyuck is arriving soon.”

You purse your lips. “I’ll be right there.”

He nods, bowing before stepping away. Taeyong envelopes you into a hug.

He whispers in your ear. “This is what’s best for you, forgive me.”

“You don’t need to be forgiven,” you mumble back, feeling slightly guilty that you’ve made your brother think so.

Once you part, you smile at Chaeyoung, who has been waiting patiently for you.

“Shall we?”

You two make your way to the front steps of the palace, where most of the palace is eagerly waiting to see the prince.

“Jeonha,” you greet your father, occupying the spot next to him. He smiles at you.

“You look lovely today. Excited to meet Donghyuck?”

You offer him your best fake smile. “Of course.”

Soldiers announce Donghyuck’s arrival before the gates of the palace are opened up for him. He comes in riding his horse, stopping in front of the palace steps and dismounting. He’s quick to bow and you’re a little taken out of breath.

Taeyong was right. He’s very handsome.

“Welcome, Prince Donghyuck,” your father shouts for the palace to hear. You can spot your other two brothers, Jeno and Seokmin, murmuring with each other as they eye Donghyuck. “We’re grateful that you have made the long trip to our kingdom.”

Donghyuck is listening to the king’s words yet he hasn’t taken his eyes off of you.

“Yes, I appreciate that jeonha has so graciously allowed me into the palace.”

You stare at him the same way he stares at you, and your father grins happily.

“Eunuch Kim will show you to your temporary quarters.”

Jungwoo is pushed forward by Doyoung, who gives him a stern expression. Jungwoo was new to the palace and Doyoung often needed to take care of him since he was head eunuch.

Donghyuck is escorted off and your eyes follow his figure.

Your father chuckles. “You two will get along just fine.”

—

Contrary to popular belief, Donghyuck hasn’t visited you since his arrival.

You’ve spent days waiting for him in your room, working on your studies and watching your door in case it swings open. You’re disappointed by his lack of interest in you, especially because you can still feel the warmth of his gaze from your first meeting.

You find out later from Jungwoo what he’s been up to.

“Wangja has been having trips with daegun, did he not tell you?”

Your eye twitches. “Donghyuck has been with Mark this entire time?”

“Yes, gongju. They have been eating together in the dining hall. I apologize for not telling you earlier.”

Jesus, was Donghyuck trying to marry Mark?

“It’s fine, Jungwoo. I’ll find them myself.”

He bows and you take off in search of your brother and fiancé. You ask Chaeyoung to stay behind and she takes to arranging your room in the meantime. You find the two figures near the river, and you narrow your eyes.

“Having fun?” You call out, and both of them turn around. Donghyuck bows at the sight of you.

Mark chuckles. “Yes, we were actually just speaking about you. Come join us.”

“No, it’s alright. I’ll leave you two to be acquainted with each other. It’s not like I’m the one marrying him after all.”

Mark rolls his eyes at your tantrum but Donghyuck seems to be thoroughly alarmed at your distress.

“Don’t be so dramatic.”

You, however, are highly offended and turn the other direction. You hear footsteps quickly follow you.

“I apologize, gongju. I did not mean to upset you.”

You sigh at the sound of Donghyuck’s voice. “Why have you not come to see me?” You question in a small voice.

You can hear the smile in his tone as he walks alongside you. “In all honestly, I have never been in the presence of such beauty before. I hope you can understand that I was a little intimidated.”

You cough, slightly embarrassed. “Where did you learn that from? I know Mark couldn’t have taught you that.”

He chuckles. His eyes are once again focused intently on you.

“I’m afraid no one has taught me anything. I was telling the truth, much to your dismay.”

You two walk on the palace grounds as the moonlight illuminates your figures. The servants nearby whisper at the sight of you two together.

“Well, regardless of your fear, I would enjoy if you would take my company. We are going to be married in case you’ve forgotten.”

He grins at the clip in your tone. “I remember quite well. I would love to have dinner with you tomorrow if you desire my company so badly.”

You ignore the smirk playing at his lips.

“Tomorrow shall be acceptable. I hope you will be able to step up in the future, Donghyuck, as I am not content with marrying a man who doesn’t speak to me.”

He laughs. “I apologize for disappointing you.”

You turn to face him as you stop in front of your quarters. His eyes are locked with yours, and he seems intent on staring at you until you grow more and more bashful. You think he’s about to lean in until-

“Ah, there are the two lovebirds!”

You huff at the disruption. Seokmin slides next to you, throwing an arm around your shoulder.

“Has my sister been living up to your expectations, Prince Donghyuck?”

Donghyuck smiles and you can tell he’s a little upset by Seokmin’s arrival. His heavy gaze is still focused on you.

“She’s been exceeding every possible expectation if I’m being truly honest,” he murmurs.

“Well, that’s the first time I’ve heard someone say that.”

You elbow your brother’s side. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be?”

“Nowhere else to be but with my lovely sister and her fiancé!”

You roll your eyes and shove his arm off of you. You step forward to open the doors of your personal area in the palace.

“Well, I’m going to bed.” You turn around once again to face Donghyuck. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

He smiles. “I’ll count the minutes. Sweet dreams, gongju.”

You enter your quarters in time to hear Seokmin say, “Smooth talker, aren’t you?”

You shake your head and smile, closing the doors behind you. You chew on your bottom lip and laugh. Who knew a prince would turn your insides into mush?

You greet the guards awaiting by your bedroom door and settle inside. Chaeyoung has made you your nightly tea, something you drink each night to help you sleep. You often had sporadic nightmares about your mother’s death and it was hard to fall into slumber most days.

As you raise the cup to your lips, the smell wafts through your nose.

It’s the same smell from when your mother was poisoned.

“Guards! Guards!” You call frantically, and they burst into your room, eyes scanning for any intruders.

You drop the cup of tea, watching as it shatters all over your floor. “Gongju!” One of the guards yells, rushing over to you and pulling you away from the scene.

It all happens frantically then — your father and brothers are all brought over when they hear that you’ve almost been poisoned. Jeno holds you as your father commands all of the guards to find the perpetrator.

The only thing you’re able to envision is your mother’s body lying on the floor, completely lifeless before your eyes.

—

“It wasn’t her!”

“How can you be so sure? She’s your closest servant and the only one who would have access to your room during those ungodly hours!”

“It’s not Chaeyoung!”

“Enough!” Your father commands, his voice booming throughout the throne room. You scoff and turn away from Taeyong.

He’s convinced that Chaeyoung was the one who put the poison in your drink, but you would never believe that she would bring harm into your life. You trusted her with every fiber in your being.

The rest of your brothers are oddly silent, and you presume that they agree with Taeyong. Your father is stricken by grief at the idea of losing one of his daughters like he lost his wife. His judgment is clouded, much like it was seventeen years ago.

“Please jeonha,” you beg him. All five of you are facing the throne and you almost sink to your knees. “Please do not allow this person to get away again.”

Your father glances at you solemnly.

“It has to be him,” Jeno speaks up. All of your eyes dart over to him. He stands proudly, eyes locked on your father. “Lee Donghyuck just arrived and our sister was almost poisoned. This cannot be a coincidence.”

Mark furrows his eyebrows. “It’s not him! I’ve been spending the past few days getting to know him.”

“He’s spent the past few days deceiving you,” Seokmin hisses at his younger brother. “I agree with Jeno. I was just outside of gongju’s quarters with him when she almost consumed the poison. It is too suspicious for us to not investigate, jeonha.”

“He wouldn’t,” you frown, coming to Donghyuck’s defense. You had only known him for a matter of days but you knew, deep down, that he would never try to maliciously hurt you.

“You trust too easily,” Jeno scolds. He turns his attention back to the man sitting on the throne. “I think we should launch a full investigation on both Lee Donghyuck and Park Chaeyoung.”

“It’s not them!” Your exclaim in horror, trying your best to undo your brothers’ words. “Please, jeonha! Please don’t convict the wrong murderer!”

You try your best to plead with your father, but he’s made up his mind.

“Jeno and Seokmin, I want you to conduct the investigation immediately. Find out who did it.”

You drop to your knees, sobbing in frustration at your father’s ignorance.

—

It’s late at night when you sneak into the palace prison.

You’ve managed to climb out of your window, hidden beneath one of your dark ensembles. Mark has been helping you unlike the rest of your family, distracting the guards long enough for you to enter the prison grounds.

You scramble against the cell door when you catch sight of Chaeyoung. She looks like she’s in incredibly poor shape — her face is completely drained of color and her body is limp against the wall.

“Chaeyoung!” You whisper, awaking her from her sleep. Her eyes widen at the sight of you, rapidly getting up and crawling to the door.

“Gongju, I did not do it, I swear-“

“I know you didn’t, Chaeyoung,” you assure her. She relaxes at your words. “I’m going to find out who did. Can you tell me what happened when you brought the tea into my room?”

“I just did my normal routine,” she explains breathily. “I brought the tea to your room, left a cup out for you, and went back to my own quarters. It’s the same thing I do every night. I didn’t notice anyone unusual when I left.”

“And the guards? What about them?”

“They were in their usual positions, standing beside the door and waiting for you to return from your walk with Donghyuck. That’s all I can remember, I swear.”

You nod. “Don’t worry, okay? I’m going to get you out of here. Just tell Jeno and Seokmin exactly what you told me.”

You hear a commotion outside and your body stiffens. You can hear Mark’s voice trying to distract the guards and you quickly stand.

“I’ll come back to see you again, okay? Don’t worry.”

Just as you’re about to exit the prison, you hear another voice calling out to you.

“Not even going to acknowledge your loving fiancé?”

You pause. Mark is slowly making progress outside, choosing his method of distraction as telling the guards a story about how he once ran straight into a wall.

When you turn, you see Donghyuck in his own cell, knees bent to his chest as he leans against the cold wall. You feel guilty that he’s put in this place but you’re reminded of what your brothers said — you barely know this man. For all you knew, his true intentions coming here were never to marry you.

“Did you?”

There’s a pause. He laughs. “Do you think I did?”

“I’m not in the mood to decipher your encrypted messages.”

“Gongju, when I confessed to you that night, I truly meant it. I’ve never been with a woman before and seeing such a perfect one become my fiancé took me by surprise. I thought we had a mutual understanding of one another.”

“We barely know each other,” you reply under your breath.

“But you felt it, didn’t you? You felt that connection between us. The astronomers say that when the timing is right and the stars align, soulmates find each other.”

You’ve heard the tale before. Your mother used to tell it to you when you were younger. Astronomers used to tell her that when there was a falling star, soulmates would align for each other. Your mother always liked to say the story of how you were born under a fallen star, your soulmate being brought to you by the universe. You believed her stories when you were younger but as you grew up without a mother and never feeling her warmth again, you could no longer believe in such tales.

“Do you think that’s what we are? Soulmates?”

He stares at you again, his eyes acting like dark hooks in your soul. He doesn’t get a chance to respond before the guards burst in through the door, and you can distinctly hear Mark shouting from a distance.

“I’m sorry, gongju, but you must be escorted back to your quarters. You are not allowed to see the prisoners.”

You glance at Donghyuck, who for the first time, isn’t looking at you. He’s merely staring at the floor.

“Very well then. Please escort me.”

As you trek back to your room, you question your head guard, Johnny. “Did you see anyone enter my room that night?” He immediately shakes his head.

“No one unusual, gongju. It was a very normal night, but I do not believe that Chaeyoung would bring something so vile into your place of comfort. I hope I’m allowed to speak on these matters.”

“You’re more than allowed, Johnny,” you guarantee him. “Thank you for being honest with me.”

“Of course.”

Before Johnny brings you inside, you glance up at the night sky. There are two stars huddled together, perfectly placed in the darkness.

Was Donghyuck your soulmate?

—

It’s only a day later when Moon Taeil arrives on palace grounds in search of his imprisoned brother. He’s clearly irate, dismounting from his horse and grabbing the nearest guard.

“Show me where he is!”

“Seja-jeonha!” You cry out, rushing over to him and pulling the guards away from him. He turns his attention to you.

“Is this how you treat my brother after I sent him to marry you? Excuse my manners, gongju, but I did not bring Donghyuck here for him to be put to death.”

“He won’t be! Please, seja-jeonha, let’s speak privately,” you plead. He finally comes to his senses, gazing around to see servants and eunuchs watching the scene unfold. He straightens his outfit and nods.

“Fine. Show me the way.”

You accompany Taeil to a nearby building, away from the prying eyes of the palace. You know you don’t have much time to speak before your father finds out of his presence and instructs a formal meeting in the throne room.

“My brothers suspected Donghyuck because of poor timing but I know he has not committed any crime. I need you to help me prove that he’s innocent.”

Taeil scoffs at your request. “What kind of game are you running around this kingdom?”

“Please, seja-jeonha. I don’t want Donghyuck to be convicted either.”

“Because you’re soulmates?”

You freeze. “How do you know that?”

“You two were born a month apart and on each of your birthdays, a fallen star was spotted in the sky. Our astronomers noticed it when they first came to visit your palace.”

“Wait, Yuta was your astronomer?”

Taeil chuckles. “Yes, he was. His father used to document star patterns and when Yuta visited and learned of your birth date, he informed Donghyuck immediately.” Taeil smiles at the thought of his younger brother. “Why do you think we arranged a marriage for you two so quickly?”

Your head is spinning. Donghyuck has known this entire time that you two were soulmates, and that’s the reason Taeil pushed the marriage between you two. The gravity of the situation dawns on you, especially now that your soulmate rests behind the bars of the palace prison.

You grab Taeil by the shoulders. “Tell jeonha immediately. He believes in this — he believes he and my mother were soulmates. He will spare Donghyuck if you tell him.”

The doors to the building swing open and Eunuch Kim takes a deep bow in recognition. “I apologize for interrupting, seja-jeonha, but jeonha is requesting your presence.”

Taeil gives you another look before following Doyoung back outside. It isn’t long until Mark finds you, his arms embracing you into a hug when he sees your stricken expression.

“What is it? What happened? Is Taeil threatening a war?”

You shake your head and bury yourself into his shoulder. He holds you steady.

“Donghyuck is my soulmate.”

You think Mark would be deep in thought or surprised by what you revealed, but he simply giggles.

“He mentioned that.”

You pull away and frown. “What are you talking about?”

“When we were by the river, he said you were his soulmate and that he was destined to be with you. I thought he was just trying to impress me since I’m your brother. Now that I think about it, maybe it wasn’t a joke,” he mumbles, scratching the back of his head.

You almost see red. You tackle Mark to the ground and he screeches. Some of the servants file in, attracted by the noise.

“You dumbass! You let me throw my soulmate in jail!”

“I didn’t know, I didn’t know!” Mark shouts, shielding his face as you slam your palms down on his skin.

Jungwoo rushes in, pushing the servants away and clambering over to the two of you.

“Gongju, daegun! Please don’t fight!”

You huff, separating from your brother and standing up. You straighten your chima and stare down at him with fire in your eyes.

One of your ladies ends up pulling you away while Jungwoo helps Mark off of the floor.

Seojeong, who has been your main attending lady since the accusation against Chaeyoung, looks at you worriedly as you storm off. She follows behind you along with the rest of your attending ladies.

“Gongju, are you alright?”

“I need you to do something for me, Seojeong,” you murmur as the palace prison comes into view. There are still ten guards blocking the entrance and you need to talk to Donghyuck before your father makes a decision about his fate. You fear that your father will feel guilty for imprisoning Donghyuck and he’ll send him back with Taeil.

“I’ll do anything,” she promises.

You turn her body so that she’s staring directly at Johnny. “Do you see him?” When she nods, you proceed with your plan. “I need you to go up to him and tell him that jeonha instructs for all of the guards to be in the throne room.”

She stutters at your request. “But jeonha never said-“

“I know jeonha never said. Tell Johnny anyways.”

You give her a little push forwards, ignoring the timid look on her face. You quickly dismiss the rest of your ladies and hide behind a nearby corner, peeking out to see Seojeong approach Johnny anxiously. You hear her small voice fill the air.

“J-Jeonha requests for t-the guards to be in the throne r-room,” she says, eyes glancing down at her feet.

Johnny raises an eyebrow. “Our orders are to stay here until a verdict is made.”

“Um,” she mumbles, trying to think of what to say next.

“Come on, Seojeong,” you hiss under your breath. You can see her gathering enough courage before she speaks, eyes ablaze.

“Don’t you understand? You have new orders! Hurry before jeonha gets angry at your blatant disrespect!”

That gets Johnny’s attention. He grabs his right-hand man, Jaehyun, and all of the guards scramble frantically towards the throne room. You smile at Seojeong’s work and once all of the guards have left, she gives you the okay.

You rush over and hold her hand. “You’re a lifesaver, Seojeong.” She beams at your compliment. “Keep an eye out for me, okay?”

She nods and you enter the prison building, descending down the concrete steps. You gasp when you see Donghyuck in his cell, body slumped over against the wall.

You fall to your knees and struggle to open the door. He wakes when he hears the commotion. His mouth slowly turns upwards when he sees you. You finally manage to throw the door open, swinging it to the side as you crawl over to him. You cup his face in your hands and he laughs.

“Excited to see me?”

You don’t waste a single second, pressing your lips to his. His hands fly down to your waist, pulling you in closer. He groans when you straddle his hips.

He pulls away, a little breathless. “Is she asleep?”

“Who?”

“Chaeyoung,” he murmurs, pushing his fingers through your hair. “Is she asleep?”

“I-I don’t know. I didn’t check on her.”

He calls out Chaeyoung’s name and when he gets nothing but silence, he pushes your body onto the floor. You gasp when he attaches his mouth on your neck, licking and sucking at the flesh.

“D-Donghyuck, we shouldn’t. We’re not married yet-“

“We’re soulmates,” he whispers against your skin. “Isn’t that enough?”

You moan when he reaches underneath your clothing to run a finger over your slit. You feel dirty on this prison floor, letting Donghyuck take you the way he wants. He brings his lips to yours again and you cry out when his tongue enters your mouth. He frantically undresses you and you’re embarrassed when he strips you down until you’re in your sokgot.

“Don’t be shy,” he speaks softly. “I’ll take care of you.”

You whimper when he fully rids you of your clothing. He sits up to undress himself and your mouth waters as he exposes himself to you. He discards the rest, throwing it to the side and leaning back down to kiss you. His hand cups your breast and your body twitches when he flicks his finger over your nipple.

“Such a good girl,” he praises you.

You gasp when his cock prods at your entrance. Your eyes dart down and they widen at the sight of him. He’s massive, and you’re unsure if he’s going to fit inside of you.

“Wangja, um, I don’t think-“

He snickers at your reaction. “Don’t think you can take it, baby? Don’t think you can take my big cock?”

You groan. “N-No, I can take it.”

“Good girl,” he smiles. He grabs his base and runs his tip over your folds. You moan at the feeling. 

Both of your eyes widen when you hear voices outside, and Donghyuck pauses.

“Seojeong, I’m not sure what you mistake us for, but we do not enjoy being treated as fools.”

“Fuck, baby, we have to be quick. Can’t have anyone seeing their gongju acting like a whore,” he hisses.

You whine. “Hurry, Donghyuck.”

“I’m here, I’m here,” he assures before pushing his cock inside of your weeping pussy. You cry out at the burn, tears brimming at your eyelids.

He releases a long groan when he bottoms out and you close your eyes, trying to adjust to his length. You can faintly hear Seojeong’s voice.

“I thought jeonha needed you! I didn’t know, Johnny, really-“

“You good, baby?” Donghyuck speaks lowly to you, brushing stray hairs away from your face so he can properly look at you. When you don’t respond, he rubs your hip gently. “Baby, tell me how you’re feeling.”

Your eyes flutter open when the pain begins to subside. “Good, good,” you blubber incoherently. You reach out for him and he intertwines your hands. “Hurry.”

He starts thrusting into you and you whimper. He leans down to press a kiss to your lips.

“So dirty,” he hums. “What would the palace think of their graceful gongju getting railed in the filthy prison cells? Can’t wait until you have our baby, then everyone’s going to know how much you like to get fucked.”

“Want to show them,” you murmur, eyes rolling back as his thick cock abuses your small pussy. “Want to tell them I’m your whore.”

“Yeah? You’re just my filthy whore, aren’t you?”

“Yes, yes, I’m all yours, wangja.”

You feel the pleasure building inside of your tummy, feeling every ridge and vein of his cock as he pounds into you. You swear he’s going to split you in half.

Seojeong is doing her best to distract Johnny outside.

“I need to tell you a story!”

Johnny is far from amused. “I have to check on the prisoners, Miss Seojeong-“

“It’s about the princess!”

Jaehyun sighs. “Seojeong, we don’t have time for a story-“

“But listen!” She exclaims, the gears in her brain turning. There’s a long beat of silence. “Um-“

Johnny rolls his eyes, entering the prison building and moving down the steps. He briefly pauses when he hears your moan.

“Wangja, please, please, please!”

Jaehyun thinks that you’re in danger and runs past Johnny, stopping in his tracks when he sees you and Donghyuck. The prison cell door is wide open, fully exposing the both of your figures as Donghyuck plows into you. Jaehyun immediately diverts his eyes when he catches a glimpse of your breasts.

He hurriedly pushes the men away from the sight, although none of them are able to get a peek.

“Move back! Move back!” Jaehyun orders. The guards scramble on the steps as Jaehyun forcefully moves them.

You wail when your orgasm hits, stars exploding in your vision. Donghyuck soon empties inside of you, painting your walls with his cum.

You’re both left panting and he kisses you gently, hand cupping the side of your face.

“Got to explain to your guards what you were doing.”

You laugh. “I was getting fucked. What is there to explain?”

He growls. “Dirty mouth on you, gongju.”

“Only for my wangja.”

—

Jaehyun can’t look at you in the eye when you exit the prison doors. Johnny has an idea of what happened down there, but he doesn’t want to even picture the idea of you doing such a lewd act.

They both escort you back to your dwelling after Johnny gives you a light scolding for breaking the rules again. When you arrive at your bedroom doors, you turn around and offer them a small smile.

“Sorry.”

No other words need to be said, and the redness of Jaehyun’s ears say enough.

Johnny coughs. “Jeonha spoke with Taeil earlier today and Donghyuck will be released tomorrow. I thought you would like to know.”

You cough. “Um yes, that’s good to know. Thank you, Johnny.”

You walk into your bedroom and shut the doors, still feeling embarrassed that your guards caught you in such an intimate position. You turn around, frowning when you see that you have company.

“Seokmin? What are you doing here so late?”

Your brother smiles at you, sitting down at the small table near your bed and gesturing for you to join him.

“I thought we could have a talk.”

You shrug, wincing as you sit across from him. Your legs still feel like jelly after Donghyuck gave you a good fucking.

Seokmin pours a cup of tea for you and puts it in front of you. He gives you that friendly grin of his.

“What have you been up to all day? I heard you almost killed Mark.”

You roll your eyes. “He’s being dramatic. I barely scratched him.”

He chuckles at your dismissive nature. He eyes the cup in front of you and gives it a small push.

“Drink up. I know you like to have tea before bed.”

“Thank you,” you murmur, taking the cup in your hands.

Seokmin starts speaking about how Jeno lost in combat today and you hum, raising the tea to your lips. You pause when you smell it.

The poison — you could smell it from miles away.

You pretend to drink while you watch your brother. There’s no way it’s Seokmin, your loving and devoted brother who used to play hide and seek with you when you were feeling upset. The brother who protected you when the palace was invaded by rebels. The brother who cared for you so deeply.

But you didn’t have time to think. Only time to act.

You slam the cup down and call out for Johnny. Seokmin lunges across the table at you and you release a bloodcurdling scream.

Johnny and Jaehyun storm inside and Johnny pushes Seokmin off of you. Jaehyun pulls you aside, checking for any bruises on your body.

“Stupid bitch! Why can’t you just drink your fucking tea-“

“Daegun, daegun!” Johnny bellows, trying to get a hold of your brother.

You’re in a state of shock, attempting to register the sight before you. Your brother just tried to poison you.

Jaehyun gets you on your feet and pulls you away from the scene. Soon enough, the palace hears Seokmin’s screams and Taeyong is the first to rush to your aid.

“What happened? Is that Seokmin?”

“Daegun tried to poison gongju,” Jaehyun explains. You’re still rooted in place, staring at your quarters as multiple guards flood inside.

“What?”

Mark is the second to arrive but before he can ask what’s wrong, Seokmin is dragged out of the building, screaming and thrashing under Johnny’s hold.

“You’re traitors! All of you!”

You watch as your brother is taken away into the same prison where your fiancé sleeps soundly.

—

You swear you can hear crickets chirping. You and your siblings have been called into your father’s bedroom after Seokmin’s arrest. The room is eerily silent for no one knows exactly what to say.

Taeyong clears his throat. He’s been crying, and you know this hurts him more than you can imagine.

“Why? Why would he try to hurt his sister?”

Your father sighs. He’s been pacing back and forth, struggling at what to say. You need an explanation from him as you cannot accept that Seokmin grew to hate you overnight. It wasn’t in his nature to ever accept that form of hatred.

“Jeonha, please,” Mark begs, on the verge of tears. “Why has he done this?”

“We need an explanation,” Jeno adds.

Your father finally glances at all of you, troubled by the grief in your expressions. You look exactly as you did when your mother passed.

“Seokmin is not your mother’s child,” he explains. All four of your heads dart up. “He- he was conceived through a concubine, but your mother was gracious enough to raise him as her own. We’ve accepted it since then. Seokmin was raised no differently than the rest of you, and we loved him just the same.”

You blink, rubbing at your temples to try and process this information.

“I’m sorry,” he apologizes, but the damage is done. “I never wanted to tell him because I feared this would happen, but I guess he found out somehow.”

Something clicks in your memory.

“Where is his mother?”

He exhales, running a hand down his face exasperatedly. “She was a servant here in the palace, but she left shortly after your mother passed away. She didn’t want anything to do with raising Seokmin.”

Your mind starts putting the pieces together. “She was a servant — a servant who had access to mother’s residence?”

Taeyong’s eyes move to you, catching what you’re implying. You step forward and look at your father dead in the eye.

“Don’t you see, jeonha? She was the one who poisoned mother. She was the one who had access to her room, the one who brought her tea every night. She’s the reason why Seokmin tried to hurt me, she must’ve brainwashed him into believing that we no longer care for him.”

Your father stares at you, taking in all of the information you’re telling him.

“But Seokmin knows,” Jeno interrupts. “He knows we care for him. I refuse to believe this! He was probably put up to it by that nasty Lee Donghyuck!”

“Hey!” You swivel around, growling at your brother. “Do not speak that way about him.”

Jeno scoffs. “What? Have you fallen for him?”

“They’re soulmates,” your father explains.

“Come on. Tell me you don’t believe in that!”

“Lee Jeno, I swear-“

Mark quickly holds you back before you charge at your brother.

“Listen,” your father’s voice booms throughout the room. You all freeze. “I know you are all upset by what Seokmin has done, but we are going to do our best to reverse whatever his birth mother has done to him. I’ll have the guards and soldiers search for her so we can bring your mother justice. In the meantime, I want you all to remember that we are a family. You grew up together and only we know the faults of our family.”

You eye Jeno and he narrows his gaze at you.

“You all are siblings, blood related or not. Do you understand?”

“Yes, jeonha.”

—

Seokmin is released from his confines a week later.

He cries when he sees you, enveloping you into his arms and sobbing into your shoulder. He apologizes profusely for his actions, stating that he would never try to bring harm to you again.

For five days, you all spend time together as siblings in an effort to turn Seokmin back into his normal self. You hold no grudges against your brother, loving him with all of your heart despite his brief wrongdoings.

Seokmin’s birth mother is arrested and taken into the palace, where she awaits your father’s verdict. You have a feeling about what future lies before her, but you would rather not speak of it out loud.

Donghyuck is released with Chaeyoung shortly after the incident. You embrace him fully when he returns and Chaeyoung becomes your main attending lady again.

You and Donghyuck are arranged to be married tomorrow. Taeil is still a little hesitant on having his brother live in a place that treated him so cruelly, but Donghyuck finds a way to convince him that he’s safe. Taeyong says that Taeil’s only fine with it because he sees the way Donghyuck dotes on you. He’s attending the wedding tomorrow before he has to return back to his own kingdom.

Donghyuck is supposed to separate from you until the day of the wedding, but he’s been sneaking into your room every night, pounding you into the pillow until you cry for mercy.

It was more difficult for him to sneak out tonight as your brothers wanted to officially welcome him into the family with a special party. He managed to get away when Jeno stands on the table, trying to dance but failing miserably.

He currently has your legs bent to your chest, thrusting deep into your weeping pussy.

“Such a tight pussy,” he hisses down at you, wiping the tears falling down your face. “Made for my fat cock, aren’t you?”

You respond incoherently, drunk on the feeling of him. He reaches down to rub at your clit and you sob louder, muscles aching.

“Good thing we’re getting married tomorrow, baby. Would be too suspicious if you got pregnant so fast, wouldn’t it be?” He questions, smirking at your loss for words. “Is my gongju fucked dumb? Can’t remember how to talk, baby?”

“F-Feels so g-good,” you blubber. “You feel s-so good i-inside me.”

“Yeah?” He laughs, plowing into your pussy faster. “Baby likes when my cock stretches her small pussy? I wonder how your brothers would feel about me if they knew I dump my cum into their sister every single night. Jeno would probably hate me even more.”

“G-gonna cum, gonna cum!” You screech, hands flailing. He pins your arms down and snarls.

“Cum all over my cock. Show me how much you want your wangja.”

You cream his cock and your back arches in ecstasy, moaning loudly at the pleasure overtaking your body. Donghyuck shoots his cum inside your womb, hissing as he empties himself.

He collapses next to you and you whimper when his cock leaves your hole. He brings you into his arms and kisses the top of your head.

“Can’t wait to be married to you.”

You laugh, your chest still rising from your heavy breathing. “If you had only waited 24 hours, we would already be.”

He chuckles. “Where’s the fun in that?”

You bask in the silence as his cum starts to spill out of you.

“I think I’m pregnant.”

“Good.”

He attaches his mouth to yours and you moan when his fingers part your folds. He lines himself up to your entrance once again.

“Let’s make sure.”

And so Donghyuck fucks you until the sun rises, marking the long awaited wedding day with your soulmate.

You thank the heavens for giving you your falling star.

[ichitora]

「 New born vow 」

:: Kazutora swears another promise after having a realization as a birthday gift.

» with Tokyo Manji Gang

《Content Warning - Canon divergent - AU, third POV, Comfort, just characters interacting with each other, platonic relationship, tr dvd booklet 1 minor spoilers》

【 notes - Again, Happy birthday to my one and only, Kazutora! 】

“𝘒𝘢𝘻𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘢!”

The lad hit the breaks immediately. He and his companion almost flew out of the car by how abrupt it was. Kazutora covered his mouth as he stared at what's in front of him with expanded eyes. He glanced to his right to see Chifuyu glaring at him. “What the fuck, Kazutora?! We almost just hit another car!”

“’m sorry!” Kazutora chuckled lightly. He took a deep breath, pushing on again to the road as if nothing happened.

“Did you see something strange again?”

Kazutora shook his head. He continued driving, eyes gazing at the rearview mirror of the black vehicle he was maneuvering. He just saw two kids exchange punches. If he was not mistaken, he would assume that one of them was not experienced in fighting by the way he attacked, let alone his clothing screaming as if he is coming from an average family.

How long has it been? A month or two? Kazutora was no longer certain how long it had been ever since he got released with Chifuyu waiting for him. It was all fresh, everything seemed new to his eyes that he couldn't help observing as much as he could. It was until he saw those children on the sidewalk, just near a newly opened arcade. It was a scene that shallowly brought entertainment to him, given that he felt like a part of his past just replayed without any warning.

“𝘏𝘦𝘺!” 𝘒𝘢𝘻𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘵, 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

“𝘌𝘩? 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨~” 𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥.

“𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥!”

𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.

“𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦!” 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦.

“Where are we headed to again?” Kazutora inquired slowing down over a traffic light that speaks yellow.

“Takemichi’s.”

“Oh.” Kazutora simply raised his eyebrows from the answer. It’s been a long time as well since he last saw that lad. Just remembering his name brings a light smile to his face. That blond eye opener who mourns for everyone. “Why?”

“I just have something to take from him.” Chifuyu’s tone was serious, just as how his eyes are glued on the road as if he manipulates the wheels they’re using.

Kazutora didn’t bother asking anymore and proceeded, allowing the other man to guide his directions. This will be the time where he will be seeing someone else he knew aside from Chifuyu— and if he’s going to be honest with himself, he doesn’t know if he’s ready to see him, rather if he’s ready to be seen by people who were linked to him right from the very beginning.

His hands are sweating from the thought.

“Stay here for a while,” said Chifuyu as soon as they halted. Kazutora’s doe eyes shone shapes of confusion but dared not to ask why. It must be important that he has yet to know what is it about. He only laid back on his seat, fidgeting with the hem of his clothes and scanning the building before him. It was only a simple two-floored house painted in white. Nothing too interesting, to him at least. As much as possible he wouldn’t want to do anything that would irk Chifuyu, not when he has been showing him kindness the moment he was born to this world once again.

A knock almost startled him, his innocent face even more puzzled to see Chifuyu through the tinted window, trying to see him inside.

“Let’s go.” He beamed a little. Kazutora followed like a puppy, making the car door click before leaving. The vibe in the place was pleasing, there then he remembered Takemichi. Of course, it’s him. It seemed like everywhere Takemichi goes and touches cleanses the impurities that live within, giving it a memento of peace.

I wonder how he is right now.

He almost bumped at Chifuyu’s figure due to his musings, not noticing him stopping by another door made with wood. The raven head glanced at him, gesturing to him to open the door.

“What?”

“Open the door.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why? Just open it.” Chifuyu chuckled. Weird.

Kazutora could only crease his forehead. He then twisted the knob, pushing it open—

He froze.

There was a pair of eyes, and then another, and more—

All eyes are on him.

Kazutora’s certain his heart dropped its beat.

Chifuyu smirked, walking past him. “Come on in, Kazutora-kun.”

“Oi, Kazutora.” He couldn’t believe his ears. The deep voice simply came from a man in a simple plain blue shirt and gray shorts, relaxing on one of the seats. “It’s been a while.”

Wait.

His brain cells buffered upon processing what’s before him.

There in front of him was a backyard behind Takemichi’s place, where the Tokyo Manji Gang members waited for him, just in their casual outfits. Draken, now with black hair, sits with someone who had a scar on his face while Mitsuya was on the side, fanning the steak he’s grilling together with a taller lad with blue hair. Pah chin was drinking with another guy he isn’t much familiar with, and then the rest were chit chatting matters that didn't register in his ears.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴... 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?

“... Kazutora-kun?” The called lad sharply glanced back, seeing Takemichi who also possessed dark-colored hair, now resting naturally on his head. He smiled widely at him, eyes concaving. “Finally, you’re here!”

This is overwhelming Kazutora. It makes him want to explode. He only expected to meet him and now there he acts like a statue in front of everyone else. Takemichi tilted his head. “Happy birthday! I’m sorry this is all we could do for ya.”

The words and letters are in chaos inside Kazutora, he tries to trawl the words to explain what’s going on, only to end up fruitless. Takemichi escorted him to Draken, now beside Chifuyu who’s in his work clothes. The twigs and branches inside a circle formed with rocks at the center caught Kazutora’s eyes as they reached their short destination.

Draken eyed his companion, introducing him to Kazutora. “He’s Seishu. Seishu, he’s Kazutora.”

They nodded at each other without a word. Kazutora simply is afraid that he’d end up stuttering since the shock still hasn’t calmed down in his system. His eyes scrutinized Draken’s face. He still couldn’t believe it— his friend, just a meter away from him.

“The fuck are you staring at?” Draken questioned, breaking Kazutora’s train of thoughts. He lets out a silent laugh. “You looked like you’re seeing ghosts.”

“Let’s let him recover,” Chifuyu said, crossing his arms. “I’ll introduce him to everyone else later.”

“How has it been, Kazutora-kun? I’m happy to see you again.” Takemichi entered, drinking a glass of juice, “Chifuyu told us that today’s your birthday so we tried setting this up so that it can also cater to everyone.”

Oh.

𝘖𝘩.

It’s his birthday today. He nearly forgot.

Kazutora had been spending his years in a four-wall cell on his own that he forgot about celebrating days already.

“You... you didn’t have to do this.”

“Oh, come on, it’s gonna be your birthday after getting released,” Draken responded. “A little gathering won’t hurt.”

The rest of the time was spent trying to catch up with each other. Kazutora nearly bit his tongue on each unfamiliar person being introduced to him by Chifuyu as they sauntered. There were few exchanges of words, eating together and finally gathering in front of a bonfire as soon as the moon decided to join their party. Silence never landed on them as there will be one murmur after another, teasing and shoulder lifting laughter.

It was as if they didn’t have any problem at all concerning themselves.

Kazutora watched the blaze dancing in front of them, eyes penetrating the brightest color it emits.

“𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘒𝘢𝘻𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘢,” 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮����𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧. “𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘷𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦.”

𝘒𝘢𝘻𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘢’𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘴, 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

“𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦. 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘳𝘦...” 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘒𝘢𝘻𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘢. “𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴.”

“... 𝘉𝘢𝘫𝘪...”

Kazutora’s eyes are threatening him with some tears the longer he stares at it.

His very first birthday where he made his first genuine friend who wouldn’t befriend him for any benefit. His best birthday that engraves in his head that assured him that he’s no longer alone.

Baji Keisuke.

“...Thank you.” He mumbled mindlessly at the fire, audible to the people close to him.

“Don’t be.” Draken patted his back. “Remember? You’re always a part of Toman.”

On his other side, Mitsuya spoke with his eyes closed, a grin plastered on his face. “You’ve repented and paid whatever you have done in the past. You deserve to move on and start again, Kazutora.”

“Baji-kun would tell you the same for sure.” Takemichi butted in.

There he can’t hold it.

Kazutora bit his lips as his tears raced down his cheeks. He couldn’t control it. He couldn’t control the way his heart was jumping in both joy and longingness. He’s having a hard time breathing.

In this fire, he’s surrounded by people he used to loathe. People are here to be with him, giving him a warm welcome after the cage finally opened for him to go. The weights on his shoulders remained, but now that he’s here, it was as if he was being told by the universe that it’s okay. Oh god, if this is a dream, he wishes not to wake up anymore.

But thank goodness, it wasn’t.

It’s real.

He’s not alone.

Baji isn’t the only strength he can rely on.

“If 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 here...” Draken paused, eyes also praying some wishes over the fire. “He’d absolutely wish you the best.”

Ah, right.

They didn’t have to know who he is pertaining to. After all, he’s the only person who isn’t present— where little did they know that as they think of him, there he stands on one of the rooftops among the towers of Shibuya, gazing at the city lights with darkened circles under his deep eyes. The wind plays with his white dyed hair, allowing to give emphasis towards the iconic tattoo on his nape.

Kazutora heaved a sigh. He highly hoped for him to be alright wherever he may be as well... Even if he knew he wasn't.

Perhaps his day wouldn’t be complete without the yearning emotions knocking on his chest.

But today is different.

The way his sandy-colored eyes look at the enthusiastic fire also became different. He communicated with it as it said, 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘒𝘢𝘻𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘢.

There he makes his second vow to it, that one way or another he’d stick with them, that he has more friends who neither wouldn’t be biased to his past sins nor take advantage of him.

That he is Kazutora Hanemiya,

Born on the 16th of September. And from this day onwards, he will take a step forward towards living a better life.

[lykegenia]

Teen And Up Audiences F/M, Gen DOTA: Dragon's Blood (Cartoon) Davion/Mirana, Mirana & Luna, Davion & Slyrak Post-Season One, Introspection, Angst, Late Night Conversations, Uneasy Allies

--

With the fall of night, the sounds around the small hut faded, the groans of the injured overtaken by sleep and the snores of the healer coming from the loft room above. Crickets whirred and an owl shrieked as moonlight poured its way through the small windows onto the baked clay floor, the air thick with the scent of the herbs drying in the rafters, masking the stench of battle, but poorly. Mirana sat in the shadow furthest from the door with her arms pulled around her knees, as if she were a child hoping to hide from the world. Amazing, really, how little she had changed from the scared young girl who staggered into the border of the Nightsilver Woods so long ago, looking for refuge and purpose both. And now…

Beside her on a straw pallet, Luna slept. She had succumbed to the draught the healer poured past her lips once the worst of her injuries were cleaned and stitched, the better to wait for time to do its work, and since the buzz of Mirana’s thoughts kept her restless, she kept watch as well. There wasn’t much else she could do. She had hoped to return peace to the world beyond the Woods, and instead she was met with ruin. She couldn’t feel the Goddess. The lack was not like a power withheld but like a power no longer there, a well run dry. When she had tried to call on it and found nothing in answer, it had terrified her.

And things had gone wrong so quickly. The hatred written in the faces of the elves who surrounded them, the black gleam of blood in the firelight, the screams – the blame for all of it could be laid at her feet. First she had lost the lotuses, and then she had trusted the word of the man the Oracle rightly called a devil.

Her fingers curled tighter about her arms, digging into her flesh. He had wanted this blood. Or perhaps, like the truce he brokered between her and Fymryn, the destruction of the Dark Moon Order was only a means to some other end.

Less than a hundred of Selemene’s soldiers had made it out of Coedwig, most of them carrying injuries. More had died on the road. Only a stroke of luck had let them find this refuge, though it would not be one for long; of all the stories of the Coriel’tauvi it was their lack of mercy that ran through them like a river, and any good wolf will follow a trail of blood. They would have to leave before it caught up with them.

As her thoughts wandered, the light slowly turned through the room. After days of travel her clothes sat stiff against her skin, itchy and sour-smelling, her hair tied back from her face by a ragged strip of cloth to keep it from dipping into the blood like a brush into a paint pot. How strange to think war had once been expected of her. She had been tutored in strategy and the management of troops, had been told it was her destiny, until that life had been taken from her. Perhaps destiny was truly a beast that never left off its stalking. It only waited for an opportunity.

A groan of pain tore her from her thoughts, drawing her attention to the patch of darkness where Luna stirred, coughing as she tried to sit up.

“Lie still,” she ordered gently, laying a hand on the captain’s shoulder. “We only just stopped your bleeding.”

“Where am I?”

Mirana paused as she uncorked the waterskin at her belt. “Safe, for now. Drink.”

“The soldiers –” The captain tried to lift herself up again, and even in the darkness Mirana saw the flinch as the movement pulled at the wounds.

“Those that made it,” she said. “They’re recovering, and once you’re rested they’ll be ready to continue on towards home. There’s been no word from the other battalions.”

“Then whatever has blocked the Goddess’ power must be affecting them as well. Have we heard nothing from Her?”

“Nothing.”

For a moment, Mirana allowed herself to be distracted helping Luna find a comfortable position against the wall so she could drink without straining her injuries, but a frown knotted her brows nonetheless. Every hour without Selemene’s guidance dwindled any hopes for peace with the Enclaves. The sooner they made it back to the Nightsilver Woods to find out what had happened, the better.

When she brought her gaze once more to Luna’s, the captain had turned away, instead watching the soft rise and fall of Sagan’s white flanks where he slept curled up in the doorway.

“I’m sorry about Nova.”

Luna’s expression twisted into a sneer. “We can mourn our dead later, if we survive.” But the tension bled out of her, and her head fell back against the wooden wall with a faint thud. “What happened? The elf who cut me down, she moved like a shadow.”

Mirana sighed. “She’s the one who stole the lotuses.”

“Then I’ll see her head on a spike for all the trouble she’s caused.”

“What good will that do?” she asked, even as part of her wished to go back to the simplicity of knowing which side to choose. “The Coriel’tauvi attacked us out of that same need for vengeance and look where it got us. Even if you were fit, you likely wouldn’t find her, and you are needed elsewhere. Would you abandon our Goddess for that?”

“Of course not, but –” The captain groaned, her hand rising to cover her eyes. “I was ready to end it. I would have gone in peace.”

“I know.”

Silence fell between them, more deeply than before, and the noise of crickets crowded into the space left behind.

“It doesn’t explain how we escaped,” Luna said at last. “We were surrounded.”

Mirana’s heart squeezed. “It was…”

She had been trying not to think about Davion. Her last sight of him above the battlefield, winged and scaled and roaring, still made her stomach roil all these days later. He should have left. She knew why he came back – it compounded her failure. Worse than that sight of him, however, was the creeping fear that he had fallen. If Slyrak had been loosed they would have seen the flames, and surely if he had been able, he would have followed them, to see she was alright –

“Princess?”

She tried for a reassuring smile. “Sometimes you just get lucky. You should sleep, I’ll wake you in the morning.”

With one last calculating look, the captain acquiesced, shuffling back down under the meagre blanket and into the healing slumber that would take her until dawn. It left Mirana in the whirl of her own thoughts – her failures – with no distractions but the empty caress of moonlight against her face.

[chews-erotically]

Waxing Gibbous 

Pairing: Ezra + femNurse! Reader

Rating: Hard M / 18+ ONLY

 *****As ALWAYS, if I have added you to the tags and you wish to be removed, just ask and I will do so immediately******

      * Warnings: SMUT (mutual masturbation, PIV sex), some plot too, comfort

      * Summary: Ezra’s recovery continues. You introduce him to a new way of living, one he cannot immediately embrace.

      * Word Count: 2800

*Part ONE* *Part TWO* *Part THREE* *Part FOUR* *Part FIVE* *Part SIX*        *Part SEVEN*  *Part EIGHT*

PART NINE

     Ezra spent an additional three weeks in the hospital after he’d awakened. His recovery was arduous, but his medical team remained impressed by his sheer determination. The same drive he’d shown on the cursed moon to harvest, to succeed, to survive, he showed to recover. Recover he did, working diligently with doctors and physical therapists seemingly around the clock.

    You only went back to your loft to shower and change. You had rented a cot, not dissimilar to what you’d been used to before, and you slept beside him each night. You couldn’t stop yourself from awakening several times in the night to ensure he was still there, still breathing. He’d long since been moved out of the ICU and into a room on the Med-Surg unit. He’d proceeded to charm each doctor, nurse, custodian and aide with equal amounts of wit and candor. They would make special trips to his room to sneak him his favorite treats and second helpings of his favorite meals under the guise of “needing to put weight back on.” Ezra would thank them graciously, grinning conspiratorially.  

    The first time he’d walked three laps around the unit without any assistance was the day you finally knew he was going to be okay. He was told that afternoon that he would be going home in a week. You had thrown your arms around him as he’d laughed and knocked sideways into his bedside table.

    That night, you’d crawled into his hospital bed, squeezing in beside him. You nestled yourself into his warmth, his arms reflexively winding around you to pull you closer. Ezra sighed and hummed into your hair. You’d thought him still asleep, until he whispered softly into the darkness.

    “.....Dove. Can’t wait to be home with you….” His large, warm hand rubbed up and down your back before circling around your hip, then your waist.

    “....can’t wait to be in a bed with you. A real bed.” His fingers spread, his hand coasted lazily up your abdomen and palmed your breast. Your soft gasp echoed into the dark hospital room as you arched into his palm. His fingers zeroed in on a nipple, tugging through the thin material of your tank top. You mewled, hot explosive breaths against his chest. When he craned his head down to bring his mouth to yours he kissed you slowly, deeply, his tongue darting and curling. You bit at his bottom lip and gasped into his hot, sinful mouth.

    “Ezra, you’re killing me.” You felt his lips curl wickedly upward. He began to speak to you lowly, in hoarse whispers, punctuating each thought with a nip to your throat, all the while pinching and pulling at you through the fabric of your shirt.

    “....Been dreaming of you. How you lose the ability to speak when I’m splitting you open. The sounds you make. The sounds that cunt makes when I rock into it. The way you shake when you fall apart….”

    He had nudged his knee in between your legs, and you found yourself rhythmically rocking your core against his thigh. The burning fullness between your legs was making you leak your fluids onto his skin, your clit grinding desperately onto him. You were certain he could feel you through your cotton shorts. You whimpered pitifully as he continued.

    “It’s killing you that we can’t do any more than this right now, in this bed. Anyone could walk right in, Dove.”

    He released a filthy groan against your mouth when you reached down to wrap your fingers around his hard length through his underwear.

    “Careful...be careful, darling girl. I’m not in a mood to stay demure and restrained. I sincerely encourage you to continue if you wish for this whole building to hear our intimacy.”

    “Ezra….fuck, I want you. Please, I need to touch you.”

    Ezra knocked his forehead against yours. You knew his eyes searched to catch yours in the darkness.

    “I need you to wait and be patient for me, sweetheart. When I take you next it will be in our own bed like you deserve.”

    You leaned forward and bit his shoulder through his shirt. He gave a startled gasp before chuckling darkly. You groaned in frustration.

    “I need something, anything…..s’been so long…”

    “Lie down on your cot, Dove. Touch yourself for me. I want to hear how slick you are as you get yourself off to the thought of me buried inside your sweet little cunt. Touch yourself, and I will do the same. Let us fall apart for one another until I can express my desires to you properly.”

    You barely hesitated before moving off his hospital cot to remove your shorts with shaking hands. No sooner were they discarded than you were splayed on your back on your cot, legs spread wide, wanton. You heard rustling from Ezra’s cot as he maneuvered his shorts down to free his cock. You heard the rhythmic, wet sounds as he began stroking himself in earnest.

    You moaned when your fingers dipped down to your entrance, marvelling at how soaked your slit was. Scooping your arousal with two fingers, you began to circle your hard, aching clit. The wet, sinful sounds of your aroused core reverberated through the room as your fingers circled, pressed. Your breath hitched, your hips arched off of the cot and thrust of their own accord. You both moaned and gasped into the still air.

    You could hear Ezra’s cot creaking. He was mumbling half- sentences, pausing to whimper and you could hear him stroking faster. You pictured his hips cana was as  ting up as he fisted himself.

    “Fuuuuuuuck. Fuck I’m so close. Can you hear me Ezra? I need you to hear what you’re doing to me.”

    “Divine cunt. Mine….I can smell it. Smell you….. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holyshit…”

    He stilled, screaming lowly as he reached his end. Gasping, breath hitching.

    The fingers of your other hand pushed themselves into your passage as your other hand, still circling your clit, began fast, rough. The rhythm of your hips faulted as your orgasm suddenly slammed into you. You bit your lip so hard you may have drawn blood. You gasped and groaned as you felt your cum spill out of your seizing hole and coat your hand.

    “Ohhhhh.. Oh fuck. Oh fuck…….” Your breaths melted into whimpers as your hips slowed their twitching. Finally spent, you yawned deeply and turned on your side to face Ezra.

    “Still not the same,” you whispered up into the outline of his face. “But if we ever do this again, I want to see you.”

 ***

    You got to the hospital as early as you possibly could on the morning of Ezra’s discharge. You had helped him pack what meager belongings he had the evening before to bring to your apartment. You’d cleaned every surface furiously, and adorned your balcony and interior surfaces with wildflowers and vining greenery you’d purchased from a local nursery.

    You brought with you new clothing, something comfortable and casual for him to wear, as well as a pair of loafers lined with fleece. You did not know what he preferred to wear; as well as you knew him, you’d never really seen one another in anything other than threadbare sweats or protective suits. You smiled to yourself as you thought of Ezra being able to buy himself nice clothing, of purchasing music he’d talked to you about for hours on the Green. Large, glossy hardcover books whose spines cracked when you opened them for the first time.

    You knew you still had a lot of firsts coming with Ezra. You walked into the bustling lobby and quickly found his room. Ezra was pacing back and forth, muttering under his breath. When you entered he’d immediately stopped and came to you with a wide, beautiful smile.

    “I have dreamt of this day for countless stands, sweet love,” he crooned as he wound his arms around you, crushing you to his chest. “My feet will deign not touch the earth in my haste…”

    “Slow down a bit, Ez. I brought you some clothing...I hope you don’t hate them.”

    He gazed down and you saw how his eyes shone in the early morning light. You loved him so much that your chest ached.

    “I could never hate a single thing that passes from your hands to mine, Dove. They are perfect, as are you.” He craned his head down to ghost a kiss across your parted lips. It was chaste, soft and brief, yet you still felt the jolt settling low in your belly, growing warm and tight. You had not forgotten his promise to you during that one desperate night.

    Ezra changed quickly as you waited. There was no need to excuse yourself- you’d both been through too much to be bashful. When he’d finished, he stood before you grinning with hands on his hips.

    “How do I look, Dovie?”

    “Like an angel.”

 ***

    You could tell that Ezra was overwhelmed by the bustling streets of Central. His head whipping around, unsure of what to focus on. Eyes darting, mouth set in a line. You’d grabbed his hand and led the way through undulating throngs of bodies that squeezed, nudged, jostled. Your heart ached with sympathy as you recalled the chaos of your own first experience. You knew he needed time, as you had.

   You wasted no time when you arrived at your brownstone building, briefly greeting the doorman on your way through the lobby. Confusion crossed Ezra’s face as he took in lush carpeting and the ivy that wound itself up an exposed brick wall.

    “Pray tell, who was that man at the door, Dove?”

    You giggled, pressing the button on the elevator. “That is Brice. He’s the doorman, he’s very nice.”

    His eyes were wide. “We have a doorman?”

    “I know, crazy, right?”

    You entered the elevator. As the door whooshed closed you noted apprehension on Ezra’s face. You reached out to squeeze his hand reassuringly, and his features smoothed once more when he caught your small smile.

    Soon enough you were at your door. You turned to Ezra and handed him a thick metal keycard.

    “This is yours. Try it.”

    He paused only momentarily before swiping the card. He reached out to the door handle, holding his breath. You bounced on your heels like a child, pushing him forward.

    For one of the few times in all the days you’ve known Ezra, he was speechless. He roamed slowly through the wide open foyer, basking in the natural light streaming through the windows. He reached out a hand to gingerly caress a granite countertop. He caught site of the doors to your balcony and stood before them, hands hanging motionless at his sides.

    You sidled up next to him, winding your arm through his.

    “Do you like it, Ezra?” you asked softly, looking out over the city beside him.

    Ezra turned to you, holding your eyes steadily. His hands moved down to grasp yours.

    “I could never have imagined something so grand. This hardly feels real. Truthfully, I am unsure that I did not perish on the Green…” His hands moved up your arms to cradle your face. He leaned in slowly, exhaling into the cup of your ear.

    “Show me our bedroom, Dove. It’s been long enough.”

    You grabbed his hand, pulling him behind you down the hallway. He reached out to grasp your shirt as you stumbled and bumped into walls, desperate to feel you. You assisted him as best you could, and when you entered a room easily four times the size of your former tent, you heard his gasp.

    You had spent an especially long time considering what you had wanted in a bed. It had been far too long since you’d had a proper bed, and so you spared no expense in finding the softest mattress, the sturdiest headboard. Your bed extended down an expanse of wall, covered by soft, downy blankets and piled with pillows.

    “It’s...magnificent,” he murmured, reaching down to run his hand across the silken texture of the coverings. His hand moved up to hastily push aside the pillows and pull down the blankets. He hastily disrobed, shoving his shirt up while you joined him in freeing him from his pants. You divested yourself of your own and he caught your lips in a desperate kiss as he tumbled you backward onto the bed. You rolled him onto his back and straddled him, grinding your hips against his hard, swollen length. Ezra was moaning loudly, straining up to maintain contact. Between the sinfully soft blankets and mattress at his back and the heat from your cunt as you spread your arousal on the throbbing skin of his cock. You leaned forward to capture his lips, your hands restlessly moving over his shoulders.

    “My beautiful man,” you crooned. “This is what we deserve. You are worthy of this. I need you.”

    “Then take me. Ride me, sweet girl. Bless and baptize my cock with your heavenly slick.”

    You positioned your dripping core over his head. You sank down slowly, feeling his thickness stretching you open, breaking you. You could not hold back the low moan bursting out of you as his cock reached the end of you. You stilled, after so long you had to allow yourself a moment to adjust to his size. You panted in low groans as your walls twitched and fluttered around Ezra’s incredible length.

    Ezra gazed up at you reverently, biting his lip. He whimpered when your cunt squeezed him, hands reaching out to fasten on your hips.

    “Fuck….f-fuck, sweatheart. Forgot how fucking perfect you feel. Sweet Kevva. Use me, sweet girl...take what you need.”

    You drew yourself up until he was almost out of you, keeping his head trapped in your leaking hole. Without warning you slammed your hips down. The sound that left Ezra’s mouth was feral, animalistic. You began a steady pace of lifting and dropping, eventually falling forward onto Ezra’s chest. You started babbling in between your desperate whimpers and sobs. He hit that one spot inside you in this position, you quickly discovered. It made you roll your eyes back in ecstasy, mouth hanging open between bursts of speech.

    “Hngh….oh...my...fucking Gods, so good, you feel so good how is this soo goooood…”

    Ezra met your gaze with his eyes wild, teeth gritted. He threw his head back, his hands gripping your hips as he urged you to move faster, harder, while he spoke out into the air in a broken, shaking prayer.

    “So good for me, please come for me. Come on my cock, sweet Dove, mark me, soak me before I paint this fucking perfect cunt…”

    You were covered in a sheen of sweat, movements faltering from the sustained effort of using him the way you needed. Sensing this, Ezra wrapped his arms around you and crushed your chest to his. Shifting under you, he began to piston himself into your slick, hot sex as your cries became sharp and loud. You lost the power of speech as your breath left your body in explosive gushes against the side of his straining neck. You came with a strangled scream, Ezra struggling to keep you atop him as your limbs shook and bucked of their own accord. You dimly felt the gush of your come running out of you to soak his swollen cock

    “That’s iiitt, let it happen, so good for me, taking your pleasure with me so…..deep….insideyouSHIT….” He stilled as his own orgasm crashed around the both of you, head back and groaning loud enough that his voice rattled your soul, your racing heart beating a staccato beat within your chest. You worked through your highs, your bucking hips and shaking legs slowing down incrementally. Your breath eventually slowed, and you stayed nestled against his neck as he, too, came back to himself.

    You stayed like that, with him softening inside of you, as he reached down to cover you both with a blanket. You felt limbless, untethered, so mortally sated that you did not care if the world around you was burning to the ground. You barely felt the ghost of Ezra’s lips on your forehead as you drifted out of consciousness. One word, repeated through the haze of dwindling thought was your anchor to everything around you that you had killed and bled and cried for, unbelievably real and soft and unflinchingly kind.  

    Home.

[lu-undy]

Un-alone, Chapter 17

Here it is!

“So, how’s your uncle?”

“Not too bad. I was tellin’ the others that he probably could come but the physio’s insisting for him to not rush things. At his age, stuff takes a real amount of time to heal up.” Mundy took a sip of his drink while Larry returned to one of the couches. Richie went to the other end of the counter, tending to other customers. That left Mundy and Mark alone. 

“How long before you think he’ll be alright?”

“Physio reckons it’s gonna be an extra month, maybe a month and a half.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Why? Does he owe you money or somethin’?” Mundy chuckled.

“No, I just miss talkin’ to him. He’s a cool guy.”

“Could still visit him at home. I'm sure he’ll be happy to see some people.” Mundy said, without thinking too much.

“You think so?”

“Yeah. I mean…”

“If you don’t wanna, it’s fine.” Mark answered, and now for Mundy, it was clear. Mark was not asking to visit his uncle as much as he was scouting Mundy’s heart. As one would dip his toe in the water of a calm lake to measure its temperature, Mark was testing Mundy’s mood, where he stood with respect to him.

“Wanna play some darts?” The blonde asked. 

“Sure.”

Better leave it blurry, Mundy thought. There was no point anyway… Or was there? 

Both men stood a few metres away from the target and Mark threw his first dart. 

“Ha, not bad, eh?” He proudly said. 

“Yeah, true.” Mundy closed one eye and took aim. He looked at the target and saw the blurry dart in front of his face. “Hm!” He threw it.

“You gotta be kiddin’ me…!” Mark laughed and shook his head. “A bullseye? on the first try?”

“Well, if there’s somethin’ I can do, it’s aim.” Mundy said and took a step away for Mark to replace him in front of the target.

“Oh, that I know, Aussie.” Mark threw the second dart. “Ha! I’m gettin’ closer, man!”

Mundy smiled under his hat. He took Mark’s place and shot again. 

“What?! How d’you do it?!”

“Told ya.” Mundy’s raspy voice chuckled through his words. “I can aim.” He raised intense eyes to Mark. The American looked left and right. 

“Wanna get harder targets?”

“Pff, Mark-”

“It’s ok if you don’t like the challenge, eh.” The blonde quipped. “I’ll just let you win and assume it’s your luck.”

“Told you, Mark, I’m a hunter, gimme darts, arrows, a rifle, anything, and I can aim with it.”

“I'm a hunter too.”

“Are ya now? Where’s your game then?”

“Maybe…” Mark looked left and right. He took a step towards Mundy, leaving hardly a few inches between them. “... I need a few lessons from someone who's clearly better than me, and a little bit older, huh?”

“You could ask yer Dad.”

Mark's head swooshed to Larry on the couch. 

“He’s too busy right now, I wouldn’t want to bother him while he plays God knows what with his friends.”

“So you prefer to bother me?” Mundy answered and the blonde raised lustful eyes to him. Ha, Mundy had never been too good at telling the hints, seeing the signals, but the way that Mark stared at him with his hazel eyes was louder than sirens.

“Yeah.” Mark blinked delicately, or maybe he fluttered his eyes slightly. “So? Is your van free for another lil’ trip?”

Mundy pondered for a split second. His head was showing him wild pictures. Was it worth it? Would he end up living in New Mexico with Mark? Would he introduce him to his parents? Nah, he wouldn’t. Mark was way too hot-headed, Mundy did not really like that. But…

But his guts screamed at him. It had been a while since anyone had hit on him, and his ego was more than pleased with it all. The colder Mundy looked at Mark, the colder he behaved with him, the harder the young American clung to him. Gosh, Mundy loved the feeling, looking down in his eyes and seeing how much the other wanted him… When was the last time that it happened? Far too long.

“Alright.”

THe night was as dark as the last time that it had happened and the privacy of the van wasn’t enough for Mundy. He raced through the dry and golden desert of New Mexico, which now was as deep as the night could be. The Moon wasn’t there.

“Oh, yeah, M-Mundy… Take me - arh!”

The Aussie shut his head and listened to his body, to his blood pumping everywhere, to this feeling of sharing something with someone, doing something exceptionally not alone. Well, yeah, he could just lay there in his bed and do it with his hand. But nah, he was there with someone. And as Mundy looked under him at the man laying on his stomach, he felt everything mix within him. As the thrusts of his hips resounded in the slapping of his sweating skin against Mark’s, as the groans of the blonde filled him, as the golden streaks of sweat raked Marks skin under the old, yellow light in the van, Mundy realised he heard nothing and saw nothing either. 

Only his thoughts were there. The same thoughts he had when he was alone. Was that person the right one? Did he like them? Was there something in his heart that would push him to do the unthinkable for that person? Would he drop hunting for them? Would he drop hunting beasts for them? Would he drop hunting… men? Would Mark fill the part of himself that unbearably itched for decades now? Could Mundy let that itch irritate him and burn him instead of deafening it as best as he could with one-night stands? 

What did his heart think? Heart? Heart? Is there anything there for Mark and me or…? 

Ah, yeah, well… 

“Mundy, I’m gonna-I’m gonna… Arh!”

Mundy almost stopped thrusting as he rose back from his daydream. The blonde had somehow risen to his knees and elbows, and as Mundy recovered his ability to see, he realised that Mark had been frantically using his hand on himself until, well, the end. And it pulled the Aussie to finish too. 

“Oh, man… It was even better than last time…” Mark concluded as he rolled on his back.

Mundy’s lips pursed into a smile, but the voice inside him still banged at his heart’s door. 

Heart? Heart! Tell me! You can’t just not answer! C’mon! Tell me if I can hope for something with this bloke? Yes or no?! How hard can it be?!

He banged again and again, as both him and Mark cleaned up and lay down to sleep, this time together, in the narrow bunk inside the van. 

Heart?

-- A few weeks later --

It had become a habit. Mundy would meet with Mark and spend his nights with him, without either of them questioning it. And it took less and less for Mark to ask him. As of late, a simple nod of the head towards the pub’s main door sufficed to signal to Mundy that the American was in the mood.

Mundy indulged every time. Why? Because it never felt bad to have someone to do it with rather than his own hand, to be blunt. But of course, the more they met, the more Mundy wondered. And the more he wondered, the more he harassed his own heart and his head for an answer, because quite frankly, if he asked what he had below the belt, his relationship with Mark could last forever… 

During his days, Mundy became more familiar with the geography of the city and the overall State of New Mexico. He appreciated dearly the patch of desert not too far from his Uncle’s and spent time there when he wanted a corner of solace, an outer haven. And he spent his time there alone, as always. Not that he would fight anyone who would like to join him, but no one ever did want to come along. 

Not even Mark.

Mundy had asked him one day. 

“D’you wanna stay here tomorrow mornin’?”

Mark was half asleep, naked next to the Aussie in his warm van. 

“Nah…” 

“You sure?”

“What would we do here in the middle of nowhere?” The American spoke half into the pillow.

“We could spend the day huntin’, under the sun, just you and me. We’d be far from people and uh, y’know, just enjoyin’ ourselves.”

Mark chuckled in the pillow. 

“You’re a funny guy, Mundy… See ya tomorrow.”

The Aussie thought about that slice of conversation again and again, it was playing on loop in his mind as if it had been recorded on a broken disc. Was Mark just too tired to have a chat after their usual meeting? Or did he genuinely laugh at Mundy’s suggestion?

The Aussie sighed. In the silence of his lonely van, he thought about it. Hold on. Mundy may not know Mark’s intentions but he knew how he behaved. The American would always ask to be cleaned, then roll to his side and sleep. The only thing Mundy would hear from him was sometimes praise of his performance of the day, and a “Night, night.”. Well, then maybe he did not really laugh at him…?

The Aussie finally decided to exit his van. He had been parked in front of the pub for a long enough while, just lost in thought. He needed a distraction, and a beer would surely-

“Hey, Aussie.”

Mundy gasped. 

“Oh, hey, Mark. Sorry, I didn’t see ya.”

“No worries.” The blonde chuckled. “You came here early today.”

“So did you.” Mundy answered. 

“I’m just playin’ the taxi driver for my Dad. He wanted to have a chat with Richie to organise the next big party here. Samantha’s gettin’ married with Jerry.”

“Oh, alright, congrats to them then, eh…?”

“Yup.” Mark nodded. “But what're you doin’ here this early?”

“I just wanted a beer or somethin’.”

“Mind if I tag along?”

“Sure.”

Both entered the bar and got served quickly. It was too early to be really busy, although a few patrons were enjoying their lunch there. 

“So, uhm, Mark…?”

“Yeah?”

“D’you uh… Would you like to maybe spend some time in the desert?” Mundy asked with his eyes down on his beer. Mark laughed. 

“Again with the desert stuff? You like it more than lizards do!”

Mundy smiled. 

“Yeah but, I mean, it’s nice out there. Nice and calm. We could go for a bit of hunting, eat what we catch.”

“Pfff, and then what? Grill under the sun for some wild thing to make us their dinner? Nah, Mundy… You go and get roasted if you want, I like it better in the shade.”

Mundy frowned slightly.

“Right, then uh… What about somethin' else?”

“Like what? You’re not tryin’ to take me out on a date, are ya?”

“N-No, nah, I'm not the date kind of guy…” Mundy shook his head. “I just… Gets quite lonely out there, just lookin' for some company, and uh… You’re a hunter too so I thought that uh…”

“Well, it’s my father who’s big on the whole hunting thing. I follow him sometimes when I’m bored but I’m not huge on it.” Mark took a gulp of his fresh beer and Mundy’s eyes dropped to the floor.

“So you don’t wanna hang out with me sometime?”

“I think we’re good the way we are.” Mark answered. “Why change it?”

Mundy sighed. He looked at his beer and he didn’t want any of it anymore. 

“Right.” The Aussie took off and left the bar, his pint still almost completely full.

“Mundy?”

He turned back to Mark with a hand on the pub’s front door still. 

“What?”

“You angry at me?”

“No.”

“What? What’s this mean then? You just leave and you haven’t finished your beer?”

Mundy sighed and looked left and right. The last thing he wanted was his private life and his interest in men exposed to people who knew Phil very well. He entered back and went to Mark. 

“Listen, if you're just with me for the nights, I’m not in anymore.”

The bluntness with which he spoke shocked Mundy himself. 

“I thought you liked it better that way?”

“No-Yeah, I don’t know and it doesn’t matter.” He spoke between gritted teeth. 

“So much for tryin’ to make me believe you're not mad…” Mark said with a scoff. “If you don’t know what you want, I can’t answer you, Mundy.”

“Alright, then. Here’s what I’d like to know, Mark.” Mundy removed his hat and slammed it on the counter. “Are you just with me for the nights?”

“I mean, that’s what we’ve been doin’ and I-”

“Answer me.” Mundy’s fierce glare made Mark gulp down audibly before he frowned. 

“Yeah, guess I am.” The American finally admitted. 

“D’you wanna go on like this or d'you wanna…?”

“Do I wanna what?” Mark frowned, now he was as mad as Mundy. 

“I don't know!” The Aussie answered. “Maybe we could do stuff together instead of just using each other like that?”

“And what’s wrong with that?” Mark asked. 

“Nothin’!” Mundy got his face closer to the American’s. “I just don’t like bein’ used, is all.”

“For someone who doesn’t like it and who’s a grown up man, you never said no, you never even raised the concern and you were the one fuckin’ me.” Mark spoke between gritted teeth for his shouts to be muffled into hard whispers. “You were the one to open your van, you were the one to get me out of my clothes, and you were the one to put it in me! Now if you didn’t want any of that, you never even gave me a clue about it! How could I have known?!”

Mundy sighed. 

“Look, I don’t know, I just… I can't go on like this.” Mundy answered and spun on his heels to leave again.

“Alright then, go back to spendin’ your days alone in the desert, see if that does you any good!”

Mundy stopped sharp. 

“What did you just say about me?” He said, slowly, and growling menacingly.

“I said: go back to the desert you like so much, I bet you’ll feel better there.” Mark repeated. 

“Pray that I never find you again, Mark.” Mundy pulled the hat down on his eyes and left.

“Or what, huh? What're you gonna do, huh? Hunt me down like I’m a deer?!” This time, Mark had raised his voice, but as he did, Mundy left and was already outside. 

The Aussie slipped in his van and drove back home. No. He needed the desert. He shifted gears to reverse. 

“Mundy! Mundy, wait!”

The Aussie  almost didn’t hear the voice calling for him. Larry came running to the van and banged the door on Mundy’s side. 

“Mundy, hold on!”

The Aussie lowered the window, his face as dark as his boiling rage made it. The shy Mundy within him wanted to blush. After all, Larry was Mark’s father. 

“Your mum’s called here, they’re asking you to go back home.”

Mundy’s eyebrows jumped and his face brightened, as if the storm raging within him a second ago had been pushed by the sun.

“Oh, uh, ok, thanks, Larry.”

“Pleasure, son, see ya!”

Mundy nodded and drove off. It took him the usual fifteen-ish minutes to reach back home. 

“Mum? You wanted to see me?” Mundy said as he entered. “Oh? What’s all that?” As he had pushed the door and entered, Mundy’s feet bumped on wicker bags. That one had towels at the top, oh, there was a cool box there. 

“Yeah, Micky, come in and go help your Uncle, will ya?”

“Sure… What’s with all the bags?” The Aussie entered the kitchen to find his mother making sandwiches. 

“We had a chat with your Uncle today. They say the weather’s gonna be real hot and sunny for the next week at least so we decided to go to the beach for a few days.”

“Oh…” Mundy’s eyebrows jumped out of surprise. “Alright, sure. You said Uncle Phil needed my help?”

“Yeah, he’s packing his stuff. I already dealt with your things and I assume you have some swimming shorts in your van, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, I have.”

“Then it’s all good. I’ll drive his car and you get your van with Marty next to you, yeah?”

“Works for me.” MUndy nodded with a smile.

“Perfect, now go before he goes mad. I’ve been hearing him grumble to himself…!”

“Sure, thanks, Mum.” Mundy came to leave a kiss on his Mum’s cheek. 

“No worries, baby.”

About an hour later, everything had been loaded into the van and the car, and Marty happily joined Mundy in his van, on the passenger’s seat. 

“How long is it till we get there?” Mundy asked.

“We’ll have to drive through the state and then through more or less the entirety of Texas to get to the sea.” Philip answered. “But if you ask me, better Texas than California!”

“Alright, you know your business, UNcle Phil.”

“It’s a twelve hour drive but of course, we’ll make a lot of stops and we’ll sleep on the way there. I know a few good places along the way. Used to make the trip with some colleagues at work once a year at least in summer.”

“Wow, twelve hours… I don’t think I’ve ever driven for that long.” Mundy answered. 

“It’s fine, son, we won’t do them all in one bite, eh?”

“I know, I know.. Still…! Right, let’s get started then.”

“You’ll just have to follow your mum, I’ll be with her to guide her.”

“Ok, thanks Uncle Phil.”

“Thank you, son.”

Mundy climbed in the van, on the driver’s seat. As he did so, Marty who was sitting on the passenger’s seat started wagging his tail.

“Hey, Marty, ready for the journey?”

The dog leaned into Mundy’s hand to enjoy some good head scratching. 

“Right, gimme a paw then, eh?”

The dog obeyed.

“That’s a good boy right there, good puppy. Right, Mum’s starin’, you sit and be a good boy while I drive, yeah?”

[jumbojamba47]

I Love You

Pt. 2 of Guest Room

A/N: Thank you for loving my little ball of garbage enough to warrant a second part. I’m feeling warm and fuzzy. Also... I kinda.. sorta.. really got carried away with this. I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry. Shout out to my irl friends who had to deal with my gleefully rubbing my grubby little paws together all day. 

A/N PT. 2: TUMBLR QUIT BEING A BITCH AND JUST LET ME UPLOAD MY STORY IN PEACE PLEASE I’M BEGGING YOU. The last try uploaded to my main and my stomach dropped out of my ass lmao. Fifth and hopefully final time. (I’m so sorry for the notifications spam for everyone I tagged)

PAIRINGS: Natasha Romanoff x Reader, Stucky 

Warnings: 18+, Angst (like so much I’m sorry), Smut, Swearing, Mentions of Alcohol Consumption

Word Count: 5702

Hollow. It’s the only way she can describe the feeling of deep-seated emptiness that settles in her as she watches the quinjet disappear in the distance. What’s that noise? She casts her eyes around her surroundings when she suddenly feels a dampness on her collarbone. Reaching up a hand, she feels moisture on her face.

Oh.

The sounds were coming from her. At the realization of her sobs, pain wracked her frame with nowhere to go.

What was she thinking?

She wasn’t.

When she left Clint in a hurry, she hadn’t even paused to consider what she would say to you if she caught you. What did she feel for you? What could she have told you? Her life conditioned her to believe love was for children. She wasn’t one.

And yet…

She couldn’t deny that there was something about you that always drew her in to you. Every hidden interaction with you pulled onto all five of her senses demanding her full attention until there was only you in front of her; drawn straight into your orbit like a moon of Saturn. Each and every private encounter made it more difficult for the hardened assassin to pull herself away from you only to act unaffected by your presence in public.

Was that love?

It doesn’t matter.

You were sunlight. You were the warm embrace of home calling out to every damaged member of this family seeking acceptance for their past sins and a place to belong.

And she?

Well, she was damaged beyond repair.

She refused to be the one to tarnish your light. And she knew, if she gave in to her weaknesses, you could never really shine. You meant too much to the team. To her. A part of her could also admit to fear. Fear of what would happen if she hurt you.

If you hurt her.

She could live with never knowing what it felt like to call you hers. To hear you whisper her name in the early morning light your sweet features the first things she lays eyes on in your shared haven.

But she knew. She’d never recover if she could have you and lose you. If she were to tear her walls down, only for you to look inside and decide it wasn’t worth it.

That she wasn’t worth it.

With a steely resolve in her eyes, Natasha turned on her heels and began to make her way back towards the gym. She had a few weeks to get her head screwed on straight. She’ll lock away and bury anything she might have felt for you if given the chance. When you’re back, she’ll apologize for the hurt she’s caused you and maybe, just maybe, you’ll let her stay a part of your life.

If, along the way, she refuses to let her mind wander to thoughts of you with someone else, well, that’s her prerogative.

xxxx

You sit in heavy silence on the quinjet. Thoughts of last night’s interactions with the red-headed assassin plaguing your mind. You still feel a pang of pain when you remember her rejection. With a mental shake of your head, you resolve to table your emotions for now to focus on the mission at hand.

You’ve been tasked with leading a team to infiltrate an underground drug trafficking ring disguised as a bi-monthly art auction. Once you arrive at your destination, you’ll be allotted two months of integration and data retrieval before another team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents will be sent in to assist in the take down. You’re leading the team with Scarlet Witch and Falcon following your lead. Agent Hill was chosen to tag along strictly for backup and onsite supervision should the worst come to pass.

Sam and Maria sit up front; you can hear the sounds of quiet banter trickling back towards you while they try to respect your privacy, believing you to be mentally preparing yourself for the road up ahead. Wanda sits opposite you. Your emotions scream at her from across the jet, but she has the decency not to read your actual thoughts.

Still, she can’t help the concerned glances she sends your way.

Noticing her attention on you, you shift your body to turn towards her.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“I could ask you the same. Where did you disappear to last night? I tried to find you after you were pulled away by Natasha, but I couldn’t find you.”

You let out a soft sigh.

“I’m sorry. My heads been a mess lately. I didn’t mean to leave you on the dance floor like that. It was a rough night.”

A hand rises to nervously play with the hair on the back of your neck. You look to the floor.

“I also owe you a bit of an apology for how carried away I got last night. You’re amazing Wan, and I don’t want to lead you on in any way.”

She lets out a light laugh.

“Don’t worry about it, draga mea. We were just two friends who had a little too much to drink, having a little fun. No hard feelings whatsoever.”

You wince and she instantly knows that was the wrong thing to say.

“You know, I’ve been told I’m a pretty good listener. Pietro used to say it’s because I had big ears when we were children.”

She reaches out a hand across the aisle to let it rest on your knee. After an internal debate, you decide to divulge everything to her. From your first interactions with the assassin and your instant connection to the fallout from last night.

Listening patiently, Wanda’s eyes widen slightly when you mention what the events that occurred in the ex-soviet’s room.

By the end, Wanda is livid with righteous indignation on your behalf.

“Well, she’s a fool for letting you go.” She squeezes your leg.

“I can’t claim to understand what’s going through her head, but you have to know her feelings aren’t a reflection on your worth. You are the glue that holds this team together and we all love you. Natasha, she…” she pauses, “she’s been through much. More than any of us will ever know. Her experiences have closed her off. But you’re both strong. Maybe you’re not meant to be, but I know you can bounce back from this. We have a few weeks before we’re due back and, in that time, I guarantee you we can get your spirit back up and bouncing like usual.”

“Damn right, we can!” You hear Sam interrupt from the front of the plane.

You release a breath you didn’t realize you were holding and let out a light laugh.

Yeah, things weren’t okay.

But maybe they will be.

xxxx

The mission goes off without a hitch and it does wonders for your confidence. As soon as you landed at the safehouse, you and your team had set to work securing the perimeter and preparing for your upcoming roles in the undercover mission. Sam moved first, infiltrating the ranks of the dealers as he uncovered the hierarchy of the operation and fed maria intel to pass on to headquarters. You and Wanda were posed as a wealthy young couple from new money, tasked with getting close to the heads of the drug ring in order to gain access to the final auction where you ultimately took down the entire operation with the aid of several agents.

Despite the smooth execution, you all still found yourselves with extra downtime between stakeouts and it led to the four of you growing closer. One of your favorite pastimes became group binge-watches of The Fairly Odd Parents and Wanda had taken to calling you Cosmo, the husband of her cartoon namesake.

           “ETA: 5 minutes,” called out Hill.

From your seat, you could see the compound looming over the horizon. You take in a nervous breath and release.

Next to you, Wanda can feel your apprehensive tension and takes a moment to give your hand a firm squeeze.

“You’re okay, Cosmo. Remember our talks. You have strength. You know your worth. You’ll be fine.”

You send her a grateful smile and a nod. Your fingers squeeze her back briefly before you move to stand by the doors of the ramp as you hear the jet begin to touch down.

She’s right. During your time away, you came to terms with the fact that it’s not Natasha’s fault that she doesn’t feel the same way as you do. You know you have no control over other people’s feelings, and you owed it to the both of you to face this head on, maturely.

As soon as the jet’s ramp meets the floor of the hangar, you’re met with a wall of pure muscle that really should come with a warning label. Your feet are lifted off the ground and suddenly you’re swinging in circles. You laugh as Bucky’s long hair tickles your nose.

Wait a second.

Is that?

“James Buchanan Barnes. Put me down this instant.”

He stiffens. That’s his name. That’s who he is. He is James Buchanan Barnes. Former sergeant and integral member of the Howling Commandos. The Winter Soldier. Melted down and reforged by Hydra. He was a legend. He was a nightmare. He was feared. He was… terrified.

Christ. Hearing his full name falling out of your mouth in that tone never failed to instill the fear of God into him. Not even his ma, bless her soul, could quite measure up to the intimidating aura you exuded when he knew you were ready to tan his hide.

You stood before him, hands on your hips, feet shoulder width apart, stance strong, eyebrow peaked… and deadly.

“Did you break into my room and steal my hair mask… again?”

The others stand back, watching in amusement while he starts to sweat.

“D-doll, of course not! You explicitly told m-me your room was off limits while you were go-”

You cut him off as you step closer.

“Don’t you lie to me, Barnes,” your eyes narrow and he gulps when you push your face closer to his.

“I can smell the macadamia oil, you heathen.”

Just as you’re about to launch into a lecture about respecting other people’s belongings, you’re interrupted by the sound of Steve’s voice.

“You gotta admit, at least it’s better than smelling the greasy mop he always ends up with after training.”

Your entire demeanor lightens up as you whip around to take a running leap at your favorite Man with a Plan.

“STEVIE!”

He catches you in his arms. “Good to have you back, sugar. We missed you around here.”

You hear a soft exhale of relief come from behind you.

Tilting your head back from where you’re perched in Steve’s arms, you narrow your eyes at Bucky and make a silent gesture to indicate you’re watching him. This is far from over.

He gulps.

“Well, c’mon then, we’re all dying to hear how the mission went. The others are waiting for you in the lounge.”

You stay wrapped around your friend’s dorito shaped torso but make the effort to wriggle your way around him so you’re clinging to his back like an infant koala. He rolls his eyes but does nothing to deter you, choosing to move his arms in support of your legs instead.

“Onward, my trusty steed!” you giggle.

As one, you all make your way towards the main common area, taking the time to drop off your luggage in your respective rooms as you go. Eventually, you make your way to the lounge and as you’re carried in, F.R.I.D.A.Y. blasts the loud trumpets of a herald through her speakers.

Huh, Tony must’ve upgraded her sense of humor.

Greeting the others, you use your hands in Steve’s hair like an oversized rat with a penchant for cooking to guide him towards your favorite lounge chair. Sam and Wanda move towards the kitchen to look for the good snacks they couldn’t have undercover while everyone else gathers around the remaining lounges.

From the corner of your eye, you can see Natasha hovering off to the side near Clint but you can’t quite get yourself to make eye contact yet. You wait for everyone to settle in. Wanda approaches you with two mugs of tea in her hands offering you one with a “just the way you like it, Cosmo”. It’s punctuated with a wink and she perches herself on the arm of your seat, bringing her own around to rest across the back. Her hand finds its way to your hair playing with a few strands to keep you grounded while you purposefully train your eyes away from a certain side of the room.

Wanda really did become your rock in the weeks away. While you never repeated anything from the night of your party, you fell into an easy companionship with the young mutant that led to you each being comfortable around the other. She knew how hard your return would be for you and made it her next mission to make sure you knew you had a solid support system in place.

Seeing the close interaction between the two of you, Bucky and Steve both shoot you cheeky grins and eyebrow wiggles that have you holding up a throw pillow just under Wanda’s current line of sight. She glances down, smirks and hurls the pillow at the two men using her powers, ensuring she adds a boomerang effect to ricochet off the face of one in order to hit the other stunning both of them.

“Nice!” You give her an enthusiastic high five as she wiggles her fingers at the recovering men.

“I just learned that one on the job. I have to keep practicing for muscle memory.” She states in a faux haughty tone while you snicker at the indignation on your Brooklyn Boys’ faces.

Across the room, Natasha watches you. She knew she missed you while you were away, but nothing could have prepared her for the onslaught of emotions that crashed into her when she finally laid eyes on you after weeks apart. You still had the same mischievous spark in your eyes. Your nose still crinkled just the slightest bit when you laughed. Your smile could still light up an entire room like the Fourth of July.

God, she missed you.

She watches your raucous banter with the resident super-soldiers with a fond smile teasing the corners of her lips. She takes note of the casual arm slung across your shoulders, the hand tangled in your hair, and something inside of her burns. Her jaw clenches.

She’s not yours to have.

Clint nudges her shoulder with a pointed look. She realizes she’s been emitting a soft growl. Focus Romanoff! Where is your training? She strains but ultimately fixes her posture until she’s the posterchild for casual aloofness. Her best friend snickers but chooses not to comment on the slight rigidity he can see in her shoulders.

Tony claps his hands to gain everyone’s attention.

“Alright alright, Hermione’s new parlor tricks aside, we all know why we’re really here.”

In his best imitation of Fury’s gruff voice, he growls out, “Hill. Debrief report. Judgement on (y/hero/n)’s execution?”

Rolling her eyes but playing along, “All objectives executed to perfection. Leadership skills exemplary, sir!” she tosses in a mock salute.

It’s quiet before everyone breaks into cheers and congratulate you and your team on a successful job well done. You’re beaming when you hear Sam chime in with, “You better watch out Cap. (Y/l/n) could give you a run for your money as team captain. We might be shipping you to a retirement home sooner than we thought.

Your best friend grins at you with pride and mirth shining in his eyes and you feel warm inside.

“I think we could come to a truce and work together. Co-captain sound good to you doll?”

“I don’t think so Steve. I’ll leave the captaincy to you. I don’t think I could handle dragging the metal chicken wing over there back in line every day,” you respond with a laugh, sticking your tongue out at Sam. You draw out a squawk of offense and everyone bursts into laughter.

You turn your head slightly and find yourself making direct eye contact with the very same pair of vivid green eyes that still visit you in your dreams. You swallow down the rising emotions and offer her a small smile. She looks startled at first but relaxes slightly and gives you one of her own in return.

Maybe you could do this.

You spend a few more minutes catching up with the rest of the team, learning about what everyone has been up to while you were away. Checking the time, you slowly pull away from Wanda, who still has her weight resting on you, and announce that you’re going to head to your room to wash off and settle in before you have to fill out your mission reports.

Everyone bids you goodnight and you exit the room, walking the familiar pathway towards your own residence. Your ears pick up quiet footsteps behind you causing you to turn your head slightly.

A small sharp inhale escapes your lips. Your eyes betray you with a quick scan of her nervous form standing in front of you. Her hair is a little longer and the circles under her eyes are just the slightest shade darker. She still looks just as breathtaking as the day you walked out of her room. Her presence instantly brings you peace and you curse yourself under your breath.

Mentally slapping yourself, you plaster on a casual smile.

“Hey Nat. Been a while.”

You cringe.

Really? Been a while? Really?

She steps towards you, “Hi (y/n/n),” she responds softly.

“Listen I-”

“Can we-”

You both let out a nervous chuckle.

“Sorry. Go ahead, you first,” she says.

“Listen, Nat. I owe you an apology.”

She stills. What could you possibly have to apologize for? You’re not the one who broke the heart of the love of your life just because you had commitment issues.

Stop that. She’s not your love of anything.

She opens her mouth to interrupt but you press on.

“It wasn’t fair of me to try to push you into something you clearly weren’t comfortable with. You made it clear that you didn’t love me the way I loved you. I never wanted to make you feel like I would demand anything of you. You’re more than entitled to your own feelings and it wasn’t okay for me to project what I felt onto you.”

Frozen in place, her mind could only focus on two words.

Loved? Felt?

And didn’t that sting?

She can feel her throat start to constrict but she goes along with it.

Maybe it’s for the best.

“It’s okay (y/n/n). I understand where you came from and I’m partially to blame for letting things go on for as long as they did without taking your feelings into consideration.

“Friends?”

A small, okay large, part of her brain screamed in agony that this was wrong.

Instead, she smiles and nods opening her arms.

You gingerly step into her embrace, one arm comes up holding her shoulder while the other gently cups the back of her head in a familiar hold.

Her arms come up to wrap themselves around your middle, squeezing slightly.

If either of you noticed the other inhale just a little deeper, neither of you chose to comment.

xxxx

Several weeks go by and you’ve settled back into a familiar routine. Wanda has officially been adopted into you and your boys’ infamous trio and the brunette witch could often be seen joining in on your foolish antics around the compound. At first, the three made a pact to ensure you would never be exposed to prolonged periods of alone time with the woman who damaged your tender heart. Often times, you’d catch yourself alone with the assassin only for one of the others to immediately swoop in to whisk you away and drag you into some activity before you could draw each other into a prolonged conversation

It took you a few days to catch on to what your friends were doing. While the sentiment was greatly appreciated, you couldn’t miss the slight look of hurt that crossed Natasha’s face whenever you were pulled away from her. Eventually, you had to put your foot down, taking them aside one day. You told them that you loved them and appreciated their concern. But you’re an adult and you can handle your affairs well enough on your own.

They backed off but still continued to keep a wary lookout. They couldn’t help it. You were their favorite.

Your interactions with the devastatingly gorgeous avenger were still a little stunted and you both miss the longing stares you direct towards each other on occasion. Still, you’re getting better.

It still hurts sometimes but you’re okay as long as you still have her in your life. In any capacity.

You think you’re getting better. It stills hurts but you’re okay as long as you still have her in your life.

xxxx

You’re in the gym talking to Sam one afternoon as he spots you in the weights section while Natasha and Clint are sparring on the mats.

“The team’s decided to make an appearance at a new nightclub Aluminum Alloy Man bought out on a dare tonight. You in, sugar?”

You laugh at the latest nickname he’s given Stark but shake your head no.

“Sorry Sam but I’ve got a date.”

You hear a particularly loud grunt come from Clint and turn your head slightly to see Natasha apologizing while he’s doubled over catching his breath.

“Oh? Anyone we know?” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

You roll your eyes.

“With myself, you dork. I’ve been dying to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail and I finally have the downtime to sit through it. There’s a bottle of wine and a couch calling my name and I intend to capitalize.”

He laughs but nods understandingly.

“That’s fair. You good here? I better head out to get ready.”

“Yeah, yeah, you go ahead. Have fun tonight!” You wave him off wiping the sweat off the back of your neck with a damp towel.

“(Y/L/N)!” You hear your name called out from across the gym.

“Care to spar? Clint’s tapping out. He’s a wuss.”

You start to hesitate but choose to nod instead, stepping into the ring, setting your towel on the rope to dry.

You begin to circle one another assessing each other’s weaknesses. She makes the first move lashing out with a swift kick to your ankle, aiming to leave you off balance. You dodge out of the way and retaliate with a series of jabs towards her torso. This goes on for several minutes each of you landing several hits when Natasha launches herself off your bent knee, intending to use her signature thigh grip of death to bring you down.

Not today, Satan.

You bring your arms up, wedging them between your neck and her legs before she can get a grip. You latch onto her legs tightly before you swing her around your body, tackling her to the floor. You move your hand to cradle the back of her head to ensure it doesn’t smack into the ground, bringing yourself much closer to her body in the process.

You’re both panting heavily, stuck, mesmerized by the intense look in each other’s eyes. You have one leg between her thighs, knee pressed to her core, puffs of air intermingling between you.

Is she? Leaning towards you?

Oh, you definitely felt that wiggle of her hips against your knee.

You wet towel drops to the floor with a wet smack and just like that, the spell is broken.

You both scramble apart and you move to pick up the offending object.

Behind you, Natasha clears her throat sheepishly.

“So, I couldn’t help but overhear your big plans for tonight while you were talking to Wilson. Is there room for one more? I was actually planning to do the same, but I hear Monty Python is much funnier with good company.”

Everything inside of you screams that this is a terrible idea. But here’s the thing, you thrived off of terrible ideas.

“Sure, why not? We can start when everyone else heads out?”

Sure you would have declined, she brightens considerably and throws you a grin.

She starts walking backwards towards the door.

“Great! It’s a date! I mean- not a date-”

She smacks herself right into the door.

You let out a small laugh.

“I know what you meant.”

“Right. Yes. I’ll see you tonight!” She scurries out the door.

You stay standing there in the ring watching the space she just occupied.

On the other side of the door, Natasha leans heavily against the metal.

What have I gotten myself into?

xxxx

You bid goodbye to your friends and make sure to tell them to call you should they need anything. Once everyone is out the door, you turn around, inhale deeply, and set to work.

Despite everything, and your unfailing determination to not fall down the same rabbit hole, you can’t help but want to take care of Natasha in any capacity you can.

So, you take extra care to grab her favorite snacks, her go-to brand of wine, a couple glasses, and an oversized hoodie you always kept in the back of the closet, on hand just for her. She had a tendency to relax in thinner loungewear, but you knew once she settled in, she stubbornly refused to get up for anything no matter how cold she got.

As you set everything down on the coffee table in front of the oversized, plush couch in the center of the movie room, the beauty in question makes her way towards you in, surprise surprise, a thin tank top and shorts.

You roll your eyes but toss her your sweatshirt and she grins at you before hastily throwing it on, snuggling into the warmth. You both settle onto opposite sides of the couch, the wine and snacks split between you. The movie plays and you find yourselves relaxing. Like magnets, you eventually gravitate towards each other, sharing jokes and snacks, yelling at the large screen in front of you as the Black Knight stubbornly refuses to die.

Without realizing each other’s movements, she winds up leaning against you while your arm is wrapped around alternating between playing with her hair and rubbing soothing patterns across her shoulder and biceps.

You feel a shudder come from the deadly ball of fluff in your arms and only then do you realize your positions. You can’t bring yourself to move.

“Cold?”

“Yeah,” she nods. Attempting to burrow herself further into your clothes.

You pull her closer to you until her legs are resting over yours, head tucked under your chin, puffs of air tickling your sensitive neck.

Bad move (y/l/n).

You forget how to breathe. Natasha turns to look at you when she feels you still beneath her.

Oh. Oh god.

She didn’t realize how close she was to you and from this distance, she can see every detail of your ethereal beauty in the dim light of the movie lighting.

You turn your head to take a quick peak at her but suddenly you’re drowning in a sea of green. Your breath hitches when green is replaced by red and suddenly plump lips are crushing your own.

You moan and your hands scramble for purchase as the angel in your lap twists to straddle you. Fists tighten in your hair while she nips at your lower lip, close to drawing blood. She tugs at your shirt and you get the message. You desperately rip away your top while she follows suit before she pushes you onto your back spreading out on top of you.

A loud groan escapes your lips as the vixen in your arms finds the sensitive space right below your ear. Unwilling to be out done, you wrap your legs around her hips and gracefully flip yourselves over, trailing kisses down the crevice of her breasts, mapping your way down her body. Like Copernicus charting the stars. Reaching your destination, you pull apart the draw strings of her shorts with nothing but your teeth, earning a moan of approval from the writhing redhead. You smoothly slide back up her body, meeting her desperate lips in a searing kiss while your hand finds her center, already feeling the slick wetness ready for you. Natasha’s limbs fly to wrap around you as you set a steady pace pushing her closer and closer to the edge. Knowing she needs the extra push, your other hand moves to pull aside her bra before you deliver a harsh nip and a firm curl of your fingers.

She sees stars.

No.

She sees galaxies.

You continue to move, determined to prolong her pleasure for as long as possible.

You’re rewarded with the crack of her voice as she hurdles into the abyss.

“God, I fucking love you.”

It slips out of your mouth completely unbidden.

But it’s too late.

The damage can’t be undone.

Just like that, she snaps back to reality.

She hastily sits up. Your hand falls back into your lap as she quickly stands picking up her shirt.

“We can’t do this.”

“Natasha, I-”

“No.”

“Natasha, would you jus-”

“I said no!”

You feel like you’ve been here before.

She turns to make a hasty retreat, but you catch her hand in a tight grip before she can get too far.

“Why do you keep running from me? Am I so repulsive that the thought of being with me has you running for the hills?”

“Not everything is about you, (y/l/n),” she bites out.

Neither of you hear the team returning but all of them can hear the yelling coming from your direction and they run towards you.

“No. You always do this! Every time I think we’ve gotten to a good place; you freeze me out.”

“That’s the thing! We were in a good place! We were having fun. We had each other when we needed it and nothing more! We were so good like that. We can still be like that!”

Tears fill your eyes.

“It’s not enough.”

“Why can’t this be enough?!” she cries.

“This has to be enough,” she whispers looking at anything but you.

A hand moves to grip hers gently. The other rises to cup her chin to guide her eyes to yours.

“This could be so much more. Let me love you the way you deserve.”

Staring into your eyes, she can see you dying a little more inside the longer she stays silent.

She pulls away from you.

Okay.

You thought you could be fine with just floating in her orbit. Maybe you underestimated how long it would take for you to heal enough to allow it. Or maybe you couldn’t do this at all.

Your head tilts towards the floor. Your lips break into the softest, most heart-breaking smile she’s ever seen.

“I’m always going to love you Natasha Romanoff. But I owe it to the both of us to know this won’t be enough for me. This can’t be enough for me.”

A whimper is caught in her throat but she can’t bring herself to move when you step back away from her.

“I love you. I don’t want to,” you breathe out.

Natasha swears she hears something inside her shatter.

“I’m sorry I don’t give you the strength you need to pursue your own happiness. I really hope you find someone who does. All I’ve ever wanted was for you to be happy.”

You make me happy.

Just say it!

Her body screams in protest with every fiber of her being.

“Bye Tasha.”

You turn and only then do you realize that the two of you aren’t alone.

Wanda steps forward. She wraps her arms around your shoulders as she leads you away throwing a glare at the assassin.

Natasha takes a step in your direction.

“(Y/n) wait-”

She stopped by a metal arm blocking her way.

“Haven’t you done enough?” Bucky growls.

“And what do you know about what I’ve done?” She shoves him away.

“I know you hurt them! AGAIN!” he snarls, “You need to get your shit together before I’ll even THINK about letting you come anywhere NEAR (y/n) again, Romanoff.”

Her blood boils. She scoffs, “Big surprise, their guard dog immediately snaps to attention at the first sign of trouble. Tell me Barnes, does your master feed you well?”

She regrets her outburst immediately, but she’s too angry, too frustrated, too exhauseted to take it back.

“Don’t forget who trained you, Natalia,” comes out in a menacing hiss.

Frantically, Clint’s eyes snap from her to the ex-soldier advancing on her. He immediately steps between the two, placing a hand on her arm and turning towards the larger assassin.

“Whoa now, you know she didn’t mean that. Emotions are just running high right now. Let’s all take a step back. I could use a hand, Cap.”

Despite his own roiling emotions, he needs to maintain his professionalism as team captain, releasing a heavy puff of air, he moves to place a firm hand on Bucky’s shoulder, pulling him to his side.

“Clint’s right. We can’t do anything to fix this right now. Everyone, disperse. We’ll regroup in the morning.” He sends a piercing glare at the redhead.

Hearing another growl, Clint whips his head back around, “As entertaining as it would be to make a compound wide betting pool with Tony on a wwe rumble between you and two tag-teaming super soldiers, maybe we should take a second to cool off outside, yeah” he hisses at her.

Gritting her teeth, she nods, allowing Clint to pull her down the hall and out the door.

As she catches a glimpse of the hall leading to your room, all she can think is one thing.

She let you slip through her fingers… again.

Tagging some incredible people who expressed an interest in pt. 2:

guys im so fucking sorry this keeps showing up in your mentions.

@natasha-danvers , @thelastavenger-3000 , @ohfuckno , @imnotasuperhero

[stark-tony]

most recent bookmarks (6/18/21)

mcu

you game? cake time? by iron_spider (3k, T, pepperony) Peter stares at him.“I’d like your help,” Tony says, gesturing towards the ton of cakes. “Your refined palette.”Peter snorts. He can’t lie, excitement is rising in his throat and in his stomach, and he barely ate at lunch today because he was trying to finish up the book report before sixth period. “Does Miss Potts know you picked me?”“You can call her Pepper.”Peter cocks his head. “Does Pepper know you picked me to help you?”

The Dangers of Sleeping on the Upside of the Bed by Honorable_mention (1.1k, G, gen, quarantine) Midtown High School’s Academic Decathlon team had moved online. Once a week, even during the summer, everyone would log on and chat for a few minutes before trying to beat each other on Protobowl while hurling barely school appropriate threats at each other. It was really quite a lot of fun.Through these online meetings Cindy Moon had gotten the opportunity to intimately learn about her teammates in a way she hadn’t been able to when they were in-person. A person’s room and the way they talked to their family told you a lot about them.In which the members of the Academic Decathlon team get the chance to meet Peter's roommates

something bright coming his way by iron_spider (6.5k, T, gen, hurt peter) “Pete,” Tony’s voice says. “I’m heading to your location.”Peter narrows his eyes. Karen’s colors turn from dark red to a softer blue, which he takes as her celebrating Tony’s imminent arrival. How imminent? What?“What?” Peter says again. Like an idiot.“Your numbers aren’t what I like to see and you stopped moving and I was in the area, anyway. You know. Doing Iron Man things. You okay?”Peter blinks. He sees some more lights out ahead of him that he thinks are headlights, and he feels like Karen is trying to even out his vision by changing how things come across on the HUD. She’s failing, but he won’t say that. Can she read his brainwaves? No. Definitely not. Maybe. Either way he doesn’t wanna be mean to her, so he stops thinking.Ugh, his side hurts.

Of All the Nurses’ Offices in All the High Schools... by sahiya (7k, T, gen, outsiders pov, identity reveal, hurt peter) Peter Parker has his own gravitational orbit, and it tends to suck in the people around him. Including burned out school nurses who were just minding their own business.Or: Patrick Carmichael meets Spider-Man (and Tony Stark), adopts a cat, and gets just a little bit better.

a first time for everything by crowkag (7.7k, pepperony, sick peter)  “Why are you whispering?” Pepper was asking, and the other noises were receding away behind the creak of a door and click of a lock.“Because I’m hosting a vigilante super-teen with enhanced hearing this weekend.” He slumped back into the couch cushions. “Or did you forget?”There was a sharp intake of breath.“Peter? Oh god, what did you—”“Nothing,” Tony rushed out, scrambling. “He’s fine. The kid’s fine, honey.”A beat of silence.“Okay, well, he’s not fine, but—”“Tony Stark—”

Is he or Is he not? by Omenthia_Arc (43.2k, G, pepperony, 5 + 1, people think peter is tony’s kid) Five times someone thought that Peter was Tony's biological son and one time everyone thought it.

hp

The Moon Looks Lovely Tonight by Omi_Ohmy (35.7k, M, drarry, post-hogwarts, domestic) When Harry moves into the damp and empty Black house, it doesn’t quite feel like home. And then the first owl moves in. After that, it’s a steep slope leading to bed-sharing, more owls, assorted housemates, strange potions experiments, and terrible cooking. And a bit of waltzing, too.

The Wrong Sort by CaffeinatedFlumadiddle (289.5k, T, drarry, romione, gryffindor draco, canon divergence, torture)  In which Draco Malfoy is sorted into Gryffindor and everything kind of goes to Hell from there… but hey. At least there’s a chance he won’t grow up to be an awful person. Alternatively titled ‘Draco Malfoy and the Worst Goddamn Seven Years of His Life’

The Mirror of Ecidyrue by starbrigid (998.6k, E, drarry, wolfstar, romione, neville/ luna, grindeldore, lockhart/snape, time travel, fix it, abuse) All it takes is one look in a mirror and an ill-advised attempt to shatter it, before an embittered Draco Malfoy fresh out of Azkaban is sent back into his body on the day he gets his Hogwarts letter.Suddenly, Draco has an unwanted second chance, with a Sorting Hat that doesn't know what to do with him, a certain Muggleborn who won't leave his study table alone, and green eyes he just can't get out of his head. And then there's his new wand, whose choice of him could just mark him as every bit as dark a wizard as his name means he should be.

more than getting by by sarewolf (34.4k, M, wolfstar, wolfstar raises harry) “What do you want me to do?” Remus says, tiredly. All he wants is to curl up on his bed. Smoke a pack of cigarettes. Get drunk. He can’t stop looking at Harry.“Remus...” Dumbledore is gentle. Remus hates when he has that tone. Hates that he knows it will hurt. “There is no one else left.”A bitter laugh escapes him. “So you’ll curse the poor thing with a werewolf for a guardian?”

How Like Home by waitingondaisies (63.5k, T, jily, dimension travel) When Sirius falls through the veil, Harry chases after him, determined to find him on the other side. Instead, he finds nothing at all. When he wakes up, he is informed by Unspeakables that he is from an alternate universe.Thanks to his uncanny resemblance to his counterpart, Harry is readily recognized as a duplicate of Harry Potter, a normal fifteen year old boy, and is entrusted to the care of Lily and James Potter. From them, Harry discovers that Voldemort is not, and never was, a threat in this universe.Now, Harry must adapt to life with loving parents in a peaceful world.

Professor Black by Haunted_Frost (29k, T, wolfstar, professor regulus black) Kreacher's unending loyalty has allowed Regulus to survive the Inferi. In order to destroy the horcrux and ensure Voldemort's death, he goes back to Hogwarts, this time as a Potions professor. Years at this position give him new insights, even as the papers rave about how both the Blacks were traitors to their sides.When Sirius gets loose from Azkaban, Regulus knows one thing: he is not going to let his lunatic brother hurt his students.Inspired entirely by this tumblr post.

atla

(let me be) there for you by lesmiserablol (8.5k, T, zukka, post-war, bodyguard sokka, friends to lovers, idiots to lovers) Sokka pulls out a clean piece of parchment and starts to write:Reasons Why Sokka Would Be A Great Bodyguard for Lord ZukoHe smiles in satisfaction at the title. Seeing it in writing only makes him feel more confident in this brilliant, two-minute-old idea of his. Zuko is one of his closest friends, and Sokka is a great fighter, he would be the perfect bodyguard! He has the entirety of his trip in the Fire Nation to prove it to Zuko. This is going to be a piece of cake.(or, Sokka mistakes his crush for just a strong desire to be a guard for Zuko, and Suki is amused)

boy problems by burnt_oranges (22.2k, zukka, mailee, friends to lover, post-war, arranged marriage) “I accidentally signed off on an arranged marriage to Sokka,” Zuko says faintly. He sits up so fast he almost falls out of his chair. “I signed off on an arranged marriage to Sokka, and he agreed."In which Zuko suffers in a variety of ways, including but not limited to: close and constant proximity to the object of his affections, assassination attempts, and irreparable injuries to his dignity.

we really should google these things first by Bundibird (3k, G, gen, modern) Sokka's aloe vera plant is in need of a good pruning, and what's Sokka gonna do, just throw out all the pruned leaves? When instead he can make aloe vera juice? Come on. (Only - maybe he should have googled this beforehand. Because it turns out there's an edible kind of aloe, and a toxic kind. Guess what kind Sokka has. Go on, guess.)(Or: the modern AU based on the time I nearly poisoned myself with a non-edible succulent.)

spn

Checked Out by whelvenwings (27.1k, G, destiel, dreamhunter, library au, librarian castiel, writer dean, openly bi dean, misunderstandings)  Castiel Novak can think of many writers who would not be welcome under the roof of Heaven’s Gate library, where he is the librarian: Ayn Rand ranks highly (no explanation needed), as does Charles Dickens (he hasn’t forgiven Charles for the month he lost to The Pickwick Papers). And, of course, Dean Winchester. Dean Winchester, local author and obvious a-hole, who is entirely too handsome to be true and who is clearly totally lacking in profundity, intelligence, sincerity, and self-awareness. Unfortunately, though, Dean’s been invited to do a book signing at Heaven’s Gate - and Castiel’s about to be confronted by some unexpected feelings when he finally meets Dean for the first time.

Aim and Ignite by wincechesters (10.3k, M, destiel, cas in the bunker)  After the angels fall and Cas loses his grace, and with Sam still recovering from the toll taken on his body by the trials, Dean starts a prank war as a way to lighten the mood in the bunker and alleviate his boredom. It might just have some unexpected consequences. --- A post-S8 canon AU.

bnha

Izuku plays video games with the League of Villains (among other things) by ADyingFlower (54.2k, T, gen, quirkless midoriya, villain deku) Izuku plays video games with the League of Villains, denies being a villain, has his beloved animal crossing file threatened, kicks ass with a shotgun, is proposed to, learns to deal with his depression, and accidentally kidnaps the son of the number two hero. In that order.Or: Five times Izuku played online with his friends, and one time he played with them in personThen Himiko screams.“CAPTAIN!” “Y-yeah?” Tomura asks almost hesitantly. “LOOK!!” All four of them spin around, right as a cannonball comes soaring inches from Izuku’s head from the Galleon less than a three feet away from them. They scream. “OH FUCK NO NO NO NO! NO!” Dabi yells, running to load the cannons. “DUDE WE HAVE SO MUCH SHIT! NO! HOLY FUCKING SHIT!”“Hey guys, guys! Hey, chill!” Izuku shrieks frantically, right as one of the players boards their ship and starts shooting. “CHILL THE FUCK OUT!”

our trust shot full of holes by nolov (louscr) (25.9k, T, gen) When he's twelve, Izuku meets his best friend. Neither of them are especially good at having friends, but they make do.The other shoe drops less than a week into his first year at U.A.

Are You Valued? by cyber_phobia (9.2k, T, dad for one)  "What are you drawing, Izuku?" Hisashi asks with adoration dripping in his voice. "It's Uncle!" Izuku shouts, smacking his dad's arm for daring to ask once more. All the air leaves Hisashi's lungs in one fell swoop.

To Spark A Smile by awefull (1.1k, G, gen, dadzawa) A six-year-old. Aizawa was the guardian of a six-year-old. Aizawa, a pro-hero, who had poor eating habits, and no sleep schedule, was in charge of raising a little girl.He, reasonably, had some concerns.

Long Night in the Valley by Marsalias (53.7k, T, gen, suspected traitor, dad might, dad for one) On paper, the Hero Commission's plan to investigate Midoriya Izuku under the guise of a training course for combating mental quirks is solid, almost foolproof, even. If Midoriya turns out to be innocent, they can pass everything off as part of the training exercise, assuming he even remembered any of it. Otherwise, they could beg forgiveness after the traitor was securely imprisoned in Tartarus.The paper plan failed to take into account the feral ghosts living in Midoriya Izuku's head, or his equally feral living friends.Time to bring on the chaos.

i gave the voices in my head a megaphone by hannahbal (17.3k, todoroki/midoriya/shinsou) ...and they started singing Megan Thee Stallion.(Hitoshi, like any good friend, brainwashes Izuku’s anxiety away for a day so he can know some peace. The problem? Izuku has no fear of god or consequences.Izuku also has no goddamn filter.)

Nothing Could Be More Worthwhile by Krisington (3.5k, G, gen, dad might) Toshinori Yagi wouldn’t say he had let his guard down in retirement, not exactly. It was more accurate to say that he had let his guard down in his true form. He didn’t notice others, and others didn’t notice him. It had become a small pleasure, he realized, one he was reluctant to let go.He should have known better.The man managed to reach All Might’s forehead a split second before All Might grabbed the man’s arm. But a second was just enough.A villain showed All Might a vision of Izuku. Bloodied. Broken. Fading. Was that some future that would come to pass? Toshinori needed to do everything in his power to make sure it wasn't.

everything i wanted by raindrops_0 (9k, T, gen, 5 + 1) Izuku turns to face Hitoshi and flashes a bright smile, eyes folding into crescent moons.Bright like the afternoon sun swallowing Hitoshi whole, bright like All Might’s fucking perfect grin, bright like he’s already a hero.Bright like everything Hitoshi has ever wanted and then more.(Hitoshi can’t help it, but he hates. Of course Izuku can smile as if the whole world is in his hands. He’s never had to fight for every little thing and be hated for it.)Or 5 times Hitoshi misjudged the golden boy of UA, and 1 time he finally understood.

hp/bnha 

Bend Before You Break by orkestrations (16.2k, T, gen) When Izuku set out for his morning run, the last thing he was expecting was to be plucked from his own world by magic and thrown into another universe entirely.Removed from his own conflict and with no way back, he sets himself to figuring out this world and its own incipient war while searching for a way to possibly reverse the spell that brought him here.It's just his luck that the year he arrives is the same year the government decides it's a great idea to bring back the potentially-deadly tournament.

[the-last-cuddlebender]

I wish you would write a fic where Aang and or Katara dies

*inhale* I knew this day would come. (I have -32% skill at writing character deaths because I am soft and squishy, but I tried...and I reluctantly appreciate the practice, especially since this got a lot longer than a fic request lmao🙃) BUT SERIOUSLY, ANON, WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME—?!

Katara was an ocean reduced to a puddle, and Aang held her close like she might drift away.

His hug was warm, his arms were home, and the soft coo that spoke her name almost made her believe that everything was going to be okay...

Rating: T

Words: 3,300 (AO3)

*****************************************

Dozens of cracks tore open the cave floor like a dried log being snapped in half. The continent itself was being torn asunder, but the world falling apart wasn’t what filled Katara from toe to brim with frozen static.

The look on Aang’s face made it harder to breathe. He held her still with that unfamiliar but familiar smile of his that brought down her every defense. He cradled her face as she caught her breath and recovered from the sprint for their lives.

His voice was a gentle coo that was forever concerned, but his words were distant and fuzzy like he was speaking to her through water.

“—can, Katara. I—”

The tunnel threatened to collapse again, and Katara braced herself to the wall and coughed on the dust that greeted her stinging lungs.

“—be right behind you. Look at me. I promise. I’ll be right behind you, okay? I promise.”

Aang kissed her brow for a second too long. It didn’t feel right. He didn’t look right. He didn’t sound right.

Katara was almost too weak to speak, so her concern bled into small touches and little tugs to pull him closer. The Uprisers were not known for being kind to their captives, and Katara had been no exception. The drugs they forced down her throat were thick and sour like rancid syrup; her bending was numb and kept just beyond her ball and chain, and the living hum thrumming just beneath her skin refused to give up control of her body.

Aang, however, looked as horrible as she felt. She tried not to think about what he had to fight through to rescue her from the compound.

Aang had never struggled to breathe before. He was an airbender. The scratchy sounds from his every pant were crimes against nature.

“Aang—”

“I promise.” Aang stepped closer like he was giving himself as a gift—No, no, not a gift, something worse. His presence was warm like something safe and soothing, and it radiated in the air between them...but his winds were wilting.

Aang’s smile got a little bigger. He stroked her face again. “I’ll be right behind you. I promise. Have I ever broken a promise?”

The mountain groaned and warped beneath them like the rolling shoulders of some large beast. The imaginations of their children’s cries were in Katara’s ears, now; the force of them nearly jerked her off her feet.

Aang said something else—something reassuring that began with a soft promise and ended with a gentle whisper of her name.

The hairs on Katara’s nape stood on end, and her stomach flipped into everywhere it shouldn’t be.

Aang’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. It didn’t spark any color, either; it was just enough to dress his face in a grin. 

His smile—damn that spiritsdamned smile—

His little laugh was a sledgehammer driving into her gut, his brushing touches were claws sinking into her heart, and the little shadow in his eyes—terrified and so sad that Katara nearly cried for him—was a beast threatening to rip her apart. 

He...He wouldn’t...

Heat crawled into her face, warmth slid down her cheeks, and Aang’s unspoken words were daggers twisting into open wounds and bleeding her out.

...He couldn’t.

The whole continent shook with a mighty roar. Aang stiffened and failed to pretend to ignore it. He looked at her like he was looking through her, into her—flipping through the pages of her soul and signing them so his presence there wouldn’t be forgotten.

He couldn’t—He promised—

His image blurred. “No…” Katara’s first tears raced down her face like they might be able to stop him if only they hit the ground fast enough. “N-No...No, I am not—Dammit, Aang, I am not leaving here without you!”

Aang’s smile was a tranquilizer, and it was made all the more potent when he claimed the space between them again. Katara fisted his robes; it took her a few fumbling tries—like her fingers were stiffened from frostbite—, but her shaking hands eventually found purchase.

His hands caught her face before she could hide under his chin. “Leaving me?” He said it so casually that Katara would have smacked him if she could move. “Who said you were leaving me? You’re not leaving me. I’m just giving you a head start. I’ll catch up with you.”

“Aang, please. We have to go home. You—You know how Tenzin gets when it storms like this. He and Bumi and Kya need you so…so we have to go home...please.”

Aang’s smile got a little bigger. His eyes got a little wetter. The press of his brow to hers was as gentle as he always was and like how he always made her feel.

He exhaled—the sound was familiar; the air was, too—, but this breath left him like it did in her nightmares after those days when someone walked into her clinic and didn’t walk out.

“...Tell them that I love them?”

Katara’s chest caved in like it was made of glass. Everything flushed too hot and too cold all at once. Her head was fuzzy and filled with cotton.

Aang had the audacity to smile a little more—lopsided on the left side with the shadow of a dimple that never did choose whether or not to call his face its home—and wipe his thumbs under her eyes like he could wipe away her broken heart just as easily.

Katara’s voice was watery and taut like a cable about to snap. “I’m not telling them shit.” She glared hellfire at his stupid face even as she leaned into his touch and drank the safety he cloaked her with. “You’ll tell them yourself once we get home. They’re probably hungry since it’s close to their bedtime and—”

“Katara…”

“No! We are going home—both of us—and y-you can tell them yourself! We are going to regroup and try again, but right now we are going home—!”

She tugged him, but he didn’t move. Her buckling knees nearly took her out, and some hidden part of her ripped in half and bled poison—sharp and twice as toxic as the Uprisers’ drugs—into everything that she was.

Aang’s eyes misted over like the boulders on Ember Island that sat in the sand and surf and bore a perpetual glaze from the ocean throwing itself against them.

He could not have begged her any harder if he was on his knees.

“Katara…”

No. No. She wouldn’t—she couldn’t...

Katara sucked air on her next inhale as her throat threatened to close.

She yelled at him. She screamed at him. The mountain shook some more, Aang grew all the more concerned, and the look on his face and the sag of his shoulders—defeated—made her weep all the harder.

“—expect me to care for you so little that I would leave you behind! How could you ever—how could you ever j-just expect me to—!”

He let her tire herself out. Typical airbender tactic. Her body, the drugs, and her exhaustion fought her on his behalf, and her shaking fists beat his chest in little more than muted pats.

Aang slipped past her defenses, held her face in a way that compelled her to lean into his palms, and showered her with chaste kisses that lasted for seconds at a time. Each one lasted longer and pressed deeper than the one before like he was guiding her into warm water. They were simple, they were welcoming, and they were perfect.

He tamed her like it was the most natural thing in the world, and, when he mumbled sweet words into his every kiss, she shuddered like something dead about to be blown into dust.

Katara was an ocean reduced to a puddle, and Aang held her close like she might drift away.

His hug was warm, his arms were home, and the soft coo that spoke her name almost made her believe that everything was going to be okay.

Katara choked on her next breath and buried the wet sound in the singed tatters of robes resting over his heart.

“P-Please, Aang…Please...”

Aang hugged her tighter to keep her from falling apart. “...I love you.”

Katara trembled, but the small kiss to her cheek caught the pieces of her shattered heart, and the hum of his voice calmed her storm like he was shepherding it back home. Katara’s legs buckled. She almost smiled, damn it all. She hugged his neck and rushed to tell him how much she loved him and how much she needed him to come home.

He promised. He promised.

Aang kneeled and guided Katara to her knees like he knew better than she did that she would fall flat the second he was gone. Katara scrambled to hold onto him; she clawed his back and prayed that her fingers would not be numb for long enough to keep him there.

“No, no, no, no, no, Aang, please, no, please—”

“I love you...I love you...I love you…” He kissed her some more and rubbed her back. “It’s okay, Katara.”

Katara shook her head. “N-No…’s not okay. It’s not. Aang, I don’t...I can’t…” She pressed her face to his. It was the only part of her she could move. “My…’m husband ‘nd I need you and...a-and…”

She was scared. She was so, so scared. His arms were the safest place in the world, and she needed him. She loved him. He was her husband. He was the father of their children. He was her full moon when she was at her weakest, and he was the man she was going to spend every boring, exciting, sad, happy moment of her life with.

“You...You promised...You promised, Aang…You promised…”

Aang’s hand was ghostly as it trailed up and down her back. His touch was a key and she was his safe, and he unlocked the tension out of every part of her so she could barely muster the control to hold onto him. His next kiss was longer than the rest. The hug he tugged her into was so safe that it almost tricked her into thinking that he was leaving for only a little while.

“I did promise. And I am promising.” She felt his smile when he kissed her neck and talked right into her ear. “I’ll be right behind you, okay? Just keep walking east, and Appa will find you. Keep your eyes ahead of you. You can get lost if you look back.”

Katara hesitated, frozen, for a second that lasted an eternity.

...She didn’t want to say goodbye. 

“Don’t...Don’t go…Please, don’t go. I’m begging you, Aang, please…” She fought the numbness trapping her within the cage of her body, but her efforts to hold him tighter did nothing but make her arms shake. “I love you...I love you so much, and I can’t...P-Please don’t go…”

Aang pulled away; Katara flinched like a bandage was being torn off and scrambled to keep him close, but she might as well have tried finding purchase on wet glass. 

He cupped the curve of her jaw, and his fingers wove into the stray hairs that curled under her ear. She leaned into him. She didn’t bother trying to hide her desperation. Her next plea was the whine of a dying machine, and her shaking hand held his wrist to brand his warmth into her. She closed her eyes and prayed to be anywhere else.

She could tell him how much she loved him until the universe itself buckled and collapsed and still not have said how much her heart bled for him.

He was the daydream that made all of her nightmares worth it.

...He was her best friend.

Defeated grey eyes like ashes left in the wake of a fire looked at her like he was seeing her for the first time.

Then he smiled. And Katara’s heart went to war.

Because the way he looked at her made everything bright and warm and perfect even though his eyes were kissing her goodbye.

“I’ll be right behind you, Katara,” he said. His quiet voice—always gentle and forever concerned—was strong and reassuring, but he swallowed so heavily that she saw his throat bob. His touched his forehead to hers and drowned her in all things safe and familiar and home. “I promise.”

Katara made a sound like a whimper. Her world turned crooked, and her grip on his robes was the only thing keeping her above water.

He was supposed to teach Bumi how to fly a skybison. He was supposed to help Sokka prank Toph the day after next for her birthday. He was supposed to teach Tenzin how to airbend. He was supposed to teach Kya how to dance so she wouldn’t be so nervous in front of other people.

He promised—He promised...

Aang kissed both her cheeks and twice between her eyes.

“I love you.”

And then...nothing.

The warmth was gone—just a gust of air in his wake. He didn’t let her see him leave.

There was a wall where he once was, sealing the cave shut.

Katara was suddenly drowning, and she fought to find her air. “No!” She dragged herself forward and fell flat twice before touching the cold barrier. She shook like a building about to collapse. She clawed the stone as she spiraled into something worse than darkness. “No! Aang, you promised!” Her numb limbs got a little number, and her soul burned like it was peeled raw. She screamed so loud that it threatened to make her throat bleed. “Aang, you promised! Aang, please! Please! Aang, you promised!”

The mountain growled and threatened to crush her, but Katara yelled at it, too. She yelled at the Spirits and the Avatars and her stupid, stupid best friend.

The sounds from beyond and below the stone wall would haunt her forever. Katara clawed the door he had slammed in her face even though she could just barely find the strength to keep conscious.

He promised. He promised, damn it all. He promised—

Sokka and Suki found Katara mere minutes before the mountain collapsed. Her fingers were bloody. Her voice was gone. She was crying more than breathing.

Sokka cursed as he dragged her, weakly kicking and mutely screaming, out of the cave while Suki tried to keep Appa still. 

Katara scrambled and fought—frantic—but her world was spinning out of control. She couldn’t muster more than a desperate squirm and a heartbroken whine that Suki had to look away from.

“Let me go! He promised!” Katara screamed, but her voice was a leaky stream of air from a broken pipe that was barely louder than the rain. Her words were full of holes and made the back of her tongue her taste like iron and salt. “Sokka, he needs me! Please, they’re going to kill him!” She looked up at her big brother. Her world was being ripped apart, but Sokka wouldn’t look at her. “Please, Sokka! Please! I can’t lose him again! I can’t...I can’t—!”

Her big brother set his jaw and said nothing, but his grip shook the barest bit.

A broken sound—a long keen like a wounded wolf’s howl—dragged itself out of Katara. She wanted to fight, but even her body was letting her lose him.

Lose him.

She was losing him.

“Sokka, I...I promised...I promised...”

Lightning flashed white-hot scars across the blackened sky and cracked Katara’s eardrums like a whip against her back.

Katara’s element called to her in every sheet of rain flooding the ground in inches of water, but she was trapped behind dirty glass, helpless to the drug humming with laugher just beneath her skin.

She kicked Sokka where it hurt, but even when Katara fought free, she couldn’t pick herself up off the ground.

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair.

Appa paced and pawed the mountain. He softly groaned, his eyes searching.

He...He promised.

Katara fought to move her head enough to face the cave entrance. She panted, too confined, too enclosed, like she was being compressed into her own skin.

Aang...

Her other half was missing.

He was in danger.

He was alone.

She needed to get him back—she had to. Everything would be okay if she just got him back.

She always brought him back.

She tried to picture his smile, but the memory didn’t carry the warmth that he did.

The broken sound dragged itself out of Katara again, and, this time, it broke her apart and dragged her pieces with it.

“No....No, no, no...Please, n-no...Please...”

Mud and rain touched her tongue, and Katara didn’t know who or what to curse anymore when still her element wouldn’t come to her. It mocked her like a million devils and burned her with just as many hateful glares when she dug into what wasn’t there and dragged herself forward a few inches.

...Suki gathered her into a submission hold and scooped her into the saddle.

The shredded parts of Katara that had held on to something like hope were torn off and left to bleed out.

“No...” Katara clawed Suki, the saddle, and anything else she could reach. “No—N-No...” 

Aang—He needed her. He needed help. 

When next the mountain roared, what was left of Katara’s heart tore into pieces as fine as ashes. 

Aang...She heard him.

He was hurt. 

He needed her.

He was stupid.

He was alone.

He was scared.

He was her best friend, and she wasn’t going to leave him. 

She promised. 

Appa whuffled a concerned sound when Suki pinned Katara prone in the saddle to halt her next escape attempt, but the ground giving way gave him no choice but to fly.

There was a last crumble of stone like a god falling out of the sky.

There was a plume of dust and dirt that stole the space in Katara’s lungs.

And then...nothing.

The mountain—The mountain was gone, swallowed into the ocean with the rest of the peninsula.

It was gone.

He was gone.

But he...he...

Suki tried to console her even as she fought back her own tears. Sokka sat beside her and squeezed her hand so hard that she couldn’t feel her fingers.

Katara’s limbs were filled with lead, and she slowly sank, like through quicksand, into something cold and dark that reminded her of nightmares and flirts with death. She was at the bottom of the ocean, and she was being crushed alive.

Her ears rang, her insides became more slush than bone, and the wind howled and beat them like it was mourning its last master.

Breathing was no longer a passive function, and Katara had to remember her children just to convince herself to fill her lungs again.

Her children.

Their children.

The emptiness was a pit in her chest that sat on her with the weight of a mountain, and it was swallowing Katara whole.

“You…” Katara hiccupped and pressed herself into the waterlogged saddle like she might be able to hide there. Her voice was the crunch of glass underfoot, and the whole of her shook like she was freezing to death. “You p-promised…”

The hole in her chest where her heart once was tightened its inky-black chains around her. Her insides rang hollow, and ice crept in frozen webs just beneath her skin. She was numb. She was floating—She was falling—, but Katara kept fighting anyways.

Her only moment of peace came when Suki chi-blocked her.

Unconsciousness was a blessing, and Katara welcomed it like she was sprinting towards it.

This was all just a nightmare. It had to be.

She would wake up, roll over so she was buried even deeper in his arms, and smile as he mumbled a sleepy ‘I love you’ and lazily kissed her hair.

Because Aang promised.

“I guess this means we’ll always be together.”

...And she thought Aang would never break a promise.

*****************************************

.

.

...🥺

aka the “Katara: the Last Airbender” AU that I have equal parts love and hate for. Aang dies protecting the world—and, more importantly, Katara and his family—when Tenzin is a baby, so Katara has to teach Tenzin airbending from what she learned/remembers from Aang. Being his sparring partner made her the best—and now only—resource for airbending, but she knew more than most people realized. She knew Aang better than anyone. His every facet was a mirror and a duplicate embossed into her own. She gave Aang his own Kataango but with airbending, after all, and learning his way of interacting with the world made her connection with him all the deeper. (Sokka was the better storyteller, though, and Katara could only hope that he could tell the three lights of her life about their father without summoning tears at the mere mention of their good times like she did.)

Btw If you heard a loud crack, that was my heart breaking🙃

I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY, ANON

[kits-shrine]

Halloween Dares and Scares Pt3

(Ho boy this one is a doozy, most under the cut to save your feed. ENJOY!)

"Chara... are you ok?" Asriel ask nervously before coughing, starting to choke on the malice in the air. It started to grow as soon as Chara had started telling their story, the story of all monster kind, hate welling up in them at the memory of the betrayal they suffered. The energy of their rage and hurt was amplified under the full moon's light, absorbed by the board only to bounce back to the spirits connected to it. Building like a self contained circuit. 

"Finally.... finally after all these years they're gonna be free! We did is Az!" Chara cheered exuberantly panting unaware of the dark tendrils closing in on their ghostly form, their eyes started to glow with a red haze. "We saved them... we did it..."

"Cha-Chara... something's wro-wrong... we-we shouldn't have tricked those kids like that." the young goat monster started coughing harder, collapsing to his knees with a wheeze.

"Shhhh it's ok Asriel." Chara cooed cradling his face in their hands. "You heard them, they wanted to help. Besides," their smile grew a little manic "who cares? What's a few stupid kids lives when monsters have been trapped for so long? We did it. We saved them." their thumbs rubbed the fur on his cheeks leaving stripes of pitch in their wake. His breathing started to even out, a haze growing in his eyes to match Chara's.

"We did it? We... did it... WE DID IT!" chest heaving he stood, growing taller and taller his voice dropped deeper as he was seized by the same mania that had taken over Chara.

"Yeah we did!" Chara yelled stepped back bumping into the small Shrine's structure, causing their eyes to narrow as they gave it a baleful gaze. They shifted to look up higher and higher, hate welling up within them. "We're not done yet partner. We're going to make get even on everything that's taken them from us. What kept them trapped. And we starting with this place." with that declaration they used the energy produced by the board and the full moon to pierce the veil between the spirit world and that of the living and manifested themselves corporally. The dark energy whirled around, summoning a long wicked looking blade in Chara's hand and two curved sabers in Asriel's. They made quick work of the modest Shrine at the mountains base, leaving a pile of rumble in its wake. In unison they turned their gaze up the mountain, drawn by the power the heart held. With manic laughter they advanced up through the woods, passing by and triggering the wards to send out a message of distress to its guardian.

They rampaged through the trees, laying waste to everything in their way. The foxes of the Shrine fleeing the specters wrath. The gentle tinging of glass chimes rose as they neared the Wishing Tree at the heart of the Shrine. They were cut off by a wave of blue flames.

"That is enough." Kit's voice cut through the air as she emerged from the flames, eyes flashing and fur bristled. Her ire was doused by confusion seeing the souls in front of her, she lifted a hand to choke back a gag at the poisonous dark miasma that had consumed them. A jolt of shock ran through her as she realized just who they were. "But how... I thought you'd be locked Underground with the others. What are you doing here?" "NO! We were locked out here while they were locked down there!" Asriel snarled. "Trapped!"

"But not for much longer~" Chara sang playing with the tip of their knife. "With the seven souls we sent down tonight and by taking out whatever strange magic this place holds, we're gonna set um free." their grin grew stretched over their face.

Kit looked distraught and confused, "Wait seven souls at one time?" she shook her head. "It makes no sense, why would the magic here hold them trapped? This isn't Mt Ebott. This is Abbott! I can't even find Ebott on a map!"

Asriel slashed his saber at her impatiently causing Kit to dodge out of the way while Chara laughed. "You need a new map. The humans," they spat the word out "changed this mountains name in the last few years. Can't believe you were so stupid you didn't even notice." Chara swung their knife at Kit viciously, the glowing blade catching her Miko uniform.  

"Stop this! I'm not your enemy but I will not let you continue down this path. Look at yourselves! If you keep up this energy will destroy you." she looked at them concerned, darkness corroding them away at the edges.

"No... we're going to DESTROY YOU!" the pair roared charging forward. They rained down wave after wave of attacks at Kit, slashes from blades, bolts of energy and dark fire. Crying out their rage with every blow.

"We trusted them!"

"The monsters did nothing wrong!"

"The humans were just jealous!"

"They betrayed us. KILLED US!"

"ALL FOR NOTHING!"

Kit parried and dodged, doing her best to keep them contained. It felt like it went on for hours, maybe it did. Being spirits they had a nearly unending supply of energy fueled by their hate and rage. Kit wasn't so lucky. She regretted wasting what energy she had on her costume illusionary earlier in the morning. She enveloped the two in blue flames burning away the miasma that was eating away at their essence. She used every trick and illusion she could to block or slow them down while she tried reasoning with them.

"We have waited so long for them to be freed, but this stupid mountain... no your stupid wards kept humans from passing!" Chara snarled.

Panting Kit held out her hands beseechingly, "I didn't know! Look, you don't have to do this. If there really are seven humans down there that means the barrier will be broke soon." she hoped for the best but everything was already far off the norm... who knew what it would be like. "Your loved ones wouldn't want you to suffer like this. They would want you to be at peace."

"At peace?" Asriel shook his head, a hand going to cradle his face in pain.

 Chara looked at him in concern before turning a hate filled glare back at Kit. "And how would you know, huh? To not know anything about Ebott or the Underground, you sure seem to know a awful lot about everything else."

Kit grimaced, how was she supposed to explain the multiverse so quick? "I just do. You just have to trust m-"

Chara cut her off viciously "TRUST YOU?! Never! For all we know you or your family helped the humans trap the monsters! It's your fault they weren't released sooner. You... you traitor!" distracted by their growing rage and the corresponding darkness that was swarming back around them Kit didn't see Asriel as he rushed her, slamming her body ruthlessly into one of the thick ancient trees there, shattering it into splinters. Kit had no time to recover from the impact as she rolled narrowly dodging a hail of stars he sent.

Damn it. She didn't want to hurt them. They were children that were already hurting... but if they continued they were going to change into evil spirits forever. With no way for them to move on or be at peace. But at this rate they were going to destroy everything, including themselves. She really had no choice... 

Her bracelet glowed as she drew energy from the Shrines heart, her eyes flashed and she shifted. Not to her normal tiny fox self. But to her full kitsune fox form, from the tip of her nose to her flanks she was over five foot long, her long tails thrashing behind her adding several feet to her length. Her normal warm brown fur melted into a shimmering cream that nearly glowed in the night. Snarling she dashed forward ripping pieces of shadow that clung to the child relentlessly. Her speed and strength increased drastically, her movements a blur as she darted in and out of their range, blue flames licking all around them as they cried out in fear and pain.

A bead on Kit's bracelet cracked and her steps faltered. She wouldn't be able to stay like this for long, the power invoked was almost too much for her body to handle. She had to break the connection soon... otherwise she was going to break the promise she'd made to Mercy and the kids. After all... you can't come back if you're dead.

The spirits forms seemed to flicker between their corrupted selves and their true selves. They fell to their knees, crying out for mercy. Asriel seemed to be actively trying to shake off the darkness surrounding him while Chara just screamed over and over. "NO! NONONONONONONONO! IT CAN'T END LIKE THIS! WE HAVE TO SAVE THEM!"

Eventually Chara crumpled over weeping, the ghoulish hate faded leaving their tortured scared soul curled on the ground, while Asriel looked around in disbelief tears running down his small fuzzy cheeks.

Sighing happy the battle seemed to have been won, Kit shifted back to her normal form and gathered them into her arms holding the children close. "I'll do everything I can to help them ok?" she promised.

Sniffing Chara wrapped their arms around her "Really? You..." they leaned back to look at her with red flashing eyes "You really are stupid." Chara's grin grew as they slashed her side cruelly with the blade they hastily resummoned using the last of their hate filled energy.

Kit let out a cry of pain as she tightened her hold on them. "Alright... now you're in time OUT!" Kit bit out engulfing  them in her spirit flames, focusing on removing every trace of the miasma from the children. She hugged them tight, pushing every bit of love and care she could into them helping sooth their unrest.

As they slowly started to settle, there was a sudden deep rumble from underneath... it shook the every ground that they sat.

There was a loud shattering noise and a flash of light lit the mountain from below, followed by a smaller flash and noise that shook Kit just as much as her bracelet itself shattered. She looked around dazedly clutching the children to her, true joy filled their face as they felt it. The barrier was gone.

"we really did it..." Chara whispered, honest tears streaming down their face. Asriel sniffed and looked at Kit his form wavering "We're sorry Miss. We just wanted them to be free. We waited so, so long." He gave her a watery smile. "And now they are. Chara... let's go. We don't have to stay anymore." The human child looked at him about to argue, then sighed "You're right, we did what we wanted to." their red gaze, no longer ridden with hate turned to Kit. "...sorry. You really meant it didn't you? About helping them?"

Kit nodded and they took a deep breath and Ariel's hand into their own and they started walking, faded more and more until they were gone.

Kit pressed a hand to the wound on her side, wincing as she inspected it. The miasma from the blade was bleeding into her like a black poison. Her blue flame flickered weakly, most of her energy spent. With a groan she reached into her pocket for her phone to call for help, only to discover it had been crushed from her impact with the tree earlier.

"Ooooof course." Kit moaned struggling to her feet. The edges of her vision spotty as she determinedly placed one foot in front of the other, careful to maintain as much spirit flame as she could to combat the spreading poison in her side as she slowly made her way home. After all, she had people waiting on her. (Fin~ Everything that happened after took place @mistrealm)

First Part Second Part

[ourloveisforthelovely]

Tease Part 4

Harry Potter AU 

Pairings: Sirius Black x Reader 

Link to Part 3 

Rating: E 

_____

“HE WHAT?”

Tonks shrieked as you told her about the breakup. You only nodded as Tonks and Remus gave you matching expressions of horror. This was the absolute last thing that either party expected! Remus had been hoping that Sirius was just being an overgrown child and would have gotten his head out of his ass. Apparently, that did not happen. Tonks never expected it at all. Sirius seemed so happy with you. From going to being all over each other to cutting off the love supply didn’t seem right.

“You heard me.”

You replied, sadly. It was taking all that you had not to burst into tears. You weren’t, however, going to give Sirius the satisfaction of seeing you cry (should he walk into the room). Tonks sat blinking, trying to make sense of the situation.

Remus stood.

“I’ll go talk to him.”

You immediately shook your head.

“No, Remus. If Sirius doesn’t want to be with me then he doesn’t want to. I don’t want him to be with me because all of his friends are mad at him. I really appreciate you two for everything that you both have done.”

“Y/n…”

Tonks started but you cut her off.

“Sweetheart, it's okay. Look, I have to get to work. Kingsley wants to see me around 10 and I don’t want to make him wait.”

Sirius stepping into the room made your heartache even more. The moment his eyes met yours, you immediately looked away. You were not going to see how he looked at you with that “please love me. I’m an idiot” look.

Had it been the day before, you would have been all over him. Getting out the door for work was almost a 15-minute process that led to the two of you almost having sex in the middle of the doorway. Today, you walked past him without a look or word. That didn’t mean that your heart was breaking, however. You wanted nothing more than to curl up on Sirius’ lap and forget that the previous night even happened.

For Sirius, the feelings were the same. He was mentally telling himself that he fucked up BIG TIME. It was so obvious that he was in love with you but he couldn’t bring himself to admit it. Saying “I love you” was too hard of a thought to process. Now that he saw you this morning the “I love you” thoughts were slamming into play.

When you wouldn’t look at him, Sirius felt ten times even worse. Your ignoring was more painful than the hangover that he was dealing with. He would deal with the world’s worst hangover everyday for the foreseeable future if it meant the pain in his chest would heal.

Seeing that your eyes were puffy from crying was an even bigger kick in the balls. You were crying because of him and Sirius hated it. He was supposed to make you happy...not this. Snape’s comment about not being 16 again rang in Sirius’ head over and over. He wasn’t 16 anymore but he sure as hell felt like it again and it wasn’t nice. Sirius was out breaking girl’s hearts as if they didn’t matter...only this time it did.

It took all Sirius had not to grab your forearm and beg shamelessly for forgiveness.

“Bye, sugar.”

Tonks said. You waived over your shoulder and walked out.

Sirius looked at the place that you stood, wishing that you would come back. When you didn’t, he sat down at the table with a groan.

Tonks, meanwhile, gave Remus a scowl before beginning to talk. She walked behind Sirius before picking up a magazine and began to roll it up.

“So Remus, story hour, once upon a time there was an all-knowing queen who had a very ignorant cousin. One day the ignorant cousin did something that made no logical sense. The all-knowing queen politely said to her ignorant cousin WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU MAN?”

She screamed the last part before smacking Sirius on the back of the head with the rolled-up magazine until Remus walked over and took it away. Sirius, meanwhile, had jumped up like Tonks had poured a pot of boiling water on him. His hand was on the back of his head trying to soothe the throbbing from the migraine. Had Sirius been in a good mood, he would have made a comment that Tonks could smack him with a rolled-up magazine if he was in dog form but not as a human.

“Tonks, I understand that you are made because Y/n is your best friend…”

Sirius started but Tonks cut him off.

“She loves you! You are the first man that I have ever heard her say the word love about and look at what you did! You broke her heart!”

“She lov...loves me?”

Tonks smacked herself in the head. Was she really dealing with this stupidity?

“YES! Merlin, are you that ignorant?”

Sirius sighed. You loved him...it wasn’t just the incredibly hot steamy sex that you wanted.

“I’m not ignorant. Just selfish.”

“Selfish? You breaking her heart for no reason is selfish!”

Tonks snapped as Sirius scowled at her.

“No, me expecting her to wait around for me is selfish. She deserves a man that can be seen in public with her. Y/n doesn’t deserve to sit around worrying about if her boyfriend is going to be thrown back into a prison cell. She doesn’t need someone….”

“Who will never love her as you do.”

Remus totally rearranged Sirius’ sentence leaving the other man sitting in silence. Tonks gave her boyfriend a thankful smile because she was about to lose her shit.

“Remus is right. Y/n wants you. She doesn’t want someone else.”

Sirius stood up and walked from the room without another word. He couldn’t handle the “talking to” that he was getting. It was too heartbreaking.

3 hours later…

Tonks’ temper had finally started to cool when you came back into Grimmauld Place with a smile on your face.

“You look pleased.”

She said, ignoring how Sirius almost fell out of his chair to have a look at you. You, meanwhile, nodded.

“Get your bags packed, dollface, because you and I are going to Las Vegas. Remus, you can come too if you want.”

Remus shook his head.

“Too close to the full moon. What’s in Las Vegas?”

You grinned. Kingsley had talked you into taking a week for yourself. He had evidently heard about the break up from Remus and wanted to try to be soothing. Somehow being “soothing” consisted of telling you to go get wasted and gamble.

“Booze, showgirls, and gambling.”

You said with an eager smirk as you took off your coat to reveal a short tight black dress that left little to the imagination. Remus and Tonks' mouths dropped. Both could barely look into the living room where Sirius sat totally stunned. No one had seen you in this revealing of an outfit before.

Remus swallowed before leaning closer to his girlfriend.

“Maybe you should go before she decides to quit her job and be a showgirl herself.”

Tonks nodded, feeling immediately worried.

“She has the legs for it.”

You, meanwhile, were digging in your bag for the plane tickets that you had already bought.

“I’ll be right back. My red lipstick is upstairs.”

You quickly ran up the stairs leaving your stunned friends. Tonks was the first to be able to react.

“She’s going to break a lot of hearts.”

“Sirius’ in particular.”

Remus muttered as he turned to his friend. Sirius had finally recovered enough to run up the stairs after you.

You stood in the bathroom, digging around for the tube of red lipstick that you had your heart on. At first, you didn’t see Sirius standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest like a pouting child.

“Do you think this is funny?”

You turned around and had to stop yourself from smirking at the scowl on his handsome face. This was the Sirius Black that about had a fit when you went out with Andrew the question man.

“What?”

Sirius motioned to the dress...that bloody dress that made him want to bend you over the counter and have his way with you. Fuck, had your ass always been this wonderful?

“This...this dress and going to Vegas. Is this to torture me or something?”

You raised an eyebrow before putting on a coat of the lipstick that you were looking for.

“What does it matter? You broke up with me, Sirius. You made your choice and now have to deal with the consequences. So what if I want to go to Las Vegas and find some guy to bend me over and have his way with me? It shouldn’t matter to you anyway. You made your feelings crystal clear.”

Sirius’ hands clenched at his side.

“I was trying to do what’s best for you.”

You turned around and moved to slide past him but he didn’t let you. Sirius pulled you into a soft kiss that normally would have gotten him what he wanted. Today, however, you didn’t feel like playing nice. He broke your heart. What if you gave him a chance and he did it again and again?

“Sirius, I may call you daddy in bed but you are not my father. I already have one of those and don’t need another. It isn’t your place to decide what’s best for me. You didn’t take my feelings into consideration and that pisses me off. I’m a grown woman and deserve a say so in my life.”

Sirius didn’t stop you when you slipped past him again. You waited for a brief moment to see if he was going to say anything. When he didn’t you turned and went to find Tonks.

“Y/n, love…”

Sirius turned around and you were gone.

“Fuck.”

He muttered and decided to go find that bottle of whiskey again.

_____

@brokencasbutt67-writer

@authoressskr

@fandom-trash-worth-it

@summer-novak

@marichromatic

@maggioli-m

@shitfaceddaniel

@untoldshortsofthefandoms

@stuckinsaudi1

@knight-of-gleefulness

@shadows-and-padlocked-hearts

@emiwrites3reads

@wontlookaway

@li0nh34rt

@tas898

@deanwherescas

@sprnaturallover

@mycuddlycorner

[lemonlushff-iy]

Summary: Kagome comes home to Montana from her new life in California…only to be greeted with hostility and the demons of her past. Some mistakes can never be forgiven. She just hopes that maybe this one can.

RATED M / NSFW

Story inspired by Clearwillow​’s “New Moon Ride”, written with permission and for the March 14, 2020 White Day celebration…and slowly uploaded much sooner…

Read parts 1-7 here

One Last Ride - Part Eight

His tongue felt fuzzy and it was far too bright in the room. A pounding headache drilled through his skull, and he wanted to just roll over and die.

Fuck...what had he done last night?

He wanted to try and remember, but his splitting headache was making that far too difficult right now. God damn! Who the hell was turning on a blender at this ungodly hour?

What time was it anyways?

He rolled over with a groan and just barely pried open an eye to grab his phone and wake it up.

9:00 am

Why did he feel like he was running late?

Something in the back of his head told him he needed to get up.

Right now.

Wait.

FUCK!

Souta's graduation!

Inuyasha pushed himself out of bed and stumbled around his room, rummaging through drawers to find a nicer pair of his jeans and a button down, white tank top, and undergarments. He rushed to the bathroom, turning on the water and jumping in...even though the water was still freezing.

He was almost worried his balls would never recover from the shock factor, but he needed to be a man and suck it up.

In and out.

That was the goal so he wouldn't smell like whatever the fuck he smelled like. He gave himself a quick once over with soap, only hitting all of the necessary areas before he was throwing the shower curtain open and tripping over the  bathmat. His head smacked into the mirror over the sink across from the tub, and he let out an embarrassing whimper.

God dammit all to hell!

When the fuck had the bathmat bunched up?!

Fuck!

His head was already throbbing. He didn't need this shit too.

Inuyasha placed his hands on either side of the sink, trying to take deep, calming breaths and not tear the bathroom to pieces. Ma would never forgive him. And then he'd be down a bathroom.

Showering out back in the open wasn't exactly something he wanted to do.

Then again...he wouldn't mind it if he had an appreciative audience…Someone with black hair and stormy, blue grey eyes...

His eyes widened. Where the hell had that come from.

He didn't have time to contemplate it. He needed to down half the bottle of Advil in the medicine cabinet and like, four god damn gallons of water. Why the hell did he drink as much as he did yesterday? He remembered playing the drinking game with Kikyo, but that alone shouldn't have caused this.

Fuck, did it even matter right now?

He pulled the bottle of pills out of the medicine cabinet, opening the top and popping a few into his hand before throwing them back and swallowing. He did his best to towel off, shave, and get ready before running down the stairs.

Coffee. He needed coffee.

And all the goddamn water in the fucking kitchen.

"Well!" his mother greeted, seeing him enter the kitchen like a bull in a china cabinet. "Would ya look who's finally awake! I take it you had a grand ol' time last night!"

"Great time," he groaned, looking for a coffee mug and she moved to stand in front of the coffee pot.

"Oh no young man...You better not be thinking about getting coffee...I know you know better than that…"

She wasn't...oh you had to be fucking kidding right now.

"Ma...I ain't seventeen anymore."

"No...but you sure as hell act like it! Do you know the kinda scare I had last night? Seeing Kagome dragging your drunk ass home?"

That gave him pause. Kagome? Why the hell did she take him home? She was out with her friends. He was out with Kikyo...Come to think of it...How the hell did he get home last night? It hurt too much to think about that right now.

God fucking damnit he needed some godamn coffee!

"Ma, I don't have time for this," he rumbled.

"And you do not use that tone with me!" his mother scolded, crossing her arms over her chest, and he heard his father's near silent chuckle come from outside.

"I'm sorry Ma," he ground out through his teeth, "but I have a really bad hangover and I really need some coffee before I go to Souta's graduation.

His mother arched her brow and picked up the coffee pot, pouring the last little bit down the sink, and he paled.

"If you're going to behave like a delinquent, then you can suffer through the consequences of your actions. Maybe you'll learn now since I clearly failed to raise you right!"

She was digging in deep today huh?

"I cannot wait until I’m done building my damn house so I can move outta here!” he snapped, a low growl rumbled out from his chest, and his mother sent him out to the front porch, yelling at him about manners and respect and he honestly stopped paying attention, the sheer volume of her anger only making his ears ring. His headache wasn't any better and he didn't get his fucking coffee.

Fucking fantastic.

He slumped down into a chair next to his father who only smirked at him, holding out his coffee cup.

He glanced at it wide eyed before grabbing it and downing the remaining coffee in a few deep gulps.

"Thanks Pops," he smiled weakly, handing the cup back to him.

"You're welcome," he replied, a smirk still tugging the corner of his lips. "I take it you had fun last night?"

"I'm sure I did - I just can't seem to remember how much fun and what kind right now."

"If you can't remember, maybe you had too much fun."

"Not you too," he groaned.

"Nah," he chuckled, "I think your mother already did a fine job. And...don't tell her...but I'm not upset. Disappointed that you mighta been a little reckless...but you're a hard working man, son. You're allowed to blow off a little steam every now and then. I'm just surprised ya did it on your date."

"It was Kikyo's idea," he groaned, resting his head in his hands. "She wanted to play a drinking game."

"Huh. Liking the girl more and more. Just don't tell your mother. She wouldn't approve."

"And she's all for this...I know."

His mother had been ecstatic when she had first heard that he and Kikyo were talking. She loved her for reasons he didn't quite get. Not that there was anything wrong with Kikyo, but she hadn't reacted this way about one of his prospects since...not since Kagome.

His ears swiveled towards the road as both men heard a car approach, and his father stood with a groan, patting his son on the back.

"Don't get into too much trouble today, ok? I can't take another night of calming your mother...No matter how sexy she gets when she's angry."

"Pops!"

"Have fun now!" he chuckled, going back inside and Inuyasha sighed as the car pulled up. Kagome was in the driver's seat, her mother next to her.

That put Souta in the back with him.

Great. The back.

This would be fun.

He opened the door and slid in, trying to look cheery, but he wasn't quite sure he hit the mark.

"Morning sunshine," Kagome greeted chipperly as he buckled himself in, glaring at her. "Don't give me that look," she chided, picking up a thermos from the cup holder and handing it back to him. "I brought you something."

He raised a brow in question before opening the canister and groaned as the sweet...or rather bitter...smell of coffee floated up to his nostrils. He inhaled deeply, sighing.

"I love you...thank you."

He didn't realize what he had said and who he had said it to until after he had drank some of his sweet, sweet coffee and he saw Souta giving him a bewildered look.

"I—"

"—Don't worry about it. I know what you mean," Kagome smiled weakly, turning around to regard him with a soft look in her eyes. "You had a hell of a night and I figured you might need it. Your mother wasn't thrilled when we came home."

"She wasn't that thrilled this morning either," he muttered, slumping down in his seat, and he heard Kagome giggle...the sound and her gesture tugging at his heart strings, drawing an unbidden whimper from his throat.

Fuck. Today was going to be a hell of a day.

Why had he said that?

Fucking fuckety FUCK!

He didn't even love her anymore, but it had flowed off of his tongue so easily. Like an unchecked habit.

The rest of the car ride had been painfully awkward despite Kagome's mother doing her best to diffuse the tension. Between his hangover and that hell of a blunder, his day was off to a great start.

And he still couldn't remember much of the night before.

He remembered a lot of making out with Kikyo…

Maybe some pool?

But nothing more concrete than that.

Inuyasha glanced over at Kagome as they sat in the auditorium, listening to their old principal give some long, boring speech about the future and starting a new chapter of their lives and blah, blah, blah. He was pretty sure the guy used the same damn speech at their graduation.

He couldn't have mixed it up a little, could he?

"So what exactly happened last night," he whispered nervously, and she tilted her head to the side towards him.

"You mean you don't remember the hot, hot sex we had?" she whispered back, bewildered, and his brain completely shut down as his throat went dry.

...They...What?!

"We...I…" 

How the hell had that happened?

The fifteen year old in him was snarling that he had gotten so drunk that he couldn't remember his deepest teenage fantasy becoming a reality. She had been the star of his every "dirty" dream. For years she was the woman he had imagined touching...caressing...fucking...making love to…He had imagined her screaming his name in pleasure as their bodies slid together so many times...but he couldn't remember it when it actually fucking happened for real?

Yeah. The teenager in him was beyond pissed.

The adult in him, however, was mortified that he would do something so completely and utterly stupid. This woman had destroyed him. Left him hollow and broken and miserable for years. She had left a shirt in his room unintentionally after they broke up...he was ashamed to admit that he had clung to it at night for months after until her scent finally disappeared and he tucked it into a box under his bed.

A box of Kagome. Photos and ticket stubs and little things that reminded him of her had been abandoned there, left to rot away and forever be forgotten.

What really puzzled him was the lack of "sex" smell when he had woken up. Sure, he smelled like shit...but shouldn't he have still smelled some trace of...that on him?

"I'm kidding," she snickered, and he relaxed a little...but his heart still grew oddly heavy and bitter.

"That wasn't funny," he hissed, and she raised an eyebrow at him.

"No? You don't think so?"

"Not even a little. Can't you be serious for one goddamn minute?"

"I thought we were trying to be civil?"

"Yet you're the one jerking me around!"

Kagome took a deep, calming breath before fixing him with a hard look.

"You want to have at it again? Fine. We can do it again. But not here, and not now.

No. I don't know what you did last night.

I just know that you and Kikyo were in no shape to be driving so I left the girls to take both of your sorry asses home so you wouldn't crash and die. So you're welcome," she snapped.

His jaw twitched before he forced himself to grind out a barely audible thank you through clenched teeth.

They sat through the majority of the ceremony in silence...but he didn't need to talk to her to know what she was feeling. He could feel and smell the pain and frustration and guilt radiating off of her in nearly tangible waves. He felt this old, long forgotten, yet familiar desire to comfort her and apologize bubble up from the pit of his gut...but what the hell did he have to apologize for? She was the one fucking with him!

She was always the one toying with him like he didn't fucking matter...

"Do you still have a hangover," he heard Kagome whisper, and he told her he did. He watched her silently reach into her purse, taking out a small reusable bottle of water and a ziplock baggie with a handful of pills.

"Here," she said handing them to him, and he felt his heart ache again as he accepted her peace offering.

"Thanks," he whispered, throwing some of the pills back before handing everything to her.

"Keep it for a while," she advised, nodding towards the water bottle. "You need to re-hydrate. I brought it for you anyways."

"Ok," he smiled wanly, and she weakly returned it.

Soon he heard the closing music start to play and the graduates walked back down the aisle, ready to meet their family outside of the auditorium in the warm June sunshine.

He stood, following Kagome and her mother outside to find Souta, where they all shared rounds of hugs and 'congratulations', and 'we're so proud of you's.

Inuyasha happily volunteered to take photos of the small family, a strangely content, honored, almost paternal feeling washing over him as he did.

"Inuyasha dear, why don't you come take my place? You should be in a few photos too."

He was about to refuse, but thought better of it. Mrs. Higurashi wanted him in a few photos. He couldn't say no to her...so instead he swallowed, nodded, and took her place to the left of Souta. His fingers accidentally grazed Kagome's arm as he wrapped his around the young man's shoulders, and he noticed her straighten in surprise, clearly restraining herself from shooting him a questioning look. Instead, she moved her fingers from Souta's back to his arm, giving it a gentle squeeze.

He could feel the heat from her skin radiating through his shirt, burning him. Scorching everywhere she touched.

He didn't know why...or what the hell came over him, but his hand left Souta's back to give her arm a light squeeze, and her scent changed.

Remorse.

His eyes flitted to her face and he was surprised to see her looking at him, her eyes pained.

What he wouldn't give to ask her what she was thinking now...What he wouldn't give to comfort her...

His breath caught in his throat.

No.

He didn't care. 

He just had to last the week, then she was gone. Off to her life in California, just the way she wanted it.

Unless her boss let her stay. Which was highly unlikely.

"Inuyasha...Kagome...Smile! It's a happy day," Mrs. Higurashi encouraged, and he watched Kagome turn away from him, shooting the older woman a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

He followed her lead, and a few minutes later, they were done.

A friend called out to Souta, drawing his attention from his family, and one of the teachers came over to speak to the proud mother, leaving him alone with Kagome.

He felt the heat of her eyes on him and he awkwardly glanced at her again, confirming his suspicions.

"Yeah?" He asked a bit more roughly than he intended, and Kagome snapped her attention away from him.

"Nothing."

"I don't think ya'd be looking at me like that if it were just 'nothing', Kagome."

She turned to regard him again, her lips pressing into a thin line as she told him, "Honestly? When you shave, you just look more...you. The you that I remember, at least. It just...everything is taking me back to our graduation day. "

He remembered it well. It marked the beginning of the end. One last summer together.

"Huh," he muttered, and she rolled her eyes.

"You and your damn 'huh's."

"What...you don't like 'em?"

"I never have."

"Huh," he smirked, doing it intentionally this time, and a small smile graced her lips before she turned her attention elsewhere. "I was just thinking that maybe I should grow it back out if that's what this makes you think of," he explained rubbing his chin, unsure of why he felt the need to.

"You look handsome either way, Inuyasha," she disagreed. "You always have. You should do what makes you happy. You don't look like a boy if that's what you're worried about. I don't think you could. I was just...I guess I was just feeling nostalgic."

"So...I look like a man now, huh? A handsome man?" He drawled, and she rolled her eyes again.

"Don't start."

"I didn't. You did. You started this whole conversation about my facial hair."

"And if I would have known that it would lead to this I would have kept it to myself."

"Mhm…" he agreed. "Maybe. But you didn't. And now I know you still think I'm handsome. Gotta say, it's kinda nice knowing you still think I'm attractive after all these years."

"I've always been attracted to you, Inuyasha...but you've always known that, haven't you?"

Yeah. But that hadn't been enough, had it? In the end, she still left him. Why hadn't he been enough? What was he lacking that made him not good enough? What was so wrong about him that...that she didn't want to be with him anymore? He had told her he'd wait...and he had fucking meant it! It didn't matter how long it took. He'd still be here for her.

That was part of the problem, wasn't it?

She never had any intention of coming back.

Even for him...the man she "loved".

"Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered, pulling him away from the dark turn his thoughts had taken. "What's wrong."

"Nothing," he growled, startling her, and she straightened, confused but prepared to fight him again.

"Inuyasha!" a light, airy, feminine voice called out, and he watched Kagome's face morph into a mask of indifference as Kikyo waved.

"You should go to her," she encouraged.

"Kagome…"

"Inuyasha!" Kikyo called again, and Kagome waved him off, leaving him to stand by her mother and join in the conversation with their former teacher. He knew a dismissal when he heard one.

He spun around on his heel and greeted Kikyo, smiling as she shyly took his hands.

"The set up looked great...Thank you again for all of your help."

"It was my pleasure," he replied, trying to smile, but his conversation with Kagome and his previous dark thoughts hadn't quite loosened their grip over him yet.

"Listen...last night…"

"Was fun?" he supplied, and her smile only brightened.

"It was," she agreed. "I'm sorry for making you drink so much though...I didn't mean to let things get that far out of hand."

"It's ok...I'm still here ain't I? Somea last night is a little hazy still...but I'm glad you're ok."

"Me too. Glad you're ok, I mean. And that I'm ok," she blushed. "I guess we have Kagome to thank for that…"

"So I'm told," he mumbled. Damn. He wished he could remember what happened.

"We were that bad, huh?"

He could only shrug. "I guess it's been awhile since I drank that much," he admitted.

"I wasn't very nice to you during that game. I learned a lot of interesting things about you though…"

His eyes widened nervously.

"What kinda stuff."

Kikyo's face turned bright red as she stood up on her tiptoes to whisper into his ear. "Little things...like your favorite position for sex. Maybe we can try it out soon?"

He swore he turned bright red as she leaned in to kiss him, and he heard Souta catcall in the background.

"Damn!"

He smirked when the boy yelped. He couldn't confirm it...but he was pretty sure Kagome had smacked him upside the head.

She was jealous.

He'd be sure to give her something to be jealous over then...and he deepened the kiss, pulling Kikyo closer and sliding his hand into her hair. When they parted after several long minutes, her lips were swollen red, her pupils dilated, and her hair only slightly mussed up.

"I gotta go," he murmured apologetically, and she swallowed, nodding. "Call me later when you have a minute? Maybe we can set up another date...to try out that thing you talked about."

"Yeah...ok…"

___________________

That’s better right? Lighter? I thought it was lighter. One and a half more parts guys and then that’s it! I’m posting all I have for chapter 10 for white day too...because I want people should feel like it’s ok to post those, and lead by example, right?!

Wall of tags! Let me know if you want in or out!

(If you get tagged in this post after requesting tags, it’s because that’s how I’m keeping track of them. If you requested a tag and aren’t there, I might not have seen it so please ask again!)

@clearwillow, @keichanz, @dangerouspompadour, @nartista, @kaze-ranna, @superpixie42, @sticky-llama-perfection, @pinkpigeonstudio, @mcornilliac, @itzatakahashi, @zelink-inukag, @juliatheanimelover7, @csim28, @smmahamazing, @the-lucky-ones311, @cyncyn981, @animemomma96, @ayari17, @underwater0phelia, @sailorbabydoll92, @l-taisho29, @clearwillow, @animelove1313, @littlemissinukag, @gofoulpuppycollector​, @umacaking​, @chanin29​

[nekokoaa]

Wolves Among Us - Bakugo x Reader (VIII)

Series Warning: Fantasy AU, Fluff, NSFW

(Chapter VIII/XX) New Mini Series! (((ALL CHAPTERS ARE IN MY MASTERLIST)))

Hey guuuuuuuuys! Here’s the next chapter to WAU!! Yesss so excited!! I hope you guys enjoy!!

Taglist:

@freedom-for-bum @reallyfuckingangrylatina @risarisarisaa @ashherssss @mels-heart @xa-dia @shanty-lol @amkxh @chims-kookies @fantasticapple

Inspired by The Company of Wolves by Angela Carter

VIII:

On the second night with Katsuki’s pack, the perfect moon was eastward to the mountains that stood like silhouettes against the dark navy skies. A swirl of stars peeked behind the leisurely clouds, riding along the skies like a brush upon a canvas. A wonder was happening among them, but it only lasted for a moment. A streak of light had torn through the stagnant stars before it faded into the dark, if eyes had discovered the phenomenon, many would have wished for their desires and hoped it would come true in the near future. Unfortunately, you weren’t there to witness the event like many others who were slumbering in their caves. You were between the arms of Katsuki, huddled up against his chest as you slept soundly. Your legs were tangled with his under the cozy covers you were sharing with him. You were taking up most of the sheep wool cloth under you once again and Katsuki’s body was clinging to the bare edges of the cloth. He wasn’t aware of it as he was deep in his sleep. It took a lot to wake Katsuki up, normally, one would have to shake him awake constantly until he recovered from his stages of sleep. The only time where he would wake up instantly would be because of his senses, but even that wasn’t common.

As for you, you were quite the opposite. Unless you were extremely exhausted, any simple sound would stir you awake momentarily before slipping back into your slumber. Even when Katsuki would shift slightly, you would wake up, moving along with him before settling back into your sleep. So, it wasn’t a surprise that you were stirred out of your sleep when an unidentified sound entered your ears. With a groan, you rubbed your tired eyes while you picked up your head. The covers around your body had slipped to your hips.

“What is that…?” You asked yourself and glanced at the hanging cloth that separated the hallway from the room. You heard a faint sound that felt like it came from the room across the hall. It sounded like someone was in pain, growls and sometimes squeals could be heard. The cloth muffled the sound, but it still worried you to no end. At first, you were going to check it out yourself, but you remembered how the pack treated you yesterday and it discouraged you. So, you decided on the next best thing.

“K-Katsuki?” You shook him lightly on his shoulder, your voice no higher than a whisper. Katsuki didn’t budge. “Katsuki.” You continued to shake him a bit rougher this time but still, there was no reaction from him. You released a heavy sigh, stood up on your knees, and placed both hands on his arm and without further ado, you shook him with all of your might. Even then, he still didn’t wake up right away but was gradually lifted from his sleeping spell.

“Hmm? W-Wha…?” He groaned. Instantly, that calm appearance you grew to know whenever he was asleep was replaced with furrowed brows and a scowl. You saw his pupils, surrounded by crimson, adjust to the dim lighting of the candles in the room, from slits to slight dilation.

“Katsuki, please. I think someone needs help.” You told him as he sat up, a little frustrated that he was woken up from his slumber. You felt bad for it, but you knew Katsuki would be the best person to do something about this issue.

“What? What are you talking about…?” He ran a hand through his spiky hair. It was a little bit uneven from laying on one side of his body for a long period of time. He was already moving himself onto the cloth under you, perhaps not wanting to sit on the cold flooring of the cave any longer.

“Don’t you hear that? Someone’s in pain… I think you should go check on them.” Katsuki sighed softly when he saw that frown on your lips as you stared at him. The last time he saw you this worried was when those hunters attacked him. Before his vision faded into darkness, he saw you hovering over him while you screamed his name. It was definitely a sight he never wanted to see again, just thinking about it made his blood boil. So Katsuki closed his eyes, unable to look at your face, and carefully focused on the sounds beyond the room. You watched as his ears twitched as every individual hum, thud, squeak, resonated along with the soft breathing of your nose and the casual shifting you would do as you anxiously waited for a response. Immediately, Katsuki was able to identify the sounds and you saw his eyebrows raised slightly as his eyes met with yours.

“If that’s what you wanted…” He brought a hand to the back of his neck. Just for a moment his eyes left you and returned with vigor, like a soft flame was lit within them. “You should’ve just asked me before we went to bed.”

You blinked. “Wait—What?”

You saw his tail casually moving. You couldn’t tell if it was for excitement or something else. “You wanna mate, right? Just like them?”

“M-Mate? You mean like…?” You gulped, and a wide smirk tore into Katsuki’s face, his large fangs looked orange in the glow of the candles.

“Yeah—what, did you actually think someone was in pain?”

“Ah—Well—I don’t know. It sounds kind of different…” He laughed loudly at your stutters. The growls and squeals from the other room ceased, and you shushed Katsuki, afraid that he interrupted the intimate moment. Oh, you so wanted to die from embarrassment. The heat was steadily making its way to your cheeks, neck, and ears and the snickers from Katsuki just made you want to dig yourself into a ditch.

“Wolves like to do it when there’s a full moon so it’s not a surprise that those two are getting it on.” Katsuki said once he regained his composure. He still had this smirk on his face as he looked at you.

“Why?”

He shrugged. “Uh, there’s this dumb tradition that it’s based on but—”

“Oh, what’s the tradition?” You instantly perked up and it made Katsuki sigh.

“You really want to hear it?”

“Yeah, of course!” Katsuki stared briefly at your large smile before he let out another sigh. He honestly wanted to go back to sleep but you looked so excited about this that he had no choice but to indulge you.

“Alright, here, come closer.” He moved to lay down on his side and motioned with his hand for you to join him. You didn’t hesitate and with a smile, you joined him under the covers. The heavy sheep wool was squashed under your bodies, the warmth of his arms that encircled your waist instantly felt as if summer had arrived. If it weren’t for your arms between your bodies, your chest would’ve been crushed against his, but your hands had all the glory of feeling the shape of his chiseled pecs through the thin fabric of his top. As he looked at you, his eyes were like two flames of fire that burned strongly in the orange glow of the room, yet it held the softness of the stained-red petals of fire lilies. You became lost in them as you so often did. How could you not as they bored into your soul with such passion.

“I told you about Fenrir, right? Our ancestor?” His voice was low, it sounded more like a rumble than a whisper. “Well, he’s basically the guy who started it all. We’re not exactly sure how he came to be, there are many origin tales that I don’t feel like explaining… but Fenrir was a pure wolf. One day, he met a human woman who saved his life and he ended up falling in love with her. They say the first night they mated was under a full moon and the night when the first werewolf was born was also under a full moon.”

“Werewolf?”

“The correct word for what we are, but humans like to call us wolves. Sometimes we even catch ourselves using that word too.”

“Is calling you guys wolves offensive?”

“Not really. It’s what we are anyway.”

“So, werewolves have human in their genes…?”

“Yeah, it’s the reason why we look similar to humans or why we can mate with you guys, the only difference is that we have a lot of wolf qualities because of Fenrir.”

Your eyes were drawn to his ears and fangs. “That makes a lot of sense.”

“Yeah. So that’s why everyone wants to fuck under the full moon because they’re basically reenacting that legend.” Whatever heat you felt from his eyes before had shimmered down. They were relaxed, half lidded as it looked like he was waiting for you to say something. But all he got in return was silence and he shut his eyes to the soft warmth of your body instead. He was getting tired again and your presence was a sweet lullaby luring him to sleep.

“So… when we…” You started.

The glow of his eyes returned. “I don’t really care about those damn legends. Whenever it happens, it happens, but… I know when the full moon comes, I feel different. I can’t explain it but… it’s probably because I’m a direct descendant from him.”

“You still feel like Katsuki to me.” You laid your hand on his cheek and he held on to the wrist of that hand. “You may be a direct descendant but that doesn’t mean you’re him.”

“I don’t know.” You felt him shrug and his cheeks were being pushed up by the smirk of his lips, tired yet full of mischief. “I do have my own human woman.”

“That you have not claimed as yours.”

“Yet. One of these full moons should do it, right?”

Your cheeks grew hot, but you tried your best not to appear shaken. “Remind me to not share a room with you during a full moon then.”

“I will not.” Katsuki shut his eyes again, letting go of your wrist and snuggling closer to you until his face was against the top of your head and buried in your hair.

You huffed softly. “My father was right, men are wolves.”

“Only to those they love…” was the last you heard of Katsuki. Which you thought was quite unfair because his words left you startled. You have never heard the word love from him before and you weren’t even sure if he thought of you that deeply. You softly called his name to confirm his feelings, but he already returned to the world of sleep.

You sighed, knowing you would be unable to sleep with your thoughts rattling within your head.

When morning arrived, you woke up from your three hours of sleep to Katsuki putting on a new long sleeve top. The brief sight of a shirtless Katsuki was amazing to wake up to. Time slowed as you admired the muscles of his back and shoulders, watching them contract and expand when he pulled the thin fabric over his head and body. You could tell he just took a bath because the spikes of his hair were drooping towards the ground and droplets of water fell periodically on his shoulders. Sadly, the show didn’t last as Katsuki turned around and greeted you with his short “Hey” when he sensed you were awake. He always knew when you were awake, and you found it a little creepy at first, but you had grown used to it. Pretending to be asleep was something that would never work on him.

“How can you tell if I’m awake or not?” You asked, and he smirked. Every time you asked him about anything that involved his senses, he always looked smug.

“Cause your breathing pattern changes.” He spoke like it was obvious.

He looked like he was waiting for more questions, but you swiftly changed the subject to avoid stroking his ego. The subject changed into the agenda for this morning and Katsuki explained he wanted to get you settled down and formally introduce you to his pack. He understood the hostility between you and his pack but most of it was because his pack didn’t understand why a human woman was living among them. So, he believed letting the pack know what was going on would loosen the tension.

You were nervous. You didn’t want to go through what you experienced yesterday again but Katsuki assured you that everything would turn out okay. You simply just had to believe him.

But before introductions, you had to freshen up a bit and change your clothes that suited more of his pack’s culture. That’s when Katsuki had introduced you to one of his friends.

“Hey, Roundface.” Was his nickname for her when he called her as she was talking to a group of wolves in the courtyard. The courtyard was an area next to the large crater where the cave entrances were. Wolves loved to linger around this area as they waited for the day to past by. Katsuki explained before that it was also a place where they held their rituals. He didn’t specify what those rituals are, but it sure left you curious about them.

When “Roundface” turned around to face Katsuki, her expression was flat. She didn’t look too amused by her nickname, in fact, her face was only slightly rounded with pink filling in her cheeks, so she didn’t think her nickname was quite accurate.

“What is it?” Although, her voice didn’t show her lack of amusement. She was genuinely curious as to why Katsuki approached her.

“I want you to show ____ around. Get her settled in and some new clothes.” Katsuki placed a hand on your shoulder, bringing her attention to you. She blinked at you for a bit and then at Katsuki.

“Wouldn’t it be better if you do it?”

“I don’t think I can follow her in the bath.” He glanced at you. “Unless you want me to.”

“I don’t.” You quickly said.

“See? I’m going to gather everyone here in the afternoon so just bring her back here no later than that.”

She sighed softly at his words. “You better not be thinking of doing anything stupid. Did you let our leader know about this?”

“The old hag doesn’t need to know shit. She’ll find out when everyone else does.” Something about what “Roundface” said had irked Katsuki. Whenever his mother was mentioned, it always felt like his mood went sour. You knew their relationship wasn’t the best, but you didn’t think it was so serious to where a single mention could make Katsuki look like that.

“Alright… But if she gets angry at me, I’m putting the blame on you.”

“Hey…” Your cheeks grew warm when Katsuki’s face was suddenly just a mere inch from your own. He had pushed his forehead against yours, the tip of your noses barely touched as he softly gazed into your eyes. When he spoke, you felt his breath hit your lips with every syllable. “I’ll see you later.”

“Hm-mm.” You nodded, not even capable of forming words at that moment. He pulled away after that and swiftly turned around, leaving you alone with “Roundface”. You stared at his departing back that was covered by his usual fur cape. Your eyes were gentle as you brought a hand to touch your forehead. Such a simple gesture from him was enough to have you in a complete trance. Katsuki had done that to you a few times whenever he was leaving to do something. And you have seen a few wolves do it around the area, ones that look like they were in a romantic relationship, so you assumed it was the wolves’ way of showing affection when leaving.

Little did you know, Roundface’s cheeks were redder than usual, seeing such an intimate moment had startled her as she wasn’t used to seeing Katsuki being affectionate. He was always so angry and stubborn and sure, he had his few share of women who would blab about being with him to incite jealousy, but he never once showed that he was serious with them. Katsuki’s relationship with you felt different to her.

Once Katsuki was gone, Roundface formally introduced herself as Ochako. She was a friend of Katsuki’s, not really a close one, but from time to time they would help each other if needed. Other than Eijirou and Mitsuki, she’s the first wolf of the tribe to treat you like you weren’t an enemy. When she talked to you, she always had a smile on her face and she listened with excitement whenever you were talking about yourself. She was especially interested when you explained how you and Katsuki met. She commented on it being fate and you couldn’t help but blush because of it.

From the time you spent with Ochako, it felt as if you’ve known her for years. You bonded over the simplest things, even giving each other advice on some troubles. She taught you about the daily lives of the pack. Wolves usually get up a little bit after dawn to do their duties. The men would go on the morning hunt and wouldn’t return until noon. The women stayed behind to clean around the dens and prepare meals for the pack and if the children were old enough they would assist the women in their duties or accompany the men on their morning hunt.

It didn’t matter what gender the child was because the wolves thought it was necessary for children to understand the importance of both roles when growing up because if there was ever a time they would leave the pack, they would be able to survive on their own. During the afternoons, the wolves would usually rest or play games with each other until dinner time. It was such a simple, peaceful life, similar to how people in your town lived. There wasn’t much of a difference between lifestyles and yet the two species wanted to kill each other. You didn’t know if your presence would do anything to mend the chaos between them, but you knew you wanted to try. It was all you can do.

The afternoon came faster than you realized. Katsuki had already gathered up the entire pack in the courtyard and hundreds of wolves swarmed the area, curious as to why their leader’s son had called for them. Mitsuki, too, was standing to the side, watching with a scowl fixed on her face. A crimson glare directed towards her son who stood not too far away from her in front of their people. You could tell by her body language that she was taken by surprise at the sudden assembly. Katsuki didn’t warn her about it or tell her what it was about and for the leader not to know what it happening to her own people, it upset her. She made a promised to herself to drag Katsuki by the ear into the nearest cave after the gathering and strangle him.

You could feel the anger radiating from Mitsuki. She didn’t lift her gaze towards your direction. Unfortunately, you were standing right next to Katsuki who you knew was the source of all her anger. You had no choice but to feel the pressure of her gaze even though it wasn’t for you. Katsuki, on the other hand, was used to this. He ignored her like she wasn’t in the room and waited for the wolves to settle before speaking. He projected his voice as loud as he could, earning the attention of his people.

“I have an announcement.” He simply said. You watched as their faces grew uncomfortable the second you felt Katsuki’s hand on your shoulder. You began to twiddle your thumbs and your gaze was glued to the floor as you waited for Katsuki’s next words. An introduction should be easy, but you had no clue as to why you felt so nervous. It could be because you were in front of a group of wolves that weren’t fond of you, but this was your chance to finally change any wrong image they had of you. You believed that once Katsuki put in a good word for you, that the pack would be more willing to get to know you. You were different from the other humans, all you had to do was prove it.

You took a deep breath and returned your eyes to the sea of wolves in front of you. You felt the hand on your shoulder give a light squeeze and you glanced at Katsuki only to find him staring right into the crowd. You didn’t expect the words that left him, and neither did his people. The sound of your gasp couldn’t be muffled by your hands that flew to cover it.

“We’re getting married.” With a straight face, Katsuki loudly spoke, and all at once, the area grew sour.

[artofmorehq]

OUT OF CHARACTER

NAME/ALIAS: Shantel / shan

AGE: 23

PRONOUNS: she/her

IN CHARACTER – BASICS

FIRST/LAST NAME: Ashton Ryder

AGE: 78 / died at 26

PRONOUNS: he/him

OCCUPATION (MUSE, ARTIST, ETC.): Muse | DIA

FACE CLAIM: Luke Mitchell

3 POSITIVE TRAITS: Loyal, Tenacious, Protective

3 NEGATIVE TRAITS: Altruistic, Secretive, Yes-man

IN CHARACTER – DETAILS (OPTIONAL)

[“I’m not a m o n s t e r. I swear. I just.. had orders.”]

t.w. torture

Space.

One day, I’m gonna go up into space!

That was all Ashton ever really thought about as a kid, zooming around pretending that he was in a spaceship ready to land on Pluto (because Pluto is the absolutely coolest). He was one of those that believed that dreams will come true if you try hard enough, those wide-eyed bushy tail kids. And when NASA established themselves in 1958, it was like a little spark that lit in him to join them. Of course, 16 year old Ashton couldn’t simply just waltz into NASA and charm them with sad puppy dog eyes to get privileged training. And seeing how most of the astronauts were chosen through being pilots or being military, he signed on with the US army almost immediately.

It didn’t seem like such a bad route to go to, he soon found his niche in the medical side of the military, working from the shadows and helping soldiers, and starting to really enjoy his time there. Even though some of the times got really ugly, he kept his smile on and his head held high, believing it’s all going to be worth it. With a solid record in the army, he applied to NASA with their testimony after his unit was withdrawn. It took him three tries before they finally picked him for the Candidate Programme. Who would’ve known that at 22, he’d be this close to being able to go out there, into the stars?

The worst part about training is knowing that not everyone makes it there. What would they be training for if that’s the case? For that one in a million chance to make it. The whole candidate programme just kept on training, some got picked, some dropped out, and the rest kept going. After four years Ashton heard his name called out during a morning announcement; the team for yet another mission for project Apollo; Apollo 8, a four-men mission to orbit around the moon. Though he was just there young and naive, hell they might even cut him off, but it was a chance. To hear his name called, to see what Earth looks like from above, to make it all worth it.

They spent most of 1968 training for launch, all they did was eat, breathe, and sleep for the launch, physically, mentally and emotionally preparing for, the worst case scenario, a one way trip. Somehow war had long prepared him on so many levels already.

So he thought he was ready for the life he planned out.

On one of those late night training, Ashton had headed home, yet never reaching his doorstep. Screams of pain were drowned out by the hand clamping down hard over his mouth, body burning from blinding pain through his back getting colder, almost certain that was it for him. Everything numbed away, but he recovered his senses to see not his Apollo team, but a whole bunch of strangers, limbs chained down to the bed, and scared was an understatement.

They gave him a night to rest, they hardly explained anything, they kept him on a sedative, they sat him down with someone, everyday, a scientist - Maya, they being the DIA. or FBI, they blurred together to him. Somehow with his military and astronomy background, and some chance killing him would pay off in a revival, they thought he’d be useful to them. Some fucking recruitment this was. All NASA did was a cover up that he died during training and gave him a proper military funeral, hoping to give closure for the missing astronaut.

Ashton thought he was going to calmly figure out what happened, and then they made the pain come back again. He was confused, in pain, and just wanted it to end, everything to stop. Follow our advice and you’ll be safe. You’ll be fine soon. I promise. Promise? He took their word for it, and believed, like he always did. Do this experiment, join this mission, eliminate this target, tell us what you see, tell us what the universe says. He did what he did that he thought would make it go away.

Just take their advice for a few years, try and adapt to.. whatever this new thing is, and then maybe leave them and go back to NASA. Just a couple of months.. 3 years. 6 years. 10 years. 25. 35. 50. Advice turned into orders, and Ashton doesn’t even blink twice before obeying them. It started off easy; hand-eye coordination experiments, intelligence tests, recon missions, sitting with Maya, talking about space, astrophysics problem solving. Then it got worse; lead a mission’s intel, sit with Maya, assassinate a target, sit with Maya, torture a captured suspect, sit with Maya. They just kept whispering back in his ear, “You don’t want the pain to come back, do you?”

For 50 years, underneath the Washington HQ, he was used as a tool, a weapon, day in day out. Maya was the only anchor to some kind of sanity, to talk about space, to talk about anything, it was just so easy with her. Yet Ashton was desensitised and lost himself somewhere in the pool of blood he spilt and the pile of bodies he stacked up. To the point where he felt nothing. He was nothing. He can hardly remember who he was before all of this.

Nothing but their good little s o l d i e r.

Ashton never thought it would end, until it did, until Maya left him a letter and never came back. And he could feel it, the rip in his soul when it happened, like someone tore his heart leaving him bleeding in a pain even they couldn’t inflict on him. The complete absolute knowledge that she was gone - that she ripped them apart herself. Suddenly everything came to a standstill.

“What are my orders?” every day he would ask, not sure of what to do anymore, he was just lost. It was like without Maya, suddenly he was useless here. Every day, he continued to ask the same question. Until he finally got an answer: “Your orders are to move to New York.”

Current Mission Active | Locate NYC Muses

—-

TLDR; Enlisted in the army at 16 (1958), military medic till 22, apart of the Vietnam war(1962), join NASA astronaut candidate programme, was finally chosen for one of the Apollo programmes at 26. Died at 26 (1968) as recruited by the DIA, resident Muse as an experiment and agent until the death of his artist 76 (2018), ordered to live in NYC. Current Mission Loading.. Locate NYC Muses

—-

Personality Types

MBIT type: ISFJ, The Defender

+ Supportive, Reliable and Patient, Observant, Loyal and Hardworking

- Humble and Shy, Represses their feelings, Overload themselves, Too Altruistic

Altruistic and well-rounded, no other personality type is so well-suited to be of service of others. They can always be relied on to get the job done on time. They are rarely sitting idle while a worthy cause remains unfinished. They have a tendency to underplay their accomplishments, and while their kindness is often respected, more cynical and selfish people are likely to take advantage of ISFJs’ dedication and humbleness by pushing work onto them and then taking the credit.

Hogwarts house: Huffledor Trustworthy, Tenacious | Chivalry, Brave

Astrological sign: Scorpio Loyal, Secretive, Self Reliant, Brooding, Protective

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

A lawful neutral character acts as law, tradition, or a personal code directs him. Order and organization are paramount to her. He may believe in personal order and live by a code or standard, or he may believe in order for all and favor a strong, organized government. Whether a law is good or evil is of no import as long as it brings order and meaning. A lawful neutral character will keep his word if he gives it and will never lie. He may attack an unarmed foe if necessary. He will never harm an innocent. He may use torture to extract information, but never for pleasure. He will never kill for pleasure, only in self-defense or in the defense of others. Or when ordered to do so.

Muse: http://shantelchiitriestowrite.tumblr.com/tagged/ch%3A-Ashton

Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1190435857/playlist/26VzIdKqRXiPBjzBxknVbR

[chews-erotically]

*Waxing Gibbous 

Pairing: Ezra + femNurse! Reader

Rating: Hard M / 18+ ONLY

       * Warnings: Angst/ violence/ blood/ gore/ injury

      * Summary: Get Gone or Get Dead

      * Word Count: ~1400

*Part ONE**Part TWO**Part THREE**Part FOUR**Part FIVE* *Part SIX*           

PART SEVEN

     When you were a child, you’d come upon a dying bird on the road near your home. It had lain on its side in a small puddle of blood. Its eyes had glittered like jewels into the heat of the summer sun. Its beak was open, it was gaping and gasping. Perhaps it had flown into a window; more likely, a roaming cat had made it a cruel plaything before becoming bored and moving on. You had stood, transfixed, willing it to die. Your young girl’s heart could not bear to watch its agony, but you did not possess the strength of character to crush its skull or snap its neck. You were too squeamish and cowardly to extend that kindness.

    You had walked away.

    Now, you were walking willingly towards death. Yours or another’s, you did not know. There were three beating hearts between you and the cruiser, then to the sling-back the cruiser had undoubtedly come from.

    Blaster raised you tried to make yourself tall on the Green. You kept your eyes fierce, zeroed in on the two mercs. Ezra was beside you, thrower cocked at his shoulder. Neither of you spoke. 

    The mercenaries, by virtue of being in a clearing, noticed both of you immediately and met your approach with weapons drawn and guttural shouting. There had been a time in the past when Ezra would have approached the situation with melodious bargaining and other clever salesmanship before resorting to violence. This was different, every atom in the atmosphere was charged with desperation, vibrating with finality. Either they die or you do- there was no in-between now.

    Before either could fire Ezra leveled his thrower at the first merc and discharged it. There was a muffled bang that reached your ears as you saw blood bloom in the fabric of the merc’s chest. He fired a beat later, but the shock of impact threw his shot well wide of you and ricocheted somewhere to the left of the clearing. The second merc, momentarily thrown by sight of his partner sinking to his knees, recovered and raised his own blaster toward you. You aimed your own weapon and pressed the trigger.

    Click.

    Shit.

    You barely had time to process the fact that the blaster had jammed on you before an explosion of white-hot pain hit your shoulder. You were spun like a top. Your world was tipping, spinning. Rotten air was knocked out of you and you were on your back. You looked to your shoulder to see crimson spreading. More blood on your suit. It hurt so much you couldn’t speak, only hiss through clenched teeth. You forced yourself to sit up and face what was coming- you refused to die on your back. You wheezed audibly, heard Ezra’s breathing match your own over your comlink.

    Ezra. You looked up from your place on the ground to see him upon the second merc. You did not need to see his face to read the intention on it. Ezra killing with his hands was its own unique form of dark intimacy, and you could picture his eyes wide and dark, jaw clenched with rage. You knew that every single thing he did, either gentle or feral, was accomplished with an abundance of emotion. You saw the knife in Ezra’s hand that he’d removed from his boot and you watched him plunge it into the chest of the mercenary again and again. When the thrashing body finally stilled, Ezra shambled to his feet. His breathing sounded like an underwater turbine. Agonal. He was coming toward you, swaying slightly. You were struggling to get to your feet. Your shoulder felt as if it was skewered by an iron pike.

    He shakily held his hand out to you. You stumbled, almost pulling him down with you. Finally you stood, swaying drunkenly in the clearing. You noted Ezra’s suit, covered in blood spatter and gore, mirrored your own when you had first met. His face looked gray and ashen, his eyes hollow and sunken. It became quickly apparent that his actions had taken any last reserve he was saving. He was closer to his own end than you were, and for the first time you were overcome by terror. You needed to keep your breathing even to save your deteriorating oxygen. You needed to swallow your tears and prevent any further dehydration. Yet here you were, gasping and sobbing. Ezra looked like a ghost and his lips were so dry, so cracked, with a faint tint of blue seeping into his flesh. You didn’t care about your shoulder, you’d hack it off in an instant to prevent this man from ever having to look like this to save you, to exert himself to the point of death because your blaster had jammed.

    I can’t lose you.

    I can’t lose you.

    My fucking Gods I cannot lose you.

    In desperation you were tugging him, pulling him toward the cruiser. You paused only to grab the blaster that lay in the moss beside the ruined body of the mercenary. The prisoner had come back to himself somewhat during the fracas, he was clumsily priming the thrower, his hands shaking. You walked up to him and pressed the blaster to his helmet. He paused as soon as he felt you and made a grab for the back of your knee. You thought of the dying bird.

    You fired. This time, there was no jam. The helmet imploded with a muffled pop and the prisoner slumped backward.

    You pushed Ezra up the ramp. You felt like it took hours to find the toggle that would retract it and close the cruiser door. You then searched frantically for the button that would switch on the air filter. When you found that and slammed the heel of your hand into it you clawed at the clasps to your helmet. When you’d finally managed to whip it off one-handed you took your first gulp of optimally filtered air in months. 

    Ezra.

    He had managed to reach the passenger seat of the craft before he’d collapsed. His helmet was still on. You did not have the strength to rush to him on your feet, so you crawled to him on your knees. You unclasped his helmet clumsily the way you had your own and removed it as carefully, as reverently as you could. You realized you’d started crying again.

    “Ezra,” you whispered, cradling his head in your hand.

    He stirred slowly, he sounded like a man drowning. His eyes fluttered open, vague and lethargic before finally focusing on yours.

    “Dove,” you could barely hear him. “......don’t. Don’t leave me.”

    You didn’t know how, but you were crying harder. You felt snot touch your upper lip, your breaths hitched and croaked.

    “I will never leave you, Ezra. I am bound to you, always. We’re getting off this moon. We’re going. Now.”

    He leaned his head against the back of the seat.

    “I love you, Dove. So much…”

    You leaned forward and pressed a shaking kiss to his hairline, right below his mallen streak. You reached out to smooth away the wetness you’d left there.

    “And I love you. And I’m getting you help as soon as we get to the sling. I’m buckling you in, okay?”

    It wouldn’t have taken you so long but your fingers felt numb, clumsy. It was necessary for you to use both hands to fasten his clasp and you bit down a cry as you pressed down to engage the clasp. You noticed the top of your suit was becoming saturated. You felt wholly indifferent to your injury while you ensured Ezra was as secured as possible. He had soon lost consciousness, his head lolling to rest on his shoulder as he breathed steadily, if not quietly.

    As soon as you finished you crawled to the pilot’s seat and noted with relief that as the cruiser was a rental it had an operations manual at the console. You followed the steps you had with Ezra in ensuring you were properly strapped in, this time ignoring the stabbing heat in your shoulder. You followed each step pictured and gasped out a rough, rattled laugh as you felt, then heard the boosters engage.

    You had dimly expected the final joke to be a mechanical failure of some sort, yet the cruiser soon lifted out of the trees and you steered it toward the coordinates displayed on the screen. If not for your illness you felt as if you’d be screaming. You glanced out the window one final time at the cursed terrain of the Green and swore to yourself that you’d gladly die before ever returning.

[ciestessde]

Phantasma Magica Ch. 11

STORY SUMMARY

Clockwork and the Observants send Danny to Hogwarts on a special mission. But, cryptic as ever, that Old Stopwatch never actually told him what would happen on it!!! “All you need to do right now, Daniel, is stay focused on your mission. And remember, the-” “‘The Lions with the time-turner, lightning-bolt scar, and hair like fire are friends; watch out for the rat; and the black dog is not a threat.’ Yeah, you’ve only repeated that a few dozen times today.”

Next → ← Previous (First)

With how big Hagrid had grown his pumpkins this year, it was easy for Sirius to create a small hiding spot for himself nestled between them. But why go to the trouble, you may wonder? To watch the spectacle, of course!

Sirius knew of the teenagers’ plan to free the hippogriff. And the chance to see everyone’s faces…  when Danny appeared… and phased the entire creature into the ground…! It was just too good for the old prankster to pass up! And in his dog form, even if he was spotted, he wouldn’t draw much attention.

So he had settled himself in such a way that, when it happened, he’d be close enough to the hut’s entrance to see the old fools’ faces clearly.

Even though he was expecting it, Danny’s roar made him jump and turn to look at the source of the noise out of instinct. When he saw the rat -- his mind froze. But when he saw the thing slip out of Danny’s hand…

It was like time slowed. Or perhaps… He sped up?

His first thought was to go straight for Pettigrew. But if he did that… Danny would be caught. And wizards were not known for their tolerant natures. No. Danny needed him. And the only way he could help them both -- was with a wand.

Sirius bounded out of his hiding spot and launched himself, mouth agape, at one of the old, official-looking wizard’s wands -- snatching it right out of their hand. Stopping on a dime, Sirius transformed and, before any of them could react, yelled, “Expelliarmus!”

And just like that, Dumbledore’s wand went flying -- freeing Danny.

Next, Sirius honed in on Pettigrew. He’d already gotten a few meters away, but Sirius could still see him: he was running towards the lake. But the sun was going down -- he had to end this quickly!

His eyes fixed on the tiny rat in the distance, and with the perfect aim that comes with desperation, Sirius Black shot a flash of blue-white light. The wizard with the axe -- the executioner -- finally reacted to the quick-moving Black, shooting the wand from his hand in almost the same instant -- -- but it had been enough.

The rest of the group of wizards had only just started recovering from the shock of the phantasm attack, and the dog attack, and its subsequent transformation into a highly dangerous wanted criminal who disarmed Dumbledore -- when they got an even bigger one. One that would keep them all frozen to the spot for several precious seconds.

The rat lifted from the ground slightly to hang in midair. Then, with another blinding flash -- it started to grow. To morph -- into, to those who knew him, a just-recognizable shape.

Still searching for his wand in the dark grass, Dumbledore whispered, “Peter… Pettigrew…?” -- before the shrunken, balding, rat-like man shot off, followed closely by Sirius Black, continuing his path toward the lake -- and the exit from the Hogwarts Grounds.

Danny shot off after the pair. He had already lost Pettigrew once. He wasn’t letting him escape. Not again!

Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one with that sentiment. Harry had torn out from under the invisibility cloak soon after Black’s appearance. When the chase began, he, Ron, and Hermione followed behind the phantasm -- but, of course, couldn’t quite keep up.

Sirius managed to stop Pettigrew near the lake’s edge, pinning him to the ground with his bare hands. And Danny reached them not long after. Unaware of the teenagers still following behind. After all, there were a few distractions. Not the least of which was the rat’s whimpering-- “S-s-s-Siruis! M-my old friend! How… H-how nice to see you a-again!” “Shut up!!!” --as short as it lasted.

It was a cold so intense, even Danny felt it. Pettigrew had already been trembling, but now Black joined him, looking around in a panicked realization. They were surrounded -- and the circle was tightening!

Danny and Sirius should have expected this. But they were so focused on FINALLY catching their prey -- that they forgot who’s prey THEY were!

In an attempt to push the dementors back and intimidate them (At least enough to not come any closer. Even if he couldn’t deter them completely.), Danny let loose the loudest sound-wave he could. His throat nearly tearing from the strain, the force of the attack shattered some of the ice forming below. He even killed quite a few of the dark creatures -- but still, they advanced.

Danny shot ethereal fire at the ground. Perhaps the heat would…? “Ahh!” “Harry!!!”

Again, time slowed. Danny turned towards the screams. If he’d had a beating heart… . . . 

It would’ve stopped in that moment.

Finally, Danny noticed who had followed them. A group of dementors, though smaller than the hoard surrounding him and Black, were feeding off of the Trio. Ron and Hermione were tugging on a black cloak suspended in the air above them. They were pulling with all their strength. Even ripping the tough cloth. But still, it hung there.

Unyielding.

But the one holding the cloaked figure… Inside the cloak was… The dementor was…

It’s hood was down… and it’s mouth… was about to touch--

Danny flew faster than he ever had. The dementor’s mouth closed over Harry’s.

He reached out with fire-covered claws. The dementor was breathing in.

Danny tore open the dementor’s face-- --and grabbed Harry’s soul before it could be absorbed.

Relief. For a brief moment, that’s all Danny could feel. He cradled the delicate soul close to him, making sure it didn’t-- wouldn’t-- fade. But… “Hahah…” Danny turned. Ron and Hermione were staring at something…

When he had attacked the dementor -- it had died instantly, releasing Harry’s body. A body which should’ve been lying on the ground, soulless. Should have been alive, but unmotivated to move -- or even continue living.

It wasn’t.

The sun had almost set. But Danny could see everything as clear as day. And with the full moon out, so could the humans -- all of whom were now close enough to see.

It was a scene none present would ever forget -- as tragically beautiful as it was horrible.

The small waves formed from the light wind across the lake were frozen by the dementors’ presence before they had a chance to fall, and the moonlight glistened off of the frozen surfaces of those waves, the grass and bushes, and even their clothes. The grass Danny had lit with his ethereal flames flickered an eerie, neon-green light across those same surfaces. The sunlight had turned golden with the coming dusk, adding a soft glow to everything. And the stars were just beginning to become visible in the sky.

All of this light was made even more brilliant by the contrast of the dementors, with their dark robes that absorbed any illumination that neared them.

And finally -- there was Danny. Adding his phantasmal glow.

Slitted-pupils met slitted-pupils. Glowing-green eyes met blood-red ones.

“Finally…” Danny -- all of them -- froze. That voice… It wasn’t Harry’s.

… Danny didn’t like that voice.

‘Wait… I’m holding Harry’s soul, so…’ Reaching out, Danny tried to identify what was controlling the body. He knew what the answer would be, of course. But it was no less disturbing to FEEL.

It was like watching a cockroach move around in human skin -- the soul was scabbed, and contaminated… Was it even a human soul…? Harry’s Body’s eyes were no longer Harry’s eyes. It’s body-language was no longer Harry’s body-language. It’s voice wasn’t Harry’s voice -- even if it used Harry’s vocal chords.

Before anyone could move, not-Harry drew Harry’s wand. “PROTEGO DIABOLICA!” A ring of black flames engulfed him -- and quickly started spreading outward!

Danny froze. ‘I-I can’t do anything--!’

Four voices rang out. The adult wizards had finally found their wands and broken out of their shock. Danny, Ron, Hermione -- and Sirius Black -- were all pulled toward the adults. But with only the four of them… Danny watched as the fire reached Pettigrew’s body -- and didn’t burn him.

With the darkness of night now intensified by the veil of black flames, Danny was the only one who could continue watching what came next. But they could all hear.

The traitor looked down at his unmarked body with amazement, “Peter Pettigrew… You’ve served me well once again,” then looked up to see Harry Potter’s possessed body approaching him. Rightfully unnerved by the red eyes and slitted pupils, Pettigrew whimpered. “P-Potter…?”

HE grinned. “No. Not anymore.”

The head turned to look in the direction of Harry’s friends and allies. For just a split-second -- his eyes met Danny’s again.

Danny wanted to throw up.

Then he turned back to Pettigrew. “But here is not the time or place for explanations. Come!”

When the flames disappeared, there was one final flash of blinding light. And when their vision cleared -- it was all gone. The black flames. Peter Pettigrew.

… And Harry Potter’s body.

Still cradling Harry’s soul, Danny’s feeling of relief had long since vanished. “I failed…” In a daze, he floated down until he was kneeling on the frozen ground.

Looking at his hollow eyes, and at the care with which he held the soul in his hands… Dumbledore wondered how he had ever considered this... being… This boy... a threat.

~~~~~

Sooooo… We finally get here. Meet Voldy!Harry, everyone! … *Cue Maniacal Laughter* I apologize for absolutely NOTHING!  XD Only 1 chapter left to go before the ending of Arc 1 of Phantasma Magica. Comments are appreciated. Fanart will get me to write Arc 2 faster. ;P

~~~

If you like this, please REBLOG!

(Updates every Wednesday until completion.)

Also, if you like my writing, check out my collection of one-shots here! I write a story at the request of you all every Wednesday. (Look here for info on how requests work)

Other places you can find this fic: Fanfiction.net/~ciestess ArchiveOfOurOwn.org/users/Ciestess/profile Deviantart.com/Ciestess

Next → ← Previous (First)

[sketchs-trashcan]

so, it seems like tumblr ate my original post...*sigh* at least this means I can do the same thing but with the entire game now.

Since I ended up with PQ2 early, I wrote down most of everything that happened and decided to put it all together in a guide of some sort. I have a less-spoilery section full of general info and a much more spoilery section that pertains to the labyrinths. The labyrinth parts will be mostly about where to unlock special screenings as well as weakness to some FOEs and the boss of the labyrinth. Keep in mind that this is NOT a full guide and I definitely left some things out and/or vague. This is more like the bare bones of the game. Kinda. idk what to call it.

if you want something a bit more specific and/or want to scream about the game, feel free to message me!

Less spoilery stuff

•don’t play based off of knowledge from PQ, literally almost every shadow has different weaknesses and resistances

•hitting a (fill in the blank)bane lexy with something it’s resistant to can cause it to use holy wrath on a row (heavy damage, all binds) (seems to only be specific ones, i have yet to find a pattern though. i don’t think it started to happen until farther along in the game, which was an aboslute bitch in some cases)

•golden shadows always move first, don’t bother with moves like line guard unless that character is in boost

•FOEs can’t be knocked down

•speaking of knocking things down, you need all enemies to be down before you can do an all-out attack. also, all enemies will go back up after one

•after getting back up, enemies might attack. it’s a bit inconsistent

•you know what else is inconsistent? some of the in-game descriptions and explanations. i’m pretty sure armor smasher or whatever only lasts one turn, not three. also, blue is the weakest color for an FOE, not white. i refuse to believe that a dinosaur is somehow less threatening than a dude in a chicken suit. there’s other problems, but those are the ones i can think of off the top of my head

-i lied. i thought of something else

•in the shop, the “have” section includes anything in storage, while inventory is what you actually have with you. it’s a bit dicier when withdrawing items, i think that counting system’s just fucked

•the huge churros are a bit of a ripoff by the time you can get them unless you want to restore only 30 HP to a row in battle. otherwise, just use normal popcorn (as a side note, i was playing on hard, so my team had to be hella buff to take on the first boss, this could be why i view the churros with distain)

•the hotdogs and large dual dogs, on the other hand, are good. especially the dual dogs, stick to those once you unlock them

•selling FOE bits doesn’t really seem to unlock new items in the shop until later. very disappointing gosh darn it yosuke, stop messing with the game mechanics

•read item descriptions. i went into the first boss battle thinking gutsy fries were the same as revival beads. they are not.

•sacrificing personas doesn’t seem to create special materials anymore

•unison attacks can happen so long as at least one participating member is in the battling party. example: the unison attack with P3P and the other (human) 2nd years can occur even if fuuka is the only one present (she’ll need to be navigating the battle though)

•unison attacks occur at random from what i can tell. they’re very strong, but don’t count on one always popping up when you need one

•follow-up attacks are also random, but much weaker. they at least knock down the shadow that’s still up and gives you the opportunity for an all-out attack, so there’s that

•always take the opportunity for all-out attacks. enemies might recover before the rest of your team can attack and get into boost mode

•some special screenings seem to be unlocked only if you check the shop/box office at specific points in the game. i don’t know if they’re only at specific points or if they can happen after that, too

•wildcards do not all need to be at a specific level to unlock ultimate personas, so don’t feel completely obligated to keep them up to speed with joker (you should still train them a bit though). everyone else needs to be at least level 55 to unlock theirs afterwards

•if two FOEs end up running into you at different times during a battle, the most recent one will kick out the older one (aka you don’t fight both of them at once). which means if you win, the newer one dies, but the older one will still be lurking next to you (this is based off of one special screening where i got cocky and nearly paid the price for it)

-i am currently unconvinced that homonculi or however it’s spelled exist outside of chests. i beat the entire game, beat every FOE, and they still haven’t shown up in the shop

That was long. Oops? Well, next up is the labyrinths, so if you want to find out this stuff on your own, best not go any farther.

More spoilery stuff

Kamoshidaman

•i’m 90% certain that the goba-k more is in a golden chest somewhere in this labyrinth. if not, it was in junessic land

•Noir and Queen do not join until after boss

•P3P does not join until second floor (if I’m remembering correctly, otherwise it’s third)

•when rescuing P3P, take out the original shadow, then beat the shit out of tank with everything you have

•just try to stay alive during inital Kamoshidaman encounter, don’t bother too much with attacking (i don’t know if attacking is required for the battle to end, i tried to attack and quickly got pummeled)

•there’s a shortcut that leads to the stairs between the 2nd and 3rd floor, but you have to fight a battle before you can activate it. the battle is not nice

•Boss: Left is weak to fire, right is weak to electricity, middle is weak to fire once left and right are gone

also, the scene where the thieves make their move is fantastic, make sure to watch it. volume on also makes it better

Junessic Land

-lots of the enemies here have a weakness to psi, some of them have weakness to nuke. change your team accordingly

•you can’t sneak up on the pterodactyl FOEs. even if you sneak up on them. they “sneak up” on you and gain advantage (they’re weak to ice, resistant to curse, and can confuse you, btw) ::edit:: they don’t gain advantage so long as you approach them from the front

-t-rex FOEs only chase you if you walk into their line of sight (they’re weak to nuke and resistant to basically everything else, btw. highly recommend avoiding battle when possible)

•IT minus Yosuke does not join until the second floor

•Yosuke does not join until you rescue one of the herbivores

•dead end in area 1, D4: regain HP and SP

•for a certain special screening, ammonite is located in D3. don’t be a fool like me. avoid the pond until you find all the chests

•electric gates are essentially mean walls. you can walk right up to them, just don’t try to walk through them

•dead end in area 3, B6: unlocks new special screening

•can begin unlocking unison attacks after rescuing Yosuke

•dead end in area 3, E4: allowing Fox and Teddie to eat the fruit causes them to lose HP and gain SP (probably only matters if one of them is in your party, idk)

•dead end in area 4, F6: unlocks new special screening

•Boss: weak to electric, resistant (and eventually null) to wind

-Left back: Weak to psi. Resistant to ice, nuke

-Middle back: Weak to nuke. Resistant to ice, psi

-Right back: Weak to ice. Resistant to psi, nuke

-Based on context clues (those being the boss going from mostly chilling to beating the shit out of me), I’m 99% certain you do NOT want to actually knock out the “boss”, focus on the back line

A.I.G.I.S.

-for the most part, anything robotic has the exact weakness you’d expect it to have

•SEES minus P3 and Aigis join on the first floor

•the stationary FOEs are stupidly easy to defeat if you have electric attacks

•the other FOEs, on the other hand, are not. they will hurt you and some of them chase you through security gates. do not engage, do not pass go, do not collect $200 (unless they’re either blue or white on your map, in which case, go nuts)

•there are three possible tasks you can choose from to open the lab. don’t know about the other two, but power doesn’t involve battling

•Aigis and P3 join on first floor of lab

•dead end in zone 1, C4: unlocks new special screening

•dead end in zone 2, C6: unlocks new special screening

•dead end in zone 2, B5: unlocks new special screening

•southwest corner of small room in lab 1F (corner is in A4): unlocks new special screening

•dead end in lab 2F, B6: unlocks new special screening

•boss: no weakness initially, but weak to everything once hacked first time (it’s still on and can attack though, and the hack is temporary), weak to curse second (haven’t checked everything)

-has an attack that brings everyone to the same amount of hp, using all/line guard is probably a bad idea when it happens depending on everyone’s hp, recommend fuuka as battle nav for healing tide and bringing along someone with mediarama

-seals one attack from each person at random

-uses multiple magic attacks (have found electric, ice, fire, and wind)

-has attacks that can bind magic, strength, or speed

-make sure ALL elements are covered, preferably by more than one skill/person

???

•be very wary if you come across an actual set of stairs, there will be a battle in the next open space/beyond the next door

•some stage lifts have FOEs on them

•gnomes turn every three steps

•mr. bear can potentially change its path when you flip a switch

    -in case you were wondering. they are weak to curse. and they hit really fucking hard (as in, over 200 damage while under the influence of debilitate to a roughly lv 50 aigis in the back row, and she’s resistant to physical attacks. big yikes). but. if you use the combination of debilitate/masukunda/masukukaja/orb of haste. they hit you once in a blue moon. so basically never

•there is a goho-m more in the golden chest in the first act

•dead end in act 1, 4C: new screening

•(just assume the rest of these are dead ends) act 2, 3E: new screening

•act 5, 5E: new screening

•act 6, 7B: new screening

•act 6: 6F: i’m 99% certain this unlocked a special screening but for some reason i wasn’t given a notification

•boss: first off. can i just say. WHAT THE EVERLOVING FUCK IS THAT??? WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?? DISGUSTING!!! EUUURGHHHH!!!!!

-looks like a variety of attacks, including almighty. it depends on where the eye is

-eye is the only part that can actually take damage, the rest seems to be just for boost

-knows mamudo

-eye: immune to everything except physical/almighty

-left arm: weak to wind

-right arm: ?

-head: ? (never figured out these two bc i beat it before i could bother figuring it out)

-real weak point: weak to electric and ice

-later on, if you use any support skill other than your new one (you’ll know which one), the real weak point will bind you again. also happens once everyone is unbound

-side note, normal unbinding items don’t work, unless that was a very unfortunate glitch i had

[REDACTED]

-you have to actually step on switches to use them. that’s really all i’ve got

-wait. there’s a dead end somewhere that unlocks one of the last unison skills. i forgot to write down where though.

-there is also a “treasure spot” somewhere on the last labyrinth floor :) that has :) a special surprise :) have fun :):):):) *screams into the void*

-defeating the FOE that chases you is required to unlock the ultimate weapons. the FOE that mimics you is required to unlock ultimate armor. both things require parts from other FOEs, so go nuts, i guess

-rain leg musha is weak to fire and curse, resistant to nuke. wicked turret is weak to psi, resistant to fire

-there are “reruns” of the bosses you have to beat. they’re easy so long as you exploit their weaknesses. they’re basically the easy version of when you first fought them, no extra gimmicks. i found kamoshidaman in the lower left, dino boy in the bottom right, computer in the upper right, and big ol’ blob in the upper left

ENLIL

-weak to psi and nuke, resistant to electric

MAELSTROM INCARNATE

-ok, this battle was both fun an an absolute bitch (my entire team was level 72 and i was on hard mode, if that give you any context)

-first and foremost, this boss can change its affinity. you can tell what it is based on what attack it’s using. in all cases, it’s null to wind. not sure why

     -weak to ice, resistant to fire (and vice versa)

     -weak to light, resistant to dark (and vice versa)

-the boss can nullify buffs to your party and debuffs to itself. this makes those skills useless overall, but they can at least distract her for a move, which could give you the breather you need

-the boss can bind and afflict ailments

-retake undoes everything that happened in the previous turn (it’s like the turn never happened in the first place), so if the boss is “charging up” and there’s no sword in front, just have everyone guard

-if the sword is in front and it starts glowing in waves? fucking. block.

     -the attack seems to alternate which row it hits, but i beat the boss before i could actually think to look for a pattern

-there will come a point where the boss does an action you haven’t seen previously. see things through to the end (aka don’t turn of the game in a panic)

There’s another battle post-game, but it’s. uh. really. really. REALLY fucking hard. my team was all level 72, i switched to safety mode, and I still died before i could really do anything. the only tip i can give you is that when a new character joins the battle, for the love of all that is good, G U A R D, dammit