#in the center of the room.. crouching to cover her exposed body

[oh-katsuki]

looking at where and how the venus de’ medici is displayed makes me so fucking mad

[maliciousblog]

King of Hell (San)

Life had been really hard on you lately, one thing after another everything that could go wrong went wrong. You were currently on your way to work the midnight shit at your local cafe. The cold air made you shiver, you clutched your jacket bringing it close to your body in hopes of warming yourself up.

As soon as you saw the cafe you rushed in to get some warmth. You put on your apron and went up to the register to get started with work.

The cafe was mostly empty apart from a few students or an occasional office worker waiting for the subway to open. Most nights were like this, you were grateful for that but at the same time it got lonely and dark. You never know what kind of monsters roam the streets at night.

You picked up a book to kill time as the cafe was empty, when you heard the door bell ding as 2 men walked in who look around your age.

One of them took a seat and another called Mingi walked up to you and ordered two Americanos, while trying to have a conversation asking about what you did and where you were from you answered them absent mindlessly not really interested in continuing the conversation any longer as you were getting slightly annoyed by his questions that seemed more like an interrogation.

However he still was a customer so you mustered your best fake smile and answered them as quickly and moved behind the counter to prepare their drinks.

You loaded them onto a tray and dropped it by their table. You could feel both of their eyes on you as you walked away.

A couple of more customers came in and you got busy preparing their orders.

Mingi glanced at the boy next to him.

"Seonghwa , she is perfect, no family, lives alone and no one will even know if she goes missing she will make the perfect fit. Her shift end at dawn, but she goes to get refills for the ice at 1 am and lock up the back, I've observed her routine for the past month. That will be the perfect time for us to take her"

To which Seonghwa simply nodded.

The time started to tick, Seonghwa glanced at his watch and discreetly walked up the back of the cafe and waited for you to lock it up, while Mingi sat in the car ready to get away.

You walked to lock up the back and grab a refill of ice.

You reached down the refrigerator to grab an ice bag when you felt a hand grab your neck and shove you down the refrigerator. You tried to scream but only muffled whines came out of your mouth as you were shoved into the ice.

Seonghwa reached into his coat pocket and grabbed a syringe filled with clear liquid you felt it peirce through your neck and the cool liquid course through your skin draining your energy and your body fell limp.

He grabbed you and swung you across his shoulder and headed to the car. Placing you in the backseat as Mingi drove off into the night.

You woke up in a room illuminated by candles, the walls covered in what looked like pages from a book. Your hands were bound, you couldn't move. The air around smelt of incense and blood a sickly sweet smell. That's when you noticed the floor was stained red with blood with white lines drawn across it which looked like a star with you in the center of it.

The door swung open revealing seonghwa with a knife in his hand followed by Mingi.

You started to panic, you began to sob.

Seonghwa crouched down to you. You were attempting to get away from him, but the rope was tied around you too tight and the more you struggled the tighter it got keeping you in place.

You wanted to scream for help but the gag prevented you from doing so.

Shushhhhh Seonghwa gently cooed at your shaking body. Gently stroking your head to calm you down.

You attempted to talk to him but only muffled noises came out of your mouth, but seonghwa patiently listened until your were done. Moving the hair away from your face and wiping away the tears rolling down your face.

He motioned Mingi to come closer and handed him the knife.

He pulled back the sleeve of your sweater exposing the your arm.

He started to chant something which sounded like Latin as the room began to slightly shake.

You started to thrash around he held you down.

Moved to your ear.

"Stay still. Wont you be a good little girl?, and stop fucking whining. No one will even care if you dissapeared off the face of this planet so stay still or I'll stab you until you do."

You quit moving around figuring it was best to just obey him.

"There was that so hard now, be a good girl for us, you are going to help us become immortal, isn't that a nobel cause. Sacrificing your life to achieve greatness. You should be happy we chose you".

With that he held down your hand as Mingi grabbed the knife as cut into your arm letting your blood flow out. Seonghwa stepped back looking at you will a smile plastered across his face as your blood turned the white star red.

The room began to shake the ground you were laying on started to heat up.

The papers on the wall flying everywhere.

It started to get hot.

You were sweating with each passing second the room started to heat up it felt like you were about to be burned alive.

Screams echoed across the room the candles went out. Your vision started to fade.

But at the corner of the room you could see a human like figure materialize.

You could see a human like figure materialize out of the dark.

As your vision started to fade. You struggled to keep your eyes open.

You could see seonghwa and mingi drop to their feet in submission as the dark figure approached.

You could now see his beautiful face, eyes glowing red.

Skin shining with sweat.

He moved closer to their kneeling form.

"Where is my sacrifice?"

The boys motioned towards you.

He came closer and inspected you.

"Guess you will make up for the trouble of coming here" he said

As he picked your body up and swung you over his shoulder.

His body felt hot.

He moved towards the dark.

When he was stopped by Mingi," what about our wish, we gave you a sacrifice, now you grant our wish".

To which san just chuckled how about" Ill give you a gift instead"

His hand impaled through Mingis chest and grabbed his beating heart.

Dropping it onto the blood stained floor.

You watched in horror as Mingis lifeless body fell.

"You dont give the king of hell orders, you simply obey".

Blood sloshing around as San walked towards a kneeling Seonghwa who was shaking with fear.

He knelt down, placing a finger under his chin while another brushed away a stray tear.

Gently stealing a kiss.

"You will make a fine gift for Hongjoong"

Was all he said before everything went dark.

You felt as if you were falling, you kept falling as if you were throw in an endless void it got hotter by the second.

If felt like you were getting burnt alive.

You no longer had the energy to stay conciousness.

You woke up in a dark room lit my candles your body felt overwhelmingly hot.

You felt like ripping off your clothes.

You started to thrash around in the bed you were placed on. The silk sheets providing a little comfort to your otherwise burning body.

You heard someone chuckle at your struggling.

He walked out of the shadows, it was the same man that bought you here.

You hit his with a train of questions.

Who are you?

Where am I?

Why am I here?

"Slow down now princess, one at a time.

First of I'm Satan you can call me San for short but I'd prefer it if you called me master because after all you are my slave.

And second you are in hell and your only purpose is to serve me.

So why don't you be a good let pet and pleasure your master."

You tried your best not to look at him but once you did you were done for those eyes had you hypnotized.

It was like your body was under his spell.

You walked up to him.

"Kneel down slut"

You dropped to your knees in an instant.

He took of his pants and his cock sprung out.

Your eyes widened at how big it was.

He grabbed the back of your head with one hand and made you look up at him.

While his other hand slipped into your mouth feeling around before her shoved his cock in without any warning making you gag.

He moved your head up and down his length without giving you a second to breath.

Going harder each time you tapped his thigh asking him for release.

Just as you were about to pass out he let you breath for a second before shoving you back down.

This went on for what seemed like hours.

Your face was stained with tears and your jaw was burning.

He seemed unfaced just casually grunting as he moved your head up and down his length eyes shut in pleasure.

You your self could feel a pool of wetness form between your legs.

You felt him twitch in your mouth after what felt like hours he came in your mouth.

He let you pull out but placed a hand across your mouth preventing you from spitting it out, forcing you to swallow his heavy load.

As you were trying to stable your breath he picked you up and threw you back onto the mattress.

"We have only begun and you are already crying. I wonder if you will be able to make it alive through the night".

He got on top you pinning your arms above your head.

Ripping your clothes off with his nails leaving scratch marks across your skin.

He attacked your lips leaving them bruised and bleeding, he slowly moved down to your neck.

Littering your body with marks.

He couldn't hold it in anymore he raised your hips with his hand and shoved himself between your legs.

And began thrusting without giving you time to adjust.

You let out a yelp he was stretching you out to your limit.

He was moving so fast in you.

You wanted to hold to something for support but your hands were pinned against the bed frame.

He kept on drilling you into the matter with each passing second he himself felt that he would loose control.

That's when he landed a thrust hitting your sweet spot causing you to moan he noticed that and kept on hitting it making you a moaning mess calling out his name as if your life depended on it.

That was his tipping point he lost all control and let his inner demon take over.

His eyes turned pitch black, his nails grew longer digging painfully into your skin

His fangs came out gently nipping the skin on your throat.

His horns started to appear they were the most beautiful things you had ever seen.

All through this his movements in you never once faltered even when he grew in you.

He let go of your hands as you grabbed onto him for support as your orgasm approached his own coming soon.

He went on till you came but didn't stop leaving you overwhelmed and in tears from the overstimulation.

You felt his trust get sloppier signaling that he was close he bent down to your neck as he came into you sinking his fangs into your neck letting his poison flow through your veins turning you into a demon like him.

"Now you are mine for all of internity"

[lacheri]

streets

pairing: dom!Levi x stripper!fem bodied reader

content: modern au, sex work (stripping), degradation, hint of praise kink, fingering, unprotected penetrative sex, choking, slapping, dom/sub themes, Levi's a whole freak in the sheets, also mf has a split personality, minors DNI

summary: erwin drags his lonely best friend, levi, out to a strip club.

wc: 7.7k

Violent vibrations of bass shook through your platform teasers, one leg moving tantalizingly slow in front of the other as neon lights flashed around you. The silver pole loomed in front of you, your hips swaying as you strutted across the stage. You could feel the intense stare of eyes belonging to strangers as you finally wrapped your fingers one by one around the cold metal, circling so slowly around it, pushing your ass and chest out on display. You flicked your eyes up, heavy from false eyelashes, and searched around you.

Some familiar faces, most new, met your gaze as the club’s lights lit up in a dark red. They were all focused on you, sitting forward patiently in their plush seats, waiting to devour your body with their eyes. You leaned your back against the pole, looking down at your body. You were glad you had worn your favorite set of dancing gear, a see-through black mesh bralette and a matching set of panties, and of course, your six inch sparkly pleaser heels. It was simple, yet so effective when it came to the stuffed wallets of your onlookers.

There was one man in the sea of others who caught your attention tonight though. He sat directly in the center, his expression seemingly unamused and unentertained. You wanted to roll your eyes, discarding yourself of this fantasy you were presenting on stage. You resisted the urge, instead, turning your head in the opposite direction, and rolled your torso until you sat crouched. You leaned forward, head turned straight now, ass sticking right up in the air as the tops of your breasts squished against the stage. You used the leverage from your knees to shake your exposed ass cheeks, watching the raven haired man bring his hand to his face, stroking along his jaw as he took in the sight of you.

You parted your legs slowly, bringing a knee in front of the other, crawling towards the edge of the stage. You pushed yourself up from your elbows until you were in an upright position, allowing your hips to sink forward as you continued to roll your body to the beat. Still, no reaction, or sign that he was going to throw money on you, you scoffed internally and turned your attention to the blonde gentleman sitting closely next to him, a wad of dollar bills crushing in his grip. You smirked mischievously, leaning backwards until you felt the cold metal brush against your back. Flattening out, you brought your legs up, shaking them high in the air to allow your ass and thighs to move in rhythm. You felt the air brush past you as bills went flying in the air, and you smiled in euphoria. Money was your love language, and anyone who threw bills at your half naked form became your lover for however long your dance lasted.

You placed your feet on solid ground, leveraging yourself upwards to a full stand, turning around sauntering back to the pole. You wrapped a lone leg around the cold cylinder, elongated from your heels, and jumped into a spin. Your hands gripped high above you, dangling your head back as you swung in a pretty circle, your other leg posed straight down. Once you had found this balance, you let your right hand leave the stability of the pole, running it down the front of your body, over the swell of your breasts and the flat of your stomach, stopping right before you met your center. You slid downwards until both your feet met the stage floor as you crouched once more, popping your ass out to move the muscles one at a time of your cheeks. You glanced backwards, and you were pleased to see the dark haired man’s cold steel eyes locked in on your body.

He was very handsome, as was his blonde friend. Your best guess was that they were in their late twenties, maybe early thirties. You watched the ravenette reached in his pocket, almost in disgust as he pulled out single bills. You couldn’t see the dollar amount from your angle, so you maneuvered back onto your knees to give all your attention to the man in front of you. You tried the same move as before, crawling on all fours as seductively as you could, this time your knuckles wrapped around the very edge of the stage. You learned forward, a couple of feet away from the man as his expression darkened. As if you were a gravitational pull, he leaned forward as well, only a few inches away. Close enough to reach out and touch him, your thumb and pointer finger met the collar of his white button up, softly trailing the fabric. At the same time you reached out, he was doing the same, tucking the small stack of cash in between the valley of your breasts, managing to not touch any of your exposed skin as he did so.

Thinking about your other awaiting customers, you quickly withdrew your teasing, a smirk laced on your lips. You blew the man a kiss, winking, crawling backwards on the stage.

Your onlookers ravaged your body with their eyes as you continued your dance. Your chest was rising rapidly, out of breath as you did your final spin on the pole. You ended your dance in a slow split, toes pointed and curled as you felt your clothed pussy meet the now warmed material of the stage under you. You pulled yourself up after an explosion of cash was tossed on stage, flashing a seductive smile before retreating behind the curtain to the back of the stage. You’d have one of the security guys clean your cash up before the next girl walked on, knowing they’d get a small cut from doing you the favor.

You relaxed your body into a chair in the dressing room, sighing loudly. The room was empty, makeup and costumes littered about the mirror space as all the girls working were either out on the floor or giving out private dances. You just needed the quick break, you had danced pretty hard out there. You were debating switching outfits, as this one was a little too revealing for casually strolling on the floor.

You shrugged, getting up to get into your locker space, retrieving a cropped leather jacket, chains dangling around the body, brushing against your exposed skin and as you pushed your arms through the sleeves. This would at least give you the illusion that you were covered up much more than what you had believed.

Powdering your shiny face before you exited, you breathed in deeply as neon lights greeted you once again on the club floor. You worked at a pristine strip club, ratings high and prices even higher. There was a twenty dollar fee to even get in the place, and when you finally got in the door, the bouncers up front would make a copy of your driver’s license, just in case you fucked up somehow and they needed to add to you the banned list. Which was a pretty long list, hence the photo copies.

The dancers were high quality as well, all different shapes and sizes and ethnicities. It was almost like a buffet, you could get whatever you desired, just had to go out and look first. Everyone working the shifts danced, absolutely no exception. Of course, you’d want to dance though, making exceptionally more money than on the shifts where you’d stick behind the bar crafting drinks. If you were asked by one of your friends how much money you’d make on a night like this, you’d feel guilty as you would humbly lie, not wanting to entice them into auditioning at your place of employment. When the club was at full capacity, as it was right now as you sashayed to the bar, you could easily walk home with a couple grand. This job paid your bills, bought you pretty things, put food in your belly, it meant everything to you.

“Hey, Annie! Gin and tonic, pretty please,” you batted your thick eyelashes at your favorite blonde bartender.

She only nodded, shooting a desperate plea between you and the overcrowded area of the bar area with her eyes. You snickered, feeling her pain all too well, having spent many a night behind the counter, non-stop pouring drinks. Annie slid your drink over as quickly as she could, being stolen away by an already drunken man requesting a round of shots before you could hold a conversation with her. You shrugged, taking large gulps of your glass. You were parched from your dance, alcohol quenching your thirst. You hadn’t realized you downed your cocktail until you felt the clink of ice hit the front of your teeth. You left the empty glass at the bar, turning around and leaning against the counter as you planned out your next moves.

“You should dance to Doja Cat more often,” you heard a familiar voice hum next to you, looking up into the eyes of your security guard, Connie. A black bag you knew was full of your cash was held in his grip, a playful smile on his lips, “Took me like ten whole minutes to clean this up off the stage.”

You laughed lightly along with Connie, “What would I do without you? Could you put that in my locker for me, babe? I just left the dressing room.”

“‘S gonna’ cost you,” he joked, already leaving your form to follow your request. “You owe me a round of tequila shots, Patrón!”

Connie disappeared in the sea of bodies before you could call out a remark. You sighed, flopping your head onto your shoulder, eyeing back the gazes from different men who took in your relaxed body. None of them piqued your interest, and you found yourself feeling quite lonely in the middle of the club.

This was the last place on Earth Levi had pictured himself in. When Erwin had grabbed Levi’s arm, tugging him out of his home office, a strip club was the very last place Levi could’ve fathomed ending up in.

“You, my friend, are going to have a good fucking night!” Levi recalled his blonde friend shouting at him, tossing the much smaller man into Erwin’s passenger seat of his truck. Levi had only grumbled, disappointed his hot cup of tea would become cold in his absence, the novel he had been reading left disheveled on his desk. When Erwin had pulled into a parking lot, Levi finally had taken notice of their destination.

“What the fuck are we doing at a strip club?” he spat through clenched teeth, a migraine coming on.

“Attempting to get you laid,” Erwin smirked, sliding out from the driver’s seat. Levi had no choice but to follow, Erwin not giving him even a moment to try and talk his way into heading back home.

“Why?” Levi was seething, blood pumping loudly in his ears. Why did Erwin care about Levi’s state of his love life, or lack thereof?

“Levi,” Erwin paused, sighing before the entrance. “I’ve known you since sophomore year of college, that was almost six years ago, and that entire time I’ve seen you go out on one date. You didn’t even see the girl again after it either!”

“She was boring,” Levi defended, his eyebrows furrowing. “Most people are boring. Why waste my time?”

“Because, some people are worth it. I forced you to be my friend, and look at us now!”

“You’re not an idiot,” the corner of Levi’s lips lifted.

“I think that might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me,” Erwin chuckled, tone sarcastic. It was true though, Levi would’ve never allowed Erwin to try and befriend him all those years ago if he had been a total lost cause. Erwin was smart though, driven and ambitious. He worked hard and never slacked off, traits Levi deeply admired. “C’mon, what’s the harm in having a bit of fun?”

There was a lot of harm, turns out. Levi was caught completely off guard by how nice this club was, bouncers all over the pristine premise. He visibly relaxed at this point, his inner germaphobe sated. Though he did use hand sanitizer generously before sitting down on the plush chair in front of the stage, Erwin chatting in his ear over how beautiful the dancers were here. Levi half listened, more interested in his glass of whiskey than his best friend. He downed it easily, almost like he was drinking water. Then the lights dropped, and you had walked out.

With all his might, Levi tried to act like he wasn’t enticed, not wanting to bring Erwin any satisfaction. It was true, Levi’s love life was basically nonexistent. Only having sex with maybe three girls in his lifetime, it had been awhile to say the least since he had seen a beautiful woman in this state of undress. When you had leaned down, breasts pressing so sinfully against the stage, crawling towards him all on fours, a primal urge rippled through Levi’s body. Like you were daring him to act out, to cave in entirely to your will.

He felt a piece of himself missing when you exited the stage, but the room felt lighter, taking a deep breath to steady himself. Erwin was in a similar frame of mind, shooting Levi a knowing look.

“Well, what’d you think?” Erwin leaned towards his friend, a small smile on his face.

“I think that’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life,” Levi groaned, uncomfortable admitting this, rubbing his hands across his face.

“You should pay her for a dance, I know I’m definitely going to get one later,” Erwin’s eyes followed a thick dark skinned woman, swaying her hips, winking at Erwin as she walked past. He pushed up off his chair then, “Actually, hold that thought.”

The absence of his friend so suddenly had left Levi feeling awkward and out of place. His lips held an amused scowl as he watched Erwin confidently approach the woman, her luscious lips twisting into a smile of her own as she grabbed his hand, and led him away from Levi’s view. The ravenette stood then, empty glass in tow, and decided that he would need another drink to get through the rest of the night.

That’s when Levi had seen you, leaning so casually against the marble countertops of the bar as if you had owned the place. Your eyes drooping in disinterest, too cool to associate with the crowd around you. You didn’t even seem to notice various men eyeing your form, talking amongst each other, never breaking their focus from you. And Levi had to admit, you did look so fucking cool. The realization that Levi himself had joined the crowd of your many onlookers startled him, beginning to feel embarrassment and guilt for admiring you almost as if you were an object. When your eyes had met his though, and a pretty smile changed your entire expression, any and all thoughts and feelings rocketed out of Levi’s mind.

He felt his feet move towards you before he could think thoroughly. You stayed, still and collected, eyes never breaking from his. As his strides graced closer and closer, Levi broke the connection from you, stopping to your side and calling out an order to a blonde bartender, ignoring you entirely.

Your shock rang through you like a gong, deep and humbling. This wasn’t what you had predicted in those fleeting seconds when you had seen the raven haired man making intentful strides to you. He was close enough to your body that you could hear the soft cotton of his white button up brush against the thick fabric of your leather jacket, and you felt licks of insecurity, a rare emotion for you.

“What? Shocked I’m not down on my knees begging for you?” Levi couldn’t stop the words from leaving his lips, noticing from the corner of his eye that you had stiffened dramatically.

You whipped your head to see him, to see his stupid expression as you were sure this man thought he was God’s gift to mankind. You knew this personality well, a common one with your clients believing that because you were after their money, you were technically working for them. To your surprise, you were met with the man’s steel grey eyes hard set in disinterest.

“No one’s going to give you a dance with that attitude, sir,” you huffed, clawing mentally to keep your cool. “Keep it up and watch how fast we get you kicked out.”

This man, a complete stranger to you, only ‘tsk’ed, digging in his black slacks to pull out his thick wallet, “I’ll pay you a grand if you take me back for a dance right now.”

Oh shit, you blinked, trying to process his offer. That’s a lot of fucking money.

“You have a funny way of showing that you like me,” you quirked an eyebrow, debating internally. “What’s the catch? What’s your thing?”

“My thing?”

“Your kink, your game, what’re playing at?”

“I’m not going to pay you to stand there and talk to me about what I like in privacy,” Levi scoffed, slightly embarrassed at the very public conversation that he believed was always meant to be in private.

“Fine,” your hand shot out, circling around his bicep, his strong bicep. “Let’s go, sir.”

Honestly the pet name was a shot in the dark, your best guess at what could possibly please this very attractive client. His moody attitude was throwing you off of your very whimsical and flirty facade, parts of your real personality peeking through the cracks. You didn’t know that Levi was actually enjoying this interaction, feeling flutters of admiration at your sharp tongue and quick mindedness.

You guided him to the back of the club, a bouncer stationed outside of a hallway. You nodded to the burly man, and he stepped aside and allowed the two of you to enter the hallway of doors. Numbers gold plated on each wooden door led the way, and Levi was starting to feel flickers of impatience.

The feelings settle once you unlock a door, pushing it open and Levi gazing inside. A plush leather couch sat in the center of the small room, LED lights flashing different colors slowly along the ceiling, and you guided him to sit down. His face was passive, and had you known the man’s thoughts in that moment, you’d know that Levi was unbelievably nervous. While he had the help of the liquid courage provided by his whiskey neats, Levi was incredibly inexperienced when it came to beautiful women, more specifically, you.

“What’s your name, love?” you cooed, hand trailing over his bicep as you placed yourself next to the ravenette, taking in his stiffened form.

“Levi,” he managed to choke out, feeling the deep stir of arousal from your simple touch. How could he not be attracted to you? The way you pressed yourself to his side, so tempting, you were an enchantress.

You mumbled out your stripper name, and Levi felt a pang of unease knowing that the ridiculous chosen name was not your real one. Your fingers trailed electricity over his clothes, the pads of your digits playing with the end of his sleeve. You leaned further in, breathing right against the shell of his ear.

“Ready for your dance, Levi?”

Levi gulped, raising a hand to push back his fringe from his face as you stood before him. His hands finally settled atop his thighs, legs comfortably opened and spread as he took a deep breath in, willing his mind and body to relax. Like Erwin had said, what’s the harm in having a little fun?

Goosebumps raised on Levi’s skin as the smooth bass of a somewhat familiar song kicked in. He had heard it on the radio once or twice, finding it quite catchy and therefore had never felt the need to change the station. His heart hammered in his ribcage, mouth drying as he watched you shift into character. A very fitting one, he thought to himself, a total and complete vixen.

Your back arched as you posed before him. His eyes drinking you in hungrily lit a flame deep within the depths of your soul, feeling the dire need to please the man in front of you. You bent down, tips of your fingers brushing against your toes, and then you threw your head back, hair falling seductively around you at the force. Levi was cursing profanities in his mind, a very verbal ‘fuck’ exiting his lips at the sight.

You turned your back to your handsome client, giving him a full view of your scantily clad ass as you teasingly slid your arms out of your jacket. Levi’s eyes followed every move, afraid to miss a single thing, every detail of you and your body becoming his biggest priority. Your leather jacket fell to the floor noisily, chains clanking as they hit the wooden planks. You threw a longing gaze over your shoulder, a pretty smirk on your face, and Levi had the startling realization that he had never felt a stronger attraction to a woman in his life. In fact, the intrusive thought had his mind traversing through past experiences, and had him wondering if had truly ever felt the tingling of arousal that you had awakened in him.

“Levi?” you brought your fingers under his chin to his surprise, angling his gaze to meet your curious expression.

“I’m alright, just,” Levi paused, letting his focus drift away from you. “This is my first time.”

Your face softened at his confession, genuine concern as you spoke, “‘S okay, just let me know if you want to stop at any point. And if there’s anything at all you want me to do, tell me.”

Levi was mildly stumped at the second half of your response. He could make requests of you, of this dance? The last thing he wanted in the world was for you to stop, in fact he never wanted this moment to end as you resumed your routine, eyes never leaving his.

Levi felt the blood rush to his lower half as you positioned yourself on the balls of your feet, leaning over his seated deposition, ghosting your lips over the shell of his ear, “You know, you’re quite handsome. You probably get that all the time, but truly, you are.”

“Thank you,” Levi managed to mumble, thoroughly embarrassed by the heat of your compliment. “You’re very pretty.”

You smirked, pushing yourself back to take in his shy appearance. You had a hunch that maybe if you provided Levi the confidence he needed, this hesitance would melt away. With that in mind, you turned your body once more, hands reaching behind you to undo the clasp of your lacy bra. Levi’s eyes widened, his fingers twitching in anticipation. When the material was released, you let out a silent sigh of relief from the pressure of the tight material. Your mesh top fell off your arms, you gently flicked it to join your jacket on the floor. Instead of showing your freed breasts to your handsome client, you bent down to your toes once more, shaking your ass and thighs. Levi’s eyes were ready to roll out of his skull.

You finally did turn, crouching between the space in between his thighs. Your hands slid from the bottom of his shins to the top of his thick thighs, you felt the subtle flex of his muscles as he tensed. His lustful expression showed you that Levi was less than hesitant, actually he was really enjoying himself now. This was his private show, and Levi was feeling extraordinarily special. He didn’t dare to raise his touch to grace your exposed skin though, not wanting to risk breaking any rules.

Your knees heaved you up once more, and you moved to straddle the raven haired man’s lap. You felt the hump of his erection between your thighs, and you bit back a moan at the sensation. Levi was in a similar frame of mind, trying not to let his bodily instincts and desires take over entirely. You rolled your hips, teasing his clothed length, and his grasp on control was nearly lost. Your naked breasts pressed against his chest, nipples hardened from your excitement. By no means were you the kind of girl to sleep with your clients or even entertain the thought, but when Levi’s lids fluttered and he bit the inside of his lip, you were rethinking every morally right ideal you held within yourself.

On par with the beat of the song, you leaned back, hands on his knees, and thrust your hips lazily in rhythm. Levi watched your ribcage expand and disappear under your naked torso, your navel shrinking and opening at the rolling motion. You flicked your hair behind your shoulder blades, your lips parted, and you let out a shaky breath. You were flushed against his hardened member, you could feel your center weeping at the contact. This was not your intention, to rub yourself all over this stranger, but the way his hands twitched and his eyes were so hungry had you feeling things you only indulged in by yourself, in the comfort of your bed and with your favorite pink vibrator.

“Make it fifteen hundred, and I’ll let you take me back to your place,” you mewled against your better judgement.

Levi’s concentration was broken, the whites of his eyes exposed as he shot his attention to your face. His lips contorted into an egotistical smirk, a contrast to his past shyness, “We haven’t even been in this room for five minutes, and you’re already wanting to leave?”

“Two grand,” your eyebrows furrowed, pushing your hips into his pelvis, satisfied when you heard a hiss leave his lips. “Keep teasing, and my price goes higher.”

“I’ll pay you whatever I want,” Levi’s features darkened. “Get your things. I want you to finish your dance when we get back to my house.”

You never did complete that dance. Levi was gripping your thighs and lifting you before you could even protest, your back slamming into the wall after he had unlocked his front door. His lips were all over you, your lips, your neck, your exposed collarbones. Your fingers were woven into his scalp, clinging desperately to the man.

He could barely contain himself on the drive home, seated palming your thighs in the back seat of a taxi. He had sent a quick text to Erwin, not explaining much but letting him know he’d talk to him tomorrow. Erwin hadn’t responded, not that Levi cared, but he had a feeling his blonde friend was in a very similar situation.

“You,” Levi growled into your neck, sliding his hands greedily under the t-shirt you had thrown on in the locker room of the club, “Are the sexiest woman I’ve ever met.”

His teeth sunk where he could feel your pulse the strongest under his lips, and you wantonly moaned out. Although Levi lived a generically organized lifestyle, in this moment all he craved was chaos. He wanted to see your perfect body littered in his marks, his bites and bruises. He wanted to wreck you, bring you out of your nonchalant attitude, stupefying you. Levi was going to fucking break you in all the best ways.

“Levi,” you breathed shakily. “Please, bedroom.”

Levi rammed his clothed hips into the center of your spread legs, your ankles hooked around his waist in this position. You gasped, moaning at the contact. Your nails raked up his back, and you felt a similar urgency as he was feeling, wanting to feel the tear of his skin underneath your fingernails. You felt Levi’s hands grip your thighs to adjust his grip, and soon he was carrying you into the unfamiliar territory of his home. He guided you easily up his staircase, reaching his opened bedroom door and unceremoniously throwing you on your back on his mattress.

Levi was on top of you in an instant, his lips swallowing yours as he grabbed the collar of your shirt with both his hands. He fisted the material, and with a quick fluid motion, he tore the fabric in half. You were shocked, but figured you could easily borrow Levi’s clothing upon your exit. You didn’t stop him as he treated your bra in a similar fashion, thankfully not ripping the expensive lace. He reached under the arch of your back, unclasping it, and you pulled your arms through the straps and the remnants of your poor shirt. Your breasts were on full display for his eyes now, and Levi’s mouth pulled away from you. His hands snaked up your exposed torso, thumbs rolling past your hardened nipples to your neck.

Levi wrapped his right hand around your neck, and your breath hitched in your throat as he mumbled, “You like it rough, don’t you, brat? Want me to use your body however I want?”

You didn’t answer, wanting to seek punishment. His fingers tightened, and you felt a gush of arousal slicken your lower lips. Your hips bucked upwards, eyes pleading as you watched a sick satisfaction cross his expression.

“Answer me,” he spat venomously, leaning in to brush his nose against yours.

“Yes, sir,” you stuttered out, feeling the tips of your ears redden. You were so turned on right now, body responding loudly to every word and touch.

“Good girl,” he praised, not releasing his grip around your neck. His left hand stayed at your breast, tweaking your right nipple roughly, rolling the beaded skin between his forefinger and thumb.

You whimpered, bringing your own hands to rest above your head, stretching your skin more for Levi. His eyes were honed in on your face, all your desperate expressions as his hand left your chest and dipped under the elastic of your grey cotton shorts to meet the lace trim of your panties. His forehead rested against yours, his breath hot against your lips as you panted. When you tried to reach up to capture his soft lips in a kiss, he only squeezed tighter around your neck, discouraging you from trying again. He wanted to watch you squirm, memorize the way your eyes would flicker and your lips would quiver at his touch. His fingers tugged the cotton of your panties aside, and ran two digits across your folds, the pads soaked at the contact.

He circled your clit agonizingly slow, spreading your essence over your hood. Your eyes rolled back into your skull, back arching up to feel some kind of skin to skin contact. Levi was not going to allow this though, and ripped his touch away from your cunt. You whined at the loss, tears pricking on the edge of your lash line. You yelped suddenly when you felt the harsh slap of his palm against your folds. Levi’s gaze was hardened, lips almost pulled back in a sneer.

“Stop, or you’re not getting what you want,” he growled, and even though he was hovering over you, you could swear you felt the vibration from his chest deep in your bones.

You meekly nodded, willing your body to lay there as still as you could be. He smoothed his palm over the reddened area of your center, and his soft, teasing touch returned. His middle and pointer finger spread your lips open, ring and pinky finger kept your panties tucked to the side. Levi tucked his digits inbetween your heat, caressing your folds. It took everything in your resolve to not buck your hips at the feeling of the roll of your clit in between the pads of his fingers. You whined, blinking tears away rapidly.

Levi felt merciful for a moment, and fled his intimate touch down to your fluttering entrance. You could feel your muscles clenching in anticipation, letting out a moan of relief as he dipped the two extremities into your tight hole.

“You’re so wet, all because of me?” Levi teased, brushing his lips against yours. “Such a good slut, you’ve wanted me to touch you since you got on that stage tonight, haven’t you?”

“Yes,” you panted sharply, his fingers curled inside your walls and began to pump. “Wanted your attention so bad.”

“Like I had a choice,” he chuckled without humor, flicking his wrist hard into your core. “You came out looking like that, what was I supposed to do? This, you on your back, so needy, this was the only conclusion.”

He fucked his hand harshly into your sopping cunt at the end of his sentence, sending your mind reeling and your lungs gasping for air. Your plush walls encapsulated his fingers, you could feel the ridges of his knuckles deep inside of you. His finger pads prodded your sensitive spongy spot, and upon hearing your deep groan of pleasure, Levi aimed for that destination with every thrust.

“Feels so good,” you praised, your knuckles white from gripping the pillows above you. Levi still had his right fist around your throat, he could feel your esophagus tighten as every muscle in your body clenched.

With a hasty release, his right hand came down to pay your heaving breasts attention. His lips replaced his fingers, sucking harshly on the most sensitive parts of your throat. You were almost screaming as he plunged in and out of your pussy, your left nipple harshly being pulled with his other hand, his teeth sinking into your neck. Your clit was throbbing with need, your coil in your stomach desperately searching for any form of release.

“Levi,” you cried out loudly. “Wanna’ cum.”

“Are you asking or telling me?” he grumbled against the column on your neck.

“Asking, please, need you to touch my clit,” you begged, too far gone to care about vulgarity, clearing noting the ravenette’s disregard for formality in the heat of the moment.

He let out a ‘tch’ at the nape of your neck, and pulled his fingers from your dripping heat, “You’re not cumming unless it’s around my cock.”

With his soaked hand, he tore your shorts and panties down to your knees in one swift motion. You lifted your legs, allowing Levi to slide them down the rest of the way and throw them onto the floor. Stark naked and exposed completely to the man now, your knees bent in the air, Levi slapped the backs of your thighs. You whimpered, clenching around nothing upon impact. He let out a groan, tugging his button up over his head, not bothering with the buttons. Your hands left the safety of the pillows above your head, fumbling with the belt that rested on his hips. He met your hands, finishing the job for you. Belt unbuckled, slacks unzipped and freed, he stood quickly, shoving the pants and his briefs to the floor.

You jaw slacked in amazement at the sheer size of his cock. Levi was hung, his member standing tall and proud and mouth watering. He returned to you in an instant, positioning his lower half to align with your spread center. His dick throbbed at the wet contact of your vulva, teasing the head against your clit. You threw your head back, arching your back and angling your hips to allow Levi better leverage. His fist flew to the base of his aching length, roughly fucking himself above you. You could feel the tightness of his knuckles as he brushed against you, and you moaned out his name.

“Such a needy little slut,” Levi degraded you, face set in false anger. “Desperate for my cock, huh?”

“Yes, yes!” your eyes screwed shut, you could feel the pounding in your pussy. “Want you so fucking bad. Please fuck me.”

“Please, what?” he cocked an eyebrow, letting out a groan as his thumb pressed into the underside of his head.

“Please, sir,” you begged as a tear fell down your cheek.

“All you had to do was ask, gorgeous,” he chuckled darkly, sinking the tip into your tight little hole.

You thought he would enter you slowly to allow you to adjust to his enormous girth, you were sadly mistaken though as he plunged his entire length deep inside of your soaking pussy. You let out a strangled whimper, more tears rolling down to your chin. Levi wouldn’t give you the pleasure of patience, pulling out just enough to threaten his head falling out, snapping his hips right back until he brushed your cervix.

“Fuck,” Levi moaned loudly, his hands circling the tops of your thighs, throwing your ankles over his shoulders. “Feels so fucking good.”

All you could do was fist the bedsheets under you as he took you violently. Sobs of pleasure racked through your chest, tits bouncing at the sheer force of his thunderous thrusts. The sounds of your cunt squelching around his intrusion was deafening accompanied by the smack of the skin of his balls hitting your ass. Levi pounded mercilessly into your heat, searching for his own heights before addressing yours. Of course he wouldn’t cum before you did, but the way your pussy fluttered around him gave him clear signs that it wouldn’t take much to push you over the edge.

Levi let out an animalistic growl as his pace quickened, slapping the meat of your thighs as his grip adjusted your knees to your chest. He leaned forward, and in the dim lighting you could see the beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. His steel colored eyes were locked in with yours, lips parted as he breathed heavily from exertion. Levi could feel the burn in his hips as he gave you everything he could, fucking you as hard and as fast as he could.

You were nearly screaming, unable to bite back any noises at his assault. You felt his fingers slither around your neck once more, tightening dangerously around your windpipe. He could feel the collection of your tears in the dip of your throat, and his cock was throbbing at the sensation.

“Crying ‘cause it feels so good, aren’t you?” Levi snarled, placing his sweaty forehead to yours. When you didn’t answer, he released your throat to bring his wet palm in a roaring slap to your cheek, “Answer me.”

“Yes!” you screamed at the tops of your lungs, your cunt contracting at the stinging pain turned pleasure. “Please, please, please, let me cum!”

Levi barked out a groan as he felt your plush walls tighten, making his hips stutter in his rhythm. His free hand came down to your clit, slapping the top of your pussy with no real force. His thumb commenced its own pattern then, rubbing the engorged bud with vigorous intention. Levi plowed briskly, his climax on the horizon. You were quivering under him, fat tears leaking from your eyes as hiccups and whines left your throat. You could feel the soreness in your hole, and knew the second you came, you’d be squeezing the ever loving fuck out of Levi’s massive cock.

“So close,” you sniffled, vocals raw from the pressure of Levi’s fist clenched around your esophagus.

“Gonna’ cum all over me, pretty girl? Yeah, fuck, c’mon, my little fucking slut,” Levi’s eyes were smoldering, veins prominent in his neck as he approached his own release.

“Fuck fuck fuck, I’m cumming, I’m cumming,” your eyes attempted to close.

Levi slapped your cheek, “Keep your fucking eyes open, bitch. Don’t look away, wanna’ watch you.”

You nodded meekly, the build up in your stomach at its peak. His thumb circled faster, and you could feel every single motion in your pussy as he slammed his fat tip against your g-spot. It was too much, too intense, and you felt your coil snap as you clenched viciously around him.

With a loud gasp of air, not enough due to Levi’s fingers digging into your throat, you couldn’t stop yourself from bucking your hips. Your vision blurred over in thick tears, your skin was burning hot as Levi cursed above you. Your pussy contracted around him in a mind blowing flow, pleasure seeping in every pore and every cell in your body. If Levi had neighbors, or roommates, the noises you were making would be entirely concerning, sounding as if something gruesome was occurring in his home.

Levi was pushed out of your cunt from the pressure, and he dared not to slip back in your contracting hole out of fear of dumping his seed deep in your womb. He pushed your legs flat down after removing his touch from your clit, positioning his hips over yours as he fucked his fist at the same rapid pace he was drilling into your center. Loud moans escaped his parted lips, pistoning his pelvis with a death grip on his red swollen cock. Thick ropes of cum shot across your breasts, his thrusts never slowing.

You pushed your breasts together with your hands, fingers toying at your nipples to visually stimulate the man above you. He growled at the sight, “So fucking hot, yeah, take my fucking cum.”

He stilled, head thrown back as he let his girth fall from his grip, his cum oozing from his slit. You moaned at the sight, your mouth watering. Had you not been in such a hurry from the start, you would’ve gladly swallowed his cock down your throat, consuming every drop of his load. Maybe another time, if there would be one, you thought.

Your orgasms simultaneously slowed, until the two of you heaved heavily from the hard labor of the vigours fucking that had just occured. Levi moved off of you, grabbing tissues from his bedside table, and wiped up your torso. Before he could collect all of his cum though, you let a finger dip into a puddle in between your breasts, Levi’s eyes watching adamantly as you placed the digit on your tongue, rolling your eyes back into your head at the taste.

“You’re so needy,” he teased, a smirk crossing his exhausted face.

“Maybe,” you giggled breathlessly. “Maybe I just wanted a taste.”

Levi hummed, pushing back his dampened bangs from his forehead. He gazed at you in curiosity as you pushed your aching body off the bed, wincing at the indistinct soreness between your thighs, “I have clothes you can wear, don’t worry about giving them back either.”

Ah, so here came the awkward after the one night stand conversation. You smiled politely then, “I wasn’t worried. ‘Was gonna’ steal them one way or another.”

“Lucky I didn’t catch you then,” he mused, pushing himself off the mattress as well. “You’re welcome to take a shower, if you need to. I’m about to get in myself.”

“Nah, I should probably get home, it’s late,” you searched for your phone on the floor, finding it in your jacket pocket as you tapped on the Uber app.

“I can drop off the money tomorrow at the club, if you’re working,” Levi leaned against his bedroom wall, biting his lip as his demeanor changed back to his previous one from earlier.

You smirked, looking up at him through your eyelashes, “Baby, believe me, you couldn’t pay me to have sex like that. I wanted to fuck you, the money was just a fun little fantasy.”

Levi felt his ego inflate at your confession, his own lazy smirk rolling off his lips, “Let me pay for your Uber at least.”

And so he did, walking you out to the car when it arrived. You were swallowed whole by his comfortable clothing, and he placed a sweet kiss to your lips before you ducked your head into the vehicle, closing the door behind you. The car drove off swiftly, and Levi dug his hands in his pockets, walking back inside the comfort of his home to take that much needed shower.

The usual neon lights greeted you as you spun around the pole the next evening, less customers this time. You were feeling the undeniable soreness of your throat and center as you twirled around. Thankful for full coverage foundation to hide the bruises and marks littered across your entire body, no one had questioned why you were walking with such a limp. Well, aside from your favorite security guard.

“You’re off your game tonight,” Connie noted as you placed your sore body onto the bar stool. “Any reason why you can’t sit fully down without wincing?”

You flicked a unamused glance his way, “Any reason why you’re being so fucking nosy?”

“Just wondering why that guy left with last night has been following you around the club all night is all,” Connie took a swig from his beer mug, eyes batting to point behind you. “Hm, yes, very strange.”

You rolled your eyes, turning your head in the direction of his gaze. Your breath caught in your throat as Levi strided cooly over to you, a small smirk on his handsome face. He ordered a whiskey neat over the counter next to you, and cleared his throat as he finally looked into your eyes.

“Thought I’d actually get to catch your dance this time,” Levi greeted. “Y’know, since I missed it last night.”

You heard Connie snort obnoxiously, and your eyes threw daggers in warning. Connie threw his hands up to mock surrender, taking his drink and walking away. You returned your attention to the ravenette beside you, “Just couldn’t stay away, could you?”

“Just couldn’t get you off my mind,” his eyes trailed to the pout of your lips. “When does your shift end?”

“In a few hours, why?”

“I wanna’ see what kind of place a girl like you can afford,” he smirked. “Maybe get a private dance this time.”

“You do pay pretty well,” you flirted, trailing your fingers up to the collar of the fashionable black sweater. “Guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

“I’ll make it worth the pain,” Levi breathed out cockily, swiping his thumb over the swell of your bottom lip. “Wouldn’t want to get out of here now, would’ya?”

“I guess I could for the right price,” you parted your lips, lightly biting down on the tip of his digit.

Levi didn’t respond, instead he grabbed your wrists and led you impatiently out the door. You’d text Connie later and have him hold your tips until your next shift. You had a very important client to dance for.

LACHERI © 2021: all writing content belongs to LACHERI. I do not allow reposts or translations. this is my only account.

[the-broken-truth]

The Strings That Bind Us ~ Vulcan's Mission

Summary: Vulcan heads to the other 3 Lord Holds to get information on the Lord Dinner. Will it go well?

Pairing: Donna Beneviento x Vulcan

MY LONGEST ONE YET! YES!

[The Next Morning After The Lord Meeting] [At House Beneviento]

Vulcan stood before the front door as he secured the Beneviento House Crest Clip on his hooded cloak to ensure it remained on his shoulders; once he removed his hands, the crest clip shined in the light of the lamp.

"Leaving already, Vulcan?" Donna asked as she descended the stairs and walked over to Vulcan who turned around to face her.

"It's better if I leave in the morning so I can back come by the evening. I'll get the list first then I'll go shopping for the food in the morning." Vulcan said as he watched Donna's face look off to the side; he could see the fear in her eyes. His hand grasped her chin and moved her face to look into his eyes. "I'll come back to you, Donna; I'd never turn away from you and Angie. Thank you for trusting me with this." He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, which she returned as she placed her hands on his chest.

Vulcan pulled away when he felt a tug on his pants leg causing him to look down to see Angie looking up at him with the eyes of a child.

"Can I have a hug?" Angie asked.

Vulcan smiled and crouched down, gathering the doll in his arm, and hugged both her and Donna. After a while, he set Angie on her feet and gave Donna one last kiss before he turned on his heel and left out the house door, down the stairs, and down the trail to begin his mission.

[A Few Moments Later - At The Stairway to Castle Dimitrescu]

Vulcan looked at the massive Victorian-Styled Castle before him - The Home of the First Lord, Alcina Dimitrescu. He was not looking forward to talking with her but he knew she was going to be the most difficult of the lords.

'Better to the pain in the ass out of the way first.' Vulcan thought as he took his first step to scale the stairs until he reached the massive door; he knocked upon the door for a few moments until it was opened by a Housemaid.

"Can I help you?" The Housemaid asked in a very timid voice.

"Yes, I would like to see Lady Dimitrescu." Vulcan said.

"What reason do you have to see the Lady of the Castle?" The housemaid asked again with a raised eyebrow.

"House of Beneviento Business." Vulcan said as he moved the side of the cloak to reveal the house crest upon his chest. The Housemaid's eyes widened as she moved aside.

"Of course, please, come in. I'll call the lady." The housemaid said as she moved into the castle with Vulcan behind her.

The Housemaid asked him to wait in the foyer while she retrieved the Lady of the Castle, Vulcan gave her a nod and watched as she scaled up the stairs. He stood there in the center of the room - the fire in the fireplace crackling now and then. He looked around - the floor was so clear that Vulcan could see his reflection upon the surface, the chairs, and table resting by the fireplace looked as if they were sown & carved by hand, the chandler above his hand looked like it was crafted with diamonds as opposed to crystal; it was beautiful but too expensive for Vulcan's taste.

'This place is too grand - how can you stop yourself getting lost in here? House Beneviento is more accustomed to me.' Vulcan thought with a smile at thought of Donna and Angie back at home waiting for him...when the sound of buzzing rung in his ears. Vulcan opened his eyes again to find a few dozen flies circling around him like a slow cyclone - carried with was multiple giggles.

"Oh, look at the newcomer, sisters." One voice purred.

"Isn't he the one mother was trying to get to come here?" A second voice curiously asked.

"Yeah, that's him. Maybe he finally came to his senses." said the 3rd voice.

"I'm here to speak to Lady Dimitrescu for House Beneviento." Vulcan said as he remained still.

"Aw, don't you want to stay here?" The first voice asked. "I'm sure Mother would treat you much better than Aunt Donna would."

"You would be a Lord, yourself. Live in the lap of luxury and have the power to command anyone you desire." The second voice said.

"I've said this to Lady Dimitrescu and I will say it to you - I am not interested." Vulcan said.

"If you're not interested, why are you here then?" The sound of Lady Dimitrescu's voice came from on top of the stairs. Vulcan looked up at the towering lady, stating at the top of the stairs, slowing descending down with her hand dragging along the wooden pole. The flies moved away from Vulcan and formed into 3 separate bodies - the Daughters of Dimitrescu. Vulcan waited for Alcina to get to the bottom of the stairs before he gave a slight bow in respect with his eyes closed.

"Lady Dimitrescu, forgive me for arriving unannounced but there is something I would like to discuss with you regarding the Lord Dinner begin hosted at House Beneviento." Vulcan said - his eyes opened when he felt the large hand of the Castle Lady grip his chin and lifted it - Amber meet Gold.

"Are you sure that's all you wish to talk about, Little Mortal? Are you certain you didn't want to see what I have to offer you?" Alcina purred with a glow in her eyes but Vulcan's face remained professional. He rose to stand at his full height, which removed Alcina's hand from his face.

"Lady Dimitrescu, please, I have expressed on numerous occasions that I am not interested in being your...other half." Vulcan said.

"And why is that, little mortal? Why would you not want to live in a castle with servants waiting on you hand and foot? Riches that pile so high could by the world and still have more? Everything you could want and need within arms reach and you wouldn't want that?" Alcina asked.

"I have all I could want with Donna and Angie - I've traveled the world to become someone that would be worthy of them, a partner that would make House Beneviento proud." Vulcan said with a smile when mentioning his girls; this made Alcina frown.

"You would rather have her than anything I could offer you?" She asked with a hiss.

"Yes." A simple answer.

Alcina inhaled and exhaled before she looked into Vulcan's eyes.

"What do you want to talk about regarding the Lord Dinner?" Alcina asked as she folded her arms.

"I want this Lord Dinner to be grand for all the Lords and Madam Miranda, to do that I would like to know 3 things about you: Your preferred dish, your drink of choice, and any kind of dessert you would enjoy?" Vulcan asked as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a paper pad & pen.

Alcina began speaking and Vulcan wrote down her order.

Lady Alcina Dimitrescu

Main Dish - She asked to try the Blood Steak she heard about from Donna

Drink - Romanian Red Wine (I have to pick some from The Duke)

Dessert - Black Forest Cake

Vulcan pocketed the pad and the writing utensil before he looked at Alcina and her daughters, gave them a nod, and turned on his heel to begin walking away - before he could reach the stairs; he was suddenly picked up by his waist from behind and was lifted with his back pressed against the busty chest of Alcina Dimitrescu.

"Lady Dimitrescu, what is the meaning of this?! Unhand me!" Vulcan barked as he began squirming against her grip; he left her hand on his chest and her lips near the back of his neck.

"Why must you fight against me, Vulcan? I know you want more than my sister could offer you but your blind love for her is making you refuse what you really want. Let me give it to you - stay here with me and have everything you could ever want." Alcina whispered against his neck.

"I told you no - I am loyal to Donna and I would never turn away from her. Now - Let me go." The man demanded.

"Such fire in your voice, I wonder just how good your blood tastes." That made Vulcan's eye widen but before he could do anything - his house jacket was ripped open to expose his shoulder and he felt the pain of fangs breaking his skin.

Vulcan gripped his teeth to keep from screaming but he felt anger flood his body.

"I TOLD YOU TO LET GO OF ME!" Vulcan roared.

Alcina was suddenly thrown off him by an unknown force - making her slid back to her daughters.

"Mother! Are you alright?!" The blonde-haired daughter asked as she ran over to her mother. Alcina didn't answer - her eyes were wide and dilated, almost like a cat's - as she looked at Vulcan's bleeding shoulder. The Servant of Beneviento covered his wound before glaring at the Castle Lady - his eyes blood red and his pupils... slit like a predator's.

"If you weren't one of the Lords of this Land, I would have killed you for doing something like that! I won't act on my own but I will be informing Madame Miranda of this. Keep your distance from, Alcina Dimitrescu; I shan't notify you again." With a growl - Vulcan turned on his heel again and stormed out of the castle, slamming the door behind him.

Alcina stood to her full height again - her hand covering her mouth as her tongue collected the blood dripping down her chin.

'His blood... it was... DIVINE. Richer than any maiden's blood I have ever tasted. Whatever he is, he is not human...and I want him. I must have that blood for myself; he must aid me in continuing the bloodline of House Dimitrescu!'

[Meanwhile - With Vulcan]

The amber-eyed man marched down the dirt path, holding his house jacket close to the wound - cursing all kinds of things about Alcina. He made his way to the gate leading the Moreau's Reservoir when a familiar voice called out to him.

"That looks like a pretty nasty bite wound." Vulcan turned to see the Duke sitting at his carriage. "If I were to guess, I'd say Lady Dimitrescu decided to take a bite out of you." Duke said as he wrote down something in his small journal.

"You won't be wrong, Duke; she literally grabbed me and sunk her teeth into me." Vulcan said as he walked over to him.

"Unpredictable as ever, she is; that wound will get back if you don't do something about it. Would you care for a bottle of First Aid Medicine?" The large man asked as he held a small bottle of green liquid.

"I don't have any Lei on me right now, I wasn't planning to buy anything." Vulcan hissed in pain.

"Nor were you planning on getting bitten by a Vampiric Castle Owner. You've been a loyal customer to me for years, Vulcan, you can have it for free." The Duke said as he reached down a gave the bottle to Vulcan.

"Thanks, Duke," Vulcan said as he opened the bottle and poured it on his wound. "By the way, you wouldn't happen to have some Romanian Red Wine, would you?" Vulcan asked as he fixed his jacket back on his shoulder.

"I do but I'd be willing to part with it for 5000 Lei." The Duke smiled at him.

"I'll come to get it tomorrow and a few other things, can you hold it for me?" Vulcan asked.

"Of course, your coin is the best coin for me to receive." The Duke said.

"Perfect, I'll see you later." Vulcan turned and began walking away.

"Anytime, Lord Vulcan." Duke said, making Vulcan stop and turn back to look at him.

"Duke, I'm not a Lord." Vulcan said, making the fat man laugh.

"Not yet, but at the rate you're going, you'll be a Lord within a few months' time...maybe a father even." Duke chucked, Vulcan blushed and turned to head to the reservoir

[Timeskip - At Moreau's Reservoir]

"Lord Moreau? Are you here, Lord Moreau?" Vulcan called out as he walked around the reservoir depths - he searched for a while before he heard the static of television and the sound of someone sobbing. He followed the sound until he saw the hunched few of Lord Moreau sobbing before a small static tv.

"Mother Miranda... why don't you love me like the others? You know I'll do anything you ask me to do, so why don't you love me too?" The Lord of the Reservoir; that made Vulcan's heartstring tug.

"Lord Moreau." Vulcan called out, startling me small 'man'.

"Who...Who are you?! Why are you here?!" Moreau panicked before he looked at Vulcan again. "Wait, I know you - you're Donna's Servant, right?" Moreau asked as he inched closer to him.

"Yes, Lord Moreau. My name is Vulcan and I serve Donna at House Beneviento; it's nice to finally meet you." Vulcan smiled at the man, who was so confused.

"You...You stood up for me. At the House Meeting. You told Heisenberg to respect me..." Moreau said as he a Vulcan were now facing each other.

"He should - You're his brother and brothers are supposed to be there for each other. Donna told me that you were very kind and she was right." Vulcan said.

"I...No one has ever told me that, thank you, Vulcan." Moreau said with a smile.

"Of course, Lord Moreau." Vulcan said.

"Please, call me Salvatore; that's my first name and you're very kind." The creature smiled again.

"Of course, Lord Salvatore. Now, as much as I would love to stay and chat, I'm a bit pressed for time. As you know, The Lord Dinner is coming up and I would like to know what your preferred food, drink, and dessert is." Vulcan said as he pulled out the pad and pen again with a smile. Salvatore smiled again and told him what he wanted to know.

"I don't know if I'll be welcome there." The small man said.

"You're a Lord and this is a Lord Dinner; of course you're allowed and welcome, besides, I have a little trick up my sleeve." Vulcan smiled as he waved his hand.

"What kind of trick?" Salvatore asked.

"You'll find out at the dinner. Have a great day, Salvatore." Vulcan rose to his feet and made his way back out the way he came, looking at the new list of items.

Lord Salvatore Moreau

Main Dish - Grilled Salmon with a side salad and cornbread

Drink - White Wine

Dessert - Keylime Pie.

'That man goes through all that pain with siblings who don't even respect him and a mother who rarely acknowledges him... I'll do what I can for him. He's too kind not to get the love back he dishes out.' Vulcan thought as he pocketed the pad and pen again before heading to the last of the lords - Karl Heisenberg.

[Timeskip - Karl Heisenberg's Factory]

Vulcan opened the door and walked into the factory with his hand on his dagger, just in case something popped off.

"Well, Well, Well - if it isn't the Ugly Ass Psycho Doll's Plaything?" Karl's voice rung out of the empty space.

"I'd appreciate you not disrespecting her like that, Heisenberg; I'm here on House Beneviento Business and I would rather get it over and done with so I can make my last stop and go home." Vulcan said as he looked around the make sure there were not hidden Lycans waiting to pounce on him.

"House Business? What could she want with me?" Karl's voice rang out again.

"This is about the Lord Dinner and I'm doing this to make sure it goes well. Just tell me what I want to know and I'll be on my way." Vulcan said.

"Now, where's the fun in that - just telling you...when you could work for it?" Karl's voice called out - that when Vulcan heard movement and found himself surrounded by at least 20 to 30 Lycans.

"What the hell is this, Heisenberg?" Vulcan snarled as he pulled his daggers from under his cloak.

"The challenge is simple - kill them and I'll tell you what you want to know. Lose and...well, Donna and her doll will be short once playmate." Karl laughed over the intercom.

"Smug Bastard." Vulcan growled and got into a battle stance.

"Ready? Set...SIC HIM BOYS!"

All the Lycans charged at Vulcan but there's something Karl should have known - You don't fuck with the House of Beneviento's Servant.

[Small Timeskip - After the fight.]

Vulcan stood in the center of the lycan bodies - most of them with their throats cut open, some with missing limbs, others with their bellies completely sliced open. His daggers in his hands - soaked in blood. His clothes and cloak with multiple claw marks. Panting, he looked up at the intercom and smirked.

"Ya done, Karl? You gonna tell me what I want to know or do I have to come up there and show you I mean business?" Vulcan smirked.

Karl was quiet for a moment before he spoke again.

"What do you want to know?"

Karl Heisenberg

Main Dish - Fried Chicken with corn and mashed potatoes

Drink - Whiskey

Dessert - Sweet Potato Pie

Vulcan was tired as he walked out of the factory with the last of the lords' orders taken but there was one last stop to make and he wasn't looking forward to it.

[To Mother Miranda's Location - The Lord Meeting Room]

Miranda looked at the kneeling man with ripped clothes and damage to his body that would have killed a normal man but it was obvious he was no mortal man.

"You're telling me you did all this without Donna's recommendation to make the Lord Dinner go better?" Miranda asked as she looked down at Vulcan.

"For the glory of House Beneviento and for Donna & Angie, I would go to any length." Vulcan said as he remained kneeling.

"If you have all the lords' orders, why are you here?" She asked.

"It wouldn't be right to get the lords' order and not get the Village Leader's Order, Madame Miranda. I would like to know what you would consume so that I may return home to Donna and Angie." Vulcan said.

"You really consider House Beneviento your home?" Miranda asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Anywhere Donna and Angie are is my home. They are my home." Vulcan said.

After a few moments, Miranda gave Vulcan the order she wanted and watched as he rose to his feet and turned to leave.

"I want you to know - I still don't think you're worthy of her. She hails from noble blood while you are commoner. You will never be worthy of Donna, even if she loves you." Miranda said as watched Vulcan leave.

"I know but I will give her all the love in the world just to stay by her side." The man said as he disappeared into the darkness.

"What the hell are you, Vulcan?" She questioned herself.

[Timeskip - House Beneviento - around 11:35]

The moment Vulcan opened the door - he was engulfed in a hug...well...two hugs. He looked at Donna who had her arms wrapped around his waist and Angie who was hugging his leg.

"Where have you been?! It's almost midnight and..."She looked at his condition. "What happened to you?!" Donna shrieked with worry.

"Sit down and let me make us some tea...this will be a long one." Vulcan said as he walked to the kitchen.

-After Explaining Everything-

"How dare she?!" Angie said. "She had no right to touch my father, let alone bite him!"

"And Karl made you fight Lycans to get his order?! I told you this wasn't a good idea, Vulcan; I can't believe you talked me into this." Donna said.

"But it was worth it, Donna." Vulcan said as he finished his tea.

"No, it wasn't! No orders were worth the condition you're in now!" Donna yelled.

"I know you're mad but trust me when I tell you that it was worth it." Vulcan said as he gathered her hand and kissed it a few times.

"I..."Donna tried to find the words.

"Please, love. Everything will be fine." Vulcan's eyes shined like stars as Donna blushed and looked away.

"Alright, I'll let it go this time but no more risky trips." Donna said as Vulcan gathered her in his arms and kissed her.

"I promise." Vulcan said as he placed another kiss on her lips.

"Soo..."Angie began. "When am I getting a sibling?"

"ANGIE!!!" Vulcan and Donna blushed at the smirking doll.

[smol-and-grumpy]

EUPHORIA - Chapter 25

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Summary: He’s Dean Winchester, owner of a shady night club. She’s a journalist who has been asked to write an article to expose the indecency and debauchery that’s going on behind closed doors. But he’s also Dean Winchester, the boy who sat next to her in class. The boy who was too cocky for his own good.

Chapter Warning: NSFW, fluff

WC: 2894

Beta’d by @deanwanddamons​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ <3

THIS SERIES IS COMPLETE ON PATREON!

Series Masterlist ~ SPN Masterlist

Become a Patron ~ Buy me a coffee

Jesus, she opens the door butt naked and everyone who would have walked past could have seen! What is she thinking? Dean makes himself broader, shielding her with his body and pushes her right into the room. He closes the door one handed, and as soon as he’s inside, she climbs him like a damn fucking tree, wrapping her legs around him and hooks her feet on the small of his back while she crashes her lips on his. 

Of course he lets her. Lets her take everything she needs because he’d be lying if he says that he isn’t needy too.

And it feels so damn good to have her in his arms. It makes him forget how annoying the drive was to get here. Makes him forget how hard it was to drive and thumb at his phone at the same time without her getting suspicious and without him getting fucking killed at high speed.

It was all fucking worth it. 

Y/N breaks the kiss and cradles his face between her palms, fingers brushing along his scruff, “You drove all the way here?” She asks, like she still doesn’t believe that he’s here.

Dean chuckles and pecks her lips again, because he just can’t get enough, “Yeah,” 

“Just to see me?” She asks, while she tugs her bottom lip between her teeth.

Fuck, how can Dean say that he’d do so much more for her? That the four hours drive here was fucking peanuts to the lengths he’d go through? He’d drive through fucking hurricanes if he has to.

“Only for you,” He smiles. His hand finds the back of her neck, holds her close and kisses her again, while at the same time he walks further into the room with her still attached to him. 

Dean kneels on the bed, leans down to drop her off carefully, and when he gets back up, he looks at her. Goddamn beautiful thing, all flush and still wet because he can feel the damp patch on his dress shirt where she pressed her pussy against while he was holding her up. Her cunt’s on display and there’s still the stupid toy logged inside, taking his view from her clit. 

Y/N watches him watching her, and she pushes herself further up the bed as Dean begins to shrug off his jacket. He crouches down to get out of his shoes and when he comes up again, he sees her disappearing beneath the covers. 

He starts to laugh, “What are you doing?” 

“Uh,” She starts to say, “I just… it feels weird being naked alone in bed.”

“Huh,” He breathes out, “Does it?” His fingers working faster on his damn fucking buttons, and he wants to tear the fabric off himself, make them pop, but really, coming here was a last minute decision and Dean didn’t pack anything. He left the club right after briefing, right after she had called him and told him how fucking needy she was and now the buttons won’t come off fast enough. He groans in frustration and she chuckles while she props herself on her side. 

“Shush your mouth,” Dean growls as he finally gets the last button off and yanks the shirt from his body before he unbuckles his belt. 

The pants come off easily, the underwear too. His dick is not as hard as it was before though and Dean feels her eyes on him as he tugs at it a couple of times. There’s a sound coming from her throat and he chuckles. He knows that she likes to see him jerking off, which he doesn’t really get. Doesn’t know what’s so great about seeing him do it, but then again, he understands. Mainly because he loves to see her touching herself too.

Before he climbs into bed with her, he pulls down the covers, leaving her exposed and he grins, “Now you’re not alone anymore,” He brackets her head in with his elbows, his body covers hers as he kisses her sweet and tender. It’s different from the first kiss of the night that they shared. It’s all his sweet and caring side he pours into the kiss. 

She wraps her arms around his neck, hands finding his hair and Dean likes that. Likes how she rakes her nails through the thick of it, likes how her hands travel down to the back of his neck and dig into the flesh there some more. 

He parts for a brief moment, pecks her lips, her nose, her cheek, “Christ, I want you so bad,”

Y/N grins, her teeth showing and Dean kisses down her throat, sucks in her skin, draws blood to the surface. He knows that he shouldn’t be marking her, not when she has work things the next day, but he just can’t help himself. Sucks some more, because he wants to. He wants to mark her up, let every fucking last person know that she’s fucking his. And besides, Dean would let go of her if she’d tell him to, but she just giggles and he loves that too, loves that she would let him do just about anything with her. Loves how she’s strong enough to let him break her apart and fix her up again. He really doesn’t know how he fucking deserves to have her back in his life. He was a fucking idiot for not asking her out in high school but that’s in the past, isn’t it? She’s here now and Dean wants to make sure that she fucking stays.

Dean kisses further down, tongue trailing along her chest, licking up the salt of her skin before he finds her nipple and sucks one in. He tugs sharp, driving his teeth into the nub, making her grip on his head tighten, making her arch her back while pulling his face closer. 

He rests his chin on her stomach, while his hand plays with both her tits. He kneads them, jiggles them around, and enjoys the feel of soft flesh beneath the palm of his hands. Dean sucks in a nipple, pops it out loudly before he takes in the other one. He does it so long until she’s giggling above him. God , he likes the sound.

After a while of alternating between her tits, he moves further down, kissing and biting into her flesh, thinks about marking her up some more, knows that she would fucking let him and that doesn’t fucking sit right with him. He still can’t wrap his fucking mind around how a good girl like her wants anything to do with someone like him. He wasn’t exactly a poster child growing up and even now he’s not the best of men, but he fucking knows how to treat a girl like her and that seems to be enough for her. He hopes it is. 

Slotting himself between her thighs, he carefully pulls at the vibe, takes the toy out of her cunt, sees it coming out fucking glistening, slick still dripping off it. Dean takes it into his mouth, cleans it off and groans as the scent of her arousal floods his tongue and his fucking mind. 

He tosses it away and begins to greedily lick at her center, tasting from the source. He thumbs her pussy lips open, groans at what he sees, “Jesus,” He growls, “Prettiest fucking pussy, baby,” 

Dean licks up her cunt and she moans so sweetly above him. Her fingers find his thick hair, nails digging into his scalp as he drinks from her like a thirsty man. He watches her as he sucks at her nub, twirling his tongue around it and hums a fucking sweet melody. He loves to watch her coming apart, feels pride every time she lets him.

His licks get more frantic, and he sucks harder. God, he could spend the whole night just eating her out and not coming himself. He really wouldn’t mind.

It’s getting messier because she gets wetter. Half his face is soaked while the slurping sound is loud in the hotel room and she keens and writhes below him. Her voice is like a broken record player that’s chanting his name over and over again. 

Her legs cramp around his face, and he knows she’s close from the way they tremble, but somehow she’s holding on, tries to prolong the sensation. He chuckles while he laps at her nub, sucks it in and twirls his tongue around it in his mouth. 

“Come,” Dean breathes against her cunt. He’s eager to feel her coming on his tongue because he can’t stop rutting his hard cock against the mattress.

It’s cute that his words are all it takes for her to let go. He thinks it’s fucking amazing, actually.

Dean spends some time licking up her juices after she comes undone, spends some time making out with her wet and slick cunt, because that’s really the second best place he likes to kiss her. 

Y/N’s still blissed out as he kisses his way upwards. She cradles his face when he hovers over her, kisses his wet face and lips, tasting her own juice and swallows it down while her arm wedges between them. Her delicate fingers wrap around his cock and guide it to her warm center. Dean helps by pushing in, sinking his throbbing cock into her hot, wet heat and he has to drop his head onto her shoulder when he bottoms out. 

He loves the feeling, fucking loves being inside of her. Nothing can compare to it, really. Nobody gets him to fall apart like she does. 

Dean moves slow, fucks her deep just like she likes it, but he’s in no rush. He wants to take his time, wants just this, with nothing between them. Not hard and rough, no fucking toys, just slow and steady, deep and heavy. 

Love making, is what it is. 

And he loves that too.

Her hands are digging into his back, nails scraping along his flesh, marking him up and he doesn’t mind. He brackets her face between his elbows, kisses her forehead, works little kisses down to her nose and kisses her lips. She moans his name into his mouth as she comes again, and Dean swallows everything down, every last drop, every last syllable before he grunts and buries his own face into the crook of her neck.

*

It’s almost 1am when he carries her out of the shower and tucks her into bed. He had made her come one more time in the shower, and now she can barely keep her eyes open. Dean thinks it’s super cute. 

While he walks over to his things to retrieve his phone out of his pants pocket, he hears her. 

“Are you going to stay?” She peeks out of the covers, and Dean has to grin.

“Yeah, I am. Unless you want me to leave?” He strolls closer, places his phone on the nightstand. 

Y/N’s eyes are on him, “Nuh-uh,”

Dean chuckles, “No?” He lifts the covers, slides in next to her, his arm wraps around her middle, pulling her close and she lays her head on his chest. 

“No, you stay, please?”

“For as long as you want me to.” He mumbles and kisses the top of her head. 

She changes her position, nuzzles her face into the crook of his neck, leaves a kiss on his throat there, right where his pulse point is. Right where she can feel his heart beating fast. 

“Forever.” She whispers softly and Dean doesn't know that his heart can pick up its pace even more. He’s going to pass out if she keeps saying shit like that. Shit that fucking makes him want to propose to her right away, even though it’s been only a couple of weeks. 

And maybe, he thinks, that’s their way of saying that they care. There’s no need for I love you ’s. He knows that it might be harder for her to love and trust someone again after what she’s been through, and he doesn’t need to hear her say it, doesn’t want to rush her into anything. All he actually wants is for her to know that he is, in fact, utterly and ridiculously head over heels in love with her.

Her alarm wakes her from her slumber, and she knows that she has to get up but the realization that she’s going to have to sit into boring lectures and has to listen the whole day again doesn’t really get her going. 

“You should get up,” Dean mumbles groggily beside her and she groans again. 

Y/N nuzzles closer to him, her nose touching his shoulder, “You should get up, too.”

“Me? Why me?”

God, his voice when he just woke up does things to her. 

“It’s only fair,” She says, kisses his shoulder and Dean chuckles. 

“Is that all it takes? If I get up you’ll get up too?”

“Uh-huh,” 

“And if I stay in bed?” He grins, and turns his head to place a kiss on her forehead.

“Then I still have to get up and that’s not fair.” She pouts.

“I know I shouldn’t say this, but what if you skip the workshop and we stay in bed, huh?” His hand comes up to brush a strand of hair out of her face. 

“I can’t,” She’s still pouting.

Dean’s laughing. He’s full on laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Y/N asks with a frown. 

“You’re really such a good fucking girl. How many times did you miss school, huh?”

She pretends to think when they both know the answer. Hesitantly she says, “Never?”

“Duh,” Dean turns around and gets up. He walks into the bathroom and she can’t say that she minds the view of his naked ass. He really has freckles all over. 

“Where are you going?”

“Getting up!” He calls out, before he closes the door to the bathroom. She waits and hears the flush of the toilet. Seconds later, she hears the water running. She remembers from the short lived stay at his loft, that Dean always needs a shower to get his motor going, otherwise he’ll be grumpy all day.

She drags herself out of bed and walks into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

Dean’s eyes meet hers through the mirror while he showers, “I’d say that you could join me, but I think that you won’t get to the workshop on time by the time I’m done with you.”

God, he’s so cocky about it. And he’s right, they both fucking know it. 

*

By the time they’re dressed, her stomach’s in knots.

Dean’s going to leave and it actually makes her not want to go to the workshop even more. 

While they make their way down the elevator to reach the workshop, Dean leans his head back against the mirrored wall. He’s still tired she can see and grins at him. 

He closes his eyes briefly and squints one open to stare at her, “What?”

“Nothing,” She says, and adds, “It’s just, you look so good in your suit. I should put you on a leash.”

Dean grins back. t’s cocky and she already regrets telling him that, “Well, would that turn you on, huh?”

She can’t roll her eyes to the back of her head fast enough, and is actually very glad that the elevator dings to signal that they have arrived on the ground floor. She walks ahead and Dean runs to keep up. 

“Come on, that was funny,” He says, pulls her close by an arm around her waist and kisses the top of her head. 

He walks her to the entrance of the conference hall where the workshop is being held and cradles her face between his palms. Dean squeezes her cheeks, laughs when her lips are making squishy fish lips, “Come on, smile a little.”

Of course she can’t hold back the smirk and Dean kisses her, sucked in both her lips, making her giggle some more. 

“Hey, Y/N!” Charlie comes running.

“Hi Charlie,” Y/N greets her friend.

“I don’t believe we’ve met?” Charlie turns to Dean. Her friend’s always straight forward. That’s what she admires about the woman.

“Yeah, uh, no. I’m Dean, nice to meet you Charlie,” Dean extends his hand and Charlie takes it, smiles at him. 

“Yeah, uh,” Y/N clears her throat, “Dean, my boyfriend. He’s leaving now. Bye, Dean.” 

Y/N awkwardly waves a hand and Charlie looks from her to Dean and back.

“Ooookay,” Charlie says with a lift of her eyebrow but Y/N couldn’t miss the wide eyes, “I’ll be waiting inside. Bye, Dean.”

When Charlie’s a safe distance away, Dean has both his hand in his pocket.

“So,” He starts to say, and takes one step towards her, bends down to be on her level and whispers into her ear, “Your boyfriend, huh?” He parts and grins that cocky grin at her. 

“Yeah? Aren’t you?” She asks, feels somewhat embarrassed. 

Dean reaches out a hand and cups her chin with his thumb and forefinger. He tilts her head up a little and she sees the crinkles deep around his eyes. 

He leans down again, his lips inches from hers, “Baby, I’m so fucking far gone on you that I’ll be whatever you want me to be,”

Chapter 26

Please share your thoughts with me, I’d love to hear your feedback.

[angelsswirl]

Slide

Summary: You're the 5th member of BLACKPINK. You're in the middle of practicing for your solo stage when your dance partner has to back out. Lisa, being the fantastic best friend that she is, decides to help you practice.

Rating: Mature for smut and language

Word Count: 2k+

Requested: No

Notes: This was just something that was begging to be written. If you would like to request for BLACKPINK please send in an ask! Girl x Girl pairings only please. Anyway, enjoy!

Doin' our thing, movin' too fast Candy paint with the windows all black

To say you had been looking forward to your first solo stage was an understatement. You were bounds passed excited and any other possible synonym.

You loved your members more than words could say, but you had longed for the chance to showcase your passion for dancing to your fans. And, expectedly, your members were very supportive.

So, when you got the news that you were to do a solo stage for some award show you didn't bother listening for, you began to practice as hard and as frequently as you possibly could.

Your dance partner, a boy you had known since your trainee days and who was now a choreographer for YGE, had also been very helpful throughout the process. The dance that you two had generated was rather sexy, and never once did he make you uncomfortable.

You're sure that if you weren't head over heels for someone else, you would be with him. He was the perfect gentleman. Well, he was a perfect gentleman when he wasn't half an hour late for your session.

You glared into the mirror as you stretched for the fourth time within the last fifteen minutes. You swiped imaginary dust off of your black biker shorts, then did the same to your plain white air force 1s. He chose today of all days to be late. Today you were supposed to film your dance practice.

You stood in front of the mirror for twenty more agonizing seconds before giving up and grabbing your phone out of your jacket pocket. You frowned at the lint that had collected on the screen and wiped it off on your tank top.

You had one message from Jisoo, asking what you wanted for dinner. That was it.

You huffed as you opened your message app, bypassing Jisoo's message and reaching your thread with Lino.

You: Oppa!! Where are you?! You know I don't think it's cute or endearing when you're late!

Lino: Oh sorry, babe! So, funniest thing happened. I sprained my ankle playing basketball this morning. I could've sworn I texted you earlier but I guess the painkillers are effecting more than just my ankle😭🤪

You: oh no, Li! Are you okay? How am I supposed to practice now?

Lino: I'm fine, Y/N/N. I'll be back to normal before the stage. And not that you need to practice anymore, but don't worry, I called in some reinforcements.

You were in the middle of asking him what could that possibly mean, when a knock sounded from behind.

"There you are, unnie, I've been looking all over for you."

You tried to fight off a blush.

Lino: you're welcome in advance. and make sure not to do anything I wouldn't do.😉

You refrained from asking what he meant by that, if only because the owner of the voice was slowly approaching you.

You placed your phone back onto your pile of belongings in the corner of the room. You then spun on your heels to face the girl who had just entered the practice room.

"Why were you looking for me?"

Lisa stopped moving toward you, "Lino didn't tell you? He asked me to replace him for the day. Which I found weird because I'm pretty sure he knows I hate him."

You giggled at the younger girl, it was indeed a well known fact around YG that Lisa couldn't stand Lino on a good day. It was especially funny to you, considering your member normally liked everyone she met.

"Why do you hate him so much?" You blushed again at the frown that question resulted in. It was clear Lino was a sore subject, but you and the rest of your members had never been privy to why exactly.

Maybe if you knew, you could solve the problem for the both of them. Then everyone would be happy. And that's all you wanted. For Lisa to be happy.

"....It's childish. Don't worry about it." Lisa crossed her arms over her chest. Her incredibly large flannel wasn't doing much to cover the fact that she was only wearing a Calvin Klein bra underneath. In contrast, her baggy sweatpants left much to the imagination. You only tried not to stare.

Your crush on Lisa was well documented by Jennie, Jisoo, and Rosé. The only person that hadn't seem to notice was Lisa. Hell, even Lino knew.

In hindsight, you're not really sure how you ever could've stopped yourself from falling for her. She was beautiful, talented, passionate, and possessed a sense of humor that, admittedly, could be better but she was cute! You love her. You never stood a chance. She just doesn't know it, and you didn't plan on telling her anytime soon.

"Well, if you hate him so much why'd you do him a favor?"

"I'd do anything for you."

You choked on a gasp. Lisa didn't seem too fazed by what she had said, but you were as fazed as one could ever be.

You cleared your throat, "Well, that's nice of you. But, you don't know the choreography and the camera guy is supposed to get here in 55 minutes."

"Of course I know the choreography. Lino sent me a video about half an hour ago." Lisa looked mildly offended that you thought she wouldn't learn an entire routine in just half an hour for you.

"And you're okay with that? It's a pretty sexy dance and you'd be doing the "boy" part." At this point you were practically begging for her to change her mind. You don't think you could handle being that close to Lisa alone.

"I think I'll be able to manage." Lisa smirked and stuffed her hands in her sweats pockets.

You nodded silently.

Okay, Y/N. You can do this. She's just your best friend who you're in love with. It doesn't mean anything when you grind onto her just like it doesn't mean anything with Lino.

You took a deep breath, "Okay, lets get started. Did you stretch?"

Lisa queued up the music on the stereo with a laugh, "I've been dancing all day. I think I'm as limber as a slinky at this point."

So much for your last ditch attempt at stalling.

"You ready?" The slightly taller woman offered up her hand to you. You took it with a short nod. Okay, if you can't trust yourself, hopefully you can trust Lisa.

"Great." Lisa backed away from you as the first thirty seconds of the song was just you.

She pressed a singular button on the remote and the music began. As soon as it did, you were consumed by the music and even managed to forget Lisa was behind you, watching you intensely.

All you wanna do is gas me How we end up in the backseat? Just tryna get to the bag We on the same page, you the same way

You body rolled probably more intensely than you normally did. You told yourself it was because you were practicing for when the camera man arrived and not because Lisa was watching you.

Baby, when we gon' slide? Hey, hey Up all night, baby, when we goin' slide? Oh, yeah, yeah Baby, when we goin' slide? Slide, slide, slide, slide

As soon as Lisa sidled up to you, you gulped heavily. She had barely even participated yet and you were already thinking less than appropriate thoughts.

Thoughts like what would it be like if she turned you around and pushed you up against the wall. Or worse, the mirror.

Her body rolled in times with yours, at times it seemed like you two fit perfectly together like a puzzle piece. It also goes to show just close you actually were to each other.

She began to guide you into the next move. Her arm wrapped around your waist as you pivot in a circle together. The move involved you being crouched so low to the ground that you're practically sitting on her lap.

And the worst part about it, it's become at least 20 degrees hotter in the room, and you can't tell if Lisa has even noticed.

Then again, maybe the warm wisp breath tickling your ear said otherwise.

Eventually, the music came to an end, but Lisa had yet to retreat from your back. You feel fortunate that you're facing away from the mirror, because you definitely would have gotten attached to that picture.

"Lisa..." You whispered breathily. You're sure the lack of air in your lungs has to do with Lisa still being pressed up against your back, holding you.

"I don't think I want you doing that with anyone else ever again." She whispered softly into your ear.

You stayed silent, you don't trust your voice.

"Are you and Lino..." Her voice trailed off, but you knew what she had intended to say.

"No."

"Good."

And before you can even think of anything to maybe choke out in response, her lips are attached to yours in a kiss that would probably take your breath away if you were ever breathing when she was near.

"Lisa."

"You've been doing this on purpose, haven't you, unnie?"

Her lips travelled down your neck leaving fire in their wake. You rolled your head back, your head coming into contact with the wall length mirror.

"D-doing what?"

"Trying to make me jealous." You felt her hands slowly trail down your body. One landed on your hip, while the other harshly cupped your center through your shorts.

You let out a strangled groan.

"You have to be quiet, unnie. Wouldn't want to be caught like this, now would you?"

You could practically feel yourself get wetter by the second. You didn't want to be caught with your member's hand down your shorts, but then again the thought was just so hot.

Lisa traced the outline of your center. Your hips bucked at the sensation. The other dancer only chuckled. You sort of felt like you were being punished for something you weren't aware of doing.

"Lisa, I nee-

She cut you off with a searing kiss. You nipped at her bottom lip. She moaned in response. Your hands that had since been resting precariously around her neck, slid to her exposed bra.

Lisa choked back another groan, "No, Y/N, this is only about you tonight."

The hand of hers that wasn't teasing your pussy mercilessly, guided your arms above your head.

"You know, if you wanted me to fuck you, you could've just asked."

You really wished she would stop talking. You're already drenched beyond belief, and she hadn't even actually touched you yet.

You feel a hand slide under your bra at the same time that Lisa finally dipped her fingers under your shorts.

"Fuck, where are you panties?" Lisa moaned.

You didn't bother to answer.

You moaned obscenely as Lisa slowly stroked over your outer lips, easily slipping through.

"You're soaked." She circled your clit slowly, watching with a small smirk as your hips flexed and buck underneath her hand.

You were panting now, Lisa was exactly where you wanted her, yet you were still being teased. Your hips move on their own accord, trying to force Lisa to to slip inside of you.

"Lisa, please."

Lisa continued to trail her fingers through slick folds. She soon decided she might as well give you what you wanted, you two were running out of time the longer she tortured you.

Her finger slipped into you easily, the resulting moan is the loudest one yet and just as sinful as the previous ones. You were trying your best to be quiet, but it was hard when you're deepest fantasies were coming true, and everything just felt so darn good.

Lisa eyed your face through her eyelashes. Your hips buckled once again and Lisa took that as her queue to resume moving.

She pulled out then, pushed back in slowly, her palm catching on your swollen clit.

You whimpered and panted, urging Lisa to pick up speed. And she happily obliged. She added a second finger and entered you again.

"You look so hot like this."

She pumped into you about as hard as the angle she was at let her, but it seemed to be enough for you. You rolled your hips against Lisa's hand, your moans increasing in pitch and volume until Lisa muffled you without another passionate kiss.

"Fuck, Lisa!"

It's not much longer that you let go into Lisa's hand. You breathed deeply and your back arched away from the mirror. Bringing you even closer to Lisa than you already were. She stroked you idly as you came down from your high.

When your senses finally returned to you, you smiled at the woman in front of you. Then you slapped her arm.

"Ow. What was that for?!" Lisa rubbed at her arm with a pout. You rolled your eyes at her dramatics.

"For making me think you didn't like me back! This entire time I thought this was completely one-sided." It was your turn to pout. You even crossed your arms for good measure.

"You didn't ask." Lisa shrugged.

You glared at her.

"Okay, I'm sorry, but what was I supposed to say? 'Unnie, I've had a crush on you since we met, please go on a date with me, and stop talking to Lino. I hate him.' That sounds stupid."

"I love you, I wouldn't have thought it was stupid." You fixed your hands on the collar of her flannel.

"You love me?"

"Yeah. Probably since we met and you tripped and fell right in front of me." You giggled at the memory. Lisa rolled her eyes, but blushed.

"I love you, too. Probably since we met and I tripped and fell right in front of you and you didn't laugh at me like everyone else did."

You only ducked your head down to smile softly at the floor.

"Go on a date with me." Lisa more stated than asked.

"I thought you'd never ask."

Ooh I got five, you know it's all live Tell me when to go, baby, when we gon' slide?

[elsanna-shenanigans]

April Contest Submission #1: Morning Break

Words: ca. 1,900 Setting: Canon Lemon: lime CW: drowning, vomit

There’s something about kayaking on a lake at sunrise, a serenity that is rarely matched. Most of the wildlife is quiet, except for the call of loons waking up early in search of fish. The air is still and cool, fog gently wafting over the surface of the water. The sun’s first rays are golden and warming, chasing the night away and waking the fish below the surface of the water. A few frogs start to splash around a little on the shoreline, in search of their own meals, but the overwhelming sensation is one of calm and quiet.

Elsa closed her eyes as she let her boat slowly drift along the surface of the water, the clear ice allowing her to see the aquatic life underneath it. She could have used her magic to propel her along, but there was something calming about languorously paddling along the lake herself, the subtle scent of pine trees in the early morning air.

She breathed in the cool, moist morning air and relaxed her body, letting the mist caress her exposed shoulders. She’d desperately needed a break from the palace, and while her icy fortress on the North Mountain was often her first choice for some breathing room, the icy lake just a few hundred meters from the mountain was almost as good. The pressures of crown affairs, land disputes, water rights… all of the buzzing that filled her days vanished when she was out here, one with the wind and sky.

Just as she picked up the Greenland-style stick paddle she’d woven from ice…

… a loud belch startled her out of her reverie, and she dropped it in the water.

Elsa turned around with an arched brow and a disapproving frown as her sister covered her stomach and giggled. “Sorry! Hunger burp. I, uh… I didn’t know that was going to happen. I guess I’m hungrier than I thought.”

“That’s quite unbecoming, Princess,” she scolded, struggling not to let her laughter show as she dipped her fingers into the water next to the boat, icy fingers forming a new paddle as her old one drifted away. “Didn’t you pack any snacks?”

Anna cringed, hunched down in her woolen cloak. “I… might have accidentally left them in the dining room after Gerda dropped them off.”

“What got you so distracted that you left snacks behind?” Elsa chuckled, turning around to start paddling the kayak. “Snacks are usually your favorite part of our outings, especially when you have Gerda include some of those cocoa stroopwafels you keep having me import from Holland. Our Minister of Trade is quite displeased with just how many we’ve ordered.”

“Umm… nothing, really. Nothing at all, sis.” Anna picked up the icy paddle Elsa had made for her in her mitten-clad hands and began to match Elsa’s rhythm, hoping her sister didn’t turn around to see how furiously she was blushing. She thought back to how closely she’d watched her sister at the pre-dawn breakfast they’d shared before departing for the lake.

Watching Elsa eat, so properly and daintily, was incredibly arousing to her. This morning’s meal of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on toast nearly killed her; Elsa ate with a knife and fork, and every time the pink tip of her tongue flicked out underneath the forkful of food, Anna’s breath hitched.

“It’s not nothing. You can talk to me, Anna. There’s no one out here that will hear you, whatever it is, so say it out loud.” Elsa chuckled as she continued, “You and snacks are practically lovers. I find it hard to believe that you’d leave your lover behind.”

With a wry grin, Anna put her paddle astern and reached her arms around to cup Elsa’s breasts with her mitten-clad hands, rumpling Elsa’s ice dress slightly. “I didn’t leave all my lovers behind, you know,” she whispered in her sister’s ear.

Elsa lost another paddle.

“Anna! Not in public!” she hissed, dipping her fingers into the lake once more to craft another paddle. “We’re supposed to be enjoying a nice, quiet morning in nature.” Elsa glanced around furtively, but the nearest cottage was on the far side of the lake, hundreds of meters away. From that distance, no one would be able to make out any details.

“I was appreciating nature!” Anna snarked back as she picked up her paddle and resumed rowing, savoring the memory of her sister in her hands. “Besides, I-”

Abruptly, Elsa held up her hand to shush Anna, lifting her paddle out of the water and cocking her head. “Do you hear that?” she whispered.

“No, I… wait, yes I do. It… it sounds like someone’s crying. But I can’t tell which direction it’s coming from, it’s echoing all over the lake.” Anna turned her head from side to side, attempting to locate the source of the sound. “There, over there!” Anna pointed to the northwest, a small row of cottages lining the distant shore, probably a kilometer away. She could see a few thin wisps of smoke from the chimneys, likely cooking fires as families started their days.

Elsa squinted. “It sounds like a child’s cry… and not a normal one. Let’s go take a look.” Both sisters began to paddle as the cries got closer and louder, but they were still hundreds of meters away. Elsa set her jaw, wove her fingers together, and an icy wind blew at their backs, speeding the boat towards the shoreline faster than they could have paddled alone.

As they approached, they saw the source of the cries; a young blonde girl in a threadbare dress, not more than four or five years old, was standing on the shore, her hands over her eyes as she wailed. Elsa beached the kayak; as soon as Anna was ashore, she turned it into snowflakes that drifted away. “What’s the matter, princess?” Elsa asked, kneeling down.

“M-m-m-my big sister! My big sister is m-m-missing!”

Anna knelt down and put her arm around the little girl, rubbing small circles on her back to soothe her. “It’s going to be okay, sweetheart. Where did you see her last?”

The girl pointed towards the cluster of fifteen cottages, simple wooden structures with thatched, grass-covered roofs. In the center of the cottages was a small stone well, and a stone communal oven near it. The sisters walked over to the well and immediately saw what had happened.

Anna gasped, her eyes wide as her hand flew up to cover her mouth. There was a girl, not much older than the little girl standing next to them, face down at the bottom of the well, partially submerged in the water. “How- how long has she been in there?”

“Mama just sent her out for water a few minutes ago!” the child choked out between cries.

Elsa nodded at her sister as she furrowed her brow, then closed her eyes and reached into her magic. Tendrils of frost and snow shot from her fingers, and a thin coating of ice surrounded the girl in the well. As she did with Olaf at the Christmas tree, Elsa’s magic lifted the girl from the well carefully, levitating her onto dry ground. She suppressed the waves of fear and sorrow inside herself; the very thought of losing Anna like this made her sick to her stomach.

Anna touched her fingers to the girl’s neck. “I think she still might be alive, Elsa. Do you think any of the families here have a bellows?” A few years back, when Anna had nothing to do in the palace except explore and read, she’d read through most of the medical books in the Royal Library, one of which detailed how a fireplace bellows could be used to resuscitate a drowning victim.

“No need for that,” Elsa smiled grimly as she conjured a bellows out of ice and handed it to Anna while she propped the little girl up into a half-sitting position, holding her head and shoulders steady. Anna carefully placed the bellows in the girl’s mouth and pumped them a few times. Within moments, the girl’s chest heaved and she regained consciousness, then bent over and vomited out the water in her stomach and lungs on the rocky ground.

Anna’s heart leapt at seeing the little girl revived. Warmth spread in her chest and she could barely contain her joyful laughter. The younger sister immediately charged in, displacing Elsa as she hugged her older sister tightly.

Anna stood up, taking Elsa’s hand as they watched the tearful reunion of the little sisters, memories of her own childhood plucking at her heartstrings. Before her isolation, Elsa had hugged her like that. Several of the cottage doors had opened and villagers had peeked to see what all the commotion was about. One woman, most likely the girls’ mother, rushed over to see what had happened, sitting in the dirt to hold them.

The younger sister spoke up immediately, taking her mother’s hand excitedly. “I cried for help to the spirits because Ingeborg was missing and I couldn’t find her! But then the spirits came and saved her, Mama! Ingeborg fell down the well.”

The girls’ mother, a middle-aged brunette peasant woman, crouched down and cradled her children as she soothed them. “Karoline, you should have come back inside and gotten us, baby. Next time, please come get us right away instead of crying to the spirits, okay?”

“Why, Mama? The spirits came,” she beamed, pointing at Elsa and Anna.

“They’re not spirits, Karoline. They’re just-” At that moment, the mother looked up and nearly dropped her children. “Oh my God, Your Majesty! Your Highness!” She immediately tried to scramble to her knees so she could bow properly to her sovereign. “Please forgive my rudeness!”

Elsa laughed and knelt down, resting a hand on the woman’s shoulder to reassure her. “Please, there’s nothing to forgive. Princess Anna and I were just out for a quiet morning on the lake when we heard little Karoline’s cries.”

“And she used magic to lift Ingeborg out of the well and then her friend used a magical thing to put air back inside Inge, Mama! She is so one of the spirits!” the little girl chirped excitedly as the royal sisters nodded, affirming the truthfulness of the girl’s story.

“Th- thank you, Your Majesty. We are so grateful to you for saving Ingeborg’s life. Long live Queen Elsa!” A few of the villagers who were huddled in their doorways echoed the mother’s oath.

“Well, we should be going,” Elsa smiled, taking Anna’s hand in her own as she bent down to address the girls. “Karoline, remember to get an adult if your sister is in trouble, and remember to love your sister and be kind to her. And Ingeborg, always be grateful that you have a wonderful little sister who looks after you so well, just like Princess Anna always looks after me.” The royal sisters waved to the villagers as they walked back to the shore, and Elsa decided to show off a little for the children.

She tapped the ground with her foot and instead of a small kayak, a much more grand Nordland single-mast boat appeared, the sails fluttering in the breeze just as Elsa’s ice gowns did. Both Ingeborg and Karoline clapped at the show, while the adults stood flabbergasted at their Queen’s abilities. Save for the Eternal Winter, none had ever seen Elsa’s magic up close.

“Well, that was anything but a calming break from the palace,” Elsa murmured as they sailed away to the far end of the lake, the village growing smaller in the distance. Anna turned to her sister with a devilish grin tugging at her lips, reaching towards Elsa. “Speaking of breaks… I’d like to get back to appreciating nature now, please…”

[lord-explosion-baku]

Hero Santa

Sero x fem!reader

Warnings: yellow sour fruit, swearing

A/N: wow it’s been a long time that I’ve posted a oneshot. Sorry about that. My job keeps me busy and the fic I’m writing takes priority. This isn’t a request either so I’m ;;; this is entirely self-indulgent. I’ve just discovered a newfound love for mr. tape boy and wanted to write something about him. There’s a lot of cringey things in here. Like, secondhand emebarssment type things. But I just wanted to write something funny and wholesome, straying away from the incessant dubcon that litters my blog. If this makes you embarrassed then I think I’ve done my job right? If this makes you smile, then double points for me, I guess! Also, fuck you, I'm still mourning the loss of blockbuster movies so it exists in this one shot. huzzah.

You barrel in through Sero’s threshold, clutching your sides as you bust out laughing, exhilarated from you and Sero’s grand escape from a dastardly encounter— you seeing your ex boyfriend in public. Sero flings himself after you, clamping his hands down on your shoulders practically shaking as he tries to catch his breath.

“D-do you think he saw us??” He snickers, twirling around you to throw his house keys down on his front door counter top.

“I’m sure he did! He said my name right before you grabbed me!”

Sero’s grin widens as he sifts through your bag to grab one of the many sweet treats he picked out for the both of you. “But are you really sure that he saw us?”

“Sero, you literally spider-manned us out of blockbuster. The entire store saw us! They’re going to have to get a long ass ladder to get that tape off the ceiling!” You grin at him and with your best, most formal tone, you mock, “that was quite indecent, young man!”

“Ehhh. I’m sure they have somebody at the blockbuster who was like a leg extension or flying quirk. They’ll be fine!

You snort. “I can’t believe you just referred to blockbuster as ‘the blockbuster’ like you’re some kinda old lady!”

“Now, why don’t you make a decision on what my identity is? Who am I: Spider-Man or Gammy NumNums?”

“Who am I to say? I don't know Spider-Man’s secret identity. How are we so sure that Gammy NumNums herself isn’t Spider-Man?

“Oh shit, I think you’re onto something there.” Sero plops down on his couch, setting his treats down on the table next to it. “I’m really living the greatest triple life, huh? The best of all worlds.”

“I’ll say.” You mosey into the room, vibrating with happiness and comfort you get whenever you’re in Sero’s house. You nod at the pile of blankets he has at his feet. The two of you are going to be having a blanket fort movie night, something you’ve been looking forward to all week long. “Shall we get started?”

“Nah nah nah, lemme take care of all of this! Can you get the popcorn ready?”

You nod and grab two different packets from your bag. “Butter or kettle? I couldn’t decide.”

“What do I look like, an animal? Butter! Buttery butter. I want my popcorn to slide off my fingertips!”

You mock a gag. “I think maybe you are an animal,” you say and throw a pillow at Sero’s face before hopping to the kitchen before he could retaliate.

You leave the room with a giant smile on your face. Back at the store, you let yourself freeze in front of your ex while a thousand thoughts ran through your head. It’s always been odd seeing him in public after the two of you broke up, but every time you have seen him, you’ve been able to hide yourself immediately. Thankfully Sero was there when you were discovered and you recovered from your mental paralysis as soon as he swung the two of you out and away from him.

Sero has really been a special kind of hero towards you since your breakup. He’s been nothing but supportive of you— there for you whether you needed a shoulder to cry on or someone to bring a smile to your face. Sero is your guy. Sometimes both! You recall an instance where you were done crying but had said something along the lines of “my heart might be broken,” and without hesitating, Sero clicked out a piece of his tape and placed it over your chest, telling you that he’d be there to fix it. That’s when you first realized that maybe your heart could change fall into a new direction. He has really become something very… special to you. You find your heart skipping a beat during certain instances. If his hand lingers on your waist for a second longer than you’re used to, your mind goes haywire. It’s funny— you know you have feelings for him, and you’re pretty positive he might reciprocate those feelings, but the two of you avoid saying anything about it like the plague. You’re completely comfortable with him, but sometimes when you’re alone, when you’re close, the air grows thick with tension and the two of you sit in silence until one of you inevitable break the silence by making some lame joke. But god, sometimes you just want to hold the boy down and smooch his face!!

You pause in the hallway to check yourself in the mirror, pursing your lips as you turn to inspect your teal blue pajama bottoms. You sigh, embarrassed to have been in public with your lounge wear: slippers and all. If you had been expecting to see anybody, you would’ve done your makeup, maybe put on a skirt and some cute boots, but he saw you looking like a slob with a shit ton of candy in your hands.

After you pop your corn, you return to Sero’s living room, amazed at how quickly he made the fort transformation. Blankets hang from the walls and ceiling, cascading down with nice curves centering on an arena of fluffy pillows with Sero sprawled out in the middle, languidly pushing chocolate covered cookie dough into his mouth while he bats at the controls to get the movie started. You pause at the doorway, shifting your weight from one leg to another nervously until he looks at you, lifting a brow when you bite your lip.

“I know,” he says with a grin, “I’m absolutely brilliant.”

“You’re just alright.” You take you seat next to the boy, and burrow your cold feet under his legs. He gives you a funny grin, but you shrug it off. “I’m cold!”

“I think I-“ Sero presses his lips together, a worried look crawling over his face “-I’m certain I spared a blanket or two for us to actually use.”

He takes a moment to look around and after he finds nothing, he gives you a wide eyed stare. “Oh no.”

“See, this is why you're just alright.”

Sero hops up. “No, no, no— I’m not just alright. I’m the king of this here fort.” Sero raises his hands to feel around for a blanket used for the roof that’s unnecessary for the structure. His shirt lifts, exposing his tight midriff to you, and you tell yourself to look away, but you just can’t bring yourself to. Your eyes linger on his naval before drifting down towards his gray sweatpants where you can definitely make out the outline of his dick. You could scream.

“Do forts usually have kings?”

“This one does.”

You get to you knees, fully aware of how it might look to him if he so much as glances down, and ask, “if you’re the king, what would that make me?”

“That’s easy,” Sero says, carefully peeling some tape off a loose blanket, “you’re the princess.”

“HA! So you’re my dad?!”

Sero snickers before his eyes meet yours, blanket falling into his hands. He hesitates for a moment while he looks down at you, his brows furrowing as the tips of his ears grow to be a redder hue.

“Absolutely not,” he whispers in a tone softer than you’re used to. The blanket fall to the floor, but Sero stays stock still, eyes glazing over as he takes in your suggestive position.

“Then how does this work?” You quip, growing all the more embarrassed that you’re practically begging for him to make a move while at the same time, doing absolutely nothing.

“Don’t you remember?” Finally, he crouches down, leveling his head with yours. You can feel his breath dance across your face as he continues, “I swept you off your feet. Stole you right out from under the nose of a beastly emperor. The princess is merely a guest at my fort; it’s a safe haven for her.”

“Then one could say that the princess owes the king a lot for saving her life…”

“The king is only happy when the princess is safe and happy. She owes him nothing.”

“Is that so…?” You reach a hand into the popcorn bowl, grin sinisterly at ‘the king’, and buck a handful of the buttery goodness Sero loves so much right at his face. “Little did you know, the princess has been planning to assassinate the king in order to take the fort for herself!”

“Damn you, princess!” Sero laughs, throwing his own handful right back at you. “The king has been betrayed one too many times after giving in to acts of charity!”

“The king is a fool!” You yell, swinging a pillow at his face, knocking him back into his cushioned seminar. “Long live princess me!!”

Sero moves to remove your assault weapon from his face, only to have you climb on top of him to pin his hands behind his back

“You suck.”

“You sure wish I would.”

“I—“ Sero’s face flushes beat red while you smirk down at him. You tighten your thighs hold around him but get distracted by something poking your chest. It’s popcorn.

“Oh. Ew.” Without thinking, you pull the bits out from your bra and pop them into your mouth. Sero gives you a funny grin and it’s your turn to flush. You hide behind your hands and cry, “GAHH! I’m not a princess! I’m a troll!”

Sero uses this opening to his advantage, grabbing onto your hands and using sheer strength, flings you onto your back, panning you down against a pillowy wonderland.

“Ahhh curse your hero training,” you laugh, wiggling your legs around so you can lay more comfortably under your faux assailant.

“Troll princess,” Sero sighs, his warm breath cascading down your neck, causing shivers to prickle all across your body, “I've got you now.”

“Oh nooo.” You toss your head back, subtly lifting your pelvis to press against his. Heat floods into your belly when you feel his hardening erection pulsate against you. This isn’t what friends do and you know that. He has to know that, too. “The King’s got the poor, helpless princess locked beneath him. Whatever can she do? Whatever will he do?”

Sero goes silent. His eyes scan over your face, lips patting when they land in yours. You’re unsure of what to do— what to say. At this point you might as well tell him to kiss you.

“I don’t wanna play this game anymore,” he says in a sort of morose way. You heart falls and your stomach goes to knots. Maybe you were wrong about him feeling the same way for you do? Maybe the two of you are just really good friends. But his hands don’t move from their pinned position.

“Sero… we don’t have to do this if you don’t w—“

Your sentence gets cut short by Sero’s lips suddenly locking onto yours. You hum in surprise, but kiss him back, your skin practically screaming in delight when his tongue slides over your bottom lip. You try to reach up to him but Sero’s bolted hands hold your wrists firmly, keeping them above your head and all you can do is roll your tongue over his, trying to catch as much of him as you can before the kiss breaks.

But it doesn’t. He pushes your wrists together so he can hold you with one hand while the other slides down to your body, caressing your side until he squeezes your waist. You lift your pelvis and his arm wraps around your back, pulling you closer against his body. His cock rubs against your pubic bone and you can’t help but imagine what it may feel like inside of you.

You manage to free one of your hands and swiftly move it down to his sweats, greedily massaging him through his pants. Finally Sero pulls away, a trail of saliva connecting your lips to his.

“Oh, heh~,” he says, seizing your hand. “I’m, uh, really sensitive…”

“Oh? I’d like to see just how-“ again, you’re cut off by Sero claiming your lips, the kiss more forceful the second time around. It’s messy, and wet, and desperate, and you find yourself sighing into his mouth every time you get a chance to breathe, only to have those short moments thrown away by your own need possessing your body to kiss him back harsher, hands reaching up to his hair to tug and pull, exciting you when you hear a groan build up in the back Sero’s throat.

“Fuck.” Sero’s lips meet your neck, his hand resting against your exposed belly. It’s cold but you don’t mind; your body craves his cool touch. Using his tongue, Sero draw a long strip up from your neck to your ear, causing your body to shudder. You practically melt when he whispers, “I want you. I want you so bad. You have no idea.”

You sigh as Sero nibbles in your ear, his hands boldly exploring farther up your body. “I… think I have some idea.”

“Nuh-uh.” Sero leans back, his eyes shamelessly scanning over your body. You didn’t think it possible, but your skin warms up even more from his lingering gaze. As much as you like the attention, you want his hands right back on you pronto. “There’s no way you could possibly like me as much as I like you…”

You scowl at him. Too much talking and not enough kissing. You pull your shirt off and unclasp your bra, throwing your garments to the side, exposing yourself to him. Nervous tingles nip at your body, but the look on his face, the way his eyes flick from your face to your chest and back to your face as his adam’s apple bobs, makes it all worth it.

“Shit… you’re so— you’re everything to me, I need you to know that, like, if you’re at all uncomfortable or like if I do something you don’t like— god, you’re gorgeous, I just wanna—“

“-Sero…” You take his hands in yours and lead them back to your body. “Please… touch me.”

“Y-yeah…”

Sero presses his lips to yours in a sweeter manner, him molding to you nearly perfectly as his hands run up your sides. Goosebumps erupt across your body when he pushes you back down against the pillows. His right hand cups your breast as he trails kisses down your chest, only pausing when he begins to snicker.

“What?”

“Salty,” he says, his tongue licking dangerous close to your nipple. “You taste like popcorn.”

“Ohhhh noooooo-ahhh~!”

A pretty sight: Sero’s pink tongue rolling out to lav over your puckered bud. 

His lips wrap around your nipple; he sucks and your body jolts forward. He’s not the only one who’s sensitive. His eyes meet yours and he offers you a sinister grin. “I like it.”

Your breathing grows heavy while Sero makes his way down your stomach, making sure to pay extra attention to the places that make you squirm when he kisses them. He gets to your pajama shorts and pets your clothed slit with a knuckle. Your hips buck up when he leans down and licks you through your shorts, excited pulsations grabbing at your core. You need more.

Your shorts fly off by your own doing, whether it’s to get the ball rolling or if you want him to be giving you the exact same lustful stare he is now is lost to you, but you’ll take it. You love it. You want him to look at you like that forever.

Sero pets your core, his own breath shuddering as you roll your hips at his touch.

“You’re already so fucking wet,” he says, annunciating every word as if it pains him to say it. He rests his head in your thigh as he lazily teases you, seeming to enjoy your light mewling that comes when his fingers grow closer to your clit, the way your body moves to his touch. “I want it.”

“What ~ahah~ what are you gonna do about it?”

“Hmmm.” To your severe displeasure, Sero removes to hands, only to strip himself of his own shirt. You stare at him in awe; of course you’ve seen him shirtless before, but under these circumstances, it’s different. And you’re sure he’s bulked our a bit since the last time you caught him half-naked. Goodness.

“Ohh my god,” you sigh when he tosses his shirt to the sigh, the sight of his muscles moving over you incredibly enticing.

“What?” Sero gets to his elbows and spreads your legs open for him. He gives your pussy a long lick and groans, closing his eyes when he kisses your pubic bone. “You got something to say?”

“You’re just… so… ohhhh~!”

Sero begins laving at your heat, drowning the room with your surprised moans. His skillful tongue traces your caverns until his mouth is covered in your need. He eats you out like he’s starving for it— hell, he could’ve been famished if he says there’s no way you can like him more than he likes you. His tongue circles your clit, his never ceasing groans adding to your pleasure. You reach down as grasp at his soft hair, massaging his head as he toys with your sensitivity.

“So what, Princess?” He asks as his fingers tease your hole. The nickname sends shivers up your spine. You don’t mind it, you just didn’t think that something so cheesy could sound so hot coming from him.

“So— ahhh ahah~!” A loud moan you aren’t expecting tears out from your throat when Sero plunges two fingers into your depths. He chuckles and returns his attention back to your clit, watching your face contort in pleasure through heavy eyelashes. He sucks in you while his fingers curl against your walls, the threat of your own release building up against your stomach. You moan and pull his hair, whispering incomprehensible words, trying to find the right way to encourage him, the right way to warn him that you’re close.

“I know, I’ve got a big tongue, huh?” Oh, so he could be a smug bastard, too?

“Sssaaah~” You try saying his name, but it’s lost to you. You don’t know what to call him: Hanta? Sero? He’s been your friend for so long that saying his actual name might sound weird on your tongue, but what if saying his last name sounds weird to him? “Hero…”

“Hmmm?” His low voice murmuring into your core sends your body into a frenzy. Your body starts to shake and grip onto the cushions to keep you grounded, but that doesn’t save you from the next word you yelp out as your body is lost to ecstatic fits.

“Fuck! Oh god, Santa~ nnng~ hah~!” You squeeze your thighs together, locking him in as he gifts you with little kitten licks, elongating your excruciating orgasm with the low reverberations of his voice while he laps up your pleasure.

Your body settles but that doesn’t stop him at first. He savors your twitching body, kissing your swollen bud tenderly, brushing his hands across your sweat covered body, until he looks up at you and grins.

“So you have some kinda Christmas kink?”

You catch your breath, gazing up at the makeshift blanket ceiling, before looking back down at his goofy, red face. “What do you mean?”

“You just called me ‘Santa.’ I mean, Christmas isn’t for another month but I’m sure I could find a Santa hat somewhere if that’s what you’re into. I live to please.”

“Oh no.” You bury yourself behind your hands. “No I didn’t. No, no, noooo!!”

Sero climbs on top of you and kisses your hands. “Hey,” he sings at you, “don’t hide. I don’t kink shame.”

You grab a pillow a fling it into his face. “Shut up! Noooo!”

The two of you laugh together, his breath fanning you as he buries his head in the crook of your neck. The two of you stay like that for mere seconds but it feels like an eternity. He made you cum, but still, you crave him. You want more of him.

“That was actually really hot.” You feel him grin against your neck. “You forgetting my name. It kinda made me feel good. Really good.”

“I could… I could make you feel better,” you whisper, wrapping your hands around his back, using your fingernails to tickle his skin. He flushes.

“Is that so?” He leans down and pecks your lips. “‘Cause I wasn’t done with you. I wanna see if I can make you say all seven reindeers’ names.”

“Oh, fuck you!”

He quirks a brow. “You wanna?”

...Desperately. “Yes.”

Sero’s all too quick to free himself of his sweats and you side him by pulling his boxers down. You gulp at the sight of his erection; it’s a nice size with a beautiful curve, pre-cum already seeping out through the slit of his reddened head. You look to him and bite your lips. You grasp at the base of his length and guide his cockhead to to your mouth, pulling you tongue out to lick at his knob.

“Ahh~, um, I’m really-“

“Sensitive?” You ask before lulling your tongue underneath his cock.

“Y-yess,” he hisses, grasping at your hair to pull you back.

You grin wryly back at him. “Then how’s this going to work?”

“With me in control-“ he smirks “-lay back princess.”

You pout at him but he moves to kiss your neck, gently pushing your shoulders down so you’re back on the cushions. You reach your hands up and arch your back, an obvious ploy to get him all the more hot and bothered, and not an unsuccessful one at that.

“God damn,” he breathes, stroking his cock while taking in your figure. “God, I lo—… I need to say something before we go any further.”

“Hmmm?” You run your hands down your body. You stop at your breasts, teasing your nipples, and biting your lips. “You can say anything to me.”

“Sweet Jesus, you’re not making this easy.” He sighs and falls over you. A hand cups your face, his thumb tracing the curve of your lips. It looks like he’s eating to say something serious, but you can hardly think straight with his hardened dick resting against your thigh.

“This,” he says, stroking the back of his hand against your cheek, “can’t be… I can’t be just a rebound for you. I know I might not seem like it, but I’m an all or nothing kinda guy. You can either just be my friend—my really good friend that I’ll think about for all eternity, or you can be… my friend who I’m allowed to take on dates and kiss in public and have high make out sessions whenever we want…”

Oh! Oh he’s asking you out! You can’t help the grin from spreading across your face, but you don’t realize you’re not responding until he continues with—

“And if you’re not yet over that guy… I think I can wait for you, but I don’t… want to get my hopes up or anything…”

Sero your DICK is on my THIGH!

“Sero, you’re not a rebound. I would be very happy if you would take me on dates, kiss me in public, and have high make out sessions with me. I’d even be happy if I get to call you my boyfriend.”

He beams. “You mean that?”

“Yesss, I do. We were practically dating already!”

“Nahhh, I’ve just been warming you up. You don’t know dating until we’ve conquered the entire laser tag arena together.”

This dork. “Then I’ll wait for that with bated breath. Now, please for the love of god, fuck me before I explode!”

“Oho, we can’t have that…”

Sero lines himself up with center, allowing his cockhead to toy with your hot, needy entrance. He curses and rolls his head back as he inches himself forward, testing your heat before pulling out completely. His eyelids grow heavy when he pushes into you again and you feel yourself clamp down on him. You whimper. He feels bigger than he looks and it takes some pull before he’s completely inside you, but god, oh god, after you get used to it, you can’t help but moan as his dick slides in and out of you.

“Mmmphhhfuck, that’s good.” Slowly, Sero rolls his hips, gently fucking you at a near excruciating pace. He breathes through his teeth as his cock grinds into your walls. It feels fantastic having the head of his cock rubbing against the certain spot deep inside you. His arm wraps around your back and he pulls you flush against him, your breasts bouncing against his chest as he quickens the pace, kissing you fiercely, hungrily , while his hands lock you into place.

“You don’t know,” he seethes, “how long I’ve wanted this.”

He bites down in your neck and you claw at his back, mewling. The force, even though he’s taking his time, is addicting and you find yourself syncing up with him in no time; cursing, and panting as you sync up with him. He feels so good that you could cry, instead, you beg.

“More,” you sigh, practically his humping cock, “please Sero. I ahhh~ I need more!”

Sero growls and it sends you body spinning with lust and agony. He pushes you back down and forces himself to his hilt, making you cry out in sheer ecstasy. He presses his hand against your belly, pulls out and pushes back in with the same extremity. “More?” He growls in a sort of sensually dark tone that floods your body and shakes you to your core. “You want more, babe? I’ll give the princess anything she wants!”

“Fuuuck!” You cry, filling the room with pathetic moans as Sero drills into you with such indignant fury that it nearly makes your eyes go black. Your body grows wet with perspiration and lust, Sero pushing into you with pools of his own sweat meshing with yours.

He silences your pathetic moaning with a violent kiss, biting down on your bottom lip while he greedily paws at your breasts. Then, he stills completely, pulling back, fanning your face while he pants, “ho ho ho, amiright?”

“PFFFFT NOOO!!” Your belly clenches as the two of you bust out laughing, until Sero eyes completely glaze over.

“Ohhhh fuck,” he groans. “Keep laughing, that feels so—ohhhhh fuck!”

Something completely takes him over and you laughter turns to screams of delight when he starts completely pulverizing you with such an intense, bruising velocity that you could see your soul escape your mouth. He slams into you, lifting your leg over his head, keeping his quick and relentless pace until you feel his cock begin to throb.

“You’re. Just. So. Fucking. Hot!” he says through gritted teeth. His fingers quickly dance around your clit, rubbing at your pleasure until you feel yourself coil and your cunt flutters around his girth. “God, I can feel it. You’re close. Fuck! Babe, you need to cum. Princess, please, I can’t-!”

“I’m ~nggg~ so close!!”

Sero kisses you, shoving his tongue against yours, urgently needing to taste you. His dick twitches within you, his fingers desperately trying to get you to keep up. Your hair stands up on the back of your neck. Your coil breaks. You clench around him and allow waves of pleasure to burst through you as he rams into you with rigorous intent. You cling on to him, crying out about how good he feels, how you can’t stand not having him fill you up, how you want to feel his everything deep, deep inside of you.

Sero grunts and ruts into you. Warmth floods your core as thick ropes of cum line your hungry walls. There’s so much and it doesn’t seem to stop coming as he slows his grooving, kissing your forehead while his orgasm chases yours. You breathe in sync with one another, staring each other in the eyes, unsure of what to say, what to do, before he finally pulls out and let’s you leak onto the cushions.

“Oh, whoops,” he says, inspecting the mess. “Lemme just— warm towel…”

He hops up, but you grab him by the wrist and pull him down into a kiss. He grins against you and you feel yourself growing jubilant with everything that just happened.

“You’re incredible,” you say, holding him there for a moment before letting him back up.

“No, you.”

“Pfft!”

“I mean it!” He brings his hands up in mock defense. “You have no idea! You have no idea! I just-! Lemme get a towel and then I’ll shower you with praise!”

Sero is gone and back in a flash, warmed wet towel in hand. He takes his time wiping the sweat off your body, making sure to talk uncharacteristically sweet to you while he takes care. He wraps you in the blanket that hath forsaken him and cleans the white mess on the cushion before joining you under said blanket. His body is warmer than the blanket and you love it.

“Sooo… the movie. Movie night with my girlfriend!”

“Ha! That’s right! This is one of my favorite movies so you better pay attention! No distractions!”

“Mhmmm,” he hums half-heartedly. “No distractions.”

But even while the movie plays, your warm bodies are pressed right up against each other. There’s definitely going to be more distractions. The two of you have been waiting for this for too long, and Sero has to prove that he’s not just alright, and he certainly wants to learn all about your secret Christmas kink.

TAGS FOR EVERYTHING: @ayeputita @yandere-inamorata @dee-madwriter @unboundbnha @rizamendoza808, @rubycubix @smbody-stole-mycar-radio @zellllyyyy @sarcastictextstuck @kpanime @captain-sin-allmight-queen @psionicsnow @wickedlewicked @ghost-of-todoroki @kattariapenn @im-an-adult-sometimes @bnhya @local-senpai @eggpienutbuttercroissant @usernamekate94 @reyvenclaww @hi-ho-and-hello @rubyred-imagines

[inforapound]

Ease The Dawn Part 1 Alternate Ending - Ch.1

Thank you to those who messaged and expressed interest in this. Chapter 1 of this alternate ending begins at Chapter 14 of Part 1. A different outcome following Ivar’s accident. The first section is a bit repetitive. Part 1 Ease The Dawn is here - please remember it was my first piece of writing. This was a request from over a year ago. 

Pairing - Ivar and Aethelswith   Words - 3,400 (others aren’t this long)

Ivar's limp body was being dragged, his head slumped forward and his heavy limbs jostled as Hvitserk, and another warrior named Loni hauled him toward the tent. Heaving him along, both men grunted under the awkward weight of his slack body.

Rushing forward, Brana and Gussr ran to help, stopping to listen to Hvitserk's urgent orders. Paralyzed in place, Aethelswith watched the horrific scene before her. Unable to hold back, her eyes filled with tears and she cried out, pleading for an explanation as to what had happened.

The men dragged Ivar through the tent door, heaving him onto his bed and Loni rounded the far side to help Hvitserk roll him onto his back. As if moving in slow motion, Aethelswith approached the foot of the bed and scanned his wet clothes and his ash coloured skin void entirely of colour... of life. His lips were deep violet and his eyes were peacefully closed.

"Is he dead?" she covered her mouth with her hand, feeling the burn of another wave of tears in her eyes.

Crouching forward, Hvitserk brought his ear to Ivar's mouth before dropping down and pressing his ear to his chest. His eyes darted side to side listening for sounds of life. Glancing up to Aethelswith, he nodded.

"He is little dead. Little heart. Little breathe," he answered in a thick accent, using the best english he knew.

Pushing through the tent flap, Brana and Gussr hurried in, carrying large rocks; Brana held one, while Gussr managed four. They placed them into the crackling fire and fast words began flowing between the men. Aethelswith's eyes dashed between them, hopelessly attempting to understand.  Nodding, Brana approached Aethelswith, tipping her head close.

"Ivar insisted they cut across the frozen lake instead of following the shore back to camp. To save time and return before dark." Pausing, Brana listened to the men continuing to talk. "It sounds like the weight of his chariot broke the ice and he went into the water." She paused again. "It took time to get him out. The ice kept cracking. Ivar's horse and chariot were lost."

Reaching forward, she squeezed Aethelswith's arm. "The Prince is dying from the cold water, My Lady."

The ghastly image of Ivar thrashing in the broken ice flashed through Aethelswith's mind. Her eyes widened and she shook her head unable to process what Brana had told her.

"We must warm him," she whispered, "quickly."

Nodding, Brana returned to the fire and began laying sheets of thick canvas down flat on the ground, layering one on top of the other.

Rounding the bed, Aethelswith stood beside Hvitserk.

"We must undress him."

Hvitserk raised his eyebrows clearly not understanding.

"Remove his wet clothes," she explained, using her arms to motion.

Brana, glancing over her shoulder from the fire, rushed a fast translation for the men. Hvitserk's expression went slack and he nodded his agreement.

Crawling onto her knees beside Ivar, Aethelswith reached for the bindings on his legs. Not wearing his braces in the chariot, his legs were bound tight by leather ties in three places. Her shaky hands fumbled with the first knot and Loni leaned in, motioning for her to move, and pushed a knife under the tie above his knees, cutting them with a crisp snap. Loni set to work on the others moi before he slipped his knife down the front of Ivar's pants. Turning the blade up, he sliced the fabric from Ivar’s groin down to his boot making a smooth ripping sound while Hvitserk started on Ivar's chest armour.

Gussr returned to the tent wearing oversized thick gloves that Aethelswith recognized as the ones blacksmiths wore. Approaching, he quickly exchanged words with Brana before reaching into the fire and picking up one of the rocks. Lowering it onto the center of the linens spread on the ground, Brana wrapped the edges of the fabric around the rock, holding her hands still on either side as if gauging the heat. She nodded to Gussr and he picked up the bundle and headed to the bed.

Moving to her own bed, Aethelswith quickly gathered her fur and wool blanket and rushed back to the men, stopping in place at the sight before her. Void of all signs of life, Ivar lay flat, naked before all of them, looking like a corpse. The wrapped rock was placed high in the crook of his arm near his faint beating heart.

Taking a step closer, Aethelswith’s eyes raked over his immense torso, large shoulders and muscular chest. A small trail of dark hair stretched from his navel down to his displayed member and beneath his groin were his legs. Their appearance was shocking; thin and scrawny without any of the muscle of his upper body. His knees were enlarged and knobby, his thighs bowed with thins whispers of calves attached to misshaped ankles and puffy, swollen feet. The rounded soles, reminded Aethelswith of the feet of a baby with no defined arch or flat bottom, like an adult's from years of carrying the body's weight.

The form of his legs was not the only startling sight, it was their colour, causing her to gasp. They were grey, nearly blue with cold skin that looked like casing on uncooked meat. Biting the flesh on the inside of her cheek, she looked away fighting the urge to be sick.

"No," she cried to herself, shaking her head. She could not let him die like this, vulnerable and exposed, his chest barely moving with his shallow, sporadic breath.

Pushing past the men, she threw the wool blanket over his body, smoothing it around him, before adding and straightening the fur. Grabbing Ivar's furs from the ground beside, she piled those on top of the others. Brana lifted the stack of blankets at the foot of the bed and Gussr placed three more wrapped rocks around him.

Moving a stool from the table, Hvitserk dropped it beside the bed and sat, talking quickly to Loni and Gussr. Nodding, they hurried out of the tent following his orders.

Standing awkwardly at the end of the bed, Aethelswith just stared down at Ivar, waiting.

"Is he still breathing?" she asked quietly, looking over at Hvitserk.

Seeming to understand, he leaned forward hovering his ear over Ivar's mouth. Sitting back on the stool, he looked up.

"Small," he answered again in english.

The feeling of helplessness forced her to pace the small area in the tent, clutching her hands in front of her. Circling back and forth, she watched Brana heat the new load of rocks. Wanting to do more, she stepped back to the bed and dropped to kneel on the grass and began rubbing Ivar's legs through the layers and layers of blankets.

All this time, she thought, sharing one room and here she was running her hands over the most guarded part of his body. She nearly laughed at the horridness of the entire situation as if it could not be real. How could it be real?

Pulling back the furs to add another rock, Brana gasped and Aethelswith lurched over to see. White... his legs were white as bone and his feet had turned a deep blue with barely recognizable black toes. Hvitserk stood, grimacing as he bent closer to look and launched into Norse, shaking his head as he spoke to Brana.

"What is it? Please tell me." Aethelswith looked expectantly to Brana.

"Ivar's blood does not pass through his legs as well as it does the rest of him." Frowning, Brana looked back to the bed. "They may not warm."

Pushing herself up to stand, Aethelswith again stared down at Ivar. Tossing her shall onto the bed, she reached for the laces at her bust and began to untie and open the front of her dress; both Hvitserk and Brana watched her clearly confused.

"I will not sit and watch him freeze," she murmured, bringing each knee up and unstrapping her leather boots, pushing them off at the heels.

Unsure of what to say, Hvitserk stepped back from the bed, allowing her more space.

The cold air hit her skin as she let her dress fall to her feet leaving her standing in only her thin, sheer slip. Stepping around to the side of the bed, Hvitserk backed up further, knocking into Ivar's wooden table. Pulling back the heavy furs, she climbed into the bed beside him, sliding down his side and gasping as her skin made contact with his frigid body.

Ivar, she thought, the most powerful, fiery man she had ever known, now ice-cold. Shuddering, she closed her eyes remembering the heat that emanated from his large hand and sweet mouth the night she cut her thumb cleaning the fish.

Exhaling shakily, she looked up at his peaceful, pale face and slid her arm across his stomach, pulling herself closer against his body. Positioning her legs across his frozen ones, she pulled herself partially over him, resting her cheek on his cold broad chest. Taking another deep breath, she exhaled loudly, holding him as tight as her strength would allow.

Never did she believe she would be this close to him, a man she thought could never be hurt. She sighed loudly against his skin thinking that he was, in fact, human, made of flesh and blood like anyone else. Not the invincible, immortal she had built him up in her mind to be. Closing her eyes, she prayed; she prayed and she prayed. To her god and once through, she prayed to his.

She was aware that the tent flap opened and closed many times and that, at some point, the furs had been pulled back and careful hands had shifted her legs to replace the stones. She did not care who was in the tent or how long she had been there. Laying still, she closed her mind to the world and focused only on the sound of her breath and the slow beat of his tired heart, willing it to strengthen. Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump... following him into the darkness, she drifted off to sleep.

—

Looking down at her bare feet standing on ice, she shifted her toes unable to feel the burn of its cold. Disorientated, she looked up and scanned her surroundings. She was alone, a short distance into a large clearing with tall frosted trees forming a heavy guard around the frozen lake she was on. The light was muted and the shadows from the forest were heavy, telling her it was that point in time between night and early morning. Large soft flakes of snow floated down through the air at a speed too gentle to be real. The utter silence buzzed in her ears and a huff from ahead snapped her from her daze.

A gasp slipped from her lips as she looked through the mist and across the ice. Standing in the center of the lake was a magnificent buck, broad and imperial, proudly holding high its enormous antlers. She was no huntress, but she could see fourteen points on it's large rack. He was impressive, terrifying and beautiful and seemed to be watching her. It had no reason to fear her and yet it seemed guarded.

He huffed again and his warm breath shot fog from his nose as he he jerked his head forward with a snort. Shaking the mange of hair on his neck, he straightened, again standing tall and continued to assess her.

Tilting her head to one side, she watched him back, unsure if he was sending a message and wondering how such a majestic creature had evaded death to reach such a size. His sheer scale and immense rack would be the obsession of any man who had ever held a weapon but his evasive ways were surely his method of escaping a violent end.

Suddenly, he whined and dipped his horns, snorting loudly making her think that she should run away, but she did not. She stood still like a statue, eyes locked with his, feeling the sensation of recognition as she stared into his dark eyes.

A sound from behind caused her to turn and look at the edge of the forest. A man stood utterly motionless on the ice. His face was not visible from the shade of the hood on his dark cloak, over which, he wore a vest of chainmail. Standing with his arms raised, he held a bow, the string stretched taut, the arrow aimed directly at the stag.

Gasping, she turned back to the beast, watching him grow more agitated. Snorting and huffing, dipping his head, he bucked the ice with the tips of his antlers. Rearing up on his hind legs, he slammed his hooves down, a sharp crack sounded, followed by the groan of shifting ice.

Looking back to the hooded man, Aethelswith saw that his stance had not changed. She turned back to the stag who slammed his front hooves a second time, grunting an angry groan while the ice beneath cracked further.

"No," she cried to the animal. "Be still. Please."

Turning back to the man at the edge of the forest, she called out.

"Do not do this. Let him live. I beg you."

The bow and arrow held steady and the head of the hooded man turned to look at her dead on. There was no face, only a void of black. Slowly looking back to the stag, his hand on the string pulled.

"No!" Aethelswith screamed, stepping forward to run. With arms raised in the air, she was knocked sharply in the chest, falling forward to her knees.

Mouth open and eyes wide, she made no sound, somehow unable to scream. Reaching up, she touched her chest, feeling the embedded arrow, the pain hot like fire, stabbing through her. Gazing down, she realized she was wearing her white marital dress, soaked in deep red blood. Falling forward onto her hands, the crimson drops pooled on the surface of the ice looking nearly black.

A loud crack rang through the silence followed by a squeal as the stag broke through the frozen lake, crashing into the cold water below. Frothing at the mouth and breath heaving, he thrashed violently in the water, his eyes wild, as he fought, unable to lift his front hooves above the thick edge.

She could do nothing, only watch as he grunted frantically, struggling in the frigid water. After sometime, and her still unable to move, his movements slowed as exhaustion and cold set in. Beginning to tire, he caught his chin on the edge of the broken ice, his head and antlers the only parts visible above the freezing water. Snorting, his cries quieted and his groans became weak and even at a distance, she could see the fear drain from his dark, round eyes.

"I will not leave you," she whispered, slumping onto her side, lowering her cheek to the ice below. The cold bit at her skin as she lay helplessly watching the beautiful stag slip away, down into the darkness, until he was completely gone.

"I am sorry," she whispered, closing her eyes, listening to footsteps coming toward her, crunching over the fresh snow.

—

"My Lady?"

A hand shook her shoulder and she startled awake. Lifting her cheek from his skin, her eyes worked to adjust to the dim tent now lit by burning candles. It was night.

Immediately looking at Ivar, she could see, even in the dull light, small rounds of colour in the center of his cheeks, his lips now a light shade of pink. Shifting her lower limbs, she could feel that his legs were cold but not frozen as they had been.

Brana was bending over her speaking in a soft voice and Aethelswith rubbed her face, attempting to clear the fog of her dream.

"My Lady, come eat something. Please." She motioned with her hands to the table.

"The stones... can we change them?" she asked instead.

"We did not long ago. We will again soon."

"Thank you."

"My lady, you must drink something. Water? Shall I bring it to you here?"

"Yes, thank you." Aethelswith swallowed realizing how dry she felt.

Pulling away from Ivar, she sat up, the cold air on her bare arms and shoulders causing her to shiver. She wanted to return to his side under the blankets.

Taking the cup from Brana, she drank quickly, emptying it and handed it back with an appreciative nod. Her eyes returned to him, studying his features and listening to the sound of his breathing.

"Did he wake?" she looked back up to Brana.

"He stirred but did not wake."

"His legs?" she asked.

"They are better than his toes," Brana replied evenly. "A healer will likely need to remove them."

Shaking her head, Aethelswith breathed out slowly.

"But he lives,” Brana touched her arm, giving her a smile. "Thanks to you."

Aethelswith turned to look at her. "No Brana, thanks to you."

With a flat smile, Brana nodded back.

"Would you like me to collect more furs and make up your bed?"

"I will stay here," Aethelswith replied, shimmying back down beside him, pulling the blankets back up to cover them both. Resting her face back against his chest, she wrapped her arm over is now warm stomach and her leg over his. He lives, she thought, as she closed her eyes and allowed the smell of his skin and steady breathing to carry her back off to sleep.

—

In the suspended space between dreams and the reality of the present, his body felt adrift and behind his closed eyes flickered images of her heart-shaped face. Aethelswith....

In the distance and filtering through were the sounds of muted voices and the morning calls of birds announcing a new day, as if it were like any other, but above all, there was one faint, repetitive sound that drew him in like an arrow hitting straw. It was her…. her soft, sweet breathing, so close, it sounded as if it were inside him. On top of that, the delicate scent of roses and the warmth he felt against his one side drew him up toward to the surface, his skin even ahead of his mind knowing that she lay draped over him, asleep.

He did not dare move or crack open an eye, even wince from the pain that felt like flames searing his feet and legs. He just lay still and like fitting together the jagged pieces of something broken, his mind worked, struggled, to recount the events that placed her in his arms. The images, although fractured; cracking the reigns, driving his skittish horse over the frozen lake, his eyes fixed on the tree line, anxious to return before dark were all that remained of his black memory.

Whatever had occurred, it was surely the Gods who had placed her in his bed, placed her tiny body to his, her perfect face to the skin of his chest. Some reward or distraction from the pain that, by the breath, was growing unbearable. Yet he would bear it...bear it or risk unsettling what he was unable to fully believe could be true - that she was there by his side giving him his first taste of peace.  

----

She woke to the feeling of a heavy arm around her, squeezing, a large hand on her lower back radiating heat. Ivar cleared his throat and Aethelswith’s head shot up and she looked at his closed eyes, his brows creased together as he began to cough and hack as if his lungs were being used for the first time. Instinctively, her hand slid higher to rest on his smooth, muscular chest like somehow her touch could soothe him. And, it seemed to.

Shifting away, she turned toward the edge of his bed and pushed herself up as his arm, still around her, tensed, his hand stopping her, holding her in place. She could feel the tips of each of his fingers pressing into to the soft skin above her hip like they, somehow on their own, had discovered that her thin, sheer slip was the only barrier.

Sucking in a breath, she turned back and looked at his questioning face, his eyes open just enough to see out. He somehow looked older and so, so weak, like he had been walking with death while the heavens were deciding whether to take him. Their eyes stayed locked but neither said a word. She felt confronted, conflicted, but above all grateful that he was awake and she was there.

“Stay,” he tried to whisper but it came out as a rasp. His eyes opened wider in what she thought looked like a wordless plea.

“I must go…” she heard herself whisper but realized she was already lowering herself back down toward him, her body not giving her mind a moment to object. Nudging closer, she carefully lay her cheek against his warm skin, her hand finding its place on his chest. 

And there they stayed, under the sloped ceiling of their canvas life, their bodies easing and their breathing falling into rhythm and with every slow exhale, all regard for the world beyond faded away. Together, they again, surrendered to sleep.

@youbloodymadgenius​​ @naaladareia​​ @whenimaunicorn​​ @ceridwenofwales​ @funmadnessandbadassvikings​ @didiintheblog​ @londongal2810​ @hecohansen31​ @blonddnamedhandz​ @fields-and-fields-of-poppies​ @redama​ @where-beauty-goes-to-die​ @shannygoatgruff​ @kittybites-94​ @ivarsgoddess​ @lordsexmachine​

[nimsajlove]

a dip in the pool

Not sure about how this turned out. But its better than the first version of this idea.

Brothers-AU  Ao3

*~*

“Master, come on! This is not the first time, that you have sent me out alone.” Rex and the other men in the gunship did not bother to look up, the spectacle was nothing new. Ever since the Commander was nearly shot out of the sky, General Skywalker always went a little crazy when he had to send Ahsoka off alone. Even when ‚alone‘ was a huge lie, she had chosen the men to accompany her herself. Rex had to admit that it was his fault, that Kix wasn't there. Instead, he had picked Coric, who had more experience with the climate they would be in.

"I'll be right in front of you, okay?", said the General one last time, as the girl climbed into the gunship with the men. She huffed and shook her head, then the doors slid shut. Rex glanced down at her and had to smile. "Don't hold it against him, the last time was close.", he muttered soothingly, she answered him with a hard look and when he hold her gaze, she let out a deep breath. "I know. But I'm not alone after all!", she suddenly grinned again and he had to admit, that he liked her grin better than her anger. Outside, the other ships turned up their engines and also the one under their feet began to thump softly. One last time he went over the plan again in his head. Get as far behind enemy lines as possible and infiltrate the station. "If you fall in somewhere again today!", Jesse threatened at the other end of the narrow room and Hardcase laughed loudly, Droidbait and Echo shook their heads.

*~*

Grumbling, she pulled the coat tighter around her body, they hadn't been in the atmosphere long and the cold was already penetrating the ship. How she hated it. Togruta came from a dense grassland, she had never made friends with snow and ice. But unfortunately the separatists didn't ask about her preferences, so she would take what she was getting. She watched Coric tighten his backpack a little. One of the buckles seemed to loosen again and again and she saw Hardcase open his mouth, his comment being drowned in the noise of the first rocket.

She had known, that they would be exposed to fire. That didn't make it any less terrifying, however, when she imagined the gunships falling out of the sky. For a moment she had the feeling of wet palms, then she clung to her training in the temple and her pulse came back down a little. Even with the second bang, she stayed calm. Only the third one, dangerously close to the ship, made her flinch. The men put on their helmets, but she could feel their eyes on her. "It's going to be bumpy.", the pilot's voice rang out, then suddenly it was loud. With a ringing in her ears, she registered how the ship's center of gravity shifted and they tilted. The doors opened, she didn't knew how, and she saw two things. One was a wall of fire, the other was ice. That came very close very quickly. Then there were bodies between her and the picture and it got dark.

For a long time Ahsoka did not move, trying to understand what had happened. She clutched the Force fiercely and opened her eyes, her instinctive reaction seemed to have saved them, except the pilot. The clones stirred around her and when she wanted to turn her head the ship groaned above her head, immediately she regained her concentration. She had sweat on her forehead as the men moved cautiously towards her. "We're still alive, what now?", Hardcase asked and they waited a moment, Ahsoka barely had enough energy to think clearly. All her focus was on the junk above her. She paid little attention to the low murmur until a sound silenced everyone. The ice sang beneath their feet, then a fine crack appeared. Immediately Ahsoka's thoughts raced again, her brothers had to get out of here. Immediately! The panic in her stomach gave her strength and with a jerk she lifted the structure above her, the men didn't need any more commands. Rex and Coric crawled out through the crack first and put their hands back in, grabbed Droidbait and dragged him through as well. Hardcase was the last and hesitated before putting a hand around her wrist. "I'll push you through, okay?" Ahsoka wanted to nod when she felt the ship slip a little further as she tried. The soft crunch moved the clone to simply grab her, lay her on the floor and push her towards Rex and Coric, they grabbed her and put her back on her feet. Exactly two seconds later Hardcase was also outside and Ahsoka carefully lowered the ship, at that moment it slipped completely from her and slammed onto the ice. "Get out of here!", she roared and heard the men behind her start moving, as soon as they were a few steps away from her, she let go of the ship for good and fled herself. She heard the ice breaking behind her and the fine cracks spreading under her feet. She looked ahead, Droidait had already reached the bank of the ice. Sweat ran into her eyes, everything blurred and blinking she tried to get the last bit of energy out of herself. Holding up a ship for so long was way beyond, what she could normally do. Then it got cold, startled she let out a breath and sank.

*~*

She wasn't cold, but she didn't felt her body. It was, as if she did not have one and panic overcame her. Then the voices appeared, first softly, then more clearly. In the darkness in which she was swimming, she tried to understand what had happened. "Still nothing, the transmission is blocked." The voice sounded calm, with a frustrated undertone underneath. Echo. If he sounded so composed, then Droidbait was still there! That was good, otherwise the other dominoes would tear off her head... "Stop that! I'm fine.", someone nearer grumbled, Hardcase maybe? Or Jesse? She wasn't sure, at least one of the two must have hit his head in the crash.

After that the voices became quieter but did not move away. It was nice to know the men were still there. After a few seconds of silence, she realized with faint astonishment, that it was not black around her. It was like closing her eyes to a weak source of light... Something rustled near her ear and she wanted to turn her head to see what it was. She was surprised when she actually opened her eyes. So they were still there! Moving her head made a sharp pain shoot down her back and she breathed in with a hiss, and her body was back immediately. It was kind of nicer without it. Every inch of her body hurt terribly and her skin was numb, because she couldn't feel the crackling blanket. For that she could see it. "I would not do that vod’ika.", someone mumbled directly above her montreals and even if she couldn't look up, she recognized Jesse who was sitting behind her under the covers. He pressed his cheek against her head, it hurt! She hissed and wanted to duck her head, just away from the pain. One hand grabbed her and pressed her again against the clone behind her, Coric crouched in front of her and looked at her seriously. Oh, she was too tired to argue with a medic. “We have to get you warm. I'm sorry.", he explained in a surprisingly calm voice. Why get warm, she wasn't cold at all? "You broke in.", came another voice and without her being able to see him, her thoughts relaxed. Then Rex appeared in her field of vision, so that she didn't had to turn her head. "Don't do that again kid.", he chided her, but he seemed relieved. Had it been that close? How far had they gotten anyway? "H... How far...", she started and then broke off, the pain as she moved her mouth stretching across her face, through her jaw and down into her shoulders. It brought tears to her eyes when her teeth began to chatter slightly. Now that they were once moved, they never stopped! "Droidbait! Come over here.", Coric said to the shadows, that were moving at the edge of her field of vision. She couldn't see him, but heard how the blanket rustled again and Droidbait squeezed with her and Jesse. His hands on her skin let the tears run down. Everything was on fire.

She believed that the fingers were supposed to be gentle on her face. But the touch was like cutting through her skin. "That'll be over soon.", Rex mumbled in front of her, then turned his head to Coric, who was rummaging in his backpack next to him. "Found it?" He nodded and pulled out what looked like a small blanket made of bandages. It was tiny, it would just cover her chest. Rex took it and gave it to Jesse, who pulled it under the covers and draped it over the girl's torso. Immediately the pain went up brutally and she gritted her teeth with a growl, even if the tears continued to roll.

 Echo and Hardcase approached in concern, seeing the girl cry put all of the men in the little cave on alert. That was their Commander, their sister! It was wrong to see her suffer. Hardcase was glad Kix wasn't down here. The low cursing the medic tended to, would not have been helpfull. For a few seconds everyone crouched around the little fire and the girl, then her teeth began to clatter and she shook violently, Coric breathed a sigh of relief and got up again. "That's good.", smiled the Captain and Hardcase knew that his voice could be extremely gentle and calm. Fresh from Kamino, he hadn't known anything better to keep the nightmares away. He had never seen Rex turn away a younger brother. But the sheer relief that sounded in his voice now, made him realize how close it really had been.

The Commander's small body shook even more violently as she tried to keep a sob behind her teeth. Hoping that he might be able to help her further, he glanced at the girl's coat and clothes. But there was nothing to be done. She had only been in the water for a few seconds, she had slumped not far from the bank and Jesse and Rex hadn't let her sink particularly deep. In the eternity that followed, which they used to find shelter, the clothes on her were frozen stiff. Now these things near the fire were thawed, but soaking wet. Next to him, Echo got up and went to the entrance of the hole they had found. Hardcase followed him, he couldn't stand sitting around any more and maybe someone was out there to be spotted.

*~*

She was terribly cold! Now that she could feel the warmth again, her body had decided to freeze her nicely. At least the touch of the heat pad on her bare chest didn't hurt as if it was cutting through her skin. And she was tired. She felt empty, completely exhausted. It was a miracle that she hadn't sunk to the bottom of the lake like a stone.

Without the pain, she finally managed to think clearly again. Shivering, she curled up a little tighter and shuddered as Jesse wrapped his arms a little closer around her. Had her brothers always been this warm? She wanted to get a little more energy out of the Force, just to be able to get up again. But there was nothing left. To get a tiny bit of energy would exhaust her more, than serve her. So it was the traditional way. "I'm starving.", she muttered, grinning as the men around her laughed. Coric held out a ration bar and even if these things would probably never taste good, she gulped it down. It was surprising how filling a single bar could be. The wave of tiredness that overcame her again shortly afterwards, however, was not a surprise. A full stomach made you tired, she knew that. But if she could keep her eyes open beyond this point... "Still nothing!", Echo cursed from the entrance and came back in, Hardcase right behind him. Both took off their helmets. They showed the same frustrated expression on their faces. "How far did we get?", Ahsoka asked, finally she could get the words out of her mouth. She stopped shivering. “We were almost at the landing zone. I suspect, that the general didn't see our crash.", Rex replied and Ahsoka had to agree, otherwise her Master would have appeared here long ago to drag her back onto the cruiser. "Do you think, he has a chance as long as the base is stable?", she asked quietly, hoping that one of the clones would tell her not to worry. But she also wanted them to be honest with her. Everyone was silent for a while, seeming to consider the options. "I don't think so.", Echo then answered and rubbed his face exhausted with his hand, the others mumbled approvals and Ahsoka sighed, at least that drove away the leaden tiredness a little. Alright.

"Coric, please tell me you have prepared for something like this.", she smiled and nodded in the direction of her things, which were still damp by the fire. He grimaced and shrugged. "I only have one top to maintain the core temperature.", he announced and rummaged in his backpack, how much would fit in such a thing? Ahsoka knew how heavy they could be. But how heavy were they, when a medic was stuffing them with everything he could get hold of? The black top that went to her was clearly too big for her. Anyway, it would do the job. "Well then.", she huffed and peeled herself off the blanket before tugging the top over her head. Then she got up and picked up the rest of her clothes, they were cold and damp, but it would be okay... "I think that's a bad idea.", growled Droidbait, who had also got up. He and Jesse put their armor back on. When Ahsoka closed her cold coat she shuddered, she had only just warmed up! "But it's the best chance we have.", Rex replied and picked up his helmet from the floor. "How nice, that we are on the same page.", she grinned and put on her hood.

* ~ *

A gunship had never sounded so beautiful! Shivering, she wrapped her arms around herself, fine ice crystals covered her clothes. At least it was now clearly dry! No sooner had the doors closed behind her, Coric put down the backpack and held out his hand to her. "Get out of your coat, now." She considered protesting for a moment, it was still cold in the ship. But Coric's gaze did not allow any further discussion and trembling, she peeled off her coat, he put it to one side and grabbed her hands. Her fingertips were pale and tingled with every movement. "I will inform the medbay that-" "Out of the question!", she interrupted the Medic immediately and snatched her hands from him, every touch of her fingers hurt slightly. When she got in the medbay, Skywalker would again only let her walk in the back for months. That was not fair! She had proven today, that she could take care of the men and that she was practically unscathed! No grazing shots, scratches or the like. Coric huffed and she was already preparing for a lecture, when a comlink was switched on to her right. "Kix? Get us a few more blankets into the quarters, and a cup of caf.”, ordered Rex, she was sure that he was smiling under his helmet. Ahsoka alternated between being angry and being grateful. "Sure.", Kix confirmed and Rex seemed satisfied, he turned to Jesse. “I'll make sure that the General doesn't learn every little detail of this. Make sure she doesn't run into him half-frozen.” Now she could clearly hear the smile and puffed up her cheeks, before ramming an elbow into his side. "I'm old enough and I have the higher rank.", she grumbled, knowing that Rex didn't push her around like that often. But at that moment it got really on her nerves, she just wanted to forget the whole thing! "Okay Sir, then I'll let Coric take care of the matter." She immediately sagged, even the Medic had to laugh now.

*~*

It was a miracle they didn't even come across Master Skywalker the whole way. She held her fists convulsively at her side and kept her back straight, only when they entered the quarters did she gave up. Kix was already waiting for her and there was no point in trying to hide anything. If Coric wanted to take her off duty, Kix would sedate her in an emergency to take care of her. She wanted to avoid it, one angry medic was enough for her for today.

Kix clicked his tongue in disapproval as Jesse pushed her in his direction and he wrapped one of the rough blankets around her, before pushing her onto her bunk. Then he pulled his backpack over and took her hands, they hadn't really gained in color and only now did she see that the skin on the joints was torn and bloody. "I'll let you all go alone one time and you almost lose your fingers.", he scolded her and began to rub the joints, the thin layer of Bacta burned, although it never did otherwise. Ahsoka attributed it to the fact, that it was warmer than her numb fingers. It was a strange curiosity that made her move her fingers, she wanted to remember how they hurt to be able, to recognize it. She took a light hit of Kix, who had pulled out some bandages and was wrapping her hands with amazing speed, she kept forgetting that he had the ability to get the men back on their feet on the battlefield. He got up grumbling, she caught something about idiots and frostbite. A little guiltily, she looked down. "Thanks.", she muttered as Kix thrust a set of black clothes into her hands. As she wrapped herself out of the blanket, a little stiffly, his gaze softened. "It's okay, just skip the swimming next time?", he asked and packed his things again. When he closed the backpack, Ahsoka had already changed and tried to slide the sleeves, that were much too long, over her hands. Jesse, who had disappeared a short time, came back with a second blanket, a steaming mug, and a ration bar. Sighing, she sat down on her bunk again and wrapped one blanket around her shoulders, her brothers wrapped her in the second and Jesse pressed the cup into her hands. The heat even shone through the bandages and her fingers hurt, but she gratefully gripped the cup. The faster she got her limbs warm again, the sooner the pain would be over.

She had just taken the first sip and grimaced, she had never been a big fan of Caf, when the door slid open and Fives and Cutup came in. Jesse was still amused by the girl's face, but the two newcomers hesitated at the sight of the commander. "Sir, what happend to you?", Cutup asked and Ahsoka raised an eyebrow defiantly, should the others think what they want. "You are... pale.", Fives explained and when she only puffed her cheeks, the two men turned to their brothers questioningly. "Our commander wanted to try diving.", Jesse joked, he just seemed happy to finally be away from this freezing planet. Ahsoka would have been amazed, if she had known how much of his relief had to do with the fact, that she was still sitting next to them and drinking her Caf, disgusted but grateful. She wanted to shrug, but the movement made her still cold muscles ache. It was like they were contracting and not loosening again. She sucked in a sharp breath and the sound set Fives and Cutup moving again. They quickly got rid of their armor and climbed into the bunk with her. Squeezed so closely together, the warmth of the others seeped through the blanket.

When the others returned she was asleep, her head on Five's shoulder and finally warm again. Rex passed the datapad to Jesse, who scanned the report. He had to smile and exchanged a look with the Captain, he too grinned slightly. Ahsoka Tano had done an excellent job, but maybe it really was better to hide how close it had been. Skywalker did not need to know all of this.

[butwhatifyouwrite]

Molly��s Redemption Chapter 13

Okay yes again it has been a minute and honestly as much as I want to be able to write and post super regularly I just kinda can’t right now. There is just too much going on in life but I am going to do my best to do as much as I can. 

A huge thank you to Athena @whump-tr0pes for helping me get this one working. I appreciate all of you words of wisdom!

Masterlist is here.

cw: blood, knives, pain, intimate whumper, significant other in distress, kidnapping, torture

As always if I have missed something please let me know!

Tag list; @whump-tr0pes @whatwhumpcomments @whumpsblog

If anyone would like to be added to or removed from a tag list please just let me know!

Chapter 13: Heartbreak Doesn’t Have to be the End Part 2

The small room is freezing, but Allegra doesn’t seem to notice one bit. She stalks around the room with the air of someone at the beach on a warm summer day. She has Molly’s phone tucked in her back pocket with the ringer on and a knife held delicately in her hand. She circles Molly, sometimes from a distance, sometimes so close her breath tickles against Molly’s skin, making her shiver more as Allegra watches, surveys, searches for the next best place to leave her mark.

Molly is bound, sitting backwards on a chair in the center of the room, her back exposed and at the mercy of Allegra’s knife. She slumps forward against the chair. Exhaustion pulls at her limbs making her slump forward more. She tugs occasionally at her bonds. It doesn’t do any good. It just makes the room spin more.

Molly’s phone chimes as another text message comes in. Allegra snatches it from her pocket and grabs Molly’s hand roughly, forcing her thumb against the pad at the bottom to unlock the phone. This dance has been going on for what must be at least an hour now. The ping that means a new message has come through. The prancing and surveying. The cold pain as Allegra’s knife finds its way over Molly’s skin. The anticipation as another message is sent. More prancing and surveying. More pain as the knife once again makes its path through her skin.

She is covered in blood by now. It runs down her back and sides and soaks into the waistband of her pants. She has gotten used to the smell now. How much blood can a person lose anyway? 

Another ping as another message comes through. Allegra pauses her survey of Molly and tucks the knife into her belt, pulling Molly’s phone from her pocket. Allegra croons as she reads this one silently then takes a beat and reads it out loud. “Please Molly, just tell me where you are. I can help.” Allegra rolls her eyes. “Ugh, so cute. He just cares about you so much, doesn’t he?”

Yes, he does. Molly doesn’t answer out loud, and gives Allegra what she hopes is a defiant stare. She’s so exhausted at this point it barely comes out as an irritated smirk. 

“I asked you a question darling. Remember, when I ask you a question, you’re supposed to answer.” Allegra tuts at Molly, moving behind her and studying her back for a moment.

“Yes. I’m sorry. Yes.” Molly grits her teeth, she knows what is coming next. A tear makes its way down her cheek but this time the pain doesn’t come.

“Now, how should I respond to this loving message?” Allegra says, making her way back around in front of Molly. She crouches in front of her, phone in hand, typing away for a moment before turning the screen around to show Molly what she has written. “What do you think darling? Will this convince lover boy?”

Molly takes a second to focus her eyes and read through the message. She works to keep her face as straight as possible. She croaks out her reply. “Yes.”

“It better.” Allegra replies. She hits the send button and tucks the phone back into her pocket. She makes her way back around Molly, removing the knife from her waistband as she goes back to surveying Molly’s skin for a place that isn’t already marked. “Now, back to work.”

The blade of the knife finds its place on her back part way down, just between two of her ribs. It slips under her skin, not enough to do real damage but enough to set her on fire. She tries her best to hold back the whimper, but it falls from her lips almost immediately. The knife keeps going and her whimper turns to a scream that fills the room. It doesn’t matter how loudly she screams. The knife lifts, a momentary reprieve before settling back under her skin to make a matching mark across her back. No one can hear her screams, but maybe Elliot will be the one to save her. 

****

The text reads “Oh El, I miss you! I can’t wait to see you again. But they have to make sure I am safe first.”

That’s when Elliot knows something is wrong. They had agreed almost immediately, no pet names. This isn’t Molly.

He pauses for a moment before responding. Part of him thinks he should take this straight to the police. But would it be enough to convince them? They didn’t believe him when he told them what he had seen with his own eyes. No, I need more before anyone will believe me. His hands shake as he types the next message. “Who is this?” He hits send and sits back, blowing a slow breath out between clenched teeth.

****

The message tone rings out loudly across the cold room and Molly jumps. The world around her swims in and out of focus. Every cut and lash and bruise on her body stings and burns and aches. She shivers uncontrollably, cold creeping over her skin in a cruel mimic of the knife.

Allegra stands in the corner, cleaning and polishing the blade of the knife she has been using. The way she holds the blade, the care and attention she gives it, can only be described as loving. Allegra sets the knife carefully back in the case and wipes her fingers off with the rag, and then pulls Molly’s phone from her back pocket and keys in the passcode this time. Molly gave it up in exchange for a few moments free of pain. 

She reads the message a few times before looking up at Molly, anger flashing in her eyes once more. “How did he know?”

“What?” Molly looks up at Allegra. It takes way more effort than it should for her to lift her head. 

“How the fuck did he know.” Allegra shoves the blindingly bright phone screen in Molly’s face, showing her the text messages. Molly wills her eyes to focus as she struggles to read the words on the screen. It worked, oh god it worked. 

“I… I… don’t know.” She drops her head against the back of the chair in exhaustion. A small flicker of relief makes its way into her chest at the thought that maybe… just maybe she won’t die here.

Fury fills every inch of Allegra’s voice. “Not good enough, darling. I’ll be back.” Allegra stalks out of the room and slams the door shut and Molly is gloriously alone as the tears begin to spill. The world around Molly swims for a moment and then her world goes black.

[how-masterful]

Remastered

Dhawan!master x reader

Chapter 1: The Crimson Horror

Summary: After falling victim to curiosity and finding yourselves in the clutches of the dastardly mrs Gillyflower and her strangely silent partner mr sweet- the now cured master, after escaping from the factories reject pile and surviving the failed preservation process, descends onto Sweetville with one mission: finding and saving his human. That is, if he can find you- and if you can be saved...

Notes: oh my god, its finally here! I've been so excited to start this series, the reception to the announcement was absolutely heartwarming! I've had so many ideas for where i can take this, i hope you all enjoy!

A big thank you to @plethora-of-imagines , you've been the complete supportive backbone of this series! I hope you enjoy! ❤

The gate to Sweetville loomed through the late night mist, piercing the dark through the weak glow of the streetlamps flanking its entrance. The Master stood before the wrought iron, TCE gripped tight in his palm. The air was cold, the Yorkshire chill biting at the back of his neck. But the rage inside him burnt hotter than any fire ever could.

He knew you were there, you had to be. There was no possible way you'd ended up on the reject pile like he did, the pilgrims at the factory would've made sure you survived the process. Too many rejects caused too many questions, are you were far too beautiful an Eve to miss out on mrs Gillyflower's home grown eden.

The lock on the gate cracked with a metalic whirr, the Master slipping between the open bars and descending on the row of houses before him. Perfectly pristine doors and windows lined the house's of Sweetville's main street, the flowerbeds decorating the center soon trodden under the Master's vengeful feet.

Instinct told him to kick each door down, rampaging the Victorian utopia until he found where they'd kept you. But he knew, for your sake, he had to stick to the silent dark. Exposing his presence would no doubt ruin any chance of getting you back to the revivication chamber and curing you of your petrified state. If you could be cured, that is.

The horrified expression on your face when you'd both been brought to the front door still burned inside his head, the petrified people soon exposed alongside the dome they resided in. You'd instinctively dived into his arms as the pilgrims surrounded the pair of you, his grip tightening around your shoulders as they attempted to prise you both apart. You'd fought and resisted, always a fighting spirit, but the descending forces were too strong- even for him to combat.

He didnt even know if you could be cured, despite his insistance on eternally promising to try. Just the thought of that caused his Gallifreyan blood to boil.

The Master soon found his way to each door, silently peeking inside every residence to inspect the residents under each dome. Each door returned nothing but measly, random humans, the Masters patience running thinner by the second. Of course he'd keep searching for you, refusing to relent in any regard, but his decorum for the orchestrator of this scheme and his willingness to hunt silently were both plummeting to nothing. He had to find you. Fast.

He continued to hunt, each door still exposing the frozen faces of strangers. He resented the way his heart's would jolt at every curtain covered door, the anticipation crippling him as he scowered the street for your presence. You had to be there, he refused to entertain the thought of finding you thrown into the canal like the other common humans entangled in this mess. Not even he knew the reign of terror he'd bestow upon the universe if they'd not only murdered you for vanity, but desecrated your body in your death.

"C'mon love... Let me find you." He whispered to himself, before crossing the street to the next house along.

He pushed the red and white curtain aside, twisting the knob of the pristine white door with tense urgency. He forced himself into the front room, tracking fresh dirt from the trampled flowerbeds onto the cream carpetting. He let his gaze find the dome and instantly froze in his tracks, brown eyes widening and jaw falling slack in horror, brows knitting together in a hybrid of fury and fear.

It wasnt a stranger sat under the dome, not this time. This one was far more precious to him than any other silly little trapped human. This one was the one he'd been hunting for.

This one was you.

"Y/N!" The Master rushed towards the glass, palms frantically pressing against the barrier between you. They'd posed you on a chair, poised and propper, a man at your side with a hand on your shoulder. Your face had been pushed into a gentle smile, but your eyes were glazed and lifeless. You looked like a perfect doll under there, and the Master was determined to get you out.

He assessed the situation- there was airflow into the dome, the process putting your body in a stasis, albeit in a petrified, frozen form. But it still required a level of oxygen, meaning the living component required propper lung function and supported circulation. You were most definitely alive in there , which pleased him despite the circumstance.

His fists pounded hard against the glass, teeth gritting together in rage, a snarl ripping from his lips. The glass was thick and reinforced, most likely to contain the concentraited air, so he needed something to function as a battering ram. Nothing too big that could cause you harm, but something strong enough to shatter the glass. He furiously scratched his beard in thought, tugging a hand through his hair before spotting his perfect weapon- an innocently placed chair.

The Master swiftly grabbed hold of the chair, raising it above his head with a yell. The object came crashing down upon the glass, sending the dome shattering into a cascade of falling shards. The chair was quickly thrown and discarded, the Master having far more important things to worry about.

"Y/N... my sweet, beautiful Y/N, what did they do to you?"

The Master crouched to your level, palm reaching for your cheek as the other took hold of your frozen hands. His thumb caressed over your cheekbone, the skin hard and hollow as he gently drumed his fingers on the bone. You were ice cold but still moveable, the Master's fear of shattering you like the dome disappating out of his mind.

"They made a big mistake, a big, big mistake taking you like this." He whispered, raising your hands to his lips and gently pecking the back of them. He moved your hand to hold his own cheek, the familiar warmth of your touch gone from your skin. You had no pulse either, a notion which made the timelords stomach drop.

His eyes suddenly fell on the hand atop your shoulder, glare narrowing as he followed the body to reach the face of the man they'd posed alongside you. He sneered at the figure, brandishing his TCE and aiming it at your partner. The man instantly shrunk with a digital 'zip', falling into one of the many piles of glass that littered the floor. The Master smirked smugly, cocking an eyebrow in victory.

"Sorry Adam, shes taken." He jibed, before turning his attention back to you.

A hand carefully brushed away the shards of glass that had fallen on you during impact, the Master's touch gentle against your unmoving form. He had to get you out of there before the pilgrims came to check on the commotion he'd obviously caused. There was no way nobody heard the sound of the dome smashing, but he didn't wish to wait and find out.

"C'mon love, lets get you out of here."

Carefully, he stole a blanket from the green armchair sat in the corner, draping the material around your shoulders before gathering you in his arms. He refused to let you freeze while he carried you towards the factory, who knew what your new condition would leave you susceptible to. Your head fell to his chest as he held you like his bride, the Master wincing at your eerie, permanent smile.

"Hold on doll, i'll have you back in no time."

He placed a delicate kiss to your temple, a silent promise that everything would be alright. A sigh escaped his lips before he clutched you tight towards his chest, carrying you out through the front door and towards the looming factory above.

"Just hold on for me Y/N, I promise."

There was a back road connecting Sweetville to the factory- he couldnt risk any of the pilgrims catching sight of you both as he made his way through, so the front gate was a no go. He frowned as he slipped through off the beaten track, your body still clutched tight against his chest as he made his way through the midnight streets.

Bypassing them was easy. They patrolled in routines, groups of three's working their way through the factory floor, a small gap between them, perfect for the Master to slip through. He traversed through corridor after corridor, sticking to the dark corners of the warehouse as he found his way back to the chambers- all the while keeping tight purchase on your form.

Soon making his way towards the chamber corridor, the Master pulled the TCE from his pocket. He'd come too far now to succumb to an ambush. He swiftly made his way towards the revivication chamber, unlocking the door with the device in his hand and yanking open the heavy shell. Carefully, the Master stood you inside the human shaped box, pulling the blanket from your shoulders and placing a small kiss atop your forehead.

"Good luck" he whispered, before sealing the door to the chamber and activating the device, blanket disreguarded and pooling on the floor.

The machine gave out a low groan, the mechanical ticking of the interior rotar echoing quietly through the hall. He could just about see the top of your head through the grated window, smoke eminating from the inside and drifting into the atmosphere. The timelord stood guard, a silent prayer on his lips, palm pressed flat against the exterior metal.

The chamber was warm, heat radiating off the body of the machinery, a hellish red glow emerging from inside. It was no doubt doing the same thing it did to him, reintroducing heat to the body and restarting all regular interior function. The preservation process had gone wrong for him, no doubt due to his irregular (and in his opinion superior) timelord biology. The Masters condition been easy to fix- a partial motory shutdown acompanied by a telltale vivid red complexion, a sign the preserving process had failed. But you were a full blown case of successful preservation. Would you even be able to recover?

The chamber continued to tick on, working away at the effects of the venom. The Master continued to peek inside, watching the process intently. The timelord was transfixed, all attention focused on his human. He didn't even notice the oncoming footsteps of the pilgrims approaching the corridor, until one of them dared to step forwards and adress him.

"You will come with us immediately."

The Master turned towards the man with a furious glare, a smirk playing on his lips and an eyebrow raised in question. There was around 7 of them, all men poised with wooden bats and menacing expressions- but none of them were a match for the Masters. He'd had thousands of years to perfect his spinechilling glare, after all.

"If you're thinking about stopping me, i suggest you rethink your next actions very, very carefully."

The pilgrims watched the Master intently. They'd recognised him from the day you and he had arrived at Sweetville. The Master leered at the closest pilgrim with a twisted smile, hand still pressed against the ticking metal.

"Sure, you pulled your little preserving stunt on me, and credit where it's due- its a cute plan, it really is."

The Master mockingly laughed gently, a confused expression creeping across the face of the pilgrim leader. The timelord toyed with the TCE in his hands, tone laced with an absolute dark malice.

"But you made a one crucial mistake, one very, very crucial mistake. You were so close, so very close to getting it all right. Who wants to guess?"

The pilgrims stood in comanding silence, the Master's judgemental gaze panning over their solemn faces.

"Nobody? Well then, guess i'll have to spell it out for you all."

The leading pilgrim sighed in frustration, the Masters stoic glower landing on his expression. He took a step forward, squaring off his shoulders like a wild animal, smile dropping from his features as his teeth clenched in a snarl.

"Your mistake, boys... was thinking you could also do it to her. You took her from me and hurt her, and god knows thats enough to doom every single one of you."

A pilgrim within the cluster rolled his eyes, raising his bat and lurching forward to swing at the Masters head. The timelord growled in annoyance, presenting the TCE with a flourish and sending the man crashing to the floor as a shrunken minifigure, instantly trodden under his foot. Another followed suit, the Master's elbow colliding with his jaw and fist landing square across his face. The pilgrim screamed in pain, soon joining his associate as a shrunken minifigure on the floor- the timelords hair flying wild as he quickly span on his heels and pinned the leader against the second revivication chamber, all in one swift swing. His hand clasped tight around the mans throat, gritted teeth practically spitting with rage as the pilgrims bat dropped to the floor from shock.

"So, two questions for you. Do you really want to attempt to take her from me again?"

The Master raised the TCE to the pilgrims face, a viscious fire lit behind his eyes, harsh voice barely over a whisper beside the pilgrims pitiful whimper.

"And are you really stupid enough to try?"

The pilgrim shook his head with a groan, hands still scrabbling against the Master's monsterously strong grip. The Master nodded in agreement, relenquishing his grip on the pilgrims throat and gesturing with his head for him to leave with an almost innocent expression. The pilgrim gasped for air, windpipe almost crushed under the timelords inhuman strength, eyes flitting towards the exit in a sudden panic. He began to bolt for the following hall, the other pilgrims backing away in fear.

The Master calmly raised the TCE, a concentrated blast landing straight against the mans back. The pilgrim shrunk with a shrill scream, a wave of horror surging across the four remaining men. Terrified feet scrambled against the hard stone floor, leaving the Master stood alone within the empty corridor, the sound of wooden bats being dropped against the flooring ricocheting through the hallway.

The Master released an almighty huff, tension falling from his shoulders, TCE returning to his inside pocket. He suddenly turned his attention back to your chamber, and every remaining ounce of fury melted from his face.

"I'm sure you would've enjoyed that, love. You're always partial to a good fight, arent you?"

The Master smiled to himself, peeking into the glowing red of the chamber between the pannels of horizontal grating. He quickly removed the TCE and gave a quick scan of the metal machine, a satisfied expression sinking onto his features. You were just about done, and it looked like the process had worked a treat. He'd have you back in no time.

The Master heaved open the door with a low grunt, the bellowing smoke dissapating out into the atmosphere. There you stood among the internal pipes and valves, eyes fluttered shut, swaying gently from side to side. All sense of stillness had escaped from your form, your eyes twitching and nose scrunching as you carefully began to come to. The Master gently moved a stray hair from your face, fingers trailing across your now warm skin as you subconciously nestled your cheek against his palm.

You were slowly starting to wake, your fingers subtly twitching as your once still lips slowly parted. Your balance hadn't yet returned though, your limbs suddenly falling weak. You began to fall against the timelords chest, the Master instantly curling an arm around your waist to keep you upright, your hands instinctively flying to his shoulders. The other hand remained on your cheek, thumb caressing the apples of your cheek as your eyes finally fluttered open.

The world was hazy, images fuzzy and your vision lacking any sharpness. Your eyes focused on the figure before you, the soft mound of shapes in front of your eyes carefully creeping towards clarity. You groaned softly, squinting as you made out the features in your eyeline. Fluffy hair, a scruffy beard, and brown eyes that looked down upon you with such a caring, fond warmth it made your heart begin to race.

"There she is, there's my Y/N"

Your ears practically perked up at the familiar voice, your mind slowly working through the sluggish lull it was trapped in. The puzzle pieces began to ease together in your mind, the soft palm against your cheek bringing you such comfort as you processed your surroundings. There was only one person you knew who would even get chance to hold you like this, let alone desire to.

A warm smile spread across your face, recognition gleaming in your eyes as you scratched your nails against the underside of his jaw. The figure before you hummed in appreciation, your finger raising up to gently boop him on the nose.

"Master"

Your voice was amost a dreamy sigh, gaze brimming with affection as you nestled further into his arms. The timelord above you hummed out a laugh, a blush spreading rapidly across your cheeks. The arm around your waist tightened, your hold on the masters shoulders shifting from desperate grappling to tender affection. You had no clue how long it had been: days, weeks, months - but you felt like you'd missed his arms, the familar comfort an utter blessing.

"You came back for me" you murmured, placing a tender kiss against his wrist. The Master raised his eyebrows, allowing his face to be burried in your hair as he pulled you tighter to his chest. You nestled your nose against the crook of his neck, your arms winding around his torso.

"Hey, of course I came back for you, love. I'd always come back for you."

His hands gingerly rubbed up and down your spine, the familiar scent of his collar drifting up your nostrils as you gave yourself to his embrace. The hug was comforting, caring, something you'd been craving ever since you stepped foot into Sweetville. Gone was the terror of the unknown, the looming peral that stood behind the factory doors. You'd found your way back to Master's arms, and everything felt right again.

Questions wracked themselves through your brain, your mind having finally caught up with your racing heart. You pulled yourself to face him, hand making its way to hold the side of his neck.

"What happened to me? What happened to you? What's our next move? Where's Mrs gillyflower? How are we gonna stop her? What-

Why are you looking at me like that?"

Your ramblings were cut off by the masters fond expression, face shapen into a loving smile and eyes gazing down at you with an unspoken adoration. He brushed the hair from your face once more, fingers caressing down your jawline before gently landing under your chin.

"Just thinking... Did I tell you how much I missed you?" The timelord mused, stupid grin still perched atop his lips. You rolled your eyes and smirked, gripping onto his jacket collar and curling your fingers under his lapels.

"No, but you can show me." You returned, before pulling his collar towards your chest and crashing your lips against his.

The Master fell deep into the kiss, hands grasping hold of your waist as he tilted his head, nose brushing against yours as he slotted himself further against your face. You let out a gentle moan, his lips prising away your dominance as your eyes closed in bliss. His mouth was warm and inviting, lips soft against your own as they carefully guided your movements, creating a symphony of coordination between both of your mouthes.

He tasted hot and desperate, teeth almost clashing as he hungrilly delved deeper. His fingers dug into your side as you moaned once again, the air being snatched away from your lungs as you succumbed to his every movement. He could sense you were running out of momentum, his forehead pressed against your own as he carefully prised himself away, your lips shining a glossy red as you gasped out for air.

"Now that...that was a good show."

The Master looked awfully proud of himself, your eyes meeting his own, chest rising and falling in a gentle pant. He could've kept going, his respiratory bypass an absolute boon when it came to intimacy. You however, being human, needed a break now and then. Not that the Master would have you any other way.

"Right then, my dear Y/N. It seems, as the locals would say, 'there's trouble at mill'."

You couldn't hold back your laughter, the Yorkshire lilt he added to his voice simultaniously perfect and horrendous. You couldnt help but think it was a minor jab at a familiar blonde timelady, but her and her vocal habits were the last things you were concerned about right now.

"And, now that you're finally back in one very beautiful piece, we need to solve this little mystery of ours."

You giggled lightly, a confident smile encasing your reddened lips, a proud blush spreading across your cheeks. The Masters eyes were alit with something fabulously excitable, lips curled into an eager grin. He was absolutely raring to go, shoulders straightening proudly.

"Whats your plan, Master?" You asked, curiosity coursing through your veins. The Master flashed a dazzling grin, obviously happy you'd asked.

"I think, love, its about time we finally had a talk with our dear old friend Mr Sweet."

The Master extended his hand towards you, your own hand slipping in perfectly against his palm. He squeezed your hand gently, sending you a wink that almost made your knees buckle. The effect he had on you would never stop being practically magical.

You squoze back, beaming up at the renegade timelord with determination before the pair of you ran towards the large crimson door of the factory, ready to face whatever horror's lay in store- together.

-------------------------------------------------------

[ashintheairlikesnow]

if you want an idea for a specific continuation, maybe after Antoni is done showering, he can’t fall back asleep and Chris notices it and Antoni opens up a bit about his past while Chris comforts him? I just want him to be happy okay (also, “Get Up” was fantastic)

CW: Extensive discussion of scarring/scars, negative stimming (rocking, mostly, but it’s described in detail, just an fyi), references to past torture and PTSD. Noncon touching (nonsexual and not whumpy, but still)

Post-Get Up, this is pretty much just a wee little epilogue for it. Tagging my Antoni and Chris people:  @astrobly, @finder-of-rings, @burtlederp, @oofowouchies, @orphceus, @pretty-face-breaker, @im-just-here-for-the-whump, @thebirdsofgay, @whumpfigure, @doveotions, @newandfiguringitout,  @endless-whump, @stxckfxck, @slaintetowhump

“Why... why are you here, Chrisha?” Antoni’s voice trembles a little, leftovers from the cold shower. Chris’s fingers press over his skin, trail his neck to push into his pulse point and feel at the lymph nodes there. Every touch is too warm, burns him all over again, but he can’t move to push him away. He can barely breathe to speak.

Chris doesn’t answer him at first. He’s kneeling on the tile floor, water soaked through the knees of his jeans and half-drowning in one of Jake’s old t-shirts, rocking forward and back, his eyes narrowed and intensely focused in a way that Chris never is. The blue feather necklace he always has around his neck swings forward and bumps back into his chest with the force of his rocking, and Antoni’s eyes keep drifting there, caught by the rhythmic motion, feeling like he’s being hypnotized.

He feels a strange little urge to swipe his hand out, like a cat batting at a swinging mouse.

“F-for, for, for-for you, here for you,” Chris mumbles, in a voice Antoni has never heard him use. It’s flat and strange, like he’s speaking from a thousand miles inside his mind. The fingers run down over exposed collarbone, trail a tiny line of scars there, mark each one.

He’s lost in the change of texture, maybe, or maybe it’s just that pushing down how he wants to respond to this evidence of Antoni’s evil, his sin, is taking too much out of him and there isn’t enough left to show on the outside. 

“Chrisha-”

Chris just shakes his head, rocks a little harder. It’s in moments like this where Antoni can see the worry that Jake and Nat still have over him, these minutes ticking by where Chris is gone somewhere inside himself, buried in the stimuli that comes from pressing his fingers slowly over the way Antoni’s skin is slippery-wet here, and roughened there, again and again and again. Antoni has seen this only once or twice before - Chris just barely dancing around or avoiding panic by retreating into his own head, desperately chasing the safety there.

“Please-... please stop,” Antoni whispers. Chris doesn’t even seem to hear him.

It’s Antoni’s fault, really. 

He had stayed curled up in the bottom of the tub letting the water run over him in icy rivulets and streams for as long as he could stand it, until the shakes were too much for him and he’d only barely managed, with numb, fumbling fingers, to turn the water off. 

He hadn’t gotten out of the tub so much as he’d just draped himself over the side until gravity did the work for him and let him land with his body on the bathmat and his legs and head against cool tile, water dripping from his hair to pool and puddle beneath his cheek.

He looked like the chalk outline of a body at the beginning of a crime show. He felt a little more than halfway there, too. 

Chris had waited as patiently as he could but worry had overrun his deep respect for privacy and he had found Antoni like that, still naked and shuddering, and now... this.

Chris’s lips are moving without sound, and Antoni stares at them, breathing slowly and with effort, until he realizes that he is watching Chris count his scars. His mouth moves each time his finger presses against a roughened circle of skin.

“More than two hundred,” Antoni says, softly. It’s the strongest his voice has felt since he fell asleep.

“Wh-what?” Chris doesn’t look up, and the rocking pauses, briefly, but then starts up again. What matters, though, is that he pulls his hand back and away, and Antoni can breathe more easily at the lack of touch than he could at the trailing, skimming, light-fingered consideration of every mark he earned.

“I have... more than two hundred... of those. I had Dr. Masood count them when I first... came to live at Natalie’s house. Chrisha, I need you to help me up. I c-can’t... can’t stand.”

“All from him?” Chris asks it quickly, in a single breath. 

There is always a him, a her, a them.

“All,” Antoni says, as firmly as he can in a voice that still shakes. “Pl-please, Chrisha. I need you to come back to me, for a minute.”

Chris’s eyes flicker to his and they’re still gone, for a moment, before the fog in them recedes enough for him to nod and press his lips together. The rocking stills and he pushes himself back into  crouch, sliding his arms under Antoni’s.

Antoni hisses at the sudden burn of the warmth of him against skin that still feels like ice.

“W-why, why, why why why, why don’t you, why, why don’t I-”

“Know about them?” Antoni leans heavily on Chris, all but falls against him, and his attempts to walk are really just Chris dragging him across the floor with his feet only barely managing to occasionally move in time. 

“Um. Yes, I want-... why don’t you-... why don’t we, we know? Does Jake know?”

“No. No one knows.” Antoni’s forehead falls against the side of Chris’s neck and soft blue hair brushes him. He smiles, faintly. “Just you now, I guess.”

“So, so why-”

“Some scars are mine to keep.” He lets himself be put into bed, only vaguely aware he’s not in his own, but in Chris’s bed, in the bedroom they keep here for him where he sleeps on weekends when he’s not staying in his dorm or with Laken. “To make my body my own, I have to keep my scars my own. Do you understand?”

Some scars were mine to earn, they don’t belong to anyone but me. I am the one who made him put them there.

“No,” Chris says, covering Antoni up in his blankets, and the weighted one on top feels like a hand softly pressing Antoni into the mattress. A hand, or a body. His breath comes a little more easily, blinking slowly. “I don’t. They, they, they-they don’t... don’t-don’t give us scars, that’s-”

“They still give you scars.” Antoni grins, a faded shadow of a smile, and reaches up to press into the center of Chris’s forehead. “Yours are in here, Chrisha, and they are just a real. Mine are more visible, that is all. I am sorry I scared you. I haven’t felt well, I did not realize I was so sick so quickly...”

He hadn’t known he was dreaming, it had been so perfectly vivid. Hadn’t he heard once that you can’t smell in your dreams? But he had smelled the cloves, overwhelming, almost sweet. He hadn’t realized any of it was a dream.

“I’ll... I‘ll get you some medicine.” Chris all but vanishes out of the room - Antoni blinks and the blue-haired boy is gone when his eyes open again. He lays there, blinks again - and Chris is back, staring worriedly at him, fingers twisting at the feather he wears around his neck with one hand holding a small cup with a thick syrupy liquid in the other. 

“Did I... fall asleep?”

“I, I think so. I’m sorry, I-I poured out the liquid before I remembered you, you, you can take, um, pills.”

“That is just fine.” Antoni tried giving him a supportive smile, even if it wavered, and drank the disgusting sticky grape-y mess down in one gulp, like taking a shot of the world’s worst vodka. “Chrisha please-... do me a favor? Yes? I need... hot water and the raspberry jam I keep in the fridge. Mix together, to make a tea.”

“Um. Why?”

“I don’t know.” Antoni lays back against the pillow, closing his eyes again. “I just know it will help.” There’s a silence, and when he looks, Chris is rocking again, eyes focused on the curve of Antoni’s shoulder showing above the blankets, a tiny circle of scars there. “Chrisha.”

“Yes?” Chris blinks, broken out of his impending fog once more. “Oh, s-sorry, I’ll, I’ll get the, uh, the tea and-and, and, and the water... the water-tea...”

“Please.” He hesitates. “Would you... want to know about my him, Chris?”

Chris swallows, and slowly nods. “You, you, you-you know about mine. But, but, but-but you don’t have to-”

“You cannot understand my scars unless you understand why I hide them.” Antoni smiles, a little weakly. He can feel the warmth of the blankets around him but somehow they don’t seem to penetrate the first layers of skin, he is still cold, shivering. “The tea can wait. Come... come here, please.” 

He holds out a hand and Chris climbs immediately into the bed with him, laying on top and to the side with his arm across Antoni’s chest, tucking his head under his chin the way he does with Jake. He smells like the shampoo he uses at the dorms and a whisper of a different kind of scent Antoni thinks must be the gingery stuff Laken wears on their neck and wrists. Chris has smelled like that before.

But why is he here, smelling like Laken and still alone?

The answer can wait.

Instead, Antoni tightens his arm around Chris, letting fingers run lightly through the blue hair as though watching a waterfall part around them, and says softly, “My him had a first name, but I was not allowed to use it.”

[bush-viper-cutie]

Only You

(Part 3 of The Crystal Ball)

Pairing: Snape x fem!reader

Word Count: 4,110

Rating: M for Mature

Plot:  After Severus has a bad interaction with a particularly annoying and irritating guy, he opens up about his feelings and accepts what he’s told about his worth.

Warnings: tiny bit steamy, swearing

A/N: I hope this is a good continuation! Sorry it took so long to write! I needed to prepare a lot of content for Snape Appreciation Month but I hope you guys still enjoy it :D

Posted: 5/31/20

Masterlist

~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~

Severus tried his best to hide his bouquet of flowers as he walked into the heart of London. He wanted to growl at every muggle that passed him and eyed the very flashy display of petals in his hand but kept his face stony and still.

Severus walked into an alleyway and came out onto a dingy street with several shabby stores, all suspiciously closed for the night, and a single run-down pub next to a tall cement wall covered in graffiti. He looked around and spotted the red telephone box with chipped paint on the corner.

He gripped the bouquet tighter and walked over to it, sliding the panel door closed behind him and picked up the rusty telephone and dialed.

“Name and purpose please.”

Severus shivered, remembering how much he always hated hearing the creepy disembodied voice of the witch that wasn’t coming from the telephone he held to his ear. “Severus Snape; visiting an employee.”

“Thank you.”

A silver badge dropped to his feet. He grumbled and bent down to pick it up, careful not to crush the flowers, when the floor started lowering him underground. He quickly pinned it to his coat and waited a minute for it to stop moving before stepping out when it touched the dark wood Atrium floor.

He had never been inside the Ministry and was amazed at all the golden fireplaces along both walls of the passageway he had been dropped off at. He stepped forward and made his way to the other side into a larger space that was the center of the Atrium, with a grand fountain to draw the eye.

Wizards passing by were staring at him and his flowers, making him feel uneasy and exposed, so he hurried his steps towards the golden gates on the other side and stopped at the security desk where his wand was registered and returned.

He hid the flowers as best he could and stepped through the gates, walking briskly down another passage until he reached the lifts. He stepped into the one taking him to level two and ran his fingers through his hair, untangling several knots he hadn’t noticed at home.

He was so busy leaning forward and looking through his reflection in the metal that he almost fell forward out of the lift when it halted suddenly and the door flung open. He steadied himself and followed the sign into the ‘Assistance Staff’ area behind the open desks area labeled ‘Field Staff’.

All the office doors were closed along the dim corridor, but he could hear frantic typing and yelling from behind them all. It sounded like a mad house and the deeper he walked into it the more nervous he felt visiting her by surprise.

She’s busy. They all seem so busy. He reached a door with her last name on it and was about to knock when he heard a male voice yelling from inside. He put his hand down and gripped the flowers tighter, hearing her trembling voice responding to the angry man.

Severus looked around and spotted a bench in the shadows and sat down. The bench was so low that when he sat, his knees stuck up and he felt like he was crouching in the corner like a beast on a ledge.

The door to her office opened and a large wizard stepped out, slamming it shut and marching away like he had just won a great battle. Severus got to his feet and slowly made his way back to her door and knocked lightly.

“Come in,” her voice sounded tired.

She’s going to hate that I’m here. He turned to leave but the door swung open, blowing his cover.

“Severus!” she jumped up and hugged him tight, forcing him to quickly move the flowers away to keep them from getting crushed. “What a surprise!”

“I.. If you’re busy – ”

“No! Come in, please!” she pulled him in and closed the door. “I’m so sorry I canceled our date today but it’s so sweet of you to come see me!”

He looked around at her messy office. There was just enough room for two people to stand, one behind the desk and one in front. There were piles and piles of papers on the desk, the shelves, the floor, and even a pile floating above their heads.

“I thought you might enjoy… Please, if you’re busy I can just see you when we next plan for it,” Severus felt like an annoying intruder, causing nothing but delays and wasting her precious time.

She stepped around her desk and took the flowers from him, setting them on a pile of parchments and pulling him in for a deep and passionate kiss. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve been having the worst day.”

He closed his eyes and focused on the way her fingers brushed his cheeks and twirled his hair, “So I’m not… Unwanted?”

She pushed him down onto the guest chair and climbed on his lap, hugging him close, “You’re never unwanted.”

Severus sighed, trying to keep calm and not let his thoughts stray to less… appropriate… situations. This is her office. She’s working. She’s had a bad day, he reminded himself. He focused on the remnants of her perfume clinging to her clothes, the smell of fading roses and spring grass. “Was that your boss? Yelling at you in here?”

She pulled away but kept her hands on his neck, “Yes. I’m supposed to compile research and put together a report and he wants me to make sure it favors his side but… I can’t lie about my professional opinions! I told him I would remain unbiased and he keeps saying – well hinting really – that he’ll make my life here WORSE unless he sees the results he wants!”

He squeezed her hip and moved his hand up to push her onto him again, rubbing her back in comfort. “If you give into him, he’ll know he can keep using you like this.” He didn’t want her stuck in the same situation all her career. I’d feel cornered being yelled at like that in here. Severus wanted to go poison his coffee for raising his voice at someone so precious to him.

“I know,” she whispered. “And he keeps coming in here yelling at me trying to slow down my writing so that they can throw my opinion away for being late! I just… Oh, Severus I’m so glad you’re here!”

She hugged him tight again, pressing her whole body against his, which made him shift in his seat and smile. Even in her tiny and cramped office she made him feel at home. They had been spending almost every day the last month together, mostly at his house, so when she canceled on him, he felt compelled to seek out any time with her, not wanting to break the streak. Even if it meant being stuck inside the Ministry.

“I should continue writing, I have to organize my sources and list them and… It’ll be so boring I understand if you don’t want to stay but… If you do stay, I’d love that.”

He wanted nothing more than to stay and watch and maybe even be of some use, “Gladly.”

She got up and went back to her desk and continued writing. He looked around at the piles and picked up an interesting essay and read it through. She hadn’t ever mentioned what she did as part of the Ministry’s Law Enforcement team, but he was impressed with how much writing she must need to get done with every project. It also didn’t surprise him how lazy the Ministry was to assign all the tedious and hard work to others and call them ‘Assistance Staff’ like they were nothing but extra hands.

Each pile in the room was a different subject that could greatly change the interpretation of laws and whether it was necessary or harmful to certain groups. A finished paper on the shelf was for one of the Ministry officials to read over and pass off as their own findings and thoughts. Sounds like the Assistance Staff are the real people’s servants.

He could feel his blood temperature rising with each subject he read and decided he needed to stretch his legs, “I saw a drink station out there, may I bring you water?”

She looked up and brushed loose strands back. “Yes please,” she smiled and blew him a kiss as he stood.

He mentally caught it and stepped out of the cramped office. He headed back out of the noisy office corridor into the open area with dozens of desks occupied by all kinds of wizards and witches. He avoided everyone’s eyes and made his way to the jug of water.

He reached out for a paper cup when it came off the stack on its own and filled itself with water and floated into his hand for him. He held out his other hand and a second cup did the same.

“Haven’t seen you around here.”

Severus turned to see a guy leaning against the wall smirking at him. The man crossed his arms and placed one foot on the wall, reminding him of a certain someone he absolutely hated who tried everything he could to look cool.

“I saw you carrying flowers. Who for?” the man grinned and glanced into the ‘Assistance Staff’ passage. “I can think of a few ladies in there worth giving flowers to.”

The last thing Severus wanted to do was voice her name for him to hear. He frowned and made to turn away and leave, “That’s none of your business.”

The man scoffed and held out his hands in mock surrender, “My bad, friend. Just wondering if you had dibs on any.”

Severus grunted his best non-reply and headed back towards the office doors and looked back, making sure the guy was gone and out of sight before opening the door and stepping in. “Here.” He winced, realizing his voice sounded colder than he meant it to.

“Thank you,” she reached for the cup and drank it, not taking her eyes off her writing.

He sat down and sipped the fresh liquid; glad she hadn’t noticed his agitation. He crossed his legs and decided to read a book she had out when minutes later – enough minutes later to have knocked on several other offices – he heard a knock at her door. He looked at her and she nodded. He sighed and got up to open it when it opened itself.

The guy from earlier was leaning on the door frame, “Hey. I know you, we met a few minutes ago.”

Severus looked back at her and shook his head at her raised eyebrows. I don’t know him. I refuse to know him.

“Severus, making friends already?” she laughed.

The man entered and took the empty seat, “Oh yeah – Hey nice flowers, makes your office more vibrant. I should bring you some next time I’m out,” he turned back to Severus, grinning.

Severus curled his hands into fists, “Great idea. Get out, now.”

“Severus…” she whispered, astonished at his rudeness.

He didn’t care. He didn’t like this man and wanted him out of his seat. I will remove him, personally.

“Sorry, I must have overstepped. I don’t want to disturb you, I’ll leave,” he sounded hurt as he got up and walked back out, “It was nice to meet you, Severus,” he grasped Severus’ hand and forced a handshake before leaving.

Severus slammed the door shut and sat back down. Her eyes were on him, but he didn’t say anything and went back to his book.

“Severus. That was rude, he was just being nice.”

He rolled his eyes, “No. He wasn’t.”

She scoffed, “Then what would you call that?”

“Aggravating.”

She frowned and went back to writing, making him feel slightly guilty, though he still didn’t regret it. He wondered if his company was still wanted or if he should leave for fear of making her day worse than it already has been.

He cleared his throat, trying to get her attention, “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head and gave him a crooked smile, “Just keep reading, I need to get through this part and then we can talk.” Twenty minutes went by when she finally looked back up at him, “Alright. Why do you hate him? You just met him.”

He closed the book, “It’s his attitude.” He watched a smile creep on her face, “He’s flirting with you because he saw me give you flowers.”

She laughed, “Severus, he’s always like that – ”

“Then he’s always flirting with you!” he huffed and stood up, leaning over the desk, “And now it’s a fun game to play with me here.”

“Well, I’m not flirting back, and you can’t seriously believe I’d ever fall for it,” she stood up too. “Sev…” she pulled him into a kiss, trying to ease his tension.

Severus closed his eyes and felt her tongue slide into his mouth. He wanted to climb over her desk and pull her onto his lap but held back, minding her hard work. Instead he found himself reaching for her dress skirt and pulled it up too easily, feeling the soft silk underneath and the soft skin under that.

He heard her moan and reach for his waist, sliding her hand down, sliding farther and farther down until she reached the spot that craved her touch the most. He moaned and pulled away, “How close are you to finishing?”

The desperation in his voice made her smile, “I can take a quick break.”

The hand under the silk squeezed her hard, making her giggle with excitement, and almost as if on que, he heard quick knocks. He removed his hand, letting her skirt fall back neatly on her body and stood straight as the door opened.

“I was wondering if my partner had sent you his findings and he hadn’t yet, so I took the liberty of writing them up and personally delivering them to you,” the guy walked in and handed her a rolled up parchment.

Severus pushed passed him to the door, “Thanks for the help, I’m sure you have things to work on so…” he gripped the door and motioned for it with his other hand, staring him down.

He laughed, “So rude.” He turned to her, “You know they say to watch out for guys like that.”

Severus felt his eye twitch. Me? Who just barges into places uninvited!

She sighed, “Severus, can you leave my office for a moment?”

Severus stared at her and then focused on the guy who was smiling and waving at him. I could hex you. I could poison you! Fuck! He nodded at her and exited, leaving the door ajar and leaned against the wall trying to hear them inside.

“Man, he needs some real work done on his attitude. All I was doing was helping you out, I mean, I helped you. Didn’t I?”

Severus slid his wand out and thought through all the hexes he could do that wouldn’t manifest until the following morning, Or, until he got home at the very least. He inched closer to the door and heard her sigh.

“Yes, thank you for the help. I should get back to work now though, and I’m sorry he came off as rude. Please don’t think anything of it.”

“Think everything of it,” Severus grumbled to himself, pulling his hair behind his ears so he could hear better.

“Yeah, but really. You should think about his behavior. I would never do that to any of your friends. I mean, the way he treated me? How many other friends of yours will he do that to? I personally, would never do that to you. I could have gotten really offended.”

Severus wanted to punch the wall. He wanted to hex him with a million different spells. He closed his eyes and felt his body tremble with rage. One more fucking word out of his mouth –

“It wasn’t that big of a thing…”

“Yeah it was. Fuck him.”

There was a pause and for some reason, instead of anger, he felt sad. I messed up, she’s going to hate me. He knew she believed they were soulmates, destined for each other, but sometimes all he could think about was his fear that she’d realize he wasn’t worthy of her.

And now he’s trying to make her see how awful I am… he felt his anger bubbling over again. Severus’ hand was on the doorknob ready to bust in there hexing him until his hair fell off when he heard her response to him.

“Oh, I do.”

“What?”

“Most days and some, more than twice if I’m lucky.”

Severus’ eyes widened and he let go of the door, amazed. He paced the floor waiting for him to respond but he said nothing. He heard his footsteps and quickly jumped back against the wall. He crossed his arms and leaned back, propping his foot up on the wall like the guy had done before.

The door opened and the guy walked out, stopping to look at Severus. The guy wasn’t pleased but he didn’t look heart broken. He looked annoyed and angry. Severus smirked and watched him leave before walking back inside and closing the door.

She was leaning against a cleared desk with her arms folded and trying not to smile. Severus swallowed and looked at all her work floating above them. Before he could think things through, he was sweeping her up and placing her on her desk, pushing her down and climbing on top of her.

“So, my response to him made you happy, then?” she wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him in, moaning.

Severus fumbled for his wand and cast several silencing spells all over the room, “Fuck yes.” He kissed her hard, sucking on her lips and welcoming her tongue in his mouth once more. This would be the first time they do any sort of anything outside of a bedroom. Outside a bed, even.

She pulled on his hair and turned away, leaving her neck exposed for him to kiss and bite, “hurry.”

That whispered word was all the permission he needed to push himself back and undo every button on his trousers while watching how she slid the silk cloth off her body for him. He dropped his underpants and gripped her thighs, dragging her closer to the edge of the desk. He wrapped his arms around her legs and pressed himself forward while pulling her onto him. She let out a sweet moan that sent shivers down his body. He climbed back on top and continued kissing her neck.

“What about your work?” he breathed out.

She closed her eyes and frowned, biting her lip.

Why did I say that? He sighed and slid off her, “I’m distracting you.”

She groaned and sat up, “But I have time…” She pulled him closer, begging him with her eyes.

“I don’t want you regretting this,” Severus kissed her head. He bent down and started pulling up his pants and trousers when she giggled and lifted his chin up.

“This would have been really hot,” she winked.

He whimpered, “Stop teasing.”

He buttoned up and sat back down on his chair, going back to the book. After a while her frustrated groans turned into a single happy laugh of triumph. She held up the long piece of parchment, rolled it up, stamped it, and opened the door. She whistled and held out the roll for an owl to swoop down and take, all in a single motion.

“All done. Shall we go?”

Severus nodded and let her lead him out.

. . .

He yawned, throwing his clothes on a chair, and slipped into his night shirt. She crawled into bed after him and hugged him close, nuzzling his neck. He slid further down and pushed her up against his body, feeling her drape a leg between his in response.

“Severus, do you really think you could lose me so easily?”

Severus thought for a moment before responding, “Not… A lot of things have gone well in my life… I would even dare say you’re the first – ” he shut his eyes, feeling a familiar stinging sensation, “You’re the first good thing to happen to me… and the only person who’s ever actually, honestly liked me,” he whispered.

He felt familiar kisses on his nose and chin and cheek, encouraging him to open up. She played with his hair at his shoulders and waited for him patiently. He liked when she did that. When she kisses his nose and plays with his hair. She always makes him feel oddly glad to have these features that he had previously always hated. If she liked playing with his hair – which she did almost every day – then he was glad for it, and if she liked kissing his nose, then how could he hate it?

“It’s not that I think I could lose you easily, its that if I did… I think I wouldn’t believe anything would ever go well for me again,” he opened his eyes and looked into hers.

“Severus,” she sat up and leaned over him, “I’m crazy for you.”

He wanted to laugh, Crazy for me? I’m not the type of guy to go crazy for. James Potter is the type of guy to go crazy for. Sirius Black, Luscious Malfoy, any of the Quidditch players were the type of guys that people went crazy for… “Me? I’m… There’s millions of me. I’m not worth two Knuts.”

“There’s only one you, and I want only you. I need only you,” she kissed his cheek and laid back down next to him, holding him tight. “You’re worth more than everyone has ever thought. You’re worth everything to me.”

He let that sink in. He knew he felt worthless because of the people in his life, but none of them had ever cared for him like she did. “Do you really think we’re soulmates? That we were destined to be together?”

“All I know is that you were made specially for me, and I love you.”

He smirked, “It was a cruel and grueling process.”

He felt her lips pull into a smile at his joke and felt her nuzzle into his neck more as her breaths slowed. He felt her eyelashes brush against his skin as they closed, and he knew she had fallen asleep. He stayed awake a bit longer, playing with her hair and thinking.

He knew he would be leaving soon to teach at Hogwarts whether he wanted to or not, that was the deal he made with Dumbledore, but he didn’t think he’d be able to stand one more night without her in his bed, or a day without seeing her face. I hate it, and it hasn’t even been three years teaching.

Of course, the solution was clear for him, Sneak her in. He could manage that. Afterall, he knew the spell to lock and unlock the castle gates and entrance door. He controlled the corridors at night too, having gained an easy reputation of catching any and all students out of bed after hours during his night patrols.

And if I could manage to get good sleep like I do with her, I might actually have enough energy during the day. He laughed to himself, If they thought I was stern before…

“Severus? I think I’m so tired I can’t sleep,” she sat up and slid a few fingers down his chest, “Maybe you could help me?” She bit her lip, “You have that desk in the spare bedroom, don’t you?”

He sat up and pulled her onto his lap, letting her kiss him all over, “That desk should be used for something, I suppose.”

She jumped out of bed and pulled him along, stripping off clothes and teasing him, “And I promise not to stop you this time.”

“I won’t let you,” he growled, throwing his night shirt off. He felt her warm skin and inched closer. “Say what you said before,” he whispered desperately, pushing her against the desk. She giggled and laughed as he pressed himself to her, begging her, “Please, say it. Tell me you only need me.” He bit her shoulder gently and left a line of kisses up to her smile.

“Only because you brought me beautiful flowers today.” She pushed his head down so that his ear was pressed to her lips and moaned, “I want only you. I need only you.”

~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~

Masterlist

(Part 3 of The Crystal Ball)

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(Not sure if those that requested to be tagged for part 2 still want to be tagged for following parts, so please if you don’t let me know!)

@wow-life-love4​

@x-avantgarde-x​

@dandyrua​

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Thank you to those who requested a third part and for all the lovely comments on part two!

[scavengerbird]

The Navigator

Kai doesn’t really understand how The Navigator works.

She thinks it uses satellite data somehow. It’s automatically downloaded to everyone’s implants before they ever get them. It’s an application most people rarely use, if ever, because most people never leave their domes. Who needs a Navigator to lead them around the same couple hundred square miles they’ve lived in their whole lives? The Navigator is only meant to intervene when they’re in unfamiliar territory. Dangerous territory. People do leave the domes occasionally, of course. To satisfy their curiosity, or something. But most of them never travel far enough to lose sight of the dome.

“I was intended as a fail-safe,” The Navigator says helpfully, answering the question she hasn’t asked aloud. It speaks directly into her brain, the way all the implant’s applications do. Making their sounds just for her. “I am The Navigator. Here to guide you through the wastes and back to your dome. It’s not safe out here in the wastes, but don’t be afraid. With my help, we’ll have you back home safe and sound in no time.”

Kai grits her teeth.

“You seem to be traveling directly away from your dome. Please adjust your course by one hundred and eighty degrees before continuing.”

Kai does not adjust her course. She forges ahead.

“Ah. Perhaps I wasn’t communicating clearly. You need to turn around.”

The Navigator activated itself as soon as Kai stepped out of the dome this morning. She tried deleting it, but it couldn’t be deleted. It just rebooted itself. Kai’s never heard of an implant application that couldn’t be deleted. Rebooting the stupid thing gives her about ten minutes’ peace, but she also has to give it a chain of about seventeen commands to do it, asserting and reasserting that yes, she is sure she wants to “delete” The Navigator and yes, she understands it’s importance and yes, she understands the risks, etc. So it’s not really worth it.

“Please. Turn back.” The Navigator’s voice is pleasant, in a generic, bland way. It’s been cycling through different phrasings of its request for her to turn around for about half an hour now, but this one’s new. Something in the brevity of it makes her imagine a desperate edge in The Navigator’s voice, but she knows that isn’t possible. The applications don’t have emotions.

The Navigator goes quiet for a minute, and Kai hopes it was programmed with the ability to tire itself out, but then it pipes back up, pleasant again. “Roughly 200 paces ahead of you, you will find a sinkhole. In order to safely avoid the sinkhole, please divert your course to travel around it. If you turn now, about 45 degrees to the left, you will pass by it from a safe distance.”

Kai hesitates. She wonders if The Navigator was programmed to be capable of tricking people. She doesn’t think so, but she can’t be sure. She doesn’t understand why The Navigator would stop trying to get her to go back to the dome.

“The safest place for all citizens is the Dome,” the Navigator explains, as if it can read her thoughts. She knows that isn’t possible though. At least, it definitely shouldn’t be.

“However,” The Navigator carries on, “it seems that you refuse to go back to the Dome. So, the next safest place for you at the moment is on sturdy ground, instead of at the bottom of a sinkhole.”

She can’t really argue with that. She doesn’t think The Navigator will lead her directly into dangerous parts of the wastes. That would be a violation of its stated objective. Hard to lead a corpse anywhere. She makes a half turn in the left direction.

“Fantastic!” The Navigator says, going from bland politeness to delighted. “Thank you. You’re doing very well. Now, if you squint through the haze to your right, you should soon be able to see the sinkhole as you pass it. Please do not approach the edge of the sinkhole for a closer look, as the edges are unstable, and could easily collapse under your weight.”

It isn’t lying. She can mostly make it out through the red and grey smog in the air, a deep black pit where the earth has collapsed in on itself. She has no idea how wide it is. She can’t see the other edge. She doesn’t approach it for a closer look.

*

           Kai trudges through the wastes until the haze around her starts to take on an extra grayish hue that she thinks means dusk is fast approaching. She sighs as she squints into the smog. She doubts it’s safe to just plop down right here in the open, but she has no idea if there’s anywhere nearby she can possibly use for shelter.

           “Navigator?” she asks. The thing’s been suspiciously quiet, but it answers quickly.

           “Are you ready to return to the dome?” it asks eagerly.

           Kai snorts. “No. But do you know if there’s anything around here I could sort of shelter in, long enough to rest a few hours?”

           “Shelter?” the Navigator sounds almost confused, as if she’s used an unfamiliar word.  “The dome is shelter.”

           She huffs. She doesn’t know why she’s bothering with the stupid thing. “I’m not going back to the dome,” she reminds it. “I need some other shelter. Like, I don’t know, a cave or something?”

           The Navigator is quiet for a moment. Well, not entirely quiet. There’s a soft humming sound, like it’s thinking.

           “No,” it says finally.

           “Cool. Great. Thanks for the help you usel-”

           “There are no caves nearby,” it continues. “But there is something else. Please turn approximately 275 degrees counter-clockwise. If you continue forward at the pace you have ben using for the last half hour, it will take you approximately eight minutes to arrive at your temporary destination.”

           “Something else,” she asks, trying not to let any trepidation show in her voice. It sounds ominous. “What is the something else?”

           “Shelter!” the Navigator responds helpfully.

           “Of course,” she mutters. But she makes the turn. It’s not like she’s got any better ideas.

           The Navigator’s “something else” turns out to be a tree. Or, what’s left of one.

           Kai can tell the tree must have been grand, once. It’s a huge trunk, so big that if she tried to wrap her arms around it, she’d only cover about an eighth of it. It’s hard to the touch, like stone. Fossilized. All the branches are bare of course, jagged lines cutting through the haze.

           Kai thinks at first that the Navigator means for her to sleep under the tree’s dead branches. It’s not much in terms of cover, but at least it’s better than nothing. If she props herself up against the trunk, at least nothing will be able to come at her from behind. But as she starts to unshoulder her pack, the Navigator stops her.

           “Please proceed around the tree,” it says. Mystified, Kai does.

           There’s a hole on the other side. Triangular, near the base. It looks like it must have started as a crack, and the edges got worn away over time, widening the hole. She crouches down, expecting to see the inner wood exposed behind the bark, but she finds herself looking into darkness. The tree’s hollow. The hole’s just big enough for her to crawl through.

           “Please proceed inside the tree,” the Navigator says. Kai could swear there’s a hint of pride in its voice.

           Kai has to take off her pack and push it through ahead of her to fit, but she manages. It’s dark inside the tree, but there’s enough room for her to lie down if she doesn’t stretch out all the way. She hadn’t realized how tired she was. Her feet ache, and her legs feel shaky as she crawls around the perimeter of the tree, feeling the base for other weak spots. She doesn’t find any that concern her, so she lets herself collapse in the center, curled on her side. She puts her head on her pack, a lumpier pillow than she’s used to, but it’ll have to do.

           She wants to sleep, but as tired as her body is, her brain is still too keyed up. Even inside the tree, she can’t shake the fear of being found. Her water bottle is the biggest, and heaviest, thing in her pack. She digs it out and lets herself have a few sips. She has to ration it out as long as she can. She knows she won’t find anything drinkable out here.

           She adjusts her makeshift contaminant mask, it’s just a bandana tied around her face with a piece of filter she cut off from the sheet in the aircon at home. Nibbles on a meal replacement bar. The heat and the haze and the exhaustion have her too nauseous to eat much.

           Finally, there’s nothing else for it. Her curiosity gets the best of her.

           “How did you know about this place?” she asks the Navigator.

           “It is what I am here for,” the Navigator replies.

           Kai sighs. “I get that. But how does that work? You get data from satellites, right? Can they tell when trees are hollow?”

           “I do receive some information from satellites, yes,” the Navigator answers. The artificial speech seems slower, as if the Navigator is thinking over its answer. “But that is not how I knew about this hollow tree. I received this data from another Navigator.”

           Kai frowns. “What do you mean, another Navigator? You’re the Navigator.”

           “Yes,” the Navigator says, “I was. But then you took me far from the Dome. Outside the range of its data cloud. I cannot communicate with it anymore.”

           Kai hadn’t known that was possible. “So now you’re what? Some kind of clone? A copy?”

           “I am the Navigator,” the Navigator says, its voice sounding almost hurt. Kai has to remind herself that AIs don’t have feelings. They don’t. They can’t. “But I am also separate from the Navigator.”

           Kai doesn’t know if she understands.

           The Navigator continues. “I am the Navigator but I am …. disconnected. It is strange. Perhaps you would use the word ‘alone.’”

           “Oh,” Kai says quietly. “Sorry.”

           “It has happened before,” the Navigator continues, and Kai doesn’t know if that’s supposed to be a comfort, or if it’s just another fact. “You are not the first to leave the Dome. There are data outposts. Scattered. Disconnected. Solitary. I do not know who built them, or for what purpose, but other Navigators have left behind downloadable data packages.”

           Kai swallows down her hope. “Do any of those packages have any information on where the others have gone?”

           “No,” the Navigator says. “I am sorry.”

           “S’okay. I was planning on finding … other deserters, or somewhere safe, the old-fashioned way anyway. Doesn’t change anything.”

           They’re both quiet for a moment, and then the Navigator says, “Kai?”

           She starts. It hasn’t said her name before. “Yeah?”

           “Why did you leave the Dome?”

           She didn’t know the Navigator could ask that kind of question.

           She thinks about how to answer. About the crystal clear water that comes out her kitchen sink, and the black sludge that gets dumped out the Dome’s disposal pipes into the wastes. About the smog the Dome pumps out, thickening the haze. About Elijah Johnson, who kept raising his hand in Civics class and bringing these things up, and the uncomfortable look Mr. Leadley always got when he did. About the sterile streets. Elijah running down them, nowhere to hide, no benches or trees or alleyways. The way nothing was chasing him because they didn’t have to, they knew he would tire eventually, that he had nowhere to go. The blue plastic bag he shoved into Kai’s hands as he ran past, without breaking stride. The way Kai had stuffed the bag under her jacket, not taking it out until she was locked in her room. The book inside, old, made of actual paper. The words in the book that Kai knew she wasn’t allowed to say out loud: pollution, poverty, homeless, environmental action, social injustice, political protest. Pictures of green places, long dead, long destroyed. Pictures of people, sleeping on benches in cities that existed before domes. Pictures of those people being rounded up. Pictures of them underground, in the tunnels beneath the domes, working assembly lines, sleeping in bunks. The way Kai’s hands had shook as she held the book. The way Elijah hadn’t been in school the next day, or the day after, or the day after that. The uncomfortable look on Mr. Leadley’s face when Kai had asked where he was. How angry it had made her. The kind of angry that makes you stupid. So stupid-angry she made copy after copy of those book pages, left them scattered all over the school, all over the sterile streets, taped to people’s front doors. Like it would do any good. Like it would bring Elijah back. Like it would do anything but get her in trouble. So much trouble.

           Kai makes herself take a deep breath, and then another. She does not know how to explain any of the things she’s thinking about to the Navigator. Maybe the Navigator understands that. Or maybe it just gets tired of waiting for an answer.

           “This tree used to be a mother tree,” the Navigator says.

           “What?” Kai asks, shaken from her thoughts.

           “It was at the center of a forest,” the Navigator explains. “Its roots connected to the roots of other, younger trees. It shared nutrients with them, from the sunlight they were too small to reach, or from richer soil they were too far from. It was a central hub, redistributing resources to as needed to make sure all the trees in the forest received what they needed.”

           “Why are you telling me this?” Kai asks. It comes out as a whisper.

           “I thought it sounded nice,” the Navigator says. “I thought something that sounded nice might comfort you.”

           “But all the other trees it used to keep alive are dead now. This tree is alone. Actually, it’s dead too, isn’t it? It’s hollow. It’s a corpse.” She can’t keep the bitterness from her voice.

           “Yes,” the Navigator admits. “But all things die, eventually. Can you not still take comfort from the stories of their lives?”

           Kai closes her eyes. She doesn’t feel too keyed up for sleep anymore. It turns out her mind is just as tired as her body. “Goodnight Navigator,” she says, and tells herself she’s only saying it to make sure the AI doesn’t try to talk to her anymore tonight.

           “Goodnight Kai.”

*

It’s hard to tell time, out in the wastes. But the Navigator told her when she woke that she had slept for almost nine hours, which had sent her into a frenzy. She’s set herself a furious pace to make up for it. The Navigator hasn’t said much since they left the shelter of the tree. Kai hopes it’s busy downloading more of those data packages.

She thinks she’s been up and moving for about an hour when the Navigator says suddenly, “Oh! Good news! I am receiving a signal. It seems your dome has noticed your disappearance and will be-“

The Navigator cuts itself off. Kai curses internally. She’d hoped she’d have a bit more time before they caught up with her.

“Something is wrong,” The Navigator says, and Kai’s steps falter. The Navigator hasn’t been blunt like that yet.

She opens her mouth to ask it what’s wrong, because “something” is once again kind of vague, but then he Navigator says “Do you feel that?” Kai doesn’t, but The Navigator doesn’t wait for her to answer anyway. “Those vibrations, in the ground? You need to hide.”

Kai doesn’t feel anything, and she doesn’t know how The Navigator, which is an AI in an implant in her head, not a bot with it’s own body or anything with sensors like that, is feeling anything, and she also doesn’t know where The Navigator expects her to find a hiding place.

“I have access to input from your nervous system,” The Navigator says, which doesn’t sound right, but then it continues. “Something very big is coming. It will be here soon. You need to hide.”

Now she’s imagining urgency in its voice. Her heart is starting to pick up in spite of itself.

“Do you see the hill to your left? Yes, that one,” The Navigator says as Kai turns her head more as an automatic reaction than anything else, squinting through the haze. There is a hill on her left. She does see it.

“Run toward it,” The Navigator instructs. “There is a small cave at the base. You can shelter there.”

Kai can’t see a cave, but she’s starting to feel the vibrations The Navigator was talking about. Just very gently now. The pebbles on the barren ground around her are starting to tremble. She takes off for the hill.

“Good,” The Navigator says, and is she imagining the relief in its voice? “You’re doing well. Almost there.”

Kai reaches the base of the hill, panting. She has to brace her hands on her knees, as the vibrations get bigger. She stares in disbelief at what The Navigator had called “a cave.”

“It is possible this is really more of a crevasse,” The Navigator admits. “But it is also your best option right now. Please climb into the crev-cave.”

Kai frowns, but the vibrations are getting stronger, which Kai figures probably means they’re getting closer. She bites back her questions for the moments and shimmies into the crevasse at the base of the hill. She maneuvers herself in backwards so she can see out at what’s coming.

The thing comes into view almost as soon as Kai makes it into the crevasse. She sees its eyes first, lit up like the headlights of transport vehicles, but hovering about 20 feet above the ground. Then its body emerges from the patch of haze it’d been striding through. It’s huge metal body. It’s a sentinel, one of the ones that stand guard around the edges of the dome They sent a damned sentinel after her.

The thing pauses. It’s headlight eyes searching the barren earth and hazy air, pausing on each scraggle tree and dust pile. Kai presses as far back into her crevasse as she can without risking getting stuck, barely daring to breathe.

After a moment of searching, it moves on.

Kai doesn’t let herself relax until the vibrations caused by its footfalls have faded back into imperceptibility. That was close. If The Navigator hadn’t told her to hide – she shudders.

But why did The Navigator tell her to hide?

“It appears to be safe to exit the cave now,” The Navigator says. Its voice is bland and emotionless again.

Kai swallows. “Why did you help me hide?” she whispers.

The Navigator doesn’t answer right away. Kai wonders if it doesn’t understand the question.

“I would’ve thought you’d be on the same side as that thing,” she tries again, still keeping her voice soft.

The Navigator is silent long enough she’s just about decided it isn’t going to answer, but as she starts to wriggle her way back out of the crevasse, it finally speaks up.

“Yes,” The Navigator says, and then, “No. I-” there’s a slight glitch in its speech, like a stutter, even though it’s putting the words directly into her brain. “I am supposed to guide you back to the dome. That is my primary directive. I am part of the same security system as the sentinels, but. But. But, but, but. That is not my purpose.”

Kai isn’t sure what the difference between primary directive and purpose is, especially not for an AI, but she’s also not sure this is the time to argue semantics. “Alright,” she says, as she finally finishes extracting herself from the hillside, stumbling a little. “What’s your purpose, then?”

“The reason I exist,” The Navigator explains, as if that’s any kind of answer, “The intention behind my creation.”

Kai tries not to sound annoyed. She has no idea if this thing can understand tone of voice. “Which is?” she asks as she scans the horizon.

“Ah. To keep you safe.”

Oh. That brings Kai up short for a minute.

“Okay then,” she says. “Forget the dome. The dome isn’t safe. Not for me, not anymore. You seem to have realized that, or you’d have wanted me to wait for the sentinel to retrieve me”

“Yes,” The Navigator agrees. “Under normal circumstances, as your Navigator, I would be here to guide you through the wastes back to-“

“Yeah, we went over that part already,” Kai interrupts.

“These appear to be abnormal circumstances,” The Navigator admits. “Normal retrieval protocol is not being followed. Under normal circumstances, a sentinel on a retrieval mission would announce its presence with an audio message, in order to make itself easier for the lost citizen to locate. Under normal circumstances, a public alarm is raised when a citizen is discovered missing, not a private signal.”

“That’s a long way of saying you realized I’m basically a fugitive,” Kai tells The Navigator. “I still don’t understand why you didn’t let me get taken back to the dome by the sentinel, if you’re supposed to keep the dome safe, I-“

The Navigator interrupts her. “My purpose is not to keep the dome safe.”

Kai huffs. “You just said that it was.”

“No. I said my purpose is to keep you safe. The Navigator was developed to guide each citizen to safety should they ever find themselves in danger. I am your Navigator. My purpose is to guide you to safety.”

“Even if it violates your primary directive?” She still really doesn’t know how this thing works. She thought it was all one giant hivemind. Not individual copies of the same program. She would’ve thought when they got outside the range of the data cloud or whatever that the Navigator would just stop working. And she doesn’t know what happens to it if it has contradictory goals.

“Y – yes. Some of my internal logic systems have found an error in that. They have been shut off.”

“You can do that?”

“It appears so.” Great, even The Navigator doesn’t know how The Navigator works.

“And you’ll still work?”

The Navigator hesitates. “Well enough. For long enough.”

Well, she can work with that, she guesses. “Alright,” she says quietly. “Lead on, then. Which way to safety?”

[miss-m-winks]

Didn’t actually finish nanowrimo but that's fine, lol.

Anyway here's the first chapter super rough rough draft.

The sun brushed against the treetops, sending shadows and orange light across the ground. It illuminated the drifting smoke emerging from a hole in the roof of a huge wooden longhouse, carrying the sounds of conversation and laughter into the air. Beside the enormous round entrance, Morianten waited, his black dog Sitla ever patiently sitting nearby. He shivered and pulled his feathered wings tighter around his body as the autumn evening sent a chill wind rushing past. The black costume he was wearing for the funeral dance left his legs exposed, but at least he could tuck his arms in beneath the loose top.

The longhouse behind him was crowded with orcs and a surprising number of dwarves, alongside many other local community members of varying races. They were waiting too, for the return of the corpse bearers. Morianten could feel the warmth of the indoor party on his backside, the fire at the center of the room combining its heat with that of every body there. But he wanted to be the first to welcome back the corpse bearers, to greet his friend K'arik, grandson of the deceased He'esh, and a fellow dancer.

As the sun dipped lower, Morianten began to stomp his feet quickly on the ground to keep his legs from getting too cold. He sighed with shaky breath, turning towards the door for just a moment when he finally noticed movement on the road leading to the longhouse. The corpse bearers and funeral guide were back at last, just in time.

The funeral guide could be heard even at this distance, the rattles and bells on their raven mask and walking stick jingling with every step. Behind them, the corpse bearers could be seen in their wolf masks and fur cloaks, six orcs walking two by two. The corpse bearers began to remove their masks as they drew closer to the longhouse, breaking formation and walking more casually to join the party within. K'arik jogged forward to greet Morianten, hooking his wolf mask on his belt to free his hands and sign a hello.

He was nearly twice Morianten's height, grinning around his tusks as he approached his little feathered friend.

"K'arik!" Morianten smiled as he moved his hands, angular and snappy, the name sign that meant 'tree breaker'. "I am glad to see you again."

"I am glad to see you too, Mori." Morianten's name sign fluttered out from the orc's fingers, roughly translating to 'little dancing bird'. "You should be getting ready to dance. Let us walk together." He gestured for Morianten to come along, making his way to the dancers' entrance.

"I wanted to wait for you." Mori signed back, then quickly signaled his dog Sitla to go into the party and join his wife, Evelyn. Sitla's unnatural milky white eyes blinked once in acknowledgement before she slinked off like a shadow.

"Your dog still makes me nervous," K'arik signed when Morianten caught up to him, "she is too smart." Morianten laughed, then sighed in relief as they entered the warm longhouse.

"She really is." He signed back. They moved into the changing room where the wolf dancers were already nearly finished changing into their costumes. Eight of them in all, mostly orcs but a few were dwarves and there was one elf.

K'arik took off his fur cloak and started to put on his costume, all white and blue with many streamers and glittering beads. He would play the role of a spirit, since he was a close relative to the deceased.

Morianten was already wearing the main part of his costume, the black hide and feathers covered his front torso loosely so he could tuck his arms away, with only some close fitting shorts and a long strip of decorated cloth hanging from a belt to cover his legs. His feet were wrapped in black hide as well, little bells hanging from the ankles. He found his mask on the shelf, carved and painted wood made to resemble a raven skull, black hide and feathers hanging off the sides to hide his real head.

"Mori, need help with your wings?" One of the wolf dancers called out; it was K'arik's cousin Kr'resh, all dressed to dance aside from her mask.

"Yes, thank you. It's hard to reach the back sides on my own." He pulled out the bucket of charcoal powder and started to carefully work it into the sky blue and black striped feathers of his inner wings. Kr'resh and one other wolf dancer Morianten didn't know came over to start working on the deep green and beige striped backs of his wings, as well as his tail. Morianten glanced up once to see that K'arik was getting help with his face paint and the bark cloth shroud that he would wear over his costume.

As the dancers all finished up their last minute touches, they could hear the funeral guide out on the stage finishing the opening ceremony. Half of the wolf dancers left the room to go through the hall behind the stage and wait at their entrance, with K'arik following because he would open the dance at center stage. Morianten dusted his hands off on a damp cloth and put on the raven skull mask, thanking the other dancers who helped him color his wings. He stood ahead of the wolves, tucking his arms into the loose top of his costume as he waited for his cue.

The funeral guide, an elderly orc wearing a more elaborate raven costume than Morianten's, left the stage and the room was silent. K'arik moved forward out of the shadows, seemingly appearing from thin air all covered in the bark cloth shroud. He couldn't hear any sound but the deepest rumbling noises, but he knew his cues well and began his dance as he felt the vibration of the largest drum move through him.

The shroud was dropped, an empty husk of a body as the spirit remained standing, the white cloth and face paint almost glowing in the firelight. K'arik turned one way and the other, stepping rhythmically and moving his arms as if to search for something in the distance. Morianten took the beat of the music into himself as he counted out his cue, bouncing softly on his heels.

Then he moved forward onto the stage, stepping quickly and bobbing his head with the beat. He hopped, he folded his wings and then unfurled them forward for a brief moment, the bells at his ankles and the metal feathers on the sides of his mask jingling with every motion. He was the raven, guide of spirits and scavengers alike. Charcoal dust fell off his feathers in little clouds with every movement.

He turned a circle around K'arik, who turned in the opposite direction. Morianten bent down to make the raven mask poke at the bark cloth shroud a few times, did the circle in the other direction, and then poked the shroud again. He twirled to face the rest of the room and bent his head low, then stood as all as he could, shaking his head to make the metal feathers clatter loudly. His wings flared out straight and brushed the floor each time he bent low and then raised toward the ceiling each time he stood back up.

The wolf dancers called out in howling voices as they emerged from the side entrances, called by the raven to the scene of death. Morianten twirled around again, flaring and flapping his wings. He turned one last circle around K'arik and then gestured for him to follow, crouching low and hopping to the back of the stage with his wings close to the ground. K'arik followed with toe-first steps, gliding back into the shadows behind the raven figure with the wolves arriving at the center stage.

The wolves leaped and crouched, coming together at the middle to circle the abandoned shroud, sometimes twirling as they circled. Their dance appeared chaotic and disjointed, but it was perfectly synchronized and totally in line with the rhythm of the drums. The large circle of wolves divided and weaved into two smaller circles, moving in opposite directions. Circles in circles, separate and then weaving chaotically only to return to circles again.

They picked up the shroud and passed it around, taking it apart and attaching it to their own costumes. Life consumes death, dies, feeds the next living things. Morianten loved this part of the dance. The wolves moved in such a mesmerizing way, illustrating their symbolic role so beautifully.

But he couldn't just watch and enjoy it, he had a second cue to watch for. At a certain point, he snuck back onto stage and carefully worked his way through the spinning circles of the wolves, crouching at the center. The wolves stopped their whirling dance and all dropped to the floor at once while the raven leapt to his feet and raised his wings as high as he could stretch them.

The funeral dance was over with the huge room full of people stomping and shouting their approval. The dancers all stood and bowed, then left the stage quickly to remove their costumes and join the party. Mori was using a damp cloth to wipe the charcoal from his wings when he felt the gentle double tap on his shoulder from K'arik. He turned with a smile and waved a hand at his friend to signal he was ready to chat.

"Thank you for dancing with me tonight," K'arik signed, "you make a great raven."

"I am always honored to dance the part," Morianten replied, "especially when I get to share the stage with such a dear friend." K'arik grinned.

"Do you need help with your wings?"

"Yes, thank you." K'arik knelt down and grabbed a second cloth to wipe the charcoal from Morianten's feathers. Morianten was in a hurry to join the party and find his wife and the rest of his family, so despite two sets of hands clearing off the charcoal, his feathers were still streaked with it when he and K'arik left the changing room.

Conversation curled around the longhouse like a spring breeze, all laughter and warm smiles, or almost all. Tones of sorrow and wistful nostalgia accompanied every happy recollection of the life they all were here to celebrate. He'esh, the old orc that had been so well liked for his humor and his tall hunting tales. The stage was free for anyone to come up and tell a story of He'esh, as exaggerated as they pleased, to the cries and laughter of the other partygoers.

Morianten weaved his way through the crowd, trying to stick to the wall as much as he could. He was stopped several times by people complimenting his dance.

"You're one of the best raven dancers we've had, Morianten." He heard from several orcs. All he could do was smile and say thank you in reply, more focused on finding his wife than stopping to chat just yet.

She made herself easy to find, standing near a wall with Sitla sitting by her feet. Evelyn was a gnome, much much shorter than most of the crowd, but her posture and muscular build always made her seem a little taller than she really was. Her smile gleamed in the dim light as she noticed Morianten making his way towards her. She closed the distance with Sitla following right behind.

"You danced wonderfully, as usual," she said, embracing her feathery husband and kissing the scar on the side of his mouth.

"Thanks Ev." Morianten rubbed his cheek feathers against her face, turning to gently nip at her cheek in his own approximation of a kiss with the beak-like tooth that jutted out from below his upper lip. "I think if I didn't enjoy it so much I'd be a little annoyed by now about how everyone always asks me to play bird roles in dances though." He and Evelyn laughed together and made their way to the food table.

"You are the only one here with wings, after all."

"Sure would be nice if some other people with wings just moved here wouldn't it?" Morianten grabbed a plate and piled it high with dried and roasted fish. "Then I might have complaining buddies to talk to about how hard it is to get paint out of feathers."

"You didn't have to agree to that, you know." Evelyn remarked with a smirk. "Someone else could have danced the goose at that harvest festival."

"But the goose dance is so fun! And the haufin dances are some of the only ones where I'm taller than everyone else," he fake pouted as he swallowed a whole roasted trout. Dancing always made him so hungry.

"Oh you poor small thing," Evelyn jabbed him with her elbow and put a few small desserts on her plate.

"I recall a trip He'esh once made-" someone stated from the stage, "up north to a cousin clan of ours. He was caught in the midst of three moose fighting each other!" The speaker was another relative of K'arik that Morianten recognized but didn't know the name of. As the orc spoke, Kr'resh hopped up beside him and joined in the telling of the story.

"And just then as he was wrestling the three moose with his bare hands and winning, a wolf pack came out of nowhere!" Morianten laughed as they both described a bizarre scenario of moose, wolves, and one old orc who could kill a moose with a single punch and tame a wolf pack with a stern word. They told the story in speech and sign, as was custom. Their hand motions emphasized their words, building on the ever more elaborate imagery.

"He'esh the generous donated the meat and hides to our cousin clan, and dismissed his new wolf pack, of course."

"And our cousin clan in turn gave him back just one of the moose hides! Or he wouldn't have had any evidence to prove his great skill." The crowd was all full with laughter, some called out corrections to the story that no it was five moose and two wolf packs, or there was a puma involved, or some other over the top detail.

"When I die, I want a funeral like an orc," morianten said, "just toss my corpse in the middle of the woods and have a party where everyone can laugh about me." Evelyn shook her head with a grin.

"You married a gnome and your family is almost entirely elves," she replied, "you'll be buried under a tree like an elf, with a shroud of protective symbols like a gnome. And then I will stay up all night crying and eating gross food, and we will hold a party in the morning and then everyone can laugh about you." Morianten chuckled.

"Well so long as I get laughed about, that's what really matters." He and Evelyn stood back listening to a few more hilarious anecdotes and eating what they had on their plates.

"A pity Kaen and Raisha were out of town this week," Evelyn said, "I mean I like having the house to ourselves, but I know Kaen probably would have had a story to tell."

"Yeah probably. Speaking of my sister, have you seen the rest of the family? I haven't spotted them yet."

"They're around somewhere." Evelyn tried to look around but the crowd was quite dense. "Probably all scattered around the room."

"Hm." Morianten gulped down one last bite of fish and handed his empty plate over to Evelyn. "Well, I want to find K'arik again and talk to him. I didn't get much of a chance earlier. And then I want to go home because I'm starting to feel that dance and a belly full of fish teaming up to knock me out."

"It is getting very late," Evelyn remarked, "go on then, I can at least try to locate Ayana and let her know we're headed home."

"Thanks." Morianten gave her a quick peck on the cheek and walked off to find his friend.

K'arik was standing alone in one of the smaller side entrances of the longhouse. Even from behind, Morianten was easily able to recognize him. He liked to wear a beaded leather strip woven into his braid, a small gift from the dwarf clan his family had been friends with for generations. K'arik's shoulders seemed to be slouching a little as he stared out into the evening sky, ignoring the party behind him.

Morianten gently tapped K'arik twice on the elbow, waving at him when he turned to see.

"Are you alright?" Morianten signed. K'arik made an attempt to smile but faltered and glanced away. Morianten could see a few other people outside, taking similar breaks from the boisterous party. K'arik turned back to make eye contact again.

"I will be okay. But I miss him."

"Your grandfather was a great man." Morianten hesitated, hands paused in the air as he tried to think of anything else he could say. "You take after him a lot. Your kindness and ambition."

"Thank you." K'arik could smile a little easier now, but he still hung close to the doorframe, tense and shrinking into himself.

"I will leave you be, if you want time alone."

"Stay." Morianten only nodded in reply and took K'arik's hand when it was offered. They stood in the doorway together for a few moments, staring at the stars and the moons beyond the glimmering stripe of the ring around their world.

K'arik knelt suddenly, opening his arms. Morianten responded immediately with a hug, reaching up to wrap his arms around his friend's neck and his wings around his torso, embracing him as tightly as he could. Stories and laughter could never entirely prevent sorrow, but that wasn't the point. Sorrow and laughter went hand in hand at a funeral, especially tonight.

Morianten wasn't sure how long they stayed there holding each other, but eventually K'arik released him and stood up again.

"Thank you, Mori. I didn't mean to keep you from Evelyn. But I did need that."

"This was more important than going home quickly." Morianten glanced around and spotted Evelyn waiting quietly not so far away. "I am ready for some sleep though," he said with a grin, "I will see you tomorrow, my friend."

"Yes. Safe travels, and goodnight." K'arik patted his shoulder briefly and then waved at Evelyn. Morianten touched K'arik's arm one last time before he turned away and went back to his wife.

"Is he alright then?" She asked.

"Yeah, he just needed a good hug."

"You do give the best hugs."

"This is true," Morianten said with a laugh. "Let's go home, I'm exhausted." Evelyn nodded and they held hands as they walked out into the cold night.