#it just describes writer's block. almost got him

[bakurapika]

Mistä on hyvät videopelit tehty? (What are good video games made of?)

I'm searching for Finnish Sam Lake stuff and haven't been able to find much, but there is one article online published in Kulttuurivihkot. I'm sharing with some friends and wanted somewhere that let me post it under a readmore - the Google translation is extremely readable, but disclaimer that it is in fact just Google translate of the article linked above. Someone else has posted it online before, but as a translation by Chatgpt (????).

The article is mostly about creating their own game engine for the storytelling experience.

I'm tweaking a couple words if the sentence doesn't make sense in English, and just by checking for alternate translation options.

Written by Mikko Rautalahti in 2010.

Everyone knows what a director, cinematographer or editor does in film production, but who can name the five most essential creative workers in video game production? Mikko Rautalahti, who wrote the Finnish game Alan Wake, explains how a video game is created.

Alan Wake is about a burnt out crime writer who has lost his ability to write, who tries to get some fresh air in his life by venturing into the small town of Bright Falls. Soon after arriving, his wife disappears, a week-long gap appears in his memory, and pages of a novel manuscript start to be found everywhere. Wake doesn't remember writing them - but the events on the pages start to come true.

So it's a psychological action thriller. How does a work like this come about? Although video games are increasingly spectacular and often more cinematic as technology develops, the technology used to make them, and especially the stages of work, differ greatly from films.

I work as a screenwriter at Remedy Entertainment, the game studio that made Alan Wake. Remedy is a significant domestic game company, but by international standards we are actually quite a small company: we currently only have around 45 permanent employees, while most game studios working on the same scale have at least double that number of people on the payroll. So it is very important to us that work is carried out as smoothly as possible – we cannot compete on men's working hours, so instead we invest in high-quality content and technical implementation.

Every centimeter costs memory

Often when making games, you start from the very basics. That's what we did too: the whole project started with a programming assignment, the purpose of which was to create the tools that make the game work. Even though the concept of the game was already known, this stage didn't really have much to do with what the game was about or what it would do. It was more fundamental work.

In film terms, this is a bit like someone building a camera and all the other tools involved in filming, editing, and other technical processes from scratch before even shooting the first frame.

This is not done for all games, as there are several ready-made solutions available. However, Alan Wake's so-called game engine, the massive program that actually runs the entire game, was programmed entirely by ourselves. It was a laborious process that took a long time. Still, it was worth it, because this way we were able to ensure that the engine would be capable of the desired performance.

One good example of performance requirements is the draw distance: since Alan Wake is set primarily outdoors, it was important that the game could also display areas that were far away on the horizon. This would give the player a believable impression of a real environment. However, this was easier said than done, as everything visible on the screen consumes limited memory, and the further the player's "gaze" reaches, the more massive the program becomes.

500 pages - out of hand

Most games have some kind of script – very few games these days are based solely on reflexes or game mechanics. Pac-Man may be a well-known gaming classic, but such a product can hardly hope to succeed these days: games are much more complex, both technically and in terms of content.

In a story-driven game like Alan Wake, the script is naturally a particularly important part. At first glance, a game script may not be much different from a film script. However, the length alone speaks for itself. A rule of thumb is that a page of script is roughly one minute of film, so a two-hour film usually has around 120 pages of script.

However, Alan Wake's script is well over 500 pages long. The length is naturally due to the length of the experience alone, but interactivity also plays a big part: the player can often approach situations in different ways, or the content may be something that not all players will encounter.

In practice, you often have to write slightly different versions of scenes to make the game seem to react believably to the player's actions. This is quite a bit of work, especially since the dialogue has to be constantly edited or written more as the actual game design progresses and is refined. So there were two of us as scriptwriters: Sami Järvi, who created the original basic layout of the game and the character of Alan Wake, and myself.

All written dialogue must of course be voiced, and since the gaming market is international – considering the production costs, Finland is too small a language area to be a target audience – everything is written in English and sent abroad for actors to perform. When the voice material arrives back, it is incorporated into the game.

[Image: An overview shot of a road from the game.] With Remedy's own WorldEditor, game designers can easily build different game environments and situations for Alan Wake.

Writing a game script is challenging. In a movie, a scene where two men sit on a terrace chatting, playing cards, drinking beer, and smoking cigarettes is about the easiest and cheapest thing imaginable, while massive gas explosions and crumbling houses are expensive and difficult to make.

Funnily enough, in video games it works the other way around: animating small things in a believable way is difficult and demanding, while big, rumbling things are easy to do. The game itself usually already has some kind of tools for implementing such effects – modeling the forces associated with explosions is handled almost automatically, and the impact of explosions can be adjusted almost by turning a knob.

This naturally has a big impact on the writing process: since explosions cannot replace a good story, storytelling often has to be done in ways other than traditional dialogue.

The closest you get to a traditional movie is when you put non-interactive animation segments on the screen. Their number depends a lot on the game, but in Alan Wake there are over an hour of them together. They are typically shown when you want to move the player character from one place to another, do something that wouldn't make sense to play, or tell something in a particularly dramatic way.

Cutscenes have their own director, who approaches them in the manner of a traditional film director. However, it is challenging compared to traditional film, as the possibilities are often limited by both technical aspects and the events of the actual playable segments. Cutscenes must feel like part of the whole, otherwise the atmosphere will not hold.

In Alan Wake, these parts were directed by Stobe Harju, who worked closely with virtually everyone involved in making the game.

The art of the gaming experience

Unlike film, a video game is not a static and passive experience, but is based on interaction. The player's own performance and decisions significantly affect the gaming experience. This is perhaps the most demanding area of ​​game development, and so game designers are very important in games in terms of the end result. In this article, "game designer" is a general term that can include several different job descriptions.

Animating small things believably is a difficult and demanding craft, while big, complex things are easy to do.

Some game designers work solely on game mechanics. They define all the things the player character can do. For example, Alan Wake can move around the game world by walking or running, jumping, climbing, pointing at things with his flashlight, shooting at the player's pointed target with various weapons, dodging incoming attacks, and so on.

Wake can also converse with characters found in the game world. This is done by directing the player character next to another character, at which point the dialogue starts to flow automatically. The solution aims to make the conversation happen naturally and as if by itself. However, it requires a lot of planning work from both the scriptwriters and the game designers: if you play and manage to get carried away with the situation mid-sentence, the whole thing should still seem reasonable.

Other game designers work on the game environment. They build all the landscapes that appear in the game. So it is not actual programming work – for example, building a city with our tools does not require deep programming skills. It is more important to understand what looks good, and above all, what kind of environment makes playing smooth and fun.

Some game designers, on the other hand, work on the actual game situations. When something happens in the game world, they decide when, how, and why, and what the consequences will be. This is often particularly challenging, as they have to try to anticipate the players’ movements and decisions and make sure the game reacts to them sensibly.

In the case of Alan Wake, a big part of their work is creating atmosphere: since it's a thriller, atmosphere is everything. For example, they can decide when the game world will be covered in fog and a rustling sound will be heard from the forest, or when shadowy figures will attack Wake. They also add all the dialogue to the game according to the script. If the characters need to move or otherwise act in a certain way during a scene, they will implement that as well.

[Image: A mid-combat scene with Alan and an attacker.] Alan Wake's character consists of the face and gestures of a Finnish actor and the voice of an American actor.

The system also includes a lot of automation. For example, the game designer does not need to adjust each situation individually, but can simply decide that enemies will emerge from the shadows. The game engine simulates the situation automatically, and survival depends on the player's own actions and skills.

Doorways and flower beds

Video games also require a lot of pure creative artistic work. In these promised times of high-definition graphics, creating graphic content in particular is becoming increasingly laborious. In modern large-scale projects, a significant portion of the budget is spent on it.

Every object you see in the world – whether it’s a game character, a car or a tree – is of course designed by someone. Often, artists build individual elements, such as doorways, stairs, windows, walls or even flower beds, which can be used to build larger wholes if necessary.

Certain scenes require very carefully thought-out composition. In such cases, one person might build, for example, a character's apartment. Such compositions are very important because, for example, the interior and style of a room tell a lot about the characters' nature, financial situation, and other circumstances.

Games also need a lot of so-called technical artists, who don't necessarily work on the objects or other concrete things you see in the game. Their job is to create effects that are critical to realism and atmosphere. These jobs require more advanced programming skills: for example, when the goal is to make sunlight filter through the cracks in a dilapidated tin roof and dust particles dance lazily indoors, it requires a lot of understanding of both the program code and the real-life conditions that are being modeled.

The player gets the idea to get out of the situation in the middle of a sentence.

The soundscape can also be put at the top of the creative work. A well-made soundscape really creates an atmosphere, whether it's a spooky humming forest or music playing in the background. In Alan Wake, Petri Alango's soundtrack is a crucial part of the whole. It makes the game feel epic or touching at just the right moments. The game also has a huge number of sound effects. For example, the list of different footsteps in Wake alone seems endless - if there's a metal bridge below, hills covered in needles, a cliff or a wooden porch, it must also affect the sounds made by walking.

A man made of puzzle pieces

Games also require a lot of animation work, especially for characters. It's not that difficult to make a character's legs and arms swing while running, but the challenge is greater when you want the movement to look natural. Animation work is also important because it's one way to reveal the characters' personalities to the player. For example, Alan Wake himself is an urban writer who is not at home in the woods, and especially not in dangerous combat situations. So Wake's evasive movements were meant to look clumsy and haphazard. Instead of elegantly rolling on the ground or doing an acrobatic somersault to dodge, Wake throws himself to the side when an attack comes and barely stays on his feet.

Nowadays, a significant portion of animation is done with motion capture technology, where actors perform movements in front of special cameras that can be used to transfer the movement to game characters. The process is not simple, and the raw data produced by motion capture often requires a lot of editing before the final movement is smooth and looks believable – especially when the different movements have to be linked together into a single whole.

It can be said that the character of Alan Wake himself consists of four different parts: the script, the face and body language of Finnish actor Ilkka Villi, the voice of his American colleague Matthew Porretta, and the game situations created by the game designers.

The entire game-making process actually culminates in the character of Wake: none of these areas produces the desired end result, which rather requires long-term and well-coordinated collaboration.

[Image: A hazy silhouette of the cabin on the lake.] The World Editor allows you to change, for example, the time of day, lighting, and weather conditions of the game area as needed, so the atmosphere of each scene can be adjusted to suit your character.

Diplomacy and bureaucracy

It is usually assumed that everyone working in the gaming industry is some kind of computer guru. However, actual programmers are a minority in the staff of a modern game studio. The majority of people usually work on the actual content and creative work of the game. It is above all teamwork, where everyone has to constantly work together. Everything affects everything: no one can afford to go solo, and even if a project has its own managers responsible for some of its areas, you won't get anywhere by just commanding them.

Such a project requires separate producers who do not actually work on the game itself, but rather try to create conditions that allow the game to be completed as smoothly as possible. Their main tools are emails, Excel spreadsheets, and conference calls.

Large game projects cannot be completed without a publisher, which is typically a large international corporation like Microsoft or Sony. Dealing with such parties requires diplomacy, an understanding of bureaucracy, precision, patience, and the ability to take responsibility for a large and often challenging project.

Most often, producers try to protect the actual team of game developers from all the business side of things so that they can focus on what matters, which is making the game. The rule of thumb is that when a producer does their job well, no one notices.

Games are always ultimately about the player experiencing something for themselves, rather than just being a passive spectator. If the whole thing doesn't work, the gaming experience will suffer. Technical expertise alone is not enough for top-notch games, but you need to be able to invest in a shared creative vision.

[allthesmutl0vers]

Dating Fred and George Weasley Headcanons

MDNI, 18+, NSFW

Masterlist Requests/Asks: OPEN (please read) Pairing: Fred Weasley x Fem!Reader x George Weasley Request: Not a request just wanted to write to fight writer's block. TW: Sexual Situations, Kinks, Some Fluff, Pseudo-Twincest A/N: I feel like I ate with this, tbh. Been working on it for two mf days. 😮‍💨💞 I hope you enjoy! Comment here if you want to be added to the tag list for any/all HP content.

Please feel free to let me know how you feel about this. Comments and reblogs are always appreciated. ✨💞

How you got together:

You had been friends with them forever, but you never expected them to have the same feelings towards you as you did for them. None of you were willing to admit it until it was called out by Ginny and her loud ass mouth when she told you guys to 'just fucking kiss already, for Merlin's sake.'

They had just finished a match against Slytherin and won, of course, so their adrenaline was already flooding. You had opened your mouth to fire back at Ginny with some sarcastic ass comment when Fred grabbed your face and smashed his lips to yours, stealing the breath right out of your lungs.

When Fred finally pulled back, your head was in a daze, and before you could suck in a breath, George grabbed you by your waist, dipped you, and kissed you with the same passionate intensity.

After that, everything else was history, and the only thought any of you could form was, 'Why didn't we do this sooner?'

Fred

Song that best describes your relationship with Fred:

Good Girls Go Bad - Cobra Starship (Iykyk)

Nicknames he has for you:

Darling: His go-to nickname, he uses it all of the time.

Love: Uses this one when he is being extra lovey, or giving you presents.

Sweetheart: (this one is for when you're in trouble and he wants you to know it)

Kinks:

Biting: Fred loves to bite you while he's fucking you. Leaving trails of bite marks all over your neck and going down your collarbones and, especially, between your thighs when he's eating you out. Though he never breaks the skin, he does bite hard enough to bruise. Fred's biggest turn-on is the sounds that leave your lips when he bites down hard and then licks and kisses the same spot, melting pain with pleasure until you can't tell the difference.

Bit of an exhibitionist: Nothing revs Fred up more than the risk of getting caught, especially if it's George walking in when he has you bent over, face down, ass up. He knows you're with George, too, but it's not necessarily about who catches you two in the act. It's about simply being caught.

"Looks like we've been caught, darling," he taunts with a dark chuckle and pulls your head back by your hair to make you look at George while he pile drives into you from behind. "Show Georgie how good I make you feel. Come on, let him hear how I make you scream."

Begging: Hearing you beg, 'Just fuck me already,' almost makes him break and do it. His response? Shoving his cock down your throat, all the while taunting you with little phrases like, 'What was that, darling? Didn't quite catch that,' or 'But you look so good, down on your knees begging for me.' He will definitely give you what you want, but only after tears are running down your cheeks as your need becomes almost too much to bear. Almost. He's not a complete sadist, after all.

Honorable Mentions:

Hair Pulling I mean, need I say more?

Teasing at the MOST inappropriate times, family dinner? Ha, his fingers are right at the apex of your thighs, silently challenging you to keep your facial expressions schooled.

Breeding Kink: You think he doesn't fantasize about filling you up so fucking full with cum, that it's only thanks to your birth control you haven't gotten pregnant yet? That's fucking adorable.

Favorite Positions:

Face down, ass up: What's not to love? It's the perfect position for Fred to slam into you at the brutal pace that leaves you cock-drunk. Perfect for him to either hold your hips still or slam you back onto his cock to match his pace, all the while leaving perfect little fingertip bruises on your hips. Even better is when he pulls you back, flush to his chest, a large hand holding just under your chin, supporting your weight while he leaves a trail of bite marks down your neck and shoulders while you whimper and plead for mercy, not that you actually want it, he just loves to hear you beg.

Against a wall: Being the exhibitionist he is, Fred will fuck you any and everywhere. An empty classroom, a broom closet, the locker room after an intense quidditch match, win or lose, he doesn't care. So long as he gets you. But there is just something about holding you up with your legs wrapped around him, back pinned to the wall (or a locker), that makes Fred fucking feral. The way he can watch your pupils blow with arousal, your lips part and quiver as your orgasm crashes into you like a fucking freight train, the way you tug on his hair as if you're trying to keep some semblance of grounding as you feel your soul leave your body. Fuck, he's sure he's never seen a more beautiful sight in his entire life.

Spit roasting: When you're on all fours on the bed (or anywhere, really), and he pounds into you while you suck off George. Fucking you so hard it forces you to take more of George down your throat. What are brothers for? He's not sexually attracted to George, but there's nothing like watching you take his other half while he slams into you. Both of them work in a delicious and synchronized rhythm, filling you up so full that you might just burst, will burst. Body trembling while George offers you sweet praise and Fred reaches around your body, rubbing tight and fast circles over your clit; all the while, they drag you further and further down to hell or up to heaven. Is there even a difference anymore?

Random Head Canons:

Fred is more possessive, not so much that you're not allowed to have friends of the opposite sex. He knows full well he can trust you to tell him if someone makes you uncomfortable. He knows damn well you're not going to be fucking around with anyone else, given how fucking incredible he and George make you feel. Possessive in the aspect that he will brutally, if not mercilessly, prank anyone who so much as looks at you in any way that isn't platonic.

When you chastise him for these methods, he stops because you are bloody terrifying when you're truly angry. He switches to pulling you onto his lap or brushing your hair over your shoulder in front of them to reveal the litter of bite marks he made or the hickies that George made all over your neck, all with the cockiest fucking smirk on his face.

Fred's Ideal Date: While he loves being buried deep inside of you, he loves treating you to an adventure. His favorite? Walking into the forbidden forest, finding the perfect place to swim (he found the best swimming hole with a ledge to jump off of.) In the warmer months, he'll pack a lunch and take you here, loving the adrenaline rush of jumping and diving off of the small cliff ledge. Swimming behind the waterfall and exploring the caves inside with you. In the colder months, he will challenge you to a snowball fight in the courtyard, George is allowed, too, of course, but one of them will always be on your side against the other. Otherwise it's not really fair, is it?

George

Song that best describes your relationship with George:

Ride - SoMo

Nicknames he has for you:

Baby/Baby girl: Uses this as a placement for your name.

Little One: Uses this when he's teasing you; typically whispers it in your ear when his hands are around your waist. Or when he is watching Fred fuck you before he steps in and joins.

Mine/Ours: Uses this one the most in the bedroom when either he or both of them are fucking you.

Kinks:

Hickies: While Fred loves biting, George is a little more gentle. Note that I said a little. He'll fuck you like a whore in church, but he prefers to drag out the pleasure by sucking the soft skin right behind your ear all the way down your body down to your clit, right to his favorite part on your body, which brings me to my next point-

Eating you out: Holy. Fucking. Shit. If this was an Olympic sport, George would take the gold every single fucking time. Sure, Fred knows how to send you over the edge, but George takes his time. Licking and sucking your clit with slow, purposeful movements, drawing out sounds from your throat that sound inhuman. The way his fingers curl just fucking right inside of you, thrusting against that spongy spot inside of you, scissoring them to spread your walls and thrust his tongue in and out. Seriously, this man would live between your thighs if he could. Sending you over the edge again and again with just his devilish fucking tongue and fingers, he gets off on that shit, literally. This man has cum simply from eating you out before.

Edging: Remember how I said George is 'a little more gentle'? This is what I meant by that. George's favorite hobby when he's buried deep inside of you is bringing you right up to the edge, then pulling out, leaving you feeling empty as your walls clamp around nothing. You whine, and you whimper, and suddenly, he thrusts into you with a snap of his hips. Only to do it all over again.

"You want me to fill you up, baby? Is that what you want?" He teases as he only pushes his tip inside. You try to rock against him, to take him in deeper to satisfy the craving inside of you. "Hmm, I'm not sure you deserve it," he taunts as his thumb lands on your clit. Just as you open your mouth to beg, his hand grips your throat, and he slams into you so hard you see stars, his cock buried so deep that you swear you can feel him in your guts as he finally lets you cum with an Earth-shattering cry around him.

Honorable Mentions:

Choking: Because you know what would make you even more beautiful? A hand necklace. His, to be specific.

Bit of a voyeur: He loves watching you get pounded hard and fast when he typically fucks you hard and slow. The way your face contorts slightly differently when Fred is fucking you amuses him like no other.

Breeding Kink to the fucking MAX: He wants your pussy flooded with cum, if some spills out? No big deal, he'll fuck it right back into you. And after you finish school? Yeah, that shit is going into the fucking trash. (But you have no arguments, tbh.)

Favorite Positions:

Riding him: Guiding your hips, thrusting up into you as your hands rest on his chest to hold yourself up. Sure, George is dominant. But that doesn't love to see the look on your face above him as you come apart, over and over again, until you're a sweaty, shaky mess. George doesn't mind reverse- cowgirl, but he'd much rather see your face as his hand wraps around your throat just hard enough to make you dizzy as he tosses you over the edge, following right behind you.

Missionary (hear me out): Who says missionary is boring? Not you. Sure, nothing beats a bed, but George prefers you laid out across his desk. Or with your legs thrown over his shoulders, ass hanging over the bed as he stands and pounds into you. His thrusts are slow and firm, sliding into the hilt and then grinding against your core, making damned sure to draw out every last moan your body can produce.

Between him and Fred: George is not biased when it comes to fucking you in your ass or your pussy, if he's honest. So long as you're on your knees on the bed, while he's in either hole while Fred is in the other, both slamming into you with an animalistic ferocity. Filling you up so full with their cum that it'll be dripping out of you for days.

Random Head Canons:

George LOVES it when people stare/flirt with you. It drives Fred up the fucking wall when George doesn't try to brutally prank or show off just how much you're theirs. But it gets George off when guys try to flirt with you only to have a drink thrown at them, or you simply laugh at them before pointing out him and Fred. While Fred's anger is palpable, George just winks at you with a shit-eating grin on his face. Maybe it's the voyeur in him, but he loves watching you interact with people, male or female, because he knows you're not going anywhere except right back to him and Fred.

George's Ideal Date: George loves to fly with you on his broom, you in front of him as he grips the broom between your thighs. His favorite time to do it is at night, flying up so high you swear you can almost touch the stars as you soar over the clouds. You know this is what you two are doing when he bundles you up in one or maybe two of his sweaters. Because Merlin forbid you get cold. If it's too cold to fly or it's snowing, he loves to take a walk to Hogsmeade and share a butterbeer. So long as he's spending time with you, he couldn't be happier.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I loved writing it. Please don't forget to reblog and comment! ✨✨🤞🏻😇

[midnightbluebells03]

Good luck babe!

CW - Owen mention, fingering (R receiving), oral (R receiving), hair pulling (A receiving)

Reader is fem, described as wearing a dress and heels.

WC - about 3000

No outbreak

Leave me requests so I can get out my writers block pls and thx xo

If Abby Anderson wasn't in denial of her sexuality, there's a chance you two could've been real. You got along like a house on fire, practically a perfect match. But the mix of comphet, her on and off again relationship of Owen and her crippling fear of being vunrable has left you two like this. Having not talked in just over a month, not a word since your argument about the fact she had been using you as an experiment without considering how you felt. And how did you feel?

Crushed.

Maybe you should know better. But yet again it's a Friday night, your other hook ups weren't out tonight and who else but Abby fucking Anderson was giving you eyes from across the room. Leaning against the bar with a tight black wife beater that makes you drool and matching cargos.

It's the first time you'd seen each other since you screamed in her face and called her selfish. And yet the butterflies in your stomach were boardering on a stampede. Her eyes scanning your body up and down while her hand stays clutching her beer bottle. So tight you're almost worried it'll smash in her unforgiving grasp.

Against your better judgement you decide to ignore the angel on your shoulder, also known as your best friend Ellie. Chugging back your drink and handing her the glass. Starting to make your way over to Abby.

Ellie rolls her eyes and shouts after you. Hardly breaking through the noise. "Don't come crying to me when she breaks your heart again!"

"Cmon Els, it's just some fun" you call back before pushing your way through the crowed dance floor and coming out at the other side. Looking up at those baby blue eyes that make a rush of emotions flow through you. You should be mad at her, should cuss her out again for using you. But tonight, you couldn't find it in yourself to care.

You just needed her again.

"Can I get you a drink?" Her normally confident voice has a slight wavier to it. It makes a slight smirk spread across your lips as you take the beer from her hand. Taking a large drink before your nose scrunches up at the taste. You were more of a spirits girl, a cocktail if you felt fancy.

"So no Owen tonight?" The venom in your voice is clear. There's not a soul in Jackson you wanted to punch more than him. The whole reason Abby was so unsure of herself in the first place. The way he managed to weasel his way back into her life time and time again. But yet you couldn't hate Abby for doing the same thing to you.

"He's back with Mel...shes pregnant." You give her a sympathetic look before handing her back the bottle. "I don't wanna talk about it" she mumbles, barely loud enough for you to hear over the thumping music. She finishes it off before placing it on the bar counter behind her.

"How about we don't talk at all then?" You say before she can even turn back around. Watching as her movements stiffen, and she slowly faces you again. Cheeks flushed that shade of pink you could never be sick of. "Your place is close, Ellie's gonna meet with Dina soooo". Your sentence trails off, the suggestion in your voice clear.

The mention of your best friend makes her eyes widen. Looking around the room to try and spot her. "Ellies here?". There's a slight fear in her voice, something that makes you roll your eyes and scoff.

"Oh calm your tits Anderson you could literally kill her, I don't know why you're you're scared".

"Um let me think" she says sarcastically before looking down at you. "The psycho bitch keyed my car". You fight back the giggle that wants to escape your lips. After days of you crying over your ruined situationship Ellie took it into her own hands. And while you told her it was a stupid idea, you couldn't help but hug her and say thank you.

"Can't prove that" you shrug, looking down at your feet a little nervously. Scuffing your heels off the ground. "Look if you dont-"

"I do" she interrupts, her hand now resting onto your exposed arm. You look back into her eyes. Taking a deep breath and accepting that this was going to hurt tomorrow, but it was worth it. Since even just this little touch was making your skin feel like it's on fire.

"Say it." Your voice is stern, watching as Abby bites her lip softly. Leaning down to whisper into your ear.

"I...I want to fuck you"

Your hand comes up to hers, interlocking your fingers and leading her out. "Cmon then" the judgmental gaze coming from Ellie catches your attention before you reach the door. So you wave over and mouth 'I'll call you' while making a phone with your hand. As soon as you're out the warmth of the bar and in the unforgivng chill of the night, a shiver runs up your shine. "Fuck it's cold!" You squeal slightly.

Abby chuckles, looking around to make sure no one can see you two before her arm wraps around your shoulder. "Wouldn't be cold if you wore real clothes." The playfully dig at your revealing dress makes you push her away. With a fake gasp you point a finger into her defined arm.

"Don't slut shame me Anderson" you giggle softly before returning to her side looking up at her. Taking in the way the streetlamp lights bounce off her features. The way her hair flowed in the slight breeze, it was down for once tucked neatly behind her ears. "Besides I was trying to get fucked not stay warm" The slight look of hurt that flashes across her face makes you raise an eyebrow. "What? You jealous?"

"No" she protests, but they way she won't look at you is telling. Before you can question her again, she points towards the door to her apartment complex. Leading you over before punching in her code and opening the door for you. "Cmon before you get hypothermia"

You walk in and wait for her to be back beside you before you both continue up the stairs. "I thought you were meant to be a super smart med student, it's not cold enough for hypothermia". You're trying to lighten up the mood by teasing her lightly. Remembering the time you were convinced you had hypothermia because the heating in her apartment had gone out while you were over. Her door comes into view, and you listen to her dig the key out from her pocket.

"Yeah yeah, just get inside" Abby rolls her eyes while holding the door open for you again. Maybe it would be easier to hate her if she wasn't so kind, if she wasn't so pretty, if she didn't know you so well. The door shuts behind you as you take off your heels. When you turn Abby is just standing there. Fidgeting with her fingers and avoiding eye contact. "Look um...I- I'm sorry-"

"Save it Abby" you inturput, knowing that it would be nothing productive. It would be the say sorry she gave you atleast five times before you blocked her number. "I don't want an apology I want to cum" Abby steps towards you slowly, your hands moving up to her chest. She quickly takes off her boots before straightening back up.

"Yes ma'am" you giggle softly as her hands wrap around your waist and lift you up. Forcing your legs to wrap around her waist as she carries you to the bedroom. Taking your purse and putting it onto her nightstand before gently placing you down onto her navy blue sheets. Moving so she's looming over you. Her calloused hand running up your outer thigh, inching under the thin fabric of your dress as her lips trail down your jaw to your neck. Sucking a purple mark right in your pulse point that has you gripping for her hair.

"Fuck" you moan softly, feeling her smirk into your skin. You sit up inpatiently, pushing her back by her chest as you fumbling with the zipper on your dress. Huffing when you can't reach it.

"Desperate much?" Abby teases before reaching around and pulling it down for you. Helping to pull the fabric off before throwing it onto the floor. Letting her see the matching lingerie you had picked out for the night. "You really were trying to get fucked huh?"

"Yeah" you swallow hard as her eyes scan over you slowly. "You like it?" The truth was you had bought it for her, baby blue lace that matched her eyes. But she called off your little situatuonship before you got to show her.

Abby reaches her hand out for your cheek, pulling you in. This was new. She'd never been one for kissing during. You guys had made out maybe a hand full of times. Her lips touch yours, and you just melt into her. Arms drapping around her shoulders as she pushes you backwards. Her hand running up from your thigh to your chest. Palming your breast through the barley there fabric. When you moan softly she takes the chance to push her tongue past your lips. Deepening the kiss as your nails start to big into the skin of her upper back. When she finally pulls away slightly, the thin string of saliva still joining you together makes your stomach tighten.

"Abs" you whine softly, arching your back so she can slip her hands around and undo the clasp of your bra. Adding it to the floor alongside your dress.

She kisses you quickly "I love it". Abby mumbles before restarting her trail down your body. From your jaw to your neck, ending at your breast when she takes a nipple in her mouth. Swirling her tounge around the hardened bud as you arch into her. Moaning softly as your eyes flutter shut. Fuck you missed this. The way she made you come undone. Every touch so purposeful.

And God knows if she'd ever let you touch her you'd be the same.

The feeling of her fingers brushing over your clit through your panties makes you gasp. Slightly embrassed by the fact Abby can definitely feel the wetness seeping through the fabric.

"Stop- stop teasing me Abs" you plead as her mouth detaches from your nipple.

"Cmon pretty girl you clearly like it" she teases, rubbing your soaked panties. "What do you want?" You just look at her and bite your lip. Eyes darting down to her fingers but she tsks while shaking her head. "Say it" your own words repeated back to you. Because as much as Abby was unsure of herself when it came to you in public. In the comfort of her own four walls, she's as confident as ever.

"Fuck me" you say, the shake in your voice making Abby smirk. You clear your throat before speaking clearly. "Please Abby fuck me". Her fingers hook onto your panties as she moves back. Slowly peeling them off you and adding them to the pile. You sit up and tug at her shirt. Hoping she'll be feeling generous.

"Baby-"

"Please Abs" you cut her off, bringing your hands up to cup her cheeks gently. "I- I won't touch you, I know the rules by now just...wanna see you" she presses a hand to yours before nodding. Pulling back to grab them hem of her shirt. Slowly pulling it up and over her head.

When you started this situationship you asked her why she didn't like being naked. Why she never asked for anything in return. And the tough girl you'd known just looked at you softly and said. 'I just...I don't think I look good'. You left it at that, but you couldn't help the pity you felt for her. Because the truth was Abby was stunning, maybe the most gorgeous girl you'd ever seen. But there was clearly a voice in her head, who you could only assumed was Owen, telling her otherwise.

When her shirt hits the ground your eyes wander over her body, taking in her black sports bra and her washboard abs like you're obsessed with. "You're so pretty." You don't even realise you've said anything until she blushes softly. As Abby leans beck over you, you reach up and tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear gently. Just holding her for a second. God, you aren't drunk enough for this. A wave of feelings washing over you like a tsunami.

"What do you want baby?" Abbys voice breaks through your haze. "I've got the str-"

"Fingers" you inturput, just desperate to feel her. Just her.

"You don't usually want fingers" she teases "that's normally your warm up" Abby slowly moves her hands up your inner thighs, spreading your legs so she can look at your dripping pussy. "Fuck...you're soaked"

"Mhmm" you gasp her her fingers make contact with your clit. Making your hips jump slightly in a way that makes Abby chuckle. "You drive me crazy Abs"

She starts to move in slow, steady circles around your sensitive bud. Working soft gasps and moans from your lips as she kisses up your thighs. "Wanna taste you" she mumbles into your skin. Sure, you heard it but she didn't need to know that. So you snake your hand into her blonde locks at give her a gentle tug.

"What was that?" The fake innocence in your voice almost makes you want to laugh.

Abby looks away from you and goes to say it again so you place your hand on her jaw. Forcing her to keep eye contact. "I want to taste you" you raise an eyebrow, waiting on more. "Please?" The way her voice trembles slightly is the biggest ego boost. Working such a strong, confident woman to a mess like this is better than any drink you could've bought at the bar.

As soon as you nod your head and release her jaw, Abby wastes no time. Kissing down your stomach before her lips meet your clit. She gives you one fat lick from your hole to clit, her arms wrapping around your thighs to bring your legs over her shoulders. Abby's grip is so tight even if you wanted to move you'd stand no chance so instead you throw your head back into the pillow. Moaning shamlessly as her tounge works around your clit.

The pleasure makes a warmth spread across your body, your hand tangled in her hair as you hold her close to you. Trying to grind your hips into her but stopped by her hands pinning you down. You're almost convinced there's going to be bruises there tomorrow. "A- Abby" You whine, pleading for more.

She pulls back slightly, looking up at you with your wetness dripping down her chin. "Hmm?"

"Fingers please" your hand squeezes over her own. "Please Abby I'm so close"

Humming softly, she loosens her grip of her right hand. Slowly tracing over your skin until she reaches your mouth. You don't need to be told. Parting your lips, you let her push in. Sucking while keeping eyecontact. When she pulls them out you whine at the lose but it doesn't last long. As they slip into your hole your eyes roll back. "Fuck you're so wet" Abby gasps softly. Once you take her down to the knuckles she let's you adjust. "You good?"

"Mhm" you moans softly "move Abs please?". She doesn't need to be told twice, her fingers slowly starting to pump in and out of you as her mouth moves back to your clit. You can't help but clentch around her as she works you to your peak. Her neighbours must hate her, or really they must hate you. The way your loud moans echo throughout the room as she gets you closer and closer. You grip the sheets beneath you, screwing your eyes shut as your back arches. Orgasm washing over you while all you can do is chant her name over and over and over again. Completely lost in the pleasure.

Abby's pace slows after your finish over her fingers. Only pulling out once your breathing starts to steady and you open your eyes again. She moves up next to you, slumping down as your arms stay pressed together. The sudden silence hanging thick in the air. Uncomfortable, tense. But you break it.

"Are you gonna accept you like women yet?" You ask quietly, almost afraid of the answer.

"I don't" you don't wait for her to continue, instead you move yourself off the bed to start pulling on your underwear. You've been here so many times you just make your way to her closet, pulling out a pair of sweatpants and a tshirt that's going to drown you. Planning on adding them to your small collection if her clothes. Even if they had all been shoved to the back of your closet. Abby sits up, stammer out some kind of explanation as you don't look at her. "I- I mean I do, but you know that this is"

"Mhm" you reply, the agitation clear in your tone. You quickly fix your hair to the best of your ability before picking up your dress and pulling out your phone from your purse. Slinging the bag over your arm as you request an Uber.

Abby just looks at you, nervously playing with the end of her hair. "I- its just the way I am-"

You inturput her with a sigh, finally looking at her with a slight pity. "It's not just gonna go away, but its your life Abby if you wanna be misrable and act like you dont like women thats your call" your app pings letting you know the ubers already here and you're silently thankful. Because the familiar feeling of falling for Abby is creeping back into you. "Good luck, babe" you say softly before heading out. Glancing down at your heels at the door with a groan. Reluctantly slipping them on before hurrying down to the Uber.

Maybe one day she'll change.

[randomimaginesideas]

Together again (Revisted/rewritten, full one-shot)

Summary;  Valtor saves you from your prison which separated you for 17 years. When you two are finally together again, plans must be formed and you two need to have a good look at each other after 17 years.  

A/N; So it's finally here. The revisited/rewritten chapter of together again. This time I decided not to split it up into two parts, so it's just one big chapter.

In case you are wondering you can find the original post here: (1) (2)

If case you prefer you can also read this new version on AO3 here.

So a little background information:

I wrote this one-shot orignally back in 2021, and I believe I had only written one smut scene before this in my Klaus Hargreeves one-shot. Reading the original together again chapter made the cringe terribly, especially the smut part because it just felt like they were going through steps. Kiss, take clothes off, foreplay, sex and done. This time, I hoped to give the scene a bit more emotion and context.

I also added in some new information regarding reader's and Valtor's relationship. Back then, I didn't know I would continue their story in Let me Rage, so I didn't give a lot of information away in together again. So with the rewrite I wanted to establish their relationship a bit more, for the readers continuing in let me rage.

I'm sorry for the long wait as I was having a terrible writer's block, which is slowly lifting up, but for now I am just writing what my brains wants me to write and not forcing anything.

Please let me know what you think of this revisted work, do you like this version better or the older one?

Ps: I want to dedicate this new one-shot to @winx-is-magic as a orignal fan from the first fic, and for the constructive feedback she had given me back then to inspire to rewrite this one-shot with hopefully better grammer and punctuation. And since her comments underneath the first part always motivated me to keep this rewrite going. Even if she didn't know it, but perhaps she does now. So thank you.

Trigger warnings; Smut (this includes vaginal sex, unprotective sex, oral sex in which the female recieves, not beta-read work.

With a loud bang the wooden doors of Griffin’s office flew open, hitting the wall in the process. The Trix, who had been patiently waiting - or more like dozing off- , immediately jumped up startled. The man they had been waiting for made his way through the door, which closed behind him immediately with the same loud bang as it had opened. “Valtor, you look like you are about to bring this whole tower down.” Icy noted as she saw the fury on Valtor’s face. An emotion he didn’t show often, which was the first clue to the Trix that something was wrong. But despite that Stormy couldn’t help but mutter under her breath, “And us along with it.” 

The Trix quickly shut their mouth when Valtor’s gaze landed on them, but when he saw the look on the Trix’s eyes he quickly straightened his face. It almost worked, but the Trix could still see the fury in Valtor’s eyes and the way his jaw was clenched. “I just had an interesting chat with your previous headmistress.” Was Valtor’s explanation before he made his way towards the desk. On it was a crystal ball that he often used for scrying, just like he did now. 

With a wave of his hand the crystal ball started to glow. The Trix couldn’t see much from the distance they were standing, only that it was raining at the place Valtor was looking at. Valtor saw a garden, the fountain Griffin had described, standing in a maze. Despite the rain that was coming down, the scene almost looked peaceful. Except for the multiple guards surrounding the area, more than normal.

Having seen enough Valtor waved his hand again, the light from the crystal dying down again. “Valtor, where are you going?” Icy said to him, while Valtor made a portal appear in the middle of the office. “Solaria.” Was the only reply the Trix got before Valtor walked through it and disappeared from their sight. The Trix quickly exchanged a look between the three of them, nodded, and followed after him through the portal.

The Trix stood in another office, this one more light than the one from Cloud Tower. Standing behind the desk was Countess Cassandra or rather soon-to-be Queen Cassandra. It was clear that she hadn’t expected any visitors, guiding the shocked expression on her face and spell readied in her hand. When she saw it was Valtor, she lowered her hand and the shocked expression morphed into a more peaceful one.

“Valtor. I did not expect you. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” Countess Cassandra asks, smart enough to know that there had to be a reason for the dark wizard to visit her. She doubted he was just passing by for a cup of tea. “Your majesty,” Valtor started, the charm working as a pleased smile stretched across Lady Cassandra’s face. “I only wish to take a undisturbed stroll through the royal gardens. The fountain in the maze in particular holds my interest.” This caused Lady Cassandra to raise one eyebrow. “The maze, may I ask why?”

“You may, but it’s nothing to concern yourself about. You won’t even notice I’ve been there.” Valtor’s answer was cryptic, but Lady Cassandra and the Trix both knew that Valtor wouldn’t reveal any more. If he had wanted them to know, they would. The countess spared one look at the Trix, who were standing behind Valtor. The portal had closed the moment their feet had touched the office floor. The Trix just looked back at the countess, daring her to say anything.

With that Countess Cassandra nodded, and made her way towards the hallway. Valtor made himself and the Trix invisible as they walked behind the countess. The four of them were still wanted criminals after all. It wasn’t as if Valtor wasn’t able to bring Solaria down to its knees, but it would draw too much attention for now. It was better to take it another time. As they walked through the hallways the guards they passed bowed slightly for Countess Cassandra as she passed. Valtor focused his mind on that of the countess, using a new spell he recently learned to speak into her mind. I see you made yourself at home already. He had to give the countess some credit as her face betrayed nothing. I have. Came a reply in her mind, but Valtor could see a slight small on the side of her face.

Eventually they reached two glass doors which reached almost to the ceiling. Two guards opened them for their future queen, and out the group walked into the garden. Only one of the three suns from Solaria shining down on them. Two of them had lost their glow after their power had been taken. The power that now resides within Valtor. It was raining, Valtor knew that the rain hadn’t stopped falling ever since he had taken the power of the suns. With a wave of his hand the rain deflected from him, and the Trix followed his example. The countess had created a magical umbrella to keep the rain away. 

The group ended their walk at the beginning of the maze where two guards were standing. “You may go. I wish to enjoy a peaceful walk in the maze.” Countess Cassandra said, waving her hand in dismissal. The two guards exchanged a look before they turned back to the countess. “With all due your respect, my Lady, we are on strict orders from King Radius to stand guard here.” Countess Cassandra looked annoyed, and placed a hand on her hip. “And why does the King wish to protect some bushes?” Valtor debated just going inside the maze, and tearing down anybody who stood in his path. But he knew that patience came to those who waited. His plan was going to be easier if the guards were gone.

“We don’t know the details, my Lady. Only that it was on the advice of headmistress Faragonda.” The other guard answered. “And who’s order do you follow? Mine, your queen-to-be, or a headmistress who isn’t even on this planet?” Valtor wasn’t sure if the way the countess was handling the situation would be the solution. “Actually we follow the orders of King Radius, my Lady.” One of the guards countered. Valtor had to repress a small laugh threatening to spill from his lips. He had to hand it to the guards, they were loyal to their king, but things were taking too long. Perhaps he wasn’t so patient after all.

Valtor had been preparing a spell to put the guards asleep when the countess took a step closer to the guards. She had straightened her back and her chin up in the air, looking more royal than she had before. “After King Radius, you follow my orders. I will allow you one more chance to follow my orders. Otherwise I will fire you from this position and you can go home without any means of ever getting a job on this planet.” Countess Cassandra looked at the other guard, who had grown pale. “This goes for you as well.” 

Valtor doubted if it was wise to threaten the very subject the Countess hoped to rule soon, but he wasn’t going to interfere. When he ruled the magic dimension the countess could rule how she saw fit. But, apparently, it did work. The guards exchanged another look with each other before bowing their heads. “Yes, my Lady.” They said in unison before they walked off.

The group continued their way through the maze. It was clear Cassandra had been here before and knew the way. The group reached the middle of the maze where the fountain stood, along with five more guards. “King Radius has dismissed you for the next two hours. I wish to enjoy some peace and quiet. If anything should happen I will call for you.” The countess said, this time using a different approach. Now that she knew the orders the guards were under it was easier to dismiss them. And so they went.

When it was safe, and the group was alone Valtor dismissed the invisibility spell causing him and the Trix to appear again. Not minding the group, Valtor immediately walked closer to his target. His eyes on one particular thing only. The Trix also walked closer, now finally being able to see the reason for their visit. Valtor had mentioned in Countess Cassandra’s office that his interest lay with the fountain but they didn’t know why.

It was a square shaped fountain with each corner representing either one of the three suns or the moon. In the middle stood multiple statues on top of two layers. The first layer was made out of marble pixies and ocean gate keepers holding watering cans and wands where the water sprouted out.

The next layer consisted of different images. The Trix didn’t recognize all of them, but a few images with Cloud tower, Alfia and Red fountain they remembered as the history of the school. Valtor knew that the other images depicted the history of Solaria, and how they contributed to the build of the schools.

The top layer held four life size figures. On the far right stood, at first glance, a man with one arm raised holding a sword. At closer inspection it was clear that man was more a boy, the youthful characteristic would make the boy around seventeen years old. The outlines in the marble statue showed the signature red fountain clothing. In his remaining hand, holding it close to his chest, was the old red fountain building in miniature scale.

Next to the Red fountain student, more to the middle of the platform, was a girl. With her petite wings, a dress that twirled around her legs that kept her feet raised from the platform it looked like she was flying. The fairy had her arms reaching out, slightly bending forward as if offering something. In her hand she too held a miniature scale of her representation school.

On the far left was the statue that represents Cloud tower. The miniature scale building was carved into a marble sphere, making it seem as if the female in question was levitating in it. The artist had managed to carve a smile that looked sinister but also unbothered depending on how you looked at the statue. 

And in between the witch and fairy statue was a final statue. It was different from the other three. The female statue, as seen by her hair and clothes and outline of her body, held no statue, and seemed far more detailed than the others. The statue was also less dirty than the others, no moss or algae grew on her feet, unlike the others. It was as if even nature didn’t dare touch her. She held two hands next to her body, palms outstretched as if preparing to attack. A look of rage is displayed on her face. Even from where he was standing Valtor could feel it from the statue, as if the marble was trying its hardest to contain the rage inside of it. 

“Put on display for everybody else to see. A fate worse than mine.” Valtor muttered underneath his breath. His eyes were not drifting from the statue as he addressed the countess. “How long ago was this built?” From the corner of his eyes he could see Countress Cassandra shrug her shoulders. “I think about seventeen years ago, I’m not sure. I believe it was a gift to King Radius from the head of the schools, as a thank you for all the financial support Solaria has given over the years.”

Valtor gave a short nod to show he understood. “Thank you for your help, but I’ll handle it from here.” The countess hummed, and then slowly turned around. She knew a dismissal when she saw one, and while normally she wouldn’t let anyone dismiss her just like that, she knew that it was in her best interests to keep Valtor on her good side.

When the countess was away the Trix walked closer to Valtor, looking at the fountain that had captured the dark wizard’s attention. “So,” Darcy started. “What is so important about this fountain that made you drag us all the way here?” To the Trix the fountain was just an ordinary fountain, a bit tacky in their opinion or odd, but nothing special. “I didn’t ask you to join me, did I?” Valtor’s voice was cold as he glanced over his shoulder at Darcy and her sisters.

Darcy, out of pure instinct, took a step back. Valtor had been cold towards them before, angry even, but this time it had been something in his eyes that had made her take a step back. It was different from all the other times. But they just didn’t know why yet. “Now that you are here you might as well help me.” Valtor said, while turning his gaze back to the fountain. “Focus all your energy on the statue’s, focus on the curse surrounding them.” He ordered them. The Trix shared a look between the three of them, looking to the other to see what they would do. “Of course, Valtor. Let’s go ladies.” Icy was the first one to break the silence, and lifted herself in the sky, but not high enough to appear above the maze.

Her sister’s followed her lead, joining her in the air and surrounded the fountain. Valtor placed his hands in front of his chest as if in prayer, closing his eyes for a moment. “I can’t do this without you, it is time you return to me.” He whispered against his hands, energy started to crackle between his hands, as he slowly spread them apart. It may have, indirectly, been his fault that she was the state she was in, but he had promised her that he would be there for her. He would hold her again, after seventeen years apart. And after they had defeated the Winx and ruled the magic dimension they would have all the time in the world together. 

Valtor’s eyes briefly searched for the Trix, seeing that they were finding themselves in a similar position he was in. “Now.” And at the same time four energy beams hit the statue’s on the platform. The three average statues crumbled immediately under the force of the power directed at them. Slowly cracks started to form in the remaining statue, but it was a slow progress. The Trix started to look tired, and sweat formed on their foreheads. The curse was stronger than he thought it would be after all these years. “Keep going.”

Just a few seconds later Valtor could hear the marble crack, when he did he stopped sending his magic and the Trix followed quickly after. The remaining parts of the statue were glowing, and between the cracks Valtor could see the first pieces of her. Her (S/C) skin, and (H/C) strings of hair. Then another crack followed by a big explosion of light. The energy from the spell rang across the open space. The gust of wind blew the Trix back into the bushes of the garden. 

Valtor had quickly closed his eyes during the explosion, but just as quickly opened them again. It only took seeing your knees buckle that Valtor immediately flew up, as he caught you before you could fall off the platform. You fell against his chest, as he quickly wrapped his arms around you. Your skin felt strange as it was finally able to move, the sky - however dark it was - hurts your eyes, so as quickly as you had seen a glimpse of the world, you had closed them again. And you were so tired, your energy completely depleted, as if you had been casting the spell you had prepared for years. You would laugh if you could. You suppose you had been casting it, concentrating on it. You just had never finished the spell. But the thing that stood out most, among all your senses that were being overloaded was the smell. 

It smelled familiar, like leather, and spices or a smoldering fire. It was a scent you knew quite well. One you would recognize out of thousands. Your hand, you could use it again now, held on tightly to the fabric beneath it. Afraid to let this illusion slip away from you. Your mind must be playing tricks on you. You have finally gone crazy. You were so tired. “V-val..tor?” You tried to speak up, but your voice was dry from years of disuse. Your voice merely squeaks, but he knew what you were trying to say. “Ssh, rest (Y/N). You are safe, you are with me.” Valtor whispered to you. With the conformation of his voice, you close your eyes. Fatigue overtaking you, now that your body and mind knew you were safe.

Valtor held on to you, as he carefully removed his coat, before he picked you up bridal style. His coat, that he had made float in the air, draped over your body. When you were safely in his arms, he flew back down to the ground. In the short time he had been busy with you, the Trix had managed to get themselves out of the bushes. “Why does she get the special treatment?” Stormy commented, but Valtor ignored it. His head perked up at the sounds of guards approaching.

“We need to go.” Darcy said as the footsteps grew closer. Valtor wasn’t worried about the guards. He knew he could take them on, but attacking the guards or making a spectacle of it was of no use to him at the moment, it hadn’t been earlier and especially not now.. He had her back in his arms, and if everything went according to plan the Winx and the company of light would be none the wiser of her return. But for that they needed a quick and efficient escape. And so Valtor opened a portal in front of him, and stepped through it. The scenery around him changed from the rainy garden in Solaria to the dry office in Cloud Tower. As soon as the Trix had followed behind him, the portal closed. “Stay here.” Was all Valtor said to the three witches as he made his way to Griffin’s bedroom, the one he had made his own during their stay in Cloud Tower.

The door closed behind him, the shining outline of the door indicating the magic that was at work. Just like it was with the curtains that closed themselves, and a few candles that started burning. All the while Valtor made his way towards the bed, and laid you down in the middle of it. One of his free hands grabbed the covers, placing them on top of you. With his other hand Valtor had reached for his coat, thinking you would prefer the covers, but when he saw how tightly you were holding on to it, pressed against your chest and your nose buried into it, he couldn’t bear to part you from it. And so he just raised the covers above it, so you were lying under the coat, with the covers on top of the coat. Your barriers against the world. 

Valtor sat down next to you for a moment, his gloved hand stroking your bare cheek, before picking up a piece of your hair and placing it behind your ear. You looked almost peaceful, if not for the dark circles under your eyes, the scratches and wounds that had been there when you were first imprisoned still on your body. And the way you had been holding on so tightly against him, against his coat. Had you missed him just like he had missed you? Had you been conscious as well, all this time? Watched as people stared at you, passed you by as if you were not somebody to be feared, to be respected? Just the thought of it made Valtor angry.

Valtor knew he would have to handle the Trix first before he would join you in bed, before he would take the time to hold you into his arms peacefully. But when he moved even slightly on the bed, one of your heads reached out unexpectedly, holding onto his wrist tightly. “D-don’t leave me again.” Your voice was still rough, and it was clear it took a great effort to say this one sentence. It had been a while since he had seen you this vulnerable. But he also knew how you could rise from the darkness you were in right now. How you could make the world bow to your wishes. Valtor hated to admit it at first, but he knew he was stronger with you by his side. And now the two of you were together again.

“Do not worry, my love. I have one more task to take care of, and then I will not leave your sight until you grow bored of me.” He said, while kneeling down next to the bed. He moved his wrist to his mouth to place a kiss on the fingers that had been holding on so tightly against him. “I have you back in my arms, I wish not to be removed from them for any longer than I have too.” Your fingers slowly released his wrist, and went back to your own chest. Valtor leaned over the bed to press a kiss on your forehead, before he slowly rose up again.

Behind the closed doors, when it was just the two of them, Valtor wasn’t afraid to show the affection he held for you. And he had to admit that even his little act in the garden, had been more affection that he would usually show. It was an agreement that you had made long ago. Love made you stronger, but it was also a weakness. If their enemies knew just how much you meant to each other, instead of just partners in crime, they would do everything they could to use it against you. When you and him ruled the magic dimension, together, would you show the world what you mean to each other. A king and queen of darkness and shadows.

“I will be back, I promise.” Valtor said again, and he watched as you closed your eyes. Sleep overtaking you again. Valtor carefully made his way out of the bedroom, and back towards the office where the Trix were still patiently, or not so patiently, waiting for an explanation. Valtor ignored them, as he took his place on the seat behind the desk. “Well, are you going to explain yourself, Valtor?” Icy demanded, breaking the silence in the room. She walked toward the desk, placing her hands against it as she leaned against it. An amused smile crept on Valtor’s face, amused by the thought that Icy thinks she could intimidate him. “What should I explain then, my dear Icy?” As he leaned back in the chair, and folded his hands together in his lap. “Who is she, and why did we just save her from being a garden accessory? Why not start with that.”

One of Valtor’s eyebrows rose up, as he looked at the Ice witch. It was clear that Icy was talking to him the way she was out of jealousy. Demanding answers from him, as if she was entitled to them. “Do not forget who you are speaking to, Icy. I do like you and your sisters, but do not think that I will be able to send you to places far worse than the omega dimension should you continue to disrespect me.” The witches looked at him like he had thrown a glass of cold water in their faces. Good, let them be reminded of their place. If he won’t do it, you certainly will. The Trix won’t know it, but it was better if he did it instead of you. Although he did enjoy it when you were jealous.

“But, I am nothing if not an understanding man, and you will get to know her soon better, so it’s best to get some things clear beforehand.” Valtor had placed a hand on his chest for a moment, the glare in his eyes faded away and a charming smile had taken its place on his face. The dark wizard turned into a charming gentleman. “The woman we just rescued is (Y/N). The state she was in was because of me. The company of life cursed her to be a statue, as punishment for her aid in my crimes against the magic dimension.” 

As Valtor told them this, he could see doubt across Darcy and Stormy features, probably thinking if something like that could happen to them. But it was only because Valtor had been paying close attention to the Trix that he had seen it. He had to give the Trix credit for after that, their bodies betrayed nothing. “She is my right hand, as some would say.” He added, letting those words sink in with the Trix. And he could see some slight betrayal in their eyes, and maybe even a bit of hurt. Oh, dear. Perhaps he had charmed them a bit too much. Valtor could understand that the Trix thought themselves to be his right hand, since they hadn’t known of your existence. But they could have never replaced you. Valtor had just needed to figure out where the company of light had hidden you. 

It surprised Valtor that Darcy was the one to speak up first, thinking that Icy would have taken the lead. But it seemed that the Ice witch was just too absorbed with taking all this information in. But the slow ice forming on the desk beneath Icy’s hands betrayed the inner turmoil happening inside the witch’s mind.  “So what are we? Your minions, to do with as you command?”

Valtor knew that he had to play his card right at this moment. The Trix were useful, even if they had failed at some of the missions he had sent them on. And even if they may not be his right hand, every army needs generals. The Trix would fit that part, even with their mistakes. They were still trainable. With your help he would be able to shape them into the generals he needed while you and him gained the power of the magic dimension.

Valtor scoffed. “Of course not. Do you think so little of me?” Valtor asked, his voice almost sounding offended. “Do you think I will go through the things we have with just mere minions?” Valtor slowly rose from his chair, casually walking through the office, addressing Darcy and Stormy by looking them in the eyes. “The way I speak with you, the way I ask for your help, and ask your opinions. You think yourself as low as the Countess from Solaria? She is a minion, a means to a hand.” Valtor walked towards Icy, and gently grabbed her left hand away from the desk. The witch looked at him with calculated eyes, as she was trying to guess what point Valtor was trying to make. 

“You three are my left hand. Just as important as my right.” He looked Icy in the eyes, as he said it. He could see the ice witch almost melted, if it were possible. Then Valtor turned his head to look at all three of the witches, slowly dropping Icy’s hand. “I could not have done the things we have done without you, my witches, and I am grateful for it. So please, never see yourself as ‘just my minions’ again.” And with those final words, he could see the last of the Trix’s doubts fade from their eyes.

Now, with that taken care of, Valtor placed his hands together. “Now, if you will excuse me, I will make sure our companion is healed up. While I do that, I want to ask you to make sure I am not disturbed, and that Griffin is still alive, and in her cell where she should be.” Valtor wasn’t worried that Griffin had broken out, but he had left her in quite a state, and he had learned one thing throughout his life. Never underestimate anybody, that way they can’t surprise you. And this way, it would keep the Trix busy while he was with you. Luckily, the Trix agreed, and left quickly without making a fuss.

The moment the door closed behind them Valtor sealed the office door with his most powerful lock spell. Then he made his way back towards the bedroom, and gently opened the door. He didn’t want to disturb the rest you so clearly needed. You were still lying in the middle of the bed. The covers slowly rose with each breath you took. The shadows in the room were restless, twisting and turning as their mistress was recovering her strength, subconsciously obeying your command of blocking out the sun coming through small gaps in the curtains. 

As Valtor began to walk the shadows on the floor twisted and made way for him so he could see the ground until he reached the bed. When he did, Valtor gently pulled his coat from his shoulders, and placed it on the foot of the bed,then his gloves before taking his shoes off as well. Then he took his place beside you, lifting the covers as he did. You were lying on your side, and Valtor found his place behind you, his arm wrapping around your waist and pulling you against his chest.

You reached for his arm, holding it closer to your own chest. Your breath gently tickled his fingers. You laid like this together for a while, just enjoying the warmth of each other’s bodies, knowing that after seventeen years you were together again. Valtor was slowly drifting off to sleep when your voice pierced the silence. “I thought I had lost you forever.” Your voice was soft, and almost sounded broken. As if saying the sentence out loud was enough to crush your heart. 

Valtor gently turned you around in his arms so you were facing him. There were no tears in your eyes, but he saw how much the years had taken a toll on you. “I failed you, I tried to save you when they captured you in the ice, but I couldn’t. I’m sorry.” Valtor placed his hand on your cheek, sushing you gently as he did. He did not need to hear your apology. There was no reason to apologize. You did everything you could have done at the moment. “And still you came back for me.” You couldn’t help but add, despite Valtor’s actions.

Valtor was almost insulted by the addition. The slight questioning tone as if you couldn’t believe he would search the entire magic dimension for you? Or beyond it? “My love,” He said gently, stroking your cheek while looking you in the eyes. “my heart is so full of you, I can hardly call it my own. And if you think I would live without my heart, you are mistaken.” Valtor reached forward to press a kiss on your forehead. 

When Valtor placed his head back on the pillow again, you placed your hand on the one holding your cheek. “We have a new chance now. I will not fail you again.” Your voice was resolute, full of promise as you gently squeezed his hand. A smile crept on Valtor’s lips as he slowly saw your strength return to you. “You are correct. I already have the strength of Solaria, the secrets of Andros, Domino is destroyed, Griffin’s school is under my power and it’s headmistress is currently occupying her own dungeons.” The smile on your face grew larger and larger, the more Valtor informed you about the current situations. “And with you back at my side, there is nothing that could stop us this time.” 

“What about the company of light?” You asked. The situation was looking good, but despite that you weren’t one to underestimate your enemies. The company of light had beaten you once, they could do it again. “The company of light is destroyed. Oritel and Marion are dead, Faragonda and Saladin are old, and Griffin can’t hurt us any longer, and Hagen wants nothing to do with the company anymore.” Your eyebrow rose up at the news. “So there is nobody who can stop us anymore?” You highly doubted it, so you wondered what Valtor wasn’t telling you.

“There is a new group of self proclaimed heroes. They call themselves the Winx, and are students from Alfia. No doubt Faragonda has something to do with their self proclaimed heroism.” You pulled Valtor’s hand away from your cheeks, playing with his fingers as it now lay in between you. “Have they caused trouble before?” Valtor wouldn’t have mentioned them if they hadn’t. “Not too much yet, but some of them have been able to break through my dark spells with the help of their Enchantix.” Valtor knew you well enough to know what question you would ask next, so he added; “Only two of the six of them have managed to gain their Enchantix powers.”

“Then we need to make sure it stays that way.” You said grinning. “I’m confident you will come up with something.” Valtor looked you up and down. Some color coming back to your face, and the hand that had been playing with his fingers slowly started to gain its strength again. “You seem to be starting to get better.”

“I am. I feel my strength slowly returning to me.” You confirmed before pressing a kiss on his fingers. “I should leave you to rest.” Valtor said, slowly moving his body to slowly leave the bed. But before he could go far you pulled him closer to you again, not wanting him to move even an inch further away from you. “And here I was, wondering when you are going to kiss me?”

“I have already kissed you.” Valtor said, one eyebrow raised. You brought his hand to your lips, letting his fingers glide over them. “Not on my lips, yet.” A smile crept on Valtor’s face at the mischievous smile on yours. “I’m sorry, how terribly foolish of me.” Valtor rose himself up, leaning on his upper arm as he leaned over you, your lips inches apart from each other. His long blond hair fell as a curtain around the two of you.  “A mistake I must rectify immediately.” His voice was low, almost breathless.

“Then what are you waiting for? I’ve waited-,” Valtor’s lips were on yours before you even finished your sentence. It started out slow, patience. The two of you are slowly exploring each other after your seventeen year separation. Your hand reached up, sliding past his cheek and into his long blond locks, pushing them back, ending on the back of his head. But it wasn’t for long until the kiss started to pick up the pace.

When Valtor softly bit your lower lip a soft gasp left your mouth, only to be swallowed up by Valtor. Your lips danced with his, only parting briefly to take a breath before they came back together again. You were starving for each other, exploring each other again after seventeen years.

Then Valtor slowly pulled away from you, only for his lips to connect with your skin. Your cheek, your neck, your shoulder blades. Your skin felt hot whenever his lips pressed against you, showing his love for you, his devotion. With his free hand he pushed aside the fabric covering the rest of your shoulder so he could continue his trail of kisses. As he moved his hair tickled against your skin. 

Valtor went lower, closer and closer to the middle of your chest. Could he feel your heart beating? The way it almost seemed to skip a beat because it couldn’t keep up with the way he made you feel. The way he made your blood race through your body, creating the flush in your cheeks. Just when you think Valtor would pull the fabric of your dress away to reveal yourself more to him, he pulls away.

“I think I should let you re-”

“Don’t you dare.” You practically growled at him as your hand in his hair tightened and pulled him back to you. An amusement laugh came from Valtor’s mouth as he listened dutifully to his own heart and continued his trail of kisses. “Wouldn’t dream of it, my love.” Since Valtor was still leaning on one of his arms to keep himself above you, he used his other hand to trail his fingers down your side, and up towards your dress. 

There was a breath of silence, both of you anticipating his next move, your eyes locking before Valtor reached for your dress and pulled your heart shaped sleeveless dress down, revealing your upper body to him. Despite your body feeling hot, your nipples still stood at attention, waiting for any kind of affection the man of your desire might give them.

Valtor’s eyes remained locked on yours as he kissed the soft mounds of your breast, alternating between the two of them. His breath graced your sensitive nipples, but his lips didn’t touch them yet. Instead Valtor wanted to torture you for a little bit longer, pressing kissing and little bites on the skin around them. “Valtor.” His name spilled from your lips as a prayer, and he listened. For how could he refuse you when you sounded this beautiful?

His lips finally pressed a kiss on one of your nipples, before he gently sucked. A small moan escaped your lips, as you slowly raised your hips at the sensation. Subconsciously you gently pulled on Valtor’s hair and a groan came from his lips, but you could feel him smile against your skin. 

After a few minutes Valtor pulled away, and this time you let him. Your breath came out quickly, as you kept your eyes locked on him. Valtor reached for your dress, hiking the rest of the fabric up to pull it over your head, leaving you in only your underwear since you hadn't needed a bra in this type of dress.

The two of you could just magically make your clothes disappear, and most times you did. But sometimes, like now, you two wanted the addition of taking each other’s clothes off. Of getting to undress another, to feel each other’s hands as you slowly revealed one another. To truly see each other. Like the way Valtor was looking at you right now. As if you were the center of the universe, his universe. As if you were the goddess of the universe, and him your loyal subject. As if he was made to worship at your feet, and worship you he would.

Anticipation filled your body as Valtor reached for you, crawling on top of you as he gave each of your breasts another kiss before he continued his path down. A kiss on your sternum, a kiss on your stomach, your navel, and just above the line of your underwear. Just as his hands moved to your hips to grab the edges of your underwear, his eyes locked with your again as he pulled them down.

You moved your hips up for a few moments to help him ease them off, before laying back down again. Valtor pressed a kiss on your pubic bone, and then on both insides of your thigh. Valtor slowly spread your legs, bearing you for him. His arms slid between your legs, as you had them slightly raised. One of his hands brushed over your hip and to your upper thigh, squeezing the skin underneath. His other hand found yours, which you didn’t notice until now, had been clutching the sheets. Your fingers entwine together, tightly holding onto each other.

“My heart, my love, let me worship you.” Valtor growled against your skin, as his kisses trailed lower and lower to the area between your legs. The place you need his lips, it had been ignored for so long. You longed, needed his touch, his lips, anything he would give you. "Please." A breathless plea was the only thing you managed to say, followed by a moan as Valtor’s lips finally made contact.

Your fingers gripped his fingers tightly as he worshiped you. It was not long before Valtor found the little button between your folds which made you see stars. He sucked, licked and kissed as if his survival depended on your pleasure. Perhaps it did, as you would surely kill him if he stopped now. No matter that he was the greatest wizard of all time. But luckily he didn’t.

Moans escaped your lips, along with his name as if in prayer. As if it was the only thing you knew how to say, but it wasn’t enough. You could feel your pleasure reach higher, and higher but you needed more. And so you tried your best to gather your thoughts through your lust filled brain to form a sentence. “My love, I need,-” A loud moan escaped your lips, and pulled you from your sentence as Valtor gave a hard suck on your clit. 

Luckily you didn’t need to gather your thoughts again as Valtor’s hand slipped from your upper thigh. Valtor pulled away for a moment, giving you a short moment to catch your breath. Then you feel the sensation of his fingers gliding through your folds. “My heart, you are soaking.” Valtor said, and you could hear the pride in his voice. You didn’t feel any shame, because you knew Valtor loved to see you like this. You could hear it in his voice, and see it in the way he looked at you.

“O-only for you.” You managed to say between breaths of air, and a dark chuckle escaped Valtor’s lips. “Mmmh.” You moaned as Valtor’s fingers slowly entered you. “I may hope so, for I pity the fool who dares touch what belongs with me.” belongs with him, not belongs to him. He truly sees you as his equal. You love this man, this wizard. You would travel to the darkest corners of the magic dimensions for him, you would die for him. If only he would continue to look at you like he is now, for him to love you like he does now. 

“V-valtor.” You moaned again as his lips now joined his fingers. The combining sensation of his tongue and fingers is enough to make your pleasure reach higher, and higher. Especially when he found that spot inside you that made you see stars. Your moans increased, your free hand grabbing his hair again to get a hold on him, to make sure he didn’t pull away, not now you were getting closer and closer to the edge of your pleasure. You were almost there, ready to throw yourself off the edge and fly.

“Come for me, my heart.” The vibrations of his growl added to the sensation, and with a loud moan you came apart. Behind your vision you saw light, and stars as your climax ripped through you. Valtor slowed down his ministrations to ease you back down from your high. 

When you opened your eyes again Valtor was looking at you with a satisfied smirk. You chuckled as you gave his hand a squeeze. “You are still wearing too many clothes for the next part.” You commented, earning another chuckle from Valtor, who in returns sat back on his knees, and slowly started to unbutton his blouse. Your eyes didn’t leave him for a second, wanting to take in any piece of skin that you have been missing for the last seventeen years.

When Valtor’s blouse was gone, you slowly pushed yourself into a sitting position. With the way he was still on his knees, you could easily reach for pants. Unbuttoning them as you looked up at him, and pulled his pants down, along with his underwear. You didn’t want to waste another second to see him in his full glory.

Valtor’s desire for you was evident, a drop of pre-cam leaking from his tip. He couldn’t wait to have you, to be inside of you, to feel you clench around him as you came undone. Just the thought of it was enough to make his cock twitch. Valtor saw you reach for him, but he placed his hands on your shoulders, gently pushing you back into the mattress again. “Another time, my heart. I need to be inside of you, sooner rather than later.”

Valtor quickly made work of his pants, pulling them down the rest of the way, as he crawled back on top of you. Your legs wound around his waist, as he slid his cock over your entrance a few times, coating himself in your arousal.

“I thought you needed to be inside-” Valtor slipped inside of you before you could finish your sentence, filling you up entirely. Your body needed to get used to his size again, but it only added to the sensation. Valtor taking your body, taking what belongs with him. A moan of his own had escaped his lips as he felt you tighten around him, as if even your body was trying to pull him even deeper. 

Valtor pulled back out again, before pushing himself back in again. Then he picked up the pace, leaning forward as your legs fully wrapped around him. He placed his elbows next to your face, and he leaned forward and captured your lips with his. You could feel your pleasure building again, as Valtor reached deep enough to hit that spot again which made your legs like jelly.

After your kiss Valtor slowly pulled away, and leaned back again. You already missed his skin against yours, but when he leaned back on his knees, grabbed your legs and placed them over his shoulders, you knew things were about to get serious. 

When your legs were over his shoulders, he pressed a kiss on one of your ankles, before Valtor set a brutal pace. In this new position Valtor was able to reach even deeper, and able to hit your G-spot even better. And this way you were even together for him, milking him for all he was worth. 

It wasn’t long that your second climax reached you, his name spilling from your lips like a prayer. And Valtor reached his pleasure not soon after. Your moans, the way you looked like a goddess, the way you clenched around him was enough for him to come undone. Just like you, but with your name on his lips, Valtor came.

When he came down from his climax Valtor slowly lowered your knees, massaging your legs to get the blood flowing again. Then he slowly pulled out, and he watched as the combined mixture of your juices slipped between your legs. Valtor waved his hand, and a wet towel appeared in it.

With the utmost care he cleaned you up first, before he did himself. When he was satisfied with the work, he made the towel disappear again. You had your eyes closed, and if Valtor didn’t know any better he would have thought you asleep. 

You had still been recovering from your seventeen years as a statue, and now with your activities you had used up all that energy. Not that you would complain, Valtor knew that. The two of you had needed this. To feel each other, to show each other the love between the two of you. The love that none of the outside world would know about until the time was right. 

Valtor knew you were awake, but just drowsy. His suspicions were confirmed when he laid down on his back beside you. You turned around to place your head on his chest, and one of your hands on his stomach. Valtor pulled the blankets over the two of you, before wrapping his arms around you.

“Please, just stay with me for a moment.” Your voice sounded sleepy, and Valtor knew it would only take a few moments for you to drift off to sleep again. He could feel his own eyes getting heavy as well. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a decent night's sleep. Probably because he didn’t have you in his arms. “Of course.” He pressed a kiss on the top of your head.

“I love you.” You said against his chest, fighting every instinct to fall asleep. Just wanting to hear those words replied back to you.

“I love you too.” Valtor confessed to the shadows, and their mistress that he was holding tightly against him.Not soon after he could feel your breath slow down, and he knew you were asleep. Not soon after Valtor fell asleep as well. Later they would strategize on how they would conquer the rest of the magix dimension. For now, he just wanted to sleep with the woman he loved, now that she was back in his arms for the first time in seventeen years. Now that they are together again.

[inkblot22]

Truss

Woohoo Malleus woohoo! I'm making the trigger list a bit bigger because I keep thinking about how people will totally skip reading it if it's too small and then blame the writer for their own mistake. That shit is clown behavior but I don't want to be held responsible for someone else's case of stupid, so sorry to those of you who think this looks clunky. Line divider found here: @/cafekitsune. This is also a fic that is wildly self-indulgent, in that I mean that while writing I visualized my own physical form and quirks.

That being said, this fic is written with afab (assigned female at birth) readers in mind. No pronouns other than you are used for the reader, but the reader does possess a womb. Reader's chest is not described in the least, just the lower bits, and even then it's not at length. Malleus also refers to the reader as "beauty," but masculine people can be beautiful too so idk but here's a warning anyways.

This fic is DEAD DOVE, DO NOT EAT. TW for noncon, fae interaction rules used for said noncon, slight bullying if you squint, one (1) mention of blood (I'm beginning to think I have a problem.) Stay safe while reading. Possible OOC Malleus, I haven't read any of book 7 and if you spoil it I'll block you temporarily.

This is absolutely not your fault, and you don’t know what the fuck you’re doing. It’s awful. Crewel was for sure his namesake, because this whole thing was a steaming pile of-

Alright, from the top, just to organize your thoughts: you are the only non-magic student in a school of mages. The teachers are mages. Your best friend/roommate/monster friend is a mage. The plants here can do magic, but you? No. Thanks homeworld. Love the gift of nothing.

Thus, the faculty have seemingly created a game of “how to piss off and challenge the magicless student,” in which they give you various tasks to just make you lose sleep. Vargas had you running laps until your legs felt like jelly, doing pushups until your shoulders started sounding like glowsticks. Trein had you learning completely off the wall trivia, such as what type of fabric the Queen of Heart’s favorite bathrobe was made of and why it made her more powerful. That’s nothing, it’s easy because you apparently have so much free time in their eyes. But Crewel? Fuck that man. 

When you got the assignment, it sounded fun and exciting. He gave you seeds for a fast-growing rose thing. Honestly you weren’t paying attention to the name of it, but you retained what you needed to know. The plant only grew in moonlight, so you needed to cover it before you went inside at night. It needed a minimum of two hours of moonlight to grow per night. If the basket was overturned and it was exposed to the sun, then the plants would die. Moderate watering, no fertilizer, the usual.

Once the plants bloomed, you were supposed to take the flowers and make some kind of glamour potion, so here you are, failing at doing so. You only had four flowers, and you’re down to the last one. You wasted three tries and you still have no idea what the hell you’re doing wrong and it’s due next alchemy class and you’re breaking curfew on top of all of it. You glare into your cauldron with your latest failed attempt and hunker down to shoulder against the side so you can dump it out and try again. 

“Oh, it’s you.”

The voice makes you jump out of your skin. You turn around and you almost want to cry tears of joy, because if anyone can help you, it’s him.

“When I saw a little head duck down, I thought that something strange was happening. A crime, perhaps.” Malleus smiles, and it’s not a kind smile, but you’ll take anything remotely positive at this point, “What are you doing on the floor, child of man?”

“Oh, I have to empty the cauldron.” You puff out, still trying to throw your weight to push the cauldron. You did it twice earlier, so this must be the effects of mental and physical fatigue.

“Oh, that’s right. Allow me.” Rather than waving a hand or anything, Malleus strolls on over and uncrosses his arms, taking one hand and pressing his fingertips against the lip of the cauldron. The whole damn thing tips, the failed mixture pouring out into the nearby drain. With the same ease, he tilts it back and turns to you.

When he looks at you, it’s… weird. You know he’s lizard-like, as dragons evidently are, but even Sebek’s eyes aren’t this jarring. They aren’t soulless or cold or unfeeling, but it feels like he is looking through you. His emotions don’t reflect in his eyes properly. That’s what it feels like. They reflect, but it’s wrong. Fractured. His lips quirk into a smile and you blink.

“Uh… wait, what are you doing out here, Tsunotaro?” You ask, turning to gather more materials, following the transcript of your recording from class.

His smile grows, “Just on a walk. Will you tell me what you’re trying to make?”

“Uh, yeah. This glamour potion? I don’t know. Remember how I was growing those flowers?”

“Of course. And what happened to the rest?”

“I… uh… I messed up the other potions. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong here.”

“No?”

“No. Do… do you think you could maybe… help me?”

“Of course.” Malleus plucks the flower up, twirling it thoughtfully, “Why don’t you gather the other ingredients?”

That was simple enough. Petals from your tediously grown blooms, some kind of floral oil with tiny white flowers inked on the label, a ball of clay no bigger than a pea, something that really resembled a severed finger, something that was hopefully just someone’s baby tooth, a handful of crystals in a rainbow of colors, and water. Lots of water. Malleus watches as you put all your ingredients on the nearby table and hums thoughtfully before dimming the lights and turning back to you.

“And where did you hear that you needed these things?” He asks. It’s not something that he says with any indication that you’re right or wrong. The tone is bland but the words say enough. 

He has essentially told you before that he believes you inept, a babe in the woods when it comes to this sort of thing, but it doesn’t stop you from looking as hurt as you feel, “The headmage visited class and gave me some pointers?”

“You personally or the entire class? I don’t personally recall concocting anything like this when I was in your grade.” He says.

You suppose you’re grateful that he’s so blunt, but his flat tone makes the sting of your failure that much sharper. You thought he’d be nicer, since you two are sort of friends, and Lilia has told you that Malleus is fond of you, but it also makes just as much sense for him to refrain from easing up in his flatness because he supposedly thinks so much of you. He thinks you’re an idiot, but he’s not willing to treat you as such.

“The whole class. And no one else in my grade is doing this.” You mutter, staring at your assortment of items on the table.

He approaches the table and plucks up the beaker of water, twisting it in his hand, “Did you distill this?”

“What?”

“Tap water often has various minerals in it. If you haven’t been using distilled water, you’ve been adding an extra ingredient. Typically, most potions are much more forgiving and you can use tap water with little issue, but this particular potion is known to be disagreeable.” He murmurs, crossing the room with your beaker of water and setting it up to distill with a practiced ease. “That’s why it’s typically saved for fourth year students’ aptitude testing.”

The revelation hit you like a ton of bricks. You’d like to protest but it unfortunately makes sense. Malleus looks over at you, somewhat blandly, then turns around to face you, looking half concerned.

You answer his question before he can ask, “I didn’t… know that. I guess it’s my fault for being from a different world…”

His lips twitch into a smile, and for a moment you can see amusement in his eyes, fractured with the underlying coldness, “Oh, it isn’t. It may be your fault for failing to ask questions, but having someone who is unused to this type of work take on an advanced project is cruel.”

“You think so?” You ask, voice lilting with hope.

“Of course I do. Why you’re expected to make a potion of this caliber is beyond me.” Malleus states blankly.

“Uh, yeah. I- I don’t know either. But thank you for helping me!”

His expression flinches. It lasts for less than a second before it smooths into an odd grin. You’re not quite sure what that means, but you’re too happy to stop and think about it. The water finishes distilling and you carefully begin crafting, using the tips Malleus occasionally mumbles towards you. Don’t put that ingredient in yet, stir clockwise, you need to grind that up with the oil, don’t rush you have time, et cetera, et cetera, and then you have a gorgeous violet mixture, glimmering with a pearlescent golden sheen.

Your jaw drops. Somehow the few ingredients you threw together is enough to fill several bottles. Malleus is making a smug face as you rush to the shelves of empty bottles and choose several fluted bottles, quickly using a ladle to deposit the final, successful potion into the bottles. You’re so giddy with your success that you hardly notice as Malleus walks towards the door and locks it. But only hardly.

“What was that for?” You ask, not actually caring. You’re too happy to be worried.

“Oh, we’ll need privacy.” He responds.

That part confuses you enough into caring. You turn around from where you’ve safely wrapped the bottles and slipped them into your bag and shoot Malleus a frown, “Privacy? For what?”

Malleus doesn’t say anything. He walks over to the table and you feel your body stand up, void of your control, and stagger over to stand in front of him. If you were concerned before, you’re frightened now. Malleus looks down at you with his strange gaze and folds his arms.

“Wh-what’s happening?! Why can’t I move?”

“You really don’t know?” He asks. Something about his tone sounds mocking, but you’re certain he doesn’t mean it to be. It’s his version of sarcasm, he’s spoken to you like this before.

Your body hops up on the table, taking a seat, and Malleus turns to stand before you, looking down at you with a soft smile. You shift your hips- what the fuck is going on- and Malleus very gently hooks his hands in the pants of your dorm uniform.

Your dorm uniform is legit whatever the hell you want it to be, so it would change on the daily. Today it was a pair of jeans and a hooded jacket. He kneels to remove your shoes and stands back up, leaning close as he tilts your chin up. His breath fans over your lips.

“You didn’t tell me that you were so lovely beneath your clothes.” His hand on your chin shifted to your cheek, and his other hand laid flat on the table. “And… your smell is much stronger. Are you aroused?”

“You can’t just ask me that! I don’t know what you did but you’ve got to let me go.”

“I didn’t do anything. This is your doing.” He retorts, pecking your lips very chastely. 

“What are you talking about?” When he didn’t respond, instead pressing the tips of his hand that was on the table against your exposed sex, your heart jumps but your body doesn’t move. You can’t, “Don’t do that!”

“Lilia informed me that making someone climax is similar to binding someone to you.” He mumbles, kissing you again as his fingers slowly slip inside. “It makes them fall in love with you. Isn’t that the most binding contract of all?”

You don’t know why he isn’t listening, but even less than that, you don’t know why he thought you could handle two fingers, much larger than your own, penetrating you. You squeal, but your body is incapable of tensing. Malleus pulls back, looking at you in a soft confusion.

“What’s the matter with you?”

“With me? What’s wrong with you? That’s too many- it’s uncomfortable!”

He blinks at you and withdraws a finger, which feels much better. You sigh. If you’re going to be forced to do this, you may as well not get hurt in the process. You close your eyes and Malleus hums.

“Is this better? You’ll have to forgive me. I haven’t had a dalliance with a human before.”

“I- I don’t think I’ll be able to… to forgive you for this.”

“No?” You can hear his smirk and the squelching noise as he pumps his finger gets louder. He slips the second finger in again and the burn isn’t so bad as last time, “Well, maybe you can decide that for certain after the wedding.”

“The wedd-” You have to bite your tongue to keep from moaning. Your body leans back, laying on the table, and your gentle assailant curls his fingers, leaning forward to mouth at your neck, “There’s not gonna be a motherfucking wedding. You’re-”

You can hear his horn scraping against the table, “Hmm. I didn’t think you were so entitled. You’re squeezing around my fingers. Are you close?”

“No!” You’re a liar. A ragged gasp leaves your throat and you feel the drop in the pit of your stomach, the burst of euphoria traveling up your spine as his thumb presses against your clit.

Malleus laughs, then leans up off of you. The sound of clothing hitting the ground is the first and only warning you get, but you can’t move, so it might as well have been silent. You feel something on your stomach, coming up about a half inch below your belly button. It’s… almost cool to the touch. You would think it would be warmer, but it’s not. Your eyes round as you stare at the ceiling, and Malleus’s face leans into view, his eyes boring into yours as though he’s reading your thoughts.

“You’re very warm. I’ve always thought this. You must be boiling inside.”

“I- what?”

He doesn’t respond, leaning back up. You feel the velvety head of his cock press against your entrance and as much as you want to jolt away, you can’t move your body. You can’t even look down to see what he’s doing. Your lashes flutter as the stretch sets in, the pressure worse than his two fingers. It burns, especially along the bottom, where his weight lays heavy thanks to gravity. You’re capable of wincing and letting out a whine, but nothing else.

“H-hey, that- that hurts.” You babble.

“Does it? You are squeezing me like a vice. I’ll stay still for a moment so you can relax some. Let me know when it stops hurting.” It’s very peculiar. Although he speaks with an animated tone, his voice is often detached. You would think he’d have more emotion since he’s inside of you.

You blink rapidly and decide that now is as good a time as any to ask, “What the hell is happening?”

“Must you tease me so?” He responds, his voice tense.

“What? I’m not teasing you. I can’t move!”

“Of course you can’t. You only just bound yourself to my will.”

“I what?” You shout.

“What, did you think I enslaved you? I could have, when we first met. You’re too free, giving people your name, thanking them, taking gifts freely… it drives me mad.” You feel a flash of heat, something warm rolling against your skin, like standing too close to a gas stove, “And now I find that you didn’t even know? I didn’t think you were such a fool.”

“That’s just called being polite!” You protest. “Oh my god-”

“I suppose I can’t blame you, really. Relax, lest I harm you.” He murmurs, rolling his hips further as though he can slide in deeper. 

You squeak, “N-no, that’s-”

“Too much, yes. Tell me, in your world, do faefolk exist?”

“I- I mean, if they do, most people don’t believe in them.” The oddity of the situation felt like a blanket. Having a semi-conversation while your friend- not after this- used you as a dick holster. It was almost comforting. “I don’t- I don’t understand.”

His voice was deeper than normal, an underlying rasp to his voice, as though it was coming from somewhere deep in his throat, “I will explain. I’ll tell you anything you’d like to know. But after I explain, I will begin to move.”

“H-hey, no-”

His voice sounded choked, half strangled as he stifled a groan, “I apologize for not being clear earlier. Among the fae, verbal contracts are common and binding. You do not give someone your name. You wonder why I never directly gave you mine? It is a way to bind someone to your will. You do not accept gifts. Invitations are fine, but a gift is a sign that you owe someone something. My help- a boon- is a gift. Typically it is repaid with another kind turn. And, most importantly, you do not thank someone without the sufficient power to break their hold.” 

You felt him draw back, that wave of heat rolling over you again, and then he slammed forward. The slick noise and dull smack were muffled by your squeal, his cockhead punching your cervix like it stole from him.

“Foolish little thing. I suppose it makes you cute.” He sneers, and your body sits up, arms wrapping around his shoulders.

The angle makes his motion a bit less painful. He’s no longer bumping against your cervix, thank the Seven, but the stretch remains. Your eyes flinch shut and Malleus tilts your chin up to kiss you again.

“St-stop- stop!” You whimper, “You’re hurting me!”

“If you would relax, beauty, that would not be a problem.” His chuckle is dark, the squelching from your coupling making a wicked duet that makes you feel dizzy, “And you said it to me so easily as well. Thank me again.”

“Wh-” One of his hands slipped under your hips, holding your bottom just under the split in your cheeks, and nipped your neck as a flat thumping echoed from where your bodies met, your legs bouncing with the motion. His member had gone back to bullying your cervix, and you wailed in the hopes that he would stop, “Thank you!”

“Heh… it escapes your lips so freely. Tell me, beauty-” He cut himself off with a grunt, panting against the column of your throat. “Tell me, what is it that you’d like? I would give you the world on a platter, should you want it.”

“I- ow! Y-you’re hurting me!”

There was a possibility that he was getting off on the pain he was causing you, just as much as there was a possibility of him not understanding that he was hurting you. With every motion of his hips against yours, despite the wicked pain, you felt that ever evil tug in your gut, like a stone growing heavier and heavier. 

You tried again, because if this had to happen, if you were under his control now, you may as well not get injured. You would not be pissing blood if you could help it, “It’s too deep!”

He listened. It was odd, but he listened, his voice warming as he slid back a bit and continued ramming into you, but no longer beating the hell out of your internal organs.

“I didn’t realize. Is that better?” His voice sounded warmer, echoey against your shoulder. His teeth grazed over your skin again when you didn’t respond. He choked out your name and you sort of came back to yourself.

“U-uh- I guess?”

“Wonderful.” He mumbled, his free hand reaching between your bodies and slicked with your sweat, to tweak your clit.

It should be embarrassing, how quickly you reached your height. Whoever he had been with in the past couldn’t have been so sensitive, since you felt his body jerk against you, an uncontrolled undercurrent to his motions. You let out a quiet, squealing moan and barely even felt the break when Malleus bit you to muffle his own groan. You didn’t feel him climaxing inside of you. You felt the control return to your body and flopped backward onto the table, your hoodie damp with sweat. Malleus took a step back, then carefully redressed you, then himself. You looked up at him and saw nothing but adoration in his eyes, not the fractured appearance of such. It was like he was actually looking at you.

When he spoke to you, leaning forward to cup your cheek, his voice was warm, warmer than ever, “Now, let’s start planning for the wedding, my beauty.”

[kiwiana-writes]

WIP Wednesday

Hey, y'all. I am struggling. With motivation, with ideas, with passion. Writing has always been my outlet and when the outlet isn't outletting... it's pretty fucking killer, I'm not gonna lie to you. I haven't read anything in literal weeks, either. Brains! Who'd have em?

Thanks to everyone who has continued to tag me over the last few weeks, and to @thighzp for the tag tonight. I really appreciate everyone who isn't just letting me disappear into the Void of Writers Past, which is basically my biggest fear lmfao.

Anyway. I have no idea what this is yet, apart from an attempt at a birthday present for a friend that stalled out and watched her birthday sail past, but!

Henry Fox is—allegedly—a pillow princess. It’s not like Alex has first-hand knowledge. He knows what a pillow princess is, because Nora once got very drunk and waxed poetic about how they’re underappreciated and unfairly maligned by the sapphic community. He also knows who Henry Fox is, because they shared a [something] class in freshman year in which Henry was tall and blond and British and annoying, and Alex didn’t miss a single opportunity to tell him that. But that was a year ago now, and Alex has never had any reason to think about those two completely unrelated pieces of knowledge in conjunction, except that his absolute least favourite lacrosse teammate is functionally incapable of having some fucking decorum, apparently.  “I mean, I guess it makes sense.” It’s not the first time Alex has internally described Darren’s face as punchable while Darren is running his mouth in the locker room, and it almost definitely won’t be the last. “When you’ve got a face like that, you probably don’t need to learn how to be good at it, you know? Guys will be lining up around the block to give it to him even if he just lays there.” “Including you,” Alex points out, because he has chronic can’t-shut-the-fuck-up disease and no real sense of self-preservation.

Tagging @agame-writes @affectionatelyrs @anincompletelist @blueeyedgrlwrites @cactusdragon517

@celeritas2997 @cha-melodius @clottedcreamfudge @cricketnationrise @dumbpeachjuice

@everwitch-magiks @firenati0n @getmehighonmagic @happiness-of-the-pursuit @hgejfmw-hgejhsf

@indestructibleheart @inexplicablymine @junebugclaremontdiaz @larkral @leaves-of-laurelin

@lilythesilly @littlemisskittentoes @lizzie-bennetdarcy @myheartalivewrites @ninzied

@nocoastposts @nontoxic-writes @notspecialbabe @orchidscript @piratefalls

@porcelainmortal @read-and-write- @rmd-writes @sherryvalli @ships-to-sail

@sparklepocalypse @stereopticons @thesleepyskipper @thinkof-england

@tintagel-or-cockleshells @welcometololaland @whimsymanaged and, as always, anyone who wants to play! (If you take the open tag please tag me so I can see!!)

[a-midnight-smoke]

Keep him from breaking

___

Miguel O'Hara x m!reader

___

content: angst, hurt/comfort, a bit of fluff

trigger warnings: panic attack (not overly described but it's there), self-harm connected with said panic attack (scratching, pulling hair), mention of skipping meals

words: ~1 800

___

So, I finally wrote something again, and who would have thought that the thing breaking my 2 year writer's block would be fucking Miguel O'hara (it was predictable).

I don't agree with writers who characterize him as this suave flirt. Like, that is a broken, emotionally constipated, traumatized man, he would NOT make you call him papi, but then again, to each their own, write and read what you want, idc that much.

Miguel is a pathetic, wet cat, and so I wrote him breaking down in tears because he thought something happened to you. Call it emotional diarrhea after weeks of constipation. And that's my truth.

It's my first time posting a fic anywhere, I wrote this in one evening and then kept tweaking it for like 2 months and debating if I should post this cause I'm an anxious bitch, but finally said fuck it we ball.

Also, I'm a trans guy, and so my reader character will also be. I may write a gender-neutral reader, but not a female one. It's not really important in this particular story, but just so you know.

Also, also, english isn't my first language, so sorry for any mistakes. I appreciate feedback !

Anyway, if you like it you should like and reblog !! Thanks and have fun reading !!

___

Miguel's lungs were burning, but he couldn't stop. Not when he didn't know if you were safe. He needed to get to you. Make sure you're fine.

He crashed into your bedroom window, almost breaking it in the process. His red eyes darted to your bed, where you were not. You weren't in your bed. He called out your name but was only met with deafening silence.

He ran to the door, yanking it off the hinges in the process. Miguel could feel panic building in his chest, heart hammering in his ears.

He was in a trance, looking in every empty space in your apartment, calling for you, begging for you, and thrashing it when he didn't find you. He was breathing faster and harder by the seconds, his hands flying to his head to grab and pull at the strands harshly. Where were you? Someone must have kidnapped you, right? Why else would the apartment be empty?

The slight burn in his scalp didn't help to ease his rising panic, so he started clawing at his arms with his talons as he tried to think of what to do. He couldn't lose you, he couldn't. He needed you, more than life itself. He would tear the city apart to find you and had half a mind to do it already. He was heading for the window when-

The quiet janking of keys stopped him in place, staring at the front door, holding his breath. When he saw you enter, safe, sound and humming to yourself, something broke in him. Weeks of tension and stress finally catching up with him.

He pulled you into his arms, hiding his face in your neck as he started crying and hyperventilating, broken sobs escaping him, interrupted with occasional coughs as you stood still, stunned. His broad body enveloping yours, feeling you. He had to make sure he hadn't completely lost his mind, that you were really here.

As you got over your initial shock, you brought one hand to cradle Miguel's head, scratching slightly at his scalp and the other to trace soothing circles across his back, muttering soft reassurances.

But he couldn't stop hyperventilating, so you gently tried to pry him off of yourself, to no avail.

"Miguel? I need you to look at me, sweetheart." You cooed at him, and after some more coaxing, he pulled away, making sure you were holding his hands. Sobs wrecked through his body, face covered in tears and snot, bloodshot eyes accentuating the redness of his irises. He couldn't look away from you, couldn't stop touching you, afraid that you would disappear if he did.

You brought his hands to your chest, making it a point to breathe deeply and evenly.

"Breathe with me, Mig. Can you do that for me?" you spoke softly and slowly, trying to calm him down. He took a shaky breath that was interrupted by a coughing fit.

"Take it easy, sweetie. Just breathe with me."

It took some time, but his breathing started to finally even out, his sobs now just hiccups. His legs gave out, and you both tumbled to the floor, Miguel quickly wrapping you in his arms once again, listening and feeling your heartbeat. You hugged him back, resuming your earlier ministrations until he stopped crying completely. You stayed like that, on the floor of your trashed apartment, until Miguel spoke in a shaky, raspy from crying voice.

"I thought something… that something happened to you. When I couldn't find you here. That somebody took you from me." He grabbed onto you harder, digging his talonless fingers into your waist when you started to pull away, but you persisted, wanting to see his face. He reluctantly pulled away again, still holding your waist.

"Why would something happen to me? Why would somebody take me?" You would be lying if you said that seeing your, normally emotionally constipated, boyfriend in such a state of disarray didn't make you feel a bit anxious.

"T'was just this guy I was interrogating, let 'im get into my head." he mumbled. In hindsight, the guy was just a pawn, probably didn't know anything and was bluffing to get a rise out of Miguel. Which, combined with his high stress levels and deteriorating mental health, led to the situation at hand.

He tensed when he heard you sigh. Were you annoyed with him? Were you mad at him? You should be, he destroyed your apartment. You should just throw him out, really. He was good for nothing and did not deserve you. It would be better for everyone if he-

"Hey," your voice was still so soft, "get out of your head, Miguel." he slowly looked up to see you staring at him with a worried, but not angry, expression. You cradled his face, Miguel leaning into it instinctively and closing his eyes. You looked over him, over his bruised face, bloody lips and bloodshot eyes with dark bags underneath. He looked thinner than the last time you saw him, with his sunken cheeks. You scrunched your eyebrows.

"When was the last time you slept? And ate?" Well, that's embarrassing. Miguel looked away, feeling his cheeks heat up.

"Miguel..."

"Like four days ago? " He wished he hadn't said anything, he usually didn't, he would insist he was fine, but he was just so tired the words slipped from him without much thought. "Food's making me feel nauseas, so I started skipping meals."

The look on your face was something he didn't want to see ever again.

"Miguel, you can't keep doing this. You should have told me, or Gabriel, or anyone really. It's not healthy," you tried to catch his eyes, which he was expertly avoiding. He grimaced.

"You all have enough on your plate as it is. I make sure the multiverse won't collapse in on itself, I should be able to take care of myself. I'm a grown man." He withdrew his hands completely, ignoring the part of his brain screaming at him to not let go of you, going back to scratching at himself, which caused you to look down. Your breath caught in your throat. His forearms were completely covered in blood, which was still seeping from some of the deeper wounds where he tore his suit. You tried to take his hands into yours, but he crossed his arms over his chest, continuing to avoid your gaze.

"Miguel," you started, voice firm, but with a soft note, "you are not a burden. You never could be, not to me. I love you so much, it pains me to see you hurt yourself like this. It doesn't matter that you're a grown man, you shouldn't feel like you have to keep everything to yourself, like you can't reach out to me, or anybody, for help. Let me take care of you. You deserve to be taken care of, no matter what you brain is telling you." You sighed, calming your racing heart.

"I'm sorry, Miguel," he snapped his eyes to you.

"Why are you sorry?" His voice was quiet and hoarse.

"I'm sorry that I didn't see you struggling sooner, that you felt like you couldn't talk with me about it. Four days? Without sleep and food? You have to be exhausted, even with your mutations. How are you even thinking clearly right now?" He doesn't, that's why your apartment is trashed. He looks around the destroyed room, feeling his anxiety creep back up. He opened his mouth to talk, but you beat him to it.

"Don't worry, you'll help me clean up after you get some sleep and eat." You pulled both of you up, struggling a little with Miguel, who had gone quiet again. He let himself be guided to the bathroom, just now starting to feel the burning from his arms.

You undress the bigger man and move him around, all fight having completely sucked out of him. You wash his wounds carefully before stitching the deeper ones and starting to prepare a bath. Now, in the space of your bathroom, the only room that wasn't a complete mess, Miguel realized how exhausted he really was. Guess you really can't sustain yourself on pure spite and adrenaline.

When the water is ready, you guide him into the tub before getting in yourself. You were never more grateful for the big bathtub, fitting Miguel's bruised and tired body, and you straddling him. The water is amazingly hot, already working magic on his tense muscles. You start washing his face with a soft washcloth, careful of his split lip, cleaning him of snot and leftover tears and Miguel's cheeks are heating up, his hands gripping your waist harder at being handled so delicately. He still couldn't get used to your attentiveness. Your hands are gentle on his skin, moving down to his neck and chest, washing away the sweat and grime, mindful of his bruises and leaving soft pecks after washing them and working through the knots in his muscles.

He's finally starting to relax as you move yourself to wash his hair. Your fingers carding through tangled hair, starting to unknot it. You're humming a calming tune, while Miguel sits with closed eyes. Finally letting himself be taken care of. Letting himself be vulnerable. He makes a noise low in his throat, making his chest vibrate a bit before stopping abruptly. You don't pay it any mind, not wanting to draw him out of his relaxed state.

You finish washing Miguel, drain the water, and dry him off, wrapping the towel around his waist and grabbing another to dry his hair. You wrap up all remaining cuts and then guide him to your bedroom, thankful that he at least didn't flip the whole bed upside down. Among the chaos, you find his clothes that he left, helping him dress, since he was practically already asleep, and laying him down on the bed. After getting him under the covers picked up from the floor, you pull away to get ready for bed when he grabs your wrist and looks at you sleepily, but still a little panicked.

"I'll just get ready for bed quickly and get back, okay, sweetheart?" After a moment, he nods slightly and lets go of you, still reluctantly, but he doesn't let himself fall asleep while you're not with him.

When you come back, Miguel is laying with his eyes barely open, fighting off sleep. You smile at the sight and go lay down beside him. He immediately brings you closer, pulling you on top of him, but you just tangle your hand into his locks and listen to his slowing heartbeat.

"You okay, now?" You whisper into the dark but are only met with Miguel's quiet snores. You press one more kiss to his chest, right over his heart.

Sleep never came as easy as tonight.

___

Yes, Miguel stopped himself from purring.

I'm thinking of making a second part that's just pure domesticity and fluff, we'll see.

Anyway, my dog puked on my carpet while I was making final edits to this just now.

[onceuponaoneshotfanfic]

Superstar (Superstar Chapter 1)

I'm no one special, just another wide-eyed girl

Who's desperately in love with you

Give me a photograph to hang on my wall, superstar

The Reader is thrilled to start a new job at AFC Richmond- especially since it means working with a certain player-turned-coach.

Roy Kent x Reader

2.7k words

Warnings: language (because Roy Kent); I’m a bit rusty so forgive my writing!

A/N: Been having some horribly bad writer’s block in addition to work stress. Thankfully my man Roy Kent helped me finally break through!!!

~

“Well, there she is!” Coach Ted Lasso waved enthusiastically as I parked my car in the staff lot. Next to him stood Rebecca Welton, who offered the tiniest of waves and something of an apologetic smile.

I took a deep breath, my hand hovering over the driver’s side door. First day on the new job: coach’s assistant. Between three coaches, there was a lot going on; they needed someone to handle communication, schedules, and small tasks so they could focus on training and (hopefully) winning. Having grown up just around the corner from Nelson Road, it felt almost like an honor to be part of the organization.

In a blur, Ted had firmly shaken my hand for what felt like an eternity, yammered off about a dozen Lasso-isms that I wasn’t quite sure I heard correctly, and ushered me into the building, all with Rebecca following along, interjecting short corrections and reassurances every time Ted paused to take a breath.

“And this here’s the locker room,” Ted announced with a small flourish. “Now, the boys tend to be pretty modest, the only one you may see too much of is Jamie, but if you just throw a towel in his face, he’ll take the hint.” He opened the door, gesturing for me to follow.

Rebecca touched my arm gently, that tight smile still on her face. “I should be going. But please, let me know if there’s anything you need. You’re in great hands,” she added, nodding towards Ted. “Welcome to Richmond.” With another touch to my arm, she was gone.

I followed Ted into the changing room. A few guys were milling about, still in their street clothes, chattering and beginning to put their things away. They looked up when I entered, offering small nods of acknowledgement. Ted rattled off their names, all familiar to me. I made mental notes about how each one smiled and shook my hand, trying to take snapshots in my brain so I could describe every moment to my family later that night.

After meeting all the players that Ted called “early birds”, I followed Ted into the coaches’ offices, where I was quickly introduced to Coach Beard, who nodded from behind a tattered copy of Either/Or.

“Now, Coach Beard and I share this office,” Ted was explaining. “You’ll be right through here. Hope ya don’t mind sharing!” He led me through the side door to another office. “I’m sure you know this ray of sunshine here is Roy Kent.”

My stomach jumped to my throat as the man in black track pants and a dark Richmond shirt glanced up from his desk. As if I really needed to be introduced to the man whose poster still hung above the bed in my childhood bedroom. Several kits sporting his name and number hung in my closet. Hell, for one birthday my jokester dad even got me a cardboard cutout of the man. It currently sat folded in the back of a closet in my flat, but it often made an appearance in my living room when I hosted game day parties with my mates.

I was pretty sure if I dug far enough in my parents’ attic, I’d find my school notebooks with “Mrs. Roy Kent” scribbled all over them.

And now he sat in front of me, staring up at me through thick eyelashes that made me go weak in the knees. A half scowl appeared on his face. “You’re the assistant then?” He offered his hand.

I nodded, praying that neither coach could see my body trembling slightly as I reached out to shake Roy Kent’s hand. “I- I am.”

Ohmygod ohmygod I’m shaking Roy Kent’s hand I’m touching Roy Kent Roy Kent spoke to me Roy Kent is looking at me ohmygod ohmygod.

It felt far too soon when he let go of my hand. “Well, as long as you keep your shit off my desk and don’t wear any rancid perfume, we should be fucking fine.” He nodded behind him toward an empty desk. “That’s you.” Without another word, he stood up, grabbed the notebook he had been drawing in, and left.

Ted beamed at me. “Well now, that went great! That’s about as charming as you can expect Roy to be, so count yourself lucky. Now, why don’t you get yourself settled and we’ll see you in the locker room in about ten minutes?”

~

“D’you like kebabs?”

I turned my head, pausing my fingers above my keyboard. “Excuse me?”

With a giant sigh, Roy swiveled around in his chair, leaning his elbows on his knees. “Kebabs. D’you like ’em?”

“Uh, I guess.” I scrunched my nose as I stared at him. After two weeks of working for Richmond, this was the first time Roy had spoken to me so directly. Up until now, it had been mostly grunts and growls in my general direction. But, after years of watching him on the pitch, I knew by the look in his eye that he didn’t hate me- at least, not any more than he hated the rest of the world. And that was fine enough with me.

“You guess?” There was that scowl. “You either fuckin’ like ‘em or you don’t.”

It took all my strength to suppress my grin. God, he was just as gorgeous as when I used to watch him play on the television. “Fine, fine. I like kebabs.”

With a suddenness that almost made me jump in my seat, Roy stood up. “Okay.” Without another word, he walked out of our office.

About twenty minutes later, a Styrofoam container slammed onto my desk. I looked up at Roy, who towered over me, a plastic bag clutched in his fist. He glowered at me.

“Thanks, Roy,” I managed, opening the box. Sure enough, kebabs. I smiled up at him, but his eyes were scanning my desk.

“That your family?” He pointed at a frame that held a photo my family had taken during a camping trip.

“Oh, yeah. My folks and brothers. They live not far from here. We grew up huge Richmond fans.”

His eyes continued to roam my work area. “What, no pictures of your boyfriend? Is he fuckin’ ugly or somethin’?”

My cheeks heated up. “No boyfriend.” Somewhere inside me, boldness surged forward. “What about you? I don’t see your model of the week on your desk.”

He smirked. Ohmygod he smirked. “I’m too fucking old for that shit now.”

“Uh huh.” I couldn’t make myself say anything else. All I could see was that smirk, and those brown eyes. Until I realized he was waiting for me to say something. Speak, you idiot! “I like kebabs,” I blurted. Shit.

The smirk softened slightly. “So I heard.”

For a moment he just stood there, smiling down at me. Then he cleared his throat, glancing at the bag in his hand. “Don’t tell anyone I got you lunch. They’ll be trying to make me some fuckin’ errand boy if they find out.”

“Your secret’s safe with me.”

With a small hmmf, Roy nodded and headed back to his desk. I smiled down at the container on my desk and returned to my work, ignoring my burning cheeks.

~

“What does Jamie Tartt smell like?”

“Is the gaffer really like that in person?”

“Did you pass out when you met Roy Kent?”

Swallowing the bite of pasta I had been chewing on, I grinned at my family. “Tartt wears a homemade combo of Tom Ford, Dior, and Juicy Couture that he calls ‘Tartt by Tartt’. Coach Lasso is exactly what he seems. And Roy Kent…”  I cleared my throat and prayed my face wasn’t completely red. “He’s fine.” My voice cracked slightly. “We, uh share an office. He got me kebabs for lunch last week.”

“Come off it,” I scoffed. “Or else I’ll take back those VIP tickets I got you for your birthday.”

“Ooh, Roy Kent bought you kebabs?” my dad hummed, grinning at me pointedly. “My future son-in-law, the football superstar.”

Before my dad could retort, the doorbell rang. I jumped up, relieved to have a distraction.

“I’ve got it!” I just about sprinted down the hall to the front door, confident it was our elderly neighbor asking to borrow the spare key, as she did at least once a week. Instead, when I threw the door open, I found Roy Kent on my parents’ front porch.

“We should really put a fucking tracking device on you,” he grumbled as he moved past me into the entryway.

I stared at him, closing the door. “Um, not to be rude, but why are you here? At my mum and dad’s house?”

He shoved a manila envelope into my hands. “Some papers Lasso wanted you to work on if you can this weekend. Said it was important. I dunno, I don’t fucking listen to him when he yammers.”

“Oh.” I placed the envelope on a nearby table and folded my arms. “And how-how did you know where I was?”

Roy wiggled his phone in the air. “You’re one of those idiots that has their Snapchat locations on. You’re gonna get fucking murdered one of these days y’know.”

Right. Ted had made us all join multiple Snapchat groups with him; he was adamant about keeping our streaks.

I couldn’t help but grin. “And you’re gonna murder me?”

“Not today.” A small smirk cracked through that grizzled face. “But apparently if I wanted to, you’d be easy as hell to find.”

“I’ll just have to keep being a good officemate then,” I supposed teasingly. Am I flirting with Roy Kent?!

“You’re doing a fine job so far.” Roy took a step towards me, looking down at me.

Is he flirting back?!

My brain short-circuited. “Um, well I…” I coughed, looking around the entryway, as if I hadn’t walked through it my entire life. “Thanks for uh, bringing those papers.” A question interrupted the high-pitched buzzing in my brain. “Why’d you bring it by the way?”

Roy cleared his throat and took a step back, allowing a respectful space between us again. “Told you, Lasso said it’s important.”

“Yeah…” I started slowly. “But I’m sure it’s something you guys could’ve sent Will to do. Or something Ted would probably love to do, tracking me down to my dad’s birthday dinner. Why are you-?”

“He’s here! He’s there! He’s every-fucking-where! Roy Kent!” Beaming, my dad burst past me and clapped a hand on Roy’s shoulder as Roy stared at him with wide eyes. “Oh hell, Roy Kent’s in my foyer!” He turned and faced me. “I can’t believe you got Roy Kent to come down here! You’re my favorite kid, you can tell your bloody brothers that anytime.” He grabbed Roy’s hand and started pumping it, reminding me of the first time I had met Ted. “It’s an honor to have you here. Absolute honor.”

I finally found my voice. “Dad, Roy’s just here giving me some stuff for work. He’s not here for your-”

“What kind of cake do you have?” Roy’s gruff voice interrupted.

“Chocolate,” my dad answered. “M’wife made it herself. And we have plenty of pasta if you’re hungry.”

Roy unzipped his jacket. “Then happy fucking birthday. Let’s eat.”

~

A half hour later, I was still in a state of shock. Roy Kent was sitting next to me in my parents’ dining room, chatting with my dad and eating my mum’s pasta. He took all everyone’s questions in stride, not seeming to mind how obsessed my brothers were. He only growled at them twice- once when they asked about his knee, and again when they said how much they like Jamie Tartt. Of course, they made kissy faces whenever Roy wasn’t looking, and my mum kept raising her eyebrows at me with a twinkle in her eye, but the dinner was much less painful that I had expected.

And getting to sit there with Roy’s arm pressed against mine? A dream come true.

My dad cleared his throat as my brothers began clearing the plates. “I think it’s time for presents and cake then?”

I stood up; my arm felt cold after having Roy’s arm keeping it warm. “I’ll be right back, gotta go get your present.” I pressed a kiss on my dad’s head as I passed by. “Don’t embarrass me,” I hissed, giving his shoulder a squeeze. He offered me an assuring wink.

I quickly went up the stairs to my old bedroom, not completely closing the door behind me. Since I was planning to spend all weekend a their house, I had just haphazardly thrown all my things into the room when I had arrived after work. I regretted it now, noting that my idiot brothers could be saying anything to Roy while I searched for the envelope holding my dad’s birthday card and the tickets to Richmond’s next match.

I groaned. “Where the hell-”

“Ah, this isn’t the fucking loo.”

I whirled around. Roy stood in my doorway, eyebrows slightly raised as he glanced around the room. My cheeks burned as I watched him take in all the Richmond posters, which disproportionately featured his bearded face.

He is never going to talk to me again, a panicky voice in my head whimpered.

To my surprise, a small smirk formed on his face as he quietly closed the door behind him. “Why the fuck are there so many pictures of me in this room?” he asked, a chuckle escaping his lips.

I cleared my throat and stood up, straightening out my top as I cursed my teenage self for being so obsessed. “I, uh, I told you. My family’s huge Richmond fans. You’re kind of our favorite player. Hence, my dad’s excitement when he saw you.” I winced. Lame, lame, lame.

“So…” He stuck his hands in his pockets, still looking around the room at the embarrassing number of photos of himself. “Does that mean I’m your favorite too?”

Somehow, my cheeks grew warmer. “I… I mean… I guess.”

His eyes moved upward and widened slightly.

Fuck.

“Is that a fucking poster of me above your bed?”

I shifted my weight, wishing that somehow the carpet beneath me would spontaneously turn into a black hole. “Oh, you know, gotta keep the monsters away somehow.” You’re fired. You are so freaking fired for being a creepy fangirl.

Roy let out a bark of a laugh. “That’s what I’m good for? Scaring away fucking monsters?”

With a groan, I covered my face and collapsed on my bed. “Please don’t tell anyone,” I grumbled. “This was my room when I used to live here, I was a dumb kid. I swear to God, my flat is normal. A normal adult flat.”

The bed squeaked as I felt someone sit beside me. When I peeked out between my fingers, Roy was looking at me with a hint of concern on his face.

“Hey, no need to be fucking embarrassed.” He glanced up at the poster that now laid directly above us. “Can’t say I blame you. I was young and hot.”

Despite my inner anguish, I moved my hands and grinned. “You’re not that much older now, Kent,” I teased.

He raised his eyebrows at me. “I’m still hot then?”

Before I could come up with some clever retort, Roy cupped my face and leaned close. “Please say yes,” he said softly.

I gulped, knowing he could definitely feel it. “Yes,” I whispered.

He gently pressed his lips against mine, a soft, small kiss that made me melt closer to him. His beard tickled my face as his hand stroked my cheek. Roy Kent is kissing me Roy Kent is kissing me Roy Kent is kissing me.

When Roy let go, a tiny giggle escaped my lips. He smiled at me- a real smile, the one I had seen maybe a small handful of times on television over the years. He opened his mouth to say something-

“Oi!” A loud knock banged on the door. “Mum and Dad want to know if you’re snogging Roy Kent in there!”

Roy grinned at me, still holding my face. “Don’t suppose I can tell your brother to fuck off?”

I wrinkled my nose. “’d rather you didn’t,” I whispered.

“Well then.” Roy stood up, stretching out his hand to help me to my feet. “Guess we should go have some fucking cake.” He nodded up towards the poster above my bed. “You should bring that thing to work sometime. I can fucking autograph it if you want.”

[ateez-himari]

Hi bb I hope you are doing well! I'm hoping that you are resting, cause I know it's a busy week💓

I had some questionssss and I remembered the question I forgot in my last ask

1.are there any younger female idols who have expressed their admiration towards hima?

2. Since hima is short and mingi is BIG how large is their size difference in perspective?

3. I was wondering if hima wore a swimsuit top during the water bomb festivals and did she have any iconic moments from that festival?

4.is there any other brand that hima is a solo ambassador for other than versace?

5.if you had to describe hima's personality as another idol who would this idol be?

6.Have the ateez members ever been annoyed by the completely innocent sounds mingri let out? And have they called them out for that?

Ily bb take care of yourself mwahh 💓💓

Hi sweet! 🥰 Sorry this took so long I was on a bit of a writer's block 🤧 I'm also unfortunately still sick but I actually have a lot of motivation to write now! Again don't feel bad about sending me so many asks, seeing a notification next to my inbox is one of the best parts of my day

• XG members have been quite vocal about their admiration towards their senior due to her incredible range - from heart wrenching ballads to powerful raps - and have actually met her several times during award shows (only to gush about it later)

BABYMONSTER members have met Himari while they were still trainees and were amazed at the fact that YG Entertainment brought her in as the only mentor due to her ability to take care of every aspect of their training; vocals, rap & dance. To this day they continue to develop in part by watching videos of her

IVE's Wonyoung looks up to the vocalist's strength of character, even more so now that she has begun speaking out about the unfairness of this industry, the mental health challenges, the mistreatment, etc. The vocalist has also worked extremely hard to master many aspects of performance, which serves as an inspiration to her

• Height comparison websites have her barely coming up to the crook of Mingi's neck, however something else makes their size difference so impressive because this man is WIDE while Himari doesn't have much muscle mass. If Mingi wanted to wrap around her waist completely, he would need little less than 1 hand and a half

• Hima wore the black 'Greca Border Bikini Top' from Versace, a cropped white long sleeve shirt (which quickly became soaked) and very low waisted pants with the 'Greca Border Bikini Bottoms' showing

While Jongho was being all cute and watering their little Atiny plants, this absolute menace was body rolling just a few steps away and motioning for their fans to throw more water at her (think Mingi...but female version)

This event was also one of the first times that the couple was seen being somewhat intimate with each other since she came over to her boyfriend, pressed her back to his chest and began to dance on him (more like grinding-)

After drinking from one of the plastic water bottles - which looked more like a whole kiss than a simple sip - she teased one of the fans in the front before motioning her forward and carefully dripping some water onto her head

A sensual 'The Real' dance break...that's all I can say, she even had a fake lip piercing for this performance and it was the first time Atiny got a glimpse of the spine tattoo (the tape put over it slipped slightly because it got too wet)

• There was actually a brand that recently lost any possibility of an ambassadorship (you'll find out soon dw). Calvin Klein is slowly attempting to reel her in. Surprisingly enough she's an ambassador for Porsche, Saint Laurent and Cartier

• Jimin! At first Hima was very similar to Yeosang in the sense that she was shy, wouldn't speak as much, and was somewhat naive (still is) but as she opened up more her personality grew to almost mirror Jimin's

• They deeply respect their members so when they're intimate with one another they make sure that most if not all members are out or somewhere unlikely to hear them (in part why they got the airbnb during the group's break). There's been very few instances when they were heard (usually in the changing rooms after concerts) but since it rarely happens no one has called them out on it

Ily too!! I hope your post exam break is relaxing and that you're taking care of yourself, mwahhh!! 😘❤️

[catscidr]

I think we have all seen the "Argenti thinks the Reader is Idrila" stuff on here. But what if the reader actually is Idrila? So I wanted to request Argenti/Idrila!Reader (gn or afab reader) headcanons or a oneshot where Idrila, who has taken on a mortal identity after [Insert tragic event here], and meets Argenti. They develop feelings for each other, Argenti finds out she is Idrila, they end up dating. (Maybe or maybe not in that specific order) I thought maybe after protecting her followers from Nanook she disappeared to ensure Nanook doesn't target them anymore? That part isn't as important so feel free to add whatever backstory you think fits^^ Thank you in advance, I really like your writing!

NONNIE omg im booting up star rail rn to stare at him lovingly. also i changed the scenario a smidge so reader is her own person while also being idrila? if that makes sense......?? yeah. also bc otherwise id be writing ten thousand words n i didnt want ur ask to grow dusty in my inbox d(;∀;d) but tysm for the prompt i couldn’t stop thinking about it ueue. also hey gang peep me trying to make my blog look more coherent n nicer looking. am i doin it ⸝⸝⸝⸝⸝⸝ cw: a smidge of amnesia and soulmate trope (it’s not that bad, trust), fluff, love at first sight (does that even count in this scenario....), argenti and reader are dancing around the topic a lot bc argenti is a gentleman and doesn’t want to pressure her to talk. blurbs to set up the plot + a fic after them hehe. not proofread, writer’s block is killing me  includes: fem reader (he refers to reader as "my lady"), argenti, natasha, luocha is kinda there wc: 2,3k

-ˋˏ You’d go to Natasha’s clinic at least once every other day because you always had the worst migraines. To the point where you almost got beat up by a Flamespawn one time when you were clearing out calyxes (thankfully there was a Silvermane guard patrolling the area, otherwise you would’ve been charred). The doctor always says the same thing; “Stop looking for fights so often”, “Let your body rest”, “I can’t prescribe you antibiotics”, and your favorite, “Stop slamming my door open I can’t do anything about your headaches”. She was a good friend, but whenever she repeated how she couldn’t be of any help to your predicament, you’d wish you could just take that glass vial hanging from her outfit and chuck it far, far away out of spite. 

-ˋˏ Obviously it wasn’t her fault- she'd done everything she could. Natasha even had you undergo the Underworld’s equivalent of an MRI scan because of how frequently you would visit her, insisting that something was wrong. The symptoms consisted of forgetting important things too often, feeling a foreign buzz in your limbs and brain, having a sudden burst of elemental energy come out of your attacks and a myriad of benign but annoying, irritating signs that something was up with you. 

-ˋˏ It became more of a chore than anything to leave your room. Some days you felt fine, but then when you’d go out again and beat up wave after wave of enemies in Caverns of Corrosion you would keel over, clutching your head while vague images of what could only be described as a fever dream ran through your mind. 

-ˋˏ You decided to leave the Underworld for some time- considering your absence like some sort of “vacation”. You heard of a wandering doctor (and merchant, apparently) by the name of Luocha and, from the people that crossed paths with him, it seemed like he was extraordinary at his job. A trek to the Xianzhou Luofu would be a long one, but after weighing your options you thought you’d give it a try (it was worth it if it meant you’d stop waking up at ungodly hours, holding your head in your hands while hoping, praying that the pain stops.) 

-ˋˏ You (somehow) made your way to the Xianzhou Luofu from Jarilo-VI. As competent as you were however, being stranded on a foreign planet with no map nor local to guide you was... a challenge. In retrospect, maybe you should’ve gotten in contact with that Luocha doctor and had him come to Belobog instead of you going to him since, well, he was a traveling merchant. Going from planet to planet is what he does (you assume). 

✧✧✧ 

If you had read up more on general information about the Luofu you would have been aware of how many enemies were roaming around the docking area. But you didn’t. So, unbeknownst to you, a rogue mara-struck soldier was on your tail, trying to sneak up to you to snag the goods you hid in your bag (which were basically just different types of painkillers and sustenance that bodes well on an upset stomach. He doesn’t know that though.) 

Your head was throbbing; ever since you set foot on the planet, your physical health had slowly dropped down to levels you wouldn’t be enduring if it wasn’t for the promise of a competent doctor once you get to the main city. Painkillers weren’t working, your feet hurt and to make matters worse, you felt the familiar lack of something in your head. It was so bad to the point where you had to have a tangible mark somewhere to remind you that you did, in fact, just take something for your headache and if you took two more painkillers, your body wouldn’t agree with your decision. It was a struggle even remembering what you did five minutes ago, no way were you going to be in top shape, beating up every enemy crossing your way. 

Clouds began covering the bright sun, casting shadows over the desolate, geometric area. You huff, irritated that, from the looks of it, you won’t be able to find a cozy place to set up camp. Though sleeping on a ground made of primarily iron and steel was considerably less nerve-wracking than sleeping on the mushy, cold, dirty ground of Jarilo-VI. So, with a pout aimed at no one in particular, you find some place that you deemed decent enough to set your humble tent. It wasn’t often that adventurers slept outside of safe zones, however with your condition you couldn’t afford to miss out on some rest and possibly get even more lost than you already are. 

You set your heavy backpack down, rolling your shoulders to soothe the ache in your muscles from carrying something so bulky. As you ruffle through your belongings, you open a bottled soda and take a swift gulp, sighing contentedly at the pleasant taste on your tongue. Now that you were sat and could rest your bones (until you started setting up your tent, at least), your ears were able to pick up on some not-so-distant footsteps. 

There’s no time for you to react; the mara-struck soldier that had been following you lunges at you, aiming for your bag. Your eyes widen and you open your mouth to yell, but before any sound can leave your mouth, a long, red and gold spear pierces the ground between you and the rabid man, making you yelp in surprise. You scurry as far back as you can in your current state; however, the soldier doesn’t have time to take advantage of your weakened stature. The owner of the spear lodges himself before your shaking figure and the mara-struck, yanking his spear out of the ground with impressive elegance, and summons an array of thorny vines to catch your assailant. 

It takes little to no effort for the seasoned fighter to take down the mara-struck as he swings his weapon, swiftly knocking the blunt end on the soldier’s plexus, knocking the wind out of him. A strangled scream leaves his throat as he scampers away, leaving your belongings safe with you and the strange red-haired man. He lowers his spear, careful to keep the sharp edge far from you, and turns around to face you properly. His brows raise a smidge for a split second before he composes himself and bows before you, the action short and curt.  

“It would have been a shame to lose a beauty such as yourself,” he says smoothly, straightening his back to look down at you with a warm smile. He stretches his hand out, a polite offer to help you stand up, as he continues speaking. “My name is Argenti, I belong to the Knights of Beauty. What might you be doing so far away from civilization, dear...?” he trails off, waiting for you to introduce yourself. 

You were in a state of shock, your mind still processing what had happened in such a short amount of time, that you failed to notice the lack of pain at the back of your head. As you meekly tell him your name, you hold onto his hand to help yourself up- as soon as his armored glove comes in contact with your hand something flashes in your mind; too quick to allow you to think about it too much, or to recognize what you saw for a millisecond. 

“So far away from civilization... do you know how to get to the city?” you ask as you feel a glimmer of hope spark in you. His words were refreshing, probably the best thing someone has ever said to you in the past month. He nods, reaching into his pocket to fish out a blue handkerchief embroidered with a delicate gold trim. Argenti hands it over to you and you gratefully take it, blotting the sweat and... dust off of your face. 

“I have made my way around the Luofu for long enough to show someone the way,” he says kindly. “Besides, even if I didn’t, I would still offer to accompany you through your trek. It is my duty as a Knight of Beauty, for I must uphold chivalry and distinguished manners, in the name of the Goddess guiding me.” His words resonate within you, making you beam, nodding in understanding. 

Your reaction doesn’t go unnoticed by the knight. As you hand his handkerchief back, he smiles at you and gestures to your bag. “What brings you so far from your homeworld, my lady?” Argenti asks gently, though a glimmer of doubt swirls in his sparkling, verdant eyes. The question makes you pause, a memory flashing in your mind too suddenly for you to know what it meant. Although, from what you could tell, you knew you could trust him with what troubled you somehow. 

“Ah, it’s a long story,” you start sheepishly, “I’ve been having these incredibly painful migraines recently. And sometimes I feel like my memory is fading too quickly for what would be considered normal,” you say, trailing off slightly at the end. “I’m looking for a healer, a doctor by the name of Luocha...?” 

Somehow, the doctor was currently the least of your worries. You’d never felt so refreshed before, at least not that you could remember; simply being in Argenti’s presence seemed to be enough to make your aches disappear like a starskiff smoothly gliding through a cloudless sky. 

“I’ve seen the man only a handful of times,” Argenti mutters aloud, pulling you out of your thoughts. “I can do my best to guide you to him, but if I may... you don’t seem to be injured?” the knight says, his voice trailing off into a questioning tone despite the observation. You shake your head, wondering how you should explain your predicament to the man. 

“Like I said, it’s a long story,” you say again, shrugging sheepishly. You wondered if you should even go into the nitty gritty- he could always just be making small talk to help you get comfortable or something. Sensing your unease, he changes the spotlight to him instead. 

“There’s no need to delve into details if you wish to keep them secret,” he says with a kind smile, bending down to take ahold of your hand- gently pressing a chaste kiss on the back of your hand. Red flushes your ears immediately, words caught in your throat at the sight of his hair cascading over his shoulders, a beautiful contrast from the gold and silver armor glittering in what was left of the sunlight. 

“As for myself, like I mentioned earlier, I am a Knight of Beauty. I’m on a quest to find my dear Goddess Idrila once more, for I need to pay my respects to them after they saved me from a particularly grim fate.” His words echoed in your mind, your brows knitting together as you felt what could only be described as a cold bucket of water being dunked on your head. “I-Idrila?” you parrot, your voice coming out as a choked noise. Argenti perks up, the hand that had been softly holding onto yours now holding it with a firmer grip, his other hand joining it. 

“Yes, Idrila. Have you ever heard of them? Or...” he trails off, looking deep into your eyes expectantly, almost as if he knew something you didn’t. His eyes seemed to suck you in, bringing a comfortable wave of warmth over you, making you yearn for something. 

“I...” you begin, your gaze falling down to look at your feet. As you thought long and hard about what you wanted to say, what you tried to remember, you slowly look over to his spear, lying flat on the ground- long forgotten since the fight earlier. As if a lightbulb went off above your head, you perk up just as he did, and look at him, beaming. The words were caught in your throat; there was so much you wanted to say, to declare, to do in this moment of clarity, but with how fast your mind was running to catch you up on the current events of your life it was a struggle. 

“Argenti,” you murmur, the name rolling off your tongue smoothly, as you realized seeing the traveling merchant was no longer required. Though the road might have been arduous, and you may have almost lost your mind in the process, being with Argenti suddenly made everything make sense. That’s why your migraines mysteriously disappeared as soon as you were in the knight’s presence, that’s why you had gaps in your memory, that’s why you were freakishly powerful... at convenient times.  

Everything clicked into place. 

The both of you share a pregnant pause, eyes locked together as the world seemed to come to a stop around you. If it were possible, you’re sure there would be delicate, silky rose petals floating around your figures, suspended in the air. You glance down at his lips, and for the first time, make a decision with a clear head. 

His lips felt smooth against yours, the faint taste of vanilla mixed with roses transferring to your own lips. The kiss almost felt like it could be the result of a symbiotic relationship; now that you had Argenti, or at least had him by your side once again, you didn’t think you’d be able to continue on without him. 

[waffles-art-writing]

Hey um can you do platonic task force 141 with a gender neutral child reader who is like Six from little nightmare

The team find the child eating fresh meat in the old basement(first meet)

Child reader can only said a few words

Summary: The team find you in a dusty basement under stranger circumstances. Price comes to find out you love causing chaos back at base.

Proofread: kinda

Pairing: Task Force 141 ! Platonic x Child!Reader

WordCount: SHORT ASF SO SO SORRY

Age Rating:

Codename:

KEY: Y/N - Your Name, L/N - Last Name.

Warning/Info: I have writer's block - apologies! Gore, COD STUFF, descriptive eating & smell and other heavy described behaviours and scene, cursing, (IDK Little Nightmares too well so bare with me on this one)

Request?: YES

————

Soap detonates the breach on the door, the hinge’s getting ripped from the frame. The heavy bolts falling to the ground with a clack, the dust fills the air, darkness shrouding the staircase down to the basement of the building. Ghost’s eyes scan his surroundings through the night vision, the power went out just as they breached the front door of the building. “Basement breached” Soap states over the comms, Price’s voices crackles to life acknowledging them.

The stench from the basement makes all the mens spines shiver, the smell of something rotting urges the bile to bubble in their throats. Ghost is beyond thankful he’s wearing a balaclava to help limit the smell, yet the acid and musky smell still makes it to his nose. “Steamin’ jesus. What the hell is that smell” Soap mumbles, attempting to cover his nose with his shoulder, keeping his gun raised. “I have no clue but it makes me wanna be sick” Gaz states, his eyes watering. Both him and Price just met up with Ghost and Soap as they started descending the stairs. “Get this over and done with so we can get air boys” Price grumbles, following behind his team.

Ghost steps onto the floor quietly, his eyes peeled for any movement. He checks the doorway before entering a room off to the side, Gaz and Price at the other door to the other room. Soap taps Ghost’s shoulder, his eyes locked onto something in the dark corner of the room. “The hell is that” the Scotsman questions, his eyes not moving away from the small being hunched over in the corner. The yellow jacket adorning its back is stained with god knows what, clearly dirty, the small tears can be seen. The wet crunching sounds can be heard from the corner, the sound of flesh tearing and snuffles. Almost sounds like a dog got into the meat locker and going crazy m, eating the meat as fast as it can. “Price, you might wanna come over here” Ghost states, Price walks over asking what’s going on. Gaz behind him.

“The bloody hell is that” the older man questions, his brows furrowed as he steps forward. He’s not sure what to do, from this angle it looks like a child. But that’s what they are all hoping for, and not some kind estranged person that’s gone psychotic in the dark basement over a long period of time. Which could possibly be true as well, highly likely in reality. All the men jump backwards when the small being turns around, their wide eyes staring at them like beady little bugs in the night. “Mother of god” Soap curses as he watches the sickening red blood drip from the child’s mouth, his stomach twisting as he realises it’s eating raw meat. Fresh, raw meat. Everyone in the room wants to gag and leave, but Price picks up the courage and approaches the kid.

Soap watches their captain with disgust, Gaz has his hand covering his mouth as Ghost just stares. His brows furrowed behind his mask, his own stomach churning like a raging storm. By the time Price manages to pick the child up, they have only said very few words. The words were very mumbled with the likes of not knowing English and how to speak too well. “Where take me?” Was the main thing they were saying, questions where the team was taking them when they made their way out of the damp and rotting basement.

The team settles down on the plane, they keep a good distance between themselves and the child as they are not too sure what exactly is up with the kid. Gaz managed to clean their face, as the smell of blood and the look of deep red dripping to the floor was not helping his stomach one bit. The kids' yellow raincoat was something they all kinda looked at with curiosity, why were they in a yellow raincoat if they were in a basement? By the time they got to base, everyone got comfortable seeing the kid staring at them with curiosity, like every child. The one that piqued the kids interest the most was Ghost, of course, the skull mask and quiet, brooding demeanour and cold eyes always seemed to gain the attention of anyone. Especially a kid no matter what they were doing beforehand.

*Random interactions at base*

The sound of small feet sprinting down the corridor and lightly giggles gained Price’s attention from his office, the door was open slightly. The room was stuffy after a hot day so he wanted to air it out, which went through the windows and the door was open. “YOU WEE ANKLEBITER C’MERE!” A scottish accent yells out, thunderous boots hitting the cement floor. Price is looking at his door, contemplating if he should go out to check on them. “Not my circus, not my monkeys” he repeats, his words getting cut off by the yelling of another voice. “JOHNNY! WHERE IS MY MASK!” This time it’s a Manchester accent, more specifically Ghost’s. “My circus my monkeys” Price repeats quickly as he gets up from his desk quickly, pushing his door open to see a very much pissedoff Simon Riley stalking down the corridor. You could practically see the fire behind the man's eyes. “You’re a dead man Soap!” The Brit yells, passing Price quickly. Price pinches his brow as he follows after the raging man, concerned for Soap’s safety more so over yours. Knowing full well that Ghost wouldn't lay a finger on you, but would gladly give Soap a new bruise to add to his plentiful collection of colours.

Price turns the corner to see you, perched on a shelf, Ghost’s mask tucked in hands with a large cheeky grin spread across your face. Your eyes covered by the mop of hair, you screamed when they tried to cut it. Your yellow coat overtop one of the boy’s old shirts and some basketball shorts they took from a rookie. Price glances over to the other side of the room, Ghost has Soap cornered, he looks like he is watching all his life flash before his eyes in one go. “Kid…. Please. Just give his mask back before someone gets hurt” you look at Price your head tilts to the side in question.

Price just sighs as he watches the team yell at eachother, and you just fuel the raging chaos.

————

So sorry it’s so short! I just couldn’t think of anything!! ;-;

[mono-dot-jpeg]

listening - stellaron hunters

summary; you cannot see the reality in front of you but you can hear it. and yet it sounds so painful.

genre/extra tags; headcanons, angst ig?, hurt/comfort (questionably executed), reader has torchwick's (rwby) cane weapon thing but not really, reader has the hunt path and lighting as combat type, i'm seeing in 4d right now with how im setting this specific reader up rn, actual lore executed badly

[platonic] [teen reader] [gender neutral]

[warnings; mentions of eye injuries, insecurities/doubts about one's self, weapons mentioned quite a bit]

[buy me a kofi]

a/n; sorry this took me almost a month (maybe longer depending on when i finish this work). got distracted very quickly by other things and then i got writer's block for a while. whatever so. i'll describe reader's weapon in the headcanons, don't worry. hope you enjoy.

you were an unexpected addition to the hunters. i mean you're so young compared to everyone else, what makes you so adamant on joining this group

i guess we'll never know /ref

but like all the hunters, you hold power just as heavy as the rest.

of course it wasn't for free. you worked hard in your homeland and you earned your path and power.

but you wanted to find something. something was missing.

you didn't know what.

but then you found the stellaron hunters.

you heard about the stellaron and you wanted to know more. you wanted to see it.

and somehow, elio had accepted you.

and you were now a hunter.

before you lost your sight, you were very skilled with tech like silver wolf. you loved making weapons or machinery

you worked behind the scenes and on the stage, so to speak

your preferred weapon was a sniper. and occasionally if you felt lazy, you would have a small turret by your side that would do the work for you

but imagine the absolute devastation you felt when you lost your eyesight in the middle of a mission. or more like during the mission

with your power, it was powerful but unstable

you could kill one enemy with ease but that would require high control with your lightning and careful aim with your sniper

unfortunately you have to control the lightning through your hands on onto the sniper so when you aim down the sights (i dont know how to describe it other than in gamer terms) that lightning has a chance to backfire and hit your eye

through that you managed to lose your sight overtime but this mission accelerated it

and you never felt so devastated

your power betrayed you and on top of that, it was in the middle of a battle and the enemies took an opportunity to take you down quickly.

blade and kafka were there to help clean up at least

but they couldn't handle the lost mess you were

"why can't i see anymore? why?" was the only mutters they heard from you

when you were taken back to base, you were attended to, much to your dismay and fear.

your usually hard headed behavior crumbled within 10 mins after you lost your vision

you felt weak

you felt helpless

you didn't feel strong anymore

your eyes were no longer functional, there's an irregular pattern that traces over your eyes and there's faint marks over the eye area you used the most for sniping.

blade describes the pattern as an angry lightning storm that doesn't end

and when you're done being cared for, you don't leave your room

when you do, you're dragged by kafka or silverwolf (occasionally blade but he just carries you roughly)

you feel like a burden every time you sit at the meeting table

you can hear everything with your vision gone

and you hate it

you want to see again but you know you won't

eventually you find your courage to start to navigate the base on your own

you find yourself in your abandoned lab with blade by your side

"stop frowning like that"

"that's a lot coming from you"

"you're really going to let this eye sight stop you?"

"well i can't exactly wield metal anymore. and i can't use my sniper rifle cane, what do you think i should do, boy genius?"

you feel him open your hand to show your palm and you feel a cold metal touch your hand. you start feeling it properly.

"this is my sniper rifle, blade."

"well, maybe it doesn't have to serve as a sniper. you don't need to take the first shot to kill."

and with that in mind, you become like a follow-up attacker

you train endlessly to improve yourself as much as possible.

you ask silver wolf to help you modify your weapon to work for you (you kind of backseated her about it despite being unable to see what she was doing)

and you now have a multi-functioning cane.

it functions as a gun, a mobility cane to help you walk and "see", and a melee weapon if you hit someone hard enough (which isn't really hard since it's made of a lightweight metal)

and of course if worse comes to worse and you need to deal with a bunch of enemies at once, it can release a powerful strike of lightning (similar to jingyuan ult). you have to let go of your cane so you don't get hurt but ehh small price to pay to save your ass, you know?

i think that since you're a teen in this, the hunters don't really pay attention to your feelings as well as they should

none of them really know how to comfort a teen. which makes sense.

blade and silver wolf are blunt in their own ways

kafka is very avoidant or she speaks so confusingly that you dont even bother

but when they really see you visit your unused lab everyday, they slowly start to understand that you had a part of you taken and you won't ever live your life the way you want to

but surely this is the work of elio. elio knew this was coming, and he knew you would be fine.

it takes a while for the others to tell you that you're not the burden you think you are. they try their best to comfort you even if it's really awkward bc they don't know how to comfort you properly yet

but you appreciated it.

[babiebom]

When You Fall (ix)

A/N:oopsies work got ahold of me and I haven’t written anything for this in like a couple of months. I do wanna update more regularly, and I do wanna make a career out of writing(and streaming) at some point but I work every day except for weekends where I work another job and I am exhausted. Hopefully I get out of my writers block soon also I named the chicks names I gave mine in game lmao

Tw: depression, cursing, anxiety, smoking the usual for this fic so far

Wc:1.9k

Stardew Masterlist WYF Masterlist

Previous Next

Unlike for the last two weeks, you awoke to silence. There’s nothing going on outside or inside your house, and that can only mean one thing. As soon as you sit up in your bed to stretch, a loud knock on your front door echoes throughout your tiny home and causes you to shake out of your post sleep haze and move towards the front door.

Shadow barked loudly, running around your legs as you head towards the door. She’s very excitable and having her for almost a month now, you were grateful for it. Her and Mango had kept your mind off of everything and now since you have a chicken coop you’d have even more to keep you busy. Opening the door, you have to steel yourself in order not to choke on your spit, this being the most unexpected visitor you’ve ever had. Sebastian stands in front of you, sleeves rolled up with a lit cigarette in his hand. He looks just as surprised as you, as if he wasn’t expecting you to actually answer the door.

Sebastian clears his throat as you hurriedly try to adjust yourself. Marnie had seen you right after you had woken up before; and so had Robin, who you were expecting instead of her son. “Uh…good morning?”

“Good morning.” You reply, staring at him. He didn’t look the slightest bit happy to be standing there and honestly being greeted first thing in the morning wasn’t something that you loved (though in this town you have to get used to it) so this entire experience was horrific. For a couple of awkward seconds the both of you are silent, only being forced out of it after Shadow pushes past you to be let free onto the farm.

“Sorry about that.” You frown as the both of you stumble a bit. Sebastian’s eyes wander over to Shadow who had begun rolling on the growing grass.

“No, it’s fine.”

“So what were you here for?”

“Right! Um… my mom sent me to tell you that your coop is ready and that it’s only big enough for a couple of chickens, but you can upgrade it to house bigger animals…and uh,” he pauses for a second nose scrunching as he tries to remember whatever the message was. It was kinda cute, in a totally normal way of course, “and that if you want any upgrades on your house like a kitchen or an indoor bathroom that she would be happy to do it. For a few, obviously.” He breathes out harshly the second he finishes his small speech, letting his shoulders drop.

“Tell her I said thanks,” you smile. But it’s not a good smile, it’s one of those where your lips go inwards? Again this is a very awkward situation. He begins to walk away and you realize that while you like Marnie, talking to her was a bit too much as she often went in about things when you were in a hurry. And quite frankly being alone on the farm all day was getting a bit difficult for you. The medicine helped keep things right below the surface, but they also made being alone that much worse. Before you could at least break down about your feelings, now all you can do is think and think and think until you spiral for so long that you almost forget to feed your animals.

“Um, I’m so sorry to ask this but could you come to Marnie’s with me? I wanna buy a chick or two from her but I’d need help bringing them back here?”

He just stared for a second before nodding once. You begin to step outside before remembering that you’re still in your pajamas. The only way to describe how you reacted is to say your entire body stutters, stopping you in your tracks to leave as soon as you remember that you need to be dressed. You stammer out an apology before somewhat slamming the door in his face. Your cabin isn’t big at all, no rooms, no bathroom, just your bed and your pet bed and a television. It should’ve been easy to ask him to stay outside while you changed, but it was difficult seeing as your brain was lagging from seeing him first thing in the morning, your routine being disrupted, and the fact that you’ve just opened your eyes not even five minutes before having this conversation.

As soon as you open the door it’s almost comical how similar it is to when you had opened the door to find him originally. Sebastian visibly jolts, mid puff with his relit cigarette you apologize again before you both make your way down to Marnie’s.

The walk there is basically silent. He doesn’t speak unless you say something first, and you don’t really want to say anything but the little anxiety monster in your head doesn’t let you stay silent for more than five minutes. “So…what do you do for work?”

You avoid looking at him as you ask because it’s sort of awkward, and almost regret asking but as he lets out a huge smoke cloud he answers you. “Just some freelance programming work…”

It almost surprises you, but then realistically what sort of career could you have in this town? “Do you like it?”

He shrugs, “it’s okay. I prefer it over working for some company. Working freelance means that I’m not competing in some corporate rat race like everyone else.”

You nod in understanding. Working for Joja was one of the worst work experiences you’ve had, even worse than being yelled at in retail. So him not really wanting to participate in that sort of environment sounded like it was good for his mental health. Maybe if you had the same beliefs you would’ve been able to handle everything better, or at least you would've been in a better place mentally to handle everything.

Getting to Marnie’s, you’re somewhat in a better mood than you’ve been in for a while. It was kind of comfortable walking with him and not feeling judged or pitied. As soon as you walk into Marnie’s place, her eyes are wide with surprise as she sees Sebastian walk in behind you. For a moment you want to ask him to step outside or something, because as much as you like Marnie, she does like to gossip. But it’s whatever at this point, and asking him to step out is rude to him and would make things worse for her. “Hi Marnie! Robin finished my coop recently so I wanted to come in and buy some chicks! Do you have any available?”

“Yeah…you can follow me out back and choose how many you want.”

The chicks were literally the cutest, fluffiest little things you’ve ever seen. Their bright yellow feathers almost immediately bring joy to you, their tiny peeps and hops make you want to take all of them and go home. But your coop only houses four and you don’t want to cram all four into the coop immediately because that seemed horrible.

You end up picking up one that was hovering around you instead of running around with the others. “Oh hello…!”

“Do you care which one I pick or…?”

You shrug, allowing yourself to feel the happiness and warmth that you know is fleeting. “All of them are cute. You can pick one!”

Marnie makes a face and you just ignore her in favor of snuggling the tiny chick closer. Sebastian takes a second, and to your surprise looks like he’s taking it seriously. He picks the tiniest one of the bunch that looks a little rough but is still so cute. “You wanna have them names? So I can have them registered?” Marnie asks.

“You register all of the animals?” You ask. It seems like it would be the natural thing to do. Having no vet in the area and almost all of the animals being owned by Marnie at some point except for your stray cat and dog that she has said she has no idea where they came from.

“Yup, Lew- Mayor Lewis wants all of the animals registered. He likes everything to be documented.” Her cheeks turn pink at the mention of the Mayor, but you just keep that files away in your mind. You weren’t really the petty revenge type of person, but you needed ammunition just in case.

“Well,” you start, having thought about names on the way here, “this one I’m holding can be Chica and that one that Sebastian is holding is Chickadee.”

Marnie’s eyes light up at the names. “That’s so cute! I’ll get them registered right away! I’ll make the trip to see the Mayor myself.”

“I can register them? So you don’t have to!”

“No no!” Her eyes widened. “I can register them, it’s no trouble at all. I manage all of the other animals' documents anyway. It will be easy.”

You agree and leave Marnie’s place, Sebastian falling into step beside you. After you get a few meters away he begins laughing, holding Chickadee to his chest so she doesn’t fall while he cracks up.

You smile at the noise, it was nice to hear him laugh seeing as things between you have been mostly quiet. “What’s funny?” You ask softly, wanting to know what he knew that you didn’t.

“She thinks that her little relationship with Lewis is some big secret!”

“She’s actually in a relationship with him? I thought it was just a crush.”

“If you could call it a relationship. He sneaks over to her place in the middle of the night, she sneaks to his sometimes, that’s about it. Jas has told Penny about it, and since she and Sam are friends she told him. But even if Jas didn’t say anything, everyone would know anyways. She always looks so in love when they’re in the same room.”

“Has it been going on for long?”

“Maybe for a couple months or a year or so. I’m not sure about that, all I know is that they hook up sometimes and both are bad at acting as if nothing is happening.”

After having Chickadee and Chica for a week they’ve already grown so much that you have to adjust quickly to the change. Getting animals meant that you had things to take care of and love and also they kept you distracted for long periods of time because you chose (well you and Sebastian chose) the two neediest chickens you thought ever existed. They constantly wanted cuddles and kisses and attention as well as Mango and Shadow wanting the same thing. Your animals combined with the daily chores of taking care of your plants and you never ending task of clearing the farm from debris meant that the only time you had to wallow in self pity was when you were getting ready to sleep at night. And even then it wasn’t that long because after working outside all day you were always exhausted. Luckily having your time taken up by all of these things were more helpful to your mental health than harmful. More time dedicated to making sure your little farm was taken care of meant that less time was dedicated to feeling bad and contemplating ending it all.

Life was turning out okay…

Okay as long as you had some sort of distraction.

[thebellearchives]

hi there, i'm new to your blog. would you consider fluff 18 for sukuna?

𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐀𝐅𝐄𝐓𝐘

~ ryomen sukuna ; jujutsu kaisen

✧˚ · . S Y N O P S I S : you’ve been stuck on a bad moment of your life for a while, thankfully someone comes along to break that monotony

‧₊˚ c o n t e n t s : fem!reader, non-curse!au, sukuna has his own body but is still described with yuuji’s physical appearance, slightly suggestive, fluff, consumption of alcohol, weapons (reader almost gets mugged)

‧₊˚ a / n : hi anon! i hope you’re still around 😭?! writer’s block’s been kicking my ass lately so i hope this didn’t turn out too bad (once again did not proofread) ): enjoy the reading ~

You told yourself over and over again: going through a rough patch in your life is normal. It will pass. But this one rough patch seemed to be turning into a particularly long one. Loneliness was the worst part, but you also knew you didn’t want to have anyone around either, so you started going out alone. Going to the movies alone, going to coffee shops alone, even started frequenting this one bar. It was a pretty establishment, fancy but not too much, people generally minded their own business and the music was just perfect, at a certain point you even wondered if they had been playing songs directly from your playlist. Nights at the bar were nice, sipping on your favourite drink and enjoying the music, nothing out of the ordinary ever happened… until it did.

Not like it was usual for you to get hung up on guys at first sight, but the sound of his voice on a thursday night set butterflies loose inside you. He was taller than you, a handsome smirk danced playfully on his lips, tattoos covered the visible skin of his arms as disappeared under a black shirt that stuck to him like a second skin. Curves of muscle decorated his torso and his arms, and he was talking to you. Dark crimson eyes staring right back at you, the smell of his cologne enticed you the moment you perceived it. Sparks between both of you were instantaneous. Confident, almost arrogant, flirtatious comments from him made of that night one you wouldn’t forget for the next years. So when it was time to leave you decided to not say much, kept your address a secret, leaving on your own and saying you might see each other again in a stupid attempt at keeping some kind of mystery.

“I’ll be looking forward to it sugar” he leaned back into the wall as he watched you leave with a smug smile.

And so you returned the next thursday, and once again you both ended up in the dark alleyway next to the bar’s back door. You left with tingling lips and teeth marks. And then the next thursday, those marks had started traveling lower, jaw, the crook of your neck, even your shoulders. The little affair had your head turning in circles, the way his strong arms held your melting figure so firmly, his intense irises making your body shake, that damn smirk of his that spiked your heart rate. So the next thursday your decided to let your fingers linger on top of his hands and pull him playfully away from your hiding place. You tried to lead him towards your apartment, the sweet taste of alcohol and his mouth lingering on your tongue. Unfortunately, it didn’t go as planned.

Something cold and pointy was placed against your lower back, almost piercing fabric and threatening to injure your skin. You almost swore all your drinks evaporated from your bloodstream in an instant, suddenly going cold and a chill running throughout you.

“Tough luck pretty girl, give me that purse of yours and i might think about letting you go unharmed” a voice came up from behind you, tour breath got stuck in your throat.

“What’d you say, scum?” the moment your lover came closer and the street lamp’s illuminated his figure the blade faltered, the man took a step back.

Sukuna pulled you out of the way by your arm and you quickly moved away to step behind him, your eyes finally meeting the stranger who had just tried to rob you. The tingling of the sharp dagger falling to the floor was followed by the dull thud of his chest hitting the wall, Sukuna held him there from his shirt, his shoes almost didn’t touch the ground.

“Wait! I didn’t- It wasn’t my intention to-”

“It wasn’t your intention to hurt her? Then what was that pathetic bad quality dagger doing pressed against her back, you lowlife?”

Your shocked eyes could only stare at the scene unfolding in front of you. Part of you wanted to stop him, fearing whatever could happen next if his anger kept rising, but another part of you demanded to see the man get the punishment he deserved. Thankfully you didn’t have to make a decision, because with a displeased expression on his face Sukuna relaxed the grip on his shirt until the robber was able to feel the floor underneath him once again, pupils blown and gasping for air.

“You’re lucky I don’t think the lady should watch this, but if i see you again…”

“You won’t! You won’t”

He didn’t add anything else, but swung the man from his shirt and tossed him towards the street. Stumbling, he struggled to stand on both his feet again, but quickly ran away, not looking back. Still shocked at everything that had just happened and with your heart pumping quicker than ever, you watched him run away, until Sukuna’s voice brought you back down to earth.

“Are you alright?” he walked up to you inquisitively, your eyes snapped back to his.

“Yes. Yeah I’m fine” with a sigh you walked up to him to bury yourself into his arms and chest, he held you there firmly “I’m fine thanks to you”

Sukuna held you close, one of his hands cradling your head and threading fingers into your hair.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I just… feel calmer when I'm with you”

[inuiiwonderland]

The deadly curse - part 2

A/n: So sorry for the long wait! Writers block and my busy life took over😓 anyways here part 2!!

Warnings- mentions of blood, throw up, reader not eating, reader comparing themselves in jack part, mentions of anxiety attacks in ruggie part, angst and more angst! (Please tell me if I miss anything!!)

Words: 9k

Fem reader!

Savanaclaw🦁

-

LEONA KINGSCHOLAR

“You look creepy” You flinch at the voice coming from behind you. You quickly turn around to see both jack and ruggie. Ruggie giving you a judgemental stare as he caught you staring longingly at his housewarden.

“I-I’m not” You mumble out as you feel your face and neck heat up in embarrassment. Ruggie just shook his head side to side before letting out a deep sigh.

“When are you just going to talk to him?” Jack asks, genuinely confused on why you don’t just go up to Leona and talk to him.

“Yeah and not just watch his every move everyday like a creep” You gasp before hitting ruggie arm as he just laughs at your embarrassed face.

“I’m NOT talking to him and I’m also not a creep!” Ruggie rolls his eyes before continuing to tease you. But soon his teasing has come to an end by Jack interrupting him.

“Why?”

You stayed silent. Why can’t you talk to him? Oh, it’s because if you do then you're just going to make a fool outta yourself when you’re in front of him.

“You know how I am” You tell him as you lower your head down.

“So? It’s not like he's going to eat you or something. Just talk to him, if you want something with him then start talking” Before you can even answer back to ruggie, you felt another presence behind you.

“What are you three talking about?”

You froze at the familiar voice and felt your heartbeat speeding up.

You're sure he can hear it.

“Oh just some homework stuff” Ruggie easily lies. You turn around to see Leona already looking at you and you quickly look away.

“Yeah…speaking of homework, I have a lot to do for one of my teachers' classes. So see you guys later!”

You said before quickly grabbing your stuff and rushing out the classroom.

You swore your heart almost exploded by how fast it was beating back in the classroom.

Stupid heart

You mumble out.

You took a deep breath before calmly making your way back to your dorm.

-

You come from a very rich and well known family. But your family and history isn’t quite….good.

Your family has a very dark secret that is hidden from the public. A secret that they will make sure would never go out to the public.

Coming from a very rich and powerful family that the public has grown to be interested in over the past centuries, this secret could destroy the public image of your family and history.

Hundreds of years ago, your great great greattt grandfather fell in love with a mysterious woman. She was described to be very captivating and secretive.

A very beautiful woman with long black luscious hair and beautiful bright emerald green eyes. Beautiful figure and kissable plump red lips.

She was almost like a goddess!

They fell in love and soon got engaged.

Everything was perfect! She loved him very much and he did too.

Or so she thought.

The mysterious woman caught him kissing another one day and was heartbroken.

In a fit of rage and sadness she put a curse on him.

The woman cursed him to never find love and to forever live alone.

But not only did she do that, she also put a curse on his entire bloodline. A curse that will kill them if their love for someone isn’t returned back.

Your great great greattt grandfather soon found out that the woman was a very powerful fae. And that he made a huge mistake to be unfaithful to her.

Soon after that he killed himself from guilt and since then your family has been suffering from his dirty actions.

Your family has grown a name for themselves over the centuries and if word ever goes out about this curse then everything would be ruined.

Your mother has warned you to be very careful when falling in love. Since she doesn’t want her daughter to face the same fate as the rest of her family and ancestors.

-

You walked down the halls of night raven as you made your way to your last class of the day. You hum along to the song you were listening to while quickly speed reading through some of your notes since you will have a test in your next class.

But as you were busy reading through the notes and not paying attention to your surroundings, you bump into someone, causing you to let out a small gasp as you both fell.

“Oh my! I’m so sorry-“ Your eyes widened as you noticed who you bump into.

Leona kingscholar

“L-Leona! Oh my sevens I’m so sorry!” You say as you quickly stand up and continue to apologize. He raises a brow before picking up your stuff from the ground.

“It’s fine, just pay more attention to your surroundings” He says as he hands you your stuff.

“Y-yeah! Sorry again!” He just nods before walking away. You could feel your face burn up as the embarrassment eats you up.

“Ugh I’m such a mess” You groan. The bell rings and you gasp as you realize that you were late for class.

“Shit!” You say before quickly running towards your class.

-

Ever since that small interaction, you notice that Leona started to talk to you a bit more.

And obviously, this made you quite happy as you couldn’t believe that the boy that you love is talking to you! Even Jack and ruggie were happy for you!

You also started to feel more comfortable around him. No longer stuttering and being a mess around him was such a relief. You two then soon became friends, which of course made you really happy! You couldn’t believe it! Who would’ve thought that a simple accident would make your crush start talking to you more? You loved his company. Even if he didn’t have a really good reputation you didn’t care. You love leona.

Leona really made you happy.

And as the months pass by, you thought that maybe just maybe Leona would also fall for you. That he will love you the way you love him. And that maybe you’ll get lucky and will be able to live a good life with the person you love.

But when was luck ever by your side?

You stared at the photo with tears sliding down your cheek as you read the caption.

Getting married in two months!!

You felt sick. Extremely sick.

Leona? Married?

You stared at the picture as you saw how the girl had her arms wrap around him with a huge grin on her face. And leona, he had an arm wrapped around her and even if it doesn’t look like it, you could see it in his eyes the love he has for her. You also saw how their tails made a heart in the background and that was enough for you to shut your phone off.

Leona. The man who you love so much…is engaged. And in love with someone else.

Quickly you wipe your tears as you look at the clock.

1:09

Vil is going to kill you if he finds out you were up this late. So, with a heavy heart you lay down and curl up beneath your covers as you drift off to sleep.

A single tear ran down your cheek.

-

You sigh in relief as you finally manage to lose vil after he caught sight of your puffy eyes and slight dark circles.

Ever since you saw that picture and caption, you haven’t been doing well. You started to sleep less, you spent sleepless nights crying silently to not wake up anyone in your dorm. You stop taking care of yourself, you stop doing the hundredth step skin care routine vil makes you do everyday(which made him very upset)

You just stop looking like yourself in a matter of a few weeks.

You thought no one would notice but oh how wrong you were.

Your two close friends notice how different you are. How you don’t look like yourself. Like your old self. And your housewarden. The one you look up to has also noticed how different you look now.

He has noticed how little you eat now. How you don’t take care of yourself like how you used to. How tired and drained you look everyday.

He tried talking to you about it but you would just tell him your fine.

But he knows you're not fine.

But even if people come up to you and ask what's wrong you will just smile before telling them that you're fine.

Because in reality you are fine. Your okay. Nothing wrong.

Everything is okay

That's what you like to tell yourself. But in reality, you are not fine. You are not okay. And something is clearly wrong.

The headache, stomach pain, nausea, and aching heart is proof that you are not okay.

As each day goes by, the weaker you get. The more tired you get. You can feel it. Your time is nearing and you don’t like it.

You were only a third year! You still have a whole life ahead of you! You're young. So why? Just why do you have little time left?

You hate your life. You hate it so much for it being so cruel and not fair.

You cry. You still cry knowing that the man you love is in love with someone else.

But…you're happy. Happy for him and finding someone who loves him. Even though it’s not you he’s marrying you can’t be mad at him. Because it’s not his fault you fell in love with him.

It’s no one’s fault except yours.

So you’ll just suffer in silence as the curse slowly takes over your body.

-

You continue going to school like normally. Your mother obviously doesn’t know about the dangerous situation you are now in as you decided to keep it from her.

You continue to hang out with your friends like normal. Acting like nothings wrong. But you knew that both jack and ruggie knew something wasn't right.

They both noticed how weak you started getting. They can smell that something isn’t right. And they can most definitely see that you aren’t doing too well.

They both tried to get you to tell them what’s wrong but you either say that you're fine or completely ignore the question.

You didn’t want to worry them about this stupid curse that was put on you and your family. You didn’t want them to know at all about what was happening.

And so you stayed quiet.

But they didn’t like that. They didn’t like how you would ignore their concerns for you and your health. So they both decided that enough is enough and you WILL tell them what’s wrong.

Class was over and everyone gathered their things to leave and go to the cafeteria for lunch. You grab your things before walking out the classroom for lunch. But as soon as you walked out you saw both Jack and ruggie standing in your way.

“Jack? Ruggie? What are you guys doing-“

“We know something is wrong and we won’t let you leave until you tell us what’s wrong!” Your eyes widened as Jack gently pushed you back into the classroom. Ruggie quickly walked in before locking the door to the classroom.

“Please y/n. We just wanna know what’s wrong” Jack says as he looks at you with worried eyes.

You were like a big sister to Jack. Someone he can go to for advice and help. So seeing you grow weaker and weaker everyday scares him.

You looked at them and you could see how worried they both looked. You looked down, feeling guilty for causing them so much worry.

I have to tell them. I can’t have them worry any longer.

You sigh before looking up at them and telling them everything. From how your great great greattt grandfather falls in love with a mysterious woman to him being unfaithful to her to her soon then cursing him and his entire bloodline by rage and sadness.

And to you also telling them about how little time you have left because of the curse.

You watched as they stared at you in horror after telling them everything. Jack quickly walks to you and puts his hands on both of your shoulders while looking at you with a terrified expression.

“I-is there a cure?”

You gave him a sad smile and shook your head.

“There has to be at least something to stop this!” Ruggie says as you could only stare at him with sad eyes.

“Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do to stop this”

“I’m growing weaker each day….soon my time will come” You could see tears gathering up in their eyes as you said that.

You hated seeing them sad. You think of them as little brothers. And seeing them sad because of you breaks your heart.

But there’s nothing they can do to help stop your curse.

-

You can’t believe it. You're still alive. You thought the curse would’ve killed off by now but no. You're still alive.

Maybe this curse wanted you to suffer. Suffer more than how you already are.

Because in two days is the day leona kingscholar gets married to the woman he loves.

This is cruel. So fucking cruel.

It’s like the curse wanted you to still be alive to witness the man you love marry another woman.

Leona left a week ago to his home so they can prepare everything for the special day.

He invited Jack, ruggie, and you to the wedding.

Which has you here. Holding the beautiful envelope which has the invitation letter inside.

“How unfortunate of me”

You look at the gold envelope as tears start to slide down your cheeks.

You feel a sharp pain in your heart which causes you to lose your balance and fall to the floor. Tears fell down as the pain grew more intense.

You quickly crawled to your nightstand and grabbed your phone. You dial down your mother number as you could feel like you were about to die any second.

“Yes dear?”

“Mom…it hurts”

You could hear your mother gasp on the other end of the line.

“Y/n…please don’t tell me-“

“I’m sorry! I should’ve told you! I should’ve been more careful” You cry out as you feel your body tremble.

“I’ll come get you! Don’t worry sweetie everything is going to be alright” And maybe it was your mother's sweet words that made you believe that everything was going to be just fine.

You calm down a bit. Glad that the pain started to go away. For now.

-

Soon the next day your mom made it to night raven. You were surprised at how quick she made it considering how your home isn’t really close to isle of sages. But nonetheless you were grateful she was here to take you back home.

And home you went. You told Jack and ruggie that you were going home which saddens them but they understand why. You also bid your housewarden goodbye who was also a bit sad to see you go.

“Take care y/n. Hopefully I’ll see you again” He tells you. You didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth and just nod.

You went home that day. And once you two made it back home your mother did her very best to take care of you. She was by your side as she made you stay in bed and not move a single finger. Her heart broke to see you look so sick and tired.

But she knew she had to stay strong. For her and you. And you appreciated it. You were glad that your mother was by your side for your last moments. You were happy to know that she was trying her best to make you feel comfortable during your last moments.

But at the same time. You felt guilty knowing you're going to leave your mother alone. Her only child.

-

Loud and aggressive coughs could be heard from your room. Quickly, your mother ran to your room only to gasp in horror as she saw blood coming out of your mouth.

“M-mom”

“It’s okay! Don’t worry, everything is going to be okay!”

“N-no…I think…my times up” She froze as you said that.

“No…”

You just looked at her with teary eyes.

“I’m sorry”

Her heart broke as she watched you continue to cough. She grabbed a rag and wipe your mouth as tears slid down her cheeks.

In savanaclaw

“Do you, Leona take Ruka as your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in matrimony, to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, to have and to hold, from this day forward, as long as you both shall live?”

“I do”

“Do you, ruka take leona as your lawfully wedded husband, to live together in matrimony, to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, to have and to hold, from this day forward, as long as you both shall live?”

“I do”

“By the authority vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife”

As the two went in for a kiss, Jack felt his phone vibrate and he checked only for the color to drain from his face. Ruggie looked at him curiously only to then later freeze as he saw what the text read.

“My daughter is gone”

-

RUGGIE BUCCHI

Working at the mostro lounge was probably the best and worst thing you ever did.

Ruggie bucchi

The boy that has captured your heart.

You met him when one day he showed up at the lounge for a job. You remember freezing up for a bit since you thought he looked cute. You quickly pulled yourself together and nervously showed him to azul office.

That was the first time you met ruggie.

A week later, he started working at the lounge with you. You two would occasionally exchange a few words here and there but it was mostly either work related things or just some casual greetings or bye’s.

The twins have noticed how shy and nervous you get around ruggie. Which they took as an advantage to tease you whenever the hyena was around.

But as the day’s, week’s, and months pass by, you and ruggie grew more comfortable around each other and became really good friends.

And because of that, your feelings for the boy only grew.

You sigh as you sit down on one of the lounge chairs after closing up. Ruggie was wiping down one of the tables as he spares you a glance before chuckling.

“Tired?”

“Obviously” you say playfully. He just laughs as he continues cleaning up.

You watched as he continued cleaning and couldn’t help but stare at him with a loving gaze. You quickly looked away though when he turned around to face you, you could feel the tips of your ears heat up and you quickly stood up from your seat.

“I’ll go take out the trash”

“I can-“ but before he could finish you quickly walked to the back.

Your heart felt like it was going to explode if you stayed there any longer. You groan as you bury your face in your hands.

“Aww~ little shrimpy got scared back there!” You gasp when you hear Floyd's voice. You look at him with wide eyes as you hold your hand over your heart.

“Floyd! You scared me!”

He just laughs as he then starts teasing you about ruggie.

“I could see the hearts in your eyes when you were staring at him! Almost made me puke!” He says as you just roll your eyes, ignoring how your face starts to heat up.

“Shut up!”

“Shrimpy is a lovesick fool~!”

“Floyd!”

-

The walk back to your dorm was a pain in the ass since Floyd was teasing you the whole time. You let out a sigh of relief once you made it back to your room.

“Haaa~ finally I can sleep!”

You groan when you hear your phone vibrate. Assuming it was floyd trying to tease you again, you picked up your phone and answered the call without seeing who it was and with an annoyed tone you answered.

“What do you want, Floyd?!”

“Geez wonder what he did to make you sound so annoyed” You gasp when you heard ruggie voice instead of Floyd’s.

“Oh my sevens! I’m so sorry ruggie! I thought you were floyd!” He laughs as you continue to apologize. Feeling super embarrassed.

“It’s fine no big deal” you sigh as you throw yourself on your bed.

“So what 's up?”

“Oh right! Uhh I don’t know how to say this without sounding awkward”

Your heart started speeding up once he said this.

Could it be?

You quickly sit up and urge him to continue.

“Okay so…uhh fuck this is so embarrassing” Your palms started to sweat as you nervously waited for him to spill out whatever he wants to ask of you.

“Soo I was wondering…” You started to smile as you waited for him to continue.

I can’t believe it! Is he going to finally ask me out? Does he also feel the same?! Oh just hurry and spill it out already ruggie!

“So I was wondering if you can help me ask this one girl out” You froze as all hope crumbled and vanished into thin air.

Oh

“Ask a girl out?”

“Yeah….I know it’s embarrassing”

“No! No…it’s not embarrassing…uhh may I know who it is?” You ask as your hands start to tremble a bit.

“It’s a girl who comes by the mostro lounge very often! She really pretty and really caught my eye when I first saw her” Your heart clenched and you gripped your phone tightly.

“Really? That great!”

“Yeah, I hung out with her last week and she was really fun to be around. She is also a really great cook! She made me some really good food and even bought me my favorite donuts!”

The grip on your phone was deadly. You could feel the wave of jealousy washing through your body as you hear the boy you like tell you more about this unknown girl.

“That wonderful ruggie…listen I have to go now, I can hear floyd call my name from down the hall”

“Alright then. Good luck”

“Mhm”

And you hung up. You stare at your phone as you process everything.

He likes someone else.

Not me

-

You went on about your life as normal. You started to grow more quiet though. Your friends obviously noticed the change of your behavior but you just brushed it off like it was nothing.

Azul stared at you as you continued cleaning up around the lounge like normally.

He didn’t like how quiet you got, already used to you annoying him during closing hours and you and Floyd bickering every now and then, Azul didn’t like the sudden change.

“Okay, what's wrong?” You stopped wiping the table before continuing and answering his question.

“Nothing wrong Azul” He crossed his arms and raised a brow.

“Nothing? Something obviously wrong y/n”

“Why that?”

“Because you grown quiet”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” You say as you look at him over your shoulder. His eyes slightly widened.

“Look…it’s just that you haven’t been acting like yourself these past few weeks”

“And don’t say “it’s nothing” because something obviously happened and I noticed and even jade and Floyd have noticed how different you are now”

You smile hearing how worried Azul sounded for you. Even though he would never admit it.

“It’s nothing really-“

“Y/n”

You sigh as you take a seat on one of the chairs.

“Ugh this is so embarrassing”

“Just tell me”

After telling him about what caused you to be so quiet he just stared at you and you quickly stood up as you felt your face burn up.

“Yeah yeah I know! It’s stupid and dumb so don’t say anything!”

“It’s not stupid. This obviously hurts you if you started acting very distant and quiet”

You looked down on the ground before finally breaking down in tears, which of course caught Azul by surprise.

“I really really liked him! I never felt this way for someone before and now that I find out he loves another I just can’t take it Azul” He stayed quiet not knowing what to say as you cried your eyes out. He tries his best to comfort you as he lets you sob on his chest.

Well there goes his expensive suit..

-

Azul soon found out about your curse. At first he thought you were joking but as he saw that you wore a serious expression on your face and didn’t laugh he knew that this was serious.

He asked if there was a cure, only for you to shake your head no.

And again, he asked more questions about your family curse and you answered them all with a sad smile on your face.

You didn’t want to die young, you were only 17 and still haven’t lived out your life yet.

Maybe you should’ve taken your father’s words more seriously when he talked about your love life.

Azul was there for you when you would suddenly have anxiety attacks every time you remember that you don’t have much time left.

He was there for you when you would cry out to him about how you should’ve been more careful.

Azul was always there for you. He tried his best to make you forget about your curse and ruggie.

And his heart ached knowing that the girl he loves is slowly dying and that her heart belongs to someone else.

-

You worked at the lounge as usual. Trying to ignore ruggie who would glance at one of the tables every now and then.

He obviously looking at her

“Hey you okay y/n?”

“Huh”

You look to see ruggie standing in front of you with a worried look.

“You don’t look alright…are you sick?”

“I’m fine” You tell him and give him a fake smile. He noticed it was fake by how his brows furrowed.

“Are you sure?”

“Mhm” Suddenly, you felt a piercing pain in your heart. Your legs got all wobbly and you started to shake.

“Woah! Hey are you-“

“M’fine! I-Ima go to the back!” You quickly took off before he could say anything and made your way to the back.

“J-jade! Help me” Jade eyes widened at your state and quickly made his way towards you.

“Y/n! What happened?” He asks as he helps you sit down on a chair.

“I-“ Your vision suddenly started to get blurry and breathing was starting to become quite difficult as the pain spread through your whole body.

“Y/n?”

Jade's worried and slightly scared expression made you guilty as you tried your best to not fall into death's arms.

“Azul….get Azul please”

“Floyd! Get Azul now!”

“Ehh? Why-“ He gasps as he sees your current condition.

“Shrimpy!” He runs towards your shaky figure as he looks at you worried.

“Hey what's wrong? Why are you shaking? And why are your lips turning blue…”

“Oh my god! I-I’ll call the ambulance!” One of the mostro lounge staff said. Jade nods as he then turns to face you.

“The ambulance are going be on the way y/n, so hang on tight”

“I…can’t” you say as the urge to close your eyes and fall asleep forever starts to overtake you.

“Hey, don't close your eyes, shrimpy! Stop it!”

“Y/n! Please don’t close your eyes! The ambulance is on their way”

“Now what is all this-“ Azul stops as he sees both Jade and Floyd around you while shouting at you to not close your eyes.

“Y/n!” He quickly runs to you as he gently holds you against him.

“Azul…” You say as you smile at him. Tears start to build up in his eyes as he sees you in such a weak state.

“No no no…please don’t”

“Please don’t cry Azul”

“No please..stop please don’t go” His body starts to tremble and tears start sliding down his cheeks as he pulls you even closer to him.

“Don’t you dare leave”

“Please y/n…I love you”

Your eyes widen at his sudden confession. You could feel tears of your own starting to build up.

“Oh azul…I’m sorry”

Azul watches as the life in your eyes leaves and you fall limp against his arms.

“Hey Jade…why isn’t shrimpy moving?”

“She gone…”

“Y/n!” Ruggie quickly runs up to the small crowd that was surrounding you and he gasps as he sees your dead body in azul arms.

“What-“

“Get out”

“Huh”

“EVERYONE GET OUT” Azul screams as the small crowd quickly runs off. Both Jade and Floyd grab ahold of ruggie and walk him out as he struggles to get out of their grip.

Love is so cruel

-

JACK HOWL

You never had friends. Growing up kids thought you were weird because of how quiet and shy you were. You remember crying to your parents about it as they comfort you.

So you never really had any friends growing up. But that all changed during your 1st year of night raven college. You met Jack howl. At first, you two never even spoke to each other or even knew the other existed. But that changed when you both got paired up together for a project.

Jack didn’t mind your shy and quiet nature which really shocked you at first. You were used to people getting annoyed about the fact that you were an introvert and would always ask the teacher if they could change partners.

So for Jack to be really understanding and not care about your shy nature was a huge relief. For the first time in your life, you actually felt comfortable around someone. You enjoyed your time with him during the whole project. You would have him come to your dorm though since the idea of stepping foot inside another dorm that isn’t yours overwhelms you.

Jack again didn’t mind doing the project in your dorm. He always wondered what the inside of Ignihyde looked like anyways so that was a good experience.

As the days for the project deadline approaches, you start to feel a bit of sadness wash over you.

You liked jack. He was really comfortable to be around with so you felt a little sad when the time for the project to be finished comes.

And when that day came, you were expecting for you two to part ways and never speak again. But imagine your surprise when jack continues to check up on you and talk to you.

You were shocked. He still wanted to talk to you? No one has ever done that before! You remember feeling so excited about finally making a new friend. Not only a new friend but your first ever friend.

Later into your guy's friendship he introduced you to his other friends. Ace, deuce, epel, sebek, yuu and grim!

You have heard about yuu. Her and the others, including jack are known to be the ones who fight off the overblots that have been going around in campus.

You were nervous at first. Not used to talking and meeting new people. But surprisingly, they weren’t that bad. Jack has informed them that you were shy. So he told them- mostly ace- to not do anything that might overwhelm you.

And that is how your friendship with the others began.

And well, you were happy! You finally made more new friends that didn’t mind your introverted way’s.

And you were thankful for that.

-

“Aw shit!” Ace says as he sees his test score.

“Thought you said you were going to “ace” that test!” Yuu says as she laughs before slapping ace back.

“Ow! Quit hitting me!”

“Ace, yuu! Both of you stop being loud!”

Yuu covers her mouth as she tries to stop herself from laughing any longer. Ace rolls his eyes before turning to you with a small smirk.

“Soo y/n, what did you get on the test?”

“An A”

“WHAT”

“Ace!” The teacher glares at him as ace just grumbles in his seat about how it’s not fair that he failed.

“Maybe you should’ve studied instead of playing games” Yuu whispers to him which causes ace to glare at her.

“Shut up”

You watch as the two begin to bicker back and forth. Which again caused the teacher to give them a final warning causing the two to shut up.

The bell rang, meaning it was time for lunch. You started packing up and waited for ace and yuu to finish packing up so the three of you could go to lunch together.

“Y/n is seating with me today by the way”

“Huh?! No way!”

“She sat with you last time!” And again the two began bickering back and forth about who gets to sit with you. You awkwardly stood to the side as the two fought. Suddenly, you felt a hand on your shoulder which caused you to jump in surprise.

“O-oh! Sorry I didn’t mean to scare you!” It was deuce. His cheeks were bright red as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

“It’s okay” you say. His eyes move to look behind you. Seeing both yuu and ace still bickering like children then back at you.

“Let’s go before they see us” You nod and you both quietly walk out the classroom.

“So what did you get on the test?” He asks as you two make your way to the cafeteria.

“An A”

“Really?! That great!” You looked at him before smiling.

“Thank you deuce”

You two finally made it to the cafeteria. You began looking around for jack and the others but as you were doing that, you didn’t notice deuce staring at you with a loving gaze and flushed cheeks.

“Hey! Over here!” You could see epel waving his hand around for the two of you. You two then started walking over to their table.

“Where yuu and ace?” Jacks asks as he noticed that the two weren’t with you.

“Those two are back in the classroom bickering about who gets to sit with y/n” Deuce says with a roll of his eyes.

“And those dumbasses didn’t notice you two sneak off?” Grim asks with a head tilt.

You shook your head no which made epel laugh.

“Speaking of those two, here they come” You turn around to see both ace and yuu walking over to your table.

“Hey why’d you leave!”

“You two were taking forever. So I took her” Deuce said, which made ace roll his eyes. The two took a seat before yuu clasp both of her hands together with a grin.

“Sooo did you guys hear about the school dance?”

“I heard!”

“Everyone is talking about it so of course I have!”

“Dance?” Yuu nods her head as she grabs ahold of both your hands.

“Y/n you should definitely come!” You looked at her with wide eyes before shaking your head.

“Oh I-I don’t do school dances”

“Aww come on! It’ll be fun!” Ace chimes in.

“I-I don’t know…”

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. But it’ll be nice if you do come” Jacks says. You looked at him and you could feel your heart beginning to speed up.

Over the past month. You started to feel these strange feelings for Jack. You didn’t know what it was but after doing some research and asking yuu what it was, you soon discovered that you like or how yuu says it, have a “crush” on someone.

Obviously you didn’t tell yuu who it was. Even though she begged you on her knees about who it could possibly be that has captured your “precious heart”. Yuu words.

You quickly looked away before giving it some thought.

Maybe you should go. You should try to step out of your comfort zone at least once.

You look back at yuu before nodding your head.

“Alright. I’ll go” She squeals in delight before bringing you into a tight hug.

“Omg omg omg! We should go dress shopping!”

“Um yuu? You are squeezing her”

“Oh right! Sorry I was excited”

“It’s fine!” You smiled at her. You looked back and saw that Jack was looking at you with a small smile on his face. You quickly looked away as you felt your face heating up and your heart beginning to speed up against your chest.

Maybe the dance won’t be that bad after all…

-

It was 10 pm. You just got off a 3 hour phone call with the others after discussing plans for the dance.

Yuu was excited to go dress shopping with you. And so the both of you scheduled a day for the two of you to go shopping.

You sigh as you stare up at the ceiling. You groan in embarrassment as you remember how you kept sneaking glances at jack during the call. You were lucky you didn’t get caught because if you did then you would’ve hung up from the shame.

You could feel a lovesick smile start to make its way on your face the more you thought about him.

Jack…he was the first person who actually didn’t mind about your shy nature. The first person who actually wanted to be your friend and still is your friend now. The first person who would defend you if anyone were to say something mean or bad about you and the first person to make sure you were comfortable in any situation.

And the first person to make you feel this way.

You covered your face with your hands before kicking your feet with a small squeal.

“So this is love..”

-

The day for dress shopping finally came and you couldn’t help but to begin feeling nervous.

You hate large crowds but you promised yuu to go shopping with her so you couldn’t back down now.

You hear a knock on your door before a very excited yuu comes in.

“Are you ready~?” You look back at the mirror before nodding.

“Great! Let’s go before all the good dresses get taken!”

“I don’t thin-“

But she quickly grabs your hands and drags you out of your dorm.

You two walked around the small town of Sage island trying to look for any dress shops that caught your interest.

“Ooo how about that one!” You look towards what store has caught yuu interest and see that it is a small dress store with very beautiful dresses that were up on display.

“Woah…those dresses are beautiful”

“Mhm! Let’s go!” She pulls you in the direction of the store and you just follow behind.

You both were greeted by a elderly woman who runs the store.

“Tell me if any of you dears have any trouble” The woman says as both you and yuu nod your heads with a small hum.

“Cmon y/n!” You both look around in awe as you see more beautiful dresses everywhere.

“These are pretty!”

“Indeed”

Yuu gasps as she sees a dress that caught her eye.

“Y/n look! Doesn’t this look beautiful!” She says as she shows you the dress.

It was a long baby blue dress with a corset-like top.

It was beautiful

“That would look gorgeous on you”

“You think so?”

“Mhm” She smiles before dragging you to the fitting room area.

“If this looks good on me I’m getting it!” You just smile before taking a seat on one of the chairs. You decided to be on your phone while yuu change into the dress in the fitting room.

Couple minutes pass before you hear yuu yell “I’m done!”.

You turn off your phone and wait for yuu to step out the fitting room. You gasp as you see her come out.

“Sooo?” The dress looked absolutely stunning on her.

“Yuu…you look stunning!”

“Really?!”

“Mhm! You should get it!”

She turns to the mirror and twirls before giggling.

“Yeah, I’m definitely getting this!” You clap your hands as she does another spin before turning to you.

“Okay you're turn now! Let’s go find you a dress”

After yuu changes back to her normal clothes, you both start looking around for any dresses that you might like.

“How about this one?” You scrunch your nose before shaking your head no.

“Mm. I’ll go look around over there and see if I find anything”

“Okay” And she leaves. You sigh as you continue to look around for any dresses that you might like. As you continue to walk around, you feel a tap on your shoulder.

“I see you're having trouble” It was the elderly woman.

“Oh..yeah I kinda am” You nervously laugh.

“Come with me, I have a dress here you might like” You watch as she makes her way to the back. You hesitate for a bit before deciding to follow her. She takes you to the back before telling you to wait.

You listen to her before seeing her run off somewhere. You awkwardly wait until you see her come back with a dress in her hands.

A very beautiful dress.

“Here. This dress will look perfect on you dear”

You look at the long red dress before looking back at her.

“Oh no! Um this dress is very beautiful but I don-“

“Dear, it will look lovely. Trust me.”

You look back down at the dress before looking back up at her.

“Alright”

“Perfect! Now go try it on. I’m sure your friend will also think it’s lovely!”

You make it back to the front of the store and look around for yuu. She spots you and quickly rushes over to you.

“There you are! Okay so I have these- oh? You found a dress?” You nod before she quickly squeals and pushes you to the fitting room area.

“Cmon hurry I wanna see how you’ll look!”

“Yuu!”

She pushes you into one of the rooms and then says that she’ll wait.

You chuckle before looking back at the dress.

“Well…here it goes”

The moment yuu heard the door to the fitting room open, she quickly puts down her phone and waits for you to step out.

“Cmon let me see youuu “

“Um okay”

Yuu gasps as she sees you. The dress looked absolutely beautiful on you. You nervously waited for her response before she quickly ran to hug you.

“Amazing! Gorgeous! Stunning! You look beautiful y/n!”

“Y-you think so?”

“Mhm!” She then pulls you in front of the mirror.

“You look absolutely stunning y/n. This dress was like it was made for you” You look at yourself in the mirror before locking eyes with yuu.

“Get it”

You smile

“I will”

“Yess!”

“Ow yuu!”

-

It was finally the day of the dance. You nervously looked at yourself in the mirror for the hundredth time before turning to yuu.

“Do I look good? Is my hair okay? Wait what if my makeup looks bad? Oh no! What-“

“Relax y/n, you look stunning so don’t worry” She says before glossing up her lips.

“And I’m sure the dude you like will also think the same” She teases and you could feel your face burn up before looking away.

Will Jack think so?

You then heard a ding coming from both your guy’s phone.

“It’s the group chat”

“What they say?” You ask as you put on your earrings.

“That they are already there and are waiting for us” You could hear the taps of her nails as she quickly texts them back.

“Okay. You done?”

“Mhm”

You look at yourself one last time before grabbing your purse and making sure you have everything.

“Okay let’s go!”

The walk from your dorm to the dance wasn’t that far. You and yuu joked around as you two made your way to where the dance was taking place. The more you guys got closer, the more nervous you felt.

“There they are!” It was ace.

As the two of you walked closer, you could see the guy’s jaw drop at the sight of you two.

“Woah…you guys look stunning!” Yuu smiles

“Thank you!” You looked down at the ground before feeling someone hand on your shoulder. You look up to see jack and your heart quickens.

“You look beautiful y/n”

“T-thank you jack” He smiles before looking at yuu.

“Yuu…you look beautiful” She giggles before thanking him. You didn’t know why, but you started to feel weird when you noticed how…nervous jack was with yuu.

Before you could think any further, you hear someone clear their throat. You turn to face a blushing deuce.

“You..you look beautiful”

“O-oh! Thank you deuce” You didn’t see but ace gave deuce a teasing look seeing how nervous and a blushing mess deuce was around you.

“Okay let’s go inside! I’m tired of standing out here!”

“All the amazing food could be gone by now because of you guys!” Grim whines making yuu roll her eyes.

“You’ll live”

You guys made your way inside but the weird feeling in your stomach was still there.

….

The dance wasn’t bad. Everyone was having a good time with friends and some were even goofing around.

Everyone was having a good time except you. The weird feeling in your stomach was distracting you the whole night.

You sigh before walking out the main room and down some random hall.

“Maybe I should’ve stayed back in my dorm” you mumble. As you walk down the dark lit hall you halt to a stop when you hear familiar voices. Curiously, you follow the voices until you come across both Jack and yuu.

“What the…” You hid behind a pillar and decided to eavesdrop.

“Soo?”

Jack blushes before looking away.

“I just…I just wanted you to know”

Your brows furrowed in confusion

Know what?

“I really like you yuu”

At that moment. You could feel your whole world stop.

No…no please no

Yuu giggles before pulling him into a hug.

“I also like you too jack!” You felt like throwing up.

Your eyes widen as you see him then pull her into a kiss.

You watched enough

Quickly but also quietly you made your way out of there. You felt tears slide down your cheeks as you quickly ran out the building.

“Y/n? Where are you going?!”

It was deuce

You ignored him though and quickly ran back to your dorm.

“I should’ve known…I should’ve known he would never fall for someone like me”

That night you experienced your first heartbreak

-

The following day you didn’t show up to any of your classes. You stayed in your dorm not caring if you’ll get in trouble later for skipping.

Your friends noticed your absences and texted you asking if you were coming to class but you ignored it. All of it including texts from jack and yuu.

You look in the mirror before crying again

How could I have been so stupid? Of course he wouldn’t fall for someone like me! I’m not beautiful like yuu, I’m not fun like yuu either and I’m definitely not outgoing like her either….

But I hoped…I hoped that for some miracle…that he would also like me too. That he will also feel his heart speed up when he’s around me like how mine does when I’m around him.

Why did yuu never tell me she liked jack?

Would it have stopped her from falling for jack if I told her I liked him?

Your shaky hands wipe your tears as you stand up from the ground. You made your way towards the bathroom but stopped when you felt a sudden sharp pain in your chest.

“S-shit! What the-“

Another sharp pain but this time directly towards your heart. You could feel your surroundings spin and you started to feel nauseous.

Quickly you stood up and ran to the toilet and threw up. You groan as you close your eyes.

Your head was killing you

You open your eyes and wipe your chin. But you frown when you see your hand stain red.

“The hell…” You slowly looked down in the toilet and gasped in horror when you saw blood.

“What the hell!” You quickly flushed the toilet before grabbing a rag and wetting it to wipe your face.

“It’s nothing…it’s nothing…”

You closed your eyes and made your way towards your bed. You wrap your covers around you before letting sleep overtake you.

It’s nothing. Nothing at all. Not the curse. Everything fine.

-

You skipped school the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that too. You skipped school the rest of the week.

Your friends were worried for you and would call and text you but nothing. You never answered. They would also come by to your dorm but when they do you are either not there or you ignore the knocks from your door.

Thank the sevens for ignihyde technology. They won’t be able to break into your room.

You continue to isolate yourself from them and everyone. Your teachers have emailed you about your absences but that to you ignored.

The reasons behind your skipping was because of the horrible headache and stomach pain. You were in so much pain that you knew you wouldn’t be able to make it to any of your classes.

And also because you wanted to ignore jack and yuu.

Yes you felt horrible for doing so but again, you knew you wouldn’t be able to handle seeing them.

You requested Crowley if you could switch to online classes and thankfully, he agreed but not before scolding you about skipping your classes.

-

You haven’t seen any of your friends in a month. You did a good job keeping distance but that still didn’t stop them from calling and texting you.

You quietly walk back to your room after grabbing a small snack from the dorm's kitchen. As you made your way to your room you heard someone shout your name.

“Y/n!”

You froze before quickly walking faster to your room. Once your room came into sight you quickly opened it before shutting the door.

Well trying to shut your door

The person’s foot prevented you from fully closing the door.

“Please! Y/n please don’t try and ignore me”

It was deuce

He sounded so…sad and broken..

You looked at him and saw how worried and tired he looked.

“Please…can I come in?”

You looked away before letting him in. He sighs in relief before closing the door. You made your way to your bed before sitting down.

It was silent for a moment. Neither of you are talking.

That is until deuce spoke up

“Why have you been ignoring us? And not showing up to class anymore?”

“I switched to online classes”

He frowned

“Why”

You stayed silent. You looked down at the floor and started to play with the hem of your shirt.

“Y/n..”

You finally looked up at him and once he was able to have a good look at your face he gasps.

You looked so tired and drained. You had dark circles under your eyes and your eyes were puffy.

He took a good look at your body and noticed how it looks like you lost weight. He also noticed the way your hands tremble a bit.

But even if you looked like this. Deuce still found you beautiful.

“I-“

Before you could even let out a word, you started coughing and fell to the floor. Deuce immediately asking if you were ok. Before you could respond, another cough interrupted you but this time you coughed out blood.

He stares in horror as you continue to cough out more blood.

“Y-y/n…we need to take you to a hospital!”

“No”

“Huh?”

“T-there’s nothing they could do..”

“W-what do you mean?” You look up at him with sad eyes.

“This is a curse deuce….and there’s nothing you can do to stop it”

He looks at you with wide eyes before shaking his head.

“No..no no no! There something! At least something we can do-“

“There isn’t anything you can do deuce…my family for centuries have tried to find a cure…but nothing”

“I’m going to die soon”

-

After that day. You told deuce everything. About how you found out about jack liking yuu and dealing with the heartbreak, which caused the curse to take over.

At the time. You could see a glint of sadness in his eyes before quickly disappearing.

He started taking care of you without the other’s knowledge. He was there for you when the headache got bad. He was there to hold your hair when you threw up. He was there to catch you when you couldn’t keep your balance anymore.

He was there for you

Like how jack once was

And you were grateful for that. You were happy that you had at least someone to spend time with during your last moments.

Even if you were in pain

Deuce tried his absolute best to distract you from the pain. He did everything he could to make you smile even if you were slowly starting to get weaker and weaker.

It pained him to see you in pain. It hurts him so much seeing you grow weak and blood everywhere.

It hurts seeing the girl he loves die in a slow and agonizing death.

But he’ll try his best to make your last moments wonderful.

-

Deuce once again was in your dorm. You two were watching a movie on your bed as you cuddled against him. He had an arm wrapped around you almost protectively.

“Deuce?”

“Mm?”

You sigh which causes him to look down at you.

“Can we go watch the stars right now?”

“Now? But it’s late…and cold!”

“Please?” Those beautiful eyes of yours dear sevens he can’t resist.

“Okay…but we have to cover you up! It’s cold outside”

“Okay…”

He sighs in relief after sneaking out of your dorm. The Ignihyde security system is no joke.

“Cmon! I’ll show you a spot”

The two of you joked around as you walked to where your special spot was. He stares in awe as the spot you took him had a beautiful view of the stars.

“Cmon, lay down with me” you motion for him to lay down besides you which he does. You smile before turning your attention up at the star’s.

“It’s beautiful”

“It is”

You guys stayed silent for a moment. Enjoying the stars and just relaxing.

“Deuce..”

“Mhm”

“Thank you”

He looks at you with a raised brow.

“For what?”

“For still sticking by my side…even after ignoring you and still sticking by my side to take care of me”

“I appreciate it deuce”

You then turned to look at him and smiled.

A smile that he fell in love with and would never see again.

You then turn back to look at the stars. He admire your face as you watched the stars before looking back up at the sky.

“When I’m gone…I want to be up there with the stars”

His heart clenched at your words and tears started to build up.

“I wanna shine bright like those stars”

You already do

Silence took over once again

I should tell her. She should know about my feelings.

Deuce thought. He builds up the courage to confess his feelings for you before closing his eyes and blurting it out.

“Y/n I just want to let you know that I love you”

Silence

He opens his eyes before turning to face you.

You fell asleep…

He smiles but then stops when he notices something else.

You aren’t breathing

Quickly sitting up. Deuce gently shakes you with shaky hands.

“H-hey…y/n? Y/n please open your eyes”

But nothing

Deuce stops as he realizes that your gone

Tears slide down his cheeks as he pulls you against him while gently caressing your face.

“I love you”

He looks up at the sky and notices how one star shines brighter than the other’s.

-

Hope you guys enjoyed that lovely meal☺️

[toms-cherry-trees]

Don't Hold My Hand (I'll Break Your Heart) || Tommy Shelby x Fem OC ~ Ch. 1

Summary: Charlotte begins her new life at Arrow House, where things prove to be more daunting than she thought. The first bits of Tommy's past are uncovered

Word Count: 4k

Warnings: Tommy being a violent insolent ass. Usage of period accurate ableist terms for a disabled person

Author's note: SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY! Life and health got in the way and I had a massive writer's block for this story. This one is more to law background for what is to come but I promise it will be worth! Next chapter is already on the works and I have it mostly laid out

Requested taglist: @call-sign-shark

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The clattering of broken porcelain disrupted the peacefulness of the Friday morning, the shards of white and the remnants of breakfast spread over the hand woven carpets. Thomas had launched the plate with masterful precision in what Charlotte could only describe as an adult sized temper tantrum akin to a spoiled toddler. The teacup had followed a similar fate, ruining the expensive fabrics furthermore. 

Charlotte had been working for a little over three weeks in Arrow House, and so far, things had progressed worse than she had originally anticipated. Enough to make her reconsider her vocation.

Thomas Shelby proved himself to be an almost unconquerable adversary, resisting tooth and nail every effort she made to help him in any way, shape or form. He refused aid in leaving the bed and dressing in the mornings, choosing instead to spend the best part of an hour struggling and cursing while Charlotte watched from the side, exasperated at his bullheadedness, but always within reach and ready to jump to his aid. He preferred his hair and beard to grow long and scruffy rather than allow her to give him a trim and shave; when Charlotte told him the castaway look didn’t suit him, he didn’t even cast a shadow of a smile. Any medicine served by her hand would be unjustly spilled or discarded, and even something as innocuous as a glass of water would be treated as if Thomas had been served poison straight from the bottle. She often had to sip or taste foods in front of him to prove she meant no harm.

That morning, he had refused to eat for the second day in a row, demanding to be served only whiskey or gin and his pack of cigarettes. He had been cross from the moment he woke up, all because Charlotte had laid his clothes on his bed within his reach to make it easier for him to dress unaided and grant him a piece of the independence he craved. She had even set a basin and cloth in a stool by the bed so he could have a morning wash to the best of his abilities.

Exhausted already with his mulish behaviour, she sat in front of him, ready to convince him by all means necessary, including force, to get him to have a bite. But no sooner had she sat next to him, he had flipped over the carefully arranged breakfast table, sending scrambled eggs and tea in every direction and destroying a most lovely set of blue crockery. Splatters of food stained the white apron and foresleeves of her uniform. A muscle ticked in her jaw, but she refrained herself from throttling Thomas and instead stood up slowly, hands laced and an amiable smile tugging at her lips, showcasing a patience that had begun to wear thin.

“You have to eat, Thomas” Charlotte spoke slowly, as if that way that man would somehow understand and change his attitude; but sooner would pigs fly than Thomas Shelby agreeing with anyone other than himself. He ought to be commanded on his determination to be obtuse. 

“And I said I don’t want to” He quipped, watching in near amusement as Charlotte dropped on hands and knees to gather the broken porcelain inside the empty water basin, using the cloth to protect her hands and wipe the food. She knew she could just call a maid in to do the dirty job, but back in the old days, nurses acted as caretakers, maids, cooks and everything in between. She didn’t see the point of calling a girl all the way from downstairs for so little; and besides, she didn’t want witnesses on her failure to control her patient, nor subject another innocent soul to undeserved wrath. 

“You need to eat to take your medicines, Thomas. Or you will ruin your stomach” The first couple of days he tried to force her to call him Mr. Shelby, but she quickly shot it down. Long gone were the days when she would have called him Sergeant Major Shelby and she would have been Nurse Tindall. They were Thomas and Charlotte, whether he approved or not. She would not give him even the slightless space to think himself superior to her in any way.

He waved his hand, dismissing her concerns as mere nuisances, as he did with every other thing she did for him. Thomas rejected the medicines daily, especially the pain medicines, but Charlotte knew better. Her sharp eye soon noticed how the liquid inside the bottles would remain the same and then suddenly drop a considerable amount overnight; Thomas didn’t retain enough usage of his legs to walk long distances unaided, but he surely had enough strength of body and mind to stagger towards the cabinet where she kept the vials and bottles. He drank his fill, even if he denied it, and surely more than he should.

“I’m not taking those fucking things” He snapped “Now get out of my room” He maneuvered the chair towards the doors leading to the veranda. If allowed to, any day he would move his bed and desk out there and just spend the rest of his days staring at the trees and the horses trotting in the paddocks, feeling the kiss of the sun in his skin and enjoying the breeze carrying scents of earth and trees. The first days, she offered Thomas many times to take him out for a walk in the gardens, or even take him to the paddocks; but he shot down every attempt with a ridiculing sneer and some less than kind words

Frustrated but not yet defeated, Charlotte tossed the last of the broken porcelain into the basin, perhaps with more strength than she should, and carried it downstairs towards the kitchens. As she descended the grand staircase, she made a conscious effort not to look at the paintings. For whenever she walked past them, she felt Mrs. Shelby’s penetrating gaze following her steps.

Her portrait outshone all the others, hanging front and centre overseeing the foyer. Blonde hair curled fashionably, clad in an emerald green frock with golden trimming and covered in jewels, from the impressive necklace to the heavy earrings hung with pearls. The frame stood as tall as two people, engraved mahogany wrapped in gold leaf. Her icon dominated the house, seen in multiple photographs and smaller paintings in every room. But none matched the opulence of that one, and none unnerved Charlotte as much. 

She had the portrait, but she didn’t have the person. In three weeks, not once had she come face to face with Mrs. Shelby. True, her duties limited her only to the second floor and occasionally the kitchen, but surely a wife would come to visit her husband every now and then? Charlotte never asked, as she had no reason nor true desire to know of her whereabouts, and simply assumed she was away, perhaps visiting family or on a trip to the new world.

But even then, it puzzled her to think she would leave behind her young son. Little Charlie, who lived his days surrounded by nannies since no one seemed to have time for him. Thomas seldom saw him; only when someone brought the toddler directly to him did he gift the boy some insipid paternal love in the form of a ruffle of the hair and a pinch of the cheek. These encounters distressed the boy, who pouted and whined most of the time, as if feeling himself endangered by Thomas’ presence. A child so isolated from his father he no longer recognised him as a source of safety. 

As Charlotte entered the kitchens, she came face to face with Mrs. Gray. The woman seldom left the house either, but unlike Thomas, for vastly different reasons. She spent her day, morning to bedtime, divided between meetings, phone calls, paperwork and more meetings. Arrow House housed the family’s race horses 

and she spoke daily with the trainers and the vet, as well as with a pudgy, bald man who came exclusively to deliver a foal. Men also came to the house, seeking to see Thomas but never making it pass the impenetrable barrier of his formidable aunt. They always spoke outside, as far as possible from prying ears, and left as swiftly and quietly as they came, more often than not pocketing paper envelopes or packing suitcases in the trunks of their cars. Charlotte never asked, having taught herself quickly to turn a blind eye to whatever happened under the roof that wasn’t supposed to. She had been hired to care for a man, not to keep tabs on the family affairs. 

But Charlotte suspected she also wanted to keep an eye on things, mostly on how Lottie and Thomas got along. It did not go unnoticed, how often Charlotte found her lingering outside the double doors or standing halfway through the grand staircase, always within earshot, but always with an excuse perched upon her lips should she be caught. Perhaps she just wanted to ensure Thomas behaved; or maybe stood at guard ready to catch Charlotte before she could flee the job in panic.

Now, she sat at the large wooden table sipping tea and nibbling biscuits, the newspaper spread in front of her. Despite her high status within the house, she could often be found having her meals downstairs alone, eating roasted goose and lamb chops and drinking oak aged whiskey while sitting on benches of coarse wood and warmed up by the cooking stove, her finely made clothes impregnating in the smell of smoke and onions. Charlotte knew the Shelbys had come bottom to top, but sometimes it appeared they hadn’t quite settled there comfortably. At least Mrs. Gray seemed to enjoy climbing down a few rungs in the ladder every now and then. 

Charlotte avoided eye contact with her at all costs as she fetched the garbage bin, her back turned to hide the basin from view as she tipped the food and shards inside. She tried to do it silently, but nothing could mask the unmistakable sound of broken porcelain and guilt. 

“He did it again?” Her voice broke through the silence, making Charlotte flinch instinctively, although the words only carried shame and tired exasperation, feelings shared by both women. Still she felt like a child, caught by her mother failing miserably at a task she promised she would accomplish easily.

She straightened her back and turned around oozing improvised confidence, smile never faltering as she faced her employer, the basin perched in her hands in a way that hid the porridge stains inside. No one would dare look at her and think that Thomas had slowly but steadily driven her to her wits’ end. No, they had to just take one look at her and immediately be assured that everything was perfect. She had to be the image of calm and composed, even when she just wanted to rip out her hair.

“Just a mishap, Mrs. Gray, nothing to be concerned with. I misplaced the tray and knocked it over when I stood. I promise it won’t happen again” The smile widened just enough to appear reassuring, perfectly matched with her soothing voice. She would sooner concoct a dozen lies than admit she might have found her match in the likes of Thomas Shelby. Charlotte was not foreign to difficult patients; men too prideful or obstinate to welcome help even at their lowest point. But they all bent the knee sooner or later. Everyone had a limit, a line that once crossed forced them to admit defeat. She just had to find Thomas’ line, wherever it drew. Surely no mortal man could be so obdurate.

The corner of Mrs. Gray’s lips rose in a half smirk, a glint of bemusement in her features; she knew liars and tricksters when she saw them, even if they only carried good intentions on their false words. She could smell them from fifty paces.

“You must have launched yourself from the seat then, since I could hear the plates crashing from down here. As if it flew across the room purposefully” Heat rose to Charlotte’s cheeks but she did not waver in her stance. Her lips parted to speak, but Mrs. Gray beat her to it, standing up and rummaging through the cupboards.

“Sit.” The order was spoken softly, but an order nonetheless. 

Lottie swallowed “There’s no need. I left Thomas alone and-”

“He can survive for fifteen minutes, and you look like you need a cup”

Defeated, and secretly glad to have a break, Charlotte abided, taking a seat and leaving the basin carefully hidden under the table. Soon a cup of tea steamed before her, Earl Grey with no milk and three sugars. She stirred it with the spoon tiredly, letting the metal heat up in her hand, but she couldn’t find it in her to bring it up to her lips as a sudden wave of exhaustion washed over her.

A comfortable silence lingered, broken only by the occasional servant who headed to the kitchen, but turned and left the second they saw the two women sitting there. Peering through her eyelashes, Charlotte noticed Mrs Gray didn’t even look in her direction, more focused on her breakfast and her newspaper, waiting for the younger woman to speak first. Lottie sipped her tea, hoping the soothing liquid would undo the knot she felt in her stomach every time she found herself in Mrs. Gray’s presence.

“He is difficult” She admitted, feeling like an officer admitting to the general that they had lost a battle. The battle, but not the war; she hadn’t sunk so low yet “And you warned me so, and I believed you because I saw it myself when I met him. But I thought he was just another veteran embittered with life that just needed the nudge in the right direction. I thought- “

“That you could help him” She completed the sentence with an understanding nod, as if she had seen the words written across Charlotte’s forehead. As if those piercing, dark eyes granted her the power to read others’ minds. And more than once, Lottie believed the Shelby matriarch possessed some skills that could only be described as magic or a sixth sense. She saw beyond the range of the normal eye, that much she could tell. And now the woman saw through Charlotte as easily as if she had been made of glass.

“But now he has proved to be more than you can chew'' The words didn’t come off as reproachful or taunting. Mrs. Gray didn’t seem to find joy in the admission of her defeat; rather she sounded empathic, as she could easily understand her plight. And she did, considering that she had been the one burdening the weight of her nephew’s care in between the cracks. Only she knew to a personal level the difficulties that came with caring for the ailing; worse even when they are your family.

Charlotte took a long sip, letting it soothe her nerves. Because if she freed her mouth to speak, she might say something she would regret; such as that maybe she overestimated her abilities for the job. Common sense told her that no amount of money could be worth being subjected to such treatment, but the sense of duty that pulled at her whenever she stared into Thomas’ eyes overpowered said logic. He had given all he had for the sake of duty, and Charlotte could not deprive him of the care she could provide him just because he behaved like an insufferable prick. 

“Has he always been like this?” The question left her mouth without permission. A question that had been circling in her head since the first day. War had changed them all, but such an attitude had to have a foundation. She had managed to rip out smiles from men who had been maimed, disfigured and ruined beyond help. Thomas only reciprocated her efforts by giving her the overwhelming desire to smack him around “I know he is angry, and he is entitled to it. But…” She shook her head “He is unlike anything I have met before”

“Tommy has that effect on people” Mrs Gray replied “He always had a special talent to be unsettling to others for various reasons. Even as a teenager. And he never withstood being seen as weak or defenceless.” She pushed aside the breakfast and newspaper to lean in closer to Charlotte, those deep eyes of hers fixed upon the young nurse.

“Before all of this happened, back when he was…normal” She grimaced at that word, and so did Charlotte. He was not abnormal, just different “He prided himself in dominating every room he stepped in. In the fear and respect he inspired on others. People looked at him and they lowered their eyes and shut their mouths. They moved out of his way when he walked and tipped their hats in his direction. No one spoke before he did. If he told a man to act like a dog, you can be damn sure that man would bark and wiggle his tail. No one went against him”

Mrs. Gray leaned back again, hands laced before her, her multiple rings making quiet sounds as she wrung her hands tightly “Having people looking down at him, seeing him as a broken and useless thing, it is something he cannot handle. As if all the power he once held slipped between his fingers like sand. So he overcompensates with his temper.If he cannot make you look up at him, he will make sure you feel inferior to him” The words resonated with Charlotte, and they made sense, in a sick way. If he could not tower over others, he could only diminish them to keep them under his foot. And he redoubled those efforts with Charlotte, who acted unwilling to bow her head.

“Is he the same with all his family? I mean, how does his wife stand him?” Another embarrassingly indiscreet question she didn’t mean to pronounce but could not be taken back now. Besides, the opportunity to sate her curiosity had presented itself so easily she could not let it go to waste. Whoever he had married, the poor woman had earned the key to the pearly gates for putting up with him. 

Mrs. Gray’s expression darkened, her lips downturning into a scowl and her shoulders tensing noticeably “She doesn’t. She didn’t” She sighed slowly, taking her sweet time to pick out a cigarette from the golden case “When his problems began, Tommy distanced himself from her. He refused to share her bed. You can imagine why” She took a long drag, exhaling the smoke through her nose as she stared at the wall behind Lottie “She didn’t try to bridge the gap; if anything, she made it bigger. I suppose when she said in sickness and in health before the altar, she hadn’t expected sickness to be like this. No respectable woman wants to be married to a cripple” Contempt and bitterness laced the words, her lips scrunched like she had tasted bile. 

“One day she left, as simply as that, fled in the night like a common criminal. Took the jewels and the money and boarded the first steamboat for America. Didn’t even think to take her son with her” Mrs. Gray spoke of the act with undeniable hatred; a hatred only a mother could muster, witnessing another mother abandoning her young child without a second look. 

The revelation shocked Charlotte, and a wave of sympathy flooded her suddenly. To lose the ability to walk, to lose his superiority, and also his wife? Even though it did not justify his actions entirely, it did allow him some slack. Any person in his position would harbour anger towards the world, but that didn’t mean he had to release it on every soul that crossed his path 

“What happened then?”

“Sent a lawyer to handle the divorce for her. I thought Tommy would fight her with everything he had, but he didn’t. He simply agreed to give his signature on the condition she left Charlie to him. And she did. Signed off her rights to her own baby for some American cock” She spat aside, as if riding herself of venom; as if speaking of that woman would be enough to poison her

Charlotte sat there baffled, still processing the information she had just received. To think that the woman whose face she stared at every day had abandoned her family, her husband and son, and yet her picture remained up there in the wall, in the place of honour like a venerable goddess. Tommy had given her the divorce to set her free, but he refused to let go of her memory. Out of love or to preserve it for their son she couldn’t tell. Pity crept into her, as much as she didn’t want to. It showed in her eyes and her face, in the way her posture dropped and how her hands lowered to her lap. 

“What a horrible thing” She lamented, her tone dropping an octave as she shook her head in disbelief “How could she do something like that?”

“Not many are willing to be a lifetime caretaker. You should know that better than most” She snuffed the cigarette on the table, leaving a little darkened mark along countless others, no doubt all of them of her own creation.

“Charlotte, there is a reason why I chose you to come instead of putting up an advertisement and letting candidates flock in like birds. You are resilient, I can tell just by the way you smile every morning at Thomas even when he yells and curses and breaks things at your feet. He is difficult and you are strong willed” The hint of a smirk returned to her face, a certain mischief glinting in her eyes “I know Thomas will eventually give in to you. Just give him more time” 

More time. How much more? She could only take so much, and even the most cheerful person in the kingdom would find themselves chipped away by constant berating and mistreatment. But she had made herself a promise, to pick up this lost cause and not drop it. Mrs. Gray counted on her and trusted her, otherwise she would not have made her privy to the secrets of Thomas’ life. And that pulling she felt, that unexplainable and irrepressible sense of protection she felt for him, whether he liked it or not.

She had never been one to believe in otherworldly things, but she knew, unconsciously, that she had been put in Thomas’ path for a reason. A duty she could not abandon. Because if she dropped his cause, there may be no one else to pick it up.

Charlotte finished her tea and took a deep breath. The conversation had renewed her vigour and boosted her confidence in the task ahead. She stood from the table and smoothed down her apron

“I won’t give up on him, Mrs. Gray. I know he needs help and I will be there for it, no matter how much he pushes me away”

Mrs. Gray smiled; not a smirk, but a sincere smile.

“Good to hear. He will need someone now more than ever”

That little bit puzzled Charlotte, her eyebrows furrowed and head slightly cocked to the left

“What do you mean by that?”

Mrs. Gray stood up, a new cigarette perched between two fingers. She let expectation build up as she went through the process of selecting a match from the box to light her cigarette

“A doctor is coming in a few days. A new therapist from London, expert in wounded veterans he says”

She flicked the butt of the cigarette with her nail, as if debating whether or not to continue.

“He thinks he can make Tommy walk again”